Lizabet Bazore had been immortal over 400 years. She had been known in history as The Bloody Countess. She had gone underground long ago and awakened in the 1950's. Stumbling upon Chloe Covington, who was suffering from hysterical amnesia, Lizabet made her into her protégée. Even demons required some company since eternity was a long time.

Chloe's mind was a blank before Lizabet. Only Lizabet and the "left-hand path" mattered. But as the 1970's rolled in, Chloe's intelligence and wisdom make her steady, while Lizabet's devil-may-care attitude made her reckless.

It all came to a head when an up-and-coming rock group named GloryDaze entered the picture. Chloe must choose between her Maker and the man she had fallen in love with.

**** Pure horror that hits its readers like a punch in the gut! The only disappointing thing, in my opinion, was pages of background of early victims' lives when their sole purpose in the book was to die within a few pages. I could not help but think the scenes would have been better from one of the two vampires' view point. However, I can honestly and proudly state that this is one awesome read!

Kudos to Joseph Curtin in writing this sexy and gruesome vampire horror novel. In this shocker he resurrects Elizabeth Bathory, the true blood countess who murdered countless young women in the 16th century to gain her youth.Elizabeth called Lizabeth is now a vampire in the 20th century and she turns a young woman named Chloe into her vampire servant.They prey upon people until Chloe falls in love with a drummer and all hell breaks loose in this unholy love triangle. Curtin's debut novel
is one of the viscerally shocking vampire novel in recent memory as he gives us chilling scenes of Lizabeth's capacity for sadism and evil as she brutally kills her prey.Unlike the Anne Rice books the bloodletting in this novel isn't erotic but gruesome.Chloe is memorable character who seeks to escape from Lizabeth with Johnny Coltrane the man she falling in love with.
Curtin also gives us some great supporting characters Like Vinnie who is seduced into Lizabeth's web of evil and Dave Hannon, who discovers Lizabeth's terrifying secrets and lives to regret it!Curtin's chilling vampire novel ends with one of the most
memorable final confrontations between Lizabeth and Chloe!So pick up this book and enter Lizabeth's world of terror and desire! Your blood will run cold if it's not drained yet!

Lizabet Bazore had been immortal over 400 years. She had been known in history as The Bloody Countess. She had gone underground long ago and awakened in the 1950's. Stumbling upon Chloe Covington, who was suffering from hysterical amnesia, Lizabet made her into her protégée. Even demons required some company since eternity was a long time.

Chloe's mind was a blank before Lizabet. Only Lizabet and the "left-hand path" mattered. But as the 1970's rolled in, Chloe's intelligence and wisdom make her steady, while Lizabet's devil-may-care attitude made her reckless.

It all came to a head when an up-and-coming rock group named GloryDaze entered the picture. Chloe must choose between her Maker and the man she had fallen in love with.

**** Pure horror that hits its readers like a punch in the gut! The only disappointing thing, in my opinion, was pages of background of early victims' lives when their sole purpose in the book was to die within a few pages. I could not help but think the scenes would have been better from one of the two vampires' view point. However, I can honestly and proudly state that this is one awesome read! ****

THE DIMWIT'S DICTIONARY is not exactly a kind book - it will shred every linguistic prop a writer is comfortable with & proud to know & use. Not that I'm proposing writers reinvent the way they write, I am, however, encouraging they use this dictionary to discover how hackneyed their writing might be. It is a litmus test to learn what separates the ho-hum from the memorable; the bland from the interesting.

Discover just how original, or not, is your writing. Learn about Ineffectual phrases, Moribund metaphors & Infantile phrases; Overworked words, Inescapable pairs & Torpid terms; Withered words, Wretched Redundancies & Egregious English; Quack equations, Foreign phrases, Grammatical gimmicks & much, much more!

THE DIMWIT'S DICTIONARY is an invaluable tool all writers need to have on their tool shelf, not to be taken too seriously or too much to heart, or brain, as is the case, as an author could get dreadfully pompous!

