The Seven Silly Eaters

Book Description

Peter wants only milk, Lucy won't settle for anything but homemade lemonade, and Jack is stuck on applesauce. Each new addition to the Peters household brings a new demand for a special meal.
What's a mother to do? Even though Mrs. Peters picks, peels, strains, scrapes, poaches, fries, and kneads, the requests for special foods keep coming. It isn't until her birthday arrives that a present from her children solves the problem with a hilarious surprise that pleases everyone.

Customer Reviews:

The Seven Silly Eaters.......2007-10-05

This adorable book about silly fussy eaters captivated the heart of my 3 year old granddaughter. She loves to listen to the antics of the silly eaters--mostly because she is one as well.

Pretty pictures, but stupid story. .......2007-09-06

I'm a teacher and can spot a good children's book when I read it, and this one is no good. It teaches children that it's ok to be picky, lazy, demanding and impulsive. It also teaches that cake is a good meal. The pictures are pretty, but that's not worth the ridiculous story.

Reminds me of my house!.......2007-07-12

I have 5 silly eaters in our house and this book has become a new family favorite. All the children love it. The pictures are wonderful.

fun!.......2007-05-23

My family's most beloved bedtime story! Fun, silly story; great drawings with lots of little hints to busy moms and dads, and a happy ending...perfect bedtime story!

One of our all-time favorites.......2007-01-11

This book is wonderful. My kids love it, and so do I. Any parent whose child has gone through a picky phase with eating will appreciate it. The illustrations are funny and the writing has a poetic quality. We all love this book.

Secrets of Dripping Fang, Book Seven: Please Don't Eat the Children (Secrets of Dripping Fang)

Average customer rating:

love this series

Secrets of Dripping Fang, Book Seven: Please Don't Eat the Children (Secrets of Dripping Fang)
Dan Greenburg
Manufacturer: Harcourt Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0152060472

Book Description

What can we expect from the next two brilliantly creepy books in the deliciously disturbing Dripping Fang series? Well, it’s probably a safe guess that they will be just as bizarre and frightfully fun as the others. And we could possibly surmise that they’ll take our two heroes, Wally and Cheyenne Shluffmuffin, back to the clutches of the show-tune-happy Hortense Jolly at the Jolly Days Orphanage, where odd adventures might ensue. Who knows, maybe even The Jackal (of international assassin fame) will make another appearance.

Nothing’s exactly for certain when it comes to these out-of-the-ordinary tales, but it’s definitely a fact that Dan Greenburg gets wackier and more inventive with each new installment.

Customer Reviews:

love this series.......2007-04-24

This book is about the Shfullmuffin twins and there adventures.
When the twins are sent back the Jolly Days Orphanage they might be adopted by some...ghouls? Unless there dad get 1500 dollars from a...troll?!?!(A violent one at that) Join the Shfullmuffin twin in there sixth adventure

Average customer rating:

enjoyable read
Fabulous Story of Murder, Love, and Jealousy Set on California's Central Coast
Seven Sisters is a page turner
--Old family secrets--
Love her!!

Seven Sisters (Benni Harper Mysteries)
Earlene Fowler
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0425179176
Release Date: 2001-04-10

Book Description

While trying to unravel a feuding family's tragic past, Benni uncovers a shocking pattern of tragedy-and stitches a hodgepodge of clues into a very disturbing design.

Customer Reviews:

enjoyable read.......2007-09-17

Seven Sisters is quite an enjoyable read. This book introduces some new characters to the Benni Harper series and makes for an mildly suspenseful read.

Fabulous Story of Murder, Love, and Jealousy Set on California's Central Coast.......2007-06-15

"Seven Sisters" is the seventh novel in the Benni Harper series. Benni Harper, a lifelong resident of the mythical Central california Coast town of San Celina, is a former cowgirl, a quilter, and now has a job as the curator of San Celina's folk art museum. Benni, who was widowed when her first husband died in a car accident, has been married to San Celina's cheif of police Gabe Ortiz for several years at the time of this story.

The story starts off with a bang when Gabe's nineteen-year-old son Sam tells Benni and Gabe that his girlfriend is pregnant, and they plan to marry. The story rapidly becomes very complicated when the identity of Sam's girlfriend is revealed. She is Bliss Girard, one of Gabe' rookie policewomen and, more importantly, a grand-daughter of the Brown family, one of the town's oldest and most powerful families. When one of the extended members of the Brown family is murdered at the engagement party for Sam and Bliss, the family struggles with the realization that there is most likely a murderer among them. As the police search for the murderer, the Brown family tries to keep all their secrets hidden. And Benni Harper struggles with trying to maintain a balance between her natural sleuthing capabilities and her role as the police chief's wife and future mother-in-law to one of the Brown family grand-daughters. Benni also experiences more than a touch of jealousy when Gabe's gorgeous ex-wife Lydia comes to San Celina to meet her son's fiancee.

The California setting is richly described with the conflicts between cattle ranching, horse racing, and grape growing.

