EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

Book Summary of a Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles   Conversation Starters

Download or read book Summary of a Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Conversation Starters written by BookHabits and published by . This book was released on 2017-08-17 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Summary of A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles | Conversation Starters A Brief Look Inside: EVERY GOOD BOOK CONTAINS A WORLD FAR DEEPER than the surface of its pages. The characters and their world come alive, and the characters and its world still live on. Conversation Starters is peppered with questions designed to bring us beneath the surface of the page and invite us into the world that lives on. These questions can be used to... Create Hours of Conversation: * Promote an atmosphere of discussion for groups * Foster a deeper understanding of the book * Assist in the study of the book, either individually or corporately * Explore unseen realms of the book as never seen before Disclaimer: This book you are about to enjoy is an independent resource meant to supplement the original book. If you have not yet read the original book, we encourage to do before purchasing this unofficial Conversation Starter.

Book The Songs of St Petersburg

Download or read book The Songs of St Petersburg written by Amor Towles and published by Random House. This book was released on 2017-02-09 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility. 'A comic masterpiece.' The Times 'Winning . . . gorgeous . . . satisfying . . . Towles is a craftsman.' New York Times Book Review 'A work of great charm, intelligence and insight.' Sunday Times 'Everything a novel should be: charming, witty, poetic and generous. An absolute delight.' Mail on Sunday 'If we do a better book than this one on the book club this year we will be very very lucky.' Matt Williams, Radio 2 Book Club 'Abundant in humour, history and humanity' Sunday Telegraph 'Wistful, whimsical and wry.' Sunday Express On 21 June 1922 Count Alexander Rostov - recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt - is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol. But instead of being taken to his usual suite, he is led to an attic room with a window the size of a chessboard. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. While Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval, the Count, stripped of the trappings that defined his life, is forced to question what makes us who we are. And with the assistance of a glamorous actress, a cantankerous chef and a very serious child, Rostov unexpectedly discovers a new understanding of both pleasure and purpose.

Book The Lincoln Highway

    Book Details:
  • Author : Amor Towles
  • Publisher : Penguin
  • Release : 2021-10-05
  • ISBN : 0735222371
  • Pages : 593 pages

Download or read book The Lincoln Highway written by Amor Towles and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER More than ONE MILLION copies sold A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick A New York Times Notable Book, and Chosen by Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Bill Gates and Barack Obama as a Best Book of the Year “Wise and wildly entertaining . . . permeated with light, wit, youth.” —The New York Times Book Review “A classic that we will read for years to come.” —Jenna Bush Hager, Read with Jenna book club “Fantastic. Set in 1954, Towles uses the story of two brothers to show that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as we might hope.” —Bill Gates “A real joyride . . . elegantly constructed and compulsively readable.” —NPR The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden's car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett's future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction—to the City of New York. Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles's third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes. “Once again, I was wowed by Towles’s writing—especially because The Lincoln Highway is so different from A Gentleman in Moscow in terms of setting, plot, and themes. Towles is not a one-trick pony. Like all the best storytellers, he has range. He takes inspiration from famous hero’s journeys, including The Iliad, The Odyssey, Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, and Of Mice and Men. He seems to be saying that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as an interstate highway. But, he suggests, when something (or someone) tries to steer us off course, it is possible to take the wheel.” – Bill Gates

Book Rules of Civility

    Book Details:
  • Author : Amor Towles
  • Publisher : Penguin
  • Release : 2012-06-26
  • ISBN : 0143121162
  • Pages : 369 pages

Download or read book Rules of Civility written by Amor Towles and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-06-26 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway and A Gentleman in Moscow, a “sharply stylish” (Boston Globe) book about a young woman in post-Depression era New York who suddenly finds herself thrust into high society—now with over one million readers worldwide On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker, happens to sit down at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a year-long journey into the upper echelons of New York society—where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve. With its sparkling depiction of New York’s social strata, its intricate imagery and themes, and its immensely appealing characters, Rules of Civility won the hearts of readers and critics alike.

