Stella James's knowledge of passion began when she was old enough to notice her parents--youthful, exuberant, and endlessly lusting. That this beautiful pair left her for their own realm, at the tender age of six, to be raised by an eccentric, intellectual grandmother was the beginning of an odyssey that by age 16 brought her to her first lover--a homosexual whom she was too naive to recognize. The humiliation she felt at this betrayal lurked inside her as she sought out men for one-night stands--evenings of which she was in control and through which she delighted in pure sexual pleasure with no strings. Eventually, to her surprise, she met a man and fell in love. The complicated relationships of her past continued to haunt her but real love finally brought the realization that she had found what she had always searched for. Another very sensual aspect of the story is Stella's ability to cook--her love affair with the abundance of fruits, vegetables, and meats offered a creative and senusous extension of her passion. That she becomes a chef is an elemental part of her character--making something delicious to eat is part love, part creation, part sharing. Overall, we find a story of eroticisn and passison tempered by the universal search for real love and tenderness--the caring that comes from deeply felt knowledge of someone as well as the realization that no one can escape their heritage but rather must emerge from and with it.

Before I read Margaret Dielh's "Men" I had picked up a copy of her autobiographical, "The Boy on the Green Bicycle." Memoirs usually leave me lukewarm, but Diehl's Boy...was a great prelude to her novel "Men." The woman can write! She is not afraid to tackle head on the usually squeamish subjects of sex and death; pleasure and pain; growth and loss, and it's all written with a searing intelligence and literary sensibility that reads like a page-turner. Diehl should be tied to her keyboard and not allowed out until she completes another novel, or book of non-fiction. A wonderful find in a world of hyped up dreck. ("Men" was made into a movie but the book is better!).

I purchased this book in 1990 and was enthralled with it. Stella is her own woman and one we can identify with. She is strong and capable and makes us want to be like her, but in our own way. I recently re-read my copy and was satisfied with it once again - Margaret Diehl is an excellent writer and should write more for her hungry audience. ("Men's" title character, Stella James is quite the cook)!

I opened this book with some trepidation. From the cover it looked like Ms. Vandenburg had taken an awful lot on herself. Paris in the 20s? "Talk about overdone!" However, from the moment I read the first line I was quickly transported into the world she had created. The main strength of the novel is the fine-tuned characterization of the protagonist, Henri Adams. The coming-of-age plot is nicely enhanced by the obvious growth of the character. The entire book is narrated by Henri, which helps this, even though she's supposedly reminiscing. The prose is occasionally overburdened with adjectives and awkward word combinations, and while some of that can be attributed to the narrator I found it a bit tough to get through once in a while. That said, there are some wonderfully witty bits of prose that stand out... the scenes in the Paris underground gave me exquisite chills and some of the dialogue made me laugh so hard I had to hold on to my chair. The setting of the story, while vast, is handled deftly. It is obvious that the author has a vast knowledge of the time period. All of the famous characters (Gertrude Stein, Picasso, etcetera) are nicely depicted in a way that makes me almost forget that they were and are celebrities. That was a nice touch. Overall, this is quite nicely done. I recommend it highly to most. I look forward to seeing more from this new face in the future.

what a clever, often witty, sexy, and informative read! it is clear that ms. vandenburg has a wealth of knowledge to offer in this area of concentration, and it most certainly shows through a near-masterful combination of fiction and non-fiction! although sometimes translating into somewhat artificial dialogue, i nonetheless praise her for breathing life into non-fictional characters and sustaining them in full dimension throughout (a huge and difficult endeavor indeed). An American in Paris is a refreshing and intelligent read...I highly recommend it to those interested in this exciting and pivotal moment in literary/artistic history! A pleasure! Well worth my $15...

