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Book reviews for "Spolter,_Pari_Dokht" sorted by average review score:

Shifra Stein's Day Trips from San Antonio and Austin: Getaways Less Than Two Hours Away (3rd Ed)
Published in Paperback by Globe Pequot Pr (1997)
Authors: Shifra Stein, Paris Permenter, and John Bigley
Amazon base price: $14.95
Average review score:

A Londoner in Texas
My Husband and I visited Houston, San Antonio & Austin, we only had a couple of weeks in which to fit in as much as we could. This book was a brilliant way to get the most from a short time. It helped us to enjoy our visit to the full. We hope to visit more of the USA and shall certainly use this type of book again.

A fun way to plan a one day or weekend vacation!
I really enjoyed using Day Trips from San Antonio and Austin to plan several recent weekend excursions. I found the book very helpful and used it to plan a trip to Corpus Christi and another to the Hill Country. Even though I have lived in this area for over 20 years, I found many hidden treasures thanks to this guide!


Tea in the Harem
Published in Paperback by Serpent's Tail (1991)
Authors: Mehdi Charef, Ed Emery, and Charef Mehdi
Amazon base price: $11.19
List price: $13.99 (that's 20% off!)
Average review score:

Beur Literature
I read this book after I read "Lila Says" by Chimo. These books are both similar in setting. It was a depressing but accurate description of life in the arab populated Paris ghettos. The value of life, the dead end feeling, and the chaos and feeling of hopelessness was depicted like I have never read before. The characters seemed real and the surroundings were easy to picture, very vivid. And you felt for everyone in the book especially the families who came to France for a better life and received something far worse- destruction of their culture, detrioration of their children, rascism, and the feeling of leaving a whole familiar world behind and being trapped in a concrete world. more than enyting it also has french characters too that are within the same situation. It is very much telling of the immigrant experience anywhere for arabs- they leave an opressive regime where they are poor and want better and think they are going to have an incredible life some where else, so they leave their country, their language, and their family behind in search. what they find is a world in repulsion with theirs where they are very different and it is hard to survive and with this everything they know is gone and their children are different from they are and feel even more disconnected from their surroundings and their parents world. Well written.

I'll have tea in this harem any time.
Tea in the Harem is an excellent account of life in the slums of Paris. It is at times disturbingly real and deals with Foreigners trying to make a go of it in the mean streets of France. I liked it because it reveals another side of Paris; a bleak, dirty, and dangerous side not often dealt with in books and movies. Anyone who has an interest in racial conflict and poverty will find this book enlightening. If you like tea, and you like harems, then you'll love Tea in the Harem.


That Summer in Paris
Published in Paperback by Macmillan of Canada (1986)
Author: Callaghan Morley
Amazon base price: $5.95
Average review score:

Timing is everything
They say that timing is everything and the fact that this particular writer just happened to be sitting on the Boulevard Montparnasse on the right evening of the right year, means we have a further insight into the lives of those Paris expatriates, Hemingway and Fitzgerald and others. At the same time, this may be an opportunity for some people to discover Morley Callaghan, who is a very fine writer in his own right. His life ran parallel to Hemingway's for some time, as they met in Toronto and later in Paris and remained friends thereafter, even if they saw each other only rarely. In a sense, he is just the person to give us a penetrating look behind the legends that were being created in the cafés and bars of the ville lumière at the end of the thirties. This is a delightful book as well; Callaghan is nobody's fool, which means he's not writing for the mundane reasons that might otherwise be expected, and you can trust him. He is painting a portrait of a world teetering on the very brink (it is the summer of 1929), and in his own artful way, he has succeeded in giving us a rare glimpse into the ill-lit streets and nightclubs just before it all fades away into the decade of hopelessness that followed. It's well worth finding this book if you can - it's a little gem.

Closer to the truth but still fun
That Summer in Paris by Morley Callaghan is another version of Hemingway in Paris which is probably a lot closer to the truth.

If you need or want to know the truth, read this book. Hemingway sure made a seductive myth about himself. We don't fault him for improving on the truth. The Hemingway version is fun to read but this one is fun too.

By the way, Callaghan wrote an outstanding short story called "Luke Baldwin's Vow." You can see why Hemingway thought highly of him.


That Summer in Paris: Memories of Tangled Friendships With Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Some Others
Published in Paperback by Viking Press (1979)
Author: Morley Callaghan
Amazon base price: $3.95
Average review score:

extremely readable
I had never heard of Morley Callghan before reading this book. Which is unfortunate because the book is hard to put down. It is well-written, informative, amusing, thought provoking and gives insight into several notable literary figures from a first hand perspective.

Great Reading
A perfect companion to Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast"...written about the same people and time, but with a different point of view...


The Tower and the River: A Novel
Published in Paperback by Wolfenden (01 August, 1998)
Author: Harold Stephens
Amazon base price: $14.95
Average review score:

A Parisian adventure .. frustrations, love, life
A first novel by a true adventure author. Stephens has taken years to write this novel but its reading will be like today and tomorrow. Astronauts and land and sea lubbers will appreciate the frustrations of America's first Astronaut who can't fly again but finds love and life in Paris. The Seine and the Tour Eiffel. A great setting for those with a love for Paris and France. Reviewed by Dave and Connie Pryor.

