Naked Dragon

Naked Dragon Review


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I started this book right after reading another of the author's books, The Kiss. While that book was a bit disappointing, this one made me an instant fan. "Naked Dragon" is a well done gay romantic mystery with a more serious tone.

David Harris is a police officer. When the story opens, he has been called to the scene of another brutally murdered young Asian man. Seattle has a serial killer, and he's hunting in Dave's district. But, the killer has struck in two other states so the FBI is stepping in to help. Agent Robbie Taylor is "psychic." So, he knows the killer is far from done, and also that Dave is attracted to him. Robbie quickly invites Dave back to his place. This is Dave's first time with another man, and Robbie eerily knows that too. So, their first sexual encounter is frenzied, but paradoxically tender as well. The characters have very good chemistry, and their instant attraction and consummation is very believable in this story. They are under a lot of stress from a tense and dangerous case; Dave has been keeping his feelings tightly under wraps so his fellow officers don't discover he's gay and Robbie is still working to earn the respect of his fellow agents who think he's weird or crazy. All these factors lend a certain gravitas to the story that isn't often found in gay romance, even mysteries. And, the serial killer is BRUTAL. Hauser doesn't sugar-coat the murder mystery. The men need to take solace in each other as the killer gets more and more out of control the closer Robbie gets to catching him. Their passion slowly evolves into love that keeps them going.

One aspect of the novel I really liked was Robbie's ability. Throughout the novel, he anticipates not only Dave's and other people's thoughts, but also the killer's actions. Yet Hauser never confirms that he's actually psychic, or if he's just enormously gifted in observation (such as the characters from television's Psych and the Mentalist). It prevents the character from being laughable, and places him in the real world. Another good point is how the author tackles stereotypes head on, but in a subtle way. Robbie's fellow agents quickly pick-up that Robbie and Dave have a relationship. They are surprised "that big, black cop is gay." Robbie takes them down a peg for their prejudice with some pointed remarks that bring home how intelligent he is, and the issues he and Dave must contend with. The law enforcement community is not known for its open-mindedness, and being ostracized could put their lives in danger if back-up doesn't show. Robbie and Dave both earn the respect of their fellows with their professionalism and determination on the case, but these issues still linger. This isn't the first interracial romance I've read, but I liked how Hauser handled it - which was not at all. Readers get a physical description of each man, and the men express how attracted they are to each other, but the fact that one is black and the other white is irrelevant to them.

Overall, I thought this was an excellent story. The book has a lot of action as the men chase the killer, and the conclusion was exciting. Though the resolution of Dave living in Seattle and Robbie in Virginia was blatantly predictable, it worked anyway. Both characters are engaging, realistic and their romance is lovely. The sex is hot and frequent, but not too explicit. I found this to be a romantic mystery rather than erotica. The very dark case was a surprisingly good back drop for the romance - it's in our darkest hour that we need our loved ones the most. I would love to see a sequel with these two characters on another case; this would make a great series! In the worst serial killer crime spree in Seattle's history since the Green River murderer, the 'Dragon' is hunting young Asian men as his victims. FBI Agent Robbie Taylor has been assigned to use his skills as a psychic to help solve the case and find out the identity of the madman. Seattle Police Officer Dave Harris, a rookie black cop meets up with the handsome FBI agent on one of the gruesome crime scenes. The two are immediately sexually attracted to each other and begin a secret affair that keeps them sane in the middle of all the madness. As the corpses keep piling up, their passion and love grow. Will they outwit the Dragon? Or will he get away with murder? The two men hope they survive the battle of wits and come out of the crisis alive.


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A good Mystery romance - L. Wilson - FL
As an avid fan of GA Hauser I found this book a little on the bland side. This story about Dave and Bobbie was written...ok...and the sex scenes were....ok.... I read another review that says the sex scenes are steamy...really? were we reading the same book? or better yet have you ever read any other GA Hauser books because this was tame like Lifetime movie tame.
This book read more like an episode of Criminal Minds with a little M/M action thrown in than a romance or erotica; which is not to say that it was bad, just not what I expected from Hauser.
I must say that I wish she had delved a bit more into the character develepoment and I would have LOVED if the ending wasn't that cheesy sappy crap that was thrown in there but for the price it wasn't a bad book at all.

A modest effort - William C Hummel - Glendale, Arizona United States
We actually have a plot in this one and even a little suspense. The sex scenes are pretty hot. The characters even seem to have a wee bit of depth. Worth the to buy second hand.


Jul 19, 2010 09:35:58
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The BOOK OF VIRTUES

The BOOK OF VIRTUES Review


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This is a book that would be helpful for not only parents but teachers, Sunday School teachers, and Pastors who have a children's time to have available for reference. A collection of many favorites and classics as well as new stories that help to illustrate basic values which are often lacking in much modern writing.

