Hundred Camels in the Courtyard
by City Lights Books
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 June, 1981)
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Reviews (3)

Bowles in altered states
From the preface: "Moroccan kif-smokers like to speak of "two worlds",the one ruled by inexorable natural laws, and the other, the kif world,in which each person perceives "reality" according to his own essence, the state of consciousness in which the elements of the physical universe are automatically rearranged by cannabis to suit the requirements of the individual."-Paul Bowles

Bowles immersion into the culture of North Africa has produced some of the most interesting literature. This scant collection of four stories is an attractive little book of inconsequential but readable tales. Just as Bowles studied and collected Moroccan music as a key into the North African mindset so here he studies kif as another kind of key, one that gives him direct access into the North African subconscious. Bowles sets forth in the introduction that these tales are put together making use of associations made while he was under the kif influence.....the best parts to my ears are the hermetic sayings overheard by kif smokers. "The eye wants to sleep but the head is no mattress", "The earth trembles and the sky is afraid, and the two eyes are not brothers", "A pipe of kif before breakfast gives a man the strength of one hundred camels in the courtyard".
The folk simplicity of these tales is very appealing. Later Bowles will cover this terrain again when he works with Mohammed Mrabet transcripting that Moroccans oral tales. An excellent book by Mrabet/Bowles is M'Hashish(which means full of hashish).Happy happy reading.

A lesser known treasure of the Beat movement
There are two things that set this collection of short stories apart from other Beat movement literature.First, everyone of these stories, regardless of actual plot, includes the use of kif (marijuana).Secondly, this is one of the few true Beat works that is set outside of the American continent.In fact, it is more a collection of folk tales inspired by a merge of Jewish, Moslem, and European cultures.It was not unknown for the Beats to travel to such exotic places as Morocco.William Burroughs did a stint over there.But, the tales told here could have been written by a native, rather than an outsider who was merely visiting.Well worth the read!

Paul Bowles for Beginners
"A pipe of kif before breakfast gives a man the strength of a hundred camels in the courtyard."The proverb which opens this collection of stories lets us know where Bowles is coming from.Four short tales of Moroccan kif smokers open doors into worlds distant in time, space, andspiritual reality from millennial America.Bowles' style is distantlyreminiscent of Hemingway in its bare simplicity, but also evocative of theSouth American magical realists in its exploration of themiraculous.

Each of his heroes is a kif smoker, and each finds it to be auseful and integral part of his life.Whether dealing with difficultneighbors in "A Friend of the World" or avoiding the cops in"He of the Assembly," smokers have a definite edge in Bowles'Morocco.But this is no simple paean--the stupid everyday troubles thatalso spring from kif are presented vividly and humorously (the soldier wholoses his gun in "The Wind at Beni Midar" perfectly captures thezenith and nadir of chronic use).Short but satisfying, "A HundredCamels in the Courtyard" makes an excellent introduction to PaulBowles' work. ... Read more

Isbn: 0872860027
Sales Rank: 71440
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General   

Invisible Cities (A Harvest/Hbj Book)
by Harvest Books
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (03 May, 1978)
list price: $13.00 -- our price: $9.75
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Editorial Review

"Kublai Khan does not necessarily believe everything Marco Polo says when he describes the cities visited on his expeditions, but the emperor of the Tartars does continue listening to the young Venetian with greater attention and curiosity than he shows any other messenger or explorer of his." So begins Italo Calvino's compilation of fragmentary urban images. As Marco tells the khan about Armilla, which "has nothing that makes it seem a city, except the water pipes that rise vertically where the houses should be and spread out horizontally where the floors should be," the spider-web city of Octavia, and other marvelous burgs, it may be that he is creating them all out of his imagination, or perhaps he is recreating details of his native Venice over and over again, or perhaps he is simply recounting some of the myriad possible forms a city might take. ... Read more

Reviews (68)

Building Inspiration of Invisible Cities
Readers and fans of Calvino's Invisible Cities may be interested to know that an entire hotel has been hand-crafted on the theme of the book. It is located on the Balearic Island of Menorca, in Spain. Each room is based on a different 'invisible city'. I've seen it, it's amazing, no, it's overwhelming, astonishing. Pictures are at: www.tressants.com

Pales in Comparison to IFOAWNAT
Others have noted the resemblance between Lightman's book "Einstein's Dreams" and this, one of Calvino's less brilliant Theme and Variations.The frame story, in which Marco Polo tells a frustrated Kublai Khan (who realizes he will never truly know the extent of his empire) about cities, real and imagined, that he has visited, is vaguely reminiscent of the 1001 Arabian Nights.Like Scherezade, Marco Polo panders to the Khan, and staves off his ill-humor through stories.

The cities themselves are named after women.Like the majority of Calvino's female characters, they suffer from an over-romanticized flatness that in this case falls short of his usual charm.The cities are mental constructs; they are hypotheticals, along the lines of Borges' "Library of Babel" or even "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius." But unlike Borges, who commits to the construct for the space of a story, Calvino just weaves the world and moves on, not bothering to consider the consequences of the rules he's set up.I find it unsatisfying, but this is what some people love about it.

Pretty light fare.Repetitive.Doesn't quite hit its mark.

Why is the print so bad?
This is one of the greatest books I have ever read.

I'm really upset that the only version available at the moment is so badly printed. The body text has been typeset in bold italic, and the printing is so bad that some of the letters have bits missing.

Wait until the publisher decides to print this masterpiece properly, then rush out and buy it. ... Read more

Isbn: 0156453800
Subjects:  1. 1216-1294    2. 1254?-1323?    3. Biographical fiction    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - General    6. General    7. Kublai Khan,    8. Literature: Classics    9. Polo, Marco,    10. Fiction / General    11. Kublai Khan    12. Polo, Marco   

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle : A Novel
by Vintage
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 September, 1998)
list price: $15.00 -- our price: $10.20
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Editorial Review

Bad things come in threes for Toru Okada.He loses his job, his cat disappears, and then his wife fails to return from work. His search for his wife(and his cat) introduces him to a bizarre collection of characters, including two psychic sisters, a possibly unbalanced teenager, an old soldier who witnessed the massacres on the Chinese mainland at the beginning of the Second World War, and a very shady politician.

Haruki Murakami is a master of subtly disturbing prose. Mundane events throb with menace, while the bizarre is accepted without comment. Meaning always seems to be just out of reach, for the reader as well as for the characters, yet one is drawn inexorably into a mystery that may have no solution. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is an extended meditation on themes that appear throughout Murakami's earlier work. The tropes of popular culture, movies, music, detective stories, combine to create a work that explores both the surface and the hidden depths of Japanese society at the end of the 20th century.

If it were possible to isolate one theme in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, that theme would be responsibility. The atrocities committed by the Japanese army in China keep rising to the surface like a repressed memory, and Toru Okada himself is compelled by events to take responsibility for his actions and struggle with his essentially passive nature. If Toru is supposed to be a Japanese Everyman, steeped as he is in Western popular culture and ignorant of the secret history of his own nation, this novel paints a bleak picture. Like the winding up of the titular bird, Murakami slowly twists the gossamer threads of his story into something of considerable weight. --Simon Leake ... Read more

Reviews (204)

Thought provoking yet very readable
This was my first Murakami but it will not be my last.A tale of extraordinary events in the life of an unemployed Japanese law clerk.Packed with imagery, the book is thought provoking and engaging.

An Amazing Book!
I was directed to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by two friends. After hearing so much about them I picked up the novel expecting to be instantly blown away.

Instead I was lured into a captivating and engaging story. Murakami has an amazing talent of writing descriptively, and not overwhelmingly. He paints clear pictures, and introduces entertaining and interesting characters. This novel is full of unique characters and profound insights that are played off as little moments.

The novel follows a man named Toru Okada who's life becomes increasingly complicated after his wife and his cat leave him. The reason I kept reading the novel was because of these strange occurrences, but they were written in a most ordinary way. The character knew they were odd, the reader did also, but the writing gave no indication of oddities.

This is what I enjoyed, the mystical that was present in these ordinary situations, and because of or perhaps due to the ordinary surroundings the mystical seemed ordinary.

My favorite character was May Kashara, a young girl who was the neighbor of Toru who after a short introduction when Toru spoke about a bird who sounded as though he had a wind-up spring, called him "Mr. Wind-Up Bird".

My favorite scenes were the war scenes (although they are very brutal and violent, my imagination went crazy and I was appreciative of the medium of writing where I was in control, instead of a film) and the water well scenes, which were cleverly executed and described. There was a part where Toru promised himself he wouldn't look at his watch and then all he could think about was the watch and the time, and it was described to a T and I was amazed at how well Murakami described the human animal.

Murukami's characters are likeable, and each of them are different and well-developed. As the novel continues past strange phone calls to baseball bats and water wells, it became harder for me to concentrate on my life. I simply wanted to read the book until its finish.

When I reached the last hundred pages of the book, I took my time. I didn't want to say goodbye to May Kashara or Toru Okada, the characters were so vivid and sweet that I didn't want to finish the novel.

