France Books

Diane Stanley, author of a series of high-quality biographies for children, does it again: Joan of Arc is intelligent and interesting with eye-popping illustrations. Of course the story is tragic, so this is not a good first biography for the young, tender-hearted child. The only thing missing is a real sense of the supernatural, what drove Joan to do what she did in the first place. If you're looking for the miraculous in your retelling of Joan's story, choose instead Josephine Poole's breathtaking "Joan of Arc."

Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc should be recommended for teens 13-16. I thought it was kind of hard to understand because I got 60% on this Accelerated Reader test. I didn't understand the Crowning of the Kings and Princesses very well. I would rate this a 6/10 in a rating.
It taught me about how some people can get so sick of things that you would do anything to save your country. This book is cool because of the pictures of the war.

Not only was this an accurate portrayal of Joan of Arc's story, it was wonderfully written and illustrated. I would recommend it for anyone who is starting out in learning of the saint. It is educational and enjoyable for a child.

Once again, Diane Stanley has brought intriguing facts and interesting tidbits to a book about a well known character, Joan of Arc, which makes the reader interested and excited about the subject, no matter what age he or she might be. Joan was born an illiterate, peasant daughter of a leader in a French village during the time of the Hundred Years War between France and England. She was highly disciplined in Catholicism, and was often teased about it by her friends. At the age of thirteen, Joan began having visions, while in the family garden, of various Catholic Saints giving her distressing messages and that she needed to act in order to save the French Kingdom. Joan was so convinced and moved by these visions that she took on a life long task of saving the French kingdom, although a woman doing this would have been unheard of at the time. She was eventually captured by the Burgundies that occupied Northern France and handed over to the English for a ransom. She was put on trial by the church for dressing in men's clothing and for acting on her voices and visitations which should have only been heard by members of the clergy. She was found guilty, although she gave clever testimony and was not easily disrupted by tricky questioning, and eventually burned at the stake. Charles, the ruler that Joan help restore to the crown, made it his personal mission to have Joan's trial declared a mistrial sixteen years after her death. This act fueled by his guilt for not negotiating for her release from prison helped her to be declared a saint five hundred years later.
This book helps the reader realize that although Joan my have appeared unstable with her visions in modern times, she brought hope and life to a battle that was hopeless leaving many French residents in despair. A note at the end of the book indicates that there have been three theories behind Joan's visions, depending on where one's personal beliefs lie.
Included within the book are pronunciations of French names and places and a map, so the reader can follow the path taken by Joan. This book provides interesting and understandable information for readers of all ages, including adults that want a short but informative look into Joan of Arc's life.

A beautiful book! Diane Stanley carefully traces the life of Joan from her humble beginnings to her tragic end. The book even comes with a pronunciation guide to help those of us who haven't been to France. Although the language is at 8+ year old range, my 5 year old daughter loves it anyway!

We own a copy of 'Little Known Museums in and Around Paris', and after over 18 years of visiting Paris and its many Great museums, we found that we still missed 12 out of the 30 museums listed in her book.Now we can't wait to go back and visit these 12 that Ms. Kaplan has so thoroughly and appealingly described, with the many magnificent photos and well researched text, this is a book to savour in an armchair, or to use to preview your next trip. We have already put 'The Fan Museum' and the 'Maurice Ravel Museum' on our 'MUST SEE', for our upcoming summer trip. Thank you for listening.

Lana & Murray Singer (New York City)

Rachel Kaplan's engaging little book is a fascinating guide to some of the many museums in and around Paris that do NOT make it into the big guidebooks. Everyone has heard of the Louvre, the Orsay, even the Musee Rodin, but what about the others? Some of them are small museums run by devoted individuals; at least one (the Musee de la Marine in the Trocadero complex) is, I believe, run by the French government.

This is a book badly in need of updating. Three years ago, when I used to to visit the Maison de Balzac on Rue Raynouard, the information on transportation, hours, and addresses was of relatively recent vintage and, consequently, more trustworthy.

