Monty-python-esque approach to language...this is the British version of what in America are called "sniglets", little neo-logisms invented for things and situations which don't have proper words to designate them but ought to. The difference is that these creations ala Douglas Adams & John Lloyd use already existing town names in the UK and re-define them to make them useful (and funny)...this is altogether different from American sniglets like "bevemirage" (the black plastic bottom of a liter bottle of dark cola that fools you temporarily into thinking there is more cola left in the bottle than there actually is), which tend to be creative word-fusions of already existing words. The only U.S. linguistic construction I can think of that comes close to what Lloyd and Adams are doing here is the phrase "in a New York Minute", aka "really fast". Though there is no collorary such as "in a Topeka minute" (or whatever) to mean slow, drawn out (but maybe there ought to be). I bought this book in the UK for £4.99 GPB, but it seems it's out of print here in the USA, alas. Probably out of print in Britain also. Well worth it, if you stumble across a copy!

(Attention, if not warning: this comment contains two or so profanities. When confronted with them, just block your eyes then, eh??! OK, great!!:)

I've tried 'em all, Webster's, Oxford's, Cambridge's, but none of those dictionaries ever really made sense to me. I mean, I could not possibly care less how many people live in a town named Aalst (nothing personal, Aalst, but that's where I always gave up)??! It wasn't until I found a small, black, paperback with some graved letters on the cover, that I was able to enjoy anything else more than the phonebook!!!

I didn't, for example, know that I ski with Zeal Monachorum before I read THE MEANING OF LIFF. Nor did I know that Aird of Sleat was placed upon Heathrow Airport!! Thanks for warning me, Doug and John!! Also, this little black book can help all of us, when, for example, confronted with a glossop, or what we did, when someone says we've just commited a wigan. Now I can play golf AND enjoy it as well!!! Instead of the frustrating how-many-bogies-have-I-got count, I just count Whaplode droves. Then this once-useless game finally has an amusing purpose.

No, really. This book, alongside being pantwettingly funny, is, in my opinion, an honest and respectable attempt to save the English language from a violent and tragic destruction. For English, as it exists today, is becoming a language of three words: .... This book, and indeed the Deeper Meaning Of Liff as well, is a guide to help us all to save this beautiful language (as all languages are).

At least my Liff has a Deeper Meaning now.

Although a number of your friends may think you a bit weird if you tried to retell them. This rates as one of the few books that makes me laugh out loud (very loudly). A collection of explanations of strange & bizarre place names from around the world, Mr Adams and Mr Lloyd truly show off their incredibly imaginations and pure wit. While the reader may need a "Monty Pythonish" (or even a Hitch-Hikers Guide!) sense of humour, this is a genuinely very funny book

On page 29 of this excellent book is
an amazing sentence.

"Only one, the seventh and youngest
of Henry Adams's eight sons remained
in Braintree."

DOES NOT COMPUTE.

I must confess I was not very interested in history in my college years and recently determined myself some what of an American History illeterate. Thus, I decided it was time to learn and "John Adams" was a great introduction. It wasn't the dry history I remember. The fact that these great men and woman (Abigail) actually documented history in the making made me feel like I knew these great people. I have subsequently read Josph J. Ellis' "The American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson" and "Founding Brothers" and found that I understood them much better having read "John Adams" first.

For all those people out there who find American history boring...I strongly urge them to read one of the most fascinating and best written books on Ameican history in a long time...John Adams...It not only probes into great detail as to the life of this key individual but also gives one a both very interesting and highly detailed picture of the times in which John Adams lived. Kudos to David McCollough for his mastery of the challenging craft of making American history interesting to not only the history lover, but also the novice....

This is a truly fascinating and engaging work. The meaning of indepence from Great Britain is much more profound that one would think on first thought. With this idea in mind, Morgan penetrates to the fundamental ideas and characters of each three men. For both Washington and Adams, I must say that he is right on target. His account of Jefferson is also good, although I cannot help but wonder why Morgan spends some much time and space castigating the man for what he views to be his short-comings. Regardless of the actual merit of his criticisms, he clearly strays rather far from the subject of the work. Nevertheless, the piece as a whole is gem.

Edmund Morgan is perhaps the most readable American colonial historian. Best known for his books on the Puritans and colonial slavery, Morgan here presents three lectures on what three founding fathers thought about independence. George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson are three very complicated individuals, and no short lecture is going to completely explicate their ideas. But Morgan brings his typical verve and clarity to the subject, and speaking as a AP history teacher, I found them to be well worth my time.

