Absolutely essential reading for any lover of opera. By providing historical information and relevant social commentary, Daniel Heartz supplies all the tools necessary to truly appreciate the genius and wit of Mozart. This book transports the reader to new vantage points - making Mozart's operas all the more satisfying and enjoyable. Highly recommended.

A pleasant enough diversion, but hardly the illuminating triumph that Crace seems to have intended. Crace is a master of entwining the intimate and the expansive, but he seems to have gotten the proportions wrong here and the book ends up feeling cramped, labored, and unworthy of the attention which generated it or which it has garnered. The stories themselves, while often delightful (although also sometimes dull), are on roughly the same level as good canapes at a fancy cocktail party: try one and you're in awe, four and you're half-sated, ten and you don't even notice them any more, because they've all started to taste alike. And no matter how many of them you pile on, they don't add up to a meal.

Go ahead--take a bite. If you believe your tastes are too pedestrian for the gourmet literary feast served up by Jim Crace in "The Devil's Larder", think again. These tiny tales of human beings and their gustatory obsessions contain the full spectrum of flavors for gourmand and epicure alike.

It's this accessibility that makes Crace one of the most evocative writers of short fiction working today. While it may seem a highbrow undertaking to prepare sixty four miniature stories about food and serve them as a meal, the book never exudes an air of snobbery or literary exclusiveness. Food, in Crace's rendering, is the most democratizing element in the world, through which people and their secrets can be rolled back like a slowly opening can of sardines.

The stories' brevity is their most astonishing strength. With words sprinkled with loving artistry over the pages like ingredients in a souffle, each tale evokes a passion, a pain, a longing, a regret, which many novelists fail to capture in work thousands of times as long. And, while of course each story stands on its own, the thematic integrity of the work makes it feel like a complete five course feast, disguised as a banquet of delectable one-bite hors-d'oeuvres.

What is an aubergine? A rose hip? A cheroot? The author might not expect his readers to know, but to imagine. And it's in daring us to imagine that Crace, a master-chef of the English language, leaves us with a greater sense of who we are and what we might become.

For no other reason than the stories captivated me. Each one so full of imagery. I just liked it; sometimes it's hard to say why a book is appealing, but this one is one of my favorites. If you get a chance, read it.

The writing in this book is all the good things that the reviewers here have named it-- vivid, detailed, rich. For some people, that's apparently enough to make a satisfying reading experience. Unfortunately, I need a lot more in the way of story to be satisfied. I don't think that it's a problem with the writer as I have not felt other books by Crace to be similarly lacking. Chalk it up to a matter of taste, and by all means read it if you're the kind of person who really loves the kind of portraiture rendered here.

Jim Crace uses words as van Gogh used paint -- they are thick, sensual, palpable. Read this book for the descriptions of the market alone, for few writers are so capable of manipulating the reader's senses.

But there's more to this book than stunning language. The story is engaging and powerful, the characters almost mythic. It's as if Dickens were rewritten by Hemingway trying to write like Faulkner.

You won't, however, enjoy this book if you are in the mood for a rousing entertainment full of suspense and intrigue. It's far more languid than that, far more thoughtful. For Crace is after something here; he's following a hunch and digging up the dirt, trying to describe us all in our everyday purchases and accumulations, our bets and hedges and love of tall buildings, for there is a scheme behind these beautiful words, and ultimately the book shines a laser into the heart of market capitalism. Perhaps you should read it while reading Thorstein Veblen, too.

Or perhaps not. No, don't worry about the deep implications and mirrors on reality. Sink your mind's teeth into this book, and let the juices flow where they may.

It's Crace's third book, and his best up to this point, but there's a greater gift here, too, for once you have finished it don't despair: his later work is even better.

Jim Crace is one of the most original authors I have had the pleasure of reading. I've now read four of his works having completed, "Arcadia", the third novel the author published. An easy error to make would be to state that Jim Crace does not write about topics that have never been tested before. My response would be that not many authors do. What sets the innovators apart from the imitators is their ability to bring you to a theme you believe you have experienced only to have it adjusted so the view you are given is unique in its presentation.

Much of what I have read in his first three works deals with change. Who causes or inflicts it, and those that are generally not in a position to amend it. This is not always because the change is some manner of preconceived evil. Often those that are affected simply surrender; they either lack the will or the resources to adapt. He often takes a group, as he has done here, that share very common beginnings, however some move beyond their peers with results that are decidedly mixed.

Prior to starting his novels a quote often foretells of what is to come. The idea expressed is more important than the literal interpretation, and in the case of, "Arcadia" it begins, "The tallest buildings throw the longest shadows (thus Great Men make their Mark by blocking out the sun, and, seeking Warmth themselves, cast Cold upon the rest)". The quote is from Emile dell'Ova, and the work, "Truisms" dated 1774. Tall is a relative term, and I would imagine the author of, "Truisms", never-imagined how tall buildings would be.

Victor began his life at the lowest rung that was on offer. By the age of 80 he has added rungs as he has needed them, co-opted his adversaries, and lives a life that is both solitary and predicated on getting even. In this he is as successful as Sisyphus, or perhaps not. His Fixer is a man named Rook. This man takes the shortest route between two points to reach his goals, not unlike the chess piece that is confined to moving in only a straight line.

