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Book reviews for "Adams,_Phoebe-Lou" sorted by average review score:

Chancellorsville 1863 (Osprey Trade Editions)
Published in Paperback by Stackpole Books (April, 2000)
Authors: Carl Smith and Adam Hook
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Great Graphics, Sloppy History
The book has a number of errors in it, some from bad editing, others from sloppy research. I used it to try and piece together what happened when during the battle, and found it very confusing. I'm a fan of the Osprey series, but unless you like the maps in this book, you'd be best to look elsewhere for information on the battle.

Errors Abound
I hate to nit-pick, but I found Fredericksburg 1862 and Chancellorsville 1863 to be replete with errors, at least the versions I read, both Military Book Club editions. The lists of errors I sent to Osprey went on for a three and six pages respectively. Many of them were relatively minor, but there were enough of them, and some not so minor, to cause me to consider the books greatly flawed. Let me note here that I live near Fredericksburg and volunteer once a month at the Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitor Center, so I am fairly familiar with the battles in question. I also want to point out up front that Osprey was very receptive to my comments and implied that future editions may incorporate some changes. I own more than 75 Osprey titles and that this is certainly not the norm for their products, many of which are excellent.

Some types of problems I noted with the books included:

- spelling errors such as Sedgewick for Sedgwick (not always, but several times), Siegel for Sigel and Hero Van Borke for Heros von Borcke. - geographic errors such as inaccurate descriptions of the road net, an incorrect locations for geographic features, and faulty relative positions. - graphical errors such as inaccurate troop dispositions (multiple instances), incorrect unit symbology and faulty depiction of vegetation on maps. - factual errors such as placing events on the wrong date, incorrectly identifying unit commanders and referring to Chancellorsville as a farmhouse rather than an inn.

I recommend waiting for a revised edition.

top notch writing that reads well and provides good detail
Having read Carl's book on The Battle of Gettysburg, I wondered if he could top it! This author has an excellent delivery style. Details provided are good,and the pictures, illustrations, etc. enhance the book. Civil War history is fast becoming a favorite subject and I hope we can look forward to more campaign series from him.


Fulfilment
Published in Hardcover by Faber and Faber Ltd (28 June, 1993)
Author: Adam Mars-Jones
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soap operatic, tedious, poor writing
I don't know which is worse, the author's sneering tone or the soap operatic situations that move the so-called plot.Mars-Jones (I pray that this is a stage name) strains to be hip but fails. I gave up about halfway through this exercise in tedium, so forgive me if the book suddenly got interesting just when I tossed it (but I seriously doubt the author could have found his way by then).

An everyman who is a gay man
Adam Mars-Jones' "The Waters of Thirst" is not a story of lust and unrelieved tumescence, such as those by better-known writers that often populate the shelves of "gay and lesbian" sections of bookstores. It is, rather, the story of William, a voice-over artist in London who has a monogamous relationship with Terry, an airline employee, and who enjoys tea-parties and socializing, but, who, in consequence of a medical crisis, has been reduced to sizing up his friends and neighbors as potential organ donors. It is kidney disease that is slowly overtaking his life, dictating that he may not even sleep in the arms of his lover of fourteen years and that he must transfer his amatory fantasies onto an American porn star, Peter Hunter, who may himself be dying of a degenerative disease. When we learn that William is in an AIDS ward, not because he has AIDS, but because he has just had a kidney transplant operation that appears to have gone badly, the narrative takes on the quality of a confession. Williams remembers the petty moments in his life with Terry, as when he used to humiliate him in grocery stores by parodying Terry's mother, who "listened" to the syrup levels in tins of fruit before buying them. Some of that pettiness threatens to follow William to the grave, as when he sends out a musical dedication to Terry over the hospital radio but misspells his lover's name as "Terri" on the request form to avoid embarrassment. But it is William's authentic narrative voice--the voice of everyman--rendered in masterful stream-of-consciousness form, that will continue to haunt the reader look after he has put down the book. Neither a stereotype nor an aberration, William is a man who lives and loves and who wants to continue doing both, just like the rest of us, even though he has been randomly picked out for extermination by a disease. In "The Waters of Thirst," Mars-Jones has written a novel that portrays a homosexual protagonist as everyman. May every man who reads it be enriched by the experience.

