Angela's Ashes: A Memoir

Amazon.com

"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood," writes Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes. "Worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Welcome, then, to the pinnacle of the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. It turns out that prospects weren't so great back in the old country either--not with Malachy for a father. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting cliches about drunken Irish manhood are based. Mix in abject poverty and frequent death and illness and you have all the makings of a truly difficult early life. Fortunately, in McCourt's able hands it also has all the makings for a compelling memoir.

Book Description

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."

So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy -- exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling -- does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father's tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies.

Perhaps it is story that accounts for Frank's survival. Wearing rags for diapers, begging a pig's head for Christmas dinner and gathering coal from the roadside to light a fire, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors -- yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance and remarkable forgiveness.

Angela's Ashes, imbued on every page with Frank McCourt's astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.

Download Description

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood". So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy - exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling - does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father's tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies.

Customer Reviews:

Angela's Ashes: Irish I was Reading This!.......2007-09-21

Imagine being crammed into a one bedroom home with two siblings, an alcoholic father, an exhausted mother, a flooded downstairs, and the constant threat of tuberculosis, or even worse, death knocking at your door. On top of it all, imagine being so poor that going days without food is normal and an egg can be considered a delicacy. No matter how difficult that is to imagine, it was nevertheless the life of young Frank McCourt.
Frankie grows up in the slums of Ireland where begging is commonplace and children must find jobs at the age of 14 in order to support their entire family. Frankie struggles to overcome his destitute life, the death of three siblings, and a father who drinks away all of the money needed in order for the rest of the family to survive. This is the world that you experience as you begin reading Angela's Ashes, a true-life memoir of Frank McCourt.
Angela's Ashes takes place during the Great Depression where poverty runs rampant through the streets and even the most proud of families is reduced to begging in order to get a simple lump of coal. However, Frankie has the seemingly unrealistic dream of eventually travelling to America and starting his life anew. Throughout the course of the novel you are left wondering how Frankie can gain the physical or mental power to accomplish his goal.
One aspect of the novel which I found very intriguing is Frank's use of "comic relief" in order to keep his otherwise depressing life hopeful and at least somewhat upbeat. Mikey Molloy, a cross-eyed friend of Frank who suffers from "fits" (seizures), is one such example of this sporadic humor. Frank even recounts one time when Mikey fakes one of his fits in order to sneak into the movie theater. "...I'll pretend to have the fit and the ticket man will be out of his mind and you can slip in when I let out the big scream...That's what I do to get my brothers in all the time." Scenes like this really kept me smiling throughout the sadness in Angela's Ashes.
McCourt's writing style also provides a relieving mixture of both comedy and sorrow. At one point, Frankie contracts typhoid fever and describes his experience with the doctor in charge. "It's dark and Dr. Campbell's sitting by my bed...He tilts over on the chair and farts and smiles to himself and I know now I'm going to get better because a doctor would never fart in the presence of a dying boy." Through the innocence and naivety of Frank's voice, I felt as though I could really understand and feel what the author was feeling while recounting his life.
Despite all of the comedy throughout this novel, the author never loses sight of the main aspect of the story: the sorrow. Frank basically has to support his entire family by himself at a very young age because his dad is always at the bar drinking away every penny he earns. From the age of three to nineteen, Frankie moves from one house to the next, and each time the conditions get worse and worse to the point where Frank and his family have to live next to an outhouse which is shared by the entire street they live on. Not only that, but Frank's mother, Angela, has to spend all day scrounging the streets for whatever scraps she can find to help her family survive.
Angela's Ashes has become one of my favorite books. Although I would suggest it to a more mature audience due to some of its scenes, I would still recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Frank McCourt's struggle growing up in Ireland. I would easily give this book an "A." I never lost interest in the plot no matter how depressing it was and the characters always kept me compelled to learn more about their plight and hardship. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and most importantly this book will make you appreciate what you have and realize that we have it pretty good here in America.

A great read, an even better listen.......2007-09-04

This is one of those rare instances when listening to a book being read is better than reading it yourself. I bought this copy of the book for my daughter, who chose it as her summer reading assignment. Yet the version I treasure is the audiobook, read by the author himself. My daughter would not have read the book if I hadn't played the audiobook in the car. Your imagination can't do justice to that Limerick accent and wry delivery; you are hooked in the first two minutes. A warning: if you listen to it with a young child present, you are likely to have to answer a lot of embarrassing questions.