I did, however, and the end did not leave me short-changed, but instead was just as an end should be. Not too much and not too little.

I would have to say that all in all, Murakami has an incredible skill for balance. He never gives too much or too less, and the novel progresses wonderfully. I would recommend this novel to everyone. But try it for yourself! Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.

Cinematic visuals, unusual characters, baffling plot.
With over 200 Amazon reviews, and much critical material available on the web (see www.complete-review.com/authors/murakamh.html for example) it is difficult to say something about Murakami that hasn't been better said elsewhere.

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, like all Murakami's books,is very absorbing, flows like a long, complicated dream, a good mystery or science fiction novel.The fact that the world inhabited by Murakami's characters is, like the characters themselves, somewhat peculiar adds to the interest.

The World War Two scenes are very vivid, almost cinematic.Murakami himself says they are fictitious and imaginative, but based on research.

The plot, while intriguing, doesn't make much sense and isn't resolved very well.The fact that the English translation leaves out large chunks of the Japanese original may account for part of the problem, but plot, so far as I can tell, is not a big issue for Japanese writers in general.And Murakami, in spite of his familiarity with and use of Western culture, is very Japanese.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in great modern literature. ... Read more

Isbn: 0679775439
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Literary    5. Fiction / Literary   

You Can't Win
by AK Press
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 August, 1999)
list price: $16.00 -- our price: $10.88
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Reviews (21)

Evocative
In the period after the Civil War, our country as we know it today was taking shape. This was before the New Deal, or the Republican movement to dismantle it. In fact, it was before child labor laws, the forty-hour week, or Alcoholics Anonymous. What the nation was engaged in was reconstruction of the South, industrializatin of the North, and nothing less than settlement of the West. Railroads were the high-tech invention of the time--the transcontinental railroad had been around about as long as the Internet has been around today, when Jack Black decided he was tired of his town and set out west. On the first train he hops, he sees a hobo get crushed to death by a shifting load of lumber.

There is nothing especially amazing about this non-fiction account of a thief's life in the late 19th Century, but it is evocative of a time now long gone, and for that it is fascinating. Black wrote this memoir in his old age, for an editor of the San Francisco Call, and it sounds like he viewed this as a significantly kinder, gentler scam than thievery for a living. But his account is heartfelt. He does not have it in him to romanticize his life, but he clearly loved it. Towards the end, he attempts to pay lip-service to socialist ideals, but really he is just summarizing a hard life and its extinct code of ethics. A unique account.

the real deal
Black's rap on "character", about page 111 of the hardbound book is priceless.

"There are things you should not know." -Pee Wee Herman
I read this book last summer and absolutely loved it. As a student of modern mathematics I was struck by the systemic approach that the author adopted to solving life's problems. The level of criminal sophistication rises on each new page. If one were able to truly generalize the ideas in this tome work would remain an unpleasant memory indefinitely. The part about him going straight in the end was sort of cool too - I guess. ... Read more

Isbn: 1902593022
Sales Rank: 131908
Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Criminals & Outlaws    5. Historical - General   

Dead Man
by Miramax Home Entertainment
Average Customer Review:
DVD (07 September, 2004)
list price: $14.99 -- our price: $11.24
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Editorial Review

This disappointment from Jim Jarmusch stars Johnny Depp in a mystery Western about a 19th-century accountant named William Blake, who spends his last coin getting to a hellish mud town in Texas and ends up penniless and doomstruck in the wilderness. A benevolent if goofy Native American (Gary Farmer) takes an interest in guiding Blake on a quest for identity in his earthly journey, but the film is really just a string of endless shtick about inbred woodsmen, dumb lawmen, and a trio of irritable killers. With Robert Mitchum, Iggy Pop, Gabriel Byrne, Alfred Molina, and a noodling soundtrack by Neil Young. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Features

• Black & White
• Black & White
• Closed-captioned
• Widescreen

Reviews (212)

This was the reality of the west
When I saw this movie in the theater it was on a lark, but I was absolutely blown away by this film!! I was so moved by the contrast this movie created to the western crap I had already been fed that I began researching the "Western" and it's authenticity in cinema. HOLY S#*T, is this movie right on the button with the way life really was. If you want to educate yourself, read "The West That Was" by Knowles and Lansdale and "Age of the Gunfighter" by Rosa. It is a good starting point to help dispell all the crap you think you know about the West. I own this on VHS but will be getting it soon on DVD. Few honest Westerns have actually been made, and most just recently. "DeadMan", "Unforgiven",and "Open Range". Educate yourself and THEN form an opinion. Thanks for your time.

Excellent movie by a gifted filmaker
Awesome movie! Great soundtrack, what else would you expect from Neil Young and Jim Jarmusch?Awesome scenery, it's funny, well acted and just a great story.For all you folks who aren't into "underlying themes", "irony", and all that artsy stuff:THIS IS NOT A WESTERN!DO NOT RENT THIS THINKING YOU ARE PICKING UP A WESTERN, BECAUSE YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED.

You either love it or hate it.I loved it.
Before I start. I have a question for Tom Keogh. Dude! What planet are you on?This movie was thoroughly entertaining. It held my attention. I thought it was artistic and well presented.It has the same sense and character of Pulp-fiction. Violent, comical and somewhat twisted.If you are looking for a family fun movie with a clear story line like Sound of music then don't get this movie.When Johnny Depp was interview on TVs "Actor Studio" and this movie was mentioned the entire audience erupted with loud applause. By the way. That day that Depp was on. The show had a record turnout. The studio was filled to capacity and the record stands.

The best way I can describe this film is this: Dead man is a psycological western. Depp plays an east coast dandy who is set upon by ill circumstance and thus transformed into a reluctant gunslinger on the run for his life.

A great movie. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Asin: B00004Z4WX
Subjects:  1. Western   

Final Opus Of Leon Solomon, The
by Knopf
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (04 February, 1989)
list price: $18.95
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Reviews (3)

Final opus of a great writer.
Jerome Badanes died quite suddenly in 1995. As a former student of his, I can say this: He was every bit as memorable and remarkable as Final Opus, in fact more so. I miss him a lot. As a reader, though, I can take somesmall consolation in the fact that he left us with such a painful, vividand ultimately, fulfilling novel.

will not soon forget this story
Heartbreakingly sad, superbly written (who is this Jerome Badanes??) - yet another testimonial to the inability to live with one's own survival. Anyone who is fascinated by human behavior under extraordinarycircumstances must read this one!

Spellbinding.Narrator's voice is compelling.
Remembering many failures and not absent familial and connubial joys the narrator leads the reader through a maze of memory and loss.Working over his obcessions on the way to his own final solution the author has spiced this work with observations of the human condition that are arresting intheir impact. This work is so engrossing that I started over again everyorder to take in the nuances which I might have missed.Hypnotic.Emailme if you have enjoyed this book.

Though it is out of print it can beobtained from Used Book sources.Holocaust Readers: the mosaic of thestory of the Holocaust is yet again called up and enriched by this amazingwork. ... Read more

Isbn: 0394572211
Sales Rank: 1680208
Subjects:  1. American First Novelists    2. Fiction   

Norwegian Wood (Vintage International Original)
by Vintage
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (12 September, 2000)
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Editorial Review

In 1987, when Norwegian Wood was first published in Japan, it promptly sold more than 4 million copies and transformed Haruki Murakami into a pop-culture icon. The horrified author fled his native land for Europe and the United States, returning only in 1995, by which time the celebrity spotlight had found some fresher targets. And now he's finally authorized a translation for the English-speaking audience, turning to the estimable Jay Rubin, who did a fine job with his big-canvas production The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Readers of Murakami's later work will discover an affecting if atypical novel, and while the author himself has denied the book's autobiographical import--"If I had simply written the literal truth of my own life, the novel would have been no more than fifteen pages long"--it's hard not to read as at least a partial portrait of the artist as a young man.

Norwegian Wood is a simple coming-of-age tale, primarily set in 1969-70, when the author was attending university. The political upheavals and student strikes of the period form the novel's backdrop. But the focus here is the young Watanabe's love affairs, and the pain and pleasure and attendant losses of growing up. The collapse of a romance (and this is one among many!) leaves him in a metaphysical shambles:

I read Naoko's letter again and again, and each time I read it I would be filled with the same unbearable sadness I used to feel whenever Naoko stared into my eyes. I had no way to deal with it, no place I could take it to or hide it away. Like the wind passing over my body, it had neither shape nor weight, nor could I wrap myself in it.

