2008, ISBN: 9780763633998
Gebundene Ausgabe
Unknown. Very Good. 111 x 179mm. Perfect Paperback. 2003. 283 pages. <br>A smart, deeply satisfying romantic comedy about a woman's obsession with the return of her fianc?s ex.… Mehr…
Unknown. Very Good. 111 x 179mm. Perfect Paperback. 2003. 283 pages. <br>A smart, deeply satisfying romantic comedy about a woman's obsession with the return of her fianc?s ex. On the Del ta Shuttle between New York and Washington, Elise finds herself s itting next to Donald-tall, with dark wavy hair, a big easy smile . She's left the world of women's magazines in Manhattan for grad uate school in D.C. He's left investment banking to become a teac her. They are both unattached. They exchange stories. They fall i n love. One year later they're headed for an April wedding. Story book finish? Not quite. Donald has some serious baggage: an ex-f ianc? named Adrienne. And she's not just any ex: she is the mothe r of all exes. Yale educated, French extraction, ravishing, and s he's just shown up in D.C. Adrienne is Elise's worst nightmare in carnate--and before too long her all-consuming obsession. Every m an comes with baggage. But did it have to be her? Editorial Revi ews Review The problem with most of the post-Bridget Jones fiction is that the dithering heroines tend to inspire impa tience rather than sympathy, but in the novel Her, Laura Zigman s killfully avoids that common pitfall. Elise is engaged to be marr ied to Donald. Displaced New Yorkers living in Washington, D.C., they bond over the foibles of life in the capital: pundits at the grocery store, power brokers at the baggage claim. Donald seems a truly amiable fellow, a fine fictional creation worth fighting over. Enter the titular her, Donald's ex-girlfriend Adrienne, a d ark beauty who's catty and gracefully catlike all at once. When A drienne relocates from New York to D.C., Elise fights a pitched b attle over the hapless Donald, who of course has no idea of the w arfare on his behalf. Unfortunately, Elise can be so insecure and jealous that the reader guiltily begins to root for Adrienne--at least she's got a little self-respect. Such is the power of roma ntic formula, however, that when it all comes right for Donald an d Elise, we close the book with a satisfied feeling. --Claire Ded erer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. About the Author Laura Zigman is the author of A nimal Husbandry and Dating Big Bird. She spent ten years working in book publishing in New York. Her pieces have appeared in the N ew York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today. She now lives outside Boston. --This text refers to an out of print or unavaila ble edition of this title. From the Back Cover It's fun; it's s mart; it's sassy, and it's about a subject most women have no pro blem relating to: the other woman. We love it...Zigman's dialogue is witty and right on...[Her] will win you over, give you someth ing to smile about (in the end) and give the little green monster in all of us a chance to get out of his cage, if only for a shor t while. -Michelle Rupe Eubanks, TimesDaily (Alabama) Her is a b itter gem...taut and gripping, true and painful. -City Paper (PA) This is one rampaging hoot of a book, likely to strike a resoun ding chord with anyone who has ever felt a reluctant and horrid f ascination with the 'ex' of [his/her] significant other. It's wit ty, snappy, a bit disquieting and always hugely entertaining, eve n when the heroine for whom you are rooting runs totally amok.... The fun here is in the details....A romp of a tale. -The Seattle Times /Post Intelligencer Zigman is a smart writer, part Dorothy Parker, part Gilda Radner. [She] has perfect pitch in getting th e comic details of urban women's lives and relationships, as well as the emotional mix of exuberance and loneliness, self-doubt an d self-confidence, dreaming dreams and not giving up on them. -Sa ndee Brawarsky, The Jewish Week [A] delightfully frothy novel... Zigman's strength is creating lovably frazzled and charmingly ins ecure heroines...It's a fun ride... -Chicago Tribune In Zigman's zany romantic comedy Her, ex marks the spot . . . Her is as scar y as it is funny. . . . A howl. -USA Today A captivating tale of jealousies and misconceptions. -Booklist Lively and funny. . . . Her is as addicting as Zigman's previous work. . . Sharp, hilar ious. -Bookpage --This text refers to an out of print or unavaila ble edition of this title. From Publishers Weekly Zigman's third novel, a wild tale of a woman's transformation... from bride-to- be to madwoman is for anyone who's ever felt prewedding jitters a nd the pangs of obsessive jealousy. Having left her job at a teen magazine in New York City to pursue a quieter life in Washington , D.C., Zigman's narrator, Elise, meets her perfect guy Donald, a reformed bond trader now teaching English at Sidwell Friends on the Delta shuttle. Or her almost perfect guy. Donald's one fault is that he was engaged to Adrienne, and her name crops up in just about every conversation. Though Donald and Elise swiftly fall i n love and begin planning their wedding, Elise cannot help obsess ing over the brilliant and horrifyingly gorgeous former fianc,e. But like the paranoiac who is being followed, Elise may have good reason to be jealous. Only months before the wedding, Adrienne t akes a job in Washington, D.C., and reinserts herself into Donald 's life, fueling Elise's jealousy as well as a slapstick plot hav ing to do with Donald's dog, Elise's wedding dress and liposuctio n. Zigman is better at caricature than characterization, and her emphatic, read-aloud style sometimes falls flat on the page. Yet some scenes when Donald meets Elise, for instance are fresh and s mart and almost perfect, as are many of her one-liners. Copyrigh t 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to a n out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Excerpt. ? Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. 1 We were, as it h appened, Donald and I, deciding that evening on how we would have our wedding invitations printed--Engraving? Thermography? Lithog raphy?--when Adrienne, Donald's ex-fianc?, called to share her go od news: she was leaving New York to accept a job in Washington, where we lived, just after the first of the year. It was late No vember. We were planning an April wedding. And until that insta nt when the phone rang and Donald ran to the Caller ID box by the desk and froze, I had been planning-perhaps naively, perhaps idi otically-on taking the high road when it came to Adrienne and her relentless pursuit of friendship with Donald. I had vowed, witho ut any true understanding of just how deep-rooted and, well, viru lent, my particular strain of jealousy was, I see now, to put an end to my obsession. My suspicion. My frenzied insecurity. I had vowed, as they say, at long last, to get a grip. On my demons. On my nemesis. On her. Clearly this was wishful thinking on my part; a momentary lapse of delusional optimism (quite common, I'd read, with most brides-to-be), for nothing of the sort-maturity, acceptance, suffering in silence-was in the cards. Especially n ow that she-Adrienne-would be living, as it were, in our backyard . We had been staring intently at three pieces of Crane's Ecruwh ite Kid Finish stationery stock that I'd managed to sneak out of Neiman Marcus's sample book as souvenirs-the salesman, stout, bal ding, moist, had excused himself to take a phone call from an imp ortant customer: And will this be a surprise celebration for the Chief Justice? (This was, after all, Washington.) The three sampl e invitations were identical except for the method of printing (w hich is why I had lifted them: to better understand the hefty pri ce differential) and the surely fictional inviters and betrotheds (Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stewart Evans request the honour of your pre sence at the marriage of their daughter Katherine Leigh to Mr. Br ian Charles Jamison. