Essays Books - Page 3

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman (Large Print Press)

Nora Ephron

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 342 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With her disarming, intimate, completely accessible voice, and dry sense of humor, Nora Ephron shares with us her ups and downs in I Feel Bad About My Neck, a candid, hilarious look at women who are getting older and dealing with the tribulations of maintenance, menopause, empty nests, and life itself.

The woman who brought us When Harry Met Sally . . . , Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and Bewitched, and the author of best sellers Heartburn, Scribble Scribble, and Crazy Salad, discusses everything—from how much she hates her purse to how much time she spends attempting to stop the clock: the hair dye, the treadmill, the lotions and creams that promise to slow the aging process but never do. Oh, and she can’t stand the way her neck looks. But her dermatologist tells her there’s no quick fix for that.

Ephron chronicles her life as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent.  She recounts her anything-but-glamorous days as a White House intern during the JFK years (“I am probably the only young woman who ever worked in the Kennedy White House that the President did not make a pass at”) and shares how she fell in and out of love with Bill Clinton—from a distance, of course.  But mostly she speaks frankly and uproariously about life as a woman of a certain age.

Utterly courageous, wickedly funny, and unexpectedly moving in its truth telling, I Feel Bad About My Neck is a book of wisdom, advice, and laugh-out-loud moments, a scrumptious, irresistible treat.

This I Believe II: More Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

Jay Allison, Dan Gediman

Amazon Price: $13.80 List Price: $23.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Henry Holt and Co. Amazon Marketplace: 49 new & used starting at $10.94

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A new collection of inspiring personal philosophies from another noteworthy group of people

This second collection of This I Believe essays gathers seventyfive essayists—ranging from famous to previously unknown—completing the thought that begins the book’s title. With contributors who run the gamut from cellist Yo-Yo Ma to ordinary folks like a diner waitress, an Iraq War veteran, a farmer, a new husband, and many others, This I Believe II, like the first New York Times bestselling collection, showcases moving and irresistible essays.

Included are Sister Helen Prejean writing about learning what she truly believes through watching her own actions, singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore writing about a hard-won wisdom based on being generous to others, and Robert Fulghum writing about dancing all the dances for as long as he can. Readers will also find wonderful and surprising essays about forgiveness, personal integrity, and honoring life and change.

Here is a welcome, stirring, and provocative communion with the minds and hearts of a diverse, new group of people—whose beliefs and the remarkably varied ways in which they choose to express them reveal the American spirit at its best.

Armageddon in Retrospect

Kurt Vonnegut

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Setting Up The Fall, Vonnegut-style 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Made In Hero: The War for Soap

Maybe some subjects are difficult to talk about without a dose of juvenile humor. Talk about honestly, anyway. For Kurt Vonnegut, one of those subjects was war. He seemed to feel that war was meaningless, although writing about it wasn't. His son Mark observed, "The reader's time and attention were sacred to him."

As a tribute to the legacy of Kurt Vonnegut, this volume of previously unpublished writings is bittersweet. It begins with Kurt's army repatriation letter, addressed to his family from a processing station at the end of WWII, which begins "Dear people." It goes on to explain what he'd been up to in the prior months as a POW in the custody of Germans. We can see that even at age 22, Kurt Vonnegut had the deadpan delivery and dark humor of the man who was destined to invent Billy Pilgrim and the Planet Tralfalmadore. We can see the sadness, too.

In "Great Day," the narrator is a green recruit in a futuristic Army of the World. For every manic order barked at him by the burly sergeant, the recruit replies "I done it." Repeated often enough, the phrase becomes a chorus, and the story a song. In this way, "So it goes," became the anthem of a generation of readers who grew up on SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE. It's a Vonnegutian trademark.

A few stories are feats of Vonnegutian magic realism-a unique mix of grit, war and the surreal. A nice example is "Happy Birthday, 1951" -a satire on the human fascination with war and its hardware. In a quasi-post Apocalyptic setting, an old man and a boy survive in a subterranean shelter beneath the rubble of a bombed and occupied city (which could be Dresden, could be anywhere). The old man picks tomorrow as the day to celebrate the boy's birthday (the actual date being unknown). For a gift, he builds a cart from scrap tires he managed to scavenge. The pair display the sort of ragamuffin innocence often found in survivors. The combination is not merely affable and idyllic-but deceptive and ominous.

Many of the stories in this volume are disturbing. Vonnegut knows how to set up the fall, and willingly, we go there. If the point of fiction is to create alternative universes, Vonnegut makes frightening ones. But they have a Vonnegutian redemption, too, so much that we like them better than the actual worlds we live in.

Editorial Review:

Unabridged CDs • 8 CDs, 10 hours

The first and only collection of unpublished works by Kurt Vonnegut since his death—a fitting tribute to the author, and an essential contribution to the discussion of war, peace, and humanity’s tendency toward violence.

