I like reading anything about the Adirondack region and even went to Newcomb this week to take a look at the place the author speaks of. However, the book seems to be more of the author's autobiography than stories about "the last real people." This is fine, but the title is misleading. While there are characters the author speaks about, they are more likened to "accounts" of these people rather than a more in-depth vision of who these people are. I would tend to say this is more of a kind of journal of the author's experiences in Newcomb than about the Last Real People of the Adirondacks. A book more suited for such a title might be the books by Helen Escha Tyler or a book called Growing Up Strong or My Grandpa's Woods. We get to meet some last of the real Adirondackers in those tales and stories. Still and all, this book is a good and pleasant read for any Adirondack lover.

As a native of the Adirondacks who spends his summer fun time in the Long Lake area which is the setting of the book, I looked forward to reading Lapointe's effort. However, I find that his effort was lacking. What we have here are 44 short vingnettes about what could be very interesting characters. And there lies the problem: Short. We only get bits and pieces on each subject, not enough to make us really care to any great extent. I do believe the subject matter is here for a truly great novel of Americana which would tie all these Adirondackers together through their love of survivinging in this harsh land. Instead, what we have are stories you might hear in any bar, donut shop, or back stoop. Interesting, maybe, but just the tip of the mountain.

Read this book. Joe Lapointe presents an enjoyable, easy reading and down to earth style of writing that makes you feel like your involved. I look forward to going along with " Joe " in his next book.

Most of the Most of S.J. Perelman (part of the Humor and Wit series of Modern Library) is a lengthy, though abridged, volume of the Perelman pieces from 1930 - 1958, many of which originally appeared in the New Yorker, among other magazines. This book should not necessarily be read straight through, as I did to my slight regret, as it can become a little overwhelming. There is some dating in the material but it is more of a delight how little effect time has taken on the comedy. The best pieces are, without a doubt, the marvelous Cloudland Revisited sequences where the author looks at books and movies he admired in his youth to see what horrible things time, experience and maturity have done to them. These selections are the treasures of the volume. A fine look at the almost lost art of a certain form of humour writing at its height. A wonderful volume to be savoured slowly.

I agree that it should be a capital crime to butcher Perelman's published works, but since I can't find an unabridged copy of "The Most of S. J. Perelman", this book does well enough. As the only thing removed was "Acres and Pains", and that CAN be on its own here, I would strongly recommend this book.

all you so familiar w/perelman read another review. this is for the uninitiated. buy it. try it. you won't regret it. you will then want seconds and move on as i will to what the other reviewers are wishing this one was. this book is a riot. hah!! laughed right out loud and had the people in the next booth at the restaurant get up and move to another booth. now that is what i want in humor. not some namby pamby wimpy what-the-heck-are-they-trying-to-convey junk one is so exposed to today. something you can grab a great big slice of and nearly choke on. this is a real feast. nearly my last as i was laughing so hard i thought i'd die. a real wordsmith as they say. i think they did say that and it is true. it is all true. every word of it.

When I was looking into getting a chinese crested dog, I bought this book to get a basic idea as to what I would need to know when I owned one. That sort of information was not in abundance. If you're wanting to know more basic type info about the breed, know that pretty much everything I learned regarding that sort of basic info, I learned by surfing through various websites. I found that to be much more beneficial then reading this book. What the book IS good for is the pictures. It does give many of the different looks a chinese crested can have. And it doesn't just show the show dogs. It shows pretty ones, and ugly ones, old ones, and young ones--all with every level of hairyness, and color. I would encourage anyone who'd buying it not to spend more than $... bucks on it.

I am a new Crested owner and was looking to learn more about the breed. This book really fell short. Although there were plentiful pictures of Cresteds, the book is more of a primer on dog ownership and the show ring than information specific to the Chinese Crested. Further, it's patently obvious that Nylabone is supporting the author...the multiple references to Nylabone were tiresome, particularly in the absence of references to any other product.

I love my crestie! I wanted to know more about the standards on my dog and found out in this book that there really are no standards. They can be missing teeth, be any height, be sparse with hair, you get the idea. This book is full of all sorts of info on the history, what people have done with them, and everything else that you didn't know you NEEDED to know. It is definately worth the money. Read this book and then go out to a dog show to check out what you have retained.

