Books

  1. Oyster
    Oyster

  2. Killer Smile
    Killer Smile

  3. Gallows Thief
    Gallows Thief

  4. Beyond Suspicion
    Beyond Suspicion

  5. Revolution No. 9
    Revolution No. 9

  6. The Kill Clause
    The Kill Clause

  7. The Program
    The Program

  8. Blackbox: A Novel in 840 Chapters
    Blackbox: A Novel in 840 Chapters

  9. A Faint Cold Fear
    A Faint Cold Fear

  10. Bullets of Rain
    Bullets of Rain

  11. Small Town
    Small Town

  12. Dead Ringer LP
    Dead Ringer LP

  13. Die in Plain Sight LP
    Die in Plain Sight LP

  14. Air Battle Force
    Air Battle Force

  15. State of Fear
    State of Fear

  16. The Bang Devils
    The Bang Devils

  17. Handsome Harry
    Handsome Harry

  18. Day of Atonement
    Day of Atonement

  19. What Memories Remain
    What Memories Remain

  20. Jigs & Reels
    Jigs & Reels

  21. Dark Places
    Dark Places

  22. The Jericho Sanction
    The Jericho Sanction

  23. Stalking Elijah: Adventures with Today's Jewish Mystical Masters
    Stalking Elijah: Adventures with Today's Jewish Mystical Masters

  24. Screwball
    Screwball

  25. The Reunion
    The Reunion

Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall: An Artist's Country Estate (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Louis Comfort Tiffany's Laurelton Hall
  • Tiffany Book
Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall: An Artist's Country Estate (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)
Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen
Manufacturer: Metropolitan Museum of Art
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:
  1. Tiffany Lamps and Metalware: An Illustrated Reference to Over 2000 Models
  2. A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls
  3. The Lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany
  4. Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudi, Miro, Dali
  5. Cezanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)

ASIN: 0300117876

Book Description

This beautiful book focuses on Laurelton Hall, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s extraordinary country estate in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York. Beginning in 1902, Tiffany (1848–1933) designed every aspect of the immense home, which had eighty-four rooms and eight levels, and extensive grounds into which the house was carefully integrated. Tiffany’s residential masterpiece was also a quasi-museum, for he filled it with his own works—windows, glassware, pottery, enamels, lamps, oil paintings, and watercolors—as well as with objects from his collections of Islamic, Asian, and Native American art.
Laurelton Hall burned down in 1957, but about ten years earlier most of its contents had been removed and sold. Every aspect of the estate is examined and re-created in this volume: its terraced gardens with fountains and pools; the many outbuildings; and Tiffany’s life there. The interior decoration of Laurelton Hall, a particular focus of the book, is represented by both numerous period photographs and newly commissioned color photography of surviving artworks and salvaged architectural components from the estate. For all who admire Tiffany and his work, this book presents a unique portrait of his remarkable home.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Louis Comfort Tiffany's Laurelton Hall.......2007-01-19

This is an excellent and scholarly book filled with incredible photos and descriptions of LCT's home, Laurelton Hall. The author has written a series of fine chapters that look at all aspects of this magnificent residence. What the fire at Laurelton destroyed, this book restores with words and photos. For all of you who love Tiffany's artistry, this book is not to be missed!

4 out of 5 stars Tiffany Book.......2007-01-16

Nicely put together and informative for those who are seriously interested in the life and works of Louis Comfort Tiffany.
The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • As usual - easy read
  • Quick and Interesting Read
  • healthy eating in Cape cod
  • Everything You Wanted to Know About New York Oysters
  • Pearl in the oyster
The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
Mark Kurlansky
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:
  1. Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World
  2. Salt: A World History
  3. The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation
  4. Hooked: Pirates, Poaching, and the Perfect Fish
  5. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

ASIN: 0345476395
Release Date: 2007-01-09

Book Description

“Part treatise, part miscellany, unfailingly entertaining.”
–The New York Times

“A small pearl of a book . . . a great tale of the growth of a modern city as seen through the rise and fall of the lowly oyster.”
–Rocky Mountain News

Award-winning author Mark Kurlansky tells the remarkable story of New York by following the trajectory of one of its most fascinating inhabitants–the oyster.
For centuries New York was famous for this particular shellfish, which until the early 1900s played such a dominant a role in the city’s life that the abundant bivalves were Gotham’s most celebrated export, a staple food for all classes, and a natural filtration system for the city’s congested waterways.

