Book Description
Harry Dresden--Wizard
Lost items found. Paranormal investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment.
Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things--and most of them don't play too well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a--well, whatever.
There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get... interesting.
Magic. It can get a guy killed.
Customer Reviews:
Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1).......2007-10-11
I watched the Dresden files on the Sci-fi channel and really got into the series, so went looking for the books. I really enjoyed this book and have just started the 2nd book. I plan on ordering them all.
Has everything a good book should!!.......2007-10-09
This book has everything that a good book should. It has action, thrills, the ocult in a very believeable and down to earth situation. It also makes you want to just up and shake Harry from time to time!!! I loved it!!!
The Dresden Files - How did I miss these????.......2007-09-30
A few weeks ago I ended up purchasing book 1 of the Dresden Files, Storm Front, deciding I would give it a chance. I believe I was reading a Christopher Golden Book (The Veil or the newest Menagerie Book) and saw something in the back about Butcher's books. Oh my gosh, I could not believe when I started reading the books that I missed out on them for so many years. From the first pages, I was hooked and looked forward to purchasing EVERY other book in the series. I haven't watched the show based on the books yet, but if it is 10% as good as this series, I'm all over it! If you like books about the modern world with hidden underpinnings of the supernatural, please give the series a try, you will not be disappointed!
Awesome.......2007-09-28
I stumbled onto the SciFi Channel series and finally got around to picking up some of the books.
I love the TV series but this book is so much better. I hope Jim Butcher is up to writing these for a long time.
Great. Just great!
Another wizard named Harry.......2007-09-26
I must confess that my affection for the short-lived TV series was what roused my curiosity and got me reading this book. I don't do detective novels, but this time I made an exception. The Harry Dresden series as a whole is one long, continuous story, a sort of combination of Sam Spade, Kolchak the Nightstalker, Harry Potter, and manages to throw in almost every element of the fantasy genre that their author could conjure up.
This first book in the series, "Storm Front", is the only one adapted for TV. The book is, of course, a lot longer and more complex, much more intense, the characters are drawn out in greater depth, and also, a great deal funnier. As in most of the Harry Dresden adventures, our hero is confronted with a supernatural menace that nearly brings about his destruction, only to foil his enemy at the very last moment. Along the way, he meets the love of his life, Susan, is forced into aquaintence with a mob leader, deals with a supernatural enemy, and of course has a wonderfully exciting, comical battle with giant scorpions and a demonic toad, all on a disastrous first date.
Harry is not only a guy you can believe in and feel for, but a true superhero.
Book Description
The dust storms that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since. Timothy Egan's critically acclaimed account rescues this iconic chapter of American history from the shadows in a tour de force of historical reportage. Following a dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, Egan tells of their desperate attempts to carry on through blinding black dust blizzards, crop failure, and the death of loved ones. Brilliantly capturing the terrifying drama of catastrophe, Egan does equal justice to the human characters who become his heroes, "the stoic, long-suffering men and women whose lives he opens up with urgency and respect" (New York Times). In an era that promises ever-greater natural disasters, "The Worst Hard Time" is "arguably the best nonfiction book yet" (Austin Statesman Journal) on the greatest environmental disaster ever to be visited upon our land and a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of trifling with nature.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding.......2007-10-10
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
This is an outstanding book! I had no idea how bad the Dust Bowl was. I was so impressed with the book that I bought a copy for each of my 3 siblings.
Unbelievable!.......2007-10-03
This book was fantastic. Although the majority of books I read are fiction, I'm not hesitant to read good non-fiction. This book was so well written that it reads like a taut novel. Along with Seabiscuit and The Devil in the White City, it is one of the best historical books I've read. Very well researched and thought out. You almost can't believe that this could have actually happened. You feel like you know the characters, and you certainly root for them even though you seemingly know how it will turn out. I would recommend this book to any avid reader - fiction or non-fiction.
Hopefully, we will learn from our past.......2007-10-02
This is an important event in US history that is so relevant today, supplying more fuel for both side of the ongoing debate on global warming.
I found it a bit difficult to stay connected to the characters. In spite of that, the story remained interesting, showing the plight and hardships endured by the generation before us, and bringing us an awareness of our fragile ecosystem.
Eye Opening and Hard to Put Down.......2007-09-25
A must read for history buffs and readers in general. Information places the midwest, its people, and past in an entirely different light of appreciation. (Absolutely Facinating)!
Fine story, good history, a little light on analysis.......2007-09-18
Egan's *Worst Hard Time* is intriguing and largely well done, if a bit relentless. Granted, he's writing about a phenomenon that dragged on for years, repeatedly raising and dashing ever-slimmer hopes; the people who lived the "Dust Bowl" years were literally worn out, but Egan needed to do something more with the material than recreate that sensation. Toward the last third of the book, in particular, a kind of sameness creeps into the narrative, as if Egan didn't really know what else to say -- which I suspect is connected to my sense that he relied too much on too few sources (including a diary that he overuses) -- and his slightly jerky style gets distracting (he's not a great one for writing transitions). For me, one failing is that Egan never explains, in any specific way, the origin and cause of the "black dusters" and other freakish weather phenomena of the "Dust Bowl" era. He tells us that the dust storms came because the topsoil had been carved off by overfarming (and then aggravated by the abandonment of unsuccessful farms), but a meteorological or ecological explanation - even a nontechnical one - wouldn't have been a bad idea. His description of the CCC efforts at re-grassing the plains left me with significant questions that he doesn't answer: Given that the dust storms continued unabated throughout the effort, what was the government's strategy for protecting the newly planted grass during the time it would have taken for it to mature enough to hold the soil? And how did they water it? In addition, I'd have appreciated a more substantive "bring us up to date" chapter at the end that explained more clearly what happened in the wake of the human and policy failures of the Dust Bowl. Nor would a little class analysis have hurt -- other than wagging a kind of general finger at get-rich schemes perpetrated both by private interests and by the government, he seems careful not to accuse anybody too directly of creating an ecological disaster, of maiming (psychologically and literally) and killing tens of thousands of people, or of engaging in a kind of class warfare that embodied the ferocious social Darwinism of Depression-era capitalism. Finally, I'd just point out that the book isn't really the story of "survivors" of the Dust Bowl; there are essentially no survivors, and this is no movie-of-the-week tale of grit, courage, and heroism that win out in the end. The people Egan follows are bleak and broken, and their desperation is palpable. *Worst Hard Time* begs the question: Is there any redemption? I think Egan knows there was none, but he seems loathe to say it in so many words.
Book Description
Twelve-thousand feet beneath the Atlantic Ocean . . .
scientists are excavating the most extraordinary undersea discovery ever made. But is it the greatest archaeological find in history—or the most terrifying?
Former naval doctor Peter Crane is urgently summoned to a remote oil platform in the North Atlantic to help diagnose a bizarre medical condition spreading through the rig. But when he arrives, Crane learns that the real trouble lies far below—on “Deep Storm,” a stunningly advanced science research facility built two miles beneath the surface on the ocean floor. The topsecret structure has been designed for one purpose: to excavate a recently discovered undersea site that may hold the answers to a mystery steeped in centuries of myth and speculation.
