Amazon.com
Alan Brown's first novel is a comic tale of sexual desire and bad manners set in contemporary Tokyo. Twenty-three-year-old cartoonist Toshi is obsessed with slim American women, and his best friend, an American named Paul, is obsessed with Japanese men. Toshi begins having an affair with Jane, his English teacher, who turns out to be insane; Paul has an endless stream of Japanese boyfriends all of whom leave him.
Audrey Hepburn's Neck is slyly funny and very observant. Brown is equally concerned with sex as an obsession and the erotics of cultural differences, but his comic masterstrokes are in being able to conjure up the humor in looking for sex and the sometimes tragedy in getting it.
Audrey Hepburn's Neck is resonant, charming and very witty.
Book Description
Offering a unique perspective and unusual insight into modern Japan and its wartime past, Audrey Hepburn's Neck is also a shrewd study of cross-cultural obsessions, and of erotic, romantic and familial love.
The American author Alan Brown crosses both racial and cultural lines to tell his story through the eyes of a young, handsome Japanese cartoonist, Toshiyuki ("Toshi") Okamoto, who traces his strong attraction to Western women bock to his ninth birthday, when his mother took him to see Audrey Hepburn in the movie "Roman Holiday."
Leaving behind a sad, silent childhood -- which was spent living in two rooms above the family noodle shop on an isolated peninsula in the far north of Japan -- Toshi moves to Tokyo to pursue his career. There he falls under the spell of three Americans: his best friend and confidante, the generous and extroverted Paul, a gay advertising copywriter who has plenty of his romantic mishaps with Japanese men; Jane, his glamorous but emotionally unstable teacher at the Very Romantic English Academy, with whom Toshi has a hazardous sexual affair; and, finally, the lovely and talented composer, Lucy, with whom Toshi falls in love.
The novel deftly moves back and forth between present and past, as Toshi explores his unhappy childhood, the reasons behind his mother's unexplained abandonment when he was eight years old, and her move to a seaside inn across the peninsula. As the novel draws to a close, tragic events, both public and personal, bring past and present together, revealing the painful truth of Toshi's parents' lives during World War II, and a secret in Toshi's own past that, in the end, gives him the strength and knowledge to confront the future.
Customer Reviews:
Read it for the scenery.......2007-05-31
Toshi Okamato is attracted to Western women, all because of a childhood vision of Audrey Hepburn in a film. Brown's novel hangs on this slender---very slender--- premise, but in fact the most interesting aspects of the novel have less to do with Toshi than with his surroundings. His childhood home on Hokkaido, along with the mystery of his parents' marriage, is beautifully evoked, and the scenes set in contemporary Tokyo are also nicely observed. The novel shifts back and forth between past and present, between the spare rural noodle shop run by Toshi's father and the hustle of the city. The cause of Toshi's infatuation with Western women is sketched but never really explained; the same is true of his friendship with Paul, a gay man. Enjoy this novel not for its plot or characterizations, which aren't particularly memorable, but for its impressionistic evocation of Hokkaido.
Stuck with me. Interesting book. Review may contain spoiler........2007-04-27
I read this book years ago based solely on the title which stood out to me as I passed it on the library shelf. It was nothing like what I expected. It was a readable book and I remember enjoying parts of it and being disturbed by other parts. But what stuck in my head, and drove me to write this review, and is possibly a spoiler (I don't remember the plot order well enough to say, but other reviews fail to mention it) is that this book is the ONLY place I'd ever seen reference so-called comfort women until it this week (april '07) when the news announced that people are calling on the emperor for an apology for the treatment of women in WWII.
I would probably have rated it only 3 stars - readable and good if you're inclined to like it - except that the relationship of the main character to his parents and theirs to each other has stuck in my head for years now. And I have to tell you, it's a bit disturbing. I rather agree with the reviewers who complain about some of the faults of the book and characterization of the secondary characters. But I felt it was worth reading about characters who overcame tragedy to some degree in order to live useful lives, the struggle to comprehend people from different backgrounds and cultures, and then still to try and distinguish culture from personality.
