The Story Of Good Charlotte

Customer Reviews:

Nothing New.......2005-06-28

it was a good book except if u have been a true fan, a fan from the start then all the info given is jus thing u already know. i suppose it good if u no absolutly nothing about GC but to real GC fans this book is kinda useless.

This book was AWESOME!.......2005-06-08

This Book was so cool.i really enjoyed reading about my favorite band. I recomend if you are or plan to become a good charlotte fan, this book is great to read. I found out a lot more about good charlotte that i haven't known, even though i have been a fan since they became famous, even before that! They are awesome, i love them! So if you really like G.C. this is a must read book!! Good Charlotte all the way!!

GREAT INFO FOR GOOD CHARLOTTE FANS.......2005-03-02

HEY, I BECAME A FAN LATE, BUT BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. SO FOR ME THIS BOOK WAS THE RIGHT FIT. I GOT ALL THE INFO ABOUT THE BAND TO GET CAUGHT UP. I LOVE THEIR SONGS, THEY HIT HOME WITH ME. ANYONE WANTING TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE TWINS AND THE REST, THIS IS IT.

AND TO THE GOOD CHARLOTTE HATER I SAY ONLY ONE THING "LOUIS ARMSTRONG"!!!! DUDE, HE MADE GOOD MUSIC, BUT HOW OLD ARE YOU THAT YOU HAVE TO RAG ON ALL THE OTHER BANDS. MY DAD IS OVER 60 AND I THOUGHT HE WAS OLD FASHIONED WITH HIS MUSIC, BUT YOU GOT HIM BEAT. WHAT ARE YOU, 90????

great book.......2005-01-18

this book is really great for good charlotte fans and music lovers because it talks bout the history of g.c. and how they came together. It talks about the hardship they went through in their lives and the stuff they had to deal with that came their way. it really is an inspiring book to never give up your dreams. plus good charlott is the greatest freakn' band ever!

WOW!.......2004-12-28

OMFG, tat was the best book inthe world. If ur a true fan u have to go out and get it. I dont want to give away and facts, but all i have to say is...get it!!! i love it!i am a big fan if u wana kno more about me msg me.!

The Good Works of Ayela Linde: A Novel in Stories

Average customer rating:

A portrait painted in words
Charlotte Forbes is clearly a very talented writer and each piece of The Good Works of Ayela Linde is well-crafted.
Beautiful
Good work mommy!
Forbes' novel works

The Good Works of Ayela Linde: A Novel in Stories
Charlotte Forbes
Manufacturer: Arcade Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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A Three Dog Life

ASIN: 1559708077

Book Description

The linked stories that make up this spare and beautifully written novel follow the life of Ayela, the illegitimate daughter of a Mexican dressmaker, born in 1933 in the Texas border town of Santa Rosalia. Raised by her mother and superstitious grandmother (thought to be a witch by the townsfolk), Ayela is breathtakingly striking, aloof, fearful, flamboyant, and headstrong, and her stories are told by those who know her, or think they do: a girlhood friend, her housekeeper, the pork butcher, members of the altar guild, a travel agent, her daughter-in-law, and others. The stories begin when Ayela is 17 and move through her marriage to an idealistic Bostonian, held captive in town by her beauty and her need, and end with her last and most dubious good work at the moment of her death. Together they create a portrait, composite yet intriguingly incomplete, that captures the complexity of who she was, for, with Ayela as with the rest of us, that truth lies partly in the eye of the beholder.

Customer Reviews:

A portrait painted in words.......2006-10-24

Reviewed by April Sullivan for Reader Views (10/06)

As the subtitle tells us, "The Good Works of Ayele Linde" is "A Novel in Stories." This book is composed of sixteen stories told from the viewpoint of several characters. Ayele Linde is the main character, but she never tells us her own story. We read about her through the voice of her travel agent, her housekeeper, her husband, her son, her granddaughter, and other townspeople in Santa Rosalia.

Santa Rosalia is a small border town, just north of Mexico. It has the fairytale feel of a small Mexican village full of superstition. Charlotte Forbes uses well-crafted descriptions of the place and people and transports the reader to this colorful, magical world. An arrangement of parasols looks like "a flock of strange and lovely birds that had flown up from the jungle and touched down in Santa Rosalia on their way up to heaven". A cow standing in the rain has "heavy brown cow eyes that bore with dignity the burden of keeping the world awash in milk."

