Customer Reviews:
Thesis from outer space.......2007-06-13
From the title and the beautiful cover art from Starblazers, I couldn't wait to read this book. The subtitle is "Understanding Japanese Animation". Quotes on the back call it a "guide" and claim it reveals " a lot about contemporary Japan", and that the author uncovers the "hidden meaning" of Japanese animation, and "the symbols and stories drawn from Shinto, Buddhism, and Japanese art". That made me want to read it more.
Let's start with the givens. This book is almost ten years old, and shows signs of being edited to reach a wider audience. It also seems to consist of a number of papers or essays tied together. The author blurb on the back is about how she has a PhD in Japanese history and all her credentials for writing about things Japanese. That wouldn't be germane to the issue, except for the slant in the book. And it's very slanted.
The opening chapter is extremely intriguing and asks, in essence, "Are you Otaku?" which is to say, a fan of anime. Then the author defensively asserts her chops, a tendency which becomes far more prevalent as the book goes on, continually saying "I know more than you do." Or sometimes, "You think you know what's going on, but you don't." It reminds me of the love- hate relationship sci- fi writers have to Star Trek conventions. The only time she mentions Star Trek, incidentally, is to point out how later anime fan writers sneak in references to anime and opt for more ambiguous story lines.
Almost every chapter (or essay) ends with an unstated thesis that would have made an interesting book: that Gen X (so called) viewers are drawn to anime because of ambiguity in their own lives. However, she usually outshouts that thesis with another one-- that this proves they're not the attention deficit slackers they're often written off as. Even that would be an interesting thesis were it supported by even one example.
The Otaku viewpoint is significant because the author judges a work based on its audience. While she pays the necessary tribute to Osamu Tezuka, she nevertheless dismisses Astro Boy (Mighty Atom), one of the early popular anime shows in the US, because the audience didn't know it was Japanese. That would seem to be in its favor, but it conflicts with another hidden thesis that anime is made for Japanese and not Westerners. To support that thesis requires ignoring all other early anime offerings, including Speed Racer, Gigantor, and Battle of the Planets. It also ignores the long history of live action films like Godzilla in the West.
But then, the West is, of course, the problem. The author's way of explaining the Japanese view of anything is to contrast it to the "Judeo- Christian" view we in the West all believe. Never mind that a great number of people in the West don't believe these views which are held by Judeo- Christians, whatever those are. The author is so sure "we" believe these things that she never checks facts, and is therefore content to repeat one sentence myths about the Middle Ages, long discredited, that we all know. All this does is make me wonder about the Japanese views the Western views are contrasted with. Since again, not one example is given of any Japanese thinking this way, they seem at best inconclusive.
Quick! Retreat into the I know more than you do mode (or transform into it, for Mecha fans). The Japanese word is, of course, untranslatable. I, genius that I am, think this, whereas stupid fans-- that would be you watching the show-- mistake it for that. Ha ha! Aren't those Otaku amusing? It's like a Star Trek convention.
The parts about Shinto stories inspiring anime are intriguing. You knew something like that was going on in Pokemon, and with eight million gods, souls or spirits to choose from, the results are endless. But again, the author must assert a hidden thesis which eventually seems based merely on personal preference and Freudian double speak. You can't possibly enjoy this advanced anime because you don't know a nosebleed always represents something else. If it comes to that, you wouldn't notice this god from this ancient story because the gender has been changed and she is an executive in Tokyo (no, you probably wouldn't notice that). But when she admits an obvious connection in a well-known and much studied anime like Dragonball, she then asserts there's no relation to its source material. Freudian lit analysis plays the same game of now this gun represents something else; presto! now it's just a gun.
The one place to connect with the casual viewer is in the section on mecha. But the author's thesis that the Japanese have a horror of cyborgs since they involve replacing body parts in no way explains something that far more puzzles and intrigues Western viewers-- their fascination with giant robots. Her way of explaining this is to not explain it, and instead concentrate on exoskeleton suits.