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Wendell Fields, III, requ est the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter Tiffany Jane to Mr. Phinneas Welch. . . . Our joy will be more c omplete if you will share in the marriage of our daughter Blah bl ah blah to Mr. Blah blah blah.). Running our fingers slowly and c arefully over the print on each card; holding them up to the ligh t; sniffing them, even (my suggestion), yielded nothing. We were failures in the study and appreciation of fine printing technique s. Okay, I give up, Donald said, throwing the invitation he was holding down onto the table and leaning back in his chair until i ts joints creaked ominously. Which is which? Beats me. Neiman's had, I explained, not been kind enough to reward my little theft by providing me the answers on the back of each like a set of hel pful flash cards. Donald brought his chair abruptly forward, sat upright, and yawned passionately. He stretched his arms across t he table, pushing the sample invitations aside as he did, and rea ched for my hands. Honey? he said languidly. What? I said flatl y. May I speak frankly? Must you? Had he ever spoken any other way? Couldn't we, just once, I wondered, get through some task ( eating dinner, washing dishes, having sex) without his need to sp eak frankly? Fine. Speak, I said, waving my hand, giving up. Rel ieved now to have license to speak his mind (a technicality: he s poke his mind quite freely without my permission, as you'll see), he smiled broadly, then brought his shoulders up in a fake cring e, as if to indicate that he felt just terrible about what he was going to say-even though, I knew, he didn't. I'm bored, he said , finally, his confession a guilty pleasure (he was a true Cathol ic, through and through). I have to be honest, I'm having a hard time caring-broad smile, shoulders up, fake cringe-about how the invitations get printed. I mean, why are we doing this? I couldn 't have been more bored myself, but I wouldn't have admitted it f or the world. Instead, I let my mouth sag slightly into a sad pou t. Doing what? I asked. Getting married or discussing the invita tions? The phone rang. Discussing the invitations, of course, h e said. He reached to give my hands a reassuring little squeeze b ut I withheld them for effect. I want to get married. The phone rang again. Because. I was about to explain how costly engraving was compared to the other options and how since we couldn't tell the difference anyway, we could, with a completely clear conscie nce, opt for the cheapest method of the three-lithography-but I w as too distracted by the third ring of the telephone. On the begi nning of the fourth ring he rose from the dining room table where we'd been sitting, took three steps over to the desk, leaned acr oss it, turned back to look at me, and cringed-this time for real . It's Adrienne. --This text refers to an out of print or unavai lable edition of this title. From Booklist Zigman, a former publ icist who used to work for Knopf, is now publishing her third nov el with her former employer. Elise has left the magazine business and New York behind to go to grad school in Washington, D.C. She meets Donald on a shuttle plane, and the two hit it off, despite Elise's annoyance at the fact that Donald mentions his ex-fiance e, Adrienne. A year later, Elise and Donald are engaged, but Elis e is still jealous of Adrienne. When Adrienne announces that she' s moving to D.C., Elise is sure she's planning to steal Donald aw ay. Adrienne arrives, and she's everything Elise feared: gorgeous , magnetic, and flirtatious. Despite her insecurities, Elise deci des to put aside her doubts and befriend Adrienne. Is Adrienne re ally trying to steal Donald, or is it all in Elise's head? Elise is neurotic but sympathetic, and Zigman expertly pulls the reader into the story through Elise's eyes. Readers who liked Zigman's previous novels, Animal Husbandry (1998) and Dating Big Bird (200 0), will enjoy this captivating tale of jealousies and misconcept ions. See Works in Progress [BKL Mr 15 02] for more about Zigman' s transition from publicist to author. Kristine Huntley Copyright ? American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal This slim profile-cum-cautionary tale of an obsessed, driven woman brings Franâ¡oise Sagan's Bonjour, Tristess e to mind, though it's less downbeat. Popular author Zigman (e.g. , Animal Husbandry) tells the story of Elise, whose relationship with fianc, Donald is put to the test when his aggressive, drop-d ead-gorgeous ex-fianc,e, Adrienne, decides to relocate to Washing ton, DC, and looks him up. Immature Donald's not much of a prize he's obsessive to the point of absurdity on the subject of his we ight and prone to dropping his trousers when upset. The question for readers, then, is whether they want to read a story, however well written, about annoying, even mean-spirited people. Zigman d issects paranoia and single-Jewish-woman angst perfectly and no d oubt will connect with a number of readers, but the tale's attemp ts at humor are forced and the ending contrived. The moral of thi s story is that smart women are often dim, and perhaps that's jus t not quite enough. Recommended for public libraries where there' s a demand for women's fiction. Jo Manning, Barry Univ., Miami Sh ores, FL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this ti tle. From AudioFile Zigman's novel features a cast of neurotic c haracters. Narrator Elise is paranoid about the presence of her f ianc?s ex-fianc?, and fianc?Donald seems afraid to let his ex, Ad rienne, go. Even super-beautiful Adrienne is insecure and clingy, and the waves of self-involved tension even radiate out to inclu de Elise's friends. Ilana Levine gives a solid performance, clear and appropriately ironic, but it cannot detract from the fact th at the 6-hour audiobook is about 3 hours too long. Elise's fearfu l rants become redundant and tiresome after the first chapter, an d there seems to be no motivation for her grating behavior. What should be humorous scenes of pseudo-obsession--Elise's drive-bys past the competition's house, late night forays into Donald's des k drawers--just seem pathetic after the third time she does them. And she's only getting started. L.B.F. ? AudioFile 2002, Portlan d, Maine-- Copyright ? AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text ref ers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Fro m the Inside Flap A smart, deeply satisfying romantic comedy abou t a woman's obsession with the return of her fianc?s ex. On the Delta Shuttle between New, Unknown, 2003, 3, Papermac. Good. 5.31 x 1.42 x 8.46 inches. Paperback. 1989. 704 pages. Cover worn. Corners bumped. Text tanned<br>The fourtee nth century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry , and the exquisitely decorated Books of Hours; and on the other, a time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world of chaos and the plague. Barbara Tuchman reveals both the great rhythms of histor y and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived. Her e are the guilty passions, loyalties and treacheries, political a ssassinations, sea battles and sieges, corruption in high places and a yearning for reform, satire and humor, sorcery and demonolo gy, and lust and sadism on the stage. Here are proud cardinals, b eggars, feminists, university scholars, grocers, bankers, mercena ries, mystics, lawyers and tax collectors, and, dominating all, t he knight in his valor and furious follies, a terrible worm in an iron cocoon. Editorial Reviews Review In this sweep ing historical narrative, Barbara Tuchman writes of the cataclysm ic 14th century, when the energies of medieval Europe were devote d to fighting internecine wars and warding off the plague. Some m edieval thinkers viewed these disasters as divine punishment for mortal wrongs; others, more practically, viewed them as opportuni ties to accumulate wealth and power. One of the latter, whose lif e informs much of Tuchman's book, was the French nobleman Enguerr and de Coucy, who enjoyed the opulence and elegance of the courtl y tradition while ruthlessly exploiting the peasants under his th rall. Tuchman looks into such events as the Hundred Years War, th e collapse of the medieval church, and the rise of various heresi es, pogroms, and other events that caused medieval Europeans to w onder what they had done to deserve such horrors. --This text ref ers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Rev iew Beautifully written, careful and thorough in its scholarship . . . What Ms. Tuchman does superbly is to tell how it was. . . . No one has ever done this better.--The New York Review of Books A beautiful, extraordinary book . . . Tuchman at the top of her powers . . . She has done nothing finer.