Customer Reviews (1)

Like othing-nay else your peepers have ever glimmed.
One cannot review a collection by Robert Leslie Bellem; one has to review the whole of his work.
Bellem is many things: inventive, energetic, fun, exhausting. Some might say bad. But like Hong Kong Cinema and whatever kind of rock music you listened to to rebel against your elders, Bellem's Dan Turner saucy, hard-boiled pulp stories transcend such petty, bourgeois categorizations at good or bad. They are entertainment at its purest, most raw and visceral.

Perhaps he was a hack. After all, he cranked out a million words a year by some accounts. He possessed none of the depth of Chandler, Hammett, Ross Mac, not even of Spillane or Gardiner. Then again he is more compulsively readable than Stockbridge or Daly or any of the others except Chandler.His voice was unique, creating a genre parody only a few years after the genre itself had been created. 40's slang has been called the most vibrant language since The Bard's time. And Bellem used his share of it. Although there is none of Chandler's artistry and care with language and simile (Bellem uses the language like a blunt, inexact science, formulated like an equation to get a rise from readers) it is a wonder to behold, all the same. Some say he was spoofing; others merely that he was lousy. But I tend to think he knew what he was doing. It takes talent to write as he did, and so what if he doesn't delve into the human psyche?

What exactly are his stories like? Well, Dan Turner investigates crimes involving drugs, murder, blackmail and adultery among the elite Babylonians of Hollywood. Only he's not a detective or a PI, he's a skulk or an orb for hire. And he doesn't do leg work because he doesn't have legs; he has sticks or pins. And he torches gaspers, sticking them in his pan or his mush. Women are wrens or pigeons, seldom wear a whole lot and every dame in Turner's universe has all the equipment wink-wink, nudge, nudge. He doesn't call people on the phone, he rings and yodels. Roscoes belch ka-chow and people are bumped by lead pills in acts of killery. He finds one or two per story dead as six buckets of fish bait. Turner would not say, "The heck you say!" He would say, "The heck you utter!" Bellem is not above bludgeoning readers with alliteraton. And, come on, the guy actually uses pig latin! How can you not like stuff like this?

Critics might say that once you've read one Dan Turner plot, you've read them all, or that once you've read six stories, you've read every turn of phrase in Bellem's arsenal. There is an element of truth to that, in the same way there is an element of truth to say Speed was similar to Die Hard. But I watch them each and every time they're on TV and don't grow weary. And I will continue to seek out Bellem fiction.

Bellem wrote primarily for the "spicy" pulps, much frowned-on in the 30's and eventually done away with. At his most prurient Bellem feels fairly scummy. On average he is less so that Spillane. Only one in this collection feels like it was meant solely for the lonely, sweaty under-the-counter market. Although Dan Turner demonstrates his way with the ladies and shows he knows how sometime-heroes make use of ellipses...

Okay, I'm back. And no, I didn't. But I trust you get the idea. Anyway, a faint sense of yuckiness keeps me from bestowing this book a fifth star.

But I heartily recommend it, if you can find it, and any other Bellem stories you can dish out your hard-earned geetus for, get your mitts on and glim. ... Read more

Product Description
For many years, Gunter Grass (born 1927) has been one of the world's most vital literary figures. From the publication of The Tin Drum through his latest pleas for sane government and civil treatment of Germany's "foreign citizens" in the 1990s, Grass has been at the forefront of both literary and political worlds. This representative volume features two important works: Cat and Mouse and The Meeting at Telgte. Both speak to our time, but under very different settings. It also includes a selection of other works to give a well-rounded view of a writer whom John Irving characterizes in his foreword as "the greatest living novelist today".

