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Documentary that explores the evolution of technology. Rod Brooks, a MIT robotics specialist has created a robot named Cog. Unlike other robots, Cog has a sense of touch, hearing and sight. In the future, scientists hope to enhance Cog's senses to enable him to smell as well as a dog, hear like a dolphin, see like a hawk and taste minute traces of elements humans cannot detect. ... Read more

Product Description
Twelve noted journalists imagine what it would have been like if some of the century's most famous people had not died before their time, creating long lives for Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Elvis Presley, John F. Kennedy, and other celebrities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

interesting and food for thought
I admit I read this close to 10 years ago.Then I loaned it out and never got it back.I kept meaning to find it and couldn't recall the title, until a librarian helped me.Anyway:it was a very neat book about "what if they didn't die".The subjects, including Elvis, Marilyn, JFK, etc, all received their "fatal" injury from real life, but lived, and the book has a different story for each character as to what their life may have been like.Very interesting premise.I just ordered 3, want to give a few away.Stace ... Read more

Product Description
This is the tragic story of Lily Bart, a beautiful young lady caught up in the shallow, corrupt, glittering world of New York society at the turn of the century. She lacks any real sense of her own identity and craves the trappings of wealth and social status. Read by Joanna Cassidy.Amazon.com Review
"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth," warns Ecclesiastes 7:4, and so does the novel by Edith Wharton that takes its title from this call to heed. New York at the turn of the century was a time of opulence and frivolity for those who could afford it. But for those who couldn't and yet wanted desperately to keep up with the whirlwind, like Wharton's charming Lily Bart, it was something else altogether: a gilded cage rather than the Gilded Age.

One of Wharton's earliest descriptions of her heroine, in the library ofher bachelor friend and sometime suitor Lawrence Selden, indicates that sheappears "as though she were a captured dryad subdued to the conventions of the drawing room." Indeed, herein lies Lily's problem. She has, we'retold, "been brought up to be ornamental," and yet her spirit is larger thanwhat this ancillary role requires. By today's standards she would benothing more than a mild rebel, but in the era into which Wharton drops her unmercifully, this tiny spark of character, combined with numerous assaults by vicious society women and bad luck, ultimately renders Lily persona non grata. Her own ambivalence about her position serves to open the door to disaster: several times she is on the verge of "good" marriage and squanders it at the last moment, unwilling to play by the rules of a society that produces, as she calls them, "poor, miserable, marriageable girls.

Lily's rather violent tumble down the social ladder provides a thumbnail sketch of the general injustices of the upper classes (which, incidentally, Wharton never quite manages to condemn entirely, clearly believing that such life is cruel but without alternative). From her start as a beautiful woman at the height of her powers to her sad finale as a recently fired milliner's assistant addicted to sleeping drugs, Lily Bart is heroic, not least for her final admission of her own role in her downfall. "Once--twice--you gave me the chance to escape from my life and I refused it: refused it because I was a coward," she tells Selden as the book draws to a close. All manner of hideous socialite beasts--some of whose treatment by Wharton,such as the token social-climbing Jew, Simon Rosedale, date the bookunfortunately--wanderthrough the novel while Lily plummets. As her tale winds down to nothing more than the remnants of social grace and cold hard cash, it'shard not to agree with Lily's own assessment of herself: "I have triedhard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardlybe said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else." Nevertheless,it's even harder not to believe that she deserved better, which is whyThe House of Mirth remains so timely and so vital in spite of its crushing end and its unflattering portrait of what life offers up. --Melanie Rehak ... Read more

Customer Reviews (131)

Great description of victorian society!
One of Wharton's greatest gifts is making her characters seem so alive, and of getting the reader involved with their thoughts and feelings.She is great at describing the psychological processes of her heroine, Lilly Bart, who is compelling as a woman trying to find her way in a society that she both covets and finds superficial.Reading the novel, I could feel what Lilly was feeling, and her thought process made perfect sense from my perspective, I was so involved in her story that I could not put the book down.The narrative is flawless from beginning to end, Wharton having the gift of being romantic without being sentimental (a very hard task for woman writers) and she delivers a wonderful story.The ending made me cry, and I appreciate its realism and it caught me by surprise, Wharton is definitely one to cater to romantic whims or the idealistic desires of her readers.

