In the Beauty of the Lilies

Now, Find love now: Your guide to Mr. Right, Letters of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and the Right Honourable William Pitt on the proposed regency, 1788-9: To which are added the declaration ... now proposed, and Mr. Perceval's answer, Mr. Right Now (Harlequin Temptation Ser., Vol. 821)"> now, find love now: your guide to mr. right, letters of his royal highness the prince of wales, and the right honourable william pitt on the proposed regency, 1788-9: to which are added the declaration ... now proposed, and mr. perceval's answer, mr. right now (harlequin temptation ser., vol. 821)"> In the Beauty of the Lilies

Amazon.com

When Clarence Wilmot, a Presbyterian clergyman, loses his faith and becomes an encyclopedia salesman, he opens the saga of one American family's twentieth-century relationship with God and all things religious.

Book Description

Faith ultimately bursts into flame as Updike's major new novel, charting the lives of one family through four generations, shows readers an America whose dream of perfection is translated into an obsession with God and the Moving Picture. Paterson, New Jersey, 1910: When a Presbyterian minister suddenly loses his faith and leaves the pulpit to become a salesman, he becomes a movie addict as well.

Customer Reviews:

A REALLY good read.......2007-02-11

This book is beautifully written and well researched by both Mr Updike and his staff.

John Updike is an artist, he creates pictures with words the way a painter creates pictures with brushes and colors. A painter sees a leaf in a certain light, grabs a piece of paper and tries to capture it using brush strokes and a variety of different colors. John Updike sees a leaf then captures it perfectly with his descriptive words. He uses words the way a painter uses his pallet, shading and coloring, with strong emphasis here and a light touch there the pictures come to life, dazzlingly. One reads a passage then gazes off into the distance visualizing what he has written, soaking up the ambience, the atmosphere of the piece, hearing the noises, smelling the smells, feeling the chill or the warmth, feeling the thrill as of galloping hooves when the story picks up pace. Its all there in this book.

Passages such as:-

"What had been a picture postcard in Basingstoke, where the hemlock boughs were bent low over the sidewalks and the chickadees hopped in the tracery of grapevines and Locust Street chimed from end to end with the scraping of snow shovels, was in New York an icy ashy slush the traffic churned with broken chains and angry claxons. Yet there was for Essie also something secretive and radiant about the storm's aftermath here, like light and cool morning air sneaking in across the windowsill. Spots of pure snow were still tucked in on fire escapes. Dirty plowed snow was mountainously heaped along the curbs, burying the trash cans, and people had worn a narrow wobbling path like a forest trail, carrying their expensive parcels and wearing their expensive clothes."

and :-

"The next morning, in the heavy dew, Luke told the children to stay in the Temple and went out, into swale in the lower right hand meadow where a thicket of little gamble oaks grew, with an M-16 he had fitted with a telescopic sight. When, at seven thirty, the orange yellow school bus came along the macadamized road, Luke from about a hundred fifty yards away shot out the two tires on his side. It was a crisp November morning, with the foretaste of winter in the wind and the sky overhead as blue as lupine and the leaves of the little oaks turning a papery khaki color. In his telescopic sight with the rifle steadied on a low branch, he could see beautifully. He could see the bus driver, a plump bleached blond in an ochre suede jacket roll down her window to look at her front tire; he could see the glint on the chrome edge of her side mirror. He could see as he swept the rifle in a gentle arc, the little faces cramming up against the windows in curiosity. The windows made their faces look dirty. Their mouths were open making a shrill noise he couldn't hear. When he took out the back tire and swept the sight back, the faces had all disappeared - ducked down, he guessed- so he took out a few of the windows for good measure."

make the book worth reading.

The tone of the book is cynical. Mr. Updike is 75yrs old this year, he is scratching the surface of American life with the advantage of age. I do not agree entirely with his point of view (or Nietzsche`s) "God is dead." To my mind there is a higher power whatever its name or gender, something greater than ourselves and that power can be positive, (good) or negative, (bad). Something that was there before the big bang and overrides everything with the law of checks and balances whatever we creatures do here on this extraordinary planet or in space.

The message of the book is that religion is stardust like the movies, both are fake. He is telling us to be aware there is no Wizard of Oz. Clarence rejected one fantasy but clung to another. Clark, his great grandson, at the end of the book was cognizant of both.

The book is arranged to be read in 4 sittings with its long paragraphs sometimes stretching two or three pages; it is hard to find a natural break to put the book down and indeed if you do put the book down for a few days it is difficult to remember the characters when you pick it up again. The book is divided like The Bible, it is a book of books, but lacking in chapter and verse. It would have been easier to read if each book had had chapters. The author did not want the reader to put the book down until the end of each individual book. Also a helpful addition for the reader would have been a map of the family tree at the front for easy reference.

Another nit I am picking (albeit a minor one) is that beautiful as the writing is, some of the similes grate. For instance:-

"....while stretched out at full length on heliotrope sheets in a dress of scarlet satin slit it seemed, all the way up her immense white thigh, like a white caddy fender without a fin."

What? `Like a slash in a crimson curtain hiding a bordello,' might have been more apt.

Or

"Essie felt armored in pretense, formless and safe behind her face like the rich filling of a stiff chocolate."

Or

"The numbered side streets were like rows and rows of books that some day she would read."

I somehow imagined the author struggling with these, it broke the spell a little.

Finally, I doubt whether the words "fantastic" and "stunning" were used as common adjectives in the fifties, it would more likely have been "wonderful" or "marvelous."

