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Lit: A Memoir
By Mary Karr

By jonSun, 11/08/2009 - 19:40

Bookmarks has not yet published a review of this book. We may do so in the future; in the meantime, please see the other review sources to the right and browse the information from Amazon.com below.
Harper
400 pages
Amazon.com Review
<b>Product Description</b><br/> <p> <i>The Liars' Club</i> brought to vivid, indelible life Mary Karr's hardscrabble Texas childhood. <i>Cherry</i>, her account of her adolescence, "continued to set the literary standard for making the personal universal" (<i>Entertainment Weekly</i>). Now <i>Lit</i> follows the self-professed blackbelt sinner's descent into the inferno of alcoholism and madness--and to her astonishing resurrection. </p> <p> Karr's longing for a solid family seems secure when her marriage to a handsome, Shakespeare-quoting blueblood poet produces a son they adore. But she can't outrun her apocalyptic past. She drinks herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide. A hair-raising stint in "The Mental Marriott," with an oddball tribe of gurus and saviors, awakens her to the possibility of joy and leads her to an unlikely faith. Not since Saint Augustine cried, "Give me chastity, Lord-but not yet!" has a conversion story rung with such dark hilarity. </p> <p> <i>Lit</i> is about getting drunk and getting sober; becoming a mother by letting go of a mother; learning to write by learning to live. Written with Karr's relentless honesty, unflinching self-scrutiny, and irreverent, lacerating humor, it is a truly electrifying story of how to grow up--as only Mary Karr can tell it. </p> <br/> <hr class="bucketDivider" size="1" /> <br/> <p align="left"> <B class="h1">Photos from Mary Karr</B><br/> <b>(Click to Enlarge)</b> <p><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"> <tr align="center" valign="top" class="tiny"> <td width="25%"> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/hmh-ems/DadDogs175.jpg" border="0"> </td> <td width="25%"> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/hmh-ems/CharlieKarr175.jpg" border="0"></td> <td width="25%"> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/hmh-ems/Mary_and_howard_nemerov175.jpg" border="0"></td> <td width="25%"> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/hmh-ems/MaryMentaMarriott175.jpg" border="0"></td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="top" class="tiny"> <td width="25%">Mary's much adored oil-worker Daddy</td> <td width="25%">Mary's artist mother, Charlie Karr</td> <td width="25%">Mary, at 22, meeting poet Howard Nemerov</td> <td width="25%">Mary one month before visiting the "Mental Marriott"</td> </tr></table> <p><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"> <tr align="center" valign="top" class="tiny"> <td width="20%"> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/hmh-ems/MaryLecia150.jpg" border="0"></td> <td width="20%"> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/hmh-ems/MaryBabyDev150.jpg" border="0"></td> <td width="20%"> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/hmh-ems/MaryFamilyLiarsClubRdg150.jpg" border="0"></td> <td width="20%"> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/hmh-ems/MaryandDev_celebrating150.jpg" border="0"></td> <td width="20%"> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/hmh-ems/Dev_in_jkt150.jpg" border="0"></td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="top" class="tiny"> <td width="20%">Mary, age 17, with sister Lecia, age 19</td> <td width="20%">Mary and young son Dev</td> <td width="20%">Mary with family before her Leitchfield <i>Liars' Club</i> reading</td> <td width="20%">Mary celebrating the holidays with son Dev</td> <td width="20%">Mary's son, Dev Milburn, in 2009</td> </tr> </table> <HR class=bucketDivider noShade SIZE=1="/">
Harper
400 pages
Product Description
<p> <i>The Liars' Club</i> brought to vivid, indelible life Mary Karr's hardscrabble Texas childhood. <i>Cherry</i>, her account of her adolescence, "continued to set the literary standard for making the personal universal" (<i>Entertainment Weekly</i>). Now Lit follows the self-professed blackbelt sinner's descent into the inferno of alcoholism and madness—and to her astonishing resurrection. </p> <p> Karr's longing for a solid family seems secure when her marriage to a handsome, Shakespeare-quoting blueblood poet produces a son they adore. But she can't outrun her apocalyptic past. She drinks herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide. A hair-raising stint in "The Mental Marriott," with an oddball tribe of gurus and saviors, awakens her to the possibility of joy and leads her to an unlikely faith. Not since Saint Augustine cried, "Give me chastity, Lord—but not yet!" has a conversion story rung with such dark hilarity. </p> <p> <i>Lit</i> is about getting drunk and getting sober; becoming a mother by letting go of a mother; learning to write by learning to live. Written with Karr's relentless honesty, unflinching self-scrutiny, and irreverent, lacerating humor, it is a truly electrifying story of how to grow up—as only Mary Karr can tell it. </p>

