Product Description
Children everywhere are familiar with the fairy-tale world of the Brothers Grimm, who made "once upon a time" a part of our universal vocabulary—but few people know much about the brothers themselves. Inspired by their desire to document their national literary heritage, the two devoted brothers spent most of their adult years collecting and publishing German Märchen and Sagen, fairy tales and legends. This thorough and compelling biography addresses the social, political, and historical influences that shaped the lives and stories of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Two Lives, One Legacy
It's a great title for this book, "Two Lives One Legacy." And this is a beautiful story on the lives of the two brothers. It was not easy for me to find a book on their lives...and when I learned of this book, it was not easy to get a hold of it...

Most remember Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm for the stories they published, and sometimes myth intrudes even with this. But they lived great and wonderful lives, and this book tells all.

From childhood, this book covers their lives in an easy read. It offers a whole new light on the lives and times of, 'The Brother's Grimm."

There is not a movie on the, "true" story of the two brother's, I hope one will be made soon.

Fine biographical coverage
Donald Hettinga's Brothers Grimm presents a fine biographical coverage of the era and lives of the Brothers Grimm and the stories they recorded. Photos, archival illustrations, and plenty of details on the brothers' relationship pack a 179-page, engrossing account. ... Read more

Product Description
Recounts the lives of two German brothers who collected folktales such as "Hansel and Gretel" and "Rumpelstiltskin" in order to preserve them for future generations. ... Read more

Product Description
Wolf's life in the wood might be happy, except for one problem. He can't control his urge to devour children who stumble across his path. His runaway desires have made him an outcast among his peers. He lives an unhappy, solitary life -- until he encounters the Brothers Grimm. Wolf is thrilled to realize that in the presence of these scholars, he can speak. The Grimms take Wolf into their camp, fill him with brandy, and poke at the source of his easily apparent unhappiness. When they learn the truth about Wolf's cravings, they propose a cure.

Now Wolf must make a decision. Can the satisfaction of a "normal" life outweigh the joys of his perversion? Are his desires truly dreanged, or is he simply giving full expression to his personal nature? Does he have an obligation -- as his occasional companion Devil argues -- to live as a unique individual in the manner to which he was born?

Schmitz does have a point he's trying to make about the individual'sobligation to his own true nature, no matter how perverse, versus hisduty to conform to social norms. In exploring this dichotomy, the author skewerspsychotherapy--or at least the most opportunistic practitioners of it--andpaints Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm as the 19th-century equivalent of tabloidjournalists, willing to go to any length to get their story, even if itmeans manufacturing it.All this might have worked had the wolf'sproclivities been less revolting. Unfortunately, there's just no argumentto be made in favor of baby-killing as a form of self-expression.Darkest Desire is well written but deeply unpleasant to read. --Alix Wilber ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A good and dark tale of morality
Schmitz has written a great book.There is so much to feed on on so many levels.I was so astounded by the wolf's understanding of his relationship with evil.He refuses to personify it and yet has realized that his ongoing companionship is not friendship.I think the story raises questions about humnan complicity in evil and the human tendency towards idolatry (knowledge, science, consuming).By the end of the book, one has to wonder where the center of the evil that is being described lies:in the devil, in the wolf, or in the Brothers Grimm?Schmitz ablilities to make the reader see situations from the view point of the wolf is truly amazing.It's a good tale and will keep the reader thinking about those big questions about good and bad and knowledge.

Enjoyable short read
Schmitz performs in 100+ pages what many writers cannot do with several hundred more.Presents us with an affable yet fallable protagonist, sets up themes and conflict we can relate (in our own desires), and resolves it satisfactorily.As it is so short, it would be unwise to summarize the plot and spoil things for the reader.Surely, however, a newly vocal wolf who preys on children, the Brothers Grimm, and the Devil should provoke anyone to read this appealing work.:)

A fur-raising tale
This is another book review by the boonie dogs, Wolfie and Kansas."Darkest Desire", allegedly by Anthony Schmitz, presents a wolf's-eye-and-snout view of the Brothers Grimm.We suspect that this bookwas ghostwritten by a fellow canine.Much of the book is too insightfuland too clever to have been written by a typical human author.

Thepassages about the tastiness of human puppies are somewhat offensive.Acanine is more likely to protect a human child from human predators than toeat the child himself.However, "Schmitz" does make it clearthat the child-eating wolf is no more typical of canines than HannibalLecter is of humans.In a nice twist on an idea used decades ago byClifford Simak in "City", Schmitz makes use of the canine abilityto perceive and interact with phenomena beyond human perception.

Twice Told Tails
Many postmodern deconstructions of legends and fairy tales are rather self-consciously academic and self-referential and are clever in a "hey, look at this fancy stuff" sort of way. Darkest Desire setsthe whole nature/culture controversy on its head in a most entertainingmanner with a notable lack of pretense. Strongly recommended for adults andmature teens.

