Product Description
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Winner of the Lannan Literary Fiction Award
Winner of the Guardian Fiction Award

In 1940, Jakob Beer, a seven-year-old boy, bursts from the mud of a war-torn Polish city, where he has buried himself to hide from Nazi soldiers who have killed his family. Though he should have died with his family, he has not only survived but been rescued by a Greek geologist. With this electrifying backdrop, Anne Michaels propels us into her rapturously acclaimed novel of loss, memory, history, and redemption. Michaels lets us witness Jakob's transformation from a half-wild casualty of the Holocaust to an artis who extracts meaning from the abyss. Filled with mysterious symmetries and rendered in heart-stopping prose, Fugitive Pieces is a triumphant work.Amazon.com Review
Anne Michaels, an accomplished poet, has already published two collections of poetry in her native Canada.She turns her hand to fiction in an impressive debut novel, Fugitive Pieces. This is the story of Jakob Beer, a Polish Jew, translator, and poet who, as a child, witnessed his family's slaughter at the hands of the Nazis. Beer himself was found and smuggled out of Poland by Athos Roussos, a Greek archaeologist who carried him back to Greece and kept him there in precarious safety. After the war they emigrated together to Canada. Jakob's story is told through diaries discovered by Ben, a young man whose parents are Holocaust survivors and who is a vessel for their memories just as Jakob is the bearer of his own.

Fugitive Pieces is a book about memory and forgetting. How is it possible to love the living when our hearts are still with the dead? What is the difference between what historical fact tells us and what we remember? More than that, the novel is a meditation on the power of language to free our souls and allow us to find our own destinies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (154)

Terrible
In the past week since I finished the book, I find myself every so often experience a small wave of genuine relief that I am no longer reading it. There is little to no plot development, although the story begins with a good start and beckons the reader to keep reading it in the hope that it will develop. It doesn't. The characters remain the same monotonous bores throughout, basking in ad nauseum "poetic" descriptions of the gray details of their lives. I could accept a book that is built on poetry rather than plot if the poetry itself was insightful or beautiful or even a cohesive collection. There were a couple of lines that resonated with me and that I will continue to think about. But they were buried within pages and pages of incoherent drivel. A entire book of this stuff was just not warranted.

Hauntingly Beautiful Prose
Anne Michaels is a poet first and foremost.She has published several volumes of poetry and anyone reading her debut novel, Fugitive Pieces, will realize that within the first few pages.Lovely, sublime, poetic prose covers each and every page and draws you in to her heartbreaking story.

In 1940, seven year old Jakob Beer emerges from the rubble of a war-torn city in Poland covered in dirt.He's buried himself each day, and traveled the dark, deep forest each night since the rest of his Jewish family was murdered when German soldiers burst into their home:

"The burst door.Wood ripped from hinges, cracking like ice under the shouts.Noises never heard before, torn from my father's mouth.Then silence.My mother had been sewing a button on my shirt.She kept her buttons in a chipped saucer.I heard the rim of the saucer in circles on the floor.I heard the spray of buttons, little white teeth."(Page 7)

Fortunately for Jakob, when he emerges from the dirt, a geologist named Athos Ruossos sees him, at first not recognizing him as human.Athos takes Jakob under his wing and takes him home to his native Greece where Athos works in a university, The two spend their lives traveling between Greece and Toronto.We follow their lives, as they come to terms with loneliness, loss and sorrow, each in his own way.
Two thirds of the way through the book, we hear the voice of Ben, an admirer of the adult Jakob Beer's poetry.He tells the story of growing up with and dealing with his parents' difficulty in confronting their years in the Nazi concentration camps:

"When my parents were liberated, four years before I was born, they found that the ordinary world outside the camp had been eradicated.There was no more simple meal, no thing was less than extraordinary: a fork, a mattress, a clean shirt, a book.Not to mention such things that can make one weep: an orange, meat and vegetables, hot water.There was no ordinariness to return to, no refuge from the blinding potency of things, an apple screaming its sweet juice.Every thing belonged to, had been retrieved from, impossibility---both the inorganic and the organic---shoes and socks, their own flesh.It was all as one.And this gratitude included the inexpressible."(Page 205)

This is a book to be savored for the beauty of its language and the sadness of its story.It's a gentle story that you can't rush through, or you will not be cognizant of the breadth of its wisdom and magnificence.I found myself rereading passages over and over to wring from them the entirety of their effect as well as the splendor of the language.Highly recommended.

One-half success; one-half failure
This book is a wonderful success and, at the same time, an utter failure. The author has a rare gift for using words to paint a feeling, a mood, an atmosphere. However, reading this book makes it painfully apparent that a story requires more than just a gift for language. To construct a story that works, a writer must be able to paint with actions as well as words. Actions move the plot forward; the choice of action reveals character, bit by bit. This book has beautiful language, and no action, and therefore, no story. It is a book-length poetic meditation. If that's what you're looking for, you can probably not find a lovelier one. If you are looking for a story, a novel, a drama, characters -- this book simply doesn't have them.

"Fugitive Pieces", by Anne Michaels
Not having read the forward before the book, I didn't at first realize that it was about an actual poet, who had been killed by a car in London. He was found at the age of 6 by a Greek archaeoogist, when he suddenly popped out of the mud in front of him. The Polish town where he was hiding, where he used to live peacefully, was invaded by the Nazis, and he was trying to survive. The archaeologist was digging there, because it was famous for artifacts, and still is. He took the boy home, protected him, and educated him carefully in his field, and in life lessons.
The writer, Anne Michaels, has created, not only a biography, but a mystery, and a page turner. It did not dwell on the Holocaust - just using it to give enough information about the boy's beginnings. It was a pleasure to read, and fascinating, and I was happy to find that a movie was made of it. I hope it was true to the book.

Fugtive Pieces
Ms Michaels writes like a woman wearing all her jewelry at once.Why not sprinkle those literary jewels with more care.She hits the reader over the head with all the lines she has saved up over the years for her poetry.We know she understands the subtly of metaphor....but she isn't sure her reader does.I will go to her poetry and hope for more, which will hopefully be less. ... Read more

Product Description
Prior to her stunning first novel, Fugitive Pieces, Anne Michaels had already won awards and critical acclaim for two books of poetry: The Weight of Oranges (1986), which won the Commonwealth Prize for the Americas, and Miner's Pond (1991), which received the Canadian Authors Association Award and was short-listed for the Governor General's Award and the Trillium Award. Although they were published separately, these two books, along with Skin Divers, a collection of Michaels's newest work, were written as companion volumes.

