Book Description
"The Long Way Home" arose from the aphorism about no good deed going unpunished. Jack is not a do-gooder per se. He fixes problems on a cash-and-carry basis. He's not a crime fighter; in fact, he's a career criminal. He does his damnedest to avoid the police. So I figured putting him in the position where he's the only one who can help a downed cop would create a lot of dramatic tension. It does.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding!.......2007-06-27
This Amazon Short is an outstanding introduction to the character - even if you're unfamiliar with the continuing history of Repairman Jack. It moves swiftly; never a dull word or moment in this story. If you ARE familiar with him this Short is a great snapshot of just one evening in Jack's life; the one where his greatest fear, successfully avoided for years, is realized by one heroic act.
Read this - it's short, it's great, and it will likely leave you wanting more. For anyone who doesn't know Jack (sorry about the cliche') start with F. Paul Wilson's THE TOMB and go from there. It's a really great read!
A Five Star Series!.......2007-02-07
"The Long Way Home: A Repairman Jack Story" is just a tease. It is a short story of another of Repairman Jack's adventures. It is a must read if you are a fan of the series. For those of you who have not been introduced to Repairman Jack, it will have you ordering more.
Jack is a sort of a mercenary for hire. He has many identities. He lives off the grid and takes on anykind of job legal or illegal. In this short story, Jack is minding his business on his way home when he sees an armed robbery take place. He decides to step in, despite his best judgement, and his gets himself into a terrible mess. I won't spoil the story for you, because it has a couple of twists that I know you will enjoy.
Give it a try. I'm sure it will have you addicted to Repairman Jack, just like I am.
Other Repairman Jack adventures you should read: Infernal, Gateways and Nightworld.
Jennifer
Long-Necked, Dark-Amber Bottles Go With What? Smoky Rooms & Red Meat?.......2006-12-19
A quick-capturing conversation between Jack and Julio (Repairman and Puerto Rican tavern owner) opened this plot with the cozy heat of feisty friendship, a lime-slice-tang of character development, and the smoldering intrigue of a Yuppie offer to purchase Julio's tavern (as a cocoon for a disdained bistro). Undercurrent emotion and underlying themes surged a quick fizz (Coal & Coca-cola) for an enthralling ride-along retaining a wide-eyed focus to the end of THE LONG WAY HOME.
This Amazon Short was not what I had expected; it was my first sample of a Repairman Jack story (a series which works a fetching concept). F. Paul expounded well here on some of Jack's angles, pulling me into and through this triage story, leaving me wanting to know more about what forced Jack into his low profile (almost "no profile") existence.
Well-designed, crisp sentence clips quickened the pace throughout these 33 fast-rapping pages:
>> Jack was halfway across the street when he heard a boom. He knew that sound. Shotgun. Instinctively he ducked behind the nearest parked car on the far side. The sound had been muffled. An indoor shot.
<<
Intrigue was intensified through an exquisite economy of syntax: >> Years of hiding in the cracks, of forging an existence in the interstices of society would be wiped away. And then the IRS would get involved, wondering why this man had no Social Security number. They'd begin investigating every nook and cranny of his entire 1040-less life.
<<
Fast, appropriate, and "whew" describes the way twists were worked out in this plot.
>> "No, thanks, da..t! Just evening up. You didn't have to do what you did but you did; I don't have to do what I'm doing, but I am. Like you said: Quid pro quo. This for that. Now get out of my sight."
<<
That wasn't the end of the story; it was nearer the middle. The end kicked in the title in a pleasantly surprising shift which symbolically caught the essence of Jack's plight in a dry, cool conclusion I hadn't anticipated. The passage quoted below wasn't the end, either, but it teases closer:
>> The fusillade slammed Fat Henry back against the doorframe, his sawed-off went spinning, and then he was turning and falling and rolling down the steps. It was over in seconds. No Peckinpah slo-mo. No ballet-like turns. Quick, graceless, ugly, and red. He hit the sidewalk face first and never moved again.
