KenFrAtl Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 I would like to re-read a very interesting book that I read in paperback form around 1980, but I can't remember the title and only the authors first name (Robert). It was a fiction that I think came out around that time. It dealt with a young boy growing up along the Mississippi river and interwove the legend of a monster sized catfish in the river and a voodoo priestess from the poor side of town. At the end of the book their is a flood, the levy breaks and guess what comes surging up (the catfish). CAN ANYONE HELP ME WITH THE AUTHOR/TITLE The author had a very unique style and I have thought about this book on and off for the last 20 years. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Elfstar Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Can't help you I'm afraid but if anyone out there remembers a series of books about a red haired nurse who met a doctor in the basement.... It was a very innocent series, eventually she marries the doctor. It was set in the seventies or at least thats when i would have read it, fraternisation between doctors and nurses was strictly forbidden. i remember her pride in becoming a nurse and the trials and tribulations along the way......... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jassie Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 The only red-haired nurse series I can think of is the Sue Barton stories, she marries a doctor. But they weren't in the 70's they were written in the 1930's & 40's. She falls down the laundry chute in the first book 'Sue Barton - Student Nurse'. She marries Dr William Barry, Dr Bill in later books... v ashamed to know about this, I can remember them being around the house and reading them; they are by Helen Dore Boylston. Hope this helps and they are the ones you remember Elfstar! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Elfstar Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 I think thats it Jassie, thank you. I assumed they were more modern because of the time i read them, I vividly remember one of the covers but nothing else about the author. They would have been an unusual choice for me because even then I was a fantasy reader and i never had much time for "girly" stories, except for Little Women, Anne of Green Gables and to my great shame Mallory Towers!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jassie Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 Glad I could help! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
megustaleer Posted August 17, 2005 Report Share Posted August 17, 2005 Can't make any headway with your book title, Ken. Can you give us any more clues? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Elfstar Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 Ken, having hi jacked your thread i have spent some time googling around with your key words and have come up with nothing.I have tried all sorts of combinations and had a fiddle on amazon as well,still nothing....I hope it jogs somebodys memories as I think that may be the only way you will find it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KenFrAtl Posted August 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 Well, thanks anyway for trying. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sherman_McCoy Posted August 18, 2005 Report Share Posted August 18, 2005 Texas Summer by Terry Southern features a catfish. But it's not the book you are after. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grammath Posted August 19, 2005 Report Share Posted August 19, 2005 A postively Pintertesque pause there, Sherman. Incidentally, must praise your handle - "Bonfire of the Vanities" just missed going on my Top 10 poll. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sherman_McCoy Posted August 23, 2005 Report Share Posted August 23, 2005 It's actually my real name. I'm convinced Tom Wolfe must have read it somewhere and stolen it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jacinta Posted August 23, 2005 Report Share Posted August 23, 2005 I'm not convinced - do you have any pretensions to Master of the Universe?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sherman_McCoy Posted August 24, 2005 Report Share Posted August 24, 2005 It's true, seriously. The really weird thing is that I am also a bonds trader, and live in New York. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cathy Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 I would like to re-read a very interesting book that I read in paperback form around 1980, but I can't remember the title and only the authors first name (Robert). It was a fiction that I think came out around that time. It dealt with a young boy growing up along the Mississippi river and interwove the legend of a monster sized catfish in the river and a voodoo priestess from the poor side of town. At the end of the book their is a flood, the levy breaks and guess what comes surging up (the catfish). CAN ANYONE HELP ME WITH THE AUTHOR/TITLE The author had a very unique style and I have thought about this book on and off for the last 20 years. Thanks! I thought I had it but then realised the book I was thinking of was by the author of Chocolat...one of her other ones...set during WW2 and features fishing for a huge catfish doesn't it? Oh well, serves me right for not keeping a reading journal as some ultra-efficient people do! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
