Faust Books

Last year, a lot of folks were chattering about how Christa Faust would soon be the first woman published by Hard Case Crime. And while, yeah, that is a really cool distinction for Ms. Faust, the talk sometimes overshadowed the book in question, Money Shot. Which, hey, if being the First Lady of Hard Case Crime was all that could be said, cool, I could dig that.

But that's not all there is to say.

What we've got here is a classic hardboiled story that shows a lot of love for what has come before, yet never slips and gets stuck in the muck of simply being a repeat of a story we've all read before (though, in capable hands, such as this author's, even those kinds of stories would be well worth reading). Angel Dare is a fascinating narrator, and her voice is nailed from the first sentence of the novel. Money Shot, you read that first page and it grabs hold and just doesn't let up. The violence, when it comes, is hard, fast, and believable. Throughout the book, I never once found myself rolling my eyes and saying "No way", and, believe me, that's pretty darn rare these days.

Plus, hey, any novel that gives mention to The Thirsty Whale, well, come on, it's just gotta be great!

If someone were to say to you: What's hardboiled? What's pulp fiction? You could slam a copy of this sucker in their hands and say, "Read this, amigo."

I'm not gonna spoil it, but I will say, there is a chase scene in this book that rivals any other I can think of, and there is one small touch to said scene that I found to be flat-out brilliant.

If you haven't read this one yet, snatch it up quick and get to reading.

From page one, MONEY SHOT by Christa Faust is a provocative read. The main character, Angel Dare, is a semi-retired porn star that runs a talent/modeling agency providing new young women to a grinding machine that eats them for lunch if they're not careful. Angel is a sympathetic character, though, because she takes personal interest in her clients and tries to guide their rough careers through smoother waters, hopefully avoiding harsh treatment and the drug lifestyle that many fall into.

However, Hard Case Crime promotes its line of noir novels as action-filled reads pumping adrenaline and surprising twists, not deep psychology novels. Most of the stories revolve around money, sex, and power. Faust delivers all those things - in spades. From her opening scenario of Angel Dare deciding to do one last porn scene (after getting promised the cover, which is apparently a huge deal in that business), I got the feeling of the old noir standby of a thief taking on one last heist when I knew he shouldn't. Male noir gets a lot of mileage out of that kind of story, and Faust expertly hits the same kind of familiar groove. Then she stands the old conceit on its ear.

Faust quickly jumps the tracks with this one because she's a woman and writes with a woman's sensibilities. Faust's first-person narrative pulls no punches, delivering body-shots and upper cuts with vicious enthusiasm. I have to admit that I cringed during some of the violence, particularly at that directed at a woman, but the author pulls it off brilliantly. I know that some rape victims tend to fall apart, but not all of them do. Angel Dare doesn't.

After escaping certain death and using her own unleashed rage, Angel takes up the vengeance trail. As is often the case in a noir novel, she doesn't know why she was set up or why someone tried to kill her. But she's determined to get the answers. One of the things I found most appealing about Angel was the fact that she wasn't trained in violence in any way. No gun expert, no closet martial artist. She was just a highly motivated woman with no other avenue open to her.

I loved Faust's insight into the porn industry and why Angel couldn't go to the police. People sometimes forget that rape is still rape even for porn stars, and they don't necessarily deal with it any better than anyone else. (As Faust points out, a sad fact is that many porn starlets get into the sex industry to escape abusive relationships at home.) Angel can't go to the police, and she isn't going to let whoever gave the orders to kill her get away with it.

The trail gets twisted really quickly, and Angel realizes that she isn't the ultimate target. Other lives are on the line. That motivates her even more to pick up her pistol and search through the mean streets of LA where the porn industry rules.

Angel's world resonates with hard-hitting violence and drips with sordid sex. Faust doesn't make the porn world pretty, but she seems to play fairly with all those involved. She includes a lot of facts about that field that most readers will at least find interesting.

But it's the trail of vengeance that Angel charts that's most interesting. I enjoyed her tough "guy" dialogues and retorts that centered around her gender. Some of them jarred a little at first, then I realized that was how a woman in her business would speak. The dialogue is honest and forthright, and surprisingly revealing.

Her "partnership" with tough guy Malloy is interesting and appealing. But the noir roots quickly show through when we discover money waits at the finish line for whoever's still standing to claim it.

MONEY SHOT is one of the best books I've read in the Hard Case Line, and I was disappointed to see that Christa Faust hasn't written a lot more books. She scribes like a pro and I'd be happy to see more novels from her in the future.

If the Money Shot cover does not get you, the writing will. I just finished Megan Abbott's "Queenpin" and was grateful somebody brought back Noir. Money Shot is on par with the best noir novels I have read. I have always been a fan of James Ellroy and others that seem to get it right.
I highly recommend this book.

