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Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love Review

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(More customer reviews)I was hooked by the picture of Oogy on the cover. The story did not disappoint.
This is a noble dog, an inspirational dog. (As someone says to the author, "When was the last time you heard of a fighting dog who was inspirational?" I don't have the quote exactly right, but it's just what I was thinking while reading.) Oogy had a horrendous history - he was literally a throw-away dog when Larry Levin and his sons first met him. Somehow Oogy's spirit and love for all creatures survived an unthinkable ordeal and shone through to all who met him, even when he was close to death and in incredible pain. This is an amazing animal, and the narrative works best when Larry Levin makes the story about Oogy. Of course it is also about a family, but it is mostly about this amazing dog.
True animal lovers - vets, rescuers - recognize the special nature of this animal. People seeing him on the street are initially put off by his appearance but quickly won over by his personality.
The writing style is straightforward which works well with the compelling and emotional nature of the story. I cried early and often. It is a quick read but it will stay with me for a long, long time.
Minor quibble: it seemed that the author was way too hard on himself every time Oogy suffered some pain, and obsessed with making it up to Oogy for the unthinkable experiences of his early life. Mr. Levin is apparently an attorney with a very flexible schedule that allows him to spend a lot of time at home, and his bonding with Oogy is so complete that he occasionally seems to lose perspective.
Another quibble is the title. Everybody loves Oogy. That's the whole point.
I think the story works so well because this is basically a normal family whose lives are touched by an extraordinary dog. Oogy is the miracle. Very highly recommended.

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Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Restaurant Reviews, Articles, Memoir, Fiction and More Review

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(More customer reviews)What is food writing? Before I read Jacob's book, I thought I might learn a few techniques for writing restaurant reviews. Wow -- I was wrong! This is a huge, magnificent field, of which I've merely sampled my first appetizer.
The author's research in compiling this book is extensive. In presenting her ideas, she doesn't limit readers to her own personal experience; she interviewed hundreds of successful food writers and asked them how they got started, what a typical day is like, and what advice they have to give.
Despite her years of industry experience, Jacob truly understands the heart of a beginner, and her voice is as far from snooty-hooty as one can be. Readers will feel encouraged and energized after reading chapters on the secrets of restaurant reviewing, cookbook compiling, recipe writing (yes, it is an art form!), memoir and nonfiction food writing, and food in fiction.
Jacob's passion is so contagious, her words dance across the page. She seems especially interested in the trend of narrative food writing, and she gives you tips on how to make your writing full of jolt and flavor. What are the three laziest adjectives used to describe food? She says "nice," "wonderful," and "delicious." She writes, "They are so vague that readers don't know what you mean other than something positive." Instead, she offers an extensive list of adjectives in chapter 5 that make it well worth the price of the book.
I'm only a simple home cook. My creativity usually involves whipping up kid-friendly favorites without having to dash off to the grocery store for exotic ingredients. Although I've written a few of my own recipes, I certainly didn't realize what an exciting art form food writing can be.
While reading this book, we ate out at a new restaurant, and I imagined myself as one of those fancy New York Times reviewers in disguise (didn't know they may actually wear wigs!). I had our waiter answering a myriad of questions, and even dashing back to speak with the chef. I brought home a menu and scribbled all over it my impressions.
I'm intrigued as to how to better describe tastes and food. And I never considered children's books to be a place where good food writing can exist. After reading WILL WRITE FOR FOOD, I am much more aware. I appreciate the recommendation from Writer's Digest and will certainly add this to my bookshelf of favorites.
I love the way she describes what it takes to make a great reviewer: [They] have passion, knowledge, authority, a great writing style, and stamina...They give the reader a feel for the place, its rhythm, and overall vibe. And they keep up their energy level and enthusiasm. Passion is paramount."
She quotes experienced food critic Alan Richman who says he can't wait to see what a restaurant has in store for him. He shares, "I get a hop in my step."
A well done book, indeed.
--Reviewed by Heather Lynn Ivester

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Harvey Penick's Little Red Book: Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf Review

