Customer Reviews (34)

Beautifully and chillingly written
Adams is best known, of course, for _Watership Down_, but this later work of slightly supernatural romance is, I think, a superior piece of work. Alan Desland is in every way an entirely inoffensive young man, the heir to a small but thriving porcelain and ceramics retail business in Berkshire, a talented linguist, an enthusiast in Greek drama and German literature, and a believing member of the Church of England whose best friend is a practical-minded clergyman. He's content with his life and seems to have pretty much everything he could reasonably want. The one thing he doesn't have is a love life. Since adolescence, a private and somewhat prim person, he has seen himself as unattractive to women and likely to remain unmarried for life. All that changes on a business trip to Copenhagen when he unexpectedly meets Käthe, a strikingly beautiful office girl for whom he falls like a load of bricks. To his own bewilderment, he pursues her and rather hopelessly proposes to her a week later -- and is accepted. A whirlwind engagement back in England and a civil wedding on a trip to Florida follow, which naturally disturbs his mother and sister -- but once they meet the bride, their doubts disappear. But this is not in any way a happily-ever-after sort of story. The reader slowly becomes away of Käthe's true nature, ancient and tragic, and when the inevitable denouement arrives, it seems fitting. Only for a brief sentence is Adams ever explicit in attributing anything to the supernatural (and even that may be Alan's overwrought imagination), so there's always a rational explanation for everything that happens. But that doesn't matter. The story builds very gradually, the measured pace coiling around you and sucking you in until you're turning each page with a mix of fascination and apprehension. The characters are fully developed, even the minor supporting players, and Adam's language (and his ear for accents and dialects) is rich and complex. There's also a considerable amount of artfully poetic eroticism, which is fundamental to Käthe's incarnated personality. A beautifully realized story book you won't soon forget.

The other postiive reviews said it all.
The only thing I wanted to add is that I have read a lot of horror, from Poe to Jackson to King, and this is the ONLY book that continued to haunt me after I had finished reading. It creeps under your flesh and finds a dark home there.

It is a masterpiece of modern literature.

This Book Gets Better As I Get Older
I, too, was one of those who initially read this book twenty or so years ago. At the time, I found it rather longwinded at the beginning, then increasingly suspenseful, then downright frightening, and then--completely perplexing at the end. With an overall atmospheric sense of depression.A few years later I read it again, and it made a lot more sense to me. In memory it now begins to make even more sense, as I "get" more of the mythological references that Adams incorporated.

This was a very memorable book for a variety of reasons.I admit I found it hard to empathize with the obsessive love relationship aspect of the story, finding Kathe/Karin (depending on edition) somewhat too idealized to be very likeable. However, I think that idealization was intentional, and I did not find it to be a drawback.

I loved the book as a suspense horror story, the kind that does not count on a lot of onstage gore to frighten, but rather a steadily increasing sense of paranoia and fear. In fact, the initial "longwindedness" was what enabled the frightening parts to be so realistically frightening when they occurred. Later in the book, the atmosphere was almost claustrophobic with dread, if you like that sort of thing (I do!).

Finally, this is the ONLY book I have ever read that contained a scene so frightening that I jumped in my seat as though I was watching a scary film. Kudos, Mr. Adams!

Boring and senseless
I was shocked as I tried to google what the meaning of this story was- that this book was made into a movie. Are you kidding!? OK so I gave it 2 stars because I thought the writing itself was good. The story however was completely baffling and didn't make any sense. We are teased along hoping to find out the mystery behind this beautiful woman who won't disclose her past only to be thrown into confusion and frustration about what happened. I felt ripped-off spending so much time on an over-all boring book waiting, waiting, waiting for something to be revealed or explained only to discover nothing is explained. FRUSTRATING.

