As a professional sales representative who recognizes the power of the written word, I could not wait to read Accidental Genius...especially when I learned that Tom Peters wrote the foreward and that he, himself, gave Mark Levy's new book a 5 star rating! What more credibility do you need?! That being said, once I sunk my teeth into this fascinating book, the content didn't disappoint. Mr. Levy provides the foundation to unleash the power of our own writing abilities and gives a game plan on how to more effectively write, communicate and, frankly, close business. The only negative comment I'll give about the book is that it had to end. Buy this book. Read this book. It truly is extraordinary.

In the ACCIDENTAL GENIUS, Mark Levy does not want to become your judgmental English professor, intimidating you into writing that perfect essay. Those experiences likely lead you to view writing as an unpleasant undertaking, not soon to be repeated. Yet how many of us still hanker to be writers? If you've taken the time to search this book out this probably applies to you. Instead of the critical teacher, Mr. Levy wants to become your personal psychologist guiding you towards getting past the damage that may have been done and allowing you to once again tap into that inner creativity that I'm told is part of our birthright.
There are many techniques presented in this book to get past the "internal censor" that keep many of us from taking the steps necessary to getting things out of our heads unto paper. Eventually we may actually convert these ideas into something that may actually benefit others and ourselves.
The point is to write often and quickly, literally against a timer set for about ½ hour. This, with repeated practice, will short-circuit the internal censor that tends to want to judge creative ideas as unworthy of being born in this world. Will everything that comes out of our heads be worthy of Einstein? Of course not...not everything that came out of his head was worthy of him. Like sifting for gold, one has to go through a lot of dirt(and BS) and eventually there will be a nugget. The big point is to go for quantity over quality; the refinement process is the next step before public consumption. Still a little sensitive to how good or bad your writing may be? Simply keep it private! The author shares these and other techniques and approaches. He covers everything from writing a book to solving a business problem.
After several weeks of practicing with his suggestions, I found that writing became more automatic and easier. I also noticed that the internal sensor was playing less of a role in the production of my output. I was asked to help write a major proposal for my company, a task that I normally would have agonized and plotted through. Instead, much to my surprise, it was.... dare I use the words.... somewhat effortless and even pleasurable.
This is a great book for getting started on harvesting ideas. For the next step, which is the refinement of raw ideas, I suggest the Gregg Guide. It deals with the rules of grammar, punctuation and other formalities.
P.S. Please be kind when reviewing this entry. I did it to give interested parties a glimpse of what I thought this book was about and also to practice writing. I sincerely hope that I have achieved this. I did not write it as a class assignment or to please the grammar police.

I was sceptical when a friend recommended this book. As a rule, I generally avoid books in the business genre, but, my friend assured me, this one was different. Well, she was right. Mr. Levy's private writing exercises are a great way to jump-start a bogged down brain. Everyone has an internal editor that usually gets in the way of good ideas; these exercises remove those barriers and show anyone willing to try how easy it can be to have a 'genius moment.' As a professional in a creative field, coming up with unique, fresh ideas is my bread and butter. Now I have another very valuable tool in my arsenal. Thanks, Mr. Levy!

Paula Mitchell Marks' "And Die in the West" is one of the most enjoyable treatments of history that I have read in some time. Not only is her prose highly readable and informative, it also achieves that goal which every good historian must set out to do--provide an objective analysis in light of the sources available. Mrs. Marks provides a comprehensive look at the forces which helped to define the West, then provides the shootout out behind the OK Corral and its aftermath as the ultimate example of those forces in conflict. While it can be argued that a bit too much time is spent on the legal proceedings following the gunfight, it is a minor flaw in an otherwise first-rate work. Anyone looking for a thorough, detailed description of the events and characters that played a role in the mythos of the West is hereby encouraged to make this book a part of their permanent collection.