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(More customer reviews)Ben Crenshaw doubled over and openly wept after holing out to win the 1995 Masters tournament. His golf teacher, friend, and father figure Harvey Penick had passed away shortly before the tourney. Ben felt that Harvey was `guiding' him in the final rounds, and the emotions finally overtook him. The impact of the moment was very touching, but it wasn't until I finished Harvey's Little Red book that I began to understand the poignancy of the connection. The 90-year-old Penick had taught Ben since Ben was 7. The little red book of the title is the notebook, journal, and freeform diary of Mr. Penick. Compiled from golf observations throughout his life, it was only in his waning years that he agreed to allow anyone to see it. What a treat and a privilege it was to read. This is a wonderful piece of literature. Having recently completed Hogan and Armour's instructional guides, this was an excellent follow up. Not nearly as meticulously mechanical and cold as Hogan, nor as blandly wandering as Armour, Penick's actual instruction is extremely straightforward in its scope. I also think that the longer one has played golf the greater one appreciates this work. Not written strictly for the beginner, as the other two books are, Harvey comments not only on instruction and mechanics, but also course design, tournaments, hustlers, metaphorical imagery, and caddying in the early part of the century. Throughout the book, his love of teaching and his immense pride in his pupils continues to carry the theme, allowing one to understand the connection he had with his students. Having become extremely weary of the cloying media and corporate anointment of T. Woods, reading about golf as seen through Harvey Penick's eyes was a much-needed tonic. Highly recommended.

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Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life Review

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(More customer reviews)This is not a how-to book. This is not a New Age manual for freeing your creativity in ethereal ways. This is Anne Lamott, for heaven's sake...and that means it's funny! As in, laugh- till-you-can't-read-the-words-through-the-tears-in-your-eyes funny. (Some call this therapy, and I'm inclined to agree.)
Though aimed at writers, this book is full of sage advice and razor-edged honesty for the average joe. If you're a writer--and I claim to be one--it's more than a few anecdotes and good advice; it's a lifeline in the thrashing seas of rough-draftdom, a foothold on the sands of jealousy and vain ambition. Anne makes it clear that writing must be pursued for something other than mere publication. (Though, to be honest, I know she's just trying to let the majority of us down easy.) Writing is about letting go, growing, facing truths, and holding on.
I'm hooked on Lamott. She slaps me in the face with her startling revelations, nudges me in the ribs with her unpredictable humor, and prods my frozen little writer's hands back into action with warm compassion. This book won't solve the mechanical aspects of my writing, or lead me on the path of structural excellence, but it will spark my creativity, free my characters to be true to themselves, and, ultimately, shake me from my doldrums back into the writing mode.
In a society addicted to mindless facts and information, "Bird by Bird" reminds us--writers or otherwise--that it's all about heart. Heart and mind and soul dancing together, even if they step all over each other's feet.

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Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto Review

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(More customer reviews)"Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" is an essay collection that draws comparisons between popular culture and important social and interpersonal issues. It also happens to be extremely witty at times. Chuck Klosterman is a writer for Spin magazine, so he clearly knows pop culture and can write quality essays. The best of his work here truly encapsulates life. Who cannot relate to this quote? - "Every relationship is fundamentally a power struggle, and the individual in power is whoever likes the other person less." That profundity, by the way, is from an essay that discusses the merits of "When Harry Met Sally"; another section proffers the genius of Billy Joel. Yes, Klosterman is a bit of a hipster geek.
Pop culture references are sprinkled throughout the book, but sometimes it stretches a bit too much for the sake of a clever analogy. In the forward, Klosterman assserts that, at times, he feels as though "everything is completely connected." Unfortunately, he is not adept enough to make all of his essays into a cohesive whole (as other reviewers have noted). Ultimately, the book feels like a loose collection of unrelated but very funny skits. Although that debit doesn't sink the book, it does lessen its impact. In addition, Klosterman is sometimes too self-aware for his own good; several times, he makes reference to liking something "unironically" - such as "Saved by the Bell." His definitive goal seems to be achieving irony. While this credo certainly makes "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" a funny read, it can become rather tedious as well. Overall, I'd recommend this book, but with reservations.

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Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981-1991 Review

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(More customer reviews)For all those who have read and loved a Rushdie novel, Imaginary Homelands provides more of the same biting humor, insightful thoughts, and elegant prose as Rushdie shares with us his thoughts on everything from censorship to Stephen Hawking. A fair amount of time is spent on criticisms of various novels and authors and I, for one, found it fascinating to see what such an acclaimed author thinks of his peers. Given that this volume contains numerous essays, you will definitely want to pick and choose what to read and will probably end up doing so over an extended period of time. But you must at least take the time to read a little. As always, Rushdie's language is beautiful and forthrightness admirable.

