Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s: The Killer Inside Me / The Talented Mr. Ripley / Pick-up / Down There / The Real Cool Killers (Library of America)

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The best American crime novels deserve their place in the pantheon of American literature, but they hold special interest for cinema enthusiasts, who can both compare them to the movies they became and can roll imaginary films of the stories in their minds. Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s is the second of Library of America's two-volume anthology of underground U.S. fiction. The first anthology featured works from the 1930s and '40s that had been made into classic films noir. This volume focuses on fiction written after the crime genre had acquired conventions that younger writers toyed with and sometimes broke. The movies made from such stories were equally radical.

Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley is the source for René Clément's bristling Purple Noon, a movie that features Alain Delon's quintessential performance. David Goodis's Down There inspired François Truffaut's neo-noir masterpiece Shoot the Piano Player. Jim Thompson, the brilliant author who scripted The Killing and Paths of Glory for Stanley Kubrick, wrote several novels that have been turned into movies, including The Grifters and The Getaway. He is represented here by one of his most uncompromising works, The Killer Inside Me, which was filmed by Burt Kennedy in 1976. Charles Willeford's Pick-Up and Chester Himes's The Real Cool Killers have not yet been made into movies, but the blistering prose and nihilistic worlds of these authors, and of all the writers represented in this volume, is astonishingly cinematic. This lovely hardcover edition contains biographical, textual, and explanatory notes.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent compilation.......2007-01-07

The other reviewers misunderstand "Pick Up", (****warning -- spoiler****) which is a fascinating novel because the narrator is mentally disturbed and completely unreliable. This fact explains the "twist" ending, a number of apparent editing errors and the unlikely events that occur throughout.

The Final Volume on the "Crime Novels" Series.......2005-11-03

"Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950's" is the second and last volume of the hardboiled anthology published by the Library of America starting with the volume devoted to the genre in the 30's and 40's. This follow-up continues the saga of run-down characters hardened by experience and tough luck. The familiar cast of roguish males, femme fatales, and temperamental and violent detectives set the stage for a diverse and entertaining ride into the depths of the underworld.

"The Killer Inside Me" - Jim Thompson's most popular work is a memorable tale of a Texas law enforcer with a sinister past whose dark and psychotic nature is cunningly veiled behind a genial facade that barely contains "the sickness" which the main character has successfully concealed. A sudden turn of events unleashes the beast inside leading to a tragic odyssey of disillusion, violence, and murder. Pioneering in it's time for revealing the inner mind of the serial killer, the bracing prose and chilling character development makes this work one of the best in the genre.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" - Tom Ripley is a con artist successfully making ends meet through one of the most reprehensible professions in New York City. A drifter and social outcast, one night in a bar he comes across a parent of an old acquaintance he barely recalls and is asked to do a favor. When he consents, his true nature unfolds in this story of murder, sexuality, and identity. Made into film in 1999 starring Matt Damon in the leading role, this cosmopolitan travelogue with a Decadent touch in the end introduced the world to one of the most oddly sympathetic and diabolical characters in Literature.

"Pick-Up" - Charles Willeford's winning style successfully conveys the sad and tragic tale of two lost alcoholics in the skid row section of San Francisco in the 1950's. Scene by depressing scene the author chronicles the faith, hope, and disillusionment of a couple whose time revolve around the contents of a bottle. The engrossing prose is marred unfortunately with an unbelievable twist and dissapointing ending.

"Down There" - The best selection of the entire series, "Down There" is an unforgettable account of a barroom piano man whose days of glory were ended by tragedy. Rendered indifferent to life by his soul-breaking experiences, he meets an equally lost soul and together they encounter adversity supporting each other as only similarly dark-fated individuals can. The heartbreaking ending still haunts me whenever I think about it.

"The Real Cool Killers" - Blaxploitation on speed! The talented Chester Himes vividly conjures this adrenaline yarn of two black detectives taking on the streets of Harlem in no holds barred action. Race, violence, and loathsome scenemakers feverishly grapple in this heat-inducing neon nocturne of urban society. Black humor at one of it's very finest.

Flawed but highly readable, these long forgotten and out of print works have been handsomely restored and given ample tribute by the laudable Library of America. Wanting to familiarize myself with the enduring genre, reading the two vols. of the "Crime Novels" series has been a pleasant introduction and reading experience to me.

More Noir.......2002-01-15

This book is the second volume in the Library of America set on American crime noir. I enjoyed the first volume so much that I decided to read the second one during Christmas break. Once again, the LOA has done a nice job of collecting a fine series of stories. These stories were written during the 1950's and 1960's. The book is nice to look at too; it's covered in red cloth with a cloth bookmark.

The first story is from the demented mind of Jim Thompson. This story, called The Killer Inside Me, is much better than The Grifters, a book by Thompson that I read some time ago. The Grifters seemed to be pretty one-dimensional with respect to its characters. This story is the exact opposite. A deputy sheriff in a Texas city has a terrible secret. He plays dumb on the outside, but inside he is a cunning sociopath. A long simmering resentment leads to a terrible revenge. Bodies quickly stack up as a result. This seems to be the story that Thompson is best known for and it's no surprise why. This is a dark, twisted tale with a grim ending.

