"Deadlock" offers an intriguing premise but fails because of Mapherson's weak storywriting and ignorant and offensive social assumptions about the Chinese community, both of which become irritating to a decent plot. A jury member is suspected to be the real killer. This is an engaging idea, but unfortunately Macpherson twists it between incredulous character relationships. San Francisco's Cardinal happens to be childhood friends with the richest and most famous senator and a supreme court judge -- all of whom are involved in unraveling the murder case. This would not be so annoying to read except for Macpherson's style of writing. To say the least, I expected some of the sentences and dialogues to have been penned by high school mystery writer, incorporating boyhood perceptions and fantasies about what the elite lifestyle might be like. Women are depicted in secondary roles throughout. By far, the most offensive trademark of "Deadlock" is Macpherson's grossly ignorant vision of the Chinese community in San Francisco. I have not read anything more offensive to the heart of anyone human -- something Macpherson seems to fear the Chinese actually are. His writing carries a fixation on the Chinese in the worst stereotypes. Macpherson denies the existence of any socially acceptable Chinese American in San Francisco. All Chinese characters are either hideously dissimilar, impossibly evil, purely corrupted, or demeaning to American society. I cannot fathom that anyone as ignorant about a segment of the population would dare to write about them, because to do so would be an incomplete and generally bad venture. But Macpherson achieves a most offensive piece of writing by doing this. Even in this story's most plot-intriguing moment, Macpherson writes in a staunch ignorance obvious to any reader aware of the Chinese as human as anyone else.

The synopsis sounded exciting enough but I was disappointed when I started reading it.Characters did not have much depth.The plot was fairly predictable after a while and all I wanted to do was to skim through the book to confirm my conclusion.I was also disappointed with the portrayal of the Chinese community in the book as its perception is that they are made up of gangs and thugs and Chinatown is a dangerous place to be in especially for a white person.As a Chinese,I was certainly unhappy with the unflattering image given to the Chinese characters in the book.

If you ever get a copy of this book, I believe that it is a must read. For ones who are narrow in your thinking, it will make you broader. For those who are prideful, it causes a humbling effect. It makes you take a different look at race relations and regional stereotypes.

The ending paralyzed me in my chair.

I am an undergraduate student taking a course in virology, and i find this book extremely difficult to learn from. As a reference source for a particular virus it may be of use, but use of this book as a learning tool is foolish. Yes, this book is written by experts concerning a particular field, but it seems that the authors target audience is also...experts. In introducing fundamental concepts of virology, the text constantly uses examples to a particular virus. From this particular virus, it then makes reference of a mechanism of this virus. How can one make a reference to a mechanism, when one has not yet even been exposed to the virus family themselves? Its almost like talking about the stats of a certain sports figure, and then as a foot note make reference upon how the game is played.

As an undergraduate taking a course in virology, I found this book the only book I ever needed. It has all the information that you need and more. I just hope that they will continue to come out with a newer edition since this book is out of date and the field of virology has grown since this edition.

I read the chapter on prions and i found it to be really good and up to date. of course it requires you to know a little background knowledge but if you're reading this book you probably already fill out that category. definitely not for the layman...

I guess if you are a person who thought having to read a history of the English Monarchy was good as a companion piece to understanding Shakespeares Henry IV ..etc, then this would be helpful to appreciating IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME.

The interconnections of smells, memory and impressions that make Proust's work flow like a river are undone by books like this.

A much better guide would be the 10 pages or so in Vladimir Nabokov's LECTURES ON LITERATURE...the chapter on Proust.

It gives you a simple,yet incisive, outline.. of the path of that meandering "river" of smells sounds and reflections.... without attempting to reproduce it like some cheap postcard print.

I cannot recommend this book for any reason. Bowie dishonors his subject and himself. In particular, he appears to have set himself the goal of out-writing Proust, as well as out-thinking him. And he fails entirely, producing nothing but glitter and smoke.

Bowie needs to take to heart Proust's goal in writing his book: to set down the truth, no matter how difficult. In particular, Proust's comments on Bergotte should be heeded. (Quoting from memory here...)