While this book may not be for everybody, and it might not include all the aspects that a reader might expect - kind of a one stop shopping to tell everything that is necessary to understand this sect - it nevertheless tells you what the Amish are really like and why they wear the unusual clothes they do, as well as preach against the "worldly wisdom." You get to follow Rosanna through her childhood, youth, courtship, and marriage, and child-rearing. Not only that, you see how her Amish life will differ from that of her Catholic friends, especially when they visit from their Philadelphia home.

While this is not a modern day presentation, it is really useful as a historical piece. Just don't get bogged down by expecting a thorough intellectual examination of the Amish. The book is not intended for that. It is written as a honest, sympathetic and straightforward reflection of these folks from a religious, social, and economic snapshot. The traditions of the Amish are celebrated, and it's done very nicely. Recommended!!!

I loved this book....and was sorry to see it end. The author (son of Rosanna) wrote a beautiful yet simple and compelling biography on the life of his mother, and the people closest in her life. I felt privileged reading this story - almost as if I were a member of this close-knit community. This story of honor and simple values would be wonderful today as it was then. Probably the most surprising statements which helped me to put it in perspective were comments made about Lincoln.....while I would prefer to believe this was a modern day story - stage coaches were in use and Lincoln was the President of the day. I highly recommend this book as an insight into the wisdom of how people should hold respect for one another, how families could work together for each other's good......and how communities can thrive without the aid of much of the electronic gadgetry of our modern times. This is a book of simple wisdom and peaceable lives. I am so grateful to son Joseph for his writing. There is even a very few pages at the end of the book, telling a bit about him......I highly recommend this book and hope you find value in it as I certainly did.

The author is the son of the main character, Rosanna. Rosanna is the daughter of an Irish immigrant who is born around 1840 (my estimate as it is never given in the book). Rosanna's mother dies following Rosanna's birth. She is given to an Amish family on a temporary basis. When her father dies some months later, she ends up being permanently adopted and rasied by this old order Amish woman who later marries and bears more children.

The author tells this interesting story, all the while weaving information about the lives of the old order Amish. I found this an interesting read. Explanations for why the Amish do things the way they do are given. There are details about their religious services, weddings, and funerals. Why they refuse to buy medical or fire insurance, why they refuse government aide, and why they refuse to fight in American wars is all explained.

The author ends up going to college and later leaves the old order Amish to become a Mennonite. The old order Amish don't allow attending college as the author chose to do, to further his formal training as a teacher, so he had to change religious affiliations.

What is missing from this book is a true spirit for Rosanna as a woman. Specifically, there is not much emotion or thoughts about certain things such as what it is like to mother children. There was virtually nothing about the experience of pregnancy, childbirth from her point of view, or how she could balance all that work and rearing so many children. The emotional aspect of losing her only daughter when she was just a toddler was not really elaborated on. I understand that it may be the custom to not verbally express emotions but I refuse to believe that emotions are not experienced...then again, if she was quiet about expressing her emotions I guess she would not have told her son therefore making these thoughts impossible for him to know and write about. Also missing was an explanation for what an Amish childhood is like, how much do they play and work? How much do they contribute to the laborious farm work the families accomplish? How does a busy Amish mother have time to pamper and enjoy her newborn baby? Also I'd like some parenting information such as common philosophies such as "is corporal punishment used"?

Something else that I would have appreciated is a bit of an overview of the differences between the different orders and about the differences with the Mennonites. A better explanation of when and why people are ex-communicated, banned or shunned would put things more in perspective. There is nothing about this except a couple of sentences of inferred information. To get that information will take further research and reading.

The account of the old order Amish is tastefully and respectfully written about in this book. I think this would make a great read aloud book for young children or as a book for a young person to read to themselves, perhaps if learning about American history or just to satisfy a curiosity about the Amish. There is nothing in here that is controversial such as sexual content. Since they live such a clean and virtuous life, there is nothing that needs censoring here for young children.

The old order Amish are portrayed as a content, happy, and peaceful people. If we each changed a few things we non-Amish do to follow in their footsteps we'd be all the better for it.

After reading the reviews and impressed with the front of the book cover, I decided to get this book as a gift for one of the children at the church.

