Just Above My Head Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Just Above My Head? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Just Above My Head. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Just Above My Head ReviewThis is one of the best written, most beautiful books I've ever read. If any one book could be said to distill James Baldwin's entire life, this could be it, at least among his fiction. The sense of love, compassion, and empathy Baldwin has for his characters is tangible. Many of the passages are poetic in their power; Baldwin excels at finding the nuance, the meanings in a gesture, a glance, a touch. Baldwin was a black gay man but I believe that in this book he has transcended both race and sex, and is writing about something more basic and yet more complex: relationships between *human beings*. For those who grew up in the 1960s and 70s, it's impossible to overstate the impact Baldwin had on many of our lives (even in my case, and I'm Caucasian).
I was lucky enough to hear Baldwin lecture 20 years ago; Just Above My Head had been out for about a year and I was able to get my copy autographed and personalized. He was as arresting a speaker as he was a writer.
In the short list of the most deeply felt, most moving, most powerful books written in the 20th century, this has to come near the top.Just Above My Head Overview

Want to learn more information about Just Above My Head?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Not Without Laughter (Dover Thrift Editions) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Not Without Laughter (Dover Thrift Editions)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Not Without Laughter (Dover Thrift Editions). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Not Without Laughter (Dover Thrift Editions) ReviewDespite his considerable output of poetry, short stories and autobiographical work, this is Langston Hughes' only novel. It is the tremendously crafted story of Sandy, a black child of the 1920s in rural Kansas. In poignant tightly written chapters, Hughes' depicts various events in Sandy's life often slipping into the perspective of those closest to him. Sandy lives most his life with his strong-willed and deeply religious grandmother Aunt Hager. She is a benevolent woman who desires peaceful racial relations despite the overwhelming amount of racism and discrimination professed by both white and black community members. Sandy's mother Annjee is a loving and hard working woman eternally devoted to her husband Jimboy who is a good hearted man constantly on the move. Sandy's aunt Tempy is a well-off woman trying to immerse herself in white society and denigrating her own race in the process. His other aunt Harriett is a wilful woman who turns from the church for a different kind of existence. Through these expertly drawn characters, Sandy views their examples and he must make the choices that will effect his future. The novel is a tremendous chronicle of the struggle of a family to survive financially. It gives accounts of the psychological dilemma created by growing in a racially divided society and the diffuse joy in life that can be found even in troubling circumstances.
Maya Angelou wrote of Not Without Laughter: "This book was written when preachers had to be poets and poets were preachers, because they needed to be available to all the people all the time." The messages this novel gives are not subtle. But, through its varied perspectives and eloquently written prose, it envelops the issues it preaches with emotionally edifying ideas. It leaves the reader with a feeling of deep connection to all the characters, particularly the beautiful Sandy in whom we invest our hope and trust to fulfil his potential to become a good, intelligent and strong man who does not feel limited by his racial heritage despite any restrictions society may attempt to place for him. Although it may be a shame that Hughes never wrote another novel as he aptly demonstrated his skill in this one, Not Without Laughter stands as shining work be a skilled artist.Not Without Laughter (Dover Thrift Editions) Overview

