Food scientist Edouard de Pomiane turned the world of French cuisine on its ear with his beautifully simple approach to classic cooking. With over 300 recipes and many amusing anecdotes, and a fond introduction by renowned food writer Elizabeth David, COOKING WITH POMAINE remains a treasured resource for cooks of all kind.

This is my favourite cookbook-- or should I say my favourite food cookbook (The Anarchist's Cookbook is my fave overall). There are lots of recipes in here for all dishes and occasions- be it a fancy dinner or a not-so-fancy dessert- and the good news is, most of them are of the minimalist tradition, so no complicated procedures or fancy-schmansy ingredients. Just plain old good food, and believe me, if you follow Pomiane's and tips, you'll be cooking like a pro in no time!

This is an absolutely delightful read. I haven't tried any of the (delicious-sounding) recipes yet, but just reading this book was enough to whet my appetite! I particularly enjoyed his many witty asides and poetic turns of phrase. Highly recommended. Also take a look at "Clementine in the Kitchen", another charmer.

Not only is this collection of fairy tales entertaining reading, Zipes goes into the history of the French literary salon and the backgrounds of the fairytales. Wonderful book.

This paperback collection is an abbreviated version of the original hardbound which is now out of print. Even with some of the material missing, this collection is well worth the money. It can be hard to find fairy tale collections that contain the work of the women (such as Beaumont and d'Aulnoy) in the French salons that influenced Charles Perrault. This is one of the best collections, and it includes many of the tales that are mentioned by scholars but hard to locate. None of the stories are watered down and they paint a picture of why fairy tales are an important part of literature. In the end, they are entertaining stories and can be read just for fun, too.

I, too, have only ever seen this produced, and never found it in print... but it's just brilliant. And FUNNY. How do you build a farce around the idea that "bad faith makes the world go 'round?" Well, Sartre manages it... I'll stop before this turns into an essay, and just recommend that anyone who has a chance to see this performed by a cast of any distinction at all should jump at it.

My first trip to England in the early 70's was the highpoint of my theater-going experiences. I was lucky enough to see Alec Guiness in "Voyage Round My Father," the Peter Brook production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and a young Ian McClellan playing the lead in "Kean." All were unforgettable, but this play still sticks in my mind as being among the negelected masterpieces of 20th century playwrighting. Sartre understood theater history and he understood role-playing, appearance vs. reality and all the other critical saws that are discussed in high-school English classes. Yet in this play these tired themes are perfectly expressed and therefor renewed and made infinitely interesting by the manner in which the playwright unfolds them. There is a gradual peeling away of pretense and bravado on the part of the protagonist (the play might as well be a monologue), and the audience comes to understand that behind all the masks, what Sartre finally wants to show us is humanity stripped of its skin. He exposes the viscera, the protruding bones, the raw psychic flesh that we are all heir to. Kean, by play's conclusion, has degenerated into a knd of erstwhile Truman Capote, having sacrificed his soul in the process of gaining notoriety. He also shares Capote's substance abuse weaknesses, though his alcoholism is merely a symptom of his inner malaise. Sartre is saying a great deal about art, about the effect of fame and about the human condition in this work. It is a play that should be revived every fifth year either on the West End or on Broadway, in my opinion. It is apparently hard to come by. I can't even swear that it reads as well as it plays (I've seen two productions, but haven't been able to find it in print myself). If you ever have the opportunity to see the play, by all means avail yourself of a rare theatrical treat.

The infamous Napoleon Bonaparte died while imprisoned on the island of St. Helena. Until very recently, it was widely believed that he died of stomach cancer, which was prevalent in his family.

This book investigates the case made by Swedish dentist Dr. Sten Forshufvud. After learning the details of Napoleon's final days, Dr. Forshufvud began to suspect arsenic poisoning. Along with Ben Weider, the two delved into sources of available information regarding Napoleon, his imprisonment and those close to him. The authors present a very likely scenario of what really happened based on results of this investigation, along with an analysis of Napoleon's hair confirming arsenic poisoning.

Despite the hair analysis, the case is not completely solved, as Napoleon's final moments on his death bed did not indicate arsenic poisoning. Instead, the authors argue that arsenic was used to make Napoleon ill and then another method was used to finish him off. A likely suspect to the murder as well as a motive are also named.

This is a fascinating book for anyone interested in European history during a turbulent time.

