The Shifting Sands (Deltora Quest, No 4)

Book Description

When the seven gems of the magic Belt of Deltora were stolen, the evil Shadow Lord invaded the kingdom and enslaved its people. Determined to rid their land of the tyrant, Lief, Barda, and Jasmine are on a dangerous quest to find the lost gems, which are hidden in fearsome places throughout the kingdom.The time has come to seek the fourth gem, kept jealously by an unknown guardian in a barren wasteland. Separation, confusion, and strange, terrible enemies await the three heroes in the harsh landscape of the Shifting Sands.

Customer Reviews:

Darring Dashing Shifting Sands.......2005-09-03

A ausm book you will never put it down. Itis hart rasing.jed wilde or red jed

The imposing sands.......2005-07-09

After leaving the dreaded city of the rats, Lief, Barda and Jasmine cross barren wastelands to obtain supplies and food for their next destination.They find a busy town Rithmere and enter a fighting contest which they win.But even though they come out with jewels and riches they are kidnapped by the evil grey guards and taken to a secret hide-out, the hide-out of the adventuring Doom, and his resistence.There they are taken prisoner, will they ever be able to reach their next destination, the invincible and rather evil sands, the shifting sands?This book is a little dull and is losing the context the pre books had.It's still good!

My Review of The Book.......2005-03-24

I thought the Shifting Sands was a good book but I think that they could have made it longer and make someone get poisened because then it would make the book more interesting. I thought that the book was very good.

The Shifting Attention Span.......2005-02-04

Have you ever read a book that you had to have a mug of coffee beside you to read or you'd be put to sleep. With this book you'd better have a jar of sleeping pills beside because it is so captivating and action packed unless some brave knight in armor comes to rescue you you'll be reading it all night and fail the test you have in the morning. Okay, Okay it's not that interesting (or that long) but I nearly pulled a "C" average in Science because I was reading it instead of listening to old lady Atkins drone on, and on. Beleive me that is the preferred thing to do. If you buy this awesome book you won't be able to put it down for an hour. But pick an opurtune hour to be entertained by it if you care about your grade average...

GOTTA READ BOOK!.......2004-04-27

This book is great! I think that the author (Emily Rodda)does an awsome job with discription. I could see the setting, the characters, and the enemies in my head. This is the fourth of eight books in the series. This book is for the reading level of a fifth or sixth grader. If you love adventurous fantasy books this is the one for you!Overall its an awsome book.

Krazy & Ignatz 1937-1938: "Shifting Sands Dusts its Cheeks in Powdered Beauty" (Krazy Kat) (Krazy and Ignatz)

Average customer rating:

Another blast from the past
The Series Continues
The Kat lives on...
"I am sitting here alone in my pretty cell of stone..."

Krazy & Ignatz 1937-1938: "Shifting Sands Dusts its Cheeks in Powdered Beauty" (Krazy Kat) (Krazy and Ignatz)
George Herriman
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560977345

Book Description

Our second collection of full-color Krazy Kat comics!George Herriman integrated full spectacular color into Krazy Kat in June 1935. The gorgeous evolution continues in our second color volume, which includes the Sunday strips from all of 1937 and 1938. The color format opens the floodgates for a massive amount of spectacular rare color art from series editor Bill Blackbeard and designer Chris Ware's files.

Krazy Kat is a love story, focusing on the relationships of its three main characters. Krazy Kat adored Ignatz Mouse. Ignatz Mouse simply tolerated Krazy Kat, except for recurrent onsets of targeted tumescence, which found expression in the fast delivery of bricks to Krazy's cranium. Offisa Pup loved Krazy and sought to protect "her" (Herriman always maintained that Krazy was genderless) by throwing Ignatz in jail. Each of the characters was ignorant of the others' true motivations, and this simple structure allowed Herriman to build entire worlds of meaning into the actions, building thematic depth and sweeping his readers up by the looping verbal rhythms of Krazy & Co.'s unique dialogue. Most of these strips in this volume have not seen print since originally running in Hearst newspapers over 70 years ago.

