Book Description
From custom blended oils to relaxing spa services, the store Venus Envy takes care of all the beauty needs of Gull Harbor, Washington. Behind the counter is Persia Vanderbilt, a woman with a nose for mixing scents--and a mind for solving murder.
Customer Reviews:
a girl with attitude.......2007-10-08
This mystery was good and the main female characters were great. The leading lady, Persia, is strong and memorable. She is believable because the author shows us some of the character's flaws. I look forward to learning more about her in future books. I would also like to read more about Persia's aunt and best friend too. Aunt Florence sounds too good to be true at times, so I would hope that future books shows she is a great lady with some human flaws.
Beautiful setting, enjoyable mystery........2007-09-10
I did in fact enjoy this mystery. I love the setting, on an island in Puget Sound, the thunderstorms and waves. The descriptions of the bath and body shop Persia and her aunt run are enjoyable and I liked all the supporting characters. What I didn't care for was Persia herself. She thinks entirely too much of herself. I got tired of hearing about how athletic and ripped she is, how she's always looking down her nose at those who aren't, how she knows all about how hot she is and how everyone is looking at her. Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back, dear. And I don't care how many calories you burn, lay off the junk food! lol And I wish she'd come down off her high horse and take another look at that police chief! *wink*
This series purports to have beauty and spa tips, but really just gives a couple of recipes for "aromatherapy" mixtures, cute if you buy into that sort of thing. The tips are really just common sense, nothing earth-shaking. Eat vegetables, drink lots of water, get enough sleep. Duh.
The mystery unfolds at a decent pace, no true slow areas. I'd like to read another in the series, hoping Persia develops some humility. A nice, easy read otherwise.
Not as good as I thought it would be.......2006-07-04
This book has a delightful title and comes from a publisher who has printed some of my favorite mysteries (i.e. Laura Childs, Cleo Coyle). This book was hard to get into and I was disappointed with what I thought was a very thin plot. Some of the dialogue was weak, although I felt the author's research into the subject was excellent.
Entertaining Mystery with Fun Spa Tips.......2006-05-30
Persia left Seattle and her cheating live-in boyfriend when he was arrested for embezzling from "good-fellas" you don't want to mess with. Now she lives with her Aunt Florence and a menagerie of animals on an island outside of Seattle. Together they run Venus Envy, a spa that also sells Persia's custom blended fragrances. All is going well until the snippy town beauty queen is murdered in their store, Persia's treasured mirror is stolen, and one of their loyal employees is the prime suspect. Persia goes into amateur-sleuth mode to find the killer, protect the employee, and find her mirror. (Through it all she even maintains a regular exercise schedule we all can envy.)
Persia is a character you will admire and want to hang out with, especially when she's getting even with her drunk ex-boyfriend when he tries to make nice after he gets out of jail. Add in a couple of good looking men vying for Persia's attention (with a little, okay a lot of, help from Aunt Florence) and a quirky best-friend and you've got an entertaining read. Overall, a recommended read.
Fantastic book by my fave author.......2006-04-14
India Ink is also Yasmine galenorn and this book will not disappoint. Well rounded out charactors and good plot.
Vivid and beleivable descriptions of people and places. the book feels like you could pick up the phone and ask Persia out to lunch.
Looking foward to more.,
Average customer rating:
- What a book!
- The dragon who doesn't stop
- The Dragon on the Border
- Third in the Dragon Knight series
- A great book with realistic medival view plus fantasy
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Dragons On The Border
Gordon R. Dickson
Manufacturer: Ace Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
Dickson, Gordon R. | ( D ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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The Dragon at War
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The Dragon, The Earl, and the Troll
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The Dragon and the Djinn
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The Dragon Knight
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The Dragon and the Gnarly King
ASIN: 0441342337 |
Customer Reviews:
What a book!.......2000-09-15
I thought the Dragon and the George was really awesome. The characters were great. A great sequel to the Dragon Knight.
The dragon who doesn't stop.......2000-09-09
Yet another great performance by the dragon knight. It has all the enjoyable elements of the previous book that I loved. My dissapointment with this book is that to me the final threat seems all to easy to take care of in the end. I am deffinatly not trying to say this book is any less than the rest but the dark powers could have found some thing better than the hollow men. On the bright sde more than just the hollow men are there and it makes the book that much more enjoyable. Jim, Brian and Giles provide another exciting battle against the dark powers that you will love. Keep reading these books, they get even better than this.
