Book Description
Sabina Murray's first book since she won the PEN/Faulkner Award for The Caprices seduces with its dark delight in her taboo subject.
When we meet Katherine, the winning-and rather disturbing-twenty-three-year-old narrator, she has just left Italy and arrived in New York City, but what has propelled her there is a mystery. She soon strikes up an affair with a middle-aged Russian émigré novelist she meets on the subway, and almost immediately moves into his apartment. Katherine's occasional allusions to a frighteningly eccentric mother and tyrannical father suggest a somberness at the center of her otherwise flippant and sardonic demeanor. Soon restless, she begins journeying across the continent, trailed, everywhere she goes, by a string of murders. As the ritualistic killings begin to pile up, Katherine takes to meditating on cannibalism in literature, art, and history. The story races toward a hair-raising conclusion, while Katherine and the reader close in on the reasons for both her and her mother's fascination with aberrant, violent behavior.
A brilliantly subtle commentary on twenty-first-century consumerism and Western culture's obsession with new frontiers, A Carnivore's Inquiry is an unsettling exploration of the questionable appetites that lurk beneath the veneer of civilization.
Customer Reviews:
Perfectly dark and consuming.......2007-08-23
I love this book. I've read it three times and I just bought another copy for a gift. It has everything I love in a novel. It's fantastically engrossing and the main character is so charming and bizarre. So many novels give away all the answers too early. These characters are as unpredictable as real people. The historical references are intriguing and cringe inducing. Every character has depth and motivation. You are equally fascinated and repulsed on every page. Each time I read it I am just as impressed by the writing and tantalized by the plot. I can't wait to read other books by this author.
Difficult to start, difficult to put down.......2006-10-05
I had this book on my shelf for a while before I cracked it open, knowing nothing about it except the synopsis on the back and that it came recomended from another book. The author goes into slight tangents of historical events -- at the beginning it seems pointless. After a while, you understand all the links, and begin to become very interested in this character that is much like many careless intellectual college drop outs who never found it fullfilling and always found themselves bound by the system. Maybe I liked it because I identified with her -- almost too much -- even though she is far richer and always seeking to put herself in a situation most level headed people wouldn't. That's what makes her facinating. In hind sight, I can see why many people didn't like it, but reading it, I was devoured by her smart writing style and the storyline. Not until 3/4ths into the book you suspect anything out of the ordinary. Suspensful, definately. The last chapter was kind of anticlimactic.
Disappointing.......2006-09-29
The cover blurb made this book sound amazing; if only it were as complex and fulfilling as it sounded. The book is very dependent upon Katherine's character, yet she simply didn't mesh for me. She didn't come off as dangerous or interesting; she sounded more like any immature, impulsive, hard-drinking twenty-two-year-old. And the plot seemed bogged down in a "Groundhog Day" scenario, the same scene happening over and over. There were snippets here and there that showcased talented writing; I agree w/ the other reviewer that Sabina Murray seems more suited to short stories. Over all, the book seemed poorly edited, with no real cohesion or feeling that the plot was moving forward.
Disturbing to some, intriguing to me.......2005-08-26
This book is very entertaining and hard to put down. The dark images that Murray creates keep you entranced in the novel. You find yourself continuously wondering how and why this Katherine character can do or say the things she does, and all the while you feel you can relate to her on some level.
The author uses bits of history to enhance the novel, like when Katherine imagines Amerigo Vespucci and Chistopher Columbus arguing over dinner.
All in all, this book is a wonderful journey into the mind of a unique young woman with disturbing tendencies, and I recommend it to anyone who isn't afraid to read about people with less than perfect personalities.
Excellent craft does not a novel make.......2005-02-18
Some thoughts on "A Carnivore's Inquiry:"
A narrator can be both sympathetic and unsympathetic provided that they are interesting to read about. Katherine's closest relative, Hannibal Lecter, knew more about wine, food and culture than we did, and we envied him for it. Katherine Shea knows very little about anything other than what brands surround her, and her ambivalence towards horrific events is merely adolescent rather than indicative of humanity.