Want to learn more information about Not Without Laughter (Dover Thrift Editions)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s: The Killer Inside Me / The Talented Mr. Ripley / Pick-up / Down There / The Real Cool Killers (Library of America) (Vol 2) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s: The Killer Inside Me / The Talented Mr. Ripley / Pick-up / Down There / The Real Cool Killers (Library of America) (Vol 2)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s: The Killer Inside Me / The Talented Mr. Ripley / Pick-up / Down There / The Real Cool Killers (Library of America) (Vol 2). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s: The Killer Inside Me / The Talented Mr. Ripley / Pick-up / Down There / The Real Cool Killers (Library of America) (Vol 2) ReviewThis book is the second volume in the Library of America set on American crime noir. I enjoyed the first volume so much that I decided to read the second one during Christmas break. Once again, the LOA has done a nice job of collecting a fine series of stories. These stories were written during the 1950's and 1960's. The book is nice to look at too; it's covered in red cloth with a cloth bookmark.
The first story is from the demented mind of Jim Thompson. This story, called The Killer Inside Me, is much better than The Grifters, a book by Thompson that I read some time ago. The Grifters seemed to be pretty one-dimensional with respect to its characters. This story is the exact opposite. A deputy sheriff in a Texas city has a terrible secret. He plays dumb on the outside, but inside he is a cunning sociopath. A long simmering resentment leads to a terrible revenge. Bodies quickly stack up as a result. This seems to be the story that Thompson is best known for and it's no surprise why. This is a dark, twisted tale with a grim ending.
Patricia Highsmith wrote a whole series of stories concerning Tom Ripley. The one included here is The Talented Mr. Ripley, probably better known due to the recent film with Matt Damon. This tale isn't as noir as I would have liked, but it still has enough twists and turns to keep anybody in suspense. Ripley is a low class conniver who ingratiates himself into a wealthy family who wants him to go to Italy and bring back their son. Ripley sees the potential for bucks and meets up with the kid and his lady friend. Of course, things take a turn for the worse and the bodies start stacking up. This story was probably my least favorite out of the entire collection.
The next story, Pick-Up, by Charles Willeford, is a depressing tale about two alcoholics who go bump in the night. The story follows the adventures of this alcoholic couple as they attempt suicide, check themselves into a mental hospital, and drink themselves into a stupor. After the female half of the couple dies in another suicide pact, the story switches to a prison tale. The end is somewhat of a twist, but really doesn't impact the story that much, in my opinion. Again, not really noir as noir can be, but still a fine story that can stand by itself.
Down There, by David Goodis, is a wild ride of a tale. Full of suspense and death, this is a great story that deserves to be included here. A family of ne'er-do-wells drags their talented piano-playing brother into their personal problems. The background information on Eddie, the piano player, is phenomenal. The tragedy that has struck him once is bound to repeat itself again. This story has great bit characters that really liven up the background.
The final story, by Chester Himes, is The Real Cool Killers. This is noir on acid: pornographic violence, massive doses of grim reality, and characters you're glad to see get killed. The story is set in Harlem and involves two tough cops named Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. Someone kills a white guy in Harlem and the cops try and track them down. This story contains one of the funniest descriptions of a person falling off a balcony that I've ever read (and I've read a few, disturbingly enough). The writing has enough similes and metaphors to give Raymond Chandler an apoplectic fit. A cool story that certainly deserves a place in this book.
If you like noir, read these two LOA novels. They are long (together they're almost 2000 pages) but it is definitely worth the effort. These kinds of stories are just a great way to while away some free time and relieve stress.Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s: The Killer Inside Me / The Talented Mr. Ripley / Pick-up / Down There / The Real Cool Killers (Library of America) (Vol 2) Overview

Want to learn more information about Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s: The Killer Inside Me / The Talented Mr. Ripley / Pick-up / Down There / The Real Cool Killers (Library of America) (Vol 2)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings (Modern Library Classics) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings (Modern Library Classics)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings (Modern Library Classics). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings (Modern Library Classics) ReviewEllison remains one of the finest writers on jazz to have ever taken pen to paper. "Living with Music" is living proof, even though he is no longer with us. This book is ideal for readers seeking a literary exploration through jazz. In addition to Ellison's writings, Robert O'Meally's introduction offers keen insight into the style of jazz culture.
I wouldn't recommend this book to readers looking for an introduction to jazz. For that, I would suggest sticking to liner notes, writings by musicians, and objective writers. However, for those who are looking to explore the whole of jazz culture, that moves beyond the listen, you'll thoroughly enjoy the read. My personal favorite is "Cadillac Flambe." "The Charlie Christian Story" contains some of my favorite quotes on jazz culture.Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings (Modern Library Classics) Overview

