Robertson Books

This is for those who love that dry English humor. I love this book! It mocks so beautifuly stupidities, naivete, and human anxietes. If you like slap stick humor, please look somewhere else.

Stephen Leacock was a Canadian author who wrote his works with an optimistic yet realistic view of life. His light-hearted, bubbly diction impressed me all the way through the novel. Each short story was unique and had true-to-life situations and entertaining characters to whom readers of all ages can relate. His stories are full of good advice for everyone from the socially elite, eager-to-please teenager to the hard-working businessman to the overprotective father. Leacock exaggerates in many of his sketches, but that aspect of each story fits in perfectly with the separate ideas he presents. I recommend this novel to anyone who agrees that life should be lived to the absolute fullest, taking all chances and having a good time. As Stephen Leacock says, "Eat what you want. Eat lots of it. Yes, eat too much of it. Eat till you can just stagger across the room with it and prop it up against the sofa." (Leacock Literary 31)

This book contains a collection of ironically satirical essays. Satire is not my favorite form of humor, so it took me a few essays to get "into the swing" of the book, but I can say that once I came around to the appropriate frame of reference, I quite enjoyed the book. When reading this book, you must also remember that it was originally published in 1910; the humorous themes of the essays have aged well, but some of the settings have not.

As I read the essays, I kept having the nagging thought that the author's style reminded me of a contemporary author. Once I reached the "How to Make a Million Dollars" essay, it hit me: I would not hesitate to call Stephen Leacock the Dave Barry (Miami columnist and author) of the early 1900s. They both have the same sort of perverse logic to their points of view. Thus, if you can picture Dave Barry writing in the early 1900s, you can get some idea of what reading this book of essays would be like.

MOODY FOOD
By Ray Robertson
387 pages, ISBN 097767990X

From the back of the book - " For Bill Hansen, things couldn't be better. He's got a beautiful folk-singer girlfriend, a job at Toronto's coolest bookstore and, most of all, he's got Yorkville, which in 1966 is nothing short of paradise for a boy from the suburbs. And then Bill meets the charismatic Thomas Graham, who draws Bill into an obsessive quest to create what he calls "interstellar North American Music" and the Duckhead Secret Society is born and launched on a whirlwind tour of bars, taverns and dives across America. But in the haze of harder and harder drugs, it all starts to come undone. As Bill recounts the rise and fall of Thomas Grahm and his musical vision, he simultaneously tells the story of frustrated idealism and the passing of an entire generation."

This book was inspired by the singer Gram Parsons and while I am sure is not identical to his life there are enough important details to consider that if it is not a fact it certainly could have happened. I was born in 1962 so I watched this era of our history through the rose colored glasses of childhood. I could visualize each and every one of the characters as they would have been at the time. Not so much because of my memory but for the wonderful descriptions in the writing. The story was told by Bill but every so often you got a little snapshot into the child hood of Thomas. This was an important part of the writing style because you may never have understood Thomas otherwise without giving him his own voice in the book. Overall the writing was fun and interesting to read. I liked the fact that the author did not find it necessary to go deeply into descriptive love scenes or excessive use of foul language. Those additions would not have added in anyway to the story because that was not what the story was about. The only complaint that I had with the books writing was that occasionally I had trouble following who was saying what during a conversation. I had to re-read a few times but did not find it exceptionally distracting.

What I liked most about this book was the look at how charismatic individuals can sometimes enter and affect our lives. I have known many such individuals as Thomas through the years, some make it and some don't. They often glow so brightly for a short time and then just kind of vanish. Thomas is no exception to this rule. The other characters try so hard to maintain their belief in what they are doing and in Thomas even when by doing so they are putting themselves at risk. This book is a perfect example of what addiction and co-dependency look like. At one point while I was reading I remembered how I felt when I was reading "The Outsiders" back in high school. I would find myself wanting to scream at the characters, "Stop! Don't you see how stupid you are being", but that was the whole point of the book. Sometimes we just don't see that the road we are taking is not getting us where we wanted to go.

While I did like this book a lot it was not a book that I had to keep my head in until I was finished. I think that had more to do with the subject than it had to do with the writing. The one thing though that I think is important to also mention is that while the 60's may seem like an era gone by it planted seeds in the young children that watched it from their playpens. I was to young to be influenced by the drugs during the 60's but I was very much influenced by the message that it had to give and that is also what you will get from this book.

