The Diaries of Adam and Eve is one of my favorite books. It's so gentle, funny, and deeply true I find myself loaning it to friends and giving it as a gift whenever I can. If you've not read Twain since Huckleberry Finn was forced upon you in junior high, this is a wonderful way to start reading Mark Twain's work again. If you've been looking for something to restore your faith in the worth of that whole man-woman thing, treat yourself to this book.

Although Mark Twain uses the story of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis as the framework for these "diaries," the biblical couple and his are two entirely different stories. Having said that, Twain's version is such a touching love story, especially as it is rendered in this recording, it is worth hearing (or reading) without making any comparisons to the first Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

I mention this because a high school student recently inquired with me about Twain's views on religion, and thought that these diaries might shed some light in his beliefs. While I encouraged her to read or listen to Twain's account, simply because of the beauty of the story, I don't think they shed much light on Twain's religious views.

I did find it interesting that Twain's Adam and Eve barely mention God at all. Perhaps that is a notable observation on his views of religion after all.

Twain's tender observations on the nature of men, women and love is what makes this a moving tale. Walter Cronkite's commentary at the end makes one appreciate the story even more.

Even Mark Twain's ephemera charms. This well edited collection of separately written pieces creates the whole that Twain himself might have made. It features his most insightful depiction of a female persona, Eve, who is the one truly engaged protagonist in this glimpse into Eden. She is the seeker, the thinker, and the emotionally active partner -- in short, the whole person. It is no wonder that Eve names the animals and discovers fire, while Adam lolls in a tree and complains about her talkativeness. He is remarkably complacent for a miracle of creation. Twain imaginatively and humorously evokes the naivete and sense of wonder of these two innocents as they discover the world and each other -- learn, even, to recognize that they are human. The fact that God is just a voice, mentioned once or twice, and the Fall is the unfortunate incident that changes their lives demonstrates that Twain was not interested in a religious parable. These diaries are his reflection on the nature of male and female personalities and the bond that draws and keeps men and women together. Though it feels somewhat incomplete, the book is an enjoyable quick read. The editor's afterword recounts the history of these writings and connects the diaries to the author's own personal life, affirming its very personal nature. This is a lovely book to give to an engaged couple, a married couple, or anyone who enjoys Mark Twain's unique genius.

My one year old daughter is a book-a-holic. She loves me to read ot her and I have, in the process, been given an opportunity to become quite adept in my knowledge of great children's books. This book is a winner! It is her very favorite. She loves the illustrations and the story delights her. She loves animals and is able to see many of her favorites, namely, the dog and cat. She also loves the end of the book where the boy has his arms overhead. She likes to mimic this gesture everytime we come to the end. If your kid loves to read, loves animals and you want a book that is not too wordy this book is for your child. Happy reading!

My son eyes new books suspiciously - almost like I was trying to sneak a new child into the house without checking with him first. His books are a closed circle of friends and he loves the familiar, well worn pages that he can rattle off by heart. So I was amazed when he took to this book immediately and with gusto, rattling off the animal names within days. Quick as a cricket, slow as a snail, small as an ant, large as a whale, ...there are sad bassetts, happy larks, tame poodles, busy bees, lazy lizards, tough rhinos...you name it. This books has the essential ingredients for every toddler book - beautiful artwork, rhyme and rhythm to the words, and interesting characters to capture little imaginations. I love the Woods but not all their books are for tots this age since they can get a little bizarre sometimes. This ranks right up there in the book world the way Raffi does in the music world of toddlers!

Don and Audrey Wood are quickly becoming my favorite creators of picture books for toddlers. "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear" has been a must-read since the day my 3-year old daughter found it at the bookstore; when we went looking for more, we found "Quick as a Cricket." My daughter made me read it to her six times before she let me up from the bookstore bench to go buy it for her. The intense likeability of the Little Mouse style has been taken up a notch into a wide variety of animals, as the boy of the story changes and shifts to match each new companion. The words are simple, but rhythmic and rhyming. While it's not as funny as "Little Mouse," the rapture of reading it with my daughter has not faded. "Quick as a Cricket" is a definite classic, and one that will last the decades.

