Book Description
A detailed description of Antoni Gaudí - the man and his work
Wherever they go, anyone who visits Barcelona today will come across the works of Antoni Gaudí - the architect who has attracted art-lovers from all over the world to Spain. It was here, in the capital of Catalonia, that the famous master of architecture produced nearly all of his works. Villas for the well-to-do bourgeoisie, the expansive Güell Park (which today is open to the public), and the famous church designed in honour of the Holy Family - a project which was begun over 100 years ago and has yet to be completed.
Antoni Gaudí's life was full of contradictions. As a young man he joined the Catalonian nationalist movement and was critical of the church; toward the end of his life he devoted himself completely to the construction of one single church. As a young man Gaudí had a liking for the glamour of social life and the looks of a dandy; in old age, on the other hand, he lived a spartan life.
Antoni Gaudí never married and devoted his life entirely to his art - architecture. His works have been acclaimed as "soothing oases in a desert of functional buildings", as "precious gems in the uniform grey of rows of houses," and the master himself was acclaimed as the "Dante of architecture".
This book provides a detailed description of Gaudí the man and his work. The complete works are documented in a wide range of colour photos.
Book Description
Antoni Gaudi is celebrated as one of the most important architects of the early 20th century. His unbelievable Art Nouveau buildings were marked by their whimsical design and fantastic details. While much has been written on this extraordinary figure, Living Gaudi is one of the few books to consider his gardens, parks and residential projects as a body of work, and one of the few to particularly focus on his designs for interior furnishings, which were part and parcel of his overall vision for a building. This littleknown aspect of his work is surveyed in this book with stunning photography and exquisite detail. The volume also includes a selection of the architect's own writings, which give the reader a revealing look at his incomparable genius. Complete with archival photographs and more than 150 full-color contemporary photographs, Gaudi's amazing talent is revealed in this landmark work.
Average customer rating:
- Makes Gaudi's Works come alive!
- Worthwhile despite some flaws
- A fabulous book despite the errors
- With two rulers and a chord one generates all architecture
- Well, okay, yes, but
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Gaudi: A Biography
Gijs Van Hensbergen
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
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Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudi, Miro, Dali
ASIN: 0060935634
Release Date: 2003-11-04 |
Amazon.com
The sinuous forms and lavish decorations of Antonio Gaudí (1852-1926) broke the mold in architecture. "His imagination burnt holes through the musty pattern books," writes Gijs van Hensbergen. "His gift was an amazing capacity to imagine a building and then transform it into reality." Gaudí's fantastical creations give Barcelona an appearance unlike any other city in the world. One of the paradoxes that informs his many-layered biography is that this most original of architects was politically conservative and profoundly Catholic, fired by the desire to celebrate the history and culture of his native Catalonia. Hensbergen, author of books on art deco and travel in Spain, devotes a good deal of his book to situating Gaudí's life and thought within the context of Catalonian traditions, particularly the 19th-century Renaixença, which sought to revive the region's language (Catalan) and to affirm its national identity against the Spanish government's desire to absorb it. He surrounds Gaudí, too often depicted as an isolated eccentric, with the friends and patrons who shared his vision, illuminating the architect's impact both within Catalonia and beyond its borders. (Admirers included the surrealists, whose atheism and radicalism were anathema to Gaudí.) Detailed knowledge of Gaudí's leisurely, wickedly expensive working methods and the complex use he made of previous architectural traditions gives us a better understanding of the unique nature of his genius, while Hensbergen's obvious (though not uncritical) affection for his subject as a man helps us appreciate "an extraordinarily creative and religiously charged life." --Wendy Smith
Book Description
At the time of his death in 1926, Antoni Gaudí was arguably the most famous architect in the world. He had created some of the greatest and most controversial masterpieces of modern architecture, which were as exotic as they were outrageous. But little is known about the shadowy figure behind the swirling, vivid buildings that inspired the Surrealists.
This masterful biography brings both man and architect powerfully to life against the changing backdrop of Barcelona and Catalonia. Gijs van Hensbergen leads us through the design and construction of Gaudí's most significant buildings -- revealing their innovation and complexity, and demonstrating the growing relevance of Gaudí's architecture today.
