Book Description
According to Raybeck, the solitary dictum that best characterizes fieldwork is "Things go awry." In this spirited account of his time spent in Southeast Asia, Raybeck describes several adventures and misadventures involving field research, as well as the understanding, humility and bruises that these experiences leave behind. Since fieldwork is situated, Raybeck's treatment also includes rich descriptions of Kelantanese society and culture, addressing such topics as kinship, linguistics, gender relations, economics, and political structures. Through the lively pages of this narrative, readers gain insight into the human dimension of the fieldwork undertaking, a sense of how the anthropologist builds rapport in a research setting, and how reliable information is obtained.
Customer Reviews:
Professor Raybeck writes for students.......2001-01-08
I think the highlight of this book is that Professor Raybeck writes in a way that introduces anthropology to students as approachable and interesting. It shows the mistakes that a professonal can (and will) make while in the field. While taking Professor Raybeck's class at Hamilton College, "Mad Dogs" was used as a tool and example in his own teaching, but I feel that this book stands alone and can be used for any intro to anthro class, or for anyone looking for a low-key introduction to anthropological field work.
Product Description
Tears & Tiers is both a touching and disturbing fifty year mosaic depicting the Life & Times of Joseph "Mad Dog" Sullivan, Bank Robber, Escape Artisit (the only man to escape the infamous Attica prison) and notorious Hitman. While this never boring saga delves into his youthful years and forty-five years in prison to date, a hideous portrait of life within the walls. It also touches on his involvement with some past icons of our times such as Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Hoffa, and anothony "Fat Tony" Salerno, Boss of New York's Genovese crime family. Writen by Gail Sullivan his wife of over thirty years, while a great read Sullivan's life as such is not one you would wish upon anyone you hold dear.
Customer Reviews:
Direct--Touching--Visually Explosive.......2006-12-02
What an awesome read!!! Finally, the sleeping bull awakens to let the rest of us know his true story. Gail throws it all at us and Joe holds no punches. Be prepared for intrigue, brutal honesty, and blunt in your face challenges. Joe, though destined to die in prison, is more alive and perceptive than ever. Told through Gail, Joe's story will have you laughing, crying and empathizing. What would terrify us is his world and experiences, but even he sees that world with the truth that it is. Not only a fine biography, but a great lesson in rough justice and one man's journey as a notorious hitman...He now in his 60s has been locked in a box, but still reaches out to us, not for glory or fame, but to show all that can go bad in a life and how to avoid a similar fate...EXCELLENT BOOK...
David in Dallas
Book Description
Want to know what your dog really thinks of you? In this hilarious exposé, Genevieve, a two-year-old papillon, takes you into the inner sanctum of dogdom, revealing canine secrets never before shared with humans. Genevieve sinks her teeth into such topics as driving tips for dogs, the tragedy of doorbells in TV commercials, measuring the intelligence of humans, finding a reason for cats, how prehistoric dogs saved the caveman's bacon, converting your house into an agility course, and productive kitchen behavior. IMPORTANT - read this book before your dog does!
Customer Reviews:
A must read for any dog lover!.......2007-06-10
This book had me on the floor laughing my butt off! I have a papillon and I can all too well relate! Telling the story from the dog's point of view of her humans and her life made for a hilarious read. Once you pick up this book you won't put it down until you reach the end. Definitely a book that you can read more than once!
Memoirs of a Papillon: The Canine Guide to Living with Humans without Going MaD.......2007-05-26
GREAT BOOK. I'm a papillon owner and a friend gave me a copy of "Genevieve's" book. I laughed till my sides ached. I read it in one
evening and then read it again. I've watched my papillons "zoom" around
the house and act just like Genevieve. I've purchased several copies to give to friends as gifts.
Funny AND full of information.......2007-05-12
I bought this book along with a book supposedly about the breed. However, this book had more information than the other book which I returned. Not only did it have information, but it was told in such a humorous way that many times I laughed outloud.
Genevieve is so funny!.......2006-06-13
This book was given to me by my sister. As a working mom to three papillons and foster mom for rescues, my reading time is limited. However, this book was so humorous that I just couldn't put it down. I could see my oldest pap agreeing with Genevieve many times while I read the book. I would pick out passages in the book and read them to my husband, and he would say "that is just like them".