Poems brings all three books together for the first time, creating for American readers a wonderful introduction to Anne Michaels's poetry. Meditative and insightful, powerful and heart-moving, these are poems that, as Michael Ondaatje has written, "go way beyond games or fashion or politics . . . They represent the human being entire."

... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Interstices
Anne Michael's poetry strikes me at the heart to be very sensuous. She sees right through to the elemental depths of love. I particularly like the way she explores the many levels of our human condition. She is by no means a binary thinker, but a skilfull scientist of life. I don't recall the title, but there is one piece where she describes love as breathing not only through lungs but through gills...where love is so completely overwhelming that it blinds the senses to everything else. She literally takes my breath away...

A companion volume to 'Fugitive Pieces'?
It is seductive to read Anne Michaels' collected poems as a companion piece to her breath-taking debut novel 'Fugitive Pieces', a fictionialised first-hand account of a young poet who learns how to articulate the horror of his family's past and find redemption though language and the love of a woman. The novel's protagonist writes poems about the persistence of memory, the burden of surviving the Holocaust, and the need for human connection, and a number of poems in this volume explore similar themes. As in 'Fugitive Pieces', Michaels also draws upon her impressive understanding of disparate disciplines including Antarctic exploration, music, geology and mathematics, to make her points. It is as if she has penned a small encyclopedia.

I know of no encyclopedia that can match Michael's liquid turn of phrase, however. Michaels' words fill one's mouth like cold plums: they have a crisp earthy simplicity yet gloriously ooze at the bite.

The underlying theme of many of the poems, as in 'Fugitive Pieces', is the struggle to accept the absurdity of the human condition: the manner in which we are nourished by love, and crave it, yet are inevitably crippled by it when a loved one dies. As Michaels writes in the poem 'Memorium': "The dead leave us starving with mouths full of love...We are orphaned, one by one".

The verse which comprise 'Poems' were originally published in three separate volumes over the space of 13 years, and Michaels has clearly developed her voice in this time. While the earlier poems of `The Weight of Oranges' are taught and linear, there is something less hurried about the latter poems of `Skin Divers'. One experiences the sublime sustained pause between the black marks on her page, which contributes depth to her lyric (to coin a musical metaphor which Michaels might well appreciate given her fascination with the piano and the secrets which its playing reveals). The difference between the earlier poems and the latter can be explained by the poet's confidence to dwell a little longer in the image, to explore its possibilities, and to play with cadence and sound.

Each of the poems share, however, Michaels' admirable ability to make the everyday remarkable. She writes of salt, stone and peat, and of mistaking the sea for the sky (in the poem 'Near Ashdod'), yet enables these objects to articulate the yearnings of the human heart. At other times, she finds words and images to articulate the extraordinary - the horrific and ethereal - in terms with which the reader can readily identify. Thus we come to know the psychological scars of a Holocaust survivor and the mind of a Nobel Prize winning physicist mourning her husband. Michaels brings alive events and people - poets, writers, painters, and mathematicians - who have long been dead and makes them breathe again. It is for this reason that I asked my History students to read 'Fugitive Pieces', and will have no hestitation in recommending that they delve into Anne Michaels' book of Poems. ... Read more

Product Description
In The Winter Vault, award-winning poet and novelist Anne Michaels crafts a love story of extraordinary depth and complexity, juxtaposing historic dislocations with the most intimate moments of individual lives.
 
In 1964, a newly married Canadian couple settles into a Nile River houseboat moored below the towering figures of Abu Simbel. Avery is one of the engineers responsible for moving the temple above the rapidly rising waters of the Aswan Dam. At the edge of a world about to be lost forever, Avery and and his new wife Jean begin to create their own world. But it will not be enough to bind them when tragedy strikes and they go back to separate lives in Toronto. There Jean meets Lucjan, a Polish artist whose haunting stories of his shattered childhood in occupied Warsaw draw her further away from Avery. But, in time, he will also show her the way back to consolation and forgiveness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Way too many words.Ridiculous descriptions.
The author is an amazing poet.As anovelist, she is still writing poetry.Lovely concept but reading her text is rather long and boring.

A subliminal masterpiece
The first page of this book (something between an epigraph and a prologue) informs the narrative thrust of the story and glues the abstract elements into a philosophical cohesiveness.This novel, while still a loosely constructed story with main characters and a forward progression, is primarily a meditation on the eternal forces of the human condition entwined with the timeless elements of the earth. The poetic narrative is like an instrument hovering above the earth's atmosphere and producing a lyric and a music of everything that is nascent to life, as well as everything that withstands it, crushes it, beholds it--and it is this instrument that carries the memory of love, light, space, and grief.The bones of the story are the ashes of the earth, and the compost of the earth imbue the bones of the story.

On this poignant first page is written "Grief is desire in its purest distillation."I did not initially comprehend this and thought it was a pithy but obtuse statement.However, as I continued to read, it evolved into a meaningful, trenchant theme that coursed through every facet of the novel.Like many of the seemingly elusive cogitations contained in this book, it leads to a profound examination of human nature. Every tragedy in the book is borne from desire, and every desire has a lasting relationship with grief.

Avery is a young and able engineer, the son of a deceased but once preeminent engineer, who passionately wants to preserve and continue his father's great legacy.In 1964, Avery is charged with heading an operation in Egypt to remove an ancient temple in embedded rock and placing it on higher ground.In order to do this, they must build a cofferdam, which will displace and flood water temporarily into the water of the adjoining village. The removal of the relics of the temple is an exacting process. One millimeter off in measurement and the relics can be ruined, cracked beyond redemption.

This project requires that the Nubian villagers be moved from their homes--these indigenous people who have a deep and native history with this place--and displaced to a new location.Avery's wife, Jean, a botanist who loves to carry seeds from the places of the dead to new ground, and who reveres the natural world, is disquieted by the project, but supportive of her husband's philosophy of man and machinery working together to lofty purposes.But, when personal tragedy and a glitch in the project gouges the foundation of their bond, their ability to find solace with each other is shattered and they must journey alone to find each other again.

I am not a scholar who can deconstruct this novel into all its meanings, only a reader who engaged with this enigmatic story.I may have failed to assemble or pinpoint or break it down for a potential reader reading this review.What I can tell you is that this is an atypical story written in poetical prose.It is not a pretentious rambling or unfathomable masquerade.You must pay attention and let it wash over you, read it slowly or read it out loud (I found myself doing this at intervals), surrender to the indefinite and its mien.At some point, you will abdicate need and expectation and just succumb to it.I have not read another novel that examines grief with such awakening, and that finds such incipient stems of rebirth in human suffering, all by combining and enfolding the essence of humans, nature, and machinery into folds of memory.Once you capitulate to its montage, it assembles into the most breathtaking convocation of gestures--gestures that encompass everything, and cascade like the butterfly effect.

depressing and humorless
No one talks like a real person in this book, everything - even the most mundane exchanges - are poetic, philosophical, important. Everyday events are overloaded with so much meaning, it's hard to figure out when something actually important happens to these characters. It's a fascinating idea to think about what happens to the communities lost when dams are built. But this book puts a major burden on the reader to find this interesting thread because it's buried under the angst and gloom of the characters - skip this one.

