Amazon.com
Most diners believe that their sublime sliver of seared foie gras, topped with an ethereal buckwheat blini and a drizzle of piquant huckleberry sauce, was created by a culinary artist of the highest order, a sensitive, highly refined executive chef. The truth is more brutal. More likely, writes Anthony Bourdain in Kitchen Confidential, that elegant three-star concoction is the collaborative effort of a team of "wacked-out moral degenerates, dope fiends, refugees, a thuggish assortment of drunks, sneak thieves, sluts, and psychopaths," in all likelihood pierced or tattooed and incapable of uttering a sentence without an expletive or a foreign phrase. Such is the muscular view of the culinary trenches from one who's been groveling in them, with obvious sadomasochistic pleasure, for more than 20 years. CIA-trained Bourdain, currently the executive chef of the celebrated Les Halles, wrote two culinary mysteries before his first (and infamous) New Yorker essay launched this frank confessional about the lusty and larcenous real lives of cooks and restaurateurs. He is obscenely eloquent, unapologetically opinionated, and a damn fine storyteller--a Jack Kerouac of the kitchen. Those without the stomach for this kind of joyride should note his opening caveat: "There will be horror stories. Heavy drinking, drugs, screwing in the dry-goods area, unappetizing industry-wide practices. Talking about why you probably shouldn't order fish on a Monday, why those who favor well-done get the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel, and why seafood frittata is not a wise brunch selection.... But I'm simply not going to deceive anybody about the life as I've seen it." --Sumi Hahn
Book Description
A deliciously funny, delectably shocking banquet of wild-but-true tales of life in the culinary trade from Chef Anthony Bourdain, laying out his more than a quarter-century of drugs, sex, and haute cuisine—now with all-new, never-before-published material
Customer Reviews:
Not for the Easily Offended.......2007-10-16
If you like Tony's show on the Travel Channel, you will love this book. If you don't know who Bourdain is, get offended easily, don't like curse words, and like to believe that restaurant work is glamorous, you probably will not like this book at all.
As for me, I thought it was awesome.
sex and drugs in the kitchen.......2007-10-06
I thought I was going to read some "kitchen secrets" rather than "secrets" that occurred in the kitchen.If I wanted to read about how a drug addict became famous, there are a lot more autobiographies I'd rather read about. Bourdain's arrogant behaviour and kitchen antics didn't impress me. The message I got was in order to be a successful chef, you have to use obscene language, have loose morals and do drugs. I'm a chef instructor in a culinary arts school in Europe.....is this what I'm supposed to be like to inspire my students????
FUNNY.......2007-10-02
I would have never thought to pick up this book... I actually would have never thought he took writing serious enough to write a book! On TV, I love his style... his crass personality... and how his humility shines through when you least expect it! This book is the exact same way! My co worker let me read it and I have not been able to put it down. Classically written ... personal and professional about the business without being all over the place... 5 STARS!
Did I Need to Know?.......2007-10-01
Now that Bourdain is featured on TV, this book will probably get a new life. A mind-blowing look at life in the restaurant kitchen - crazier than we could have ever imagined. Lots of really good insight. Anybody thinking of following the culinary profession must read it.
Kitchen Confidential audio book.......2007-09-27
Loved this raunchy rip of a tour through the world of (upscale) restaurant meal creation. And what a view it is of the unique characters who wield chef's knives! Bourdain is a great writer as well as obviously a superior/successful chef, and to top it off, his baritone voice is perfect for the audio format....great inflection, drama, humor.
Book Description
Finding Fish meets The Pact in this gripping story of Chris Gardner, a homeless father turned millionaire who refused to let his dire circumstances define him––and who pulled himself up by his bootstraps to achieve the American Dream.
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Will Smith, The Pursuit Of Happyness is the inspiring, rags–to–riches story of the charismatic Chris Gardner –– a once homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street.
At the age of twenty, Milwaukee native Chris Gardner, just out of the Navy, arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. Considered a prodigy in scientific research, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry level position at a prestigious firm, Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him homeless with his toddler son. Instead of giving in to despair, the two spent almost a year moving from shelters, "HO–tels", and soup–lines, even sleeping in the public restroom of a subway station – ultimately making an astonishing transformation from the bathroom to the boardroom.
Customer Reviews:
The Motivations of Negative Influences.......2007-10-08
This is a great inspirational story. It was a bit graphic for my personal taste and the book focuses tremendously on Chris Gardner's youth, which is where he derived his burning desire to excel through a number of horrific events. I bought this book after watching the movie. While the movie focuses on his life post-separation from his wife, the book only gets to this point at the end. Although I am only rating the book 4-stars, I could hardly put it down while I was reading it.
Meaningful Inspiration.......2007-09-11
Mr. Gardner's story is more than another story about having to pull oneself up by their own bootstraps, it is a mantra for Urban Americans who are dealing with cyclical social issues. Poor Education, Poverty and Single Parent household stories are no longer acceptable reasons for not achieving, unfortunately they are too common place. The Pursuit of Happyness is a great example of the saying "In order to be it, one must see it"!
Heartwarming.......2007-09-08
I've read one of the most touching and heartwarming book of one's life. It is a story that spreads open past hurts, the need for bottom-line respect that should come from the people who should give it (family) and speaks of success despite of...
