Book Description
BLOW is the unlikely story of George Jung's roller coaster ride from middle class high school football hero to the heart of Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel--the largest importer of the United States cocaine supply in the 1980's. Jung's early business of flying marijuana into the United States from the mountains of Mexico took a dramatic turn when he met Carlos Lehder, a young Columbian car thief with connections to the then newly born cocaine operation in his native land. Together they created a new model for selling cocaine, taking it from a drug used by the entertainment elite, to a massive and unimaginably lucrative enterprise-one whose earnings, if legal, would have ranked the cocaine business as the sixth largest private enterprise in the Fortune 500. The ride came to a screeching halt when DEA agents and Florida police busted Jung with 300 kilos of coke, effectively unraveling his fortune. But George wasn't going down alone. He planned to bring down with him one of the biggest cartel figures ever caught.... A riveting insider account of the lurid world of international drug smuggling and a supercharged drama of one man's meteoric rise and desperate fall, Bruce Porter chronicles Jung's life using unprecedented eyewitness sources in this critically acclaimed true crime classic.AUTHORBIO: Bruce Porter, a former newspaper reporter and editor of Newsweek, teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has also written for the New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Playboy, and Connoisseur, among other publications.
Customer Reviews:
Kind of blows.......2007-09-03
This book drags all the way through. I was hoping to hear more of the 'horrors' of the times in prison and the nastiness of the creeps that George Jung had to deal with (including himself) in the drug business. This book falls flat.
Very engaging! Very entertaining!.......2007-08-20
I loved the Movie, and finally read the book. The book is great! Better than the movie, partly because it's so much more in-depth. The characters are captivating (especially the star, George Jung), the story flows nicely. I learned so much about the cocaine business and what goes on in the underground world of cocaine dealing. George Jung was an incredibly risky guy. A strong-willed personality who decided he was going to make it happen. And he did just that!
If you enjoyed the movie, you will love the book!
FREE GEORGE JUNG!.......2007-01-04
If you want to understand George Jung this is the book to read. After you read this you'll have a new appreciation for how cleverly the movie was made. Sadly, the real George had some sexual habits discussed in the book that would of been better left unsaid, that don't add to the story and only tend make him sound bad. Never the less, it gives you a clear picture of how he was used as an example and given a much harsher sentence than was warrented. George Jung should be a free man today. He's more than payed his debt to society!!!!!
Blow.......2006-03-01
The up your nose, in-your-face life of George Jung, the high-school football star from small-town USA who became the American linchpin of the Columbium cocaine cartel. Jung is talked about his earlier years as a poor student, risk taker from a shaky family but the story comes to age as he takes off for California for a haze of sunbathing, sex, pot, and LSD. Soon enough George is arrested and his operation is on hold temporarily. In prison, Jung befriends a young Carlos Lehder and links up with the Medallion cartel, which gross 35 billion in cocaine sales a year. Money, Learjets, fast cars, and very wild women make this story a big success. George Jung did what he considered the best thing he would be at and took it to a level of unknown power. During the 1980's if you snorted cocaine you had an 85% you bought it from him or people he supplied to. I would recommend this book to people that can feel remorse for what a man did only for the reason he was good at it and enjoyed what he did. George Jung lived the American Dream in his own aspect and I will respect him for what he did and what he regrets.
Sloppy job, but still interesting.......2005-08-25
Aware that the movie is only loosely based on a true story, I turned to this book for a more factual account of the rise and fall of George Jung. But Jung's own account of the execution he witnessed on the Escobar ranch, to pick an example, differs as much from the one in this book as from the movie!
By page four I knew this wasn't secretly penned by Truman Capote. It is vulgar and loaded with malapropisms, for example: the word "obviate" is repeatedly used where "eliminate" is intended. Evidently no one at Harper Collins knows what the word means. "Secrete" is used for "secret." There are stretches long enough that I was able to get into the read before pausing to wonder what was meant by a non sequitur or a sentence that is not a sentence, but a slight effort by a copy editor or high school English teacher would have greatly improved the work. The editors and "fact checker" should all be serving time for criminal negligence. Terrible job.