"Many lesser authors imitated Bergotte's style, and critics would approvingly say that they had written something in the manner of Bergotte. But these lesser authors and critics overlooked the true merit of Bergotte: that in his immaculate style he expressed keen insights and profound truths. They imitated the style, but neglected to have something true or interesting to say."

Malcolm Bowie's Proust Among The Stars is one of the most appealing works of thematic criticism that I read in a long time. By concentrating on specific themes such as Self, Time, Art, Politics and Sex, Bowie explains in great detail how Proust in his novel treats these topics in their sublime aspects, but at the same time how the sublime is given a human habitation as it were. Bowie, with many fine textual examples draws our attention to how the profundity and profusion everywhere apparent in Proust's masterpiece, coexists with dispersal and loss. He explores the many ways in which Proust is able to embed his rich and allusive art firmly in the real world; how Proust's attention to the minutiae of everyday life is never lost within the plethora of the Proustian paragraph. In his chapter on Sex, Bowie explains how Proust creates in his central protagonist someone who is "by turns a Lothario and a spoiled child, a visionary and a pathological case, a hero of the speculative intellect and a paragon of self-defeating folly".

Excellent fare indeed and a book to read and reread.

This book was written by the son and daughter-in-law of Joe Gauld, founder of the Hyde Schools in Bath, Maine and Woodstock, Ct. Both schools are based on the character-first educational philosophy espoused in this book. There is much to recommend this philosophy, and if you're looking at the book for help in raising your children, then that's fine. There's definitely a place for it, even with the weaknesses pointed out by other reviewers.

However, since the book is given out as a freebie to families whose children apply to the schools, it's a recruting tool as well. If you're using it to decide whether to send your child to Hyde or not, be aware that reality is not always the same as the ideals presented in the book.

A number of the previous reviewers are the parents of Hyde students, and their opinions reflect their families' experiences at Hyde. We also sent a child to Hyde, and our experience was negative, for many of the reasons that previous reviewers have cited. For some families, the Hyde process works; for others, it doesn't. Given the high turnover in the student body, I suspect that the success rate is lower than the school lets on. Our child did well there, but in part this was because his problems were much less serious than those of most of the other students there. Hyde attracts a student body with serious substance abuse and behavioral isses, despite what another reviewer said.

We were very disappointed in Hyde. We found it to be rigid, even cult-like. Therapy (they didn't call it that) was a large part of both the student and family program, but it was dispensed by people with little or no training and without the humility to know their limits. If you agreed with their interpretation, that was great. If you didn't, you were letting your ego get in the way of your child's welfare. There was a lot of psychological manipulation, subtle and otherwise. On a couple of occasions, students who took principled stands on issues were punished for it--in spite of the strength of character that they had demonstrated.

There were good things about the school, but for us the negatives outweighed the positives. As for the book, if you're just reading it for inspiration and help, then get what you can from it. But if you're using it to evaluate Hyde as a school, take the book with a grain of salt--in fact several large grains of salt.

This is a fantastic book that focuses on the importance of character development in our children, and it provides an outline of how to achieve it. The book is well written and easy to understand. Suggestions for "homework" at the end of many chapters are highly effective and provide a mechanism to start using the tools that are introduced in the book. Not only has Hyde provided our son the tools to work toward his unique potential; as parents of a Hyde student, the lives of my wife and myself, our relationship, and our relationship with our other children, have been enriched by our efforts to follow these guidelines. In a society where cheating, dishonesty, and self-destructive behavior are all too common, this book is a must read for all educators, all teachers, all parents, and even couples without children! Having read the book, I am now buying copies for all of my friends.

This book by Laura and Malcolm Gauld opened my eyes to a new approach to parenting. While they admit that there are no easy answers, they give us a clear and useful guide to raising children of character in today's world. The authors are very candid about their own lives and experiences as parents and educators. Their use of personal anecdotes of their own and parents they have worked with make the book an entertaining read. In addition, the book offers tools to apply these principles to your family. An excellent addition to the literature on parenting- a fresh approach that everyone can relate to!

