A-List #8, The: Heart of Glass: An A-List Novel (A-List)

Book Description

The New York Times bestselling series about the scandalous lives of rich and famous teens in Beverly Hills, California.High school is officially over and that means one thing for the A-List: time to party! But the celebration is cut short when unlikely pair Anna and Cammie find themselves in an even more unlikely situation--caught trespassing on a celeb's beach estate--and are forced to don steel handcuffs along with their Tiffany tennis bracelets.Luckily, the girls are spared a summer stuck in tacky orange jumpsuits when their hotshot lawyer lands them a cushy community service gig: helping plan a fabulous charity fashion show! But while it may seem like a plush job, Anna and Cammie are in for a challenge. Can the girls handle the pressure of the vicious fashion world? Or will they fall to pieces faster than a cheap Louis Vuitton knockoff?

Customer Reviews:

Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2007-05-31

In the last book in the A-LIST series (American Beauty: An A-List Novel (A-List #7)), the gang had finally graduated while discovering some juicy secrets. Cammie had discovered more information on what really happened to her mother. Sam was finally reunited with Eduardo, and Anna met Caine, who was nothing like her boyfriend, Ben. And Ben's dirty little secret wasn't a secret any longer.

The A-Listers are back again in HEART OF GLASS, and this time with a little twist.

Anna and Cammie have to work together - that's right, together - on a charity fashion show. But they got off easy, since this little community service project was the result of getting caught trespassing on a celebrity's estate. No worries, these two can work together, right?

Anna and Caine are getting a little closer, while Ben doesn't seem to worry so much. While Adam and Cammie are trying to make things work, we're hoping that opposites really do attract. Sam is still trying to adjust to living with Poppy, and maybe trying to get rid of her at the same time, while making sure nothing goes wrong with her and Eduardo. And Dee, well, she's Dee, trying to get back on her feet.

The gang is back and it's going to be one sizzling summer.

Eighth in the series, HEART OF GLASS is still filled with secrets, lies, and plenty of drama. The best thing about this series is that the material is never old and it still keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat. The cast is still great and you just love Anna more and more after each book. Lets just say that HEART OF GLASS is more appealing than another episode of a certain teen drama on a new network - at least I'm experiencing something I haven't seen before!

Reviewed by: Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen

Gotta have it.......2007-05-24

I am crazy over this series ... i think that this book had to be the most mouth dropping one ... i almost feel like zoey can't write these books fast enough ... i feel like i can identify w/ every character on one level or another ... zoey dean delivers everytime you read one of her books

Pretty Good..........2007-05-17

I've been following the A-List novels since they came out a few years ago. There were tons of these book series floating around--the rich, cliquey girls who seemed to be mean and exclusionary--there were the Gossip Girls, the Clique... you get my drift.

Of all the books of that sort, A-List was the one that caught my eye. I followed it religiously for a while, but I got to one particular book in the series and almost gave up on it. The name-dropping and overall snobbery frustrated me to the point that I almost didn't give a flying ice cream cone about Anna and Ben or Dee's increasing psychosis.

Dean has redeemed herself with this last one, though. The characters are proving to be much more dimensional than first thought, and although they still tend to get themselves into outrageous situations, they are handling them with class and the kind of assertiveness I wish I'd had as a teenager. I really enjoyed this last book and I am looking forward to the "next juicy A-List novel."

Heart of Glass.......2007-05-14

Gabriela R. 5/11/07

Heart of Glass, Zoey Dean, ISBN: 0-316-01096-0

If you like Drama, Fashion, and Love then the Heart of Glass is the book you want to read. The main characters are Anna, Sam, Cammie, and Dee! Anna and Cammie got arrested for trespassing on a beach estate, but since their dad's hired really good lawyers they only got community service. Which is to help plan a charity fashion show. Since Anna started hanging out with Caine. Cammie decides to go and hang out with Ben hers and Anna's ex-boyfriend because Adam is camping and she just wants to have a little fun! Cammie finds out what really happened to her mother.

Sam suspects that Poppy her step-mother is cheating on her father the famous Jackson Sharpe so she gets her friend Parker to flirt with her so she can see if Poppy would really cheat. Anna and Cammie have to work with a girl named Champagne on the fashion show, but everyone says that she is a thief! Anna see Caine at a place call the Firehouse dancing on stage with no shirt on, she figures out that he is just like Ben always keeping secrets from her! But Ben is determined to fight for Anna!!!

Right before the fashion Show a dress is missing, everyone thinks it is Champagne but Cammie is on the case to find the real thief...will Sam find out if Poppy is really cheating on her dad... who will Anna choose Ben or Caine?

I really liked this book it was a page-turner because you want to see what will happen next. I recommend this book to girls 11 and up because this book talks a lot about fashion and girl problems!