Sworn to secrecy, Dr. Crane descends to Deep Storm. A year earlier, he is told, routine drilling uncovered the remains of mankind’s most sophisticated ancient civilization: the legendary Atlantis. But now that the site is being excavated, a series of disturbing illnesses has begun to affect the operation. Scientists and technicians are experiencing a bizarre array of symptoms—from simple fatigue to violent psychotic episodes. As Crane is indoctrinated into the strange world of Deep Storm and commences his investigation, he begins to suspect that the covert facility conceals something more complicated than a medical mystery.The discovery of Atlantis might, in fact, be a cover for something far more sinister . . . and deadly.
Like Lincoln Child’s spectacular bestsellers coauthored with Douglas Preston (The Book of the Dead, Relic), Deep Storm melds scientific detail and gripping adventure in a superbly imagined, chillingly real journey into unknown territory. Child is a master of suspense, and Deep Storm is his most ambitious novel to date.
Customer Reviews:
Not a Deep Connection........2007-10-09
I just finished reading "Deep Storm". It was okay, but not great.
There was a very...clinical element in the way the story was told. We never really find out any personal details about the characters. As a result, the story ends without the reader forming a substantial emotional bond with any of the characters.
While this doesn't prevent the story from being told, it could definitely have been told better. Adding personal details about the characters is just one way this could have been accomplished. Another missed opportunity was adding more details to those characters who said they were hearing voices. It would've been interesting to eavesdrop on those [Spoiler Warning!] voices/alien transmissions.
The book was a quick read, but unfortunately nothing that I would be motivated to read a second time.
"It's all broken ..." (possible spoilers).......2007-10-04
One of the more idiotic characters of the book keeps uttering this, and boy how right he was. There were a number of just plain holes in the plot. Here's a little one. A character who's role was to just be murdered sets up a meet with a bad guy at a gas station. He has the air compressor tire pump with him. He invites the bad guy into his car. He gets into the car and shuts the door. He *still* has the compressor hose in his hand. Did he thread it through the open window before getting into the car? Who knows? Somehow it ends up being long enough for his killer to take from him, jam down his throat, and turn on.
Here's another one. The bad guy later has to insert an encoded message into an image file. All he has to work with is a dumb terminal with no hard disk. So he writes a program and, uh, *compiles* it, then runs it. First, what dumb terminal is going to have a compiler? Second, if you compile a program you have to save it somewhere. Well where do you save it if you don't have a hard disk?
The book is full of little pieces of foolishness like this. For instance, 2 miles down in the ocean, there's a flash of light, and the ocean bottom is packed with all the funny looking denizens of the deep. If you're going to write a book you should know a little about the location of your main action. Like: the deep ocean isn't just packed full of funny looking fish.
Last one: all marines are violent robots who follow their evil overlord to death without individual thought ... especially the "special ops" ones.
Anyway I could go on, but you get the idea.
His Best Yet.......2007-09-13
This is Lincoln Child's best book yet! I have read every book by Child and his co-author Preston. Loved the imagination that went along with the story, you could almost feel yourself down at the ocean floor with all the characters. The ending, I hope, leaves room for a continuing novel.
Not nearly deep enough for me.......2007-09-12
An adventure unfolds in the deep sea several miles below an oilrig in the north Atlantic in Lincoln Child's Deep Storm, where a phalanx of scientists, doctors and marines in a massive seabed complex prepare to excavate a great discovery, perhaps the greatest discovery of all time, we are told.
And thus the adventure unfolds; it unfolds and unfolds and unfolds and yet, sadly, it never really arrives anywhere special; the author's attempts at any sort of real depth flounders despite his crisply written pages. Yes they are scribed with scalpel-sharp techno description, jam-packed with medical and science fact. But in all honestly, the wealth of research packed into the novel does nothing to develop the spirit of the main character, Peter Crane a navy doctor who's been dispatched to the undersea science complex to help solve the mystery of an outbreak of mysterious illnesses. In fact, none of the characters pop to life in Deep Storm.
The narrative leads Crane and the reader into first believing that Atlantis has been discovered, but that notion is soon dispelled when further investigation reveals that the top-secret mission is actually a dig for some alien technology buried some 600 years ago just inside the Mohorovicic Discontinuity, or "Moho" as it's called, the boundary between the earth's crust and mantle, which under the sea is not as deep as in other areas. It's still deep enough to be causing all sorts of problems and mishaps. For starters, the medical outbreak, (mental disorders mostly, which, for story purposes is quite lame) might be due to the depth or the alien technology or something else. Then there's a saboteur aboard (of course there is, it's one of the elements you need in every undersea tale). There's also a mystery involving some miniature alien technology that appears to be transmitting a binary code warning: do not dig here, danger to the solar system!
Throw into this mix a caricature naval commander hell bent on carrying out the mission at all costs even if it means losing every man and woman on board or, worse, blowing up the entire solar system. But in the end, Crane saves the moment. The earth and the solar system live to see another day. Although in the final page, Child's lays down yet one more spin on the tale: perhaps it isn't over after all. This is an okay read but it's clinical and dispassionate in style. If Crane's character had been built upon, if the author had tempered his urge to reveal all that he'd researched in favor of some heart and passion, if he'd penned it with his partner (Thunder Head, Preston and child, what a ride!) it could have been great. Into the Abyss
Incredible Ride! .......2007-08-11
Ok... so I started reading this and said "been there...done that" then suddenly the story started to morph and one of the wildest and most exciting rides I've been on for a quite a while unfolded! Great read! Well written! Lincoln's best since Utopia (which I also recommend!!)
Book Description
Matt Stromsoe has come a long way since his wife and son were killed in an explosion meant for him. Wounded severely in both body and spirit, Stromsoe gave up the last thing that held any meaning for him—his job on the police force—and proceeded to hit rock bottom, hard.
That was a lifetime ago, and finally the spiral of personal destruction and despair seems to have come to an end. The man responsible for the murders—Stromsoe's best friend from childhood and his wife's old lover—is behind bars and Stromsoe has put the past behind him, rescued from the abyss by a former colleague who offers him a job at his private security firm. Stromsoe's first assignment is to protect local television personality Frankie Hatfield from a stalker. But the further Stromsoe is drawn into this case, the more he finds that the net of intrigue is wide and ultimately leads back to the man who killed his family. As events conspire against him, Stromsoe learns that prison is no safeguard against revenge.
T. Jefferson Parker has been hailed as belonging "in the first rank of American crime novelists" (Washington Post Book World) and praised for "some of the finest writing you'll ever read" (Chicago Sun-Times). Superbly crafted, emotionally complex, and filled with heart-stopping action, Storm Runners proves why the novels of T. Jefferson Parker are impossible to resist.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book.......2007-10-01
This was a great book by T Jefferson Parker. His knowledge of the Spanish Gang called La Emme is very insightful and believable. He also takes you back and gives you history of the LA DPW. Very good book from start to finish.
