price：$15.99
Adamant Media Corporation
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Kim - Audio Book) 『"Kim" is a timeless classic and the unabridged audio book allowed me to drive while re-living what I've read a couple of times previously. The narration was peerless and the story, of course, is a classic.』
(Kim) 『The son of an Irish soldier is orphaned in 1800s India and instead of living in an orphanage or British military school he opts to live as a street urchin going on wild adventures mainly with a Tibetan Llama in search of a sacred river. Kipling lived in India for several years and was familiar with the landscape and cultures of India so he does a good job of painting a vivid picture of the place and time. Overall this was a fun book to read.』
(A work of absolute genius) 『Yes, when all is said and done, And they compare the men To save themselves who wore a hat With the men who burned to black from all the sun, O! the lonesome boatman who swings round and round by the flag post Of his boat well travelled, Would sing to the same sun, That in each man turned white, Lay a man turned black, And in each man turned black, Lies a man turned white, And while the white man, Who shouts and screams and exploreth The innards of his black brother, Never comes out, The black man inside his white brother, Swims up, When all is said and done, And then the white man, who sees his black brother gently slither out from his mouth, like the humble Poorvasa from the mouth of the great lord Siva, It is then, sings the boatman, that the white man, Sits down under the shade of a great tree that giveth life, it is then that the white man wails, and cries, and weeps, and laments, and says: What have I done! For you were my brother, shaped the same, who speaketh like me, ate like I did, fell in love like I did, but just so your skin was of a darker shade, my brother, I ate you, and then you swam in all my acid, and you screamed and shouted while you melted, but still, my black brother, you inched out of me and completed my song! The west may be west, and the east may be east, but, my black brother, finally we shall meet, finally we shall meet.
』
(Bloody awful) 『The Times (of London) recently had a list of 100 books people should read, but don't. Kipling's _Kim_ was on the list. Having a passing familiarity with Kipling (his poetry I find a bit offensive, his The Jungle Book (Unabridged Classics) was fun, though), I thought I'd give this a try. I was terribly disappointed.
First, the language was overwrought - even for late 19th century writing, Kipling is over the top. An excerpt: "Thou wast wondering there in thy spirit what manner of thing thy soul might be. The seizure came of a sudden. I know. Who should know but I? Wither goest thou?" This wasn't vernacular English even in Kipling's day, and frankly was too much - particularly considering the social classes of the speakers. I made allowances for the pro-imperialist, pro-British (and vehemently anti-Indian) tone of the book given the author and time period, although I can see how this would rankle some. The story is also liberally peppered with colloquialisms in Hindi, Urdu and perhaps other languages; while this gives some flavor to the story, it may be a distraction to some. (I sort of enjoyed it.) The greatest obstacle, however, was the glacial pace of the book. Kim - Kimball O'Hara - is the orphaned son of a British soldier who was raised as a native. While guiding a Buddhist lama across India, he comes across his father's old regiment, who take it upon themselves to educate Kim (a "proper" British education, that is), and recognizing his skills, to recruit him as a spy in "the Great Game."
This is all well and good, and in many respects creates the formula for the "espinonage" genre - but the story moved so slowly towards those ends, it was all I could do to muster the willpower to plow through chapter after chapter of young Kim running away from his British school to hang out with the locals, to be pulled back to school, to run away again ... all the while, of course, Kim is learning "trade craft": disguise, customs, observing details, learning about human nature. It made for painful reading.
Why three stars, then? For all its shortcomings and the issues I had in reading through it, Kipling certainly celebrates India: the various cultures, the sounds, sights, flavours and rich diversity are detailed here and make for a veritable smorgasbord of what colonial India must have been like. The racial undertones, its "burden of empire" and the strict class differences (among Indians as well as English) aside, it is apparent how deeply attached to India Kipling was. This was the book's only redeeming feature, albiet a mighty one. With that said, I can't recommend it. If you have a tooth for Kipling, I'd recommend his stories in The Jungle Book, which, incidentially, are very different from the Disney production. (No suprise there, I am sure.)』
(An Irish Orphan in India in the 19th century) 『This is sort of an Indian James Bond story with a real holy man guru as the second hero. Kim is Kimball O'Hara whose Dad was in an Irish regiment in India when he died. He left his son as a street orphan in India. Kim finds friends is strange places from a Buddhist lama to an Afghanistani horse trader and a British spy master. He is enlisted in the British Secret Service by those who should be trying to bring him up right? Thus, in the service of what is today thought to be evil as the British Empire's colonialization of India, he wonders as the servant of the lama doing a secret mission against the Russians. What I liked most about this book is the look at Indian multiculturalism in the 19th century. 』 『Kipling's famous tale of India features Kimball O'Hara, an Irish orphan raised in India. After travelling with a Tibetan lama, Kim is sent to school, but continues to travel with the lama and aids the English Secret Service. The novel is especially well-loved for its depictions of India.』 『One of the particular pleasures of readingKimis the full range of emotion, knowledge, and experience that Rudyard Kipling gives his complex hero. Kim O'Hara, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier stationed in India, is neither innocent nor victimized. Raised by an opium-addicted half-caste woman since his equally dissolute father's death, the boy has grown up in the streets of Lahore:
Though he was burned black as any native; though he spoke the vernacular by preference, and his mother-tongue in a clipped uncertain sing-song; though he consorted on terms of perfect equality with the small boys of the bazar; Kim was white--a poor white of the very poorest.
From his father and the woman who raised him, Kim has come to believe that a great destiny awaits him. The details, however, are a bit fuzzy, consisting as they do of the woman's addled prophecies of "'a great Red Bull on a green field, and the Colonel riding on his tall horse, yes, and'--dropping into English--'nine hundred devils.'"
In the meantime, Kim amuses himself with intrigues, executing "commissions by night on the crowded housetops for sleek and shiny young men of fashion." His peculiar heritage as a white child gone native, combined with his "love of the game for its own sake," makes him uniquely suited for a bigger game. And when, at last, the long-awaited colonel comes along, Kim is recruited as a spy in Britain's struggle to maintain its colonial grip on India. Kipling was, first and foremost, a man of his time; born and raised in India in the 19th century, he was a fervid supporter of the Raj. Nevertheless, his portrait of India and its people is remarkably sympathetic. Yes, there is the stereotypical Westernized Indian Babu Huree Chander with his atrocious English, but there is also Kim's friend and mentor, the Afghani horse trader Mahub Ali, and the gentle Tibetan lama with whom Kim travels along the Grand Trunk Road. The humanity of his characters consistently belies Kipling's private prejudices, and raisesKimabove the mere ripping good yarn to the level of a timeless classic.--Alix Wilber』
Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (good seller) 『I received the book quickly and it was in the condition the seller described it as. Thank you.』
(A prescription) 『Being already mesmerized by the great Toni Morrison, I was quite surprised to literally "fall" on this book (found in a box of free books). I'd say that Morrison is a pre-Larsen, but then, I may be finding out that these black ladies who write - so well - are very preocuppied with their race. Obviously, it's allright with me as it is exactly that fact that interests me very much. I learn in novels because it is part-reality, part-fiction. (Please don't blame a white French-Canadian man for that.Curiosity doesn't kill this cat) I began with Passing, as the story appealed to me. And I simply loved it. Never knew that passing existed (innocent me again) and this makes a large subject to cover. This, Larsen does delicately. And with great impact. Next, Quicksand. I read it with much attention but got a bit lost towards the end. Something about a lack of proper closure for this novel made me feel like the author lost some interest in it or didn't know herself how to complete it. But, she does make her point clear. (all that already pointed out in the intro, that should have been put at the end of the book, not at the beginning. Read it last too...). A search on the net made me find out that Larsen is being studied in many different schools in America. This kind of prescribed reading may disgust some people (like us here who all had to read The Tin Flute, by Gabrielle Roy) but bear in mind that teachers makes us read the real stuff. I invite you too go for it, especially Passing, that is really a great novel... with much to make us think about. 』
(Eh...) 『I think 3 is generous. I absolutely hated Quicksand, although I did appreciate the fact that Larsen's main character wasn't exactly likable, I think that was a different unusual approach, she's not exactly the ideal protagonist which is awesome. But as far as the story goes, its so reminiscent of the tragic mulatto to me and I'm pretty sick of that stereotype. Passing was better, but that too remained true to the tragic mulatto frame. It was no masterpiece.』
(Amazing Narrative and Multi-Faceted Topics) 『Passing is an amazing narrative. A key to the success of the narrative in Nella Larsen's Passing is the use of a limited third-person narrator, because it allows the villain to hide. Through the voice of Irene Redfield, characterizations get meted out as she sees fit, and only by Irene's portraits of others can we arrive at her own characteristics and motivations. As Irene describes and interacts with others, she unwittingly betrays her shrewd plans. Whether done subconsciously or not, her subtle actions and inactions tattle on her, yet she keeps the narrative vague enough that she comes off as a victim of Clare. Irene paints herself as a sheep and Clare as a wolf, when in fact the opposite is true. The affair that presumably takes place between Clare and Brian seems to catch Irene off-guard.
