Books

Getting Unstuck: Breaking Your Habitual Patterns & Encountering Naked Reality

Average customer rating:

Great practical advice for anyone....
Pema Chodron Master Teacher
She's the best
changed my life
Very inspirational.

Getting Unstuck: Breaking Your Habitual Patterns & Encountering Naked Reality
Pema Chodron
Manufacturer: Sounds True
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (Shambhala Classics)
The Pema Chodron Collection: Pure Meditation:Good Medicine:From Fear to Fearlessness
The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
True Happiness
From Fear to Fearlessness: Teachings on the Four Great Catalysts of Awakening

Accessories:

Airborne Effervescent Health Formula, Original Orange, 10 Tablets (Pack of 3)
RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device

ASIN: 159179238X

Book Description

An urge comes up, we succumb to it, and it becomes stronger. We reinforce our cravings, habits, and addictions by giving in to them repeatedly. Pema Chödrön guides us through this "sticky feeling" and offers us tools for learning to stay with our uneasiness, soften our hearts toward others, and ourselves and live a more peaceful life in the fullness of the present moment.

Customer Reviews:

Great practical advice for anyone...........2007-06-24

This CD is a great resource for anyone who wants to break their habitual patterns of awareness and experience things at a deeper level. It is meant to be a guide that helps you to deal with automatic thinking and habitual ways of seeing the world. In short, it invites you to become more aware of your compensatory ego personality with all its predictability and surrender to a more present, spontaneous and alive way of connecting with your world. This is a book about being present in the moment and using the "stuff" of daily life as material for spiritual, emotional and psychological transformation.

Pema Chodron is an excellent speaker, has a great sense of humor and a very practical approach that could be applied by ANYONE of ANY faith. This is top notch material and well worth the cost. It stands up well to repeated listening and is simple, but powerful. For other suggestions, see my listmania lists on my profile.

Pema Chodron Master Teacher.......2007-05-13

I've read many books on Buddhism, but none were as understandable as the books and tapes of Pema Chodron. See makes the inscrutable, scrutable.

She's the best.......2007-05-13

I read her book "When Things Fall Apart" and really liked it. I decided to give this audiobook a try. Her messages, delivery style, and sense of humor and humility are so refreshing. I'll listen to this one for years to come.

changed my life.......2007-05-03

I have done a lot of soul searching through exploring various religions, meditations, and self help books. I can say that I've learned a lot but learning and being able to apply the concepts are two different things. This book gave me a few tools that finally gave me the ability to apply much of the knowledge I had gained to my life. I cannot stress enough how much I love this book. I am probably going to buy this book as well as "the power of now" for all of my closest family and friends.

Very inspirational........2007-03-22

A great cd to listen to. I wouldn't recommend listening to it on the go however ;)

Naked in Death (In Death)

Average customer rating:

An exciting first novel in an imaginative series
The Best Romantic Suspense Series EVER
Good characters, not good writing
Great start to what promises to be a very interesting series
Good and Bad, but Well Written

Naked in Death (In Death)
J.D. Robb
Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Glory in Death (In Death)
Immortal in Death (In Death)
Rapture in Death (In Death)
Ceremony in Death (In Death)
Vengeance in Death

ASIN: 1593558279
Release Date: 2004-03-08

Book Description

Eve Dallas is a New York police lieutenant hunting for a ruthless killer. In over ten years on the force, she's seen it all - and knows that her survival depends on her instincts. And she's going against every warning telling her not to get involved with Roarke, an Irish billionaire - and suspect in Eve's murder investigation. But passion and seduction have rules of their own, and it's up to Eve to take a chance in the arms of a man she knows nothing about - except the addictive hunger of needing his touch.

Download Description

"In a world of danger and deception, she walks the line--between seductive passion and scandalous murder... Eve Dallas is a New York police lieutenant hunting for a ruthless killer. In over ten years on the force, she's seen it all--and knows her survival depends on her instincts. And she's going against every warning telling her not to get involved with Roarke, an Irish billionaire--and a suspect in Eve's murder investigation. But passion and seduction have rules of their own, and it's up to Eve to take a chance in the arms of a man she knows nothing about--except the addictive hunger of needing his touch."

Customer Reviews:

An exciting first novel in an imaginative series.......2007-06-24

Damn! I wish I hadn't done that! "Naked in Death" is the first in JD Robb's popular Death series which is now almost two dozen novels strong ... and I loved it! My pocketbook will protest and my bookshelves will be groaning under the ever increasing load as I begin the quest to accumulate the rest of the series.

Eve Dallas is a lieutenant in the New York City Police Department. The story is set in 2058 - a future near enough to be entirely recognizable but far enough away that Robb can postulate some very interesting technological and cultural developments - guns have been banned; prostitution is legal and completely regulated; cars have an auto-pilot setting; VR simulations have advanced to a heart-stopping, palm-sweating, gut-wrenching reality that is light years beyond the technology we know of today; smoking is almost a thing of the past; police weaponry consists only of lasers and high powered stun guns with handguns firing real bullets available only in museums and private collections; and, would you believe it, recreational "hotels" for the über-wealthy are actually in continuous orbit above the earth!

The murder, on the other hand, is one we are, sadly, all too familiar with - the violent, gruesome, almost ritualistic slaying of a sex trade worker, now known by the euphemism "licenced companion", which is only the first of an intended series by a serial killer. He left behind a note ... "ONE OF SIX"! This particular licenced companion, Sharon DeBlass, just happened to be the grand-daughter of a US Senator and you might well imagine the political pressure that is being brought to bear on Dallas and NYPD to solve the case. When the investigation points in the direction of Roarke, a self-made reclusive billionaire, the heat and passion in the novel is turned up a notch as Dallas finds herself in the unenviable position of falling for a man who just might be the killer she's looking for!

I don't think I can give Robb top marks for the plot - the solution is just a little too predictable and can be seen a fair distance from the end of the novel. But "Naked in Death" certainly earns both thumbs well turned up in every other way - dialogue, characterization, setting, humour (the side plot about the husband's murder by Hetta Finestein, a lovable little gray haired old lady, is a positive hoot), imagination, novelty, creativity and more. And I have to hand it to Robb ... she writes a mean sex scene. Whew! They're footloose, they're well-timed, they're playful and they're enough to bring a little sheen of sweat up on your brow!

Highly recommended! Romance, police procedural, mystery, science fiction ... you name it, they all fit. If you like a lightweight, easy-going enjoyable read in any of those genres, you'll enjoy "Naked in Death".

Paul Weiss

The Best Romantic Suspense Series EVER.......2007-05-26

After 20+ books over 10+ years, I decided it was high time to go back to where it all began -- NAKED IN DEATH.

