Book Description
In this suspenseful and finely wrought first novel, a young doctor's encounter with a mysterious disease leads him to a crossroads between faith and reason Not long into Michael Grant's first year in his new practice, a young girl in his care unexpectedly dies. He might not have been able to change that outcome, but he didn't do all in his power to prevent it, either. So when Michael is asked to take on the dead girl's father as a patient, he feels he must oblige the family's wishes. Examining the man, Michael notices an unusual pattern-a white, serpentine spiral-on the back of the throat and in his eye. But before a diagnosis can be made, the man is dead, the victim of a mysterious fire, and soon Michael himself is experiencing symptoms of the strange illness.Believing that he has stumbled across a new disease but unable to convince his skeptical colleagues, Michael sets out to gather evidence. His quest takes him into a wilderness of disease, religion, and mystery, and becomes a journey that leads him to question not only his belief in the order of the world but his own place and purpose within it.Lyrical, poetic, and utterly engrossing, The Laws of Invisible Things fully delivers on the promise of Frank Huyler's critically acclaimed collection of medical stories, The Blood of Strangers.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing!.......2007-06-08
This book presents the first part of an interesting plot and then drops it in favor of an analysis of human relationships. Unlike the other negative reviewers who found the first two thirds of the book adequate, I found the entire book to be an amateurish attempt to write like Hemingway: short, staccato sentences, laden with deep meaning but in Huyler's case, signifying almost nothing. I enjoyed the excellent descriptions of medical procedures in the office and the hospital (I'm an MD) and kept expecting an interesting, even if fictional, medical solution. Instead, the book ends with nothing resolved. Frustrating!
Disappointing.......2006-08-27
The book was reasonably well written but it was very disappointing at the end. He did not resolve the major mystery in the novel. I thought that they accidently left out the last chapter.
Not invisible, simply nothing there.......2006-04-26
A droopy lead character: like a Debbie Downer, who always finds the down side. There is no ending, just a last page, and you say, "that's it?" And why this doctor doesn't realize he is suffering from depression, and write himself a prescription for prozac? But here's my prescription for the author: don't write books anymore, and all will be well.
Not Robin Cook.......2005-07-07
Feels like a medical thriller, then transcends the genre, turning attention to less solveable mysteries. Dr. Grant's failure to cure his patient, and his ordeal with the same mysterious illness, leads him to question his career and his place in the world. The story deliberately pulls back, and the initial pressing concerns--the nature of the illness, the relationship to his mentor--give way to a larger and mare haunting emptiness that stays with you long after you've finished.
just fades away........2005-05-10
invisible things is a well written novel for about two thirds of its length, then it just fades away. it is like the author ran out of material or got bored with the project. the basic theme of search for a new disease, is well told and tension builds nicely. but then, as i have said, it just goes nowhere. i'd skip it. dgs
Book Description
Three stories, based on characters from the original Phantom of the Opera novel. Three stories, revisiting that universe. A phantom who lives in hiding. An angel heard in dreams. There are ¿Phantoms of the Mind,¿ that send a lonely rape victim spiraling off into madness. There¿s ¿The Portal,¿ a place where darkness meets light. There is ¿Little Lotte,¿ the child who hears an angel sing. Unlike any stage or screen version, the focus is angel, not phantom. Ever present, he unites the threads of these tales.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful Book!.......2007-09-18
This is the sixth Phantom related book that I've read since recently seeing the 2004 movie version of POTO which I LOVE. This book is one of my favorites!! I can describe it in one word...."SURPRISE". I don't want to give things away about it but if you love POTO then you just HAVE to read this book.
loved it........2007-02-15
This book is three stories that all have one thing in common; Erik. (The Phantom.)
I finished reading this book yesterday, and I absolutely loved it. well, most of it actually.
I was not too fond of the first story, "The Story of Little Lotte," though it wasn't actually a bad story, it just wasn't my style. the second story (Phantoms of the Mind) however, nearly tore my heart in two. it was just so sad and filled with despair I thought I might have some sort of breakdown from the pain it made me feel. I haven't read a story that has done that to me in quite a while. I also hated it because of the unfairness that the real Little Lotte had to go through in the story, I even hated her character at times. but the story was still good to me, it was written very nicely and it made me really feel. I know I will be reading that particular story again and again. the last story in the book, "The Portal," was one I found rather bittersweet. the zombie-like state he apparently had Christine mostly stuck in was the only really "bitter" part. I don't think Erik would have screwed up like that so badly, but then, who can really say? perhaps it helps more if one looks at it as an accident. moving on, I loved his child. I felt she was very much Erik's, and I loved their talk at the end. very sweet to end the book with. I did feel like it was left a little too open in the end though, even with the epilogue, but I also perceive that as wanting more, meaning I truly did love this book, and the author did a great job.
