Best Damn Garage in Town: My Life & Adventures

Best Damn Garage in Town: My Life & Adventures
Average customer rating:

Great book, couldn't put it down.

SMOKEY!!

Smokey's Smokin

The History of Nascar (using four letter words)

If you like this sort of book, this is the sort of book you'll like

Best Damn Garage in Town: My Life & Adventures
Henry Yunick
Manufacturer: Carbon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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General | 20th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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Fireball: Legends Don't Fall From the Sky

Best Damn Garage in Town: The World According to Smokey

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Tim Richmond: The Fast Life and Remarkable Times of NASCAR's Top Gun

ASIN: 0972437835

Book Description

Best Damn Garage in Town: My life and Adventures was originally published as a 3 volume boxed set of 1,100 pages with over 400 photographs. This version of the book combines all the stories and most of the photographs into a single volume with smaller type and photographs in a bookstore package, as opposed to a coffee table package.

Smokey got the idea for writing a history of stock car racing after giving a talk to explain racing to a group of kids at Lowe's Motorspeedway, around 1995. He realized that all the people who were a part of the early days were dying and most of the ones who were still alive were too involved with racing to be able to tell the real stories. He started writing this book as a history of stock car racing and ended up with look at American history of the past 60 years through a very unique set of eyes.

The first volume, Walkin' Under a Snake's Belly, covers Smokey's life outside racing, beginning with growing up in Neshaminy, Pennsylvania on a farm, dropping out of high school to take care of the family and going off to World War II as a B-17 pilot. The war stories are told through the eyes of a young man who believed all that the Army Air Corps taught him, but he had a mind of his own and was also hell-bent on having fun at all costs. (If that meant irritating a few generals, then that was just par for the course.)

After the racing years, Smokey ended spending most of his time working on his inventions and working in the oil and gold fields of Ecuador. Along the way, Smokey had a knack for finding fun and adventure everywhere he went. Alcohol, women and speed were his main addictions - he eventually gave up alcohol, but never did give up the other two.

The second volume, All Right You Sons-a-Bitches, Let's Have a Race, chronicles the stock car racing years in living color. The warning on these books, that they are not to be read by those under 18 unless they are with a grandparent who can translate the social and moral implications of the stories, is not to be taken lightly. (Smokey even includes his own dictionary to explain the terms that racers used in the early days to the uninformed.) Smokey and his band of merry compatriots were racers and there were only two things on their mind when the sun went down Ð women and booze. Smokey had his share of both during 15 years of racing, when racers were looked down on as the dregs of society. Nothing could stop his dream of being the fastest at the sport he loved, no matter what happened along the way Ð the sign of a true racer.

During his years in stock car racing, Smokey fell in love with a mistress that he would visit every May for over 20 years Ð The Indianapolis 500. The first half of the third volume, Li'l Skinny Rule Book, covers his love of this famed event and the wonderful stories of the days before the big corporate sponsors; when it was just men and their machines, sleeping on the floor in the garage and most times coming home with nothing. As the title implies, Smokey loved Indy because the rules were so simple. His inventive mind and knack for thinking way outside the box were at their best when Indy was involved.

The fourth section of the book covers his years of inventing inside and outside of racing. SmokeyÕs 10 patents don't begin to cover the breadth and depth of his inventing. His work with the car companies and on the racetrack led to a host of developments that have improved surface transportation for everyone. The value of some of his ideas and inventions, like his famous hot vapor engine, were never fully realized.

Many books have been written about the last 50 years of American history, but few are this entertaining, revealing and introspective all at the same time. Real stories from World War II, stock cars, the automotive industry and the Mexican Road Race are just a few of the elements in Smokey's autobiography. They combine to make Best Damn Garage in TownÉThe World According to Smokey one of the most interesting books in a long time.

Customer Reviews:

Great book, couldn't put it down........2007-06-09

I consider Smokey to be one of the greatest things ever for automotive innovation. This book is somewhat hard to read. It almost seems like he dictated it to somebody and told them "Don't edit a thing!!" If you get your self into the right frame of mind while reading, you'll have a lot of fun reading. I thought I wouldn't be too interested in his WWII years, but it was one of the most interesting parts. He did some really cool stuff during the earl years of NASCAR, but he doesn't really get into too much detail until you get to the technical chapters. When he does get into the technical stuff, he warns readers that it's gonna get technical and if you don't like that sort of thing, skip ahead. He also has no problems talking about his failures, and thats nice to see.

He is very repetitive. I guess the book was written over several years, and he must of forgotten he'd already told a story here or there. If you're a sensitive person, you might want to pass on this book. Lots of sex stories

It blows me away that a 10th grade dropout was able to become a B17 aviator and one of the greatest automotive engineers ever. I personally think this book is good enough to be made into a movie. If you're a racing fan, you must read this book! I'm buying the hard bound version next for my library.

SMOKEY!!.......2007-04-23

Anyone who knows NASCAR should know who Smokey Yunick was. I thought I did till I read this book. Sure, he could build a bullet fast race car, sometimes stretch the rulebook alittle. I knew that. But I never knew what this guy had really done in his life. What a great story. The guy lived a life that would make just about any guy awful jealous. He lived by his own rulebook, and backed down to no one. Need someone to look up to? Need a hero? Read this book. You may hate him. But if you don't, you'll love him!!

Smokey's Smokin.......2007-01-22

Best Damn Garage is one of the better books I've read on a racing personalty. I have a couple dozen books on NASCAR and the people who raced from the 40's till the present. This book and Fireball by Godwin Kelly are must reads for the diehard fan.

The History of Nascar (using four letter words).......2007-01-07

The book starts with Smokey's rough childhood in rural PA and then a very graphic view of WWII as a bomber pilot in Europe and how he ends up with the Flying Tigers working for Chiang Kai-Shek(pretty wild life!).
Next Smokey gives an insiders look at the history of early NASCAR and his relationship with Detroit automakers. Nothing is sugar coated and I'm sure offended a few people. Also many details about automotive engineering, rules bending and his experience with INDY cars.
If you're a car guy this book belongs on your shelf.

If you like this sort of book, this is the sort of book you'll like.......2005-11-09

Smokey Yunick lived a long and interesting life, and damn near ALL of it is in this book. It's a great story, but I hesitate to call it a great book.

It's a chore to read - figure on devoting about 24 hours to read it, and to do that the Smokey way, it should be in one sitting ;-) He's cranky and repetitive, he digresses and loses his narrative thread. He's a self-admitted cheater, so you wonder how much of the story you can even believe.

But I must say it got me by the short hairs, the story did, and there is a hell of a lot of story there. Drilling for oil in Ecuador, running the Carrera Panamerica, bringing the wildest car ever seen at Indy to fruition. The World War II stories alone would make a fine book on their own. He was a constant experimenter, making use of the Scientific Principle at a time when most racing was by guess and by gosh, and he was largely self-taught. I also read Mark Donahue's book "Unfair Advantage" at the same time, and Mark, coming up 15 years later, with a degree in engineering, didn't do any better in systematically developing cars as Smokey, and for a long time did far worse.

