The five recipes I have prepared so far from this book are very nice. However, I think that the recipe for zuccini tomato tart contains and error as it calls for a cookie crust.

I have lived in France for a number of years and know about tarts . With the help of this book you can make tarts just as wonderfull as you can savour them in the best french bistro's I consider it a must for every amateur chef , and even most professionals could benefit from it

I wanted this book so much and had to have it now, that I foolishly bought it in Australia at the bookstore. Even with the vagaries of the Australian dollar and Amazon.com's shipping charges I could have waited and had it for half the price. But I just couldn't wait, and haven't for a moment regretted my (A$54) outlay. It's worth every cent. Splendid recipes -- both sweet and savory, references to places of origin, superb photos. If like me, you have a fear of pastry buy this book and open up a whole new world of menus for yourself. I defy anyone not to work their way through the entire book and be eating French tarts for a month. Then start again and see if you can do them better! Bon appetit.

I liked this book because of it's sequential and systematical analysis of human behaviour.

If you are familiar with Lacan, you probably know what you're in for...if not, read on for my own brief understanding in 50 words or less. First of all -- Lacan is well-worth the effort. He is difficult, whooly, interesting, funny, serious, witty. "There's such a thing as One" It is there that the serious begins. For Lacan as for Freud, the child is born into desire. But for Lacan this desire is more than sexual (though also sexual) Desire comes out of the imbalance between what we perceive, language and images, and what actually is the Real. It is impossible to satisfy this desire, because we cannot know what we want. The real is utterly unknowable. Longing is displaced -- we long for everything else instead: sex, food, drugs, alcohol, consumer objects--trying to fill the void of desire. But we are not satisfied by any of these things, because as soon as the desire is fulfilled it vanishes.
Some of Lacan's concepts (as the one above) I read and say -- yes that's IT ... as Lacan said in the lecture translated in this book-- "It's not working out and the whole world talks about it and a large part of our activity is taken up with saying so." Many of the concepts in this book were worth the wading through it -- which I did in one night, entranced, reading through as if in a maze -- or in one of Lacan's Borromean Knots (in which the symbolic, the imaginary, and the real are linked like the rings of a Borromean knot)

In his translation of this, one of Lacan's late and most provocative seminars, Bruce Fink not only clarifies and corrects mistakes in the Jacqueline Rose translation, _Feminine Sexuality_, but offers the _entire_ Seminar XX with careful attention paid to Lacan's multivalent language. Extensively footnoting Lacan's text, Fink aims to open up fully Lacan's references and wordplay, and this proves to be an approach especially helpful for the non French-speaking reader. Seminar XX may not be the introductory text novice Lacan scholars would wish for, (there are some new books on Lacan by other authors that would be more helpful for those seeking an overview of Lacan's teaching and methodology) but this text could be a good place to start with Lacan per se simply because the translation makes it easier to read than other, more widely read of Lacan's translated texts. Students interested particularly in feminine sexuality and jouissance will find this text key, and there are chapters in which Lacan addresses the limits of knowledge, God and mysticism, and the sexual relation. In this seminar, Lacan also offers exegesis on the four discourse structures and the dense but important sexuation graph, which positions the masculine and feminine in relation to epistemology and the Father's Law. People doing work on Jakobsonian poetics might find the early chapters especially interesting for their critical approach.

When reading this account of a series of conversations between Jean-Pierre Changeux and Alain Connes, two main themes emerge. The first is how little progress there has been made in the philosophy of mathematics and knowledge since the time of Plato and the second is how much fun it is to discuss it. Changeux is Director of the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory at the Institut Pasteur and Connes is a previous winner of the Fields Medal for mathematical excellence. His prime areas of work are in analysis and geometry. These two superb minds jointly explore the realm of consciousness, knowledge, and the inherent ambiguities in the search for truth and understanding.
As the conversations progress, many of the main themes of philosophy are covered, with an emphasis on mathematics and the abstract nature of the human mind. My favorite chapter was "The Neuronal Mathematician", where the neural basis of understanding theorems is discussed. If it were possible for Plato to eavesdrop on the conversation, he would be baffled by the references to computers, but the discussion on the "forms" of mathematics would seem like old news. One very profound question raised in this book bears repeating, "Is it necessary for a computer to experience pain and suffering to be considered conscious?"
A book that should be thought of as a primer only, this is one work that can keep you thinking and pondering for years.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

There are many "dialogue" books of this sort, but personally I haven't read anything matching the brilliance of this one. The two men featured in this book, both true masters in their fields, represent two very different philsophical views, which become quite obvious immediately, yet they manage to engage in an intellectual dialogue free of the venom characterizing so much academic polemics nowadays, true to the spirit of those "pre-modern" French intellectuals, even reminiscent of Socrates & company. This is a minor masterpiece.

