Customer Reviews:
poorly realized version of a potentially interesting story.......2007-06-19
i bought this book based on the high ratings here on amazon and was really disappointed...the plot has holes so big you could drive a dog-team through them...the main characters are not particularly likeable, much less believable. Do yourself a favour and give it a miss.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.......2006-10-13
Here is my idea of a well written engaging book, populated by believable characters struggling through realistic situations, making decisions and choices that reflect those we ourselves might choose or make in circumstances that conspire and challenge us.
I thoroughly enjoyed this absorbing, page-turning action-adventure, and the characters who took me on a journey of discovery into the depths of Antarctica, where personalities clashed and emotions smoldered just beneath the surface.
Macphersons' well-written prose evokes a sense of place immediately, while her ability to bring us right into the characters lives and personalities, from the get go, has you turning the pages to find out what's going to happen next.
Add this one to your 'must read' list.
Great adventure........2006-06-05
Don't start this story on a work night. This is a great adventure story worth the time to read, Be careful because you won't want to do anything else until you have finished the whole book!
Great character development and pace.......2006-06-05
Unlike many lesbian-themed books, Helen doesn't rush the story. She takes time to develop the characters and get the reader engaged in their lives and perspectives. She moves the romance along at a slow, realistic pace while keeping the reader looking forward to the next development.
Clear Your Calendar and Get Comfortable.......2005-11-25
This book is so good that once you start reading, you won't want to stop. Clear your calendar, grab a hot toddy, and curl up in your favorite spot... you're going to be mesmorized until the last page. My first Macpherson read, I'm now anxiously awaiting the arrival of 'And Those Who Trespass Against Us.'
Psychologist Dr. Michela DeGrasse and archaeologist Dr. Allison Shaunessy are two driven, professional women who are about to take the journey of their lives. Alli wrote her doctoral dissertation on the as-yet unsubstantiated arctic explorer Eric Finlayson. When glaciologist Sarah and her team discover a wooden structure hidden under the ice in Antarctica, one possibility is it's finally proof of the Finlayson expedition. Alli is surprised to get 40% of the cost of a new expedition from the museum she represents. Michela, researching team dynamics under harsh conditions for the Mars program, secures an additional 20% from her own organization. The psychologist gets the remaining funds from the Finlayson family themselves -- under two conditions. The first condition is that Michela head up the expedition herself. The second is that they bring the body of the explorer home for proper burial.
Strangers before the adventure, Alli concedes leadership to Michela so the expedition will be fully financed. The women learn to overcome their differences over the preparations, training, and actual journey itself. Michela has broken up with her cheating partner and has an uncharacteristic one-night-stand. Seemingly-straight Alli is having problems with her long-time boyfriend, and is struggling with newfound feelings for Michela. The other six explorers on their team range from supportive to destructive, making for a story with depth and dimensionality.
Not only do the women discover great things about the original Finlayson expedition, they also discover themselves. Finally, after many months of struggling, their Finlayson benefactor plays matchmaker in the most interesting of ways.
Great book... Don't miss!
Average customer rating:
- Unlikable characters
- Unlikeable, unrealistic characters don't make good romance
- Loved It!
- He thought he'd killed her - now he'd do anything to protect her
- I thought I'd already read it
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Colder Than Ice (Mira)
Maggie Shayne
Manufacturer: Mira
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ASIN: 0778320944 |
Book Description
Seventeen years ago, government agent Joshua Kendall was part of the raid on the cultlike Young Believers. His own bullet killed an innocent girl, and he has lived with the guilt ever since. But a new assignment will reveal that the most shattering incident of Josh's life was nothing more than a lie.
Elizabeth Marcum was that girl. She survived the bullet from the botched raid and now lives under a new identity in rural Vermont, hiding from the cult leader who has managed to elude capture all these years. But she's tired of running, tired of hiding. If Mordecai Young tracks her down, so be it.
When Josh is sent to protect Elizabeth--and realizes who she is-he will do anything to keep her alive, including lying about who he is. But as Mordecai descends back into their lives they become targets in a deadly battle that threatens to shatter their last chance at life and love.
