Book Description
A dazzling debut, a blazingly original voice: the ten stories in St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves introduce a radiant new talent.
In the collection’s title story, a pack of girls raised by wolves are painstakingly reeducated by nuns. In “Haunting Olivia,” two young boys make midnight trips to a boat graveyard in search of their dead sister, who set sail in the exoskeleton of a giant crab. In “Z.Z.’s Sleepaway Camp for Disordered Dreamers,” a boy whose dreams foretell implacable tragedies is sent to a summer camp for troubled sleepers (Cabin 1, Narcoleptics; Cabin 2, Sleep Apneics; Cabin 3, Somnambulists . . . ). And “Ava Wrestles the Alligator” introduces the remarkable Bigtree Wrestling Dynasty—Grandpa Sawtooth, Chief Bigtree, and twelve-year-old Ava—proprietors of Swamplandia!, the island’s #1 Gator Theme Park and Café. Ava is still mourning her mother when her father disappears, his final words to her the swamp maxim “Feed the gators, don’t talk to strangers.” Left to look after seventy incubating alligators and an older sister who may or may not be having sex with a succubus, Ava meets the Bird Man, and learns that when you’re a kid it’s often hard to tell the innocuous secrets from the ones that will kill you if you keep them.
Russell’s stories are beautifully written and exuberantly imagined, but it is the emotional precision behind their wondrous surfaces that makes them unforgettable. Magically, from the spiritual wilderness and ghostly swamps of the Florida Everglades, against a backdrop of ancient lizards and disconcertingly lush plant life—in an idiom that is as arrestingly lovely as it is surreal—Karen Russell shows us who we are and how we live.
Customer Reviews:
All Flash, no soul.......2007-09-30
I've deleted my previous windy review as I committed the very same sins I found so disagreeable in this work -- the self conscious lyricism and ivy school poise, the kind of monomaniacal similies that only countless workshops can provide. I also praised the book for some stunning phrasework, some relatively inventive subject matter, and for its hyper-efficient conventionality. I had so many kickback 'no' votes that I almost suspect the author, or her fan base, are patrolling this page. So I'll be more prompt this time.
What dissapointed me about this book is simple. It's the same thing that disappointed me with Helen DeWitt's 'Last Samurai' and that other book about Cataclasm physics or whatever -- you know, I can't even be bothered to look up the author . . . Pessl, I don't know. Give you a sense of how last year's Messiahs of Fiction are easily set aside for the next round of incomparable prodigies?
The two texts above, as well as Russell's, and "The Emperor's Children" all depend upon such hyper-intellectual posturing. I'm not sure if it's the disappearing ice caps, or America's inability to accept its collective responsibility for a million dead Iraqis, but fiction coming out of that country is so pristinely tidy, so thoroughly worked over by conventional clinicians of prose -- it's like a short story pumped up with botox. SImiles a plenty, quirky character foibles, pace by pace plot, and a shock and awe conclusion. Russell is no exception -- despite the magic realism pretentions, and an Eliot-ish love for can-you-see-it allusions, this the plastic surgeon's version of what fiction should be. Of course it's pretty -- but entirely empty. No satisfaction. No punch in the gut hit of humanity. No dull, aching pull at the heart. Despite the whimsical flurry of nice vocabulary and tried-and-true archetypal themes, the final text is full of craft but little art. So of course it has find a special place in the insular world of academic-cum-poets, or vice versa. It's sugar bowl realities for those who like their table clothes without wrinkles.
And you know what I don't apologise for this anymore: there's too many tidy stories in the world, with verbose prose ghostwritten by tuition. All the riffs and pyrotechnics that the thesaurus provides, and the crossword brains dream up, don't mean much after all. It's gotta have heart. As Rilke said, that's the fine line between literature and design, cleverness and prentions, prose and prissiness, longevity and vanity. This writing is so microscopically organised case study, I swear I could smell the scalpel and iodine.
Enjoy these tales for its studious precision and fastidious technique. You may find yourself going to Borges with a new sense of humility and reverence. As for Russell, enjoy the accolades and book tours and Myspace blogs. But to impress more than the Columbia MFA programme, you're going to need something deeper. What that 'something' is, I don't think anyone knows for sure. But intellectuality ain't it. Tidy plots neither. Sunny days on campus, nope. If Tolstoy had been born in Toronto . . . I can't blame DeWitt or Russell, actually. The New York book societies are a pump and dump market trying to produce some icon to fill the obviously dismal state of the contemporary novel. Somewhere, somehow, we have Victorian prose without the mud and morals; Renaissance gentility without the religion; pixel magic without the wonder. Russell is the latest symptom of a print industry searching for its own mislaid kokoro.
After reading this collection, I had to devour some Janet Frame to restore my belief in what a haunting vision truly is. I'm not a writer, but I have my own sense of what'll stand the test of time.
Read the reviews.......2007-08-21
I bought this book out of curiosity and because the reviews on amazon made it sound so good. I love her use of imagery and metaphors and agree with most readers on how lovely this book is, but I'm a little disappointed with the flow of the stories. Each story begins so elegantly, but always looses my attention during a change of thought or scenery. I find myself having to reread ever so often just to make sense of the paragraphs. I really want to like it, but feel that I'm starting to get A.D.D from reading it. I guess I just prefer books that flow and make reading easier. All in all this is a lovely book and should be enjoyed if you have the time and I would recommend buying a used copy.
well-written, but unsettling.......2007-08-03
I tried really hard to like this book. It is very well-written, but parts of it just make me uncomfortable. I also felt that the stories ended in inappropriate places, and none of them really tied-up at the end. I read the first 4 stories, then I stopped.
