Book Description
Wild Witchcraft is a magical, free-spirited philosophy that embraces nature. A Wild Witch finds magic in the mundane and inspiration in everyday life. Craft of the Wild Witch is a poetic guidebook to the green-spirited path-where thoughts and deeds become acts of devotion or enchantment.
Poppy Palin teaches how to read nature's language and develop a living relationship with the land. From the perspective of a Wild Witch, she reviews Sabbats/ Esbats, spell-weaving, Fairies, companion spirits, intuition development, rules of safe witchcraft practice, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
good at explaining..........2007-08-16
I got this book as a gift, although if I didn't, I probably would've bought it on my own eventually. I like Palin's writing style; her descriptions are beautiful and wordy, and she explains (very often) what it means to be a Wild Witch and what it means to live your life as one. She gives tips on protection magic and a lot of basics of green witchery. There aren't many exercises and rituals in the book, which is what I found to be the most disappointing thing about it.
If you're interested in green witchery, this is a good book to get, but should be supplemented with others.
Very wordy........2007-08-04
I found that I was unable to stay interested while reading this book as it seemed very tedious to me. I felt the author was too wordy and could have gotten her views across in a lot less space. I like her views; I just felt that she repeated herself alot and most likely could have said in a few paragraphs what she took chapters to say.
Craft of The Wild Witch: Green Spirituality & Natural Enchantment.......2007-06-05
Poppy Palin has written a very inspired, sensitive and intelligent book about the real meaning of living a life as a wild witch, at the most essential level. The book is so well written and well organized, and completely brought me back to my green spirituality, which in my everyday "overload" of work, media, telephone, etc. I had lost touch with without even realizing it. Poppy Palin brought me back. Since reading her book I have changed my priorities completely. Poppy Palin is very articulate, and has a beautiful very readable writing style. The only thing missing from this book was Poppy's delightful artwork, which would have been such a treat, but which were not included as she wanted to focus on the importance of the text. Poppy is a wonderful artist, however, and it is worth seeing her website for inspiration. I look forward to reading her other books !!
Wonderful Book.......2007-03-26
This book is full of wise counsel for new people on the path and even those of us that have traveled it for many years. I would say get this book if you want a working knowledge of the Old Ways.
Meh. . . . It's ok. .......2006-08-22
I loved some of this book, and really didn't get other areas. The prose is delightful and definitely does conjure up images of wilderness and enchantment, as other reviewers have said. But as far as any practical application of these practices, I felt this book fell short. I read it quite a while ago, and can't think of one thing I actually used it for beyond ther original reading! Maybe its my own preferences- but this book didn't do a whole lot for me.
Book Description
The great child psychologist gives us a moving revelation of the enormous and irreplaceable value of fairy tales - how they educate, support and liberate the emotions of children.
Customer Reviews:
For fairy tale fans and Freud students.......2007-09-02
I love this book. I keep coming back to it, borrowing it from multiple libraries around the country to re-read, buying it and then loosing it in storage, finding it again and discovering its charm and appeal over and over again. It's a fantastic find, and I will be forever indebted to the now-forgotten college professor who recommended it to me.
For most of the first part of the book, Bruno Bettelheim discusses where fairy tales come from and how they can subconsciously help children with such Freudian problems as the Oedipal complex, and with ordinary problems such as sibling rivalry. He also discusses why some people have tried to ban fairy tales throughout history, something that could draw parallels to recent cases of Harry Potter banning. However, the part of the book that I enjoy the most is where Bettelheim dissects several fairy tales to discover their possible hidden meanings. If you enjoyed the Broadway musical "Into the Woods," this may be your favorite section as well, since the musical also looks for the underlying meaning in certain fairy tales. Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Cinderella and more are all discussed at length.
If you're a fan of fairy tales, this book should be a part of your personal reference library. Highly recommended.
Insights from a new perspective.......2005-12-01
Whatever opinion scholars have of Bettelheim, this is an extraordinarily eye-opening work for a layman. Just the insights into the magical thinking of children--how fairy tales make sense to them because a parent's abilities to predict behavior, for example, seems magical to them too--is "worth the price of admission" for any parent.
A classic psychoanalytical view of fairy tales.......2005-04-28
It is well known that storytelling is an innate expression of civilization, in an effort to define who we are and to make sense of the world. The fairy tale is an important part of this tradition that has a long and rich history spanning thousands of years.
First published in 1975, Bruno Bettleheim, one of Sigmund Freud's followers and an important contributor to psychoanalysis, has written an incredible book, suggesting that the fairy tale has a pedagogical use, educating the child about the struggles in life, that these struggles are an intrinsic aspect of existence. Following Plato, he believes that the literary education of children should begin with the telling of myths. In other words, the fairy tale can present models for behaviour, providing meaning and value to our lives. This wonderful book expresses this view extremely well and also provides a frame of reference towards the child's overall psychological development.
