Product Description
Improving the performance of agricultural markets is a keystone of current agricultural development policy. A major thrust of this effort is to increase the returns to agricultural production by improving farmer's access to markets. Markets have been found to be an increasingly important source of the seeds of crops and varieties low income farmers need to improve their livelihoods, encompassing both the formal and informal seed sector. Markets also have major impacts on agricultural biodiversity, by affecting farmers' choice of crops and varieties to grow. They are not, however, a homogenous institution, although all too frequently policies and regulations are developed as though they were. Markets vary considerably depending on the participants, on the institutions that govern how and what they exchange, and on local agricultural, economic and social conditions.
Developing effective strategies to improve the way agricultural markets work, including how farmers use crop genetic resources, requires understanding of these variations.

Seed Trade in Rural Markets presents a unique set of case studies from Bolivia, India, Kenya, Mali and Mexico on agricultural seed and product markets that describe three important market characteristics expected to affect farmers' access to seeds and varieties: the range of varieties on offer, the information provided about them, and relative prices. The case studies, all based around a common framework to aid comparability, also provide information on social, agricultural and economic factors which may be affecting the market availability, information, and cost of crop genetic resources, and ultimately the capacity to stimulate agricultural development.

Co-published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A choice pick for any agricultural studies collection
A fascinating woman of her times, Mary Rich was born in Youghal, Ireland on November 11, 1624 the youngest among fifteen children. She was taught to read and write as became a woman of the aristocracy. Around 1663 she began to write a diary in which she recorded her observations and thoughts. She maintained her diary until a year before her death on April 12, 1678 at the age of 54. Annotated with extensive notations by Raymond A. Anselment, "The Occasional Meditations Of Mary Rich, Countess Of Warwick" is a seminal work of meticulous scholarship providing researchers and historians with a wealth of eye-witness information by an articulate observer of her surroundings, the people and events of her time. The primary motivation for Mary Rich to begin and keep her diary were her religious convictions. The benefit for current and future scholarship are cornucopia of little details of her life and times as embodied in her meditations. In addition to extensive historical notations, "The Occasional Meditations Of Mary Rich, Countess Of Warwick" has been enhanced with a comprehensive index making it an ideal and valued addition to academic library reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

... Read more

Product Description
This exceptional how-to book shows you the ins and outs of making fabulous hats for your antique and contemporary dolls including items for the popular 15-in fashion dolls such as Gene®, Tyler®, and Alex®. We all know that fashion is about the accessories and a hat can make or break an outfit. Designer Timothy Alberts shows step-by-step how you can make stunning hats to accompany your doll’s costumes, and includes four different hat patterns. In addition to the source guide, the authors also include an illustrated history of many different styles and how they are incorporated into today’s fashions. This elegant book will be a favorite for modern and antique collectors alike. 225 color photos. 128 pages · 8-1/2" x 11" ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Art of making miniature millinery
This book was decent, but I bought this book specifically for the hat of the boat on the cover.I was extremely disappointed that that hat was not in it.If I would have known that ahead of time, I would probably not have bought it.So the cover is a bit misleading.

The art of making extraordinary reading material
I loved this book! This is the latest in my collection books by Timothy Alberts.From beginning to end the author captivates you with attention to detail.Although this book does not delve deeply into the more intricate aspects of how to make the designs shown, most are not for the beginner anyway.The designs featured in this book are some of the finest that I have seen.I would recommend this book to anyone interested in millinery, and eagerly await future works.