Beautiful but at times lacking.......2007-07-16
These stories are unique, strange and beautiful fairytales for adults. Many of the descriptions really are priceless, and I did discover meaning in the stories. However, at times I found myself wanting a little bit more...a little more story, a little more of a plot line and ending for the stories. I'm sure the author ended her stories the way she did on purpose, but it also felt a little like an easy out to me. As something appreciated for rare beauty alone this book works, but it is largely a tease, so don't expect to feel satisfied after finishig these stories.
imaginative, troubling, exquisite.......2007-05-01
Most of these stories don't have an obvious resolution or satisfying ending. That works just fine for some of them, less so for others. But they all are beautifully written in something that is like magical realism, but more absurd and edgy. My pleasure in them came not so much from my enjoyment of the specific "tales," as from my awe at the the author's imagination and prose.
Book Description
The Everglades was once reviled as a liquid wasteland, and Americans dreamed of draining it. Now it is revered as a national treasure, and Americans have launched the largest environmental project in history to try to save it. The Swamp is the stunning story of the destruction and possible resurrection of the Everglades, the saga of man's abuse of nature in southern Florida and his unprecedented efforts to make amends. Michael Grunwald, a prize-winning national reporter for The Washington Post, takes readers on a riveting journey from the Ice Ages to the present, illuminating the natural, social and political history of one of America's most beguiling but least understood patches of land.
The Everglades was America's last frontier, a wild country long after the West was won. Grunwald chronicles how a series of visionaries tried to drain and "reclaim" it, and how Mother Nature refused to bend to their will; in the most harrowing tale, a 1928 hurricane drowned 2,500 people in the Everglades. But the Army Corps of Engineers finally tamed the beast with levees and canals, converting half the Everglades into sprawling suburbs and sugar plantations. And though the southern Everglades was preserved as a national park, it soon deteriorated into an ecological mess. The River of Grass stopped flowing, and 90 percent of its wading birds vanished.
Now America wants its swamp back. Grunwald shows how a new breed of visionaries transformed Everglades politics, producing the $8 billion rescue plan. That plan is already the blueprint for a new worldwide era of ecosystem restoration. And this book is a cautionary tale for that era. Through gripping narrative and dogged reporting, Grunwald shows how the Everglades is still threatened by the same hubris, greed and well-intentioned folly that led to its decline.
Michael Grunwald is a reporter at The Washington Post. He has won the George Polk Award for national reporting, the Worth Bingham Prize for investigative reporting, and many other awards. He lives in Miami with his wife, Cristina Dominguez.
Visit his website at www.michaelgrunwald.com.
Customer Reviews:
A lively and thorough history of how we ruined the Everglades.......2007-08-29
This book provides a history of south Florida since European settlement, with the emphasis on the problems of swamp drainage in the former Everglades and the struggle to preserve a small part of the ecosystem in national parks and wildlife refuges. Grunwald has done a good job of research, and unlike many journalists he reads extensively in addition to interviewing people. The book is both informative and a lively read despite its length.
Grunwald's story revolves around draining lands for agriculture and for (sub)urban development in South Florida. The history of Everglades National Park, which occupies only a small part of the Everglades ecosystem, provides a secondary theme.
Grunwald starts, and ends, with the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan of 2000, an $8 billion project that ostensibly would save the Everglades. The CERP is ultimately supposed to increase water flows to the national park, but this comes at significant ecological cost. To obtain passage, supporters of CERP had to front-load the economic benefits while postponing the environmental benefits for five decades. The economic benefits include enough new water for six million new residents, continued sugar subsidies, and support for continued urban development.
Grunwald doesn't take a position on the CERP but makes clear why it was politically feasible while more serious plans would not have been. Whether half (or a fourth) of a loaf is better than none in this case is an open question.
Ironically, CERP was signed during the Florida recount in the 2000 presidential election. As it turns out, Al Gore was a major supporter of the bill though many environmentalists opposed it as inadequate. Those environmentalists voted for Nader instead, which swung Florida to George W. Bush. Thus, the story in this book is not just important for Florida and the Everglades but for the next eight years of American politics as well.
Grunwald tells the whole story well. Highly recommended.
If you're looking for one book on the Everglades, this is it........2007-06-10
I wanted a single book that gave as complete a picture as possible of the Everglades and its history. This book was exactly what I needed. Grunwald's research seems comprehensive, and his writing gives you a very strong sense of the Glades and the people and politics that have shaped its history. Really well done. Just very impressive. Cannot recommend highly enough if you have an interest in the swamp.
River of Grass.......2007-05-08
Beautifully written in wave after wave of unlocated metaphor, THE SWAMP by Michael Grunwald evokes both today's divided Everglades while casting back a fond if wary look at the original marsh 19th century "settlers" sought to tame with the aid of then up to date marvels of engineering.
The Army Corps of Engineers, under Herbert Hoover, finally got the Everglades halfway under control, but in the process of doing so, they nearly destroyed irrevocably the delicate, if rambunctious, ecosystem that made it healthy environmentally. In the span of thirty years millions of people swarmed into the recovered "Dutch-ized" landfills of southern Florida, a region larger than many European nations, and these people crucified the marsh on a cross of drought.
Thanks to activists like Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who Grunwald tells us gave up sex in 1917 to concentrate on writing and direct political action, the relevant agencies of the Federal government eventually saw the widsom in reversing their pro-development policies. Today a concerted effort is being made to turn back the hands of time and get rid of some of the benighted improvements in the Everglades, letting nature take its own course. Wow, with the brouhaha over the Katrina levees and now this book, I am getting a very dim impression of the Army Corps, can't they do anything right?