In the words of Karen Carpenter, "they long to be , just like me, close to you". Here Alain just wants to be close to Chloe, or close to love more precisely. I enjoyed this read, as a philosophical discussion of love there is probably none better. Dont expect a love story though, the plot element of this 'novel' is very sparse, bordering on non existent, nothing really happens except for the fact that Alain takes us on a witty, funny , insightful and revealatory discussion on "what is love?". In fact this would have been a wonderful sub title for the book and is a must read for anyone who has oftened wondered. Once you have read the book, wonder no more about the question that poets, novelists and songwriters never tire of.
The limitations of the novel:
1. It makes no comment about what love means for the human race and draws no conclusions about the sociological implications of love, this is suprising given the authors distance and analysis of the condition. The argument for 'biological urge' would have upset the romantic element of the authors passion.
2. It is very english, proper and dignified. The protaginists are wealthy, successful and cute. Neither of them have any faults, doubts or problems and this creates a distance to the characters and aids in the philosophical discussion without getting to close to the 'people' concerned. Thus as a novel it fails.
Despite the above, the book is highly readable and I will no doubt read it again, you should too.

This is the English edition of what in the US was published as ON LOVE: it is quite the funniest, most intelligent book I have ever read on love. Please buy it, and you will see what I mean

For each generation of chefs there is one who has profound influence the culinary world. For the new millenium it is Chef Ducasse.

L'Aterlier of Alain Ducasse is less of a book on Ducasse himself and more of a tribute from Chefs who have worked and learned under his exacting standards.

Ducasse presents recipes on specific ingredients which are then followed by recipes from Chefs who have worked under him and gone onto greatness of their own.

Jean-Louis Nomicos, Sylvain Portay, Franck Cerutti Jean-Francois Piege and Alessandro Stratta all show how their style of cooking has been influenced by time working for Alain Ducasse.

Ducasse presents us with ingredients and takes us on a their journey to the table. Every ingredient has a point at which it is at it's height of flavor and quality. Ducasse shows us how to prepare them to reach that point so their indentity is distinct and uncomplicated by other flavors.

L'Aterlier of Alain Ducasse is a must have for all professionals and "foodies. This book will provide great inspiration and hours of entertainment for anyone serious about food and cooking.

Alain Ducasse is nothing less than a "master" in the kitchen, when he brings dining to a whole new level. Anyone who liked his past book "Flavors of France," will surely like this book just as much.

Not only a wonderful reference book, but also enjoyable just to read straight through. It covers myths and gods, philosphy, mantras, yantras, worship and rituals, and includes 32 pages of black-and-white photographs of Indian sculptures of the gods. It has an excellent 41-page index. The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is that it omits 89 pages of Sanskrit text that appear in the original hardcover Bollingen edition as an appendix, and that are referenced throughout the body of the book. Otherwise it is an exact copy of that classic work. Most readers will probably not mind this omission, but Sanskrit scholars will find it disappointing and would be well advised to seek out a copy of the original hardcover.

Of the three works of this author that I have read (Siva & Dionysus, The Phallus and this one), this is by far his best and shows him at his best. It is eloquent, lucid, comprehensive and inspiring. Unlike the other two books, this one is obviously written with a passion for his subject, and, also unlike the other two books, it has an index (!) which makes it accessible! A great reference book.

This book is a remarkable example of the time period. Before reading this, one must understand the logic and the use of words during the renaissance. Understanding this is imperative in order to avoid becoming upset with the literature.

This anthology contains works by many of the most important contributers to the Harlem Renaissance. The best parts of the volume are the poetry selections by poets such as Hughes, Cullen, and McKay as well as the essays by Alain Locke. The works by Hurston and Toomer are also quite good. The essays by Locke (especially the New Negro) feature insight into many of the ideas and developments that took place in order to bring about this important historical and cultural movement. This book is a definite must read.

