Book Description
Fay Weldon lets her incisive wit loose on a hot issue facing many modern families — child care, and what can happen when that involves having a nanny under your roof. Hattie and Martyn are the proud parents of newborn Kitty; both are in their early thirties, smart, handsome, and, for reasons of liberal principle, not married but partnered. All seems fine at first — healthy baby, happy couple — but when they have to decide who’ll look after little Kitty, things get complicated. Hattie’s dying to get back to work but Martyn fears employing foreign help might hurt his leftist political aspirations. Martyn capitulates when Agnieska arrives — a Polish nanny who happens to be both domestic goddess and first-rate belly dancer, the maker of a mean cup of cocoa who’s also educated in early childhood development. Having her in the house makes life livable again for the young couple, so when problems arise with her immigration papers Martyn and Hattie will do anything to keep her in the country. But will their decision to have Martyn marry her be the trouble-free solution they envision.
Customer Reviews:
Fay Weldon.......2006-10-02
You have to have Fay Weldon's perspective to enjoy her books. Serious Americans don't seem to have it much.
This book may not be as great as a lot of her others and it's even hard
going at times, but if you're into Fay Weldon like most women, you'll appreciate it - especially the ending which is what it's all about.
It just took too long to get there!
Stupidest ending I've ever read.......2006-08-25
I agree with the above reviewer in that finishing this book actually made me really angry. I've never been compelled to write a review on amazon before, but this was the most ridiculous ending I've ever encountered. Without giving it away, it completely negated the preceding 275 pages of character development for one of the main characters. I can't imagine it passing muster in a freshman English writing course, much less a publishing house. I found the grandmother's narration irritatingly self-riteous throughout the novel as well. The only thing that kept me reading was the engaging storyline between Hattie, Martin, and the au pair, but the ending blew that for me. The politics behind it are questionable as well: the tired old villification of the working mother, the sexually available au pair, the husband who just can't help himself, etc. Oh, I could go on but I won't. Just take my advice and don't waste your time on this ridiculous book.
What?.......2006-07-04
I cannot believe I actually read this entire book. While I will not reveal the entire story to you as the reviewer before me did, I will say it is a total waste of money. The book is so out of touch with reality that I wonder exactly how it ever got published. The ending is so unbelievable that I wondered who this writer actually knew to get this book published. If I did not dislike people who "retell" books in their version, I'd tell you exactly how awful it is. Some people just do not understand the difference between your opinion of a book and PLEASE TELL ME THE ENTIRE STORY so I don't have to buy the book. Sorry I sound so angry, I'm just so disappointed in this book and the money I wasted on it.
An engaging novel chockfull with fascinating subplots.......2006-06-26
"When the maid is mistaken for the mistress it is time for the mistress to ask the maid to leave."
Agnieszka comes to live with Martyn and Hattie as an au pair. The family dynamic changes, bit by bit, shifting the daily domestic and child-rearing responsibilities from Hattie to Agnieszka. Kitty, at six months of age, adores her new au pair. Hattie, an editor with a book publisher, looks at Agnieska as a Godsend; Hattie can go back to work after a six-month leave of absence rather than the full-year leave she initially requested.
Fay Weldon has woven countless subplots, offering the reader insight into political and social mores, and the complex relationships between family members and friends. As the narrator is Hattie's grandmother, Francis Watt, we see another generation's views on all of these issues, as well as family history.
Deceit is a quality known by many. It is a quality that Weldon weaves into her tale, offering the reader brief glimpses of the truth, while daring you to believe that the truth could be so devious. Will Martyn and Hattie do anything to keep Agnieszka, even in the face of the Immigration Service? Agnieszka originally states that she's from Poland. She is actually from the Ukraine: "two miles to the west and everything would be different for us."
Hattie's career in book publishing has taken a sudden turn in the road. A man with Tourette's Syndrome has a book he wants published by Hattie's firm. The major objection to this book is the suggested yet unprintable title. Another question arises when the author shows up unannounced in the lobby of Hattie's office. Expecting him to begin yelling streams of profanity, the office workers don't know what to do with him. Hattie suggests that he doesn't even have Tourette's Syndrome; he is just writing from the perspective of a man who does.
