Books

House of Good Hope: A Promise for a Broken City (River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize)

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thoughtful & interesting
A Tale Well Told

House of Good Hope: A Promise for a Broken City (River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize)
Michael Downs
Manufacturer: Bison Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Children in Room E4: American Education on Trial
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A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

ASIN: 0803260121

Book Description

It was a crumbling city, like so many others. But in Hartford five gifted young men, who met as high school athletes, promised their lives to the hometown that shaped them even as it was coming apart. They intended to go far. They would, they pledged, bring back college degrees and commit themselves to living and working in Hartford. This is the story of those five men and how they kept, or broke, that promise—told by a writer whose own family history and departure are also part of Hartford’s struggle. It is a story of hope and heartbreak; love, sacrifice, and murder; big-time college football and police brutality; a drug sting that fells a high school coach; and, finally, a reunion of friends who have learned how hard it is to honor the past and live for the future in a place like Hartford.

Through it all Michael Downs comes to terms with his own decision to leave his hometown and abandon his ailing grandparents to a city that shows little mercy. His is very much a narrative of our nation of migrants and immigrants, where we must forever ask: What happens to those we leave behind? And how can we make peace with ourselves when we can no longer help the places we once called home?

Customer Reviews:

thoughtful & interesting.......2007-06-18

Makes a person think about education, urban planning and the cost of suberbia.

A Tale Well Told.......2007-04-11

Michael Downs has done a wonderful job of weaving in his personal life with a story of hopes and dreams--some realized and some not. At times, his prose is poetic. The story of the virtual collapse of huge chunks of Hartford is a story that has played out in major cities across America. This story, extremely well-documented and reported, is uniquely and poignantly told.

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Batman: Broken City
Broken City, Dark and Menacing
The darkest in-continuity Batman story ever told.
An overlooked gem!
The Knight is Always Dark

Batman: Broken City
Brian Azzarello , and Eduardo Risso
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1401201334

Book Description

BATMAN: BROKEN CITY offers a profound examination of the Dark Knight Detective and the grim metropolis he protects. While hunting the murderer of a small boys parents, Batman embarks on a journey of self-discovery that forces him to reflect on his life and the choices he has made. But when the Dark Knight becomes caught up in his own investigation and ruminations, he suddenly falls prey to a deadly new pair of killers that has been stalking him. A gritty, introspective tale, this noir-flavored book features appearances by the Joker, the Penguin, Killer Croc and Scarface.

Customer Reviews:

Batman: Broken City.......2007-03-29

I'm impressed with this Batman tale because it is a terrific murder mystery. It reminds me of some of my favourite hardboiled detective novels like The Chill, by Ross MacDonald, or even The Long Goodbye by Chandler--wherein it may not necessarily be the solution to the crime that makes the story great, but the journey getting there. Dirty secrets get uncovered as Batman pursues Angel Lupo, prime suspect in the murder of his sister, as well as the double homicide of a married couple simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or so it appears. But the hunt for the truth ropes in some old Batman foes, like Killer Croc, and the eerie duo known as Ventriloquist and Scarface. The can of worms Batman opens as he scours a particularly bleak and rainy Gotham hunting a murderer is, in the tradition of some great pulp detective fiction, not necessarily relevant to the main crime but, well, just as bad or worse. Crimes piled on crimes, layers of tenously connected secrets that, as they are revealed, do not flatter anyone involved. Then the flash of insight, the sudden hunch from the gut--in this case, Batman breaking free of some narrow thinking caused by the circumstances involved in his own parents' deaths--and the case is suddenly solved.

The theme is as old as pulp fiction: turn over rocks looking for one snake, and you may find all kinds of snakes. And, as usual, something that looks as pure as driven snow in a story like this often turns out to be stained the worst.

I don't see any real loose ends in this story, except for, perhaps, a clear explanation of what stolen object connects lowlife Angel Lupo with new villains in town Fat Man and Little Boy. Other than that, the role that Angel Lupo, his lover Margo Farr, car thief Jonny Billy of Little Tokyo, the Penguin, Killer Croc, Ventriloquist and Scarface, all played in the homicides, is explained. I especially liked the scene where Batman finally stands face to face with Angel Lupo--a scared, hunted Angel Lupo pointing a gun at our hero while someone else waits in the shadows for a chance to kill the man he thinks ruined his happiness.

