The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria (Sano Ichiro Novels)

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Samurai sleuth Sano Ichiro has a very personal motive in determining who killed the shogun's heir apparent with a hairpin: he's trying to save himself from being executed for the crime.

The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria introduces readers into Yoshiwara, the well-ordered but cruel pleasure quarter of 17th-century Edo (Tokyo), where the corpse of Lord Mitsuyoshi is found sprawled on a bed. The woman with whom he'd spent his final hours, a top-ranking courtesan known as Lady Wisteria, has disappeared, along with her private journal, which might supply clues to her complicity in this slaying. In the absence of both, and with the capricious old shogun ordering that Mitsuyoshi's family not be quizzed about his death, Sano is left to look for assassins among the courtesan's attendants and prominent clients. Meanwhile, Sano's enemies vie for credit in solving the murder (even if they must pin it on Sano), a woman's headless body is found wearing Wisteria's kimono, and Sano's amateur investigator wife, Reiko, threatens to discover the link between her samurai and the enigmatic prostitute.

Laura Joh Rowland cooks up wonderfully knotty plots. Yet it's her renderings of Sano's world--with its Machiavellian politics, exotic fashions, and hierarchical communities--that make her series particularly interesting. Although this seventh installment lacks the cinematic violence of its immediate predecessor, Black Lotus, it still makes you glad to be observing shogunate Japan from afar. --J. Kingston Pierce

Book Description

In feudal Japan, passion and secrets lead to murder. . .From A Remote, Exotic World. . . Sano Ichiro, Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People, awakens from a turbulent dream into a real-life nightmare. Lord Matsudaira Mitsuyoshi, the shogun's cousin and heir, has been murdered after a night of debauchery in the city's pleasure quarter.... Comes A Danger All Too Close To Home. . .The matter requires Sano's personal attention-more personal than Sano at first imagines. For he soon discovers that Mitsuyoshi's companion for the evening was none other than the alluring Lady Wisteria, a woman whom Sano himself once knew intimately before he was married to his beloved wife, Reiko. But the memory of Wisteria still stirs him, and it is with both dismay and relief that he learns she has vanished along with her pillow book, a diary that may contain valuable clues. The circumstances trouble him, as does the possibility that he and Wisteria might meet again with dangerous consequences. . .

Customer Reviews:

Same Formula, New Configuration.......2007-08-09

Having lived and worked in Japan for a number of years, of course I love reading historical novels about Japanese culture. As such, I quickly fell in love with the Sano Ichiro series and began reading all of them. Unfortunately, after the first two... which were wonderful... Rowland has fallen into repetition and formulaic writing. These subsequent novels are sure to please fans (and I must admit a certain guilty pleasure at reading about a culture I love), but as far as novels go, these books are simply re-configurations of a tired formula. "Pillow Book" is no exception... at times the formula is so similar to the previous novels that I'm really amazed her editors let it pass. I have yet to read the newest in the series, but by the time of this novel, things in Edo are getting a little stodgy.

Worth reading for fans of old Japan, but hardly worth it for fans looking for something new.

Lovely atmosphere, characters rather stereotypical.......2006-07-26

I'll start by saying that I love the environment of the late 1600s in Japan, and I love mysteries. So I definitely recommend getting the entire Rowland series and reading them in order start to finish. That being said, there are definitely things that I wish were done differently in these books, so by the time I hit book 7 - The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria - some of the problems had just not been fixed and had become very redundant.

Sano Ichiro, the Shogun's detective, is constantly having to battle with the inane Shogun who cannot make a decision. He is constantly fearing that maybe TODAY he will be slain by the Shogun for some slight. While certainly life and death were never a sure thing back in those days, to go through 7 books worth of top notch paranoia gets to wear on you a bit. You really don't think that he WILL be killed of course, any more than you think James Bond will finally catch that bullet. But in Bond movies the tension is managed and believable, where here you would think at least Sano would have come to accept with quiet stoicism the situation he's in.

I was very happy that this book was only 3 months after the last one (story time wise) so that we could see more development of the relationship between Sano and his wife, Reiko, who caused him so much trouble (and yet helped as well) in the last situation. I love to see character development and growth in stories and series. Yes, now Reiko was not as self assured, which in my book is a good thing. She's gotten a bit more mature. Or has she? She seems to still throw tantrums, leaping from one wild assumption to another with great rapidity. Sano lies to her and their reconciliation is very forced.