Most compelling are the descriptions of Ayele Linde by the people who surround her. She is described as "a black horse galloping alone through a field", "as variable as the weather", and a "woman who wore privacy like a mark across her brow even as she flitted like an Amazonian butterfly from the grand room to the patio." She was a woman hard to get close to, as Forbes carefully shows through not being able to get close enough to her own character to tell her story outright.

"The Good Works of Ayele Linde" is a portrait painted in words. Not just one portrait, but a gallery of portraits by different artists with different points of view. Charlotte Forbes writes in thick layers and textures to create vivid images -- images so vivid that I wanted to create paintings of several of the scenes. As you will see by the end of the book, I was not the only one with this reaction. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to take a step back from their own world and enter the world of Ayele Linde, even if for a brief time.

Charlotte Forbes is clearly a very talented writer and each piece of The Good Works of Ayela Linde is well-crafted........2006-08-11

O.Henry Award winner, Charlotte Forbes, has put together a brilliant collection of sixteen stories focusing on the life of Ayela Linde, the illegitimate daughter of a Mexican dressmaker, Felidia Garzon.

All of the stories are arranged chronologically from the time Ayela is seventeen until the day she dies. Although they are all inter-linked, they nevertheless stand by themselves as distinct sketches of Ayela as depicted from the different perspectives of family, friends and acquaintances whose lives she touched.

The format Forbes has adopted curtails excess verbiage or pedantry and demonstrates the breadth and depth of her superlative writing abilities. It is also an attestation that it is not so much the story that is important but rather the way it is told.

We never quite figure out Ayela however we do glean from the bits and pieces of the various narrators a touching insight into the many facets of her personality and temperament.

When we first meet Ayela at age seventeen, we learn from her friend Druanne that she lived with her religious mother and superstitious grandmother in the backwater colonial town of Santa Rosalia, north of the Rio Grande. It appears that her grandmother loved her more than her own mother, with whom she was constantly embroiled in a contentious relationship that according to Ayela began "the day she dropped from her mother's womb, a howling prune of a baby, ravenous for milk that had not begun to flow and sucking a dry breast with a sense that her mother held nothing she needed."

Her singular beauty was undeniable and attracted all the men wherever she went including her future husband, a young sophisticated Boston lawyer, Frederick Linde, who first laid eyes on her when she was eighteen. Immediately smitten and overwhelmed by her exquisiteness and air of mystery he followed her around and insisted that they elope. The reaction of some who knew Ayela, however, was that they thought of "Frederick as a hunting dog, as they shook their heads sadly at his misplaced ardor."

Many perceived Ayela as aloof, insensitive, self-absorbed and obstinate and even her own three children did not get along with her. In particular, the eldest, Xavier, was completely shattered when she didn't even read his poem at the opening of the town's Art Pavilion- a poem he believed to be "great, vivid, and intelligent about the only woman in the world for him."
On the other hand, she did have feelings for the sick and poor and was not impressed with someone's wealth or position in society-emphatically stating that she would never use her husband's wealth or position for her own self-gain.
Hortensia Drenk, one of Ayela's friends recounts how she rarely worshipped in the town's parish preferring to drive to a tumble-down church in Oderada in order to sit in the back pews with the Mexican day laborers, as she preferred the company of the poor in church.

No doubt, some were envious, as they whined that she had risen into the town's high society from a poor birth and improper upbringing. Another of Ayela's acquaintances, Beatriz Delgado could not forgive her detachment for refusing to become a member of the Alter Guild. Ironically, although she had refused to become their leader in a project to renovate and re-open the old Mission Chapel, Ayela, nonetheless and without the members' knowledge, got down on her hands and knees to scrub the floors of the building that housed the chapel. When asked why she was doing this her reply was matter-of- factly, "It's what I know how to do."

Others wondered if anyone could even be close to Ayela other than her husband Frederick, who they believed saved her from herself. However, they questioned if that was in fact being close.

Charlotte Forbes is clearly a very talented writer and each piece of The Good Works of Ayela Linde is well-crafted, heartfelt and entertaining. In the end, the novel simply works and I look forward to reading more from her.

Norm Goldman, Editor Bookpleasures

Beautiful.......2006-05-31

I loved this book- rich with imagery and language and interesting characters, it flowed through the lives of people I came to care about. I was reminded throughout of the captivating, earthy characters I met in the works of Erdrich and Marquez. I slowed my reading toward the end, not wanting it to be over, but found the last words moved me, leaving me feeling satisfied and expanded.

Good work mommy!.......2006-05-30

I am so happy for my mom!! I think she did a splendid job. I really liked the way she described Ayela with such detail;from the wild girl in "Parasols" to the wise old widow in "The Marvolous Yellow Cage". This is truly wonderful work of fiction! Hands down!!