The Pursuit of the Imagined.......2007-08-28
Chris Gardner says in the Acknowledgments, "Quincy Troupe [co-author] once paid me a backhand compliment by telling me that I was as crazy as his previous subject, Miles Davis. I'll definitely take that as a compliment!" Gardner's imaginings, that he could possibly become anything other than a replica of the hardworking poor men who enveloped his childhood, define him as crazy. His success is crazy. How he managed it defies sanity.
Gardner imagined a future bright enough to deflect the piercing influences of his childhood--violence, an alcoholic stepfather, a jailed mother, rape--and was able to grow up to be a man possessing little, if any, humility (refreshingly different than most memoirs). Good for him. That Gardner was once homeless and is now wealthy is interesting; that he had no reason to expect to succeed but succeeded anyway, is inspiring.
I should be so crazy.
Note: The movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" deals only with Gardner after he has lived in San Francisco for a while. My only complaint with the movie is its depiction of Gardner's wife. She is shown as an uneducated woman only capable of working in restaurants; she's actually quite educated, a dental school graduate who is waiting to sit for her dental boards. Tsk, tsk.
Engaging and Entertaining.......2007-08-23
I haven't seen the film, so I have nothing to compare it with. I found this book to be inspiring. It was a quick and easy read. It was entertaining and realistic. The language is colorful and his life is graphic. It's not a story for the faint of heart, but his experience is a wonderful read. Some of the other reviews have taken exception with the way he lives his life, but his account is genuine. His life is real in all its glory and its shortcomings. It's a wonderful read.
Amazon.com
"I fell for the great American dream, female version, hook, line, and sinker," Marya Hornbacher writes. "I, as many young women do, honest-to-God believed that once I Just Lost a Few Pounds, suddenly I would be a New You, I would have Ken-doll men chasing my thin legs down with bouquets of flowers on the street, I would become rich and famous and glamorous and lose my freckles and become blond and five foot ten." Hornbacher describes in shocking detail her lifelong quest to starve herself to death, to force her short, athletic body to fade away. She remembers telling a friend, at age 4, that she was on a diet. Her bizarre tale includes not only the usual puking and starving, but also being confined to mental hospitals and growing fur (a phenomenon called lanugo, which nature imposes to keep a body from freezing to death during periods of famine).
Book Description
Why would a talented young woman enter into a torrid affair with hunger, drugs, sex, and death? Through five lengthy hospital stays, endless therapy, and the loss of family, friends, jobs, and all sense of what it means to be "normal," Marya Hornbacher lovingly embraced her anorexia and bulimia -- until a particularly horrifying bout with the disease in college put the romance of wasting away to rest forever. A vivid, honest, and emotionally wrenching memoir, Wasted is the story of one woman's travels to reality's darker side -- and her decision to find her way back on her own terms.
Download Description
Why would a talented young girl go through the looking glass and step into a netherworld where up is down and food is greed, where death is honor and flesh is weak? Why enter into a love affair with hunger, drugs, sex, and death? Marya Hornbacher sustains both anorexia and bulimia through five lengthy hospitalizations, endless therapy, and the loss of family, friends, jobs, and ultimately, any sense of what it means to be "normal." By the time she is in college, Hornbacher is in the grip of a bout with anorexia so horrifying that it will forever put to rest the romance of wasting away. In this vivid, emotionally wrenching memoir, she re-created the experience and illuminated that tangle of personal, family, and cultural causes underlying eating disorders. Wasted is the story of one woman's travels to the darker side of reality, and her decision to find her way back--on her own terms.
Customer Reviews:
Very affecting book.......2007-10-18
As a bulimic, I agree with some other reviewers that this book is triggering. It also, however, got me to look at my problem more seriously. It's helped me see just what rock bottom for an ED looks like, and I love that she didn't sugar-coat the ending. It's so honest.
I'm now talking to a therapist about my ED.
hummm I see.......2007-10-09
Well I've made it half way threw. I found it was really hard to get into this book. However one I started reading it was a little better. I find the way she writes to be a little all over the pace at some parts. It's so far an okay book we'll see once I'm done.
Ok Book.......2007-10-04
This book was a good read, but I would not call it a page-turner. I brought this one to Book Club with around 10 moms and we all said the same thing.
Very unhealthy reading for anyone with an eating disorder.......2007-08-31
This book has become the "Bible" for many of those with eating disorders. Many share in groups and on eating disorder websites how they use this book as to motivation get sicker or to stay ill. It is full of tips on not only how to engage in ED behaviors but also how to hide that behavior from not only loved ones but professionals trying to help. The fact that she was not recovered when she wrote this book means it was written from a very unhealthy perspective.
My personal opinion is that this book was an ode to her eating disorder and was written at a point where she was still very mentally ill and still very much in love with her eating disorder. Like many, I read this book when I was very ill, and while I did not learn any new "tricks" from it I devoured every word because it fed my mental illness.
Having re-evaluated it as someone fully recovered from an ed I honestly believe that this book serves no other purpose other than to brag about how "sick" and non-compliant she was, very much the MO of anyone who is still very mentally ill and in the depths of an eating disorder.
I also think that if we could be a fly on the wall (an emotionally healthy fly on the wall) that most would feel that her perception of the truth and what was reality are not exact matches. When someone is so entrenched in their illness it is easy to perceive anyone who tries to pull them out of it as abusive in one form or another. I believe had she written this book in a healthier state of mind her view and understanding of certain events and conversations would probably be very different.
Honestly, this is a book I wish would disappear. I have never known a professional or anyone who was fully recovered who would recommend this book to anyone.
Love it.......2007-08-31
I love the way this book was written. I never get bored of reading it over and over again.