This account of a young man's sentimental education sometimes reads like a cross between Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and Stephen Vizinczey's In Praise of Older Women. It is less complex and perhaps ultimately less satisfying than Murakami's other, more allegorical work. Still, Norwegian Wood captures the huge expectation of youth--and of this particular time in history--for the future and for the place of love in it. It is also a work saturated with sadness, an emotion that can sometimes cripple a novel but which here merely underscores its youthful poignancy. --Mark Thwaite ... Read more

Reviews (112)

Work of Art
In the 80s I was a young bookworm when the entire Japan was reading Norwegian Wood. I saw advertisement banners in trains, buses, everywhere in town, and of course in bookstores, but I was a twisted kid then that I refused to read it just because everybody was reading it, thinking people were just after a trend that will go away after a while. I hated doing things others did. Many years have passed without reading Murakami, and I now live in America, being told by Argentineans and Americans, that they like Murakami. After 12 years of not visiting Japan, I did visit Japan, and I could no longer ignore Murakami's book. People in Latin America and Europe are reading Murakami, and I would only look stupid if they can talk about Murakami and I, a Japanese person, have no idea what it is. So finally I read Norwegian Wood in the original Japanese language.

I just did not know Norwegian Wood was that good. I did not know that the world was reading it. I kept refusing good things like that for years just because I have been stubborn. Having read Norwegian Wood, I felt as if a huge hammer, as huge as a truck, hit my head at once. For years and years I was assuming that Murakami was one of the silly pop writers, but I could not possibly deny the good quality of the writing when I finally read it. "Work of Art" was what I had to conclude.

I don't like the cover design of the English version. I really like the original cover design when the book was published in 1987 in Japan.

Murakami's haunting love story.
"Thinking back on the year 1969, all that comes to mind for me is a swamp--a deep, sticky bog that feels as if it's going to suck my shoe off each time I take a step," his 37-year-old protagonist, Toru Watanabe, reflects in Haruki Murakami's coming-of-age novel, NORWEGIAN WOOD (1987)."I walk through the mud, exhausted.In front of me, behind me, I can see nothing but an endless swampy darkness" (p. 236).Readers soon learn that eighteen years ealier, Watanabe's love affair with an emotionally troubled young woman led him to the very brink of an existential crisis.

Inspired by the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood," Murakami's novel tells the poignant story of Watanabe's introspective college days in Tokyo. After his best friend, Kizuki, commits suicide, Watanabe has a sexual encounter with Kizuki's girlfriend, Naoko, an equally introspective, though emotionally disturbed young woman.Naoko's older sister has also committed suicide.When her life seems unbearable, Naoko enters a mental health facility where, upon visiting her, Watanabe meets her roommate, Reiko, who is also mentally unstable. The three develop an alchemical friendship, which is bound for sadness.While committed to Naoko (a symbol of death and destruction), whose sanity continues to deteriorate as she retreats further into herself, Watanabe becomes enamored with Midori (a symbol of life and redemption), an independent and sexually liberated young college acquaintance.

The relationship between Watanabe and Naoko is truly mesmerizing. Naoko's letters affect her sole lover with the same "unbearable sadness" he would experience while staring into Naoko's eyes. "I had no way to deal with it," Watanabe sadly recalls, "no place I could take it to or hide it away. Like the wind passing over my body, it had neither shape nor weight, nor could I wrap myself in it."NORWEGIAN WOOD is nothing less than a haunting love story written straight from the heart.

G. Merritt

A Plea For Honesty
This is the first and only Murakami novel that I've ever read.While the story does indeed revolve around Watanabe's choice between a dying and living love, I find the greatness of Murakami to be in the way he gets a small cast of otherwise isolated people to link up with each other in unorthodox but effective ways, like atoms sharing electrons to form complex molecules.The book left me with the sense that honesty is the force that allows the world to unfold as it should. ... Read more

Isbn: 0375704027
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Japanese (Language) Contemporary Fiction    4. Literary    5. Fiction / Literary    6. Reading Group Guide   

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
by Harvest/HBJ Book
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 October, 1982)
list price: $13.00 -- our price: $10.40
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Editorial Review

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is a marvel of ingenuity, an experimental text that looks longingly back to the great age of narration--"when time no longer seemed stopped and did not yet seem to have exploded." Italo Calvino's novel is in one sense a comedy in which the two protagonists, the Reader and the Other Reader, ultimately end up married, having almost finished If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. In another, it is a tragedy, a reflection on the difficulties of writing and the solitary nature of reading. The Reader buys a fashionable new book, which opens with an exhortation: "Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade." Alas, after 30 or so pages, he discovers that his copy is corrupted, and consists of nothing but the first section, over and over. Returning to the bookshop, he discovers the volume, which he thought was by Calvino, is actually by the Polish writer Bazakbal. Given the choice between the two, he goes for the Pole, as does the Other Reader, Ludmilla. But this copy turns out to be by yet another writer, as does the next, and the next.

The real Calvino intersperses 10 different pastiches--stories of menace, spies, mystery, premonition--with explorations of how and why we read, make meanings, and get our bearings or fail to. Meanwhile the Reader and Ludmilla try to reach, and read, each other. If on a Winter's Night is dazzling, vertiginous, and deeply romantic. "What makes lovemaking and reading resemble each other most is that within both of them times and spaces open, different from measurable time and space." ... Read more

Reviews (108)

Great book.
I read this book for a class knowing absolutely nothing about the author.So a damn clean slate.This was probably the only book I've read that when I put it down, I just had to sit there for a while and let it all sink in.The obnoxious expression "tour de force" came immediately to mind, I'm sad to say...but it's true. This book was not a waste of time.

Amazing book.
Before I'd even finished this book I knew it was one of my favorites, and one I'd definitely want to read again.If you like self-conscious works, puzzles, complications, and sophisticated observations on the nature of reading, this book is for you.If all you want is a straight-forward, simplistic, standard story with predictable events & consclusions, then you should definitely look elsewhere.Fans of Jorge Luis Borges will appreciate this book.Calvino uses fiction to dig into areas of thought that most story-tellers wouldn't even know how to approach.Exciting, fun, cryptic, wonderful--a powerful reminder that literary fiction can easily break out of the old, stale boundaries that so many readers have become accustomed to taking for granted.

Do you believe every story has a beginning and an end?
It is almost impossible to explain the plot of "If on a winter's night, a traveler" - if indeed there is one.This is a book composed of ten first chapters of completely unrelated novels.Well, that's HALF of the book, anyway.Every OTHER chapter is your adventure (it is YOUR adventure - the book is written in the second person) to try to find the rest of all the books that you've begun reading.

Needless to say, this is an experimental novel.I am not the Ideal Reader for it as experimental novels are not usually my cup of tea.There is no "plot" to pull you from the beginning of the book to the end, but that's the whole point.This book is about reading; about the expectations that we bring to reading - and how it confounds them.Even the books-within-books are wildly metafictional.

That is the best that I can describe it.Even though it is not the type of book I'd want to curl up with, I appreciate the wonderful trick Calvino pulls off.
... Read more

Isbn: 0156439611
Subjects:  1. Fiction - General    2. General    3. Literature: Classics   

Mingus Ah Um [Bonus Tracks]
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (16 February, 1999)
list price: $11.98 -- our price: $7.99
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Editorial Review

Mercurial bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus was signed to Columbia Records for the briefest of time during 1959. His Columbia recordings, however, remain some of the most inspired, mood-jumping jazz in history. The flowing sadness of "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" (unedited here for the first time on CD!) rings like a funeral chorus that pitches headlong into a celebration of Lester Young's life and improvising flexibility, rather than his death. And there's the funky furnace blast of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" (also unedited!), which reaches its glory with Booker Ervin's Texas tenor sax, wrapped tight in bluesy tone. With the index of emotions captured, these songs nail why Mingus is possibly the most relevant jazzer for the '90s generation. He swings and shouts and hollers and somersaults. His tunes either induce foot-stomping with their intensity or reach for poignant yearning with their lyrical tapestry of orchestral colors. --Andrew Bartlett ... Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (40)

yes sir
Mingus has a very distinctive and unique sound. This album is crazy and thats great. A lot of stuff you wont hear on any other jazz records. This is just good music and great jazz! get it already

mingus newbies: start here
Mingus composed some of the most amazingly catchy, vibrant, emotional songs you'll ever hear for this album and his band absolutely slays. "Better Git Hit In Yo Soul" is a blast from start to finish with elements of big band and gospel coming right out to slap staid, classy jazz fans in the face and make them dance.Those put off by the intensity of that song will be more at home with the gentle ballad "Goodby Porkpie Hat" which swoons along beautifully.Most of the songs fall somewhere in between those extremes with "Boogie Stop Shuffle,""Bird Calls,"and the carnivalesque "Fables Of Faubus" being my particular favorites.This is not only Mingus's most accessible album, but one of his very best.As both a bassist and a songwriter/composer, Mingus is truly one of the greats and his genius is on full display right here.

