Average customer rating:
- Montana melacholy . . .
- A must-read shorty-story collection!
- Gourmet Literature
- Beautifully written for the lover of short stories.
- Promising, but...
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Half in Love : Stories
Maile Meloy
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
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| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
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ASIN: 0743246853 |
Book Description
Lean and controlled in their narration, abundant and moving in their effects, Maile Meloy's stories introduce a striking talent. Most are set in the modern American West, made vivid and unexpected in Meloy's unsentimental vision; others take us to Paris, wartime London, and Greece, with the same remarkable skill and intuition.
In "Four Lean Hounds, ca. 1976," two couples face a complicated grief when one of the four dies. In "Ranch Girl," the college-bound daughter of a ranch foreman must choose which adult world she wants to occupy. In "A Stakes Horse," a woman confronts risk and loss at the racetrack and at home. And in "Aqua Boulevard" -- winner of the 2001 Aga Khan Prize for Fiction -- an elderly Parisian confronts his mortality. Meloy's command of her characters' voices is breathtaking; their fears and desires are deftly illuminated. Smart, surprising, and evocative, Meloy's brilliantly observed stories fully engage the mind and heart.
Customer Reviews:
Montana melacholy . . ........2006-04-20
This fine collection of stories is set mostly in Montana and were originally published in periodicals such as The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, and The Ontario Review. Many have the sharply detailed yet emotionally elusive quality of New Yorker fiction, for example the first two stories, "Tome" and "Four Lean Hounds, ca. 1976."
In the first, a lawyer must deal with a disabled client who takes hostage a young employee of the state agency that has handled his case. The ironic details and the unpredictable turns of plot provide a wonky comic surface to an undertone of sad melancholy. There's melancholy also in the second story, as a young husband discovers at the funeral of a dead business partner that his friend and his wife have had a clandestine affair.
The troubled relationships between husbands and wives are a theme that runs through most of the stories. In "Gunnison Junction," a pregnant not-yet-married woman recognizes the impulse to walk away from her husband-to-be without looking back. The same couple reappears 15 years later in "Thirteen & a Half," parents of an adolescent now and at odds over how to react to the presence of a runaway with a gun in their midst, being pursued by the local police.
In "Paint," a husband lies dying after an accident on the deck he's refinishing, while inside the house, his wife cannot hear his pleas for help. In "The River," set in Utah, an older man and his ailing wife's friend are unable to penetrate her refusal to acknowledge her failing health.
For the most part, characters spring clearly from the page, the Montana settings are especially vivid, and the stories are well told, well paced, and fiercely focused on the human condition and the sadness of the situations that ordinary people's lives have led them to. Also recommended: Richard Ford's "Rock Springs."
A must-read shorty-story collection!.......2005-04-05
I loved this wonderful collection of short stories, most of which have a western setting. Half in Love deals with various aspects of the human condition, like infidelity, grief, growing pains and other issues. The stories set in ranches are the best ones here, in my opinion. My favorite stories are "Four Lean Hounds, ca. 1976," "A Stakes Horse," "The River," "Ranch Girl," and "Red." The aforementioned ones are my favorites, but all fifteen stories fulfilled and enthralled me from beginning to end and I cannot wait to read another wonderful, thought-provoking offering by Maile Meloy.
Gourmet Literature.......2005-02-12
Like a great dish with finely balanced flavors and hints of the exotic and unexpected, this collection of short stories delivers in satisfying and enticing ways. Not a fan of short fiction, I only put this collection on my wish list after hearing the author read on NPR. A year or so later, I received the slim volume as a gift, and I am so delighted I strayed from the my norm to read it.
Meloy's prose is spare, direct, concise, but so refined and honed that her characters have an immediacy about them. These are people you know, people who walk past you daily. Some of the storylines have similar content -- the West, horses, farm life -- but the characters' stories are uncomparable in content and richness. You want more, but as each story concludes, I was left feeling full, feeling that I had been told the whole story.
I am looking forward to reading her novel next.
Beautifully written for the lover of short stories........2005-01-19
If you enjoy short stories, Maile Meloy is the way to go. She describes people in depth, with just a phrase or two. It's really quite genius.
"She is beautiful, and sparkles like jewels when she is wearing none: skin like gold, white teeth and clear blue eyes." - Aqua Boulevard
"Sometimes my son has a face like a storm, and then it clears, and again he is the most attractive child I have ever seen." - Aqua Boulevard
Beautifully written for the lover of short stories.
