The Cotillion: Or One Good Bull Is Half the Herd (Black Arts Movement Series)

Book Description

Beautiful, high-stepping Yoruba of Harlem is invited to the annual cotillion thrown by African American high society of Queens. Caught between the indifference of her father, the excitement of her social-climbing mother, and her prodigal boyfriend's militancy, Yoruba persuades her sister debutantes to challenge the aging doyennes in one of the most sidesplitting scenes in American literature.

Nominated for a Pulitzer in 1972, Killens's uproarious satire captures the conflicts within black society in the 1960s. The Cotillion is the fourth title in Coffee House Press's acclaimed Black Arts Movement series.

John Oliver Killens was born in Macon, Georgia in 1916. Co-founder of the Harlem Writers Guild, he taught at Howard and Columbia Universities. His other novels include And Then We Heard the Thunder, and The Great Black Russian.

Customer Reviews:

Memory Lane.......2007-07-11

The first time that I encountered this book was in 1984, when I was a teenager. I was on my way to do laundry and wanted something to read and this book was on my mother's bookshelf, in that spot where she put books that she bought at the deal table at the library (Great books for sale from ten cents and up). I was never much of a romance novel reader, but neither is my mother so I figured there had to be more to the book then the back flap description, and boy was I right! This book was a definite early influcne on my own style and approach as a writer, as Killen's poetic approach to the language and his recreation of a mood, time and attitude of the Black Power era. As a very slow reader, this book became my companion for the next two weeks. As the 80's were a period of serious contradictions and identity crisis for a lot of Black people, this book proved to be a reconnection to a time and place in history where the clashes of tradition and self-determination created something beautiful. A great read and highly recommended.

One of the best!.......2002-09-17

An excellent book detailing the perils and possibilities of Blackness in America. While there are references to African American/New York-centric institutions (such as the I-Be-Damn News) that may escape some readers, it provides a viciously funny, historically accurate and insightful look at a community in transition.

The Cotillion or One Good Bull Is Half the Herd

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The Cotillion or One Good Bull Is Half the Herd
John Oliver Killens
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0671781367

Product Description

"My name is Ben Ali Lumumba, and I'm free, Black and twenty-three."

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The Cotillion: Or One Good Bull Is Half the Herd
John Oliver Killens
Manufacturer: Coffee House Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J4NAXG

Book Description

On top of giving them room and board, Kakei is also giving jobs to Kudo and Himura to make some money on the side. During one of Tokyo's matsuri (festival), Kakei sends Kudo and Himura on a job to recover an old magical vase in one of the nearby shrines. It's not as easy as just walking in and out. The vase has the power to twist the spatial environment to mislead anyone looking for it.

Customer Reviews:

Not a Kid's Review.......2006-08-30

Okay, if you promise not to tell, I'm actually fourteen, it's just easier to use this feature.

First issue: rating. The Legal Drug series is rated OT for Older Teen or 16+. But it shouldn't be, the only reason that it is, is because of a) a general shounen-ai feel to the whole thing and b) because it does grow progressively worse, but in my opinion, probably shouldn't exceed the T rating.

Second issue: Why is it taking so long for them all to come out? Okay, 1/5 of the story is out in volumes 1-3, but the reason it's on a temporary hold is because the magazine which originally published the series got canceled. So, yes, there will be about 12 volumes in the future, so just be patient. Rikuo's and Kazahaya's full stories will be published eventually in English, don't you worry.

Third Issue: yaoi. In no way is this series yaoi. For one thing, yaoi is more of a sexual exploit, close to cartoon guy on guy pornography (to give you something to relate to, the Graviatation series by Maki Murakami has no yaoi as erotic as it is- but the remixes do.) It has a touch of innuendo into shounen-si variety though, even though CLAMP revealed that it wasn't supposed to be a Boy's Love manga.

Now, I just want to say that this manga is definately one to check out. As you know, CLAMP is always good. Legal Drug may not be as complex or flashy as other mangas, but it does demand respect. They're relatively quick and easy reads. Though it isn't categorized as comedy, it should be (I love the extra at the end of the first volume, buy it for that reason alone. Hilarious.) CLAMP also seems to like to dress Kazahaya in drag, and you don't find me arguing. The third volume will have you laughing like a spider monkey on crack, and that's an understatement (I read it in the book store and no one would sit near me because they thought I was 'touched').

So, enjoy this delightful manga, and run, not walk, unless you have scissors, to the nearest bookstore and buy it.

