Kakaku：766 saved$7.66
Random House
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (Armed&Dangerous review) 『Great book. I could not put it down once I started reading it. William Queen is a wonderful retired law enforcement officer with the ATF and has great stories to tell about his career. I highly recommend this book as well as Under&Alone. 』
(Armed and Dangerous) 『If this had been fiction, I would have said it's unbelievable. I couldn't put the book down! That Mark Stevens could grow marijuana fields in the inaccessable San Bernardino Mountains was in itself mind boggling. The ending was absolutely breathtaking! What a tremendous experience it was to meet a man of William Queen's stature and abilities. I breathed a sigh of relieve that he was on our side. Great photos! He touches, too, on a brutal Nazi group. Chilling! In our free democratic society, it is very important that we understand the inner workings of our agencies. In this sense, this book is an education. 5 stars! I wish I could give it more!』
(Good follow-up to Under and Alone) 『William Queen has made a good follow-up to his best seller Under and Alone. Although his first was one of my favorites, this one is very well written and reads easily. Two thumbs up and very recommended.』
(Inflated&Overblown) 『Your first clue that there is not much here is the big type size. Someone tried to stretch this tale into a book, but the material is inadequate. Queen spends page after page building up to the big moment when he defies death and captures some pyscho in the San Bernardino mountains more than 25 years ago. The problem is the arrest was fairly routine. There is a lot of extraneous detail about unrelated investigations leading up to the main case, obviously an effort to stretch the book. I hope Queen has some more substantial stories left in him, or else his best book, about his undercover stint as a Mongol motorcycle gangbanger, may be his only claim to fame as a writer.』
(Not as good as his 1st book) 『I really liked his first book and thought this might be about the same. I was wrong, not even close! The read was quick and the ending was pretty lame. Sometimes the true story is not the best story! I should of waited and got the book from a friend or the library. Sorry!』 『From theNew York Timesbestselling author ofUnder and Alonecomes an intimate and riveting account of federal law-enforcement agent William Queen’s relentless hunt for one of America’s most cold-blooded criminals.
As an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, William Queen must tackle a number of challenging cases, including going undercover to investigate a group of violent skinheads and infiltrating and busting a ring trafficking in high-powered explosives, drugs, and firearms. In the winter of 1985, he faces his toughest mission to date: he must apprehend Mark Stephens, a notorious narcotics trafficker who has been terrorizing the communities around Los Angeles with frequent rampages involving machine guns and hand grenades. A recluse living in the treacherous backwoods outside the city, Stephens is a cunning survivalist. Nobody has been able to catch him, but Queen is determined to take him down. Queen’s unique expertise is not taught in any police academy or ATF training seminar–he honed his outdoorsman abilities as a kid. Stephens may have finally met his match in the unwavering Queen, who is adept at hunting and trapping and living for weeks in the wild. Queen will use these skills–alongwith surveillance, confidential informants, and intelligence gathering–as he doggedly tracks his dangerous quarry, a chase that culminates in a gripping showdown high in the San Bernardino Mountains.
