Oscar Books

This is a renamed edition of Engel's fine 2002 book, "A Dab of Dickens & A Touch of Twain: Literary Lives from Shakespeare's Old England to Frost's New England." I purchased this thinking Engel had written a sequel, but sadly, it is not the case.

Finding a job is a tricky business in itself, but finding the RIGHT job is even tougher. Having a really good recruitment consultant (or consultants) should make your job hunt easier, but often they not only fail (hugely) to make our job hunt easier but in fact make our job searches even tougher by being sloppy and inefficient. This excellent little book plugs the gap left by the other books in this genre: the others deal with CV writing and applications and covering letters, psychometric tests and interview skills, but if you haven't got your consultant doing their job all that sort of misses the point and is somewhat wasted. This book tells the truth about how to deal with recruitment consultants and also tells the truth about what really goes on behind the scenes. Henderson has used insider knowledge and combined it with industry research and hands on experience to create a really useful tool to help you in your job search. On top of that the style is highly engaging, and as you read it you feel as though you're sitting across the table from a really good friend who knows the industry well enough to be able to give you the inside track. Overall a great read and has already proved to be thoroughly useful for me and several of my friends. Highly recommend buying this book if you want to find your ideal job!

"An Ideal Husband" and "A Woman of No Importance" are two of Oscar Wilde's best plays. Both plays take place in the 1890's but their characters and commentaries about society are timeless. Extremely well-written, the characters seem to come alive as you read, as though you're actually seeing the play performed in front of you. These plays are comedies that will leaving you laughing for days, yet they are also filled with drama and will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Difficile trovare una trama piu' semplice: il senso di questo romanzo è che gran parte delle donne e degli uomini di questo mondo spende la propria vita in attesa di qualcosa che non arriverà mai e se ne va senza lasciare alcun segno. Ma l'accettazione di questa apparente insensatezza della vita umana, nel mantenimento di una propria dignitosa pulizia, diviene il vero percorso di guerra da affrontare. Il giovane ufficiale Giovanni Drogo - un uomo senza vistose qualità, ma che al termine della sua vita potrà dire "dopotutto la coscienza non è troppo pesante" - viene assegnato, senza averne fatto richiesta, ad una fortezza isolata nel deserto, dove "tutti sono venuti per uno sbaglio", come gli spiegherà il medico militare. Da quel momento tutta le sua vita è dedicata al presidio di quel pezzo di deserto, il deserto oltre il quale vivono i "tartari"; ma l'attacco dei tartari, la cui esistenza stessa appare più un ipotesi che una certezza, non arriva, né arriverà mai. Buzzati raccontò che l'idea del libro nacque durante le lunghe notti passate inutilmente nella redazione di un giornale; gli venne l'idea di trasporre questa condizione di attesa in un contesto militare di fantasia e nel luogo dove, per definizione, nulla può accadere. Ecco allora la metafora della "Fortezza" e il ritratto dei tanti uomini diversamente impegnati, chi per la causa comune chi per procurare vantaggi a se stesso, ma tutti destinati ad un'opera la cui mancanza di senso può sfuggire solo ai più ottusi. Drogo condivide l'attesa di una guerra che non giungerà mai (i caduti sono un soldato ucciso da un compagno perché non ricorda la parola d'ordine o l'ufficiale disperso in una tormenta) finché arriva anche per lui il momento di lasciare la Fortezza, quando vecchio e malato viene cacciato come un inutile peso. Ormai solo e senza affetti sosta in una locanda durante il viaggio verso una casa che non ha alcun desiderio di raggiungere, e in una notte finalmente stupenda, evocativa di una felicità così possibile eppure così sfuggente, si accorge che "la vita dunque si era risolta in una specie di scherzo". Ma libero dai condizionamenti della vita normale, realizza che vivere con coraggio la sua ultima notte può essere la vittoria più importante, lì dove nessuno potrà ammirarlo, dove le trombe non suoneranno e i superiori non premieranno il suo coraggio. E finalmente, nel buio, Drogo sorride. Un romanzo di eccezionale bellezza e profondità, una intuizione lucida ma in fondo intenerita sul senso della vita e sulla capacità delle società moderne, così protettive, di farci dimenticare chi siamo realmente.

You must be either a native speaker or a very advanced Italian speaker to read this, but it is well worth the effort. One of the coolest ideas for a story ever. A count returns from war literally half a man (half a face, half a torso and one leg). His other half becomes evil and terrorizes his small town. But is the good half really evil? And is the bad half all that bad? What happens when the two halves fight over a woman? A comment on the dual nature of man.

