Simmons Books

This is a small book, and the history within the covers is a collection of diaries from different persons, including one Mexican peasant - Jose Librado Gurule - who found someone (or someone found him) to write down his memories from the hard-working teamster and laborer aspect. His patient people were virtual slaves of the landmaster, a wealthy Mexican sheepman - Jose Leandro Perea - (who used simple "debt owed" rather than "ownership of" to control his workers, who were in reality life-long indentured servants, never seeming to remove themselves from the debit side of his ledger. This trip was to be no exception to that idea, but rather an extension of it for most.

Perea also had a contract to help build a railroad, as well as setting up a frontier supply store, so it's likely he had a lot more in mind for the men to further his monetary benefit once they arrived out there. Since they paid for their own clothing (debit to the rapidly expanding ledger of Senor Parea) and other incidentals for the privilege of working for him, he quite possibly built the whole railroad with what they owed him for the Santa Fe Trip to supply the stuff he would ultimate sell back to them. It would also appear that all Jose got out of this was a new suit of clothes, which he did manage to do with money he "took with him", which had been his goal - his only goal aspired to - against the risks of the journey.

I thought his accounting of the Travails of the Trail to be one of the most interesting and effective, since they were from a different culture; which, though mingling on the same journey with the white drovers, wealthier wagon masters, including his own Mexican boss, was nevertheless a world apart though they moved and lived through the same one each day. Each set of eyes beheld the journey individually; each set of circumstances shaped the work load and the end result; but each life was risked in common every day.

It was a very, very good read and is worth adding to your Southwest History shelf. Four stars only because of it's short length in relation to it's overall worth, which was vastly important from the individual accounting aspect of it, and deserved more accumulation of the material from other sources and people. I'm sure there were more diaries out there that could have been found but were not and therefore, never added to an important work like this.

I knew I would be spending part of the summer living in raton, NM exactly on the Santa Fe Trail so I thought I'd try this book. I later found out from my brother in Santa Fe that the author is an extremely respected local journalist and historian.

the book are monographs or case studies of some of the people who lived and often died making the long trek. It was sort of an expressway of its day, the hardship and speed depending on whether or not you had the political clout ot have US Cavalry troops as escorts.

Anyone who travels anywhere near the Trail, or lives there, should donate this to local schools and libraries.

I've owned this little book for several years and highly recommend it. Like most cookbooks I tweak the ingredients and while I won't try every recipe, the ones I do use are very good. The Malted Milk Chocolate Pudding has become legendary in my family. Once you own this book, you'll laugh at all the little boxes of "pudding" in the grocery store. Buy it!

This is a very good "little" book. Both savory and sweet puddings & custards are covered as well as flans and a few mousse recipes. Complimenting sauce recipes are also included. Fresh fruit is required in many of the recipes which could mean a special trip to the store but it's worth it. The Savory Corn Pudding is excellent served as a side to sauted chicken breast. I recommend this book for anyone looking for something different in the way of a side dish or a light dessert.

This book is a bit of a touchstone in my life. I've been a land-based textbook aviator forever, always yearning to take flight instruction (in a real airplane, not just on a home pc simulator), but too timid to pursue it. Now in my 50's and semi-retired, it's time, and I've signed-up for that first hands-on-the-yoke lesson at a local airport. The author Simmons brought me to this moment. A needed push. A very interesting bio, too. I was taken in by his trials as an academic--his struggle teaching literature at M.I.T.--and about his distant relationship with his father, his stifling relationship with his mother and the ridiculous dogma she forced on him as a child, and then the final nail--his failed marriage. It all fed powerfully into his escape to the cockpit (inspite his white knuckle fear of flying!!!). Here's a mid-30s hard-working guy, full of angst, rage and chronic disappointment over the choices he's made thus far, trying to do the right thing to please everyone but himself. He confronts his most acute fear, airplanes. Ultimately, it's in the air that he finds exhileration in mastering intricate flight systems and in managing such risk, which gives him confidence in his powers to change his life for the better. He brings the insecure but rational-thinking student-pilot to life as I've never read anywhere else before. And the personalities of the flight personnel who helped him along the way to becoming a private pilot are revealed in wonderful, believable detail. I really enjoyed this book.

