History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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Is this really Italy?
Charming!
Review from Buyer
Ciao Bambino
Have child will travel!

CIAO BAMBINO!: A Child's Tour of Italy
Danna Troncatty Leahy
Manufacturer: AuthorHouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1420800825

Book Description

Enjoy a tour of Italy through a child's scrapbook. Whether you are planning to travel abroad with your children or simply to expose them to foreign countries, Ciao Bambino! will provide a starting point. Your children will discover differences and similarities between Italy and home, while sharing a young boy's vacation to Italy with his bear companion. Bonus, you may learn a few Italian words and novelties on the adventure. For more information on traveling abroad with small children, please visit www.ciaobambino.com or call 1-866-802-0300.

Customer Reviews:

Is this really Italy?.......2007-01-29

I don't know if I was more disappointed or angered at this little insignificant but dangerous book. The contents has very little to do with what children, who travel to Italy, will ever encounter. What I find it does is continue the negative strereotyping of the Italians. Really! No one stomps on grapes and a child who will visit a farm in Italy will hardly see such outdated stereotypical occurrences. Can food be the only thing one would like of Italy? Of course, since the book failed to explain what other things of wonder a child might see. I bought this for my grandchildren, as sadly there are very few book on Italy with some italian words. I returned the book because I would NEVER introduce Italy to my grandchildren this way. A very expensive book that perpatuates outdated images. Poor job.

Charming!.......2006-02-23

What a wonderful introduction for young children to the Italian culture and language -- not to mention the notion of international travel in general! My daughter (4 yrs old at the time of purchase) loved it - particularly the opportunity to learn the Italian words. For a fairly short book (which I think is a good thing for young children) there are actually quite a few Italian vocabulary words presented in a fun, engaging way. The illustrations are charming and sweet.

Review from Buyer.......2006-02-10

I am an American of Italian descent and proud of my heritage. I purchased Ciao Bambino! to read to my grandchildren, Gianna and Dante. It's an excellent introduction to simple Italian words. Nicki"
Date: 7/21/2005 Rated by Buyer: nicki_filipponi

Ciao Bambino.......2005-11-29

We were so disappointed with this book that we returned it. For the price, it's a very thin book - only 30 pages. For preparing a child for a trip to Italy, the illustrations were especially disppointing. Only a few offered images of what might be seen in Italy. Most of the others were generic illustrations that could have been set anywhere, such as a child and his stuffed bear eating a pizza, the circle of a flashlight beam on the pavement.

Have child will travel!.......2004-11-24

What a refreshing idea in children's books! Parents of small children now have a resource to prepare their child for travel, which will help the little vacationer better connect with and understand where they are headed. The beautifull watercolor illustrations add to this highly engaging story as the child learns about the Italian language recognizing, colors, numbers and common speach. Included at the end of the book is a glossary of all the new words for both child and parent reference. If you are headed out on a family vacation, or have friends taking off, this little book is a great traveller. I still read it to my three year old at bedtime. Hopefully there will be more books from Danna Troncatty Leahy in the future.

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Federico Fellini

Manufacturer: Rizzoli International Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0847818780
Release Date: 1995-07-15

Book Description

This is the first detailed appraisal of Federico Fellini's universe. Collected here, in addition to a biography and filmography, is a wealth of previously unpublished material allowing a detailed and often personal view of the master of cinema.

Published for the first time in these pages are the texts for four films Fellini never made, complete with sketches and notes; and the director's correspondence with other filmmakers, artists, and famous writers. Fellini's descriptions of his dreams, accompanied by splendid drawings, allow a glimpse of the subconscious world that contributed so much to the creation of his films. His comic strips of unmade films provide an intriguing account of his activity in the last years of his life. The filmography is illustrated with posters, sketches, and stills from all of Fellini's masterpieces - including his best-loved La Strada, 8 1/2, The Clowns, La Dolce Vita, Roma, Amarcord, and La Voce Della Luna.