The Partly Cloudy Patriot

Sarah Vowell

List Price: $22.00 By: Simon & Schuster Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $4.00

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Subjects -> History -> Historical Study -> Essays

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 65 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In The Partly Cloudy Patriot, Sarah Vowell travels through the American past and, in doing so, investigates the dusty, bumpy roads of her own life. In this insightful and funny collection of personal stories Vowell -- widely hailed for her inimitable narratives on public radio's This American Life -- ponders a number of curious questions: Why is she happiest when visiting the sites of bloody struggles like Salem or Gettysburg? Why do people always inappropriately compare themselves to Rosa Parks? Why is a bad life in sunny California so much worse than a bad life anywhere else? What is it about the Zen of foul shots? And, in the title piece, why must doubt and internal arguments haunt the sleepless nights of the true patriot?

Her essays confront a wide range of subjects, themes, icons, and historical moments: Ike, Teddy Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton; Canadian Mounties and German filmmakers; Tom Cruise and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; twins and nerds; the Gettysburg Address, the State of the Union, and George W. Bush's inauguration.

The result is a teeming and engrossing book, capturing Vowell's memorable wit and her keen social commentary.

Once Again to Zelda: The Stories Behind Literature's Most Intriguing Dedications

Marlene Wagman-Geller

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An enjoyable read 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I didn't know any of the background behind the author's dedications. What a fascinating subject! The book is an easy read and definitely enjoyable...should be the fodder of many holiday party discussions! I really liked that I could read author by author, not in any prescribed order and it was enough to hold my attention without too much drama...although I admit that the story behind the Sea Biscuit dedication did bring a tear to my eye. I would recommend this book. My mom is getting it...gee I hope she doesn't read this...lol.

Editorial Review:

A fascinating look at the stories behind the dedications of 50 literary classics.

Mary Shelley dedicated Frankenstein to her father, her greatest champion. Charlotte Brönte dedicated Jane Eyre to William Makepeace Thackeray for his enthusiastic review of the book’s first edition. Dostoyevsky dedicated The Brothers Karamazov to his typist-turned-lover Anna Grigoyevna. And, as this collection’s title indicates, F. Scott Fitzgerald dedicated his masterpiece The Great Gatsby to his wife Zelda.

Often overlooked, a novel’s dedication can say much about an author and his or her relationship to the person for whom the book was consecrated. Once Again to Zelda explores the dedications in fifty iconic books that are an intrinsic part of both literary and pop culture, shedding light on the author’s psyche, as well as the social and historic context in which the book was first published.

Orthodoxy

Gilbert Keith Chesterton

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Subjects -> Religion & Spirituality -> Christianity -> Theology -> Apologetics

Editorial Review:

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 - 14 June 1936) was an influential English writer of the early 20th century. His prolific and diverse output included journalism, philosophy, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy and detective fiction.

Kerplunk!: Stories

Patrick F McManus

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

You just must read this book for getting your sides split. 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

These books by McManus are the best for making you remember what it was like growing up when kids were real kids. As you read, the world melts away and entertains you as if you were really there.

laugh out loud funny 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is the first audio book I have gotten from this author. I made a deal with my self to listen to audio books only while driving. I started laughing so hard I had to pull the car over so I wouldn't wreck the car. It should come with a warning DANGER LAUGHING AND DRIVING COULD WRECK THE CAR.
surprisingly, My husband listened to this one and liked it. Kerplunk may of been my first book but it won't be my last. I'll just have to learn how to drive and laugh out loud.

McManus is the greatest. 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

McManus is my favorite humorist. This book is a compilation of his articles in Outdoor Life. Not quite up to his other books, but he still gets some good ones off.

Laugh out loud stories for people that love the outdoors ... 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

and for folks that need reasons not to go out. (At least you'll laugh about the problems you are missing.)

McManus is one of those authors whose books don't need to be read in any particular order, and since I have a "complete" collection, I thought I would review his output on the occasion of the most recent addition.

It started out pretty well for McManus over 40 years ago when he was in college:

"When I entered his office, the dean glanced up at me sternly, a faculty countenance with which I was not unfamiliar.

"Oh, it's you, McManus," he said, brightening. "I just wanted to tell you I enjoyed very much that little story of yours in the literary magazine about the lady who kept things. Quite good! Excellent, in fact!"

"I'm unsure what field of scholarship the dean pursued, but probably not literary criticism. Nevertheless, the dean's nugget of praise has remained in my psychic poke for forty years and more, and from time to time I take it out and bask in its healing glow. Never ignore or forget any bit of praise for your writing, deserved or not. Praise possesses excellent restorative properties, particularly for the writer of humor."

[Great advice, frankly. Is it any wonder I treasure every Helpful vote, and mourn each Unhelpful vote here on Amazon?]

It's impossible to rank McManus's books in any particular order. Even the weakest are relatively weak only because there are less laugh out loud moments. There are always some, that's for sure. Here are a few favorites:

A Fine and Pleasant Misery -- "Personally, I miss the old-fashioned misery of old fashioned camping."

They Shoot Canoes, Don't They? (Owlet Book) -- "Not wishing to embarrass them any more than was absolutely necessary, Retch and I just let on as if everything was normal and if that scarcely a day went by that we didn't see people in funny costumes hammering nails into rock."

Into the Twilight, Endlessly Grousing -- ""Your smoking them is bad for my health."

