"Report from Paradise" is Mark Twain's last published book and it took him over forty years to finish it. It has also been reported that it was the only story Twain aka Samuel Clemens actually enjoyed writing.

Twain's description of the afterlife as seen through the eyes of a sailor is quite original and there are many interesting aspects to Twain's at times taunting writing, with clear implications to social criticism tetectable.

"Report from Paradise" is a short and light read, and despite it's many inconsistancies it manages to relay a fun quality to it with the expence of blindly followed religious beliefs and ways of thinking.

Tired of tedious, if earnest, pseudo-philosophizers who will give you all the secrets of universal happiness in ten minutes a day? Tired of smug pulpit-pounders who somehow, while still human, seem to "know" as much as any divinity you can think of? Then it's time to spend an hour with Mark Twain. Come on: you haven't given the old guy a minute since you had to read "Huckleberry Finn" in high school or college, and it's about time you did. Captain Stormfield's "Extract" is just the tonic your overburdened soul needs. Stormfield's heaven seems to let everybody in, and to do its best to fulfill every one of their dreams, until-- you guessed it--their expectations conflict. How can Moses, for example, be expected to greet every faithful Jew, Christian and Muslim, with hugs and kisses without 1] getting soaked with slobber, and 2] getting disgusted with his lack of free time? "[The patriarchs] are kind and gentle old Jews, but they ain't any fonder of kissing the emotional highlights of Brooklyn than you be." Enough said.

Reading Kathy Marks book made me feel like she was writing her information to a sixth grade class. It is very simplistic, and the way she links people groups together is astounding. She can take a rather benign group, and before you know it they are terrorists, or leaning that way...Her take on the Christian patriot groups, or those who hold different beliefs than her own, is reason enough to declare them all terrorists, in her myopic mindset. She has absolutely no understanding of those who hold to the religious views concerning the identity of Israel. You cannot peg those groups the way she did so simplistically. Again, she apparently bases her understanding by her own religious mindset, and lumps people together in a child like manner.

Her use of the ADL for info. was interesting considering their overt activities, and their end justifies the means, thinking. Read Victor Ostrovsky's book, "By Way Of Deception; The Making Of The Mossad," to see what the ADL is really into. As an American Christian the ADL begins by condemning me, and my faith. They are not ecumenists.

She discusses David Koresh's abuse of children, at Waco, but never says a word about how these kids were rescued by Janet Reno torching the place. The same woman who declared Bible believing Christians, who home school, are patriotic, and storing food, as a "cult." In the oklahoma bombing she does not discuss the governments role in the affair. She has a way of brushing that side of the story under the rug. Big centralized government, you see, is only here to help.

As bad as real terrorists are, this book unfortunately has laid out enough info. for any terrorist to keep in touch with one another, but I am not sure what others will do with it. If you are a Christian, and you are patriotic, holding to particular beliefs, watch out, because you may be a rightwing terrorist, and not even know it! If you have never read this type of info. before, realize that about 25% of this book is incorrect on its face.

I doubt there will ever be a book written by her about the "Leftwing Extremists," in our country, since she appears to be a left leaning Democrat, and that would be a conflict of interest. As Gus Hall, the former leader of the American Communist Party said, "...we don't have to run candidates while the Democrats are on our side."

When I first found out that a woman had written a book about Right Wing Politics, I naturally assumed feminist and liberal at that. Oh how wrong I was and I must apologize for thinking that without even reading the book first.

Kathy Marks is a first rate author and this book is so powerful that each and every parent needs to get a copy and sit down a take a look at it. Marks' delves into the extreme right wing groups and people who are the "major" players of each.

With Chapters about the Klan, Aryan Nations, White Supremacist, Neo-Nazis, and other groups, Marks exposes the truth about the groups and makes it clearer to the public what these people are doing or what they are attempting to do.

Looking at events like Waco, Ruby Ridge and the Oklahoma Bombing, Marks' shows this reader that while they aren't always in the forefront of the news doesn't mean they aren't in the forefront of society. The book is excellent and the reading was easy - great job!

The fate of Irish Sons is a compelling story in it's own right, but it should be especially appealing to readers with an affinity for the human essence of the Emerald Isle. Mark Mayfield weaves historical events into a compassionate fictional rendering of Irish conflicts. Although not primarily an action novel as one might assume from the teaser on the back cover, the story creates characters of bold courage, vehement in pursuit of their goals yet empathic of their friends and foes alike.

