Dear Departed (Bill Slider Mysteries)

Book Description

Chattie Cornfeld was murdered while jogging in the park. She ran her own small marketing company and lived comfortably, perhaps too comfortably for her income. At first it looked as though she was the latest victim of the "Park Killer," but it doesn't take Slider and Atherton long to establish that someone was trying to pass the killing off as part of a pattern—only the pattern doesn't fit, this one was personal. Chattie was popular with all who crossed her path, and it was difficult to imagine she had gained any enemies. Turning to the two most popular motives for murder—money and passion—Slider and his team's investigation turn up some puzzling anomalies in her life, not least the number of men who counted themselves as her lover and the tangled relationships of her family. But none of the suspects can be made to fit what evidence they have, unless of course they've been mis-reading the evidence.

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyable from start to finish.......2006-09-01

I wasn't sure I'd be able to read this, 'my first Slider mystery' without having read the previous books but was really glad I did. It was an engaging novel from the start, simple but intriguing. I liked the way the author uses the characters to comment on things the (British) reader has often wondered, such as whether the British police department IS just like it's portrayed on the telly in 'The Bill', and the Cockney rhyming slang thrown in such as 'syrup' (syrup of figs = wig). If you're looking for a book that typifies both everyday life and criminal investigation in England then this is it.

I have to say that I did guess 'whodunnit' about half way through but that didn't make it any less enjoyable because I wasn't 100% sure plus didn't know the motive.
All the characters were very believable and even recognisable, Harrod-Eagles certainly is an excellent observer of people.

Enjoyable from start to finish........2006-06-26

An enjoyable read.......2006-01-24

Detective Inspector Bill Slider is back in this tenth entry in the series. In this outing, DS Slider investigates the death of a jogger found off the trail in a park. At first it looks like a serial killer dubbed the "Park Killer" has struck, but after some investigation too many things do not add up and it is determined that the another killer decided to copycat. The victim, Charlotte"Chattie" Cornfeld, had her own consulting business. She did public relations, website designing and general business matters that her clients like the jazz band, Baroque Solid, needed done. Chattie was an outgoing and lovely young woman whom everyone seemed to like. Why was she found dead in the park? DS Slider delves into the puzzle of Chattie's life to find motive and opportunity in a cast of divergent characters.

When I sit down with a Bill Slider mystery I always know it will be a good story. As always this Slider series is a cleverly plotted police procedural. The slow unraveling of the clues will keep you guessing until the end. Even though the previous books are worth reading, the story is very much stand alone so if you have never read the series, you would not be remiss to start with the most recent.

A good read!.......2006-01-04

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles is a writer living in England, who was born and educated in Shepherd's Bush, West London.

Her Bill Slider police procedurals, now numbering ten, are praised for their accuracy, wit, characters and stories.

Dear Departed begins with the discovery of dead female jogger in a park in London. She has no identification and seems to be the victim of a serial park killer who slashes his victims in broad daylight.

Oddly enough, her wounds do not seem serious, and her background, once Detective Inspector Slider and his team find out her identity, seems unusual, to say the least. She had been working in public relations for a new Baroque jazz band, called Baroque Solid (indeed she is identified because she was playing one of their demo CDs).

Her name was Charlotte Cornfeld, "Chattie." She lived in a very nice house, scrupulously clean, and oddly too expensive for someone who is young and just starting out in business.

Did she have an unusual source of money? Had it come from her divorced parents? They eventually discover her father is Henry Cornfeld, of Cornfeld Chemicals, and she had received a monetary gift from him that she invested in real state wisely, leading to her present comfortable home.

Rumors are floating around that Cornfeld Chemicals might be purchased by another chemical giant, a move that might mean a lot of money for the Cornfeld family stockholders.

Chattie's jealous half-sister Jasmine is involved in a very unsavory and dangerous life style, and had crashed in a room in Chattie's house occasionally. Could she or her violent boyfriend have been the cause of Chattie's murder? Slider and Detective Sargeant Jim Atherton work to dig out the truth in Chattie's unusual short life.

