The Basics Of Quantum Physics: Understanding The Photoelectric Effect And Line Spectra (Library of Physics)

West European orchids
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West European orchids
E Klopfenstein
Manufacturer: National Botanic Garden of Belgium
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Plants | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Botany | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 907261917X

West European Orchids, Vols. 1-5
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West European Orchids, Vols. 1-5
E. Klopfenstein
Manufacturer: Balogh Scientific Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 187876294X

Paris Revisited: The Guide for the Return Traveler
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Great, helpful guide

Paris Revisited - and I'm ready to go back!

Paris Revisited

Covering both famous and infamous historical sites

Wonderfully helpful guide

Paris Revisited: The Guide for the Return Traveler
Gary Lee Kraut
Manufacturer: Words Travel International Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | France | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
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Adventure Guide Paris & lle-de-France (Adventure Guides Series) (Adventure Guides Series)

City Walks: Paris: 50 Adventures on Foot

Streetwise Paris (Streetwise)

ASIN: 0972398511

Book Description

Award-winning author Gary Lee Kraut's insightful and entertaining exploration of the world's most revisitable city. This is a true insider's guide intended for those who enjoy fine informative travel writing, whether returning to Paris, looking to get it right the first time, or savoring Francophile fantasies from home.
Paris Revisited is designed as the paper companion to the Web magazine ParisRevisited.com, exploring travel, touring, and life in Paris and beyond.
In addition to thorough sections on sights, museums and nearby chÃ¢teaux, the book contains unique chapters devoted to The ApÃ©ritif, Wine & Wine Bars, The Paris Restaurant Adventure, (mid-upscale) Hotels, Shop & Stroll, The Gardens of Paris, and Death in Paris, along with 4 city maps, a 4-color metro map, and 100 illustrations by artist Laura Barton.

Customer Reviews:

Great, helpful guide.......2004-01-23

A friend gave this book to me just before my recent visit to Paris and it turned out to be the only one I used. There were extensive descriptions and background for places I'd never heard of before, the guidance intrigued me, and all of the ones I visited turned out to be little gems (and not overrun by tourists) that made my visit more memorable. The major sights are all covered also, but with more of an eye toward appreciation of their charms than a must-see checklist. A great resource.

Paris Revisited - and I'm ready to go back!.......2004-01-16

Most of the mainstream travel books don't fit my personality or have listings that fit my pocket book. This one is for the traveller that wants to see the city - not just other tourists. It's easy to read, has opinions that you can agree (or disagree) with and encourages you to see things, not just for the first time but in a new way. You can tell the book was written by someone that loves the city and he makes you fall in love with Paris too. If you're going to Paris alone, or with someone you're fond of, you'll be delighted. I'm ready to go back.

Paris Revisited.......2003-09-20

Very usable guide to your personal tour of Paris. What Parisian visit are you looking for....this time? If it's casual, or romantic, or historical, or the great cafes, or quick highlights, this is the book to have in hand. Mr. Kraut out does himself in this addition to his books on Paris. As a long time American in Paris, Gary Kraut walks you through the most beautiful and interesting and tasty parts of Paris.

Covering both famous and infamous historical sites.......2003-08-09

Accessibly written by Gary Lee Kraut (winner of FracePress' Prix d'Excellence for work on France), Paris Revisited: The Guide For The Return Traveler is an excellent travel guide to exploring the splendors of France's grand capital, whether you are returning for revisit or are experiencing Paris' cultural, historical, and architectural grandeur for the very first time. Covering both famous and infamous historical sites, grand museums, prime shopping locals, choice hotels, extensive adventure and gastronomical delights in the restaurant scene, and so much more, Paris Revisited is a superbly organized and enthusiastically recommended reference for enhancing one's travel experience.

Wonderfully helpful guide.......2003-06-30

A friends passed me this book--and after finding it so useful I've passed it on to others. It's not a typical guide book...and it is. What's great about this book is that it gets you off the beaten path a bit, and it's fun to read. Lots of info, and like a standard guidebook it has all the relevent information. As a more intimate guide, this author isn't afraid to tell you what he thinks or how he thinks--but the bottom line is always Paris in all its beauty and complexity. It's a good read, as well as a great guide. And for first time travelers, it might be ok, too.