One of the things that bothers me about Smokey, as he describes himself, is what a hypocrite he seeems to be. He decries the destruction of the jungle as he witnessed it in Ecuador, but seems to be oblivious of his own complicity (road building, mining, oil drilling) in bringing it on. He peppers the whole book with shots at Clinton, but he clearly did himself everything Clinton did and worse. His attitude towards minorities and women is, to my sensibilities, flat out repugnant. He tells a racist "welfare queen" story about a woman in a Cadillac shopping with food stamps, but his WWII stories described in detail the scams he was running on Uncle. I've enjoyed reading about him, but I'm flat grateful I didn't know him.

If you, like me, grew up on Smokey in Popular Science, and loved racing from, say, 1950 to 1975, it's a worthwhile investment. If that doesn't describe you, you maybe oughta pick up another book.

Average customer rating:

Sam Gribley got so lucky in this book
By: Nicholas MB 5th grade My Side of the Mountain
Yeah for Sam Gribley
My Side of the Mountain 1959
Nature Kid

My Side of the Mountain
Jean Craighead George
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0141312424

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Every kid thinks about running away at one point or another; few get farther than the end of the block. Young Sam Gribley gets to the end of the block and keeps going--all the way to the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. There he sets up house in a huge hollowed-out tree, with a falcon and a weasel for companions and his wits as his tool for survival. In a spellbinding, touching, funny account, Sam learns to live off the land, and grows up a little in the process. Blizzards, hunters, loneliness, and fear all battle to drive Sam back to city life. But his desire for freedom, independence, and adventure is stronger. No reader will be immune to the compulsion to go right out and start whittling fishhooks and befriending raccoons.

Jean Craighead George, author of more than 80 children's books, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves, created another prizewinner with My Side of the Mountain--a Newbery Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book, and a Hans Christian Andersen Award Honor Book. Astonishingly, she wrote its sequel, On the Far Side of the Mountain, 30 years later, and a decade after that penned the final book in the trilogy, Frightful's Mountain, told from the falcon's point of view. George has no doubt shaped generations of young readers with her outdoor adventures of the mind and spirit. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

Literature Guides
A complete guide to teaching My Side of the Mountain. Includes an author biography, background information, summaries, thought-provoking discussion questions, as well as creative, cross-curricular activities and reproducibles that motivate students.

Customer Reviews:

Sam Gribley got so lucky in this book.......2007-10-07

I realize this book has already been anointed as a great children's book, and a great book for boys, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. My 14-year-old son loved this book when he read it in elementary school, and my 9-year-old daughter is loving it in fourth grade presently.

That being said, the people at Puffin dodged the issue of a child in the wilderness by making a cover where Sam looks like a teenager instead of the 11 or 12-year-old he looks like in Jean Craighead George's illustrations. There were numerous occasions in the book where Sam could have been seriously injured or killed, and George just blurbs or whooshes past them.

The back cover said Sam was terribly unhappy with living in New York City, but the book doesn't suggest that anywhere

I was impressed with the level of natural knowledge Sam possessed, and I was impressed that my children could come up with plausible ways that he acquired this knowledge. I considered the bit about hunger having an intelligence to be particularly clever.

Maybe the moral of the story is that as a parent, I could tell my kids without fear of contradiction that they are nowhere near as knowledgeable regarding the wild as Sam Gribley was, and that Sam was rather lucky in a few spots.

By: Nicholas MB 5th grade My Side of the Mountain.......2007-09-26

My Side of the Mountain is a very catching book it had me jumping out of my seat the whole story!. It told you some facts about the wild and also it had a sad story of a kid living off the land. I learned alot of facts about the Catscill Mountains too. I think evrey outdoor kid should read this thrilling book. Its truth, fiction and wildlife mixed! This is truly one of my favorite books. READ THIS BOOK!

Yeah for Sam Gribley.......2007-09-14

My Side of the Mountain is a great book. Jean Craighead George must have spent a lot of time in the forest. Her descriptions of the landscape and anecdotes regarding the animals are vivid. The only thing that doesn't ring true is the fact that a young kid goes and lives on his own in the wild and no adults appear to be concerned. A very enjoyable read.

My Side of the Mountain 1959.......2007-08-15

Plot Kernel - A young boy runs off to live in the Catskill Mountain wilderness, taking nothing but a penknife, a ball of cord, an axe, $40, and some flint and steel. He fashions a home within a standing hemlock tree, makes clothing out of animal skins, and eats only what he can catch or harvest from the Earth. He trains a falcon to hunt, and lives with it for an entire year.

Nature Kid.......2007-07-10

This was a good book, in my opinion. My favorite part was in the middle, when Sam has just survived his first winter in the Catskills. It was very good when he had just realized that he could survive alone in the forest wthout aid.

-Emma D. (for a school project)

Flying by the Seat of My Pants: Flight Attendant Adventures on a Wing and a Prayer

Average customer rating:

Marsha Makes Me Laugh!
This is a BLOG not a book
Flying By The Seat of My Pants
QUITE A CHARACTER
Flying By the Seat of My Pants is a blue ribbon winner!

Flying by the Seat of My Pants: Flight Attendant Adventures on a Wing and a Prayer
Marsha Marks
Manufacturer: WaterBrook Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Business | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1578566991
Release Date: 2005-05-17

Book Description

Take a look at life from behind the beverage cart.

“They asked me to be groomed, be kind, and show up on time; it was too much pressure.”
“It was like being a waitress, only I was hurtling through space and wound up in Paris.”
“I thought it would be funny to climb into the overhead bin. How did I know the President of the United States would be on the flight that day?”

Where flight attendant Marsha Marks goes, funny things happen, and she tells them all in this hilarious and insightful chronicle of her career as a naive flight attendant and a struggling author. From missed flights to missing uniforms, miracle babies to indecipherable southern accents, Flying by the Seat of My Pants is a laugh-out-loud reminder of what is important and what keeps us steady through the turbulence of life.

Customer Reviews:

Marsha Makes Me Laugh!.......2007-02-22

This book made me laugh! I guess I'm about as grouchy as the next guy and, like I said - Marsha made me laugh! Thanks for the grins!

This is a BLOG not a book.......2006-08-06

This amazingly thin book is low on content and quality.

I'm sure there are blogs out there that make much better reading.

Very empty, very bland. I'm amazed that you can actually have a career as a flight attendant and have so FEW experiences to relate! Oh, I hid in the luggage bin! Oh, I forgot my uniform and had to wear one 10 sizes too small! Oh, I spilled orange juice on a passenger!

Come on!

I bought it due to the 20 positive customer reviews.

Could it be a case of the author reviewing her own book, under different names? I believe it must be.... Or her friends and family...

Amazon customer reviews are usually pretty reliable, but once in a while you come across a case like this where the reviews are totally skewed and disconnected from reality.

Save your money!!!!

Don't buy it!!!