A few problems: I think Killer Croc isn't tough enough in this story; Batman seems to push him around at his leisure--and wouldn't it take chains to keep Croc tied up? I don't think Batman is any crueler in this dreary story than he has been elsewhere, and I don't think his quick handling of Little Boy in their final skirmish is a disappointment; after taking his lumps from her (Little Boy does seem to be female) in severe fashion, he finally detects her weak spot and exploits it with a quick bit of finesse, and the tables are turned without a lengthy brawl. I kind of like it when heavily-hyped fighters go down fast--and she had cleaned Batman's clock pretty thoroughly earlier! But the Joker's scene with the Dark Knight--he summons Batman to Arkham for a chat (ie. some taunting)--could have been left out, though I guess, in his demented way, he's trying to get Batman to think outside the box. The scene ends kind of abruptly, and it seems to be the following sequence, where Batman flashes back to an intriguing detail from the day his parents were killed, and not the Joker's oblique natterings, that forces him to rethink assumed guilt and innocence.

The final unmasking of a murderer caught me by surprise, despite me having read a terrific whodunit called Night Games, by Collin Wilcox (that doesn't spoil things, does it?--has anyone here read Night Games, by Collin Wilcox?), where the solution was similar. It just shows that it's really tough to come up with an original puzzle these days. But I still loved this crime story, and I recommend that you ignore any claims that it's too confusing--goodness! it's a mystery story with multiple suspects and crimes hiding other crimes while everyone tries lying to Batman (it doesn't work) to obfuscate the truth while the real killer is protected by all these layers of deception...what do you expect, simplicity?!

It's a splendid story, and Batman remains a great, if temporarily misguided, detective. Give him time, he'll get it worked out. Still punches hard too.

Broken City, Dark and Menacing.......2006-12-29

I view Batman as the darkest of the DC heroes - a man who can be hurt, who deals in the grime and filth of humanity and whose mission is to help not just the innocent, but the not-as-guilty. It's Batman and Daredevil who are the greatest triumphs for human stories in the line.

Broken City, written by Brian Azzerello reaches to those roots of the man behind the mask. He's no friend of the establishment in this book because establishments are cesspools for corruption whether criminal or city. He's on a mission to find truths about himself and to rescue the mind of a little boy in shock after the brutal murders of his parents. The artwork, illustrated by Eduardo Risso isn't the focus, but instead the atmosphere of a well-told story. It's dark and angry and dangerous.

The traditional villians come back to earth in this story, running criminal organizations with very personal effects - drugs, theft, murder, prostitution, etc. It's a story where the detective works his way up to the truth by beating the streets, turning informants and taking wrong trails. Noir, gritty and real. I loved seeing Batman making mistakes and feeling slighted by it, taking it personally, then working new angles. He's alone, and lonely, and can't trust anyone else with the information he's got because the trail might grow as cold as the next victim he stumbles upon in a rain-drenched alley.

For my taste there are too many loose ends, but it's comics and perhaps there are stories to be told later from each thread left dangling. The dialogue is intentionally simplistic and some of it could have been chopped. One of the villians had too much build-up for too simple a fight. Those are my nits. I still recommend it.

- CV Rick

The darkest in-continuity Batman story ever told........2006-11-27

"Batman: Broken City" was created as something of an all-star event. Occuring directly after the "Hush" storyline by Loeb and Lee, this effort by the "100 Bullets" crew was DC's effort to hit a second sales homerun. In terms of both creativity and sales, they maybe didn't quite hit that second homer, but this is at least a ground-rule double, if not a triple.

Though the story originally appeared in the regular comics series and is obstensibly in-continuity, it manages to evoke the same "extra-continuity" sensibilities of projects like Miller's "Dark Knight" stories. That is clearly intentional, as Miller (and his "Batman: Year One" compadre David Mazzucelli) are clearly both influeces and references used by artist Eduardo Risso to adapt his noir style to Gotham City. One of the things that added to this sense of "non-continuity" was Azzarello's verison of Killer Croc, which was something of an about-face from the more tragic takes on the character by other writers like Doug Moench. Even visually, Croc was entirely re-designed from all previous versions. Though I much prefer the regular version of Croc as a villain, this technique of reinvention did add something to the story, I must admit.