The smooth first person narrative style alternately comforts and excites you, like listening in your youth to tall tales spun by a mysterious black sheep uncle. Free flowing, seemingly uncontrived passages introduce and develop characters; all the while planting obscure plot details which grow to expose sinister intrigues. Tense action episodes build to bursting violent resolutions, often tragic in their aftermath. In the conclusions, primary goals are met but emotional conflicts linger, simmering beneath the surface like the angst that permeates the soul of Ireland.

Irish Sons might be a five star novel but for some problems with grammar and literary polish that are often distracting. A thorough proof reading and edit could have easily corrected the blemishes. All in all, however, an excellent first effort by an impressive new author.

The Fate of Irish Sons is a compelling story in its own right, but it should be especially appealing to readers with an affinity for the human essence of the Emerald Isle. Mark Mayfield weaves historical characters and events into a compassionate fictional rendering of Irish conflicts. Although not primarily an action novel as one might assume from the teaser on the back cover, the story creates characters of bold courage; vehement in pursuit of their goals yet empathic of their friends and foes alike.

The smooth first person narrative style alternately comforts and excites you, like listening in your youth to tall tales spun by a mysterious black sheep uncle. Free flowing, seemingly uncontrived passages introduce and develop characters; all the while planting obscure plot details which later contrive mysterious intrigues. Tense action episodes build to bursting violent resolutions, often tragic in their aftermath. In the conclusions, primary goals are met but emotional conflicts linger, simmering beneath the surface like the angst that permeates the soul of Ireland.

Irish Sons might be a five star novel but for some problems with grammar and literary polish that are often distracting. All in all, however, an excellent first effort by an impressive new author.

Good God, when I consider the melancholy fate of so many of botany's votaries, I am tempted to ask whether men are in their right mind
who so desperately risk life and everything else through the love of collecting plants.
-Carolus Linnaeus, Glory of the Scientist

If you've ever read James Clavell's great novel, Tai-Pan--and if you haven't, shame on you--you'll recall that when Dirk Struan's beloved Chinese mistress, May-may, comes down with malaria, the proud Protestant trader is forced to go hat in hands to the Catholic bishop to secure a cure for her : cinchona bark. As Clavell renders the tale, only the Catholics, thanks to the presence of their missionaries in South America have access and no the secrets of this marvelous remedy.

Well, comes now Mark Honigsbaum to reveal the remarkable true story behind cinchona bark, of its discovery, of the realization that the quinine that can be derived from the bark can cure malaria (though certain trees produce more quinine), of the attempts of the natives to maintain a monopoly on it, and of the colonial adventurers who set out to steal it from them. The bulk of the book is taken up with exciting expeditions into the Andes in search of the bark, led by men like Richard Spruce, Charles Ledger, and Clements Markham. But these stories eventually begin to run together and as they pile atop one another the feats performed no longer seem so remarkable. The author also has something of an axe to grind, referring to the eventual illicit exportation of the cinchona trees to Java and India which broke the South American monopoly as one of history's greatest robberies. this has the unfortunate effect of making the heroes of the book come across simultaneously as villains. Moreover, it seems a debatable point whether the "robbery" was justified, since the original bark exporters proved unable to meet demand and since for those with malaria access to the medicine it produces can be a matter of life and death.

Even today malaria still kills as many from one and a half to three million people a year and Mr. Honigsbaum ends with a section on the current science and the ongoing search for a cure. One of the more promising lines of research appears to involve a DNA vaccine, taking DNA from the mosquito-born parasite that causes malaria and injecting it into muscle in order to get the immune system to produce T cells that will attack the parasite when it appears in the body. this is all interesting enough, but has the feel of having been tacked on to flesh out the book.

Ultimately this seems a case where less would have been better. For instance, had Mr. Honigsbaum just told the story of one of the cinchona hunters. Or perhaps he might have gone the historical novel route and combined some of the characters. As it stands, while much of the background on malaria is fascinating and the various searches for cinchona are exciting, the narrative ends up being a bit too diffused. One never really has a sense that the author had a necessary end point he was trying to reach, and so he seems to be meandering. Some of the meanders prove worthwhile in their own rights, but the attention does begin to wander. It's a book worth reading but it's frustrating in that one suspects a better book lurks within.