Responsibility. Courage. Compassion. Honesty. Friendship. Persistence. Faith. Everyone recognizes these traits as essentials of good character. In order for our children to develop such traits, we have to offer them examples of good and bad, right and wrong. And the best places to find them are in great works of literature and exemplary stories from history.

William J. Bennett has collected hundreds of stories in The Book of Virtues, an instructive and inspiring anthology that will help children understand and develop character -- and help adults teach them. From the Bible to American history, from Greek mythology to English poetry, from fairy tales to modern fiction, these stories are a rich mine of moral literacy, a reliable moral reference point that will help anchor our children and ourselves in our culture, our history, and our traditions -- the sources of the ideals by which we wish to live our lives. Complete with instructive introductions and notes, The Book of Virtues is a book the whole family can read and enjoy -- and learn from -- together.


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Perfect for bedtime stories! - Happy Mom - Idaho
I have 5 children ages 4-14. We have been having so much fun reading this book outloud as a family before bed. The stories and poems are so clever and remind us all of the civility that is often lacking in society. I recommend this book whole heartedly.

Hypocrisy? - Merlin - Atlanta
Ordinarily it is wrong to expose people for their human failings and imperfections, but when one writes a book on virtues, one exposes himself to scrutiny in that regard. This author was widely reported in the news media to be a compulsive gambler, even by the conservative Weekly Standard.

To redeem himself, William Bennett should review his book to include moral lessons on gambling, using himself as case study. He can then truly earn the respect he may deserve for the boldness to lecture the public on the subject of morality.


Jul 18, 2010 08:15:05
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The Biggest Joke Book Ever

The Biggest Joke Book Ever Review


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One of the biggest collections of classic and contemporary jokes and humorous tales in circulation today.


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Jul 17, 2010 03:05:04
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Venetia

Venetia Review


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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.


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Jul 14, 2010 23:36:06
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Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood

Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood Review


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Like the author, I have OCD, and I actually have a pretty good sense of humor, too, I think. Nevertheless, I'm far more bitter about my past than Ms. Traig seems. I'm sure she's had her fair share of anger, fighting, pain and suffering, to which she does sometimes allude in the book, but she's retained a wicked sense of humor and written an entertaining book.

Ms. Traig has suffered from several forms of OCD, some worse than others, including scrupulosity, washing, counting, checking and anorexia nervosa (the eating disorder is considered related to OCD). Her family has lived with her and her OCD, and most of us sufferers would agree, that isn't easy. She shares funny and interesting parts of her life, and I learned quite a bit about Jews and Judaism that I didn't know (I'm not Jewish). She explains how her OCD and religion intertwined and affected each other. I loved reading about her family, as well.

I found myself often bursting out laughing, sometimes garnering odd looks from my boyfriend. She conveyed the thought processes of OCD quite well, showing how frustrating it can be for the sufferer. We can see the humor in how we think, but when we're in the moment, it's not funny at all. OCD can be severely emotionally painful, and it really can ruin lives when sufferers can't get it under control. Reading about OCD's humorous side can ease some of the pain.

This is a great book for OCD sufferers and their families, as well as anyone who enjoys memoirs. It's not boring at all, and might help others understand what goes on in our minds. Recalling the agony of growing up as an obsessive-compulsive religious fanatic, Traig fearlessly confesses the most peculiar behaviour - like scrubbing her hands for a full half-hour before meals, feeding her stuffed animals before herself, and washing everything she owned because she thought it was contaminated by pork fumes!


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great purchase - Cara Bruno -
Devil in the Details was delivered in a short amount of time and is in great condition! Recommend this seller to everyone.


Jul 13, 2010 22:16:04
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The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (30+ Works with active table of contents)

The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (30+ Works with active table of contents) Review


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For those in any need of Wilde at elbow (and who among us is not?), this thick brick of a book lends itself to easy reference, if, despite its format appelation, far too large a book for the vast majority of pockets.

First collected in 1948 and published in Britian by Collins, I have received the 1989 reprint, a rather substantial tome indeed which presents fairly bare bones the majority of Wilde's work, with some letters. In fact the only thing missing from this "Complete" collection of his writings may be some of his private letters, etc., which have been in fact published elsewhere, as in, for example, The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde which is edited by his grandson Merlin.

Wilde's own son Vyvyan wrote the scholarly biography and academic analysis of his own father's landmark and unequalled work. Anyone already familiar with the life of Oscar Wilde knows how deeply touching this in itself must be. Wilde deeply loved his two sons, and especially his wife, and suffered greatly their loss due to his unjust and cruel and unusual imprisonment on false charges, as witnessed here in his writings Reading Gaol and most explicitly in De Profundis, which might also be read in The Soul of Man & Prison Writings. De Profundis in this present collection was first published here by Collins completely and most authoritatively.