Arcadia as produced by Victor is supposed to improve the lives and businesses of the same class of merchants to which he once belonged. As Victor explains nothing is changing other than the counters are getting higher. First you sat on mats to sell your fruit, and then it was raised onto a cart, and now will be cradled in climate-controlled comfort.

All this sounds familiar, not unlike the massive mall that kills the downtown merchant. Jim Crace takes the elements of progress and the darker sides of business together with those who practice them on an entirely new ride. When you gain the end of the tale virtually all the main characters can either be vilified or celebrated. Black becomes white, adversary becomes friend.

Mr. Crace is not an imitator, his work also required a bit of getting used to. Once you are in step with the cadence of his thoughts you will find he is a thought-provoking author of the highest merit.

Prior to the first of the stories in this book there is a quote. It is from The Histories Of Pycletius, and it makes a statement upon 4 topics that are each comprised of 7 parts. Author Jim Crace adds his collection of stories, which are 7 in number, to bring the confines of a pentagon of like numbers to a close. While this is only the second time I have had the pleasure of reading this man's work, I can safely say that every word of his writing is carefully chosen. Whether this book grew from the quote, or was merely a pleasant coincidence, only the Author knows. I doubt it was chance. I think it is another demonstration of the unique writing this man shares with readers.

An imagined 7th continent is revealed in 7 stories. This imagined land might not be named or located for us, however it certainly is amongst those we do know, and regularly interacts with its neighbors. Pycletius states that his 7th landmass has business, and it is that of both trade and superstition. The Continent of Mr. Crace shares the attributes that Pycletius lists, and the darker sides of man. It was almost as though he was going to tell tales of the 7 deadly sins. While some of the stories do fit those themes, to say that others do would be a stretch. If you were to add some of the fables of Aesop, then you would have the stories covered.

These stories do contain some themes that are familiar. What makes them special is Jim Crace's unique way of presenting his variations. A person who jogs for exercise would seem to be completely benign, however Jim Crace demonstrates how this seemingly harmless activity can damage a small town. The concept of tradition is examined, and success when it means money can become insidious, and destructive.

Jim Crace is an author whose work I initially found difficult to engage with. I started with his work, "Quarantine", and now starting here with, "Continent", I hope to read the balance of his work is the sequence he wrote it. The man's work is fascinating, and is well worth any initial hurdles you may experience.

This terse and masterly written novel, constructed as a collection of short stories without any apparent interconnections, has only one hero - a new Continent itself. The Continent does not really exist on world maps but its inhabitants are quite similar to the people of real continents in many (unfortunately, unseemly) ways. So, turning the last page of the novel, we breathe with relief because we are living beyond the confines of this Continent where occurs trade but not trust, superstition but not faith, lust but not love...

In Jim Crace's first novel (actually in disguise a seven stories), CONTINENT, the talented author of QUARANTINE and THE GIFT OF STONES has brought to life the very landscape of the story itself, making it the 'character' that all of the stories have in common, the thread that ties them all together.

It is quite an invention -- unique, alien and unrecognizable, a seventh continent, unnamed, for which Crace has conceived languages, people and cultures that will not allow themselves to be pigeonholed by the reader's preconceptions. This device is a risky one -- and Crace pulls it off beautifully. He has brought into being a clean, empty slate upon which to paint these tales -- and in doing so he has freed himself of societal conventions.

By separating the reader from the known world, Crace holds up a painting for us to lose ourselves within -- and before we know it, it becomes a mirror, and we are looking at ourselves, but in a fabulist landscape wherein our beliefs and actions are actually more sharply in focus than if they were in their usual surroundings. Very effective.

I have only (so far) read the two other works by Crace that I mentioned above -- and I enjoyed them thoroughly as well. This book is quite different -- reminding me, as one of the quotes on the book jacket mentioned, of Italo Calvino. Not bad company for Mr. Crace to share, in my opinion -- and I'm not saying his work is derivative of Calvino's art in any way. I'm also reminded of the recent novel by Gaetan Soucy, THE LITTLE GIRL WHO WAS TOO FOND OF MATCHES, another amazing creation of a seemingly parallel -- but just as unnamable -- space and time.

There is much to be gained and absorbed from this work -- it will definitely merit repeated readings. I'm also looking forward to reading BEING DEAD and THE DEVIL'S LARDER.

This book has good intentions, but they are not carried through in the text. The writing is rather flowery and general and by the end of the authors call *research*, you don't really find out what that research was. I was looking for a book to recommend to cancer patients who want to use self expression as part of their healing, but this was not the book, I ended up returning it.

Filled with beautifully written stories, this book reveals the eight steps of spiritual healing. It puts you in touch with your spirituality and also, a meaningful higher power. This graceful and sensitive guide will show you how to make immediate changes in your life.

This book changed my life. After reading the stories in this book and doing the guided imagery exercises, I was different. I began to have beautiful visions and saw myself surrounded by guides and connected to others. This is my favorite book. I do not have an illness, I have done meditation for years, but this book took me to places in my spirit I have never been. I know it will change your life too.