Beautiful Prose Marred by Reader's Doubt
I read parts of Girl in a Swing when I was in high school.Very specific parts, when my mother wasn't around to snatch the book from my hands.I also saw the, in my opinion, very poor movie version of the novel.Having finally read the novel in full and as an adult, I can say without reservation that it contains some of the most vivid, rich prose that I have ever read.From Alan's reaction upon first seeing Kathe to the horrible climax on the beach, the writing was solid in theme, but subtle enough in action that Adams never actually has to come out and say what the reader figures out by the end of the novel.The sex is graphic without being pornographic and matches the level of writing in the rest of the story. Of course, I had seen the movie, so I knew what Kathe's secret was and that made it harder to be swept up in the relationship between Alan and Kathe.The "ghost" parts of the novel are sparse, which lends itself to making the story more believable. We are left to decide for ourselves if there is really a ghost, or if Kathe is somehow producing everything herself with help from Alan's ESP. And, although I didn't feel any fright when I was reading the climactic scene just prior to Kathe's death, I have to admit that, around midnight that same night, I got a little panicky when I went out by my pool to cover my grill just as a storm was blowing in.

Now, for the doubts.I understand that Adams' subtlety is deliberate and that the reader is left to infer quite a bit on purpose.However, I want to know more concretely what went on!Was Kathe really and incarnation of the goddess?If so, why was Alan the only one to pick up on it?If she was so incredible, why was she so into Alan.Why hadn't she been able to find stability and legitimacy sooner?Was she really so otherworldly, or was Alan so subconsciously desperate for something to break the monotony of his life that he projected that desire onto Kathe and made her more than she really was?Was part of her breakdown a result of her trying too hard to be too perfect?

Another comment I want to make is that I was very disappointed in Alan when he realized what Kathe had done.His attitude was that she had to do it because they had to be together: no remorse, no pity, nothing.His only regret is losing her.The consort without his goddess.

Overall, it is a wonderful book.I wish that I had never seen the movie, so that the knowledge of the ending wasn't hanging over my head, (also,so that I could keep Meg Tilly's face out of my mind as I read it).This is not a dumbed-down "erotic supernatural thriller" by any means.

Oh yeah- What the heck was buried in Alan's teacher's garden?? ... Read more

Product Description
The definitive account of the life and work of Richard Avedon, to accompany a major retrospective of the photographic work at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

An Autobiogarphy in pictures
You want to see the best of Richard Avedon's photography? Well this is the book for you, no doubt

Beautiful and amazing photography
This is a book of photography with great detail. The book shows the photography of the artist as well as the long paragraphs about what the artist was doing during the time that he took the photograph and why he chose to take it in such a manner. The photography of Richard Avedon is showing in a variety of sizes, which is in the manner he would show his photography in a gallery. I think that works very well, because there are parts in the book where certain pages are dedicated to just one photograph. I was fascinated with the timetable of his photography, that actually takes up a fourth of the book, in which is it displayed by photographs of his work as well as his personal life. I enjoy the selection of photographs that are in this book because even though they are all portraits, they are interpreted in so many different ways. Each photograph tells something, either of the photographer or the subject that is being photographed.

The size of the book is very large, but it works perfectly with the subject it is portraying. The photographs are enjoyable in the sense that they can be seen with great detail. I don't think I would have had the same impact from the photographs if they had been placed in a book half its size. I think the only part of the book that could have been somewhat more enjoyable for me as a beginning photographer, would have been to read some information of how the photographer went about taking the photograph and what his preference in photography was. Some of the paragraphs start going into some details about a photograph but then just jump on to the next without giving an ending to the information.

The book in a whole, is a great book and I would recommend. I think that it is a great book to have if you plan on seeing professional photography.

Useful roadmap to Avedon's work
I'm glad that I own this book but potential buyers should be aware that this is a history of Avedon's work, not a stunning presentation of his photographs. The book contains hundreds of images but most of them aresmall in size. The images are arranged chronologically with some associatedtext. The book also contains two essays about Avedon and a detailedbibliography listing press accounts about him. There is also a helpful listof the various books that Avedon has published.

I would recommend hisother titles -- "In the American West" for example -- if you wantto see the full-size, stunning photographs for which Avedon is famous.

Not bad, but not so good as I expected
The book is OK. Nevertheless beware: there is more text than photographs. And they are tiny in most cases. He who prefers to read about photographs rather than to see them will be pleased. I am a little disappointed.