megustaleer Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 Oh well, serves me right for not keeping a reading journal as some ultra-efficient people do!No, not ultra-efficient; ultra-forgetful Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hazel Posted September 25, 2005 Report Share Posted September 25, 2005 Hi all Looking out for some help here - so please rack your brains! I was up on Friday through the night (baby needed fed) around 4am and caught an OU short programme on BBC2 in which Jo Brand offered her opinions on various books. I tuned in just in time to hear her talk about a book of eyewitness historical accounts from Ancient Greece to WW2 - including an account from Fanny Burney about her double mastectomy with no anaesthetic. It sounded like a fascinating book but I had missed the title and author of the book. Searches through the BBC and OU websites have not helped. Does anyone know what this book is or even it's compilator? All help much appreicated! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jen Posted September 25, 2005 Report Share Posted September 25, 2005 Is this what you are looking for? http://www.open2.net/openminds/GRAPHIC/wk9/detail/book.htm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
megustaleer Posted September 25, 2005 Report Share Posted September 25, 2005 Try this one (Eyewitness to History, John Carey) Excerpt below from a review on Amazon's American site: Some examples: there is a first-hand account of a survivor of the Black Hole of Calcutta in 1756, a story I had read about as a schoolboy but which finally came alive for me when I read this piece. There is a piece by Fanny Burney relating her mastectomy in 1811, performed without anaesthesia of any kind. There's an excerpt of an interview by a British Parliamentary Commission in 1815 with a twenty-three year old woman severely deformed as a result of the terrible conditions in the Leeds factories; this one had me practically in tears. There's an account from someone who had dinner with Attila the Hun; an account of a pipefitter who was at Pearl Harbour; Charlotte Bronte's account of the Crystal Palace--the list is seemingly endless, and endlessly fascinating. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jen Posted September 25, 2005 Report Share Posted September 25, 2005 Ooo - are these two the same book, one UK, one US? The US one is def cheaper on an Amazon search. I have to say that it looks really interesting, I've added it to my 'wish list' (soon be Christmas ). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
megustaleer Posted September 25, 2005 Report Share Posted September 25, 2005 The Faber and Faber one seems to be a newer edition (2003, as opposed to1997), possibly updated to the end of the 20th century. Both available from Amazon UK. The Faber & Faber is more expensive, but will take two days to be dispatched, as opposed to two weeks for the older edition Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hazel Posted September 26, 2005 Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 Thank you, you wonderful people! I have looked it up on Amazon, and wonder if The Faber Book of Reportage is the updated version of Eyewitness to History? Aah - it seems it is - thank you both for your prompt help - it was driving me to distraction this weekend! I have ordered the book from Amazon and very much looking forward to reading it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jen Posted September 26, 2005 Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 And I've reserved a copy at my local library! Thanks for the tip. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hazel Posted September 26, 2005 Report Share Posted September 26, 2005 Hope you enjoy it too! Must thank Jo Brand and my baby while I am at it for getting up through the night! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hazel Posted October 4, 2005 Report Share Posted October 4, 2005 Another book on very similar lines looks very intriguing - England: The Autobiography. 2,000 Years of English History By Those Who Saw It Happen Jon Lewis-Stempel (Editor) Book Description Fountainhead of democracy, engine of the Industrial Revolution, epicentre of the globe’s greatest empire and the first-ditch stand against an expansionist Germany in two world wars: England’s history is among the most fascinating and influential that the world has ever known. This unique volume presents that history in unique form: first-hand, through the words of those who saw it and those who made it. All the great events of the last 2,000 years are here: the Norman Conquest, Magna Carta, the Peasants’ Revolt, Henry VIII’s break with Rome, the Great Fire of London, Nelson at Trafalgar, two world wars. Alongside these are the less obvious happenings which together capture the nation’s social history, such as the Black Death of 1349 and life as a chimney sweep in 1817. And of course there are the things that have shaped the nature of ‘Englishness’, like theatregoing in Elizabethan London, fox hunting in 1898, Oates’s self-sacrifice at the South Pole, the Beatles and the 1966 World Cup. Presented chronologically and a joy to read whether cover-to-cover or dipped into as a treasury, England: The Autobiography offers an intimate, vivid and revealing portrait of England and the English – and the unique place of both in world history. Though as a Scot - can I bear to have an English history on my bookshelves? Only kidding...hopefully someone will do a Scots version Quote Link to post Share on other sites
megustaleer Posted October 22, 2005 Report Share Posted October 22, 2005 I have merged an older book-search thread with Hazel's, as it was not in the right forum. Perhaps we can add any future book-searches to this thread, too? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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