--The Wall Street Journal Wise, witty, and wonderful . . . a great book, in a great histo rical tradition.--Commentary --This text refers to an out of prin t or unavailable edition of this title. From the Publisher Anyon e who has read THE GUNS OF AUGUST or STILWELL AND THE AMERICAN EX PERIENCE IN CHINA, knows that Barbara Tuchman was one of the most gifted American writers of this century. Her subject was history , but her profiles of great men and great events are drawn with s uch power that reading Tuchman becomes a riveting experience In A DISTANT MIRROR, Barbara Tuchman illuminates the Dark Ages. Her description of medieval daily life, the role of the church, the i nfluence of the Great Plagues, and the social and political conve ntions that make this period of history so engrossing, are carefu lly woven into an integrated narrative that sweeps the reader alo ng. I am a particular devotee of medieval and pre Renaissance mu sic, so Barbara Tuchman's brilliant analysis of this period has s pecial meaning for me - and I hope for many others. George David son, Director of Production, The Ballantine Publishing Group --Th is text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From the Inside Flap Wise, witty, and wonderful . . . A g reat book, in a great historical tradition. Commentary The 14th century gives us back two contradictory images: a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and a dark tim e of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world plunged into a chaos o f war, fear and the Plague. Barbara Tuchman anatomizes the centur y, revealing both the great rhythms of history and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived. --This text refers to a n out of print or unavailable edition of this title. About the A uthor Barbara W. Tuchman (1912-1989), American historian, was bo rn in New York City and graduated from Radcliffe College in 1933. A self-trained historian, she was a writer for the Nation and an editor for the US Office of War Information. In her later years she was a lecturer at Harvard and the US Naval War College. She w on the Pulitzer Prize in 1963 for The Guns of August and in 1972 for Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45. She w as awarded the 1978 Gold Medal for History from the American Acad emy of Arts and Letters. Wanda McCaddon (a.k.a. Nadia May or Don ada Peters) has narrated well over six hundred titles for major a udiobook publishers, has earned numerous Earphones Awards, and wa s named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Excerpt . ® Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter 1 I Am the Sire de Coucy: The Dynasty Formidable and grand on a hillto p in Picardy, the five-towered castle of Coucy dominated the appr oach to Paris from the north, but whether as guardian or as chall enger of the monarchy in the capital was an open question. Thrust ing up from the castle's center, a gigantic cylinder rose to twic e the height of the four corner towers. This was the donjon or ce ntral citadel, the largest in Europe, the mightiest of its kind e ver built in the Middle Ages or thereafter. Ninety feet in diamet er, 180 feet high, capable of housing a thousand men in a siege, it dwarfed and protected the castle at its base, the clustered ro ofs of the town, the bell tower of the church, and the thirty tur rets of the massive wall enclosing the whole complex on the hill. Travelers coming from any direction could see this colossus of b aronial power from miles away and, on approaching it, feel the aw e of the traveler in infidel lands at first sight of the pyramids . Seized by grandeur, the builders had carried out the scale of the donjon in interior features of more than mortal size: risers of steps were fifteen to sixteen inches, window seats three and a half feet from the ground, as if for use by a race of titans. St one lintels measuring two cubic yards were no less heroic. For mo re than four hundred years the dynasty reflected by these arrange ments had exhibited the same quality of excess. Ambitious, danger ous, not infrequently ferocious, the Coucys had planted themselve s on a promontory of land which was formed by nature for command. Their hilltop controlled passage through the valley of the Ailet te to the greater valley of the Oise. From here they had challeng ed kings, despoiled the Church, departed for and died on crusades , been condemned and excommunicated for crimes, progressively enl arged their domain, married royalty, and nurtured a pride that to ok for its battle cry, Coucy à la merveille! Holding one of the f our great baronies of France, they scorned territorial titles and adopted their motto of simple arrogance, Roi ne suis, Ne princ e ne duc ne comte aussi; Je suis le sire de Coucy. (Not king no r prince, Duke nor count am I; I am the lord of Coucy.) Begun in 1223, the castle was a product of the same architectural explo sion that raised the great cathedrals whose impulse, too, sprang from northern France. Four of the greatest were under constructio n, at the same time as the castle--at Laon, Reims, Amiens, and Be auvais, within fifty miles of Coucy. While it took anywhere from 50 to 150 years to finish building a cathedral, the vast works of Coucy with donjon, towers, ramparts, and subterranean network we re completed, under the single compelling will of Enguerrand de C oucy III, in the astonishing space of seven years. The castle co mpound enclosed a space of more than two acres. Its four corner t owers, each 90 feet high and 65 in diameter, and its three outer sides were built flush with the edge of the hill, forming the ram parts. The only entrance to the compound was a fortified gate on the inner side next to the donjon, protected by guard towers, moa t, and portcullis. The gate opened onto the place d'armes, a wall ed space of about six acres, containing stables and other service buildings, tiltyard, and pasture for the knights' horses. Beyond this, where the hill widened out like the tail of a fish, lay th e town of perhaps a hundred houses and a square-towered church. T hree fortified gates in the outer wall encircling the hilltop com manded access to the outside world. On the south side facing Sois sons, the hill fell away in a steep, easily defensible slope; on the north facing Laon, where the hill merged with the plateau, a great moat made an added barrier. Within walls eighteen to thirt y feet thick, a spiral staircase connected the three stories of t he donjon. An open hole or eye in the roof, repeated in the vault ed ceiling of each level, added a little extra light and air to t he gloom, and enabled arms and provisions to be hoisted from floo r to floor without the necessity of climbing the stairs. By the s ame means, orders could be given vocally to the entire garrison a t one time. As many as 1,200 to 1,500 men-at-arms could assemble to hear what was said from the middle level. The donjon had kitch ens, said an awed contemporary, worthy of Nero, and a rainwater f ishpond on the roof. It had a well, bread ovens, cellars, storero oms, huge fireplaces with chimneys on each floor, and latrines. V aulted underground passageways led to every part of the castle, t o the open court, and to secret exits outside the ramparts, throu gh which a besieged garrison could be provisioned. From the top o f the donjon an observer could see the whole region as far as the forest of Compiègne thirty miles away, making Coucy proof agains t surprise. In design and execution the fortress was the most nea rly perfect military structure of medieval Europe, and in size th e most audacious. One governing concept shaped a castle: not res idence, but defense. As fortress, it was an emblem of medieval li fe as dominating as the cross. In the Romance of the Rose, that v ast compendium of everything but romance, the castle enclosing th e Rose is the central structure, which must be besieged and penet rated to reach the goal of sexual desire. In real life, all its a rrangements testified to the fact of violence, the expectation of attack, which had carved the history of the Middle Ages. The cas tle's predecessor, the Roman villa, had been unfortified, dependi ng on Roman law and the Roman legions for its ramparts. After the Empire's collapse, the medieval society that emerged was a set o f disjointed and clashing parts subject to no central or effectiv e secular