Whether you will like this story depends on what you want out of Batman stories. Bats is an archetypal character, and there are many different takes on him. There's the detective. There's the vigilante. There's the modern-day night. There's the international swashbuckler. There's the man who can beat anyone over in the JLA, given "enough time to prepare". This version borrows heavily from the slightly sadistic Miller version, but with more of a noir detective sensibility than we've seen before, right down to the cliched noir dialogue that you expect from such stories.

If "your" Batman is the honor-driven, action hero knight of Gotham, then this one might not be to your liking. But if you can stand a more brutal take on the character (and some more realistic limitations on his abilities, perhaps), then this one might be for you. But like it or not, disturbed by it or not, there's no denying the artistic merits of the piece. This is definitely pulp, genre fiction and not fine literature, but it's very good pulp fiction.

Recommended.

An overlooked gem!.......2006-10-02

Just finished reading some editors' review on Amazon of other Batman graphic novels and was shocked at the great reviews given some mediocre books and the poor review given to this one, Broken City, which in my opinion is a masterpiece and comparable to works of Miller, Sale/Joeb! When I first bought it, I read it twice to figure out who killed who. It wasn't because the story was convoluted, which it is, but the artwork is so beautiful, so smart, that I would just study the panels and not pay attention to the story. Risso is the absolute master of using shadow and black areas to define his work. I've taken this book into several of my digital art classes, where we've dissected the shadows, panning of scenes etc. They are stunning! Every scene is drawn with meticulous care and serve as both luscious artwork and moving the story forward. My favorite scenes have to be Batman arguing with Croc reflected in the tire rims of the car, the beating Batman receives at the hand of the skinny Japanese girl where he finally graps her bracelet, and the point of view from inside Batman's mouth while he gives himself First Aid. Bruce Wayne grilling a steak while talking on the phone with the Gotham PD detective, "grilling relaxes me," has to be a new classic and provides a refreshing take of the tired old scenes from the batcave with Alfred making goofy remarks in the background. Many compare Risso to Miller and other artist, but I see a lot of Mignola in his work; dark areas with layers of meaning providing a background to Azzarello's noir story laden with biting humor. I know 100 Bullets is a popular, but I've never particularly cared for it, but this is different. Buy it for the art or for the story and even if you are not a Batman fan, you won't regret it.

The Knight is Always Dark.......2006-05-06

That Publishers Weekly could give the above negative review to Batman: Broken City but give a mostly positive review to Identity Crisis is an apalling crime. Batman: Broken City is dark, yes, because it's Batman!! Ever since Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns, Batman has been very dark. "Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot" and Batman intentionally scares the crap out of them.

What you get here that you don't get anywhere else is the internal monologue. The text reads like an old black-and-white film noir narration, whith some excellent wordplay. I guess actually getting into the head of someone as driven, and quite possibly insane, was too disturbing to the people at Publisher's Weekly. What did they expect Batman's thoughts to be like?

Like Identity Crisis we get a human look at a hero. While pursuing a criminal Batman runs into an alley and there he finds a boy crying over the bodies of his parents. The scene, obviously, strikes a chord with Batman and he pursues the case with a vengeance. And along the way, he makes a mistake.

Unlike Identity Crisis, here, when Batman realizes his mistake he does the best to rectify it. Things get out of control and we find that Batman is, after all, only human.

Eduardo Risso's artwork, while obviously influenced by the work of Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, more closely resembles Tim Sale's artwork, so the world he creates is a very familiar atmosphere for us Loeb/Sale fans.

The story does get a bit complicated. Not everything is straight forward, and some of the revelations at the end didn't quite add up. Given that Batman's thought process is used for narration, his train of logic should have been a little more apparent at the end. The story wasn't perfect, but it was good, and it was definately Batman.