The German Library is a new series of the major works of German literature and thought from medieval times to the present. The volumes have forewords by internationally known writers and introductions by prominent scholars. Here the English-speaking reader can find the broadest possible collection of poetic and intellectual achievements in new as well as great classic translations. Convenient and accessible in format, the volumes of The German Library will form the core of any growing library of European literature for years to come. Select list of volumes now published:

-- German Medieval Tales -- German Humanism and Reformation -- Immanuel Kant: Philosophical Writings -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: The Sufferings of Young Werther and Elective Affinities -- Friedrich Schiller: Plays -- "Intrigue and Love" and "Don Carlos" -- Friedrich Schiller: "Wallenstein" and "Mary Stuart" -- German Fairy Tales -- German Literary Fairy Tales -- German Romantic Novellas -- German Romantic Stories -- German Novellas of Realism -- German Poetry from 1750 to 1900 -- Georg Buchner: Complete Works and Letters -- Rainer Maria Rilke: Prose and Poetry -- Gottfried Benn: Prose, Essays, Poems -- German Essays on Art History -- Essays on German Theater -- Hans Magnus Enzensberger: Critical Essays ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Okay for Grass Readers
I was ensnared into reading this book by the promising name of the author. While I do not regret having read this book, I do not think that this does measure up to the'Tin Drum'. If you are planning to read Grass for the first time, tehn this is not the book to get started with.

Some people, especially those who can not find fault with anything, least of all with literature, might say that the humor here is subtle as compared with the humor of the 'Tin Drum' where it was more ribald. To use the word 'subtle' in that sense would be more a misuse of the term than anything else. The humor remains dark here. The background remains war and nazi Germany. But still the main the theme is that of an adolescent hero (Mahlke) and hero-worship by the narrator (Pilenz) and others.

It would be a fair asumption that most of us have had some heroes during our school days. Therefore it is not too difficult to identify with the theme and the narrator of this book. The narrator here is Pilenz and his hero is Joachim Mahlke. Mahlke is a catholic teenager with an abnormally protruding Adams apple. He is a year older than the rest of the group. He is the best swimmer and diver and he often spends his time in a barge nearby the shore that went down during the war. He has the largest penis in the group and he is the most prolific masturbator. But he generally stays away from adulation. After a daring stealing act whereby he stole a nazi-German officer who was visiting his school, he gets expelled from hisand the narrator's school. Later he joins the army and becomes a tanker. There also, he becomes a hero all of which is told in a 3rd persons voice.After his first furlough, he decides not to turn up for his military work again. Then an intrusting climax.

Throughout the novel, you have the nazi Germany and the unmentionable fuhrer as the background. The cruelty of that age is not explicitly stated here. It is amazing now for us , blessed with the advantage of hind sight, to observe that most ofthe Germans of that age did not recognize the fundamental evil of what they were supporting. They still had cold winters, they still had flowers bloom in spring, they still had wonderful swimming seasons in summer. The nazi youth's childhood was as naughty and gloomy as ours. Nothing was different, yet everything was fundamentally different. It is equally important in this context to note that the very reason for which our hero turns a deserter was not that he found out that he found war to be evil. It was more due to a combination of fear and boredom.

The prose here is at most times banal, unimaginative and boring. Compare that with the wit and intelligence of `Tin Drum'. Only the descriptions of the church rituals and the sentences where all words are combined without period, commas etc remain the same.

I would recommend this book to someone who has already read Grass. If you are a first timer to Grass, start with the ` Tin Drum'. Otherwise, you would develop an `anti Grass ' syndrome. Finally I must admit to be a Grass admirer.

ultimate boredom
i don't know what the hell was going on. those damn yanks don't know what they're talking about. i could write a better book than this with my toes. ... Read more

Product Description
99 Poets/1999 presents the work of ninety-nine poets in dialogue with one another across the divides of language, culture, and temperament. With contributions from the Americas, Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and China, the volume features responses to questions posed by the guest editor Charles Bernstein—responses that range from historical to imaginary and from philosophical to poetic.

Each poet was asked to ponder a series of questions: Is identity an important issue for your work, and, if so, in what sense? What do you see as the most urgent, yet insufficiently addressed or considered, issue or issues for poetry and poetics at this moment? Do you see your work in the context of a national state, or in the context of international capital, or in some other context?

