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Frederick Exley recounts his life as the son of a hero-worshipped high school athlete who is doomed to be a spectator not only of sports, but of life. From irresponsible drifter, to dreamer of impossible dreams, to drunkard, to frequent patient at an insane asylum, Exley carried baggage from his childhood through much of his adult life, never feeling he could escape the dark cloud of expectation that hung over him. When Frank Gifford, former New York Giants backfield star, is injured, Exley is jolted into painful realizations about his life, and a confession.
Book Description
This fictional memoir, the first of an autobiographical trilogy, traces a self professed failure's nightmarish decent into the underside of American life and his resurrection to the wisdom that emerges from despair.
Customer Reviews:
good in sections.......2007-01-01
first third is good, so is the last third. middle is muddled and the writer rambles on about nothing much.
constant mention of Frank Gifford and football might bore you stiff (like it did me.) It seems Exley worshipped the ground Gifford walked on... My take on that is: so what? Sports figures are mostly overrated--even when they appear to be "winners."
Lots of rambling in this book...that can be tiresome at times.
I'd actually give it about four stars, or maybe 3 1/2--if I could change my rating.
Reasons to be a fan of A Fan's Notes.......2006-10-04
I'll be brief: this is a long, intense, parodic, rhapsodic, beautiful and, at times, ungainly piece of American literature. A Hemingwayesque verve, a Faulknerian playfulness, and a Nabokovian look at the underside of American life, this book should be read by men, women, and children (over 18 years of age, of course), after which they will know not only much more about narcissism, alcoholism, sex, friendship, celebrity worship, suffering, gluttony, satire, and wit, they will have experienced an important excursion into a truly literary and literate sensibility: less polished but deeper than updike, less funny but wider ranging than cheever, less grand but more poignant than fitzgerald.... a grand, flawed maw... to be read and savored like an oversized plate of ribs or, if you're a vegetarian, like a mound of fried sweet potatoes. Bon Appetit.
How idealism and self-pity destroys man........2006-04-09
As I went through A Fan's Notes I couldn't stop thinking of it as a sequel to J.D. Salinger's famous coming of age novel The Catcher in the Rye. From the utter lack of direction to his search for the ideal and deeper meaning to life, Fred Exley is every bit the Holden Caulfield. Exley details his life of alcoholism, his dreams of making it big on Madison Avenue and marrying the perfect girl with the golden thighs, his numerous trips to his mother's davenport, the mental asylum and back again, his mindless endeavors with the mysterious Mr. Blue, the Counselor and anyone else he can hit up for money, and of course his infatuation with the inimitable Frank Gifford.
Though it may read like one man's rant about a wasted life and lost opportunities, A Fan's Notes is a reflection of people's universal albeit often doomed quest to escape anonymity, and ultimately matter in this world. Exley's insatiable desire for fame and not so subtle rebellion against society are his ways of attempting to be "more than a mere fan in this life." Oppressed by the shadows of his father and his fellow USC grad Frank Gifford, Exley is consumed by his need to escape. However, he is also haunted by the harrowing superficiality and phoniness of the reality. Unable to reconcile his pursuit of purpose and his ideal vision of the world, Exley sinks into depression and finds himself sustained only by alcohol and football.
By his own admission, Exley is stuck in the past or rather past-present, utterly incapacitated by the continuous wave of change. This book should serve as a warning to people's indulgence in self-pity and constant comparison with false heroes. Indeed it was only after Frank Gifford's debilitating injury that Exley was able to come to terms with his life and accomplish the one act that now defines his life- writing A Fan's Notes.
My Favorite Work of Fiction.......2006-03-01
This is my favorite work of fiction. Other things written by Exley are not very impressive - this is a great work and it is simultaneously full of humor and sadness.
Hilarious and Sad Warning about the Pitfalls of Self-Pity.......2006-03-01
As many critics and nay-sayers have said about this book, about a sports fans who lives vicariously through sports heroes while drinking and watching life pass him by, this autobiographical novel is indeed an indulgent exercise but that is the point. Self-indulgence, self-pity, self-absorption are killers. They leave us inert. Exley's self-deprecation and humor elevate this from naval-gazer narcissism to a theme about men and their meaning of life crises. Many American men obsess over sports because sports provide a venue for their fantasies of masculinity, heroism, and self-worth. That Exley was able to take this subject, which affected him very deeply, and make the pathology universal is a great achievement in this book, a novelization of his life told with brutal honesty, self-introspection, and wisdom. For an updated novel about today's adults, still trapped in adolescence, check out Tom Perotta's comic novel Little Children.