The issue at hand is a relative of the Shogun's who has been slain, and a concubine - Lady Wisteria - now missing. She's an ex lover of Sano's. Sano of course doesn't tell his wife this, the Shogun waffles on what must be done, and Yanagisawa's buddy Hashina causes trouble at every turn. Throw into the mix that Midori wants to marry Hirata, and that Yanagisawa's wife wants to be friends. Or does she?

Even after all of this time I find it hard to really empathize with some of the characters. Hashina is the stereotypical "clueless young bachelor". Midori is the stereotypical "madly in love and willing to try all sorts of stupid tricks to get her man" chick with less than half a brain. I am happy that the "every character has a peverse sexual hobby" style has been toned down. I don't mind sex. I just find it a bit excessive when it's every single character. Of course this episode was set in a whorehouse town, so you have to expect some.

The twists and turns were fun, although far too similar to a certain previous book. Also, I found the Lady Yanagisawa situation to be VERY unbelievable. There was no justification at all given why Yanagisawa - a man very much attuned to beauty and intelligence - would purposefully choose a very ugly woman with few brains, use her to get a kid, but then abandon her - knowing how much harm she could cause to him with the information she has access to. To be honest, with the way she was introduced I wanted a much more complex story there, but it petered out with both not much "meaning" at all - and I found the ending sequence involving the child to be extremely disturbing. I'm sure of course that is why it was put in - instead of coming up with more and more bizarre sex situations, the author had to find something new to "disturb" us. Surely this wasn't really necessary, though.

In general I love the ambiance and mood, it's why I keep coming back. I wish the characters were more rounded, more "settled" in their world. I wish the story was written from a 1600s point of view, instead of modern day morality being pressed onto 1600s situations. I wish the in story connections made more "sense" in the story, instead of clues dropping from the sky and revelations doing likewise. Maybe those will come from future books, as the characters mature.

Still Blatant Formula, But Better Than Expected.......2005-05-06

I have a kind of love-hate relationship with Rowland's Sano Ichiro novels. Clavell and Yoshikawa are unfortunately no longer with us, yet having been thoroughly entranced with Late-Medieval Japan by their interpretations of it, my craving for novels from that time period has led me to Rowland. While she does a good job at spinning a period detective yarn, her intensely formulaic plots lack the grandeur and lasting memorability of either of the others.

There's an introductory scene, almost always at night, in which someone is killed; Ichiro is summoned to investigate; almost instantly other officials, usually Yanagisawa or his underlings, impose impossible roadblocks to his task while the Shogun babbles incoherently; circuitous methods and often-arbitrary "breaks" allow Sano to proceed anyway; Sano's wife Reiko conducts covert supplemental investigation; the climactic scene ensues, with the plot being nearly always resolved via the outcome of arbitrary physical conflict rather than logic and causality; a satisfying denouement ties up loose ends and sets the stage for the next.

Aside from the use of the arbitrary rather than the logical in plotting, the elements above would make for an excellent single novel - but it's become a kind of template for all of them. That blithe reliance on formula had become evident by the third book "Way of the Traitor," which I consider the absolute worst of the series; reading each subsequent Ichiro novel has become a test of whether the minor changes in plot, characterization and setting are intriguing enough to overcome one's intense frustration with that formula. It becomes annoyingly clear to the reader that the reason there is never a decisive resolution to repeating plot devices (such as the Yanagisawa milieu,) is that they're being kept around as props for the next volume. It may save Rowland time and effort in creating new ones, but the negative effect is not lost on the reader and her books suffer as a result.

Another aspect that grates is Rowland's endless, running commentary, sometimes subtle and sometimes in-your-face, about how horrible Japanese culture is to women, and how squalid, sordid and just generally awful Medieval Japan was as a whole.

Clavell was able to convey amply the fact of women's subordination in male-dominated Japan (a negative trait of every Asian culture, those of Rowland's ancestral Korea and China included,) but only where required as context and with sufficient subtlety and artistry; Rowland continually yanks the reader out of 17th Century Japan with jarring reference to 21st Century mores, almost in the manner of a soapboxing activist. A little disruptive of mood, that.