Potent........2007-01-25
Potent story about man's attempt to drain the Everglades (it's a marsh, by the way, not a swamp), beginning with conquests over Seminoles in the early 1800s and running through our recent billion-dollar attempts at restoration (means "undoing all the damage we've wrought in the past 200 years"). You can't read this book without being amazed at how dirty politics can be, how greedy men can be, and how absolutely power and money corrupts. It's also astounding how optimistic we have been, and for how long, about how possible it is to drain the Everglades and how great the benefits are. Related, and also featured in Grunwald's tale: just how crappy we are at estimating and project management.
Here's the story in a nutshell: We've been trying to remove water, rout Indians and mosquitoes, and grow crops on these wetlands for 200 years, through an incredible series of mis-steps and failures. Eventually we overcome and the marsh succumbs to development. Only we discover that it's an ecological disaster -- there's no hurricane protection, the water table is falling and becoming salty, Okeechobee is putrid, there are constant fights over water distribution, all the species are becoming extinct, and we're looking at the prospect of having to put much of it back the way it was at 100 times the expense. You won't be able to put this book down, but it'll leave you depressed and shaking your head.
I dare you to read it and then watch An Inconvenient Truth.
read the book then visit the everglades.......2007-01-10
Great book, as all the above reviews have already covered. I grew up in Miami during the seventies and was lucky enough to get to explore the fresh and salt waters of the Glades. The very discouraging thing this book points out is that all of us who thought the "restoration" was happening will be shocked to learn of the woeful inadequacies in the plan.
No, the glades is not saved, it's in as much danger as ever. It's also still an exquisitely beautiful place that you have to take the time to visit. The majesty of the everglades reveals itself sometimes in the smallest details and at other times in the grandest displays of color and life you've ever seen. To really appreciate the land you have to spend time on it. Bug and heat management are the big things to control when you visit - Winter's a great time.
Read the book, then visit the park.
Average customer rating:
- Et tu, Brute
- Excellent exploration into human nature
- Murder in the Wild South
- the death of an emperor
- Superbly Crafted
|
Killing Mister Watson
Peter Matthiessen
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Lost Man's River
-
Bone by Bone
-
Totch: A Life in the Everglades
-
Far Tortuga: A Novel
-
The Everglades: River of Grass (Special 50th Anniversary Edition)
ASIN: 0679734058
Release Date: 1991-07-30 |
Book Description
Drawn from fragments of historical fact, Matthiessen's masterpiece brilliantly depicts the fortunes and misfortunes of Edgar J. Watson, a real-life entrepreneur and outlaw who appeared in the lawless Florida Everglades around the turn of the century.
Customer Reviews:
Et tu, Brute.......2006-11-03
Peter Matthiessen describes his character. "First time you seen the man, you wanted him to like you---he was that kind."
Similar praises were most likely sung for the likes of Napoleon, Lincoln, JFK, Julius Caesar, Malcolm X, St. Joan, Socrates and even Il Duce. Seems like we always want to place a charismatic leader especially high on the pedestal so he has all the farther to fall. So, it is with Mr. Watson. He is smart, sexy, charming, and hard working. He is also very tough, can handle a knife and gun. He can shoot the mustache off a sheriff at 100 yards. No, you don't want to get this guy mad at you. Mister Watson. Whether you fear him or love him---- woman have been know to take one look at him and drop their drawers ----as long as that power provides some benefit to you and yours, you want him around. When he drinks too much, earns too much, roughs up too much, you look the other way. But when he loses his power, you shoot him full of lead. You use handguns, rifles, and buck shot. Even get the "youngins" into the act. You slay the mighty Goliath and then you string him up by the toes and drag his body through the muddy swamps. Tear his pretty face off his head. Bury him in a shallow grave with a noose tied to the tree of liberty so that it may be refreshed by this natural piece of manure.
Mister Watson. We're not sure of what you are guilty, but we know you must be guilty of something.
Bang.
Excellent exploration into human nature.......2004-12-23
It took me a few chapters to get totally hooked on this narrative. At first, I wondered why I'd want to read a book that gave the ending in the first few paragraphs as well as in its title. Soon, though, I realized that not only is this a well-written historical novel about the early years of Florida's development, it's a haunting exploration into the nature of human beings. How all of Mr. Watson's acquaintances, neighbors, and even family members are influenced by his personality, his actions, the stories that are written about him, the inuendos that float about, and how all of this confusion results in his death, all combine to make an amazingly thoughtful story. This book still occupies a corner of my mind, weeks after I've finished it.
Murder in the Wild South.......2003-10-17
As the title implies, this is the story of a murder, one committed in the Florida Everglades in 1910. The book opens with a description of the death of Edgar J Watson, a pioneer homesteader, at the hands of a mob of his neighbours, who believe him to have been responsible for a number of killings that have taken place in the area. It then proceeds to tell Watson's story through the eyes of those who knew him, each chapter being related by a different narrator to the previous one. Interspersed with these are a number of brief chapters related by the author himself, assuming the role of a historian trying to find out the truth about what he calls the "Watson legend". (Watson was, in fact, a real person, and, although this is a work of fiction, it is based around historical events.)