The Dragon on the Border.......2000-06-26
The third book in Mister Dickson's series was quite good, but I dont think it was as good as the first two. First, I don't think the antagonists were quite evil enough, they were just personalityless ghosts who raided various people who lived on the border. One of my favorite parts of the Dragon Knight was that the sorceror had a distinct personality and did some distincly evil things. Second, Giles was hardly in the book! I mean he's the reason James is there in the first place! And finally, James didn't even turn himself into a dragon very much! I mean the title of the book is: The DRAGON on the Border! But despite this few quirks, I still think this was a very good book and worthy of the Dragon Knight Series.
Third in the Dragon Knight series.......1999-12-16
While it's not quite as awesome as the Dragon Knight or the Dragon and the George, the third novel in the series carries an interesting plot centering around Sir Giles and the Hallow Men. Dickson draws on the mystical creations of old authors and weaves them into his own world. Few books make fantasy believable. All those in the Dragon Knight series make it real.
A great book with realistic medival view plus fantasy.......1999-11-02
This is the third book in The Dragon Knight series. It does a good job of showing how life was really like in the medival times, but adds in that interesting fantasy side of the story. This book doesn't really live up to the first 2 (The Dragon and the George, The DragonKnight) but it is still a great book that many people can enjoy!
Product Description
Island - Dell Publications. 7 Mass Market Paperbacks: A Year and a Day, The Dragon and the Jewel, Insatiable, Tempted, Enslaved, The Border Hostage & A Woman of Passion.
Customer Reviews:
One of my favorite books........2007-08-17
This is one of my favorite books. It has a style all its own. It is just a whole lot of fun.
Fabulous! Brian Daley was the best...........2002-04-12
I've read almost all Brian Daley books (yeah, he's my fav author), and these come very close to my favorite (although I'm more of a fantasy fan than a sci fi fan; long live Coramonde!). While there have been a zillion alien invasion stories, this is a story about a man who lives on Earth in a post-alien invasion society where the aliens lost, but managed to totally decimate Earth: all major cities are gone, most major landmarks are gone, almost everything that we would remember is absolutely gone...Earth has fallen back on itself, wallowing in their past glory, with a xenophobic, communist/socialist government that, and it is the birthplace of outer space people that are no longer quite "human," (like Alacrity) who brave anti-alien sentiments to make a pilgrimage back to their homeworld. In the case of Alacrity, who came to look at what's left of Earth's natural beauty, he gets framed for a murder of an Earther so he can escort Hobart Floyt, Earth functionary third class, on a mission to a distant planet to accept an inheritance from a recently deceased ruler of a 12(?) planet empire. Along the way, they survive several assassination attempts, many close calls, and a reporter who uses what she learns from talks with Alacrity and Hobart to write several books about fictional adventures that they are supposed to have, that Hobart would call "penny dreadfuls" (including "Hobart Floyt and Alacrity Fitzhugh in the Castle of the Death Addicts," "Hobart Floyt and Alacrity Fitzhugh Versus the Brain Eaters of the Galactic Rim," and "Hobart Floyt and Alacrity Fitzhugh Challenge the Amazon Slave Women of the Supernova"). Sound theories and speculations about the future that is interesting to think about (especially how popular Monopoly still is! Many breakabouts carry around personal tokens to use, and there's a big entry fee that goes into the jackpot for the winner). Top-notch materiel!
True grasp of cultural density, must read for travellers.......2001-01-06
Brian Daley was a Vietnam Veteran who lived in New York City, his experience with diverse cultures, densely packed shows through in his work. If you have ambitions to be a world traveller, reading Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds will help you overcome the initial terror of the absolutely strange. This is a great first book in a great series. It is an absolute tragedy that he will never write a fourth novel for this series, but each novel of the series is complete on its own. You just want more!
Entertaining Space Opera.......2000-08-01
This is an enjoyable and solid space opera distinguished by gentle humor and some on target satire. Good trip reading. Well worth a few dollars in a used bookstore.
Amazed at how good it remains after 15 years!.......2000-07-07
I first read this book when it appeared in paperback in 1985 or so. On a recenct visit to my parents home, I found it on a shelf while poking around on a lazy afternoon and started reading...I was delighted to find it was as good as I remembered, the characters are vivid, likeable and engaging and the story is epic and interesting. I have never read too much of this genre, so I'm not as picky as some others who have reviewed this title, I suppose, but I find the above qualities refreshing in a genre that seems to have been left to the "experts", a situation that always ends up dull. My biggest piece of advice would be to buy all three books at once, if possible, free up a weekend and go for a great ride. Even at 33 I felt-as I did at 17-a sense of personal loss when the last page of the last book ended, like friends had moved away.