Filled with cultural, historical, and culinary insight–along with historic recipes, maps, drawings, and photos–this dynamic narrative sweeps readers from the seventeenth-century founding of New York to the death of its oyster beds and the rise of America’s environmentalist movement, from the oyster cellars of the rough-and-tumble Five Points slums to Manhattan’s Gilded Age dining chambers. With The Big Oyster, Mark Kurlansky serves up history at its most engrossing, entertaining, and delicious.

“Suffused with [Kurlansky’s] pleasure in exploring the city across ground that hasn’t already been covered with other writers’ footprints.”
–Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Fascinating stuff . . . [Kurlansky] has a keen eye for odd facts and natural detail.”
–The Wall Street Journal

“Kurlansky packs his breezy book with terrific anecdotes.”
–Entertainment Weekly

“Magnificent . . . a towering accomplishment.”
–Associated Press

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars As usual - easy read.......2007-06-27

Another book by MK. Nice and easy read and somewhat entertaining. Plenty of historical references but true historians could have plenty od reservations about it as well. Overall C to B-.

5 out of 5 stars Quick and Interesting Read.......2007-06-09

I bought this book halfway as a joke for some oyster-loving friends, but it turned out the be a great page turner -- finished it in about 3 sittings. It's a great light read with some excellent information about oysters and a surprisingly fascinating history of NYC.

5 out of 5 stars healthy eating in Cape cod.......2007-06-08

Will be used by son-in-law on Cape Cod this summer. He is very excited about it.

5 out of 5 stars Everything You Wanted to Know About New York Oysters.......2007-04-12

As a practicing malacologist, I generally avoid reviewing books in my field on Amazon. However, The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell by Mark Kurlansky is less about oysters as invertebrates, but rather, it provides an oyster's-eye view of the evolution of modern New York City. The author makes a strong case for the importance of Crassostrea virginica in the sociological and economic development of the Big Apple: All the major events in the city's 350 year history can somehow be related to peoples' insatiable desire for oysters.

The style of The Big Oyster is more typical of a travelogue, but instead of adventuring across space at a particular time, Kurlansky is moving along the time line of a particular place. (And, really, Relativity says that this contrast doesn't actually exist: Space... Time... What's the difference?) One could take any number of paths through the history of New York, and this book happens to follow oysters. The author, though, is adept at finding intersections with other topics, and besides covering oyster preparation (with lots of recipes), oyster harvest and the oyster market, such interesting but disparate topics as Native American relations, transportation, prostitution, pollution and Diamond Jim Brady all find a place in this tale.

While I would not recommend The Big Oyster to students of invertebrate zoology on the basis of the book's biological merits, I found it to be an interesting and entertaining read. The Big Oyster left me craving both a plate of raw oysters on the half shell and more to read by Mark Kurlansky.

5 out of 5 stars Pearl in the oyster.......2007-03-29

Kurlansky's books, all three on food, Salt, Cod, Oyster are so full of pearls of knowledge one contantly asks through a read, 'who would have thought? and exclaims, 'why I didn't know that!' What a great way to spend one's time immersed in these seemingly obscure, yet ever present subjects. Highly recommended, entertaining and easy reading.
The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy: and Other Stories
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A book of NOT SO CURIOUS curiosities
  • Darkly entertaining
  • My 1st time
  • The Melancholy Death of Oster Bay : and Other Stories
  • E.A.'s Reveiw
The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy: and Other Stories
Tim Burton
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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  1. Creepy Susie: and 13 other tragic tales for troubled children.
  2. The Cat with a Really Big Head, and One Other Story that Isn't as Good
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  4. Burton on Burton: 2nd Revised Edition
  5. Johnny The Homicidal Maniac: Director's Cut

ASIN: 0688156819

Amazon.com

This unassuming hardcover in black buckram with a dark lavender title plate is the door into a world of twisted pleasures. Filmmaker Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas) tells 23 winsomely macabre stories about boys and girls who don't fit in. Their bodies are misshapen, their habits are odd, and their parents are appalled by them. But they do try hard to be human, like poor unwanted Mummy Boy, who's "a bundle of gauze": he goes for a walk in the park with his mummy dog. Some kids are having "a birthday party for a Mexican girl." They think Mummy Boy is a piñata: "They took a baseball bat and whacked open his head. Mummy Boy fell to the ground; he finally was dead. Inside of his head were no candy or prizes, just a few stray beetles of various sizes." For all its simple humor, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories is a peculiarly disturbing book about the violence that children suffer. It is illustrated in pen and ink, watercolor, and crayon. The themes and imagery are at a young-adult to adult level.