MS.Chrisawn, a protégé of noted Napoleonist Dr. Donald Horward, has done students of the Napoleonic era a favor by producing a work on one of the foremost combatants of that period, Marshal Jean Lannes. While one can catch a glimpse of Lannes here and there in various volumes, e.g. Marbot, Caulaincourt, or DeSegur, it's certainly rewarding to finally have an affordable, English-language biography in print. MS. Chrisawn believes, and i have to concur, that too often members of the marshalate who missed the Russian campaign, fighting against Wellington, or going down to defeat at Waterloo, just aren't worthy of study. Dr. Horward must agree since he penned the Lannes chapters in David Chandler's NAPOLEON'S MARSHALS. The author bustles her prose along like the commander of an advance-guard but supports the text with indefatigable research among primary documents. The volume is happily shot through with excellent maps by Max Sewell. I enjoyed the work, learned a great deal about the protagonist but came away a bit disappointed with Lannes. I was surprised at his disobedience of orders, his often two-faced personal relationships, his really bad manners, and his complaining. I came away thinking him a competent corps commander but a touchy, hard to deal with subordinate, and a difficult comrade. I enjoyed the author's zesty "purple prose" which I'm sure irritated Dr. Horward, and am happy to fill another gap in the ranks of the marshalate on my shelf.

I loved this book, its biggest problem is that it is too short and you sometimes feel that the authoress has picked the highlights of each campaign and missed out on another data. Saying that the information that is included is informative, well presented and gives an unrivalled picture of Lannes's personality you leave the book feeling like you know him. I have no problem in recomending this book to anyone and hope that more books of this nature will appear in future.

Jean Lannes was one of the most talented of the French marshalate that served Napoleon and undoubtedly one of the most underrated. Starting as a lowly subaltern in a home-grown infantry unit from his native district, he grew into a thoughtful, aggressive, and intelligent corps commander who always did more than his assigned duty. He improved throughout his career, taking time out each day for professional study, learning to control a murderous temper, and was completely loyal, though also completely outspoken, to Napoleon. Blunt, loyal, and at times thoroughly uncombed (as when he told the traitorous foreign minister, Talleyrand, that he was nothing by a 'silk stocking full of [human excrement] to his face), he was also one of the leading soldiers of his day and contributed mightily to the success of French arms. His early death from wounds received in action at Essling in 1809 immeasurable hurt the Grande Armee, and the subsequent promotion of three generals of division to the marshalate at the end of that compaign prompted the army to dub them 'Lannes small change.'

In this new biography of Jean Lannes, author Margaret Chrisawn has hit the proverbial nail on the head. Blunt and outspoken as her topic, she has written one of the best, if not the best, biographies of one of Napoleon's generals that this reviewer has ever read. Thoroughly researched and documented, this book belongs on the bookshelf of every Napoleonic historian and enthusiast, and is definitely in the front rank of Napoleonic scholarship.

The author has captured the tone and spirit of the times and of her subject. Accurate and anecdotal (as when she quotes one of Lannes' neighbors who saw him as a general during the course of the wars on a return home, she still referred to him as a 'little twerp'), it is a lively account of one of the thorough roughnecks who made up the Grande Armee, yet does carefully recount how he continually strove to improve himself.

The author has also unearthed new material from extensive research in France and for a time stayed in Lannes' home district in France and in his hometown, tracing his descendants to get a feel for her character, both as a soldier and as a man. There is much personal material in this excellent volume, more than is generally expected in a biography of this period in history. The book definitely has more than its share of a 'whiff of grapeshot', yet paints Lannes as an entirely human person, and lets you know what and who he was.

Lannes is a thoroughly complex character, both admirable and mysterious. Typically, he exemplifies the men from varied backgrounds and who made up the top rank of the Grande Armee, those who actually, and quite literally, found a baton in their knapsacks. Lannes' relationship with Napoleon is carefully reconstructed here, being both loyal and tumultuous. His two interesting marriages, along with the character of the women he married, is also carefully recounted and is one of the areas in the book where new material has come to light because of the author's dedication to her subject. She writes as if she knew the man personally, and perhaps she really does, having walked in his footsteps in Europe. If other historians were as careful and meticulous as she, Napoleonic scholarship would reach a new high across the board.