Slider's pregnant soon-to-be-wife Joanna, who has given up her orchestra job in Amsterdamn to be with him, is not as involved in this case as in the past.

Armchair Interviews says: Sounds like a fun read with interesting characters, especially appealing if you like reading anything written about England and its charming and unique surroundings.

a good choice to unwind with.......2005-12-27

If you're looking for a good book to curl up with in order to forget the seasonal madness that the year's end brings or if you'd like to forget that it is bloody cold outside right now, then this is the book that I'd recommend to fight off those seasonal blues! Clever, witty and wholly engaging, "Dearly Departed" was a treat of a read all round!

Detective Inspector Bill Slider would like to be able to give his wholly undivided attention to his pregnant fiancee, Joanna. Unfortunately, murder and the latest serial killer, the Park Killer, seemed to have conspired once again to thwart his wishes. When woman's body is found in the park one early one morning, everyone assumes that the Park Killer (so called because he has committed two such murders already in two other parks) has struck again. A post mortem, however, reveals that this latest killing was not the handiwork of the Park Killer, but rather the inept attempt of someone trying to pass of the killing as that of the serial killer's. Quickly Slider and his team try to establish the victim's identity in order to work out if the murder had a killing was a personal. angle to it or not. What they discover a young woman who was well liked but who seemed to have a very entangled family life -- jealous and resentful half sisters and ex-boyfriends that can't seem to let go. Could one of them have been angry enough to plot her death?

"Dearly Departed" was a rather fun read, more so because of Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' clever and droll prose style. Though truth be told there were spots when I thought that her writing was getting a little too coy and arch for words. Fortunately, this only happened twice and so my reading pleasure was saved. The mystery-investigative subplot unfolded along slightly predictable lines, so that what really made this a fun and enjoyable read was the repartee and quips that the police officers exchanged, and the author's sympathetic and engaging portrayal D.I. Bill Slider. All in all, this was a completely engaging and absorbing read, and I'm glad that I had an entire afternoon to myself to enjoy "Dearly Departed" with.

Average customer rating:

Excellent bargain
On the Lines of Morris' Romances: Two Books That Inspired J. R. R. Tolkien-The Wood Beyond the World and the Well at the World's End
William Morris
Manufacturer: Inkling Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Williams, Michael | ( W ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

More to William Morris: Two Books that Inspired J. R. R. Tolkien-The House of the Wolfings and The Roots of the Mountains

The World of the Rings: Language, Religion, and Adventure in Tolkien

Ents, Elves, And Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J. R. R. Tolkien (Culture of the Land)

Perilous Realms: Celtic And Norse in Tolkien's Middle-Earth

The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary

ASIN: 1587420244

Book Description

Tolkien fans who long for more of the same delight that they get from The Lord of the Rings will find it in the writings of William Morris, for it was he who created the literary style that J. R. R. Tolkien brought to such perfection in his tales. As a young man writing to his future wife, Tolkien mentioned the inspiration he was receiving from Morris:

"Amongst other work I am trying to turn one of the short stories [of the Finnish Kalevala] . . . into a short story somewhat on the lines of Morris' romances with chunks of poetry in between."

Forty-six years later, Tolkien still remembered what he had learned from Morris:

"The Lord of the Rings was actually begun, as a separate thing, about 1937, and had reached the inn at Bree, before the shadow of the second war. . . . The Dead Marshes and the approaches to the Morannon owe something to Northern France after the Battle of the Somme. They owe more to William Morris and his Huns and Romans, as in The House of the Wolfings or The Roots of the Mountains."

As The Lord of the Rings was being written, Tolkien's close friend, C. S. Lewis, wrote that Morris provides his readers with a "pleasure so inexhaustible that after twenty or fifty years of reading they find it worked so deeply into all their emotions as to defy analysis." In words that could apply equally well to Tolkien, he said:

It is indeed, this matter-of-factness . . . which lends to all of Morris's stories their somber air of conviction. Other stories have only scenery; his have geography. He is not concerned with 'painting' landscapes; he tells you the lie of the land, and then you paint the landscapes for yourself. To a reader long fed on the almost botanical and entomological niceties of much modern fiction . . . the effect is at first very pale and cold, but also fresh and spacious. No mountains in literature are as far away as distant mountains in Morris. The world of his imagining is as windy, as tangible, as resonant and three dimensional, as that of Scott and Homer.