Book Description

From breathtaking stop-action animation to bittersweet modern fairy tales, filmmaker Tim Burton has become known for his unique visual brilliance -- witty and macabre at once. Now he gives birth to a cast of gruesomely sympathetic children -- misunderstood outcasts who struggle to find love and belonging in their cruel, cruel worlds. His lovingly lurid illustrations evoke both the sweetness and the tragedy of these dark yet simple beings -- hopeful, hapless heroes who appeal to the ugly outsider in all of us, and let us laugh at a world we have long left behind (mostly anyway).

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars A book of NOT SO CURIOUS curiosities.......2007-06-28

Frankly, I didn't find this book to be very creative or interesting. Many of the vignettes are much too short to evoke any humor or feelings. The author seems to have glanced at his surroundings and made a boy or girl character out of things ranging from stains to matches and then proceeded to make up obvious stories about them. (Surprise, surprise, the match girl was "hot" and burned up her stick lover.) The three stars is for the illustrations and the melancholy concept.

5 out of 5 stars Darkly entertaining.......2007-03-18

Melancholy is the right word for the mood of this little book! The drawings and the rhymes are so simple, yet they evoke such emotion - I was horrified in a gleeful sort of way - 'uh oh, I can't believe where this is heading' - it's so grim and sad, yet I found myself laughing out loud. Definitely for those with a certain sense of humour.

5 out of 5 stars My 1st time.......2007-03-09

This book is my first time with Tim Burton's poetry.
I must say that is strange but very good!

5 out of 5 stars The Melancholy Death of Oster Bay : and Other Stories.......2007-03-08

Tim Burton is a master at what he does. This is a cute book of short stories and poems, which are slightly creepy and incredibly clever. I loved it.

5 out of 5 stars E.A.'s Reveiw.......2007-01-17

This is one of the best collections of poetry that I have read in a long
while. It captures Burton's dark and witty humor perfectly. Two of the poems had me nearly crying. A must for adults and older children, it may be too intense for the younger crowd. This book is also hard to find, which makes buying it on Amazon a real time saver. I found out about this book from a local toy show where the dealer wanted $40 for his first edition. I wasn't looking for a collectible but just a good book to read, which is why the Amazon price was perfect.
Pearls: A Natural History
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Pearls: A Natural History
  • Most excellent information, but...
  • contains everything you could want to know
  • Pearls before swine...
Pearls: A Natural History
Neil H. Landman , and Paula Mikkelsen
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:
  1. Pearls (Fred Ward Gem Book)
  2. Pearl Buying Guide: How to Evaluate, Identify and Select Pearls & Pearl Jewelry
  3. The Pearl Book, 3rd Edition: The Definitive Buying Guide: How to Select, Buy Care for & Enjoy Pearls
  4. People And Pearls: The Magic Endures
  5. Tiffany Pearls

ASIN: 0810944952

Amazon.com

From Leonardo da Vinci's recipe for imitation pearls to the derring-do of deep-sea pearl divers, Pearls: A Natural History delves into virtually every aspect of the gemstones that have been prized since ancient times for their luster and purity. The fascination of this book--which accompanies an exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York through April 14, 2002--is the way it effortlessly combines scientific, historical, cultural, and practical information. Key topics include different species of marine and freshwater mollusks, the history of perliculture and ecological issues affecting pearl production. The more than 200 photographs include reproductions of spectacular objects ranging from a 16th-century Russian icon of the Madonna and child encrusted in freshwater pearls to an early-20th-century brooch in which lozenge-shaped Mississippi River pearls create the opulent blossoms of a diamond-stemmed flower. Solid information, intriguing trivia, and inviting design give this book a broad appeal. --Cathy Curtis

Book Description

A book with the luster and allure of its subject, Pearls is the most spectacular volume ever produced on this prized gem. Blending history, science, and the jeweler's art to celebrate these natural treasures-as in Abrams' hugely successful Amber-this lavishly illustrated volume, shimmering with new color photography and archival images, traces the natural and cultural history of pearls around the world.

Published to accompany an exhibition organized by the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Field Museum in Chicago, Pearls begins with the earliest pearl artifacts found in Mesopotamia and discusses how pearls are formed, in nature and by humans, the ways different cultures have used pearls in literature, paintings, religious objects, and sculptures, and, of course, pearls as personal adornment.
225 illustrations, 150 in full color, 232 pages, 9 x 11"

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Pearls: A Natural History.......2006-07-19

A beautiful book with great information and many gorgeous pictures. The history and pearl formation information was very helpful.