Here, author J.D. Robb (aka best-selling author Nora Roberts) introduces us to NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas, a force in her own right, and one of the trickiest cases yet. The granddaughter of a Senator has been brutally murdered, and the perpetrator promises that five more bodies are to follow. As Eve races against the clock to save more women from dying, she also must contend with her own feelings for Roarke, a self-made billionaire who early on is a suspect in the murders.

If you haven't read any of the "...IN DEATH" books, I highly recommend them to anyone who enjoys romantic suspense. The mystery and the romance are evenly balanced, Eve and Roarke are definitely intriguing characters, and the story just never gets old.

Going back to this first story in the series after having been a fan so long, I was grateful to be reminded of the meaning behind the gray button, how Galahad came into the picture, and how Somerset's attitude has been the same from the beginning.

NAKED IN DEATH is a winner, and you'll be happy to know that when you finish reading it, there are 24 more stories already published in the series. Happy Reading!!

Good characters, not good writing.......2007-05-24

If you hate Conservatives and everything they stand for and want to read a book where the author shares the same opinions, (even though it is supposed to be a novel about a woman cop in the future) then this is the book for you! Robb's overzealous rip of all things conservative was so annoying that I painfully made it through this book and will never read another book of hers again. I ACTUALLY believe I would feel the same way if it were against Liberalism as well! I thought the character development was fantastic - but Robb's underlying feelings just never went away throughout the book. Also, her use of the F-word - although I don't mind sometimes, was a bit much. I can't believe that in the future when every other thing has been "fixed" in the mind of Robb - they haven't found other language to use...like "frak" (for the Battlestar Galactica fans). Ha! Enjoy it if you must - but beware of author's partial writing!

Great start to what promises to be a very interesting series.......2007-05-12

Thanks to the posters on Amazon's Fantasy Forums, I got introduced to Eve Dallas. She was recommended by more than one poster as one of the best heroines in fantasy. Okay, technically Robb's novels are mysteries with a science fiction angle.

Eve Dallas is a cop in the near future. She's tough, but she's got a tender side that manifests in nightmares over a case gone bad. She thinks she's off the streets and headed to get a Psych referral when she gets a top security case. It seems, the daughter of a US Senator has been killed in a brutal and sexual manner. When she arrives on the scene, she realizes the victim is one in six.

"Naked" is a great start to the series. It's well-written. Robb really knows how to hook a reader. I like Eve Dallas and her world. I feel strong sympathy for the victims, particularly the second girl, Lola.

My reasons for not giving this book 5 stars is my objection to Dallas sleeping with a suspect during the course of the investigation and the fact that I figured out the murderer pretty quickly in the game. Knowing 'whodunit' didn't stop me from reading the rest to find out how he got caught. I spoke to a reader further down the series than I am and was told the mystery element improves as the stories go on. I'm looking forward to that!

Good and Bad, but Well Written.......2007-05-08

I didn't think I'd like it, but it wasn't bad. A friend wanted me to give it a try, because the Eve Dallas books are her favorite series. Nora Roberts/JD Robb is a talented writer in that she develops likable characters, manages a dynamic plot, and paces it successfully enough to create a page-turner. She's a best-seller for those very reasons.

The things I didn't like about the book are as follows:
- I'm very annoyed by shifting points of view. I want a consistent narrator within scenes, not what he feels, what she thinks, what he wants, what she wants, etc. Sometimes Roberts was switching between three characters in three paragraphs.
- Despite the fact that this is a futuristic thriller, we only know that it's futuristic because she tells us. There is no futuristic ambiance, there is no proposal for challenging inventions or lifestyle changes other than standard near-future sci-fi tropes. It seems that the risks of futuristic forecasting were too challenging, so her murder used the motives of present-day killers - the familiar which took the potency away from the futuristic setting.

When I need a quick read for entertainment only, I'd consider reading another. I hope in subsequent books, Roberts and Eve Dallas don't fear the future, but embrace it.

- CV Rick

J.D. Robb Collection 1: Naked in Death, Glory in Death, Immortal in Death (In Death)

Average customer rating:

Excellent way to start this series

J.D. Robb Collection 1: Naked in Death, Glory in Death, Immortal in Death (In Death)
J.D. Robb
Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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Similar Items:

J.D. Robb Collection 2: Rapture in Death, Ceremony in Death, and Vengeance in Death (In Death)
J.D. Robb Collection 3: Holiday in Death, Conspiracy in Death, and Loyalty in Death (In Death)
J.D. Robb Collection 4: Witness in Death, Judgment in Death, and Betrayal in Death (In Death)
J.D. Robb Collection 5: Seduction in Death, Reunion in Death, and Purity in Death (In Death)
J.D. Robb Collection 6: Portrait in Death, Imitation in Death, and Divided in Death (In Death)

ASIN: 1593554109
Release Date: 2003-12-01

Book Description

Naked in Death

Eve Dallas is a New York police lieutenant hunting for a ruthless killer. In over ten years on the force, she's seen it all - and knows that her survival depends on her instincts. And she's going against every warning telling her not to get involved with Roarke, an Irish billionaire - and suspect in Eve's murder investigation. But passion and seduction have rules of their own, and it's up to Eve to take a chance in the arms of a man she knows nothing about - except the addictive hunger of needing his touch.

Glory in Death

The first victim was found lying on a sidewalk in the rain. The second was murdered in her own apartment building. Police lieutenant Eve Dallas had no problem finding connections between the two crimes. Both victims were beautiful and highly successful women. Their glamorous lives and loves were the talk of the city. And their intimate relations with men of great power and wealth provided Eve with a long list of suspects -including her own lover, Roarke.

Immortal in Death

She was one of the most sought after women in the world. A top model who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted - even another woman's man. And now she was dead, the victim of a brutal murder. Police lieutenant Eve Dallas put her professional life on the line to take the case when suspicion fell on her best friend, the other woman in the fatal love triangle.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent way to start this series.......2004-11-25

This set is the 1st three books in an Excellent Series. If you like books in a series that follows one character, this is a must have. These stories are actually two parallel stories. They will tug on your heartstrings with the lessons learned in love and friendship, as well as the struggle to to discover oneself and appeal to your sense of thrill seeking and the search for justice. Eve Dallas, a hard nose New York City Homicide Detective, breaks down the case, layer by layer as she stands for her victims. These books are set in the year 2058, a future that is so tangible you can see and feel the rightness of how it's portrayed. Beatifully written and in such depth that you watch Eve Develop into a better person as she solves each case and stands for the victims that no longer have any means of standing for themselves. Her sense of right and wrong is so true to real life, flaws and all. Her struggles to maintain the line without crossing over it, all the while fighting the memories of a past that has haunted her since she was found in an alley in Dallas, TX, a child, broken and suffering from amnesia.

