The Ground Beneath Her Feet: A Novel

Amazon.com

The ground shifts repeatedly beneath the reader's feet during the course of Salman Rushdie's sixth novel, a riff on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in the high-octane world of rock & roll. Readers get their first clues early on that the universe Rushdie is creating here is not quite the one we know: Jesse Aron Parker, for example, wrote "Heartbreak Hotel"; Carly Simon and Guinevere Garfunkel sang "Bridge over Troubled Water"; and Shirley Jones and Gordon McRae starred in "South Pacific." And as the novel progresses, Rushdie adds unmistakable elements of science fiction to his already patented magical realism, with occasionally uneven results.

Rushdie's cunning musician is Ormus Cana, the Bombay-born founder of the most popular group in the world. Ormus's Eurydice (and lead singer) is Vina Apsara, the daughter of a Greek American woman and an Indian father who abandoned the family. What these two share, besides amazing musical talent, is a decidedly twisted family life: Ormus's twin brother died at birth and communicates to him from "the other side"; his older brothers, also twins, are, respectively, brain-damaged and a serial killer. Vina, on the other hand, grew up in rural West Virginia where she returned home one day to find her stepfather and sisters shot to death and her mother hanging from a rafter in the barn. No wonder these two believe they were made for each other.

Narrated by Rai Merchant, a childhood friend of both Vina and Ormus, The Ground Beneath Her Feet begins with a terrible earthquake in 1989 that swallows Vina whole, then moves back in time to chronicle the tangled histories of all the main characters and a host of minor ones as well. Rushdie's canvas is huge, stretching from India to London to New York and beyond--and there's plenty of room for him to punctuate this epic tale with pointed commentary on his own situation: Muslim-born Rai, for example, remarks that "my parents gave me the gift of irreligion, of growing up without bothering to ask people what gods they held dear.... You may argue that the gift was a poisoned chalice, but even if so, that's a cup from which I'd happily drink again." Despite earthquakes, heartbreaks, and a rip in the time-space continuum, The Ground Beneath Her Feet may be the most optimistic, accessible novel Rushdie has yet written. --Alix Wilber

Book Description

In this remaking of the myth of Orpheus, Rushdie tells the story of Vina Apsara, a pop star, and Ormus Cama, an extraordinary songwriter and musician, who captivate and change the world through their music and their romance. Beginning in Bombay in the fifties, moving to London in the sixties, and New York for the last quarter century, the novel pulsates with a half-century of music and celebrates the power rock 'n' roll.

Customer Reviews:

Dazzling language, lame story.......2007-08-30

The Ground Beneath Her Feet was written during a fairly miserable time for fiction (I can think of few really great novels from the mid 90s). Rushdie, having covered the main territories of his life - India, Pakistan, Immigration in three tour de force novels, and followed it up with the mixed Moors Last Sigh, was clearly in search of a topic. What he produced is a bunging in of a lot of high/low cultural references which was all the rage at the time, a dubious plot based on the Orpheus myth, and a lot - a lot of self indulgent passages on a questionable filigree of cultural canvas that piece together in a colourful riot of a novel, but without much grist to the mill. The characters are a sort of modern Gods Behaving Badly - a similar device used in Melanie Philip's eponymous recent novel of same name. Neither book really swings it for me I'm afraid.

Moderate masterpiece.......2007-08-05

Salman Rushdie's setting is always mesmerizing. His language vultures clssical music into my ears. His problems with the GOD idead are stil the same. Always. Not bad though. The idea that religion cause war and it is better off irriligious is accepltable, but it feels like an ache under his tooth that he can't write without anymore.

On the other hand he definetly missed out on the rockstar world. I have never been part of it either and he talks about it the way I would. Which is embarresing and lacking knowledge.

Still, Salman Rushdie books are unique in the art of literiture but I need them to become more entertaining and not purpose driven.