I have read Freud for some years, and nowhere, including Freud himself, have I read a more succinctly expressed view on the ultimate purpose of psychoanalysis, than in this book by Dr. Bettleheim, he writes,
"Psychoanalysis was created to enable man to accept the problematic nature of life without being defeated by it, or giving in to escapism. Freud's prescription is that only by struggling courageously against what seems like unwieldy odds can man succeed in wringing meaning out of existence." (P.8)
Fairy tales inform us about life's struggles, hardships and the reality of death. From Bettleheim's point of view, the fairy tale is a "manifold form" that communicates to the child, educates them, against life's vagaries and realities, which are the unavoidable aspects of our existence. More specifically, the fairy tale is an educational tool to help children grow and develop into adults. He goes on to say that the child needs to be given "...suggestions in symbolic form about how he may deal with these issues and grow safely into maturity." (P.9)
Bettleheim adeptly sets out to prove his theses by analysing well known fairy tales in the context of psychoanalytic theory, persuasively arguing the value of these tales towards the child's psychological development.
If you are interested in psychoanalysis and would like to know more about the profound positive effects the telling of fairy tales can have on our young, this incredible book is indispensable.
Take with a LARGE grain of salt.......2004-04-17
I've noticed that one reviewer pointed to Richard Pollak's biography of the author, "The Creation of Dr. B," as a source of information on Bruno Bettelheim's legitimacy as a psychoanalyst (or lack thereof). I would second that recommendation. Before reading "The Uses of Enchantment," one should be aware that large portions of this book were brazenly plagiarized from other sources, such as Julius Heuscher's "A Psychiatric Study of Fairy Tales: Their Origin, Meaning and Usefulness." Several passages were lifted directly from this work, published in 1963 (more than a decade before Bettelheim began writing "The Uses of Enchantment"), and barely even paraphrased. Heuscher was cited only once by Bettelheim, and not for any of these virtually direct quotes. I would think long and hard before taking anything Bettelheim attempted to pass off as his own work seriously.
Read with a grain of salt.......2003-12-02
While reading this book I found many ah-ha moments. I found it inspirational in getting my creative writing juices flowing and in showing even more reasons for why not censoring fairy tales is good for children. That being said, I also found myself questioning many of the authors arguments. I know very little about freudian psychology and while I can easily accept the idea of the id, ego, and super ego standing as metaphors for instict, self, and conscience, I did have a hard time with all of the oedipal references. Still, I accepted them in terms of the tension between a child and his same sex parent as he comes of age rather than the desire to have the opposite sex parent all to himself. I also felt uneasy about the fact that the children he was referencing seemed far more disturbed than the normal child and I highly doubt that not exposing your child to fairy tales will cause such damage to a child. Still, I was aware that he was a child psychologist and accepted that the children he had most contact with were the more disturbed children so that is why he chose them for his frames of reference. The first real problem I had with the text, however, was when he made reference to autism and a child who was "cured of autism".
Later in the text he mentions a study where there was a group of children who were familiar with violent fairy tales, and a group of children who were only familiar with the watered down versions. Both groups were showed violent films. Bettelheim claimed that the group exposed to the fairy tales reacted less aggressively to the films. I found this interesting but poorly cited which makes me wonder about the ligitamacy of this assumption. Reading other reviews and finding out more about Bettelheim's history helped me put the reading into perspective.
I will probably only recomend this book to people with an interest in literary analysis or fantasy writing to serve as an inpiration, but I would add a disclaimer about his questionable credibility.
Book Description
Best-selling author Ann-Marie Gallagher has penned the authoritative guide to practical spellcraft with The Spells Bible. This can't-miss title shows readers exactly how to improve their lives with natural magic.
Whether the problem is related to love, work, home or family, there's something here to cure what ails. This practical, step-by-step book includes clear instructions for casting more than 150 spells.
Readers will also learn about the impressive history of witchcraft and its relevance to everyday modern life. The Spells Bible is perfect for anyone who wants to move through life in a more positive direction.
Customer Reviews:
Quick easy reference.......2007-03-08
A quick easy to reference book on spell crafting that covers a large variety of life's occurances. Not all the ingredients in the spells are easy to come by, but all in all a good little spell book.
Happy customer.......2007-01-27
Great pictures with many, many detailed and useful spells. Most items needed are fairly easy to find and inexpensive, depending on the spell. Some I have searched for are harder to find and quite expensive. As a beginner, this book will be used alot. After getting this book, I'm very interested in purchasing the other "Bible" books.
Maybe 2 or 3 useful tidbits.......2006-12-24
It is well organized but as a whole it was fairly useless.