While Kaplan's contributions are wonderful and the many black and white and color photographs memorable, the publisher did a very mediocre job of presentation. I do not care for the book's alphabetic orientation and deplore the unhelpful single map.

One more negative: There are many other small museums in Paris that are not even mentioned in passing, such as the Musee de la Serrure (locks, keys, and door knockers); Musee de la Poste (mail service); Musee Guimet (Oriental art); the new museum of Jewish history near the Pompidou Center -- to mention just a few.

And yet, I look forward in a couple of weeks to visiting the Musee Delacroix and the Musee Cognac-Jay, neither of which appear in my other guidebooks. This is a very useful book for those who wish to explore lesser-known parts of the City of Lights. I look forward to a new edition which will make it even more useful.

We recently used this guide extensively while in Paris for a week. Having done the usual "big name" tourist stops, we were looking for a convenient way to see Paris in-depth. This book met our needs completely. I am looking forward to more work from this author.

Whether you're on your first trip to Paris, or a regular visitor, Rachel Kaplan's "Little Known Museums in and Around Paris is a gem. Forget the crowds at the Louvre and Orsay! Follow Rachel's advice and seek out Balzac's home, Maillol's or Zadkine's sculptures, Delacroix's paintings ... Rachel's scholarship and lively style make you want to leave the beaten track and head for these less-famous, less-crowded, first-rate museums.

Racheal Kaplan's Little-Known Musemus in and around Paris includes reviews of thirty museums and appealing subjects such as the homes of famous authors (i.e. Dumas and Balzac), museums of science, and the decorative arts. Ms. Kaplan is an exceptional raconteur and brings Paris alive with her use of interesting anecdotes, historical facts, and high quality photographs. For the Paris traveler that wants to put a human face to this beautiful city, I would recommend Little-Known Museums in and around Paris.

Ms. Burleigh's Mirage is an excellent account of the invasion of Egypt by Napoleon's army, and the French intellectual Savants that accompanied the military on this ill-conceived and failed military expedition. The accounts of the physical trials, successes, and failures of the Savants is profoundly interesting.

Ms. Burleigh's depth of research on the subject was very good. She provides many detailed accounts and examples, taken from first hand journals, that provide the reader with first-hand accounts of a very trying period in French and Egyptian history.

For those interested in this period of colonial French history; interested in the Egyptian art, architecture and culture; and the practical application of 18th century science to the infancy of archaeology, this is a must read for you.

This is a terrific book. I highly recommend it to almost anyone. All you need is an interest in history or science or adventure or foreign affairs or botany or ancient Egypt. On many levels, this book is fun and informative. And it's all true. For flavor, it's like Indiana Jones meets Albert Einstein meets James Audubon. It's hard to put down.

The story concerns Napoleon's foray into Egypt in 1799. Ostensibly it was to expand scientific knowledge of this ancient and mysterious land. In reality, it was the start of the anticipated conquest and annexation of Egypt. As the British did with India (i.e., creating a far-east outpost), the French were hoping to do with Egypt. But things did not go exactly as planned.

In other books on the subject, the focus is on the military aspect of the expedition. About 50,000 soldiers and sailors accompanied Napoleon. In Mirage, the author (Nina Burleigh) focuses on the 151 scientists (or savants) who also accompanied him. Here, the savants are the "heroes." We learn of their trials, tribulations, and successes.

Each chapter concerns a different savant and their respective expertise: botany, math, medicine, engineering, art, etc. Through the eyes of learned gents, we learn about Egypt, the parochial views of 19th century Europe, and the folly of imperialism. It's a terrific perspective that is told in an easily accessible style.

Burleigh keeps up the suspense. She covers many academic fields but does not overwhelm a reader. It's a fun read and you can't help but learn. For example, she describes the savants' discoveries while stuck in desert sands. She puts discoveries in the context of the time and shows how some still apply, like Fourier's math work.