One can't help but notice the irony of the books published by Hard Case Crime. In the nearly fifty-book run, every cover has a woman on it, usually painted to be beautiful, evocative, steamy, and just plain sexy. Another constant is that all the books have been written by men.

Until now. Christa Faust's Money Shot is the first book written by a woman and published by HCC. Let me just tell you: it was worth the wait.

Most of the women on other covers of the other books have at least some clothes draped over them. The lady whose eyes bore into you from the cover of Money Shot is naked. Not nude. Naked. She's wearing earrings, a cleverly-placed $100 bill, and nothing else. She's got one hand teasing her hair and the fullness of her breasts are merely hinted at, covered by the folded bill. The smooth sway of her hips extend outward from the C-note, suggesting even more. You can't tell if she's standing or laying down but you can tell one thing for sure: she's got a gun point right at your gut. And you know what she's saying. In that soft teasing voice, she's saying "You know you want it. I can see it in your eyes. Come on. Pick me up, open me, devour me, ravish me. I dare you not to. Because if you don't, I'll blow a hole in you."

Thusly dared, thusly threatened, I picked up the book and discovered the woman's name: Angel Dare, former porn star now owner of Daring Angels, an adult modeling agency. She's through with the porn business--at least, from in front of the camera--but not with the what the industry can still give her. And the cover blurb helps to define her character: "It would take more than bullets to stop Angel Dare." So, if you, a potential reader, were not already drawn to the book by the cover painting (by Glen Orbik, here's a short interview) or the blurb, just give the book the first sentence and/or paragraph test. The first paragraph's too long to quote here so I'll give you the first few sentences.

Coming back from the dead isn't as easy as they make it seem in the movies. In real life it takes forever to do little things like pry open your eyes. You spend excruciating ages trying to bend your left middle finger down far enough to feel the rope around your wrists. Even longer figuring out that the cold hard thing poking you in the cheek is one of the handles of a pair of jumper cables. This is not the kind of action that makes for gripping cinema.

But it does make for gripping fiction. From that first paragraph, I dare you not to read further (see, there's that dare word again). Or how about this, the last two lines from the excerpted section in the front pages of the book.

"Angel Dare," he said. "Wow. You look amazing. This is gonna be awesome."
Then he punched me in the face.

This book is eye-opening. In stylish, unsentimental prose that holds nothing back and slaps you every now and then like they knows you need it, Faust and Dare skewer the porn industry, showing uneducated readers like myself what happens to the `glamorous' guys and gals when the camera lights go off. It ain't pretty. Nor is Angel Dare pretty after being punched, beaten, tortured, raped, shot, and left for dead. Oh, and then she's framed for murder. She's got ample reasons to be pissed off. It's a good thing the folks at HCC didn't commission that painting. People would run from the bookstores, screaming about the scary-looking woman with a gun in her hand and revenge in her eyes.

For that's what Money Shot is: a revenge book. But unlike so many other crime fiction stories (mainly with men), Angel Dare is not a stone-cold killer who was trained in combat and can take out an adversary with her bare hands. She's a normal, not-usually-violent person, just like the rest of us. And that's when you realize that Angel's story is our story. What would we do given the same set of circumstances? Angel Dare has to make those choices and make them from within herself. She does have help along the way but in every crucial milestone of this story, it's Angel, by herself, in her head, making decisions. She lives with them, no matter how much it rips her heart out.

And we live with this book, at least for a time. There's a lot in there. To be honest, this is a book I'm likely to read again, I enjoyed it so much. I know I probably missed things. The pace is fast but not breakneck. Angel has moments of contemplation and that allows the reader to catch his breath and then ask of himself the same questions Angel asks of herself. We may arrived at different answers than does Angel but it's Angel's story.

The end of the book, the last 30 pages, is almost sublime. For over 200 pages, Angel has gone through the ringer, operating by a set of rules so foreign to her that she doubts the kind of person she has become. But the actions she takes and the choices she makes in that last couple of chapters reveal the true nature of Angel's character. I will spoil nothing here. You have to read it for yourself. Then, when it's over, ask yourself that same question: what would you have done?

I highly recommend this book to folks who like this kind of book. It's stark. The subject matter is not pretty and sometimes ugly. The jokes are often hilarious but not quotable here. Read it. I dare you not to.

What I Learned As A Writer: In many of the modern crime fiction/noir books I read, some authors relish in the graphic details of what happens to a person when flesh meets bullet or blade. That stuff happens in Money Shot. No doubt. I'll leave it up to your moral code as to whether certain characters deserve what they got. But Faust pulls the less-is-more card from her deck. She lets the reader fill in all the blanks. And, given the circumstances of some of the scenes, I scared myself with the thoughts that I came up with. Genius storytelling.
(taken from http://scottdparker.blogspot.com)

Hard Case Crime has been issuing simply wonderful noir novels, both new one and reprints of the classics, over the last several years.