Check the statement below that you believe to be true. _____a. Wyatt Earp, the Lion of Tombstone, was one of the greatest lawmen the West has ever known, cleaned up the cowtowns of Kansas single-handed (usually by the mere force of his steely gaze), and in moral character was about one step below Jesus Christ Himself. _____b. Wyatt Earp was a coldblooded, stagecoach-robbing, back-shooting murderer who deliberately and with malice aforethought killed innocent, unarmed men in at least two states, most notably in the gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, A.T. _____c. Neither of the above statements is true (including the phrase "at the OK Corral"). The correct answer, of course, is c. If you have absorbed your fill of myths and lies (enjoyable as they may be, and many of them are!) about Wyatt Earp and his contemporaries from books, films, and television, try Paula Mitchell Marks's _And Die in the West_. For my money, Marks's book is the most detailed and objective discussion to date of the events leading up to the gunfight in the vacant lot between Fly's boarding house and the Harwood House, near the rear entrance to the OK Corral (hmm, that's not quite as catchy as "at the OK Corral," is it?); the larger setting in which they took place; the personalities of the individuals involved; the gunfight itself; and its aftermath. Her presentation of general background material about the American West, including the development of the "stand your ground and fight" mentality, the nature of boomtowns (whether cow, mining or railroad), and the business enterprises that flourished in them, lays the groundwork for a description of the two opposing politico- economic factions in Tombstone. Thus, the stage is set for an in-depth analysis of the approximately 27 seconds of shooting that erupted in that vacant lot between two violence-prone groups of men on October 26, 1881. My only substantive criticism of this book is that its list of end-noted references (end of the entire book, that is) for quotations (of which there are hundreds) is awkward and annoying for anyone who really wishes to use it to check sources. Footnotes would have been much more convenient, but perhaps also less aesthetically pleasing for some readers and--no doubt--more expensive for the publisher. On a subject that remains surrounded by controversy after more than a century, Marks's is a voice of reason, demonstrating that Wyatt Earp was neither a saint nor a devil, and reminding us that truth may be more complicated than legend but is certainly no less fascinating.

For those of us brought up on Wyatt Earp as portrayed by Hugh O'Brian, this book is somewhat unsettling. Ms. Marks has done an evenhanded job of presenting both sides of the story. The famous gunfight at the OK Corral came about because of a series of blunders by both parties and she details them all. I enjoyed the book immensely.

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of travel logs, journals, reports, diaries, etc. that tell about the American West in the mid-nineteenth century. This book by Mark Twain, however, is both unique and one of the best. This is travel writing as it should be. Twain, traveling across the plains from Missouri to Nevada in the early 1860's, and spending seven years loafing about Nevada, California, and Hawaii, collected and compiled his experiences into this extraordinary book. One of the best things about Twain, of course, is his unique view on things. This tale is told in Twain's wry, humorous style, and is very enjoyable.

This book is not quite as pessimistic as Twain's other great travel writing, 'The Innocents Abroad,' but it does include some interesting and unorthodox views which often prove hilarious. Twain spends time as a gold and silver seeker, a speculator, a journalist, and a vagabond (as he himself puts it), and puts a unique spin on each of these occupations. As far as travel writing goes, this book is indispensable, and it also proves quite valuable (odd as it may seem) in any thorough study of frontier life in the American West.

I am a seventeen year old male, and I can say that I found this book to be very cool! When I first started reading it I figured it probably would be very dated and probably not hold my interest but I was wrong, I found it to be very engrossing. I did read Huckelberry finn, and though it is considered the great american novel it did not hold my interest like roughing it did. The book covers Twains adventures out west during the late 1800's. lots of adventure and humor.

...

A long-time fan of Mark Twain, I had still managed to make it past my fortieth birthday never having read this book. But recently, when I needed something to read (you know the kind of days I am talking about), I stumbled across this book and set to laughing.

The story-telling is magnificent. Few writers can take the small things of daily life and make them breathe -- but Twain possessed that gift, and uses it well. How many others went West the same time he did, and never saw the gold dust, sunsets, and taverns the way he wrote them into our consciousness?