The cover depicts people of ethnicity, however the pictures inside tell a different story. For example, Jesus, a Jew, is characterized by blond hair and blue eyes; the Queen of Sheba, a white woman, only to name a few. NOT SO!

If a writer is going to tell history, the words as well as the pictures should depict the truth!

I give this book a rating of 1 star based on the pictures, not the contents. I returned the book for that reason!

I bought this because it was recommended in a Catholic homeschooling book. I was initially impressed by the beautiful art in the Old Testament section. Imagine my shock when I discovered Jesus, a middle Eastern man, depicted with blond hair and blue eyes! Of course, no one of us has actually seen Jesus, but since he was born a Jew, it is highly unlikely that he had this coloring. The text is nothing remarkable. It is not particularly friendly to very young children. I found Today's English version of the Bible (American Bible Society) to be much more suitable for a child without unnecessarily "dumbing down" the message. I have a feeling that I will be selling this book to a second hand store pretty soon.

This is a beautiful children's bible,the pictures are very colorful and it is well illustrated.The reading is easy and clear,but you might have to help your child on some of the names in the old testament,Which we all know can be hard to pronounce.It really brings new meaning to the old testament having pictures because if you teach children anything about the bible they find it more interesting with pictures.Plus they are more likely to remember the stories better.I will be ordering another copy in a couple of years for my niece to introduce her to the bible.

While this book is meant to serve as an introduction to the complex world of hedge funds, hedge fund managers and hedge fund investors (in short, the hedge fund dynamic), it is decidedly not of the For Dummies family that currently dominates the do-it-yourself investment section of the book store. This is a highly sophisticated look at what has become one of the most exciting sectors of the investment world. If you have some knowledge of finance and its terminology, and you want to know what a hedge fund is, what kinds of strategies most hedge fund managers use and whether or not you'd want to or be able to invest in hedge funds, we ... recommend this highly specific book to you. On the other hand, if you just want to gain some insights into the investment world, you'd be better off picking up the financial section of the newspaper. Hedge funds are serious and so is Joseph G. Nicholas' book. (... note: Despite the 1999 copyright date, the book makes no reference to Long-Term Capital Management, the hedge fund that collapsed in 1998, nearly bringing about a global financial crisis.)

In the recent flood of often useless books aimed at investors this book stands out as a little gift. It provides a clear and detailed introduction to hedge funds useful to investors and to anybody with an interest in understanding how hedge funds work. The book is math-free, but thinking is not optional. I like the summary of hedge fund strategies and the description of their returns and weights in the universe of hedge funds. Unfortunately, one has to hope that the chapter and the charts will be updated frequently for they will be soon obsolete. As this book definitely deserves to see more editions, I hope that the author will go through the trouble to include both more examples and more details for each of the eleven strategies. That would definitely make the book more appealing to those readers with sophisticated backgrounds and useful to be used in classrooms as well.

Nicholas examines all the hedge fund strategies in detail and provides the investor with examples of all the strategies used by managers. Excellent for understanding the mechanics of each strategy. As a doctoral student in business administration doing a thesis on hedge funds, I highly recommend this book for all investors

Shoot the Moon is perhaps the worst novel I have ever read. It concerns a hapless Everyman who gets in over his head when he discovers a load of pure smack in the spare of his rental car. What follows is even less original. The central premise is this: will this Everyman ("Goodman"...!), who is driven to drug-dealing to pay for his daughter's medical bills (at least it's not a sick-mother-in-need-of-surgery), successfully unload his product on the mean streets of New York? Despite the author's alleged background as a narcotics agent, there isn't a single character or line of dialogue that rings true here. But most annoying is the design of our "hero", a pathetic milquetoast who spends more time with the stray cat he shelters than with his so-called "Angel", his sickly 6-year old daughter who's been dumped with an uncaring Grandma just a few short blocks away. The transliterated "street-jive" of the token hustlers and junkies is ridiculous, not to mention bigoted and insulting. Then there's the myriad of other stock-types who pop-up, then disappear just as quickly. Worst of all, the book is filled with typos and other errors -- a testament to the disinterest which St. Martin's editors and printers have shown toward their own product.

