This book will be an interesting and educational read for anyone who wants to learn more about the life of Leo Fender and his many innovations in the field of electric musical instruments. The author, Forrest White, traces Fender's career from his early years running a radio repair shop, through his initial struggles to launch his guitar and amplifier business, the later years of dramatic growth and success, the CBS takeover, and Leo Fender's subsequent launch of both Music Man and G&L. Leo Fender is revealed as a risktaker, a tireless innovator, and someone whose products were vastly improved by the fact he listened intently to his musician customers for new ideas. White's book is also chocked full of technical details such as the dates when various products were developed and marketed, specifications of various amps and pickups, and so on.

White is in a good position to tell this story because he spent fourteen years as General Manager of the Fender Electrical Instrument Company, and was Leo Fender's associate for many years thereafter. In fact, in many respects, this book is more about White than it is about Fender. White describes, for example, how he used his organizational skills to bring order to the chaos of Fender's early manufacturing operations. After the CBS takeover of Fender, White tells of how he refused to approve the new company's plans to manufacture solid state amplifiers that, in his view, fell far short of quality standards and were not be worthy of the Fender name (he was right).

While White certainly has many impressive accomplishments to his credit but, as he writes this book, he often seems to overreach to repeat numerous compliments that were paid to him during his career, some of which aren't relevant to the Fender story. The book also includes some venomous barbs for industry people who White felt treated him unfairly or whose work he did not respect. At some points in the book, White is painfully petty, such as when he blames Fender's second wife and others for the fact that Fender did not invite to join with George Fullerton in creating the new G&L guitar company. White writes: "Do you suppose it had anything to with Leo's second marriage?.... Was it because of old resentments from the early Fender years, when I was George [Fullerton]'s boss and struggled with him over manufacturing problems?" That kind of stuff detracts from the book.

I was also somewhat disgusted by White's gratuitous speculation about Fender's physical condition shortly before his death: "He acted like he was under very heavy sedation -- absolutely lethargic," writes White. "I sure hoped that he was not taking more medication than was necessary, because Leo was a proud man, and it must have been very embarrassing for him when he could not carry on an intelligible conversation with his friends." Is it possible that White, who claims to have been one of Fender's closest friends, did not know the man was suffering from Parkinson's Disease, which has exactly the type of devastating neurological symptoms he described?

All of that said, I'm glad Forrest White wrote this book and that I've had an opportunity to read it. In terms of the factual narrative, the book is a time capsule of sorts, taking us back to the Southern California of the late 1940s and early '50s, when rock 'n' roll was young, and there was lots of open space, clean air, and a radio repairman like Leo Fender (who loved Hawaiian music) could branch out to making Hawaiian guitars on the side and amplifiers. In those days, the phone number for Fender's Radio Repair shop was #6 -- that's all, just 6. White tells us of the colorful group of colleagues, coworkers and musicians that surrounded Fender during those early days, including Doc Kaufman, Freddy Tavares, George Fullerton, Dale Hyatt, and so on. There are lots of poignant and funny anecdotes that any lover of Fender instruments will appreciate. White's description of the changes at Fender after the CBS takeover is both savage and witty.

Leo Fender is now seen by many as the Henry Ford of modern electric stringed instruments. He literally invented the modern, fretted electric bass guitar. His amplifiers were rugged, practical, and dependable and some, like the '59 Bassman, have attained almost mythical status for their tone and quality, and are prized by collectors and players alike. Fender's Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars were major design breakthroughs for their time and are probably some of the most copied guitars of all time. They are as popular today as they were almost half a century ago when they were first designed. As Fender's fame grew, some people were apparently taking liberties with company's history, so White decided to write this book and comply with Leo Fender's request to "tell it just like it happened." If you can put up with White's occasionally self-serving narrative and petty barbs, that's just what you'll find.

Reading White's account of the musical instrument industry in the 40's, 50's, and 60's, including the purchase of FMI by CBS, was informative and entertaining. It's obvious that he accomplished everything he claimed by detail and cohesiveness of his story.

White also has a unique ability to describe Leo Fender, warts and all, without dimishing this industry hero.

As you look at the millions spent on modern ERP systems, you may marvel at the business White ran using only a set of 8" x 8" ledger cards for inventory control.

Forrest White has written a wonderful account of the relationship he had with Leo Fender, as well as bringing to light, the history as he saw it develop while he was employed with Fender.

This book is a delight to read over and over again. The detail to dates and the explanation of how things happened sets you in each time period as he explains what happened through the years. It also allows you to be in the R&D lab with Leo or in the areas that guitars and amps were being dreamed of to Leo's ingenius research and development to being built into reality. Be there as the Broadcaster changes to the Telecaster and the introduction of the Stratocaster and the Precision Bass.

Enjoyable to read and I couldn't put it down. Thanks Forrest!

Such a charming tale written in classic high english style. Set in the era of damsels and castles, the story guides you through several character building life scenarios of a young couple.

An eloquent use of words and a true delight to read. I didn't want it to end.

