Customer Reviews (1)

Very enjoyable tale of shady lawyers in NY's Gilded Age
This is a multi-part New Yorker magazine article in book form.But it dates from the Ross rather than Shawn era, which means the prose is snappy rather than ponderous, and the tone amused rather than pontifical.It's by no means a scholarly work, but significant research must have gone into it.

Howe and Hummel were highly successful storefront lawyers of the 1880-1905 era, specializing in the outrageously bogus defense of the plainly guilty(Howe) and entertainment law (Hummel), with a lucrative sideline in blackmail (Hummel).In short, they were modern lawyers working in the gaslight era.Today one part of their business would be advertised with billboards, a second other part would have its office in Beverly Hills, and the third would specialize in class actions, and there would be no visible connection between them.It's perversely charming, and in a way enlightening, to see how they managed to integrate what seem at first glance to be quite disparate practices.

The book is a collection of anecdotes of their practice, arranged in roughly chronological order so as to provide a kind of sketchy biography of each of the principals.It can be read in two or three sittings, as if in two or three consecutive issues of the magazine. ... Read more

Product Description
The celebrated humorist offers a sober reflection on the life of his father, an immigrant grocer in Kansas City with a penchant for swearing off his pleasures and encouraging his son to be a real ""mensch."" National ad/promo. Tour.Amazon.com Review
"The man was stubborn," writes Calvin Trillin -- the second moststubborn member of the Trillin family -- to begin this memoirof his father. Although he had a strong vision of the sort of person he wanted his son to be, Abe Trillin's explicit advice about how to behave didn't go beyond "You might as well be a mensch."Somehow, though, his messages got through clearly, and Calvin's work is a credit to his father's vision. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Honor Your Father and Mother
Text apart, for the moment, family photos here should charm.An ordinary looking man, Abe Trillin might have come from my elementary school classes.Those mostly Jewish New York boys would have some differences from those that took the Texas route into the United States. I detect strength, modesty, humor and love in the pictures.
When being born, perhaps the key decision is your choice of father.That is so fateful (recent personal affirmations of that have come to me in the stories of Beethoven and the prophet Jeremiah as well percusionist Evelyn Glennie); it is hard to see the good points of bastardy.
This continuity Trillin speaks of is bred into the people; sovereign God is a cause or effect, probably both.Even when the grocer has not raised a grocer, the mensch raised a mensch.

Moving Reflections
This is a very heart-moving memoir written by a man who is remembering his father. It is not a very in-depth memoir but it is moving. I picked up the book because I enjoy Trillin's short poems in the Nation magazine and wanted to know more about the man behind some of the wittiest poems. This book is mainly reflections of a man who is sharing a tale of one of the most important person in his life, his father.

Calvin Trillin tries to make sense of the man who was his father and takes the reader along for a nostaglic walk down memory lane. In this event, he has also shown a side of himself that most people probably don't get to see ... Trillin as a boy and as a young man, trying to live up to what his father believes in.

Trillin says that his father is just an ordinary man who just blends in the crowd, but Trillin brought his father to life with those amazing stories and reveals a warm-hearted man of few words to the world. It is a fitting tribute to a man who raised Trillin and it is a pleasure to read this book.

7/13/09

Calvin at his best
This is a lovely endearingly funny book.I read it in just an evening but I'm sure it's a book I'll go back to in the future.

The Gift of Love and Continuity
Such is Calvin Trillin's caliber of work you don't realize how good he is, and he is really good.This book touched me deeply; Mr. Trillinsky was not an emotional man and given to the touchy feely sort of stuff so espoused these days, but he gave his son everything he would need to have a fulfilling life, one of the main components being a deep, abiding and unconditional love; how lucky Mr. Trillin was.

My father was an evil and stupid man who never learned from his mistakes and is now reaping the whirlwind; I believe Mr. Trillinsky would have I.D.'d him in five minutes flat, and would have had mercy on him, much more than I can manage now.If you are raising a child, or trying to figure out what in God's green earth happened to you during your childhood, read this book.Mr. Trillin's artistry is a delicious extra.

I have read "Remembering Denny" and it has seared a place in my mind since.It explained so much to me.This is another book that is going to go on my mental bookshelf, probably till the end of me.

