almost, but not quite...
	A looming 21-year High School reunion has led me to ponder the past, especially the town I grew up in. I have been reading The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kuntsler, a book which explores the rise of suburbia and automobile culture in America. Kuntsler explores the effects of modernist design philosophy (Le Corbusier, Gropius, Bauhaus etc. ) . Although Kunstler's book is by no means a complete history, his insights are provocative. His basic thesis is that the rise of the automobile has led to the development of a banal and meaningless  quot;geography of nowhere quot;. In other words, since the 1920s, Americans have pursued a single-minded vision when it comes to urban development: namely treating our built surroundings as disposable commodities to be bought and sold, with little regard to aesthetics.

 Growing up in a suburb, I experienced this sort of fake-non-reality-bubble of what a city should be, or what it should do for its residents. There was always nothing to do, nowhere to go. Fortunately, in those days, creative people created their own  quot;scene quot;, no matter how lame it was. Such a naive scene based on our libertine tastes and overbearing ignorance. Of course, conformity was the rule.

 And we all nearly s--t ourselves when we got behind the wheel of our first car. It was almost like and 5-year-old's first trip to Disneyland. It was like that first sexual experience. It was an epiphany, of sorts.

 Little did we realize that our addiction to auto travel would bring such a high cost to our lonely empty souls. Who ever thought that being so cheap would cost us so much?


Extraordinary
	Extremely well researched. McChesney has been a key figure in the "media debate" and he approaches the subject with knowledge and objectivity. His disciplined, almost scientific investigation is an example of non-partisan coverage of a crucial issue. If only a few politicians were as concerned with the public interest as McChesney, we would be in a better world. I am a Mexican citizen so I couldn't care less about U.S. partisan politics, and if you care about the fate of public communications, you shouldn't either. This is a problem that affects every country, not just the U.S.A., since the big telecommunication companies are broadcasting all over the World. The interest of big advertisers is being protected by U.S. policy and their marketing messages are then blasted everywhere. Even the smallest community in the South-Mexican jungles knows Ronald McDonald. CNN has Latin editions of their biased news transmitted to most Latin countries. As an outsider, I hope the U.S. citizenry will realize that this is not an issue of Democrats vs. Republicans but a World-wide issue of the individual vs. the big corporations. In reality they don't care about your political affiliations, as long as you saturate your credit cards to buy their heavily advertised products, you can debate each other to death


A book for the ages
	Woodward and Bernstein, famous reporters for the Washington Post during the Watergate scandal, chronicle their experience investigating and exposing the deceptive actions of President Nixon and his cronies during Watergate.  This book takes the reader through Woodward and Bernstein's efforts at uncovering the truth, internal dilemmas about the information they were uncovering, and covert meetings with confidential sources.  They tell a tale of mystery and intrigue that stands up to some of the world's best fiction except that this story actually happened and signaled the end of an era where the US Presidency was respected above all else.

This book is a fascinating look at how investigative journalism once was.  Instead of printing first and asking questions later, Woodward and Bernstein, along with their editors, took painstaking efforts at checking, double checking, and even triple checking their sources and information before putting something derogatory in print.  It seems a sharp contrast to journalism today that appears to be publish now, ask questions later, and file a retraction in small print even later.  This book also tells the tale of two very opposite reporters and how they pulled together to write about the crime spree of the century and topple a corrupt Presidency.  It gets better with each reading


Excellent.
	A lot of the reviews I have read here, both positive and negative, have noted Smith's acerbic and sometimes hostile tone. In my own discussions on god, particularly when engaging Christians, I probably would not use SOME of the more harsh language found in the book. It tends to be devisive and unproductive, and also reinforcing many of the deragatory stereotypes that are applied to Atheists.

That does not mean that any of Smith's arguments are not legitimate or powerful. They should be confronted by ANYONE who takes any position regarding religion or god.

Perhaps the most revealing and important passage of the work comes at the beginning of the Chapter discussing the purported "proofs" for the existence of good posited by Christian Thealogians and laymen.

Smith explains that "Many times in the past, before knowing better, I would engage in arguments with theists who claimed to have a rational foundation for their belief. After several painstaking hours of pointing out flaws in the proposed arguments, I would receive some form of the following comment: 'well, it really doesn't matter if these proofs are invalid, because I have faith in the exstence of god anyway.'
The Theist who resorts to this approach has no claim to rationality- only lack of integrity." Smith's frustration throughout the text at this type of intrangisence is palpable and, ultimately, entirely understandable.

Some of the reviews on this page are illustrative of the general resentment which most Christians seemed to hold for the methods by which human beings acquire knowledge and distinguish truth from falsehood. As an outspoken Atheist, I have heard these types of decrees repeated to me ad nauseum- and they never stop being disturbing. "Lean not on your own understanding," I have been told again and again. "Trust in the lord and stop using all this silly logic," or "god wants us to believe like children," they will say.

All I hear is: "I am happy being ignorant. You will be happy in this delusional fantasy land I live in, too. I know god is not just an inadequate answer to these questions, but no answer at all. Things don't need answers, or explanations, or anything. Everything is ok because I have faith in god."

Hence, I sympathize with Smith's frustration. I urge all Atheists to read this book, which reads more or less like a conversation between an atheist and an extremely intellectual and sophisticad christian who spews (practically)every argument ever conjured to be a believer or to be a Christian, and has them overwhelmingly refuted. Smith understands the obstanince that Atheists will inevitably encounter when Christians (particularly unsophisticated Christians) are challenged. This is probably the reason why some of his repudiations seem unnecessarily expatiated. Any atheist who has offered apologetics in defense of atheism knows that trying to engage a christian is like playing Whack-a-mole, as soon as one battle is definitvely won the Christian will retreat into a sheild of ignorance. This act, Smith accurately points out, will usually involve the word "faith" being substituted for, but meaning the exact same thing as, "ignorance." I assume this is why SMith so meticulously tears apart the idea of something that human beings call "faith" being an effective(or even theoretically plausible) conduit to fundamental truth. He also points out the common ways that Christians like William Lane Craig and J.P. Moreland use mangled science or language to misrepresent the issues at hand.

As a small example of this that I found interesting, in "Does God Exist?," J.P. Moreland states that he believes that people can actually perceive god through something he calls "Numinous Perception." Moreland does not give an explanation of how an outside observer could ever deiscern whether someone was having a genuine "Numinous perceptive" experience, or how exactly numinous perception would actually work physiologically or psychologically. Conveniently, this would rule out any chance of Moreland's hypothesis ever being tested and shown to be accurate or inaccurate. When someone hears an argument like this, one can easily turn to Smith for excellent articulation of why they are absurd and illegitimate.

Smith writes: " My argument with the Christian is that he claims to have experienced god, but he refuses to explain the process by which he, a physical organism, experienced this supernatural being. I won't limit him arbitrarily to the traditional five senses, but I will demand that he present evidence for his new perceptual powers. Has he discovered a new sense? Fine, then let him tell us about it so we can test it. No christian has ever succeeded in explaining just how he perceives his mysterious god. He claims to have knowledge of a mysterious, unknowable being, having gained this knowledge in some mysterious unknowable manner. This is totally unacceptable."

Moreland's clever creation of a scientific sounding title for perception of god does not help him.

This book will help atheists with this type of argumentation through just about any thread of thought a theological argument can get into.

Yes, the rhetoric 30 years later SOUNDS more sophisticated (with other clever titles like "intelligent design theory"), but it is not ACTUALLY more compelling or sophisticated than when Aquinas wrote his five proofs or Russell challenged Copelston. I reccomend this book and I can't wait to read "Why Atheism?"

(Just as a curious note, does anyone know if SMith actually debated people in public? If anyone knows of any transcriptions id love to read some, please let me know if you do. Clark00018@aol.com )


Innocence lost, or boys will be cruel
	Golding is a deeply symbolic novelist who relies, especially in this novel and in The Inheritors (1955), on ideas from the viewpoint of evolutionary biology and anthropology.  The central symbol of The Lord of the Flies is that of a pig's head upon a stick stuck in the ground, a totem in the making perhaps, but seen by Golding as Beelzebub, the "lord of the flies," the devil, a head of rotting flesh enveloped by flies.

The central idea is that without civilization we will degenerate into predatory animals ruled by superstition, the will to power, and the primordial need to survive.  When Piggy's glasses, which symbolize the tools and knowledge of our culture are broken, it signals the degeneration, the return to the wild in which, as Thomas Hobbes has it, there are "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

That a group of English school boys could degenerate so quickly after crash-landing on a deserted island may be seen as a bit fanciful, or more exactly, as the artifice of the artist; nonetheless, the premise of this extraordinary work may well serve as a cautionary note for our times.  Should we, through nuclear warfare, a runaway greenhouse effect, sectarian violence on a global scale, or through the exhaustion of the fossil fuels that power our civilization, regress to the state of savages, we have this warning.

Instead of the noble savage, instead of a return to the Garden of Eden, instead of the Swiss Family Robinson or Robinson Crusoe, Golding takes us step by step from the world of the boy's school to life and death power struggles and a fascination with savagery to the beginnings of tribal warfare.  As in The Inheritors, Golding sees not the good in humans, but the viciousness.  In The Inheritors we homo sapiens murdered the gentle Neanderthal, here we children become gangsters of the island, on our way to becoming tribal chieftains as murderous and vengeful as the God of the Old Testament.  I understand that Golding wrote the novel in part to answer the pollyannaish naivete of R.M. Ballantyne's The Coral Island (1857), which I haven't read.

Clearly cruelty is one of Golding's main themes.  Left to their own devices and without the restraint of civilization's justice, humans will be cruel sometimes just to be cruel and sometimes as a means of gaining power.  The boys Ralph and Piggy naively try to set up a democratic sort of government, but are defeated by the brutality of Jack and his will to savagery.