My Face to the Wind: the Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska 1881 (Dear America Series)

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I Tried . . . I Really Did!
Slow Beginning But Nevertheless a Good Read
Can you say boring?
Eunicia's Book Report
An example of semi-historical fiction

My Face to the Wind: the Diary of Sarah Jane Price, a Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska 1881 (Dear America Series)
Jim Murphy
Manufacturer: Scholastic Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0590438107

Book Description

In the late 1870s, many young teachers traveled West to earn money and make a new life for themselves, despite the schools being inadequate at best. Some returned home, unable to endure the hardships of prairie life, but others were more committed to their work. Sarah Jane Price stayed, braving the rough conditions of the West. Written by Newbery Honor Author Jim Murphy, this is Sarah Jane Price's story.

Customer Reviews:

I Tried . . . I Really Did!.......2006-08-17

I was about half-way through this book when I finally had to face the fact that I was not at all interested. I was just forcing myself to read because I had to know what happened to Sarah, the orphaned girl without family to turn to; but the writing styel was dry and tasteless. Sarah had no personality, and neither did any of the people in the wind beaten Prarie town where she lived. And Sarah says things that don't make any sense. There is a girl who wants to be her friend, but Sarah says that she talks to much. But she WAS NOT too talkative! All she did was make ordinary conversation! A strange and annoying read.

Slow Beginning But Nevertheless a Good Read.......2006-06-01

This is the second Dear America I read, and it was good enough to make me read more. The second time I read it, I saw that the boring beginning wasn't that great, and I skipped straight to her first class. As for her "visions" of her father, they didn't really bother me. The classroom scenes were fresh and portrayed the challenges of teaching on a prairie, and the ending also gripped me. Read, and if necessary skim the first few entries!

Can you say boring?.......2006-05-15

I love the Dear America books, but this one was very boring and lifeless. The girl thought she could here her father talking to her. Which was weird, because he was dead. If you are going to read a book in this series, dont make it this one.

Eunicia's Book Report.......2005-12-07

DEAR AMERICA
My Face to the Wind
By Jim Murphy
The diary of Sara Jane Price, a prarie teacher.

In My Face to the Wind Sara Jane Price who was 14 years old moved to Broken Bow, Nebraska with her father who was a teacher. After a short while her father got the fever and died, Sara moved in with an elderly lady named Miss Kizer who owned an inn. When Sara found out she was to go to a Chriastan orphanage called The Girl's Asylum, and found out they work six days a week in the fields except for Sunday from her friend Ida she wanted to stay in Broken Bow desperately.
After Sara found out about The Girl's Asylum she decidedto make money by being a tacher in Broken Bow, she thought it was a good idea because she learned how to teach a little from watching her father. As Sara told Ida, her friend, about the idea Ida said to go ask her father who is on the school board and get the school rules pamphlet. When Sara and Ida arrived at Ida's house Ida went to get the pamphlet while Sara explained the idae to Ida's father and Mr. Gaddis who is also on the school board. After a few days Mr. Gaddis and the rest of the school board decided they would let Sara teach until they found a real teacher.

the setting of the book takes place in Broken Bow, Nebraska during 1881.

The theme of the story to me is if you work hard and don't give up your ddream can come true.

This book is a really great and interesting book. If you ever have extra time I suggest you read this book.

An example of semi-historical fiction.......2004-10-25

Have you read a book titled _The Gutenberg Elegies_? It's about the difficulties that modern students have with grasping older literature. The reason for this is essentially that the world has changed so much in the last century that what was once common knowledge (farming, for example) is no longer common, and the once ubiquitous (and entirely Western) social code is no longer uniform.

As a result, characters from older books seem -- well, the usual student reaction to authentic period literature is "I just don't get it." It's not that the words are too hard; we just "don't get" the motivations. Seeing characters act inside narrower cultural norms -- unable to rise above family and societal demands -- is as strange to the modern TV generation as a non-Western story might have been to a 19th century reader.

In this situation, _My Face to the Wind_ represents the compromise position. The author goes to some trouble to present a physical and political setting that is historically accurate, but the key characters themselves have been "updated" to conform somewhat more to modern sensibilities.

For example, the central character is clearly an educated and well-brought-up 14-year-old, but she transgresses the social code when she directly asks the boarding house owner about her romantic past -- and even follows up with detailed inquiry when the older woman tries to deflect the issue.