A literary masterpiece
I just sort of stumbled upon this book recently: the price was right -- $3.00 from Dover! I was not expecting much, although I like Wharton. The subject matter seemed unpromising: the hedonistic rich and their hangers-on. But the quality of the writing kept me going, and the character of Lily Bart was intriguing. By the time I was finished, I was moved enough to do something I rarely do: start over at the beginning. This time the book opened up for me with increasing pleasure and, indeed, awe. How a mere mortal is able to write with such authority about so many facets of life, fabricate a hugely complex social tapestry while all the while keeping the story moving, and create a flawed but achingly noble and sympathetic character out of mere words on a page - is beyond me. So I just indulged. Here is the case study par excellence of inexorable fate determined by upbringing, character, and circumstances. Lily Bart is perhaps the most exquisitely drawn character in all of literature, and her memory will stay with me forever.

(By the way, Wharton's more well-known book, The Age of Innocence, cannot hold a candle to this one, in my opinion.)

There is, however, one fly in the ointment ... and one that is found frequently in great literature, alas. The book is blatantly anti-Semitic. One of the main characters is Simon Rosedale, who is slimy like so many others in Lily's circle but who has the distinction of being described several times as representative of his "race." For example:

"He had his race's accuracy in the appraisal of values, and to be seen walking down the platform at the crowded afternoon hour in the company of Miss Lily Bart would have been money in his pocket, as he might himself have phrased it." (bk 1, ch. 2)

"Rosedale, with that mixture of artistic sensibility and business astuteness which characterizes his race ..." (bk 1, ch. 2)

"He knew he should have to go slowly, and the instincts of his race fitted him to suffer rebuffs and put up with delays." (bk 1, ch 11)

The book in fact adopts an exceedingly conflicted view of this fellow. For Wharton attributes some very touching qualities to this man, such that he turns out to be one of the few sympathetic figures in the book. On the other hand, there is the definite suggestion that Rosedale represents the utter depths to which Lily may have to descend in order to maintain the style of life she seems to require. That would be fine (plot-wise) if Rosedale were portrayed simply as an individual or even as a type. But ... as typical of his race? Hmm. Rosedale emits some quality that causes almost visceral disgust in Lily (and her set), even when she can recognize his kindly features; yet that quality is simply to be understood rather than defined, probably because it is little more than the subjective projection of society's prejudice.

Very Moving
I cannot comment on this particular edition, but felt compelled to review the novel anyway, in the hope that others will read it.

I didn't think I would feel sympathy for Lily, but I don't think I've ever wanted to help a character in any novel as much as I wanted to save Lily. I didn't exactly fall in love with her; frankly she is not my cup of tea. But I desperately wanted to see her happy.

For days I was affected by the end. I was very, very moved.

That said, I do not accept Edith Wharton's sense of determinism; nor do I accept the basic plot, with its scarcity of men. Lily is the most beautiful woman in New York and there are only two or three obnoxious men she can choose from? I found that hard to swallow. I also found it difficult to accept that (even for an unaccomplished woman) it was either a life of frivolity with the rich set, or a life of impoverished loneliness. Even in 1905 there were more alternatives. Lily, for example, could have learned her lesson that the rich were leading shallow lives, and still have found happiness on a lower social scale with a hard working doctor, or a military officer, etc. She also could have left New York and struck out West.

I love the writing of Edith Wharton. And I've read most of her works. But I don't buy the determinism; and I think it was a little strained in this novel.

But Lily is unforgettable.

Protagonist, Blame Thyself
High American society, New York, turn of the 19th century: Lily Bart, an associate of the well-heeled who often attends their social functions, has no fortune of her own. What to do? Marry into money. This should be easy enough for Lily as she's found to be beautiful by many of the men who orbit about her, but she seems to have no interest in them. She longs for the trappings of aristocratic life but is unwilling to accept the sacrifices attendant to marrying simply for position. Letting one too many opportunities slip by, and being embroiled in a couple of social faux pases along the way, she eventually finds that she's been dumped by polite society, facing penury in a boarding house.