It improves with each volume.......2006-01-25

I decided to pick this one up and after regular giggles and being on a Manga binge I picked up the other two books. First of all, let me say that it improves. The characters become more developed, the storyline starts to expand and loose its monster of the week feel, and the artwork improves.

The first volume I found to be stark, but with volumes 2 and 3 the artwork improved at a fantastic rate and I'm already attached to the series. If you like supernatural, comedy and a hit of yaoi go for it, the hints become more and more and if you look at the chapter break drawings it really brings questions to the mind.

Fun, but sad.......2005-12-26

I really enjoyed this series, and I kept wondering when the next volume was coming out, but I couldn't find information about it anywhere. Finally, I stumbled on a fansite that claimed that CLAMP had abandoned the series. *sniffle* I hope this isn't true, but I thought that other people might want to be warned.

CLAMP has spoken!.......2005-12-08

In a recent interview with CLAMP, they stated that Legal Drug is not intended to be shounen-ai. As for the age rating (16 and up), everywhere else in the world has given Legal Drug a teenage rating (in the US, 13 and up), so I have no idea what tokyopop was thinking(we all must wonder that sometimes, nay?). Anyhoo, Legal Drug is a great series. Great artwork (were we expecting anything less from CLAMP?), hot guys (Kazahaya is really quite the bish ~_0), and an original storyline (it's awesome) make Legal Drug quite the fangirls' dream manga. Despite the profanity, sexual refrences, and "yaoi" theme(that really isn't), if I were to rate it myself, I would say thirteen/fourteen and up, because, being a relatively normal thirteen year old myself, I can truthfully say that most of us would understand and love it (I know I do).

Peace Out!

more Clamp style pretty boys.......2005-12-08

Legal Drug is CLAMP's finest artwork, or at least I think so. Pretty aka bishounen boys are what, in particular, I find my favorite CLAMP atribute to the manga industry becuase they are gorgeous, and this manga is chock full of 'em! Legal Drug, though the title suggests more, has no refrences to drugs-- the characters work in a convenience store, a la Osco Drug, so there are refrences to the characters selling condoms, lipstick, and, in XXXHolic, ekiyabe(hangover medicine). After reading the first three volumes of the manga, I have my own reasoning as to why it is called Legal Drug-- like a drug, this manga is extremely addictive, and the boys that are the main focus of the story sell legal drugs(medicine) where they work (a convenience store, as I said before, much like Osco Drug). I won't bother babbling on about the plot, becuase other reviewers have already, but I will ramble on about the yaoi and the rating. Legal Drug is rated T+ for older teens (16 and up), and I figured that this must be due to some scattered slight sexual refrences (Kakei's giving kazahaya a condom "just in case", Saiga and Kakei's "relationship", Kazahaya having to wear a dress three times, "boys are horny", and all the boys at the school in volume three that crush on Kazahaya)and the mild, scattered profanity (everything but the really bad words) in each of the volumes (especially volume 1). However, one whom is as obsessed with manga as I would know that there is the same amount of language, the same amount of sexual refrences (if not more), and the same amount of slight-yaoi-refrences-that-don't-quite-go-boom-this-is-a-yaoi-title in Hand's Off!, which recieved a teen (13 and up) rating. So I have to wonder-- does Legal Drug get worse, or is this a yet another misrated title that tokyopop has translated? And then there is the controversial yaoi theme that somehow flits across the manga chapters making all the girls squeal in delight. Legal Drug is not what I would call flat-out yaoi-- Kakei and Saiga are definitely not "straight"--but there is much speculation as to whether or not Kazahaya and Rikuo are enemies(well...they do hate each other), friends(probably not), or lovers *gags phenominally*, all the while hinting at their relatively more mysterious and complicated pasts. In conclusion, what is up with legal Drug? Basically, it is a really-gorgeous-boys-with-psychic-powers-who-may-be-lovers-use-special-methods-to-get-money story that manages to throw the spazzy babe, the big calm handsome guy, their super pretty boss, his lover, a supernatural drug store, fantastic powers, Suki, men in skirts, late night work gigs, mysterious pasts, beautiful girls, even more beautiful boys, and pretty, often goofy, manga artwork all into one (often) laugh-out-loud funny buddy movie style manga that could possibly be called CLAMP's absolute finest.

Drug Use and Drug Policy (Criminal Justice - Contemporary Literature in Theory and Practice, Vol 2)

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Drug Use and Drug Policy (Criminal Justice - Contemporary Literature in Theory and Practice, Vol 2)
M. Mcshane
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Drug Dependency | Recovery | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Substance Abuse | Recovery | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Public Affairs & Administration | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Reference | Law Practice | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0815325118

Book Description

"More than a horrifying tale... also a penetrating examination of causes."

