Amazon.com
In Fear of Frying neighbors Jane Jeffry and Shelly Nowack set off for some relaxation in the Wisconsin woods while scouting summer camp sites for suburban high-school students. Jane isn't exactly thrilled at the idea: any form of camping is an anathema at the best of times, and in damp midwinter it seems especially grim. Matters do not improve when this pair of amateur detectives discover one of their fellow campers smacked with a frying pan--seemingly with fatal consequences. But they suspect their own eyes (and everyone else suspects their sanity) when the body disappears along with any evidence of foul play. To make matters worse (or better) a surprisingly healthy victim resurfaces. With a mix of resentment at not being believed and amazement at the turn of events, the would-be campers are determined to discover what is really going on at their apparently secure haven in the wilderness.
Jill Churchill is a pen name for historical novelist Janice Young Brooks. Fear of Frying is the ninth in her Jane Jeffry series; the first, Grime and Punishment, won both the Agatha Award and the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel. Fear of Frying is one of the stronger in the series--the fringe characters strike just the right note between parody and believability--and Jane and Shelly investigate matters more convincingly by relying on their memories and knowledge rather than by asking brash questions. The brightness and charm remain consistent: these suburban moms love children and dogs, a good gossip and decadent food--although not necessarily in that order. A lighthearted installment in a pleasantly lighthearted series. --K. Crouch
Book Description
Suburban Chicago widow Jane Jeffry hates cooking, but loves food. She can't think of a worse fate than a rustic outing in a Wisconsin resort where she discovers a corpse, seemingly bludgeoned by a frying pan. When the body disappears and the "victim" reappears, Jane sets out to find out what's going on in this wacky wilderness wonderland.
Customer Reviews:
Light Bulbs & Kerosene; ... a Few of My Favorite Things. No Bee Stings........2005-11-25
The opening scene, a journey to a wilderness camp, captured my interest instantly, especially following Jane's angst about whether she would have to resort to "peeing in the woods." Would this truly be a resort to relish, as Shelly was working too hard to promise? Loved the way, upon arrival at the camp, Jane's angst was suddenly soothed by the actual nature in "nature," simultaneous to Shelley's greater fears being augmented.
Jane's spirits began their sap rising routine when she saw the fresh coat of paint on the camp's welcome signs. Her spirits continued the upward surge as the birds, bees, flowers & trees began randomly staging their magic.
Shelley's spirits were fried like a finger in a light socket when, arms bundled with beauty enhancements dangling electrical cords, she discovered the cabin's kerosene lantern sans electrical accouterments.
I won't say more about that; wouldn't want to spoil the fun of your discovering in-plot the interesting ambiance of this unusual camp's arrangement of just the right luxuries couched within an almost Amish austerity. With the joys of both maximist and minimalist tendencies mixed chust so, I could make-do with this setup, especially within the pages of a book.
Rubbing my virtual fingers together, I willingly showed up for the breakfast "continuum" of offerings, along with Jane & Shelley, drooling for crisply fried bacon, scrambled eggs and Velveeta (that rich brand would be my cheesy addition to the plot), balanced with a cantaloupe slice and molasses-bran toast from the health side of the food group. I like to mix health business with spiritual pleasures, as long as I'm not being fooled by the fake food fru fru.
What I wonder is what will pseudo-science do when Mulder and Scully finally place Truth into a Common Knowledge medium, as a last-ditch message to save the health of humanity on its last legs and breath, after that pair of rogue FBI agents join forces with Marshal McCluen (Marshall McLuhan), and conglomerate his clues within the Truth Track, on the wrack in the Village Green for all to see.
Okay. All right already. I'll untie the above syntax knot.
A fear of frying is what it's all about all right.
And what I really want to know is HOW did that fear get so built up to fly in everyone's face when they were chust trying to eat a good Amish, farm fresh, hearty-for-the-heart breakfast.
While I'm on this, "And-what-about..." track, what about the French, who do all sorts of fries, super sauce meat drippings by adding BUTTER (they're too smart to "buy" plastic goo), and have the grace of gall to not die of collective heart attacks?
Huh? Huh?
What about that???
Why don't they die like flies on the vines of cholesterol?
And, do NOT copy out and use "DUH" as an excuse.
McDonald's is "to die for"; it is NOT to die from.
When are we Americans going to get. A. Clue. Maybe a Coke, too.
Guilt is the USA's most abundant commodity, and we're selling the heck out of it, as non-profit agents, of course. Wouldn't want to earn a buck then be told to give it away, instead of spending or saving it for ourselves.
