George Books

Well done! Interesting to see scenes that are familiar to me through the arts eyes.

Put this book on your coffee table and no one will ever leave your house. The art work is not only inspiring, but historical as well. Some paintings show parts of the island that are gone now. I loved some of the artists so much that I actually purchased several of the prints shown in the book. If you love the ocean you will love this book.

I am a Realtor on Long Beach Island and live just off the island. This book has some of the most beautiful pictures of the past and present in it. I originally bought it because my last name is Anastasia and the first artist in this book is Anastasia, but the art work in the book is magnificent. Everyone I show it to just loves it. In my family room I have pictures of lighthouses and everyone is in this book. And Jane Law is a favorite artist of mine and I also have one of her pictures of the "Shack" which I just love. If you love seashore art and especially Long Beach Island you will love this book. It is a beautiful coffee table book. The picture on the cover is one of my favorites.

This book is extrememly well done. The reproductions on the page are excellent with rich, deep, and vivid colors. The variety of painitngs is wide as is the subject matter. Not every painting will appeal to every viewer. But every painting will give every viewer a new perspective on this unique island which is changing fast and forever.

Highly Recommended for those who wonder about where we come from and our role in the Play of Life, particularly fighting against injustice and oppression.

Puts me in mind of the advertisement that warns mothers not to tell their children the product is good for them - it's so nice-tasting they'll assume it's a treat. The author's fireside-chat style is so gently informative and assured, I found myself effortlessly following his historical sweep from the creation of the earth through to modern America - learning all kinds of tidbits along the way. Did you know that over half of all the agricultural produce in the world originates in plants cultivated by American Indians? He pulls you into the flow of society's development, drawing parallels between the revolutionary appearance of a backbone in fish, and social revolutions punctuating periods of quiet evolution in human society. Places the American war of independence and civil war firmly in this context, and leaves the reader quietly convinced that the logical next phase of history includes workers power. Will give you satisfying food for thought.

When George Novack wrote this great pamphlet it appeared that the prospect for massive struggles by working people in the USA were dismal. Yet, in a few years, Blacks, youth, women and millions of others in this country that wiped out Jim Crow segregation, produced mass feminist consciousness and won abortion rights, helped the Vietnamese people defeat US imperialism, and extended the Cuban revolution for four decades. History is the deep undercurrents produced by the contradictions of society that help us understand why capitalism will undergo great crises, and more importantly how and why workers, farmers, youth, oppressed nationalities will rise against it. Today the contradictions of capitalism that Novack explains here, show in the long run, even a greater radicalization than that of the 1960s and 1970s can and will sweep over this country and the world. It will give working people the chance to take power out of the hands of the super rich and open the road to building another world. Read this pamphlet and you will under stand this. You will learn to live, not in today, not even in tomorrow, but in history.

While this book is not always available on Amazon, it is always available from BooksfromPathfinder, an Amazon Z store that you can get to by clicking on New and Used further up this page!

George Novack points out that for most of human history private property was not even a concept human beings could imagine. He shows that history (pre-human as well as human) is marked by revolutionary advances. Cynics and reactionaries argue that progress is an illusion and revolution is beyond the scope of humanity today. Novack destroys these positions by pointing to a number of examples from history and science. Novack's range of knowledge makes for great reading. But it isn't idle entertainment. He ties human survival to the working class fight for solidarity, leading to socialism or communism, a society where class distinctions are abolished. This is a fight we can all participate in. What about the argument that you can't change human nature? I won't tell you how Novack answers this, so as not to spoil the good read you'll have when you sit down with this book.

I appreciated the way Elizabeth George drew out the names of God demonstrated in Psalm 23. It helped me focus on who God is. Thank you, Mrs. George!

Elizabeth George has once again written a challenging, thought-provoking, and encouraging book. She guides the reader verse by verse through one of the most familiar passages in all of scripture. She brings life and understanding the the words of David and helps you to understand the significance of the shepherd metaphor. When I read this book I was struggling with God's call for our family to serve in a ministry with very little pay. By looking at the 23rd Psalm, I came to realize that the Lord would provide all that my family needed and that he would give us protection and grace to face the days ahead. What a joy to have that burden lifted and to fully trust in the Lord. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who desires to be lead by the Good Shepherd.