SHOWDOWN IN THE VALLEY.......2007-09-20
The story of these two individuals is tied together with the lives of first one woman, who eventually married the cop, and one of the drug lord's lovers, who was killed by the actions of the cop. After the killing of the Ofelia, Mike Tavarez's lover, he tries to kill the cop, Matt Stromsoe, but ends up killing Matt's wife and young son instead. Matt himself is injured in the bomb blast and spends years recuperating and rehabilitating. He also spends time just trying to kill himself through drinking and pity.
But another friend of Matt's, Dan Birch pulls him back from the brink of self-destruction and gets him into rehab, then offers him a job working security with Dan's firm.
Here is where the stories start to intertwine. The person Matt is assigned to be a bodyguard for is a Fox News Weather Lady whose high-profile life has attracted a stalker. She has asked for protection and for Dan's company to stop the stalker.
Of course there are layers and layers of lies and deception and eventually the threads of the plot lead us back to Tavarez. Even though he is in prison, he still maintains a lucrative and vast network of corruption in the Southwest.
Throw in a formula for making rain, corrupt utility executives, scared innocents, and a little romance and you have a formula for a good read that keeps you turning the pages.
Parker takes the time to let us in on the mindset of the characters, he lets us see their flaws and their strengths. He leads us to the final showdown and ties up all the loose ends. Its always a pleasure to read his books.
Parker is on the downswing.......2007-07-20
Sorry Jeff, but I just couldn't get past the unbelievable plot cornerstone: seeding the sky to make it rain. I found that central point, and the manner in which it is presented, to be quite preposterous. Character development was only passable - - not great. I was actually happy when the book ended, so I could move on to DeMille, Lescroart, Coben, et al.
Gripping.......2007-07-18
One of Parker's best. No gruesome ways to kill or torture women as in the sex criminal who practiced taxidermy on them, no people-eating serpents, which had turned me off to his books. Ditto tired jaded cops in all mystery fiction, a boring stereotype. Here a cracking good story. Parker's typical damaged hero rehabilitates to bodyguard a San Diego TV weather woman, the romantic interest--but a bit too convenient. Why do women always fall into the arms of a PI hero with no effort on his part? Too common, unlikely male fantasy. The woman is also more normal vs so often so off-center as to be unbelievable in some of his books, though she has an unusual obsession. Only plot flaw: Why would a major bad guy only decide to break out of prison at the end when he had the means and know-how to do it all along? Again too convenient to the plot. Parker's lyrical and fresh descriptions of nature always illuminate, now that he has dropped sleep-inducing multi-page descriptions of setting. His voice is unique and fresh, the menace in the plot one not explored to my knowledge, and twists of plot and character make STORM RUNNERS a standout, and a fast satisfying read.
Three and a half stars.......2007-07-16
I think I've read nearly all of T. Jefferson Parker's books. I love his fast paced books set in Southern California. I thought this was a good book but not his best. Still worth reading. I look forward to your next one!
Amazon.com
On September 8, 1900, a massive hurricane slammed into Galveston, Texas. A tidal surge of some four feet in as many seconds inundated the city, while the wind destroyed thousands of buildings. By the time the water and winds subsided, entire streets had disappeared and as many as 10,000 were dead--making this the worst natural disaster in America's history.
In Isaac's Storm, Erik Larson blends science and history to tell the story of Galveston, its people, and the hurricane that devastated them. Drawing on hundreds of personal reminiscences of the storm, Larson follows individuals through the fateful day and the storm's aftermath. There's Louisa Rollfing, who begged her husband, August, not to go into town the morning of the storm; the Ursuline Sisters at St. Mary's orphanage who tied their charges to lengths of clothesline to keep them together; Judson Palmer, who huddled in his bathroom with his family and neighbors, hoping to ride out the storm. At the center of it all is Isaac Cline, employee of the nascent Weather Bureau, and his younger brother--and rival weatherman--Joseph. Larson does an excellent job of piecing together Isaac's life and reveals that Isaac was not the quick-thinking hero he claimed to be after the storm ended. The storm itself, however, is the book's true protagonist--and Larson describes its nuances in horrific detail.
At times the prose is a bit too purple, but Larson is engaging and keeps the book's tempo rising in pace with the wind and waves. Overall, Isaac's Storm recaptures at a time when, standing in the first year of the century, Americans felt like they ruled the world--and that even the weather was no real threat to their supremacy. Nature proved them wrong. --Sunny Delaney
Amazon.com Audiobook Review
Reading in his signature dispassionate style, narrator Edward Herrmann brings an eerie calm to this powerful chronicle of the deadliest storm ever to hit the United States--a huge and terribly destructive hurricane that struck land near Galveston, Texas in September of 1900. Author Erik Larson re-creates the events leading up to the disaster in astonishing detail, tracing the thoughts and actions of Isaac Cline, a scientist with America's burgeoning U.S. Weather Bureau. Cline's unwavering confidence--"In an age of scientific certainty one could not allow one's judgment to be clouded..."--blinds the meteorologist to the deadly onslaught about to be unleashed. Herrmann's calculated performance reflects the impending doom and dangers inherent to an unquestioned and absolute faith in science. (Running time: 5 hours, 3 cassettes) --George Laney
Book Description
September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged in a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over six thousand people in what remains the greatest natural disaster in American history--and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devestating personal tragedy.
Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude. Riveting, powerful, and unbearably suspenseful,
Isaac's Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the great uncontrollable force of nature.
Customer Reviews:
NO PICTURES.......2007-09-30
My first thoughts after finishing Isaac's storm was, that for such a big and devastating storm, it didn't seem do it justice. I wanted understanding (why didn't people leave?). I wanted some PICTURES!!.
As luck had it, someone who checked out the book before me had tucked a newspaper clipping pic in the inside flap, of the Bishops Palace and surrounding survivors w/ tons of lumber stacked up against them. THANK YOU whoever you are. I returned the picture to the flap.
Whatever happened to Dr. Samuel O.Young the amateur meteorologist? Sam kept a diary. And it seems was the only proactive person in town, in that he telegraphed his wife and children warning them not to come to Galveston because in his opinion, a big storm was coming.
One reviewer here claims Cline is a hero in Galveston but "Cline gave his official meteorological opinion that the thought of a hurricane ever doing any serious harm to Galveston was "An absurd delusion". Many residents had called for a seawall to protect the city, but Cline's statement helped to prevent its construction."
"Local legend has it that Cline took it upon himself to travel along the beach and other low-lying areas warning people personally of the storm's approach. This is based on Cline's own reports and has been called into question in recent years.
Cline did issue a hurricane warning without permission from the Bureau's central office in Washington, D.C. but by that point the city was already under water. I don't recall reading that Cline actually told anyone to get off the island..
I enjoyed the book but minus one star for lack of pictures.
I hear that John Edward Weems' book 'A Weekend in September' is also recommended reading on the 1900 storm.