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scholarly classic in its field is stimulating and very readable

Italian Film in the Light of Neorealism
Millicent Marcus
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0691102082

Customer Reviews:

scholarly classic in its field is stimulating and very readable.......2001-01-14

ITALIAN FILM IN THE LIGHT OF NEOREALISM contains essays on seventeen Italian films, released between 1945 and 1982, which are either Neorealist classics or demonstrate the influence of Neorealism on Italian films made after the movement (7 yrs. duration, according to Marcus) ended. Marcus strikes a fine balance of theory, literary criticism, history, and readability. The book is an informative and stimulating companion to several of the finest Italian films, and several classics of international cinema.
The essays are on the following films: Part I: Neorealism Proper: Open City (d. Rossellini) ; Bicycle Thief (d. De Sica); Bitter Rice (d. De Santis); Umberto D. (d. De Sica) / Part II: Transitions Bread, Love, and Fantasy (d. Comencini); La Strada (d. Fellini); Senso (d. Visconti); Red Desert (d. Antonioni) / Part III: Return to Social Commentary: Il Posto (d. Olmi); Seduced and Abandoned (d. Germi); Teorema (d. Pasolini); Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (d. Petri) / Part IV: Fascism and War Reconsidered The Conformist (d. Bertolucci); Love and Anarchy (d. Wertmuller); Christ Stopped at Eboli (d. Rosi); Night of the Shooting Stars (d. Paolo and Vittorio Taviani); We All Loved Each Other So Much (d. Scola).

[back cover: Millicent Marcus is Associate Professor in the Department of French and Italian at the University of Texas, Austin] Marcus was until recently at the University of Pennsylvania, and is now at Yale. The latest DVD editions of CINEMA PARADISO (released 2006) sport her excellent feature length commentary, accompanied here and there by director Giuseppe Tornatore. She makes a brief appearance on a supplement on the MALENA DVD (d. Giuseppe Tornatore), and more recently gives a brief historical background to Visconti's THE LEOPARD (Criterion Collection DVD, supplement). "NEOREALISM" is my favorite book by Marcus, and if you find you enjoy this title, check out her other work as well; the most recent is AFTER FELLINI.

P.S. Most of the films listed above are available on Region 1 DVD (U.S. & Canada coding). Some of them are out of circulation, and some are on Region 2 release. Region 2 DVDs are great for students of Italian who may not get catch the too-fast dialogue through listening comprehension, but can read the Italian-language subtitles usually available on Region 2 (Europe) DVDs of Italian films. [...]

Sergio Leone: Something to Do With Death

Average customer rating:

Where was this 30 odd years ago?
Leone is God, and this is the Bible
Masterful biography
Brilliant
All You Need to Know About Spaghetti

Sergio Leone: Something to Do With Death
Christopher Frayling
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0571164382

Book Description

The first biography of the Italian director who reinvented the film Western with his series of "spaghetti" westerns.

The Italian film director Sergio Leone reinvented the American Western with his movie A Fistful of Dollars, a spare reworking of Akira Kurosawa's Japanese outlaw drama Yojimbo transferred to the Texas-Mexican border. In doing so, Leone also created a new kind of Western protagonist--silent, mysterious, morally ambiguous--and found a new star to embody this new archetype: Clint Eastwood.

Leone's entire life pointed toward his reinvention of the American Western: he grew up during the Nazi occupation of Italy, a period in which he saw terrible parallels to the traditional Western. When he was in a position to direct his own films, the low budget of his first "spaghetti" Western meant that he could only afford to hire a relatively unknown American actor, Clint Eastwood, to star in A Fistful of Dollars, which has been credited with reviving the Western as a credible film genre in the 1960s. This book is the first to document not only Leone's life but also to explore fully the development--and phenomenon--of the Italian film Western. In addition, Christopher Frayling examines Leone's late masterwork, Once Upon a Time in the West, which TimeOut says "ranks among the greatest examples of 'pure cinema' in the history of the medium."

Customer Reviews:

Where was this 30 odd years ago?.......2003-10-10

Awesome reading for the die hard spaghetti western fan!