The one voice we do not hear in the course of this novel is that of Watson himself; he is always referred to in the third person, never in the first. As a result of Mr Matthiessen's multiple-narrator technique, the truth about Watson's character and the events surrounding him, even those following his move to Florida, remains ambiguous. (We hear rumours, but no direct testimony, about his previous life in several other states). Was Watson good or evil, or a mixture of the two? Was his death the work of a vindictive lynch mob or justifiable killing in self-defence? Was he really guilty of the murders attributed to him, or the victim of unjustified suspicion? Mr Matthiessen never gives a final answer to these questions, but allows the reader to decide for himself or herself. Certainly, the various narrators disagree among themselves; while some clearly hate Watson, others point to his good qualities- his love for his family, his capacity for hard work, his honesty in his business dealings. Although this is the story of a murder, it bears little resemblance to the conventional whodunit, in which there is always a Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple to act as deus ex machina and to reveal the truth to the reader and to the other characters. Rather, it is more similar to a real-life crime, in which all concerned, be they witnesses, police officers, prosecutor, defender, judge and jury have to try to make sense of a mass of conflicting evidence and testimony.
The air of ambiguity with which Mr Matthiessen invests his narrative would, in some books, be a weakness; here, it is a strength. By allowing his characters to tell the story in their own words, with no omniscient narrator to give the definitive version of events, he is able to achieve a greater depth and complexity than would be possible with a conventional third-person narrative. Although Watson is an enigmatic character, he is nevertheless a powerfully-drawn and memorable one.
Equally powerful is the description of the novel's setting. The dense, steamy, low-lying mangrove forests and swamps which made up much of Southern Florida in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were very different geographically to the high plains, deserts and mountains of the Wild West, but in cultural terms they had much in common. Both had only recently been settled by white settlers, who brought with them a culture that incorporated much of the best and the worst in American society. The best- the virtues of independence, self-reliance and hard work. The worst- the lawlessness, the obsession with honour, the willingness to settle all disputes at gunpoint, the racialism directed against both blacks and Indians. Florida today may be America's vacationland; a hundred years ago, it was the Wild South, the last remaining frontier on the east coast, a place where man was not yet in full control, where Watson and those like him struggled to make a living in the face of a hostile nature. (A hurricane plays an important part in the final turn of events in the book).
In this book, Mr Matthiessen has succeeded in the creation of a highly believable fictional world, with a fascinating character at its centre. A novel well worth reading.
the death of an emperor.......2003-09-22
edgar j. watson was voted one of the 50 most important people in the state of florida. he was a pioneer, who built his emipre in florida. he was brave, ruthless, tireless, corrupt and muderous. readers reconize his traits in so many of the empire builders who have followed him to florida. in researching south florida history, it is an honor to know peter and many of the relatives in this book.
Superbly Crafted.......2002-12-06
In novels displaying typical craftsmanship, assigning names to characters who may have little bearing on the story is avoided-why confuse the reader unnecessarily! But in Matthiessen's tale in which each chapter is told from the perspective of one person, numerous names of brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, cross-breeds and others are given time and again, all the while the focus is kept on just who is Mr. Watson and what makes him tick. There may be some confusion here, but it's of the type that comes from sitting on the porch across from someone who is telling you his or her story, and you realize there isn't a need to always interrupt and request the person identify every incidental person who shows up in the tale. Rather, you are taken in by the great story overall and by the teller, who turns out to be quite an interesting character himself. This is the case with `Killing Mister Watson.' Moreover, this maze of characters and their various contrasting views on Edgar Watson tend to further illuminate the geographical flavor of South Florida which Matthiessen describes as `labyrinthine.' Just as it is easy to become lost among the mangroves and the rivers, so is it equally difficult to decipher the truths and falsehoods of the folks who lived there around the turn of the twentieth century and knew Mister Watson. I liked this book. I liked it a lot.
Average customer rating:
- New to this author
- Never been to Florida
- a competent mystery but a bit over-cooked..
- Everglades a nice return to a series I had abandoned
- Good read
|
Everglades
Randy Wayne White
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Series
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Suspense
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Series
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Suspense
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Shark River
-
Ten Thousand Islands
-
Tampa Burn (White, Randy Wayne)
-
The Mangrove Coast (Prime Crime Mysteries)
-
North of Havana
ASIN: 0425196860
Release Date: 2004-06-01 |
Book Description
Doc Ford returns to his stilt house on Dinkin's Bay to find an old friend and one-time lover waiting for him. Her real estate developer husband has disappeared and been pronounced dead. She's sure there's worse to follow--and she's right. Ford follows the trail deep into the Everglades, where a shady character and his get-rich-quick scheme are about to put both of their lives on the endangered list.
Customer Reviews:
New to this author.......2006-08-12
This is the first book I've read by Randy Wayne White, and I'm not impressed, nor will I be looking for his books in the future. The plot is loosely defined and the characters hard to care about. White's descriptions are too wordy, and several of the characters--including Ford--are preachy and lecture too much. Much of what must be White's beliefs leak into this book's dialogues, and it brings the book's mood down. Also, the ending appeared be an attempt to scramble around tying up loose ends. Given the subject and setting--the Florida Everglades--this could have been a delightful read, but unfortunately, it isn't.
Never been to Florida.......2006-03-04
I sailed into RWW a little over a year ago and have since been hooked. Eventhough this is a fin over the top, I found myself drowning with delight in Tomlinson. Tommy-san has become essential to this series, like lime in that Cuba Libre.
"Pain is an inescapable part of human experience. misery is an option". Where do I get a copy of ONE FATHOM ABOVE SEA LEVEL?
a competent mystery but a bit over-cooked.........2005-10-31
'Everglades' by Randy Wayne White generally delivers on his promise of providing an competent crime story in a Florida setting, complete with quirky characters and plot twists. The prose is decent, and (most of) the characters are well drawn. But this reader found himself largely bored with it all. Why?
Firstly, the heart of the story is a bit simplistic. Mysterious death of rich man who had recently been absorbed into the folds of a corrupt religious cult is investigated by a private eye and the familiar (to Randy Wayne White novels) 'Doc' Ford. Sprinkle it a lot of narrative about the Everglades, its history, and its ecology and ... that's it. Too much filler, not enough beef. And the story itself gave me a sense of deja vu; low marks on originality.