Erik Larson is Quickly Becoming a Favorite.......2007-09-10
"Isaac's Storm" is a fictionalized telling of a real-time tragedy. It tells the story of the hurricane that devastated Galveston and provides impressive details on the history and science of meteorology. For the story-telling aspect of the novel, Mr. Larson uses Isaac Cline, Galveston's weather observer at the time.
Erik Larson's committment to research and detail is impeccable. I wish he had been my history teacher in high school!
Book is a Category 4.......2007-09-10
I enjoyed the book. It reminded me of a hurricane, starting slow but building as it went along.
BEATS READING THE BOOK.......2007-09-05
THIS DEFINATELY BEATS READING THE BOOK, BUT TAKE NOTE THAT THIS IS THE ABRIDGED VERSION!!!
Issacc's Storm.......2007-07-23
Again, another book by a great author, Erik Larson. I couldn't put it down, but then again I live in Florida and Hurricanes are of special interest to me. I'm not sure if you didn't live in a hurricane area, example Alaska, that this book would strike you the way it did me.
Average customer rating:
- Thank The Gods For These Books!
- Off-beat humor at its finest
- Experience Florida as only Serge can...
- King of Hard Edge
- Needs More Mescaline
|
Hurricane Punch: A Novel
Tim Dorsey
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0060829672
Release Date: 2007-01-23 |
Book Description
Serge A. Storms is back where he belongs.
But there's a serial killer loose again in the Sunshine State. And then a second one. . . . Naturally, professional jealousy arises, and they begin competing with each other. They're thoughtful enough to keep the public informed by sending dueling letters to the local newspaper.
A record hurricane season complicates police efforts––but only delights over–the–top Florida–buff Serge, who becomes immersed the state's rich storm history.
Customer Reviews:
Thank The Gods For These Books!.......2007-08-31
This whole series of books by Tim Dorsey can be described as a twisted and funny study on the dark side in all of human beings. Tim Dorsey manages to take everyday situations and make them incredibly funny. Based in Florida, the series follows the twisted life of Serge Storms (one of the best characters ever created) and all his sick, violent and disturbed adventures. Of course, along the way you will get to meet every kind of character you can imagine.
The interesting thing about this series is that behind all the funny stories, there are tons of social and political criticisms. I have read all the books in the series, and each one keeps getting better. If you are a fan of Quentin Tarantino movies, Family Guy cartoons or South Park cartoons, you will love these books. A MUST BUY.
Off-beat humor at its finest.......2007-04-25
Where have I been? Tim Dorsey has eight earlier novels--and I've just discovered his scathing and raucous humor. I have a whole lot of catching up to do.
Hurricane season is about to pound the life out of Florida. It seems a serial killer, or maybe two, is on the loose and if he isn't caught, the body count will skyrocket.
Dorsey's loveable (can that be true?) psychopath, Serge has a weird sense of moral justice. He's not opposed to killing someone, he just prefers that they deserve death. He's not only a walking encyclopedia on all things Florida, but he loves hurricanes.
Serge is dedicated in righting wrong doings. Even if that means someone must die. But he balks at the newspaper calling him a serial killer.
Agent Mahoney (recently released from a mental hospital for getting too far into Serge's head) believes Serge is the serial killer and his personality is splitting from years of experiencing the good and better parts of life. He's determined to bring down Serge.
Coleman, Serge's friend, is forever 'high' and that just might be what derails Serge. In the meantime, Coleman is along for the ride of his life and will do anything if it only means he can avoid getting a job.
As the storms increase, Tampa Bay's favorite journalist is getting all the newspaper 'scoops.' He's contacted by the killer and will help Agent Mahoney in his quest to stop a bumbling, but very lucky madman who denies being a serial killer--who denies it by writing letters to the newspaper, dueling letters with another killer.
Is Serge a serial killer? Will the hurricanes get the best of Florida and be the undoing of Serge? Will Mahoney get his man, or men? And what will happen to our mild-mannered reporter?
Dorsey is simply brilliant. His edgy humor leaves nothing in society untouched by his unique view of life. The novel is more of a series vignettes strung together to make a raucous novel. By the time you turn the last page, you just might believe that Serge makes a whole lot of sense--and that's a scary scenario. '
Armchair Interviews says: Hurricane Punch packs a wallop and leaves the reader wanting more of Dorsey's off beat humor. It's a winner.
Experience Florida as only Serge can..........2007-04-19
OK... I'm caught back up with Tim Dorsey since I finished Hurricane Punch this evening. Serge and Coleman are on the loose in Florida again, and hurricane season takes on a whole new meaning...
The (very!) loose story-line is that Agent Mahoney, freshly released from the psych ward, is convinced that he can nab Serge this time around. He teams up with a newspaper reporter, McSwirley, who doesn't want to do crime beat stories any more. Unfortunately, he's really good at it even though he tries everything possible to sabotage the stories. A series of murders are occurring with each new hurricane that rips through Florida, and Mahoney thinks that Serge is responsible for all of them. Of course, with Serge's sense of "justice" and rather creative ways to off people, it's entirely possible. Within that framework, you've got all the wacky, off-the-wall action that you've come to expect from a Dorsey novel. And along the way, you've got all the little obscure Florida history lessons that only someone like Serge would know and share.
If you've read a Dorsey novel, you know how incredibly funny and bizarre they are. This one ranks right up there. If you've never read one, be prepared for anything and everything to happen. This was a lot of fun, and I don't think I'll ever view the number 20 in the same way again...
(You'll need to read the book to get that one...)
King of Hard Edge.......2007-04-11
Dorsey is king of the hard edged, humorous serial killer spree thriller and
proves it here again.
Needs More Mescaline.......2007-04-10
Coleman and Serge are back in Miami, and so is Mahoney, the cop who's been trying to put Serge away with such little success he himself was just released from the loony bin. Mahoney is hot on Serge's trail again, this time enlisting the help of empathetic reporter, Jeff McSwirley. McSwirley's bosses want the ratings an exclusive with Serge will bring, and Mahoney just wants Serge, especially since he thinks Serge's personality is beginning to split. Or are there two killers now? The usual hijinks and mishaps ensue as Serge visits his therapist in between driving a stolen Hummer through the number of hurricanes that hit the Florida coast and offing a few deserving bozos along the way.
There were several times this book made me laugh out loud, but I have to wonder if Dorsey isn't losing his touch in much the same way Mahoney believed Serge was unraveling. This book doesn't lack a cohesive theme so much as the theme is basically irrelevant. Whereas Dorsey's books used to seem like a series of bizarre, seemingly unrelated events that all worked toward a central theme, the last couple have been a lot of Serge and Coleman wandering around with little purpose. This time their aimless wandering was the result of following hurricanes, but it still lacked any kind of reasoning, other than experiencing the rush. That may be how Coleman does things, but Serge has always had some kind of a plan until recently.
Anyone reading these books loves Serge and finds humor in Coleman's creative substance abuse, but there really has to be more going on than that. A successful series needs not only good recurring characters, but a good story to follow every time out. Road trips in stolen cars are what Serge and Coleman do, but it's more fun to accompany them if there's a reason why they're out there. Tim Dorsey is always worth reading, but I'm hoping his next book will give me a little more something to relish.