The loss of innocence that the boys experience is seen as not the loss of something they intrinsically had, but of something superimposed upon them by civilization.  In reality, Golding is saying, there is no innocence in children, that is only a fairy tale idea to which we romantically subscribe.

This is one of those novels that has found its way onto the high school or even the middle school curriculum because it is easy to read and because it is easy for young people to relate to.  But the strength of this novel lies not only in its theme and readability but in the fine characterizations of the individual boys.  As in all great works of literature, it is the combination of character and story that compels us to turn the pages, and invites our admiration.

It should be noted that Golding deliberately left out one of the central drives of humans, probably because he did not want to muddy up his theme of savagery, or perhaps because he felt the task too great or perhaps because he didn't find the task palatable.  I am referring to the lack of sexuality in the novel.  Not only are there no girls on the island, but the boys do not, at least overtly, involve themselves in sex.  We can see that Golding's artistry anticipated this criticism since it can be argued that the boys in this situation and at their tender age are not yet ready to express themselves sexually.  I wonder if postmodern psychology would agree.  Certainly Freud would not.

Bottom line: a great read, a terrific adventure, but not a book in my opinion that should be read by preteens, in other words, you need to be older than the characters in the book in order to read the book without fear of nightmares


Splendid but flawed biography
	Not only a terrific portrait of Louis B. Mayer, but a wonderful history of Hollywood movie-making.  My caveat is the portrait of Dore Schary.  While Eyman is fair in his depiction of the struggle between Mayer and Thalberg, Eyman found it necessary to choose sides in the Mayer Schary conflict in the last part of the book, possibly to "correct" the view of Mayer the Monster and Schary the savior in earlier Mayer bios.  His portrait of Schary, a man I knew, bears no resemblance to that decent, fair minded, and gifted man.  It is clear that he interviewed few surviving friends and family members of Schary.  Eyman claims that Schary had no knowledge of the making of musicals, yet Schary in his post MGM days produced a successful musical, "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."  Whatever good flims came from MGM during Schary's reign are dismissed as the work of others. He creates a portrait of Schary as a talentless hack, forgetting not only the good films Schary wrote in earlier days but the successful Broadway play he wrote about FDR, "Sunrise at Campabello."  He writes that Schary only spoke of himself in retirement.  I knew few older men who took such an interst in world affairs and the fortunes and misfortunes of his friends.  If he can get Schary so wrong, it forces me to question his other judgments.  Having said all that, I think this is a fine book, evoking old Hollywood with grace and style.


Going to Italy
	If you are planning a trip to Italy, this is a book you should take with you


Dave is amazing!
	Wow - I had to have this book. They are right, he explains everything wrong with Oracle and all about vulnerabilities and exploits.


a necessity and a work of pure genius
	as soon as people see breton's name on a book, they immediately feel indignation and privately exclaim,  quot;the dictator of surrealism! quot; what they don't seem to realize is that, despite being a flawed and somewhat ambivalent man, he probably had more passion in his pinky than they do in their entire body.  quot;nadja quot; is simply one more delightful proof of breton's genius and his infallible flair for the surreal, the mysterious, the mystical, and everything that is profoundly divergent. in this tale of intrigue and obsession he travels the streets of paris with a ghostly, clearly insane young woman who calls herself nadja, which is the russian word for hope.  the most captivating parts of the novel are the bizarre and surreal conversations he has with her. even though he found her incredibly fascinating and almost an ethereal enigma, things start to turn sour between them and breton grows bored with her.  at the end of the novel, nadja is put into an asylum after the police are called because of her incessant screaming and apparently incoherent behavior, some of which suggested that she was living in a world of hallucinations and irrational fears.  we do know that nadja was a real woman and not by means some fictitious creation of breton's, and we also know that she came to a somewhat unfortunate end. it may be true that breton's behavior and attitude of indifference and deliberate ignorance about her truly wretched fate (she died of cancer, insane and completely alone) is indeed nothing to admire, but those who put too much emphasis on this admittedly accurate fact forget that while he may in a sense have betrayed her, he also made a truly admirable effort to make the world see nadja and those like her as no one has seen them before, and immortalized her in a book that is absolutely unforgettable and breathtakingly beautiful. breton was a profoundly hopeful and truly revolutionary figure who exhorted humanity, even while the second world war raged and reaped it's devastating results universally on all of mankind, to recognize the miraculous and wondrous nature of our very existence, however 'absurd' or meaningless some felt it to be after the horrendous events of the twentieth century. it is true that he occasionally goes over the top with his optimism, but his iron will and determination to fight 'miserabilism', the philosophical justification of human misery, at all costs can only call forth our admiration. his exaltation of the imagination as the highest of human faculties and the sole organ of man that will allow him to attain felicity seems to be verified by direct, concrete experience of life.  as we grow older and we come to realize that sensual pleasure is a big part of life but essentially empty and hollow, our inner lives (hopefully) become more vivid and we end up spending more and more time there. breton knows this and wants us to cultivate it to the highest degree possible. don't be fooled by the 'anti breton' rhetoric and take a dismissive attitude toward him, because you'll be missing out on some of the most fascinating books (to my mind) ever written


A must-read for those who want a strategic plan that works!
	Mr Hargrave's book contains practical guidance to developing a sound, realistic and executable strategic business plan. Drawing from his wealth of business experience from working  amp; leading various corporations and running his own consultancy practice, the book provides a detailed framework from which managers can follow to draw up their own plans. On top of that, explainations are given throughout the book on why certains steps are needful while others are superfluous, what key issues to consider and what pitfalls to avoid in formulating the plan. Three words that describe the content of the book will have to be: impactful, illuminating and practical. A must-read for managers and aspiring MBAs in strategic management. A second edition to bring in the role of IT in strategic planning would be great


Hey honey!
	We're all getting old and fat! This book just makes you feel less alone about the ordeal


What a wonderful book!
	I always need tissues when I read this book!  It has helped so much!  I teach preschool and one of my students lost his dog.  I gave him this book and Dog Heaven.  His parents said how much both books helped.  It is just so hard for children to understand death.  I think this book goes a long way in validating a child's feelings.  So often children don't know what to feel, they know grief, but there is so much more than that.  It truly helps when children know it's ok to be confused, hurt, and just upset.  I HIGHLY recommend this book


If you don't know what is going on.....
	If you don't know what you are doing then you need to get this book.  If you think you know what you are doing, then you definitely need this book because you probably have no clue.  Contrary to what one reviewer states, this text does provide a good balance between application and theoretical example.  I use this book all of the time as a graduate student.  It is a wonderful reference.  If you are studying econometrics, then this is the first book you should buy.


A Wealth of History and Opinion
	This book offers such a fabulous collection of ideas.  The information and ideas one can gather from these pages is both a great way to trace the roots of feminism as well as to decide where we go from here.
Each section and piece has introductory information giving a setting of time, place and situation before the writers present their views.  There are so many ideas, ideals and beliefs that while not always agreeable or congruent, can be applied to today's feminist movement.  There is virtually nothing in the book that isn't valuable as either an example of progress or the seed of a new branch for the feminist tree.

To understand the position in which women today navigate life, this book is essential reading.  Interesting, entertaining and informative, it ought to be required readin


"To have committed no fault, yet to be so entirely alone..."
	NICHOLAS NICKLEBY is a significant Dickens in the uncannily absorbing way the narrative diversifies to various literary discourses. The protagonist's experiences and encounters in adverse milieu through life not only embody melodrama, comic relief, political satire, class comedy, social criticism, and domestic farce, they allow Dickens the opportunity to portray, to the minutest nuance, an extraordinary cast of rogues and eccentrics. The main frame of NICHOLAS NICKLEBY is a quintessential Dickens: a generic, virtuous man who concerns with the affair of establishing his identity as a gentleman and the pruning of whom entwines him in a checkered fate. Nicholas Nickleby has committed no fault and offenses, and yet he is to be entirely alone in the world, to be separated from the people he loves, and to be proscribed like a criminal. The more unbearable the ordeals and the more injudicious the deal of the hand from life, the more profusely the novel accentuates Dickens' outrage at the cruelty and social injustice.

When Nicholas Nickleby is left exiguous after his father's death, he turns to his hard-hearted uncle to solicit succor. But Ralph Nickleby, a most unscrupulous and avarious man he is, demonstrates that he is proof against all appeals of blood and kindred, and is steeled against every tale of distress and sorrows. The man will never fail to exert any resolution or cunning that will promise increase of money for there is scarcely anything he will not have hazarded to gratify his greed. It's not that he is unconscious of the baseness of the means with which he acquires his gains. He cares only for gratification of his passions of avarice and hatred. He might have from the beginning conceived dislike to his nephew whom he brazenly places in Squeers' Dotheboys Hall, a school for unwanted boys, as an assistant master.

The cruelty of Squeers, who's coarse and ruffian behavior even at his best temper, Nicholas has been an unwilling witness. The filthy condition of the school and the bodily distortion of the boys impart in him a dismal feeling. The thought of being a helper and abettor of such squalid practice fills his with honest disgust and indignation. The cruelties descend upon helpless infancy fuel this rightful indignation in Nicholas, who interferes with the schoolmaster's flogging a boy named Smike and astonishes everyone in school.

Not only does Ralph persuade Nicholas' family to renounce him for the atrocities to Squeers of which he is guilty, he also betrays his niece Kate into the company of some libertine men who are clients of his and who speak of her in a most casual, lecherous, ribald and vulgar terms. She is roused beyond all endurance by a profusion of compliments of which coarseness becomes humor and of which vulgarity softens down to the most charming eccentricity. The mutual hatred between uncle and nephew aggravates as Nicholas overhears conversations about his sister. The hidden feud further percolates to the surface and leads to a pitch to its malignity as he tries to rescue a girl from a marriage to which she has been impelled.

