Book Description
Captures the unique style of fashion maverick Iris Apfel and her exuberantly idiosyncratic personal chic.
With remarkable panache and discernment, Iris Apfel combines styles, colors, textures, and patterns without regard to period, provenance, or aesthetic conventions. Now in her mid-eighties, she is a unique style icon.
Over ninety sumptuous color plates, photographed by Eric Boman, show off a selection of Apfel's extraordinary outfits on wittily posed mannequins, some sporting her trademark outsized spectacles. The originality of her style is typically revealed in her mixing of Dior haute couture with flea-market finds, Dolce & Gabbana lizard trousers with nineteenth-century ecclesiastical vestments, pink Lanvin worn with ropes of Navajo turquoise. Apfel's eclectic pieces might come from a Parisian couture house, an American thrift shop, or a North African souk, or they may have been made to her own design in a tiny studio.
Detailed captions describe every aspect of the outfits, including names and dates of designers, plus full information on fabrics and accessories. A selection of audacious accessories also comes under the spotlight: a giant necklace made of bear claws, a turn-of-the-century Indian horse ornament worn as a necklace, a parrot's-head brooch in colored glass and rhinestones.
The book includes an introduction by Harold Koda, director of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and an essay by Apfel herself, describing her lifelong love affair with style and illustrated with vintage photographs from her personal collection. 169 illustrations, 149 in color.
Customer Reviews:
A delightful inspiration.......2007-06-11
This book reminds all its readers that true style grows from individuality. In a time were you would recognize a stylist's style easier than the style of a designer, Iris Apfel's approach to and interpretation of fashion is the light at the end of the tunnel, she certainly has nudged me into the one or the other "true to myself experiment". Iris Apfel's witty introduction perfectly accessoirizes the clothes and jewellery presented, not only poviding background information on how this exhibition came to life but also shedding light on a certainly most interesting and colorful life in a warmhearted and humorous way. This book most certainly will be a longterm occupant of my coffee table.
Need more like her!.......2007-05-22
Loved, loved this book. The comments, the photography and most importantly the crediting of designers to each style was extremely well done. This rare bird of fashion serves us notice that we should embrace our individual style and glory in it and not follow the herd or be shy about manifesting our true "feathers".
Iris Apfel, what a rare bird indeed..........2007-04-02
I was lucky enough to view the exhibit 'Iris Apfel - Rare Bird of Fashion' at the Norton Museum in Palm Beach, and what a visual treat it was... Not only is she an icon of fashion, but her style, her combinations of colors and her very different approach to the matter is something everybody should see and study. I have seen and met her in New York, she is the most terrific person!!! The book is amazing as well, great photography!!! I will always treasure this book and every time I open it, there is something else to marvel at or read about... An absolutely great source of inspiration, that simply makes you smile! One could only wish there will be other 'rare birds' to follow her lead.
Amazon.com
In an Author's Note at the end of High Plains Tango, Robert Jaems Waller says: "Though this book stands by itself, it is a continuation of two of my other books: The Bridges of Madison County and, especially, A Thousand Country Roads ... A Thousand Country Roads details Carlisle McMillan's search for his father, Robert Kincaid, who played a central role in The Bridges of Madison County."
Waller just can't, try as he might, get back to Madison County. Even though there are those who love to trash Bridges as sentimental twaddle, there are legions more who celebrate it as a romantic tour de force. Whichever side you favor, let it be said that the book delivers exactly what it promises. Not quite true of this book. What promises to be a romance of Waller-like proportions turns into an environmental crusade which turns down the heat, and then switches back to romance and do-goodery.
Carlisle McMillan, Stanford graduate (which comes in handy later on) and wanderer, floats into the town of Salamander, South Dakota, one afternoon and decides to stay. It is far enough away from anything that smacks of "city" to be appealing. He buys property with a derelict house on it and rebuilds it in honor of his mentor, Cody Marx. Cody taught him everything he knows about fine carpentry, and about doing it right, even when it doesn't show. Cody's Way is a metaphor for house building and character building, and Carlisle has learned his lessons well.