Altogether, minor nits; but together they have lost the book a star.

Where Updike's Flowers Grow.......2007-01-29

The plot of "In the Beauty of the Lilies" is as ambitious as the title itself, and in the hands of a lesser author, I daresay the story would've run out of steam by page 30. But this is Updike, an author who could write riveting and gorgeous VCR instruction manuals.

The book's scope is grand. It follows in intricate detail the pulses and patterns of an entire family through four generations, giving us not just a powerful look at the evolution of the family, but of the country in which they live. The balance between the two is delicate, but Updike's sparkling prose never loses its focus. Although the details of America's growing pains are ever-present and, even more important, amazingly done, they never overshadow the story of the Wilmot clan, never seem tacked on just for authenticity's sake.

Likewise, Updike's story itself, although it focuses on four individuals from the same clan, effectively utilizes two contrasting symbols that could very easily have become heavy-handed icons: religion and the movies. In fact, the book begins with two simultaneous incidents: a starlet passing out from heat exhaustion in the middle of filming a movie scene, and a pastor -- Clarence Wilmot -- losing his faith in God with equal suddeness. From here, Updike strolls through eighty years like a seasoned tour guide, showing us the bits and pieces that matter as this Wilmot family struggles to find its faith again in a world ever more obsessed with the superficial and unreal.

The book loses some steam in the second part, during the story of Teddy, Clarence's clawless son. This section functions most obviously as a chrysalis, giving the story (and the country) time to mature into something bigger. Updike's compelling writing keeps Teddy's rather uneventful tale from devolving into something mundane, although there are points where it is a bit redundant.

He moves from here, though, into the life of Teddy's daughter, Essie, within whom the book finds its strongest thematic purchase. Bred with a "private God" and an insatiable desire for filmdom's fame, Essie grows into a famous film actress who, amazingly, gets everything she prays for, although she doesn't necessarily pray for everything she gets.

One of the latter things is a son, Clark, who headlines the final part of the book, a tale overtly inspired by the Branch Davidian disaster. In spite of the glaring similarities, the story itself is still well-told (if not, in some parts, a tad hazy) and bristling with import.

Updike's message is not as clear as his vibrant words, but it is certainly as accessible. Flowing through his smooth, well-pieced narrative is a liquid-crystal meaning, a well-stated (never obvious) point about where true faith goes, if it ever goes anywhere at all. It certainly isn't a cliched coincidence that the book's most cinematic (and melodramatic) moment is also its most truly soulful. And for a book with this much spirit (see the last line of Clarence's section), this much tenderness (see the last line of Teddy's section), and this much brutal urgency (see the last line of Essie's section), well, that's saying quite a lot.

From Church To The Movies And Back In Four Generations.......2006-03-19

Among Updike's best works. This is the story of one family thru four generations, from a Presbyterian minister of the early twentieth-century, who loses his faith in God and substitutes that with a fascination for motion pictures, thru his son, a local postmaster, to that man's daughter, an actress who becomes a Hollywood superstar, and finally into the modern era when the actress' son gains heroic infamy for his actions as a radical participant in a cult stand-off reminiscent of the Branch Davidian disaster of 1993. I loved the depth with which Updike infused the passing of time, how he slid era into era and made the inhabitants of each generation seem so in place and representative of their age. This is the kind of book that draws in the curious and converts them to believers in how strong a novel can be as conveyer of a message. However, if there is one weakness here in this tale, it is the way Alma, the main character in the third generation, achieved international fame, and yet Updike seemed to rush thru her rise and merely told of it without letting us feel its culmination. He simply stated that it had come to pass, she was famous, she had starred opposite this major star and that one, but it never felt right, somehow. I don't blame Updike for this, exactly, and think this also serves to point out the weakness of the written word when it is used to describe a visual medium, as was that case. I was also a little saddened by how this novel ended, and felt it was a needlessly dim conclusion to nine decades of involvement with a number of deep-souled men and women. I rated four stars instead of five for this reason and for the facts mentioned in the rise-to-fame section, but In the Beauty of the Lilies was a wonderful book that packed a lot into its pages and I really enjoyed it. It serves to reinforce that John Updike is an American master.

Religion more powerful than the movies?.......2006-03-01

The back cover of this book enthusiastically describes it as the story of the 20th century in the US "seen through the prism of the movies." But I'd argue that the movies definitely take second place to religion as the driving force of American culture in Updike's view--and that certainly hasn't changed since this novel was written. "In the Beauty of the Lilies" is the story of religion in the life of a family--first for the brooding minister Clarence, who suddenly loses all faith on a totally ordinary summer afternoon at home. Clarence's son Teddy, the most "ordinary" character in the book, will never forgive God for abandoning his father and for the consequences his family suffered as a result. The third generation is Alma, formerly Essie, a movie star in the age of glamour, with her touching faith in a child-like father God watching over things. But God lets her son Clark wander off into the territory of false religion with catastrophic results.

I liked this book a lot--Updike's erudite writing is always a pleasure, and his insights into our so-called godless society, where religion permeates everything, were very astute. The "Teddy" story was a bit slow moving, perhaps deliberately, for it is followed by the meteoric rise--and fall--of his daughter's career. As for the story of Clark, we know what's coming, and we read on with growing dread towards the inevitable conclusion. An extra bonus was the very realistic rendering of Paterson NJ in the early 20th century and the painful silk workers' strike. Updike based this section of the book on the fine research of Steve Golin, a historian I know well. This novel is well worth your while.