Absolutely terrific
This is a wonderful collection. I have found myself going back to it again and again. I'm not sure Adam Gopnik was such a good choice, although he is a lively writer; but the other New Yorker art critic, Peter Schejhal (sp?)would certainly have been better, as entertaining as Gopnik but morefocused and memorable. But this is just a small complaint; overall, I lovethis book and hope that every library in the world someday owns a copy. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
A highly suspenseful story of greed, betrayal and murder, 'The Lost Highway' signals a thrilling new direction for one of Canada s greatest authors.For twenty years, Alex Chapman has been at war with his great-uncle James, popularly known asThe Tyrant.Disillusioned and ill-tempered, Alex believes James has destroyed his chances in life when things do notturn outfor him. He especially resents his great-uncle for ruining his chance at happiness with his one true love, Minnie, who married another. Alex seems destined never to amount to anything more than an embittered dreamer, until the night he runs into the simple mechanic Burton Tucker. When Burton says he has just sold James Chapman a winning lottery ticket worth thirteen million dollars, Alex immediately knows that his uncle must never see the money.That moment is the beginning of an enthralling mystery and an emotionally shattering tale of a family s passions and betrayals. 'The Lost Highway' is a chilling study of what happens to men and women when moral questions become matters of life and death. A page-turner with great spiritual force, 'The Lost Highway' is the work of a brilliant novelist at the peak of his powers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

David Richards has a formidable talent!
This is probably the saddest and most broody book that I have read in some time.It does start out slow and we delve deep into Alex Chapman's mind and his motives, but about halfway through it picks up quite a bit.By that time Mr. Adams has set the stage for a great psychological suspense book that shows depravity at its very worst.Richards' plot is set in and around an unclaimed winning lottery ticket, and he shows how the thought of a large amount of money can change people's personalities entirely and how it can cause some people to step way over the line.I love the setting in around New Brunswick.It is the perfect place near this lost highway for all kinds of dark and terrible things to happen.I know there are lots of places in Canada that are in decline like this place that Richards has chosen for his setting.Rural Canada has many roads to nowhere and many people that society has forgotten that still live there.This book is a tragedy, but one that I could not put down once I got into it.

Lost about why it's called the Lost Highway
People always use terms like "moral" and "fierce" to describe this writer, but I'd forgotten how long winded and repetitive he could be. A couple of sections were terribly preachy; his own moral theories badly woven into the story. Worst of all, the main character Alex was portrayed as a small town ethics lecturer, but his thoughts and prejudices were akin to those of a person with half his IQ. In short, an unbelievable character in a sometimes unbelievable story.

Other people and sequences worked a lot better; the incorrigible Leo Bourque, the uncommonly insightful native Canadian police inspector Markus Paul and the breathtaking scene near the end when a 15 year old girl is pursued by two men who wish to drown her.

Particularly in the second half, the book gathered momentum and was really compelling, but at half the size it would have been every bit as effective. It's not that often I spend so much time wondering how clumsily chapters are put together, or why the same points are repeated again and again and the obvious re-stated. I have been spoiled by the sparse writing of Galgut and Coetzee for sure.

"For great good a crime might be necessary"
Mirroring the great classics of literature this vast and unwieldy novel of betrayal centers on the winnings of a lottery ticket and those characters that become willingly caught up in an effort to find the elusive receipt and then hopefully cash it in. But what starts out as a rather depressing tale of animosity and bitterness, unrequited love, and all-consuming betrayal, soon turns into a full blown cosmic morality play where stabbings, blackmail, long held family resentments, and even murder provide the overriding themes.

Steeped in a literary flavor that is deeply reflective of the novels of the great Russian classic authors, The Lost Highway begins as the down and out Alex Chapman discovers from the owner of the local service station, Burton Tucker, that his despotic great uncle Jim Chapman has just won thirteen million dollars. Over the years Alex's relationship with his uncle, nicknamed the "the old man" has been fraught with difficulty, both of them warring off and on for twenty years, ever since the boy had left the priesthood under what were called suspicious circumstances.

Living a paltry existence in a small cabin that used to be the old man's icehouse, Alex plots and plans and ruminates on his failed life even as he's certain he's going to be kicked out of his ramshackle him. With old Jim Chapman also intent to write him out of the will, Alex is positive that his Uncle's enmity for him originates from along with his long-held dislike of Alex's father, mainly because of how he treated Alex's long-suffering mother.