Customer Reviews:
Makes Gaudi's Works come alive!.......2007-01-31
I have been obessed with Gaudi from the first minute I landed in Spain a month ago. I have been to msot of his major works and am finding my way to his lesser. This book has been an amazing companion to the journey. It is amazing to sit and read about Park Guell while sitting in Park Guell. The author gives you the entire story of each work, and the social, political, and economical contexts that surrounded Gaudi's works and life. I read the book at fast I as could and now am reading it again. If you want to learn not just about Gaudi but the Modernisme movement and the socio-politics of turn-of-the-century Spain, there is no better book than this one.
Worthwhile despite some flaws.......2004-10-21
I recently finished two architectural biographies, Gijs Van Hensbergen's volume on Antoni Gaudi, and Libeskind's book on himself. Neither is especially well-written (Libeskind's is especially dull), but the situation begged comparison. In Van Hensbergen's hands, Gaudi comes across (like his architecture) as generous and spirited, whereas Libeskind (who chose to write about himself) comes across as self-centered and disrespectful. Gaudi's life was spiritually motivated and this was reflected in his deeply moving architecture; Libeskind also pontificates, but it doesn't ring true, and when I was told he used another architect to design his home, it made me wonder how sincere he really is about the ideas he sells to clients. Gaudi was a quiet, humble and modest man; Libeskind is a braggart who writes about developers, other architects and even his clients, with venom and disdain. Gaudi's architecture remains popular a century later; much of Libeskind's work is hated before it is built. I would like to have known Gaudi, but by the end of Libeskind's book, I feel glad not to have met this petty and selfish man. Van Hensbergen's account, despite its flaws, is a welcome addition to the limited accounts of Gaudi's life that are available in English. It is also a refreshing read about a time when architecture was a civic art and beautification for a common good was the norm. Libeskind's book is the worst kind of indulgent self-promotion and I could not recommend it to anyone.
A fabulous book despite the errors.......2003-11-16
Gaudi, perhaps one of the most important architects of the 20th century, has long been in need of a good account of his life and works. This book finally fills the gap in scholarship surrounding Gaudi.
Gaudi was a Catalan from Barcelona. He sculpted the famous La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell and a few other works including an apartment building. He was a modernist and his buildings frequently appeared alive, as if from some fantastical dream, crawling, moving, fluid. He was a genius, on par with Goya(who lived a century before and was a painter). This is a wonderful account of the life and times of Guadi. It explorers his passionate faith and his obsessive qualities. It also looks at his unique designs and revolutionary ideas while exploring the cataclysms and social movements which shook Spain from 1900-1940. A important addition to any collection and of interest to anyone who enjoys art and architecture
With two rulers and a chord one generates all architecture.......2003-02-27
My title is a quote from Gaudi himself and it is only something a genius could say. Like Bach claiming his work was 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. What clearly comes through in this book is that Gaudi was an extraordinary man - a creator of unique structures and visions.
I have always felt a fascination with things that seem to have some unexpected, almost alien, aspect to them. In architecture this includes the temples at Angkor and the Hindu temples of India; are these the works of humankind? So it is with Gaudi. Where are the precursors? Where are the followers? Perhaps there are no followers because what he did was so exceptional no-one dares takes the same path. And then there is the man Gaudi as described in this book - he is no less alien; banishing intimacy with women from his life, being absorbed in catholicism, following a rigorous vegetarian diet. I didn't want speculation - I hate that in biographies - but I would have liked more information. For example, why was Gaudi a vegetarian - was it a religious tenet he was following, was it a moral one, was it health-driven?
Other reviewers have been disturbed by Mr Hensbergens command of the English language. This did not offend me. Perhaps the paperback version I am reviewing had been further edited. But I did find the book slow to capture my attention. Perhaps it was Gaudi and not the prose that finally engaged me - but engaged I was. Another feature that initially annoyed me was the placing of the four sections of illustrations. It seemed to me that I was forever hunting for an illustration for the text I was reading. But by the end of the biography this didn't offend me at all; in fact I grew to love hunting back and forth through the illustrations because as I did so I grew to know Gaudi's architecture better and better.
Well, okay, yes, but.......2002-04-15
I agree with most of what the reader from Buffalo says about this book: "Poorly written, haphazardly organized and indifferently edited, Gaudi is painful to read and does very little to improve ones understanding of the subject."