A Season in the Air is a lovely, moving story of a man's struggle to break free from the chains that bind him. His childhood religion, fears of flying, family problems, and a career that is going nowhere are all holding him back from something; but he doesn't even know what that missing something is. Through flying lessons, he learns to let go of his fears and demons. Even as his family, career, and credit are taking a downward spiral, Simmons is learning that his pilot's license may be everything he needs.

This book is very moving, full of beautiful imagery and thoughts. The non-pilot will not be confused, or disappointed, and may even want to learn to fly after reading this. Highly recommended!

If you can't read French and are interested in learning more about Serge Gainsbourg, by all means pick this up instead of Alan Clayson's "View From The Exterior". The simple reason being, Clayson can't write. "Exterior" is an unbearable read due to Clayson's self-satasfied pretentiousness. Simmons offers nothing of the kind. If anything, it's like reading an elaborate magazine article. No surprize, Simmons is a rock journalist. But where Clayson was more concerned with voicing his far-from-humble opinions, Simmons gets down to the business of Serge Gainsbourg. The good, the bad & the ugly.

Though only a 139 pages in length, FISTFUL OF GIGANTES is an honest, concise and informative document of a very complex personality. Interviews with the likes of Jane Birkin and those in the know, neither demonize nor deify. Simmons' style is informal to say the least, but she never let's it get in the way of her subject. In fact, it's far more intimate than many biographies I've read. What makes this so readable is the author's obvious curiousty for her subject. Her bare bones approach allows Gainsborg, rather than the author to be the sensationalist. So, if you failed all your French classes or never had the oppurtunity of being an exchange student, let FISTFUL OF GITANTES's act as your interpreter. She even translates the song titles for you. My only reservation is that it was over far too soon. As they say, "time flies"...

Must-read biography of one of the most fascinating men in 20th century music. I've not read the Clayson biography, but after reading A Fistful of Gitanes, I don't have any need to read another Gainsbourg biography (in English at least)! The writing is interesting and draws you in. Also many insights from interviews with Jane Birkin (Gainsbourg's ex-wife).

Also recommended are Evgenie Sokolov and Gilles Verlant's biography of Gainsbourg (in French).

*thumbs way way up!*

I loved Star-Spangled Eden. This well researched history reads like a historical romance. Simmons covers 50 of the most critical years of American History, 1830-1850, through the eyes of eight British men and women who came here, traveled widely, and had marvelous adventures. Each traveler plugs into a major theme of the era when the country developed from raw frontier to a modern industrial state and provides a unique perspective on important events of this period - the Southern slavery system, the Civil War, the exploration and settlement of the West, etc.

My favorite chapter is the last one on Oscar Wilde's witty eleven-month cross-country American tour. To quote the author, "Here was the leading British snob, an effete poseur of highly refined sensibilities, lecturing American audiences from Boston to Leadville on the principles of aesthetics and becoming a popular celebrity in the process. Wilde found himself growing inordinately fond of Americans. A less unlikely love match could scarcely be imagined."

Simmons writes great history-of-travel books. I first discovered him with Castaway in Paradise: The Incredible Adventures of True-Life Robinson Crusoes. I recommend these books to anyone looking for a great read that's based on fact.

In "Star Spangled Eden," James Simmons joins adventure story, mini-biography, and travelogue for a refreshing look at mid-19th century American history. He allows us to see through the eyes of British artists (Fanny Kemble) authors (Charles Dickens, Civil War reporter "Bull Run" Russell) and adventurers (Frank Harris, Richard Burton) trying to understand and succeed in a growing country just understanding itself.

"Eden" touches on the seismic events between 1820-1890: slavery, the Civil War and reconstruction, taming of the American West, manifest destiny, the Chicago fire and the start of Mark Twain's "Gilded Age." But letters, newspaper stories, biographies and other first person period literature allow Simmons to show the humanity behind them even at its most graphic (Part II, covering "The Western Frontier," contains most of the book's goriest images.)