There are two women in this tale: Gally Devereaux, married to a big jerk who has the good grace to die, and Susanna Benteen, the auburn-haired beauty who dances naked in the firelight. Does anybody but Waller know women like this? Things are perking along just fine until the long arm of Progress reaches all the way to Salamander, deciding to build a highway, and spoils everything.
There is a lyrical last chapter reminiscent of some of the best-remembered of Waller's prose, and a toast offered by Carlisle's mother, Wynn: "To ancient evenings and distant music." Sound familiar? --Valerie Ryan
Book Description
With over 10 million copies sold, bestselling author Robert James Waller returns with the haunting, evocative story of a small town, a beautiful and mysterious woman, and the man forever changed by both.
The wild places are where no one is looking anymore. Out there on the high plains, among the Sioux reservations and the silent buttes, among the small towns dying and the people with them, you can hear the wind. And on the back of the wind is the sound of an old accordion—tangos—mingling with the lonely thump of a single drum in the nighttime and a far-off warrior’s cry. On the back of the wind is the smell of worn saddle leather and sawdust, of sandalwood, and smoke from ancient ceremonial fires. To this, to a town called Salamander, comes Carlisle McMillan, a traveler and master carpenter seeking a place of quiet amid the grinding roar of progress. Near Wolf Butte, a strange and apparently haunted monolith, he finds his quiet, or so he believes, and begins rebuilding a decrepit house as a tribute to the gruff old man who taught him a carpenter’s skills, rebuilding his life at the same time.
He finds two very different, independent women: Gally Deveraux, who works at a diner in Salamander and longs for something more than she is, and Susanna Benteen, beautiful and enigmatic, who was drawn to Salamander for mysterious reasons of her own, a woman the town has labeled a witch. The women and his carpenter’s trade and an old Indian known as Flute Player bring Carlisle a sense of contentment for a while. But his quiet is shattered as bulldozer treads begin to turn and the Yerkes County War commences. Run or stand your ground, that is Carlisle’s dilemma, Gally on one side, Susanna on the other.
Robert James Waller’s fully imagined characters become people we know and care for deeply.
High Plains Tango is the hauntingly lyrical story of a small town in the middle of nowhere, a town that forever changed—and was forever changed by—one man.
Download Description
Robert James Waller lives quietly with his wife, Linda, and their dogs and cats on a small farm in the Texas Hill Country, where he pursues his long-standing interests in writing, photography, music, economics, and mathematics. In the Texas evenings, he wades remote Hill Country streams, fly-fishing for bass and trout.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
One of the best from Robert James Waller .......2007-09-13
Very good transaction. Excellent novel and the seller was excellent to
deal with.
A little too flowery at times, but overall Good.......2006-01-31
Waller is one of the most descriptive writers out there - and he does it magnificently - but sometimes, I wish he'd just cut it out and tell me what he wants me to know!
The overwhelming intricate details of the middle-story about the corrupt developers and politicians was absolutely unnecessary and bogged down what could have been an excellent book!
***SPOILER*** And, Carlisle - here's a little clue. Next time you put a year's worth of your life and heart and soul and blood and guts into a project and someone wants to run a bulldozer over it - MOVE IT!!! As well built as that house was - moving it would have been such a simple task!
An ode to the mythical Western small town of yesteryear..........2005-11-04
Carlisle McMillan has one goal: to find a place where industry won't find him, to settle in a land of wide open spaces where progress is much slower, if it exists at all. After years of fighting industrialization in California, he hits the road with no particular destination in mind. He's not running away from anything, not running to anything: He's merely driving, searching for a place to settle, a place yet untouched by large corporations and economic development. He finds such a town in Salamander, South Dakota, and this is where HIGH PLAINS TANGO, the poetically-titled new novel from Robert James Waller, begins.
Carlisle settles into town immediately; although locals whisper about his long "hippie" hair and question his financially independent means, he is generally accepted by his neighbors. He buys a piece of property on the outskirts of town that contains an abandoned shed and a nice grove of trees, and makes it his goal to turn the shed into a tribute to his mentor, Cody Marx, who taught him everything there is to know about the art of carpentry. Within a matter of months, the shed has become a cottage--a cozy home for Carlisle and the stray tomcat he's adopted and named Dumptruck. With two appealing women--Gally Deveraux, a down-and-out waitress at the town's only diner, and Susanna Benteen, the beautiful and mysterious "witch woman" who dances naked on the High Plains--to keep him busy, Carlisle settles into a simpler way of life. He spends evenings sitting on his porch with Dumptruck, watching the endangered T-hawk family that lives in the grove of trees on his land.