This book is one of the best I've ever read about Napoleon's death. I came by this book during my recent visit of the United States. I was discussing history and unsolved mysteries with a relative of mine when he introduced me to the book. He told me that for the first time a researcher had decided to challenge all the known theories about Napoleon's death. And what a challenge!! According to the author the great Emperor had been poisoned by arsenic during his exile in Saint Hélène. At first I was quite sceptical. Could that be the solution of this mystery? However, the more I read the more I was convinced by the author's argument and by the researcher thourough 'enquête'. Although we might not agree with the identity of the murderer we can't not sweep aside such scientific facts. The book is a real page-turner and I rest assure that all the fans of the subject (and even those merely interested by the scientific aspect of the theory) will find this book extremely interesting and disturbing (in a positive way, of course).

If you enjoy French literature in translation, you should already be familiar with the name of Norman Shapiro--one of our pre-eminent French-to-English translators. Quite simply, whatever Mr. Shapiro chooses to translate results in a highly enjoyable, entertaining addition to my French lit. bookshelf! If you find pleasure in Richard Wilbur's Moliere, Donald Frame's Montaigne and Rabelais, Richard Howard's Stendhal and Baudelaire, Burton Raffel's Chretien, or Merwin's Song of Roland--then you owe it to yourself to investigate Shapiro's La Fontaine translations--four volumes to date: "Fifty Fables" and "Fifty More Fables" published by Illinois, "La Fontaine's Bawdy" published by Princeton, and the present book, "Once Again, La Fontaine" published by Wesleyan. These books are--alas!--one of the best-kept secrets of High French Literature to Read for Pleasure.

Also, Shapiro has translated volumes of Verlaine and Baudelaire for the University of Chicago press (two very handsome paperback editions), and do be on the lookout for his edition of Ronsard/Marot/Bellay from Yale University Press!

The publisher's annotation fails to mention *anywhere* that the CD included with the disc features 26 fables read by actor Douglas Sills, of Broadway's The Scarlet Pimpernel fame. He does a delightful job of interpreting various characters.

This is the ultimate French verb book. It's got every verb conjugated in every sense. It also rates the top 50 most used verbs, a very useful feature. It's very nicely packaged, and in my opinion better than 501 Verbs, although I have both and both are truly great resources.

This is a beautiful book. Albert Cohen writes a long love letter to his late mother. Like in his other books, death is an obsession or rather the discontinuity between life that is everything and death that is nothing. It is a moving masterpiece.

I've read several books on Arthurian literature, and this is one of my favorites. In Knight of the Cart, Chretien really makes Lancelot shine as he sacrifices more than anyone (Arthur particularly) to save Guinevere. Knight with the Lion is a little on the twisted side as Yvain falls in love with the wife of the man he kills, breaks a promise with her, then gets her back through trickery of words.

Very solid, very readable translation by Staines.

I have used this cookbook for more than a decade, and I consistently return to this book by Urvater and Liederman for the best of clean, elegant and richly satisfying recipes. The recipes include very simple and easy meals with little preparation, as well as complex, highly detailed concoctions, all of which are beautiful and tremendously gratifying. The detailed descriptions for making stocks and glaces come first, as they form the basis of many of the sauces in their recipes to follow. Time-consuming but easy, these stocks provide a richness and depth to their cuisine found mostly in elegant restaurants, without relying on excessive butter, cream or cheeses. Most important, the recipes are painstakingly edited. I have never had a recipe fail for me, as long as I followed the directions. I keep this book on the same shelf as Julia Child, The Joy of Cooking, and The Splendid Table as the cornerstones of my cooking library.

Malmoud has done a brilliant analysis of Hindu rituals based on an an indepth indological reading of sanskrit texts that discuss vedic rituals, and are still performed by Brahmin in India. As Malamoud discusses and illustrates, sacrifice is the ultimate ritual and that gives meaning to all activities in Hindu India. It is what establishes a relation between the divine, social and the natural world. It is the mechanism that founds and situates the socio-cosmic order. Based on several examples such s the marriage and death rites Malmoud argues that rituals are an epistemological statement in action. The idea of debt or rin s it is called in India is the central notion. This idea of paying back to the world: natural and social and divine forms the conceptual model of all exchange relations and social life in village India. In Malmouds, analysis it is not the spoken word, the mantra which is critical ut the performance of rituals which ensures the continuoty oof the social order.

Hence, Malmoud convincingly argues sacrifice is the model for all actions. Everyday life is a constant movement towards attaining this ritualideal.