Patricia Highsmith wrote a whole series of stories concerning Tom Ripley. The one included here is The Talented Mr. Ripley, probably better known due to the recent film with Matt Damon. This tale isn't as noir as I would have liked, but it still has enough twists and turns to keep anybody in suspense. Ripley is a low class conniver who ingratiates himself into a wealthy family who wants him to go to Italy and bring back their son. Ripley sees the potential for bucks and meets up with the kid and his lady friend. Of course, things take a turn for the worse and the bodies start stacking up. This story was probably my least favorite out of the entire collection.

The next story, Pick-Up, by Charles Willeford, is a depressing tale about two alcoholics who go bump in the night. The story follows the adventures of this alcoholic couple as they attempt suicide, check themselves into a mental hospital, and drink themselves into a stupor. After the female half of the couple dies in another suicide pact, the story switches to a prison tale. The end is somewhat of a twist, but really doesn't impact the story that much, in my opinion. Again, not really noir as noir can be, but still a fine story that can stand by itself.

Down There, by David Goodis, is a wild ride of a tale. Full of suspense and death, this is a great story that deserves to be included here. A family of ne'er-do-wells drags their talented piano-playing brother into their personal problems. The background information on Eddie, the piano player, is phenomenal. The tragedy that has struck him once is bound to repeat itself again. This story has great bit characters that really liven up the background.

The final story, by Chester Himes, is The Real Cool Killers. This is noir on acid: pornographic violence, massive doses of grim reality, and characters you're glad to see get killed. The story is set in Harlem and involves two tough cops named Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. Someone kills a white guy in Harlem and the cops try and track them down. This story contains one of the funniest descriptions of a person falling off a balcony that I've ever read (and I've read a few, disturbingly enough). The writing has enough similes and metaphors to give Raymond Chandler an apoplectic fit. A cool story that certainly deserves a place in this book.

If you like noir, read these two LOA novels. They are long (together they're almost 2000 pages) but it is definitely worth the effort. These kinds of stories are just a great way to while away some free time and relieve stress.

This is a Great Collection.......2001-05-09

I usually don't like genre fiction, but this book is a great collection of "Noir" novels. Film buffs will be particularly interested in reading the novel on which "Shoot the Piano Player" was based, as well as the first "Mr. Ripley" novel (much nastier and darker than the recent film). Most highly recommended.

Great Collection, Attractively Packaged.......2000-07-08

This is a fine collection of crime novels in a durable, easy to read format. It starts off great with "The Killer Inside Me", the all time best trip through a killer's mind. The selections by Highsmith and Goodis, while not as intense as "Killer", are just as good in their own quieter ways. The only novel I would have left out is "Pickup"; while I like Willeford I think this is one of his more leaden performances. I also have a quibble with the volume's title, as the word "noir" has been beaten to death and doesn't tell us much about most of these books. "The Talented Mr. Ripley" owes more to Henry James than to Raymond Chandler, and "Killer" doesn't feature any dark city streets. Quibbles aside, however, the book is well worth buying.

Average customer rating:

Among Favorites!
too convenient, too conformist
excellent book on leadership worth adding to your collection
Vintage Swindoll!
Extremely useful and readable

Hand Me Another Brick
Charles R. Swindoll
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Nehemiah : Becoming a Disciplined Leader (Men of Character)
Nehemiah: Experiencing the Good Hand of God (MacArthur Bible Studies)
A Passion for Faithfulness: Wisdom From the Book of Nehemiah (Packer, J. I. Living Insights Bible Study.)
The Message of Nehemiah: God's Servant in a Time of Change (Bible Speaks Today)
Hand Me Another Brick Bible Companion: Timeless Lessons on Leadership

ASIN: 0849937094

Book Description

Most of us could benefit from wise advice on how to be a more effective leader at work and at home. In this revised edition, Charles Swindoll delves deep into the lives of Nehemiah to show how to handle the issues of motivation, discouragement and adversity with integrity.

Customer Reviews:

Among Favorites!.......2007-03-16

This is one of my Swindoll favorites. His expository approach to Scripture is still unmatched, in my opinion. This book on leadership from Nehemiah is worth the money for pastors looking for biblically based leadership material.

too convenient, too conformist.......2007-02-10

I was given this book by a member of the congregation I currently serve as an intern pastor. I'd heard of Charles Swindoll, read excerpts from some of his other material, and I've had conversations with people who hold this American Evangelical heavyweight celebrity in high regard. I'm (usually) prepared for the anxieties that follow calls for critical thought when I attempt to engage in considerate dialogue with folks who've become 24/7 consumers of this kind of dangerously shallow American-ized christian-ism.

The book? Yeah, I think most of the time, Nehemiah just becomes a convenient character for Swindoll to plunder as he trots out his real allegiances: customary "stylings" of the American "Evangelical" (that term has really been hijacked) movement. Most of what Swindoll really seems to be after in the book could come from Jack Welsh or Oliver North more than from the story of God's work on Israel's behalf through a reluctant slave. I'm sure his peers in the megachurches and highly influential religious media will provide Swindoll with plenty of accolades for this effort, but I found myself more and more disheartened, and increasingly aggravated as I read the book.