Buyer Beware
This is a stereo SACD not a 6-channel remastering.It's nice, but if you've heard 6-channel, it's somewhat disappointing. ... Read more

Asin: B00000I14Z
Subjects:  1. Avant-Garde    2. Bass    3. Hard Bop    4. Jazz    5. Pop    6. Post-Bop    7. United States of America   

Song for My Father
by Blue Note Records
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (20 April, 1999)
list price: $11.98 -- our price: $10.99
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Editorial Review

Since its title track provided the inspiration for Steely Dan's "Rikki, Don't Lose That Number," Song for My Father has become known as the jazz recording that launched a thousand bad rock records. Yet whatever pretensions Steely Dan and their legion of desperately hip imitators had shouldn't be laid at pianist Horace Silver's door: this is one of Blue Note's warmest and most satisfying collections--and that's saying something. A pioneer of the hard-bop style, which combined gospel and R&B with jazz, Silver authored many outstanding compositions, including not just "Song for My Father," but "Opus de Funk," "Nica's Dream," "Senor Blues," and "The Preacher." His quintets, which featured tenor sax and trumpet, spotlighted such up-and-coming talents as trumpeters Woody Shaw, Art Farmer, and Donald Byrd. On Song for My Father, the band features tenorman Joe Henderson, who contributed one of his own signature tunes, "The Kicker." Along with the strong quintet work, the album includes a fine trio feature for the pianist in "Lonely Woman." --Fred Goodman ... Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (22)

Sanctimonious Sam
I think its more of a tribute that Steely Dan borrowed from Horace Silver because they loved the music. Fred comes off sounding like a "Sanctimonious Sam".

Horace Silver, Song For My Father
Horace Silver's Song For My Father has stood the test of time, for nearly 45 years. And with each listen, it sounds and becomes alive every time it enters the cd tray/turn table.

Song For My Father, a tribute to Silvers father, a violinist and guitar player is featured here on the cover. And he was the inspiration for the piece and the album. As the album notes, Silver's father, John Tavares Silver, Portuguese and his mother of Irish and Negro descent are clearly the two inspirational figures for this classic recording.

Perhaps Joe Henderson and Silver himself were among the most known at the time, and today for that matter. Carmell Jones is on trumpet. Teddy Smith on bass, and Roger Humphries, a young kid, on the drums, make up the quintet.

"Song For My Father," actually turned out to be a hit, and it did good for Blue Note Records. It's samba like rhythm, is the primary rhythmic basis for the majority of the album.

Silver and four swing, "The Natives Are Coming," with ease. And except for the opening note of "Calcutta Cutie," the piece is basically a trio number. Another samba based tune.

Clearly as Henderson's ideas flow on "The Kicker," he was obviously maturing in his sound and his style. As they do on the latin tinged, "Que Pasa." Horace takes his cohorts, Teddy Smith, and Rog Humphries on a musical journey for "Lonely Women," omit Henderson and Jones.

This album is a classic Blue Note recording. It is as every bit fresh as Miles Davis's Kind Of Blue, and John Coltrane's A Love Surpreme. This is a SURPREME album!

I surmise the older kats already have fell in love with this recording. But for the younger jazz fans, this is one of the "must listen to" albums in the Blue Note catalogue.

Song For My Father, Classic Album!
Horace Silver's Song For My Father has stood the test of time, for nearly 45 years. And with each listen, it sounds and becomes alive every time it enters the cd tray/turn table.

Song For My Father, a tribute to Silvers father, a violinist and guitar player is featured here on the cover. And he was the inspiration for the piece and the album. As the album notes, Silver's father, John Tavares Silver, Portuguese and his mother of Irish and Negro descent are clearly the two inspirational figures for this classic recording.

Perhaps Joe Henderson and Silver himself were among the most known at the time, and today for that matter. Carmell Jones is on trumpet. Teddy Smith on bass, and Roger Humphries, a young kid, on the drums, make up the quintet.

"Song For My Father," actually turned out to be a hit, and it did good for Blue Note Records. It's samba like rhythm, is the primary rhythmic basis for the majority of the album.

Silver and four swing, "The Natives Are Coming," with ease. And except for the opening note of "Calcutta Cutie," the piece is basically a trio number. Another samba based tune.

Clearly as Henderson's ideas flow on "The Kicker," he was obviously maturing in his sound and his style. As they do on the latin tinged, "Que Pasa." Horace takes his cohorts, Teddy Smith, and Rog Humphries on a musical journey for "Lonely Women," omit Henderson and Jones.

This album is a classic Blue Note recording. It is as every bit fresh as Miles Davis's Kind Of Blue, and John Coltrane's A Love Surpreme. This is a SURPREME album!

I surmise the older kats already have fell in love with this recording. But for the younger jazz fans, this is one of the "must listen to" albums in the Blue Note catalogue.

... Read more

Asin: B00000IL27
Subjects:  1. Jazz    2. Pop   

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
by Island
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (31 October, 2000)
list price: $18.98 -- our price: $14.99
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Editorial Review

She may not break new ground with Stories from the City, Stories fromthe Sea, but Polly Jean Harvey proves one thing: she sure knows how to tendto her plot. Hard-rocking, guitar-driven numbers, mesmerizing vocal wordplay,and plenty of noisy atmospherics prove that Harvey is still the queen ofrock-noir. --Jason Verlinde ... Read more

Features

• Explicit Lyrics

Reviews (194)

Her Worst Work
Although not surprising, it's rather ironic that an artist as groundbreaking and original as Harvey is getting a commercial and critical recognition for her most mediocre release.
This is not a bad album it contains good tracks ('Big Exit', 'Whore Hustler') and at time strokes an emotional chord ('We Float') but most of the time it sounds predictable and disturbingly catchy. Both lyrically and musically the album is far behind the level that most Harvey fans are use to and it's understandable that a lot of them alienated her for it.

PJ Harvey's best album
PJ Harvey's fifth album "Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea" is the singer/songwriter's finest album and should please fans of her older albums and new fans alike. "Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea" is somewhat slicker, less rough-around-the-edges than her other albums. I would recommend this album to start off with, as it is probably her most assessable work.

I personally feel that this album has her best collection of songs. From the opening rocker "Big Exit" to the beautiful "We Float," every song is a winner. There isn't any filler to be found. Each song is well written and memorable. It's a good mix of fast paced rockers, mid-tempo songs, and slower ones. The listener never gets bored. This CD deals with themes of love, relationships, etc, but never gets tedious or trite. Everything on this album is sincere and straight from the heart.

The album opens up strong with "Big Exit" an excellent rocker with a good, infectious hook. "Good Fortune" keeps up the momentum. "A Place Called Home" is a beautiful, somewhat morose, slower number whose enchanting background vocals stay with the listener long after the song has ended. The album slows down a bit for the next few songs. The mid-tempo "One Line" leads in perfectly to the dark, atmospheric "Beautiful Feeling." The pace is picked up with "The Whores Hustle, and the Hustlers Whore." "The Mess We're In" features a duet with Thom Yorke. Their overlapping vocals work nicely together. "You Said Something" is another softer number in the vein of "A Place Called Home," only slightly more upbeat. The pace picks up considerably with the excellent rockers "Kamikaze" and "This is Love." The album starts to wind down with the beautiful "Horses in my Dreams" The duel piano and guitar make "Horses in my Dreams" enchanting. The album ends with its' finest track, the majestic "We Float." The verse serves mostly to build up the song and it's mesmerizing chorus totally engulfs the listener.

If you don't own any PJ Harvey albums, this is a good place to start. It's a really good album and should please old and new fans alike.

Mature PJ - like good wine
I feel that this is a very personal album of Polly Jean's.I can feel that the songs came out of her experiences, as if they had come right out of her skin.That's what makes this so great.I also think that it's an album that anyone leaving their twenties and entering their thirties can truly relate to.PJ's grown up and lightened up about a lot of things, but is, as always, very intelligent, emotional and perceptive."We Fall" is a masterpiece.This is an album I keep coming back to. ... Read more

Asin: B00004YW6I
Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. Pop    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop   

Nashville Skyline/New Morning/John Wesley Harding
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (12 August, 1997)
list price: $24.98 -- our price: $24.98
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Features

• Box set

Reviews (7)

Three Might Fine Records in One Collection
John Wesley Harding - Gritty, Course, Driving and Stark, with a Bit of Country

When this record came out a lot of Dylan's fans were upset, because that singer of songs so complex with images that stayed with you long after the song had end, seemed to have gone country. But it didn't long before they realized that the complexity was still here, even thought the backing musicians had changed. The stories, those incredible stories were still here. Just give a listen to "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" and you'll see what I mean. And the word weaver is still doing his magic here as well, again listen to "Frankie & Judas."

Yes, gone are the rock musicians, replaced by country guys, Charlie McCoy on bass, Kenny Buttrey on drums and they help Dylan deliver a kind of haunting sound that has lasted through the years, making this record sort timeless, holding up as well now as it did way back then.

My personal favorite on this masterpiece of music is "As I Went Out One Morning." To me it seems like Dylan is singing about America and how Tom Paine would be so disappointed if he were alive today. And what would Rock have been like had Jimi not been able to cover the excellent "All Along the Watchtower." Then there is that landlord, that wicked messenger, that lonesome hobo and that escaping drifter. Mr. Dylan conjures images with words the way Van Gogh did with a brush. This album, though a change, is one of the best.

