Product Description
Dallas Homicide Detective Rachel Collazo is one tough cop---as foul-mouthed as she is beautiful, and almost fanatical about her work. When a woman comes to the station with suspicions about her sister's death, Collazo jumps on the case.
Customer Reviews:
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03
Well, this is pretty much porn, and not very good at that. The almost complete absence of plot, etc. The Warlord story has valkyries who are supposed to kill vampires, etc.
So, the first thing the captured valkyrie does for him is a striptease. All parties are quite braindead here it seems, hormones overactive, even for immortals where that is not supposed to be a factor.
Great for Kresley Cole fans...........2007-09-01
I'm a fan of the Immortals after Dark series so I bought this book mainly for the story of Myst the Coveted by Kresley Cole. It was pretty good. It's a short story so obviously couldn't be as involved as Emmaline's or Kaderin's stories - but it was not a disapointment. If you like KC's series it's a must buy as it fills in a lot of the blank spaces about the Forebearers and their place in the Lore. The only thing that wasn't clear was the full truth of Myst's "chain" - its power and place over her seemed a bit vague.
Sherrilyn Kenyon's story was entertaining, too. I've never read one of her BAD stories as I prefer the Dark Hunters but it didn't disappoint. It was fast-paced and full of action - if a bit far-fetched. But hey...this is escapist literature.
The down side to this book was Jaid Black's Story. In my opinion it was just plain STU-PID. Ancient Vikings living in an underground nation of that size in Alaska undetected by modern satellite, seismic and geologic equipment? Alaska? Where they are constantly looking for gold and oil? Come on! The idea for the whole culture was preposterous. It reeked of a cleaned up, less pornographic, less amusing, less believably inventive, earthly version of her Trek MiQ'an Series. At least the TM Series gets you interested in what happens to the characters and (even though I have serious issues with the psychology behind this series) you want to know what happens next. This story just left me with an incredulous grimace and a snort.
So, on the whole, I'd give Ms. Kenyon and Ms. Cole 4 stars for their stories and Ms. Black gets a 1. So on the average I give this one a 3. If you're an Immortals fan - get it. But if you're luke-warm towards Ms. Cole then just get it at the library otherwise it wouldn't be worth the money.
Worth it just for the Kresley Cole story.......2007-07-22
If you enjoy Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark Series...you NEED to read the story of Myst and Wroth. I read "hunger like no other" and "no rest for the wicked" before reading this, and "the warlord wants forever" fills in a lot about what is going on in the other books, especially "hunger like no other". I don't particularly like reading anthologies b/c I feel like the short stories don't have enough development to be truly good, but this was not the case with this story, maybe b/c I was already filled in about a lot of what was going on from reading "a hunger like no other". But this story leaves you very very very satisfied, without the feeling on being cheated. I haven't read the other stories, b/c i bought this book just to read the IAD story, and it was WELL WORTH IT!!!! It is steamier than both the other full length books in the series in my opinion!!
Buy just for the Kresley Cole story!.......2007-06-19
If you love the Immortals After Dark Series by Kresley Cole you will love this book.
A must have for lovers of Kresley Cole.......2007-04-30
I rate all three stories here as enjoyable, good reads. And in the case of the third entry, by Kresley Cole, it adds a key increment in her Immortals After Dark series (IAD).
a) The story by Sherrilyn Kenyon in a refreshing break from her Dark Hunters series. The story is more like a fantasy island treat, and a little remininscent of Fantasy Lover, where a young woman leading a quiet life has a sexual awakening as her friends turn to a contest to give her life a little spice. It is in keeping with other stories of Ms. Kenyon's that are written with humor, and good sex.
b) Jaid Black is a great writer of erotic romantic fiction. In this story, Hunter's Oath, a contemporary woman is kidnapped into slavery by a band of roque Vikings who live underground and kidnap brides from the surface. So this is a forced seduction story. The funny part of this story is that the protagonist inadvertenly takes a powerful aphrodisiac just before her body goes up for sale, and she's got a struggle on her hands to manage the burgeoning relationship with the guy as well as the chemical effects of the aphrodisiac at the same time. Ms. Black has a similar story called Hunter's Right in a different anthology by Sherrilyn Kenyon: Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down: Three Tales of Erotic Romance. I found Hunter's Right to be better than Hunter's Oath, and they are very similar stories.
c) This is the story that every lover of Kreley Cole's IAD series should have on their shelf. It tells the story of Valkyrie Myst, the Coveted, and how she hooked up with General Nikolai Wroth, the Vampire. Valkyries usually HATE Vampires. In the two other follow-up novels, Myst and Wroth have been hanging around in the background, already a couple. In this story we see that Myst was a man-hater of long standing before she got together with Wroth. For a millenia or two she's worn a magical belt around her waist. Wroth figures out that the man who gets his hands on that belt can dominate this Valkyrie, and the tables are soon turned. ;-)
Book Description
For the Woman Who Wants it all:
Look Way Younger than Your Age
Have a Lean, Graceful, Athletic-Looking Body
Feel Amazing, Feel Vigorous, Feel Beautiful
Have More Energy and More Strength to
Get More Done in Your Day
In Russia, kettlebells have long been revered as the fitness-tool of choice for Olympic athletes, elite special forces and martial artists. The kettlebell's ballistic movement challenges the body to achieve an unparalleled level of physical conditioning and overall strength.
But until now, the astonishing benefits of the Russian kettlebell have been unavailable to all but a few women. Kettlebells have mostly been the sacred preserve of the male professional athlete, the military and other hardcore types. That's about to change, as Russian fitness expert and best selling author Pavel, delivers the first-ever kettlebell program for women.
It's wild, but women really can have it all when they access the magical power of Russian kettlebells. Pavel's uncompromising workouts give across-the-board, simultaneous, spectacular and immediate results for all aspects of physical fitness: strength, speed, endurance, fat-burning, you name it. Kettlebells deliver any and everything a woman could want—if she wants to be in the best-shape-ever of her life.
And one handy, super-simple tool—finally available in woman-friendly sizes—does it all. No bulky, expensive machines. No complicated gizmos. No time-devouring trips to the gym.
Just some of what From Russia with Tough Love reveals:
- How the Snatch eliminates cellulite, firms your butt, and gives you the cardio-ride of a lifetime
- How to get as strong as you want, without bulking up
- How the Swing melts your fat and blasts your hips `n thighs
- The real secret to great muscle tone
- How to supercharge your heart and lungs without aerobics
- How to shrink your waist with the Power Breathing Crunch
- How the Deck Squat makes you super flexible
- An incredible exercise to tone your arms and shoulders
- The cardio and fat-burning powers of the Clean-and Press
- The Overhead Squat for explosive leg strength
- How to think yourself stronger—yes, really!
