Geisha by Liza Dalby

In the mid-1970s, an American graduate student in anthropology joined the ranks of white-powdered geisha in Kyoto, Japan. Liza Dalby took the name Ichigiku and apprenticed in the famed Pontocho district, trailing behind “older sisters” bemused by this long-legged Westerner intent on learning their arts and customs. Some time ago I wrote about [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

Seven Years in Tibet

I found “Seven Years in Tibet,” by Heinrich Harrer, a dozen years ago. I knew little about Tibet at the time, and the title piqued my interest. I read it- and I was hooked. This book so intrigued me that I began reading everything I could find on Tibet, which wasn’t an easy task a dozen years ago.

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

Francis Scott Fitzgerald

Writers aren’t exactly people, they’re a whole lot of people trying to be one person.- F. Scott Fitzgerald
The outstanding dominations on F. Scott Fitzgerald were ambition, literature, Princeton, Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, and alcohol.
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sept. 24, 1896.
During 1911-1913 he attended the Newman School, a Catholic prep [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

Famous Birthday Today: Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh , March 30, 1853 Zundert, Neth.- July 29, 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, France, generally considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt. With Cezanne and Gauguin the greatest of Post-Impressionist artists. He powerfully influenced the current of Expressionism in modern art. His work, all of it produced during a period of only 10 years, [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

Through the Lens: National Geographic Greatest Photographs

Amazing Gift Book!
National Geographic’s most expansive and sumptuous photography book ever — a celebration of more than a century of collecting and publishing photographs, with remarkable images from around the world. For more than 100 years, National Geographic has set the standard for nature, culture, and wildlife photography. Now, in Through the Lens, 250 spectacular [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

The Love of the Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Hollywood is ugly, dangerous – and completely magical. No one captured this better than F. Scott Fitzgerald.
“He wrote two very good books,” Hemingway said about F.Scott Fitzgerald in his own memoir A Moveable Feast, “and one which was not completed which those who know his writing best say would have been very good.”
Fitzgerald passed away [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

What a Wonderfull World!

How many times in your life have you spent days or even months worrying about something that never happened? We tangle our minds in a web of “What Ifs”. “What might she think” or “What might he do”. This is the trap of placing expectations on the future.
The future is yet unwritten. For us to [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

F.Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald

“I used to wonder why they kept princesses in towers,” the romantic and possessive young officer F Scott Fitzgerald wrote to the Alabama belle Zelda Sayre. Zelda was charmed at first, but quickly noticed that he seemed obsessed with the image. “Scott, you’ve been so sweet about writing,” she replied, “but I get so damned [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald was aiming to show the American dream, with all of its grandness and all of its faults, through the life of Nick and Gatsby.  After all the extravagant parties, Nick explains how“an extra gardener toiled all day…repairing the ravages of the night before.”  Nick also points out that “five crates of oranges and lemons [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

Keeping Faith By Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult’s fans will gladly received  novel, which explores family dynamics and the intricacies of motherhood, and concludes, as did The Pact, with tense courtroom drama. In the small town of New Canaan, N.H., 33-year-old Mariah discovers that her husband, Colin, is having an affair. Years ago, his cheating drove Mariah to attempt suicide and [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

Dangerous and Beautiful Women- Patricia Highsmith

Greatest Crime Authors
Patricia Highsmith, author of famous Talented Mr.Ripley, was hard drinker, lesbian, defied social taboos in the 1950’s by flaunting her affair with another woman, her own life was full of dark secrets.
“… She was more beautiful than most other female socialites at the London party, and her handbag was larger. When she opened [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

Geisha: The Life, the Voices by Jodi Cobb

Amazing Gift Book!
“Geisha: The Life, the Voices” is an icon of Japanese culture and custom- the geisha in her role as human work of art and perfect woman.
A hundred years ago geisha numbered eighty thousand; today there is a thousand at most. Luckily, Jodi Cobb can show us- before they disappear- both the ceremonial world [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

The Pact:A Love Story by Jodi Picoult

For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty. Parents and children alike are best friends – so it’s no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily’s friendship blossoms into something more. They’ve been soul mates [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

Picoult, Jodi

She was born and raised —happily—on Long Island… something that she believed at first was a detriment to a girl who wanted to be a writer. “I had such an uneventful childhood that when I was taking writing classes at college, I called home and asked my mother if maybe there might have been a [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrota

Tom Perrotta is best known for depiction middle-class life and consuetudes, mainly on the strength of two films made from his books – the  Little Children and the Election. The Abstinence Teacher comes billed as another “scathing” satire, this time about the result of the religious right in American education.
The Abstinence Teacher is not a [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009