Secondly, the Doc Ford character is very tiresome. This middle-aged macho, intelligent, super-lover scientist cum investigator dude has developed into a laughable parody of Indiana Jones. Randy Wayne White would be well-advised to retire Doc Ford and create a character that is more real.
Lastly, the book seems to take itself too seriously. Randy Wayne White needs to inject a bit more humor and crisper dialogue into his novels. No, he needn't be a clone of Carl Hiaasen. But rather he can learn from the likes of Pelacanos and Lehane on how to keep the reader's interest by injecting some wit at unexpected times.
Bottom line: a disappointingly slow read.
Everglades a nice return to a series I had abandoned.......2004-12-08
I have been a fan of Randy Wayne White since I first read his columns in Outside magazine. I loved the early books in the Doc Ford series, but felt that they took a dark and offensively misogynist turn somewhere around North of Havana. I stopped reading them after The Mangrove Coast. I joked to a friend that the author must be going through a nasty divorce or something, because he seemed to have a compelling need to torture, maim, and/or kill every female character in his books. However, a friend who shared my love of the early books and has continued to read the subsequent books, gave me a copy of Everglades, saying that she thought I would like this one. She was right. I did like it. And I especially appreciated that the main female character didn't die, or lose a limb, or become permanently disfigured. I liked it enough that I'm going to give the author's latest book, Tampa Burns, a try.
Good read.......2004-03-05
This new installment in the Doc Ford series is a good one, and
it is well worth reading. Some characteristics of a few of the
leading characters are a bit over the top, and that can be a bit
much, but in general, the mystery is well developed and moves
along nicely.
Here, Doc returns to his home-on-stilts to find an old girl friend waiting on him, and she uses his shoulder to cry on, telling about the disappearance of her husband. And, lo-and-behold, right that minute, she tells him she is being followed by someone who is right then hiding in the mangrove, watching them. Doc pulls a trick to get out of sight and sneak up on the
watcher, and they have a tough run-in that results in a strange
friendship, as they both want to help the lady in distress.
While trying to locate the missing husband, they run into a strange, power-hungry religious guru, who seems to be putting together a genuine cult, and they begin to suspect the man's disappearance has some connection with his interest in the new
religion.
Of course, this leads to another strange, unexpected meeting, this time with a small group of Seminole indians who turn out to
have a bizarre connection with Doc.
There is a lot of action here, with many characters--and we do
mean "characters" in this one--and there are plenty of death and
natural phenonomon to interest most readers.
As a slight criticism, many readers will find almost too much
history of Florida and their native Indian tribes here, and
while a part of the story, these elements almost take off on
their own, diverting our interest from the mystery.
But the author knows his subject, and he seemingly can't quite
get his mind fully on the mystery he is writing because of his
on-going strong interest in the history of his home region.
But this is plenty of action for anyone, with romance along for the ride, and this is a genuine interesting addition to the Doc
Ford series.
Amazon.com
Originally published in 1947, The Everglades was one of those rare books, like Uncle Tom's Cabin and Silent Spring, to have an immediate political effect: it helped draw public attention to a vast and little-known area that South Florida developers had deemed a worthless swamp and were busily draining, damming, and remaking, and it mustered needed public support for President Harry Truman's controversial order, later that year, to protect more than 2 million acres as Everglades National Park.
Remote and seldom visited, the Everglades nonetheless had a rich human history: several Native American peoples, Spanish explorers, French and English pirates, runaway slaves, and Anglo trappers and fishermen all came to this limestone basin and made their lives among its slowly moving water and fast-growing sawgrass. It is this human history, more than the life histories of the Everglades' deer, panthers, scorpions, serpents, and alligators, that occupies most of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas's pages; even so, her lyrical if sometimes sentimental account of the area's flora and fauna makes for fine reading.
Douglas died in 1998 at the age of 107, having done more than any other one person to protect this magnificent portion of wild America. Anyone wishing to continue her good work--and to understand the Everglades' importance in the shape of things--will find great riches in her book. --Gregory McNamee
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful update!.......2007-05-15
I had read an earlier printing of this classic book, and I knew that it was an invaluable resource of information and a well-written narrative. The 50th anniversary edition has excellent updates about developments in the Everglades and the maps are much more readable than my earlier version. I was very pleased.
Two Books in One.......2005-07-28
Last winter, I purchased River of Grass at the National Park Service's store at Shark Valley in the Everglades. It was recommended by the tour guide. I visit Miami about once a year and always hope to have the opportunity to visit the Everglades. I have known that they are a very special, spiritual place on the edge of a huge city.
However, River of Grass has helped me better understand the unique place that this wilderness holds. It is an ancient area that was the sight of much fighting, greed, and sorrow. It is one of the very few places left where the Native American people fought and, to some degree, won. This, in and of itself, is fascinating. There is a deep and ancient culture that Ms. Douglas discusses and explains with great beauty and respect.
And then there is the River itself. The Everglades have been the sight of some of the most contentious environmental battles in North America. Ms. Douglas identifies the warring parties and comes down firmly in the camp of the environmentalists. This adds a great deal of power and conviction to the book.
I strongly recommend this book if you have an interest in South Florida beyond the beaches and the tourist sights.
Marvelous.......2003-02-20
What a readable and fascinating history of the wonderful State of Florida! I enjoyed every minute of the story of the struggle to conquer the environment and mold it to the white man's idea of a civilized place. Sadly, I am not convinced the developers will allow the Everglades to exist much longer. I am grateful to have lived in a time when its wonders are still available to me.