Nice airplane or beach reading, this book is that sort of "witty" crime story featuring "characters" in both the underworld and law enforcement who all stumble their way through a big drug deal, providing lots of slang and "insider" info as they do. Like Elmore Leonard or Carl Hiassen, it's good fun, could make a good movie, but nothing that's going to stick with you. Actually Klempner does a pretty good job juggling the hero and his sidekicks with the NYCPD trying to take him down, the Bronx gangsters who are trying to rip him off, the Cuban gangsters trying to get even, and the mafia he's trying to deal with... In its zest to make everything work out and have all the lose ends tied up, the plot relies a little too much on police bumbling, and a crucial ally who betrays her past, but other than that it's fine.

This book was fun. Great story that grabs you early on. Sympathetic main character that is an "everyman" one can easily identify with. Well-written. Author seems to have a knowledge of police procedures without needlessly "showing-off" that knowledge - information is only described as necessary for the story. Police are probably depicted as dumber than they are, but hey, what do I know? Maybe this *is* close to mark -- if so, we should be worried. Nice depiction of a father-daughter relationship that you dont always see in novels of this kind.

Dale Brown serves up another "what-if" techno thriller. This time China and the Philippines go to war, dragging the US into the action' As Usual, it's up to Patrick McLanahan to develop a plan to stop the aggression. Another excellent thriller by Brown

China on the move in the Spratlys. An ineffectual president who wonders what to do next. An Air Force that is running out of assets. Nahhhh...never happen...

When the United States leaves the Philippines, war immediatly breaks out. Patrick McLanahan is called in to help the USA. He is to fly his brand new, B-2A Spirit Stealth Bomber, over to the Philippines, to destory Chinese targets there. Like all of Dale Browns' books, this one is an excellent book. 5 out of 5 stars for sure. Go out and get this book and all of the Dale Brown books. Now start reading!

This is a nice compendium of Chinese achievements, but it is seriously hampered by the chip on Temple's shoulder. In order to prove the genius of China, he constantly denigrates European achievements. A good half of the entries end by calculating how many years in advance of Europe the Chinese were with the achievement in question. This could have been done once or twice for effect, but to repeat it so often is needless (and pointless) piling on. Every Chinese discovery is shown to be the root of a European discovery, however tenuous the link. Thus, the Chinese invented a toy helicopter and a kite, therefore modern aviation is totally derivative of them. But if the Europeans were the first to come up with an idea that they did not translate into practical use, then it is to Temple a mere trifle that only the Chinese developed to its full potential.

Another issue with the book is that it doesn't give any kind of chronological account of scientific developement in China. It's not what the book sets out to do, so this is more a remark than a criticism. It set me wondering about who Chinese scientists were, what was the relationship among science, engineering, and tinkering, when were the key periods of scientific innovation, whether they had a prolific early period comparable to the Greeks, and other issues. I'm especially curious because so much of Chinese science seems, like European alchemy, to be only half a step removed from magic and another quarter step from pure silliness. It's always astounding how people who believed in alchemical ideas could be great inventors, and the same held in China (where Taoism produced the leading scientists, from what I can gather from this book).

It is an interesting book, covering a wide range of scientific topics. (Of course, it's just culled from Needham, so it's not as though the author had to do a lot of research.) Subjects as diffuse as mining, medicine, number theory, and warfare are covered in different chapters. I'm not an expert on science, so I often learned a lot about the individual inventions -- as so often happens in the modern world, we take for granted the extraordinarily ingenious inventions of an earlier age, which seem simple only in comparison to the even more wonderful machines we have today.