Really good.......2007-01-07
It has an interesting twist in that it is told in the voice of a young Japanese man (half Japanese as it turns out - but that's part of the family secrets not disclosed until late in the book) who is fascinated by American women, especially Audrey Hepburn, yet it is written by an American man. Set in Japan, it offers insight into not only Japanese culture but is like looking in a mirror at our own American culture. Besides the culture, setting, and dialog, which are crisp and well told, the story has a historical background and is rich and detailed and compelling.
Moving.......2006-12-29
I've had this book on my Wish List for a long time after seeing a review in the newspaper a few years back. I finally got around to purchasing it, and I'm glad that I did. It's a very moving story; one that I won't soon forget. Once you get used to the writing style and the jumping back and forth in time periods, the book is a fast and easy read. It's about finding out who you are, and how that changes from day to day. It's about family secrets, love, sacrifice, the misunderstandings between cultures, and how the world is very quickly becoming a smaller and smaller place. I highly recommend this book.
Complex, like the unwrapping of an onion.......2005-10-07
Late in the novel, Toshi notices that his mother is now old, and that the skin of her hands looks like onionskin. This is an excellent metaphor for this interesting and revealing novel.
When I was a kid, I remember reading a book about a little boy having to buy tofu from a particular seller in a Tokyo that ceased to exist long before the events of this novel, but are wonderfully invoked by the Hokkaido in which Toshi is raised, a place where everyone is looking out for a little boy, where every shopkeeper has a specific task that they seem to have done forever and will do until they die (as Toshi's father keeps a noodle shop until the day he dies).
The key contrast of the book is to me between that world and the Tokyo to which Toshi moves, not so much between the ex-pat Americans and the Japanese. Toshi is serious, he is talented, and he is attractive to both American women and men, and he draws that from his Hokkaido background and the unusual circumstances of his fractured parents, the mystery of which he finally unravels at the novel's end. As a late 20th century Japanese man, he is highly adaptable, and can function in the high-tech neon-signed world of a Tokyo gone mad with riots against American rice and the possibility that Brooke Shields will marry the Crown Prince, but clearly something is missing as well and his reliance on his friend Paul--and Paul's willingness to accept his straightness despite being in love with him--is one of those unusual relationships that simply is, and cannot be explained. So too the fact that he survives the affair with the strange and dangerous Jane and somehow falls in with the more nurturing Lucy. Toshi is lucky, but he earns his luck by being a good friend, a good artist and a soulful son.
The mystery of the book, why his mother nurtured his love for things American in a Japan gone wild with anti-Americanism, is solved in the end, along with the mystery of why she left his father and whether she loved his father. The unnamed Kuril Islands in the distance beyond his father's noodle shop on the beach, along with the rest of the natural scenery of Hokkaido become characters in the novel as much as the people.
Average customer rating:
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Audrey Hepburn's Neck
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HK3OCE |
Book Description
At midnight, an army of ghosts will attack Curston. The city has only one hope: the Knights of the Silver Dragon – knights both
living and dead. Can Moyra, Kellach, and Driskoll locate the hidden crypt, where knights sleep for eternity, before the ghostly battle begins?
Key to the Griffon’s Lair continues a new series of adventures written specifically for readers ages 8 - 12. This exciting series follows the adventures of three children, who through their heroic deeds, become members of the Order of the Knights of the Silver Dragon.
Customer Reviews:
Non-stop readers beware.......1998-06-15
If your a strong believer in Psi abilities you will not be let down. This book not only shows you the capabilties of TK but it reads clear, concise, and non stop. The author kept to a simple believeable character, with a good heart, that does right with his powers in a world bent on destruction. its a funny, entertaining, and unforgetable book. My copies were stolen and i'm going out and ordering a new set.
Book Description
A Telekinetic Terminator!
From the New York Times bestselling author of Imzadi
On the run from government agents, Chuck Simon hides out in a toxic wilderness populated by mutant predatory animals--and eco-terrorists whose psi-powers rival his own.