The increasingly inaccuratly named Hitchhiker's trilogy (5 books) is the absolute best series I've ever read. I love the characters, plots, and surprises that come in along the way. If you can't travel through time and space on your own, it's worth the time to hitchhike along with Douglas Adams on this wild ride. I recommend these books for everyone - I (obviously) think they're great!!!

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy represents some of the most original, funny, spellbinding material that I've ever read. The first book contains the most creativity, but the least linearity because of the original format (radio shows). The second and third take off from there and create a crescendo of momentum that I wasn't able to put down (I quite literally read all 5 books within a few days time). The last couple of books might be the weakest, but that's mainly because they must follow such incredible prequels. I cannot overemphasize the entertainment that this series offers. The Hitchhiker's Guide represents a true genre-bursting collection. While at first glance these books might seem to appeal mainly to science fiction readers, they actually have very little in common with sci-fi and readers wishing for a sci-fi environment and story may not find what they expect. These books should appeal to any reader, but those old enough to recall some of the 1980's will especially be able to understand the author's period and setting.

This is the best SCI-FI book I've read so far. Its funny and really amazing. After reading it your concept of live, the universe and everything will change totally, you will never leave your tower or even your Sub Ehta Sense-O-Matic. Don't miss it or you will regret it. Mariano Luna :)

That is what the author calls her journal, the 79-cent therapist. Nowdays, when even those tiny 3x2 memo notebooks cost nearly a full dollar, and when a regular notepad will go for almost three, calculate the cost of therapy: the price of this book + shipping + some paper & pencil = ...? Compare to $150 per hour at the local shrink.
This book helped me overcome the misery of a sad breakup. I was in college. After the heart-break, I spent my free hours between classes hiding in a library cubicle, crying. Then I found the book by mistake at the local bookstore, and added a journaling time to the crying and hiding. Using just a few of the techniques in the book, it only took me a couple of months to get over the guy who broke my heart. My self esteem improved. I recommend this book as a Self-Help tool. I am into writing anyway, but I'm sure that the tricks will work even if you're only a beginner or can't even spell well.
Sometimes you feel like you can't tell anyone what's going on. When no one else will listen, paper will. Paper can handle even the craziest thoughts. I recommend this book to you.

"Journal to the Self" is a wonderful smorgasbord of ideas for personal journal writing and for writing in general. Taking proven journaling techniques from a myriad of resources and condensing them into a single tome, Kathleen Adams effectively gives her readers the opportunity to explore different facets of journal writing.

Whether you have fifteen minutes or five hours, Kathleen Adams has an approach for you. From "Topics du Jour" to Dr. Ira Progroff's Steppingstones, both veteran journal keepers looking for clever methods of journaling and novices trying to find interesting ways to get going will find this book invaluable. Even if you aren't a journal keeper now, this book has a wealth of information to jumpstart your writing and will convince you to start journaling!

As a veteran journal keeper, I have enjoyed a better understanding of myself and found a greater depth of writing outside of my journal using the different prompts and exercises in this book. Although the perspective is written primarily from a self-help journal "therapy" point of view, I highly recommend it as an excellent, "must have" resource for any writer's personal library.

Kathleen Adams life is journal keeping and this book reflects the passion she has for using writing to enrich our lives. The Director of the Center for Journal Therapy in Colorado, and the author of several journaling texts, including a workbook that accompanies this book, Journal to the Self ranks with the works of Ira Progoff, Tristine Rainer, Christina Baldwin and Natalie Goldberg, in my estimation. Every serious journal keeper should have Kay's books in their collections. She also offers workshops throughout the United States and is a facilitator second-to-none.

I found this book to be extremely well written, easy to read and full of fresh ideas. Being a business owner rather than a marketing executive, I found it to be very enjoyable and interesting reading. It certainly has helped me in my business strategic planning, marketing, and general business practices.

I'm telling all my clients about this book. If you agree with the following, you'll like it too. "..marketing is not a science but informed judgement...the cover of the book should offer a photograph of Herb Kelleher, dressed as his occasional business alter ego, Elvis Presley, with the title 'Does This Man Look Like a Scientist?'"

Great exercises to get you thinking, no matter if your brand is a leader or an also ran. e.g."Grove" named for Andy Grove- "Fire ourselves- leave the building and come back in as an entirely new team. What's one thing you would stop doing and one thing you would do instead?" Morgan punches holes in conventional wisdom- mission statements, focus groups, etc. A favorite quote: "The key failure, then, for any company attempting to effect a gear change in its own performance is not the ability to define its intention, but the inability to translate intention into behavior."