Genevieve is a spunky little girl that doesn't take life for granted and sees humor in everything. Denny, her human translator, helps her put her thoughts into wording that anybody can understand.
This book is great.
Can't wait to read the sequel!.......2006-01-01
This is a great book for any dog lover, and for papillon owners in particular. I felt as though I was reading about my own dog. The author captures the quirky personality traits of the papillon perfectly - I laughed through every page. This would make a great gift for those who know and love papillons.
Average customer rating:
- Okay, but not all light-hearted fun, you have to skip the tiresome parts!
- Been There, Done It!
- Wasted my money
- Amusing, absorbing, and just plain funny
- Excellent writing, a fine eye for detail, and very witty!
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It's All Greek to Me!: A Tale of a Mad Dog and an Englishman, Ruins, Retsina-and Real Greeks
John Mole
Manufacturer: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
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ASIN: 1857883438 |
Book Description
With unforgettable characters coming to life on every page, this humorous story of one family's search for the Arcadian idyll speaks volumes about learning to live, laugh, and drink Ouzo together while turning a tumbledown ruin into a place to hold their hearts.
Customer Reviews:
Okay, but not all light-hearted fun, you have to skip the tiresome parts!.......2007-09-03
I liked parts of this book and disliked others, overall I'm glad I read it, but I didn't find it as funny as other reviews indicated. Its fascinating to hear about Mole's experiences whilst renovating a greek home, I loved his interactions with the villagers and there are some really funny stories. I did not like how Mole tends to go on about Greek Mythology and History. This book is marketed as a funny life experience and that was what I wanted to read. I did not want to be lectured at the same time and found that I skipped many pages because of that. I loved reading about his experiences, not the lectures on Ancient Greece, thanks, already been there and done that, if you know what I mean!
Been There, Done It!.......2007-05-17
As someone who has renovated an old property in Greece, I can recommend this hillarious and quite genuine account of the process. It also emphasises the support and hospitality one gets from the Greeks.
Wasted my money.......2006-06-27
Just about every page bulges with the "to be" verb, making the reading dull and monotonous. Sentences are unnecessarily packed with useless wording when simpler constructions would be far more clear. I can't imagine this book was edited by a professional. Simple grammar is incorrect in places. I got as far as the fourth chapter and gave the book away.
Amusing, absorbing, and just plain funny.......2006-06-24
If you enjoyed Memoirs of an American Housewife in Japan, and A Year In Provence, you won't be disappointed with It's All Greek to Me! You'll love it. All three books have the same ingredient, which makes them so enjoyable: humor. The sub-title: A Tale of a Mad Dog and an Englishman, Ruins, Retsina - and Real Greeks, tells it all. As an Englishman, John Mole truly captures the psyche of these seemingly simple Greek people. Mr. Mole's writing is concise and a pleasure to read.
Excellent writing, a fine eye for detail, and very witty!.......2005-11-03
Mole is an excellent writer with a fine eye for detail and a very nice sense of humor. His observations capture the essence of Greek village culture with very funny descriptions of the locals, and particularly their conversations. He keys in on the rampant individuality of the Greeks in a warm-hearted way. He is really good at writing dialogue, athough with the normal problem of trying to convey Greeks speaking broken English and Anglos speaking very broken Greek. But he does manage to pull it off! A light-hearted, funny journey through Greek village life!
Reviewed by David Lundberg, author of Olympic Wandering: Time Travel Through Greece
Product Description
More barktations from Genevieve! Perk up your ears and get to the nearest fire hydrant - canine star Genevieve is back with a brand-new collection of observations about poor, dumb humans. Following up on her best-selling classic, "Memoirs of a Papillon: The Canine Guide to Living with Humans without Going Mad," Genevieve unleashes a scathing analysis of human culture that will have sociologists all over the world looking for new jobs.
Customer Reviews:
More Memoirs of a Papillon: Diary of a Mad Dog.......2007-05-26
After reading "Memoirs of a Papillon: The Canine Guide to Living with Humans
without Going Mad" I was very anxious to read Mr Fried's sequel. I was
disappointed in his second effort. I felt it was more Mr. Fried's
pholosphy on life and not enough anecdotes of Genevieve's life experiences.