Similarly, Clavell could take unflinching note of the often brutal and unjust aspects of that culture while simultaneously conveying its grandeur and scope; Yoshikawa, in "Musashi," presents a more innocent, idealized view, but even he was able to temper his predominently sunny perspective with a balancing view of harsh realities. Rowland seeks to rub the reader's nose without reprieve into every puddle of sewage she can fit into a given paragraph. In Rowland's view, Japan is one gigantic, filthy slum populated by human debris. Even when she describes less-oppressive elements, there is a cloud for every silver lining and feet of clay for every potentially-admirable character. Heroism, even for Sano Ichiro, is almost entirely banished from the mix.

The "Dog Shogun" Tokugawa Tsunayoshi and his administrative head Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, based on actual historic characters, are portrayed as, respectively, a near-senile fool and a near-superhuman villain. Novels needn't be history texts and artistic license is part of the ride, but these figures are so caricatured they stretch believability. At least Yanagisawa has gained a small measure of depth since Rowland created his three-year "truce" with Ichiro, in this outing his machinations being carried out by his underling/lover Hoshina; one constantly wonders how a vacant buffoon like Rowland's Tsunayoshi could plausibly remain Shogun - or even alive - to see the next sunrise.

Despite this multitude of criticisms, "Pillow Book" did pass the aforementioned "test," to my mind ranking as the best work she's done since "Bundori," which I still consider the best of the series.

It's just too bad that Rowland is content to hang everything on formula. She's a good enough writer to create excellent work, but the Ichiro books rarely break any significant new ground, and they're all oddly devoid of any identifiable theme or moral; in this latter sense they're almost journalistic. When they're good, as in this case, they're good enough to make you regret having to stop reading. When they're not so good, they're drudgery.

Now, time to grit my teeth and go pick up "Dragon King's Palace"...

Better Than Others, But Could Still Improve.......2005-02-24

As with the other books in this series, I was swept up in the ambience of Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate. Rowland's strengths are her sense of people and place in a historical context and her vivid, sometimes poetic, descriptions of the appearance, smells, and action in historical Japan. The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria (PBLW) is somewhat better paced and plotted that earlier Ichiro mysteries and, for once, there is an almost acceptable unraveling and resolution of the mystery.

However, like the other books in the Sano Ichiro mysteries, Rowland's protagonists often come across as naive, impulsive, and, yes, stupid. They still blurt out clues to everyone within listening distance, particularly to those who can do them the most damage. They still listen with credulity to the most unbelievable witnesses. And they still hurtle off after the reddest of herrings. And they are always walking the thinnest of edges between progress and destruction -- there is never a moment for repose and reflection upon the mystery at hand. With plastic villians and heros, it becomes hard to identify and empathize with the characters.

But, all in all, PBLW is an improvement over its predecessor. Rowland does well with the overall plot and some of the interpersonal friction is believeable. I do enjoy the period and the setting and I will continue to read these basically enjoyable books.

Great storytelling!.......2004-01-03

This is the seventh novel in the series, and the author seems to have become comfortable enough with her readers that she does not have to provide the copious detail that sometimes threatens to bog down other novels in the series. The plot is more intricate, and the characters interact in a realistic way (at least realistic to a 21st century reader).

One of the central plot points involves jealousy, real and imagined, of Sano's wife, Reiko, for an old lover, Wisteria. As readers, many of us have grown accustomed to the idea that Reiko is more assertive than the archetypical 17th century wife. Sano, however, acts almost henpecked throughout much of the tale, and it distracts from the story.

All in all, an excellent story, well told.

Average customer rating:
The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria
Laura Joh Rowland
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTWRYY

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The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria
Laura Joh Rowland
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTGYXO

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PILLOW BOOK OF LADY WISTERIA

Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GQX992

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The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria
Laura Joh Rowland
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000OH0W84

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Three Trumps Sounding (Twilight of the Gods, Book III)
Dennis Schmidt
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

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ASIN: 0441832873

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TWILIGHT OF THE GODS: Book (1) (i) One: The First Name; Book (2) (ii) Two: Groa's Other Eye; Book (3) (iii) Three: Three Trumps Sounding
Dennis Schmidt
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NRTKW4

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every parent should have this book

To Paradox

paradox

must have for parents

What is the fuss about ?