Book Summary  Amor Towles s a Gentleman in Moscow  A Novel  Discussion Prompts

Download or read book Summary Amor Towles s a Gentleman in Moscow A Novel Discussion Prompts written by Sarah Fields and published by Blurb. This book was released on 2019-03-08 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of the New York Times bestselling book Rules of Civility comes another critically-acclaimed novel. A Gentleman In Moscow: A Novel is about a man who was ordered to spend the remainder of his life inside a luxury hotel. In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to a house arrest in the grand hotel Metropol. This is located across the street from the Kremlin. A Bolshevik tribunal deemed Rostov an unrepentant aristocrat. As a man of an indomitable of erudition and wit, Rostov has never worked a day in his life. Now, he must live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in the history of Russia are unfolding just outside the doors of the hotel. His reduced circumstances have unexpectedly provided him entry into a much larger world of personal emotional discovery. A Gentleman In Moscow: A Novel relays the endeavors of the count to gain a deeper understanding of what purpose really means. In this comprehensive look into A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles, you'll gain insight with this essential resource as a guide to aid your discussions. Be prepared to lead with the following: More than 60 "done-for-you" discussion prompts available Discussion aid which includes a wealth of information and prompts Overall brief plot synopsis and author biography as refreshers Thought-provoking questions made for deeper examinations Creative exercises to foster alternate "if this was you" discussions And more! Please Note: This is a companion guide based on the work A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles not affiliated to the original work or author in any way and does not contain any text of the original work. Please purchase or read the original work first.

Book Author In Progress

Download or read book Author In Progress written by Therese Walsh and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Empower Your Writing Through Craft and Community! Writing can be a lonely profession plagued by blind stumbles, writer's block, and despair--but it doesn't have to be. Written by members of the popular Writer Unboxed website, Author in Progress is filled with practical, candid essays to help you reach the next rung on the publishing ladder. By tracking your creative journey from first draft to completion and beyond, you can improve your craft, find your community, and overcome the mental barriers that stand in the way of success. Author in Progress is the perfect no-nonsense guide for excelling at every step of the novel-writing process, from setting goals, researching, and drafting to giving and receiving critiques, polishing prose, and seeking publication. You'll love Author in Progress if... • You're an aspiring novelist working on your first book. • You're an experienced veteran looking for ways to enhance your career and connect with your writing community. • You've finished your first draft and want to know the next steps. • You're seeking clear, effective advice about publication-from professionals who are "down in the trenches" every day. What's Inside Author in Progress features: • More than 50 essays from best-selling authors, editors, and industry leaders on a variety of writing and publishing topics. • Advice on writing first drafts, conducting research, building and fostering community, seeking critique, revising, and getting published. • An encouraging approach to the writing and publishing process, from authors who've walked this path.

Book You Have Arrived at Your Destination

Download or read book You Have Arrived at Your Destination written by Amor Towles and published by . This book was released on 2020-04-25 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book The Mayakovsky Tapes

    Book Details:
  • Author : Robert Littell
  • Publisher : Macmillan
  • Release : 2016-11-22
  • ISBN : 1250100577
  • Pages : 254 pages

Download or read book The Mayakovsky Tapes written by Robert Littell and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2016-11-22 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In March 1953, four women meet in Room 408 of Moscow’s deluxe Hotel Metropol. They have gathered to reminisce about Vladimir Mayakovsky, the poet who in death had become a national idol of Soviet Russia. In life, however, he was a much more complicated figure. The ladies, each of whom could claim to have been a muse to the poet, loved or loathed Mayakovsky in the course of his life, and as they piece together their conflicting memories of him, a portrait of the artist as a young idealist emerges. From his early years as a leader of the Futurist movement to his work as a propagandist for the Revolution and on to the censorship battles that turned him against the state (and, more ominously, the state against him), their recollections reveal Mayakovsky as a passionate, complex, sexually obsessed creature trapped in the epicenter of history, struggling to hold onto his ideals in the face of a revolution betrayed. Written by Robert Littell, whom The Washington Post called “one of the most talented, most original voices in American fiction today, period,” The Mayakovsky Tapes is an ambitious, impressive novel that brings to life the tumultuous Stalinist era and the predicament of the artists ensnared in it.