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I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away Review

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(More customer reviews)So what's this then? A collection of columns written by Bill Bryson for the British Night & Day magazine, assembled into a book? I was sceptical when I first picked it due to the unfamiliarity here; I thought he was a travel writer. But then I started reading through the first few pages and am delighted to report that they were so entertaining and accessible that I ended up finishing the book very satified.
This book is about America, about consumerism, hypocracy, politics, culture and everything else in between, such as motels and boring interstate highways and the condition of AT&T service these days. Why should all this be so interesting? Because Bill Bryson's voice shines throughout, dissecting normally more complex subjects into bite-sized articles which are eminently readable to the extent that it is at times impossible to stop. Of course, his trademark humour is present too. If you read this in public, there is the risk of embarrassment by your involuntary snorts of laughter.
However, 'I'm a Stranger here Myself' isn't perfect. Much of the book is predictable, and 85% of the time, Bill appears to be complaining. Someone as talented as Bill Bryson should know not to engage in such indulgence because the end result is that the reader occassionally feels frustrated over the ostensible monotony. You also can't help but feel that an assemblage of brief columns is not enough to make a book.
Although this book is not standard Bill Bryson fare, it still manages to excel. It really is exceptionally enlightening, to read what he has to say subsequent to spending 20 years in England. He compares the contrasts between the two nations and questioning so many aspects of life that Americans take for granted, such as driving from shop to shop when they are merely footsteps apart, or the blatant excesses of junk food. Each article (in my edition, Black Swan) covers only five pages so they are very easy to get into.
If you are an American, perhaps you will enjoy this book more than anyone else as you will undoubtedly find it compelling to look into the views of an outsider in the process of 'assimilation'.
'I'm a Strange here Myself' doesn't feel like a book, more like a colelction of columns binded together. If you are willing to accept this, it is an extremely rewarding, insightful and refreshingly diverting read. This is enough to gain a hearty recommendation.

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Everything Is Going to Kill Everybody: The Terrifyingly Real Ways the World Wants You Dead Review

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(More customer reviews)Name 5 ways we're all going to die. Do it! Right now! Before reading this book I knew of maybe three ways: asteroid, war, or plague. Wait, four--global warming. Robert Brockway details, like, 20, and each one scares you more than the last. I've learned way more about killer volcanos, super hurricanes, and killer robots than I ever actually wanted to know, but at least all this fear-mongering put a smile on my face. So buy the book, get informed of all ways everything and everybody wants you dead, and come join me in my bunker. I have nachos!

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Just when you thought you'd accepted your own mortality . . . Everything Is Going to Kill Everybody is bringing panic back. Twenty illustrated, hilariously fear-inducing  essays reveal the chilling and very real experiments, dangerous emerging technologies, and terrifying natural disasters that soon could—or very nearly already did—bring about the end of humanity. In short, everything in here will kill you and everyone you love. At any moment. And nobody's told you about it—until now: • Experiments in green energy like the HiPER, which uses massive lasers to create a tiny "contained" sun; it's an idea that could save the world if it doesn't consume us all in a fiery fusion reaction first. • Global disasters like the hypercane—a hurricane so large it could cover all of North America and shoot trailer parks into space!• Terrifying new developments in robotics like the EATR, which powers itself on meat—an invention in the running for "Worst Decision Made by Anybody."

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Take the Cannoli : Stories From the New World Review

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(More customer reviews)Sarah Vowell brings her trademark wit and attention to detail to a range of topics in this remarkable collection. She ranges from the everyday (mix tapes and UPS deliveries) to more complex subjects (her Cherokee heritage and Trail of Tears), and provides insights into American culture that are profound. She stakes her claim to be able to criticize American wrongdoings but also to wholeheartedly love her country (in an essay entitled "Vindictively American").
The love of music she evidenced in her previous book Radio On is still here, with her faves like Jonathan Richman sprinkled throughout the book. Her irreverent spirit is best displayed in the title chapter, where she appropriates the phrase "Take The Cannoli" from the film The Godfather and truly makes it her own.
Vowell goes to Rock N Roll Fantasy Camp, goes deep into the heart of the Chelsea Hotel, and gets glammed up as a goth girl, all in the name of journalism. She truly shines in this collection as a young person who has not given up on America or on rock n' roll, but who right claims her place to critique and evaluate them on her own terms.