Dull
This book was a disappointment to me.Although it is only a slight volume I found it to be heavy going and very uninteresting.Avoid. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (17)

Bound by Promise
Bound by Promise

by Alice Yin



Many depressed people believe that suicide is the only answer to their problems. They leave their old life behind, letting the usual cycle begin to spin- the shock, the denial, the guilt, the remorse... and the questions. Oh, the questions.

Denny Hansen's death created as many problems as it answered. His many "acquaintances," for lack of a better word, were perplexed. But soon enough, the world started turning again, and they moved on with life.

However, Calvin Trillin, haunted with longing for this old classmate he thought he knew, could not let this go. He painstakingly pressed every connection to Hansen he knew for clues to his death. Put it down in ink and paper, a few bindings and a eye-catching cover, and you have Remembering Denny.

This book's themes and morals itself are interesting enough- certainly not a light read for a lazy Saturday morning. Exploration of the 1950s' societal influences, the shattered dream of a budding student, and the fear of judgment is key in this story. We certainly can sympathize with Denny as he opens his eyes and tries to come to terms to what he has become, compared to what he should have become.

But as I read through this book, I could not sympathize with the author. He writes in retrospect about Denny's debilitation from a brilliant college student to a suffering closet homosexual. However, Trillin loses focus easily and begins to dwell on many uninteresting topics. There is a slight doubt of trust in the author as I read further and further, expecting to be able to unravel this mystery.

If this book was a question, then the question would be one simple word- why? Why did Denny Hansen, a once attractive, intelligent, and admired man, decide to kill himself? Every agonizing paragraph of ranting only tangles up my confusion further. I suppose it isn't easy trying to figure out the resolution to a question only a now-dead person knows the answer to; but if in the end, he couldn't do it after all, why keep going?

Too much of this book is centered around Trillin-his regrets, his pain, and his point of view. But his point of view is terribly fallible, and not at all helpful to move the story forward. There is much "fluff" that is thrown around in empty areas of the book to help fill it up. Many of the ideas are quotes are repeated variations of the original. His sources might have been diverse, but the quotes they put forth were more and less the same.

I get the feeling that Trillin did not in fact write this book in respect to his dead friend, but to instead help himself look at his reflection in the mirror. He did this to ease his guilt. Trillin convinced himself that he has ultimately helped Denny, and both of them may now sleep in peace.

The title, Remembering Denny, does both Denny and the book a disservice. None of this book "remembers" Denny the way that he was remembered. The Denny in this book seems offensively distant and one-dimensional. He didn't seem like a person. He seemed like a mere object that people analyzed and took notes on.

It is ironic that a much anticipated book about failing to reach expectations, has in the end also failed to reach my expectations.

Remember Denny?
Calvin Trillin used his distinct writing style throughout each and every one of Remembering Denny's 26 chapters. Sentences written in the same structure, off topic rambles, and large blocks of text - every reader's favorites. The whole novel revolved around one question. Why? Why did Denny go from being a Rhodes Scholar to killing himself?
The book begins mysteriously, like the author himself is still wondering about the secrets of Roger "Denny" Hansen's life. The first few chapters revealed just a few facts: The author had been a close friend to Denny but they had grown apart. The man had been extremely popular and promising in high school and went on to the prestigious Yale. The world had buzzed upon the news of his suicide, and no one was sure of the cause.
The rest of Remembering Denny floated in and out of Denny's personal life and the country of the United States that was gradually changing around him. Muddled description of politics, cultural, and social factors were present everywhere, some pertaining to Denny's changing views on life and some not. I felt as if the author was so lost in the climate that might have prompted his suicide, that Trillin ended up wandering away from the real topic on hand, Denny himself. His sidetracking always was very abstract, more of an editorial than a feature article. I read about the U.S. government, the department heads at Yale, and even a local community center Denny had once belonged to, but barely anything was mentioned about Roger D. Hansen.
Another thing I noticed was the lack of adequate spacing within in the text. Each paragraph was stuck in a big, rectangular chunk of ink taking up half a page each. Exactly the opposite of attractive to the eye, I thought to myself. This boring structure felt extremely monotonous, making it hard to concentrate on the repetitive format. Block after block after block... Like a tall brick wall impossible to climb, it seemed like a barricade against my mind, preventing me from fully receiving Trillin's tone in each chapter.
The part of the novel that captured my attention the most was at the end, specifically in the last few chapters. Finally, the question of How did Denny kill himself? was answered. We abruptly found out in Chapter 22, where Trillin explained the details in the very first few paragraphs. I found this scene to be the only real interesting scene described throughout the entire book, as most of it had been just depicting the general culture and people that had surrounded Denny.
Overall, I thought Remembering Denny to set a very mysterious atmosphere. Who was this man, really? Why did he turn from loved to suicidal? These questions still remain, but I suppose that Trillin left us hanging that way, to ponder the life of Roger D. Hansen.