The nearly cold scholarliness with which this son of Wilde presents the clear facts of his father's life astounds one, and even pains one who knows the fullness of the story, or reads it here for the first time. Please see as well the excellent account in Son of Oscar Wilde for a more complete understanding of this deeply slandered and actually unknown creator of modern literary style and forms, which we have so lost in this post-modern world. We do well here to study carefully his art in the fullness of its publication, and to read the beauty of his own son's biography. A highly recommendable collection and excellent, well balanced introductory biography, with an equally excellent adjunct chronology and bibliography for further readings and resources.

Read once more Dorian Gray, the novel, and the associated short stories. Themoral tales and fairy tales are here presented, as well as the plays. The Importance of Being Earnest humorously reveals the closet lifestyle of the aristocracy, and the superficiality, unfortunately and necessarily here unannotated. Lady Windemere's Fan with lesser lightness reveals the fatal hypocrisy and fatality of upper crust British society. An Ideal Husband with some degree of humor and intrigue reveals the same, with the a revelation of the stock swindles which were then and which in Halliburton remain the basis for many a great fame and fortune. These three are fairly well represented by the BBC in The Oscar Wilde Collection (The Importance of Being Earnest / The Picture of Dorian Gray / An Ideal Husband / Lady Windermere's Fan).

This selection of plays continues of course with all of them, including a Woman of No Importance and the standard (and very poor) English translation of Wilde's prophetic play written in French for Sarah Bernhardt Salome, which again reveals the corruption and vice of the ruling classes and their destruction of true religion.

His Poems in Prose are included and various essays and letters including the important De Profundis mentioned above (which he proposed entitling in Latin for his prison and chains), as well as the earlier serio-comic The decay of Lying, A Few Maxims for the INstruction of the Over-Educated, and Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young. One wonders the seriousness of his intent in writing The Portrait of Mr. W.H. as the object of Shakespeare's sonnets, and we read with interwst his Soul of Man under Socialism and his The Critic as Artist, etc.

HIs poetry is well and completely represented, including this touching dedication of a book of his poems to his dearly and well beloved wife:

To My Wife
I can write no stately proem
As a prelude to my lay;
from a poet to a poem
I would dare to say.

For if of these fallen petals
One of you seem fair
Love will waft it till it settles
On your hair.

And when the wind and winter harden
All the loveles land,
It will whisper of the garden
You will understand.

Wilde though dying young due to his imprisonment and exile and loss of family, survived his wife who suffered as cruelly English unmerciful justice, and this loving couple passed untold and untellable pain, here only hinted at by his son, and by his writing which hopefully will aid us to glimpse the deep and famously paradoxical truth of Mr. Oscar Wilde.

Read the book. The works of Oscar Wilde with an active table of contents. Works include:

The Canterville Ghost
De Profundis
Essays & Lectures
For Love of the King
The Happy Prince and Other Tales
A House of Pomegranates
Intentions
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime etc
The Picture of Dorian Grey
Selected Prose of Oscar Wilde
Shorter Prose Pieces
The Soul of Man Under Socialism

Plays:
The Duchess of Padua
An Ideal Husband
The Importance of Being Earnest
Lady Windermere's Fan
Vera
A Woman of No Importance


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Jul 12, 2010 16:39:05
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PHOTO:BOX

PHOTO:BOX Review


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I got this for a friend who has started taking photography classes. I looked through it before giving it to her and I, personally, think it's an incredible collection of pictures. My friend is in love with it and continues to tell me so. I think it's great that on the left side they give you a bit of information about the photographer and the circumstances to which the photo was taken and on the right side is the actual photo. I'm glad I purchased this for her :)
PHOTO:BOX presents a collection of 250 photographs by 200 of the world's most prominent photographers, ranging from legendary masters to contemporary stars, in an appealing format with a portfolio binding. Photographers include Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliot Erwitt, Robert Frank, Nan Goldin, David LaChapelle, Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, and many more. Each image is accompanied by an engaging commentary and a brief biography of the photographer.
The book is organized by subject and theme, offering a fresh perspective on the medium: from reportage to nature, and also covering war, portraits, still lifes, women, travel, cities, art, fashion, the nude, and sports. PHOTO:BOX is an irresistible and amazingly affordable survey of photography.


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Very and very good! - Pilgrim -
I highly recommend this book. It has a very good quality overall, nice pictures, very informative.



Jul 11, 2010 13:20:27
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If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?

