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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
lflwriter has commented on (11) products
China: Portrait of a People
by
Tom Carter
lflwriter
, April 12, 2010
China: Portrait of a People became a book by accident. Tom Carter did not fly to China to be a photo journalist or to become an author. Enticed by Ads that said “Teach English in China—No Experience Necessary”, Carter packed his bags and left San Francisco. When Carter arrived in China, the school that accepted his application turned out to be a nickel-and-dime operation run out of an apartment by a guy in his bathrobe. Cater had traveled across the Pacific for a job and found himself out of work before he even started. On the other hand, Carter isn’t the type to give up easily. In short order, he found a position and salary more attractive than the one originally accepted. However, the work load was a challenge. He found himself teaching thirty classes a week and spending most of his free time planning lessons. He was often up at the break of day and didn’t return home until after ten in the evening. After several years of teaching English to Chinese students, Carter decided to take his hard earned savings and become a tourist. He wanted to see all of China first hand. Most tourists travel by jet or bus and spend nights in four or five star hotels sleeping on plush beds. They eat at the best restaurants. Only a few visit countries like Sir Richard Francis Burton, the famous nineteenth century explorer and adventurer. Tom Carter is one of those few. Imagine backpacking for two years and walking 35,000 miles to capture the heart and soul of a nation. That’s what Tom Carter did. The result became China: Portrait of People The consensus among ‘backpackers’ is that China is probably the single most challenging country in the world to visit on foot. That by itself should say a lot. There are more than 1.3 billion people in China. Besides the majority Han Chinese, the population includes fifty-six ethnic groups numbering over one hundred million. Carter saw them all from the teenage girl living in Chengdu dressed like an American punk rocker to the soot covered coal miner in Southern Shanxi. Tom Carter’s metamorphosis from an English teacher into a guerrilla hit and run photojournalist with a camera instead of a grenade launcher took place over a few months. To take the up-close and personal pictures in China: Portrait of a People, Carter risked jail; almost froze on the way to Tibet; faced exhaustion and hunger; was beaten by drunks; plagued by viral infections, and risked being shot by North Korean border guards. The photos in ‘Portrait’ are priceless. I doubt if there will ever be another book about China like this one. From Inner Mongolian nomads to newlyweds in Hong Kong, Carter saw it all. There is an old saying that a picture is equal to a thousand words. Great pictures tell stories. In China: Portrait of a People, each picture is worth ten thousand words. Carter’s portrait of China stands alone in its genre as it focuses expressly on the Chinese people. Carter backpacked to remote areas to visit China’s minorities like the thousand year old Phoenix Village perched over the Tuo Jiang River or the seventy-five year old Pai Yao minority farmer in his red turban. To reach some locations, Carter had to travel on foot through rugged terrain. To get an idea what I’m talking about, consider that China, almost the size of the United States, uses only sixteen percent of its land for growing crops. The rest is either mountains or deserts. Inside “Portrait’, you will see what happens when a modern day Sir Richard Francis Burton spends two years backpacking through China’s thirty-three provinces and autonomous regions, not once but twice. During this odyssey, Carter discovered a friendly, open hearted people. If you plan to visit China, buy this book before you go. On the other hand, if you are an armchair tourist that never strays far from home, Carter’s Rembrandt ‘Portrait’ of China will not disappoint. You will chuckle when you see the twin boys walking out of the river after a swim or watch an eight year old student acrobat at Wuqiao bending herself like a folded sheet of paper. Between the covers of ‘Portrait’, you will start on a vicarious journey visiting China like few have done even among the Chinese. You will travel on this 35,000 mile journey without leaving your house, bus or jet seat. There is no way that this review can do justice for a book like China: Portrait of a People. To try would require millions of words. Seeing is believing. What are you waiting for? Take that first step. Book review by Lloyd Lofthouse, author of My Splendid Concubine
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It Takes One To Catch One
by
Steven A. Knutson
lflwriter
, August 28, 2008
Bringing the Wild Rivers and Wilderness Campfires Home Reading âIt Takes One to Catch Oneâ by Steven A. Knutson, was like being in the high Sierras near the John Muir trail under stars spread across the bowl of night like a crowded field full of blooming flowers sitting around a camp fire chased by wisps of smoke swapping stories with friends now gone. Iâve done that and more. But I havenât hunted and fished like this author has. I havenât been close to a grizzly with two cubs--so close that Knutson felt the touch of death as he tensed waiting for the claws and teeth to slash and bite. The author of âCatch Oneâ will tell you that this is fiction. Itâs not fiction. Itâs captured memories that are like a wild beast, and the story meanders as the author travels back through the years. Sure, there are flaws, but those flaws make this work perfect in the way it captures a wild, dying world most of us will never experience as we are tamed and conditioned to fool ourselves that we are free in noisy, crowded, smelly cities shared with graffiti, gangs and gray CO2 skies. What most of us breathe is not the pure air of Knutsonâs world. Every sentence; every fragment and every run-on or intended, misspelled word along with happy or unhappy faces in places of periods, sculpt a unique image of the author and the world he grew and lived inâa place