Leone is God, and this is the Bible.......2003-04-17

I worship Sergio leone. I've been a huge fan of his films since my childhood in the late Seventies. I've always wanted/needed a weighty, fact-filled bio-reference to illuminate his here-to-fore mysterious life/career. This is that book. More detailed than the expensive, picture-packed Italian book on Leone, S.T.D.W.D. will stand for a long time as the essential Leone tome. Literate, balanced, and exhaustive, this book is a triumph in every respect.

Masterful biography.......2003-02-07

There aren't too many directors who could inspire me to read a 576-page tome about their career. In fact, apart from a handful of auteurs to whom I'm still trying to speak and the dozen or so who have opened their hearts to Cashiers du Cinemart, there aren't too many directors I'd even like to read about. Yet, of all directors-past and present-it's only Sergio Leone's name that I've been scanning for when I troll the "directors biographies" section at Borders Bookstore. Sure, sure, maybe it'd be fun to read a nicely done work on Fritz Lang or Kenji Misumi but it's Leone who presents me with the biggest challenges.
This Italian mastermind helmed a handful of films, nearly all of which would rank among my favorites. More than creating some damn fine work, Leone's style influenced untold filmmakers. His films were operas powered by the music of Ennio Morricone. His dialogue's sparseness made it all the more powerful. Leone didn't shy away from embracing the language of cinema and creating his own dialect.

Remarkably, though Leone's filmography can be tallied on both hands, the breadth of rumours and conflicting stories are enough to easily fill Frayling's tome. Luckily, Fraying isn't above questioning the veracity of his subject. While never denying Leone respect, Frayling doesn't shirk his journalistic duty to present as many facets of the fiery, passive-aggressive auteur as possible.

Something to Do with Death takes its sweet time to get moving (I had to skip the second chapter and skim a few others before getting to the real "meat" of the book) but, once it gets going, there's little that can deter the reader from delving into the life of a truly enigmatic talent. (ISBN: 0571164382)

Brilliant.......2002-04-05

I cannot understand the first review of this book. I understood this book to be a biography of Sergio Leone, not a story about Spaghetti Westerns so I was pleasantly surprised when the author began by desribing the whole cultural background of Mr Leone. The book is certainly not without emotion, but the author has attempted to provide a detailed and unbiased insight into the life of Mr Leone.

Had the book been more "humourous" as per the intial reviwer thoughts, this would have diverted from the objective of a biography, as I am sure Sergio's life was not just fun all the time, no offense to the first reviewer ("You smell like a pig already, lets try not to make things any worse" Tuco's guard "The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly")

Mr Frayling has obviously researched his subject in a fantastically detailed way, constructing a clear picture of his life, not just by his films, but by the people around him. This is evident in that Sergio himself contacted Prof Frayling after reading his earlier book on Spagehtti Westerns as it contained information about Sergio's father that even he hadn't previously known.

Check out Cenk Kirals site for Sergio Leone info (he was thanked by the author in the book)

All You Need to Know About Spaghetti.......2000-06-03

Not only a fascinating insight into the spaghetti western and its master practitioner, but also an examination of where this form stands in the context of Italian cinema as a whole. Having finished reading, I re-viewed all of Leone's films. They are totally different viewing experiences in light of the knowledge gleaned from this book. A truly al dente reading experience.

Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present

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With a select bibliography on the Italian Cinema
An Extraordinary Panoramic Postcard of Italian Cinema

Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present
Peter Bondanella
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0826412475

Book Description

Italian Cinema is the only complete and up-to-date book on the subject available anywhere, in any language. New coverage from 1989 to the present includes the Italian horror-film genre, Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful et al.), Bernardo Bertolucci (Stealing Beauty), Franco Zeffirelli (Tea with Mussolini), Michael Radford (The Postman [Il postino]), Gabriele Salvatores (Mediterraneo), Maurizio Nichetti (The Bicycle Thief et al.), Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso, The Starmaker), and much more. The book has been extensively revised and updated, including all-new notes, bibliography, plus videocassette and DVD information.

