Jim Chevallier (Author of August Zang and the French Croissant)

Jim Chevallier and 1 other person liked James Turner's review of Radegund (WOMEN IN ANTIQUITY): "Not very convincing; tends to overinterpret its sources."
Apr 24, 2025 08:51AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Radegund by E. T. Dailey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Radegund by E. T. Dailey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jim Chevallier rated a book really liked it The Chosen (Reuven Malter, #1) by Chaim Potok	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The first thing to know about this work is that it is a very loving book. The relationship of each boy to his father, the warmth between them and even - at a distance - between the fathers, even relationships with some of the incidental characters, a ...more
Jan 17, 2025 08:58AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Chosen by Chaim Potok. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Chosen by Chaim Potok <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jim Chevallier rated a book it was amazing The Tour: A Life Between the Lines by Bill Staines	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I read this lovely book, as many will, because of my respect for its author, a New England folksinger whose songs have been recorded by a long list of others, but who never got the national fame many of us felt he deserved. Certainly, for those who l ...more
Dec 05, 2024 04:21PM · like · see review
Jim Chevallier and 1 other person liked Basel 's review of Le viandier de Taillevent (French Edition): "Whenever we travel to a new country, food is one of the key entrance points to its culture. Cuisine can tell us so much about a country’s history and culture, and even many times, we find different cuisines within a same country. France is known worl" Read more of this review »
Nov 14, 2024 03:27PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Le viandier de Taillevent by Guillaume Tirel. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Le viandier de Taillevent by Guillaume Tirel <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jim Chevallier rated a book liked it Radegund (WOMEN IN ANTIQUITY) by E. T. Dailey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I am probably one of the rare people to have studied the life of Radegund closely, along with various commentaries on it. So I know the subject well. I was pleased to see this relatively recent overview of her subject. But having now read it, I have ...more
Oct 26, 2024 12:49PM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Radegund by E. T. Dailey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Radegund by E. T. Dailey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jim Chevallier rated a book really liked it The Courtesans: The Demi-Monde in Nineteenth-Century France by Joanna Richardson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
My initial interest in this book was via my interest in nineteenth century Parisian restaurants, whose cabinet particuliers hosted much of the behavior associated with this elegant and erotic world. The actual stories of the courtesans are interest ...more
Oct 06, 2024 05:17PM · like · see review
Jim Chevallier and 3 other people liked Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance's review of A Taste of Paris: A History of the Parisian Love Affair with Food: "I'm not sure how A Taste of Paris arrived in my Kindle, but I suspect it may have been purchased during a 1.99 sale. I hope it was purchased during a 1.99 sale; if I paid full price for this book, I would be terribly sad at the waste of money. I stru" Read more of this review »
Jul 25, 2024 08:34AM · see review
Jim Chevallier and 1 other person liked Kayla's review of A Taste of Paris: A History of the Parisian Love Affair with Food: "This was definitely a skim read. A lot of the information was interesting, but I wasn't the biggest fan of how wordy this felt at points or the format of the information. "
Jun 20, 2024 08:46AM · see review
Jim Chevallier rated a book really liked it Twentieth-Century Boy: Notebooks of the Seventies by Duncan Hannah	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I went to Bard College, and not too long before Hannah, so certainly part of my interest was in seeing how he portrayed our alma mater. Which, for a certain type of student, would be accurately enough. He quite credibly spent a lot of time having, or ...more
Feb 29, 2024 09:00AM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Twentieth-Century Boy by Duncan Hannah. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Twentieth-Century Boy by Duncan Hannah <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jim Chevallier rated a book it was ok Trust by Hernan Diaz (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In the last month or two, I have read (or tried to read) two books that were shortlisted for the Booker Prize and this one, which actually won it. I am beginning to view that tag as a warning that this is a book I will not enjoy. I should say that I ...more
Feb 19, 2024 08:54PM · like · see review

Jim Chevallier and 1 other person liked James Turner's review of Radegund (WOMEN IN ANTIQUITY):

"Not very convincing; tends to overinterpret its sources."