most of us will never see as corporations and greed pave nature and turn it into a parking lots surrounded by condos, casinos and strip malls. Knutsonâs style is like âsitting around a wilderness campfireâ with bears, moose, dear and bobcat lurking nearby in the brush waiting. As you read, you might find yourself wondering what kind of rifle or pistol you have or should have and is it ready. If you want the rivers and mountains and forests of this world to stay wild, donât tame this book. If you love to fish, Knutsonâs stories will send you places you may only dreamed about. To tame this precious beast that Knutson calls âIt Takes One To Catch Oneâ would be a crime. Iâm sure some editor or grammar maven with a corn cob stuck up his âyou know whatâ would do it because of short sighted stupidity. If you are one of those âstuck in the mudâ editorial types, you might not like what a home-spun, wilderness artist does with the written word. To bad, your loss--our gain. Before I go any further, I want to point out that I taught English grammar and literature for thirty years. I also edit my wifeâs novels (printed and sold in more than thirty languages and countries) before her manuscripts go to her publisher. I feel strongly that a style that goes with the character and voice of the artist are more important than a missing comma or quotation mark; fragment or run-on sentence. I love to read books that take me places I have not been. âIt Takes One to Catch Oneâ was one of those books. I watched Knutson fish and trap not only wild animals for food and fur along with criminal types that would ruin whatâs left of nature for a profit but also the car of a neighbor trying to run down another neighborâs dog. If you are a Bambi lover (a person that doesnât know what living in the real world means), someone that thinks squirrels and bears and deer are cuddly and cute creatures created by a Disney cartoon, this book is not for you. It will probably give Bambi lovers nightmares. On the other hand, if you miss being out in the wilderness and understand that âwildâ means danger of another type and you embrace that danger, donât miss out on the adventures in âIt Takes One To Catch Oneâ. There are two-hundred-and-seventy-eight pages of laughter and âseat-of-the-pantsâ adventure waiting.
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Mozart's Wife
by
Juliet Waldron
lflwriter
, July 13, 2008
Reviewed by Lloyd Lofthouse My father loved opera and classical music. I grew up listening to Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. Not until Mozart’s Wife did I put a face on one of the men that wrote that music, and he turned out to be bigger than life. I started writing the review in my head for Mozart’s Wife by Juliet Waldron before I was halfway through reading the novel. In my opinion, it’s that good—a strong six stars out of five. This is no Hollywood stereotype with a happy prince charming ending although that also happens—sort of. This is a get-in-the-gutter with the rats kind of story that hides nothing. There are no devils here. There are no angels either. There are only real, flesh and blood people. If you want an entertaining trip to discover Mozart, the man behind the music, your journey ends here. This novel delivers. Mozart’s Wife is a story that had me laughing, shuddering and exhausted but satisfied by the end. Mozart’s Wife paints a convincing picture of Mozart as the first superstar with all of the dangers that title entails. Today, the tabloids would have had a field day with Mozart. The paparazzi would have chased him everywhere. Cameras, action, lights and freeway car chases would have been daily fare for this man and his family. Then, in the beautiful white-and-gold Tyl Theater, I witnessed something I’ll never forget. The delirious passion of Prague for the ‘Marriage of Figaro’ had been but a prelude. By the time the old commendatore lay dead at the feet of the wicked Don Giovanni, the audience had gone completely mad. The applause, the shouts of “Bravo!” were ear-splitting. In the box where Josefa and I sat, we could feel the building tremble. Clouds of hats and handkerchiefs flew into the air after each ‘aria’. Confetti rained into the orchestra and onto the stage. There was encore after encore. Mozart was a wild man. He drank. He partied. He seduced endless women that threw themselves in front of him like doorstops. He didn’t have brakes, and it was his wife that suffered and was corrupted. She was the one that starts out as an innocent beauty with visions of prince charming and ends up wounded like so many that have followed in her footsteps since with other superstars. Pretty Konstanze is the flower that opens, changes color and almost wilts in the process Then I’d remember Elise, or worse, Magdalena. “You liar!” I’d scream and push him away. “You broke my heart!” Mozart doesn’t have much of a character arc in the novel, but that does not detract because the novel opens up Mozart and dissects him as the story goes along. Mozart is the same man from beginning to end. Nothing changes him, but you will have to read Mozart’s Wife to find out what that means. Slowly, we discover his moral corruption step by shadowy step as it is revealed inches at a time. The cost of his fame eats him like a malignant cancer from the inside out and like his wife, we are in the room standing beside her experiencing Mozart’s decline in all its tragedy. Mozart’s superstar status across Europe makes him the bell of the ball until he ruins his reputation and loses his welcome in cultured society. Even that is not enough to stop him. “How could you! How could you! In our own house! Pig! Taking advantage of your own poor, wretched servant!” He has his followers, both parasites and sycophants, along with a handful of real friends that support him and his wife until the end. When we meet Konstance, his wife, as a young girl, Mozart is busy seducing her older sister. After the older sister, Aloysia, gets tired of waiting for Mozart and marries another man, Konstance becomes the consolation prize for Herr Kapellmeister. Her innocence captures his heart and there is no doubt that he loves her through the entire novel to his bitter end.