Book Description
How to Cook Everything: The Basics gives you essential recipes and easy-to-follow guidance to help you cook with confidence. Mark Bittman, the bestselling, award-winning author of
How to Cook Everything, shows you how to make a good burger or delicious pasta for everyday meals as well as chicken soup on a cold day, lasagne because you love it, and prime rib for company. Not only will you make some of the best food you’ve ever eaten, you’ll save money and eat more healthfully, too.
Anyone can cook
- Simple, satisfying recipes with easy-to-follow directions
- Tips to help you shop for, prepare, and cook the recipes
- Recipe variations and lists of ideas to adapt dishes to your taste
- Step-by-step illustrations for tricky techniques like mincing garlic
Simple. Straightforward.
Just what you need to cook well.
Customer Reviews:
Amazingly Easy.......2007-01-09
I was never good at cooking in any way, shape, or form. I set out to find a book to learn how to cook, and I found this one.
This book makes cooking amazingly easy. From the very beginning, it presents the most important aspects of cooking and delineates what cooking utensils are essential and what the different forms of cooking are (broiling, steaming, grilling, etc.). The recipes provided are simple and easy to understand and follow; they also produce food that is absolutely delicious. Recipes are accompanied by suggested modifications and tips for shopping and preparing.
This is the perfect book for learning how to cook. I highly recommend it to anyone, particularly those who are like I was, knowing nothing about cooking.
Bittman speaks:.......2006-07-27
As usual this condensed book on "basics" meets the optimal needs of the "minimalist". The book is well written, comprehensive, easy to understand, and extremely pratical for "anyone" who cooks, wants to learn how to cook, or needs to improve on their cooking skills.
The supplier must be complemented as well, for providing a good price combined with excellent service.
Fantastic book!.......2006-05-28
This is a great primer/ reference book. It has delicious recipes, and a lot of focus on technique. We own at least 20 cookbooks, and use this one the most often.
I Threw This Book Away.......2006-05-12
I've watched Mark Bittman on PBS and really liked his style. I have some cooking skills, but would like to be better and thought this book would be a good start. I was wrong. I tried a couple of recipes and they all failed. The eggplant saute and the boiled shrimp were waaay off in their instructions and were inedible. This is not a good book. I would recommend Cooks Illustrated magazine and At Blanchard's Table. These have been great resources for me to help me improve my cooking skills and understand why certain things are done certain ways. Plus there's always the Alton Brown show Good Eats on the FoodNetwork.
Cooking Basics - done well.......2006-03-20
This book is meant for the 'I can't boil water without burning it' crowd, and will serve them well. Every recipe is clear and assumes the reader-cook knows little or nothing. There is a wide variety of foods and meals included, which gives the learning cook some depth as they cook these recipes. Bittman tells you what you need to know about the recipe, ingredients, tools and techniques but doesn't make the mistake of confusing the issue by telling beginners too much. I enjoy Bittman's recipes in the NY Times and purchased his more advanced books for myself at the same time I purchased this one for my children who - before now - only knew how to make 'reservations' for dinner.
Book Description
A follow-up to the immensely popular training guide Teach Your Horse Perfect Manners, featuring 100 superb color photos.
Customer Reviews:
Positively Perfect!.......2005-11-03
Anyone with a horse should read this book.
Kelly Marks builds on her excellent first book, "Perfect Manners" and has written the amazing guide to getting that special partnership with your equine.
Easy to read chapters on how to choose which horse to buy, develop your ground and ridden training techniques, how to handle common remedial issues and how to gain a deeper understanding of the horse psyche should excel this book into being one of the definitive horsepersons bibles for 21st Century.
