Rainbows End

Book Description

Four time Hugo Award winner Vernor Vinge has taken readers to the depths of space and into the far future in his bestselling novels A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky. Now, he has written a science-fiction thriller set in a place and time as exciting and strange as any far-future world: San Diego, California, 2025.

Robert Gu is a recovering Alzheimer's patient. The world that he remembers was much as we know it today. Now, as he regains his faculties through a cure developed during the years of his near-fatal decline, he discovers that the world has changed and so has his place in it. He was a world-renowned poet. Now he is seventy-five years old, though by a medical miracle he looks much younger, and he’s starting over, for the first time unsure of his poetic gifts. Living with his son’s family, he has no choice but to learn how to cope with a new information age in which the virtual and the real are a seamless continuum, layers of reality built on digital views seen by a single person or millions, depending on your choice. But the consensus reality of the digital world is available only if, like his thirteen-year-old granddaughter Miri, you know how to wear your wireless access—through nodes designed into smart clothes—and to see the digital context—through smart contact lenses.

With knowledge comes risk. When Robert begins to re-train at Fairmont High, learning with other older people what is second nature to Miri and other teens at school, he unwittingly becomes part of a wide-ranging conspiracy to use technology as a tool for world domination.

In a world where every computer chip has Homeland Security built-in, this conspiracy is something that baffles even the most sophisticated security analysts, including Robert’s son and daughter-in law, two top people in the U.S. military. And even Miri, in her attempts to protect her grandfather, may be entangled in the plot.

As Robert becomes more deeply involved in conspiracy, he is shocked to learn of a radical change planned for the UCSD Geisel Library; all the books there, and worldwide, would cease to physically exist. He and his fellow re-trainees feel compelled to join protests against the change. With forces around the world converging on San Diego, both the conspiracy and the protest climax in a spectacular moment as unique and satisfying as it is unexpected. This is science fiction at its very best, by a master storyteller at his peak.

Customer Reviews:

...and the Other on a Banana Peel.......2007-10-01

"Rainbow's End" is the story of a reawakening curmudgeon, a madman's plan for world domination, and a not-to-distant future where the equivalent of mental telepathy exists thanks to computing advancements and where books are destroyed to preserve them.

Vinge writes clearly and simply so that the book is almost an easy read. I use almost because there are a few set pieces that the author must have clearly developed in his mind and then not noticed that there were lacuna when he transferred the ideas to paper. The result is that occasionally I understood what was going on, but never quite figured out why it took the form it did.

In this book Vinge often tries to be slyly humorous, and often succeeds, whether it is in the subtitle ("a novel with one foot in the future" which must surely be meant to be followed by "and the other on a banana peel") to a character taking the form of a rabbit who, like the Energizer Bunny, just keeps "coming and coming and coming".

Although I gladly devoured the book, I must confess that I really dislike one of Vinge's recurring plot devices, which is the use of adolescents as major characters. With the possible exception of Cleopatra, I've seldom found such an important role for teenagers in history. It's almost as if Vinge was trying to lure teenagers into an interest in his books by giving them such an important role.

It's obvious from the beginning that the main character will be transformed by his experience in the book, but I never quite understood the reason for his transformation. I also found the ending an attempt to wrap up things too nicely, while at the same time leaving a few strings untied, perhaps in anticipation of a sequel.

"Rainbow's End" won the 2007 Hugo Award, although two other nominees "Blindsight" and "Glasshouse" seemed more interesting to me. On the other hand, despite my criticism, the book was am enjoyable read.

Unlikeable.......2007-09-08

I am normally a great fan of Vernor Vinge. This story, however, did not do much for me. It is well written enough that, despite my dislike, I continued and finished it but I cannot really say I enjoyed it.

The story takes place in the not too distant future. Terrorism is a fact of life as is the availability of weapons of mass destruction. The goal of governmental agencies is to be on the lookout for the "next bad thing" and hope that it does not become the "final bad thing". When some non-US intelligence services get a whiff of a project that has the potential to be "very bad indeed", they find reason to believe it is being developed near San Diego in a biolab. What most of them do not know is that the project itself is being mounted by one of their own. They conceive a plan to investigate, not knowing whether this is an independent effort or one of the US government.

Technology has, of course, progressed a great deal. Much of this progress has been in the area of information technology. People can "wear" their computers and have access to information almost anywhere. Another area of advance in is medicine. Many things are curable now and that bring in the protagonist.

He was been withering away from Alzheimer's disease. Now, a cure has been found tailored to his own genetic code. Along with it, his body has been rejuvenated. His first problem is that he is now woefully unprepared to live in the modern world and must go back to remedial training in a local high school. The second is that he is not a very nice person.

What he does have going for him is an extremely intelligent granddaughter who loves him despite his character failings, a son who is a high military official tasked with responding to terror threats and a daughter in law who is also military and who has access to the biolabs. This makes him the chosen agent for the foreign agents.