House of Mirth is of course beautifully written, though the plot moves quite slowly with few truly dramatic punctuations. Lily is a largely unsympathetic character whose motives are not easy to understand and whose actions are often frustrating. Indeed, many of the misfortunes that befall her seem to be of her own making.

Great Book!
I received the book on time and it was exactly what I ordered!It is a good novel to read and I highly recommend it! ... Read more

Product Description
Will Cassidy tell the truth, even if it means losing her horse?

Cassidy Smith is worried. Her filly, Lady T, is running against a champion racehorse, Pizzazz. Cassidy's family needs the prize money desperately. Without it, they can't afford to keep Lady T.

Customer Reviews (45)

Completely Unoriginal
I checked out this book from the library a couple years ago, and honestly wasn't expecting much, Thoroughbred is, for the most part, mediocre at best. Though this book, aside from the Cindy and Glory installments, has to be the worst in the series. The biggest reason being that we already know this story, because a very similar scenario happened with Ruffian in 1975, with far more tragic concequences.

Ruffian may just be the greatest racehorse of all time, yes, maybe even better than Secretariat, and I don't think it's right for any writer to steal, essentially, her life's story, especially for such a terrible book.
In a nutshell, Cassidy's Secret is about about a horse named Lady T, a beautiful black filly with a small star, winner of the filly triple crown, going up against a champion colt named Pizzazz in a match race.
Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure anyone? Anyway, as race day nears, the main character, Cassidy Smith, notices something is wrong with Pizzazz and decides she must find a way to stop the match race before Pizzazz is seriously injured. But there's a catch, if her father's horse Lady T doesn't win, then they with have to sell her and Cassidy's two horses. Will Cassidy do the right thing and save Pizzazz, or will she choose to save her own horses instead? In the end, you don't care one bit. You just want this pathetic, uninspired excuse for a book to be over.
P.S. since the Ruffian tragedy is the reason match races are no longer held in the United States, should writers really keep reminding us about it?

Not TOO bad!
This was a pretty good book, though not one I would read over and over!
I think the whole thing with them getting stuffed in a trailer and geting a gun pulled on them was a little lame.... Though I did like it when Christina tackeld the guy at the end, I didn't like the way that Ashleigh wouldn't belevie them when they told her about Pizzaz's leg, I mean Ashleigh would have at LEAST checked it out!!! I don't really see why they wrote a book about Cassidy, she was suposet to be a brat, not totaly but at least a little, I mean, look at her in the first two book's she was in...BRAT!
I did like the beging where they where in there lesson, I thought it was really funny! I didn't like how Christina and Melanie where all like "Your dad owns that horse?!?!" and stuff like that, I mean, COME ON!! They own like one of the best racing stable's in the world!! they have horses running in the Derby all the time!! and the Dubi World Cup, They at two horses in that one, they came first and seconed, and you know what? Ashleigh and Mike train them all! Kentucky Derby, Triple Crown, Breeders Cup, Dubi World Cup! There horses have won all of those....I don't think they would be that inpressed with Lady T...
now don't get me wrong I LOVE the thoroughbred books!!!! and I'm not saying this is a bad book, I'm just saying thething that were kinda like WHAT?!?!

Cassidys Secret
In Cassidys Secret, Cassidy Smith has to make the toughest choice. Cassidy moved from Miami with her father. Cassidy rides her 2 horses at Monas stable where she teaches for 3 day eventing. Cassidys father is a thoroughbred trainer who traines flat racing horses. His last hope is his horse Lady T. Lady T is kown as the Queen Of The East. Will Smith tells Cassidy that they are loosing money and may need to sell Lady T and her 2 horses. Cassidy cant bare to lose her horses and she knows Lady T is their only hope. Soon Cassidy hears that their will be a match race between the Queen of the East (Lady T) and rhe Calaforina King (Piazza) Both horses are big stakes racers and show that they ae rivals. And the good thing is, the two horses would be staying at Whitebrook farm. A famous thoroughbred racing and breeding stable in Kentucky, owned by Cassidys good friend Christina Reese. Christinas parents, Ashleigh Griffen and Mike Reese own Whitebrook and Piazza and Lady T will be held there. So now Cassidy can be able to see her horse. But after a workout on Whitebrooks training oval, Cassidy and Melaine Graham notice Piazza stumble and fail to run. Cassidy is sure Piazza is hurt and cant race. Cassidy and Melaine sneek around the stables to find out if Piazza is hurt. Soon, after discovering Piazza is hurt, Cassidy needs to stop the race. But if the race doesnt go on, Will wont have the money to keep Lady T and Cassidys horses. But Cassidy knows what she needs to do. Find out in Cassidys Secret. And please go to Whitebrookfarm.com to help save the Thoroughbred series.