This is the sort of pop cult book by an academic that is all answers and no questions. You learn a lot more about the author than you do about anime or Otaku. You learn, for instance, that she likes (or at least chooses to continually write about) Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Bubblegum Crisis/ Bubblegum Crash, Doomed Magalopolis, and grudgingly, Akira, which was, of course, changed to accomodate Western audiences, who ruined it by making it popular, but fortunately didn't understand it. Transformers is conspicuous by its absence. Neither did Battle of the Planets, or its Japanese original, Gatchaman, make the cut.
Of course one can't cover everything, and one doesn't need to. But if the author hoped to convince readers to watch new anime, as maintained in the Preface, the effect on this reader was the opposite. By ignoring anime I am familiar with, and which has long been available in the US, by stereotyping the "West" in one sentence dismissals, and by expressing continual disdain for the unlettered, unwashed anime audience, she's convinced me to stay away from her favorite anime, which I otherwise might have watched. After all, even ten years ago there was plenty of anime to choose from, and no lack of zealous Otaku eager to share their favorites.
Good book on cultural background.......2005-12-02
This is actually a very good book despite the awful title and uninspired cover work. It's strength is in the detail with which it deals with the cultural and mythological subtexts of anime. While this is only one way of approaching anime, "Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke" takes a differnt, sociological approach, it offers interesting and useful insight into what to look for in watching anime. Where else, for instance, would you learn to look at how the heroine in "Zenki" controls her demon as an allegory for how Japanese wives control their husbands?
Anime fans, present & future-- Read this Book!!!.......2005-06-10
Samurai from Outer Space is a little dated. However, the cultural information is valid, relevant, and amusingly presented. As a diehard, long-time fan of the medium, I also consider the examples listed to be a basic primer of classic anime. Like watching old American movies, watching older anime helps a viewer appreciate where the medium has been, where it is now, and the possible directions it could go.
Makes me want to give anime another chance..........2003-02-07
I've never liked Japanese animation. I missed out on "Astro Boy" and "Speed Racer" when I was a kid. To me, "Kimba the White Lion" represented Japanese animation. Something about the oddness in the characters voices (they always threw in extra syllables at the end of their sentences, "We have to go save him, huh?") and the gender ambiguity of the lead character (these things are important to uptight pre-pubescent kids) really bothered me.
By the time Japanese animation took hold in the US cartoon market with shows such as "Voltron," or "Robotech," I was done with cartoons. By the time Japanese animation started showing up on the shelves at Blockbuster Video, I learned that one should refer to Japanese animation as "Anime." In the years between, I found that the same kind of geeky know-it-all kids who dominated the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons scene and who lingered too long at comic book stores discussing the outcome of a battle between the "Teen Titans" and "Alpha Flight," were the same folks who loved Anime.
Have you ever disliked a band because of its fans? This was the same kind of thing. I have yet to listen to anything by The Misfits merely because of all the losers in leather jackets who would come to concerts and stand in my way or push people around in the pit. Nine times out of ten they'd have on some sort of Misfits paraphernalia. No one's written a book explaining the music of the Misfits from an outsider's point of view.
Thankfully, Antonia Levy's book Samurai from Outer Space is the perfect guide for jerks like me who've dismissed an entire animation style out of dislike for its diehard fans. Subtitled "Understanding Japanese Animation," Levy takes the reader through the history of Anime and Manga (Japanese comic books). She explains common themes explored in these media, helping to put them into cultural and historical perspective.
Levy's book isn't a lofty dissertation on the integration of Shinto myths into modern Anime. While she covers those subjects and more, Levy quickly gets to brass tacks. In her first chapter, she addresses one of my burning questions about Anime and Manga, "Why do these Japanese characters have exaggerated Anglo features?" According to Levy, the characters are not thought of as belonging to any one particular race. Instead, those big round eyes are more of a stylistic flourish of Manga - just as big eyes are trademark in the U.S. to those annoying Precious Moments statuettes.