#2 in the Psi-Man series--back in print
Product Description
Paperbacks
Book Description
This series of new and compelling night images of the ancient land and skies of Israel offers the viewer mystical points of entry and departure. The world depicted in Celestial Nights is composed of a delicately constructed order where earthly elements and the heavens mirror each other. Folberg emphasizes the singular and poignant presence of objects against the backdrop of the infinite. His photographs describe places where the spiritual is at once near, imprinted in the forms of the arid landscapes, and far away in the dark, starlit recesses of space.
Customer Reviews:
Stunning, Ethereal, Other-Worldly..........2003-03-21
These photographs transport the reader to another world, a twilight zone where the universe meets the earth and mind....these are black and white photographs, powerful, transporting, wonderful....Neil Folberg has captured the mysterious power of a sacred place and made marvelous photographs. Startingly original, deep and authentic. This is great art.
Beautiful landscapes.......2002-03-02
I discovered Neil Folberg through a photograhy magazine, and I fell in love with his images and process of making them. The book is beautifully made and classy with a matte dust cover, but it got a 4 rating because it was just a little less than I had expected. The two images that I had seen over and over again are included, but they are the only ones so dynamic in the book. Others seem a little plain, but art is subjective so what I don't like about this book may not be what others dislike. Either way, I see Folberg gaining more recognition as time goes on and he will continue to improve on his style.
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LA Chef: Americas Modern Fish and Seafood Guide
Mark Carey
Manufacturer: Writer's Showcase Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Seafood
| Meat, Poultry & Seafood
| Cooking by Ingredient
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 059522282X |
Book Description
? La Chef is the fish and seafood source book for home cooks, fishing enthusiasts and professional chefs! ? La Chef is packed with information on the best methods for cooking 700 species of fish and seafood, healthy diet suggestions, and omega-3 fat contents in specific fish and seafood. Chef Carey provides specific and accurate information on the classification and families of 700 species in 80 categories of fish, mollusks and crustaceans. Additionally, current guidelines are presented for fish and seafood purchasing, receiving, storage, and handling. ? La Chef is remarkable, and a must for every kitchen!
Customer Reviews:
A LA CHEF.......2002-06-28
Excellent. This book will be useful to the novice or professional interested in a well-rounded book on fish and seafood. It is a research tool as well as a comprehensible volume of work. The chapter about nutritional values information was exceptional. The book condenses important facts and presents them in a quick reference chart that will prove to be tremendously useful. A must for every kitchen.
Average customer rating:
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The Barbie Doll Years, 1959-1995: A Comprehensive Listing & Value Guide of Dolls & Accessories
Patrick C. Olds
Manufacturer: Collector Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Dolls
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Antiques & Collectibles
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Manufacturing
| Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0891457097 |
Book Description
Build a lifetime of Memories
Whether simple or architecturally fanciful, a playhouse can be a magical place for your child. David and Jeanie Stiles use their own experiences to guide the amateur carpenter through the steps necessary to build an imaginative playhouse -- for the backyard, basement or playroom.
Designed to be put together with easy-to-obtain materials and common handyman tools, with clear step-by-step diagrams, these playhouses can be constructed by anyone who has basic carpentry skills (or a willingness to learn) and a weekend or two of spare time.
Projects include: A cardboard-box playhouse, a gingerbread playhouse, a fiberglass whale, a barn bed playhouse, a spook playhouse, a U.F.O. playhouse, a tree house, a log playhouse, a garden trellis playhouse, a three-legged fort and a complete selection of accessories.
Customer Reviews:
What do you get for the money?.......2007-10-10
This is a great book wide range of choices, from a bed made to look like a barn, a play cube with each side a different fantasy (fire dept, post office, general store and puppet theatre) and not just standard playhouses. A log house, treehouses, and a trellised house that begs to be covered in climbing flowering vines and outfitted for a tea party.
You also get swings, a hand-built trolley, a cargo net climber, table and chairs for the house, a slide, shelves, benches and a swan-shaped rocking chair.
Admittedly not all plans for a beginner woodworker. He assumes a level of comfort in building that not all may have. Each project contains a detailed parts list--something lacking in other children's playhouse-type books, and lists the ages of children that the project is geared towards. The diagrams are black-and-white exploded drawings (show a two-dimensional view with measurements, angles and supports such as cleats or support blocks). If you are accustomed to these common layouts, you'll be fine.