Customer Reviews:
Unlikable characters.......2007-02-05
Why is it that so many romance writers only know how make a heroine strong by making her sarcastic? I really didn't get into the characters. The heroine was inconsistent - gullible one minute, suspicious and caustic the next. The hero was a good lier and of course had lots convoluted reasons that he needed to lie to her. Blah. If I'd had time to go to the book store, I wouldn't have finished this one.
Unlikeable, unrealistic characters don't make good romance.......2006-07-07
I was really looking forward to reading this book. It sounded fascinating. The basic storyline is that there was another survivor from the raid on the cult. She was supposedly accidentally shot and killed by a sniper's bullet. But really, she survived and was in a sort of unofficial witness protection. The female lead plays a role in the first book, the male lead is only alluded to as the agent who accidentally shot and killed a young woman during the raid. So in this story, the woman is now in a lot of danger because someone who wants her dead now knows she's alive. To protect her, the former agent who once thought he killed her is sent to protect her. He didn't know until he saw her who she was.
So it sounded utterly fascinating. Such an interesting dynamic. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to it's billing. The big problem with this story was that the characters weren't exactly likable, and certain dynamics presented in the first book are just not dealt with and they really needed to be. The woman just did not fit who she was presented as in the first book. In that one, she's got a certain personality and does certain things, but then in the 2nd book, she's soooo different, and the way she acted in the first book just isn't dealt with. It's makes it hard to find her realistic. As for the guy...he's who the title is based on, Colder Than Ice. In a lot of ways, he's a complete jackass. Sure in the end, they get together, but before that, I just couldn't accept his actions. He bugged me.
The storyline itself isn't too bad. I wanted to know what happened and I liked the progression. The characters just annoyed me. It really took away from the story. I still would have read it though if I'd known this ahead of time. The storyline's from the books are too intertwined. I'm just disappointed that it ended up kind of sucking when I thought it would be the best of the 3.
Rating: 2.5 / 5
Loved It!.......2005-12-10
After reading other reviews I really didn't understand how this book could not be liked!!! of course it is fantasy and romance and stupid guy tricks but I love the series and all the books gave me the entertainment they promised and let me know the future of my heroines!! it seems to me have all the elements to take this series even farther with what may come in the future from what started to long ago in the past. intrique. suspense. love and romance found it's way into my heart and I was not disapointed!!
He thought he'd killed her - now he'd do anything to protect her.......2005-10-19
Eighteen years ago, Josh Kendall was a young AFT agent. Part of a team surrounding a compound run by the psychotic, compelling leader of the Young Believers cult, Mordecai Young, Josh is involved in a disastrous shootout. Many of the teenagers held captive by Young are shot, including Elizabeth Marcum, seventeen years old, who is critically injured by a bullet traced to Josh's weapon. When he visits her in hospital, she's in a coma and the staff tell him that she won't survive the week.
Unknown to Josh, Elizabeth did survive. Seventeen years later, she faced Young again - told in THICKER THAN WATER - and as a result of that confrontation the FBI has given her a new identity. Now, she's Beth Slocum, living in a small Vermont town, always vigilant, trusting no-one but Maudie Beckham, the 70-something owner of the former Blackberry Inn. What Elizabeth - Beth - doesn't know is that Young has discovered where she's living and he's on his way to get her...
Tipped off, the feds have to do something, and Josh's former boss, now Beth's government contact, knows what. Every agent sent to protect Beth has been sent home with his tail between his legs - she knows a fed when she sees one, and she wants nothing to do with them. Josh was made a scapegoat by ATF after the raid and has owned his own security consulting business ever since. He's not a government man and, more importantly, will do anything to keep Beth alive. Hired to guard a woman he doesn't know, he gets the shock of his life when he recognises Beth Slocum as Elizabeth Marcum.
Lying to her from the moment they meet, Josh tells her that he's Maudie's grandson. In order to win her trust, as their relationship develops he tells her that he's attracted to her and, later, that he loves her. Although Beth is always suspicious and convinced that Josh is lying - despite another reviewer's comment that she believes Josh's thin tales - she hasn't enough to go on and, once she realises that Young is indeed in the area, she has to decide whether or not to trust Josh regardless that she knows he's lying to her. Besides, she's attracted to him. But will the truth, if and when it finally comes out, destroy her feelings for him? And will Young get to Beth and her loved ones despite Josh's vigilance?