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The Chosen (Reuven Malter, #1)
by Chaim Potok

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The first thing to know about this work is that it is a very loving book. The relationship of each boy to his father, the warmth between them and even - at a distance - between the fathers, even relationships with some of the incidental characters, a ...more

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The Tour: A Life Between the Lines
by Bill Staines

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I read this lovely book, as many will, because of my respect for its author, a New England folksinger whose songs have been recorded by a long list of others, but who never got the national fame many of us felt he deserved. Certainly, for those who l I read this lovely book, as many will, because of my respect for its author, a New England folksinger whose songs have been recorded by a long list of others, but who never got the national fame many of us felt he deserved. Certainly, for those who love a genre of music that includes Nancy Griffiths and Townes van Zandt (both glimpsed in these pages), there is much to find here about a folk world that had gone beyond its sudden commercialization in the Sixties to to a sub-dividing of the genre into frankly commercial acts and ever-growing individualization of deeply personal singer-songwriters carving out what often became marginal territory into the world of house concerts and beloved but struggling venues that kept the early Sixties spirit alive. By the Eighties, Bill Staines was largely making an arduous living from the latter, leaving on months-long tours that took him across the fragile circuit that supported the live performance of his sort of music – all this as others were discovering and recording his songs. This book is his account of the pleasures and sometimes the trials of this lifestyle, with close-ups of numerous, mainly obscure folk venues and glimpses of figures from different worlds, including the beat fellow traveler David Amram and the filmmaker John Sayles. With this come surprising forays into book publishing and an uncharacteristic children’s album. This in itself is a very rich overview of a particular world.

But at some point it occurred to me that this reminded me of a very different book, one I hadn’t read since high school: John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, recounting how Steinbeck set out with a camper and a dog to explore under-known corners of America. Staines did not consciously set out on such a journey, but his vivid awareness of beauty and humanity, sometimes in unexpected places, meant that his crisscrossing of America as he made his way from gig to gig filled him with perceptions and sensations which he often, and eloquently, transcribes here: “Somewhere around Tomah the trees begin to decline in size. Along the side of the road, the cream-colored sandstone rock formations begin to appear, eroded by the wind into castle-like shapes and pitted with the nests of the darting cliff swallows”; “With the temperature hovering around the freezing mark, the road feels slippery. Just west of town, where it ascends into the Bighorns and disappears into the mist, I can see where there is a light snow falling, leaving a fresh white cover on the slopes of spruces, tamaracks, and firs.”; “It is the bright moon and the morning star in the sky above that commands the attention of this traveler as I drive by the dark butte that stands at the southwest side of Jackson. The high slopes of the surrounding hills begin to take shape as imminent dawn makes itself known to this cold mountain country.”; “If I were to close my eyes, I could identify which of the states I was in by its scent alone. California is certainly a buffet of bouquets. Of course, I could always make a snide comment about the smog and the pollution of the cities, or the greasy texture of the air in the Los Angeles basin, but beyond the pollution there is also the Eucalyptus and the sweet Ponderosa Pine. There are the scents of the citrus trees, the oranges, limes, and lemons and the earthy aroma of the onions and tomatoes as the trucks haul them to market along the farm roads. There is the grape smell of the wine country, heavy with the bursting richness of its bounty, and always, always the unmistakable freshness of the cool, fog-moist salt air of the northern Pacific coast.”

With this, all manner of observations of club owners, fellow performers and locals met along the way, of dives and get-togethers rich with color, and late nights spent with kindred souls. All along the way too, Staines was writing songs, some, like “River” and “The Roseville Fair”, now classics. If you do not already know them, no doubt you will sometimes put the book down to bring up YouTube and discover these and others with pleasure. Here is a precious chance to see them come to light, while delighting in a tapestry of places and personalities, taking an intimate and heartfelt tour of the human and geographic wealth of a largely unknown America. ...more

Jim Chevallier and 1 other person liked Basel 's review of Le viandier de Taillevent (French Edition):

Le viandier de Taillevent by Guillaume Tirel

"Whenever we travel to a new country, food is one of the key entrance points to its culture. Cuisine can tell us so much about a country’s history and culture, and even many times, we find different cuisines within a same country. France is known worl" Read more of this review »

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Radegund (WOMEN IN ANTIQUITY)
by E. T. Dailey