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations
Stephanie Cave
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books
General | Pediatrics | Specialties | Medicine | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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A Shot in the Dark

Accessories:

philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 0446677078

Book Description

In this book, Dr. Stephanie Cave explains vaccinationsthe pros and the cons. With detailed facts about each vaccination, as well as regulations and laws, this book provides easily understandable information to help parents make a knowledgeable, responsible choice about vaccinating their children.

Customer Reviews:

every parent should have this book.......2007-10-11

Attention parents, every parent should be educated about the shots the doctors are pumping into our precious babies. don't be brain washed by what they tell you. read this book and just be opened minded. then watch the doctors face when you start asking them questions regarding the ingredients.

To Paradox.......2007-10-01

This is not a review, but rather a response to the last poster inquiring why the autism rate is soaring in spite of the declining thimerosol (mercury derived preservative) amount in vaccines.

As a mother of a 4 yo son with autism, I believe that autism is a multi-faceted condition. I don't believe my son's autism was caused by mercury, HOWEVER, I do believe that he may have been vaccine injured; due to the fact that he received the Hepatitis B vaccine when he was less than 24 hours old. It is my belief that in genetically predisposed children, bombarding their immature immune systems with a vaccine is PART of the autism puzzle. Think about it...exposing the immature gastointestinal system to solids before it is ready increases the risk of food allergies...wheat, milk, eggs, nut products, etc...similar analogy.

It's not that the vaccines themselves are inherently harmful; but if they are given to a system not ready to adequately handle them, therein lies the problem. The US has the most aggressive vaccination schedule in the WORLD! China has changed their vaccination schedule so as not to vacc any child under the age of two!

Just my 2 cents.

paradox.......2007-09-22

Can anyone tell me why there is less and less mercury in vaccines yet the autism rate is getting higher and higher?

must have for parents.......2007-09-12

i wish i had this book with my first kid. it is now on the list of essentials to share with friends and families. i am not a scholar but this book was easy to understand.

What is the fuss about ?.......2007-09-06

I dont understand why this book got the great reviews it did

I have read several books on vaccinations Dr. Neustaedter's book, Dr. Tenpennys book and done quite a bit of research on the web. This is the first book I had picked up.

My problem with Dr. Cave's book is that its not honest -- its almost silently pro-vaccination. She openly credits vaccines for reduction in diseases while its obvious that that claim is questionable. Also, her 'recommended' list of vaccines is ALMOST every one of them -- except Hep B and Chicken pox. These are the 2 easiest ones to eliminate even by a lay man. you dont need an 'expert' doctor to tell you that. Every thing else she recommends all in a slightly delayed manner (by a few months).

If Dr. Cave really want to tell you what your doctor is not, then there should be more statistics on the incidence of these diseases and the real risks of contracting them. For example : Diptheria , every one knows there have been no cases of it for 50 years in the entire western hemisphere and no cases of wild polio for over 2 decades now. That is information that should be included for each disease before recommending the vaccination finally.

Also, she has no chapters on immune system function or the real harmful devastating effects vaccines are having on some children.

My personal opinion is Dr. Tenpennys books/dvds and Dr. Neustaedters book are far more convincing and useful.

Average customer rating:

Interesting even if you're not a chef.

Fly on the Wall of an Amazing Kitchen

Repetitive, sycophantic, but interesting, to a point.

Should have been a long article, not a book

A great companion to Letters to a Young Chef

The Fourth Star: Dispatches from Inside Daniel Boulud's Celebrated New York Restaurant
Leslie Brenner
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Essays | Gastronomy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute

ASIN: 0609608088
Release Date: 2002-06-11

Book Description

For foodies, restaurant fans and restaurant workers, chefs and chef-wannabes, and for everyone who devoured Kitchen Confidential, here is a revealing look at what goes on behind the scenes at the world-renowned Restaurant Daniel as chef/owner Daniel Boulud strives for perfection–and for the New York Times’ top four-star rating.