If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? Review


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My wife and I had stopped at her sister's home in Fort Lauderdale on one of our winter breaks from our "Hobo-ing America" adventure some time back in the 70s. Whenever I am in anybody's home, I pick up whatever books they have laying around and scan them. My sister-in-law had several books by Erma Bombeck laying here and there. I wasn't really interested but I picked one up out of shear nervousness.

I am not sure which was the first of Erma's that I read. But I do remember that I couldn't put it down and that I was constantly laughing out loud. I read this book about the Cheeries, "the Grass is always Greener over the Septic Tank" and at least 5 or 6 more on that visit.

Erma was just a funny lady. Her sense of humor and her style on putting that humor down on paper is a study in the art of writing humorously.

From that time on I read her newspaper columns and listened to her commentaries when she was on TV. Her style and her attitude have become a part of the female culture of the American housewife. She made a bigger impact culturally than she even accomplished in the literary field.

Any "funny" female writer that you pick up today will contain shades of Erma. She is now a part of Americana and deservingly so. We often hear the phrase "So and so is/was an American treasure." Well, Erma was without any doubt an American treasure. I love Erma!

If you can read any of her books without spiting up laughing at some point, then you do not have a sense of humor. Sorry, but that the way it is. I love Erma.

Books written by Richard Noble - The Hobo Philosopher:
"Hobo-ing America: A Workingman's Tour of the U.S.A.."
"A Summer with Charlie" Salisbury Beach, Lawrence YMCA
"A Little Something: Poetry and Prose
"Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother" Novel - Lawrence, Ma.
"The Eastpointer" Selections from award winning column.
"Noble Notes on Famous Folks" Humor - satire - facts.
"America on Strike" American Labor - History

If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? Feature

"See if you can read a paragraph without laughing out loud."
Art Buchwald
The enchanting lady of laughter has done it again--this time taking a hilarious swipe at husbands, honeymoons, tennis elbow, marriage, lettuce, the national anthem, and a host of other domestic dilemmas.
"It's fun from cover to cover."
THE HARTFORD COURANT


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Maybe a good introduction, though not one of her best books - Privacy, Please - Maryland, USA
I remember when this book came out because my mother and I had all of her previous books and by this time were big fans of Erma. I was pretty excited to see a new book hit the stands, but when I read this one I was a little disappointed. At the time the book came out Erma was at, or maybe just past, the peak of her professional renown and was involved with a lot of different projects besides just columns and books. This book seems to have suffered a little as a result, or maybe Erma's publisher felt that people in the 80s had shorter attention spans and less time to read. The result is a shorter book with much bigger type and some of the jokes and storylines seemingly rehashed from past books.

Because this book is both more modern (by about 20 years) and less dense than Erma's first book, "At Wit's End", this book might be the one to read if you just want a quick introduction to Erma and her zany post-Phyllis-Diller sense of housewife-humor before you delve into one of her earlier, longer works. And if you're a die-hard fan you'll like it because hey, it's more of Erma. I like the book, but I think her previous books, including "At Wit's End" and "I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression" have much more meat and are more developed and funnier. This one is more like something a busy author would dash off and go on a talk show with, or something to read in one sitting on an airplane ride.


Jul 10, 2010 12:41:05
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Stand-Up Comedy: The Book

Stand-Up Comedy: The Book Review


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What amkes this book so great is the fact that it is so detailed. most stand up books give vague insights into the creation of comedy material.

This book really worth the money. A truly incredible book. I think the book is very informative in how to arrange material. This is touted as the Bible of stand-up.

There are very good exercises in here as well as funny anecdotes and bits of comedians of the 80's and 90's.

If you so desire to be a comedian than this book is a must. I think every aspiring comic should have this in thier collection.

If one is at all interested in becoming a standup comedian, or simply becoming a better public speaker this is the best book on the market.

Judy Carter does an excellent job teaching the average person to understand comedy. It is full of examples and exercises that make it very useful and practical. the book takes you through the basics of developing your skills and an act.

This quintet of comedic wisdom is, in itself, worth the price of the book. The book's layout is appealing and has plenty of white space. And in the Appendix, Carter includes a list of comedy clubs, comedy publications, and agents who handle comedians.

Definitely get this book!

A Damsel In Distress: A British Humor Classic
A Man Of Means: 6 British Humor Classics
A Prefect's Uncle: A British Humor Classic
Death At The Excelsior: A British Humor Classic
Indiscretions Of Archie: A British Humor Classic
Jill The Reckless: A British Humor Classic

Stand-Up Comedy: The Book Feature

All the world loves a clown and whether you want to clown around at parties or make a living as a standup comic, comedian Judy Carter can show you how to 'do' comedy.