Left Bank Revisited: Selections from the Paris Tribune, 1917-1934

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Left Bank Revisited: Selections from the Paris Tribune, 1917-1934

Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

News of Paris: American Journalists in the City of Light Between the Wars

ASIN: 0271011440

The Modern Woman Revisited: Paris Between the Wars

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The Modern Woman Revisited: Paris Between the Wars

Manufacturer: Rutgers University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Modern | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Women Writers & Feminist Theory | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Women Writers | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Women Together/women Apart: Portraits Of Lesbian Paris
Amazons in the Drawing Room: The Art of Romaine Brooks
Don't Kiss Me
Paris France

ASIN: 0813532922

Book Description

Between the two world wars, Paris served as the setting for unparalleled freedom for expatriate as well as native-born French women, who enjoyed unprecedented access to education and opportunities to participate in public, artistic and intellectual life. Many of these women--including Colette, Tamara de Lempicka, Sonia Delaunay, Djuna Barnes, Augusta Savage, and Lee Miller--made lasting contributions to art and literature.

In this book, an internationally recognized roster of art historians, literary critics, and other scholars offers a nuanced portrait of what it meant to be a modern woman during this decisive period of modernism's development. Individual essays explore the challenges faced by women in the early decades of the twentieth century, as well as the strategies these women deployed to create their art and to build meaningful lives and careers. The introduction underscores the importance of the contributors' efforts to address larger questions about modernity, sexuality, race, and class.

The Confessions of a Harvard Man: The Street I Know Revisited: A Journey Through Literary Bohemia Paris & New York in the 20s & 30s
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The Confessions of a Harvard Man: The Street I Know Revisited: A Journey Through Literary Bohemia Paris & New York in the 20s & 30s
Harold Stearns , and Hug Ford
Manufacturer: Paget Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0920348335

Paris Revisited (Orient Express Travel Series)
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Paris Revisited (Orient Express Travel Series)

Manufacturer: Pavilion Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | France | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
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Venice Revisited (Orient Express Travel Series)

ASIN: 1862055173

Book Description

Among the contents: A Night at the Opera, Exploring the Louvre, and Treasurehouses of Paris Life; Churches and Mansions; Les Bonnes Adresses and The Secret Ateliers; Crè me de la Crè me—The Best Restaurants, Brasseries, Bistros, Markets, and Cafes; The Collections and The Food Calendar; Jazz, Cabaret, and Hot Spots; Courses for Connoisseurs, Unsung Neighborhoods, and Things to Do in Paris Before You Die.

Paris revisited (Yes! Capra chapbook series ; no. 3)

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Paris revisited (Yes! Capra chapbook series ; no. 3)
Anais Nin
Manufacturer: Capra Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Paris Revisited in 1815 By Way of Brussells; Including A Walk Over the Field of the Battle of Waterloo

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Paris Revisited in 1815 By Way of Brussells; Including A Walk Over the Field of the Battle of Waterloo
John Scott
Manufacturer: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, London
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H4EE6A

Paris revisited, in 1815, by way of Brussels: Including a walk over the field of battle at Waterloo

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Paris revisited, in 1815, by way of Brussels: Including a walk over the field of battle at Waterloo
John Scott
Manufacturer: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Paris in London revisited or the foreign language teacher's top-most journals [An article from: System]

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Paris in London revisited or the foreign language teacher's top-most journals [An article from: System]
U.O. Jung
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000RQYWHE

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from System, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
In replication and continuation of a 1998 study by the author to establish a rank order of the most prestigious FLT journals, this paper presents a tabulation of the frequency with which FLT journals were selected between 1996 and 2002 for presentation in Language Teaching, the international abstracting journal compiled with the assistance of the London-based Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (CILT) and published by Cambridge University Press. Whereas the previous study detailed the ranking of more than 60 journals, this presentation restricts itself to the 12 most frequently cited journals and discusses gains and losses during the 7-year-period of observation.