Flying By The Seat of My Pants.......2006-03-01

THIS BOOK IS A GREAT READ. LOTS OF FUN AND HUMOUR. PERFECT FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BECOME A FLIGHT ATTENDANT OR IS INTERESTED IN THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT LIFE STYLE. MS. MARKS PERSONABLE QUALITY COMES THROUGH HER WRITING VERY CLEARLY. YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR ON THE FLIGHT WITH HER. ENJOY!!

QUITE A CHARACTER.......2005-12-14

A FEW MONTHS AGO I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR MARTHA MARKS SPEAK IN ATLANTA. SHE IS QUITE A CHARACTER AND HAD ME HOLDING THE SIDE OF MY STOMACH FROM LAUGHING SO MUCH. THIS LITTLE BOOK REFLECTS ALL OF HER WILD ADVENTURES IN THE SKY AND ON THE GROUND. SHE'S THE NEIGHBOR YOU WISHED YOU COULD HAVE WHEN YOU JUST NEEDED SOMEONE TO SIT DOWN AT YOUR KITCHEN TABLE AND MAKE YOU LAUGH. I LOOK FORWARD TO READING HER OTHER BOOKS.

Flying By the Seat of My Pants is a blue ribbon winner!.......2005-11-18

I can't say enough good things about Marsha Mark's Flying By the Seat of My Pants! It will make you laugh. It will make you cry.
Sometimes, it will make you do both at the same time! Hopefully, it will also make you empathetic to those amazing men and women in the sky, who work very hard to keep us safe and secure.(Often, in spite of ourselves!) Do yourself a favor and purchase this book asap. Then do yourself an even bigger favor. Read it!

Average customer rating:

good reading
The Giacomo Casanova Autobiography
Caution -- this volume is an abridged version
Incredible, Insightful, Captivating...there is NO excuse for not giving this a try
Giacomo Casanova as a Product

History of My Life (Everyman's Library)
Giacomo Casanova
Manufacturer: Everyman's Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Story of My Life (Penguin Classics)
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The Many Loves of Casanova: Uncensored Personal Memoirs of Jacques Casanova
The Art of Love (Modern Library Classics)
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ASIN: 0307265579
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Amazon.com

This translation of Giacomo Casanova's epic memoir was first published in a multi-volume set more than 25 years ago, but this new paperback edition makes Casanova's story accessible to the general reader. Thankfully, the great Venetian adventurer's memoirs can finally be read as they were written, without the bowdlerizing that plagued them for two centuries. While Casanova is most notorious for his womanizing, his memoirs are also remarkable as they give a top-to-bottom view of European life in the 18th century. Johns Hopkins University Press has done a handsome job, packaging the entire story in six double volumes. And, in keeping with the spirit of the author, it's worth mentioning that a 17th-century painting of lounging nude woman spans across the spines of the set when they're arranged on the shelf.

Book Description

The name of Giacomo Casanova, Chevalier de Seingalt (1725-98), is now synonymous with amorous exploits, and there are plenty of these, vividly narrated, in his memoirs. But Casanova was not just an energetic lover. In his time he was a diplomat, businessman, trainee priest, traveler, prisoner, magician, confidence man, gambler, professional entertainer, and charlatan. He financed business projects, organized lotteries, wrote opera libretti, and dabbled in high politics. Above all he was an autobiographer of enduring brilliance and subtlety who left behind him what is probably the most remarkable confession ever written.

Casanova explored to the full all the possibilities eighteenth-century Venice offered by way of love and profit before being imprisoned, escaping from jail, and fleeing from the city to begin travels that took him across Europe. In Moscow and London, Berlin and Constantinople, he met the famous men and women of his time—Catherine the Great, Voltaire, Louis XV, Rousseau—and recorded his encounters for the memoirs he wrote in retirement at the end of his life.

History of My Life is by turns touching, thrilling, wonderfully comic, and quite irresistible. The present edition, which includes approximately one third of Casanova's enormous (and unfinished) book, contains all his major adventures and all his greatest affairs of the heart.

Customer Reviews:

good reading.......2007-06-27

My introduction to Casanova was in Paris of the sixties as a young Canadian student at the Sorbonne. At that time, Tante Ivette, the general's wife was imposing a rule of high morals in Paris. Not all books were always available, even on the Left Bank. However, one day while meandering through the Librairie Joseph Gibert on Boulevard St. Michel, I found there a Hachette Collection du Flambeau edition of a' Histoire de ma vie par Jacques Casanova'. Needless to say, I was in ecstasy, but knowing the rules, also a bit sheepish. I took it to checkout and put it in front of the salesclerk. He looked at the book then gave me a stare of wild amazement.I believed I was to be shipped out straight to French Guianna's Cayenne Islands. Monsieur, je ne peux pas vous permettre d'acheter. I interrupted with a quick snap in english " but I am Canadian". A brief 'bon' was all I heard and the book was mine. I highly recommend Casanova to every man. To read it is to have an education in the humanities of the highest order. There is no one like him to introduce the pre revolutionary 18th century to the reader. In our times, most will know him as the complete seducer of women. Almost right. He loved woman, as women loved him. Above all and in all, he was a true gentleman. Read him then and know his charm. Out of learning evil is not bred, nor virtue found in all who are unread.

The Giacomo Casanova Autobiography.......2007-05-13

The History of My life by G. Casanova is a massive undertaking. More than 1000 pages of small print on very thin paper. Difficult to hold, impossible to travel with, but some great excercise for those in need of arm work.

The romantic conquests are nonstop (he seems to specialize in sisters) and it is sometimes difficult to believe this isn't retrospective wishful thinking on the part of an older Mr Casanova.

The strength of the book is its wonderful look at 18th Century Italy, and other places, and its descriptions of both the well-appointed and Everyman. If you have some time on your hands, perhaps snow bound in a frozen cabin and needing either a jump-start on your sex life or a wish for a good look into a fanciful life that took place 300 years ago, this book is for you.

Caution -- this volume is an abridged version.......2007-02-14

The Everyman's Library edition of Casanova is abridged from the original, and the Amazon.com description does not note the fact.

Incredible, Insightful, Captivating...there is NO excuse for not giving this a try.......2005-12-06

I started the abridged version in French, and kept thinking..."this *can't* be Casanova's writing; it's clunky, far from eloquent, and lacks style." Thankfully I was right. Though I downloaded the free version from project gutenberg (just do a google search), I was *so* impressed by this translation that I bought the hardcopy anyway.

All historical notes and translation notes aside, the content is fantastic. Casanova's philosophical musings are always interesting, whether you agree with them or not; his writing is that of one of the most intelligent, witty, and confidently masculine men I've ever had the pleasure of reading. What struck me most of all was his radically different mindset, which those who would call him "a seducer!! ahh!" would rather ignore. His success (if you can call it just that) with women was simply another byproduct of his way of thinking, which no doubt is the most interesting thing about Casanova.