"That's because you're a panty-waist," he said. "This is a fine cigar, and if you had any taste at all, you'd appreciate its lovely aroma. Hemingway always brought me a couple boxes from Cuba when he came up to hunt with me in Idaho. Now. there was a man! They don't make men like Hem anymore, yourself being a case in point."

The Bear in the Attic -- ""Now, Buck, this is probably something you don't know, but cute is one of nature's devices for preserving its young. It doesn't apply to just animals either. Many a dumb and useless human being has survived and prospered for no other reason than the good luck of being cute."

McManus is as close as we'll get to a living Mark Twain. A treasure indeed.

Robert C. Ross 2009

Editorial Review:

This is the latest hilarious collection of folksy, humorous, and wonderfully wise stories about country life from the bestselling author of The Blight Way.

St. Martin's Guide to Writing

Rise B. Alelrod, Charles R. Cooper

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Informative and lots of good examples 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I like the book as it goes into areas that I might not think of and creates ideas to use, it was required for my critical thinking class but I do have to caution that as good as the book is, you still need a good teacher to show you what the book can't and as English teachers tend to have conflicts of opinion as to how to write an essay, if they don't accept what the last teacher taught, it's useless.

Editorial Review:

The best-selling college rhetoric for over 20 years, The St. Martin’s Guide has an unparalleled record of proven success. From the beginning, Axelrod and Cooper have taken the best of classic and contemporary theory, filtered it through their own and their colleagues’ classroom experience, and then blended the result into a flexible classroom tool. Their step-by-step guides to writing specific kinds of essays were a groundbreaking concept and changed the way writing is taught in American colleges. The course continues to change, and Axelrod and Cooper continue to innovate: source-based writing, analysis of argument, online teaching, and visual rhetoric are some of the focuses of this latest revision. By seamlessly incorporating practical, class-tested solutions to these new challenges, Axelrod and Cooper have once again provided the best foundation for college writing.

Notes from Underground

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 136 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"I AM A SICK MAN...I am a wicked man." 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Brilliant...

One of my favorite Dostoevsky books!

It's a short tale that explores the neurotic mind.

From the first line...
"I AM A SICK MAN...I am a wicked man."

This work is a painfully honest fictional exploration into the human heart.


MikeG

Notes From Underground 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Notes From Underground is a difficult but immensely gratifying and important read.
Critics tend to refer to the Underground Man as a 'Mad Genius'; I beg to differ. He is the epitome of the average thinking human albeit with a shocking amount of self awareness. The Underground Man seems to be aware of the delusions he brings upon himself and the the facade he puts on in front of society. In the end, it is that self awareness that makes him better than the rest of us; but only marginally.
Compulsory reading for anyone who appreciates existentialist literature and despite what you think, the book is ultimately quite uplifting.

Editorial Review:

The apology and confession of a minor mid-19th century Russian official, "Notes From Underground", is a half-desperate, half-mocking political critique and a powerful, at times absurdly comical, account of man's breakaway from society and descent 'underground'.

Jamberry

Bruce Degen

By: Hodder Children's Books Amazon Marketplace: 1 new & used starting at $30.30

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Total reviews: 104 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

I don't get it... but kids love it, so there you go 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

The first time I read this, I simply did not get it. But then I read it again with an open mind combined with my own fond memories of picking huckleberries in the Idaho mountains and soon was more acclimated to this charming little rhyme. The repetion of vowels is great for little ears and the pictures truly are wonderfully whimsical. I still don't get it, but it certainly is darling.

Fun rhythm for babies and tots 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This was one of my daughter's favorites, and it's one I didn't mind reading again and again. It has a fun rhythm and innovative text, and is not repetitive or "moralizing" like many kids' books. It's not meant to teach a lesson, just fun-- and really, don't we all need that sometimes?

Delightful 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Just a delightful book. I remember reading this during library time when I was little, so I had fond memories of reading the playful words and looking at the fanciful illustrations. You'll enjoy the book if you like fun rhyming that doesn't necessarily use "perfect" words but creates an enjoyable experience for your child anyway. Although another reviewer gave this book one star because it wasn't "educational" enough due to its use of playful words, some books are just meant to be read and enjoyed without teaching a lesson. It's okay to let kids be kids and to foster their imagination!

Now I'm an adult with a toddler. I found "Jamberry" at our local library and checked it out to read to my daughter who was 12 months old at the time. She kept saying "again" whenever we'd finish it. Whenever we check it out at the library, she wants to read it everyday, multiple times, at least 3 times in a row. Although this may annoy me slightly (especially after the 15th time reading it in one day), I'm thrilled she's so excited about a book and am proud to help foster her love for reading at an early age.

As an aside, we haven't checked "Jamberry" out at the library in at least 2 months and tonight I said "One berry, two berry, pick me a blueberry" and our daughter wanted to read the book. We tried explaining to her that "Jamberry" was still at the library and she got pretty upset that the book wasn't here to read for the twenty-millionth time. Never making that mistake again! No quoting "Jamberry" unless you have the real thing to back it up. That's why I've gone ahead and put it on my daughter's wish list.