Once I started this book, I couldn't put it down. As I mentioned above, "Seven Sisters" is the seventh book in this series but it was the first one that I've read. What a happy discovery to find a whole new series with a wonderful setting and a richly developed cast of characters. I'm looking forward to reading all the other books in this series!

Seven Sisters is a page turner.......2006-08-19

I started reading the Benni Harper mysteries "in the middle" of the series. I was hooked and immediately bought the whole series so I could follow the storyline thread. Her stories are very different from other mysteries with "predictable" plots but if I were to expand on that, I'd give away the unfolding of the Seven Sisters story. Actually, Earlene Fowler has a marvelous gift for drawing one into the lives of her characters. She makes me laugh, and provokes a "being there" frustration (empathic with Benni's frustration)with the events. Her stories are not all nice and neat - hey, life isn't nice and neat. But they aren't what I would call icky, gruesome and gory either. If she has written a series of "chick-lit" mysteries, it's chick-lit at it most fun. Her subject matter is also fascinating as a learning experience. That's from a fan who is nearly as old as Dove! Don't pull just one book (such as Seven Sisters) from the series - start at the beginning and become part of the community - flawed tho it may be. It's laugh-out-loud funny, snuggle-up-under a quilt comfort, confusing and unnerving chaos - and an absolutely marvelous read (even if, but please don't, read out of the series order). I'm so glad I discovered Benni Harper and her family and friends!

--Old family secrets--.......2002-10-20

This is the seventh book in the Benni Harper mystery series and takes place in San Celina, California.

Benni Harper the curator of the local folk art museum and her husband Police Chief Gabe Ortiz seem to have worked out a lot of their earlier marital problems when Sam, Gabe's son tells them that his girlfriend Bliss is pregnant. Bliss, happens to be a member of the very wealthy and influential Brown family.

Both families seem to rally around the young couple and even Gabe's beautiful ex-wife appears for the first time in this series. At a party celebrating Bliss and Sam's engagement, a Brown relative is found murdered. Benni tries not to become involved in the case, but is forced into helping by Ford Hudson the officer in charge of the homicide investigation.

This interesting story is a little darker than the other mysteries that Benni had been involved with and takes us into the tangled web of old family secrets and the truth about the seven sisters.

Love her!!.......2002-07-03

I love this series -- I am an unabashed fan. Even though I figured out the mystery very early on, I still enjoyed it very much.

Book Description

Once there were seven Chinese sisters who lived together and took care of each other. Each one had a special talent. When baby Seventh Sister is snatched by a hungry dragon, her loving sisters race to save her.

In Kathy Tucker's delightful update of a classic Chinese folk tale, each sister uses her talent in a surprising way to rescue baby Seventh Sister—and even Seventh Sister turns out to have an unexpected skill!

Customer Reviews:

My daughter loves this book!.......2007-01-09

We first came across this book at the library. My then 5 year old daughter always talked about it after we returned it, so we decided to buy it for her 6th birthday. She loves pretending to be made into soup for the dragon!It's a fun book with wonderful illustrations and a fun story.

Too hard to resist..........2006-10-27

The story of how seven sisters work together to brave the unknown danger and the known danger of a dragon is delightful. My two daughters love this story. My youngest wasn't interested in it as I started reading, but by the 3rd or 4th page, had put down her crayon and was watching and listening intently. The tale of sisters helping each other and that each has a different but equally valuable talent is a good lesson. Both my girls loved the colorful pictures. It has remained on the top of our read a loud pile for quite awhile...and even made it to school as a favored show and tell.

Agree it's not perfect, but we love it.......2006-06-19

This is one of those books my daughters and I read again and again. I agree with another reviewer that the tale is not particularly "tight" or super witty, but it's lovely and engaging (time after time). And the illustrations are fantastic.

Seven sisters must unite and each use her own special talent.......2003-04-20

The Seven Chinese Sisters is a merry rendition by Kathy Tucker of a classic Chinese folk tale. Seven sisters must unite and each use her own special talent when the youngest of them is taken away by a hungry dragon. Simple and colorful artwork by Grace Lin embellishes this adventurous story. The Seven Chinese Sisters will prove to be a popular and entertaining addition to any family, school, or community library children's folktale picture book collection.

Can-do sisters & great illustrations.......2003-03-22

In this all-girl version of the Chinese tall tale "The Seven Chinese Brothers," the sisters pool their amazing talents in order to save the seventh sister from a hungry dragon. First sister can "ride a scooter, fast as the wind," second sister knows karate, third sister can count to a high number...and so on. The story moves along quickly and works nicely for reading aloud.

As always, Grace Lin's illustrations are a visual treat--from the sisters' azure dresses to the bright red dragon to the textured background of green grasses and light blue sky. Her style is simple, yet rich with Chinese patterning and design.

There is a lot to like in this book with its model of strong can-do girls who use their heads, even in the face of a terrible dragon.