Anyone familiar with the pre-Industrial Revolution social code realizes this would have been considered insupportably rude -- grounds for a serious scolding for "impertinence" at minimum -- but it works with modern students, because they have no idea that this was considered extremely bad behavior at the time.

The other problem that this work suffers from is the presentation as a "diary." Generally, the writing style of a diary is quite difference from a narrative work; it's more internal and reflective and self-referential. One includes in a diary things that one wouldn't include in a narrative account, and vice versa. Perhaps more importantly, one omits from a diary external events and details which are critical to a narrative. I think that this book would work better as a series of letters; the epistolary (letter-writing) voice would feel more authentic.

I generally like the historical information presented in this book. The prairie settlers get overlooked too often, and this helps redress that imbalance somewhat. I do wish, however, that the publishers went to more trouble to make sure that readers understood that this is ENTIRELY A WORK OF FICTION. In particular, the inclusion of an epilogue that purports to tell what the characters did in later life contributes to the illusion that this is "real."

P.S. One caveat for the gift-giver: This story uses the occasional appearance of her father's ghost in unexpected "visions" to move the plot along. Do NOT buy this for someone who will be offended by seance-like visions and unearthly communications from dead relatives.

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A WORTHY SALUTE TO A RICH POETIC TRADITION

Broken Land: Poems of Brooklyn
Julia Kasdorf , and Michael Tyrell
Manufacturer: New York University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

ASIN: 0814748031
Release Date: 2007-03-01

Book Description

"This book isn't only for Brooklyn residents but for all those who value community...Reading this collection is a moving experience because the poems feel home-grown. It doesn't matter where they were written, each one makes Brooklyn come alive, and the poems find a home inside you."
--From the Foreword by Hal Sirowitz, author of Mother Said

Brooklyn, crouching forever in the shadow of Manhattan, is perhaps best known for a certain bridge or for the world-renowned tackiness of Coney Island. When it comes to literary history, Brooklyn can also seem dwarfed by its sister borough-until you take a closer look. As unlikely as it may sound, for more than two centuries Brooklyn has inspired poets and poetry. Although there are plenty of poetry anthologies devoted to specific regions of the United States, Broken Land is the first to focus exclusively on verse that celebrates Brooklyn. And what remarkable verse it is.

Edited by poets Julia Spicher Kasdorf and Michael Tyrell, this collection of 135 notable poems reveals the many cultural, ethnic, aesthetic, and religious traditions that have accorded Brooklyn its enduring place in the American psyche. Dazzling in its selections, Broken Land offers poetry from the colonial period to the present, including contributions from the American poets most closely associated with Brooklyn-Walt Whitman, Hart Crane, and Marianne Moore-as well as memorable poems from Elizabeth Bishop, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, George Oppen, and Charles Reznikoff. Also included are a wide range of contemporary works from both established and emerging poets: Derek Walcott, Galway Kinnell, C.K. Williams, Amy Clampitt, Martin Espada, Lisa Jarnot, Marilyn Hacker, Tom Sleigh, D. Nurkse, Donna Masini, Michael S. Harper, Noelle Kocot, Joshua Beckman, and many others.

With its expansive array of poetic styles and voices, Broken Land mirrors the borough's diversity, toughness, and surprising beauty. The requirements for inclusion in this volume were simple: excellent poems that pay tribute in some way to the land that Dutch settlers, translating from the Algonquin, called "Gebroken landt." But it is the phrase emblazoned on borough billboards that best serves to entice readers into entering this book: "Welcome to Brooklyn, Like No Other Place in the World."

Customer Reviews:

A WORTHY SALUTE TO A RICH POETIC TRADITION.......2007-05-17

Karsdorf and Tyrell have created a Brooklyn "monument"--in the very best sense of the word--in this homage to a thriving borough with its own unique thriving poetics.

Besides being a generous, good spirited enterprise, "Broken Land" is artfully organized. The editors have evaded nostalgia, cloying tribute, and reductive provincialism. The charm of the American imagination is in full display.

London, Tennessee, or Texas. . . "Broken Land" is a "must have" for any public or personal library... a real gift!