He does make his own doors and windows which you may want to skip doing and just buy.
You can build........2007-07-12
Clear, concise and well illutrated. I bought this book to use as a point of departure/inspiration to build a playhouse. The authors have done a great job on all thier carpentry/design books.
Playhouses.......2007-07-05
A good book with lots of plan designs. This book could
use more color pictures and examples, but makes up for
it in design plans.
Good ideas, bad plan.......2006-04-25
Overall, it's an 0K book - the ideas are good, but the descriptions are lacking. The thing that led me to write this review is to warn potential buyers that the (at least the "traditional playhouse") plans are riddled with errors. If you buy the book and plan to build the playhouse on the cover, make sure you check and double check the dimensions and angles before cutting your expensive wood. I found myself reading the scarce instructions over and over trying to figure out what the authors were talking about in many circumstances. I'd recommend, but WATCH OUT FOR THE ERRORS!
aw, come on.......2005-12-04
I don't understand some of the people who write reviews. Do you
only think this book is bought by do-it-yourselfers? yes, there
are some people like me, who don't know anything about carpentry
who would gladly pay a carpenter to build a lovely playhouse
or anything else made of wood. . All I need are nice pictures to show the man. so why put down the book?
Book Description
With the newest edition of Sunset's bestselling Walks, Walls Patio Floors, homeowners learn a lot more than how to pour a perfect concrete slab (though they learn the best way to do that, too.) Following clear instructions and step-by-step photography, they learn how to plan, design, and build their own outdoor paradise.
Customer Reviews:
Not very useful for anyone........2004-04-26
I recently purchased this book, along with several others, to help me with a backyard landscaping project involving a flagstone patio, walkways, and low retaining walls. I found this to be the least useful of the lot. It is neither a good how-to book nor a source of inspiration and ideas. It covers far too many different techniques, from stepping stones to pavers to bricks to concrete to flagstones, all of them at a fairly superficial level. It had very little on using flagstones, which is primarily what I wanted information on. Furthermore, some of the excavating and edging techniques recommended seemed at odds with what I had read elsewhere.
The book had some pictures of completed projects, but they were for the most part pedestrian and had little or no explanation of the design principles demonstrated in them. For a more comprehensive look at the topic, I would suggest "Start-to Finish Patios" from Ortho Books. It is much longer and covers both ideas and suggestions and building techniques much more comprehensively. It even goes into lighting and pergolas.
Average customer rating:
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Walks, Walls & Patio Floors (Outdoor Building Collection)
Manufacturer: Sunset Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Building Construction
| Construction
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Masonry
| Construction
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Garden Design
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Outdoor & Recreational Areas
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Masonry
| How-to & Home Improvements
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Interior Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0376017074 |
Product Description
There is no year listed in book.
Product Description
290 illustrations on how to use adobe blocks, asphalt, bricks, concrete, concrete blocks, flagstones, gravel, ground bark, mortar, pebble mosaic, stone, tile and wood blocks.
Average customer rating:
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How to build walks, walls & patio floors, (A Sunset book, 170)
Manufacturer: Lane Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Building Construction
| Construction
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
How-to & Home Improvements
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
| Buildings & Construction
| Carpentry
| Cleaning, Caretaking & Relocating
| Decks & Patios
| Decorating
| Design & Construction
| Do-It-Yourself
| Electrical
| Estimating
| Furniture
| Green Housecleaning
| Hand Tools
| Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning
| Home Repair
| Household Hints
| Masonry
| Outdoor & Recreational Areas
| Plumbing & Household Automation
| Power Tools
| Reference
| Remodeling & Renovation
| Roofing
| Security
| Small Appliance Repair
| Swimming Pools
| Woodworking
Similar Items:
-
How to Build Patio Roofs (Sunset Books)
ASIN: 0376017031 |
Product Description
This book is concerned with the subjects of garden walls, patio paving, and step building. It is designed to you unravel some of the problems you en counter in deciding which material is best suited for the job and to guide you in the actual construction.