The only knock on the book, and it is minor, is that it lacks a map of the region. Readers should print one before starting the book.

Though I normally don't read nonfiction, Mirage immediately drew me in with its vivid descriptions of this strange, historic expedition. Aptly titled, the book chronicles Napoleon's disastrous foray into Egypt in pursuit of some exotic, orientalist fantasy that never existed in reality. Aping Alexander, Napoleon took with him some of the best and most adventurous French intellectuals of the time. These scientists and academics, or "savants," become the core of the narrative -- distinct and eccentric characters that I followed with interest. Some of the situations the savants found themselves in were truly surreal -- but despite the hardships and suffering they endured during the journey, they were able to expand their fields of study -- and even discover the Rosetta Stone!

I knew very little about this expedition -- or this period in history -- but the book is enormously informative, with loads of facts as well as being entertaining, and in spite of myself I learned a lot! As I read I kept thinking of our current fiasco in Iraq, which seems to repeat in so many ways the arrogance and ignorance of Napoleon and his French soldiers. So the book is amazingly timely as well.

A great read and a well-written, fascinating book! I recommend it highly.

Nina Burleigh paints a vivid picture of the curious minds of the scientists who accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, a land beyond their imagination.

The scientists' desire to understand what they were seeing and to map, catalogue, paint--and in some ways, dominate--this exotic place feels real. Though the cast of characters is large, and occasionally unwieldy, the book draws fine portraits of individuals, many of whom are worthy of their own biographies. And Mirage projects a sense of excitement about learning that is contagious.

Many people have read about Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and of the many scientists and engineers who accompanied him. However, many history books usually allot but a few pages perhaps to this important event, which led, among other things, to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. The author of this book has done an excellent job of focusing entirely on Napoleon's Egyptian campaign with particular emphasis on the many "savants" who were charged with studying and documenting this ancient land. The many hardships that they endured are vividly described, as are their relationships with the French military and the local inhabitants. The author's writing style is accessible, friendly, authoritative and most engaging, making this a work that is difficult to put down. This account indeed forms an excellent link between the decaying ruins of an ancient civilization and the birth of modern Egyptology. This is a book that can be enjoyed by everyone, but history buffs, particularly those with a fascination for Egypt, will likely relish it the most.

This is quite unlike any book I've ever read. It is composed of 2 parts. The first is a rambling monologue from a decaying man (or is it woman or animal) named Molloy, in search of his mother. The second starts out as a detective named Moran in search of Molloy. In both stories nothing much happens involving any specific time or place, and the identities of all characters are in question. The only thing that really exists is the language, which turns out to not have much true meaning at all.

Read this if you are looking for an unique style of writing to experience. Perhaps you will learn more about the nature of language and identity, or perhaps you will find it tedious and pointless, but all readers will agree it is experimental and unique.

Where the human will finishes, the absurd begins. It is also the start of the death of humanity. The task of narrating this disintegration is Beckett's purpose in this novel. It is a purposeless task. "The truth is I haven't much will left", says Molloy. How can a novel ever be sustained on that? The disappearrance of mankind leaves the lonely self, a bag of bones, in front of God's mystery. and God's silence.

With their lack of will, it becomes difficult to distinguish one person from another. Consciousness becomes impossible. It has to be filled with stories. Any kind of stories; true, false, meaningful or not. The writer is somebody standing at an observation post. His mother is the breeder of a foul race, humankind, now nearly extinct. Man is now neither man nor beast. And the writer merely observes this and tries to understand. Which is difficult, because things become nameless just as names describe nothing. What to make with words which are not meanings or references but particles of an ever disintegrating reality? "And even my sense of identity was wrapped in a namelessness often hard to penetrate".

The narrator wonders about his reality, both as an author and as a human being. His lack of command over words destroys the world, which becomes unnamable or "foully named". One solution, if one is passionate about truth, is to speak little. Can it be that we are not free, not free to speak? If human life is a burial ground, the narrator, like the author, has chosen to be a mere spectator. The thing to contribute to life is merely our "presence", only. We can study while we are here: anthropology, astronomy, magic... it is just a manner of killing time. If man is alone, then the world may be at an end. Still, all things in it hang together, as if by mystery. And this, instead of proving a solution, only adds to our sense of wonderment. And it can never be spoken, but there it is.

