2006.brbrbPatricia Claxton/bis one of Canada’s foremost translators, who has worked with Gabrielle Roy, Nicole Brossard and Pierre Elliott Trudeau, among others.bChapter One/bbrbrIn the middle of Kigali there is a swimming pool surrounded by deckchairs and a score of tables all made of white plastic. And forming a huge L overhanging this patch of blue stands the Hôtel des Mille-Collines, with its habitual clientele of international experts and aid workers, middle-class Rwandans, screwed-up or melancholy expatriates of various origins, and prostitutes. All around the pool and hotel in lascivious disorder lies the part of the city that matters, that makes the decisions, that steals, kills, and lives very nicely, thank you. The French Cultural Centre, the UNICEF offices, the Ministry of Information, the embassies, the president’s palace (recognizable by the tanks on guard), the crafts shops popular with departing visitors where one can unload surplus black market currency, the radio station, the World Bank offices, the archbishop’s palace. Encircling this artificial paradise are the obligatory symbols of decolonization: Constitution Square, Development Avenue, Boulevard of the Republic, Justice Avenue, and an ugly, modern cathedral. Farther down, almost in the underbelly of the city, stands the red brick mass of the Church of the Holy Family, disgorging the poor in their Sunday best into crooked mud lanes bordered by houses made of the same clay. Small red houses -- just far enough away from the swimming pool not to offend the nostrils of the important -- filled with shouting, happy children, with men and women dying of AIDS and malaria, thousands of ?ñë…¸Qìÿ¾Û€  (less)

Maine. Contents: Judge Trent; Martha Lacey; A Railway Trip; Hotel Frisbie; Judge Trent's Study; Sylvia's Caller; The Mill Farm; In Harbor; Edna Derwent; Capitulation; Thinkright's Letter; A Lost Oar; Uncle and Niece; Blind Man's Holiday; A Flitting; Evolution; The Rosy Cloud; Hawk Island; A Nor'easter; The Pool; A Swimming Lesson; Blueberrying; A Philtre; Sylvia's Mystery; The Little Rift; Revelation; Misunderstanding; The Potion; The White Bag; The Light Breaks; Reconciliation; A Softened Blow; and Love Alone will Stay. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.  (less)

with your pet. In this comprehensive guide, you'll find 5,219 motels, hotels, B&Bs, lodges, and resorts, in all price ranges. Accompanying each recommendation is a brief description of the property and a complete listing of its facilities and amenities. Want a hotel with an indoor swimming pool? A hot tub and tennis court? It's all here. Plus, let Today show pet specialist Andrea Arden advise you on getting your pet ready to travel. She'll give you great tips on traveling by car and by air, pet first aid, petiquette, fun places for pet lovers, and useful web sites and other resources.  (less)

for a ladies' professional golf tournament. Each morning, before breakfast, competitors gathered at the practice tees to loosen up their swings. The women wore bright polo shirts, baggy tartan and gingham shorts, white socks, and neat cleated shoes that clacked on the paved walkways of the country club. Their hair was furled in chignons that poked through openings at the rear of baseball caps; their sleek, tanned calves resembled fresh tench attached to the backs of their shins. Caddies stood beside hefty leather golf bags at the edge of the teeing ground, and the women drew clubs from the bags with the nonchalance of archers. Soon, rinsed golf balls were flying out from the tees, soaring high above the lollipop signs that marked each fifty yards down the fairway.brbrIn addition to the golf course, heated swimming pool, and two tennis courts, hotel guests had at their disposal a peach-walled library, lit by standard lamps. White lace antimacassars lent fussy distinction to the dark red sofa and matching armchairs. Between the bookcases, in a simple gilt-wood frame, a colour print showed a suspension bridge, rigged like a harp, with staunch arched piers and high support towers lifting the curve of the main cables. Gold-tooled green and brown leatherbound books occupied the shelves alongside more modest clothbound volumes, the dye faded on their spines where light had reached it. The books were not for reading. Their purpose was to impart the atmosphere of an imperial-era country house. What the designer wished to say was,iThis is a place to which gentlemen may retire with cigars/i.brbrThe shelves held arcane titles in strange conjunctions: an Anglo-Bur@™™™™™šÿ¾Û€  (less)

to get past the coroner's verdict of accidental death -- until the body of Adele's lover is found floating in the Thames./div  (less)