This is one of the most personal autobiographies I've ever read. If anything can get you into this guy's head, it's this collection. Be warned, though...(it takes Casanova quite a few pages to issue this warning) the book is intended to be read by people who've already had ample failure and success; the story you might discuss at age 80 in a circle of people who remember exactly as you do what it was like to grow up whenever you grew up. It's honest, insightful, and gives away a whole lot of things that are best learned by experience.

Not that I agree with Casanova's disclaimer; I'm just fine reading it now. However, it's in there and it's only honest to make sure others know.

There's not much more to say. This autobiography is simply fantastic, and should keep me occupied for at least a few years.

Giacomo Casanova as a Product.......2005-10-30

(...)
Giacomo Casanova seduced 116 women and detailed his adventures in a massive autobiography written in the eighteenth century. He is the most famous womanizer in the world, a spy, a diplomat, an opera librettist, a mathematician, a poet, a cleric, a fugitive, a librarian, a gambler (he created the business of lottery), a magic practitioner conversant with the Jewish Kabbalah.

He spoke French, Italian, Latin, Greek and English. He translated Iliada in Italian He did not speak German, yet he spent the last fourteen years of his life in the Dax Palace of Count Waldstein in Bohemia. "The world greatest lover" as an old man was sexually impotent, and a broken dreamer. The servants of Count Waldstein made him suffer indignities, like using pages of his books as toilet paper. He had only the pleasure of remembering, which brought at the same time grief. German poet J.W. Goethe visited him

Casanova deeply believed in God and his faith sustained him. He never participated in an orgy and believed that pleasure should received and given equally. His publishers, Brockhaus, ironically were German, the only major language Casanova did not speak . He wrote 4554 pages in French, not Italian which was his native tongue. He died before he finished his memoirs in 1798, just as the nineteenth century was about to step in.

From now on, Casanova became an unending series of products. In 1821, a heavily edited German version was published for the puritan German audience. The German censorship raised difficulties.

French editions copied the German version. Brockhaus published in 1832 a French Edition, but French Censorship was even harsher than the German. So the French edition was published in Brussels, Belgium..

These editions even had text added that Casanova never wrote. Casanova was not recollecting his life. He was re-living it. So the original manuscript was withheld for more than 160 years. The final , original Casanova was published in February 1960. The American edition was published between 1966 and 1971 , an original translation of Willard Trask. The paper back edition is from John Hopkins University Press.

In age of Viagra and Howard Stern, Giacomo Casanova image is benign. He had the elegance to practice the true sexual emotional adventure, which is claimed by voluptuous ED (Erectile Dysfunctional) drug companies, Casanova was not a chemical automated button. He was witty conversationalist, a man with magic and an encyclopaedic mind.

Giacomo Casanova's 116 women record in 1700's pales in comparison to Bill Wyman, who claimed he slept with 2000 women during his time with the Rolling Stones.

[Casanova] is superior to all other erotic writers because of his pleasure in news, gossip, in... the whole personality of his mistresses. (V.S. Pritchet)

A search on Amazon.com for Casanova yielded 1,063 books, 131 videos, and among other , one software title: Casanova: The Duel of the Black Rose . It is a video game published in February 2005

The time has come for the software Casanovas. We can call a grid architecture or an Operating System or a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application, Casanova. No software is perfect. As it goes through release after release, it aims at a perfection that will never achieve.

As Casanova himself writes, unabridged and in the original manuscript:

My ill fortune nor less than my good proved to me that both in this physical world and in the moral world good comes from evil and evil comes from good.... The one thing necessary is courage, for strength without confidence is useless.

My Life With the Spirits: The Adventures of a Modern Magician

Average customer rating:

A lazy Sunday on the couch book
Hilarious but shallow
My life with spirits
Learn the direct magical experiences by a practitioner of the art.
A Man of Great Insight

My Life With the Spirits: The Adventures of a Modern Magician
Lon Milo Duquette
Manufacturer: Weiser Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1578631203

Amazon.com

The first time I met Monsieur DuQuette, at a booksellers' convention in Los Angeles, he read my fortune with tarot cards. I was about to move, he predicted. Irritated, I huffed "that was ridiculous," I'd just moved into my boyfriend's house. When I arrived home from the convention, my aforementioned boyfriend told me he'd had a change of heart and would I please move out as soon as possible! The next time I sat down with DuQuette, at the same conference (several years later in Chicago), he regaled me with witticisms and stories. I was struck by his sincerity, self-revelation, and personable nature. This is the first time a true magician has written an autobiography since The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, and it's the next best thing to being able to sit with the charming and adept DuQuette. It's intimate, straightforward, and neither self-deprecating or egotistical. It contains excruciatingly honest revelations by a contemporary individual attempting to understand the universe and how it works. Here's a man who comfortably accepts himself and urges the reader to do the same. If you are not interested in magick, think of this as a fascinating autobiography. If you are, it's required reading. --P. Randall Cohan

Customer Reviews:

A lazy Sunday on the couch book.......2007-04-19

A good read for a lazy Sunday or a long train/airplane ride. A nice light writing style carries the reader through without being tedious or ponderous. It is a 'give-me-glimpse' book for the curious of and beginners to magik. 4 stars for the entertainment value.

Hilarious but shallow.......2007-01-21

I have read this book mostly to learn about Lon DuQuette's experiences with the angelic (Enochian) magick. What I found only confirmed my opinion that modern "magickians" are to the old-days magi like third-graders doing science experiments to the professional scientists using a university laboratory. It is not just that DuQuette apparently believes in the efficacy of the Golden Dawn and Crowleyan rituals which bring results roughly at a par with those of school science experiments. He also displays an uninformed and rather crude contempt for Christianity, not only in its American fundamentalist form which would be somewhat understandable, but in general. No wonder than that instead of Dee's angelic visitors he conjures up simian creatures throwing mud in their crotches.

On the other hand, DuQuette is an outstanding comedian and I truly congratulate him on his excellent and often self-deprecating sense of humor. "My life with the spirits" is a hilarious read and that's what the three stars are for.

My life with spirits.......2007-01-05

Very interresting book and very usefull for some, who work with magic.

Learn the direct magical experiences by a practitioner of the art........2006-11-30

Lon DuQuette tells his life story in an entertaining and insightful way that leaves the reader with a clear idea of how a magical life may be lived. The author describes various magical experiences, something rare in the literature. Some of his experiments have instructions that are far easier and more practical to follow than many ancient grimoires. Any earnest student of magick can learn valuable lessons from Lon's story.

A Man of Great Insight.......2006-08-25

I bought this book based on a review of a dear friend. I was not disappointed. DuQuette's wit is undeniable! He shares his life from the beginning of his pathworking and takes the reader on a journey through his life, his mistakes, his drawbacks, and his breakthroughs.

I highly recommend this book to the novice in mystacism, as well as those who are well on their paths. There are times when he makes you laugh, and times when you cry with him. A great read!