Much to Think About
"The Winter Vault" is a complex, passionate novel about loneliness, destruction, replication, personal loss, and memories of one's roots, and it requires high levels of patience and concentration if one is to absorb everything that Anne Michaels is trying to say.It is neither a plot-driven nor a character-driven novel and, in fact, those are its weakest elements.Rather, it is a philosophical novel filled with rambling monologues, lessons, and meditations that often have little to do with plot.Further, the book's main characters, although they can be memorable, often have more the feel of actors being brought on stage simply to make an author's points than the feel of real, breathing people.

It is 1964 and Avery Escher is in Egypt to save Abu Simbel's Great Temple from the floodwaters soon to be released by the new Aswan Dam.He is there to oversee the dismantling of the centuries-old Temple so that it can be reconstructed some sixty feet higher in a cliff where it will be safe from the flooding.His wife, Jean, who witnessed a similar event in Canada when ten villages were sacrificed to the waters of the new St. Lawrence Seaway, is in Egypt with Avery, whom she met when he worked the Seaway project.

Jean is saddened by what she sees in Egypt, the displacement of the Nubian people whose government is happy enough to sacrifice them for the greater good of the country.As trainload after trainload of these people are relocated and their ancestral villages are destroyed and flooded, Jean realizes that she and Avery are part of something destructive rather than something positive.When a personal tragedy forces her to return to Canada, she finds that her feelings about her life and marriage have changed and she decides to live alone.

The second half of the book sees Avery largely fading into the background while Jean tries to put her life back together with the help of her new friend, Lucjan, a Polish immigrant who, as a boy, survived the World War II destruction of Warsaw.In Jean, Lucjan has finally found a woman with whom he can share his detailed memories of those days, including how disoriented he was when he first walked the streets of the uncannily accurate replication of the old city completed after the war.

The two halves of "The Winter Vault" share a common theme but their plots and characters are so different that they read like two novels under one cover. Anne Michaels has published several poetry collections and the prose of "The Winter Vault," only her second novel, is often as striking as her poetry.Unfortunately, however, some of her extended passages continue to be vague and distracting no matter how much attention and time a reader gives them.It should also be noted that the decision not to use quotation marks or chapter breaks in this 336-page novel may tempt some readers to abandon it well short of its final page.Those who persevere will, however, have much to think about when they finish "The Winter Vault."

Rated at: 3.5

Poetic imagery gets tedious
At first I was delighted with this new offering by Anne Michaels. However reading on, it got tedious and I kept waiting for it to develop. The very virtue of the poetic language turned south and I kept putting the book down. I don't know that I will finish it, though individual images were lovely and the start of poems. ... Read more

Product Description
At first Killashandra Ree's ambitions to become a Crystal Singer, get rich, and forget her past, were going just as she had hoped. But after she grew wealthy, a devastating storm turned her claim to useless rock. In short order she was broke, she had crystal sickness so bad she thought she was going to die, and the only way she could be true to the man she loved was to leave him....
... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

One of my favorite sci-fi series
I haven't read these in a few years but remember really enjoying them. All in all this has everything I look for in a series: imaginative scenes with understandable explanations and interesting, likeable characters who you care what happens to. Also, it has an end. There are so many authors who keep a series alive long after they should have wrapped it up. If you enjoy sci-fi or fantasy with female leads, then give this series a try.
The first book opens us to the lead character, Killishandra Ree, and the very imaginative and detailed world of crystal singers. Killishandra was studying to be a professional stage singer on one planet, but when that lifelong dream is blown, she meets a crystal singer and decides to try to become one herself. Broken down, singers are basically miners of crystals used all over the galaxy for numerous things such as inter-galactic communications. Why they're called singers is that they have to be able to sing in perfect pitch in order to "tune in" to the crystal frequency so that it can be cut properly. This job is fraught with danger, the first of which is surviving the organism that invades their bodies as they land on the planet where the crystals are to be cut. The organism allows them to live on the planet and allows them a long life with a much slower ageing process (hundreds of years). Unfortunately, it cannot protect them from the memory-loss that all crystal singers suffer due to crystal exposure. They do get paid a ton, but of course, like a mining community of old, the "Guild" charges singers for all their equipment and multiple fees, making it hard for them to earn enough credits to get off planet and far enough away from the crystals' negative effects. Also, different crystals are worth different prices, depending on their color, cut and potential usefulness.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
In the second book, we find Killishandra, now an established "singer", sent to another planet to install some type of crystal for producing musical sound (an enormous concert organ which is used by the planet's government in a diabolical way to control the citizenry). She's kidnapped by rebels on the planet and meets Lars Dahl, the series' primary love interest. I really don't remember all the book specifics on this one, but I remember really enjoying the book as well as the developing romance.
*** MAJOR SPOILER ALERT ***
In the last book Killishandra and Lars have been cutting crytals together for years (as in hundreds, I think). He has kept an electronic journal which reminds him of things so he can minimize the memory damage of the crystal. She has not. You think, "OMG! How sad! Oh no!", quite a bit throughout this book. It can be hokey at times, but also beautiful. I warned of spoilers, but I will not give away the ending.

70% Romance Novel, 30% Sci-Fi
This story by Anne McCaffrey is part two of the Crystal Singer trilogy.I have to admit that I liked the first novel much better.The first novel was the story of how Killashandra Ree becomes a Crystal Singer, and took us along with her entry into an interesting world. In "Killashandra Ree," Killa continues her adventures, this time off Ballybran and on a foreign planet, Optheria.She is tasked with repairing their crystal-powered Organ.She has a set of adventures on a planet that I found fairly indistinguishable from our own.

Killashandra is a strong, interesting main character. I agree with Lars Dahl; I also fell for her "vibrant youth, charm, invulnerability, indefatigable energy, and resourcefulness."

In this novel, Anne McCaffrey returns to her roots as a romance writer.This story is 70% romance novel and 30% sci-fi.Great Sci-Fi makes its readers think about real issues that arise due to a setting that is different than our everyday reality of the present.In Crystal Singer, the issue McCaffrey deals with is memory - do we forget for a reason?Are some memories better off forgotten?If we don't remember events, is that the same as if they never actually happened?What is the impact of living much longer than our peers?