The Paris tasting revisited. (wine tasting in Paris, France): An article from: Wines & Vines

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The Paris tasting revisited. (wine tasting in Paris, France): An article from: Wines & Vines
Richard Paul Hinkle
Manufacturer: Hiaring Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B00096MGKC
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Wines & Vines, published by Hiaring Company on August 1, 1996. The length of the article is 2220 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Paris tasting revisited. (wine tasting in Paris, France)
Author: Richard Paul Hinkle
Publication: Wines & Vines (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 1, 1996
Publisher: Hiaring Company
Volume: v77 Issue: n8 Page: p32(3)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

His many and varied novels are part of the American literary landscape—but one of the best ways to appreciate T. C. Boyle is through his richly imagined short fiction. Boyle's kaleidoscopic humor and wit, his keen, unforgiving take on American life, and his all-too-human protagonists all contibute to making his a unique voice. Here is a collection of classic Boyle stories about teenagers (including the O. Henry Award-winning "The Love of My Life") that will speak directly to them, as well as to anyone who was once a teenager too.

Customer Reviews:

Eccentric, witty, and delightful stories aimed for a younger audience.......2005-11-18

New York Times bestselling author T.C. Boyle is known for his outrageous wit and cadenced writing style, with many of his sentences jumping off the page like lyrics to a jingle or the syrupy smooth notes to a song. His novels for adults (DROP CITY, THE TORTILLA CURTAIN and THE INNER CIRCLE, to name a few) and various short story collections (including TOOTH AND CLAW, AFTER THE PLAGUE and DESCENT OF MAN) have garnered much critical acclaim and amassed quite a cult following among the literati. Thankfully, the smattering of stories compiled over the last 25 years that make up THE HUMAN FLY AND OTHER STORIES are now available so that younger readers can go batty over Boyle's gift for storytelling just as much as adults do.

The stories in THE HUMAN FLY range from giggle-inducing outlandish to tear-jerking poignant. From a story about losing a football match ("56-0") to a glimpse into the life of a man who chases after fame by courting death doing daredevil stunts ("The Human Fly") to a record-setting tale of two men battling it out in gargantuan eat-a-thon contests (The Champ"), the choices in this collection offer a little something for everyone --- and every mood. Unlike other anthologies on the shelves, Boyle's stories are consistently enjoyable and well-written, with characters who snap to life as though they're sitting right next to you.

A few stories that stand out above the rest:

"The Fog Man" and "Beat" poke fun at adolescence, each in their own way --- suburban youth in "The Fog Man" and hipped-out counterculture in "Beat." Teens will especially like "Beat" for its Kerouacian feel and subject matter (the story is set in Jack's mom's house; William Burroughs, Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg all make their own riotous cameo appearances). Begging to be read aloud, this story sings with attitude, charm, and raucous, bee-bopped rhythm throughout.

"Juliana Cloth" and the O. Henry Award-winning "The Love of My Life" (which also ran in The New Yorker a few years ago) are surprisingly hard-hitting and should give the more mature readers pause to think about the consequences of their actions. "Juliana Cloth" addresses AIDS in a tribal village and one girl's urge to have sex, despite the consequences. "The Love of My Life" is based on a story in the news about a young couple who abandons their baby in a dumpster --- Boyle reveals both the incessant love and naïve stupidity behind their actions. Expect lasting impressions from these two tales.

Also included in the collection is an Afterword --- an explanation, of sorts, of what Boyle himself intended when writing these stories. Some purists might feel that knowing "the inside scoop" ruins the magic, but others (including teachers who might use the book as a reading assignment for class) will appreciate having access to Boyle's brain and writing process.

Without a doubt, THE HUMAN FLY AND OTHER STORIES will both delight and tickle youngsters for its content and its sassy, "Looney Tunes" style. So, too, will burgeoning writers appreciate Boyle's change in voice over the years and learn from his willingness to tackle a variety of topics, paces and techniques.

--- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

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The Human Fly and Other Stories
T.C. Boyle
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJM5BO

Book Description

Mexico is among the richest countries in the world in terms of the number of native animal and plant species. Found in a wide variety of habitats--from alpine meadows and tropical forests to vast stretches of desert and isolated pockets of biogeographical uniqueness--these species comprise a fascinating, important, and vastly underutilized biological laboratory. This volume presents a collection of selected papers that explore this marvelous biological abundance. The book is divided into six parts. The first section sets the stage with geological and paleobotanical overviews; the succeeding five sections employ a strong taxonomic base to document species richness, endemism and distribution for animals and plants, followed by reviews of contrasting ecosystems and plants that are closely associated with humans. The last section summarizes the disheartening rate of habitat destruction which threatens to diminish this diversity. In addition to the purely scientific value of this important work, it provides the much-needed basic data that will help conservation policymakers assess and respond to Mexico's ecological evolution.