But it isn't long before Carlisle's archenemy, Progress, finds him and sinks in its teeth. There's talk in Salamander of a highway that's set to be built, one that would stretch clear from New Orleans to Calgary, one that would cut right through Carlisle's quiet patch of land. The majority of Salamander's citizens are all for the development, convinced the highway would bring new business to their dying town. But Carlisle is determined to stop the developers and preserve his simple way of life, even if it means he'll once again become an outsider to the people of Salamander...
Waller's new novel is both a romantic and an environmental text, a book that focuses both on one man's struggle to save his land from the greedy grip of corporate development, and on the woman who makes him realize that what he has is something worth fighting for. It's a beautifully written novel, heavy on atmosphere and rich with luscious prose.
However, the novel lacks focus. The plot is uneven, meandering from romantic simplicity to grassroots environmentalism. The environmental message seems to be merely thrown into the text without resolution, and the introduction of a violent character toward the end of the book is more confusing than anything. Waller's dialogue is unrealistic in many places, and his first-person narrator, a reporter of sorts, is never revealed, which is annoying. In the tradition of Kent Haruf and Mark Spragg comes another modern Western laden with cliches, a sentimental ode to the dying American small town. In more able hands, like Haruf's or Spragg's, such a novel wouldn't bother me so much--I might even enjoy it; but Waller's ability to pull it off is impeded by an uneven plot and stilted dialogue.
Nevertheless, HIGH PLAINS TANGO held my attention. The ending was particularly lovely, and I enjoyed Waller's interaction with Native American culture, legends, and mysticism. While Waller is probably not an author I will ever read again (for instance, I won't be rushing out to buy THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY), I could appreciate his command of lyrical and atmospheric prose in HIGH PLAINS TANGO.
An Excellent novel, from someone who's actually read the book..........2005-09-17
High Plains Tango is a story that will fascinate you from the beginning, turn you on and anger you in the middle, confuse you in a few small areas, and leave you satisfied at the end. I have never before read Robert James Waller, therefore I am not trying to compare it to "Bridges of Madison County". Perhaps this is the key to enjoying this novel (it also helps to read the book before you judge it...).
To understand the meaning of the title you have to read the whole thing, but I absolutely love how the story ties all of the characters lives together so neatly. I finished this book in 3 days, I read as my 5 month old daughter napped, and I had a hard time putting it down. Sometimes the detail and the dialogue (especially involving the elderly gentleman) got a little monotonous, but in general it's a real page turner.
If you are looking for a novel of purely romance and no other substance this is not the book for you. However if you are wanting to read something that brings out all of your emotions, truly brings to life all of the characters and leaves you wanting more then by all means read this book!
Just Another Western Type Romance........2005-09-05
This is another of Waller's post-divorce from Francesca to find romance and the ever elusive love she took with her. Here, we have Carlisle searching for his father, Robert Kincaid. I thought he had died long ago. He comes to a quiet little town to rebuild his life while rebuilding an old decrepit house. Near the Sioux reservation, he listens to an accordion playing tangos, with a single drumbeat. Usually the Indians use only one drum unless they are in a ceremonial competiton.
The witch Susanna dances naked in the firelight. He was writing about this kind of fallen woman before wife and daughter departed Texas to go back to Iowa. He found his Linda, like Greg Macdonald found a young live-in replacement for his wife who returned from the rural area of Tennessee to go back to Boston. Mid-life crisis is a bore.
The Indian Flute Player, like son Jeff, charms the desert animals around the ceremonial fires. Carlisle fights city hall (if there be such in the western small towns) and this one is forever changed by one man. There is a triangle with a waitress in addition to the woman he calls a witch, which makes it decidely uneven. Carlisle, after all, is college educated, but like all men like to indulge in the lower-class women on occasion.
The Yerkes County War commences, as is my GSA war! Who will be the winner, the government or the citizen? He is so poetic and lyrical in the way he phrases things. I know it is lonely out there in Texas wading branches and fly-fishing but ...."to ancietn evenings and distant music" ... to the ballads of Madison County. He never should have left there.