While the format and outlay of this little book is very appealing, the editors did not review the actual knitting directions for consistency and clarity--for example where squares were of 18 rows, they are suddenly changed to 10 ridges. In other cases, the sequence of steps was very unclear and poorly stated.

The multi-colored blankets give very little direction for finishing and thought for how the back of a blanket might look and hold together under fairly strenuous use.

For the most part, it's probably a good idea to choose the single colored patterns.

This is a really sweet collection of baby blankets--it will make you want to have a child to knit for. However, I agree with a vew of the other reviewers who say that there are some mistakes in the patterns, and it is not really a book with much for beginners. Blankets may seem like a good choice for a really easy starting project, but this is not necessarily the book to work with.

I am in the middle of my first knitting class - I thought starting with blankets would be easy because you can't mess up the size too bad - although I LOVE many of the blankets in this book - only a few options for the beginner. I hope that as I get more experienced, i will be able to do more of the projects in this book.

To prospective readers: This is not a biography of Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes. The title is somewhat misleading. Author Janet Malcolm was drawn to the subject because her former classmate Ann Stevenson was taking a terrible drubbing for her (Stevenson's) biography of Sylvia Plath "Bitter Fame."

Malcolm went about interviewing Plath-Hughes sources, family and biographers. The world of biographers is a cruel and incestuous one, particularly if the subject still has living friends, enemies, and families. Stevenson, Malcolm believes, had no idea what she was getting into and was bombarded on all sides mainly because she was an outsider.

I was predisposed to enjoy the book because of my pleasure in Malcolm's writing. I like her no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners style. She is surgically precise in her judgments. Some readers this may find her intolerably high-handed, and if so, will end up annoyed.

Sylvia Plath is not an easy subject from any standpoint. Would she have had such fame if she had not killed herself at 32? If she had not been married to Ted Hughes? Will her poetry stand up? I think we are still too close to give definitive answers. I disagree that this book is strictly for biographers, academics or Plath-buffs. It has a strong appeal to the general reader who has some interest in poetry and expatriate American writers. I left the book with a better knowledge of the dynamics in which Plath spent her last years and strong sympathies for the enigmatic Mr. Hughes.

Ms. Malcolm could have used more structure in the book; I found myself flipping back and forth among the pages. Also, some of the statements need attribution. However, in Malcolm's defense, I don't think she planned this as a scholarly work, but more impressions of the closed world of biographers. It is not overly long, and I read it in one satisfied sitting.

If the intense animus that Janet Malcolm seems to inspire doesn't carry the day, this book should come to be seen as seminal an intellectual achievement as, say, "The Origins of Totalitarianism". Put simply, it is the final word on its subject - which is, of course, the act of biography, not Sylvia Plath or Ted Hughes.

That Malcolm presents herself as a major figure in the narrative, that she sides with Hughes against Plath (she says so in precisely those words; unlike every other book that addresses the Plath story, the agenda here is explicit, not veiled), is not merely apt but crucial. This, she argues convincingly, is what every biographer does - only usually with less self-awareness and honesty.

The point can't be stressed enough - especially as several reviewers here seem to have missed it. Malcolm is only interested in Plath and Hughes (both of whom are more compelling, in my opinion, for the doom-filled lives they led than for their sub-canonical verse) as an unusually illustrative example of the impossibility of "objective" biography. Was he a cruel philanderer? Or was she a neurotic harpy? Or both? Not only don't we know, Malcolm says, we *can't* know. Her argument, presented in crisp epigrammatic prose that is its own unique pleasure, seems to me unanswerable.

Malcolm's book is a compelling look at the process of writing a biography, as well as an interesting biography of Plath's and Hughes's relationship in itself. By examining the motivations behind Plath biographers, friends, and enemies, Malcolm comments on the process and biases of the biography genre, most importantly, the controversial Bitter Fame. In this book, we see the Hughes's sister shut out all biographers with a negative view of Hughes. We see Plath enemy Dido Merwin write a skewed tale about a Plath/Hughes visit. We see admirers of Plath's write scathing biographies blaming Hughes for the downfall of the Plath/Hughes marriage. What Malcolm attempts to do is to look at the union in a balanced manner, while exposing the motivations of the players in the Plath drama. She succeeds whole-heartedly in this excellent book.