And yet, and yet... As much as I loved the stories he told, I see "Roughing It" as important in a different manner. Even when the truth is slightly embellished to make us, his readers (of whom he is always very much aware), laugh out loud, it still truly presents the era and place he put down in black and white. We can be so bombarded with romanticized movies about the gold rush and settlers heading West, that we lose sight of them as genuine people with the same faults and virtues we know in 2001.

But with Mark Twain's keen eye, our history -- our American history -- comes to life. And suddenly, we "get it", we comprehend that all that stuff we had to learn in high school was done by people, not daguerrotypes.

I just finished reading Chicken Soup for the College Soul and found the book, like all the Chicken Soup books, to be totally awesome. This book would make a great gift for graduating high school seniors and/or any college student. The stories are inspiring and help students realize there is hope of surviving through college.

I never knew that there was a book called chicken soup for any soul until my mentor suggested I read Chicken soup for the Women's soul. I liked that one. All of them have short stories about real people and things that happened to them as they walk threw their lives. On my first day of College which was July of 2001 I went to the bookstore and I saw Chicken soup for the College soul and I thought I have to get this book, I read a little bit while I was in the store, and I could relate with some of the stories about classes and room mates. I brought it and when I was bored some days in my dorm I would read the book ,and I would laugh so much my room mate whould ask me are you ok? I highly recommend this book for any college student. There are stories that could make you emotional, laugh, or perhaps know what not to do. There are definitely stories that many people can relate to. In my case:
I love philosophy and there was this one story about a student who didn't really like the class too much I think. (It's been a while since I read this one) but the teacher said how many people know there grandparents most people raise their hands, than he said how many people know there great grandparents a couple people raise there hands, and how many people know anything about your great great grandparents one or two people raise their hands. He said something about leaving your mark so people can remember you down the line, so you won't be forgotten or perhaps no will remember you exist later on in the years. It made everyone in the room stay 5 minutes after class wondering about that. It made me wonder too. There are other stories that are like that. It's a great book.

I found Chicken Soup for the College Soul is a very humorus and entertaining book. In many ways this book hit home, and not only because I am a college student myself, but because I am a young adult and going through many changes in life, as are the writers in this book. This is a very easy to read book because it is seperated into many different very touching, humorous, and informational stories. This book gives young adults and collage students a good chance to hear stories about other people and and there reactions to certain incedents. It may even give the reader a chance to learn from there mistakes, or even just be able to relate to someone else. In the fast moving world today it is very easy to forget that there are other people dealing with the same everyday stresses and challenges, and this book gives the reader a chance to sit down and find the humor and the sadness to alot of these experiences. I highly recommend anyone to read this book.

I'm giving the book three stars for three reasons: One, we have a 3-month-old son with Down syndrome and anything on the subject is a welcomed addition to our library. Two, as difficult as it was to read some of Gene Stallings' comments about his own son, it probably took a lot for this football coach to bare his soul in print. Three, John Mark Stallings touched a deep nerve, giving me more hope that our little boy has every opportunity to grow up to be a loving, giving, productive man. But until the last two chapters, the book leaves you wondering whether Johnny was truly given a fair shake. Instead of celebrating the birth of his only son, in typical jock fashion, Stallings tries to punch out the doctor, changed the boy's name ("...we knew he would never be able to carry on the family name..."), laments that the boy will never be a strapping quarterback in the NFL, and worries over Johnny's slight physical differences. The book does illustrates how far we've progressed in our acceptance of people with Down syndrome, and brings home the fact that it is only the families of children with this disability who will ensure they get the unconditional love, attention and education they deserve. At the same time, though, I'm afraid it perpetuates some of the stereotypes and misconceptions that people continue to place on those with Down syndrome.