Average customer rating:

Review
Caught by the sea
Caught by Sea
the review
Just a Part of Paulsen's Life

Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats
Gary Paulsen
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0440407168
Release Date: 2003-09-09

Amazon.com

Celebrated outdoorsman-turned-author Gary Paulsen relates his lifelong romance with open water to teen readers with this short and salty memoir, Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats. Paulsen packs adventure into every sentence of this 100-page book. He grabs our attention within the first few pages with a shocking childhood memory of watching from the saftey of a troopship as sharks attacked plane-wreck victims. Strangely, this doesn't scare Paulsen off as much as it challenges him to conquer the ocean's power. He remembers disastrous first sailing attempts, unsteady vessels, and frightening tropical storms that reminded him of his frail mortality. Still, he fondly recalls that every boat he ever knew had valuable lessons to impart: "To show me the sea. To show me myself. And never, ever look back." Though some of the stories are told out of context, and he often takes for granted that his audience has some background knowledge of shipboard vocabulary, fans of Paulsen's wildly popular survivor tales will no doubt be caught by this one as well. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

Book Description

Another such wave could easily be the end of us. I had to do something, fix something, save the boat, save myself.

But what?

Gary Paulsen takes readers along on his maiden voyage, proving that ignorance can be bliss. Also really stupid and incredibly dangerous. He tells of boats that have owned him—good, bad, and beloved—and how they got him through terrifying storms that he survived by sheer luck. His spare prose conjures up shark surprises and killer waves as well as moonlight on the sea, and makes readers feel what it’s like to sail under the stars or to lie at anchor in a tropical lagoon where dolphins leap, bathed in silver. Falling in love with the ocean set Gary Paulsen on a lifelong learning curve and readers will understand why his passion has lasted to this day.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Review.......2007-03-26

The book Caught By The Sea by Gary Paulson is a pretty good book. The book is about when Gary Paulson, the author, gets into sail boating and the troubles that he has with the weather and the quality of his boats that he owns. I recommend this book to any one who likes sailboats and people who like stories about the sea. Also I recommend this book to people who like all of Gary Paulson's other books. Also this book kind of tells you what sailing is like and about.

Caught by the sea.......2007-03-10

Caught By The Sea

In my own opinion this book is a good read but has many other problems. An example of a problem is that in the story there are certain parts that lie to you, for example it says, "Just then I died". Of course this is not true otherwise the story would end in an instant. This book is a short read and is also kind of hard to imagine unless you can keep up with a really fast book.

This book is about a young boy who grew up to serve into the military. He
soon left because of his love of the sea. The only problem is that he didn't know how to sail very well. With practice and experience he grew up to love sailing and he would get more and more better boats in time. Later as he would enter more rapid waters he would move on to the ocean, where there is bigger waves and tons of storms that are very dangerous.

I don't recommend this book unless you are a good reader who can adapt and take in a lot of information fast and be able to understand it. This book might be a book you would like to share if you yourself like to sail boats to learn the tails of a single sailor taking on the open sea.

Caught by Sea .......2005-10-05

Caught by the Sea written by Shahd El-Khatib
Gary Paulsen

In Gary Paulsen's book he learns to keep trying and never give up on your dream. I choose this book for many reasons for the first reason I love to read books about journeys on sea and of all the tough obstacle courses they have to go through. I have read another book by Gary Paulsen, Hatchet, I really enjoyed this book and I love how Gary adds great detail that makes you feel you are right their with the character. He also uses great descriptive words that help you see the pictures in your head. Gary has always wanted to own a boat and by wanting this he has to learn about the sea and how to sail.
Though Gary has never sailed a boat before he decides to buy his own boat and go on an adventure. By experimenting and trying everything on the boat he learns what many things on the boat do. When having a boat, the boat is not the most important thing to know about, you have to learn about the sea and winds. When sailing Gary notices the water gets very still but without knowledge he just thinks the water has calmed down but he was wrong, it was a big sign that a huge storm was coming. Gary is faced with a huge storm and has to try his best to survive it.
Every experience or accident on the boat really helped Gary out. He gets to learn from his mistakes and never does them again. When he got in the storm he notices that next time he should pull up on his sails and stay calm. Gary also should be equipped with all the materials he needs during a storm, and also to learn how to sail a boat. When buying his boat Gary knows that a lot of people try to trick you into buying a very bad boat for a high price, Gary figures out he has to check the boats very carefully.
"Another such wave could easily be the end of us. I had to do something, fix something, save the boat, save myself. But what"?. This statement shows you how Gary felt during the storm he didn't feel confident that he would make it alive. "That if you take a plank of wood from the ship it would sink". When shopping for boats Gary is faced with thieves trying to steal his money. "I met several people who wanted to help me sail a boat" many people were willing to spend their time and make sure Gary was okay sailing the boat by himself. "Calm winds, their must be a storm coming". Gary knows more about the sea so now he can predict when storms are coming.
Confident is a great word to describe Gary. He believes he knows a lot and is willing to perform any task. One of the biggest things that Gary learns is to always try his best and never give up. He has to be willing try his best even if he is in the worse situation in the world (sea storm). Gary also figures that you have to always be prepared for anything that might come across you. Gary knows he should have first learned how to sail the boat before he went on his first voyage. He also believes that it is possible for him to accomplish anything he wants to.

the review.......2004-03-02

Caught by the Sea by Gary Paulsen is about Garys life on boats. It starts out when he was on a military troopship heading for the phillipines. One day Gary was woken by his mom to find that a plane had crashed in the ocean near their ship. Gary saw sharks attacking people ion the water but he knew that it was a part of life and he wasn't afraid of them.
After Gary gets out of the Army he goes to California because he feals drawn to the ocean. While there, he was working in hollywood writing stories, while ther he was invited to a weekend party with some other writers on a lake. This is were Gary got his first ride on a sailboat and decides that that is what hes going to do to fulfill his desire to be near the ocean. After buying a sailboat and a day of sailing Gary decides that he wants to go out to sea. While sailing in the sea the wind dies down to nothing and Gary didn't know that, that meant a storm was coming. He stayed out there all day and finally when it came he was stuck out in the ocean while the wind pinned his boat to down parrallel to the water. After the storm Gary starts heading back toward the shore. After that GAry tells mor stories about his life and that someday he wants to sail around Cape Horn. I thought this was an excellent book. For a reader who doesn't know anything about boats this might be a little slow but Gary does an awesome job explaining the parts and what they do so you should feel like you could go sail a boat after reading. I would definetly reccomend this book to other readers.

Just a Part of Paulsen's Life.......2003-06-17

The majority of Paulsen's books are fictional, but this one is autobiographical in nature. Readers are given the impression that Mr.Paulsen has been many places and has done many things that are not included in this book. This is just the "chapter" on the part of him that was captivated by the sea. His first introduction to the sea is on a troopship with his mother at age seven. He views the horrors of a plane crash and the shark attacks upon some of the survivors. Although this was an ugly experience, he is compelled to return to the sea years later. The majority of the book contains descriptions of his battles in his various boats with oceans, storms and winds. Many of these battles are admissions of his own inadequacy. He then undergoes a learning process each time, only to survive stronger and wiser. The experiences are well-written, with graphic details. Some of the language is quite specific to the sport of sailing and might require additional information to achieve a better understanding. This can be an enjoyable book, but may be limited in its apeal due to a topic of somewhat limited interest.