Keep an eye on Irene.
Amazing narrative on several levels. The crossing of domains in this novella is outstanding. Because Irene has control of the narrative, the childhood events and characterizations indict Clare as untrustworthy instead of as a misfortunate child who overcomes great obstacles. This distrust raises questions later on when Clare all but moves into Irene's house, and Irene doesn't protest for an "obscure reason." 』
(2 nicely paired novellas) 『Quicksand is one of my favorite fictional stories. In truth, the word "fiction" can not adequately touch upon the essence of this novel. Helga Green's biographical information is nearly identical to that of Nella Larson, and in Helga we, the readers, see a reflection of Ms. Larsen.
Helga is a heroine, tragic not because of her fate, but of her resignation to her fate and inability to rise above it. Larsen realizes the bonds of racism and sexism that held steadfastedly in place, whether it's in Harlem or Copenhagen. A reader may either sympathesize with Helga's plight or sneer at her stupidity. But perhaps that's what Larson wants to portray. Sometimes one is irrational when it comes to the matters of the heart or the lack of. Even the most intelligent of us. We would gasp in surprise if the same fate fell upon others but would seem resigned when we are in the same situation.
Passing is considered by many critics as Larsen's "lesser novella." True, it is not as riveting as Quicksand, but it explores deeper issues of gender and the color barrier. While in Quicksand the relationship between Helga and Anne is at best lightly touched upon, the one between Clare and Irene is more complex and poignant.
Throughout the novel(la), there is a tinge of homoeroticism, if you read between the lines. This is a story, not so much of the tragic mulatta (even though tragedy tends to overshadow all else in Larsen's work), nor merely of the phenomenon of passing for white, but of two women's exploration of their own gender, sexual, and racial roles in the tumulous society of upper middle-class Harlem.
Both stories written in the early 1930s period, this book features Larsen at her best. Even though the endings to both are quite anti-climatic, one should find in her stories enough food for thought and a quite thorough insight into female African American conflicts and culture during the Renaissance era.』 『"Quicksand" (1928) is the first novel to give a voice to the sexual desires of a black woman. Helga Crane, the book's protagonist, is trapped in the conflict between an active and a passive sexual behaviour, between sexual fufilment and middle-class respectability. Conflicts of race and sex even a religious conversion cannot resolve. "Passing", written a year later, is overtly about black people who pass for white, but in a veiled way it also is the desire of one woman for another - a new and daring theme for the writing of the time. The eroticism and sexuality that Nella Larsen was only able to whisper has in recent times been spoken loud and clear by Gayl Jones, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange and many other black women writers who recognize Nella Larsen as a pioneer and inspiration.』
Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Yeah... I'll have to get back to you....) 『Ok, so this was a required text for my religion class. We're past midterms and the professor hasn't even mentioned it in class yet. I didn't start reading it because he tends to skip around and I want to follow along with his assignments. I have no idea what it's even about yet, so I will repost my thoughts on the book once I crack it :) I'm giving it a 5 because it is in superior conditon! Other than a couple of scratches on the back cover it looks like it's brand new from one of those fancy over-priced chain bookstores. green_earth_books mega mega thank yous!』
(A Good Book about a Good Book) 『Yes I had to use that pun. Because it's TRUE!
I love Peter J. Gomes, and he is rapidly becoming one of my preaching heros. He has such compassion for the biblical texts and for those that read them. Inside this book you will understand what the Bible is and where it came from.
Of course, a book about the Good Book would not be complete without an analysis of how it has been used, or mis-used, in the past centuries and today. Such issues as slavery, alcohol prohibition, women clergy, and homosexuality are addressed. I particularly found the chapter on temperance to be really interesting for the scare tactics that were involved, and the fear of those "Whiskeypalians".
Get this book!』
(This book is very well written.........) 『....and I'm sure that Dr. Gomes is a decent man, who loves God, and The Bible. Still, I think he misses the mark. He holds that The Bible is a great book, worthy of study, but not necessarily the infallible Word of God; some of us disagree.
The main controversy centers around Dr. Gomes' defense of homosexuality, asserting that The Bible is merely condemning non-consensual sex; numerous denominations, including Dr. Gomes' own, hold homosexual conduct to be a mortal sin, with the sinner in need of Christ's forgiveness. The Bible speaks against some forms of consensual heterosexual sex, too [Exodus 20:14]. Of course, EVERYBODY is against rape; Dr. Gomes is setting up a straw man. A good friend and co-worker is a Christian Conservative Republican lesbian [life is filled with contradictions]; she holds that a close reading of The Bible only condemns male homosexuality.
I gave this book two stars, instead of one; as I said, it is very well written, and well organized. Also, Dr Gomes is quite right about some things; people in this country are possessed of Biblical ignorance to an absolutely appalling degree...in some of my other reviews, I've spoken about historical ignorance; this is FAR worse. In fact, there will be hell to pay someday. The main good point is Dr. Gomes frequent encouragement to read The Bible, and learn for ourselves; to that, I can but say AMEN.』
(Great insight!) 『Being a person who is very much bothered by the idea that the Bible should be read literally, with no attention paid to the time, place, and culture in which it was written and in which it is being read, this book gave me hope. The author really encourages us to pay attention to the spirit (and the Spirit) and not necessarily "the letter". It was not exactly a breeze for me to read because there was so much I wanted to note and remember. I plan to reread the book with a highlighter pen in hand. I highly recommend the book to anyone who is interested in understanding what the Bible really has to say. The Bible is not static. In fact, if it is not a "living" word for us today, in our culture, there's not much point in reading it more than once. But if you're looking for the spirit in which it was written, you may wish to continue studying the Bible, as well as "The Good Book: Reading...".』
(The Bible and Homosexuality) 『If you want to understand what the Bible says about homosexuality, this reference book will explain it in the context of today's society. 』 『Why are so many intelligent and compassionate people embarrassed to say they find wisdom and comfort in the Bible? Why do so many seekers turn to New Age religionsinstead of the Bible? And how as a society did we come to cede biblical interpretation to those who would use the Bible as a tool for division and exclusion?