As I said, the story was well written, it just did not capture my interest very well.

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-07

The Fast Times are at UCSD, not Fairmont High.

This book starts well, with some seriously technlogical espionage and security problems beeing looked at. You could call it an 'S' start, Strossian, or Stephensonian perhaps.

Unfortunately, after that, when the major part of view character, the recovered Alzheimer's patient is introduced, things slow down. He basically has to go back to school after years of being no compos mentis. His son and wife are involved in the security industry mentioned previously.

In the middle of this, a conspiracy about lowish level mind control lurks.

In earlier life he was a spiteful acclaimed poet, and now has to learn basic stuff like new computer operating systems. This part drags on a bit too, or more than a bit too long.

There are some entertaining references to be fond - a homage to Border Guards with kids playing 'Egan soccer', and major Pratchett gameworlds, etc., including a failed game 'Zones of Thought', so happy to poke fun at himself, too.

The part of the book that has the most important consequences doesn't generally get enough time, so that prevents this rising above the level of average to be good.

Interesting Concepts, but...........2007-08-11

A 4 rating for the ideas behind the novel, especially how our networked society will continue to (d)evolve ... unfortunately it is written like a teen novel and I gave up on it half way through ...

vinge never disappoints.......2007-08-07

While this book didn't blow me over in the way that A Deepness in the Sky or A Fire Upon the Deep did, and seems perhaps a bit lighter than either of those two books, it nevertheless engaged me greatly-- both on the plot-action-page-turning level and on the intriguing-ideas-about-the-future level.

Rainbow's End: A Memoir of Childhood, War and an African Farm

Average customer rating:

Life in Rhodesia
Been there, done that.
Rainbow's End
Another Farm in Africa...
Rainbow's End review

Rainbow's End: A Memoir of Childhood, War and an African Farm
Lauren St John
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

Zimbabwe | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

General | Africa | Travel | Subjects | Books

History | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0743286790

Book Description

This is a story about a paradise lost. . . . About an African dream that began with a murder . . .

In 1978, in the final, bloodiest phase of the Rhodesian civil war, eleven-year-old Lauren St John moves with her family to Rainbow's End, a wild, beautiful farm and game reserve set on the banks of a slowflowing river. The house has been the scene of a horrific attack by guerrillas, and when Lauren's family settles there, a chain of events is set in motion that will change her life irrevocably.

Rainbow's End captures the overwhelming beauty and extraordinary danger of life in the African bush. Lauren's childhood reads like a girl's own adventure story. At the height of the war, Lauren rides through the wilderness on her horse, Morning Star, encountering lions, crocodiles, snakes, vicious ostriches, and mad cows. Many of the animals are pets, including Miss Piggy and Bacon and an elegant giraffe named Jenny. The constant threat of ruthless guerrillas prowling the land underscores everything, making each day more dangerous, vivid, and prized than the last.

After Independence, Lauren comes to the bitter realization that she'd been on the wrong side of the civil war. While she and her family believed that they were fighting for democracy over Communism, others saw the war as black against white. And when Robert Mugabe comes into power, he oversees the torture and persecution of thousands of members of an opposing tribe and goes on to become one of Africa's legendary dictators. The ending of this beautiful memoir is a fist to the stomach as Lauren realizes that she can be British or American, but she cannot be African. She can love it -- be willing to die for it -- but she cannot claim Africa because she is white.

Customer Reviews:

Life in Rhodesia.......2007-09-19

I grew up in Rhodesia and can relate to all the animals and the terrorists and see the Rhodesia troops know someone who was in the army. Fortunately for those who grew up in the Rhodesia Era, have a better understanding of the meaning of life. No computer games, but real life. One thing that I hope to pass on to my kids is the love of animals, and how to survive without all the time spend in front of the TV and computers and be a real kid. Living in Bannockburn, traveling to Bulawayo, or Salisbury, stopping in Gweru, the Victoria Falls, Kariba, and buying mealies cooked on the side of the road, the braais, Renaults, the food, the wildlife, the smells of freshly rain on ground, elephants crossing the road on the way to Victoria Falls, and Matopus, all the baboons and monkeys running around, the rhino, giraffe, the lizards stealing food. The good life.

Growing up in Rhodesia makes me live life, like it were overflowing. The good times, the best of times, the real times.

Been there, done that........2007-08-23

I lived in Rhodesia in the time period this book was written. Although some minor facts are not quite correct, it gives an excellent feel for what it was like to live there and experience the multitude of changes.

Rainbow's End.......2007-08-14

This book is very good. I was a teenager in America when this was happening in Rhodesia. I remember it changing names and I remember there being some type of war, but I don't remember much else. I was shocked at some of the things that happened, but I really enjoyed the book. It should be required reading for anyone studying histories. I have passed this book on to some one who was born in that country and was just a few years older than the author and she has other memories, but she also said it was good. I definately recommend this book for anyone who likes books about history. It was very personable. The author made you really visualize the scenes as she described them.