As the uncle insidiously hatches a scheme to retaliate against his nephew who has in every step of the way interceded and thwarted his plans for mercenary gains, Nicholas entwines with a cast of characters who are humorous, memorable, and true to life. Peripheral to his molding to become a gentleman are episodes of political satire, theatrical success, courtship, family farce, and chicanery. The most significant character is no doubt Smike, whom Nicholas saves from the hellish grip of the schoolmaster and has become his best friend. Nicholas' unfailing love and protectiveness toward the boy accentuates his being the novel's hero, whose domestic virtues, affections, compassion, and delicacy of feelings qualifies him to his later fortune and does him justice.

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY is a flamboyantly exuberant work in which Dickens wreaks the tension of his social satire to a pitch. Details on the Yorkshire school offer such magnifying vision of the cruelty, filthiness, and despotism in the boarding schools. Nor does he spare the rogues and the greedy, whose squeamishness he sarcastically embellishes as a common honesty and whose pride as self-respect. NICHOLAS NICKLEBY also evokes the subtle problem of human nature in establishing boundary of one's remorse. Although Ralph might feel no remorse in his betraying his niece to the temptation of his libertine clients, he hates them for doing what he has expected them to do.

In a sense, Nicholas is seen as the unswerving force that is determined to right the wrong of the society. He tries to appeal to the compassion and humanity of those who have gone astray and to lead them to consider the innocent and the helpless. Nicholas might embody energy for radicalism and ambition to challenge social injustice; his ultimate goal is the recovery of his ancestral position in the social hierarchy. But in the effort to undertake the good deeds, he is influenced by no selfish or personal consideration but by pity for the people he helps and detestation and abhorrence of the heartless schemes.  In the same way he is determined to appeal to his uncle's humanity and not to wreak revenge on him. But Ralph's hatred for his nephew has been fed upon his own defeat, nourished on his interference with all his schemes.

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY is a sober social commentary woven with social and domestic issues. Woven in one man's aspiration to restore family's ancestral dignity is Dickens' own musing, monologues, teachings on the soul, the life, and the moral. The discourse at times assumes a voice of despondency, sobriety and indignation.


Excellent source of fairly up to date information...
	This book is highly informative, updated to include everything up to around Hero's Trial (New Jedi Order), which makes it a must even if you already have the more presentable Star Wars Encyclopedia.  While the Encyclopedia has more interesting and fact filled entrys, it's also hideousely out of date, a problem that this one would easily correct!  I read it cover to cover in a few days, and was quite impressed with how much research went into it, and how few errors were made.  Even so, I have to say I'd recommend this book mainly to fans experienced with EU stuff, lest they quickly become lost and overwhelmed


THE ABSOLUTE BEST
	This book has everything from the SSD Executor,to the ISD Avenger,to the Emperor's resurrection.This book is the one you need if you are looking for information on people,planets,starships,fighters,space colonies,EVERYTHING!!!This book is da bomb wit a capital b


The classic Mediterranean travel narrative!
	Peter Mayle's breakthrough book remains the classic Mediterranean travel narrative. An elegant and witty writer, Mayle set the standard for travel writers of the 1990s, and he's difficult to equal to the present day. Reading and re-reading "A Year in Provence" is like coming home again and again to a faithful friend.

Mayle is absolutely superb!  The next best thing to actual travel.


A Wealth of Information
	This book provides you with numerous analytical tools that can be used to quantify the strategic decision making process. Not a real page turner but the models are useful and the case analysis provides real world examples of companies entering strategic crossroads. Overall I think it provides the reader with a pragmatic way of managing the abundance of information involved in the strategic decision making process


Provides Great Insights Into Life
	The reader that keeps with this book will be rewarded. The conversations in the book are intelligent, the characters and dialogue are real, and the descriptions and settings are vivid. While the author provides a lengthy disclaimer at the end of the book explaining how the fictional university and town in the book are not based upon Yale and New Haven, it is sometimes hard to believe, especially given that the author has been a faculty member at Yale Law School for over twenty-years. This is not to say, however, that the descriptions in the book of the law school and town are inaccurate. Rather, they may provide quite an accurate description of a town torn between those affiliated with a prestigious university (Yale) and those that are not.

In short, I enjoyed this book because it kept me guessing and the pace was just right. This is not a read-it-in-one-day thriller that Grisham might come up with. Instead, this is a much more intellectual read. What I enjoyed most about the book are its insights into life itself. Carter uses fictional characters to explore the good and bad sides to marriage and family life, careers, law, and racism in this country. If you are willing to keep reading when the story seems slow and to learn and grow with the characters (especially Talcott), believe me, this book will reward you, and you'll be glad you read it


The poet laureate and patron saint of sane science.
	As a one-time practicing physicist (now just an "arm-chair physicist") and lifetime music lover, I have found this beautifully-written little book irresistible over the 17 years it has been in my library. In 1983, when the original hardcover edition came out, this book was given to me as a gift by  someone knowing my musical tastes, figuring that it would be the perfect  gift. It turned out to be, but for reasons that are largely  non-musical.

As an arm-chair scientist, I've read and enjoyed more than a  few popularizations by well-known scientists over the years. These include  Richard Feynman with his wry humor in virtually everything he wrote (I  number myself among those physicists who "cut their eye teeth" on the  Feynman Lectures in Physics), Stephen Hawking, Brian Greene, Carl Sagan,  and even Brian Swimme. (The Swimme of "A Walk Through Time" goes down  easily, and covers much of the same ground that Thomas does, but in a quite  different way; the Swimme of "The Universe is a Green Dragon" is a much  harder sell for me due to its hard-pressed attempt to oversimplify.) But  for sheer elegance and poetry and breadth of scope, and for essays that  provoke thought on the part of the reader, none can hold a candle to  Thomas.

Everyone who reads this little masterpiece will have his or her  favorites. Here are a few of mine:

In "Things Unflattened by Science" (an  essay on unaddressed and/or incomplete challenges that future scientists  might well undertake), a paragraph on how biologists might endeavor to  better understand what music is, and how it affects the human condition,  starting with a rather small-scale assignment to explain the effect of  Bach's "The Art of Fugue" on the human mind.

In "Altruism" (an essay on  the symbiotic interrelationships among species), how it is that such a  condition actually exists, and a challenge to future scientists to better  understand how our own species might become more altruistic (and adult)  than it presently is.

In "The Attic of the Brain" (a cautionary essay on  the risks of psychiatry, most importantly psychoanalysis, in terms of  performing "total brain dumps"), the need for all of us to carry around a  little clutter in our lives, as insurance against the chance that we might  inadvertently lose our ability to retrieve something truly important.

In  the title (and final) essay, another cautionary tale, this time on  thermonuclear weaponry, the most lucid description I've ever read regarding  the true meaning of this music as envisioned by Gustav Mahler. In a few  brief but sublime paragraphs, Thomas has captured the essence of this  remarkable opus in a way that no musician (and that includes such  Mahlerites as Bernstein, Karajan, Klemperer, Rattle and Walter) ever had.  Until very recently, that is, with the release a few months back of a  staggering performance by Benjamin Zander, conductng the Philharmonia  Orchestra. But that is another topic, and another review.

In the  seventeen years since the initial publication of this book, quite a bit has  changed in our worldview, in some aspects of society and science. But not  enough! The observations and challenges that Thomas lays out will endure  for centuries, provided only that we endure as well.

Bob Zeidle


The up to date Case
	This book has easy to understand  amp; have up to date case. The Harley Davidson case is one of the cases that showing us how's struggling US to face Japanese company offensive. This is the good case to picturing the dawn to earth marketing strategy compare to arrogant  amp; not efficient strategy willing by US Company


Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- A Racial Controversy
	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been argued as a racial controversy since the first day it was published. Shortly after it was accessible to the public, multiple committees banned the book, proclaiming it to be racist and "trash". To this day, Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is banned in several school districts.

In my personal copy of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there is a helpful and informative introduction and notes throughout the text written by Robert O'Meally. He clearly states that the intent of Twain's word usage is needed in order to properly and vividly describe the setting and tone of the book. His usage of the racial slur "nigger" can be seen as offensive, but I believe it was necessary for it to be realistic. The dialogue that Huckleberry uses throughout the book stays very true to his character, time, and place, at which the slur was used casually.

Besides the usage of the word "nigger", characters in the book often loudly express their racist mentality.  In the begining of Chapter 14, Huck and Jim are talking about all sorts of topics, both of them speaking their mind. Twain describes Huck's thoughts: "Well, he was right; he was most always right; he had an uncommon level head, for a nigger." Obviously some would perceive this to be intolerable and crude, yet I believe that Twain is simply describing the way Huck thinks of Jim. The growing friendship between Huck and Jim is the basis of the entire novel. The book depicts the way Huck feels and thinks about several ideas and concepts about life, the way he feels about his friend must be present and elaborate.

I strongly support Mark Twain's the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The book wins people over with it 's dialogue, plot, originality, and capability to express a realistic story that takes place in a racist and unjust America.


Challenging you to step up to the plate
	This story gives me hope in mankind again.  Despite the horrendous abuse, this woman gave herself -- all of herself -- to save a child from the torment she experienced.  I wish there were more people like Torey Hayden in this world.  I can only hope that I can touch lives in the way Ms. Hayden has.  This book will open eyes to the terrors of abuse that does, indeed, occur in this world, despite the fact that we would like to close our eyes to it.  It also demonstrates the hope that victims can overcome and the need for us to step up to the plate to end this war of terror


Columbus Cubes or bust!
	Although not as fascinating as his PAPER CRYSTALS (a stellar work of modular origami), MATHEMATICAL ORIGAMI is a very solid work on the topic.  David Mitchell again gives clear instructions in text and diagrams for a very intriguing branch of paperfolding.  There are many books on geometric and modular origami, but Mitchell's are more than just "look at this neat design."  Instead, they are well thought out and very intelligently written.  A must-have for fans of the art


OOOH, My goodness
	This book is off the hook.  Oh! my God this book will have you looking at your "so-called" straight man in a whole new light


Wow - my ears are opened!
	I just got a book out of the library.  The author is a nut about recording songs and analyzing the sonograms (frequency intensity over time), and in his mind, when he hears a song, he identifies it by how it "looks" in his mental sonogram.