Another Season is a well written story of one family's life in that it intertwines the success of one of the strongest football coaches (NFL and College) and that of his personal life. My wife and I have a five year old son who happens to have Down Syndrome, and to hear Coach Stallings share his innermost thoughts and feelings about a similar situation was very encouraging. The alternating recollections of football and personal family life are interesting and compelling. Coach Stallings' honest and frank feelings about his son, Johnny, make you feel like you are right there with him as he wrestles with the unbelievable news that his son has Down Syndrome. I highly recommend this book to everyone. It is excellent reading.

Gene Stallings is a man's man. A father's father. He was, and still is, a great coach, husband, and teacher. Yet he has a tender compassion not always seen in men of his calling. He owes much of that part of him to his son and he knows it. He has taken the sorrow and pain his family bore and turned it into an story of amazing hard work, courage, and love. This book should be one of the first things read by a couple faced with the reality of a Down Syndrome baby. Coach Stallings shows us there is life after DS, and it can be very good, indeed,it can be wonderful.

This book has been out for many years, but I just finally got around to reading it. It holds a well-deserved place on the shelf of classic nature writing. Like this book's sequel, Eye of the Elephant (which I read several years ago), the Owens have written an incredible account of their experiences studying wildlife in Africa. Cry of the Kalahari is the story of their seven years in the Kalahari desert, living among the lions, hyenas, jackals, and myriad of other creatures that share this doomed habitat. The Owens' dedication and hard work are truly amazing and their insights into the lives of these animals are fascinating. As the authors write in their foreward to the book, it is not intended to be a authoritative scientific account of the Kalahari ecosystem, but a layman's introduction to the animals of this unique place on earth. For readers who enjoy nature writing, this should be on one's list of must-read books

Of the many books I've read about wildlife, this one sticks in my mind as one of the best, even though it's been several years since I first read it. Some books like George Schaller's "The Serengeti Lion" have more sceintific bent and therefore keep a 'professional distance' from the animals, while others such as those by Joy Adamson and Gareth Patterson become very personal with the animals and lose much of their objectivity. But Mark and Delia Owens find a happy medium between the two extremes, one where we learn a lot about the lions, brown hyenas and other animals they study in the Kalahari desert, but also come to know some of the individuals among these animals as friends.

We also get a taste of life in the Kalahari desert in the middle of Botswana, some of the hardships and life-threatening situations encountered by the Owenses. And we share the issues and concerns they tried to raise in the governments and landowners of the territories where they spent seven years living and studying animals.

At various times this book made me smile. It made me mad. It made me sad. It made me laugh. And it made me wish I could spend a few years of my life studying and living among wildlife as they did.

The book is a true masterpiece. Moving, funny and heartbreaking. People need to read this to see what animals truly face in the wild, and how we make their lives even more difficult. Its an eye opening account of how we must care for and defend our wildlife. The accounts of devistation to animals just trying to get water to survive is probably the saddest account of animal cruelty I have ever read. Mark and Delia tell a story that MUST BE HEARD!

This book not only gives you helpful advice on building a deck , it gives individual strategy on each card in the Base Set and Jungle sets . ( If it were a little more updated , it would be a must-have)DON'T WAIT! GET IT NOW!

This book is a really helpful book. You should buy it! It really helped me build a winning deck. I win every time I play Pokemon cards. I have built an exceptionally strong fighting-psychic deck. Plus I can make good trades because there is a price guide. So now, I won't get gyped (its about time!)

A great book for novices but shows just a little information for the expert and advanced decks but is still a must have guide.

This is a very unusual novel mostly because of the narrator's autism. Simple to read, the novel has an interesting rhythm to it as the reader becomes more familiar with Christopher's disability. While I initially thought it would become repetitive, the story takes some turns to make it a consistently enjoyable reading experience.

Christopher begins to write the book to solve the mystery of the murder of Wellington, a neighbor's dog, like his hero Sherlock Holmes. Along the way, we learn about his family situation, his view of the world, his idiosyncrasies, and his school life. He's not exactly an unreliable narrator, but the author does an excellent job of imagining the problems involved when the storyteller has autism and the story is consistent with this perspective.