Customer Reviews:

With a select bibliography on the Italian Cinema.......2001-07-04

Now in an expanded and fully updated third edition, Peter Bondanella's Italian Cinema From Neorealism To The Present continues to be the premier single volume reference to Italian films available to an English readership. From the silent movie era and the fascist period, through the various masters of neorealism, down to the present day, this comprehensive reference is an essential, core addition to any personal, professional, or academic film reference library. Of special interest are the select bibliography on the Italian Cinema, the information on locating Italian films on videocassette and DVD, and a comprehensive index.

An Extraordinary Panoramic Postcard of Italian Cinema.......2001-06-12

Bondanella offers a superb overview of the Italian national cinema, and explains the central contribution of Italian auters and artists to this quintessentially 20th Century artform. With encyclopedic sweep, the reader is served bite-sized portions of every major Italian film in a series of full-length chapters. The narrative is crisp and well-paced. The morsels may be bite-sized, but in the end, the reader is treated to an enormous feast of gourmet cinema.

Organized in a roughly chronological framework, Bondanella takes us from the humble beginnings of cinema in the Italian peninsula through to the present day. The discussion of the Neorealist moment, for example, traces the artistic and social roots of the movement, and touches upon it's profound (and continuing) influence within Italy and around the world. The 3rd Edition revises some of the text, and updates the final chapters on the most recent developments in Italian filmmaking.

The discussion is organized most often as a series of capsules addressing nearly every major Italian film. The result is a combination between historical exposition and film encyclopedia. I haved repeatedly turned to Bondanella's book to gain a quick insight or two into a film I may be lucky enough to be able to rent, see in one of New York's innumerable film venues, or catch on cable. Professor Bondanella could have possibly done more at times to explain the context in which these films were made. The political and social backdrop of the Italian peninsula has been an important determinant of the artistic output of it's people. It is not that these details are ignored --- in fact they are very well represented at many points in the narrative, and much more detail in a volume as compact as this one would likely have undermined the project as a whole --- but the reader may need to consult other sources at times to gain a more contextualized understanding or to clear up a confusing point here and there.

But this criticism should be made with a caveat. Bondanella sets out to provide the reader with a coherent narrative of the breathtaking accomplishments in film art in Italy. He succeeds in that task brilliantly. The panorama of 20th Century Italian film presented is as awe-inspiring as the most idyllic Tuscan villa or the Alpine vistas of the Alto-Adige. Reader's wishing to gain an appreciation of the central importance of Italian cinema will not be disappointed.

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Literature and mystery come together.

The Last of Aurelio Zen

An end game with style

Aurelio Zen in Calabria

great Aurelio Zen mystery

End Games: An Aurelio Zen Mystery (Aurelio Zen Mysteries)
Michael Dibdin
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Cabal: An Aurelio Zen Mystery

ASIN: 0375425217
Release Date: 2007-08-14

Book Description

The final installment in this award-winning series brings Italian police detective Aurelio Zen to remote Calabria, where the Venice-born-and-bred detective feels uncomfortably like a foreigner.

It’s a routine assignment, and Aurelio Zen is biding his time in Calabria while the locals go about their mysterious business. Routine, that is, until an advance scout for an American film company suddenly vanishes. Beneath the surface of a tight-knit traditional community--with secrets and loyalties that go back centuries--violent forces are at work. Zen is determined to find a way to penetrate the code of silence and uncover the truth behind a brutal murder. However, his mission is complicated by another secret that has drawn strangers from the other side of the world on a hunt for buried treasure–a search that has been launched by a single-minded player with millions to spend pursuing a bizarre and deadly obsession.

It’s a devilishly suspenseful and entertaining adventure that only Aurelio Zen could stumble into--and only Michael Dibdin could serve up. In End Games, the award-winning author has crafted a suspenseful, action-packed thriller full of unexpected twists and turns--a story that takes us deep into a proud and ancient culture and into the darkest corners of the human heart.