"Mother of the Everglades".......2002-03-20
That's how most of us in Florida referred to Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Long honored by the state and then by the nation a few years before she died in 1998, she was a living legend in the South Florida environmental movement. Within a few miles of where I live there's a school, a park, a long section of highway and the Biscayne Nature Center, all of which are named after this grand old lady.
And grand and old she was. One of the most amazing facts about her life is the way it seems to have paralleled the recent history of the Everglades itself. Consider this. The first real encroachment of the Everglades began in 1890 when settlers started draining the area around the Kissimmee river. This was just 10 years before Douglas was born. When she wrote THE EVERGLADES: RIVER OF GRASS in 1947 she was 57 years old. The book played a huge part in creating public awareness about the vital importance of the area and was the prime impetus for the creation of the Everglades National Park. Douglas was in fact there when Harry Truman officially opened the park in late 1947. She was still around to receive an honor from president Clinton in 1993. Most incredibly she lived to see the publishing of this - the Fiftieth Anniversary edition of her best known book - dying shortly after at the age of 108! One of the salient points to note about this edition is that it offers an added chapter by another writer titled "Coming Together" which highlights some of the recent progress being made in reversing the damage done to the Everglades watershed area. Progress which can trace it's origins back decades ago to the constant cajoling and inspiration of one Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Never has the saying "Life imitates Nature" been any truer.
Douglas's original book is in keeping with the times it was written in. A natural history of the Everglades with a heavy emphasis on wildlife and the local culture, written in a simple straightforward style. This "just-the-facts" approach is used when recounting the early history of the area, giving names and dates of conquerors and explorers. The writing style occasionally feels a bit dry but these moments quickly pass as we get so caught up in reading about history by someone who was themselves a bit of living history.
A must-read for fans of the Everglades.......2000-04-11
Everglades National Park is one of the country's mostfascinating wilderness areas, and is quite possibly the best place forviewing wildlife on the entire North American continent. It's amazing that such a park can exist right next to one of our biggest and fastest-growing urban areas, and in a region that draws millions of visitors every year. The fact that it exists at all in the face of so much human pressure is a testament to the efforts of Marjory Stoneman Douglas and others, and to the influence of this book.
Still, for the most part, this book is a conventional dates-and-events human history of South Florida rather than an argument for environmental protection. The environmental theme doesn't really get going until after the Civil War, well past the middle of the book, when draining the Everglades was first proposed, and it isn't until "The Eleventh Hour," the final chapter of the original edition, that the book becomes an impassioned plea for saving the wilderness. A final chapter added in 1987 brings the story into our era, continues the catalog of degradation, and makes the key point that most of the forces that threaten the Everglades flourish outside the boundaries of the National Park.
I confess that I found the historical narrative a bit dull in places, though it's hard to imagine a more colorful cast of characters than the conquistadors, pirates, hardy Native Americans, escaped slaves, adventurers, poachers, speculators and old-time politicians who all play a part in the story. Nevertheless, "River of Grass" is still the best history of South Florida, and should be on the reading list of anyone who wants something a little more substantial than the tourist guides and coffee-table fluff that dominate the shelf of books about the region.
Book Description
One of the most complete guides ever written to this popular cruising area, 256 pages, 129 photos, 56 sketch charts, street maps, GPS waypoints and course lines to aid in navigation, covering Biscayne Bay, Hawk Channel, the shallow inside route, including the area from Miami to Key West and on to the Dry Tortugas, the Marquesas, Flamingo, Everglades City and points between. This book has all the information you will need to find the best places for snorkeling and diving, fishing, beaches, entertainment and sightseeing. It also includes a practical, black and white pull-out chart with course lines, locations of anchorages, marinas and other facilities. 1997 ISBN No. 0-918752-24-8
Book Description
Where Vacations Meet Adventures! First, Hidden Florida Keys and Everglades reviews the destination’s famed attractions. Then (more importantly!) it invites the reader to go further to “Hidden” spots other guides overlook, including small inns and local restaurants. The guide also focuses on outdoor adventures with detailed information on beaches, parks, and outdoor activities. Special traveler-friendly features include hidden spots, author’s favorite picks, getaway itineraries, driving and walking tours, websites and e-mail addresses, and multiple scaled maps that zoom in on each area. Hidden Florida Keys and Everglades leads to cozy inns in Key West, sunset cruises in the Keys, and wildlife viewing in the Everglades. The author offers recommendations and opinionated reviews for over 87 restaurants and over 97 hotels. This updated edition includes 11 maps.
Customer Reviews:
Florida Keys very good info .......2007-03-09
Took this book on our trip and found it to be very helpful. Loved reading the history or background, gives you a better understanding of how and why before you visit the sites. Restaurant recommendations were spot on. If I had to change anything, I would be more specific on location of restaurants. Instead of saying go towards ocean and turn; street names would be beneficial as a lot of the streets cross in different directions. Otherwise, a great book to have for your trip.
Very Informative.......2007-02-17
This book contains a great deal of info on towns, things to do, restaurants, and areas off the beaten path. It will definitely come in handy for my trip to the Keys.
Never left my side.......2005-07-08
Our vacation in the Keys wouldn't have been so amazing had we not bought this book. Everything we did, ate, and enjoyed came from a recommendation found within the pages of this easy to read and user-friendly guide. The references to ocean-side vs. gulf-side made it simple to locate desitinations and the "hidden" secrets made our vacation like a scavenger hunt.
"Buried Treasure".......2005-02-18
Not every guidebook on the keys would feature such an unassuming place as Jim and Val's Tugboat Restaurant in Key Largo. Jim and Val's Tugboat is one of the true "buried treasures" of Florida, and this guidebook has enough sense to put it in bold. Wonder if we'll see the place over-run by "foodies" who will go anywhere to try something new.