Moderate masterpiece

not good; bad.......2007-04-30

this book conveyed the atmosphere of some pbs documentary about the rock era, from someone who's clearly never been there. or to a real rock concert today, in the underground i mean, or to a rave or something. his portrayal of the um... craziness of it all still seems sanitized, even when he tries to be shocking.

the characters make no sense. i understand he is trying to do a version of that one greek myth or whatever (cause he says it like a million times outright, just like he over-explains every other reference to the point where even if you would have found it amusing you don't) but he misunderstands rock music fundamentally, i think. if he had made human characters and put them in the place of the characters in a greek myth, that would have shown an interesting contrast, and i think it would've fit the rock star "experience". but he made them gods, not humans. and there have been no gods in the 20th century, all the rock artists were very human. he also seems to think that by making them so godlike, he doesn't have to actually describe their characters, except to say that they were like, the best looking people ever and the most talented people ever etc. like it would be impossible or something to ever describe them so he didn't try. like i never understood why vina was supposed to be so attractive. i get that she is good looking and that she can sing good, but he didn't say really what the singing sounded like or what she looked like, at least not enough to make me believe she was the most attractive woman in the world. they were in love for what reason? becuase they were both just so perfect that they couldn't help it? they weren't nice to eachother or anything, not in any practical way. i felt that rock and roll people would never fall in love like that, that they would be more um... realist, he didn't seem to understand that rock and roll is realism. he kept talking about how they symbolized love for all people and all, but it was completely dysfunctional, and not in a way that represents the flaws of humanity or anything instructional, just in a way that it seemed they were constantly miserable.

plus the actual descriptions of the band and the lyrics he gave made me think that if it was an actual band it would have sucked.

the fact that a lot of people have described this as "a great book about the rock n roll era" demonstrates, i guess, the manner in which our culture has abandoned most of the information about the past. the confusing parts, the parts that demand something? the people don't even dance at rock concerts anymore. i imagine people who go to concerts where nobody dances may enjoy this. otherways read electric kool aid acid test if you want to read about the rock era, or read some kundera if you want to see music incorporated beautifully into a novel.

i will read some of his other books of course, i can see how he desired rock and roll to be this metaphor for him and he couldn't really do it. but is it possible that the only reason that people like him so much is that they can't tell how shallow his books about india are? are they also filled with meaningless references and puns that americans take for being meaningful becuase we can't understand them?

For crying out India.......2006-12-10

Michael Pakenham of the Baltimore Sun is quoted on the back cover of the copy I bought of this book by saying, 'It's the best thing ever written about rock and roll. It is rock and roll ..' One question: How much did this guy get paid to say that.

Multiple too many times, now, I've been steered totally wrong from critics who are joltingly convinced of how good a piece of art/entertainment is only to find out I was misguided and led by the wrong hands.

As a writer, Salman Rushdie expresses many natural giftings which he's nurtured through his wizard-like way of splatting prose all over the pages, but, for as evidently gifted as he is, he can also come across like a writing hack, with no control over his material.

This book is all over the place and while some critics may say that's his intent, his unneveness is very distracting and certainly not enjoyable.

And what on earth is he doing writing about rock music. He doesn't seem to know that much about it. Also, if you're wanting to read this book because, like me, you are interested in a novel about rock music, stay away from this one because there's not much about rock music in this 575 page volume.

This book seems to be another excuse for Rushdie to write about what he knows well and has an authentic passion for, India. In a story that's supposed to be about two rock musicians, Ormus Cama and Vina Apsara, Rushdie neverendingly curtails his story to include other things, and what those 'things' are are not very clear as this novel is very messy and with scattered trains of thought.

And how cliched to have Ormus get into an accident and be in a coma and then come back to success. It's as if Rushdie, when he decided to write a book which includes characters who are rock musicians, decided to do some research and found out that Bob Dylan claimed to have gotten into an 'accident' and he's just borrowing from that.

Almost all of the rock references in this book feel borrowed, pretentious, and lack conviction. But this is a very big book (way too long; 575 pages should be about 350-400, if you ask me) and there are passages with great insights and literary presence.

Though Rushdie possesses immense talents of the brain, he doesn't seem to have crafted his skill as a novelist. This is the first book I've read by him but it feels amatuerish; part of the reason it feels amatuerish is because of how much showing off Rushdie enjoys doing, spinning these abra-cadabras with his rhythms and rhymes, but these doings of this Indian wordsmith don't feel nurtured or well looked over, but instead feel like he didn't know what else to do.