OK Basic Book.......2006-02-27
The Book is more like an introduction to spell making than anything else. It has spells for a variety of situations it is purely of a positive nature, more Wiccan style than anything else. For those looking for a variety of spells from different traditions look for another book. Besides that the book is well put together it has a good intro and good basic nice spells explained carefully and suggesting the best way and time to use them.
Very user friendly, delicious pictures........2006-01-18
I did enjoy this book.
The pictures are lovely to begin with and I love the visual aspects. However visuals aside, I thought the author really carefully and simply explained the basics behind spellcraft for the spell casting neophyte. There spells are varied and organised sensibly.
My issues with the book are few. However I think some of the ingredients are a bit fiddly to find, not totally bizarre but a bit too much for day to day rituals.
This book is not especially useful for the advanced practitioner, but then again it never claims to be.
A good addition to any bookshelf to assist in your own spell working path if you are new to the Wiccan Way.
Book Description
What can a therapist do when faced with the all?too?familiar client who seems "stuck" or "resistant". With this captivating volume, veteran therapists Carol and Steve Lankton offer clinicians a highly effective tool with which they can expand their ability to be successful in therapy through integrating the use of indirection into the more commonly used rational and direct approach. This is a book of predesigned stories that the Lanktons and their trainees have told in successful therapy in order to assist clients in their movement toward specific, preplanned goals. The stories are categorized according to the way they are structured to reach particular types of goals, such as changes in affect, attitudinal restructuring, changes in behavior, changes in family structure, changes in self?image, and many others.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic collection of therapeutic metaphors.......2002-11-05
Metaphors are powerful vehicles for change; the unconscious mind must associate with elements of the story to understand it. Milton H. Erickson, M.D., arguably the greatest hypnotherapist ever, often utilized metaphors to achieve breakthroughs with his patients. Now 100 Ericksonian metaphors are available for you to use with patients thanks to the Lanktons' Tales of Enchantment. Each metaphorical story in this treasure trove is preceded with information regarding what the story teaches, problems addressed, and the target audience. I highly recommend this collection of therapeutic metaphors for any Ericksonian hypnotherapist or individual who wishes to read stories that will effectuate positive changes in his or her life.
A positive resource for profesionals and non-profesionals.......1998-08-11
This book is oriented principally to people thet work in the mental health area, giving very valuable resources for cariing out therapeutic conversations, and reading it adds a great deal to creativity. But on the other hand, it doesn't have a good review of how to construct metaphors, it presents many ready-made metaphors.
Also it's a good book for anybody that's seeking a positive view in life or in a specific problematic stage of life. It gives a chance to change the glasses you are using to look at the world for a pair that might make you feel better.
Average customer rating:
- A sweet fairytale for cynics
- A great read
- Loved this story
- A Very Entertaining Book by Teresa Medeiros
- Fun, Silly Sequel Set in Medieval Times
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Touch of Enchantment
Teresa Medeiros
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 0553575007
Release Date: 1997-06-02 |
Amazon.com
Most witches are delighted with their talents, but Tabitha (yes, she's named after the Bewitched character) is not only embarrassed by her talents, she has never honed her skills. Things just happen, especially after she is bequeathed a mysterious amulet that transports her back in time. In this sequel to Breath of Magic, modern girl meets medieval knight. And although Sir Colin of Ravenspeare, Tabitha's knight in shining armor, can't figure out her pajamas and bunny slippers, he is able to look past Tabitha's short hair and modern manner to find true love. Witches aren't exactly welcome in medieval England, so unless Tabitha can convince Ravenspeare to travel into the 20th century with her their future will remain uncertain.
Book Description
From the bestselling author of
Breath of Magic and
Shadows and Lace comes a beguiling new time-travel love story in the hilarious, magical voice that has made Teresa Medeiros one of the nation's most beloved romance writers.
Heiress Tabitha Lennox considered her paranormal talents more a curse than a gift. So she dedicated her life to the cold, rational world of science. Until the day she examined the mysterious amulet her mother had left her and found herself catapulted seven centuries into the past—directly into the path of a rearing black charger ridden by a chain-mailed warrior.
Sir Colin of Ravenshaw had returned from the Crusades to find his castle in ruins, his enemy poised to overrun the land where generations of Ravenshaws had ruled. The last thing he expected was to half trample a damsel with odd garb and even odder manners. But it is her strange talent that will create trouble beyond Colin's wildest imaginings. For everyone knows that a witch must be burned...but it is Colin's heart that is aflame, over an enchanting woman he must not love, yet cannot live without.
Customer Reviews:
A sweet fairytale for cynics.......2007-04-05
Teresa Medeiros, with her upbeat tone and delightful sense of play, has written another fairytale novel with Touch of Enchantment.
Smart and talented--yet mousy, cynical , and unappreciative--wealthy Tabitha Lennox is nearly at the helm of one of the richest businesses in the country when an unexpected computer program hurls her 700 years into the past.