Book Description
ONCE AGAIN THE Sills provide a cock-eyed view through their binoculars, zooming in on the birds in all their outrageous plumage: the Mangrove Penguin (Tuxedo verdantus), one of the more intelligent species who has forsaken the arctic climes for the Florida sunshine; the Dowry Duck (Bridal seductorii); and the Grey-Green Lichen Mimic (Petriflorus imitatus), a confounder of those who are sure they can tell flora from fauna. BEN SILL co-authored A Field Guide to Little-Known and Seldom-Seen Birds of North America, Another Field Guide to Little-Known and Seldom-Seen Birds of North America, and Beyond Birdwatching with his brother John and his sister-in-law Cathryn. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Clemson, South Carolina, where he is a professor of civil engineering at Clemson University
Customer Reviews:
Now we need a fieldguide to plants of the callabre of these........1999-09-24
I have owned a copy of these books since I first heard them reviewed on NPR. I still laugh every time I pull them from the shelf. Excellent gifts for your naturalist friends and others!!
A must for any birder!.......1999-06-11
This spoof of field guides really shows the wit and ingenuity of its creators. You'll laugh through the entire guide.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful book on Rare Heritage turkeys.......2003-05-26
If you are interested in raising Rare Heritage Turkeys this book is a "must buy". The book starts with the natural history of turkeys and follows their use in agriculture from domestication to the unnatural boring tasting Large White industrial turkeys of today.
This book has had a large impact. It pointed out that the old delicious varieties of turkey were dying out and encouraged a grass roots resurgence in interest in the old varieties.
The chapter on rare turkey varieties is excellent and has wonderful photos. This book is a very enjoyable read despite causing concerns about what we, as humans, are doing to our food supply.
This book provides wonderful information on rare turkeys, and is not a primer on how to raise rare varieties of turkeys. If you want a primer, the best book out there is Marsden and Martin's "Turkey Management". It is out of print but usually not difficult to find.
Remember, it is only the modern industrial turkey that is stupid! The rare heritage breeds are intelligent and fun. And they sure can fly!
Book Description
Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds is a collection of seventeen thoughtful essays on birds capture the sense of wonder and connection people have for these marvelous creatures. Naturalist Lyanda Lynn Haupt, an ornithology teacher and researcher, examines the amazing talents and personalities of the most common of birds. She muses on the tarnished reputation of the starling, the sexed-up antics of male woodpeckers, and the mysterious behavior and startling population explosion of crows in her hometown. Through the eye and voice of this talented writer, birds provide a fascinating point of contact with the natural world at large. This book is nature writing at its best with compelling stories that hold readers' attention so closely they don't even realize how much they're learning.
Customer Reviews:
Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds.......2006-04-21
A slim volume of essays on the author's experiences with various common bird species.
Personable writing and a surprising amount of information, some of which is saddening (people lynch owls??) but most of which is intriguing and perhaps of more interest to readers, at least in North America, because it focuses on common species that many people encounter regularly. The essays are generally personal memoirs, and the type and amount of information on the birds varies -- this isn't a scientific study or a guide to identification but an engaging nature writing read.
Book Description
Part naturalist detective story, part environmental inquiry, this vibrant narrative celebrates the fascinating world of an endangered seabird that depends on the contested old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest for its survival 'This chunky little seabird stole my heart.' So confesses Maria Mudd Ruth, a veteran nature writer perfectly happy to be a generalist before getting swept up in the strange story of the marbled murrelet. This curiosity of nature, who flies like a little brown bullet at up to 100 miles an hour and lives most of its life offshore, is seen around land only during breeding season, when the female lays a single egg high on a mossy tree limb in the ancient coastal forest.
Customer Reviews:
A rare bird who managed to keep its nesting place undetected for nearly two centuries.......2005-10-12
If you haven't heard of the marbled murrelet, even if you're an avid birder, don't be surprised: it's a rare bird who managed to keep its nesting place undetected for nearly two centuries: one explored in depth in Rare Bird: Pursuing The Mystery Of The Marbled Murrelet. Like the more famous ivory-billed woodpecker, the marbled murrelet is an elusive bird which has chosen exclusively a limited territory depleted trough logging. Though not on the edge of extinction, the many human threats to its habitat are reducing its numbers, and naturalist author Maria Mudd Ruth here explores these influences - and her discoveries about an amazing bird.