Customer Reviews:

Literature and mystery come together........2007-10-17

In his final (sadly) Aurelio Zen mystery, Michael Dibdin remains true to the characterization he has created for his all too human detective. Dibdin continues to show clear insight into, and understanding of, the Italian cultures that he writes about. The story line is intriguing, and the characters are fascinating. Yes, I'm a big fan. I have read all 11 of the Aurelio Zen mysteries, and I will miss both Michael and Aurelio.

The Last of Aurelio Zen.......2007-09-02

With the death of British author Michael Dibdin this past April at age 60, the peripatetic career of Italian police investigator Aurelio Zen comes to an end after 11 books.

Zen, always an outsider, always a bit homesick for his native Venice, conducts each investigation in a different region. Although based in Rome, Zen's penchant for rocking the status quo and pursuing leads into inconvenient places finds him frequently exiled, often to places even less to his liking.

From his first appearance in Perugia ("Ratking"), where Dibdin taught English for four years, to Sardinia, Naples, Rome, Bologna, Venice, Sicily, Piedmont, Tuscany, the Dolomites, and Calabria, Zen casts a critical eye on the local people, customs and sociopolitical systems, finding most of it wanting.

But he generally feels the same way about his colleagues, with a few exceptions, and has little respect for the cozy relationships between powers that be. Ironic and detached, he's apolitical and not above bending, even breaking, the law when it suits him. He negotiates the corruption and gamesmanship of the police bureaucracy with skill, but he's just contrary and independent enough to keep himself from advancing in his career. Improvisation is one of his strongest investigative techniques and while he never beats the system (not even Superman can do that), he outwits its members regularly.

Both dark and comic, the Zen series offers regional immersion, complex plots, flesh-and-blood characters and some of the best writing in detective fiction. Zen himself is not the same from book to book. While always partial to the finer comforts of life, he can be crotchety, depressed, even petty and neurotic.

In "End Games," he has been sent to remote Calabria to cool his heels as the temporary provincial police chief until the permanent man - who has shot himself in the foot with his never-used firearm - recovers.

The harsh heat, the unforgiving sun, the brief, spectacular thunder showers, the penchant for touching one another during conversation; all these peculiarities pale beside the inedible food. His chief complaint is the ubiquitous tomato.

"Not for the first time, he asked himself how this bland, yet cloying fruit had come to stand as the symbol of Italian cuisine worldwide, despite the fact that until a century or so ago very few Italians had even seen a tomato...." Mentally ranting, Zen finally runs down. "Obsession was an occupational hazard in Calabria, but obsessing about tomatoes was absurd."

Outside, chatting with the proprietor, he learns that Peter Newman - the American victim in his kidnapping case and a lawyer for an American movie company - was actually a native Calabrian who had immigrated to the U.S. And not just any Calabrian but the descendant of the area's largest, most notorious landowning family, the Calopezzatis, a family who had owned half of Calabria until the land reform acts of the 1950s.

Curioser and curioser, the man's U.S. immigration papers are marked "sensitive," and not for distribution to foreigners. Zen gets the information he needs easily enough, but it only poses more questions.

Meanwhile, the reader has already seen a man climb a hill to his doom and met the wealthy American gamer, Jake Daniels, and his chief enforcer and factotum, Martin Nguyen, whose father had been a torturer for the Diem regime. Daniels is the man behind the movie project - a filming of "Revelations" with a famous old Italian director. The movie is simply an elaborate cover for a treasure hunt. When they find the treasure they intend to have six Iraqis dig it up then get rid of them with a car bomb back home to keep things quiet.

" `You mean like permadeath?' said Jake. `Man, that's heavy.' "

When a French tourist discovers Peter Newman on top of that hill with his head blown off, Zen needs to delve into some not-so-ancient history. But the Calabrian tradition of silence is even more serious than he knows.

As always, Dibdin's plot becomes more complex as more people stick their fingers in, stirring things and thinking they are clever. Some of them are, some not, but their moves - desperate, sneaky, remorseful, murderous or vengeful - and Zen's countermoves, create a twisting, many-layered plot with reverberating consequences.