There are many gems in SHE MAY NOT LEAVE. Weldon has given the reader countless opportunities to anticipate the final result. It's so subtle and so polished, yet so innocent. Weldon totally sneaks up on you!
--- Reviewed by Marge Fletcher
Customer Reviews:
This excellent effort deserves more attention.......2006-04-30
As someone who professionally coaches executives and organizations in the areas of leadership and effectiveness, I am constantly on the hunt for new, refreshing material that breaks the mold and elevates thinking and dialogue.
Lisa Marshall's "Speak the Truth" is such a book. Using the timeless story of the hero's mythic journey, Marshall reveals a path to leadership maturity that includes preparation; the call to action; a fall into "the pit" and confrontation of "monsters"; metamorphosis; and return. The result is an engrossing discussion of leadership as it appears in four essential domains: intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual.
Although her approach is strongly metaphorical, the author manages to keep readers engaged through the liberal use of stories. Citations from a large number of current and classic works on leadership underscore her points.
Marshall includes the text of conversations about leadership with several fascinating figures that include renowned executive coaches, business leaders and authors, and a vice admiral. A significant bonus is included in two appendices that provide first-rate learning and discussion guide materials.
Anyone looking for a provocative and deeply thoughtful analysis of what constitutes mature leadership should read this book.
Poetry, Myth, Business, and the Maturity of Leadership.......2004-10-07
October 7, 2004
Reviewer: Manfred E. Keune
Among an abundance of books about leadership, Linda Marshall's book, "Speak the Truth and Point to Hope (The Leader's Journey to Maturity)" is a refreshingly daring, unique and challenging book. And it is more: it is an important book for our time.
First of all, the book is a tool for practices as well as reflection in private and public domains. The unique challenge for maturity in leadership is served well by the design and structure of this work. Ms. Marshall's extensive experience with business consulting and coaching, makes her inquiry credible to the highest degree, and there will be a grateful readership that shares her professional commitments through her inclusion of interviews of current leaders as well as her own reflections.
The importance of this book is further enhanced by its rare synthesis within the three culture dialogue of science, business, and the humanities. It represents some of the best writing in the discipline of ontological design, as it has emerged in the thought and practices of such leaders as Fernando Flores, Julio Olalla, and Richard Heckler-Strozzi. The humanities, best represented in this book by the poet David White and Joseph Campbell, may heed the call for serious reconstruction. I think that the importance of the poetic text and the story of the hero, which attain such prominence in Lisa Marshall's discussion in the domain of work and business, should be a wake-up call for many.
The "Leader's Journey to Maturity" brings a long and rich intellectual tradition into a unique focus for our time. It reminds us, in the haste and waste of accelerated change, to take a deep breath and consider the more profound possibilities of our humanity, in order to realize that time past is also present in time future. These paraphrased words of the poet are exactly the kind of practical wisdom that is alive in Ms. Marshall's book. Ultimately, the book aligns, in structure and spirit, with the functions of poetry in order to articulate the common concerns of our time which is eager for mature leadership that can see "that we have been afflicted with a basic "deprivation'" (Czeslaw Milosz) and "that all our work has suffered from the destabilizing national fantasy, the rupture of imagination implicit in our history" (Adrienne Rich).
It's all about Maturity.......2004-10-04
Lisa Marshall tackles the often unstated and unacknowledged goal of leadership development. Not about techniques, charisma, knowledge, but about maturity, honed with a good dose of self awareness, authenticity, grown up caring for the common good. She dares us to speak a compassionate truth about ourselves AND about others AND about our external environment and to point to the possibilities that exist as we grown ups dare to care about our colleagues, and our mutual future in this world. I particularly liked the way she has provided a template for discussion of these issues in our offices and with our colleagues. This is the kind of substantive conversation that can actually change the world.
Martha Johnson Gilburg
South Hadley, MA
A Gift for the Courageous Leader.......2004-09-30
Lisa Marshall has contributed a gift to our leadership literature. She effectively weaves history, her personal insights, literature, and the strength of gifted and proven leaders through her inquisitive interviews to create a treasure for the leader seeking.