Murray's exquisite skill at painting a scene is akin to eating nothing but Creme Brulee. Inside the twelve course meal that is the novel, one craves a greater variety of ingredients. I am sure her short stories are marvels.
Her characters are not convincing actors; their motivations for action are suspect when they are present, which is not often. We are asked to believe that our distant, dilettante narrator inspires lust and love in every man she meets. This is implied and not convincingly rendered.
The historical recreations fail to reflect, augment or amplify the novel's main theme: man's hunger for literal or spiritual wealth (laid down in a paragraph on page 286). Thought was given to their rendering, but not to their overall thematic importance.
We cannot believe in her resourcefulness as a character because chance plays too large a role in her life.
For a gourmand, she is surprisingly chaste about describing sex or her carnivorous meals. Murray's talents would have been put to great use here.
Average customer rating:
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A Carnivore's Inquiry
Sabina Murray
Manufacturer: Grove Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Action & Adventure
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0241143136 |
Customer Reviews:
Great for those on their Way.......2007-03-11
This was an exciting look into the life and training of a Taoist master in China living through the Communist Revolution. While offering a compelling tale of cultivation and growth, this book also gives the reader insight into the practice and attainment of Way. It allowed me to reflect upon my own life and inner journey and gain new perspectives for my own qi gong practice. I was truly humbled and inspired.
If you practice any type of inner art or are interested in doing so, this is a great book to read.
Deep Story.......2006-02-24
This was a very good perspective on Taoist miracle working. It briefly mentions many techniques, without explaining them, so this is not a manual for learning Taoism. Some of it is unbelievable, but as a story it is excellent. It mentions many books, mostly from the last thousand years. It provokes the reader into more study.
Close the Dragon Gate.......2004-05-20
Great disservices to people whom are searching for information and enlightenment on Taoism. The authors used a map of china and a few books on Taoism to take the reader on an almost 300 page fairy tale coated to read like a biography. The characters shift personality quicker than a chameleon does color. I think there is a story in the book but the contrived situations get in the way.
Seems to be a fake.......2004-05-08
This book looks like pure advertisment of Wang Liping who is said to be chosen as 18th generation transmitter by one Taoist sect. Difficult to read because every second page I stumbled over direct or masked praise on Wang Liping / sect abilities. In the end (as expected) Wang Liping finishes with giving lectures to hundreds of students of Qigong. Special pages dedicated to how simple Wang lives, etc. Taoist teachings are scattered all over the book and don't give the impression of integrity.
One quote from the 1st page: "Over the preceding years the three Taoist masters had been engrossed in secret consultations about the matter of utmost importance, not only to them but to the world at large... trying to find a successor ...". Well after this matter important to the whole world I already assumed that money spent on book was wasted.
Quite a good tale..........2002-08-20
This is a similar book to Deng Ming Dao's "Wandering Daoist" only the story of Wang Liping's training is not embellished in the manner of Saihung. Although I'm sure the average western practitioner of Qigong will likely shake his/her head regarding some of the 'training' methods used by the three old masters it is a good reminder of what one used to have to (and perhaps still should?) undergo before getting into serious practice. It is interesting how, right from the start, Wang Liping demonstrated many qualities essential to following the Tao including great patience and humility.
The book follows his initial training including stints in a hole in the ground and under a large cast-iron kettle. It then follows his journery with his masters into the mountains just as the Cultural Revolution began to sweep across China. Along the way many lessons are imparted including some interesting methods of cultivating with trees. The main portion of the story ends with Wang Liping's return to his village and subsequent marriage (!) as his masters admonish him to carry on the way in a form suitable for the new age.
The book finishes with some commentary on Wang Liping's present activities including some stories from his group training sessions - some of the first held in China as strict controls on Qigong began to be lifted.
I enjoyed the story as well as the information contained in here. There are some great views on meditation, including the aforementioned tree style, in addition to the overview of his training. There are also some very interesting tidbits about the location of the lower Dantien shifting in relation to the cultivator's distance from the equator. There is also an interesting comment that there are meridians within the body that are not terminated - that is, they are open to the universe.
Recommended...