In this state, thinking is asking oneself questions merely for the sake of looking at them. This is the spirit of the "incurious seeker", the one who is finally prepared to learn.

In Part Two we meet Jacques Moran, a private detective who is to narrate his own experience of pursuing Molloy. Knowing that he has been chosen to perform a unique task, he becomes anxious. As different from Molloy, the detective seems to be an ordered, rational man. Nevertheless, he is beset by the same kind of questions that rouble Molloy. For instance, he is engaged to accomplish a mission that he cannot fully understand. Like Molloy, he has a problem with the purposefulness of life. But while Molloy has surrendered his will completely to the absurd, Moran's is a rationality which is just about to crack, and his process of psychic disintegration is started as he first gets in touch with the Molloy affair. Life becomes inenarrable. People become multiple. Two Molloys Morgan has to follow: the one inside himself and the one outside. Life becomes a stage of mirrors. Which is the true reflection?

Vagrancy can be described as a state of the mind. It is synonimous with the anguish of absolute freedom. As our lives become "worse" year after year, is it not by force of habit that we persuade ourselves that they improve when they actually decline? Moran never finds Molloy, but he un-finds himself. He un-changes his life. The only way forward seems to be a long way back.

This is a fabulous dramatic interpretation and realization of Beckett's greatest novel (really two loosely connected monologues). The actors are superbly in character and have the appropriate voices to convey the self-satisfied bewilderment of Molloy and bewildered self-satisfaction of Moran. It's a fitting cliche that this Audiobook brings the novel vividly to life. My only quibble is the recording quality, which is good, but does not attain Naxos' highest standard of transparency.

I recently heard Cornell West, a Princeton professor, say during a talk that he would take Chekov over Beckett any day. "Chekov's deeper--Beckett's smarter," he said. Perhaps true (though I don't really know how he's thinking about it). But I tend to think Beckett is both DEEP and SMART.

So in terms of the "greatest novel of the 20th century," I pick this one. Ulysses is sprawling, difficult, experimental, and obviously more influential than this novel. But when you "don't understand" something in Ulysses, it's probably just because it depends upon an obscure reference--or a combination of words you only half know--or something Joyce is simply withholding from the text. When you "don't understand" something in Beckett, it's because Beckett is MYSTICAL.

One of my favorite passages in this book consists of six straight pages of Molloy's describing how he tries to arrange six pebbles ("sucking stones") in his four pockets so that he can suck them in the same order over and over again (eventually, his "solution" is, if you will allow me to quote from my imperfect memory, "to throw away all of the stones but one, which I soon lost, or gave away, or threw away, or swallowed"). What other writer could pull this off?

If you can read only ONE thing by Beckett, read this--above the plays, above any of the early or late novels.

Molloy is a novel that influenced the writing of novels to come after it. Samuel Beckett was among many of the writers after World War II who experienced "the anxiety of influence" and the shadow of Modernism. It was among many novels written in the 1940's that defined a space for new literature to exist in, where it had never been quite before. Modernism on the whole was perhaps not as experimental as we would like to think, and actually most of its authors were conservatives and reactionaries. James Joyce was not though, that is why he is the most influential writer of the 20th century. Joyce's main contribution was radical literary activity, using some Modernist techniques, creating his own language, and bringing all of history and science and literature into one book.

Samuel Beckett on the other hand was concerned with language itself, its ability to express ideas or to mirror reality, and those concerns have become our own. Molloy is both about the writing of the novel and the search of a character, and perhaps by the end of the novel we still do not know what has happened. Beckett introduces new elements into the serious novel such as the detective story and the self-reflexive narrative. And like a mystery story, Molloy is a search for the self, for truth, for a modern idiom, but unfortunately without arriving there.