- The queen of situps—for those who can hack it
- Cool combination exercises that deliver an unbelievable muscular and cardiovascular workout in zero time
- An unreal drill for a powerful and flexible waist, back, and hips
- How to perform multiple mini-sessions for fast-lane fitness
Into sports? Jump higher. Leap further. Kick faster. Hit harder. Throw harder. Run with newfound speed. Swim with greater power. Endure longer. Wow!
Working hard? Handle stress with ridiculous ease. Blaze thru tasks in half the time. Radiate confidence. Knock `em dead with your energy and enthusiasm.
Can't keep up with your kids? Not any more! They won't know what hit them.
Just wanna have fun? Feel super-relaxed from the endorphin-rush of your life, dance all night and feel finer-than-fine the next morning…and the next…and the next.
Got attitude? Huh! Then try Pavel's patented Russian Kettlebell workouts. Now, that's attitude!
Customer Reviews:
Drop the years.......2007-07-23
My wife and I became interested in Kettlebell fitness techniques and decided we would give it a try.
I ordered this for my wife who was over the age of 60. She has always been in fair physical condition, not a fitness freak but also not a couch potato. After a couple of weeks of this exercise plan the difference in her body and sense of well being was obvious. After about six months, she shocks most 40 year old women with her energy and appearance.
There is no doubt that she has reset the clock on physical aging with this plan.
too much ,too much.......2007-05-15
The content on the excersises is good, although there should be more shown. my biggest problem with this book are the pages and pages of what i call advertisement for the kettlebells. i can see one or two comments from people who have used and reccomend the kettlebells, but there are so many that it is distracting and annoying!! I might be less tempted to purchase another of his books if this is the format for all his books.
Kettlebells rule.......2007-02-16
Kettlebells offer unique advantages over other ways to exercise. Instead of alternating days of weight training for strength with aerobics for fat loss, you can do it in one workout, doing ballistics. Snatches, swings, cleans and jerks give you twice the exercise in half the time. There is also a remarkable carryover effect from kettlebell training onto other, seemingly non-related sports activities.
At the moment of writing this was the best book on kettlebells. The newer one, Enter the Kettlebell, is more elaborate and more hard core. This one is more suitable for the ladies, in my opinion.
Best workout ever!.......2005-08-02
When I first heard of kettlebells a couple months ago they seemed like they were for hardcore macho-man types--commandos, Green Berets, whatever. Not for me, a plump middleaged woman trying to get into shape and lose fat.
But then I found out about this book and video for women, and suddenly I knew I had to try it. I'm so glad I did!!!
Pavel's attitude is highly amusing as he milks the macho Russian drill sergeant schtick for all it's worth, but it's all tongue-in-cheek. And at the same time, he's giving priceless information and motivation about a training method that I'm sure will be huge once it catches on, because the results are so spectacular and quick and it's so physically satisfying and fun to do.
I ordered this book, the accompanying DVD, and one 15-lb. kettlebell to get started with, and I received them and started using them about a week ago. I can honestly say that this kettlebell workout is the greatest form of exercise I've ever tried.
I'd been eating a super-healthy top-quality diet for about five or six months and going to the gym and using the machines (both resistance and cardio) for about an hour to an hour and a half. Hadn't seen much in the way of results yet, despite my healthy diet and working out several times a week. I was feeling good, though.
But when I tried the kettlebell, it just ***blew away*** my gym workouts. I've been using the KB for about a week now and plan to cancel my gym membership ASAP. The KB stays in my bedroom and I use it at least once a day, sometimes twice, for up to 20 minutes at a time. It feels so good that I WANT to do it--and that means no more time-consuming trips to the gym for me.
I'm already starting to feel a difference in my body composition. According to Pavel, if you work out a lot with kettlebells you can shred up to 1% of your body fat per week, which is a LOT.
The book has a lot of pictures showing the correct form, which I like, and it explains the WHY's behind KB training, which helped me to quickly gain a basic understanding of everything KB-related without having to read the book cover-to-cover.
As for the DVD, I watched it through twice, and then started just skipping to the workout at the end, where the two women (DC and Andrea) are doing a freestyle KB workout as Pavel comments in the background. I watched that freestyle workout every day the first few days, as I did my own freestyle workouts, but now (yesterday and today), I've started just doing a freestyle workout to my favorite music instead.
I feel I don't really need the book or the DVD anymore, except for occasional reference. So, to me, I'd say the most valuable part of the three things I bought to get started (Pavel's book, DVD, and a kettlebell) was by far the kettlebell itself. You pretty much need to have either the book or the DVD, or both, to get started, however, because you need to learn the various drills, correct form, etc. The DVD physically demonstrates how to do it, whereas the book explains why and gives more detail. In my opinion you need both, although for me I think the DVD was more valuable.
These KB exercises are very different from dumbbell exercises. Way more fun, for starters! It just FEELS incredibly good to do the KB workouts. I get a flood of pleasant endorphins after only about 15 minutes, whereas it used to take me about an hour to achieve that at the gym. My flexibility has already improved a lot too--now I spring out of bed in the morning like a panther, rather than dragging myself around with morning joint pain/stiffness. After only a week of daily use!
I'm so glad I found out about working out with KBs--I know it will make a profound difference in my life and health. I'm telling everybody I know about them. I'm completely confident that I will be able to shed over 100 lbs. of body fat in a year with my kettlebell training. I'm so ready to become a FEMME FATALE!!!
An Evolution In Method.......2005-07-28
"From Russia With Tough Love" represents an evolution in Pavel's methods of teaching kettlebell techniques. "The Russian Kettlebell Challenge" was male-oriented, taught basic exercises and then said "Have at it." "From Russia with Tough Love" is designed for women, assumes that the reader is an absolute beginner, starts from ground zero, and builds an effective workout step-by-step. I recommend "From Russia with Tough Love" for anyone, male or female, who is just starting out with kettlebells.
Amazon.com
Elizabeth Wurtzel, an ex-rock critic for The New Yorker, won controversial fame with her bestselling 1994 memoir Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America, which described how Prozac saved the precocious Harvard grad from suicide. Her second book, Bitch is a celebration of the defiant, rock & roll spirit of self-destructive women through the ages: Delilah, Amy Fisher, Princess Di, and hundreds more (including the awesomely reckless Wurtzel). There is no comprehensible central line of argument, perhaps because the author did her exhaustive research and writing on a speedy Kerouacesque drug binge that, by her own admission, sent her to rehab upon the book's conclusion. But Wurtzel has the remains of a fine mind: her insights are often sharp, sometimes bitchy, and always shameless as she zooms in a very few pages from The Oresteia to O.J. to her first crush on a fictional character (Heathcliff) to Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me, Richard Pryor, Chrissie Hynde, Leaving Las Vegas, Gone with the Wind, Sylvia Plath's "Daddy," Schindler's List, Oliver!, Carousel, and Andrea Dworkin. Most pop culture pundits incline to grandiose blather, but Wurtzel is punchy, and her quotes are more often apt than pretentious. Bitch is like a Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in a library, with frequent rampages through the film and music archives. Like rock music, Wurtzel's prose style lives for the moment. She glories in breaking rules to bits, is never giddier than when she's saying something shocking, and apparently has no moral code except self-expression--with the attitude volume knob cranked up to 11. --Tim Appelo
Book Description
No one better understands the desire to be bad than Elizabeth Wurtzel.