Customer Reviews:
Reads like a Middle Volume.......2005-05-04
The writing style has settled down from the first volume, and I found myself genuinely interested in the protagonists and what would happen next. Unfortunately, so little really happened in the course of this story, I was left with a profound sense of disappointment. Having the next volume handy helped, but the story lacked the sort of coherence you want from the middle volume of a trilogy
A good middle book.......2005-01-03
It took me kind of long to finish this book. But from start to finish this book did have enough adventure and mystery. Is Colbey more than he says he is? Well read the book and find out.
I took it personally.......2003-05-04
I realize that it was part of the story but I could never forgive Mr. Reichert for killing off Rache. As a result of this one action at the end of the last book I read alot of my own personal feeling intothis book and could somehow never get past them.
Overall-Remember not to take the death of a major charecter personally when reading this one.
Western Wizard a Winner.......1999-12-22
Although not fresh in my mind, I read this book over 5 years ago, I wanted to express my gratitude to the author for a wonderful story. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy reading and getting into the character's minds, but I learned about 100 new vocabulary words. Sounds silly, I know, but the writing in some of these fantasy books leaves something to be desired. The writing was smoothe, poetic-like, and descriptive, but it didn't drive you crazy like some of James Michner's works, it transports you into the world of the Renshai. Coming from a film background, if I were a director, I would seriously consider turning this into a script and giving Star Wars a run for its money. Mickey, excellent stuff. --Alex 29
i love this series of books!.......1999-01-31
this book was great! I like it that these charecters usaully act like real people. They make mistakes and they get over it (sometimes in other books charecters make mistakes and go on and on about it).
Book Description
In Wizards and Scientists Stephan Palmié offers a corrective to the existing historiography on the Caribbean. Focusing on developments in Afro-Cuban religious culture, he demonstrates that traditional Caribbean cultural practices are part and parcel of the same history that produced modernity and that both represent complexly interrelated hybrid formations. Palmié argues that the standard narrative trajectory from tradition to modernity, and from passion to reason, is a violation of the synergistic processes through which historically specific, moral communities develop the cultural forms that integrate them.
Highlighting the ways that Afro-Cuban discourses serve as a means of moral analysis of social action, Palmié suggests that the supposedly irrational premises of Afro-Cuban religious traditions not only rival Western rationality in analytical acumen but are integrally linked to rationality itself. Afro-Cuban religion is as âmodernâ as nuclear thermodynamics, he claims, just as the Caribbean might be regarded as one of the world’s first truly âmodernâ locales: based on the appropriation and destruction of human bodies for profit, its plantation export economy anticipated the industrial revolution in the metropolis by more than a century. Working to prove that modernity is not just an aspect of the West, Palmié focuses on those whose physical abuse and intellectual denigration were the price paid for modernity’s achievement. All cultures influenced by the transcontinental Atlantic economy share a legacy of slave commerce. Nevertheless, local forms of moral imagination have developed distinctive yet interrelated responses to this violent past and the contradiction-ridden postcolonial present that can be analyzed as forms of historical and social analysis in their own right.
Wizards and Scientists will interest students and scholars of Cuba, the Caribbean, anthropology, history, religion, science studies, and modernity.
Customer Reviews:
Amazing journey into the "modern" colonial experience.......2002-10-26
This book is an examination of a process that took place in urban areas of colonial Cuba. Palmié discusses these transformations through a Foucauldian lens, especially the transition to an established judicial system which treated Afro-Cuban subjects as "idolatrous" and "superstitious" within an irrational system of medical and scientific "rationalist" bases of race and gender difference. Palmié discusses the same moves toward "modernity" that interest other authors (Klor de Alva, Pamela Voekel), and calls this process Atlantic Modernity. Basically, the heterogenous forces of the Catholic church, capitalist sugar production, the slave trade, the rise of the penal system, etc. all serve as mechanisms of control and subjugation (most of these controls had already been put into place through centuries of enforced labor and "conversion" imposed by the Spanish conquerors.
Tracing one famous character from history (Jose Antonio Aponte), Palmie establishes the modern structures of power during this period by locating one of the primary places of this transition: not only in the New World of colonial power, but within the very structure of religion itself. "Modernity" has typically been assigned to the rise of Protestant individualism (as in Max Weber's famous argument) and capitalist means of mechanization and mass production. But Palmié makes an argument for the "modernity" of Afro-Cuban (namely Africans adapting to the transatlantic experience) religious structures.