Book Summary of A Gentleman in Moscow  A Novel by Amor Towles  Trivia Quiz for Fans

Download or read book Summary of A Gentleman in Moscow A Novel by Amor Towles Trivia Quiz for Fans written by Whizbooks and published by Blurb. This book was released on 2019-05-23 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles: Trivia/Quiz for Fans A Gentleman in Moscow tells the story of Count Alexander Rostov who is an aristocrat living during the rise of communism. Because he is an aristocrat, he is sentenced to house arrest. He must now remain in the Metropol Hotel and will be put to death if he leaves. A Gentleman in Moscow became a New York Times bestseller in 2016. It was also the best book of the year for The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, and NPR. The novel is "marvelous," according to The Chicago Tribune. It is layered with "richness," according to Entertainment Weekly and full of energy, in the opinion of The Wall Street Journal. According to O, the Oprah Magazine it is an elegant work of historical fiction. The Skimm compared A Gentleman in Moscow to James Bond, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Eloise. The novel received a rating of 4.5 of Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble Features You'll Discover Inside: - A comprehensive guide to aid in discussion & discovery - 30 multiple choice questions on the book, plots, characters, and author - Insightful resource for teachers, groups, or individuals - Keep track of scores with results to determine "fan status" - Share with other book fans and readers for mutual enjoyment Disclaimer: This is an unofficial summary, analysis and trivia book to enhance a reader's experience to books they already love and appreciate. We encourage our readers to purchase the original book first before downloading this copy for your enjoyment.

Book The Girl from the Metropol Hotel

Download or read book The Girl from the Metropol Hotel written by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography The prizewinning memoir of one of the world’s great writers, about coming of age as an enemy of the people and finding her voice in Stalinist Russia Born across the street from the Kremlin in the opulent Metropol Hotel—the setting of the New York Times bestselling novel A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles—Ludmilla Petrushevskaya grew up in a family of Bolshevik intellectuals who were reduced in the wake of the Russian Revolution to waiting in bread lines. In The Girl from the Metropol Hotel, her prizewinning memoir, she recounts her childhood of extreme deprivation—of wandering the streets like a young Edith Piaf, singing for alms, and living by her wits like Oliver Twist, a diminutive figure far removed from the heights she would attain as an internationally celebrated writer. As she unravels the threads of her itinerant upbringing—of feigned orphandom, of sleeping in freight cars and beneath the dining tables of communal apartments, of the fugitive pleasures of scraps of food—we see, both in her remarkable lack of self-pity and in the two dozen photographs throughout the text, her feral instinct and the crucible in which her gift for giving voice to a nation of survivors was forged. “From heartrending facts Petrushevskaya concocts a humorous and lyrical account of the toughest childhood and youth imaginable. . . . It [belongs] alongside the classic stories of humanity’s beloved plucky child heroes: Edith Piaf, Charlie Chaplin, the Artful Dodger, Gavroche, David Copperfield. . . . The child is irresistible and so is the adult narrator who creates a poignant portrait from the rags and riches of her memory.” —Anna Summers, from the Introduction

Book Summary  a Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Download or read book Summary a Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles written by Nicholas Cross and published by . This book was released on 2017-05-07 with total page 89 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Gentleman in Moscow is an intricately crafted novel by Amor Towles that manages to tell a decades long story involving only a few main characters and one location - the Metropol Hotel in Moscow. Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is sentenced to permanent house arrest within the Metropol Hotel in 1922 because of he is considered a threat to the Communist Party. Upon being sentenced, the Count is forced to move from his lavish suite in the hotel up to the isolated 6th floor. Rather than dwelling on his new riches to rags situation, he chooses to embrace practicalities and foster the aesthetics that are central to his spirit.While living in the hotel, he befriends the hotel staff and a young girl named Nina who also lives there. Nina opens Rostov's eyes to all the hotel offers. With her help, he learns about every corner of the hotel and learns the intricacies of hotel life. After Nina presents him with her secret hotel passkey, Rostov can explore any area he wants, and he discovers the hotel is a whole world itself. This summary contains tantalizing sections like:1) A detailed book summary that will be sure get you going!2) An engaging bunch of discussion questions to help you dive even deeper into the book.3) An analysis of the motifs, themes, and key characters present within the text.4) Information about publication, and what other awesome books Amor Towles has written!And so much more! Buy the book today and enhance your reading experience!Note to readers: This is a summary and analysis companion book that is meant to enrich your reading experience. This is not Amor Towle's original A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel. Regardless, we promise that you will enjoy your reading experience thoroughly!