Bitch is a brilliant tract on the history of manipulative female behavior. By looking at women who derive their power from their sexuality, Wurtzel offers a trenchant cultural critique of contemporary gender relations. Beginning with Delilah, the first woman to supposedly bring a great man down (latter-day Delilahs include Yoko Ono, Pam Smart, Bess Myerson), Wurtzel finds many biblical counterparts to the men and women in today's headlines.
In five brilliant extended essays, she links the lives of women as demanding and disparate as Amy Fisher, Hillary Clinton, Margaux Hemingway, and Nicole Brown Simpson. Wurtzel gives voice to those women whose lives have been misunderstood, who have been dismissed for their beauty, their madness, their youth.
She finds in the story of Amy Fisher the tragic plight of all Lolitas, our thirst for their brief and intense flame. She connects Hemingway's tragic suicide to those of Sylvia Plath, Edie Sedgwick, and Marilyn Monroe, women whose beauty was an end, ultimately, in itself. Wurtzel, writing about the wife/mistress dichotomy, explains how some women are anointed as wife material, while others are relegated to the role of mistress. She takes to task the double standard imposed on women, the cultural insistence on goodness and society's complete obsession with badness: what's a girl to do? Let's face it, if women were any real threat to male power, "Gennifer Flowers would be sitting behind the desk of the Oval Office," writes Wurtzel, "and Bill Clinton would be a lounge singer in the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock."
Bitch tells a tale both celebratory and cautionary as Wurtzel catalogs some of the most infamous women in history, defending their outsize desires, describing their exquisite loneliness, championing their take-no-prisoners approach to life and to love. Whether writing about Courtney Love, Sally Hemings, Bathsheba, Kimba Wood, Sharon Stone, Princess Di--or waxing eloquent on the hideous success of The Rules, the evil that is The Bridges of Madison County, the twisted logic of You'll Never Make Love in This Town Again--Wurtzel is back with a bitchography that cuts to the core. In prose both blistering and brilliant, Bitch is a treatise on the nature of desperate sexual manipulation and a triumph of pussy power.
Customer Reviews:
A book that seriously disappointed me.......2006-06-17
I have rarely been as disappointed with a book as I have been this one. In many ways Elizabeth Wurtzel is a brilliant writer, gifted with the ability to construct a memorable sentence or a brilliant image. Moreover, as a bit of a rebel and a very intelligent woman I would have imagined that this would have been a book bristling with insight. Besides, I liked the subtitle: In Praise of Difficult Women. My own thought has long been that the way our society is constructed, brilliant, independent women would often be taken by society at large as "difficult." I had imagined that this was going to have multiple overlaps with third wave feminism and perhaps the riot girrrls and all kinds of wonderful new ways of women asserting their rights to be whoever it is they want to be. Besides, she and I share very similar tastes in music and pop culture. I imagined a brilliant effort in gonzo feminism.
But I was disappointed. Yes, there were the brilliant turns of phrase and startling paragraphs. But like other reviewers, when I finished I really couldn't say what the book was about. The details were often marvelously expressed, but to what overall end? The book ended up being brilliant on the micro level, but dense and opaque on the macro. The result was a book that was fun to read from beginning to end, but frustrating because I was never able to grasp what it was all about.
The book is structured around five themes, each one with several women evoked to stand as icons, but in each case one woman above all others. The first part deals with sexual sirens who can also be conceived as man eaters, with Delilah, Samson's seductress/betrayal as the great example. The second part deals with under aged temptresses, with Amy Fisher as the great exemplar. The third section deals with women who died either by their own hand or by the kinds of lives they had come to live. Here several women are presented as icons, including Margaux Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Zelda Fitzgerald, and Anne Sexton. The fourth section, written at the height of Monica-gate, skewers Hillary Clinton for being a wife instead of achieving great things herself (a secton that seems hopelessly out of touch with reality as she in 2006 looks poised to run for president--for the record, a move that I am passionately opposed to, since despite the hype she is extremely conservative on most issues, especially economics, and I think she would keep America on the right wing course upon which it began under Jimmy Carter--another person perceived to be liberal who was actually quite conservative on economic issues--and has continued under all successive presidents). The final section deals with women who are the victims of extreme violence and centers on Nicole Brown Simpson. The problem is that the book simply never coalesces around any substantive ideas.
In the end, the women she chooses to write about are women that are as difficult for feminism as for men or society or the public at large. Feminism simply can't absorb Amy Fisher and claim her for one of their own. The story is too tawdry and messy for that. But after three hundred pages of writing about these women, it still isn't clear what she is writing about. The big pay off never comes. It is a book that promises great--or even just pretty good--things but never delivers. This truly is a book that is far less than the sum of its parts. I think the fact that one can love many individual pages while hating it as a whole is reflected in the weirdly schizoid reviews that my Anchor Books edition contains (I have as of today the latest printing, so this may not be true of previous editions). The blurbs are divided into "The Good," "the Bad," "the Bitchy," and "The Bottom Line." The attempt on the part of the publishers almost seems an admission that it is a deeply flawed book, but they want to portray it as one of those ultra-controversial books that you have to read so that you can discuss.
I stil think there are some great books to be written about truly difficult women, about women that society has trouble absorbing or that it resists. I just in the end did not feel that this was one of them. This despite the fact that she writes well, that she is obviously a smart woman, and--let's admit it--very hot. Yes, that is her on the cover. Not many writers could pull that off.
The Truth About Being A "Bitch".......2006-04-25
Everything that Elizabeth Wurtzel wrote in this book is true. The truth about how males can be so sexist, and how men are 'allowed' or supposed to do certian things, while women aren't. Elizabeth uses many examples of 'difficult women' in this book such as Dilea, Madonna, Amy Fisher and so on.
I am pretty sure that everyone has heard of phrases like, "Men can sleep with 10 women and thats fine. But if a women would sleep with 10 men she is a whore or a slut." And thats what many people believe to be true.