In this groundbreaking book, Peter Gomes shows how to read the Bibleand what it says about the topics that concern us all, including joy suffering, evil, and goodness. He also explains what the Bible really says about women, gays and lesbians, and people of color. With compassion, humor, and insight, he gives readers the tools and understanding they need to make the ancient wisdom of the Bible a dynamic part of their modern lives.』
『Biblical studies have historically been consigned to theological schools and church groups. InThe Good Book, Peter Gomes, pastor of Harvard University's Memorial Church and a professor of theology, has written a vivid, common sense and wise analysis of what the Bible means for us today. As an African American gay man, Gomes is interested in re-viewing the biblical passages on sexuality and race, butThe Good Bookis much more than a revisionist look at controversial biblical passages. Gomes is interested in rediscovering how the Bible can find a place in our emotional and political lives, as well as in our religious beliefs.』
price：$4.59
Seal Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Support transgender liberation!) 『For readers interested in contemporary transgender history in the United States, this short and sweet book is an excellent introduction to the topic, covering all of the major political struggles, victories, backlash, and debates from the years just following World War II to the present day. In this book, you'll learn about important but little known transgender protests such as the riots outside Cooper's Donuts in LA in 1959, Dewey's lunch counter in Philadelphia in 1965, and the Compton's Cafeteria in San Francisco in 1966, as well as the famous Stonewall Riots of 1968. Along the way, we meet transgender activists like Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, Leslie Feinberg, Dean Spade, Imani Henry, Riki Wilchins, Lou Sullivan, Kate Bornstein, Beth Elliott, and many others, and political organizations like S.T.A.R., Transexual Menace, and the Queens' Liberation Front. In addition, Susan Stryker explores the transgender movement's relationship to feminism and gay and lesbian activism, discussing subjects like feminist transphobia amongst second-wave feminists, third-wave feminist inclusion, the impact of queer theory on the transgender movement, and the genderqueer phenomenon. Thank you Susan Stryker for this wonderful celebration of transgender history. It was both a joy to read and very educational!』
(Yay for Seal Press and Susan Stryker!) 『Just when it seems like more and more publishers are publishing fewer and fewer books, and even less and less queer titles, Seal Press persists---thank goodness!!
Having had the chance on a few occasions to hear Stryker speak at various events, and being familiar with other work of hers, I wasn't surprised by her ability to engage me as a reader, or by the overall readability of Transgender History.
True, when you cram "history" (trans or not) into 153 pages, there are several things that you can focus on, and many other things you cannot. But, as primer/introductory text, Transgender History has a lot to offer.
People will certainly be drawn to the first chapter, "An Introduction to Transgender Terms and Concepts." While I am much more hesitant to provide my students with readings that present a list of terms and definitions (preferring instead that they encounter them in context, often in contradictory contexts that reveal their nuances), a general reading public will certainly appreciate the way in which Stryker is able to succinctly give them a working understanding of so many terms.
The second chapter, "A Hundred Years of Transgender History" is an amazing condensation of a lot of information. I have previously encountered much of the information that Stryker presents, but to have it all gathered here and in less than thirty pages is a feat! I particularly appreciated Stryker's attention to the ways in which medical science (and legislation over it) has increasingly played a central role in our everyday lives.
Chapter 4, "The Difficult Decades" highlights Transgender History's usefulness for contemporary Women's Studies and Gender Studies courses.
Most importantly, throughout the book there is a strong focus on critically analyzing the role of state policies and institutions in controlling those who go against social norms. At times, these moments may be too subtle for novice readers, but the book definitely has a lot to offer.』
(Well done!) 『Written well for general information as well as utilizing it in the classroom. It is a very good resource for basic understanding. Wish that they had printed the material in a larger print format for the book.』 『
Covering American transgender history from the mid-twentieth century to today,Transgender Historytakes a chronological approach to the subject of transgender history, with each chapter covering major movements, writings, and events. Chapters cover the transsexual and transvestite communities in the years following World War II; trans radicalism and social change, which spanned from 1966 with the publication ofThe Transsexual Phenomenon,and lasted through the early 1970s; the mid-’70s to 1990—the era of identity politics and the changes witnessed in trans circles through these years; and the gender issues witnessed through the ’90s and ’00s.
Transgender Historyincludes informative sidebars highlighting quotes from major texts and speeches in transgender history and brief biographies of key players, plus excerpts from transgender memoirs and discussion of treatments of transgenderism in popular culture.
Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!) 『If I were writing this review on paper, it would be freckled with damp spots from my tears.
I just finished "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh" not more than 5 minutes ago, and yes, I am crying. Why? Because I will miss all of these characters.
Where did Chabon go right here?
Economy, the novel wasn't overwritten.
The novel also was heavy on the "show" ... and light on exposition. It was written in scenes, giving it a cinematic flair.
The main characters were multi-dimensional. While I was angry with one character, I was in love with another, while I was rooting for yet another. The characters were so real that anyone will be able to identify with them because they all have to make tough choices whether they want to or not. I think the subject matter of the book just so happens to lend itself to that sort of gripping soul searching and tough decision making. But none the less, that inner conflict is what pushes this novel forward.
The novel also has depth, in the same way "Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro has depth; meaning there are several subplots that don't distract from the main storyline, but they add richness and scope to the novel.
There was the fabulous effect of passage of time. By the end of this novel, you will feel like you have lived an unforgettable summer in Pittsburgh that you'll want to go back to over and over again.
