The Oxford French Business Dictionary

Book Description

This is an ideal dictionary for students taking French in combination with a business qualification at college or university or for anyone doing business in the French-speaking world. It provides an exhaustive range of business vocabulary across many core areas, giving the most extensive coverage on the market of e-commerce and Internet-related terms. Detailed treatment of all vocabulary items is provided, along with thousands of example phrases illustrating important constructions. The extensive supplementary material offers sample business correspondence, including faxes, emails, and invoices; CVs; lists of countries, nationalities, languages, and currencies; and guidance on using the telephone.

Book Description

With its unflinching portrayal of the squalor and brutality of turn-of-the-century New York, Maggie: A Girl of the Streetsproduced a scandal when it was first published in 1893. Crane's novel chronicles the life of Maggie Johnson, the daughter of a cruel father and drunken mother, who finds work in a collar factor and is seduced by her brother's menacing friend, Pete. Disowned by her mother, Maggie becomes a prostitute and, ultimately, a victim of despair. But more than the tale of a young woman's tragic fall, the novel is also a powerful exploration of the destructive forces that underlie urban society and human nature.

This volume also includes "George's Mother" and eleven other tales and sketches of New York written between 1892 and 1896. Together in their poised realism these tales confirm Crane's place as the first modern American writer.

"A powerful, severe, and harshly comic portrayal of Irish immigrant life in lower New York exactly a century ago."--Alfred Kazin

Customer Reviews:

The underbelly of New York at the turn of the century.......2007-01-31

If Edith Wharton captures the snobbery, superficiality, hypocrisy, materialism, and coldness of New York City's turn-of-the-century elite, Stephen Crane reveals the toughness, callousness, brutality, and violence of New York's working class. Ironically, Wharton's Lily Bart and Crane's Maggie Johnson, both romantics moving in anti-romantic spheres, share a similar fate--abandoned by their respective societies.

Unlike Wharton, Crane wrote from a primarily journalistic, dispassionate point of view. The settings, the situations, the speech, and the similes reveal the underbelly of life among the working poor. Maggie opens with "a very little boy," her brother Jim, serving as "champion" of Rum Alley, an aptly named area where life is centered on working, drinking, and fighting.

Maggie and Jim's father can't keep him from fighting because that's all the boy knows, and the torn clothes that his drunken mother bemoans cannot compare to the furniture and crockery damage that occur during their violent marital spats. The father, a drunken brute like his wife, does not understand the irony of his demand when he says, ". . . Yer allus pounding 'im . . . I can't get no rest 'cause yer allus poundin' a kid. Let up, d'yeh hear? Don't be allus poundin' a kid." The infuriated mother responds with increased savagery. "At last she tossed him to a corner where he limply lay cursing and weeping." Jim, Maggie, and even the baby Tommie seem to be as disposable as the rest of the household goods.

Life in the city is lived outwardly, and the strong do not question themselves. While "Jimmie had an idea it wasn't common courtesy for a friend to come to one's home and ruin one's sister," his contemplations of his own actions toward women are cut off by self-absolution before such introspection can lead to self-incrimination. Later, Pete will share this attitude when Maggie attempts, in his mind, "to give him some responsibility in a matter that did not concern him."

Maggie and Jimmie's parents represent an extreme. Everyone knows their family's business, from the residents who share their tenement with its "gruesome doorway" to the group of urchins who waylay the mother as she is ejected from a saloon for "disturbance." The Johnsons' troubles delight the neighbors; the old woman downstairs tells Jim that "deh funnies' t'ing I ever saw" was Maggie "a-cryin' as if her heart would break, she was. It was deh funnies' t'ing I ever saw."

In the midst of this squalor, Maggie does have an inner life. Combined with her romanticism and naïveté, it convinces her that Pete is the height of urbane sophistication as he bullies waiters, telling them to "git off deh eart'." Interestingly, as she toils over "eternal collars and cuffs," Maggie has a daydream that foreshadows Pete's final chapter in the novel; she imagines him with a half dozen women "and thought he must lean dangerously toward an indefinite one, whom she pictured with great charms of person, but with an altogether contemptible disposition."