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The Confederate War Bonnet: A Novel of the Civil War in Indian Territory
by
Jack Shakely
lflwriter
, May 10, 2008
The Confederate War Bonnet, A Novel of the Civil War in Indian Territory, by Jack Shakely should be required reading in Americaâs public schools. Not only is War Bonnet entertaining; it is educational as well. The reader gets a peek into the dark side of greed and corruption with American Indians as the not-so-helpless victims. Iâve always been interested in history (including the Civil War), not the dry kind that puts you to sleep in the classroom, but the kind that keeps you riveted because the characters ride off the page shooting and shouting.. Jack Gaston, the main, real-life character of War Bonnet is in his third year at Harvard University when the Civil War starts. His closest friend and blood brother arrives with bad news. Jackâs father has been murdered, and the Creek Tribal Council has elected Jack as a chief in the House of Warriors. Half of the Creek nation has decided to join the Confederacy in the War Between the States, and Jack is to become a Captain in the Southern Army. Not only does Jack go to war but he falls in love with a half Apache nurse tending to the Creek people and warriors wounded in battles. War Bonnet helps reveal a little-known part of the Civil War where American Indians sided with the Confederacy because of the way the tribes had been treated by corrupt Union politicians and bureaucrats full of false promises. The Indian leaders are tired of being lied to and cheated. The Confederacy has promised to treat them as equals and with respect. The Creek nation divides between the South and the North. Near the end of the Civil War, Jack is called before the Principal Chief of the tribes that sided with the North. âAll of our destinies may be in the dust, unless we do something now,â Micco Hutke said in the same soothing voice he had used earlier. âTo heal our wounds and bring us together as one people is something we must strive to achieve, and we give you our thanks for offering your hand in peace. But are we to become a Nation without a nation, like the poor Sac and Fox? The (northern) government tells us that even though we remained loyal, we are now ârenegadesâ and all of our treaties must be rewritten.â I spent thirty years as a teacher in the public schools teaching English literature, and if we are to continue to be a great nation, at least the kind of nation many of us will be proud of, we have to know about the darker chapters in our history. The Confederate War Bonnet is more than a story about the trials and tribulations of war and love. War Bonnet delves into the war between the forces of evil and good. To find out if good prevails, I recommend that you buy and read The Confederate War Bonnet. If you are a student of the Civil war and the American west, this is a novel that will not disappoint.. Jack Shakely is a fourth-generation Oklahoman of Creek descent. In The Confederate War Bonnet, Shakely has done a service to two nations.
