This book was clearly prompted by the pairs skating debacle at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games. Strong background on the promotion powerhouses that drive the elite level of the sport (likened to the studio system of Hollywood.) Lund provides a balanced framework in an essay format to let readers draw their own conclusions as to the future of the sport. Good quotes from skaters voicing opinions on both sides of the issues. An insightful retrospective on why skating went from double digit TV ratings in 1994 after the Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding scandal with umpteen made for TV pseudo competitions to the present state of a nearly non-existant professional figure skating circuit.

Mark Lund tells it like it is, but even as this book was being written the entire world of skating was changing yet again with the scandals of Salt Lake City.

When Mark started International Figure Skating Magazine, I was the person who told him it's the "TIME Magazine of skating" and never has that been more true than it is today.

Mark and his staff, including Lois Elfman are wonderful investigative reporters and are not afraid of finding out the truth. I applaud their efforts on this book and cannot wait for volume two, which I am sure is already in their minds.

Congratulations for a wonderful effort. A Must read for all followers of this beautiful sport which has such a dark political undercurrent.

Ted Wilson
Laguna Hills, California

This book examines the existing transportation delema that we face, with the ever bourgening automobile mode of travel. The Future of sustainable Transportation is possible with new technologies, and is outlined in this book. A must read if you are worried about the tons of pollutants that you as an individual are pumping into the atmosphere

This book is a must read for anyone interested in electric vehicles and their possible role in the future of the United States transportation industry. Sperling's writing style is clear and easy to understand, and his ideas are well-developed and soundly grounded in science. This book makes an excellent resource for students writing on electric vehicles (the main reason I picked it up) or anyone simply interested in electric vehicles as an alternative form of transportation for themselves or their community. After reading, the reader is thoroughly convinced that the development and promotion of electric vehicles are necessary if we are to avert the impending ecological disaster caused by polluted air and the looming gas crunch.

This book is really the best place to find out what GAAP is today. It's perfect for CFO's, Controllers, Accountants and students of accounting. It provides a lot of excellent examples to help you understand how to apply GAAP within your own company. Everyone else may find it a little dry.

This book is a great resource for creating accounting policies for your organization but it won't help you with procedures. There are a lot of other good books for developing procedures and this is not one of them.

It's a great reference text for everything you wanted to know about GAAP, financial statements and accounting. If you need to know what GAAP is, then buy this book.

For accountants: You MUST have this book! I'm an accountant and this along with a dictionary of accounting terms are among my most essential books to have on my work shelf! It's a great reference and ALSO a great learning tool for topics that you're not fully knowledgeable in!

For non-accountants: This book migh be a little too technical for your needs! Unless you'll be deeply involved in accounting issues, you might want to look for another more basic book. Nevertheless, you can always make use of this book if you have one!

This book explains the gaming industry, beyond, how to program or the history of games. I have been interested in how the gaming industry works as a whole, and have not been able to find a book on it. I think this a great book for anyone interesting in working in the game industry.

Until I read this book the world of computer gaming seemed mysterious and impenetrable--an elite group of smart, young people having a great time at "work." Well, it's still clear that an elite group of smart people get to do this kind of work, but GAME PLAN shows you how to join them. Barajas, Gershenfeld and Loparco demystify the process of breaking into the game business and break it down into useful information, concrete steps and practical advice that anyone serious and dedicated can--and will want to--follow.

This book is a great resource for a gay male looking for viewpoints on sexuality, spirituality, and morality. The various essays included are mostly in interview form, and make it feel that you are "listening" into a conversation. In this indirect eavesdropping, you find a wealth of viewpoints and guidance on issues that have traditionally plagued many gay men -- sex, self-esteem, and sense of purpose in society.

At long last someone has done a study of gay spirituality! Soul and Spirituality among gay men are increasingly becoming much stronger and deeper as we approach the millenium and the Age of Aquarius. When overcoming difficulties of the modern age such as homophobia and the stigmatisation of the AIDS epidemic, gay men such as myself have started to look inside themselves for the fulfilment that lacks in society, and this book is one of very few available that studies the many different aspects of this new spritiuality. The interview format takes a bit of getting used to at first, but from the start the writing has a conversational style which makes it much easier to read, and more difficult to put down! I would highly recommend this for any gay man seeking to discover his true spirituality in whatever form- it truly is a brilliant book!

You'll get GREAT real testamony here. The stories are real, not candy-coated. Alpha produces solid material. I'll read this one's 2nd collection soon.

This book is packed full of inspirational personal testimonies written by ordinary men and women whose lives have been transformed by Jesus! Read one of these testimonies whenever you need a spiritual boost - they will have you in stitches one minute, and in tears the next... Praise the Lord for changing so many lives!

Tom and his bear's story has helped my 3 year old child better understand and cope with her father's visititation schedule. When a Daddy lives out-of-state, it can be difficult for a young child to say good-bye, because they may not be together again for several weeks. This book helped my child to talk about her feelings. She was able to identify with Tom.

The story of Tom quickly became my 4 year old son's favorite bed-time story. Especially following visitation days. It thoughtfully explains the problems that most kids have during and after a divorce, without placing blame on anyone. It also does not give any false hopes about the parents getting back together. The illustrations are beautiful. I highly recommend this book.

Dr. Lane's commentary on Mark strikes an excellent balance between historical, theological, and practical issues. He also covers textual variants in the manuscript tradition. I found his brief appendix on the issue of Mark 16:9-20 to be very informative.

Lane also does well with sticking to the gospel of Mark while not diverting his attention to parallel passages in Matthew and Luke. He makes a compelling case for the dating and place of authorship of this gospel. His attention to the "difficult" areas of Mark is probably the highlight of this commentary. His concise and forceful arguments are not overly wordy while still being clearly expressed.

Good commentary, there is much you will learn from Lane's work. If you're studying Mark, this is a great book for you.

We have been teaching this course at our Episcopal church to an intergenerational group of about 25-30 ranging in ages from 10-77. This is a wonderful course and even if you aren't a Simpsons fan, the series really is an eye-opener.

The only small bone to pick is that they use some (two)episodes for viewing that are unavailable via tape or DVD and this requires you to tape it off of TV when it airs, if you know when that is. Also some of the videos are out of print, so E-bay was a big help.

But the response to the course has been tremendous. People are really amazed that a "wicked, evil" cartoon can be so enlightening! I would recommend this for any church considering it.

this companion volume is a helpful addition to the original book. The videos are difficult to find but worth the effort.

This author certainly knows the subject matter of this work and offers much in the way of descriptive background and recipes.

A favorite from the book is the Kesksou Bil Djedg (Chicken couscous) a staple dish of Algeria. It is so good and healthy with vegiies and all the spices of this region.

Included also are the typical fare of the area, tagines, and bastilla.

I prefer Wolfert's works on this fare.

I consult this book after just about every trip to the farmer's market. It's an excellent source of fairly exotic, easy to prepare dishes, almost every one of which turning out a great success. Several lamb stews, one with dried prunes and raisins, another with parsley and fennel, kumin-seasoned carrots, couscous with chickpeas and onions and stuffed cornish hens with apricots, almonds and honey have all received rave reviews at our table. No recipes are overly elaborate, the problem is, to not become overly enthusiastic and try to cook up a whole chapter at a time.