authority. Only the Church offered an organizing princi ple, which was the reason for its success, for society cannot bea r anarchy. Out of the turbulence, central secular authority bega n slowly to cohere in the monarchy, but as soon as the new power became effective it came into conflict with the Church on the one hand and the barons on the other. Simultaneously the bourgeois o f the towns were developing their own order and selling their sup port to barons, bishops, or kings in return for charters of liber ties as free communes. By providing the freedom for the developme nt of commerce, the charters marked the rise of the urban Third E state. Political balance among the competing groups was unstable because the king had no permanent armed force at his command. He had to rely on the feudal obligation of his vassals to perform li mited military service, later supplemented by paid service. Rule was still personal, deriving from the fief of land and oath of ho mage. Not citizen to state but vassal to lord was the bond that u nderlay political structure. The state was still struggling to be born. By virtue of its location in the center of Picardy, the d omain of Coucy, as the crown acknowledged, was one of the keys of the kingdom. Reaching almost to Flanders in the north and to the Channel and borders of Normandy on the west, Picardy was the mai n avenue of northern France. Its rivers led both southward to the Seine and westward to the Channel. Its fertile soil made it the primary agricultural region of France, with pasture and fields of grain, clumps of forest, and a comfortable sprinkling of village s. Clearing, the first act of civilization, had started with the Romans. At the opening of the 14th century Picardy supported abou t 250,000 households or a population of more than a million, maki ng it the only province of France, other than Toulouse in the sou th, to have been more populous in medieval times than in modern. Its temper was vigorous and independent, its towns the earliest t o win charters as communes. In the shadowed region between legen d and history, the domain of Coucy was originally a fief of the C hurch supposedly bestowed on St. Remi, first Bishop of Reims, by Clovis, first Christian King of the Franks, in about the year 500 . After his conversion to Christianity by St. Remi, King Clovis g ave the territory of Coucy to the new bishopric of Reims, groundi ng the Church in the things of Caesar, as the Emperor Constantine had traditionally grounded the Church of Rome. By Constantine's gift, Christianity was both officially established and fatally co mpromised. As William Langland wrote, When the kindness of Const antine gave Holy Church endowments In lands and leases, lordship s and servants, The Romans heard an angel cry on high above them , This day dos ecclesiae has drunk venom And all who have Peter 's power are poisoned forever. That conflict between the reach f or the divine and the lure of earthly things was to be the centra l problem of the Middle Ages. The claim of the Church to spiritua l leadership could never be made wholly credible to all its commu nicants when it was founded in material wealth. The more riches t he Church amassed, the more visible and disturbing became the fla w; nor could it ever be resolved, but continued to renew doubt an d dissent in every century. In the earliest Latin documents, Cou cy was called Codiciacum or Codiacum, supposedly derived from Cod ex, codicis, meaning a tree trunk stripped of its branches such a s those the Gauls used to build their palisades. For four centuri es through the Dark Ages the place remained in shadow. In 910-20 Hervé, Archbishop of Reims, built the first primitive castle and chapel on the hill, surrounded by a wall as defense against Norse men invading the valley of the Oise. Settlers from the village be low, taking refuge within the Bishop's walls, founded the upper t own, which came to be known as Coucy-le-Château, as distinguished from Coucy-la-Ville below. In thos, Papermac, 1989, 2.5, Candlewick Press. Good. 5.50(w) x 8.06(h) x 1.03(d). Hardcover. 2008. 272 pages. Ex-library.<br>From the award-winning author of Tamar, a time-shifting thriller about a vanishing soccer star, occult s ecrets, and the dark history of slavery. As the city of San Juan pulses to summer's sluggish beat, its teenage soccer prodigy, El Brujito, the Little Magician, vanishes without a trace -- right after he misses a penalty kick and loses a big game for his team. Paul Faustino, South America's top sports reporter, is reluctant ly drawn into the mystery of the athlete's disappearance. As a st ory of corruption and murder unfolds, Faustino is forced to confr ont the bitter history of slavery and the power of the occult. A deftly woven mystery flush with soccer and suspense, this grippin g novel is a thrilling read not to be missed. ., Candlewick Press, 2008, 2.5<
nzl, n.. | Biblio.co.uk |
2008, ISBN: 9780763633998
Candlewick Press. Good. 5.50(w) x 8.06(h) x 1.03(d). Hardcover. 2008. 272 pages. Ex-library.<br>From the award-winning author of Tamar, a time-shifting thriller about a vanishing s… Mehr…
Candlewick Press. Good. 5.50(w) x 8.06(h) x 1.03(d). Hardcover. 2008. 272 pages. Ex-library.<br>From the award-winning author of Tamar, a time-shifting thriller about a vanishing soccer star, occult s ecrets, and the dark history of slavery. As the city of San Juan pulses to summer's sluggish beat, its teenage soccer prodigy, El Brujito, the Little Magician, vanishes without a trace -- right after he misses a penalty kick and loses a big game for his team. Paul Faustino, South America's top sports reporter, is reluctant ly drawn into the mystery of the athlete's disappearance. As a st ory of corruption and murder unfolds, Faustino is forced to confr ont the bitter history of slavery and the power of the occult. A deftly woven mystery flush with soccer and suspense, this grippin g novel is a thrilling read not to be missed. ., Candlewick Press, 2008, 2.5<
Biblio.co.uk |
2007, ISBN: 9780763633998
Candlewick, Gebundene Ausgabe, Auflage: Us, 272 Seiten, Publiziert: 2007-08-14T00:00:01Z, Produktgruppe: Buch, 0.94 kg, Sport allgemein, Sport & Fitness, Kategorien, Bücher, Fußball, New … Mehr…
Candlewick, Gebundene Ausgabe, Auflage: Us, 272 Seiten, Publiziert: 2007-08-14T00:00:01Z, Produktgruppe: Buch, 0.94 kg, Sport allgemein, Sport & Fitness, Kategorien, Bücher, Fußball, New Adult, Liebesromane, Krimis & Thriller, Action & Abenteuer, Belletristik, Jugendbücher, Detektiv- & Kriminalgeschichten, Fantasy, Historisch, Sport & Freizeit, Fremdsprachige Bücher, Featured Categories, Englische Bücher, 7c9a6c79-19ea-4dea-90da-d7d47042d341_2301, 7c9a6c79-19ea-4dea-90da-d7d47042d341_0, Arborist Merchandising Root, Candlewick, 2007<
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2007, ISBN: 9780763633998
Candlewick, Gebundene Ausgabe, Auflage: Us, 272 Seiten, Publiziert: 2007-08-14T00:00:01Z, Produktgruppe: Buch, 0.94 kg, Sport allgemein, Sport & Fitness, Kategorien, Bücher, Fußball, New … Mehr…
Candlewick, Gebundene Ausgabe, Auflage: Us, 272 Seiten, Publiziert: 2007-08-14T00:00:01Z, Produktgruppe: Buch, 0.94 kg, Sport allgemein, Sport & Fitness, Kategorien, Bücher, Fußball, New Adult, Liebesromane, Krimis & Thriller, Action & Abenteuer, Belletristik, Jugendbücher, Detektiv- & Kriminalgeschichten, Fantasy, Historisch, Sport & Freizeit, Fremdsprachige Bücher, Featured Categories, Englische Bücher, 7c9a6c79-19ea-4dea-90da-d7d47042d341_2301, 7c9a6c79-19ea-4dea-90da-d7d47042d341_0, Arborist Merchandising Root, Candlewick, 2007<
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ISBN: 9780763633998
Candlewick. Hardcover. VERY GOOD. Light rubbing wear to cover, spine and page edges. Very minimal writing or notations in margins not affecting the text. Possible clean ex-library copy,… Mehr…
Candlewick. Hardcover. VERY GOOD. Light rubbing wear to cover, spine and page edges. Very minimal writing or notations in margins not affecting the text. Possible clean ex-library copy, with their stickers and or stamp(s)., Candlewick, 3<
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2008, ISBN: 9780763633998
Gebundene Ausgabe
Unknown. Very Good. 111 x 179mm. Perfect Paperback. 2003. 283 pages. <br>A smart, deeply satisfying romantic comedy about a woman's obsession with the return of her fianc?s ex.… Mehr…