Better than most but...........2006-05-15
Like millions of others, I have been a Phan for many years and have read everything I could get my hands on, especially the Phan phiction online and published phic novels. I couldn't wait to read this book, especially given Ms. Hernandez's "Phantom" background i.e. her website and the much missed magazine and anthologies. While the twist on Little Lotte's true identity was surprising and even a little sad, and the tale of Christine and Raoul charming and sweet, I was completely turned off by "The Portal". I got so tired of Erik's "stench", the vapid and spaced-out Christine/zombie, and the mischevious brat who made Susan Kay's young Erik seem almost saintly. I think the stench references were offensive and mean. Yes, M. Leroux wrote that Erik's hands "smelled of death", but it was not essential to the original story so I couldn't see why it was so important to bring it up again and again in "The Portal". We all understand that Erik was a "living corpse" in appearance but I don't think Leroux meant he truly was a rotting corpse. It just seemed gross and irrelevant. As for Christine, this was not the girl who visited Erik many times unaccompanied, actually lived with him for a fortnight, and eventually was willing to sacrifice herself for Raoul. Even after the author's explanation for her behaviour it just didn't make sense to me. Lastly, the child's role in all this. It seemed like all the nasty things she did were only to make her seem more like "daddy" and not a cry for attention from her poor, hapless mother. I couldn't even sympathize with her. All in all the book is worth a read, especially for "Phantoms of the Mind". If not for "The Portal", I would have given the book 5 stars.
A Marvelous Piece.......2006-01-09
I'm obsessed with Phantom of the Opera, so anything that deals with it I'm there. I found this book by accident and was intrigued by its cover. I have an open mind when I read fanfics because I respect people's views and opinions and also their fantasies. I must admit, I was a little skeptical at first with this book, but I must say I truly did enjoyed it. Carrie Hernandez' approach to the real story behind "Little Lotte" (which is what the whole book concentrates on) is quite interesting. I was extremely shocked when finding out who the REAL Little Lotte was, and after pondering for a bit about it...it all makes sense. This book is based on the original novel, which I find it to be more intriguing since many fics take after the musical (I'm not saying it's bad, it's just a good change). I have to say that Carrie Hernandez did a wonderful job with this book and I highly recommend it to anybody who is interested or is just obsessed with Phantom of the Opera.
Absolutely Amazing.......2006-01-02
This is a marvelous book for any phantom fan. The way the author connects everything first written by Gaston LeRoux is mind boggling. You will feel pity, awe, amazement, and you will feel the pain that lies in Erik's heart. Everything that happens in this book will make you truly wonder about the underlining message possibly left my LeRoux when he first wrote the Phantom of the Opera.
Average customer rating:
- Another Great CJ Cherryh book
- Whine Fletcher! *throws some cheese*
- Another major sci-fi novel!
- Spellbinding!
- My favorite Cherryh Novel
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Finity's End
C.J. Cherryh
Manufacturer: Aspect
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 Cherryh, C.J.
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Tripoint
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Rimrunners
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Heavy Time
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Hellburner
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Cyteen
ASIN: 0446605603 |
Amazon.com
Finity's End falls after Merchanter's Luck but before Tripoint in the lineup of C.J. Cherryh's Merchanter novels (part of the author's award-winning Alliance/Union universe). It resumes the story of Fletcher Neihart, an orphan and unwanted foster child who, against his will, joins the crew of the legendary merchanter ship Finity's End. As Neihart struggles to find his place both on the ship and in the world, the ship undertakes a mission critical to the continuing peace between the Earth, Alliance, and Union factions.
Book Description
Finity's End falls after Merchanter's Luck but before Tripoint in the lineup of C.J. Cherryh's Merchanter novels (part of the author's award-winning Alliance/Union universe).It resumes the story of Fletcher Neihart, an orphan and unwanted foster child who, against his will, joins the crew of the legendary merchanter ship Finity's End. As Neihart struggles to find his place both on the ship and in the world, the ship undertakes a mission critical to the continuing peace between the Earth, Alliance, and Union factions.
