Picked warm from a tree; a California apricot opens into halves as easily as if it came with a dotted line down its center. The seed infuses the core with a hint of almond; the fruit carries the scent of citrus and jasmine; and it tastes; some say; like manna from heaven. In these pages; Robin Chapman recalls the season when the Santa Clara Valley was the largest apricot producer in the world and recounts the stories of Silicon Valleys now lost orchards. From the Spaniards in the eighteenth century who first planted apricots in the Mission Santa Clara gardens to the post-World War II families who built their homes among subdivided orchards; relive the long summer days ripe with bumper crops of this much-anticipated delicacy.
#1681391 in eBooks 2012-04-01 2012-04-01File Name: B00XR20PI0
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. You are convinced that Lajos Egri knows how to construct a dramaBy Cricket FanYou are convinced that Lajos Egri knows how to construct a drama - he has a flamboyant writing style and as such is very interesting to read. You also get wonderful example from famous plays - that brilliantly display what he is talking about87 of 90 people found the following review helpful. Chock full of drama goodiesBy Eric von RothkirchWhat Lajos Egri will show you:* Formulate your premise. Premise is a statement; idea; or conviction that your story proves true. For example; the premise of Romeo and Juliet would be something like "Love defies even death." * Choose a pivotal character who will force the conflict. * Orchestrate the other characters. The unity of opposites must be binding. Polar opposites must form a dialectic which creates a unified tension. * Be careful to select the correct point of attack. Every point of attack starts with conflict. * There are several types of conflict; such as jumping conflict; but you only want rising or foreshadowing conflict. * No conflict can rise without perpetual exposition; which is transition. For example; a character going about his daily life doesnt suddenly become a NAZI; it happens in gradual steps--transition. * Rising conflict; the product of exposition and transition; will ensure growth. * Characters must conflict--there must be some polarity. * Crisis will lead to climax. Climax will lead to conclusion. * Dialogue should come from the voice of the character; not the writer.Many TV; film; and novel plots and characters lack compelling conflict. The characters are just floating by... until something big happens. Lajos Egri illustrates how to change all this.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. The master piece that competes with Howard Lawsons workBy Rodrigo CarranzaThis book is a classic.One of the things that makes this book a classic is its simplicity. The book start exploring how you as a dramatic writer can use Premise as the guiding sign through out the whole process of writing a story.Once you have a premise you can work on creating your characters (using the premise to do that). To do this youll have to know your characters physiology; sociology; pshychology; etc.Once you have your characters you can work on creating the story using the principle of contradiction; thesis; antithesis and synthesis. Youll have to use clashing forces... (again; you use the premise as explained at the beginning of the book).Then the author covers some of the most important elements in writing dramatic material of quality.In my case I found the chapter of "Jumping" quite enlightening. Once you read this chapter youll understand why many; many stories just dont work. The characters jump and then... they fall to their death... and to the apaty of the audience.What is it that I like about this book? Well; I read it... time passes... come back to it again... time passes... and I come back again to read it!Where as most books make you feel like writing is extremely difficult; this one always makes me feel like Im in command and that great story telling is within my grasp.