<<
Yep, WAY HOME was not what I expected, and, yes, better than. The 33 electronic-text-segments drove the "page-down" key more quickly than even some of the 10 page Shorts I've read, which, when providing a slower read did that with an easy grace I needed at-the-time, and relished. This time I was thankfully surprised to be caught and pulled through the quick-shift, ebony-edged, red-tinged plot.
F. Paul Wilson is a very talented, seasoned writer, with a unique style perking hot in Repairman; I might not have met up with F. Paul's work if I hadn't taken THE LONG WAY HOME this time, in my current choice of a Short. I'm headed to Amazon's pages to study the list for the Jack series, checking out its number of novels, publication dates of each, and noting titles for the pilot and latest release.
This Jack guy might develop (for me; he probably has already for other P.I. enthusiasts) develop as much appeal as Robert B. Parker's Spenser. For my tastes, it wouldn't be easy to slide-into-base anywhere near the subtle complexities of Spenser. But the next-city-over from Spenser's ball park would certainly provide an equally worthy hot dog. Pass the Mustard! Hiss the steam!
My apologies, but I'm hoping Jack's Hard Boiled sulfur won't be overdone for my edible-pansy tastes, for which I often cringe, in shame of a lack of grit(s). Does Jack cook? Or does he make do with long necks, rotten eggs, and short runs? (Please excuse my addiction to tangy description quips; this one should not be taken as an insult to F. Paul, not at all! I look forward to adapting to whatever style he operates in this series.)
Curious,
Linda Shelnutt
Great 15 minute escape.......2006-11-25
First experience with this author and character. Great 15 minute escape for short story lovers, particularly sci-fi or future urban fans. For .49, you don't have to overthink this one.
Didn't quite..........2006-07-24
Not having read F. Paul Wilson before, I chose this Amazon Short based on ratings. I enjoyed the beginning and the dialogue; pace and clean writing. But the story did not hook me. And the ending did jack. Perhaps three stars is a kindness, not malice. I'm sure Mr. Wilson's books are far better.
Eugen M. Bacon
Amazon Short Author: The Hybrid/ The Firemaker: A Hybrid Story
Average customer rating:
- Not Free SF Reader
- Dan Simmons weaves a web of words into a dream-like trance in this collection of short stories
- Simmons Collection Lets Us Glimpse At The Novels That Are To Follow
- Adequate Collection; Evolution of Simmons Into Novelist
- Dan Simmons can do no wrong.
|
Prayers to Broken Stones
Dan Simmons
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Simmons, Dan | ( S ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Paperback | Simmons, Dan | ( S ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0553762524
Release Date: 1997-10-07 |
Book Description
A woman returns from the dead with disastrous results for the family who loves her.... An old-fashioned barbershop is the site of a medieval ritual of bloody
terror.... During a post-apocalyptic Christmas celebration, a messenger from the South brings tidings of great horror.... From a ghostly Civil War battlefield to a combat theme park in Vietnam, from the omnipotent brain of an autistic boy to a shocking story of psychic vampires, journey into a world of fear and mystery, a chilling twilight zone of the mind.
From the Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-25
stories here are developed into longer works later, such as Carrion Comfort, and a couple that are used in some form or another in the Hyperion series.
So, a decent introduction to Simmons, with the wary story 'E-Ticket to Namland' a nice example of something a little different, and Remembering Siri an excellent slice of the Hyperion universe.
He gives an intro on how each story came to be, and Harlan Ellison describes how he discovered him in a story workshop, directly after someone that was completely and utterly incapable of writing a sentence.
Prayers to Broken Stones : The River Styx Runs Upstream - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : Vanni Fucci is Alive and Well and Living in Hell - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : Vexed to Nightmare by a Rocking Cradle - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : Remembering Siri - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : Metastasis - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : The Offering - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : E-Ticket to Namland - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : Iversons Pits - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : Shave and a Haircut Two Bites - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : The Death of the Centaur - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : Two Minutes Forty-Five Seconds - Dan Simmons
Prayers to Broken Stones : Carrion Comfort [SS] - Dan Simmons
Resurrection relations.
4 out of 5
Widower mindtouch memory recreation.
4 out of 5
Bolgia's tel3vang3list transformation torment time.
3.5 out of 5
Santa vigil slaughter sacrifice.