"Killashandra Ree" tackles no big issues.The story meanders, with a romance between Killa and Lars Dahl as the focal point.I struggled to finish this novel in the middle part, which is unusual for an Anne McCaffrey story. Only my love for the character Killashandra got me through these slow parts.

I am looking forward to the third novel of the trilogy - I hope McCaffrey soars back to her usual heights.

(This Kindle edition has numerous typos and spelling errors- the file was not transferred perfectly from the original document - but in most cases I knew the word they were trying to spell.)

killasandra
As with all Anne McAffrey books this is a fine work. The Crystal Singers are a breed apart, the planet on which they work the crystal from has a deadly secret. One which both lenghten's their lifespans and can destroy them if they stay away to long.....

Fly away with me
"Killashandra" is the exciting sequel to Anne McCaffrey's "Crystal Singer." Killashandra Ree,who has become a musical mistress on the dangerous planet Ballybran, must secure a powerful load of crystals. She's kidnapped... and finds a people enslaved. Of course,there's an obligatory romance between Killashandra and her kidnapper Lars Dahl. "Killashandra" is a fun,fast-paced read. It's not as good as its predecessor,but it doesn't fall into the Sequel Syndrome. Fly away!

Science Fantasy at its best
If you haven't read everything she's written, at least give it a try.....
I have..... ... Read more

Product Description
After 7 weeks on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, the newest novel of the Dragonriders of Pern series is finally in paperback. Chronicling the first settlers of Pern, this is the story of the colonists' efforts to breed dragons to fight the deadly Thread before the lush planet is destroyed. "Dragonphile alert! Anne McCaffrey is back. . .Must reading for fans of the series."--San Diego Tribune. HC: Del Rey. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (88)

Dragonsdawn
I absolutely love Anne McCaffrey's stories.I am so happy that her son has followed in her footsteps.Even with Thread falling, Pern is my get-a-way.Thank you and please keep writing.

Dragonsdawn
If you love the dragonriders series this is a definite must have. This book is slow as most back-story books are but it fills in the history of PERN and how the dragonriders came to be. Some people may not like the story style but I find it interesting as it highlights how the PERN society came to be. It tells the story of the prominent families and future heroes of Pern & how their past is reflected in the actions they take to protect Pern.

Satisfied customer
I was very pleased with this book.I is one of the best.I was very satisfied with the service I received.

Excellent re-read
I've read this book before when it was first released. I decided to re-read the series in chronological order so started here. I have to say I enjoyed it more the second time around, although it's been over a decade since I first read it. Excellent story and Chronicles of Pern: First Fall makes a great follow up. Binding was very good, an off white color which surprised me and the bond has a rough finish to it, kinda nice.

great start to the series
Anne McCaffrey is the quintessential writer of fantasy books pertaining to dragons.These books are always wonderful, well written, and perfectly characterized.All of her series are great but the ones that take place on Pern are the best of all. ... Read more

Product Description
Anne Hutchinson was perhaps the most famous Englishwoman in colonial American history, viewed in later centuries as a crusader for religious liberty and a prototypical feminist. Michael Winship, author of the highly acclaimed Making Heretics, provides a startlingly new and fresh account of her oft-told tale, disentangling what really happened from the legends that have misrepresented her for so long.

During the 1630s, religious controversies drove a wedge into the puritan communities of Massachusetts. Anne Hutchinson and other members began to speak out against mainstream doctrine, while ministers like John Cotton argued for personal discovery of salvation. The puritan fathers viewed these activities as a direct and dangerous threat to the status quo and engaged in a fierce and finally successful fight against them. Refusing to disavow her beliefs, Hutchinson was put on trial twice-first for slandering the colony's ministers, then for heresy-and banished from the colony.

Combing archives for neglected manuscripts and ancient books for obscure references, Winship gives new voice to other characters in the drama whose significance has not previously been understood. Here are Thomas Shepard, a militant heresy hunter who vigorously pursued both Cotton and Hutchinson; Thomas Dudley, the most important leader in Massachusetts after Governor John Winthrop; Henry Vane, a well-connected supporter of radical theology; and John Wheelwright, a bellicose minister who was a lightning rod for the frustrations of other dissidents. Winship also analyzes the political struggle that almost destroyed the colony and places Hutchinson's trials within the context of this turmoil.

As Winship shows, although the trials of Anne Hutchinson and her allies were used ostensibly to protect Massachusetts' Christian society, they instead nearly tore it apart. His concise, fast-moving, and up-to-date account brings puritan doctrine back into focus, giving us a much closer and more informed look at a society marked by religious intolerance and immoderation, one that still echoes in our own times. As long as governments take it upon themselves to define orthodoxies of conscience, The Times and Trials of Anne Hutchinson will be required reading for students and concerned citizens alike.

This book is part of the Landmark Law Cases and American Society series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Revisiting Anne Hutchinson
As an American Studies major in the late sixties, I understood the tale of Anne Hutchinson as the fleeting hint of a nascent feminism in the New World, a feminism that, almost 400 years later, took root and transformed American culture during my young adulthood.Michael Winship's The Times and Trials of Anne Hutchinson removes imposed meanings to reveal Anne Hutchinson as a quintessential puritan losing a passionate and destructive struggle to define piety and salvation.Because the dogmatic intolerance at the soul of of puritanism still colors the political discourse of our own day, Winship's scholarship, translated into readable and engaging prose, is a valuable contribution to our understanding of where we come from and where, without consciousness of our roots, we may be headed.

Careless with facts
This book says Anne Hutchinson, the colonial leader, died "in August or September 1643." In fact Governor John Winthrop recorded in his journal on July 22, 1643, news of the Indian massacre in which Hutchinson had died. It's ironic that an author who describes Hutchinson as little more than a fiction of Winthrop's imagination didn't check this primary source. More important, this book claims Hutchinson's "personal influence proved ephemeral", and "most of her followers" and family "died with her" in the massacre. In fact, according to Winthrop and other contemporaries, she was survived by scores of followers in Rhode Island and Boston, five children, and many grandchildren. Her descendants include Presidents FDR, Bush, and Bush. Her lasting influence in Rhode Island contributed to the freedom of religion clause in the 1660s colonial constitution, which helped inspire the constitutional amendment guaranteeing freedom of religion throughout America.

Anne Hutchinson
This was a gift for a friend of mine, and she was very happy with the book. ... Read more

Product Description
As long as the people of Pern could remember, the Holds had protected them from Thread, the deadly silver strands that fell from the sky and ravaged the land. In exchange for sanctuary in the huge stone fortresses, the people tithed to their Lord Holders, who in turn supported the Weyrs, whose dragons were Pern's greatest weapon against Thread.