Swindoll's conclusions seem facile, reflecting no more consideration or pastoral insight than the time it took to tap them out on a keyboard... his work does not reflect his experience nor his educational credentials. His use of Nehemiah's story conforms to the tendencies of the overly legalistic and thoughtless religious culture of our time that simply goes to scripture with an agenda already in mind, not allowing a text to speak for itself. While I respect Swindoll's great character and recognize his international status as a highly influential author of books, I cannot remain silent when God's word is relegated to the role of stage prop in order to dress up a line of thinking that capitulates time and again to the predictable agendas of American nationalist civic religion.

My advice? Read God's story in Nehemiah for yourself, get together with a group of people and read it together, quit presuming to restrict a living and totally free LORD from doing his work: speaking his word which breaks new every day in your ears, taking your captivity captive, and raising up a believer in the space that you used to occupy. Let books like this from Swindoll remain sources for consideration and entertainment, rather than substituting for an honest encounter with God's word in the communities that have been brought together for just that purpose.

excellent book on leadership worth adding to your collection.......2005-11-28

This book was given to me by a chuch elder. What an encouragement and blessing! Swindoll has a more readable style than many Christian writers. He weaves in Winston Churchill, C.S. Lewis and other modern writers in his exposition of the leadership principles set out in the Bible's book of Nehemiah. His many practical suggestions are timeless and universal. They help make this a very useful addition to any collection of leadership-related books.

Vintage Swindoll!.......2003-12-30

Swindoll's book on the Book of Nehemiah is a gem that any leader or potential leader would benefit from!

Among the important points Swindoll covers include:

1. God works through ordinary people and can work through unbelievers.
2. God alone has the power to change a person's heart. Do not try to manipulate others - prayer and waiting are essential.
3. Excellent notes on spending time in solitude before taking action - the leader must think things through before rushing in.
4. Leaders need to develop thick skin and carefully evaluate criticism (where it's coming from, the content of the criticism).
5. Nehemiah refused to be intimidated by others and he gives us encouragement to stand firm when needed.
6. A leader has to know when to make a stand and when to compromise - not everything is worth fighting for!
7. Leaders need to be happy people! The world is looking for positive people who are encouragers - people will flock to this kind of person.
8. Effective leaders have good insights and do not have inflated opinions of themselves.

A highly recommended read!

Extremely useful and readable.......2001-01-07

Certainly no theological treatise, Hand Me Another Brick is nevertheless a fine exposition of the book of Nehemiah, and an outstanding application of that book to modern life and leadership. Perhaps Swindoll's best effort, this is certainly one of the best available Christian "leadership" books, and is an extremely entertaining read to boot. Well worth the effort.

Boundary Power: How I Treat You, How I Let You Treat Me, How I Treat Myself

Average customer rating:

"Boundary Power" is an excellent tool
Good Stuff
Why Christian Based?
Amazing book!
*The* Best Boundary Book Available

Boundary Power: How I Treat You, How I Let You Treat Me, How I Treat Myself
Mike O'Neil , and Charles E. Newbold
Manufacturer: Sonlight Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Where to Draw the Line: How to Set Healthy Boundaries Every Day
Boundaries: Where You End and I Begin (Fireside/Parkside Recovery Book)
Better Boundaries: Owning and Treasuring Your Life
Whose Life is it Anyway?
Boundary Issues: Using Boundary Intelligence to Get the Intimacy You Want and the Independence You Need in Life, Love, and Work

ASIN: 0963345427

Customer Reviews:

"Boundary Power" is an excellent tool.......2007-07-20

I disagree with the perspective expressed by a few others that this book is too Christian oriented. It contains very little Christian content and this can be skipped if desired without taking away from the rest of the book. Perhaps the book "Boundaries" by Drs Henry Cloud and John Townsend has been mistaken for "Boundary Power." In fact, "Boundary Power" discusses abusive religious systems and practices that violate personal boundaries.

I am a mental health counselor, and I find that many of my clients have unhealthy boundaries that cause them to be taken advantage of or be victimized. This book points out what boundaries are, where we learn them, and why they are necessary. It gives numerous examples of both healthy and unhealthy boundaries while guiding the reader to examine their own boundaries and to develop. I recommend it.

Good Stuff.......2006-08-14

This is definitely do-it-yourself therapy. I think the exercises might be helpful for some, but even if you don't actually do them, the questions and commentary are great for getting you to go deeper.

Why Christian Based?.......2004-10-29

Hello to all. I am glad to learn ahead of time that this book is Christian based. I am a non-christian and would rather not be exposed to this theology. I would have been really put off it I had begun to read it and learned it after the fact. But, because I read others thoughts on the book I have decided not to return it. I will read it anyhow.

I would like to recommend "Where to Draw the Line: How to Set Healthy Boundaries Every Day" Amazon has it. The Best to All of You! Bev

Amazing book!.......2002-11-06

I am a social worker. I had this book on my shelf for two years but it lay there untouched until today. I rediscovered it when I was going through my bookshelf to try to find something to help some friends who are struggling in their marriage.