However, any update will invariably be compared to the original story, and here I find the "sisters" story seems a little more diluted and lacking in dramatic tension than its "brother" counterpart. In The Seven Chinese Brothers (by Margaret Mahy) the brothers use their superhuman powers to continuously outwit their would-be executioners. The pleasure in this book comes from being able to predict how each brother will outwit the adversary.

Though the sisters' talents complement each other nicely, the story is not as tightly crafted & the sense of anticipation is not as strong.

That said, both books are well reading to your children, as evidenced by my four-year-old daughter who asked me to read it over and over the first two days we had the book.

Customer Reviews:

Debra Excels Again.......2002-04-26

In FOR YOUR HEART ONLY, Debra once again pulls the reader deep into the lives of her characters. While weaving romance and intrigue in just the right balance, Debra tells a story that is hard to let go of when you are finished reading it.
Debra is a master at character development--creating characters with just enough flaws to make them completely human.
All of Debra's novels do more than tell a story. They also show how the characters grow spiritually. I highly recommend FOR YOUR HEART ONLY. It is a real page turner.

Average customer rating:

Finding the Super in the Natural
Real Life made Fascinating
Margaret's Melancoly Musings on Late Middle Age Angst
Trying to find fulfillment and happiness, late in life
Money does make a difference

The Seven Sisters
Margaret Drabble
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156028751

Amazon.com

It's hard to get across just how flat-out thrilling, how readable, how absorbing is Margaret Drabble's novel The Seven Sisters. It sounds positively dull when you describe it: Candida Wilton, a faculty wife of late middle age, has been dumped by her allegedly do-gooder husband. Her three daughters aren't too impressed with her, either. The mousy Candida decamps to an inglorious flat in London, where she measures out her time in visits to the health club, trips to the grocery store, and her weekly evening class on Virgil. She tentatively makes a few new friends and rediscovers some old ones. This opening section of the book, told in diary form, is a marvel of tone. With very little action, Drabble makes Candida's forays into the world quietly electrifying. One of her new pleasures is recording in her diary her mounting dislike of her ex-husband. You sense a giddy freedom: "Andrew had come to seem to me to be the vainest, the most self-satisfied, the most self-serving hypocrite in England. That kindly twinkle in his eyes had driven me to the shores of madness."

Ah, but there's more life for Candida yet. A small, unexpected inheritance is left to her, and so she organizes her friends--all female, mostly aged, mostly unmarried--into a tour of Naples as Virgil describes it in The Aeneid. Their holiday is a fictional tour-de-force: by turns a hilarious send-up of group dynamics, a metafictional lark, a feminist rant, and a dark acknowledgement of Candida's mortality. In the end, Drabble's novel is a very serious one, and a very good one. --Claire Dederer

Book Description

When circumstances compel her to start over late in her life, Candida Wilton moves from a beautiful Georgian house in lovely Suffolk to a two-room, walk-up flat in a run-down building in central London--and begins to pour her soul into a diary. Candida is not exactly destitute. So, is the move perversity, she wonders, a survival test, or is she punishing herself? How will she adjust to this shabby, menacing, but curiously appealing city? What can happen, at her age, to change her life?
In a voice that is pitch-perfect, Candida describes her health club, her social circle, and her attempts at risk-taking in her new life. She begins friendships of sorts with other women-widowed, divorced, never married, women straddled between generations. And then there is a surprise pension-fund windfall . . .
A beautifully rendered story, this is Margaret Drabble at her novelistic best.

Customer Reviews:

Finding the Super in the Natural.......2006-03-15

This is a spectacular book--but it may fool you, because it is quietly spectacular.

It's basically about death and rebirth--spiritual death and rebirth--but you only find this out gradually.

At first it just seems the (brilliant) musings of Candida Wilton, a fiftyish woman who has been dumped by her husband (who is the head of a pricy private school) for a younger model.

She uproots herself for London--penniless (or almost), friendless, jobless, childless, skill-less, and, it would seem, futureless.

Almost by accident, she takes a course on Virgil, then, thanks to an unexpected windfall, retraces part of Aeneas's journey from Carthage to the Sybil at Cumae. She takes with her five other women, some new, some old, and meets the astonishing Valeria; and these become the Seven Sisters of the title.

But the Seven Sisters are also a part of London she can see from her shabby apartment; and also a constellation she can see through her slightly flawed living room window.

And that's the way this novel works--by connecting. Connecting the past and the present, and building the future. By connecting unlikely people and building not only friendship but character. Connecting the present day with the ancient past and forming a huge perspective on civilization.

Drabble's character is a triumph. Candida writes a diary that, unwittingly, turns into a kind of poetry. Surprisingly, poetry is not so much a matter of expression as of observation.

And the book is full of unexpected twists and jolts--always moving into new thematic material, just when you thought it had finished.

The last (very short) part is called "A Dying Fall." This seems apt and almost anticlimactic, except that it perfectly ties off and rounds out the main theme, which is: even the most mundane things are miracles; it is only a question of jumping the fences and noticing them.