Amazon.com
Written in the present tense, First They Killed My Father will put you right in the midst of the action--action you'll wish had never happened. It's a tough read, but definitely a worthwhile one, and the author's personality and strength shine through on every page. Covering the years from 1975 to 1979, the story moves from the deaths of multiple family members to the forced separation of the survivors, leading ultimately to the reuniting of much of the family, followed by marriages and immigrations. The brutality seems unending--beatings, starvation, attempted rape, mental cruelty--and yet the narrator (a young girl) never stops fighting for escape and survival. Sad and courageous, her life and the lives of her young siblings provide quite a powerful example of how war can so deeply affect children--especially a war in which they are trained to be an integral part of the armed forces. For anyone interested in Cambodia's recent history, this book shares a valuable personal view of events. --Jill Lightner
Book Description
One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed.
Harrowing yet hopeful, Loung's powerful story is an unforgettable account of a family shaken and shattered, yet miraculously sustained by courage and love in the face of unspeakable brutality.
Customer Reviews:
Everyone should make time for this book.......2007-10-08
We need this type of literature to remind us of the horror we are capable of inflicting, and the delight we are capable of inspiring. Here we have the opportunity to learn about the history of other countries and cultures and the effects of war and violence. By reading Ung's story, Americans can learn to appreciate that some immigrants and refugees to the United States have endured far more than we can even imagine.
Ung's story is told with the innocence and honesty of a child, even though her reality is riddled with hurt, grief, and despair. How is she able to survive the destruction and devastation of war? What makes her want to go on living? The chaos and randomness of life will make the reader see that each gift is a blessing.
Ung has learned to accept the responsibility that comes with survival. Why me...? What not me...? She states that by writing her book she was able to come to terms with many of the haunting details of her past. By writing about her fear and rage, she was able to face the "monsters" of her childhood as an adult. Telling her story was not about the money or the recognition, but about making people aware of what life was like for one family, for one little girl who grew up during the hell years of 1975-1979 in Cambodia. Though there is much anger and pain, it is the love of family and love of oneself that sees Ung through the trauma of war.
Captivating.......2007-10-05
With a story as tragic as this it is no wonder how the details are so vividly portrayed by Loung Ung. Her story captivates in essence the cruel and communist actions of the Khmer Rouge. As one of the few surviving family members, Loung proves how a love for her father helped her endure such a tragedy. However, she was not excluded from being subjected to the endless amount of pain, which created numerous psychological road blocks such as hatred and vengeance. This is clearly a story of heroism through endurance.
Breathtaking.......2007-08-31
I was interested in reading a book about the Cambodian Civil War, and this book gave me insights about the author's life story. The author Ung went through many emotional times with her family that had to do with survival. It made me cry many times... touched my heart. I recommend this to readers who are interested in the Cambodian war and would like to know what it's like to be in Loung Ung position during the time of chaos.
Read it with caution.......2007-08-18
The author was too young and her memories were not always reliable. Read it with caution. For instance, Ung wrote about a family trip to Angkor Wat, which took place in 1973 or 1974 when she "was only three or four years old" (p. 109). I had a discussion with a former Lon Nol soldier who was in Siem Reap at that time and he was adamant that Angkor Wat was not accessible because the Khmer Rouge was in full control of the area.
Cambodia had been fighting a civil war since 1970, so it is hard to believe that there were people vacationing at that time, especially in a region that was controlled by the Khmer Rouge. But the book contains a picture of the family trip to "Angkor Wat," which was taken at Wat Phnom, a temple in Phnom Penh.
Exaggerated stories of surviving atrocities are not unknown. It even exists within the Jewish community; for example, the story of Deli Strummer, which has been written in the Washington Post. I would compare "First They Killed My Father" to that of Holocaust survivor's Deli Strummer. If you want to read something poignant like that of Anne Frank, get Chanrithy Him's "When Broken Glass Floats."
She remembers for us to remember..........2007-05-15
In the epilogue, Loung thanks her editor, because she's says without the editing, we'd all be reading a much longer book. In this case, I would love to read "the much longer book".... I can't say enough positive about the book, even though I know it has received criticism. It's a first hand account of the same stories I've heard first hand over.. Stories that deserve to be retold so that hopefully they never have to be experienced again. Whether you are an academic with an interest in Cambodia / Southeast Asia or the casual reader, you will be haunted a young girl's life.. in " First They Killed My Father".[...]
Amazon.com
I Am Not Myself These Days is Josh Kilmer-Purcell's outrageously intimate memoir of a young man living a double life in the heady days and nights of mid-'90s New York City. As we follow Kilmer-Purcell through alcohol-fueled nights and a love affair with Jack, a crack-addicted male escort, he offers up an alternative universe where normal is "a Normal Rockwell painting that, if you leaned in close, would discover is made up entirely of misfits."
By day, Josh drudges off to a Soho-based advertising firm where he creates ad campaigns for corporate clients. At night, he dons live goldfish to complete the look of Aqua, a 7-foot-tall award-winning drag queen who trolls gay clubs in search of her next drink/one night stand. In between, he spends his time trying to build a stable, loving relationship with someone whose beeping pager is a constant reminder of the pair's almost inevitable fate. Yet even as Josh's escapades get increasingly absurd, Kilmer-Purcell is always there to remind us that the story we're reading is real, and that fundamental human emotions and desires are essentially universal. In the end, everyone just wants to be loved and to fit in somewhere. And while the lesson may seem hokey at times, Kilmer-Purcell's sharp wit rescues the memoir from becoming an exaggerated sob story:
The night before any major holiday is always a blockbuster night at gay clubs. Thousands... across the city fortifying themselves for long trips home where they'll be met with awkward silences, stilted conversations and cousins with whom they'd experimented with decades ago.