In Maggie's final appearance, Crane does not use her name, which perhaps answers her question from the preceding chapter: "Who?" She begins her anonymous journey near a theater district, where the affluent emerge from "a place of forgetfulness." Her wanderings on this one night reflect her life over the previous several months, as she leaves behind the bright light and glamor on a trail of rejection that leads ever downward, until she meets a wreck of a human, who follows "the girl of the crimson legions." No longer Maggie, she represents those whose naivete, hopes, and foolish romantic dreams are crushed by the code of toughness that Jimmie fights for at the beginning and the hypocrisy that her lamenting mother exhibits at her fall.

These stories can be hard to read, partly because most of the relationships seem detached or distant at best and bitterly heartless at worst. Maggie's father talks about pounding "a kid" as though they are not his own and have nothing to do with him. Pete is "stuck" on Maggie's shape only until she gets in the way of greater desires. George of George's Mother is happiest when he has made his old mother miserable. At the same time his "friends," whose habits and exhortations have led to his downfall, abandon him, just as he turned on his mother.

Love is a rare visitor to Crane's pages, apparent mostly in the maternal indulgences of George's Mother and the rediscovered affection of Mr. and Mrs. Binks in "Mr. Binks' Day Off." It is only in the countryside of New Jersey that the battling Binkses find a moment in which to express genuine affection: "Mrs. Binks had stolen forth her arm and linked it with his. Her head leaned softly against his shoulder."

Notably, the other loving relationship, between a child and "A Dark-Brown Dog," is marked by the brutality of the one and the submissiveness of the other. Their friendship begins when "the child lifted his hand and struck the dog a blow upon the head"; the dog "sank down in despair at the child's feet." In the world both know, the more powerful must domineer, and the weaker must submit. Living by this simple rule, however, does not guarantee survival.

Crane self-published Maggie, and it is sometimes clear that his work could have benefited from an editor's counsel. For example, similes such as, "The little boy ran to the halls, shrieking like a monk in an earthquake," are ineffective and draw too much attention to themselves. Yet these stories are an amazing accomplishment of observation and writing that make Crane's premature death at age 28 even more tragic.

A bleak uncompromising novel of New York's "lower depths"........2004-11-16

This is a great book,I love this book,though it is almost unbearably sad.The novel's uncompromising realism in its portrayl of stunted,wasted and degraded lives in the New York tenements of the 1890's,horrified many of Stephen Crane's contemporaries,and he initially had to pay to have it privately published(it was his first novel).Only when he became famous as the author of "The Red Badge of Courage",was there a proper edition.Crane railed at "sentimentality",which he saw as an artistic curse.There is no sentimentality in this book,and Crane proved that a good writer could still move the reader to tears without purple prose.

Brilliant Writing!.......2004-04-07

I am amazed at the fact that Stephen Crane was only twenty-one when he wrote this story "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets". I found it to be a genuine effort to tell a story from the inside-out instead of the usual outside-in.

I also found Crane's style very addictive. When I moved on to my next novel, I truly missed Cran's writing style. If you haven't read any of Crane's works, I suggest you start off with Maggie to see how you like him.

See ya next review:

www.therunninggirl.com

Well written book about 1890's slum life.......2003-12-31

This book was well written. The naturalistic setting and expressive use of slang transport you back to the nasty means streets of New York at the turn of the century. Some of their values seem kind of quaint and rustic as compared to 100 years later, however the realism is staggering. One can feel the despair of a terrible life that never gets better. Death and disease are the only fates that await and there is no release.

This is not just a book to be read as an assignment, read it for the realistic view of history as a slice of life to understand what New Yorker's were going through then, and as a parable to ghetto life today. Some things have changed but some still stay the same......plus ca change.......