When guys are difficult and speak there mind they are 'just being a guy' but when a woman is difficlut or speaks her mind she gets classified as a bitch. And those are some of the things that she points out in her book. This is a very good book, but I wouldn't recommend it to people that have the minds set to the old fashioned ways or people that believe 'women are better off seen than heard'.
Don't Waste Your Time & Money on This Piece of Trash.......2006-03-04
Great, more caterwalling from this self-obsessed, immature, indignant egomaniac. Do us all a favor Lizzy, and throw in the towel. You're schtick is overtired. You're pushing 40. Would you finally grow up and stop torturing the nation with your whining?
That's right, your depression was real. But you were 19. You were nothing but a scared little girl. It doesn't take a Harvard education to figure that out.
And this book, I yie yie. Please go on another bender and never ever take pen to paper again. You'll be doing us all a huge favor.
love it or hate it.......2006-02-07
some people will absolutely abhor this book, and others will finish it with a whole new attitude. either way, it will provoke you and make you think about the way society handles women who transgress normal social boundaries. perhaps your own reaction to this book also says something about the way society views dangerous women. either way, it will make you listen to hole again, which i personally think is a great thing.
How Much Of This Pre-Blog Era Book is its cover?.......2006-01-27
I'm not sure why anyone would read this book and attempt to get anything out of it other than a 415 page Blog from an educated woman, who wrote in the decade that brought us over-sensitive, granola-eating, needy, tree-hugging, Iron John men. Halfway through BITCH, it occurred to me that the book wasn't so much a collection of writings that praised difficult women as it was a double-entendre on the title: The book is a bitching session, a style that has become de rigueur among today's dime-a-dozen online blogs from nobodies in particular. I guess that's why the publisher wastes no time in announcing that Wurtzel is a Harvard graduate on the back cover, and the author herself, sheds her clothes and strikes a Maxim magazine pose on the front, two safety measures just to distinguish her rant from the ones you hear from homeless people out on the streets (she makes an observation that we, as a society, are intrigued by the madness of beautiful people, but find the same affliction in homeless people appalling and disgusting). After all, Wurtzel continues to harp on the importance of beauty and youth in our society, drawing one example after another from Hollywood movies, Vanity Fair interviews, Vogue magazine, tabloid gossip, Rock and Roll songs, Dylan and Springsteen, the Bible and the Torah.
A scene from the movie WOLF is quoted, where Nicholson says to Pfieffer: "The problem is, aside from all that beauty, you're not very interesting: you're rude, you're hostile, you're sullen, you're withdrawn. I know: you want someone to look past all that, at the real person underneath. But the only reason anyone would bother to look past all that is because you're beautiful." (pg 163). I thought this was telling in a way that explained why the cover of the book had to be presented in its titillating way. Wurtzel doesn't condemn using looks to get what you want in life. Here she is on page 114: "Knowing she can get her way with her wiles - that, for instance, the mechanic down the block will repair the dents in her new convertible for free and Dad will never have to know that half the time she drives like she's asleep at the wheel. she will use flirtatiousness, her feigned naïve helplessness and whatever other effects she has learned from the movies, to get what she wants. Nothing wrong with this. Nothing at all. If you can get through life batting your lashes, it beats the hell out of carrying your own bags."
Certainly, it made it difficult for me to distinguish whether the anxiety-stricken last pages of vulnerable sentiments were authentic or just an act. It gives the phrase: "Cry Wolf" a unique angle.
"Shameless honesty," then, in the tradition of tell-all blogs, is the order of the day, as alternate moments of brilliance and dazzling insight mingle with reappearing passages that begrudging addresses those with youth and beauty- supermodels- in particular. (While Betty Friedan is uncharitably described as "damn froglike" and "somewhere short of offensive" in appearance) This book struck me as an exorcism on the author's part to come to terms with being a single woman turning 30, and facing the impending menace of fading beauty in a culture that values youth and good looks. Many parts of this book read as Wurtzel's attempt to stop the clock, or at least, prepare the stage for her entry into being a middle-aged woman. I read it as a writer trying to convince herself that it isn't that frightening to lose one's looks and still be single.
This book is an autobiographical sketch, as any work of art in any medium (including book reviews on amazon.com) reveals more about the writer than it does her subjects. The first insightful passage comes along on page 70: "One of the few benefits of being a child of divorce, particularly a contentious one, is that you learn early to construct complex narratives to explain your parents' behavior: while each of them can afford to demonize the other, as a kid who loves both Mommy and Daddy, you must ratify a whole new set of laws in your own mind, must learn to assemble a view of the situation where neither is wrong, both in their way are right." If you can accept this, then you will be okay with readings of the lives of girls-done-wrong, such as Delilah, Amy Fisher, Sylvia Plath, Nicole Simpson Brown, Anne Sexton, Edie Sedgwick, Courtney Love, Gloria Steinham, Hilary Rodham Clinton and Princess Di.
There are contradictions that abound throughout the book, but I have no problems with it. The life of any written work involves elapsed time. For a writer to stay consistent from page 1 to 414 would defeat the purpose of penning an honest piece of work. The process of writing, especially when editing appears loosely enforced, is an act of discovery. Why do we, in our infinite arrogance as consumers, chose to believe that everything was created for our sole pleasure? Some may argue that the art of self-editing is hiding the ugly parts while displaying the gems. But then, it would no longer qualify as a work worthy of the title BITCH. It is true that honesty is consolation for being the least a person could have done these days, but going for a ride inside the mind that brought you Prozac Nation is all about the journey.
Wurtzel shines on sections inspecting Sex and Violence in the tightrope act between men and women; our romanticizing of madness among beautiful people; the phoniness of "feel-good" culture. She sounded less charitable and petty when dishing out repartees to fat married people (for inquiring about her single status), observing that the Brown family consisted of four daughters with breast implants and not one college degree, and Joel Steinberg's victimization of Hedda Nussbaum ("we want to beat her up too, we can't blame anyone for what they might have done to a woman who allowed this to be done to her.")
Frankly, I don't care if a writer is not politically correct, after all, Wurtzel observes that "posing nude is (not) inconsistent with being a serious scholar or a credible manager or a dynamic leader ." Therefore, if someone makes some harsh remarks in the course of a bitching session, it doesn't necessarily mean the other valid points made in the book are not sound. Unfortunately, many readers will ultimately demand that consistency.
Book Description
"Don't let's ask for the moon! We have the stars!" The film that concludes with Bette Davis's famous words, reaffirmed Davis's own stardom and changed the way Americans smoked cigarettes. But few contemporary fans of this story of a woman's self-realization know its source. Olive Higgins Prouty's 1941 novel Now, Voyager provides an even richer, deeper portrait of the inner life of its protagonist and the society she inhabits. Viewed from a distance of more than 60 years, it also offers fresh and quietly radical takes on psychiatric treatment, traditional family life, female desire, and women's agency.
