The Collected Stories of Colette by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, ed., and with an introduction by, Robert Phelps. Highly recommended.

According to the introduction, this collection represents 100 stories taken from a dozen volumes published during Colette's lifetime. They are categorised as "Early Stories," Backstage at the Music Hall," "Varieties of Human Nature," and "Love." Some, like the Clouk/Chéri stories, appear to be fiction, while many, like "The Rainy Moon" and "Bella-Vista," seem to be taken straight from Colette's varied life and acquaintances.

Whether writing fiction or chronicling fact, whether writing in the third-person omniscient or in the first person, Colette herself is always a character-rarely as an influencer, that is, one whose actions or choices drive the plot. Colette's preferred role is as observer-and it is one for which she is well suited.

An inveterate sensualist and a former music-hall performer, Colette integrates her characters (real and fictional) with everything around them-their clothes (costumes), their abodes, dressing rooms, and haunts (sets), and their neighborhoods and towns (theatres). Much of Colette's writing, no matter how mundane the surface subject, is about art-the art of living and, notably, the art of loving. In "My Goddaughter," the subject tells her godmother how she injured herself with scissors and a curling iron and recounts her mother's reaction. "She said that I had ruined her daughter for her! She said, 'What have you done with my beautiful hair which I tended so patiently? . . . And that cheek, who gave you permission to spoil it! . . . I've taken years, I've spent my days and nights, trembling over this masterpiece. . . ."

Colette is attuned to everything, every sense, every nuance. "A faint fragrance did indeed bring to my nostrils the memory of various scents which are at their strongest in autumn." ("Gibriche") ". . . set in a bracelet, which slithered between her fingers like a cold and supple snake." ("The Bracelet") " . . . the supper of rare fruits, an[d]of ice water sparkling in the thin glasses, as intoxicating as champagne . . ." ("Florie") "Peroxided hair, light-colored eyes, white teeth, something about her of an appetizing but slightly vulgar young washerwoman." ("Gitanette")

Colette does not pretend to be an objective observer of human behaviour; she does not hesitate to express to the reader her weariness with certain individuals or situations, and her stories of her vain, pretentious, overbearing friend Valentine reveal her jaded and waning affection. She knows this woman so well that she sees her almost as Valentine sees herself-a drama queen acting out stories, roles, and games without depth of feeling for them. "What Must We Look Like?" becomes Valentine's driving philosophy, to which Colette responds with "a mild, a kindly pity." In "The Hard Worker," Colette says, "I can see she does not hate him, but I cannot see she loves him either." What Colette sees-and does not see-is to be respected.

Some stories, such as "The Sick Child," are vivid and imaginative and reveal Colette's amazing ability to think and dream like a gifted child. "The Advice," with its mundane beginning and premise and twisted, horrifying ending would enhance any collection of gothic or mystery tales. Other stories, like "Gibriche," several of the other music-hall stories, and "Bella-Vista," tackle topics that even today remain controversial. "Bella-Vista," in which Colette's moods seem to wane with every familiarity achieved with her hostesses, offers an ending that is heavily foreshadowed throughout but is surprising and gruesome nonetheless.

Most of the stories, whether fiction or nonfiction, seem to come from life in one way or another. The quantity of stories and the quality of the collection reveal the incredible scope of experience of Colette, the dry, often weary yet obsessive observer, interpreter, and chronicler of human nature. As Judith Thurman says in her introduction to Colette's work, The Pure and the Impure, "This great ode to emptiness was written by a woman who felt full." As well she should.

Diane L. Schirf, 27 May 2003.

Ok. You've read the Claudine novels, and Cheri and the Return of Cheri. Now what? There are other novels (The Vagabond, Gigi, My Mother's House) but there are these short stories that are "must-reads."

Colette was one of France's most distinguished writers. Though not a writer of massive books like Victor Hugo or Proust, or of psychological novels like Zola or Flaubert, she caught that French essence of individuality and quirkiness and the golden age of La Belle Epoque before World War One changed France forever. Her books are pure joy as are these short stories. If you have NOT read Colette, you are in for a treat. (And don't neglect Claudine or Cheri. )

If you're looking for a refreshing deviation from the mean of women writers, then Colette is it. Her stories offer a pleasurable clearing of the literary palate.

A wonderful reference book for anyone contemplating a remodel or a new house with colonial styling. The photos are first class, and the text is conversational while providing real information grounded in history. A book to pick up again and again for inspiration. Classy!