Dancing with Broken Bones: Portraits of Death and Dying among Inner-City Poor

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Dancing with Broken Bones: Portraits of Death and Dying among Inner-City Poor
David Wendell Moller
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195165268

Book Description

This book tells the stories of patients whose stories are typically not told: the urban dying poor. By illustrating how the issues and needs of this especially vulnerable group are shaped by the experience of living in poverty, this work provides an important contribution to the growing literature on palliative care for special populations.

Broken Arrow City of Roses and Pure Water (OK) (Images of America)

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Broken Arrow City of Roses and Pure Water (OK) (Images of America)
Donald Allen Wise
Manufacturer: Arcadia Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

Broken Arrow was established in 1902 as a railroad terminal on the Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad. It became a trade center for cattle, cotton and corn. In the early days, roses were planted in homes and along streets, and the use of a local spring for city water gave Broken Arrow the title of ìCity of Roses and Pure Water.î The population was stable until 1950, when the rapid growth of the city made it the fifth largest in Oklahoma. ÝÝBroken Arrow: City of Roses and Pure Water is a collection of vintage images that illustrates the development of the town from an agricultural trade center to a prosperous city of diversified, light industry and a center of education. Featured in this book are the busy streets, parades and festivals, softball tournaments, tourist attractions, and recent civic improvements that make Broken Arrow unique. Historic photographs of downtown stores and residential homes depict the earliest growth patterns of the city and show the development of Broken Arrow as a community. ÝÝ

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The best (only?) attempt to portray Old Macau in fiction...

City of broken promises
Austin Coates
Manufacturer: John Day Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006BVGS8

Customer Reviews:

The best (only?) attempt to portray Old Macau in fiction..........2003-11-17

Coates is one of those colonial Brit types, who is probably most famous for his book Myself a Mandarin. He's the son of Tin Pan Alley composer Eric Coates, and an interesting writer about Asia and Asians. While he usually writes non-fiction (his books include histories of the Whampoa docks, the rubber trade, the Hong Kong telecommunications industry, Macau in the good old days, etc.), this is his attempt at a novel set in 18th-century Macau.

As a novel, you could easily do better. But if you want to hear someone tell a story of Old Macau, at a time when Hong Kong was still part of San On county in the Qing government, you have no other choice. Since none of the 20th Century's great authors have taken an interest in Macau, Coates currently claims the land for himself. The story is quite romantic. It's also quasi-historical, in that the main female protaginist was an actual person. Coates draws on his extensive research of Macanese history to flesh out the plot.

Again, for someone who wants to be whisked away to this far-off time and place, Austin Coates is your best (and only) choice.

The Steam Magnate (The Broken Glass City Mosaic series)

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Wonderful imagination, would like more imagery.
A book you will treasure
Review of The Steam Magnate

The Steam Magnate (The Broken Glass City Mosaic series)
Dana Copithorne
Manufacturer: Aio Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Nocturne
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The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One)

ASIN: 1933083085

Book Description

Departing from formulaic themes involving quests, magicians, and mythical animals, this fantasy novel follows a character with powers more ordinary than most uber-wizards. Having inherited the steam-power legacy and the mysterious ability to funnel the assets of others into his own coffers through the mere use of ink and paper, Eson is hated by some and feared by others. While recovering from a disastrous relationship with a woman of his own magical kind, he meets a young woman who isn’t who she claims to be, and Eson must now defend himself against challenges far too close to home. Set in a world that is a tempting concoction of fairy-tale charm and everyday existence, this work explores the inequities of social class and the realities living among the less fortunate.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful imagination, would like more imagery. .......2007-04-27

Dana Copithorne has a great imagination. I loved her ideas here: the Glass City, the northern steam territories, the rich coastal city, the natives from a strange land. And there's a wonderful melding of spiriual power and electrical power. Kind of helps us through this religious vs. scientific conundrum we're in these days. We want to believe in the old powers, but the new ones just keep usurping the world.