You have to question what Perry wanted to achieve from this book. He seems to have missed, or overlooked, all of the important issues that Malcolm X stood for.

He takes the word of Malcolm's detractors as the gospel truth and diminishes Malcolm's teachings and beliefs by portraying them as paranoid.

Perry seems obsessed with highlighting flaws in Malcolm's personality and uses this device to side step the vital lessons which Malcolm was trying to teach - lesson's which still need to be learnt today.

By all means read this book, but do so very objectively.

I was not too fond of this book, not because I'm a Malcolm fan, but there are too many conclusions that Perry makes with weak evidence. Such as Malcolm's father (and Malcolm himself) setting their houses on fire, Malcolm's alleged homosexual activity, Malcolm asking the Klan why they allowed Dr. King to live, etc. etc. One could see why Dr. Betty Shabazz (Malcolm's wife)told Perry to get lost!

Bruce Perry's Malcom gives an in depth analysis of one of the most controversial public figures in modern American history. Perry describes Malcom's troubled childhood in the Midwest, from his bouts with his father infidelities and his unexpected death -ruled accidental, but not certain-- to his, light skinned, mentally ill mother who was not afraid to keep her son in line by any means necessary. Living within a dysfunctional family and having no friends, Malcom finds himself wanting to leave his lonely and slow-pace lifestyle for the exciting East Coast. Moving in with his half-sister in Boston, Malcom becomes involved in criminal activities, from petty dope slinging and "runnin' numbers", to sleeping with white women and committing burglaries. Eventually he finds himself behind bars and from there Malcom X emerges. Known as Red, Malcom becomes acquainted with an inmate, a devoted follower of the Nation of Islam, who teaches Malcom that their is an alternative for black men other than a life of crime. Malcom X is introduced to classic literature, poetry, and Islam. The religion has a powerful effect on Malcom, who embraces its ways and ultimately becomes a follower. When he is released, Malcom X quickly works his way through the ranks to head minister of the most populated and successful Black Mosque in America. According to Perry, Malcom was not only a devoted minister to his mosque, but to several others as well. His superior, the honorable Elijah Muhammad, was initially impressed with the articulate, young orator. In time Malcom X rises in the movement. He grabs all of the headlines and from the media's point of view, becomes the spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Eventually, Malcom breaks from the group and starts his own, which never gets off the ground. He was shot dead during a speech in Harlem, New York in 1965. Malcom X, though poorly educated and a product of a mentally and physically abused household, nevertheless took center stage and improved the quality of life for Black America. Bruce Perry gives the reader a personal account of one of America's enigmatic and flamboyant intellectuals of the twentieth century.

Save your money and purchase the REAL stories 'outlined' in this cheap book put together to ride the wave of The Perfect Storm. The collection of stories is nothing more than a collection of extended abstracts of the real stories. Many of the 'abstracts' are taken out of context and the reader does not get an accurate picture of what and why the nautical situation developed or how it concluded. Pass on this one.

This book is in a series put out by Adrenaline books and each book contains certain selections chosen by the editor. The selections are either excerpts from books, excerpts from diaries and journals, short stories, or an occasional essay. I look at how good the writing is, and how good the stories are.

There are 16 selections in this book. Half of them range from good to great, and the other eight are fairly poor. The writing is okay throughout, with some being more exceptional than others, but it's the stories that differ the most in quality. Six of them, whether written well or not, have virtually no story whatsoever or are very poor. As it turns out, the best stories in this book are also some of the better written. This is where the book's strength shows up. The selections introduce you to stories and books you may have never read and after reading some of the good selections, it makes you want to go read the books they were taken from. So I would mostly recommend this book to people who have not read much or any sea stories. It introduces you to a wide variety of sea literature. But otherwise I would only lightly recommend it by saying that everyone would find some selections that they really like.