There were too many times while reading this book in which I couldn't wait for it to be finished, and I wish Rushdie was looking out for his readers a little more by acknowledging the fact that if they're going to take the time to buy and read his book that he should spend more time honing each project he works on. This thing felt like a rough draft and as if it wasn't perused over with much critical thought.

Though there are talents and findings to enjoy in this one, I don't think I can recommend it.

Pretentious and Badly Written.......2005-10-24

I cringed while reading this book and actually flung it across a waiting area at a gate in Heathrow Airport in disgust upon finishing it. (No one was in the way and I did retrieve it - to throw it out properly in a trashcan.) Mr. Rushdie is obviously a brilliant man but he is out of his element writing about rock and roll. I felt embarrassed for him while reading this and I really did want to love it. The language is forced and pretentious; it sounds like it was written by a corporate CEO desperately trying to be cool.

Average customer rating:

THE GROUND BENEATH HER FEET, A NOVEL
SALMAN RUSHDIE
Manufacturer: VINTAGE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SEV5J8

Book Description

SEDUCED BY THE MYSTERY#133;Dr. Bethany Stavinoski doesn't run from a challenge. As the top biochemist in her field, the delicate-looking blonde routinely puts herself on the line. But her latest research project plunges her into a terrifying world she never knew existed#151;and into the arms of a dangerous, irresistible man.SEDUCED BY THE DANGER#133;Dirk Adams is a changeling, a human with a vampire's strength and skills.He patrols the darkness to destroy renegade vampires, and he senses something far more powerful behind the relentless pursuers now on Beth's trail. As a nightmare he never imagined unfolds, Beth's only chance to save both their lives is to surrender to Dirk's desperate need#133;and match his hunger with her own.SEDUCED BY THE NIGHT

Customer Reviews:

Not as good as the first, but still enjoyable.......2007-01-25

Seduced by the Night, the sequel to Out of the Night features Dirk, a character from the authors first book and Bethany, his destined lady love. Dirk is a changeling, half human, half vampire and Bethany is a biochemist that has to be guarded by Dirk from the vampires that are pursuing her. I enjoyed the plot even though it was a little more predictable than Out of the Night. There was a return of previous characters from the first book, and I always like to see the old characters make a cameo. This book wasn't as dark or suspensful as the first book, but still very good. This book falls more into the paranormal romance genre than the first one did, but I still enjoyed the heck out of it.

more like a 4 1/2 stars.......2007-01-03

Great twist on the normal vampire romance out there. Popp actually takes three folktales and combines them: vampires, gargorles, and chupacabras. Chupacabra simply means goat-suckers (being their prefered meal), which the animals in the story are, only they also turn to stone in daylight (i.e. gargorles), but if a chupacabra attacts and bites, kills, humans, those humans rise again to become vampires. If they do not kill the human, than they become changelings. I know, it sounds dumb, but she actually pulls it together in the book. There is definitely lots of action and romance. The story stays upbeat and flows throughout from beginning to end. What I thought she did more successfully in her first book was the tension. It reminded me of a horror film where your waiting on the edge of your seat for something to jump out. You practically want to scream, "Don't go in there, you dummy!" There was much more of that in "Out of the Night." There was some in this one, especially the trapped in the old garage part. I'm definitely looking forward to more from this arthor.

with a different twist.......2006-09-07

Popp just keeps getting better and better. Dirk, the hero of Seduced by the Night is Beta enough to be completely believeable, but Alpha enough to let us know he is in charge and our heroine is safe.
I'm hoping she brings these characters back in a sequel. I'll be first in line at the bookstore.

What a wonderful read!.......2006-08-03

I could't put the first 2 books down. This one is up there with Saul, Koontz and all of my favorite authors. The science fiction/romance make these books worth the read. When I finsihed this book I was ready for the next one. Robin's descriptions of Oak Alley made me feel like I was back there sipping on a coctail, relaxing on a plantation. The best part is that the action doesn't lag. It is fast paced the whole way through.

Send me another please...

Chupacabras??????.......2006-08-01

Simply awfull. I couldn't even finish it. I kept slogging through it even after I read chupacabra (all I could think of was that X-File episode) but there was just no way I could get through the whole thing. (I ordered this book because it was rated with 4 1/2 stars, what a mistake!)