GRADE : C+

Malaria is still with us and getting worse. The story of the complicated, centuries-long battle against the disease that kills about a million people a year in Africa alone is well told in _The Fever Trail: In Search of the Cure for Malaria_ by Mark Honigsbaum. It is a story of astonishing human hardship in the effort (not always inspired by riches) to get understanding and control of the disease, but it is sadly clear by the end of the tale that despite the optimism of individual researchers, the tiny parasites borne by mosquitoes all over the world are simply too complicated for us to control any time soon.

Much of the effort to cure malaria was sparked as Europeans spread over the world and found their lives in jeopardy from it. The Jesuits learned (perhaps from the Indians) about the bark from the cinchona tree, and the church recommended its use. Physicians in northern Europe, however, were deeply suspicious of such a papist and Jesuitical drug; Cromwell, according to legend, refused the "Popish remedy," and died. Even-tually the efficacy of the drug triumphed over religious bigotry. Much of The Fever Trail has to do with the nineteenth century race to steal specimens and get them to plantations owned by Europeans. In particu-lar, the efforts of three Englishmen, who in independent efforts, suffered unbelievable deprivations on the trail which are well described here. Strangely, the British efforts amounted to little. The Dutch bought seeds for £20 from one of the explorers, and they happened to be the very best specimens. They went to Java, grown in scientifically designed plantations, and the Dutch cornered the market on quinine.

If quinine were a real cure, malaria might now be as dead as smallpox. However, the parasite that causes the disease has a complicated life cycle within mosquitoes and humans, and is not so easily banished. It has become resistant to quinine and the other antimalarial drugs derived from quinine. The attempt by the World Health Organization to use DDT to blitz the mosquito forever from the Earth was a failure that showed just how resourceful evolution could be in making mosquitoes resistant as well. What is needed is a foolproof vaccine, but although we have vaccines against various viral illnesses, no one has been able to invent one that works against a parasite. The attempts to develop a vaccine, the complicated finances of making drugs that can be used in impoverished countries, and the advantages of the mosquito net (whose inventor, David Livingstone said, deserved a statue in Westminster Abbey) are all covered in a fascinating book that reads like dispatches from a long, losing war. With the prospect of global warming extending the reach of the mosquitoes, it may be that the worst of the war is yet to come.

Another round of Flash stories written by Mark Waid, in this one. Wally West is trapped centuries in the future and he must use his great speed to get back to the present before the woman he loves, Linda, becomes the victum of a man named John Fox,who also has speed force powers, and whose less then honorable intentions explode when he and Wally at last meet.

In the wake of his epic battle with Savitar, the mad god of speed (In the Dead Heat storyline), The Flash finds himself propelled into the future by The Speed Force. Landing in the 64th Century, he tries to return home by using the love of his Girlfriend Linda as a beacon. The only problem is that Linda has been told (By future Flash John Fox) that Wally is dead. Fox is in love with Linda, and hopes to usurp Wally's role as the 20th Century Flash.

At their core, most of Mark Waid's Flash stories follow a bacic predictable plotline: Flash battles bad guy, gets lost in the Speed Force, comes back home with a weird new Power/Costume/Identity. But they're well told stories, and this one is no different. The relationship between Wally and Linda is totally believable, and in my mind is one of Comics great love stories. Race Against Time is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure, with great art and writing. Check it out.

The book content is concise and precise. It summarizes the key points for easy memory and comprehension. It group the materials by topics.

This book provides many concepts of Auditing. and If you don't have enough time for studing CPA Exam, You would have read this book. it will focus to pass the exam more faster

I stumbled across this novel in the library and picked it up merely because I am an Endo fan. I experienced the book on two levels. On one, the novel relates the trauma of unreturned love. Most people can relate to that theme, and it tended to draw me through the story. The parallel with Jesus' life is not meant to be exact. Mitsu represents the suffering of humanity, as she suffers in her one way. Every episode of Mitsu's life is tragic. For some people, the tragedy might be oevrdone, but I was left sleepless by it. I would recommend The Girl I Left Behind to anyone who enjoys Shusaku Endo's novels.

