Photoshop Most Wanted 2: More Effects and Design Tips

Book Description

After the success of the first Photoshop Most Wanted book, Colin and Al were deluged with feedback from readers wanting more: this new book is the result. Jam-packed with great effects and design tips to achieve these in Adobe Photoshop, this book teaches how to create a whole range of textures, use Masks, Gradients, and Filters, and also uncovers some of the most sophisticated effects possible in Photoshop including realistic 3D objects.

This book assumes a competent skill level in Photoshop. It is aimed at intermediate Photoshop users who aspire to pro status, and also for professional users working with Photoshop every day who are looking for fresh inspiration and insider tips.

Customer Reviews:

An Unsatisfactory Mess.......2004-05-31

A $49.99 incomplete book. The files for this book are somewhere, just not on the CD. So, you must WASTE time trying to find a replacement.
The instructions for the tutorials render a poor version compared to the book's outcome, regardless of how closely you follow instructions. Again, one must WASTE time trying to figure out what you have already paid for.

To conclude, if you have time to WASTE, buy this book. Otherwise, you can get more detailed information/results by internet tutorials & save $49.99.

This book is a real eye opener for me!.......2004-02-29

I started to work with photoshop 6 months ago and felt really stupid because i didn't know how to use photoshop at all. But then i came across this book 'photoshop most wanted 2', it showed me the way how to use photoshop like the pro's do and believe me, this book is also a breathtaker especially 'design project 1' WOW!

Colin and Al, thank you for showing me the way!

P.S. The pictures in the book are sometimes very small to read other than that i did get the results not always how they appear in the book but hey... i am just starting!

Disappointing.......2004-02-06

Whilst the book looks great, it's obvious the writer was not in communication with the person who put together the accompanying CD. The files referred to in the book are not in the location described, nor do they have the filename described.
Also, don't expect to get the results shown, even when following the instructions precisely.
For $50 I expect better attention to detail.

Average customer rating:

The Complete Dictionary of Real Estate Terms Explained Simply

Essential reference book for every real estate investor

A perfect pick for both specialty college-level courses in real estate and the general-interest library.

Don't even think off buying real estate without this book

Superb Reference Source for Real Estate

The Complete Dictionary of Real Estate Terms Explained Simply: What Smart Investors Need to Know
Jeff Haden
Manufacturer: Atlantic Publishing Company (FL)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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Investments | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Introduction | Investing | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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Dictionary of Real Estate Terms, Sixth Edition (Barron's Business Dictionaries) (Barron's Business Dictionaries)

The Real Estate Investor's Handbook: The Complete Guide for the Individual Investor

Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms

Investing in Duplexes, Triplexes, and Quads: The Fastest and Safest Way to Real Estate Wealth

Real Estate License Exams For Dummies

ASIN: 0910627010
Release Date: 2007-01-08

Product Description

Real estate words and real estate terms can be very confusing. Both experienced real estate investors and consumers will love this A-to-Z guide packed with more than 2,400 complicated terms easily defined. No categories are overlooked. Find all the answers you'll ever need to a universe of real estate terms on thousands of subjects, such as: abstract of title, wraparound debt, caveat emptor, escheat, metes and bounds, pipestem lot, recital, testator, devisee, and 2,400 more. This new book is designed to assist real estate agents, consumers, and investors. This new handy guide will simplify these complicated and confusing terms for quick and easy understanding. You will not find lengthy and difficult words in the description, just short and easy to understand answers.

Customer Reviews:

The Complete Dictionary of Real Estate Terms Explained Simply .......2007-03-20

Jeff Haden, a little known name in the real estate world may just become very well known with this very complete dictionary of real estate terminology. Coming from the legal profession, I believe that any real estate or title attorney needs to have this book in their reference library. We might be calling the checking of real estate terms as "Hadenizing." Check this out! Where else can you find real estate terminology that explains how the terms came into existence, how they pertain to you in the ever active marketplace, and instruct you how you can improve your real estate business. Sometimes, I go back to my old Army days. When I was in Basic Training we were given a book that was referred to by the Drill Sergeants as the Smart Book. It contained all the rules we were to know by the end of the training course. Literally, all the rules, definitions, and it came with quick references to allow you to pinpoint what the Drill was trying to scream at you to learn. That was a lot of stress for a young guy in training... and there is just as much stress when you have thousands of dollars involved and it is up to your expertise to get the job done. Well that's just where this book fits in, a rule book that gives you what you need to know in a business that seems to be turning different directions with every wind blow. I'm not trying to say that you can't go it on your way without this book, but why try learning what has already been learned... just move on and use a book like this to help you become the best darn real estate agent in the business. And one thing I do know is that you can't know everything. A good reference is what all the successful professionals use and here it is! This book is thorough and very complete. Real estate agents, both with prior experience or newly licensed, need to keep this as a reference as well. Don't get me wrong; this book isn't just for the experts!! It's built for the laymen just getting into property investment and novice house flippers. Good work Jeff! Keep on "Hadenizing" the real estate terms.

