Gripping!
	This is one of Nora Roberts' best books ever! I have read everything she's written and this is now my all time favorite. I ADORE this book.  The characters are interesting and very human, the plot is gripping and the background fascinating.  Callie, an archeologist, comes to a little town in Maryland to set up a dig and ends up learning about her birth parents and reuniting with her ex-husband. What I really like about this is the two main characters already have a history before this book so its so much that they fall in love on the spur of the moment, like most romances (including Roberts).  Definitely a book I highly recommend for both the romance and the thrilling plot.  It will keep you glued to the pages until you figure out who the bad guys are


All around good, easy read
	I started the book last night, and couldn't put it down until 4 am, but at least I finished it! It was a good storyline, I enjoyed getting a simple  glimpse into the media world.  It also gives you a good peek into the  corruption behind campaigns and politics in general. I really liked the  characters in this book, although each one, in my opinion, could have used  some more depth.   The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars is because  as you read it - you start to feel that the second half of the book   lt;with extra emphasis on the last quarter of the book gt; was completely  RUSHED.  I really don't like a sudden closing to a book. However, it really  does keep you guessing until the last couple of pages.  I just feel that it  could have had MORE of an impact, and MORE of that  quot;UMPH quot; had the  story been written at the same speed throughout. I do recommend this book  for anyone who just wants a good book to read.  If you're looking for  something you will remember for life - this isn't going to be it.  But if  you're looking for a pleasant way to spend a nice afternoon - - - by all  means, try reading Mary Jane Clark's  quot;Do You...etc. quot;   Final  word: I believe her mother-in-law, the OTHER Clark, would be quite proud of  her ex-daughter in law.  The woman can write.  However, given her talents,  I wish she would learn to write in her own style, instead of in the  familiar style of the OTHER Clark


hilarious
	truly and surely one of the best comic strips ever! were you to be sick in bed and need something to make you laugh, this is the best medicine


The Profit Order World
	Reviewers are right about this book tracing the origins of the modern surveillance state back to the birth of the modern prison system but they are not mentioning the prime motive for this that Foucault points to: profit and capitalism.  With the rise of industrial society it was more important to regiment and discipline the masses than 'off with their head' or hands.  The panopticon prison idea was taken to the factory and service industry by industial giants like Carnegie and Rockefeller and the fruits of this profitable perversion can be seen all over society today: delivery drivers monitored throughout the day by GPS, social security cards, public schooling (founded by the same industrial giants) intellectual and psychological grading, job placement and conformity, credit ratings, licences needed to do everything but go to the bathroom, a growing snitch culture...Foucault's major thesis is that surveillance (discipline) aids profit and any deviation from profit leads to state-sanctioned punishment in the form of increased surveillance.  As industry and profits increase so will the surveillance and discipline that make it run smoothly.  Every facet of modern society works to this end.  The irony is, as techno-pundits like McCluhan later pointed out, in the modern world the prisoner with a tv set has as much denatured freedom as the tycoon in his guarded estate and they enjoy a lot of the same things in a world where pleasure is increasingly programmed and vicarious; in a world that has turned from the moral order to the profit order, where bad credit today is the profit order version of the ancient moral order idea of excommunication.  Everything that stands in the way of the profit order, whether it be an idea, person, religion, or country is attacked.  Bottom line, we are all 'human resources' in the political economy, in the religion of capital: packaged and packed like a bunch of sardines with the capitalist state and its laws protecting the tabernacle of profit over all else.  The inanity and inherent fraud of our system, not to mention the explosion of prison populations and an insane consumer society, makes a lot more sense after being traced by a renegade like Foucault.  Of all his books this is also the easiest read.  This is a beautiful book by a complicated man.  by the way, he taught at the University of Buffalo for a short time.


One of the better sexual books.....
	When I thought there were not any more sex  quot;techniques quot; I could learn from a book, this book just amazed me.Combined with stuff about how to make a lady feel special out of bed, this book can make you a better lover, husband or sex partner for sure.


Totalitarianism:  Nazism and Communism.
	Hannah Arendt's _The Origins of Totalitarianism_ is a book that takes a hard look at two rival totalitarian movements in the twentieth century, Soviet Communism and Nazism, and traces their historical roots.  The book is divided into three volumes focusing on Antisemitism, Imperialism, and Totalitarianism.  The first of these volumes is concerned with the historical origins of Antisemitism.  Arendt examines some of the ways historians have dealt with the historical roots of Antisemitism.  For example, some historians have argued based on a "scapegoat theory" that the Jews were used as an innocent scapegoat for the world's ills.  Arendt concludes that such approaches are flawed because they fail to take into account the full historical situation of the Jews.  Arendt explores the rise of Antisemitism in the birth of the nation-state, the emancipation of the Jews, the rise of the Jewish financiers, the roles of Jews within society, and the infamous Dreyfus affair.  Of particular interest here is the role of conpiracy theories concerning such individuals as Benjamin Disraeli or the infamous forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.  The idea that the Jews constitute a race or are members of secret societies or clubs played an important role in the historical development of Antisemitism.  The second of the volumes in this book is concerned with the rise of Imperialism.  Here, a discussion of racism and racial thinking is examined involving such racial theorists as Count Arthur de Gobineau and various forms of Social Darwinism.  The role of the Boers in South Africa is looked at and a thorough examination of the lives of such individuals as Cecil Rhodes, who called for the creation of a secret society of aristocratic Nordic elite, is made.  The great Pan Movements, Pan-Slavism, Pan-Germanism, and the Pan-Arabism of T. E. Lawrence are dealt with and their subsequent roles in the creation of the totalitarian states is explored.  The final volume of this book is concerned with Totalitarianism proper.  Here, the role of propaganda and the secret police, as well as terror and the concentration camps are dealt with in their place in Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.  Arendt explores each of these issues and shows why they are so particularly disturbing.  Arendt contends that totalitarianism sought to annihilate the nature of man completely.  Repression and terror abound within the totalitarian state and freedom is virtually nonexistent.  Written during the Cold War period and just after the Second World War, this book takes an important look into the minds of such totalitarian leaders as Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin.  Their movements of Nazism and Soviet Communism continue to haunt the modern world even though they have been largely extinguished.  The book is important today not only for historical reasons, but also because it gives a unique view of the world within a totalitarian society and the unique political danger that such totalitarian movements and institutions causes for the modern world


Great summer read
	I found Airframe to be a great book to read on my summer vacation.  I was expecting it to be more of a science fiction novel but it is really a book about corporate intrigue and social commentary (i.e. the media).  That being said, I was not the least disappointed.

In his typical style, Crichton takes an aerospace engineering course and boils it down to plain English.  I learned so much about the construction of airplanes and the airline industry - it was fascinating.  He also does a great job in raking the mass media over the coals - which was fun (and somewhat ironic from the creator of "ER")!

The book is fast paced and reads like a movie - which I am sure is no coincidence by Crichton ;)  The main character is very likeable and you find yourself rooting for her.  There are a number of plot twists and surprises and it certainly keeps you turning the pages.

In summary I would not say that this is Crichton's best work, but it is surely a very enjoyable book that I would recommend to everyone


Beautiful and Practical
	This is not the book for you if you're impatient with precision and specifics; if you want good results, you'll do what Michael Recchiuti tells you to do. You'll buy the higher-butterfat butter, you'll use the Scharffen-Berger or Valrhona and chuck the Hershey's, and you'll be so glad you did, because every recipe --and I mean every single one of the seven or eight recipes I have tried from this book thus far-- has been fantastic.

I would not call this a good beginner's cookbook, though the photography is gorgeous enough to qualify this as a coffee table book even for those who don't want to get in the kitchen. Some baking experience is helpful, as is a well-equipped kitchen (stand-mixer, immersion blender, heavy-bottomed pots for sauces etc).  This is an outstanding book and I highly recommend it.


Better than Volume 1!
	For those who have not read Volume 1, just get Book 2 and get all the great information plus lots more.  Being a born-again Christian, some of the dialogue is beyond my belief system, but just glean the book and keep the great stuff.  If your faith is well-grounded, just look at this as a first class medical journal and forget the buddhist hogwash


wow.
	if you've been given this book, or recommended it by a friend then you've been blessed. this book is bizarre, yes, but if it finds its way to you i'm sure you won't be troubled by that minor detail. thank you Elisabeth Haich, for this book - it's a gift - i can't possibly explain in words the effect this book had on my life, nevermind fathom how the author used words to discuss topics which have traditionally defied discussion. i still can't believe that this book actually exists, but i'm eternally thankful it does


Yazoo City Native
	I am from Yazoo City so this book has always been one of my favorites. I saw Willie Morris at a car wash in Jackson, MS not long before his death. I was shy and didn't want to bother him, so I didn't introduce myself and have a chat. I would have loved to have spoken with him. Now I regret my shyness - should've taken the chance. Yazoo City has an enduring quality and charm that shows in all his books and stories. No matter where I live, it will always be home. There is a great feeling of safety and warmth whenever I drive into the city limits. It is a feeling of home. Not many people have that sense of home these days. I feel blessed to have grown up there


Must Read for Actors!
	This play was amazing! I am not a reader, and I couldn't put it down. I recommend this play for any actor. It will stretch your mind and acting abilities.


MAGNIFICENT!
	I don't know why the other reviewers though it was a horrible book. It was absolutely captivating!  I was immediately enthralled in the story, and the has such a profound message.


A thick Read
	A great reference book to have for any designer, although a little tedious at times a solid read with a great historical overview of the subject. I would definitely recommend to any enthusiastic designer with a thirst for knowledge on things Typographical.

