Stevens Books

this is a brilliant book.
stephen bach is such a good writer-- witty, urbane, and the book reads like a tale of glamour and folly.
one of my favorite reads of all time.

I purchased this book to learn about the fiasco of Heaven's Gate from the inside perspective of a participant. The book provides this, with a blow-by-blow (dollar-by-dollar) recant of the film's making. This provides much insight into the world of motion-picture production, and of course the mechanics of Hollywood and its egos. The many details provided, from the movie's conception through its distribution, aptly illustrate how difficult a business it is to make film. Today the business side of Hollywood is often condemned for its effect on the artistic process, but this story shows how the two sides must co-exist, and that compromises must be made. Sometimes the result is disastrous to both.

The topical matter however is much broader than simply Heaven's Gate. Significant details are provided regarding the merger between Transamerica, an insurance company, and United Artists. Working in the corporate world, and having experienced a merger and the accompanying "culture clash", I found this part of the book to be quite interesting. The author does a terrific job of detailing the various personalities involved and the interplay between two heterogeneous cultures. The book is articulately written.

When we sit in a darkened theater, watching pictures flicker and come to life before our eyes, we often forget that the movies are made with one primary purpose in mind, and contrary to popular belief, it's not to entertain us. Film studios are in the business of making money and lots of it, through careful financial and creative planning. They choose the concepts they think we will most like to see, they hire the directors and actors whose work they think we will find most appealing, and then they put a film together for a price they think they can recoup or, even better, make a profit from. Sometimes however, things go wrong. Final Cut tells the story of the making of Heavens Gate, infamous as one of the greatest financial debacles in film history, from an insiders point of view. It shows what can happen to the best laid plans of mice an men and gives a glimpse of a back office Hollywood we rarely see or hear about. Not only is the reader able to discern why the film was so unsuccessful, but how such a movie could even come to be made. Though now a bit dated, this remains a must-read for anyone with an intrest in the process of big-budget film making

I read it as I was taking his class. It's a great training book, and a terrific book about what dogs can do to make your life. Great for all to read!

This is a wonderful guide for anyone seeking skills on dog handling and showing. It offers step by step instructions and debunks some of the myths. My favorite part was the touching stories about how dogs facilitate healing and transform the human spirit.

Steve SeRine has written an inspiring and intuitive guide for anyone interested in becoming a better handler. I've attended several of his handling seminars. This book is a wonderful reference to the novice as well as the advanced handler. I highly recommend this as a fund raising item for national raffles as it is truly a wonderful book that applies to every individual regardless of the dog breed they own.

This is an excellent book. I originally checked it out of the library numerous times. I am so happy to have my own copy. Very highly recommended.

Fit Kids makes the perfect baby shower present. It will help moms and dads from infancy through the teen years and includes healthy recipes that kids can help make.

This book is ripe and juicy with attractive photographs of all kinds of people, doing all kinds of physical activites and making healthy food choices. Each age group has specific topics and content identified for physical activity and nutrition. It is written in an accessible way and should easily promote the elusive behavioral changes so necessary for dealing with obesity and related diseases.

This book is good, goes into detail about a lot of the rogues which is cool, and includes a short bio on most characters at the beginning so even people new to the Flash can enjoy it.

The story is great, and reveals a whole lot of secrets of the DC universe involving the Rogues and the Flash.

We see a lot of villians and that's a plus, throw in an appearence of Barry Allen and you have it, Rogue War. Good book, must have for any comic fan.

The only bad thing is I hate the way Wally is drawn, even if he has matured and what not he doesn't need to be like every other muscle bound hero, that and Wally doesn't crack one joke during the entire thing? Come on, even if Linda(his wife) has him in line he should still have his old personality.

Overall this is a good book, though I was hoping for glossy pages, but you can't have everything!