Not in every case and not with every poet but in general this is an anthology which chooses the best short poems of the greatest lyric poets in English and American Literature. The reading of it can itself provide an education in poetry at the highest level.

This play is the second I read in my life, but I am sure it is one of the best ever written!
It is witty and funny, a social satire everybody should read.
Wilde played with words and stereotypes in a wonderful manner.
Two thumbs up!

"The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People" is one of the first plays written in English since the works of Shakespeare that celebrates the language itself. Oscar Wilde's comedy has one advantage over the classic comedies of the Bard in that "The Importance of Being Earnest" is as funny today as it was when it was first performed at the St. Jame's Theater in London on February 14, 1895. After all, enjoying Shakespeare requires checking the bottom for footnotes explaining the meaning of those dozens of words that Shakespeare makes up in any one of his plays. But Wilde's brilliant wit, his humor and social satire, remain intact even though he was a writer of the Victorian era.

Wilde believed in art for art's own sake, which explains why he emphasized beauty while his contemporaries were dealing with the problems of industrial England. "The Importance of Being Earnest" is set among the upper class, making fun of their excesses and absurdities while imbuing them with witty banter providing a constant stream of epigrams. The play's situation is simple in its unraveling complexity. Algernon Moncrieff is an upper-class English bachelor who is visited by his friend Jack Worthing, who is known as "Ernest." Jack has come to town to propose to Gwendolen Fairfax, the daugher of the imposing Lady Bracknell and Algy's first cousin. Jack has a ward named Cecily who lives in the country while Algernon has an imaginary friend named "Bunbury" whom he uses as an excuse to get out of social engagements.

Jack proposes to Gwendolen but has two problems. First, Gwendolen is wiling to agree because his name is Ernest, a name that "seems to inspire absolute confidence," but which, of course, is not his true Christian name. Second, Lady Bracknell objects to Jack as a suitor when she learns he was abandoned by his parents and found in a handbag in Victoria Station by Mr. Thomas Cardew. Meanwhile, Algernon heads off to the country to check out Cecily, to whom he introduces himself as being her guardian Jack's brother Ernest. This meets with Ceclily's approval because in her diary she has been writing about her engagement to a man named Ernest. Then things get really interesting.

Wilde proves once and for all time that the pun can indeed be elevated to a high art form. Throughout the entire play we have the double meaning of the word "earnest," almost to the level of a conceit, since many of the play's twists and turns deal with the efforts of Jack and Algernon to be "Ernest," by lying, only to discover that circumstances makes honest men of them in the end (and of the women for that matter as well). There is every reason to believe that Wilde was making a point about earnestness being a key ideal of Victorian culture and one worthy of being thoroughly and completely mocked. Granted, some of the puns are really bad, and the discussion of "Bunburying" is so bad it is stands alone in that regard, but there is a sense in which the bad ones only make the good ones so glorious and emphasize that Wilde is at his best while playing games with the English language.

But if Wilde's puns are the low road then his epigrams represent the heights of his genius, especially when they are used by the characters in an ironic vein (e.g., "It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal" and "I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance"). Jack is the male lead, but it is Algernon who represents the ideal Wilde character, who insists he is a rebel speaking out against the institutions of society, such as marriage, but with attacks that are so flamboyant and humorous that the cleverness of the humor ends up standing apart from the inherent point.

In the end, "The Importance of Being Earnest" is the wittiest play every written, in English or any other language, and I doubt that anything written in the future will come close. Wilde was essentially a stand-up comedian who managed to create a narrative in which he could get off dozens of classic one-liners given a high-class sheen by being labeled epigrams. Like a comedian he touches on several topics, from the aristocracy, marriage, and the literary world to English manners, women, love, religion, and anything else that came to his fertile mind. But because it is done with such a lighthearted tone that the barbs remain as timely today as they were at the end of the 19th-century and "The Importance of Being Earnest" will always be at the forefront of the plays of that time which will continue to be produced.

"The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People" is one of the few plays written in English since the works of Shakespeare that celebrates the language itself. Oscar Wilde's comedy has one advantage over the classic comedies of the Bard in that "The Importance of Being Earnest" is as funny today as it was when it was first performed at the St. Jame's Theater in London on February 14, 1895. After all, enjoying Shakespeare requires checking the bottom for footnotes explaining the meaning of those dozens of words that Shakespeare makes up in any one of his plays. But Wilde's brilliant wit, his humor and social satire, remain intact even though he was a writer of the Victorian era.