Book Summary of the Gentleman in Moscow

    Book Details:
  • Author : Amor Towles
  • Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
  • Release : 2017-04-21
  • ISBN : 9781545516829
  • Pages : 38 pages

Download or read book Summary of the Gentleman in Moscow written by Amor Towles and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-04-21 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Gentleman in Moscow: A Complete Summary! The Gentleman in Moscow is a novel written by Amore Towles. The novel's plot is set in the beginning of the 20th century Russian Empire and follows the story of Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov and his life in the Hotel Metropol where he has been under house arrest for thirty-two years. The 20th century was one of the most turbulent times in the history of Europe. Old political systems were deemed obsolete. People wanted change; they wanted rights for all, not just for the wealthy. In the Russian Empire 'old and new' clashed in blood, violence, and death. During the 20th century, being noble was not very popular in Russia. Communists slowly but surely gained more and more trust from the people. Since their agenda blamed several groups of people for every misfortune that happened, being a count became very dangerous. Alexander Ilyich Rostov knows this. He almost gets killed but is saved at the last moment in the most peculiar way. An interesting novel, filled with historical segments, The Gentleman in Moscow is more than just a story of one man. It is a story of survival and uncertainty in dire times. Here Is A Preview Of What You Will Get: - A summarized version of the book. - You will find the book analyzed to further strengthen your knowledge. - Fun multiple choice quizzes, along with answers to help you learn about the book. Get a copy, and learn everything about The Gentleman in Moscow.

Book The Waiter

    Book Details:
  • Author : Matias Faldbakken
  • Publisher : Gallery/Scout Press
  • Release : 2019-06-18
  • ISBN : 1501197533
  • Pages : 256 pages

Download or read book The Waiter written by Matias Faldbakken and published by Gallery/Scout Press. This book was released on 2019-06-18 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “As if The Remains of the Day had been written by Kingsley Amis, The Waiter is…one of the most purely entertaining novels I’ve read in years. This book is a meal you won’t want to finish.” —J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest In the tradition of the modern classics The Remains of the Day and A Gentleman in Moscow comes The Waiter, in which the finely tuned balance of a timeworn European restaurant is irrevocably upset by an unexpected guest. The Hills dates from a time when pigs were pigs and swine were swine, the Maître D’ likes to say—in other words from the mid-1800s. Every day begins with the head waiter putting on his jacket. In with one arm, then the other. Shrugged onto his shoulders. Horn buttons done up. Always the same. There is clinking. Cutlery is moved around porcelain and up to mouths. But in this universe unto itself, there is scarcely any contact between the tables of regulars. And that is precisely how the waiter likes it. Sheer routine…until a beautiful young woman walks through the door and upsets the delicate balance of the restaurant and all it has come to represent. Told in a kaleidoscopic rotation of voices—the headwaiter, the bartender, the coat checker, the chef who never speaks—The Waiter marks the North American debut of an exciting new voice in literary fiction that will leave you longing to sit down at The Hills, order a drink, and watch the world go by….

Book The Last Castle

Download or read book The Last Castle written by Denise Kiernan and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-09-26 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times bestseller with an "engaging narrative and array of detail” (The Wall Street Journal), the “intimate and sweeping” (Raleigh News & Observer) untold, true story behind the Biltmore Estate—the largest, grandest private residence in North America, which has seen more than 120 years of history pass by its front door. The story of Biltmore spans World Wars, the Jazz Age, the Depression, and generations of the famous Vanderbilt family, and features a captivating cast of real-life characters including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, Teddy Roosevelt, John Singer Sargent, James Whistler, Henry James, and Edith Wharton. Orphaned at a young age, Edith Stuyvesant Dresser claimed lineage from one of New York’s best known families. She grew up in Newport and Paris, and her engagement and marriage to George Vanderbilt was one of the most watched events of Gilded Age society. But none of this prepared her to be mistress of Biltmore House. Before their marriage, the wealthy and bookish Vanderbilt had dedicated his life to creating a spectacular European-style estate on 125,000 acres of North Carolina wilderness. He summoned the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to tame the grounds, collaborated with celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt to build a 175,000-square-foot chateau, filled it with priceless art and antiques, and erected a charming village beyond the gates. Newlywed Edith was now mistress of an estate nearly three times the size of Washington, DC and benefactress of the village and surrounding rural area. When fortunes shifted and changing times threatened her family, her home, and her community, it was up to Edith to save Biltmore—and secure the future of the region and her husband’s legacy. This is the fascinating, “soaring and gorgeous” (Karen Abbott) story of how the largest house in America flourished, faltered, and ultimately endured to this day.