Book Description
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Web-Age Information Management, WAIM 2005, held in Hangzhou, China, in October 2005.
The 48 revised full papers, 50 revised short papers and 4 industrial papers presented together with 3 invited contributions were carefully reviewed and selected from 486 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on XML, performance and query evaluation, data mining, semantic Web and Web ontology, data management, information systems, Web services and workflow, data grid and database languages, agent and mobile data, database application and transaction management, and 3 sections with industrial, short, and demonstration papers.
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A Fan's Notes
Frederick Exley
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVIDF4 |
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H-infinity Control for Nonlinear Descriptor Systems (Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences)
He-Sheng Wang ,
Chee-Fai Yung , and
Fan-Ren Chang
Manufacturer: Springer
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ASIN: 1846282896 |
Book Description
The authors present a study of the H-infinity control problem and related topics for descriptor systems, described by a set of nonlinear differential-algebraic equations. They derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a controller solving the standard nonlinear H-infinity control problem considering both state feedback and output feedback. One such condition for the output feedback control problem to be solvable is obtained in terms of two Hamilton–Jacobi inequalities and a weak coupling condition; a parameterization of a family of output feedback controllers solving the problem is also provided. All of the aforementioned results are then specialized to the linear case. For the linear case, the necessary and sufficient conditions for the corresponding problems to be solvable are expressed in terms of two hierarchically coupled generalized algebraic Riccati equations. When these conditions hold, state-space formulae for a controller solving the problem are also given. The approach used in this monograph is based on a generalized version of the Bounded Real Lemma. Finally, the derivation of state-space formulae for all controllers solving the standard H-infinity control problem for descriptor systems is proposed. To establish the key formulae, a parameterization of all internally stabilizing controllers for descriptor systems is also given (both the linear and nonlinear cases are considered in this monograph). Among other important topics to be investigated are the balanced realization, reduced-order controller design and mixed H2/H-infinity control problems. For students and researchers interested in nonlinear control theory for descriptor systems, this book provides both a comprehensive introduction and easy access to advanced topics.
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- the survisors club
- Zzzzzzzz......
- detective story
- The Survivors Club
- From her picture she looks too nice to write this stuff.
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The Survivors Club
Lisa Gardner
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0553802518
Release Date: 2002-05-21 |
Book Description
One of today’s most electrifying suspense novelists, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner returns with a shattering thriller that dares to play on our deepest vulnerabilities. In this masterful new novel, the killer may very well be the one you sympathize with the most....
THE FIRST RULE IS NEVER BLAME THE VICTIM.
They survived what no woman should ever have to endure. Now these three women have the means, the opportunity, and the perfect motive. Are they trying to get away with murder--or is someone trying to make sure that this time they don’t get away at all?
The Survivors Club. . .that’s what Jillian Hayes, Carol Rosen, and Meg Pesaturo call it. They won’t consider themselves victims. They are survivors. They faced the blazing headlines and helped lead the investigation that caught the man who changed their lives forever.
And now that Eddie Como, the College Hill rapist, has been murdered, shot down outside a packed courthouse moments before his trial was about to begin, all three women are openly ecstatic that he’s dead. They are also the prime suspects in his murder. Detective Sergeant Roan Griffin knows all too well what can drive even the best people to cross the line. But he has never seen a case quite like this one. No one doubts that the murder of Eddie Como was a professional job, especially when the gunman is killed only blocks away from the shooting.
But questions taunt Griffin: Who ordered the deaths of Eddie Como and his killer? Could three ordinary women have been driven to do he unthinkable? Had someone in the Survivors Club become a killer? Griffin seeks the truth--and finds himself confronted with the leader of the Survivors Club. Jillian Hayes is beautiful, successful, cool as ice, and she harbors a pain that mirrors Griffin’s own. Did the horror of what happened to her push her over the thin and desperate line that separates survival and revenge? And if it did, could he blame her--or anyone in the Survivors Club? Then another woman is brutally attacked.