Another Farm in Africa..........2007-07-30

Lauren St. John's tale of family life, strife and growing up in Rhodesia during "the War" -- the guerrilla war that lead to the creation of Zimbabwe and Mugabe dictatorship, is beguilling and frustrating. She talks several times about her unprounouncable Dutch name, but I'm not sure if I ever saw it in the book. She says that the entire family changed names by deedpole, but they all took different surnames, hers being what she now uses, St. John. Wha? Everybody in the family changes their names and no details? After black rule is established, St. John undergoes an eleventh hour realization/guilt trip about her previous life. She feels sympathy toward her black African compatriots and understands some of their excesses after "liberation." But the book glosses over the real twists in the plot. Something is going on between mom and dad, Mom is always getting on a plane and flying around the world, but we dont find out until almost the end of the book. Even then, she doesn't do more than hint until the last few pages. Dad was unfaithful. Why all the secrecy? She tells us anyway, but makes us roll our eyes first. For all her tiptoeing around family disputes, St. John is ultra-descriptive about her daily life, from the vanilla-licious Cerelac she had for breakfast, to her particular preferences in biltong. The book is a fascinating look at a white paradise that, in later years, became more threatening, but still pampering to those fortunate enough to be white. As Lauren undergoes her sudden realization about the Realities of Black Life in Rhodesia, she sees former heroes as less than noble...the Selous Scouts, honored soldiers during the war, are revealed to be something else indeed. The glitter comes off a lot of the gold, but the book is still a entertaining insight into a life, a lifetime, and a lifestyle. This book holds its own among the recent spate of books about the end of Rhodesia and its impact on white farmers and citizens.

Rainbow's End review.......2007-07-17

An excellent memoir of life during troubled times during the bush war in Rhodesia and birth of Zimbabwe.

Average customer rating:

One Star for the Cripse Kiddies.
Really poor, and symptomatic of the whole series.
not her best
13th Grimes mystery read with panache by Curry
Travelogue or Mystery?

Rainbow's End
Martha Grimes
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0345394267
Release Date: 1996-06-01

Book Description

"Once again, Grimes hooks her readers with the engaging Jury and friends and with skillful tucking of hints into unexpected corners."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
When three women die of "natural causes" in London and the West Country, there appears to be no connection--or reason to suspect foul play. But Scotland Yard Superintendent Richard Jury has other ideas, and before long he's following his keen police instincts all the way to Santa Fe, New Mexico.
There, in the company of a brooding thirteen-year-old girl and her pet coyote, he mingles with an odd assortment of characters and tangles with a twisted plot that stretches from England to the American Southwest. And while his good friend Melrose Plant pursues inquiries in London, Jury delves deeper into the more baffling elements of the case, discovering firsthand what the guide books don't tell you: that the Land of Enchantment is also a landscape ripe with tragedy, treachery, and murder.
"RAINBOW'S END is itself a literary rainbow. It's the skillful blend of mystery and comedy and pathos, a Martha Grimes trademark, that makes this visit with Richard Jury and company so memorable and satisfying."
--Mostly Murder

Customer Reviews:

One Star for the Cripse Kiddies........2006-01-12

They were the only interesting characters in this entire mess, and the only reasons I even bothered with this book were because I liked the audio narrator, Donada Peters, and to find out what happened to Mary Dark Hope's sister Angela after reading Biting the Moon--a much better and surprisingly loathed book than this one--first. This boring, outdated British storyline only goes to show that you can't judge an author solely on one project. I loved its aforementioned successor and totally despised this boring slop. Oh, well, at least the Cripse kiddies made me laugh.

Really poor, and symptomatic of the whole series........2005-09-10

Having read several of the Richard Jury novels years ago, I remembered why I stopped reading them when I started this one - chosen solely because I'm an English reader travelling to Santa Fe for the first time soon.

The chronological background of the book is ridiculous. It was written in the 1990's and is meant to be a contemporary setting, yet doesn't even remotely resemble the England I've lived in for the past 50 years. For example, there haven't been sweet shops such as the one she describes since the 1930's.

Richard Jury was supposedly a schoolboy during World War II, a fact made much of during the story. Even in the mid-1990's he'd be knocking on towards 60. The English part of the story is people with aristos and the gentility who mock the `ways' of the common folk, views which the reader seems to be expected to share. If it's meant as parody, it singularly fails to convince. If the book had been set in the 1920's the attitudes towards class of its characters might be more believable. Indeed, many of the 'characters' are merely ludicrous caricatures - e.g. the 'loveable'(read *very* sub-Dickensian, & wouldn't be out of place in a poor Dicken's knock-off 150 years ago) cockney-rogue family with a baby named Robespierre are deeply irritating, and their antics farcical. Perhaps the book - and this is true of the other Grimes crime I have read - is aiming for the surreal, but all it arouses in this reader is perplexity and irritation. Frankly, to portray England as like this in the 1990's is insulting. I don't read mysteries for the realism or the social analysis, I read to escape, but if the writer wants me to suspend disbelief she had better make a *bit* more of an effort not to get her setting so wildly incorrect.