Book Description
In the whirlwind of accusations and recriminations that has attended the post–9/11 world, one man's vital testimony has been conspicuously absent. Candid and compelling, AT THE CENTER OF THE STORM is George Tenet's memoir of his life at the CIA –– a revelatory look at the inner workings of America's top intelligence agency and its dealings with national leaders at home and abroad.
Beginning with his installation as Director of Central Intelligence in 1997, Tenet unfolds the momentous events that led up to 9/11: his declaration of war on Al Qaeda in 1998, CIA operations inside Afghanistan, the worldwide operational plan to fight terror, his warnings to White House officials in the spring and summer of 2001, and the plan for a response laid down just six days after the attack.
In his gripping narration of the run–up to the war in Iraq, Tenet provides fresh insights and background, including a privileged account of how the famous "sixteen words" made it into the President's State of the Union speech, the real context of his own now–famous "slam–dunk" comment, and the CIA's views of the rise of an Iraqi insurgency.
Finally, in addition to the backstage story of the headline events, Tenet will offer his thoughts on the future of U.S. intelligence and its role in foreign–policy decisions, setting forth an informed plan for how we can forge a more secure world.
Customer Reviews:
He said. She said........2007-10-10
There are no big revelations here, so to all those looking for some Clancy-type of story, this is not the book. For the most part Mr. Tenet just lays out his case for his tenure at the CIA, most notably during 9/11 and Iraq 2.
Was there a bigger whipping boy than Mr. Tenet from 9/11 through early 2004? Beaten like a red-headed step-child he was. So giving him his due on his side of the story was what interested me in his book. There are interesting tid-bits of info that were interspersed in a book that was a little long winded and could have been just as effective at 150 less pages. He certainly did not give away THAT much interesting, spy novel type stuff.
Cases are made that the CIA obviously, did do its job in regards to Al Qaeda, Afghanistan and Iraq. Analysts apparently were able to predict some of the fall out after Saddam. And his "slam dunk" comment was not the go-ahead start of the Iraq War that many believe it was. Actually the comment was in reference to being able to sell the war to the American people. So it depends on where you stand whether that is a harmless thing (like Saddam was a real threat) or whether is was one more tool used to fool the American people by selling them on an illegitimate war. I hope I did not give everything away.
Read this if truly interested or truly bored. I was a little of both.
Conspicuous Omission.......2007-10-01
It is an interesting point of view but there are some serious omissions and denials that make the story incredulous. Although the CIA had a complete failure on the WMD's in Iraq, Mr. Tenant fails to understand why his intelligence agency was not fully listened to in Iraq. Secondly, he fails and or doesn't bother to explain why they had absolutely no inside people or intel in Iraq or for how many years this was the case.
Mr. Tenant also claims that many of the leaks of the NSE papers were done because either people felt that they needed the information known to improve the situation in Iraq or because the people felt they were being ignored and the purpose was not political. He further states it was not the people from his office leaking the reports. He does not say there are people who wish to damage the administration and leaked the reports to do so. Either he is a liar or he was to stupid to lead the CIA. He appears to be a very bright man.
Mr. Tenant fails to even address the press reporting and the senators and congressman who continue to call for us to withdrawl and the effects that this has on the war. Mr. Tenant talks about the funding in Iraq but fails again to address the fact that when 2100 professionals were requested to train Iraqi police, the congress and the senate funded 800. All of these things were by his account, policy failures of the current administration and he never mentions those in our government actively working against our country in Iraq such as Dennis Kucinich.
Mr. Tenant makes no attempt at all in addressing the people in our own country that are working against us. Leaking our banking pursuits against terrorists or other programs. What he really fails to do is explain how programs, only known by his people got leaked to the press. Then makes the statement that leaks were not coming from his office. However, he and his people know they can leak a program to a senator and a congressman. That senator or congressman can then go on national news and leak the program and then Tenant can claim "his" people didn't leak it.
He talks about the Joe Wilson case but fails to explain why someone so unqualified for the job was sent in the first place. Secondly, why did this person not sign or agree to nondisclosure as normally would be done? Why did this scenario come to pass and how many more like it are there? Who okayed the moron to go and who paid any price for sending him? This is a minor gaff or bad trade craft. It was stupid and bad business. He omitted any kind of explanation on how something like this happened and he didn't have the curiosity to find out how many more things like this have happened. The purely political after math of this was his agencies fault. Why did he not come out and talk publicly about Joe Wilson's failure to follow CIA practices? After all he was working for them.
In the Afterward he talks about the need to form policies to fight against terrorism, yet doesn't talk about how politics have damaged our war effort. He talks about the old canard about western democracy versus middle eastern democracy. He sites our lack of engagement with the Palestinians. The problem is the middle east will point anywhere else but at themselves as a cause of the problem. They will use Palestine, the condition in a country they are not part of to justify leaving negotiations when they don't feel like talking. Saying that not settling a problem that hasn't been settled in close to 60 years is a center piece will always lead to failure. If he doesn't recognize it, that is what the rest of the middle east wants. What does the Palestinian problem have to do with Thailand or the Phillipines? There is muslim terrorism there as well. As far as domestic spying goes, we have people actively fighting it. They find people to leak the programs that were in his building. Politics do effect spying. He seems to dance around the obvious.
He had many conspicuous omissions from his analysis.
An Intelligence Chief Speaks Out.......2007-09-24
This is a valuable book and an unprecedented account by a Director of the CIA. Tenet's tenure, with its overriding focus on the threat of terrorism, bridged both the Clinton and George W. Bush presidencies. Tenet is not kind to many in the Bush administration, particularly Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Feith, Cheney, and Libbey, whom he accuses of cherry picking intelligence and asserting as fact statements that could not be backed up in their determination to justify a war with Iraq, but does not criticize the President. In the face of so many controversies and White House efforts to put the blame on intelligence for the Administration's policy errors, the book is at times inevitably defensive in tone, but this does not detract from a remarkable account full of considerable detail on matters not usually revealed in public. The "afterword" at the end makes it clear that, in Tenet's view, the war on Iraq was launched with total failure to heed warnings about the problems of winning the peace or making any real preparation therefor. For the future this account is an important reminder of both the importance and limitations of intelligence and the necessity always to "speak truth to power."
Insights from the oblivious George Tenet.......2007-09-21
Tenet comes across remarkably unaware of the world around him, while simultaneously revealing intriguing conversations within the halls of our government. The fatal flaw of the book is the utter failure to recognize his own shortcomings or failures under his watch. He does so artfully though, simultaneously projecting an air of humility while really being quite blind to any failings. In the end, it projects a tone of "aw, shucks, I guess I really was pretty smart" which just doesn't jibe with the reality of the recently disclosed 2005 report from the CIA inspector general that outlines many of the CIA's failings under Tenet's leadership. This is a painful read (to see a guy so clueless and without any sense of self-awareness), but compelling enough to finish (to understand some of the mechanics of how we got ourselves into this mess).