Customer Reviews:

Another blast from the past.......2007-04-08

Over the recent years, I have become a fan of "old-time" comic strips, those that were published in the first half of the 1900s. In that era, the newspaper comics were a far different medium than nowadays. While I am sure there are plenty of forgotten, forgettable strips from that era, on the whole, the comics were treated as a respectable part of the newspaper and in an age when cities often had several competing periodicals, a good comic strip could be a major selling point. Nowadays, the comics are almost an afterthought, scrunched up on some back page.

Among the material I have been reading has been Popeye, Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Gasoline Alley and Peanuts (this last, admittedly, a product of the 1950s and not the first half of the century). The one that kicked off my renewed interest in these oldie, however, was Krazy Kat. Krazy & Ignatz: Shifting Sands Dusts Its Cheeks in Powdered Beauty is the poetic title for the seventh volume of republished Sunday strips (all in kaptivating kolor!), this one covering 1937-1938.

If you have not read Krazy Kat, this book is as a good a place to start as any, as continuity is no issue. The three principals are the classic dog-cat-mouse triad, but don't expect Tom-and-Jerry-like antics. Ignatz Mouse loves to bean Krazy Kat in the head with a thrown brick. For Krazy, this brick-beaning is actually a sign of affection. Yes, Krazy loves Ignatz (his "l'il anjil"), and Officer Bull Pupp loves Krazy and hates Ignatz. The typical strip has Ignatz beaning Krazy and then getting run off to jail by Pupp.

Is Krazy male or female? Creator George Herriman tends to keep things ambiguous, but I've always viewed Krazy as the former, a feeling that is justified in the February 14, 1937 strip which Officer Pupp clearly refers to Krazy as male.

For those used to today's gag strips with a punch line in the final panel, Krazy Kat is a change-of-pace that may not appeal to everyone. While humorous, this comic strip relies more on the absurd, the surreal and the poetic. Even the constantly changing landscape of the Southwestern county of Coconino is almost as much of a character as Krazy, Ignatz and Pupp are.

If you think that comic strips like Marmaduke, Heathcliff and Family Circus are the pinnacle of the comics medium, then Krazy Kat is probably not going to be your cup of tea. On the other hand, if you look at today's comics page with a certain lamentation of its fading overall quality, you may enjoy Krazy Kat which shows how wonderful the comics could truly be.

The Series Continues.......2007-01-04

This project of gathering, binding and offering the Sunday Krazy Kat comic strips is such a boon. It is a treat to be able to enjoy a strip that was gone before I was born. The art work, the humor, the perspective on life all go together so perfectly in Herriman's work that it would be a great loss to this generation not to have these books available. I look forward to the next volume when it arrives!

The Kat lives on..........2006-08-18

We are now, depending on method, between 1/3 & 1/2 way through the republication of Herriman's full-page comic spreads. There is plenty of good discussion of the artistic & literary value of this eccentric comic elsewhere, though perhaps not enough on the underlying philosophical issues it seems to raise, both in the push-&-pull of Kokonino Kounty's animal society, & in the recurrent surreal transformation of landscapes, an endless perceptual pun. But there is also immense & gentle, grace-filled hilarity of a sort we need no less now, than when Herriman was alive. Blessings on Fantagraphics for committing itself to this republication. Advice? Read it. Read them all - good food for the mind & the funnybone, not too common a combination...

"I am sitting here alone in my pretty cell of stone...".......2006-06-17

Has the Krazy Kat curse finally lifted? More than a few brave companies have tried to reprint entire runs of this highly acclaimed but very underprinted comic only to end up self destructing. Way back in the hoary old days of the 1990s a company called Eclipse printed all of the Sunday pages from 1916 to 1924. Then something happened. No 1925 volume ever appeared. The curse begins. Not long after, another company, Stinging Monkey, printed volume one of "the complete Krazy Kat Dailies". That bold venture only lasted one mere volume. The curse returns. The small Pacific Comics Company has actually released three entire volumes of Krazy Kat dailies with no sign of stopping, but their market reach remains quite diminutive. Enter Fantagraphics, a company that may finally lift this ignoble curse from one of the best comics ever produced. They exhumed the smoldering Eclipse series and began anew with the year 1925. So far seven volumes have appeared covering the years 1925 - 1938. The last two issues appearing in full color (just as the strip did in 1935). Only three potential volumes remain for the years 1939 - 1944. Fantagraphics now stands well poised to obliterate this vile printing curse forever.