Most home design books use lots of visuals and minimize on the text. "Colonials" has so much more. It's actually a pity that the title directs one to a particular era or style, because this book is a comprehensive compendium of design, renovation and construction ideas that apply to a much broader design style than simply Colonial.

This is a design book where the text is important. There are highlighted features where the author gives informational snippets about everything from variations in roof design to conservation and wetlands, and even hints on lighting; all useful whether you're building, renovating or remodeling. Far more than a coffee table book, this book will get dirty from hands-on use!

As a collector of design and remodeling publications, this one gets my highest recommendation.

GOOD TEXT AND EXAMPLES OF COLONIAL ARCHECTURE PAST AND PRESENT.
FIRST RATE

As one who worships at the altar of Agatha Christie, I found this book to be a comprehensive reference guide to the greatest mystery writer of all time. Everything relating to Christie and her immortal creations of Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence et.al. is here. Well-written,well-organized and extremely informative, this book is a must for any Christie fan or mystery lover. Highly recommended.

If you are a Christie fan you must have this book. Once you start dipping you will not stop and once you start to cross-reference you'll end up being late for work. This dedicated addition to the Christie files is just great. It contains not only references to just about every character that ever appeared in a book by Agatha christe but has film references, T.V. references. (Will somebody please help me find the now lost "Agatha Christie Hour" programmes) as well as theatrical references.

If you buy only one non-fiction Chritie reference book you will not be dissapointed with Matthew Bunson's brilliant hommage as no better critique could you find than a dedicated fan who would go to this much trouble. Thanks, Matthew, hope you sell loads

Let me start out by saying I have not read every page in this homage to the great Ms. Christie. Instead, over the past few couple of weeks I have looked up the detailed descriptions of items of interest to me like the list of television shows, stage performances, and movies created from one of Ms. Christie's works. That is the beauty of thisencyclopedia. Fans of the author and readers of mysteries can easily pick and choose their personal preferences. Besides the above, Matthew Bunson provides a detailed synopsis of each novel and short story, and a brief description of each character (I cannot argue if it is not complete) that ever appeared in one of these works.

THE COMPLETE CHRISTIE: AN AGATHA CHRISTIE ENCYCLOPEDIA is a fun piece of work that will provide much enjoyment to fans of Ms. Christie. Perhaps the only drawback to this wonderful book is a lack of a table of contents tied to the wonderful listings in the appendices that would enable casual fans to do even more specific digging.

Harriet Klausner

This is an excellent account of Issa's life and poetry. This story goes through important stages of Issa's life and incorporates his poetry into the stages. This unique book explains how Issa succeeds as a poet even though he endures difficulties in his life. Children of all ages will enjoy the story and beautiful illustrations. I think the author and illustrator did a great job of working together to create a fine story abour this Japanese haiku writter. The best part of this book is the poems. The poems are written in English and also in Japanese. This book will capture your interest.

I think this has got to be the best haiku book I've ever read. The illustrations are magnificent, and its power and sensitivity communicate Issa's poems to readers of all ages. The author's translations of the Japanese poems to English capture Issa's timeless charm and the love he felt for all living things--including frogs and crickets! And what makes this book so valuable to me as a teacher is the whopping 3 page author's note. It lends perspective, and plenty of background information, on reading and writing haiku. My 2nd grade class felt so inspired by this book that they've been REQUESTING time to refine their own haiku ever since I read it aloud!

When the little boy, issa, starts to fell lonley he starts writing haikus. In his travels he wrote a lot of haikus. In the book you can see how inspiring the world is from a kind of a weird way to look at it. Well i think i told too much. The rest you will need to read in the book.

The book is the next best thing to actually visiting a working ranch and smelling leather, sweat or burning hair -- or visiting Willie's gallery on a fine December evening for a showing of new works.

This is a BEAUTIFUL book!! I've had it for several years and I never put it away. I keep it out within easy reach so I can look again and again at the stunning watercolors within. In fact, the reason I was looking at Amazon for this book was to send it to friends for a Christmas present.

Willie Matthews does wonderful work depicting the lives of cowboys today. Much of my family have been in the cattle ranch business for generations. Being a cowboy is hard work and generally low pay. They work so hard day in and day out, with little vacation time. It's people like Matthews who appreciate this profession and record it for the world to see. My brother also happens to be one of the cowboys in this book. This is a great book of selected paintings of a dying trade

Great book! Works great with Palm Pilot.

Great book! The pocket-size concept is fantastic.