-Denis Wood, author,The Power of Maps

Seventy-one years before the Titanic, a ship loaded with Irish immigrants struck an iceberg and plunged to the ocean floor. The ship's crew stepped into two lifeboats, leaving more than half the passengers behind. Fearing for their lives, one overburdened boat's crew threw 14 men and women overboard. And the story of The Wreck of the William Brown had only begun.

This chronicle of one of the 19th century's most infamous sea disasters and the uproar that followed presents a portrait of a forgotten time, re-creates a defining maritime trial, and tells of back room legal shenanigans. Newspaper readership was exploding in the 1840s, and journalists jumped on this sensational story. The resulting investigations and trial gave us the concept of "lifeboat ethics."

Customer Reviews:

From Catastrophe To Courtoom.......2006-12-23

The sinking of the "William Brown" could be an interesting story. Unfortunately, we may never really know, because it does not turn out thusly in this volume. You know how the movie "Titanic" had two hours of mediocre buildup to the "good part", at which point you were treated to a full-blown special effects extravaganza and an astonishing rendition of disaster and drama? Here, the good part--the sinking--gets out of the way right at the outset, and then we get to the rest: all the gripping intrigue and high suspense of a tedious courtroom trial.

Koch disposes of the actual maritime disaster comparatively quickly and then gets to what really seized his attention: the trial of the designated scapegoat. So we get to witness the testimonies of quite a few witnesses and all of the fun that comes from parsing their statements and picking them apart for errors, lies, and discrepancies. Enjoyable for the legal enthusiast, perhaps...drudgery for most. Even here, primary materials on most of the major participants are scarce, so the author has few means to give us full psychological portraits of the various parties, with the result that he contents himself for the most part with a great deal of snark and eye-rolling.

Ultimately, this turns out to be a rather slight tale, not in its significance for legal precedence, but simply because there's not enough narrative meat, so Koch has to digress into endless asides to pad out his story, and his side jaunts are often exceptionally tangential. Additionally, there's rather too much preachy editorializing and faux outrage for my tastes.

Not recommended unless you enjoy reading court transcripts from stenography tapes.

Fascinating and compelling, but too much editorializing.......2005-11-26

On a cold April night, a ship full of passengers crossing the Atlantic from England to America struck an iceberg and sank. It was almost exactly 71 years before the sinking of the Titanic, and at almost the exact same spot. But, there were great differences in what happened in the sinking of these two ships.

After the sailing ship William Brown began to go down, the crew rushed to the two small boats the ship carried (lifeboats weren't even invented yet), and tried to leave with as few of the passengers as possible. The captain, aboard the smaller gig sailed off leaving the bulk of the crew and all but one of the passengers behind in a damaged longboat. And when the people aboard the overfilled longboat began to fear for their own survival, the crew began to lighten the load - by throwing passengers overboard to their deaths! A cause celebre at the time, one crewman was brought to trial for the events of that horrifying cruise, one man was offered up as a scapegoat.

I must admit that I have never heard of the sinking of the William Brown before I read this book. The author does an excellent job of collecting what information is known about what happened, and presenting it in an informative and compelling manner. My one complaint about this book is that the author does spend too much time in editorializing - on the 19th century immigration movement and racism, and even on the state of modern healthcare!

But, if you ignore the digressions and editorializations, you will be rewarded with a fascinating and compelling story of a little known disaster. I loved this book, and highly recommend it!

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Lifeboat Earth
Stanley Schmidt
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GRL5YC

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Lifeboat Earth
Stanley Schmidt
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Sins of the Fathers

ASIN: 0425038203

Book Description

Volume Two of Stanley Schmidt's Classic Tale of the Planet in Peril -- back in print at last! Earth herself has escaped the doomed Milky Way -- but who will survive a journey that could be as deadly as the radiation blast that will wipe out all life in the Galaxy? Includes a new afterword by the author.