Want to learn more information about Living with Music: Ralph Ellison's Jazz Writings (Modern Library Classics)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Selected Stories (Everyman's Library Classics) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Selected Stories (Everyman's Library Classics)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Selected Stories (Everyman's Library Classics). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Selected Stories (Everyman's Library Classics) ReviewAlthough Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler are better known today, James M. Cain (1892-1977) is at least their equal--and many consider that he bested both in his finest novels, which combined sin-blacked characters, sordid plots, terse prose, and all the power of a blast furnace. This anthology collects all three of his landmark novels as well as several short stories, all of them showing Cain at the height of his powers.
Published in 1934, THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE is the truly deadly story of a drifter who squirms his way into a job at a California truck stop--and then squirms his way into the bed of a sexy waitress. Trouble is, the waitress is married to the boss... and she doesn't like it, not one little bit. Dripping with lust, deception, and irony, POSTMAN is at once sickening and fascinating, a true powerhouse of a novel that festers long after the story has ended.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY, published in 1936, is equally hot--the tale of an insurance sales man who stays on the right side of the law until he is tempted by a psychopathic femme fatale who doesn't see anything wrong with picking up a few bucks on the unexpected death of her unwanted husband. MILDRED PIERCE, published in 1941, is equally memorable in its portrait of a driven housewife with a wayward husband who discovers that she will do absolutely anything for her vicious, serpentine daughter.
All three novels have been famously filmed, but while the film versions (most created during the 1940s) stand well on their own, the novels out distance them in nothing flat. Cora, begging Frank to bite her lips until they bleed; Phyllis with lipstick splashed across her mouth like a bleeding gash; sleek Monte and his viper-like stepdaughter Veda--all portraits of reckless abandon so powerful that they blister the page.
The volume also includes five hard-to-find Cain stories that are often as memorable as the best of his novels, most notably I think "The Baby in the Ice Box" and "Brush Fire." But whether it is novels or his shorter works, you simply can't go wrong when it comes to the best of James M. Cain. Welcome to the inferno. Brace yourself for the straight-down ride.
GFT, Amazon ReviewerThe Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Selected Stories (Everyman's Library Classics) Overview

Want to learn more information about The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Selected Stories (Everyman's Library Classics)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty ReviewYou will run out of highlighter ink reading this one, because there are so many passages you will surely want to reread and savor later.
This grand matriarch of Southern Writer Tradition was first discovered, praised and published by luminaries such as Robert Penn Warren when he was coeditor of The Southern Review, Edward Weeks when he was editor of The Atlantic Monthly, and Mary Louise Aswell, when she was fiction editor of Harper's Bazaar.
This collection of stories is truly worthy to be called a classic. It is sometimes tedious reading, because the stories and characters are complex. After a number of false starts over a period of years, I finally resolved to give this scholarly work the focused time and attention it deserves, and feel richly rewarded for the effort.
Ms. Welty joins the ranks of great writers who prove to us that a great writer does not have to live the experience to effectively write about it. She leaps with ease between characters as diverse as Aaron Burr, a deaf black servant boy, a traveling salesmen, eccentric Southern matrons, and countless others. She portrays them in all of their complexities as if she had lived the experiences of each. Her descriptions of scenes and settings are equally as lucid and believable as if she had first hand knowledge of each. This rare and precious gift is best described in her own words, "I have been told, both in approval and accusation, that I seem to love all of my characters. What I do in writing of any character is to try to enter into the mind, heart, and skin of a human being who is not myself. Whether this happens to be a man or a woman, old or young, with skin black or white, the primary challenge lies in making the jump itself. It is the act of a writer's imagination that I set most high."The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty Overview

Want to learn more information about The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