What's the point, Calvin?
Calvin Trillin starts out writing that anyone who speaks at a funeral wants to speak about himself as much as the deceased. He then goes on to talk about himself and his deceased college friend Denny. Anyone who understands that you never really know anyone entirely and that we all have secrets, great and small, will not learn anything from this book.

2005 re-release of Calvin Trillin's brilliant 1993 rumination on unfulfilled promise
Calvin Trillin's great work 'Remembering Denny' was re-released in 2005.I read the original back in 1993.It has stuck with me ever since then.I found it to be a brilliant look at unfulfilled promise, as embodied by his Yale classmate, Denny Hansen.Trillin also expertly weaves in two other larger themes.First, as he comes to know of Hansen's homosexuality, Trillin discusses the homophobia of the era (they attended Yale in the mid-Fifties) and the ramifications of that on Hansen's path inlife post-graduation.The second theme is the changing of America in the 60s and how that sea-change wrong-footed some 'All-American' boys like Hansen, who were unable to adjust accordingly.

I love the brilliant cover of the re-release, depicting a color photo of Hansen and his dazzling smile.It perfectly captures Hansen's then-promising future and why so many were smitten by him.

A Fairly Common Tragedy
This book has haunted me for 10 years now.For Roger Dennis Hansen, there was the terrible pain of being in the closet for as long as he recognized he did not have feelings for girls that the other boys did, and that society said he should.And remember, in those days, you were some kind of monster for having same sex yearnings - take a look at the statistics.

And then there was the most basic indicator of failure, a deeply dysfunctional family life - no support, no love.One tries and tries to carry oneself with those external trophies, with the support of friends, employers and mentors, and that sometimes works for a while.But the basic perception of oneself is cast, and if there is no beaming, loving face in the mirror, no one is there really giving a damn about your welfare, you go as far as you can - sometimes you make it to the end of the road, but sometimes you crash before then.It is hard.

There is a little bit of Denny in a lot of us - I see him in me.I did not have the scholastic glory that this man had, which some of you think should have carried him through to ripe old age, but the similarities remain.This is not a book for ghouls, as Mr. "Jim Burns" opines, nor a treatise on how great Mr. Trillin is, as Mr. "A Reader" states.If anything, Mr. Trillin minces no words in how he failed Denny - I dare any of you to be that truthful about your own failings in your dealings with the humanity around you.A great book that transcends class and race lines, humor and ground floor truth an intoxicating mixture for me. ... Read more

Product Description
Home is "everything you could hope for in a quintessentially cozy Greenwich Village restaurant" (Food & Wine). With its "surprisingly fresh interpretations of Middle American dishes" (Christian Science Monitor), this "dreamy little all-American place" (New York) is, in fact, a home away from home.

New Yorkers line up outside for meals that have the power to rekindle food memories from childhood. Of course, with the deft hand of chef David Page, they now taste rather grown up. Tater Tots become cornmeal-crusted garlic potato cakes; picnic coleslaw made with celery and celery root accompanies spiced pork chops; blue cheese and apple transform a grilled cheese sandwich; and the ketchup is always homemade.

In this unabashed ode to American home cooking, you'll also find recipes for scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, roast chicken, homemade pickles, chocolate pudding, and cookies "that would make anyone's front porch a neighborhood Mecca" (Gourmet).Amazon.com Review
In Recipes from Home, husband-and-wife cooking team David Page and Barbara Shinn invite readers to take a seat at their family table for a heaping serving of the reinterpreted American comfort food they've been popularizing at their tiny Greenwich Village restaurant, Home, since 1993. Taking a cue from the legendary James Beard's pronouncement that "American food is anything you eat at home," Page and Shinn pack their book with over 250 recipes for all-American family favorites that conjure up the nostalgia of Sunday dinners, holiday gatherings, Fourth of July picnics, county fairs, and weekends at the beach.

