Kate's Choice: What Love Can Do ; Gwen's Adventure in the Snow : Three Fire-Side Stories to Warm the Heart

Book Description

A rediscovered Louisa May Alcott literary treasure is set to follow in the footsteps of The Quiet Little Woman. From Little Women to The Inheritance, Louisa May Alcott has charmed generations of fans for more than 150 years. Her unrivaled legacy includes this rediscovered gem that begins... "According to her father's wish, Kate was to live for a while with the families of each of her four uncles before she decided with which she would make her home. All were anxious to have her, one because of her money, another because her great-grandfather had been a lord, a third hoped to secure her hand for the son of a close friend, while the fourth and best family loved her for herself alone. "They were worthy people, as the world goes-busy, ambitious, and prosperous; and every one, old and young, was fond of bright, pretty, generous Kate. Each family was anxious to keep her, a little jealous of the rest, and very eager to know which she would choose. "But Kate surprised them all by saying." Kate's Choice has been updated for the modern reader by Stephen W. Hines, a writer and researcher who has discovered lost classics like Little House in the Ozarks by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Customer Reviews:

CLASSIC BOOKS ARE GREAT.......2007-07-03

I loved reading Louisa May Alcott books as a young girl and was happy to give these books as a gift to my granddaughter. She says she really enjoys reading and loves these books as much as I did so many years ago.

Download Description

For generations, the dragonriders had dedicated their lives to fightingThread, the dreaded spores that periodically rained from the sky toravage the land. On the backs of their magnificent telepathic dragonsthey flew to flame the deadly stuff out of the air before it could reachthe planet's surface. But the greatest dream of the dragonriders was tofind a way to eradicate Thread completely, so that never again wouldtheir beloved Pern be threatened with destruction.

Now, for the first time, it looked as if that dream could come true. Forwhen the people of Pern, led by Masterharper Robinton and F'Lar andLessa, Weyrleader and Weyrwoman of Benden Weyr, excavated the ancientremains of the planet's original settlement, they uncovered thecolonist's voice-activated artificial intelligence system -- which stillfunctioned! And the computer had incredible news for them: There was achance -- a good chance -- that they could, at long last, annihilateThread once and for all!

Cover art by Michael Whelan

Customer Reviews:

A time for every purpose under heaven.......2007-05-25

Overall, I have really enjoyed reading the Dragonriders of Pern series. I must say though that this particular tale didn't do a whole lot for me at first. The story builds on the events related in an earlier book, "Dragonsdawn", a book I found rather dull and slow going. In the first hundred pages so many characters were mentioned that I seriously considered making a flowchart to help me keep them all straight. I felt the Artificial Intelligence Voice-Address System did far too much talking, and I wasn't keen to see the Aivas implement the industrialization of Pern.

But about half way through the book, the dragons take flight and the story really kicks into high gear. You'll need to tighten your riding straps as Aivas sets in motion a chain of events that literally changes the future of Pern. I stayed up way too late just to see how the story ended.

This is definitely a must read book in the series. It is also a satisfying read with a bittersweet resolution that leaves a lump in your throat.

Great if you like Sci Fiction.......2007-05-13

The Pern series of books from Anne McCaffery are great. Better if you read them in order, (look online at her website for recommendations). This is futuristic science fiction, but if you liked Aregon, you would probably like this series too

A Nice Return To Pern.......2006-12-24

This is the fourth Pern book I've read, the first three being Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon. I skipped Renegades of Pern on the advice of Amazon reviewers, and I was able to slip back into the Pern universe without any trouble at all. Really, the only thing I missed seemed to be the digging up of the nearly sentinent computer, Aivas, and within the first few pages of All the Weyrs of Pern McCaffrey begins to describe what this will mean for her planet of telepathic dragons and their riders.

Aivas is full of more knowledge than the people of Pern have held for a long time, and is more than willing to share it. Most importantly, he knows a way to eliminate Thread from Pern forever- a plan that will take nearly five Turns to play out. All the Weyrs of Pern tells the story of those five Turns. Some Holders and Craftsmen are hesitant to trust Aivas, even going so far as to refer to him as "the Abomination", and try and vandalise things the Craftsmen make as a result of Aivas's teaching.