The book also features two child-characters, one carried over from a previous book, both annoying rather than endearing or intriguing, which was apparently the intention.

I couldn't wait to finish it, and I mean that in the worst possible way.

Oh - the plot. The solution to the crime was obvious well before the end - and well before Richard Jury eventually tumbled to it - and it wasn't very original or clever, either, despite all the attempts at befuzzlement and mystification.

This book and series, though purportedly set in the UK, is certainly not meant for anyone who knows anything about us!

not her best.......2004-10-13

I discovered Martha Grimes and her Richard Jury series about three years ago and have been slowly working my way through. Generally speaking, they are terrific, interesting reads, with a lovable, eccentric cast of recurring characters that makes you look forward to picking up the next one in the series. But this one is a disappointment, the first time in the series I've felt that. Jury heads off to New Mexico, of all places, to solve a trio of tenuously related murders. Usually when you finish a well-written mystery, you can look back and see how all the disparate elements fit together to solve the murder, but in this one, you get done, and you think back to this scene or that scene and you think, "Huh?? What was that doing in there?" And worst of all, I figured out who the murderer was about halfway through without even really trying-- which makes you think that Grimes wasn't really trying. :-)

If you're new to Martha Grimes definitely don't start with this one. In fact, I might even recommend that you skip it. She seems bored with her formula in this one. She should have taken a break and written a novel about New Mexico that had nothing to do with Jury instead of this lame effort. I still have half a dozen or so to read to catch up with the ones that she's publishing now, I sincerely hope this isn't a trend.

13th Grimes mystery read with panache by Curry.......2004-07-27

This is the 13th Jury and Plant mystery penned by the brilliant Grimes. Once again read by the amazing Tim Curry, Rainbow's End takes up just a "few weeks" after The Horse You Came In On ended. The newest case for Scotland Yard Chief superintendent Richard Jury, sees Jury again on the wrong side of the Pond. He is there to dismiss or confirm similarities among three mysterious deaths, two are British women - one dies in Exeter Catherdral and the second in the Tate Gallery. The Third was an American, one Angela Hope, a Santa Fe silversmith, while visiting the ancient hill fortress Old Sarum. He is not able to dismiss the threads that tie the three deaths together, but becomes convinced, since all three had recently been in New Mexico, USA, they are be connected. While Jury does the foot work in the US, he has set Melrose Plant to tracking down Lady Jenny Kennington. She vanished -literally - while at Straford-on-Avon.

Once again Grimes gives you a bang-on murder mystery with sleuth Jury hot on the trail of clues, and Melrose showing, as an amateur, his is a nifty investigator, too. Grimes humor shines, and is brought to life by Curry's wonderful reading. Sheer perfection from start to finish.

Travelogue or Mystery?.......2001-10-23

This is the second Grimes book I've read (both Richard Jury mysteries). I found the plots, with various twists and turns, to be believable and entertaining. The characters are well defined and easy to relate to, and there is good humor interspersed.

However, what I didn't like at all were the interminable descriptions of landscapes, scenes, even a cat! I also find Ms. Grimes' use of obscure/big words mildly irritating.

Book Description

With Where the Rainbow Ends, acclaimed short story writer and journalist Jameson Currier has written more than another AIDS novel. "Packed with the stuff of life, this rewarding work might be termed a 'gay immigrant' novel, a saga about men and women who leave their hometown and families, move to the big cities, and fashion new lives in an alien land" (Library Journal).

At the center of this epic tale is Robbie Taylor, who settles in New York City in 1978 as an optimistic, romantic young man with a circle of new friends. This powerful and passionate story of the trials and loves of a gay Everyman takes Robbie through a personal odyssey into enlightenment, spanning a period of almost fifteen years. As he navigates through the hedonism of his heady youth in Manhattan searching for faith, family, and understanding, Robbie is constantly being tested, like a modern-day Job. Currier masterfully weaves an ardent story about the families that we create for ourselves, a story that is at once lyrical, poignant, and sexy.

Customer Reviews:

A melancholy tale.......2006-12-11

It is 1978, and the narrator, Robbie Taylor is 19 years old when he arrives in New York. After a trail of bad luck things begin to look when he meets Vince, who takes him under his wing and introduces him to the New York gay culture and ready sex. But Robbie is looking for more than casual sex; he seeks an emotional connection, something permanent. He eventually finds this, after a false start, in Nathan, and they set up home together. About his time the threat of AIDS emerges, and new troubles and worries beset Robbie and the small group of close friends he has amassed through Vince. The story takes us through this, along with the lives of Robbie's friends, or "family" as he eventually comes to regard them: Vince, Jeff and Denise. Loving relationships are formed, sometimes broken, and tragic losses experienced. Robbie struggles with these shattering events, he struggles too with the concept of family, his faith and a sense of purpose. (He eventually recognises a parallel with Job.)
This is admittedly a long winded book, full of meticulous detail, and a sombre, at times near morbid read, even before the troubles begin. The writing is pensive and convincing; it would be hard to imagine that the writer has not experienced the events about which he writes and the emotions he describes.
The book could well have benefited from a careful reduction of some of the long drawn out sections, and been occasionally lightened with a little wit or humour; as it is the mood never seems to lift above the melancholy. It is nonetheless a very moving yet positive story, and when Robbie finally brings the story up to date (1992) there is a true air of hope.