Personally, I am a bit disappointed in its coverage which seems not so in depth... But nevertheless sufficient for the layman to at least catch a glimpse of what the ancient Chinese has achieved. By profession, I am a trained Engineer and am currently seeking a Masters in Theoretical Physics. And of course I am a Singaporean Chinese. From young, I was taught alot of Chinese Maths and Chinese algorithmic methods .. which were dry and boring then..and which was more often than not confusing. Now it was confusing not because it is not good but rather we were taught Western methods that stresses different computational methodology.. But the difference is that the Chinese method can sometimes do it faster!!..For example: what is 1 + 3 + 5 +..+ 17? Chinese method would just point to the 9th finger and give the answer as 81. I have often wondered just what do the Ancient Chinese know that I do not... And so I set a course to find out as many things I could about my ancestors..(which many people may look down on)..First.. I needed to find out about Chinese Mathematics Achievments, the extent of their knowledge..I am not at all convinced about the allegation that it was imported from elsewhere.. simply because China was geograpically isolated and there are no countries around which it could borrow knowledge from ...At its height, it was the most advanced .... (until Qing Dynasty and the jesuit input: By then the Chinese had deteriorated...). that China had indeed some impressive achievements: that of discovering Zero...( shown in 2002) the knowledge of Phythagoras, that of being the first in solving n-Degree Equation..that of solving Similar Triangle..and more.... And all these could be gathered from the net.. Second, I wanted to find out just how advanced the Science were... THere were readers who alledged that it seemed magical and perhaps foolishness.. I beg to differ. Isn't modern Chemistry playing around with different chemicals or mixing anions with cations that reacts to give a different compound?? And more than that, I wanted to find out the extent of knowledge importing and exporting from China.. if.. I am wrong... But I was then led to a few books :
The year the Chinese discovered America :1421 by Menzies, and when China ruled the seas.. by Louise Levathes..
And I was led to more sites in the internet.. and more recent discoveries in Singapore itself that proved that China has had extensive trade with her neighbours.. And readers of the following books will find that China has had perfected the technique of latitude and longitude crossing...that implies that China was not isolated...A check with Temple's findings were done in 2000.. when I went to China on an "expedition trip"...I admit I was very impressed with the Great Wall.. even as an Engineer...So.. I guess I have to give my forefathers some credit here... And this book serves as a beginning.. No less!!
I recommend more reading on the subject though... for those interested..

I really don't know much about Chinese history and ancient technology of the world. But this book gave me lots of information about ancient technologies of Chinese and Greeks.
Although I believe many Great inventions Chinese made does not get credited to Chinese such as Crossbow and firearms. But this book seems give too much of credit to Chinese invention and how it affected western technologies because many inventions are done independently.

Overall it is a good book and Chinese people should be proud of what their ancestors acheived.

I agree with Dave Hunt, perhaps the Charles Spurgeon of our day, who wrote in his May, 1989 issue of The Berean Call about "The Gospel of the Stars" by Charles Seiss. Hunt wrote that books such as this set aside sound doctrine in favor of myths. "Seiss' book asserts that the signs of the zodiac were originally designed by God to communicate the 'gospel'; that this 'Gospel in the Stars' was known to those living before the flood; that it was later corrupted into asrology; and that the alleged recovery of the 'gospel interpretation' of the zodiac is a great witness to God and His Word." However, Hunt goes on to say that "not one shred of historical evidence can be offered in support of this theory. It is based not upon fact but speculation. Seiss even admits that the insights leading to his thesis came 'in connection with his studies of the marvelous wisdom embodied in the Great Pyramid at El Giza' (p5). The alleged 'Gospel in the Stars' is simply a "Christian' interpretation of astrology and occultism, in the same class as pyramidology--and equally dangerous." For more information on this book, and on E.W. Bullinger's "Witness of the Stars" one should request a reprint of Hunt's May, 1989 article from The Berean Call. Both Seiss and Bullinger are spreading mythology under the guise of Biblical Christianity. James Beeson

Having read many books on this subject, including the book by D.James Kennedy, I consider this the best. It does in fact take into consideration the fact that the stars have moved since the ancient names were changed to the modern. Also the MIRRACLE IN STONE, BY SEISS, was in conjunction with his study of the Temple at Ein Gaihdi, which depects the ancient zodiac of about the time of the flood. The simple fact overlooked by Hunt is that in the ancient languages, the stars tell the gospel. And the original purpose of the materials he drew from were actually a study in lexiconography whose purpose was to prove the existence of an original language on earth,,,and only happened to lead to the larger realization that the mysteries were a corruption of the ancient zodiac, and not as is commonly believed, that christianity drew on mystery sources. This is a must read for the Christian.....

This book is certainly the most authoritative and trusted source on the subject of Biblical Astronomy. Having owned more than one copy of this text, as well as multiple copies of other manuscripts of this type(and having a background of Theological study), I can say without a doubt that this book is an absolute MUST HAVE for anyone interested in Biblical Astronomy.