Of course it's a wonderful book: funny, poignant, heartwrenching... you can keep loading on the adjectives. It has its own music and rhythm as it moves from one small incident to the next, painting a picture of a childhood defined by unimaginable poverty. The narrative moves from a child's acceptance of his circumstances to the adolescent's ruthless determination to find a way out, while never abandoning the family that mean so much to him. And the author manages to accomplish this without a trace of sentimentality, and with plenty of deadpan humor. I would recommend this book - or audiobook - to anyone old enough to cope with its unrestrained language.

Colorful portrayal of life as a poor Irish Catholic.......2007-09-03

McCourt was funny, witty and descriptive in every regard throughout this book. His first person account of being raised in a poor Irish Catholic community makes you glad to be raised in modern times in America. Read the book for an interesting insight into Europe over fifty years ago.

What a Story!.......2007-08-26

I listened to the Recorded Books Unabridged version of this on tape--narrated by the author. What a treat! I'm sure it must have been better than reading it myself. I cried and sometimes I giggled and belly laughed. Many have reviewed the book and most were riveted to it as I was. How I wished I could have scooped up those kids and given them a good life.

'Tis indeed..........2007-07-27

I've meant to read this book for years. Now, however, was the just-right time for it. I cried, despaired, railed in my head, laughed myself silly... In a voice of unflinching honesty and innocence, Frank McCourt details his life as the son of an alcoholic yet sometimes caring father from Northern Ireland and the woman he fell for fresh off the boat from Ireland, Angela Sheehan from Limerick in the south. McCourt takes the reader on a journey from death, poverty and pain in New York City to more of the same in Ireland and back again. Settled simply between the aching hunger, hacking coughs and continual dampness are many universal questions about life, both on earth and after. I am breathless having finished it.

This Little Piggy Went to Prada: Nursery Rhymes for the Blahnik Brigade

Average customer rating:

So Cute!
Glorious!
Prada Pigglies!
Mediocre
great funny

This Little Piggy Went to Prada: Nursery Rhymes for the Blahnik Brigade
Amy Allen
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0061138851
Release Date: 2006-10-24

Book Description

For the woman more accustomed to singing Missoni's praises than singing lullabies comes Amy Allen's irresistible This Little Piggy Went to Prada: Nursery Rhymes for the Blahnik Brigade. Filled from cover to cover with sumptuous full color illustrations by Eun-Kyung Kung, This Little Piggy Went to Prada presents classic nursery rhymes with a thoroughly modern and charmingly ironic spin that will make the most sleepless fashionista mom smile, even when she's knee-deep in diapers.

Customer Reviews:

So Cute!.......2007-09-13

Gorgeous illustrations. Witty little fashionista takes on traditional nursery rhymes. Too short and not something i'd recommend to be read to children, but gorgeous for the fashion lover at heart.

Glorious!.......2007-07-26

I received this book as a gift when my third child was born.

It is spectacular and wonderfully witty. My personal belief is that the reviews that cite it as mediocre and such are missing the point - this is a book that is fun for mom *and* fun for the kiddies.

You won't find duckies and bunnies here - but you will find a wonderful play on nursery classics that appeals to the fashion-loving mom and her hip kiddos.

And yes, the author is British. Therefore some of the references are British - makes perfect sense to me. That added a welcome level of complexity to the discussion with my 4 year old about how certain words in the same language might be used differently in different places.

I love this book - and I know many adults sans kiddos who would love it as well.

Prada Pigglies!.......2007-06-28

Such a cute book! The Mommy-to-Be is such a diva and loved it! Absolutely fabulous!

Mediocre.......2007-05-14

I thought it would be cute to have around b/c its a different take on classic nursery rhymes. I also thought the book would be more suitabe for children for some reason...but it was a bit materialistic for my tastes and not what I want my child focused on.

great funny.......2007-04-04

easy to read, kids love it and have a good laugh at what they do understand.beautiful keepsake.

The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry (Cartoon Guide To...)

Average customer rating:

The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry
Great for supplements
A Lot To Cover
Great for re-learning
nice learning deep understanding

The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry (Cartoon Guide To...)
Larry Gonick , and Craig Criddle
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060936770
Release Date: 2005-05-03

Book Description

A refreshingly humorous but thorough ancillary guide to general chemistry from the author of the bestselling The Cartoon Guide to Physics and The Cartoon Guide to Genetics.