3 out of 5 stars Most excellent information, but..........2003-05-26

This book is quite thorough, as mentioned in the other reviews. The "but" is major, though.... The type font is VERY DIFFICULT on the eyes. I absolutely love pearls, drool over them, even. I gobble up any information on them. If the GIA offers a specialization in them, I will get it. But the lines in this font are so thin, and the size is so tight and small, I haven't been able to finish a fourth of the book, and I've had it over a year!

Every time I try to read it, I have to put it down after only a few pages. By the way, my vision is great, corrected to better than 20/20. Perhaps my copy (bought at the Metropolitan Museum of Art store) was printed when the ink source was running low...

5 out of 5 stars contains everything you could want to know.......2002-03-22

This is an excellent, well illustrated book with everything you could want to know about pearls - how they occur naturally, the biology of this, how they are induced artificially ( cultured pearls), how they are faked, the optics of their appearance and how they have shaped history and , of course, pearl jewellery.

The hard bits are explained without jargon, in intelligeable words but without losing detail.

5 out of 5 stars Pearls before swine..........2002-02-08

This truly is a history book, written in a very accessable style with lots of great photos and illustrations. If there's anything else to know about pearls then I suspect it might just about fill up the back of a postage stamp with room to spare. A great resource for amateurs and professionals alike; I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's well worth the money.
The Lord's Oysters (Maryland Paperback Bookshelf)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • An Eastern Shore story
  • A 'Must read' for all youngsters
  • Loved this book when I was 12 (1967).
  • Growing up on MD's Eastern Shore at the turn of the century.
The Lord's Oysters (Maryland Paperback Bookshelf)
Gilbert Byron
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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  1. Done Crabbin': Noah Leaves the River
  2. Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay
  3. Chesapeake: A Novel

ASIN: 0801819598

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars An Eastern Shore story.......1999-12-15

Eastern Shore, please, with a capital E and a capital S. Gilbert Byron grew up in Chestertown on the banks of the Chester River in Kent County on Maryland's Eastern Shore in the first decades of the 1900s. Now, that century is coming to a close. But, Gilbert Byron's books about this part of the world - insulated, isolated in another time -will live forever. This work is not just for children. Adults will enjoy it, too. My father was a friend of Gilbert's growing up. And I knew Gilbert Byron well as editor of the Kent County News. He kept writing to the end living in a cabin he built himself on San Domingo Creek near St. Michaels on the Eastern Shore. By the way, he also was instrumental in sending Harold Baines to the major leagues, thanks to Bill Veeck. But, that is another whole story. Enough. Read The Lord's Oysters. Read Chesapeake Duke and fall in love with Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. Read Mr. Byron's poetry, especially These Chesapeake Men. If you want to know the Chesapeake and The Shore read Gilbert Byron.

5 out of 5 stars A 'Must read' for all youngsters.......1999-04-15

This book was given to me for Christmas and I read it before New Years! It has been compared to Huck. Finn, And rightfully so. The story of a young Noah and his adventures on the Eastern Shore of Maryland is very realistic. It is also informative to older folks who may not realize that across the bay from Baltimore & DC there was a little piece of America still holding strong to God, Truth, Innosence, and ofcourse the mighty Blue Crab!---And you know what? there still is!!!

4 out of 5 stars Loved this book when I was 12 (1967)........1998-06-09

I read this book when I was 12 or so (1967) and really enjoyed it. I am anxious to read it as an adult and see if it is as good as I remember. Back then, I recall that it made me really want to go to the Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. Haven't made it yet, but still want to go.

4 out of 5 stars Growing up on MD's Eastern Shore at the turn of the century........1998-06-05

The author's fictionalized autobiography tells of his childhood days growing up along the banks of the Chester River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The book has been in print since 1957 and still offers the reader a flavor of life in rural America before World War I. Byron writes in the vernacular of a 9 or 10 year old and the book has been compared to Huckleberry Finn. It is an easy read,and the language is deceptively simple. Each chapter can stand alone as an independent short story, but collectively they provide and interesting view of an average family struggling to make do: "We were poor and didn't know it."

This modest book describes much more accurately the life and times that visitors to the Eastern Shore seek than do more commercially succesful writers such as Michiner and Barth.