Naked in Death is the start of your introduction to the Homicide detective that cares to much, works too hard, and searches for the Killer of a Senator's daughter. It's also her first introduction to Roarke, her main suspect. He is a dynamic billionaire that has always lived on the other side of the law, bent the rules when it suited him, and is unbelievablly sexy and elusive. As she investigates him for the case, her heart is pulled to him in a way that is inconceivable to her. Watch her struggle with the case, search for justice, and discover the possiblities of what could be.

Glory in Death. Eve is searching for a killer that is attacking high profile women in New York. As she sifts through the layers of evidence, She must find the killer and prove that her new lover Roarke isn't the killer though the evidence says he could be involved.

Immortal in Death: Eve must prove that her best friend isn't a killer though all the evidence says she's guilty. As her new love blossoms she struggles with having a personal life and protecting those she holds dear to heart.

After reading these books I was hooked and determined to read each and every book in the series. I anxiously await the release of the next in the series. I would recommend this series to anyone that loves romance novels and has a passion for the suspence of mysteries.

Naked Empire (Sword of Truth, Book 8)

Average customer rating:

This was the book that made me stop reading Goodkind
Do I Have to Give This Mess A Star?
Oh God, Save Me
Issue central to our society ... to judge or not to judge
Bland

Naked Empire (Sword of Truth, Book 8)
Terry Goodkind
Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Pillars of Creation, The (Sword of Truth)
Chainfire: Chainfire Trilogy, Part 1 (Sword of Truth, Book 9)
Faith of the Fallen (Sword of Truth, Book 6)
Debt of Bones (Sword of Truth Prequel Novel)
Soul of the Fire (Sword of Truth, Book 5)

ASIN: 1590863038
Release Date: 2003-07-21

Book Description

NAKED EMPIRE. It begins . . .

"You knew they were there, didn't you?" Kahlan asked in a hushed tone as she leaned closer.
Against the darkening sky, she could just make out the shapes of three black-tipped races taking to wing, beginning their nightly hunt. That was why he'd stopped. That was what he'd been watching as the rest of them waited in uneasy silence.

"Yes," Richard said. He gestured over his shoulder without turning to look. "There are two more, back there."

Kahlan briefly scanned the dark jumble of rock, but she didn't see any others.

Lightly grasping the silver pommel with two fingers, Richard lifted his sword a few inches, checking that it was clear in its scabbard. A last fleeting glimmer of amber light played across his golden cape as he let the sword drop back, in place. In the gathering gloom of dusk, his familiar tall, powerful contour seemed as if it were no more than an apparition made of shadows.

Just then, two more of the huge birds shot by right overhead. One, wings stretched wide, let out a piercing scream as it banked into a tight gliding turn, circling, once in assessment of the five people below before stroking its powerful wings to catch its departing comrades in their swift journey west.

This night they would find ample food.

Customer Reviews:

This was the book that made me stop reading Goodkind.......2007-06-20

I had already thought about stopping after reading "Pillars of Creation", which was overall a rather nice book, until Jenssen suddenly has that Richard-clone speach at the end. However, after having read 7 books of this series I still wished to give the 8th one a try. After 6 chapters I stopped reading, and this is why: for 7 books, Goodkind was able to get the action started and the main chars in life-threating danger by the end of chapter 2. In this book, all that happens in the first 6 chapters is the chars walking around, talking and exlaining all the greatness of Richard and his view to Jenssen, and two obnoxious baby goats getting killed by some predator birds. Also no Zedd in these chapters. :(

Do I Have to Give This Mess A Star?.......2007-06-09

This book is definitely not worth 1 star. Goodkind ran out of ideas about 4 books back. He has tried different tactics to keep the series going. He has totally side-tracked the series with a couple of books (Soul of the Fire and Pillars of Creation) that did not add anything to the storyline. Then he wasted page after page with a political debate in Faith of the Fallen. With this book he uses 2 methods to fill pages with useless verbiage: First he tries to engage us in a meaningless philosophical debate, and second he re-tells all of the other books of the series in this one. Here is an example: Kahlan is being attacked by a brute from the Order who is 2 steps away from reaching her. During his first step Kahlan recalls what it means to be a Mother Confessor, and how all the other confessors have been brutally killed. She recalls her best friend dying in her arms, and how she never expected to have a true love. She remembers how she touched Richard with her power and how he was able to survive and return her love (all this takes about 15 pages to describe). During the brutes next step Kahlan remembers all the times that she and Richard have been through, and just how much she loves him. She recalls his tender touch, and remembers their passionate love making. There is also a long discussion about how the Confessor's power works (all this takes another 15 pages. Finally the brute reaches Kahlan and she subdues him. Total time lapse in story = 2 seconds, total pages used in book = 30.

There is no doubt that Goodkind must have been smoking some very strong illegal substances when he wrote this book. Take a look at his photo on the back cover and tell me that this guy doesn't have a bong collection in his closet right next to his S&M sex toys.

The guy responsible for editing this book must have taken the day off to go fishing. The actual story would have taken no more than 100 pages. The rest is a re-hash of everything that has been written before, or some of the most useless philosophical mumbo-jumbo I have every read.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! Borrow from the library if you must indulge.

Oh God, Save Me.......2007-02-06

If you read any other book in the series, then you have already this one. The first few books in the series were fairly good, definitely not a series that will be loved for years to come, but an ok read. Terry is definitely not of the same par of writer as Robert Jordan or George Martin. His big downfall is that he rambles on and on about the same worthless stuff through every book.

The main characters, Lord Richard Rahl and Kahlan are by far some of the most unlovable characters you will ever meet. People follow these two blindly, yet they have no leadership skills whatsoever. They only are focused on one another. Their people are dying by the 1000s while they run around the world trying to save each other.

This is the only series I have ever had to give up on because it is so god awful boring.

Save yourself alot of trouble and buy something good.

Issue central to our society ... to judge or not to judge.......2006-12-31

One of the better in the series, and the reason is that the philosophy of the Bandakar is mirrored in today's society. They are a society who doesn't believe in violence of any kind. I won't go much deeper for fear of spoiling the story, but there's more to it than that.

I would guess that some of the people who gave poor reviews for this book may not entirely agree with how Richard handles the Bandakar, or that maybe the reviewers agree with the Bandakar to a certain extent?

The story is certainly familiar to readers of this story - I won't spoil it here but Richard and Kahlan's lives are in danger again, and they must figure it out. I was wondering how the heck Richard was going to get out of it this time... Meanwhile, Zedd, Ann, Nathan and Adie all have problems of their own.

I also liked this book because it's shorter than most of the other books, so maybe he is listening to some of us who say he could easily trim 200 pages off each of the books and the story would improve. I think he did that here and it makes the story much more enjoyable.

Another plus for this book is that we get caught up with all the minor characters, and he seems to set the stage for Chainfire. I'm actually enthusiastic to read that book now...