Why's this so hard to track down? Robertson leads the pack in rock & roll fiction.

Forget Almost Famous - get this, and Morley's "Nothing," and you are done.

Forget the struggling biopics, Robertson captures the voice, music, life
and death of Parsons right here. I guess it's fiction or whatever, but
this is the best on Gram that you can get

Anyone interested in the beloved Morrissey will enjoy this book. I am a Moz and Smiths fan, and found that the topically divided quotes help to define his personality, point out how disparaging he is of himself, and that he is a true chameleon. It is fascinating. The only criticism I have is that the quotes are quite dated now, and as Moz is always ungoing rebirth, they may not represent him and his career now.

Great book full of wit and humor by the one we all admire from afar! Buy it and use it to spread his word!

Excellent book of quotes from the always witty singer of the Smith's Morrissey. This book sheds life on his opinions of topics raging from: his past, politics, sex, his lyrics, and Magaret Thatcher. This book Chronicles his visions of the band before they took off to stardom going as far back as May 1983 to 1988. Great book, I refer to it all the time.

Opening the Mind's Eye reveals both how the mind's eye operates and how language can limit its visual range. Robertson suggest simple and immediate methods by which we can strengthen our ability to make images, improving memory, boosting problem-solving capabilities, combating stress, enriching artistic expression, and increasing athletic achievement. Image-based therapies have become increasingly vital elements in the treatment of illness and disease. This book shows why. How well we use our mind's image making capacities affects every aspect of our lives.

I purchased this book to learn more about the functions of the right hemisphere of the brain. It was disappointing to have a sermon from a self-proclaimed agnostic advocating that religion be subordinated to "science". Robertson acknowledges throughout the book that there are ways of knowing beyond logic (as processed by the left brain). The science part is informative and helpful. It's his added editorializing that weakens the book. He concludes it with a push for a "new religion" to emerge, some odd mixture of various existing religious. His argument indicates his religion is science, which contradicts what he argues elsewhere in the book, about different forms of knowing. He lumps all religions together, seeing them as essentially being all alike, with Buddhism being his slight favorite. I learned new information on the way the brain works, however I had to tolerate a lot of intolerance to my Christian faith along the way.

I've always been fascinated by the inner workings of the mind and how one can improve it. This book is a fascinating exploration on how the mind really thinks. It's illustrated in extremely simple language. Interestingly post reading the book I came across other people who use a similar concept. Moreover I have been reading books on memory etc. primarily by authors such as Harry Lorayne, and there too I find the emphasis on thinking in visuals. If you visualize it you remember it. The book does cover memory also to a certain extent but the other coverage is awesome. This book is a definite yes if you want to learn how your mind works and how you can help yourself think better. I wish I had come across this earlier in life. I'm definitely on the lookout for more of such work.

A quite sophisticated effort. A Victorian man living outside the town of Glen Cairn discovers an artifact, while looking to dig a water hole for his wine-growing property. Unlike the reader, he hasn't read the prologue, so does not know that an advanced human woman is contained within.

Amidst some highly entertaining social satire, she uses him to learn from, and looks to implement the weeding out of the 'inferior' races, as they had done in the past before they were destroyed. This past history is detailed through the later part of the novel, and is not dull.

The protagonist is basically incapable of thinking too logically about this stunning traveller through time, and it is up to his friend, and once-girlfriend to attempt to bring him to his senses. With the help of what is apparently, amazingly, an honest and brave politician, the Prime Minister, who is happily in Melbourne at the time, they manage to stall her for a time from bringing back to life her childhood friend, and superior! Who happens to be contained in a similar artifact, in what is now the Himalayas.

Thus, of course, a tragic love triangle has ensued.

This book deserves its reputation.

Out of the Silence by Erle Cox was published in Novel form in 1925. Before that, it appeared as a serial in the Argus, which was a daily newspaper in Melbourne. In 1949, it tied for 13th on the Arkham Survey of `Basic SF Titles', but unlike many of the other books on that list, it has disappeared from notice. Only occasionally does it seem to get mentioned, and then it is referred to as the first major Australian SF novel and not as an all-time classic.

The copy that I managed to find was published by Sirius Quality Paperbacks in 1981, and is 416 pages in length. The story is kind of a combination of the Atlantis myth with the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. I think one of the reasons it has not lasted as well as some other classic SF titles, is that it is fairly predictable. I knew from reading the prologue where the book was going for the most part, and it takes its time getting there. On the plus side, it is enjoyable reading, even if you know where it is going.

