HKFE

This group of stories take place somewhere between fantasy and reality.

A man goes away to school and eventually becomes a history professor, losing touch with his younger brother. One day, he opens the newspaper and sees a picture of little brother, fronting a popular rock music band. Overnight, the older brother's life is turned upside down, as he goes from being an average college professor to brother of a famous rock star. A westerner living in Japan, accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl, watches as his innocence slowly disappears.

A woman and her fiance are eating in an [trendy] restaurant. Suddenly, she notices an older gentleman a few tables away and screams. The fiance takes her home immediately, and after a good night's sleep, it's as if the incident in the restaurant never happened. A couple of times, the woman says "I won't hurt you," for seemingly no reason at all. The object of her emotional reaction, an actor, appeared in a film a few years previously. It's about a man who befriends a little girl, takes her shopping for a doll, then drugs her, undresses her and photographs her, but otherwise doesn't harm her.

A police officer in present-day Bangkok, Thailand, after reuniting a lost boy with his frantic parents, tells of how his own son, a schizophrenic, committed suicide. Perhaps those who hear voices in their heads are the sane ones, and the rest of us, who can't hear them, are insane.

These stories are really good. Hoffman has done a fine job throughout. They are easy to read, with real people as characters and are highly recommended.

The Empty Cafe is a collection of short stories by a writer I (and probably you) had never heard of - Michael Hoffman. The first impression you get as you read is how musical and flowing the prose is. The second is of being in a strange place without being able to put your finger on where exactly the strangeness lies - everything is familiar, and at the same time not. I would have to - and I plan to - read the book again before I try to explain how the author achieves this effect - if in fact this is an effect he has sought to achieve. A family touring Bangkok suddenly loses their son - has he vanished down a manhole, or what? A staid, up and coming professor opens the paper one Sunday to find his much younger brother transformed into a grotesque, wildly popular rock star. A foreigner living in Japan is accused of assaulting a young girl. The accusation is false. So why is he (as he seems to be) guilty? A cafe waitress has had every experience there is to have except one: she hasn't seduced her kid brother, and she seems to want to. Where does the author think he's taking us?
The final story in the collection is a novella entitled Solitude. It is a murder story, but no detective could ever possibly solve it. I came across this book by chance, and found myself getting into it as I idly skimmed. I haven't decided yet if it is profound or pseudo-profound. I'm still thinking about it.

Due to the fact that this book is written in a question and answer format, its easy to read a little at a time as your schedule allows. It covers a broad range of topics related to astronomy with very understandable answers. The author isn't afraid to admit that scientist often don't know the answers. This type of honesty is refreshing in that you feel you are being leveled with as opposed to being given an answer that is intentionally over the layman's head to avoid admitting ignorance. On the other hand, sometimes the author presents theories as if they are established facts. I think that a lot of scientist do this (perhaps unintentionally) because they are putting forth the explanation that is dogma in the scientific community and forget to remind the reader that other possibilities may exist. Overall, this is a great book and is certainly worth your time.

This book is great it teaches the very importatnt moral that says that one should not judge a book by it's cover!The cubs new music teacher seems a little tough but after knowing the true her they find out shes a real softie for rock and roll!

I'm not much of a cook, but I'll admit that many recipes in this book look enticing and healthful. I'll probably try several.

The book offers two sets of contents.

One, as one would expect, lists sections in order of appearance. These divide the pages (and recipes) by courses, opening with 25 pages of "Tapas and Small Courses" (both cold and hot), 30 pages of "Soups," 34 pages of "Sandwiches, Pizzas and Savory Tarts," 70 pages of "Entrees and Accompaniments."

But the courses are ordered European-style. "Salads" come after the main course, and are followed by "Deserts," "Breakfast and Brunch" and "The Cafe Pantry"--which includes several pages of staple recipes, like chicken, beef, veal and fish stock, vinaigrette, clarified butter, crème fraiche, crème Anglaise and, for cooks who prefer everything from scratch, pizza dough.

Unfortunately, for specifics, one must skip to the second contents, which follows a 3-page introduction. Only there are the recipes listed. Alas, these are not in order of appearance, but in the order they would be served. To complicate matters further, the detailed contents are arranged alphabetically by CITY, and only then under the name of the originating café.

Thus, Atlanta appears first, but none of the 10 recipes from the Indigo Coastal Grill can be found near any of its others. Indigo's opening Oriental Oysters course is on page 59, the main course Red Snapper in Melon Sauce lands on page 182 and the Poppyseed Parfait with Blueberry Coulis on page 190 (and to top it off, the page number is mistaken).

Serious cooks and novices alike might enjoy these recipes. Most look fairly simple and quick.

The arrangement, however--though from premiere American cafés like Clancy's and Napoleon House in New Orleans, Washington Square in San Francisco, Café Guadeloupe in Santa Fe and Monique's in Chicago--is definitely frustrating.

Thank heavens for indexes.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

This is an amazing first hand account of the cafe racing scene from the 30's on. Great stories and bike information.

After having the opportunity to eat baby back ribs cooked in the Spicy Chipotle Tolect Barbecue Glaze, I tried the receipe myself. While the prep time is long, it is well worth the effort. The only confusing instructions is the receipe for chile puree (page 120). The receipe does not tell you how many chiles to use. I prepared baby back ribs for a family/friend barbecue. Everyone including the guests from Massachusetts raved about the ribs!

This book is magically insane...will be hated by anyone capable of misunderstanding it (which will be just about anyone who has never really experienced (or has repressed from memory) the depth of insanity this culture has generated in the psyche of mankind). One of the few books that is both bull**** and entirely true. Will either take you on a trip or leave you shaking your fist at the curb. Don't buy this book. I loved it.

I found this cookbook at a yard sale a couple of years ago. At first, it seemed like a passport to the exotic, but, soon after it became a guaranteed good meal any time I opened it's pages. From smoked chicken/hominy/triple-chile soup to mango-banana upside down cake - these dishes are unexpected and good.

I will warn you though, it does have some hard to find ingredients. However, I live in a small town and still was able to find most of them nearby or online. The soups and entrees in this cookbook are sure to please. If this book reprints, and you would like to try something different, give this book a whirl.

Walters is to commended for this work, which expresses her evolution in cooking and encouragement for the rest of us to do the same. To this end, she provides helpful hints and recipes to begin.

There are some eighty-five recipes here, primarily exhibiting this east meets southwest theme, e.g. East Indian Potato Pancakes with Cucumber Raita; Tempeh Curry with Potatio Chapatis; Red Chile Lemon Chicken; Fresh Mango Mousse.

Delightful little cookbook to explore.

Coming from quite a pedigree (son of Peter Kump and having worked with the likes of Robuchonn and Jacques Cagna) the young chef is hired and then marries the ownder of Cafe Beujolais.

Margaret Fox has produced books on this restaurants Morning Food and another, and here collaborates with her chef/husband on Evening Recipes.

Organized into classic dining sequence of Appetizers to Desserts, there are some good recipes in here to try: Buckwheat Hazelnut Bread; Toasted Goat Cheese Salad; Pear and Apple Crisp; Bittersweet Chocolate Raspberry Milefeuilles; and a Roast Cornish Hen with Apricot Marsala Sauce that is superb!

What I enjoy about this is the sidebar discussion that accompanies each recipe. Here is told about its development, technique, tips, etc.