But not everyone on Pern was part of that system of mutual care and protection, particularly those who had been rendered holdless as punishment for wrongdoing. And there were some, like Jayge's trader clan, who simply preferred the freedom of the roads to the security of a hold. Others, like Aramina's family, had lost their holds through injustice and cruelty. For all the holdless, life was a constant struggle for survival.

Then, from the ranks of the criminals and the disaffected, rose a band of renegades, led by the Lady Thella. No one was safe from Thella's depredations, and now her quarry was Aramina, reputed to have a telepathic link with dragons. But when Thella mistakenly vented her rage on Jayge's family, she made a dangerous mistake. For Jayge was bent on revenge . . . and he would never let her have the girl who heard dragons!


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

great book
Anne McCaffrey is the quintessential writer of fantasy books pertaining to dragons.These books are always wonderful, well written, and perfectly characterized.All of her series are great but the ones that take place on Pern are the best of all.

A sequel to Piemur's book
This book has a full fledged female villain: Lady Thella
and her band of thieves. As Thred falls for the first time
in this era the displaced people have gathered around
a leader and begun to steal to stay alive.
Most of the last half of the book deals with the southern continent
which has the imaginative name : 'Southern'.
We get a parallel to the adventures of Piemur
and at last Archaeology of the first settlement
of the planet with a computer still active.
The result leaves things open for another sequel
to follow?
As I have read several in this sequence I think this
effort doesn't have the spirit of some of the original
work, but continues the development of the Pern
culture from another point of view.

The Renagades of Pern
What can I say???? I totally enjoyed this book, just as I have loved all the series! This one, more than any other, portrays life outside of the Dragon rider's wheyrs and out over Pern and it's common folk.

Anne McCaffery is a master in writing, a true Bard.
Her stories a full of humanity, wonderful bonds between man/dragon/and earth (Pern)...and so VERY, refreshingly different from the Tolkien-esque fantasies many writers emulate.

The continuing chronicles of Pern
This, the tenth novel in the popular series that about the people and dragons of Pern, takes place approximately concurrently with THE WHITE DRAGON and is largely centered on Jayge Lilcamp, a member of a family of traders who traveled across Pern bringing much needed goods.Jayge finds his life and that of the rest of Pern turned upside down when Thread, that horrendous menace that periodically attacked the planet returned.Many had believed that Thread would never again fall from Pern's skies, scoffing at those who insisted that all too soon they would once again have to deal with this age old enemy, when once again all of Pern would owe their existence to the brave dragons and riders.

Jayge found his very way of life changed, not so much by the Thread itself but by humans he had been brought into contact with, one a young woman who had the unique talent of hearing dragons, all dragons, speak to each other telepathically and another embittered young woman who was determined to control this talent.As major events of Pernese society take place around them these three battle for their own places in their world.

The author, Anne McCaffrey, places a request in each of her Pern stories that the reader read the stories in order for maximum enjoyment.Readers new to this series would absolutely not want to begin with this one, the story is quite dependent on earlier events.Those who have read the first four or five novels could follow and enjoy the story but the more familiar the reader is with the series the more they will enjoy this story.This novel takes place and refers to many of the same events as THE WHITE DRAGON, and the Harper Trilogy (DRAGONSONG, DRAGONSINGER and DRAGONDRUMS), relating the events from a slightly different point of view.ALL THE WEYRS OF PERN begins shortly after the end of this novel.

As with all the Pern novels this one is a fascinating depiction of a complex society that has adapted itself to the extraordinary conditions that have beset it.Once again McCaffery has taken characters that have dominated earlier novels, placed them into secondary roles and shifted focus to other characters who either had been mentioned in passing earlier or are new to this story.It is interesting to see how the various events or characters common to more than one novel are viewed differently by various individuals.The different storylines of this novel are all quite satisfactorily tied up but the ending involves such a surprising twist that the reader will probably want to immediately pick up the next novel in the series, ALL THE WEYRS OF PERN.

The Renegades of Pern
Very good. I knew I was hooked on the Pern stories when I started buying them in hardback instead of waiting 6-8 months for the paperback. ... Read more

Product Description
Her name was Killashandra Ree. And after ten grueling years of musical training, she was still without prospects. Until she heard of the mysterious Heptite Guild who could provide careers, security, and wealth beyond imagining. The problem was, few people who landed on Ballybran ever left. But to Killashandra the risks were acceptable....
... Read more

Customer Reviews (43)

Best book ever!
I have read this book many times over the years. I can read it and the character Killashandra is inspiring in her quest for her own personal best! Quite an enjoyable read.

One of my favorite sci-fi series
I haven't read these in a few years but remember really enjoying them. All in all this has everything I look for in a series: imaginative scenes with understandable explanations and interesting, likeable characters who you care what happens to. Also, it has an end. There are so many authors who keep a series alive long after they should have wrapped it up. If you enjoy sci-fi or fantasy with female leads, then give this series a try.
The first book opens us to the lead character, Killashandra Ree, and the very imaginative and detailed world of crystal singers. Killashandra was studying to be a professional stage singer on one planet, but when that lifelong dream is blown, she meets a crystal singer and decides to try to become one herself. Broken down, singers are basically miners of crystals used all over the galaxy for numerous things such as inter-galactic communications. Why they're called singers is that they have to be able to sing in perfect pitch in order to "tune in" to the crystal frequency so that it can be cut properly. This job is fraught with danger, the first of which is surviving the organism that invades their bodies as they land on the planet where the crystals are to be cut. The organism allows them to live on the planet and allows them a long life with a much slower ageing process (hundreds of years). Unfortunately, it cannot protect them from the memory-loss that all crystal singers suffer due to crystal exposure. They do get paid a ton, but of course, like a mining community of old, the "Guild" charges singers for all their equipment and multiple fees, making it hard for them to earn enough credits to get off planet and far enough away from the crystals' negative effects. Also, different crystals are worth different prices, depending on their color, cut and potential usefulness.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
In the second book, we find Killashandra, now an established "singer", sent to another planet to install some type of crystal for producing musical sound (an enormous concert organ which is used by the planet's government in a diabolical way to control the citizenry). She's kidnapped by rebels on the planet and meets Lars Dahl, the series' primary love interest. I really don't remember all the book specifics on this one, but I remember really enjoying the book as well as the developing romance.
*** MAJOR SPOILER ALERT ***
In the last book Killashandra and Lars have been cutting crytals together for years (as in hundreds, I think). He has kept an electronic journal which reminds him of things so he can minimize the memory damage of the crystal. She has not. You think, "OMG! How sad! Oh no!", quite a bit throughout this book. It can be hokey at times, but also beautiful. I warned of spoilers, but I will not give away the ending.