Loss of faith.......2005-02-16

This books moves from a great grandfather's loss of faith in Paterson, New Jersey, to a Waco-like incident. Unfortunately the Presbyterian minister, Clarence Wilmot, is much more lifelike than the subsequent characters living in Delaware and New York City, among other places, upon whom the author expends a considerable number of words and much labor.

Clarence Wilmot explained that he would be with the members of his church only for the length of his call. He had come to believe there was no God. At Fourth Presbyterian glass windows presented a sextet of Protestant martyrs, Wycliff, Huss, Calvin, Knox, Cromwell, and Bunyan. A dying parishner told Clarence there had not been enough damnation from the pulpit. Clarence had a wife and three children. He thought that if he resigned the ministry there would be jobs. He thought it would be hypocrisy to remain in the pulpit. When Clarence tried to give his resignation, the church leaders offered an August vacation at Ocean Grove. After he was demitted he fell on the social scale. Previously he had failed to grasp such a consequence of his actions. Three years later he was selling encyclopedias door to door. His son Jared returned from World War One with a limp arm. Younger son Teddy survived the influenza epidemic.

Following Clarence's death, Teddy and his mother moved to Delaware. Teddy obtained work in a bottle cap factory and later became a postman. He had his wife Emily had two children, Esther and Danny. In the nineteen fifties Esther moved to New York City to jump start her career as an actress and model. Eventually she did become successful in the movies, and it was her son Clark who joined a peculiar sect.

This intergenerational novel certainly has its moments of rollicking good spirits. The portrayal of members of the family with a myriad of interests and competencies is energetic.

Here's Lily! (Young Women of Faith: Lily Series, Book 1)

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Start of a great series
Well worth the while
Refreshing Series
Here's Lily!
An excellent book for young women of faith

Here's Lily! (Young Women of Faith: Lily Series, Book 1)
Nancy Rue
Manufacturer: Zonderkidz
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0310232481

Book Description

Welcome to the wonderful world of Lily Robbins! In this fun, entertaining story about growing up, you’ll meet an awkward sixth-grader named Lily. Lily learns a valuable lesson about real beauty.

Customer Reviews:

Start of a great series.......2007-04-25

From the first page, Rue transports you to the world of Lily; low self-image, being put down at school and home and with parents who love her but have their own imperfections. It's a realistic look at the struggles of Christian girls. A popular series in our church library!

Lily starts her modeling class by wanting to get revenge on a bully but ends up getting much more out of it than she imagined. Her whole family learns to accept her, splotches and all - though they don't quite live happily ever after. Lily also starts to become a natural leader and encourager and discovers whether modeling - with God in it - is what she wants to pursue.

Well worth the while.......2006-11-11

I really liked the book because it compared to real life. Her parents are like mine and her brothers are too. I loved that it was from a christian's perspective! I would highly recommend this book, and all the others in the series!! THANK YOU NANCY RUE!!

Refreshing Series.......2005-08-21

I found the books to have a very refreshing "attitude" rather than the disrespectful attitude that other books have portrayed. But my opinion wouldn't matter if my girls didn't enjoy reading them! The good news is that they LOVE them! It's time to order the next few books in the series!!

Here's Lily!.......2005-07-08

Here's Lily is the first book in the Lily Series. They are great for girls who are entering Junior High School. It's about an eleven year old girl named, Lily Robbins, who wants to know who she is as a person. In this book, a lady from a modeling agency goes to Lily's school to teach them about good skincare and make-up. The lady (Kathleen), ends up picking Lily as a volunteer and, at the end of the lesson, gives Lily her card to see if she is really 'model' material. It goes through the problem between her and her friends and enemies. I recommend this book to any girl.

An excellent book for young women of faith.......2004-01-07

Welcome To The World Of Lily Robbins!
This story is about a sixth grader in middle school by the name of Lily Robbins she obsessed with this new modeling business a women has brought to lilyýs hated life by Shad Shifferdecer. Hopefully she has Reni to help her guide Lily through the way . Lily finds out that she has to be in a magazine photo shoot and a fashion show. Lily thinks this will be so much fun and a lot of fame. Lily losses her mind and loses Reni and her parents trust. Then Lily finds out what the true meaning of beauty is. It is not on the outside, but the inside.

THE PRINCE AND THE LILY THE STORY OF LILLIE LANGTRY THE GREATEST INTERNATIONAL BEAUTY OF HER DAY

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THE PRINCE AND THE LILY THE STORY OF LILLIE LANGTRY THE GREATEST INTERNATIONAL BEAUTY OF HER DAY

Manufacturer: COWARD MCANN
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HGSU04

Average customer rating:

Impressed!
Beauty, Health and Happiness

Beauty, Health, and Happiness
Lily Morgon
Manufacturer: Howard City Orchards Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Beauty & Fashion | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Accessories:

philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 0966938305

Book Description

Imagine knowing: - 50 ways to lead a happier life - Over 100 recipes to make your own beauty products - How to look and feel years younger - Beauty secrets used for centuries - Nutrition for beauty - 26 herbs and how to use them to make products - 33 essential oils and how to use them in skin care - Natural problem solving for all skin types and conditions- including acne, exzema, psoriasis, dry skin - Inside story on cleansers, masks, and moisturizers - Over 10 rejuvenation methods - An introduction to alternative health and beauty

Customer Reviews:

Impressed!.......2001-10-29

Lily Morgan's Beauty, Health and Happiness is a real keeper!