At the risk of being a small spoiler, there is one part of the plot that is important, and was not predictable from the prologue alone. The racial issue given the context of this book being written between the two world wars is interesting, and somewhat foretelling. I suspect that it is for this reason that the book was highly rated in 1949 when August Derleth conducted the Arkham Survey. However, even that issue, once it is introduced it plays out as one would expect.

If the above review sounds negative, then I should clearly state that I think this is an enjoyable book to read. Some may find it a bit slow paced, but I would say it is above average, but not enough above to give it four stars.

I had the pleasure of reading this book over 20 years ago! Also, my book is signed by the author, Mr. Erle cox.

This story takes place in the mid-1900's on an Australian ranch where an ancient object is dug up. (I won't disclose what that object is!) The story keeps the reader in suspense and it's difficult to put the book down!

This book is classic science-fiction and romance at its best...

The other day my brother dropped in for a visit and happened to wander into our bedroom. I went in after him to hear him exclaim, "I want my bedroom to 'feel' like this one. Why, it feels wonderful in here! What did you do to make it feel like this?" What I did was read and use Jon Robertson's "Sacred Bedroom" to help create a truly wonderful space that even my brother, who isn't easily taken in by his surroundings, noticed. Needless to say, he is receiving a copy of this book for a gift, so that now, he too, can enjoy the benefits of a good read and a transformed bedroom. Not only that, but the author will also introduce brother dear to the art of Feng Shui, dream therapy, and some other "boudoir" arts that will soothe his soul and tickle his fancy. Thank you Jon, for a great book, one that in my opinion belongs in every home.

This book brims with suggestions for transforming the bedroom into a sacred place for prayer and meditation, sleep and dreams, romance, rituals, and sacred sex. While it might take a few days or weeks to read THE SACRED BEDROOM, it could take several years to make most of the changes recommended. Just for starters, there's the physical space to be rearranged according to the principles of Feng Sui; the floor covering and bedclothes to be replaced with natural, non-toxic materials, and some sacred objects to be obtained for the creation of a bedroom altar. Robinson suggests that we make these changes gradually, as we can afford to. I started out by splurging on a compact box of tissues which enabled me to move my hand lotion from my bureau to my night table. Now I can use my bureau top for an altar. The altar is the focal point for meditation and prayer, essential activities for the maintenance of a sacred bedroom.
Robertson has created a beautiful archetype of the sacred bedroom for readers to aspire to. Some of its components are not practical for all of us, but the principles of the sacred bedroom, to be carried beyond the bedroom door into our daily interactions, can easily be integrated into our spiritual lives. These are: "The divine image within," the reminder that we and all those we meet are eternal souls made in God's image; "True Love," that helps us recognize God within ourselves and others; "Energy," being aware of the flow of energy everywhere we go, and keeping it positive; "Filtering the artificial," to protect ourselves from the influence of the media and the synthetic world; and "honoring the authentic self," the confident self who knows the permanence of the soul and its place in the universe, no matter what occurs in daily life.

Emily VanLaeys (...)

Jon Robertson's Sacred Bedroom provides tips to creating a personal sanctuary for spirituality and refuge, from using atmosphere to encourage either romance or sleep to embellishing a room with candles or aromatherapy. Packed with practical applications.

Book arrived in excellant condition considering its nearly 30 years old. Only trouble I had was trying to get it out of the very secure packaging.

Great service, will use seller again.

This book reports the results of a study on the attitudes of British working and middle class women in the 1970s towards housework, children, and marriage. Oakley was frustrated at the lack of attention that traditional sociological research had given women to date, so she undertook this project to try to understand and document this understudied population. She interviewed 40 women between the ages of 20-30, all married, with children, living in a London suburb. As classified by their husband's occupations, half were working class and half were middle class. Several of the women also worked outside the house part-time or even full-time, but in her definition, any woman who is the one primarily responsible for doing the domestic chores is a housewife, regardless of her other employment status.