3.5 out of 5
Hawking seduction's intermittent progress.
4.5 out of 5
Cancer monster suspicion.
3 out of 5
War tourism recreation.
4 out of 5
Officer's holey end.
3 out of 5
Bloody barber's bizarre basement bloke.
3.5 out of 5
Teaching problem.
2.5 out of 5
Space try failure fall.
3.5 out of 5
Mind vampire deathmatch.
4 out of 5
Dan Simmons weaves a web of words into a dream-like trance in this collection of short stories.......2006-08-12
This book is a collection of short stories by Dan Simmons ("Song of Kali," "Hyperion") with a foreward by Harlan Ellison. Each story has a unique voice (although all the science fiction stories seem to take place in the same universe) and they are gem-like in their brightness - characterization, description, voice, all is exquisite, bringing you into these little worlds and opening your eyes to sometimes strange and twisted landscapes.
My only complaints are again copy editing nitpicks - for instance, if something needs oil, it creaks, it doesn't creek. When someone agrees with a statement given, particularly during a toast, they say "Hear, hear!" not "Here, here!" Those sorts of things. Also, the plural of bus is buses!!! "Busses" is "kisses." I kid you not - look it up and make fun forever more in the future when you see signs at drive-throughs and restaurants that say "busses welcome."
But that aside, this collection of short stories is amazing. I read it much more slowly than is my wont, as it must be supped and savored like a fine wine - not guzzled like a brew. Enjoy it!
Simmons Collection Lets Us Glimpse At The Novels That Are To Follow.......2006-03-21
One of the first things you'll notice as you read Prayers To Broken Stones, the short story collection by Dan Simmons, is that some of his novels started off in the short fiction scheme of things. "Remembering Siri" is an exerpt from Hyperion and the short "Carrion Comfort" is, you guessed it, an exerpt of Carrion Comfort. Here is Simmons first published story "The River Styx Runs Upstream" as well as the gems from Dark Visions "Vanni Fuci I Alive And Well And Living In Hell", "Metastasis" & "Iverson's Pits." "E-Ticket To 'Namland" is absolutey twisted. The introduction is by Harlan Ellison who claims to have "discovered" Simmons at a Writer's Workshop. True. Does Simmons bury Ellison. Definitely. I always thought Harlan Ellison was way overrated for his piddley achievements and that lousy episode of Star Trek he wrote. Wowzer! And that he is way too much of an a$$hohle extraordinaire. Dan Simmons seems too goo to associate with the likes of him. Anyway....buy the book. You won't regret. A great introduction to Simmons as a writing force.
Dig it!!
Adequate Collection; Evolution of Simmons Into Novelist.......2005-06-20
I've read and have been impressed with Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos and Carrion Comfort, and wanted to explore his short stories to see if they were up to his novel's quality.
Unfortunately, the short stories are mostly from his earlier years and aren't really up to the incredibly high standards he's set for himself with the Hyperion series, Carrion Comfort and other novels.
The stories are adequate, but none of them really stick in the mind after a while. If they were from any other author, I would say there "good" though not excellent, but knowing Simmons, I'd rate them as "just ok". Some of the stories seem to be more concerned with hammering the reader with the "message" rather than telling a good yarn. This is most evident when his rant (err, story) against televangelists. I agree with Simmons viewpoints, but didn't care much for the story.
However, this collection does offer some interesting glimpses into his novels. First, "Remembering Siri" is word for word, a chapter in his later Hyperion novel, and this is where it started. Second, "Carrion Comfort" is probably the best short story in the collection (and hence, the last story in the collection) and this forms the first chapter of Carrion Comfort, the novel. Again, this is where it started. Third, "Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams" forms the basis of his later novel The Hollow Man, with exactly the same characters and premise. You can also see his fascination with the US space program in "Two Minutes Forty-Five Seconds", which was marred by getting the "message" across at the expense of storytelling. He explores the US space program from a different angle later on his novel Phases of Gravity. Lastly, there is a "story within a story" in "The Death of a Centaur" about a teacher telling kids a fantasy story. The story involves Raul (err, Raoul Endymion) guiding an unlikely band of characters to save the universe, battling the Shrike (yes the Shrike) and Wizards (err, The Pax) who are out to get them. The story is, well, standard fantasy fare, but it's interesting to note that he uses this story as a basis of his later Endymion novel.