Promising, but..........2004-06-15
Admittedly, my interest in Maile Meloy initially came entirely from my enjoyment of her younger brother Colin Meloy's band, the Decemberists. Meloy's debut short story collection is extremely promising in a lot of key areas: her stories have a strong sense of place, and she's got both a good ear for dialogue and a strong handle on narrative pacing. Things actually happen in these stories, in other words, something that can't always be said about similar short story collections. However, it seems that Colin inherited all of the family's sense of humor genes, as Maile's stories are almost relentlessly bleak and often downright depressing. A wider variety of emotional shadings would go a long way towards enhancing this collection.
Customer Reviews:
Players!?!?.......2006-01-16
In A Player's Paradise, Kenton was the ultimate player with the ultimate lifestyle-complete with the ultimate rules. He let women know what the situation was-up front. He even did a "clean sweep" of his home from top to bottom between women-even if they were back to back. But...then he met his match, Delta, a female with a player's attitude. His life changed and was turned upside down. She had him hooked-through the nose. She was his competition in more ways than one. Victor created an enjoyable novella and we are awaiting his next book.
In A Man and A Half, Wesley, a good man, was left standing at the altar by Sheila, the love of his life. And to top things off, his boys, Omega and Ten, didn't have the nerve to tell him before the wedding that he and Sheila were a mismatch. Wesley was deeply hurt and tried everything to get Sheila back. When it didn't work, he decided to go back to being a player-even if he wasn't very good at it. His bad luck went downhill-faster than an avalanche. He went through "all the wrong" women, including a stalker and one who made him loose his job. All while a woman and a half was right before his eyes. Phillip created a novella that ran up and down the emotional roller coaster.
In At Your Service, Franklin, a good guy with a bad influence from his money-scheming mother, fights with his girlfriend, Cassandra, because of a $1,000 "loan" to his mother. He suddenly looses his girlfriend and his high-paying job-all in one day-and finally decides to get a job with his cousin as an "escort." During these bad times, Franklin never abandons his lifelong dream of opening a fitness center. Then when all of his "rich clients," except one, treat him with reproach, he decides to get out of the business and his mother convinces him to "get even." Franklin falls in love with the one client who treated him good. His life is going great, when his mother's schemes start back firing. Sewell's ending left the readers wondering if there might be a sequel.
strong look at relationships from mostly the male perspective.......2005-10-31
"A Player's Paradise" by Victor McGlothin. Anything that Kenton, chief of the Marketing and Sales Division of Dream Creams, touches goes golden whether it is the business of business or the business of women. That is until he meets a bird in the hand that raises his mind and body to new levels. However now that he no longer wants to be a player, Delta considers not playing with him.
"At Your Service" by Earl Sewell. Franklin feels beleaguered as his mom Lois and his live in girlfriend Cassandra argue until the latter leaves him when he "borrows" without asking $1000 to give to his mother. Cassandra apparently runs up his credit cards leaving him with enormous debt that could destroy his hopes of becoming a stockbroker. He decides no more Mr. compassionate nice guy that is until he meets Savannah. However, how will he react when Lois disses Savannah?
"A Man and a Half" by Philip Thomas Duck. Standing by himself in front of the church after Sheila jilted him turns into an epiphany for Wesley as he decides to become a player. He tries but feels uncomfortable especially after playing brought Norah the stalker into his life. Instead he wants a woman who makes him feel like "A Man and a Half" to love for a lifetime commitment. Could his woman and a half be right in front of his face?
These three authors can write! Each story provides a strong look at relationships from mostly the male perspective. The characters seem genuine and the situations they are in seem real, but so well written reader will want more from writers who impart passionate invigorating contemporary romances.
Harriet Klausner
Duck Rocks!.......2005-10-24
I was privileged to have an advance reader's copy courtesy of PTD! I could hardly put the book down. While I enjoyed all 3 of the novellas I remain partial to PTD. He has a great writing style and his characters are believable and lifelike...am waiting with bated breath for his next offering.
Pillow Talk.......2005-10-22
Whispers Between the Sheets by Victor McGlothin, Earl Sewell and
Phillip Thomas Duck showcases three of the most wildest, wackiest and wickedwould-be players to ever covet the inside of a book. The three novellas, A Players Paradise, At Your Service and A Man and a Half, highlight the lucky and the not so lucky in and out of lust and love.
In A Player's Paradise, Kenton is the player extraordinaire until he meets his match in a game of cat and mouse. D. T. Niles is more than Kenton bargained for and her clever secret will rock his world. After facing financial ruin, Franklin enters into a game of survival that bursts in his face in At Your Service. Serving as a co-dependant for his mother and sister, Franklin enters into the world of a would be escort only to find affection with a client. Wesley, the most sensitive and loving of the trio, enters into the game in A Man and A Half after being stood up at the altar. All his attempts to reconcile with his bride are for naught which sends him spiraling in to the arms of all the wrong women only to crash and burn.