Average customer rating:
- What's to eat?
- Fun book - Great recipes!
- We're off to see the Wizard, the one that cooks that is!
- This book cooks!
- Unique Collectors Item
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Cooking in Oz: Kitchen Wizardry and a Century of Marvels from America's Favorite Tale
Elaine Willingham ,
Stephen Cox ,
Tina Cassimatis , and
Blanche Cox
Manufacturer: Cumberland House Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | U.S. Regional | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Midwest | U.S. Regional | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Special Occasions | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
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The Wizard of Oz Cookbook : Breakfast in Kansas, Dessert in Oz
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All Things Oz : The Wonder, Wit, and Wisdom of The Wizard of Oz
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The Wizardry of Oz: The Artistry And Magic of The 1939 MGM Classic - Revised and Expanded
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100 Years of Oz: A Century of Classic Images
-
The Munchkins of Oz
ASIN: 1581820518 |
Customer Reviews:
What's to eat?.......2007-05-01
What's to eat? I wish I could have found it in this book! I had to put this book aside, and cool-off, before writing a review. I was disappointed, but I'll keep it for my Oz collection, if nothing else.
It's 2007, and we don't eat like we used to eat in 1937. I mean, who smothers a sandwich with gravy these days? And it's a big, cheesy, greasy, meaty, sandwich that you bake into a LOAF to begin with! Who makes those crazy-looking jello desserts, that no one eats? When was the last time you decided to break-out and make a batch of JELLY? You will have to dig-through these recipes, and alter them in order to make a quick, healthy meal. (No wonder Judy Garland struggled with her weight!!) Many of the recipes for sauces and snacks can be found at the local deli or grocery store already, now. I recommend, if you collect Oz, that you purchase this book used and at the cheapest cost you can find. (The photos are okay!)
I was appalled and thought this book is poorly edited. Anyone and everyone who had anything to do with the word "Oz" managed to contribute a recipe. That means: you also have recipes from the cast of the Wiz, and actors, etc. from every Oz cartoon or movie done in the '80's. Is it because some of these people might be semi-famous? By virtue of being married to one of the authors, you even get recipes from Steve Cox's wife. (IE, recipes from stage managers who've done an Oz play in 1999?) I think the authors should have stayed with the original cast (but, the newer contributions might actually be edible). Regardless, it is off-putting. Now I think I was looking at the book more for nostalgic reasons than anything? (I certainly won't be "cooking" with it!) The presentation is very nice. But I found myself feeling more frustrated by the content, than interested. In fact, every time I pick up this book, I feel prompted to want to write my own Oz recipe book. I could send them to this publisher! (Obviously, they will publish anything.)
Fun book - Great recipes!.......2006-08-27
This book is great fun! Movie-themed cookbooks often fail, as usually the recipes are simply a collection of cleverly named dishes with no other relation to the film. This book, however, succeeds wonderfully as the recipes are all from people associated with The Wizard of Oz in one way or another. Filled with rare photographs of all phases of Oz-mania (from the books, to the films, to the various theatre productions), the recipes are surprisingly good. My favorite is Barry Van Dyke's (co-host of the CBS Oz broadcast in '61-62) Shrimp Salad - perfect on a hot summer day, this dish gets rave reviews every time I serve it! A must-have for all Oz fans, Judy Garland fans, or anyone who loves to cook!
We're off to see the Wizard, the one that cooks that is!.......2006-05-28
Who doesn't love the Wizard of Oz... and who wouldn't adore a cookbook in its honor!! This is such a treat. Lots of simple, fun and crazy tasty recipes will be found in this gem of a cookbook. PERFECT for when your child is into Oz and wants an Oz-themed birthday party! There's even a Toto inspired treat for your doggie too!
Lots of behind the scene info, pictures, history of the cast and favorite cast recipes. Enjoy!