Forbes' novel works.......2006-05-29

Charlotte Forbes' debut novel enthralls with quaint metaphor, showing that cows and coffee are much more than food and drink, sharing puzzle pieces of the beautiful Ayela Linde through the stories of a medley of characters, including grandchildren and teenage accomplices in debauchery. Hiding in the nooks of this novel, clothed in Forbes' mesmerizing fabric of words, revealing itself inelucatably, is the pungent truth that life is what you make of it. Forbes leaves her readers desperately wondering about the siestas between stories, and sneaking looks at the inside of the cover in hopes to get a glimpse of the face that launched these wonderful words.

Average customer rating:

Wake Up and Good Night,
Charlotte Zolotow
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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Calamity Kate (The Good Time Library)
Terry Deary
Manufacturer: Xs Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Good Charlotte;: A Butterfield Square story

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Good Charlotte;: A Butterfield Square story
Carol (Beach) York
Manufacturer: Watts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Wake Up and Good Night: Twelve Stories by Charlotte Zolotow

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Wake Up and Good Night: Twelve Stories by Charlotte Zolotow
Charlotte Zolotow
Manufacturer: Caedmon Audio Cassette
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

Average customer rating:

Good for Evil and Other Stories
A.L.O.E. [Charlotte Maria Tucker]
Manufacturer: Gall & Inglis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J2KZ8G

The story of a hospital, (Story and pageant series)

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The story of a hospital, (Story and pageant series)
Mary V Glenton
Manufacturer: Church Missions Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0008ATIQY

Book Description

Based on the classic History of Broadcasting in the United States, Tube of Plenty represents the fruit of several decades' labor. When Erik Barnouw--premier chronicler of American broadcasting and a participant in the industry for fifty years--first undertook the project of recording its history, many viewed it as a light-weight literary task concerned mainly with "entertainment" trivia. Indeed, trivia such as that found in quiz programs do appear in the book, but Barnouw views them as part of a complex social tapestry that increasingly defines our era. To understand our century, we must fully comprehend the evolution of television and its newest extraordinary offshoots. With this fact in mind, Barnouw's new edition of Tube of Plenty explores the development and impact of the latest dramatic phases of the communications revolution. Since the first publication of this invaluable history of television and how it has shaped, and been shaped by, American culture and society, many significant changes have occurred. Assessing the importance of these developments in a new chapter, Barnouw specifically covers the decline of the three major networks, the expansion of cable and satellite television and film channels such as HBO (Home Box Office), the success of channels catering to special audiences such as ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) and MTV (Music Television), and the arrival of VCRs in America's living rooms. He also includes an appendix entitled "questions for a new millennium," which will challenge readers not only to examine the shape of television today, but also to envision its future.

Customer Reviews:

Essential for understanding the development of TV as a business and technology.......2006-08-09

This is a generous single-volume condensation of Erik Barnouw's seminal three-volume HISTORY OF BROADCASTING IN THE UNITED STATES. It is not a perfect book--took much is left out for that--but it does provide any student of American TV with an essential overview of many aspects in the birth and development of the medium. Despite the great length of the book, even in the single-volume abridgment, there are some curious omissions, but the strong points of the book are very strong indeed and make the book one of the crucial volumes for any personal library on television.

Barnouw tells in wonderful (and wonderfully entertaining) detail the development of the technologies that allowed the existence of radio and television, as well as the economic realities that turned it into the massive business that it has long been. He also explores the political aspects of the medium, both in terms of serving as part of the Fourth Estate by providing oversight to government actions and policies, and the erosion of that role as right wing groups have undermined that role (Barnouw anticipates the ultimate melding of right wing politics and corporate owned media, while at the same time crying crocodile tears over the mythical liberal media). He is also exceptional at detailing what kinds of shows arose at what time and what the constituent factors were. Even if one has a pretty decent idea of what was happening on TV at what time, Barnouw will both broaden and deepen one's understanding of the medium.

Nonetheless, while this is an outstanding book, one can't help but be struck by what was left out. For instance, there is no mention of a large number of seminal television shows. Although one of the most popular shows on TV in the fifties, THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW with Silvers as Sgt. Bilko got no mention at all. THE TWILIGHT ZONE was one of the best-written and iconic shows of all time, yet it is not discussed at all. Though I was never a fan of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, it was nearly as popular as THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, which receives extensive notice. One recognizes that there are time restrictions, but these omissions are significant. There is also an amazing neglect of British Television shows. SECRET AGENT MAN aka DANGER MAN received no mention nor did the massively influential MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS.