Since reading, I have become more critical of Typography in general and it works as a great guide when in doubt


Laughing so hard I;m doing #1 in my uderbritches
	Just when you thought you've heard all Larry has to offer...  it gets WAY better...   I've only just started reading it the past 2 days, but I have to say it..  I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE THAT'S FUNY RIGHT THERE!!!!!

He's got hte downhome Good Ole Boy humor mixed 9at least i see it that way) with a good interpretation of how ALL "blue coller" working class people are.    I may be a yankee.. but I'm from the great city of PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA.....  AND WE LIVE AND THRIVE ON GOOD OLE AMERICAN LIVING.   Funny how Redneck verbage and Pittsburghese IS errily SIMILAR.  Makes me PROUD to wave, wear and salute the red white and blue


This book contains powerful healing techniques
	This book was referred to me by one of the author's students. I have been practicing Karuna Reiki for several years.  I was thrilled to read this book. The author has introduced many specific healing techniques and symbol combinations that have produced amazing results for my clients.  She obviously has an incredible passion for Karuna Reiki because the book reads as if the energy itself wrote every word.


NOBLE PRIZE WINNER ON CONFLICT
	The 2005 Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to Robert Aumann and Thomas C. Schelling.  Schelling is professor of Economics at the University of Maryland and applied game theory to conflict.  His focus was on the weapons issues but his ideas have been applied to a host of business issues.

	In this review, we will apply some of Shelling's concepts to how companies fire employees.

	Schelling says "uncertain retaliation is more efficient than certain retaliation" when bargaining and "the capability to retaliate is more useful than the ability to defend."  Now let's get practical.

			GOODBYE SCENARIO

	As a verb, "goodbye" is the act of parting.  It is also an acknowledgement of parting.  A goodbye scenario assumes that once employees physically leave the building, they will never be a factor for the company's future.  The relationship was transactional and the transaction is now over.

	If the firm defines the termination as a goodbye scenario, the firm should be guided by a business model that says, "What's the least expensive way of terminating this relationship?"  And Board members should ask tough questions about paying too much.

			AUWIEDERSEHEN SCENARIO

	"Auwiedersehen" is German for "Until we meet again."  It has a more open-ended quality than the English "goodbye."  In an auwiedersehen scenario, the assumption is that once employees physically leave the building, they may continue to be a factor in the firm's future.  But it is unclear what that factor may be.

After their non-compete contracts are over, they may join a smaller competitor and become potential allies or opponents in your firm's efforts to develop strategic alliances or acquire the firm.

They may join firms that touch your industry and become potential referral sources of new business for you or a potential source of caution to others about using your company.

They may attend alumni programs at their schools and encourage/discourage graduates from joining your firm.

Each of these scenarios assumes capability of retaliation plus uncertainty of retaliation.

The best practical defense in terminating employees under these conditions is "Treat  people with dignity on the way out because the assured costs of such positive treatment are less than the potential downside retaliatory risks.

		AUWIEDERSEHEN VS IT'S NICE TO BE NICE

	We work with companies that treat departing leaders with dignity
on the grounds that  "it is good public relations and good for morale if we help former employees achieve a `soft landing.'"  This positive rationale works only in cultures supportive of such a rationale.

	The Schelling rationale does not depend on an organizion having a specific culture for treating people with dignity.

	It develops a contingency approach to management based on a risk assessment.

There may be times when a "goodbye" scenario does indeed make good sense.  There are other times when "auwiedersehen" makes better economic sense.

In applying Professor Schelling's theories, management's failure to take defensive measures with those possessing abilities and options to retaliate is is just bad economics.  One sees it at work every day.

(...)


A Fantastic Exercise in "What If"
	This isn't really a novel and it isn't really a collection of short stories, but the vignettes are more fable than whimsy because fables are filled with lessons.  Alan Lightman writes about many possibilities of the alternate reality of time, as he imagines Einstein envisioned them.  Each alternate reality builds off a cliched phrase we use to describe time:  Time is Money, Time Flows Uphill, Live in the Present - Forget the Past, Time is Motion, etc.

Lightman writes beautifully and his imagined realities are intriguing, each could be the setting for powerful stories.  It's a quick read, a fun read, and well worth the 'time.'

- CV Ric


Using this book at UNC Charlotte in class
	All right... All right, I say. So I'm writing about a preteen book about a little girl. That doesn't make me weird does it? It shouldn't since I had to read it for a college course. So I'm writing because, well, who would've ever guessed, but I loved it? It's a ripping story, man. It is funny, inventive, historic and riveting, all the things I was sure it wouldn't be when I got assigned the book. So, here I am, blown away by a book about a little girl. I don't even like history, but it wasn't presented as antiquated. It was dealt with as you and I would deal with our history, as pertinent, in the moment, and nothing that has been generated and worked over in a history book. I'm telling you, the character Darby is great, as are all the characters, including the total garps that go around spouting their racist jargon, etc, until Darby unintentionally questions everything, causing all matter of problems, like maybe she'll get knocked off by the Klan. The story is actually something you'll find yourself absolutely focused on. I couldn't put it down. I've read a lot of adolescent fiction for this class, and I can say that if I had a kid, I'd be pouring this down their brain. So, does that make me weird? Who cares, huh? I had to read the book for my class, and I'm happy I did


Creating Mindful Reactions That Are Good for Your Health!
	I decided to read this book because I enjoyed Dr. O'Connor's book, Undoing Depression so much.  I am delighted to report that Undoing Perpetual Stress is an even better book.

What is perpetual stress like?  The metaphor that Dr. O'Connor uses is that of an impala who thinks there's a cheetah behind every rock.  The flight or fight response is never at rest . . . and the poor impala's health is soon destroyed.

Dr. O'Connor argues that our over stimulating world creates the same kinds of stress from unseen "threats" as the world goes whizzing by at 75 miles per hour.

In the book, he describes the sources of the stress, how stress undermines your body, immune system, brain and mind, and what you can do to put the stress comfortably in the background.

This book will appeal to those who are stressed out, those who experience anxiety and depression at the same time, those who love such people, and those who want to better understand the mind-body connection based on the latest scientific research.

Undoing Perpetual Stress is filled with many helpful exercises that will help even those who don't think they have too much stress.  One of the best from my perspective was taking a psychological snapshot of yourself every five years . . . and spotting what was wrong with your life at each stage.  I was astonished to realize how many memories I had repressed, but which are still influencing my psychology.  And Dr. O'Connor is good about reminding you to "practice, practice, practice" the exercises and his advice.

I have been a meditator for over ten years, and this book helped me to gain a lot of perspective on what the meditation is helping and what it is not.  While I have eliminated a lot of the background noise, I haven't dealt with a lot of old issues.  It was helpful to find out what those issues are . . . and what to do about them.  I found that my creativity and mind were suddenly freed by the process.

For parents, there's a lot of new information here on how various parenting methods influence a child over a lifetime.  It's a lot better than what you read in that first book about how to be a parent.  Check it out!

This book should be required reading for anyone who finishes high school


LOVE IT!
	When I saw the cover of this book, I had a feeling I would love it. The picture of the little boy on the cover flexing his muscles is something I have seen my three sons do many, many times. When I opened it and started to read, wonderful memories flooded back of when my sons were younger. I laughed and cried almost simultaneously while reading several of the stories.

If you have sons, or have friends that have sons, this book is a must. I will be buying my friends who are mothers of sons this for Christmas


Incomparable
	Few works survive two and a half thousand years and remain a masterpiece. This is one of them.

Thucydides crisp account of the long struggle that brought disaster to his native Athens is remarkable for it's candor, despite events that must have been tragically painful. The text includes legendary personalities (Pericles, Alcibiades, Demosthenes, Nicias, etc): their actions, words, and fate. Facts license readers to decide what's important, and the events described are worthy of discerning the essence of humanity.

Who would have thought the promise of Persian defeat (told by Herodotus) would be squandered in a tedious contest that ultimately proved grave for all involved? Athens' distinction as the first democracy makes it a vital epic (given recent attempts to democratize the Middle East). Melos destiny at Athens' hands may give pause. As may the Syracuse expedition (especially Book Seven).

I read Warner's translation thirty years ago (it was 50p then), and still turn to it from time to time. Also recommended: `The Landmark Thucydides' (Robert Strassler, Victor Davis Hanson). This is a volume for those willing to spend a bit more to obtain the history matched with maps and footnotes


Contentment
	I too have stood at the dessert table of a buffet hopelessly unable to eat as many servings as I wanted.  This is a perfect metaphor for the book "When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough".  The book is about the spiritual yearning you feel inside, that always seems to want something more.  Until they arrive at that "something more", people can never truly feel content.

As is the case with most of Kushner's writing, he uses a book of the old testament to further his explanation. In this case, he effectively employs the seemingly paradoxical book of Ecclesiastes.  This book of the Bible finds its author searching for more in life.  In the end, the author finds that it is not so much the end as the journey itself that has importance.

Kushner's overall point is best summarized on page 189.  Does it make a difference if I am honest, good, or faithful?  It does not seem to matter to my bank account or fortune.  "... It matters if we are true to ourselves, to our innate human nature that requires things like honesty and kindness and grows flabby and distorted if we neglect them.  It matters if we learn how to share our lives with others, making them and their world different, rather than try and hoard life to ourselves.  It matters than we learn to recognize the pleasures of every day, food and work and love and friendship, as encounters with the divine, encounters that teach us not only that God is real but that we are real too."