Essential reference book for every real estate investor.......2007-03-13

Haden's dictionary is just that: a dictionary. This book is not a "how to" manual that you typically see in the real estate investor section at your local bookstore; instead, this book is the reference that should accompany every other book you've bought. It is arranged like a standard dictionary, with terms in alphabetical order and cross-referenced where appropriate. There is no index, but finding the term you need is simple since they are arranged so logically.

Each definition is explained in simple, everyday English. Unlike many specialized dictionaries I've seen, these explanations do not require you to look up five more words in order to understand them. Everything you need is contained in that entry, right where you need it. Also, if a term usually has an acronym associated with it, that acronym is also provided.

"The Complete Dictionary of Real Estate Terms" explains almost all of the terms you would need, from the relatively simple terms like "open house" and "commission" to the more complex subjects including dispossess proceedings, gift causa mortis, and short-term capital gain. I recommend buying a copy of this book and keeping it with you wherever you do business (your desk, your car, your office, etc.) so that you will not let the lingo slow down your profits.

A perfect pick for both specialty college-level courses in real estate and the general-interest library........2007-03-05

Real estate terms can be quite confusion and while other references weave definitions into the mix, for a fine A-Z coverage with simpler explanations than most, choose The Complete Dictionary of Real Estate Terms Explained Simply. Subjects range from debts, escheat, recital, devisee and more specialty terms but definitions are geared to consumers, investors and others both within and outside the industry, making it a perfect pick for both specialty college-level courses in real estate and the general-interest library.

Don't even think off buying real estate without this book.......2007-01-30

"The Complete Dictionary of Real Estate Terms Explained Simply" gives the reader everything the title promises. It is packed with 2,400 words or phrases used in the world of real estate. Each entry is explained in terminology that is easy for anyone to understand. It would be a good idea to have this book before speaking to a real estate agent. You will be able to refer to the dictionary to understand what the real estate agent is telling you, while giving the appearance of having past real estate experience. This book definitely will give you the edge when dealing with real estate transactions.

I would recommend this comprehensive reference resource for both seasoned real estate investors and anyone considering entering into a real estate transaction.

Superb Reference Source for Real Estate.......2007-01-27

With real estate having become such a popular investment choice--either for one's primary residence, second home, or rental property--it is crucial to have a definitive, reliable source of industry information. This dictionary definitely delivers what its title promises: a complete explanation, in understandable language, of real estate terms.

As a result, interested readers can cut through the labyrinth of terms. The book's easy-to-use, comprehensive list of terms includes 2,400 definitions. Every term from the simple, such as "abstract of title," to the difficult, such as "pipestem lot," is defined. Jeff Haden has certainly taken out the guesswork of the real estate world.

For anyone investing in real estate or simply buying or selling their home, this is an invaluable guide.

The Complete Investment and Finance Dictionary

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The Complete Investment & Finance Dictionary
The Complete Investment and Finance Dictionary
Author's Answer to Review
The Complete Investment and Finance Dictionary
The Complete Investment and Finance Dictionary

The Complete Investment and Finance Dictionary
Howard Bryan Bonham
Manufacturer: Adams Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1580623727

Book Description

Addline--"Over 5,000 Definitions"

Customer Reviews:

The Complete Investment & Finance Dictionary.......2002-10-15

A little over a year ago we bought our first house. We also began a serious look at our investment portfolio. One of the tools that we have found invaluable in our financial education has been The Complete Investment & Finance Dictionary by Howard Bryan Bonham, CFA.