Book Description

contains eight high level critical reviews of transport phenomena in polymeric systems

Book Description

Book Description

The theory of constructive (recursive) models follows from works of Froehlich, Shepherdson, Mal'tsev, Kuznetsov, Rabin, and Vaught in the 50s. Within the framework of this theory, algorithmic properties of abstract models are investigated by constructing representations on the set of natural numbers and studying relations between algorithmic and structural properties of these models.
This book is a very readable exposition of the modern theory of constructive models and describes methods and approaches developed by representatives of the Siberian school of algebra and logic and some other researchers (in particular, Nerode and his colleagues). The main themes are the existence of recursive models and applications to fields, algebras, and ordered sets (Ershov), the existence of decidable prime models (Goncharov, Harrington), the existence of decidable saturated models (Morley), the existence of decidable homogeneous models (Goncharov and Peretyat'kin), properties of the Ehrenfeucht theories (Millar, Ash, and Reed), the theory of algorithmic dimension and conditions of autostability (Goncharov, Ash, Shore, Khusainov, Ventsov, and others), and the theory of computable classes of models with various properties.
Future perspectives of the theory of constructive models are also discussed. Most of the results in the book are presented in monograph form for the first time.
The theory of constructive models serves as a basis for recursive mathematics. It is also useful in computer science, in particular, in the study of programming languages, higher level languages of specification, abstract data types, and problems of synthesis and verification of programs. Therefore, the book will be useful for not only specialists in mathematical logic and the theory of algorithms but also for scientists interested in the mathematical fundamentals of computer science.
The authors are eminent specialists in mathematical logic. They have established fundamental results on elementary theories, model theory, the theory of algorithms, field theory, group theory, applied logic, computable numberings, the theory of constructive models, and the theoretical computer science.

CULTURES OF EXCELLENCE (MODELS OF CONSTRUCTIVE LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE, VOLUME 1)

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CULTURES OF EXCELLENCE (MODELS OF CONSTRUCTIVE LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE, VOLUME 1)

Manufacturer: PACIFIC INSTITUTE PUBLISHING
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 193062204X

The Doctrine of Revelation - A New Interpretation of Revelation (Edinburgh Studies in Constructive Theology)

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The Doctrine of Revelation - A New Interpretation of Revelation (Edinburgh Studies in Constructive Theology)
Gabriel Fackre
Manufacturer: Wm. B. Eerdmans
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WE5TB4

Product Description

Revelation is the study of how, when, and where God reveals himself and of what is disclosed. This book is an excellent introduction to revelation that brings its subject into the theological inquiry of the next century. In discussing the major themes of the narrative of revelation, Gabriel Fackre provides an overview of the traditional models of revelation, introducing readers to the work of such twentieth-century giants as Barth, Tillich, Rahner, and Henry. He also provides dialogue with other formative figures, such as Pannenberg, Dulles, Berkouwer, Torrance, and Lindbeck. By focusing on Scripture, while also making reference to the core secondary literature, Fackre leads readers through the key concepts involved in the construction of a biblically centered doctrine of revelation.

Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Assessment: Deriving an Appropriate Model

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Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Assessment: Deriving an Appropriate Model

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Pedagogy | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Education | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1402062257

Book Description

Assessment is the daily life of a teacher; designing plans, setting questions, giving feedback and grading are all activities that teachers undertake on a regular basis. Yet, the close examination of such activities can be hindered by constraints caused by the context in which different teaching and learning activities occur and an unawareness of the effect that assessment has on the students themselves.

This book provides a practical guide on the effective use of assessment. It includes the use of assessment tools and pedagogical design that help students deepen their learning. Major issues on assessment and some excellent examples are presented as a useful resource to university teachers in enhancing teaching and students' learning. It will also be found useful by teachers when implementing various assessment methods. School administrators and teaching development professionals will find the book useful when making decisions related to learning and teaching issues in their institutions.