Clint Willis has created a fascinating series of books with Epic, Climb, High, Wild, Ice, Rough Water, and The War. Each of these volumes presents the best literature about their respective subjects in a powerful cohesive manner. These books are a quick read, but intricate and spellbinding. I have given many of them to friends and family as gifts.

I was happily surprised by this book. I have only heard of Irving's ghost stories, which are great and why I purchased it. As I was reading the other stories, I was surprised to be reading of distant lands and historical sites as well. Normally, that would not interest me, but Irving's imagination is profound. He can turn a run down liabrary into a living soul who speaks and interacts with us humans. He can turn an ancient palace into a love story. The only thing I had a problem with was the old school language. It did make reading a little more difficult, however I plan on reading this book again, so I'm sure the second time around will be easier and I will be able to come back and turn the 4 stars into 5.

The Sketch Book by Washington Irving is a collection of short stories from the 19th century. Many people today only know Irving as the author of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," Irving wrote a variety of stories. He has a number of different themes covered in this book, such as romance, tragedy, and traditions of the Europeans versus Americans, and terrifying, suspenseful stories like "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Irving also wrote travel pieces, works about European traditions, and romance stories. Irving uses 19th century language, so it's hard to read at times, but if you enjoy this style of writing you will enjoy this book.
Irving has some of his greatest short stories in this book such as "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", "The Specter Bridegroom", and The Christmas Quintet. These stories show different themes along with a different style of writing. The different structure of the stories helped the book move along and not be boring.
Irving varied the themes of his stories, making it more enjoyable. Each story usually had a different theme, I liked this because it wasn't the same theme over and over again, and most authors tend to do this making the book boring. Also, Irving used different structures to his stories, not all of his stories were the same length. There were also some really long stories and really short stories. Varying the structure is a key thing in my view to making a collection of short stories good. I find it easier and better to read when all the stories are different lengths. I would also highly recommend this book to anyone who has read 19th century writings and enjoyed them. This book is a great source to further understand European traditions versus American traditions. If you are interested in sociological shifts then you will enjoy this book. If you're not into 19th century readings and European traditions then this book is not for you.

There's more to Washington Irving than "Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle". Irving's life was an enthralling tale of world travel, high society, and other, bookish diversions. He would have been, judging from the biography provided at the front of the edition I read, one of the most fascinating tale tellers of his day. That comes across in the Sketchbook; but we also get an idea of the wicked, roguish sense of humor, that impeccable feeling for satire that Irving could deploy even upon those people he loved most.

The Sketchbook was written largely in England, at first as Irving was inheriting the family law business from his infirm brother. Rankling under the confines of business that can seem insufferable to the creative mind, Irving turned his full energy to writing. These sketches reflect a man passionate about many things, but who is always doctoring his reminiscences with timeless satire: Literature (The Art of Book Making and the Mutability of Literature, with, respectively, the writers of the new school being assaulted by the old favorites of western lit, and the talking book created in illustration of the fact of history's unkindness to many authors and receptivity to a few)is an abiding love to Irving, with every sketch preceded by a poem from antiquity to the works of Irving's coevals, and the stories themselves can make one believe Irving to have been downright pedantic. For what other reason would he break the flow of innumerable stories with lengthy and often only tangentially relevant allusions. Other stories,such as the delightful Christmas cycle and the numerous sketches with Shakespeare addenda, juxtapose Irving's love and ridicule of the English, especially the rural English, with their antediluvian customs (which Irving commends), and their increasing acquiescence to modern fashion (which he abhors). Ironically, the very people whom he often ridiculed as pretentious, bombastic, destructive, prejudiced, and insensitive, loved him, perhaps because, at the same time, he lauded them for their refinement and their characters so analagous to those of the American people, whom he proclaims a young people, while the British should be something like elder statesmen, big brothers if you will.

The Sketchbook is delightful reading, if you can get past the author's bookishness and often archaic language.