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Seduced By the Night
Robin T. Popp
Manufacturer: Warner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0739467875

Seduced By the Night[hardcover] (night slayer, 2nd)

Average customer rating:

breathless!

Seduced By the Night[hardcover] (night slayer, 2nd)

Manufacturer: warner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GDXC24

Product Description

the second in the night slayer series is just as good if not better than the first!don't miss this one.

Customer Reviews:

breathless!.......2006-12-02

One might get a little weary of vampire tales of late, so many, and there seems to be no stopping the genre. One of the best to emerge from this over-crowded category is Robin T. Popp. Popp pulls a cross-genre twist on this, making her Night Slayer series unique. Her first novel Too Close to the Sun (June 2003), a highly innovative Sci-Fi Romance for Dorchester, made me an instant fan. However, in the switch in publishers and genre, I had to wait for the edge of the seat, brilliant Out of the Night (September 2005), the first book in her Night Slayer series. I am delighted there wasn't the long wait for the second one. Seduced by the Night, shows Popp is a talent to stay.

Bethany Stavinoski is a top biochemist. It causes her to be sucked into the dangerous world of rogue vampires and half-vampire changelings. The Bad Vamps want her to replicate a formula so they can dominate the world, only there is a Night Slayer bent on stopping them. Dirk Adams is a changeling, a Night Slayer, a human with all the powers of a vampire, but not all the bad side effects. He is a slayer who a hunts down the rogue vamps. Currently, he is assigned to protect Bethany. As he tries to shield her, Bethany find Dirk drawing her closer. As they are relentlessly pursued, she faces giving herself to Dirk's dark power in order to save their lives.

The pace is breathless, Dirk and Bethany's desire for each other sensual. Popp weaves threads of her former Sci-Fi genre into this vamp series to give a stronger base in reality. It sets the Night Slayers apart from all the other vampires books, showing Popp is a talent to watch.

Highly recommended.

5 - ROBIN POPP - IMMORTALS: THE DARKENING - TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN - SEDUCED BY THE NIGHT - TEMPTED IN THE NIGHT - OUT OF THE NIGHT

Average customer rating:

5 - ROBIN POPP - IMMORTALS: THE DARKENING - TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN - SEDUCED BY THE NIGHT - TEMPTED IN THE NIGHT - OUT OF THE NIGHT
ROBIN POPP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QKSSWQ

Product Description

**** ($3.99 USA POSTAGE FOR ALL 5 BOOKS, WHICH WILL BE MAILED AT THE MEDIA - BOOK RATE WHICH IS SLOW SURFACE MAIL, 14 - 21 DAYS DELIVERY TIME).

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Seduced By the Night
Robin T. Popp
Manufacturer: Warner Books Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000V85JUM

Average customer rating:

amazing series!

SEDUCED BY THE NIGHT (NIGHT SLAYER)
ROBIN T. POPP
Manufacturer: Warner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I4UG66

Customer Reviews:

amazing series!.......2006-12-02

Book Description

From the moment John Varley burst onto the scene in 1974, his short fiction was like nothing anyone else was writing. His stories won every award the science fiction field had to offer, many times over. His first collection, The Persistence of Vision, published in 1978, was the most important collection of the decade, and changed what fans would come to expect from science fiction.

Now, The John Varley Reader gathers his best stories, many out of print for years. This is the volume no Varley fan-or science fiction reader-can do without.

The John Varley Reader: Thirty Years of Short Fiction

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The John Varley Reader: Thirty Years of Short Fiction

Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0739446711

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Fingerprints of God: Recognizing God's Touch on your Life

Fingerprints of God: Recognizing God's Touch on Your Life
Jennifer Rothschild
Manufacturer: Multnomah
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Disabled | Special Groups | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Lessons I Learned in the Dark: Steps to Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Lessons I Learned in the Light: All You Need to Thrive in a Dark World

Walking By Faith: The Music Captured Live

Fingerprints of God: Bible Study Workbook

Touched by His Unseen Hand: Recognizing the Fingerprints of God on Your Life (His Touch and Mine, 1)

ASIN: 1590525302
Release Date: 2005-01-29

Book Description

To a blind person, human touch is essential. In the absence of facial expressions, it reassures and comforts. But can you still feel the warm and soothing touch of an unseen God? Author and musician Jennifer Rothschild, who lost her vision at the age of fifteen, explains how God's touch works from the inside out, warming the heart, mind, and soul. It lifts weights that eyes could never see. It washes away the anguish of guilt, the bite of fear, and the ache of loneliness. With the gentle pressure of His hand on our shoulders, we can find our way through the darkest of nights.