From start to finish, I Am Not Myself These Days is an extraordinary journey into an amazing life. To be a fly on the wall is an adventure that should not be missed. --Gisele Toueg
Book Description
I Am Not Myself These Days follows a glittering journey through Manhattan's dark underbelly -- a shocking and surreal world where alter egos reign and subsist (barely) on dark wit and chemicals...a tragic romantic comedy where one begins by rooting for the survival of the relationship and ends by hoping someone simply survives. Kilmer-Purcell is a terrifically gifted new literary voice who straddles the divide between absurdity and normalcy, and stitches them together with surprising humor and lonely poignancy. As Booklist raved "as tart and funny as a Noel Coward play, for Kilmer-Purcell is especially good at dialogue, and, as in Coward's best plays, under the comedy lies the sad truth that even at our best, we are all weak, fallible fools. Again and again in this rich, adventure-filled book, Kilmer-Purcell illustrates the truth of Blake's proverb, 'The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.'"
Customer Reviews:
Personal, funny and emotional with great writing........2007-10-09
Despite the sadness and difficult times the main chacter emerges stronger to start to new life with stronger determination to start new. The writing is fresh and captures you and propels you into the situations with humor and a very personal touch. Makes you realize your life and style is not the only way through life and learning.
A resonating love story, in drag.......2007-09-14
Yes, this book is funny -- very funny, in fact. And yes, it is titillating, a peek into a world of drag queens and male escorts and a life that is seemingly alien to most potential readers. And yet, "I Am Not Myself These Days" turns out to be a universal love story, one in which even the most outrageous characters become familiar and real.
Kilmer-Purcell doesn't shy away from the details of his life as an over-the-top drag queen in New York City, nor does he soften the story of his tumultuous relationship with his male escort lover or of that lover's drug abuse that ultimately tore them apart. He treats his subjects with a self-deprecating humor that lies over his vulnerability like a dusting of powdered sugar, avoiding both maudlin sentimentality and denial. In the narrative, the author dulls his pain and his fragility with alcohol, but he does so without any pretense of self control or toughness. When he meets and falls in love with Jack, he finds both redemption and destruction, and in the dizzying rise and then subsequent disintegration of their relationship, the author discovers unknown wells of strength and compassion. He does so without bitterness or judgment, ultimately telling a story of love found and never subsequently lost.
Like John Irving at his best, Josh Kilmer-Purcell brings eccentric characters from an unfamiliar world and makes them not just sympathetic, but real and even familiar. He shows that hearts love and break for everyone, and in sharing his funny, sad and ultimately beautiful story, he allows our hearts to do the same. A very highly recommended read.
Love it!.......2007-08-22
I just finished reading this book and I LOVE IT! It's a must read, I think I have a new favorite author.
Grotesque! Disgusting! Terrific!.......2007-07-30
"If we don't laugh at it all, we'll cry," my good friend Father David used to tell me about the horrific parts of our lives. Kilmer-Purcell is brilliant in his insight into human nature--as flawed and decadent as it is. His memoir is shocking, funny--shockingly funny, at times--and poignantly written. Bravo, Josh. Aqua lives!
Impossible to Put Down.......2007-07-15
I had the book sitting on my shelf for a few months and picked it up last night -- in a desperate effort to rid myself of a bad book I had just been reading.
I didn't put it down except to sleep and shower.
No need for the recap -- that has handily been done by others before me -- just know that if you pick this book up, you'll be caught up in a whirlwind of laughter, sadness, relatability in ways you would never imagine and harsh truths.
I was fortunate enough to have the paperback with some extra materials, including a follow-up about "Jack" that just about shattered my heart.
I look forward to new materials from Kilmer-Purcell.
A very quick, easy read that will utterly surprise you.
Customer Reviews:
Very enjoyable, anecdotal book by the late, great Tip O'Neill.......2006-08-01
I really enjoyed this book---it made me appreciate the late, great Tip O'Neill even more. The book is well written (and reads like the author speaks) and provides good, easy-to-understand information on political life in Boston and Washington. In particular, the info. on the Kennedys is first rate. Do yourself a favor: get this asap.
Tip O'Neill is the Speaker of the House and the Speaker of Random House.......2005-10-14
Tip O'Neill was a great politician and you can feel this though his writing. This book covers Kennedy, LBJ, Vietnam, Watergate, the Carter White House, and The Regan White House in one book. He is an amazing writer. He was a true peoples Democrat. I belive that the Democrats will never win congress back until they look back on his philosophy that "All politics is locale."
Excellent for Young Aspriring Politicians.......2005-01-21
I recently received this book as a gift from an older, wiser cousin after I asked for something to help me learn a bit more about the politics of our nation. It was superb. I found it difficult to put down and it has inspired me to seek out more political memoirs and learn more about the infamous politicans that have made their mark on Washington. Tip O'Neill is a magnificent story teller and his honest opinions make the book that much more true to life. I highly recommend it to anyone, young or old, looking for a good book with a lot of class.
Great read.......2001-09-01
When you are reading this book, you feel like you are in the room as the events are taking place. The insight to the behind the scenes are amazing. Makes you love politics and the good great leaders who truly love this country can acommplish.