This easy-to-use dictionary proved to be a great resource as we examined several possibilities for our 401(K) plans, invested in real estate, and considered market risks. This impressive dictionary cuts to the chase, and we found the cross-references particularly helpful. We also appreciated Mr. Bonham's humor as he speaks to the novice and experienced investor (i.e. consider a potential investment in Sour Grapes Vineyard).

No longer is the Business section of the daily paper a hassle or challenge to read with this handy resource by our side. We highly recommend Mr. Bonham's insightful dictionary to all students of investment and finance, in offices, a classrooms or homes. We continue to purchase copies as gifts for friends, family and associates.

The Complete Investment and Finance Dictionary.......2002-10-11

At last, a wonderfully user-friendly resource for gaining an understanding of investments and the financial market. Many folks consider the language of Wall Street to be intimidating jargon. This book, step by step, clearly explains concepts and phrases found within the financial world. Due to the author's discerning manner of writing, the reader is able to follow along without difficulty. Here is a book I am both proud to own, and lucky to have come across. It sits within easy access.

Author's Answer to Review.......2002-09-13

This is a response to Karin B. Bonding's review of September 2, in which she criticizes certain aspects of "The Complete Investment and Finance Dictionary." While I appreciate her taking the time to review the book, her review could have been more useful had it not misquoted the text; and also recognized any attributes of the book. But, perhaps I dream on that score. Readers should find it useful to read the review by Booknews.com and "Financial Analysts Journal".

* As to the omission of certain topics she mentioned, they are statistical concepts, more applicable to sophisticated capital market theory. However, some of those she noted do appear in other topics in the dictionary.

* The dictionary does not say, as she suggests, "beta value [is] the percentage return ..."
It does say, "In the statistical analysis of stock prices, (the Beta is) the percentage return experienced by a stock during a period attributable to general stock market activity." That means that a regression analysis estimates that the S&P 500 Index influenced the return of the stock by an amount that is represented by the Beta coefficient.

* The dictionary does not say, as she suggests, that the Beta moves between zero and one.
It does say, "The closer to "one" the value is, the more it moves with the stock market. Conversely, the closer to "zero" the value is, the less it moves with the stock market."

The Complete Investment and Finance Dictionary.......2002-09-03

At first I was so excited about a new and updated Investment & Finance Dictionary that I bought two of them and gave one as a gift to the library in China where I sometimes teach. How I quickly came to regret it. This is the worst investment & finance dictionary that I have seen. For example, how can you not have words like "correlation" , "R-squared" or "covariance" in a dictionary about investments? How can you say that "beta value [is] the percentage return ..." and then in the next sentence say that it moves between zero and one. Last I looked, stocks have returned several percentages from zero to hundreds or even thousands of %, or for that matter dropped 90-95% or even 100% in last few years. The definition is simply wrong. The Barron's Dictionary and the Gastineau/ Kritzman Dictionary are much better and more accurate if you are looking for investment and finance terms.

The Complete Investment and Finance Dictionary.......2001-11-02

Finally someone answers the call for us little people who would like to know about investing and finances. For the first time we have a book that will tell us what is a mid-cap and a large-cap and what is the difference. Most people think they know what it means, but to they really? Probably not. Of course no one would dare be the first to say, "I don't know what that means. After all I am a college grad and I should know these things." Well now we have a book that will answer our questions with out any guilt.
Someone has taken the long road and put into simple terms all those questions that we were to afraid of asking. In this book you can find any term that is used on Squak Box, Market Watch, Power Lunch, and Market Wrap on CNBC. Plus for the first time you might even know what they are squaking about.
I found my self taking it on trips so I could read and look up words or terms I did not know. It gives you power to be able to make sound decisions with your investments. Now when we meet with our financial planner I don't sit there and wonder what in the world is going on. I can take part and set clear financial goals.
After all if you are going to be in the game you must know who is a bat and what is the score. This little book is a grand slam with the bases loaded in the bottom of the nineth. Don't leave home without it.

The Complete Words of Wall Street: The Professional's Guide to Investment Literacy

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The Complete Words of Wall Street: The Professional's Guide to Investment Literacy
Allan H. Pessin , and Joseph A. Ross
Manufacturer: Irwin Professional Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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The Complete Dictionary of Real Estate Terms Explained Simply: What Smart Investors Need to Know (SPANISH)

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The Complete Dictionary of Real Estate Terms Explained Simply: What Smart Investors Need to Know (SPANISH)
Jeff Haden
Manufacturer: Atlantic Publishing Company (FL)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Contract Law: Selected Source Materials: 1999
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Contract Law: Selected Source Materials: 1999
Melvin A. Eisenberg
Manufacturer: West Group Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Supplements contracts casebooks with a broad collection of materials, including the UCC, the Restatement of Contracts, and electronic contracting acts.