Unknown. Very Good. 111 x 179mm. Perfect Paperback. 2003. 283 pages. <br>A smart, deeply satisfying romantic comedy about a woman's obsession with the return of her fianc?s ex. On the Del ta Shuttle between New York and Washington, Elise finds herself s itting next to Donald-tall, with dark wavy hair, a big easy smile . She's left the world of women's magazines in Manhattan for grad uate school in D.C. He's left investment banking to become a teac her. They are both unattached. They exchange stories. They fall i n love. One year later they're headed for an April wedding. Story book finish? Not quite. Donald has some serious baggage: an ex-f ianc? named Adrienne. And she's not just any ex: she is the mothe r of all exes. Yale educated, French extraction, ravishing, and s he's just shown up in D.C. Adrienne is Elise's worst nightmare in carnate--and before too long her all-consuming obsession. Every m an comes with baggage. But did it have to be her? Editorial Revi ews Review The problem with most of the post-Bridget Jones fiction is that the dithering heroines tend to inspire impa tience rather than sympathy, but in the novel Her, Laura Zigman s killfully avoids that common pitfall. Elise is engaged to be marr ied to Donald. Displaced New Yorkers living in Washington, D.C., they bond over the foibles of life in the capital: pundits at the grocery store, power brokers at the baggage claim. Donald seems a truly amiable fellow, a fine fictional creation worth fighting over. Enter the titular her, Donald's ex-girlfriend Adrienne, a d ark beauty who's catty and gracefully catlike all at once. When A drienne relocates from New York to D.C., Elise fights a pitched b attle over the hapless Donald, who of course has no idea of the w arfare on his behalf. Unfortunately, Elise can be so insecure and jealous that the reader guiltily begins to root for Adrienne--at least she's got a little self-respect. Such is the power of roma ntic formula, however, that when it all comes right for Donald an d Elise, we close the book with a satisfied feeling. --Claire Ded erer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. About the Author Laura Zigman is the author of A nimal Husbandry and Dating Big Bird. She spent ten years working in book publishing in New York. Her pieces have appeared in the N ew York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today. She now lives outside Boston. --This text refers to an out of print or unavaila ble edition of this title. From the Back Cover It's fun; it's s mart; it's sassy, and it's about a subject most women have no pro blem relating to: the other woman. We love it...Zigman's dialogue is witty and right on...[Her] will win you over, give you someth ing to smile about (in the end) and give the little green monster in all of us a chance to get out of his cage, if only for a shor t while. -Michelle Rupe Eubanks, TimesDaily (Alabama) Her is a b itter gem...taut and gripping, true and painful. -City Paper (PA) This is one rampaging hoot of a book, likely to strike a resoun ding chord with anyone who has ever felt a reluctant and horrid f ascination with the 'ex' of [his/her] significant other. It's wit ty, snappy, a bit disquieting and always hugely entertaining, eve n when the heroine for whom you are rooting runs totally amok.... The fun here is in the details....A romp of a tale. -The Seattle Times /Post Intelligencer Zigman is a smart writer, part Dorothy Parker, part Gilda Radner. [She] has perfect pitch in getting th e comic details of urban women's lives and relationships, as well as the emotional mix of exuberance and loneliness, self-doubt an d self-confidence, dreaming dreams and not giving up on them. -Sa ndee Brawarsky, The Jewish Week [A] delightfully frothy novel... Zigman's strength is creating lovably frazzled and charmingly ins ecure heroines...It's a fun ride... -Chicago Tribune In Zigman's zany romantic comedy Her, ex marks the spot . . . Her is as scar y as it is funny. . . . A howl. -USA Today A captivating tale of jealousies and misconceptions. -Booklist Lively and funny. . . . Her is as addicting as Zigman's previous work. . . Sharp, hilar ious. -Bookpage --This text refers to an out of print or unavaila ble edition of this title. From Publishers Weekly Zigman's third novel, a wild tale of a woman's transformation... from bride-to- be to madwoman is for anyone who's ever felt prewedding jitters a nd the pangs of obsessive jealousy. Having left her job at a teen magazine in New York City to pursue a quieter life in Washington , D.C., Zigman's narrator, Elise, meets her perfect guy Donald, a reformed bond trader now teaching English at Sidwell Friends on the Delta shuttle. Or her almost perfect guy. Donald's one fault is that he was engaged to Adrienne, and her name crops up in just about every conversation. Though Donald and Elise swiftly fall i n love and begin planning their wedding, Elise cannot help obsess ing over the brilliant and horrifyingly gorgeous former fianc,e. But like the paranoiac who is being followed, Elise may have good reason to be jealous. Only months before the wedding, Adrienne t akes a job in Washington, D.C., and reinserts herself into Donald 's life, fueling Elise's jealousy as well as a slapstick plot hav ing to do with Donald's dog, Elise's wedding dress and liposuctio n. Zigman is better at caricature than characterization, and her emphatic, read-aloud style sometimes falls flat on the page. Yet some scenes when Donald meets Elise, for instance are fresh and s mart and almost perfect, as are many of her one-liners. Copyrigh t 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to a n out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Excerpt. ? Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. 1 We were, as it h appened, Donald and I, deciding that evening on how we would have our wedding invitations printed--Engraving? Thermography? Lithog raphy?--when Adrienne, Donald's ex-fianc?, called to share her go od news: she was leaving New York to accept a job in Washington, where we lived, just after the first of the year. It was late No vember. We were planning an April wedding. And until that insta nt when the phone rang and Donald ran to the Caller ID box by the desk and froze, I had been planning-perhaps naively, perhaps idi otically-on taking the high road when it came to Adrienne and her relentless pursuit of friendship with Donald. I had vowed, witho ut any true understanding of just how deep-rooted and, well, viru lent, my particular strain of jealousy was, I see now, to put an end to my obsession. My suspicion. My frenzied insecurity. I had vowed, as they say, at long last, to get a grip. On my demons. On my nemesis. On her. Clearly this was wishful thinking on my part; a momentary lapse of delusional optimism (quite common, I'd read, with most brides-to-be), for nothing of the sort-maturity, acceptance, suffering in silence-was in the cards. Especially n ow that she-Adrienne-would be living, as it were, in our backyard . We had been staring intently at three pieces of Crane's Ecruwh ite Kid Finish stationery stock that I'd managed to sneak out of Neiman Marcus's sample book as souvenirs-the salesman, stout, bal ding, moist, had excused himself to take a phone call from an imp ortant customer: And will this be a surprise celebration for the Chief Justice? (This was, after all, Washington.) The three sampl e invitations were identical except for the method of printing (w hich is why I had lifted them: to better understand the hefty pri ce differential) and the surely fictional inviters and betrotheds (Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stewart Evans request the honour of your pre sence at the marriage of their daughter Katherine Leigh to Mr. Br ian Charles Jamison. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Wendell Fields, III, requ est the honour of your presence at the marriage of their daughter Tiffany Jane to Mr. Phinneas Welch. . . . Our joy will be more c omplete if you will share in the marriage of our daughter Blah bl ah blah to Mr. Blah blah blah.). Running our fingers slowly and c arefully over the print on each card; holding them up to the ligh t; sniffing them, even (my suggestion), yielded nothing. We were failures in the study and appreciation of fine printing technique s. Okay, I give up, Donald said, throwing the invitation he was holding down onto the table and leaning back in his chair until i ts joints creaked ominously. Which is which? Beats me. Neiman's had, I explained, not been kind enough to reward my little theft by providing me the answers on the back of each like a set of hel pful flash cards. Donald brought his chair abruptly forward, sat upright, and yawned passionately. He stretched his arms across t he table, pushing the sample invitations aside as he did, and rea ched for my hands. Honey? he said languidly. What? I said flatl y. May I speak frankly? Must you? Had he ever spoken any other way? Couldn't we, just once, I wondered, get through some task ( eating dinner, washing dishes, having sex) without his need to sp eak frankly? Fine. Speak, I said, waving my hand, giving up. Rel ieved now to have license to speak his mind (a technicality: he s poke his mind quite freely without my permission, as you'll see), he smiled broadly, then brought his shoulders up in a fake cring e, as if to indicate that he felt just terrible about what he was going to say-even though, I knew, he didn't. I'm bored, he said , finally, his confession a guilty pleasure (he was a true Cathol ic, through and through). I have to be honest, I'm having a hard time caring-broad smile, shoulders up, fake cringe-about how the invitations get printed. I mean, why are we doing this? I couldn 't have been more bored myself, but I wouldn't have admitted it f or the world. Instead, I let my mouth sag slightly into a sad pou t. Doing what? I asked. Getting married or discussing the invita tions? The phone rang. Discussing the invitations, of course, h e said. He reached to give my hands a reassuring little squeeze b ut I withheld them for effect. I want to get married. The phone rang again. Because. I was about to explain how costly engraving was compared to the other options and how since we couldn't tell the difference anyway, we could, with a completely clear conscie nce, opt for the cheapest method of the three-lithography-but I w as too distracted by the third ring of the telephone. On the begi nning of the fourth ring he rose from the dining room table where we'd been sitting, took three steps over to the desk, leaned acr oss it, turned back to look at me, and cringed-this time for real . It's Adrienne. --This text refers to an out of print or unavai lable edition of this title. From Booklist Zigman, a former publ icist who used to work for Knopf, is now publishing her third nov el with her former employer. Elise has left the magazine business and New York behind to go to grad school in Washington, D.C. She meets Donald on a shuttle plane, and the two hit it off, despite Elise's annoyance at the fact that Donald mentions his ex-fiance e, Adrienne. A year later, Elise and Donald are engaged, but Elis e is still jealous of Adrienne. When Adrienne announces that she' s moving to D.C., Elise is sure she's planning to steal Donald aw ay. Adrienne arrives, and she's everything Elise feared: gorgeous , magnetic, and flirtatious. Despite her insecurities, Elise deci des to put aside her doubts and befriend Adrienne. Is Adrienne re ally trying to steal Donald, or is it all in Elise's head? Elise is neurotic but sympathetic, and Zigman expertly pulls the reader into the story through Elise's eyes. Readers who liked Zigman's previous novels, Animal Husbandry (1998) and Dating Big Bird (200 0), will enjoy this captivating tale of jealousies and misconcept ions. See Works in Progress [BKL Mr 15 02] for more about Zigman' s transition from publicist to author. Kristine Huntley Copyright ? American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal This slim profile-cum-cautionary tale of an obsessed, driven woman brings Franâ¡oise Sagan's Bonjour, Tristess e to mind, though it's less downbeat. Popular author Zigman (e.g. , Animal Husbandry) tells the story of Elise, whose relationship with fianc, Donald is put to the test when his aggressive, drop-d ead-gorgeous ex-fianc,e, Adrienne, decides to relocate to Washing ton, DC, and looks him up. Immature Donald's not much of a prize he's obsessive to the point of absurdity on the subject of his we ight and prone to dropping his trousers when upset. The question for readers, then, is whether they want to read a story, however well written, about annoying, even mean-spirited people. Zigman d issects paranoia and single-Jewish-woman angst perfectly and no d oubt will connect with a number of readers, but the tale's attemp ts at humor are forced and the ending contrived. The moral of thi s story is that smart women are often dim, and perhaps that's jus t not quite enough. Recommended for public libraries where there' s a demand for women's fiction. Jo Manning, Barry Univ., Miami Sh ores, FL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this ti tle. From AudioFile Zigman's novel features a cast of neurotic c haracters. Narrator Elise is paranoid about the presence of her f ianc?s ex-fianc?, and fianc?Donald seems afraid to let his ex, Ad rienne, go. Even super-beautiful Adrienne is insecure and clingy, and the waves of self-involved tension even radiate out to inclu de Elise's friends. Ilana Levine gives a solid performance, clear and appropriately ironic, but it cannot detract from the fact th at the 6-hour audiobook is about 3 hours too long. Elise's fearfu l rants become redundant and tiresome after the first chapter, an d there seems to be no motivation for her grating behavior. What should be humorous scenes of pseudo-obsession--Elise's drive-bys past the competition's house, late night forays into Donald's des k drawers--just seem pathetic after the third time she does them. And she's only getting started. L.B.F. ? AudioFile 2002, Portlan d, Maine-- Copyright ? AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text ref ers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Fro m the Inside Flap A smart, deeply satisfying romantic comedy abou t a woman's obsession with the return of her fianc?s ex. On the Delta Shuttle between New, Unknown, 2003, 3, Papermac. Good. 5.31 x 1.42 x 8.46 inches. Paperback. 1989. 704 pages. Cover worn. Corners bumped. Text tanned<br>The fourtee nth century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry , and the exquisitely decorated Books of Hours; and on the other, a time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world of chaos and the plague. Barbara Tuchman reveals both the great rhythms of histor y and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived. Her e are the guilty passions, loyalties and treacheries, political a ssassinations, sea battles and sieges, corruption in high places and a yearning for reform, satire and humor, sorcery and demonolo gy, and lust and sadism on the stage. Here are proud cardinals, b eggars, feminists, university scholars, grocers, bankers, mercena ries, mystics, lawyers and tax collectors, and, dominating all, t he knight in his valor and furious follies, a terrible worm in an iron cocoon. Editorial Reviews Review In this sweep ing historical narrative, Barbara Tuchman writes of the cataclysm ic 14th century, when the energies of medieval Europe were devote d to fighting internecine wars and warding off the plague. Some m edieval thinkers viewed these disasters as divine punishment for mortal wrongs; others, more practically, viewed them as opportuni ties to accumulate wealth and power. One of the latter, whose lif e informs much of Tuchman's book, was the French nobleman Enguerr and de Coucy, who enjoyed the opulence and elegance of the courtl y tradition while ruthlessly exploiting the peasants under his th rall. Tuchman looks into such events as the Hundred Years War, th e collapse of the medieval church, and the rise of various heresi es, pogroms, and other events that caused medieval Europeans to w onder what they had done to deserve such horrors. --This text ref ers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Rev iew Beautifully written, careful and thorough in its scholarship . . . What Ms. Tuchman does superbly is to tell how it was. . . . No one has ever done this better.--The New York Review of Books A beautiful, extraordinary book . . . Tuchman at the top of her powers . . . She has done nothing finer.--The Wall Street Journal Wise, witty, and wonderful . . . a great book, in a great histo rical tradition.