If you enjoy what Tolkien wrote about Aragorn, if you admire the bravery of the Riders of Rohan, if you long for more tales of adventure in a vast and unspoiled wilderness, and if you wish that Tolkien had more to say about the courage of women or about romances between men and women, then you will be delighted by these two marvelous tales from the pen of the gifted William Morris.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent bargain.......2005-11-13

This book is a fantastic buy! The Well Beyond The World's End is usually published in 2 volumes, so this edition includes the text of 3 books that would normally cost you about $42 if purchased separately.

The text is printed in two columns, as in a magazine. It's very readable and aesthetically pleasing (don't judge by the unfortunate cover). The only downside is that Morris originally published his books in an elaborate illuminated manuscript style (like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Kelmscott_Press_-_The_Nature_of_Gothic_by_John_Ruskin_%28first_page%29.jpg). Unfortunately no modern printing of Morris seems to include his gorgeous original format. On the plus side, this edition is definitely more readable.

As for the stories themselves, I think it's fair to say Tolkien (and to a degree C.S. Lewis) retained every innovation Morris made, more or less replacing him. It's likely that only hardcore Tolkien/Lewis fans will find these books worth reading. This and the companion volume are the closest thing to the LOTR prequel.

The text is widely available free online (though it's not fun to read on a screen), so you might test a few pages before committing to a purchase:
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/m#a107

Book Description

Nineteen stories by nineteen authors, all based on one unforgettable image in a song by Leslie Fish: Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three! Stories range from horror to romance to satire to...just plain silly. Authors include Anne McCaffrey, C.J. Cherryh, Leslie Fish, Esther Friesner, Susan Shwartz, Julia Ecklar, S.N. Lewitt, B.W. Clough, Melissa Scott, and Lisa A. Barnett. This volume would be a cult classic, if only a fitting cult could be found.

Customer Reviews:

It Started with a Song . . ........2002-05-19

This is one of those books that is chiefly written for SF & Fantasy fandom by the SF& Fantasy fandom. As such, readers new to the genre may find it puzzling why anyone would love a book with such a strange title and theme chosen for its short stories. The origin of this anthology is a song written by famous filk (SF music, for those who are unfamiliar with the term) singer Leslie Fish. Apparently the song came about after "too much turkey and eggnog . . . and a table centerpiece decoration . . . and space age music on the hi-fi that just happened to swing into a rhumba". To get the full story, you'll have to read the Afterword in this anthology.

It's an unexpected anthology, with a wide range of tones and styles. "Provisional Solution" by B.W. Clough is a very light toned, lively take on the manifestation of Carmen and her trademark fruits. "Basket Case: Or:The Grapes of Wrath" by Bruce B. Barnett interprets the themes into a hard SF detective story with delightful success. Don Sakers, the editor of this anthology, has two short stories in this collection. The first is "The Man Who Travelled in Rocketships" a touching story that's meant as a memorial to Heinlen. The second is "Tarawa Rising" about an aging drag queen coming to terms with themselves with a little ghostly help. Other authors include, Anne McCaffrey, Esthner Friesner, C. J. Cherryh and, of course, the woman who started it all, Leslie Fish.

Why would anyone have 19 stories and a song about Carmen Miranda's ghost on a space station? SF writers having fun would have to be my main interpretation. And that's no bad thing, there are some brilliant stories within this anthology, some hysterical giggles, some thought provoking moments, and even some bittersweet memories. For the filksong fans, the sheet music for the song that Leslie Fish wrote is included at the end of the anthology. In some ways, I guess I'd say that this is sort of an in-joke anthology, since the folks most likely to pick it up are fans, but I highly reccomend it to any SF or Fantasy reader! Here's just a bit of Leslie's song:

"Carmen Miranda's Ghost is haunting
Space Station Three.
Half the staff has seen her,
plus the Portmaster and me.
And if you think we've had too much
Of Cookie's homemade rum,
Just tell me where these basket hats
of fruit keep coming from!"