Farm records and accounts
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J. Norman Efferson
Manufacturer: J. Wiley
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Records and Accounts for Farm Management: Bulletin No. 176
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A.G Jeffrey
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The account books of Thomas Smith, Ireley Farm, Hailes, Gloucestershire, 1865-71 (Publications of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Records Section)
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The account books of Thomas Smith, Ireley Farm, Hailes, Gloucestershire, 1865-71 (Publications of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Records Section)
Thomas Smith
Manufacturer: Record Section of Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society
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Account books, 1906 and 1910
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Account books, 1906 and 1910
S. B David
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An Act to Amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to Improve the Administration of Claims and Obligations of the Farmers Home Administration, ... for Other Purposes (SuDoc AE 2.110:103-248)
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An Act to Amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to Improve the Administration of Claims and Obligations of the Farmers Home Administration, ... for Other Purposes (SuDoc AE 2.110:103-248)
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
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Bulletin / University of Illinois
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Bulletin / University of Illinois
P. E Johnston
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station
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Farm accounts ... detailed records of an irrigated farm for the year 1926
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Farm accounts ... detailed records of an irrigated farm for the year 1926
R. T Burdick
Manufacturer: Colorado agricultural college
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Farm Accounts and Records
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Farm Accounts and Records

Manufacturer: W D Hoard & Sons Co
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Farm accounts and records for management purposes: An outline of the budgeting, recording and analysis techniques used at the Kells Ingram Farm 1960-63
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Farm accounts and records for management purposes: An outline of the budgeting, recording and analysis techniques used at the Kells Ingram Farm 1960-63
Saive Coffey
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Farm records and accounts (Bulletin / Texas Agricultural Experiment Station)
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Farm records and accounts (Bulletin / Texas Agricultural Experiment Station)
H. M Eliot
Manufacturer: Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
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General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

Presented in this dictionary is a concentrated listing of all main terms from various biological fields. It combines terms from both fundamental and applied biology, i.e. from commercial fields dealing with biological processes or biological products. All branches of theoretical biology, methods, and laboratory techniques are covered. The following applied fields are represented: medicine, veterinary science, agriculture, forestry, hunting, fish culture, biotechnology, food industry, nature conservation, and environmental assessment. Special attention is paid to two-word terms with personal names, which make a special difficulty in translation. Scientists, translators, and specialists dealing with applied fields will find this dictionary invaluable.

Book Description

This two-volume book serves as a thorough introduction to the field of high-energy particle accelerator physics and beam dynamics. Volume 1 provides a general understanding of the field and a firm basis for the study of the more elaborate topic, mainly nonlinear and higher-order beam dynamics, which is the subject of Volume 2.

White Teeth: A Novel
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I'd Rather Have a Root Canal

Yes, Zadie Smith IS that good!

Simply Superb

Great

90% Brilliant...

White Teeth: A Novel
Zadie Smith
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Zadie Smith's White Teeth: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries)

ASIN: 0375703861
Release Date: 2001-06-12

Amazon.com

Epic in scale and intimate in approach, White Teeth is a formidably ambitious debut. First novelist Zadie Smith takes on race, sex, class, history, and the minefield of gender politics, and such is her wit and inventiveness that these weighty subjects seem effortlessly light. She also has an impressive geographical range, guiding the reader from Jamaica to Turkey to Bangladesh and back again.

Still, the book's home base is a scrubby North London borough, where we encounter Smith's unlikely heroes: prevaricating Archie Jones and intemperate Samad Iqbal, who served together in the so-called Buggered Battalion during World War II. In the ensuing decades, both have gone forth and multiplied: Archie marries beautiful, bucktoothed Clara--who's on the run from her Jehovah's Witness mother--and fathers a daughter. Samad marries stroppy Alsana, who gives birth to twin sons. Here is multiculturalism in its most elemental form: "Children with first and last names on a direct collision course. Names that secrete within them mass exodus, cramped boats and planes, cold arrivals, medical checks."