This whole idea is amazing, and I think I'll never listen to birds the same way again - just after reading the first few pages!

The writing style pulls you into the author's world as he tracks birds and ponders the meaning of their song.  If you love birding, you will wish you had been there on every walk, and you'll want to wake up two hours before dawn the next day to discover the amazingly different pre-dawn songs of common birds.

The book comes with as CD with 98 tracks of songs, and some of the tracks are slowed down, which really changes your perception and shows you the depth and richness of some of those "blurt" sounds birds make.  The Woodthrush  at 1/10 speed reminds me of a howling wolf.  I know I'll never listed to this song the same way again


Divided in Death
	I'll skip the description since that has been done so many times here. But I would like to say that I don't have much time for reading, so make sure the books I choose are those by authors I consider 5-star. J.D. Robb a/k/a Nora Roberts is one of the most prolific authors I've ever read. How she manages to produce books that remain fresh and vibrant attests to her incredible talent and creative imagination. I've read this series out of order, but each book is written so that the book itself can stand alone. This one, however, revealed to me the reason behind Eve's sometimes belligerent attitude, her strong persona, and standoffishness. Robb is great at revealing subtle conflicts, inner turmoils. Great book


Can I get an "Amen!"??
	McDonald's is one of the great symbols of America, and most countries around the world absolutely love McDonald's.  If you want to know the history of the mega-giant corporation, this is a good starting place.  We are capitalists in America - we love making money, and that can only be considered a good thing.  McDonald's embodies much of the American spirit and American dream.  Sure, the food isn't healthy - as if that's a newflash for anyone these days.  But eating it in moderation is not harmful in any way.  Oh, and westcoaster (below) didn't actually read this book prior to reviewing it - that person just has a problem with successful business-people earning money.  If you don't have that problem, read the book and marvel at the entrepreneurial spirit.  And to Hades with the naysayers - come to think of it, I'm outta here - gotta grab a Quarter Pounder with cheese, baby


a pun extravaganza!
	One of the best new authors to date, and possibly one of the best writers in the history of the English language! Jasper has a VERY firm grasp of the language and creates a..slightly...twisted version of reality where people jump into books, fictional characters jaunt around the real world (Hamlet) and books have a tendancy to re-write themselves. Characters include Jane Eyre (of course), the Cheshire cat, The Red Queen, Hamlet, and a slew of minor personalities from books out of print (for good reasons). If you like puns, you'll LOVE this series


Another winner from the author of THE FOUR AGREEMENTS!
	I loved THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz, in which he
shared wisdom from his Toltec ancestors . . . it helped me and I'm sure
countless others develop a simple, yet effective code of personal
conduct.

So when I had the chance to listen to his follow-up book, THE MASTERY
OF LOVE, I naturally was intrigued by the possibility of gaining some
more valuable insights from the author--this time dealing with the
subject of both developing and maintaining a loving relationship.

Perhaps my only disappointment in this title was that it was too
short . . . I gained so much from it that after one listening, I
immediately felt the need to go back and listen a second time . . . methinks
that if you were reading it, you'd do the same, if just to master this
one concept:

To try to change somebody is to try to change a dog or cat. You love
them for who they are. If you're with somebody, don't try to change
him or her.

Also, there were these other valuable tidbits:
Let go of the past and begin every day with a high level of love.

If you don't love yourself, you can change your belief and your
life will change.

When you hear your heart guiding you to happiness, make a choice
and stick to it.

Forgive others, and you will see miracles happen in your life.

And lastly, there was this one that really struck home:
If your choice is to be in a relationship and your partner is playing
the same game . . . what a gift!


Rambles a bit
	Simon Winchester is a popular historian, in the modern mold. This means that he's socially and politically a liberal, and that he's interested in *everything* connected with a specific event. He'll examine it from all angles, and attempt to see it from everyone's eyes, look over everything connected with it, and then draw some conclusions. Usually, those conclusions over-reach some (I'm being general about this type of writer, not of Winchester specifically) and the point of view is relentlessly modern.

Winchester has chosen as the topic of this book the explosion of the volcano Krakatoa in 1883. Interestingly, the author is trained as a geologist, though he has spent most of his life working as a journalist and writer. This means that he actually understands the terminology of geology and vulcanology enough that he can at least make an attempt to explain it to the rest of us in layman's terms, and the result is generally a happy one. Krakatoa was a complex event (the island had three summits, each a separate volcano: two disappeared in the explosion, but they erupted for a good while beforehand, and their effects lasted for years afterwards) and Winchester does a good job of relating what happened, the prelude to it, and the aftermath.

The one criticism that people have which I agree with is that he tends to wander a bit, at times. There are discussions here of everything from Dutch Colonial policy to the habits of spiders to rather technical (though carefully explained) geology. While it's all interesting, sometimes it does stray a bit far from the chosen topic. The author also occasionally over-reaches, a bit. For instance, his assertion that the explosion of the volcano indirectly led to Indonesia's independance is a bit much. My edition included a magazine article he'd written just after the Boxing Day tsunami, in which he attempts to connect the San Francisco earthquake with George W. Bush's election as U.S. President...that seems and even bigger stretch, to be honest.

When the author sticks to the story, however, what he writes is very interesting. I would recommend this book


COMFORTABLE BOOK TO REREAD SOMETIME
	This is truely a funny book.  It of course is the origin of the Ma and Pa Kettle movies, yet much more.  I like to pull this one off the shelf every now and again just to be able to chuckle.  When you read it, you must remember when it was written and what the racial and political attitudes of the time were, although,  it is a good read on that level too, i.e. seeing were our culture has been and where it is today.  I did read one or two reviews which compaired this work to some of the authors other work...good grief folks, lighten up..read the thing for what it is..a funny story meant to amuse. When I was a kid, I did not read Micky Mouse and analyze each comic book for political correctness, nor social commentary (although, being a dog lover, I was not always happy how Pluto was presented and treated) nor did I compair the Micky of 1949 to the Micky of 1952.  Anyway, digging into a book like this for those reasons is fine I suppose, if you are into such, but for me, I just enjoyed the read and highly recommend it


Photographer as Artist
	George DeWolfe sees the photographer as an artist, not a technician, yet his book provides the technical knowledge and shows how to use Photoshop to create consistently high quality fine art prints.  Writing for the experienced photographer with a basic knowledge of Photoshop, DeWolfe begins by showing the photographer, with many examples, how to evaluate an image and decide what adjustments will bring out its special qualities.  The experienced photographer has always used his or her understanding of how light, luminosity and color give life to an image, and has traditionally used various techniques in the darkroom to enhance them.  DeWolfe begins by training the eye of the artist to see these elements and understand how they work.  After showing the reader how to truly see the image and decide how to fine-tune it, DeWolfe then gives us a very detailed digital workflow which, once mastered, allows the photographer to produce excellent prints on a consistent basis. The workflow is clarified by many screen shots showing Photoshop techniques and before/after image adjustments. Those who think visually will find these particularly helpful.

DeWolfe's approach is to use the simplest techniques that can produce consistently fine results.  (Some Photoshop users will be surprised by his use of the history brush instead of masking; as a photographer who uses this tool, I appreciate its simplicity and controlled results.)  His focus is not on "tips-and-tricks in Photoshop", but on how to get the best possible prints in the simplest, most straightforward way.  While a first reading gives valuable insights, the book's true value becomes evident when the photographer uses the workflow on his or her own images, and practices to become proficient.  The proof, as they say, is in the print


My Life as a Baby is a Winner
	I received my first copy of this cute album as a gift when I had my first baby.  I had so much fun putting it together that I tracked it down for my second and now for my third.  Telling the story from baby's point of view is fun and gets mom thinking about how baby would really feel about all the firsts in his/her life.  It is an easy album for moms and dads who want to record all the important events that the first year brings, but who haven't joined the scrapbooking craze quite yet.  I love this album and plan to have one for each child


No soup cans here...
	Well, the name of this set does say it all. Fashion! That's the theme of this mix   match stationery set. I liked it a bit more than some of the other mix   match stationery sets out there. The paper quality is a teensy bit better with this set as the paper is slightly thicker.

The illustrations are very colorful and pretty, it has drawings and he complements each with colors such as bright blue and fuchsia. The drawings are all bold and enjoyable ranging from a pattern of high-heeled shoes or little kisses to a close-up of a very Warhol-esque face. At the top of each sheet, there are little quotes of Andy's relating to fashion. Very cool for maintaining the overall theme, I think. The different colored-envelopes each have a flap that more or less complements one of the particular sheet designs but of course, as the name suggests, it's all open to a little mix match. Finally, there are quite a lot of stickers to decorate your mail as your will dictates. They're very pretty too including purses, mannequins, kisses, and oh, they're the clear kind so they look a little bit more distinguished.