This all highlights the book's strength. It is far weaker in discussing the aesthetics of TV than examining it as an industry and as a technology. The cut off point for the book is the late eighties, yet not a single word deals with the enormous growth of television as an art form in that decade. The most important show that decade by far was HILL STREET BLUES. Virtually every series (what Barnouw would call a telefilm) in the history of prime time television prior to HILL STREET BLUES adhered to the episodic format, each series consisting of a series of self-contained segments that would resolve all of that week's action and then be forgotten by the next week and the next episode. Some prime time soap operas did use the serial format, with the action spilling over from week to week, but none of these enjoyed any critical acclaim and were at best contained rather simplistic plots. HILL STREET BLUES, on the other hand, though it tried to resolve one story arc each week, contained multiple story arcs and possessed a remarkably complex narrative style. This revolutionized television narrative and made possible subsequent shows as various as ST. ELSEWHERE, THE X-FILES, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, 24, THE GILMORE GIRLS, FARSCAPE, ER, THE SOPRANOS, SIX FEET UNDER, LOST, and VERONICA MARS (the list could go on and on and on). In other words, almost everything good on TV can be said to have evolved out of what HILL STREET BLUES wrought. Yet, Barnouw does not mention HILL STREET BLUES even once. The development of the multiple story arc series was the greatest aesthetic development not merely of the eighties, but one of the two or three most important developments ever, yet Barnouw simply doesn't notice.

But for understanding the history of television as a business and the technology it is rooted in, Barnouw's book stands alone. Most people imagine the story of television beginning in the fifties or perhaps the late forties, but Barnouw begins in the late 19th century with Marconi. This isn't just a book that any more-than-casual student of TV ought to read; it is one they MUST read.

This is an exceptional telling of the story of television........1998-09-30

Erik Barnouw tells the story of television from the beginning. It does not begin with Uncle Miltie and I Love Lucy, in fact Milton Berle doesn't appear until page 117. This is a story of television which begins seven decades earlier, when the first piece of the puzzle which would become television was unveiled: the telephone. This, Barnouw recognizes, is the birth of television, because it fired the imaginations of scientists and engineers, artists and entrepreneurs, and, perhaps most importantly, boys plowing fields with their horse teams.

The stories of the young geniuses like Marconi and Farnsworth capture the imagination, and Barnouw highlights these heros' struggles in the wars waged by RCA against each of them. Greater attention is due Edwin Howard Armstrong, another young genius who was crushed by the monstrous corporation, but Barnouw gives Armstrong more than most. By the time RCA premieres television service in 1939, the reader understands that television has already had a tremendous impact on America.

Television's greatest moments are here, and Barnouw does a excellent job of devoting appropriate amounts of time to each. The author recognizes how interwoven television has become in our society and some chapter breaks are measured by historical events, rather than by eras of television. The end of World War II and the assassination of JFK not only marked shifts in our nation's history, but in television as well. What followed were not historical events, as before TV, but media events.

The book also features a very useful and interesting 11-page chronology, an excellent biographical notes section, and an exceptional indexes, all of which make this tremendously accessible. It is tremendously compelling reading. Don't pick it up before your favorite show, because you won't be able to put it down in time!

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Tube Of Plenty The Evolution Of American Television
Barnouw
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JCBDVY

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Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television
Erik Barnouw
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K1V6GQ

Average customer rating:
Tube of Plenty the Evolution of American Television
Erik Barnouw
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKA96Q

Average customer rating:
Tube of Plenty: Evolution of American Television: The Evolution of American Television
Erik Barnouw
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKIYUO

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Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television
Erik Barnouw
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKJCNW

Average customer rating:
Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television
Erik Barnouw
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKEID6

Average customer rating:

I'm a beginner in basic programming

Not much to choose from

Very Useful

Excellent Synopsis

Confused, rather random description

OpenOffice.org Macros Explained
Andrew Pitonyak
Manufacturer: Hentzenwerke Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1930919514

Book Description

Providing complete and thorough coverage of macro programming in OpenOffice.org, this guide teaches users to create their own macros and to understand their underlying structure. An introduction to the creation and management of macros in OpenOffice is presented, and each function and command is described. Specific techniques to perform a variety of commonly requested functions are provided, including actions common to all applications in the OpenOffice.org suite, such as printing or saving files, as well as those specific to the individual application—Write, Calc, Impress, and Draw. Numerous examples and explanations demonstrate proper techniques and discuss known problems and solutions. The underlying data structure is discussed, and techniques are introduced to evaluate OpenOffice objects, facilitating the use of returned objects in the absence of sufficient documentation by the original programming team.