Christa Faust's MONEY SHOT is tuned just right, scene after scene, and in the overall arc of character and plot.

Don't pass this one up!

Within the first few pages of this novel, I was hooked. Christa Faust's heroine was a REAL woman, not perfect but still highly sexual and interesting. What I liked best though was the dialogue. Faust's use of a new "slang" that was a mix of spanish and Japanese is genuis as the "slang" used in A Clockwork Orange. It made me feel even more transported into the rich fantasy world that is Hoodtown.

Christa Faust really takes the time to set up this bizarre mix of lucha libre culture and crime noir. She really knows her stuff and stays true to the unspoken tenets of both. The story starts off slow, with hints of back story and well thought-out character development. We get pulled in as this dark mystery unfolds. The violence escalates; the questions lead to stark realizations; the plot twists and writhes like a snake on hot sand. The pay-off is classic. All the elements are here. The story is logical, believable, and captivating. Faust has created a world that could easily become a franchise. It's a quick read due to the way it hooks the reader. Once you start, you just don't want to put this book down. Don't just think about buying it, kid...just do it. You can't go wrong with Hoodtown.

Where has this novel been my whole life? It's got everything I like: Female Masked Wrestlers,Noir and stilletto sharp dialogue that gets you like a knife to the ribs. The cover by Rafael Navarro is really eye catching too. All in all I give Hoodtown five masks,two thumbs up and all my love too.

Let me preface this by saying that I really don't follow the lucha world. I've never seen a Santo film, and my only familiarity with wrestling is from my early adolescence, when Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka was king.
That said: this was an amazing novel. I didn't want it to end. You do not need to be a lucha fan to love this, so don't let that aspect turn you away. I highly recommend this (and Faust's novel Control Freak, which also blew me away, and also dealt with a world with which I am unfamiliar). Faust does an excellent job making you feel a kinship with these characters and this world.

I loved this book - every dark, well-turned, beautifully plotted word. Although its byline is "a Lucha-Noir Novel" you don't have to be a fan of Latin American pro wrestling to enjoy this pulp wonder. Hoodtown is a ghetto where "Hoods" (a society where everyone from birth to death wear the lucha libre hoods as their identity) try to live their everyday lives among gangsters, drugs, and crime, just minutes from Angel City where "Skins" live a life of order and plenty. The heart of this book is "X" a retired, 40ish, luchadora (lady wrestler) who is thrown into the investigation of the murders of Hoodtown prostitutes. The women are not only brutalized but their mascaras (masks) are stolen, a crime as heinous as the murders themselves. Although this novel is allegorical, the character of X is beautifully realistic from her frustration that her life isn't how she planned it, to her inability to commit to the passionate trumpet player who adores her. This book is dark, sensuous, and wicked at every turn, and I take my hood off to the very talented Christa Faust who is in a league all her own.

This was the first Christa Faust book I have ever read. I was not disappointed with the story, and I found the plot unpredicatable, not getting to the identity of the killer in my mind until it was presented to me on the page. This was a plus. The story moves well, with realistic, believable dialogue and interesting characters and scenes of SM (not S&M) that I won't soon forget. There is an obvious connection in the naming of two of the main characters to Faust's real-life friend and fellow writer Caitlin R. Kiernan. You'll find out soon enough. The only flaws I found were in editing, with several typos, most of which amounted to nothing more than misspelled or added words. But these were only momentary distractions. Here, the story's the thing, and it's a good one. I've given it five stars, because I found it to be one of those books that I read late into the night and picked up first thing in the morning. What could be better?

Control Freak is a very interesting book. It was recommended to me by Amazon after I bought The Scolds Bridle - and I couldn't be happier for the advice. Here, a young girl is murdered, with two protagonists attempt to find the answer. One uses typical police procedure, while the other uses her sexual skills for answers. As she investigates further she finds herself being drawn deep into the fetish lifestyle. Unfortunately for her, one of her bondage contemporaries is a murderer with a sadistic streak... Normally, I am not a huge fan or "erotic literature", however make no mistake - this is a book about murder -not sex... As the plot unfolds the reader is treated to a great deal of suspense and mystery - more than enough to make anyone lose control over their fears...

Relic113

This book personifies the lost highway of youth and the sexy side of S & M and the errays of private jokers.

With a non-stop story and a heroine to die for, Christa Faust's debut novel shows the world that her talents aren't limited to S&M dungeons. Faust's words are as lush and ornate as the characters they describe; a bold and dangerous style for a bold and dangerous thriller. _Control Freak_ will have you tied up for days.