Suddenly, with the city on the ragged edge of panic, gripped in a media and political firestorm of controversy, cover-up, and conspiracy, the hunt is on for a ruthless and cunning killer. For Griffin, this may well be the case that shatters his career. For Jillian, the harrowing nightmare is beginning all over again. Someone is out there. Someone who wants to finish what was started. Someone who wants to make sure that no one survives the Survivors Club.
Download Description
One of today's most electrifying suspense novelists, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner returns with a shattering thriller that dares to play on our deepest vulnerabilities. In this masterful new novel, the killer may very well be the one you sympathize with the most.
THE FIRST RULE IS NEVER BLAME THE VICTIM.
They survived what no woman should ever have to endure. Now these three women have the means, the opportunity, and the perfect motive. Are they trying to get away with murder—or is someone trying to make sure that this time they don't get away at all?
The Survivors Club... that's what Jillian Hayes, Carol Rosen, and Meg Pesaturo call it. They won't consider themselves victims. They are survivors. They faced the blazing headlines and helped lead the investigation that caught the man who changed their lives forever.
And now that Eddie Como, the College Hill rapist, has been murdered, shot down outside a packed courthouse moments before his trial was about to begin, all three women are openly ecstatic that he's dead. They are also the prime suspects in his murder. Detective Sergeant Roan Griffin knows all too well what can drive even the best people to cross the line. But he has never seen a case quite like this one. No one doubts that the murder of Eddie Como was a professional job, especially when the gunman is killed only blocks away from the shooting.
But questions taunt Griffin: Who ordered the deaths of Eddie Como and his killer? Could three ordinary women have been driven to do he unthinkable? Had someone in the Survivors Club become a killer? Griffin seeks the truth—and finds himself confronted with the leader of the Survivors Club. Jillian Hayes is beautiful, successful, cool as ice, and she harbors a pain that mirrors Griffin's own. Did the horror of what happened to her push her over the thin and desperate line that separates survival and revenge? And if it did, could he blame her—or anyone in the Survivors Club? Then another woman is brutally attacked.
Suddenly, with the city on the ragged edge of panic, gripped in a media and political firestorm of controversy, cover-up, and conspiracy, the hunt is on for a ruthless and cunning killer. For Griffin, this may well be the case that shatters his career. For Jillian, the harrowing nightmare is beginning all over again. Someone is out there. Someone who wants to finish what was started. Someone who wants to make sure that no one survives the Survivors Club.
"One cannot read this excellent new novel by bestselling author Gardner without wondering what actors might play these characters.... Rocks and rolls right up to a nail-biter ending."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"This should cement Lisa Gardner's place on the bestseller lists. The Survivors Club has it all—provocative plotting, an astute eye for detail, engaging characters, and a razor-sharp emotional edge."
STEPHEN WHITE, AUTHOR OF
BLINDED
"Hot dang, a new Lisa Gardner book! I love her hot, fast thrill rides. I'm always first in line to grab my copy of her newest release the day it arrives in stores. For my money, when it comes to suspense, nobody does it better."
JAYNE ANN KRENTZ, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
Customer Reviews:
the survisors club.......2007-07-15
great book story keeps yuou very into it. lots of twists and turns as you go along. I liked it
Also delivery of how the book comes to a close.
Zzzzzzzz.............2007-02-24
"The Survivors Club", first published in 2002, is the fifth novel Lisa Gardner has published under her own name. She has also published thirteen other novels under the name "Alicia Scott".
It's a big day in Providence : Eddie Como, more widely known as the College Hill Rapist, is about to face trial. Nobody seems to be expecting anything other than a guilty verdict - details of the evidence are fairly sketchy in the early part of the book, though it appears his DNA was found at the scenes of the attacks. When Como is killed on his way to the courthouse, it's hard to see too many people being upset. When the assassin is killed immediately afterwards, however, it leaves two murders needing investigated.
The immediate assumption in certain quarters is that the Survivors Club - Jillian Hayes (a hardworking, polished, educated businesswoman who looks after her mother), Carol Rosen (a blue-eyed blonde socialite who lives in a mansion and does a lot of good work for charity) and Meg Pesaturo (the sweet, beautiful nineteen year old, whose big brown eyes send men weak at the knees) - had something to do with it. All three had survived attacks by the College Hill Rapist, although Jillian's sister wasn't so lucky. The three had held regular press conferences together, in an attempt to pressurise the police into pushing forward with the case. Nevertheless, it was always clear that Jillian was very much in control.
Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Roan Griffen is facing his first day back on duty with Rhode Island's Statement Police Department in eighteen months. Griffen, a widower, wasn't a vacation but rather on an enforced period of medical leave - the investigation into the Candy Man Case had left him a little `twitchy'. He's a little nervous about his first day back, and still raw about his wife's death. Naturally, before he's even made it to the police station, he's assigned to a certain very high-profile double murder.
"The Survivors Club" was something of a disappointment to me : even though this is only the second book by Gardner I've read, I already know she's capable of much better. There was an odour of laziness about the story - the more I read, the more it became a very ordinary thriller-by-numbers. There was absolutely nothing original about Griffen (the tragic cop who has seen "the true nature of the abyss") or Jillian Hayes (the hard-nosed control freak you just KNOW is hiding a heart of gold) - together, they form a pair of clichés you could find in any lazy thriller anywhere. The identity of the villain came as no surprise whatsoever, and when the final confrontation came I was half-expecting a shout of "If it wasn't for those pesky kids...". Very ordinary overall.
detective story.......2007-02-11
I love the way Lisa Garndner writes and her stories, this book was no exception. It is a very fast paced story and a great read.
The Survivors Club.......2007-01-03
Anything that Lisa Gardner writes easily turns into a favorite of mine. This is a great suspenseful novel.
From her picture she looks too nice to write this stuff........2006-07-16
Lisa Gardner is great! In this book she creates characters that are not only real, but ones the reader can actually care about, from the 3 victims to the detective to the prime supect Eddie. While the survivors seem dependent upon each other for support, there is an underlying need for independance from the group that shows as the story progresses. I did not figure out or even come close to guessing the plot twist at the end. Maybe Ms. Gardner will do another novel featuring Roan Griffin. He was a very interesting detective, dealing with the problems of others and his own personal demons.
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- Interesting travelogue and account of people's interaction with four snake species
- Interesting snakes stuff..........
- Wow! And he can write, too!
- rambling....
- Crikey! That's A Big One!!
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The Snakebite Survivors' Club: Travels among Serpents
Jeremy Seal
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0151005354 |
Amazon.com
Snakes occupy a peculiar position in the human psyche; in different cultures they have been associated with everything from birth to death, with liberal helpings of sex thrown in for good measure. Most of us are both fascinated and repelled by snakes, and Jeremy Seal is no exception. The Snakebite Survivors' Club begins with an account of how he can't bring himself to go into the reptile house at London Zoo. Being a travel writer, Seal is clearly both certifiable and able to spot good copy when he sees it, so he naturally concludes that the only solution is to set off round the world in search of as many lethal snakes and those who have survived their bites as possible. Seal's journeys through America, Africa, Australia, and India are every bit as engaging as you might expect from the man who wrote A Fez of the Heart--a book whose only failing was its badly punning title. Where Seal scores heavily is that he never becomes detached from his subject matter, unlike so many travel writers, who tend to waltz imperiously though foreign parts, affecting an intimacy they never achieve. Even when Seal is talking history, myth, or religion, he's never less than personal.
Seal's interest is more than curiosity, it's phobic--and that's what makes it so compelling. Whether he's meeting the American woman who survived her husband's attempt to murder her with a rattlesnake, or the Kilifi man who survived a black mamba, or the conveniently named Dundee--the Australian who shrugged off a taipan--you can sense his subtext: "What would I have done?" and "Could I have survived?" The same feelings permeate the historical. When he retraces the steps of the first Australian to catch a taipan, you know that he's somehow expecting a snake to appear in the same place. And when it doesn't, like Seal, you are both relieved and disappointed. The Snakebite Survivors' Club is a rare mix of intelligence and whimsy, but don't for a minute think it will cure you of your fear of snakes. So if you're feeling faint-hearted, grab a copy and head for Ireland, where--legend has it--there isn't a snake in sight. --John Crace, Amazon.co.uk
Book Description
Snakes are Jeremy Seal's fascination-and his greatest fear. In an attempt to overcome his phobia, he undertakes a voyage to Australia, Africa, India, and America in search of the most notorious and deadly species, and to meet the people who live among them. He encounters a Kenyan snake man, whose entire life seems like a preparation for a bite from the terrible black mamba; witch doctors, who use snakes as instruments of vengeance; frightened Australian convicts; and even a preacher in the Deep South, who uses his church's rattlesnakes to try to murder his wife. Along the way Seal recounts amazing scientific snake lore, legends, and historical facts. An erudite but highly entertaining narrative in the English travel-writing tradition, and a finalist for the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, The Snakebite Survivors' Club tells a funny, gruesomely fascinating account of the world of snakes and the people they repel, mesmerize, and sometimes kill.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting travelogue and account of people's interaction with four snake species .......2006-07-24
_The Snakebite Survivors' Club_ by Jeremy Seal was an amusing and informative travelogue, an account of the author's travels to learn about four particular snake species. Journeying to India to learn about king cobras, Kenya to learn about the black mamba, Queensland, Australia for the taipan, and the southeastern United States for the rattlesnake, Seal provided interesting history, anecdotes, and interviews relating to these four types of serpent. Though there was interesting information on the biology of these animals, the focus of the book tended to be, as the title suggests, on the experiences of those who handled snakes and particularly of those who had been bitten.