Lack of Information
I was unhappy to see that this book did not contain explicit hat making instructions.The best example was chapter 5 on straw hats.In the instructions you are told to sew the straw braid together either by hand or machine but did not tell you if you should butt the straw braid together or over lap the braid.No help was given for hand sewing the braid either... what stitch to use?Nothing was mentioned about machine settings either.For example, if you use a straight stitch how long should the stitch be?If you use a machine zigzag stitch what is the best length and width. I was also surprised at the how to pictures in the book.I expected better close-ups.This was my first book about millinery so my expectations may be too high but I still feel the book left out a lot of very important information. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Timothy Peter Dalton (born 21 March 1946) is a Welsh born British actor. He is best known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989), as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett (1994), an original sequel to Gone with the Wind. In addition, he is known for his roles in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1970), Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1983) and Shakespearean films and plays such as Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Henry V, Love's Labour's Lost, Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2. Dalton was born in Colwyn Bay, Wales, to an American mother of Italian and Irish descent, and an English father, who was a captain in the Special Operations Executive during World War II and had become an advertising executive at the time of his son's birth. Before his fourth birthday, the family relocated to Belper, Derbyshire. While in Belper, he attended the Herbert Strutt Grammar School. As a teenager, he was a member of the Air Cadets; however, at age 16, saw Macbeth, thus sealing his fate. ... Read more

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Chapters: Elizabeth Taylor, Lillie Langtry, Timothy Dalton, Dorothea Jordan, Michael Gambon, Spranger Barry, Jude Law, Carey Mulligan, Billie Piper, Darryl Read, Dawn French, Ian Charleson, Mary Lawson, Connie Fisher, Richard E. Grant, Tony Hadley, Patricia Kirkwood, Sarah Siddons, Nigel Bruce, Saeed Jaffrey, Anna Carteret, Henry Kendall, Colleen Clifford, Jo Riley, Margaret Hughes, Fiona Spence, Antony Sher, Ruby Turner, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Tod Slaughter, Kate O'sullivan, Joe Tracini, Adjoa Andoh, May Fortescue, Sally Hawkins, Virginia Mckenna, Earl Cameron, Floella Benjamin, Jack Shepherd, Ben James-Ellis, Steven Mackintosh, Auriol Smith, William Farren, Finn Atkins, Andrew Faulds, Keith Jack, Joe Anderson, Robert Llewellyn, Jeremy Sheffield, Kate Burton, Oliver Tobias, Susan Penhaligon, Leon Cooke, Richard Lumsden, Charles Alexander Calvert, Andrew-Lee Potts, David Oakes, Thane Bettany, John Bluthal, Stratford Johns, Roy Dotrice, Roger Livesey, Joyce Carey, Nigel Green, Colin Clive, Gawn Grainger, Geraldine Somerville, Jan Graveson, Desmond Barrit, Julie Atherton, Nick Caldecott, Edmund Purdom, Jj Feild, Wendy Barrie, Godfrey Tearle, Mary Ann Duff, Trés Hanley, Elizabeth Younge, Ron Cook, John Gregson, Bernard Braden, Richard Franklin, Jane Baxter, Terence de Marney, Barry Quin, Chris Rankin, Ben Watton, Nigel Stock, Julia Glover, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Roland Culver, Dan Stevens, Walter Van Dyk, Claire Foy, Mary Morris, Claudie Blakley, Harry Stott, Josette Simon, George Harris, Frith Banbury, Daniel Percival, Danny Alder, Moyra Fraser, Constance Cummings, John Justin, Sylvestra le Touzel, Peter Polycarpou, Ishia Bennison, Wunmi Mosaku, Dulcie Gray, Adam Davy, Joanna David, James Floyd, Nancy Carroll, Natasha Wightman, Charles Kemble, Kathryn Hunter, Emma Hamilton, Omar Raza, Robert Adams, Jennifer Hilary, Joseph Mawle, Jeffrey Perry, Patrick Godfrey, Christopher Ryan, Frieda Inescort, Charles Keating, David Tristan Birkin, B...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=296256 ... Read more