Carlos Lehder is portrayed as a reckless megalomaniac brazen enough to unabashedly ramp up his smuggling through Norman's Cay to full tilt --really taking it to another level-- seemingly without regard for how much attention it would draw; indiscretion ultimately did the cartel in. There are interesting tales of boaters being chased away from the island, including a retired Walter Cronkite! Once a boat was found adrift in that vicinity, spattered with blood.
Surprisingly, considering the vast differences between this book and the movie, the fight scene with Mirtha driving up the I-95 one night actually did occur.
Regarding the Eastham bust, George was said to be looking at a ten-year sentence for the coke, but the book makes no mention whatsoever as to whether Richard Barile did in fact have the machine gun he mentioned at least twice to the undercover cop that evening, possession of which would carry the same sentence under federal law --not to mention what the state of Massachusetts would have done to him. There are many such places throughout the book that left me wondering why something was covered so unevenly and then just abandoned. At another point it refers in passing to George having two children, with no mention before or after of a second child being born.
Some of the "factoids" regarding aviation and firearms are hilariously inaccurate. A Hughes 500 helicopter becomes a "Huey 500." ("Huey" refers to an entirely different type of helicopter, and there's no such thing as a "Huey 500.") And once and for all, folks, a .357 magnum will not go through an engine block; that's a myth. (It just ricochets, leaving a tiny dent on the surface. Don't try this at home.)
For an enthralling account of indulgence, lust, and greed in the 1970's narcotics biz try "Underground Empire" by James Mills. It covers selected DEA CENTAC operations on different continents. Think you can't finish a thousand-page book? You wait. :-) Also, another bio of George Jung is currently in the works. And for instant gratification search the web for "Norman's Cay."
Average customer rating:
- And you call yourself a Jamesian!
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A Small Boy and Others
Henry James
Manufacturer: Gibson Square Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
19th Century
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
20th Century
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1903933005 |
Book Description
Of Irish and Scottish extraction, Henry James grew up in New York when it was still dominated by Arcadian panoramas of trees and water. In this touching book, he returns to his youth to recapture the images of his Bohemian family life. In 1913, James had come to feel at ease with the ambivalence of his attraction to his own sex and was able, while writing these memoirs, to reflect more candidly on his feelings than ever in his novels. Populated with a galaxy of Bohemian uncles and cousins, who showed a solid determination to die young and not to enter the professions, Thackeray and Stevenson, this impeccably-written memoir recreates James's life with a humour that his biographers have yet to rival.
Customer Reviews:
And you call yourself a Jamesian!.......2004-05-02
If you haven't read this memoir yet you must do so NOW. It is a deeply interesting and charming book. It is impossible to guess how soon Henry James ceased to have the mind and emotions of a child. It is impossible to know if these anecdotes represent what the young Henry really felt or rather what the old Henry "remembered". But, no matter. The book gives us a different, a more tender, Henry James than the sharp tongued narrator of so many wonderful novels.
You'll never eat peaches or waffles again without thinking of Henry James. You'll never see Thackeray's name again without wishing you could call for "Buttons!" and have the dark-eyed boy who became the Master appear on your threshold.