The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry, a collaboration between pre–eminent scientist Professor Craig Criddle of Stanford University and cartoonist Larry Gonick, is a complete and up–to–date course in college level chemistry. In an engaging and humorous graphic style, the book covers both the history and the basics, including early ideas and techniques, electrochemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, environmental chemistry, physics as chemistry; and much more.

o Ideal for advanced high school students, university students and independent learners.

o o Larry Gonick's bestselling Cartoon Guide series, comprised of eleven books, have sold more than a half a million copies and been translated into more than a dozen languages.

o Teachers, researchers, and students around the world have embraced Larry Gonick's unique ability to make difficult subjects fun, interesting and easy–to–understand while still relaying the essential information in a clear, organized and accurate format. In 2003 Larry Gonick won the Harvey Award for the year's best graphic album of original material for The Cartoon History of the Universe III. The prestigious award, named for Mad pioneer Harvey Kurtzman is considered to be the Oscar of the comic–book world.

Customer Reviews:

The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry.......2007-08-11

I used this book in conjunction with a textbook in my general chemistry course over the summer. This book helped illustrate things left unclear in my textbook and give a better intuitive feel for what I was doing. On its own its probably not spectacular since there are gaps to be filled but as a supplement it is amazing.

Great for supplements.......2007-07-25

I found that this book works well when used with an introductory textbook. The cartoons are great fun for everyone.

A Lot To Cover.......2007-01-29

This is the first edition of "The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry" by Larry Gonick and Craig Criddle and was published in 2005. It is another of the series of Cartoon Guides which Larry Gonick has co-authored with scientists in the field of choice. Craig Criddle is a professor of environmental engineering and science at Stanford University.

The book has 12 chapters, and like the other guides it covers a history of the subject, as well as a good overview of the subject, and there is a lot to cover with Chemistry. From the early days of alchemy, through the discover of the atom, through reactions, states of matter, solutions, acids and bases, thermodynamics and electrochemistry and finishing up with a chapter on organic chemistry, Criddle and Gonick try to give a little taste of everything to the reader.

This book serves well as an introduction, overview, history of the subject, or a refresher. This guide works well when combined with the Physics and Genetics guide, as there are certainly areas of crossover between the books. Because of the wide variety of topics contained in this book, if you are using it as an introduction, you may want to break it apart and use it to introduce a few topics, then spend some more in depth time on those topics, before moving on to some more sections of this book.

Great for re-learning.......2007-01-29

I got this book to help me with my AP chemistry course. The information presented in the book is easy to understand and, strangely enough, great for studying. All this from a cartoon book!

nice learning deep understanding.......2006-02-17

The book has many good ideas in order to ilustrate every chemical concept and make the learning easy.

Average customer rating:

Revisiting CAutionary Tales
Dark humor and delightful drawings
What you do comes back
Completing the Edward Gorey library
Deliciously twisted

Cautionary Tales for Children
Edward Gorey , and Hilaire Belloc
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0151007152

Book Description

Known as a central figure in English literature, Hilaire Belloc produced a number of stunning, funny, and clever admonishments for children. The tales in this volume, illustrated by the inimitable Edward Gorey, contain instructive lessons for almost everyone.
For those children prone to wandering off from their caretakers, there is the story of a certain young Jim, "who ran away from his nurse and was eaten by a lion." Those known to stretch the truth will hardly be comforted by the tale of Matilda, "who told lies and was burned to death." And as for those of us--and our children--who tend to the vainglorious, there is the sobering tale of Godolphin Horne, "who was cursed with the sin of pride and became a boot-black."
Witty, brilliant, and strikingly irreverent.

Customer Reviews:

Revisiting CAutionary Tales.......2007-05-18

This was one of the loved books of my childhood in the original edition, of course.

I hadn't seen it for a very long time and was anxious to haev a copy for my younger grandchildren. Though old people can enjoy it as well.

Now plesed to have it on my own shelves

Dark humor and delightful drawings.......2007-05-07

I got this to read to my nephews, and it did not disappoint when the time came to pick a story to read. I highly recommend this and the Gashlycrumb Tinies to anyone with children or nephews....