So this collection is interesting if you're interested in "forensic" analysis of where some of his later great novels came from, but as storytelling tales in themselves, they're ok, not great. Having read both his novels and short stories, I recommend reading more of his novels before plunging into his weaker short stories.
Dan Simmons can do no wrong........2004-12-27
Dan Simmons has the distinct ability to craft sentences in such a way to invoke brilliant images, and instill so much passion into his readers that, like me, they may continually miss their subway stops. "Prayers to Broken Stones" took me to that withdrawn state where my sensibilities of my immediate surroundings declares coup d'etat. This is exactly what a good story should do. Any residual childhood angst over reading that I may have; over sunny August days when I just wanted to play outside, but was stuck with a stack of summer reading material that I'd left for the last minute; all of this evaporates after the first few lines of a well-crafted Dan Simmons story.
Book Description
Shimazaki's 1906 classic of modern Japanese literature portrays a young man born into the Burakumin outcaste class and his struggle against both social discrimination and his own hypocrisy.
Customer Reviews:
A new view of racism.......2007-03-01
This book deals with a real aspect of Japanese history, the "non-humans." When the Japanese culture was making a transition toward metropolitan city life and away from agrarian life, the emperor commanded certain families to take certain responsibilities. Later, because of the Buddhist aversion to death and killing, those families with the unfortunate assignment to professions like meat butcher or tanner came to be consider spiritually and later, even physically unclean.
Many such families did, in fact, send their children to far away cities to be educated and changed their names so that the association with the non-human category of Japanese society might be forgotten.
This broken commandment is about a one of these people who makes it all the way to the coveted position of teacher, a highly regarded social position in Japan both centuries ago and today. But he breaks the commandment to his father when he tells someone his true origins.
The most amazing thing about racism is how it makes irrational ideas seem credible. Among the Japanese rumors developed about this class of people ... that they were in fact, Mongols, not Japanese, more like savages and that you could tell as soon as you looked at them.
Such stories were absurd, of course, because these families came from the exact same human genetic background as all other Japanese people.
Rules, similiar to those codified in the United States after the Civil War, prevented non-humans from eating in the presence of "real" humans, prohibited them from wearing shoes and other methods to help distinguish them from "civil society."
Reading this book makes one reflect on racism throughout the globe. How did humans develop such a penchant for enjoying a self-indulgent sense of superiority to someone else? And why does this tendency persist even when so much evidence to the contrary presents itself through scientific discoveries?
Stepping outside the U.S. view of our history of racial tension and looking at it from this new, foreign culture helps one see the consistency in symptoms of this sociological virus. Maybe one day we can develop a vaccine that prevents our children from being infected from this self-destructive form of logic.
A powerfully insightful text that illuminates Japanese history and culture as well as global problems with human compatibility.
At its heart, a very modern novel.......2007-02-05
This novel, written 100 years ago, finds its place easily in modern literature. Its theme is authenticity: A real life and real happiness can only be achieved if someone recognizes, internally and externally, who he is. "Passing," which is the strategy advocated by the protagonist's father, necessarily inovolves a lack of authenticity and a lack of completeness. The only way to achieve wholeness is to "break the commandment."
This book is secondarily a social novel about discrimination against the "eta," a form of class prejudice that persists in Japan today.
Warning: massive spoiler in the translator's introduction.......2002-11-17
If you like books about injustice, this is a must read. The lives of Japan's Burakumin were as hard as those of India's untouchables, and this story of a teacher hiding the secret of his birth is really gripping. You'll definitely feel angry by the end of the book.
I think everyone should read books like this sometimes in order to remind themselves that about standing up for weaker people and not turning a blind eye when you see racism or discrimination.
I usually hate reading Japanese books in translation because the prose always sounds awkward. Kenneth Strong, the translator has done a wonderful job though, and everything sounds natural and the writing flows very well. I wish that more translators would realise that it is impossible to translate Japanese literally and that you pretty much have to re-write it if you want to produce something readable.