The hushed, elegant atmosphere of a fine restaurant often conceals an intensely stressful workplace where highly trained, underpaid staffers work backbreaking hours against impossible dead-lines, often at the whim of a driven and demanding yet creatively gifted boss. New York’s Restaurant Daniel is one such place. With the complete cooperation of Chef Daniel Boulud, author Leslie Brenner spent a full year at the restaurant, getting to know the staff in the kitchen, the front of the house, and the manager’s office. And she reports on it all with a vivid immediacy: the maître d’ shuffling reservations when a VIP shows up unannounced, the young pastry chef who gets passed over for a promotion (and then gets the last laugh), even the financial arrangements that keep the restaurant’s doors open for business. And underlying all the daily drama is Chef Boulud’s obsession with getting a fourth star from the New York Times.

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Daniel Boulud's Manhattan restaurant, Daniel, is considered one of the nation's top dining spots. But in 1999, New York Times restaurant reviewer William Grimes demoted Daniel from its lofty four-star status to a merely "excellent" three stars. Leslie Brenner's The Fourth Star recounts her self-assigned year behind the scenes at Daniel, at the end of which Grimes returned the coveted star. Her fascinating fly-on-the-wall narrative takes readers to the restaurant's two arenas: the front of the house, a world of demanding patrons and equally exacting staff, who try to accommodate guests while ensuring the smooth coordination of operations; and the world behind the swinging doors, a roiling place in which tension is both staved off and cultivated by barking chefs--including Boulud--but which nonetheless (or consequently) produces world-class food.

Brenner takes readers everywhere: to the reservations desk and its crew's VIP-seating machinations; to staff meetings; to a wine-buying session; to a visit from President Clinton (who is allergic, it's noted, to chocolate); and, primarily, to the kitchen, where "the work is really hard and someone else takes all the credit" and burnout means that cooks, most in their 20s, stay an average of a year. This is all great stuff, and Brenner is particularly, almost amazingly, good at getting it all down to the last crème brûlée. Unfortunately, the book is compromised by the author's near-sycophantic regard for Boulud (his "genius is readily apparent," is a typical observation) and the restaurant, whose "wondrousness" is presented as a given. Thus the narrative, which is also (perhaps unavoidably) repetitive, often feels like an infomercial. Hanging her tale on the wish for the fourth star also plays Brenner false, as the issue is largely unmentioned or otherwise expressed by the cast of characters, leading Brenner to interject leading comments ("Could [Boulud] have missed his moment in the eyes of the critic whose judgment matters most?") that only salute the lack of narrative tension. These things said, the book is still a must-read for anyone interested in the workings of a top-drawer restaurant at the peak of its powers, and of the amazing hierarchical dramas, front of the house and back, that make it what it is. --Arthur Boehm

Customer Reviews:

Interesting even if you're not a chef........2005-08-19

Enjoyed the book and I'm no chef. I actually bought it for business purposes (consulting with a restaurant owner) and found it great on customer service and the ins and outs of restaurant managment. It made me hungry simply reading about the fabulous food. Easy and quick read with interesting personal stories.

Fly on the Wall of an Amazing Kitchen.......2005-08-19

Another interesting book from Leslie Brenner. This time we are behind the scenes at the elegant Daniel, in the kitchen & the dining room. the passions, problems & incredibly hard work involved with making a great meal are objectively laid out for you by the author.

Repetitive, sycophantic, but interesting, to a point........2005-06-19

How many times you can describe a 'typical' lunchtime in the same restaurant kitchen without sounding repetitive? It was interesting the first few times but this book drags on and on, everyone is wonderful except for the maitre d', Daniel Boulud is a genius who travels a lot. Characterisation is this cook is tall, this one is French, that one is a woman with permanent pms (ok, the author didn't say that, exactly). The staff get pissed off and leave after a year or less. Some people go to market to buy provisions.

VIPS (which means anyone with a recognisable name or from the press) get free courses, free meals, the best tables, special treatment. The (rich) unknowns pay their couple hundred plus per meal to subsidise the restaurant being able to suck up to VIPS. That's it. Nothing else is said at all. The writer is obviously 'good' at columns and great at thinking up a way of getting free meals for a year with the payback of stunningly good publicity, I wish I'd thought of it.

One thing I did learn, if you are going to dine in an expensive restaurant it wouldn't hurt if when you booked you let it be known that you are From The Press. At the very least they wouldn't sit you near the bathrooms then!