Each story is intriguing as it is funny; the antics of the primary and secondary are like none other and at times, over the top. The authors did a good job of highlighting the dysfunctional characteristics of the players and the people in their lives. In A Player's Paradise, Kenton's friends appear to be needy and envious of Kenton to the point of pathetic in an attempt to emulate him. With At Your Service, Franklin's mother is a non-working woman whose occupation is the latest scheme, whether it is through the Internet or hustling knock off designer items. Her hold on Franklin is unreal and her behavior towards Franklin and any woman in his life is a bit much, but then again, this is fiction therefore drama and more drama. The secondary characters, in each story, play a necessary role as you come to realize the demons, which the characters carry from childhood to adulthood, which plague them.
Each author wrote with a mature pen as the conflicts the characters went through jumped from the pages. You end with some heartfelt emotions towards the three men in question and feel for the women they come into contact with. Need a release; want to laugh out loud and shake your head, read Whispers Between the Sheets.
Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves
APOOO BookClub
Playa's No More?.......2005-09-30
All 3 of these author's novellas were the bomb! Playa's can be reformed if they let down their guard, forget about the games and allow someone into their minds and hearts and not just their bedroom. You be the judge...
Book Description
Entertaining text and fascinating photos draw you into the world of the aquaculturists, scientists, and connoisseurs who shaped the oyster-farming industry.
Customer Reviews:
Heaven on the Half Shell (Oysters!).......2002-03-31
I'm just ordering this book because oysters are my earlier memory. I live on pure-oyster beaches in Dabob Bay. So my friend who's a marine biologist got the book at Anthony's Oyster Olympics last weekend (an annual event) and says she sat up and read it straight through.
So, as oysters are an obsession for my parents and their 55 years of marriage and life on this beach, I'm buying it for Mom's upcoming birthday.
The Oyster Lovers Bible.......2001-12-12
This is the first complete history of the oyster industry. Within the covers is a story that could have been lost had it not been for the research done to preserve the origins of Oystering in the Northwest.Congats to the authors.
It is a fun read taking you from the early days of the Willipa Bay oystermen to the present time.Love of the oyster continues to grow.
Yes, NW oysters have pearls, and this book is a Pearl as well.
Average customer rating:
- What a roller coaster of emotions !
- Good romantic read!
- Adam Harcourt Rocks!
- Great
- Definitely worthwhile
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Fanning the Flame
Kat Martin
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Martin, Kat | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
Regency | Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books
Martin, Kat | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Historical | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Regency | Historical | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
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The Fire Inside
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Heartless
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Nothing But Velvet
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Devil's Prize
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Gypsy Lord
ASIN: 0743419162 |
Book Description
BESTSELLING AUTHOR KAT MARTIN TURNS UP THE HEAT IN A SEXY NEW REGENCY-ERA ROMANCE FILLED WITH INTRIGUE
The London ton is abuzz with the latest scandal. Jillian Whitney, well-born but penniless, has been living under the roof of a wealthy nobleman old enough to be her father. When Adam Hawthorne, the mysterious Earl of Blackwood, meets the lovely rebel, he's intrigued enough to want to lure her into changing protectors.
Suddenly, Jillian's beloved guardian is murdered, and she is the only suspect. Forced to flee, she falls into the arms of the earl, who offers refuge from the law but no escape from an intoxicating passion. Although Jillian swiftly loses her heart, she knows that the eligible earl would never marry a woman tainted by scandal. But is Jillian underestimating the strength and depth of a man's passion?
Customer Reviews:
What a roller coaster of emotions !.......2007-04-02
Fanning the Flame by Kat Martin has a mix of mystery, romance and bad luck. Jullian is the ward of older man but everyone thinks she is his mistress. She finds him murdered and runs away into Adam's arms. Adam does really believe that she did kill the nobleman and would like to make her his mistress. If Jullian had not bad luck she would have not luck at all....
Good romantic read!.......2007-01-27
I have really been enjoying many of Kat Martin's historicals. And this was no exception. Jillian presented a true helpless woman being accused of a murder she did not commit. She also had been dealt a loose woman title with the ton which she did not deserve either. Adam is in need of a good woman to rescue. He had lots of issues with trust, becuz of women in his past, but truly is captivated by Jillian. He fights the attraction and intends to just help her out of her predicament but soon the heat of their attraction gets the better of both of them. Of course Adam is planning to make her his misstress. The plot is a good one involving who actually murdered the Earl and the love stories are a great back drop to the romance. There is a secondary love story with Adam's sister and the barrister for Jillian. Good romance and great plot make a good combo.