I couldn't put down the first book and laughed till my sides hurt. I even
bought several editions to give to friends. As a papillon owner, I could
really relate to his firt book. I'm sorry to say, Mr Fried's second effort
didn't live up to his first. I hope he tries again.
More Memoirs of a Papillon: Diary of a Mad Dog.......2007-03-09
Genevieve is at it again! A thoroughly delightful read, following up on the first book written with the assistance of her adoring "dad" Dennis. This book will leave you laughing even if you aren't lucky enough to share your life with a Papillon.
Memoirs of a Papillon.......2007-01-04
This is a follow-up book of the adventures of Genevieve the Papillon. I happen to own one of these dogs and they "truly" are off-beat little dogs. Actually, they are downright "weird."
Dennis Fried has truly captured the essence of the breed. A great book for any dog-lover but an AWESOME book if you're familiar with the breed.
Genevieve is right on!.......2006-06-13
If you have never owned a papillon, you will find this book to be funny. However, if you have a papillon, you will understand exactly where Genevieve is coming from. So many of her tales remind me of one of my three papillons or of one of the rescues that I have fostered. This is a truly great book and is an easy read after a long, hard day at work.
My two favorite chapters in the book were the one on marriage, as seen from a canine prospective, and the one on exercise, especially since I am one who dislikes it.
Read the book. You will see.
Denny's Memoirs, as told to His Dog.......2006-03-21
Sorry. Read this book and the earlier one, and just didn't think it was all that good. My wife and I are the owners of two Papillons, and I thought these books would be fun. The first wasn't that bad, really, but this one totally blew it, in my opinion. Full of "Denny's stories", not Genieve's. Mostly his rants on things, or attempted humorous observations, and next to nothing truly presented from a dog's-eye view of the world.
If you are truly a dog lover looking for an entertaining read, I'd give my recommendation to "What Wendell Wants" by Jenny Lee
Book Description
James Grady revolutionized the political thriller with his first novel, Six Days of the Condor. Now Grady breaks fresh thriller territory with Mad Dogs, a brilliant novel launched from a totally original creation: the CIA's secret insane asylum for "retired" agents. Five deranged CIA killers, all of them dependent on their meds and deep in the woods of Maine, are forced to break out of the asylum when someone murders their psychiatrist ---and frames them for the deed. Crazy and traumatized by their experiences in the CIA, they operate under somewhat skewed perceptions of the real world. Their training, however, has prepared them to survive in an unfriendly world---even if that world is the Boston-to-Washington corridor as they chase down the real killer.Suspenseful, fast, and edgy, as well as funny and humane, Mad Dogs is a stunning novel of political commentary and a tour-de-force of contemporary literary style, a look at twenty-first-century spy wars.
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining..........2007-06-12
but not groundbreaking. Enough to spend some time with. Not much else.
Choppy and Crappy.......2007-02-08
Not worth the paperback price. If I were you, I wouldn't even waste my time on a local library copy.
Story and writing style is very choppy. It reads as though the author wrote it for his own enjoyment rather than wanting to provide a good story for his readers.
If you don't like books that have easy flow to the story, skip this one. Better yet, everyone should skip this one.
Why?.......2007-01-27
I cannot believe I finished this book. I'm just flabbergasted, flummoxed and distressed that this was even published. It's so bad I wouldn't have any qualms about those responsible being fired and banned from ever working in the world of publishing.
But what's even more disheartening is that I have admired and read so many of the people who scribbled praise and 'Acclaim for Mad Dogs and James Grady' on the back cover. Some, I hesitate to say, I've now obviously mistakingly placed on a pedestal - but no more.
Just an astoundingly bad novel.
Great Pages, Weak Novel.......2007-01-05
I REALLY wanted to like this book. Grady has a James-Frey-type style, slapping you in the face with terse, poignant prose. The flashbacks were okay, but they seemed to be elaborate set-ups for each characters' one unique trait.
The plot . . . ???? Good characters and great writing, all for nothing. It's like eating 5 lbs. of whip creme; the first spoonfuls are yummy, but the last few leave you feeling awful. The slim motivation driving the effort wears thin early, barely stringing you along until . . . deus ex machina.