Customer Reviews:

Fingerprints of God: Recognizing God's Touch on your Life.......2005-09-11

What a writer...she really can see!

Touched by His Unseen Hand: Recognizing the Fingerprints of God on Your Life (His Touch and Mine, 1)

Average customer rating:

Touched by His Unseen Hand: Recognizing the Fingerprints of God on Your Life (His Touch and Mine, 1)
Jennifer Rothschild
Manufacturer: Multnomah
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1590522109
Release Date: 2004-01-21

Book Description

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What Can I Bring
Yvonnne Baker
Manufacturer: Fleming H Revell Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Quantity | Professional Cooking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0800715772

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What Can I Bring? Cookbook
Anne Byrn
Manufacturer: Workman Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Quick & Easy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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The Cake Mix Doctor

The Dinner Doctor

Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor

Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook: 50 To-Die-For Recipes for New York-Style Cheesecake (Juniors)

The Best Bake Sale Ever Cookbook

ASIN: 0761146407

Book Description

Potlucks and picnics, dinner parties and church socials, fundraisers, toasts to the teacher, reunions, cookouts—it's the busy age of shared meals, which means with every invitation comes the question: " What can I bring?" Anne Byrn, an inspired cook, problem solver, and bestselling author of The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook and other books with over 2.6 million copies in print, knows exactly how to answer the question. Cutting through menu block—a condition familiar to everyone who cooks—here are over 200 delicious suggestions for crowd-pleasing food that’s designed to travel.

There are finger foods, canapes, and "trios"—Trio of Marinated Goat Cheese, Asian Summer Rolls with a Trio of Sauces, Trio of Pastry-Wrapped Camemberts. 25 surprising salads: White Corn Salad with Fresh Thyme, Asparagus and Grilled Peppers with Asian Soy Dressing. Main dishes for a party, from Southern-Style Pulled Pork to Creamy White Bean and Spinach Lasagne. Desserts (of course, 25 of them), and a full chapter of loaves and other gifts from the kitchen, including Chocolate Sour Cherry Bread and Sun-Cooked Peach Preserves. Each recipe comes with Tote Notes (how best to transport the dish), Big Batch (how to multiply the dish), and When You Arrive (how to put the finishing touches on the dish). Plus there are "Grab & Gos"—super-quick recipes—for each section, etiquette tips for working in someone else's kitchen, and a "Notes" area for each recipe, to jot down tips and log in when you made the dish and for what occasion, so you don't repeat yourself.

What Can I Bring?: Sharing Good Tastes and Times in Northern Virginia

Average customer rating:

Great book, great food
What Can I Bring
I love this Cookbook!

What Can I Bring?: Sharing Good Tastes and Times in Northern Virginia
Junior League of Northern Virginia
Manufacturer: Wimmer Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0966772202

Customer Reviews:

Great book, great food.......2001-12-06

I love cookbooks and own a lot of them. I bought this book two years ago and have given many copies as gifts to peple who like to cook. My family loves the recipes. We made some of the recipes for my niece's wedding brunch in Denver last year and the guests raved about the food. The recipes and instructions are well-written and the results are great.

What Can I Bring.......2000-08-02

This is a fantastic book. Lots of great recipes with new adaptions to ones that have been around for awhile. Using a different spice or combining of various ingredients gives news twists to old standbys and favorites. I am an avid reader of cookbooks and don't have that much time to cook now that my family is grown and left the nest, but with this book, I am very anxious to get back in the kitchen and create some new and exciting things. Cookbooks by Jr. Leagues always have some of the very best recipes and this one is certainly no exception. Highly recommend whether just for reading, or looking for something new and different.