Heart of Glass.......2007-05-14

[...]

If you like Drama, Fashion, and Love then the Heart of Glass is the book you want to read. The main characters are Anna, Sam, Cammie, and Dee! Anna and Cammie got arrested for trespassing on a beach estate, but since their dad's hired really good lawyers they only got community service. Which is to help plan a charity fashion show. Since Anna started hanging out with Caine Cammie decides to go and hang out with Ben hers and Anna's ex-boyfriend because Adam is camping and she just wants to have a little fun! Cammie finds out what really happened to her mother.

Sam suspects that Poppy her step-mother is cheating on her father the famous Jackson Sharpe so she gets her friend Parker to flirt with her so she can see if Poppy would really cheat. Anna and Cammie have to work with a girl named Champagne on the fashion show, but everyone says that she is a thief! Anna see Caine at a place call the Firehouse dancing on stage with no shirt on, she figures out that he is just like Ben always keeping secrets from her! But Ben is determined to fight for Anna!!!

Right before the fashion Show a dress is missing, everyone thinks it is Champagne but Cammie is on the case to find the real thief...will Sam find out if Poppy is really cheating on her dad... who will Anna choose Ben or Caine?

I really liked this book it was a page-turner because you want to see what will happen next. I recommend this book to girl 11 and up because this book talks a lot about fashion and girl problems!

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The New York Trilogy: City of Glass; Ghosts; The Locked Room (Contemporary American Fiction Series)

Average customer rating:

"The question is the story itself, and whether or not it means something is not for the story to tell."
Was not impressed
Two extraordinary short novels and an exercise by a supreme storyteller
exceptional
Good? Yes. Engaging? that's a different question...

The New York Trilogy: City of Glass; Ghosts; The Locked Room (Contemporary American Fiction Series)
Paul Auster
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140131558

Book Description

Paul Auster's signature work, The New York Trilogy, consists of three interlocking novels: City of Glass, Ghosts, and The Locked Room—haunting and mysterious tales that move at the breathless pace of a thriller.

Customer Reviews:

"The question is the story itself, and whether or not it means something is not for the story to tell." .......2007-06-13

"He had always imagined that the key to good detective work was a close observation of details. The more accurate the scrutiny, the more successful the results. The implication was that human behavior could be understood, that beneath the infinite façade of gestures, tics, and silences, there was finally a coherence, an order, a source of motivation."

Paul Auster's "New York Trilogy," consisting of the novellas "City of Glass," "Ghosts," and "The Locked Room," is an intriguing blend of post-modern fiction, metaphysical philosophy, and detective novels. Through his reliance on the themes and structure of pulp/noir mysteries, Auster delves deeply into questions regarding identity, purpose, obsession, what is real, and examines the often tenuous grip that most people have on their sanity. His exploration is quite compelling and makes for a fascinating read, but it is unfortunate that the quality of the novellas is slightly uneven. The first, "City of Glass," is far too impenetrable and abstruse to be much more than frustrating. While it is clear that its protagonist, Quinn, is desperate to shed his identity in order to escape from the painful loss that has left him paralyzed, it is unclear why he becomes so obsessed with the case that he takes on after doing so. "Ghosts" is a marked improvement, but it is only in the final novella, "The Locked Room," that this trilogy really comes to life. "The Locked Room" is eloquent where its predecessors are vague, pointed when the others are intentionally blurry, and poignant rather than murky. Auster is certainly a great writer, and I will be interested to read more of his works, but "The New York Trilogy" requires a willingness to stick with it in order to get to its heart. But I recommend hanging in there, because that final novella is a true gem, and makes the ride worth your while.

Here's the grade breakdown: "City of Glass": C+, "Ghosts": B, "The Locked Room": A
Average grade: B

Was not impressed.......2007-05-20

I read this book because I loved Paul Aster's Brooklyn Follies. This compilation of 3 short stories may have well been written by a completely different author. They are short detective stories that are slightly intertwined. I did not enjoy this book and do not recommend it.

Two extraordinary short novels and an exercise by a supreme storyteller .......2007-02-08