Going back further than Joyce, to the 19th century where the bourgeois novel form was more or less firmly established by writers such as Dickens and Eliot, it would be interesting to compare that literary institution with what I will call "the Post-Modern novel" or Beckett's novel. In a standard 19th century novel we look for such conventions and characteristics such as plot, characterization, time, place, linear narrative, character motivation, and excellent use of the English language. If a novel does not live up to these expectations, we refer to it a bad novel or a novel which prattles. These conventions of the novel have fooled us into thinking it mirrors reality and experience. Modernism's achievement in such writers such as Joyce and Proust is to go beyond the 19th century novel and exist as a work of hyper-reality. One can use such a work as Ulysses to be directed through the city of Dublin since it is more real than "real." But one should not make the mistake of "Academic criticism, . . . (which) uses the word "realism" as if reality were already completely established (Robbe-Grillet 155)." Experience is both fictional discourse and fact "and it is never possible to decide which of the two possibilities is the right one (De Man 23)."

If Joyce is going beyond realism, Beckett goes the other way with his literature, which can be called the literature of disappointments. Rather than plot, there is storytelling without progression; instead of characterization, there is lack of character depth; there is no specific time or place, we often wonder where we are, whether months or days or hours have passed; instead of a linear narrative, or progression from birth to death, there is a narrative that goes astray, diverts, digressions, yet these are interesting detours; and instead of a strong literary language, there is the bare essentials of language, sentences out of a primer, or "writing degree zero." Beckett commits these errors or disappointments for very good reasons that I would like to show here.

Beckett's main concerns as a writer are involved with the problems of writing itself, the futility of expression, the power of language, the death of the author in terms of Foucault: these were the problems that many writers dealt with after Joyce. Alain Robbe-Grillet claims that "Before the work, there is nothing: no certainty, no purpose, no message (141)." This was such an attitude of a writer at the time. For Beckett, the "anxiety of influence" is there as well; but for Beckett he will be influenced by Joyce by an extent; he will distance himself and his work from Joyce's; he will deal with other problems. If Joyce is trying to expand the potential of language and literature, Beckett will contract, he will reduce literature down the level of language. He will grow anxious about the writer's position in the world that he will reject, a position which other writers have ignored. Beckett will ask himself "why should I write?" And "what should I write about?" And better yet "how do I write?" The novel Molloy is the result of all Beckett's anxiety to write a novel. "It is also a parody of the novel itself, a middle-class form. . . "(Gontarski 309). The style of it itself suggests all that. The novel is a promise of what literature could be.

If you want to learn a language by yourself this is an excellent method. You can invest just 15 to 30 minutes a day and you will learn without effort (I have tried it, it works, you have to be constant and patient). The idea is to hear simple conversations, learn the language in the structures that you would need in a conversation, and do some practice. By repetition of this structures in dialogues you get a sense of the language without learning grammar. Grammar is there but in some footnotes, you will learn it but as something secondary to the practice, just as we do in real live with our native language. Be sure to use the CDs too.
Highly recommended!

Assimil programs are based on effortless assimilation of the language material. I believe that Assimil programs are most popular language learning programs in Europe.

From the very beginning you are immersed in the language. The program contains 113 lessons on 608 pages. You can also get 4 CDs with a little bit over 3 hours of entire French material from this book.

The book is based on a logical but original approach. It combines a functional and varied vocabulary with sufficient grammar to enable you to master conversational French in just a few months.

Each lesson contains of short dialogues and is accompanied by any notes and grammatical explations, which are also reviewed later on. Throughout the book are interspersed cartoons and jokes making learning of French even more enjoyable and fun.

After you have completed New French With Ease (I recommend both book and tapes / CDs), you can proceed to the next level "Using French".

