Customer Reviews:
Book does not flow.......2002-11-12
This book is a great introduction, but nothing more. The book has no continuous flow to it. It is not well written, but does contain some useful information into the power that Luciano held
A fairly good book.......2000-03-14
This book does provide the reader with a basic insight of Lucianos life.It has been well written but the facts seem to be a bit out of place.A few incidents seem to be exagerated by the author and the reader gets the feeling that its not a book but more like a story from the news paper. A good book for a reader who wants to have basic knowledge of Lucianos life but the book i would recommend for the true followers of Organized crime is the Luciano Testament.
A fairly good book.......2000-03-14
This book does provide the reader with a basic insight of Lucianos life.It has been well written but the facts seem to be a bit out of place.A few incidents seem to be exagerated by the author and the reader gets the feeling that its not a book but more like a story from the news paper. A good book for a reader who wants to have basic knowledge of Lucianos life but the book i would recommend for the true followers of Organized crime is the Luciano Testament.
Customer Reviews:
Start Them on Emotional Intelligence Young.......2005-10-23
As someone who teaches and coaches emotional intelligence, I'm always saddened to find people whose emotional lives are stunted for lack of introduction to the arts. I include the arts, and opera, in my EQ Foundation Course for adults, and in my coach certification training program. Why? Because we know we need it! Opera is an acquired taste, because in the US we don't grow up with it. I bought this book hoping to include it with my EQ products, and to offer it as a selection for my Club Vivo Per Lei/I Live for Music, and I love it. Great stories, and elegant illustrations. Buy the book for your little one and then go with them to Barber of Seville; it's humor appeals to all ages, over time. (Spend the money to sit right up front; the immediacy is important!) And put the arts in your budget right after food, clothing and shelter. The arts develops the emotional life in an intelligent way. It can't over-ride IQ, but without it, IQ is rendered ineffective. Ask Turandot, wink wink. He had to teach her that his name was love, and he didn't do it with his intellect, he did it with a kiss.
For the Love of Opera............2002-03-14
The orchestra tunes, the audience is seated, a hush falls over the house as the the conductor raises his baton, the curtain opens, and the performance begins in all its splendor. The opera, a magnificent feast for the eyes and ears. Jane Rosenberg brings her writing and illustrating talents, her passion and love of opera to this marvelous collection. Hear the intriguing stories of Aida, La Boheme, Die Fledermaus, The Magic Flute, Pagliacci, The Tales of Hoffman, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Carmen, The Barber of Seville, The Daughter of the Regiment, L'Enfant et les Sortileges, Hansel and Gretel, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, The Love for Three Oranges, and Porgy and Bess. Each narrative is written in an easy to read and engaging style, and is full of history, mystery, drama, humor, and adventure. The scenes are painstakingly set, the action thrilling and well described, and the dialogue eloquent and easily understood. Ms Rosenberg's elegant and exquisite illustrations are rich in detail, capture the imagination, and send it soaring, and youngsters will visualize and appreciate the grandeur of the sets, scenery, and costumes. Together word and art bring each story to life in an original and fascinating way. Perfect for youngsters 10 and older, or as a read aloud for younger children, Sing Me A Story is a superb introduction to the magical world of opera that is sure to whet the appetite, and peak the interest of young and old alike.
I grew up with this book, and so should every other kid.......2001-07-08
This charming book tells the stories behind 15 operas. Classic and modern, familiar and lesser known. It covers all the bases, as does the Metropolitan Opera in NY with their seasons, which can include everything from Porgy and Bess to Turnadot. The book gives the stories behind Aida, Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Barber of Seville, La Boheme, Carmen, The Daughter of the Regiment, L'Enfant et les Sortileges, Die Fledermaus, Hansel and Gretel, The Love For Three Oranges, The Magic Flute, Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg, Pagliacci, Porgy and Bess, and The Tales of Hoffman. The synopses break the stories down, act by act, taking quotes-translated in English-from the songs to illustrate the stories more vividly. The illustrations also provide an incredible visual for the reader. I had these read to me, and when I was able to read when I was around two, read them myself, and got such a better understanding of operas. It was much more easier to follow the plots, and also makes for quite enjoyable leisure reading. I still read the book to this day, it's not dumbed down, it withstands the test of time in my library.
Average customer rating:
- 54
- "They'll never make a film out of that!" (p.320)
- "In a classless society, anyone can be Cary Grant."
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54
Wu Ming
Manufacturer: Harcourt
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Q
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ASIN: 0151013802 |
Book Description
In Hollywood, Cary Grant has grown weary of cinema's constant glamour, but Her Majesty's Secret Service will break his malaise with a bizarre diplomatic mission. In Naples, Lucky Luciano fixes horse races and launches the global heroin trade. And in Bologna, a bartender searches for true love and his missing communist father.