Prince Ilango Adigal wrote Shilappadikaram as an erotic verse romance trilogy novel. He also wrote it as moral values, marriage, religion, art, music, dance, caste, myth, intercultural behavior, politics, military tactics, and idiom instruction. Although written about 1,700 years ago, it has numerous parallels with, as well as contrasts to, present day Indian society.

Karma (Sanskrit for action) dominates the four moral lessons of Shilappadikaram: Divine Law takes the form of death when a king abandons duty, all must bow before a faithful wife, the ways of fate are mysterious, and all actions are rewarded.

A modern reader of Greco-Roman background faces five major difficulties in understanding Shilappadikaram: India's culture differs substantially, the book was translated from a foreign language, it was written ages ago, further complicating the first two difficulties, the three major religions, Jainism, Brahmanism, and Buddhism, are unfamiliar to most readers, and the reader hears none of the original music. This is comparable to watching the "Sound of Music" with the sound turned off; much of the splendor is lost.

Writen at the end of the third ancient Tamil literary epoch (sangam), Shilappadikaram is only one of three surviving Great-Poems. No texts survive from either of the first two sangams. Coupling this extraordinary rarity with rich cultural information makes Shilappadikaram irreplaceably valuable in understanding both modern and ancient Indian thinking. The reader starts Shilappadikaram acutely aware of the cultural differences between the two worlds. He finishes it reflecting on the similarities.

Tamil is the language of the state of Tamil Nadu in Southeastern India ... or the Tamils are the rebels in the news regarding civil unrest in Sri Lanka.

Shilappadikaram is the primary epic of Tamil literature; it is an epic still alive orally as well. The epic is of a woman wronged by her husband. The loss of one breast has mythic implications, tying the rightful wife to the rain goddess. Unlike the major epics of North India, this epic is short and has a straight storyline i.e. none of the "Baroque" qualities of the Mahabharata, for example.

If the term "epic" puts you off, just consider it a very old love story. It is simply a lovely story.

This is in reality only a pamphlet-sized work inflated in size by an appendaged introduction by the translator over 40 pages long and an interview also conducted by the translator about 50 pages long. Though short, this pithy little work remains important just by virtue of how widely read it is, comparable to the role of THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO to Marx's œuvre.

The introduction describes this work as a bit of a manifesto, and indeed, its contents are written with such bravado and conviction, combined with a laconic lucidity and concluding summaries, which one would expect to see in a manifesto. Being written by a scholar who has already written a decent sized book on Badiou, the introduction is actually key to the entire publication insofar as it situates the work itself and its author within the intellectual currents which produced both.

One becomes increasingly clear, however, is that "ethics" is throughout a word equivocated with the current global politico-economic system, which Badiou is really trying to subvert here. Hence, he hopes to supplant this order, embodied in human-rights discourse, with his own neo-Marxist, radical politics. His ethics is, therefore, an attempt to put the revolution back into "revolutionary Marxism". Though ostensibly about ethics, this is, indeed, Alain Badiou's chief of concerns

Some of his ideas are ingenious, but others are a bit loony. Predominant throughout is the theme of Truth as event which defines 'the Good'. This revolutionary intervention initiates and creates subsequently a truth-process which creates and ethical good as such. Evil is not autonomous here but merely a perversion, abuse, or betrayal of the truth event. This posits as the alternative to Kantian, natural law tradition which reifies "evil" and thereafter nihilistically, in Badiou's eyes, constructs a negative ethics that is essentially conservative. Themes present in the works of Kant, Lacan, and Lévinas [whom he criticizes quite often rejecting his ethics of 'the other'] often intersect, and they remain his main phantom interlocutors throughout the extended essay.

The interview at the end moves from issues particular to contemporary France like *les sans-papiers* and the status of immigrant communities to philosophical questions giving opportunity for caveats and discussions of other works besides *Ethics*.

Overall, Badiou offers some interesting ideas in this book, but writers such as Alisdair MacIntyre who are really concerned with ethics and not so much with reviving some nostalgic revolutionary politics offer much more enlightening critiques and examinations of modern ethics such as human rights, etc.