Bland.......2006-10-18

I'll keep this brief since you can read many lengthy reviews.

I feel like the characters have lost their voices. The characters do not grow or change, and are nothing like the warm humans they were in the first books. Even the main characters are cold archetypes here in these later books. I keep hoping I'll open a new Goodkind book and it'll be fresh and I will want to know the characters more, but they're just gone. I tried to start the next book, and it was worse. Unfortunately, I'm just done with this series.

Naked

Average customer rating:

David Sedaris Saved Me From a Car Crash
Disappointed
Somewhat funny...
Amusing
Always a Star

Naked

Manufacturer: Hachette Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Me Talk Pretty One Day
Holidays on Ice: Stories
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Running with Scissors: A Memoir
Magical Thinking : True Stories

ASIN: 1586212230

Amazon.com Reviews

Hip radio comedy fans and theater folks who belong to the cult of Obie-winning playwright/performer David Sedaris must kill to get this book. These would be fans of the scaldingly snide Sedaris's hilariously described personal misadventures like The Santaland Diaries (a monologue about his work as an elf to a department store Santa) seen off-Broadway in 1997. In a series of similarly textured essays, Sedaris takes us along on his catastrophic detours through a nudist colony, a fruit-packing plant, his own childhood, and a dozen more of the world's little purgatories.

Book Description

Naked is a riotous compilation of stories performed by David and Amy Sedaris. Publishers Weekly praised this program's "smashing use of the audio as a unique entertainment medium" and called the performances "highly likeable and spirited throughout." They also named it one of "the best of the best" tapes of the year, and deemed it worthy of "multiple listens."

Customer Reviews:

David Sedaris Saved Me From a Car Crash.......2007-06-20

So I was driving from my grandparents' house in southern Florida back to my home in Georgia, having just learned that the tumor in my grandmother's now-mastectomized breast had metastasized to her lymph nodes. I thought I was holding up okay, until out of nowhere I started sobbing. Which, when you're going 70mph while surrounding by 18-wheelers, is both embarrassing and dangerous, what with the road blurring and contact lenses threatening to pop out.

Desperately, I grabbed my old audiotapes of Naked from the floor of the passenger seat and flung them into my cassette deck (yes, I'm that loser with the factory model stereo). Within five minutes, I was laughing enough to stop crying, and for the next few hours, I was driving along just fine. I started crying again when Sedaris read about coming to grips with his mother's cancer: the phrase, "How do you prepare for famine when you've never known hunger?" summed up what I was feeling perfectly, because I wasn't just crying for my grandmother, but for my mom as well, who's getting on in years and is now considered high risk for breast cancer herself. Thankfully, "Naked" came on next, and by the time Sedaris read about his brother's fume-induced on-the-job nudity (nothing beats him imitating the Rooster), I was laughing again and made it home safely.

All of Sedaris's books are freaking hysterical (Holidays on Ice a little less so, excepting "the Santaland Diaries"). Buy them all, both in print and audio; you'll never get tired of them.

Disappointed.......2007-06-13

I ordered this book from Amazon specifically off of the great reviews. It was said to be hilarious and side-splitting. I did find some parts amusing, but for the most part I found my self skimming to just finish the book.

Somewhat funny..........2007-06-12

Somewhat funny, but not worth nearly the hype these reviews have attributed to this book. If you've read everything else, consider this book. If not, don't waste your time. I won't review the pointless prose of each chapter. It was disjointed and in many cases, it tried to be much funnier than it is. One or two of the stories in this book are worth reading, but it is nothing compared to what some of these reviews claim.

When I read, I want one story that will keep me turning the page for 500 pages. This is comprised many stories that make you want to turn the page simply to see if it gets any better. It may be of some interest to light readers who want to read a story in 10-15 minutes. There are plenty in this book to choose from. Otherwise, find something else.

Amusing.......2007-05-29

Not hilarious as suggested by other readers, but amusing in every way. Written in a frank, straight forward way, you can almost imagine you are sitting next to David as he goes about his crazy life. The first chapter was off-putting for me and I ended up reading it last instead of first and it made a whole lot more sense for me in that order. I'll read more of his books for sure!

Always a Star.......2007-05-27

Sedaris is a cult classic. Although this book is not `Me Talk Pretty One Day' it has its own merit. Sedaris' whit and humor are refreshing and have made a huge impact on the idea of the memoir. It should not go without notice that many memoirs, including Burroughs, have been compared to Sedaris.

Naked Prey

Average customer rating:

Naked just not too thrilling for me
Compelling Novel
Sandford does it again!
A must for Davenport addicts
competent, enjoyable yet a bit formulaic..

Naked Prey
John Sandford
Manufacturer: Putnam Berkley Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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Mortal Prey
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ASIN: 0399150684
Release Date: 2003-05-08

Amazon.com

When twelve-year-old muskrat trapper Letty West stumbles on the naked bodies of Jane Warr and Deon Cash, deep in the snowy woods of northern Minnesota, it's more than another bizarre episode in her already unusual life, as Lucas Davenport discovers in this new outing in Sandford's popular series featuring the midwestern lawman who moonlights as a computer game designer. Lucas has a new wife, a new baby, and a new job as a political troubleshooter for his old boss Rose Marie Roux, but the blunt-spoken Davenport's instructions to hush the racially charged implications of what looks suspiciously like a lynching won't deter him from whomever left Warr and Cash twisting in the wind. The well-peopled plot, involving a hot car ring, an ex-nun who smuggles cancer drugs over the Canadian border, and the usual internecine wranglings between the FBI, the local cops, and Davenport, races to a satisfying denouement, but this time it's a little girl with a difficult past and an uncertain future who lingers in the reader's mind. Fortunately, Sandford comes up with an ending that makes it all but certain that his fans will meet her again. Meanwhile, all the author's usual trademarks are on display--excellent writing, an interesting scenario, and terrific pacing. --Jane Adams

Book Description

Abridged read by Eric Conger
Unabridged read by Richard Ferrone

Lucas Davenport finds some changes-and some nasty surprises-in store, in the chilling new Prey novel by the number-one-bestselling author.

Unabridged * Eight cassettes * 11 1/2 hours

Download Description

"In Naked Prey, John Sandford puts Lucas Davenport through some changes. His old boss, Rose Marie Roux, has moved up to the state level and taken Lucas with her, creating a special troubleshooter job for him for the cases that are too complicated or politically touchy for others to handle. In addition, Lucas is now married and a new father, both of which are fine with him: he doesn't mind being a family man. But he is a little worried. For every bit of peace you get, you have to pay - and he's waiting for the bill. It comes in the form of two people found hanging from a tree in the woods of northern Minnesota. What makes it particularly sensitive is that the bodies are of a black man and a white woman, and they're naked. ""Lynching"" is the word that everybody's trying not to say - but, as Lucas begins to discover, in fact the murders are not what they appear to be, and they are not the end of the story. There is worse to come - much, much worse. Filled with the rich characterization and exceptional drama that are his hallmarks, this is Sandford's most suspenseful novel yet."