I do not see this work the way Auster constructed it. To me it is not a 'trilogy' even though there are overlapping themes, and incidents. I see it as a collection of separate pieces. The first and the third are first-rate works of fiction . They are novels which are searches for self. They are -Multiple- identity -mysteries which illustrate Auster's way of seeing life and the world, as unending chance and surprise.
Perhaps the best summary of the Auster credo comes somewhere in the middle of 'The Locked Room' The narrator- best friend of Fanshawe meditates as follows.
" We all want to be told stories and we listen to them in the same way we did when we were young. We imagine the real story inside the words, and to do this we substitute ourselves for the person in the story, pretending that we can understand him because we understand ourselves. This is a deception.We exist for ourselves, perhaps, and at times we even have a glimmer of who we are, but in the end we can never be sure, and as our lives go on, we become more and more opaque to ourselves, more and more aware of our own incoherence. No one can cross the boundary into another-for the simple reason that no one can gain access to himself."
Auster is a supreme storyteller. In these works there are stories within stories of incredible power and beauty. In the first book there is a small story of a mother in the Shoah carrying a baby for whom she at last has the satisfaction of attaining and giving milk. The baby has been dead for days. In the concluding work of the Trilogy Auster tells the story of Lorenzo da Ponte whose life he describes as five or six distinct lives, illustrating a principle of Auster's fiction i.e. we can never know for certain where the story of the life is going to next.
I may not agree with Auster's philosophy of life but find him one of the supreme storytellers writing today . I pick up his work and I want to read and read and read.

exceptional.......2006-11-02

"The New York Trilogy", a volume containing three separate novellas: "The City of Glass", "Ghosts" and " The Locked Room", is an intriguing example of the author's game with the readers and, perhaps, with himself. The motif common for all three stories in the mystery, the solution of which is pursued by the main character, and the place of action, New York City (I do not agree with one of the reviewers who said New York could be here any other urban environment as well; certainly it could not be any European city, NYC gives these stories the distinct character and for anyone who has walked the streets through which the characters wander, it is a setting unmistakable for any other; The City's atmosphere hangs over the characters like a cloud).

"The City of Glass" features Quinn, a solitary man, living quietly after the death of his wife and son, and writing detective stories under a pseudonym. One night, Quinn receives a mysterious phone call from a man demanding the services of a private detective, Paul Auster... Although it is clearly a wrong number, Quinn decides to pretend to be Auster and take the challenge, changing his life forever.

A complete change of life circumstances is also a fate of the protagonist of a second (and the shortest) novella "Ghosts". Blue, who is a professional private detective, receives a task from the disguised client, White, to watch Black. The trouble is, Black never does anything interesting except reading or writing, and bored Blue tries to find out, where the real secret of this investigation lies.

In the last novella "The Locked Room", the main character is involved in the publication of the works of his missing childhood friend, Fanshawe. The books are a great success, he marries Fanshawe's wife and he assumes Fanshawe's identity, happily at the beginning...

These novellas are not, as has been pointed out by many reviewers before me, typical mysteries, where clues lead to conclusions and the reader may amuse himself with finding a correct answer. They are, on one hand, explorations of the soul, of the unknown in us, and, on the other hand, and taken together, a postmodern riddle, with literary jokes, cultural clues. They can be read on various levels, which is what really makes them interesting. For somebody, who expects a mystery story from the beginning to the end this book would be a disappointment, However, it is rewarding for the reader interested in reading itself (sounds absurd, I know, but this may be the truth - books play an enormous role in all the novellas). The introduction of Auster, as a detective, but really a writer in the first story, as opposed to Quinn, the writer, who has to become the detective, is only one of the twists here. The exercise with giving the characters the name of the colors (after all, what, if not "real" names make the reader think of the book characters as real? And are the color names unreal? Such names are common enough...) - is another.

By the way, has anyone been lured into drawing Quinn's walk on the street grid of Manhattan?

Good? Yes. Engaging? that's a different question..........2006-08-19

"The New York Trilogy", by celebrated author Paul Auster, is made up of 3, somewhat interlinked, long stories which were originately published separately at various times around 1985-86.
There is no doubt that Paul Auster is a terrific writer so I won't even get into that aspect of the book.
Let's get down to what's really important by trying to pinpoint the subject matter, i.e., what "the new york trilogy" is really about: in a sense, it's a mystery, in the true sense of the word, because even in the end many questions (most, I dare say) are left unanswered, many stones unturned and many cues are simply left hanging in the air.
The NYT has been described as metaphysical detective fiction and the description might in fact prove apt: each of the 3 stories follows the investigations of one man which always turn into an obsession, making the man completely lose touch with the reality. The NYT is thus much about mental processes, we see each of the 3 main chracters gradually become so absorbed by their quest that they lose all sense of proportion and stop thinking like the rest of us.
It's also a novel about writing because writing, depicted as the greatest obsession of all, always plays a role in the stories.
There is also a definite surreal element in most stories and, quite often, they reminded me of Dino Buzzati's short stories.
The author is obviously very pleased with himself, playing with his own name (much like B.E. Ellis does in his recent "Lunar Park") and toying with the other character's names (which pop up in different stories, alluding to the possibility of a strong link between them all).
Did I like the book? As much as it's clever and well-written, it leaves you with a sense of un-completeness, too much stuff remains only vaguely hinted at (I was never one to fall for open-endings. Plus, everything is open here, much more than necessary) and in the ends, the whole thing sound more like an elaborate intellectual game that engaging fiction. Thus, I give the novel 3 stars although this is in no way diminishes my appreciation of the author's talent.