Average customer rating:
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The Scribner library SL51
Henry James
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
ASIN: B0007DWIU0 |
Average customer rating:
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A Small Boy And Others
Manufacturer: Scrbners
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GVOZ8G |
Average customer rating:
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A small boy and others
Henry James
Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
ASIN: B0008BED0O |
Book Description
A SMALL BOY b OTHERS A SMALL BOY OTHERS By HENRY JAMES CHARLES SCRIBNERS SONS New York A SMALL BOY 6-OTHERS IN the attempt to place together some particu lars of the early life of William James and present him in his setting, his immediate native and domestic air s so that any future gath ered memorials of him might become the more intelligible and interesting, I found one of the consequences of my interrogation of the past assert itself a good deal at the expense of some of the others. For it was to memory in the first place that my main appeal for particulars had to be made 1 had been too near a witness of my broth ers beginnings of life, and too close a participant, by affection, admiration and sympathy, in what ever touched and moved him, not to feel myself in possession even of a greater quantity of signifi cant truthj a larger handful of the fine substance of history than I could hope to express or apply. To recover anything like the full treasure of scat tered, wasted circumstance was at the same time to live over the spent experience itself, so deep and rich and rare 3 with whatever sadder and sorer i 2 A BOY intensities with whatever poorer and passages after the manner of every ones experi ence and the effect of this In was to dis crimination among the parts of my subject and again difficult - so inseparably and beauti fully they seemed to hang together the com prehensive case to decline mutilation or refuse to be treated otherwise than handsomely This meant that aspects began to multiply and images to swarm so far at least as they showed to appre ciation as true terms and happy values and that I might positively and exceedingly rejoice in my relation to most of them using it for all that, as the phrase is, it should be worth To knock at the door of the past was in a word to see it open to me quite wide to see the world within begin to compose with a grace of its own round the primary figure see it people itself vividly and insistently Such then is the circle of my com memoration and so much these free and copious notes a labour of love and loyalty. We were to my sense the blest group of us, such a company of characters and such a picture of differences and withal so fused and united and interlocked, that each of us to that fond fancy pleads for pres ervation, and that in respect to what 1 of myself as possessing 1 think I shall be ashamed, as of a cold impiety, to find any element alto gether negligible. To which 1 may add perhaps A 3 that I struggle under the drawback. Innate and inbred of seeing the whole content of memory and affection in each enacted and recovered moment, as who should say, in the vivid image and the very scene the light of the only terms in which life has treated me to experience. And I cherish the moment and evoke the image and repaint the scene though meanwhile indeed scarce able to convey how prevailingly and almost exclusively, during years and years, the field was animated and the adventure conditioned for me by my brothers nearness and that play of genius in him of which 1 had never had a doubt from the first. The first then since I retrace our steps to the starts for the pleasure, strangely mixed though it be 5 of feeling our small feet plant themselves afresh and artlessly stumble forward again the first began long ago, far off, and yet glimmers at me there as out of a thin golden haze with all the charm for imagination and memory , of pressing pursuit rewarded, of distinctness in the dimness, of the flush of life in the grey, of the wonder of consciousness in everything everything having naturally been all the while but the abject little matter of course...
Book Description
A mass market expanded edition of Ed Greenwood's first Forgotten Realms novel.
Author Ed Greenwood has returned to his first novel set in the Forgotten Realms world. Working from his original notes, he has revised and expanded the novel, developing characters and scenes that were cut from the original edition published in 1988. Fans will enjoy this mass market edition of the "director's cut" of the first novel in Greenwood's story of Shandril of Highmoon.
Customer Reviews:
The 2nd best book in the trilogy........2007-07-03
This book starts out like another trilogy I can remember. It reads like a page by page record of a Dungeons and Dragons game with a little story peppered in here and there, which is not all that bad really. Ed Greenwood has a literary style that is quite different from most other authors I can think of. It's strangely different, but it holds my attention and keeps me reading more. I can't really explain it any better. He's a storyteller, a bard, and he has the gift that draws me in and holds me there. Oh, and that other trilogy was the Dragonlance series: Dragons of Autumn Twilight or something...
I thought the fighting, action and magic (spellfire) were all well-done. Some of the kissy-kissy sequences between Narm and Shandril were a little annoying, but this book really evoked scenes of another world, filled with magic and creatures and all sorts of items, and I felt like I could actually see the things Ed Greenwood was writing about. It was colorfully written, with plenty of amusing dialogue between the characters, as well as lots of magic (spellfire) and swordplay.