As The Lost Highway opens, both uncle and nephew are embroiled in a "brutal infantile tit-for-tat." Alex has tried to live a life both fair and honest, yet he's never got ahead. Jim Chapman, however, sees his nephew as an unadulterated failure that has done his best to ruin the family fortune. Haunted by the painful death of his mother, and with few expectations, Alex begins to obsess over this money that he considers is just too much for an enemy like Jim Chapman.

To let Chapman have his winnings would be the end of Alex's life. He would never be able to live down Jim's hubris, nor would he be able to crawl back. But there is also another consideration - that of the love of his life, Minnie Patch. So with ideas twirling around in his mind like a windstorm, his life with Minnie like those of unrequited lovers, Alex hangs onto the hope that somehow Minnie really still loves him. He plans to steal the lotto ticket, from his uncle, the tyrant, to keep her respect. But Minnie has married Sam Patch, and the only way that Alex can guarantee that Minnie will come back to him is to use the moment to entice her.

If Alex could somehow get this money, he would do far more good with it than his uncle who has lost himself in anger of his failed plowing company, and Minnie might just come back to him. It is this dilemma that is central to this somewhat overwrought novel that is peppered with drunks and scabs, the characters mostly hard-noised and poverty stricken, forever damaged and always bereaved. These are people who have faced their fair share of life's hard knocks.

Alex is a man who had planned to save money, to have things in his own life, and to be happy, but it isn't until he reconnects his arch childhood nemesis Leo Bourque who knows a secret, something Alex had done to the Jim Chapman's company a year ago, that Alex - and consequently Leo - are set on a path towards self destruction.

This is indeed a powerful novel, full of misery and poverty, but often the narrative goes in circles, the author more concerned with espousing his complex philosophical views on religion, morality, and faith than propelling the story forward. A compendium of destiny and a well-crafted meditation on the human condition, The Lost Highway works as a complex portrait of a vast and rapacious ego with unchecked moral compass that ends up justifying to a horrible act, but it is also a novel that often sinks under the weight of it's own repetitiveness and self-importance.

With a plot that revolves around a dead body and a teenage girl who knows what is at a stake regarding the thirteen million dollars, life for Alex and Leo comes to a devastating climax in an ending that is riddled with a type of bitter irony. The aftermath of a violent act and the total sum of all Alex's plans and ambitions end up coming to the single sentence: "You have done what you have done." Mike Leonard April 08.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Nature
The birds, animals, and wildflowers or the Isle of Man are vividly described and brought before the reader's eye. The author is out in all weathers, missing nothing of the pageant of the months, the seasons, and even of the stars. For him, the most ordinary day discloses something exciting. Written at an adult level with some lovely illustrations.

A Year of Plants and Birds in Britain
This pleasant nature diary contains observations by John Adamsof birds, plants, weather and insects on the Isle of Man.As he rambles about with his dog, Tetter, and varied visitors, he records his day-to-day viewings.
A few times in the year, he journeys to the Lake District, London, Denmark, and Australia, and continues his nature journal in those places.
The sketches of the plants and scenes (by John Lawrence) add some color and helped me visualize the many unfamiliar plants.Eventually the book becomes a bit tedious, but that may be from my recent reading of May Sarton's journals which combine nature and her personal insights.Adams sticks strictly to the nature and does not inject his personality which may disappoint readers of his bestsellers, Watership Down, etc. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A beautiful book!
Richard Adams unique collection of fables is intriguing and thought-provoking...to see ourselves and others in each is a rewarding challenge -- well worth the effort!Also, I must mention that the illustrations in this book are absolutely exquisite -- something the previous reviewer made no mention -- a rarity in this day and age of simple graphics and line drawings.

A real Adams
This Book is not a story, but a collection of some interesting and little-known fairy tales. Some of them are good, some of them not so, but in general, this is a very good book and worth reading. As you can see, itis out of print in English, but it is still available in German (DerEiserne Wolf: phantastische Märchen). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good reading..........
I have read a great deal of Mr. Adams works he is a lost treasure and I hope that you will find him and enjoy his brillance.
The Outlandish Knight is the story of a minstrel who is traveling to find himself and to serve his Master. The book which is broken down in three parts. Each part pertains to a different family memeber of Raymonds.
There are great folk songs through out the book which adds to Mr Adams great writing. I enjoyed the first two parts very much following along with Raymonds son as he to follows in his father footsteps. The second part of the story is told by Raymond the son, and it gives a different feel to the book.
The third part is about Raymond's daughter Honor Mary and about her story which is told by the Author. This is where the story slows down a little. Honor does not follow in their footsteps. It is still a wonderful book and it brings a very different look to Mr Adams works.It is an enjoyable book and any Richard Adams fan will enjoy it.I only wished that he would have given more feel and more color to the characters.