The novel feels like it moves too quickly for me. There's a lot of ground to cover, several important relationships to get established, locations constructed, good and bad defined, history unfolded. Because of the picturesque settings and unusual characters, however, I would have liked to move slower through the details of the day. I wanted to live through those relationships, places, and histories. Imagine a glass city. I would like to have seen more of the light filtering through all of the amazing bits and pieces. I would like to not just know who the good and bad guys were but really like or dislike them the way the main character, Kyra, did. I kept wondering who was going to turn on Kyra. Seemed like nobody ever did, but there certainly was potential for it. And people seemed to fall in "like" too fast. I don't want to say "love" because everything seemed only lukewarm. The passion of love was missing for me.

It's not necessarily the author's fault. With so much pressure put on authors to move things along these days, none of them seem allowed to show the important details, the moments, the observations. God forbid you'd ever remark on anything. What we, as readers are left with, is a list of events. Correct from the textbook's standpoint, but too grocery listy for my taste. I want to feel the satin and fur, smell the grime and perfume, hear the grunge and the butterfly. Can you imagine what a Glass City would sound like? I'd love to find out.

A good first effort from the author. A little detail added to her wonderful imagination, and a little slower pace, and we'd have a great new world to experience.

Sue Lange

A book you will treasure.......2006-10-11

Reviewed by Susan Pettrone for Reader Views (9/06)

"Kyra arrived late at night, on a crowded, rattling steam engine, at an ancient place they called the `City of Mirrors' or the `Broken Glass City,' depending upon the language used. The City earns these names from stained glass that has been superimposed onto the exteriors of the walls and walkways, as though glass were shattered and thrown about into patterns, some random, others deliberate".

And, so begins the poetic story of Eson, and the world which surrounds him, which we later find to be so very much like its name. Eson is a fortunate man. He has inherited a steam-power legacy from his family and though he is somewhat of a puzzling character, his strength is shown within the use of the power he yields within his world. Though powerful, he is also a solitary man, without real closeness within his life. It is this lack of connection that makes him a lonesome man surrounded by a world in which he wants for nothing except for love. Coming from a relationship that left him wishing he had never began it, Eson looks forward to meeting Sarah simply because she seems "robotic in nature" and he feels safe with her. But most of all, Eson is tired of being alone and seeks companionship with someone he can finally have a future with.

What Eson does not know is "Sarah" is not Sarah after all, but a young woman by the name of Kyra who has been sent to find Eson, create a relationship with him and acquire a certain "contract" or "deed." In a teashop during her first days in the city, Kyra meets Jado, a young man who works there, and learns there is more to the Shattered Glass City than she ever imagined. Jado tells her, "I look to the future, and to technologies, because I think technology can protect us from forces rooted in the past." It is this simple sentence that begins a chain of events that Kyra/Sarah never dreamed possible.

As Kyra meets up with Eson she forms a connection with him and a relationship in which he communicates more through his notes and drawings than through spoken word. His notes following his disappearances lead her and the reader into a part of Eson's world that is both magical and mystical in nature. It seems Eson has an inherited bottle of ink that can literally launch him into the vision he desires it to be. But it seems his drawings are not without a price, the same price his ancestors paid in generations past.

Through this book we see the relationship with Eson and Kyra develop, each having his and her own agenda. But as the book develops, we see a union between the two that is both surprising and engaging at the same time. What Sarah realizes at the conclusion of "The Steam Magnate," and how Eson's life changes, are moments the reader is swept into, with conflicting emotions.

The author does an extraordinary job of illustrating the world of Eson and Kyra in both language and simple line drawings throughout the book. The detail sketched by both words and pictures complement one another, to the point that the story depends upon both to be told well. I would highly recommend this book for readers of all ages, from teens through adult. While "The Steam Magnate" has an engaging, somewhat wistful storyline that many would appreciate, it also gives pause for other readers who find within the story, many aspects within their own lives as well. And it is such books that can draw the reader from their world into that of the characters; books that are to be both read and treasured. This is such a book. And because of it, those who read "The Steam Magnate" will become part of Eson's world as well.

Review of The Steam Magnate.......2006-10-10

The Steam Magnate by Dana Copthorne is like no other book I have read before. Her style of narrative writing is descriptive and lyrical. Although daunted at first, the long stretches of narrative style being something I normally shy away from, I continued and it quickly drew me in.