I first encountered Morgan's wonderful book in a college history class (thanks, Dr. Bourdon!), but this is no dry academic tome (personally, I think that there is no reason an academic book has to be dry, anyway). The book's three essays--one each on the named presidents and their points of view on the struggle that produced this nation--are both insightful and pleasurable reading. For the casual reader, there is Morgan's gift for anecdote. His description of the personality conflict between Adams and Benjamin Franklin is hilarious, as is Adams' timeless description of the tedium of legislatures (some things really do never change!). That said, there is also serious analysis of these three men, and what each contributed, thought, and said, written with a critcal but respectful tone. It's hard to say which essay is the best, but those who despise Thomas Jefferson for hypocrisy should certainly read his section, and learn about his genuine, if tempered, idealism--a trait we could use more of in the 1990's. This is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to broaden and deepen his or her knowledge of the origins of this country.

I read and researched this text for a University class and "Transforming Work" is excellent. Providing the reader with thought-provoking,insightful ideas. It introduces managerial concepts to change and transform the work environment towards a more positive,productive and ultimately more profitable direction. It challenges old corporate paradigms and explores alternative thinking that is based on rational and insightful thinking. Its a refreshing and great read!

"Transforming Work" and "Transforming Leadership," both edited by John D. Adams, are among my most thumbed books.

I'm one of the co-authors of a chapter in this book, but even if I were not I would still recommend this new edition highly for anyone interested in organization development and the management of change. Each chapter contains an updated preface by the original authors and these alone worth the price the price.

While Trocchi's take on alienation has more than a few parallels to Camus' "The Stranger", the landscape and characters provoke a more visceral reaction. Amazing that most people only know Trocchi's pornographic material - this version has been edited to reflect his original story.

"Young Adam" was a suggested read by my reading partner. How he discovered Alexander Trocchi is beyond me. But I found his writing style, as well as his own outlook of the the world incredibly interesting.

Trocchi's works were said to have been exiled out of Scottish literature, along with Trocchi physically. His writings stretched to the outer limits of moral acceptability. Holding anti-establishment attitudes, a lack of "work ethics", and sexual promiscuity, Trocchi simply tells it as it is through his own philosophy, which allows the reader to concentrate on the story and examine the characters as they unfold. A strong narrative voice guides you through the events of this simple, yet thought provoking storyline.

The story is told by Joe, a barge worker, who shares quarters with Leslie, his wife Ella, and their son, which Joe often refers to as "the kid". The body of a dead woman is found floating in the river, and taken aboard the barge. As the story unfolds, the connection between the dead woman, the circumstances of her death, and two innocent men, caught between a rock and a hard place, nervously emerge and come together. Lingering in the back of your mind, the question of fate or freedom for either of these men.

The question this story evoked in my mind was simply, "What would I do if I were in this man's position?" You will "walk a mile" in Joe's shoes in "Young Adam" But it still leaves this question unanswered.

Read "Young Adam" and see if you can discover a solution to this moral dilemma. I tip my hat to you Alexander Trocchi, ya done good!!!

...that I purchased this book because a movie adaptation starring Ewan Mcgregor is currently in the works... I had never even heard of Alexander Trocchi before reading this (his first novel, originally published in 1954). The story is relatively simple; it is told from the viewpoint of Joe, the hired hand on a barge that traverses the Clyde river between Glasgow and Edinburgh. One morning (on page 2), he pulls the body of a woman out of the river, and that event sets the story in motion. This is really a character driven narrative and I found it very easy to relate to Joe and his environment, even though I am 50 years and about 6000 miles removed from it. As the story progresses, and more and more about Joe's past is gradually revealed, the book becomes quite engrossing. Trocchi has a way of taking incredibly mundane experiences and describing them using the most beautiful, flowing prose...I can't understand why more people aren't familiar with this author's work as he's easily in the same league as Bukowski and Burroughs... Overall, I highly recommend this book and I can't wait to read more of Trocchi's work!

Ansel Adams was very concerned that his work always be reproduced in a high quality way. I fear that he gave too much attention to fidelity of reproduction, and not enough to size of image in the reproduction. This otherwise valuable book is seriously marred by the designer having chosen page and print sizes much too small for Adams' work. I suggest you avoid this book.

I would like to compliment James Alinder on an outstanding biographical essay concerning Adams' life and photographic techniques. This essay will add useful knowledge to anyone who wants to better understand Adams' work and life, and their effects on us all. I would also like to compliment the selection of the images. These are clearly among Adams' best work.

Adams' technique used the very stark light of dawn and dusk to create vivid detail that echoed across the image from figure to figure. The result was to help the eye capture the connectedness of nature, the oneness of creation. So when the details become too small, it is like rubbing out whole chapters in a book. I was very disappointed in the publishing decision for this book's page size. In fact, only one of my favorite images still held most of its power for me in these large postcard sizes, Moon with Half Dome, Yosemite, 1960.