Beauty, Health and Happiness.......2000-04-18

How might one categorize BEAUTY, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS: A WAY OF LIFE, by Lily Morgan? Is it an account of a young entrepreneur's entry into business, the pitfalls, frustrations, difficulties, and triumphs? Is it a commentary revealing how far a drop-out can go? A manual in the history and uses of herbs? An exploration of characteristics and benefits of essential oils? A description of alternative health therapies, including only those the author has personally experienced? Is it autobiography? Philosophy? A recipe book of make-at-home, all-natural skin care products developed by Lily for her commercial, purely botanical(tm) skin care company? Splashed with humor, Lily's BEAUTY, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS is All of the above, and more. I highly recommend it both as a delightful read and a source book for alternative beauty and health therapies, ancient and new, to keep near at hand.

Once Upon a Time: A Rose for Beauty/The Shoemaker's Daughter/Better to See You/Lily's Plight (Inspirational Romance Collection)

Average customer rating:

Fairy Tales Modernized with a Christian undertone
Lacks enchantment and reality
I THOURGHLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK!!!
I ENJOYED THIS BOOK TREMENDOUSLY!!!
Threw the book away - and I never throw books away.

Once Upon a Time: A Rose for Beauty/The Shoemaker's Daughter/Better to See You/Lily's Plight (Inspirational Romance Collection)
Irene B. Brand , Lynn A. Coleman , Gail Gaymer Martin , and Yvonne Lehman
Manufacturer: Barbour Publishing, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1577489756

Book Description

The stories from bedtime fairy tales are not just for children. Enjoy inspirational romance woven around beloved fairy tale themes in contemporary settings from authors Irene B. Brand, Lynn Coleman, Yvonne Lehman, and Gail Gaymer Martin.

Customer Reviews:

Fairy Tales Modernized with a Christian undertone.......2007-03-05

There are four short stories in th book, each one LOOSELY based on a fairy tale. If you like fairy tales and Christian literature, than this is a book for you!

The first story is based on Beauty and the Beast. My favorite story in the book! It isn't a beast under a magical spell though, he has scares on his face from an accident. The girl is called Beauty and she is working at the house of the beast for her father who just suffered a stroke. Find out the details of why her family is poor? And what are "the beast's" secrets!

The second story is based on the Elves and the Shoemaker. There is a new shoemaker in town and he is having trouble keeping up with the orders. He has an accident with this woman and a surfboard, and when he comes into work and ten orders are completed he begins to think he suffered some memory loss from the accident. Does he have a secret helper? or is he losing his mind?

The third story resembles Snowwhite and the Seven Drawfs. Lily White is applying for a new job at an advertising agency. The agency turns out to be a big family with many characters, one thats really grumpy, another always telling jokes, and so on. . . She feels an attraction for her boss but it is obvious he is involved romantically with a client who used to be a model. Does she stand a chance at winning his heart? Should she even try? Who is in love with the former model?

The last story resembles Little Red Riding Hood and it takes place in Germany!!! How fun! This book has the heaviest christian undertones of the four and involves a rekindling of a romance with an exfiance who had no religious values before. Who is the "wolf" in this story?

If you don't want to read stories that contain scriptures and talk of God, than these stories are not for. But I highly recommend this book as a wonderful Christian example a love mixed in with a few of everyones favorite fairy tales.

Lacks enchantment and reality.......2006-04-16

And yes, you can have both in a story. The stories here attempt to be two things: retold fairy tales and Christian dramas. For the most part, they fail miserably at both. Fairy tales, in their true form, are stories that feature very hard lessons about life and realistic portrayals of human nature. This book, however, delivers only a huge cast of syrupy characters and happy endings sweet enough to give you cavities. I love a light-hearted fairy tale, but shouldn't it feature realistic characters?

These stories are only fairy tales in the Disney sense, possibly even less than that, as Disney at least doesn't shy away from producing believably harsh plights. As for the "Christian" aspect, when did a bunch of old-fashioned people get together and decide that Christian stories could only be G-rated and fluffy? Christians live in the real world too, folks! We're right here with everyone else on the planet, not floating on a pink cloud blithely unaware of the messy world beneath. This book failed the "realistic Christian" aspect in many ways, mainly characterization.

Most of the heroines here are totally innocent "good girls" who are happily aware of their salvation in Christ and happily unaware of how cruel the world can be sometimes; they prove this by shrinking away like wounded does whenever something hurts them. Granted, some of the heriones are more like this than others, but they all seem to have their purity printed on their T-shirts. They hardly ever get angry and when they do, it's usually an infuriatingly "rightous" anger; if by any chance they're unreasonably angry like normal humans, they repent of it immediately, thus showing just how Christian they are. The book, in fact, tries way too hard to promote Christianity. Have you noticed that if you try to witness to someone by preaching your head off, they're more likely to run away than listen to you? Here's a little secret: preachiness in writing has the same result.

The only story I liked was "The Shoemaker's Daughter", a cute comedy with a spunky heroine who actually comes close to losing her temper a few times and doesn't mention God's name every few sentences. The worst story is "Better to See you", which is packed with narrow-minded, old-fashioned messages about how Christians should live and a heroine who manages to be both sharp-tongued and goody-two-shoed. Here are a few of the faulty lessons this story tries to teach:

1) Lying is always wrong, even if you're lying to protect yourself from a con-artist who could be dangerous.

2) The life of a starving artist is a filthy and immoral one; anyone who attempts this path will find unfulfillment and sorrow until they repent of it.

3) Since the Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil, if you love money, you are unquestionably evil as well.