The best Richard Adams novel since Watership Down
Richard Adams set the bar pretty high when hepublished his first novel, Watership Down, over 25 years ago.His novels since then (Shardik, Plague Dogs, Girl in the Swing, Maia, and Traveler) have not lived up to thepromise of that first book,which ranks among the most beloved novels ofthe 20th century and will surely be among the handful of books to survivethe century.

It is with great pleasure, therefore, to note that with TheOutlandish Knight Adams has crafted a lyrical novel rich in historicaldetail.It follows the fortunes of 3 generations of "common"folk in England and their relationships with the Tudor aristocrats.

Thenovel opens in the year 1485, the action concentrating on the Battle ofBosworth Field, where Henry VII, the first of the Tudor dynasty, brought anend to the Wars of the Roses.The central narrative focuses on HenryVIII's divorce from Katherine of Aragon, while the third portion isconcerned with the fate of those implicated in a plot in support of Mary,Queen of Scots, during Elizabeth's reign.

The overriding theme is one ofunwavering loyalty and devotion in the face of intense pressure.WhileAdams is faithful to the historical detail the reader cannot help but getcaught up in the events as if they were happening today. Most impressively,Adams' characters speak the English of their day, not 20th centuryvernacular, a device which other writers of historical fiction would dowell to employ.The historical figures that appear as characters arebelievable, as well.

Adams' first foray into historical fiction came withhis last novel, Traveler, but here he is on surer ground, writing about hisnative England.As a special bonus, the text is sprinkled liberally withexcerpts of English folk song, including the actual musicalnotation.

Although lacking an animal protagonist, this is Adams' bestnovel since Watership Down. Readers should also check out his twocollections of tales, The Unbroken Web and Tales from Watership Down.Alsoin a similar vein is a historical novel by Alan Garner, Strandloper, andvarious works of history of this period, such as Antonia Fraser's Faith andTreason.

The words "based on a true story" have become all tooautomatic in this visually-oriented age, but it is comforting to know thatthere are still instances when the phrase actually has meaning. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Canada and Hockey - They will only survive together.
Richards makes a distinct comment about Canada in Hockey Dreams.He shows that he is a true Canadian, and is not one of those people who like to think of themselves as intellectualsthat are above the game of hockey.Hockey is deep rooted in this country, and though it is true that it will never be the same, we still catch glimpses of its true spirit now and again.Richards has caught the spirit of the game and put it on paper.His is a remarkable feat considering that most of us can't even describe the game sufficiently in words.This is a must read for all people who consider themselves true Canadians.

In all of my eighteen years, I've never read a more accurate description of my game and its meaning.

Dreams Unforgotten
Richards reveals all those things which we thought nobody else had ever reflected upon.Could an American possibly enjoy this book?I'm not sure.But every Canadian who once was young, and who perhaps scooped mounds of snow, in a transe of fantasy, off a bumpy ice surface into the dark hours of once endless days, will appreciate this book like the game itself; the merciless joy of unhindered potential for our imagined years to come, and our mission to reach our potential until reality sinks in, will occupy your every shift, deek, and goal (or assist, for that matter).And this, from a 19 year old reader--just a reminder to Richards: though times have changed, they have ever remained the same (kids still play hockey, but then, maybe it isn't the same after all). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Loved It!
God bless eBay! You can find things you never even knew existed! The Watership Down Film Picture Book is my new favorite eBay find. The book is exactly as the title implies: incredibly beautiful stills from the 1978 animated movie "with blocking text by Richard Adams" (author of the heroic fantasy novel of the same name.)

Richard Adams sums up differences between film and novel in the preface:
"A film is not a book. They are two distinct forms of art; and people who, when asked whether they have read a particular book, reply 'No, but I saw the film,' might really just as sensibly answer, 'No, but I had breakfast this morning.'"Truer words were never spoken. As a HUGE Watership Down fan, I have read the book and seen the movie multiple times. Both art forms are wonderful and engrossing. The Watership Down Film Picture Book is not so much a mixture of the two, but really a book with substance enough to stand alone.

