Tonight is the first event for the new book, and I've spent most of the afternoon at home with curlers in my hair and cucumber circles on the eyes...
Continue »
What a good read. If ever there was a "beach book" for guys, this is it.
Picture a timid little man, a machinist, who works his way through WWII tending a machine shop in a factory. He's responsible for the maintenance of machine tools. As a hobby, he writes "how to" articles for a little British amateur machinist magazine. He lives in a little British town with his little British wife in a little British house.
After the war, in the early 50s, his sister and her post-traumatic-stressed ex-fighter pilot husband drop their daughter off on his doorstep and leave on a sail boat headed to Vancouver BC via the South Pacific. They don't make it.
The little machinist is forced to take off in search of their boat to recoup the little girl's family treasure, and thus this novel about his adventure.
I'd love to see a movie made of this, Anthony Hopkin would be the Trusty from the Toolroom.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(5 of 8 readers found this comment helpful)
I was in the old Tower Books on Mercer Street in Seattle. It was the week before Christmas. It was gray and raining outside. The store was jammed.
The checkout line was about fifty people long and started at the back wall of the store, near that mysterious door marked, "Employees Only".
I was in the line with my 5 books. Everyone was damp from the rain and it was too hot and misty. Tempers were on edge from the last minute shopping.
About four people ahead of me was a short trocky little fire plug of a woman. She appeared to be about 60, with cropped gray hair. One hand held a bunch of books for purchase, and the other held her brief case and a hard hat. She wore a gray business suit. I took her to be an engineer or architect of some sort.
I wouldn't say the we "wended" our way towards the cash register, it was more like creeping.
People were not speaking to each other.
About ten feet fron the checkout, there was a display of books "How to satisfy a woman every time~ and have her beg for more!"
Everybody stared at the title, no body picked up a copy (now one would want to be seen with it, but I'm sure everyone was curious).
The engineer/architect stared at the lurid pink cover, and turned to the person behind her and in a loud voice said, "I'll tell ya how to satisfy a woman, and you don't need a damn book! Just pick up your socks and throw away the Cheetos bag thats lying on the coffee table."
The crowd roared!
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(4 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
When Eugene Sledge retired from his career as a professor of botany and biology, he decided to finish the book he was writing for his children and grandchildren. It was a journal of his time in the Marines in the South Pacific during WWII. This book should be read cover to cover, twice, by anyone indending to join the military during wartime. Sledge spares no holds in his descriptions of what war does to human beings on both sides of the fight. This is definitely not the Hollywood Marines of John Wayne or Errol Flynn.
Be aware, this is not a revisionist history, it is composed from the notes of a participant and is completely matter of fact, yet it is written by an appreciator of the English language and thus, it is completely engrossing.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(18 of 22 readers found this comment helpful)
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
Customer Comments
jaesbow has commented on (3) products.
Trustee from the Toolroom
jaesbow, October 30, 2006
What a good read. If ever there was a "beach book" for guys, this is it.Picture a timid little man, a machinist, who works his way through WWII tending a machine shop in a factory. He's responsible for the maintenance of machine tools. As a hobby, he writes "how to" articles for a little British amateur machinist magazine. He lives in a little British town with his little British wife in a little British house.
After the war, in the early 50s, his sister and her post-traumatic-stressed ex-fighter pilot husband drop their daughter off on his doorstep and leave on a sail boat headed to Vancouver BC via the South Pacific. They don't make it.
The little machinist is forced to take off in search of their boat to recoup the little girl's family treasure, and thus this novel about his adventure.
I'd love to see a movie made of this, Anthony Hopkin would be the Trusty from the Toolroom.
(5 of 8 readers found this comment helpful)
How to satisfy a woman every time -- and have her beg for more! by Naura Hayden
jaesbow, October 30, 2006
I was in the old Tower Books on Mercer Street in Seattle. It was the week before Christmas. It was gray and raining outside. The store was jammed.The checkout line was about fifty people long and started at the back wall of the store, near that mysterious door marked, "Employees Only".
I was in the line with my 5 books. Everyone was damp from the rain and it was too hot and misty. Tempers were on edge from the last minute shopping.
About four people ahead of me was a short trocky little fire plug of a woman. She appeared to be about 60, with cropped gray hair. One hand held a bunch of books for purchase, and the other held her brief case and a hard hat. She wore a gray business suit. I took her to be an engineer or architect of some sort.
I wouldn't say the we "wended" our way towards the cash register, it was more like creeping.
People were not speaking to each other.
About ten feet fron the checkout, there was a display of books "How to satisfy a woman every time~ and have her beg for more!"
Everybody stared at the title, no body picked up a copy (now one would want to be seen with it, but I'm sure everyone was curious).
The engineer/architect stared at the lurid pink cover, and turned to the person behind her and in a loud voice said, "I'll tell ya how to satisfy a woman, and you don't need a damn book! Just pick up your socks and throw away the Cheetos bag thats lying on the coffee table."
The crowd roared!
(4 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B Sledge
jaesbow, October 30, 2006
When Eugene Sledge retired from his career as a professor of botany and biology, he decided to finish the book he was writing for his children and grandchildren. It was a journal of his time in the Marines in the South Pacific during WWII. This book should be read cover to cover, twice, by anyone indending to join the military during wartime. Sledge spares no holds in his descriptions of what war does to human beings on both sides of the fight. This is definitely not the Hollywood Marines of John Wayne or Errol Flynn.Be aware, this is not a revisionist history, it is composed from the notes of a participant and is completely matter of fact, yet it is written by an appreciator of the English language and thus, it is completely engrossing.
(18 of 22 readers found this comment helpful)