The book has a few weaknesses. The bad guys are rather two-dimensional and the ending seems a little contrived but the book is definitely worth reading.
A warning: Although the introduction is very interesting and definitely worth a read, the translator gives away the whole story so save it for the end.
A lively view of Japanese history and the pain of prejudice.......1999-05-04
Shimazaki's life-like portrayal of a young man's struggle with prejudice and his own hypocrisy in Hakai create a delicate tension. Shimazaki's draws heavily on the sights, sounds and sense of natural things for his backdrop. Repeatedly I was reminded of the Japanese appreciation for nature as the main character, Ushimatsu hurried home to his father's funeral. Along the way, Shimazaki takes the time to describe the sky, the river waters and the flowering weeds growing beside the dirt road. Although it was his heavy use of nature that moved me, Okazaki was moved most by Shimazaki's depiction of humanity. "This spirit of religious self-examination extends through all of Shimazaki's works. This is Shimazaki's humanism rather than his naturalism." (p. 241) An additional strength to Hakai is the vivid detail Shimazaki uses in describing his main character's living quarters, the hard life of the drunkard's family, and the rigid caste system employed during that time. The reader has a full sense of being a member of the eta outcast group and a full sense of being a Japanese person in a complicated, striated social system. It simplifies these issues from a standpoint of historical study because instead of rote memorization of various levels of the community, literature allows the reader to mentally walk among the people, live with them and relate to them. The images created by his character bring such life to the community that it becomes easy to understand the structure. Even the simplest of scenes illuminates life in that time. This description of the funeral for Ushimatsu's father provides a vignette of life, religion and the relationship between people and nature: "The rough wooden coffin was draped in a white cloth, and before it stood a newly inscribed memorial tablet, offerings of water and sweets, and bunches of chrysanthemums and anise leaves." "Shimazaki Toson's Broken Commandment is another step in the right direction," Kojin says on page 76 before going on to explain that genbun itchi (written and spoken language as one) "was a literary form of the confession - confession as a system - that produced the interiority that confessed the 'true self.' " While it is certainly true the reader sees the world from the inside of the main character's mind in Hakai, Armando Martins Janeira compliments Shimazaki's humanistic approach in his book Japanese and Western Literature: A Comparative Study, page 129. "In 1906, Toson Shimazaki published the most significant novel of shinzenshugi (naturalism) literature, Hakai, about a young outcast who rebels against conventions which banish him from society." My only concern about Janeira's critique is that he credits Christians with giving Shimazaki and other Japanese Meiji era authors their insight to write against the social system. While I don't doubt that contact with external agencies helped bring new perspectives to Japan, I question whether anyone can accurately trace that origin to source. After making this questionable parallel on page 144, he pays a compliment to the author that I feel is absolutely correct. "Toson Shimazaki's Hakai is the first important novel inspired by deep humanist intention." I can't say whether it is the first, but it is deeply humanistic and inspiring because it holds such a valuable message that still has application today. Although humanism is a defining aspect of another novel from that time, Tsuchi (1910) ties humanism so tightly to naturalism that it is hard to say where humanity stops and nature takes over. Perhaps it is best defined by the author who links The Soil to the people: "Hardly a day passed in Oshina's life when she had not felt the soil beneath her feet. Barefooted except in icy winter, she had been its creature. And now, in death, she was it's creature still. Separated only by a thin layer of pine, her feet would rest on the soil forever." (Page 25) The power of Tsuchi lies in the reader's sense of the onerous tasks of daily existence as a poverty-stricken farmer in Meiji jidai Japan. I came to empathize with Kanji's hard work and failed attempts to improve his painfully meager existence as the years kept flowing past him and his life did not change for the better. At heart, he seemed to be such a genuine human and yet cursed by birth to be a Japanese farmer in the late 1880s. The complete poverty of his existence and the other farmers in his categroy described as mizunomi or water drinkers. His food seemed so scarce that he could not have afforded to subsist on much more than water. Both Tsuchi and Hakai give detailed descriptions of rural funerals during a similar time period. However, they differ in some interesting ways. "Ushimatsu's uncle, faithful to the old way of doing things, had provided for the journey to the next world a sunshade and a pair of straw sandles. A knife to ward off devils lay on the lid of the coffin. The praying and the beating of the drum began again, and talk of the dead man, punctuated by artless laughter and the clatter of dishes, was sad and at the same time lively," Shimazaki wrote in Hakai. (Page 138) In contrast, Oshina has no knife to ward off spirits, nor does the author mention any sunshade to cover her during her journey in the after world. Instead, she gets a shave. This difference may have been due to gender or to the difference in various regions at that time. "The acolyte lifted the lid of the casket, removed Oshina's hood, and stroked her cheeks with a razor. In as much as the hard life and hard labor of Tsuchi appears to have deeper roots in realism, the birth or rebirth of realism in Japanese literature took place in the late 1800s. Authors began to mimic the language of everyday use in their novels creating a direct form of literary realism.