Without Mr. Alinder's essay, I would have graded this book as a two star effort.

Some of the lesser works which have less fine detail still show well. Here were my favorites of this small-sized collection:

Self-Portrait, Monument Valley, Utah, 1958

Monlith, The Face of Half Dome, Yosemite, 1927

Winnowing Grain, Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, 1928

Rock and Grass, Moraine Lake, Sequoia National Park, 1982

Georgia O'Keefe and Orville Cox, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, 1937

Mormon Temple, Manti, Utah, 1948

Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico 1941

White House Ruin, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, 1942

Monument Valley, 1958

Cypress and Fog, Pebble Beach, California, 1967

Sand Dunes, Oceano, California, 1950

If you are like me and love Ansel Adams' work, I suggest you look into Ansel Adams, The American Wilderness, which does feature large enough reproductions.

Sometimes we learn more from mistakes than from successes. Where are your efforts being undertaken on too small a scale to be fully effective? What can you do to change that?

Enjoy the beauty of nature in its full scale brilliance (outdoors and in larger-sized photographic books)!

This collection can be seen at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona, through July 7, 2002. This book is the catalogue of the exibition! If you like the book you should see the originals! They will blow you away.

This is a wonderful book filled with breathtaking photographs taken by the late and well-respected Ansel Adams. Each of the photographs contained is a unique masterpiece with a life of its own. Looking at these splendid photographs, one feels drawn right in to the specific location and year. Some of my favorites include, "The Golden Gate Before the Bridge" (1932), "Barn, Cape Cod, Massachusetts" (ca. 1937), "Clearing Storm, Sonoma County Hills, California" (1951) and "Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona" (1942). This book will definitely hold your attention and keep you captivated if not mesmerized. With so many minute and beautiful details in these photographs, it's easy to see why Ansel Adams was one of the most respected and popular photographers of our time. He didn't just take a picture; he ceased moments in time and captured the beauty of the subjects being photographed. This is an excellent book that will make a fine addition to any library. This book would make a great gift for photographers and art connoisseurs alike!

i loved this book. it was just so great. it was one of the best tourette expirnce books.i can realate to the authors because i have a few tics i also havre learing disabiltys so i know what feeling differnt can be like.

Informative, helped me understand what the touretter is feeling. (I am the parent). I understood that my son was not alone in some of the ways he feels on and off the medications.

I am a parent of a twenty year old with Tourettes Syndrome. This book helped me understand how my son views the world. I just didn't realize the numerous behaviors related to Tourettes. I wish I would of read this book ten years ago. It would of made me a little less critical of some of his behaviors. This book is a must for anyone wanting to understand more about Tourettes.

This is indeed a great book. It talks a lot about the basic photographic techniques and is a good read for a beginner. However, most of the book is limited to black and white photography. The book is also a bit out dated.

Overall a good book for a serious beginner. It will help a person get accostomed to both the scientific and the creative aspects of photography.

The majority of the text concentrates it's efforts in educating the reader in the art of B&W photography. Color photography is briefly touched on at the book's end. The first half of the book deals with various camera systems, accessories, film choices, photograph visualization and film exposure. All of these topics are covered exceptionally well. The second half deals with the developing and printing process. If the prospective reader will not be involved in the developing and printing process then the Ansel Adams Book 1, "The Camera", and Book 2, "The Negative", may be better choices. However to receive the maximum benefit from the art of B&W photography one must eventually delve into the darkroom. The book details those processes equally well.

Although I loved this book, and knew what I was buying, Amazon's attribution of this book to Ansel Adams is misleading. This is a book about Ansel Adams' technique, and his zone system in particular. It's not a book by Adams. If you want Adams' own take on the basic techniques of photography, check out his three books: The Camera, The Negative, The Print, as well as his book of case studies, The Making of 40 Photographs. It takes a lot of nerve to write a book like this when Adams has already done a bang up job of it himself. Surprisingly, Schaefer's effort doesn't pale in comparison to the master's own. Plus you have the advantage of a single book rather than Adams' three. Schaefer provides an excellent guide to Ansel Adams' zone technique, with great illustrations. And despite a bit more attention paid to color photography than in Adams' own books, it still seems like an afterthought.

I went to see the movie TITANIC, but regretted it. I didn't like all the sexuality that was portrayed in it, and when I heard about Moody Adams' book, The Titanic's Last Hero, I knew that I had to get it. I wanted to see how a person could be there to help change lives, instead of just having only the pleasures of life. John Harper was such a spiritual man, and he led many people to the saving grace of Jesus Christ even before going on that ill-fated journey on the Titanic. The narratives of people saved with the promise of going to their heavenly kingdom when the Titanic went down, that's a better story to remember and to think about.