Nashville Skyline - Country Bob, but Still Incredible

This record opens with a haunting version of "Girl from the North Country," which Dylan sings with Johnny Cash. Haunting to be sure, because any song sung by Mr. Cash was haunting, but this one, with Dylan using his new countrified voice was even more so, spooky. This song alone is worth buying the album for. "Girl" is followed by the instrumental "Nashville Skyline Rag," which I've heard said is a reworking of the instrumental "The Cough Song," which first appeared on the "Stealin'" bootleg. I don't know if that's true, but it's a doggone good guitar piece.

And, of course, everybody knows "Lay Lady Lay" which was kind of a top forty hit and is still played on classic rock stations all over the world. It's a good song, but I like "I Threw it All Away" and "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You," better. This is a country album. "John Wesley Harding" with its country musicians leaned that way, but "Nashville Skyline" got all the way there and Dylan would stay country for two more records (some would say three), then he'd burst back on the rock scene with a vengeance. Still, country or not, this is a five star piece of work. Yes, Dylan did country, but he did it very, very well.

New Morning - Like Dylan Himself, This Record is so Hard to Define

After JWH and Nashville Skyline (which I like a lot), Dylan came out with Self Portrait. There are a few gems on SP but a lot of it was considered pretty lackluster when it came out. However three decades later and I have to admit, I play it all the way through on occasion and I enjoy it, even that corny version of S & G's "The Boxer". Anyway it appears that Colombia was in a hurry to get something out after SP to buck up what they must have thought was Dylan's sagging career, so they came out with this excellent album.

For me New Morning works in every way possible. I love the music. I love Dylan's voice here. I really like the lyrics and the background singers just seem to add to the whole mix. Yeah, a few records down the road they might seem to get a little Motownish, but here they just add to the overall haunting, spooky, bluesy and maybe even a little jazzy feeling of this record. And you know what, there is even a little C & W here. Like Dylan himself, this record is so hard to define.

Jack Priest, Writer from the Darkside

The great unheralded Dylan classics
No, they are not as groundbreaking as his folk albums (Freewheelin, The Times..., Another Side...) were.They were not as emotional as "Blood on the Tracks", and they did not have the magnificent imagery of "Desire".And they are simply not as good as Highway 61/Blonde on Blonde/Bringin it Back Home.But these 3 albums ARE great albums, and they each have something special to offer the listener.

John Wesley Harding, right after Dylan's tremendous 60s electric trilogy, was immediately received far poorer than those 3 masterpieces.But today many Dylan fanatics place it right up there with them.

Nashville Skyline, Dylan's most "country" sounding album, was a shock to me at first.I hate country music, but I gave this album a couple listens and it has earned a place in my CD rotation.Very pleasant, very romantic.

New Morning was an experiment that is generally not viewed as very successful, but it is fun to listen to Bob try new things (If Dogs Ran Free/Winterlude are 2 of his most unusual tracks).Regardless, the album has great highs that cannot be denied (If Not For You/New Morning)

Start a New Morning in Nashville Skyline with John W Harding
All three are great albums, even harder to pass up when you can get themlike this. New Morning is my favourite of the three for demonstrating howversatile Dylan can be. Like Nashville Skyline's country flavor, it has abluesy aspect and he handles it wonderfully. John Wesely Harding should notbe overlooked either, as many of the tracks provide complicated stories totake apart or listen to as Dylan puts them out for you. ... Read more

Asin: B000002AKE
Sales Rank: 105645
Subjects:  1. Album Rock    2. Blues-Rock    3. Country-Rock    4. Folk-Rock    5. Pop    6. Rock    7. Rock & Roll    8. Singer/Songwriter   

Blonde on Blonde
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (25 October, 1990)
list price: $11.98
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Editorial Review

Considered an unprecedented magnum opus when it arrived on two records in May of 1966 (1997's Time out of Mind is actually only about a minute shorter), Blonde on Blonde featured Dylan continuing to demonstrate remarkable powers over the course of 14 new numbers. Working in Nashville with session men and a few conscripted recruits (Al Kooper, Robbie Robertson), Dylan continued to bend minds with his warped lyrics and phrasing. Even dashed-off numbers such as "Obviously 5 Believers" and "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" contribute to the crazed, fun-house ambiance. Dylan will never be this wild again. --Steven Stolder ... Read more

Reviews (153)

Thin Wild Mercury Music
Blonde on Blonde came out as a double album in May, 1966. Two months later Bob Dylan broke his neck in a motorcycle accident. Till then, every album was better than the last except this one. Blonde on Blonde just about equals Highway 61, which in my opinion is the best rock album of all time. I guess that would make Blonde number 2. Still with the Beatles, Stones, Zep, Eric and the Boss out there making music, having the number 2 record is pretty good, especially if you already hold the number one spot. Rolling Stone Magazine calls the record number ten, but hey, what's eight places when you're talking about the hundreds of thousands of rock records out there.

This amazing record was the third electric album done by Dylan and by now he'd won over many of his fans, though some did boo him when he toured in Europe in Sixty-six, but those Europeans, what do they know? And do any of us know what would direction Dylan's music would have taken, had he not been in that accident, would he have built on this record, delivering more of the same? Who knows? But what I do know is that this record opens with a dynamite song. Can you imagine what it must have been like for those establishment types hearing the lyrics, "Everybody must get stoned," blaring from their car radios.

The backing band on this record is both tight and loose, if that makes any sense, ripping through songs like "Stuck Inside a Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again," like a meteor streaking across a desert sky. This record is Thin Wild Mercury Music at its very best. Just incredible.

Jack Priest, Writer from the Darkside

i'll make this quick
this album is obviously an important one in the dylan collection. it is, also, one of his best. most know that dylan would years later say that this album came out more like the sound he heard in his head than any other album; most know that this album would be dylan's last masterpiece of the 60's; but i don't think that most people listen to this album properly.

for starters, the writing is much lighter here, for the most part, than the writing on his two previous album. having said that the writing is great.

there is no doubt in my mind that 'rainy day women #12 & 35' is the best bar song ever recorded;
there is no doubt in my mind that 'visions of johanna' and 'stuck inside of mobile with the memphis blues again' are two of the greatest songs ever recorded [like to 10 or 15 by anyone];
and there is no doubt in my mind that 'sad eyed lady of the lowlands' is the worst song dylan recorded up to that point in his career. the music is brilliant, but the lyrics are bad - just bad.

so here you have 13 brilliant songs, and one song that just doesn't cut it [unless you don't understand english]. this album really is as brilliant as any other album ever recorded sonically, but it's not par w/ HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED or BLOOD ON THE TRACKS lyrically.

Blonde on Blonde~ Bob Dylan
Bid Dylan truly and verily is one of the betters artists of his generation. He ranks up there with the likes of Beatles and Roling Stones. This 1966 release is amazing since he is able to qrite pertinent lyrics that grab ones attention. I want you is a tremendous track with nice lyrics, beat and sound. The rest of the album is just as good as this track with comperable ones being Pledging my time andJust like a woman. This is a stroke of pure genius. The booklet is almost done as an after thought. The photos are very nice, but there are no lyrics and there are no comments. On the whole, this is a very well done album that should not be missed. ... Read more

Asin: B0000024OG
Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Rock   

A Love Supreme
by Grp Records
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (20 June, 1995)
list price: $17.98
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Editorial Review

A Love Supreme is a suite about redemption, a work of pure spirit and song, that encapsulates all the struggles and aspirations of the 1960s. Following hard on the heels of the lyrical, swinging Crescent, A Love Supreme heralded Coltrane's search for spiritual and musical freedom, as expressed through polyrhythms, modalities, and purely vertical forms that seemed strange to some jazz purists, but which captivated more adventurous listeners (and rock fellow travelers such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, and the Byrds), while initiating a series of volatile, unruly prayer offerings, including Kulu Su Mama, Ascension, Om, Meditations, Expression, Interstellar Space. From the urgent speech-like timbre of his tenor, to the serpentine textures and earthy groove of Elvin Jones's drumming, Coltrane's suite proceeds with escalating intensity, conveying a hard-fought wisdom and a beckoning serenity in the prayer-like drones of "Psalm," where Jones rolls and rumbles like thunder as Garrison and Tyner toll away suggestively--all the while Coltrane searches for that one climactic note worthy of the love he wants to share.--Chip Stern ... Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (134)

masterpiece
For those that get this album it is nothing short of a masterpiece. For those that don't it is just noise. I recommend giving this album a listen before buying it, but for those that have a hard time getting into this album I recommend multiple listenings over a fairly extended period of time. Try listening to it 4 or 5 times with in a couple of weeks time span. I've actually known people who at first thought this album was awful, but after a while their ears just opened up to it.

To the reviewer who said:

"Art reaches out, speaks to the universal, appeals to the heart. Jazz excludes, speaks in code, demands analysis. I prefer art."

I think that it is pretty ironic that you criticized this particular album in this manner. Essentially this album was Coltrane's attempt to reach out, speak to the Universal, and appealing to the heart. If you missed that you missed the entire point. I'll admit this is an album some people are going to love and others are going to hate, but Coltrane's purpose is undeniable. Also your claim that jazz isn't art is laughable.