A fascinating look into the daily life of an ATF agent and a taut portrayal of a monthlong manhunt,Armed and Dangerousdepicts a classic race against time–lawman versus outlaw–in a harrowing true story of life-or-death suspense.』
IPhone 3G used's review (A Misplaced Life) 『This is a valuable book that focuses on Mary Stuart as a ruler rather than Mary Stuart as a heroine in a historical romance. It is not a mystery about who killed Lord Darnley. It is a critical analysis of what occurred when someone who was historically ordained to rule, but who possessed none of the qualities to make that rule successful in the dynamic of the sixteenth century, attempted to lead Scotland through the religious and political minefiled of its pre-modern politics. Some writers tend to think that Wormald is too tough on the historical Mary Queen of Scots, but there is good basis for her analysis. The essential question about the Scots Queen in not really whether or not she wrote all or some of the Casket Letters, and whether or not she was a player in the murder of her husband Lord Darnley, but whether she faired any better than most of the other Stuart kings who followed her in dealing with the great issues of her day. She clearly did not. While my own review of the letters insofar as they presently exist, the evidence from a variety of sources, and my own experience as a successful prosecutor leads me to believe that I probably could convict her of conspiracy to commit murder , but not as an aider and abettor of murder itself, if she had been less a French queen and more a Scot, had she seen her role more as an obligation to her own historical niche and less a license to behave as if she were answerable to no mortal, her monarchy might have ended quite differently. No one would have cared about Darnley. Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, and even Thomas More did not put an end to Henry VIII, Essex did not end Elizabeth I, and the disposal of an unpopular sometimes Papist consort, would not have ended Mary's rule. Her prolonged absence from Scotland during her childhood, her identity with powers that were not in step with the religious and political changes in Scotland, her reliance upon her half-brother and other men to lead her country and usurp her power to make decisions are among teh flaws that are exposed and highlighted in this short but important book.』
(No melodrama - at last!) 『This, at last, is a book that focuses on what MQS actually DID as a queen, and what she didn't do. It measures her against the same stick used to measure other rulers of the same age instead of the usual sturm un drang offered up. She was no marytred saint, yet she was no she demon in velvet skirts. She was charming and lovely, however she was also inadequate. Kind of Queen-Lite, if you will.
I found it very interesting that her much toted tolerance concerning religion is revealed to be otherwise. She demands the right to practice her own religion, but denies that same right to other Catholics. It is hard to hold up the banner of Catholic martyr when she did nothing good for that cause in Scotland, empowering the Protestant at the expense of the Catholic.
And yes, I'm glad that Wormald came down on the side of Mary being involved in the plot against Darnley. Leave MQS some shreds of intelligence. If she didn't know, that makes her and Darnley the only ones in Scotland and Europe who were unaware of the plot. Her actions definitely speak loudly when she lured Darnely out of his family stronghold and brought him back to Edinburgh and death. It was politically astute and necessary. Only her blunders afterward destroyed her reputation. Handled differently, she could very likely have weathered it.
Good read, well written and neither rabid nor fawning.』 『
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, was one of history’s romantically tragic figures. Devious, naïve, often highly principled, beautiful, and sexually voracious, this was a woman who secured the Scottish throne and bolstered the position of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Her endless plotting, including a likely involvement in the murder of her husband Lord Darnley, eventually led to her flight from Scotland and imprisonment by her equally ambitions cousin and fellow queen, Elizabeth of England. And yet when Elizabeth ordered her unpredictable rival and kinswoman to be beheaded in 1587 she did so in resigned frustration rather than as act ofpolitical wrath.Was the beheading of a cousin truly necessary? Did Mary, though churlish, petulant, and often disloyal, really deserve to forfeit the compassion of her cousin, a woman who from childhood had been her friend and playmate? Mary’s fate was to be born to supreme power, but she was totally lacking in the political ability to deal with its responsibilities. This was the tragedy that turned her life into a study in failure. The extraordinary story of Mary, which has inspired the great poets, playwrights, and operatic composers of the 19th and 20th centuries, is one of the most colorful and emotionally searing tales of western history, and is here told by a leading specialist of the 16th century.
Kakaku：2995 saved$29.95
University of California Press
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (Mediocre mystery) 『AB&the Queen of Spades is a serviceable but not terribly engrossing mystery--a fast read for the plane if you couldn't find anything better. I picked it up because I love San Francisco in the Gilded Age and I enjoy historical mysteries. After a strong start, I found a surprisingly flat book. Hall doesn't really do much with his setting except describe it, and his characters and plot are weak.
I was unable to get interested in Bierce, who after a vivid first appearance does very little (all of it predictable) until he announces the solution to the assembled cast at the end. Tom Redmond, his idealistic and energetic sidekick, is more intriguing, but his love interest is never a believable character, and there's an lot of heavy-handed dialogue. Too much information about the railroad robber barons also bogs down the story.
A few flashes made me think Hall might once have been a better writer than this book reveals, but he doesn't seem interested in making the events meaningful to the reader or even creating suspense. Midway through I stopped caring about the mystery, but I would have given the book another star if its resolution hadn't been both wildly improbable and a triple-whammy cliché.