In my attempt to speak and understand french, I bought this book after I came back from France where i first heard about it. I have been reading it and listening in my ipod every day going to and from work. I have to say that this book is very good in giving you the essentials and taking you a step further. Every 5 lessons or so it has a review section and at the end of the book it shows a grammar summary which I found very helpful. The audio has good quality and the authors try to make it fun in every audio conversation. I would say that the only downside would be that some of the phrases (very few actually) I encountered in the book are not currently used anymore in France (according to what some french people told me). Also, I wish the method would actually introduce me to the future/conditional/imperfect tenses directly before it presents it in a dialogue and makes reference to it as being that tense. However, the grammar summary at the end of the book will definitely answer your questions on how to use these tenses.

If you want something that isn't Michel Thomas but you still want to learn French, this is your answer. It works extremely well and is very easy to use properly.

I recently travelled to Paris, having crashed through Michel Thomas and done most of the Smart French CD-ROM (which I can recommend if you have little time to prepare). These helped a great deal.

While browsing through the bookstores there, I kept bumping into the Assimil packs - the Smart French method appears to be a bit of a modification of the "natural assimilation" technique of these French-origin "with ease" series. "L'anglais sans peine" is one of the biggest selling items in French books, and it's how so many French people learn how to speak and to understand English. (They published their first edition back in 1944, according to the antique dealers on ebay.)

Why? Because, if you take 20-30 minutes each day for a few months (preferably five), you'll find that the series is fun, and you don't have to strain to memorise. The most important thing is to do a little each day in the first two weeks, and you build on it from there. After two months now, I'm beginning to understand (listening-wise) internet radio news from www.rfi.fr and so on. So far, this is the most thorough and most fun.

Accessibly written by Gary Lee Kraut (winner of FracePress' Prix d'Excellence for work on France), Paris Revisited: The Guide For The Return Traveler is an excellent travel guide to exploring the splendors of France's grand capital, whether you are returning for revisit or are experiencing Paris' cultural, historical, and architectural grandeur for the very first time. Covering both famous and infamous historical sites, grand museums, prime shopping locals, choice hotels, extensive adventure and gastronomical delights in the restaurant scene, and so much more, Paris Revisited is a superbly organized and enthusiastically recommended reference for enhancing one's travel experience.

Very usable guide to your personal tour of Paris. What Parisian visit are you looking for....this time? If it's casual, or romantic, or historical, or the great cafes, or quick highlights, this is the book to have in hand. Mr. Kraut out does himself in this addition to his books on Paris. As a long time American in Paris, Gary Kraut walks you through the most beautiful and interesting and tasty parts of Paris.

A friends passed me this book--and after finding it so useful I've passed it on to others. It's not a typical guide book...and it is. What's great about this book is that it gets you off the beaten path a bit, and it's fun to read. Lots of info, and like a standard guidebook it has all the relevent information. As a more intimate guide, this author isn't afraid to tell you what he thinks or how he thinks--but the bottom line is always Paris in all its beauty and complexity. It's a good read, as well as a great guide. And for first time travelers, it might be ok, too.

A friend gave this book to me just before my recent visit to Paris and it turned out to be the only one I used. There were extensive descriptions and background for places I'd never heard of before, the guidance intrigued me, and all of the ones I visited turned out to be little gems (and not overrun by tourists) that made my visit more memorable. The major sights are all covered also, but with more of an eye toward appreciation of their charms than a must-see checklist. A great resource.

Most of the mainstream travel books don't fit my personality or have listings that fit my pocket book. This one is for the traveller that wants to see the city - not just other tourists. It's easy to read, has opinions that you can agree (or disagree) with and encourages you to see things, not just for the first time but in a new way. You can tell the book was written by someone that loves the city and he makes you fall in love with Paris too. If you're going to Paris alone, or with someone you're fond of, you'll be delighted. I'm ready to go back.