I took the book home to read and couldn't put it down. The authors speak compassionately and from experience in a user-friendly style. I cried over the self-discovery of some of my own wounds that I have never let heal.

As a member of the LGBT community I would only be afraid that
people in all communities who could benefit from this book may never read it because the authors make assumptions about sexual orientation and nuclear families....but I will still enthusiasticly recommend it (with a grain of rainbow salt) to everyone I know. To the authors....THANK YOU...and best wishes with your continued recovery.

*The* Best Boundary Book Available.......2002-08-13

This workbook explains the concept of boundaries, helps readers learn how to identify unhealthy boundaries, and learn to set new, healthier boundaries on all levels. It doesn't shy away from the tough questions, like "How have you violated someone's boundary recently?" Although from a Christian perspective, and containing a full (and excellent) chapter on religious boundary violations, those of other persuasions--including atheists--could overlook the slight religious content and benefit greatly by working through the book.

Die for Me: The Terrifying True Story of the Charles Ng & Leonard Lake Torture Murders

Average customer rating:

Still A Horrific Crime!
Middle of the road..
Blasphemy
Over twenty years, twenty million dollars, and still counting, all to protect the rights of a gruesome serial killer.
Poor quality

Die for Me: The Terrifying True Story of the Charles Ng & Leonard Lake Torture Murders
Don Lasseter
Manufacturer: Pinnacle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0786011076

Customer Reviews:

Still A Horrific Crime!.......2007-06-19

I remember reading about the Lake-Ng crimes which are still unspeakable, unforgivable, unconsciousable, brutal, merciless towards the men, women, and children who were completely innocent. Lake and Ng were two men of a kind who enjoyed sadistic pleasure in torturing people at their compound in Northern California. Fortunately, Ng is in prison on death row I believe and Lake committed suicide. The story behind their lives is equally fascinating to result in two of the most demented serial killers and sadists around. I read a lot of real crime books and these two men were monsters in human form who enjoyed the sadistic pleasures of torturing women to death and humiliating them. The story of Lake-Ng is only partially told because there are other unknown victims but even after 20 years since the initial discovery of the house of horrors, the Lake-Ng crimes still penetrate a nerve in the community there like ghosts who refuse to go away.

Middle of the road.........2007-04-29

I am a fan of material that is a bit more hardcore and gory. This had potential to remind me of scenes from Silence of the Lambs when the girl was in that hole in the ground...but yet it didn't deal with enough of the experience of the victims. It seems to zoom through the victims and once you get half way through, all of a sudden the rest of the book dealt with court proceedings (I assume, I stopped after a few chapters of that part).
But on a positive note, these guys WERE hardcore and Leonard Lake had some serious issues. There was some interesting reading in the beginning
and is worth the read if you consider yourself a true crime buff.

If you are like me....then of course The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer is a great read, but also read about Albert Fish (Deranged). I just read about Armin Meitwes (a German cannibal) and two books about Eddie Gein. Of course, I've read a small stack about Manson and his family. I'd like to suggest a book titled Love & Death about the MURDER of Kurt Cobain. Skeptics are the ones who should read it the most!!!

[...].

Blasphemy.......2006-09-08

"Die For Me" is a true story of gruesome torture, terror, sex, rape, cold murder and videotapes. To identify both Leonard Lake and Charles Ng (pronounced 'eeng') as ex-marines is blasphemy at its greatest. Similarly, and more critical, is the statement the author made contrasting both Lake and Ng with being God;

"...They had witnessed two young women enduring a nightmare, and two men (Lake and Ng) playing God with their lives."

More correct would have been contrasting them with the devil. The references of being an ex-marines or acting like God is a complete and total blasphemy. Both Leonard Lake and Charles Ng are not worthy of being recognized as ex-marines and worst yet, acting like God.

"Die For Me" is the horrifying story of the "Miranda project" by Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. Before Leonard Lake befriended Ng, Lake had a plan to prepare for Armageddon (day of reckoning) by building a military survival bunker. However, the plan by Lake went further than that since a secret holding cell was going to be built within the bunker. The cell would satisfy Lake's misogyny by enslaving, terrorizing, torturing, raping, and killing women he lured to his torturing den. Women were not the only victims in Lake's and Ng's Miranda project (based on the book "The Collector" by John Fowles), but men, children and babies as well. Both Leonard Lake and Charles Ng grossly took the lives of at least sixteen human beings.

The author, Don Lasseter did well in not describing the gruesome, gross, and churning details of what the victims went through before being killed and disposed of as worthless trash. The toned down descriptions are bad enough to churn the readers' stomach and raises the readers' displeasure to infinity.