Tabitha, who has never experienced nor really expected love, meets brave, honorable knight Sir Colin of Ravenshaw, who exudes an earthy sexiness and sincerity that she find irresistible.
These two strong-willed people come to love and need one another, but their relationship is threatened by a neighboring English estate tyrant, Colin's long-standing engagement to someone else, his past heartache, and the revelation that Tabitha is an (albeit reluctant) witch. Eventually Tabitha must use the supernatural powers she has always feared and disowned to save herself and Colin from doom.
Familiar characters and plot twists do not mar this novel much because it unfolds in such an uplifting, happy, and ultimately satisfying way.
A great read.......2006-08-15
Touch of Enchantment is a sequel to Breath of Magic. It is a tale about Tristan and Arian's only child, Tabitha, and her adventure in medieval times.
Tabitha has everything she wants. She, like her father, is a genius, graduated from MIT at the age of fifteen, is a department head at Lennox Enterprises and the world is basically at her feet. But throughout her life, Tabitha has felt alone. She has special abilities that she can't understand or control, and she's learned to see them as a curse. Her fear of her abilities has also taught Tabitha to see herself as different from everyone else, which has led her to a lonely life, aloof and set apart from others.
The story opens with the news that her parents are missing. Tabitha is given a video clip her mother made for her. It explains an heirloom that her mother has kept hidden from her father. The emerald necklace allows the wearer to make desires or wishes come true. It also allows the wearer to travel through time. Unfortunately, Tabitha skipped through most of her mother's instructions and decided to experiment on the necklace instead. Her experiment goes awry and she finds herself in the middle of a meadow, in medieval England, and about to be run down by a knight on a horse.
Tabitha's adventure leads her into the arms of the man she was destined to love, but despite their growing attraction, there are obstacles they can't seem to avoid. Colin is betrothed to another and breaking the betrothal contract will mean war for him and his people. Tabitha is considered a witch and the locals have a habit of burning them at the stake. Colin's nemesis is aware of Tabitha's special abilities and is trying to kidnap her and murder Colin.
This was an entertaining read but I'm not sure it was as good as Breath of Magic. Breath of Magic, however, is blessed with a very memorable character in Arian and that is a hard act to follow. Nevertheless, Touch of Enchantment is good enough on its own with a solid storyline and great characters.
Loved this story.......2005-06-20
I have read several books from Teresa Medeiros and I have to say that this is one of my favorites. It was a fun read that was very cheesy in a nice way. It is nice to read a story once in awhile where the hero isn't such a womanizer. I chuckled quite often in this book. Sometimes a trip from reality is a fun read if you are not expecting something too dark or deep.
I enjoyed their love story and was very happy with the ending. Although, I would have liked to have had more insight to Colin's thoughts after landing in 2020 but I guess that might have taken a bit from the ending.
I never read Breath of Magic so I am looking forward to reading that one.
A Very Entertaining Book by Teresa Medeiros.......2005-02-05
Tabitha receives an amulet that helps her focus her magic. Unwittingly she errors and finds herself wisked through time to the era of gallant and not so gallant Knights. Sir Colin is returning from the Crusades and being chased by an excellent villian, when he comes upon a this strange looking woman. She is dressed in clothing from the future which make her definately out of character for the era. Fearlessly, she protects the Knight and is mistaken for his woman. He is impressed by her bravery as well. Keeping her wasn't his choice, and when magical things happen she must explains them away, as he is much against magic.
Everyone knows that a witch must be burned, and Sir Colin allows his opinion to be known to Heiress Tabitha. A bumbling witch from the future, Tabitha keeps her secret. Will he want her burned, if he discovers she's a witch?
This story develops quickly, has plenty of action, and held my attention. The villian is perfect, the friends amusing, and the main characters endearing. Some of the side characters are endearing also. I enjoyed to ending as much as all the rest, and frankly would not have minded if the story continued.
Teresa lives up to her much earned reputation of being an excellent writer. I recommend this book to all who enjoy romance with a touch of magic.
Fun, Silly Sequel Set in Medieval Times.......2005-01-11
I couldn't get enough of TOUCH OF ENCHANTMENT. It was cute and silly, and quite fun to read. The premise of the story is, in the year 2020, reluctant white witch Tabitha gets zapped 700 years into the past by her mother's magic amulet and into the life of beleaguered Scottish knight Colin of Ravenwood. In his company, she does everything from being imprisoned in a cold, dark dungeon to facing a mythical monster in battle. Very fairytale-ish, indeed. I enjoyed Tabitha's dealings with medieval folk and her accidents with magic (as well as all her sarcasm and one-liners). I also thought that Colin, a chivalrous knight devoted to God, was an intriguing hero.