"çà, c'est paris"! is a popular french song from WWII period. Parisians sang it when Paris was delivered by US and french troops. This is the song I started whislting when I read the first pages and table of contents of this book. It's good to read paris guide books where you're not obliged to go through 50 pages of historical descriptions before you understand what paris is all about. This book is not dull. It is well documented even if this documentation has nothing to do with "classical" culture. It belongs to a tradition in French publishing business: collection of essays written by famous writers about a specific place. In this case, I do not know the writers (I am french)and am not influenced by their past works. One could imagine to publish the same kind of books with texts from Victor Hugo, Ernst Hemmingway and other famous writers.

I took one of the Traveler's Tales books on my trip to Paris, and bought this one when I got back. One of the stories made me miss Paris so much that I wept. I'm doling the stories out slowly to make them last. If you love Paris, this book will keep your psychic connection alive.

If I had not already been Paris-bound, this book assuredly would have had me calling the airlines. What a wonderful, eclectic collection of essays! The piece on Ste. Chappelle, for example, actually manages to convey the jaw-dropping, heart-clenching, breath-taking sheer beauty of the place. Other pieces, such as SOS Medecin, captured utterly the blend of whimsy and solemnity that is Paris. You don't have to be headed for Paris to love this book; you don't even have to be a traveler.

Ahhh Paris. As a graduate student fortunate to be studying in Paris, I found myself falling into the dull routine of class and studying. I was failing to appreciate one of the prettiest cities on earth. This book opened my eyes to the multitude of interesting "trucs" around me in the Latin Quarter. Although some of the stories are more interesting than others, there is genuinely something for everyone's taste in this book. I now often study at the "Deux Magots" cafe due to its history and popularity with Jean Paul Sartres and Simone de Beauvoir that I read about. This book is wonderful for anyone interested in Paris, wanting to take a mental journey there, or a seasoned traveller who thinks they already know Paris. Anyone armed with "Paris Traveler's Tales" can discover the "Joie de Vivre" en Paris!

Like TT: France, this book is a perfect way to prepare psychologically for entering La France. Its collection of essays on living or traveling in Paris has passionate tales and historical accounts.

A book like this is an excellent way to give you pointers on Paris city life. I would never have thought of experiencing the Turkish bathes of a Paris without the wonderful story in TT: Paris. And many would find it maudlin to go exploring Pere Lachaise cemetery, until reading some stories of the experience.

Rick Steves' travel guides do a good job of highlighting particular things to see. Travelers' Tales take the experience to a deeper level.

this is a beautiful book. I could sit for hours looking at the pictures and wishing I could be there. Not only are the photos lovely, but there are bibliographic notes so that you can read more about what you are seeing in the photos. That seemed the most valuable to me, giving one a chance to learn more about this fascinating ruins.

This is in every way a splendid book. The photographs are superb, and present a well-chosen selection of the world's great archeological sites. The one-column authoritative descriptions are a bonus. Don't ignore the historical introduction or the hilarious jottings from the photographer, Georg Gerster. It all brings back so many memories.

The pictures are spectacular, giving you another perspective on nearly every major monument throughout the world. Also is provided a brief history of the monument and what archaeologists believe was the main purpose of it. Great book - highly recommend it to anyone

If you want to review the wonder of human kind's imprint on the earth, enjoy this book. If you want to wonder at the uses of the earth's treasures to show creativity and genius spend time with this book. That these architectural remains can be seen from the air in entirety is made possible by Georg Gerster's incredible artistry.

Exceeded expectations. The views were unexpectedly revealing, and the written descriptions of each view were also unexpectedly revealing.

The art of Pierre et Gilles shows beauty, sensual, intimate, contemporary and quality works made for two individuals that becomes an author in a perfect union. They create fantastic worlds with photography and paint. Their works talks about their dreams, lifes, obsessions, pleasures, pains, loves, friends, interests. They shows a unncommon vision of the contemporary world through topics related to religion, sexuality, mithology, personalities, and their own lifes. This is one of the most beautiful art books ever made, every single detail have been realized carefully.