Happy reading! ^_^ shanshad

Average customer rating:

Retro Breakfast: Memorable Meals Morning, Noon, or Night

It's the most important book of the day

Retro Breakfast: Memorable Meals Morning, Noon, or Night (Retro Series)
Linda Everett , and Richard Perry
Manufacturer: Collectors Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Breakfast | Meals | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Retro Diner: Comfort Food from the American Roadside (Retro)

Retro Happy Hour: Drinks and Eats With a 50's Beat (Retro)

Retro Barbecue: Tasty Recipes for the Grillin' Guy

Retro Pies: A Collection of Celebrated Family Recipes

Retro Beach Bash: A Sun Lover's Guide to Food and Fun (Retro)

ASIN: 1888054875

Book Description

Rise and shine, it's breakfast time! If you think the smell of bacon and hot coffee wafting from a warm kitchen is a thing of the past, then bring back the bounty of breakfast with RETRO BREAKFAST: MEMORABLE MEALS MORNING, NOON, OR NIGHT. From the coffee-stained pages of classic American cookbooks to recipes handed down from memory, Linda Everett and Richard Perry bring us the best of breakfast from rural Washington State to down-home Alabama. More than 120 recipes capture classic tastes of the most important meal of the day, including Okanogan Omelet, Lulu's Café Home Fries, Castlerock Blueberry Griddle Cakes, and Southern Exposure Sweet Potato Biscuits. Featuring nostalgic images that will encourage you to wake up and eat no matter what time of day, this Retro guide is sure to make anyone an early riser.

Customer Reviews:

Retro Breakfast: Memorable Meals Morning, Noon, or Night .......2007-01-12

This a is great and fun recipe book if you like breakfast food, however if you love retro and breakfast you will love it, I do.

It's the most important book of the day.......2006-04-28

As easy a target as the classic morning meals in this book can be, what I enjoyed most about "Retro Breakfast" is that the recipes were presented without much comment on the editors' part. So many books of this sort (James Lileks' "Gallery of Regrettable Food" or "Interior Desecrations," notably) are larded to the point of bursting with ironic asides, arch giggles, and conspiratorial winks to the reader to acknowledge that we sure are cooler *now* than those people were back *then.*

Mercifully, here we just got a bunch of old-timey (like, 1950s-70s) recipes, mixed in with the "Retro..." series' signature period artwork, fonts, and colorful presentation. We can add our own hipster swagger if we want while we offer up some of "Mother's Cinnamon Flop" (p. 94) or "Sunday Mornin' Hotcakes" (p. 114). But even if we don't, we'll still wind up with what on the whole look like some pretty appetizing starts to the day.

The phrase "look like" does remind me, though, of one disappointing fact: the illustrations that accompany given recipes don't always seem to be illustrations *of* the given recipe. It's hard to tell sometimes if we're looking at the actual dish, or just something similar from the archive.

Some of us were fortunate enough to have enjoyed breakfasts like this with our Saturday morning cartoons, back in the good old days, and it's a nice stroll through our memories to have them available to us again. And even if we never get around to making any of these things, the book itself is a great retro reference to have around.