I must admit that even though I had heard about this novel before it was reprinted, I was not very eager to delve into it. I've never been too terribly interested in the murder mystery, "whodunit" genre, and from the synopses I had read, it seemed to be yet another rehashing of a cop style drama. However, I'm very glad I finally did give this novel a chance, for that is a truly misguided preconception.

Caitlin is a writer looking for the next big real-crime novel. Of course, it helps that her current love affair is with a detective named Mike. When Mike gets a call about a the murder of a young girl which involves sexual mutilation, Caitlin is eager to get the gory details for her next book. Through the help of her internet-savvy friend Wilson, Caitlin learns that the murdered girl, Eva, was a hacker known under the alias Apocrypha who had a penchant for sadomasochism. In the name of research, Caitlin decides to immerse herself in the underground world of SM.

Upon meagerly stepping into the Crypt, a mild SM fetish club, Caitlin becomes enthralled with the whole new world of sights and sounds around her. Being a dominant person at heart, she very quickly finds herself at home in a domineering role within the subculture. However, this eager submission into this whole new world may cloud Caitlin's better judgment and suck her in too deep.

Christa Faust has crafted a truly amazing, genre-transcending novel. Yes, Control Freak is part gritty crime novel, and part thriller, with a splash of romance thrown in for good measure, but it doesn't fit completely into any of those niches. Control Freak is an intimate dive into the SM scene, one which those already familiar with the scene can relate, and those new to SM can use to get a taste of this underground subculture. Faust displays a truly intimate knowledge of not just the scene itself, but the deep-rooted emotions involved with empowerment and submissiveness. Therefore, contained herein is also a tale about finding oneself, and accepting one's true place in the world.

I anxiously await any further novels by this talented writer, and highly recommend Control Freak to fans of good genre-bending literature.

Everyone may agree that creating a sense of responsibility in employees and managers is a benefit to an organization. But what is meant by responsibility? And just how can you go about creating a sense of responsibility within a company? These are the questions the authors of this book have tried to answer.

To begin with, it is more important for employees to be responsible for results than for them to be responsible for activities. Employees may, in fact, be able to prove that they performed several activities, without actually achieving the desired result or goal. A good manager, say the authors, must make employees understand that their responsibility lies in achieving the goal behind the work, and not just the work itself. Responsibility has two dimensions. You are responsible to somebody, and you are responsible for something. Employees must be responsible to the customer and the organization. They must also be responsible for results, not just activities or tasks.

Motivating workers to be responsible to the company and for results must proceed from four necessary conditions:
1. The company must be an organization that workers are ready to commit themselves to.
2. Employees must understand what results they are expected to produce.
3. Employees must have a proper reward and recognition system.
4. Employees must have the skills and knowledge necessary to create the results.

The authors focus a bright light on the vital role and enduring quality of personal responsiblity in the work place. Imagine if each of us really did take responsibility for customer satisfaction, getting the right results, and problem solving! We could really make our workplaces stages for personal satisfaction, even joy. This is the future the authors believe in and they've provided a strong tool set in the book to help us get there.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker reluctantly agrees to "try" to salvage his spaceship. The Yoda replies, "Do or do not. There is no try." The authors of this book agree with the Yoda. They suggest that responsible managers insist on achieving results. While chairman and CEO of Pier 1 Imports, Clark Johnson observed that he always encouraged effort but only rewarded performance. Johnson may not have read this book but he certainly agrees with the key points its authors make.

In Chapter 1, they revisit and redefine the concept of responsibility. In subsequent chapters, they discuss a leader's responsibility to the customer, to the organization, and to everyone within the organization. They view the responsible manager as a problem solver and, in Chapter 5, provide a problem-solving approach "that works." They then shift their attention to "Getting the Right Answer" and "Getting the Right Result." For the authors, judgment is the foundation of responsibility. They also assert, in Chapter 9, that there is "a rationale for teams that work" and then explain what that rationale is...also, what it requires of everyone involved. In Chapters 10 and 11, they answer two key questions: How to design an effective team? and How to maximize productivity among the members of a team? In the final chapter, the authors explain what is needed to keep responsible change alive.

According to the authors, "most change efforts fail because of an inadequate understanding of what produces value in the business or of how human beings change." They then offer eight specific reasons why change efforts fail:

1. We like to feel good. [change threatens comfort levels]

2. No top leadership support [if "they" don't care, why should anyone else?]

3. Change efforts do not address the whole system [a fragmented approach tends to focus on symptoms rather than on causes]

4. We hide failure [success is reassuring...failure could involve blame and guilt]

5. Misunderstanding of what has changed [See #3]

6. Too few understand the rationale for change efforts [ie those who are expected to support change initiatives are not told how and why their support is so essential]

7. Neglect of transition [failure to understand that change is an incremental process, not a quantum leap from "here" to "there"]