My continued fondness of Endo's writing has brought me to this book. It is a wonderful example of Endo's early writing, set in Japan with well developed characters and interesting plot. This is particularly true when compared to his more recent book, Deep River, which was disappointing, badly researched and an unsuccessful move away from his best genre - Japan. Set in post-war Japan, the story is about the interwoven lives of Yoshioka and Mitsu. As a university student, Yoshioka deflowers Mitsu and then shuns her, only to have Mitsu crop up repeatedly in his life. She is a country girl unable to get over her fondness for Yoshioka, tainting the rest of her life. However, she never looses her tragic flaw of over-caring towards other people. Endo, a Christian, tries to interweave the fate of Jesus with that of Mitsu. Possibly his way of telling the Christian story in a Japanese setting. Although I'm not sure how many readers would actually draw this parallel, it is an interesting theme in this book and recurring theme he uses in his other books as well. In the afterword, Endo explains how some western women may misunderstand the submissiveness of the female characters in his book, I find that statement superfluous and somehow trying to be politically correct in an afterthought. For me it is rather more interesting to think of what Yoshioka felt and what his actions may have been after having learned of Mitsu's fate. Is Endo trying to send a message to Japanese men? Or Japanese salarymen in particular? I, in particular, enjoyed Endo's modern description of the life of a salaryman. Yoshioka comments during his wedding: "Our entire lives as salarymen are conducted like episodes on a conveyor belt...companies these days don't recognize the differences between individuals" (p.178). Taking into consideration that this book was written some thirty years ago, it is amazing to think how little Japanese society has changed to date. Endo also criticizes his writing technique in his afterword and I have to add that the comedy-like tone at the beginning of the book is inappropriate and immature, when contrasted to the story and the tone of the remainder of the book. I would like to end by quoting a remark that Yoshioka makes at the end of the book: "If Mitsu has taught me anything at all, it was that every single person with whom we cross paths during our journey through life leaves an indelible mark on us." (p.192).

The story was enthralling,the battle scenes being some of the best i have read giving a vivid picture in your mind of what was happening.I very much look forward to the next installment.

Have you ever read a fantasy where all the heroic characters are men and all the women follow meekly along with all they say?

Not Julia! She has a mind of her own and uses it to confound Keverin of Athione. Keverin is Lord Athione (Lord Protector of the West) and has never met anyone that could frustrate him so much with so few words. Julia's was training hard for a place in the Brits Olympic team, when Keverin's friend magically summons her to Deva. Keverin was expecting someone who could help him fight his enemies, what he got was an argumentative woman that never does what he tells her!

I liked the God Decrees a lot. The story is a romantic fantasy set in a time when men fight with swords and call murder justice. Deva is about to learn a new kind of justice :)

Groo Houndbook

As should be obvious, this is where Groo the most feared barbarian in the world (feared by everyone who knows his name and face!) meets his trusty sidekick Ruferto, a dog smarter than he is. Fleeing a pampered life into the chaotic life that Groo brings about, Ruferto and his new companion encounter Pal and Drum, the schemers who cut an arms deal with Groo. Of course, they've never learned that the best deal to cut with Groo is to RUN FOR THE HILLS! Groo gets wealthy through no fault of his own and winds up penniless as usual.

Note: the printing quality is generally okay to very good for the series, but this is generally a collection for Groo fans and comic book fans. The binding on some of my copies is broken (these are soft backs) and the print is now and then not the greatest. As a fan, I bought every collection I could, and enjoy them despite this! Not though for long-term pristine collectors though.

Sergio's work with MAD is famous. Yet this Groo Houndbook content a beautiful plot combined with our hero that can "manage" to destroy anything.

This 9-12 yrs rated comic attracts me very much [20+], btw, this one's a very good book to be read and enjoy. Using rasterized color image is another attraction of this book in the abundance of advanced computer coloring comics.

Groo Inferno

In this collection there's a magic amulet that grants every wish which falls into the hands of Groo the Barbarian - OH MY GOD! From there mayhem erupts as various parties strive to gain control of the amulet or at best get it out of Groo's hands into anyone else's hands (anyone would be better than Groo!). As the introductory episode shows - Groo is the worse thing on earth to get involved with, especially when you confuse him! Included are the sorceresses Abra and Kadabra - oh, I mean Arba and Dakarba- , the sage and his dog with no name, the Minstrel, Arcadio the best warrior on earth, and assorted fools who've never learned that the best way to get anything out of Groo is to RUN AS FAR AWAY FROM HIM AS YOU CAN!

Note: the printing quality is generally okay to very good for the series, but this is generally a collection for Groo fans and comic book fans. The binding on some of my copies is broken (these are soft backs) and the print is now and then not the greatest. As a fan, I bought every collection I could, and enjoy them despite this! Not though for long-term pristine collectors though.

I have collected Groo comics since I was a kid, and this reprint of Groo the wanderer numbers 33 through 36. Not some of my favorite Groo tales but very funny. I did like "The Amulet", wich is in 2 parts and continued from Groo number 26 wich would be in "The Groo Garden".