Seal was clearly of mixed feelings about snakes; while not terrified of snakes perhaps, he was certainly no big fan of them either. He wrote how he was drawn to snakes even as they disgusted him, that they possessed for him "a kind of transfixing awe, an infatuation." Similarly, he was drawn to those who had survived snakebite, to that "singular clique" who "wore a badge of otherness" that made outsides shiver both with fear and a little delight, leaving many to feel a "kind of dangerous envy."
The first snakes Seal wrote about were rattlesnakes. The author attended two churches whose congregation handled snakes as part of the worship service, describing what possesses its members to handle deadly serpents (often quite casually or even recklessly) during church services, describing the history of these Holiness churches, what their beliefs were, and how neighbors and the law viewed them. Though these snake handlers were often quite lucky they could and did get bit and deaths did occur. This however did not deter the Holiness church members, who felt that they were following God's commands and the steps of St. Paul, feeling that handling them without incident confirmed their status as true believers, and if they died, well, that was God's will too, and they would soon be joining Him.
Almost without exception, the rattlesnake was associated with evil. Early settlers greatly feared them, even believing that they corrupted and made deadly the very air around them. Holiness church members believed they were defeating Satan himself when they handled snakes safely. Rattlesnake roundups (one of which Seal participated in) were undertaken as public services (though later also for amusement, bragging rights, and profit). The sole exception to this viewpoint seems to have been during the American Revolution, when for a time the rattlesnake was seized upon as a symbol for the struggle for independence and even graced the American flag for a time.
Views of the deadly cobra in India could not be more different. Far from being regarded as either deadly vermin or as an agent of the devil, cobras are worshipped in India. The cobra in Hindu myth is revered for its connection with gods such as Vishnu and with mystical beings called nagas (from nag, a word for cobra) and for its association with vitality and fertility. Even Buddhists held the cobra in high regard, as Buddha himself was aided and protected by a great cobra.
Seal viewed the performance of an old-fashioned snake charmer, relating to the reader the history of snake charming and some of the tricks of the trade. He also took part in the Nag Panchami, a festival dedicated to cobra worship, visited a clinic dedicated to treating snakebites, and visited a facility that manufactured antivenom. Throughout it all, he was struck by the reverence Indians held for this snake; despite killing thousands of children each year, childless mothers preyed to the cobra for offspring; it was a significant transgression to kill a cobra, even accidentally, and this required those involved to ceremonially bury the snake to placate its spirit; even snakes known to have killed family members and friends were still worshipped and made offerings.
I really enjoyed the chapters on the taipan. This particular snake (nearly alone he said among Australian snake names in sounding exotic, as most Australian snake names tend to be along the lines of grey snake, pale-headed snake, and the brown-banded snake) did not enter the Australian (and world) popular consciousness until the population of Queensland started to rise in the 1950s, when a rash of snakebites occurred, the victims non-responsive to available antivenoms. It turned out that the snake had been known for sometime before it seized headlines after World War II; it was known as the horse snake for all the livestock deaths it caused and as the brown cane snake for its love of sugar cane fields (when the brown cane snake became known as being the dreaded taipan, the sugar cane industry had to act fast to keep all its workers from fleeing in fear). Seal also chronicled the interesting history of the Australian snake show, the various remedies (nearly all worthless) peddled for snakebite, and discussed the "perverse pride" Australians seemed to feel for their often deadly fauna.