The real problem with this book is that others have done it better elsewhere. Karen Joy Fowler's novel Sister Noon brings the same setting to vivid life with a fraction of Hall's they-wear-this-type-of-hat details; her incisive writing brings greater insight to some of the same figures and events (notably the Sharon trial and the infamous Mary Ellen Pleasant), as well as race relations. On the historical mystery front, there are many more satisfying; my bet would be Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January books, set in New Orleans in the 1830s. Hambly uses the cultural clashes between American frontiersmen, an older colonial culture, and a minority underclass to great effect, and makes the question of whether the city's corruption will allow the guilty to be punished as suspenseful as the whodunit--two things Hall has every chance to do and never attempts.
If you're fascinated by Ambrose Bierce, the book would be worth reading, but I can't in good conscience recommend it to anyone else.』
(MARVELOUS HISTORICAL FICTION) 『Oakley Hall is easily one of the finest authors of historical fiction -- and historical mysteries -- in the publishing world. Too many writers who produce a series based on the same character quickly run out of fresh stories, fresh images, fresh characters. Hall never seems to rush or compromise in the marvelous Ambrose Bierce series, and the Queen of Spades is one of his best. The best mystery writers -- Raymond Chandler, Caleb Carr, Dashiell Hammett, Walter Moseley -- are able to create portraits of a people and an era that are as compelling -- often much more so -- than any historian. Hall's portrayal of Victorian-era San Francisco, its sophistication and barbarity, its charms and horrors, are seamless and masterful. I think he strikes as perfect a balance between history, plot, and character as any writer I have ever read. The use of Ambrose Bierce as the intellectual guide to the series' protagonist and narrator, the ambitious, puglistic young reporter, Tom Redmond, may be the finest coup. I find myself wanting more and more of the brilliant Bierce. The fact that Hall is able to write "Bitter" Bierce with the same acerbic humor and scathing insight with which Bierce himself wrote is an extraordinary achievement. Bravo, Mr. Hall, may Redmond and Bierce continue on their marvelous journeys through one of the most fascinating cities and periods in history.』
(Please don't compare this with The Alienist) 『To start, I liked this book, but not as much as I hoped to like it. It is a nice historical mystery, but it is not in the league of The Alienist, a work to which it is often compared. The narrator, Tom Redmond, is a likeable character, but just as he is confused with the many characters in this mystery, so is the reader.
The story searches for the Morton Street Slasher, but the reader who wants a plot similar to the Alienist (which follows the trail of the killer) will be disappointed to learn that this book is more about mining and railroad politics than the search for a killer. If you are interested in the backroom politics of San Francisco in the 1870's or really love the wit of Ambrose Bierce, then you'll probably love this book ... if you're like me, and you like Ambrose Bierce's dark humor but could do without the smoke-filled rooms, then you'll just find it an interesting diversion.』
(Entertaining, informative hystery\mistory) 『This book tells the story of young Tom Redmond, apprentice to the famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) Ambrose Bierce. Redmond and Bierce try to track down a Ripper-style killer of prostitutes and unravel a mystery that has ties to the California Gold Rush and the Railroad boom in California. All in all, the history is good (and you'll probably learn a good bit if you know nothing about mining or railroads) and the mysteries provide a nice little puzzle. Despite the title, Bierce is not the main character, Redmond is, and he's quite an interesting, well-developed and sympathetic one. Bierce is kind of a secondary character, although the book is peppered with his acerbic, sarcastic thinking (one of the things I enjoyed most of all, actually). This book is less Holmes-and-Watson than Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, which is a more satisfying arrangement, I think. I enjoyed it and I think most people who like historical mysteries will enjoy it also.』