All in all, a very good way to spruce up your everyday mail. Get it especially if you're a fan of Andy Warhol or a die-hard fashionista


You can cook!
	My sister, whom moved out and had never cooked a thing in her life, really enjoyed the benefits from this book! The moment she saw it on my shelf, she snatched it up and took it home and I haven't seen it since. I hear she's cooking some great meals and hope she'll invite me over for dinner sometime soon! ;


Amazing!
	This book has adrenaline written all over it! Michael Crighton did an excellent job of keeping readers on their seats. I was blown away. Not only did his novel have adrenaline, but it also had horror, which kept you waiting for your hand to turn the next page


Lost World is a good book!
	Lost World	 		 Knopf Inc., 1995, Hardback 393 pp., $18.87
Michael Crichton		                            ISBN 0-679-41946-2

	What would you do if you were trapped on an island stuck with prehistoric dinosaurs that are ready to tear you to shreds? A group of scientists are stuck on an island are about to be torn to shreds. Ian Malcom and his three partners have gone to an island called Isla Sorna believing there are dinosaurs that are still on the island since the prehistoric time. When they get to the island they figure out that the dinosaurs are not from the prehistoric time but from a cloning company called Ingen that cloned dinosaurs in Crichton's previous novel.
	Lost World is a grabbing novel and will keep you reading for hours on end. Crichton gives great descriptions of characters, places, and objects that will keep guessing if he was really on the island. It makes you feel like you are a part of the story on the island or off. Crichton has made novels that continue this novel and start this novel. Jurassic park was Crichton's novel before this and Jurassic park III is the novel that continues this novel.
	Lost World is exciting, adventurous, grabbing, and will always be a great novel. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes adventures and anyone who likes to feel like you're in the story. Lost World is the best novel I have read and will be for quite a while.

Andy Pop


Good Prep Guide for Passing the Test
	I liked this prep guide because it's not one of those huge books that's impossible to fit in your carry-on or laptop bag if you're traveling.  It has enough information to pass the test, which is good enough for me because that's all I needed to pass the test this month.  But, if you're one of those people who has a need to get every single question right, this is not the book for you.  The book doesn't cover every single thing you need to know for the exam, just enough to pass it.  The only draw back to this book is that it doesn't come with a CD with a comprehensive set of sample test questions.  I had to go to one of those huge books that I bought a couple of years ago for that, but I didn't read the huge book


Please post this review--customers deserve information
	This is a retitled re-issue of _Invisible Republic_. For its content, then, it clearly deserves a 5-star rating (at least from here). However, you ought to know what you will be getting if you already have that classic


WOW!  A Fun, Lively, Wonderful Westward Journey!
	Verla Kay has done it again!  She's created a brilliant rhyming picture book that works great in the classroom and is also a delightful choice for a bedtime story.   COVERED WAGONS, BUMPY TRAILS is the vivid, touching, enjoyable story of a pioneer family moving West.  Readers will fall in love with  quot;Mother, Father and Baby John quot; as they journey in search of a new home.  Their struggles and triumphs come alive in sparse  quot;cryptic rhyme quot; verse, such as:  quot;Plunging, slipping, Stuck in snow. Frozen wheels,  quot;Oxen, WHOA! quot;  And the art by S. D. Schindler is fabulous with colorful kid-appeal.  This is a wonderful book that  you won't want to miss!  When you reach the final page, you'll smile at the absolute PERFECT ending


Robert Hand, the finest astrologer of all times!
	I wish I had put some kind of protection on my Transits by Hand. I did not buy the hardback and usage of the paperback over the years by me and my daughter has managed to deteriorate the 2 or 3 copies I've had to reorder!  I always read other books about transiting planets and their influence, but for the final touch I always resort to the master himself, Robert Hand.  I was lucky enough to hear a few of his tapes and he is absolutely fascinating to listen to; has a delightful sense of humor (Sagittarius influence), is a supreme story-teller, which makes it impossible not to learn as you listen.  A lot of hard work must have gone into this work.  If anyone is to break the barriers between astrology and scientific worlds, Hand would be the one to lead the onslaught!  No astrologer or anyone learning astrology could do without this book


Great Book!
	Talk about a warm, fuzzy, heart touching book, this is it. Authors Allen   Linda Anderson have touched on the very core of the existence of our beloved pet, the dog.
Taking accounts from numerous people they share with us stories of courage, love,loyalty, sacrifice and more that our four legged friends have bestowed on humans.  After each story we have a short meditation that enhances the read.

I am a dog lover so for me this just re-enforced their need in our world and helped me appreciate them more.  Are they indeed sent from our Maker as messengers of love? I believe that may well be true.  If you love dogs, or even if you just want to understand their unique service to man; this book is for you.Written in a tender, honest,  interesting and absorbing way; you will find it difficult to put this book down.  I recommend "Angel Dogs" highly. Absolutely amazing insight!


Freedom is Choice, Constrained
	Citizen explores just what freedom really is as it follows a young man, Thorby, as he matures from boy to man. Starting as a slave sold to a most unusual beggar, Baslim, we see the first aspect that many equate with the absolute opposite of freedom, though we see that in fact 'slaves' sometimes have more freedom of choice than 'free men'. The society he paints here is vivid and believable (though the economics of slavery in a star-travelling culture has always seemed a little dubious to me). Baslim is far more than he appears to be, and puts Thorby through a rigorous education, both academic and practical. How do you become a really good beggar? Here Heinlein falls in with Ayn Rand - whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability, from begging to juggling. Also there are several comments included here about the integrity of the self - lies to others and misleading yourself both come in for some dictums. These are items that may pass over young readers' heads, but perhaps planting seeds that all assumptions should be examined, nothing should be accepted on 'faith', that personal integrity is more important than 'success', that consequences of actions should be examined carefully before committing to that action.

Later, Baslim calls in some favors and sends Thorby to live with the Free Traders, a group of space merchants that keep to themselves with their own unique culture. Here Thorby discovers another aspect of freedom: a person's ability to do as he wishes is severely constrained by the culture in which he lives. The Free Trader society (which owes much to Margaret Mead's seminal ideas, and highlighted by an anthropologist character named Margaret Mader - Heinlein was not usually so obvious with his names) of rigid matriarchal domination and separation into moieties provides security, peace of mind, and the ability through rigid rules of formalism to allow a small group of people to live together for extended periods without breaking any heads, but has as its downside great limitations on freedom of choice. This section of the book may be the best part, as the society is so different from today's American culture that it becomes fascinating in its own right, apart from its effects on Thorby. Thorby himself grows and changes significantly in this part of the book, from first love to determining just how he must balance the demands of duty and personal desires.

The last section deals with Thorby back on Earth, within a society not much different from our own, and shows a third aspect of freedom: the internal courageousness to make your own decisions and act upon them. Freedom is just as constrained by internal timidity and/or defining decisions as by external forces. As this last section offers little in terms of new or different views of society (though it is a good mirror of some of the flaws of a capitalistic/lawyer dominated one), it isn't as engrossing as the first two sections, but is highly important in terms of completing Heinlein's thematic investigation of all aspects of freedom.

Characterization other than Thorby and Baslim is pretty thin, especially for the females that appear in supporting roles. This was fairly typical for his juveniles, as they were basically strong adventure novels with their primary focus on their central character. But the thematic line on slavery/freedom is much stronger here than most of his messages in other books, and as this particular position is also stated in some of those other works (most especially Farnham's Freehold), has to be seen as one of Heinlein's personal beliefs (unlike some other positions he proposes in his books that seem mainly designed to stir up debate).

This book is not Heinlein's absolute best, nor even the best of his so-called 'juveniles' (which are typically better reading than most 'adult' mainstream bestsellers), but still provides an engrossing, fun, and illuminating read. Recommended for all readers willing to look at life styles different from their own.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)


Preschool class loves this book
	I checked this book out of our local library when I was teaching a unit on "oceans" to my preschool class. The children listened closely as the suspense built in this story and the surprise ending was wonderful. The children understood the food chain concept and have asked me several times to "Read it again!" It has also triggered a renewed interest in the children for using their own imaginations to create stories of their own creation. I am ordering a copy for our own personal library. This one is a keeper


One of the best books I've ever read or owned
	What books you would grab as you ran out of a burning house? Remember that old parlor game? This is one on my list. My copy is stained and spine-cracked and I could not live without it. It's the standard by which all cookbooks should be measured


fire to flight ratio
	You will either kill them or become a video on arabic television!  Hows that for modern desensitization


The Death of the Devastators
	Many people remember the battle of Midway as the turning point of the war in the Pacific due to the sinking of four Japanese aircraft carriers, and rightly so.  But would the American success at Midway been possible without the heroic actions of their torpedo squadrons?  Probably not.  In this eye-opening account of the battle, author Alvin Kernan sheds much new light on these intrepid airmen who, flying obsoloete aircraft and using defective torpedoes, cleared the way for the SBD Dauntlesses to deliver the crushing blows on the Japanese carriers.

After sighting the enemy carriers, the three American flattops began launching their torpedo bombers, dive bombers, and fighters in the hopes of making a coordinated attack on the Japanese fleet.  However, while en route to the target, almost all of the squadrons became separated and the USS Hornet's contingent of fighters and dive bombers never even made it to the Japanese fleet. Its aircraft either returned to the carrier or ditched in the sea.  Meanwhile, ,the planes from USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise were not able to coordinate their attacks.  Thus, the torpedo planes attacked without fighter protection.

These planes were thrown into a virtual meat grinder of anti aircraft fire and pursuit from Japanese fighters.  Out of a compliment of 51 planes, 44 were shot down.  One man, Ensign George Gay, survived from Torpedo squadron 8.  Not a single American torpedo hit the Japanese fleet.  However, this sacrifice was not in vain, for a few minutes later, the SBDs found the Japanese and in the span of a few minutes sent three Japanese carriers to the bottom.  The fourth followed later in the day.

The author brings up some interesting points in the book.  For example, he mentions the confusing flight plan of the Hornet's commander Ring, who, for some reason, chose to fly a course which would take him well north of the Japanese fleet.  He then failed to write an after action report upon returning to the Hornet.  The author also describes the inferiority of the American aircraft, specifically, there extremely limited range which, in the end, caused the American fighters to turn back.  Also, the fighters that did make it to the Japanese fleet never flew down to help out the lumbering Devastators.  In all intents and purposes, the SBDs happened to end up in the right place at precisely the right time.  If they had not, the battle could have turned out much differently.