A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance

Average customer rating:

Very witty but at times...depressing
rare treat
Fun with Jane and dicks?
Jane Juska is the bomb!
We Need to Value Ourselves More Than This Woman Values Herself

A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance
Jane Juska
Manufacturer: Villard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1400060117
Release Date: 2003-05-06

Book Description

“Round-heeled” is an old-fashioned label for a woman who is promiscuous—someone who nowadays might be called “easy.” It’s a surprising way for a cultured English teacher with a passion for the novels of Anthony Trollope to describe herself, but then that’s just the first of many surprises to be found in this poignant, funny, utterly unique memoir. Jane Juska is a smart, energetic divorcée who decided she’d been celibate too long, and placed the following personal ad in her favorite newspaper, The New York Review of Books:

Before I turn 67—next March—I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like. If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me.

This closing reference was a nod to her favorite author, of course. The response was overwhelming, and Juska took a sabbatical from teaching to meet some of the men who had replied. And since her ad made it clear that she wasn’t expecting just hand-holding, her dates zipped from first base to home plate in record time.

Juska is a totally engaging, perceptive writer, funny and frank about her exploits. It’s high time someone revealed the fact that older single people are as eager for sex and intimacy as their younger counterparts. Jane Juska’s brave, honest memoir will probably raise eyebrows and blood pressure, but it will undoubtedly appeal to the very large audience of grown-up readers who will be fascinated and inspired by her daring adventure.

Customer Reviews:

Very witty but at times...depressing.......2007-09-24

I enjoyed reading Jane Juska's book - love her wit and as a former teacher, I laughed at some of the antics in her classroom.

BUT - what I found ironic was that as much as she was so apt to help the "greater good" i.e. volunteering at Planned Parenthood and at the prison, she overlooked the well-being of her SELF (dealing with alcoholism & weight issues) and her OWN SON. Typical of those who claim "world peace" and "helping others" - they neglect to find peace within themselves and in their households.

The other ironic thing from the book is that the most mature of all the men she encountered was Graham - the 33 year old. So much for the "maturity" and "wisdom" of older men!

At the very least she had some adventures in New York - THAT was the most valuable part of the book.

rare treat.......2007-08-20

A rare treat, there isn't much I can say that other reviewers haven't already...Save read it.(And buy a copy; she says the royalties help immensely.) Jane Juska's an inspiring find. Her courage, wit and warmth will stay with you long after the book's finished.

Fun with Jane and dicks?.......2007-01-10

So older women are sexy too? Thank goodness! What a great read from and of a fabulous dame. I guess others would call her a lady (yes, she is certainly that), but she is a lot more than a prim grandma type. And she writes beautifully. Thanks, Jane, for letting us come along for the ride. Great read.

Jane Juska is the bomb!.......2006-12-12

You may not know her name, but you have probably heard of Jane Juska, the 66-year-old retired teacher from California who placed the following ad in the personals column of The New York Review of Books:

"Before I turn 67 - next March - I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like. If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me."

This book is her report. It is one surprise after another.

The sex, for one. (I start there only because you expect me to, because you want me to.) Yes, it is explicit. Jane Juska's no prude. She's got a powerful libido and a vocabulary to match. To read her is to think --- if you're a man --- that she talks like a guy. If you're female, I suspect you'll come to another conclusion: This is how women talk with one another when there are no men around.

But the sex is the least of the surprises. Reading her ad, I assumed that Jane Juska is supremely confident --- one of those women who's like a film director in bed. A taker, not a giver. The facts are otherwise. Jane is long divorced. Her son has chosen to live on the streets of Berkeley. She hasn't had a date in three decades. (Which isn't surprising --- for many of those years, this 5'3" woman weighed more than 200 pounds.) Her social life, such as it is, occurs at San Quentin Prison, where she teaches writing to hard-core inmates.

But now, in a year, she has lost 100 pounds and can pound out the cardio in the front row of her aerobics class. She has had a productive psychoanalysis. She's read a ton and remembers it all, but isn't the least bit bookish --- she sounds tart and witty and fun.

And, also, tragic. Tucked in this book is Jane's life story, which is one personal disaster after another. Her mother worries that she'll never marry; her father, a doctor, is chilly even by the standards of his profession. Jane was, she belatedly realizes, abused by a handyman, whose secrets she has kept. Her first lovers were damaged and insensitive; she convinced herself to love the man who became her husband when she learned she was pregnant.

So although she insists she's looking for a sexual hookup, you can't read this book without seeing how much more she wants --- and why the immensity of her real desire is more than she can acknowledge. Because she wants what women half her age want: She wants it all. A sexy man, to be sure. But also a caring one. A whole man. A man to love.

Now, a man --- even a lout --- can get a date on his deathbed. For a single woman, so my friends say, it takes a career effort to find a man worth taking your clothes off for. And so it is for Jane. Her lovers are old, and their emotional resources are generally smaller than their fantasies; they don't love Jane, and they bluntly tell her so.

And still she persists. She's seen the shadow --- she knows death is out there, she feels her body decay even as she exercises to stay in shape. So although she weeps often, she plunges ahead.

Jane is spirited and spunky and, despite her bruisings, ever hopeful of a happy ending. And so will you. That is, you'll stop flipping pages looking for the Good Stuff --- "What? He told you to put your breasts on the table, and you did?"--- and, with Jane, you'll start looking for a man who knows what to do with her.

Does she find one? I'm not spoiling the ending. But I'll give you this much: Come for the sex, stay for the triumph --- the triumphant woman, that is.

We Need to Value Ourselves More Than This Woman Values Herself.......2006-11-30

I heard Jane Juska speak at an Author's Luncheon. She was fresh, funny and had great comedic timing. She was the hit of the event. So I bought her book with anticipation of more of the same. What a surprise! Yes, the comedic talent was still there but in small doses. What predominated was the portrait of a woman of little self-esteem, often of self-loathing, whose graphic descriptions of sex had little in the way of sex appeal. My mother who is 89 wants to read the book but I will warn her that, in the end, it is not an illuminating experience. And all of the men Jane has sex with are also having or recently have had sex with other women. What about the possiblity of STD's? No mention is made of taking precautions or of "safe sex." I hope all of us can move into our late-life years enjoying rewarding sexual relationships. But not at the risk of disease or damage to our self-worth or a suspension of our hard won values.

My Life as a Computer Cockroach (The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle #17)

Average customer rating:

Good Christian Message, a bit out-dated?
My Life As a Mixed-Up Millennium Bug, by Bill Myers

My Life as a Computer Cockroach (The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle #17)
Bill Myers
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0849940265

Book Description

FINALLY, THE TRUTH ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM BUG!

Through a bizarre disaster (nothing unusual for our boy blunder), Wally accidentally fries the circuits of Ol' Betsy, his laptop computer.