Average customer rating:
|
Broken Bones and River Stones
Sarah Moore
Manufacturer: PublishAmerica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Anthologies | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1424155789
Release Date: 2007-01-02 |
Book Description
The poems in this book were written at a pivotal point in Sarah's life. They open the door to past, present and future, contained in one moment in time. She welcomes you to look into her world and join her for a while. So you, too, may make your journey through life and notice all around you from another point of view. Liquid and smooth to read or hear, and creating a visualization an artist would struggle to capture on canvas. So read on, and go sailing through the dreams and thoughts written here for your enjoyment and perusal.
Customer Reviews:
Mixed Review.......2006-12-09
Lyn Stone-A Bouquet of Thistles- ***
This was an okay story with a decent plot. Alys was a great girl, and the hero, John, was honorable and handsome, (he was the best thing about this story). But I wouldn't have minded if someone had throttled Alys' bratty brother. The boy was just too vindictive for my taste.
Gail Ranstrom-Paying the Piper-**
A very predictable, boring tale. And I like this author! The hero, Anthony had great potential, his good looks, a war hero, and wealthy to boot, but the author somehow succeeded in making him a very boring guy.
Anne O'Brien- Battle-Torn Bride- *****
The Best of the lot. Great characters in war-torn 15th century England. Richard was the perfect hero and the love between him and Beatrice came through very well. The story, based on fact, held my interest to the last page.
Book Description
Lawrence Stone's trilogy on marriage in early modern England has been widely praised. The New York Times Book Review hailed the first volume, Road to Divorce as "sure-footed and fascinating commentary" and chose it as a Notable Book of 1990. Christopher Hibbert in the Independent found that
the "absorbing and often extraordinary" stories in volume two, Uncertain Unions "throw a clear, bright light not only upon the making and breaking of marriages in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, but also on social customs and the intimacies of private lives." Now, in Broken Lives, the third
and final book, Stone sets out to examine the various ways people ended marriages and the lengths to which they would go to do so.
Drawing from a massive archive of court cases, Stone presents stories that paint a revealing portrait of divorce in the period before 1857. Divorce could only be obtained by Act of Parliament, and often at great expense and with much difficulty. As Stone writes, however extreme the
circumstances, the legal breaking of a marriage on the grounds of cruelty was not easy to obtain in seventeenth-century England. For instance, in Boteler v. Boteler, Anne Boteler, wife of Sir Oliver Boteler, had overwhelming evidence of her husband's abuse (which included death threats and physical
attacks on Anne and her children). Yet even though Sir Oliver's own relatives testified against him, it took Anne three years to obtain a legal separation. Of course, in some instances, the wife had the upperhand. In Lovedon v. Lovedon, we see an instance in which a wife could repeatedly appeal her
husband's suit for divorce at his expense. By law, Edward Lovedon was obliged to pay all of his wife Anne's bills until they were officially divorced. And in Beaufort v. Beaufort we learn that women would often successfully countersue their husbands for divorce on the grounds of impotence--in those
days, it was more than likely that a man would fail the public test he underwent to prove his virility. Other cases reveal intriguing and often spiteful aspects of marital breakdown: servants blackmailing their adulterous masters and mistresses; and husbands suing their wives' lovers for property
damage (i.e. to the wives' bodies).