(Ambrose Bierce, writer, curmudgeon, detective?) 『Using Ambrose Bierce as the detective in this mystery novel set in 1880's San Francisco is a clever concept. Acerbic and fiercely intelligent, Bierce makes a good protagonist. Told from the perspective of a young reporter, Ambrose Bierce and The Queen of Spades may be a bit convoluted as a mystery but as a look at a California that was in the control of the railroad industry it excels. Starting each chapter with a selection of Bierce's Devil's Dictionary sets the tone for the book well, and this a solid addition to the historical mystery genre.』 『The Morton Street Slasher has been leaving the corpses of his victims around San Francisco's Union Square. On the women's naked bodies are spade playing cards. The city's infamous newspaperman, Ambrose Bierce, blames the rash of murders on his old enemy, the Southern Pacific Railroad. A naive reporter at Bierce'sHornetpursues the case, uncovering conspiracy at every turn. In a fast-paced novel that is a combination of murder mystery, historical fiction, and quirky biography, Oakley Hall draws the reader into 1880s San Francisco and the changing world that was California in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Local and state politics, the exploitation of the Chinese, the power of the mining and railroad barons, and San Francisco's colorful history provide a backdrop for this irresistible thriller. The novel's chapters are introduced by appropriate excerpts from Bierce'sThe Devil's Dictionaryand narrated by the young reporter Tom Redmond. Redmond is interested in the murders because of his attraction to a woman threatened by the Slasher, and Bierce encourages him because of his personal vendetta against the Big Four of the Railroad. Bierce's misogyny is an influence as well, which Hall uses to advantage in portraying the enigmatic journalist. Hall knows his territory and his characters well. The sights and smells of late-nineteenth-century California are cleverly evoked, and the story's key players are refreshingly authentic. Bierce brandishes his famed cynicism with all the aplomb of the sharp-eyed, sharp-witted newspaperman he was. Cameo appearances by such California worthies as Ina Coolbrith and Joaquin Miller add to the novel's historical richness. Intelligent, gripping, and often quite funny,Ambrose Bierce and the Queen of Spadeswill satisfy any reader who craves adventure, mystery, romance, and fine writing.』
Kakaku：999 saved$9.99
TokyoPop
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (Typical Fun Shojo!) 『Honestly, my fiance loved this series. Typical Shojo drama. There is a Princess, this is a mysterious world and a lot of Manga drama!! It is a very good series if you are fans of The Twelve Kingdoms, Vampire Knight,or Wild Ones!』 『Yuna decides that she loves Phantasma and wishes only for the happiness of its people. For this reason, she requests Ehren to find Rieno so that she can say her last farewells before she fully embraces her duties as Queen. She then throws herself into her work without even stopping for food or sleep in order to rid herself of lingering thoughts of Rieno. Will the strain be too much for Yuna to bear?』
Kakaku：290 saved$2.90
Routledge
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (This isn't a biography) 『I'm not sure what Goodman was trying to do here, but it didn't work. I mean, if you're interested in Marie Antoinette as a SYMBOl of women-in-high-places brought down, then this is the book for YOU....But right now I'm wanting to know about her life. Because I can't call this book a biography, an analysis of Marie Antoinette, or a review of the revolution and how it effected her, I can't recommend it. The purpose of the book is a mystery to me, except to place Antoinette in the context of women since the beginning of time. YAWN. Yet, I read it and I find myself rereading parts of it again and again. I think I have to commend it because there is thought behind the writing. The writer does give a bit of insight into Antoinette's daughter, who is the reason I began reading everything I could get my hands on about the queen...Thing is, if you want to read about women who have been scape-goated throughout the years, turn to female writers of the 1960s and early 1970s. In their hands, this book would've burned.』 『Marie-Antoinette is one of the most fascinating and controversial figures in all of French history. Married to the heir to the French throne at age fourteen, Marie-Antoinette was at the center of public attention during the final tumultuous years of the Old Regime and the French Revolution. For a variety of reasons explored in this volume - all of which revolved around her gender - Marie-Antoinette came to represent the monarchy as it came under increasing attack. As both a woman and queen, she became a privileged site of the political contestation and criticism that characterized the end of the eighteenth century in France. Rather than retell the story of her life, the contributors to this volume reveal how crucial political and cultural contests were enacted "on the body of the queen" and on the complex identity of Marie-Antoinette. They explore the difficulties of Marie-Antoinette's position as a woman, a foreigner, and a queen in the final decades of the eighteenth century and help us to understand the waves of pornography and accusations of lesbianism, incest, and treason launched against her. Taken together, these essays suggest that it is precisely because Marie-Antoinette represented the contradictions in the social, political and gender systems of her era that, through her, we can both learn about the French past and shed new light on questions of gender, sexuality, and female power that continue to trouble us today.』