Granite inscription at the sight:

In Wilseyville We Found You
Ou Lost Ones
Though Taken In Darkness
You Will Forever Live In Light
Rest In Peace

Victims Of The 1984-85
Wilseyville Mass Murder

Over twenty years, twenty million dollars, and still counting, all to protect the rights of a gruesome serial killer........2006-08-28

Charles Ng was the disturbed spoiled son of wealthy Hong Kong parents. After being kicked out of several boarding schools in Hong Kong and England he eventually heads to the US. He joins the armed forces after lying about his citizenship but is eventually dishonorably discharged from committing anti-social acts. In California he meets up with kindred psychopath, and loser with the ladies, Leonard Lake. Lake has a house and builds an underground bunker and crematorium. Together this sicko duo plots to abduct victims, including a family from the classifieds by pretending to be potential buyers. They killed the babies and raped and tortured the women while forcing the husbands to watch. Not only were bits of human remains found but Lake and Ng made several home movies of themselves committing these atrocious crimes. This was back when video cameras were still very expensive.

I did not actually read this book (I hope I'm not being too unfair. I gave it the average rating), but I read enough on the Internet to be horrified and outraged and I'd like to comment on the case. In spite of what the FBI statisticians would have us believe not all serial killers are Caucasians. Ng is Chinese, Richard (Night Stalker) Ramirez, Adolfo (El Padrino) Constanzo, and Rafael (Railroad Killer) Resendez were Hispanic and Hulon (Yaweh ben Yaweh) Mitchell Jr. was African American. They don't always act alone, Ng and Lake were a folie-a-deux and Constanzo and Mitchell were cult leaders. They're not always in their 30's and 40's. Ng and Constanzo were in their early 20's.

Lake was apprehended while shoplifting from a hardware store to replace one of his homemade torture devices and committed suicide. In a macabre irony, if Lake were alive he would probably have a retinue of disturbed groupies vying for his hand in marriage. Ng fled to Canada where he was also apprehended shoplifting and subsequently shooting a security guard. There have been several cases where killers were apprehended for shoplifting or petty traffic violations. Since Ng was facing the death penalty for his crimes a lengthy and costly legal battle ensued. Canada and Mexico abolished the death penalty and rarely extradite fugitives to the US when they face the death penalty. Eventually Ng was extradited to California after he served his sentence in Canada, where he spent most of his time eating and drawing cartoons of his victims.

After millions of taxpayer dollars were spent prosecuting and defending Ng he was finally sentenced to be executed. Ng's lawyers used many stalling tactic and then claimed that after so many years had passed the witnesses in the case weren't reliable. The best witnesses are Ng's home movies, however, since Ng has gained about 70lbs his lawyer tried to cast doubt on whether or not Ng was the actual perpetrator in the films. Ng has also filed several frivolous lawsuits, including one over the temperature of his food. Millions more tax dollars will likely be wasted as Ng's lawyer is planning to appeal the "harshness" of his client's sentence.

If Ng had committed his rape, murder and movie making spree in Spain or Ecuador he would have been freed more than five years ago. Twenty plus years ago when he committed his crimes both Spain and Ecuador had a maxim sentence of 15 years in prison regardless of the crimes. If Ng had crossed the border of his native Hong Kong into Mainland China and committed his crimes he would have been lined up against a wall along with several other criminals and shot in the head. It would have taken a month or less and probably less than $50 to process, and a couple of law abiding Chinese citizens on dialysis would have received his kidneys. A lot of Americans, including a well known actor, like to whine about "human rights abuses" in China. I wish they would direct their concern toward people who fall victim (and their families) to monsters like Lake and Ng.

Poor quality.......2006-08-15

I'm an avid true crime reader & was looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, the author never connects you to the character. Their manner of writing seemed textbook like. With the exception of 2 victims, they totally left out what happened with the other victims. I couldn't finish the book, it just wasn't worth my time. IMHO, it's a waste of paper. I wouldn't waste your money on it. You'll only be disappointed.

First Light: Acadia National Park and Maine's Mount Desert Island

Average customer rating:

Great book for the photographer visiting Maine
Beautiful!

First Light: Acadia National Park and Maine's Mount Desert Island
Charles R. Tyson Jr.
Manufacturer: Westcliffe Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1565794729

Customer Reviews:

Great book for the photographer visiting Maine.......2006-02-25

I took this book with me last month when our camera club went on a January trip to Acadia National Park. The photography is outstanding and inspirational to say the least! We visited many of the places shown in this book and were able to take wonderful pictures ourselves. This book inspires one to visit Acadia at any time of the year and I highly recommend it to any photographer or persons who are planning a visit to Mount Dessert Island.

Beautiful!.......2003-06-20

This book is superb. Packed with spectacular photography and interesting essays regarding Mount Desert Island's history, geography, and ecology. The print quality is first rate; kudos to the publisher. A very inspiring volume which reminds us how important it is to have places like Mount Desert Island and Acadia. Highly recommended from a resident of Maine.

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Encourage Me
Dr. Charles R. Swindoll
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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This classic devotional is a treasury of thoughts on finding the encouragement you need -- and learning to share that encouragement with others.

Hand Me Another Brick Bible Companion: Timeless Lessons on Leadership

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Hand Me Another Brick Bible Companion: Timeless Lessons on Leadership
Charles R. Swindoll
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1418527513

Book Description

Most of us could benefit from wise advice on how to be a more effective leader at work and at home. In Hand Me Another Brick Bible Companion, Charles Swindoll delves deep into the life of Nehemiah to show us how to handle the issues of motivation, discouragement, and adversity with integrity.