Information and Knowledge: A Constructive Type-theoretical Approach (Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science)

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Information and Knowledge: A Constructive Type-theoretical Approach (Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science)
Giuseppe Primiero
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Epistemology | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Logic & Language | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This book develops a philosophical and logical interpretation of the concept of information within the formal structure of Constructive Type Theory (CTT), in a manner concurrent with a diverse range of contemporary perspectives on the philosophy of information. On the basis of this conceptual framework, the problem of analyticity for logical derivations is faced and a solution is proposed.

The text begins with a presentation of the formal structure of CTT, paying particular attention to some topics that have been neglected by current researchers in Type Theory. The treatment is especially formulated for logicians with a philosophical background, but without neglecting a complete formulation of all the technicalities and formal properties. The problem of analyticity is then introduced via an historically and theoretically oriented formulation, beginning with Kant and Bolzano and following its development up to the introduction of the notion of information, extending some lines of research introduced in the contemporary debate by Hintikka. The semantical approach to information is reconsidered in the light of a constructive approach to epistemology, leading to a theoretical analysis of knowledge systems. This allows for the presentation of a formal structure, based on certain typical operations in the formalization of CTT and the use of formal properties of Kripke models, in which the notions of information and knowledge are defined as epistemically different. These definitions involve an extension of constructive epistemology, bringing new material to the extremely open range of problems determined by the notion of verification and the related theory of meaning.

Information and Knowledge presents a new interesting perspective on the constructive interpretation of knowledge processes, suggesting the reliability of such an approach for the logical modeling of epistemic problems and proposing a unifying frame from one of the more important contemporary philosophical perspectives.

The Nature of Human Well-Being: Constructive Conduct of a Society and of a Person : A Conceptual Model of Humanity

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The Nature of Human Well-Being: Constructive Conduct of a Society and of a Person : A Conceptual Model of Humanity
John Amos Banks
Manufacturer: Jordan Book Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Ethics & Morality | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

The constructive systems engineering cost model (COSYSMO): (Dissertation)

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The constructive systems engineering cost model (COSYSMO): (Dissertation)
Ricardo Valerdi
Manufacturer: ProQuest Information and Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Science & Technology | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books

Book Description

Citation Details

Distributed by ProQuest Information and Learning

Book Description

In his finely wrought novels and short stories, John Cheever created men and women, young and old, suburbanites and city dwellers, all of whom, whether they reside in St. Botolphs or Bullet Park or mid-century Manhattan or some other mythic place, are all recognizable as citizens of Cheever country.

Vintage Cheever contains an essential selection of the master’s short stories and selections from the novels The Wapshot Chronicle, Bullet Park, Falconer and Oh What a Paradise It Seems.

Vintage Readers are a perfect introduction to some of the great modern writers, presented in attractive, affordable paperback editions.

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Gripping.
Witnessing a gift
"Paint me a small railroad station, then"
button down fiction
Superb suburban saga

Bullet Park (Vintage Classics)
John Cheever
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Falconer
Oh What a Paradise It Seems
The Wapshot Chronicle (Perennial Classics)
The Wapshot Scandal (Perennial Classics)
The Stories of John Cheever

ASIN: 0099914107

Book Description

Eliot Nailles and Paul Hammer meet, presumably by chance, on Sunday at church in Bullet Park. Nailles is open, no secrets. Hammer is, dangerously for him, not what he seems.

The third crucial character, Tony Nailles, is the one who holds the bag. How he got into it and how in the nick of time he appears to get out is the crux of this tale.

Download Description

In Bullet Park, Eliot Nailles and Paul Hammer meet, presumably by chance, on Sunday at church in Bullet Park. Nailles is open, no secrets. Hammer is, dangerously for him, not what he seems.

Customer Reviews:

Gripping. .......2007-07-28

"Bullet Park" is funny, sad and poignant. John Cheever is a latter-day Mark Twain. This 1969 work better describes the Generation Gap (see the relationship between Nailles and son Tony) than anything I've read. A superb slice of post World War II Americana.

Witnessing a gift.......2006-02-27

The opening is genius, and it grabbed me and took me straight to the conclusion. That suggests a gift for storytelling, and most writers don't have it. For that alone, anything less than four stars seems unfair here.

It's an uncomfortable subject-that alone guarantees some negative reviews here. But he tells a story so well-not perfectly, but who has more than brief moments that may be perfect-that he belongs on a short list of writers worth reading.