Definitely worth rereading, and I will someday.
Average customer rating:
- The 2nd best book in the trilogy.
- Forgotten realms lowest point ever
- Fantastic introduction, almost a classic.
- A Fun Read
- Ed Greenwood just doesn't get it...
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Spellfire (Shandril's Saga, Volume I)
Ed Greenwood
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Family Saga | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Greenwood, Ed | ( G ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Teens | Subjects | Books
Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Teens | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
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Crown of Fire (Shandril's Saga)
-
Hand of Fire (Forgotten Realms: Shandril's Saga, Book 3)
-
Hand of Fire: Shandril's Saga, Book III (Forgotten Realms: Shandril's Saga)
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Crown of Fire: Shandril's Saga, Book II (Forgotten Realms: Shandril's Saga)
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Silverfall: Stories of the Seven Sisters (Forgotten Realms: Stand-Alone Novel)
ASIN: 0786918748
Release Date: 2002-04-01 |
Book Description
The Fire That Burns
It can lay low a dragon or heal a wounded warrior.
It is the most sought-after magical power in all Faerûn.
And it is in the reluctant hands of Shandril of Highmoon, a young, orphaned kitchen-lass.
Now she's on the run from half of the evil sorcerers in the land, not to mention their relentless minions. But with the help of a handsome young wizard, some rough-and-tumble Knights of Myth Drannor, and a certain old mage of Shadowdale, she just might manage to stay alive.
At least until tomorrow.
An all-new expanded version of Ed Greenwood's classic tale, including a new forward by the author.
One of Ed Greenwood's most popular novels, Spellfire is being rereleased in an all-new trade paperback edition. This version has been completely reedited and contains added text and material that bring new excitement to the story. This edition also features new cover art and is classified as the first title in the brand-new
Forgotten Realms series Shandril's Saga.
Customer Reviews:
The 2nd best book in the trilogy........2007-07-03
This book starts out like another trilogy I can remember. It reads like a page by page record of a Dungeons and Dragons game with a little story peppered in here and there, which is not all that bad really. Ed Greenwood has a literary style that is quite different from most other authors I can think of. It's strangely different, but it holds my attention and keeps me reading more. I can't really explain it any better. He's a storyteller, a bard, and he has the gift that draws me in and holds me there. Oh, and that other trilogy was the Dragonlance series: Dragons of Autumn Twilight or something...
I thought the fighting, action and magic (spellfire) were all well-done. Some of the kissy-kissy sequences between Narm and Shandril were a little annoying, but this book really evoked scenes of another world, filled with magic and creatures and all sorts of items, and I felt like I could actually see the things Ed Greenwood was writing about. It was colorfully written, with plenty of amusing dialogue between the characters, as well as lots of magic (spellfire) and swordplay.
Definitely worth rereading, and I will someday.
Forgotten realms lowest point ever.......2006-11-17
The Forgotten Realms may have been conceived in part by Ed Greenwood, but his literary contributions and I use the word in its loosest possible sense do it no favours. Every other writer who's added to the mythos has been considerably better, with a superior grasp of prose, literary form and plot construction.
Spellfire has stupid characters straight from a dungeons and dragons game and for the first half of the book, they do nothing but fight one monster after another, each more powerful than its predecessor. It's like reading Quake instead of playing it. The scenario would probably make a good RPG, but while I wouldn't mind playing it, I found reading it unremittingly tedious.
This is a really bad fantasy fiction book, finding a better one will be easy, a worse may be impossible.
Fantastic introduction, almost a classic........2006-06-21
I read this book when it was first published in the late 1980's. Just coming down from Dragonlance, I was ready for more of that greatness. Mr.Greenwood created the setting so this has to be good, right? It proved to be different as it should be. It had its moments, however, especially with the dracolich and Shandril's awesome power.