Boston blueblood Charlotte Vale has led an unhappy, sheltered life. Lonely, dowdy, repressed, and pushing 40, Charlotte finds salvation at a sanitarium, where she undergoes an emotional and physical transformation. After her extreme makeover, the new Charlotte tests her mettle by embarking on a cruise-and finds herself in a torrid love affair with a married man which ends at the conclusion of the voyage. But only then can the real journey begin, as Charlotte is forced to navigate a new life for herself. While Now, Voyager is a tear-jerking romance, it is at the same time the empowering story of a woman who finds the strength to chart her own course in life; who discovers love, sex, and even motherhood outside of marriage; and who learns that men are, ultimately, dispensable in the quest for happiness and fulfillment.
Olive Higgins Prouty (1882–1974), like many of her characters a wealthy Bostonian, was the author of ten novels, including Stella Dallas (1923), which became the basis for three films and a long-running radio serial. A graduate of Smith College, Prouty endowed a writer's scholarship at Smith that was received by Sylvia Plath, who later portrayed her patron unflatteringly in The Bell Jar.
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant, exhilarating, lyrical writing.......2005-10-08
"Now, Voyager" is a remarkable publishing event. Here is a timeless tale of love and transformation that first appeared 64 years ago, instantly became a best-seller, went through God only knows how many reprintings before sliding slowly into near-obscurity, along with its author, Olive Higgins Prouty, today all but forgotten. Neither the author nor her book deserved this sorry end, and The Feminist Press is to be congratulated for re-publishing "Now, Voyager." The publisher pigeonholes this novel as "pulp" writing, a sometimes derogatory term implying fiction that is popular but not very well written, and certainly not enduring literature. This novel is in fact anything but "pulp" fiction: "Now, Voyager" is a story brilliantly conceived, and the reader who takes a chance on this novel will be repaid with sheer exhilaration as the text soars on every page with rare lyricism and hauntingly beautiful passages.
Here's a typical sampler of Prouty's art:
"The pointed pinnacles of the cathedral loomed up above the heterogeneous mass of buildings surrounding it like the pointed tops of spruce above deciduous trees of various varieties. The buildings crowded down to a string of small boats at the water's edge. The blue bay was full of rippling reflections-sails, roofs, pinnacles, and mountain-tops. The air was full of sunshine, breezes, gulls and gulls' calls. The tenders were already plying between the liner and the shore. Other little boats were chugging here and there, plying through the reflections, trailing long wakes of watered silk."
The new edition is a faithful rendition of the original novel. The only changes have been the addition of a foreword and afterword and chapter titles. Misprints in the reprinted edition, not present in the original text, are irritating but fortunately rare. There have been small changes in typography that are indeed helpful in bringing the typography up to a more easily readable modern standard. The republished paperback and hardcover versions are identical, but the paperback has added a thumbnail biography of Prouty and its cover displays a publicity still from the well-known film with Bette Davis and Paul Henreid.
While overpriced, the hardcover edition has a binding and cover that are much more robust than those of the original 1941 edition; fittingly, this new hardcover "Now, Voyager" will last for generations. (A pristine first edition of "Now, Voyager", if you can find one, sells for over $1000.)
A forecast of things to come.......2005-04-16
Olive Higgins Prouty would not have appreciated her books being regarded as pulp! But she would have been happy, I think, knowing that people were reading them again and enjoying them.
She is one of those cases where a novelist could be extremely popular in her own lifetime and then, almost forgotten. Meanwhile the movies made from her books (including STELLA DALLAS and NOW VOYAGER) show how original and striking her plots were, how unique she was. Sylvia Plath, who wrote her many flattering, almost gushing letters so long as Prouty was giving her money, was vicious about her in private (and in the pages of THE BELL JAR, in which Prouty appears as a menacing, elderly Lesbian, almost like She-Lob at spider). It's funny how the encounter between Plath and Prouty has taken on mythic proportions, and how indeed Prouty's best work approaches thast of Plath in terms of its insight into the human condition, especially of suffering, illness, pain and madness. Anyone who reads NOW VOYAGER, or its "prequel," LISA VALE will see that Prouty was intimately familiar with neurosis. Plath might have been taken aback had she realized that Prouty herself had been hospitalized for mental illness when she was a teenager, way back at the turn of the century. In many ways, Prouty's whole life foreshadowed Plath's. We note in NOW VOYAGER the way that Charlotte's stifled New England ways explode when she encounters the debonair, sexy European man who turns her on to Lawrentian sexuality and rebellion--Sylvia and Ted much?
Now if only someone would reprint (among others) WHITE FAWN, HOME PORT, GOOD SPORTS and PENCIL SHAVINGS! Olive Higgins Prouty could write and it's time the world realized it.
Average customer rating:
- Chic but not fatal.
- dissapointing
- I just HAD to have it!
- Great Idea, mediocre execution
- Thank you, Michael Thompson.
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Femme Fatale: Famous Beauties Then and Now
Serge Normant , and
Bridget Foley
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Similar Items:
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Serge Normant/Metamorphosis
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Ultimate Style: The Best of the Best Dressed List
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Vogue Women
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Michael Thompson: Images
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Marc Jacobs (Memoirs)
ASIN: 0670030279
Release Date: 2001-10-25 |
Book Description
Chic, sexy, and sophisticated, Femme Fatale pays tribute to a century of feminine glamour. Invoking not only iconic beauties like Jean Harlow, Brigitte Bardot, and Marilyn Monroe but also the looks that defined each decade from the 1900s to the new millennium, celebrity stylist Serge Normant crafts clothes, setting, hair, and makeup to transform today's most beautiful women. He re-creates Julia Roberts as Louise Brooks, and Cindy Crawford as a forties glamour goddess, a savvy paparazzi-stalked nineties superstar, and a twenties ingenue. Elizabeth Hurley frolics as a flower child and vamps as Mata Hari. Isabella Rossellini is a curvaceous fifties pinup and an eighties punk. And Britney Spears exudes all the poise of Grace Kelly.
This lavish exploration of fashion history, imagination, and stylish beauty carries with it Bridget Foley's cultural survey of each decade—from social and political issues to art movements and key style makers. Beauty, fashion, celebrity, and photography mavens will all love Femme Fatale—and so will every woman who has ever fantasized about looking like a star.
Text by Bridget Foley
Photography by Michael Thompson
Customer Reviews:
Chic but not fatal........2003-10-28
This book presents beautiful pictures of famous and enticing modern women: but to call them "femmes fatales" would be to mischaracterize them.