In Samurai from Outer Space, Levy addresses the appeal of Anime and Manga to Easterners and Westerners. More than cheaply made adventure stories, Anime and Manga are often steeped in the rich culture of their homeland, just as U.S. storytellers sweeten their narratives with references or by playing off of common cultural themes. Just as a viewer not entirely familiar with Greek mythology might not get as many laughs watching "Xena: Warrior Princess" as someone who really knows their Homer, without a substantial understanding of Shinto myth one might scratch their head at "Ranma ½." A thorough and well-written tome, Samurai from Outer Space convinced me to give Anime another chance. (ISBN: 0812693329)
A book on the symbols and stories that are a source..........2002-10-19
for anime and manga. Over 160 pages full of information on Shinto, Buddhism, Samurai legends, Japanese art and history and how Japanese animation uses it. Chapters also on the women of anime, death and the afterlife in animation and a glossary of anime terms. Add 20 full color pictures and lots of humor, and you have a not-so-serious study about the subject. Only problem is that the book was first published in 1996 and, while the newest printing was 2001, has not been updated and therefore still outdated.
Book Description
This fully revised second edition of The Complete Make-Up Artist is essential for anyone who wants to become a successful make-up artist. It offers a personal guide to the exacting and exciting world of media make-up. Written for all students of media make-up, this book provides a wealth of information, activities and advice. It meets the syllabus requirements for City and Guilds, Edexcel, ITEC, IHBC, CIBTAC and NVQ media make-up courses and will also be invaluable to students of art and design, drama and theatre studies.
Customer Reviews:
guidebook for makeup artists to step in the industry.......2007-05-26
touches all basics of makeup. serves as a guideline for beginner to medium level artists. it gives you a general idea of how each step/aspect of makeup work should be done. but if you want to go deeper into any of those areas, you need more specific books. also, it's more a film/tv makeup book, than a fashion/glamour makeup book. I rated it 4 stars, not because it's not good enough, but because it does not cater to my need.
Right up there next to Corson.......2004-12-07
This book saves you the classroom costs by going step by step in every procedure you should know and also has helpful assignments to do at home. Not to mention that it's cheaper than a Corson book and just as valuable.
Thanks DC "Ohio Make-up Artist".......2004-11-11
That review was really helpful. For the past couple of weeks I have been debating back and forth about whether or not I should take the $2,000 basic make-up class or just buy a book and teach myself. Your review helped with my decision. I'm going to buy the book. Hopefully I will be equally as pleased as you are.
BTW, I had to rate the item in order to write the review. Please disregard it. I'll be back with the real rating once I actually read the book. LOL.
This is THE book.......2004-11-03
If you have a desire to learn makeup techniques beyond making someone beautiful (which is included too) then this is the book for you. The step-by-step instructions are easy to follow, and the illustrations show you what the finished product should look like. I spent $2K for two classes in basic makeup and advanced makeup techiniques, all of which I could've learned from this book. Can't praise it highly enough!
Brilliant!.......2004-04-16
This book is very useful and interesting, it will keep u occupied for hours! It shows step by step methods for applying make-up. It's every make-artist or somebody who is into make-up's dream!
Average customer rating:
- Fascinating topic, fascinating book
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Ready-to-Wear and Ready-to-Work: A Century of Industry and Immigrants in Paris and New York (Comparative and International Working-Class History)
Nancy L. Green , and
Nancy L. Green
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
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ASIN: 0822318741 |
Book Description
Nancy L. Green offers a critical and lively look at New York’s Seventh Avenue and the Parisian Sentier in this first comparative study of the two historical centers of the women’s garment industry. Torn between mass production and "art," this industry is one of the few manufactauring sectors left in the service-centered cities of today. Ready-to-Wear and Ready-to-Work tells the story of urban growth, the politics of labor, and the relationships among the many immigrant groups who have come to work the sewing machines over the last century.
Green focuses on issues of fashion and fabrication as they involve both the production and consumption of clothing. Traditionally, much of the urban garment industry has been organized around small workshops and flexible homework, and Green emphasizes the effect this labor organization had on the men and mostly women who have sewn the garments. Whether considering the immigrant Jews, Italians, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Chinese in New York or the Chinese-Cambodians, Turks, Armenians, and Russian, Polish, and Tunisian Jews in Paris, she outlines similarities of social experience in the shops and the unions, while allowing the voices of the workers, in all their diversity to be heard.