A very good book on the insight of the 23rd Psalm. Elizabeth George brings things out in this Psalm that will bring comfort to your life.

This book focuses on the 23rd Psalm, and as always, Elizabeth George walks readers through every line, weaving her own personal stories throughout to entertain and illustrate each promise. Her heartwarming style and obvious, extensive knowledge of the Bible make this book a must-read for every Christian woman (and man!). Elizabeth George has written other important books, several of which I have read and re-read. I highly recommend this!

its wonderful to read details regarding the birth of greek architecture, the birth of classicism. the heads above arches, those sorry warriors, beaten. the blood letting flutes, fat dripping thigh bones, guttae from the triglyphs if i remember correctly. no wonder classicism is so haunting - sometimes touching - the echinus shape on the capital of tuscan and doric is also the name for "hedgehog" - its gently sloping butt is the same and also for "little cake" as in the sloping crescendo of a risin cupcake's belly. humane architecture has its birth in death - modernism is only intellectual. a subjective dream of babel. in the study of words are clues to the strength of classical architecture.

I bought this book and finished it the day it arrived. I couldn't put it down. It reads like a detective story for architecture enthusiasts. Hersey begins this work by introducing a cluster of tropes that at first seem disparate items. As he develops his arguments (and there are many) he weaves a beautiful tapestry with these tropes. Hersey brings the roots of Greek architecture alive (literally). If he were a philosopher I would be tempted to compare him to Nietzsche in his ability to uncover the conceptual ruins of ancient art. I also recommend Hersey's other work, but this one is my favorite.

The book discusses the persistence of ideas and the ways that ancient belief systems can work their way right into our language and the way we perceive the world. This is certainly a major contribution to the philosophical literature architectural historians have produced.

A marvelous marriage of language and the language of Architecture. Finally, someone has had the courage and talent to take this thing back to the (bloody) beginning. I have read it a couple of times, and given it to about 6 friends.

George MacDonald is the type of writer that you can't predict. You never know where he is going to go next. This is the type of book I wish there were more of for my children to read. We got it at the library, but now we're going to buy it and we're giving it to other children as birthday gifts. Books that inspire and entertain at the same time are rare. People don't like his books because he calls a thing what it is and that hits too close to home.

This book was the first book in a college course called 'Violence and Grace' So true, the title of this course, for the book as well. MacDonald has a magical story-telling ability that impacted the writtings of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, and this is a great book to introduce you to his masterful writtings. If this is the same copy I bought, the artwork is beautifully complimentary as well. I HIGHLY suggest this book to people of EVERY reading ability and personality.

This book's message is the same message of 1 Samuel 16:7 that "man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart". I read it in three days, because it's such an impossible put-down. The best thing is it's surprise ending. You can't go wrong with this book!

An insightful look below the surface of two souls that look a lot like us. Modern ideas of self-importance being instilled as a virtue are skewered, and humility and obedience are offered as antidotes. Either you love MacDonald, or you hate him, for his books are not easy to read... as they are not about somebody else. Horn (above) did not like the sermonizing, but these were the best bits in our opinion.

One of my all-time "must-have" inside-the-game books, right up there with FOUL about Connie Hawkins, MAD DUCKS AND BEARS is nothing short of brilliant... insightful for its look beneath the gridiron turf of the NFL, and asthma-inducing hilarious when author Plympton wisely turns large chunks of the book over to narratives by John Gordy and, to a larger extent, the great Alex Karras, a very droll fellow.

In the mid-'70s, this book used to accompany my sight-impaired college roommate and myself on our annual treks around the country to visit other old chums from school, and in the evenings, I would read and re-read passages aloud to him... Gordy's thoughts while lying on the turf of Yankee Stadium with a dislocated shoulder, Karras' recollections of his first days off an Indiana farm at the University of Iowa under coaching legend Forrest Evashevski, and his adoption in training camp as a scared rookie by hard-drinking Lions' team leader Bobby Layne... as we would roar ourselves to sleep.

Delighted to see this wonderful volume reprinted! Long overdue.