By definition, the term "femmes fatales" was coined to gorgeous women whose actions were detrimental or harmful to their men or partners. Thus, in real life a woman could be gorgeous without being fatal, or vice versa, she could be fatal without being exceptionally gorgeous. Cleopatra was one such woman, who although not extraordinarily beautiful, was able to charm two Roman generals and to lead them to their downfall.
Although hairstyle was an important component of a woman's appearance, it was certainly not the unique feature of a person. Her eyes, smile, demeanor, sleek appearance, and clothing also played important roles. Therefore, to reduce a woman's character to her hairdo, as the hairstylist-author had suggested, was to overly simplify the matter.
The women photographed in the book were certainly "chic," although not necessarily "fatal."
dissapointing.......2003-05-10
Because of the title The Femme Fatale, Famous Beauties Then and Now, I was expecting a sort of photographic history book. I would be very interested in seeing how the image of a Femme Fatale has changed over the years, from the glamourous pencil browed vixens of the 1920's to the much more volupt modern beauties. (Think pulp fiction novel cover vs. Catherine Zeta Jones) I would have liked to read up on how even though what is considered beautiful (and dangerous) has changed, the character of the Femme Fatale predominates our culture, in literature and film.
I really got the wrong book. Instead of what I was expecting, this book features celebrities made over to appear like they would in different time periods, and the photos are high quality, oversized and printed on slick glossy paper. Some of the transformations are very well done (the girl on the front cover is Julia Roberts, believe it or not) So the book is not without merit, but they could have done a lot more.
If I wanted to see pictures of Britney Spears, I'd just read People magazine.
I just HAD to have it!.......2002-10-28
I have been a fetish model for almost two years, and a close photographer friend and myself are kicking off a new project which showcases high end fetish photographs. While my husband was searching for a poetry book in a Barnes and Nobles store, I snuck to the photography section to see if I could be inspired for this new peoject. My eye fell on this book immediately. I looked at no other book! The photographs are simply too beautiful for words, and I was heartbroken by the cover price... Reluctantly, I put it back on the shelf. When I came home however, I searched your site immediately and found a used copy in mint condition .... Obviously, I was nothing less than thrilled!
This book is based on the photography of hair, and showcases original photographs from the 1800's as samples. Serge Normant then re-creates these by using well known models and celebraties of today, dressing them in period clothing, changing their looks dramatically.
If you are a hairdresser, model, or photographer, you MUST own this book!
Great Idea, mediocre execution.......2002-03-08
Much, if not all this material has been published elsewhere, so you may have seen it. However, it has not been presented together organized around the interesting concept that Julia Roberts, Elizabeth Hurley, Susan Sarandon, Britney Spears and a host of beautiful women are paying homage to women of a previous age. (Yes, that Britney Spears).
In an interview with a French magazine, the photographer described himself as awed or intimidated when Susan Sarandon showed up. He only relaxed when she took charge and he just responded to what he saw. The mutual respect shown by the professionals on both sides of the camera is what makes these images good.
This is not just a catalog of beatiful pictures of contemporary icons playing dress up. If it is authentic it makes a convincing statement about the power and stature of these famous modern women and a lot of not so famous all around us.
If you know a young woman who wants to be in the next book like this, show it to her. I have handed it to several young women I've photographed recently. "Oh, my God! Britney Spears is beautiful." "That can't be Claudia Schiffer." "Elizabeth Hurley scares me!" Isabella Rossellini as Betty Page is the show stopper, however.
The photography is as good as it gets, but the material added to hang it all together weakens the book. Some of it is completely contrived and bogus.
Next time let the women and the photographer do their work and let the readers draw the conclusions. Meanwhile a lot of wannabe photographers and young models have some catching up to do.
Thank you, Michael Thompson........2002-02-08
Serge Normant may have been the creator of the styles pictured within, but it's the aritisty of the photographer Michael Thompson that's truly responsible for the incredible images in this book. Thompson is, perhaps, the most talented of current fashion photographers, but he's also the most overlooked by all but those "in the industry." He's classic, and contemporary, and as versatile as Meisel or Demarchelier. He may not be as well known as his contemporaries, but that's because he lives a quiet life in Pennsylvania, and stays out of the limelight.
I'm looking forward to a massive collection of Michael's photographs, a 'Part One' retrospective, but i don't believe it's forthcoming. Doesn't seem to be his style.
Book Description
In this road map to restoring feminine sexual power, Betsy Prioleau introduces and analyzes the stories and stratagems of history's greatest seductresses. These are the women who ravished the world—from such classic figures as Cleopatra and Mae West to such lesser-known women as the infamous Violet Gordon Woodhouse, who lived in a ménage with four men. Smarts, imagination, courage, and killer charm helped these love maestras claim the men of their choice and keep them fascinated for life. Through an exposé of their secrets, Seductress provides an authoritative, empowering guide to erotic sovereignty.
Customer Reviews:
Couldn't make it through.......2007-02-03
Even though I was excited to read this book and fascinated by the subject matter, I just couldn't slog through it. Prioleau should have written either: 1) an academic study of the seductress as mythological figure and icon in history, or 2) a light, fun, flippant, sexy book for modern women about the art and history of seductresses. What she's doing instead is trying to merge the two, and it's awful. Her tone is saucy and sassy, but the sorts of comparisons she's making are more suited to an academic, professional voice. She writes as if she's trying to be the reader's bosom friend, but she can't help peppering her language with little French phrases (far, far too many little French phrases). She's not using footnotes, but she can't resist quoting from sources, so the reader has to page to the back of the book and find the reference in a list sorted by chapter and page number. I would rather have either easily-accessible footnotes, or else no quotations at all but an annotated source list for each topic at the end of the book. Overall, she comes off like an overweight, matronly, middle-aged history professor who's trying desperately to be "hip to the lingo" and the best friend of all her students when everyone would like her better if she'd just cut the cutesy act and be herself. Because of the style she's adopted, I don't have much confidence in her as a scholar, and I can't stand her as a writer.
Prioleau's writing is even more disappointing because the subject matter is really interesting! I *want* to read about seductresses. She covers famous and not-so-famous seductresses from history, women who really took the world by the balls and got what the wanted out of life, and I'm genuinely interested in reading their stories. But she insists on comparing each one to a mythological goddess, when there's no reason to do so! Each figure is fascinating in her own right, without the need to be likened to a Neolithic owl-headed goddess figurine. I agree that it's important to discuss the goddesses, that goddesses should get their own chapter, but the mythology and the primeval worship of female sexuality is done to death here. I would have much preferred to see each historical seductress appreciated for herself, for her own unique way of seducing and claiming power, than as an aspect of some ancient magical womanly life force. I understand what Prioleau is trying to do, but it's not working.