Tip, you were a Great Man and are truly missed.
Entertaining and enlightening.......2001-04-17
MAN OF THE HOUSE reads more like a conversation with a favourite grandparent than the memoirs of someone with fifty years of experience in politics and the book is the better for it. The book is vaguely set up in chronological order starting from his childhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts and ending with his retirement from his position as Speaker of the House. But Tip (one feels to be on a first-name basis after the familiar tone of the book) sprinkles many anecdotes and jokes throughout the text, giving it a conversational flavour instead of reading like a straight history.
O'Neill does not try to hide the fact that he is a Democrat and an extremely partisan one at that. However, he does not let his philosophies blind him to what people really are. He remembers the flaws that were present in some of his Democratic colleagues and speaks about the good qualities in the Republicans in Congress. Partisanship never gets in the way of friendship and he recalls many stories of socializing with members of both parties after a day spent fighting legislative battles.
It's fascinating to read about (what is now) history through the eyes of someone who was witnessing first-hand so much of it. An entire chapter is dedicated to the Watergate scandal of the Nixon years and we can see it unfolding as he saw it. Nixon can be seen through the eyes of someone who was not a part of his close inner-circle, but who was closer than the general public. He offers his thoughts on the pardon given by President Ford and his mixed feelings on the subject.
All the Presidents that he worked with are given a chapter of their own where O'Neill offers praise, criticism and a few humourous anecdotes. As expected, fellow Bostonian Jack Kennedy receives the most attention, having one chapter dedicated to him and another to his family. O'Neill describes a man who surrounded himself by a team of people that were the best in the business when it came to getting someone elected, but who really did not have the first clue in how to deal with legislators.
O'Neill describes many of the battles he had with Kennedy's successor, President Johnson, on the subject of Vietnam. O'Neill broke from the President's position and was quite vocal in his condemnation of the war. The deep division in the Congress and the conversations he had with the President are given a lot of attention. O'Neill details how, while agreeing with the sentiments of the protestors, he felt that they were distracting from the message. Every time someone would smash a window in anger during a gathering, instead of reports of general unrest, the story in the press would be that this was another action supported by Tip.
The last two presidents that Tip served with were the two in office during his tenure as Speaker of the House. President Carter, the Democrat, and President Reagan, the Republican, are seen to Tip as being almost complete opposites. Where every conversation O'Neill had with Carter demonstrated the President's obvious knowledge in on a given subject, virtually all Reagan had to talk about were old movies and baseball. The main difference in their leadership styles, and what Tip found so frustrating, was the difference in which the two men viewed the Congress. Carter took a much more passive role, not really understanding the way that Washington worked. In contrast, Reagan would be constantly on the phone to the members of Congress, sweet-talking them into supporting his bills.
This was a very interesting read and I highly recommend it. O'Neill himself comes across as a very warm and friendly person who, in all his years in government, never forgot where he came from. His fights over various pieces of legislation down the years always came down to a simple desire to help the little guy.
Book Description
A twenty-two-year-old perennial virgin, Englishman Grant Stoddard didn't know what to do with his life in America—until he won an X-rated online contest, the prize being intercourse with an infamous married sex columnist. He consequently wound up delivering mail at Nerve.com but accidentally found his calling as a gonzo sex reporter who would try any and every lurid activity his crafty coworkers devised—from offering himself up as man-bait at a hard-core gay bar to attending an elite orgy, to being a hapless participant in a sexual home invasion—all the while wishing he could be safely tucked in bed.
Working Stiff is the humble, hilarious, and delightfully salacious fish-into-water story of a young man who followed his heart—and other organs—into places where few would dare to venture.
Customer Reviews:
A how-to book on self-abasement for money.......2007-06-22
"... virginal, desperate, bucktoothed, acne-ridden, problem-haired, and prone to wearing his heart on his sleeve ..." - Grant Stoddard, self-described
In July 1998, the 21-year old nerdish, awkward, and sexually unawakened Brit, Grant Stoddard, arrived in the United States in the self-delusional, romantic pursuit of an otherwise platonic female friend. Eighteen months and multiple temporary visas later, the economic viability of Stoddard's continuing residence in America was pretty much moribund. Then, after winning a contest that awarded him a coital coupling with a prominent former prostitute and sexual performance artist then currently engaged as a bi-weekly columnist for Nerve.com, Grant eventually became employed by the same website to have bizarre sex with strangers and write about it in his own column entitled "I Did It for Science". Thus, over a period of three years, as related by the author:
"... I'd just about exhausted every conceivable sexual kink and proclivity known to man."
Indeed, going to orgies, sex parties, porn sets, and BDSM retreats only scratched the surface of Stoddard's experience-based writing assignments, which ultimately totaled thirty. WORKING STIFF is Grant's narrative summary of his life beginning as a student at London's Thames Valley University up to the last installment, with the emphasis on his time writing for Nerve.
Despite the book's superficial appeal to casual prurient interest, it's never "sexy" and only erratically raunchy and/or humorous. Since the author readily admits that his forays into twisted sex mostly left him with a diminished feeling of self-worth, WORKING STIFF is more a mundane illustration of what one will do for grocery money. (What this infers about the non-sexual daily grind endured by any of us is perhaps grist for a whole separate volume by a learned psychologist.) Grant himself comes across, at least to this reader, as a likeably harmless chap with an engaging talent for self-depreciation but, well, somewhat pathetic. (No offense intended!)