The study was designed to get at a variety of questions: What are the attitudes of the women towards housework-do they think it worthwhile? Is there a correlation between social class and domesticity (a personality characteristic of being well-suited to doing housework)? How satisfied are women with the kind of work they do and with their status as housewives? What are the standards that women have for their work, where do these standards come from, and what are the women's daily routines? How much do the husbands help out with the domestic chores? How do the women feel about having children and caring for them? Answers to each of these questions were tabulated from the responses to the surveys. Oakley includes a number of tables summarizing the results and noting whether there were statistically significant differences between groups, such as by class or by number of children. She also includes quite a few quotes from the women themselves, explaining their feelings on the subject. At the back of the book are appendices discussing the method of scoring the responses and the survey questions used. There are also endnotes and an index.

One idea that Oakley expands upon is how housewives structure their work through self-specification of standards and routines. By spelling out rules, housework is placed into the category of other types of work. This also serves "as a means of job enlargement, a process of elaborating housework tasks so they take up endlessly increasing amounts of time," which serves to keep the worker fully employed. These rules and standards also give the worker a means to measure whether she is doing a satisfactory job. If she measures up to her standards, then she can give herself a pat on the back and a reward; otherwise, she will feel guilty and perhaps attempt to redouble her efforts.

I'm not sure whether the results of this survey can be generalized to American women, or to society some 30 years after the study was completed. Nevertheless, the book does include some interesting observations and points. For instance, it is remarkable to read of the "amenities" that many of these women did not have, such as an inside lavatory, running hot and cold water, a separate kitchen (from other families), a clothes washer, or a refrigerator. It's so easy to forget today that all of these items are luxuries, and it was only a short while ago when they were more universally recognized as such. Oakley describes the cleaning schedule of one young woman who lived in a two room basement flat without running water or an indoor toilet, who not only washed her infant's diapers by hand, but still felt it prudent to wash her curtains every two weeks. And she thought her lifestyle was normal! In her study of amenities, Oakley points out that "the acquisition of a new machine may temporarily raise enthusiasm for a particular task, but it does not seem to affect the basic feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction," concerning the task. Technology can ease the burden of domestic tasks, but it may not lighten the total load for the person responsible for doing the tasks, since she (or he) has an interest in feeling fully employed and will tend to use the extra energy on some other task or to reach higher standards.

The research study undertaken by Oakley shows two conflicting stereotypes of housework exist in popular thinking. They are the housewife as the oppressed worker and the housewife who has endless creative and leisure pursuits. Through the interviews of 40 women Oakley shows that no matter whether they were working class or middle class, housewives had the same feelings about housework.

Some writers create terrific pieces of literature but cannot write an ending to save their lives (I'm looking at you Stephen King). This is most definitely not the case here. Warren Ellis finished a great series with a spectacular ending, one that isn't a lame cop-out to pave way for a sequel. Spider doesn't need a sequel when his story was told right the first time. This trade had me eagerly reading page after page to a surprising (and on a much deeper level, beautiful and heart-warming) ending.

The Transmetropolitan series all-in-all is astounding piece of work, one that everyone should pick up.

Spider and his crew of filthy assistants are still dodging attempts on their lives, but Spider finally has an ace to play. He has evidence of a Kent State style massacre, and finally the media will display some backbone, especially after The Smiler has declared martial law.

Spider gets to face down The Smiler just this one more time.

I don't know why, but Transmetropolitan never really GRABBED me and held on. I read the entire series based on an overwhelming amount of recommendations from friends, and now that I've finished it, I can't say I'm extremely impressed. Warren Ellis creates a character that is often amusing, but never very realistic or human. I stuck with it through all ten volumes hoping there would be some sort of change towards the epic, but it never materialized for me.

I am a big fan of many other long-form comic series, which is why this came so highly recommended to me. My favorite comic series is definitely Garth Ennis' nine-volume Preacher epic. Transmet and Preacher share a lot in surface commonality. They are both profane, they are both violent, they both explore the extreme boundaries of culture. The difference is that Preacher has heart, and I am left unconvinced that Transmetropolitan has anything besides an amusing main character and several phrases the author evidently thinks are extremely catchy ("filthy assistants" being the main example). The storylines never evolve beyond the episodic, and the authors attempts to force the transformation do not work well.

Definitely give Transmetropolitan a chance, as there is a lot here to love, but if you aren't immediately hooked by the thin first volume, don't expect yourself to like it more as the series progresses. It doesn't change, and that, I think is why for me it is imperfect.

The Cure opens with schools using thought detectors to get rid of people.