It is a simple yet beautiful message.  People that live this message will certainly discover the beauty in their life


Here's the template!
	This is *da book* on  quot;The Dick Van Dyke Show quot;, but it's really far more than that.  It is the finest book on a TV sitcom I've ever come across.  Waldron painstakingly discusses everything you'd ever want to know  about  the show, and he interviewed (seemingly) everyone connected with the  show, including Carl Reiner, Mary Tyler Moore, Dick, Larry Matthews, Rose  Marie, and many of the writers. If you're a DVDS fan, you've gottta have  this tome on hand.  I can't recommend it  highly enough.  I fervently hope  Vince will do subsequent books on  quot;Cheers quot; and other  sitcoms...he's the ONLY man for the job


As informative and Entertaining as the Movie Counterpart
	I purchased this book after having seen Super Size Me and I was a little worried that there would be nothing new for Morgan to present. I, however, was proven wrong. This is a very good read that is able to put down more statistics and specifics about the food industry that the movie was not as focuses on. The movie, of course, was focused mostly on the fast food industry.

Morgan Spurlock is always a surprise. You seem him with his long sideburns and know he is from West Virginia and you just expect the stereotype. He is not a stereotype. The book is written in a very clear voice, the same intelligent humorous voice that came across in the movie, "Super Size Me."

My one disappointment is that I was hoping the book would have more details about the diet that his girlfriend put him on when he finished his 30 days, but now I see she has her own book. Ah, marketing!

I think you can read this as stand alone but as everyone notes, it works great in conjunctions with the movie to help you not forget


Exquisite Historical Prose!
	The nature of a people is seldom easy to describe because the attempt is often sabotaged by either the Outsider's incorrect perceptions or the Insider's preconceptions, depending on which is constructing the definition. What we find with W.J. Cash's The Mind of the South is no different, although it is a pleasant journey. Sparkling with some of the most fluid prose ever found in historical writing, Cash's work deserves recognition for this reason alone; yet there is value in the exposition itself, even if it forgets a full two-thirds of the South's population in its description (blacks and women). What the modern reader is left with, then, is not so much a description of the "the southern mind" as it is "the white southern male mind." And while Cash's work does not quite apologize for the many neuroses of that mind, it does attempt to explain the effects it has had on our perception of the American South, with a small dash of glory added for good measure.

First, it is important for us to take into account the wonderful introduction to the work by Bertram Wyatt-Brown. Wyatt-Brown shows that Cash's battle with depression was a salient part in understanding his interpretation of the South, as was his upbringing. Wyatt-Brown seems to agree with my assessment on the Insider/Outsider effect:

    "The origins of Cash's interpretation of his culture and region lay not only in the objective fact of Southern intransigence about issues of race and change, but in the very makeup of his mind. Like so many creative depressives, he stood apart from the society around him. Such a position of detachment can provide a special angle of vision that those immersed in society cannot obtain (Cash xxvii)."

Wyatt-Brown, with this statement, makes Cash an outside-Insider, by virtue of his being a manic depressive. He is a southerner, and therefore capable of the same preconceptions of his own people as any southerner; however, according to Wyatt-Brown, by reason of his mental condition, he is elevated away from this status and into a new status altogether, a presumably better one. I would agree with this, if the work itself is to be taken as proof. Cash is capable of wonderful insights into his own culture and society. However - and this is crucial! - we must not gloss over the fact that by omitting women and blacks from his work, Cash loses some credibility. It is here, it seems, that Cash could not escape the Insider mentality.

This work is characterized by one over-arching theme: southern culture, though as elusive in most respects as any other, is penetrated throughout with one defining and collective temperament. In essence, this work is interpretative rather than linear, as it attempts to analyze rather than delineate. This elevates Cash from the traditional historian (in the mold of Clement Eaton) to sociologist or social commentator (in the mold of David Halberstam). That is not to say that Cash does not know his history or pilfers it from others; it seems impossible after reading The Mind of the South for one to imagine Cash using such smooth language while pulling facts from anywhere outside his own mind. The disjointed quality usually apparent in any attempt to fuse sources without an overall voice is thankfully absent. Cash is who we hear while we read, and it is his elucidative brush-strokes that paint the image of the Southerner.

Much is left out of this short review of Cash's work, as brevity is a consideration. A more complex examination of the work would require many more words than I have time for at the moment. But I do feel obligated to at least sum up the trajectory of Cash's masterpiece. The first few chapters lay the groundwork for Cash's southern temperament - individualistic, violent, quasi-aristocratic, provincial, just to name a few - while the remainder of the work displays the evolution of that temperament while it is worked upon by forces both outside it and from within, and its own natural need to adapt. The Yankee plays his part, as does Uncle Tom and the fugitive slave, the southern belle and the Garrison abolitionist, the carpet-bagger and the scalawag, the confederate soldier and the lynch mob, the fire-eater and the bible-thumping revivalist. It is impossible for any society to exist in a vacuum, or as a prehistoric insect preserved in amber. That being said, it is still remarkable that the American south came as close as it did


Another hit from Barry
	This is another collection of Barry's columns and a surefire hit for any fan.  As usual, his columns pack a punch and end with a zinger or inside joke.  Mr. Language Person makes an appearance or two in this collection, and Barry also takes on TV commericials, his relationship with his wife, and (always a winner) the life of his teenaged son.  Recommended


bright and enjoyable, but not especially deep
	While I agree with several people who don't consider this chick-lit, I don't see why that is a bad thing. I enjoyed Radish's writing style, purple prose and all. If you're expecting a Dickensian journey into a complex character, this book is not it. However, it does provide a snapshot of a woman forced to assess her life and choose between the road less traveled and her current miserable life.

Yes, the (positive and negative) circumstances of Meg's life were unrealistic, but I felt they were dramatized to make a point. We all have strong, kind, and amazing people in our lives, but we have to look for these things in people. I had an aunt just like Marcia, who fought her battles with a fantastic sense of humor, courage, and love for everyone around her. The message I took from this book is this - life can be all you want if you simply take the time to nourish your own strength and that of those around you. It doesn't take money to be powerful and satisfied with your life


Insightful and Exceedingly Rare Scholarship
	Kudos to Finkelstein for having the courage to tackle such subject matter.  The fact that he himself, a descendent of Holocaust survivors, has been attacked and derided for writing it just goes to prove one of his underlying points: you cannot criticize the state of Israel or its proponents without being labeled an anti-Semite.  Any discussion of their illegal occupation or the countless UN resolutions condemning them is tantamount to sympathizing and promoting terrorism.  By far one of the most interesting sections is the portion dealing with the Swiss banks; this version also has an updated appendix that covers rulings left out of the hardcover edition.  Finkelstein does come across overtly hostile at times but his anger is justified and those holding it against him seem to blow it a bit out of proportion.  Very odd that those on the far left and far right both give accolades to this work.  Hilberg's endorsement carries a tremendous amount of weight, and those unfamiliar with his seminal multi-volume set The Destruction of European Jews would be well served to check it out


He LOVES it!
	Not only was the book cheaper on Amazon than the bookstores but I ordered this book for my boyfriend from here and I got it earlier than expected so that was great! He says it has great step-by-step images and that's a positive for him since he learns more from visuals. Also, it has instructions that he's able to follow and understand.

We both just wish it had more "food art" in the book but, overall, it's a great book


My Infant Smiles Whenever He Sees This Book
	We have enjoyed another of Eric Carle's books--Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See--since my son was a few weeks old.  So, when my son was about 7 months old, I bought From Head to Toe.  It was a wonderful purchase!  After a few reads, my son was imitating the animals just like his mama--waving his arms like a monkey and on his hands and knees like the cat.  It was so wonderful for me to see that my son was understanding and processing the books I read to him.


A rich and thought-provoking book
	If you are a runner, you may have experienced the mental benefits that running provides.  You may have also felt a spiritual presence while running, perhaps saying a prayer or working through personal problems while on the trail.  In this extraordinary book, Joslin explores this mind/body connection and gives many different ways to experience the spiritual side of the sport. He shares meditative techniques developed over many years and very rich personal experiences with excerpts from his running journal.  The book is well thought-out and written with a great deal of humility and care.  This is one that I will read again and again.  It changed the way I approach running.  I also think about this book throughout the day, even when I am not running.  A great book


Leslie does it again!
	I am a total addict of Leslie Sansone's Walk Away programs - I had many exercise videos, but never stuck to anything until I found her energizing, fun, and most of all easy workouts.

In her personal, talking-to-you-like-a-best-friend style, Leslie shows you how regular exercise benefits you in all ways from your health to your body to your mind and then presents her easy to follow basic workout which consists of three walking steps that are interchanged and sometimes modified while doing the program.

There is no dieting in this program!  She is a strong proponent of getting up and moving to better your life and shows it here by offering a few modifications you can make to your way of eating to help you lose weight, but no real diet, which I think is great!  It helps to show that the real health factor is getting the exercise you need, not feeling deprived of the food you want which is why many diets fail.

She has many success stories to motivate you peppered throughout the book and closes with a discussion about how stress affects your life and how you can beat it through exercise.