Better than expected........2007-09-12
"Poor George", but this George wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth. After reading what he had to say, I acquired a bit more respect for him than I had gotten from the media. George Tenet was in a tough job, made no easier by the White House and its coterie of yes-men around the other George. If the president wanted this man to be Director of Central Intelligence, he should have let him do his job, which was to oversee the collection and analysis of intelligence, not babysit the Israelis and Palestinians during interminable peace talks that eventually went nowhere. The Israelis and Palestinians are hell-bent on killing each other over their scrap of land---that's what Tenet needed to tell the president, not sit in while they pretended to negotiate. Tenet made too many trips to various places, particularly the Middle East; he should have been at Langley working. Even so, one has to give the guy credit for stamina. Tenet is very careful in this book to not directly criticize George Bush. Towards the end, particularly in the Afterword, criticism of Bush's policies, but not Bush himself, becomes more noticeable. After all, Bush invited Tenet's son to the White House for a private talk to assure the boy that he wasn't "mad" at him for being the purported reason his father resigned his job. Criticism of Vice President Dick Cheney, and several others such as Scooter Libby, is obvious. Tenet obviously thinks less of some of Cheney's doings that those of his boss. On the whole, this is a well-written and well-balanced book, and much better than expected.
Book Description
The Perfect Summer chronicles a glorious English summer a century ago when the world was on the cusp of irrevocable change. Through the tight lens of four months, Juliet Nicolson’s rich storytelling gifts rivet us with the sights, colors, and feelings of a bygone era. That summer of 1911 a new king was crowned and the aristocracy was at play, bounding from one house party to the next. But perfection was not for all. Cracks in the social fabric were showing. The country was brought to a standstill by industrial strikes. Temperatures rose steadily to more than 100 degrees; by August deaths from heatstroke were too many for newspapers to report. Drawing on material from intimate and rarely seen sources and narrated through the eyes of a series of exceptional individuals — among them a debutante, a choirboy, a politician, a trade unionist, a butler, and the Queen — The Perfect Summer is a vividly rendered glimpse of the twilight of the Edwardian era.
Customer Reviews:
Lightweight social history.......2007-09-16
Examination of the summer months of 1911, the Coronation Summer of King George V. The author's style can be somewhat plodding, and there a few noticable errors of fact. For example, Queen Mary's Aunt Augusta was nearly 89, not 85, in June of 1911. And I thought it was Harold Nicolson who owned the car nicknamed Green Archie, not Vita Sackville West? (Just two examples -- I don't want anyone to think I read the book looking for errors, but there are more than these.)
The book is interesting, yet somehow not very insightful. Despite a substantial biliography, the book gives an impression of being lightweight. Perhaps that's caused by its focus being somewhat more on the English aristocracy than the lower classes, although Ms. Nicolson does reveal some interesting tidbits about the poor, such as the cost of a funeral for an English working-class person, and about the rich, such as the fact that they were rather physically dirty people!
I can say with all honesty, while I didn't dislike this book and in fact found some parts of it very interesting, I am glad I borrowed a copy from the library rather than purchasing it.
Twilight of an Era.......2007-09-08
I found this a fascinating book, extremely well-written and a sharply-focused peek into a bygone era. For history buffs it is especially valable as not only the breaking up of a world which was never more to be, but the mindsets of various segments of a society which was to be turned u.pside-down by a war that decimated a generation. I highly recommend it.
OK, but...........2007-08-26
Not very 'deep'. Interesting, light, almost frivolous, view of 1911, and a good way to understand the differences and struggles of the various elements of post-Victorian society, but does not assess the year in the setting of post-Edwardian, and pre-WW I history, or the growing challenge of Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany. R.K.Massey's "Dreadnought" or William Manchester's "The Last Lion" (Vol 2)do a better and deeper job of this.
Deja vu.......2007-08-14
As I was born in 1925 much of what is described as occurring in 1911 was still in existence in my growing-up years. Class distictions were still "upstairs and downstairs" although the establishments were not as opulent as in 1911. My father, a rural general practitioner, was called in to treat the sick servants but had to go to the tradesmens entrance while the "county" would have specialists come down from London to treat them; this and many other things described in this book were still true in 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War. I really enjoyed this book
Recaptures the summer of Edwardian/Georgian transition.......2007-08-07
The author, granddaughter of Vita Sackville West and Harold Nicholson, and daughter of Nigel Nicholson ("Portrait of a Marriage'), has written really two books in one. Her focus is the summer of 1911, when things were going swimmingly for the British and their empire. What a difference the next few years would make, with the advent of the Great War. The first half or so of the book focuses upon, what Morley Safer used to call, "everybody's favorite eccentrics" the British upper class. Here the emphasis is on shooting parties, the upcoming coronation of George V, debutants, weekend house parties at country homes, and basically filling all that time when one had virtually unlimited money and nothing much to do. I enjoyed this section very much, as I find this topic quite interesting. But then the focus and tone change in the second half of the book--the author concentrates her attention on some of the more unpleasant aspects of this period when one percent of the population owned 60% of the country. Those topics include the way of life of the lower classes (30% fell below the level of barest necessity); labor strikes and disruption; and the very deprived condition of those "in service" (who constituted 16% of the labor force). These disparities are so severe one wonders if the Great War actually foreclosed some manner of domestic insurrection. There is also interwoven throughout discussion of some of the technical changes that Britian was undergoing: airplanes; cinema; automobiles; and subways for example. The book is not meant as a scholarly treatment, although the author's bibliography indicates the substantial amount of research she has undertaken. Also helpful are a listing of the "dramatis personae" so you don't get confused as to who is who, and some helpful illustrations. The author's style is most pleasant to read and the book is quite informative. An interesting book on a very crucial period in British history.
Book Description
In the tradition of The Perfect Storm and Flags of Our Fathers, Halsey’s Typhoon chronicles the epic tale of men clashing against the ruthless forces of war and nature. In December 1944, America’s most popular and colorful naval hero, Admiral William “Bull” Halsey, unwittingly sailed his undefeated Pacific Fleet into the teeth of the most powerful storm on earth. Three destroyers were capsized sending hundreds of sailors and officers into the raging, shark infested waters. Over the next sixty hours, small bands of survivors fought seventy-foot waves, exhaustion, and dehydration to await rescue at the hands of the courageous Lt. Com. Henry Lee Plage, who, defying orders, sailed his tiny destroyer escort USS Tabberer through 150 mph winds to reach the lost men. Thanks to documents that have been declassified after sixty years and dozens of first-hand accounts from survivors—including former President Gerald Ford—one of the greatest World War II stories, and a riveting tale of survival at sea, can finally be told.
Customer Reviews:
Halsey's Typhoon.......2007-09-30
Outstanding!! Best WW2 historial book I have ever read. Wonderful background info on key issues and people
"Sea Cobra" wins.......2007-08-21
"Halsey's Typhoon": earned one star for the awesome photos of future Prsident Gerald Ford skying for the basketball on the basketball court and
Commander Henry Lee Plage of the USS Tabberer looking three times cooler than Fonzie and John Wayne put together. He proved in action to be three times the hero that he looked.