This is a fascinating book.  I've read several books about the battle of Midway, but none have went into the depth of exploring the destruction of the torpedo planes as this one does.  The writer, a former member of the Enterprise's air group, describes the battle as only a true eyewitness could.  He raises some alarming quetions which I had never thought about before reading this book.  Although the book itself is somewhat short, it does a masterful job of covering the plight of the torpedo planes.

I highly recommend this fine book.  If you've read anything previously about the battle of Midway, you must read this book.  It sheds some new light on the heroic sacrifice of the American torpedo squadrons and how their actions paved the way for the American victory


Darwinism Dead in 50 Years Time
	Stimulating, compelling primer on the fallacies of naturalistic evolution. In a philosophical wrestling match, Phillip Johnson bends Richard Dawkins into a pretzel and pins his shoulders to the mat in three seconds or less.
Macroevolutionary Darwinism is living on borrowed time. Within 50 years it will join the ranks of Geocentric Universe Theories, phlogistons, and phrenologies. A lot of guys with letters after their names are going to have to look for new work, or else be honest enough to convert from their naturalistic religion to a real form of science, that pursues Truth no matter where it leads


Crucial Desk Reference
	This is an integral desk reference for the reproductive health educator.  This text outlines all that there is to know to date about contraceptive methods and their function.  I don't inted to part with this until the 19th edition is released.


Good, but scenarios getting out of date
	The Challenge/Solution style of these books are great for security beginners as well as seasoned professionals.  If you read carefully you can pick up many hints/tools which you can use in real life security scenarios.

My only -ve comment about this book is its getting out of date now.  Many of the incidents described are not relevant now, as security practices at most firms would thrawt these incidents.  Having said that, the scenarios are still good for security beginners.  For advanced readers I would suggest the Second edition or the soon to be released third edition


Incredible Book
	I purchased this book to find out about the publishing industry and more effectively market my book.  Without Mr. Kremer's Book I would have been clueless, however now I am well informed and continue to sell my book.  It has been picked up for a second edition by another publisher, which was my main goal.  ( I self published as a quick way to get review copies out to the public and get the book rolling)I knew the world needed my book and I needed it releasedquick.  Mission accomplished.  I keep 001 ways close to my side and continuously consult it as I continue my publishing journey.  Highly recommended to anyone who wants to sell books and be successful and effective in the process


My favourite poetry book :)
	We got this book out from our library recently and within a week I had ordered a copy for us.  My nearly 2 year old demands poems from it all the time (as only 2 year olds can demand!!) and her older brothers have also enjoyed them.  The book has so many poems that struck a chord with us; just one small example: With recent cold weather I ended up sharing Dragon Smoke (about day being so cold you can see your own breath) with my oldest son's class at school. I have also suggested that our local pre-school buys a copy for the adult library so that the poems can be shared with the children when relevant themes / moments arise.  The pictures are perfect for the poems creating a completely wonderful package. It is just an absolutely superb book and one I will be buying as a present for many other families.  I think in a way the title is a bit of a pity, (although completly reasonable), as these poems will last a lot longer than just for the "very Young"


Flip it!!!  ...........  Flip it good!
	Flip the Switch is an excellent book.  I'm 29 and tired of being overweight.  I bought this book months ago.  I read half of it, then moved from Seattle to Valdez, Alaska.  All the while I was moving, I could not stop thinking about this book.  As soon as my shipment arrived, I found the book ASAP and finished it.

I have seen that some complain about the resistance products he promotes in his books.  I look at it this way:  Spend a ton of money on a gym membership or spend around $10.00 for a resistance rope - PLUS - you get to do this in the privacy of your home.  This is a great idea, especially for women that have children, a job and the home to contend with.

Jim Karas was overweight for several years.  He can relate to me.  He revels on the fact that resistance training is the way to go and thank goodness because I simply cannot handle cardio workouts due to a bad back.  The running and "stepping" in cardio is too much for me.

This is a great book for anyone but women will especially appreciate the convenience


Quaint and Entertaining
	This collection of shorts narrating the lives of the inhabitants of 44 Scotland Street - a Edinburgh neighborhood, full of quirky characters, both lovable and unlovable - is quaint and entertaining, striking a cord of truth in the mind and heart, like many of Smith's stories. A great addition to those previously delighted with Smith - for new readers I recommend The No. #1 Ladies' Detective Agency


Fast-Paced Book
	Having read most of Grisham's books, I've saved a few of his "best" for last.  While it wasn't a 5 star book like I'd hoped, it certainly was one of his better books with a lot of detail and of course the plot was an interesting one.

Having saw the movie years ago, I had a good idea of what the book was about:  Two Supreme Court Justices are killed, a law school student, along with many other people become curious and try to figure out "who dun it"...only, she writes a brief and hits the nail on the head, and when the wrong people find out, she's on the run for her life!

I enjoyed the book mostly because it was fast-paced, and had a lot of detail.  So much detail and characters, I had a bit of a struggle to keep up!  Of course it was suspenseful and the characters, especially of Darby, the law school student and the reporter who starts to help her uncover the truth.  Good read


Iran, Tormented Soul in Search of an Identity
	Kenneth Pollack first gives his readers an excellent introduction to the remarkable history of Iran from the rise of the Persian Empire to the reign of the Pahlavis (pp. 3-100).  Pollack shows clearly how nationalist and xenophobic Iran got wary of meddling foreigners, starting with the hated Russians and Brits, in its domestic affairs (pp. 4, 41).  Many Iranians have angry psychological scars, believing that foreigners are the source of all their problems for partially understandable reasons (pp. 26, 71, 89, 99, 125, 128, 155-56, 161, 173-74, 242, 297, 389).

Pollack focuses the bulk of his book on a balanced account of the troubled American-Iranian relations in the last 50+ years.  The U.S. started building its "satanic" reputation after the CIA played a key role in helping the Brits get rid of Iran's popular Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq in 1953 (pp. 57-67).  Mosaddeq's "crime" was the "illegal" nationalization of the Iranian oil industry under control of the rapacious Brits (pp. 52-56).  The U.S. did not improve its reputation among most Iranians by supporting the dictatorial Shah who largely mismanaged the modernization of Iran until his overthrow in 1979 (pp. xxv, 72-140).

Pollack convincingly demonstrates that the Truman Administration and its successors usually did not exercise enough pressure on the Shah to democratize and liberalize Iran when they had the opportunity to do it (pp. 49, 76-77, 81, 89-90, 104, 121-24, 136-40).  The Shah, who was ironically considered sold out to the West, became less and less amenable to the "omniscient" U.S., beginning in the mid-1960s (pp. 39, 50, 84, 94, 99-100, 107, 120-27, 158, 173).

After the revolution of 1979, the U.S. mostly supported Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war and funded different destabilization operations to contain and try to overthrow the Islamic Republic (pp. 206-16, 259-65, 273-76, 386).  The U.S. apologized in 2000 for some past misdeeds in an unsuccessful attempt to improve its relations with Teheran under the presidency of the moderate but ultimately ineffective Mohammad Kathami, who was under relentless pressure from the hard-liners (pp. xxv, 303-42).

Pollack blames with equal conviction the Iranians for the awful relations existing between both countries.  Iran has built its reputation of international pariah due to the illegal seizure of the U.S. embassy staff in 1979, its lack of democratic credentials, its support of terrorism around the world, its opposition to the Middle East peace process, and its pursuit of (nuclear) WMDs (pp. xxi, 141-80, 182, 198-201, 237-40, 248, 256-59, 266-67, 277, 345, 379-82).   Pollack also explains to its readers that many Iranians have a poor understanding of the U.S. (pp. 50, 180, 309).

Pollack does not hesitate to show repeatedly that greed has not stopped the international community, including the U.S. at times, from doing business with Iran in the last 25+ years (pp. 164-65, 262-65, 271-72, 286-89).  Iran is trying without much success to emulate China by crushing internal dissent and favoring economic development (pp. xxiv, 250, 369-73, 390-91).  The U.S. will be of no help in this endeavor as long as Iran stubbornly clings to its pursuit of acquiring nuclear military expertise on top of other objectionable actions (pp. 273, 312, 324, 351).

Pollack tries to crack the Iranian enigma by rightly ruling out an invasion of Iran due to its size, population, and topography (pp. xxiii, 383-86).  Pollack ultimately pleads for a three-pronged strategy that rests on an unconvincing mix of carrots and sticks (pp. 375-424).

The U.S.-led international community seems to believe that Iran will "submit" to the "diktats" of foreigners in the nuclear crisis without undermining again the "legitimacy" of the hard-liners (pp. xxv-xxvi, 157, 251, 352, 365, 395-400).  Hard-liners have not forgotten the humiliation of 1988 (pp. 227-33).  Nuclear WMDs would shield Iran from further "humiliating" foreign interference (pp. 259, 361-69).

The Shi'i hard-liners, inspired by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and co, relish martyrdom and heavy sacrifices (pp. 157, 177-79, 222-23, 302).  Like most of his predecessors, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is seeking confrontation with the international community as a way of diverting Iranians' attention from their problems for which ideology is a poor solution (pp. 158, 238, 243, 293-96, 348, 369-74).  Iranian hard-liners can find plenty of inspiration in the playbooks of Adolf Hitler and co.

The U.S. will discover again at its own expense that key countries will balk at acting responsibly after Iran predictably fails to comply with the legitimate demands of the society of nations (pp. 165, 262).  Iranian hard-liners consider weakness a defensive and reactive policy towards their offensive agenda (pp. 218, 234-35, 266, 300).  Nothing meaningful will happen until the implementation of very comprehensive economic / financial sanctions and the credible threat of massive strategic bombardments against the nuclear and revolutionary power infrastructure across Iran (pp. 299, 301, 392-95).  Iran has not been impressed with half-baked carrots like the Critical Dialogue and, with "Mini-Me" sticks such as Dual Containment and a few cruise missiles (pp. 265, 273-76, 283-84, 291, 337-38, 344, 391).