A Page Turner!.......2005-07-15
This is a wonderful book! An interesting read for both the avid bird watcher or the casual observer. I loved this book!
Coaxing a non-birder into the old growth forest.......2005-06-12
What is remarkable about Rare Bird is how accessible and interesting it is for a non-scientist and non-birder. Maria Ruth Mudd's ability to draw the reader close to this fascinating, endangered and shy sea bird that nests in old growth forests comes in part from her own outsider perspective-she calls herself an "accidental naturalist"-as well as her lively explanations detailing how scientists began to learn about and understand this odd creature.
From rich and poetic descriptions of old growth forests where this bird nests, to humorous and arduous accounts of tagging along with ornithologists, field biologists, and other tireless birders attempting to study the marbled murrelet, Ruth Mudd brings the reader into a world seldom even contemplated by most. She also demonstrates-- through historical record, numerous anecdotes detailing her own growing curiosity, and descriptions of the fascinating fieldwork--just how difficult studying this bird is, as well as how crucial the marbled murrelet researchers are to this bird's survival. As much as this book is a natural history, it is a song of appreciation to the researchers who have dedicated their lives to understanding and fighting for endangered species in general, and this bird in particular.
By the end of the book, I cared about this strange-looking auk, I wanted to hug the researchers that work to document the impact of polluted waters and clear-cutting on this bird's survival, and I better understood the plight of one endangered bird in a world hungry for old growth trees and land.
Great Bird, Great Book!.......2005-06-09
I have had the pleasure of reading Maria Mudd Ruth's most recent book,Rare Bird: Pursuing the Mystery of the Marbled Murrelet. This book is the result of years of research by the author, which included culling facts from many scientific papers and journals,interviewing numerous biologists and ornithologists,visiting museums,attending seabird conferences and participating in data collection herself. The result is a lively,intelligent,thoughtful,funny and easily readable tale of a most unusual bird,and the folks who have found it fascinating. The author's enthusiasm for this bird is evident in her personal narration. This is no dry scientific paper. We, as readers, are amazed by the number of people who over so many years have dedicated their lives to studying this elusive creature,and the lengths they go to to observe and record it's behavior. We are also moved as we consider how difficult is the mission of maintaining the delicate balance of nature and industry in our increasingly complex world. Ruth has given us a gift in this detailed account of a funny ,fat, little bird and the stir it has caused, while trying to avoid attention altogether. It's a must read for those concered with protecting threatened and endangered species, and for those of us who enjoy a story well told.
Average customer rating:
- The Ice Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds
- Funniest Children's Book
- My favorite children's book...
- Very Unique
- A fantastic book
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The Ice-Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds
Arnold Lobel
Manufacturer: Parents' Magazine Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
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Lobel, Arnold
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Mary Poppins (40th Anniversary Edition)
ASIN: 0819304433 |
Customer Reviews:
The Ice Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds.......2005-12-30
Brilliant, funny, interesting book! One of my very favorities from childhood, and now my children love it. Highly recommend. Will stimulate your children's imaginations!
Funniest Children's Book.......2005-06-06
I like this book because of the Ice Cream Cone Coot and all of the other funny birds. My grandmom has a copy of this book and we read it whenever we come to her house. It was my mom's book when she was a little girl. And now it's my grandmom's book.
That's all.
My favorite children's book..........2005-04-03
I read this book when I was seven years old. At the time it was unlike anything I had ever read before. It has a touch of whimsy, magic and humor. The words rhyme and the illustrations are well done, which makes it a fun read. Best of all is the last page which still, for some reason, makes me say, "Awww. That's neat."