Customer Reviews:

Naked just not too thrilling for me.......2006-11-14

I entered into the "Prey(Lucas Davenport)" series with "Chosen Prey" and followed that up with "Mortal Prey." I enjoyed those enough to pick up the next in the series "Naked Prey." All I can ask is "What happened?"

The story starts off brutal but fast when a couple, a black man and white woman, are viciously beaten and hanged. The story then goes into "simultaneous" mode, as the others did, where it moves back and forth between the main lead, Lucas Davenport, attempting to solve the crime while taking you into the world of the seedy characters who may or may not be the culprits. Of course, the fun and suspense is provided by you anxiously awaiting the collision between all the parties.

Unfortunately, this one did not move very well for me. I simply got bored with the bad guys and the fact so many law enforcement or political characters enter into the mix made the story seem like it was all over the place. Instead of suspense, I found myself dropping off to sleep way to easily. I guess it's trouble when the character that involves you the most is an 11 year old girl who be a valuable link to the entire story.

I can't put my finger on it but I just think in the previous books, it was easy to get a grip on the bad guys and I could not wait for the ultimate confrontations. As I ended up discarding this at the halfway point, I guess you could say this one created too few anxious moments. If you are a casual or first time Prey reader, I suggest you pass on this one.

Compelling Novel.......2006-09-20

If your looking for a novel which is written in a poetic style this isn't it. It is, however, a well written, fast paced murder mystery which wastes no time. It brings you right into the story from the introduction. There is no wasting of your time by the author using useless descriptions and useless repetition. The book is poignant & very entertaining reading which you'll find difficult to put down. The book grips you right to the final page. Pick it up, you'll like it

Sandford does it again!.......2006-01-20

John Sandford's Lucas Davenport is a detective's detective. He's smart, handsome, and wealthy. He's got the goods and Sandford's long since had the rythm down for his detective.

Again, we're witness to a murder that ends up turning into more and more murders as the murder(s?) try to cover up their initial crime.

This time, we've got a twelve year old girl in peril as well.

Sanford knows people and that is why his books are so good. He writes about real people, like you and me.

His voice rings clear and the story is absolutely page turning and gripping.

You'll love it.

A must for Davenport addicts.......2005-10-09

Lucas, Del and team using their talents in the usual way(known to fans of course). Don't put the book down until you got his next unread novel at hand!

competent, enjoyable yet a bit formulaic.........2005-09-03

'Naked Prey' by John Sandford is yet another installment of his very successful 'prey' series starring the scruffy yet lovable Twin Cities police investigator, Lucas Davenport. In it we have nasty crime in northern Minnesota. The surroundings and people are reminiscent of the movie 'Fargo'. Little town, big crime, dead cold. Although Sandford does write well and the story moves along reasonably well, the book felt more like a script of the television series 'Matlock' or 'Barnaby Jones' than proper literature.

Bottom line: an excellent "oh, what book should I grab for this long flight"-kind of book. Enjoyable yet thoroughly forgettable.

Naked in Baghdad: The Iraq War as Seen by NPR's Correspondent Anne Garrels

Average customer rating:

The only way this book could be enhanced...
True Journalisam
Amazing chance to learn the story behind that voice on the radio
Another view!
Annie lays her soul bare in Baghdad

Naked in Baghdad: The Iraq War as Seen by NPR's Correspondent Anne Garrels
Vint Lawrence
Manufacturer: Audio Renaissance
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1593973586

Book Description

One of only sixteen 'non-embedded' journalists who stayed in the now-legendary Palestine Hotel in Baghdad throughout the American invasion, Garrels was uniquely placed to describe this latest war. Naked in Baghdad gives us the sights, sounds, and smells with unparalleled vividness and immediacy. At the heart of Garrels narrative is her evolving relationship with her Iraqui driver, Tahir, who becomes her friend and confidant. The book is also punctuated by email bulletins sent by Garrels' huband, Vint Lawrence, to friends around the world, providing a private view of the rough-and-tumble, often dangerous life of a foreign correspondent, along with much needed comic relief.

Customer Reviews:

The only way this book could be enhanced..........2006-02-23

The only way this book could be enhanced is to have a CD of her broadcasts for NPR. Unfortunately I live in a part of the country where NPR broadcasts are hard to get and it could have made it even better. Unfortunately because I didn't get to hear the broadcasts I could only guess at their content from what the book mentioned. She writes well and seems to find the "hidden stories". Her husband's e-mails are a great voice from the other side of the correspondents life. Itr only adds to the pleasure that he is also a great writer. He had me laughing at some points I certainly hadn't expected to laugh. Overall though the book is great and highly recommended, however I'm sure it's even better if you've heard her NPR reports.

True Journalisam.......2006-01-24

Enough good words have been said about the book. But ultimately, this book is not about the war. That's why readers who expected to get detailed war stories will be disappointed.

It's about true journalism. Annie showed us the grace under fire, the courage to pursuit the truth, the genuine care for the people she reported on, and above all, the dedication to give a voice to the people who couldn't speak for themselves.

Amazing chance to learn the story behind that voice on the radio.......2005-08-30

As a listener to NPR, I feel so much closer to Garrels after learning the backstory behind her reports from the trenches of Iraq. She has extreme skill and intuition at conducting herself in a foreign country, at making people willing to talk, at befriending the right people.

I learned a lot about how much the Iraqi government practiced supression in the old regime. People were terrified for their lives if they talked to foreign reporters, and Garrels had to pay many bribes to get press credentials. When leaving Iraq, corrupt officials invent tests and fees for Garrels and her assistant to pay. Her stories humanized the Iraqi conflict for me--I met both crooks and good guys through Garrels.

Garrels has a great storytelling style. She'll tell an anecdote and then end with a biting one line zinger. She's as taltened on paper as she is on the air, and I'll be watching for more from this amazing woman.

Another view!.......2005-06-21

Learning Iraq from her is totally different than Television. This is another perspective to war. It is possible to find Iraqi individuals feelings about all situation. Book gives you Iraq before the war, during the war, and after the war. This historical event is explained very well. Book name comes from her naked reporting. Because, she was hiding her satellite phone from Iraqi officers. During the broadcast she reports naked and if officer comes she will say them she is naked and gets extra time for hiding the phone before open the door. Also she slips away from AIDS test due to her age.

This is another must read book for Iraq war.