I made it halfway through the second chapter before I had to put this book down in annoyance. I would read it happily if it was an academic book or if it was fun, light nonfiction. But it's neither, and the mash-up means that I'm turning away from a topic I honestly want to read about because of the author's writing style.
Joy, High Self Esteem, Confidentence, Abundance.......2007-01-12
.
These women grabbed the world by the balls and had their way with it.
I think the reviewers who slam this book can't stand to see a powerful woman.
I love powerful women.
Bravo Betsy Prioleau
Awesome and empowering!.......2006-10-27
I think what many of the previous reviewers found offensive was that the author turned the sexual double standard on its head; the old "promiscuous men are studs and pimps, promiscuous women are slut and whores" axiom. In this book, promiscuous women who enjoyed sex and didn't allow men to objectify them are the real and ultimate pimps, the studs. These women took on the male role of sexual conquerer and they are seen in a positive light for it. Although I personally can't imagine this being a satisfying lifestyle, I think it's awesome that some women have really put on the boys' shoes, dodged marriage and commitment, had successful careers, pursued attractive men, and toyed with lovers.
Women's sexuality is so often used against them, so often seen as their weakness that it is disturbing to the popular mind to see women using their sexuality, which society says is their mortal Achilles heel to be exploited by men, to their advantage. The notion that women would use the very weapon that's brandished against them to conquer the world is terrifying. It's okay to see women on the front of magazines displaying themselves for men's pleasure, but it's *not* okay when they use that display for their own personal gain, their own pleasure. They become dangerous.
And this wonderful book is about dangerous women. It's delightfully readable. It shows how many very accomplished women have been mistreated by historians (Did you know Cleopatra was *also* a great ruler, besides just being the mistress of Mark Antony? Did you know she was ugly?) It also shows how many women, notorius and famous and incredibly influential on the course of history, have been deliberately and systematically ignored in the history books, their names and faces lost to time immediately after their deaths. The author resurrects these powerful forgotten figures. Also fantastic was her classifications for these women -- ugly seductresses, old seductresses, musicians, politicians, artists, ect. The point is that these women didn't just have great sex -- which is what we usually think of when we envision a seductress. No, they seduced *the minds* of the public, of powerful figures, they used charisma to get what they wanted. And it's important to note that this is *not* unlike what men do to succeed in their careers! Men too use charm, charisma, their looks and body language to overcome objection and succeed in life. When this author uses the term "seductress", she really doesn't mean a woman who can get lots of people to sleep with her; that's not much of a talent at all. To this author, seductresses inspired devotion, respect, love, lust, envy, professional admiration, and shifted the social politics of their time.
Besides that, the writer is exciting and dynamic. Her style is action oriented and packs a real punch.
I have one gripe. The goddess theme was soooooo irritating. Soooooo irritating. Every woman had to be compared to Innana or some other goddess. It's easy, though, to skip over these paragraphs because they are sort of clearly marked in the text, so you can easily hop over them and get to the good parts. Don't let it keep you from buying this very pleasurable, empowering, beautiful book.
And the point was...?.......2006-08-13
I was excited to read the book because it talked about even how unattractive or intelligent women can be seductresses. However, all the author talked about was how the various artists, intellectuals, and adventurers used sex to get what they wanted from men. Basically, the author reduces women to physical beings and tries to justify this treatment by comparing the women in her book to the Sumerian goddess, Inanna. There was no everlasting love for these women, a myth if there ever was one. And then Prioleau claims that if women reclaim their sexual selves, they will gain the everlasting love that has been eluding them. Essentially, the book is BS and I wouldn't give this book to anyone. I would actually advise friends and family members to avoid it at all costs. It just perpetuates the image of women as sexual creatures to be used by men in exchange for power, money, fame, and security.
Major disappointment..........2006-06-26
There are points in the introduction that were not found elsewhere in this book . I was not expecting one of those How-To's but more of a book about unconventional women. All in all, I finished Prioleau's tome with utter relief and promptly placed it in the donation box.
The women (some famous like Cleopatra and some not) are divided amongst sub-categories according to their primary (?) role in life.
In all truth, I was impressed by the level of research Prioleau must have done as well as intrigued and entertrained by the profiles on some very charming women.
Prioleau, however, seems to be obssessed with the ancient Sumerian goddess Inana. She touches upon Inana's myth early in the book and continues to make the same point again and again until the very last page. I had to force myself not to skip all the paragraphs whenever Prioleau went Inana-crazy in between the women stories. Also, the last chapter was some kind of 'up with women' manifesto that came off more bitter than empowering.
I gave this book two stars based on the women Prioleau wrote about. This book might be good for a women studies' class, but it does not turn out to be a pleasurable reading for most.
Average customer rating:
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Evil by Design: The Creation and Marketing of the Femme Fatale
Elizabeth K. Menon
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
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ASIN: 0252073231 |
Book Description
This latest entry in the acclaimed "Femmes Fatales: Women Writing Pulp" series builds on the spectacular 2003 launch, featured on NPR, The New York Times and more than twenty trade and consumer publications.
Blanche Lake is not like the other mothers who come to collect their children at the local nursery school on New York's Upper East Side. She lives alone, has a job, and has never been married. It's the first day of school when this story begins, and Blanche is eager to see how her daughter, Bunny, has fared away from home. But her expectant waiting becomes a mother's most dreaded nightmare: Bunny never materializes. Neither teachers nor students recall the small girl, and soon Blanche is engaged in a frantic search for any trace of her missing daughter. And the worst part is . . . no one believes her.
In this fraught and at times freakish tale of suspense, Evelyn Piper takes us deep into the psyche of the 1950s to explore American fetishes, fallacies, and fears around motherhood and sexuality. Even the police refuse to help Blanche search for Bunny, lacking evidence of the girl's existence. Emerging from the book's moments of hysteria as a new kind of heroine-the hard-boiled mom-Blanche Lake turns 1950s psychology on its head. Her unbridled, red-blooded instincts win over the psychologist, Dr. Newhouse, and expose the creepiness of anti-sexual social norms. No wonder the film version of Bunny Lake Is Missing was reset in swinging 1960s London. Directed by Otto Preminger and starring Carol Lynley and Laurence Olivier (with music by the Zombies), the film reexamines motherhood and sexuality with a new plot twist that pins the problems on men.
Evelyn Piper was the pseudonym of
Merriam Modell (1908-1994). After graduating from Cornell in the late 1920s, Modell worked as a model, as a secretary for a harmonica quartet and lived in Germany for a time. She published short stories in The New Yorker, starting in 1941, and her novels include The Lady and Her Doctor (1956), Hanno's Doll (1961), and The Nanny (1964).