A disappointment.......2003-02-11

Currier is to be commended for attempting to write a literary chronicle of the life of gay men during the AIDS crisis. Unfortunately, he falls headlong into the stereotype of the Urban Gay Adonis in Wonderland that so plagues what passes for gay fiction. We are given fairly stock characters -- all suitably white, "gorgeous", and successful -- who have stock careers as actors/businessmen/artists, who are mind-numbingly self-absorbed yet a source of endless fascination for the "Everyman" protagonist, Robbie the carpenter who, mysteriously, finds no gay friends among his co-workers or those with less fashionable lives.

The book is further marred by convenient plot twists that kill off just the right characters, magically distilling the perfect alternative family, complete with the perfect 24-year-old ex-porn star, but "not narcissistic", lover for our wounded hero.

For a novel to be a true chronicle of its time and place, it must have a universality and ring of truth that lift it above modern popular fiction that relies on demographics and flattery to sell books. With WTRE, Currier proves he has the skills, but is too limited by his narrow social outlook and reliance on plot manipulation to realize his goal. A pity.

Great book........2003-01-17

This book touched me so much that I actually cried through most of it. And I'm not a crier.

Better than I expected.......2001-10-23

It's really the cumulative impact of the story, rather than the writer's skill, that makes this book worth the effort. By the time I finished it, I really felt the author had provided a well-rounded main character. I give Currier a lot of credit, though, for trying to encapsulate decades of gay life in a single story. Since I am roughly the same age as the protagonist, I found the observations about the changes in gay life over the years to be interesting and (generally) spot on.

a heart rendering treatis on the age of AIDS.......1999-12-12

I loved this book! epic and breathtaking in scope with an easy relaxed, fluent style; this book takes you on an incredible "gay odyssey" I have never read a novel that so effectively encompasses all aspects of gay life and sensibilities. Sexy, romantic, sad and melancholy; this book takes us on a wonderful journey as we navigate the highs and lows of Robbie, a young gay "everyman". Through his eyes we witness the sexy hedonism of the Manhattan gay scene in the late 70's, the AIDS ravaged Reagan years of the early to mid 80's and the 90's AIDS activism of LA. Effectively incorporating historical fact with fiction, Currier has painted a fascinating portrait of Robbie and his four friends; their loves, losses, achievements and disappointments. Thematically there are many, many important issues relating to gay life and the homosexual identity being addressed here: questions of faith, religion, and spirituality and whether these can apply to a modern gay man. The importance of family; Currier raises the essential question, What constitutes a family? Is family by blood or is true family friendship? Issues regarding contemporary sexual politics are also discussed particularly the politics of AIDS activism and the attitudes that big business and government had towards the disease in the late 80's and early 90's. This is a beautiful, eloquent, sexy and at times a disturbing chronicle of the ravages of AIDS and the impact that the disease has had on a whole generation od gay men. Currier gives us an uncanny insight in to the mind of Robbie never compromising the gritty realism, this novel tells it like it is. I would recommend this novel as essential reading not just for every gay men but for anyone who has ever has been touched by AIDS or who has had to struggle against adversity.

Book Description

The first major history of the Crash in over a decade, Rainbow's End tells the story of the stock market collapse in a colorful, swift-moving narrative that blends a vivid portrait of the 1920s with an intensely gripping account of Wall Street's greatest catastrophe. The book offers a vibrant picture of a world full of plungers, powerful bankers, corporate titans, millionaire brokers, and buoyantly optimistic stock market bulls. We meet Sunshine Charley Mitchell, head of the National City Bank, powerful financiers Jack Morgan and Jacob Schiff, Wall Street manipulators such as the legendary Jesse Livermore, and the lavish-living Billy Durant, founder of General Motors. As Klein follows the careers of these men, he shows us how the financial house of cards gradually grew taller, as the irrational exuberance of an earlier age gripped America and convinced us that the market would continue to rise forever. Then, in October 1929, came a "perfect storm"-like convergence of factors that shook Wall Street to its foundations. We relive Black Thursday, when police lined Wall Street, brokers grew hysterical, customers "bellowed like lunatics," and the ticker tape fell hours behind. This is followed by the even worse Bloody Tuesday, when an irrational desire to sell at any price gripped the market and even blue chip stocks plummeted precariously. This compelling history of the Crash--the first to follow the market closely for the two years leading up to the disaster--illuminates a major turning point in our history.