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Chapters: Terry Gilliam, Timothy Dalton, Americans in the United Kingdom, Philippa Foot, Bonnie Greer, Thomas Fairfax, 13th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Todd Cauthorn, James Hargreaves, Joel Burns, Albert Fairfax, 12th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Nicholas Fairfax, 14th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Sterling Davis. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 65. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam (pronounced ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films including Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Fisher King (1991), and 12 Monkeys (1995). He is the only "Python" not born in Britain, but gained British citizenship in 1968. Gilliam was born in Medicine Lake, Minnesota, the son of Beatrice (née Vance) and James Hall Gilliam, who was a traveling salesman for Folgers before becoming a carpenter. Gilliam has two siblings: a sister two years younger, and a brother ten years younger. The family moved to Panorama City, California, in 1952 because of his sister's bout of pneumonia. Gilliam attended Birmingham High School where he was class president and senior prom King, was voted "Most Likely to Succeed", and achieved straight As. During high school, he discovered Mad magazine, which was then edited by Harvey Kurtzman; this later influenced his work. Following high school, he attended Occidental College, studying physics and fine arts before finally majoring in political science. Gilliam contributed to the college magazine, Fang, becoming the editor during his junior year and turning it into a tribute to Kurtzman, to whom he later sent copies. While in college, Gilliam was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. After finishing college, ...http://booksllc.net/?id=30410 ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Terry Jones, Timothy Dalton, Paula Yates, Mickey Thomas, Mike Walker, Mike Williams, Marc Williams, Carl Dale, Angela Hazeldine, Elfed Morris, Richard Ellis, Cyril Sidlow, Billy Morris, Ffred Ffransis, Reg Hunter. Excerpt:Angela Hazeldine Angela Lee Hazeldine (born 2 July 1981 in Colwyn Bay, North Wales ) is a British actress and musician , known for portraying Gemma Craig in the Five soap opera Family Affairs . Background The late actor James Hazeldine was a cousin of Hazeldine's father. She is the niece of Stephen Moore and a cousin of Robyn Moore and Sam Hazeldine. Career Acting Hazeldine played the role of Gemma Craig in Family Affairs for four years. She has also guest starred in episodes of Kavanagh QC , Heartbeat , The Royal Today and Doctors . She made her feature film debut in Kapital , a 2007 collaboration between writer/director Greg Hall and composer Steve Martland . She is also to appear in Hall's next film, Same Shit, Different Day . Music Hazeldine sings and plays keyboards in Manchester -based band The Circus Electric, with partner Sam Stockman on guitar and lead vocals. They started after the demise of Shepherd's Pi, a band which was formed whilst she was working on Family Affairs and included co-stars Stockman and Rupert Hill . Hazeldine was vocalist and bassist in the band which relocated to the North West in 2004, when Hill was cast as Jamie Baldwin in Coronation Street . Filmography Year: Title: Role: Notes References (URLs online) Websites (URLs online) A hyperlinked version of this chapter is at Personal information item Full name: William Morris item Date of birth: 30 July 1918 item Place of birth: Llanddulas , England item Date of death: 31 December 2002 (aged 84) item Playing position: Inside forward item Senior career* item Years: Team : tex... ... Read more

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Chapters: Timothy Dalton, Monica Edwards, Frank Swettenham, Adrian Brown, Tracy Shaw, William Strutt, Trevor Soar, Ross Davenport, Lee Barrow, Sir John Alleyne, 3rd Baronet, John Sims, Robert Clare, Andrew Jarrett, Samuel Booth, Ron Webster, John Mcdonald. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 66. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Timothy Peter Dalton (born 21 March 1946) is a Welsh actor. He is best known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989), as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett (1994), an original sequel to Gone with the Wind. In addition, he is known for his roles in Emily Brontës Wuthering Heights (1970), Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1983) and Shakespearean films and plays such as Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Henry V, Love's Labour's Lost, Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2. Dalton was born in Colwyn Bay, Wales, to an American mother of Italian and Irish descent, and an English father, who was a captain in the Special Operations Executive during World War II and had become an advertising executive at the time of his son's birth. Before his fourth birthday, the family relocated to Belper, Derbyshire. While in Belper, he attended the Herbert Strutt Grammar School. As a teenager, he was a member of the Air Cadets but at age 16 saw Macbeth and Dalton's life changed. He left school in 1964 to enroll in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and tour with the National Youth Theatre. Dalton did not complete his RADA studies, leaving the academy in 1966 to join the ensemble of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Dalton quickly moved to television, working mainly with BBC and, in 1968, made his film debut as Philip II of France in The Lion in Winter. This was the first of several period dramas, which included a remake of Wut...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=154081 ... Read more