I love this Cookbook!.......2000-06-27

Of all the regional cookbooks I own, this is one of my favorites! This cookbook has great suggestions for things to take to different gatherings from Gold Cup Horse Races to Neighborhood Picnics. I especially love the tips and suggestions at the bottom of the recipes. So far, I have tried about 20 recipes and all of them have been fabulous! The recipes are clear and easy to follow. This book is a necessity for delicious homemade treats to impress your friends. It also makes a great bridal shower and teacher gift.

But what can I bring?(short story): An article from: Jack & Jill

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But what can I bring?(short story): An article from: Jack & Jill
Donna Freedman
Manufacturer: Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00092YWGW
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Jack & Jill, published by Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, Inc. on October 1, 1994. The length of the article is 1042 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: But what can I bring?(short story)
Author: Donna Freedman
Publication: Jack & Jill (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 1994
Publisher: Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, Inc.
Volume: v56 Issue: n7 Page: p31(5)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

The infinite possibilities of paper folding inspired origami, a simple, traditional craft that appeals to both children and adults. This comprehensive guide to the materials, tools, techniques, symbols and skills behind the Japanese art of folding paper into wondrous shapes is illustrated with refreshingly simple step-by-step diagrams. Crafters of all ages can quickly learn to create the basic folds, from the beginner's box glider and fish to such advanced projects as Green Man and murex shell. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ORIGAMI also takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the finest origami models being made around the world today.

Amazon.com

Forget what you may read about the glittering social scene of the Hamptons; in The Hamptons, photographed and described by Susan Meisel and Ellen Harris, we're shown a lush, summery world meant for utter peace and relaxation. From the manicured lawns enclosed by privet hedges to the wide, sandy beaches and gentle surf, the Long Island landscapes shown here are both elegant and wild, extremely modern and utterly traditional.

Focusing on three towns (Sagaponack, Bridgehampton, and Easthampton), the photographs have been divided into chapters based on their content, rather than the area in which they were taken. The variety of architecture is showcased in the "There's No Place Like Home" chapter--it's not every town that encompasses the early Federal and saltbox styles of this country right along with sleek modern styles that have open decks and windows as their focus. A surprisingly practical side of the Hamptons is disclosed in "Field of Dreams," where photos of corn, potatoes, and wheat threshing reveal the down-home roots of this farming community. "For the Love of Blue" provides the perfect pictures to help beachcombers survive gray winter days; the close-up shots of crashing waves and the panoramic views of rocky beaches may well transport you via memory to your own favorite beach.

Each chapter has a page of written introduction, but throughout the book the text is minimal, serving only to provide brief descriptions of the glorious photos. This is exactly as it should be; the photos provide such a feast for the eyes, any additional information would merely detract from their loveliness. --Jill Lightner

Book Description

The Hamptons-that glorious stretch of beaches and farmlands along the South Fork of Long Island, New York, from Southampton to Montauk and the many villages in between-is one of the most talked-about and popular resort areas in the country. There, the celebrated, the artistic, the literary, and everyday people commingle all year long. This stunning photo essay offers an insider's view, in text and 200 color pictures, of the private homes, spectacular gardens, and other scenic wonders of the area.

An arresting mix of architectural and interior decorating styles, magnificent plantings and sculpture gardens, and great private art collections-not to mention the incredible sky and ocean-contribute to the enchantment of this popular resort area, drawing Donna Karan, Martha Stewart, Steven Spielberg, and Chuck Close, to name but a few. This book will be irresistible for the thousands who flock to the Hamptons each summer, and for all who like to peek at life behind the hedges in the real Hamptons.

SUSAN MEISEL is a well-known painter and, with her husband, art dealer (and Abrams author) Louis Meisel, a collector of Americana. The Meisels own a home in the Hamptons, in Sagaponack, noted for its extraordinary garden and collectibles.

ELLEN HARRIS and her husband are collectors of Americana, quilts, and tramp art. They also own a home in Sagaponack.

200 photographs in full color, 10 x 91/2"

Customer Reviews:

Can't Wait For Summer!.......2001-05-01

I love this book! Reading it over this past winter brought back all the great feelings of being in the Hamptons. I love the fact that the beautiful photographs don't focus on just the ocean, but show hamptons life behind the scenes. The photographs of the gardens and artist's studios are especially nice. This is a great collectable book and I highly recommend it as a gift.