Big questions demand boldly drawn characters. Zadie Smith's aren't heroic, just real: warm, funny, misguided, and entirely familiar. Reading their conversations is like eavesdropping. Even a simple exchange between Alsana and Clara about their pregnancies has a comical ring of truth: "A woman has to have the private things--a husband needn't be involved in body business, in a lady's... parts." And the men, of course, have their own involvement in bodily functions:

The deal was this: on January 1, 1980, like a New Year dieter who gives up cheese on the condition that he can have chocolate, Samad gave up masturbation so that he might drink. It was a deal, a business proposition, that he had made with God: Samad being the party of the first part, God being the sleeping partner. And since that day Samad had enjoyed relative spiritual peace and many a frothy Guinness with Archibald Jones; he had even developed the habit of taking his last gulp looking up at the sky like a Christian, thinking: I'm basically a good man.

Not all of White Teeth is so amusingly carnal. The mixed blessings of assimilation, for example, are an ongoing torture for Samad as he watches his sons grow up. "They have both lost their way," he grumbles. "Strayed so far from what I had intended for them. No doubt they will both marry white women called Sheila and put me in an early grave." These classic immigrant fears--of dilution and disappearance--are no laughing matter. But in the end, they're exactly what gives White Teeth its lasting power and undeniable bite. --Eithne Farry

Book Description

Zadie Smith’s dazzling debut caught critics grasping for comparisons and deciding on everyone from Charles Dickens to Salman Rushdie to John Irving and Martin Amis. But the truth is that Zadie Smith’s voice is remarkably, fluently, and altogether wonderfully her own.

At the center of this invigorating novel are two unlikely friends, Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal. Hapless veterans of World War II, Archie and Samad and their families become agents of England’s irrevocable transformation. A second marriage to Clara Bowden, a beautiful, albeit tooth-challenged, Jamaican half his age, quite literally gives Archie a second lease on life, and produces Irie, a knowing child whose personality doesn’t quite match her name (Jamaican for “no problem”). Samad’s late-in-life arranged marriage (he had to wait for his bride to be born), produces twin sons whose separate paths confound Iqbal’s every effort to direct them, and a renewed, if selective, submission to his Islamic faith. Set against London’s racial and cultural tapestry, venturing across the former empire and into the past as it barrels toward the future, White Teeth revels in the ecstatic hodgepodge of modern life, flirting with disaster, confounding expectations, and embracing the comedy of daily existence.

Download Description

Zadie Smith's dazzling debut caught critics grasping for comparisons and deciding on everyone from Charles Dickens to Salman Rushdie to John Irving and Martin Amis. But the truth is that Zadie Smith's voice is remarkably, fluently, and altogether wonderfully her own.

At the center of this invigorating novel are two unlikely friends, Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal. Hapless veterans of World War II, Archie and Samad and their families become agents of England's irrevocable transformation. A second marriage to Clara Bowden, a beautiful, albeit tooth-challenged, Jamaican half his age, quite literally gives Archie a second lease on life, and produces Irie, a knowing child whose personality doesn't quite match her name (Jamaican for "no problem"). Samad's late-in-life arranged marriage (he had to wait for his bride to be born), produces twin sons whose separate paths confound Iqbal's every effort to direct them, and a renewed, if selective, submission to his Islamic faith.

Set against London's racial and cultural tapestry, venturing across the former empire and into the past as it barrels toward the future, White Teeth revels in the ecstatic hodgepodge of modern life, flirting with disaster, confounding expectations, and embracing the comedy of daily existence.

Customer Reviews:

I'd Rather Have a Root Canal.......2007-09-26

I think I might have liked this book a lot more if I hadn't listened to this audiobook version. 22 hours of stereotyped Indian and Jamaican accents was enough to drive me up the wall. I'll have to wait a while and read the actual book without the distraction of grinding my teeth at the bad accents.

In the meantime, someone in a writer's group suggested this book should get the Nobel Prize--I wouldn't go nearly that far. I know what I'm supposed to say about how it's a wonderful portrait of the immigrant's dilemma of assimilation versus maintaining tradition and the second generation immigrant's confusion about his/her roots. And how it illustrates modernity versus antiquity with the whole FutureMouse debacle. And I should say how relevant the conflict between Muslims like Samad and Millat and Christians/atheists is in the post-9/11 world. Finally, I'm supposed to say how magnificent it is that the author wrote this magnificent book at the tender age of 23.