I don't normally read romantic suspense, but I enjoy Shayne's writing and am not sorry that I picked up this book (though I now need to read the prequel and sequel too!). Themes of atonement and forgiveness are well addressed in here: is it possible to start over? Josh has to find that out not only in relation to Beth, but also with his son Bryan (a well-drawn secondary character). The villain is also not a cardboard cut-out nasty guy. Young is clearly psychotic, hearing voices in his head which tell him what to do. While he obviously has some psychic ability, he could have done with psychiatric help a long time ago. Convinced that everything he does, including commit murder, is for a greater good, serving the god who rules his life, he can't conceive of any of his acts as evil. And, in the end, he finds some good in himself by saving a life the `voices' intended him to kill. Redemption as a theme, indeed.
With a cast of interesting, lively and well-portrayed secondary characters, COLDER THAN ICE was an entertaining read and I look forward to reading the other books in the trilogy.
-wmr-uk
I thought I'd already read it.......2005-06-18
I've been a big fan of Maggie Shayne since her Silhouette debut, but this book--I really thought it WAS the same book I'd already read (that WAS Thicker than Ice, there are 2)--I didn't realize they were different books until I went to decide which copy was in better shape to take to the used bookstore.
This is the first time I've been disappointed by Ms. Shayne.
Average customer rating:
- PCE student review
- Skating on Thin Ice
- On the mark
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Colder Than Ice
David Patneaude
Manufacturer: Albert Whitman & Company
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Binding: School & Library Binding
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ASIN: 0807581356 |
Customer Reviews:
PCE student review.......2007-04-16
Colder than Ice is a good book.
You sould read it. Its an action book.
You would like it if you like sad stuff a story about how kids stop a bully.
My favorite part is when Skye Mark Josh help save another boy from a bully.
my favorite character is josh.
If you want to know more you will have to read it you self
Skating on Thin Ice.......2007-02-12
When 6th grader Josh and his pre-school sister Lindsay move from Seattle to a town in Northern Idaho, they are literally snowed. On Josh's first day of school, he meets the implacable school secretary who refuses to let any pupil see the principal (now there's a switch) and meets a classmate who has Asperger's Syndrome, the spectrum partner to autism.
Mark, the boy with AS takes pictures in class indiscriminately; he blurts out answers; he speaks in a loud, unmodulated voice and prefers informative books to novels. He and Josh enter their 6th grade classroom together and are immediately singled out by a bully named Corey and his sidekick Bunk.
Corey tries to groom and stroke Josh as he hopes Josh's father, a coach at the local high school will give him plum positions on the teams once he is in high school. Corey and his cronies hound and harass Mark. Interestingly, Mark and Josh become friends along with a kind girl named Skye.
Corey, spoonfed a sense of entitlement because of his athletic prowess and local fame by being written about in the local paper has conned Ms. Benedict, who feels he can do no wrong. The boy's teacher, on the other hand is very sharp and savvy and not fooled by Corey. She also wisely keeps Skye, Mark and Josh together as they are a cohesive group who are good for each other. It is their teacher who tells Skye and Josh that Mark has Asperger's. She said that "some experts think they [people with autism] think in pictures." Not all people with autism do. That applies to some and not to all.
Corey will stop at nothing to get what he's after. His friend leaves a mysterious package of hockey skates at Josh's door; he and his cronies invite Josh to skate with them. They try to trick Josh into doing something very dangerous and it is Skye and Mark who come through like the cavalry, averting a potential tragedy. Mark, lacking in social savvy for the most part is quite astute in summing up Corey's motives. Skye, also warns Josh of what Corey is really like. A smart, kind girl, Skye will stand up for what she thinks is right.
This is a wonderful book that is gritty, sharp and well worth the read. It is a serious look at bullying. Corey overtly attacks Mark. His subtle cruelty includes trying to trick Josh and another boy into taking dangerous chances under the guise of friendship. He resorts to cruelty and threats when thwarted on any issue.
The characters are well created and plausible; Mark is a believable character with AS. Mark's father is a delightful character who just happens to have a very unusual job "helping people," as Mark says. He is truly a wonderful character as is Mark.
This book makes me think of Foreigner's 1977 song, "Cold as Ice" and Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice."