A very good read ... even for those not familiar with Gulliver's original travels. I found myself drawn into the character's lives by the craftsmanship of the author. The writing is crisp and clear ... reminiscent of the style of Jonathan Swift in the original Gulliver's Travels. As the story drew to a close, I found myself disappointed that the book didn't extend for another hundred pages. I hope a sequel is in the works!

This is a wonderful book for young readers, both girls and boys. While it may take a little effort for youngsters to become accustomed to the names, it's well worth it.

The story is captivating, full of adventure and, as the young characters mature, romance. Gwendeling is the girl who cared for Gulliver in Brobdingnag, the Land of the Giants in Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels." This tale carries the story of her life forward from the time Gulliver disappears. Through many adventures and challenges, she develops from a simple farm girl into an important and respected person in the kingdom.

Underlying the adventure and romance are excellent values: loyalty, honesty, working to achieve important goals, the value of education. For all young readers, and especially girls, this story excites the imagination and stretches the mind, with characters that provide good examples of learning, growing and succeeding.

Great idea with uneven results. Some superb art in places, but not always as an appropriate counterpoint to the accompanying Scriptures. The parts that do succeed are worth the cover price alone.

This collection is remarkable for the fact that so many artists in the comic book industry turn out to be Christians. Passages from Proverbs and the Parables of Christ have been taken directly from the Bible and illustrated in styles running the gamut from mediocre to brilliant. I've seen a number of these artists before. Some of the work in this compilation represents the best efforts of some; yet with others, it seems more like work that has been slapped-together-for-free. I recommend this book because it is refreshing to see so many artists working together to produce it. However, some of the interpretations of scripture are contrived and should be read in their original context, and not merely in this volume.

This book was well received by me and my teenagers. There needs to be more artistic interpretations like this that tackle scripture. Not every translation done in this book is accurate to the Word of God but every piece is brilliant in its own right. Bravo! Encore!

This book is precious in providing information, anecdotes, facts, but unfortunately lacks in intellectual depth or critical insight. It is obvious that the author loves his subject--the urban culture in 1930s-40s Shanghai, but when it comes to critical analysis of the rich data it offers, the author's quotations of other people's works often seem more interesting and more penetrating than his own viewpoints, which are painfully limited to a few catchphrases such as modernism, "modernity in the Chinese context," "body," decadence, etc.. Not that this is a terrible work, but simply that it is a little disappointing, coming from a senior professor well-known in his field. One thing that seems to hamper the author is his apparent lack of sound knowledge of literature of any other period or place except for what was produced in China (and mainly Shanghai) in the first 40 years of the 20th century, and this, unfortunately, does show after a while, as the book constantly involves references to European literatures and classical Chinese literary tradtion.
Still, it would be a good buy for people who share the kind of nostalgia for the 1930s Shanghai or who want to find out more about Shanghai literary world in that period.

Shanghai is best known for its negative legacies, "whore of the orient" and all that. But while those foreigners were drinking themselves silly all hours of the day, the city's Chinese residents were building up a world of art and letters that China had not since been able to rival.

Authors with a revolutionary bent are better known these days in China. The Chinese Communist Party posthumously revived Lu Xun as a standard bearer, and many other social critics such as Mao Dun, Bing Xin, and Ba Jin saw Communism as the natural out-growth of their ideals. Others, however, were more romantic, more bourgeois, more purely artistic in their vision. They, along with most of Shanghai's leading film-makers, actors, and musicians, flocked en masse to Hong Kong after 1949. Today, Old Shanghai films and literature are far better known and more popular in Hong Kong than they are in Shanghai.

That's where Leo Ou-Fan Lee fits into the picture. The Hong Kong native is one of the leading experts on the literary legacy of Old Shanghai, and he brings alive the writing and history of greats such as Zhang Ailing (Eileen Chang) for connoisseurs and novices alike. Lee offers a chapter on the Shanghai film industry, which is not his specialty and is not very strongly presented, apart from an interesting analysis of themes of modernity. His presentation of the huge publishing world pictorial magazines, with glossy spreads and advertisements that are indicative of societal norms and values at the time, proves quite engaging. Granted, the analysis seems to be based on just a few vintage copies of "Liang You" (Young Companion), but as that was a darn good magazine, one can't criticize. His real passion, however, and the strength of the book, are in the literary field. Lee seems to have a bit of a crush on Zhang Ailing, but then again, who doesn't?

Whether your rate to "shanghai modern" is high or low, this book is welcomed in some area. It's not because of the information it gives, but because of the way of investigating the culture of "old shanghai" in modern China. You may think this kind of seeing culture and literature doesn't have profound meaning. But this kind of study is at the begining. Moreover, his analysis is not up-to-date thing. (please consult the introduction) You should struggle to collect the right (and many) data if you want to reconstruct the old times of shanghai.

If you have difficulty in reading English, then take a look at the translation book which was published by Oxford University Press. The name is "shang hai mo deng".

Philosophically this guy's a real flake. His mind is so open his brain fell out. However, he does give an interesting account of Asian and Indian cultures. He tries to give a clearer snapshot than one would get on a whirlwind tourist trip. Seems to be rather successful in doing so. However, the book would have been a much better read if he had left out the quest for religious enlightenment.