Average customer rating:
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Findings: The Jewelry of Ramona Solberg
Vicki Halper , and
Ramona Solberg
Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Penland Book of Jewelry: Master Classes in Jewelry Techniques
ASIN: 029598158X |
Book Description
Widely admired in the field of fine art jewelry, Ramona Solberg brings together cultural artifacts that are both exotic and familiar. With her meticulous sense of composition, Solberg turns buttons, calipers, beads, pebbles, and her trademark dominos into boldly-scaled works of wearable art. Thirty-two of her necklaces are illustrated in color in Findings, comprehensively gathered for the first time. Vicki Halper sets Solberg's work in the context of her life as an artist, teacher, and traveler, and explores the creative links between Solberg and her students and fellow jewelers. She chronicles Solberg's career from her student days, through her tenure as professor at the University of Washington, to her active and productive recent years, and explores the community of Pacific Northwest artists with whom she is associated: Laurie Hall, Ron Ho, Kiff Slemmons, and Nancy Worden.
Customer Reviews:
Found findings.......2004-09-23
To Ramona, a domino is not merely a game piece. A domino can join other found objects in a necklace. This catalogue of 32 of Ramona's necklaces, appearing in a Bank of American gallery presentation from 18 November to 14 December 2001, are just plain fun. Of the 32 pieces, my favorite is an eye-catching necklace including cast silver, black and yellow African millefiore, and bauxite beads -- a stunner!
Average customer rating:
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Living with Flowers: Revised Edition
J. Barry Ferguson
Manufacturer: Rizzoli Universe Promotional Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Flower Arranging
| Crafts & Hobbies
| Home & Garden
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General
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| Home & Garden
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ASIN: 0789310309
Release Date: 2003-09-20 |
Amazon.com
Flowers, says author/florist/designer J. Barry Ferguson, "feed our minds and imaginations with new possibilities." Each season has its own unique blooms which thrive with a little love and attention whether it be green hollies in the winter, bright yellow spring tulips, the heady roses of summer, or the hardy, late-blooming mums of autumn. And with the abundance of cut flowers, you can turn your home into lovely, fragrant bower no matter what the season.
Ferguson adores flowers and his passion is evident on every page of Living with Flowers. Though at first the language may seem a bit high-faluting, it quickly becomes apparent that he speaks with reverence of nature's wonders and considers working with flowers a form of worship. As you read on, he draws you in; soon you see how a bouquet of sunflowers could transform your dining room and imagine how tranquil it would be to find a nosegay of posies on your bedside table.
Whether you live in a city apartment or on an acre in the country, Ferguson has suggestions on how to integrate flowers into your everyday life. "Flowers do give a room a touch of your own personality," he says, "and speak of what is meaningful to you, no matter if the signal is quiet and modest or loud and clear." He includes sections on special occasions, flowers as gifts, and herbs, followed by where to buy and how to care for your flowers. The photography is inspiring, giving examples of both mammoth displays and simple buds in vases. --Dana Van Nest
Book Description
J. Barry Ferguson is a renowned florist, designer, lecturer, and botanist with a half century of experience with flowers. To him, flowers are an essential part of life-as necessary as a morning cup of coffee or a glass of orange juice. In this revised and updated version of Living with Flowers, Ferguson shares his passion for flowers and encourages readers to incorporate plants and flowers into their everyday lives-throughout the seasons of the year, in every room of the house, in the city and in the country.
Throughout this beautifully-illustrated book, Ferguson's passion for flowers shines through, as he shares his experiences and knowledge. Ferguson reveals his philosophy and techniques for creating gorgeous and unique arrangements for every occasion, whether it be a wedding, a holiday, or a simple meal. In addition, he provides practical, expert tips, such as the best techniques for cutting flowers, methods to keep cut flowers fresher longer, how to force bulbs, and even how to bring fading flowers back to life by what Ferguson calls the "Lazarus effect."
Both inspirational and practical, Living with Flowers is an essential part of any gardener or flower lover's library. And for those just beginning to make flowers a part of their lives, this volume is the perfect introduction.
Average customer rating:
- Future holds much promise for the sculptors of Zimbabwe
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Contemporary Stone Sculpture in Zimbabwe: Context, Content and Form
Celia Winter-Irving
Manufacturer: Fine Art Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Modern
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ASIN: 976809737X |
Customer Reviews:
Future holds much promise for the sculptors of Zimbabwe.......2002-02-10
*****Celia Winter-Irving writes that Zimbabwe's stone sculpture is unique, not only because of its individual form and content, which is highly valued and acclaimed in the art centers of the world, but because it springs from the indigenous talents that lay hidden until the 1960's. How could such creativity and craftsmanship suddenly flower? What is the inspiration that guides the Shona, Chewa, Yao and Mbunda artists who have produced it? Who are the actual individuals who fashion stone that is unlike anything produced anywhere else in the world? Her book answers these fascinating questions and has become the standard work on the subject. She believes that contemporary African stone sculpture from Zimbabwe is perhaps the most important new art form to emerge from Africa in the 20th century.