The art of Pierre et Gilles shows beauty, sensual, intimate, contemporary and quality works made by two individuals that becomes an author in a perfect union. They create fantastic worlds with photography and paint. Their works talks about their dreams, lifes, obsessions, pleasures, pains, loves, friends, interests. They shows a unncommon vision of the contemporary world through topics related to religion, sexuality, mithology, personalities, and their own lifes. Even like an object, this is one of the most beautiful art books ever made, every single detail have been realized carefully.

The art of Pierre et Gilles shows beauty, sensual, intimate, contemporary and quality works made for two individuals that becomes an author in a perfect union. They create fantastic worlds with photography and paint. Their works talks about their dreams, lifes, obsessions, pleasures, pains, loves, friends, interests. They shows a unncommon vision of the contemporary world through topics related to religion, sexuality, mithology, personalities, and their own lifes. This is one of the most beautiful art books ever made, every single detail have been realized carefully.

The photography of Pierre and Gilles is absolutly fantastic. This makes a stunning coffee table book.

Pierre et Gilles set a new standard when it comes to their combination of photograpy and painting. No wonder photographers like David La Chappelle try to knock off their style (imitation is the highest form of flattery). I found this massive coffee table book to be thorough, entertaining, titillating, and funny. I would recommend it to anyone interesting in modern "pop" art and portrait photography. The imagination of these two is priceless as is this collection of their work.

What a treat to find an interesting well written book that helps explain the Catholic outlook and its rituals to mistified Protestants. Father Frank is a very appealing young priest with his all too human failings, goals and yearnings. We see his family, parish and view of life through his eyes as he goes through a year in the church calendar in training for the NYC marathon. Along the way, we see his growth and that of his church, and we grow in our knowledge of the different celebrations of the church year and their meaning. Frances Bremer has given us a city Catholic priest, reminescent of the Episcopal Father Tim in Jan Karon's Mitford series. She leaves us wanting more.

This book is a fascinating story within a story. Frank, a runner in his 30s, is training for the New York Marathon.

Frank comes across as very human; he could be the boy-next-door with his interest in playing poker, football, drinking beer and hanging out with his friends. But what makes him interesting and complex and gives the story its resonance and depth, is that he is a Catholic Priest.

A very thought provoking book.

God isn't finished with Frank yet and He uses the New York City Marathon to teach him a thing or two. This true story chronicles a year in the life of a young priest in Boston as he struggles to answer Christ's call to follow Him as he attends to his parish and trains for the marathon. As a priest, following Christ means bringing the people of the parish along to learn the love of God for them and the demands of a loving response. And some people, vividly portrayed, don't make it easy.

The analogy of life as a race is at least as old as the Greeks. St. Paul used it to describe his life: I have run the race, I have kept the faith. The race demands training, self-discipline, suffering, and an iron determination to finish. It never goes according to plan and the reward at the finish might not be what was expected.

_Running for Paradise_ is an affecting account that recognizes the rituals and devotions of Catholicism as doors for the human heart to enter the Heart of Christ. Fr. Frank and his flock, in the sometimes gritty circumstances of life, are faced with the reality of the hardness and selfishness of their hearts and invited to open themselves to the life of God's Heart. It is a modern tale of the timeless truths.

This is not a book for cynics - or maybe it is. A sweet and simple story about ordinary people, it runs a bridge over the chasm between rationality, our need for hard proof, and the consoling power of prayer and simple faith. Those of us needing something more than the materiality of modern life may find comfort here. Others, too smart and too busy for religion in their lives, will not bother. They should.

What a treat to find an interesting well written book that helps explain the Catholic outlook and its rituals to mistified Protestants. Father Frank is a very appealing young priest with his all too human failings, goals and yearnings. We see his family, parish and view of life through his eyes as he goes through a year in the church calendar in training for the NYC marathon. Along the way, we see his growth and that of his church, and we grow in our knowledge of the different celebrations of the church year and their meaning. Frances Bremer has given us a city Catholic priest, reminescent of the Episcopal Father Tim in Jan Karon's Mitford series. She leaves us wanting more.