Although Richard Adams' words appear in The Watership Down Film Picture Book, they cannot even come close to the enchanting descriptions in his original novel. Watership Down is an epic novel, with a captivating portrayal of a group of rabbits' search for a safe new home. It would have been impossible to put the entire novel into the movie, or into The Watership Down Film Picture Book for that matter. Keeping that in mind, I of course loved this book! Given such a fantastic novel, and such an enchanting movie, how could this picture book be anything less than excellent?!

If you ever have opportunity and can find this book, you should definitely check it out (after of course, reading the original Watership Down and watching the film.) I can see myself taking this book off my shelf and reading it over and over again. I am so happy I found it!

Beautiful
It's a sequence of pictures taken from the animated movie with brief captions written by Richard Adams, but when it's frozen on the page like this, you can really appreciate the gorgeous artwork. You need to have seen the movie (even better, have read the novel) for the story to make sense, but if you have, this picture book is amazing. I also enjoyed the introductions, where they talk about the choices they made in adapting the novel to the screen, and how to draw the rabbits (too naturalistic, and they'd vanish into the background; too cartoonish, and it wouldn't look right against the wonderfully naturalistic English countryside of the backgrounds; plus the difficulty of making each rabbit distinct --- after all, real rabbits look pretty much the same as each other to human eyes!) To be honest, I've looked at this picture book more often over the years (and my kids love it, too) than I've rewatched the actual movie --- the book captures the essence of the movie (except for the music/song!) and moves faster, heh.

The Watership Down Film Picture Book with linkig Text
This book was a wonderful selection of well Drawn pictures from the film Watership Down.The books text is just quotes from the movie.That's why I rate it a three.A good thing about the book is that the pictures ontheir own really tell the story of Watership Down.The book is not reallyfor reading but it is a beutiful display of art.It is great for a bookcollection.All in all I thought it was a wonderful book. ... Read more

Product Description
A revised edition of the most comprehensive resume guide on the market!

A must for the successful job search, The Adams Resume Almanac, 2nd Edition contains everything a candidate needs to know in order to craft a compelling, job-winning resume. Whether a first-time job hunter starting with a blank page, or a seasoned professional with a long story to tell, the candidate will find 600 examples of resumes appropriate to every situation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

It's an Okay Source
I actually ordered Volume 1 & 2. Unfortunately, you find pretty much the same material (resume examples) in both editions so purchase only edition 1 or 2. The resume styles are decent, but I recently learned it has changed and I couldn't find an example of that style in either (new style sent to me by an HR professional in field 33 years.)Some of the most common resume tips for older workers is also not mentioned and extremely important.I would recommend it, but not to any Executive Level Management person. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

nursing handbook
Ideal handbook for a new school nurse
offers many forms to utilize, ideas for your office, and updates on school health.Helps you get started with one easy book

Doctors writing for nurses
I was looking for a practical guide to school nursing, to helpease my transition from hospital practice to community health.Thisbook is fine for the school nurse who is starting a clinic literallyfrom the ground up.It even has floor plans for school clinics. The assumption is that the schools have unlimited funds, large space and unlimited time to provide healthcare, and the focus is very administrative. Treatment of everyday shcool nursing issues is very cursory. The extensive treatment of sexual-orientation issues renders the book very suspect--there is an agenda here. There are lots of reproducible forms which can be useful.However, the fact that this book was written by an MD should have been a red flag: Not for nurses who live in the real world and need practical advice.END ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1905, this book brings together 22 traditional Delaware Indian stories. Four of the legends have been re-translated into the Delaware language by native speakers, revealing the transformation of a transliterated Delaware text into an English-language story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A seminal contribution to Native American studies.
Legends of the Delaware Indians and Picture Writing is beautifullyamplified by Deborah Nichol's introduction and brief biography of RichardC. Adams(1864-1921), a self educated Delaware (Lenape) Indian who devoted25 years of his life to the furtherance of causes of the many trialedDelaware tribe.The Legends are part of his scholarly and historicallegacy.The tales teach homilies on desirable attributes such aspride, courage, promise-keeping, modesty and courtesy as well as courtingcustoms, gambling games, and other pastimes.The picture writing andphotographs enrich and complement the text as do the appendices of Lenapetranslations of several of the legends by Lucy Parks Blalock and NoraThompson Deane. Legends Of The Delaware Indians And Picture Writingis a very valuable text both because of the enriched script of the talesbut also because of the complex, condensed history of the persecutionssuffered by the Delawares detailed in the introduction.The coverillustration gracing Legends of the Delaware Indians is a color paintingreproduction of Delaware Women by Ruth Blalock Jones.