The author paints a colorful picture of this most colorful of generals. She also carefully lays out a career that was just reaching its apex when he was killed. The conclusion of the book is interesting, and, in my opinion, most accurate. The author believes that Lannes would have made a definite impact in Napoleon's favor had he lived, a sentiment with which this reviewer heartily concurs. The author is a careful historian, skillfully weaving her tale of personal life and derring-do, and, although she admires her subject, she is also very critical of him and this shows in her narrative of both his professional and personal life.

This book is a keeper. It is a joy to read and is high quality, reliable reference material. The author with this first volume to her credit has taken her place with other Napoleonic historians of the first rank and we should all be looking forward to her next effort with great anticipation.

My wife waxed rhapsodic over the prose and poetry inherent in Fanny Burney's neglected classic The Wanderer. The narrativ tells an exciting story of the French Revolution era even though the action occurs mainly in England. The "Incognita" is a fascinating character who moves through English society as a subordinate to the rich and cruel society folk with whom she is forced by circumstances to live. "Miss Ellis endures the slings and arrows of outrageous fortunate to triumph over her enemies at last. Burney's prose is musical and her sentences flow with insight into the human condition. As a friend of Hesther Thrale
she was influenced by that excellent writer. Her father was the famed musician Dr. Charles Burney a close friend of Dr. Johnson. If you want to look at a classic of early feminism and encounter one female difficulty after another this is a good place to begin.
I liked the novel so well I am now engrossed in Burney's second novel "Cecilia" with her first work "Evelina" on my reading list.
Fanny Burney is an excellent new author to explore and be enriched by as you loose yourself in her voluminous pages!
Well recommended!

"The Wanderer" is a wonderful novel detailing the struggles faced by a single woman in England in the era of the French Revolution, who due to circumstances beyond her control must remain nameless and "family-less" and thus rely on the charity and goodwill of strangers. Readers familar with Jane Austen's writing will recognize a similar style, indeed Fanny Burney was an inspiration to Miss Austen, yet with an even more critical eye turned towards the upper-middle-class social structure.

I found it a little more plodding in parts than "Evelina," my favorite of Burney's novels, as Burney occasionally gets bogged down in minutiae of social interactions, but even those long descriptions give insight into what details would have been considered monstrously important to Burney's contemporary audience.

Regardless, the difficulties faced by the nameless heroine and the mystery of her circumstances are more than enough to engage any fan of 18th and early 19th century literature.

Fanny Burney's _The Wanderer_, her last published book, is the best of all her works. The heroine is easy to love, and only a callous reader could not feel pity for her friendless situation. The basic premise is this: a young, elegant woman of obvious good breeding is suddenly forced to flee France for mysterious reasons. But she has lost all of her possessions during her crossing of the Channel, and she finds herself in England, friendless, penniless, and completely dependant on the charity of those around her. The crux of the novel is how she is able to get by under these circumstances. Her fortitude is uplifting, and her plight shows us the problems women had two centuries ago in merely obtaining a subsistence upon which to live. The plot gets more and more complex as we find out about the life of the Wanderer herself. We don't discover her name for the first time until the middle of the book! _The Wanderer_ is a truly engaging novel, and once read, it becomes clear why Fanny Burney was one of Jane Austen's favorite authors.

Although not in the class of Jane Austen, the earlier writings of Fanny Burney contributed a great deal to the evolution of the novel. No mere romance, Fanny Burney's Evelina gives us a surprisingly modern heroine--modern both in her proto-feminist awareness of the world and in her "mixed" character. Evelina is not a paragon, and Burney's writings are neither mere pleasant fantasies of romance, nor cumbersome stories of impossible virtue. Like Richardson, Fanny Burnery was creating something very new in the 18th century: a psychological novel. Unlike Richardson (whose best-loved novel, Clarissa, has been described--by fans of his, mind you!--as "That long, still book.") Fanny Burney's books withstand the time travel down to our day. Evelina is--thus far, at least!--my favorite of her books.