Great book
I absolutely love this book and I'm so glad that I was able to get it.

If Doctor Who could meet anyone in the Universe...
I would want it to be Killashandra Ree.

What a strong female character. Sure, she starts out as being a bit of a brat, but her character grows and matures throughout the series into a wonderfully strong, independentand competent person. This is still one of my favorite sci-fi collections. The concept of Ballybran Crystal and a job as a "cutter" was just so inspired. When I was younger I SO wanted to go to Ballybran.

Engaging Sci Fi- Sheer Joy
I absolutely love this book.I'm already a fan of Anne McCaffrey from her Pern series, but I think this trilogy is even better.My favorite of the trilogy is this book, the first of the series.In this book we learn what the Crystal Singers are as Killashandra, the lead (female) character enters the Guild after failing to become a musician.This is sci-fi at it's best - fast-paced, interesting, fanciful, future-looking, and most important, it contemplates real issues.In the midst of an engaging story that is easy to escape in, the author challenges us to think about real dilemmas.For example, a side effect of "singing crystal" is extraordinary longevity and loss of memory.I found myself thinking, "do events still exist if we can't remember them?"and "how will our lives be affected if we have extraordinary longevity but our friends and family do not?"

I read this book as a teenage boy 2 decades ago, and just re-read it last week.I find that good works of fiction affect me in different ways at different stages of my life, and Crystal Singer was no exception.

As an adult, I understand Killashandra's challenges, and understand her relationships more fully than I did as a teenager.As a teenager, I was "along with her," discovering Crystal Singing for the first time.Her entry into the Heptite Guild had many parallels with my entry into West Point.For example, the Guild appears to discourage new recruits from joining, but this is actually a subtle psychological technique to recruit a certain type of individual.(West Point does the same thing)This made the story, despite the futuristic setting, more realistic.

Anne McCaffrey develops the character of Killashandra in a brutally honest way - we love her and also see her making mistakes.This is engaging Science Fiction - I think McCaffrey doesn't get enough critical acclaim - she's considered "pulp" sci fi by many but in my opinion she's right up there with Isacc Asimov and Harlan Ellison.She's not in the same league as Frank Herbert, but no one is. ... Read more

Product Description
Anne Michaels explores the chance and circumstance of life measured against the power of love.This novel, published in 1996, continues to resonate especially in our current times of trouble.

This Bookclub-in-a-Box discussion companion to Anne Michael’s novel Fugitive Pieces is as hard to put down as the novel. Each descriptive passage in the novel is a poem to be savored and our guide is a full and innovative interpretation of its symbols and images. The guide offers a unique perspective on the characters, their actions and interactions, and to the meanings they take from life and death.

Michaels sets her novel during and after WWII, linking the stories of two men – Jakob and Ben – both of whom are lost and found through love. Both seek faith and love as redemptive forces for a damaged soul.

We travel with Jakob from Greece to Canada, and with Ben, we return from Canada to Greece, a full and rounded trip. The Holocaust is not a new or untold story, but Michaels believes that a fresh approach is necessary. She feels strongly that the story should continue to be told and that it is renewed with each telling. Readers should take Michaels’ trip into the past and bring out of it a positive message of hope for the future – another rounded trip.

Bookclub-in-a-Box investigates the following ideas and themes in Fugitive Pieces, helping you:

- Discover how the title, Fugitive Pieces, with its many levels of meaning is applied to the themes of the novel.

- Follow Anne Michaels as she takes us back through "vertical" time (not linear time).

- Become breathless with the beauty and poetry of Michael’s descriptions.

- Come away from this novel with a renewed and positive feeling of anticipation for the future, an antidote to other perspectives of the Holocaust and the devastation of war.

Every Bookclub-in-a-Box discussion guide includes complete coverage of themes, symbols, writing style, as well as interesting and little known background information on the novel and the author – plus a complementary RAG (Read-Alongside-Guide), a quick-reference pamphlet with fascinating facts and questions to consider while reading the novel. The Bookclub-in-a-Box discussion guide for Fugitive Pieces is no exception! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

eh
Since there is virtually no written records of the everyday machinery of this queen, this book is almost entirely speculative and it's conclusions are drawn from records of other queens of the period.I understand that, but since I have read a fair amount of books on this period and am familiar with the generalities of her times, I was disappointed.I wanted to learn specifics about A.N. and this book didn't have any to offer.

The Unknown Queen...
...And she won't be any better known after reading this biography.

I suspect that one of the author's problems was that Anne Neville is a very indistinct figure, existing in her own time in the shadow of her father & then of her husband. The contemporary chronicles have minimal information about even prominent women such as Anne Neville, reflecting the position of women in a Church-dominated society. The interest today in Richard iii & in womens' lives generally has made her of interest to us, & so scholars scrape about for the few scraps of information available & try to make a book out of very little.

In this case, the author doesn't do the sensible thing & expend a chapter or two on explaining the complicated ins & outs of the contemporary political scene. Don't even try to read this book without keeping a book on the War of the Roses at your side for easy consultation, preferably one that includes a family tree of the York & Lancaster dynasties.

Anne died at the age of 30, not too unusual for her times. She had a turbulent life, her wellbeing seemingly expendable for the political ambitions of others.

The author, surprisingly for someone touted as an authority on the period, seems to have very little feeling for the times & is unable to make another century come alive. Other reviewers have pointed out his silly interpretation of medieval actions through a modern sensibility, & he seems barely interested in Anne.

Save your money, you won't learn anything about Anne Neville that isn't in a good account of the War of the Roses.

Anne Neville, Queen to Richard III by Michael Hicks
Amazon Rating - No Stars

Thank you, Amazon, for asking me to rate this book.I hope my input will be helpful to others.
I was extremely disappointed and very shocked that a professor of medieval history would write Anne Neville, Queen to Richard III in such a highly unprofessional manner. For anyone interested in the period, (in alphabetical order by author), David Baldwin`s Elizabeth Woodville, Thomas B. Costain's The Last Plantagenants,Bertram Field's Royal Blood, Elizabeth Jenkins' The Princes in the Tower, Paul Murray Kendall's Richard III or A.J. Pollard's Richard III and the Princes in the Tower are much more scholarly, and, at the same time, very readable,both in writing style and documentation.Therefore, I suggest purchasing any, or all, of those books instead of Michael's Hick's Anne Neville. It is a shame that one or more of the above-mentioned authors (or a writer who is as reliable as they are) hasn't published a biography of Richard III's queen.I hope someone will do so in the near future.