It's best to reading the first half of the book and give it to a friend with a short attention span and a penchant for Tarentino dialogue.
A Hell of a Ride.......2006-12-14
I can safely say that the premise of Mad Dogs is unique: mentally ill spies framed for the murder of their psychiatrist escape from a secret mental institution to solve the murder and clear their names. There's nothing else like it. Grady has spun a fascinating and quirky yarn that takes the reader on one hell of a ride.
Book Description
Joe Lansdale returns with his characteristic dark take on the horrors that lurk beneath the surface of mundane life in this collection of short stories and novellas. Originally available only in limited-edition hardcover, these tales run the gamut from devilish fantasy to twisted courtroom drama to vampire-robot western. Each story has an introduction in which the author relates the background of and inspiration for the story, whether it was drawn from history, literature, or pure imagination. The title story, about a serial killer in Texas in the 1930s, won the 1999 Bram Stoker Horror Award for long fiction.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful stuff.......2006-09-14
Joe Lansdale has the stuff. He's one of the most entertaining writers I've ever had the pleasure of reading, and he never fails to make me laugh...no faint praise indeed, since most writers lack that ability. Lansdale has a special mojo (no allusion intended). He simply clicks. The magic comes right to you, right off the page. It surrounds you, sweeps you up like a Texas tornado, whaps your noggin a few times, then drops you, sometimes gently, sometimes not. When the ride is over you're bumped a bit, but you're left with a smile on your face and you've got a hearty appreciation for a good ride.
Many of Lansdale's short stories revolve around people who aren't very nice to begin with (though not at all uninteresting)who have things happen to them that are, uhm...not very good. These events happen in a progressive manner, starting with not so good and ending in downright terrible. (See the stories "The Mule Rustlers" and "Screwup" in this collection and you'll know what I mean). The rest of the stories in Mad Dog Summer are no less riveting, no less entertaining. So read, enjoy, and be amazed.
The longer, the better.......2005-09-22
As a fan of Joe R. Lansdale, I look forward to each new release with relish. Sometimes, however, these releases are difficult for a man of modest means to acquire, especially when several of Lansdale's works are published by small press publisher Subterranean Press. For a standard hardback release, Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories has a rather high price tag: $40 retail (Amazon and other sellers often offer a discount, but even that is usually not enough).
So imagine my surprise when I came across this signed limited edition collection of eight fiction pieces (four short stories alternating with four novellas, each with an introduction from the author "hisownself") in the library! I couldn't have been more excited, literarily speaking. Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories turns out to be a bit of a mixed bag, however. Although I like Lansdale's short work, in general its more uneven than his novels. The same occurs here: Two of the four short pieces fall short of ideal, which all four novellas are worthy of celebration.
"The Mule Rustlers" is all about taking fictional revenge on whomever stole Lansdale's own mule years ago. It has a lot of the same great features of other Lansdale fiction, but the unfair ending leaves a bad taste. "Screwup," on the other hand, is pure fun to read. A loser gets in over his head and spends the rest of the time just digging himself deeper while trying to get out of trouble. There's not much in the way of backstory or character development, just one event after another leading up to an ironic, but entirely appropriate, ending, but you won't care. (This is the second story Lansdale has written with his wife, Karen. The first, "A Change of Lifestyle," is available in Bumper Crop.)
"Veil's Visit" was written with Andrew Vachss, a practicing lawyer as well as a writer, who wanted the opportunity to fictionally "defend" Leonard Pine (of Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series of novels) of a crime he committed in more than one of those books. It's short and has an obvious agenda, but until the next Hap and Leonard novel comes along, it's do. Later, Lansdale remembers his mother, and how she influenced his life, in "O'Reta, Snapshot Memories." Like the title says, it's not a linear narrative, but the author fills the prose with such genuine emotion that it's easy to get swept up in it.
"Way Down There" combines cartoons with comic books, Jules Verne with Edgar Rice Burroughs, all with that inimitable Lansdale stamp. A special group of friends go to Hell to rescue Satan (it makes sense in the story) and learn a lot about the underworld along the way. It even includes references for further reading, assuming you've got the right kind of library.