"Halsey's Typhoon": earned three negative stars for a boring start, middle and end as well as talking down to the reader (constantly using words that had to be looked up and when I looked them up the results were staggering. The words were constantly listed as slang, archaic, obsolete and the meaning didn't even fit the sentence!!!)
"Sea Cobra" by Buckner F. Melton Jr.: covers the same event and earned 4.5 stars. It was extremely user friendly and made the story come to life. You felt like you were with the sailors fighting Typhoon Cobra and Typhoon Viper and Commander's Plage's decision to ignore Halsey's orders and amazingly rescue drowning sailors.
"Sea Cobra": earned .5 negative stars due to lesser photos.
Tragedy and Human Response.......2007-08-17
This is a great book recounting the story of the typhoon in December of 1944 that swept through the Phillipine Sea and sunk three American destroyers costing over the lives of over 700 sailors. The author is very good and not only describing these events, but laying out much of the background that lead to them.
Its important to never forget the old adage that "hindsight is 20/20" in assigning responsibility to other people for their response or lack of response to the events around them. This book provides much food for thought about not only Halsey's Typhoon of 1944, but it can also furnish us guidance about responding to contemporary tragedies. In that sense, its more than just an old World War II story.
Acts of God like hurricanes and typhoons may be beyond our control. However, emergency planning and response may make all the difference in the world. Those who read this book will be struck by the actions of Lieutenant Commander Henry Plage who commanded another destroyer at the time, the U.S.S. Tabor. He was quick to respond to the catastrophe and using skills of superior seamanship rescued dozens of drowning sailors from the ocean. Plage couldn't have done it without a well trained crew and understanding the fine art of sailing in seas with waves and swells as high as 100 feet.
Another example of response to this catastrophe took place on board an aircraft carrier, the U.S.S Monterrey. This ship had caught fire after airplanes were flung about their hangars and ruptured gasoline tanks started an inferno. The situation became so bad, an order was given to abandon ship. The crew decided though that they could save the Monterrey and they proceeded to do so by fighting the fire in a very thought out manner. The Monterrey was saved by its dedicated and competent crew.
Old ships that were top heavy capsized in the hurricane. New ships that were designed to ride out bad weather survived the storm.
Its a very interesting book that gives us much to think about.
A compelling story marred by errors and style.......2007-08-01
Halsey's Typhoon is a World War II disaster-survival tale about Typhoon Cobra enveloping the U.S. Navy's Third Fleet, commanded by Admiral William F. (Bull) Halsey, in the Philippine Sea in December 1944.
The best part of the book, by far, is the second half. Participants, primarily surviving crew members of the three sunken destroyers or the destroyer escort Tabberer which rescued 60% of the survivors despite its own severe damage, relate their experiences during the storm, floating in the water for 24-48 hours, being rescued and recovering These survivors' and rescuers' tales, related recently to the authors by a handful of remaining veterans, are informative, frightening, fascinating, memorable and inspiring. I'm glad their firsthand experiences, even in part, have been published.
Unfortunately, apart from the survivors' personal narratives, this book's deficiencies are many. The authors seem to have relatively little knowledge of either the Navy or World War II, with misused terms and questionable characterization events being too numerous to itemize. Examples include referring to the flag flown at the bow of a naval vessel as a "battle guideon" (an Army term for what the Navy calls a battle jack); calling a ship's mess deck its mess hall; repeatedly referring USS Monaghan as having "drawn first blood" when it sank a Japanese mini-sub inside Pearl Harbor thirty minutes after the attack started whereas it is widely acknowledged that USS Ward sank a Japanese mini-sub outside the entrance of Pearl Harbor before the aerial attack even commenced; describing MacArthur's invasion of Luzon as a "stepping stone" toward Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan itself when it was arguably more of a strategic distraction from Nimitz's Central Pacific island hopping campaign through Guadalcanal, Guam, Saipan, etc. that actually established the air bases from which the U.S. directly struck Japan in 1945 and opened the route to Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Also, the book needs serious editing to eliminate wordiness, inconsistencies (e.g., ascribing different ranks or titles to the same people within the scope of a few days) and questionable or obscure metaphors. For instance, does it make sense to describe Halsey's belated decision to allow his command to break formation in order for individual captains to concentrate on the safety of their ships to being like "Mrs. O'Leary reporting her cow missing?" The authors' wordiness and commitment of space to irrelevant biographical details or wartime events may have been a way to deal with the fact that a concise rendition of their most original and compelling material would have filled perhaps just half as many pages.
Finally, apart from the sunken destroyers and their principal rescuing vessel, former-President Ford's experiences on the USS Monterey and descriptions of near-disaster on the USS Aylwin, there are few details about what happened to any of the other vessels during the typhoon. Finally, there is nothing whatsoever about how the typhoon affected the war effort. How long did it take before the damaged Third Fleet was again combat ready? What impact did the loss of Third Fleet air cover have on the Army's Mindoro campaign, which was the reason Halsey was so reluctant to release his ships from formation? The world wants to know...
The book's three sections - The Fleet, the Storm and The Rescue - are divided into twenty-five unnamed chapters that total 266 pages. An Epilogue (immediate post-storm events), Afterword 2006 (post-WWII careers of some figures in the narrative), four-page bibliography, an index and miscellaneous addendums bring the page count to 322. Twenty-eight B&W photos illustrate some of the key characters and ships and endpaper charts depict locations relative to the typhoon track. There are no footnotes.
Recommended to naval history and WWII buffs, survival/adventure tale fans or anyone who lost a relative at sea during WWII due to the recounting of individual veterans' experiences. Not recommended to people seeking information about WWII campaigns and strategies or those seeking tightly composed nonfiction prose.
Not An Untold Story.......2007-07-29
This is not an untold story of the war, rather it has been told for years. Morrison has it in his HISTORY OF NAVAL OPERATION IN WORLD WAR II. Halsey's meteorologist wrote a book of almost exactly the same title 40 years ago.
The writing is not very good. It could have used more polishing and another draft, but my guess is that they were rushing to get it to press because another publisher had a book on exactly the same subject (SEA COBRA) coming out, and they wanted to get in first.
No footnotes or attribution. The bibliography is not that extensive. There is only a single map. More would have been very helpful in following the action -- repeatedly i had to try and figure out the navigation to figure out exactly which turn they were talking about. A mpa showing the ship dispossession within the fleet would have been invaluable.
The authors allow their oral history interviewees to settle old scores. Any officer who ever corrected them gets paid back here. Its true -- history gets written by survivors.
Interestingly, another phenomena of the war is described here -- it was common for ships to sail and have maybe 5% of the crew miss movement. "greatest Generation" and all that, but that alos meant the greatest amount of skulker. Unthinkable to have a ship in today's navy depart with that kind of AWOL.