*****Although Zimbabwe stone sculpture is argued to be firmly located within a modernist discourse, its content and form are informed by traditional spiritual beliefs, myths, legends, oral history, customs, and rituals, which impart a new function and modernist aesthetic for creative expression in stone. Prestigious galleries around the world have been honored to exhibit the work of many of Zimbabwe's finest stone sculptors, such as the Paris Rodin Museum and the New York Museum of Modern Art. The larger pieces have been exhibited at the Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town, the Kew Gardens in London, the Parlmengarten in Frankfurt, the Berlin and Hamburg Botanical Gardens, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Yorkshire, the Hannover Expo 2000, and the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis.
*****Celia Winter-Irving is the Writer and Documentalist in Residence at the Chapungu Sculpture Park. She is also the lead writer on art for the Zimbabwe Herald with her own column in the Herald ýArt and Leisureý each Saturday. At the park she writes books on sculptors, produces the newsletter, compiles and writes essay/biographies on sculptors represented by Chapungu, and organizes media relations. A listing of her more recent books includes Lazarus Takawira (Lazarus Takawira June 2000), Anderson Mukomberanwa (Anderson Mukomberanwa June 2000), Tengenenge Art Sculpture and Painting (World Art Foundation, Eerbeek, The Netherlands, April 2001), and Soottie the Cat at Tengenenge (Tengenenge Pvt Ltd, April 2001). In 2002, she finished a book concerning the successful Zimbabwe sculptor, Agnes Nyanhongo.
Average customer rating:
- Looking for the "why"
- well written, worth pondering: ...author!!
- Tierra del Fuego
- another five star review
- Tragic Clash of Cultures
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Savage: The Life And Times Of Jemmy Button
Nick Hazlewood
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Evolution's Captain: The Story of the Kidnapping That Led to Charles Darwin's Voyage Aboard the Beagle
ASIN: 0312252137 |
Book Description
A tale of tragedy, catastrophe, and the triumph of the human spirit.
In 1830 a Yamana Indian boy, Orundellico, was bought from his uncle in Tierra del Fuego for the price of a mother-of-pearl button. Renamed Jemmy Button, he was removed from his primitive nomadic existence, where life revolved around the hunt for food and the need for shelter, and taken halfway round the world to England, then at the height of the Industrial Revolution. He learned English and Christianity, met King William IV and Queen Adelaide, and made a strong impression on many of the major figures in Britain, eventually becoming a celebrity. Charles Darwin himself befriended the Fuegian and later wrote about their time together on The Beagle, voyaging back to the southern tip of South America. Their friendship influenced one of the most important and controversial works of the century, On the Origin of the Species.
Upon his return to Tierra del Fuego, Jemmy found that life could never be the same for him there. The Beagle's captain deposited the young man on a lonely, windswept shore and charged him with the tasks of "civilizing" his people and bringing God to his homeland. At first ostracized and attacked by other Fuegians, Jemmy later became the target of zealous and ambitious missionaries. Thirty years after his return, a missionary schooner in Tierra del Fuego was attacked, with nearly everyone on board killed, and Button himself was accused of leading the massacre.
Button's life story illustrates how the lofty ideals of imperialism often resulted in appalling consequences. Thoroughly researched and remarkably well written, this fascinating and poignant story is ultimately about survival, revenge, murder, and the destruction of a whole race of people, blurring the boundaries of civilization and savagery.
Customer Reviews:
Looking for the "why".......2005-01-23
It is said that narrative is the lifeblood of history, and Savage succeeds in taking a number of forgotten documents and weaving an interesting narrative out of them. Neither dry nor slow, the author takes us to from a so-called civilized England to the nether lands of so-called barbarity. We meet the influential Charles Darwin and spend time with the obscure Jemmy Button. During our voyage we watch well-meaning people succumb to starvation and surprise massacres. Through it all we compare and contrast two ways of life, and see first hand that, as Rudyard Kipling said, when comparing the Western worldview to that of the Eastern, the two often do not meet.
After finishing this well written work last night at 5:00am, I began asking myself why it was written, and still don't have a solid answer. Did the book have an overriding purpose, other than to tell us what happened long ago in an age that no longer exists? Was it written foremost to show a clash of civilizations from another era? Was it to examine the dangers of colonialism, whether under the British flag or that of a church group? Was it written simply to relate an interesting historical footnote?