Original and Realistic. AMJ tells it like it is.
This is one of the finest books I have ever read. Though it can be hard to get through (because it is not broken into chapters or sections), once you read it and get the last image, you're so in touch with the character it makes you want to cry. I almost did! Here is a man who has one of the greatest holds on characterization I have ever witnessed. It's a shame so many people won't buy him because he's not trendy enough. I only hope that he publishes another book sometime, since I see that none of his other stuff is in print anymore.


Cracking the Lsat: With Sample Tests on Cd-Rom (Cracking the Lsat With Sample Tests on Cd-Rom)
Published in Paperback by Princeton Review (13 June, 2000)
Authors: Adam Robinson, Rob Tallia, and Princeton Review
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Overly simplistic
This book is short, overly simplistic, and too focused on tips and tricks that fail to give the reader a true understanding of what is required in order to answer the LSAT questions. Assuming that the reader will not have time to completely read the reading comprehension passages and then urging them to read the questions first (losing even more of the test-taker's time) is one of the ways that this book fails to meet the needs of the student. Luckily, I purchased another prep book that was much more comprehensive and whose authors relied on thorough preparation instead of tricks to increase my confidence and my score.

Avoid this if you want to use the CD-ROM
After spending two hours taking a sample test on CD-ROM, the software would quit with an error every time I tried to grade the test. The written portion of the book is fine (but not without errors) just don't spend any extra money for the CD-ROM version.

Helpful but dont stop here
This is a great starting point for studying for the LSAT, but a lot of the strategies offered within are cumbersome and difficult to utilize. Further, the two practice tests in the back aren't the least bit representative of what your actual score will be. I took one of the practice exams, then took an actual LSAT that had been previously administered and noticed a huge difference. It was later explained to me that anyone other than the LSAC can't use actual LSAT test sections, so they have to make up their own. The result? They're either much more difficult or much easier than an actual LSAT section.

Still, the book gives some useful pointers on how to study for the exam (like starting two months before you're scheduled to test, no sooner and no later) and some of the strategies for attacking the section are great. But you'll definitely want to get some of the latest actual LSAT tests and you should consider taking a prep class, though I'd take it from a local university as opposed to one of the corporate outfits if you can.

Good luck.


Gb You Can'T Schedule Stupidity
Published in Hardcover by Andrews McMeel Publishing (06 February, 1998)
Author: Scott Adams
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TINY book, BIG waste!
Sure it's funny - but I've seen these all before. A TINY book but a BIG waste of time and money. It cost more to ship these things than the books cost!!

A tiny book
Not much else to say here. A very tiny book, with very few comics. If you have the larger comic books in the Dilbert library, I'm not sure why you'd need this one.

Short but Sweet
A good book that is worthwhile to read over and over, but a little too short. The jokes are mostly new, however, and I liked this book a lot.


New York City Ghost Stories
Published in Paperback by Exeter House Books (May, 1996)
Author: Charles J., III Adams
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Good Idea, Weak Book
When I picked this book up at the local interests section ...on Manhattan's East Side, I thought the idea of a book covering several reported haunted sites in New York City was a great idea. Although the idea is great, "New York City Ghost Stories" fails to capture the reader's attention due to a poorly designed book and uninspiring photographs and illustrations.

The book, which covers hauntings in some of the city's boroughs, is not a large book to start with. Somewhat compact in size, the book briefly discusses hauntings such as the ghosts that roam the Old Merchant's House in SoHo, Washington Square Park, and the Customs House in lower Manhattan. The book's main weaknesses is that it appears that the author compiled all his findings together in a small notebook, and typed some words, pasted a few photographs and illustrations, and slapped an ISBN number on it. The publisher, located in Pennsylvania, apparently is not a powerhouse publishing house like those found in New York.

The book will make a good read for those living in the city or the surrounding area who like to read tidbits of trivial information, like myself. Overall, a rate this book a three because I haven't seen any other book of similar material on the market yet. Good attempt, but the book's author should seriously consider releasing an updated edition that has more of an eye-catching design.