I highly recommend the novel, and I certainly will happily delve into its pages again, and soon!』
(Shedding A Little Light On The Mysteries) 『Shedding A Little Light On The Mysteries ... In the summer of 1991, on August 18th, at the SEEDS OF SOUND (Rock Mount Trashmore!) Ecology Benefit Concert held in Lowell, Massachusetts by the banks of the Merrimack River, a trio up on stage by the name of The Croutons performed three songs, all by The Grateful Dead: China Cat Sunflower, Scarlet Begonias, and Franklin's Tower. Who would have known back then that this performance would have been so prophetic? ... There are a lot of `Cloud Factory' towers in the city of Lowell, MA - home of capitalist, industrial revolution in the western hemisphere, and now an urban national park full of renovated mills with giant smokestacks sticking up into the sky along the horizon line (See the movie: The Invention of Lying!). Michael Chabon is a hugely successful and talented writer. This is a fact, as well as an undeniable certainty. The author himself, humbly, attributes his success to innate talent, disciplined hard work, and a little luck. If only all creative people with such gifted talent were as diligent as he in their artistic pursuits! The real Claire in The Mysteries of Pittsburgh once said to me that it was actually she who taught Michael Chabon how to write, being a year older than him. I find this hard to believe after having read this book and seen this movie adaptation of it. Having also seen (but not read) Wonder Boys, I am absolutely certain that Michael Chabon's gifts as writer were innate and formidable, and if anything, the real Claire (a fellow, mutable, communicative Gemini like himself) only may have had a helping hand as a literary midwife in encouraging his unique and original literary talent. If so, that was a good thing. This book has a passage in it on pages 77 and 78 that is referenced, tangentially, in the movie and which is all about alcoholics. It says: "In my innocent cynicism I didn't see that Cleveland was not trying to look tough; he just didn't care. Which is to say, he knew what he was, and was, if not content with, at least resigned to knowing that he was an alcoholic. And an alcoholic is nothing if not sensitive to the proper time and place for his next drink; his death is one of the most carefully planned and prepared for events in the world. Cleveland simply foresaw his imminent need for another beer." ... WO! ... I mean, how old was Michael Chabon when he wrote this passage, 24, 25? For a 24 or 25 year old, first time novelist to come up with such a profoundly insightful line is the work of pure genius at best, and at worst, shows incredible insight into the psyche of alcoholics. It's possible that the real Cleveland (also a friend of the real Claire) may have actually verbalized this characteristic to Michael when they were buddies together at Carnegie-Mellon, or that Michael came to this conclusion about alcoholics on his own by simply observing their habits and missteps. Who can say for sure? Nevertheless, not only is this passage one of the most profound in the book, it is one of the most profound passages I have ever read in any book - fiction or school tectbook. It shows great understanding of the psychology of alcoholism from a perspective that is unusually and keenly insightful. Even sociology and criminology (after all, suicide is technically a felony and a serious crime) text books in college do not get this deep into the behavior of substance abusers. ... Also, how prophetic in regards to the actual death of the real Cleveland, who was a serious alcoholic found dead in his bedroom in Pittsburgh, circa 2001, with an empty bottle of vodka on the floor, an empty bottle of pills on the floor, and a picture of the real Claire by his bedside. I mean, the whole thing blows the mind! Is it possible that the real Cleveland, who was heterosexual (unlike he is depicted in the movie), was influenced by what he had read in Michael Chabon's `fictitious' (Kerouacian) book about what he and all of his friends in Pittsburg had experienced while living on or near Squirrel Hill and the Polish section of the city where Andy Warhol had lived at one time? Maybe? Ya think? I wonder if Michael Chabon himself has ever given a thought to this? I mean, the prophetic nature of it all is astounding! I was one of the first people to watch this movie when it came out on DVD, having just recently read the book a week before for the first time in order to prepare myself for the movie. Also, I just recently purchased, in hardcover, Michael Chabon's latest book - his first book of non fiction - entitled, Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son, and I wonder if he mentions in there anything about this and the death of the real Cleveland. The real Cleveland, obviously, is the hero and major character of this book and this movie - and rightly so. He had a larger than life personality, in a way, and from everything I've been told was quite a charming, humorous, and interesting character with a great gift for conversation. The real Cleveland did go out to the family bungalow on the lake in order to get away from it all. The real Cleveland had a father who was gay, and a mother who killed herself. The real Cleveland supplied a lot of literary fodder for Michael Chabon's first novel.
As for the real Claire, she really does love Joni Mitchell and the films of Franco Zeffirelli (who is gay as well as a devout Catholic). She really does love Romeo and Juliet, Brother Sun - Sister Moon, and Jesus of Nazareth, and she really does idolize John and Yoko, The Beatles, Saint Francis and Claire (where the name comes from, obviously!), and Jesus and Mary Magdeline. That Michael Chabon makes reference to some of this in his book is quite revealing. I have seen, with my own eyes, the actual record albums he mentions in the novel! What he does not mention is that the real Art's real father took the real Claire out to one of the fancy restaurants in the movie, and told her she was to no longer have anything to do with his son, and that he was taking his son out of Carnegie-Mellon and enrolling him, instead - away from her - into the University of Pittsburgh. This was done, according to the book, because she suffered from "dementia praecox" (page 10), but according to the real Claire, she was told that it was done because she was Catholic and Michael was Jewish. It is true that all of Michael's books seem to heavily reflect themes of Jewish culture, that he married and has children with a Jewish woman (just like his father wanted him to), and he is involved in the Peace Now movement in Israel (a very good thing, indeed.) So, did the real Art in the movie and in the book break away from the influence of his father, or did he voluntarily embrace that agenda? Only Michael Chabon himself knows the answers to all thse questions. Another confusing aspect to the book as well as the movie that needs to be cleared up is the relationship between Art and Arthur Lecompte. The real Arthur Lecompte is gay, and not bisexual, and the real Arthur Lecompte was also a friend of the real Claire's and the real Cleveland's. The movie combines the characters or Arthur and Cleveland into one person. Also, the book and the movie seem to bifurcate the real character of Claire into two different people. Whether or not there is a real Phlox Lombardi and a real Jane Bellwether, I do not know. But I do know this: the two characters of Phlox and Jane are totally and respectfully representative of the two sides of the complex character of the real Claire. It's almost as if Michael Chabon, the clever writer that he is, bifurcated the realClaire into two different characters: one, the negative, suspicious, controlling, jealous, dominating, violent Phlox, and the other, the positive, trusting, fun loving, adventurous, tolerant, musical, charming Jane. I mean, it's uncanny! The fact that Art had a sexual affair with Arthur was traumatic to the real Claire.
The book reads like a recent college graduate's fond memories of his college experiences with all of his friends. He pays tribute to and honors their memories. But it is more than an introspective reflection on the past. As a novel of `fiction,' it really works well as a work of literary art. The movie, on the other hand, does not work as well as the book. If you love the book, you may not love the movie. If you've never read the book, you actually might like the movie more. The cinematography is excellent, and it shows Pittsburgh in a nice light. As a screenplay, it's not the greatest. But it does entertain and expose the decadent and nihilistic eighties in a way that hits home. The ending is tragic - in the book, the movie, and as well as real life. ... "In Franklin's Tower, there hangs a bell..." - YOWZA! - George Koumantzelis / The Aeolian Kid 』
(Adventures of a sexual dilettante) 『This is a fun book for a first novel though it is somewhat trite. I did appreciate Chabon's occasional nice twist of phrase such as 'sexual dilettante'. The protagonist of this novel is Art Bechstein who comes of age upon his graduation from college. Prior to this, he is involved in a series of implausible escapades. As he matures, he must deal with his fey girlfriend, Phlox, his gay lover, Art and his bent-on-destruction friend, Cleveland. To make matters worse, he needs to come to terms with his gangster father. The novel is both fun and silly at the same time. For a debut novel, it is worth the read and as we all know, Chabon has gone on to become one of the better writers of this generation.』
(Not What I Expected) 『I picked this up from the bargin sale table in the bookstore; I'm certainly glad I didn't pay full price. I never read any of Chabon's work, but this was a much-heralded first novel from a Pulitzer winner so I thought it would be a good read. Best thing I can say is the book is short&a quick read, so I don't regret the colossal waste of my time it was. Maybe it was the sloppy details (BMW doesn't make 1500cc motorcycles or have kick starters) but when one of the main characters is riding a motorcycle you should get stuff like that correct. I live in Pittsburgh and his descriptions of college life doesn't ring true at all; the protagonist spends alot of time crying and throwing up; most of the characters are poorly done and unsympathetic; the story is disjointed and jumps around haphazardly and this reader found them boring and didn't care what happened to them...Arthur Lecomte was this supposedly talented witty charmer but Chabon presents absolutely no evidence of it in Arthur's dialogue or actions. The bisexual main character (also named Arthur) decides at the end of the summer he loves men more than women. Who cares? The most interesting thing in the paperback version of the book is the approximately 8 page afterward where Chabon talks about what he went thru when writing it in the mid-80s.』
(Post-college confusion) 『I am envious of Michael Chabon. To have the skill to write such a near perfect book for your first novel is remarkable. It is also a shame that this book is overshadowed by "Kavalier and Clay" and the "Wonder Boys" since it shouldn't take a back seat to either of those novels.