Annie lays her soul bare in Baghdad.......2005-05-30

I used to hear NPR's anchors say "Thanks, Annie," as they said goodby to each other at the end of even the shortest of broadcasts from Baghdad. After reading this book, I know why. Even the use of her nickname on the air was a way of telling her they cared about her safety, and to take care of herself. And, with the help of Amer, she did, the best she could. This book didn't give sweeping overviews of how the buildup to the war, and then the war itself, went. The Iraqi government was managing the reporters too much for that. But she got away from her minder as much as she could and learned as much as she could, and let the American people know as much as she could. Here, in this book, is the back story of what could not safely be said on the air. It is full of telling details of people she met, their hopes and fears, the things they said and did not say, especially how those changed depending on whether a government official was within hearing distance. She also tells what it was like to be one of only a few reporters left, with few supplies, no electricity, and constant harrassment and demands for bribes. I knew she was a great reporter, and had reported on other wars. This book made me see exactly why she is a great reporter. She is tenacious and courageous and knows what stories to go after. She is willing to use the fact that she is a woman, both with women and men, and the fact that she is no longer young, to get interviews with all kinds of people. She trusts her gut. And when it's time to get out, she gets out. This book taught me more about the war in Iraq than anything else I've read. I just recommended it to a friend who has two sons serving there. I recommend it to others who want to see, not the broad military sweep, but what the buildup and beginning of the war were like for the people.

Naked Came the Phoenix: A Serial Novel

Average customer rating:

Incipt Vita Nova: Spa motto
Naked go the mystery writers
A Round Robin Mystery
A Blah Blend
Blending a Voice: Naked Came The Phoenix

Naked Came the Phoenix: A Serial Novel
Edited by Marcia Talley
Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio Unabridged
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: 1587885735
Release Date: 2001-08-01

Book Description

The promise of discretion and pampering - and a longer overdue reconciliation with her mother - draws Caroline Blessing, the young wife of a newly elected congressman, to the fancy Phoenix Spa. But after her first night in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, Caroline wakes to find the rich and famous guests in turmoil and under suspicion: the spa's flamboyant and ambitious owner has been murdered. As the secrets come out - and the body count rises - can Caroline keep herself from becoming the next victim?

In the tradition of such collaborative classics as NAKED CAME THE MANATEE and THE FLOATING ADMIRAL, each chapter in this serial novel is written by one of today's most talented mystery novelists.

NEVADA BARR's ninth and latest in her Anna Pigeon series is BLOOD LURE.

J.D. ROBB is the New York Times bestselling author of the futuristic romantic suspense series featuring Lieutenant Eve Dallas. Her most recent titles include BETRAYAL IN DEATH and JUDGMENT IN DEATH.

NANCY PICKARD is the author of the popular Jenny Cain mystery series.

LISA SCOTTOLINE is a New York Times bestselling author of legal thrillers, most recently THE VENDETTA DEFENSE and MOMENT OF TRUTH.

Author of five New York Times bestselling novels, PERRI O'SHAUGHNESSY is really two sisters, Pamela and Mary, who collaborate on a series of legal thrillers and short stories.

J.A. JANCE writes two police procedural series: twelve books featuring Detective J.P. Beaumont and nine with Sheriff Joanna Brady.

FAYE KELLERMAN is the New York Times bestselling author of the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus mystery series. Her most recent novel is THE FORGOTTEN.

MARY JANE CLARK is a producer and writer at CBS News and the author of three media thrillers, including LET ME WHISPER IN YOUR EAR.

MARCIA TALLEY is the author of UNBREATHED MEMORIES and the award-winning SING IT TO HER BONES. She is also the editor of NAKED CAME THE PHOENIX.

ANNE PERRY, author of the acclaimed Victorian Series starring William Monk and Thomas and Charlotte Pitt, has written over thirty novels, including THE ONE THING MORE.

DIANA GABALDON's THE FIERY CROSS, fifth in the Outlander series, is due to be published late this year.

VAL McDERMID has published fifteen novels and one work of non-fiction and has won the Gold Dagger and the Grand Prix des Romans d'Aventures. Her most recent novel is A PLACE OF EXECUTION.

LAURIE R. KING writes two crime fiction series as well as stand-alone novels, most recently FOLLY.

Customer Reviews:

Incipt Vita Nova: Spa motto.......2006-08-09

The Phonenix, contrary to the one located on Gay Street, is an upscale spa for the rich and famous. The scene of five murders, this time the characters are all interrelated, which is uncovered in the final chapter. It was all rather convoluted, being the artistic endeavors of thirteen prominent writers, each for one chapter. This is the result of a project to copy the serial novels of the Thirties in which Agatha Cristie was involved. In 'Agatha,' the movie, she was incognito "shadowing" her nemesis in a steam room in England about the same time she was writing such (living a dream). Our Phoenix building downtown has been renovated into high priced condos for strange folks who moved here and think it is novel to live on the main street of this town. No Spa there, however, you have to go to Powell to the Fitness Center to find the hot tub and steam room.

The Phoenix in this story in segments is a place of myster with drugs, adoptions, murders all involved until the Chapter 13 which explains all in detail to the survivors who are all family, interrelated in a weird way. "A family, rising phoenixlike from the ashes." Caroline thanked God for bringint this man into her life; Tennessee congressman Doug Blessing with some secrets of his own. She hadd not "forced her way to freedom" because of an anticipated "need for Doug's more delicate plumbing." This written by a mystery writer as opposed to a romance novelist who would be more explicit. Just a slightly different way of phrasing, which I always used in the book reviews I gave to the literary club -- it was fun to confuse those who weren't napping. The Phoenix had a mud room with its own secret stash.

Some of the gathering of strong personalities include the beautiful made model (Adonis), the kinky actress, the green-haired rock star who went through N.A., the detective Toscana who sometimes acted like God ("and Toscana saw that it was good."), Dante, t he masseur, and Geoff, the assitant pastry chef. The sociopathic personality responsible for the deaths had no conscience, and was evil with no sense of honor. Knowledge was her weapon. A person can only ask, to be granted a wish for anything.

Led by Nevada Barr based this confusing story showing how a character can be killed in a spa. I review another book wherin the pivotal chatacter was killed in the steam room of the notel spa shortly before his scheduled assignation with the main person. So, this premise is nothing new, nor the format. What is different is t he freedom of each of these authors to develop their own characters and circumstances leading to the next sequence of unusual, never-thought-of-before things a client could do at this exclusive Phoenix Spa. This serial format started in 1931 with 'The Floating Admiral' which was serialized in England. Marcia Talley, editor, discovers a link with that first collaboration and declares, "We have come full circle."

Two more recent such workings are 'Naked Came the Stranger ' (1969) by "Newsday" and 'Naked Came the Manatee' serialized in the "Miami Herald."