ON SPEC - Volume 6, number 4 - Winter 1994: Things Invisible; Parthenogenesis in Apt. 707; Whose Lifeboat; Dragon Pearl; Paper; Making History; Artificial Sweeteners; Gwendolyn Lynette; Gone to Earth and Ashes; Future Nostalgia

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ON SPEC - Volume 6, number 4 - Winter 1994: Things Invisible; Parthenogenesis in Apt. 707; Whose Lifeboat; Dragon Pearl; Paper; Making History; Artificial Sweeteners; Gwendolyn Lynette; Gone to Earth and Ashes; Future Nostalgia
Barry; MacGregor, Susan; Snyder, Jena; Walton, Diane L. (editors) (W. P. Kinsella; Alex Link; Keith Scott; Alison Baird; Marcel G. Gagne; Christopher Brayshaw; Brian Panhuyzen; Roma Quapp; William Southey; Jocko; Robert Pasternak) Hammond
Manufacturer: Copper Pig Writer's Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J0WCL6

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Lifeboat : Man and a Habitable Earth
Ken Hewitt
Manufacturer: New York, NY, U.S.A.: John Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000QNZY0C

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful photographs, useful recipes........2002-10-28

This book is nicely done. It is well-balanced to suit the needs of those who are less experienced with Thai and Chinese cooking, but at the same time offering something for those who are comfortable with the basics. The recipes are not complicated nor do they require hard-to-find ingredients. Many of the recipes come with a side-bar that includes "Helpful Hints", "Tasty Tips", and "Food Facts." These are a nice addition and I found nearly all of them to be useful. This book is chock full of beautiful, full-page photographs of the finished dish, as well as smaller photos of the various stages of preparation. If you had to have only one Thai/Chinese cookbook in your kitchen, this would be the perfect candidate.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding work! Excellent, scholarly research!.......1999-04-02

This book was a delight to read and will be a great reference in the future. The authors did a thorough, scholarly research effort and it shows in the quality of the information in the book. Though the focus is on autographs, I felt the background on the players and other history was worth the price of the book alone. A must for autograph collectors and of great value to anyone interested in the Negro Leagues of American baseball history. Congrats to the authors on an outstanding job!

A must in any collectors reference book library.......1999-02-11

The book not only gives you a run down of the players career and their history but shares with the reader the variations in the signature that transpired from playing days to reunion times. Gives a scarcity report on the autograph besides the price range value. Superb reading!!

The Negro Leagues Autograph Guide (SIGNED)

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The Negro Leagues Autograph Guide (SIGNED)
Kevin & Michael Kolleth Keating
Manufacturer: Tuff Stuff Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KG6FGC

Book Description

From the very first idea to the delightful finished project, here are the most detailed beginner’s instructions you’ll ever find. There are endless tips for design, display, and increased speed and efficiency.

Customer Reviews:

Be careful when purchasing this book.......2003-03-22

This book is a duplicate of the first chapter of another book offered by Amazon, The Complete Book of Wreaths: 200 Delightful & Creative Designs. Do not make the same mistake I did and order both books!

kit's review.......2003-02-28

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF THIS BOOK BUT WHAT I SEEN WAS
INTERESTING. AND AT WAS AT MY PRICE RANGE. I JUST STARTED
CRAFTS ABOUT SIX MONTHS AGO. GETTING MY OWN IDEAS FROM
JUST THINKING ABOUT SOME THINGS I HAVE AT HOME.IWOULD LIKE TO
SCOPE OUT MORE BOOKS ABOUT THE SAME PRICE RANGE. THANKS

Customer Reviews:

Too Important to Be Out of Print.......2004-12-31

I borrowed this remarkable book from the library, and it's a treasure. Many years ago Sister Parrish, the chintz-loving society decorator who helped Jackie redo the White House, teamed up with Albert Hadley, a polite genius of timeless, clean design and proportion.

The result of this union of opposites was a partnership made in decorating heaven. In fact, the "marriage" produced wonderful offspring: Marriette Himes Gomez and Mark Hampton both got their start here.

If you'd like to see how many of the top American names of the 20th century lived, Jackie, Nelson Rockefeller, Babe Paley, it's all here. And if you'd like in depth exposure to the design principles of two American masters, you couldn't ask for a better source.

What a shame this out of print book costs $250. If it were $50 I'd buy it in a one-click minute. Attention book publishers, you need to reissue this book for the design-starving masses.

Brilliant book for the serious student of interior design!.......1999-02-24

A beautiful book, certainly more valuable than a mere 'coffee table' book. If one is serious about interior design, seeing and understanding what these amazing people did to the art is imperative. The photographs show rooms that will stand the test of time and make you salivate over the treasures. What an incredible legacy they have, american design owes them beyond measure.

Brilliant book for the serious student of interior design!.......1999-02-24

Parish Hadley: Sixty Years of American Design

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Parish Hadley: Sixty Years of American Design
And Christopher Petkanas Sister Albert Hadl
Manufacturer: LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WTC4GC

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