Should have been a long article, not a book.......2004-02-04

This book is a year-long, behind-the-scenes look at a New York restaurant, DANIEL, whose chef/owner, Daniel Boulud, was attempting to re-gain his four-star rating from the New York Times. I read this after watching the series "Restaurant" and it was a good follow-up to the show. They are entirely different restaurants, but had many things in common and it was easy for me to picture the goings on at DANIEL.

Brenner covered both the "front of the house" and the area behind the kitchen doors. We met reservationists, the maitre de, Daniel, waiters and bus boys, chefs and line cooks. We learn about VIP seating, wine buying, and much about the backbreaking and stressful jobs involved in running a fine restaurant.

The best parts were what I would call the gossipy stuff and the food descriptions.

Unfortunately, this book should have been a long article. It was incredibly repetitive and the author's bias toward (adoration of?) Boulud was very distracting.

A great companion to Letters to a Young Chef.......2004-01-12

Such a joy to read. Opening the pages and reading is like opening the kitchen or dining room door at Daniel and working there. I am one of a few fortuneate to have "staged" at Daniel in 1995. Reading the book took me back and opened once agian the intense sense of cooking with Daniel Boulud and Alex Lee. Two of America's Crown Jewles in the Culinary World. The book is written as it should be, honest, insitefull and sometimes brash.
The writer creates a wonderful work from her notes and daily visits to the kitchen and dining room. Only Michael Ruhlman, (6 time author) could have done a better job. Chef Bob Vaningan

The Fourth Star: Dispatches from Inside Daniel Boulud's Celebrated New York Restaurant

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The Fourth Star: Dispatches from Inside Daniel Boulud's Celebrated New York Restaurant
Leslie Brenner
Manufacturer: Crown Publishing Group, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WL77NA

Average customer rating:

BRAVO !!!!!

Great Book!

Great Book with a lot of information

American Pit Bull Terriers: The Truth Behind One of America's Most Popular Breeds
Dawn Capp
Manufacturer: Doral Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Breeds | Dogs | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

Known for it's bite-inhibition, the Pit Bull can out pull a dog twice its weight and is a lovable and loyal family pet. Uncover the exploitation of these breeds which has been done all in the name of sport.

Customer Reviews:

BRAVO !!!!!.......2006-12-22

My hat goes off to Dawn Capp for her dedication to helping this breed and for writing this book. This book is perfect for handing out to your neighbors (who think "pit bull" equals "vicious man killer" due to years of being bombarded by the bias media propaganda and misinformation) when you bring home your new Bulldog pup or rescue dog. It is informative and to the point so it is a quick read that holds your interest. It really hits home on how persecuted these poor animals are, and paints a true picture of how wonderful these dogs really are. This is a must have for any breed advocate or new Pit Bull owner to help pave the way to a more favorable public image of our breed.

Great Book!.......2005-01-29

This book dispells many of the myths about these wonderful animals. Highly recommended.

Great Book with a lot of information.......2004-10-18

Very comprehensive, and it has a nice chapter on hero pit bulls. Good photos. The cover photo is very nice!

Book Description

The baseball card market is heating up again and your customers are spending most of their time and money on the newer cards! The new edition of the Baseball Card Price Guide provides them with the most comprehensive checklist available for cards issued from 1981-2001. More than 175,000 cards are priced by the analysts of the sports card hobby's leading publication, Sports Collectors Digest.

Your customers can count on having the most current sets, the very latest releases of 2001 and the hottest insert cards checklisted and priced. Plus more than 2,000 large, clear photos will appeal to both new and experienced collectors.

All prices have been compiled from actual card transactions from the Sports Collectors Digest's dealer network and via auction results so your book buyers can be assured of current and accurate real-world prices.

- 175,000 cards checklisted and priced from 1981-2001 - A glossary of hobby terms and tutorial on how to grade and evaluate cards - More than 2,000 large, clear photos for simple identification

Customer Reviews:

upto date price guide.......2000-06-12

i have used this book to look up alot of cards that is was going to buy to see there actual b.v and in the book some of the cards i recently bought were actualy below what there b.v was so i resold them and made a 200% profit! buy this book and find out what your baseball cards are worth.!