If you are seeking the depth and essence of what leadership is in everyday organizational practice today, seek here. Speak The Truth And Point To Hope provides a beacon from which to pause and draw resolve in today's chaotic challenges and paradox.
Lisa provides a mirror for me to both examine my own leadership journey and to help others understand theirs. A literary tapestry woven with precious threads of leadership wisdom and thought provoking questions, her work helps me to clarify my leadership presence and direction. This clarity speaks to the truth and points to hope.
This Inspired, Practical Guidebook Fills a LamentableVoid.......2004-08-28
In Speak the Truth and Point to Hope: The Leader's Journey to Maturity, Lisa J. Marshall has the welcome audacity to express her belief that it's time for our leaders to grow up and become adults. She points out that much of our leadership is stuck in a perpetually adolescent "Peter Pan" stage. While this may be romantic and energetic-and thus seductive-it does not serve our organizations, our nations, and our planet well in the long term. Indeed our leaders and presumed followers generate and experience much suffering as a result. To move past a worship of youth and unreflective action, our leaders must have the courage to leave their seemingly safe places among the Lost Boys and undertake a classic hero's journey. She identifies the following stages for this journey: preparation, a call to action, a fall into the pit, a confrontation with the monster, a metamorphosis, and a return.
Through Marshall's book we come to understand the nuances of such a journey in the context of modern corporations and non-profit organizations. We are introduced to individuals who have become models of mature leadership and hear their stories, their ideas and their beliefs. We are given protocols, checklists and rubrics for the development of leadership in our own organizations. The book thus becomes as practical as it is inspirational. We become confident in using the book as a resource because of its foundation in research and its references to well-established theories of contemporary organizational dynamics.
I found the book to be a terrific read. Here are but a few of the many sentences that I found particularly useful or inspiring: "Ultimately the real monsters we face on our leadership journey are the ones carried inside, monsters that are illuminated by our responses." "Chief amongst the emotional responses is ego: that driving need to be the one in charge or in control, the one in the spotlight, the one who is right, the one who has all the answers, the one who has the most, the one who does it all." "Leaders create the right emotional context for the task to be performed." "Wisdom, the stuff of mature judgment, exists...in all four domains: it is possible to be intellectually wise, morally wise, emotionally wise and/or spiritually wise." "Intellectual maturity discerns that a few simple rules will generate all the complex behavior we need." "...when we fear and neglect those with the most maturity, we fail to recognize they are the ones who can shelter civilization from its own predatory frenzy."
I have recommended the book to the leaders of an organization for whom I serve as a consultant, the Education Alliance at Brown University's Secondary School Redesign Program. They have purchased a copy of the book for each member of the redesign team to use in the work of school renewal. It is a book that deserves much further distribution and use.
Customer Reviews:
Opening Eyes.......2007-02-01
As a somewhat different look at poverty and what Christians ought to be doing to help those in need, this book was definitely eye-opening. The authors base their statements on the "Villars Statement on Relief and Development," an incredibly compassionate document every deacon, at least, ought to read. I rather think Christians in general ought to read it. Perhaps this will enable Christians to do the important work of helping those in need, and thus get the government out of doing so. Interestingly, another book in this series, "Prosperity and Poverty" by E. Calvin Beisner, illustrates that the problem of poverty in the United States isn't nearly as large as many people think it is, nor is the church at all incapable of dealing with it. Together, then, there is really no excuse for Christians not helping the poor and the oppressed.
Recommended!
Average customer rating:
- more or less a detective story
- A Pity There Aren't More Like This...
- A worthy addition to any fantasy library.
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Point of Hopes
Melissa Scott , and
Lisa A. Barnett
Manufacturer: Tor Books
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
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Scott, Melissa | ( S ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0312858442 |
Customer Reviews:
more or less a detective story.......2005-05-04
i love fantasies, especially if they have gay/lesbian main characters but i usually find even the best detective stories dull and boring. this is why i find it unconfortable to review this classical detective story set in an alternative xvi century french-like kingdom.
the two authors take much pain in outlining a believable society, they enrich their descriptions with many interesting and witty details: as it is (nearly) always the case the result stirs admiration but is sometimes overwhelming and still leaves you hungering for a better definition of many points.