Wilde believed in art for art's own sake, which explains why he emphasized beauty while his contemporaries were dealing with the problems of industrial England. "The Importance of Being Earnest" is set among the upper class, making fun of their excesses and absurdities while imbuing them with witty banter providing a constant stream of epigrams. The play's situation is simple in its unraveling complexity. Algernon Moncrieff is an upper-class English bachelor who is visited by his friend Jack Worthing, who is known as "Ernest." Jack has come to town to propose to Gwendolen Fairfax, the daugher of the imposing Lady Bracknell and Algy's first cousin. Jack has a ward named Cecily who lives in the country while Algernon has an imaginary friend named "Bunbury" whom he uses as an excuse to get out of social engagements.

Jack proposes to Gwendolen but has two problems. First, Gwendolen is wiling to agree because his name is Ernest, a name that "seems to inspire absolute confidence," but which, of course, is not his true Christian name. Second, Lady Bracknell objects to Jack as a suitor when she learns he was abandoned by his parents and found in a handbag in Victoria Station by Mr. Thomas Cardew. Meanwhile, Algernon heads off to the country to check out Cecily, to whom he introduces himself as being her guardian Jack's brother Ernest. This meets with Ceclily's approval because in her diary she has been writing about her engagement to a man named Ernest. Then things get really interesting.

Wilde proves once and for all time that the pun can indeed be elevated to a high art form. Throughout the entire play we have the double meaning of the word "earnest," almost to the level of a conceit, since many of the play's twists and turns deal with the efforts of Jack and Algernon to be "Ernest," by lying, only to discover that circumstances makes honest men of them in the end (and of the women for that matter as well). There is every reason to believe that Wilde was making a point about earnestness being a key ideal of Victorian culture and one worthy of being thoroughly and completely mocked. Granted, some of the puns are really bad, and the discussion of "Bunburying" is so bad it is stands alone in that regard, but there is a sense in which the bad ones only make the good ones so glorious and emphasize that Wilde is at his best while playing games with the English language.

But if Wilde's puns are the low road then his epigrams represent the heights of his genius, especially when they are used by the characters in an ironic vein (e.g., "It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal" and "I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance"). Jack is the male lead, but it is Algernon who represents the ideal Wilde character, who insists he is a rebel speaking out against the institutions of society, such as marriage, but with attacks that are so flamboyant and humorous that the cleverness of the humor ends up standing apart from the inherent point.

In the end, "The Importance of Being Earnest" is the wittiest play every written, in English or any other language, and I doubt that anything written in the future will come close. Wilde was essentially a stand-up comedian who managed to create a narrative in which he could get off dozens of classic one-liners given a high-class sheen by being labeled epigrams. Like a comedian he touches on several topics, from the aristocracy, marriage, and the literary world to English manners, women, love, religion, and anything else that came to his fertile mind. But because it is done with such a lighthearted tone that the barbs remain as timely today as they were at the end of the 19th-century and "The Importance of Being Earnest" will always be at the forefront of the plays of that time which will continue to be produced.

Infinite Wonderlands is a collection of short stories that falls within the Science fiction genre. At face value, the tales are engaging, enjoyable, and some are extremely amusing. However, there is more bubbling below the surface of Infinite Wonderlands than a casual analysis reveals.

De Los Santos and Mead craft stories that are not only satisfying, but also address contemporary issues such as (but not limited to) cloning, environmental hazards, and human depravity. In addition, many of the tales are incidiously comical, as the authors scoff with hilarity at elements of popular culture including total "drive through" makeovers and the intrusive influence of media on our society.

Throughout Infinite Wonderlands, the reader is treated to an outrageous brew of characters composed of an Elvis clone that cannot sing, super-sized Jack Russell terriers, and thinking clouds, to name a few!

As well as having an extensive knowlege of the Science fiction genre, De Los Santos exhibits expertise in the area of film and related media. In "Below the Depths", he names a space cruiser Tyrone Power in an obvious homage to an actor of the same name. The story "Black Auras" boasts a protagonist with the last name of Moreau, whose namesake is most certainly found in the H.G. Wells book, The Island of Dr. Moreau, as well as the 1996 movie of the same name.

Infinite Wonderlands is constructed in three sections: Black Auras: Stories of Alien Contact and Invasion, Kaleidoscope Future, and Sailing the Seas of Chronos: Time Travel Tales. After each section, the authors include a well-written and illuminating Afterword that further addresses topics covered in the preceding fiction. The inclusion of this Afterword particularly assists the novice Science fiction reader with clarifying information.

In summary, Infinite Wonderlands contains all the elements of great Science fiction. The book offers entertainment and escapism, yet also raises the reader's consciousness regarding contemporary issues and themes of the future. This is literature that does double duty by harmonizing the witty with the profound. Nice work!