Long ago, pirates prowled the waters around the keys, and nowadays, it's chic to blame the congestion of the keys on tourists, but sometimes it's just people drawn to the good food (like the steak poivre which is simply out of this world) or people trying to find out what drew poet Wallace Stevens back, year after year, to the Key West hotel about which he wrote such a haunting poem. This guidebook will be a nice souvenir for you, even if you haven't been in Key Largo for some time. It will bring it all back to you--the salty creosote smell, the cerise skies that turn inky at night, the stars that twinkle right above your head--you can almost catch one by the toe.
Awesome!.......2004-08-11
I own a whole library worth of travel books and this is one of my favorites! Great suggestions for things to do and places to see. Plus her style of writing is very engaging. I really found it helpful in the Keys!!
Book Description
Patrick Smith's fans have welcomed this volume containing two of his acclaimed novels.
Forever Island tells the story of Charlie Jumper, a Seminole Indian who clings to the ancient ways and teaches them to his grandson. When their simple existence is threatened by developers, Charlie fights back.
Allapattah is the story of a young Seminole in despair in the white man's world. Allapattah means crocodile, a creature that becomes Toby Tiger's obsession and that he must wrestle to set himself free.
Book Description
ollowing last year's successful The Haunted Air, F. Paul Wilson returns with another riveting episode in the saga of Repairman Jack, the heroic loner. In Gateways, Jack heads south upon learning that his father is in a coma after a car accident in Florida. In the hospital he meets his father's neighbor, Anya Mundy. Anya takes Jack back to Dad's senior community, Gateways South, which borders on the Everglades, where for the past year someone has died violently every three months. His father's car accident-a hit and run-was three months after the last death. A young woman named Semelee who lives in the Everglades senses that Jack is 'special,' like her. The Everglades lagoon where Semelee and her clan live has a deep sinkhole that emits eerie light twice a year, at the equinoxes. Semelee can control creatures of the Everglades and has been using them to 'sacrifice' some-one from Gateways South every three months. Jack discovers a surprise ally in his father (miraculously recovered from his coma thanks to Anya). There's a smashing, powerful climax when Jack and Dad meet Semelee and the creatures of the Everglades.
Customer Reviews:
Jack goes to Florida.......2007-06-12
This here is 7th Repairman Jack novel, and the first to leave the New York City area Jack makes his home ground. Responding to a emergency with his father, Jack travels south and gets involved with deformed Southerners. Excellent ending to this one, while Jack fights the Otherness in the midst of hurricane Elvis.
GATEWAYS to GREAT READING!.......2007-05-27
Now this is the way to write terrific and superior action/adventure!
F. Paul Wilson's 7th Repairman Jack novel is much better than the last one - The Haunted Air - with Jack finally getting away from New York and going into the wilds of Florida's Everglades. A fantastic setting for a fantastic romp full of misfits and witches hiding out in a secret locale in the Glades, coming out every three months to prey on senior citizens in a nearby old folks home called - Gateways.
Here is probably the best all around adventure since the 1st novel - The Tomb. Jack helps his dad who is the next victim for the magical misfits of the hidden Glades, thus giving the readers an inside look at Jack's dad, Tom. And he is so much more than he seems! And eventually, he and Jack team up to battle the forces of evil during a hurricane.
Gateways never lets up, never gets dull. And F. Paul Wilson never gives his fans rehash from previous novels. (Something another writer who pens the Outlanders series must learn.)
But like literary giants of this genre such as James Rollins and Laurence James and Brian Lumley, just to name a few, F. Paul Wilson always seems to deliver all-new material with each and every new novel. Never rehash!
There is much mystery and suspence here to balance the action and adventure, with rich characterizations of both Good AND Evil. Something you don't often find.
The plot and pace reach and peak finale here, with Jack finally cementing his estranged relationship with his colorful dad, revealing his identity and the truth of his revenge upon his murdered mother. Great stuff, this!
If you love top-notch storytelling, along with ever-growing characterizations, as well as hair-raising action and adventure with touches of sci-fi-horror-fantasy, then this series is for you.
But according to the sales rankings, the high-mark reviews, it seems that the vast majority of people already know. And that my wife and I are the late-comers. But better late than never, eh?
Hollywood and/or cable TV conglomerates really outta take a look at this awesome series, and think about making it a major motion picture movie event. It would make a mint!
We can't wait to read the next installment of Repairman Jack.
High Voltage Thriller.......2007-05-17
This entry in the Repairman Jack series doesn't feature quite as many of the usual set piece where Jack helps people get even, but it doesn't need them either. The strength of this book comes in the exploration of Jack's relationship with his father, which is brought about when Jack's elderly dad is injured in a car accident in Florida. The Everglades makes for a great setting in this latest battle with The Otherness, while the colorful cast of characters and action-packed adventure make this book well worth reading.
Repairman Jack in the wilderness.......2007-05-07
Repairman Jack's got a family problem. His father has been in a car crash and is in a coma in Florida. Despite the fact that for the last 15 years he has had little to do with his family Jack braves a commercial flight to go down and help his dad - however for Jack there are no more coincidences, even far away from his beloved New York.
This is a family centric Repairman Jack novel. It was interesting to find out more about his father, but compared to some other instalments in the series it was quite laid back. Despite that, it's a book I enjoyed and makes me want to read the next book in the series.
Jack is back!!.......2007-02-23
I won't bother to talk about the plot since it's covered by all the previous comments, but I do want to say that "Jack is back!" (and I don't mean Jack Bauer). I've read all the previous six Jack novels and Wilson has yet to run out of steam.