8. There is no structure for change [within the organization, there are no policies and procedures to resolve the conflict between "what is done now" and "doing better"]

Hence the importance of having a sense of responsibility to help solve problems shared by everyone, of having patience during the inevitably slow process of organizational change, and of having self-discipline throughout that challenging process. The authors correctly point out that (1) "everyone must be willing to carry his or her share of the load", (2) "Sustainable efforts take two to three years but result in dramatically more healthy and more exciting organizations", and (3) "The discipline of change refers to the regularity with which change is pursued as well as emerging skills that are developed through devotion to change." A responsible leader understands all this, conducts herself or himself accordingly, and requires everyone else to do so also. Working together, they identify problems and then solve them. "There is no try...." and excuses are unacceptable.

One final point: Recent research suggests that by 2025 at the latest (but probably much sooner), organizational rewards will be completely based on performance. To varying degrees, responsible leaders have been supporting that policy for decades.

The focus here is on the end results, the outcomes of management action. The authors present a systematic, thoughtful, practical and step by step method of achieving better results by becoming more effective as problem solvers and its told in story format with interesting and captivating vignettes. Includes several chapters on team building, the elements of team effectivness, and teams that work.

This is one of the most entertaining and useful books about leadership and management I've ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone in any position of responsibility. Both the concepts and the techniques are invaluable.

I don't normally put my medical textbooks out for display, but I like to use this one as a conversation piece. Each chapter is well reasoned, concise, and suprisingly entertaining. The chapter entitled "Pharmacology of Hetastarch and Pentastarch" had me weeping. Med students - this book will help you fly through boards. Lay people - this book is a suprisingly good read. You know, I don't know this "Ron Faust," but I'm sure we would be instant friends if we ever met. I'd love to share a bottle of courvasier in front of a warm fire and discuss the finer points of anesthesiology with this man. My wife is sick of me talking about him.

If you want a good review of all topics related to anesthesia, then this is it. The chapters being short, sweet but in depth, make for a quick but knowledge gaining read. Good book for the library of Anesthesia Assistants.

excellent book. read it when I was bored one day. wish i'd used it earlier when on the ICU rotations. probably would've become an anesthesiologist if I'd had it in med school. one dreams of writing a chapter in that book someday...

The Anesthesiology Review is the most comprehensive and informative text for medical students and anesthesiology residents. I am finishing up my third year at Duke Universtiy Medical School. I wish that all my text books were as easy to read and made subjects such as 'automatic internal cardiac defibrillator procedures' interesting.

This is one of those books that can be appreciated by almost every clinician. Dr. Faust has done a fantastic job of applying basic science principals to practice. After being away from the classrooms of medical school for awhile, one tends to become myopic and reliant upon specialty-specific pricipals. This book book helps dust off those cryptic vaults within the cerebrum and can really get the acetylcholine flowing.

Get this book!

I read When She Was Bad in 1995 and have re-read it several times since. Faust's writing has been compared to Hemingway and for good reason. I envy the person reading this book for the first time. Not since John D. MacDonald has a writer gripped me with such force.

From the first page, Faust takes you on an adventure of mystery, intrigue and treachery. From the Keys to Aspen to Mexico and culminating in the Caribbean, one man's quest to understand what drives a woman to stop at nothing in her aspirations, leads him to experience much of the same... Couldn't put it down. My first Faust novel, have already ordered 2 more!

Faust's book is more than just a great love story, more than an adventure novel, more than a mystery. It's a parable for the war between the sexes. Heady stuff. Don't miss it.

I have to admit it; I've read four or five books by Ron Faust and most of them are simply not very good, but the stars lined up just right when he wrote When She Was Bad. This book is virtually flawless; the characters are fascinating, the plot is exciting and original, the dialogue is dead-on, and the writing itself echoes the muscular prose of Hemingway at his finest. I've read this book three times over the years and loved it every single time. A gripping Hitchcockian thriller that spans a period of about 20 years, filled with both action and solid emotion. A winner on all counts.

I absolutely loved this book. I'm a novelist myself but it's books like this, that are written with such verve and style, that sometimes make me want to quit writing. I'm damn good, but I still don't think I could ever match Faust's outstanding prose, dead-on dialogue, and hold-your-breath plotting.

As another reviewer stated, why in the heck hasn't this been made into a major motion picture? It is infinitely better than 96 percent of the stuff being released. I started reading this book at midnight (I usually read for about an hour before I fall asleep) --- Well, Ron Faust got me good. I continued reading through the night and finished at four in the morning. I had to go to the office without any sleep. It was that good. I can't wait to read the remainder of Faust's oeuvre.

Faustroll is a Hallucinogenic cross between Lewis Carroll & Jules Verne. Magnificently dense style of a prose poem, images as strange as Lautremont's. It also reminded me of Flann O'Brien's Third Policeman, the only book that has done that.