This volume, like its predecessor, displays the Sunday pages in full color throughout. During these two years the strip began to take on an even more surrealistic and esoteric edge. The addition of color heightened the abstraction of Herriman's brilliant backgrounds. Folded moons, impossibly high cacti, and chunky mountains fill in nearly every gap (see the particularly stunning strip from September 12th, 1937). The adobe colored jail becomes a permanent home for Ignatz as it now appears on almost every page. And the incessant love triangle between a Kop, a Kat, and a Mouse kontinues unabated. Signs of the strip's maturity peek out from behind every frame. The humor becomes more subtle, relying less on wordplay and slapstick than earlier strips. The jokes don't reach out and grab like a cattle prod (unlike many of today's strips that thoroughly rub the joke in your face); some require re-reading or reflection. Or a large vocabulary. Regardless, many remain laugh out loud funny despite their age. The March 27, 1938 strip depicts Offica Pupp trying to arrest Ignatz because he misunderstood his verbal fulmination "DUCK!" Pupp examines a book entitled "Law" while murmuring "Maybe - MA-A-AYBE I can arrest him fot it - Let's-s-s-see." Also, Herriman's little cartoon asides begin to appear at the very end of this volume (starting with December 11th, 1938). These small frames appear incongruous but they actually complement the strip as a whole and alter the mood. They harken back to his early "Family Upstairs" strips. Unfortunatley, the strip paid dearly for its waxing maturity and subtlety with plummetting popularity. The 1930s and 1940s saw the inexorable commercial decline of Krazy Kat. It appeared in increasingly fewer papers as irritated editors tried to slash "old man Hearst's" favorite strip. This volume helps preserve Herriman's legacy to the comic form, and it proves once again that commerciality does not always equate with high quality.

Unlike all other Fantagraphics volumes so far, this one does not contain an introductory essay. Nonetheless, some amazing watercolors and photos bookend the strips, including a rare one of Herriman without a hat. And the tradition of the "Ignatz Mouse Debaffler Page" gets upheld.

With each successive volume it appears that Fantagraphics may be well on its way to completing this series. The quality has not waned an iota from the first issue. Impressive. Carry on, please.

Shifting Sands: A Guidebook for Crossing the Deserts of Change

Average customer rating:

A Mountain Climber's Recap of His Desert
Shifting Sands - Not just a self help book
Shifting Sands... not just a self-help book
Shifting Sands A Guidebook for crossing the Deserts of Chang
A must-read for all mid-lifers

Shifting Sands: A Guidebook for Crossing the Deserts of Change
Steve Donahue , and Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Manufacturer: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1576752801

Book Description

Unlike the familiar mountain-climbing metaphor, which focuses more narrowly on goal setting and achievement, the desert as a metaphorical place of change does not have final summit or endpoint. Shifting Sands exposes the mountain-climbing myth and its goal-setting metaphor as ineffective, and suggests that the desert is the perfect metaphor to describe the journey of life, especially in times of transition. Deserts require us to pay attention to the journey rather than the destination. Strategic planning and maps don't work in a desert. Instead, travelers must follow their internal compass. Steve Donahue presents the "Six Rules of Desert Travel" to aid all those facing change, whether starting a new career, coping with illness or a midlife crisis, getting married or divorced, or having the kids move out of the house. He helps life travelers face their fears and overcome other obstacles (being too busy, feeling overwhelmed) so they can commit to the journey in front of them.

Customer Reviews:

A Mountain Climber's Recap of His Desert.......2006-12-06

I came across this book during a very, very difficult time in my life. My wife of 17 years had left me and my children... everything I thought I had built my life to be had crumbled around me.

I read Steve's words and really related to his journey. I have climbed a lot of "mountains" in my life, career-wise and even real mountains including Mt. Rainier, so I could relate to his "mountain climbing" symbolism. But my life was definitely in a desert place, with no map, no compass (other than my own heart), no water, and no understanding of when I would get across that desert... or even if I would SURVIVE thr crossing.

Steve's words helped me. I found myself weeping at the end of the book when Steve shares how he felt his heart breaking... not breaking apart, but breaking OPEN. That was EXACTLY what I was feeling at the time, but I had no words to understand what was happening to me. Steve's book gave me those words, and enabled that heart-transformation to continue.