On the mark.......2003-10-09
David Patneaude has a bead on the push-and-pull of middle-school society. His main character is realistically torn between the flattery of a popular bully and the cameraderie of new friends who are way outside the in crowd. That alone will cause young readers to buy into this story. Patneaude adds suspense, some memorable characters, and drama, along with a satisfying conclusion. Young readers will almost certainly forgive the preachy and over-long finale wherein the bullies get their due. If you like this book, though, don't bypass this author's earlier novels Someone Was Watching and Last Man's Reward.
Customer Reviews:
Heartwarming and hard to put down..........2005-12-11
I enjoy historical fiction and found this novella set hard to put down. Both were very romantic stories, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I have to say this is one of my favorite novellas because of the strong romance element. The reader can't help but want the couples to get together. Great tension and evidence of attraction without going overboard. Heartwarming themes. Both had likeable couples. Very well done.
A double delight of nostalgia.......2005-09-21
From the back cover:
Lovely weather for a romantic sleigh ride....
Christmas sleigh rides - the tradition harks back to the days when life moved at a slower, softer pace. Two people, snuggled together under a warm blanket, conversing in the crisp winter air, can learn much about each other. But for two women of the nineteenth century, will there be a man to offer the invitation?
COLD AS ICE describes Estelle's heart. Since her fiance died in the Civil War, she believes Christmas is no longer worth celebrating and balks at helping her niece prepare for a holiday wedding. Who would think of offering Estelle a romantic sleigh ride?
TAKE ME HOME is Kathleen's one request. Undertaking her first teaching position away from home might have been a mistake. How can she have a real Christmas without the holiday preparations with her family, traditions of get-togethers and sleigh rides???
Will these women wither in self-pity this Christmas or open their hearts to the unexpected? Can they renew their faith in the true meaning of the season?
**************
Although written by different authors, the second story is a follow-up to the first one. Set in post-Civil War times, these heartwarming tales of wounded souls and frozen hearts that find healing and thawing through love and friendship have a Little House on the Prairie or Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman feel to them. It's refreshing to read romances involving mature, older characters. This book is Christian fiction, which isn't noted on the cover or in the product description. At times, the stories become quite preachy, but for the most part, they are simply about faithful people on a spiritual journey, without being too intrusive or overwhelmingly religious.
Book Description
Christmas on the vast American plains holds little appeal for four women struggling to find a warm place to belong. Estelle is paralzed by grief over a fallen soldier and balks at holiday preparations - Kathleen thinks she made a mistake accepting a teaching position away from home - Ivy abhors the Nebraska town she and family now call home and longs to flee back to East, to the security of the familiar - Lucinda mourns the loss of her home to the great Chicago fire and her reputation to lies. The holidays aren't going as planned for any of these four women. Can they each take a moment to discover the blessing of Christmas romance? Let these four tales of frozen hearts warming up to holiday love give you the gifts of inspiration and joy this Christmas.
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multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
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Beautiful book with four romance stories full of Christmas nostalgia.
Average customer rating:
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Colder Than Ice
Manufacturer: MIRA Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0739447246 |
Average customer rating:
- As Good A Detective Story As You'll Ever Read!
- Savage Pleasure!
- Excellent read!
- LLLOVED ITTT!!!!
- A Good Book But Not A Special One!
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Manhattan South
John Mackie
Manufacturer: Onyx
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0451410459
Release Date: 2002-07-02 |
Book Description
In the bestselling tradition of Robert Daley and William Caunitz comes an explosive new novel about cops-so authentic it could only have been written by a cop.
The hero is upstanding Sergeant Thornton Savage of the Manhattan South homicide squad-under investigation by Internal Affairs.
The case involves the Russian mob, a triple murder, and a United States Senator-tied together in a terrifying way.
The author is a 17-year veteran of the New York City Police Department.
The novel is an inside look at what it takes-and what's at risk-for the men and women of the NYPD.
Customer Reviews:
As Good A Detective Story As You'll Ever Read!.......2005-12-09
I have only question after reading this book; Why isn't John Mackie in hardcover? He is a retired decorated veteran of the NYPD. The characters in his novel are well-developed and completely believable. The plot is fascinating. The dialogue is authentic. Mackie's detailed knowledge of the City of New York - it's streets, hotels, eateries, etc - gives a colorful realistic background for his story. I've read all of the well-known authors in various genres; legal, police-procedure, private-eye, etc; Caunitz, Mahoney, Grisham, Burke, etc. Mackie is as good or better than any of them. Best of all, he has written three more books that I haven't yet read. I'm salivating at that thought. And so will you, once you've read "Manhattan South." Wow! This one would make a great movie.