...with your host Alfred Jarry. The text is astonishing and Roger Shattuck's (author of the incredible "The Banquet Years", which is partially about Jarry) introductory essay alone is worth the cover price.

In the words of the Butt-faced Baboon, "Ha Ha!"

Reading this book again, as I usually do on New Years Day, I started having an ether image of Doctor Faustroll, Poet and 'Pataphysician, meeting Dr. Norem, Personality Psychologist. Not to debate, but to discuss. I feel that Alfred Jarry and the good Dr. Faustroll would both understand and find etherially amusing the absurd title of her book -- the positive power of negative thinking. And they could help explain to the rest of us how psychology works. That would be nice. Or perhaps we need 'Patapsychology to stand above Freud's Metapsychological Papers. In any case, we need Dr. Faustroll to be perceptive.

Pardon that Narcissus' who wrote my Review Title...

This is a fantastic book!

I bought it here from amazon.com a number of years ago, 97 or 98 and I finally read it this past week. I don't want to give anything away, because it is so utterly unique and enjoyable....However, I will say: Track down this book! Demand it!

If you are a lover of the works or just plain amazing style of one of the 20th century's greatest literary artists... William Burroughs(!), then you will LOVE THIS BOOK! Heck, You'll ADORE it.

This is a trip by boat, on land... an adventure far more exciting than the Odyssey, but perhaps among similiar lines...

A journey from a middle point in life, to the extents of certain existences... and, to death... and beyond.. Finally, you will see why it started in the middle of life!

The climax is amazing, and every scene comes across like the greatest film never made.

Dali was definately influenced, as a number of scenes in here look like what Dali was to later paint!

In the end though I found myself saying only,

"Ha, ha."

And I did not lose myself in further considerations.

Except that, I would like to close by saying something I found very important, and dare I say, Life Changing:

This is a very great book, but I could hardly recommend it. Would you enjoy it? I think it is skies above the Ubu books in its range of vision, and I certainly didn't see any baboons with gluteal musculature grafted to their cheeks starring as commentator in those more famous works . . . well, I don't know what to say this "sort of thing" is exactly . . . if you are unfamiliar with this man (a drinker in the line of Rabelais, except I would say he was much more sincerely dedicated, a scholar, a scientist, a metaphysical swine, a bicycler, an eccentric above the heavyweights of French nincompoops, a novelist, -- also he did decent woodcuts, too) and his work then I would recommend the Supermale as a better beginning. If that is indeed your brand of entertainment, than hoist this flag up on the mast of your soft and sticky palm that never picked an axe to chop a block or made a fist to fight for your principles nor did anything else in all your life except to pick up another foreign book we can all be grateful for to have been translated, and sail it gently down the seas of your eyes until you land where you were looking for . . . this is a traveler's book.

With "Feast Of Faust", T. M. Gray solidifies her position as one of the true rising stars of the horror genre. This collection takes in every style imaginable (even experimental) and delivers the goods on each and every page.

A terrific collection from a terrific writer - now when do we see the novels?

Feast delivers the goods...and then some!! Very well written; Maine's maven of the Macabre engrosses the reader in each story, leaving you craving more as the final page is turned. If you haven't read this one, a massive 45 story collection, you're definitely missing out!

T.M. Gray's tales have a dreamlike quality, simultaneously repelling and enchanting, lulling you into a false sense of security, playing upon your subconscious terrors, then gleefully striking the hammer-blow when you least expect it.
Feast of Faust is the stuff of classic horror fiction, cleanly-executed prose, precise pacing, elegant. Gray creates a landscape of fear beneath the commonplace, a veritable cornucopia of emotions and situations that can go horribly awry in an instant.
This lady deserves great success. I, for one, cannot wait for her next offering.

Mark Edward Hall

I normally read sci-fi and dark fantasy (Crichton, Zindel) and some horror (King, especially his Dark Tower series), but this one is my mom's book, so I kind of had to read it.

I've read some of her stories before, but never in this format. All I can say is that I sleep down the hall from her...and I'm not so sure I'll be able to sleep very well ever again.

But really, she's done a great job with this book. My favorite stories in Feast of Faust are The Washing Machine...and Crater Lake... The Time Wrinkle was pretty good, too. There's 45 stories in there, hard to keep track of all of them.

Three thumbs up,

from Tom Gray, Maine

TM Gray blazes a trail through the horror genre for others to follow. That said, her first novel--a collection of terrifying short stories--is not only riveting, on the edge of your seat reading, but essential for anyone who loves to be scared. "Feast of Faust" is by far one of the best compilations ever to come along in years. Gray is a master of suspense; I devoured each tale voraciously and couldn't wait to see what was next on the "menu". She is a brilliant writer, crafting her prose with a chilling surefootedness that holds the reader spellbound. "Faust" is a perfect launching point for a career that I for one cannot wait to follow. Do yourself a favor...pick up Gray's "Feast of Faust" and dine with this phenomenal Mistress of the Macabre!