Somewhat self-righteous and pedantic at times, but highly pertinent on the whole. Actually makes very good reading. Mister Fiske seems to entertain a pet hate for foreign metaphors, French in particular, except when it suits him (portmanteau is coat-hanger in English).
Would definitely recommends it as a teaching reference at university level.
As a last word, Mister Fiske would do us a great favour by publishing all his works into one single book. References to other work(s) smacks of (concerted) mercantilism.

The Dimwit's Dictionary by Robert Hartwell Fiske (Editor of the online journal about the English language: "Vocabula Review") is filled cover to cover with alternatives to over 5,000 tiresome cliche phrases. The entries are of two types. One type offers synonyms for cliche words and phrases, from "Achilles' heel" (foible, deficiency, etc.) to "you name it" (and so forth, and the like). The other type of entry identifies flawed and horribly overused verbal expressions, and categorizes them by type: "zillions" is an infantile phrase; "advice is cheap" is a quack equation; and "nipping at your heels" is a moribund metaphor. The value of this second type of entry is straightforward - if one is using any such phrase in their writing, then reaching for synonyms simply isn't enough; it's time to completely rework the expressed thought. Both types of entries are presented alongside one another in this alphabetized volume. Overall, The Dimwit's Dictionary is easy to use, and should be cover-to-cover reading (not simply used sporadically as a reference, but a page-by-page reading and explicit indoctrination in what phrases to avoid) for every neophyte writer who aspires to effective and memorable writing.

Let's suppose you don't know anything about Islam. Would you turn to a debate between two scholars of the Sharia' to get your basic knowledge ? Or maybe, if you didn't know anything about Judaism, would you turn to Maimonides' discussion of the impossibility of absolute finality ? The same question can be asked of Maya Deren's incredible, deep, detailed book on Haitian religion, a religion taken largely from West Africa. Although Deren, an artist and film-maker, writes passionately and intellectually about her subject, she assumes far too much knowledge on the part of the reader. I found the book incredibly dense, full of details which I could not possibly remember, yet giving me no quarter, explaining nothing to me in terms that I could come to grips with. I can be emotional in practice, but in reading a book on a rather new subject for me, I prefer some intellectual explanation, some connection to the web of knowledge all readers of books like this do share. Deren waxes philosophical, lyrical, and psychological in turn. It is hard to know how to absorb it all. She describes the symbolic and mythological significance of the many West African deities found in Haiti, trying also to explain how the New World required new meanings in some cases. Her argument that Africans absorbed some Indian influence seems rather frail. She also describes the role of the houngan, or priest of Vodun, the importance of drums and drumming, the fact of possession.

Look, let's be brief. If you already know a lot about West African religion or its New World variants, and if you want a detailed analysis in a non-standard anthropological form, then this could be a five star book for you. Her passion, her scholarship deserve five stars for sure. The best thing about the book is its insistence that Voudoun or Vodun is a rich, vital religion with ancient roots, so far from the caricature often imposed on "Voodoo" by Western popular culture. On the other hand, if you want to know more about Haitian society, if you are looking for an anthropological work that will give you some operating knowledge in Haiti or about Haiti, this volume is going to prove far too rich for your blood. Try some of the other works on Haiti first.

The other reviewers do a good job of discussing Deren's history of Haitian Voodoun, however, it should be noted that regardless of the merits of this as an historical text, the book is a fascinating read for anyone interested in her film practice. Perhaps this is obvious, but it is unmentioned by some others.

Maya Deren's "Divine Horsemen" is a poetically rendered exploration of the philosophy and practices of Haitian Voodoun. Written in the early '50's (with the support of Joseph Campbell), this book is not a "how to" practical guide. Rather it a metaphysical, religious, philosophical & anthropological study of Voodoun. As an artist, Deren brings a uniquely lyrical voice to her narrative and paints a multi-textured, infinitely complex portrait of a spiritual tradition with roots stretching back to the very dawn of humanity. In reading this book I was awed by an awareness of the sophisication and perception of the so-called "primitive" people of West Africa (from which Voodoun derives). They were only "primitive" in terms of the development of technology, certainly not in the development of the spirit. Reading this has created a profound shift in my view of the history of civilization as taught to me in school. This book is essential reading not only for anyone interested in Voodoun, but also for any student of comparative religion, mythology or spirituality.