I love Leslie!  She is personable, motivating, and a great teacher - I am forever grateful to her for getting this former couch potato, at-home mom to stick to an exercise routine that I know will always benefit my life


Thinking and Racism
	To think about racism is to be thoughtful. To be thoughtful is to be engaged in the process of learning. To refuse to reflect on and examine your belief systems is to be ignorant


A Loving Look At Middle Earth
	This book was originally published ca 1980 as England and Always.  I have not seen the original so I can't tell how much of this book is new material (beyond a chapter dealing with Peter Jackson's films).  Lobdell has examined Tolkien's writings from several interesting and unusual perspectives.  One of the most interesting deals with the influence of Edwardian adventure fiction (Haggard, etc.) on Tolkien.  Another fascinating chapter deals with Middle Earth as a Christian world in a pre-Christian age.  There is also a short fiction story in an Appendix which is meant to be a sort of parallel to Tolkien's own abandoned sequel to The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the Shadow.  I enjoyed this story, though of course Lobdell as a fiction writer cannot measure up to Tolkien. (But then, no one can!)

I am a long time Tolkien reader and addict (since the age of 12 in 1969.)  Most of the time I do not care for Tolkien "criticism" and "literary analysis", which to me seems to suck out the magic, but Lobdell's work is different.  The World of the Rings enhances Middle Earth and intensifies the love I feel for it


One of King's Best
	Masterfully thought out   written. Not your usual supernatural, horror King story. Written in 4-5 completely different chapters there is some supernatural, but it begins as a story of some friends in childhood, follows them through the years   culminates with them as adults. Each chapter is completely different yet ties some characters in. At the end they are all tied together in some ways years later. It's ingenious in it's finale and I advise you set aside some time for reading. It's very difficult to put down. Once it grabs your interest, it just sucks you into the story. If you remember your childhood friends (we all do) you'll identify with the story


Heroic and On Target.
	Phyllis Chesler is a most unusual feminist. She really doesn't fit in with the equity feminist crowd and is a complete dissenter from the female superiority, gender feminist crowd. The one thing that makes her consistently worth reading is her passion for telling the truth. This seems to be her most pervasive (and endearing) feature as an intellectual, and the trait was ubiquitously on display throughout her recent "Death of Feminism" release. Here she tackles a verboten subject which is whether or not women are the unbridled source of goodness that many feminists assume them to be. Numerous examples of misapplied and unprovoked indirect aggression are identified and elucidated in the text. On the whole, it makes for compelling reading. We find that women are regular human beings just like everyone else. They have many of the same, yet subtlety different, characteristics as do men. In these pages, Chesler illustrates the magnitude of inter-woman hostility as their strong social skills can often be applied in a negative manner. Many mother-daughter conflicts are projected into adult situations. Why feminists wouldn't have wanted this published seems rather silly to me. We should regard women as they are and not as objects of fantasy. Chesler never implies any inter-sex superiority or inferiority, she is content to describe what is, and it's great stuff indeed.


Perfect Introduction Book
	I have just finished my sophomore year in college and in my first course relating to information and computer security we used this book. I would recommend it to anybody who is interested in getting into the rapidly expanding field of infosec.
     As they say with the CISSP certification, it is an "inch deep and a mile wide". This book covers many, many topics however it is really intended to be an introduction to these concepts.
     It gave me a good overview of information security concepts and prepared me for senior level Infosec courses as well as preparation for graduate school.

*Note that preparation for the CISSP exam would require much more then just this book


Liberals--"Save the Bureaucracy, To Hell With Kids."
	Ask your favorite Liberal or Socialist the following objective question and you'll quickly find out how totally vile many Liberals, Socialists and Do-Gooders are:

     "If you, as an elected Government bureaucrat could send
a poor, black child to a violent, academically inferior Government public school (K-12) for $15,000 per child per year of taxpayer money,
     OR, send that same poor black child to a nurturing, academically superior Private or Parochial school (K-12) for
$7,500 per child per year of taxpayer money

     To which school would you, Ms. Liberal, send that child?"

     For over 13 years Liberals, Socialists and most Do-Gooders
have bravely answered:  "I, as a good Liberal, would send that
poor black child to the violent, academically inferior Government School!"

     Save a poor black kid for $7,500 per year? or Destroy a poor black kid for $15,000 per year?  And most Do-Gooders and
Liberals choose expensive destruction?

     Have fund asking your Liberal friends the above question
and watch the squirming.


Check the facts
	Girl Sleuth is a must-read especially for the over-50 Nancy Drew fan.  Rehak's research is remarkable.  However, on p. 47, Rehak has Mildred Augustine headed west to the University of Iowa from her hometown of Ladora, Iowa.  She would have headed east.  I have been teaching 30 years in the school district that now includes students from the town of Ladora and have my own degree from Iowa.  I've traveled Highway 6 between Ladora and Iowa City many, many times.

Marcia Nilles
What Cheer  I


Fun Reading and great characters
	This was my first Julie Garwood novel and it was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed this authors descriptive characterization. The playful bantering had me laughing uncontrollably and falling in love with the characters even more with every page I read.

With all the other reviews, I don't need to explain the plot. It isn't anything new for the romantic suspense genre, but very entertaining and an enjoyable read. It has mystery, intrigue, suspense, action, and romance. What more can a reader want?

Is it worth the money?  Definitely. Can't wait to read more.


My Favorite Quotation Book!
	I have had this book for 9 years and it continues to be my favorite.  I have several other quotation books, but I always keep coming back to this one. It covers many topics that are categorized in a user friendly format which makes searching for the perfect quote a breeze.  I recommend this  book for the quotation fanatic


Great Book! Greg Isles never disappoints me!
	Turning Angel was a page turner for me so I bought BLood Memory. WOW! It did not disappoint me


Witches with a Message
	I had to read this book as an assignment for a Seminary class on Leadership.  I was sceptical that a children's book about witches would be applicable to a master's level college course.  My scepticism was unfounded.  This is a good, fun read.  But, more than that, this is a story that tugs at heart strings and teaches through the trials and personalities of it's characters.  I recommend it to "children" of all ages!


Western Liberalism on Trial
	In Faith in Nation, Anthony Marx delivers a spirited rebuttal of the "literary trope" (p 15) about a liberal, inclusive Western nationalism. Instead, he argues that even the "truest" brand of Western nationalism-that of England and France-came to being only after brutal fratricide of massive scale. His entire theory is based on a central position that nationalism developed much earlier than is popularly believed today. This leads one to question why does he insist on such a position? Has he made the case for it? What happens to his theory if the position turns out to be wrong?

I will argue that the definition of the state, or the lack thereof, is key to answering all of the above questions. Only by implicitly loosening the definition of the state, can Marx trace the genesis of Western nationalism back to as early as the 16th century, thus cementing the linkage between Western nationalism and religious violence. However, the liberal adaptation of the concept of the state puts Marx's entire theory on shaky ground.

According to Marx, the state is the raison d' tat of nationalism: for nationalism to become a historical force, it "must ... refer to a state as an existing structure or potential object of engagement" (p 8). Although he declares early and clearly what nationalism is (p 4), he never spells out his definition of a state. In fact, what we would think of as a modern state today can hardly be found in 16th century Europe.

Only when the definition of a state is sufficiently loosened, can Marx backdate nationalism to the 16th century, when most of the political authorities at the time existed in the form of royal courts. Only after he pushes back the genesis of nationalism, can Marx connect the religious violence of the 16th century to nationalism. Only when the religious violence is viewed as part of the history of nation building, does it acquire significance in the nature of Western nationalism. Otherwise, the St. Barthelme Day massacre or the burnings at Smithfield is just another "normal" religious upheavals in history, thus any association the massacre or the burnings may have with nation building would be purely coincidental-as Liah Greenfeld implied when Marx quoted her in saying, "Frenchness was disassociating itself from Catholicism." To Anthony Marx, however, French nationalism and its French Catholic identity are not external to each other. They are just different stages in the same dialectic process. Therefore, real "Frenchness" is actually the public oblivion in France of the strange relationship between the church and the state1.

Yet all the grand reasoning depends on Marx's definition of the state. After all, can we call the royal courts of the 16th century "states"? Not only has Marx not given his readers a clear answer, some of his own writings seem to contradict each other. For example, Marx mentions that the Treaty of Westphalia marks the beginning of the modern states (p 35). But the French War of Religions and the reign of Mary Tudor-the very conflicts that are supposedly at the core of nation-state building-occurred almost a century earlier. Even if we use the later date, 1648, as the beginning of the state system, one still has to be cautious to label all subsequent political authorities "states". Regardless whether Louis XIV actually said "I am the state", the fact that monarchical authority is directly associated with an individual ruler makes it transient in nature (relative to institutionalized modern government), therefore it can hardly be designated the "object of engagement" for nationalist ideology.

Since Marx's concept of the state is on shaky ground, his entire theory appears highly questionable. I would argue, however, there are two options that can salvage his arguments. One is to weaken the link between nationalism and the state. In other words, nationalism may develop independent of the state. This observation may have a wider application outside of the context of Western history than inside of it. The other option is to introduce a third element, such as political culture, that can bridge the violent past and state and nation building in later times. For example, one accepts that the massive fratricide did happen earlier than the emergence of the nation-state. Nevertheless, the bloodshed molded a new political culture, which manifested itself as a more inclusive nationalism when the nation-state took shape later. If such an interpretation proves to be a more sensible reading of history than that of Marx, then Marx's criticism of Western nationalism can be easily appropriated to deconstruct the Western political culture-the liberal democracy-itself: that it has a ugly past but short memory. However, is the world ready for such a "total recall"?


Europe since 1945 for the Non-Historian
	Tony Judt's  "Postwar - A History of Europe Since 1945" is the well researched material from a British conservative born 1948 in London  and educated at Cambridge and Paris on political, social and economic developments in Europe following World War II.