The book IS painful to read, if you love the English language. On the other hand, if you are able to laugh about bad writing, there are quite a few chuckles in the book. For example, van Hensbergen tells us about Graner's demon automaton in his cinema threatening customers with death, and comments: "This was rounded off by realising, after queuing patiently for one of the two ticket booths, that the usher was a dummy." I love the shift from the passive "was rounded off," which points to Graner's plan, to the ticket-buyer's active-voice subjectivity in "realising." Grammatically, of course, it's garbage. Imagistically, though, it's a kind of inspired madness not unlike the idea of a demon automaton itself.
Van Hensbergen's inadequate command of English grammar provides a constant source of humor. "This was the first time a nation - Catalonia - had connected into the history of a much wider Western culture." He means, of course, that it was the first time Catalonia had connected with that history, a broad but at least defensible claim; but of course what he says is that it was the first time a NATION had done so, which is just plain funny.
Here's another one that I love: "Built up in the Colserolla foothills on the slopes of Mont Tibidabo, Gaudi looked to the mediaeval Christian fort and the Moorish fortified hisn complex of Al-Andalus for his inspiration." I KNEW Gaudi wasn't born, but fashioned out of pipe cleaners and lizard scales, up on the slopes of Tibidabo! Van Hensbergen apparently believes that it's enough to mention the actual referent of "built" in the previous sentence: Bellesguard.
But my all-time favorite comes in the third line of the book: "Gaudi, Barcelona and Catalonia were, and still are, eternally intertwined." For sheer malapropist grace, that one is hard to beat. He means "integrally intertwined," of course. He just doesn't care enough about words to notice that "eternally" and "were, and still are" are mutually exclusive. But look at the economy of that oxymoron! The verbs give us the localized temporal reference, which is contradicted by the universalized adverb. And look at the cumulative effect of the verbs: WERE (and are no longer), and STILL ARE (for a while). He could have written "have always been eternally intertwined," but he didn't. It would have been much less powerful that way. The book isn't just badly written. Here and there it reveals a ubiquitous FLAIR for bad writing. (See, I tried to replicate van Hensbergen's oxymoron with spatial reference, and didn't do it nearly as well!)
The fair thing to say about van Hensbergen's atrocious writing is that he's Dutch, so give him a break. YOU try and write a book in a foreign language, Mr. Reader from Buffalo, see how far YOU get! The real culprits here are the editorial staff at HarperCollins. This isn't exactly a fly-by-night publishing operation. They should hire copyeditors to fix the kind of absurdities van Hensbergen's book is full of. But they're so busy saving money that they don't care. The book reads like van Hensbergen's first draft -- as if nobody else ever looked at it before it was typeset.
Still, I have to disagree with the reader from Buffalo on the book's ultimate value. True, we need more books on Gaudi. But this one is still useful, especially for someone like me who is planning a novel on Gaudi. Every other book available on Gaudi in English is 200 color plates and a brief and fairly pious biography; van Hensbergen has done an enormous amount of research into Gaudi's LIFE. And yes, you have to laugh or grit your teeth at the bad English, but it is pure unadulterated Romantic genius-worship to claim with the Buffalo reader that "an understanding of Catalanism with its piety, spiritualism, chauvinist patriotism and family values," while "helpful to understanding Gaudi's life," is "not essential to appreciating his work. Antoni Gaudi was a genius. Works of genius communicate themselves. That is all you really need to know admire and love Gaudi's designs."
If you are determined to treat Gaudi as an untouchable genius whose life is irrelevant to his work, don't read this book. If you kind of enjoy discovering that artistic geniuses are actually human, and fallible, and not a little neurotic, and if you aren't too fastidious with the English language, it's well worth the read.
Average customer rating:
- Exquisite Alien Architecture
- Exquisite Alien Architecture
- Excellent introduction for the amateur enthusiast
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Antoni Gaudi (Big Art)
Rainer Zerbst
Manufacturer: Benedikt Taschen Verlag
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 3822870773 |
Customer Reviews:
Exquisite Alien Architecture.......2000-06-20
No one who has ever ranted at the unimaginative architectural desert of any given major city of the world can resist the sheer originality and genius of Antoni Gaudi. Barcelona must be the luckiest city in the world!