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Chapters: People From Colwyn Bay, People From Llandudno, Terry Jones, Timothy Dalton, Paula Yates, Neville Southall, Neal Eardley, Andy Fenby, Chris Maxwell, Mickey Thomas, Mike Walker, Mike Williams, Fred Jones, Marc Williams, Carl Dale, Angela Hazeldine, Elfed Morris, Richard Ellis, Cyril Sidlow, Sylvia Sleigh, Billy Morris, Ormond Jones, Roger Roberts, Baron Roberts of Llandudno, Ben Johnson, Harry Jones, Alex Munro, Ffred Ffransis, Peter Clarke, Reg Hunter, Rhys Cadwaladr. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 106. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Timothy Peter Dalton (born 21 March 1946) is a Welsh actor. He is best known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989), as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett (1994), an original sequel to Gone with the Wind. In addition, he is known for his roles in Emily Brontës Wuthering Heights (1970), Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1983) and Shakespearean films and plays such as Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Henry V, Love's Labour's Lost, Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2. Dalton was born in Colwyn Bay, Wales, to an American mother of Italian and Irish descent, and an English father, who was a captain in the Special Operations Executive during World War II and had become an advertising executive at the time of his son's birth. Before his fourth birthday, the family relocated to Belper, Derbyshire. While in Belper, he attended the Herbert Strutt Grammar School. As a teenager, he was a member of the Air Cadets but at age 16 saw Macbeth and Dalton's life changed. He left school in 1964 to enroll in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and tour with the National Youth Theatre. Dalton did not complete his RADA studies, leaving the academy in 1966 to join the ensemble of the Birmingham Repertor...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=154081 ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (39)

Great audio-book, but you really must experience this trilogy in order!!!!
My neighbor, who is an avid mystery reader, recommended the Benjamin Black trilogy to me but also cautioned me to read (or listen) to them in order.I am doing just that.I just finished the audio-book of The Silver Swan and enjoyed it.The narrator has a wonderful set of accents that is used liberally and its almost like listening to a play set in Ireland of the 1950's.To me the descriptive settings of mid-century Ireland are a little darker and poorer than the Ireland we experience today when we visit.

I love the way John Banville writing as Benjamin Black portrays everyday people searching for love while living lives of"quiet desperation".In addition, Black's characters are revealed to be so human with their own set of bumps and warts.A great listen!

Silver Disappoinment
Benjamin Black's Silver Swan was a real disappointment in my eyes. The story line was close on being silly, disjointed and unbelievable.Following on from Christine Falls it really didnt work as a story line in my view....sorry lads but i forced myself to read it and got little or no enjoyment from it.

Quit the cigarettes
I agree with most of the positive comments made by other reviewers, and endorse the point that one would be lost without having read Christine Falls. My complaint about this one is some lazy writing. I suggest that editors do a word search to discover how many times Quirk and other characters light a cigarette. Yes, in that era almost everyone smoked, but repeating and repeating the activity makes the scene boring and after a while, laughable. I don't care if Quirk smokes, but I just don't want to read about it every few pages. It comes across as the most blatant sort of padding.
Black is a terrific writer in both of his genres, for the most part!