Steeped in information about little understood countries, the book would be a great read for non-Europeans interested in how the continent recovered from the war, especially in East Germany, the Balkans, and the Eastern Europe countries that were strongly influenced by the USSR.

The book makes the point, that without the threat of the USSR in Eastern Europe, the US isolationist might have prevailed, which would have adversely influenced the recovery of West Germany, and Communism might not have collapsed so quickly.

Although the book is relativly easy to read, its 800 plus pages are peppered with little over-the-top clauses that add about 200 unnecessary pages to the work. Nevertheless, as non-professional historian, I would rank the book slightly under 5 stars.


Great book, needs a new update
	As a pharmacy student, I found the Washington Manual to be the best pocket guide for looking up guidelines and treatment options, as well as interaction charts and pregnancy categories.  This is a well written book that covers most of the major cronic health conditions and treatment.  This book does not waste time and space talking about every detail of each disease state, but rather focuses on the causes, measurements and treatments.  My only criticism is that this latest edition is dated 2004 and in medical therapeutics, is considered old


Honest History
	This book tells us the truth that has been hidden from most U.S. citizens for so many years. Each chapter tells about a different regime change given us all the dirty little details, names and places of the participants.  This book helped me and will help all of us to finally understand "why they hate us". I only regret that their is not a sequel


Intensity
	I could not put this book down!  I was so amazed with this shocking story that I bought several copies for gifts.  Reading this book was like watching a scary movie.


Do not skip this book because of the movie...
	I was stunned at how much I enjoyed this book. I had avoided it for years since I was not a big fan of the movie. This book really explains well both the history of the Civil War (troop movements, etc) as well as the personalities of its participants. It is an intimate portrayal of these characters, especially Lee and Jackson. I found it to be quite compelling and I'm looking forward to book three of the trilogy


Excellent book
	I took the 2 Tom Cover's classes in Information Theory at Stanford last year. We used this book as the text for both classes. The first class covered roughly the first 8 chapters and the second class the remaining ones. This book assumes that the reader has a clear understanding of basic probability theory.

Tom's classes were among the most enjoyable I took last year and I recommend this text to anyone interested in knowing about Information Theory. If you just want to know the basics, read through chapters 1-8. The reader interested in understanding the power of information theory is adviced to read the whole book. A final comment, it is clear to me after my experience with Tom's classes that mastering Information Theory is a daunting task. And in fact, this book provides the interested researcher just with the basic knowledge needed to enter the field


An Alternative Ending?
	I think one of my major problems was the level of opinion being shot
at the reader in the book. But then at times that made the book more
entertaining - its acerbic opinion of the right, how Reagan getting
elected made her feel stupid about being American, a funny British couple. The description of small details from each of the characters' childhood was something I
could relate to because i think of that myself. There were clever
tidbits from anthropology, and economics, and generally all fields of
intellectual inquiry, all somehow connected with the patchwork of love
and relationships, and thus brain meets heart and you end up with
something almost like the Bible for our times. The focus on the main
character made it so that every detail about him was described.
Anyway, I am rambling, so, a note about the ending:
I did find myself thinking this is getting very strange as the book
got towards the ending. It might have made more sense if Nelson
actually was interested in the new girl the narrator finds for him,
and the story then comes full circle. It would end in a nice ironic
sort of way. However, his rejecting her makes in my mind for what
would be a bad traditional ending. I don't mind this, since the one
time I wrote a story for a creative writing course I ended up with a
terrible traditional ending. Now, could he have been anything other
than a mystic? I felt that there was some hint towards Hinduism and
spirituality building up towards the end. He mentioned India and
Hinduism unexpectedly and repeatedly at one point in the book. So his
becoming a mystic was alluding perhaps to the ashramas - and his
transition from intellectual worker to a mystical worker to eventually
a sage, as he attains Nirvana and becomes the Buddha of our times. So
in this way an ending emphasizing the spiritual, is perhaps the best.
In line with the book, the spiritual is the eternal, and only
accessible through life-changing (near-death) experience. What you do
from 25-50 (making a model village in rural Africa) is transient (can
never be perfect; infighting; hunting; guns; the "dark-side" of human
nature will come back even in Utopia; i like the flexible hours; work
when you want; accumulate credits; do manual labor once in a while;
start the day with reading , not the end when you are tired; siesta,
fiesta etc.) no matter how good you are. The girl herself is secondary
to the book - ironic since the book promotes feminism, is written by a
guy with a female narrator but a male protagonist, who she is fixated
on and has doubts about. But in the end the Jesus character is still
male. While the female goes back to Palo Alto and takes an average job
in service of the savior. The Man has the final laugh.
Do you favor a better ending


Teaching Kids to Read (Without Stressing Out!)
	In her latest book, Tracey Wood demystifies the process of teaching kids to read.

As parents, we've all been told that reading is critical to a child's success in school, in a future career and for pleasure and enrichment throughout a lifetime.  We feel a great deal of pressure to help our children achieve this important skill, but typically don't know how to go about it.

Tracey presents a refreshingly straightforward, step-by-step approach to teaching reading skills.  The book is chock-full of word lists, fun activities, games, and creative ideas to engage a child's interest and get him reading.  There are helpful book recommendations for readers of all levels (including parents!) and pointers on spotting reading problems early, with practical suggestions for getting help.  The book is spiced with humorous anecdotes parents can truly appreciate.  Tracey's compassion and commonsense shine through and take the stress out of teaching kids to read.

I highly recommend this book to parents of beginning readers.


Its good as a second source,
	There is no way, you should limit yourself to just one source, this book is a second source book,(Maybe even third source).

That said, It's great for looking up names, (there is a lot listed) For finding names that may not be household, then looking at better sources for more info.

There is no book that has everything, every name, every movie star, if so, it costs 500.00 or the book weighs about 10 pounds.

You don't want to buy a library? ok, then, it's ok by itself, its fun by itself, to just do browsing, almost, (but its not)
a coffee table book.

It works well with other book sources, to check, and maybe another source will prove it wrong, or "Who's Who" proves the other book wrong, when double checking.

I didn't find loads of errors in here, a few, the biggest problem (as others mentioned) is very brief or not complete career lists, movies or TV they did is not complete.

It's not a great book, it's a great second source book,
a double check or name finder book, for movie and TV stars.

At a fair price, it should be in your collection just for the reasons I mentioned.

Buy it? yes, buy it


A great basic cookbook
	If you are a gourmet chef this book may be far too basic for you but it is great for a beginner like me.  I have two kids under the age of two and have been able to cook a decent meal from this cookbook every night for the past month that I have owned it.  My husband has been very impressed with my new found cooking abilities and all but one of the meals I have fixed has been good.  I would recommend this book to anyone who has lost faith that they can ever cook well


Thorough and comrehensive
	This book is a perfect trade off between simplified "for-dummies" type writing that simply acquaints you with the subject matter and a comprehensive text that thoroughly covers the subject. If you are a CPA hopeful, a governmental finance professional or a political science graduate student this is the text for you. Although layout and vocabulary could be simplified for improved readability, once you become familiar with the authors' style the reading is enjoyable.


Truly Wonderful Stuff
	There was not a single poem I didn't like, and most of them I loved. Her poems seem to touch upon the core of things. I feel comfortable with saying I think she is in the same league as Mary Oliver, Hafiz, Stafford, And Rumi.


an excellent survey of the impact of railway travel
	In the last few decades historians --following sociologists such as Durkheim-- have turned their attention to the ways in which new technologies have altered people's experience of space and time.  Schivelbusch's small piece is a pretty good (but light-weight) example of  this genre. He reveals some interesting trivia along the way: he tells, for  example, how padded upolstery was invented to assuage the fears of  first-class passengers brought about by the roughness of new speed; he  shows that compartment design in passenger cars reflect the contrasting  social values of Europe and America. But he is at his most interesting when  describing the ways in which the railroad created new conceptual forms of  geographical distance by obliterating the spaces in between destinations.  Furthermore, by creating the need for standardized time-tables, railways  nurtured a standardized/homogenized conception of time. Local  idiocyncracies became less important. Doubtless true national identities  could never have emerged without revolutions in transportation and  communications. A book that takes these ideas much further is Stephen  Kern's excellent work  quot;The Culture of Time and Space. quot; If this  genre interests you, Kern's book is an important read


Best thus far.
	This is my favorite of the series thus far. Without wanting to give too much away, this is the book in which you finally learn just exactly why Roland is willing to give up anything and everything (and clearly has) just to get to the Dark Tower. King mentions that the Dark Tower series is sort of like his Middle-Earth, where all of his stories originate in some way from this massive odyssey and world, and you see what he means with this book. Fan's of The Stand will recognize signs of the super flu within the first few hundred pages, and one of my all time favorite King villains comes back to pay his respects


very good
	I really like this book it was well written and enjoyable.The characters in it were very interesting to read about. I like the way that Imogene and Maxine stayed friends all the way through the book. The two girls really seemed to bring out the best in each other.Maxine never thought Imogene was crazy because of the strange things that happened. Maxine just believed her and helped her through everything. Overall it was a well written book with very good characters and it showed what friendship really is


MUST HAVE BOOK
	Great gift from Grandmother. Children love this book. It's a great book for anybody learning the English language. EVERY class should have this book. This is a gift that everybody appreciates.  Get the book down for the child to look at and learn. Great teaching tool!  Exceptional pictures! I always buy two--one for the new grandchild, and a copy goes to the school, when they start school.  You have my vote for the VERY BEST


Moral Philosophy
	Immanuel Kant is truly one of the most influential moral philosophers in history; and with this book, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, he positioned himself far further.
In this book you will find things to be deeply contemplated, about "good will", the moral value of conduct and its metaphysical aspects.
This translation of the Kant's original Grundlegung von Metaphysik der Sitten to English is quiet easy to understand, so it is relatively an easy-reading book


good politics
	Said gives good insight into politics, especially in the middle east.  I didn't enjoy the literature section as much because I wasn't familiar with the authors.