After having his evidence destroyed, Spider must gather more, to take another shot at the President. With all filthy assistants armed with bowel disruptors, he sets out ot do this in his manic, though ill and wobbling fashion.

The Smiler declares fake emergencies to extend his powers to do as he sees fit, ignoring laws to do what suits him politically.

This series, for those of you who don't know, is very radical, creative, amusing, astonishing, bewildering and just plain exiting. Spider Jerusalem, the main character, is based on Hunter S. Thompson (who, if you don't already know of, you should do some reading about, or just think back to Johnny Depp's performance in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas").

Spider is a journalist (just like the real, and late, Hunter S. Thompson) who has a real problem with the way his city is being run. The series starts with a very hairy Spider who had just been living in the mountains for five years just to escape the city and "The Beast" who runs it.

The city is very futuristic, but is very much like the world we live in (if advertising strategies, body modifications and the availability of pornography and weaponary were multiplied by 10).

This is my favorite graphic novel of any I've ever read, and recomend it to every person on the planet (well, anyone who has a brain). I'd give this book 12 stars if I could, but my options are limited by Amazon here.

If you like graphic novels, Hunter S. Thomson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, rebellion, jounalism, body modification, futuristic technology concepts, sex, drugs, violence, humor, or just one of thee above, start yourself off by getting Volume 1: "Back on the Street" which is the first 3 comics in one paperback. I promise you won't regret it.

After taking us n the ride of our life, Warren Ellis is finishing of with a tone non can ignore.
IN the last attempt to find the truth and expose "the smiler" Spider Jerusalem is doing what he does best, recovering the truth no matter what may be the consequences.
The comic reads like a hurricane, jumping from scene to scene and bringing the chaos that rose with the election of "the smiler".

Spider Jerusalem is fighting against time, against his decaying brain and against forces that hold almost all of the cards.
Holding to the truth, his fists, his bowl disrupter and the chair leg of truth Spider is giving the fight of his life.

A marvellous ending to a brilliant work of literature and art

Ziv

Jake is an ace field agent for FTL. He's just pioneered a new portal to the uppermost Maastrichian at Hell Creek, Montana. Peg is a star paleontologist, here to study dinosaurs on humanity's first visit to the Mesozoic. Jake's got the hots for Peg, but she's a pack mother for the Teen Lesbians and besides, she's here for *sauropods*.

Rough and ready time commando Jake Bento and lovely paleontologist Peg barely make it back from a Mesozoic mission, and thats just a warmup for greater challenges. This is the first Rodrigo Garcia R. that I've read. The guy is good. Great characters. It would never have occured to me to mix dinosaurs, Mark Twain river boat mayhem and hip hypermodern sci fi. But it works! Buy this book.

__________________________________________
Jake is an ace field agent for FTL. He's just pioneered a new portal to
the uppermost Maastrichian at Hell Creek, Montana. Peg is a star
paleontologist, here to study dinosaurs on humanity's first visit to the
Mesozoic. Jake's got the hots for Peg, but she's a pack mother for the
Teen Lesbians and besides, she's here for *sauropods*.

The big ones are in proto-South America, and after a close encounter
with a tyrannosaur Jake is easily persuaded to go hunting for
herbivores. Unfortunately, there's a hurricane in the path of their
fusion-powered blimp, and their voyage ends in the Cretaceous
treetops. Peg is feeling amorous after the crash:

..."so this is what the adult male organ feels like. I haven't held a penis
since playing sex therapist in kindergarten. But that one was not so big
and active... oh look, an erection... This is fun..."

Fun aside, Jake and Peg are faced with a hike from Texas to Montana, a
trip up the wormhole to early nineteenth-century America, a visit with
Sitting Bull and the Hunkpapa Sioux, and a long trip down the
Mississippi to reach the next portal back to the 24th century and home,
with dirty dealings with riverboat gamblers and slavers en route.

It's good clean fun, and Peg and Jake return home in triumph, though
FTL is miffed at Jake losing their reactor and blimp... and there's
something fishy going on behind the scenes at the company. A quick
trip to the La Brea tar pits in California's Pleistocene ends in disaster,
and Jake is demoted for the return trip to the Cretaceous, this time to
round up some dinos for FTL's game park...

This is a fine combination of a well-drawn future society with
good paleontology brought to life, and a cool historical
adventure to boot. I liked it a lot. Highly recommended.

review copyright 1998 by Peter D. Tillman