The book explores the first summer post-college for Art Bechstein. Chabon's portrait of Art -- the strained and tense relationship with his father, the family tradegy still haunting him from his youth, his sexual experimentation and fleeting friendships makes for a most compelling read -- is pure genius.
Chabon created memorable characters -- Art Lecomte, Cleveland, Phlox and Art's father -- and it was also a masterstroke to keep the setting in the smaller industrial town of Pittsburgh rather than a larger and more commonplace city like NY, LA, Chicago or Boston. The characters felt like a larger part of the local environment rather than one of many nameless and faceless disaffected youth.
The chapter taking place at Jane's parents house while Art L housesits and the the encounter of Jane's dog with their neighbors is worth the price and read of the book alone -- it is hilarious.
』 『
By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author ofThe Amazing Adventures of Kavalier&Clay
This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.』
price：$7.11
Basic Books
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Informative book, but very SLOW reading) 『This book is an informative resource for gay history, or in the case of how this book presents it, gay discrimination and punishments. The book does not go into much detail about happy or positive things, and maybe that is how it was like in the past, but I can't believe that there were no positive relationships, activities, or events that went on despite the legal issues going on at the time. The book is slow reading and get's quite boring in some parts. Its a okay to good book, but its a lot to read.』
(Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture and the Making of the Gay Male World) 『This book provides excellent resource material on gay culture from the late 1800s until the 1940s. If you've ever been curious about gay life in New York City way back when, this is the book for you. It's filled with lots of historical info. I found the information about Chauncey covers in Chapter 9 book "Building Gay Neighborhood Enclaves:the Village and Harlem," useful as reference points when I wrote one of my lesbian romance novels set in the 1920s in Harlem.』
(An engaging and informative book) 『George Chauncey has written an engaging and informative book that provides entry into another American era's conceptualizations of what we today think of as homosexuality.
Gay New York takes great pains to debunk what Chauncey terms "the three myths" of isolation (gay men led solitary lives prior to Stonewall), invisibility (the gay world was difficult for isolated men to find) and internalization (gay men were self-loathing and universally accepted their denigration by the dominant culture). In addition to gay men's diaries, the book provides a glimpse into a bygone world through personal interviews, meticulous documentation by police investigators and arrest reports, sensationalistic newspaper accounts of police raids, cartoon illustrations from popular magazines, advertisements for drag balls, medical writings and other ingenious and esoteric sources. Combining serious scholarship and humor, the book capably documents the perspective of a culture that defined sexuality and gender roles using criteria that are altogether different from those we use today. In demonstrating the fluidity with which human beings define their own sexual behavior, Chauncey provocatively stirs the postmodern debate between essentialist and social constructionist explanations of sexuality.
In reading Chauncey's book, one appreciates how a culture makes sense of sexual activities. In the days of Gay New York, the terms pansy or fairy were used to define a gender role, what we would today refer to as effeminacy, rather than a sexual orientation. Effeminacy was presumed to indicate that a man was sexually available to other men. In that cultural nosology, the man who had sex with another man was not stigmatized as long as he did not act effeminately and if the homosexual acts in which he engaged were masculine, meaning insertive.
Some sex researchers treat sexual orientations as irreducible traits or markers while many cultures, like the one described in Gay New York, treat gender role behavior as such. Today, many laypeople are willing to accept a sexual orientation as the basic component of human sexuality that can be studied, dissected and for which an eventual etiology will emerge. The incorporation of this newer view into the culture has had interesting political ramifications. On the left, if a homosexual orientation is defined as an intrinsic, genetic trait over which a person has no control, then denying people equal rights because of that trait is akin to racism or discriminating on the basis of a disability. On the right, even if a homosexual orientation is intrinsic, it is considered part of man's baser nature and should be controlled, like a genetic tendency to drink or take drugs. Further on the right, religious and historical beliefs condemn homosexuality as a transgression of rigid, gender roles defined by ancient texts and customs presumed to go back to the dawn of civilization. These latter beliefs totally reject the modern classification of orientations and as in the world of Gay New York, they conflate sexual attraction with gender identity.
In his successful portrayal of a once-thriving same-sex culture, Chauncey makes the point that the oppression that immediately preceded Stonewall was not always the norm. He ably does the job he set out to do in disproving the myths of isolation, invisibility and internalization. He makes the case that "the excoriation of queers served primarily to set the boundaries for how normal men could dress, walk, talk, and relate to women and to each other" and that "the normal world constituted itself and established its boundaries by creating the gay world as a stigmatized other" (pp. 25-26). He argues, somewhat ominously, that an increased visibility of the homosexual culture ultimately led to its own demise. Starting in the 1930's, restrictive and sometimes violent enforcement of laws against gay men evolved in reaction to the openness of their lives. Although the nature of the debate has changed, today we see a backlash in response to the increasing numbers of gay men and women coming out. History teaches us many lessons and Gay New York is highly recommended reading for both the historical facts that it provides as well as for the scientific, political and cultural questions that it raises. 』
(History at its Finest) 『 George Chauncey gave himself an incredibly daunting task when he set out to reconstruct the sexual and gender landscape that Gay Male New Yorkers inhabited from the fin de sielce until the beginning of World War II. In order meet this challenge, and make sense of the awe inspiring amount of research he was able to amass, Chauncey finds it necessary to set himself up with a mega question--what did it mean to be a gay man in New York during the period in question?--with a series of much smaller topical questions. From the myriad of smaller questions I have mined Chauncey's work in order to concentrate upon four questions. First, what was the dominant understanding gender, male sexuality and sex practices during the period in question? Second, how did Gay men in New York negotiate their way through a city that was largely hostile to their existence and make themselves visible to each other? Third, how were Gay men able to appropriate public and private spaces for their own purposes? Fourth, how did the increasingly draconian laws and regulations that followed in the Great Depression's wake affect Gay life? Only by exploring these questions can we even begin to understand how Chauncey was able to construct Gay New York.
Chauncey asserts, quite convincingly, that we have a fundamentally different understanding of sexuality and gender than the generations that he studied. Most peoples' understanding of sexuality is a binary one based on the anatomy of the two sexual actors--homosexual if the actors have the same anatomy and heterosexual if they do not. A person attracted to both sexes fits within the small space left between the poles known as bisexual. In sum, our definition is based solely on sex actors' biology. Though by the end of the nineteenth century, this view of sexuality had made some in roads among the medical community and was beginning gain credence among the middle classes, it was not the dominant view of sexual practice of society as a whole and was not the view of huge swathes of working class men from many backgrounds. The understanding that working class men had of sexual practice, as well as the one that much society had, was a gendered view that fit under the rubrics of normalcy and deviance. This understanding allowed normal men to play the penetrating or fellated role in same sex acts and not have their masculinity questioned. The dominant understanding regarded all men who played of gratifier as feminine. Ours is a world where men and women are gay or straight. Theirs' was a world wherein men were men and women were women, but men were also women because sexual aim took precedence over sexual object. This view allowed for a great deal of sexual contact between men where only one of the actors would be viewed as a homosexual.