Set during the height of the Cold War-with the world divided into East and West-54 features Italian partisans, KGB agents, Parisian lowlifes, and cameos by David Niven, Marshal Tito, and Grace Kelly. Wu Ming brings us a cinematic romp that is by turns edgy social satire and modern comic send up.
Customer Reviews:
54.......2007-08-28
When a novel balances itself on the head of a pin, and when the complexities of that novel come to weigh as much as the pyramids, there is always the chance that the whole thing will come tumbling down to destroy the piece and end the suspension of belief. The longer the novel, the more intricate the complications, the greater the sense that now, just now, or at the very latest the next page, the plot will unravel and the machinations behind it all will be revealed. Broken cogs in a clock, the hand stuffed inside the ventriloquist's dummy. 54 has an even greater challenge, in that it was written by the Wu Ming collective, a group of five Italian authors working in tandem. Put it all together, and it could be a recipe for disaster. Happily, barring a few unfortunate mistakes, 54 is an entertaining, complicated novel that succeeds more than it fails.
54 draws on a complicated set of character interactions, the beginning of which seem to be ridiculously separate. We have Cary Grant bored with his acting lifestyle, propositioned by the British secret service, the MI6, to travel to Yugoslavia to meet Tito about a movie. We have Pierre, a young Italian man who loves to dance and misses his father. We have a sentient television known, with the clever but strained name of McGuffin. We have drug runners, Italian mobsters, Russian spies, American FBI agents. The list threatens to become exhaustive during the January of 1954 - for the book's name comes from the year in which it is set, 1954, a year when Joseph McCarthy was causing widespread panic and distrust amongst Hollywood entertainers and intellectuals in general through his communist scares - but the novelists keep everything flowing. 54 is written within a tight, most forward chronological timescale, moving from the 1st of January, 1954 to mid-November.
The plot is split into two halves. The first involves Cary Grant's mission to Yugoslavia, and the bizarre interactions that take place between himself and the other characters. Roughly half of this is devoted to Cary Grant's efforts in training his replacement and traveling to Yugoslavia, and half to Pierre. Scattered throughout are smaller chapters which don't seem to have much to do with anything, though they help tie events together during the first climax of the novel at the end of the first part, and form the primary thrust of the second part. Grant is as suave and charismatic as one would hope, adding a nice touch to that is Pierre's fondness for the actor. The second half plays up the role of the McGuffin television set as it is shuffled from character to character, its importance a mystery until suddenly everything comes to an explosive conclusion. Pierre remains an integral part of the novel in the second half, though Grant falls to the sidelines.
For all that the novel seems focused on Grant and Yugoslavia, there is a strong emphasis placed on the state of Italy post World War II. The characters shown are tired, worn, waiting. After the war, the world changed in ways that have made them uncomfortable. America is encroaching upon their lifestyles, and the promises of the revolution never really came into fruition. The Aurora Bar's - Pierre's bar - struggle to purchase a television (which is, of course, the McGuffin) for the upcoming soccer world cup is pathetic and sad, yet entertaining and hopeful. There is a sense that the old Italy is seconds away from leaving, with consumerism, commercialism, capitalism and all those others isms of which America is so fond of exporting, right around the corner. The dire spectre of heroin also raises its head, though this functions more as a monetary device than any real social criticism.
Wu Ming means 'anonymous' in Chinese, a name the Wu Ming collective have taken because they wish to dissociate their true names from the celebrity and fame that comes with authorship. Who they are is not important, what they are writing is, or so the saying goes. It is interesting to note that none of the anonymous Wu Ming members are actually unknown - a cursory internet search will reveal who they are - which strikes me as a more honest way of attaining the anonymity required. The chapters of the novel are often written in such a different style that it becomes almost a game to pick which member of the collective is responsible for which piece of text, and I would suggest in future that a group of five translator tackle the novel, one for each author. As it stands now, Shaun Whiteside performs an admirable job in the translation, through the proliferation of words like 'crap' and 'guys' in the narrative text come across as somewhat jarring. Setting aside the translation, there is also a sensation that the ending runs on for fifty pages longer than it should have, for no real reason other than to tie up loose ends that could have easily been left alone to the reader.