I recommend this book if you are willing to look past your "mountains" of career, family, image, and keeping up with the Joneses, and look into the desert journey that truly is life. The tools Steve gives you will keep you going, even when the view before your eyes doesn't look ANYTHING like the map in your hands.

Shifting Sands - Not just a self help book.......2004-04-30

Steve Donohue strikes a powerful chord in his book, "Shifting Sands: A Guidebook for Crossing the Deserts of Change" - the metaphor of a desert rather than an upward climb is far more logical and applicible to "everyman's" journey in life. I am not a reader of self-help books or even of much non-fiction, but do some in the course of my work, so in reading Steve's book, I was pleasantly surprised to find an enjoyable and refreshing read. His story, told with humor and pathos, is easy to relate to and very comforting and inspiring. I highly recommend this book to any and every one.

Shifting Sands... not just a self-help book.......2004-04-30

Shifting Sands A Guidebook for crossing the Deserts of Chang.......2004-04-27

If you are standing at the top of a mountain looking down and wondering how and why you got there? Then this book is for you. Take a compass rather than a map. Seek a topography that fosters change, gives you a soft place to fall and a wide angle view of a never ending expanse The desert metaphor provides the perfect lessons for life in the 6 rules of desert travel outlined by Steve Donahue in this book.
If you have spent half your life reaching for the pinnacle of success and are standing on your mountain top wondering which way to go now, then you will appreciate Steve's wonderful story of his travels through the Sahara Desert. He has woven his true story of his trek across the desert into a guide to help you discover your direction and purpose. It's time to start enjoying the journey, stop at all the oases, travel alone together, step away from your campfire and call the border guard's bluff.

A must-read for all mid-lifers.......2004-04-22

This book is like a cool drink of water on a desert-hot day for those of us who are trying to make it in a world where the climb to the top doesn't always go as planned -- and the world itself seems topsy-turvy, too!

I picked up Shifting Sands for my husband who's been experiencing the longest mid-life crisis in history. I ended up not only reading it but loving and benefiting from it myself.

Steve Donahue offers an alternative to setting and reaching goals the way mountain (and corporate) climbers tend to do -- the way we've all been taught. I was able to immediately put to use his gentle suggestions for navigating through a world in which change is the only constant (hence the "shifting sands," desert metaphor).

Careers...marriage...parenting...chronic illness -- all are deserts. This book offers some counter-intuitive suggestions for using change and adversity to your advantage.

The story of Donahue's own Sahara Desert crossing makes it an easy and enjoyable read, too. It's a self-help book that reads like an adventure novel...what more could you ask for?

Average customer rating:
Deltora Quest (Special Edition) Books 1-4 (Deltora Quest, books 1 through 4 (The Forest of Silence, The Lake of Tears, City of Rats, The Shifting Sands))

Manufacturer: Scholastic for Barnes & Noble books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Deltora | Fantasy & Adventure | Series | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Deltora Quest, Special Edition, Books 5-8 (Deltora Quest Series, 5-8)

Deltora Shadowlands/ Special Edition Books 1-3 (special editon books 1-3)

Deltora Book Of Monsters (Deltora Quest)

Box Set: Dragons of Deltora #1 Dragon's Nest, #2 Shadowgate, #3 Isle of the Dead, and #4 Sister of the South and Free Dragon Pendant (Dragons of Deltora, Volumes 1,2,3,4)

Tales Of Deltora

ASIN: 0760795797

Product Description

This is a Special Edition created exclusively for Barnes & Noble Inc. First printing May 2005. Contains the first four books into one book: The Forest of Silence, The Lake of Tears, City of Rats, and The Shifting Sands.

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A lyrical book about a fragile habitat
Sandhills Classic
A lovesong to an alluring, little-known place
When a book makes you dream about a place you've never been.

The Last Prairie: A Sandhills Journal
Stephen R. Jones
Manufacturer: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 007135347X

Amazon.com

Running 100 miles from north to south and 200 miles from east to west, the Sandhills make up about a quarter of the state of Nebraska and constitute the largest grass-stabilized dune field in the Western Hemisphere. Sparsely settled, the region has inspired a fine literature, numbering books by Jim Harrison, Mari Sandoz, and Merrill Gilfillan, among other writers.