Just like being there... even better.......2001-04-28

We live in the city - downtown. We have three children and wish/dream about getting out of town on a weekend and letting the children run and play on the grass in the country or sand on a beach. This book puts you there and without any of the sense of overwhelming and intimidating wealth that would take away from the beauty and feeling the Hamptons can offer. The photos are beautiful and the subjects are different and interesting. I truly do love this book and have given many as gifts to friends from out of town who have heard so much about the east end of the Island but have yet to visit.

Fantasy Book or not ??.......2001-02-15

This book is very nice, but fo not buy it when you are looking for a book which takes a look inside these beautiful houses. It only shows the outside and ,i think, too many pictures of the gardens. It is really a nice book but i thought there would be many pictures of the houses and not so many detailed pictures of gardens...

A good addition to our second home stack.......2000-11-15

My husband and I are beginning to collect books related to second homes as we dream about and plan our own great escape. Our favorites are Better Homes and Gardens SECOND HOME, FAMILY HOUSES BY THE SEA, CABIN FEVER, and Better Homes and Gardens COTTAGE STYLE. This book on the Hamptons is our newest purchase, and it has great photos. The best book in terms of combining the dreamy photos with helpful insights to guide our own second home planning, though, is SECOND HOME.

EVERY COFFEE TABLE SHOULD HAVE ONE - FOR ALL TO SEE !!!.......2000-09-03

From tag sales to spectacular homes. The photography is true to life. The scenery of flora, ocean landscapes, sunsets and to the history of a town that is small yet so BIG. A delight to see behind the hedges of wonderful homes, decor and art.

Customer Reviews:

Essential 1950's fetish fashion.......2007-05-06

This is, quite simply, an absolutely essential item for anyone interested in sexualized fashion. "Exotique", as one of the leading magazines of the 1950's New York underground fetish fashion scene (closely associated with BDSM - and it's remarkable how little the contours of BDSM fashion have changed over the last half-century) presented in each issue a bumper crop of images and stories having to do with eroticized fashion accessories such as stockings, high-heeled shoes, boots, long gloves, and corsets. The item at hand presents a reprint of the first 36 issues of Exotique, running from 1951 to 1959. Bettie Page fans take note; this three-volume set has many pictures of Bettie.

Early Fetish.......2006-10-26

Great 3 volume boxed set! The artwork on the slipcover and bookcovers are great! Takes you back to the early fetish and pin-up days with the likes of Bettie Page, Tana Louise and more! Great fictional fetish stories as well! Recommend!

Neato Collection.......2000-06-14

This is a very interesting collection. Flipping through the pages of the three hardbacks that make up EXOTIQUE I got a really good feel for a whole different side of 1950's women's fashion and lifestyle.

The three volumes are filled with great B&W photos, comics, illustrations, cartoons, and advertisements. Interesting dated articles and reviews make up the text.

If this sounds interesting, also see Taschen's BIZARRE collection by John Willie. Very much the same as EXOTIQUE, but with (I think) a kinkier slant on women's bondage fashions of the 1940's.

The three volumes are hardcover and have unusual covers.

Gams, Boots, Stockings, Garters & In-Charge Women.......1999-09-12

Benedikt Taschen is going boldly where no quality publisher has gone before. EXOTIQUE is a collection of the late Leonard Burtman's quirky, fetish journal of the 1950s. Burtman's imagery is a life spring of outrageous gams, tight-fitting boots, garters, stockings and take-command women. A must for the fetish collector. But not a trivial amount of cash to slap down on the table.

Superb subject manner not given its full due.......1999-09-09

While Taschen is to be commended for returning these rarities to print, the quality of their production leaves much to be desired. The photos, especially, are not reproduced well with the chosen printing process, and the paper stock seems thin. This is surprising, considering that the sort of person who would buy this collection most likely wouldn't mind paying for a superior production. And given the price of the originals, there is lots of room to manoeuver. Hopefully they'll reprint the variety of ancilliary Exotique productions, such as the photo books, and upgrade the physcial quality.

Book Description

(From flyleaf of dustjacket.) Lenny Bruce was famous in his day for stretching the envelope of comedy by dealing with the taboo subjects of sex, politics, and religion. His detractors in his day, who misused the law to attempt to harass him into silence, have made him famous for stretching the envelope of First Amendment Rights to provide the air of artistic freedom performers enjoy today.