Under the Dome
By Stephen King

By jonMon, 11/02/2009 - 11:52

Bookmarks has not yet published a review of this book. We may do so in the future; in the meantime, please see the other review sources to the right and browse the information from Amazon.com below.
Scribner
1,074 pages
Amazon.com Review
<html><head></head><body><span class="h1"><strong>Amazon Exclusive: Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan Reviews <em>Under the Dome</em></strong></span><br><br> <b>Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan share their enthusiasm for Stephen King's thriller, <i>Under the Dome</i>. This pair of reviewers knows a thing or two about the art of crafting a great thriller. Del Toro is the Oscar-nominated director of international blockbuster films, including <em>Pan's Labyrinth</em> and <em>Hellboy</em>. Hogan is the author of several acclaimed novels, including <em>The Standoff</em> and <em>Prince of Thieves</em>, which won the International Association of Crime Writer's Dashiell Hammett Award in 2005. The two recently collaborated to write the bestselling horror novel, <em>The Strain</em>, the first of a proposed trilogy. Read their exclusive Amazon guest review of <i>Under the Dome</i>:</b></br></br> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/SS.EMS/Del-Toro_172x200.jpg" align="left" border="0"> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/SS.EMS/Hogan_172x200.jpg" align="left" border="0"> The first thing readers might find scary about Stephen King's <i>Under The Dome</i> is its length. The second is the elaborate town map and list of characters at the front of the book (including "Dogs of Note"), which sometimes portends, you know, heavy lifting. Don't you believe it. Breathless pacing and effortless characterization are the hallmarks of King's best books, and here the writing is immersive, the suspense unrelenting. The pages turn so fast that your hand--or Kindle-clicking thumb--will barely be able to keep up. <p></p> <p> <i>You Are Here.</i> </p> <p> Nobody yarns a “What if?” like Stephen King. Nobody. The implausibility of a dome sealing off an entire city--a motif seen before in pulp magazines and on comic book covers--is given the most elaborate real-life alibi by crafting details, observations, and insights that make us nod silently while we read. Promotional materials reference <em>The Stand</em> in comparison, but we liken <i>Under The Dome</i> more to King's excellent novella, <em>The Mist</em>: another locked-door situation on an epic scale, a tour-de-force in which external stressors bake off the civility of a small town full of dark secrets, exposing souls both very good...and very, very bad.</p> <p> Yes, "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," but there is so much more this time. The expansion of King’s diorama does not simply take a one-street fable and turn it into a town, but finds new life for old archetypes, making them morally complex and attuned to our world today. It makes them relevant and affecting once again. And the beauty of it all is that the final lesson, the great insight that is gained at the end of this draining journey, is not a righteous 1950’s sermon but an incredibly moving and simple truth. A nugget of wisdom you'll be using as soon as you turn the last page. </p> <p> <i>This Is Now.</i> </p> <p> Along the way, you get bravura writing, especially featuring the town kids, and a delicious death aria involving one of the most nefarious characters--who dies alone, but not really--as well as a few laugh-out-loud moments, and a cameo (of sorts) by none other than Jack Reacher. Indeed--whether during a much-needed comfort break, or a therapeutic hand-flexing--you may find yourself wondering, "Is this a horror novel? Or is it a thriller?" The answer, of course, is: Yes, yes, yes. </p> <p> <i>"...the blood hits the wall like it always hits the wall."</i> </p> <p> It seems impossible that, as he enters his sixth decade of publishing, the dean of dark fiction could add to his vast readership. But that is precisely what will happen...when the Dome drops.</p><p> <i>Now Go Read It. --Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan</i></p><p> </body></html> <p><hr class="bucketDivider" size="1"></p> <p align="left"><span class="h1"><strong>The Story Behind the Cover</strong></span><BR>Click on image to enlarge <p> <img align="left" border="0" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/SS.EMS/JacketCoverSmallFinal5.jpg" /> <p align="left"> The jacket concept for <i>Under the Dome</i> originated as an ambitious idea from the mind of Stephen King. The artwork is a combination of photographs, illustration and 3-D rendering. This is a departure from the direction of King's most recent illustrated covers. <BR><br> In order to achieve the arresting image for this jacket, Scribner art director Rex Bonomelli had to seek out artists who could do a convincing job of creating a realistic portrayal of the town of Chester's Mill, the setting of the novel. Bonomelli found the perfect team of digital artists, based in South America and New York, whose cutting edge work had previously been devoted to advertisement campaigns. This was their first book jacket and an exciting venture for them. "They are used to working with the demands of corporate clients," says Bonomelli. "We gave them freedom and are thrilled with what they came up with." <BR><br> The CGI (computer generated imagery) enhanced image looks more like something made for the big screen than for the page and is sure to make a lasting impact on King fans. <br/><p></p> <p<hr noshade="noshade" size="1" class="bucketDivider" /> <p align="left"><span class="h1"><strong>Meet the Characters</strong></span> <table width="100%" cellspacing="15"> <tbody><tr> <td width="50%"> <B>Dale Barbara</B><br>Barbie, a drifter, ex-army, walks with a burden of guilt from the time he spent in Iraq. Working as a short-order cook at Sweetbriar Rose is the closest thing he’s had to a family life. When his old commander, Colonel Cox, calls from outside, Barbie's burden becomes the town itself.<BR><br> <B>Julia Shumway</B><br>The attractive Editor and Publisher of the local town newspaper, The Chester's Mill Democrat, Julia is self-assured and Republican to the core, but she is drawn to Barbie and discovers, when it matters most, that her most vulnerable moment might be her most liberating.<BR><br> <B>Jim Rennie, Sr.</B><br>"Big Jim." A used car dealer with a fierce smile and no warmth, he'd given his heart to Jesus at age sixteen and had little left for his customers, his neighbors, or his dying wife and deteriorating son. The town's Second Selectman, he’s used to having things his way. He walks like a man who has spent his life kicking ass. <BR><br> <B>Joseph McClatchey</B><br>Scarecrow Joe, a 13-year-old also known as "King of the Geeks" and "Skeletor, a bona fide brain whose backpack bears the legend "fight the powers that be." He’s smarter than anyone, and proves it in a crisis. <BR><br></td> <td width=50%> <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/SS.EMS/Chester-MillsSmall500x370.jpg" /> <br> Chester's Mill, Maine (click on image to enlarge)</td></tr></tbody></table> <p<hr noshade="noshade" size="1" class="bucketDivider" /><br/>
Scribner
1,074 pages
Product Description
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.<P>Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens -- town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing -- even murder -- to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.

Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker
By James McManus

By jonMon, 11/02/2009 - 11:52

Bookmarks has not yet published a review of this book. We may do so in the future; in the meantime, please see the other review sources to the right and browse the information from Amazon.com below.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
528 pages
Amazon.com Review
<b>Amazon Best Books of the Month, November 2009</b>: Professional sports such as football and baseball may tout themselves as "America's Game," but according to James McManus, poker is the true American pastime. <i>Cowboys Full</i> is McManus's brilliant homage to the game that inspired his 2003 bestseller, <i>Positively Fifth Street</i>, and weaves through a colorful history of sharps, grinders, and braying donkeys. From the lawless saloons of the Old West to Oval Offices of the modern era, poker has been a part of our cultural DNA for nearly two centuries by offering a shot at the American Dream with each deal. "More than politics, warfare, business, or physical sports," McManus argues, "poker has become the arena in which men and women of every race and background compete on the most equal footing." Although positioning it alongside Mom and apple pie may be a stretch, <i>Cowboys Full</i> nevertheless presents a compelling case that the essence of America is best understood through a few hands of its favorite card game. --<i>Dave Callanan</i>
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
528 pages
Product Description
<DIV><P>From James McManus, author of the bestselling <I>Positively Fifth Street</I>, comes the definitive story of the game that, more than any other, reflects who we are and how we operate.</P><P><I>Cowboys Full </I>is the story of poker, from its roots in China, the Middle East, and Europe to its ascent as a global<B>—</B>but especially an American<B>—</B>phenomenon. It describes how early Americans took a French parlor game and, with a few extra cards and an entrepreneurial spirit, turned it into a national craze by the time of the Civil War. From the kitchen-table games of ordinary citizens to its influence on generals and diplomats, poker has gone hand in hand with our national experience. Presidents from Abraham Lincoln to Barack Obama have deployed poker and its strategies to explain policy, to relax with friends, to negotiate treaties and crises, and as a political networking tool. The ways we all do battle and business are echoed by poker tactics: cheating and thwarting cheaters, leveraging uncertainty, bluffing and sussing out bluffers, managing risk and reward.</P><P><I>Cowboys Full </I>shows how what was once accurately called the cheater’s game has become amostly honest contest of cunning, mathematical precision, and luck. It explains how poker, formerly dominated by cardsharps, is now the most popular card game in Europe, East Asia, Australia, South America, and cyberspace, as well as on television. It combines colorful history with firsthand experience from today’s professional tour. And it examines poker’s remarkable hold on American culture, from paintings by Frederic Remington to countless poker novels, movies, and plays. Braiding the thrill of individual hands with new ways of seeing poker’s relevance to our military, diplomatic, business, and personal affairs, <I>Cowboys Full </I>is sure to become the classic account of America’s favorite pastime.</P></DIV>

Down and Dirty Pictures
By Peter Biskind

By jessicaThu, 10/29/2009 - 14:18

Bookmarks has not yet published a review of this book. We may do so in the future; in the meantime, please see the other review sources to the right and browse the information from Amazon.com below.
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The Genome War
By James Shreeve

By jessicaThu, 10/29/2009 - 13:58

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James Shreeve

How Craig Venter Tried to Capture the Code of Life and Save the World

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American Mafia
By Thomas Reppetto

By jessicaThu, 10/29/2009 - 13:44

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Washington's Crossing
By David Hackett Fischer

By jessicaThu, 10/29/2009 - 13:39

Bookmarks has not yet published a review of this book. We may do so in the future; in the meantime, please see the other review sources to the right and browse the information from Amazon.com below.
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1968
By Mark Kurlansky

By jessicaThu, 10/29/2009 - 13:28

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American Sucker
By David Denby

By jessicaThu, 10/29/2009 - 13:13

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Harriet Tubman
By Catherine Clinton

By jessicaThu, 10/29/2009 - 12:41

Bookmarks has not yet published a review of this book. We may do so in the future; in the meantime, please see the other review sources to the right and browse the information from Amazon.com below.
0 pages