Customer Reviews:
Another Great CJ Cherryh book.......2007-10-10
Once again Cherryh spirits you away to a universe of space stations and simple but wise aliens, with the usual smart young character who is in deep trouble. An excellent book. Enjoy.
Whine Fletcher! *throws some cheese*.......2007-06-05
I don't mind a little angst in my books, but this kid was as bad as Harry Potter in OotP. I love this universe but honestly have yet to like any of the actual stories set in it. Much of that has to go to the fact that the characters are all oversensitive and crying about something and this book takes that to a new extreme. Granted, the main character does grow up a little, but honestly! How many poor little orphan boys have dreamed of their extended families being awesome and swooping in on their super-cool spaceship to rescue him from the Pit of Pell?
A completely irritating read.
Another major sci-fi novel!.......2006-05-15
Another Alliance-Union novel, the highest quality writing, interesting characters and intricate plot. I got used to these, coming from Cherryh. I hate the brand "coming of age novel", and I won't use it, even if part of the story relates Fletcher Neihart's adolescent ways of dealing with loss, responsability, love and rejection. This story is far more than this.
After the gripping tale of the birth of the Alliance, in "Downbelow Station", and a few incursions in the battles between Fleet and Mallory, etc, it was time to tell of the peace in the merchanter universe Cherryh imagined. This is the tale of how that peace was achieved. Captain James Robert Neihart, architect of the Alliance and war hero, proves to be a peace-time hero, too. The new pacts that he convinces his fellow merchants to sign will drive Mazian's Fleet in the background (if space has a background) and will provide the stability profitable trade needs.
The hisa have a (small) role in that pact, as examples of peaceful creatures that could teach lessons to a handful of exceptional humans - those that are open and willing enough to learn the ways of peace.
Fletcher has an adaptable personality (you wouldn't say that, from the first traits he shows :)) and I for one would be really interested to glimpse him in other merchanter novels :)
A beautiful novel, style and imagination in one, a work of art! This one is for keeps!
Spellbinding!.......2004-01-21
I have never read any of Cherrhy's Merchanter Series. However thanks to Cherryh's detailed and absorbing story telling, this handicap does not deter me from enjoying Finity's End. There is no over the tops space battle or fight to the end scenes in Finity's End. Finity End is about a young man's struggle to find himself, male bonding and meanings of the words "family" and "peace". All this is told against an intelligently conceived universe where men seems to have conquer all the stars and, sadly, sharing this large universe with only one other type of living being besides himself. Finity's End is one of Cherryh's best even though the ending needs finer editing. Thank you Cherryh for such a beautifully written and compelling story.
My favorite Cherryh Novel.......2003-04-08
Cherryh is one of my favorite authors - and this is my favorite book by her. She does an amazing job of showing us the culture of a starship in this book through the eyes of a young tortured soul who is brought in as an outsider. Since he doesn't know anything about the way that ship life functions - he's an excellent guide to learn from.
Give Cherryh a chance if you haven't read anything by her before - you won't find lots of shoot-em-up action, but you'll find amazing characters within the best framework that Science Fiction has to offer. And this is a great one to start out with. She's written many books and you'll have many days to spend with each of them if you like her writing.
Average customer rating:
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Finitys End
C J Cherryh
Manufacturer: WARNER BOOKS INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UYP1QE |
Average customer rating:
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Finity's End
C.J.Cherryh
Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVMKUI |
Customer Reviews:
Good book, but..........2001-04-03
...a little dry for those who do not enjoy reading historical overviews. (Personally, _I_ find them fascinating at times.) I used to own a copy of this book--I bought one back in 1989--but I don't know what happened to my copy.
An overview of the current move of God!.......1999-04-21
It's time to know and understand. There is no doubt that God is restoring the prophet today and that we are in the midst of a crucial prophetic movement. Therefore, there is a desperate need for apostolic wisdom, prophetic perspective and pastoral cousel to bring clarity, balance and understanding to these needed truths and ministries in the Body of Christ.