George Plimpton wants to write a book about the techniques offensive and defensive lineman. The Mad Duck (Alex Karras) and The Bear (John Gordy) will be used for research. Their first meeting for the book places the author, George, in down lineman position in the apartment of one of the men as they hammer him into lamps and such. From there the book takes off on the minds of Karras and Gordy. It is filled with absolute laugh out loud hilarity. The book finishes with Plimpton at Quarterback, but this time for the World Champion Baltimore Colts. Insights to hall of famers Johnny Unitas and Bubba Smith are must reading for football historians. (Smith at a party trying to teach a myna bird his name, "Bubba, Bubba, Bubba"). One also gets introduced to Bob Irsay who dismantles the team. It is a hint of things to come----a move to Indianapolis.

This book is excellent for an authentic glimpse into the 1960s NFL. It is also very funny and extremely well written. Alex Karras is an eccentric character who provides a barrel of laughter with his off the wall sense of humor. Plimpton, unkowingly, plays the perfect straight man for karras's bizzare antics.

My only complaint about this book is that it was such an enjoyable read, I wish there were many more pages.

Over 25 years after reading this for the first time, I still remember some of the more hilarious moments: Alex Karras's golf tournament, with the shrieks of wild animals echoing from the woods; Joe Schmidt's basement full of horrible recordings of the Detroit Lions singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic (not to mention the unsold vibrators); Bobby Layne sending Karras out for burgers then abandoning the frightened rookie. Interspersed among the laughs are some wonderful tutorials on the art of football where it really matters--in the trenches with the hogs. Offensive guard John Gordy and defensive tackle Alex Karras, two of the greatest ever to play the game, explain the nearly invisible game of blocking and tackling. This is a sort of cult book for true fans of football and great writing. Come join our congregation!

While on a visit to Brussels, as a lark Inspector Maigret follows a seedy looking character whom he found mailing large amounts of money to himself. It's a puzzle that intrigues Maigret, and to bring the situation to a head, he switches suitcases with the unfortunate and follows him to his flop-house hotel. Maigret takes an adjoining room, peeks through the keyhole as the stranger opens the case. Shocked by what he finds there, he kills himself. Maigret, to assuage his guilt, tries to get to the bottom of the mystery, which introduces him to four middle-aged, successful businessmen who are acting very suspiciously, even to the point of attempting to kill Maigret; not once, but twice. We know they are guilty of something, but what? And that's the mystery that keeps the inspector, and us, enthralled. But wait, we're not done yet. Once Maigret solves the riddle, we have one more huge surprise in store for us. It's a taut story that keeps us involved to the very last paragraphs. It's a quick, satisfying read filled with interesting characters and a thought-provoking solution. It's another fine story in the Maigret series.

IN the first year of publication of Maigret novels almost a dozen were published. The rapidity with which Simenon produced the books in that first year did not detrimentally effect the quality. Having read Maigret novels from throughout the series I am of the view that those novels in the first years are as good as any Simenon produced: Lock 14, The Yellow Dog, A Man's Head, The Bar on the Seine (each of which has recently been reprinted in the UK), are each of the highest quality. But for me The Hundred Gibbets tops these and is on a par with the best of Simenon's fiction (such as The Blue Room).

Through his curiosity as to why a man was packaging 30,000 francs in Brussels posting the money on Maigret resolves to follow Louis Jeunet. His trailing of Jeunet and switch of Jeunet's suitcase leads Jenuet to commit suicide in Bremen and places in Maigret's possession of a blood stained suit. The wonderful opening chapter sets in motion a densely plotted well characterised thriller based around Simenon's birthplace of Liege in Belgium.

Maigret has a depth here that some of the later novels lack, and the sense of place is palpable. The plot involves uncovering an incident from many years before. The Belgian characters involved in the incident are well drawn, most memorable being the businessman van Damme. His confrontation with Maigret and continual appearances around peculiar incidents are delightfully done.

Highly recommended I would suggest that this is an excelletn strating place in reading Maigret and if you enjoy this would recommend any of the Maigret volumes referred to previously, or the Zen novels of Michael Dibdin.