Customer Reviews:

I'm a beginner in basic programming.......2007-03-31

The book is good structured, easy for learning also for persons as me that haven't a good knnowledge of pc programming, but also for those having deep knowledge and pc programming as daily job

Not much to choose from.......2007-01-09

If you want to program OOo macros, then this is about the only book on the market. OOo macro programming is definitely not trivial, therefore, neither is this book. It is big. There are a lot of code snippets and examples, but you will still probably need to go the Macros and API section of the OOo online forum for help when it actually comes time to write your macro(s).

I found the available downloadable PDF to be invaluable when finding specific examples in the book that dealt with a specific call or method. I could search that for a term, and find where is was used in a code example in the printed book. Instructions on downloading the PDF are in the book.

Though the PDF is supposed to be an update of the book, I found no differences.

Documentation for open source products is universally poor, so one NEEDS a book like this. It is value for the money spent.

Very Useful.......2006-02-16

I've been playing with openoffice macros for several months after using some VBA over the past few years. Initally it was very difficult. I found this book to be very helpful. The material is DENSE - you will be frustrated if you try to read it cover to cover. My suggestion for those who want to learn OO macros is download the StarOffice manuals (free), download the Xray macro (free), start with Calc macros (easiest) and read the pertinent parts of this book. OO macros are harder than MS Office in the beginning, but I've found that it is now EASIER for me to write a macro in OO.

Excellent Synopsis.......2005-12-14

The first eight chapters provide numerous working examples of the core language; including features that I did not find in the help. Numerous bugs and work arounds are demonstrated. New features introduced in OOo 2.0 are mentioned in the text. It might have been helpful in the file section, if the author had provided a reference to the SimpleFileAccess service.

The Developer's Guide for the OOo API is over 1000 pages long. It is, therefore, not a surprise that this book does not provide exhausitive coverage for the internal API. When a topic is covered, however, there are typically complete working examples and descriptive text for the topic. For example, I had trouble inserting and naming my tables until I noticed that the book includes a tip that a text table needs to be named after it is inserted into the document.

Not all topics are covered exhaustively. Again, considering text tables, no method is provided to individually enumerate all cells in a text table. Numerous complicated text table examples are provided, however, including methods to select and copy entire text tables. Although, the author does not provide a solution for every problem that I have needed to solve, there is generally a pointer along the way and a simpler example to get me started. For example, I read about the current controller in the "UNO and the Dispatcher" section. The controller is then used to select things such as tables and cells, but I had to figure out for myself that I could also use the controller to select an entire row or column. The simpler a problem, the more likely it is to be solved.

The book was published before Base was available and it provides no coverage for the Databse capability built into OOo.

In the section on Universal Network Objects, the author provides examples demonstrating how to create and use your own data types in OOo Basic (this should have been in the help. This section also provides simple definitions for things such as Interface, Service, and Context.

After buying the book, be certain to obtain the PDF from the publisher, this is one of the few books that provides the PDF. The PDF is very useful for searching through the text. Although the examples are all available from the publisher as well, I found that it was usually just as easy to copy them from the PDF file to where I need them.

Confused, rather random description.......2005-06-29

Sadly, this book suffers from a common malady: it explains the simple stuff well, but does a bad job with more complex material. IMHO this is the exact *opposite* of what is needed here. OOo macros have the potential to be powerful, but good luck figuring this out from the book. The first 8 chapters do an adequate job of describing the core BASIC language (not very useful, since OOo online help does that). However, the complexities of the UNO and the OOo object model in general are very poorly described.

The book suffers badly from a lack of diagrams -- there are none! So figuring out the object hierarchy is left as an exercise of reverse-engineering the text. To make this harder, the text jumps all over the place, sometimes talking about one object, sometimes another. Core concepts like "object", "interface" and "service" are left with fuzzy descriptions and are used erroneously in many places, leaving the distinct impression that the author is himself unsure of the meanings.

I set myself an exercise to create a macro to insert and format a table at the current cursor position. Finding the necessary information in this book was an exercise in frustration. With no clear object model and muddy text its unclear when you are dealing with an object, a service, a property or a structure. In the end I was able to partly get what I wanted, but it took endless experiments to try to overcome the lack of clarity in the text.

Overall, this book reads like a rather poorly organized cookbook. I'm giving it 2 stars only because it has no real competition and if you invest a great deal of time reading between the lines and studying the examples, *and* trying to make sense of the text, you might be able to create a few useful OOo macros.

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