While not a perfect book, I would recommend this highly, especially to people who want a fresh and different reading experience. It's not at all preachy, and it deals with a little understood disability with honesty; this reader came away from the book with a new understanding of the difficulties of dealing with autism. It is well worth your time to pick this one up.

Some books you read and enjoy because they keep you entertained while you are reading them, but then you put them back on the shelf and essentially forget them. More rarely, you read a book that stays with you long after you have finished it. This book is one of those rare ones, and it is one of the best novels I have read in months or even years. If you are hesitating to buy it because you aren't interested in autism, I would encourage you to try it anyway. The narration by an autistic teenager does indeed give the book a unique perspective, but it is by no means only a "book about autism." Instead, the novel grapples with themes relevant to anybody's life, such as love, family duty, betrayal, and trust.

Having said that, I will acknowledge that the author has accomplished a tremendous writing feat in adopting the perspective of a boy with autism, and I admire his writing style enormously. Somehow he is able to evoke strong emotional reactions in the reader while narrating events in a dispassionate, "just the facts" style devoid of any affect: Christopher writes of his mother's death in exactly the same tone as he does the death of a neighbor's dog. Yet somehow this style works--when Christopher notes that "there were tears running down Father's face," the reader knows that this calm observation has no emotional impact for Christopher, but the reader grasps the context and feels like crying, too.

Another aspect of this novel I admired greatly is that Haddon does not romanticize or sugarcoat the world of special needs individuals. According to the biographical material, Haddon has been a teacher of students with developmental disorders, and his description of the abilities and traits of a teenager with autism ring true. Unlike most Hollywood portrayals of autism (think "Rainman," which was exceedingly unrealistic), the character of Christopher displays not only the unique gifts but also the tremendous parenting challenges associated with autism. He is a math whiz, but he also frequently wets himself, and when he is overwhelmed in public places, he groans or screams until taken away. While there is no tidy happy ending to this story --like any autistic person, Christopher will not experience a miraculous "cure"-- the reader nonetheless ends up with a sincere admiration for Chistopher's strength and courage, as well as that of Christopher's family.

It's been a long while since I got bitten by a book. My husband brought this home the other day, after reading a review, saying "think you might like this, the narrator is autistic". I work with young autistic children (aged 2-5). Aside from my clinical ability to absolutely understand Christopher, and see in him what many of the kids I work with may be like in 10-12 years, the stark beauty of the writing is absolutly gripping. I read this book in 1 day (in between seeing my "kids")
It paints (art class was often mentioned)a vivid portrait of an individual who inhabits my world, but is constantly bombarded with it sensorily, and develops his own unique coping skills- which are literally brilliant (mathamatically and scientifically).
The novel's strength is its ability to present to the reader commmon situations as looked at from a new and somewhat disconcerting perspective. And if words are not enough, the author gives the reader little illustrations to fully describe the sensory bombardment, or Christopher's translation of it.
The bottom line - its an extremely original and well told story with both humor and angst, and you can make it a light read or get deeper, as you wish.
Enjoy!

I am impressed with the quality of instruction found in 'All The Spanish You'll Need'. I work in the travel industry and have been deluged with poor quality phrase book style instructional courses for years. There is nothing wrong with a few stock phrases, don't get me wrong. The difference between that type of course and All the Spanish You'll Need is that this is the 'real' thing, not a phony cover up. With this course you will truly learn a foundation which could eventually lead to fluency in Spanish. This of course requires lots of explanation which the instructor and the native speaker on the course provide. One needs explanations when learning a foreign language, as well as a good solid method like this one where you learn to speak original sentences within a half hour of using the course. There was even section on travel vocabulary, idiomatic phrases, using the past, present and future, and 'practical' vocabulary used by native speakers. The voices on the tapes are by far the best I have ever heard (and I have heard a great deal of them, believe me). The native Spanish speaker's voice is simply superb. Most tapes leave you in the dark. You don't usually even understand what the heck they are saying half of the time. With this course I got an instant English translation and often a clear, concise explanation so I ALWAYS understood what I was learning.