Writing From Your Heart
	Hal Zina Bennett's profound advice from his prolific writing career (over 30 published books) is,  quot;write from the heart quot;.  As wonderful as that sounds, most writers know it's not an easy thing to do.  	Hal takes us to another dimension by sharing his personal process and showing each of us how we can remove the blocks to our expression and creativity by learning how to speak from our heart to the heart of our reader. I can speak from my own personal experience, having attended his workshops and received personal counselling from him in the process of writing my book,  quot;Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance:  Awakening Spirituality Through Movement and Ritual quot;. 	 quot;Write From the Heart quot; also offers practical guidance in several areas.  This includes such things as the need for solitude.  However, he is not just talking about having  quot;a quiet space quot;, he goes beyond the physical to the inner - a state of mind.  He says,  quot;Once we know what it is, what it looks like and feels like, we can create it for ourselves, almost--I say  quot;almost quot;--regardless of where we happen to be. quot;  	I would certainly recommend this book to anyone writing for personal expression or looking to be published


Inside Jerry Falwell
	In light of Rev. Falwell's unfortunate comments about the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, I recommend this book to anyone seeking to understand,  quot;Why would that guy say that stuff? quot; Harding presents an objective, intelligent, perceptive analysis of the way that Fundamentalist language shapes the way in which they relate to the world, and how Jerry Falwell changed that shaping from withdrawal to the active Moral Majority of the 1980s. Harding combs through Falwell's history and sermons to observe how the language of  quot;being born again quot; affects the listener, showing Falwell's shift from separatism to political activism. She critiques both Falwell and Falwell's critics in a fair and keenly insightful way. Good reading and good understanding


Good reading
	I agree with the reviews already written. I too got bogged down with trying to keep track of the names. It is when I got to the end I found the listing of the people. If I had known that earlier it would have reduced my mind confusion. Really enjoyed the way the book was written. You felt their pain with out seeing their blood. I better understand the explosion


Vonnegut's Masterpiece
	kurt vonnegut's book slaughterhouse five is a great piece of literary work in itself. his unique style of black humor, combined with his vivid imagination is second to none. this book was exciting and unpredictable as i continued to read! its main purpose involved the struggle of a man with his grip on reality. is he, or is he not crazy?

the imagery in this book was another great element, and many regard this as one of the greatest anti-war books of the century. this book is definitely worth reading and will not disappoint! you can't go wrong with kurt vonnegut's slaughterhouse five


Hooray For Hollywood
	First off this is "A History of Hollywood" not "THE History of Hollywood."  David Thomson isn't writing the chronological, straight-up, blow-by-blow account of Hollywood movies.  "The Whole Equation" is an essay that takes as its question, "are Hollywood films ever art like a Beethoven symphony or a Picasso painting?"  He says they are both more and less than that.  More because American film captures the tension between wanting to make money and wanting to say something which allows for the unintentional to happen.  That serendipity is wonderful when it works which isn't often.  Less because there are always artistic compromises as someone is always looking at the budget and thinking about the profits.

And unlike most film critics he is just fine with this tension.  His argument is that to understand and appreciate American film, you have to understand that it's always about the money and about the art.  That means it is never truly art in any pure way (but is any art truly pure?). To tell you the truth, I don't think the book succeeds that well on that level.  He  points out various people and their struggles with this dilemma through out the history of American film but he doesn't developed a coherent argument that builds on his initial insight.

For me, that just didn't matter.  What makes it a terrific read is that David Thomson knows and loves film.  He writes with a adolescent thrill and openness about his subject that makes it fun and poetic.  He uses the film "Chinatown" as his framing device and as that is my all-time favorite movie, I was in heaven.  He is not a deep thinker but his book crackles with his delight in sensations whether of the movie theater, the audience, the actors, the costumes, the music, all of it.  He constantly raises questions and throws out insights that just tumble onto each other until you realize that like watching a film, you must just suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride.


E. Lynn put's it all out on the table in this one!
	I read Any way the wind blows   Not a day goes by before I read Abide with me.  If you happen to come into the series of E. Lynn's books and want more of the scoop on Basil's problems with his past, Raymond's lifestyle, the true 'not-so-divafied' evil side of Yancey and they're mutual friends...then you should start with this one!  It'll help you put 'two   two together' on the lives and backgrounds of all of the characters


Historically Based Information With An Emphasis On The Weird And Wacky
	"Underground Education" does not so much offer a radical intellectual perspective, as is perhaps implied by the title. But rather is a collection of funny stories and oddball facts about various people and events from the past. Some of the historical figures are famous, such as George Washington and Cleopatra. While others, like the several female serial killers discussed, are more obscure. The book is divided into 10 chapters, including the arts, religion, science and sex. Actually, this book reminds me somewhat of the "People's Almanac" series written by David Wallechinsky. But here the emphasis is definitely on the strange and often perverse. It's a fun read for those interested in this sort of knowledge. But some entries are overlong and most readers will probably want to read the sections of greatest interest rather than cover to cover. Still it is a worthwhile purchase.


A Look at the Death Penalty
	This book is not only interesting but gives a great deal of insight into life on "death row," at least in the state of Mississippi, and the appeals process involved with stays of execution and commutation of sentences.  It touches on activities of the Ku Klux Klan. It was my impression that the author leans toward those who favor the abolition of the death penalty.  However, some sympathy is found for the victims of crime.  The story centers on Sam Cayhall who is sentenced to death after several trials over a number of years following the crime.  Sam's grandson becomes his attorney during the last months of appeal from "death row." The latter part of the book leaves one wondering whether or not there will be an execution.  Meanwhile Sam shows repentance and response to the prison's chaplain.

I found it to be one of the better John Grisham books.


Beautiful
	A work of art, Makine's use of language is stunning.  Not a quick read, I frequently had to stop and ponder many profound passages.  Literature as an art form is not dead


A must-read for all believers
	Mrs. Kent's story applies to each of in the hard places of life.  We all have an "Isaac" - the person or thing closest to our hearts, our future hopes and dreams - that must be layed down.  In telling her story, Mrs. Kent illustrates the difficulty of this, yet demonstrates that it can be done.  She doesn't gloss over the pain, yet doesn't leave us there, either.  She shows us there is hope


Learning to Care for Yourself
	Quite often, we read books for young people where the main characters must lean to care for others and not just themselves-where the main character must break away from childhood egocentrism and emerge into the adult world.  In Katherine Paterson's Lyddie, readers find the opposite theme:  Learning to not lose oneself in the responsibilities of the adult world.

The novel follows Lydia Worthen, a teenager in 1840s Vermont.  With her father gone to seek his fortune, Lyddie, with some help from her brother Charlie, must take charge of the family farm, her emotionally unstable mother, and her younger sisters.  To cover the farm debt, Lyddie's mother leases the farm and sends her oldest children into forced servitude.  After a year of misery working for a local tavern, Lyddie becomes a mill hand in Lowell, Massachusetts.  While there, Lyddie's sole focus becomes earning the money to pay off the farm debt and reunite her family.  Her hard work and single-mindedness earn her a reputation as a "skinflint" and "Amazon."  It's only after the farm is sold, her youngest sister dies, her mother is sent to the asylum, her remaining siblings are adopted by another family, and her job is lost over fraudulent charges that Lyddie begins to look out for herself-that she begins to ask what she wants for herself.

While Lyddie is not Paterson's best work, the book does provide lively insight to factory life in Lowell, where many young women flocked in the early 1840s for economic opportunity.  While readers are not thrown into the heart of the labor movement, we are able to see the conditions that led to organized labor: The long hours, the sexual harassment, the illness and disease resulting from mill work.  Still, all of this background provides a fitting setting for the story of a young woman who must learn that she has more to offer the world than her back-breaking labor.  If you've enjoyed Paterson's other works of historical fiction, Lyddie will not disappoint.


Great Book!!!
	This is an excellent book if used correctly.  When you apply everything that the books says to your life it will change things for the positive.  It is a realistic approach to evangelism that really works


Breathtaking Story
	I adored this book.  The character development is strong, and delightful! With the exception of the villain, all characters are likeable.  I couldn't wait to read the next book in the trilogy


Fantastic!
	When you read any of Amy Tan's books it makes you feel like you are a part of the story.  This book was a great read because it evokes emotions of excitement and sadness for the main character all at once


Wickid Satire
	Fabulously entertaining novel from Martin Amis which easily eclipses the rather depressing `Information.' John Self is a blatantly materialistic hedonist who works as a profitable director of commercials. He is an alcoholic, a misogynist, and a microcosm of mainstream American culture in the 1980's. John has also landed a gig directing a feature film, titled `Good Money,' and `Bad Money,' depending on what day of the week it is. Amis' writing is mordantly brilliant; both acerbic and biting. There are transactions in here that I just love, such as John's stinging interactions with his girlfriend Selina:

" `I've just gone off sex,' said Selina this morning, as she finished the tea I fondly brought her.
`So?' I asked her.
`God, be nice. Use your imagination. It'll pass. I've just gone off sex.'
Then what do you think is the point of you? I wanted to say. But I didn't. I resisted the temptation. I looked into the proud drama of her face, the valves and orbits of her throat, the wetlook runnels of her hair, the breasts, heavier than ever, solidly mounted on the ribcage, the naked slopes of the belly, the sudden flaring of the hips, a smell of sleep.
`Then what do you think is the point of you?'
`You', she said, `are unreal' (226).