--Commentary --This text refers to an out of prin t or unavailable edition of this title. From the Publisher Anyon e who has read THE GUNS OF AUGUST or STILWELL AND THE AMERICAN EX PERIENCE IN CHINA, knows that Barbara Tuchman was one of the most gifted American writers of this century. Her subject was history , but her profiles of great men and great events are drawn with s uch power that reading Tuchman becomes a riveting experience In A DISTANT MIRROR, Barbara Tuchman illuminates the Dark Ages. Her description of medieval daily life, the role of the church, the i nfluence of the Great Plagues, and the social and political conve ntions that make this period of history so engrossing, are carefu lly woven into an integrated narrative that sweeps the reader alo ng. I am a particular devotee of medieval and pre Renaissance mu sic, so Barbara Tuchman's brilliant analysis of this period has s pecial meaning for me - and I hope for many others. George David son, Director of Production, The Ballantine Publishing Group --Th is text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From the Inside Flap Wise, witty, and wonderful . . . A g reat book, in a great historical tradition. Commentary The 14th century gives us back two contradictory images: a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and a dark tim e of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world plunged into a chaos o f war, fear and the Plague. Barbara Tuchman anatomizes the centur y, revealing both the great rhythms of history and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived. --This text refers to a n out of print or unavailable edition of this title. About the A uthor Barbara W. Tuchman (1912-1989), American historian, was bo rn in New York City and graduated from Radcliffe College in 1933. A self-trained historian, she was a writer for the Nation and an editor for the US Office of War Information. In her later years she was a lecturer at Harvard and the US Naval War College. She w on the Pulitzer Prize in 1963 for The Guns of August and in 1972 for Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45. She w as awarded the 1978 Gold Medal for History from the American Acad emy of Arts and Letters. Wanda McCaddon (a.k.a. Nadia May or Don ada Peters) has narrated well over six hundred titles for major a udiobook publishers, has earned numerous Earphones Awards, and wa s named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Excerpt . ® Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter 1 I Am the Sire de Coucy: The Dynasty Formidable and grand on a hillto p in Picardy, the five-towered castle of Coucy dominated the appr oach to Paris from the north, but whether as guardian or as chall enger of the monarchy in the capital was an open question. Thrust ing up from the castle's center, a gigantic cylinder rose to twic e the height of the four corner towers. This was the donjon or ce ntral citadel, the largest in Europe, the mightiest of its kind e ver built in the Middle Ages or thereafter. Ninety feet in diamet er, 180 feet high, capable of housing a thousand men in a siege, it dwarfed and protected the castle at its base, the clustered ro ofs of the town, the bell tower of the church, and the thirty tur rets of the massive wall enclosing the whole complex on the hill. Travelers coming from any direction could see this colossus of b aronial power from miles away and, on approaching it, feel the aw e of the traveler in infidel lands at first sight of the pyramids . Seized by grandeur, the builders had carried out the scale of the donjon in interior features of more than mortal size: risers of steps were fifteen to sixteen inches, window seats three and a half feet from the ground, as if for use by a race of titans. St one lintels measuring two cubic yards were no less heroic. For mo re than four hundred years the dynasty reflected by these arrange ments had exhibited the same quality of excess. Ambitious, danger ous, not infrequently ferocious, the Coucys had planted themselve s on a promontory of land which was formed by nature for command. Their hilltop controlled passage through the valley of the Ailet te to the greater valley of the Oise. From here they had challeng ed kings, despoiled the Church, departed for and died on crusades , been condemned and excommunicated for crimes, progressively enl arged their domain, married royalty, and nurtured a pride that to ok for its battle cry, Coucy à la merveille! Holding one of the f our great baronies of France, they scorned territorial titles and adopted their motto of simple arrogance, Roi ne suis, Ne princ e ne duc ne comte aussi; Je suis le sire de Coucy. (Not king no r prince, Duke nor count am I; I am the lord of Coucy.) Begun in 1223, the castle was a product of the same architectural explo sion that raised the great cathedrals whose impulse, too, sprang from northern France. Four of the greatest were under constructio n, at the same time as the castle--at Laon, Reims, Amiens, and Be auvais, within fifty miles of Coucy. While it took anywhere from 50 to 150 years to finish building a cathedral, the vast works of Coucy with donjon, towers, ramparts, and subterranean network we re completed, under the single compelling will of Enguerrand de C oucy III, in the astonishing space of seven years. The castle co mpound enclosed a space of more than two acres. Its four corner t owers, each 90 feet high and 65 in diameter, and its three outer sides were built flush with the edge of the hill, forming the ram parts. The only entrance to the compound was a fortified gate on the inner side next to the donjon, protected by guard towers, moa t, and portcullis. The gate opened onto the place d'armes, a wall ed space of about six acres, containing stables and other service buildings, tiltyard, and pasture for the knights' horses. Beyond this, where the hill widened out like the tail of a fish, lay th e town of perhaps a hundred houses and a square-towered church. T hree fortified gates in the outer wall encircling the hilltop com manded access to the outside world. On the south side facing Sois sons, the hill fell away in a steep, easily defensible slope; on the north facing Laon, where the hill merged with the plateau, a great moat made an added barrier. Within walls eighteen to thirt y feet thick, a spiral staircase connected the three stories of t he donjon. An open hole or eye in the roof, repeated in the vault ed ceiling of each level, added a little extra light and air to t he gloom, and enabled arms and provisions to be hoisted from floo r to floor without the necessity of climbing the stairs. By the s ame means, orders could be given vocally to the entire garrison a t one time. As many as 1,200 to 1,500 men-at-arms could assemble to hear what was said from the middle level. The donjon had kitch ens, said an awed contemporary, worthy of Nero, and a rainwater f ishpond on the roof. It had a well, bread ovens, cellars, storero oms, huge fireplaces with chimneys on each floor, and latrines. V aulted underground passageways led to every part of the castle, t o the open court, and to secret exits outside the ramparts, throu gh which a besieged garrison could be provisioned. From the top o f the donjon an observer could see the whole region as far as the forest of Compiègne thirty miles away, making Coucy proof agains t surprise. In design and execution the fortress was the most nea rly perfect military structure of medieval Europe, and in size th e most audacious. One governing concept shaped a castle: not res idence, but defense. As fortress, it was an emblem of medieval li fe as dominating as the cross. In the Romance of the Rose, that v ast compendium of everything but romance, the castle enclosing th e Rose is the central structure, which must be besieged and penet rated to reach the goal of sexual desire. In real life, all its a rrangements testified to the fact of violence, the expectation of attack, which had carved the history of the Middle Ages. The cas tle's predecessor, the Roman villa, had been unfortified, dependi ng on Roman law and the Roman legions for its ramparts. After the Empire's collapse, the medieval society that emerged was a set o f disjointed and clashing parts subject to no central or effectiv e secular authority. Only the Church offered an organizing princi ple, which was the reason for its success, for society cannot bea r anarchy. Out of the turbulence, central secular authority bega n slowly to cohere in the monarchy, but as soon as the new power became effective it came into conflict