Real Life made Fascinating.......2005-07-27

I read all but eight pages of this book in an afternoon - and only stopped when I did because our dinner guests were at the front door. A fascinating analysis of an ordinary woman of a certain age (my age) who starts the unfamiliar process of recording her thoughts in an unfamiliar medium (her new laptop). Surely most of us are ordinary, but Margaret Drabble shows us that with some perseverence and introspection we can also be interesting. Candida, the protagonist, slowly tests herself in her new life alone, with small victories helping her develop her independence. Discovering how to buy a lottery ticket, or understanding that the homeless man is not an ogre are part of her journey through a difficult period in her life. Perhaps Candida is a boring person to some, but this book certainly isn't boring - it's one of the marks of a fine writer to make the ordinary and humdrum appealing, amusing and occasionally even exciting.

Margaret's Melancoly Musings on Late Middle Age Angst.......2005-03-02

Reading the opening sentence of THE SEVEN SISTERS "I have just got back from my Health Club", I was immediately drawn into this story. Having just joined a health club myself and being in the same age category as Drabble's protagonist I was intrigued and felt that I could certainly relate to her story and characters. Drabble is undoubtedly a well educated and intelligent author and her insights and observations are well stated. However, this is strictly a book for late middle aged women - and unhappy ones at that! So many of these book written by women about women of a certain age are filled with self absorption, loneliness and melancoly. Lest I sound too critical I did remain interested in this book and I think that I might like to read some of Drabble's earlier works - perhaps they might be a bit more uplifting.

Trying to find fulfillment and happiness, late in life.......2005-01-23

The first third of this book is so unassuming, even (shudder) "quaint" and "old-fashioned," that I was jarred both by the sudden change in fortune for the storyteller and by the three drastic changes in point of view that cause one to question the very truthfulness of the narrator. There is a reason for this ploy: while certainly a novel about growing old, "The Seven Sisters" is, above all, about a woman who is struggling, late in life, to find her voice.

Candida Wilton is that woman, cast aside by her husband, who remarries after an affair, and even by her three daughters, who seem to side with their father. She moves from the pastoral neighborhoods of Suffolk to Ladbroke Grove, a squalid area of London, where she tries to make new friends, first by taking a class on Virgil at a dilapidated adult education school and then by joining the yuppified health club erected on the site after the school is shut down. She even manages to make the acquaintance of a few human specimens from the seedy "street theater" that both frightens and bemuses her during her strolls. And she spends much of her time recording thoughts on her journey through life onto her new laptop computer; it is the entries of this diary that comprise the book.

The novel's first shift occurs when Candida reaps the benefits of an unexpected inheritance and decides to gather a group of "sisters," both from her past and from her Virgil class, to accompany her on a tour retracing Aeneas's journey from Carthage to Naples. This voyage allows her to deliberate on the meaning of friendship, on her passive acceptance of whatever has life has thrown her way, and on the "irony ... that as we near death, there are fewer people left to be sorry, fewer left to miss us."

For many readers, Drabble's introspective musings will surely be dull and ponderous; the startling postmodern shifts will seem incongruous; and the melodramatic use of the inheritance might seem whimsical (most lonely women won't find self-esteem with the arrival of a windfall). But Drabble's prose is so unassuming and her character's mindset is so immediately familiar that I was fascinated, and there's just enough of a "plot" to keep this novel from becoming little more than a character study of a woman with not much character. Through the diary of Candida Wilton, Drabble conveys, as few authors can, the sensation of suddenly feeling old and alone.

Money does make a difference.......2004-09-27

Embittered and depressed by her divorce, and estranged from the grown daughters who side with their professor father, Candida Wilton moves from a comfortable suburban house to a grubby, walk-up apartment in Central London and documents her new life in a computer diary, the first and longest section of the book.

Dreary, depressed and priggish, but tartly observant, Candida describes her brief excursions through the local streets to her health club, which was formerly an adult education college where she took an evening class on Virgil's "Aeneid." She took the class - and then joined the health club - with an idea to meeting people unlike those in her previous life in academe. But: "Already I was wary about making friends with the kind of person who would want to be friends with a person like me."

This line says much about what is endearing and annoying about Candida - her sour depression and her intelligent self-mockery. She spends most of her time alone, reaching out tentatively to women from the Virgil class, having a grudging lunch with an inquisitive friend from her former life and defensively bracing for a visit from her brash, brazen and successful old school chum. In the dirty, littered streets, she is a sharp, alien observer of everything from the "shocking" condition of the pavement to the impenetrable advertisements and graffiti posted along the way: "I couldn't decode any of the messages."

Candida reflects on her life and marriage, motherhood and age ("There was more to look forward to, but less to possess. It's the other way round now"). She's merciless, to herself as well as others and readers may well come to sympathize at least a little with the faithless husband. Then Candida comes into a small windfall of money - enough to lighten her tone and spur her to new heights of initiative - organizing an excursion from Tunis to Sicily and Naples to follow in Aeneas' footsteps. She recruits her friends from the Virgil class as well as her two older friends and the second part of the novel takes off in a completely different vein.