Kakaku：1495 saved$14.95
iUniverse.com
Usually ships in 24 hours 『The Dawson women: Mazzy Dawson, a mulatto sushi chef in southern California, who struggles with the untimely death of her mother and the cloak of mystery that her grandmother keeps her family's history enshrouded in; Kennedy Dawson, a college student who fights heroin addiction and racial tensions at an L. A. County drug detox to bring her unborn child into the world; and Lucy Dawson, a discontented housewife in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, who, during the 1960's, starts to question the racially segregated suburban world around her and ultimately chooses an unconventional and dangerous path for love. In, Raising Warrior Queens, Teresa C. Smith examines the rarely simple, sometimes tumultuous and always loyal mother/daughter dynamic with sharp wit and a tender, yet unwavering eye.』 fetish『 The Jewels of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Personal Collection 』
『 Queen's Jewels: The Personal Collection of Elizabeth II 』
『 Jewels of the Tsars: The Romanovs and Imperial Russia 』
『 Famous Jewelry Collectors 』
『 Tiaras - A History of Splendour 』
『 Cartier 』
Leslie Field
Kakaku：2183 saved$21.83
Harry N Abrams
IPhone 3G used's review (Loved This Book) 『If you love royal jewels like me then you need to get this book... the pictures are fabulous. There is not a whole lot of text and explanation about all the pieces you view in the book but there is enough for you to get a general history of most of the pieces. I highly recommend this book!!!!!』
(The Queen's jewels are astounding!) 『"Amazing" is the only word to describe the impressive array of jewels in Her Majesty's collection. Tiaras, bracelets, earrings... all delicately made and intricate in their structure. Whether they are gifts from other heads of state, inheritance, or personal presents from her parents, the Queen's jewels will take your breath away.
Now when you see pictures of the Queen and her female relations - whether on television or in magazines - you'll be able to name the tiara, place the bracelet, identify the earrings, and swoon over the plate-sized gems pinned to dresses. Brilliant!
(Fairly thourough look at an extensive collection) 『A well written guide to QE II's elaborate collection of precious stones. Comes complete with her family tree as a reference, which you may find handy to refer to as the author traces back how most of the pieces came to the Queen through her ancestors. Many pictures, however, there are almost as many of Queen Mary as there are of Queen Elizabeth II! I especially liked the way it was discussed how some older pieces have been taken apart, reset, and reconfigured to make them do duty in the 20th and 21st centuries. A very well researched book that any royal watcher will enjoy. I would love to see the author devote a publication to the jewelry (real and paste) of the late Princess of Wales.』 『A look at Queen Elizabeth II's personal jewelry collection offers a four-hundred-year survey of the monarchy's jewelry, organized by type--from bracelets, to brooches, to necklaces--and discusses their value and history. Original. Lit Guild&Doubleday Alt.』
Kakaku：608 saved$6.08
Devil's Due Publishing
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (Golden Age Adventure with a strong female protagonist) 『This Trade Paperback reprints Sheena stories from the Jumbo Comics, using digital reproductions of the actual comic books, and they are very good: the color is vibrant, the linework is well reproduced. Sheena was created before Superman, and though the stories may have outdated attitudes toward African cultures, they have evolved attitudes about women. Sheena is presented as a strong female character, who is courageous, wise, strong, agile, smart, and has a sense of justice. Sheena is beautifully rendered: it is solid "good girl" art, but not exploitative in my view.
Like the old Edgar Rice Burroughs "Tarzan" stories, there are derogatory racial stereotypes, but frankly, the writers of Sheena are not as egregious in this regard as ERB. And after reading so many sickeningly weak female heroes in other golden age and silver age comics, Sheena is a breath of fresh air. What you may lose in racial stereotyping, you gain in the lack of female stereotyping. Sheena is never treated as kidnap bait, tho her "mate" Bob, is often kidnapped and is saved by Sheena.