54 suffers from, at times, writing that is too clever. Cary Grant, running around as a spy, picks up a James Bond novel and laughs and points out (several times) how it could never be a movie. Marlon Brando is commended on his acting ability - remember that Brando had recently come to the stage in the 1950s - yet a worry remains that he will end up fat and useless. The McGuffin television set is actually called a McGuffin - a name for a plot device which moves everything along while not really being a part of the story - which stretches everything a little too far for this reviewer's liking. However, these too-clever aspects aside, the novel is entertaining and worthwhile. The Wu Ming collective sometimes throw a little too much into the mix - why Russian spies? - but these daubs fail to take away from the grander picture, which is meticulously plotted, carefully orchestrated and wonderfully revealed. There is a lot happening in this novel, with countless references and endless cameos of real people and situations, but a firm thread of plot does shine through. Readers who put up with the scattered beginning will find themselves immersed within an enjoyable, though complicated, read.
"They'll never make a film out of that!" (p.320).......2006-08-18
I was in Italy in 2002, when 54 was published in its original edition, and enjoyed the novel in Italian (and Neapolitan vernacular, and Bolognese 1950's youth slang, as well as plenty of other dialects and lingos). Back then, I thought it was an untranslatable book, full of local idioms as it was. How can you translate the colorful way people talk @ the Bar Aurora? When I heard that the Spanish translation wasn't very good and the authors had demanded a thorough revision (which was done for the paperback), I thought I'd been right. However I recently re-read 54 in English and I think Mr Shaun Whiteside has done a very good job. Of course many nuances get missed, but the language is pretty lively. I agree with the authors (see ProductWiki below) that this is a very European (and very Italian, I add) narrative, and some details and references may remain cryptic to American readers, and maybe this is the reason why the latter report this overwhelming feeling of "looseness" and "out-of-controlness" (I know this word doesn't exist), never the less I believe that the book can be enjoyed also by Americans, as it deals with universal themes (identity crises, celebrities as role models, yearning for social justice etc.)
Now I'm waiting for their next novel Manitouana, which is set during the American Revolution. At least this what they say on their website.
"In a classless society, anyone can be Cary Grant.".......2006-08-17
Cary Grant's assignment by MI6 to play the role of Yugoslav leader Marshall Tito in a film biography is just one of the plot lines in this jam-packed novel, filled with subplots from its 1954 setting. The west is trying to form closer ties with Tito, while the Soviets, with whom Tito has already broken, are acting to prevent this. Many Italian partisans fought on the Yugoslav front during World War II and have remained there, supported by friends and family in Bologna as they engage in the smuggling of oil into Trieste, another plot line. As members of the local communist party, these Bolognese supporters are trying to control the future of "Italian" Trieste. In Naples, Salvatore Lucania ("Lucky Luciano"), recently deported from the US, works at controlling the world's drug trade.
As these plots develop simultaneously, the reader must keep track of dozens of characters and their activities, since the various plots do not overlap until the end. Cary Grant, Alfred Hitchcock, David Niven, Grace Kelly, and the James Bond novels all play parts in Grant's story. The Naples story, with Luciano, involves all the on-going crimes of this don and his henchmen--drugs, race-fixing, gambling, prostitution. The Bologna plot is far more domestic, with a young man searching for his father, who is in Trieste, and a love story involving a married woman who takes care of her mentally ill brother. The McCarthy hearings, Emperor Bao Dai from Vietnam, Nikita Krushchev, and even Fidel Castro are also included here.
Wu Ming, the "author," is actually a collective of five Italian writers (four of whom, known as "Luther Blissett," wrote the Reformation novel, Q). While this device allows for enormous creativity and energy, it also promotes the accumulation of vast amounts of period detail, and the introduction of more characters than I can recall in one novel in a long time. As each author writes his own section, the novel suffers from a looseness in overall construction and the lack of a single vision. The grand finale, while worthy of James Bond, is actually anticlimactic as the various plots finally come together more than five hundred fully-packed pages after they began.
Filled with local color--bars, casinos, races, card games, and political movements--the novel is often lively and fun to read. The points of view and location change every few pages, however, and the reader often feels as if s/he is reading four separate novels simultaneously. Humor and irony pervade the novel, including sections written from the point of view of a TV set, a scheme to make a Madonna weep, and a satiric view of an FBI agent. There's a lot of everything in this novel! One wishes its authors had exerted more control by pruning it of its excess. n Mary Whipple
Book Description
With the help of his daddy and his schoolteacher, Ben explores and learns the difference between telling deliciously creative stories and telling the truth. Delightful art and pleasant rhyme makes this a story kids will want to read again and again.
Customer Reviews:
Too guilt-ridden.......2006-07-04
I am a very religious person but I was surprised by the tone of this book. The online details gave no indication there would be such a guilt-ridden approach, rather than simple, practical information on why lying is the wrong way to communicate.
Average customer rating:
- Good Book...........