This may sound strange, but I would like to see F. Paul Wilson do a Jack novel without the supernatural element, where Jack just does his "repairs" on the bad guys ala Equalizer/Godfather style. Most of his books have such subplots unrelated to the main supernatural one, and I find these quite entertaining. I bet Wilson could pull it off.
Average customer rating:
- A 5th Grade's Class Review
- A spectacular environmental story
- The Everglades
|
Everglades
Jean Craighead George
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Nonfiction
| Earth Sciences
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Nonfiction
| Environment & Ecology
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Fiction
| Environment
| Nature
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Nonfiction
| Environment
| Nature
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 4-8
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
George, Jean Craighead
| ( G )
| Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 4-8
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
George, Jean Craighead
| ( G )
| Authors & Illustrators, A-Z
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Earth Sciences
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Environment & Ecology
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Fiction
| Environment
| Nature
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Environment
| Nature
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Welcome to the River of Grass
-
The Missing 'Gator of Gumbo Limbo
-
Everglades Forever: Restoring America's Great Wetland
-
The Talking Earth
-
The Everglades: River of Grass (Special 50th Anniversary Edition)
ASIN: 0064461947 |
Book Description
A lyrical creation tale of the Florida Everglades with stunning landscapes by Wendell Minor.
Customer Reviews:
A 5th Grade's Class Review.......2001-10-18
We just finished reading EVERGLADES by Jean Craighead George. The storyteller was a great idea. His words really caught our attention. This book, even though it was about real life, read like a fictional story. We especially liked the way Ms. Craighead George used various synonyms to express just how many creatures were in the Everglades in the beginning. In addition to the colorful language, the incredible illustrations by Wendell Miner made the book come to life. Above all, we learned we should respect nature. A great reading experience!
A spectacular environmental story.......2001-02-15
Another spectacular picture book from one of today's greatest writing/illustrating teams, EVERGLADES isn't just a story--it's an epic, one begun thousands of years ago, when water carved this spectacular ecosystem in Florida. Jean Craighead George, author of over eighty remarkable nature books for young readers, lends awe-inspiring power to the pages of the book, while Wendell Minor's lush, colorful illustrations beautifully depict this environment, full of wildlife and vitality. The book, like Ms. George's many others, also has an important lesson to tell. In JULIE OF THE WOLVES, we see the importance of Alaska's North Slope to the animals that inhabit this seemingly bleak, barren landscape (this area is now in danger of more oil line construction). In FRIGHTFUL'S MOUNTAIN (third in the MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN trilogy), we come to know the threatened peregrine falcon, and the many threats humans have posed to it. In EVERGLADES, one feels a strong admiration toward this magnificent, but, sadly, endangered environment, and those who, like me, have never visited it, will surely long to see it for themselves. The narration is moving and fascinating, as a Seminole Indian describes to a group of children the evolution of the Florida Everglades, and inspires them to fight to help it survive. When one visits the Everglades, they will want to see the alligators, wetlands, and panthers of Mr. Minor's paintings. If you enjoy EVERGLADES, you'll fall in love with other spectacular George/ Minor collaborations, such as ARCTIC SON, the story of Ms. George's grandson who lives at the northernmost point in Alaska. As he grows up, he learns about the Inupiat Eskimos who make their home there and the tundra land around him. Mr. Minor's illustrations are quite lovely, and there's as much snow and ice in ARCTIC SON as there was grass and water in EVERGLADES. There's also MORNING, NOON, AND NIGHT, which focuses on the day-to-day lives of different animals throughout the U.S. The text it written very poetically, and Mr. Minor's illustrations of raccoons, seals, antelope, and birds are full of warmth and inspiration. And next year, a new book entitled LONESOME GEORGE will be published. This is about the famous, oldest Galapagos tortoise. Ms. George has also written a new young adult book about the Okefenokee Swamp, which is sure to be as full of environmental splendor as EVERGLADES. I can't wait to see them.
The Everglades.......2000-04-11
Jean Craighead George has done it again! What a wonderful perspective and simple telling of the history of the Everglades. As told by a Seminole Indian to the children, this story (and wonderful illustrations) produces a profound respect for the "River of Grass" and its future. As a teacher in Florida, this book was a fantastic read-aloud to my students during our unit on the Everglades. I also used George's other ecological mystery, Missing Gator of Gumbo Limbo, to study Florida's ecology.
Books:
- Star Wars - Boba Fett: Enemy of the Empire
- Sunshine and Shadow: A For Better or For Worse Collection
- Tales From Pixie Hollow 4 copy Box Set (Disney Fairies)(Trouble for Tink, Lily's Pesky Plant, Vidia and the Fairy Crown, Beck and the Great Berry Battle)
- Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives
- The Beach House
- The Bloomsday Dead: A Novel
- The Civil War: A Narrative Pea Ridge to the Seven Days War Means Fighting, Fighting Means Killing (Volume 2)
- The Dark Side of the Light Chasers
- The Encyclopedia of Trading Strategies
- The Enemy (Jack Reacher Novels)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- 1, 001 Gardening Secrets the Experts Never Tell You About
- Shaping Primate Evolution: Form, Function, and Behavior
- Solids and Surfaces: A Chemist's View of Bonding in Extended Structures
- The Lost Colony
- A Work of Heart : Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders
- Thus Was Adonis Murdered
- The Genius of Robert Adam: His Interiors
- SITE: Identity in Density
- Some flowering plants of south-eastern Botswana
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
A Three Dog Life
Moral Disorder: and Other Stories
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
A Spot of Bother (Vintage)