You read of Dickens' "quarrel with America" over copyright infringement and Frances Trollope's disgust with perceived American misogyny, egalitarianism and even table manners. These resulted in two books causing national furor and turning American goodwill against their respective authors. (Several chapters repeat disgust with tobacco spittle and a savage American press.) Most notably, in Kemble's chapter, Simmons shows how America's shame of slavery tears a nation and family asunder.

But each of Simmons' subjects is astounded at America's natural beauty (most notably west of the Mississippi) and earnestness even while complaining of crude manners or(as Oscar Wilde did wittily in the chapter on his American tour)aesthetics.

Simmons allows some sense of closure when saying those gleaning the most from their American experience assimilated themselves best into it. This covered episodes from Wilde drinking American friends and rivals under the table to Burton and mountain man George Puxton adapting clothes, mannerisms and even speech from their new neighbors. This contrasts with Trollope and Dickens who,in Simmons words, "had no appreciation of America as a vigorous, expanding nation." Through his anecdotes, Simmons allows you to see American growing pains his characters often could not.

Simmons' only misstep is forgiveable. In Wilde's chapter he tells of presidential assassin Charles Guiteau, whose trial and execution for shooting James Garfield becomes a media circus, prefacing celebrity trials even as he identifies Wilde as "the first modern celebrity...famous for being famous." You expect Simmons to make a larger point on Guiteau's perverse interpretation of what Wilde considered the art of his own life, but Simmons never quite does. (It would also have helped to read of Wilde's meeting fellow iconoclast Ambrose Bierce.)

Regardless, Simmons succeeds at the aim of his acknowledgements. "With proper research and attention to the small details of place, action, and character," he writes, "formal history could be written to read as easily and effortlessly as the finest historical romance." Indeed, Simmons successfully wraps American hisory around his characters' adventures in "Star-Spangled Eden" (and includes a superb bibliography), making his an offbeat, informative and even reasssuring history lesson.

The book arrived on time. And the package is in perfect condition. With regards to the overall contents of the book. I gave it five stars. Because, I have learned a lot after reading the book. It gave me confidence trouble shooting my computer at home and work.

This book does an very good to excellent job providing guidance for setting up and troubleshooting Windows XP usng the tools the OS provides. One should purchase a more complete reference book as this book does not cover the registry very well as some problems require editing the registry. Overall, this book is what a field tech needs to guide him/her through a very complex OS.

A very good quick reference for the Services of the Holy Orthodox Church, but also very interesting from a historical point, because of St Symeon's description of the Cathedral services of Thessaloniki at his time. I find the translation a little stilted, but it does not affect the value of this book. There is so much Theology in our Services, not only in the Divine Liturgy, but all of them, and it is a very useful book for newcomers to the Faith, as the other reviewer mentioned. Now I just wish that all of St Symeon's writings would be translated into English!

This translation of St. Symeon's works on sacred temple and the services which take place in it, offers to english-speaking readers the richness of Orthodox spiritulaity. This book is an excellent exhibition of the Orthodox liturgical practice during 12th - 15th centuries. The same practice is being followed even today in the orthodox churches around the world, so this book can become a guide for anyone interested in Orthodox spirituality. This work contains explanations to how a sacred temple is founded, how the clergy is being ordinated, and how each one of the Sacraments is being celebrated. St. Symeon is also interpreting the church services, showing their symbolic meaning.

I have just about every Williams Sonoma cookbook ever published, including 3 previous books on soups and stews. They have been great and so for me, it was a no-brainer to order this book as well.

It is a good book, but notice the title. It is more about how to make soups generally, than about how to make specific soups. So it is more a book on culinary technique than a classic recipe book.

If you already know the techniques, e.g. making roux', making pureed and cream soups, etc., then this book may be a bit disappointing since it does not have any particularly marvelous recipes as do the other books in the series. But if you're new to soups, this may be a great book.

BTW, I highly recommend the WS Soups 1, Soups 2, and Soups and Stews.

Williams-sonoma mastering series is full of rich and practical tips for all cooking levels. i really enjoyed the layout and the helpful pictures. The explainations and techniques I found to be very helpful while I was preparing the soup dishes.With practice I am sure my soups will turn out like the wonderful pictures shown in the book some day.