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High Spirits: A Tale of Ghostly Rapping and Romance
by
Dianne K. Salerni
lflwriter
, April 03, 2008
Some movies bring tears to my eyes; books seldom do. High Spirits starts with the haunting of Hydesville in 1848. It follows the real life adventures of two sisters, Maggie and Kate Fox. Maggie starts the story by telling us that she began the ‘deception’ when she was too young to know right from wrong. Kate, the younger of the two, regrets her sister’s use of that word. To Kate, the dead are real, and the spirits talk to her. I have well over a hundred books sitting on bookshelves in my study. Some of them I’ve already started. Since I lost interest in most of them, the bookmarks are still waiting between early pages for me to return. Many of the books I buy end up neglected orphans in need of foster parents. Books on the best seller lists seldom satisfy me, because they are shallow or seem like a story I’ve already read. It’s almost as if most of them were chosen by those politically correct people we know are out there monitoring what we say and think and learn—people very much like a ‘few’ of the characters in High Spirits. However, when I find a novel worth reading, it’s like walking into an undiscovered country. High Spirits was one of those. High Spirits is about the lives of the Fox family and two sisters that are devoted to each other. Kate and Maggie are credited with starting the spiritualist movement as a prank. When I first picked up High Spirits, I thought I was going to be reading about ghosts and romance. To my surprise and satisfaction, I soon discovered that High Spirits offers much more. High Spirits turned out to be a story told on many levels. At times I found myself chuckling. At other times I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat wondering if one of the characters I liked was about to suffer a horrible fate. High Spirits is also about a dysfunctional but loving and loyal family surviving in a cruel world. On a more personal note, they are like us. It is easy to identify with them. When danger looms from skeptics that threaten Maggie’s life, her older sister Leah Fox rescues her in a daring and risky escape that leaves Maggie in heart-pounding terror. Just thinking about myself in the same situation under the same circumstances had me breaking out in a cold sweat, and I’m a combat veteran that served in Vietnam. Maggie was a young girl. The romance in High Spirits arrives later in the story. Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, the most widely celebrated American adventurer of the day, eventually walks on stage and fall “madly” in love with Maggie. What turns out to be a complex relationship stands equal to Romeo and Juliet; Tristan & Isolde, and Tony and Maria of West Side Story. That’s as far as I’ll go. My lips are now zipped shut. Hollywood, pay attention. Stories like this are rare, and Maggie and Elisha were real people. In High Spirits, the harsh lines that separate the privileged and powerful from the working class show that dysfunctional people come from all levels of society. However, those at the top have the power to do more damage. What they are capable of doing to hurt others is more like a tidal wave washing over distant shores and leaving nothing but destruction and misery in its wake. When Elisha’s mother interferes with his love for Maggie, horrible consequences are set in motion. Although High Spirits reveals that most of us are human at heart, a few inhuman monsters populate our world and wreck havoc wherever they can for selfish, egotistical reasons. If you are looking for adventure, romance, heartbreak, a bit of history, and a story that will touch you, I recommend this novel. Reading High Spirits will be a journey of discovery that might squeeze out a tear or two like it did for me.
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Wolf Totem
by
Rong Jiang
lflwriter
, January 09, 2008
The publisher of Wolf Totem says that this novel is an epic Chinese tale and that is true. My wife received an advanced copy requesting a blurb, and she didn’t have time to read the novel, so I did and it kept my attention. The main reason I kept reading was because I have had an interest in the Mongols since I was a child. Wolf Totem taught me a lot about this almost extinct culture. The one new thing I learned was the fascinating connection between wolves and Mongols and why this connection may have been the reason why Genghis Khan was so successful in his conquests. I recommend this novel to anyone that wants to learn more about the life of the Mongols and another aspect of the Cultural Revolution (Both Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie Fiction Anchor Trade Paperback and Red Azalea : Berkley Trade Signature Edition by Anchee Min show different aspects too). However, the philosophy of maintaining a balance with nature is a bit overdone. I got the message the first time the characters talked about it but then the topic comes up over and over and over--a bit to much for my taste as I felt it got in the way of the story that was taking place between the main characters and the wolf pup they were attempting to raise. I won’t give away the ending but don’t expect it to be a happy one. Most Chinese novels don’t end with happy endings. The publisher also said that the novel was a stinging social commentary on the dangers of China's overaccelerated economic growth as well as a fascinating immersion into the heart of Chinese culture. That is also true of Wolf Totem.