The Steam Magnate is a fantasy, but it many ways it mirrors day-to-day truth.

The Heiress gives Kyra, after being caught in an act of larceny, a quest. She is to bring down Eson, who is the Steam Magnate, a position and power inherited by him through a long line of steam magnates.

A chance encounter on his side, draws Kyra into his world. Feeling safe within his power Kyra lets herself develop feelings for Eson.

Yet there is nothing safe about Eson's world. Like in today's society his power creates jealousy and envy among some. His enemies work tirelessly at bringing him down. Do they succeed? The answer makes for an intriguing read.

Ms. Copthorne's world became real to me, full of all of the joy and sadness of life. I found myself caring much for Eson and Kyra, wanting them to overcome their problems, both in the business paths they took and the personal issues they faced.

I am glad not to have missed this gem of a book. I believe you will enjoy it as much as I.

Barbara M. Hodges
The Blue Flame
The Emerald Dagger
The Silver Angel
The Child of Prophecy (Stargazer's Children)
Shadow Worlds ( Co-written with Darrell Bain)
Stones Enchanted (Co-written with JR Musick December 2006)
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Tulsa, Broken Arrow Oklahoma (Rand McNally City Maps)

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Tulsa, Broken Arrow Oklahoma (Rand McNally City Maps)
Rand McNally
Manufacturer: Rand McNally & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Map

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ASIN: 0528996002

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Japanese Sculpture!
The Aesthetics of Injury

City of the Broken Dolls
Romain Slocombe
Manufacturer: Creation Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 187159281X

Book Description

Tokyo metropolis. Both in hospital rooms and on the neon streets, beautiful young Japanese girls are photographed in plastercasts and bandages, victims of unknown traumas. These are the "broken dolls" of Romain Slocombe's Tokyo, a city seething with undercurrents of violent fantasy, fetishism and bondage. City of the Broken Dolls is a provocative photographic document of the girls whose bodies bear mute witness to Tokyo's futuristic, erotic interface of sex and technology.

Customer Reviews:

Japanese Sculpture!.......2001-11-07

This is fetish photography. However, its not in the style of the excellent 'Generation Fetish,' but rather different. It presents bondage images of female Japanese women injured (in some cases from real events such as Motorcycle acidents - others are studio recreations). The idea of bondage comes from the medical bonds that have been placed upon the subjects - Should situations that are intended to heal become a sexual thing? The bandages and casts, that in the black and white photography vividly stand out as symbolic white bonds - allow one to explore where the boundries of fetish excess lie. None of the imagery is gratuitous but does raise the question of guilt and feminists may argue that that it is the optiomy of the 'male gaze.' Eitherway the product confronts the audience and questions the moral boundry of sexual arrousal - Whether you enjoy it or not this is fantastic!

The Aesthetics of Injury.......2001-04-22

I received this volume as a gift, given by a friend who knows my interest in forensic and fetish photography. The subtitle is `A Medical Art Diary 1993-1996,' but it is actually a difficult book to classify. It is composed of 100 plates, most of which are of bandaged women in various stages of mild undress. They are either wandering around Tokyo, in hospital rooms, or at home. There are some additional contextual shots of scenes in the city without the obligatory bandaged woman.

I am tempted to leave it at that. There is no doubt that this is fetish photography. The liner notes write of Slocomb's vision of Tokyo as `a city seething with undercurrents of violent fantasy, fetishism and bondage.' What gives me a problem is that Slocombe's images lack the kind of intensity that I would expect in this kind of photography. If anything, the bandaging de-sexualizes the women, unlike true bondage, which over-emphasizes sexuality.

The printing style emphasizes this difference. All but the cover are in black and white, and are a bit soft in tone and focus. Composition is very offhand and snapshot-like. The overall effect is almost ethereal and bloodless. It's as is we are living in a dream, but one that lacks a story line. I find myself intellectually understanding the implications of the photographs, but totally lacking any visceral reaction.

If I were to attack the same problems, I know I would do it differently. I would strive for some element (other than the mere presence of bandaged women) to focus the viewer and provide continuity over the range of images. Slocombe's choices are interesting, but I do not find them compelling

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