Stephen Jones's The Last Prairie is a welcome, elegant addition to that library. An inspired blend of science, natural history, ethnography, and memoir, it recounts Jones's travels along the Niobrara River and deep into the heart of dune country--once the province of buffalo, cranes, and scattered bands of Pawnee and Cheyenne Native Americans, now the site of huge ranches and, as Jones notes, an army of white-tailed deer and other former denizens of wetland forests that edged out onto the plains with the disappearance of large predators. "When it comes to ecosystem disturbances," Jones notes, "the white-tailed deer are just the tip of the iceberg," and indeed the Sandhills are threatened at every turn by industrial agriculture and other manifestations of putative progress. Jones considers some of the programs that have been advanced to save the area, including the apparently ill-advised "Buffalo Commons" preserve that residents fear would make the region an unnatural zoo; he suggests instead a more modest prairie preserve that would attract tourists and provide new revenue for the region's residents, now dependent on ecologically destructive ranching.

But Jones's book is less a program for action than a literate, attractive celebration of a place unlike any other--a book that will inspire readers to go and have a look for themselves. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

It is an area that has captivated and inspired travelers, philosophers, and artists for centuries. Long celebrated as one of the most visually stunning regions of the American landscape, it is also one of the most historically significant. And now, this vast, 25,000-square-mile expanse known as the Nebraska Sandhills is brought to life with passion, perspective, and ecological timeliness in an unforgettable collection by Stephen Jones.

The Last Prairie is an extraordinary triumph of the essayist's art. By turns graceful and penetrating, introspective and universal, ruminative and prescient, the 20 essays in The Last Prairie embodies the essence of Sandhills life. Jones delivers a series of riveting accounts of the Sandhills, flora and fauna, wildlife, and rich cultural history. Fascinating descriptions of bald eagles, trumpeter swans, and the annual migratory flight of a half-million sandhill cranes stand alongside equally vivid accounts of trailblazing homesteaders, range wars, and devastating prairie fires. Jones speaks eloquently to such timeless themes as humanity's search for community and the ties that bind man and nature.

Customer Reviews:

A lyrical book about a fragile habitat.......2001-06-26

Mr. Jone's admiration, appreciation and concern for this very special ecosystem shines through this lovely book. In it, he intertwines Native American myth, Plains history and well researched scientific data into a cohesive and readable overview of the Sandhills of Nebraska.

Through his eyes, we visit and experience a landscape of beauty, solitute, history and rich wildlife. It is, in turns, thought provoking, humourous, enlightening, yet never preachy. Steve is most respectful of the current private owners of these lands, and integrates their ongoing stewardship into well reasoned suggestions to insure the long-term integrity of this fecund habitat for posterity.

Sandhills Classic.......2000-07-13

The Last Prairie: A Sandhills Journal is an astonishing blend of nature, myth, and love of the land--richly textured with wry wit and something very close to wisdom. It's so deeply rooted in love and its own particular landscape that it transcends locality and becomes universal. In other words, it's a classic, akin to Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Writing, details, and a sensibility to treasure.

A lovesong to an alluring, little-known place.......2000-06-17

Stephen Jones notes in the book that the Sand Hills of Nebraska make up one of the few "dark spots" on those wall posters featuring a satellite view of the United States at night. It is, truly, a wide open space, and he does the landscape great justice with his evident love for the land, its wildlife, its people and history.

For those who think Nebraska is simply home to a football team and endless acres of corn, "The Last Prairie" should open some eyes.

Jones is a prose poet. He makes the Sand Hills live and breathe right there on the page. An excellent, deeply-felt homage to one of America's little-known (thankfully?)great natural treasures.

When a book makes you dream about a place you've never been........2000-05-31

As often happens in Washington, DC, I got inside information. The author (my eighth grade history teacher) tipped me off about his book, before it was available. I got to read a "galley" I think it is called, and felt even more like an insider. It's exciting when a friend publishes a book, and when that friend telegraphs, with the sound in his voice, that this one might be something special. Steve knows. I read the hardback copy as soon as I got it. Growing up in Colorado gave me some appreciation of this majestic place to the East, which I now plan to visit for the first time. Stephen Jones has woven history, geography several sciences into a literary work of art, that can provide great inspiration, even to the uninitiated. His images are vivid, whether he is describing the hard-scrabble personalities that live there or the spirit-ghosts of Native Americans that have long since perished. His treatments of the landforms and myriad species of animals that dwell in the Nebraska Sandhills, are characteristically perfect. He has written a couple of other nature books, including one with his photos, called the Shortgrass Prairie.What many do not know about Steve is that he was diagnosed with a back problem before he undertook his arduous weeks long trips, the several hundred miles East. He would not want me to mention this, Steve is a low key guy. But his courage is, well, another story. I hope everyone who loves nature, and our vanishing wild places will read this book and be inspired and dream and go there.