The book gives a brief introduction to the life of the artist (including the tragic way he died), but the bulk of the book focuses on his major works, from his first commission, the tile palace Casa Vicens to the famous still unfinished Sagrada Familia. Beautiful photographs of interiors as well as exteriors are supported by a descriptive prose. What I enjoyed most were the details of furniture, specially designed fittings (stained glass windows, lamps, tiles) and of course the colourful mosaics which feature on several projects. And what Gaudi does with the arch structure is truly reverent!
The only other artist I know of who does such amazing things with building forms is Hundertwasser - but I think it is clear that Gaudi's formal architectural training has given his designs an edge of superiority. He plays with form and structure with incredible confidence, and the results are not just interesting for their novelty, but also that this 'art' is actually practical, and amazingly conforms to the laws of physics!
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to vicariously enjoy the beauty and innovation of Gaudi. It can serve as a reminder for those lucky enough to have seen the buildings - and for the rest of us, another reason to visit Barcelona in the future.
Exquisite Alien Architecture.......2000-06-20
No one who has ever ranted at the unimaginative architectural desert of any given major city of the world can resist the sheer originality and genuis of Antoni Gaudi. Barcelona must be the luckiest city in the world!
The book gives a brief introduction to the life of the artist (including the tragic way he died), but the bulk of the book focuses on his major works, from his first commission, the tile palace Casa Vicens to the famous still unfinished Sagrada Familia. Beautiful photographs of interiors as well as exteriors are supported by a descriptive prose. What I enjoyed most were the details of furniture, specially designed fittings (stained glass windows, lamps, tiles) and of course the colourful mosaics which feature on several projects. And what Gaudi does with the arch structure is truly reverant!
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to vicariously enjoy the beauty and innovation of Gaudi. It can serve as a reminder for those lucky enough to have seen the buildings - and for the rest of us, another reason to visit Barcelona in the future.
Excellent introduction for the amateur enthusiast.......1999-10-19
I visited Barcelona this summer on a day trip from our family holiday in Costa Dorada. I was drawn mainly by the opportunity to see first hand the amazing works of art by Antoni Gaudi which I had heard about since childhood. I was not disappointed and my wife and kids loved it too. I just didn't have enough time to see everything I wanted to, so when I came home I wanted to buy a book with great photos and a bit of explanation for the layman. This book certainly does that although as a layman I don't know what serious students of architecture would make of it
Average customer rating:
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Antoni Gaudi (Modern Masters)
Juan Jose Lahuerta
Manufacturer: Phaidon Press
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Gaudi of Barcelona
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Living Gaudi
ASIN: 1904313205 |
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Gaudi: Architect and Artist (Temporis Collection)
Jeremy Roe
Manufacturer: Parkstone Press
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Barcelona The Great Enchantress (Directions)
ASIN: 1859959245 |
Book Description
Spanish architect and designer, Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) was an important and influential figure in the history of contemporary Spanish art. His use of colour, application of a range of materials and the introduction of organic forms into his constructions were an innovation in the realm of architecture. In his journal, Gaudi freely expressed his own feelings on art, "the colours used in architecture have to be intense, logical and fertile." His completed works (the Casa Batllo, 1905-1907 and the Casa Mila, 1905-1910) and his incomplete works (the restoration of the Poblet Monastery and the Retable d'Alella in Barcelona) illustrate the importance of this philosophy. His furniture designs were conceived with the same philosophy, as shown, for example, in his own office (1878) or the lamps in the Placa Reial in Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia (1882-1926) was a monumental project which eventually took over his life (it was still incomplete at the time of his death).
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Antoni Gaudi: La arquitectura de la naturaleza (100 Personajes)
Claudia Vargas
Manufacturer: Panamericana Editorial
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ASIN: 9583014230 |
Product Description
Una de las principales figures dela arquitectura española de finales del siglo XIX y principios de XX. Autor de obras de inigualable belleza como la Casa Milá o el Park Guell, Gaundí siempre srá recordado por la obra cumber de su carrera: el Templo Expiatorio dela Sagrada Familia, una costrucción colosal e inacabada en la que están condensados todos los principios que guiaron su interesante proceso creativo.