One of the world's leading authorities on the history of the family, Lawrence Stone has mapped the arduous routes which people took to break marriages--from private separation agreements to Parliamentary ruling. And as he does so, he provides a fascinating glimpse into daily life and marital
conduct, and allows us to eavesdrop on the testimony and conversations of men and women of all sorts and conditions--from the serving girl to the served--in the changing social world of early modern England.
Book Description
This report was created for global strategic planners who cannot be content with traditional methods of segmenting world markets. With the advent of a “borderless world”, cities become a more important criteria in prioritizing markets, as opposed to regions, continents, or countries. This report covers the top 2000 cities in over 200 countries. It does so by reporting the estimated market size (in terms of latent demand) for each major city of the world. It then ranks these cities and reports them in terms of their size as a percent of the country where they are located, their geographic region (e.g. Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America, Latin America), and the total world market. In performing various economic analyses for its clients, I have been occasionally asked to investigate the market potential for various products and services across cities. The purpose of the studies is to understand the density of demand within a country and the extent to which a city might be used as a point of distribution within its region. From an economic perspective, however, a city does not represent a population within rigid geographical boundaries. To an economist or strategic planner, a city represents an area of dominant influence over markets in adjacent areas. This influence varies from one industry to another, but also from one period of time to another. In what follows, I summarize the economic potential for the world\'s major cities for "crushed and broken stone" for the year 2007. The goal of this report is to report my findings on the real economic potential, or what an economist calls the latent demand, represented by a city when defined as an area of dominant influence. The reader needs to realize that latent demand may or may not represent real sales. For many items, latent demand is clearly observable in sales, as in the case for food or housing items. Consider, however, the category "satellite launch vehicles". Clearly, there are no launch pads in most cities of the world. However, the core benefit of the vehicles (e.g. telecommunications, etc.) is "consumed" by residents or industries within the world\'s cities. Without certain cities, in other words, the market for satellite launch vehicles would be lower for the world in general. One needs to allocate, therefore, a portion of the worldwide economic demand for launch vehicles to both regions and cities. This report takes the broader definition and considers, therefore, a city as a part of the global market.
Book Description
This study covers the world outlook for crushed and broken stone across more than 200 countries. For each year reported, estimates are given for the latent demand, or potential industry earnings (P.I.E.), for the country in question (in millions of U.S. dollars), the percent share the country is of the region and of the globe. These comparative benchmarks allow the reader to quickly gauge a country vis-à-vis others. Using econometric models which project fundamental economic dynamics within each country and across countries, latent demand estimates are created. This report does not discuss the specific players in the market serving the latent demand, nor specific details at the product level. The study also does not consider short-term cyclicalities that might affect realized sales. The study, therefore, is strategic in nature, taking an aggregate and long-run view, irrespective of the players or products involved.
Product Description
The concluding volume of Stone's excellent trilogy on marriage in early modern England (Uncertain Unions, 1992; Road to Divorce, 1990). Starting with a summary of the legal background--the laws and rituals governing divorce when it required an act of Parliament--Stone introduces two aspects of English life that figure prominently in the cases that follow: the role of servants in family life, and the absence of privacy. Although the substance of the cases is essentially lurid--tales of infidelity, betrayal, retribution, abuse, and humiliation--Stone's style is technical and scholarly, true to its sources in the detailed documentation that the divorces of the rich produced, revealing the lives of prominent but not famous people who otherwise hold no place in history. The cases demonstrate the shifts in society from status to contract, from religious to secular understanding, as well as the shift in power from men (who in the early years held women and their children as property) to women. They demonstrate the increased demands that both men and women made on marriage, transforming it from a merely economic arrangement to a source of pleasure, recreation, and companionship, especially in the large country houses where infidelity seemed as inevitable as boredom. One woman sued her husband for impotence, and Stone reveals the various ways that men were required to demonstrate their virility in public. Among the author's many insights is his noting of romantic fiction's disruptive role in family life, implying that, in some hands, literacy and access to popular romance were dangerous. A fascinating and factual introduction to the history of domestic life. Illustrated.
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Broken Stone
Richard Monaco
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0441081347 |
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