Full of glaring misinformation, hackneyed stories Bill & Joe have told a thousand times over, and recycled publicity materials, this book's only saving grace is the rare artwork they've unearthed. There's a good reason why this book features a great big 'F' on its cover!

As a cartoonist, I love animation, and want to know all I can about the behind-the-scenes shennanigans of our favorite toon makers. That's why this book was something of a disappointment.

I will say this--it has GREAT illustrations, including some early model sheets of "The Flagstones" (yes, that's what they were originally called, until someone found it sounded too similar to the name of the family in the "Hi amd Lois" comic strip). Not to mention some priceless background drawings, which give the reader a fairly good idea of the evolution (faintly appropriate term here) of a classic. There are even some drawings of aborted Flintstones-related projects, such as "The Blackstones", a black "Modern Stone Age family" who would have been Fred's new neighbors. Imagine Sherman "George Jefferson" Hemsley and Isabel "Weezy" Sanford voicing the leads..oh, well.

It even contains the oft-repeated (though I suspect apocryphal) story of how Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera tried all sorts of unusual sitcom family types before arriving at the Flintstones and the Rubbles--Pilgrims (!), Romans, hillbillies, and even gypsies. And it tells in nerve-wracking detail how a frantic Barbera pitched the show to a roomful of unsmiling Phillip Morris executives, whose idea of approval was the comment, "At least there's no blood running in the streets.."

Trouble is, there are too few stories like that--I wanted to read more. So what could have been a brontoburger-sized feast ended up a small snack.

No matter who your favorite Flintstone character is (for me, it's Betty Rubble nee McBricker...but Baby Puss is underrated and underused, too!), you will find him/her in this wonderfully illustrated book---no Flintstones fan should be without it. A treasure for your collection and a tribute to the enduring appeal of the Hanna Barbera Bedrock denizens. Nostalgia never looked so good! And since you won't find it even in this book, here are the "unknown" lyrics to the SECOND verse of the FLINTSTONES theme song...hum the melody and give it a go!
"Rubbles! Meet the Rubbles! They're the other stone-age fam-i-ly! Barney! And his Betty! They're as neighborly as they can be! (Barney sings:) Barney, I'm Fred's bosom buddy friend! (Betty sings:) As long, as he has a buck to lend! When you're with the Rubbles, have a Scooby-Dooby-Doo time, a Dooby-Doo time, we'll have a gay old time!"

While this book actually does represent a major step up
in terms of detail compared to the "Gold Standard" First Aid for Usmle, the current print seems little premature to me (even though it states to be a "Revised Reprint", since I could find a substantial number of significant mistakes while just going through it ONCE. Since I am not really an expert, I would bet
that someone with a more thorough background knowledge in Pathology, Biochemistry and Behavioral Sciences for example

would find countless more mistakes than I did.

Generally I would recommend this book only to people, who are VERY advanced in their studies for the Step 1, so that they can be sure to filter out these substantial mistakes and do not attempt to memorize wrong stuff. But then again : why would you buy a review book, if you knew already everything so perfectly that you could immediately recognize these mistakes ?

Ömer Gök

Since i'm a relatively old IMG I was delighted when I discovered this book, so I bought it and I personally used it for my step 1 preparation, FORTUNATELY I discovered it late.....since if I'd have trused just in this book (I mean without First Aid)..I'd have failed....so b VERY careful....if u use this book for specific clinical situations (their tables in anemia, different cancer types etc) its great...but eventhough u will need first aid as a guide for the remainder. In my exam physiology and pharmacology were heavily tested and these guys almost forgot these subjects, on the other hand their pathology is excellent. Their pharmacology is quite poor, they ignored mechanisms of action of the different drugs (quite HY in USMLE). So if u use this book being aware of these problems and especially as a quick review only before the exam it should be OK.

I used this book in addition to the Kaplan series. I felt this was ideal in the week prior to the exam, and was superior to first aid. There are several mistakes in the text, but between this text and kaplan I crushed the exam. I would not recommend this text to anyone who is weak in pharmacology!

