Common Sense Speculation

Cooper, Duff. Sergeant Shakespeare - a Speculation on the Hidden Years of the Poet's Life (Sargeant, Sargent). New York: The Viking Press, 1950.
B000F088VS, Text pristine, pages tight to spine - 96 pages. From the Times Literary Supplement: "Duff Cooper approaches the problem from the standpoint of a general reader...He does not rely on elaborate scholarship so much as common sense; and his thesis certainly strengthens the case for Shakespeare the Soldier. "
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Hardcover, Very Good.

[SW: Cooper, Duff Sergeant Shakespeare Speculation On The Hidden Years Of The Poet's Life Collectible,]

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Pressfield, Steven: LAST OF THE AMAZONS: A NOVEL, New York Doubleday 2002
ISBN: 0-385-50098-X As New Condition

With an epic scope and keen sense of detail, Steven Pressfield has created an entertaining and vital reimagining of the Amazon legend with his historical novel, Last of the Amazons. Combining myth with history, Pressfield offers a conjectural account of the legendary female warrior tribe as it may have existed in the years leading up to its extinction. Following the Athenian-Amazon war in the fifth century B.C., Amazon warrior Selene is taken captive and placed as an unlikely governess to the two daughters of a high-ranking Greek. The three form a lasting bond, and when Selene eventually escapes to return to Amazonia, eldest daughter Europa follows her. The Athenians, including King Theseus, assemble a group to find them, eventually traveling to Amazonia. Here, those involved relate the story of the Amazon war to the men, and the book's action really begins. Narrators tell of Theseus's earlier voyage to Amazonia, where his weakened crew was given shelter by the Amazons; the love affair between Theseus and Amazon queen Antiope; and the terrible consequences of the queen's defection and the Amazonian invasion of Athens that it inspired. Throughout, Pressfield instills Amazons with a grandiose sensibility, firmly modeling it after the Homeric epics of its time. Pressfield relishes in describing these events and their heroes with a divinely consequential spirit: Antiope advanced...Clearly no few of the foe took her for a goddess, with such splendor did her armor gleam and by such brilliance did her aspect exceed the common measure of humanity. The hour was still early, the west-facing slope deep in shadow, so that the Amazon, seen from the besiegers' lines, advanced from gloom into flares of blinding dazzle. Some clumsy dialogue and cliched interactions hamper the book's emotional resonance, but the level of intricacy and constant action on display here keep the pages moving along. Amazon is ultimately an impressive, fun read that renders history spectacular in its speculation. --Ross Doll From Publishers Weekly Writing about ancient Greece with rich historical detail, passion and drama, Pressfield has previously dramatized the battle of Thermopylae (Gates of Fire) and the Peloponnesian War (Tides of War). Here, he steps further back in time, to 1250 B.C., when the civilized Greek city-state of Athens confronts the barbaric empire of the Amazons in a titanic struggle for survival. The novel does not pack the emotional punch of Pressfield's other Greek fiction, but it still rings with the clamor and horror of close combat, sword on shield, battle-ax on helmet and javelins thudding into armor. The Amazon kingdom, peopled and ruled by a ferocious society of female warriors, occupies land near the Black Sea. The Amazon war queen, Antiope, leads an army of female warriors feared for their savage cruelty and hatred of the Greeks. When Theseus, the Greek king of Athens, journeys into Amazon territory, he and Antiope spar verbally, but fall in love, creating a dilemma for both. Antiope forswears her allegiance to the Amazon life and flees with Theseus back to Athens to become his wife. Antiope's successor, her Amazon lover, Eleuthera, vows to wipe out Athens to erase the shame and treachery of Antiope and Theseus's marriage <P> She leads a mighty invasion of Greece, culminating in a long siege and a climactic battle before Athens's great walls. Amid the carnage, gore and violence, Pressfield presents a love story so grand it pits nations against one another. Pressfield's javelin is his pen and he wields it well in this gruesome tale of ancient blood lust in an age when there is no word for mercy. Hardcover 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches

[SW: pressfield, historical fiction, Myth, Africa, Amazons, Warrior]

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Dwyer, Kelly: The Tracks of Angels, Putnam Pub Group
ISBN: 0-399-13882-X as new, as new dj

From Publishers Weekly Though she demonstrates a promising talent, Dwyer's sensitive fiction debut is burdened with blatant literary devices. Her prose is admirably controlled and her grasp of character is insightful, but ultimately she constructs the kind of plot common to first novels: heavy with suppressed emotion and resonating with a guilt that seems overly dramatic when its source is revealed. Waiflike 18-year-old narrator Laura Neuman comes to Boston because it is far away from her hometown of Redondo Beach, Calif. Laura's mother was diagnosed with cancer when Laura was 10 and died two years later; her father's death was more recent and its circumstances are the subject of portentous asides. Laura's conflicted psyche stems from those tragedies but began earlier in her life, when she was pulled between her Jewish mother and maternal grandparents on one side and her Catholic father and her paternal, very devout grandmother on the other. A serious child given to theosophical speculation, Laura conjures up an imaginary angel who offers her wry advice and whose appearance changes for the worse ("stringy hair, streaked with gray . . . and dry, flaky skin") as Laura herself approaches emotional breakdown. She becomes a waitress in a Boston restaurant, makes some friends and finds a lover--who, predictably, betrays her. Laura's loneliness, grief and pessimism, her sense of bewilderment and loss of psychological equilibrium are well conveyed. However, her epiphany is achieved via an overly manipulated, unconvincing denouement. Literary Guild alternate. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal "We bury the dead by carrying them within us," says the newly orphaned 18-year-old Laura. Seeking emotional peace by running from her past, she travels from California to Boston; there she finds herself removed from friends and religion, alone in a scary world. Intelligent and sensitive, Laura is wracked with guilt and pain. After meeting a mysterious man, she begins to grow, relying for a time on her guardian angel for guidance. When she can face her loving memories, she finds sustenance and... read more Book Description Laura Newman flees her home in California, hoping to leave behind the sadness of her childhood. But as she tries to make a new start in Boston, Laura is haunted by painful memories. As she searches for her own personal and spiritual identity, she imagines into life an angel--world weary, with frayed wings and no easy answers--who helps to show her the way. --This text refers to the Paperback edition. Hardcover 8.50 x 1.00 x 6.00

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The Beardstown Ladies' Investment Club with Leslie Whitaker: The Beardstown Ladies' Common-Sense Investment Guide: How We Beat The Stock Market and How You Can Too, New York, New York, U.S.A. Hyperion / A Seth Godin Production 1994
ISBN: 0786881208 Very Good

Tight/Bright copy, light edgewear. The Beardstown Ladies' Investment Club now reveals exactly how they did it, and how you can too. Developing an Investment Plan, Doing Research, Balance Sheet Analysis, Organize and Start Your Own Investment Club, and more. 232 pages, illustrated in b&w... 1st Printing Trade Paperback 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall

[SW: Beardstown Ladies' Investment Club, INVESTING, ECONOMICS, SPECULATION, STOCKS, BONDS, COMMODITIES, BUSINESS, ECONOMICS,INVESTING,MANAGEMENT, INVESTING/FINANCIAL PLANNING,]

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