I ll give it 4 stars because I dont want to be negative
people who read this comment this book is not worth 4 stars but i looked at it in the bright side. I like Cassidy but in other books shes such a snob. I wonder why a lot of peple dont like Cindy I agree Karen Bentley turned her in a snob but I somehow dont believe people actually hate her. anyways this book was Ok. But I really didnt like Christinas actions toward Cassidy about Dylan, I mean she doesnt even stay with him. Yuck! With Parker. I dont believe it realistic that those people tried to show the red as Pizzazz. i mean after i read this(with my friend) we both started spluttering and complaining about simply everything.So there even if her life is more realistic than it seems Cassidy acts like i-dont-trust-you-with-my-secrets-so-there. Gotta go now I ve said everything I could to try to help you.

MISS EVERYONE!
Okay so a lot of people are complaining about how they miss all the old characters. But it is so true! Dylan, Cassidy, Sam, Katie, Heather, Mona, Rory, Caroline,Tor, Hannah (Ashleigh WAS pregnet you know!) and the horses Pride, Champion, Glory, Lucky Chance, Fleet Goddess, Shining, Jazzman, Pride's Heart,Princess, Mr.Wonderful,Limtless Time, Fleet Lady, Honor,Pirate (Mel just stopped riding him for Image), Trib, Thunder Bone, and more! Chris isn't a snob! People are saying that becuase she stopped racing, sold Sterling (to very nice people), and started racing Star, who rocks. OKay so she took star on a overnight trail ride, but he wasn't conditioned. She was getting him condditioned. How many people would go to a completely different part of the US for their horses in these stories. Cindy just left her horse Glory without a thought. She left Honor and Champion too. I mean geez, Chris goes and visits her horses at least. She was a snobby little brat like cindy who brought in horses nobody new and trained them behind everyones back! Glory rocks, but really. Melanie is cool, but she forgot about Priate, the horse she loved, not to mention Trib. She never rides either anymore, it's Image, Imagr, Image! Good thing Kevin's there to ride him. Melanie didn't even care about Star he was so sick and everything, it was just Image again. Chris was beusy with Star but gavce some advice to her cousin. Cindy is the only major snob in the WHOLE series, not Christina. Cindy just turned away from horses and was just winning, winning, winning. I always thought she was a snob, but now she's even worse!!!!!!!!!! ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Journal of Research in Childhood Education, published by Thomson Gale on September 22, 2007. The length of the article is 8507 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Quality in inclusive and noninclusive infant and toddler classrooms.
Author: Linda L. Hestenes
Publication: Journal of Research in Childhood Education (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 22Issue: 1Page: 69(16)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Journal of Research in Childhood Education, published by Thomson Gale on December 22, 2007. The length of the article is 8293 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Child care work environments: the relationship with learning environments.(Report)
Author: Joanna K. Lower
Publication: Journal of Research in Childhood Education (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 22Issue: 2Page: 189(16)

Article Type: Report

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Product Description
This digital document is an article from Journal of Research in Childhood Education, published by Association for Childhood Education International on December 22, 2008. The length of the article is 6548 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Education level and stability as it relates to early childhood classroom quality: a survey of early childhood program directors and teachers.(Report)
Author: Sharon U. Mims
Publication: Journal of Research in Childhood Education (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 2008
Publisher: Association for Childhood Education International
Volume: 23Issue: 2Page: 227(11)

Article Type: Report

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning ... Read more