The third person narration is upbeat, the wit still wry but less mordant, the characterizations sharp and perceptive. The plot also heats up in this section, and the two following sections, with revealing, unexpected, and sometimes unlikely, twists. The novel is perceptive, clever and surprising. Though Candida occasionally makes you want to give up on her, Drabble ("The Peppered Moth," "The Witch of Exmoor") keeps you going with her acerbic, pitch-perfect prose and Candida's refusal to give up on herself.

The Seven Sisters: The Great Oil Companies and The World They Shaped

Average customer rating:

Price fluctuations have a small affect on the demand for oil
IPC, independants and major profiting emmensely
A Good History Book!
History of Oil

The Seven Sisters: The Great Oil Companies and The World They Shaped
Anthony Sampson
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0553242377
Release Date: 1991-05-01

Customer Reviews:

Price fluctuations have a small affect on the demand for oil.......2006-03-27

Rockerfeller realized to dominate the oil industry, money needed to be focused on refining and distributing. The secondly Rockerfeller capitalized on connecting oil and railroads. Atlantic and Western became the chief carriers of oil. Rockerfeller forced the rail roads to give cheaper rates and allowed increased profits. Rockerfeller's joint stock in Standard Oil company which he bought for $1 million gave him 27% ownership; Standard Oil represented 1/10 of all the oil in the US.

Price fluctuations have a small affect on the demand for oil. Consumers depend on oil as the source of energy for heating, transportation, and industry and oil has not substantial competing energy substitutes, therefore, demand remains constant. Big companies with huge concessions continue to produce at uneconomical prices, to keep their refineries going at any price. The industry fails to self-adjust. The big companies claim self adjustment because, the greater the output the higher the costs of additional output.

OPEC created a secondary government and it is immune from taxes. Rockerfeller believed he was serving as a divine servant, imposing order among chaos; as the first captain of industry, he was confident that his leadership and vision were building the modern America. However, the individual felt threatened by the morality of the new industrial morality.

Exxon, Mobil, and Socal from were called the Standard Oil group and sold their oil at the same price. 1911, Exxon acted as the holding company for the group; it was the biggest oil company in the world; it served as the banker for the other sisters providing funds for exploration and development; it had money and markets but very little oil. Oil was bought cheaply from Russia and Venezuela and resold to America markets.

1925, Mobil based out of NY had huge markets and sold its oil to England and the Far East.

1895, SOCAL based out of California exported oil across the pacific to China; in 1919 SOCAL provided 26% of the US oil production; it had plenty of oil by not enough markets. In 1901, Anthony Lucas hit the largest oil field in the world, in Pittsburg. James Guffey invested $1 million and setup pipelines running from the oil field to the Altantic Gulf which was exported to the world. Control of financing, for $15 million, too become profitable, was arranged by William Mellon, who became VP of Gulf. Guffey was ousteaded.

Texaco made good profits by buying cheap Spindletop oil and selling it to sugar planters and Standard in the East; by 1904, Lake sour produced 5% of the US oil. Texaco established nation wide organization. Shell was founded by Marcus Samuel. Samuel perceived the crucial importance of economies was in the transportation of the oil and so he looked for the closest supply to meet local demands. Samuel established a strong base in Japan where he shipped coal then oil to Japan. When oil was discovered in Russia, Samuel received financing to develop and purchase the oil from the French bank group; this action impinged on the Rockerfeller's market of oil. Samuel entered into a price war on every oil market, at once; he subsidized low prices in one area and made up for it by higher prices in another area; he moved Russian oil by tanker to the Far East storage tanks; and was able to survive the Rockerfeller price cuts.

Shell experienced growing profits especially in Asia and Japan. Royal Dutch operated in the East Indies and Kessler found oil in Sumatra. Shell and Gulf form a sister agreement: Samuel agrees to purchase 100,000 tons of oil from Gulf for 21 years at a fixed price and Shell was bringing oil from Texas to Europe. Samuel established a company in Germany. Samuel shares Shells marketing system with Royal Dutch. Gulf dries up and causes a crisis for Shell; this forces a merger with Royal Dutch, 60/40 and Deterding was at the helm as the managing director. Samuel convinces Admiral Fisher to push to converted Navy ships from coal to oil. Oil was discovered in India's Burmuda, and English providence; Fisher was friends of Winston Churchhill and used his influence to lobby for the coal to oil conversion.

BP had its oil fields in the Middle East. Churchhill promoted BP and then British bought 51% of the company. Britian still needed Shell oil but used BP to ensure fair prices.

IPC, independants and major profiting emmensely.......2006-03-27

BP had its oil fields in the Middle East. Churchhill promoted BP and then British bought 51% of the company. Britian still needed Shell oil but used BP to ensure fair prices.