With JOHN GLENN returning to space, this is a timely book
When John Glenn made his epic space flight in 1962, like all Americans, I was thrilled. Then came disappointed when NASA grounded him, for the president thought he was too big a hero to risk another mission. Soon after Glenn retired from the Marines, greatly disappointed, and I felt his anguish.

The incident gave me thought for The Tower & The River. What if Glenn hadn't resigned and decided to fight the system? Of course, I wrote my novel before Glenn decided to go back in space. In the novel I send Glenn, or Major Grant Thompson, USMC, as I called him, to Paris to join the office of the Naval Attache for propaganda reasons. His desire to return to space is the conflict that he has to resolve.


Ulysses: A Facsimile of the First Edition Published in Paris in 1922
Published in Hardcover by Orchises Press (1998)
Author: James Joyce
Amazon base price: $75.00
Average review score:

The book for a serious reader of Joyce
The Orchises Press edition stands out for three reasons. The first is that it reproduces--with impressive attention to detail--the first edition of Joyce's novel. The second reason is that the large, widemargined pages add the pleasure of reading to the pleasure of reading Ulysses (there is something missing, after all, in the insubstantial, tinytype levity of the paperback editions). Finally, the weight of the paper, the strength of the binding makes this edition one that will last (and you will not, as with the paperback editions, be forced to transcripe all your notes from a book that falls apart after three readings). For those who seek the "authenticity" of a first edition, who admire Joyce or who will be studying the novel for years to come, this is the edition to buy.

Pricey but worth it
This is a wonderfully crafted book -- the physical object, that is, and not just the text. (Because if you're willing to pay this much for a copy of "Ulysses" you obviously take that for granted.) The volume is larger in size than typical hardcover books today, meaning that the type is a decent readable size and the margins are generous (for the note jotting fiends among us). Great care has clearly been taken in the choice of paper and the sewn binding, which allows the book to lay flat during reading and insures years of re-reading. Although there is no dustjacket the cover is made of very durable material; various cover protectors can be found to stand in or, for the really paranoid, a slipcase can be made or found. It should be added that the text is presented as originally published, so there are no notes or glosses to help the first-time or casual reader; neither are the episodes keyed to any of the line numberings found in other editions. However, those wishing to refer to notes would be best off buying one of the helpful readers' companions by Gifford or Blamires anyway. In relation to other available editions, this one occupies a vast middle ground between the throwaway mass-market paperbacks on the one hand and the out-of-reach collectors' editions on the other. The book's durability and elegant though understated presentation should prove most attractive to those readers who intend to read the text again and again, whether for pleasure or for study. In short, this volume is a keeper.


Vincent Van Gogh and the Painters of the Petit Boulevard
Published in Hardcover by Rizzoli (2001)
Authors: Cornelia Homburg, Elizabeth C. Childs, John House, and Richard Thomson
Amazon base price: $50.00
Average review score:

Beautiful work of art.....
Having read VINCENT VAN GOGH AND THE PAINTERS OF THE PETIT BOULEVARD, I regret I did not get to the exhibt in Saint Louis or Frankfurt where it closed in September 2001. This lovely book was created as an exhibition catalogue, but one does not need to have seen the exhibition to benefit from reading the informative essays or looking at copies of beautiful works by Van Gogh, Gauguin and other memebers of the self-styled "Petit Boulevard" artists group.

Essays on topics related to the subject are preceded by text written by the editor and exhibit curator, Cornelia Homberg, ("Vincent van Gogh's Avant-Garde Strategies"). Homberg suggests the 'petit boulevard' was both an avant garde artistic movement following the Impressionists and an actual commercial location in Paris at the end of the 19th Century. The Exhibit featured works by members of the avant garde group (Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat, Signac, Pissaro, Toulous-Latrec, Anquetin, Bernard and others "petit" artists).

Homberg challenges the notion that Vincent van Gogh always worked alone and that his art was a "one-off" as other critics have suggested. She says Van Gogh was a member of an artists colony located in the vicinity rue Lepic where he lived with his brother Theo (Montmartre area), that he may have coined the phrase "Petit Boulevard" (he discussed it with Theo in their letters following his removal to Arles), and he saw himself as a leader of this innovative group (which he hoped to bring to Arles as a "brotherhood" of artists).

In his essay entitled "The Cultural Geography of the Petit Boulevard" Richard Thomas describes the material dimensions of the place and time within which the "petit boulevard" artists worked. He describes the "off-off-Broadway/Bourbon Street" atmosphere of the bohemian artistic community -- a proletarian territory dominated by factories, caberets, taverns, le circque, brothels, and other down scale establishments (Chat Noir, Molin Rouge) where 'decadent iconograpy' was born. He says artists such as Toulouse Latrec, Steinlin, Willith, and others developed commercial prints depicting this mileau.