Like Mark Waid before him, Geoff Johns managed to breathe new life into the Flash during his long run on the series, particularly his re-vamping of the scarlet speedster's rogues gallery. Rogue War culminates Johns' monumental run on the series, bringing the long brewing war between the reformed villains and the Rogues to a head, with the Flash and Keystone City smack in the middle. Rogue War starts off with glimpses at the various Rogues and reformed villains: Mirror Master, Heat Wave, Captain Cold, the Trickster (new and old), the Top, etc.; as well as a startling revelation about the mother of the new Captain Boomerang. Everything comes to a close when Zoom returns to the scene, and Wally, Jay Garrick, and Kid Flash find themselves over their heads surrounded on all sides, and an ally returns to help them one last time. Though it takes what would be an otherwise hokey turn, Rogue War's conclusion and climax work surprisingly well. The art by Howard Porter and Livesay is great as always as well, helping make this package all the sweeter. All in all, you'll most likely read better super hero sagas, but you can certainly do far, far worse than Rogue War, which further cements fan favorite writer Geoff Johns as the best thing to happen to the Flash since Mark Waid.

The Flash: Rogue War basically picks up where the previous Flash trade paperback collection, "The Secret of Barry Allen" left off. It reprints Flash ½, 212, 218, and 220 - 225 in a story that has the Flash as pretty much a guest star in his own title until the final quarter of the book. The Flash's Rogues are a divided group with Heatwave, the original Trickster, Pied Piper, and Magenta all working for the FBI in trying to bring the rest of the Rogues to justice. To this end, the body of the original Captain Boomerang has been stolen and taken to a secret lab where they intend to revive the dead villain long enough to find out key information about the Rogues. Ashley Zolomon is taken against her will to be the one to talk to Boomerang.

Meanwhile the other Rogues including Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, The Top, Murmur, the New Trickster and others are hot on their heels and determined to find Boomerang's body and take out the turncoats. Things get especially nasty as these guys, particularly the Mirror Master show no qualms about killing anyone who gets in their way, often in a very creative and sadistic way. This eventually leads to an all-out battle royal between the two factions with the Flash, Kid Flash, and the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, caught in the middle.

But that's the least of Flash's troubles...his arch-enemy the twisted reverse Flash Zoom has returned and, in his own sick way, wants to make Wally West a better hero by making him feel the pain of loss. He recruits the original Professor Zoom and builds a cosmic treadmill to continually move time backwards to make Flash relive the moment when his wife Linda was hurt and lost the twins she was carrying. Zoom's powers are more than Wally can handle but help soon arrives from an unexpected source.

While I enjoyed the Secret of Barry Allen I thought Rogue War was even better. It resolves a lot of things about the whole Rogues Gallery and explains the almost symbiotic relationship and rather unique code of honor that they maintain. We also learn a bit more about the new Captain Boomerang including a startling revelation about who is mother is. It's interesting to hear Ashely Zolomon talk about the difference between the Rogues of Gotham and those of Keystone City. Johns does a great job of juggling the various personalities of the Rogues and making them each unique in more ways than just their costumes and powers. As always the art by Howard Porter and Livesay is outstanding. Bold and yet it never seeks to overpower the reader. A cover gallery is included.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

I landed in New York on a hot July night in 1986, a mix of excitement and dread as I wandered the streets of my new hometown. Fairway was the first establishment I entered in New York City, before a bar, a church, a diner. But it's not the romance of my first NY store that keeps me such a huge Fairway fan. Instead, it's the superb quality, fine selection, and knowledgable staff that keep me shopping here after all these years. Those are clearly the same things that keep Jenkins at Fairway.

A wonderful exploration of specialty retailing, combined with a love affair with all things food, makes this book a must for any foodie. The recipes are fine--a few I'll try, most I won't--but it's the absolute devotion to the freshest, best ingredients that makes the reader consume this book one delicious page after the other.

One need not be a New Yorker to appreciate the quick wit or enthusiasm Jenkins uses in this book. In fact, one need never set foot in Fairway. But even if you live in Omaha or Oklahoma City and have even a mild interest in good food, you'll really enjoy this book.

Both funny and fascinating, Steven Jenkins' account of the day-to-day running of this amazing grocery store is a real page turner for foodies. Having read "Cheese Primer" I knew the quality of his writing style already, but I wasn't prepared for this book to read almost like fiction. The cast of characters are every bit as interesting as the products they promote.
Mitchel London's wonderful recipes are a delightful bonus to an already satisfying read.

This book is a funny fast and irreverent guide. You can learn enough about all sorts of comestibles, though the author wouldn't use a pretentious word like comestibles when a simple clear one like FOOD would do, to impress your friends or just feel a little more secure throwing your next dinner party. Like all the best books about food it teaches you a lot about the local culture. Sounds like there's more culture in the cheese dept than in the aisles of Fairway. It's a book worth buying because you feel smarter when you're done, unlike some of the claptrap that's been written about gracious living and good eating. Unlike shopping at Fairway, which now approaches a blood sport, it doesn't matter if you lose your place the book is just as good when you go back. If you're planning a trip to NYC it's an indispensable volume.