Anna, Miami, Florida USA

Anne Neville
Had I known the forward of this book had been written by Alison Weir, I would have never purchased it.If she were to recommend a work, I would be suspicious in the highest degree because her own efforts lack gravity, i.e., they are not scholarly, especially in the legal sense.Michael Hicks, for someone of his reputation, should be ashamed of authoring this book:the dates are terrible and the repetitive generalizations are banal, trite platitudes ad nauseum.It's simply not a scholarly, detailed work which, had I not known otherwise, would have presumed it had been penned by an hysterical female.His focus on the dispensations would have better been presented in a monograph, which is precisely what is required.

Wendy Booth Tuthill

Interesting book
Anne Neville is an enigma, so I was interested in reading more about her. It definitely IS a good book about HER. I enjoyed reading it. However, if you're not interested in her - i.e., if you just want a biography to read - you might be disappointed. ... Read more

Product Description

By recreating one of the most tumultuous and significant episodes in early American history, The Trial of Anne Hutchinson: Liberty, Law, and Intolerance in Puritan New England illustrates the struggle between the followers and allies of John Winthrop, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and those of Anne Hutchinson, a strong-willed and brilliant religious dissenter.

Part of the “Reacting to the Past” series, this text consists of elaborate games in which students are assigned roles, informed by classic texts, set in particular moments of intellectual and social ferment.   The game unfolds amidst a controversy that pushed Massachusetts to the brink of collapse and spurred a larger historical process that led to religious freedom and the modern concept of separation of church and state.

Product Description
Christian parables have retained their force well beyond the sphere of religion; indeed, they share with much of modern literature their status as a form of address: "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." There is no message without there first being--or, more subtly, without there also being in the message itself--an address to a capacity or an aptitude for listening. This is not an exhortation of the kind "Pay attention!" Rather, it is a warning: if you do not understand, the message will go away.The scene in the Gospel of John in which the newly risen Christ enjoins the Magdalene, "Noli me tangere," a key moment in the general parable made up of his life, is a particularly good example of this sudden appearance in which a vanishing plays itself out. Resurrected, he speaks, makes an appeal, and leaves."Do not touch me." Beyond the Christ story, this everyday phrase says something important about touching in general. It points to the place where touching must not touch in order to carry out its touch (its art, its tact, its grace). The title essay of this volume is both a contribution to Nancy's project of a "deconstruction of Christianity" and an exemplum of his remarkable writings on art, in analyses of "Noli me tangere" paintings by such painters as Rembrandt, Dürer, Titian, Pontormo, Bronzino, and Correggio. It is also in tacit dialogue with Jacques Derrida's monumental tribute to Nancy's work in Le toucher--Jean-Luc Nancy.For the English-language edition, Nancy has added an unpublished essay on the Magdalene and the English translation of "In Heaven and on the Earth," a remarkable lecture he gave in a series designed to address children between six and twelve years of age. Closely aligned with his entire project of "the deconstruction of Christianity,'" this lecture may give the most accesible account of his ideas about God. ... Read more

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The future of the planet rests in the hands of Moreta. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (57)

intriguing
Anne McCaffrey is the quintessential writer of fantasy books pertaining to dragons.These books are always wonderful, well written, and perfectly characterized.All of her series are great but the ones that take place on Pern are the best of all.

Sad
This is a wonderful read it pulls you into the world of Pern and makes you want to be a dragon rider. The story is very sad though so grab a box of tissue when you read it.

highly emotional
This is a great book in the dragon riders series.A highly emotional book.It leads you in one direction but takes you in another.

A true Pern Classic
This has always been among my favorite Pern stories.Its great having this in audio.

This book was really not that good.
I'm going to keep this short because this book doesn't warrent that much of my time. Nothing really happens in this book. I've read the prior Pern novels and they were good enough to enjoy for a light read. This book, yes, pertains to the history of Pern but does not add much to it. Nothing is really accomplished, except that this is a start of a different era of history. I kept waiting for something to happen that is notable but nothing really did. You get a few small tidbits of imformation about the origional colonists but not much. This book really makes me reconsider weither or not I will read anymore Pern books. ... Read more

Product Description
This book, which accompanies a major exhibition at the Bibliotheque nationale de France, shines new light on the work of the English photographer Michael Kenna. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Kenna - Worth Seeing and Studying
As a photographer myself I always enjoy the work of others who make images, both for their beauty and for their instructional value. This latest compilation of Michael Kenna's work is an overview of his entire career. For anyone not familiar with his work it is a great first foray into his vision, and for those who follow Kenna it is a beautifully printed and presented homage to his oeuvre. The text is informative and worth the time to read. Both Kenna and Anne Biroleau have done a fine job putting this all together.
Photography is learned through being visually awakened to possibilities that can be captured by a camera, be it with film or sensor. It is only by studying the work of other photographers that an eye can be educated. Here is a wonderful and concise way to study Kenna's work. This book is perfectfor those who are serious or those who who just want to revel in his vision. ... Read more

Product Description
In the novel that introduced Anne Rice to the world, Interview with the Vampire, a reporter seeks out the facts behind an extraordinary life.In the years since that publication, Anne Rice has become one of the world's bestselling authors and has herself been the subject of countless interviews, profiles, and a full-length biography.Yet who Anne Rice is, and the beliefs, fascinations, desires, fears, and passions that inspire her work, remains an endlessly fascinating topic.

Now, for the first time ever in an audio format, Anne Rice discusses -- with her longtime friend, Michael Riley -- everything from her latest novels to her relationship to some of her characters; from the relationship of movies and music to her work to issues about gender, eroticism, religion, personal freedom, adolescent sexuality, and more... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Snore
A clear indication of why you shouldn't interview you friends. No question is challenging, no question is controversial, and the net result is a boring suck-up-athon. ... Read more

Product Description
Including contributions from... Porter Anderson, Gregory Gunter, Eelka Lampe, Ellen Lauren, Charles L. Mee, Jr., Paula Vogel, Anne Bogart, Mel Gussow, Tina Landau, Eduardo Machado, Tadashi Suzuki, plus the text of Small Lives/ Big Dreams created by the SITI Company. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Where's the Meat?
This book was recommended to me by one of my friends who is a terrific actress.We'd been discussing some ideas about the theatre & she thought Anne's book might spark some new ideas.I think the largest problem with the book is that it's like trying to describe a piece of music: It can be done, but nothing is quite like the actual experience of hearing it.What I took away from the book is a commitment to the body, exemplified in Anne's question, "Where's the meat?"I can see how a thorough yielding to the rhythm & motion of a play's time and the space it inhabits can yield new interpretation.I found interesting the description of her setting South Pacific in a Vietnam era setting.I was actually sitting in one of those loooong waits for a casting call when I read, "How can you create something if you don't have anything to talk about but yourself?" [p. 126]As I sat waiting for three hours listening to numerous actors trying to impress people with how significant they were, it made me go into the audition focused on "the other" presence in the scene.I also liked her language of an "external tapestry" as the stage picture evolves in the rehearsal process.The play "Small Lives/Big Dreams" included was so unique that it required a really different way of reading the script than more traditional theatrical language.I come away from the book with only vague ideas of how Anne works, but it did give me food for thought on how I might better work as an actor and as a director.Enjoy!

some of you are talking about A Director Prepares
These are supposed to be reviews of Viewpoints, the book about Bogart's technique. Some of you are reviewing A Director Prepares (which I recommend more). Don't get mixed up. They're very different texts.