The stories are good solid adventure most of the time, but they don't achieve much literary quality. The art far outshines the writing. Tho the writing is far more literate in the comic stories than in Steve E. de Souza's Introduction and "Annotations," or the editing by Devil's Due, who published the book.
De Souza's introduction gives us next to no useful information on the stories or the artists and writers that worked on Jumbo Comics, or the Iger Shop that produced those comics. He mostly writes about his adolescent boy purient interest in the comics, and embarrassingly reveals too much about his own pubescent fantasies. His annotations aren't much better. He and the editors make much of Will Eisner's involvement, but Eisner left the Iger shop in 1939, meaning he could have been involved in only one of the stories reprinted. I see de Souza is the current Sheena writer, but since his main goal in reading the original comic was waiting to see if her costume would fall off, I can only imagine how exploitative of women the new comic must be.
The editors chose two stories with similar plots, and placed them right next to each other, even though in the original run of comics there were eleven issues between them. Since that is one of the largest gaps in the reprints, and there were over 150 issues of Jumbo comics, and only 11 stories reprinted, one wonders why they did that? Most of the plots are fairly solid, but one is terrible. I can only imagine that, with all the choices, the story was included because the art was by the great Matt Baker.
The editors claim they tried their best to figure out who worked on all the comics, but had incomplete information. Ironically, they list a number of artists who probably drew the comics, but they leave Ruth Roche's name off the list, who was the main writer at the Iger shop, and it can be assumed - as long as we're assuming - that she wrote at least one of these stories, if not most.
These comics were written before the comics code authority even further lowered the literary quality of comics. The violence is more realistic, the themes more adult. Two versions of one of the stories are included, one a reprint that was edited and republished post-code, which perfectly illustrates why Sheena did not survive long after the code. Once again, the editors seem to revel in their sexism, as Stephen Cristy writes, in his intro to the stories, about the "girl-on-girl" action. I can't figure out what he means by that, unless he's talking about the fight Sheena has with the female antagonist. If Cristy and the Devil's Due comics editors think of a fight between two female characters as "girl-on-girl" action, well, you can see why female comic readership is almost nil these days.
But, the bad editing and text writing can't spoil what is, essentially, a fun batch of comics. If you can ignore the editors sexist crap (de Souza claims that a bikini was added to the art to avoid backlash from Dr. Werther - a ridiculous assertion since even pre-code comics never showed full frontal nudity), you can enjoy one of the few truly strong female characters from the Golden Age of comics, reading exciting adventures in exotic climes. Don't expect high concepts and deep themes, though, these comics are just fun. And as far as the reproductions go, the editors really did a good job.』 『Swing into the Golden Age of comics with this spectacular collection of classic Sheena: Queen of the Jungle! Featuring digitally-remastered, vintage artwork by Will Eisner/Jerry Iger studios and over 10 of the best Sheena stories from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, this collection is a must-have for fans of classic comics!』
Kakaku：848 saved$8.48
University of Illinois Press
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (Terrific memoir full of circus history) 『Tiny Kline spent her entire life doing stunts. From youth to middle age, she worked with the circus, her love for which is apparent throughout the pages of her memoir. She continued doing iron jaw stunts, descending inclines at ridiculous speeds suspended only by her teeth, into old age and performed as Tinker Bell at Disneyland when she was in her 70s. By all accounts, Tiny Kline had a fascinating life. She really wrote two memoirs in an attempt to share that life with us. One contained mainly personal anecdotes, related to her work on the circus. The second mainly contained circus history and was stripped of these more intimate details. The editor, Janet M. Davis, combined the two to produce a memoir that is still Tiny's but in a form readers will be more eager to consume.
This book was a very educational experience. Circus history, while an interesting topic, is not something that I've ever learned in school and there don't seem to be many accessible books written on it. There is the fiction bestseller, Water for Elephants, which I read and loved earlier this year, but that's about all I've seen on my book radar. When this popped up on LT Early Reviewers, I knew that I simply must read it. And good choice by me; this is a terrific memoir. The combination of memoirs is brilliantly done and I never noticed a gap between Tiny's two styles of writing. It's fascinating to see how the circus changed over time, the insider's view of circus politics, and just how some performers climbed the career ladder faster than others. Tiny's ambition was tremendous and it's easy to see why she advances so quickly.