Disappointed in Manhattan
I have lived in New York City for 16 years and have learned quite a bit about the city's supernatural side. I have also taken the so called "haunted walking tours" in the village. I received this book as a gift. I have to admit that I was already aware of most of the stories. I feel that they were not complete somehow. As if the researcher did not find all the information that he/she possibly could have. When I read a story I like to know all the facts. I also like to know the date of the last occurance/sighting. I believe more could have gone into this book. I think the author gets the points across but doesn't tell the full stories.

I disagree!
I was disappointed to see such a negative review of what is such a quality book. This is not meant to be a ritzy book from a big publisher, but rather a more down-to-earth look at true ghost stories in New York City. While spelling/grammar mistakes surely can diminish the quality of a book, I don't trust that someone who cannot even spell correctly in his review can accurately judge.


Relentless Pursuit (Richard Bolitho Novels/Alexander Kent, No. 25)
Published in Hardcover by McBooks Press (01 October, 2001)
Author: Alexander Kent
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Relentless Pursuit
Too many story lines and the ships jumping from the Med to Engalnd to Africa to the Med with people jumping in and out and and a new woman thrown in. Can't anyone in this series fall in love over a period greater than one day? THe action is limited and the book doesn't stand alone. Unless you have rtead the first 24, don't start here

Bring Richard back, Mr. Kent!
This novel is tagged as a Richard Bolitho novel. It's not. Mr. Kent chose to kill Richard Bolitho off two novels ago and left us with his whining nephew, Adam, who annoyed me from the very beginning. I'd been reading of Richard's many and varied adventures for 25 years and Mr. Kent kills him off in one paragraph!? How did faithful, loyal Allday feel? Who knows? Mr. Kent chose to totally disregard his friendship with Richard. I was so disgusted I donated the book to my local library. Adam is a whiner. The women in Kent's latest novels have the men wrapped around their little fingers. Geez! Where's the fabulous comraderie of the earlier novels, the triumphant battles and the agony of defeat? Also, he killed off most of the wonderful characters I so enjoyed (thank goodness dear Allday was spared, the *only* character left I can empathize with). So no. I will not read another Adam novel.

The Royal Navy and a Quasi Peace
Alexander Kent is now depicting the Royal Navy without a defined enemy and the impact this is having on it. Without a belligerent France across the Channel, the strength of the navy is slashed to the bone and beyond.

Adam Bolitho is still in command of the frigate Unrivalled only now is dealing with ships packed to overflowing with Africans en-route to slavery and with North African pirates. Neither of these opponents are giving much concern to politicians and merchant bankers of Great Britain, except in so far as they are accumulating wealth from the transport and auction of slaves. The man in the street knows little about this and cares less.

It is this apathy of the public that the Royal Navy in general and Adam in particular must battle. It might be easy to die for your country when the enemy is French or Spanish, but when it is a slave runner, the concept becomes a little vague. Fighting in the Bay of Biscay is one thing, fighting in the Bight of Benin is something else entirely.

Kent creates the atmosphere of these times with great care. You are faced with seamen, tossed onto the beach without thought, after being through tremendous hardship and danger. You are also faced with the families that they had left behind and now must support in some form or fashion. Also, there is the aristocracy, both of society and the Royal Navy that must be maintained. These features never go away. One would think that the needs of the Naval aristocracy would decrease as the Navy shrinks - far from it!

Adam Bolitho is a complex man and as I learn more about him, I can see this. From a bastard orphan to a successful naval officer, we have seem him evolve. Yet he is still dogged by his origins - he has never forgotten the days as a youngster fending for himself as his mother became unable to care and support him.

This is a book without the flash and thunder of a fleet action. Now it is a series of actions between schooners and sloops and oared launches. Adam's ship is too big and powerful to be of decisive value except as a resevoir from which to draw men to man the smaller ships. It is this type of action that is honing the skills of the men of Unrivalled and preparing them for the ultimate combat with African pirates.

Throughout the book, we are reintroduced to charecters of the past, Thomas Herrick, Daniel Yovel, Graeme Bethune and others. We see an appearance by Richard's daughter Elizabeth as she starts to connect to Adam for after all, in spite of birth situation, he is her closest surviving relative and vice versa.