Too, in reading what I thought the author might be saying, I came away with different conclusions. Though considered brilliant and able, I think Darwin missed the mark, and don't hold him in the esteem the author seems to. The debate over his theories goes on and on, yet it need not rage between religious groups and so-called Darwinists. Modern science, with its study of an intricate DNA almost requires me to have as much faith in a non-planned evolution as I might in intelligent design. As well, I came away with a higher view of the missionary endeavor, especially that of the later missionaries, than the author might. I live in Argentina as a missionary, and lament deeply that religious workers to these southern shores brought, albeit unknowingly, deadly diseases and colonial expectations. Yet they also brought skills, help and the desire to learn the language and some of the tribal culture. They did not bring bullets, thrive in ignorance or promote mass destruction. Might they, even with their faults, be called the "better angels" of western culture, especially in the face of others who came only to get and to force the nationals to fill labor yards or cemeteries? I know first hand from missionary accounts of oil companies that subjected tribes to such labor in Colombia that the tribesmen would go swimming just to down themselves. I know of oil companies that abused tribesmen in Indonesia with long hours and little pay so the tribesman could buy overpriced radios and other western items. This exploitation would not be recognized until later by the children of those abused. Missionaries however, for all their faults, are not usually associated with this type of cruelty. The author, in pages 301-303 of the 2000 hardback edition, nails it on the head in explaining what went wrong in the mission's earlier years and presents a casebook example of poor missiology. Yet in a wider scope good missiology prevailed around the world. Biblical Christianity helped end slavery in England; it helped stop widow burning in India. I remember my friend David who worked with tribes for 20 years in the jungles of Ecuador. Due to his work tribesmen no longer viewed twins as evil, that is, when twins were born they were no longer pierced through by spears. Yes, I digress, but there is a wider story out there that thankfully is not as colonial as was the Patagonian Missionary Society. Yet even this society, with weaknesses that shame me, did try to help the tribes and not parade them through European zoos as other groups did. The idea that the natives should have been left alone ended when Magellan circumnavigated the globe. Given the two options, I would prefer missionary limitation than determined western exploitation. In reading Savage I think that history bears this out.
So...have I meandered? Yes. But this is in part due to the book. The Pulitzer Prize winning author Barbara Tuchman once wrote that the "why" of history often becomes apparent as history is being written, that the "why" should not be forced into the writing. I found Savage to be well written and it brought history alive, yet still wonder what it is meant to relate. What was its overriding "why"? Until I know, I can only guess, and meander.
well written, worth pondering: ...author!!.......2002-03-18
Jemmy Button was not a decisive figure in human history. Indeed, he would have lived out his life and died totally forgotten were it not for the chance of his being taken to England, and returned home on the immortal voyage of the Beagle. As such, he pops up from time to time in works on Darwin and evolution, and has always left me wondering, Darwin went on to fame and authority, what ever happened to Jemmy Button? Until now, for me at least, the question has been left hanging.
In this absorbing book, Hazlewood lets Darwin go his way, and tracks Button and the fascinating story of intentions -- good or pig-headed, as you will -- gone bad. This is not a dry academic publication. The same day I got this book, a friend lent me three detective novels -- one Jeffery Deaver and two James Pattersons -- but once I got my nose into Savage, I could hardly pull it out. From my previous reading, I had a picture of Captain Fitzroy as an unpleasant character, being forced to right his wrongs through no good will of his own. Hazlewood's research shows me that I seem to have been led astray. His Fitzroy is far more sympathetic than the one I had known.
An inferior artist leaves you gasping at his craft. Hazlewood is such an expert writer that you may read the entire book without really noticing the skill and work that must have gone into the creation of this book: fluent writing, careful research, and fine construction throughout.
Had Fitzroy never packed Jemmy Button off to England, perhaps the Fuegian Indians would have disappeared from this world without a trace. At least through the work of the missionaries, whatever their motive, a record has been left of their language and some of their culture (BTW, I disagree with the previous reviewer who said we are closer to the Yamana than to the Victorians; a romantic notion that hardly bears up to a moment's consideration.) This book leaves you with a lot to think about.
Permit me to quote Alfred Russel Wallace in exposition of the book's title: "The white men in our colonies are too frequently the true savages."