In 1917, Shell under Deterding was buying large quantities of Russian oil and undercutting Mobil for the Far East. Exxon, also bet on Russian oil field which provided 15% of the world oil supply; 1/3 of the Russian oil was controlled by the Nobel brothers; during the Oct Revolution, the communist seized control of the Russian oil fields; Exxon hoped to wait for the Bolsheviks to fail; eventually, Teagle bought ½ of the Nobel Brother interest in Russian oil for $11.5 million.

In 1922, Exxon lead the way followed by Gulf, Texaco, Mobil into Iraq. The State department pressured Britain to offer 20% of Turkish Petro Company, competing to sell their oil. The seven giant companies tend to stick together; they desired the deceptive and untrue illusion of corporate immortality; they competed against each other for market price; they maintained family likeness and closed ranks when threatened by the independents. The relationship between the companies HQ and Washington became closer and more barbed. Oil meant survival in war, 80% of the oil for the allies came from Exxon. Oil heads became more involved in forming foreign police with the state department abdicating oil diplomacy to the oilmen. The German Deustche Bank financed the Baghdad railway.

In 1931, Saudi struck oil and changed the oil game completely. The British were well placed to profit from oil being found in Saudi and initially controlled the oil. Gulf offered Socal the Behrain deal and received 50k payment from Gulf. Iraq Petroleum Consortium provided BP a highly profitable monopoly in Iran and in Iraq the consortium met with little resistence. The IPC syndicate suggested the group must prospect together in Saudi; SOCAL was the first to establish a footing in Saudi, an all American company in Saudi; SOCAL partnered with Texaco for money; and Saudi king Ibn Saud provided a 444,000 square mile concession.

King Ibn Saud was not under British protectorate. In 1943, President Roosevelt declared Saudi oil vital to the defense of the US. The Petroleum Reserve Corp was nationalized and used to buy controlling interest in Aramco.

In 1938, BP and Gulf found oil in Kuwait and they acted jointly to produce oil. The oil was discovered by Abu el Naft.

The consortium purpose was to control market price and prevent surplus. BP was paid by the Iranians and consortium members. Ownership of the consortium represents the following percentages: 45% BP, 8% - five sisters, and 14% Shell and remaining percent unknown. The National Iranian Oil Company remained the owner of the oil fields. Aramco ownership breaks down into the following percentages: 30% Socal, 30% Texaco, 10% Mobil, and 30% Exxon.

The IPC challenged the authority of Britain. Iran moved to nationalize the oil. Truman decided forceful intervention would not be necessary. The Foreign office was against intervention on the grounds intervention, it was impossible to work the oil fields without the Iranians. The Iranians had taken over control of Abadan. BP collaborated with the other size sisters not to by "Hot oil" being sold by Mossadeq and BP used its huge reserve of capital to expedited production in other countries.

The US foreign department used oil companies to fight communism. Tankers were used to remove the oil and transport it too energy hungry economies. Oil management became an instrument of foreign policy. The Justice Department described the seven sister monopoly as not squaring with the principles of capitalism and free enterprise democracy. The Shah gets put into power.

In 1954, the Iranian consortium allowed the independents to break into the circle of seven. The nine outsiders were: Aminoil, Sohio, Altantic, Richfield, Signal, Hancock, San Jacinto, Getty, and Tidewater. The independents gain access to Iranian oil. Another big break for the independents was Libyan oil. Libyan oil gains the independents a change to establish themselves in Europe. Libyan oil was cheap to produce, high quality, and close to European markets. Independents undercut on price, the big companies, and made big profits; they competed to sell oil to Europe and Japan.

In 1959, cheap oil from Russia flowed into Italy and Enrico Mattei championed the cheap oil. In 1962, Exxon provided AGIP with cheap oil.

When Egypt and Syria invaded Israel territory the US reacted by sending $2 billion in military weapons and aid. The Arab reaction was an embargo. An oil price raise was inevitable because inflation was at 2 ? percent. The price of other commodities which the OPEC countries had to import was far outstripping the oil price. The oil shortage was transforming OPECs bargaining position and oil was $3 barrel before the invasion. Some independents offered $5 a barrel positions. Iran wanted to double the posted price and get $6 barrel. The Iran auction on the open market drew a panicked crowd and reached a high of $17 barrel. Europe could still be supplied by Arab oil and the US could still receive Venezuelan oil.

In 1973, OPEC dictated price terms and the big oil companies reap record level profits. Exxon's profit was $2.5 billion. Exxon claimed the profits were the result of the devaluation of the dollar, higher valuation of the companies stocks, and higher profit from crude oil. Oil companies began advertising to justify higher profits claiming previous profits were too low, vast new investments were need to develop energy ($2.2 trillion dollar estimate) making the profits a drop in the bucket. In one case, Chase reckoned $600 billion was need for energy development. Exxon planned on spending $16 billion on developing new alternate energy sources.