Average customer rating:
- Nocturnal
- An interesting montage, but not as focused as I would like
- Smells Good
- Simply the only book of its kind.
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Nocturnal: Global Highflyers
Phil Beddard
Manufacturer: Booth-Clibborn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Business of Art
| Reference
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
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General
| Graphic Arts
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
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General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
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Popular
| Musical Genres
| Music
| Entertainment
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Dance
| Musical Genres
| Music
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General
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| Pop Culture
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Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
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ASIN: 1861541694 |
Book Description
Nocturnal is the sequel to HighFlyers: Clubravepartyart, the much acclaimed collection of flyer graphics for dance music. This volume expands its coverage to the rest of the world. As stylistic innovations within the dance music scene spawn new strands of beats, and specialized genres splinter off to create new sub-sects, flyer design has mutated and blossomed into an infinitely variable feast. Nocturnal not only seeks out flyers from all corners but also documents the aesthetic endeavors of a diverse spread of burgeoning scenes. All in all, this book presents a comprehensive taste parade of dance beats. First time in paperback.
Hardback sold out within 4 months
Contains flyers from across the UK, Europe and beyond.
Customer Reviews:
Nocturnal.......2000-02-09
An indispensible refenence for designers to the music/nightlife industry and an entertaining look book for anyone who's ever been clubbing! A huge "thank you" to the team who produced it! Worth every penny.
An interesting montage, but not as focused as I would like.......2000-01-18
Nocturnal is an excellent book, no doubt, but if I had leafed through it before I had bought it, I would have thought twice... Especially for the price. The art in the book has a very broad focus, and depending on what you're looking for, this might not be the book for you. Definitely eye candy...but I was expecting a little more.
Smells Good.......1999-09-05
The plastic cover alone is worth the price of admission. A beautiful visual trip.
Simply the only book of its kind........1998-12-30
This may be a book of artwork, but it's also a piece of artwork itself. It flows like a collage of color and form, bringing together a truly unique collection of underground art. A "must have" for anyone interested in subcultures and the true raver.
Average customer rating:
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The Casablanca Man: The Cinema of Michael Curtiz
Dr Ja Robertson
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
| Actors & Actresses
| Artists, Architects & Photographers
| Authors
| Composers & Musicians
| Dancers
| Entertainers
| Movie Directors
| New Age
| Television Performers
| Theatre
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
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Direction & Production
| Movies
| Entertainment
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General
| Movies
| Entertainment
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History & Criticism
| Movies
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All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0415115779 |
Book Description
Michael Curtiz (1888-1962) was one of the most important and prolific directors in the history of cinema, yet he has never been granted the recognition he deserves.
The Casablanca Man is the first full length work on Curtiz, surveying his unequalled mastery over diverse genres: biography, comedy, horror, melodrama, musical, swashbuckler, and western. The book also examines Curtiz' relationship with the Hollywood studio moguls, based on documentary evidence culled from archive research at Warner Brothers, rather than the hearsay which has caused his underrating. The access to production and financial details of the Warner Brothers films from 1926 to 1953 makes Robertson's work unique, most of the material never having been available to the general public.
The Casablanca Man surveys Curtiz' unequalled mastery over a variety of genres which included biography, comedy, horror, melodrama, musicals, swashbucklers and westerns, and looks at his relationship with the Hollywood studio moguls on the basis of unprecedented archive research at Warner Brothers. Concentrating on Curtiz' best-known films - Casablanca, Angels With Dirty Faces, Mildred Pearce and Captain Blood among them - Robertson explores Curtiz' practical creative struggles and his friendships and rivalries with other film celebrities including Errol Flynn, Bette Davis and James Cagney, and his discovery of future stars.
Books:
- Barranca: An Eddie Caminetti Novel
- Before Women Had Wings
- Buxton Spice
- Chicano Sketches
- Coal was king: Huerfano County's mining history
- Comfort Food: A Novel (IPPY Award Winner for Best Regional Fiction, West--Pacific)
- Damaged: Everyone Is Damaged but All Are Not Broken
- Diamond Dynasty
- Educating Waverley
- Falling Slowly: A Novel
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