TOUCH OF ENCHANTMENT is the sequel to BREATH OF MAGIC, which is about Tabitha's parents. I enjoyed both books immensely. Each has enjoyable characters and its own unique time-travel storyline. My advice is to read them both, in order. They are great fun and have wacky senses of humor!
Book Description
In late afternoon on November 7, 1985, sixteen-year-old Mary Veal was abducted after field hockey practice at her all-girls New England prep school.
Or was she?
A few weeks later an unharmed Mary reappears as suddenly and mysteriously as she disappeared, claiming to have little memory of what happened to her. Her socially ambitious mother, a compelling if frosty woman descended from a Salem witch, is concerned that Mary has somehow been sullied by the experience and sends her to therapy with a psychologist named Dr. Hammer.
Mary turns out to be a cagey and difficult patient. Dr. Hammer begins to suspect thatMary concocted her tale of abduction when he discovers its parallels with a seventeenth-century narrative of a girl who was abducted by Indians and who caused her rescuer to be hanged as a witch. Hammer, eager to further his professional reputation, decides to write a book about Mary’s faked abduction, a project her mother sanctions, because she'd rather her daughter be a liar than a rape victim.
Fifteen years later, Mary has returned to Boston for her mother's funeral. Her abduction—real or imagined—has tainted many lives, including her own. When Mary finds a suggestive letter sent to her mother, she suspects her mother planned a reconciliation before her death. Thus begins a quest that requires Mary to revisit the people and places in her past.
The Uses of Enchantment weaves a spell in which the reader sees how the extraordinary power of a young woman’s sexuality, and the desire to wield it, have a devastating effect on all involved. The riveting cat-and-mouse power games between doctor and patient, and between abductor and abductee, are gradually, dreamily revealed, along with the truth about what actually happened in 1985.
Heidi Julavits is in full command of her considerable gifts and has crafted a dazzling narrative sure to garner her further acclaim as one of the best novelists working today.
Customer Reviews:
"literary" treatment of trash-novel material.......2007-07-31
This is the chronologically disjointed musings of the thoroughly unlikeable people affected by a teen-ager's abduction/reappearance some years earlier. Much oblique narrative, self-deception by the characters and deliberate deception of the reader. The author's propensity for using nouns as verbs is distracting, but of a piece with the self-consciously arresting language and style throughout. The author seems to aspire toward brilliant refraction of memory through the facets of imperfect and self-serving narratives. This may well have been therapeutically valuable for the author, but doesn't do much for the reader.
If you're expecting answers, you won't get them.......2007-04-04
The story grabs your interest in the beginning and offers intriguing possibilities, but it proceeds to go in circles. Or was it downhill in circles? That's what it felt like. I can admire the writing, and cultural references, and the intertwining of therapy and recovered memory, and the importance of telling one's story, but ultimately this book was incredibly frustrating because I just wanted to find out what happened. Perhaps the author was cleverly working to get me into just such a spot; if so that's a waste of her talent, my time, and the paper this book is printed on. Comparisons to a house of mirrors are apt -- but that trick is (only mildly) entertaining for about 30 seconds. It gets old reeeaaallly fast, as did this story. I skimmed the last pages and felt irritated that I'd wasted as much time on it as I had. Her writing is undoubtedly very good, however, and it really shone when she was grounded in reality (the interplay among the sisters, for example), instead of the out-on-a-limb stuff.
Intriguing, but leaves you wanting more.......2007-02-18
Although I'd had a bad experience with one of Julavits' previous novels (THE MINERAL PALACE), the subject matter of her latest effort, THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT, caught my attention and I decided to have another go. This time around, I must say that Julavits has grown as a writer and I found this novel much more interesting, if not completely satisfying.
What really happened to Mary Veal, a Boston high school girl descended from a Salem witch and purportedly kidnapped by a sexual predator? The reader never knows for sure and the convention of the unreliable narrator (in this case, narrators) is perfect for a novel that ventures into the fascinating and politically incorrect territory of inexperienced feminine aggression, potentially make-believe sexual abuse, maternal lies and feminist psychotherapy. Julavits is at her best skewering feminist pieties in the satirically drawn character of Dr. Roz Biedelman. Also intriguing is Julvits' layering of Mary's tale with possible psychological forerunners: the hysteric Dora as interpreted by Freud; Bettina Spencer, an earlier "victim" of a faked abduction from the same high school Mary attended; and, of course, Abigail Lake, Mary's falsely accused Salem ancestor.
The narrative evolves in three parts: "What Might Have Happened" when Mary was abducted from her school in 1986; the ghosts from the past Mary must confront when she returns to Boston for her mother's funeral in 1999; and the notes taken by her psychiatrist, Dr. Hammer, whose name makes obvious reference to the 15th-century witch-hunter's manual, the Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches).