Characters that were secondary, like Piemur and Sharra, grow in All the Weyrs of Pern, and some light is shed on some that we've known in the Pern universe for a long time, such as Masters Robinton and Fandarel. F'lessan also gets a brief chance to narrate, and his few chapters were one of my favorite parts of the entire book. Still, there was one character that continued to annoy me to no end- Jaxom.

He was spoiled and arrogant in The White Dragon, but that was easier to shrug off, as it didn't do anything to the plot. In All the Weyrs of Pern Jaxom gets even more spotlight, as his white dragon Ruth proves that his good qualities far outweigh the bad. Jaxom seems to take this as a reason to be openly haughty to characters like Lessa and F'lar, and you can't help but wonder how he gets away with it, especially when he turns around and orders Ruth not to "show off", exactly what he himself is doing. It's annoying the no one can seem to do anything without Jaxom and Ruth's help, and how Jaxom somehow ends up as the leader of sorts of Landing. What made him so much more capable than the other young characters that were also learning from Aivas? At least back in The White Dragon I didn't care about Sharra...now it seems that Jaxom doesn't even deserve her.

All the Weyrs of Pern leaned more closely towards science fiction than fantasy, unlike most of the Pern books before it. Since McCaffrey considers her works as science fiction, this is to be expected, and I didn't mind. Though this wasn't my favorite Pern book, it was a very nice closing to the former Pern era, with flying Threadfall as the main plot point. I'm looking forward to reading The Skies of Pern, and seeing what happens next.

An epic book.......2006-08-28

I read this book right after Dragonsdown, and I found it really good. It shows you quite a different background from the Pern Series, but it is nevertheless a really good book in which old Pern and today Pern meet to give birth to a new Pern. I suggest it to every fan of the Dragonriders.

Very Satisfying.......2006-08-10

This is a better follow up to the Original Dragonrider series overall than the Renegades of Pern. It focuses on the attempts of most of the major characters from the original Dragonriderand Harper Hall series to alter the course of the red star to end the threat of thread for future generations with the help from AIVAS, the intelligent computer undearthed at the original settlers' landing area. It jumps around between characters a lot like Renegades, but it has a more cohesive story line. The ending is poignant and somehow fitting.

The only complaint is that there are some inconsistencies between this and the earlier books and also even within the books. For instance, Jancis and Piemur share their first passionate embrace (and perhaps a bit more) literally only a day or two before they help to unearth Aivas in Renegades. Yet in the opening scene of All the Weyrs (which is a continuation of the closing scene of Renegades), everyone knows them as a couple. Also, Jancis is a Journeywoman smith at the end of Renegades, but is introduced as a master in the opening chapter of All the Weyrs. Later people refer to her as a Journeywoman again and later again as a master. That seems like something that should have been caught by editing.

There are some other inconsistencies as well. In earlier books (Dragonquest and the White Dragon) it was impled that all dragons could travel in time if their riders knew when they were going and could visualize it (and the visualizations were often pretty vague like the rainforests of Nerat at Dawn in Dragonflight). Later it was suggested that some dragons (like Ruth) were better at doing it on their own intuition, but it was still implied that all dragons, even inexperienced ones, could do it if their riders knew when they were going. N'Ton even said in the White Dragon that "He didn't know of a weyrling who didn't use that trick occasionally to be on time somewhere." In All the Weyrs it is implied that only some of the bronzes and queens (and Ruth) could time it at all unless given very clear coordinates by another dragon with a good time sense and in fact, they were kept in the dark about the fact that they were timing it during some of their missions to the red star (even though this draconic ability was no secret thanks to Lessa's adventures in Dragonflight). Aside from this bing different from what was implied in earlier books, there is a bit of an elitist notion that crops up from time to time in these books of "only telling most people what they really need to know" that is a little irksome to me, but that is a personal bias. Interestingly, this societal predilection is also blamed in the books for the loss of so much of the ancients' knowledge, so maybe this dilemma is not lost on the author.

One question I have is that in the earlier books it was implied that the "red star" stayed in the inner soalr system (and was quite visible) spinning out thread for the entire 50 year pass. McCaffrey changed it so that the Red Star came in and out somewhat more quickly but left thread ovoids behind crossing Pern's orbit. Neither explanation is completely satisying from a astronomical view as comets and with siliar periods are in and out of the inner planetary area within a few months and Pern's orbit would only intersect the path of the red star a couple of times per year at most. But some scientific license is needed in most science fiction books.