Product Description

160 pages, hardcover. By Todd Fenstermacher. This guide, illustrated with over 150 great color photographs, offers much needed advice on housebreaking, health care, and puppy care and training, as well as chapters about the history of the breed and showin

Customer Reviews:

A very good book.......2000-10-24

For someone who wants to get an American Pit Bull Terrier should read this book. It talks about responsible ownership and how to socialize your puppy so that it will become a good canine citizen. Although it has a whole chapter about dog-fighting which I don't like, it uses that information to explain the temperament of the breed - which is not a vicious animal like everyone says. Ofcourse pit bulls are dog-aggressive, although some live with other dogs their whole life without any incidents. They love people and strangers and are not guard dogs - in fact they love people so much that they will let a stranger in your house, take everything including the pit bull. Some pit bull owners even get other dogs like Dobermans to protect their pit bull. It might sound strange but its true. Bad breeding, dog-fighters, gangsters, and the media gave this breed a bad reputation. Before you buy a dog - read this book first. Pit bulls are only for very few people - only if you you are getting this dog as a pet, have lots of time to spend timewith them, socialize them, and have time to love them then may be you should consider this breed. Be a responsible owner!

great info on a breed hated by many.......2000-07-03

for someone who knows nothing or little about the breed this is a very informative book and even greater for someone who refers to the breed as a blood thristy killer who lives to fight.if it can change my fathers view on an american pit bull terrier it can change anyones!

Should be required reading for all owners/potential owners!.......1998-12-09

This short, inexpensive book realistically depicts the unique challenges and responsibilities of owning this special breed. If everyone followed his advice, we wouldn't have the negative press we do today. If I bred APBTs, I would give one to everyone who purchased a puppy from me.

Mr. Fenstermacher's book exorcises the dreaded APBT demons!.......1997-01-28

Finally, Finally! Here is a book written in an easy down-to earth style which covers the raising of one of America's most controversial breeds of dog. Mr Fenstermacher's knowledge of this breed obviously comes from hands on experience, as he has been breeding and raising these dogs for some time. He playfully writes of his own pets and gives brilliant examples of often overlooked training methods and their desired results. In this day and age of the dreaded "Pit Bull Danger" it is gratifying to read of these fine animals as loyal and intelligent pets

A New Owner's Guide to Bull Terriers (New Owner's Guide To...)

Average customer rating:

Not that great
Very informative for the new bullie owner...a must have!

A New Owner's Guide to Bull Terriers (New Owner's Guide To...)
Betty Desmond
Manufacturer: TFH Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Veterinary Medicine | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Animal Husbandry | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0793827698

Customer Reviews:

Not that great.......2003-01-09

I thought this book had way too much information about showing and breeding...We recently got a new Bull Terrier puppy and were looking for "useful" information. This book didn't have it. It's not a terrible book, but definitely not what I was expecting...Perhaps more useful to someone CONSIDERING getting a Bull Terrier

Very informative for the new bullie owner...a must have!.......1999-09-27

A great book for the new bullie owner. Chock full of photos for those of us who can't get enough bullie pics! Informative about all the basics of puppy ownership...do's and dont's...what to buy...what to teach...also a great history section. An essential guide for the bull terrier owner written by an experienced breeder of the bull terrier.

A New Owner's Guide to Staffordshire Bull Terriers

Average customer rating:

So - SO
Introduction to Staffords
Poor production values
ALL AROUND GOOD READ
Quite comprehensive

A New Owner's Guide to Staffordshire Bull Terriers
Dayna Lemke
Manufacturer: TFH Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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

ASIN: 0793827922

Customer Reviews:

So - SO.......2006-11-07

This book is decent for people new to dogs in general. I'd hoped to find more info specific to staffords especially in training and dealing with common stafford problems like chewing and skin problems. There are some things inside I didn't know, so I'd still say it was worth the price.

Introduction to Staffords.......2006-02-09

This book is a wonderful introduction to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier! It provides not only a confirmation information but also a history of the breed, how to care for and train it and what types of activities are enjoyed by staffords and their owners. Quality, often large, color photos really round out this book. If you are considering a stafford, this is the first book you should purchase.