Cujo, to me, harkens back to the time when Stephen King's writing was wilder, back then when unbridled classics such as Firestarter and The Stand were still new to the bookstores. Cujo represented a time for me when Stephen would usually put predestrian characters into extraordinary situations and just let them work their way out. Less subtle than his current books Lisey's Story and Duma Key, but more energetic. And you always have a sense that anything can and does happen. That is what's so great about Cujo.

If you've read any of the quips about Cujo online, you would know the basis of this book right from the get go. You knew that eventually there would be a wild dog trapping a woman and her child in a car. And it will indeed be in the back of your mind while reading this thriller.

But you never expected the buildup to be this solid.

You never knew Stephen could do it this masterfully. He simply took the characters and built on their stories. And these stories collided very realistically, creating a push and pull reaction that drove the story forward to that above-mentioned scenario. And then it's boom, the situation starts, wondering what would happen next. Rip roaring stuff.

And outside that struggle between the trapped and the dog were many other situations happening at the same time. Ted's struggle to keep his advertising contract, Steve Kemp's schemings, all this tension made the story all the more thrilling.

This book isn't perfect though; some parts felt really pre-fabricated and campy, like King just put them in there to build up the suspense. But, like paper tigers, you realize how these things eventually turn out to be nothing much. Well, this is fiction, so it goes in the territory. Not really anything to shout about.

If you want to read a good thriller, Cujo would be right up your alley.

Cujo- A pet to never forget

Cujo is a tedious read for those used to the more exciting and action packed Stephen King usually writes. Cujo written by the famous author Stephen King.

The book Cujo is about the real life monsters that don't have to live in the dark recesses of your closet or dreams to thrive in. There is no main character like in many of King's books the perspective alters constantly to show everything that's going on. Though in the broad prospect of things there are two main families the story follows.

The Trenton family is in the upper middle class with Vic a commercial director and his wife Donna a stay at home house wife. There pride and joy Tad or to his dad tadder has a monster in his closet which is a foreshadowing of the monster he faces latter on.

The other family is the chamber family. A poor hillbilly get'r done husband abuses his wife Charity. She stays around only for her son who his very intelligent but she worries that he will follow his father's footsteps to nowhere.

The Trenton's car is in need of repair and so they take it to Joe who repairs cars and meet the Chamber's dog Cujo. Cujo is a lovable easy going 200 lbs dog.

Of course in typical King fashion he turns Cujo into a poor retched monster. Maybe not the type your thinking of Cujo gets bitten by bats and get the nervous system attacking brain deteriorating incurable disease rabies. Well while this is happening Vic finds out that Donna is cheating on him so he leaves town.

While Donna is trying to keep her marriage together which takes up a large potion of the book dulling it so much that even when you get to the parts where Cujo is killing people it can hardly raise your attention.

Well Donna takes tad with her to get the car checked out again. Cujo has fallen to the last stages of madness and attacks. With a cruel twist of fate the car battery dies trapping Donna and her 6 yr old son to an indefinite siege in the car. After day of being trapped and with tad on the brink of death Donna faces off with Cujo armed only with a broken bat.

I would recommend that if you want to read this book that you be very persistent with your reading. The extra details can grow tedious and boring so if you're not a good reader find something else.

I am a new reader of King. I have heard about him my whole life but am only now collecting his books. I am reading them in the order they were written so Cujo was the next one on the list. I have to say I did not like this novel as much as some of the others; however, much of this was because I have been an abused wife just like the one in this book. I have been a mother who worried over her son again just like both mom's in this book. There are other parallels as well but I won't go there here. I also felt I was in the dog's head and I felt increasingly sorry for him. I understood Tad's fear of the monster in the closet and remember feeling that way as a child. I had wolfs in my closet :). I agree that this is a dark novel but I also got a truth out of it. Make the most out of each day of your life. Sometimes your life does not work out as you would have wished. Everyone probably should read this book and I am sure in a discriptive literature class the disucssions would be awesome.

This one's good to read if if you've got about 3-4 hours to kill. It is a page turner. Not because it is so good, because it's so short.