You never know who's going to die in a Dibdin novel, despite the comic aspects, so there is a tension that goes beyond the casual brutality and zany aspects of the story. Though it's sad to have such a masterful series end, Dibdin has struck the right balance between humor, darkness and cultural insight.

New readers and old fans alike may be tempted to start again from the beginning. Dibdin and Aurelio Zen will be missed.

An end game with style.......2007-08-30

Elegant, witty, and stylish final entry in the Aurelio Zen series. Dibdin and Zen are at the top of their games in this deftly plotted tale of a grisly murder involving West Coast techno moguls, Calabrian movers, shakers, and grandmothers, and Italy's elite terrorist police squad. Dibdin's insights into modern and ancient culture never miss their mark and are by turns hilarious, bleak, and tender.

What a loss!

Aurelio Zen in Calabria.......2007-08-28

As the novel opens, Aurelio Zen has been appointed the acting police chief in a small Calabrian city. Zen's uneventful tenure is disturbed by the kidnapping and brutal murder of an American lawyer doing location scouting for a film company. To solve this crime, Zen must enter the closed world of the Calabrian countryside.

In the Anglo/American tradition of the crime novel, there may be some corruption in the world but in the end the system works. Criminals are caught and justice is done. Things are more complicated in the Latin crime novel. The system works in its own way but there are a whole series hidden rules that only the insiders know. Its a cynical and very old world approach to justice. The attraction of these stories is that they are so different from the rational and modern Anglo/American tradition.

Writing in this crime writing tradition, Michael Dibdin set each of the Aurelio Zen novels in a different part of Italy. In turn, each of the regions become supporting characters in his novels. Calabria is located in the toe of Italy and it is a region known for its poverty, its history of exploitation by feudal landowners and the toughness of its peasants. "End Games" is Dibdin's meditation on the world of rural banditry and the closed peasant communities in which this old tradition still survives.

Sadly, Michael Dibdin passed away in March 2007. "End Games" is the last book in the Aurelio Zen series. Mystery readers will greatly miss Dibdin and his complicated hero Aurelio Zen. For fans of this memorable series, it is good to know that Dibdin ended the series in fine fashion. For fans of the Latin crime novel, I would recommend reading Paco Ignacio Taibo, Leonardo Sciascia and Rubem Fonseca. All great writers and social commentators.

great Aurelio Zen mystery.......2007-08-15

When the new chief of police of Calabria in southern Italy shoots himself in the foot, Aurelio Zen, a Venetian in his heart and soul is temporarily transferred there. He is given indirect instructions to be a policeman and not make any real decisions. It is so quiet he is bored until an America lawyer working for a movie company is kidnapped. Instead of the usual cash ransom to win the victim's freedom, the kidnapper kills Mr. Newman.

While Zen is investigating the homicide, a rich American is using the movie company and the director who is supposed to film Apocalypse, based on Revelations, as a cover to find the tomb of the Goth Alaric. The kidnapper knows that the American wants a priceless artifact that was stolen from the temple; he finds a way to get a piece of the action. Zen learns about both stings and instead of ignoring it like he is supposed to do, he organizes a big operation to take out most of the criminal element in the area.

This is the eleventh but sadly last Aurelio Zen mystery, fittingly titled, as Michael Dibdin recently died. This final book, published posthumously, is a perfect example of what the entire series is like. The protagonist is intelligent and likes to be in on the action but he is politically incorrect, which means he will not be up for promotion anytime soon. Instead the hero is like an old west good guy gunslinger fighting a range war, which would explain his appeal to Americans.

Harriet Klausner

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Very informative
A tragedy!
The essentials
fleshy with filmography

Sophia Loren: A Biography
Warren G. Harris
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0684802732

Customer Reviews:

Very informative.......2006-04-26

I am only a sophomore in High School but I did read this book for a biography project I had to do and it was very informative for a biography paper. It had its moments of boredom but overall i dont consider it a "Bad" book like some have in the past. There are not that many things written on Sophia that can be compared. So overall I think it was a pretty good book and packed full of in formation. Its a biography what more do you want and wild crazy fantasy romance story?