I tried to read some Philip Jose Farmer once and just couldn't get into it. But Lansdale calls him his "outright favorite" (though he does admit to Farmer's unevenness) and wrote "The Steam Man of the Prairie and the Dark Rider Get Down" in tribute. It's a sci-fi Western, complete with metal men, talking ape folk, and rips in the space-time continuum right alongside crusty, meat-eating, livestock-screwing people of the land. Throw in astronauts, torture, and a hearty dose of cannibalism, and you got a wild ride that surprises at every turn. After this recommendation, I may just have to give Farmer another try.
"The Big Blow" just may be a perfect story. Set during the Galveston hurricane of 1900, it offers action, sex, violence, cleansing, redemption, and a small dose of history, as it happens to typically Lansdalean characters. Centering around a boxing match between John McBride and "Lil" Arthur Johnson (later to be called Jack), it's a real action piece, its 56 pages flying past like roundhouse punches. The characters and setting feel impressively realistic, and the plot is entirely believable. I had read it once before, when it came around in rotation on the Free Stories section of the author's website, and it's even better the second time around. I could imagine visiting "The Big Blow" yet again, and I'm not much for re-reading.
The title novella is the last piece in Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories. Fans of Lansdale's Edgar Allan Poe Award-winning The Bottoms may recognize it as the inspiration for that novel. It was originally written to order for publication in Al Sarrantonio's Bram Stoker Award-winning 999 anthology, but Lansdale felt that this story of a young boy's search for a serial killer in the Sabine River Bottoms of East Texas during the Great Depression deserved to be expanded.
A warning: if you have any intention of reading The Bottoms, skip "Mad Dog Summer." They're the same story with the same solution. That said, the novella is an ideal way for fans of the novel to revisit the experience without the same time commitment. I got lucky in being able to read Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to fans of the "champion mojo storyteller." It's also a fine place to start for the newcomer, as it gives a look at the author's ability to span genres without losing his own special touch that keeps his readers coming back time and time again.
Yet another great place to start...........2004-09-25
Just received this book yesterday and sorting my way through
some familiar and the off the wall gems. When you pick up Joe R.
Lansdale short stories you won't find the same old stories,
you'll find some good life lessons and hard luck, some shock
and laughs and down home tales, usually from a very twisted perspective at times. Always top notch stories. I especially
enjoyed joe's expanded novel several years ago, "THE BIG BLOW", with everybody's eyes wide open to hurricanes(this year) this is a good time
to read Joe's take on the most massive early century hurricane and the story of a boxer's inner battles. The combination is a knockout! Also included is one of my two very favorite Lansdale
yarns, (novella size also) called "Mad Dog Summer", which is about as good a story to read as they come by, Lansdale style.
This is a newer turn Joe's taken off the path over the past several years. Stylized from a generation or two once removed, writing in a vein much like the great Lee novel, "To kill a mockingbird" yet purely all Lansdale, this is an award winning novella(as was the full length fully realized "The Bottoms"(Edgar Award winner) from which this was spawned, a story that you won't soon
forget and I'm glad its the title tale and back out. This should be standard reading in all schools across this country,
its that good,(should have won a Pulitzer for such a compeling
piece of fiction). Even though Joe's moved away from some of his earlier shock and awe tales, he never quite lets us off
the hook when it comes to in your face gritty reality and that to me
has always been one of his greatest gifts, he know how to pack a big punch with his words without going overboard with 1000 page novels (and short stories). These stories are made to be savored and read
many times over the years, enjoy them, I sure am. Its also nice to see Joe pay tribute to his mother and share his views at the
same time. Joe's a BIG supporter of children and it all starts
with good parents-teachers and values, another reason I've always found
his stories to be REAL, regardless of their style.
Book Description
Set amid the chaos of West Africas civil wars, Emmanuel Dongalas striking new novel tells the story of two teenagers growing up while rival ethnic groups fight for control of their country. One young narrator, Johnny Mad Dog, is a member of the Death Dealers, a rebel faction bent on seizing power in war-torn Congo. The other, Laokol, dreams of becoming an engineer, but as rogue militias sack the city, she is forced to leave homeand then finds herself running from the likes of Johnny.
Customer Reviews:
The cruel exploitation of Africa's youth........2007-02-24
The novel depicts the horrendous effects of despotic governments on children,forcing the beasts out of them.
But despite this cruel exploitation,the goodness in many of these African children prevails.