"Paint me a small railroad station, then".......2005-07-12

I remember reading this book when it came out, and feeling disappointed that it wasn't a more powerful, apocalyptic novel. Those were the 60s after all, a time when we still looked to our novels for the answers to the day's problems. Cheever wasn't interested in solving problems. As we now know, he was torn in a psychic split between different parts of his identity--the average family man, colorless and yet possessed by a love divine, vs. the bisexual swinger who lives for sensation and the authenticity of the gutter.

BULLET PARK represents this conflict in allegorical terms, and now I can see that the two neighbors and antagonists, Nailles and Hammer, form two halves of the same person. Well, that's a crude way of putting it, but at any rate reading back into the biography they perhaps represent two of Cheever's warring personalities, and in their conflict over the future of Tony Nailles, the appealing teenage son, they are going to war themselves. At stake is nothing less than the future of American literature.

I always thought this would have been a good movie--back in the day I wrote Cheever a note asking him to make sure that Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas would play Hammer and Nailles in the film version. He was polite but non-committal. And I don't know who would be good among today's actors. I picked Lancaster and Douglas because those two, who of course made many pictures together, gave off the almost untangible sensation of somehow having been made for each other, like the way Plato wrote that we are all looking for the other half of the soul we were once part of. Thus even when they were playing antagonists, Lancaster and Douglas still seemed to be seeking each other out, not in an erotic way especially, but in a search for meaning that would never end.

button down fiction.......2004-01-23

This is an engaging story. It takes on suburbia and treats it poetically. It tells the story of two men, Hammer and Nailles. Really, it is two novellas, the first about Nailles. There isn't much interaction between the two men until the end. It looks like a rather simple story with much subtle humor (like the two men's names) at the beginning and gets darker and more twisted as it moves forward.

Stay away from reading the book's jacket. It gives away too much of the story.

Superb suburban saga.......2002-08-12

The realm of much of Cheever's fiction is the affluent suburban sprawl of Thruway-threaded upstate New York, Westchester County and environs. Like the infamous Shady Hill of his short stories, Bullet Park is a whitebread outpost for white-collar professionals who commute daily to the city and drink heavily on weekends, and often weekdays. In a comfortable house on a comfortable street in this town lives Eliot Nailles, a chemist whose specialty is mouthwash and who plies his craft with the conviction that bad breath can lead to global destruction, a respectable family man devoted to his wife Nellie and his teenage son Tony, and an avid churchgoer, although more out of a sense of duty than piety.

Tony's privileged status as an only child and a middle class Baby Boomer has bred an adolescence painful both to himself and to his parents, and he still continues to teeter on the brink of knuckleheadedness. With the insight of a child psychologist and the wisdom of an embattled father, Cheever recounts Tony's various phases: his addiction to television, his threat against his French teacher, his strange sudden interest in poetry, the brash older woman he invites to his parents' house for lunch, and especially his mysterious depression which confines him to bed for weeks and requires the healing power of a "swami" whose idea of therapy is to repeat mantras.

One day a man named Paul Hammer and his wife Marietta move into Bullet Park and befriend the Nailleses. Through first person narration, Paul reveals his colorful past: The illegitimate child of a wealthy, sculpturally ideal father and an eccentric, bookish mother, he uses his Yale education to drift drunkenly through life, translate the work of an Italian poet, and search for the perfect home -- one with a room with yellow walls. His mother's hatred of American capitalism inspires him to murder a well-to-do suburbanite as some kind of statement against bourgeois complacency -- and the man he chooses happens to be Tony Nailles.

The climax is quite surprising and arrives at a moment of the highest suspense and tension, an unusual technique for Cheever, who tends to use dialogue, thoughts, and impressions rather than action to resolve his characters' conflicts. But Cheever's fiction is always full of surprises, even though his subject matter seldom changes; his talent lies in his ability to imagine fascinating stories lurking behind the bland facades of American suburbia and crystallize them with his reliably brilliant prose. "Bullet Park" is a satire and a comedy; it patiently observes suburban provinciality and materialism, and even raises a question about oyster etiquette, all while holding up a distorted mirror to an anticipated readership that lives in places very much like the one it describes.

Vintage Cheever
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Vintage Cheever
John Cheever
Manufacturer: VINTAGE BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OK29Z0

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