Average customer rating:

A strangely fascinating tale
Damn' good!!
Must have companion piece to The New York Trilogy
Exceptional, Horrific and Beautiful Fiction
a haunting graphic novel...

City of Glass: The Graphic Novel
Paul Auster , Paul Karasik , and D. Mazzucchellil
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312423608

Book Description

Quinn writes mysteries. The Washington Post has described him as a 'post-existentialist private eye.' An unknown voice on the telephone is now begging for his help, drawing him into a world and a mystery far stranger than any he ever created in print. Adapted by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli, with graphics by David Mazzucchelli, Paul Auster's groundbreaking, Edgar Award-nominated masterwork has been astonishingly transformed into a new visual language.

Customer Reviews:

A strangely fascinating tale .......2007-09-23

The art is terrific. The story is a bit hard to describe. I couldn't put this book down, and yet,now that I'm finished, I'm not sure exactly what I read :) This book is akin to poetry. It builds emotions and feelings, nuances that are hard to describe (especially now that I'm trying in this review) with the written word. The blending of pictures and words is an amazing view into the potential of comic art.

Damn' good!!.......2007-02-08

"City of Glass" is not a simple adaptation from the original book, but a real translation, from literature to sequential art. Mazzuchelli's drawings provides a very good trip to Auster's universe, his unusual characters, enlarging at same time the limits of comics language. One of the best comic books ever!

Must have companion piece to The New York Trilogy.......2006-07-14

If you enjoyed (or more likely were haunted by) City of Glass then you owe it to yourself to read this graphic novel. Yes, it is essentially the exact same story as Auster's metaphysical detective novella. However, this is a fascinating and beautifully rendered interpretation of the source work. My only complaint: where are the graphic novels for Ghosts and The Locked Room?

Exceptional, Horrific and Beautiful Fiction.......2006-03-24

City of Glass is the story of Daniel Quinn, a poet turned mystery writer, who is called one night by a person urgently seeking a detective. After several nights of "Sorry, wrong number," Quinn decides to impersonate Paul Auster, the detective the person wants to hire. Accepting the assignment leads to his ultimate ruin.

This story is primarily about Quinn's descent from depression into outright obsession and madness. Horrific abuse based on misinterpreted religion plays a big part in the book, as does the threat of murder. The perceived danger eventually disappears and the case fades away, but Quinn cannot return to his former life, and ends up completely delusional.

City of Glass is a book of unusual subtlety. Much of the tension is implicit, but is sensed through sections of extensive dialogue. The sparse artwork of the book, finally, highlights the dialogue by moving it along and filling it out, rather than distracting the reader from what is being said.

This is an exceptional work of fiction, even for readers unaccustomed to graphic novels.

a haunting graphic novel..........2004-09-23

Reviewed by Elizabeth P. Glixman for Small Spiral Notebook

I never liked comics in any form. I avoided the syndicated Brenda Star and Pogo. I ignored Archie comic books. Batman was never on my reading list. Since I read the graphic novel, City of Glass, the 2004 adaptation of his 1994 story in New York Trilogy, all that has changed.

For those not familiar with this literary form, graphic novels are literary hybrids, a combination of film noir, and comic book. There are the same narrative sequential panels as in comic books, the same stylized images and icons; however, in graphic novels the comic form is no longer only funny. These novels are stories of loss, loneliness, and existential angst. They echo the tone of post world war film noir where suspicion, fear, alienation, and suspense fill the screen.

City of Glass, named one of the 100 best comics of the century, is the story of mystery writer Daniel Quinn. Since his wife and young son died he has become a recluse. One night in his solitude the phone rings. It is the wrong number. The phone rings again. The caller Virginia Stillman is looking for Paul Auster of the Paul Auster Detective Agency. She wants to hire Auster to protect her mentally disturbed husband Peter from his father who will soon be released from prison. Peter received a threatening letter from his father. Peter Stillman Senior was incarcerated for abusing his son (he beat him when he spoke) while using him as part of a linguistic research project. Quinn decides with the encouragement of the fictional detective Max Work, the narrator of his own mystery novels, to take on the case pretending to be the detective Paul Auster.

Quinn finds the senior Stillman. He follows him, waits outside his hotel in an alley to make sure he does not get to the son.

Quinn spends days watching. Stillman never leaves the hotel or does he? Quinn grows disheveled, eats little, loses weight, does not sleep, or bathe. He runs out of money. He finds the real Paul Auster and asks him to cash the check Virginia Stillman gave Quinn at their initial meeting as an advance. But the Auster Quinn finds is not the detective. He is the author Paul Auster. Regardless, he will cash the check. Apropos for a book where reality is hazy.