This book changed the way I invest. It is a must read before putting your money on the line!

Jim Cramer gets it right. This book is one of most valuable I have ever read in terms of helping me invest my money -- and I've read alot. It teaches the reader what to look for to make sure they are investing in good sound companies and not the Enron's of the world. It is one thing to find an exciting stock, it is another to have the confidence to know that you aren't getting swindled. This book gave me that confidence.

A great read going through the last 100+ years of corporate fraudsters. The authors really make history and the characters come alive through their storytelling. They also bring out amazing parallels among the frauds and show how people could have spotted the dangers before they lost everything. Good lessons to know and to keep in mind for the future. A great book.

Here's a collection of articles and book excerpts dealing with Frank Sinatra - the man, his music, his career. A vast majority of the pieces were written after 1965, and most are fairly long and substantial. It's amazing how similar in approach many of the personal reminiscences are: I knew Sinatra a long time, though we're not close friend; his personality is volatile - up one minute, demonic the next; he's performed magically at times and also in a mediocre fashion - are typical remarks. The ambiguity that those who know the man share is fascinating. Just about everyone acknowledges a magnetism about Sinatra - even bigger than his talent, said Billy Wilder - and many who have come to know him almost fear being sucked in by that magnetism - so they purposely keep the man at arm's length (at least in their writings about him). Just about every author who writes about keeping an appointment, for example, with Ol' Blue Eyes relates it with a marked tentativeness, some (notably Pete Hamill) as if they were going to their doom. I guess that was the power of Sinatra.

Guy Talese's "Sinatra Has a Cold" 1966 Esquire article (an early example of the New Journalism) is included, and it's a highlight of the book. Also of special interest are Pete Hamill's "The Legend Lives," Sinatra fanatic Jonathan Schwartz's "In the Wee Small Hours," and Petkov's own essay on Sinatra's greatest years when recording for Capitol records. But all the pieces are worthwhile and together build a well-rounded, critical (as opposed to mere adulation) view of perhaps the greatest male pop singer of all time. Worth checking out.

From Bobby Sox fave to Sultan of Swoon to the Fall and Great Comeback, it is just about all here, except for the very last years from the mid-1990's to the end. This volume is a collection of essays surveying the vast realm of an incredible career. The clear links between his peerless Capitol recordings,and his own life are explained,as are the demanding sessions themselves, his always being in charge with a lot of help from his friends. Every piece here is worthwhile, my favorite being Gay Talese's FRANK SINATRA HAS A COLD (1966)To quote:"Sinatra with a cold is Picasso without paint,Ferrari without fuel..A Sinatra with a cold can, in a small way,send vibrations through the entertainment industry and beyond as surely as a President can, suddenly sick, shake the national economy." A great fun of a read! Not for Frank fanatics only.

This book is like an almanac of information on Frankie. I had the pleasure of reading it at a friends house, and it was just great. I highly recommend it. Another good one, is "Why Sinatra Matters." Both give a glimpse into a man that we all love.

I bought this beautifully illustrated book for my grandson, who is growing up in the Pacific Northwest surrounded by the art of the region's native people. I've colleced a lot of Haida and Tlingit art over the years and was so pleased to find the book's illustrations were both historically and aesthetically accurate. Between this book and the author's Storm Boy, kids can see Haida button blankets, Chilkat blankets, coppers, wooden chief's masks, the carved and painted interiors of long houses, the woven reed clothing worn in past eras, and of course totem poles. I loved the scale of the illustations in scents in the Frog longhouse, with the little girl so dwarfed by all the big carvings and sculptures. I have to say that these two books are among the best-illustrated kids' books I've seen in years. If I were on the prize committee, I'd award the author/illustrator a Caldecott Medal for sure.

This is a title that will entertain both the adult reader and the child. An adventure regarding stewardship of the earth. The dream-like images and intriguing story draw one right in. Would make a nice gift.