Customer Reviews:

Starts stong, loses pace. A weak entry for the Pivotal Moment Series........2006-12-05

Rainbow's End, by Maury Klein could have been a good book. In fact, it should have been a great historical read about America during the Roaring Twenties, leading up to and precipitating the Crash and the Depression. But Klein falls far short and disappoints with this entry into the "Pivotal Moments in American History" published by the Oxford University Press. This volume seemingly couldn't decide whether to be decidedly research based or, as with others in this series, to be a narrative form "that can be read for pleasure and instruction by anyone with an interest in its subject", according to it editors, David Hackett Fischer and James M. McPherson.

The book's prologue "The Summer of Fun, 1929" is clearly its highlight, certainly a dubious distinction. "In the summer of 1929 much of America was on an artificial high. It was a high born not of drugs but of an illusion that the prosperity and the good times then being enjoyed were made of new miracle ingredients that would last forever." Klein paints a vivid portrait of life in America in his early pages but sadly does not follow along in that form.

Throughout the book the reader cannot help but think that this is more of a reporter giving much more detail than needed, literally day by day of the Dow and the New York Times Index, often in the absolute and without percentages so one gets a relative idea of what was going on. Additionally, and quite strangely, Klein doesn't weave into his writing the many causes of the Crash and also poorly differentiates between the Crash and the Depression. One gets the idea that if he were to take out long and seemingly unrelated passages such as one on Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson and much of the above mentioned ticker tape readings he would have had ample room to discuss not only the causes and effects of the Crash but also would have been able to maintain the narrative style in the beginning of Rainbow's End.

To Klein's credit he does a very good job with the Coolidge and Hoover administrations and in his discussions on the nascent stages of the Federal Reserve. He also drives home the point of a much smaller federal government role in the years prior to FDR and its lack of ability to "rescue" a calamitous market and the resultant depressed economy, "Federal purchase of goods and services totaled about 1.3 percent of GNP and federal construction a tiny 2 percent, hardly enough to serve as a prime stimulant".

Perhaps the saddest part of this writing is that, in its current form, much could be done to improve it. Little to no additional research is needed. Just a rewrite and more color and less droning on and on about redundant economic and market statistics. This book, in its research and obvious talents of its author, fails to make an interesting topic captivating to the reader. Clearly a laggard in this fabulous series.

One of the best books to learn about the market and enjoy it too!.......2006-02-20

I have to admit I am a bit biased since I am interested in the Stock Market and especially the present market's similarity to that of the time referred to in the book. But, it's a lot more than that! It is very well written and though it probably is written for those 11th grade and higher, it is easy to read. It is loaded with real-life history. My wife has already completed it and I am part done. We plan on having our oldest four children read it. The prologue on the 1929 summer seemed to place you right there--even though I never visited New York City itself. My wife mentioned it made the stock market easy to understand especially margins and short selling. I think she also mentioned puts and calls, which is the one area of the stock market I would like more practice with. If you are into history or want to really learn about the market, this is the best place to start. Highly recommended!

Tom from Michigan

Good, but not good enough.......2003-06-27

Klein's retelling of the story of the stock market crash of 1929 is just too little and much too late. Other books, notably Only Yesterday by F.L. Allen for anecdotal material and The Great Crash of 1929 by J. K. Galbraith for analysis, go over the same material and do a better job. Klein's book does have some strong points: wonderful vignettes of some of the people, big and small, who were caught up in the crash; a good analysis of why Herbert Hoover, "the great engineer," couldn't engineer his way out of this one; some interesting anecdotal material I haven't seen anywher else. But all of that could have been done in less than half the space. Nice try, but no cigar.

A colossal event seen through individual's eyes.......2003-05-18

Maury Klein, in his book Rainbow's End: The crash of 1929, has given us a blend of a newer style of historiography with the traditional sense of examining historical events. He has given us a look at the Stock Market Crash of 1929 through the eyes of the people that participated, rather than looking at it strictly from an economic or political historical viewpoint.

Klein starts his book with a description of American society in the 1920's and explains to us why the society of excess and speculation led to the crash moreso than a failing of the general American economy. By dotting the landscape with characters, some familiar and some unfamiliar, Klein gives us a good portrayal of the times.

There is, unfortunately, only a short section of the book that actually deals with the events of the crash itself. This section focuses the days between Black Thursday and Bloody Tuesday, which culminated in a horrific period of losses in the market.

Klein does a good job of staying on task during the sections of the book in explaining the economic factors and the behind-the-scenes actions that took place during these few hectic days. He does not, however, explain the immediate social ramifications (such as the fact that people who lost everything gave up on life) as well as might be expected; he gives this facet of the crash only peripheral coverage.

I would recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a socio-economic history of America during this 1920's. It does a very good job of covering this topic. However, if one is looking for details just on the crash itself and those few terrible days on Wall Street, that reader would be well served to find another book to read.