Still Life With Oysters and Lemon: On Objects and Intimacy
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Good Book.
  • A Thing Of Beauty
  • A seamless merging of painting and poetry
Still Life With Oysters and Lemon: On Objects and Intimacy
Mark Doty
Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0807066095

Book Description

Mark Doty's prose has been hailed as "tempered and tough, sorrowing and serene" (The New York Times Book Review) and "achingly beautiful" (The Boston Globe). In Still Life with Oysters and Lemon he offers a stunning exploration of our attachment to ordinary things-how we invest objects with human store, and why

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Good Book. .......2007-03-10

This was a well written book. Very moving! Makes you stand back, and take another look at still life.

5 out of 5 stars A Thing Of Beauty.......2002-04-11

Mark Doty begins this book by describing a 350 year old Dutch painting "Still Life with Oysters and Lemon" that he has fallen in love with at the Metropolitan Museum. He then meanders to memories of his "Mamaw" from long ago in East Tennessee-- surely only Southerners call grandparents by that name-- to a poem by Cavafy, to buying an old Italianate Victorian House in Vermont with his partner who later died of AIDS. Along the way, Mr. Doty muses on the subject of balance: the desire to be in a relationship and the need to be free, the balance of order versus clutter, of staying rooted in one place and the need to travel-- and the joy of collecting simple, everyday imperfect things picked up in flea markets rather than perfect expensive objects.

There are so many good things to say about this little 70 page gem that one hardly knows where to begin. Too often I read a work of nonfiction and wish it had remained a short magazine article. That is not so with this book. I wanted it to go on and on. Whether or not the author is correct in his analysis of still life painting, he is completely convincing. Of course, his language is always both concise and beautiful and never gets in the way of what he is saying. Near the end of the book Mr. Doty says "What makes a poem a poem, finally, is that it is unparaphrasable. . . I may try to explain it or represent it in other terms, but then some element of its life will always be missing. It is the same with painting." Such a statement perfectly describes this little masterpiece.

5 out of 5 stars A seamless merging of painting and poetry.......2001-07-03

Mark Doty has done the impossible. In STILL LIFE WITH OYSTERS AND LEMON he has not only written an extended essay (read epic poem) about his encounter with a simple Dutch Still Life painting, but he has also produced what must become the definitive map for looking, seeing, studying and describing the essence of art in a way that encourages us all to return to the pursuit of beauty. Doty has proved his credentials in art hisory and art technique so that he is able to find the essence of a still life, rhapsodize on the quality of light as captured by an everyday object that makes a centuries old painting seem immediate to our own home, and in doing so reveals his own history of memories, lovers, favorite objects, the passage of time as participants in the transitory moment we call life. So many art critics and art historians have attempted to find this plane of understanding and enlightment with only minimal degrees of success. As a curator and essayist about art I am humbled and in awe. Mark Doty is one of the finest poets in America today and knows his way with words, with phrases that illuminate his stances, with defining emotions inaudible to most of us. But this small book is more than an homage to a particular still life painting (though on that merit alone he wins the competition!). This is a tender, thoughtful journey toward discovering beauty that daily surrounds us, a call to accept the transitory nature in all things and to experience them while we may. No fatalism here, just a door opened to appreciate the cycle of being alive...which just happens to warmly include the aspect of dying as part of that totality. As in Still Life painting: artists have selflessly recreated moments precious to them, frozen them in time to stave off the finite, and in doing so have left us with miraculous images to incorporate into our psyches for perpetuating beauty. This book is a must for art students, for art lovers, and for everyone who yearns to understand the journey of the soul. As Doty informs us, paraphrasing poetry or a painting as focused as a still life is impossible; by nature the essence has been distilled. Writing a review of such a book is near impossible. Gift yourself with a book to which you will return as often as the author has returned to Still Life with Oysers and Lemon!
Oyster Culture (Fishing News Books)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Oyster Culture (Fishing News Books)
    George C. Matthiessen
    Manufacturer: Fishing News Books
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    Fish & SharksFish & Sharks | Animals | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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    ASIN: 0852382790
    Oysters: A Culinary Celebration with 185 Recipes
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • A wonderful book on oysters!
    • Almost 200 oyster recipes
    • Every Major Food Deserves Such an Outstanding Treatment
    • Oh Oysters, come and have a walk with us!
    • Perfect
    Oysters: A Culinary Celebration with 185 Recipes
    Joan Reardon
    Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    1. Oysters
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    ASIN: 1592283519

    Book Description

    185 delectable recipes, and every elusive fact and helpful hint about oysters.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars A wonderful book on oysters!.......2007-01-07

    This is a book written by a woman in love with oysters, and her love can be contagious, through her luscious recipes and well written interesting commentary.