Features include:

Perfect for small group study or individual study alike
Questions for reflection
Helpful and insightful discussion of Scripture
Discussion questions to facilitate group study

Average customer rating:

Good but expensive
cool Buk novelty item
Good story with good art
Love Bukowski? Add this to your collection!
A great Bukowski teaser!

Bring Me Your Love
Charles Bukowski
Manufacturer: Ecco
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Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

Good but expensive.......2007-01-12

I liked it, its a very good Bukowsky type of story, however its juts like 5 pages long, and its way to expensive, and if u add postage, wow i payed way too much for 1 story! i wish i would have seen it at a library i would have just read it there in 5 minutes....

cool Buk novelty item.......2000-04-29

Bring Me Your Love is a 1983 short story by Charles Bukowski. The story itself is above average for Buk and far superior to There's No Business, which is offered by Black Sparrow Press in this same format. The R. Crumb art is very compatible with the tale. It's the story of a man visiting his wife in a mental institution and the conversations that follow. Typical Bukowski subject matter...madhouses, women, sex, booze & not much hope at all. If your shelves are already filled with the real Buk books, I would definitely recommend adding this to your collection. Keep in mind, we are talking about a fifteen page book here! There's not much tohold, hence the great price.

Good story with good art.......2000-03-13

If you like Bukowski, or Crumb, you gotta have this. The story is a typical Bukowski oddball love story, and the illustraions are like Crumb can see the mental pictures you get reading it. A great price too. I saw this one on e-bay going for like 15 bucks, people don't shop around I guess.

Love Bukowski? Add this to your collection!.......1998-01-23

This short story is illustrated by R. Crumb. If you like this one, check out "There's no business like showbusiness" , which is also illustrated by the R. Crumb.

A great Bukowski teaser!.......1997-09-24

Heard of Bukowski? What's all the fuss about? you may ask. This little gem from Buk will give you a good intro into the world of Bukowski - booze, women, and mayhem!

Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?: The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music

Average customer rating:

A Decent Biography Of The Great Carter Family But Not Enough Infomation About the Songs
A brand new look
Not a word wasted
If You're Reading These Reviews, Then You Probably Care Enough About the Carter Family to LOVE This Book!
A Masterful story of a Great American Music Family

Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?: The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music
Mark Zwonitzer , and Charles Hirshberg
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

The Carter Family: 1927-1934
Volume 2: 1935-1941
The Carter Family - Will the Circle Be Unbroken
The Original Carter Family: with a biography by Johnny Cash
Wildwood Pickin'

ASIN: 074324382X

Book Description

Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? is the first major biography of the Carter Family, the musical pioneers who almost single-handedly created the sounds and traditions that grew into modern folk, country, and bluegrass music. Meticulously researched and lovingly written, it is a look at a world and a culture that, rather than passing, has continued to exist in the music that is the legacy of the Carters -- songs that have shaped and influenced generations of artists who have followed them.

Brilliant in insight and execution, Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? is also an in-depth study of A.P., Sara, and Maybelle Carter, and their bittersweet story of love and fulfillment, sadness and loss. The result is more than just a biography of a family; it is also a journey into another time, almost another world, and theirs is a story that resonates today and lives on in the timeless music they created.

Customer Reviews:

A Decent Biography Of The Great Carter Family But Not Enough Infomation About the Songs.......2007-08-25

The Carter Family are one of the greatest and most influential acts in the history of American music. Having my own family's roots dating back over 200 years in the Southern mountains, listening to the Carter's songs evoke powerful feelings in me. I feel transported back into another time that I never lived through but somehow know.

The writers do a credible job of telling the extradorinary Carter Family story. For example,the 1927 recordings in Bristol, Tennessee where Ralph Peer signs both the Carters and Jimmie Rodgers to recordings deals. This began the popular era of what would later become known as country music. Also covered are the broadcasts from the Mexican border town megawatt radio stations which brought the Carter's comforting voices to a nation suffering through the Great Depression. The circumstances surrounding the divorce of A.P. and Sara is discussed, as well as numerous other stories about life, love and family in Maces Springs, Virginia.

But what I found to be missing is a serious analysis of the Carter Family's music. Part of the Carter's greatness is based on A.P.'s "songcatching trips" where he travelled the Southern mountains in search of old hymns and folk ballads for the Carters to sing. I would have liked to learn more about the history and meaning of these incredible songs. Instead a larger percentage of the book is taken up with old family stories and anecdotes, often based on the lives of cousins, uncles, nieces and neighbors rather than the primary Carter Family members. I would have preferred more concise and music focused writing, perhaps dropping some of the corn pone humor and scaling the book back from it's nearly 400 pages. Also I would have appreciated a more scholarly look at the Carter's place in American music as well as more attention to compelling subjects such as the influence of African American music on the Carter Family.

For Carter Family fans and interested newcomers this is a book still worth reading. But I do hope a more song focused and analytic biography of the Carter Family will eventually be written.