Having mentioned all that, I still didn't like this book--and not solely because of the problem I mentioned at the beginning. I think what was missing here was that most basic, primal need: to actually LIKE someone in this book. Simply put, I wouldn't want to know any of the characters in this book. Samad, Alsana, and Millat are loud, pushy, and often obnoxious while Maggad is stuffy and dull. Archie and Iree are timid and weak, with Iree being especially whiny to boot. Clara is practically nonexistent after the first couple chapters. As a reader, was there one person I could latch onto and root for? Not a one.

That was the most grievous problem, but not the only one. The constant authorial intrusions into the narrative became quite irritating, interrupting the flow of scenes with snide comments and sidebar discussions. The lengthy histories of just about every minor character and organization also became tedious, also making for too many characters, none of whom I could care less about. Then of course one of those minor characters makes a sudden reappearance at the end, which really didn't make much sense and seemed like a clumsy attempt at unleashing a surprise plot twist. I was also confused at the rather abrupt way in which Iree rapes one of Samad's sons. Again, this is probably another clumsy attempt at a plot twist. It certainly made me lose whatever sympathy I had left for Iree.

For the obligatory plot summary, this is the story of two families. Samad is a Bengali who immigrated to London and eventually was arranged to be married to the much-younger Alsana, who gave birth to twin boys. Samad is torn between his Muslim beliefs and the temptations of the non-Muslim world, especially a music teacher. This transgression leads to guilt that he partially alleviates by sending one of his boys back to Bangladesh, while keeping the other at home. One boy turns out to be a secular atheist and the other a fundamentalist Muslim who joins a group known as KEVIN, sort of a poor man's Nation of Islam, not to be confused with terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda. Meanwhile, Archie Jones was left by his wife and determined to kill himself until Fate intervenes and he winds up at a New Year's Eve party where he meets the young Jamaican woman named Clara, whom he marries and they have a chubby daughter named Iree, who loves one of Samad's boys but feels ashamed by her weight and half-Jamaican heritage. Eventually a third family is drawn into this with the father of that family genetically engineering a mouse called the FutureMouse that is opposed by Samad and one of his sons and supported by the other. And that leads to a final epic showdown of sorts settled by the aforementioned secondary character appearing out of left field to wreak havoc.

So as should be obvious, I really didn't like this book. Maybe if I read it again I'll feel differently--that's happened before. In the meantime, I'd recommend another stunning book by a 23-year-old woman: "The Heart is A Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers. Also, if you want a better book on Muslims around the Indian subcontinent I'd recommend "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie.

That is all.

Yes, Zadie Smith IS that good!.......2007-09-24

I loved this book so much, I wanted to beg all my friends to read it so I would have someone to discuss it with!

Zadie Smith is a superb talent.

Simply Superb.......2007-08-26

"White Teeth" came highly recommended by a trusted reader and I've finally gotten around to reading it. The story revolves around three families, three cultures, three religions (Chalfenism among them) and three histories. Is it good things or bad things that come in threes? Set in London yet rooted in Jamaica and Bangladesh, "White Teeth" is a convergence of class, history, and culture. The Jones' are an interracial English/Jamaican couple brought together by their individual need to flee. Archibal fleeing the chaos of a marriage seized by mental illness; Clara escaping the grip of the Jehovah Witness religion that threatens to permeate all aspects of her life. The Iqbals' are an arranged marriage, brought together by cultural and religious history. Samad conflicted by a history he fears will be erased by the present; Alsana, strong and willful, yet unable to absorb aspects of western culture that are foreign to her religious beliefs. The Chalfens are an agnostic English couple brought together by the desire to further a tradition of intellectual and liberal empire. Marcus, a scientist from a long line of intellectuals, is engaged in research that could alter the genetic makeup of humanity in ways that could eliminate the randomness of genetic mishaps and malfunctions (the very randomness that is seen by some as the will of God); Joyce a horticulturalist and essayist with an overbearing need to nurture and cultivate everything and everyone around her.