The fourth snake Seal looked into was the black mamba of east Africa. He provided interesting portraits of men obsessed with snakes, both white European snake men, feared by the locals, seen as "undoubted eccentrics" by other Europeans, and black African m'ganga (herbalists who treat snakebite) and mchowi (witch doctors who sent snakes to bite people as punishment). Virtually unknown to Europeans until the 1890s, the green mamba was more famous until the mid-twentieth century (in part because the London zoo received a specimen in 1954 that was said to have killed six or nine people, depending upon whom you asked). The snake later became the star of both zoos abroad and roadside snake shows in Africa (which Seal visited), even starring in two novels and a movie.
Seal interviewed throughout the book many who have been bitten by snakes, including a woman whose husband tried to kill her with rattlesnakes. He described in vivid detail what it felt like to be bitten and the effects venom had on the human body and even witnessed an accidental snakebite.
Interesting snakes stuff.................2004-08-14
I dreamed about being a herptologist as a boy, and my children's interests in reading about snakes revived my boyhood curiosity. I found this book in the library, and thoroughly enjoyed it. (And personally, I was glad that Mr. Seal was NOT a member of the club....:-)
I appreciated Mr. Seal's openness about his fear of snakes (one that I share). I would recommend this book to anyone interested in snakes.
A few random comments:
1. I was thrown off by a few British-isms scattered throughout the book. (Some sentences didn't make sense to my American ears. I suppose the same charge could be leveled at American authors. Still - I would encourage Mr. Seal to be more cautious about the use of slang in future books.)
2. Mr. Seal (or the editors) broke up the stories - I imagine in a way that was supposed to build tension in the reader. While I appreciate that device in some books (mostly fiction), I found it annoying in this one.
3. I found the sections on the fundamentalist snake holders to be fascinating (that STILL happens in America?!?), but I'd urge the author to be cautious of the conclusions he draws - America is a big country, with many different perspectives.
Not wanting to sound nationalistic. Just a few thoughts I had while I read the book.
Again - overall, I enjoyed it, and look forward to other books by the author. :-)
Wow! And he can write, too!.......2003-01-31
I can't find enough words to praise Jeremy Seal's book. Not only is the concept brilliant--a journey around the world to confront his own personal fear of snakes--but his prose is absolutely breathtaking. He weaves stories throughout the book and revisits each story as it moves along toward a conclusion. There is just the right mixture of quasi-fiction (the American story) and travelogue. His mastery of innuendo, description, detail, etc., is at the "10" level. I'm looking forward to reading everything this man writes.
rambling...........2003-01-07
This book could have probably been half as long as it is if he'd stick to snakes and things pertaining to them. There was much "historical" information setting up a chapter that just went on and on for pages with little-if any-mention of snakes. The stories that actually DID involve serpents were usually quite interesting, but the format mentioned in other reviews about each story being broken up and scattered around the book was really annoying. This one took me a longer time to finish than I wanted. I hoped for venomous snakes, but it fell far short of my expectaion. See if a library has it before spending money on it.
Crikey! That's A Big One!!.......2002-04-22
Much like the author of "Snakebite Survivors' Club," I am both fascinated and repelled by snakes. Seal cleverly combines tall tales with stories of the hard facts of living in parts of the world where venomous vipers are thick on the ground. Seal travels between Australia, America, India and Africa, relating the experiences (quite graphically) of people who have been bitten by everything from rattlesnakes to cobras to the deadly black mamba. Some of these are professional herpetologists, some are religious "snake handlers" (one with murderous intent), some are just unlucky locals. He jumps from one part of the world to another in a cliff hanger fashion, leaving us breathless and off center, much the way one feels when encountering a snake in real life. I love the author's frank admission that he is an admirer of snakes but a major coward when they get up close and personal. A wonderful combination of travel book, natural history, great story-telling and medical manual, "The Snakebite Survivors' Club" has only one major flaw -- the author is not a member of this club, and I kept expecting him to be. But like Seal, I enjoy snakes vicariously. Let Steve Erwin wrestle with pythons and taipans, and I will watch happily with horror and awe. The same pleasant chills are to be found in this fascinating book.
Book Description
At age 38, Lillie Shockney was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent mastectomies in 1992 and 1994. In this telling memoir of personal and medical triumph, she shares her unique approach to her diagnosis, informed by her years as a nurse and her knowledge of doctors and hospitals. Her work in the medical field helped her decide she would approach her challenge with caring for her own caregivers, compassion for her family, hope and prayer, and above all, humor. Throughout, she talks candidly about her experiences, from informing her 12-year-old daughter about her diagnosis to her fears about how her mastectomy would change her marriage and sex life.