Other works about Lenny Bruce have been authored by people who did not know him, who researched his life through second hand materials, and who focused on the incidental fact that Bruce was a substance abuser. This book is the only work about Bruce written by someone who knew and worked with him intimately, and who focuses on the creativity and motivation of Bruce's work.

William Karl Thomas's diversity of talents (photographer, cinematographer, filmmaker, journalist, book author, screenwriter, and musician) led him through the labyrinth of Hollywood's 1950's and 60's underworld to involvement with the then little known comics Frank Ray Perelli, Sally Marr, and Lenny Bruce. In telling Lenny's story Thomas tells his own, complete with tales of the weirder fringes of Hollywood during the "beatnik" and "hippy" eras, and anecdotes of celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Steve Allen, Theo Bikel, and Shecky Greene, all of whom are portrayed with respect. Thomas's 10 year collaboration with Bruce led to some of Bruce's most famous routines (Religions Incorporated, Mein Campf Arises, Show Biz Heaven, and other's), and to the most memorable album covers (The Sick Humor of Lenny Bruce, Lenny Bruce is Out Again, and others) and film footage (Leather Jacket, and others) by which we now recognize Bruce as the social satirist who has made the greatest impact on our time.

Customer Reviews:

A book about William Thomas.......2002-09-02

When I first saw this book for sale, I was very keen on getting a copy as soon as I could (I was on a kind of Lenny Bruce book-finding mission--and still am). After going everywhere to try to find a used copy and could not, I put out the 27 bucks. Anyway, here's why I, with much reservation, give it only three stars (should be two really). It's not about Lenny Bruce! In fact, at best, he's a bit part in a not-so-interesting story about this Thomas guy (Lenny talks about him a little in his writings here and there, but he's just another guy in the life of Lenny). If you're interest in the author, get the book. If you're interested in Lenny Bruce, there are a least ten books that you should read before this, mostly, non Lenny literature.

A Thin Slice Of Lenny Bruce.......2001-08-31

This fairly thin book is a first hand account of the time the author spent with Lenny Bruce. Probably the best part of the fairly pricy book are the photographs which were taken by the author.

"To Stare Down The Barrel of a Loaded Microphone".......2001-04-20

Lenny Bruce never waited for the television censors to not be listening before he delivered his punchlines. Lenny Bruce was never afraid to improvise a skit where the characters were shallow one dimensional vehicles whose sole purpose was to give life to his punchline, much like Karl Marx who created characters of similar depth in his monumental work, "Das Kapital" characters who were used to breathe life into his economic examples. Lenny Bruce was a stand up comedian who traveled across the country from gig to gig with two suitcases, the first suitcase was packed full of paperback books, the second suitcase was packed full of newspapers and magazines. When Lenny came on stage he did so with a newspaper tucked under one arm, he would clutch the microphone with one free hand and hold a cigarette in the other hand. He looked like, "a late night existential detective who was solving one case while beginning to investigate a new one." Lenny bought black silk oversized "kleenex" suits for each night he had a gig, he hired fraternity house renegade jazz drummers who dropped out of college. He would ask the college renegades, "What were the most influential books you have ever read?" Lenny would then track these books down, read them and discuss them with the jazz drummers. It was not drugs or four letter words that made Lenny Bruce dangerous, it was his ability to not only be literate but to comprehend what he had read, but what makes the material of Lenny Bruce transcend the label "dangerous" and allows it to enter the realm of entertainment was his ability to sew it all together and aim it at the hypocracy of society or his audience, this is what makes the comic ability of Lenny Bruce a gift and not a gimmick, very few comics have come close but none will hit the mark the way Lenny Bruce did. If you, the reader, want to learn the truth about Lenny Bruce from the perspective of a man who was his friend in the final years of his life then buy and read this book, "Lenny Bruce: The Making of a Prophet" by William Karl Thomas. In conclusion I can only qoute from, "Constantly Risking Absurdity", by Lawerence Farlenghetti, "And he a little charleychaplin man."

Average customer rating:

Lenny Bruce The Making of A Prophet
William Karl Thomas
Manufacturer: Archon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JJL204

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