I like the part when Thomas Edison keeps repeating, "So what and be quiet you weanie". I also enjoyed the book because it was very adventurous...

I picked this book up for a laugh, having found Adam Gopnik's New Yorker articles on art shows to be lightweight and none-to-brilliant, especially considering how clueless he is when looking at paintings by women. You'll get the same clever jabbering here, and even the rare insight (perhaps thanks to his collaborator, who knows?), but I still think gopnik should stick to food (perhaps he normally sticks to food!!) Overall, this isn't a scholarly effort, and Gopnik is entirely clueless when it comes to post-modern feminist discourse, but at least I warned ya, right?

I've coached little league for many years with great success but the game on the bigger diamond (13 yr olds and above) is much more complicated. This book is outstanding in that it is packed with practical information for coaches. I especially appreciate the fact that the author is able to substantiate his advice with probability and statistics.

____ In the world of semiconductor memory design, testing and diagnosis, information is scattered in papers, journals of various disciplines. Although text books are available, the coverage is often limited toacademic theories, models and algorithms. The more practical knowledge, unfortunately, have been mistakenly guarded as secret as a whole, although is often common knowledge for years among those in the field.
____ The lack of reference text has always made it difficult for those who are less-experienced to break into the field. Having worked on memory diagnosis as a graduate student, consultant, and independent consultant, I remember the frustration. I often heard others in the field echoing the same frustration.
____ Dean Adams has gathered those practical knowledges that in the past, can only be learned by years of experience into his book.

This fun kid's book is beautifully illustrated. The story teaches kids about the good in all people without trying to preach a hard-core lesson.

Some quotations from Adam Starchild's wonderful afterword to this book are appropriate:

"Children today are starved for the image of real heroes. Celebrities are not the same thing as heroes. Heroes existed way before celebrities ever did, even though celebrities now outshine heroes in children's consciousness."

"Worshiping celebrities leaves children with a distinctly empty feeling -- it doesn't teach that they'll have to make sacrifices if they want to achieve anything worthwhile. No- talents become celebrities all the time. The result is that people don't seem to care about achievement or talent -- fame is the only objective."

"... Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share a number of traits that instruct and inspire people. A hero does something worth talking about, but a hero goes beyond mere fame or celebrity. The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. If they serve only their own fame, they may be celebrities but not heroes. Heroes are catalysts for change. They create new possibilities. They have a vision, and the skill and charm to implement their vision."

"Heroes may also be fictional. Children may identify with a character because of the values projected. People tend to grow to be like the people that they admire, but if a child never has any heroes what images will he copy? Adults need heroes too, but the need is even more urgent for children because they don't know how to think abstractly. But they can imagine what their hero would do in the circumstances, and it gives them a useful reference point to build abstract thinking skills."

The period of Reston's history from 1595 to the 20th century is often ignored entirely by the standard texts; In _Historic Reston_, Mr. Adams finally sheds some light on Reston's role in colonial times, the Revolution, and the War Between the States. The text is supplemented by numerous maps and extracts from primary sources. The index is superb, which is no small favor in a work such as this.

Listening to the audio CD's has an extra dimension to the book. You do get time to catch your breath. And my CD player is in the car. Somehow I survived. I would say that one great advantage to CD's is the ability to hear how the names are pronounced and you get inflections that intended or not help understand where they are going before they get there. An other advantage is that CD's like acid free paper should outlast the reader.
How many times have you asked a simple question and go the answer as "42." Yep, you are a victim to this book. Many of the clichés and truisms that rival Shakespeare are creeping into our vocabulary. And attitudes - "It has been on file."
If you are the one person that somehow got through life with out reading this series or at least seeing this on TV, then you are in for a treat. Somehow this story is earmarked as sci-fi and I guess it can be in a sense and it has all the elements necessary; it delivers a powerful message to the local Zoning Board.
I will not go though the story, as that is why you are reading the book. You need to sit down for the next sentence.
This book has changed my life.

This omnibus publishing of the Hitchhikers Quartet contains the first four books of the Hitchhikers Trilogy, considered the only true Trilogy by many purists. The series starts with the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, then continues with The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything and rounds out with So Long and Thanks For All the Fish. This is considered me many the core of the Guide's story, and that "Mostly harmless" takes the story in an unwanted direction and prematurely ends the series with the elimination of 3 of the main characters. Most hardcore Adams purists prefer to leave the story hanging with the possibility of the infinite possibilities possible in an infinite universe.

Richards reveals all those things which we thought nobody else had ever reflected upon. Could an American possibly enjoy this book? I'm not sure. But every Canadian who once was young, and who perhaps scooped mounds of snow, in a transe of fantasy, off a bumpy ice surface into the dark hours of once endless days, will appreciate this book like the game itself; the merciless joy of unhindered potential for our imagined years to come, and our mission to reach our potential until reality sinks in, will occupy your every shift, deek, and goal (or assist, for that matter). And this, from a 19 year old reader--just a reminder to Richards: though times have changed, they have ever remained the same (kids still play hockey, but then, maybe it isn't the same after all).