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I am probably one of the rare people to have studied the life of Radegund closely, along with various commentaries on it. So I know the subject well. I was pleased to see this relatively recent overview of her subject. But having now read it, I have I am probably one of the rare people to have studied the life of Radegund closely, along with various commentaries on it. So I know the subject well. I was pleased to see this relatively recent overview of her subject. But having now read it, I have very uneven feelings about it. Certainly, it is not the definitive work on the subject it might have been. It's not like it brings NO new insights. I had never before seen the suggestion that Radegund's brother's name (generally thought to be unknown) might be embedded in the poem that Fortunatus has often been thought to have written (and that is this author's position) on the destruction of Radegund's homeland, but which some scholars now feel she wrote (a hypothesis Dauley rejects a little summarily based on another writer's thesis). My own position - take it for what it is worth - is to split the difference, considering that Radegund herself likely wrote out at least the bare bones of the tale, but required Fortunatus' expert help to craft her "material" into a respectable poem; that is, if she did not craft this sophisticated work on her own, nor did she simply "assign" it to her resident poet. Some of his other positions are arguable or, sometimes, wrong. He has an annoying habit of calling any woman in captivity a "slave" or even assuming captivity where we have no evidence. If Ingund and her sister Aregund WERE captives of the Franks, given that they might have been the (well-born) daughters of Radegund's uncle, they were no more slaves than she was. But in fact we know so little of either that we cannot say, for instance, that Ingund was not conventionally married to Chlothar - as opposed to Radegund herself who really WAS a captive. As for Aregund, Gregory says that Chlothar went to find her at her villa, which Dailey curiously interprets as the place of her "servitude" (Gregory, the source, makes no such suggestion). Yet the fact that she was the queen's sister alone argues against her remaining servile, if ever she was. He also takes the child Radegund's giving food scraps to the poorer residents of her estate as "servile behavior" when it plainly seems to be the act of a higher status person giving charity to others less exalted (and prefigures service she would do as a queen, when she most certainly was NOT servile). He dismisses accounts of her acting as a "nun" as a queen, but the fact that Chlothar had six children by Ingund and some by other queens and none by Radegund at least leaves at least the possibility that Chlothar (already older) had little or possibly no congress with his much younger wife.
He also curiously touches on her possible desire for children, something not so much as hinted at in the source material. This puts another point in relief - his lack of interest in Agnes' role in Radegund's life before they founded the convent. Yet Radegund says in a latter that she had virtually raised Agnes from childhood. That is, if we have no evidence she wanted to bear children, she clearly savored a maternal role. Certainly, given Agnes' importance in her life, one would like to know more, even if that required looking at better-documented similar relationships.
He also glides over other points that might have born closer examination. Radegund's attempt to escape her upcoming marriage raises a number of questions, not least where she would have gone when Chlothar and his brothers controlled what was her known world. Or how she would have confronted the danger facing anyone who might have helped her (Chlothar was hardly known to be forgiving). One very credible explanation for this "escape" is a Germanic custom which persisted in a more symbolic form of a bride escaping and being "captured" by her fiancé. It was, by this account, merely one more ritual.
He questions a tale of her burning down a pagan temple "since there is little evidence to support the idea of a thriving Frankish paganism". To the contrary, we have signs that paganism persisted into Charlemagne's time. Even in Radegund's, Frankish warriors, nominally Christian, were accused of sacrificing Goth women and children to a river god.
He assumes with little foundation that she was already a Christian in Thuringia, though the poem which she either wrote or greatly contributed to mentions "lares" (household gods), a purely pagan element, there.
Etc. Any reader who is not closely interested in Radegund or Germanic customs of the period may be finding this tedious. My overall point is that Dailey makes assumptions which are at the least arguable and sometimes are simply demonstrably wrong.
This is disappointing, since the book is readable and probably a useful introduction to Radegund's story overall. But it is nowhere near as thorough or authoritative as it might have been. Should it spark your interest, I would recommend you start by going back to the several period accounts of her life and then read the more nuanced commentary (hard to sort out from the many essentially religious retellings) on her story and her time for richer illumination.
(NOTE: Like so many academic works, in print copy this is priced more for libraries than individuals. If the book interests you, check out the Kindle.) ...more

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The Courtesans: The Demi-Monde in Nineteenth-Century France
by Joanna Richardson

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My initial interest in this book was via my interest in nineteenth century Parisian restaurants, whose *cabinet particuliers* hosted much of the behavior associated with this elegant and erotic world. The actual stories of the courtesans are interest My initial interest in this book was via my interest in nineteenth century Parisian restaurants, whose *cabinet particuliers* hosted much of the behavior associated with this elegant and erotic world. The actual stories of the courtesans are interesting enough, though often repetitive accounts of someone from a modest background making her way up into great luxury through her charms, making outrageous sums of money which she then squandered outrageously before often (though not always) dying young or ending in ruin. Most of those portrayed here seem to have been warm, even sensual enough, with the exception of the icy, single-minded La Pavia. Two made their way into literature and are important figures for that alone.
Attentive readers will also see that more than one of these women suffered rape or other abuse before beauty allowed them to escape fates which nonetheless remained those of innumerable other less glamorous women. One can easily take offense at how freely some of these women spent in a time of great poverty for many, but it is important to realize that extravagance itself was a form of marketing and that however shameful - though often glamorous at the time - their professions, these were women whose options were often severely limited. Sex was as good a tool as any in an era when talent and competence were stymied by the standards of the era.
For those with an interest in nineteenth century Paris, the book holds further interest in showing men who, however tangential they were to these women's lives, were central to French political and social life in the time - politicians, a press magnate, artists, poets, composers, etc. - The bit players in these stories played the lead roles in many aspects of French life of the time and seeing them here casts new light on men known for very different sides of their lives elsewhere.
Though I read French fluently, I too was mildly annoyed by the lack of translations, but that really shouldn't be an obstacle for any Francophile reading this book. Otherwise, the book includes a number of images of the women involved, but today a search on the Web will generally yield a far wider range.
The book is not for everyone, but if Paris in this era interests you, it is a rich read. ...more