Just a mnor disagreement with other reviewers
The truth is that I enjoyed THE SILVER SWAN more than I did CHRISTINA FALLS.Yes, I was completely entranced with the earlier story and certainly advise all to read it before tackling this one.But I was even more hooked by this second book because of the neat way in which the current story is inspersed by the murder victim's story.In these first two books, Benjamin Black makes the victim the most important character and of course the title character as well.I haven't read ELEGY FOR APRIL yet, but I suspect the relationship between title and victim will continue.

The Silver Swan
You must read Christine Falls first. I love Benjamin Black. His characters are flawed, no heroes here. I ordered The Silver Swan as soon as it came out after reading the 1st one and am going to preorder the next one in line.If you love complex mysteries you'll like the Black series. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (45)

A Book I Couldn't Put Down
Though Quirke's first name is Garret, I don't think it was mentioned once in this story. If it was, I missed it, which is possible, because I started this book when I went to bed at 10:00 and read straight through till 3:00 in the morning. This wasn't a thriller and it wasn't all that much of a mystery as far as I was concerned. Yes, Quirke's daughter Phoebe's friend April is missing and she wants him to help find her.

And yes, Quirke takes up the quest and that for me, the quest, was the book. Quirke is such a wonderfully flawed and wonderfully drawn character that I couldn't and can't get enough of him.

Quirke is the chief pathologist in Dublin in the 1950s and as such one would think he had a bit of respect for the law, but if one thought that, one would be wrong. Quirke sort of lives by his own set of rules, which appear to be changing, depending on his mood.

He's an alcoholic who starts the book fresh out of rehab and he starts drinking pretty much straightaway. First to test whether he can have just one drink and call it quits, then because he wants to and from there it's not long till he's waking up without remembering where he went to sleep with a splitting hangover. And it's Quirke with the hangover that is the character I liked the best.

This is my first Benjamin Black book. In case you don't know and I think everyone does, Benjamin Black is the pen name of Irish novelist John Banville. His first two Ben Black books about Quirke are Christine Falls and The Silver Swan and these are two books I'll be ordering and reading and that is truly the mark of a good book, a book that sends you out after others by the same author.

John Banville's pen name delivers another sharp thriller!
Novelist John Banville has stepped into the persona of Benjamin Black yet again for another cutting edge Irish murder-mystery that is reminiscent of the gritty novels by American authors Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos.

Hard-drinking, pathologist Quirke is tasked with assisting with the disappearance of a top female doctor.Now stone-cold sober, Quirke uses all of his sources and characters from his sordid past to pry behind doors that normal investigators would be afraid to open.What Quirke uncovers is a labyrinth of evil intentions and an underlying of racial prejudice that seeks to thwart him at every turn.

Another dark drama from the 1950's period in Dublin, Ireland.

It's a mystery....
Mysteries can be fit on a spectrum.On one end are the "cozy" mysteries, most commonly associated with Agatha Christie, which feature little violence and may even have animals help solve the crimes.On the other end are the hard-boiled mysteries, gritty tales of violence and depravity, exemplified at the extreme by authors like James Ellroy.Superficially, Benjamin Black's Elegy for April seemed to fit more on the hard-boiled end, but really, it's a bit of a cozy mystery in disguise.

The main character in Elegy for April is Quirke, who despite his name, isn't all that quirky.He is a pathologist (though his skills will play little role in the story) and an alcoholic just out of rehab whose adult daughter Phoebe asks for help in finding her missing friend April.Quirke is always willing to help Phoebe and slowly, the two of them will solve the mystery.

Overall, this is a well-written story.For some reason, however, it took me a long time to place the time period as the 1950s.There are very few hints until a reference to April's father fighting in 1916.I suppose it would help to be Irish when reading this book, as it takes place in Dublin and a local may pick up things better.I call it a slightly cozy story because most of the violence takes place "off-stage" (plus these types of stories are more commonly associated with neighboring England).Decent enough, though by no means exceptional, I rate this one four stars.