If you're looking for answers...go elsewhere.
Having been introduced to the concept of "Viewpoints" in a weekend directing workshop, I was eager to read more about it.After reading this book, I know less about "Viewpoints" than before I started.If you're looking for an insight into how Anne Bogart works (and she very well may be very talented - I don't know, as I've never seen one of her productions) you won't find it here.There is much discussion about "the Viewpoints" and referrences to "the Viewpoints" and even definitions of "the Viewpoints", but as far as what Anne Bogart does WITH "the Viewpoints" I have no idea.One reviewer is correct - this book is a love story, written by people who think that Anne Bogart is the Messiah of Modern, er Postmodern Theatre.If you're looking to join in the lovefest, by all means, sign up.If you're looking for insights into how to work "the Viewpoints" into your work...you'll be disappointed.

Re: "Ohhhhhhhhh Lordy, when will it ever end?" by NY reader
I hadn't intended to respond, but when I read the review below I felt I must try to explain NY reader's misconception about Anne Bogart and her attitude toward the audience.In the opening essay of this book, Bogart retells one of her first experiences with the theatre: she was fifteen years old, and she attended a production of Macbeth at the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island.She writes that she was confused and disoriented by the language and staging, but that she left the theatre with a realization that she follows to this day: "Never talk down to the audience.It was immediately clear to me that the experience of theatre was not about us understanding the meaning of the play or the significance of the staging."Instead, she was able to experience the play "directly, in a visceral and fantastic manner."

So, yes... Bogart does insinuate that the audience won't understand every play she directs--but she doesn't say this contemptuously.Even now, Bogart admits that she is often confused by productions she sees, and she writes that this feeling of confronting the unexpected and confusing is essential to quality theatre.She acknowledges that not everyone in the audience will understand because not every human can understand everything; indeed, not even one human can understand everything.

The opportunity to reach beyond your boundaries, to traverse places where you aren't entirely comfortable--that is one of the greatest assets of the theatre.And that devotion to the challenge of understanding characterizes every aspect of Anne Bogart's work.Bogart is an intelligent, creative, talented director--and this book is an excellent introduction to her poignant process.

Ohhhhhhhhh Lordy, when will it ever end?
I know Anne well and was curious to read this book.Obviously, everyone who wrote for this book loves her, so the book is basically a love story, about people who love Anne and why they love her work.Too bad.So manyof her productions have been failures; so much of her work is over theheads of the general audience.Too many people love her work withoutunderstanding what it means; they love the energy but miss the message. Why?Anne admits it herself, her ultimate failure:she believes heraudience is beneath her, that it is her duty to correct her audience'slimited view of the theater.Anne, when are you going to start makingplays for your audience rather than for yourself? ... Read more

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Product Description
Readers call the shots in these titillating original books, written by premier erotica authors, which allow you to live out your most uninhibited erotic fantasies.

The Classics Professor is a beautiful woman at a prestigious New York university whose cold professional façade masks a powerful eroticism. Dr. Wendy Lake wants to seduce you, and a disastrous relationship has left you vulnerable to her advances. You're fascinated and intimidated. When the affair becomes dangerously intense, you'll have to decide whether you will submit to all her perversions, such as attending pansexual orgies in midtown; escape the pressure through a fling with a nubile university co-ed; or drop out of graduate school altogether. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Saucy
This book intrigued me because I was looking for an adult choose your own adventure.It certainly was adult.Warning:Do not read this book if you have trouble reading very explicit material.Anyway, I didn't think I would care for it as much as I did.I kept thinking I would just put it down and start reading it again later, but I could wait to see where each decision took me.Some things I didn't like to hear about, but some things were very exciting to read.Read this book if you are interested in expoloring what turns you on.You might be surprised!

A Kinder, Gentler Hemmingson?
Did Hemmingson's editor finally tame him? But I see this is a stgory by him and a book by another well-known erotica writer.I have a feeling we may see "story by" Hemmingson on TV sit-coms next!

The book was fun, though. A fun read, like a game.

Not very sexy
Avoid this one - Hemmingson is normally a better writer than this. Not very sexy, or interesting.

Designed for rereading
Like Kathryn in the City, this is an adult Choose-Your-Own-Adventure. Reading it, you wonder that it took so long for someone to make this, the concept fits light erotica very well.

The story is about a new professor in a new city, with many different diversions and options along the way.

The writing is fun, the choices diverse, and erotica good.

And of course, you can always pick it up again and try something else... ... Read more

Product Description

Many people in developing countries lack access to health technologies, even basic ones. Why do these problems in access persist? What can be done to improve access to good health technologies, especially for poor people in poor countries?

This book answers those questions by developing a comprehensive analytical framework for access and examining six case studies to explain why some health technologies achieved more access than others. The technologies include praziquantel (for the treatment of schistosomiasis), hepatitis B vaccine, malaria rapid diagnostic tests, vaccine vial monitors for temperature exposure, the Norplant implant contraceptive, and female condoms. Based on research studies commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to better understand the development, adoption, and uptake of health technologies in poor countries, the book concludes with specific lessons on strategies to improve access. These lessons will be of keen interest to students of health and development, public health professionals, and health technology developers—all who seek to improve access to health technologies in poor countries.

Product Description
What do you pay attention to? The sublime of everyday life and the confusion of public and private are the stuff of Anne Daems' art work. In her video work, photography and drawings she explores the enigma that is the discrepancy between what is shown and what is described, allowing absence to define both the limits and the infinite possibilities of representation.Essay by Michael Tarantino.Paperback, 6.75 x 8.5 in./176 pgs / 130 color 0 BW0 duotone 0 ~ Item D20084 ... Read more