their writing is not only professional but also accurate and subtle; too much so, unfortunately: the story develops slowly, painfully so, and still one feels the lack of more details one is lead to expect just because of their approach.
this redundant lack of fulfilment involves the main characters:
for instance, one knows the two main ones are going to fall in love with each other (in the sequel of this novel) but although the authors describe their face mimic to the smallest detail in a very pleasant way still they hold too much behind and one cannot really understand who they really are and why they should fall in love at all. just the same happens for the lovely character of istre: saying too much about him could be a mistake but one is left hungering for a better description of his emotions. the authors hint at a possible emotional opening between him and rathe's neighbour but they drop it in an extremely disappointing way.
this objectification might be all right in a crude detective story, where the main point lies in the solving of the mistery but is hardly tolerable elsewhere.
i shall read the second novel of the serial to better understand the authors' intentions for a story with such a good potential
A Pity There Aren't More Like This..........1998-08-28
One of the more irritating tendencies of fantasy literature is the constant depiction of extremes of class. In many novels, every major character is either a member of at least the lower ranks of nobility or else some kind of petty criminal. _Point of Hopes_ is refreshing in that most of its characters are somewhere in the middle; ordinary people with honest trades trying to get by. The main characters are a temporarily out of work mercenary (he's worked his way up from the ranks to a minor officer's position, but it's difficult to find an employer who's willing to hire a commoner for a commissioned rank) and a constable (the local title is Pointsman), and the most of their associates are tavern keepers, shop owners, and the odd underpaid scholar. Add to this an environment based roughly on sixteenth century France (with a few changes such as a pagan state religion, women's equality with men, and unquestioned toleration of homosexuality), a renegade alchemist plotting against the reigning monarch, and a mysterious series of kidnappings, and one has a novel worth reading and re-reading. I hope Scott and Barnett are planning a sequel, and in any event I look forward to their next work.
A worthy addition to any fantasy library........1996-12-03
Let me begin with a bold statement: I will be on the lookout for the next book by Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett. They certainly know how to spin an enjoyable tale. Point of Hopes brings the reader into a fantastical mystery, set in pseudo-Renaissance time. All the characters are thoroughly intriguing, some downright enthralling (though some of the names are a bit of a mouthful). The reader is drawn into their espacades and actually cares what happens to those involved. I have only two regrets for the book: first the pacing was marvelous up until the very end; I became worried when I realized I was 80% done the book and there was still too much of the unknown left in the mystery. What follows happens in such a quick pace that I think the reader will feel out of sorts by the suddeness of things revealed (and dealt with). My second gripe was that there were romantic leaning developing between the two main characters throughout the book but these never, ever, came to fruition. So I was left feeling a bit jaded. I can only hope that a sequel is written that can solve this last problem. Still, this novel shows excellent craftsmanship and should be included in any die-hard fantasy-lover's bookshelf.
Average customer rating:
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The Things That Were Said of Them: Shaman Stories and Oral Histories of the Tikigaq People as Told by Asatchaq
Asatchaq
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Alaska | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
Folklore | Mythology | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Anthropology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Native American Studies | Special Groups | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Native American | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0520065697 |
Book Description
In this first English-language collection of Tikigaq myths and oral histories, storyteller Asatchaq Jimmie Killigivuk recounts twenty-four tales of legendary and historic shamans.
When poet-anthropologist Tom Lowenstein began recording his stories in 1975, Asatchaq was the oldest Tikigaq resident and the community's most authoritative storyteller. Asatchaq saw his work with Lowenstein as a communal obligation to preserve these stories for members of the new generation who were growing up as modern Americans unaware of Tikigaq history.
From the Tikigaq creation myth to the oral history of a shaman's final renunciation of his practice and Christian baptism, these stories will become essential to the growing canon of native North American literature.
Customer Reviews:
Wow. Beautiful Book........2004-09-18
I have not seen a book like this done about the lighthouses of North Carolina - or any lighthouse book for that matter. It is easy to read as well as a pleasure to look at with all the spectacular photography. This book is not a fluff piece. The information contained in it is interesting and goes beyond the ordinary. It links the history of the lighthouses to the very origins of The Unites States of America. (and the book looks real good on my coffee table, too).