What you do comes back.......2006-05-03

I just gave this to a friends' one year old for her birthday. In the inscription I wrote that she ought to read and learn, as whatever she does in life will come back to haunt her. My friend thought the book hysterical. Her husband thinks we're both odd...

Completing the Edward Gorey library.......2006-01-27

JIM, who ran away from his nurse and was eaten by a lion.

It's small wonder that Edward Gorey chose to illustrate Belloc's verses, written nearly a century ago - in fact, they were such a clear and strong influence on his work, it's hard to believe he didn't write them himself. 'Cautionary Tales' is a literary work that was years ahead of its time, parodying the overtly-strict educational children's verses of the time with tales of children whose punishment is wholly disproportioned to their crime. Gorey's illustrations, published only after his death in 2000, complete the ghoulish verses with his trademark naïve and refined black and white crosshatching. Already in his seventies, Gorey has lost none of his charm and style and these illustrations are as nasty and sarcastic as anything he's done, perfectly complimenting the ironic text.

'Cautionary Tales' is the first work of Gorey's published after his death, and it's a perfect conclusion to his illustrious career, and one of his finest works. It's an essential to any fan of this great artist.

Deliciously twisted.......2005-11-18

One can imagine Edward Gorey mulling over these "Cautionary Tales",subsequently creating succinct Goreyesque illustrations for them. Then years later after presenting his family to us in "The Willowdale Handcar" he undoubtedbly mulled over ideas about families & children and came up with my personal favorite Gorey: The Gashleycrumb Tinies. If you like Gorey & you like the Tinies, you'll enjoy "Cautionary Tales".

4 stars only because I happen to like the devilishly wonderful "Tinies" better.

Average customer rating:

Archy and Mehitabel
classic comedy
Archy and Mehitabel a voice from the past
The Unique Humor Of Don Marquis
Enlightened cats, cockroaches, spiders and rats

Archy and Mehitabel
Don Marquis
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385094787
Release Date: 1987-09-29

Amazon.com

Of all the literary genres, humor has the shortest shelf life--except for Archy and Mehitabel, that is. First published in 1916, it is a classic of American literature. Archy is a cockroach, inside whom resides the soul of a free-verse poet; he communicates with Don Marquis by leaping upon the keys of the columnist's typewriter. In poems of varying length, Archy pithily describes his wee world, the main fixture of which is Mehitabel, a devil-may-care alley cat.

Archy music will linger in your head long after you finish the book. Here's a tiny taste from his interview with a mummy:

"what ho
my regal leatherface says i

greetings
little scatter footed
scarab
says he"

Writers (particularly journalists) can go lifetimes without attaining such loose-limbed grace. And the illustrations by George Herriman ("Krazy Kat") provide the perfect counterpoint. On top of all that, Marquis did the impossible: he made a cockroach loveable.

Book Description

The now classic tale of Archy the cockroach and Mehitabel the cat in her ninth life. First published in 1927, this free verse poem has become an essential part of American literature.

Customer Reviews:

Archy and Mehitabel.......2007-09-15

A classic book from an author who thoiught outside the box - you'll love it.

classic comedy.......2007-04-14

This is classic humor - and even though it is nearly 100 years old, this is still funny and interesting. In fact, Mehitabel's refrain has become my mantra: "wotthehell wotthehell toujours gai I always say, there's life in the old girl yet."

Archy and Mehitabel a voice from the past.......2007-01-11

When I was in high school, ovefr sixty years ago, I used to read Dan Marquis clever column in, I think, the New York World Telegram and found it a fascinating piece of imagination. Coming back to it now, nothing has changed. In telling the story of the typewriting cockroach and the wayward cat he touches, with great humour, so many of our human foibles and hopes too.

It's a bit of a stretch for todays kids, but I think they can imagine a mechanical typewriter and once they get a hold of this the fantasy should grab them.