In 1974, consumption shot up; big cars were in vogue; car horse power increase along with its speed and the number of fatalities; the Fed defended the auto industry; Nixon relaxed the pollution laws; and the oil crisis only served to underline the dependence on oil. Oil companies thought to weaken OPEC control by preaching conservation. Higher prices failed to stimulate higher production or discourage consumption of oil. Companies when left to them selves became interested in short term profit taking. The major oil companies were less able to stand together with the independents. The world became dependant on OPEC oil. Saudi wanted America technical and military aid for the oil. In 1974, Iran bought $4 billion worth of arms from the US. Discoveries in the North Seas did not decrease the demand for Middle Eastern oil; the discoveries where profitable but only at high prices. People feel they have lost control over their destinies because of the morality of the large corporations.

A Good History Book!.......2000-08-18

This was a highly interesting book. The title,the Seven Sisters refers to the seven oil companies who dominate the world petroleum marker. This book gives a history of each of the seven sisters(such as Exxon and Shell). This book also tells of the shaping of the world of oil as we know it today. The Seven Sisters also tells of events that have occurred that have had bearing on the world of petroleum. All in all I found this to be a very in formative book that made for informative reading. You will not be dissapointed if you purchase it.

History of Oil.......2000-04-05

This book tracks the development of the major oil companies of the 20th century and their efforts to ensure adequate supplies, pacify oil producing governments, all the while turning a profit. The behind-the-scenes story of the turbulent oil business will fascinate anyone who lived through the oil crisis of the 1970's. Get ready for higher gas prices this summer!

Booby Trapped: Men Beware! The Dirty Seven Sisters: A Dating Guide for the 21st Century

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Required Reading for Young Men
Caveat andro--let the male beware!
Nous sommes ainsi amusé
Reciprocity would be ideal
Some men like em...some don't

Booby Trapped: Men Beware! The Dirty Seven Sisters: A Dating Guide for the 21st Century
June Marshall
Manufacturer: AIL NewMedia Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1893798283

Book Description

The author teaches men to use their brains first to recognize the unsuitable mates who make up the Dirty Seven Sisters. To better illustrate each type, she includes celebrity examples, such as Angelina Jolie, Anna Nicole Smith, Brooke Shields, Cher, Dr. Laura, Jennifer Lopez, Joan Crawford, Julia Roberts, Kate Moss, Kathy Lee Gifford, Lorena Bobbit, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Marilyn Monroe, Meg Ryan, Melanie Griffith, Mia Farrow, Monica Lewinsky, Naomi Campbell, Tonya Harding, and many more.

Celebrity weddings and TV shows only underline the superficiality of some mating practices. As the author says:

"TV shows like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Change of Heart, The Dating Game, Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire, Joe Millionaire, Married by America, and Blind Date present a kinder- gartner's eye-view of dating. A man spends a few minutes with an attractive girl, surrounded by cameras, and they are now ready to get married and have children together. What if one of these beauties is a Dirty Seven Sister? We do not see that part, because it is always off camera."

Who are the Dirty Seven Sisters?

The Dirty Seven Sisters are the women, who because of their underlying personality and character flaws, bring unhappiness and chaos into men's lives once they bag their prey. Marshall warns men to move on from them, regardless of their sexual needs and genetic impulse to have children. These women may be sexy and attractive, but they don't have the potential to be true life partners. She bares their character traits that are impossible to live with, why they are impossible, and tells men what to do about them. Conversely, she also describes the excellent qualities of a good mate.

True and Funny

Marshall's humorous take on the absurdities of today's dating scene does not hide her seriousness to revolutionize our approach to dating and mating, which produces a divorce rate of over 50%. She says, "This field guide will give you the tools to recognize and avoid the noxious and obnoxious females who are like Angel of Death mushrooms, beautiful yet deadly. Lesson #1: Beautiful does not necessarily mean good."

Customer Reviews:

Required Reading for Young Men.......2007-08-09

This is a behavioral treatise on the modern woman, not a pyschological study of how she got that way. When you say she has "issues", she's "neurotic", she has "baggage", shes "insane", all of the "types" are neatly catagorized here for your enlightenment. Of course there's combos and overlap of each variety as she states.

My biggest disagreement with the author is saying this covers only about 10% of all females and if you "try hard enough" you'll find a decent woman within the remaining 90%. Well, you shouldn't have to try that hard if 9 out of 10 women are not a dirty sister. In my lengthy experience with the women of the world I would have say it's the other way around or 9 out of 10 are in some way dirty (by her definition) and you have to work VERY hard to find the "one".

Sorry ladies you're all in there. Exposed in all your wacky glory. The mature, mentally stable, intelligent, balanced, rational woman is an exception indeed. Me, my friends, my relatives and every guy I've ever known; will testify to this. It's not our imaginations. Too many of us who took the plunge with a dirty sister live it every day. It's the reality and it's misery.

Married already? She's in there! Not married yet? Read this!
Life's too short to spend it with a nut case.
You were warned.

Caveat andro--let the male beware!.......2006-12-11

I just read this book, which describes the "Dirty 7 Sisters," a collective title for the types of gals whom guys should avoid at all costs--complete with celebrity examples (Madonna, Naomi Campbell, Mariah Carey & many more). The 7 types are: the PMS Queen, Needee Nellie, the Material Girl, Shopaholica, the Wedding Belle, the Mom, & the Psycho Babbler. The emergence of such women apparently was a side effect of the Women's Lib movement of the past 30-40 years.