We use that self-replicating commodity (guilt) like super glue to stick every pseudo-science tenant to our foreheads. We carry on by forcing a habit of looking in the mirror at the stupid tenants, avoiding the shame of seeing the eyes of that starving soul looking back at us, sadly wondering why we believe that to be Good we're supposed to kill the flavor in life.
And what would we see in that mirror if we looked beyond the false-god tenants (which are very difficult to read, not just because they're smudged full of Sacred Fertilizer, but because they're reversed by being reflected through a mirror)?
Maybe we'd see someone blessed to not be starving (because he's living in a wealthy country), who's been cursed to eat only food with the flavor religiously leached out.
It's not the fear of frying, precisely, which has us brainless and clueless. BTW, my friend Dr. BJ Ferrell noted that the brain is 90% cholesterol. Cholesterol is not only a GOOD thing; it's vital to the health of the nervous system, including the backbone, which we have less and less of.
It's the fear of ...
Lost my train of thought again. Forgot to put enough butter on that molasses bran toast I mentioned above, so my thoughts got off track and took on a tangent. Then one of my prime soap box collections slipped under my feet. That's my excuse for spouting off at the mouth when I might not know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, this novel caught my attention instantly and held it like super glue throughout the subplots, machinations, schemes, and dreams coming true about luxury bathrooms in the wilderness.
But, the real question is, did Jane have to pee in the woods?
In conclusion I might note that I felt a healing force work its way back in time, through my early history, as I skated through the mystery menagerie with Jane & Shelley within the scrumptious setting of this particular summer camp. My personal experiences with summer camps were all literal nightmares, which made this vicarious adventure such a deeply enthralling read that it chust may have erased the scars from that ugly history.
Can you beat that? Probably.
But I'm thankful for my new well-being which arrived at the conclusion of living through this story (which in a Jane novel is always a sunny-side-up or over-easy treat).
What a gift for the price of a paperback.
Maybe if more people regularly read the escape fiction of their tastes, the medical profession might have to worry. There's something very health shoring in the sensual process of reading a good novel with the heavy head cushioned atop a few cozy pillows feather-touched and fluffed by butter-colored lamplight.
Before I close my mouth and eyes on the last page of FEAR OF FRYING, I should mention that there's a book in the Jane Jeffry series which opens more directly along the lines of my above diatribe on unfair food bashing. That book is THE CLASS MENAGERIE. Need to get it. For my health.
Linda Shelnutt
P.S. Marshall McLuhan wrote THE MEDIUM IS THE MASSAGE (implying more than "message"). I visited the Amazon buying page for that book to check spelling of his name. The 15 customer reviews there were amazingly insightful as well as delightfully (and crisply) worded. Even the slight criticisms felt clean, clear, and honestly helpful. Without reservation, I voted "Yes" on each of the 15 reviews. They told me more about the book than I "got" when I read it in college, umpteen Ages ago, and returned to memory and life what I did get. Borm in 1947, I'm in the Baby Boomer crowd. (Maybe I should go post this P.S. into a review?)
Another Book in the Jane Jeffrey Series.......2004-03-18
Jane Jeffrey, suburban housewife and sometime detective, accompanies her friend Shelley to learn more about a summer camp for their community's students. What they never expected though was the remote campsite, interesting guests and murder.
Fear of Frying is the 9th book in the Jane Jeffrey series which I first began reading in 1998. The series began with the recenly widowed Jane as she helps to solve the murder of a local housekeeper in Grime and Punishment and has continued with other murders and personal events. Note the clever titles based on other well known book titles.
For the most part I have enjoyed all of Ms. Chruchill's books and Fear of Frying is no exception. I am also in the process of reading the author's second series, the Grace and Favor series which began with Anything Goes.
If you enjoy light and cozy tales of murder and mayhem, consider reading either of these series and enjoy.
A real favorite in this 9th of the Jane Jeffry's series..........2001-12-03
Jane and Shelley are going to check out a summer camp for kids. Camping is NOT Jane's idea of fun and she and Shelley certainly were not prepared for a murder in the process! Then, before anyone can check out the crime scene, the murdered corpse disappears! This is really a bad moment for Jane and Shelley as they're the ones that discovered the body to begin with! Great, fun mystery.
Great read for a weekend.......2001-06-28
For a light and quick weekend read, Jill Churchill's Fear of Frying fit the bill. For those of you unfamiliar with Churchill's Jane Jeffrys series (of which this is the ninth installment), amateur sleuth Jane is a single mother who likes to cook and/or eat, and has a detective boyfriend (a no-show in this story) and a best friend named Shelley. Despite the title, Jane doesn't do much cooking here, though it does give a hint with regards to the murder weapon of choice.