The Unique Humor Of Don Marquis.......2006-01-16

Anyone who hasn't read Don Marquis' stories of the adventures of Archie and Mehitabel, have missed what is doubtless one of the world's greatest pieces of humorous literature. These stories delve into history to pull out hysterically humorous aspects of incidents regarding such characters as Cleopatra, and apply them to the lowly day-to-day events in the lives of a cockroach who operates a typewriter, a cat that complains she cannot understand why she is blessed with so many of those damned kittens, and a dead rat that receives glorious last rites by being filed in an alley ash can. No words can do justice to Don Marquis' fantastic imagination and his equally fantastic sense of humor. Anyone who misses this work is to be pitied! A. D. Holcombe

Enlightened cats, cockroaches, spiders and rats.......2004-04-19

Any cat lover who's never been exposed to these yarns from a newspaper columnist is in for a rare treat. A parrot reincarnated from the Bard demeans his own plays, "I knew what the lowbrows wanted and I gave it to them. All I ever wanted to be was a good sonneteer!"

Evidently, all newspaper columnist Marquis ever wanted to be was a sage of human wisdom communicating his astute observations of human behavior through the eyes of a cat reincarnated from Cleopatra, a cockroach and a menagerie of other beautiful non-humans.

I've had three cats named Mehitabel over the past 40 years as a consequence of reading Marquis at too young an age. Naturally each of those felines was reincarnated from a Mehitabel created by the mind of Don Marquis.

Amazon.com

Fans of underground comics god R. Crumb know that he started his career in greeting cards, but few have seen examples of his earliest work. Forty years of his commercial and otherwise unpublished output is collected in Odds & Ends, a lovely companion piece to his better-known work in Zap Comics, Weirdo, and the rest. Including advertisements and announcements done for friends and family, magazine illustrations, and some surprisingly sensitive portraits, the book is essential for those who want to see how the man's work evolved in private, parallel to his published work. Odds & Ends shows Crumb at his silly, geeky best. --Rob Lightner

Book Description

A never-before-compiled collection from the most influential underground artist of our time.
Robert Crumb is a cartoonist with an instantly recognizable style who emerged in the 1960s with strips in the underground press. He founded Zap Comix in 1968 and created Fritz the Cat, Devil Girl, Mr. Natural, Keep on Truckin' and hundreds of other characters that instantly struck a nerve with people everywhere.

Odds & Ends is a unique book of Robert Crumb's previously unpublished, autobiographical, favorite, and most successful strips. It also contains photographs, portraits, and text by the man himself.

With a jacket designed by the artist, Odds & Ends is beautifully produced and filled with color artwork-a great introduction to one of our most important cartoonists, as well as an invaluable addition to any fan's library.

Customer Reviews:

What a neat book!.......2002-11-14

Don't let the fact that it's a remaindered book keep you away! This is a wonderful hardcover collection (no jacket) of Crumb extras: doodles, sketches, advertisements, and comics. The majority are in black and white, but there is some color. Great drawings of Robert Johnson, the Cheap Suit Serenaders, and Tina Lockwood (wooo!), as well as sketches of various women. A few of his trademark characters are also here, including Devil Girl and the Vulture Women. Some photos are included, as well. It's an absolute bargain!

Another great collection of Crumb's work.......2001-07-20

A must for R. Crumb aficionados, this beautifully designed hardcover collects many of the illustrations done for projects as varied as novels, greeting cards, scripts, and birth announcements, as well as unpublished work. Great stuff! R. Crumb is the master of pen and ink.

Average customer rating:

Charmed with smiles and soap
The Annotated Hunting of the Snark
"An agony in eight fits."

The Annotated Hunting of the Snark
Lewis Carroll
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0393062422

Book Description

The definitive guide to one of the most baffling epics of nineteenth-century literature—a companion to The Annotated Alice.

"It's a Snark!"…for whatever else can it be?" Published on April Fools' Day in 1876, Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark remains one of the most amusing and bizarre works of modern verse. Carroll, who completed this classic poem eleven years after the publication of Alice in Wonderland, invites readers along on a fictitious hunt to determine who—or what—the Snark actually is. More than 130 years later, the indomitable Martin Gardner returns to the Snark with a trove of new annotations and illustrations, uncovering some of the most confounding literary, linguistic, and mathematical references embedded in any of Lewis Carroll's many works. Included in this gorgeous, two-color volume is an introduction by Adam Gopnik, as well as Henry Holiday's distinctive, original illustrations, a substantial bibliography, and a suppressed drawing of the infamous Boojum. With a host of other Snark resources, this is the most ambitious work on Lewis Carroll's masterpiece in many decades. Two-color throighout; 56 illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Charmed with smiles and soap.......2007-01-22

Highly recommended for readers interested in the timeless poem by Lewis Carroll. And this should encompass all those, regardless of age, who have a sense of humor and an element of wonder.