Very Unique.......2004-04-06
I bought this book at a library booksale last Saturday. What a find and a steal!! I bought the book because of its illustrations at first. When I first opened the book I was amazed to see how awesome the verses were too! They are just so funny and intelligent! You don't even need to see the pictures of these crazy birds to appreciate the verse written about them. I especially loved the "Glove Dove" near the end of the book. It reminded me of the Menacing Flying Glove in the movie "Yellow Submarine." I am a big fan of the Beatles and this book was very trippy, just like something they would create. These birds would fit right in with the Blue Meanies in Pepperland! I am hoping to become a teacher in the future and this would be an excellent book to include in a classroom. You could read the book and then have the kids make up their own bird from everyday household objects and write a poem about it!! Its just an all around awesome book, I wish I had seen it when I was little!!
A fantastic book.......2002-03-31
When I was in elementary school, I can't recall which grade exactly, I found this book in the school library, or rather, for some reason, I recall it being in the office. Anyways, I absolutely LOVED it. I remember day after day skipping recess outside and instead going to the office reading this book. I was literally obssessed with it. I remember that it transported me into an alternate reality, a wonderful fantasy like world, the atmosphere was just magical. Something about the types of birds and the illustrations, it was like a whole other reality. This was about 15 years ago, and I just happened to find it at the library and it was a thrill going through it again. Amazingly, each time I turn a page, I remember it now again. I am definitely going to try to obtain a copy, but for some reason I remember it being larger when I was little, so I will probably go back to the school and see if I can buy the copy they have. Of course, maybe it just seemed larger back then, but anyays, I will get mysefl a copy. I would recommend it for anyone!
Average customer rating:
- Good story, mediocre writing
- Ivory Hunters
- A very entertaining read!
- I couldn't put down until I finished it.
- I recommend it!
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Ivory Hunters: A Novel of Extinction
Greg Lewbart
Manufacturer: Research Triangle Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
United States
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ASIN: 1884570402 |
Book Description
This first novel from Greg Lewbart, a veterinarian and assistant professor of aquatic medicine at North Carolina State University, is a page-turning scientific mystery that raises important issues about man's exploitation of the environment. This timely story revolves around the discovery of a previously thought to be extinct species of bird, the ivory-billed woodpecker. The novel is situated in southern Florida and the hero is a state game warden named Hal Noble who is dedicated to the conservation of nature and the environment. He finds himself pitted against the unscrupulous Malcolm Grimes who has sold information of the bird's whereabouts to several diverse parties with an interest in exploiting the animal.
Customer Reviews:
Good story, mediocre writing.......2005-03-08
While most reviewers have given this five stars, I have to agree with Mr. Severson. The book has a good plot, and it's a decent read, but one wishes that Carl Hiaasen, another South Floridian who writes rather similar novels, had penned it. The writing is awkward and cliche-ridden and lacks the sense of irony or humor that Hiaasen does so well.
For example (and as noted by Mr. S.), after transcribing an elegant (if flowerly and very 19th-century) passage from J.J. Audubon (p. 83-84) we get this exchange between "the Harvard boys [!]": "Christ, that guy could put together a run-on sentence. He must have had something against periods." "Yeah. But he did have a way with words as well as a nice touch with the paintbrush." On p. 74, we are told that aviary owners Tab and Julie "were well equipped, each with a pair of Nikon 7x35 Action binoculars and Julie carried an Olympus OM-4 SLR with a Vivitar F 2.8 120-600 mm zoom telephoto lens." So what? (At least we weren't given the prices.) Unfortunately, there are countless other examples.
While the story, as noted, is generally rather engaging, there are inane moments: in one, the male ivory-bill stalks the bad guys and kills one of them by jabbing its beak through an eye and into the brain (ouch!). Reminiscent of the 1950s movie classic The giant claw, but certainly not a probable avian behavior. The book is nicely bound and printed, with a reasonably helpful map at the beginning, but it might better have been published as a paperback, for about half the price.
I happened on this rather obscure little novel from a citation in Jerome Jackson's extraordinary 2004 book, In search of the ivory-billed woodpecker; he describes Dr. Lewbart's book briefly, and without judgment. Another publication from last year that can be recommended without reserve is Phillip Hoose's The race to save the Lord God bird, and of course there is Dover's 2003 reprint of James T. Tanner's 1942 work, the Ivory-billed woodpecker (mentioned by Lewbart). And we can expect another book, The grail bird, this summer. Why all the recent flurry of writing on Campephilus principalis, especially taking into account the lack of books between 1942 and 2004? Perhaps it was the alleged 1999 sighting of ivory-bills in the Pearl River bottomlands that trigged a thorough and technologically advanced (if unsuccessful) expedition three years later.