Still it is a good book that should satisfy Pern fans. It is not a good book for someone who hasn't already read all or most of the earlier Pern books, however, but that is the case with later books in most series.

Book Description

In the middle of an outerspace battle, space warrior Tsynq Yr is forced to land on earth and switch into the body of a skunk. But earth is no place for him. Thank goodness Karen stops by. With her computer-whiz friend Jonathan, the three of them hatch a hair-raising scheme involving all the local skunks and even the space shuttle to get their new friend back into orbit!

Customer Reviews:

The Skunk Lover's Special.......2002-01-07

If you like skunks, you will love Stinker from Space. The characters were very daring and interesting. At first, it was hard for me to believe that an alien skunk could have so many adventures, but once I was finished reading the book, it seemed like there was nothing unusual at all about it. I liked the suspense and excitement throughout the whole book, because I like books that always have something happening in them. This book was well-written, and also original, because it's not every day that you read a book about a skunk from outer space and its life on Earth. It is a wonderful book and great reading experience.

Stinker from space and Return of Stinker.......2000-09-03

My son and I just finished both of the Stinker books and enjoyed them both very much. They are a fast read so if you have a child who is a reluctant reader he may like these books. There are several funny parts. We only wish there was a third so we could find out what happens to the kids when they meet the "High Gyrn of Twak".

X files in a furry black and white coat!.......1999-01-27

The space shuttle is an everyday event here in florida but for Karen and Jonathan in the midwest it is a real event. Tsynk-Yr, a alien who unfortunately crashes in their town and the first being he finds to transport into is a skunk causes real problems for them- helping him get back. This is a fun story for the elementary age and the sequel is just as good.

Teaching science fiction through the novel Stinker from space / authors, Diane E. Paynter, Robert J. Marzano ; consultants, John Barell, Gladys Hillman-Jones (Literacy plus)

Average customer rating:

Teaching science fiction through the novel Stinker from space / authors, Diane E. Paynter, Robert J. Marzano ; consultants, John Barell, Gladys Hillman-Jones (Literacy plus)
Diane E Paynter
Manufacturer: Zaner-Bloser
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Consciousness & Thought | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0880851570

Average customer rating:

Stinker From Space
Pamela F Service
Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NPKG6U

Average customer rating:

An Oldie but goodie

A necessary, superb finish to the complete work

good, informative, easy to use book

Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 2 (Paperback)
Julia Child
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
French | European | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One

Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking

The French Chef Cookbook

The Way to Cook

My Life in France

ASIN: 0394721772
Release Date: 1983-09-12

Book Description

Here is the sequel to the great cooking classic. Each of the new recipes is worked out step-by-step, with the clarity and precision that are the essence of the first volume. 5 times as many drawings as in Vol. I make the clear instructions even more so.

Customer Reviews:

An Oldie but goodie.......2007-03-26

Very helpful. I have been trying to figure out how to make my french bread crust crispy. The directions of Julia came about as close as you can get without a commercial oven.

A necessary, superb finish to the complete work.......2004-04-07

Rarely are we able to say with certainty that a book is at the top of its subject in regard and quality. This book, the continuation of `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' by Julia Child and Simone Beck is certainly in that most unique position among cookbooks written in English and published in the United States.

This volume is truly a simple extension of the material in the original work, which was recently published in a 40th anniversary edition by its publisher, Alfred E. Knopf and its principle author, Julia Child. As told in Ms. Child's autobiography, the original manuscript brought to Judith Jones at Knopf ran to over a thousand printed pages. About two fifths of that material was put to the side and most of it appears in this second volume. All this means is that you are unlikely to really have a full coverage of the subject of French Cooking as intended by the authors unless you have both volumes.

The first chapter has a clear sign that this volume rounds out the work in that it gives soups a much more thorough coverage than the first volume. Most importantly, it includes recipes for that quintessential French dish, bouillabaisse. To complement this subject is coverage of seafood such as a tour of the anatomy of a lobster that would put seafood specialist cookbooks to shame.