The book does read precisely as someone's account of their life. Tiny was not the best writer and it's evident at times that she had little training, but it never hampers this book, just makes the author more real, if that is possible. It reads like a letter written by a friend; conversational, easy tone. There were some nice touches put in by the editor, such as including photographs with Tiny's descriptions of some of her fellow performers, all bringing the circus to life. Tiny admits one lapse in her introduction; she included some fictional romances to make the book more "exciting", even though she never had a romantic interlude after her husband died shortly after their wedding. The fictional parts are obvious and only in one part of the book; I don't count this against it, especially as she admits their existence before the book even begins.
I'd definitely be recommending this book and if you're interested in circus history, you shouldn't miss it. I'm glad that I didn't!』
(The life of Tiny Kline) 『These memoirs, brilliantly edited by Janet M. Davis, Ph.D are a wonderful seldom seen view of circus life, and the important roll that circus played in the 19th and 20th centuries in providing entertainment to the masses. I remember my dad talking about Tiny Kline when she made history in 1932 by crossing Times Square on a strung wire from the Edison Hotel (still there) to the roof of the Palace Theater, suspended by a fine wire with a bite plate attached. Such was her "Iron Jaw" act that she performed up to her 70's. For such a tiny little girl and woman, she proved to be a brave and wonderful athelete as she did so many other things in the circus. This book whetted my appetite and I subsequently ordered Dr. Davis's book, The Circus Age. Wonderful and interesting reading.
Norman L. Rosenberg』
(great book) 『This is a really fascinating book..with great detail..on the circus life..gets below the surface.and takes you into the corners of this amazing underworld..Simply written..it rings with truth..』 『
This engaging memoir follows the life and career of circus performer Tiny Kline (1891-1964) from the burlesque house to the circus tent, and on to Disneyland and the silver screen. While working for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum&Bailey Circus, Kline became well known for her signature "slide for life" stunt, an "iron jaw" act in which she slid to the ground while dangling from trapeze rigging by her teeth. Kline renewed her spectacular acrobatics at the age of seventy when she played Tinker Bell in the "Fantasy in the Sky" fireworks show at Disneyland. In that same year, she also began writing her life story.
Extensively annotated by Janet M. Davis, this memoir documents twentieth-century changes in popular amusements, while providing fresh insight into circus personalities such as John Ringling, acrobat Lillian Leitzel, and big cat trainer Mabel Stark, as well as mainstream entertainers like Florenz Ziegfeld, John Philip Sousa, and others. Kline also provides intimate details about the daily machinations at the circus, including fascinating accounts of its sexual politics, racial dynamics, risky nature, and labor relations.
Usually ships in 24 hours IPhone 3G used's review (Title misleading. Many essays unrelated to age. Interesting, but uneven.) 『To be fair to the editor, women are doing many things in their 30s, so it's probably difficult to turn this topic into a cohesive book. Having said that, this book was disappointing. Some of the women have interesting stories to tell, no doubt about it (example: one of the authors is the granddaughter of the Rosenbergs, executed for treason) but with most of essays, it isn't clear what the heck the stories have to do with being in your 30s ... similar essays could have been written in 20s or 40s, or even other decades. I got the feeling these were interesting authors who were struggling to adapt pre-existing work or themes into the "30s" theme. There were a few standouts in this book, but overall I thought the writing was uneven. If you are interested in books regarding being single in your 30s, and children and whether to have them, etc., I strongly recommend "Maybe Baby", an anthology of essays by writers which is much better written.』
(A turning point) 『Thank you for sharing some amazing voices, Ms. Richesin really put this book together beautifully. I especially loved the quotes before each essay. Thirty something and finding my way, with so many other women, I could really relate. I am looking forward to more from her and her writers, thanks for the inspiration.』
(Mediocre at best) 『This was a pretty mediocre collection. A few of the essays are interesting (I liked the one about the woman who begins a search for a sperm donor, and the one from the former sex worker) but too many just go nowhere. I felt the contributors spent too much time talking about husbands and boyfriends and not enough on the topic of the book. And although the editor did a decent job gathering a racially and ethnically diverse group, she apparently didn't even try for any diversity in terms of sexual orientation; all of the contributors are straight (well, one apparently is bisexual but she spends zero time talking about women). Overall, not that strong of a collection.』
(Many women can relate to these women's stories) 『Turning 30 wasn't as I had hoped. Being the youngest of three by a gap, I was used to feeling young and always younger than everyone else. As I entered my thirties, I felt depressed whenever the ages of a football star, actor, or big shot manager appeared in an article. They were such big successes and not even 30. There I was, in my thirties believing I had accomplished little outside of raising a family. After all, anyone can become a parent and not anyone can become a CEO or best-selling author.