Savage Pleasure!.......2005-11-26
MANHATTAN SOUTH is John Mackie's (NYPD ret.) first novel, and a winner it is! This deftly plotted novel concerns the machinations of one Christine Maloney, soon-to-be First Lady, who hires the Russian Mafia to eliminate several embarrassing skeletons in her husband's political closet.
Enter Thornton (courtesy of THE QUIET MAN) Savage, incredibly savvy and tough Detective Sergeant for Manhattan South Homicide, who soon finds himself a target, both of the Moscow Mob and Internal Affairs, as he digs ever deeper into the sordid past of The Man Who Would Be President.
John Mackie is a major, up-and-coming talent of the Florida Murder Mystery Writers Fraternity. Mackie has done a phenomenal job of capturing the gritty sensibilities of The Naked City. His sense of New York timing and place is impeccable, especially for a first novel. His dialogue and characters are each to themselves unique, yet strictly of the street.
One error creeps in: The landfill of note is at Pennsylvania Avenue and the Belt Parkway, not Fountain Avenue. Only a Brooklynite would care. The sweet, sweet stench of home!
I definitely recommend this fiery page turner for its sheer entertainment value, and look forward to the sequel, titled appropriately, MANHATTAN NORTH.
Excellent read!.......2002-08-14
Manhattan south hooked me in and I hated to finish it. The characters had a true feel to them, as if I knew them forever. Very humorous/edgy dialog. And the plot was a labyrinth of suprises, yet was credible and intriguing. I was shocked to learn that this is Mackie's first book. I look forward to seeing more of his work. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for intelligent and entertaining reading.
LLLOVED ITTT!!!!.......2002-08-13
I've been an avid reader for 40 years and every now and then I become engrossed in a story and morn its ending. I was very suprised to find out that this is John Mackie's first published novel and relieved to learn that there is more to come. I guess what I'm saying is, I highly recommend Manhattan South.
A Good Book But Not A Special One!.......2002-07-28
Ex-cop John Mackie's first novel is worth reading and warrants a 3 1/2 star rating. Manhattan South is a fast read, has an interesting story and pretty well-developed characters (for the most part). While the plot moves along at a brisk pace, I didn't think this book deserved more than 3 1/2 stars since there really weren't any surprises and most of the occurences were predictable. Also, Mackie leaves too many loose ends regarding some of the relationships between some of the characters. Perhaps, however, the author did this intentionally in order to create interest in a sequel or a series involving these characters. Nevertheless, despite these limitations, Manhattan South makes a good beach read or when you're in the mood for a "light ", action-packed police yarn.
Book Description
"It is 22 cats that drive the dazzlingly handsome Eric Thorsen to distraction and into the apartment—if not immediately the arms—of Wanda Skopinski, the rather mousy woman he meets at church when she thrusts a lesbian romance novel upon him. The stench from downstairs drives him from both his rent-controlled apartment and his complacency as a not-quite-successful piano teacher. In his sixth novel, James Wilcox moves beyond the modern South he has etched so vividly and amusingly in the past to take on Manhattan. But somehow he manages to bring the city down to size. . . . The book is filled with as eccentric an array of characters and as much gentle kinkiness as any small-town chronicle. . . . A winning and consistently entertaining story."—Vogue
Customer Reviews:
stunted dialogue and contrived storyline.......1998-07-14
In Guest of a Sinner, James Wilcox tirelessly attempts to depict a New York City that is as idiosyncratic as his writing is contrived. It is evident by the second chapter that his primary objective is to fashion an novel that captures urban entropy at its best. Unfortunately, his chaotic characters are plotted into a storyline that is meagerly strung together. In this book, Manhattan takes center stage, while Eric, Wanda, and the rest play second fiddle to the ever present metropolis: "Farther north at Gramercy Park she peered through the wrought-iron fence at the labeled trees and counted five yellow roses in a well tended bed...Ten minutes later, at Madison Square, she had to take a rest beneath a bronze Chester Alan Arthur...she got up and walked on through the show of a relatively new skyscraper, forty glass stories that blocked the sun from the shapely marble blossoms." Most of his references to the city are of landmarks easily accesible to any tourist! ! on a Big Apple Bus tour. Eric and Wanda are not only disconnected from this world they inhabit, but from each other as well. Wilcox's compression of one too many happenstance encounters and colliding worlds renders this novel and its characters unnotable and unbelievable. The stunted dialogue with pervades each chapter does not help matters: "I don't like the Spanish. They nearly ruined the Church with their Inquisition." "The Italians were no slouches, kid. And Avignon-- when I heard what they used to do there, in those dungeons,that was it for me." "I sometimes wonder why I go to Mass." "You'd really wonder if you saw the instruments they used to bless." This brand of back-and-forth leaves the reader wondering how such a supposedly comic and wry novel could be utterly dull.