A provocative examination of gender and ethnicity, historical conflict and consensus, and notions of class and cultural difference, Ready-to-Wear and Ready-to-Work breaks new ground in the methodology of comparative history.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating topic, fascinating book.......2003-10-17
I thoroughly enjoyed "Ready-to-Wear and Ready-to-Work", Nancy L. Green's erudite and expansive study of a century of the garment industry in Paris and New York. I've worn clothes for most of my life, but never knew much about where they come from. Now I do. Clothes don't come from stores-- they come from people, piece by piece. People with a story to tell.
Green's vastly-researched work is not only a history of the people, usually immigrants, often Jews, who have populated the garment industry. It is also a social history, an economic history and a technological history. The book is not an easy read-- it is a complex analysis of complex topics-- but it is a worthwhile read. Green successfully weaves the topics into a fabric of consistently excellent quality from beginning to end.
I found the book fascinating. I recommend it to anyone who wears clothes. Naked people probably won't be interested.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Nonwovens Industry, published by Rodman Publications, Inc. on April 1, 1998. The length of the article is 2741 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: From rags to riches? Rags, paper wipes and rental towels may dominate the wiping industry, but nonwoven wipes are working hard to gain recognition in the market.
Author: Lisa Nieves
Publication:
Nonwovens Industry (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 1998
Publisher: Rodman Publications, Inc.
Volume: v29
Issue: n4
Page: p52(5)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Nonwovens Industry, published by Rodman Publications, Inc. on December 1, 1990. The length of the article is 3417 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Women in the nonwovens industry. (includes related articles on Lil Karhola-Wettergren and comparison between men and women in the industry)
Author: Ellen Noonan
Publication:
Nonwovens Industry (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 1990
Publisher: Rodman Publications, Inc.
Volume: v21
Issue: n12
Page: p42(4)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
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Working in Fashion
Manufacturer: Careers and Occupational Information Centre
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0861106199 |
Amazon.com
It's fair to say that Will Eisner invented modern comic art. A Contract with God has been called the first graphic novel, and its divergence from traditional comics themes and forms highlights Eisner's foresight and brilliance. Dealing with stories and memories from his childhood in a Bronx tenement, he explores the brutality, fragility, and tenderness possible among people living in close quarters close to the poverty line. The four stories here are tough but funny, deep but finely detailed, much like the traditional Jewish stories he drew upon to flavor his own work. Ending reflectively (and perhaps autobiographically), A Contract with God shows us a young man peering out into his city as he decides whether and how to face adulthood. You won't see that in the funny papers. --Rob Lightner
Customer Reviews:
Ordinary World, Extraordinary Art.......2007-09-17
Will Eisner is an artist; do not mistake him as a cartoonist. A pioneer in Graphic Art, drawing masterpieces since before most of us were born; his concept of Graphic Novel has caught on bigtime in recent years. The first of such is A Contract With God. Tenement stories they are, drawn from memory and delivered through compassionate heart. These are tales of ordinary people communicated in the innovative and much desired format of a Graphic Novel.
I own the book with a different cover, the original cover released long back with the old Jewish man wearily climbing the long steps to his tenement door. He has just buried his only child. A contract he made with God has been broken by the Almighty. He is an immigrant and has worked hard all his life only for the benefit of receiving love from his solitary treasure. He is angry and dejected. This is one of the many heart warming and moving emotional stories told here with visuals that forces words to hit us harder than any regular text novel.
Another story of the singer who uses an older lady is equally emotional and delivered to us in as much visual pain. The story of a Super duped in his own game by a child is also touching. You feel disgust and pity for this super all at the same time. The unique child who is toughened and cruel growing up in the tenement is also a great character here. City-dwellers in their holiday best (or worst) is also displayed in the last story. The getaway which turns from anticipation to expectation, to surprise, to regret and disappointment is something that is easily told but not as easily depicted in Fiction or Novel as has been achieved by the genius of Will Eisner.
Eisner passed away recently and this is his rich legacy apart from the Spirit Archives sold by DC Comics in expensive hard cover editions. This is a good start to build your Eisner Collection. http://www.willeisner.com/
The truth and pain is these tales of common man in the old times can be told again with equal sentiment in this day and age as well.
Embryonic.......2006-10-27
I've heard a lot about Eisner, so I decided to pick up his book.