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing Dime Novel.......2005-02-26
If you're a fan of the cool Otto Preminger/Carol Lynley film of the 1960s, you will be colossaly disappointed by this literary version on which it was (very loosely!) based. There are virtually no similarities whatsoever. Now that the movie is on DVD, go directly to that and add it to your library.
The novel starts off well, but quickly disintegrated into a convoluted melodrama. It's a shame that the story doesn't live up to the excellent cover art which, ironically, is taken from the far superior film version.
The same author wrote the original book version of the great Bette Davis thriller THE NANNY, but I've learned my lesson and won't bother with reading that one!
A Great Fast-Paced Thriller .......2004-12-25
I read this thriller in one setting.
A none-stop romp right to the ending!
Excellent "who-done-it" pulp.
LaMonte Heflick, author Pup Fiction(TM) Books
The movie was better..........2002-10-25
I loved the movie (well most of it). The book is your typical dime novel of the period, not worth the read.
Book Description
A 1947 classic that takes us inside the mind of a male serial killer. Author Dorothy B. Hughes explores the ana-tomy of American -misogyny and -accomplishes a mystery writing tour de force by depicting his eventual -capture-by two daring and powerful women-from his point of view. The characters of Dix Steele and Laurel Grey, the glamorous actress he falls for but can't hold on to, were so well drawn that they became the basis for extraordinary performances by Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame in the 1950 film version of the book, which also reflects the suspense and hard-boiled edginess of Hughes's -writing.
Called "an author with a flair for terror" by The New Yorker, Hughes was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1978.
Customer Reviews:
Noir fiction.......2006-04-15
Great mystery tale told from the point of view of a bad guy. Although somewhat forgotten today, Hughes was a superstar writer in her time. Her novels had been adapted into movies for Robert Montgomery and Humphery Bogart. Compelling fiction with strongly drawn characters. Highly recommended.
Hard-boiled and scary because of its understatement.......2004-04-28
"In a Lonely Place" is a neglected classic of American crime fiction. Harder than hard-boiled, it follows the actions of a vicious serial killer in post-war Los Angeles. The antihero, Dixon Steele, maintains the appearance of an average guy while periodically venting his anger and hatred of women by raping and strangling random girls that he picks up. Through the course of the book, he plays a cat-and-mouse game with his old army buddy, now a detective, who has been assigned to solve the case.
Published in 1947, "In a Lonely Place" is different from much of today's standard serial killer fare. Unlike books such as "Hannibal" or "Red Dragon," all the violence occurs offstage, during gaps in the narration. But that doesn't make it any less scary--in fact, it ups the creepiness quotient considerably. Hughes tells her story from the point of view of the "perp" himself, with all the events filtered through Steele's eyes and thoughts. Normal in the book is what's normal to the killer whose solitary, predatory nature places him "in a lonely place" outside of the rest of humanity. His anger, his misogyny, his hatred of those richer than he, and his sense of entitlement justify his actions in his own mind. By keeping the gore offstage, the author maintains the focus on the killer's twisted mind, which is where the true horror lies.
"In a Lonely Place" was made into a movie in 1950 starring Humphrey Bogart (who else?) and Gloria Grahame. The film kept some of the elements of the book, but switched the focus to domestic violence. Dark as the film is (and it's a masterpiece of film noir), the book is even darker. If you're looking for a play-by-play novelization of the movie, this isn't it. But if you're looking for a character study of a killer's mind, then turn on the night light and dig in.
Creepy, and quite unlike the movie.......2004-02-18
An effectively creepy and believable portrait of a rage-driven serial killer.
Quite unlike the famous (and excellent) movie based on the book, both in plot and in mood.
Undervalued Classic II.......2004-01-11
I wish to associate myself with the excellent review and comments of the esteemed reviewer from New York. A very fine book, timeless in its readability and thematic approach and yet fascinating in its description of a post-WWII City of Angels. A great enough read for me to want to track down more of Ms. Hughes' works and learn more about her life. If you are into noir, at some point you need to read this book to complete your perspective.
Undervalued classic.......2003-03-25
How is it that Dorothy B. Hughes's great suspense novels of the 1940s have fallen into oblivion? This is clearly a situation for a nervy publisher like Godine or Dalkey Archive to rectify, as the more conventional ones, like Vintage, remain clueless. And here's a good place to begin. Written in 1947, In a Lonely Place was one of the first American novels to broach the subject of a serial killer--it was instantly followed by a host of imitators in the late '40s and early '50s. (Other than the Belloc-Lowndes The Lodger, a 1912 UK novel, the theme had been long neglected.) Hughes's approach is psychological stream-of-consciousness; she traces the cat and mouse game of the sociopathic Dix Steele who, reuniting with an old war buddy turned cop, comes along for the chase to find the murderer. If you know the great Nicholas Ray film with Bogart, don't expect much resemblance--Ray took only the title and the names of most of the characters. Though like the movie, the novel is a brilliantly claustrophobic look at LA in the postwar years. The violence is offstage, the pathology on. Hughes's ability to penetrate a man's mind is remarkable and never less than credible. She wrote only a handful of books (The Fallen Sparrow, Ride the Pink Horse, and The Davidian Report are her other benchmark novels) but they deserve a closer look--they are compulsively readable, prophetic, and apparently timeless.
Book Description
What happens when the boy does NOT win the girl? Can he survive and even make the football team, one of the epicenters of high school life? And what about those countless teams which come close, but do not win championships? "Near Misses" has the answers at a unique time in our history - the World War II years - when the author and his friends were just a few years shy of being part of THE GREATEST GENERATION, but as "The Next Generation," were greatly influenced by the War on the Home Front. Bowling Green, circa 1938-1950, where churches, spinster teachers and the Boy Scouts strived to educate and mold character,was an ideal venue for growing up. The hilltop college conveniently provided even more book learning although public schools were segregated - separate but unequal - and black students had to leave town for college training. Yet, regardless of great efforts by the churches, those dedicated teachers and Troop 202, the most profound influence was exerted by an unlikely partnership: the Bowling Green High football team and its coaches on the one hand and the school's fledgling "femme fatales" on the other. It was a lively mix, especially when sharing time with World War II and the town's post-war leap to the mid- century mark.
Books:
- Pre-Code Hollywood
- Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
- Redefining Black Film
- Route 66 Lost and Found: Ruins and Relics Revisited
- Sculpting a Galaxy: Inside the Star Wars Model Shop
- Secondhand Bride (McKettrick Cowboys Trilogy #3)
- Sex and the Perfect Lover: Tao, Tantra, and the Kama Sutra
- She Who Laughs, Lasts!
- Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema
- Stories and Early Novels: Pulp Stories / The Big Sleep / Farewell, My Lovely / The High Window (Library of America)
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