First on my list of favourites
I resort many times to this record when I really want to get carried away with music. For me this record is medicine. So Coltrane, Tyner, Jones and Garrison are here like a group oftherapists so to speak.
This one is truly unique. Never listened to something even similar and don't want to. Because "A love supreme" is just perfect. I have other Coltrane works like "Giant Steps" or "Blue Train" but these ones don't mean much to me. And I even don't like much John's way of playing: too many notes in such a little time space. Many times they don't tell me anything. And it is the same reaction that I get sometimes from Bird. "Ok, you're a virtuoso. Congratulations!. So what?".
But this record was really his cornerstone for me. He was in a different approach. He meant something to me in every note he blew from his sax. He really got into something. And he's here with the great McCoy Tyner. With his piano helps Elvin Jones to create a mystic atmosphere where you can feel they are in some kind of spiritual voyage. And everything is a wonder.
So if you are one like me who's not very fond of Coltrane, it doesn't matter at all. This is a must have. Who told you that "Kind of Blue" was the all-time best?. It is "a love supreme". It is about pure inspiration from four geniuses of Music. It'll change you. For good!.

Still supreme after all these years.
It's a testament to John Coltrane's artistic vision that a piece of uncomprimising music such as a 'A Love Supreme' can be heard for the universalism it stands for. Recorded in a studio in New Jersey in late 1964, Coltrane had spent a week alone in a room in his house away from his wife and children. During that time of contemplation and isolation, he put pen to paper to bare his soul to God and the essence of 'A Love Supreme' was born. I don't think it was a coincedence that at the time this album was recorded in the mid-60's, a new philosophy of spirituality and peace & love began to prevade popular music in general. The Church of St. John Coltrane still resides in that bastion of hippiedom, San Francisco.

The music on the album itself is powerful not just for Coltrane's playing itself but also for the fanatical interplay of the quartet. 'Acknowledgement' opens with Garrison's passionate bass line, leading into Coltrane's dynamic and ingenious playing, the quartet's spirited performance like a fervant, untamed emotion that has gripped them all. 'Resolution' blazes from the record with Tyler burnishing the track with some brilliant playing of his own. Jones's frantic drumming comes to the fore on the opening of 'Pursuance', a track where the meaning of 'Chasin' The Trane' becomes self-evident as Garrison, Tyler and Jones follow in hot pursuit of their leader's furious joy. Tyler's playing is again compelling as the quartet trade notes with such alarming velocity before Garrison's bass tip-toes and leads us like the pied-piper to the concluding 'Psalm'.

It's refreshing in this day and age to hear an artist whose sincerity and integrity shines through his work. ... Read more

Asin: B000003N7G
Subjects:  1. Jazz    2. Pop   

Giant Steps [Deluxe Edition]
by Rhino Records
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (03 March, 1998)
list price: $18.98 -- our price: $14.99
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Editorial Review

Released in January 1960, John Coltrane's first album devoted entirely to his own compositions confirmed his towering command of tenor saxophone and his emerging power as a composer. Apprenticeships with Dizzy, Miles, and Monk had helped focus his furious, expansive solos, and his stamina and underlying sense of harmonic adventure brought Coltrane, at 33, to a new cusp--the polytonal "sheets of sound" that distinguished his marathon solos were offset by interludes of subtle, concise lyricism, embodied here in the tender "Naima." That classic ballad is a calm refuge from the ecstatic, high-speed runs that spark the set's up-tempo climaxes, which begin with the opening title song, itself a cornerstone of modern jazz composition. This exemplary reissue benefits from eight alternate takes of the original album's seven stellar tracks, excellent remastering of the original tapes, and an expanded annotation. --Sam Sutherland ... Read more

Reviews (100)

Modal Masterpiece
Easily one of the best Trane cd's...and greatest jazz recordings of the 20th century.At this point in his career, Trane was moving away from his 'sheets of sound' years where he would spend hours before a set, working out harmonies from the chord changes to come up with the 'perfect solo'.With the help of working with Miles Davis on KIND OF BLUE, Trane was shown the light in using modes in his recordings.

While 'Giant Steps' isn't as musically free as 'A Love Supreme' or 'Interstellar Space' it is still technically efficient as far as its place within a more structured jazz model.My favorite tracks are the hard swinging 'Spiral' and 'Mr. P.C.', reminiscent of big-band Mingus recordings of the era.Other highlights are the two most popular songs - 'Cousin Mary' and 'Naima,' the latter of which is a tribute to his first wife.He also has another tribute to her after they split called 'Wise One' and can be found on the album CRESCENT.

While any fan of good jazz would love this album, it's still a great introduction to those new to jazz.I believe this album is much more accessible than KIND OF BLUE, as it is much more upbeat - you want to dance or snap your fingers to it.

One of the Great Jazz albums of all time
This album With Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" are two of the most important jazz albums of all time. A timeless masterpiece.

As Far As Bop Could Go
Both a high point and a turning point in his discography, Giant Steps was the culmination of John Coltrane's hard bop period as he moved off into modal fare.5 alternate takes are added to the 7 tracks that made up Coltrane's 1960 Atlantic Records debut, with a very nice remaster that makes these tracks come alive.The dizzyingly impressive array of bop experimentalism includes such Coltrane standards as the title cut, "Syeeda's Flute Song" and of course "Naima."

The main players include Paul Chambers on bass, Tommy Flanagan on piano and Art Taylor on drums, with Wyn Kelly and Jimmy Cobb on "Naima."Cedar Walton and Lex Humphries play on a couple of the alternate takes.Everyone plays as if their lives depended on it and turn in terrific performances in keeping up with Coltrane's muscular, fervent attack.

A textbook since the day it was released and a cornerstone of any collection. ... Read more

Asin: B000003489
Subjects:  1. Hard Bop    2. Jazz    3. Pop    4. United States of America   

Revolver [UK]
by Capitol
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (25 October, 1990)
list price: $18.98 -- our price: $13.49
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Editorial Review

Revolver wouldn't remain the Beatles' most ambitious LP for long, but many fans--including this one--remember it as their best. An object lesson in fitting great songwriting into experimental production and genre play, this is also a record whose influence extends far beyond mere they-was-the-greatest cheerleading. Putting McCartney's more traditionally melodic "Here, There and Everywhere" and "For No One" alongside Lennon's direct-hit sneering ("Dr. Robert") and dreamscapes ("I'm Only Sleeping," "Tomorrow Never Knows") and Harrison's peaking wit ("Taxman") was as conceptually brilliant as anything Sgt. Pepper attempted, and more subtly fulfilling. A must. --Rickey Wright ... Read more

Reviews (668)

Got To Get This Into Your LIfe
Lets get right to it, shall we? Revolver is a pretty good Cd, and although there were really only two hits on this album, most, if not all, of these songs are quite amazing. This is the official transition from the early, touring, ed sullivan appearing, drug-free beatles, to the drug-addled, beautifully lyrics, and innovative sounds.

Taxman- A good opener. George Harrison was my fave Beatle, but still, a good song. I especially like the intro, and the song takes a lot of influence from the old Batman theme song. 8/10

Eleanor Rigby- A great song, classic. Love the string selection, extremely sad, yet very thougt-provoking, and McCartney is awesome in this song. Great vocals. 9/10

I'm Only Sleeping- In my opinion, the best song on the album. Incredibly underrated, amazing lyrics, catchy tune, awesome chorus and verses, and classic Lennon vocals. Crazy how awesome this song is. I really, really love it! 10

Love You To- Another Harrison song. Pretty awesome intro, cool lyrics, and his voice is pretty awesome to boot. George is the only one playing on this track, and uses his beloved sitar, first used on Norwegian Wood (Rubber Soul). This track ends the energy-filled start of the album temporarily, but the energy will come back quite soon. 8/10

Here, There, And Everywhere- A great ballad by McCartney, with a very catchy tune, and awesome guitar in the background. Very realxing, a great love song. Continues the pause of the uptempo songs in the beggining of the album. 8/10

Yellow Submarine- Pretty good song for the kiddies, good lyrics, Ring does a pretty good job, but the song soon gets incredibly annoying. 6/10

She Said She Said- Written by Lennon during an acid trip w/ George and Peter Gonda. Apparently, George had such a horrible trip that he saw visions of his own death, and was totally "freaking out, man." But, Peter Fonda, who almost killed himself when he was a little boy, calmed George down. He kept saying, "I know what it's like to be dead," thus leading to that line in the song. Good sound, even better story. Also resets the album with a heavy chorus.7/10

Good Day SUnshine-Written by Paul, a nice little diddy with great sound. 7/10

And Your Bird Can Sing-John, who wrote this awesome song, hated it and even went as far as to say, "That song was a piece of trash, a piece of Sh*t," in an interview. A little harsh, considering that the guitar here is pretty awesome and strong for a beatles tune. 9/10

For No One- Pretty boring...sounds sorta cool..yeeah...(cough)..6/10

Doctor Robert- About Robert Freymann, adoctor who supplied celebs with drugs and stuff. Awesome song, will grow on you, especially the "Well. well, well, you're feeling down.." part. 8/10

I Want To Tell You-Another Harrison song, with a pretty cool intro. natch. 8/10

Tommorow Never Knows- Tied for the best song along with "I'm Only Sleeping," throughout the whole song is a c-pedal playing, and Lennon again is uncanny on this drug-influenced track. 10

Basically, it goes like this; 4th-rubber soul, 3rd-Revolver,2nd-Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band, and the best ever is Abbey Road.