Chapters reach from "The Pantry" (where you'll discover the recipe for their signature Famous Tomato Ketchup) to "The Canning Shelf" (with recipes for Green Tomato-Apple Chutney, Pickled Peppers, and Raspberry Jam). Their Simply Roasted Chicken and Grilled Blue Cheese and Apple Sandwiches will have you running to the kitchen, and Steamer Clams with Local Ale and Lobster Rolls are destined to make an appearance at your next summer shindig. "Something Sweet" wraps things up with Frozen Lemon Icebox Cake with Strawberry Sauce, Chocolate Pudding, and their irresistible Peanut Butter Cookies.

Recipes from Home is sure to become a favorite on many kitchen bookshelves, and even armchair cooks will delight in wasting away a Saturday afternoon thumbing through the anecdotal recipe introductions and generation-spanning black-and-white family photographs featured throughout the book (they've even included a family tree). By the time you get to the recipe for Mom Page's Scalloped Potatoes, you'll feel like you're part of the family. Home sweet home, indeed. --Brad Thomas Parsons ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

My Favorite CookBook Ever!
My wife loved the Mac & Cheese at their West Village Restaurant so much that she bought me the cookbook just so I could make it for her at home.
This book quickly turned into my go to resource for most of my cooking.The idea of taking the kitchen back to what it was like for our grandparents generation works so conveniently with our philosophy of fresh and local ingredients, and all of these recipes are relatively easy to prepare and taste like grandma's kitchen.
It'll take me years to make it through all of them, but I can't wait!
Buy this Book!!!

Best Cookbook Ever
I bought this cookbook as a Christmas gift for my sister after I made the Chicken in a Potreceipe that was featured on NPR. She was thrilled with everything that she made. Our extended family looked forward to the times that we would get together and she would cook from this book. I bought myself a copy and have never been disapointed with anything that I have made. We both feel that these are easy receipes with good ingredients and that is the key to this type of cooking. As a result of this book, my daughter visited the Shinn's restaurant in NYC and LOVED her lunch. I give this cookbook to anyone who complains that they can't cook. Honestly, if you can read, you can cook fabulous foodif you have this book as your guide.

Browse it for great ideas, but make sure you know how to cook first--it's not for everyone
First, to address the size issue:Yes, it's awkward, just a bit, but I have had no problems actually using the book.If you are too precious about your cookbooks to demur from breaking the spine, then you probably don't bring them into the kitchen much anyway.Mine opens flat since I made it open flat, and stays that way, better than some of my wider paberbacks.The bigger flaw is that the binding is poor--maybe this is a consequence of the design--the glue holding all the pages does not hold them to the spine (but the pages are all sewed together, so it still works).

I have cooked 6 or so menus from this book, and a few sides and sauces here and there.Like many restaurant cookbooks, main dishes are often (not always) presented with an accompaniment, plus recommended sides from other areas of the book.And I have enjoyed everything but the pulled pork recipe, which may be more an issue of my taste.

However, I have noticed that recipes are consistently underseasoned.I'm not a huge salter, but I had to add a lot more seasonings to just about everything here.

Generally, this book is quite like described: comforting, thoroughly American food.The dishes are thoughtfully put together, and I would not call this an easy book by any means.These are sophisticated interpretations of classic dishes and classic themes (ie., a southern shrimp stew, but with some extra Cuban touches), but they are by no meansneedlessly rococo or inaccessible.I would contrast this with, say, Patrick O'Connell's books, which are beautiful, elegant interpretations of American cooking, but at a much more intimidating "restaurant" level.You can cook these recipes in your own home, but you might want to save them for the weekend.And, like another reviewer mentioned, this is not a diet book.The authors like bacon fat, which is perfectly in tune with their general approach here, and also delicious.

I'd say this book is best suited for someone who has a pretty good mastery of the American classics (pot roast, meatloaf, casseroles) and is ready for something more interesting (like making your own ketchup).I bought it when I was still learning to cook, and I didn't use it much at the time.A couple of years later, I find myself going to it much more frequently, and with good results.It's for experienced cooks because not all the recipes are perfect: I have had to add more liquid to pancake batters, for example, and there is the previously-mentioned underseasoning that plagues most of the dishes.But these are manageable quirks, and navigating them is worth it.

Overall, I'd enthusiastically recommend this to anyone who is comfortable in the kitchen and keen on American cooking.However, I would not recommend this to more novice cooks, nor to cooks who prefer the quick and simple or minimalist approach.