As it turns out, only those with an interest in Jewish stories or with comic book history should bother picking this up. 30 years ago, this was a masterpiece: it took a kid's genre and made it adult. Almost everyone who calls himself a serious cartoonist has borrowed ideas from A Contract With God. But it's a transitional piece: glimmers of Maus mired in senseless sex and violence. The characters are all drawn as caricatures (prehaps to avoid claims of racial preference). So, older Jews all look like either Fagin or Eisner, Irish all look like leprechauns, Puerto Ricans are greasy, Blacks are somewhere in between blackface and Black faces. Their emotions are caricatures as well. Between howling rage, rivers of tears, and heart-attack-inducing shock, we get little time for any real emotion, or any hint that the residence of Dropsie Ave. are better than the cockroaches they live with.
Of course, it's not all bad. Eisner has interesting things to say about hate crime, corruption, murder, and neighboorhood lifecycles. His stories are well-paced and have an episodic, epic feel, covering about a century of Dropsie Ave's history. If you're willing to swallow a few cliches (especially in the first story) and more than a few cold-blooded murders and rapes, you can be reasonably entertained. It's not Art, but it's close. In a word: Embryonic.
Jewish Tenements.......2005-11-10
This is really an artful piece of work. Eisner was a revolutionary. He paved the way for stories that were embedded in reality. He really inspired another legend, Frank Miller who produced Daredevil's best run and Sin City. These are some really gripping stories that grasped at my heart strings I felt sorry for the wife of the alley singer, I felt sorry for the rabbi who lost his daughter, etc. Well it seems I just felt sorry for these folks.
If you're a comic fan, you love reality represented and you like tan and white (which Eisner said is the color people dream in) then this is the book for you.
Wow!.......2005-10-11
Until now, I'd not been not all that familiar or appreciative of graphic novels. I gave this book a try because I was interested in its Jewish content. After reading it, I was surprised to learn that this was the first graphic novel in book form and that Will Eisner was a pioneer in his field.
Eisner's drawings are magnificent, and the book's content noteworthy and familiar. I like the idea of taking everyday characters and telling a story with pictures and dialogue. I especially like the tidbits of history that preceed each chapter and the amazing detail in the sketches of the tenement buildings and the scenery (especially the falling rain). Perhaps comics are not just for kids after all!
Realistic self contained stories.......2004-11-16
A Contract with God tells the stories of people living in a tenement in 1930's New York. The format is similar to comic book, but more like illustrated text, because there is about one frame per page. Maybe this is because the stories are more serious than the comic genre usually deals with, and altering it here is a way to get this to a different audience than the usual comic book crowd.
The stories: The Super tells about the super in a building and shows different kinds of monsters in society. A story about a street singer - in the 30's out of work people might go from block to block and sing in the streets in the hopes of money being tossed out the windows to them. A story following people's vacations. SIngle people pretend to be rich on vacation in the hopes of snagging a rich spouse. I particularly liked this one (and it ends happily).
Th stories here are not for kids since there is a lot of sex and desperation. However these are well done comic book stories, and would be good for someone who is into or new to the genre.
Customer Reviews:
Realistic self contained stories.......2007-01-15
A Contract with God tells the stories of people living in a tenement in 1930's New York. The format is similar to comic book, but more like illustrated text, because there is about one frame per page. Maybe this is because the stories are more serious than the comic genre usually deals with, and altering it here is a way to get this to a different audience than the usual comic book crowd.
The stories: The Super tells about the super in a building and shows different kinds of monsters in society. A story about a street singer - in the 30's out of work people might go from block to block and sing in the streets in the hopes of money being tossed out the windows to them. A story following people's vacations. SIngle people pretend to be rich on vacation in the hopes of snagging a rich spouse. I particularly liked this one (and it ends happily).
Th stories here are not for kids since there is a lot of sex and desperation. However these are well done comic book stories, and would be good for someone who is into or new to the genre.
Customer Reviews:
Realistic self contained stories.......2007-01-15
A Contract with God tells the stories of people living in a tenement in 1930's New York. The format is similar to comic book, but more like illustrated text, because there is about one frame per page. Maybe this is because the stories are more serious than the comic genre usually deals with, and altering it here is a way to get this to a different audience than the usual comic book crowd.