Average customer rating:
- Great look into the Inuit Culture
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Ancient Land: Sacred Whale : The Inuit Hunt and Its Rituals
Tom Lowenstein
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books | 19th Century | 20th Century | 21st Century | African Americans | Civil War | Colonial Period | General | Revolution & Founding | State & Local
Cultural | Anthropology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Mythology | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books | Fishing | General & Anthologies | Hunting | Shooting
ASIN: 0374104972 |
Book Description
A breathtaking record of a rapidly vanishing culture of the North Alaskan wilderness.
On a tiny peninsula in the North Alaskan wilderness, the Inuit of Tikigaq worshipped the whales they killed, evolving an elaborate system of myths and rituals to accompany the hunt. Oral historian and poet Tom Lowenstein began to explore this "ritual metropolis" in 1973, when the whale myth had all but died. He recorded the complex tales of the elders and entered a world dominated by dances and divinations, spirit quests and lunar rites, all leading to the climactic annual whale hunt in the spring. Ted Hughes, the late Poet Laureate of England, has said of Lowenstein's translations that they "are at once works of detailed scholarship and high poetic achievement." Ancient Land: Sacred Whale combines lyrical and dramatic sequences of great power and beauty with a deep respect for the mysterious Tikigaq people and the animal spirits they claim as their kin.
Maps/Illustrations
Ancient Land: Sacred Whale is among the first of a new list of nonfiction paperbacks published as Harvill Press Editions.
Tom Lowenstein's The Things That Were Said of Them: Shaman Stories and Oral Histories of the Tikigaq People was published in 1992. He is a poet and teacher, and lives in London, England.
Customer Reviews:
Great look into the Inuit Culture.......2004-04-23
This is a great book about the Inuit culture, specifically the whale hunts (obviously). The author covers the traditions, the rituals of the whale hunt itself, as well as the myths and legends of the people. Very well researched and written, it's a great look into the culture.
Average customer rating:
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Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History
Froelich G Rainey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Anthropology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books | Cultural | Ethnobotany | Ethnology | Evolution | General | History & Philosophy | Physical | Primitive | Religious | Sociobiology
Ethnic Studies | Special Groups | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007EICG8 |
Product Description
Early version of a popular children's series.
Average customer rating:
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Bobbsey Twins At Lighthouse Point
Laura L Hope
Manufacturer: GROSSET & DUNLAP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
The Bobbsey Twins | Classics | Series | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000TXDQ4A |
Average customer rating:
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The Boys From Lake County
James, Keir Baughman
Manufacturer: Baughman Literary Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | 19th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Civil War | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Strategy | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0979044340 |
Book Description
Co A, 73rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment. One of the most detailed reviews of America's Civil War in it's western field. A painful, shocking expose of the disastrous treatment of America's disabled Civil War veterans...little known even in those years...completely unremembered in our day. Hour by hour...heroism and brilliant strategy in the most hard hitting, combative, small scale raid of America's Civil War. Rank and file riflemen... friends and neighbors from one Indiana county...living, fighting, dying in America's bloodiest of all wars. "The Boys From Lake County" is likely one-of-kind in America's Civil War history...at least in the last hundred years. The book names all of the 100 men who originally enlisted in Co A, 73rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment. It details their age at enlistment, their height, complexion, color of hair, color of eyes, where they were born, where they resided in Lake County, civilian occupation, and what happened to them during the War. For a few it reveals some details of their lives after the War. For one, the book lists a great many events during his entire lifetime. As a matter of course, "The Boys From Lake County" is also a relatively complete history of their 73rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Books:
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- Sinners in Summertime
- Snuffed Out
- Some Sunday
- Southern Exposure
- Suzanne : of Love and Art
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- The Best American Short Stories of the Century (The Best American Series(R))
- The Bridegroom: Stories
- The Cambridge Companion to the Victorian Novel (Cambridge Companions to Literature)
Books Index
Books Home
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- History: Fiction or Science
- Great Events from History: The 19th Century 1801-1900
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- Bonus Time: One Pilot's Story of World War II
Digging to America
My Latest Grievance
The Man of My Dreams: A Novel
The Brambles (Vintage Contemporaries)
Theft