The Song of the Lark Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Song of the Lark? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Song of the Lark. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Song of the Lark ReviewThis is the first novel that I have read by Willa Cather, and so I began my reading with no specific expectations. What I found was an extraordinary American writer. Her descriptions, and her ability to sum up the lifetime of a character in just a few sentences or lines are unlike the writings of anyone else I have read. She reminds me most of Henry James, although she is easier to read..
Thea, the subject of this early Willa Cather novel is flawed, and not really a heroine at all. She is an artist; her art is music. Her family and neighbors in Moonstone Colorado barely recognize what this means; most just find her odd. Thea is a loner. She has no friends her own age. Her siblings do not like her. But, she is the subject of attention from the town doctor, a railroad worker, a drunkard piano teacher, and Mexican laborers. All recognize something special in her; all contribute to her early struggle to find her art, and herself.
It is a railroad accident that changes her life. When her friend, Ray Kennedy, dies in a railroad accident, he leaves Thea a $600 inheritance. These funds take her to Chicago to study piano. There she struggles in poverty, and is discouraged, but she also gets her first glimpse of who she is as an artist.
This is a timeless story about struggle. What does it take to be an artist? What does the artistic commitment mean? Thea does not visit her mother before her death because she had a special opportunity to sing a Wagnerian part in Germany. Her response seems selfish, and uncaring. Her sweetheart turns out to be unavailable, he is unhappily married. Thea has little personal life; people are somewhat incidental to her. Her life models that of a true artist. The normal relations that most people need to thrive, are peripheral to her life as an artist. It is that devotion to the art of singing that fills her life.
At the time of this writing, Song of the Lark is number 40,604 on Amazon.com's best selling list. As a brilliant American writer, Cather seems to have been somewhat but not completely overlooked. Perhaps this is because she was a contemporary of Hemingway, and Fitzgerald, both of whom were such public figures. Many of their works were transferred to the silver screen. Perhaps it is due to her gender. Regardless of the reason for this, she is an author worth discovering, and worth reading. I highly recommend the Song of the Lark.The Song of the Lark Overview

Want to learn more information about The Song of the Lark?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

The Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Player? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Player. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Player ReviewIt's a good story, but it's basically a skeleton of what would become Robert Altman's kaleidoscopic adaptation, filled with blink and you'll miss it cameos and references Tolkin's novel feels too heavy and it also lacks the humor present in the film. If you want to read some great Michael Tolkin, go to his sophomore novel, the powerful 'Against the Air', or his wonderful "L.A. Yuppie" trilogy of screenplays.The Player Overview

Want to learn more information about The Player?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Shoot the Piano Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Shoot the Piano Player? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Shoot the Piano Player. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Shoot the Piano Player Review"Shoot the Piano Player" is quintessential American crime noir. The protagonist is Eddie, a piano player in a sleazy Philadelphia bar. He comes from a family of criminals but managed to escape that life. At one time, he was a promising classic pianist, but then he fell from grace. Now, Eddie's brother Turley literally stumbles back into his life, bringing chaos and uncertainty. At the same time, Eddie begins to tentatively woo a waitress at work. The plot is full of twists, although it's a bit of a mess at times.
The novel was originally released in 1956 as "Down There," which appropriately reflects the dilemma Eddie faces. Specifically, the book focuses heavily on fate, which seems to be dictating that Eddie return to "down there" from whence he came. The book's name was changed subsequently to reflect the classic 1960 movie it inspired - "Shoot the Piano Player," directed by French auteur Francois Truffaut. As with Truffaut's movie, the book's plot is secondary to character and ambience. Instead, Goodis reflects on small moments, such as Eddie's exhilaration at standing close to the waitress in an alley as they hide from gangsters. Indeed, the characters are well-delineated, and I found myself truly caring about them.
If you like Raymond Chadler, Jim Thomson or similar crime noir writers, then you'll probably enjoy this novel. Goodis is a skillful pulp writer. Unfortunately, most of his books have gone out of print - make sure you get this one while it's still available.Shoot the Piano Player Overview

Want to learn more information about Shoot the Piano Player?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...