This colorful volume has clearly been done by an author who is well informed and knows his fine salt shakers. Pictures are beautiful and descriptions are very clear and well done.

Collectibles books don't get much better than this. This 3rd edition, 312 page hardbound volume with beautiful laminated covers, features more than 850 full color, large, sharp, full color photos throughout. It provides a wealth of information, in addition to pictures and prices. The treasure covers Historical and Rarities, Interesting company biographies, a large sectin on repros, look alikes, re-issues and fakes. A complete pattern index is included. Values provided are 1998. Collectors of salt shakers will love this book and refer to it often. A must have for salt shaker collectors.

As a child therapist, I have found the Rotten Ralph books to be very useful and popular among my clients. In Worse Than Rotten Ralph, we once again find Ralph, the amazingly painted red cat, being very, very bad. In this story, Ralph is challenged by some alley cats and goes on to prove that he can be just as rotten as they. Kids get a thrill out of seeing just what trouble Ralph and his friends will get into next. Some adults might fear that such mischief will encourage acting out among children, but I find that these stories actually help children externalize their own mischievous impulses. They can experience badness vicariously through Ralph and breathe a sigh of relief when Sarah, his owner, once again says, "I love you anyway." As an adult and a cat lover, I am endlessly entertained by the clever details hidden in each illustration. Even after reading this book over and over, I am still discovering new things.

This book is an excellent companion piece to any textbook for any class in psychology that includes signtificant writing assignments. The authors move through the stages of paper-writing from the first venture to the library's electronic search engines through the final revisions. It contains many "hints" that other such books fail to include. Highly readable and engaging.

I found this book provides simple yet effective techniques to get others to embrace your ideas. The self tests were particularly effective in reinforcing the teaching points. Easy reading at an affordable price that will surely produced results and pay for itself.

If you're serious about Xt programming (writing professional-quality applications with custom widgets, etc.), you need this book. It is very detailed and very accurate. It was written by some of the original Xt developers and their insight is not available in writing anywhere else. Unfortunately, the 2nd edition costs twice as much as the first edition. If your budget is limited, see if you can find a used copy of the first edition. It won't discuss the newest features, but the older APIs are mostly still useful.

This book was very imformative in many ways. If it wasn't for Ralph William Burgess, I would be broke, and be living homeless in downtown Calgary. But anyway, RALPH'S COOL!

If one desires to pursue the path of enlightenment under Zen, one must select as a vehicle one of the Zen arts - archery, swordsmanship, brush-and-ink, the tea ceremony or flower arranging. Eugen (pronounced OI-gen) chronicles his struggle to overcome his "much too willful will" and master the bow. This interesting story is very moving, educational and inspiring, while never becoming heavy as it easily could have under less skillful authorship.

The ultimate challenge Eugen faces ends up being the smooth release of the bowstring and arrow without conscious intent, "like the ripe fruit falls from the tree", "like a baby's hand releases one object to grasp another", "like the bamboo leaf slowly bends under the weight of the snow, then releases the clump of snow without thought". Eugen, during a summer sabbatical, develops a "technique" that he believes will solve this problem and nearly gets himself thrown out of the program for "offending the Spirit of Zen". There is also an interesting account of an after-hours meeting where his teacher gives an amazing demonstration of quiet mastery in order to raise Eugen's morale and level of understanding.

I had read the book several times and decided to get the tapes to listen to while driving. Ralph Blum's sonorous voice is perfect for the reading and I enjoyed listening to the book as much or more than reading it. There is much that this little book has to offer and its message will live in your heart for a long time.

George Orewll's 1984 is truly captivating however extremely disturbing. It's a story about a cold heartless society and the eradication of, by our standards, the normal human.
With it's first [edition] in 1949 it's written as an extremely pessimistic view of the future. The novel examines a socialist empire and the way they can control mankind, the future, and the past.
The book revolves around a middle aged, middle class, although extremely intelligent man. Winston Smith works as part of the government changing the past. He is constantly watched and allowed no emotions other than hate and fear. The party controls every aspect of life.
Winston can vaguely remember his childhood before Big Brother and the Party began controlling everything. He still maintains early 20th century morals and ideals of what life should be about. The book covers his rebellion against the party.
1984 is well written for the most part, however there are some parts that you have to fight to get through. For example at one point Winston obtains an anti party book, Orwell then goes into long chapters that are excerpts from this "book." These are long dry passages, that contain information that has already been reveled to the reader through indirect methods.
Overall I think that this book is a good book to read. It will improve your appreciation of life today.

Although I have generally found Orwell to be a politically confused thinker, 1984 stands out as one of the best and most forward thinking works I have ever read. The amount of relevance this book has today is overwhelming, considering modern government propaganda techniques and the double edged sword of technology. This story serves as a warning to all who trust the government, especially in regards to privacy issues.