There will be no free lunch (p. 385).  Stepped-up war against (state-sponsored) terrorism will require a series of "patriotic" sacrifices to mitigate the inevitable, short-term sharp increase in energy prices.  Furthermore, there will be a new spike in terrorist operations as a "payback" for muscular action against Iran (pp. 253, 345-49, 354-58, 373, 392).

If Iran is not stopped before it acquires nuclear WMDs, it will indulge with a vengeance its own regional hegemonic aspirations not only in the Persian Gulf, but also in Central Asia (pp. 253-56).  Energy prices will not go down in this scenario.  Furthermore, Iranian hard-liners could consider Southern Russia and Chinese Xinjiang fair game for their revolutionary agenda due to the sub-optimal treatment of many Muslim minorities in these areas (pp. 198-205).  Their military nuclear program is not purely defensive.  Whoever ignores the past, will pay a heavy price down the road.


A real eye-opener!
	I consider myself knowledgeable about history, especially WW2. After reading just half of "Flags of our Fathers'" I realize how much I 'didn't' know about this part of the war. Most of my research was of the european theatre.
I am so glad I purchased this book. It makes me feel so humble as to my own time spent in uniform for I never had to endure or sacrifice what these young men did.
Anyone thinking of not voting should read this and be sure to vote for these young men gave everything so that we could have that right. Even more they went through hell before they did it.
Do yourself a favor and get this book.
Richard Neal Huffman - Author of Dreams In Blue: The Real Polic


Excellent
	My daughter loves this book.  She reads me poems and stories from this book all the time.  I think all teenagers should purchase this book.


Light into darkness
	"Lords of the Earth" is the term the Yali warriors use to describe themselves.  They live in the Heluk valley in Irian Jaya, and the only knowledge of them to reach the outside world are the dark rumors of the cannibals beyond the mountains.  The first section of the book is about them, their customs, and the awful fear and darkness they lived in.  Don Richardson does a great job portraying a people bound by chains of sin, and longing for release.  The horror of their pain is graphic, and not suitable to be read to younger children.

The second part of the book describes the early life of Stan Dale, his conversion, and his burden for those in darkness.  He is drawn as a determined man, physically strong and fit, with firm convictions.

The book goes on to tell of Stan's coming to the Yali people.  How a strange story begins over his identity, protecting his life.  How the first few Yali Christians were killed, and later Stan and a fellow missionary were brutally murdered.  How another missionary family died in a plane crash, except for the nine-year-old son, whose friendship with the Yali paves the way for them to turn to Christ.

The book reminded me Christ's words in John 12:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."  On earth, Stan Dale never saw the fruit his life and death brought forth, but he will rejoice in heaven with the Yali that are there through his witness.


War and Peace: Both Inscrutable
	Reading WAR AND PEACE is an immense undertaking, which has less to do with page numbers and more to do with addressing some very fundamental questions about what it means to be human. The first time that I read it, I read it as a novel, for entertainment. Years later, I picked it up again but this time my task was more ambitious. I sought to know how Tolstoy could justify the ways of God to man.  During this second reading, I was able to examine the Russian names, characters, events, and historical occurrences which occupied me the first time through. What I saw was that each of the hundreds of individuals was very much linked to the concluding Epilog, which I scanted then but studied now. Most readers of WAR AND PEACE find this part heavy going, which it certainly is, but in it, Tolstoy creates a key for unlocking the reasons who we are and why we do things the way we do. In essence, each human being is like an atom of gas floating in space, with one atom colliding at random with another, but when a sufficient number act in concert, such as Napoleon's invasion of Russia, their force is irresistable. When Tolstoy introduces world leaders like Napoleon or the Tsar, he does so in such a way as to depict them as no more than one more free floating atom, who can not see the Big Picture any more clearly than anyone else can.  The tragic decisions of these misguided leaders are based on a collective illusion that they and they alone can use divinely inspired reason to affect lasting change.  But when human beings act as if they acknowledge that their powers of reason are both limited and self-deluding--as when General Kutuzov relies on looking inward toward instinct rather than outward toward other circling and equally misguided atoms, then they are drawing closer to a universal "one" with nature.  This "one" Tolstoy invests with religious overtones as synonymous with God. Tolstoy does not say that human beings are preprogrammed robots held in thrall by that "one" or any other deity, but he does say that history, time, and man are all part of a universal flow that swoops along all in its path, and that if any intelligent atom wishes to know which way the flow is likely to go, then he might wish to emulate General Kutuzov, who at least knows that humbleness in the face of chaos is the first step in finding a rational basis for who we are and where we are going.


An immense poetic achievement
	Add this reviewer to the list of people who hold Paradise Lost up to the lofty title of The Greatest Epic Poem in the English Language; it is not only this, but one of the best in any language. Writing unabashedly in the tradition of unrhymed Homeric epic verse, Mitlon was working well within what was earlier purveyed by Homer, Virgil, and Dante -- but he brings his own distinctive touch and flair to the work. The opening lines of the long poem are clearly inspired by Homer, as are other elements, but Milton has a very unique poetic style; long sentences, often with the principle verb at the end, being one of its mainstays. This language is very grandiose and quite complex; it takes a while to get used to it -- you will have to pay very close attention during the first book -- but, as with most classical literature, once the reader gets the hang of it, it goes quite smoothly. The Divine Comedy of Dante has a more towring reputation than does Milton's Paradise Lost -- for one thing, it is older -- but I among those who find Milton to be superior. The Divine Comedy is, certainly, an undisputed masterpiece, but, where it was, more or less, a satire and a thinly-veiled attack on many of Dante's political enemies, Milton's work deals with much more complex and profound subject matter:  why mankind fell, how the gods themselves operate and think, the nature and attractiveness of evil and sin, the importance of love in human relationships, the moral problems of God's justice. It is true that Dante's work is more original; Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, at least in seed, come straight from The Bible. But Milton only uses these stories as a springboard for the exploration of the latent moral and ethical problems lurking beneath. Milton explores these problems with a refreshingly fresh perspective -- strictly within the Christian tradition, to be sure, but far from fundamentalist, and even quite radical for its day. Although some cite the work as Christian apologist, there are certainly many elements within the poem that many of the more hard-line Christians would be taken aback by; it was, of course, even more controversial in its day. One thing about the work that often gets pointed out is that Satan is a far more interesting and appealing character than God. This, in my view, does not have Milton unwittingly on the Devil's side, as some critics have suggested. Rather, he is pointing out how appealing sin is always is:  of course it's interesting, of course it's appealing -- otherwise, we wouldn't keep falling for it again and again and again. If we saw its razor-sharp fangs and [dripping] mouth, we would have stopped getting ensnared in its trap long ago. However, as a non-Christian myself, I cannot but disagree with some points of Milton's theodicy; the last two books, in particular, and Paradise Regained as a whole, were, for me, quite hard to swallow. I found the more human elements of the poem to be its most intriguing. Milton paints Adam and Eve as quintissentially human characters who possess many of the same feelings that we all share:  joy, happiness, fear, sadness, depression, and, most of all, the overriding paramount importance of love. The act of Adam, who was not himself [evil], eating of the apple so that he could follow Eve, no matter what doom was to befall her and them, out of love for her, is still one of the most touching moments in all of literature -- as Mark Twain, in the voice of Adam, later said, "Wheresoever Eve was there, THERE was Eden." God, Satan, and the various angels are also endowed with human characteristics; most Christians today seem to have forgotten that God created Man "in His own image", and that He is not a perfect creature. Likewise, Satan is not entirely evil -- certainly he is ambitious and narcissistic, but so are many humans -- indeed, many have seen him as the hero of the poem (an errorenous view, as I see it.) God often comes off as extremely cold and hardly forgiving or merciful; indeed, to many readers, myself included, this poem doesn't come anywhere near its stated goal of justifying the ways of Gods to men, but only reinforces the views we already had (Mark Twain, whom I have previously mentioned, has a very different view of the situation, closer to my own perspective, that is worth seeking out.) Whatever one's objections to the theology and theodicy expressed within the poem, the poem remains a great work of literature -- poetic, grandiose, profound, extremely readable, and thought-provoking. The shorter sequel, Paradise Regained, is also included in this edition. This work, in my view, comes nowhere near the glory of it's predecessor, but it is still a good read and it is very handy to have it included in this volume as well. For that reason, I highly reccommend picking up this particular edition of the works; also because the introduction, written by Dr. Susanne Woods, is very good, and it has notes provided by the wonderful Christoper Ricks, who also edited the poem for this version. Unlike many editors, he does not include so many notes that they become cumbersome and distract from the text:  they are genuinely helpful and there are not too many of them. This is an absolute classic not only of English literature, but of world literature, and a monument in the tradition of epic poetry that you owe it to yourself to read


A very good reference, but...
	For someone totally unfamiliar with Authorware, I thought this book rather confusing. I typically learn best by playing with software and using the manual to construct my own exercises. However, I knew Authorware was pretty complex so I thought this book would help. Well, it did help a little but overall I became quite frustrated with following the book's exercises. As I use Authorware I imagine I'll keep this book on my desk as a reference tool. But until then, I'll content myself with playing on my own


In-depth details of qualitative research explained with ease
	Patton describes qualitative research design and data collection methods in a way that even the novice researcher can easily understand and utilize.