Jim Chevallier and 3 other people liked Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance's review of A Taste of Paris: A History of the Parisian Love Affair with Food:

"I'm not sure how A Taste of Paris arrived in my Kindle, but I suspect it may have been purchased during a 1.99 sale. I hope it was purchased during a 1.99 sale; if I paid full price for this book, I would be terribly sad at the waste of money.

I stru" Read more of this review »

Jim Chevallier and 1 other person liked Kayla's review of A Taste of Paris: A History of the Parisian Love Affair with Food:

"This was definitely a skim read. A lot of the information was interesting, but I wasn't the biggest fan of how wordy this felt at points or the format of the information. "

Jim Chevallier rated a book really liked it

Twentieth-Century Boy: Notebooks of the Seventies
by Duncan Hannah

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I went to Bard College, and not too long before Hannah, so certainly part of my interest was in seeing how he portrayed our alma mater. Which, for a certain type of student, would be accurately enough. He quite credibly spent a lot of time having, or I went to Bard College, and not too long before Hannah, so certainly part of my interest was in seeing how he portrayed our alma mater. Which, for a certain type of student, would be accurately enough. He quite credibly spent a lot of time having, or trying to have, sex and manages to make what is not after all a very original experience interesting, not least because of his own mixture of naiveté and eagerness. Given the level of decadence he later sometimes describes (a famous rock singer inviting him to use his mouth as a toilet), it's rather cute to see how wide-eyed he was at college and notably still very attached to old friends back home in the Midwest, where he had already managed to resist come-ons from both Allen Ginsberg and Janis Joplin before even leaving high school. Yet for a long time he was dating a virgin. This mix of down-home boy and intrepid explorer of new sensations gives the book much of its charm. A major theme here is how beautiful he was (as photos confirm) and the entrée this gave him into different worlds - not to mention all the attention he had to fend off (including one very-near rape). In this sense, a beautiful woman might have written a similar book, giving glimpses of all a stunning person gets to see for no better reason than that they ARE stunning. It's interesting on the other hand to compare it to Patti Smith's "Just Kids", which largely describes the same period and world, given that Smith herself is certainly not a conventional beauty, yet managed to intrigue some high-profile lovers. So there is more than beauty to such entry into new worlds. All the while, he really was trying to be an artist (and ultimately would succeed) while also drinking so much that it ultimately became a problem he had to solve. (His father, pouring them both drinks before sitting him down to lecture him on his drinking, couldn't have helped - nor his beautiful but often-soused mother.) His name-dropping is very off-handed and nowhere near as obnoxious as it could be. It helps that in editing his journals, he left his first impressions, say, of CBGB's as "a biker's bar" and Julian Schnabel as an aspiring painter working as a cook who gave him and his friends a free side. In this sense, the book's lack of structure and usually focus actually becomes a quality, as if we were on a boat drifting down a canal in a tunnel where at one moment one sees the Mona Lisa, another a stripper thrusting what she's got into the viewer's face, another a couple entwined in the most tender love-making, another a manic and colorful crowd, only for the boat to move on, with no regard for the relative value of all these sights. It certainly helps that from early on Hannah had a writer's love of evocative details and memorable snatches of dialogue; the book, however casually, really was WRITTEN and not just a careless mind dump. ...more

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Trust
by Hernan Diaz (Goodreads Author)

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In the last month or two, I have read (or tried to read) two books that were shortlisted for the Booker Prize and this one, which actually won it. I am beginning to view that tag as a warning that this is a book I will not enjoy. I should say that I ...more

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	August Zang and the French Croissant 4.11 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2009 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A History of the Food of Paris: From Roast Mammoth to Steak Frites 2.88 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2018 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	About the Baguette: Exploring the Origin of a French National Icon liked it 3.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bullies: Monologues on Bullying for Teens and Adults it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2011 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vegetarians in Old Regime France it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2009	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Suicide Monologues for Actors and Others really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2009 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Before the Baguette: The history of French bread really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Monologues for Teens and Twenties 3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2003 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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	The Old Regime Police Blotter I: Bloodshed, Sex & Violence In Pre-Revolutionary France it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2008 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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