A brand new look.......2006-12-26

So, you think you know everything about the Carter Family? Well, you don't until you read this book. Every single word tells about a signifant history in the Carter Family's life. From the Originals to the Carter Sisters, to Mother Maybelle, this is any Carter Fan's treasure! I absolutely loved it, and the pictures make me smile every time I look at them with even just a glance. This book will bring you lots of happiness for the rest of your life. Be sure to read my other reviews for June Carter Cash's Keep on the Sunny Side: Her lfie in Music, Wildwood Flower, Press On, The Best of the Carter Family, From my Heart, A proper introduction to the Carter Family, and Louisiana Hayride: Live Performances. Honestly, after you read this book, you'll have a brand New look at the Carter Family and their music!

Keep on the Sunny Side,
June

Keep on the Sunny Side

Not a word wasted.......2006-07-09

This book, along with Jimmy McDonough's biography of Neil Young "Shakey," is one of the best written books about popular music that I've ever read. The breadth of the research is staggering, and the prose is a curious mix of cussing and twenty-dollar words that relays the events surrounding the ascention of the Carter Family with the immediacy their massive cultural and artistic impact deserves. Zwonitzer not only provides succinct yet detailed descriptions of the Carters' everyday lives, he also lays out a vivid portrait of the full context into which the Carter Family fits. It's a fairly quick read, with tremendous amounts of information crammed into every sentence. As with the best Carter Family recordings, not a breath here is wasted, and every note hits the stomach like a punch.

If You're Reading These Reviews, Then You Probably Care Enough About the Carter Family to LOVE This Book!.......2006-07-06

If you are a fan of the Carter Family, then you will find this book interesting to the same extent that you enjoy their music, I would say!

WILL YOU MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE is a great biography that goes pretty in-depth, and explains the joys and sorrows of the lives and musical careers of the Carter Family!

It is really fascinating to read about who the original Carter Family trio were -- (A.P. CARTER, who was the songwriter, researcher, arranger, bass backup vocalist and leader of the group; and SARA CARTER, his wife, the lead vocalist and harpsichord player; and MAYBELLE CARTER, their younger cousin/in-law, backing vocalist, and the most underrated and forgotten guitar playing pioneer in musical history!), -- and how they got into the music business, and how they influenced the early music industry and country music.

All the Carter Family members sang, and their harmonies and vocal interplays are among the most sincere, skilled, and enjoyable of all country music, of any time period, though they did it first and best on record. That's a fact, in my opinion!

The second version of the Carter Family, (mother Maybelle and her three daughters, Helen, June, and Anita), is also covered in-depth in the second half of the book! This is where many characters overlap characters seen in the 2005 Johnny Cash biography movie, WALK THE LINE, (also highly recommended by me, to you).

There are plenty of interesting, informative, and entertaining photos (both family and professional promotionals) sprinkled throughout the book, too!

If I had to criticize anything, I would say that sometimes the author wanders too long explaining the peripheral things going on in America and/or the music industry. These things are fascinating, but you start to wonder why it's all included. Thankfully, most of it pays off later when these obscure, forgotten people and events cross paths with our heroes of the story, the Carter Family! Stick with it, it's worth it!

I actually started reading this book a few years back, but I got bogged down trying to picture who was who, so I ended up putting it on the shelf for years. After I saw the recent Johnny Cash biography film, WALK THE LINE, which featured some of the Carter Family members, I was better able to put names with faces and characters, and that film also rekindled my dormant interest in the Carter Family.

There is a pretty decent DVD from PBS called THE CARTER FAMILY: WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN, which shows the author of this book, and is a terrific companion piece for this book. In fact, I'm not sure if you should read the book first, or watch the DVD biography? You decide whichever format you prefer first, and you will likely get both eventually.

The DVD sort of shows, accidentally, that there are two kinds of Carter Family fans: actual people from the South who love and live the music, and folk music loving intellectuals who love the music and its place in Americana! I am of the latter, but I grew up around plenty of Southern people, though the youngsters preferred Skynyrd, while only the older folks liked the really rootsy classics.

You should also get the two 5-disk CD sets from JSP Records, 1927-1934, and 1935-1943. These two CD sets are affordable from amazon.com, and they are the best and most economical way to have a virtually complete library of the original Carter Family's studio recording history, and there is no better collection currently available to my knowledge!

I would recommend the 1927-1934 set first, which has the most historic stuff, the most energy, and the best vibe. The 1943 set is after they had stopped living together, but is more professional sounding, yet less energetic (more melancholy); but you will likely get both after hearing the 1927 set, I trust.

A Masterful story of a Great American Music Family.......2006-03-13

A truly great book! The Carter Family left a tremendous legacy in American Music, and the author tells the complete story of it all. Wonderfully written, and very difficult to put book down once I started reading.

Connecticut Icons: 50 Symbols of the Nutmeg State

Average customer rating:

A Delightful Journey through the Nutmeg State
A multi-angled window on this place of American origin, Connecticut...
CT Icons
Heart felt rembrances
Shared memories

Connecticut Icons: 50 Symbols of the Nutmeg State
Charles Monagan
Manufacturer: Globe Pequot
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Basketball | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0762735481

Customer Reviews:

A Delightful Journey through the Nutmeg State.......2007-10-05

A delightful compendium of Charles Monagan's Connecticut Magazine columns written over the years, his collection features some of Connecticut's most beloved sights. It also includes a few of Connecticut's own original inventions, such as Pez, Mounds Bar, The Colt .45, Wiffle Ball, The Top-Sider, Raggedy Ann, Silly Putty, The Sunfish, and Witch Hazel. It's a collection that will leave even those who have lived in Connecticut all of their lives saying, "Wow, I never knew that about Connecticut!" Monagan's prose is elegant, colorful and rich in detail, and each of the 50 essays is thoroughly enjoyable.