Although the interactions of the parental units creatively and humorously explore the historical affects of colonization on the colonized and the colonizer, it is the lives of the next generation of Iqbals, Jones and Chalfens that allow the author to explore issues of cultural, religious and class differences between the western and eastern hemisphere. Irie, the biracial daughter of the Jones', is burdened not only with the trials of adolescence within the pop culture of a modernized England but also with the history of colonized Jamaica and the salvation sought by her grandmother through the doctrine of the Jehovah Witness faith. Millat and Magid, the Cain and Able offspring of the Iqbals' are challenged with questions of identify in the face of an Islamic tradition that seems at constant odds with the more liberal communities within which they live. Joshua, the Chalfens' progeny is also trying to navigate the choppy waters of puberty as he realizes that the lineage he's inherited may be at stark contrast to the person he's becoming.

"White Teeth" is a spectacular debut novel. Smith has unleashed a level of creativity typically found in seasoned writers. She has created memorable, lively characters each with a unique voice that highlights the diversity of London while simultaneously calling attention to the commonality of experience inherent in the legacy of oppression. I particularly enjoyed the cleaver way in which Smith uses teeth as a metaphor throughout the novel. For certainly history is deeply rooted in who we are as individuals, a people, a nation. While there are times when we must extract ourselves from our history to forge a path that allows us to live up to our full potential, our history will always be the pulp at the center of who we are and invariably impacts our future. This is great text for group discussion. Highly Recommended!

Great.......2007-08-23

Paid for expedited service & I received that & more. Would definitely recommend for purchases. Fast & efficient service.

90% Brilliant... .......2007-07-24

Zadie Smith is very, very funny and extremely imaginative. This book has many moments of genius. Most seasoned writers do not have a quarter of her talent.

The terrific characters are laced with sorrow, irony and pettiness. She creates worlds within worlds and shattered dreams within dreams. Almost perfect, and then the last 50 pages or so go off track. I suspect the author was just plain exhausted and couldn't fathom how to tie everything together. Why couldn't an editor tell her to go back and fix it? Such joy and then such sorrow.

Zadie Smith's White Teeth: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries)

Average customer rating:

White Teeth
Uh, okay.
A refreshing piece of Lit Crit

Zadie Smith's White Teeth: A Reader's Guide (Continuum Contemporaries)
Claire Squires
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

This is part of a new series of guides to contemporary novels. The aim of the series is to give readers accessible and informative introductions to some of the most popular, most acclaimed and most influential novels of recent years - from `The Remains of the Day' to `High Fidelity'. A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question.

Customer Reviews:

White Teeth.......2005-02-12

Great book. Very vivid descriptions of language, character and the family structure of non-native society in London. I feel that this book could explain the conflict any transplant could experience in a foriegn land.
It almost explains, though, that once you have tasted the western world, there is no going back.
Didn't care for the ending, though-- too much like a Wes Anderson movie where the players all congregate toward one spot rather unnaturally.
If you desire wit, involved reading and changes in eras, White Teeth is definitely for you.

Uh, okay........2003-07-07

If you require a guide to Smith's execrable 'White Teeth', then I regret to inform you that you are too stupid to live.

A refreshing piece of Lit Crit.......2002-06-26

Before I'd read the book, this seemed like a dubious enterprise. Surely 'White Teeth' is too recent to reward (or deserve?) this kind of close critical attention. But in fact, this short book works well because of its chronological proximity to its subject, and you get a genuine sense of the author's enthusiasm for the novel - an enthusiasm that I share.

Briefly, this book consists of a chapter that sketches the pertinent details of Zadie Smith's career so far; a chapter that engages fully with the themes and qualities of the novel; a couple of chapters that look at how the book was reviewed upon publication and how it performed initially; and a concluding chapter that contains a wide selection of Discussion Points and a surprisingly thorough bibliography. Ms Squires is particularly good at illuminating Zadie Smith's stylistic techniques, and is also refreshingly well-researched on the novel's history in terms of its publishing life (agents, deals, marketing, etc).

I was not aware of this series ('Continuum Contemporaries') until I stumbled across this particular volume on Amazon. If the other volumes are of the same high standard, I will be impressed.

White Teeth: A Novel
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White Teeth: A Novel
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Manufacturer: Rose & Rose Associates
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0965031004

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ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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WHITE TEETH. A Novel.
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WHITE TEETH. A Novel.
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Manufacturer: Random House,
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Binding: Hardcover
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White Teeth: a Novel
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