Suddenly, whatever he types turns into reality. . . Including Wally becoming the city's Chief of Police, and finally the Governor of the state. It's 11:59, New Year's Eve, when our hero tries retyping the truth into his computer - a commendable effort which, unfortunately, manages to short out every computer in the world! By midnight, the entire universe has credited Wally's mishap to the MILLENNIUM BUG! Panic, chaos and hilarity start the new century, thanks to our beloved Wally.

Customer Reviews:

Good Christian Message, a bit out-dated?.......2001-09-18

As a little shaver, I never especially enjoyed this type of light, comical book. Yes, I was a bit of a nerd, even back then. So, now that I'm a 24-year-old nerd, why did I decide to read a book intended for 4th graders? 1) because I teach fifth and sixth grade now and the reading level of the book wasn't that far off. Why not see what the kids are reading these days? 2) because it was sitting on the desk of the former 4th grade teacher's classroom where I eat my lunch and I was bored. So, why not read it.

The book really wasn't that bad considering it was written for someone 14 years younger than me. The hero of this line of books, Wally McDoogle, is a klutz and, quite often, he trips or stumbles, etc. setting off a chain of events culminating in some great disaster. Bill Myers is very talented when it comes to explaining in a believable way (to the ten-year-old mind) how sneezing can humorously result in a destroyed room and a computer that has a unique glich--whatever is typed into the computer becomes reality.

Myers also inserts a moral, Christian message in this and every other of the Wally McDoogle books, making it a fun read and assisting in character education. It's nice to see the redeeming, Christian social value of the book. Myers also develops some humorous moments. My personal favorite, although I'm not sure if it's intended, is when Myers shamelessly plugged another book in the Wally McDoogle series into the narrative of this book.

While the idea of a compuer that creates reality is an excellent idea, I'm not sure that 4th graders of 2001 would appreciate the importance of the computer bug being a Millennium Bug. I really doubt that he or she would even understand the now-historical term. Aside from that, the book is pretty entertaining. If I were to buy one of Myers's books of the Wally McDoogle line for a youngster, I'm not sure I would pick the Millennium Bug one, but would look to others. All-in-all, I would probably recommend to a kid, a different book, but would not be disappointed at all if the kid chose to read this book.

My Life As a Mixed-Up Millennium Bug, by Bill Myers.......2000-06-17

In this hilarious book, salt water gets spilled on 'Ol Betsy (Wally's computer). Then everything he writes about on his computer really happens! Choas insues and Wally learns that he should never cheat because it could cause serious problems!

Average customer rating:

Casanova: The cupid of hedonism ran riot in the Age of Enlightment
Funny!
1/2... The Life and Love's of History's Most Famous Libertine
entertaining, but it definately has its problems...
Adventurer in love and life...

The Story of My Life (Penguin Classics)
Giacomo Casanova
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140439153

Book Description

Coming to the big screen this January—Buena Vista's Casanova, starring Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller

Seducer, gambler, necromancer, swindler, Good Samaritan, spy, swashbuckler, self-made gentleman, entrepreneur, poet, translator, philosopher, and general bon vivant, Giacomo Casanova was not only the most notorious lover the Western world has known but also astoryteller of the first order.

The Penguin Classics edition of Casanova's The Story of My Life features a brilliant translation by Stephen Sartarelli and Sophie Hawkes and provides readers with the most famous episodes as well as the overall shape of Casanova's monumental memoir in one beguiling, unique volume.

Customer Reviews:

Casanova: The cupid of hedonism ran riot in the Age of Enlightment.......2007-03-09

Giacomo Casanova (his name has become synonymous with that of a fiery amatory male!) was born in 1725. Somehow he managed to live until 1798 in a life which would make many people tired by just reading about his countless adventures!
Among his many avocations was that of priest; soldier; courtier; gambler; violinist; spy;translator and famed author. Casanova managed to cram several lifetimes into his 73 wild years. If you want to follow this ultimate rake across the world be prepared to visit Italy, Germany,England,France, Spain, Switzerland, the Ottoman Empire of Turkey and Russia. Along the roue's route he met such luminaries as Voltaire, Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great.
Casanova a serial lover of the fair and innocent maidens he seduce dwith wit, charm and seductive skills. He was imprisoned at times always managing a daring escape or the ability to have friends in high place save his love machine hide. He was no dunce being able to write and converse in many languages. His autobiography was written in French being widely published in his lifetime and ever since.
The Penguin edition is an abridgement of his monumental work which in its entirety would swell to over 3,000 pages. The translators add material which connects the episodes. The book is filled with colorful characters; excellent descriptions of what Europe was like among the elite and filled with enough sex scenes to keep the reader searching for more.
Casanova was not someone you would want your daughter to bring home to meet her family. He would make an excellent guest on the TV chat shows!
Enjoy a few hours of pure escapism with this famous work!

Funny!.......2006-01-09

I found the book delightful. Not so much all of Casanova's exploits, they became a bit boring in time, but the descriptions of life around him, the rentals of houses, rooms, parlors, the modes of transportation, the meetings with others, the management of money, they were told splendidly and believably. The now so popular movie can't do justice to the story told in the book. Even the advertisements are bad. No one ever called Casanova a "pig."

For anyone who likes to explore living situations of any class of people in the past, this is a great book.

1/2... The Life and Love's of History's Most Famous Libertine.......2005-08-24

Casanova. The word conjures love, lust, seduction, and romantic brilliance. The man and the name have become icons for the past two and a half centuries as the epitome in the art of love.

Giacomo Geronimo Casanova was born in 1725 at Venice to parents who were actors. At a young age he was brought to a boarding school near Padua where the child developed a precociousness which impressed his elders. At 17, he obtained a doctorate in law from the University of Padua and began a career in the clergy. He travelled to southern Italy and Rome and became a secretary to the cardinal. His career with the church was cut short by scandal, an occurence which would become a fixture all throughout his life. Shortly after he joined the army as an officer of low-rank for the Republic of Venice and was stationed at Corfu, but gave up military life to become a violinist back at Venice. At the age of 21, he saved the life of a Venetian nobleman who became a patron of long-standing to the young man and who elevated him to the status of a wealthy gentleman. This gave him the privilege to travel across the breadth of Europe, meeting famous people of the day and pursuing amorous encounters where his lasting reputation rests. A talented conversationalist, he was frequently invited to the social circles of diverse European society, rubbing shoulders equally with cobblers and royalty. His fickle and temperamental personality got him into frequent scrapes with the law: he duped gullible socialites, started lotteries; became a spy, diplomat, and writer. The Inquisition of Venice accused him of witchcraft and was sentenced to imprisonment in "The Leads" prison, one of the most secure penal infrastructures of the time, where he made a sensational escape. He became an exile from his homeland and resumed his travels across Europe. In 1785 he became librarian to the Count of Waldstein in the castle of Dux, Bohemia, where he spent his last years recalling his brilliant and turbulent life and writing his memoirs.