The Revolutionary Groundbreaker of Music History
Revolver is without a doubt the most statistically and musically the greatest album of all time. For more than one reason. One is that you can literally listen to this album and not skip a song because its not good.You can listen to it the whole way through. Not many albums have achieved that.And second, near the end of the album, you get a sense of musical satisfaction that literally hasnt been achieved since this album or the legandary Dark Side of the Moon. Many say that Sgt. Pepper was the ground breaker for the Beatles and rock. But Revolver was the real groundbreaker. With every song as good as the one before it. I give to you, the Revolutionary, awe inspiring, musically changing, REVOLVER!

Pure sh**!
This is pure sh**! Led zeppelin and Black sabbath stared making great rock music...this album is awful! ... Read more

Asin: B000002UAR
Subjects:  1. Lo-Fi    2. Pop    3. Rock   

All-Clad Stainless 9-Piece Cookware Set
by All-Clad
Average Customer Review:
Kitchen
list price: $787.00 -- our price: $539.99
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

The bestseller among All-Clad's renowned cookware collections, the Stainless line provides serious and professional cooks all the virtues that make All-Clad's worldwide reputation unsurpassed. Key to its high performance is a three-ply, bonded construction. Sandwiched between layers of stainless steel is a thick core of pure aluminum that spreads heat evenly across the bottoms of pots and pans and all the way up the sides. The interior is highly polished 18/10 stainless steel, so it's stick-resistant as well as stain- and corrosion-resistant. The exterior is gleaming, magnetic stainless steel that works on induction as well as conventional stovetops, and, with care, remains beautiful during this cookware's lifetime warranty against defects--and beyond.

This nine-piece set of Stainless cookware consists of a 10-inch fry pan, a 2-quart covered saucepan with lid, a 3-quart covered sauté pan, a 3-quart covered casserole pan, and a 6-quart covered stockpot. Polished 18/10 stainless-steel pan and lid handles are riveted for strength and grooved on the top for comfort. The pans' long handles (holed for hanging on hooks or pegs) stay cool on the stovetop but won't be harmed by an oven's highest heat. Although Stainless cookware is dishwasher-safe, hand washing is recommended. --Fred Brack

What's in the Box
10-inch fry pan, 2-quart covered saucepan with lid, 3-quart covered sauté pan, 3-quart covered casserole pan, 6-quart covered stockpot

From the Manufacturer
All-Clad Stainless Construction
Each piece of All-Clad cookware features a unique metal bonding construction. All-Clad Stainless cookware sandwiches a thick core of three separate layers of aluminum between an easy-to-clean, highly polished 18/10 stainless-steel cooking surface and a magnetic stainless-steel exterior. The aluminum core retains heat and evenly distributes it along the bottom and up the sidewalls of the cookware. The stainless interior is stick-resistant and cleans easily. The magnetic stainless-steel exterior gives the cookware a gleaming finish. All-Clad Stainless also features the company’s signature "stay-cool" long handles, lids fashioned from gleaming 18/10 stainless steel, and highly durable stainless-steel rivets. All-Clad Stainless cookware is one of five collections from All-Clad Metalcrafters. Designed to work on conventional gas and electric ranges, as well as induction cooktops, All-Clad Stainless cookware is the best-selling collection in a full line that includes All-Clad LTD, Cop-R-Chef, Master Chef 2, and Copper Core.

Features and Benefits
All-Clad pans with a stainless interior cooking surface are oven-safe up to 500 degrees. All-Clad pans with a non-stick cooking surface are oven-safe up to 400 degrees, but should not be used under the broiler. We recommend using a low to medium temperature when cooking with All-Clad. Higher heats are not necessary and may cause discoloration (see cleaning instructions below). Other features include:

• Beautifully polished, magnetic stainless exterior layer.
• Pure aluminum core that not only covers the bottom of the pan but also extends up the sides. This allows for great heat conductivity as well as an even heat distribution so you won’t have "hot spots" when cooking.
• Stainless-steel interior layer/cooking surface.
• Long, polished stainless, stay-cool handles.
• Sturdy, non-corrosive stainless-steel rivets won't react with foods.
• Polished stainless-steel lids fit evenly with the pan’s edges to seal in flavor of your foods.
• The All-Clad Stainless collection is compatible with an induction stovetop (with the exception of a few pieces) in addition to gas and electric stovetops.
• The Stainless collection is dishwasher-safe, excluding pieces with a nonstick cooking surface.

Warranty
From date of purchase, All-Clad guarantees to repair or replace any item found defective in material, construction or workmanship under normal use and following care instructions. This excludes damage from misuse or abuse. Minor imperfections and slight color variations are normal.

Cleaning Instructions
For daily cleaning, warm soapy water is sufficient. Clean your All-Clad thoroughly after each use. Food films left of the pan may cause discoloration and sticking. To get rid of stuck-on food or discoloration and stains from using too high of a heat, we recommend cleaning your All-Clad with a product called Bar Keeper’s Friend. To use the Bar Keeper’s Friend, simply use a soft cloth or sponge and water and make into a soupy paste. This can be used on the interior, as well as the exterior of your All-Clad (excluding the Cop-R-Chef). The Bar Keeper’s Friend can also be used on the exterior of the All-Clad Stainless collection, LTD collection, and MC2 collection. For cleaning of the Cop-R-Chef exterior, simply use a brass/copper cleaner. If your water has a high iron content, you may notice a rusty discoloration. Use Bar Keeper’s Friend to remove it.

All-Clad Stainless Selection
In recent years, a professional-size 14-inch fry pan was added to the Stainless fry pan assortment, as well as several popular specialty pans, including: the small-size petite brasier with a dome-shaped lid; petite roti roasting pan; and the beautiful, large-capacity Dutch oven and French oven oval roasting pan with roasting rack. Both of these one-pot comfort food specialty pans comes with All-Clad’s popular high dome-shaped lid. Other specialty pans include a larger brasier pan with domed-shape lid; a complete family of round-shaped saucier saucepans for versatile stove-top cooking; a flare-sided Windsor pan in two sizes, designed for reduction and the creation of rich sauces; and a contemporary "Soup for Two" 3-1/2-quart soup pot; casseroles; an open stir fry; a versatile wok-style chef’s pan; and a "Pasta Pentola" 7-quart stockpot with colander insert and lid. All saucepans, casseroles, sauté pans, stock pots, and specialty items come with lids. Double boiler and steamer inserts, including the large steamer insert for 6-quart, 8-quart and 12-quart stockpots, are available as well. Stainless cookware sets are available in various sizes, from a starter 5-piece to a complete 10-piece set.

About All-Clad Metalcrafters
Based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, All-Clad Metalcrafters markets premium quality cookware to department and specialty stores in the United States, along with premium All-Clad bonded bakeware, All-Clad All-Professional kitchen tools, and a growing assortment of kitchen accessories, including All-Clad’s upscale tea kettle, measuring scoop set, stainless-steel mixing bowls, kitchen colanders, and 1-cup measuring cup. Featuring a unique metal bonding process, All-Clad cookware is used in many of the finest restaurants in America, and is sought by serious home cooks seeking all-professional cookware to enhance their cooking experience. ... Read more

Features

• Lifetime warranty against defects
• Set includes 2-quart covered saucepan, 3-quart covered saute pan, 10-inch fry pan, 3-quart covered casserole pan, 6-quart covered stockpot
• Three-ply: stainless-steel layers sandwich pure aluminum core for even heating
• Comfortable lid and stay-cool pan handles riveted for strength
• Dishwasher safe, but hand washing recommended

Reviews (41)

Looks Awesome!Not sure I get the performance difference...
For years I have used the Calphalon Stainless pans (I think they are named Try-ply)... They have the aluminum core all the way up the sides.Regardless, I thought I should take the step up to "the Best."

I'm not sure I get the difference...

They look incredible!I have always loved the classic cookware shapes (I almost gagged when I saw this "toss-and-turn" pan advertised from a budget cookware maker... but I digress).I have always followed the directions of warm over medium heat, never use cooking sprays, don't submerge hot pans in cold water, etc.I also never used the diswasher to wash my pans before (a little clean up to take care of an investment is okay with me).

All the things I used to cook in my old try-ply stainless cooked great in the All Clad:the really delcate sauces are a litte different becasue the other pans I had heated up quicker, but nothing I couldn't get used to.Great visibility on changing colors and a little olive oil almost negates the need for nonstick (sans overeasy eggs).Really some great cookware, but I don't get it... maybe becasue I've never been a brand name guy.