This last ridiculous statement had me doubting that the author has any idea of what true evil is. It's certainly not a label to be used loosely! Sure, greed is bad, but if you compare it to crimes like rape and serial killing, I think it would pale in comparison.

Needless to say, I recommend you skip this book. Give Liz Curtis Higgs and Francine Rivers a try instead; they offer Christian passion as well as a good dose of reality.

I THOURGHLY ENJOYED THIS BOOK!!!.......2004-12-29

If you enjoy Christian romances and fairy tales set in modern day settings this is the perfect book for you! It includes four different books by four authors.
1. Rose for Beauty by Irene B. Brand
(My favorite of the four)
2. Shoemaker's Daughter by Lynn A Coleman
3. Lily's Plight by Yvonne Lehman
4. Better to See You by Gail Gaymer Martin

I ENJOYED THIS BOOK TREMENDOUSLY!!!.......2003-06-22

ONCE UPON A TIME is a wonderful success as Barbour Publishing authors tackle old time fairytales with contemporary plots and settings. I have really enjoyed reading all four novellas in this book and know that if you try them, you'll be "enchanted" as well! A great read and a wonderful time if inspirational romances are your favorites!

Threw the book away - and I never throw books away........2003-03-25

If I had wanted Bible thumping, I'd have bought a Bible. I thought I was getting a fairy tale, but was instead getting a good Christian book produced by a Bible company full of scriptures.
Not what I thought I was buying. There's a place for everything and I'd rather people be more up front in their advertising.

Beauty from Bulbs: A treatise on the Leading Varieties of Bulbs Suitable for Outdoor and Indoor Culture and of Proven Merit for American Gardens

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Beauty from Bulbs: A treatise on the Leading Varieties of Bulbs Suitable for Outdoor and Indoor Culture and of Proven Merit for American Gardens

Manufacturer: John Scheepers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000BSK2BS

Product Description

Book on growing all sorts of flowers from bulbs (daffodils, tulips, lilies, irises) illustrated with beautiful color & B&W photos & prints from a New York gardening company from Brookville, Long Island

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In Beauty of the Lilies
John Updike
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0517193612
Release Date: 1997-08-19

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In The Beauty Of The Lilies
John Updike
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OO10RO

Average customer rating:

IN THE BEAUTY OF THE LILIES
JOHN UPDIKE
Manufacturer: FAWCETT COLUMBINE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Average customer rating:

In the Beauty of the Lilies
Updike John
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QYHHPG

Book Description

From the author of There Goes the Bride, here is book that talks to women about a new approach to life—being single and thoroughly enjoy it! Rather than focusing on Mr. Right, women should use their dating experiences as a developmental process, a learning experience, a way of growing and maturing and deciding what you really want. Women can learn from Mr. Puppy Love, Mr. First Boyfriend, Mr. Swashbuckling Adventure, Mr. Sex, Mr. Serious Intellectual, Mr. Money, Mr. Best Friend, and others. Each chapter concludes with a section called "Been There, Learned This" which lists the specific learning experiences and lessons accomplished from each dating and relationship experience. The book is sharp, energetic, often humorous, and always on the mark.

Download Description

Guilt-free dating—a new approach to enjoying life as a single woma n
Rachel Safier offers a bold new approach to life for the woman who doesn't want to worry about getting married right away, but is instead determined to take more pleasure in dating. Mr. Right Now offers lively stories and practical advice for gaining experience, learning from different relationships, and just plain having fun. In this on-the-mark, often humorous antithesis to the "how to catch a man" self-help books, the author shares her own dating experience as well as those of women across the country and identifies the specific lessons learned from each dating and relationship experience.

Rachel Safier (Washington, D.C.) is a journalist whose writing has appeared in such magazines as Seventeen, Publishers Weekly, and U.S. News & World Report. She is the author of There Goes the Bride (0-7879-6748-3) and has appeared on Good Morning America and in the New York Times and Time magazine.

Customer Reviews:

A new perspective on dating.......2004-06-21

I enjoyed Rachel's newest book a lot. Once again, she is able to point out the key lessons from life experience. What is interesting is she claims that dating should be something we learn from and approach it that way, not as something to be dreaded or that we HAVE to do. Maybe she is suggesting to make it a little less serious and take it for what it is, not as a means to an end. In a society where marital status still plays heavily into how we fit in, this book encourages us to date and learn about ourselves. It's not all about husband-hunting and that is okay. Take the pressure off. Embrace this time in your life.
Rachel does a good job of taking real life examples and making them pertinent to your own. You can see examples of atleast one man you have dated in this book. It's a refreshing new outlook. I really enjoyed it because it made me laugh.

Average customer rating:

Harry Potter anyone?
Demonic Romance - Horrible Theme
Ms. Never Again
Worth the read!
This is a fun read...

Mr. Right Now
Monica Jackson
Manufacturer: Kensington
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0758208677

Book Description

When three best girlfriends decide it's time to get married, the first order of business is to find some decent husband material. But looking for Mr. Right is about to lead three nearly-thirty sistahs down a rocky road of matchmaking… Luby Uniquoncie Jones—a career girl on a fast track to success. She prepares for romance like she lands a new account…no nonsense and all business. But can commitment ever become her bottom line?

Danielle Sellers—lucky in looks, but unlucky in love, she has a weakness for sexy bad boys who set her on fire then leave her crying. Now she's worried that a good man won't be able to turn up her heat.