The Annotated Hunting of the Snark.......2007-01-06

This is a new version of older works. It has new introductions
and the new preface by Martin Gardner. This new version contains
additional and expanded thoughts on the main work. Being the latest
and greatest version to date.

"An agony in eight fits.".......2006-11-06

Filled with exuberant language, The Annotated Hunting of the Snark is an unparalleled adventure, part nonsense, part ironic elucidation, suggesting that nothing is ever what it seems. Published on April Fool's Day 1876, Carroll's epic poem, The Hunting of the Snark, is elaborately presented with annotations by Martin Gardener, exploring the sea voyage of a crew determined to capture the elusive Snark; they are ten: a Bellman, a Boots, a maker of Bonnets and Hoods, a Barrister, a Broker, a Billiard-Maker, a Banker, a Beaver and a Butcher. The Snark itself presents a conundrum, be it beast of "Boojum", an entity that will cause them all to disappear.

For over a century, scholars have discussed Carroll's poem, its nonsense, allegories and anecdotes, rife with hidden meanings and scholarly interpretations. The annotations and illustrations in this volume are classic, black and white images of animated men and beasts, fantasy in the ink strokes of the artist's pen, page after page of fascinating annotations reflecting the variety of discussions engendered by the poem: "According to Humpty Dumpty, the word `mimsy" (from the first stanza of Jabberwocky) is a portmanteau word combining `miserable' and `flimsy'."

Each fit advances the story, introducing the crew members, each with his pretensions and expectations. Both dreamlike and illogical, The Annotated The Hunting of the Snark appeals in language and whimsy with undertones of danger, the unknown lurking, a virtual treasure trove of allegories for those inclined to such interpretation. It is Gardner who adds the unique spirit of this edition, expansively embracing "a personal God and much that confounds the simple or poverty-stricken or mindless materialism", while remaining "an untiring pursuer of pseudoscience and irrationality", the "space between a feeling heart and a thinking mind, between a love of the marvelous and a reverence for skeptical truth":

"In the midst of the word he was trying to say,
In the midst of his laughter and glee,
He had softly and suddenly vanished away-
For the Snark was a Boojum, you see."

Our modern world has been redefined by the specter of the Snark as Boojum, perhaps as death or a fear of extinction, a dread of the unknown. With its luxurious illustrations, the annotated poem is followed by a number of interesting pieces: "An Easter Greeting"; "A Commentary by Snarkophilus Snobs"; "The Clue" (a sequel); "Excepts from Henry Holiday's Reminiscences of My Life"; and an extensive bibliography, all in all, a grand adventure into a vast chasm of possibilities. Luan Gaines/2006.

The Verse by the Side of the Road : The Story of the Burma-Shave Signs and Jingles

Average customer rating:

Wonderful book
Remembering old roads
Gift to Dad
Captivating story of one of advertising's greatest triumphs
Best of nostalgia

The Verse by the Side of the Road : The Story of the Burma-Shave Signs and Jingles
Frank Rowsome Jr.
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Burma-Shave (Minnesota)
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ASIN: 0452267625

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful book.......2007-05-30

This book brings back wonderful memories of my childhood travelling to Missouri to see my grandparents. Great to know these sayings have been preserved!

Remembering old roads.......2006-03-10

A short and decently written account of the Burma Shave phenomenon that had me, as a child from the 1940's, searching along the northwestern two-lane road sides for those pithy and succinct phrases which always ended in "Burma Shave". They never failed to delight and I carried several sayings with me well into adulthood. This book brings back the delight and gives a nicely written history of what it was all about.

Gift to Dad.......2005-07-22

This was purchased as a gift for my Dad and he loves it.

Captivating story of one of advertising's greatest triumphs.......2000-08-05

With the low-brow humor of "whazzzzzup" and high-speed editing of MTV-style ads dominating the landscape, it's almost hard to imagine how memorable the quaint multi-sign Burma-Shave ads were. The combination of clever verse and brilliant exposition -- stretching along the wide-open road until the punch line could be delivered -- is unlike any other ad delivery in history.