Language Dynamics courses are the only courses I know of that are truly dedicated to effective and immediate communication in the target language. Academic courses often reflect the literary interests of professors, many of whom never had the experience of learning the target language as a second language. With these courses, you can hit the streets after every lesson knowing you can say more than you could yesterday. Reviewer: An international business consultant and former US diplomat from the San Francisco Bay Area

I am a former US diplomat and current international business consultant. I can say that Language Dynamics courses are the only courses I know of that are truly dedicated to effective and immediate communication in the target language. Academic courses often reflect the literary interests of professors, many of whom never had the experience of learning the target language as a second language. With these courses, you can hit the streets after every lesson knowing you can say more than you could yesterday.

I won't summarize the plot - several other reviewers have done an excellent job of that. But the story is so romantically unbelievable (world famous rock singer meets his biggest fan - they fall in love - YEA RIGHT!!!) that I didn't think I would like it. But as you read it, you get so drawn in that you totally suspend disbelief, and Mark Roeder has you believe that it could happen. I lost a whole night of sleep because I couldn't put this book down. I had to find out how the characters ended up. I loved the revelation of the identity of Jordan and how he ties in to the previous books in the series. Definitely one of my favorite books. And I'm anxiously waiting for Mark's next book, "Keeper of Secrets".

Mark Roeder, the author, has an incredible way of merging the 'fantasy/dream' world of young love and the real life struggles and emotions that gay teens go through. Even though I am well out of my teens, I can still remember the criticism and torment that young guys went through when they were tagged 'Gay'.

I absolutely love how Mark manages merging characters in his previous novels and creates a 'series'. Each time I pick up his next book in the 'series', I look forward to seeing who he is going to introduce in the novels as well as how they are either related somehow or acquaintances to characters from previous novels. 'Do you know that I love you' falls into this the same. I was almost floored when I found out who Jordan, the talented lead in this book was. Of course you will have to read the book to find out....

This is the 5th (and hopefully not the last), book in the 'Verona, Indiana' series created by Mark Roeder. This installment has to do with Ralph, the Indiana Farm Boy that has a MAJOR crush on Jordan, the lead singer of the Hot Boyband 'Phantom'. Jordan is constantly struggling with his Sexual Orientation while having to keep up appearances for his Career and Fans. Ralph eats, sleeps, and dreams of Jordan. Ralph, is only out to two of his friends, friends that love to tease Ralph about his secret obsession with Jordan. A totally random chance meeting between the two lead both Ralph and Jordan into areas of each others life that no one could ever imagine.

I love the way the Author takes each chapter from each of the characters point of view. This allows the reader to fully understand what that character is thinking during different events in the book.

Again, I highly recommend reading the previous 4 books of Mark Roeder to get the full background on each of the characters. As previous stated, characters from Ancient Prejudice, Someone is Watching, and A Better Place all come into this book. Although this book stands very well on its own, I would still read the other books first to get the FULL EXPERIENCE!!!

You will love this book! Remember, it is mostly written for the young gay teen male, but us 30 something's still can fully enjoy it!!!

Ooops this author did it again.

This author has written several fun, sad, romantic stories about Verona Indiana and the boys living there. This one is somewhat in that vein but mixes in a "when dreams come true" type of story about a young fan who is sort of an outsider who then happens to bump into one of his biggest crushes, a boyband singer, accidentally when he is at a concert. Told from both boys viewpoints it shows the life of the singer, busy but a bit loney, and the boy, and how they are both looking for, could it be? Each other? One thing I love about this author is that when people find out the main characters are gay there are as many good reactions as bad which I think is a bit more realistic. This book fits in well with his collection. And you will close it with a sappy smile on your face