As far as characters are concerned, Shandril is good, but not great. It almost could be read as a feminist novel, if it were not so sexist. Yes, sexist. As in "Elminster is a dirty old man" sexist. And did I mention homophobia-"man-lover" indeed.
So far, the only gay references I found the Forgotten Realms was in Netheril. That is a whole other story.
Ok, so Mr. greenwood is not PC. That does not make the story bad. In fact from that, its quite good. I liked his writing style. He is not a literary genius, but he has a voice that I might read again. Then, as far as closure of the story, it just ends. Many years would pass before I would get to the sequel. Maybe that is what this series is about. A long chain of sequels...Long live Manshoon!
A Fun Read.......2005-08-19
I have read most of the reviews of this novel written by others and though I agree with most of them - I felt I had to add my own opinion as well.
I gave the book 4 stars becauase as an avid fan of the Forgotten Realms - this book made me feel at home there. I will admit that Mr. Greenwood is no Tolkien but then again who is? The book flows nice and if you are familiar with the Realms the excess of characters should not bother you too much.
All in all a good book (and I think Mr. Greenwood's first if am not mistaken) and a great start for the author. He gets better believe me!
Ed Greenwood just doesn't get it..........2004-08-01
Ed Greenwood may have created the Forgotten Realms setting, and I offer my respectful thanks for it. But Ed Greenwood is not an author, however much he pretends to be.
This book is exactly the sort of thing I would expect from some random amateur with no talent, training, or experience in the field of writing (which, depending on when this was written, Greenwood might in fact have been!). Reading this story is like reading user created fiction posted on fan sites. I can't shake the overwhelming feeling that this simply isn't a real novel. The characters aren't real characters, the "plot" is not worthy of the name, and every other mistake, from Shandril crying all the time to the 73 characters to the idiotic Gandalf style Elminster... the list goes on!
My twelve year old sister thinks this book is childish!
Average customer rating:
- Book Description
- Interesting, but not essential
|
Spellfire Reference Guide, Volume 2 (Spellfire Card Game Accessory)
Lester Smith , and
Bruce Nesmith
Manufacturer: TSR Hobbies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
20th Century | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
General | Dungeons & Dragons | Gaming | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0786906138 |
Customer Reviews:
Book Description.......2002-01-09
This is not a review but rather a synopsis of the book since non was given and the one other review of this title is a bit misleading as to the contents of the book. Spellfire is a card game similar to Magic the Gathering. This book is a comprehensive guide to the cards themselves, as well as the rulebook for the game. It is 400+ pages long and contains a complete index for all the game cards as well as full-color photos and descriptions of over 1000 of them. As far as a reference book for the game is concerned, this title is unsurpassed in it's completeness.
Interesting, but not essential.......2000-06-20
Spellfire is an intersting supplement to the Forgotten Realms, but it is much too powerful for the usual Player. If you're interested, this book is a good accessory, but limited use in any usual campaign
Average customer rating:
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Spellfire Booster Pack Set 1 (36 Booster Packs in a Display Box)
TSR Inc
Manufacturer: TSR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General | Role Playing & Fantasy | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Entertainment | Boxed Sets | Formats | Books
Science Fiction & Fantasy | Boxed Sets | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0786900741 |
Average customer rating:
- Spellfire Reference guide
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Spellfire Master the Magic Reference Guide (Spellfire Card Game Accessory, No 1133)
Bruce Nesmith
Manufacturer: TSR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Role Playing & Fantasy | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
20th Century | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 078690304X |
Customer Reviews:
Spellfire Reference guide.......2000-07-09
This book is a must for spellfire players. List of cards, descriptions of cards and tactics, make this book a great asset to any spellfire card collector or player.
Average customer rating:
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Spellfire/Master the Magic: Cards (Spellfire)
Manufacturer: TSR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Card Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books | Blackjack | Bridge | Gambling | General | Poker | Solitaire
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0786902299 |
Average customer rating:
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Booster Pack Set 1
Spellfire
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast, UK
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0786900733 |
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