The author takes us on a journey through a State that is vibrant in all of its natural offerings. His first stop is "that charming little archipelago off the Branford coast" - The Thimble Islands, one of which Monahan describes with characteristic eloquence: "a lone house sits possessively astride its rock like an insect on a bread crumb." His collection concludes with a look at Connecticut's lighthouses. He asks the reader, "Who isn't drawn to the image of the faithful, unwavering light flashing high above the crashing waves or through a gathering mist?" Who isn't indeed!

Monagan artfully captures with vivid imagery the finer points of the Connecticut locales he has chosen to profile, including such interesting spots as The Sleeping Giant, Hammonasset Beach, Cornwall Bridge (a 137 year old covered bridge that spans the Housatonic River between Sharon and West Cornwall, Gillette Castle, and Castle Craig. He takes us along the Merritt Parkway and the Post Road, to the Waterbury Train Tower, to the Town Greens and the State Capitol, and shows us with luscious language what makes each attraction special in its own unique Connecticut kind of way.

This book is a wonderful resource and great conversation starter. Every Nutmegger should have one on the coffee table!

A multi-angled window on this place of American origin, Connecticut..........2007-06-22

"Connecticut Icons: 50 Symbols of the Nutmeg State" by Charles Monagan, provides a multi-angled window on the frugal beauty of this place of American origin, Connecticut, evoking its character, traits, and values. Each of the entries gives pithy portraits of sites, facts, and things, resonant with history and laden with a poetic meaning as well as the pragmatism of a people who like to make things work. Whether writing on the hot dog from Blackie's or a gaudy castle, an Italianate train tower in Waterbury or the wiffle ball born of Shelton plastics, roadways as cluttered as the Berlin Turnpike or as would-be pastoral as the Merritt Parkway, a Mounds bar from the Armenian ingenuity of Naugatuck or the Sperry top-sider concocted on the Long Island shores in 1937, amusement parks of yesteryear or white clam pizza, the Yale Bowl's football unheroics or the state capitol's misplaced golden dome, Monagan can turn the banality of the everyday into poetry and history. "Connecticut icons" conjures taken-for-granted foods, tools, greens, roadways, or buildings into signifying traits of deeper value, ethical qualities like "reliability," spareness, frugality, decorum, pride in labor, under-statement, exactitude. This is a splendid book, a work of character, insight and staunch beauty worthy of its subjects.

Pondering "things most of us see but take for granted, that could take a closer look," Monagan graphs a deft "iconography" of place combining sensibility and research, humor, local color, and common sense. If Connecticut "sit[s] between Rhode Island clam chowder and Manhattan clam chowder without a chowder to call our own," there is much else to savor and praise. From witch hazel to tobacco sheds and steamed cheeseburgers and the Cornwall Bridge, "Connecticut Icons" is a work the great Walt Whitman would love and honor as bric-a-brac of the American sublime.

There is a superb essay on Connecticut as ethos and place by the great American poet, Wallace Stevens, who spent the better part of his life in the insurance business and poetry vocation in Hartford, where he had migrated from Pennsylvania Bucks County. It is the best meditation I had ever read on what makes Connecticut abide as place, value, and style in some thrifty, pragmatic way. "It is a question of coming home to the American self in the sort of place in which it was formed," Stevens writes, affirming his ties to "an origin of hardihood, good faith and good will." I go back to it now and then, for inspiration and an overview of this "place of origin." In these bleak times, we need to be reminded of such values. Steven's essay is the only thing that comes close--though in a far less detailed and dated way-- to the under-stated beauty, joy, and insight of "Connecticut Icons."

CT Icons.......2007-01-09

I bought this book as a gift for a Connecticut native who moved out of state for work and he said it is one of the best gifts he has ever received. This book makes a great gift for your friends who love Connecticut and now find themselves living elsewhere but still pining for Connecticut. It is also a nice way to introduce people to many of the charming sites in Connecticut.

Heart felt rembrances.......2006-12-07

Born in Waterbury 55 years ago, I couldn't get away fast enough from what I considered to be the overly colonial, unhip and dreary industrial towns yet the old stomping grounds remain a major part of my personal nostalgia. Charles Monagan writes as someone who has stayed where he was born and embraced it, delving over the years into all of its nooks and crannies and found a way to remind the rest of us what we have left behind, forgotten, or missed along the way. Full of fun facts and fond observations, this book invites anyone to take a closer look at the Nutmeg state, where we have no chowder and I might add, any accent, being oddly neutral in between the defined patios of NYC and Beantown. A great read!

Shared memories.......2006-11-05

Although I've lived in Los Angeles for 25 years I grew up in Connecticut and share many of the authors impressions and insights. Odd.

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