The biggest single addition to the subject in this book is its coverage of baking and pastry. Here is one place where the book may be seen to diverge from its focus of the French housewife's cooking practice. As the book states clearly in the first chapter, practically no baking is done at home, since there is a Boulangerie on every street corner. I generally find the level of detail on baking in cookbooks specializing on savory dishes to be much too light to give the reader an adequate appreciation of the subject. This book covers baking with a level of detail which would make most baking book authors blush. A sign of this deep, quality coverage is the diagrams used to illustrate baking techniques. The line drawings typically succeed where photographs do not in that they can be easily incorporated into the text and the drawing can eliminate extraneous detail and show the reader only what is important in understanding the technique. The section on making classic French bread ends with a `self-criticism' section we may nowadays call a debugging section. It lists several different things that may go wrong with your product, and how to fix them. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in only baking, let alone the rest of us.

The quality of presentation continues with the coverage of pastry. Some books on pastry give one pie dough. Some good books on pastry may give three or four. This book gives eight, with a clear indication of the differences in when to use the various doughs. Some books on pastry describe how to make puff pastry. This book gives a really complete explanation, with abundant diagrams. I suspect that very few people want to make their own puff pastry, but anyone who uses store-bought pastry will benefit from knowing how it is made. This section is worth five different expositions on the subject on the Food Network rolled into one.

Another major subject untouched in the original volume is the long chapter on Charcuterie. That is, the techniques needed to make sausages, salted pork and goose, pates, and terrines. Like the description of puff pastry, this chapter contains a lot you may never need, but then again, I am a great believer in serendipity. You never know where you may hit upon an idea to add interest to you cooking practice. The simplest product you can garner from these techniques is the method for making breakfast sausage, which needs no casing. The subject really wakes up when you realize that the subject arose as a method for preserving meats, just like canning and pickling were developed to preserve fruits and vegetables. If economy and the old hippie / whole earth catalogue ethic are your thing, this is something you will want to check out. And, I have seen this subject covered in recent books such as Paul Bertolli's `Cooking by Hand', and this book's coverage of the material is more useful.

Another gem in this book is the coverage of desserts, including frozen desserts, custards, shortcake, meringue, charlottes, and on and on and on. The guidance on novel uses of puff pastry has probably been a source for more TV shows on the subject than you can count on your fingers. The recipe for leftover pastry dough is just another indication of how practical the material in this book can be.

The appendices contain `stuff' that virtually no other cookbooks touch. One contains a cross listing of recipes for meat and vegetable stuffings. I did not have enough room in my review of volume one to cite the quality of the material on kitchen equipment. As both books have been updated several times since the early sixties, both contain modern tools such as the food processor and the latest heavy-duty mixer attachments. Aside from being as complete a catalogue of hand tools I have ever seen, I find the presentation done with the kind of good humor which was the hallmark of Julia Child's PBS shows.

The last major feature of this volume is a two-color index that covers both volumes. Please be warned. These books have neither simple cooking nor low calorie dishes. The object of this style of cooking was to make the very best of inexpensive ingredients.

Each page offers more reasons to be impressed by this work. Any true foodie should be ashamed if they do not own and read these volumes.

good, informative, easy to use book.......1998-10-20

Julia Child is a master in the art of French cooking. I read this book after reading her biography. I am 15 and all I have seen of Julia Child is her in her old age.... I highly suggest buying thid book and also Volume I which has a phenominal recipe for French Onion Soup. Jen

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (2 Vols.)

Average customer rating:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (2 Vols.)
Julia, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck Child
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TB2SK0

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 2-Vol. Set

Average customer rating:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 2-Vol. Set
Simone, Louisette Bertholle, & Julia Child Beck
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WL0ZKC

Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 2

Average customer rating:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 2
Julia Child & Simone Beck
Manufacturer: Alfred A Kropf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OFIY22

Average customer rating:

MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING VOL 2
Julia; Beck, Simon Child
Manufacturer: Alfred A Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One

ASIN: B000S391TK

Average customer rating:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 2

Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ICTO7U

Average customer rating:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Vol. 2
Simone & Child, Julia Beck
Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000KU4NVC

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informative

your purebred puppy secon edition

Exactly what I needed

An excellent choice!

Taken with a grain of salt, this is an absolute must!