Average customer rating:

Good book
Educational

Shifting Sands: A Clash of Cultures
Will Kester
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0595411037

Book Description

Saudi Arabia, 1973: In his job as interpreter and laborer for an American-Arabian Company, Saleh has come to understand the American mindset through his boss, Bill. But Saleh finds himself in conflict with his culture. Even though his father wants him to attend university and base his future on the will of Allah, Saleh is intrigued with the United States and wants to pursue his education there.

With his father's blessing, Saleh attends school in America. Unfortunately, America is not the land he dreamed of, as prejudice and hatred follow him. When an American girl named Blair befriends him, she quickly "Americanizes" him-new haircut, new clothes, and new understanding. But Saleh cannot forget his culture.

After college, Saleh advances in the oil business and soon becomes a powerful player, in his country's major industry-oil. When he becomes involved in a terrorist plot to destroy the economies of the Western World, will Saleh remember his early goodwill toward the West or will he succumb to his hatred?

From the burning sands of the Saudi Arabian desert to the business centers of the world's economies, terrorists, peacemakers, religions, and cultures collide in this thrilling novel.

Customer Reviews:

Good book.......2007-06-27

The book was shipped fast and in great condition. The book itself had a great story line and was very easy to read.

Educational.......2007-05-07

I find this book not only entertaining but educational. Mr. Kester paints a very vivid picture of what aliens often go through when entering America for the first time, as well as having a well-plotted political story. One learns also of many of the differences in the clutures of the Americans and people from the Middle East. I enjoyed it immensely.

The Ethics of Territorial Borders: Drawing Lines in the Shifting Sand

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The Ethics of Territorial Borders: Drawing Lines in the Shifting Sand
John Williams
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0230002528

Book Description

This book argues that although borders have played a role in ethical discussions about war, about intervention, and about identity in international politics, these treat them as possessing derivative significance. Instead, this book critiques such an approach to argue for the ethical significance of borders themselves, pointing to their role in human diversity and the enduring appeal of territorial division.

Average customer rating:

Shifting Sands
A deeply personal viewpoint of the intersection between vastly different cultures and the bridges to be built between both
A deeply personal viewpoint of the intersection between vastly different cultures and the bridges to be built between both
A spellbinding must-read
Interesting

Shifting Sands
T. L. McCown
Manufacturer: Leathers Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1585972207

Book Description

In her revealing memoir, the author shares insights into the Saudi Arabian culture which were previously hidden to the Western world. She was taken into the inner circle of the royal family and now has chronicled her 10 years of living with a princess.

Customer Reviews:

Shifting Sands.......2007-07-15

In Shifting Sands: Life in Arabia with a Saudi Princess, the author recalls her experiences while living in Saudi Arabia. The author and her husband are Christian Americans but had always wanted to experience life in Saudi Arabia. With the Gulf War looming, it seemed as though the couple would never realize their dream. Nonetheless, in March 1991, the couple began their adventure that lasted ten years.

Initially, the author experienced horrible culture shock: living in a country where she did not speak the language, where she had no friends, where she had nothing to do all day, where there were stringent rules for women, and where her religious beliefs were illegal. At first, the author was completely overwhelmed and miserable. However, slowly she adjusted and eventually thrived in her new surroundings. She made some deep friendships, got a job that she adored, and had some truly amazing experiences that few individuals are privileged to experience.

Shifting Sands: Life in Arabia with a Saudi Princess is a touching story that illustrates that despite our cultural differences we all treasure the same things: family, friends, and a sense of worth. Moreover, the author gives us a glimpse into a world that few Westerners could even imagine let alone experience. Her story leaves the reader with new understanding and perhaps even a deeper respect for those of other cultures and beliefs. This is an important message, especially in these troubled times, when we tend to lump all Muslims together as terrorists and religious fanatics.