We are unlikely to see many detective novels like this again. On the second page, the detective is in a cafe drinking a geuze lambic. This is surely one of the oddest flavors ever to appear in whodunitry. Sam Spade couldn't choke one down. Even less likely is the plot which hinges not so much on a story as on an incident.
Simenon is remarkably stingy in giving up the details of what's behind the incident at the start of the book and it's the slow unraveling of an ancient crime and its bitter consequences that make the story.
This is a book you'll read in an afternoon and think about forever.

This is one of the best novels of a superb series. For anyone who is only fleetingly acquainted with Maigret or who does not know him at all, you are in for a great surprise. Maigret is a Paris police detective whose stories span from his humble beginnings as a constable's secretary to his rise to success, fame and retirement as the Chief Superintendent of the crime Squad at the Quaise des Ofevres.

Maiget novels are intensely psychological and the distinction between heroes and villains is not comparable to the one between the police and criminals. One senses that Maigret empathizes with the criminals he pursues and even respects them to a considerable degree. Each novel is essentially a study of character and an exploration of how individuals react to their environment. Often it is not solving the crime that is important--indeed Maigret sometimes fails in this endeavor--as much as understanding the people and circumstances the crime entails.

Maigret novels are also wonderful because they take you through the Paris of Simenon's time. You go to the neighborhoods, hear the various dialects and eat the food of France from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Many American writers hardly pay attention to the environment. They describe an item or detail, here or there, but it is often rough craftsmanship. Simenon uses the environment as a painter uses colors. He experiments and absorbs with compelling results.

I have been reading Maigret novel since high school and I think that "Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets" is one of the most fascinating and certainly the most haunting one. In this novel, Maigret stumbles upon what he thinks is a black mailer or thief. He attempts to flush him out by stealing his money only to be surprised by the man's sudden resolve to kill himself. Further investigation reveals that the man is involved in an elaborate revenge plan against himself and his former classmates for a crime they committed years ago. The passion and fanaticism in this novel are extreme yet highly believable. It is also based on real events in Simenon's youth which are described in his most recent biography.

I recommend most if not all Maigret novels for anyone interested in psychology, well crafted mystery, and travelogues.

Simenon's Chief Inspector Maigret never fails to take me to Paris, to enfold me into the city's daily life and the problems of solving a crime. This is accomplished by an economy of language that somehow includes all the details necessary to create a lucid scene.

This novel begins on a rainy night when Maigret accompanies his doctor friend on an amergency call: a man has been stabbed on a nearby sidewalk. It is no ordinary victim. He is the young son of a wealthy perfume manufacturer. The victim's hobby is secretly taping conversations wherever he goes. It is a pastime that proved fatal--or did it?

Maigret's investigation takes him to cafes and brasseries, from the wealthy to the poor, and piece by piece he solves the crime. Or, perhaps, it should be said that Maigret lets the killer play out and solve the case on his own. In either case it is the journey, not the solution, that ntrigues. There are the sights, and sounds, and smells of Paris. As usual, Maigret chats with his wife, goes to movies, and pauses often to have a beer or wine and to reflect on what he has uncovered to date.

Any lover of crime fiction who has not yet discovered Georges Simenon should do so immediately. Like Arthur Conan Doyle, he is one of the best, not just of crime fiction but of fiction writing in general.

The Maigrets ate on a monthly basis with Dr. Pardon and his wife. Dr. Pardon complained that medical doctors were being changed into clerks because of all of the paperwork required of them. Superintendent Maigret and Dr. Pardon went out to see a young man lying in the street, a victim of stabbing. Maigret had become involved in the case involuntarily.

In reporting the death to the family, Maigret learned that the young man's parents were very rich. The father was a perfume manufacturer. The young man had had few friends. He had an unusual hobby, recording conversations. The tape recorder was recovered.

Maigret called in Janvier. The importance given to the case by the press was surprising to both police officers. A description of the assailant was obtained. Maigret called upon his other two favorites, Lucas and Lapointe, to help with the case.

The young man had identified the places where he had made recordings. The police officers followed in his footsteps. Maigret had known professional criminals well, but he had never been that interested in them. It had all seemed like a game somehow.