Let me say immediately that as far as I know, this is the first and only book focused on flogging in a BDSM sense. Many books have looked at the history and techniques of corporal punishment but in a consensual relationship you'll need different guides. The book is structured to look at different aspects and issues related to flogging using four types of relationships falling under four different sexual orientations. The male top and female bottom chapter looks at the basics of flogging and negotiation. The gay male chapter examines the growth and compromise involved in a long-term SM relationship. The lesbian chapter examines how things can and indeed may well go wrong and how a couple moves passed the problems to explore flogging as a positive sexual activity. The female top and male bottom chapter unfortunately is a professional relationship that has slid into the long-term, serious Ds model -- this does not reflect the vast majority of such Ds relationships. After each chapter, Bean looks at what has happened in the scenerio. For the first two couples these are solid commentaries and build on each other. This starts to break down with the section on problems however and the analysis after the fourth couple doesn't really mention them or any other scene much at all. A pattern was going and it really needed to be followed to make this an outstanding book. As it is, it is useful for beginners and experienced floggers and floggees who want to think and learn about it all a bit more.

For those of us into "alternative lifestyles", it's wonderful to run across one of those books that just intrigues and educates from cover to cover. Even if you've participated in this kink for years (**raising my hand**), you will learn new things. Not only is Joseph Bean great at including the safety, medical, and emotional interactions connected to flogging, but he's fantastic at teaching something that normally is ONLY learned by DOING! I highly recommend this book to any kinkster. For those who aren't into kink, this will give you a view of WHY we enjoy this activity and why it isn't what you think it is. Now that you are intrigued, buy it. I couldn't put it down!

As a novice top, I have been reading a lot of bdsm nonfiction lately. There's now a stack of these books on my bedstand. This one is unquestionably my favorite.

The author's approach to the subject matter is lucid, straightforward, and organized. Unlike most bdsm authors I've read, Bean scrupulously avoids drifting into reverie. His book never becomes whimsical or cute.

And the book is informative and absolutely credible. Bean certainly knows what he's talking about. I have read parts of this book with an experienced submissive, who finds its explanations and recommendations both interesting and worthwhile.

Absolutely worth the money, no question. You should buy this book.

The author's readable style helps a lot. Also, interesting background material and history begin each chapter, and some industrial processes--glass-making, for example--are explained more fully. You won't regret reading this book, but you may be inclined to sell it when you're through.

This book is a must have for every body who is in the architecture field...it's worth every penny..

Simply put, this is one of the best technical textbooks I've ever read. It's basic stuff for someone just starting out in the discipline of architecture, but I'm keeping it as a reference for future professional use. It is clearly written and well illustrated and worth it's high price. I wish Allen would now write a book on Environmental Control Systems--everything in that field is too dry and too technical.

Having met and talked with August Bringewald, we had already heard the story of how he first came to the USA on the U-234. Therefore, the book was already of special interest to us. The book was well researched and covered many aspects of German-Japanese cooperation, especially military related technology, from the late 1930's to 1945. Having had a career in weapons development work, I found these parts very interesting. However, the book's story of the failed last voyage was disappointing in that it was described in less than 25 pages. While it may not have sold as well, the book would have been more correctly titled something like "German-Japanese military technology cooperation during World War II". The book also should have included maps of the North Sea and North Atlantic areas to help the reader better understand and follow U-234 sea trials and last mission action being described in the text. To a lesser extent maps showing the sea routes from Germany to Japan would also helped the reader better understand the transportation problems they faced and how they attempted to solve them.