A deeply personal viewpoint of the intersection between vastly different cultures and the bridges to be built between both.......2005-09-13

Written twelve years after the fact, Shifting Sands: Life in Arabia with a Saudi Princess is the memoir of T.L. McCown, who shared a deep friendship with a princess in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for ten years. The experiences of two women from vastly different backgrounds in a nation divided between centuries old traditions and the ongoing press of modern globalization. Terrorism and pressure from Islamic religious police are ominous shadows over both women's lives, and the dream of bringing more independence in a nation where women are, among other things, legally forbidden to drive, is a difficult one to pursue. The ups and downs of their long journey are recounted in this personal and touching recollection of good times shared, and a sober reflection that what ultimately split true friends apart was not the dictates of world or religion, but rather utterly unforeseen circumstances. A deeply personal viewpoint of the intersection between vastly different cultures and the bridges to be built between both.

A deeply personal viewpoint of the intersection between vastly different cultures and the bridges to be built between both.......2005-09-13

Written twelve years after the fact, Shifting Sands: Life in Arabia with a Saudi Princess is the memoir of T.L. McCown, who shared a deep friendship with a princess in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for ten years. The experiences of two women from vastly different backgrounds in a nation divided between centuries old traditions and the ongoing press of modern globalization. Terrorism and pressure from Islamic religious police are ominous shadows over both women's lives, and the dream of bringing more independence in a nation where women are, among other things, legally forbidden to drive, is a difficult one to pursue. The ups and downs of their long journey are recounted in this personal and touching recollection of good times shared, and a sober reflection that what ultimately split true friends apart was not the dictates of world or religious, but rather utterly unforeseen circumstances. A deeply personal viewpoint of the intersection between vastly different cultures and the bridges to be built between both.

A spellbinding must-read.......2004-07-27

Shifting Sands is a spellbinding must-read for anyone who wants to understand the culture of Saudi Arabia (and who doesn't, after the events of Sept. 11?) This book resonated with me personally since my husband lives and works in Saudi Arabia. The author provided vivid descriptions of what it would be like to live on a company compound in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia (one chapter is called "Extreme Boredom" - say no more!) The book allowed me to relive the joys and frustrations of visiting Saudi Arabia. The joys: sunshine, extremely hospitable people, beautiful architecture, exotic shopping, mouthwatering foods. The frustrations: The list is long. Women have no rights there. Women cannot drive, and they face harassment from religious police if they do not cover themselves with the black abaya. (The author had several frightening run-ins with religious police regarding her failure to cover her hair with a headscarf.) I was thrilled to learn that the author, risking her own safety, had advanced the cause of women's rights there by opening a clandestine school for women. T.L. McCown's writing also reminded me of the utter frustration of trying to visit shops and restaurants when they close multiple times a day for prayer time. Frustration, however, turns to fear with the growing threat of terrorism. McCown lived in Saudi Arabia during the June 26, 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers, a place where she had taught public speaking to military personnel just two months previous. She describes in vivid detail how she fought to keep her family safe with the prospect of terrorism looming right outside her doors.
In conclusion, this book has one major flaw. For 354 pages, the author successfully foreshadows the demise of her extraordinary relationship with a Saudi princess and the need for the author's family to eventually leave Saudi Arabia. In the end, the author never explains precisely why any of this happened! The last sentence seems to imply that the author is working on a sequel. Still, to come to the end of a book and have it drop off the end of a cliff with no proper conclusion is extremely irritating.

Interesting.......2004-04-29

T.L. McCown did a great job of revealing life in Saudi to the reader. It amazes me the life the royal lead. I still can't get over the camping trip they took! I reccomend this to anyone!

Shifting Sands: Balancing US Interests in the Middle East

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Shifting Sands: Balancing US Interests in the Middle East

Manufacturer: Brown Univ Thomas J Watson Jr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Shifting Sands
Weslynn McCallister
Manufacturer: BookSurge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1594572224
Release Date: 2004-03-26

Product Description

A free verse poetry book written from the heart, Shifting Sands by Weslynn McCallister, contains many award winning poems and others that have been featured in award winning chapbooks and anthologies.

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