Gay New York existed as a city within a city. Words were part of an intricate code that, along with dress and affectation, allowed gay men to recognize each other while remaining largely invisible to the outside world. The dropping of certain words in a conversation; a loud suit with a red tie; bleached hair and tweezed eyebrows; the gait of one's walk or the rhythm of one's speech--all these and many other things played their part in allowing gay men to operate in public surreptitiously when the need to do so arose, but they also allowed straight men (or those who were defined above as normal) to identify gay men within realms that were dominantly straight but allowed for a large amount of intermingling between straight and gay men. Putting aside the person of the fairy--a hyperbolic form of gay affectation that most gay men could not maintain without a the threat of ostracism--the great body of gay men had a tenuous position within the communities lived in and sought partners because communities and private vigilance groups hostilities towards their existence, and law enforcements official virtual outlawing of their sexual behavior. To be gay during this period meant knowing how to behave in ways that signify homosexuality to other gay men (and those interested in affairs with gay men) while having that behavior appear ambiguous enough to those of ill will to avoid censure or worse.
Gay men did not always have to operate through the use of coded behavior. In the worlds of rooming houses, or with the connivance merchants, restaurants and saloons, gay men were able to turn much of what would be regarded as public spheres into primarily gay spaces or at least gay friendly. This was certainly the case with several YMCAs' throughout Manhattan. As Chauncey points out Y's had a legendary aura around them regarding gay activity: "some New Yorkers," he writes, "took rooms at the Sloane House for the weekend, giving fake out-of-town addresses."(156) In the case of the YMCA's security could be bribed, indifferent, or it could be the job of gay men to enforce managements rules that would have the effect of hindering openly homosexual behavior. Since it was not until the 1930's that serving gay people became a business liability, many bars and restaurants were happy to have their business. Being a public space, but in point of fact private property these venues allowed for more overt forms of same sex courtship and interaction. Like the YMCA's and rooming houses Gay men were able to operate here under the sufferance of only unofficial supervision and were therefore only obliged to worry about the community where the venue was located and the proprietors. Although there were occassional police raids, or a proprietor could enlist the help of police forces to make his establishment more or less off limits to openly gay people, these venues would still generally allow for a greater freedom of movement and interaction.
Gay life in New York always had to operate underground, beyond both the official and unofficial radars of society because of the possibility of harassment, arrest and sometimes long prison terms. If the first third of the twentieth century was a time where cunning, code, and great circumspection would have to be employed in order to build an actively gay life, then these tools would become doubly necessary to keep the edifice of gay life from crumbling in the period that immediately followed it. With the end of prohibition putting a huge venue, bars, of gay life under the microscope of a newly vigilant law enforcement community--both the police and a new and militant State Liquor Authority--that was becoming more and more hostile to gay life. New Yorkers of this period, because of the economic calamity all people suffered as part and parcel of the Great Depression, also knew a gender anxiety which they had not know immediately before this because of the massive number of men who were no longer bread winners. Coupling all of these factors together with the election of the dynamic, but moralizing Fiorello La Guardia, in 1933 and the campaign to sanitize the city in time for 1939 World's Fair (especially the areas where the greatest number of gay friendly haunts were) and a situation was created where gay life was severely circumscribed.
At the very least, Chauncey is able to thoroughly dispels the notions that Gay life as we know it today began with the Stonewall revolt and the history of Gay life is one of unimpeded progress. As his narrative shows the history of the oppressed shows, we never live in the best of all possible worlds and very often the past can seem much rosier than the present because it was just that. 』
(A treasure chest of forgotten lore) 『This book was preceded in my conciousness by high critical praise and so I approached it with great expectations. And in great part it met these expectations.
More than anything else, this is a work of love, being the excavation of forgotten facts in the history of gay life as it was lived by decades of gay men, experiences now mostly forgotten or scattered in obscure and fading documents. It is an extraordinary work of social archeology, resurrecting a world I never knew exisited. And Chauncey does this in exceptional detail, using clear prose, so that by the end the geography of this world has been salvaged and reconstructed, like Combray from Marcel's teacup.
As the book proceeds, the writing becomes stronger, particularly as the facts become more readily available, and the arguments and conclusions become more convincing. The last chapter is especially good on the submergence of gay life after Prohibition. This book is clearly one of the masterpieces of gay history, on par with John Boswell's work especially in it's dependence on primary sources.
The only criticism I have lies in the fact that Chauncey often has trouble shaping his information and often can't create a forest out of the trees. Especially in the earlier chapters, he often fails to make a summary statement without such a host of qualifiers that you wonder why he bothers in the first place. And as a previous reviewer has noted, there are alot of repetitions that a good editor should have corrected.
Despite all these reservations, for those interested in discovering a lost world, this book will be a revelation.』
『Winner of the 1994Los Angeles TimesBook Prize for History, this brilliant work challenges the conventional wisdom that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet.』
Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (A sad, funny and wonderful book) 『I've tried writing a review of this book for so long. I've written short pithy reviews, long and involved reviews and now this annoyingly self-referential one. The truth is that The Extra Man is a book that works on so many levels I find it hard to pinpoint its individual points of genius. When other reviewers write that the book is 'touching', 'complex', 'sad', 'funny', 'charming' and 'perverse' they are all right and its this strange, multi-faceted quality that seals its genius. The other thing that needs to be said is how well Ames captures the atmosphere of that lost pre-Giuliani New York, making The Extra Man also work brilliantly as affecting piece of historical literature. I love this book. For anyone new to Ames, you have to start here!』
(More Jonathan Ames please!) 『Jonathan Ames does not write enough fiction! This is a superb book - not a bit like "I Pass Like Night", which is much darker but is good in other ways.
His main characters are warm and likeable (and there's less self-loathing then we're used to from Mr. Ames), the story altogether feels lighter and jolly in a slightly deviant way.
If you like fiction with a soft bite then read this, you won't be disappointed.』
(Interesting and Flawed) 『I had never read anything by Ames before picking up The Extra Man. I found the novel to be interesting, surprisingly graphic, and oddly touching. Unfortunately, it is also too long and repetitive.
The story of the relationship between Louis and Harry is unique and funny for awhile, but quickly gets bogged down by the repetition and the fact that Harry doesn't really do anything that the reader actually gets to see unless he is with Louis. Often, Ames relies on redundant dialogue and situations for Harry to be involved in while Louis has more interesting adventures.
Louis' sexual explorations and confusion actually turn out to be the most involving scenes in the novel, along with his relationship with his great aunt. While many of the scenes are more graphic than I had expected, they also are the most insightful. They will also be the most off-putting if that kind of thing bothers you.
Overall, an interesting read that is probably too long, but worth looking into.』
(Extra Man: Extra Funny; Extra Long) 『The Extra Man by Jonathan Ames is an entertaining and humorous account of two bachelors trying to navigate through life in New York City. The protagonist, Louis, answers Henry's ad for a roommate in the City after being fired from his teaching job at prep school after being caught trying on a female colleague's under garments. Louis' sexual predilections are on the fringe of mainstream society and his frequent visits to a transsexual bar, cross-dressing business, and spanking service are laugh-out loud funny.
Henry's eccentricities are hilarious and amusing. He is definitely a character to remember. Some of Henry's more comical peculiarities include his non-politically correct musings on every sub-set of society and his cheapness which leads him to find creative means of sneaking into the opera and seducing older, rich women so as to obtain free meals and places to stay in Palm Beach. Henry gets his exercise by dancing to Ethel Merman and lives by the credence that, "Ethel Merman cures everything".
The problem with this book is simply that it is too long. I initially found The Extra Man enjoyable and funny; however, about half way through I was over it. Yet, it continued on and on for another hundred pages or so.