You should read Amis for his remarkable power of description, his talent for black comedy and middle-aged disillusionment. Pay little heed to his flights into post-modernity, they are merely exercises in literary chic.


Really seems to help!
	I was recently diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis, and I started following the nutritional suggestions in this book. I think it's already starting to help! Plus it tells you how to perform strengthening exercises for your aching joints. I am a big fan of Dr. Nelson's other works. I like how she explains the science and the applications. I plan to share this with my mom, who also has osteoarthritis


Wow, this book made all the difference.
	I can't say enough about this wonderful book. It's packed full of examples, covers more than just the pre-adoption and placement aspects, and is incredibly non-judgemental. There's so much information here, more than I expected. It really helped me think through all of the issues related to adoption. It's for both birth and adoptive parents, in fact, two of the birth parents we've been in contact with were excited to hear about it and ended up ordering the book themselves. Reading through this book really helped me conquer my fears about adoption. I'm so glad it was recommended to us. If you're thinking about adoption, even if you're thinking that open adoption isn't right for you I highly recommend taking a chance and buying this book. It's great


Real Life situations
	This book was the best financial planning book I have ever read. It had real life situations that helped out alot. I didn't realize how much in debt I was until I read this. I didn't have a problem with making payments and even paying extra on them. But I never planned for a disaster or loss of a job. If you spend a couple of years paying off your debt, that is years of happiness just knowing you don't others money. This book helped me realize this. Thank You Larry Burkett for this and all of your other books, God was really with you during your writting


Beautifully Written and Fact-Packed Memoir of World War II
	William Manchester, the greatest narrative historian of or time, provides a vivid account of his experiences in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.  As with all of his books, we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel the experiences with him, as if we were there.  Although more personal, of course, than his other narrative histories, Goodbye Darkness provides the same factual details, and each sentence, paragraph, and chapter is crafted with the same beauty and skill that is Manchester's hallmark.  An amazing memoir by a truly great writer.


A different opinion
	Beautiful. Kushner attacks many of the world's carnal attitudes and inputs thoughts and principles that help combat them. Though he is not Christian, this book is full of principles that help you avoid being conformed to this world and be transformed by the renewing of your mind


Excellent adventure novel
	Exciting and highly entertaining story about 3 men who travel to the centre of the earth through an extinct volcano. Here they come across prehistoric forests, a giant subterranean sea inhabited by prehistoric marine dinosaurs, and some ancient offshoots of man. Although some of the science bits are outdated, implausable and sometimes drag a little, the book is still surprisingly modern and fresh after 140 years. Maybe the first adventure novel of this kind and certainly of influence on modern culture.


a must-read for anyone who eats
	If you read one book on food ethics in your life, it should be this book.

Singer and Mason's book is an excellently researched and foot-noted exploration of three different American diets, tracing these diets back to their sources and showing the many hidden affects that our food choices have on our environment, our neighbors, the animals that many of us eat, and ultimately ourselves. This book shows how these seemingly innocuous choices really do make a difference in our world, and then guides the reader towards resources which might help them make different choices, if they so choose.

This book is not only full of an amazing depth and breadth of information on everything from organics, to local food, to intensive factory farms, to fair trade products, it also is immensely readable. The meetings with the three different families are very vivid and help to humanize these issues further.

I highly recommend this book to every thinking person who eats. Which is, really, all of us. Please read this book! Do yourself, your neighbors and your planet a favor!

(:,
Jennife


The first book of design for all designers
	Design is a difficult process that is often associated more with art than science.  With principles of style, concerns about how design works.

While many wring their hands about this, Alexander breaks the problem down, organizes it and then provides a framework for design that is relatively design neutral.  That is a feat in deed.

By thinking about how one structures a problem space and the bias that creates -- Alexander give the practioner a powerful tool for setting up the design process and scope.  He then goes on to discuss the design process and he makes important distinctions between concious and unconcious design.

Notes on Synthesis and Form are the foundation for Alexander's work on design patterns.  This is the must read book before spending time on these other works.

For the practioner, this book provides a powerful and applicable framework for addressing problems in multiple disciplines.


Again....the best
	Another great story.  Stephen King is not typical in this book.  The development of the characters is awesome.  You felt everything that Dolores was going through and you know you would have done the same thing.  You route for her.  She is spunky, bitter but she means business.  Great book.  I highly recommend this book.  I read it in about 6 hours


Now I can play
	I bought the book the other day and breezed right thru it.  It's great in that you can skip around the book to the sections you NEED to read (or refresh yourself on).  I keep it handy because I often refer to it.  It is thorough in explaining various aspects of reading music, playing, etc.  The humor interspersed makes it enjoyable to read rather than boring but the humor doesn't detract from the content and lesson.  Glad I bought it and you should buy it, too, if you want to teach yourself how to play


The best yet, and will be tough to match
	The Waste Lands, the third novel in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series is by far the best volume yet.  This volume picks up a short time after the end of Drawing of the Three, and we see Roland training Eddie and Susannah to become true gunslingers in Roland's world.  Soon into the novel, the three gunslingers encounter one the Guardians of Mid-World, a huge cyborg bear, who is guarding a portal that goes between the different worlds.  Roland explains that each of these portals is connected to the Dark Tower by a beam, and if they follow the beam, it will lead them directly to the Dark Tower, they just don't know how far away it is.

As the three gunslingers start to follow the beam, we, the readers, are taken to our own world and reintroduced to Jake, the ill-fated child from The Gunslinger.  Jake is currently having a mental breakdown (as is Roland) due to the fact that Roland saved him from dying his destined death at the hands of a Cadillac in The Drawing of the Three.  One part of Jake tells him he should be dead, the other says he should be alive.  Jake's mental breakdown leads him on a journey across New York to a haunted house that has many connections with other characters in the book, and in this house, Jake believes he can get back to Mid-World and be reunited with Roland.

The final part of the journey in The Waste Lands, takes our group to a city called Lud, on the outskirts of the waste lands.  The group believes they need to find a monorail named Blaine in the city, and he will help them on their journey to the Dark Tower.  Once they enter the city, much goes wrong and we are introduced to a really cool, but really evil character called the Tick-Tock Man, who runs Lud.  All of this leads up to a ridiculously exciting conclusion and a killer cliffhanger that makes me really glad I waited to read these until they were all published.

As far as action and suspense goes, The Waste Lands takes the cake easily from the previous two books.  Most of all, this book makes us appreciate the character development from the previous books.  We care so much about these characters, and would be devastated if anything were to happen to them.  This book also goes a long way in providing some much needed answers about the Dark Tower in general and Mid-World.  These answers are both satisfying and frustrating.  They are satisfying that you aren't completely clueless as to what is going on, but there are deeper answers to everything that we are given in this novel, so it just makes you want to read on more.

The series just keeps getting better as it goes along


A Gothic Delight
	Edward Gorey uses gothic illustrations to tell the tale of a strange creature who appears one day in a family's home.  The prose is an amusing rhyme which describes the family's confusion and frustration at dealing  with this unwanted guest.  Although the illustrations are gothic and dark,  the reader is still amused by the creature and the family who must deal  with it


A seductive page turner, but lacking something....
	First off, I have to admit: I am 22 years old and read the entirety of this book in one 7 hour sitting on my way to Paris.

I picked up the novel out of sheer curiosity and personal research for my job. I work at Barnes   Noble and am in charge of both the Teen and Children's sections. When our store sold out of New Moon within a week of initially getting the book, my curiosity was piqued -- I felt I had to give its predecessor a try so I knew what the hype was about and could give an honest opinion about the book.

Now here I sit and I have finished both Twilight and New Moon. I have to admit -- Meyer has a talent. Both books I read at breakneck speed, barely stopping to eat or sleep. Her prose is smooth and easy, accompanied by a plot that I found engrossing. I went back after reading Twilight and re-read my favorite sections more than once. The love story was hypnotizing and surprisingly seductive. I definitely plan on recommend this book, mainly to teenage girls who will swoon over Edward.

However, I only gave the book four stars. While I enjoyed it immensley as I read the novel, a few things bothered me upon looking back:

1) While Meyer deinitely has a talent for writing an engaging novel full of beautiful descriptions, the character descriptions at times felt extremely lazy. If I had to read one more time about Edward's marble, angelic face (what, exactly, does that mean??), his liquid topaz eyes, or how Bella glared at Edward, I thought I was going to pitch the book down the aisle of the plane.

2) I'm not sure I buy their romance. It was heartstopping and climactic during the read, but honestly, what DOES he see in her? If Bella keeps asking that question to herself, maybe her audience shoud seriously consider it.

3)Bella herself bothered me. I found Bella to be horribly dependent on Edward to the point that I got irritated with her. And her constantly having to catch her breath around Edward -- Puh-leeze. Be a woman! Stand on your own feet! She never fully developed into a character for me since she revolved solely around Edward, something that I, as a self-sustained woman, cannot connect with.

And lastly, 4)Bella wants so desperately to become a vampire, but that seems like it could pose a problem between herself and Edward. Since I haven't seen any evidence that Edward likes Bella for any other reason than that she smells wonderful (a scent that she has because she is human and has blood coursing through her veins, mind you), what happens when she no longer smells good? Meyer is really going to have to prove to me that Edward actually loves Bella for other reasons than her smell, otherwise it will be completely unbelievable if Bella turns into a vampire and Edward is still attracted to this ordinary girl...