Catherine "Cat" Bronson—fine and fun-loving, already has the sweetest guy in the world, but she's joining this "dating thing" anyway. If she goes too far, she may lose the good thing she's got.

Soon Luby, Danielle, and Cat have entered dating hell, complete with disastrous set-ups, crazy attractions, and a wild ride on Cupid's rollercoaster. There may be thrills, and there are sure to be spills, but the biggest surprise will be the truly fine one-in-a-million man who comes along with a heart open to true love…

Reading Group Guide Inside

Customer Reviews:

Harry Potter anyone?.......2007-03-19

The writer has some funny lines in this story. I got a good laugh (at the beginning). It is what kept me going through the book at first. I read Rock Star (boring and predictable) and thought that this one was starting out to be much better!

I liked how the hero seems to "see" the heroine in a different way (i.e. seeing her soul / aura as being beautiful). I thought that this was unique and showing that he had a tender side - especially with the painting. I liked that he appreciated her naturalness. That he also seemed to be a "hottie" was also an interesting twist. The interracial relationship did not seem to be a big issue in the book but only took on major significance in the end - I thought this was also good.

The sex scenes were worth reading as well (some of the slang could have been left out).

I thought the secondary characters were inconsequential and almost absurd (at least the way that one solves a marriage issue). I thought that a sister-like relationship with a Barbie-look-alike and a woman who "tends to get little attention from men" was rather odd.

I think the thing that threw me off was that the book gives no indication whatsoever that it is going to touch upon Harry-Potter-meets-Voodoo-like stuff. It totally came out of left field. If one is familiar with spiritual issues (that everything consists of energy, auras, vibration, karma, etc.) then ~some~ of the "mumbo jumbo" might make sense -

The book has some good points and bad points. I completed this book in one night. I most definitely thought it was better than Rock Star and I was turning the pages with anticipation whereas with Rock Star, I was getting a headache. I think the author could have developed things a little better though.

Demonic Romance - Horrible Theme .......2006-12-23

Rarely do I give a review and this is the first bad review that I have every written. Ms. Jackson is a a very talented writer but I don't know what happened with this book. I was sooooo disappointed with the romance/voodoo/suspense theme. I am not into witchcraft and this book focused a lot about the "darkside" and demons. I was truly not feeling this particular book and if I could have given it no stars then I would of done it. This demonic theme was all about sex and demons and very little about the foundation of the relationship. The secondary characters were not necessary in this book but had enough drama for their own seperate novel. You will be better off waiting for this book at a garage sale or library. I actually put my book in the garbage and wish that I could get a refund for the cost of this book and the time that it took to read this horrible book.

Ms. Never Again.......2006-07-29

I have to say that this is the worst book I have ever read. The book had no rhyme or reason. I couldn't and still have yet been unable to finish it. The blurb on the back of the book is completely misleading. Its supposedly a story about three female friends looking for mr. right, the book focuses on one of the friends and everyone else are secondary characters with no additional information to impart. Sort of fillers to keep you turning the page.

Also the supernatural aspect of the book comes out of nowhere. Not really adding anything to the story. Theres no justification for where the book goes. There were so many grammatical errors and lack of structure, it wasn't worth finishing.

I'm sorry miss jackson, i apologize but a writer you are not...

Worth the read!.......2006-05-27

This is an interracial paranormal story. It is a story of one woman and her two very close friends, note the description of the book on the back cover doesn't accurately describe the book. I'll deal with the two friends first. One is black, like the main character Luby and the other is white. Luby's black friend Cat, is married but unhappy in the marriage and wants out. She comes up with an unorthodox way of ending the marriage, that I can't say I agreed with but it was creative. The problem I had with this character is I really felt no sympathy towards her. It wasn't really clear what the problem was with the marriage and why marriage counseling couldn't fix it. The second female friend, Danni is described as a short white Barbie, ad nauseam, who only dates black men because of something that happened in her past with her father and brother. While I sympathized with the tragedy of her past, I had no sympathy for her present circumstances. She not only just dated black men, but the worst kind of man period. This woman had real issues that her friends seemed only to give lip service to b/c they were too involved in their own problems. Even the solution they came up with for Danni wasn't really a solution for Danni's underlying issues, just a bandage. I found these side stories about Luby's friends to be more distracting than anything else. Maybe with further character development I would have found them to be more compelling. In fact, I think if Cat and Danni had their own separate fully developed stories the characters would have been more compelling b/c they were interesting women.

Now the main characters Luby and her hero Jake. Luby is a young black attorney who is looking for love. As successful as she's supposed to be in her profession she's not happy with her job or with the way she looks, as compared to her two friends Danni who's white and Cat who is lighter skinned than Luby is. Luby also has issues with her mother who is in a mental institution but may not be insane, she has issues with her sense of self and is unaware of her true magical heritage. Enter the new tenant in her building, Jake. Jake is a chick magnet, literally. He has a family heritage of being able to wield magic of some kind, in his case a type of magic he can't control. He say's he's like a vampire but not. Still not clear what he is. But he has a glamour that makes him literally sexually irresistible to women and some men. Of course Luby is not immune, neither are her two friends. No woman is immune to Jake, he's blessed or cursed with this glamour. But he's white and Luby at first wants to set him up with her white friend. Jake on the other hand only wants Luby. Luby can't resist Jake or is it his glamour? While I like both Luby and Jake together it's still never clear if Luby's attraction to Jake is solely based on his glamour. It's never really clear if she see's beyond this, nor does it seem to really be an issue in the book, but it was for me.