The stories: The Super tells about the super in a building and shows different kinds of monsters in society. A story about a street singer - in the 30's out of work people might go from block to block and sing in the streets in the hopes of money being tossed out the windows to them. A story following people's vacations. SIngle people pretend to be rich on vacation in the hopes of snagging a rich spouse. I particularly liked this one (and it ends happily).
Th stories here are not for kids since there is a lot of sex and desperation. However these are well done comic book stories, and would be good for someone who is into or new to the genre.
Customer Reviews:
Realistic self contained stories.......2007-01-15
A Contract with God tells the stories of people living in a tenement in 1930's New York. The format is similar to comic book, but more like illustrated text, because there is about one frame per page. Maybe this is because the stories are more serious than the comic genre usually deals with, and altering it here is a way to get this to a different audience than the usual comic book crowd.
The stories: The Super tells about the super in a building and shows different kinds of monsters in society. A story about a street singer - in the 30's out of work people might go from block to block and sing in the streets in the hopes of money being tossed out the windows to them. A story following people's vacations. SIngle people pretend to be rich on vacation in the hopes of snagging a rich spouse. I particularly liked this one (and it ends happily).
Th stories here are not for kids since there is a lot of sex and desperation. However these are well done comic book stories, and would be good for someone who is into or new to the genre.
Book Description
Kiss My Left Behind is a parody of the popular genre of "End Times" novels written by many Christian authors, including Tim LaHaye, Jean Grant, Mel Odom, and Jonathan R. Cash. In this book the characters struggle with their own obsessions and desires, and don't have much time left over to fight the Antichrist: Nickelay Dubyah, ruler of the former Soviet Republik of Texrectumstan.
Customer Reviews:
If this had been a jab at Wicca, it would not have been published.......2006-11-24
But because it is a mockery, because it throws insults toward Christians, then a book like this will be put on display. In this day and age the Christians have become the focus of Hate by the liberal media and groups like the ACLU. Further, Christians are the focus of hate by the secularists like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins. While I write this small review, bigotry toward anyone who calls Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior is the must for such people as this Lee chap. Whether a Christian agrees with PreMill or not, no wonder books like the Left Behind are so popular, we Christians are the ones who are being discriminated against! People like Lee and the ones giving this a five star review show just how much America has slipped in terms of respect toward others. Christians are the ones that American elitists hate. That is, the Christians who acknowledge the Bible as truth and the Christians who live their lives for Christ. If this book had been a mockery of Hinduism, Islam, or some other religion like Wicca, the book would not have ever sold...not even considered...but because books like this show the growing and mounting hatred toward Christians, then yes, more books like this one will be seen all around. This is pure Christianphobia. This book is truly hateful just for the sake of being hateful. And that is why people are giving it a rave review, because they know that Christians are the target of hate crimes by organizations like the ACLU and people like Sam Harris, and such people that give this book rave reviews do so to get in on the action of hate crimes toward Christians.
A Christian outsider's poor attempt at parody.......2006-01-28
Don't spend any time or money on this drivel. The author knows nothing about what he is parodying, which is detrimental to humor and offensive to the intelligent mind. This book is a platform to mock not only the premillenial eschatology, but all Christianity.
Instead, check out "Right Behind" by Nathan Wilson. That is a truly funny parody by a Christian insider.
Funny writing in its own right.......2005-11-16
I haven't read any of the books in the "Left Behind" series so I was doubtful that I would enjoy this satirical take on the genre. But it turns out that the author's writing in "Kiss My Left Behind" is good enough on its own to hold the reader's interest. Lee has a deft touch with humorous writing and a strong narrative style. Even without prior knowledge of the details of the "Left Behind" books, I found that characters (caricatures?) like airline pilot Ramrod Steel and flight attendant Hadshe Dunhim were funny enough to hold my interest and keep me laughing.
Lee's satirical take manages to skewer both fundamentalist Christianity and George W. Bush in a fast-paced, entertaining read. Since I haven't read the satirical target, I've only given this book four stars. If I had, however, I suspect it may well deserve five.