In short, The Extra Man is a witty and comical novel that needed to be condensed into about 150-200 pages instead of the almost 350 pages it actually spans. 』
(Delicious and complex) 『The Extra Man is simply a great read, and a book that stays with you. I think it's because here Ames demonstrates beautifully his ability to mingle elements that might seem incongrous: readability and complexity; old world propriety and honest, intense sexuality; laugh-out-loud-humor and poignant depth. This book is a winner -- as is his other novel, Wake Up, Sir!』 『
Jonathan Ames, whose debut novelI Pass Like Nightwas enthusiastically praised by Philip Roth and Joyce Carol Oates, has followed up with a brilliant and comic second novel.
Louis Ives, the narrator ofThe Extra Man,fancies himself a young gentleman fashioned after his heroes in the books of F. Scott Fitzgerald. He dresses the part -- favoring neckties, blue blazers, and sport coats. But he also has a penchant for women's clothing, a weakness that causes him to lose his job as a teacher at a Princeton day school after a bizarre incident involving a colleague's brassiere. Thrust out of Princeton, he heads to New York where he rents a cheap room in the madly discombobulated apartment of Henry Harrison, a failed but brilliant playwright who dances alone to Ethel Merman records, sneaks into Broadway shows, and performs with great style the duties of awalker-- an escort for the rich widows of the Upper East Side.
The two men, separated in age by more than forty years, develop a relationship that is irascible mentor and eager apprentice, and they form a bond the depths of which neither expected. But Louis, when he's not with Henry, has fascinations that lead him to an unusual community on the fringes of the sex world of Times Square. He develops a secret life there, which he fears will be his undoing and which he must keep hidden from Henry at all costs.
A hilarious yet moving story about friendship and longing,The Extra Manis an original and unforgettable novel by one of America's most talented young writers.』
price：$4.78
Cleis Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Total Rubbish) 『I should have known better. Although it's said you can't tell a book by its cover...in the case of "The Low Road", I should have trusted my better instincts. The cover is a dead give-away. I love period fiction and I enjoy gay literature, but this book is neither. It's nothing more than the gay equivalent of a smutty bodice ripper -- all longing and panting. It was all I could do to get through the first chapter before tossing this ridiculous book into the recycle bin.』
(Love it!) 『If you are the kind of person that happens to love mystery novels and also gay literature, James Lear is definitely the author you were looking for. This great writer combines both of them in the most magnificent way. His books are not only entertaining but also easy to read. I love all his books.』
(Sold Into Sexual Slavery) 『Lear, James. "The Low Road", Cleis Press, 2009.
Sold into Sexual Slavery
Amos Lassen
If you remember Richard Louis Stevenson's classic tale, "Kidnapped", you have a general idea what James Lear's gay erotic fiction novel is about. This book is set in Scotland of the 18th century against the backdrop of the Jacobite Rebellion. Charles Gordon left home because he wanted a more exciting life and becomes involved in political (and sexual) intrigue. He is exceptionally handsome and has no trouble finding men to help him in his work and the fact that he is very well endowed sexually only adds to his mystique. He manages to find his way into all kinds of situations including freeing the man who holds his heart from jail, being involved with a randy bunch of pirates or a battalion of sex-starved troops. This is a story of spies and double agents and those who scheme. There is every kind of sex here and eroticism is everywhere. What makes this so special is the way the author combines sex and literature to make this read (like his other books, "The Back Passage", "Hot Valley", "The Palace of Varieties" and "The Secret Tunnel") an experience. The sex is hot but what really keeps you reading is the beauty of Lear's written word. 』
(A young man is kidnapped and sold into near-slavery..) 『Young Charles Gordon reaches adulthood ignorant of his family's heroic past in the Jacobite Rebellion.He sets out to discover the truth about his father, but instead is kidnapped by mercenaries and sold into near-slavery as the plaything of a set of corrupt military officials. But Charlie's talents, both in bed and out of it,win him powerful friends and dangerous foes. a well told story,good sex』 『
Robert Louis Stevenson'sKidnappedhas long been considered a masterpiece of high adventure. InThe Low Road,James Lear reinvents this classic as a satirical, queer, coming-of-age story. In 1705 Scotland, young Charles Gordon reaches adulthood ignorant of his family's heroic past in the Jacobite Rebellion. He sets out to discover the truth about his father, but instead is kidnapped by mercenaries and sold into slavery as the plaything of a group of corrupt military officials. But Charlie’s talents, in and out of bed, win him powerful friends as well as dangerous foes. The false priest, Lebecque, violent Captain Robert, depraved General Wilmott — all contribute to Charlie’s "education." Eventually leading a makeshift army of sex-crazed layabouts, Charlie faces the might of theEnglish forces. Will he triumph, or is it better to retreat to the safety of his sybaritic lifestyle? James Lear expertly interweaves spies and counterspies, scheming servants and sadistic captains, tavern trysts and prison orgies, into this delightfully erotic work that can take its place alongside his acclaimed novelsThe Back PassageandHot Valley.
price：$1.80
Dreamspinner Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Exciting, Action-filled, Convincing Tale of a Hitman and his Hit) 『D is a hitman, but with stipulations: he will only take certain jobs and decline others. However, he's forced to take on a hit he'd normally refuse, that of a surgeon in witness protection who happened to see a murder perpetrated by a powerful underworld family that tends to take care of such annoying witnesses all too easily, protection or no. Facing his hit, D finds he can't carry out his assignment and decides to take Jack Francisco on the run with him, as the only way to save them both from deadly forces seeking Jack's death and now also hunting D for his failure to complete the contract.
A fair amount of convincingly paced and realistic suspense and action ensue as they try to evade killers and as both D and Jack try to get their heads around their new situation. Jack is, of course, the most out of his element. He's the helpless, innocent victim thrust into a world that is incomprehensibly far from anything he's even thought about. His reactions are both unusual but understandable and realistic. Although this is a romance, featuring the relationship between the two main characters, it keeps itself thoroughly grounded in its own reality, giving it a life that is more emphatic than many romances and even many suspense books. The situation of a hitman-savior is fantastic enough, but it's handled in a sure and effective manner. There are no odd intrusive thoughts of hot attraction between the two as they are fighting for their lives, thank goodness. The relationship is going to be a nearly impossible thing to bring about in a believable manner, so it grows slowly and with understandable difficulty, creating something that is more true and meaningful because of it.
For those who need the hot sex, it's there, but you'll have to wait for it until it actually makes sense in the relationship. For that, alone, I think this book is to be lauded. But for those who love an exciting story, to which the relationship is important, but also wonderfully handled and believable, and therefore all the more magical, I can heartily recommend this book.』
(Loved It) 『**Spoiler ahead** I loved this story - the tension&romance kept me hooked every step of the way. I thought at first that there was no way I'd like D, but it was impossible not to once he started revealing himself. The emotion is expressed so beautifully that I've re-read it several times already.
My only issue was at the end, which I thought went a bit haywire. I agree completely with another reviewer who said the epilogue was more like the beginning of the next book. Also, whether it's HEA or HFN, I really don't care to see a book end with 2 great characters bitching at&about each other!
Still, a definite recommend.』
(Holy Moly This Book is Great) 『I'm not one for effusive praise, but I basically didn't work today because I kept sneaking to read this book on my Kindle.
The plot is completely cliche. Witness protection, good guy next door protagonist, hard-boiled professional assassin turned unwilling hero, shoot-outs, hiding out, bungling FBI, Stockhold syndrome... even a smidgen of car chase. All either great for escapist fiction or boringly predictable.