To my knowledge the first book/research study that doesn't fail into the common trap of synthesizing the marketing secrets of the cathegory leaders, that 99% of us are not.

In that way a very interesting approach to marketing. That aside the insights presented here are brilliant and relevant. Also Morgan writes in a very enjoyable and lively style, which definitely makes the understanding and digestion easier.

All in all an entertaining book about a field that should interest everybody involved in managing or marketing a business. Not bad at all!

JUst when you think there isn't any more fantasy out there, someone comes along with a tornado to make you think again!!11 check it out man I love it and can't wait for more---------000

Blown away--this is one you've got to read. cool, creepy, awesome, spectacular,...well, it rules!!

Awesome book. Fast action, not knowing what will come next. Can't wait for the next in the series.

For some reason, I didn't find this book quite as funny as some of Adams' later stuff, but it still gave me some good laughs!

The funniest humor always has a root in reality. . . that's why Dilbert is so hilarious! Though sometimes outlandish, I can sometimes see similarities between the Dilbert characters and people I work with!

I really enjoyed "The Dilbert Principle." Everyone should own a copy. Unfortunately, anyone who owns that book might find themself retreading familiar territory here. Many strips overlap, albeit sometimes the storylines are extended further in this volume. If you're a completist, get it; the strips are all good. If not, stick with "The Dilbert Principle."

Scott Adams has talent. That is a fact. His comics, Dilbert, are basically about this engineer who works in a cubicle and has no social life. They're so funny, and have such original characters. Bob the Dinosaur, who basically goes around giving wedgies to people, is probably one of my favourites. I find it very amusing how a lot of characters are animals, like Dogbert, Catbert, Ratbert, etc. It seems so funny, somehow, to incorporate animals into work at an office building.
So, overall, any Dilbert books are incredibly hilarious. Go buy one.

Plato's Republic is really beyond reviews, and it would be presumptuous do anything other than encourage potential readers to study it for themselves. As the overt political slants of some of the other reviews suggest, his ideas resonate in the modern world as much as they did in his own. Whether a reader approaches Republic with positive or negative prejudices, the actual text of the argument forces constant reevaluation and refinement of those preexisting opinions.

Allan Bloom has created a literal translation that is ideal for those who truly wish to engage with Plato. Most other translators have used non-literal methods that attempt to convey in a more contemporary form what Plato "meant" by his arguments. However, in this process the translator's own interpretation of Plato's argument inevitably influences the language in which he renders his translation. Bloom has attempted, with a great degree of success, to separate the processes of translation and interpretation. Rather than imposing his reading on the text itself, he express it in a thought-provoking interpretive essay that follows the text

This is probably not the easiest translation of Plato to read, because Bloom does not attempt to serve as a baby-sitter for his readers. However, the extra time spent in reading this version will be well rewarded by a deeper understanding of Plato's argument.

The Republic is a challenging, intricate, subtle work in which every word counts. This is why a "literal" translation is necessary -- a translation that truly reflects the Greek. Bloom's introduction, in which he defends this approach, is an excellent argument against paraphrasing translations, which water down Plato and make him easy and unsurprising. (One exception to Bloom's literality: he translates "hyôn polis," 372d, as "city of sows" rather than the traditional "city of pigs." There is no justification for the female "sows" in the Greek, and I must assume that this is just Bloom's own chauvinist pigdom coming out.)

Bloom's interpretive essay presents his reading of the Republic as an implicit criticism of the thirst for absolute political justice. A plausible reading, but not as obvious as Bloom sometimes makes it sound. (To see the more subtle source of Bloom's ideas, read Leo Strauss's "The City and Man." And for a fictionalized portrait of Allan Bloom, see Saul Bellow's new novel, "Ravelstein.")