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save your money - G. Guarin - florida USA
You should wait until richard pryor writes a how to be funnybook; wait... he's dead. Save your money and stay in school.

Stand-up Comedy - K. Mcalpin - Hartland, Wi USA
Book arrived in good shape. Seller alerted me ahead of time to some handwriting on a few pages but it wasn't a big deal to me for its price, so I said "ship it."


Jul 09, 2010 02:02:13
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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Dover Thrift Editions)

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Dover Thrift Editions) Review


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"Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl" is the incredible life journey of Harriet Jacobs (a.k.a., Linda Brent) from oppression to freedom. One could scarcely believe the lengths a human soul would suffer to attain it.

I was engulfed in Harriet's story. There were things I never put much thought to, like the lives of the slaves of kind masters were held so delicately in balance, for when they die, life can change so quickly; and even the granting of freedom upon death can be no guarantee of freedom. Harriet makes a passionate argument for why slaves, even under kind masters, should be set free.

Harriet describes things so hard to believe, I did find myself doubting, like hiding in quarters so cramped, she could not stand up . . . for seven years. It's not that a person wouldn't want to do that given the alternative of slavery and she didn't know initially how long she would be there. It's implausible because this storage shed was on her grandmother's property and that property was under suspicion so that it was searched inside and out and no one thought to search the shed just because no one ever went in there? The attic of that shed would have been the first place I'd have looked, even if it didn't look like it had a door. Her children weren't supposed to know she was there but her son figured it out, because he heard her cough. Well, he was just a little boy and he figured it out. Surely, others heard noises, as well.

Secondly, her master sought her as he would try to woo a girlfriend. When she ran away, he searched for her and offered rewards, as would be expected of slave owners. However, after seven years, neigh even more, he continued to travel north in search of her. Even if he were smitten with her, I wouldn't have expected it to last that long. Considering she was his slave, I would think he would have thought her forever lost property; and she'd been replaced, except for maybe outstanding reward money. Harriet said slaves were treated like dogs, and people don't usually travel the states for seven years looking for lost dogs.

Overlooking those details, I was able to enjoy the book. Harriet Jacobs was a talented writer. I lived her life through her words. Though it sometimes read like fiction, it could not have been better told.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (Dover Thrift Editions) Feature

This autobiographical account by a former slave is one of the few extant narratives written by a woman. Written and published in 1861, it delivers a powerful, unflinching portrayal of the brutality of slave life. Jacobs speaks frankly of her master's abuse and her eventual escape, in an amazing and inspirational account of one woman's dauntless spirit and faith.


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SHOCKING - D. Meyers - Grand Rapis, MI
This memoire of a woman born to slavery was shocking as well as eye-opening. The author brings to light practices not reported in other accounts of the same genre such as holiday traditions, religious services, and how freed slaves might buy their own family members. There were descriptions of a life so horrible one would rather die or be locked in an attic for years rather than be subjected to a master. The mean-ness of the times seems to be a judgment of society, as only the guilty become paranoid and defensive to the point of abuse.

A detractor from the content for me was the style of writing. At times the book became tedious and repititious. The editing also felt stilted as some very elegant Victorian passages were interjected among other simple phrases that seemed to be taken from a primer reader. The "preachy" quality also lost its impact. The events themselves were powerful enough to carry the intended message.

Insightful, gripping, wrentching - Crystal - Australia
What a journey Linda takes us on. These accounts have certainly opened my eyes to the confusion and fear felt at the hands of slaveholders. How blessed we are to read these words of courage and determination.


Jul 07, 2010 23:52:08
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I Am a Cat: Three Volumes in One

I Am a Cat: Three Volumes in One Review


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This is a charming bit of writing, and possibly more difficult for a western reader than for an eastern one who is culturally tuned in to the meditative approach to life. There is certainly a strong influence of Britishness, however, and no wonder, with the Japanese author's education in England thrown into the mix, and translation to boot.

I was reminded of Watership Down while reading. (I did not finish Watership Down either.) It goes along at a cat's pace, which, (like the rabbits in Watership Down) is not easy to sync with the pace of modern American readership. If I were on a year's retreat in a silent, mild place, this would be like a good mantra with some real laughs tucked in.

If you are privileged to be enjoying such a passage in your life, I recommend this book highly.

I Am a Cat: Three Volumes in One Feature

  • ISBN13: 9780804832656
  • Condition: NEW
  • Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Written over the course of 1904-6, Soseki’s comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the follies of upper-middle-class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him.
The New Yorker called it "a nonchalant string of anecdotes and wisecracks, told by a fellow who doesn't have a name, and has never caught a mouse, and isn't much good for anything except watching human beings in action..."