Reading each story, my reactions ranged from "I've been there!" and "I remember that!" to "Never been through that, thankfully, but I understand." And "OK, maybe being 30 had good points."
In reading books like these, a collection of true and intimate stories, you sense that you're there listening to a best friend or being a fly on the wall hearing stuff that you would otherwise never hear. Great collections do just that and The May Queen succeeds. Any gal in her thirties will feel less solitary while reading the stories.
Flor Morales shared her experience of going back and forth between El Salvador and California where her family shamed her for cheating on her husband, an alcoholic. She proceeded to tell her tale of crossing the border for good to pursue a better life with another man.
In my twenties, I wanted to climb the corporate ladder as high as I could go. But my expectations started toppling after my second child arrived when I was 29 and not a manager. Slowly, I began to change wanting instead to climb the family ladder with an occasional nudge from a career success. It turned out, from reading these stories and others about us Gen-Xers, we struggled with the "having it all" in our twenties and as we matured, we came to appreciate life more as we understood successful careers were nice to have, but not something that made life completely meaningful.
In "My Missing Biological Clock," Megham Daum pondered her lack of interest in becoming a mother in spite of society's pressures of "having it all." So every story isn't about horrific or incredible things that happen to others and not us.
Ayun Halliday's "A Random Sampling Age Thirty to Forty" resembled a list more than a story, but what an insightful list! Read a random sampling of things that happened between ages of thirty and forty and compare those to things that happened between ages of 10 and 20 and 20 and 30. This fast-read will instantly cheer up anyone struggling with having lived three decade of their lives.
With 27 stories of varying lengths in over 250 pages, busy women in their thirties can easily read a story in between feedings, during lunch break, traveling somewhere exotic or whenever they find a moment to simply take pleasure in a good story. As a mom of three with my own freelance business, it was effortless to take a break to read one story at a time and feel another ounce of appreciation for life in my thirties.』
(Goodbye Maiden Princess ... Hello Queen Sage) 『At the ripe old age of 30-something a woman has to say good-bye to her maiden consciousness, of the young girl and younger time. There is no guidebook for this rite of passage, but this collection of personal tales are an indication that - the 30's are the decade to pull it all together what you have learned of who you are before 29 ... and making stepping into your own.』 『This intriguing collection of original essays by women in their thirties celebrates this often maligned period in a woman's life as, in fact, a productive, dynamic, and vibrant time of self-invention and personal and professional creativity.
If recent bestsellers such asThe Bitch in the HouseandMidlife Crisis at Thirtyserve as any indication of how women are experiencing their thirties, who can blame women embarking upon this decade in their life for panicking? Yet, as the contributors to this thoughtful and inspiring book attest, it doesn't have to be so scary.
InThe May Queen, a wide array of women-including bestselling author Jennifer Weiner and star of the hit independent filmKissing Jessica SteinHeather Juergensen-describe the conflicting emotions they've felt in response to the "anything is possible" message women of their generation receive. And yet, all of the women featured in this book have found their thirties to be a time of great opportunity-a period in their lives in which they're taking the time to consider what they have lost, what they have gained, and what they still need to learn. This book gives a powerful voice to a new generation of women beginning to make its mark on the world.』