Hawthorne's Marble Faun is not a book I would recommend to the casual reader, unless you are enthralled by highly exaggerated, unrealistic melodramas involving grossly stereotyped, one-dimensional characters (Miriam and Donatello are more intriguing and less one-dimensional, although this is simply my opinion). One must take into account that this is a gothic novel and is written in a period where "political correctness" is not yet a term, and where puritanical ideals and mores are the central focus of the story-teller.Therefore, one cannot hold against Hawthorne the fact that Italians are depicted as uncivilized imbeciles (for lack of a better word), nor that sin and religion are central themes - he simply wrote in accordance with the time in which he lived. Surely the fact that he is a masterful writer excuses his weaknesses in other areas. The story itself, though overly melodramatic and at times frustratingly so, is interesting in the way soap operas or shows like Melrose Place often are; as nauseatingly emotional as the characters are, and as disgusting as their actions or predicaments may be, there is a depth of raw emotion that draws us in, and something akin to the curiosity one may have in looking at a freak show. We are repelled yet drawn in at the same time, unable to resist wondering what lies ahead, yet partially aware of what will happen, of what must happen, for the story to play through the way it was intended. I myself was drawn into the innocent one-sided romance between Donatello and Miriam that gradually grows into a torrid affair - I truly could not put the book down until I found out how it all turned out between them. However, once that part of the novel was resolved, I found little incentive to continue. Hilda was stiff, did not draw sympathy, and her religious piety mixed with a severity usually associated with bitter spinsters I personally found repellent. Kenyon, the sculpture who seeks a romance with her, was equally boring with his wimpy, "I-agree-with-anything-you-say" romantic tactics. Needless to say, I was as intrigued by their romance as by two limp noodles stuck to the bottom of a pot. My suggestion: Read up till the chapter entitled "The Bronze Pontiff's Benediction" (I won't tell if you skip through the endless descriptions of art & architecture and go straight to the good parts). Then skim for plot ("A Frolic of the Carnival" has some interesting parts) and head straight to the last chapter and the postscript that follows - a must-read, as here we get a few last words on Donatello and Miriam, as well as a summation of the question that forms the novel - here you finally discover what thought process drove Hawthorne to write this story in the first place!

A must for romantics and anyone who enjoys a bit of a philosophical challenge!

Thinking about traveling to Italy? Wait! Do not leave behind your most useful travel companion. Disregard Rick Steve's and Let's Go. The Marble Faun was the premiere 19th Century travel guide to Rome and should be for the 21st century traveler. This book will lead you around the ancient city without skipping any of the awe-inspiring sights. For travelers after The Marble Faun's publication in 1860, the novel was a necessary item for their European escapades. Masterfully constructing his story around four distinct characters, Miriam, Hilda, Kenyon, and Donatello, Hawthorne takes the reader on an adventure which holds as much intrigue as the splendid landmarks these travelers encounter in their own journeys. For one who enjoys art and the discussion of art, this book will provide everlasting enjoyment. Indeed, Hawthorne captures the ex-patriot community of artists who settled in Rome during the 19th century in an attempt to associate themselves and their work with the Old Masters. Through Hawthorne's exceptional narrative, the reader gains further understanding of the mindset of copyists who wish to discover the true essence of such famous works as the faun of Praxiteles. This work experiments in its narrative form and one must be willing to flow with it. The chapters at times jump from different characters and events with out much warning to the reader. In addition, Hawthorne interjects his own point of view from time to time. If the reader is sensitive to this un-structure then they will have little trouble enjoying the mystery as well as the valuable description. Hawthorne changed the standards for American travel writing with this novel. Without it, Henry James, among others, may not have followed his lead. It is time The Marble Faun won the recognition it deserves!

I'm not a big fan of The Scarlet Letter, but The Marble Faun is, in my opinion, the best American novel ever written. Although it can move slowly when Hawthorne describes various architectural sites throughout Rome, the rest of the story is a theodicy of great power and imagination. Hawthorne uses a brilliant combination of mythology, history, and humanity in this piece. A must for anybody who loves Italy. This book has been overlooked for more than three generations now...it's time it was uncovered!