What Are You People Thinking?.......2001-02-02

I'm sorry, but real life is not as pleasurable as you and I would like it to be. Stephen Crane was one of the first authors to write about life and war as an unpleasant, realistic thing. I think his writing is like a wakeup call for people like the writers of previous entries, because life is full of sad, depressing things, such as pain and rejection. As for the vocabulary and writing style, I assume that the writers of previous entries are not in second grade anymore, so they should be able to follow, understand, and appreciate the works of some of the greatest American novelists, such as Stephen Crane.

Maggie a Girl of the Streets and Other New York Stories (Voices; A Treasury of Regional American Fiction)

Average customer rating:

Maggie a Girl of the Streets and Other New York Stories (Voices; A Treasury of Regional American Fiction)
Stephen Crane
Manufacturer: Audio Bookshelf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

Reference & Collections | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Directories | Catalogs & Directories | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1883332273

Book Description

Teivo Teivainen explores the redefinition of the boundaries of the economic and the political spheres. In examining how and to what extent it is taking place, he takes the case of the periodic Latin American debt crisis in the 20th Century, and more specifically, the illuminating example of Peru, particularly the failed attempt by President García to resist this new economism and the subsequent volte-face by his successor, President Fujimori.

Amazon.com

From the moment of his birth aboard a train speeding through Stalinist Russia, until his death of AIDS in 1993, Rudolf Nureyev seemed to travel through life at the velocity of a triple pirouette. His professional accomplishments are stunning. Despite starting his ballet training much later most dancers, Nureyev won a coveted spot at the famous Maryinsky (later the Kirov) ballet school in St. Petersburg and went on to become one of the company's favorite dancers. By the end of his first year in the West--in 1961 he became the first Soviet dancer to defect when he stayed in Paris after the rest of the Kirov returned to the U.S.S.R--he had performed with the major ballet companies in both Europe and the United States, and formed his legendary partnership with British dancer Dame Margot Fonteyn. He reinvigorated contemporary ballet, particularly the importance of male dancers, by energizing his favorite traditional roles with unrestrained sexuality and unparalleled technical virtuosity. His personal life was equally full. He carried on affairs with men and women alike--most notable among these was his intense, decades-long involvement with his professional idol Erik Bruhn and his penchant for sexy young call-boys. He hung out at Studio 54 and crisscrossed the Atlantic with his socialite friends, but he also made time to mentor talented young dancers, including Paris Opera Ballet star Sylvie Guillem.

Biographer Diane Solway, who wrote Dance Against Time, a biography of Joffrey Ballet dancer Edward Sterle, has produced an exhaustively comprehensive report on Nureyev's life. The book's most important accomplishment is that it succeeds in correcting many of the myths that still cloak the story of Nureyev's life--she credibly suggests, for instance, that his defection was not premeditated. The flamboyant dancer, known to wear jeweled jock straps, was responsible for propagating most of the stories that grew up around him. He published a ghostwritten autobiography rife with inaccuracies in the early '60s, and much of the information about his first 20 or so years in the Soviet Union has remained inaccessible until very recently. Solway traveled to Russia to piece together her subject's early life with recently declassified documents and interviews with his friends, family, and even a few detractors. She also drew from another rare book, Rudolf Nureyev: Three Years in the Kirov Theater. The result is a biography that objectively addresses the facts and fictions of an extraordinary life to create a vivid and balanced portrait.

Book Description

Everyone knows the name Rudolf Nureyev, but does anyone know the man behind the myth? Diane Solway does; she spent over four years and conducted more than 200 interviews with his family, his friends and lovers, his colleagues, and even his doctors to research Nureyev: His Life the first book to capture him as he was onstage and off -- a great artist whose talent was matched only by his steely will to succeed.