Don't waste your time and money on this one - it is full of trivial facts that are easily found online or elsewhere free of change and without fluff. I've been producing web sites since 1997 and picked this book hoping to get a "streetwise" advice. What a disappointment! I would not recommend this book even to a beginner - too much hype and typos, too little real advise. Some references to web sites are outdated, some look like a clever "plug" from sponsors. I am returning this book.

I am not new to the web marketing and have tried many ways to make websites get more hits. I read this book from cover to cover and it had lots of ideas to offer the webmaster that needs for his or her site to attract an audience. I would say that viral marketing is the biggest selling point in any marketing tool. Eventhough I had integrated tons of the ideas that this book mentioned before ever reading it, I do have to say that this book is great for Beginner and can teach them a lot about the wold wide web.
I already knew close to 90% of the tips n tricks that this book has mentioned even before picking this book up, but it was a great read and WILL help the folks that are just getting into web marketing and promotions!

The title of Low-cost Web Site Promotion doesn't tell the whole story of this book. This book really covers all the non-technical aspects for building a low cost web site. This book challenges you to do the basics such as focusing on the purpose of your site. Next the book challenges you to look at audience selection information. If you are willing to spend the time really doing these exercises they can yield excellent results. As I walked through these exercises I realized that I had three completely separate audiences that I was attempting to serve with my site and found that I was not serving any group all that well. From the insights I was able to gather from the book I was able to come up with a more effective mechanism for addressing the audiences of my web site.

The book does a nice job a cover the differences between B2C (Business to Consumer) and B2B (business to business). Most of the section on B2C still applies to B2B sites because as the author points out the users of a B2B site are still individuals, but the B2B section addresses specific concerns of a business user.

The book really does cover all the bases when it comes to putting together a marketing plan to promote a site. The author's approach is not based on gimmicks, but a solid and respectable (i.e., no SPAM) approach for building web site traffic. The section on search engines is an extremely good primer for someone not familiar with the operation of search engines.

The bottom line is that promotion of a web site is a time consuming and recurring activity. There needs to be an on going investment in time and effort to produce recurring promotional results.

This should have a warning about its rape scenes. I'm not talking about one of those questionable scenes of forceful persuasion or a woman who likes a little violence. There were several scenes of horrific hate-filled rape. (I mean, if you do get off on this, shouldn't you get some help?) Not only this, the consensual scenes were not erotic at all, just vulgar. The whole thing is held together by the barest pretext of a story, which makes no sense. We're supposed to believe that this virgin won't sleep with her boyfriend but is willing to have sex with multiple guys that she is repulsed by both physically and in character? Unless you like rape and violence filled drivel, bypass this one.

Just a brief note because this book... as with all great erotic novels ... is out of stock waiting for re-print.

This is a story about Adama an up & coming painter trying to find a sponsor, and Eve an aspiting acterss, as well looking for her big break ... The two of them, in love as they may be, understand that they must give mind body and soul for their artt with EMPHASIS on the body ....

Some of the ost erotic scenes I've ever read especially younr Adama seduction by Mrs. Goldbloom. Oh lady where were you when I was young ....

Finally you may find this book as part of the Carroll & Graf multiple book volumed ... if you do BUY IT ....

After being pretty impressed with recent Agatha first book nominees, I've been venturing back into some of the older nominees. This book, a nominee in 1991, wasn't very impressive. The story is set in a B&B in a small town in Tennessee. Far too much of the book is about the B&B and small town life. Such mystery as there is only gets rolling in the second half of the book. It seemed to me that the author's real agenda was to write about life in her town and the mystery was an afterthought.

Bottom-line: Not sure what this book did to earn a nomination and not surprised the series hasn't gone on to further critical acclaim. There's better southern small town mystery out there (Margaret Maron, Carolyn Hart and others).