Stephen King is the sort of man people discuss in hushed
whispers, muttering of the terryfing events he unravels in
his novels, yet Cujo not only comes up short of these
expectations, but fails them completely.
Before Cujo, I had never read a Stephen King book. A few weeks ago, I decided it was time to indulge myself. I checked the book out from the school library and brought it home, already a nervous knot forming in my stomach, expecting non-stop sequences of completely unpredictable peril. Instead, I read the first dozen pages utterly bored and puzzled. The only remotely scary instance was the realization that I had 192 more pages to read until the end.
King opens the story with a small summary of a recent suicide by a lunatic named Frank Dodd who apparently molested and murdered a various assortment of girls and women in the small Maine community. The plot then shifts to a small family, the Trentons, whose four-year old son, Tad, is panic-sticken by an apparent monster in his closet. This proves irrevelent to the overall story and is used as a ruse by King to keep the reader hooked. Tad's disbelieving father Vic, is in the advertising business with his friend Roger. Vic has a lot of stress hanging over his head because the money inflow is at a low and he fears his wife, Donna has been cheating on him. King also aquaints us with some other potential victims, the Cambers, a classic country family with a young boy named Brett, whose dog is named Cujo (surprise).

I understand that in order for any well-written story, the author must introduce and set up the characters and setting. However, King does this in a rather simple, boring approach which lead me to believe I was watching a drab documentary with my grandparents.
As the tale continues, Cujo, once a kind and loving dog, becomes a ruthless monster and hunts down isolated victims around his residence. These situations prove very predictable, as it is very difficult to brainstorm various outcomes of a bloodthirsty dog and petrified people alone in a deserted country side.
The ending is without any doubt the best portion of the book, being somewhat suspenseful and emotional. The investigative team makes you want to cry out in frustration, as they do everything but fulfill their duty to the missing people. The mostly-predictable ending has a tragic twist at the end that adds heart to a heartless legend woven of attempted intrigue.
Although the book has some good life lessons, a horror novel is not supposed to focus on values, and this unneccessary focal point takes away from the overall quality of the novel. For example, King zooms in on Vic as he struggles with the realization that his family should come before his work and that carrying the burden of anxiety is not always necessary. I took away nothing from reading this disappointing novel, except that I should not base my choices on critics or acclaim, as this book was the #1 bestseller. I would not recommend this book to anyone unless they are looking for a very mild horror book and have more than enough time on their hands. I would doubt that other high-schoolers would have the time or patience to read this book for fun or enjoyment. If you are looking for a scare, I suggest you rent a movie and stay far, far, away from this disappointing book.

Note that I did not say *perfect* conclusion--there were several elements that did not work well for me. Let me get those out of the way first:

- I agree with the complaints that Aenea's "teaching phase" on T'ien Shan is unnecessarily drawn out and a bit hokey: I had unpleasant flashbacks to Card's post-"Enders Game" trilogy, which I felt weakened precipitously as the series went on. Ever since "the Force", SF writers seem compelled to invent pseudo-religions that are vaguely Buddhist/Daoist in theme. What made it especially unnecessary in this case was the fact that it took away from the focus on love as a (the?) powerful force in the universe, and Aenea's subtly profound challenge: CHOOSE AGAIN. We live lives that are driven so much by inertia, path dependence, social mores, individual desires ... to stop and just choose again requires an amazing amount of introspection, persistence, and courage if followed completely. Some might argue that Simmons needed to have Aenea progress through all the pseudo-religion to get to that point ... but I'm not sure it was all necessary. But again, the end result was worth it.
- Just on a personal level, while the ability to look in on others' lives is described in fairly utopian terms, I found the idea rather frightening in an Orwellian kind of way. I have no problem with the idea of a more strongly collective Humanity, but the trade-off with individual freedoms and privacies needs to be weighed carefully.
- For me at least, the "secret" of Aenea's missing time was painfully obvious. This entire series has been about the fluidity of time and the juxtaposition of future, past, and present ... so it wasn't much of a surprise to see how the "missing time" was spent. But you know what--it didn't make it any less poignant, especially given the sacrifice that has been made in one character's past, the other character's future.