As part of a group read, I picked up a week late"Evelina" from my local library. I wasn't quite sure whatto expect - certainly this would be no Tom Jones, but it wouldn't be Austen either - however what I found was a pleasant epistolary jaunt through a young girl's first season out. A jaunt, which, although begun a week late was quickly finished two weeks early! Customary to 18th century novels, Evelina's history is somewhat romantic, both her guardian and the hero impossibly good (a refreshing novelty, if a little sappy in places. They were apparently active members in the Mutual Admiration Society), and the secondary characters ridiculously vulgar. As Burney's first novel, the work shows some awkwardness in construction, but is otherwise excellent. Readers of modern romances may find the heros a bit formal, and fans of Jane Austen may find the epistlotary form unbelievable, but both they and lovers of historical fiction would do well to invest in this book, which provides an excellent glance into the end of an era, and one charming heroine's attempt to muddle through it. END

Anyone who loves Jane Austen (and don't we all?) will certainly enjoy Fanny Burney's Evelina. Burney is really a precursor of Austen, but has unfortunately been completely overshadowed by the later novelist. In its time (1778) Evelina was a tremendous hit and shy Fanny Burney a celebrated author overnight. She was invited into the literary circle of Samuel Johnson, became a reluctant lady-in-waiting to Queen Charlotte because of her celebrity and at age 41 married a refugee from the French Revolution, thus becoming Madame D'Arblay (check out her interesting diaries). The subtitle of Evelina (The History of A Young Lady's Entrance into the World) says it all: Evelina is an innocent and naive young girl, who suddenly finds herself in unfamiliar London society, surrounded by suitable and not so suitable suitors and a host of other characters. Lots of misunderstandings and perilous situations block Evelina's road, but don't be surprised to find humour and suspense as well, for the continuing question is of course whether Evelina will survive Society unscathed. Even though the pace of a novel more than 2 centuries old may be a bit slow for some, this is something you get used to soon enough: the novel contains far too much life, fun and social commentary too be dull.

I really prefer Princeton Review to Petersons', but this book is much better than the Review equivalent. Again, the competition isn't much, so I'm not sure how much of a complement I am giving this book by calling it the "best one out there."
The test questions are harder than the actual test, so don't worry. The major fault I find in this book is that some of the answers are illogical, and this book doesn't really explain how the correct answers are, in essence, correct. It really just leaves you guessing.. Doesn't do much for morale.
I really like however that it provides many practice questions, as opposed to other publishers' books. Not bad, all in all.

I scored a "4" on the AP English Literature exam and this book was the only prep-book that helped me out. A teacher of mine recommended it to me and by using it as a supplement to my class, I was exempt from taking English courses at college, so I think that spending the money on this book is much better than coughing up hundreds of dollars for a college course. It was worth it.

I obtained a copy of this book as a required text during my physical therapy education. It did a pretty good job of simplistically explaining the role of the heart and lungs in health and what happens (technically) when problems arise. This was a good reference book for hardcore scientific facts and it is specifically targeted at the rehabilitation disciplines. If that is what you are looking for, this book will be the one you need.

This series in general is a wonderful window in real-life usage of a foreign language. However, a lot of things have changed since the copyright date of 1985. Overall, though, it is a pretty good introductory text.

The blurb on the cover of the paperback edition of this book isn't far wrong - "What Richard Adams did for rabbits in 'Watership Down', Bernard Werber does for ants." But it isn't totally accurate.

For most of its almost 300 pages, this is a fascinating novel contrasting a vividly imagined world - the insect kingdom - with the equally fascinating and well thought out mystery of a deep and dark subterranean passage beneath the new home of Jonathan Wells.