Reads like a Woody Allen movie.......1998-03-25
Like a Woody Allen movie in its 'nostalgia' for New York City - its public & private places, its people. A touchstone novel: you can select friends based on their reactions to this book and its on-target, off-beat images of -- for example -- 'the fellowship of Christian Anonymity.'
Book Description
Race first emerged as an important ingredient of New York City's melting pot when it was known as New Amsterdam and was a fledgling colonial outpost on the North American frontier. Thelma Wills Foote details the arrival of the first immigrants, including African slaves, and traces encounters between the town's inhabitants of African, European, and Native American descent, showing how racial domination became key to the building of the settler colony at the tip of Manhattan Island. During the colonial era, the art of governing the city's diverse and factious population, Foote reveals, involved the subordination of confessional, linguistic, and social antagonisms to binary racial difference. Foote investigates everyday formations of race in slaveowning households, on the colonial city's streets, at its docks, taverns, and marketplaces, and in the adjacent farming districts. Even though the northern colonial port town afforded a space for black resistance, that setting did not, Foote argues, effectively undermine the city's institution of black slavery. This history of New York City demonstrates that the process of racial formation and the mechanisms of racial domination were central to the northern colonial experience and to the founding of the United States.
Customer Reviews:
A grave disappointment; stick to the earlier ones.......2001-11-10
I bought this book expecting more of what Alpern has covered in his previous books: more buildings, with more stories, and more floor plans. Instead, while some material is new, quite a few of these buildings have been covered in his earlier books. And there are no floor plans at all. If you are an afficionado of great Manhattan apartment houses, avoid this book and stick with "New York's Fabulous Luxury Apartments" instead.
Evolution of the NYC luxury apartment building.......2001-10-02
This extremely slender, 84-page book covers 20 luxury apartment buildings in New York City, each of which is illustrated by at least one large b&w photograph. For each, the author discusses the building's history and unique features. Buildings covered include the Normandy, San Remo, and Hampshire House. This book has no floor plans, in contrast to Alpern's earlier work, 'New York's Fabulous Luxury Apartments.'
Book Description
In the late 1800s, as surrounding areas grew at a steady pace, Manhattan Beach remained a tranquil, sparely populated area, inhabited only by those willing to challenge its sand dunes. Captured here in over 200 vintage images is the development, expansion, and transitions of this stretch of land called Manhattan Beach and the indelible impressions made by its earliest settlers. ÝÝOriginally the land on which todayís city of Manhattan Beach is situated was a broad series of sand dunes stretching from Playa del Rey to Redondo Beach. With the arrival of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad in 1888, and the Pacific Electric in 1903, more sightseers and homebuyers were discovering the South Bay. Pictured here is the development of the area, from plank-covered paths, to dirt roads, to the street paving of today; early photographs of downtown development including the first City Hall; local businesses and industries such as Ercoleís CafÈ and State Bank; and the most vital aspect of any American town: the residents, with names like Cambell, Freeman, Ward, and Merrill.
Amazon.com
There are very few classics in the field of pop culture--the academic stuff tends to be too dry and the fun stuff is too quickly dated. This book by Luc Sante is the exception--in fluid prose liberally sprinkled with astute metaphors, Sante tells the story of New York's Lower East Side, circa 1840-1920. The personal histories of criminals, prostitutes, losers, and swindlers bring to life the social and statistical history that the author has meticulously researched. Not limiting himself to the usual sources, Sante finds his history in old copies of Police Gazette as well as actual police, fire, and social service records. Above all, what really makes this book work is the writing, which brings to life a culture of the streets that continues to form a silent influence on our contemporary popular culture.