A splendid and original idea well done
This is one of the most original books I've ever read. I was a bit skeptical when I heard about the premise. Who writes an adult book about the Big Bad Wolf? Once I cracked it, though, I couldn't put it down.Schmitz has fashioned fairy-tale characters that are not only interestingbut (who would believe it?) believable. His writing is precise, hisobservations droll. And as you might suspect, the story is hilarious. Thisis a book that I'm going to tout to my friends. ... Read more

Product Description
As Michael Marmaduke searches for his missing fiance+a7e, he progresses from confused innocence to darker self-knowledge and grapples with the issues of kidnapping, the struggle between good and evil, and the meaning of heroism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

The writing simply stinks
Not sure what these other reviewers were smokin', but I have never seen a worse example of writing. Literally every 3rd sentence is a rhetorical question -- a child would know better than that!

And if this book is so great then why is it that:

a) no one has heard of it.
b) no one has heard of the author
c) the book is no longer in print
d) it's not available in a huge county-wide library system with 30+ branches!

So why did I pick this up? Because my fellow book club members think that novelty = better; the reverse is almost always true.

Hmmmm
I've owned this book for about five year and just could never get into it although it seemed like it would be interesting. I finally got into and boy am I glad I did. This is one of the most unique books I have ever read (and I've read A LOT). It's a book about finding out who you are through and in ways you never considered. The characters are highly entertaining, the situations are crazy and highly entertaining and the thought provoking ideas within this book leave you with things to consider long after you've finished reading. It's hard to describe a book like this! I rarely give five star reviews, but this one deserves it. Read this book!

Probably the Most Unique Book You'll Read This Year...
I was hesistant to start The Wrestler's Cruel Study. Too many books like this have left me disappointed, with an empty feeling when the last page is finally turned. I'm happy to say that this sprawling novel is not one of those. Dobyns manages to fuse literature with entertainment, creating this bizarre amalgam that is part conventional mystery, philosophical pondering, and high humor. Somehow, it actually works. I was even more struck by the dazzling prose, and stark originality in some of the imagery and style Dobyns uses. As one would imagine, this book is now out of print, but I highly reccomend tracking it down.

smartly funny
I don't have much to add here, but I thought I should let potential readers know that this was the funniest and one of the most memorable books I read this year. So different from Dobyns' other stuff, but SO rewarding as well. It does help to have some interest in the history of theology/heresy and Grimm's fairytales, not to mention Nietzsche.

Gimmick is form pretending to be substance....
"The Wrestler's Cruel Study" was a staff recommendation at a local bookstore here in San Francisco several years ago; and, that brief review, placed on the shelf near copies of the book, was written with such enthusiasm and humor that it charmed me the rest of the day. However, I did not purchase the book as I assumed that the reviewer was the talent and that the review was meant as a kind of comic hyperbole. That was a mistake. After running across the book again at another store, I finally bought it. Now, some years later and after a second reading, I think I can say that it ranks among my very favorites.

As the book jacket suggests, we begin by observing an apartment complex where we witness two gorillas scale the outside wall to gain entry. Once inside, they kidnap a young woman wearing only her nightgown and steal her away. Her fiancé, a professional wrestler, is warned against soliciting the help of the police in her recovery; and he is given no motive for the kidnapping or asked for a ransom of any kind. In an effort to discover her whereabouts and gain her safe return, the wrestler embarks on a search that, he discovers, will do more to unravel the mystery of who he is than it will to find the one he loves.

Here is a book that manages to be, among other things: a study in identity and the perception of the self; a nightmare; a story of redemption; absurdist theater designed to illustrate philosophical argument; and a big-dicked perversion of Nietzschean philosophy, albeit a charming and gravely humorous one.

In the book Mr. Dobyns makes much of "gimmick." Put another way, he makes much of the masks that we wear, focusing on how they serve us, but more importantly, how they do us disservice. In illustrating the many ways that it is possible for one to bandage his or her wounds, and wear layer upon layer of these dressings or masks, he has created fully-realized characters with all manner of human strength and frailty. To have done so without judgment is, to my mind, a huge achievement.

Each of the characters that populate this wild and enormously entertaining novel is developed with the skill of one who really seems to understand what it means to be human. Each of them has much to learn about life, their connections with others and, perhaps most importantly, with themselves.

As lucky readers, this all serves to do the same for us. It asks rather big questions and gives no simple answers. Again, this is quite a feat for a fiction. We are asked, "When we look in a mirror, do we see ourselves or a committee?" I submit that if we look closely enough, this book, like any good looking glass, might just give us a glimpse of who we are. ... Read more