Eventually Quinn gives up. He learns the senior Stillman killed himself. Virginia and Peter Stillman are nowhere to be found. Quinn returns home to find his apartment has been rented. Quinn's previous life as he knows it disappears; people are now dead or missing. Emptiness prevails. Identities are fragile. The stark graphics echo this disintegration.

The illustrations by Paul Karasik, whose work has been in the "New Yorker" (also former associate editor of "Raw Magazine"), and David Mazzucchelli, internationally known comic book artist, create moods and interior emotions that raise comics to the art of serious fiction for adults.

In this new introduction to City of Glass, Art Spiegelman, the guru of comic book artist and recipient of The Pulitzer Prize for his graphic novel Maus, says Mazzucchelli and Karasik: "have created a strange doppelganger of the original book" and a "a breakthrough work."

City of Glass: Doug Coupland's Vancouver

Average customer rating:

great book to read and know more about Vancouver
Empty Windows
A love ode to Vancouver
Homesick book
Definitely Vancouver, but one person's view

City of Glass: Doug Coupland's Vancouver
Douglas Coupland
Manufacturer: Douglas & McIntyre
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1550548182

Book Description

Eclectic and provocative, this book, designed to resemble a Japanese underground zine, looks at Vancouver from inside out, from the Grouse Grind to the shimmering glass towers, First Nations to feng-shui. Douglas Coupland takes on monster houses, weather, Sandra Bernhard, Love Boats, SkyTrain, fleece, that endless rivalry with Seattle, and even includes a short story about living in a low-rent Granville hotel. Over 100 archival photographs, maps, and “beauty shots” add to the fun in this witty survey by the noted chronicler of alternative culture.

Customer Reviews:

great book to read and know more about Vancouver.......2007-01-10

Vancouver is great city (at least for a few dry months) and deserve a good book for the visitors. This book meets my needs and is not the typical guide book with maps and names and addresses. But for those who try to get a sense of the pulse of the city, it's character and quirks, I would recommend.

After reading others', suspect that my copy (recently bought) has the insert that others don't. "My Hotel Year" was a wonderful read, and for those who remember the 60's bohemian Haight Ashbury, there is an echo DC evoked at the human level here that still resonates. "Van" is "San Fran" was, with more flowers and no jobs, at least the kinds you can build wealth. Ob-La-Di! Ob-La-Da!

Empty Windows.......2005-05-03

I live in Seattle but my girlfriend lives in Vancouver so I spend time there, and I like the city. I bought this book hoping for a companion to the city with at least a little bit of content. I was also attracted by the title, as I like the glassy Vancouver skyline and thought this might be a book by someone who appreciates the same things about the atmosphere of Vancouver that I do.

Unfortunately, this is one of those books where the amount of content fit for an article in, say, the Georgia Strait or the Seattle Weekly, is blown up to the size, and price, of a book. The pages are white space with one or two paragraphs of large text in the middle that touch very briefly and vaguely on some topic, as if the author jotted this all down one night and didn't put much thought into it.

The book also contains photographs which, rather than being an insider's look at Vancouver, could be photographs of any city out of any tourist magazine--the typical closeups of food on a plate at a nameless restaurant, or a house that could exist anywhere in North America.

Because this is the length of an article, only blown up to look like a book, you could walk into a bookstore or library and read it pretty quickly, and the only reason to purchase it would be if you absolutely must own every single book by Douglas Coupland, or every single book about Vancouver. This book left me wanting to read a real book about Vancouver from which I might learn something new.

A love ode to Vancouver.......2004-12-20

Sure, it's only one person's view of Vancouver. But at least it's Douglas Coupland's view. In "City of Glass," the author of "All Families Are Psychotic" and "Generation X" strays from fiction to write about his home city. The result is a subdued love ode to Vancouver, peppered with photographs.

Coupland describes Vancouver with many page-long vignettes, sort of like a patchwork quilt: he describes feng shui in Vancouver, Japanese teenagers, a harbour full of sulfur piles, American couples on "love boats," monstrous houses, and the quiet detachment that Vancouver feels from the Rest of Canada. (Which has its own entry -- really!)

Coupland's fiction is generally distinguishable for its contemplative, cynically witty tones. But he drops all that for "City of Glass." Okay, there is a chunk of "Life After God" in the middle, blurry text and pics. And occasionally the transcripts of Coupland's memories remind one of his fiction, seeming sadder and darker.

Most of the time, he sounds fond and reminiscent, as if reliving the memories that come with salmon and fleece. Not to mention funny, such as when describing the confusing disagreements about feng shui (" this space should flowwwwww" or "flow is to be avoided at all costs"). And the photographs are quite good as well, with Coupland taking pictures of the prosaic subjects of his book -- a sleepy-looking Japanese teen, a fleece vest, a boat floating out on a light-filled harbor, a skiier in mid-twist on a sunlit hillside.