The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook
	i bought this cookbook due to the introductory price I received and have loved every recipe I have tried.  Many of the recipies are heart healthy and I have found those to be tasty and easy to prepare.  Good luck and good cooking


Mom may need hysterectomy
	I loaned my copy of Dr. Streicher's book to my mother who thought she may need a hysterectomy.  My mother reported that Dr. Streicher's book had information on topics she couldn't find elsewhere -- even about laparoscopic procedures which she hadn't heard about before.  Dr. Streicher's book helped educate my mother so that she was an informed patient and knew what questions to ask her own doctor.  Fortunately, it was determined that my mother did not need to have a hyesterectomy.  My only problem with this book is getting my copy back from my mother.  I may need to purchase a new one.  I think it is a "must-have" for any woman 40+ -- even for men whose partners/spouses/girlfriends are facing this


The Book Changed My Life
	This book was a gift given to me by a friend years ago. I own and have read about twelve books on the topic. Out of all of them, this has been by far the best. By the end it feels like a journey inside yourself has taken place and you arrive to a new destination on your insides. The feel of the book is one of love and support. Not the self-centered type, or author as guru type that I have read in other books--this one has the experience of two professional therapists that shows itself in each chapter. It made a large difference in my struggle with an eating disorder that started at age 10. I am now 44.


Classic with room for hugs
	Classic book is great in dribble-proof format with good reproductions of the original illustrations.  Lots of squirming and hugging while reading this one


Be The Business
	Tapscott and Ticoll have written another very detailed, practical and profound book about business that shows their knack for zeroing in on the heart of a momentous change that is stirring in the world and explaining it all clearly and completely.  At the heart of The Naked Corporation is the notion that shareholders and other stakeholders are empowered by technology to know more and more about organizations faster and faster, which in turn greatly emboldens them to take action based on their new knowledge.  In other words, perhaps the old adage "there's one born every minute" needs updating.  They're still being born, but hopefully now only a few per hour?  Corporations "getting naked" can't be good news for marketing departments.  Their job can no longer be about creating a nice rosy image; companies and products must be the image - for real.  Yikes...David Brett, Founder, Knexa


Could be filmed in Kentucky
	I read this book, loved it, and now want to make a movie of it. There is a local town that has a college, churches, and the overall atmosphere of the town. I felt like I was reading about it while I was going through the book.


What I needed!
	I bought this book to learn some simple things to fold in a Kindergarten I used to work in, and it was an instant success! I was sat at the table for hours folding frogs and boats to the kids, and they seemed to really enjoy the creations! This is a great book for parents and pre-school teachers, and it is a great way to learn  a little bit about geometry too. Some of the models are difficult to understand, but folding is about taking your time. A great way of finding a corner of peace in our rush-hour lifestyle


Don't Try to Read it at One Sitting
	Whitman is not the world's greatest poet - that's probably Shakespeare - but he's certainly been the most influential American poetic voice over the past century. He was the first poet to take all of American life as his subject. Ever the Romantic, Whitman was also the first poet to bring Romanticism into line with everyday reality.

His narcissism can be annoying, but his panoramic descriptions of life and the imagination have a singularly cumulative power.  Some of his short poems ("A Noiseless Patient Spider" and "To a Locomotive in Winter")are individually memorable. The longer poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed," indirectly about the Lincoln assassination, is brilliant. I think most of his Civil War poems are overpraised, but "Come Up from the Fields, Father" is a masterpiece of its kind.

On the negative side, Whitman's transcendental philosophy, which he likes to indulge at length, will strike many readers as very sappy.  His style, lots of details piled up on top of one another, grows monotonous, and readers who criticize his lack of traditional poetic craftsmanship cannot just be brushed off. My advice is to not to try to get through it all at once. The poems rarely become "difficult," they just tend to blur one into the other. Which may actually have been Whitman's intention.

Overall,there's never been a book quite like "Leaves of Grass," in any edition, and that's why it keeps selling as a true classic. In other words, a very old book that people still buy and read and enjoy even when no teacher is telling them to. Reading it will get you as close as one book can to actually living in nineteenth-century America, with all its follies, inequities, and promise


Data is an Asset
	I have been an information systems professional for several years now and I am happy to see that there is finally a focus on data as the asset it truly is.  If I could put  quot;certified data quot; on the Balance sheet as a separate line item,  I would.  I have been reading your book  quot;Improving Data Warehouse and Business Information Quality quot; over the past several weeks and I have this ear-to-ear grin that some peers find disturbing.  (Why does he get so excited about data?)  High Quality Data=success


The importance of character in an age of image
	Os Guinness has a knack for taking difficult and complex subjects and capturing and presenting information that allows small chunks of the philosophy to be grasped and pondered deeply.  This book is no exception.  The fact that it is also a study guide is even more effective in delivering the message while directing the reader to several key questions to consider in each section.

One of the best aspects of the book are the hundreds of quotes and essays, all around the central theme of the importance of character.  While our culture often acts to create an "end justifies the means" behavioral set, never before has character been so important, or so difficult to really practice and live.

The book begins with some essays from famous leaders; from Plato to George Washington, Winston Churchill to Machiavelli, and compares and contrasts what each felt about the importance of character, and how it was to be demonstrated.  Much of the material is pretty well known, yet the ability to so easily read and discuss different styles and approaches is well worth the effort.

My favorite sections were on the "Cultural Erosions of Character" in which the many examples of how society pushes and changes the definition and meaning in life impacts what we define as important at all.  From advertising, to media, the pressure to conform is greater than ever, but in some ways has always existed.

One of the best essay's in my opinion is called the "Revenge of Failure" wherein Henry Fairlie rips the "legend of our times", as envy at its worst.  No longer content to envy what others have and we do not, we now attempt to destroy in others that which we cannot achieve ourselves.  This process degrades talent and is a poor attempt to "buy" our way into importance not through the achievement of something remarkable, but through the tearing down of the remarkable achievement into something attainable.  Thus character becomes something that is no longer "earned".

The sections on plastic surgery and other shifts into a looks based culture further erode the importance of character.  In this relentless and obsessed pursuit of the elusive perfection, the hunter becomes the hunted, and always loses in the battle to fight against aging and the myth of happiness in ones physical appearance.   Powerful depictions of how this societal pressure has claimed far too many who sacrifice character for fleeting and shallow appearance, are depicted with a convicting clarity.

Overall, this is a very well done and thought provoking book.  As a study guide it would be ideal for small groups, or even personal reflections.  The book is so full of quotes and essays that it can be read at once, or in dozens of small bites with equal effectiveness.  Highly recommended.


Good Historical View
	This book brings some of the items one read about in history classes to a more 'back channel' perspective.  Monroe Doctrine and the like are the opening situations, and instead of 'we put a blockade on German ship' it goes it to some of the things that happened to stop a war from breaking out


one of my all-time favorites
	I grew up reading and rereading this book, as did all the five children in my family. It's one of the very funniest books I know on the subject of families and their foibles. Shirley Jackson is so well known for her more macabre and adult writing that people are usually skeptical when I recommend this for its outstandingly intelligent humor. Once you read this you must also read Raising Demons, which is the sequel, and every bit as good, although much harder to find


The Elevator from the Intermediate Level to the Professional Level
	Read on if you are:

- Used to PHP programming, but not a very sophisticated programmer.
- Looking out to do more programming on a higher level.
- Ready to read through book texts three times and to read further material that is not included in the book you buy.

Schlossnagle's book is not written along one red line, it covers various topics and allows jumping around quite freely. However, the topics that it covers are highly efficient in helping you advance with your programming skills. They might not quite be what you'd expect from a PHP book, because actually Schlossnagle covers  anything that is needed to work with PHP on a professional level.
Consider this list of topics:

- Write clean code
- OO-Design Patterns
- Project documentation
- Performance tunings

This is all not really PHP-only stuff, but it is a great source of inspiration and furthers the understanding of programming in general very much. The latter I find is necessary for everybody who's up to something bigger in PHP.

The PHP examples in the book are - I have to admit - maybe sometimes rather scarce. One would like to see more applications of abstract problems, more examples. But is that what a book is for, to give examples?
I don't think so. For me a book is mainly a source of great ideas from great programmers, anything else is available on the web.

After having bought "Advanced PHP Programming" I purchased other books, the topics of which I would not have considered without reading Schlossnagle's work. I'm just about to write a diploma work and the book is a great reference for anything concerning PHP and development projects


you'll smile!
	I learnde so much from this book!  I laughed(yes!), I cried(not really), and I had the time of my life.  This is a great book.  I've only been around since the late 80s so a lot of jokes were kinda way above me.  But I still enjoyed it!  Herman's Armpits forever (har har


It's not a product, it's a process!
	Bruce Schneier offers an excellent 'big picture' overview of the computer security field. From types of attacks, to algorithm security to security in the context of your data center, you get a full overview of the current practices and consequences arising from them. The author argues for security as a process, not a product; security is not something you can add to your product after the fact. Starting from the product specification, down to your last outsourced programmer, security has to permeate your organization for it to work. Building 'attack trees', relying on peer review and enforcing liability are all suggestions advanced by Bruce Schneier.

Secrets and Lies is a well organized book with plenty of real world examples, problems and solutions. Buy a copy for yourself, and many more for everybody else you know, we will all benefit in the end.


Nice little book!
	This is a very handy little book to have for your medical library. It is easy to follow, has a nice index to look up your particular problem and doesn't bog the reader down with a huge history and medical jargon of accupressure.
It has easy to use pictures too.
I have used it already to help my annoying neck and shoulder pain!  Sure beats a $50.00 office visit (and most likely, a 3rd or 4th) to your doctor :


Clear, Brief But Not Too Intuitive - The First Three Minutes
	This book is thrilling. You will learn of the first three minutes of our existence in this universe. Not only do you learn of what is believed to have happened during the first three minutes, but you will also learn the exciting story of how it was discovered. The book is written at a level that can be understood by the lay person.