And it is in this memoirs where his life and legacy are contained. Written in a flowing, stainless elegance, Casanova's "Memoirs" is one of the best and most representative artifacts from the Age of Enlightenment. The sights and sounds of 18th-Century European life are recreated through the eyes and senses of one intelligent and opinionated observer. Witness the humor of Casanova being duped by his first love and the theater women of Paris. Revel in the taboo of peeking into the loverboy's seduction of a nun as he goes to great lengths to provide the right place and mood for their nocturnal trysts. Read in barely contained excitement and tension as he makes his remarkable escape from the dreaded "Leads" prison. Be thrilled and sympathize with the proud but foolish fop as he duels with a Polish noble and almost get's hanged in the process. Watch in fascination as he meets and matches intellect with the leading notables of his day, all now prominent figures of world history: Catherine the Great, Voltaire, Frederick the Great, etc. Experience the sensations of our hero as he attempts to seduce a French noblewoman (dissapointingly), and an attractive Spanish girl (more successfully), both incidents decades apart. The man is given justice by the able translation of Stephen Sartarelli and Sophie Hawkes.

My only criticism of this edition is the scarcity of material offered. Although this 500+ page abridgement serves as perhaps the best introduction in the English language, for a work that totals nearly 4,000 pages, the editor could at least have made the book double in size to cover more aspects of the man's colorful life story. The man's meeting with Mozart is not included, and one can imagine many more incidents worthy of reading which were omitted.

After reading his reminiscences, one can admire Casanova for the vastness of his intellect and personal and social skills. But one can't help but feel that the man wasted his talent and life by focusing too much on the petty and lowly preoccupations of human existence. With the man's intelligence and talents, one feels that he could have done more for society and his fellow man. The use of wisdom gained through such a life should have been elevated to a more worthy and longer-lasting goal. One is left with the impression that Casanova was a mere Hugh Hefner or Larry Flynt with culture. That's all.

This is the memoir of the greatest icon of Western romance. Any person with the slightest interest towards love and sex should read this book in his/her lifetime. After satiating one's appetite with this mere appetizer, one should immediately dive into the complete oeuvre of the man's autobiography. This has been quite an experience already.

entertaining, but it definately has its problems..........2005-06-03

Casanova himself is not nearly as interesting as I was hoping he would be. In this book he looks back on his life through rose colored glasses. He makes light of his womanizing and he finds it humorous that he infects large populations with std's. He definitely has a giant ego and he really comes across as a looser. I can't imagine why any woman would have ever fallen for him.

Despite that I did not really care for the person of Casanova, I must say that I found the book entertaining. There are lots of interesting tidbits and descriptions of places and people from the late 1700's that are really fascinating. Even though there were still sleazy men around, the late 1700's were definitely a very different world than what we know now.

One of my big complaints about this edition of his memoirs is that there seemed to have been a lot of really juicy parts cut out. At the end of each chapter there is a brief italicized section that summarizes the bits that were left out. I would have preferred to have an unabridged version so that I could have skipped over the parts I did not want to read and not have someone else make that choice for me. I am not sure if there is a better, more complete version out there in English, but if you are really interested in Casanova you may want to look for a different version or if you speak French, you may want to see if you can find a copy of the original.

Adventurer in love and life..........2004-08-01

Casanova has been hailed as the greatest lover of the 18th century and has become the first person we think of in the ways of seduction. He is the quintessential ladies man for some, and for others, a manipulative scoundrel, an expert at self-promotion, and at worse, a spinner of colourful tails. In fact he is all these things and much more. On top of his many amorous affairs with not only servants and chambermaids but also ladies of nobility, he is a compelling storyteller, a gentleman of taste, a violinist, theologian, philosopher and a gifted courtier. There has been so much written about the man, that I felt compelled to read about his life from his own words. Casanova is the most notorious seducer of women in history, and if you read The Story of My Life, you will understand an aspect of this man that is all too often over looked, and that is, he more often than not loved the women he seduced, and in some cases, remained in love with them for the rest of his relatively long life. In other words, he cared about women, respected them, idolized them and ensured that the pleasures they gained from these liaisons, exceeded his. He used women but he also loved them.

The book is written in a flowing style, descriptive to the point where the reader gains almost a visceral impression of 18th century Europe. Casanova's escape from the Venetian prison, for example, has all the suspense and realism of our modern thrillers. I could almost hear his finger nails scraping against the prison walls as he descended, sliding down in the dead of night during his escape. In his meeting with Voltaire, the gnome-like genius came to life, as they discussed the state of literature and the greatest poets of the ages. And, of course, the many beautiful women, his conquests and those that seduced him, fill every chapter - tasteful eroticism without the slightest hint of vulgarity. Casanova was an adventurer in love and life and he ensured he did not waste a minute of it.

Casanova wanted to be remembered as a man of letters, in the 18th century sense of this term. And with The Story of My Life, he certainly achieved this aim, as scholars from around the world have acknowledged. He also wanted to be remembered as a man who loved women, and to this end, there is no question. Those that love intrigue, eroticism, a little pomp and circumstance, and swashbuckling adventure, read this incredible memoir - a pleasure in every sense.

My Life as a Walrus Whoopee Cushion (The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle #16)

Average customer rating:

My Life as a Walrus Whoopee Cushion
A wonderful book!

My Life as a Walrus Whoopee Cushion (The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle #16)
Bill Myers
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0849940257

Book Description

World class klutzoid,, Wally McDoogle, and his buddies, Opera and Wall Street win the Gazillion Dollar Lotto! Everything is great!!! . . .for a total of 1.3 seconds. That's how long before their greed kicks in. Add some bungling bad guys, a break-in to the local zoo (where Wally has lost the ticket), the accidental release of all the animals, a SWAT team or two. . . And you have the usual McDoogle mayhem as our boy blunder leers the dangers of both greed and materialism.

Customer Reviews:

My Life as a Walrus Whoopee Cushion.......2002-03-07

My Life as a Walrus Whoopee Cushion
By: Bill Myers

The comedy/novel, My Life as a Walrus Whoopee Cushion, is about a klutzy kid named Wally who messes up everything. Wally and his two friends, Opera and Wall Street, buy a Lotto ticket that is worth 2.1 gazillion dollars. Through a series of misfortunes, they learn their lesson.
One of my favorite Characters in this book is Opera. He is very dumb, and will do anything for potato chips and classical music; henceforth, the name, Opera. This book teaches that greed can ruin lives. What I like best about the book is how the writer grabs you with things you can relate to. The ending of this book is satisfying and realistic.
Bill Myers' style of writing keeps you engrossed in the book. There are so many funny jokes and things about life you can relate to, you can't put the book down. Bill gives the exact right amount of details, and the vocabulary is intermediate. This book would appeal to 8-13 year-olds because it is easy and fun. I recommend this book for it's hilarious content, and great theme.
I give this book four stars.

A wonderful book!.......1999-07-13

This book, just like any other Wally McDoogle book was wondeful. It used much humor and shows an important moral about greed. The Wally McDoogle books are geared toward twelve and thirteen year- olds, like myself. Any kid would enjoy it!

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