This time last summer I would never have even heard of this book, let alone even think about reading it. I came into my high school history class when I noticed a "Book Signing" poster hanging behind the door. Scalia is my US & Virginia History teacher and that's when I decided I was going to read it. I read it and wow, very interesting book! I had watched films about U Boots, but a book about one is so much better, so much more detail. If you haven't read this book, buy it and read it now!

Although I haven't finished the book yet (I only received it a week or so ago and have been quite busy since then), I'm very impressed with what I've read so far.

I've only known about this U-Boot and it's mission since 1985, when I met U-234's chief engineer, Lt. Cmdr. Horst Ernst, who is the grandfather of two close friends of mine in Berlin. And since we all have a great historical interest in this period of time, we've tried to follow what has been written about their grandfather's last mission.

I met Horst Ernst in East Berlin in 1985 while visiting his son Uwe's family. I learned about the his story then, but have learned a great deal more since.

The last picture shown in Scalia's book, an annual reunion of the surviving crew members of U-234, was taken a year before I met Lt. Cmdr. Horst Ernst. He was a very kind and friendly man, and had some great stories to tell. And he had fond memories of how kind several American officers and their families had been to him. Even after he was returned to the Russian zone after the war. But that's another story.

This book is definitely worth reading. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this aspect of the WWII era.

I am delighted that this story has been so well wrritten, and that the journey these men took was so well reported in a reliable and historical manner.

Accessible though it is in language and statement, Stalin's "Dialectical and Historical Materialism" is *nothing like* a far-reaching -- or even substantially *correct* -- presentation of *real* Marxist-Leninist philosophy. Stalin makes too many embarrassing theoretical mistakes for such a claim to be plausible (for example, he divides dialectical materialism into two parts, the dialectical method and the materialist theory, when in fact [1] the materialist theory is precisely the theorisation of social development as dialectical [i.e., when Marxist-Leninist dialectics is not simply methodological] and [2] the dialectical-materialist theory of Marxism-Leninism is the occasion [after a rigorous drawing-out of its implications] for a critical attitude [or method] towards perceived reality [i.e., when Marxist-Leninist theory and method are not at all separable]). Moreover, and probably building on this initial confusion, he conflates two particular systems of metaphysics (Kantian and Hegelian, which, moreover, he gets mixed up) with metaphysics *per se* (which in Marxism-Leninism is simply ideological investment) and thus fails to see that the dogmatism (i.e., the metaphysics) of his own interpretation of Marxist dialectics dooms that interpretation to hopeless metaphysicality (and reactionarism) itself. (Though in all fairness other Soviet theorists did this too -- witness in particular Lenin before he wrote his great effective self-correction, the "Philosophical Notebooks"; witness also Trotsky, who never managed to write any work of self-correction, and who committed much the same errors as the ones I'm imputing [here] to Stalin in his [Trotsky's] 1937 [?] essay "ABC of Materialist Dialectics".)

Nevertheless, Stalin does lend due emphasis to the first and most important point of Marxism-Leninism (to wit, that the historically conditioned is the non-eternal [i.e., the inessential], and that, hence, all viewpoints and interpretations of reality are likewise inessential) ... and this point is certainly in itself capable -- despite the muddle of the rest of "Dialectical and Historical Materialist" -- of leading an appropriately subtle, analogically rigorous and attentive reader to a deeper and more subtle criticality than Stalin himself ever (on the evidence of his Collected Works) managed to achieve. (To demonstrate this, it will be sufficient to note that it is precisely this "most important point" I have implicitly been using to *critique* Stalin.) And isn't this, after all, the point of a pedagogic text? isn't this what a teacher is supposed to do: provide the student with the means to outstrip hir?

So if we regard Stalin's "Dialectical and Historical Materialism" as an immediately accessible (because over-simplifying and nuance-fudging) *pedagogic* text of Marxism-Leninism, we can regard it with a kindlier eye than if we approach it as the finest summary of Marxist-Leninist dialectics ever penned.