The story is easy to read aloud and the illustrations are rivetting. I bought this for my three-year-old son, but find myself using it as a teaching tool in my second grade classroom, as well. It is very similar to a story my grandparents (Quinault-Cowlitz/Coast Salish) used to tell me when I was growing up. The message about taking care of all our relations is an important one. The story ignited a new interest in volcanoes and pond-life in my son's imagination. His interest in volcanoes and caves became so keen because of this book that we spent hours in the volcano exhibits at the Natural History Museum and made a special trip to Carlsbad Caverns! Bravo Paul Owen Lewis.

The Frugal Gourmet' Jeff Smith does Italians proud with this authentic Italian cook book! My last name is Carbonara (like the famous dish) and I am a stickler for authentic Italian cuisine. I am glad I had the forethought to make sure I asked my 'Nana' for her delicious recipes before she passed away many years ago. Although I miss her dearly, I can still feel her presence when I make her wonderful dishes for my family and especially at family holiday functions! This is an excellent cook book for everyone, but especially for those who may not have been fortunate enough to have an Italian Nana to ask for those special recipes. Jeff Smith has another winner here! It's full of great recipes and stories by a very talented cook and writer. This one focuses on Italian cooking. I have used many of these recipes and found them to be very good. Being a home grown cook myself and having had many of my grandmother's classic recipes handed down to me, I found this book to be very helpful in expanding my culinary taste buds.

Jeff Smith entertained us for years on his PBS program 'The Frugal Gourmet'. Not only did he teach us many savory dishes, he also educated us. Not satisfied with just cooking delicious meals for his viewers, he would give detailed history lessons about the origins of the dish and made it all a lot of fun!

This may be Mr. Smiths best cook book and it is a worthy edition to everyone's cook book library. I own and have read many, if not all of his cook books, not only for the man's knowledge of cooking, but his incredible wit! This guy was funny and I would have loved to have hung out and throw a few beers down with him.

Unfortunately, this man had some very seriously bad press released about his personal life and well..... I am not one to spread rumors.....he seemed like a great guy and sadly he died before he was able to clear his name.

R.I.P. Frugs!

As an Italian tired of Olive Garden-fare Italian cuisine, I bought Smith's book with two ideas in mind: 1) I wanted to understand both the context of the dishes I hoped to prepare and the constituent ingredients (for instance, how is Parmesan-Reggiano made?) and 2) coming to the book with little previous cooking experience -- let alone Italian cooking -- I wanted to be able to prepare most of the dishes in the book. Smith's book excelled at both these. The book is well-written and easy to follow, but avoids pedantry. Some of my favorite recipes are: Italian peasant bread, Italian Rolled Chicken, Bracciole, and the Fresh Tomato Sauce Sicilian.

Most Americans think of Chicken Parmessan, Alfredo sauce or Italian salad dressing when they hear Italian cooking. As an American soldier stationed in Italy I've never seen either of the above. They are all American inventions.

Italian cooking is very diversified. Venice is big on fish and seafood while the inland areas eat more meats. Jeff Smith's book is as close to authentic Italian cooking as one can get. The sheer number of recipes alone will give a person an insight of how Italian cuisine influenced modern American food.

The amazing thing is that there is at least one recipe that I wanted to try that I couldn't find all the ingridients for. It called for a Sicilian wine and being stationed near Venice I couldn't find it in any of the local wine stores. Great book. I will continue to use it for years after I come back to the US. It will remind me of the years that I spent here.

As a parent, I must admit I LOVE this book. My daughter can get pretty worked up at times and I have always enjoyed using books as a quiet, peaceful and relaxing time for us to share. GOD'S QUIET THINGS is just the book to do this with.

The illustrations include a boy and his cat and are somewhat muted and soft--a beautiful, well executed technique with pastels to heighten the idea of being quiet. To listen for God's quiet things is a good way to open up your heart to God, for He is in them and all things beautiful. "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10a

GOD'S QUIET THINGS isn't a "story" per se, but a journey. Sweetland asks questions, inviting the reader's imagination to blossom and relax which can "send them sailing through the air."

Soar!

They say that the squeaky wheel gets the oil, but this book gives well-deserved attention to the other wheels. God's Quiet Things asserts that natural beings and phenomena that don't bark or chirp or thunder are important too for the work that they do, their beauty, and for making our world better. It teaches small children to pay more attention to things that don't grab our attention by the sounds they make.

An unusual and effective way to introduce nature's silent features as interesting and well worth our attention.