Nancy Lorraine,Reviewer ... Read more

Product Description
David Adams Richards:Essays on His WorksEdited by Tony TremblayDavid Adams Richards is one of Canada’s foremost writers. A writer of poetry, short fiction, screenplays, nonfiction, essays and polemics, Richards’ most prodigious work thus far has been as a novelist. With fifteen books and all of the major Canadian literary prizes to his credit,Richards is still relatively unknown by the reading public. This collection, the first book-length study of Richards’ work, is meant to remedy that situation. Richards’ interview with the editor and opening essay situate his own beginnings as a writer and his dogged persistence in staying the course.Essays by Wayne Curtis, Margo Wheaton, Fred Gogswell, Lawrence Mathews, Inge Sterrer-Hauzenberger, Pamela Jo Boggs, Wayne Johnston, Eric Trethewey, Frances MacDonald, Herb Wyile, William Connonor, Tony Tremblay, Russell Perkin, Sheldon Currie and Alistair MacLeod. ... Read more

Product Description
With its spectacular beaches and charming towns, Cape Cod is known around the world as a vacation spot and a summer retreat for the well-to-do. But there is another Cape Cod, a hidden, hardscrabble, year-round world whose hunter-gatherer economy dates back to the Bay Colony. The world of the independent fisherman is one of constant peril, of arcane folkways and expert knowledge, of calculated risk and self-reliance -- and of freedom won daily through backbreaking, solitary work. It is a way of life deep in the American grain. Haunted by the numbers of family fishermen who have recently been forced to abandon the profession, Richard Adams Carey spent a year among a handful of men who stubbornly refuse to do so. Reminiscent of the work of William Warner and Joseph Mitchell, AGAINST THE TIDE is a masterly profile of four New England fishermen in which every page opens onto something more profound: maritime history, maritime ecology, and the poetic celebration of a special American place.Amazon.com Review
Like many kids fortunate enough to spend summers by the shore,writer/journalist Richard Adams Carey grew up with a healthy respectfor fishermen and the sea, "a world of astonishing color and shape andtexture, of surprise and a perceptible knife-edge of menace." Duringthe '90s, when headlines described the demise of New England'ssmall-boat family fishermen, he decided to head back to Cape Cod tolearn what he could about a threatened way of life and theforces--political, commercial, ecological--which imperil the survivalof the fish the industry depends on. To this end, he spent a yearworking alongside four veterans of the Cape's inshore waters: acrewmate on a dragger (a boat that catches groundfish with a dragnettowed along the ocean bottom); a lobsterman; a long-liner (who setsquarter-mile or longer fishing lines sporting baited hooks every threefeet); and a quahog dredger (essentially a clammer who harvests inbulk). Carey deftly weaves the details of their hard-won,unpredictable lives with passages on local and global fishing history,the minutiae of national and regional legislation severely regulatingthe fishing industry, the vicissitudes of the weather, and asmattering of stories and anecdotes. Throughout colonial times, forinstance, fishermen regularly caught lobsters 4 feet long and weighing45 pounds! Such an ancient, sizable creature is nearly inconceivabletoday.

Despite the tenacity of the men he fished with, Careyacknowledges that the owner-operators of small family boats off NewEngland are likely going the way of the family farmer. Yet he remindsus that the issues deciding their fate concern us all: "how to tapthis continent's wealth without plundering and despoiling it; how toreconcile our hard-wired demand for growth and consumption with ahusbandman's concern for sustainability; how to mark our limits andresolutely stay within them." --Svenja Soldovieri ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Fantastick!
I gave this book to my husband who enjoyed this book immensly! He the "old fisherman" who used to fish out of Cape Cod and New Bedford, Woods Hole, all the way up to Maine, back in the old days before these new fishing regulations, said this book brought back fond memories of fishing and those long gone days.. Some of the people mentioned in this book were friends of his.The book is very well written and is a picture of the fishing industry, what it was and what it is today.Highly recommended to anyone interested in this subject.