Average customer rating:
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A Taste of Latino Cultures Un Toque de Sabor Latino: A Bilingual, Educational Cookbook Un Libro de Cocina Bilingue y Educativo
George Kunzel
Manufacturer: Libraries Unlimited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1591581788 |
Book Description
The Latino population is the fast-growing minority in this country, and educational resources for and about Hispanics remain scarce. The purpose of this bilingual work is two-fold: to introduce young Americans to diverse Latino cultures and to build cultural awareness among Hispanic students. It is also hoped that the material will help bridge the generations in Hispanic families--between older family members with limited English, and younger members with limited Spanish. Focusing on countries with significant immigration populations in the United States, this book offers educators and librarians tools to explore the cultures of Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Colombia--with geographical and statistical information, history, recipes, resources, learning extensions, and sources for further information. Chapters present background information about the countries, including images of the flags, maps, and coats of arms, followed by simple recipes that can be prepared by young people. Recipes feature ingredients and agricultural products of the countries with brief descriptions and illustrations. A list of "learning opportunities" and a more detailed "learning launch" helps educators extend learning throughout the curriculum. Brief English-Spanish vocabulary lists are also included. "Resources for further learning" direct users to pertinent Web sites and print materials. The book concludes with a glossary of cooking terms and techniques, utensils, and ingredients and a general bibliography. Grades 4-8.
Book Description
Gold leaf gilder and restoration artist Ellen Becker brings her years of experience to the table, sharing the long-guarded recipes of this ancient craft along with illustrated, step-by-step instructions for various gold leafing and restoration techniques. This book tells you everything you need to get started and where to find it, it illustrates various techniques for restoring antique frames, and it takes budding craftsmen through a series of projects, starting with simple Dutch metal application through the fine art of water gilding. The artist also shares one of her favorite projects: a gilded box. More than 300 photos provide visual instruction, making this the most comprehensive instructional book for gold leafing on the market today.
Customer Reviews:
Waste of money..........2005-05-07
Waste of money...
This book is good only for school projects and absolutely not useful for artists, restorers or woodworkers.
Very amateur...Featuring stone age techniques, which can only discourage the follower.
Don't give any choice of supplies, don't warn about possible mistakes an failures during the process and do not say how to avoid or fix those mistakes.
Anyway... Following this book amateur will only get frustrated:
Spend a fortune for supplies and sabotage there treasures...
Professionals or semi-professionals - simply don't need it...
Businesses which selling supplies and gold leaf offer a seminars and comprehensive guides "how to" for gold leafing. Much more useful...
About restoration - still searching for good info...
Book Description
FTD, the largest floral company in the world, combines the fundamentals of floral design and care with the basic elements of interior design to offer all flower lovers (and that's everyone) the knowledge, inspiration, and confidence to live happily ever after with flowers.
Flowers are as much a part of our daily existence as holidays and the changing seasons. Flowers signal and celebrate all the major and minor events in our lives: in the home, flowers are as essential a decorating element as window treatments or floor coverings. But although everyone loves flowers, not everyone knows how to live with flowers-how to buy them, care for them, or display them. In Flower Style, home design and lifestyle author Pat Ross presents the fundamentals of choosing, arranging, and extending the life of flowers in your home. Whether you buy your flowers from a florist or a grocer or pick them in your yard, Flower Style shows how and where to place them for every season, occasion, and room of the house. Flower Style is the only flower book you'll need.
Average customer rating:
- The breadth of Warhol's paintings
|
Andy Warhol: A Retrospective
Kynaston McShine ,
Robert Rosenblum ,
Benjamin H. D. Buchloh , and
Livingstone
Manufacturer: Museum of Modern Art
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0870706802 |
Customer Reviews:
The breadth of Warhol's paintings.......2005-08-28
You can get a excellent sense of Warhol's progress from this book. 1962 seems to have been a decisive years. Before 1962, one can see Warhol's transition from commercial artist and early experimentalism. Beginning sometime in 1962, one sees the emergence of the well-chosen, well-executed images that Warhol is known for.
It seems helpful in understanding his growth to see some of Warhol's less appealing works. Nonetheless, with a total of about 320 pages of images, there are still plenty of Warhol's bettter works to see here.
Four high-quality, significant essays about Warhol open this book. The closing includes a chronology, a "collective portrait" consisting of short contributions from many who knew Warhol well, and "Warhol in his own words", selections that reveal how insightful yet straight-forward Warhol could be.
This seems to be the single best bible of Warhol's paintings. There is a comprehensive collection of Warhol's prints available in "Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonne: 1962-1987" which seems prettier but may suffer from excessive prettiness. Warhol's trashier aspects are not apparent, nor is his experimental reach, in the prints. Both books have their appeal, but as a one source collection of Warhol's painting and critical assessments of it this Retrospective seems unparalleled.
For a good exposure to Warhol in all his diversity, "Andy Warhol: 365 Takes" by the staff of the Andy Warhol Museum is also valuable, but to focus on the paintings, this retrospective seems ideal.
