Advantages: At last, someone famous who doesn't find themselves brilliant
Disadvantages: Rather stiff and formal in tone

...Along with many of my generation, Tom Baker was "my" Doctor Who. By this, I mean that he was the first Doctor I knew about and will always be the person I first think of as playing the role, despite Christopher Ecclestone's best efforts recently. Whilst those slightly older than I may recall William Hartnell and Jon Pertwee, they were before my time and I didn't enjoy anyone's roles as the Doctor as much after Tom Baker as I did his. I may not be alone in this remembrance of Tom Baker's Doctor Who, either. After all, he played the Doctor for a lot longer than anyone else did, thereby giving him access to a wider audience than those before or since. Plus, he was playing the role at a time when the series was really rather popular and so had a potentially larger audience than many. What I'd never really stopped to wonder was what Tom... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Easily accessible for everyone, from non-readers to avid book worms. Inspirational.
Disadvantages: i can't think of any...

...The first time I picked up a Jeannie Baker book, I must admit I was somewhat flummoxed. However, after taking a while to look through, and especially after looking at her other titles, I was amazed and have been singing her praises ever since. Jeanie Baker works in collage, each book is a collection of impressive collages telling a story, all of which have a very powerful message. These books can make wonderful teaching tools for subjects such as art, history, geography, social studies. Another angle that gives Jeannie Baker's work a somewhat magical and mystical quality for the British/ European audience, is the combination of the familiar and the wonderful, breath-taking beauty of Australian landscapes and wildlife. The books contain few or no words...but if a picture is worth a thousand words, one of Jeannie Baker's collage... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Clever clever writing...
Disadvantages: Damn those footnotes...

...The Mezzanine is simply the story of one man’s lunch-hour. It starts at approximately one o’clock and by two o’clock it is over. Are you already feeling rather worried? Did you think that Kirsty1 had already established that her preferred novels and novelists are somewhat bizarre? Or are you instead wondering what remarkable and amazing adventures will befall our hero in this impossibly short space of time? Let me enlighten you… ***************************************************** THE PLOT Our hero has a half pint of milk and some cookies for his lunch and buys some popcorn and some new shoelaces, because one of his has broken. Oh, and he goes to the men’s room. ***************************************************** That, my friends, is my first and only plot-spoiler! Like all of Nicholson Baker’s novels... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Ingenious, innovative fiction, written with exquisite style
Disadvantages: Weighed down by footnotes, although they do contribute to the "feel" of the novel

...Many people look for many things in a book; a riveting story, flowing prose, insightful analysis. For me, a novel that makes you realise you're not actually mad is generally a good thing - and Nicholson Baker achieves this in The Mezzanine, an account, essentially, of a man's lunch hour. Except this is only the face of the book; underneath, this is about all of the trivial, meaningless abstractions and ponderings that flit about the consciousness at any given time - so in terms of any grand scope, this is rea