This book is a continuation of the Bolitho family saga. It continues to add to what we know of the family, even if it is only in small details, such as the name of Adam's mother. I found it thoroughly enjoyable and a fine addition to my library. I would recommend it to anyone who has read even a few of the preceeding books on the Bolitho family.


Unholy Trinity
Published in Paperback by Century Hutchinson (A Division of Random House Group) (02 September, 1999)
Author: Paul Adam
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Unholy trinity
The anti-Catholic and anti-clerical overtones get in the way of an interesting plot and a delightful tour of Rome and Italian lifestyle. The Vatican's role at the end of WWII could have be covered in a less prejudicial way. It would have also been helpful if the author sited some of the sources he used for his historical references.

Unholy Trinity
The Unholy Trinity is a page turner.

This mystery begins with the murder of a Priest who was independent enough from the Catholic Church to make the church leaders a little uneasy about him. His murder leads to several other murders, the search for unknown identities and the source of vatican gold. A romance between a journalist and a magistrate could have been left out but I guess some people just have to have it:)

Two of my friends also read the book and loved it.

A different view of Rome, The vatican & WW2
Excellent knowledge of The Eternal City, so good you can visit the places named, with a wiew of the Second World War that is not shown in "Band of Brothers" etc.
The book (un)intentionally gives clues to the problems in the 90's Balkans while still engrossing the reader in a superb plot with excellent characterisation.
For those who enjoy action/mystery/historical novels, with a regard for the Vatican as a political organisation with its encumbent machinations, this is an engrossing novel.


Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment
Published in Hardcover by Cambridge University Press (June, 1999)
Authors: Charles L. Jr Griswold and Charles Griswold
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Unreadable
Griswold has succeeded in writing a perfectly unreadable book. Let
us begin with the title, which is meaningless. The book is neither
about virtue nor the Enlightenment, except in the trivial sense
that Smith was an Enlightenment writer. Anyone picking up this book
to learn about the Enlightenment as a movement will be disappointed.
So Griswold appends a useless chapter on the Enlightenment to the
beginning of the book that promises a wide-ranging treatment of
the Enlightenment that rest of the book cannot deliver. (Perhaps
his editor, fearing that a book on Adam Smith's moral theory would
not reach a large audience, encouraged Griswold to broaden the appeal.
Too bad it didn't work). Griswold's book is, more accurately, a
treatment of Smith's neglected treatise A Theory of Moral Sentiments.
As such it is not a careful commentary on the content and structure
of the book, but instead a meandering tourist guide to the major
landmarks accompanied by a dull paraphrase of Smith's argument. Too make things worse, Griswold updates Smith's arguments
in the language of contemporary philosophy so that he can seem relevant
and prescient. This is strange coming from a quasi-Straussian, but
there you go. If that weren't bad enough, Griswold has a fussy,
collegial, and unhurried style, like a voluble visitor standing
in the doorway. As for the thrust or drift of Griswold's argument,
unfortunately I couldn't detect it. There are chapters on Smith
on love, skepticism, stoicism, religion, justice, passiona, etc.,
but the accumulation of detail doesn't add up to anything. The book
is also advertised as the first full-length treatment of Smith's
political and moral thought. That is wrong, but Griswold seems to
mistake that for an invitation to touch on every facet of Smith's
thought without regard for relevance. Griswold would have been better
served if he had been guided by the structure of Smith's own book
than by his own wandering attention. For Griswold, the 400-so
me pages of his book are one long opportunity to clear his throat. Get to the point!

A Solid Effort!
Put on your scuba gear - we're diving down deep. Even though Charles L. Griswold, Jr. writes in a dense, academic style, it is worth swimming through his prose to learn about the remarkable work of 18th-century Enlightenment philosopher Adam Smith. Regarded as one of the fathers of modern economic thought, Smith has been misunderstood for the last century because his ethical philosophy has been overlooked. Instead, economists have drawn attention only to his thumbs-up for free enterprise and free trade. Smith believed neither was worthwhile without ethics, a point some modern economists might profitably revisit. We [...] highly recommend this richly detailed, insightful book to anyone interested in economic, political, or social philosophy.