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Gaudi 2002 Miscelanea: Miscelanea
Antoni Saudi , and
Aa. Vv
Manufacturer: Planeta Pub Corp
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ASIN: 8408043323 |
Book Description
Abigail worked hard for a living. And she expected to go on earning her own living for no man had shown signs of wanting to marry her—least of all the mysterious Professor Dominic van Wijkelen. Certainly he admired her nursing skills. He confidently asked her to take on his private cases, which took Abigail from London to Holland then Spain. But all he seemed to feel for her was intense dislike! Did Dominic not trust women? Was she too plain? Whatever the reason, there was little Abigail could do about it.
Customer Reviews:
Saturday's Child Works Hard for a Living... (5+ stars).......2007-03-07
Book Description: Abigail worked hard for a living. And she expected to go on earning her own living for no man had shown signs of wanting to marry her--least of all the mysterious Professor Dominic van Wijkelen. Certainly he admired her nursing skills. He confidently asked her to take on his private cases, which took Abigail from London to Holland then Spain. But all he seemed to feel for her was intense dislike! Did Dominic not trust women? Was she too plain? Whatever the reason, there was little Abigail could do about it.
This is Betty Neels at her best. Dominic van Wijkelen is the usual rich, handsome Dutch Doctor and Abigail Trent is the usual plain, hardworking British Nurse; however, their characters are not quite the norm; they are slightly more intense than usual. Dominic appears arrogant, abrasive, and at times gives the impression that he dislikes Abigail - immensely. Abigail is independent, works hard, and has no family other than her good friend Bollinger. Dominic epitomizes "once bitten twice shy" and does not want to feel anything for Abigail other than respect for her nursing abilities. He fights his attraction to her, wants to find her lacking in character, thereby assisting him in his struggle to keep her from getting emotionally close to him. Abigail knows that Dominic dislikes her; she sees it when he looks at her. He would never be interested in her because she's plain. This Neels story, with the usual misunderstandings, image issues, and obstacles, is about two strong characters who suffered difficult or painful pasts with a glimpse of what made them who and what they are. They work hard for their living, but are they willing to work hard for a future that is more than a lonely existence?
Dominic & Abigail appear in "Stars Through The Mist" & "The Gemel Ring"
Betty Neels at her best.......2004-04-24
Abigail Trent is a private duty nurse who, having lost her home since her father passed away, travels from one job to another, staying with her patients. She has decided, very early in life, that she is too plain for any man to want to marry her, so she decides to concentrate on her career. Then, she meets Dr. Dominic van Wijkelen while she is nursing an American woman in Holland. Dr. van Wijkelen is often cynical and impatient with Abigail. However, he also thinks highly of her as a nurse, always requesting her for his cases. But Abigail wonders if he will ever appreciate her as a woman....
I think this is one of Betty Neels's best books. Abigail is a strong heroine and an excellent nurse. This story also covers a wider geographical range than most of Ms. Neels' books, (which usually only are set in England and the Netherlands). Abigail's travels take her across Europe, particularly when she and Dominic are driving his small niece from Spain to Holland in order for the child to have an operation in Dominic's hospital. Dominic's occasionally snappish personality is offset by his obvious regard for Abigail's professional capabilities. This book is well worth reading by fans of both romance books and Betty Neels.
A "Saturday's Child" myself............2002-11-09
From the Cover: Abigail was a true 'Saturday's Child'; she worked very hard for her living. And it looked like she could expect to go on earning her own living, for no one seemed to be in any great hurry to marry her - least of all Dominic van Wijkelen, who admired her as a nurse but who seemed to have no personal feeling for her at all - except dislike!
This was a GREAT Betty Neels book! Abigail and Dominic are featured in several other of her books about tall, handsome doctors and the plain-faced nurses who really aren't so plain after all. Locations changed rather frequently for a "Betty book", and we get to see a little of Spain, France and Belgium in addition to the regular England/Holland journey. Good reading! I highly recommend this one!
A "Saturday's Child" myself............2002-11-09
From the Cover: Abigail was a true 'Saturday's Child'; she worked very hard for her living. And it looked like she could expect to go on earning her own living, for no one seemed to be in any great hurry to marry her - least of all Dominic van Wijkelen, who admired her as a nurse but who seemed to have no personal feeling for her at all - except dislike!