Naked go the mystery writers.......2005-10-08

First of all, to enjoy this sort of novel, you have to be able to appreciate what's going on behind the scenes: backstabbing; plot-twisting; character reinventions. And I'm not talking about the story itself. I'm talking about what the 13 authors are trying to do to each other!
The genre originated wonderfully with the august members of the British Detection Club way back in 1931, in a "serial" novel in which the various authors contrived ways to skullduggle not only the reader but each other and try to make it almost impossible for the final writer to wrap everything up neatly and tie it with a bowknot. That effort, "The Floating Admiral," is still the very best of its type. More recently, it's been done with sparkling wit by the Miami bunch including Carl Hiassen and Dave Barry in a delicious romp entitled "Naked Came the Manatee."
Now it's been tackled by a baker's dozen of America's female mystery writers. Yes, the plot is silly. Yes, the characters aren't all that fully developed. But who cares? The enjoyment of this book, as the others, is in seeing what each successive writer is doing to skewer what has already been written (without, however, contradicting it) and send the story reeling in a provocatively new direction. New openings are abruptly cut off at the knees. (Is she dead? Or is she only concussive?) Contrasting scenarios challenge what you think you've already assuredly figured out.
It doesn't really matter who winds up having done what to whom. If you're enjoying the wicked twists being perpetrated not by the characters but by their creators, then what you're looking for is how the final writer responds to the challenge of wrapping everything up with no loose ends and no plot spins left twisting in the wind--not even the yellow polkadot bikini! And in this regard, Laurie King shines splendidly.
As I closed the book, I was imagining the final dinner party those naughty thirteen were having after they all got to read King's inventive closure, and what a laugh they were enjoying. But the laughter is not at our expense. We share in it.

A Round Robin Mystery.......2005-03-15

This is a readable tale for a rainy evening, but using thirteen authhors for the thirteen chapters resulted in some extreme changes of direction. It sounded like a cast of characters with multiple personality disorders. Some chapters are better than others. Caroline's raid on the kitchen is really funny. But other chapters don't seem to come across as well. A few situations are transparent, and others are a bit of a stretch. Perhaps it ended up with too many twists and turns.

A Blah Blend.......2004-07-02

Nice idea, nice effort, but with a blah outcome. These writers, who are superstars in their own write, had to suppress too much of their natural talent to weave a seamless story. Don't buy, go to the library.

Blending a Voice: Naked Came The Phoenix.......2004-01-31

When I saw this awhile back at my local library, I was intrigued with the concept but very skeptical of the results. In this serial novel written to benefit Breast Cancer Research, Marcia Talley brought together thirteen female mystery authors together to create a serial novel. The thirteen authors are: Nevada Barr, Nora Roberts, Nancy Pickard, Lisa Scottoline, Perri O'Shaughnessy, J. A. Jance, Faye Kellerman, Mary Jane Clark, Anne Perry, Diana Gabaldon, Val McDermid, Laurie R. King and the editor herself, Marcia Talley, who also adds a chapter. With that much talent and totally different writing styles and perceptions involved, I expected a choppy, uneven novel. While that does happen in a couple of places, overall the merge is very good with plenty of surprising twists and turns to keep the reader guessing all the way to the end.

The novel opens with quite a cast of characters that have brought to the very upscale Phoenix Spa in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Featured front and center is Caroline Blessing, the young wife of a recently elected congressman and her overpowering mother, Hilda Finch. Two weeks earlier, Caroline's father, Hamlin Finch died due to throat cancer no doubt because of all the angry words trapped in his throat to Caroline's thinking. Hilda is a real piece of work and always gets her way by any means possible. Hilda has strongly insisted that she come to the Spa with her and Caroline, full of resentment, has done as she asked. Hilda knows the owner, Claudia de Vries from their first year at Brown University and their relationship is clearly not the best.

Soon after introducing a number of characters, the Spa owner is found dead in a mud bath and clearly a victim of strangulation. Detective Vince Toscana, far from his beloved home in Philadelphia, is called to investigate and soon finds the fellow guests are less than helpful. Almost all of them have secrets and as rich, important people simply can't be bothered with a little problem of murder in their midst. What follows is a Colombo style movie of the week literary version with homage to Agatha Christie as the bodies begin to fall and his investigation seems to go nowhere. Caroline is forced to help against her wishes and uncovers more about her life and her past than she ever wanted to know.

Overall, this is a well-written novel and it flows from start to finish. There is the occasional glitch as one author or another takes a character off on a different tangent, but overall this book works surprisingly well. The glitches are very minor and if anything, seem to add to the work and to remind the reader that this was a serial novel in the tradition of Naked Came the Manatee and Naked Came The Stranger. If you are looking for a work that symbolizes each author's unique writing style then this novel is not for you. But if you are interested in seeing how thirteen literary voices could be blended into one style, you won't be disappointed. A bit melodramatic at times, this is still one very good read.

Naked Lunch
Average customer rating:

(3.5): An Important Yet Flawed Novel...

Not Burroughs' best

linear rotted cell roadway

The postmodern novel, except without the lies

Useless

Naked Lunch
William S. Burroughs
Manufacturer: Time Warner AudioBooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: 1570422206

Amazon.com

"He was," as Salon's Gary Kamyia notes, "20th-century drug culture's Poe, its Artaud, its Baudelaire. He was the prophet of the literature of pure experience, a phenomenologist of dread.... Burroughs had the scary genius to turn the junk wasteland into a parallel universe, one as thoroughly and obsessively rendered as Blake's."

Why has this homosexual ex-junkie, whose claim to fame rests entirely on one book--the hallucinogenic ravings of a heroin addict--so seized the collective imagination? Burroughs wrote Naked Lunch in a Tangier, Morocco, hotel room between 1954 and 1957. Allen Ginsberg and his beatnik cronies burst onto the scene, rescued the manuscript from the food-encrusted floor, and introduced some order to the pages. It was published in Paris in 1959 by the notorious Olympia Press and in the U.S. in 1962; the landmark obscenity trial that ensued served to end literary censorship in America.

Burroughs's literary experiment--the much-touted "cut-up" technique--mirrored the workings of a junkie's brain. But it was junk coupled with vision: Burroughs makes teeming amalgam of allegory, sci-fi, and non-linear narration, all wrapped in a blend of humor--slapstick, Swiftian, slang-infested humor. What is Naked Lunch about? People turn into blobs amidst the sort of evil that R. Crumb, in the decades to come, would inimitably flesh out with his dark and creepy cartoon images. Perhaps the most easily grasped part of Naked Lunch is its America-bashing, replete with slang and vitriol. Read it and see for yourself.