Renown for his writing about the human need for love and relationships, Leo F. Buscaglia shares his travels during the late '60s. Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Saigon, India, and Nepal are some of his destinations.

It has been said it is not the destination but the journey that is important in one's travel. Buscaglia takes this a step further in "The Way of the Bull" and says that it is the relationships you make and the moment you possess that is paramount. He travels below his means to experience the reality of the culture he visits, and his reflections are windows on cultures and caricatures of different societies that he views through the various people he meets. The title, "The Way of the Bull," is taken from a Zen book written in the 12th Century. It also is the way one finds oneself through the process of seeking life, energy, truth and action.

"This way has not always been easy, though it has been wondrous, full of excitement and discovery," Buscaglia says, as he grabs his suitcase and heads toward the approaching bus. "Travel joyously." Recommended

If you enjoy books about spiritual journeys, other cultures, and/or travel essays, chances are you'll ejoy this one. Mr. Buscaglia is a very warm, friendly, positive person (but not in a sickly-sweet info-mercial way) and this fact comes across as he tours parts of Asia. He is a man who is happy just "being" wherever and with whomever he happens to be. It made want to be that kind of person, too. But he's not selling any "fix your life quick scheme". He's just someone trying to spread joy in his travels. And he spread some to me.

What unique characters Lionni chooses! My boys loved the pastel colored illustrations of the snails and their "houses." We also get to see an example of oral tradition: the title fable is really a story within a story. When one little snail expresses his wish to build a really big house, an older snail tells him the story about the consequences of having such an enormity for a house. Later, much older, the little snail is asked why his house is so small, and he answers by telling the tale. Not terribly exciting, but enjoyable; and the illustrations are, as usual, gorgeous, especially that amazing and huge snail house.

This is another great story from Leo Lionni! In this book, a snail wishes that his house would be the biggest house in the world, but he finds out that there are consequences to having the biggest house. The moral of the story is "be careful what you wish for, it might come true." A great read!

The Cape Cod Years of John Fitzgerald Kennedy is an interesting narrative of the time President Kennedy spent on Cape Cod. Neither particularly critical nor laudatory, the book presents both an insight into life at the Kennedy compound and on the Cape in general. For a visitor to Cape Cod, this book presents a view into the life of the summer residents of the Cape during the twenties to the sixties. It also provides details of the life of John F. Kennedy and his father, Joseph, which may easily be overlooked by one who studies only the Presidential years. This book is to be recommended to anyone with an interest in the personal and political lives of Joseph and John Kennedy as well as to anyone with an interest in Cape Cod

The Cape Cod Years of John Fitzgerald Kennedy is an interesting narrative of the time President Kennedy spent on Cape Cod. Neither particularly critical nor laudatory, the book presents both an insight into life at the Kennedy compound and on the Cape in general. For a visitor to Cape Cod, this book presents a view into the life of the summer residents of the Cape during the twenties to the sixties. It also provides details of the life of John F. Kennedy and his father, Joseph, which may easily be overlooked by one who studies only the Presidential years. This book is to be recommended to anyone with an interest in the personal and political lives of Joseph and John Kennedy as well as to anyone with an interest in Cape Cod.

This is a very interesting book. Penned by one of the greatest writers in history, "A Confession..." by Leo Tolstoy provided me with great insight into his life, work, and relationships. I read this for a religion class in college and ended up keeping it. It is rather short and easy to read. Of interest to those who are seeking truth and those who have found it. It is fascinating to follow him thru his early religious experience, falling away from the church, and coming back to a unique faith in the end. Recommended.

Tolstoy was a tremondous writer and intense human being. I approached this work expecting a great deal, and while it was certainly very much worth the effort, it was not as good as I hoped it would be.

After acheiving fame, fortune, artistic achievement, family and everything else that most people long for, Tolstoy had a philosophical crisis in which he searched for the meaning of life. This is his chronicle of his despair and search, which ultimately ended in his acceptance of a unique brand of Christian socialism (not to mention ascetisim, vegetarianism, pacifism, etc.,). However, I thought much of the book, especially its sections on philosophy, to be rather poor in quality: either too simplisitc or complex but very poorly worded and expressed. While this book is ok, if anyone wanted to know Tolstoy's later philosophy of life I would recommend his later short works of fiction such as The Devil, the Kreutzer Sonata, and the Forged Coupon. They are masterpeices, while this work is simply interesting.

Very few people will really tell you how the stock market actually works. If they did, it wouldn't. After you read the basics about placing orders and some technical indicators and patterns they hope you'll jump right in and lose your money. Do yourself a favor, study the market from a social history/military/control mechanism point of view by utilizing free library books. By the time you get it, you'll have saved more start-up capital and you won't go broke. Or, find somebody that will tell you the real deal -- and when you do, listen! Be prepared for a real shock, and then a huge sigh of relief!

The first reviewer of this book obviously did not read it. The book is an extremly well balanced description of the stock market -it shows and explains all the possible pitfalls that can occur when trading. It also dedicates a whole chapter to different methods of investing your money - real estate, antiques, fine wines.... Personally I found the book a great introduction to the stock market and would recommend it to anybody who just wants to understand the business section of their Sunday paper