Overall I think Luby and Jake's story was very compelling. I think it would have been even better with more focus on their issues and less on Luby's two friends. However, this book is worth a read, Ms Jackson is an excellent writer.

This is a fun read..........2006-05-13

I liked this book alot. I thought that it was a lot of fun. I liked Luby's character, she was a fun character to read. I loved her ongoing-dialogue about what was going on around her. The main male character was just hot...the only thing that I can say is wow. Remember for a lot of US we read books to take us away like Calgon. This is a paranormal book, don't take it seriously. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A FUN BOOK THAT WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH AND CHEER FOR THE HEROINE THEN THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.

Mr. Right, Right Now!: How a Smart Woman Can Land Her Dream Man in 6 Weeks

Average customer rating:

i made my friends read it just because it was so hilarious...
Some good ideas
Be true to yourself!!
Don't Buy This Book
Hysterical

Mr. Right, Right Now!: How a Smart Woman Can Land Her Dream Man in 6 Weeks
E. Jean Carroll
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Love, Sex & Marriage | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Self-Help & Psychology | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Interpersonal Relations | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Love & Romance | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Mate Seeking | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Dating | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0060530286
Release Date: 2003-12-23

Book Description

The Mr. Right, Right Now! Promise:

If you start following the principles of the Man Catching Theory right now, 6 weeks from today, you will have the man of your dreams.

E. Jean Carroll, the popular advice columnist for Elle magazine, comes to the rescue of bright, high-achieving women everywhere with a foolproof program for finding love. In the first Man-Finding, Catching, and Captivating Manual for successful women, E. Jean provides a 6-week plan for finding the ideal mate.

And here's the best part: Mr. Right, Right Now! is not based on self-help horsehockey. Rather, it's founded on Darwinian principles, cutting-edge scientific research on "synchrony," and ten years of hard evidence provided by thousands of letters sent into the Ask E. Jean column.

The Man Catching Theory in Mr. Right, Right Now! has been tested and confirmed on E. Jean's wildly successful dating site GreatBoyfriends.com.

So, here's the deal, Doll: If you acquire the right attitude (Week 1) and the right look (Week 2), learn to laugh at your fears (Week 3), place yourself where there are hoards of elite and eligible men (Week 4), get out of your own way and let Mother Nature hurl the chaps at your feet (Week 5), E. Jean guarantees you will live happily ever after (or for as long as you can stand it) with the man of your dreams (Week 6).

Download Description

"E-Book exclusive extras: ""E. Jean's Absolutely Favorite 11 Questions (And Answers!)."" PLUS! A gift certificate for one free month at www.greatboyfriends.com

Drop chaps in their tracks! E. Jean Carroll, Elle magazine's wildly popular advice columnist, presents the first foolproof man-catching manual for successful women. The best part? This 6-week plan is based on cutting-edge research and tried and tested by real women. So get ready to meet Mr. Right -- RIGHT NOW (or as soon as you download and start reading this e-book)!

The Mr. Right, Right Now! Promise:

If you start following the principles of the Man Catching Theory right now, 6 weeks from today, you will have the man of your dreams.

And here's the best part: Mr. Right, Right Now! is not based on self-help horsehockey. Rather, it's founded on Darwinian principles, cutting-edge scientific research on ""synchrony,"" and ten years of hard evidence provided by thousands of letters sent into the Ask E. Jean column.

The Man Catching Theory in Mr. Right, Right Now! has been tested and confirmed on E. Jean's wildly successful dating site GreatBoyfriends.com.

Customer Reviews:

i made my friends read it just because it was so hilarious..........2006-12-09

although fairly ridiculous-- as if girls are going to go out SNAPPING POLAROIDS of attractive men they come across. (near the end, everything is just thrown together-- but the author admits to this, so it's pretty comical..)

MAIN CONCEPT= be available while still challenging, & learn to go to gatherings where there are sure to be tons & tons of single men (she lists every possible venue you could imagine, however... they mostly have to do with taking up different sports/attending sporting events-- wow, really?!)

[SIDE BAR.--- the author herself hasn't exactly found 'mr. right'. it's not a serious book at all, so don't expect that. it's like a modern-woman's guide on dating... point being basically 'don't let men affect you & just have fun'.]

my favorite part of the book is in the very beginning.
it's about the special 'spark' two ppl can have when they first meet... very interesting... she gets into some research done on it.

Some good ideas.......2006-02-08

She suggests ideas and places I have yet to see anyone else mention, which I really liked. What I didn't like is she has a conversation with you throughout the book as if she was sitting across the coffee table cracking jokes while conversing on Mr. Right. I guess she thinks she's funny. Maybe she is, but just give me the facts & ideas please! I found all the extra banter boring and annoying. Otherwise, she has some great ideas and I would have given her 5 stars.

Be true to yourself!!.......2005-01-08

MRRN is commonsense packaged in a humourous style. Learn to like yourself, look after yourself, and stop worrying about what men think. Perhaps I'm wrong... but surely no-one out there actually believes this is hard core scientific research? I'll eat my psychology degree if that's true! I read this book in an afternoon so, if you want to have a few home truths knocked into your brain (and appreciate a good laugh), then invest a few hours in Ms Carroll.

Don't Buy This Book.......2004-12-19

What a dreadful waste of my hard-earned money. The worst dating book I've ever read. Instead buy Find a Husband After 35 Using What I Learned at Harvard Business School by Rachel Greenwald, Surrendered Single by Laura Doyle, and Master Dating by Felicia Rose Adler. Those are a MUCH better use of your money! Mazel tov!