In "Goethe, Nietzsche, and Wagner: Their Spinozian Epics of Love and Power," T. K. Seung develops his novel theory of Spinozian epics as first presented in his book "Nietzsche's Epic of the Soul" (2006), which contains an ingenious reading of "Thus spoke Zarathustra" as a Faustian and Spinozian epic of the soul. In a comparative examination of the thematic content of Goethe's "Faust," Nietzsche's "Zarathustra," and Wagner's "Ring," Seung elucidates how the understanding of Spinoza's pantheistic naturalism, its inspirational background and influences on European philosophy and literature, is indispensable for the understanding of the development and conditions of modern times. The book is the culmination of a life long study of the Faustian roots of Western culture. The first step was taken in his study of Dante's "Divine Comedy" as an epic of the Trinity as presented in "The Fragile Leaves of the Sibyl: Dante's Master Plan" (1962). In "Cultural Thematics: The Formation of the Faustian Ethos" (1976), he showed how the 13th and 14th centuries, in European philosophy and literature, constitute the formative period in the transition of the medieval outlook of Dante's epic to the Faustian view of the Renaissance. The theory was further substantiated in "Semiotics and Thematics in Hermeneutics" (1982) and "Intuition and Construction: The Foundation Normative Theory" (1993). Now, with his latest books on the Spinozian epics, Seung brings further clearness to the complex development and conditions of modern times.

My special interest in Dr. T. K. Seung's contribution to our knowledge of Nietzsche's intellectual debt to Wagner, "Goethe, Nietzsche, and Wagner: Their Spinozan Epics of Love and Power", follows from my own extensive research into Wagner's intellectual debt to the atheist German philosopher, Ludwig Feuerbach, whose works have much in common with Nietzche's mature philosophic writings, and anticipated them by decades. I am currently completing a book entitled "The Wound That Will Never Heal" which will consider Wagner's debt to Feuerbach in great depth. My special interest in Dr. Seung's remarkable and intriguing study follows also from the fact that Dr. Seung discusses my original research in the concluding chapter of his book, which traces the influence of Wagner's "The Ring of the Nibelung" upon Nietzche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra".

From the earliest days of my research I recognized that Wagner had had a considerable influence on Nietzsche's philosophic writings, and I recorded my observations casually in the margins of my various books by Nietzsche, but I have not yet systematically examined this influence. Furthermore, of all Nietzsche's works I have always found "Thus Spake Zarathustra" the least useful for my purposes, not because it lacks value, but because it is the most ambiguous of Nietzsche's works. Since it it difficult to ascertain with certainty what any given passage from this allegorical work means, it is therefore exceedingly difficult to say anything definitive about the degree of Wagner's influence.

Dr. Seung's book has been a huge boost to this endeavor. He has so extensively cross-referenced conceptually related passages in Nietzsche's text, and so thoroughly cross-referenced these passages in turn with related passages from Nietzsche's other books, that he is able to grasp the allegorical logic at work in what Seung describes as Nietzsche's "parody" of Wagner's "Ring". And this of course has only been possible because Dr. Seung, unlike most Nietzsche scholars, has also studied Wagner's "Ring" text in depth, and with the respect which alone can bring its secrets into view. Dr. Seung has discovered numerous links between the two works which I had not anticipated. His study is a major contribution to our knowledge of Nietzsche's intellectual dependence on Wagner.

A key reason that Wagner's influence on Nietzsche's writings has been so little examined by scholars in the past, is that Nietzscheans as a whole have tended to denigrate Wagner's status as a thinker, thanks among other things to Wagner's very turgid prose style, and to his anti-Semitism. They have often drawn the conclusion, without adequate ground, that because of these disadvantages Wagner's writings (and even his artworks) lack sufficient philosophic coherence and integrity to be worthy of Nietzsche's (and therefore our) respect. However, contemporary research is demonstrating that Wagner, (particularly in his "Ring", understood of course as an allegory, not literally), has produced artworks of astonishing philosophic unity and force.

A key reason for this is that, at the time Wagner wrote the libretto for his "Ring" (roughly 1848-1852), he was hugely under the influence of the German atheist philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach. Since Feuerbach in turn looked to the Jewish philosopher Spinoza as his mentor, Wagner fell heir to the Spinozan outlook through Feuerbach's influence. Having extensively researched Feuerbach's, Nietzsche's, and Wagner's key writings, it is clear to me that Nietzsche was hugely influenced by Feuerbach directly (and not merely as transmitted by Wagner to Nietzsche), yet an examination of Nietzsche's texts has so far not turned up any tribute to Feuerbach's influence. This is fruitful ground for another book.