The most satisfying element of THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT is Julavits' play on historical and current ideas of female sexuality. But this is also where it begins to fall down. Much more could have been imagined and explored. Least satisfying is her characterization of Mary. I finished the book without any real sense of who Mary was as a girl and who she is now. The description of Mary's tense relationship with her sisters -- and the relationship of the three girls with their mother -- is incomplete. None of Julavits' characters leap off the page as, well, characters. The exception, Roz Biedelman, is closer to caricature.
Although I was initially drawn into this story, I found the narrative fizzled towards the end and I was left asking, is that it? And --Julavits' unspoken but apparent conclusion -- is it really all our mothers' fault?
A Complex Intertwined Novel.......2007-02-08
Mary, the main character in this book is a pretty strange character. You don't quite know how to take her. Is she an innocent victim, a liar, or maybe just a bit crazy.
It seemed that a few years ago we went through a period where repressed memory syndrome was in full swing. Since then it has faded from the popular mind as a result of scandals and a general popular skepticism. There certainly is a reluctance now to not attribute as much validity to recovered memories as is placed in memories naturally remembered. This is just one of the three intertwined story lines that are carried forth in this book.
Another aspect is the family itself. Mary's mother (who just died and is the excuse for them getting together) and sisters are not exactly what you'd expect to find in an ordinary family, but I'll leave those details to you.
This is Ms. Julavits fourth novel. She continues to grow in her characterizations and in the complexity of the story. She continues to provide a psychological tone to her books that I find quite interesting.
Boring.......2007-02-01
The first few pages were terrific. There were also perhaps ten or fifteen pages in the middle of the book that proved quite dazzling. Unfortunately, the remainder was simply a slog. The psychobabble of the therapist's office was especially unendurable. The characters, too, were almost uniformly dull and cloying creatures. I suspect that on the whole it would have worked much better as a short story, where those moments of dazzle might have had greater effect. As it was, they only served to remind me how uninteresting the remainder was. I read this book directly after Jennifer Egan's "Look At Me"--a truly marvelous novel. So perhaps it simply suffered by comparison. I suspect not, however. I suspect that this is simply, by any measure, a bad book that was unfortunately over-hyped.
Book Description
Her name is synonymous with elegance, style and grace. Over the course of her extraordinary life and career, Audrey Hepburn captured hearts around the world and created a public image that stands as one of the most recognizable and beloved in recent memory. But despite her international fame and her tireless efforts on behalf of UNICEF, Audrey was also known for her intense privacy. With unprecedented access to studio archives, friends and colleagues who knew and loved Audrey, bestselling author Donald Spoto provides an intimate and moving account of this beautiful, elusive and talented woman.
Tracing her astonishing rise to stardom, from her harrowing childhood in Nazi-controlled Holland during World War II to her years as a struggling ballet dancer in London and her Tony Award–winning Broadway debut in Gigi, Spoto illuminates the origins of Audrey’s tenacious spirit and fiercely passionate nature.
She would go on to star in some of the most popular movies of the twentieth century, including Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Funny Face, The Nun’s Story, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and My Fair Lady. A friend and inspiration to renowned designer Hubert de Givenchy, Audrey emerged as a fashion icon as well as a film legend, her influence on women’s fashion virtually unparalleled to this day.
But behind the glamorous public persona, Audrey Hepburn was both a different and a deeper person and a woman who craved love and affection. Donald Spoto offers remarkable insights into her professional and personal relationships with her two husbands, and with celebrities such as Gregory Peck, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Gary Cooper, Robert Anderson, Cary Grant, Peter O’Toole, Albert Finney and Ben Gazzara. The turbulent romances of her youth, her profound sympathy for the plight of hungry children, and the thrills and terrors of motherhood prepared Audrey for the final chapter in her life, as she devoted herself entirely to the charity efforts of an organization that had once come to her rescue at the end of the war: UNICEF.
Donald Spoto has written a poignant, funny and deeply moving biography of an unforgettable woman. At last, Enchantment reveals the private Audrey Hepburn—and invites readers to fall in love with her all over again.
“She was as funny as she was beautiful. She was a magical combination of high chic and high spirits.” —Gregory Peck
“In spite of her fragile appearance, she’s like steel.” —Cary Grant
“Audrey was known for something which has disappeared, and that is elegance, grace and manners . . . God kissed her on the cheek, and there she was.” —Billy Wilder
“There is not a woman alive who does not dream of looking like Audrey Hepburn.” —Hubert de Givenchy
“Her magnetism was so extraordinary that everyone wanted to be close to her. It was as if she placed a glass barrier between herself and the world. You couldn’t get behind it easily. It made her remarkably attractive.” —Stanley Donen
“She has authentic charm. Most people simply have nice manners.” —Alfred Lunt
Customer Reviews:
An Affirming Celebrity.......2007-02-11
Audry Hepburn was in a league of her own. When was the last time we heard of a star of this magnitude helping a friend in business and firing his/her manager for trying to make a profit from the help? While I was aware of her work with UNICEF, I was unaware of the depth of her commitment. The trip to Sudan was hard enough to read about. I cannot imagine going there as she did.