Book Description
A now-classic portrait of the underside of America's greatest city, Low Life tells the true story of the growth of Manhattan, not the familiar saga of mansions, avenues and robber barons, but the turbulent, often murderous story of the city's slums.
Customer Reviews:
Endlessly entertaining... a corrective view of the "good old days".......2007-08-07
If you ever cherished any rosy notions about multi-generational families, striving immigrants, and wholesome American values of the past, this rollicking book will serve as a much-needed eye-opener. With endless fascinating detail, Sante paints a picture of a wide-open city on the make, preying on the innocent and the scheming alike. Housing, entertainment, brothels, bars, pushcarts, reformers...all take their place in this look at life on the Lower East Side in the years of massive immigration. For all of us with immigrant ancestry, a salutary look at everything those amazing folks survived.
Yup, it's good! .......2006-12-14
Luc Sante did an amazing job at presenting life in New York during the early times.
I bought this book along with GOTHAM and GANGS OF NEW YORK and I've enjoyed reading all three books about the "true" history of New York.
Fantastic.......2006-11-11
I just moved to New York City and wanted to read a history of the city that had a different perspective than a typical historical non-fiction book. The book was highly enjoyable: well-written and thorough, with tons of incredible photographs, tidbits and stories. It was well-organized and flowed well. I highly recommend this book.
Low Life, High Interest.......2006-04-04
Fascinating, engaging read that never bores nor lectures. Luc Sante gives us the history of New York City's lower rungs of the economic ladder from the early 1800's to the early 1900's, when the "City" was just the isle of Manhattan, when crime and poverty was more prevelant and diversified and, to the modern reader, more romantic despite the horrors inherent.
Eye Opener.......2004-10-24
I am a life long resident of New York & I am ashamed that I had a scant knowledge of the city that I love. Low Life changed all that. Low Life proves that the history of New York is both lurid and fascinating. Since reading Low Life, I have read several more histories of the city but Luc Sante's remains by far and away my favorite.
My advice: if you want to truly understand New York, read this book.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Los Angeles Business Journal, published by Thomson Gale on August 13, 2007. The length of the article is 480 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Bank of Manhattan opens to serve small businesses in South Bay.(News & Analysis)
Author: Drew Combs
Publication:
Los Angeles Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 13, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 29
Issue: 33
Page: 5(1)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Customer Reviews:
A charming read for those on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line.......2007-10-09
When New Yorker Daisy Karam-Read fell for a southern lawyer in 1998, she never imagined she would fall in love with his home state, too. A decade later, the urbanite who once viewed Mississippi as "decades behind the times, benightedly entrenched in the values of the antebellum South," has published a charmingly readable book of essays to the contrary.
You don't have to hail from the Magnolia State to enjoy Karam-Read's _From Manhattan to Mississippi_. While she celebrates the state's iconic symbols, such as expansive verandahs and ancient oak trees, the beauty of this little book is Karam-Read's observations of Mississippi's people. They are gracious, tolerant, well-mannered, unhurried. The men adore their mothers and "have the most glorious speaking voices anywhere." The women "know how to exercise restraint when making a new acquaintance," as opposed to many urbanites who "begin aggressively questioning a person they've just met." Karam-Read also posits that southerners are not as self-obsessed and "overpsychologized" as people in New York or Los Angeles. (That's probably because she's married into a particularly earthbound circle of family and friends ... believe me, narcissism is alive and well in the South.)
Flexible enough to transition from being "too chic to eat" to loving pecan pie, Karam-Read is an agile writer as well. She easily alternates breeze (ladies' hats, bacon grease) and gravitas (the Civil War, Hurricane Katrina) to bring meaning and understanding to Mississippi. She shatters many myths along the way, but in a style as gentle as the people she's come to so admire. For example, she doesn't remind northerners, as she could have and maybe should have, that New York was the capital of American slavery for more than two centuries. Obviously, Karam-Read is as gracious and well-mannered as her new friends and neighbors. Perhaps that's why she is so drawn to them.