Wha' Happ'n?.......2002-08-24

"No era ever vanished so suddenly, so completely, as the
twenties." -- -- David Dempsey, _New York Times_, Feb 15, 1970

This is a quick run-through of the Crash, with a little pop-sociology about America in the Twenties. It's eerie, reading quotes from bankers, politicians, and brokers from the months before the Crash, about how the market had become so modernized and shockproof that panics were now impossible. Sounds familiar...

New York Times financial columnist Alexander Noyes is a primary source in this book. It is fascinating, watching these titanic events being filtered daily through this not-stupid man's pen. We've heard more than 70 years of second-guessing about the Crash by now, so it is interesting seeing how it was taken point-blank by analysts at the time.

In Maury Klein's account, the Crash is nobody's fault. Like Stanislaw Lec once said, every snowflake in an avanlanche pleads not guilty. Big brokers ostentatiously placed big orders, hoping to spur rallies. Consortia of financiers struggled to maintain public confidence in the market. President Herbert Hoover-who as a humanitarian first and failed President second was Jimmy Carter in reverse-tried to get Big Business together in a game plan to retrieve the situation. But in a free market, there is no one pulling levers and hauling cables controlling things. There was no one to stop the free market from going into freefall.

Book Description

WAS THE HUDSON FAMILY DESTINED TO LIVE IN THE SHADOWS OF THE PAST? OR WOULD LUCK SHINE ON THE NEWEST GENERATION? THE ANSWER LIES AT...

THE END OF THE RAINBOW

Rain's precious daughter, Summer, is about to turn sixteen. Her future lies wide open before her and she carries her mother's wise advice close to her heart: life is hardship, but above all, life is hope. Like all girls her age, Summer dreams of growing up and making her own life, of falling in love and finding her soul mate.

But a devastating tragedy will force Summer to stare into the cold eyes of adulthood long before she is ready. She will learn very quickly about hardship -- but what of hope? Is she as strong as her courageous mother? Or will she crumble?

All her life, Summer has lived on the Virginia estate where the Hudson family's secrets have lurked among the shadows for generations. Now it is time for Summer to discover secrets of her own. Some she will keep. Some she will share. Some will force her to flee the only place she has ever called home. And some will haunt her for the rest of her life....

Download Description

Bestselling phenomenon V.C. Andrews follows the success of "Rain, Lightning Strikes" and "Eye of the Storm" with the conclusion of the thrilling Hudson series. Was the family doomed to live forever in the shadows of the past, or would luck shine on the newest generation?

Customer Reviews:

WASTE OF MY MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2006-05-09

SUMMER IS SUCH A BORE. IF YOU LIKE BORING STORIES READ THIS! THE ONLY HALF INTRESTING PART IS HARELY! I LIKE RAIN WAY BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IF YOU LIKE GOOD BOOKS GET FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC OR EYE OF THE STORM.

summers rainbows.........2004-09-03

I had never read VC Andrews, or Virginia Andrews before, and I really enjoyed this book.
Actually I wasn't well and I kept my head stuck in this book for hours and it was like a pain-reliever!

The novel is about a girl named Summer who has had a rich and pampered life.
Shortly after her 16th birthday, however, she is raped.
Wanting to escape the bad memories, she readily agrees to follow her best male friend Harley out of town, as he searches for his birth father.
But, Harley's 'father' is evil, and lives with a crazy old witch!
Summer and Harley are locked in an attic and poisoned!
Will they get out????!!

Crazy story, heh?But I enjoyed it(like I said).
I have taken-out 3 more Andrews books, but it bothers me to hear they are all basically the same story ( ?? )
I have started reading Gates of Paradise and it certainly seems familiar!!! I hope it and the others will be fun, and not monotnous, to read.

Again, I really liked Summer's story.

*sigh*.......2004-06-16

I started reading the Andrews novels over 10 years ago and was totally hooked. Rain was the first Andrews novel I'd read since the Landry series.

I started reading the novels again because I wanted something fun to read while studying for the Bar Exam. The other books in this series were bad, but End of the Rainbow is one of the worst novels I've ever read. I kept reading the other novels because I kept expecting Rain to lose her inheritence or something unpredictable to happen.

I really don't think the ghostwriter planned this novel very well. It was as if he had one storyline going and decided near the end to have Summer and Harley trapped in the basement. Ridiculous.

If End of the Rainbow is any indication, the better days of the V.C. Andrews novels are over.

Sedative - in book form!.......2004-04-21

If you have trouble sleeping at night, you just might want to purchase this book. Trite, slow-moving, cliched, this book is just like the other V.C. Andrews book, only it is by far one of the most poorly-written published works of "art" I'd ever come across. Obviously, if V.C. Andrews's ghostwriter hadn't penned it and it had been some other schmuck, it never would have gotten published, much less touched an editor's desk.