Your Purebred Puppy, Second Edition: A Buyer's Guide, Completely Revised and Updated
Michele Welton
Manufacturer: Owl Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Breeds | Dogs | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Choosing a Dog for Dummies

The Perfect Match: A Dog Buyer's Guide (Howell Reference Books)

Right Dog For You

Crate Training Your Dog (Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin, a-267)

How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With

ASIN: 0805064451

Book Description

How to select the right breed of dog for you and your family, locate a good breeder, and choose the very best puppy of the litter.The decision to buy a purebred dog may be made easily, but the question of which breed to buy is more complicated. Your Purebred Puppy, Second Edition, takes the guesswork out of choosing a dog. Updated to include twenty new breeds, this authoritative guide profiles 200 breeds and varieties of dogs-complete with photographs of each-to help prospective buyers find the one with the physical and behavioral characteristics that will best suit them. Michele Welton explains step by step how to decide on the right breed, locate a reputable breeder, and pick a healthy, good-looking, good-tempered companion. Also provided are simple tests readers can use to determine a puppy's temperament before they buy him and bring him home. Acquiring a dog is a big commitment, requiring time, patience, and money. Your Purebred Puppy, Second Edition, is the essential guidebook to accompany you on the search for your new pet.

Customer Reviews:

informative.......2007-01-11

has great info about buying from good breeders. im much more comfortable buyig a dog now.

your purebred puppy secon edition.......2007-01-10

This book is great, it gave me alot of information I was not aware of. It has helped me narrow down breeds I would like. It also gives alot of questions to ask that I never would have thought of

Exactly what I needed.......2007-01-09

This book is very well written and the perfect guide for picking the right breed for you. My thanks to the author for doing the research for me and making it understandable.

An excellent choice!.......2007-01-04

Reading Michelle Welton's book is like going to a good friend and saying, "What do you think?" She doesn't pull punches, she gives sound, reasonable advice, and yet she manages to discuss the hows and whys of purebred dog shopping without sounding condescending. So many other purebred books read like PR press for a given breed, putting a positive spin on everything and downplaying the various pitfalls inherent. Michelle candidly explains the pros and cons, and her advice about what to look for in a breeder is sound reading for breeders and shoppers alike.

Even though we have two dogs and are not looking to get another right now, I still sometimes enjoy picking up this book and thumbing through it. In addition to the overview, Michelle gives historical information on each breed, and it's interesting to learn how various breeds came about and why they were bred the way they were.

Overall, I think it's an excellent book. I highly recommend it.

Taken with a grain of salt, this is an absolute must!.......2007-01-02

My husband and I were shopping for our first dog together and I really wanted to make sure that we got the right dog for us. I am involved in and have many vet friends, and vet tech friends who are involved in rescue. I know how many dogs end up in rescue or worse, because a family just can't handle the choice they made.(Often based on looks or childhood ideals of a breed). I definitely did not want to have to give up my dog, or live with a dog that just didn't fit in my lifestyle. I did not want my dog or myself to be miserable. So I started looking for a book that would help me make the right choice for our family.

This book is a gold standard, which you should try to follow as best as you can, but use your own common sense. While there were one or two things I did not agree with on diet recommendations and pricing, 99.5% of this book is amazing. It helps size you up, narrow down a list of breeds, and is honest about pros and cons, not like a sugar coating, rose colored glasses description that many breed clubs or breeders might be entitled to tell you.

It also tells you how to find breeders and properly screen them, including questions, and red flags to watch for. It even helps you to screen puppy personalities and read health clearances.

This is an absolute must for a prospective dog owner, it will ensure that you get the right family member and secure a relationship that will last a lifetime.

Book Description

California's last large pottery producer, Treasure Craft, became a major force in the giftware market from the late 1940s until 1995. The firm's Hawaiian plant and Pottery Craft stoneware art lines were enormously popular. Over 650 beautiful color photographs present widely varied ceramic collectibles produced by Treasure Craft from the late 1940s until 1995, including Disneyana items, over two hundred novelty cookie jars, Hawaiiana, figurines including Lucky California Sprites and their predecessors Naughty Gnomes, and dinnerware lines. Among the wares displayed are works by notable sculptors Ray Murray, Don Winton, and Robert Maxwell. This new book presents material on manufacturer's marks, and look-alike products. Values in the captions round out this thorough presentation. 8 1/2" x 11" 665 color photos Price Guide

Customer Reviews:

more than just a great pottery collector's reference.......2004-10-22

The book's focus is the pottery of two California-based companies, Treasure Craft and Pottery Craft, throughout the second half of the 20th century. Higby is intimately acquainted with his topic: he grew up on the West Coast with the pottery, he did business with its manufacturers, he has actively collected and traded in their wares for much of his adult life. He had personal access to the eyewitnesses, for reasons other than simply being an author or collector, and it shows.