    Each of 185 recipes brings out yet another facet of these succulent savory delights. She starts with oysters on the half shell, with lemon and black pepper, and quickly introduces 6 sauces for raw oysters: Mignonete, Spiced Chili Sauce, Tomato and Horseradish, Dill, Remoulade, and Remoulade -New Orleans Style.

    It gets better, as Oysters with a Splash are accented with citrus and vinegar, and are served with iced vodka. The naked oysters get covered as Spinach-Oyster Rolls with Mustard Sauce, or beneath a creamed mushroom sauce as Oysters Forestiere.

    There are canape recipes, 20 oyster soups, 6 salads, numerous vegetables even grace the oyster's presence. They are deep fried, stir-fried, sauteed, baked, and broiled-grilled. This leads up to over 20 main courses, with such oyster preparations as Polenta Torta, Conchiglie, Hangtown Fry, Turkey Croquettes, Oies, Stuffing, and with the Noble Oyster accompanied by even Veal Rouladens, Scallops, sole and in Jambalaya.

    Rarely does a "Single Ingredient" cookbook reach such excellence in simple clear instructions, and a selection of recipes that nost home cooks can readily make and enjoy.

    If you have wondered of ways to serve oysters, or are just curious about this delicacy, buy this book now, and get cookin!

    5 out of 5 stars Almost 200 oyster recipes.......2004-09-18

    Don't miss Joan Reardon's OLYSTERS: A CULINARY CELEBRATION either: it may lack some of the colorful photos of competing slimmer competitors on the topic; but what is lacking in color is more than made up for in practical applications: almost 200 oyster recipes, to be specific. Reardon is a culinary historian with a doctorate in English and a culinary certificate from the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College: her guide is bursting with oyster flavor and a wide range of dishes from salads to entrees. Yes, there is a color identification section which chooses clear photos of North America's most distinctive oysters, but it's the recipes which are the meat of her cookbook, here.

    5 out of 5 stars Every Major Food Deserves Such an Outstanding Treatment.......2004-03-09

    Every important foodstuff deserves a book like this.

    The author, Joan Reardon, has both literary and culinary credentials of the first water. She has a doctorate in English literature, has graduated from a major culinary school, and was an associate of M. F. K. Fisher, and is a biographer of that writer. She is also a chronicler of Poetry by American women. Oysters deserve no less a scribe. A small reward for these academic credentials is that unlike many other writers, the author gives the correct translation of the French term `hors d'oeuvres'. I feel I am in the hands of someone whose opinion I can trust.

    At the very least, this book is a classic single topic cookbook similar to recent books done on duck, salmon, potatoes and eggs, the kind I find eminently useful in one's permanent culinary library.

    The chapters cover all the usual topics, these being:

    Appetizers
    Soups
    Salads & Vegetables
    Breads and Pastries
    Oyster Entrees
    Oysters and Entrees

    The book ends with a glossary of oyster species, pests, preservatives, sources, and terminology.

    The book succeeds better than many other single subject cookbooks in that many general guidelines are given to each chapter. But these introductions don't stop at simply informing you of interesting culinary tidbits. Each is an essay celebrating its topic in a way I have rarely seen outside some early writings by Elizabeth David and Paula Wolfert. The paean to bread ranges from Chaucer to the Chinese. Some of the culinary suggestions in the bread chapter I have never seen, even in books specializing in sandwiches.

    Each chapter is also leavened with appropriate quotes from everyone from Julius Caesar to Shakespeare to M. F. K. Fisher. In many hands, this feature may have no more impact than some badly done drawings or photographs. But Reardon makes them work.

    Most dishes are provided a pairing with an alcoholic beverage. Suggestions are not limited to wine. They include sake, tequila, beer, and other notable potables.

    The central section of color photographs provides a gallery of oyster species with their geographical source.

    This book is a joy to read and a delightful culinary resource. There are books at this price which offer half as many recipes and none of the literary delights. Very highly recommended.

    4 out of 5 stars Oh Oysters, come and have a walk with us!.......2002-07-19

    Although he quibbled about some oyster details, my father-in-law loved this book . It's a must-have for an oyster man.