(By the way: "D&HM" was written in 1938. A previous book by Stalin in which most of his 1938 positions were not only anticipated but actually stated can be found in the 1906 work "Anarchism or Socialism?" -- which may say something about Stalin's fertility as a creative thinker, and his fertility as a dialectician.)

First off this is not a book, rather pamphlet is more of a correct term. Quick read, nothing too complex. I bought this to read something by the moron or intellectual (whoever one perceives) Stalin. To sum this up: Marxism is based on that most people will act for their personal own economic interests. Wow, what a suprise!?! I read this more for the historical importance rather than being a Marxist/Communist follower. So it it very good to read the (translated) words of Stalin, other than this I assume you know about Marxism before you read this so it offers nothing new

More Marxist than Marxian, this book showtrials Stalin at his defiant best; always the master of realpolitik, Stalin pursues economic concepts like deadly enemies and slays them with his whiphand. Matheson misses the subtlety of his philosophy: in fact, Stalin divides dialectical materialism into two parts only to show they are one whole, materialist theorization and theo- retical materialism, both extremes of a metaphysical criticality that is self correcting by the very historical process that is called for by his progressive dogmatism. The fertility of Stalin's mind leaves open more fertility to reap where he has sown.

I refer back to this book several times a year. It's a great introduction to Joseph Eichler and what he accomplished, through his ideal of a modern home for the masses. Some of the homes in this book are truly dream houses for any modern architecture fan. The book isn't full of photos dating from the late 50's/early 60's as one might expect - it's mostly later day photos of beautiful Eichler homes with excellent interior design. For me, this was the only weak point of the book, and why I couldn't give it five stars. I would have enjoyed seing more period photos of the homes, to try and see what the original owners saw when they purchased their homes. I realize that Jerry Ditto et al had to make a hard choice in this regard, and they chose to go with beautiful photos from the current day. After reading this book, you will yearn for your own Eichler, and wonder why more modern homes haven't been designed since. You'll see that Joseph Eichler and his ideas were 50 years ahead of their time, with many of the items found in his homes just now coming into play. A great book for any fan of modern single-dwelling architectue, and a must have for any Eichler owner.

I agree with the other reviewers' comments about the excellence of the Eichler homes and this book. I have many design books, but I keep coming back to this one and never tire of the clean, modern--but not cold--design. I wish Ditto, et al. would produce a video on the subject.

As a little kid, growing up in Southern California in the 1950's, I admired these cool, streamlined houses. I wondered where, or who they came from. Now I know. They were Eichlers'. Or damn good Eichler clones. Whatever the case, this book does a good job showing this type of architecture. Plenty of great,crisp, photography.

This is a good book for an introductory course in fiber optics for a B.S.E.E. program.

But if you are looking for an in depth description of fiber optics communication, then you should check out "Fiber Optic Communications" by John Senior, published by Prentice-Hall. And for an introduction to the fiber optics theory without mathematical discussion, "Fiber Optic Communication: An applied approach" by A. Khan, published by Pearson Custom Publishing, is also a good introductory book for students in the telecommunications area.

If you are looking for a theoretical book concerning basic understanding of fiber optics and fiber optic communication, this is a good book for you. This book contains basic mathematics and physics concepts of the fiber optics. I think this book is suitable for researchers and anybody who is interested in the fiber optics from physics point of view.

But if you are looking for a basic understanding non-mathematical of fiber optics and fiber optic communication, this is definitely not a good book for you. I could say that this book is for graduate students only (toward their master or doctoral degree) with already quite strong understanding of theoretical light physics. If you are students with little or no understanding of such theory, I suggest that you look for other books.

This book covers a quite complete of basic understanding of fiber optics and fiber optic communications. Although this book is a good introduction toward mathematics and physics concepts, it does not cover the basic understanding deep enough. I could say that there are a lot of essential understanding were left unexplained. Like I said before that this book is perfect for somebody that has already quite strong understanding of theoretical light physics.

I have two optical books on hand which is Understanding Fiber Optics and this one. For my own opinion, this one is more simple and understandable, good for anyone that graduate for a long time and forgot the basic theory.