Winston Smith, while not the ideal romantic protagonist, is still compelling in his own right with his inspiring (and finally tragic) fight against Big Brother. The struggle that takes place between Winston and the government in 1984 is psychologically thrilling and intense, and it is still difficult for me to put the book down each time I read it. I am particularly drawn to the character of O'Brien, who represents to me the culmination of a path that all seasoned politicians and government officials travel down.

The year 1984 has come and past, but an extreme statist government similar to the one portrayed in the novel still may haunt us in the future.

George Orwell's 1984 is a true classic. Orwell's megastate Oceania is a truly frightening dystopia. Winston Smith and his girlfriend, Julia, rebel against a monsterous police state bent on controlling the very thoughts a person may have. Thoughtcrime,doublespeak, and Big Brother are terms we have come to use to describe our real life governments attack on our own liberties. Smith rebels against the maddness and oppression of Oceania by having a secret love affair with Julia, a woman sworn to celibacy for the "Party". After being arrested by the Thought Police they are brought to the "Ministry of Love" where Winston is submitted to unremmitting torture and brutality at the hands of his torturer, O' Brien. O'Brien is the consumate collectivist.He loves and worships pure power and enjoys "destroying minds". He informs Winston that the Party determines ultimate truth and that truth is whatever the Party says it is. He chillingly tells Winston " Here is a picture of humanity, a boot stamping on a human face, forever." a truly wonderful, frightening, but appropriate classic in these tmes of assaults on our liberties. A truly great book.

Animal Farm is the story of a revolution gone sour. Animalism, Orwell's take on Communism, is an illusion used by the pigs as a means of satisfying their lust for power. At the beginning of the book, Mr. Jones, the master of the farm, is irresponsible toward his animals, so old Major, a white boar, informs the other animals of the need to form a rebellion against Mr. Jones and the human race. The other animals embrace the idea of a revolution and develop a scheme to overthrow Mr. Jones. After the revolution is complete, the animals feel an immediate freedom, a set of commandments is developed for the new "Animal Farm," and they all begin working together for a common good. However, it does not take long for the new society to begin to corrupt. The satisfaction of removing Mr. Jones from the farm prevents the animals from noticing the politics still going on within the farm. The animals are convinced by those in power that their memory of the original utopia and commandments are false. So long as the animals cannot remember the past, because it is being continually altered, they will have no control over the present and future. George Orwell is making a great political statement in Animal Farm with specific emphasis on mass rebellion. It personifies Karl Marx's ideas for communism and illustrates what can happen after a revolution with specific attention to the fact that every society is political and contains "pigs" who will always grab for power. This satirical fable leaves the reader with a better understanding of communism and the anatomy of political revolution in any culture.

The story Animal Farm is something that every person in the entire world should read. This simple tale of a group of animals, neglected, abused, enslaved, and put down, rising up against their hateful masters with the hopes of creating an egalitarian society was meant as a commentary on the state of the Soviet Union. The depiction created of a Communist society from its conception to its death is one of tyranny, deceit, distrust, and rivalry that destroys the pure intentions of the original revolutionaries. Though the depth of the underlying political commentary may be lost on people with no interest in the operation of the economy or the government, Animal Farm is a very accessible story with easy to understand lessons in morality, fairness, and honesty.

One note on the additional "filler" information added to this edition, it is both poorly written and uninteresting. While the life of George Orwell is interesting and something worth learning about, especially if you have aspirations towards being a socialist, the author of this section does such a poor job that reading tax codes in IRS publications is more interesting.

In summary, buy this book, read it, lend it to someone else, read it again, lend it to more people, read it again, and dream of a world of egalitarian communism. Or you can just read the story, enjoy the struggles and triumphs of the heroic animals, despise the greedy pigs, and share the experience with someone else.

George Orwell's Animal Farm is a superb animation of the Russian Revolutioon. The book is amusing and interesting; it includes a comic element as it synonymously demonstrates the evolution from the proletariat revolution to a totalitarian government led by the swine of the society. Orwell successfully simplified the not-so-simple theory of class stratification and Karl Marx's proposed solution of communism. Orwell's method of conveyance is incredibly inventive. He uses satire in the form of a fairy tale to share his indignation for ideological doctrines that would, if allowed, lead to the eventual destruction of a society. Each character in the story is representative of someone who was involved in the Russian Revolution. Old Major is Marx, and inspires the proletariat revolution by motivating the over-worked animals and educating them on the ways of the human beings, who represent the bourgeoisie. Orwell's creativity convinces the reader that the animals on the farm are intellectual beings, revolting against the tyranny of the humans. Animal Farm offers itself as an example of a responsible criticism of Marxism. The story gives us a peek at the Utopian vision, and then offers a long look at what results from using a Marxist approach at achieving it. I strongly reccomend this book, as it is entertaining and educational. Orwell succeeded in creating a fairy tale that evokes both sadness and laughter, while causing us to feel sympathy and even empathy for the working class animals. The book escapes complexity, but its message does not.