    5 out of 5 stars Perfect.......2000-10-19

    This book is amazing in what it has to say, and how it says it. I enjoyed this book, and would recomend it to anyone who likes oysters.
    Human Eye
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Brilliant
    • The Human Eye; Structure and Function, Clyde W. Oyster
    Human Eye
    Clyde W. Oyster
    Manufacturer: Sinauer Associates Incorporated
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Biology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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    ASIN: 0878936440

    Book Description

    We are a highly visual species. Most of our information about the world comes to us through our eyes and most of our cultural and intellectual heritage is stored and transmitted as words and images to which our vision gives access and meaning. Knowing more about our eyes and vision is, therefore, one path to better understanding ourselves. And, as it happens, the human eye is a fairly representative vertebrate eye; knowing more about it tells us much about the eyes of other animals and about how they view the world and us.

    In more practical terms, a better understanding of the human eye allows us to intervene more intelligently and purposefully as we attempt to correct, modify, or ameliorate disorders of the eye brought on by trauma, disease, or senescence.

    Understanding the eye requires an exploration of the relationship between its structure and its function--that is, a consideration not only of how the eye and its parts are constructed, but also of what they do and how they work. Thus this book considers both the structure and the function of the human eye and how they are related, often using functional issues as a guide to the most meaningful and important features of the anatomy. Limited use of technical terms from the various disciplines that relate to the eye, definitions of terms as they are used, a glossary, and suggestions for additional reading are all included to make the text accessible to readers for whom the subject is new. Boxes interspersed throughout the text discuss methods used to study the structure of the eye and surgical procedures used to alter its structure in beneficial ways.

    In addition to the main theme of structure and function, several subthemes make the general point, in different ways, that the eye and our understanding of it are dynamic and changing. Change on a geological timescale is represented by the evolutionary history of eyes generally and the human eye's place among the diversity of eyes in the animal kingdom; these issues are discussed in the Prologue. Change within a human lifetime begins with a chapter about the early stages of development in utero, continues throughout the book with the developmental histories of different parts of the eye, and concludes, in the Epilogue, with accounts of postnatal growth, maturation, and senescence. Change throughout human history in the way we have understood our eyes is another story, fragments of which are contained in a series of "vignettes" about some of the people and ideas that have influenced human thought about the eye over the past several thousand years.

    The Human Eye: Structure and Function appeals to a wide audience, including all scientists who are interested in the eye and in vision; optometrists and ophthalmologists; and optometry students and ophthalmology residents.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Brilliant.......2006-08-08

    This book is a well-written and wonderful example of scholarship at its best. The author draws from a tremendous breadth of research to generate a comprehensive understanding of the eye and its intricacies. Moreover, the writing is sufficiently well developed to make the text engaging and highly readable. Oyster imparts a remarkable enthusiasm for his material and does so by integrating aspects of cell biology, optics, pathology, anatomy and neurobiology. This is an excellent work and a pleasure to read.

    5 out of 5 stars The Human Eye; Structure and Function, Clyde W. Oyster.......2000-05-22

    This is an excellent book which covers comprehensively the structure and function of the human eye as its subtitle implies. The selection of subject matter is balanced, clearly presented and well illustrated. The book is sprinkled with interesting illustrated historical vignettes reminiscent of those in the classical Duke-Elder, which add, for me at least, valuable sparkle to the corresponding text. The book will be of great value to students studying the eye, professionals in the field, and perhaps equally to health professionals and students in other fields, or to any sophisticated reader looking for an up to date summary of the subject. There is an excellent expanded table of contents which can be browsed to get a quick overview of the text. Researchers will enjoy the book, but will not find specific references to the topic covered though there are comprehensive lists of sources for further reading. This is a book which deserves to be on the shelf of any collection of books about the eye
    Oysters Among Us
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • "Oysters Among Us" - Filled With The Zest & Spice Of Life!
    • Sexy & smart, excellent writing
    • Beautiful
    • Great book
    • Well written erotica
    Oysters Among Us
    Susannah Indigo
    Manufacturer: Samba Mountain Pr
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0970467729

    Book Description

    Oysters Among Us follows the erotic and soulful adventures of a group of friends and family who live in Boulder and San Francisco, as they begin to answer the important questions of this millennium:

    Can you be too rich or have too much sex? Does it even count if it's only online sex? If you appear naked at the mall, is it always necessary to sing Amazing Grace? Are sex quests better than everyday vision quests? Is it better to dance with snakes, or to follow the instructions on a Mary Kay sign when making love? What happens when grandpa starts counting back through his lovers and recreating the Book of Love? Why isn't the Baseball Position described in the Kama Sutra? What do people actually bring to a Better Than Sex party? And in the end, when everyone has partied in the Blue Room until dancing naked in the rain seems an everyday activity, and has had enough sex to last at least through the weekend and has reached toward their dreams, does the "boom" on the final flight represent danger, or the erotic future in Rome?