Author Frank Rowsome, Jr. tells the story of the campaign's creation and life, and provides a listing of all signs from the first in1927 ("Shave the modern way / No Brush / No Lather / No Rub-in / Big Tube 35-c Drug Stores / Burma Shave") through their last in 1963 ("Our Fortune / Is Your / Shaven Face / It's Our Best / Advertising Space / Burma-Shave"). In between is an amazingly clever collection of poems, including contest winners, shorter signs for smaller displays, spin-off tooth powder and lotion jingles, and regional ads.

Great reading for those remembering the signs as well as those who just want to get a smile from some great advertising - one of the USA's most underappreciated art forms.

Best of nostalgia.......1999-03-06

I read this book twenty odd years ago, and I loved it. It brought back such fond childhood memories of my days on the farm in Belsano, PA, where a set of the signs stood soldier-like in the lower field of my grandad's farm. I heard from the grown-ups that someone paid him to put them there, and money was scarce in those days.

I was always intrigued by those signs, so when I saw the book advertised for the first time, it was a must-have for me. I cherished owning a complete set of the verses, most of which I'd never seen.

The book is well-written in that it has a lot of historical fact, loads of humor, and the story-telling holds your interest to the last page. One of those "can't put it down" types.

Somewhere in my travels, I've lost my copy and have mourned it's loss. Thanks to Internet, I will once again have my own cherished copy of "Verse by the Side of the Road."

The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
Average customer rating:

Great Gift

A Beautiful Mind

A very strange dictionary

Loved it...

I love sardonic humor

The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
Ambrose Bierce
Manufacturer: University of Georgia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce

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The Devil's Dictionary

You Know Me Al (New Edition)

ASIN: 0820324019

Book Description

A virtual onslaught of acerbic, confrontational wordplay, The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary offers some 1,600 wickedly clever definitions to the vocabulary of everyday life. Little is sacred and few are safe, for Ambrose Bierce targets just about any pursuit, from matrimony to immortality, that allows our willful failings and excesses to shine forth.

This is the most extensively annotated edition of a work by Bierce ever published, and the first edition of The Devil's Dictionary to provide detailed bibliographical information on every entry. It will be celebrated by wits and word lovers everywhere.

First time in paperback.

Customer Reviews:

Great Gift.......2007-08-01

This is a great book. The sarcasm and the definitions are the best. If you know someone who is a book lover or just enjoys quick wit-this book is for them. I bought two more just for gifts. It's one of those books that you can always pick up and find a smile...

A Beautiful Mind.......2006-04-26

If truth is beauty, and beauty truth, this is one good looking book. As an aspiring cynic, finding this book was akin to Ahab finding the whale. (I have no idea what that means). I don't think this book could be written today. Most of Bierce's definitions have become accepted fact. The book belongs in the library of everyone who believes Political Correctness is the beginning of the end of the world. Without the ability to communicate honestly, we are doomed. If you don't agree, you're just a bigoted fool. (see Bierce definitions). A great, funny, lucid book.

A very strange dictionary.......2005-04-07

skep·tic also scep·tic (skptk)
n.
1.One who instinctively or habitually doubts, questions, or disagrees with assertions or generally
accepted conclusions.
2.One inclined to skepticism in religious matters.
3.Philosophy.
a.often Skeptic An adherent of a school of skepticism.
b.Skeptic A member of an ancient Greek school of skepticism, especially that of Pyrrho of
Elis (360?-272? B.C.).
[Latin Scepticus, disciple of Pyrrho of Elis, from Greek Skeptikos, from skeptesthai, to examine.
See spek- in Indo-European Roots.]