Poor production values.......2005-02-16

I haven't read this book. I own it, but I haven't read it. The reason I haven't read it is because they chose an unfortunate font for the text of the book, a font that's too "dense" on the page. I kid you not. I admit it's a strange criticism but if reading a book is an exercise in eye strain, that's a problem. The only time it lets up is on the one page where the font inexplicably changes. And what's with the photo on the page three title page? That's an American Staffordshire Terrier, not an SBT. It has cropped ears, and its legs and neck are long. I gave it three stars because I didn't think it was fair to completely pan a book I haven't read, and the photos that are actually of SBTs are adorable

ALL AROUND GOOD READ.......2001-03-10

A really good book well written by somebody who obviously knows the breed first hand. Whatever you would like to know about the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is here in one book. Whether you would like to show your dog or just provide the best possible care for your best friend, all of the answers are here. VERY highly recommended for either a fancier of the breed or for anybody who wishes to learn more about it.

Quite comprehensive.......2000-11-30

It is amazing the amount of facts to be taken in consideration when you purchase a new dog, if the SBT is on your short list, this book is a must buy, aside from the average information needed in make the decision, it is obvious the amount of time, dedication and love the author has or the breed, one of the most incredible dogs finally gets a great source of info for the beginner Staff Bull owner, alongside with great pictures, this books gives you everything you need to konw before and right after you get your Sttafordshire Bull Terrier

Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Houndstar New Owners Guide)

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Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Houndstar New Owners Guide)

Manufacturer: Tfh Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0104270098

Book Description

Have Yourself a Beary Little Christmas joins the books, toys, and accessories that have made Boyds so popular among consumers. Giving this memorable gift lets you deck the halls with Boyds bears and embrace the whimsy and magic of the season. Christmas doesn't get warmer or fuzzier!

Long known for plush animals and related accessories, Boyds Collection keepsakes are a tradition in households throughout America. Some of the sentiments in this book include:

- At Christmas, everyone seems to be just a tad more merry.

- Christmas is a time to embrace longtime traditions and create fun new ones.

- As the big day grows closer, it gets harder and harder to think about anything else.

- It seems Christmas has a magical way of bringing out the best in everyone.

This year's latest Christmas book is perfect for relatives, friends, adults, or kids from age one to 92.

Book Description

This fourth volume of the Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law provides an authoritative and up-to-date source of reference on legal developments which occurred throughout the region in 1997/1998. This new volume maintains the consistently high quality of the previous volumes and includes an impressive collection of leading articles on topical issues, a range of country surveys, important legislation and legal documents, selected cases, book reviews, notes and news. The collection of leading articles covers a broad variety of topics ranging from Libyan economic policy and joint venture investments and financial law in Jordan to the UN sanctions regime in Iraq and women's human rights in Islam. All the information has been carefully researched and compiled by a group of specialists in Middle East and Islamic Law, including judges, State legal officials, legal practitioners, academics and scholars to provide a unique source of reference in a single annual volume.

Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law; V.4, 1997-1998.

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Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law; V.4, 1997-1998.
Eugene Cotran And Chibli Mallat
Manufacturer: Kluwer Law International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N65S8U

Book Description

Bald Ego, either the world's most visual literary magazine or the world's most literary visual magazine, continues its pursuit of syncretic splendor with a lustrous lineup for issue three. Jack Spade transformed the cover into a readymade. Inside, Elias Khoury, Philip Taaffe, John Lurie, Gary Indiana, Sam Matamoros, Mcdermott & McGough, Sante d'Orazio, Tom Sachs, Keith Sonnier, Elizabeth Peyton, Jack Pierson, Richard Prince, Fred Tomaselli, James Salter and many more. It's the definitive arts and literature magazine for the... Undefined.

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Bald Ego
Patrick McGrath , James Purdy , James Nares , and Donald Sultan
Manufacturer: Bald Ego Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Bald Ego No. 3 (Bald Ego)

ASIN: 156466094X
Release Date: 2002-10-02

Book Description

Description: Bald Ego is a completely original and unusual, and very high flying, magazine of new art and writing. Prsenting work that is atypical of what the contributor is known for, Bald Ego dares to be funny, and to mix up people not usually found in such close proximity. Where else might you find photographs by Jessica Craig-Martin, Christopher Wool, Roxanne Lowit and Donald Sultan next to short stories by James Purdy and Patrick McGrath; or poetry by Max Blagg, Deborah Harry, Glenn O'Brien and Ren Ricard alongside illurated texts by Douglas Coupland, Gary Indiana, Richard Prince and Tom Sachs; or drawings by Donald Baecheler and Alex Katz kitty corner to a rant by John Torreano and a book excerpt from Michael Bronstein's World on Fire? Only in Bald Ego shamlessly going where no periodical has gone before.