Mind you, WORKING STIFF is occasionally above average, e.g. the chapter "Hate Mail", in which Grant describes his weekend stay at Leather Camp, an anything-goes gathering of hedonists-in-heat in the New Jersey woods. Also, in the chapter "Talent", the author's recounting of his abortive attempt to be the host/foil of a reality-TV series is illustrative of Hollywood's capricious shallowness in such ventures. However, in the aggregate, the book is only worthwhile if you've temporarily nothing left on the shelf to read.
Immigrant Makes Out.......2007-06-01
It is the classic story. A young man with no hopes in his own land comes to America's friendly shores, unknown but with an intent to make something of himself. Partially by pluck and partially by luck, he finds just the niche that no one else has filled, or could have filled, and by working hard, he gains all the fame and fortune he never could have anticipated. There is a variation, however, in Grant Stoddard's case. His memoir _Working Stiff: The Misadventures of an Accidental Sexpert_ (Harper Perennial) tells how the immigrant, a wallflower in his own land, came to be a renowned writer about sexual topics and an appointed sexual experimenter in his adopted country. It is a hopeful, funny story, not the least of whose attractions is Stoddard's love for America, and for New York City in particular. We have the land of opportunity, but Stoddard has had opportunities of which the rest of the world's wallflowers would be glad for just a fraction.
Stoddard grew up in the working-class Essex village of Corringham. From university, he followed his one girlfriend to America, and fell in love with the country and out of love with the girl. He won a contest with the prize of sex with Nerve writer Lisa Carver, and from this got hired into customer service at Nerve, and then was invited to write about experiments in kink. Stoddard would be assigned the experiment and would write up his lab report, and Nerve would feature his column "I Did It for Science." It was a brilliant idea. For three years, Stoddard did odd sexual things, sometimes things the readers suggested. He made out with a guy. He went to clothing-optional bridge lessons. He sploshed (that's throwing food at a naked person). He dressed as a woman. He went to an orgy. He tried Aneros, the ergonomically-designed prostate massager. He went to Leather Camp. He was an extra in a porn film. He was the recipient of penetrative, restrictive, dominating, or otherwise freaky sex. His lab reports were hilarious, the reflections of a shy fellow confronting some of the strangest things that people do for fun.
The column was popular, and he was popular. "PR reps for hundreds of pleasure-enhancing creams, pills, hardware, software, and products began calling my work phone at an astonishing rate." (When he eventually cleans out his desk at Nerve, the inventory is hilarious.) He was quickly asked to be a guest on a late-night chat show and billed as a sexpert only one year after thinking himself "a sexual nonstarter". "The idea of Grant Stoddard the sexpert seemed absolutely surreal to me, and positively ludicrous to anyone I'd slept with." Nonetheless, for the duration of the column "girls who were fans of the column were making it extremely easy for me to have sex with them." _Working Stiff_ is not a collection of Stoddard's columns; it contains only one, as an example, but many of the pages are devoted to descriptions of what he had to go through to make his experiments happen. Other pages have to do with his non-experimental love affairs. It was a sexual initiation like no one else has ever had, and his recollections are sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, but also tender at times. He is a nice guy and genuinely amused by his good fortune and strange adventures. He is also genuinely grateful. "If an anglophile," he writes near the beginning of the book, "is a lover of all things English and a Francophile is an admirer of the French, I think it's odd that there's no snappy equivalent for people like me: people who are enamored with the people and culture of these United States." One expects enthusiasm in a book by a sexpert, but not necessarily for our country. America has gotten bigger tributes than this book, but none so heartfelt. It is an appealing part of a fine comic memoir of one of the strangest coming-of-age stories ever.
smashing fun.......2007-04-15
From the opening of the book, you know you're in for a real treat with this one. I don't want to give too much away, but imagine being a young, heterosexual male in the strange position of literally "f*cking yourself" ... all in a day's work of course.
Stoddard's book details the time he spent as a sex columnist for [...]. The book goes beyond the columns, however, and shows how this young lad from England came to the city of all cities (NYC!!!) and kind of randomly ended up becoming a sexual guinea pig. Some of the situations young Stoddard finds himself in are just amazingly bizarre - and entertaining of course.
For such a young author, this book is especially impressive. I am sure Stoddard has much more up his sleeve for future literary projects.
Not as exciting as the Advocate said it was.......2007-04-11
I'm having a hard time getting through this book. It was reviewed well in the Advocate magazine so I bought it. It's quite boring, actually.
Fun, Exciting, and Incredibly Sexy!.......2007-03-09
WORKING STIFF is a fantastic read! Stoddard's provocative account of the various assignments he was sent to report on had me laughing, cringing, and often gasping in disbelief. Even though I've never experienced most of the adventures the author had to try, I still found that I could identify with him on so many different levels. If you have ever been in a situation, and found yourself asking "how did I possibly get myself into this?" you will really appreciate WORKING STIFF. It is cleaver, humorous, and an absolute page turner. I can not wait to see what he will come out with next.