WWII's deep scars were well hidden from public view. For most of the war she and her family had daily fear for their lives and in the end were near death due stavation. A mere 8 years later Audrey is at the pinnacle of glitter and glamor of a film career with an Oscar. The effects of the war, the trials of living with a withholding aristocratic mother, the rigid roles for women in the 50's are mentioned but not discussed. The insecurities these brought on show in her marriages, and the emphathy shows in her above and beyond work for UNICEF as
This book covers the life, but not the inner person or the times. Fortunately, she is not a star in this time. Today's even more intrusive paparazzis and career journalists could destroy her for us and for herself. Spoto does a loving and respectful job of presenting her life.
Enchantment The life of Audrey Hepburn.......2007-01-05
Loved the book, lots of interesting details of her life.
4 1/2 Respect and Admiration.......2007-01-03
When I think of some of his previous work, Donald Spoto's priorities seem geared towards including enough scintillating information for good PR and improved sales. Perhaps I've been unfair. Not only does has he done historical work (Amazon.com called my attention to his historical biographies), but this is a well-researched, non-sensationalist biography of Ms. Hepburn. If anything, it could have standed something less objective, some sort of socio-cultural analysis of how we were and remain completely smitten with her, but Mr. Spoto shows restraint. A remarkable, truely admirable figure, this book illuminates some of her many roles both in and outside of Hollywood. There are some lovely black and white photos, but not many; one's hnger for that image must be satisfied elsewhere. One book cannot do its subject justice, but this is a very good beginning. You can appreciate Ms. Hepburn without having seen a single one of her films, but I can't think of one good reason why you'd want to.
Enchanting.......2007-01-02
More than a decade after her death, Audrey Hepburn remains an ideal of femininity in cinema and a role model for film stars in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Donald Spoto has penned a biography that manages successfully to tread the delicate line between treating her with proper reverence while offering genuine insight into her life and personality.
Abandoned early on by a roue of a father and raised by a caring but distant mother, Hepburn began as an aspiring ballet dancer in war-torn Holland. She rose to stardom both on Broadway and in Hollywood with astonishing speed, winning both the Tony and Oscar by the time she was twenty-five years old. She managed her career with a shrewdness that belied her delicate, vulnerable screen persona, rarely making any missteps in preserving a carefully constructed screen image, though Spoto turns an unwavering, and to this reader unnecessarily harsh, eye on many of her most popular films. Her private life was much less perfect. The author analyzes her two relatively long-term, by Hollywood standards, but unhappy marriages to fellow cinema actor Mel Ferrer and Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti, and many love affairs with a sympathetic tone that avoids sensationalization. His revelations concerning the star's passionate, doomed affair with playwright Robert Anderson during the filming of one of her best movies, Fred Zinneman's The Nun's Story, make moving reading. He achieves a signal success in implying a connection between Hepburn's surprisingly voracious sexual appetites and her emotionally barren childhood without clumsily stating the obvious.
Carefully researched, as evidenced by the many footnotes, Spoto's work is on the whole a model for film-star biographies. Ultimately he achieves his goal of bringing Hepburn to life in these pages, painting a portrait of a woman surprisingly anxious and insecure despite outward physical beauty and enviable artistic and commercial success, who never found true fulfillment in her personal life (except perhaps with her last partner, Robert Wolders), but did eventually find it in her untiring work for UNICEF, before tragically succumbing to cancer at all too early an age. For Hepburn the artist, despite extended discussions of most of her important films, one might have wished for a more balanced assessment, as well as a detailed filmography, the lack of which is the book's one real defect. Still, "Enchantment" is a remarkable achievement and easily transcends its frequently tawdry genre.
Laborious.......2006-10-30
This was a difficult read, as it was overly embellished in places; full of gossip, and was hard to get through with its over-use of adjectives in particular. Stick with Sean Ferrer's " An Elegant Spirit." Pictures often say more than words. The words in "Enchantment" were redundant and dull.
Book Description
Optimize learning and realize human potential with this step-by-step guide. The Re-Enchantment of Learning takes you through a ten-week process. Each chapter begins with information and inspiration to give you a foundation for the activities at the end. More than 120 process and reflection activities engage you in ongoing practice-individually, in groups, and in the classroom.