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The Bald Ego
STEVEN BALABAN STEVEN OPP
Manufacturer: MISTRAL
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0911135006

Product Description

1982 STATED 1ST EDITION MISTRAL PUBL SOFTCVR, 96 PP,

Amazon.com

The Chinese this century have endured traumas inconceivable to modern Western generations. Beyond the Narrow Gate is the story of four girls who fled extreme violence, privation, and the Communist Red Army in 1948. Author Leslie Chang hoped to uncover the family history that her mother, one of the girls, was unwilling to talk about and learn her own identity in the process. The gulf between their experiences is profound. As Chang says of her orphaned mother, "At thirteen, she had learned to expect only the worst from life; at thirteen, I thought the greatest tragedy was losing a contact lens." Chang's tale weaves together several themes: her mother's passage from Chinese student to American housewife; the varied experiences of three friends her mother made at an elite girls' school in Taiwan; the mother-daughter relationship; and growing up in an alien culture.

Chang brings great empathy, passion, and descriptive elegance to this important book about the contemporary immigrant experience, exploring territory opened up to us by Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior. When the book ends with mother and daughter celebrating Chinese New Year in Taiwan, we share in the understanding that enables them to sit quietly with the ancient aunt who took advantage of the mother when she was a defenseless teenager. For the first time, Chinese celebrations hold meaning for Leslie Chang. --John Stevenson

Book Description

An epic of four Chinese women and their journey from East to West. When the Communists took over mainland China, among the many that were forced to flee their homeland were four remarkable women. Arriving in Taiwan in 1948, Dolores, Suzanne, Margaret, and Mary met at the elite First Girls School, the "narrow gate" where a lucky few could become eligible for U.S. visas. In this refuge, their characters were built, their friendships were formed, and their eyes were focused on the future--a life in America, where their paths would diverge dramatically. But this group portrait does not end once the women reach America. Beyond the Narrow Gate chronicles the struggles and hardships the women faced in their new country and breaks new ground by taking readers outside of Chinatown into diverse communities and families, effectively re-drawing the map of Asian America. The daughter of one of her subjects, journalist Leslie Chang weaves her own personal story as a second-generation Chinese American into her narrative, illuminating generational differences and conflicts. She unflinchingly examines the experience of feeling like a stranger in both the white and Chinese communities, the constraints of parental expectations, and the complexity of interracial relationships. Impeccably researched, beautifully written, Beyond the Narrow Gate is an unforgettable epic of American immigration, a true story as riveting as any novel.

Customer Reviews:

Mediocre.......2003-10-19

This is not a terrible book. But it's not a good one either--especially in a field that has so many extraordinarily well-written memoirs (like "Wild Swans").
"Beyond the Narrow Gate"'s lack of originality and style are its biggest problems. The author is telling a story that has been told many times before. Although Chang's women immigrants are better-off financially than the immigrants most memoirs are about, that fact actually makes "Narrow Gate" LESS interesting, because the women's hardships are less stark, more psychological than physical, and thus extremely difficult for Change to adequately convey.
Chang's writing style is unexceptional. Her words do not draw the reader in, and there is a lack of complementarity between the story Chang is trying to tell and the words she uses to tell it with. Her language could be much richer, her descriptions more textured (adjectival phrases are our friends!). Worse, this story, of which the personal impact for the author is constantly reiterated, is not told in an intimate manner or with any sense of humor whatsoever. The telling is extremely straightforward, with too few embellishments and too little intimacy, which is off-putting, to say the least.
There are also some smaller, but similarly irritating problems. First, this book touts itself as a record of four Chinese women's journey to America. In fact, that story is recounted as a background for excessive odes to Chang's mother that are not related to the story. There are frequent and redundant discussions of Chang's mother's exuberance in life, complete with unnecessary anecdotes that are neither contributory nor all that interesting.
Also, especially in the first half of the book, Chang goes into long tangents about poets, such as the rather obscure Wallace Stevens, or earlier American authors. She tries to weave their experiences into the story of the Chinese immigrants' experiences--to what end, I have no clue. The device merely irritated me.
Chang jumps between spaces, time, and characters in a wholly disconcerting manner. It's never made clear why certain characters, like Suzanne and Delores, feature heavily in some chapters and not others, since the book is not written in a consistent chronology. Chang also throws in a lot about herself as she was doing the research for the book--half of one chapter is devoted to a visit to an old priest in New York, who doesn't even remember Chang's mother. For a book that's supposed to be about the elder Chang's immigration experience, there is an excess of anecdotes about the author's research-related experiences.
Last, Chang's insistence on writing out the character's exact words, no matter how broken their English, is annoying. Most children of immigrants, while acknowledging that their parents' English is nonstandard, have grown up hearing that version of English and therefore it sounds natural to them, and not broken. Therefore, Chang could still be true to her subjects by recording their speech as standard English, because that's how their children actually understand them. The broken English is very hard to read and takes away from the seriousness both of Chang's subject and often of the conversations that are being recorded.
Overall, like I said, this isn't a TERRIBLE book. If it dealt with a topic that had fewer volumes already written on it--say, for example, the Thai or Hmong immigrant experience--I would actually give this book another star. But the Chinese immigrant experience is one that has already been recorded in some of the best tomes of this century, and so I don't think readers should waste their time with as mediocre a book as "Beyond the Narrow Gate."

thoughtful and well-written.......2003-01-01

Ever since the Joy Luck Club came out, it seems like "Asian heritage" books have been everywhere. I can't get into many of them - not entirely sure why - but this book is one of the exceptions.

This story rings very true for me. My mother went to the Taipei high school where the four main characters meet, and this is what first drew me to the book. It was like finding out about her life though I'd never been able to ask the right questions (a process described early in the narrative, too). And I can see parts of my growing up reflected in most of the second-generation characters.

But I like this book mainly for its wisdom, for the perspective Chang has gained through the process of writing these stories and how she shares that with the reader. It reminds me about the freedom we have here, to define our dreams however we want and do all we can to pursue them. (We're not forced to study biochemistry just because we're good students, and our culture helps give us the courage to change careers if we're not satisfied.) It's also interesting to see how the parents' experiences affect their children's lives in this area. Wei goes to New York to be a dancer, and Peter tries to pursue public policy instead of medical school. There's a line about a father who was so American that he encouraged his child "to go to Oberlin instead of Harvard" - perfectly characterized, I thought.

I thought this book was nicely written, other than the occasional awkward foreshadowing. The stories do jump around, but this is inevitable, and they are described clearly enough that they really aren't too hard to follow.

This is a relatively quick read, and definitely worth it - it paints an accurate picture of both generations' lives in the U.S. and throws in a nice China/Taiwan history lesson as well. It's definitely among my favorite "Chinese" books now, along with Mona in the Promised Land (Gish Jen) and Legacies (Bette Bao Lord).

An interesting perspective.......2001-05-01

A daughter researches the life of her mother through the eyes of her mothers friends.

Beautifully Written.......2000-11-22

A fascinating story of 3 generations of Chinese/Taiwanese women. Chen beautifully paints a contrast between the older generation and her young self on a personal journey to discover her roots. What makes this book so wonderful is that Chen not only tells of the difficult journey from Taiwan to America but also the battle of thoughts and emotions that take place in their hearts.

Poorly written but it was helpful.......2000-05-20

Unfortunately this book was written very poorly. Author swings from one end to another trying to catch a big fish. However she is a good observer and takes you into the complicated relations of four women with their families. She described well each woman during different time periods of their life in China, Taiwan, and USA. Unfortunately, this book consists of many small stories of each of them. There is no main story. However I found it helpful as well.

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