In a nutshell, this book is just like all the other V.C. Andrews books. There's plenty of rape, a bad boy with a fiery temper who feels the need to protect his lover/relative, an incarceration ala FITA or Gabrielle Landry, and a bunch of cliched metaphors and similes that will make any reader cringe. And was it just me or was Summer not worthy of a narrator where this book was concerned. Seemed to me this book should have been told by Harley. It was more about him than her anyway.

Once again, if you can't sleep at night, pick up this book as a knockout pill. Otherwise, be smart and avoid it.

Cheers!

Sappy and predictable.......2003-12-13

This is probably my least favorite book after the Melody series. Rain was my first V.C. Andrews book and after that I read the other books in that series. How is it that Rain, who was a fairly strong character, could give raise a daughter so immature, childish, weak, and naive? It's impossible to relate to Summer when she is so despicable. Even though she is 16 she acts like she is 6. What 16 year old calls her mother "Mommy"? I was disgusted by her constant whining and her complete helplessness. If you want a V.C. Andrews book with more substance, I suggest reading Heaven.

The End Of The Rainbow (Best of Betty Neels)

Average customer rating:

Splendid Story
Another Excellent Neels Story (5+ stars)
Betty Neels novels are a MUST...

The End Of The Rainbow (Best of Betty Neels)
Betty Neels
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0373470940

Customer Reviews:

Splendid Story.......2007-03-15

I thoroughly enjoyed this BN story. For an easy light read you can't beat Ms Neels.
Another of my all time favourites.
A sweet modern day Cinderella story with a delightful ending.
Ms Neels will be sadly missed.

Another Excellent Neels Story (5+ stars).......2006-11-29

Book Description: Olympia's overbearing aunt used her as her personal servant, until attractive Dutchman Waldo van der Graaf quite literally rescued her. He suggested that she exchange her life of drudgery for the role of his wife. Waldo needed someone to look after his small daughter and run his home--a marriage of convenience. Olympia was thankful and accepted his proposal, but soon realized she had only exchanged one set of problems for another when she found herself falling in love with her own husband!

Another excellent story Neels fans are sure to enjoy involving a Rich Handsome Dutch Doctor and a British Nurse described as having a pleasant face with "no startling good looks" while being kind and hard working. Olympia's aunt is basically the evil stepmother, Waldo's his female "friend" substitutes for the evil stepsister, while small "daughter" adds "something" extra to story. Neels incorporated a little touch of mystery with her Cinderella tale of misunderstandings, false assumptions, and dishonesty.

Betty Neels novels are a MUST..........1998-10-16

FINALLY...an author who is romantic with a mystery and travelogue to enhance the storyline...MORE MORE and MORE,please !

Too Many Leprechauns: Or How That Pot o' Gold Got to the End of the Rainbow

Average customer rating:

A pick not just for March but for year-round fun leisure reading.

Too Many Leprechauns: Or How That Pot o' Gold Got to the End of the Rainbow
Stephen Krensky
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Humorous | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Picture Books | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 068985112X

Book Description

On St. Patrick's Day, leprechauns are lucky. But on every other day of the year, they make for noisy neighbors -- and they're turning the entire town of Dingle upside down! Fortunately, Finn O'Finnegan always has a clever plan brewing, and this time, with a little luck of the Irish, it's a scheme that just might fool even the cleverest of creatures.

Customer Reviews:

A pick not just for March but for year-round fun leisure reading........2007-04-14

Dan Andreasen provides whimsical, fun drawings for TOO MANY LEPRECHAUNS, OR HOW THAT POT O' GOLD GOT TO THE END OF THE RAINBOW. Leprechauns may be lucky on St. Patrick's Day, but on every other day they are noisy neighbors and they are causing chaos in the town of Dingle. But Finn has plans for curing the trouble, making TOO MANY LEPRECHAUNS a pick not just for March but for year-round fun leisure reading.

Rainbow's End: Irish-Americans and the Dilemmas of Urban Machine Politics, 1840-1985 (California Series on Social Choice & Political Economy)

Average customer rating:

political success was a mixed success for the irish

Rainbow's End: Irish-Americans and the Dilemmas of Urban Machine Politics, 1840-1985 (California Series on Social Choice & Political Economy)
Steven P. Erie
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0520071832

Book Description

Unprecedented in its scope, Rainbow's End provides a bold new analysis of the emergence, growth, and decline of six classic Irish-American political machines in New York, Jersey City, Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Albany. Combining the approaches of political economy and historical sociology, Erie examines a wide range of issues, including the relationship between city and state politics, the manner in which machines shaped ethnic and working-class politics, and the reasons why centralized party organizations failed to emerge in Boston and Philadelphia despite their large Irish populations. The book ends with a thorough discussion of the significance of machine politics for today's urban minorities.

Customer Reviews:

political success was a mixed success for the irish.......1999-02-23

A cautionary tale about the limits of political power, i.e. political power does not bring economic success.

a great book, well written, with tremendous lessons for today.

buy it. steal it. just get it.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books