Book Fight Night

    Book Details:
  • Author : Miriam Toews
  • Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
  • Release : 2021-10-05
  • ISBN : 1635578183
  • Pages : 274 pages

Download or read book Fight Night written by Miriam Toews and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Move over, Scout Finch! There's a new contender for feistiest girl in fiction, and her name is Swiv." -USA Today, "Best Books of the Year" "Toews is a master of dialogue." -New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice "A revelation." -Richard Russo NPR Best Books of the Year * Shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize * Writers' Trust Fiction Prize Finalist * Indie Next Pick * Amazon Editors' Pick * Apple Book of the Month From the bestselling author of Women Talking and All My Puny Sorrows, a compassionate, darkly humorous, and deeply wise novel about three generations of women. “You're a small thing,” Grandma writes, “and you must learn to fight.” Swiv's Grandma, Elvira, has been fighting all her life. From her upbringing in a strict religious community, she has fought those who wanted to take away her joy, her independence, and her spirit. She has fought to make peace with her loved ones when they have chosen to leave her. And now, even as her health fails, Grandma is fighting for her family: for her daughter, partnerless and in the third term of a pregnancy; and for her granddaughter Swiv, a spirited nine-year-old who has been suspended from school. Cramped together in their Toronto home, on the precipice of extraordinary change, Grandma and Swiv undertake a vital new project, setting out to explain their lives in letters they will never send. Alternating between the exuberant, precocious voice of young Swiv and her irrepressible, tenacious Grandma, Fight Night is a love letter to mothers and grandmothers, and to all the women who are still fighting-painfully, ferociously- for a way to live on their own terms.

Book How to Live

Download or read book How to Live written by Sarah Bakewell and published by Other Press, LLC. This book was released on 2010-10-19 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography How to get along with people, how to deal with violence, how to adjust to losing someone you love—such questions arise in most people’s lives. They are all versions of a bigger question: how do you live? How do you do the good or honorable thing, while flourishing and feeling happy? This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Monatigne, perhaps the first truly modern individual. A nobleman, public official and wine-grower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them “essays,” meaning “attempts” or “tries.” Into them, he put whatever was in his head: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dog’s ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the appalling events of the religious civil wars raging around him. The Essays was an instant bestseller and, over four hundred years later, Montaigne’s honesty and charm still draw people to him. Readers come in search of companionship, wisdom and entertainment—and in search of themselves. This book, a spirited and singular biography, relates the story of his life by way of the questions he posed and the answers he explored. It traces his bizarre upbringing, youthful career and sexual adventures, his travels, and his friendships with the scholar and poet Étienne de La Boétie and with his adopted “daughter,” Marie de Gournay. And we also meet his readers—who for centuries have found in Montaigne an inexhaustible source of answers to the haunting question, “how to live?”

Book China Moon Cookbook

    Book Details:
  • Author : Barbara Tropp
  • Publisher : Workman Publishing Company
  • Release : 1992-10-01
  • ISBN : 0761164499
  • Pages : 529 pages

Download or read book China Moon Cookbook written by Barbara Tropp and published by Workman Publishing Company. This book was released on 1992-10-01 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of an IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award The "Julia Child of Chinese cooking" (San Francisco Chronicle), Barbara Tropp was a gifted teacher and the chef/owner of one of San Francisco's most popular restaurants. She was also the inventor of Chinese bistro, a marriage of home-style Chinese tastes and techniques with Western ingredients and inspiration, an innovative cuisine that stuffs a wonton with crab and corn and flavors it with green chili sauce, that stir-fries chicken with black beans and basil, that tosses white rice into a salad with ginger-balsamic dressing. Casual yet impeccable, and as balanced as yin and yang, these 275 recipes burst with unexpected flavors and combinations: Prawn Sandpot Casserole with Red Curry and Baby Corn; Spicy Tangerine Beef with Glass Noodles; Pizzetta with Chinese Eggplant, Wild Mushrooms, and Coriander Pesto; Chili-Orange Cold Noodles; Sweet Carrot Soup with Toasted Almonds; Wok-Seared New Potatoes; Crystallized Lemon Tart; and Fresh Ginger Ice Cream.