Intense Fear Made Palatable.......2007-02-15
The book was neither "We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families" nor was it "Mortals" but it did manage to capture the ease with which people drift into mindless violence. The author appeared to believe that lack of education is a pre-requisite for senseless mayhem, apparently distinguishing senseless mayhem from sensible mayhem. Being such, it trotted out the usual examples of severed limbs, murderous over-reactions and bodies set alight. As in most cases, and possibly actual reality, whites and Europeans were generally exempted from the worst, although they were no doubt frightened out of their wits. For the reader its a footrace between fear and disgust but undoutedly these things happed and needless to say they must be chronicled in some fashion.
Like CSI, there was so much blood and guts that one became innured to it early on. it became a little predicatble, Africans gone wild killing each other while whites helicopter in for a photo shoot. As such it lacked much of the simmering outrage against Western Aid of "Capetown to Cairo". Are we to belive that all Amero-Europeans are superficial gawkers in swell transport while all Africans are helpless victims of both their own violence and the West's desire for entertainment?
That being said, the book did keep one's attention is sort of a movie-like way and even though the various outcomes were predictable, one could not wait for his worst fears regarding the main charaters to be realizied, but in a palatable form. Maybe literature is generally devolving into a screenplay; this book seemed to be
Engrossing and educating........2005-11-08
This book really brought home some of what it must feel like to live unprotected in a war ravaged country, a country where citzens are just meat. I felt completely compelled and scared for our heroine, a family strong child trapped within her own country. I was repelled by the brilliantly written villian - a boy who is the worst kind of stupid, a boy who thinks he is a smart man.
Be warned - it is brutal.
This book will break your heart.......2005-08-14
Dongala's fictionalized account of an African civil war will make the suffering of the innocent deeply personal. He creates affection and concern for his characters, and then inflicts the pains of war on those characters... and on the reader as well.
The story is told by two of his characters, the teenage girl who is trying to protect her loved ones and the slightly-older teenage boy who is one of the fighters. In alternating chapters, the events of the war are related by these two. As their paths cross several times during the events, two versions are presented for a number of incidents. The boy's arrogant amoral role borders on criminal insanity, but Dongala makes him believable.
Dongala has created a "page-turner" here. Johnny Mad Dog is compelling and deeply disturbing.
A bitter struggle.......2005-05-08
This book graphically portrays the horrific ordeal of innocents caught in the crossfire of rebel factions in civil war-torn West Africa. Hordes of people leave their homes and are relentlessly pursued by the rebels, in this case a group called Mata Mata, the cause narrated by 16-year old Johnny Mad Dog. While marching his "men" from place to place and killing so-called traitors indiscriminately, the young men loot and rape with impunity, proud of their manly prowess and totally oblivious to those they destroy.
With youthful hubris, Johnny Mad Dog considers himself an intellectual, but his arrogance far exceeds his native intelligence, as brutal a character as any seasoned veteran. He rationalizes his actions, spouting policy in rejecting "the previous government and its leader, enemies of the people and democracy, a genocidal regime... I think that's what we'd been told to say."
In sharp contrast, the 16-year old Laokole leaves her shabby hut with her brother and legless mother in a wheelbarrow, the children taking turns pushing. Along the way, the brother, Fofo is separated from his sister and mother. The mother's legs are a casualty of the last rebel rampage, when her husband was shot. Laokole thinks about the futility of their plight, danger at every turn, even "why a woman should limit the number of her own children: because the fewer children you had, the more easily you could flee in times of war and looting." Nowhere is safe in this chaotic world, turned upside-down by the rebels, soldiers, bandits, all interchangeable, young and old pursued, "for no one is too old to flee death". Everyone carries their most prized possessions, for Laokole and Fofo it is their mother.
By contrasting the lives of the two teenagers, Johnny Mad Dog and Laokole, the author paints a stunning picture of depravity vs. courage. Laokole is the voice of humanity, while Johnny Mad Dog is corrupted by power, depraved by senseless murders, excusing his own brutality: "I know, I know, my kind heart is going to get me in serious trouble." In alternating chapters, the girl and the young man maneuver through the unremitting violence that is total chaos. The carnage is everywhere, death stalking the streets with each fetish-wearing youth with a rifle in his hands.