Is Book Burning Illegal?
This is going to be short. After having read "Living On The Edge" I thought I was getting another tale of life as a fisherman.Instead, what I got was life as a fisherman at town council meetings. The book is currently being used under the short leg of my pool table. ...

Better subtitle "Death of the New England Fisherman"?
Being a New England fisherman (hehe-rather, woman) I found the day-to-day lives of the fisherman very interesting-who knew scallops had blue eyes? However, I had a difficult time following the time frame of events becauseof the way Mr. Carey jumped around. I couldn't even tell exactly what yearthis book was taking place without some re-reading. The politics involvedare sickening in the amount of time wasted and the fact that the committeescould get nothing accomplished, evidenced with the ongoing cod crisis inNew England today. Too bad none of the politicians involved happened toread this book.

An excellent inside look at the Commercial Fishing Industry.
If you read The Perfect Storm and came away wanting to know more about the commercial fishing industry, this is the book.Carey explains the views of the men and women who risk life, limb, and fortune in the waters off CapeCod. He also explains the tedium of public hearings and governmental rulemaking which impact the lives of the fishermen.

I spent the summer in arented house overlooking the commercial fishing fleet in Bodega Bay,California. I often wondered what happened on those boats once they leftthe harbor, and what regulations governed them.Against the Tide explainsit all.

By way of criticism, I found the characters a bit hard to followand the discussions of the regulations a bit tedious, but overall I learneda lot.

An enlightening look at a fading industry.
Richard Adams Carey has crafted a detailed look at a failing industry and a very well written narrative.One can only hope that present and future fishermen and politicians, American and Internationally, read Mr. Carey'sbook and learn from the mistakes of the past.The book brings you into thedaily lives of New England fishermen in an honest, pragmatic way thatdoesn't decry the sins of history but certainly lays them bare for all ofus to learn from.The author has carefully crafted and documented hisfirst hand accounts, and recreates other aspects in a highly readable andinformative style.If you're sick of Wall Street success stories, here'san in depth look at the lives of many equally important but far lessappreciated Americans. ... Read more

Product Description
Deep within the forest in northern Guatemala lie the ruins of Rio Azul, a Maya city that reached one-third the size of Tikal. Discovered and partially explored in the early 1960s, Rio Azul and the surrounding region were more fully investigated between 1983 and 1987 by an archaeological team led by Richard E. W. Adams. In this summary, Adams integrates the findings of field archaeologists with those of the epigraphers and art historians to recreate the life of this Maya city from the little-known Early Classic period. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Maya City Revealed
This is one of a small number of reports on individual Maya archaeological sites that is written for laypeople as well as fans of the Maya. Rio Azul was a riverside city of the ancient Maya located in the forested lowland corner of Guatemala next to Mexico and Belize. The book is an excellent introduction to the format and reasoning of archaeological reports, but in this popular summary of his findings, Adams, who directed mapping and excavation a decade ago, digests all the numbing lists of basic data and highlights the most interesting discoveries. (If new to the Maya, follow the author's advice [Preface] and read his stirring conclusions first.) In his early chapters Adams ably shows how insights and broad implications can be drawn from simple facts by analysis and wide comparisons. He explores his favorite topics like architecture, pottery, tomb ritual, wetland agriculture, population estimation, and rank-size ordering of sites for determining political relations. He has long championed military explanations for ancient Maya events and the rise and fall of their cities, a useful counterpoise to the euphoria over Maya religion and personalities generated by the recent decipherment of Maya hieroglyphics. Strong on comparisons with the regional capital, famous Tikal, to the west, Adams almost ignores the extensive investigations across the river in Belize which he has since led! (This book seems to have been about 5 years in publication.)

Other than six color plates, 60 illustrations are slightly fuzzy because they are printed on ordinary paper. The index is terrible. A completely different way of presenting a Maya city, which looks an awful lot like Rio Azul, can be enjoyed in the oversize pictorial book of fictionalized history titled San Rafael: A Central American City Through the Ages, by Xavier Hernandez. ... Read more