cyn·ic (snk)
n.
1.A person who believes all people are motivated by selfishness.
2.A person whose outlook is scornfully and often habitually negative.
3.Cynic A member of a sect of ancient Greek philosophers who believed virtue to be the only
good and self-control to be the only means of achieving virtue.
[Latin cynicus, Cynic philosopher, from Greek kunikos, from kun, kun-, dog. See kwon- in
Indo-European Roots.]
Such are the real dictionary definitions of the stance which Ambrose Bierce adopted in considering the world. Beginning in 1881 and continuing to 1906, he created a series of sardonic word definitions of his own. Many of these were collected and published as The Cynic's Word Book, which he later protested was "a name which the author had not the power to reject or happiness to approve." So in 1911, he pulled together a collection that was more to his own liking and called it The Devil's Dictionary. The entries are a tad uneven in quality, but most are amusing and some are great. Each reader will have his own favorites, some of mine are as follows :
ACQUAINTANCE, n. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to. A degree of friendship called slight when its object is poor or obscure, and intimate when he is rich or famous.
ALLIANCE, n. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third.
BIGOT, n. One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain.
BORE, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen.
CONSULT, v.i. To seek another's disapproval of a course already
decided on.
CYNIC, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking out a cynic's eyes to improve his vision.
DICTIONARY, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the
growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This
dictionary, however, is a most useful work.
DISCRIMINATE, v.i. To note the particulars in which one person or thing is, if possible, more objectionable than another.
EDUCATION, n. That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.
FUTURE, n. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our
friends are true and our happiness is assured.
HISTORY, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.
IDIOT, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling. The Idiot's activity is not confined to any special field of thought or action, but "pervades and regulates the whole." He has the last word in everything; his decision is unappealable. He sets the fashions and opinion of taste, dictates the limitations of speech and circumscribes conduct with a dead-line.
POLITICS, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of
principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
And, my choice for the very best among them :
CONSERVATIVE, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.

By all means, read it and pick out your own; you're sure to find a few that tickle your fancy.

Loved it..........2004-08-31

I love all things cynical and witty so I found the Unabridged Devil's Dictionary really appealing (I tracked the book down after reading a few exerpts on a quotes website). If you like the book (yet to buy, use the see inside feature to see if it appeals to your sense of humour) I also recommend Molvania by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch as well as The Soddit by A.R.R.R. Roberts.

I love sardonic humor.......2003-06-30

I'll admit it, I'm a tech dork. I work for an Internet company and this book is perfect for tag and signature lines for email. Although on a more serious note the definitions found here are not the dictionary definitions but the definitions that modern day society has reflected upon them. While a word, item, or identification for something may mean one thing in the dicitonary, we tend to stereotype or re-clasify it in our times as something completly different. Read the excerpts for some good examples. While the book is a compilation of pieces written back in the turn of the 20th centurey, a lot of the sarcastic or sardonic definitions still hold true. Definately an interseting book.

Humorous Poetry Collection (BBC Radio Presents)

Average customer rating:

The British do it SO well!

Humorous Poetry Collection (BBC Radio Presents)
Bbc
Manufacturer: Random House Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: 0553525816
Release Date: 1999-03-02

Amazon.com Audiobook Review

In his brief introduction, Griff Rhys Jones informs us that the poems included are a "selection of a selection" of the most likely candidates for the Nation's Favourite Comic Poem, an accolade not yet bestowed at the time of recording. Jones himself, plus Adjoa Andoh, James Saxon, and Christian Rodska, provide bone-tickling delivery, heightening the hilarity with their versatile voices--ranting, emoting, indeed, transforming their vocal chords into musical instruments of wit. Included are well-known works by Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, and E.E. Cummings, as well as refreshingly original contributions by Spike Milligan, Brian Patten, and Patrick Barrington. Peter Hutchings's appropriately uplifting compositions add to the overall quality of this silliest of smorgasbords. (Running time: 2 hours, 2 cassettes) --Martha Silano

Book Description

In this wonderful compilation, beloved British actor Griff Rhys Jones brings together a selection of over eighty poems to tickle the ribs of listeners everywhere.

This unique anthology contains a wealth of humor form traditional ballads to the nonsense rhymes of Hilaire Belloc; from the wickedness of Dorothy Parker to the modern day witticisms of Victoria Wood and Benjamin Zephaniah.

Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat, and Spike Milligan's On the Ning Nang Nong are just some of the lines of laughter in this collection introduced and read by Griff Rhys Jones with fellow actors Adjoa Andoh, Christian Rodska and James Saxon.

Produced by the world's experts in fine radio entertainment and featuring an inspired and whimsical soundtrack, this special collection of the world's best-loved humorous poetic works will delight ardent lovers of poetry and introduce an new and enchanting world of playful poetry to first-time listeners.

Customer Reviews:

The British do it SO well!.......2002-01-19

I was given this book-on-tape as a gift and so was not quite sure what I would hear. I was thoroughly delighted by the wonderful renditions of poetry from Lewis Carroll to e.e. cummings to John Donne and the various voice characterizations of the talented British cast made the reading all the better!
If you love humor (not comedy, necessarily) and a wry British sensibility, you will surely enjoy this collection!!!

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