Kate Yancy works at her brother's inn taking care of all the duties that her brother, the sometimes mayor and sometimes hotelier, can't be bothered to do. And "bothered" is just he word to describe how Kate feels about the events in her life. Not least of these events is the swarm of reporters that has descended upon the town of Jesus Creek to cover the disappearance of a mentally unstable rich girl. The girl checked into Kate's hotel one night and soon disappeared from her locked room. When the girl's parents hire a psychic to help them, the local religious figure, Brother B., runs around talking about the dangers of dealing with demons. After a séance, the psychic announces that he knows where the body will be found. To give away any more of the plot would be to give away too much of the story, but I can say safely that before all is said and done, very few people will turn out to be what they seemed, and murder will be done. Author Deborah Adams handles herself quite adeptly in her first outing, though it should be said that the ending is a too abrupt. Her characters are well-drawn and engaging, and she does a wonderful job of sharing the town with us. For mystery readers who like their mysteries cozy, "All the Great Pretenders" is recommended reading.

I read quite a few novels every year about Semitic subjects, the Arab World, Israel, Islam, Judaism, etc. and this one of the novels that I picked up at a used book store. To put it quite simply, I now understand why the novel was used before I purchased it. This novel is extremely poorly written and I highly recommend NOT EVER reading it!

Dana Adams Schmidt of The New York Times wrote this spindly paperback back in 1974 and the books rear blurb states:

"Collectively, THE NEW YORK TIMES SURVEY SERIES is designed to better inform the American people of what is happening around the world today, what underlies our present problems, and what can and should be done about them. These practical 'background' books are especially appropriate for busy people - students, professional and business people - who need to know and understand more about the great, relevant issues of the day."

The back blurb sounded good so I took a chance and bought this book. From the very beginning of the novel, I began to have my doubts as the author established her credibility in the first chapter of the novel entitled "A Personal Note." Mrs. Schmidt went on to explain that she was a reporter in Europe during the Holocaust and later uses that experience to justify repeating Yassir Arafat's rhetoric, which she quotes constantly in the novel. She literally spent time interviewing Yassir Arafat as a reporter stationed in Israel. Apparently, she must have developed some sort of romantic affection for Yassir Arafat, because she spends much of the rest of the novel pining for him. Here's an example directly quoted from pages 153-154:

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"Looking back on his formative years, in an interview in Amman in October, 1968, Arafat observed that 'Since I opened my eyes to this world, I was able to hear the sound of bullets." It is likely that as a boy the future commando leader heard about the exploits against the British - and the Arabs - of the Jewish paramilitary groups, Haganah, Irgun, Stern. It would have been natural for him to yearn to do likewise, or better, with the Arabs against the Jews."

"'Of course,' he said, 'I joined the fighting of 1948 just as thousands of my brethren ... because we believed it was a fight to defend our existence and the existence of the Arab people.' The interview took place in one of the small, bare rooms of the headquarters Fatah was using at that time in a stone village on Jebel Luwebdeh, a few hundred yards from the American Embassy. He sat at a small wooden desk, the afternoon sun shining upon him."

"As he grew accustomed to his visitor he seemed to relax, and removed the heavy dark glasses which had become his trademark. With his large, brown eyes, he gazed searchingly at the visitor. He spoke quietly, even gently. For a man who has spent much of his life 'underground,' his manner with strangers is not easy at first. He conveyed a quality of sweetness. As I pressed him for the personal side of his story, he smiled broadly showing his full, sensitive lips and regular teeth. He wore a heavy, brown sweater in the chilly atmosphere of the stone house, a tattered red-covered notebook in his left breast pocket visible above the edge of the sweater. His trousers were of the wooly British battledress type, his boots black and heavy. He spoke Arabic, through an interpreter most of the time, although his English is good."

-

As you can imagine, I was about ready to gag after reading the above quoted passage. It's not even good writing by the standards of a Harlequin romance novel let alone a novel about politics and international relations. Much of the novel is characterized by a gaudy romantic approach to the PLO's (Palestinian Liberation Organization, a terrorist group that became well known for killing innocents and blowing up aircraft) approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Of all the novels I have read about the Middle East, this is, rock bottom, the very worst! Don't read this novel if you want to LEARN anything factual about the Middle East.

Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan

FOR STARTS THIS BOOK IS FACT NOT FICTION. It tries to be a little less biased than some books I've read; and takes a pragmatic approach. You would expect this from the New York Times. It is fairly in depth too; over 250 pages, and fully indexed! Any more I just wouldn't want. Five stars for being a fair objective portrait of the situation at the time, from whence you can see how things got where they are in 2003.

This book is a little disappointing as it has a number of photos which do not seem directly relevent to the subject. Why for example are chess pieces used as examples of soldiers's uniforms as they are very stylised? Or take the clothing in Russian museum collections. The text is good like most of the work of this author which I have read and the illustrations of the many Islamic and Non-Islamic soldiers who fought for the Caliphates are well executed.

The book is excellent enough for an introduction to the inquiry for it is done by the leading and creative researcher on the much neglected field. Although limited by the size, not enough emphasizing was written into the strategy and tactics unique to the armies of the Islamic Caliphates. They were arguably the offseting balance that gave the Arabs serious advantage over the much heavier armored Byzantines, Persians, or even the Franks later during the crusades. A must for beginners, but not enough for the scholarly.

A warning to all interested readers: take this book with a HUGE grain of salt. Gerry Adams helped organise a widespread campaign of bombings, kneecapping, and mass murders as leader of a group of terrorists, before he was justifiably sent to prison. Here, he uses the hardship of prison life in an attempt to arouse sympathy. Are we really supposed to feel sorry for someone responsible for such horrific crimes? The stories of prison torture are rediculous. I don't believe a terrorist, with a hatred of all things British will give a honest account of the UK justice system.

If you want a reason why to support the Irish Republican cause, then pick up this excellent fast paced read. Gerry Adams is a hero to the men, women and children of NI. He knows what the people want, and that is freedom from the rude, ignorant, and selfish English.

I hope that Robert Adams's narrative voice got clearer and more organized with his later books. This one is full of illogical jumps, cuts, and lacks of transition. I keep getting confused while reading, because he suddenly changes place or time without the slightest attempt to let the reader know what's happening.

The what-ifs presented by the author are great. The books have multilple plots and charactors that always keep you interested. I was led to this series by Adams Horseclans series and have proceded to try to acquire all the books in both. I have most of them but would like to obtain a check list for both series. If anyone has one, please let me know.

I was real surprised when I received my delivery. Instead of getting a book, I received a poor photocopy of parts ads, dealer lists and covers of parts catalogs. I am not kidding when I describe it as a photocopy held together with a plastic ring binding that most offices stopped using years ago.

Once I was past the amateur publishing and looked at the contents of the "book", I notice that many of the ads were the same ones that I saved back issues of car and truck magazines for. This "book" is mostly made up of pages listing dealers for parts or services, but with the internet and a few truck magizines, I could easily find most of the products.

This purchase is going back for a refund. Its not worth the paper its photocopied on.

Quite the contrary, I found this book extremely helpful. As the worn-out saying goes, "Don't judge a book by it's cover", and this is a prime example. This gave me the perfect excuse to throw away all of my yellowing old Chevy Mags, clippings, and little scraps of paper because every person I'd ever needed to restore my Chevy Truck was included in this book. The listings for the companies included addresses, phone numbers (a lot of them even had 1-800 numbers so it wouldn't cost me a dime to call them), fax numbers, as well as websites and email addresses.

On top of everything, it was super easy to look up the parts I was looking for. For example, I needed a grille for my truck. All I had to do was flip to the "Trim Parts" section of the book, looked alphabetically for "Grille" and low and behold, there were at least 6-7 parts places listed that had grilles. Moreover, I went ahead and contacted most of them, found the cheapest price, and went with them. I saved hours and hours of wasted time, calling places that I rather "hoped" would have the parts I was looking for. With this book, instead of "hoping", I now "know" exactly who has the parts I'm looking for. My aggravation level has dropped from 10 to 1 and 1/2.

Admittedly, I had my reservations because of the previous review. However, when I received my book, I realized one thing: I bought this book for the information listed inside, not really for what it looked like. Knowledge is key and now that I have knowledge of the information inside the book, I know that I can fix up any classic Chevy Truck I come across in the future with ease. Kudos!