with the Church on the one hand and the barons on the other. Simultaneously the bourgeois o f the towns were developing their own order and selling their sup port to barons, bishops, or kings in return for charters of liber ties as free communes. By providing the freedom for the developme nt of commerce, the charters marked the rise of the urban Third E state. Political balance among the competing groups was unstable because the king had no permanent armed force at his command. He had to rely on the feudal obligation of his vassals to perform li mited military service, later supplemented by paid service. Rule was still personal, deriving from the fief of land and oath of ho mage. Not citizen to state but vassal to lord was the bond that u nderlay political structure. The state was still struggling to be born. By virtue of its location in the center of Picardy, the d omain of Coucy, as the crown acknowledged, was one of the keys of the kingdom. Reaching almost to Flanders in the north and to the Channel and borders of Normandy on the west, Picardy was the mai n avenue of northern France. Its rivers led both southward to the Seine and westward to the Channel. Its fertile soil made it the primary agricultural region of France, with pasture and fields of grain, clumps of forest, and a comfortable sprinkling of village s. Clearing, the first act of civilization, had started with the Romans. At the opening of the 14th century Picardy supported abou t 250,000 households or a population of more than a million, maki ng it the only province of France, other than Toulouse in the sou th, to have been more populous in medieval times than in modern. Its temper was vigorous and independent, its towns the earliest t o win charters as communes. In the shadowed region between legen d and history, the domain of Coucy was originally a fief of the C hurch supposedly bestowed on St. Remi, first Bishop of Reims, by Clovis, first Christian King of the Franks, in about the year 500 . After his conversion to Christianity by St. Remi, King Clovis g ave the territory of Coucy to the new bishopric of Reims, groundi ng the Church in the things of Caesar, as the Emperor Constantine had traditionally grounded the Church of Rome. By Constantine's gift, Christianity was both officially established and fatally co mpromised. As William Langland wrote, When the kindness of Const antine gave Holy Church endowments In lands and leases, lordship s and servants, The Romans heard an angel cry on high above them , This day dos ecclesiae has drunk venom And all who have Peter 's power are poisoned forever. That conflict between the reach f or the divine and the lure of earthly things was to be the centra l problem of the Middle Ages. The claim of the Church to spiritua l leadership could never be made wholly credible to all its commu nicants when it was founded in material wealth. The more riches t he Church amassed, the more visible and disturbing became the fla w; nor could it ever be resolved, but continued to renew doubt an d dissent in every century. In the earliest Latin documents, Cou cy was called Codiciacum or Codiacum, supposedly derived from Cod ex, codicis, meaning a tree trunk stripped of its branches such a s those the Gauls used to build their palisades. For four centuri es through the Dark Ages the place remained in shadow. In 910-20 Hervé, Archbishop of Reims, built the first primitive castle and chapel on the hill, surrounded by a wall as defense against Norse men invading the valley of the Oise. Settlers from the village be low, taking refuge within the Bishop's walls, founded the upper t own, which came to be known as Coucy-le-Château, as distinguished from Coucy-la-Ville below. In thos, Papermac, 1989, 2.5, Candlewick Press. Good. 5.50(w) x 8.06(h) x 1.03(d). Hardcover. 2008. 272 pages. Ex-library.<br>From the award-winning author of Tamar, a time-shifting thriller about a vanishing soccer star, occult s ecrets, and the dark history of slavery. As the city of San Juan pulses to summer's sluggish beat, its teenage soccer prodigy, El Brujito, the Little Magician, vanishes without a trace -- right after he misses a penalty kick and loses a big game for his team. Paul Faustino, South America's top sports reporter, is reluctant ly drawn into the mystery of the athlete's disappearance. As a st ory of corruption and murder unfolds, Faustino is forced to confr ont the bitter history of slavery and the power of the occult. A deftly woven mystery flush with soccer and suspense, this grippin g novel is a thrilling read not to be missed. ., Candlewick Press, 2008, 2.5<
2008, ISBN: 9780763633998
Candlewick Press. Good. 5.50(w) x 8.06(h) x 1.03(d). Hardcover. 2008. 272 pages. Ex-library.<br>From the award-winning author of Tamar, a time-shifting thriller about a vanishing s… Mehr…
Candlewick Press. Good. 5.50(w) x 8.06(h) x 1.03(d). Hardcover. 2008. 272 pages. Ex-library.<br>From the award-winning author of Tamar, a time-shifting thriller about a vanishing soccer star, occult s ecrets, and the dark history of slavery. As the city of San Juan pulses to summer's sluggish beat, its teenage soccer prodigy, El Brujito, the Little Magician, vanishes without a trace -- right after he misses a penalty kick and loses a big game for his team. Paul Faustino, South America's top sports reporter, is reluctant ly drawn into the mystery of the athlete's disappearance. As a st ory of corruption and murder unfolds, Faustino is forced to confr ont the bitter history of slavery and the power of the occult. A deftly woven mystery flush with soccer and suspense, this grippin g novel is a thrilling read not to be missed. ., Candlewick Press, 2008, 2.5<
2007
ISBN: 9780763633998
Candlewick, Gebundene Ausgabe, Auflage: Us, 272 Seiten, Publiziert: 2007-08-14T00:00:01Z, Produktgruppe: Buch, 0.94 kg, Sport allgemein, Sport & Fitness, Kategorien, Bücher, Fußball, New … Mehr…
Candlewick, Gebundene Ausgabe, Auflage: Us, 272 Seiten, Publiziert: 2007-08-14T00:00:01Z, Produktgruppe: Buch, 0.94 kg, Sport allgemein, Sport & Fitness, Kategorien, Bücher, Fußball, New Adult, Liebesromane, Krimis & Thriller, Action & Abenteuer, Belletristik, Jugendbücher, Detektiv- & Kriminalgeschichten, Fantasy, Historisch, Sport & Freizeit, Fremdsprachige Bücher, Featured Categories, Englische Bücher, 7c9a6c79-19ea-4dea-90da-d7d47042d341_2301, 7c9a6c79-19ea-4dea-90da-d7d47042d341_0, Arborist Merchandising Root, Candlewick, 2007<
2007, ISBN: 9780763633998
Candlewick, Gebundene Ausgabe, Auflage: Us, 272 Seiten, Publiziert: 2007-08-14T00:00:01Z, Produktgruppe: Buch, 0.94 kg, Sport allgemein, Sport & Fitness, Kategorien, Bücher, Fußball, New … Mehr…
Candlewick, Gebundene Ausgabe, Auflage: Us, 272 Seiten, Publiziert: 2007-08-14T00:00:01Z, Produktgruppe: Buch, 0.94 kg, Sport allgemein, Sport & Fitness, Kategorien, Bücher, Fußball, New Adult, Liebesromane, Krimis & Thriller, Action & Abenteuer, Belletristik, Jugendbücher, Detektiv- & Kriminalgeschichten, Fantasy, Historisch, Sport & Freizeit, Fremdsprachige Bücher, Featured Categories, Englische Bücher, 7c9a6c79-19ea-4dea-90da-d7d47042d341_2301, 7c9a6c79-19ea-4dea-90da-d7d47042d341_0, Arborist Merchandising Root, Candlewick, 2007<
ISBN: 9780763633998
Candlewick. Hardcover. VERY GOOD. Light rubbing wear to cover, spine and page edges. Very minimal writing or notations in margins not affecting the text. Possible clean ex-library copy,… Mehr…
Candlewick. Hardcover. VERY GOOD. Light rubbing wear to cover, spine and page edges. Very minimal writing or notations in margins not affecting the text. Possible clean ex-library copy, with their stickers and or stamp(s)., Candlewick, 3<
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Detailangaben zum Buch - The Penalty
EAN (ISBN-13): 9780763633998
ISBN (ISBN-10): 0763633992
Gebundene Ausgabe
Taschenbuch
Erscheinungsjahr: 2007
Herausgeber: Candlewick
262 Seiten
Gewicht: 0,426 kg
Sprache: eng/Englisch
Buch in der Datenbank seit 2008-06-02T18:00:42+02:00 (Vienna)
Detailseite zuletzt geändert am 2023-12-12T22:16:50+01:00 (Vienna)
ISBN/EAN: 9780763633998
ISBN - alternative Schreibweisen:
0-7636-3399-2, 978-0-7636-3399-8
Alternative Schreibweisen und verwandte Suchbegriffe:
Autor des Buches: peet, mal
Titel des Buches: penalty, mal
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Neuestes ähnliches Buch:
9781406370577 The Penalty (Peet, Mal)
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