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But not for me....... - Sandra H. Maidment - torrington, ct
I was looking forward to reading another work that put you into the "mind of a cat". There were some clever bits that did just that. however, I felt like I had gone back to a college literature critique course. Most of the text has to do with the author's college professor peers.

For me, it became a chore and I found myself trying to skip from cat sequence to cat sequence and skipping the critiques of the authors' peers. I don't often do this, but I gave up on the book.

Not to regurgitate what has already been said... - N. Stack - Sacramento, CA
Other people here have put it better than I ever could. Definitely a must-read if you love cats, puns, or poking fun at intellectual types.


Jul 06, 2010 23:23:06
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The Mabinogion

The Mabinogion Review


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How does this handsomely bound new rendering by Sioned Davies, Chair in Welsh at Cardiff, compare with the standard edition widely used and often praised, Harvard professor Ford's? Will his "30th Anniversary" U of California paperback reissued edition find itself in a dead heat with Davies in this elegant Oxford U.P. offering? The race may prove a photo finish!

I compared their translations of a favorite passage of mine early on in the First Branch, Pwyll's tale. Arawn's just been reunited with his queen after the year's test by unwitting yet steadfast doppelganger Pwyll. She wonders, post-coitally after a long year's lapse, why it's been so long since her husband made love with her.

Here's Ford (1977 ed., p. 41) first at the starting line.

"Shame on me," she said, "if from the time we went between the sheets there was even pleasure or talk between us or even your facing me-- much less anything more than that-- for the past year!"

And he thought, "Dear Lord God, it was a unique man, with strong and unwavering friendship that I got for a companion." And then he said to his wife, "Lady," he said, "don't blame me. I swear to God," he said, "I haven't slept with you since a year from last night nor have I lain with you."

And he told her the entire adventure.

"I confess to God," she said, "as far as fighting temptations of the flesh and keeping true to you goes, you had a solid hold on a fellow."

"Lady," he said, "that's just what I was thinking while I was silent with you."

"That was only natural," she answered.

--You can feel the hesitant insertion of the teller's dramatic pauses implied with the "saids." These intensify rhythms of the poet's strong, confident prose. A few contractions and the well-placed dashes quicken the dialogue's pace. The language avoids the flowery exactitude and chivalric diction that marked Gwyn and Thomas Jones' 1949 Everyman edition. But, neither does Ford choose an entirely modern register. He keeps a slightly elevated style while emphasizing verve and a gently sophisticated voice for the couple.

--Compare and contrast Davies (2008 ed., p. 7). As in other pages I spot-checked, the two professors run neck and neck and overlap considerably-- a sign of how both scholars channel what Ford calls the "restraint" in this passage as well as its humor and tension.

"Shame on me," she said, "if there has been between us for the past year, from the time we were wrapped up in the bedclothes, either pleasure or conversation, or have you turned your face to me, let alone anything more than that!"

And then he thought, "Dear Lord God," he said, "I had a friend whose loyalty was steadfast and secure." And then he said to his wife, "Lady," he said, "do not blame me. Between me and God," he said, "I have neither slept nor lain down with you for the past year."

And then he told her the whole story.

"I confess to God," she said, "you struck a firm bargain for your friend to have fought off the temptations of the flesh and kept his word to you."

"Lady," he said, "those were my very thoughts while I was silent just now."

"No wonder!" she said.

--Davies in her preface emphasizes the "performative" qualities in her edition. In this passage, she appears to let the lines go longer rather than reining them in to English syntax. They drift away slightly before coming back to us. Perhaps this echo demonstrates Davies' own scholarship in the medieval Welsh interplay between orality and literacy. The author of two books on the Mabinogi, she stresses the "interactive" nature of the manuscript to be read aloud for the "acoustic dimension" embedded in the Welsh texts and through alliteration, tone, and beat, she tries to give us a feel for this tempo, albeit imperfectly conveyed perforce into our clunkier English.

--Both Davies and Ford include the four branches: Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan, and Math. Both include Lludd & Llueyls. But, reflecting textual differences in the original manuscript anthologies, they also differ. Ford's tales attributed to Gwion Bach & Taliesin, Culhwch & Olwen, and his appendix on Cad Goddeu do not appear in Davies. She provides Peredur, The Dream of the Emperor Maxen, The Lady of the Well, Geraint, and Rhonawby's Dream.

--Both editors explain their textual choices and open with prefaces. They both add glossaries, pronunciation guides, and bibliographies. Ford situates the tales in Indo-European contexts and Davies delves into their delivery as recited stories. Ford begins each tale with a short introduction; Davies adds explanatory notes in a detailed appendix, keyed to asterisks in the body of the text. Davies keys her "Index of Personal Names" to pages in the text while Ford does not. For study and teaching, it looks like the competition may result in a dignified and spirited draw. Most serious readers doubtless will want to consult, as I have, both fine efforts side-by-side.