Although the plot has its shortcomings, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and that is why I give it four stars. I will read the next one when it comes out, and any other subsequent after that, for the simple reason that the books are entertaining and Edward is so dang alluring


Police procedural and medical thriller wrapped up in a bow!
	Boston is trembling under the shadow of a serial murderer with a notably gruesome method of dispatching his victims - brutal, savage rape, an obviously knowledgeable, skillful removal of the uterus while the victim still lives with the coup de grace coming as a slashed throat and severing of the carotid artery! Little wonder the media has awarded him the moniker "The Surgeon". In the course of their investigations, detectives Thomas Moore and Jane Rizzoli discover an earlier case with a virtually identical MO in Savannah in which the murderer, Andrew Capra, was ultimately killed by a stalwart would-be victim who fought back and shot him before he could finish the job! They are startled to discover that the surviving victim, Dr Catherine Cordell, is a noted cardiac surgeon currently practicing in a major Boston hospital, and beyond all belief in the possibility of coincidences, she appears to be the target of the now active killer!

Once again, Gerritsen has unerringly brought her intimate knowledge of medicine and the hospital milieu to the table. But, contrary to what one might fairly expect from Gerritsen's past work, has successfully served up a compelling investigative police procedural which lovingly details the forensics, the pathology, the profiling and the gut-wrenching detail in the relentless task force style search for a psychopathic serial murderer! Several superbly paced sub-plots are inextricably woven into one another as the story unfolds - Cordell's slow recovery from the assault she endured two years ago and her halting re-integration into life and the hospital work force; Jane Rizzoli's bristly temperament as the lone Boston female homicide detective and her work-life struggles against the "old boy" attitude of the police force; Thomas Moore's extended grieving period over the untimely loss of his dearly loved wife and the difficulties he faces as he recognizes his entirely inappropriate blossoming romantic feelings for Catherine Cordell; the task force style investigation of "The Surgeon" and his relationship with the long dead Georgia killer; and, Cordell's daily life in the cardiac ward and the emergency room of the hospital and the brilliantly described relationship she maintains with her working partner, Dr Peter Falco.

Not only does Gerritsen handle all of this with skill and aplomb but, with every passing page and each successful murder, she ratchets up the suspense as we realize the killer is taunting the police, honing his skills and reaching for Catherine Cordell as his ultimate target. Yet he constantly remains one step ahead of the investigation.

A great addition to the library if, like me, you love your easy reading page-flipping thrillers!

Paul Weis


Curmudgeon's Diary of Walking the Coast of Great Britain
	Engrossing and amusing travelogue by world's crankiest traveler.

Some people really hate Theroux, accusing him of snobbery, self importance, and bigotry.  I can certainly see why some readers wouldn't be able to deal with his style and opinions, but I must say that this volume might be a pretty good litmus test of readers' tolerance for the author's travel works.  (If you can enjoy this one, you'll probably enjoy his other non-fiction works).

I, for one, totally enjoyed hearing about grunge-y has-been towns, obnoxious holiday camps, and seedy hotels.  To me, the book was a real page-turner, and he writes so vividly of scenery.  I felt he wrote about the worst bits of his trip with true humor, reminding us travelers that it's helpful to keep a sense of humor during the rough times.

I felt the book was a pretty decent scouting report for the island's shoreline, and I now know what to avoid there.  I can definitely thank Theroux and his fussy standards!

If you like Theroux, it's a good bet you'll love this one.


the only cookbook (out of hundreds) that I use weekly.
	My father was a chef, and although we did not have much money, I was brought up appreciating good, fresh, healthy food as well as cookbooks -- my father had a library of cookbooks, gastronomic dictionaries, even cookbooks in French (he was trained by a french chef in the 1950's).

With that being said, I am obsessed with eating, and occasionally cooking, good food.  This cookbook is the one I use over and over again.  I have cooked almost every recipe in the book, more than once, which is a true testament to a wonderful cookbook.

The beauty of it is that is is simple -- most ingredients are things you would have on-hand.  Most recipes are for the novice cook, but can be challenging enough for a true obsessed gourmet.  The other aspect is that he balances flavors and spices perfectly -- nothing is too overly spiced, heavy, etc.  When I cook for guests, I use this cookbook because it is manageable but makes me look like a genius.  People always say to me, "This tastes better than restaurant food!"

Get the hardback version -- it will last longer and make you feel like a true cook (as we all can be.


The Source for True Armanen Runelore
	Guido von List was the leader of the Armanen-Orden, the single most important magical order of the 20th century. This book deserves to be on every thinking Germanic Heathen and Magician's bookshelf...  Many of List's ideas influenced the most important thinkers of the modern Heathen revival, including Edred Thorsson...

The Armanen-Orden still survives in Germany, and von List's Futhork is no less powerful today than it was when it was revealed to him in 1903. In English speaking lands the Knights of Runes continues his tradition.

BUY THIS BOOK


Great Topic - kudos Mr Watkins!
	My husband took the book out from the library for me and after reading the first few chapters I decided that this was a book to own. As you will keep going back to re-read the roadmap to help you on your new venture(s).
Very insightful for all levels not just C-Level positions


Helpful information for parents willing to develop their childen readership
	In general the book provides some simple tips of how to help your children to learn reading by having fun and develop a taste for reading. It worked for me, and I would recommend it for parents that are eager to provide their children with a push for developing this important skill


Good advice in book will help to not lose the next one
	The advice seems to be good advice to use in any relationship. You also have to know your own situation very well and know when not to use his advice.  My ex would feel crowded if I sent her a bunch of sweet cards like the book says to do and would feel like I was trying to manipulate her, therefore I took it easy on the cards.  My ex may never get back with me because we are long distance but I feel I am loving her much better than before because of this book even if she doesn't realize it.  Remember to NEVER tell your lover that you read this book, especially if he/she is nervous about being manipulated


Walking amongst Dummys
	I'm glad I bought this book and I will continue to refer to it.  The remit of the Dummies series is to provide a guide to its subject matter without any great fuss.  The text focuses on practical techniques without unnecessary diversion into the detail of molecular biology or computer science.  In this respect it would have been a difficult book to author, readers having come from one discipline or the other.  I agree with previous reviewers that this is well worth reading before doing a bioinformatics course or degree.  Bioinformatics is a new field, and this book has delivered a useful introduction to it without recourse to expensive textbooks full of unreadable filler


A strong argument for tort reform
	Here is the disclaimer:  I was already a proponent of tort reform before I read this book.  However, after reading this novel, I am a stronger proponent of it than ever.  Enter Clay Carter - unknown defender in D.C. of the poorest of the poor.  Then a nice juicy settlement falls into his lap, one he can't refuse, partly because the parent's of his long-time girlfriend are pressuring him regarding his money.

Give Carter a taste of money, then the greed sets in.  For the middle half of the book, we get to see unadulterated greed come to run his life!  Especially infuriating is how he lets that greed come before the well-being of his clients.  This is what will be his undoing.  One of his clients who was already ticked off at a settlement he made gets a terminal illness and decides to go after his lawyer.  This is the rags to riches to almost rags in the course of about eighteen months.

Grisham actually makes you feel sympathetic with the main charater (Clay Carter) through his rise, and especially his fall.  That shows to the quality of his storytelling.  In fact, while Carter is in some ways a sympathetic character, he mostly is not!  Mass torts and greed is the theme of this story.  The fact that he came back to haunt him was only justice.  Too bad such justice doesn't often happen in the real world of mass torts


Creating a Census for an Antique Book
	This book is rather different. Although it's about Copernicus' book "De Revolutionibus", very little astronomy is discussed. There is also very little about Copernicus himself. The main theme of the book is finding as many still-existing copies of Copernicus' book as possible, and describing each one in detail - the ultimate purpose being the publication of a so-called "census" of that ancient book, i.e., a snapshot in time that identifies and describes each individual copy and where it is located in the world. Since I know nothing about antique book collecting, I learned a lot on this field by reading this book. I was not aware of all the work and travel required in finding a given copy of a book, especially identifying the authors of any hand-written notes on its pages. I did find certain lengthy descriptions rather monotonous, but some of the author's adventures are quite intriguing, particularly where he makes use of his notes to identify possibly stolen copies that eventually surface at auctions or elsewhere. Some aspects of life and technology in the sixteenth century that are important for the theme of this book, as well as discussions of some of Copernicus' contemporaries, are touched upon. But as the author states, this book is really a memoir of his census project. I think that this book would be of most interest to those with a passion for ancient books and ancient book collecting.


Let's Not Go Completely Overboard
	Like pretty much anything in which Neil's involved, this a fine and useful work. The reviews of Teddy Millon's Axis II taxonomic extensions are worth most of the considerable price of admission here all by themselves. But after 30 years in the field, I'll warn any newcomers that getting any too rigid with treatment plan rollouts will make you as nuts at the people you're treating.

As -guidelines- with notions about starting points and signposts along the way, however, these are very useful. Neil's six-step Treatment Outline seems a bit oddly ordered, and I wasn't able to find a rationale for determining diagnosis in the final step (when you have to lay one on the client's payment guarantor at the outset). But otherwise, the six steps are another handy construction among several now available.

If you're fairly new in the field, this will be a real handy reference, but don't stake the clients' lives (or your own serenity) on this when they start to go refractive.