Quirk is back.
John Banville aka Benjamin Black has spun another superb tale for us his fans.Quirk is back with more of his quirkiness. "Elergy For April" is,if anything Black's best novel yet.

If you enjoyed: [ASIN:0312426321 Christine Falls: A Novel]as much as I did and was somewhat disappointed by: "The Silver Swan" you will be overjoyed reading "Elergy for April".
Black brings Quirk's character further along. His alcoholism is behind him (or is it?)
Daughter Phoebe we learn is affected by more trauma than was perhaps first realized.

Without giving too much more away, Benjamin Black has elevated his writing to a new even more profound level in this his latest novel. His use of language , details in description, and deep characterization make for a delishously savory novel that I willwoeful to conclude. THIS IS QUIRK AT HIS CHARACTER BEST!

Dublin Dreary
The cold damp of Dublin has settled in my bones and I feel infused with the smoke of all the cigarettes lit in this rambling mystery.Can't quite get what the women in Black's narrative who fall for the drunken Quirke find interesting.This mystery seemed to go on endlessly, not unlike the literary novels of John Banville (aka Benjamin Black as we're informed on the cover).Does everyone in today's Dublin drink and smoke as much as these characters do?Give this one a skip. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (81)

Literary fiction wrapped around a mystery
Christine Falls' death would have passed mostly unnoticed by Quirke if he had not stumbled down from the nurse's going-away party and caught his brother-in-law, Malachy, at Quirke's desk, looking at the girl's autopsy report. Mal, a star in the world of obstetrics, some floors above in Holy Family Hospital, had no business rifling through files in the pathology lab. But Quirke, who registered all this through a drunken fog, was left to piece together the puzzle of Mal's behavior after he'd sobered up. Sobriety is not a regular state for Quirke, a likable man who sloshes through life nursing old losses--his wife's death, an apparently never consummated love for her sister, Mal's wife. Making the story of his family's politics more complicated, Quirke was all but adopted in his youth by Malachy's father, Judge Griffin, saved from the horrors--alluded to but never spelled out--of the orphanage for which the Judge served on the board of visitors. It can't have been easy for Malachy, whose father clearly preferred Quirke to his own son.

Somehow the Christine Falls business bothers Quirke enough to conduct a desultory investigation. It isn't much: he's no go-getter of a detective. But it's enough to attract the attention of people interested in her death, and it lands him in some trouble. At the end of the book, Quirke, as a result of his involvement, is a changed man. He is arguably a better man at the book's end, but in an interesting twist readers may like him less the more they learn about him. It's a tribute to the depth of Quirke's character that our feelings for him are so mixed. Some three quarters of the way into the book a nurse, referring to a third character, recently dead, asks Quirke, "Do you think Mr. Crawford was a bad man?" "He was a man, Brenda," Quirke said. "That's all. And now he's gone." Quirke, like Crawford, is neither all good nor all bad--though some men are better than others, and Quirke lands on the better side of the continuum.

Readers looking for the excitement and tidy endings of a traditional mystery should look elsewhere. Christine Falls is literary fiction that happens to be wrapped around a mystery, more about character than plot. If you go in with these expectations I don't think you'll be disappointed. I certainly will be interested in following Mr. Quirke's career in subsequent installments in the series.

-- Debra Hamel

I liked the character and the setting, but when the story moved to the US, I lost interest
Irish author John Banville's first outing as crime novelist Benjamin Black. I liked the character and the setting, but when the story moved to the US, I lost interest. It reminded me the melodramas of 1950s and, with the big exception of Grace Metalious's Peyton Place, it's a period that I find pretty uninteresting. But Banville is an excellent writer and his character, the Dublin pathologist Quirke, is sufficiently noirish that I'll keep reading this series.