Tierra del Fuego.......2001-11-26
This book is billed as a story about Jemmy Button, but Jemmy is only a starting point for this fascinating tale exploring what civilisation is, how good intentions can do wrong, and cultural misunderstanding.
Jemmy Button came from Tierra del Fuego, the land at the very south of South America. Along with 3 others from this area, he was taken away from his primitive existence (and you can be as PC as you like - it was primitive) to England. The reasoning behind this was if Jemmy and his compatriots could be taught English and `Civilisation' he would be able to go home and teach others the benefits of good living. Well of course, it didn't quite work out that way. Jemmy and some of his compatriots were returned home (one died in England), but they were not forgotten.
As time progressed, missionaries entered the picture. Their belief was that if they could track Jemmy down, they could use him as an interpreter and go-between to help convert the Tierra del Fuegian barbarians, and bring them to the life of Christ (and make them wear clothes - this was important to missionaries). The majority of the book is taken up with the story of the various attempts of missionaries, all of them misguided and ultimately doomed to fail. As with many a story about indigenous communities, this one ends with genocide brought about by a combination of accident (introduced disease, alcohol) and intent (settlers would go out and shoot the `vermin' that stole their sheep).
While well researched and full of detail, I thought this was a rather dry account of this period of English colonialism. However, it is an important one that has yet to receive the exposure it deserves. Students of colonialism or the demise of indigenous cultures (and some would argue they are each the same) should definitely find a copy of this book and read it.
another five star review.......2001-11-11
The reviews that are already submitted do an excellent job of describing the scope of the book so I won't do it again.
Normally I would be satisfied to see that other reviewers have given the marks that are deserved and would not bother to write yet another review.
This book is not normal, however. I was struck by Hazlewood's ability to paint all of the characters as rational and intelligent but also products of their times and cultures. The story unfolds in a nonjudmental way...and then leads the reader to be a witness to untold horrors and great tragedy.
Well worth the read.
Tragic Clash of Cultures.......2001-09-06
Charles Dickens wrote, "Missionaries are perfect nuisances and leave every place worse than they found it." I do not know if Dickens knew about the missionary aims of the Patagonian Missionary Society, but there he surely would have found confirmation of his opinion. In _Savage: The Life and Times of Jemmy Button_ (Thomas Dunne Books), Nick Hazlewood has written an amazing and sad story about missionaries, colonialism, and a tragic clash of cultures. Sparking the story, a shocking tale of repeated good intentions and bad results, was the high Tory captain of the HMS _Beagle_, Edward FitzRoy. FitzRoy thought it would be grand to take Fuegian specimens back to Britain. One of them, swapped for a button, became Jemmy Button, and Darwin got to see him on the _Beagle_'s trip in 1831 to take him back home (so he had influence in Darwin's _The Descent of Man_). FitzRoy's hopes were futile, as Jemmy turned native again.
In 1845, the Patagonian Missionary Society, one of the many Protestant vanguards of British colonialism, made an effort to land on Tierra del Fuego and begin proselytizing. The mission lasted a week, because the natives merely stole from it, without improvement of their souls. In 1850, a similar attempt lead to the deaths of the missionaries. Newspapers warned the Patagonian Missionary Society off any future effort, but the public loved this British bravado, and the Society was emboldened to try a new venture. It would use one of the Falkland Islands as a staging ground to which Fuegians could be ferried, civilized, converted, and returned. To this end, Jemmy was found and was kidnapped once again, along with members of his family. They became homesick and resentful, and were cycled back home, with another nine Fuegians picked up. The Society's reports were glowing, but glossed over the frequent problems. One of the basic ones was that the Fuegians had little concept of property rights, and when they liked something, they took it, and they resented any subsequent searches. When this group was returned, eight missionaries were murdered. The Society blamed the work of Satan, but as one letter to the papers said, the massacre "...was produced by the recklessness of the society and their agents, and therefore I must conclude that Satan is much maligned in this matter."
Hazlewood has told this astonishing and distressing story with a novelist's fluency. In the end, the efforts toward the Fuegians could not have been more futile. Ranchers and sheep-farmers soon began invading their island, and brought devastating diseases or simply hunted them down and shot them. No pure Fuegians survived. Those with intentions of greed harmed them as much as those with intentions of improvement under the guise of imposition of a strong culture over a weak one. Such were the benefits of civilization to the savages.
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Savage: the Life And Times Of Jemmy Button
Nick Hazlewood
Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
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19th Century
| England
| Europe
| History
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ASIN: 0340739118 |
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