Don't get me wrong. It's a good thing for women to work the same jobs & earn the same salaries as men. It's just that with every good comes some bad. We guys have to second-guess the motives of the gals we date, just like they mercilessly analyze our intentions toward them. Just because sex is as scarce to us as water is to someone walking in a desert, doesn't mean we should jump at the first sign of water. That water may turn out to be salty or poisoned. Caveat andro--let the male beware!

Nous sommes ainsi amusé.......2005-11-04

Amusing for perhaps just a moment. But we believe that our authoress is of the mind that she has none of the objectionable traits of these Sept Soeurs Mortelles. Mayhap this is true but it would seems that she is the eighth type, the "Felis Domesticus".

Now this is a prefectly delightful book for the self-centered and the in-denial; those who are most likely attracted to the dysfunctionality she so scathingly limns in her pop-culture People-esque style. Analysis by celebrity is right up there with horoscopes as barometer and psychological tool extraordinaire.

If this authoress taught the bitter man likely to purchase this book why he perpetually seeks out unstable women, what there is within himself that needs further examination, this nasty little diatribe would not be necessary. And we The Dirty Sisters would be left alone, in peace, and untroubled.

Reciprocity would be ideal.......2005-08-09

If only there were honest, and an accurate review of men for women, there might not be a 50% divorce rate.

Some men like em...some don't.......2005-06-13

Unless the reader has had experience with the types of women that are described in this book, it might be difficult to believe that such women exist. Certainly there are women in the real world that share some of the characteristics of the "Dirty Seven Sisters" that are described in gritty and somewhat vituperative detail in the book, but these women can develop relationships with men in a manner which might be loosely described as "symbiotic". Some men in the upper income bracket for example may find the "Material Girl" very suitable for a long-term relationship. Such a woman, due to her need for money and material status, will do most anything that these men need, including engaging in the type of sex they desire and in serving as arm-candy for various outings on the town. The money that they spend on the "Material Girl" is viewed as a mere entertainment expense. Some wealthy men therefore prefer the "Material Girl" and will not heed any advice to avoid them. The same goes for the rest of the "Dirty Seven Sisters": some men, because of their tastes and outlooks, however peculiar to external observers, may prefer being subjugated to "The Mom", or having a temporary fling with "Shopaholica." Personal tastes dictate some strange combinations of partners at times, but these relationships can also evolve in ways that are not predictable, due to the tensions of life and the particular contexts in which they find themselves. In that respect the author finds the personalities and neuronal synapses of the "Dirty Seven Sisters" fixed in time and unchangeable. But it is rare to find a human being who does not and cannot adapt themselves to new challenges and new outlooks. The author though does not admit the possibility of change in these women, who she views as the most despicable of the female human species. This reviewer agrees somewhat with her assessment, but others may not, and again, may view these women as highly desirable, even knowing in full their "wickedness." The author, and the reader, should remember that good character, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

In addition to the author's purely subjective biases against the "Dirty Seven Sisters" there are other problems with the book. One example is her claim that only ten percent of women qualify for admission into the club of the "Dirty Seven Sisters." Years of research and observation she says, leads her to this conclusion. The largest contingent of these women exist in the developed countries, with only a small number, if any, residing in the "Third World". She does not offer any statistical studies substantiating these claims, and no references are given that would shed more light on her claims. The reader should really not expect this however, for this book is really aimed at those who are looking for the type of woman that the author would characterize as "good." Those who enjoy the company of the "Dirty Seven Sisters", whether this is because of sex or some other form of entertainment, would perhaps welcome the presence of a statistical study in the book. This would allow them to estimate their best chances of finding one of these women, or the best places to find them.

Average customer rating:

This Time Around (Seven Sisters, 6)
Debra White Smith
Manufacturer: Harvest House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0736906622

To Rome With Love (Seven Sisters Series Book 4)

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A really good book!
A wonderful book!
Excellent book! Just the right amount of mystery/romance

To Rome With Love (Seven Sisters Series Book 4)
Debra White Smith
Manufacturer: Harvest House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0736906606

Customer Reviews:

A really good book!.......2002-01-13

I really enjoyed reading this book. I'd give it more stars if I could. It is really enjoyable to read! I highly recommed it.

A wonderful book!.......2002-01-13

This is a book that I highly recommend! It is a great Christian fiction romance novel. If you buy it you won't be dissapointed.

Excellent book! Just the right amount of mystery/romance.......2001-10-18

Debra White Smith is one of my favorite authors! I stumbled across her books in the library and immediately fell in love with the Seven Sisters stories! I have read Best Friends (the pre-series book) as well as books 1-4 of the Seven Sisters series. I highly recommend this author and these books! I don't know how I'm going to wait 4 months for the next book to come out!

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