Dr. Seung's book is also a momentous contribution to a renaissance in Wagner studies predicated on our growing consciousness of the philsosophic sophistication of his opera and music-drama librettos, which grants Wagner the respect due a serious thinker, a respect denied him by most scholars up until the present day. My own research into Wagner's "Ring" libretto provides what I believe is persuasive evidence, extensive in scope and intensive in depth, that it is a far more elaborate and sophisticated sublimation of Feuerbach's philosophy into poetic allegory than has previously been suspected. To this extent I believe my own work will complement Dr. Seung's contribution.

I therefore strongly recommend Dr. Seung's original study to anybody wishing to examine, in depth, the remarkably fruitful intellectual exchange between Friedrich Nietzsche and his onetime mentor (and subsequent nemesis), Richard Wagner.

This book offers a fascinating reading of three of the most important works of modern literature. The suggestion that their heroes are all attempting the same spiritual feat is stunning and should be of interest to anyone concerned with modern intellectual history and philosophy.

Seung argues that Goethe's Faust, Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and Wagner's Ring of the Niebelung are all epics cast within a Spinozan worldview, which takes the entire world to be a single substance. In each case, the conflict on which each epic are two modern desires: that of the modern individual for power and self-sufficiency and the desire to overcome alienation from nature. These desires are antithetical, and in each case, the epic presents the resolution of the conflict as arising only from love. In other words, the resolution is consistent with Spinoza's worldview, which recognizes that the individual is real only as a part of a larger whole.

Among the striking features of Seung's reading are the following claims:

1. Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Ring of the Niebelung are both parodies of Faust. All three portray the transformation from a striving individualistic hero to a higher self that recognizes his oneness with the entirety of nature.

2. The idea of the superman is important not only in Nietzsche's Zarathustra, but also in Faust and the Ring cycle.

3. Faust can be understood entirely naturalistically. Faust's redemption is a projection of a psychodrama; it does not occur in the afterlife, but just before his death. The eternal feminine is the communal self, or higher self, not a transcendent force. Redemption involves the unification of the communal self with the individual self (the striving self that has motivated Faust throughout the play).

4. The Spinozan epics respond to the modern historical situation, in which the medieval Christian worldview is dead, but Renaissance individualism has led to an untenable situation.

5. Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a parody of Wagner's Ring, with the four books of Zarathustra corresponding to the four operas of the Ring cycle. The connections are shown in considerable detail.

Thomas Seung has argued that we can study key works of philosophy and art in terms of recurring cultural themes that these works try to navigate. In this fascinating book, he ties together three key thinkers-- Goethe, Nietzsche, and Wagner-- in terms of the ideas of a fourth-- Benedict Spinoza. Each of the three, Seung argues, tries to explain the puzzles of human existence in terms of Spinoza's pantheistic naturalism, the notion that we are all part of a larger, living Nature that transcends human optimism and pessimism, and is beyond human conceptions of good or evil. To prove his thesis, Seung offers close and often surprising readings of these three thinkers, and he takes us on a whirlwind tour of Greek, Mediaeval Christian, and German Romantic ideas, with the ideas and arguments flying so quickly there is barely time to catch one's breath. In the process he produces new interpretations of Faust, Thus Spoke Zarathustra and The Ring Cycle that are as illuminating as they are daring. This is a truly amazing synthesis of a vast array of literatures and ideas. Anyone interested in these thinkers will find this book a stimulating read.

As if swept up by a beautiful breeze, upon opening the pages of this book I immediately found myself in the midst of a delightful dance by a heartwarming magical tree, swaying and boogieing to the song and rhythms of a very playful musical wind. Captivated by the spirited and intimate dialogue between the tree and the wind, by the book's end I couldn't help but envision all of the children who could be so touched by this story and transported to a place of appreciation not only for trees, but for the natural world disappearing around us. It is a book of hope and inspiration, and one that belongs in every children's library dedicated to education and hope for the future.

As a children's drama and voice teacher, I found Miss Fairy's book to be a terrific tool for the classroom. Her beautiful story, as well as the charming illustrations, are very engaging. In addition, there are some excellent tips for making this book into an interactive experience, where the kids can use their voices and their bodies to create and act out the story. Miss Fairy's motto "Be the hero of your own story" is very inspirational!!! -- Viki Hilferty

This subtly beautiful book takes children on a magical journey into nature, encouraging them to appreciate the natural world around them. As children lose themselves in their imaginations, they become the tree, feel the wind and move to its music. Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California works every day to improve literacy by helping children discover the magic of reading. How better to accomplish this than for children to read a magical book!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R25RTWJJU2I4LF The Magical Tree and Musical Wind
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