Average customer rating:
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Andy Warhol, Retrospective
Heiner Bastian
Manufacturer: Tate Gallery Pubn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Warhol, Andy
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Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné 1962-1987
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Andy Warhol: Giant Size
ASIN: 0914357859 |
Customer Reviews:
Complete Warhol.......2007-04-11
This is the catalogue for a Warhol exhibition that was held in London and Los Angeles some years ago. It is a good and comprehensive introduction to his paintings, indispensable to the understanding of the most famous pop artist. I have always been skeptic about Warhol's claim to be a great painter, seeing him more as a manipulator of ideas, however brilliant and influential. This book slightly changed my opinion in that it shows what a master of representation he was, his ability to use color as a means of communication, the way he forces us to look at reality in a different way through mundane themes, celebrities, current affairs raised to the status of icons of our society. The book is arranged chronologically, underlining the different series the artist became famous for.
Heiner Bastian is a respected dealer and curator and is very knowledgeable on his subject.I do not give it five stars because the quality of the images could have been improved.
Amazon.com
"There will always be a pre- and a post-Warhol," writes Philippe Tretiack, "and that post-Warhol period is having difficulty establishing itself." There also will always be people who consider Andy Warhol's work to represent the beginning of the end of serious cultural life in America. A flagrantly commercial antihero of the gay, big-city subculture, Warhol offended in so many ways. His cheerful, absurdist pop images of Campbell's soup cans, Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and the electric chair made serious subject matter with serious meaning a thing of the past. Everything Warhol did made serious film, painting, drawing, or printmaking look slightly silly. He flaunted his disregard for the pretensions of the fine artist, calling his studio "the Factory," churning out multiples, and publicly insisting that his work could be fabricated by practically anyone (until it was pointed out to him that this would significantly lower his prices).
In an excellent essay in the front of this small book, Tretiack places Warhol historically and esthetically, hitting all the high points of Warhol's flamboyant career and stylishly discussing the legacy of this '60s bad boy. The rest of the book is full of pictures--mostly Warhol's more famous images, but also some snapshots of Andy. Missing are a few pictures of Warhol's graceful, elegant shoe drawings and recipe illustrations, showing the kind of fine-art facility with which the artist began his career. But the rest is packed in here in all its flashy vainglory, including the green-tinged picture of a smiling Tricky Dick Nixon with the hand-lettered admonishment "Vote McGovern." At the end of the book are a brief chronology and a list of captions for the plates. --Peggy Moorman
Book Description
Andy Warhol (1928-1987), one of the most celebrated artists of the last third of the twentieth century, owes his unique place in the history of visual culture not to the mastery of a single medium but to the exercise of multiple media and roles. A legendary art world figure, he worked as an artist, filmmaker, photographer, collector, author, and designer. Beginning in the 1950s as a commercial artist, he went on to produce work for exhibition in galleries and museums. The range of his efforts soon expanded to the making of films, photography, video, and books. Warhol first came to public notice in the 1960s through works that drew on advertising, brand names, and newspaper stories and headlines. Many of his best-known images, both single and in series, were produced within the context of pop art. Warhol was a major figure in the bridging of the gap between high and low art, and his mode of production in the famous studio known as "The Factory" involved the recognition of art making as one form of enterprise among others. The radical nature of that enterprise has ensured the iconic status of his art and person.
Andy Warhol contains illustrated essays by Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Thomas Crow, Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Annette Michelson, and Nan Rosenthal, plus a previously unpublished interview with Warhol by Buchloh. The essays address Warhol’s relation to and effect on mass culture and the recurrence of disaster and death in his art.
Customer Reviews:
The breadth of Warhol's paintings.......2005-08-28
You can get a excellent sense of Warhol's progress from this book. 1962 seems to have been a decisive years. Before 1962, one can see Warhol's transition from commercial artist and early experimentalism. Beginning sometime in 1962, one sees the emergence of the well-chosen, well-executed images that Warhol is known for.
It seems helpful in understanding his growth to see some of Warhol's less appealing works. Nonetheless, with a total of about 320 pages of images, there are still plenty of Warhol's bettter works to see here.
Four high-quality, significant essays about Warhol open this book. The closing includes a chronology, a "collective portrait" consisting of short contributions from many who knew Warhol well, and "Warhol in his own words", selections that reveal how insightful yet straight-forward Warhol could be.