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Characters & Viewpoint
by
Orson Scott Card
lflwriter
, August 30, 2007
Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card Reading this book was like eating soup that had bursts of flavor in it. To find the flavor, you had to eat a lot of soup that was tasteless. After reading this book, I felt it was suited more for the novice who knows little to nothing about the structure of a book and developing the characters in that book. A novice in my opinion is someone who wants to be published and famous but wasn’t willing to put in the time reading while they were young a to learn the literary skills taught in English literature in high school/college. It is my opinion that this book digresses and has too much fluff and could have been written in fifty to seventy-five pages instead of the one hundred and seventy-three that it is. Although the book offers valuable insight into the development of characterization, it did not need to run on as long as it did. When I read Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood, it didn’t take long to finish the book. Hood’s book was packed with information and examples and did not digress like Card’s book did. On the other hand, it took me five times as long to read Card’s book because of the digressions. However, I do not think that Hood’s book was written for the novice. Card’s book takes the reader by the hand and leads him/her gently toward an understanding of developing characterization along with plot and other structural elements that are required to write a story that has a chance to see print. Hood’s book, on the other hand, leaps in and roars ahead without taking the time to develop the necessary skills. I felt that Hood’s book took for granted that the reader would know the things that Card teaches them in his book. I have four more books on characterization by four other authors and I plan to read them all. I know what my main weakness is in developing a narrative--characterization. After reading Hood and Card, I feel it is important to have a diverse perspective on the topic of developing characterization. One book may not be enough to understand what it takes to bring people to life on the flat page filled with black print.
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Creating Character Emotions
by
Ann Hood
lflwriter
, August 04, 2007
Most men, like myself, tend to be reluctant to show emotion in public. We tend to hide all but anger so we don't give away our weaknesses. I taught English grammar and literature for thirty years and although Ann Hood does not spend a lot of time on any one emotion, she manages to convey just how complex we humans are by quickly glossing over the thirty-six emotions she shows us in her book. I appreciate the way she organized her little book on creating character emotions. I wish I had read it soon after it came out in print. I would have added some of what she wrote into my lessons on characterization. Although I haven't read some of the other books out there about creating emotions, like the one by Orson Scott Card, which I plan to read next, I can not discount the fact that she has provided me with some valuable seeds for thought. As a teacher, I've learned that there are many ways to teach one thing and one method will not reach everyone. I have three books on this subject and Hood's is the first one I've read and I like her approach. I recommend this book to anyone who seriously wants to improve his or her writing and do not stop with just this one book. Read others so that you will really learn how to write Reading this book was like opening a door and walking into a well-lit room. I get it. I finally get it. Maybe I'm just dense and it took someone like Ann Hood to wake me up so I understand what emotion is all about.
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Kingdom Coming The Rise of Christian Nationalism
by
Goldberg, Michelle
lflwriter
, May 03, 2007
I?ve read the reader reviews that give this book a low score and from those comments it is apparent that they have given credibility to the author and the message in the book. Since I was raised in an extremely religious/spiritual environment and have a close friend who is a far right religious fundamentalist whose very beliefs and voice sounds like what this author is warning us about, I can not disagree or attack the messenger of truth. Although we are faced with enemies to our freedom of choice from without, we are also faced from the same threats from within. The Islamic fundamentalists wants to kill us because we won?t believe what they want us to believe, and the Christian fundamentalist wants to legislate our lives so we have no choice. Both are bad choices. I suggest, if you are not a far right fundamentalist, that you read this book with an open mind and realize that if the pro life, creationist minded, individuals who are far right fundamentalists continue to win on the political and legal stage, we will one day find that America is repeating the inquisition of the middle ages where it is estimated that fifty million innocent people were put to death for not believing what the religious establishment said was politically correct at the time.
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Last Empress The She Dragon Of China
by
Keith Laidler
lflwriter
, April 26, 2007
What I find amazing is that the media critics can't see that this book is based on the lies of Edmund Backhouse and John Bland. If you want something closer to the truth, I recommend that instead of reading this book read Dragon Lady by Sterling Seagrave or other books based on the same sources Seagrave uses. The evidence is clarifying: "In 1974, somewhat to Oxford's embarrassment and to the private dismay of China scholars everywhere, Backhouse was revealed to be a counterfeiter, a con man, and a complete fraud..." (page 13, Dragon Lady). Be warned, you won't find the truth in China. The Communist government has made sure that school textbooks there are based on what Backhouse and Bland wrote about Tzu Hsi being a ruthless, single-minded tyrant, an iron-willed, oversexed Manchu concubine who usurped power in 1861 to rule China with perversion, corruption and intrigue for half a century..." It isn?t in the interest of the Communist government to portray a picture closer to reality.
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Last Empress
by
Anchee Min
lflwriter
, April 24, 2007
After reading the reviews on this book, I noticed that one of the complaints was that the character wasn't as full as the first book in the two book series. However, since ' The Empress Orchid' shows us who the empress is up close and personal why do we need to know her again? This sequel moves away from an up close image of one person and widens it to take in a country and what is happening to it and "her" roll on that world stage. Maybe Anchee Min should have divided the sequal into a third book but what is here is satisfying and informs in an entertaining, fast paced style.
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