On a stakeout four men, presumed art thieves, are arrested. Seemingly the young man doing the recording had stumbled upon a criminal plot. The killer called Maigret. He was a man who had crossed a barrier. It was a matter of diminished responsiblity. The tale is taut, lucid.

When Maigret meets a serial killer, it's a dramatic face to face and, as usually, Maigret can understand why the killer acts in such an horrible way. Maigret don't excuse the killer but can understand. Like said Simenon : "Understand but not judge".

This is one of my very favorite Simenon novels; superbly paced and brilliant characterizations.

This simple and old-fashioned mystery was a pleasant surprise. There was nothing flashy, or garish, or over-the top about it - a straightforward police whodunit. Some readers might find this a trifle boring - we've gotten so used to multiple storylines and side-stories that it's a little hard to switch gears and wind down to something so basic, but it's worth it. Reminds one of simpler times, and harkens back to the days of Agatha Christie (Poirot, though, not Marple).

It's not precisely a solve-it-yourself, but it does give you plenty of food for thought. Even though it's a very short book, the characters are well-written and interesting, giving you even more incentive to at least try to decipher the ending. It's possible, but I think it's more luck than skill if you figure it out. Granted, there are none of the dizzying twists and turns of more 'modern' mysteries, no technology or romance, but it's still very much worth reading for any true mystery fan.

This is one of those rare detective novels with an excellent plot, well-defined characters, great atmosphere, and in a language without a wasted word. Only Ed McBain, among American detective fiction in the police procedural sub-genre, is a rival.

Chief Inspector Maigret is not hard boiled, no tough talking cop, nor is he exceptionally perceptive or brilliant. He just attaches himself to the case and plods relentlessly. Here a tiny, 86-year old widow is murdered, after complaining to the police that her apartment has been very slightly disturbed several times while she was shopping or sitting in the park. No one in authority pays much attention to her until after she is strangled. Why would someone kill such a harmless person? She has no valuable jewelry, no cache of money. Maigret must find the motive and the killer with meager clues.

Perhaps the most impressive element of this and other Simenon novels is the economy of language, albeit in translation from the French. There is plenty of detail but without wasting a word. The Simenon books should be studied by crime writers for the narrative technique alone.

This is a thoughtful well-plotted mystery. The author does a fine job portrayng Maigret, the other detectives, the victim (an elderly lady), her niece and her niece's son. The writing is simple and easy to understand. Simemon does not waste words but he brings the characters to life. The reader will be kept guessing until the end of the book.

Imagine drinking a glass of Calvados. The title is ambiguous. She was a tiny woman insisting upon seeing Chief Inspector Maigret personally. Madame Antoine, aged, having lived in her apartment for a long time, reported that her things had been moved. There is only the key she keeps in her bag. A niece and her son are her only relatives. She is pefectly aware that a young person might consider her mad. The concierge says she is very much like any other old person living by herself. Her clear gray eyes make an impression on Maigret. Then she is murdered, suffocated, and an investigation ensues. The police search and question, after all this is a police procedural. Maigret discovers that the victim had practiced twenty five years of thrift. A character named Le Grand Marcel is brought into the picture.

The fineness of the writing (translated?) transcends the genre. Picking up a Maigret novel is a matter of dealing in a brand name consumer good. One is never disappointed. The storytelling is simple, classical, felicitous. Simenon used masterful economy in his art. The short bursts of information create an almost Raymond Carverish style. One is transported to Paris in the Spring. Time spent in the company of Maigret and his gifted inspectors Lapointe, Lucas, and Janvier is a pleasure.

Included in this Omnibus are three of the first four 'Inspector Maigret' books (more like novellas) that Simenon wrote in 1931. They are both a police procedural as well as a murder mystery. They evoke a time between the two world wars that are seldom written about. You can feel the undercurrents of the French when they speak about the Germans or the Russians and still feel the 'grittiness' that followed the end of WW1.

Maigret is a large man for his times, he never smiles or laughs and sometimes will muse about his time in the 'trenches'. He knows the effect his size has on people and is not afraid to use it to intimidate witnesses or to get what he wants. His pipe is part of his hand and mouth and seldom found in his pocket. He is the kind of man who when he stands in front of you demands respect and attention to what he wants. Even before he announces that he is an 'Inspector of Police' people know that he has authority and will use it.