Along with various other people in their social circle (including two car dealership execs and their wives, a high school principal and her complacent husband), Jane and Shelley volunteer to spend a few days to evaluate Camp Sunshine, a wilderness resort which owner Benson Titus hopes to contract to the area school district for summer programs. Shades of Allan Sherman's "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" are evident during this trip as a bit of heavy rain spoils the atmosphere for Jane and Shelley, but not so much as the lifeless body of car dealership owner Sam Claypool which they discover lying by a doused campfire.
When Sam turns up alive later that evening, and the rest of their working vacation is marred by environmental activists, a washed-out bridge leading to freedom and a grumpy sheriff, Jane and Shelley are hardly happy campers. All the same, it's fun to read. I hated camp, I sympathize entirely.
Fear of Frying may be predictable for some, but as a cozy read it works: I enjoyed being introduced to Jane and Shelley and hope to become more familiar with them in the future. They play off each other with good humor, they seem like real people and their ability to rely upon observation rather than blatant snooping is reminiscent of Christie's Miss Marple. A good read to take to the beach.
Housewives beware!.......2000-07-26
I started the Jane Jeffry series with "A Farewell to Yarns" (being interested in knitting) and have since progressed to reading all of them - at a rate of 2 per week-end. While much enjoying the descriptions of the day-to-day life of a suburban American housewife (particularly the food she prepares!) - my time is limited, which means that my own housekeeping has gone completely to pot. However a little dust never hurt anyone and they are most entertaiing - to the extent of bearing re-reading.
Average customer rating:
|
Fear of Frying (Ginger Tea Series)
James Barber
Manufacturer: Raincoast Book Dist Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Coffee & Tea
| Drinks & Beverages
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1551923106 |
Average customer rating:
|
FEAR OF FRYING
James BARBER
Manufacturer: Douglas & McIntyre
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0888942818 |
Average customer rating:
|
Fear of Frying and Other Fax Of Life
Josh Freed
Manufacturer: Vehicule Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Essays
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Canada
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1550650572 |
Customer Reviews:
Perfect Toilet Reading.......2001-04-08
Perfect toilet reading though you will likely take it with you back to your easy chair. Freed is a gifted commentator. You really can't go wrong with this book if you are Canadian. His is an ironic fist in a velvet glove when writing on Quebec culture, the Canadian status quo and life (and death) in L.A.
It would be easy to say he is Montreal's Dave Barry but he may be the only Canadian who is currently writing legitimately funny stuff. Allan Fotheringham in MacLean's (who calls himself Dr. Foth), John/Joey Slinger in the Toronto Star (or just "Slinger"), another dude in Macleans (who is so hopeless I cannot remember his name) -- these guys don't cut it but Freed does.
Average customer rating:
|
Fear of Frying
James Barber
Manufacturer: Douglas & McIntyre
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GRNXXI |
Average customer rating:
|
fear of Frying
James Barber
Manufacturer: Douglas & McIntyre
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NPOLFM |
Book Description
Without doubt Lord Dunsany was one of the most influential writers of fantasy fiction in twentieth century. His fiction is an acknowledged influence on entire generations of writers, ranging from H.P. Lovecraft to James Branch Cabell, from Clark Ashton Smith to Lin Carter. Although many of his most famous stories are longer in length, the miniature portraits of Fifty-One Tales (originally published in 1915 and sometimes reprinted under the title The Food of Death) are an ideal introduction to Dunsany. Nowhere is the jewel-like quality of his prose more evident than in the short tales, seminal works which runs the gamut from whimsy to fantasy to social satire.
Download Description
Without doubt Lord Dunsany was one of the most influential writers of fantasy fiction in twentieth century. His fiction is an acknowledged influence on entire generations of writers, ranging from H.P. Lovecraft to James Branch Cabell, from Clark Ashton Smith to Lin Carter. Although many of his most famous stories are longer in length, the miniature portraits of Fifty-One Tales (originally published in 1915 and sometimes reprinted under the title The Food of Death) are an ideal introduction to Dunsany. Nowhere is the jewel-like quality of his prose more evident than in the short tales, seminal works which runs the gamut from whimsy to fantasy to social satire.