Official Price Guide to Baseball Cards 1998, 17th Edition (Official Price Guide to Baseball Cards)

Average customer rating:

great assistance
An awsome magazine!!!
this book got everything you need in it
good

Official Price Guide to Baseball Cards 1998, 17th Edition (Official Price Guide to Baseball Cards)
James Beckett
Manufacturer: House of Collectibles
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0676600506
Release Date: 1997-03-25

Book Description

THE BESTSELLING BASEBALL CARD PRICE GUIDE!

[ ] EXPANSIVE. More than 290,000 prices listed!

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PINNACLE UPPER DECK

[ ] WRITTEN BY THE EXPERT DEALERS RELY ON! Dr. James Beckett is the leading authority on baseball card prices.

[ ] CLEAR IDENTIFICATION. Every baseball card is identified by year, manufacturer, size, format, and player.

[ ] VALUABLE TIPS. Professional advice on buying, selling, caring for, and storing your cards.

[ ] CARD COLLECTING HISTORY. All the facts you need to know, from the early days of baseball until today.

[ ] CONDITION GRADE PRICING. Beckett's state-of-the-art system for accurately identifying values based on grade and condition.

[ ] INVENTORY CHECKLIST. A great feature for quick and easy cataloging.

HOUSE OF COLLECTIBLES

Serving collectors for more than thirty-five years

Customer Reviews:

great assistance.......2000-01-21

this book help the average joe every day

An awsome magazine!!!.......1999-07-28

This magazine has everything you need to know about baseball card collecting. I recomend this series of monthly price guides to any card collector!!!

this book got everything you need in it.......1999-03-20

i like this book so much but i moved and can't get it anymore so i get one monthly they cost less on amazon then any other place that i go to.

good.......1999-03-11

goo

Average customer rating:

1998 Baseball Card Price Guide

Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Basketball | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0451194403

Average customer rating:
Greenberg's Layout Plans for Lionel Trains
Cliff Lang
Manufacturer: Greenberg Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Model Trains | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Transportation & Highway | Civil | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0897780507

Average customer rating:
Greenberg's for Lionel Trains (for lionel trains)

Manufacturer: greenberg publishing co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J54RLE

Average customer rating:
Greenberg's Operating Instuctions with Layout Plans (For Lionel Trains)

Manufacturer: Greenberg Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ERM03E

Book Description

PILOTO tells the story of Hank Cervantes, son of migrant field workers, who rose above the poverty and hardship of Central California's sweltering farm fields to become one of only a handful of Mexican-American pilots in the annals of the United States Air Force. His trials and triumphs as an anomaly in the tight fraternity of Caucasian pilots follow the Air Force's transformation from the B-17 battle wagons of WWII to the Strategic Air command's supersonic B-58 Hustler. Provocative, witty, and intensely personal, PILOTO offers a fascinating portrait of a pioneer who helped pave the way for today's Latino men and women pilots--and for all those who will fly into the future.

Customer Reviews:

An engaging and candid memoir.......2003-04-19

Piloto: Migrant Worker To Jet Pilot by Henry Cervantes is his personal story of being a Mexican-American pilot who proudly served the United States Air Force. An engaging and candid memoir of what it was like to be a Latino in a life-or-death field dominated by Caucasians, Piloto offers the reader a firsthand witness of one man's transformation in while serving in the Air Force both during and after World War II. Piloto is a unique and welcome contribution to American Military and Aviation History collections.

A solid, entertaining read.......2003-02-11

I heard Hank Cervantes speak at a reunion of the famed "Bloody 100th" Bomb Group and was so impressed I went out and got this book. It was just as impressive. What an incredible story! A child of migrant workers, growing up in the harshest condiditons imaginable, dreams of something beyond the farm fields. He stays in school, works hard and eventually is accepted into pilot training during WWII. He has to put up with bigotry and racism at every turn, yet something in him won't let him give in or up. Eventually he achieves ranking and position few Hispanics in the military have. Besides being a great story teller, Cervantes is also a great role model for youth--minority and otherwise. Then to top it all off, the book is filled with details about B-17s, B-47s and the B-58 Hustler--a perfect read for an ol' aviation buff like me. This one should be in every school library in the country. Read it!

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