A tragedy!.......2003-11-21

This bio is a tragedy. Poor written, no history, just jive, gossips. An insult to Sophia Loren and to all her fans as well.
This horrible book, maybe the worst biography ever written, is a bad collage of information, a lack of journalistic bearing.
Mr. Harris' personality takes center stage even if the book is about Sophia. Barbed comments abound which instead of shedding light on the book's subject matter, seem to be included to ridicule its subject. Urgh...!!!

The essentials.......2002-10-30

There aren't many Sophia Loren biographies out there, and so fans often can't afford to be picky. So Warren G. Harris's "Sophia Loren" is an interesting read, if a somewhat plain vanilla one. Good photos, some amusing anecdotes and a basic summary of Sophia's life are what readers will find.

It traces her life from a scrawny illegitimate baby (whom a wet nurse described as looking like a rat, and who was later nicknamed "Toothpick"), whose mother was abandoned by her father, leaving her alone with two children. But Sophia Scicolone (later Sophia Lazzaro, and then Sophia Loren) rapidly bloomed into a beautiful woman, becoming a beauty contest champ and then an actress. Despite a string of flops and a controversial relationship with a divorced man, Sophia became one of the most beautiful and women in the world, and the first Oscar winner of a performance in a foreign-language film.

The best description of this book is "adequate." It's not amazingly written, researched or presented. Rather it presents the basics of Sophia's life up the 1990s, which seems to have been a fairly straightforward, open one. There isn't really much that is new in this, but what is there is usually presented in an entertaining manner. Between the "battle of the bosoms" and Frank Sinatra teaching Sophia some obscene questions in English, we hear some funny events as well as a few bittersweet ones. And unlike many biographies, this one gives detailed summaries of her various movies.

Sophia herself is presented as a warm and sweet person, who cabled flowers to Clark Gable's widow and befriended nearly every costar (entrancing a few as well). The pictures are not well-chosen, as there aren't as many as there could have been, and quite a few seem to focus on Sophia in various stages of undress (ranging from her see-through prostitute gown to her merry widow to her topless dance number in "It's Him -- Yes Yes!"). Carlos Ponti, her husband, is a nebulous figure -- we don't learn much about him. Sophia's family and friends are better defined, such as her never-say-die mother Romilda, her commitmentphobe father, and the extremely emotional Cary Grant.

It's not outstanding, but it's a big plus for fans of the amazing Sophia Loren. For the basics on her life, this is a good place to start.

fleshy with filmography.......1999-05-15

If you are looking for an in depth expose of a magnificent film legend - you've come to the wrong place. This book is really spare with the good jive but incredibly detailed in the film jive.

Italy in Pictures (Visual Geography. Second Series)

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Italy in Pictures (Visual Geography. Second Series)
Alison Behnke
Manufacturer: Lerner Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0822503689

Italian Through Film: A Text for Italian Courses

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Italian Through Film: A Text for Italian Courses
Antonello Borra , and Cristina Pausini
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0300100205

Book Description

Focusing on contemporary Italian films, this book offers Italian-language teachers an exciting opportunity to incorporate authentic language in their classrooms. The book is adaptable for any level of language instruction and devotes one chapter to each of ten entertaining movies-among them Cinema Paradiso, La vita e bella, Mediterraneo, and Il postino. Pre-viewing, viewing, and post-viewing activities appropriate to the various films are included in each chapter. The exercises range in difficulty from elementary to highly sophisticated and are designed to enhance students' vocabulary and cultural awareness as well as oral and written skills. Because the film chapters are arranged chronologically and not in order of increasing difficulty, teachers may place particular films in their syllabi at any stage of language instruction. Drawing on a fine selection of relevant Italian films, this inviting book effectively fosters a deeper understanding of both Italian language and culture.

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