This book cooks!.......2005-07-20
I loved this book so much that I almost want to learn how to cook (well, not really!)!! Once again, Stephen Cox mixes humor and trivia with painstaking research, rare photographs and fascinating tid-bits. I've always said that this author's books are like comfort food for the mind. Now he feeds your body too!
Unique Collectors Item.......2003-08-02
The entire book is great fun. The recipes are genuinely tasty and even have hilarious names! Plus, the book is chock full of photographs and trivia. Even if you don't cook, any fan of Oz will find plenty to love. And if you're a kitchen wizard who isn't into Oz so much, you'll pick up lots of delicious new ideas. Makes a great gift. A treasure written by two wonderful people!
Average customer rating:
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The 1776 Scroll
Louise Harris
Manufacturer: PublishAmerica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Westerns | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1424150981
Release Date: 2006-08-21 |
Book Description
Living alone in Philadelphia, 19-year-old Charlie Schofield struggles to repair the shattered relationships in her life while fighting for her spot in the Magical Strike Force Academy. She takes up with a lonely friend who secretly knows that Charlie is in danger. An evil wizard plots against Charlie over powerful magic locked in a scroll. When Charlie cannot open the scroll to release the magic, the wizard hatches a new plan to discredit her in court using more conventional means: she's to prove herself insane and the scroll a hoax. Will Charlie unlock the magic in the scroll before the wizard goes free? Will she prove that she was the victim and not the perpetrator of a crime? Or will the court decide that she is nothing more than an attention-grabbing witch? It is a race against outer forces and inner demons.
Customer Reviews:
The 1776 scroll.......2007-06-05
I was very impressed with this book. I really enjoyed reading it. The characters were interesting and believable, especially difficult since they are wizards. Interesting plot, sort of a grown ups Harry Potter. I look forward to a sequel.
Customer Reviews:
Not Much Cookin' Here.......2000-05-16
This is a cute little thing, but if you really want an extraordinary Wizard of Oz cookbook, you'd be better off finding 'Cooking in Oz' by Elaine Willingham and Steve Cox. Loads of pictures and celebrity recipes, info on L. Frank Baum, trivia and great stuff for all of us who love Oz and Baum.
A Neat Little Cookbook.......2000-03-26
A neat little cookbook sure to please those who like to collect cookbooks or Oz. Easy to follow recipes named appropriately with the film in mind are studded with excepts from the film.
Product Description
Multiple books shipped as one item. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.
Average customer rating:
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Omnibus: The Fast Gun / Gun Wizard / 44 Calibre Man
J.T. Edson
Manufacturer: Robert Hale Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Westerns | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | General | Louis L'Amour | Pioneer
Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Anthologies | British | Canadian | General | United States
ASIN: 0709052359 |
Customer Reviews:
Not your usual westerns.......2003-07-25
I grew up reading westerns and have read an extremely diverse collection of writers. But The Floating Outfit stories are my favorites. In most of the westerns, you get a lot of bang bang shoot'em up, but not much more. The Floating Outfit offers you all the elements of life. Even the horses have personalities in these stories. Of course, you still get plenty of the bang bang shoot'em ups, and knife throwing, and roping, and fisticuffs, and ....
If you have any inclination to read a western, get one of these books. Chances are good that the first will hook you and you will be forced to read all of them. You get so involved with these characters that you honestly feel like you know them personally. And you definitely care what happens to them. This series will leave you on pins and needles to get started with the next book in the series....
Books:
- A Healing Divorce : Transforming the End of Your Relationship with Ritual and Ceremony
- A Ligurian Kitchen: Recipes And Tales from the Italian Riviera
- A Son of the Circus,
- Al-Naqba (The Catastrophe): A Novel About the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
- Alentejo Blue: Fiction
- Amor De Perdicao (Classicos da Literatura Portuguesa)
- Anansi Boys: A Novel
- And Nobody Got Hurt!: The World's Weirdest, Wackiest True Sports Stories
- Angels: Guardians of the Light
- Antologia de la Poesia Hispanoamericana Contemporanea 1914-1987
Books Index
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The Caprices
The Smell Culture Reader
Forgery: A Novel
What Begins with Bird: Fictions
Winter's Bone: A Novel