Pure literature
I bought this novel as a mistery book but, o surprise!, it was more than that. All the blueprint can be reduced to a story about babies which are traded upon an international web of strong christian believers, priests and nuns. And a guy (the forensic Dr. Quirke) who try to unveil the case starting from a very unexpected coincidence: a corpse of a young lady (Christine Falls) with a twisted autopsy report. This is the beginning. From then on Dr. Quirke will begin to discover what is hidden in the other side of the coin. This is going to be slow, I mean, too slow for an avid average thriller reader but, on the other side, is going to be as slow as you need to enjoy a literary work. This unbalance is due to the classification of the novel as a mistery book that makes us expect something between M. Connelly and S. King which is (I think) the wrong case. Even though the novel was written with that purpose, John Banville (Benjamin Black) is a writer closer to Faulkner than to Hammett (I'm exaggerating just for the sake of the reader expectations) despite of the author's "effort" for being closer to the latter.
The last fifty pages or so are something for being remembered. There is a dialogue between Quirke and Rose Crawford near the end of the novel that is going to resound in the reader mind for years and it will get him to re-read in order to taste it once again.
The last lines when the mistery is solved are just the cherry of the cake, one that is an entire piece of literature, only pure literature.

Do you care more about the big things or the little things?
All the little things in this book are wonderful:the fully crafted and nuanced characters; the intense imagery within even the smallest vignette; the careful layering of mood and tone in the scenes.Those things make this very much a writer's book.Each paragraph makes itself well worth reading.Each one is enjoyable.

And the characters go on some deep inner journeys!They're not generally a happy lot, but that just makes it more interesting.They all learn some transformational things about what propels them.In fact, some of them learn that they've been 'running on fumes' for literally decades.

"Christine Falls" is very much the kind of book I would like to write!Or, perhaps it's better to say it's the kind of book I would like to think I could write.Simultaneously, however, and to my somewhat unpleasant surprise, it furnishes the exact reason (and example of) why I don't do it:I've always been afraid that I would create all these delicious characters, then fail to give them something sufficiently compelling to do.

That's what's happened here.They're all dressed up, with no place to go.The "Big Mystery" at the center is anticlimactic.All these intelligent, interesting people go about wrapping their lives around a core that just isn't worth all the fuss.Sure, I suppose, if you're one of those people who enjoys getting all worked up about fictional things the Catholic church does, then it might be right up your alley.

It's relatively easy to discern what's "hidden" at a fairly early stage.But you'll keep telling yourself, "Surely there must be something more dastardly than what I'm gathering!"You can let me know if you find it.And there are certainly some twists, but they tend to feel rather contrived.Twists for the sake of twists.Twists just to show you that you didn't have it 100.0% figured out a hundred pages ago.

Yes, yes ... we all sin.And, doggone it, this book is gonna show you that! And, yep, we all do it just about equally (just wait and see!).And, yep, we're all found out in the end.And, yep, we all suffer for it.So, yeah, if you enjoy wallowing in Irish intra-family misery and Catholic guilt, jump in and have a party!

Me?I would have preferred giving these excellent characters something better to do with themselves.

Very literary and very good
I'm totally unfamiliar with John Banville's work, but this first novel under his Benjamin Black psuedonym is definitely a winner. The plot is slow in development for a crime novel, but the characters keep one engrossed, and the twists do come as unexpected surprises as the relationships are explored.There is more than just a hint of Graham Greene here, and there certainly is the feel of Greek tragedy. Yet, it's very accessible and definitely readable as literature and as mystery. ... Read more

Product Description
The quintessential book on making shoes for your favoritedoll!An exquisite book about shoes - and how to make miniature footware for your dolls - from antique fashions to Gene and Barbie dolls.Designer Timothy Alberts gives step by step directions for makinghigh-heeled shoes the proper way and includes patterns.The authorsalso include an illustrated history of shoes - showing which styleswere popular through the ages.Learn how to make a shopping bag andshoe box too!Every doll lover, shoe lover and collector alike willwant a copy of this elegant and informative book.Includes 4 patternsand 67 line drawings.154 color photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Stunning Eye Candy, Not For Novice Shoemakers
If you're buying this thinking you'll be making shoes in no time, put it back on the cyber shelf and pick up something more basic.This is inspirational, but not necessarily educational if you're just learning to make shoes from beginning to end.