Boost your effectiveness in meeting today's challenges with strategies based on the new sciences. Applications of these field-tested methods have resulted in higher student grades and test scores. And more importantly, dramatic transformations are evidenced by-
- Personal lives taking on a renewed sense of meaning
- Administrators focusing on bringing out the best in everyone
- Students taking pride in their work, behavior, and classrooms
Bring the power of learning alive in your life and the lives of your students. You'll find-
- Brain-based teaching explained in a way that every teacher or school can build upon
- New ways to perceive the world and how to bring connection and a sense of wonder back into the classroom
- Specific processes to develop the skills necessary to approach teaching at the highest level
- Innovative ways to tap creativity and originality with responsive learning approaches
Book Description
The very words "New Mexico landscape" immediately conjure up a mental image of other-worldly beauty. But the mind's eye of each person may see an entirely different picture, for there are as many interpretations of this scenic treasure as there are artists to paint it. This lavish book, the fifth in the New Mexico Artist Series, presents more than fifty artists whose styles run the gamut from impeccable realism to interpretive abstraction. The unifying theme is the light on the land, and the abiding message is that there are unlimited ways to observe and appreciate it.
The history of landscape painting in New Mexico comes vividly to life in this book, as does a sure feel for the current art scene. Profiles of the great names in the field, as well as some very interesting discoveries among emerging artists, provide the reader with an exciting overview of this popular subject.
This lavish book presents more than fifty New Mexico artists whose styles run the gamut from impeccable realism to interpretive abstraction.
Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2007-06-13
Great book if you like New Mexico and seeing the land.
New Mexico Landscape Paintings of Enchantment.......2006-08-31
As a landscape painter, I moved from Hawai'i to NYC then out West to see the land, the light; to experience first hand the profound spiritual quality of being one with the Universe. These painters get it! This book is by far, the best contemporary representation of landscape painters' painting I have seen to date. Each artist has a profile/commentary prelude to set the stage for their experience of this enchanted land. There are just enough wonderful photographs of their work to entice you to want to see more. It is a treasure.
"Landscapes of New Mexico".......2006-06-26
"Landscapes of New Mexico" is an excellent, outstanding book on landscapes artitsts in New Mexico. My love affair with New Mexico and its artists began, when I was a freshman in college, in 1969. Over the years I have visited and revisited and visited again Santa Fe and many other parts of New Mexico. I have become extremely familiar with the works of Charles Azbell who, is one of the artists, profiled in the book.Some of the other artists I was less familiar with and others, quite frankly, I was introduced to for the first time. I have found this book to be a wonderful, wonderful resource to supplement and enhance the knowledge and familiarity I had of the artists and their work.
This book gives a fairly detailed background and insight on many landscape artists and their works. For each artist that is profiled in the book there are a number of photos of their works.
I found that to be especially helpful as I try to enahance my appreciation and knowledge of landscape artists in the Land of Enchantment.
Over the years I have read some books on up and coming artists of all kinds. Until now I have not read a book on this subject that was as detailed and as generously photographed as "Landscapes of New Mexico" Previosuly the books were either much too detailed, not detrailed enough or didnt have many photos of the artists work. This book, I am ecstatic to say, achieves just thr right balance.
For anyone that is interested in starting to learn about, in a broad overview ,or supplement their knowledge of landscape artists in New Mexico, there is no better book on this subject than "Landscapes of New Mexico"
Customer Reviews:
text, no images but still very interesting.......2006-09-01
this book provides a lot of information about stones and crystals that is informative and written in a fashion that isn't dry. Not many pictures, but the book is super reference.
I have always enjoyed stone, used to work with a stone wheel shaping them.
Always felt such power from the different ones, almost as if they called to me, telling me what shape they wanted to me. So I appreciate knowing more about them and their properties.
Great book on crystals.......2006-05-18
This book is mostly text with no "real" illustrations (only a very small handful of pictures and diagrams). Very informative and is most definatly a solid choice for reading material of this subject.
A great perspective.......2006-05-03
Written in the simple and personal style for which Conway is known, this work carries on in the tradition of a more folklorical and Pagan perspective of working with minerals. This book helps integrate history, tradition, and the more New Agey perspective, and Conway also adds a bit of mineralogy to the mix.
This work largely addresses crystals for their healing and ritual/magickal connotations, and thus adds a facet that other comprehensive works leave out. This is a must-have for all crystal workers, especially those of a Pagan or Earth-based worldview.
Your Magical Crystal & Stone Bible!.......2005-04-07
I LOVE this book! By one of my favorite authors, this book is extremely easy to read and comprehend. Magical uses, healing properties, history, it's just about all here! Worth every penny! Check out other titles by D.J. Conway, she "ROCKS"!
An excellent and extensive resource book........2004-08-14
It lists for each stone - physical properties, source, facts, history / folklore, healing energies and and magical uses. Includes a very good section on other magical uses for stones in general and has a diverse section on personal gemstones.
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