* Also, this book devotes a lot of attention to canning, condiments, and the like.I have not tried these recipes, but they feature prominently and probably should be a factor for anyone interested in pickles, preserves, etc.

The best cookbook I have seen in YEARS!!!
Home was my favorite restaurant when I lived in Manhattan--I was one of their earliest customers. I recently stumbled across this book, and was so pleasantly surprised to find recipes for some of the greatest dishes I have ever had: excellent simple roasted chicken, cumin crusted pork chops, lemony blueberry muffins--so many good things to eat!. I have made at least 10 things from this book--each better than the last, and none of them too difficult.

And the desserts! The chocolate pudding is TO DIE FOR!!! It alone is worth the price of admission if you ask me (or my newly addicted friend, Harry). And I think my whole family agreed that the apple pie from Home was the hit of our Thanksgiving this year, with the honey pumpkin coming in a close second. These recipes are just fabulous.

Further, this book is also a plain old good read. Brings back childhood memories of learning the ropes from my mother and grandmother and makes me want to get in the kitchen and start cooking! This book would be a great gift for anyone who loves to cook and who has love and respect for doing things right in the kitchen.

a big load of cholesterol
Does "homey comfort food" have to mean big doses of animal fat? I don't think so. If you like to cook, you know there are so MANY other books that have great, lower-fat (and easier) recipes than this book. Try some Italian, Moroccan, southern French, Japanese "home cooking" books instead. ... Read more

Product Description

True -- and yet we must listen. Sometimes his accidental wit speaks louder than any prepared statement.

Thanks to the faithful work of Jacob Weisberg, the wisdom of George W. Bush -- America's Malapropist in Chief -- has been carefully preserved for the ages in annual editions. Now that the president is armed with a new (and unprecedented!) popular electoral victory, America can breathe a sigh of relief -- or, as the president once put it, we can "thank our blessings." The language experiments will continue. Stand-up comedians will enjoy full employment.

Customer Reviews (5)

Glad to see him GONE!
In case we need to be reminded, it's all here in the book of Bushisms. Amazing, always, to see on page how destroyed the poor English language was. Adios, forever.

He's Not Funny
I can't possibly read this book.Its too depressing to read about this tragic man who hides his bumbling with arrogance and has led our country to its lowest esteem in its history.I am just counting the days when he will disappear.

George W. Bushisms V: New Ways to Harm Our Country
A really good read.How anyone even cast a single vote for this idiot is beyond my imagination....and I am a 5th generation Republican....To read the various blunders and errors Bush makes with our every day language is a joke.We are the laughing stock of the world--and our childrens children will be paying for his mistakes.W. B. Goetz Lemoyne, Pa.

The Punchline
This is a nice collection, but it is very sparse.One would hope for a little more background or analysis on different quotes, similar to what you find in Cruel and Unusual.The quotes are alternately scary or funny, or both, and it is good to have them when trying to remember who the leader of the free world truly is, or to add on to the end of a joke or sig.But it's a very slim volume, and I would have liked more for what is paid out.

New Ways to Harm Our Country - And Then Some
Bushisms V continues the tradition of highlighting W's amusingly disturbing utterances - his `accidental wit and humor' - that have been carried over into his second term. To some degree, Jacob Weisberg has been literally forced to adapt along with W's sudden shift towards actually speaking English during mid 2004. Still, W never fails to provide us with statements that, while perhaps structured and grammatically correct, nevertheless range from humorous to horrifying and with a little of both in between. Take, for example, his statement that: `Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country.' Over a year later and I still break out with laughter over this priceless gem. That's the beauty behind this and many more remarks included in the latest edition. Even if you've heard them live or regurgitated by stand-up comedians, they still have the power to make you laugh or at least want to, depending on your end of the political spectrum.

Although a few remarks from Cheney and Rumsfeld are also included, you probably didn't need me to inform you that they have far less comedic value. Cheney is by far the most disturbing and his unsettling statements appear to be strictly for character development. The result is dark and devoid of humor, shifting the mood to near downright depressive and the only reason I won't award 5 stars (I'm in this for the laughs). However, Rumsfeld does offer a glimpse of hope: `Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know.' It's no wonder he won the "Foot in Mouth" award handed out by The British Plain English Campaign for his legendary nonsensical remark.
... Read more

Product Description
A celebration of John Gregory Dunne’s best nonfiction writing

No writer captured the tragic absurdity of late-twentieth-century America better than John Gregory Dunne. Whether novels, screenplays, or nonfiction, his work was marked with a droll wit and a long view that illuminated buried aspects of public and private life in Hollywood and America at large.