_From Manhattan to Mississippi_ ends powerfully, with reflections on Katrina. Karam-Read, who lost her home in the hurricane, vividly and painfully describes its life-altering destruction. But she chooses not to surrender to it - a sign that she really has become a part of Mississippi, as much as it's become a part of her.
Whether you live north or south of the Mason-Dixon line, this is an enjoyable, worth-your-time read.
Customer Reviews:
Still her fan.......2007-09-23
This one was better than the previous one but not as good as her earlier books (Sullivan's Island, Plantation). I know you can do it, Dottie, so keep on writing! But give us more of that "South Carolina moon " atmosphere.
Just not a Dot Frank fan, I guess!.......2007-09-07
Okay, here it is...loved "Sullivan's Island," haven't liked anything she's written since. STILL too many exclamation points (see my review of "Pawley's Island). Characters and plots unbelievable (main character, Miriam, a middle-aged uptight lady, has wild naked sex on beach with someone she just met, years of estrangement from her sons are overturned in an instant with everybody loving everybody, etc., etc.) and bad editing in places (in one spot a character is called "Laura," I believe and then later in the paragraph is called "Diane." There was some line about "are they regular or decaf," that I read three times and still don't get. Mirian is irritating and selfish but overnight does a complete 180 degree turnaround. It's pretty bad when the best character in the book is a parrot. I love South Carolina and would like to love this author but I just can't. Read Mary Alice Monroe instead, folks, for a Southern author who creates believable characters in plausible situations that might actually occur in real life. Oh well, at least this one didn't have the usual black servant found in most of this author's works.
A delightful and refreshing story.......2007-08-29
Dorothea Frank has created another wonderful story and I just thought Land of Mango Sunsets was just a great read. The characters are clever and appealing especially Miriam Swanson. Actually, I felt that she gave all the variety of splendid characters real feelings that I could relate too. This is a great book to take to the beach and read. It's an easy read and with the wonderful descriptive scenes of South Carolina, that Ms. Frank portrays you feel like you are roaming around in the beautiful state. I hope I haven't given away too much of the story for those who haven't read it. In summary, it's a delightful and refreshing story with humor, romance, a bit of mystery, and some valid issues concerning our environment. Highly recommend.
Another refreshing Women's Fiction story is Gathering of Cans by Robert L. Saunders. This is a stunning Women's Fiction that gives a breathtaking view in the fascinating life of Zoie Baker. This heroine is determined to build a swimming pool for the local kids by gathering aluminum cans. Unique cans that she stumbles on, i.e., Nehi, Mountain Dew, etc., takes the reader on a glorious journey in the life of Zoie from World War II where she meets Nat, a Marine, through the 1980's. This gripping story will keep you up to read just one more chapter. Check it out it's just a wonderful story. All 530 pages. You too won't be disappointed! Bye.
Touching and funny with great characters.......2007-08-11
A story about a woman of a certain age that finds herself challenging some long-held assumptions and habits. The story is filled with quirky, fun characters and will have you both laughing and crying. A very touching story with enough twists and turns to keep your interest.
The Bird has the Best Lines.......2007-08-06
As usual, Dorothea Benton Frank, presents her readers with a colorful cast of characters (bitter ex-wife, Miriam, flamboyant Kevin, damaged Lisa, and mysterious Harrison to name a few), but this time she's also added an irrepressible parrot named Harry who adds his own brand of charm and charisma to the mix. The main character, Miriam has numerous issues with her mother, her children and the circle of friends she cultivates in New York society. She travels to her childhood home in Sullivan's Island to find some sort of peace only to find her proper southern mother's gone "back to the earth" to the point where she's raising her own goats and chickens.
Hilarious and witty as always, there's also plenty of Frank's disarming dialog and descriptive prose that her readers have come to know and appreciate.
This is one of DBF's best novels and is worthy of being read in one sitting.
Books:
- Como agua para chocolate
- Conversations with the Fat Girl
- Dead in the Water: A Novel
- Dearest Dorothy, Help! I've Lost Myself! (Dearest Dorothy: Bk 3)
- Delectable Mountains (Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries)
- Devil's Corner
- Don't Tell Anyone
- Down These Mean Streets
- Ecotopia
- Flannery O'Connor : Collected Works : Wise Blood / A Good Man Is Hard to Find / The Violent Bear It Away / Everything that Rises Must Converge / Essays & Letters (Library of America)
Books Index
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