Here is his professional career: his famed partnership with Margot Fonteyn, his personal transformation of the Royal Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet, his impact on dance companies all over the world, his collaborations with Martha Graham and Paul Taylor, and, behind all his accomplishments, the athletic grace and profound understanding that was his gift of genius. Here, too, is the private Nureyev: his Soviet childhood, his inner demons, the men and women who were willing to devote their lives to him. Solway chronicles his flamboyant, extravagant lifestyle, his celebrity-studded circle of friends -- Jacqueline Onassis, Andy Warhol, and Marlene Dietrich, to name only three -- his stormy love affairs, his homosexual promiscuity, and his death from AIDS in 1993.

Nureyev was his own masterpiece, a man always in the process of reinventing himself. Diane Solway's superb biography is as brilliant and as fascinating as the dazzling dancer at center stage.Everyone knows the name Rudolf Nureyev, but does anyone know the man behind the myth? Diane Solway does; she spent over four years and conducted more than 200 interviews with his family, his friends and lovers, his colleagues, and even his doctors to research Nureyev: His Life the first book to capture him as he was onstage and off -- a great artist whose talent was matched only by his steely will to succeed.Everyone knows the name Rudolf Nureyev, but does anyone know the man behind the myth? Diane Solway does; she spent over four years and conducted more than 200 interviews with his family, his friends and lovers, his colleagues, and even his doctors to research Nureyev: His Life the first book to capture him as he was onstage and off -- a great artist whose talent was matched only by his steely will to succeed.

Nureyev was his own masterpiece, a man always in the process of reinventing himself. Diane Solway's superb biography is as brilliant and as fascinating as the dazzling dancer at center stage.

Customer Reviews:

work of psychologist.......2007-02-20

The book gives impression of reading a work of psychologist. From the beginning to the end of the book, Diana could perfectly describe Nureyev's complex personality: disadvantaged childhood in Russia and aspiration for exposing a new world, warm Tatar blood and rudeness, egoism and ambition, brilliant talent and hard work, subtle sensibility and perfectionism, amazing beauty and extreme sexuality, the factors which contributed him becoming a great dancer of the century. Metaphors she used are funny and sharp as well. Finally, book gives very good information about the history of ballet, the culture that formed the background of the ballet etc.

Thanks Diane for this great job and thanks for giving a pleasure to the fans of Nureyev.

In fairness, a moderate success..............2000-07-08

With all the good reviews this work is receiving here, I feel that I must point out some of its short-comings. While the information in the book is exhaustive (sometimes to the point of seeming pretentious, as when Solway spends a footnote to provide the married name of an informant after having used her maiden name on the same page--why not just use the established convention of writing first, maiden, and last names?), the obvious research seems often tenuous. Solway's sources are frequently not identified; she writes numerous quotations without noting speakers' or informants' names. Are they Nureyev's words? Did one of his friends or family members say them? Did Solway invent them? How is one to know? How is one to credit the accuracy of a statement at all without the author's establishing of the source's credibility?

There is, of course, a great deal of credited information here, probably most that is not related to the dancer's sexual exploits already in print elsewhere. There is much that I did not know about the "hidden years" in Russia and near the end of the dancer's life. If the information is accurate, these bits are a valuable addition to the permanent body of knowledge about Nureyev (the reason for my 3 star rating).

However, I found the tone of the book uncomfortable. While it is presented as a serious biography, it seemed more akin to a (very weighty) gossip column to me. One other Amazon reviewer noted the presence of lots of stories about Nureyev's lovers (about 2 1/2 pages of speculation on whether Dame Margot Fonteyn was one of them--no definite conclusion). There are also the requisite _enfant terrible_ stories. But mostly missing are the stories of Nureyev's sweetness and generosity. I remember hearing one of his female colleagues say that, if you wanted him to dance for free at a gala you were planning, "all you have to do is cry a little" and he would do anything you wanted. I remember witnessing his evident devastated humility when he accidentally overbalanced a young Royal Ballet ballerina and nearly dropped her from a "bum lift" in a performance of _Fille mal Gardee_. This man could hardly have been the one described by Solway.