Regards is a celebration of Dunne’s best nonfiction, from frank observations on the film industry, politics, sports, and popular culture to tender reflections on what it was like to raise an adopted daughter. The collection spans his entire career and includes essays from the last fifteen years of his life, never before collected.

"Dunne was one of the best American writers of his generation. . . . He was a brilliant prose stylist. . . . He never lost the journalist’s eye, one that ceaselessly observed the world around him and never flinched from the unpleasant, the outré, the outrageous. Indeed, it can be argued that these were his true subjects, that he was drawn irresistibly to the deep vein of corruption in American life." —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

dunne alive
after reading Joan Didions book aout his &his daughters death,it was a joy to read what he wrote about when he was ALIVE.Reading abouthislife &the interesting stories he covered was a true pleasure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

U.S. Journal
This collection of Calvin Trillin's articles is superbly written, with both humor and insight. Don't miss the hours of pleasure it will give.

Should be reprinted.
I was a faithful reader of Trillin's US Journal series in the New Yorker magazine for about 15 years from the 1960s into the early 1980s.I even have many of the articles that I tore out and saved.This book must have been only a small selection of those articles.

I urge you to seek out some of these articles at your library in back issues of the New Yorker.You will see why the copyright owner should reprint this book of early works by an outstanding non-fiction writer.I hope that someday all of the series will be available. ... Read more

Product Description
"A summing up of the best of Terkel."—Herbert Mitgang, Doubletake

The Studs Terkel Reader, originally published under the title My American Century, collects the best interviews from eight of Terkel's classic oral histories together with his magnificent introductions to each work. Featuring selections from American Dreams, Coming of Age, Division Street, "The Good War", The Great Divide, Hard Times, Race, and Working, this "greatest hits" volume is a treasury of Terkel's most memorable subjects that will delight his many lifelong fans and provide a perfect introduction for those who have not yet experienced the joy of reading Studs Terkel. It includes an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Coles surveying Terkel's overall body of work and a new foreword by Calvin Trillin. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

What better way to celebrate a remarkable life....
...than to re-read, in this inspired anthology, the best of Studs Terkel's oral histories (which is to say the best of the best)? This volume samples interviews/oral histories from Mr. Terkel's remarkable books, each a different perspective on an aspect of American life. Overall, his interviews pose a paradox--not a troubling one, but a reassuring one---perhaps expressed best as a question: How is it that we, each of us as individuals, how is that we each are so full of foibles, fallacies, oddities, meanness, illusions, and yet so full of wisdom, grace, insight, joy, and compassion? The genius of his work, for me, is that this isn't some kind of sentimental claptrap, but an ongoing lively pulse built into the people to whom he gave voice. Mr. Terkel's life and work showed more than anything else that those two sets of attributes are not exclusive but rather are interdependent, necessary complements. Is it too much to compare this kind of achievement to Shakespeare's or Milton's or Bach's? Yep, absolutely. But even so ....

May this icon of Chicago, yet son of New York City (he was born in the Bronx) rest in eternity's solace. May we remain moved by what this gentle and great man was able to help us reveal. In the end, Studs, ora pro nobis. ... Read more

Product Description
Somehow, despite everything Calvin Trillin wrote about the Bush Administration in Obliviously On He Sails, his 2004 bestseller in verse, George W. Bush is still in the White House. Taking a philosophical view, Trillin has said, “We weren’t going to know whether you could bring down a presidency with iambic pentameter until somebody tried it.”

Now Trillin is trying again, back at his pithy and hilarious best to comment on the President’s decision to go to war in Iraq (“Then terrorists could count on what we’d do: / Attack us, we’ll strike back, though not at you”), his religiosity (“He treats his critics in the press / As if they’re yapping Pekineses. / Reporters deal in mundane facts; / This man has got the word from Jesus”), and whether he was wearing a transmitting device in the first presidential debate (“Could this explain his odd expressions? Is there proof he / Was being told, ‘If you can hear me now, look goofy’?”)