Adam Harcourt Rocks!.......2006-03-10
I have read nearly all of Ms Martin's books. I find this one along with Devil's Prize and the book about Adrian Kingsland (don't remember the title) one of her best. Both hero and heroine are very attractive. Gillian is not overly temperamental like some of her other heroines. She's stoic when confronted with the prospect of being hanged for a murder she did not commit while being ostracised by the ton for her supposed liaison with the victim. Adam Harcourt is the kind of man you dream about but never meet, literally very tall, dark and handsome. He is damaged by his previous experiences with women and is distrustful of them. This makes him come accross as hard but as the novel progresses his developing love/lust for Gillian softens him. He is at once protective of Gillian and forceful in his erotic intentions towards her. A very sexy read.
Great.......2005-05-25
If you are a fan of this genre (romance) I highly recommend. A really good author I must say! A+++
Definitely worthwhile.......2003-07-04
This was the first Kat Martin book I had ever read. My mother in law bought this book and a Lisa Kleypa's book, Lady Sophia's Lover at the same time. She read the Kleypas book while I read Kat Martin's book, and then we switched. This books was great. Prior to this, I was never into romance books, and especially not historical romance. Heaving bosoms were not my thing. Give me a good mystery or some true crime.
But after I read this book, I was hooked. I devour every Kat Martin book I can get my hands on. My mother in law and I like to go to thrift stores all the time, and I usually manage to get a ton of books for very little money, and I have found tons of Kat Martin books for about 50 cents a piece. Can't beat that.
This one is totally worth the regular price though. Grab it and enjoy.
Book Description
A fascinating look at fans of a variety of popular culture phenomena in Japan.
Customer Reviews:
Serious ethnography of Japanese popular culture.......2004-08-14
This is a great collection by some of the outstanding contemporary specialists on Japanese popular culture. It is a serious ethnographic collection about popular culture and the dynamics of "fandom" across sports, manga and anime, popular music, and sumo, among other things. It sets a high standard for studies of popular culture in Japan and elsewhere. Highly recommended both for fans and observers of Japanese trends.
Average customer rating:
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Fanning Old Flames
Jane Blanchard
Manufacturer: Time Warner Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0751533653 |
Average customer rating:
- A Powerful Surprise
- Great Leadership Book From a Great Spiritual Leader!
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Ministry on Fire: Fanning the Flame of Your Congregation
B. Bruce Humphrey
Manufacturer: Chalice Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Leadership | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Charismatic | Worship & Devotion | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0827223307 |
Customer Reviews:
A Powerful Surprise.......2005-11-03
I'm not a minister, and so I certainly do not lead a congregation. Given the title of the book, I thought it might be interesting, but did not think it would apply to my life. And so one recent evening when I was too tired to pick up the novel I'd been reading, I thought I'd just leaf through Ministry on Fire before going to sleep. What a surprise! I stayed up until 2:30 AM to finish the book! The author brilliantly elucidates the multifaceted concept of momentum as applied to leadership, and he explains what it is to be a successful servant-leader with engaging parables and warm anecdotes. You can sink your teeth into this stuff and apply it to your life whether -- in a sacred or secular setting -- you lead a church, a business, a sports team, a classroom, or a family.
Great Leadership Book From a Great Spiritual Leader!.......2005-09-18
Dr. Humphrey's book is aimed at church leaders, but it has principles that are applicable for other fields as well. He draws on his many years of experience as a successful pastor (I've been lucky enough to attend his church a few times, and I'd rate him as one of the top preachers in the country), who as worked in a variety of church settings from a small rural church to a large urban congregation. Although, having been through it more than once, Dr. Humphrey understands the experience of helping a church grow, that is not the reason to get this book. This is not a book merely about numbers and growth; this is a book written by a genuinely spiritual person who is a deep moral thinker and has advice on creating a burning flame for Christ in his church and yours. If you are involved in church leadership, it would be a wise move to read this book.
Book Description
Citation Details
Distributed by ProQuest Information and Learning
Average customer rating:
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Fanning the Flame: Bible, Cross, and Mission
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Church Administration | Ministry & Church Leadership | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Evangelism | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Missions & Missionary Work | Evangelism | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0310249872 |
Book Description
The Bible, the cross, and the mission – by leading members of the evangelical Anglicans.
Books:
- Heart of the Dragon (Atlantis, Book 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- Horse Heaven
- How to Make an American Quilt
- Ignorance: A Novel
- In a Far Country: The True Story of a Mission, a Marriage, a Murder,and the Remarkable Reindeer Rescue of 1898
- In My Father's Court
- James Herriot's Yorkshire: A Guided Tour With the Beloved Veterinarian Through the Land of All Creatures Great And Small And Every Living Thing, Gloriously Photographed and Memorably Described
- Letter to a Christian Nation: Counter Point
Books Index
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