This was a GREAT Betty Neels book! Abigail and Dominic are featured in several other of her books about tall, handsome doctors and the plain-faced nurses who really aren't so plain after all. Locations changed rather frequently for a "Betty book", and we get to see a little of Spain, France and Belgium in addition to the regular England/Holland journey. Good reading! I highly recommend this one!
Amazon.com
Robin Morgan's brisk yet reflective memoir has all of the political and personal bite that you'd expect from someone who came out of the New Left to join the militant wing of the women's movement. It's written also with the elegance and formidable recollection of physical and emotional details that distinguish her poetry (Monster) and fiction (Dry Your Smile). And it contains a marvelously evocative rendering of what it was like to be a child star in 1940s radio ("The Little Robin Morgan Show") and 1950s television (Dagmar on "Mama") In short, there's little that this remarkable woman hasn't experienced and/or written about. Here, she goes lightly over the heady years of resurgent feminism (covered more fully in Sisterhood Is Powerful and Going Too Far), and concentrates instead on exploring less public areas of her life: her fraught relationship with her mother, who managed the performing career that young Robin didn't want, really; her single meeting with the father who abandoned them (described with a refreshing lack of sentimentality); her unconventional marriage to Kenneth Pitchford, which produced a beloved son and endured for more than 20 years, despite Pitchford's homosexuality; and her two long-term relationships with women. Naturally, there are political insights throughout (the first, expressed in a diary entry when Robin was eight), and Morgan chronicles at some length her ongoing engagement in the struggle for international women's rights. But she takes the time here to let us know the woman behind the causes more comprehensively than in her previous nonfiction; and, because she seems as self-aware as she is smart, it's a pleasure to make her further acquaintance. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
The fascinating narrative of an amazing life: from child TV star to poet and feminist activist. Robin Morgan is known as a prize-winning author, a political theorist, and a founder of the contemporary women's movement. But these adult accomplishments eclipsed an earlier fame. "Saturday's child has to work for a living," and Morgan has--since the age of two. She was a tot model, had her own radio show at age four, and was a child star on television, including on the popular series "Mama." Unlike most child actors, she emerged to reinvent a life filled with literary achievement and constructive politics. Here Morgan tells the whole story--the years as a child so famous she was named "The Ideal American Girl," her fight to become a serious writer, marriage to a fiery bisexual poet, motherhood, lovers (male and female), and decades working on civil rights, the radical underground, and global feminism. This is the intensely personal, behind-the-scenes story of her life.
Customer Reviews:
Impossible to put down . . ........2002-08-24
I picked up Morgan's "Saturday's Child" because I remembered her fondly from her acting days on "I Remember Mama," and I wanted to learn more about how she evolved from a child actress to a feminist activist. But I got more, much more. Full of insights, suspense, and wit, "Saturday's Child" captures
the many lives of Robin Morgan, all of them more vivid than fiction. But be careful not to start this book when you have miles to go or promises to keep because it's impossible to put down. Consider yourself warned!
meet a marvelous and funny woman.......2000-12-05
If you ever doubted that the personal and political are intertrwined, Robin Morgan's new book shows that they form a dramatic and dynamic interplay in her amazing life. It is a gripping story of a brave and funny and tenacious child-turned-woman who sees the world with the clarity of a great novelist and the sensitivity of the poet she is. But you don't have to read it for any of these high-falutin reasons. It's just a wonderful read and a juicy story.
A wonderful book on a wonderful life.......2000-11-28
Wow. Morgan survived child stardom but didn't become an alcoholic crazy; she took out her rebellion in progressive activism (civil rights, feminism) and saved her soul through a passion for language. It's very evident here that she's a first-rate poet--yet also capable of writing this friendly, funny, unpretentious, vulnerable, personal, and wise memoir. With sex,too! And high-grade gossip--about behind-the-scenes TV lives, the feminist movement, and the literary world. I confess that I LOVED every word.
Book Description
Saturday's Child is a raw, gritty urban contemporary love story with many surprising plot twists and turns.