Customer Reviews:
A wonderful learning experience.......2001-07-23
So many of us have had to face saddness, fear, illness, and death in our lives. Breast cancer is not prejudice, it does not discriminate, or is understanding, and so many women today are faced with having to deal with this disease in someway. Reading Lillie's book made me realize that although it is frightening, it was okay - okay to change your appearance, your lifestyle, and your outlook on life. With the use of laughter and the comfort of her family and friends, this woman took a life altering experience and, with her mind set, she changed her way of seeing the world. She is a survivor, and after reading this book, you feel the strength that she has gained, and will have the courage and spirit overcome any challenge life gives you.
It made me cry - and laugh........1999-07-31
After my friend had breast cancer surgery, I bought Lillie Shockney's book for her and read it myself to be sure it was appropriate. I was impressed with the way she conveyed her hope as well as the hard times. She shared her effective use of humor, and expressed the importance of gathering people around for support. I gladly passed the book on to my friend with the hope she would find support in reading about someone who has coped using methods she has also used. I recommend this book to anyone who is coping with breast cancer, either as a patient or as a supporter of a friend or family member.
I followed every word, it happened to me..........1999-06-23
I found this to be an excellent guide. It was well written and didn't use long technical words. My experiences paralled hers and it gave me great insite on the disease. It also has very good references and contacts. I have recommended it to many people. I would like to see her write more of what is happening after the years.
a MUST READ for every woman!!.......1999-04-28
I do not have breast cancer and have never had a mastectomy, but I am a woman and that gives me a 1 out of 8 chance of being a member of this club. Lillie Shockney takes you into the examining room, operating room, even into the bedroom. But, most importantly, she takes you into her heart. With humor,candor and common sense, she takes away some of the fears and taboos associated with breast cancer and mastectomies. Her book spurred me to make an appointment for a long overdue mammogram!! God Bless you and your family, Lillie, for sharing a very personal experience.
A witty, yet sensitive view of surviving breast cancer........1999-03-25
I've been awarded the opportunity to see up close what a benefit Lillie's book can be to many women facing the shocking diagnosis of breast cancer. As the owner and manager of a small book store, I've had the opportunity to arrange a speaking engagement for Lillie, regarding this issue, at our local university, followed by a booksigning at my store. I could clearly see on the faces of many in attendance, the appreciation they felt in meeting someone who knew first hand what they, as "members of the club" were experiencing. Many times since then, I've recommended Lillie's book to customers at my store who have expressed an interest in breast cancer resources, either for themselves or for loved ones. More times than I can count, I've given the book to friends, relatives and even "secret pals", because I feel strongly that the story told in this book deserves to be shared. The only "problem" that I can find with this book, is that it's difficult to classify! We had quite a time at my store deciding where to shelve it. It could rest easily on the Inspirational shelf, as well as in the Humor or Psychology and Self-Help sections!
Product Description
Include the following short stories: For the Relief of Unbearable Urges (Nathan Englander), San (Lan Samantha Chang),Project Mayhem (Chuck Palahniuk, first apparition of this chapter of the famous "Fight Club"), The Finest Wife (Elizabeth Gilbert), Cathal's Lake (Colum McCann), Salvation (Jan Meissner) The Unseen Ear of God (Adrianne Harun)Inherit (Andes Van Syckle), Vestiges - (Wendy J. Henning), The Testimony of Molly Flynn (Stewart David Ikeda)Songbird (Lynn Freed), Blood Sounds (Sylvia Foley), Desire Lines (Starling Lawrence), Death by Mochi (Marian Pierce), Marvane Street (Walter Mosley)
Product Description
3 Titles By Lisa Gardner : The Other Daughter The Survivors Club Alone. Three mmpb books.
Product Description
Multiple books shipped as one item for your convenience. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.
Books:
- Accordion Crimes
- Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, Book 1)
- Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross Novels)
- Any Rich Man Will Do
- Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil (Penguin Mysteries)
- Awaken Me Darkly (Alien Huntress, Book 1)
- Baa Baa Black Sheep
- Black Cherry Blues: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
- Blind Alley
- Blood Canticle (Vampire Chronicles)
Books Index
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