Solway does give attention to Nureyev's enormous drive, courage, and indomitability. In that, she is fair to him and to his legend. However, despite the length of the book, there is much missing from it, in my opinion.

Gripping, fascinating story of the man who changed ballet........1999-08-03

Diane Solway has researched and written an altogether fascinating biography of Rudolf Nureyev, the dancer who changed classical ballet in the 20th century. He was born to a impoverished family in Russia and untimately died on his private island purchased with the millions he made during his dance career--a true-life rags-to-riches story. But it is so much more...

What a career Nureyev had! As a child he danced to provide an escape from the poverty of his youth. Almost forcing his way into Russian ballet schools, he astonished even his detractors by his grace and vitality. Solway recreates the scene of his defection from Russia in gripping detail. From that moment on, Russia's loss--which they tried hard to ignore, not even allowing Nureyev to see his mother until she was on her deathbed--became the West's priceless gain.

In the West this amazing young man turned into a human dynamo, insisting that contracts be written to allow him to dance every night rather than the customary once or twice a month. Solway follows his transatlantic crossings in dizzying detail as he dances one night in New York, the next night in Paris, and the following night at a festival in mid-Europe. He extended his career far beyond the usual span for a male dancer, eventually forming his own companies so that he could continue to perform. He insisted on learning the stylized awkward steps for modern ballet, and his name filled many houses for benefit performances with modern dance groups. He staged and choreographed many classical ballets, acted in motion pictures, and acted the part of the king in "The King and I" on stage. In his declining years, he learned conducting techinques, and led several European orchestras in concert programs.

My son gave me this book for my birthday, and included with it the video "Fonteyn and Nureyev." What an inspired gift! Words can go only so far in describing dance--even the words of the dance critics whom Solway generously quotes. Nureyev's partnership with Fonteyn is the stuff of legends! This unlikely pair--she supposedly near the end of her careet and he just starting his--packed houses and evoked hour-long curtain calls with their emotion-packed virtuoso performances so clearly evident in the video and convincingly described by Solway.

In this day and age we are fascinated by the details of the sex lives of celebrities. Here, too, Solway does not dissappoint, although almost everything she quotes is not from Nureyev's mouth but from companions who may perhaps put their own personal agendas ahead of the literal truth. Nureyev became a icon for the gay community, and some were angry that he did not use his death from AIDS as a beacon for their cause.

Whatever his motivation, here is the gripping life story of a man who was driven to accomplish more in his half-century of frenzied life than any of us could possibly imagine. I am immensely grateful for Nureyev's richly creative life and, as well, for Diane Solways carefully detailed account of it.

the most detailed account of Nureyev's life.......1999-01-03

Compared to all the previous books about Rudolf Nureyev, Diane Solaway's "Nureyev: His Life" stands out as the most detailed, most researched and most complete account of the ballet dancer's life. Those who are interested in Russian culture, Tatar history, ballet, lives of gay celebrities, lifestyles of the rich and famous, etc. will find this book totally fascinating.

An excellent and very detailed account of Nureyev's life.......1998-11-28

ALthough verbose and at times too detailed, this is an excellent read full of interesting historical data (both on Russia and Nureyev's ethinic background: Tatar) and personal information on one of this century's greatest artists. Solway does a wonderful job of engaging the reader from page one onwards.

Average customer rating:

Nureyev: His Life Part 1 Of 2
Diane Solway
Manufacturer: Books on Tape, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0736650539

Average customer rating:

Nureyev: His Life Part 2 Of 2
Diane Solway
Manufacturer: Books on Tape, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0736650547

Average customer rating:

Nureyev: His Life
Diane Solway
Manufacturer: Trafalgar Square
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORYSZ2

Book Description

When he first published A Hole in the World in 1990, Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Rhodes helped launch and legitimate a decade-long publishing phenomenon-the memoir of abused childhood. In this tenth anniversary edition, Rhodes offers new reflections on the abuse he and his older brother endured at the hands of their terrorizing stepmother and negligent father. He also describes readers' powerful and moving responses to his book, considers his changing sentiments as the years have passed, and provides additional details on his brother Stanley, who remains the author's true hero in this moving memoir.