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All New Letters from a Nut: Includes Lunatic Email Exchanges Review

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(More customer reviews)Great book, especially the really funny back and forth emails Ted gets going with some of these places. For instance, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Tokyo. Here Ted writes to them that he understands their hotel offers soup in their rooms. They email Ted back stating that they do have soap, as well as shower gel in the rooms (an innocent error). Ted replies back that chicken noodle soap sounds dee-licious. They apologize to Ted for misunderstanding the word soup for soap. Ted goes on about using Chicken noodle soap in the shower. What ensues is a truly funny exchange between Ted and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Very, very humorous! We passed the book around and everyone was just reading their favorite parts.

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** NOTE - THE KINDLE VERSION HAS BEEN FIXED. THIS BOOK IS EASILY READABLE NOW ON KINDLE. TRY A FREE SAMPLE ON YOUR MOBILE DEVICE. SEE ABOVE. **He's back: the curse of customer service departments everywhere--Ted L. Nancy, letter writer extraordinaire whose imbecilic queries have a way of eliciting equally idiotic answers from some of the world's biggest companies and dignitaries.

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Gift from the Sea: 50th Anniversary Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)After watching _The Spirit of St. Louis_ one afternoon, my boyfriend (who is also a pilot) told me that Anne Morrow Lindbergh had written a book, which, as he was told, "every woman should read." The next time I went to his house, _Gift from the Sea_ was waiting for me.
What amazed me about this book was its timeliness, or should I say, timelessness. That a middle-aged Caucasian woman, writing during the 50's, could strike such a deeply-felt chord of sisterhood with me, a 30-something African-American woman living at the brink of a new millennium, is truly the mark of a gifted writer. We "enlightened, liberated" women of the year 2000 think, with a fair amount of condescension, that we have "progressed" so much from that time period. And yet, the issues Mrs. Lindbergh addressed are still very much with us today: how does a woman fulfill the roles of citizen, artist, wife/partner, mother, career person, friend, sibling/relative, and balance all of that with the time and self-commitment for spiritual/emotional nurturing?
I have a quote from this precious gift posted on the wall at my workstation; it is a state of being I seek as a humble pilgrim on life's journey:
"...I want first of all...to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can. I want, in fact - to borrow from the language of the saints - to live "in grace" as much of the time as possible...By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony...I would like to achieve a state of inner spiritual grace from which I could function and give as I was meant to in the eye of God..."
This is a must read for women everywhere!

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In this inimitable, beloved classic—graceful, lucid and lyrical—Anne Morrow Lindbergh shares her meditations on youth and age; love and marriage; peace, solitude and contentment as she set them down during a brief vacation by the sea. Drawing inspiration from the shells on the shore, Lindbergh's musings on the shape of a woman's life bring new understanding to both men and women at any stage of life. A mother of five, an acclaimed writer and a pioneering aviator, Lindbergh casts an unsentimental eye on the trappings of modernity that threaten to overwhelm us: the time-saving gadgets that complicate rather than simplify, the multiple commitments that take us from our families. And by recording her thoughts during a brief escape from everyday demands, she helps readers find a space for contemplation and creativity within their own lives.With great wisdom and insight Lindbergh describes the shifting shapes of relationships and marriage, presenting a vision of life as it is lived in an enduring and evolving partnership. A groundbreaking, best-selling work when it was originally published in 1955, Gift from the Sea continues to be discovered by new generations of readers. With a new introduction by Lindbergh's daughter Reeve, this fiftieth-anniversary edition will give those who are revisiting the book and those who are coming upon it for the first time fresh insight into the life of this remarkable woman.The sea and the beach are elements that have been woven throughout Anne Morrow Lindbergh's life. She spent her childhood summers with her family on a Maine island. After her marriage to Charles Lindbergh in 1929, she accompanied him on his survey flights around the North Atlantic to launch the first transoceanic airlines. The Lindberghs eventually established a permanent home on the Connecticut coast, where they lived quietly, wrote books and raised their family.After the children left home for lives of their own, the Lindberghs traveled extensively to Africa and the Pacific for environmental research. For several years they lived on the island of Maui in Hawaii, where Charles Lindbergh died in 1974. Anne Morrow Lindbergh spent her final years in her Connecticut home, continuing her writing projects and enjoying visits from her children and grand-children. She died on February 7, 2001, at the age of ninety-four.Reeve Lindbergh is the author of many books for both adults and children, including the memoirs Under a Wing and No More Words.

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