There are some rudimentary sketches and somewhat sloppy-looking photographs of shoes in progress to follow along for making your own shoes, along with some advanced directions for making lasts (assuming you have access to the materials needed), but if you're just beginning to make doll shoes, you might be a little bewildered without some pattern guidance, at least for your initial pair or two.Lasts are not easy to make either, and today, for the beginning shoemaker, there are some inexpensive alternative blanks that can be purchased through doll supply stores that can be embellished (and that's where books like this can be invaluable to even the novice).They generally come in vinyl form, in the size of the doll of your choice, can be trimmed to the size you want and then covered with the fabric you choose, all for less than a few dollars a pair usually.Tonner, Madame Alexander and some of the ball-jointed dolls are all covered the last time I looked.

Where this book does succeed is in providing gorgeous photos of period shoes with lots of ideas for embellishments.I love to haunt the ribbons and trim sections of fabric and art stores looking for odds and ends and this is a terrific place to put all those bits and pieces to good use.This book with a little imagination and either some prefab lasts or if you've got the skill, your own lasts and uppers, and you'll have endless hours of shoemaking ahead of you.

Just don't look to make any money selling these, this is an expensive habit!

Never Judge A Book By It's Cover
This book is pretty on the inside and outside. Lots of colored photos. Plenty of photos of the shoes they have made and who they were made for. But no patterns to go with any of them except two. Very involved detailedprocess for making the solid shape to build your shoes upon. Briefexplanations of various shoes over the centuries is nice, but don't expectto be able to design a shoe from many of the line drawings of shoes. Thedrawings are crude with no variations for each time period. They are not incolor and mention no fabrics or popular colors for the time period.Niceglossary of tools used, shoe parts and techniques. There are 8 sourceswhere you can purchased parts, etc. And last but not least there is a nicefull page plug for the new upcoming book.I gave a three because the bookis pretty, photos done nicely and process explanations were clear.

Great Book--More Shoe Photos, Please
I really loved this book.I have no experience in creating clothing for my 15½" Franklin Mint fashion dolls & the shoes that came with the dolls are a major disappointment.I hope to be able to rectify that soonwith my husband's help in creating lasts & molds.

I gave the book 4stars because, although the creation & design processes are detailedvery thoroughly, there is a dearth of good photos of finished shoes.Manyof the shoes that are shown tend to be somewhat hidden under the hem of adoll's outfit, the folds of artistically draped fabric, or the lid of acolorful candy box.

As suggestions for a second edition:If I couldre-edit this book, I would add more finished shoes, add patterns for otherpopular fashion dolls (such as Franklin Mint vinyls,) & change thetypeface font to something less fussy, with full margin justification.

Superb book with easy to follow instructions
I make and design clothes for the Madame Alexander doll Cissy and have always been frustrated with the scarcity/lack of selection/high price of shoes that I can buy for this doll.So, when I saw this book advertised inone of the many doll magazines I browse monthly, I knew I had to have it. The instructions are fairly easy to follow though sometimes the photographsshowing the various steps are not located on the page facing the writteninstruction (the sole reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5).Theinstructions for making a permanent last were very helpful.This bookcontains patterns for lasts & shoes for Cissy and Gene in particular,but the instructions and methods in this book could be applied to manydolls though I wouldn't recommend it for people wanting to make anythingfor Barbie.There are also instructions for making molds for heels (if youhave a high-heeled doll like Cissy or Gene).Following these instructions,I successfully made my first pair of shoes, and, because I made themmyself, I was able to customize them to the outfit I had made.A greatbook for making shoes for dolls for whom you cannot cheaply and easily buydecent shoes. ... Read more