Whatever the reasons, those fascinated by the ivory-billed woodpecker saga happily have much to chose from. The Lewbart book certainly belongs on that list, but at $22 or so one would be better off spending the money on the others, and perhaps hope that a more skilled writer tackles another fictional account at some point. (Jackson said that he had received various inquiries from fiction writers, but only the Lewbart novel had appeared.)
Chuck Herrold (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Ivory Hunters.......2003-11-17
I bought Ivory Hunters because it's the only book I know of where the fiction centers on the ivory-billed woodpecker, a species that truly fascinates me. But the novel is one of the most poorly written books I've ever read.
Referring to the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Department, Lewbart says on p. 72, "They were a diverse lot and utilized every trick in the book." The author fills Chapter 16 with long quotations from Audubon. Dan, a character of Lewbart's, says on p. 84 about Audubon's writing, "Christ, that guy could put together a run-on sentence. He must have had something against periods." On p. 89, Lewbart refers to a character with a felony record as a man with a "checkered past." On p. 96, the author refers to another unsavory character "with a bit of a checkered past" who had been arrested but had "a nice little nest egg somewhere." Then there's dialogue like this on p. 99: "OK. Bye Hal." "Bye Jasper."
After mortgaging his house, spending $25,000 to learn the location of the ivory-bill, then discovering that the bird has been stolen while he was gone, a character (Tab) feels "this was too much to deal with before his first cup of coffee." (p. 135)
The bad guy is named Grimes. The good guy is named Noble. Julie, a character notices this: "Noble! His last name was Noble," Julie said. "I remembered because I thought what a good name for a guy in such a noble profession. Pretty corny, I know. But it worked." Except, this book doesn't work. Lewbart had the perfect species around which to center the action; he just didn't have the writing ability to do the story justice.
A very entertaining read!.......2001-09-18
I read this book on my way home from Germany. I had to spend a lot of time in airports getting home and this book made my wait much more pleasant. It was a real page turner. I finished before I got back home. Pavillion Key was also a great read. I read that one on my way down to North Carolina last summer. I hope Dr. Lewbart writes another book starring Hal Noble before my next trip!
I couldn't put down until I finished it........1998-12-16
Ivory Hunters was suspenseful, exciting, thought-provoking, and educational. But at the same time, it had a way of making me feel emotionally drawn to the characters, especially to its main character--the ivory-billed woodpecker. Reading this novel made me want to know more because it make me care. I will be first in line when Greg Lewbart's next book hits the shelves.
I recommend it!.......1998-12-16
The descriptions of the terrain of Florida's Big Cypress Preserve, and the various habitats, and of the woodpecker sightings, made me believe that I was there too...
Books:
- Ray Gun: Out of Control
- Reclaiming Your Life from a Traumatic Experience: A Prolonged Exposure Treatment Program Workbook (Treatments That Work)
- Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada
- Rene Magritte: Catalogue Raisonne - Supplement, Bibliography, Indexes
- Robert Capa: The Definitive Collection
- Russell Lee Photographs: Images from the Russell Lee Photograph Collection at the Center for American History (Focus on American History Series,Center ... History, University of Texas at Austin)
- Scene of the Crime: Photographs from the LAPD Archive
- Sclerotherapy: Treatment of Varicose and Telangiectatic Leg Veins, Text with DVD
- Squishy Turtle and Friends (Cloth Books)
- Stage Fright on a Summer Night (Magic Tree House #25)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Latino Visions: Contemporary Chicano, Puerto Rican, and Cuban American Artists
- History: Fiction or Science
- Breakthrough Swimming
- Desert to Dream: A Decade of Burning Man Photography
- Deep South
- Hansen Solubility Parameters
- Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England
- Peter Blake About Collage
- Bioenergetics : The Molecular Basis of Biological Energy Transformations
- Sacrifice of the Generals: Soviet Senior Officer Losses, 1939-1953
Poiret (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)
Ralph Rucci: The Art of Weightlessness
Balenciaga Paris
Balenciaga and His Legacy: Haute Couture from the Texas Fashion Collection
AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)