Customer Reviews:
Dunsany Was/Is *Amazing*.......2007-01-27
If you like Shakespeare - if you like Jack Vance - if you like Fritz Leiber - if you like Lovecraft - then buy *everything* you can find by Lord Dunsany. Frankly, I firmly believe that all of the above Literary Geniuses with the exception of Shakespeare were heavily influenced by Dunsany's works. I have almost everything he has published (some at great expence), and cannot think of one collection/novel/play that has not enhanced my life. Surely, he is one of the greatest authors of all time. I bought this book to replace a copy that was - er,
- *Permanently 'Borrowed'* by an (_ex_)friend of mine... Such is the power of the wordcraft Dunsany weaves: my former friend simply could not leave the book here, unfinished, after a visit. |:o[
Sparks from the master's hammer.......2006-07-31
Regrettably, claims--mainly but by no means exclusively made by valley-girl type teenyboppers--that this or that current fave doorstop-fantasy "writer" is "the all time greatest!!" make less jejune readers wary of "greatest" claims. Nonetheless, accepting that caveat, an excellent case can be made (and often is made by serious reviewers) that Lord Dunsany is the reigning master of fantasy literature.
This charming if miniscule collection--no tale over a few pages, some but one page, one but a single sentence (but oh, my what a telling sentence!)--is a non-stop delight, richly representative of Dunsany at the height of his powers. His language use is consummate, as is his ability to bounce from the comic to the moving and back again.
No literate home can do without much Dunsany on its bookshelves, and this book is a pleasant addition to that list. (One must presume that there were copyright-based reasons why this work was not included in the wonderful six-book Dunsany omnibus "Time and the Gods".)
Brief beauty.......2002-03-13
Lord Dunsany was a master of fantasy, who wrote even before Tolkien. And nobody has really written like him since. His works are often like mingled prose and poetry; sometimes they have a storyline, sometimes not. Sometimes they are fantasy, sometimes not ("Roses").
Many of the stories in this book are more like vignettes than true stories. Some, such as "Charon" and "The Death of Pan" are inspired by mythology. They star ghosts, heroes, dreaming kings, nameless poets, Time and Death. And all are written in Dunsany's dreamy prose, which momentarily causes the world to melt away and lets the reader see what he saw.
This is an amazing short story collection. Buy it and read one of the fifty-one every day.
Customer Reviews:
Short and sweet.......2006-08-01
Years before Tolkien ever wrote about hobbits, elves and magic rings, there were a few rare fantasy writers. One of the best of these early fantasists was Lord Dunsany, an Irish aristocrat who poured out his imagination into exotic, semi-mythic stories.
He only wrote relatively few novels and novellas, but loads of short stories. And "Fifty One Tales" compiles the shortest of those stories, often meditations on death, joy, life and time. They're less like short stories than long vignettes, but they are striking.
In this collection, Dunsany writes of sunken ships, of Fame's prediction to a young poet, the ghost of a workman, Death trying to frighten the legendary hero Odysseus, a king dreams of a beautiful queen who has been dead for forty years, and a Spanish pirate whose evil deeds mean that he isn't allowed to die.
There is some dark humour in these stories as well, such as when Time comes across a man "antiquing" a wooden chair, and is a bit put out that his work is being done unnaturally. "Charon" is perhaps the most striking of these: the ferrymen of the dead is told by a dead passenger that "I am the last," and finally breaks a smile.
Not many authors could have such an impact with such short stories. Most of them are less than a page long, and sometimes they only focus on a minute or two. Despite this, Dunsany's excellent use of words paints some very, very vivid pictures.
Usually Dunsany either made up his own legends, or sort of coopted vague Eastern myths as they were to the Victorians. "Fifty Tales" isn't quite the same; Greek mythology has a strong presence here, with Odysseus, Pan, Pegasus, Charon, Homer and Helen all either appearing or being referred to.
Dunsany always had an excellent command of language, and he does a great job with "grey and watchful mountains," "glaring factories," and a world being choked by modernity. In one story, flowers cry out: "Great engines rush over the beautiful fields, their ways lie hard and terrible up and down the land," and in another a poet cries out in sorrow because "the progress of modern commerce" has made his songs unwanted.
Bittersweet and beautifully written, these fifty-one short stories leave behind the impression of a magical land that has faded away. Though not Dunsany's best work, it's still a classic.
Average customer rating:
|
FIFTY-ONE TALES
LORD DUNSANY
Manufacturer: ELKIN MATTHEWS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SABIV2 |
Average customer rating:
|
FIFTY-ONE TALES
Lord Dunsany
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JF7V4E |
Average customer rating:
|
The Food of Death: Fifty-one Tales
Lord Dunsany
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0766193748 |
Book Description
A collection of stories by Lord Dunsany. Contents: The Assignation; Charon; The Death of Pan; The Sphinx at Gizeh; The Hen; Wind and Fog; The Raft-Builders; The Workman; The Guest; Death and Odysseus; Death and the Orange; The Prayer of the Flowers; Time and the Tradesman; The Little City; The Unpasturable Fields; The Worm and the Angel; The Songless Country; The Latest Thing; The Demagogue and the Demi-Monde; The Giant Poppy; and 31 more. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
Customer Reviews:
Short and sweet.......2005-10-24
Years before Tolkien ever wrote about hobbits, elves and magic rings, there were a few rare fantasy writers. One of the best of these early fantasists was Lord Dunsany, an Irish aristocrat who poured out his imagination into exotic, semi-mythic stories.