In the third essay, Elizabeth Childs describes the escape of Gauguin and Seurat to Pont Aven and Van Gogh to Arles following their Paris adventures. Here the artists hoped to reconnect with the timeless cycles of nature and leave the crass, commercial, class-ridden city behind. Childs says once Gauguin reached Pont Aven, the Celtic Catholic nature of Brittany spurred Gauguin to develop a medieval stain-glass cloisonnist style of art. She contrasts Gauguin's work with Van Gogh's 'rural' art which he based on a love of Japanese prints (by Hiroshege and others) and what he fancied to be Japanese culture, as well as the Barbizon style which included Daumier and Millet. In the last essay, John House discusses landscapes by Van Gogh (who influenced by his Dutch predecessor Rembrandt and the French Millet) as well as other artists of the period including Gauguin.

The book is filled beautiful reproductions of the paintings and other works included in the Exhibit (prints and photographs of the various items of art, the people involved, and the places they lived and worked). Sadly, one would have to do quite a bit of traveling to recapitulate the Exhibit, and then the synergistic effect would be missing. On the other hand, the book is a solid testament to the art that followed Impressionism. Although I had seen many of the paintings in their home museums (National Gallery, Chicago Art Institute, D'Orsay, Van Gogh Museum, etc.) I had not seen some of the works in private hands, nor the photographs of the period. This book is a valuable addition to my collection.

Excellent companion to the exhibition
The Impressionist movement never really impressed me until I went and experienced this exhibit. This book is a great companion to the exhibit, going into much greater detail than the audio tour did, but can be equally appreciated (as a stand alone art history text) if you couldn't make it to St. Louis. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for information on some of the lesser known impressionists (those of the Petit Boulevard), as well as information on this brief period in van Gogh's life.


Where to Wear Paris 2003
Published in Paperback by Where to Wear (01 October, 2002)
Authors: Jill Fairchild and Gerri Gallagher
Amazon base price: $11.66
List price: $12.95 (that's 10% off!)
Average review score:

Shopping in Paris has never been better....
I am consultant in the Fashion industry in NYC and I help to manage a Paris-based fashion trade show here in NY so I need to stay up to date on what is happening in Paris and the rest of Europe in terms of design and the retail market. This comprehensive, colorfully-written guide made Paris come alive for me and it gave me a desire to go to Paris just to peek in store windows and shop! A must-have guide for an upcoming trip to Paris, or just to have a good, cleverly-written, witty, right-on-the-mark read!

Where to Wear Paris...a travel necessity
This is an incredible collection of accurate and concisely written comments on places to shop and enjoy the Parisian experience. The author pulls no punches(one store is described as "having the cloying odor of a freshly cleaned toilet"), and gives first-hand information on each store,cleverly written in the style of an American Francophile. An excellent series of maps and category indexes, and a size that begs to be carried, add to the value of this excellent reference source.


Where's Our Mama?
Published in School & Library Binding by E P Dutton (1991)
Author: Diane Goode
Amazon base price: $13.95
Average review score:

A gorgeous book
I used to get this book out of the library EVERY WEEK about 6 years ago in Australia. My two boys then 2 1/2 and 8 months LOVED this book (especially the two year old). We moved away from that library and I have never been able to track the book down, until I bought Tiger Trouble (by Diane Goode) and recognised the illustrations. The book we had also had the story in French at the bottom of the page, and I would read that to them too. It is a delightful story that kids seem to instantly identify with. They are so happy and relieved at the end when the children find their mother and they love looking for her in all the pictures. It is such a shame that this book is out of print as it should be a classic! I'm trying to get it from amazon.co.uk as well, as they may be able to find me the one with the French in it too. If I get two, it won't matter as I know it would make a wonderful gift to any child.

A terrific book for your preschooler, or early reader
My family loves this book about lost children and a friendly policeman who search for their mama. It works on several levels: 1.) Language repetition for the child -( but not boring for the adult.) 2.) Hide and seek visual interest as we see mama looking for her children who are looking for her. 3.) Logic as the policeman follows the children's clues about their mama. 4.) Public safety as a positive presentation of whom to trust for help when lost. 5.) Plus it all starts in a lovely French railroad station for children who love trains. Amazingly, I have not been able to order this book through retail stores. (I got it from the library). Perhaps if more people discover this delightful read, the publishers will make it available again.


The Winning Strategy: For Provincial Sports Lotteries
Published in Paperback by Stoddart Pub (1997)
Authors: Al J's Sports Connections Ltd and Al J's Sports Connections
Amazon base price: $15.95
Average review score:

awesome
The best sports wagering help around

Fantastic details on Provincial Sports Lottery betting!
The Winning Strategy is a book that is long over due! I love to play the Provincial Sports Lottery, but it is hard to win without inside knowledge. Al J's Sports REALLY tells you everything that you need to know about PSL betting in this book. By far, it is the best $20 that I ever spent! The only thing is, it is so detailed that you really need to read it twice. It's worth your effort!


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