BORING.......2005-08-17
boring story. I've read all the real Left Behind books, but skipped through all the religious rants, and did not find this even at a slight comparison. I couldn't even get through the first chapter, and I tried to imagine it as funny, but couldn't even fake it. Unimaginative and a waste of money. Not even a good spoof on the original. Spend you hard earned cash elsewhere, like a Maxim subscription.
Left Behind with too much time on his hands.......2005-05-06
I find it upsetting that a writer could be so low on material and creativity that he would have to pick apart a best selling series. Although it's considered open-minded to oppose Christianity and the bible, two things this author knows nothing about, yet when a Christian wants to express their views it's narrow minded and fundamental. You're better off reading nothing than reading this junk. It's a cheap attempt at humor. As far as Christian views go, let the the believers read best selling authors Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins, and the others read Earl...who? The only reason it got 1 star is cause that is the lowest it goes and they don't do negatives!
Book Description
This book continues the saga of Ramrod Steel and his intrepid band of warriors as they fight against the evil of the Antichrist, Nickelay Dubyah, the "Fearless Leader" of the former Soviet Republik of Texrectumstan.
Customer Reviews:
Another home run for this series.......2004-10-23
This second volume is as strange and funny as the first. Kiss My Left Behind 2 : the Tribulation Farce is fun to read, and it tells the truth about the many lies told to the public by people we have been taught to trust.
It's more than just a parody of the fundamentalist "Left Behind" series; it criticizes the hypocrisy and greed of the leaders of some of our major American institutions--in government, education, and organized religion.
Beneath the raucous humor that makes the book a delight to read lies a serious purpose: to expose those who prey on the gullible, especially on the lost souls in America whose need for the spiritual certainty makes them willing victims.
In addition, the book is good fiction--the characters can be endearing even with all their flaws.
Trash.......2004-10-23
If I could give it -5 stars I would.
I can't believe people spend money to trash Christianity and America like this. Take notice. Whose in the jails trying to make life better for the prisioners, whose in your neighborhoods helping out, who's trying to make a positive difference? It sure isn't people who have nothing better to do than to trash these very same people! It's Christians. I'm sick of the satire. Take your trash to the only place it deserves, the city dump.
Is Texas on this Planet? .......2004-09-21
This book provides a very entertaining satire of holier-than-thou people. I can hardly wait until the next book, which will reveal why so many Texans wallow in the mud like pigs and call it politics. The last book in this series will explain why a lying president from Texas was traded by America to Mexico for a burrito. Thank you, and God bless America.
Wild and weird satire.......2004-09-18
While I was traveling, I listened to a radio interview with the author and I bought first book "Kiss My Left Behind." This book arrived in the mail yesterday, and I think this second book is even wilder than the first one! This book is a satire of George W., who appears as the Antichrist: Nickelay Dubyah. It is also a parody of Tim LaHaye's "Tribulation Force" the second book in his "Left Behind" series.
The story centers on Captain Ramrod Steel, an airline pilot who thinks that his wife and son were "taken" in The Rapture. In fact, Ramrod's wife has left him. A dishonest minister decides to take advantage of Capt. Steel's belief in order to exploit other Believers and preach the "New Rapture"!!!
Book Description
A parody of the fundamentalist Left Behind series, this humorous treatment of religion and politics criticizes the hypocrisy and greed of leaders of the American government and major political, educational, and religious organizations. Beneath the raucous humor lies a sophisticated examination of magical thinking and the End Times, creating a serious exposé of fundamentalist religious leaders from a secular, freethinking, humanist viewpoint.
Average customer rating:
- More than just Bush bashing
|
Left behind: A fable of The Rapture (Kiss my left behind)
Earl Lee
Manufacturer: KMA Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Parodies
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Satire, General
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
ASIN: B0006SATS4 |
Customer Reviews:
More than just Bush bashing.......2007-09-06
I believe this is a very limited edition (less than 300 copies) of the book Raptured: the Final Daze of the Late, Great Planet Earth. It is a parody of the fundamentalist "Left Behind" series.
Raptured: The Final Daze of the Late, Great Planet Earth (Kiss My Left Behind series)
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