- Before hollywood ... there were thrillers
- A fairly average effort
- A good read
- Not Higgin's best but a fair read
|
Luciano's Luck
Jack Higgins
Manufacturer: Stein & Day Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0812828275 |
Customer Reviews:
Good Book..................2002-09-25
A delightful change of pace as far as the main hero (Luciano) is concerned. Higgins does the WWII background well no matter what the story. (or plot) He manages to stick to his facts from other novel about the "Mafia Connection" and German forces. Though some of these facts are repetitive he manages to keep his readers on the edge with this change of pace (and hero).
Before hollywood ... there were thrillers.......2001-05-23
Things you'd never learn without movies (or before that, thrillers) ...
1. In Nazi thrillers, the professional honourable gentleman German officer usually have Prussian ancestry and has to deal with powerful rabid SS maniacs. If they come to blows, the SS always shoots first.
2. Women who despaired of life and went into nunnery are always beautiful and unable to completely severe their ties to the mortal world.
3. Tarot card readings are way more accurate than scientific projections.
Sounds familiar? Perhaps with movie blockbusters today, all movie-goers would be familiar with the inexplanable facts of life but remember folks, you read it first in the books, one of those books being Higgin's Luciano's Luck.
The unusual title is more unusual considering the central character of the story is not really Luciano, a big-time American mafia who was convicted on a bum rap. As the invasion of Sicily looms, the Allies desperately sought the compliance of the Mafia to reduce casualties and win over the Italian troops weary of Il Duce Mussolini. The most widely respected figure in Sicily was of course not the local governor nor the Italian generals nor the German commanders but the illusive Don Antonio, the capo of capos in Sicily. On his word, the whole island would rally behind the Allies, "encouraging" Italian troops to cease resistance and provide passage over inhospitable terrain from the landing beaches to Palermo.
But Don Antonio disliked the Americans, just a little less than the Nazis. Only his estranged granddaughter, the Sister Maria, and the famous Sicilian American "homeboy-made-good" Luciano had any hope to gaining the ear of the Don.
Harry Carter who slipped in and out of Sicily countless times found himself saddled with the two "persuaders", dropping into enemy held territories, where not all Sicilians greeted their arrival with full enthusiasm.
At the core of the matter, no one really knew how Don Antonio thought, and whether the mission was futile in the first place.
Characterisation wise, there was a good range provided, from shepherds to soldiers to airmen. Higgins played out the full range of human emotions, from love to hate, jealousy to bitterness, pride and prejudices. It was a drama of humanity as much as gunfights and subterfuge.
With additional work, Higgins could have made the book longer and even more interesting. But it was tricky, and the wrong move could kill the potential of a better book. Maybe he was right to quit while everything was still in place.
A fairly average effort.......1999-01-13
This book, while not the best by Higgins, is a fairly exciting book with a story line which could have been used better by an author of Mr.Higgins skill.
A good read.......1998-08-21
Having read this book almost 12 years ago, I must say that it was a good book if I can still remember it. The story might seem a little far fetched to beleive, but it is an interesting one. Higgins has written an exciting story filled with adventure and suspense that keeps the readers attention. Its also not the long of a book to rea so that is also an advantage to the reader. In all, it is a well written novel
Not Higgin's best but a fair read.......1998-07-02
Lucky Luciano helping to put an end to the invasion of Sicily --- I think not. The story line was a little too hard to believe. Don't mix up gangsters with your stories of war and espionage. Stick to your Dillon and Ferguson characters. They're the ones that we like to read Mr. Higgins.
Book Description
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano is often considered the greatest gangster ever to have lived. In the history of organized crime, no other man has achieved his level of power and success. From his modest beginnings as a teenage hoodlum in New York's Lower East Side, to his astounding reorganization of the American Mafia into a business-like crime syndicate, Lucky Luciano lived a life of dubious triumphs and violent tribulations.
Average customer rating:
|
Pavarotti: Mi Propia Historia/Pavarotti : My Own Story
Luciano Pavarotti , and
William Wright
Manufacturer: Javier Vergara-Argentina
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 9501503984 |
Book Description
A mommy and her young son explore what the words "So What" really mean and #151;as in "So what will happen!" The tyke is moved to repentance when he understands the consequences of his actions. Delightful art and pleasant rhyme makes this a story kids will want to read again and again.
Average customer rating:
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I Don't Like It: Written by Heather Gemmen ; Illustrated by Luciano Lagares (Tough Stuff for Kids Series)
Heather Gemmen
Manufacturer: Faith Kidz
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ASIN: 078144036X |
Book Description
A mommy helps her young child work through the issue of trying new experiences and #151;from different food to different churches. When she understands that God never changes, she is able to face the changes in her life. Delightful art and pleasant rhyme makes this a story kids will want to read again and again.
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Mr. Capone