"City of Glass" isn't exactly going to make you race to Vancouver, but it will make you appreciate the little hidden facets of the city -- and perhaps make you notice the ones in your own.

Homesick book.......2004-11-15

This is my homesick book, my security blanket, my Postcards from Home.

For Vancouverites, it's a source of boosterist pride, a good chuckle at some in-jokes, and perhaps enlightenment on why things are as they are. For people who have moved away, it's a book of memories, recollections of a city of glass and the people who make it. For people who have never been there, it's the tourist guide that talks about things the Lonely Planet won't. It's like having Mr Coupland sitting next to you as you make your way through our city. It's probably as close to an autobiography as he's ever written. The mark of Vancouver is on him as it's on me, and on everyone else who was raised there.

Yeah, I love my hometown.

Definitely Vancouver, but one person's view.......2004-08-05

Imagine following Highway 99 south from Whistler down through West and North Vancouver, across the Second Narrows Bridge, along Boundary Road, crossing into Richmond, picking up the 99 again, and driving straight through to Seattle. Now, pay attention only to what you can see (Mount Baker, for instance), or things that are to your right -- west of the Vancouver-Burnaby border. Observe and comment on those things lucidly and with humour. But ignore the vast suburbs stretching to the east. Spend more time on Bellingham than on New Westminster. You have an idea of this book. Like Coupland's other works, it demonstrates keen insight about a limited part of its subject -- this case, Vancouver. He is a North Shore boy, and it shows. Worth reading, but definitely only one person's view.

The New York Trilogy: City of Glass/ Ghosts/ the Locked Room

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The New York Trilogy: City of Glass/ Ghosts/ the Locked Room
Paul Auster
Manufacturer: Penguin USA (P)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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City of Glass (The New York Trilogy, Vol 1)

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Extraordinary
There are so many levels in this story you need an elevator
Dressed Up Postmodern Metafiction
not a real detective story
trying to keep the reader confused

City of Glass (The New York Trilogy, Vol 1)
Paul Auster
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140097317

Customer Reviews:

Extraordinary .......2007-02-08

I found this book to be a remarkably inventive work of fiction. Auster is a tremendously intelligent, and surprising writer who seems to create an almost continuous suspense in part by creating new mysteries and questions as he goes along. We wait and watch with the former writer Wilson Wilson now become the detective Daniel Quinn who is known to his client Shipman and his wife Virginia by the name Daniel Auster as Quinn tries to keep track of Shipman's father just released from prison who he fears being murdered by. At the end of the work we not only wonder what has happened to the younger Shipman and his wife Virginia who apparently have disappeared, but even more urgently wonder what has become of Quinn. We are not even certain where he is.
In the course of the telling the whole multiple- identity complication is informed by a discussion of fictional reality, and the text-of-reference here is Quixote. The detective Quinn goes to the house of the man whose name he has adopted, the writer Paul Auster and among things they consider Cervantes device of having the second part of his novel allegedly written by a fictional narrator.
All of the games of multiple- naming however do not diminish from the powerful real feeling created by the author, in telling for instance of Wilson's loss of his wife and son, or of what it means to him to meet a prosperous happy Auster with beautiful wife and son. The same holds true in the telling of the story of young Shipman's years of imprisonment by his father. Here the whole story is enriched by a brief history of children raised in the wild , including that of the child of Auvergne and Kaspar.
If I have one complaint about the book is that it ends leaving so many questions open. But then again it is the first novel of a trilogy and Auster may have some answers in the volumes to come.

There are so many levels in this story you need an elevator.......2006-06-17

To start this is NOT a detective story. This is NOT a standard fiction novel. This is NOT a nouveau roman in the style of Alain Robbe-Grillet's "The Erasers". What this is, IS a stylized version of a man's endeavor to encounter himself and survive. OK, this sounds almost as ambiguous as the book itself.

To my feelings (and IMHO), Auster is trying to look into the 'soul' of a character in a novel and bring him into our own thought processes. It may just be a way for him to tell us about himself and how he has searched for himself, in a very unorthodox way. His search is the story itself, and the wanderings of Auster/Quinn is his own anabasis. His time in the alley and dark room, would then be his exploration of what is the minimum we truly need to survive, and not what we want in the ways of creature comforts.

He tells us what he IS trying to do in the book in his discussion of the Auster character's essay of Cervantes "Don Quixote". He explicitly states the proposition there are questions as to who is the author of DQ. Whether Cervantes is really DQ, and the whole story of finding the book in a bookstall and translating it into spanish from arabic is Cervantes way of giving up ownership to see how it will be perceived.

I don't think that the naming of the wandering character "Daniel Quinn" (DQ) is anything but a direction by Auster to this idea. That DQ uses his name, as Don Quixote represented Cervantes seem straight forward.