There are three stories included in this collections: 'Crime at Lock 14' which was the story in which he was introduced. It is a story of love, hurt and abandonment, and the ending is quite unexpected. 'Maigret and the 100 Gibbets' presents a problem to Maigret that comes from his constant need to understand why things happen. It is very much influenced by Edgar Allen Poe and the ending is 'Poe-ish' in style. 'The Strange Case of Pietr the Lett' hinges on finding out how one man can be in so many places at the same time, but never really there. The criminal is from that part of Europe that has undergone huge upheavals because of the end of WW1, and the break-up of the Russian Empire.

You have to keep in mind, the 'times' these stories are written in, they are post-WW1 Europe, that has been two years into the "Great Depression". Life is hard and most people see no future, just day to day drudgery and maybe starvation or life on the streets. At the same time, 'The Rich' are so far above the average person or worker to make them almost invisible. Money is power and people fear those who have it and know how to use its' power.

Read this book is a like a journey in the past (the firties) in the sailor's world and in the passion.

The atmosphere is splendid, the characters are interesting. The story is superb.

Read it you will not waste your time.

One of the very best Maigrets, in my opinion, and I've read most of them. This one is particularly memorable for its brilliantly evocative atmosphere.

This title is an English invention, unhappily signalling a facetiousness absent from a sombre Simenon story about double murder, decdence, broken lives and betrayal. A literal translation from the French is 'The Carter Of The 'Providence'', but perhaps that was seen as too leading, even if it was Simenon's choice; another alternative, 'The Crime At Lock 14' is the most satisfying, centring on the important aspect of the novel: place. 'Milord' is set in that strange, marginal, now obsolete inter-war world of canal barges, perhaps most familiar from contemporary films of the period, such as 'Boudu Saved From Drowning' or 'L'Atalante'. Indeed, the star of those films, Michel Simon, would have been an obvious choice to play the main non-Migret character in any film of this book, the carter Jean, a taciturn giant whose face and tattooed body are buried in a mass of hirsute overgrowth, a man who sleeps in dumb animal warmth with his horses in the barge stable, and into whose eyes Maigret can't decide whether to read imbecility or the keenest intelligence.

A beautiful, rich, well-dressed woman is found strangled between two sleeping carters in the tavern stable at Dizy, Lock 14. She is the wife of an elderly English aristocrat, disgraced Colonel Lampson, who is sailing along the canal tribuatry of the Marne on his luxury yacht The Southern Cross with his sleazy but charming companion Willy Marco, and his fat Chilean mistress. Despite his bearing and stiff-upper-lip, the Colonel conducts regular drunken orgies on board his yacht, and tolerated his wife's affair with Marco. The other principal boat in the story is the huge barge The Providence, run by a small, timid skipper, his garrulous, kindly wife and the carter Jean.

Simenon characterises barge-life as a kind of shadow-world adjacent to, but unknown to, normal life around it, with its own codes, customs and language. Although these are floating homes, not tied to any one place and potentially unstable, their slow, regular movements up and down the river, and the rules they must abide by are as rigid, claustrophobic and monotonous as any settler's. But Simenon brilliantly captures the sense of a shifting communal life, competitive (the dense traffic on a small stretch of water means much jostling for pole position), but full of cameraderie and good humour, helping out friends in trouble, carrying messages from relatives, tipping canal-side officials.

For a rooted outsider like Maigret, this world seems enchanted, his inability to crack the case matched by a terrible sense of suspension hanging over the twilit realm - it is only by breaking out of it, asserting his mobility by bicycle, that he can regain his detective prowess. Before that, he learns many fascinating facts about the mechanics of barge life, as well as its drabness and colour, its hierarchies of boats and petty bendings of the law, the land men, women and buildings who service it (lock-keepers, tavern- and shop-owners); a group world of work and routine in which transgressive individual desire can have the direst consequences.

The way Simenon himself, like a narrative elastic band, suspends the tension, allowing us to soak in the character and atmosphere, before accelerating the suspense and action, is so gripping, this must count as an exceptional early Maigret.