As I read this novel I couldn't help but ask myself, "What is missing?" There was some intangible quality - evident in other Roth novels - that was noticeably absent here. I came to realize that it was a sense of place: this is a story of international scope, bringing us from a peasant's hut in rural Russia to the cosmopolitan St. Petersburg to pre-WWI Paris, and yet none of these places come to life like the Vienna of "The Tale of the 1002nd Night," the Berlin of "Right and Left" or the tramp's paradise of "The Legend of the Holy Drinker." That said, the saving grace of this piece is the story itself, a chilling tale of obsession and murder purportedly told by the former Russian secret agent Golubchick; as he weaves his tale for a rapt audience, much like a ghost story around a campfire, we as readers are drawn into his futile quest to claim the noble name of his real father, his destructive love affair with the flighty Lutetia and his hatred for his half-brother, the rightful Prince. And then just when we have given over our sympathies to this defeated man we are forced to question our perceptions and our notions of the truth. Read this story and you will be enchanted along with the other drunks in the Russian restaurant in the small hours of the morning - that is the true power of this novel.

What a novel philosophical topic! Seems quite apropos given that so many contemporary philosophers occupy one state or another of confusion.

This is an interesting and weird book. Matter of fact, I cannot say that I have truly assimilated it all yet. Much of Ch 1 and Ch 2 is a bit unclear, but discernible arguments shape up around ch.3, which discusses 'ambiguity semantics' or brings out the implications of what Camp calls a 'supervaluational approach to semantics.' I applaud the formal proofs in ch.6

For me, the most valuable chapters concern reference failure (ch.8), a theory of descriptions (ch.9), and existential predication (ch 10). The last chapters bring such figures as Descartes, Locke, and Leibniz (on matters such as identity and intentionality) up to speed. Fascinating and weird.

Prior to this, refresh your memory with some generous reading in modern philosophy, Evans' Varieties of Reference, and Wilsons' Ideas and Mechanism.

I read this book for a course on the US Congress. Louis Fisher paints a picture of a Congress that has lost it's will to fight the president for it's war and spending powers which are explicitly given to it in the Constitution. The book shows that up until President Truman, Congress had exclusive control over these powers. The president grabbed more power during war time, but then power went back to Congress in peace. Fisher Argues that since Truman congress has given up these power, or abdicated them, and no longer trusts itself to conduct the nations business.

Some works of art are all the more beautiful because of their flaws. Bertolucci's film "Last Tango in Paris" is one example; Conrad's novel "Nostromo" is another. Conrad was a Polish national who took to the sea, enjoyed a life of intrigue, and taught himself English by reading scraps of newspapers. Somehow, he became one of the greatest craftsman to ever use the English language. Like that other skilled craftsman, Melville, Conrad wrote often and lovingly of the sea. Nostromo is, in part, a seafaring book, but more to the point it is an exploration of human nature, human relationships and human weakness. It's a long and somewhat rambling narrative, one that grows uneven in places, but the last 100 pages are among the most beautiful in any language. The elegiac and humane tone recalls Graham Greene, who was no doubt inspired by Conrad's subject matter, tone, style and ideas. Everyone should read this novel.

This true story, researched by Lotte and Joseph Hamburger of Yale University, is a kind of Victorian forerunner of 'You've Got Mail' set in the 1830s.

She is Sarah Austin, a 39-year-old Englishwoman from a respectable and religious family, learned, lively, beautiful, energetic, resolute and driven by the need to be challenged. She is unusual for her time in many ways, and is well known as a translator and author.

He is a minor Prussian nobleman, Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau. eight years older than Sarah, famous as a travel author and park designer and for his hedonistic lifestyle. He is playful, full of vitality, curious about everything around him, enthusiastically reaching for every new experience - and particularly those involving women.

Sarah is trapped in a loveless and dutiful marriage to John, an austere legal scholar. While she is translating Hermann's book into English they begin to exchange letters, and despite their differing backgrounds a romance develops. Hermann encourages Sarah to be frank and honest and to indulge her imagination. Their letters become increasingly intimate, and after a few exchanges she is eagerly confiding her innermost thoughts about her life, her disappointment in marriage and her hunger for love and sexual satisfaction. She finds the affection, intimacy and emotional sustenance that is so lacking in her marriage, and pours out her feelings with complete openness - completely counter to the customs of her time, and fraught with the danger of discovery as their letters are carried by German embassy couriers right under her husband's nose.

As the erotic tension builds Sarah becomes increasingly desperate to love and be loved "as a woman, passionately". Her thoughts return constantly to adultery, in spite of her strong feelings of duty towards her husband and daughter.

The book is an absorbing journey into the mind of a gifted woman who dared to circumvent the repressive customs of her day. It is based on her recently rediscovered letters, which were hidden away for so long in case of censure but which are now more likely to elicit sympathy rather than condemnation. Its appeal is partly in the sheer unlikeliness of the story, and partly in the passion of the letters - which were meant for his eyes only and then the flames.

So did they or didn't they? You'll have to read the book to find out.

Agassi trained in physics and then studied logic and scientific method at the University of London with Sir Karl Popper. This book consists of a series of dialogues between the author and his son Aaron on the history of physics. The book demonstrates Agassi's "view that scientific activity is an endless dialogue,with problems and proposed solutions which are criticized as unclear, or as unsatisfactory, or as false. Science is and has been a continuing revolution" (8). The author does a good job of presenting the conceptual problems and solutions that led to the Copernican and Newtonian revolutions. He also covers some of the advances that created doubts about the magnificent Newtonian edifice and led to relativity theory, which is briefly discussed. The book provides an excellent starting point in physics for the non-scientist. In deceptively simple prose, Agassi provides ample evidence for his view that "...if we want progress, we have to test our theories very carefully and rid them of mistakes" (147).

I read this book as a contractor seeking to modify my standard contract to that which would apply to architects and engineers as sub-contractors. This book clearly introduces every aspect of contracts, and amplifies the reasoning behind these aspects using cases and examples. This book is only for those who wish to study and apply these concepts. It has no "templates" or boilerplate contracts. It is very valuable in developing an understanding of what is in construction contracts and why.

I thought I knew just about all I needed to know about dietary fat and its effect on American health. This book was a thoroughly enjoyable read because it gave me information that I had not previously encountered. It lacks a lot in helping you make healthful choices for non-labeled foods, however, because there is another book written by the same man with that sort of information in it. I have tried many of the recipes included and they are usually quite delicious. They aren't NO FAT usually, but they are certainly LOW FAT and absolutely delightful to eat. Most entres require some serious preparation time, but if you have the time these healthful recipes are worth the effort.

The book gave me many insights into how various types of people think and why they act as they do. It was a great study of personality types. I needed a quick study course in psychology and couseling that would help me in my ministry and this book helped. I will tell my people about it.

Although the title suggests statistical examples, the text is primarily a collection of counterexamples in probability. The authors write in an engaging style. This was the first book for both authors but each has gone on to author or co-author at least one other book.

This book is perfect for a graduate student in mathematics or statistics with a serious interest in probability. It is particularly good if they have just completed their first advanced course in probability theory as the concepts would be fresh.

A warning though. This is great for those seriously interested in probability but would be difficult reading for those with just a passing interest.