Hysterical.......2004-12-07

The book is written in such a hysterical style that I couldn't wait to put it down. It has a certain tone you may encounter when watching commercials - fast paced yelling (like a banshee), in desperate attempt to hold your attention, yet a style that made reading a book a torment - as did her adjectives related to men. (OK, it must be me - I don't appreciate disparaging comments or putting people down, especially not those I'd consider worthwhile sharing my time with). Makes me wonder, how good about herself a person genuinely feels if she (or he) has to refer to others with derrogatory adjectives.

A good deal of this book is dedicated to promoting the author's online dating website. At times it seems that it was the author's main intent behind writing this book. Nothing wrong with promoting her website or suggesting online dating as yet another avenue of possibly finding the man of your choice, but as you begin reading her book and every few pages you encounter "join my online dating service" - you begin to feel as if you're reading commercial after commercial after commercial. One commercial break every few pages - just as if you were watching a TV (and one of the reasons, I don't watch TV).

The premise behind getting a man in 6 weeks is that it only takes 30 seconds for a man to decide whether he would be interested in a woman or not - therefore, ultimately it only takes you 30 seconds to give the man the impression that you are the one and he's yours - at least for another 30 seconds, few hours or one-night stand. As to whether he would be your dream man and whether you'd be together more than than sharing a spicy weekend or two is debatable.

It takes much more than 30 seconds for people to discover what they have in common, how valuable they are to each other, how compatible they are and whether they share their lives to any greater extent.

From that perspective, the book is truly shallow. What you will find in this book is how to get a man's attention and possibly create that initial "click" - how to act so that a man finds you desirable and perhaps becomes intrigued to get to know better - at least until he gets what he's after.

The author does list numerous places where you may go hunting for possible candidates. Yes, it is a common sense that if you desire to find a man, you go to places which are frequented mostly by men - such as sports events, in which case I hope you truly enjoy the particular sport and are not attending the event because you are truly desperate or afraid of being alone.
One of her "wise" suggestions is dressing sexy and walking into a man's washroom. Good luck to you!

There are many other places and if you are a woman who has a rich life with many interests, your best bet would be meeting someone who shares some of those interests you are passionate about. If you have a fulfilling life, then you won't be needy, so you won't have to play the games and pretend that you're not lonely and desperate for having a man. If you are desperate, no matter what you do on the outside, and how well you think you can fake it, sooner or later, that desperation will show.
If you are happy with your life, with or without a man, then you'll be able to focus on sharing the time together because both of you enjoy it and have something valuable to share with each other, so you'll want to be together again and again, after that initial click is long gone.

As the previous reviewer noted - there are many other books with much better suggestions and of much higher quality.

The Collected Plays of The People's Playwright (Mr. Right Now, His Woman His Wife, The Fabric of a Man, Volume 1)

Average customer rating:

The Collected Plays of The People's Playwright (Mr. Right Now, His Woman His Wife, The Fabric of a Man, Volume 1)

Manufacturer: DAVID E. TALBERT PRESENTS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0971611602

Mr. Right Now (The Personal Touch!) (Harlequin Romance, No 821)

Average customer rating:

Mr Right is all wrong! Highly recommended

Mr. Right Now (The Personal Touch!) (Harlequin Romance, No 821)
Hoffmann
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

Harlequin Romance | Series | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0373259212

Customer Reviews:

Mr Right is all wrong! Highly recommended.......2001-03-11

The Personal Touch miniseries has been particularly entertaining, sharing the premise that a personal ad in Attitudes, a hot magainze for twenty-somethings, brings lovers together. Kate Hoffmanmn's use of the personals, however, is uniquely original.

Nina Forrester's weekends typically consist of peanut butter M&Ms and rented videos. As a fact checker for Attitudes, Nina spends most of her time researching on the Internet, at the library, or making calls. Four couples in the past year met through the personal ads and have married. Nina wants to pitch an article about it, using an ad of her own to further her experience, hoping to win a promotion to assistant editor. However, a potential buyout of Attitudes may have Nina in an unemployment line instead.

Multimillionaire Cameron Ryder is simply a geek who made good. He hasn't the patience for slick women, fancy lifestyles, and the high powered games most of his new peers enjoy. His chance meeting with Nina in a coffee shop has him hoping for another encounter soon, despite the damage to his wardrobe when she pours coffee all over his five-hundred dollar shirt. Once she mentions the ogre who may buy the magazine, however, Cameron introduces himself as Jack Wright, hoping to be Mr. Right before Nina learns who he really is!

Book Description

One Hot Chick: In Search of Mr. Right — Now is Cheryl Caldwell's second Co-Edikit book—this time combining her lively cartoon character drawings with to-the-point relationship observations:

Co-Edikit-branded products are available in 20 product formats ranging from stickers, plush toys, and candy to clothing, housewares, and tattoosAuthor's web site: www.coedikit.com

Average customer rating:
Find love now: Your guide to Mr. Right
Cheryl Hamma Friese
Manufacturer: C. Friese
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Love & Romance | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Mate Seeking | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000720894

Average customer rating:
Letters of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and the Right Honourable William Pitt on the proposed regency, 1788-9: To which are added the declaration ... now proposed, and Mr. Perceval's answer
George
Manufacturer: Printed and sold by B. McMillan, and by Sherwood, Neely & Jones
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0008B0C8Q

Average customer rating:
Mr. Right Now (Harlequin Temptation Ser., Vol. 821)
Kate Hoffman
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OX8PY6

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