Customer Reviews:

Superb.......2005-12-12

This is a beautifully written memoir of childhood hardship, cruelty, and neglect. The author's candor and equanimity in examining a painful history is remarkable, as is the poignant outcome.

Another famous author belabours us with his supposedly-sorry childhood?.......2005-11-17

Not exactly. If you arrive at this book as I did, mildly inquisitive after enjoying his two masterful, definitive tomes on nuclear weapons, you are in for one HELL of a ride.

This is a different book altogether, one that you will not put down. I find myself wondering how elder brother Stanley might have turned out if he hadn’t been the one to walk into the bathroom and find their mom dead with a shotgun in her mouth. Seems he turned out OK, though he didn’t go on to win a Pulitzer Prize.

And when the manipulative floozy moves in and besots their dad to the point where he just seems to vanish, and she starves them, and tortures them, what comes through is just what basic survival machines human beings are capable of becoming when necessary.

Yeah, sure – I had a rough childhood, and so did you. It probably haunts you still. To get an idea of how lucky you are, read this book.

But then, you probably have never won a Pulitzer Prize, and neither will I. If that was the deal being offered, I’d jump on it.

Rhodes' tale of survival and a brother's courage..........2005-11-17

I came to this book quite late, just finishing it a month ago. I read a few non-fiction books by the author and liked them quite a lot, so I grabbed this recently at my local Friends of the Library used book sale. Actually, since I am a domestic violence social worker, reading autobiographical accounts of various kinds of abuse experiences is part of my continuing education. Sad to say, I have read tales of abuse suffered in childhood which are even more disgusting than what Richard and his brother endured, and which lasted much longer than the two-plus years of horror the Rhodes kids experienced at the hands of a vicious stepmother. This is well-done, and the suffering depicted is probably understated...my sense is that Rhodes did not want to rub the readers' noses in his agony, but rather present a message that acting to protect the multitude of neglected and abused kids all around us sometimes does pay off in big ways. If you have an interest in the survival of a bad childhood, this one should be read, but probably would be even more powerful if paired with Dr. Laura Schlessinger's upcoming book, "Bad Childhood, Good Life" due to be published in January, 2006.

A silent cry that last a lifetime........2005-05-19

"A Hole in the World" was recommended to me by people that had read my memoir. I was astonished to see how much our childhoods were alike. Although my story involves being raised as an Old Order Mennonite, we both had childhoods filled with anguish and fear, the deprivation of a mother's love, and behaviors tailored to whatever you had to do to get through the day. And we both had an essential ingredient that helped us make it in life, and that was teachers that saw potential within us. Mr. Rhodes knew he had raw intelligence, and with the positive influence of his teachers, went on to become the successful writer and person we so greatly admire. He clearly cites his personal difficulties in his adult life for he did not know how to be a father, how to have a happy home. I think as the title of his book alludes, he will always have an ache that can't be filled. This is a book everyone should read for it shows the importance of good teachers and mentors. Their encouragement can say to a child that gets it no where else: You are somebody and you have value.

powerful autobio of abuse and growth.......2001-05-11

This is a moving memoire of Rhodes' abusive childhood and how he grew out of it but still carries much of it with him. He is such an exquisite writer that every page aches with anger and regret. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to understand what some foster children go through. One of America's best writers.

A Hole In The World - An American Boyhood

Average customer rating:

A Hole In The World - An American Boyhood
Richard Rhodes
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IWP1FY

Average customer rating:

A Hole in the World - an American Boyhood
Richard Rhodes
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O5X4NG

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books