(This review, fittingly, is also on the Ford 1977 ed. listing on Amazon US. The UC press reissue has not yet been published. May both translations flourish.) Celtic mythology, Arthurian romance, and an intriguing interpretation of British history--these are just some of the themes embraced by the anonymous authors of the eleven tales that make up the Welsh medieval masterpiece known as the Mabinogion. They tell of Gwydion the shape-shifter, who can create a woman out of flowers; of Math the magician whose feet must lie in the lap of a virgin; of hanging a pregnant mouse and hunting a magical boar. Dragons, witches, and giants live alongside kings and heroes, and quests of honour, revenge, and love are set against the backdrop of a country struggling to retain its independence.
This new translation, the first for thirty years, recreates the storytelling world of medieval Wales and re-invests the tales with the power of performance.


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Customer Reviews

Magic, War, Love - Cynthia - Los Angeles, CA
This is a group of 12 Welsh legends that feature King Arthur along with other kings. They were stories passed down orally and have mnemonic devices imbedded in them to aide in the telling so they sometimes sound odd to our modern ears. There is so much here that appears in current day literature. There are magical creatures and wells and rocks and carpets, shape shifting, giants, fierce warriors, fair maidens, unbelievably delicious food, and chesslike games, etc. everything that appears in modern day fairy stories and science fiction. The knights are always handsome, unless they're the bad knights and then of course they're hideous, the women are each more beautiful than the next. Decisions made quickly often have far reaching implications. There is a sense of immediacy. Anyone could die at any time or make a life long alliance. Magic, War, Love, that's what these stories are made of.

I alternated between this new translation of Davies and Charlotte Guest's Victorian one and enjoyed both however Davies gives a wealth of background information that I found very helpful.

ya pays ya money, ya takes ya choice. - Zadzaczadlin - United Kingdom
" `Lady,' asked he, `whence comest thou, and whereunto dost thou journey?' "I journey on mine own errand," said she, "and right glad am I to see thee." `My greeting unto thee,' said he. Then he thought that the beauty of all the maidens, and all the ladies that he had ever seen, was as nothing compared to her beauty." - Lady Charlotte Guest's translation (1838).

" `Lady,' he asked, `whence comest thou, and where art thou going?' "I go mine own errands," said she, "and glad I am to see thee." `My welcome to thee,' said he. And then he thought that the countenance of every maiden and every lady he had ever seen was unlovely compared with her countenance." - Jones & Jones (1948).

" `Lady,' he said, `where do you come from, and where are you going?' "Going about my business," she said, "and I am glad to see you." `My welcome to you,' he said. And then he thought that the face of every maiden and every woman he had ever seen was unattractive compared with her face." - Sioned Davies (2007).



Jul 05, 2010 21:04:04
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The Mrs. Dalloway Reader

The Mrs. Dalloway Reader Review


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`Mrs Dalloway' is a kind of cultural phenomena.

Everyone that I know has a different take on who she is, what this book is, and what the novel is supposed to stand for. Enter into this fray the authors own opinion about the whole of it and you have an all-out melee of fiction versus fiction.

This book, The Mrs Dalloway Reader, attempts to focus this problem somewhat. In it, not only will you find the novel itself, but you will also find various supplementary materials that help to ease you into what this novel is and what it means to so many different people. From those whose experience began with trying to impress a girl (and the lucky happenstance of finding the book at a Book-Mobile) to those who fought off the strains of absinthe addiction, the short pieces in range from essays to the first `draft' of the novel `Mrs Dalloway's Party'. Include in this assortment such lovingly-crafted emulations as Jane Mansfield's `The Garden Party' and you've got yourself a real winning combination.

But is this a good reason to buy this book? Don't you need more reasons? Of course!

Take this one: I knew absolutely nothing about Virginia Woolf when I purchased this book. She lived about 100 years ago. She wrote many books and I've seen some of her diaries in the hands of female students when I was in high school about ten years ago. She is popular with the intelligent-female group, those who want to be well-read and know the difference between Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley. Add to this that I am a guy. Now, take all that and combine it, dashing in the fact that this book single-handedly introduced me to who Virginia Woolf is and what she stood for- just through the supplementary material- and you have not only a great novel but a good place to get your foot into the door of this wonderful writer.