This book saved my life during my ICU rotation. It is an essential book for the critical care unit. It contains admitting orders and things that you need to think about for all of the common pediatric complaints and it fits easily in a lab coat pocket. I can't live without mine.

i love this book i want to read and get this teachers attention he know i'm alive.

I wish everyone would read this book - even (or especially) people who don't have dogs! It would help people to realize that dogs aren't just responding randomly to people, other animals or their environment - they are trying to communicate.

I loved this book. It was very informative and helped me understand the reason behind the way my dog behaves. It's also written in an easy to understand way so you don't have to have a big vocabulary to read this book. Actually, I loved this book so much I bought all the other books in the series.

This book and it's "Western Mysteries" companion contain extensive amounts of interesting and valuable information. They truly bring together so many of the fundamental aspects that are shared across cultures and disciplines. Even though the books may appear, at first glance, somewhat complex, their many, many entry points provide easy access for both casual reading and deep exploration.

This is a excellent reference for all students of Magick.
The volume abounds in tables and cross references for many Magickal Systems, the section on Hebrew, is an outstanding resource. With corrispondances from a number of major sources, including Golden Dawn, Aliester Crowley, and Eliphas Levi. with correlations between them.

If you want a reference to Magickal systems, Alphabets, and corrisponding number systems, this book is Great.

This book is the first volume of a two volume set that took me over 20 years to research and write. As a child I was drawn to the magic of the ancient alphabets. At nine years old, I had already committed to memory the Greek alphabet. I was able to write in my child's hand the Egyptian hieroglyphic phonetic alphabet. I also copied out from an encyclopedia the Phoenician alphabet, and saw the connections between Egyptian, Phonecian, Greek, and Roman script, and how our own English alphabet of 26 letters evolved from the picture images of these ancient scripts (i.e, A was a bull, and B was a house). In the late 1960s I discovered the number values for the ancient Hebrew alphabet. I was fascinated by the concept that every letter of the alphabet had a different number value, and that the range of numbers spanned from 1 to 9 to 10 to 900 to 100 to 900. This revelation somehow triggered deeply within me past life remembrances of previously studying the sacred nature of the alphabet. From my first exposure to Hebrew, I searched out other cultures and other languages that were isopsephic (i.e., languages that use the letters of the alphabet as number value in addition to phonetic values). What really fascinated me was that any word in an isopsephic language could be measured and numbered by the number values of the letters composing that word. And if two words equalled the same number, they served as poetic metaphors to define the mystical nature of that specific number. As my research progressed, more and more languages unfolded, until I discovered languages in both the east and west that held this mystical property. When I finally recorded all of my research, my occult archaeological discoveries fell naturally to two books, one dealing with the eastern mysteries and one with the western mysteries. The Eastern Mysteries contains so much new material that have never seen print before in English. This includes the numbering of Sanskrit, including a key to the letters on the flower petals known as the chakras. The Tibetan alphabet is also deciphered for the first time, as well as the stroke count of the Chinese language based on Taoist Spirit practices. A key to the actual layout of the I Ching is also deciphered for the first time, and connected back directly to the stroke count of Chinese calligraphy. Beyond these rare discoveries the middle eastern languages of Cuneiform, Hebrew, and Arabic are fully deciphered. There are also many appendices to the 6 chapters in this first volume that offer additional insight into the number philosophy of the ancient world, including the number system of Gurdjieff and the ancient eastern elemental system known as the tattvas. This work, though highly detailed, is aimed at the lay person, and does not require any previous knowledge of any of the alphabets or symbolic systems. I would recommend this book alone, on the merits of the last chapter. For I have written the best possible explanantion of the I Ching that has yet to see print. For in my research with the I Ching over the last 30 years, I had discovered the key to all of its symbolism. That key is the 8 basic trigrams that make up the 64 hexagrams. Once the reader understands these 8 basic shapes, then all of the complex oracular vocabulary can be understood. The Western Mysteries should also be purchased, since the two volumes complement each other, and were originally written as one large volume.

Excellent, not limited to Minn and Wis. An excellent overview of 100 plants from the Prairies and forests of the upper midwest. In-depth review of historical uses balanced with the author's own clinical experience and practical how-to informaiton. Good safety data and recommendations. Most of these plants grow around me in Colorado, and everywhere in the 1500 miles to the authors home, so the book's title is too limited.