The next two volumes should make this clearer as the follow-ups are supposed to do in a trilogy.

Dressed Up Postmodern Metafiction.......2005-12-12

The first book of Auster's New York trilogy was originally published in 1985, and in 1994 was adapted into this graphic novel. I've never read the original (or any of the other parts of the trilogy), so I can't comment on Karasik and Mazzicchelli's adaptation. However, I can say that since I'm not particularly fond of existentialist or postmodernist literature (those two terms being the most common critical shorthand for Auster's story), this really didn't do anything for me at all. The story is basically an exercise in metafiction, and if you like that stuff, great -- I do not. It is dressed up (at least initially) in the mystery genre, but that's just window dressing. (There's a long legacy, especially in France, of cloaking novels and films of ideas in genre trappings (for example Alain Robbe-Grillet's two books The Erasers and The Voyeur, or the films of Jean-Pierre Melville.)

The story begins fairly straightforwardly: a reclusive writer of potboiler mysteries named Daniel Quinn lives in New York on his own since the death of his wife and son. A complete stranger calls him and thinks Quinn is a private detective named Paul Auster and begs him to to take his case. (The writer Paul Auster, and his family, shows up for one scene -- it's that kind of book.) Quinn meets with the strange man, who was raised in rather harrowing circumstances by his professor father, who was seeking to discover the true language of God. The father has been released from jail and Quinn is supposed to keep an eye on him and report. Everything starts to derail when he loses track of both the old man he's been following, and his clients. He spends several months watching the building and going crazy. Once he realizes they've disappeared, he finds his own life has disappeared as well. Obviously this is all somewhat about identity, but it's more about fun stuff like language, representation, and other tiresome postmodern subjects (as are the other two parts of the trilogy, which involve a man spying on someone, and yet another disappearance).

It has to be said that the artwork does an admirable job of treating the bizarro world Auster has thrust his characters into. The simple, heavy black and white inking is a perfect match to the material, especially when the representations become less literal and more symbolic. However, if your taste runs more toward things like plots and characters, this is probably not for you. Fans of Auster may enjoy this, but fans of the graphic novel form are probably going to be much less keen.

not a real detective story.......2004-05-03

We were suposed to read "City of Glass" out of Auster's NEW YORK TRILOGY in our English advanced class. I believe the mystery of chance and the multiple personalities of the protagonist are crucial for Austers first detective story. The well chosen setting fits perfectly into the plot. Auster writes about an isolated , lonely writer at the mid-thirty, who has pleasant success in writing detective stories. Just by accident the protagonist gets the opportunity to solve an obscure case as an pseudo-detetective. It is easy to follow the plot, but somehow the reader happens to mix up the charachters. But you will never be bored while reading it, even though there are parts of the story wiht not much suspense.

trying to keep the reader confused.......2004-05-03

"City of Glass" is Austers first book of his "New York Trilogy". He keeps his themes so it is also about poverty, hunger and chance. "City of Glass" is about the writer Daniel Quinn who pretends to be the detective Paul Auster. Quinn observes a man who locked in his son for years in the dark in order to teach him god's language. Quinns client fears his father who will be set free from jail. Daniel Quinn is like the other protagonists by Paul Auster. At the beginning "City of Glass" is a very trilling novel. If you read something else by Auster before you read this book you may know what will happen. In the end your expectations won't be fullfilled. For me it is too strange because I don't like Austers theories of chance.

Average customer rating:

A very interesting novel!
Example of the search for meaning
it's come full circle
Brilliant adaptation stands shoulder-to-shoulder with novel
Excellent image-with-text and image-as-text treatment

Paul Auster's City of Glass
Paul Auster , David Mazzucchelli , Paul Karasik , Bob Callahan , and Art Spiegelman
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 038077108X

Amazon.com

I cannot possibly offer enough praise for David Mazzucchelli and Paul Karasik 's adaptation of City of Glass. While some critics found it to be a dry choice of books to turn into a comics, I think the interplay between image and text only heightens the original metafictional narrative. The treatment of the first speech by the crazy antagonist, Peter Stillman--in which the word balloons trail from random objects such as a broken television and a bottle of ink--is brilliant. Neon Lit: Paul Auster's City of Glass deftly illustrates why comics is a perfect format for exploring fictions about text: the words become visible objects of the story.

Customer Reviews:

A very interesting novel!.......2004-05-03

After "Moon Palace" I had to read another book by its talented author for my English class. "City of Glas" by Paul Auster is a very interesting novel. It was written in the middle of the 80's and for the author it was the first big success. This short postmodern novel is about a disillusioned writer pretending to be a detective. Chance is one of the main topics in this book. The author has the rare talent to conjure up tension and it's also his intension to play with the reader's expectation and to destroy them little by little, so one never knows what is going to happen next. All in all it's not called a masterpiece of postmodernism without a reason. It really should be read by everyone who likes surprising stories and everyone who likes detective storties as well although it's not really typical of that.