He only wrote relatively few novels and novellas, but loads of short stories. And "Fifty One Tales" compiles the shortest of those stories, often meditations on death, joy, life and time. They're less like short stories than long vignettes, but they are striking.
In this collection, Dunsany writes of sunken ships, of Fame's prediction to a young poet, the ghost of a workman, Death trying to frighten the legendary hero Odysseus, a king dreams of a beautiful queen who has been dead for forty years, and a Spanish pirate whose evil deeds mean that he isn't allowed to die.
There is some dark humour in these stories as well, such as when Time comes across a man "antiquing" a wooden chair, and is a bit put out that his work is being done unnaturally. "Charon" is perhaps the most striking of these: the ferrymen of the dead is told by a dead passenger that "I am the last," and finally breaks a smile.
Not many authors could have such an impact with such short stories. Most of them are less than a page long, and sometimes they only focus on a minute or two. Despite this, Dunsany's excellent use of words paints some very, very vivid pictures.
Usually Dunsany either made up his own legends, or sort of coopted vague Eastern myths as they were to the Victorians. "Fifty Tales" isn't quite the same; Greek mythology has a strong presence here, with Odysseus, Pan, Pegasus, Charon, Homer and Helen all either appearing or being referred to.
Dunsany always had an excellent command of language, and he does a great job with "grey and watchful mountains," "glaring factories," and a world being choked by modernity. In one story, flowers cry out: "Great engines rush over the beautiful fields, their ways lie hard and terrible up and down the land," and in another a poet cries out in sorrow because "the progress of modern commerce" has made his songs unwanted.
Bittersweet and beautifully written, these fifty-one short stories leave behind the impression of a magical land that has faded away. Though not Dunsany's best work, it's still a classic.
Average customer rating:
|
The Food of Death: Fifty-one Tales
Lord Dunsany
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1432601288 |
Book Description
A collection of stories by Lord Dunsany. Contents: The Assignation; Charon; The Death of Pan; The Sphinx at Gizeh; The Hen; Wind and Fog; The Raft-Builders; The Workman; The Guest; Death and Odysseus; Death and the Orange; The Prayer of the Flowers; Time and the Tradesman; The Little City; The Unpasturable Fields; The Worm and the Angel; The Songless Country; The Latest Thing; The Demagogue and the Demi-Monde; The Giant Poppy; and 31 more. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
Average customer rating:
|
One Hundred Fifty-One Folk Tales of India
Kanwarjit Singh
Manufacturer: South Asia Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Folklore | Mythology | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Mythology | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 8120201809 |
Average customer rating:
|
Tales of the Wolf: Fifty-One Stories of Wolf Encounters in the Wild
Manufacturer: Homestead Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Dogs | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Mythology | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Dogs & Wolves | Animals | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Mammals | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 094397240X |
Books:
- Figure of Hate (Crowner John Mysteries)
- Flesh Wounds: The Culture of Cosmetic Surgery
- Forever and Five Days (Zebra Books)
- Four and Twenty Blackbirds
- From Here to Paternity (Jane Jeffry Mystery Series #6)
- Germanicus Mosaic (Libertus Mystery Series)
- Grayson
- Hell Hath No Fury: A True Story of Wealth and Passion, Love and Envy, and a Woman Driven to the Ultimate Revenge (St. Martin's True Crime Library)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- Wall Street Meat: My Narrow Escape from the Stock Market Grinder
- The Cat Who Went Up the Creek
- The Alzheimer's Health Care Handbook: How to Get the Best Medical Care for Your Relative with Alzhei
- The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers
- Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics, 2nd Edition
- Victory at Yorktown: The Campaign That Won the Revolution
- 1-2-3 Draw Cartoon Wildlife: A Step-By-Step Guide
- Sitting Bull and His World
- Sharp Mental Fragments
The Merchant of Menace (Jane Jeffry Mystery Series #10)
War and Peas (Jane Jeffry Mystery Series #8)
Silence of the Hams (Jane Jeffry Mystery Series #7)
A Groom with a View (Jane Jeffry Mystery Series #11)
From Here to Paternity (Jane Jeffry Mystery Series #6)