And in the end, that was what mattered--at the end of the series, I was left with a smile on my face because the positives of this book and the entire Cantos more than made up for its flaws. This series' warts made it seem all the more perfect for its imperfections.

I have seen the repeated criticism that the Shrike becomes a deus ex machina, but I see it more of "yang" to the Core/Nemes' "yin". Note that at The Moment this series builds to--the time when a "deus ex machina" would be most greatly needed if ever there was one--Aenea is completely alone in her suffering. Her sacrifice is beautiful because it is completely avoidable, and yet completely inevitable. Simmons' re-telling of the crucifixion is intelligent, brutal, poignant, and extremely effective. I disagree with the claims that this portion of the book devolves into "magic" as the scientific workings of Aenea's Communion and Crucifixion are laid out well in advance, and Sol's philosophical musings in the Hyperion books set up the logic for the Endymion books' evolution of mankind toward a more "godlike" state.

The Hyperion Cantos appealed to the head and to the heart, and each book added much to the tale. Having completed the series, I look forward to going back at some point in the future and re-reading the stories with the insight gained from seeing how all the details and characters ended up fitting together. It is clear that different people have different opinions on the series: some believe it was all downhill after "Hyperion", others (like me) think this was one of the best SF series ever written. I invite newcomers to the series to find out for themselves which camp they fall into--I think it is an experience that will not be regretted!

I'm not being sarcastic. It was a little boring at times. Simmons could have clipped about 100 pages from the book - especially where he spent too much time describing the beautiful places where the character happened to be.

I like the characters in Endymion and Rise of Endymion. In a book like this, it would be too easy to make characters over the top but here but the good guys have their weaknesses and so do the bad guys.

Although the Shrike always conveniently appears when he's needed, it's fun to read how Aenea and Raul get out of their difficult situations.

The ending is enjoyable, especially if you embrace the main characters of the story.

To me the mark of a good author is their ability to create people who you can relate to. Dan Simmons is a master at this. The characters of Raul, Aenea, etc... are etched into my memory. The writing may have been wordy at times, but the tale was told.

Half way through the book, I had a bad foreboding feeling about what was coming. I have not been touched by a book as much as I have been touched by this one. If you are like me where you get attached to characters, this book can rip your heart out. It did mine.

I will try to be laconic, a quality the author apparently lacks. Overall I like the story and the characters, however the story at times gets a little boring. There are pastoral descriptions that run over several pages that I had to skip, otherwise I would have fallen asleep. The science part is rather enjoyable and innovative, the part about the genetic algorithms and their hyper-parasitic nature is rather clever without getting into too many computer science details as to the nature of the algorithm, my only comment at this point is the author's obsession with lengthy forays into minutia of events which ultimately have no relevance to the plot.

I'm torn about this book. There were so many things that frustrated and annoyed me ,so I'll start there:
- The Shrike is now Spider-Man. He shows up again and again simply to save our heroine from one certain-death scenario after another. It gets old fast, not to mention completely incongruous with the first two novels and never really explained.
- Aenea leaks information (that she's had since birth) at a trickle, dodging questions with annoying phrases like "I'll tell you when it's time to know," or even the very lazy "We'll talk about it later." There's never any reason given for this behavior, it seems to be just so the author can tell th story at a leisurely pace.
- The technocore, which has the ability to get information by wire-through-the-eyesocket from a dead person earler, resorts to medevil torture when it comes to Aenea. This spontaneous downgrade in technology also coincidentally plays right into Aenea's hands.
- Characters from the original Hyperion keep cropping up in the final act, with little or no rhyme or reason. It gets laughable after awhile. It was too much of a stretch to have Silenus live for 1000 years in the first place. By the time they get to Kassad, I just rolled my eyes.

The list goes on. Plot full of holes and inconsistencies.

However, Simmons sold me so completely on the characters, I couldn't put the thing down. Hes got a lot of interesting ideas, scientific and philisophical, the action scenes are tense and exciting... there is a lot here that I look for in a sci fi novel. When it was over, I found myself wishing for yet another sequel.

So I found it gripping yest frustrating, but ultimately satisfying.