Is that still not enough? Okay: supplementary material aside, how is the book? Wonderful. It is a style of writing that I've heard called `Impressionistic' by some learned person. This is true- until you read Virginia Woolf (who is far easier to understand than other stream-of-consciousness writers such as Joyce) you have no idea what great pictures such simple things as words can express. Mrs Dalloway does this too, moving the reader through a simple narrative that is painted with poetical words, bringing to life a novel that is to fiction what Renoir is to painting; only the basic outline is there, amid all the broad strokes, and you must look to find it...but it is amazing when you see it.

LP

Bottom line: If you know nothing about Virginia Woolf and want a good, solid platform from which to start, pick this one. If you know a lot about her and want to explore more, you pick this one too.

The Mrs. Dalloway Reader Feature

This first volume of its kind contains the complete text of and guide to Virginia Woolf's masterpiece, plus Mrs. Dalloway's Party and numerous journal entries and letters by Virginia Woolf relating to the book's genesis and writing. The distinguished novelist Francine Prose has selected these pieces as well as essays and appreciations, critical views, and commentary by writers famous and unknown. Now with additional scholarly commentary by Mark Hussey, professor of English at Pace University, this complete volume illuminates the creation of a celebrated story and the genius of its author.

Includes essays and commentary from:
Michael Cunningham
E. M. Forster
Margo Jefferson
James Wood
Mary Gordon
Elaine Showalter
Daniel Mendelsohn
Sigrid Nunez
Deborah Eisenberg
Elissa Schappell


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Customer Reviews

A Book Written Specifically for Woolfies - Miami Bob - Miami, FL United States
I admit that I almost was very middle aged when I read any of Woolf's novels. And, that was only because I read "The Hours."

I learned that the character names therein related to Mrs. Dalloway and other characters of her novels. So, I picked up "To the Lighthouse" and experienced my first "stream of consciousness" style which I analogize to ADD - now the novel is dialogue, then thought, then observation, then . . . and all in one sentence. But, within that one sentence, you learn more than most authors can present on pages.

Reading one page of Woolf takes twice or three times as much time as other authors. Basically, the density of the writing style prohibits skimming, prohibits glossing, or prohibits you from losing concentration.

Modern authors who can conjure as much in as little paper include J.M. Coetzee or V.S. Naipual. These are three great names in the all-time history of fiction. I truly believe that she influenced these writers and hundreds of others.

This book awakened me to many things which I did not know lay within the pages. And, it also helped explain some of the orthodox-like exactitude of the characters, names and plot of "The Hours." Woolf's fans are true blue, died-in-the-wool absolutists. And, this book reflects that more than anything. Many of the published fans herein are famous in their own right, and they are just as devout to Woolf as her secret admirers - like me and probably you (who else but a Woolfie would be reading about this book?).

I recommend this book greatly as it educated me more than I could ever have imagined about the relationship between the book and her life and other related events.

A Brilliant Writer Negotiates the Works of a Brilliant Writer - Grady Harp - Los Angeles, CA United States
Francine Prose is one of our more important writers (novels 'Blue Angel', 'After', 'A Changed Man', 'Primitive People'; probing biographies 'Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles'), a writer with a profound respect of the past, for the art of writing and the art of reading. Her most recent book is titled 'Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them' should give an idea of what is in store in this most enjoyable and illuminating book THE MRS. DALLOWAY READER.

Prose writes an Introduction that, while brief, offers keys to unlocking the genius that was Virginia Woolf. 'She longed to fill the book [Mrs. Dalloway] with "speed and life", to "give life & death, sanity & insanity; I want to criticize the social system & to show it at work, at its most intense.' Prose extracts quotes form Woolf's writings in an astute manner that allows us to understand the tortured genius who wrote them. As far as the book 'Mrs. Dalloway', Prose writes '...its all here: life, death, sex, love, marriage, parenthood, youth, age, the present and the past, memory, London, war, reason and unreason, loyalty, medicine, social snobbery, friendship, compassion, cruelty; the occasionally apt but more often unfounded snap judgments we make about ourselves, each other, loved ones, strangers, and the world in which chance and fortune have thrown us all together'. She touches on Woolf's insanity and conflicted sexuality that blossomed with Vita Sackville-West, and with her suicide by drowning, but she is far more interested in sharing the manner in which Woolf created her books - her fleshing out of the state of consciousness.

As editor Francine Prose then gathers writings form such erudite dignitaries as Katherine Mansfield, E.M. Forster, Michael Cunningham, Daniel Mendelsohn, Sigrud Nunez et al, couples these observations with Woolf's own serialized beginnings of her famous novel, and then offers us the entire MRS DALLOWAY at the end of the book. Reading Virginia Woolf in this atmosphere serves to enlighten the reader and once again prove that this novel is one of the more important writings of the last century. This book is a treasure! Grady Harp, December 06


Jul 04, 2010 19:49:05
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