The refugees look for their story to be told on the television, but nothing is mentioned on American TV. The European stations have some coverage, "images I've seen a thousand times on programs about Rwanda, Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Central African Republic and eastern Zaire". Africa is seen on the screen as a vast refugee camp, "the ragged, wandering hordes." This painful, but important novel gives voice to the massacre of innocents, over 10, 000 deaths, half a million displaced persons and refugees, a humanitarian catastrophe. "How can you have hope in a country when the road to power is littered with corpses?" The haunting voice of this young woman tells the story of millions, abandoned to their fate. When will the world respond to this genocidal nightmare? Luan Gaines/2005.
Average customer rating:
- Franny is a scream
- Diann
- Intestines!
- Daughter Loves Franny
- Excellent book for early readers...
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Attack of the 50-Ft. Cupid (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist)
Manufacturer: Aladdin
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The Invisible Fran (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist)
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The Fran That Time Forgot (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist)
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Frantastic Voyage (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist)
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Lunch Walks Among Us (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist)
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Mucho Monsters (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist Activity Book)
ASIN: 0689862962 |
Book Description
Franny's mom says every mad scientist needs a lab assistant. So for Valentine's Day Franny gets just that -- a Lab assistant. Except Igor isn't a pure Lab. He's also part poodle, part Chihuahua, part beagle, part spaniel, part shepherd -- and all thumbs.
Franny is fuming. She doesn't even need an assistant. What's she supposed to do with a good-for-nothing one like Igor?
And things get even worse when a giant, fifty-foot, arrow-shooting cupid starts causing trouble all over town. Franny knows it's up to her -- and only her -- to save the day. Or is it?
Customer Reviews:
Franny is a scream.......2007-06-27
My son really enjoys Franny K Stein. He is into science and she appeals to both girls and boys. The length and diffuculty are perfect for bedtime reading. My son just finished second grade, but I would think that Franny would appeal to many ages. I read her to my preschool daughter. She will be attending kindergarten next year and the pictures keep her involved in the story. You can hear my son laughing from his room when he is reading one of her books.
Diann.......2007-02-24
I ordered a copy of each books from this series for our school library. Now there is never one on the shelf, when one is returned, it is quickly checked out again by another student. I have now ordered more copies. My daughters love the books. This one is really cute because it talks about Cupid and Valentines. Also Franny's Valentine poem generator is too funny.
Intestines!.......2005-10-24
I think that says it all. Or, if not, read the book (or get your child to read it to you next Valentine's Day.) You'll possibly be glad you did.
And, for the uninitiated, "intestines" is what Franny's version of Cupid says. (She asks her teacher about Cupid, and the teacher describes him as a little naked guy with wings, who goes about shooting people with special arrows, and is always saying something mushy. Franny figures that nothing is mushier than guts, and hence... has her Cupid saying "Intestines!")
Daughter Loves Franny.......2005-09-06
This is the first young chapter reader series I purchased for my 6 year old, and she loves it. The story is about Franny, a girl that is learning to adapt to other kids and their lifestyles. She is very awkward in the process, of course, as she is a mad scientist.
Franny loves science, and underlying this story is the theme that it's ok for a girl to be a geek. Don't be worried about the "mad scientist" bit. Franny isn't evil. She is a dabbler, liking bats and boogers, bugs and inventions.
The Franny series has captured my daughter's imagination. It is creative, unique, and something my daughter reads almost every night on her own. Franny has fueled my daughter's fire for reading.
There are no real scary aspects to the story. The monsters are silly, like huge lunch meat sandwiches, or fifty foot cupids.
If you are looking for a fascinating chapter book that captures your child's imagination, try Franny K Stein. My daughter wants more books! I have bought her the entire series, and she can't put them down. Her reading ability is growing in leaps and bounds!
Excellent book for early readers..........2005-03-19
...caught me by surprise when my 6 year old daughter picked it out at the bookstore...at home she sat down and worked through it as though possessed...illustrations on each page were a continuous lure to decipher the written story...literally a quantum leap in reading level in a matter of days...amazing!
Average customer rating:
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Mad Dog
Jack Kelly
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Contemporary
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General
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ASIN: 0689121458 |
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