All-in-all an Awesome looking and performing line of cookware, but I don't think it's worth it to pay twice as much for the same performance.I know a lot of people like the name, and that's what got me in, but I really didn't experience anything to show me it was worth it.Overall, it may be that I still am a die-hard Calph One user for most of my cooking and I use stainless for things I need (changing colors of sauces, etc.), so you may have to take this into consideration with your cooking style.

nice pots
I've used circulon and caphalon....both ok, but the exterior rubs off after awhile, and if you mistakenly put them in the dishwasher....(one time during a dinner party, a guest put them in and ran it without telling me, i opened the dishwasher to find ruined caphalon, yes it takes one wash to ruin them, circulon interior are brittle and will break off into your food!)all-clad is the way to go, great cooking as long as you preheat.scratches happen...a sponge that picks up grit from somewhere could scratch the interior alittle, but you can't expect it to look brand new forever...it's minor and doesn't affect the cooking, and it still looks presentable.

I own almost every piece All-Clad manufactures!
I started with this set more than 10 years ago after many decades of buying inexpensive cookware. Once I bought this, there was no going back. I admit, I originally tried the LTD line, but I wanted something I could use in the dishwasher. I find the stainless cooks just as evenly as the LTD and is much easier to care for. Since buying the set, I have bought almost every piece of All-Clad stainless manufactured.
I will never buy another brand. ... Read more

Asin: B00005AL0K
Subjects:  1. Cookware    2. Stainless    3. Cookware Sets    4. (Cook Ware)    5. All-Clad    6. (Allclad)    7. (Al-Clad)   

Smoke
by Miramax Home Entertainment
Average Customer Review:
DVD (25 January, 2005)
list price: $14.99 -- our price: $13.49
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

It's refreshing to see a film in which the writer receives equal credit with the director, showing that the dialogue actually means something. So it is with Smoke, a film about a New York quilt of contemporary characters who cross paths in a corner smoke shop, told in straightforward way by a talented acting group. Author Paul Auster and director Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club) worked on the story for years before it reached the screen. Their characters include Paul (William Hurt, in a good role again), a grief-stricken novelist; Auggie (Harvey Keitel), the shop's owner with a secret passion; Ruby (Stockard Channing), Auggie's long-ago girlfriend; and Rashid (Harold Perrineau Jr.), a teenager who is befriended by Paul and seeks his estranged father (Forest Whitaker). All the characters are great storytellers, whether it be out of loneliness, necessity, or just nature. Like Auster's The Music of Chance, the movie has accomplished an amazing feat: it makes us feel as if we are reading a serious novel, not watching a movie. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Features

• Color
• Closed-captioned

Reviews (26)

Y'know What?
This is one of the best movies I've ever seen.

I had read a Paul Auster novel before (BOOK OF ILLUSIONS) and it was a fine read, but this film that he wrote and co-directed just surpasses any possible expectations I could've possibly had going in.

I highly reccomend that you put captions on this, so you don't miss a line. This is what cinema was truly meant to be. Tremendous acting, brilliant script, deep characters, thoughtful camera work...flawless.

The plot is irrelevant. It is one of those films that you just have to let unfold so to admire the intertwining of the lives that are portrayed.

Bravo to Keitel, Hurt, Whittaker, and all the actors and crew members who managed to pull this off.

Do not hesitate in checking this out.

Everynight it's just the same,you leave me lonely now...
Outside another yellow moon
Has punched a hole in the nighttime, yes
I climb through the window and down to the street
I'm shining like a new dime
The downtown trains are full with all of those Brooklyn girls
They try so hard to break out of their little worlds

Well you wave your hand and they scatter like crows
They have nothing that will ever capture your heart
They're just thorns without the rose
Be careful of them in the dark
Oh, if I was the one you chose to be your only one
Oh baby can't you hear me now, can't you hear me now

I know your window and I know it's late
I know your stairs and your doorway
I walk down your street and past your gate
I stand by the light at the four-way
You watch them as they fall, oh baby, they all have heart attacks
They stay at the carnival, but they'll never win you back...

-This movie is outstanding, top to bottom, start to end.This movie's got a vibe to it that just doesn't let up and if it connects with you like it does with me, you'll love it.Dialogue and writing that will just pierce through you like a round from a thirty-ought-six.Direction that is amazing.And, if you're at all familiar with NYC - I'm a SF native myself, but know NYC far better than any two-bit bowery boy -then you're in for a treat as well too.It's just got a flow to it that you're gonna connect with.

If you've seen this and like it, check out the "sequel" Blue in the Face."It too is right on par with this.Also, check out any of Jim Jarmusch's films too (e.g., Down By Law, Mystery Train, Dead Man, Coffee and Cigarettes, etc.).

Oh, the piece above? It's relevant to the movie.Those who have seen it know what it is if they were paying attention.Others may know it just by knowing it or knowing that it was written by one of the greatest songwriters/performers alive.But, it is a part of this movie and I just wanted to include it for you.Another reviewer here *hinted* at it in their excellent review when they mentioned some of the scenery.Anyway, maybe it'll serve as some motivation for some of you to finally break down and get this absolutely stunning film finally.I hope so.

Enjoy.

Fresh, New and Different
Smoke is a great off beat film that took me by surprise.I just happened to catch it on cable one day.For those of you that live in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn, you'll love seeing that part of town on film including the "J" train as it slowly creeps up the track towards the Williamsburgh Bridge and BedStuy off in the hazy distance and the old Williamsburgh Bank in the foreground.It's a long lazy shot and I find myself sometimes watching that scene over and over again.It's a beautiful shot of that part of Brooklyn.Close enough to hear the train but far enough to keep the other city noises in the background.Utterly beautiful!

This film is full of quirky characters.Auggie (Harvey Keitel) is probably the most off beat and quirky of them all.Stockard Channing gives a stunning performance as Auggie's ex girlfriend and Ashley Judd is brilliant, even though she only has one scene, as their drug addicted, poor and bitter daughter.The film also stars William Hurt (Altered States), Harold Perrineau Jr, (Romeo&Juliet) and Forest Whitaker (Panic Room).

The most unexpected moment in Smoke is Auggie's Christmas story.I don't want to give too much away but it's sad, touching and funny all at the same time.Don't look for special effects, explosions, car chases or gun fights here.There are none.Just good storytelling.

Also interesting are the bonus attractions on the dvd.Seeing the director (Wayne Wang) direct another director (Forest Whitaker) and watching Whitaker accept and discuss Wang's directions were especially captivating.

All in all, a lovely film to curl up with.Enjoy! ... Read more

Asin: B000089770
Subjects:  1. Feature Film-comedy   

In the vastly overrated 1998 book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, author Peter Biskind puts the blame for Hollywood's blockbuster mentality at least partially on Steven Spielberg's box-office success with this adaptation of Peter Benchley's bestselling novel. But you can't blame Spielberg for making a terrific movie, which Jaws definitely is. The story of a Long Island town whose summer tourist business is suddenly threatened by great-white-shark attacks on humans bypasses the potboiler trappings of Benchley's book and goes straight for the jugular with beautifully crafted, crowd-pleasing sequences of action and suspense supported by a trio of terrific performances by Roy Scheider (as the local sheriff), Richard Dreyfuss (as a shark specialist), and particularly Robert Shaw (as the old fisherman who offers to hunt the shark down). The sequences on Shaw's boat--as the three of them realize that in fact the shark is hunting them--are what entertaining moviemaking is all about. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Features

• Color
• Closed-captioned
• Widescreen
• Dolby

Asin: B00004TDTO
Subjects:  1. Feature Film-action/Adventure   

Airstream: The History of the Land Yacht
by Chronicle Books
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 January, 2000)
list price: $19.95 -- our price: $13.97
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Reviews (7)

Good, just not as expected
While this book offers much for those interested in the people behind Airstream, it offers little about the trailers themselves. Still, a good and interesting read.

Not What I Expected, Either!
Though never having owned an Airstream, I've always been interested in its development and history as the 'Cadillac' of travel trailers.This book was, for the most part, a disappointment.I was primarily interested in the trailers themselves.There are very few illustrations of floor plans over the years, of the development of the interiors and exteriors--after all, today's trailers are quite different from 40 years ago!A great deal of space is dedicated to a few Wally Byam caravans with some large, page-filling photos.

In the end, this can make a nice coffee-table book for Airstream fans.I'd still like to see a more comprehensive research into the trailers themselves and their development.

Sterling!!
This book is wonderful.I'm going to have to purchase a new copy for my dad's Christmas present, I've worn this copy out reading it. The photographs are vintage, the text facinating and informative. ... Read more

Isbn: 0811824713
Sales Rank: 28122
Subjects:  1. Airstream trailers    2. Automotive - Antique & Classic    3. Automotive - Miscellaneous Vehicles    4. General    5. History    6. Transportation