of personally inspected residences are listed in this fully updated, full-color guide to B&Bs in the United Kingdom. All of the homes listed meet the quality standards for membership in The Worldwide Bed & Breakfast Association. With detailed descriptions, complete practical information, and a color photograph--many of them full-page--for each property, this is the best reference available for travelers preferring B&B accommodations.br/divDIVSavvy American travelers know that bed and breakfast accommodations offer great value, interesting locations, and unique hospitality in private homes. Organized alphabetically by county, the hundreds of B&Bs listed here range from splendid Tudor houses and modern city apartments to quaint nineteenth-century cottages and country pubs. Many accept children and pets; some serve dinner in addition to a full English breakfast; some have magnificent views, a swimming pool, or baby-sitting services. Best of all, no two are alike. For the 2003-2004 edition, all homes listed in the guide have been reviewed by the Worldwide Bed & Breakfast Association, and all information on rates and amenities has been updated. Road maps of each county clearly show the location of each B & B. With this guide in hand, you'll never have to stay in an ordinary hotel or motel again.br/div  (less)

love and loss on the road. During the leave of absence she takes from her usual life, her behavior ranges from the illicit to--she fears--the deranged. She develops a scam for staying in hotel rooms without paying. She seduces a teenage boy at a hotel swimming pool. Armed with a dangerous amount of medical lore (her husband is a surgeon), she pursues a diagnosis that might explain everything.br    brClaire even comes to believe that she is clairvoyant--able to "read" the souls of people she encounters on her travels. And eventually she begins to see into her own soul. Some might call her sexual exploits "casual"; to Claire they are anything but. As she struggles to repair her marriage and her life, she surprises herself--and us--by emerging with a new sense of redemption.br      brbLayover/bis a provocative, poignant, and entirely assured novel, with an unforgettable heroine at its heart."The psychic death, and rebirth, of a saleswoman, Layover is a chillingly modern pilgrimage: rental cars and anonymous rooms in franchise hotels, crisp bills from automated tellers, the music of e-mail chimes and electronic pagers. Lisa Zeidner writes with the precision and the ear of the poet she is."br--Kathryn Harrisonbrbr"If anyone ever called for the phrase 'too smart for her own good,' it would seem to be the heroine of Lisa Zeidner's mordant, often terrifyingly funny, new novel. Claire Newbold is unraveling, but she doesn't drop a single witty stitch of observation, metaphor, and judgment--about anything. Too smart for her own good? Maybe, maybe not. She's definitely not too smart for ours. Layover is a nervy, racehorse performan?Р (less)

Sydneysiders that their city remains the true capital of Australia, and certainly in many ways it feels like it. The city has a tangible sense of history in the old stone walls and well-worn steps in the backstreets around The Rocks, while the sandstone cliffs, rocks and caves amongst the bushlined harbour still contain Aboriginal rock carvings, evocative reminders of a more ancient past. Flying into Sydney provides a thrilling close-up snapshot of the city as the aeroplane swoops alongside sandstone cliffs and golden beaches, revealing toy-sized images of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House tilting in a glittering expanse of blue water. Towards Mascot airport the red-tiled roofs of suburban bungalows stretch ever southwards, blue squares of swimming pools shimmering from grassy backyards. The night views are nearly as spectacular, skyscrapers topped with colourful neon lights, Olympic sculptures glowing softly on the great gearstick of the Sydney Tower, while the illuminated white shells of the Opera House reflect on the dark water as ferries crisscross to Circular Quay. Sydney has all the vigour of a world-class city, and a population of five million people; yet on the ground you'll find it still possesses a seductive, small-town, easy-going charm. The furious development in preparation for the year 2000 Olympics, heralded as being something of Sydney's coming-of-age ceremony alarms many locals, who love their city just the way it is. It's not so much the greatly improved transport infrastructure, or the $200 million budget to improve and beautify the city streets and parks, but the rash of luxury hotels and apartments adding themselves, often contentiously, to the beloved harbour foreshore. It's a setting that perhaps only Rio de Janeiro can rival: the water is what makes the city so special, and no introduction to Sydney would be complete without paying tribute to one of the world's great harbours. Port Jackson is a sunken valley which twists inland to meet the fresh water of the Parramatta River; in the process it washes into a hundred coves and bays, winds around rocky points, flows past the small harbour islands, slips under bridges and laps at the foot of the Opera House. Taken together with its surrounds, Sydney is in many ways a microcosm of Australia as a whole - if only in its ability to defy your expectations and prejudices as often as it confirms them. A thrusting, high-rise business centre in the CBD, a high-profile gay community in Darlinghurst, inner-city deprivation of unexpected harshness, with the highest Aboriginal population of any Australian city, and the dreary traffic-fumed and flat suburban sprawl of the Western Suburbs, are as much part of the scene as the beaches, the bodi...  (less)