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- The Bloomsbury Group
- not yet
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The Bloomsbury Group: A Collection of Memoirs and Commentary
Manufacturer: University of Toronto Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Eminent Victorians (Oxford World's Classics)
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A Roger Fry Reader
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The Art of Bloomsbury: Roger Fry, Vanessa Bell, and Duncan Grant
ASIN: 0802076408 |
Book Description
Bloomsbury, wrote E.M. Forster in 1929, 'is the only genuine movement in English civilization.' By this time the group's influence had been extended from fiction, biography, economics, and painting through literary, social, and art criticism to publishing and journalism. Partly as a result of its influence, Bloomsbury has been widely misunderstood as a cultural, social, and even sexual phenomenon by both its friends and its detractors. As S.P. Rosenbaum observes in the foreword to this revised and expanded edition, Bloomsbury cannot be reduced to a creed or argued away because of its complexity. 'What Bloomsbury stood for is what they were and what they did,' he writes, 'That is why a collection of descriptions of the Bloomsbury's lives and works may be the only wholly satisfactory way of defining the Bloomsbury Group.'
The first section of the volume, Bloomsbury on Bloomsbury, contains the basic memoirs and discussions of the Group itself by the original members, Virginia and Leonard Woolf, Vanessa and Clive Bell, E.M. Forster, Roger Fry, John Maynard Keynes, Lytton Strachey, Duncan Grant, Desmond MacCarthy, and others. These recollections range from unpublished private correspondence and diaries to formal autobiographies. Published here for the first time is the remainder of Desmond MacCarthy's unfinished Bloomsbury memoir. Virginia Woolf's complete Memoir Club paper on Old Bloomsbury and excerpts from her letters and diaries also appear, as do letters about Bloomsbury by Lytton Strachey, Roger Fry, E.M. Forster, and Vanessa Bell. The second section, Bloomsberries, contains observations on individuals by other members of the group and their children. Virginia Woolf's hitherto unknown biographical fantasy on J.M. Keynes is newly added, as are accounts of Molly MacCarthy, Lydia Lopokova, and David Garnett. Bloomsbury Observed, the last section, consists of reminiscences of the group mainly by their contemporaries. Additions to the revised edition include an early anonymous newspaper account of Bloomsbury, and observations by Quentin Bell, Beatrice Webb, Gerald Brenan, Christopher Isherwood, Frances Partridge, and others.
Also included are an updated chronology recording the principal events in the careers of Bloomsbury's members and an enlarged bibliography.
Customer Reviews:
The Bloomsbury Group.......2000-01-26
to Emma Ohara of uk re names of Bloomsbury Group:the main ones are Virginia Woolf, Leonard Woolf, Vanessa Bell, Clive Bell, Duncan Grant, Lytton Strachey, Maynard Keynes, Saxon Sydney-Turner (an original member from Cambridge), also you could include Carrington, Roger Fry, David (Bunny) Garnett, Desmond McCarthy,Ralph Partridge, Frances Marshall (Partridge), Ottoline Morrell, Adrian Stephen, Alix and James Strachey. I hope this helps-they are fascinating people well worth exploring
not yet.......2000-01-17
i have not yet read this book but would like to now the names of the 12 members of the blooms bury set please send it to my e-mail address
Average customer rating:
- A Noble, Extraordinary Life
|
A Time for Reflection: An Autobiography
William E. Simon ,
Gerald Ford ,
George P. Shultz , and
John M. Caher
Manufacturer: Regnery Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Time For Truth
ASIN: 0895261707 |
Book Description
Written just before Simon's death, this book is a breathtaking odyssey of his adventures crossing the Arctic Sea in a sailboat; a nearly tragic scuba diving accident with his sons, and his direction of the Federal Energy Administration at the height of the oil embargo.
Customer Reviews:
A Noble, Extraordinary Life.......2004-03-01
William Simon's is an extraordinary lifestory, and reading his memoir, published posthumously this year following his death in 2000, was thoroughly enjoyable. Simon's life had so many incarnations -- prescient Wall Street trader, principled public servant (energy czar and treasury secretary), conservative intellectual, pathbreaking merchant banker, champion of the U.S. Olympic movement, philanthropist, intrepid adventurer, Eucharistic Minister -- that it's hard to fathom one person leading such an eclectic, richly diverse life.
Known for his sharp opinions while in public office, Simon is largely magnanimous in recounting his life experiences. For example, he declines to elaborate on the reasons for his falling out with a longtime colleague and business partner, saying only that he trusted someone he thought was his friend. He pulls no puches, however, in expressing outrage at wrongheaded government decisions, such as the 1989 FIRREA Act (which suddenly made struggling S&Ls insolvent), Pres. Carter's Olympic boycott (which accomplished little other than prompting Soviet retaliation four years later) and foolish government meddling in the oil market (rationing, price controls, etc. which largely created the 1970s energy "crisis").
The memoir offers several colorful, revealing anecdotes. For example, Simon's pointed counsel to Ronald Reagan, urging him to drop former Pres Ford from consideration for the Vice Presidency. (I never heard or read of this before; Lou Cannon makes no mention of it in his new biography of Reagan's pre-presidential years.) Also, Simon's confrontation -- nearly leading to blows -- with an inebriated Vice President Rockefeller. This is fascinating stuff.
Equally fascinating are the chapters on Simon's pioneering role in the use of Leverage Buyouts to restore underperforming companies to sound profitability. Simon eschewed hostile LBOs, preferring to work cooperatively with, and empowering, management, and deftly abandonded the business when it attracted a surfeit of "takeover artist" capital in the late 1980s.
Simon's separation from, and reconcilliation with, his wife of 40 years is particularly poignant, as is his ministry to indigent AIDs patients and other destitute people. The caring and compassion behind a gruff -- sometimes mercurial exterior -- is palpable.
William Simon led an amazing, noble life. Emulating such an extraordinary human being is beyond the reach of most of us. But thanks to this new book, we can at least read about and admire him. Highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
- wow
- Not the best edition to have
- Searching for Humanity
- Read it for the second time!