What is so fascinating about this translation and the essay is that it deviates in important ways from the typical Christian Platonist conception of philosophy. Bllom is engaged in a war of sorts, it is stunning oh so many other academics fail to recognize how Bloom undermines their common assumptions about 'The Republic' and philosophy itself. Note the absence of comment on the 'Divided Line' of Book VI, and the entire discussion of the 'Theory of Forms' get short shrift. Why? There is a reason, if you follow the interpretitive essay, a parenthitic expression sends shivers- did Bloom really suggest 'The Just City in Speech' is not the best regime? Haunting. This view of 'The Republic' is deeply dependent on Leo Strauss' earlier groundbreaking sensitivity to irony. This is easy to say-IRONY- Plato was ironic, "The Republic' is ironic, but what does that really mean? An excellent read, and read, and read again.

I have purchased a few of the C# and .NET books for Java people,
and this is the best. The feature that stands out for this book
is the great Java to C# class reference, so you can look upa
Java class and find out which C# class does the same thing.

Before I found this book, I was rather lost. I was trying to learn C# and the framework using the docs that came with the .Net Framework installation and was only getting so far. I didn't feel like I was learning it comprehensively.

Even though this book is large, it's easy to read, has example code throughout, and covers a lot of what I needed to know. It had a breadth I found lacking in other Java to .Net books.

Unlike the other books I looked at, this one provides enough information so that you learn how to compile the example code using the free command-line compilers of the .Net Framework SDK rather than making you get Visual Studio.

This book does 3 things:
Firstly, the book presents the spirit and syntax of the C# language. And the presentation is very focused - it's done against a backdrop of Java.
Secondly, the authors do a flyby of the main areas of the .NET Framework Class Libraries. Again, the assumed reader's knowledge of Java motivates the discusion.
Lastly, and most importantly, Java and C# are contrasted rationally. No hype. Just the facts as the authors see them. This is good stuff and useful too.

If you're are an experienced Java developer, you will get a lot from this book. I still recommend to the Java folks that you also read up on the specialty areas, e.g. ADO.NET, Remoting, etc., if you will be working in those areas.

First of all let me tell you Cecil Adams' work is not for impressionable people. He is quite outspoken and spits out things in some straightforward and perhaps rude way.
If that's ok for you and you are interested in trivia things, then I reccommend this book to you.
This is the very first book of his set of 4 and covers most of the most interesting articles appeaered on his column at the Chicago Reader since 1973.
Cecil is an eccentric guy who claims to be the "smartest" guy who knows it all around the world. its said he has devoted a whole house to compile and archive articles and data of various aspects deriving from Biology to Laws.
Tip: you can find most of his articles on line, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to read a couple of them first and find out your likeness for his way of writing.

The Straight Dope books are some of the best trivia books out there today - they cover all sorts of odds and ends from animals, media, sports to other abnormal oddities.

Cecil Adams began his quest for truth in 1973 by accepting letters from the Teeming Millions (as he calls his readers) at the Chicago Reader and his been answering bizzare trivia questions ever since. Cecil has stuck around due to his irrevrant sense of humor and willingness to answer just about anything the public can throw his way. His column is currently seen in more than 30 newspapers throughout the United States and Canada but his books are must haves!

The Straight Dope is the first in the grouping and covers all sorts of inane topics such as: What does the 'H' stand for in Jesus H. Christ? Why do pigeons bob their heads? Is it true what they say about Catherine the Great and the horse? Why is there no Channel One?

and so on... buy this book and you will be the envy of all your friends - or at least you will be on your way to becoming King or Queen of all useless knowledge. This book makes a great gift (I would know as I tend to buy it for friends) or can be useful for great party chatter!

I first got this book at a local Borders and was amazed at its interesting explanations and addicting prose.

The books seems average enough. Its 420 pages long divided into different sections. Pretty tame and normal. But the content is far from it.

The premise is also simple. Cecil Adams a pseudonym for an unknown person who I personally believe is Ed Zotti. The people send in questions and he answers them. But these are real questions. The kind that the average person thinks about or nulls about. The kind of questions that involve physics and sports and just plain out little riddles that we think about and never really received the answer to.

Whats great is the intersting level and way that Cecil writes the answeres in. He writes so funny that I found myself laughing OUTLOUD which I usually never do. The questions are also answered not given some dumb explanation which no dumby could understand. Accompanied with the book are little cartoonsih pictures that are ok.

Cecil is a national resource and i am glad that I got to know his books. They are fun and certaintly not boring as a lot of others can be. I recommend for the child (11 to 16) Know It All which is also quite entertaining. Buy this book for a laugh and YOU SHALL GET IT!