After years of exchange between the artists—through translations, readings, and visits—the result is a collection of unique and significant literary works, one that is richly suggestive for the future not only of poetry but of literary and cultural studies as well. ... Read more

Product Description
"Long shrouded in mystery and myth, the principal entrepreneurs of the southeastern Spanish borderlands find life in this comprehensive, illuminating narrative representing a significant benchmark in Florida historical scholarship".--J. Earle Bowden, Editor, "Pensacola News-Journal". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

My Family's History
First let me say that I am very pleased with Amazon. I always get my orders quickly and without any problems ever, even if what I order is a used book coming from someone else through Amazon. I've never had one bad experience. As for "Indian Traders of the Southeastern Spanish Borderlands: Panton, Leslie & Company and John Forbes & Company, 1783-1847", this book is very well written and informative and gives me insight into my family history, that being William Panton and James & John Innerarity who were my ancestors. I've come to know my family through this book. ... Read more

Product Description
The SBC Collection, formed by SBC Communications, Inc (formerly Southwestern Bell), reflects the intellectual and cultural trends that have influenced artists working in the United States during the 20th century. Works by many of the leading names in American art are illustrated in this book, which also contains 13 essays by scholars, critics and curators to offer an understanding of American art for both the general reader and the student of art history. Beginning at the turn of the century and closing with a look at Postmodernism and the visual culture of today, the essays investigate various aspects of American Modernism. Along the way they focus on major American movements, schools and artists of the century. The book also contains a complete catalogue of the SBC Collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Beautiful book
Beautiful book filled with colored photographs of works of art. This book also comes in paperback from Amazon.

A broad survey of twenteith century art
Based on the work in the SBC Collection, which has nearly 1,000 works of American art of the twentieth century, American Images provides a survey of art of that period. The thirteen essays take us roughly chronologically through the art of twentieth century using as reference points the work in the collection. From realist work we progress through Modernism with abstract and Cubist influences, Pop and Minimalism, to the diversity of the close of the century.

The book also contains a (selected) Catalogue of Work held in the collection, and a Bibliography arranged to follow the pattern of the essays. The essays themselves are illustrated with 72 black and white pictures, and there are 160 colour plates to be found following the relevant essays. Some 400 thumbnail black and white pictures illustrate the Catalogue of Work.

An informative book covering a wide range of work both two and occasionally three dimensional art, it is well illustrated. Perhaps some of the images could be larger, a number of the colour plates are reproduced quite small relative to the page size for no good reason, and of course the landscape pictures do not fair too well either on the portrait proportion page. There are however a few double-page spreads and a fair number of good sized images.

While there are many familiar names included in the survey and some familiar works of art, there are also many less familiar pieces, adding greatly to the appeal of the book.
... Read more

Product Description
Despite widespread interest in nutrition and the public's appetite for fresh information from health professionals, health care providers often lack accurate, clinically relevant, and current information on topics of special concern to their patients. In Clinical Nutrition of the Essential Trace Elements and Minerals: The Guide for Health Professionals,John Bogden, PhD, Leslie Klevay, MD, and a host of recognized experts address this major gap in the literature with a comprehensive, up-to-date survey of the biological roles and clinical importance of mineral and trace element nutrients. These authoritative researchers and clinicians review the clinical relevance of trace elements and mineralssuch as chromium, copper, fluoride, iron, iodine, molybdenum, manganese, selenium, zinc, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus to a wide variety of medical conditions. Among the diseases treated are genetic, endocrine, skeletal, cardiovascular, kidney, gastrointestinal, infectious, surgical, and ophthalmologic disorders. The authors also discuss trace element and mineral nutrition in healthy people, with chapters on pregnancy, lactation, adolescents, and older people. Chapters on preagricultural and modern consumption patterns, epidemiology, and laboratory diagnostic tests are also included. Timely and comprehensive, Clinical Nutrition of the Essential Trace Elements and Minerals: The Guide for Health Professionals offers today's physicians, nutritionists, and dietitians an authoritative resource replete with sound dietary and medical advice suitable for daily use with their clients and patients. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Essential Information
This book is a necessary trace element we all should read, and translate to our understanding, to learn how the trace minerals we are told are poisonous actually help us be healthier when we consume them in their proper balance. ... Read more

Product Description
A lecture delivered before the University of Cambridge containing many illuminating comments on the work of William Wordsworth, Leslie Stephen, and Matthew Arnold. ... Read more

Product Description
Might we be parts of a divine mind? Could anything like an afterlife make sense? Starting with a Platonic answer to why the world exists, Immortality Defended suggests we could well be immortal in all of three separate ways.