What makes this book is the dialogue. I laughed out loud a few times. The characters are engaging and you fall in love with them. I rooted for them the entire time. I even got misty-eyed once.
Finally, I liked that everything is wrapped up in a neat and tidy bow at the end. D is troubled enough that there will be some significant adjustments and healing necessary as the relationship progresses. And Jack is innocent enough that it's impossible for him to not get a little sullied by D. It makes him seem much more human.』
(Didn't want it to end) 『In short, one of best books I have read. The author does an excellent job capturing the unique dynamics of the male/male relationship and uses its intensity to drive an incredible story. The characters are believable and the plot well thought out. As soon as I would question a turn in the story or an emotional response from one of the characters, Ms. Seville addressed it. Your only disappointment will be finishing the book.』
(Zero at the Bone- A Joyfully Recommended Title) 『Dr. Jack Francisco's seemingly routine day spins out of control when he finds himself an eyewitness to a mob hit that lands him in the witness protection program. The mob will stop at nothing to silence Jack including blackmailing one of the best hitmen in the field to make sure Jack never makes it to trial.
D was good at his job, a killer who had little conscience when taking out his mark especially when they deserved it. One thing D didn't do was take on contracts of innocent people unless he's given little choice. Blackmailed into taking on the hit for Jack, D finds himself struggling with how to handle the job. When D comes face to face with his newest target he knew killing Jack was not an option, D quickly found his role changed from Jack's killer to his protector.
Now on the run and in hiding Jack and D depend on each other for survival. As a trust builds between them they lower their defenses with each other and learn that there is more between them than they ever would have thought.
Zero at the Bone is one the best stories I've read in months. Jack and D were the unlikeliest pair. Their backgrounds are so different and the lives they lead were polar opposites, Jack saved lives but D ended them. Even the way they spoke was very different. I loved D's bad grammar and odd way of saying things. Jack learns there are reasons why D is as he is and why he chose to lead such a lonely life. The transition of their relationship from odd adversaries to lovers was done very well by the author, Jane Seville. Every aspect of this suspenseful, romantic drama was believable and very enthralling. I have been visiting Ms. Seville's website often for any tidbits regarding future stories on these two mesmerizing characters. Zero at the Bone is a must read that I thoroughly enjoyed and Joyfully Recommend.
Ley Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed』 『After witnessing a mob hit, surgeon Jack Francisco is put into protective custody to keep him safe until he can testify. A hitman known only as D is blackmailed into killing Jack, but when he tracks him down, his weary conscience won't allow him to murder an innocent man. Finding in each other an unlikely ally, Jack and D are soon on the run from shadowy enemies. Forced to work together to survive, the two men forge a bond that ripens into unexpected passion. Jack sees the wounded soul beneath D's cold, detached exterior, and D finds in Jack the person who can help him reclaim the man he once was. As the day of Jack's testimony approaches, he and D find themselves not only fighting for their lives... but also fighting for their future. A future together.』
price：$15.99
Adamant Media Corporation
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Ruth) 『As usual Elizabeth Gaskell highlights for us issues of the day and the problems they produce. These are presented to us in a very good read..I will look for other books by this author』
(A beautiful story of sin and redemption.) 『When one thinks of Victorian sensation novels, one thinks of Wilkie Collins or Mary Elizabeth Braddon. The name Elizabeth Gaskell does not immediately come to mind. Elizabeth Gaskell was a contemporary and friend of Charles Dickens. Ruth, the author's second book, is not Gaskell's best known novel, but it is a forgotten gem that is worthy of much praise.
Ruth is the story of a young and innocent orphan who falls into the hands of a vain aristocratic young man named Mr Bellingham. Ruth Hilton was apprenticed to a seamstress by her guardian, but she loses her job when Mrs Mason, her employer, finds Ruth alone with Bellingham. The sweet and innocent orphan finds herself without a roof over her head. The cunning Bellingham coaxes Ruth into accompanying him to London where he promises he will take care of her. Ruth agrees. The sixteen year old orphan cannot begin to comprehend the ramifications of her decision.
Ruth and Bellingham spend time at an inn in Wales where there is much talk and gossip about the beautiful young lady who is accompanied by a man who is not her husband. Ruth, however, remains oblivious to the gossip behind her back. Her stay in Wales is simply the happiest time of her life, but that happiness is cut short.
Bellingham becomes ill and is whisked away by his mother leaving Ruth alone and heartbroken. Soon after Bellingham's departure Ruth is taken in by generous clergyman, Mr Benson. Ruth discovers that she is pregnant, and Mr Benson and his sister, Faith, take Ruth home with them and attempt give her a new identity to avoid the stigma attached to an unmarried mother. Ruth takes up residence at the Benson's home under the name of the widow Denbigh. Ruth lives with the Benson's for many years, but secrets always have a way of coming out.
This is a novel of sin and redemption. The subject matter may not seem controversial to modern readers, but the author was very apprehensive about how the novel would be received by nineteenth-century readers. The novel sparked all sorts of debate about redemption that may or may not interest readers today, but the novel is worth reading for its emotional intensity. Ruth has one of the most heartbreaking endings that I have ever read. Highly recommended!』
(Beware defective binding of this edition) 『I purchased a copy of this book about a month ago and recently started reading. Became very absorbed in this wonderful story until page 114, and then POOF! the book is missing about 100 pages. Upon inspection, I see that there are other errors in the binding (signatures out of order), too.
Returned the first copy, ordered a new one. Same problem. So--reader beware, the batch of books that Amazon has in stock are defective, and utterly unreadable.』
(Ruth is a classic novel by the brilliant Elizabeth Gaskell which will hold your interest until the last page) 『Ruth is a tale of redemption set in early nineteenth century England. Ruth is a young seamstress who is seduced at the age of 16 by a despicable and stupid cad whose name is Henry Bellingham. He deserts her on a holiday in Wales forcing the pregnant Ruth to flee. Ruth finds a lodging and Christian love at the home of an elderly clergyman the Rev. Benson, his maiden sister Faith and their grouchy but kindhearted maid Susan. Years pass and Ruth is loved by the community until her secret is revealed through gossip. She remains in Eccleston winning the approbation of the community following her nursing patients in a typhoid fever plague sweeping the village. She rejects the advances of her erstwhile lover who is in Eccleston with a new name "Mr Donne" and a position as the MP in the British Parliament in London. With her secret made manifest Ruth is able to soldier on in life. She is rejected by the stern Mr. Bradshaw who hired her for years as a teacher to his daughters Jemima, Mary and Elizabeth. Ruth wins favor when she dies nursing Bellingham in the epidemic as well as several other townspeople. Her former enemy Mr. Bradshaw even buys an ornate gravestone. Ruth is a candid look at the Victorian double standard and the second class citizenship of women in British society. The novel is beautifully written with lyrical passages on bird and animal life and the change in seasons in a small English town in the nineteenth century . This reviewer fell in love with Ruth who reminds one of Esther Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne's American classic "The Scarlet Letter." Ruth is one of the best Victorian novels you will read for its compassionate view of the human condition. The sequences in which the major characters have dreams is especially well done. Ruth will win your heart!』
(resembles common mistakes&the strenght of society) 『the story of that girl, and that "mistake" and how 90% of the world closes their door, and turns their back』 『This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1853 edition by Bernhard Tauchnitz, Leipzig.』
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