This seems to be the single best bible of Warhol's paintings. There is a comprehensive collection of Warhol's prints available in "Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonne: 1962-1987" which seems prettier but may suffer from excessive prettiness. Warhol's trashier aspects are not apparent, nor is his experimental reach, in the prints. Both books have their appeal, but as a one source collection of Warhol's painting and critical assessments of it this Retrospective seems unparalleled.
For a good exposure to Warhol in all his diversity, "Andy Warhol: 365 Takes" by the staff of the Andy Warhol Museum is also valuable, but to focus on the paintings, this retrospective seems ideal.
Average customer rating:
- The Women of Illusion
- conventional authors need not apply
|
Women of Illusion: A Circus Family's History
Donnalee Frega
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Circus
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ASIN: 0312177186 |
Book Description
The lure of the circus that tempts every child has always seemed a world of never-ending fun. But Women of Illusion is a circus tale like none you've ever heard. Seldom do you come across insiders who have left the circus and are willing to tell their stories; Women of Illusion presents just such a tale. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with Betty Huber, the eighty-year-old matriarch of the Cirkus Brumbach, and painstaking research into the history and culture of the circus, Donnalee Frega narrates a fascinating story of one circus family, the Hubers. Just as the circus audience only sees the glitter and the smiles, the Huber family only exhibits a proud face. But there is a surprising reality underneath, covered by the perpetual re-creation of self and the manipulation of identity. Frega untangles these layers and guides us through the glamour and the adventures, but also reveals what no ticket-buyer ever sees: a hard life punctuated by wandering, violence, and disaster, sometimes fatal. Drawing insightful conclusions on performance, identity, and image, Women of Illusion offers us a rare insight into a unique cultural sphere.
Customer Reviews:
The Women of Illusion.......2004-08-16
What a book this could have been! The author gets close enough to the Huber family to wring riveting accounts of 1930-1950's circus life; recalling stories from matriarch Betty Huber and the journals of her mother, German immigrant strongwoman Babette Schutz. Extensive interviews are obtained from Huber's children, particularly visual artist Fritzi Huber. When the narrative sticks to stories of the Hubers' lives this book is impossible to put down, both as a showman's story and the account of a family new to this country at the turn of the 20th century.
Unfortunately, Frega cannot resist inserting herself into the framework of the story; acting as a sort of bizarre Greek chorus casting judgment over choices the (nonfiction!) characters have made in their lives. Repeatedly she will follow one of Betty's or Fritzi's colorful stories with a diatribe about the burdens/joys of motherhood that only she (Frega) seems to appreciate. Things get weirder when Frega refers to Betty as "Mom" and Fritzi as her sister, yet continues to patronize them in her asides and compare the choices they made with the choices she has made as a suburban ex-academic housewife. It is as though Frega's notes for the book and her bedside diary have collided and the diary just isn't very gripping. Frega chastises the mother and daughter for "romanticizing" their lives as circus performers even while exploiting their tales to obtain a publisher.
I read this book with a mounting agitation; fascinated by a glimpse into this family's life but deeply disturbed by the author's intrusiveness and moral self-righteousness. This is the first such "hybrid biography/autobiography" that I have seen and I find the lack of personal photographs or endorsements from the Hubers very telling. Ultimately one is left with the sense that the Hubers would be better served had they been given the opportunity to respond to Frega's manuscript/judgments with their own
comments. As it stands, this book is a very engaging but exploitive and frustrating read.
conventional authors need not apply.......2001-09-29
Instead of running away and joining the circus, I read books about it. And while I have found the personality of the author tends to insert itself strongly in circus-related biographies, never have I found such an overwhelmingly judgemental one as Frega's. The audacity of her assumptions is mind-boggling, and they continually revolve around Frega's issues of sacrifice for her children. Since the book begins with mention of her losing out on tenure because of choosing "parenting over publishing", it's clear that her priorities are vastly different than the women who are the supposed focus of the book.
It's a huge disappointment, as the "women of illusion"--Babette the strong woman, Betty the acrobat and her artist-daughter Fritzi are fascinating subjects with all the depth, contradictions, and unpredictable emotions and behavior that can make biographies such a treat. Diehard circus fans might keep reading it for these stories, but expect repeat, and annoying, interruptions.
While the subjects do seem difficult to interview,the book leaves me wondering where the problems originated: how can a person open up completely to one who is so openly judgemental? This question aside, ultimately it's the handling of the final material I take issue with, as it becomes downright whiny in places. Basically, the author seems far too suburban-mommy to do her topic justice.
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