What's love got to do with it? Not a damn thing as far as Sara Livingston can see. Girlfriend has serious attitude. Life and love have not been kind. The last thing on her mind is getting into yet another doomed relationship. Sara's got too many other things to deal with in her life to even think about love, like a boss she can't stand, sisters who still treat her like a child, a co-worker that could go postal at any moment and a friend tottering on the brink of destruction. Nor can she forget the loser-from-hell who she's still technically married to but has not seen in three years, so by default, she considers herself a single mother. Still, when her best friend introduces her to not one, but two men, things turn upside down for Sara. First she meets Franklin, a complex brother who says he's looking for a good woman and a chance in life. But she wonders what he's really after. Next, she meets Theo, a widower, who, although seemingly nice enough, has a mistrustful daughter, a resentful teenage son, and is still grieving for his wife of twenty years. Sara feels he may have more baggage than she does. However, both men will impact Sara's life in ways she never imagined. One teaches her the true meaning of love and one teaches her the terror of obsession. When a vicious tragedy strikes, will Sara try to handle it by herself, as usual, or will she lean on the love of a lifetime to help her survive it?
Customer Reviews:
Could not put the book down!!!.......2006-11-16
This is a true love story at its best! I fell in love with Sara and Theo. Their relationship was so realistic, it wasn't filled with a bunch of fluff, but real life relationship issues. I just loved how Jackson Sloan depict Theo. Too many times our men are viewed in a negative light in urban literature. You know the typical drug dealer, pimp, abuser, or unemployed black male.
The main character, Sara, for me represented the strength and tenacity of the African American woman. Although life repeatedly and unexpectedly threw her curve balls, knocking her off her square, she always bounced back and kept on stepping.
If you want to read a book that you can't put down, a book that will have you laughing one minute, crying the next, and then ready to hurt somebody, then Saturday's Child is it!
First Taste and I was Hooked.......2006-06-25
I'm just getting around to reviewing this book although I read it a while back when it was a self-published book. It was a fast read that had me involved with Sara's life from the first page. She was so real and around the way that I could totally relate to her. Bad men and regrets happen to many women, but it's how you cope with it that counts. At first I didn't think Sara was going to pull out of her funk and I was going to be disappointed, but the ending was very satisfying.
An Enjoyable read.......2006-05-23
For some reason the first paragraph of Saturday's Child grabbed me and pulled me in and from that point there was no letting go. Sloan did a good job of describing things so that I could imagine them in my mind. I could feel the emotions of the main character, she had me laughing and even crying with her. There were also some shocking moments I didn't expect that made me have to take a step back. Something about the writing just seemed to get to me (in a good way) and it was a beautiful story. One that you won't forget.
AWESOME. AWESOME STORY.......2006-01-23
I absolutely loved this book! The story, the emotions were so real. Sloan is an author who really knows how to tell a story. I could really identify with the main character Sara, and the things she was going through in her life.
Don't sleep on this author because if you do, you will be missing out on some great novels! Saturday's Child has become one of my all-time favorite books.
Saturday's Child.......2004-09-07
The obstacles of overcoming problems was written with such faith & strength. It gives hope to those to know that there is someone for everyone.
Powerful book! One can feel the emotions of each character.
I met the author at the Harlem Book Fair (2004)and glad I bought her book and was not disappointed.
Product Description
Saturday's child works hard for a living. But Brynne didn't have to work hard at acting out her role on the set of "Saturday's Child," Hollywood's hottest soap opera. She just remembered the cruel kiss-off from Jarrod Hunt, the superstar who had broken her heart. The scene she was playing real...until she looked beyond the cameras.
Average customer rating:
- The PI Novel brought up-to-date
|
Saturday's Child
Ray Banks
Manufacturer: Polygon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 1904598781 |
Customer Reviews:
The PI Novel brought up-to-date.......2007-04-04
Ray Banks makes me want to give up on writing. I hate him, but I want more. Lucky for me, that's going to happen soon.
Average customer rating:
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American Masonick Record and Albany Saturday Magazine. vols. 2#18, 25, 41, 16, 24, 26, 27, 30, 34, 35, 39, 42-49; 3#2, 4-5, 11-12, 19-20, 23-34, 36-42, 45, 47
E. B. Child
Manufacturer: Albany: [E. B. Child]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OWGAK8 |
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