If you are looking for a book as fast paced as the movie, you will be disappointed. This is a collection of memories of people close to John Harper. What the book will give you is a deep look into a man who faced near death by drowning three times before his death due to the Titanic's sinking. It inspired me to look at my own faith more critically. It presents the flip side of all those passengers who so lacked compassion that they put their own needs ahead of others who were dying in the water.

If you want to get to know about a real person that sailed on the Titanic, this book is for you. It is about an extraordinary Baptist minister, Rev. John Harper, who deeply touched so many who considered it a privileged to have known him. The book contains memories of fellow ministers, personal friends, and testimonies of individuals whose lives where changed forever under his ministry.

You will read about Rev. Harper's last moments in his losing battle for life in the icy Atlantic, and the effect on the last person struggling in the water with him that survived. You will also be painted a vivid picture of his informative years by his brother and the story about his wife, lost six years earlier. This book also contains a gripping message delivered the Sunday after the sinking, to his grieving church in England, by his Associate Pastor. There is also a message from Rev. Harper himself.

Don't miss this book, it will make you think, touch your very soul, and could change your life too. This book is great to read again and again, as you will get something new out of it every time.

There is also another book ("Titanic" by Leo Marriott) that contains a photograph of a hand written letter written by John Harper to a friend, nine days before he sailed, about how he came to take the Titanic.

In 1846 German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovered the eighth planet of the solar system, Neptune. However, the actual sighting of Neptune was not the most significant aspect of the planet's discovery; that claim goes to the mathematical accomplishment of two men who led astronomers in the right direction.

Those two men were John Couch Adams and Urbain Jean-Joseph La Verrier. Working independently Adams and La Verrier had calculated the approximate location of the as yet unknown planet. They hoped to solve the mystery of Uranus's irregular orbit by proving that a planet farther out was affecting its orbit. Astronomers had been trying to explain the orbital discrepancies for decades since William Herschel discovered the planet in 1781.

It was La Verrier who had told Galle were to scan the skys for the planet. When Galle reported the finding he rightfully assigned the true discovery of the planet to La Verrier. Unbeknownst to La Verrier though was that an obscure Cambridge University graduate had determined the new planet's location nearly one year before him. That graduate was Adams.

The controversy that ensued over who said what and when they said it should have made for riveting reading. Instead, Tom Standage's retelling of the drama in "The Neptune File: A Story of Astronomical Rivalry and the Pioneers of Planet Hunting" is about as exciting as my three paragraph summation. Standage gives a good account of the background to the controversy and presents the views of the major figures involved; but, he presents it in such a way that it seems no more interesting than two people arguing if a six-pack of soda counts for one or six items in the express lane.

Perhaps the actual event was no more exciting than Standage's recount. If so, then why bother rehashing it. The import of the work done by La Verrier and Adams is felt even to this day. They had discovered a planet without having seen it with their eyes. They proved that it was possible to discover planets via mathematical computation alone. This opened up the whole cosmos to planet hunters since an actual planet need not be seen.

Standage does come at the story from this angle later in the book. However, it was too late to save it by this point. Had Standage focused on modern day planet hunting and how it relates to the work done by La Verrier and Adams instead of on the supposed controversy surrounding their work, this would have been a far more interesting and informative read. Of course the title would have had to have been different as "The Neptune File" is what the British Royal Astronomer George Airy called his file containing all of the information regarding Adams's work on calculating the existence of the then unseen planet. However, I would trade a good title for a good book any day.

I devoured this book in three big bites. From the shockingly superior optics of William Herschel to the elegant mathematics of John Couch Adams to the extra-solar planets discovered in the late 1990s to the techniques being now developed to find planets orbiting other stars -- its all fascinating. In the end, most of what you thought watching Star Trek had taught you about distant worlds is sacked. "The idea that planetary systems around other stars will be broadly similar to our own solar system is no longer tenable. Indeed, as more planets are discovered, it is our solar system itself that starts to seem more and more unusual."
If you don't read science books and don't know why anybody would, this book might change your mind. Highly recommended.

I actually picked up this book in a used bookstore and read the back cover. The facts surrounding the discovery of the planet were new to me. (Kind of embarrassing really that I had never heard it before. Remind me to contact the secondary school I attended!!) In any event, I was enamored by the discriptions on the back cover and bought it for around four or five bucks. I read it in less than a day, which for me is an extreme rarity. I usually spend my time in the "shallow end" of the literary pool, reading books that can only be described as "easy" reads. This is one of the most entertaining books I've read in years. Unfortunately, I lent the book to someone who had more of a background in astronomy who must have known the book's true value and I haven't seen the book (or the guy) since. So I'm back here to purchase another copy. This time I am much more certain of my investment.