My first impression of _Treasure Craft Pottery & Pottery Craft Stoneware_ came when I opened it to the middle: "Whoa! This is gorgeous!" I refer to the consistent flow of excellent photography throughout the volume: clear, near, well-cropped images in vivid colour and great quantity. Two typical facing pages will have six photos, occupying the bulk of the space but not all. All are clearly captioned as to era, value and size; somehow, the author (or publisher) worked in enough white space to avoid overwhelming the reader. Looks like 650 photos for 176 pages including the index: pretty impressive.

For someone who collects the pottery, it's hard to imagine a more definitive work. Bazillions of captioned, priced photos, who collects it and why, a pricing guide, condition, care, even how the stuff was made. If you're serious about collecting it, you're going to want it. But even if you're not, there are a number of reasons you might.

As the author says of himself, if you were born before 1990 this pottery was probably a part of your life whether you realized it or not. These companies must have done thousands of designs: hula dancers, salt shakers, cookie jars, condiment jars, little gnome creatures, fish trays, anything that could be made of pottery. In this timeframe, too, Hawaii went from "Place of bombed-out aero-naval base we will avenge" to "New state and national jungle gym." As Hawaii rose in the national awareness, so did interest in Hawaiian-themed images, and so on. If you just like to look at pictures, as many of us do but few will cop to, you can enjoy the book as a visual journey.

If you have a deeper interest, you'll appreciate that Higby has gone much farther: he places each pottery era in the broader context of its time, describing how the pottery was meant to mesh with popular wants, issues and mores. I have always loved to see history, any history, written well and without wonkiness. Rarely is it this well researched and broad-minded, free of the infuriatingly buzzwordy affectations that paralyze much business historical writing. The broader historical overlay is the theme of American-made crafts as a dying breed: Treasure Craft's long, tenacious rearguard action to remain an American company making American products to sell to Americans.

_Treasure Craft Pottery & Pottery Craft Stoneware_ also has much to interest potters: anyone who works in clay and cooks their stuff in a big hairy kiln at temperatures that scare me. "How'd they make this stuff, anyway?" The author has included a lot of technical detail on this score. My wife has been after me to get a pottery wheel for years, and when I lose that struggle--as surely I must--I know she will load up on ideas from this book.

It's kind of ironic that a book about items that used to sit on coffee tables now qualifies as a coffee-table book, one perfect for the collector but of interest to nearly anyone else who remembers the popular pottery of the 1950-2000 era--or who lived through it and would enjoy the nostalgia.

The number of parents and grandparents who would love this as a gift must reach into the tens of millions, and I bet most neither have it nor know where to find it. Wife and I are going to have an easy Christmas this year.

Great book.......2004-07-31

George has done a great job of covering the history and the products of this great California and Hawaii institution. A very good read.

Book Description

Lillian Russell was the Victorian era's symbol of talent, charm, and beauty. She was introduced by impresario Tony Pastor in 1880, and was considered an emblem of feminine beauty until the turn of the century. Although her voice still set a standard of excellence, by that time America's vision of loveliness had changed, and her middle-aged body could not meet the new challenge on the musical stage. Russell responded with extraordinary resilience. She adapted with the times and became the grande dame of the American theatre in non-musical plays, burlesque, variety, and the lecture circuit. She wrote widely-read newspaper columns in which she pioneered an optimistic philosophy of self-help, and she used her numerous connections to champion the causes that she held dear. Carefully researched, this reference book is a comprehensive and thoroughly documented guide to Lillian Russell's life and career. A biography places her in the social and cultural context of her time and adds previously ignored information about her parents, birth, coming-of-age in the Midwest, early career, daughter, and death. A chronology then gives a detailed listing of events in her life and career. The chapters that follow are devoted to her many performances. Entries in each section provide cast and credit information, plot synopses, review excerpts, and critical commentary. Several appendices offer additional information about her work, and an extensive annotated bibliography lists sources of additional information.

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