Smith's morality given the weight it deserves
Griswold's book is pitched squarely between the academic of, and the interested newcomer to, the Enlightenment. It gives a refreshingly new outlook over enlightenment ideas as a whole, to illustrate the back drop to Adam Smith's moral notions. In examining the key themes in 'The Theory Of Moral Sentiments' with reference to Smith's whole body of work, Griswold is rare in attributing, to the work, the importance and weight it deserves. Books that focus on Adam Smith's moral philosphy are rare and this book is by no means a weak example of them. If you are at all interested in Adam Smith, and particularly those interested in 'The Wealth of Nations' you need to look at his moral roots, and Griswold's book is an excellent secondary text to look at.


Ms The Dilbert Bunch
Published in Hardcover by Andrews McMeel Publishing (01 May, 1997)
Author: Adams
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tiny reused comics
This book is less than seven inches tall and has comics that are in other books.

No Insight Involved: Dilbert
The premise of this obvious marketing ploy is that you are supposed to get familiar with the characters from the popular comic-stip Dilbert. There are very few cartoons in it, truth to tell so you would be much better off buying a treasury. This is not to say that it isn't fun to read, but just not worth the money when you can buy twenty times that many cartoons for only about $10.

A good book for a small laugh
While this book is funny and an easy read. Teh book unfortunatley uses a lot of the same cartoons that are used in Adams' previous books, thus making it repetative. The size of the book in demnsion is great, being that it does not take up a lot of room. The length is also great, it can be read and re-read over and over again in a short period of time. It provides adn excelent reference source for all of the "Dilbert" characters.


Muerte!: Death in Mexican Popular Culture
Published in Paperback by Feral House (15 November, 2000)
Authors: Harvey Stafford and Adam Parfrey
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A scholar of Mexican art says AVOID THIS BOOK
...it isn't just that the crime photos it republishes are problematic, but the book has NO INTELLECTUAL WEIGHT and in fact, uses the essays by Medina and Fox (commissioned for another publication, edited and republished without their consent) to "validate" the author's egocentric/gringocentric visions. The TITLE IS TOTALLY MISLEADING and the text offers no ideas that are worth remembering. The first book I ever wanted to really really trash.

If you are a fan of crime photography, this is your book
"Muerte!" is not for the faint of heart. As the more comical reviews of this book might indicate, it packs a wallop with its graphic depictions of murder and gore in modern-day Mexico. No, this book is not about creating a business plan (unless one is aspiring to be an undertaker). But it does touch upon a not-too-well-explored area of Mexican culture: crime tabloids. There are no similar publications in the United States. Part Enquirer, part "True Detective," these tabloids graphically show the end results of brutal slayings throughout Mexico. "Muerte!" could use a second or third edit. It does tend to ramble into other areas that are inappropriate for the topic. Given that the book is relatively small, the lack of cohesiveness does stick out. However, the book is important simply because it explores a significant aspect of Mexican culture that has been ignored. If you liked the book "Death Scenes," you probably will appreciate "Muerte!" There are a lot of pictures in this book, most of good quality. Obviously, parents must use good judgment in keeping control of this book while children are about. Further, persons who are unstable or easily affected by this sort of material should think twice about opening this book.

Muerte! Death in Mexican Popular Culture
.This book is a harsh glimpse into reality in the form of graphic death scene photos and commentary on Mexican death tabloids such as Alarma! Someone said the title was misleading - I do not think so - it says exactly what it is, and has several bloody photos right on the cover. It is not a sugar-coated day-of-the-dead book, although the subject is covered - nor is it meant to be a complete commentary on Latin culture. It is a study of magazines that have been around for years and sell millions of copies each week. The publisher reports on this subject but seems to be blamed for the existence of these tabloids in some reviews I have read. No one seems to mind if Alarma! publishes death scene photos or if people put stickers of peeing kids on the back windows of their cars and say it's about Latino culture. As far as intellectual content is concerned, that is a matter of opinion. I f you are familiar with any of this publisher's other books, then you must know they do not publish shallow material. This is a serious study about a serious subject and it's exploitation and is not for the faint of heart. This book is about death in Mexican popular culture and it's exploitaion and is a subject few have chosen to discuss in detail. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about the workings of Mexican death tabloids and death scenes in general.


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