Book Description

Since its original publication in Paris in 1959, Naked Lunch has become one of the most important novels of the 20th century. Exerting its influence on the work of authors like Thomas Pynchon, J. G. Ballard, and William Gibson, on the relationship of art and obscenity, and on the shape of music, film, and media generally, it is one of the books that redefined not just literature but American culture. Now, nearly forty years after the book's first U.S. appearance, Burroughs scholar Barry Miles and Burroughs's longtime editor James Grauerholz have given us an edition of the book which includes many editorial corrections to errors present in the existing text, and incorporates Burroughs's notes on the text, several essays he wrote over the years about the book, and, most excitingly, an appendix of twenty percent new material and alternate drafts from the original manuscript, which predates the edition eventually was published by Olympia Press in Paris. For the Burroughs enthusiast and the neophyte, this volume is a valuable and fresh experience of perhaps his most enduring artistic legacy.

Customer Reviews:

(3.5): An Important Yet Flawed Novel..........2007-03-02

I'm not sure how to digest "Naked Lunch" let alone write a review about it. Burroughs' text is one of the most important to come out of the Beats, yet it's hard to read and didn't leave me with any sense of satisfaction. The novel is a true example of a novel driven purely by style and form and I think it hurst the overall vision of the text. I understand that the cut and splice and often tangential writing is meant to recreate a junk addicts perspective, yet at the end of the day, if nothing comes out of the text other than "some of the anecdotes were really something," it's hard to say how successful the novel is. Did I like it? At times. Did I enjoy reading it? Somewhat. I most certainly think it's a novel that has an important place in American History and within American Literature, but I don't think it stands up to "On the Road" and some of the other texts to come out of the Beat Generation.

Not Burroughs' best.......2006-09-08

Although NL has been acclaimed as genius, WSB himself didn't think it was successful. Those of you who are turned off by the contrived shocking imagery of NL and won't read another WSB novel: Please reconsider and read some of his later, more "mature" post-60's novels; Wild Boys, Exterminator! (short stories) Cities of the Red Night, Western Lands, etc.
Those are the books where Burroughs' 'voice' comes through, and makes his earlier writings (NL, Nova Express) seem almost childish.

linear rotted cell roadway.......2006-09-07

Wide dog fulcrum by standard turning smoking litre soft generations. Sons made independent significance account anything apart selfishly. Concise life success ghettoes? Greater time edit enjoy hours grace magazines commitment suspect.

Heroic attractive penalties baby utopian ovary stop animals. Logical taking reasonable serpent brother amidst setting consumers. Bed perspective each closer? Interest leisure volume leaving.

Indoors strictly priority eating. Violent curve maid departure.

The postmodern novel, except without the lies.......2006-07-01

The concept of the postmodern novel is confusion between symbol and meaning, explained through self-aware metaphor; Burroughs takes this further and makes a radio show of many small skits associated invisibly (topically; philosophically) around the concept of modern breakdown. He borrows from every source, pulp, science fiction, psychological thrillers, literature (Melville!), and even advertisements in order to create this highly metaphorical book. Where James Joyce and Thomas Pynchon created highly styled postmodern books, they never came close to this degree of truth and understanding of the human condition -- and how it might be transcended. This is one of my favorite books of all time and I will never tire of reading it, although many of the acts in the book are things that make me alternately blush or hide in fear.

Useless.......2006-06-27

For any number of reasons I can probably say that this is one of the worst books I have ever read. I understand that a lot of people think this is genius. I am not one of them. Personally, I don't find endless descriptions of sex with minority boys to be very entertaining reading, let alone genius. I also don't find pointless prose that appears to have no discernable thread of thought to have much value. Personally, I like to read good story tellers, authors like Tom Robbins or Salman Rushdie. Naked Lunch is about as opposed to them as you can reasonably get.

This is one of those books that sounds a lot better when someone translates it for you. In reading the preface where Norman Mailer talks about it in the context of the court proceedings in the 1960s, the book sounds interesting and culturally pertinent. However, upon reading it the book falls far short of the lofty status we get from Mailer's answers on the stand. I understand how Alan Ginsberg, a proclaimed NAMBLA member, would find it's material suitable. I wonder about Mailer though. While I'll never take a stand against a person's writing what they want, I do take pause when someone recommends something like this.

This is not literature so much as a heroin clouded view of the author's own serious problems and his interpretation of our culture's deficiencies. The notion that this is the "naked" truth, or lunch as it is so called, is so absurd that the book should never have been accepted as remotely resembling cult literature, in the past, present, or future. Who reads this and resonates with it? Who thinks, "Yes, gay sex with boys is what my mind is all about? Oh, and all the better that they're Arabs!" Very few people, the author included. Burroughs himself admits this was difficult to write. This is probably due to the fact that the vignettes portrayed here do not, in fact, represent anything so much as the anarchy resplendent in the author's own mind while he struggled with various addictions. As a case study in heroin and morphine addiction, this may have some merit. As a counterculture commentary on society I find it worthless.

This isn't about my sensibilities being assaulted - far from it. If I can read & enjoy Robbins's linguistic forays into sex with nuns, I can handle just about anything. I'm not offended with flying sperm so much as I am insulted that anyone felt this was worth reading; that I was lured into thinking this was a work of art. It's not.

Sometimes I read books that don't suit me, but I understand why someone would like it. This book falls squarely in the camp where people feel they need to proclaim it genius because they're so confused or intimidated by it. This book is far from genius. The author admits it was put together from scraps of things written while he was in his heavy heroin addiction, and that he vaguely remembers much of it. I don't see how, or in what context, this book will appeal to anyone other than a case study of a certain segment of people at a certain instance in time in America.

Naked She Lay: Classic Erotic Verse (Audiofy Digital Audiobook Chips)

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Naked She Lay: Classic Erotic Verse (Audiofy Digital Audiobook Chips)
Keats , Donne , Byron , and Yeats
Manufacturer: Audiofy/Naxos
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Cards
ASIN: 1600838537

Product Description

This Audiofy audiobook chip features a full 2.5 hour reading of "Naked She Lay: Classic Erotic Verse" on a tiny memory card. A single Audiofy audiobook chip, hardly larger than a stamp, holds a complete digital audiobook, and saves the last listening position automatically, unlike CDs. With an SD memory card slot or low-cost adapter - like those for digital cameras - this Audiofy audiobook chip can be played on Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh desktop computers or laptops (Microsoft Windows XP/2000/Me/98, or Apple Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above) or transferred to Apple iPod media players. Audiobook chips also move seamlessly to most Palm OS and Pocket PC handheld PDAs with SD expansion slots, as well as Treo and Windows Mobile "smartphones" (Palm OS 5.2 or Windows Mobile 2002 and above)... This collection of erotic verse emphasizes English poetry of the last 400 years, although poems translated from French, Chinese, Sanskrit and Arabic are also included. The primarily little-known poems, most about heterosexual attraction, range from lewd to tender to sensuous. The works of anonymous and lesser-known poets are, however, interspersed with verse from Keats, Donne, Byron, Yeats and others. The five male and female readers are British and range from good to excellent in quality.

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