    An imaginative romp through real life and dreams, with some of the hottest writing around that can make you laugh at the same time it grabs for your libido, Susannah Indigo's "Oysters Among Us" is pure erotic entertainment, gracefully layered with profound truth and exploration.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars "Oysters Among Us" - Filled With The Zest & Spice Of Life!.......2005-01-05

    Author Susannah Indigo has written much more than an erotic novel with "Oysters Among Us" - although it will certainly awaken sleeping libidos! It disturbs me no end that this book is defined and marketed as "erotica" and limited, as such, to a smaller reading audience. While there is nothing wrong with erotica, per se, there is so much more than sex with a superficial plot in "Oysters." And the narrative is composed of just plain good writing...magical prose! Pleasure here is not limited to flesh alone.

    Set at the beginning of this millennium, the novel consists of thirteen interlocking stories about a group of characters who are either family, friends, lovers, and the children of the above. Most live in Boulder, Colorado. A few live in San Francisco and travel to Boulder, or visa versa, to be with their loved ones. Together they explore their lives, loves, fantasies, dreams, (one of the characters is a psychotherapist), their potential for joy, and the limits of desire. These people just shimmer with life and together they celebrate the human identity. "The most important sin I observe every day," says Madelaine, "is the failure to imagine and live out your very own life as it was meant to be." Pain and regret often accompany delight and pleasure, and Ms. Indigo explores the darker side of the human experience also.

    Graceful, quirky, poignant, funny, very sensual, at times perverse, the stories just flow. Their very structure is fluid, and they will catch the reader up from page one. The characters are wonderful, unique/unusual, and well developed. They all interact throughout the book, no matter who is primary in the particular tale or chapter.

    Some of the people you'll meet through the "Oysters Among Us" narrative are:

    China Sunflower Thomas - 26, a sensual redhead in love with Jack and learning to "fly." She is known for cooking with foods considered to be aphrodisiacs throughout history. Her menu for a "Better Than Sex Party" is saffron fettuccine with fresh lavender, white asparagus and crab meat salad, oysters Casino, a sauce of truffles, chocolate rum trifle, and more.

    Jack Iverson - professional photographer, lover of China...with a perpetual wandering eye, who gets punished for his Don Juan behavior and loves every minute of it.

    Annie Braverman: 36, naturopath, mother, wannabe courtesan. She oozes eroticism, loves Sam, own many editions of the Kama Sutra, in multiple languages and plans to memorize them all. "People often think the Kama Sutra is just about sexual positions, but it encompasses all the sensory pleasures of daily life - good food, silken clothes, perfumes, music, paintings, gardens. Somebody should revise it for the 21st century - how to make each day voluptuous from start to finish. Of course, we'd have to update instructions like Art #48 - decorating chariots with flowers."

    Sam - a handsome, middle-aged, Jewish, man who resides & works in San Francisco but really lives in Boulder where he loves Annie. "Sam changed a little at the Tantra class, all of us did. We agreed we should eat more oysters and more chocolate, pour kindness down like honey, find sex in our laughter and laughter in our sex."

    Nobeko, almost 40, a masseuse, beautiful in mind, body and spirit, is extremely unhappy in her marriage. She begins to mysteriously find rare coins and has no idea as to whom they previously belonged or where they come from.

    There's also a woman who dances with snakes, a grandfather who reflects on the former lovers in his life and writes "The Book of Love," masquerade balls with most unusual costumes...and so much more. I loved this novel and its characters! Highly recommended.
    JANA

    5 out of 5 stars Sexy & smart, excellent writing.......2004-06-14

    This is a gorgeous, unique book, full of sex scenes and real people, friendship and dreams, sort of a Sex & the City but with real types of people. Highly recommended

    5 out of 5 stars Beautiful.......2003-10-25

    Beautiful storytelling, simply beautiful, and so smart and sexy. Makes you want to read it again immediately.

    5 out of 5 stars Great book.......2003-05-15

    What a great surprise this book was. Not just sexy, but deep and smart and even funny. It is so far from normal 'erotica' that it's hard to describe, but I'm recommending it to everyone. It really should be on mainstream reading lists, in spite of all the explicit sex.

    5 out of 5 stars Well written erotica.......2003-01-15

    This was a well written book. It was not hardcore and kept my attention not just because of the sex. This is a must read!

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