power have come to rest, revel, and marvel at Villa d'Este, the luxury hotel as spectacular as the lake it graces. Named the third-best hotel in the world in 1999 by Gourmet magazine, Villa d'Este has dazzled an impressive array of guests, including King Leopold of Belgium, Caroline of Monaco, Evita Peron, Clark Gable, Frank Sinatra, and Alfred Hitchcock. Today, this top resort destination is famed for its breathtaking gardens, its unique floating swimming pool, its exceptional cuisine, and its gala celebrations. But Villa d'Este also boasts a fascinating history filled with intrigue and passion.PVilla d'Este Style opens the doors of the celebrated hotel to reveal the secrets of its colorful past and luxurious lifestyle. Jean Salvadore, public relations director at Villa d'Este for more than three decades, delves into the estate's private archives to present an unprecedented guided tour. From its birth in 1568 as Villa Garrovo, a summer estate commissioned by a prominent cardinal, to its debut as a hotel in 1873, the early life of Villa d'Este unfolds through vintage sepia-toned photographs and evocative line drawings. From its popularity with the Hollywood glitterati to its sensuous yet understated guest rooms, today's Villa d'Este comes alive in more than 100 glorious, full-color photographs. Throughout, engaging anecdotes capture the essence of the hotel -- its splendor and grandeur, its devotion to the personal and itsundercurrents of daring. The walls of Villa d'Este have many astounding stories to tell -- including the truth about the notorious murder at the Biki fashion show and the elaborate ruse behind the erotic photo shoot for Helmut Newton's provocative White Women.PFor armchair travelers, connois@IY™™™™šÿ¾Û€  (less)

in Las Vegas, a place where magic can be fake...yet the pretend be alllll too real! Each mystery incorporates history, geography, culture and cliffhanger chapters that keep kids begging for more! Each mystery includes SAT words, educational facts, fun and humor, built-in book club and activities. Each Carole Marsh Mystery also has an Accelerated Reader quiz, a Lexile Level, and a Fountas & Pinnell guided reading level. Click HERE to read the first three chapters!  (less)

world of the 40s and 50s reminiscent of Edward Hopper & classic film noir. These scenes of solitary characters, in dimly lit restaurants and hotels, by swimming pools and on street corners, transcend their toy figure composition and childlike scale to become atmospheric, adult scenarios, heavy with the search for romance in a hostile, lonely environment. While selections of this series have been published in various books, this is the first time a whole book has been devoted to these important images, many of which have not been published previously. Accompanying the images is an essay by acclaimed photographer and photo historian Eugenia Parry. PModern Romance is secretive, illicit. A woman stands under a street lamp. She is (a) waiting for her husband, (b) waiting for her lover, (c) waiting for a customer, (d) waiting, (e) all of the above. Roger Rosenblatt Levinthal questions how much we substitute image for actuality Eric P. Nash, The New York Times  (less)

it's home to well over one million people, with enough newcomers arriving to need a new school every month. Las Vegas is not like other cities. No city in history has so explicitly valued the needs of visitors above those of its own population. All its growth has been fueled by tourism, but the tourists haven't spoiled the "real" city; there is no real city. Las Vegas doesn't have fascinating little-known neighborhoods, and it's not a place where visitors can go off the beaten track to have more authentic experiences. Instead, the whole thing is completely self-referential; the reason Las Vegas boasts the vast majority of the world's largest hotels is that around thirty-seven million tourists each year come to see the hotels themselves. Each of these monsters is much more than a mere hotel, and more too than the casino that invariably lies at its core. They're extraordinary places, self-contained fantasylands of high camp and genuine excitement that can stretch as much as a mile from end to end. Each holds its own flamboyant permutation of showrooms and swimming pools, luxurious guest quarters and restaurants, high-tech rides and attractions. The casinos want you to gamble, and they'll do almost anything to lure you in; thus the huge moving walkways that pluck you from the Strip sidewalk, almost against your will, and sweep you into places like Caesars Palace. Once you're inside, on the other hand, the last thing they want is for you to leave. Whatever you came in for, you won't be able to do it without crisscrossing the casino floor innumerable times; as for finding your way out, that can be virtually impossible. The action keeps going day and night, and in this windowless - and clock-free - environment you rapidly lose track of which is which. "Little emphasis is placed on the gambling clubs . . . No cheap and easily parodied slogans have been adopted to publicize Las Vegas, no attempt has been made to introduce pseudo-romantic architectural themes or to give artificial glamour or gaiety." WPA Guidebook to Nevada, 1940 Las Vegas never dares to rest on its laurels, so the basic concept of the Strip casino has been endlessly refined since the Western-themed resorts and ranches of the 1940s. In the 1950s and 1960s, when most visitors arrived by car, the casinos presented themselves as lush tropical oases at the end of the long desert drive. Once air travel took over, Las Vegas opted for Disneyesque fantasy, a process that started in the late 1960s with Caesars Palace and culminated with Excalibur and Luxor in the early 1990s. These days, after six decades of capitalism run riot, the Strip is locked into a hyperactive craving for thrills and glamour. First-time visitors tend to exp...  (less)