• Tackles the fundamental questions posed by our very existence, among them, "why does the cosmos exist?", "is there a divine mind or God?", and "in what sense might we have afterlives?"
  
• Defends a belief in immortality, without the need for a religious affiliation or rejection of modern science
  
• Explores the ideas of "Einsteinian immortality", the divine afterlife, and the theory of an infinite and divine mind
  
• Draws from the work of a wide-range of philosophers, from ancient Greece to the present day, and incorporates up-to-date scientific findings
  
• Written in a thought-provoking and engaging manner, accessible to anyone intrigued by the wonder of our being

Customer Reviews (2)

Inaccessible Book
I stumbled upon a reference to this book while searching the internet for non-religious theories of immortality. You see, I'm 18 and I'm terrified of death. I've been jumping on anything that might convince me it'll all be OK. So I bought this book.

The main problem with this book is that it's simply too smart- I may be 18 but I'm by no means an unintelligent individual, but this book really threw me for a loop. I desperately wanted the information it held, but between gargantuan, unrecognizable vocabulary and no background in theoretical physics I found myself very lost the vast majority of the time I read it.

This is a small book, and I was not able to finish it.
And let me tell you, I am a very VERY patient man.

Like I said, I'm sure there's lots of good and interesting info in here. You just have to be able or willing to go through the toil of digging it all out.

Immortality via Pantheism
This is an admirably brief book of philosophy which outlines and defends a model of pantheism. The discussion of immortality is actually only a small part of the story, and Leslie's ideas about that topic follow fairly naturally once the pantheistic stage is set.It's an interesting approach to trying to understand reality in a manner distinct from both traditional theism and naturalism.

Leslie's model has several contentious elements. First, he argues that some form of Platonism is true: he says that even if the cosmos did not exist, it would exist as an abstract possibility, and he is likewise a realist about things like mathematical truths, and, importantly, ethical truths. The next key concept, which he finds first in Plato, is the notion that "the Good" calls forth the existence of the concrete world. Finally, he adopts from Spinoza the suggestion that what exists can also be described as aspects of a divine mind.

The most difficult idea is that of the Good as a creative principle: the world exists because it is ethically required that it should.He argues for this indirectly:he wants to convince the reader it's a coherent idea, and that the nature of the world is consistent with it (its intelligibility, orderliness and life-suitability). And while the world has a lot in it which isn't good at all, the pantheist just has to argue that our world is valuable enough to be one of potentially many worlds to manifest the creative principle.Put alternatively, our world is interesting enough to be something worthy of contemplation by a divine mind.

With regard to this idea of being part of divine mind, Leslie thinks there is evidence for this in the kind of unity manifested in our own conscious minds, and likewise in the holistic aspect of nature generally, given quantum theory.

Leslie discusses three models of immortality.First is the model of the universe as a four-dimensional block. If the past and future are as real as the present, then any person who ever lives has a type of immortality. But more interestingly, if we accept the idea of being part of a divine mind, then perhaps this mind could think thoughts about us beyond the lifespan we're in now: this would be the afterlife. Third, and more generally, because the divine mind is itself eternal, and our life-pattern is one aspect of its being, we might thus survive bodily death, in a fashion, by virtue of our participation in the future of the divine mind.
... Read more

Product Description
Former football player and former cop Harry Molina tangles with a fierce killer and some dangerous strangers. By the author of Bounty Hunter Blues and Blood on the Keys. ... Read more