Ethics: An Essay On The Understanding Of Evil by political activist and philosopher Alain Badiou is an informed and informative indictment of currently prevailing ethical principles. Explaining that the widely distributed ideology of good and evil is actually used to benefit the status quo while neglecting a true understanding of evil, Ethics wrestles with the quintessential problems of evil itself, the existence of man, the ethics of truths, and more. An erudite and expressively written collection of linked and well-reasoned propositions, Ethics is a very strongly recommended addition to Philosophy & Ethics reading lists and library collections.

Unfortunately, only a few of Alain Badiou's books have been translated to English, but that won't be true for long. While many philosophers since Nietzsche have been declaring the end of philosophy, Badiou revives the field in his delightful, stimulating work. Sick of hearing unoriginal applications Derrida, Deleuze, and Lacan, without hearing any truly novel philosophical thought? What has been called the "post-structuralist critique of subjectivity" has become cliché, but fear not: as more of Badiou's work is translated into English, expect a revival of lively critical debates over ethics and subjectivity.

Two chief elements distinguish Badiou's philosophy. First, his writing is incredibly lucid, so even though some of his arguments are pretty complicated, a reader with a good mind can easily follow his thought. This is really refreshing, since what makes a lot of French philosophy difficult is not its profundity, but the poor quality of the writing. With Badiou, you're not wading through unexplained terms: you're wading through remarkably intelligent argumentation. Second, rather than rehearsing cliché critiques of capitalism, psychoanalysis, logocentrism, etc., Badiou immerses himself in Philosophy proper, and takes seriously the ethical claims of contemporary humanism. Rather than engaging in an anthropological/cultural studies critique of humanistic culture, as Foucault and Baudrillard do, Badiou is willing to question the logical contentions of humanism. He's able to enter into the old-school debates over ethics and actually come out ahead.

Defenders of the Enlightenment, such as Habermas, Nussbaum, and Rorty, have argued persuasively that French critical theory lacks a solid ethical foundation, and argue that modern human rights focus can be the only responsible ethical culture. Enter Badiou. Starting with a rigorous attack on the philosophical foundations of modern ethics, Badiou questions whether an ethics that tells us only what injustices we cannot suffer is adequate to appreciate possibilities for truly ethical life. He then interrogates the way in which modern ethics informs modern practices ranging from domestic policy to military intervention.

Badiou's application of Lacan is of particular interest, and his theory of situations is a unique development of his thought. ETHICS is short, very readable, and contains a great deal of stimulating perspectives on ethics, subjectivity, and modern politics. It's also a great introduction to one of the great emerging thinkers of this century's philosophy.

I recommend this book especially to readers who take a left-wing stand on many political issues, not because Badiou's philosophy lends itself to left-wing thought, but, rather, because Badiou's critique of modern ethics paves the way for a theory of politics that can conceive of solutions to the abuses of capitalism that can defend itself against legitimating conservative notions of 'freedom' and 'justice.'

Excellent book. Excellent book for anyone interested in philosophy and ethics.

Ever since the demise of the Game Design Work Shop. I have been looking for a conversion for my Victorian roleplaying. This book fills the gap. I, being an old fart roleplayer, have little time to do conversions. The original rules for 1889 where very simplistic. I wanted more meat. GURPS gives me that extra detail that I crave. The history and color supplied is very good, but of little use to me. The characters and tables were what I needed. Very well written, and to the point. many of these suppliments tend to lean to generalities, but this one focuses on the salient points.

I've been dying for this book for months, and let me tell you... it lives up to the expectations. It doesn't matter if you want to play a Jules Verne-esque Romantic Fiction romp or a James Blaylock Steam meets Spells dark comedy, this book will help it come true.

Essentially, this book makes the assumption that Victorian-era culture, morality, and society would not change much had the technological marvels been possible, and I tend to agree. The setting gives players and GMs a terrific overview of a mis-understood culture that is chock-a-block with gaming possibilities.

As an example, my playing group is using this book to re-create the Battle of Rourke's Drift... but the Prussian government has secretly armed the Zulus with advanced weaponry, in order to win an ally in the region. Is it plausible? Probably not. But is it fun? HECK, YEAH!

Never mind those "more-anarchist-than-thou" cyberpunks or "more-gothic-than-thou" Vampire gamers. Pick up GURPS Steampunk. Pick it up NOW. Trust me.

I highly recommend this book, even if you don't find the genre compelling. I may never run a victorian game, but I read the book from cover to cover. The writing is excellent and really captured my imagination. Stoddard evokes a marvelous setting, chock full of gaming potential.