Werber's description of life in the ant world is fully detailed, extremely captivating, and totally believable - which is not surprising, since - according to the small biography at the end of the book - Werber is "a scientific journalist who has studied ants...as an avocation." Little by little, we learn that there are some mysterious goings-on in this little corner of the insect kingdom, and it is up to Werber's ant heroes to solve them. His description of the equally mysterious goings-on in the Wells' cellar is just as fascinating. And you eventually realize that these two stories must be connected in some way, although you have no idea how.

But the climax and the connection, when it's finally revealed, is completely idiotic, and straight out of a 1950's s/f pulp magazine. I was expecting a much better resolution than this, and I turned the pages expecting to discover that this was nothing more than an ant dream, and the true climax was about to be revealed. But no - this was it.

The book reads almost as if Werber had gotten tired of writing it, and wanted to finish it quickly. Well, he certainly did that - but at the expense of what could have been a truly incredible piece of fiction.

This book is a very welcome antidote to the crude, infantile, relentlessly "cute" approach of such recent films as "Antz" and "A Bug's Life." Those stories may be entertaining for children, but the author of "Empire of the Ants" has succeeded in the very improbable task of dramatizing the lives of a handful of ants in a subtle, thoughtful, and gently humorous way that "grownups" can understand, appreciate, and enjoy. (Much of the credit for this undoubtedly goes to the translator, who did a superb job from the French.) The ant characters, for whom the reader comes to care deeply, are much better developed than the human characters, but that is excusable: the story, after all, isn't primarily about the humans. If the author makes a misstep, it is only in waxing philosophical at times; unfortunately, his musings are not as gripping as his narrative. But this is the only reason I don't give the book five stars. I couldn't put it down; I hated to turn the final page; and I shall never look at ants the same way again!

I admit that after watching my kid's ant farm, my interest in the life of the ant led me to various research books, and inevitably to this book. Who could not admire this tiny insect's social structure after learning more about them and spending hours watching them interact in a large ant farm. Soon, we began capturing ant colonies and adding males, and hoping to find a queen, which alas, we never did.

This book was recommended to me throught Amazon when I searched for furthur information about ants. Not sure what to expect, I bought the book and to my delight really enjoyed it.

It is one of the more unique stories I have ever read, and probably not a story that would work for everyone. I feel you would enjoy this book more if you are a fan of the insect and nature world. You can appreciate the research the author put into the novel, and I really came away with a higher respect for ants and the ant world in general. The story is a stretch in the imagination, which is what makes it so fun. I have read other reviews where some readers are annoyed that it wasn't a perfect scientific representation of the insect. For me, it was close enough and spurned my whole family's interest furthur in learning more about them. For the most part, we just sat back and really had fun reading this book and wondering what would it be like to be an ant.

a good resource to help you narrow down your internew job search effectively

As Career Planning Host for bellaonline.com, I was interested to read this book as part of my research for my series on the online job search. What I discovered was that it was not a book to "read" as much as a wonderful resource which would reduce my internet research time by hours!

This is not a book of how to's - it has a few sections discussing career planning and eresumes, but refers you to websites for more information. You can find information on how to write eresumes and submit online on my site, or all over the internet.

What this book DOES have is links - separated by position type, state, even country. The legwork is done for you - and it allows you to target your job search to whatever industry or area you want - look up the lists of links for your target, and submit from there.

I note, however, that because of the dynamics of the internet, that resources like this can never stay current. Admittedly, since publication, some websites have merged or gone, but from my research, the majority of them were current and easy to find.

A valuable resource for targetting your job search.

This is NOT a book on cyber resumes---there are whole tomes devoted to that topic. It IS a comprehensively researched listing of sites from the common to the highly specialized. I use this as a text in my graduate class to train counselors who work in one-stop career centers and in college placement offices. It's a great resource for sites and ideas on how to best use the Internet for finding a job: clear, concise and free of hype. Highly recommended.