Average customer rating:
- Gritty
- Jacky shares his thoughts
- Not just for Children
- Billie_Joe's escape
- back to the prairie
|
Out Of The Dust (Apple Signature Edition)
Karen Hesse
Manufacturer: Scholastic Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
1800s
| Fiction
| United States
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
1900s
| Fiction
| United States
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Classics by Age
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Historical Fiction
| History & Historical Fiction
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Classics
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Hesse, Karen
| ( H )
| Authors, A-Z
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
1800s
| Fiction
| United States
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
1900s
| Fiction
| United States
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Classics by Age
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
( H )
| Authors, A-Z
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Historical Fiction
| History & Historical Fiction
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Classics
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Giver
-
A Guide for Using Out of the Dust in the Classroom
-
A Single Shard
-
The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
-
Walk Two Moons
ASIN: 0590371258 |
Amazon.com
Like the Oklahoma dust bowl from which she came, 14-year-old narrator Billie Jo writes in sparse, free-floating verse. In this compelling, immediate journal, Billie Jo reveals the grim domestic realities of living during the years of constant dust storms: That hopes--like the crops--blow away in the night like skittering tumbleweeds. That trucks, tractors, even Billie Jo's beloved piano, can suddenly be buried beneath drifts of dust. Perhaps swallowing all that grit is what gives Billie Jo--our strong, endearing, rough-cut heroine--the stoic courage to face the death of her mother after a hideous accident that also leaves her piano-playing hands in pain and permanently scarred.
Meanwhile, Billie Jo's silent, windblown father is literally decaying with grief and skin cancer before her very eyes. When she decides to flee the lingering ghosts and dust of her homestead and jump a train west, she discovers a simple but profound truth about herself and her plight. There are no tight, sentimental endings here--just a steady ember of hope that brightens Karen Hesse's exquisitely written and mournful tale. Hesse won the 1998 Newbery Award for this elegantly crafted, gut-wrenching novel, and her fans won't want to miss The Music of Dolphins or Letters from Rifka. (Ages 9 and older) --Gail Hudson
Book Description
Introduce your students to a Newbery Award winning book with this engaging teaching guide. Includes an author biography, chapter summaries, creative cross-curricular activities, vocabulary builders, reproducibles, and discussion questions.
Customer Reviews:
Gritty.......2007-10-08
Wow, this powerful book left me thirsty and choking from the grit of the Oklahoma plains. A great coming of age story, Hesse gives us the feminine perspective of what is important - what is worth living for - during a time of extreme poverty and hopelessness. The drought, the dust storms, the grasshoppers, "The Path of Our Sorrow" (p. 83-84) has taken away any hopefulness for a fruitful harvest. But Billie Jo and her family are some of the more fortunate ones. They are able to keep their farm; they have a house and some food, even if they have to "chew" the milk because of the dust. (p. 22) The piano offers some comfort, too, until the accident.
In addition to the Great Depression, Billie Jo has to deal with her own depression, a result of the accidental death of her mother and the disfiguring hurt of her own injuries. Was it Billie Jo's fault? Her Father's? Will she be able to forgive him, or herself?
Billie Jo is bitter. Bitter from the dust, from her father's silence, from her mother's absence. She tries to run away from her hurt, "Out of the Dust" (p. 197-8) but she finds that the hurt follows her, and it is in this realization that she is finally able to forgive her father and herself. She is ready to begin living again.
Jacky shares his thoughts.......2007-08-30
This book has a lot of poems about the main character, Billie Jo's childhood. She has many sad stories that make me feel upset; also she has some happy stories too. Her poems are really good. I can imagine the area that she wrote about and feel the way she feels. Finally she was happy, which makes me really glad. I really love this book. I sympathize with the experience of her mother and brother dying, her friends leaving, and her hand being burned. These poems really describe Billie Jo from her outside to her inside. Her life wasn't happy most of the time, because she couldn't even play piano or forget the pain in her hands and heart. Her stories to the world make me feel very touched; when she is happy I can feel it, when she sad I share that with her. The last part is my favorite because they are finally out of the dust and they have their family back together. She described it perfectly; I can see the picture of the story. While reading the book, I looked up information on the internet and watched a movie (The Grapes Of Wrath) to learn more about the time period and understand more.
Not just for Children.......2007-08-07
Though "Out of the Dust" is marketed at a YA selection, it is no more a children's book than "The Grapes of Wrath" or "To Kill a Mockingbird." With a series of perfectly rhythmed prose poems that capture the sensations of the 1930s dust bowl, "Out of the Dust" tells the story of a young girl in Oklahoma who must overcome her own guilt when her mother is killed in a house fire. This is one of the most vivid, painful and, in the end, joyous stories I have ever had the great fortune to find.
Billie_Joe's escape.......2007-06-03
I thought that this book out of 10 was a 10.It was a great book and I just hope that after reading this book review that you will want to read it, too.I hope that everyone will read this book(if they like my book review about it).Well this book was my favorite book that I've read so far and i hope that you will love it, too.
back to the prairie.......2007-06-02
Out Of The Dust (Apple Signature Edition) is the 2-year diary of an adolescent Oklahoma girl, Billie Jo. Each 1-2 page entry is a prose poem that relates the dust-bowl setting to the lives of Billie Jo, her family, and community.
Karen Hesse's free-verse prose is serviceable, reminiscent of Masters' Spoon River Anthology (Signet Classics). It serves simply to control the flow, tempo, and idiom of the narration.
Through most of the book, I feared that the story would seep away into despair and inevitability. Instead, at the end I recognized the toughened and tangled strands of Billie Jo's life rising from the dust in a perfect metaphor of the prairie sod.
For a completely different, but equally wonderful treatment of this metaphor I recommend PrairyErth (A Deep Map): An Epic History of the Tallgrass Prairie Country.
Books:
- Subaru Legacy, 1990-1999: Includes Legacy Outback and Legacy Brighton (Haynes Manuals)
- Technical Analysis Explained : The Successful Investor's Guide to Spotting Investment Trends and Turning Points
- The Adventures of Tintin: Tintin in America / Cigars of the Pharaoh / The Blue Lotus (3 Complete Adventures in One Volume, Vol. 1)
- The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person
- The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
- The Children of Now: Crystalline Children, Indigo Children, Star Kids, Angels on Earth, and the Phenomenon of Transitional Children
- The Complete Visual Dictionary of Star Wars: The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga
- The Conqueror
- The Dead Girls' Dance (The Morganville Vampires, Book 2)
- The Dying Game
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Bomber War: Arthur Harris and the Allied Bomber Offensive, 1939-1945
- Norman Vincent Peale: Three Complete Books: The Power of Positive Thinking; The Positive Principle T
- Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God
- Brackish-Water Fishes: An Aquarist's Guide to Identification, Care & Husbandry
- Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Secret Past
- History: Fiction or Science
- History: Fiction or Science
- Cultures of Habitat: On Nature, Culture, and Story
- Destination Moon: 15 Year Anniversary Edition
- El Significado Oculto Del Dinero
Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2)
Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, Book 3)
Summer Knight (The Dresden Files, Book 4)
Death Masks (The Dresden Files, Book 5)
Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, Book 6)