- Hearing Wright's Life and Our Own
|
Black Boy (P.S.)
Richard T. Wright
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
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Binding: Paperback
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Black Boy (Cliffs Notes)
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Native Son
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The Catcher in the Rye
ASIN: 0061130249
Release Date: 2007-03-27 |
Book Description
Richard Wright grew up in the woods of Mississippi amid poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and raged at those around him; at six he was a "drunkard," hanging about in taverns. Surly, brutal, cold, suspicious, and self-pitying, he was surrounded on one side by whites who were either indifferent to him, pitying, or cruel, and on the other by blacks who resented anyone trying to rise above the common lot.
Black Boy is Richard Wright's powerful account of his journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. It is at once an unashamed confession and a profound indictment—a poignant and disturbing record of social injustice and human suffering.
Customer Reviews:
wow.......2007-09-29
This is my all time favourite book ever. I'm sure there are literary drawbacks to it somewhere; but overall I think its an amazingly well written book. Poignant, stark, and unfathomable. Reading it made me so hungry, you wouldn't believe.
Not the best edition to have.......2007-09-15
Much as I love and admire this book--a must-read in American literature--this is not the best edition to have. Wright originally wrote the book in two parts: "Southern Night," about his experiences in the South; and "The Horror and the Glory." His original title for the two-part book was AMERICAN HUNGER.
When it was selected as a primary selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club--a great honor at that time, which tripled the sales of the book--he was asked to remove "The Horror and the Glory" and just publish the first section, "Southern Night." That was the book he retitled BLACK BOY. It is a pure memoir of his life as an aspirational but deeply alienated black growing up in the South.
Recent editions of the book have restored "The Horror and the Glory" to the text, and you might think this is a good thing. I don't think it is, in this case. That section purports to continue his memoir with his experiences in Chicago. However, unfortunately--and ironically--the Book of the Month Club editors were right from an artistic standpoint. "The Horror and the Glory" is completely different in tone. It largely recounts Wright's involvement in the Communist Party of the 1930s, and is deeply enmeshed in party politics. It embodies Wright's own feelings of devotion to Communism and Communist ideals even as it recounts his repudiation of the party.
I have nothing against Wright having been a Communist per se; my objections are not political at all but purely artistic. This second part of the book has none of the directness and immediacy of the first part; it is far less entertaining, and much more of a chore to read. Actually, the first part of the book (about two-thirds of its length) does indeed stand alone as a cohesive, coherent narrative. This is how it was issued, and, actually, it's how it should be read. The second part merely dilutes the artistic impact of the first part, rather than adding to it.
"The Horror and the Glory" was published originally in a motley of smaller articles, in the Atlantic Monthly and elsewhere. The issues it raises--internal Communist party politics and their relationships to the John Reed Clubs and their associated writers' groups--are somewhat interesting historically, but dated and ultimately irrelevant. It feels very much like commentary on facts and events you're expected to know about, but don't.
I suggest readers either purchase an edition that is true to the first edition, and contains only what in this edition is called "Southern Night," or else consider just reading the first part and letting the second part go. I think it's a better book the way it was originally issued.
Searching for Humanity.......2007-06-26
Richard Wrights autobiographical book is all the more remarkable in so much that it exists and was written by a man born to fail by society and given every hinderence to his thirst and love for life and reading.
Wrights book never becomes mawkish or pious.It simply tells it how it was;deep south society at the turn of the century and the black peoples place in it. Wright is open about his own failings-taunting jews, his childhood alcoholism-but there was no escape for him no matter how hard he tried to get ahead. A painful scene comes when young Wright thinks he is 'getting ahead' by selling newspapers to have a wiser black head point out he is actually selling ku klux klan literature. His love for books is hampered by the law banning blacks from libraries.
He comes across liberals who try to help him, but there is only so much anyone can do in a society swamped by prejudices.
The sad end is when Wright traveled up to the north; Chicago, where 'Blacks are free' The memoir ends here, but further reading of Wrights work-and that of his admirers and contemporaries such as Ralph Ellison-makes you aware that this was just another myth.Yes,life wasn't as oppressive as the south, but the 'liberals' liked the blacks to stay in the 'black belt'(a favourite term of Wrights) and used all means at disposal should they get 'Uppity'.
Wright inspired Ellison and Baldwin amongst others, but I feel sure he must have inspired MLK as well, as all Wright ever really wanted was human dignity for all mankinds peoples.
Read it for the second time!.......2007-04-25
This book is an early years autobiography of Richard Wright, the famed and accomplished African American author. I read all of Mr. Wright's books when I was in junior high school and wanted to share them with my teenage daughter. In doing so, I picked up "Black Boy" and couldn't put it down until I read it again.
Richard Wright was raised in the South in the 1920's. He experienced the hardships, poverty, and racism of those days and relays these experiences descriptively yet simply in the book. The reader can can see and feel the events without being bored.
"Black Boy" is a quick one- or two-day read, and I recommend it highly. I also highly recommend one of Mr. Wright's fictional novels, "Native Son."
Hearing Wright's Life and Our Own.......2007-04-05
Peter Francis James's performance of Richard Wright's autobiography brings many of its aural qualities our ears, qualities we may not notice in a silent reading of the book. These CDs enable both the visually impaired and the sighted to enjoy Wright's classic and to ponder why after sixty-two years the book still provides insights about American culure.
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