I wouldn't say this is the one and only book you'll ever need. But it certainly is a GREAT addition to anyone's herbal library. It's relatively easy to use, because the plants are listed in alphabetical order by their common names. The food qualities and health benefits of the plants are thorough and informative, as well as their habitat and visual description. Points of interest are easy to find and there is a listing of plants that are good for certain illnesses. Plus short descriptions of how to use and prepare them.

This book is very scientific and seems to cover it all in an up-to-date fashion. But if you're not familiar with terms in botany and biology you'll find this book a little difficult to understand. It has a good glossary but a dictionary is still handy at times.
None the less the book has true to life color photos, which are the best I've seen for wild plant identification. Considerably this just may be the answer book for this topic. It's defiantly worth the price, if you desire to take wild herb collecting seriously.

A disclaimer at the beginning of Edible & Medicinal Wild Plants Of Minnesota & Wisconsin warns that some wild plants are toxic or even deadly; though the author Matthew Alfs has made every effort to completely describe safe ways to recognize, harvest, and prepare edible wild plants, they cannot be held liable for any adverse effects. With that sober caution in mind, Edible & Medicinal Wild Plants Of Minnesota & Wisconsin is a truly impressive compendium of information and lore about the art of foraging. A beautiful section of color photographs aptly illustrates the many species of edible plants discussed and described herein. User-friendly introductions to using wild plants for food and health benefits are written in clear, concise text easily accessible to the lay reader. A glossary, exhaustive list of references and comprehensive index round out this superbly presented and very highly recommended guide.

Enjoyed it very much.
Zeidner and company did a wonderfull job explaining, refreshening and innovating EI.
Way to go.

As a Phd student in this field I find that although many words have been shed on that matter, few have bothered to take upon themselves the task of putting an order into this exciting yet very ambiguous concept.
This book, which I was eager to buy and read hoping for an updated and comprehensive review has far exceeded my expectations. To put it in simple words, the authors chose the prominent reserches to focus on, and they reviewd them in a critical manner. That sets the first milestone in the route of turning EI from an exciting yet evasive concept into a scientific discipline.
This book is therefore a must for both the scholarly and the popular reader who wish to expose themselves to what will soon become the cornerstone of this field.

This is a superbly scholarly work reviewing existing theories of emotional intelligence (and in passing social intelligence). The authors have carefully combed through various researchers' views on EI, often changing incidentally. They are quite critical of the popular uptake that followed Goleman's much cited work on EI. However, this is not a tarted up version of Golemans's work for a more high brow audience. Rather it is a sustained inquiry into the criteriology of EI. In other words are their scientific criteria separating EI from other human competencies and skills?

In many ways the meat of the book is taken up with the 'myth' aspect of EI rather than the alleged science. The book might have been better titled 'Emotional Intelligence: Fact or fiction?' And the authors are not shy to answer.

While the book is a review of relatively current research (some chapters appear not to reference almost anything after 1995), the authors main target is the lack of sustainable pyschometric tests. Their argument is that when one examines the variety of 'measures' of EI, one finds a variety of mismatched and often contradictory criteria which sometimes confute 'ordinary' measures of IQ with those of EIQ. Where IQ stops and EIQ begins is very unclear. A large number of test instruments are examined in this book and almost without exception found deficient.

The book concludes with a negative appraisal of EI as a distinct capacity that can be accurately measured by psychometric tests. Moreover, the authors are equally pessimistic about the validity of social intelligence as a distinct phenomenon. Perhaps gratutiously insulting to the the EI community are their later points to the effect that EI might be vacuous but we should still let the research run in the hope that something useful might arise in the future. It may be rubbish but sure let them at it anyway; what harm are they doing?

Overall I found the book provocative and one sided. The authors exhibit a form of analysis based on saying what EI is not, or could not be, without subjecting their own position (such as can be discerned) to sustained analysis. That is acceptable, but it is less informative. Secondly, lurking in the background is a strong IQ position, namely that all skills are ultimately manifestations of standrd IQ capacities. By this token the bright should be very socially skilled and the less bright not, but we know that society doesn't divide neatly on that point. Thidly, there is much in early child development about prosocial development that isn't covered in this book. Combining this with the absence of any discussion of conversational pragmatics, and a lacuna is exposed. To be fair however, the authors are taking on the EI community in terms of itself, hence they don't feel obliged to make arguments for them (presumably). However, it was something I noted. A final small point is that a few references in the text don't appear in the bibliography (e.g. Archer 1988 doesn't appear) which suggests the proof reading could have been more thorough.