Trillin deals with the people around Bush, such as Nanny Dick Cheney and Mushroom Cloud Rice and Orange John Ashcroft and Orange John’s successor, Alberto Gonzales (“The A.G.’s to be one Alberto Gonzales– / Dependable, actually loyal über alles”). He tries to predict the behavior of the famously intemperate John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations in poems with titles like “Bolton Chases French Ambassador Up Tree” and “White House Says Bolton Can Do Job Even While in Straitjacket.”

Finally, in dealing with whether the entire Bush Administration, like the unfortunate Brownie, has done a heckuva job, he composes a small-government sea chantey for the Republicans:

’Cause government’s the problem, lads,
Americans would all do well to shun it.
Yes, government’s the problem, lads.
At least it is when we’re the ones who run it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Fun Stuff
Calvin Trillin has a talent for satirical political humor that is unique. His ability to frame the painfully obvious in a way that surprises and amuses you is wonderful. In addition to being continually interested and amused, delightfully you find yourself laughing out loud unexpectedly at points throughout. This is one of a series (or maybe a better word is a set because they do not build on each other) of books about the current political environment. They are so worth the read. You can read one or all. Either way, you will enjoy. Check out these other two similar items by Mr. Trillin. Deciding the Next Decider: The 2008 Presidential Race in RhymeObliviously On He Sails: The Bush Administration in RhymeYou will note that not everything is about Bush. However the Bush stuff is hysterical.

a Heckuva Job, Calvin Trillin
This is hilarious - the writer is able to laugh at every side of the issues and people.

stupid
I dislike Bush as much as the next guy. But this book is like 15 pages long and offers nothing. waste of money.

A Heckuva Job
This is a book to read aloud at a party with lots of wine and cheese or gin and tonic.Either way it's a guaranteed laughathon!

CALVIN TRILLING, AGAIN
CALVIN TRILLIN DOES SUPER WORD PICKS TO SATIRICALLY HANDLE THE PRESENTM POLITICAL SCENE(S). ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
The popular syndicated columnist offers a collection of droll verse dealing with diverse subjects ranging from Saddam Hussein to the Philadelphia Phillies, along with essays about his development as a poet inspired by an impatient muse. Reprint. National ad/promo. NYT. Amazon.com Review
Around 1990
with The Nation in mind, the
pundit named Trillin
determined he was willin'
to mine politics' grapevine
and write verse on deadline.
His first inspiration was the sound of Sununu.
From there he lambasted, oh, who knew who:
A bachelor named Souter, a court nominee supreme,
Ron, George, and "SAD-dam," and gun nuts extreme;
Jesse and Mario, Bill, Bob, and Paul,
candidates and may-have-beens, one and all;
Bush, we're reminded, lost his lunch in Japan--
not nearly as horrifying as Quayle comma Dan.
Calvin, he thrills at the Texan Perot,
for the rhymingest name on the season's ballot.
The new era was Democrat, with Clinton and Gore.
One still has Bubba fat; the other's a bore.
No one escapes Trillin's sharp, sharp-honed wit,
Excepting the reader, for whom the laughs just don't quit. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

thanks a million mr trillin
If your load is heavy, here's a load lightner, If your life needs some light, Read this gosh darn book now, and again tonight.

But, of all the humble souls, you missed but one. The book I finished reading, it's closed,readingsdone.

...Mr. T.

Where the hell is Henry K., but let's callhim "Hank"Maybe discussing his IQ with "so new nue"Or waiting in line at the humility bank?

wonderful
I wish I could write this review in verse.That is what the book really calls for.Failing that I will simply say that the only trouble with this book is that you find yourself annoying everyone around you by constantly reading it aloud.It should not be missed. ... Read more

Product Description
The famed New York food columnist and cookbook author and translator has immersed herself in Japanese culture to produce a collection of original Japanese recipes that redefines an ancient cuisine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

NOT Japanese Cuisine
I was very excited to receive this book as a gift, being I recently made friends with two Japanese families near where I live.

Unfortunately, not having heard of Colette Rossant, I did not realize that this is HER version of Japanese food, not a book of Japanese recipes.

I was hoping that she would explain Japanese food to American readers so we could understand their food easier.

Instead, I found a book utilizing Japanese ingredients in a French manner.

Maybe this will be of interest to some of you, but I found the title of the book to be misleading, as I was looking for a Japanese cookbook. ... Read more