Example of the search for meaning.......2004-03-24

I thought that this was a very well written thoughtfull book about the questions we must answer living in a postmodern society. This book deals with questions about how everyday life can become meaningless and how once we find meaning in something it can distract us from the reality which surrounds us.

it's come full circle.......2001-01-17

I don't know how Neon Lit fared with the rest of the project, but this graphic novel version of City of Glass by Paul Auster is terrific. In a sense it brings the story full circle, because in the original novel Auster used the conventions of the private eye story to explore the issues implicit in film noir : identity, fate, good and evil, randomness, etc. Since many of the great hard boiled dicks first appeared in pulp fiction, it seems only natural to have this most modern (or post-modern) riff on the genre end up back in comic book form, however glorified.

Actually, Auster himself indulges in so many games with language, shifting identities and allusions to other works that the comic book format is especially well suited to his playfulness. And, like William Goldman's Princess Bride, that sense of fun serves to lighten what can often be most ponderous in post-modern literature, the way in which its practitioners act as if their metafictional techniques are revolutionary and profound. This work is such a throwback that it unabashedly wears its antecedents on its sleeve; never mind the obvious nod to mysteries of the 30's and 40's, it even goes so far as to discuss Cervantes and his metafictional innovations in Don Quijote.

I tend to doubt that Paul Auster's brand of existential musings will appeal to all tastes and I'm sure some will simply find the idea of reading a comic book to be beyond the pale. But if you're an Auster fan, a private eye or noir enthusiast, or just haven't outgrown comics generally, it's well worth tracking down a copy. I realize it says more about me than I should be comfortable revealing, but I actually think the best part of the book is the section on the criminally insane Professor Stillman's religious theses--they're frighteningly close to my own views and make for quite compelling speculation, adding to what is already a fun and unusual reading experience.

GRADE : A

Brilliant adaptation stands shoulder-to-shoulder with novel.......1999-03-01

The real magic here is that, in reworking Paul Auster's original novel, Karasik and Mazzucchelli have done what so many had deemed impossible: they have produced a true literary adaptation in comics form. This is no "Classics Illustrated"; this is a comic that strengthens its source material rather than diminishing it. The original book's concern with the gap between language and meaning is given further depth and resonance in the comic, which finds a visual language equivalent, and does it in a way that no other medium could have. This is no mere illustrated text, but comics as a formidable language and medium in itself. Interestingly, when the original book and the comic are read together, the comic itself almost becomes a physical character, another in the story's proliferation of literary doubles.

Excellent image-with-text and image-as-text treatment.......1997-03-19

I'm reading The New York Trilogy right now. It seems to focus on the lives of authors--how rapt in observations they are. How they might feel that being observed themselves is the only way to prove that they exist--and to validate what they do all day--observe. That said, This comic book / graphic novel brings us an author, Daniel Quinn, caught up in role playing as a detective, sent to observe an old man (who is himself an author). The old man has a wild theory about Adam and pre-language and feral ch

English Delftware in the Bristol Collection

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English Delftware in the Bristol Collection

Manufacturer: Sotheby Parke Bernet Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0856671525

Picturing the Celestial City: The Medieval Stained Glass of Beauvais Cathedral

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Picturing the Celestial City: The Medieval Stained Glass of Beauvais Cathedral
Michael W. Cothren
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0691120803

Book Description

The cathedral of Saint-Pierre in Beauvais, France, is most famous as a failure--its choir vaults came crashing down in 1284--and only secondarily for its soaring beauty. This lavishly illustrated and elegantly written book represents the first serious look at the stunning collection of Gothic stained glass windows that has always dominated the experience of those who enter Beauvais Cathedral.

Chapter by chapter, Michael Cothren traces the glazing through four successive campaigns that bridged the century between the 1240s and the 1340s. The reader is transported back in history, gaining fascinating insight into what the glazing of Beauvais actually would have looked like as well as what it would have communicated to those who frequented the cathedral. Contrary to the widespread assumption that these windows are heavily restored, Cothren shows that they are in fact surprisingly well preserved, especially in light of the cathedral's infamous history of architectural disaster.

More importantly, Cothren goes far to dismantle a long-held misconception about medieval painted windows, and indeed monumental medieval pictorial art in general: the notion that it was conceived and produced as a substitute text for ignorant, illiterate folks, providing for them a "Bible of the Poor." Indeed, Cothren shows us that stained glass windows, rich with shaded meanings, functioned more like sermon than scripture. As an ensemble, they created a radiant interpretive backdrop that explicated and situated the performance of the Mass in this giant liturgical theater.

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