The reviewer who gave this book only one star seems to have been anticipating a great number of punchlines in this book. There aren't that many. The book isn't based on "jokes" as such but on wry, pithy obsevations of the world at large, seen through the lens of Leyner's sense of the absurd. If you want "jokes," there are plenty of books like that out there. This book is not for a general audience anyway -- it takes a special outlook to even appreciate this book -- but for those with the mind set to appreciate this kind of humor, while it may not be falling-down funny, it is enjoyable.

Leyner leaves his "teeth imprints" with the 17 stories, plays, ramblings, and dedications contained within. With his Dennis Miller-ish vocabulary, Reyner remarks on the absurdity that is prevalent in modern life.

"The Mary Poppins' Kidnapping" throws a nod to the present censoring of the media. After viewing "Mary Poppins" three teenagers kidnap an English woman so that they could have a nanny. This triggers an across the board censorship for anything from "Mary Poppins" to "The Sound Of Music" stating that it's "...irresponsible to expose young people from middle- and low-income families to films depicting ostentatious affluence." which "...has the potential for provoking very explosive antisocial behavior."

"The (Illustrated) Body Politics" exposes that senators have hidden tattoos that represent their true standings on issues. In "Oh, Brother", two Melendez type brothers kill their parents with Howitzer shells, rocket-propelled grenades and 9mm Luger rounds then plead innocent using the "imperfect self-defense" concept. Stating that since their parents were understanding, supportive, and compassionate towards them, they didn't act like other parents and were covering up a plot to kill them so they struck first.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Writing like Christopher Moore with a newly acquired thesaurus, Leyner makes you laugh, cringe, and wonder. After possibly the longest dedication in written history the fun begins. Although he loves using big words don't be scared off. Bring a dictionary (optional) and an open mind (mandatory) and enjoy.

Nah, I think I would have to say that this book IS falling down funny, in fact I've never laughed so much. Burroughs, Thompson, I hear people compare Mark Leyner to so many beat or other post-modern writers, but I guarantee you that you will NEVER read something quite like this. I ended up reading at least half the book aloud to my roommate while tears were falling down my face from my fits of laughter. It may not be for everyone, but it is surely for anyone like myself that likes their humor fast, random, and fantastically absurd.

Ok... I liked the book,but i am a BIG fan of mash, and he had this totally wrong. The Conels office was attached to the same building as the hospital, and the recovery ward.

This book is awesome! It isn't perfect, but who cares? What a blast from a carefree past. Personally, I think that the guy did an amazing job considering that the sets changed over the years and that he did many of the blueprints years ago...without the aid of a VCR. Realistic dimensions? Yeah, whatever. I wasn't planning on building these places from these diagrams. Also, who says that the sets had realistic dimensions?

I picked the book up on a clearance rack for [$], but, after viewing it, I think it's worth the full price. I can't tell you the memories this thing brought back. This is a killer present for your Baby Boomer friends who were TV addicts as tykes.

I think it is important to keep in mind the word FANTASY while enjoying this book. Mr. Bennett makes no claims to be a professional draftsman or architect. These are just his interpretations of interiors from TV shows; most of which never existed as complete structures, but rather as a group of sets on a soundstage. They were all done from simply watching the shows on TV. It's a fun and lighthearted book that will entertain anyone who spent numerous hours in front of the TV while growing up.

Pros: comprehensive, excellent cross-referenced organization (easy to find jar when you don't know maker), notes what mark should say on jar
Cons: values are too high, photography is good on some but on average it's not great -- too much contrast so difficult to see detail (looks like flash photography rather than lighted) and color is biased towards yellow, would be nice to have a measurements on all pieces

Best Cross reference book out there..... We have been collectors for years and have all the books there are concerning Cookie Jars. And every edtion... Supnicks book is chalk full of pictures.... And the cross reference is wonderful....... I noticed when reading the other reviews some people don't have my same thoughts... I can't help but wonder if these are other authors who wish they had taken the time to do the cross ref. .. As far as the prices being higher in there book,,, I do notice that,, but I also notice that in other cookie jar books that are SO CALLED Revised prices,,,,,, Are not well researched.. Just putting out the same book and raising the prices of a few jars...
Supnicks Book is the beat one out there............... More photos then any other..
I felt I needed to write this as I notice some reviews were WRONG,, stating items not identified correctly... Well, anyone who is a Cookie Jar collector KNOWS some jars have questions as to who made them,, and everyone has their own thoughts.. Again leading me to believe there might be a few jealous authors out there.. GET THIS BOOK.. It will be your Bible...........

Excellent Reference Book with one of the largest picture listings that I have found. It has helped me MANY times in my search for information on cookie jars that I have purchased. Every collector of Cookie Jars ABSOLUTELY must have one of these books! You will not regret it!

The authors warn against the dangers of genetically modified (GM) grains and cotton. These dangers involve possible escape of the artificially inserted gene(s) for pesticide or insect resistance, overspray of pesticide onto non-resistant crops, insects acquiring resistance to the Bt gene, corporate control of seeds to be used with specific herbicides, failure of transgenic crops, and the lack of increase in crop yields. All of these are genuine concerns, for which the authors admit that there is no proof, just worries; but the advantages get short shrift.

No evidence is presented on actual failures except for one set of transgenic cotton plants. Escape of genes could be fought with new seeds not containing the gene. The dread that insects will build resistance to the natural bacterial toxins of the Bt gene is poorly couched, because all prior experience is that insects will do so in time, and the amount of time is all that is in doubt. Corporate control of seeds and herbicides will last only as long as the patents, and then "generics" are likely to appear. We have had corporate control of hybrid seeds and pesticides for 3/4 century as it is. If crop yields become significantly lower, the transgenic strains will be dropped. It is unlikely that all crops will fail at the same time.

Nobel Prize winner Norman E. Borlaug, the father of the green revolution, and not an inventor of transgenic plants, could have spoken against them, but has done the opposite. In the Wall Street Journal, 22 Jan 03, pA.14, he wrote: "Although there have always been those in society who resist change, the intensity of the attacks against GM crops from some quarters is unprecedented and, in certain cases, even surprising, given the potential environmental benefits that such technology can bring by reducing the use of pesticides. Genetic engineering of crops -- plant breeding at the molecular level -- is not some kind of witchcraft, but rather the progressive harnessing of the forces of nature to the benefit of feeding the human race. The idea that a new technology should be barred until proven conclusively that it can do no harm is unrealistic and unwise. Scientific advance always involves some risk of unintended outcomes. Indeed, "zero biological risk" is not even attainable.

"Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa says he's been told by anti-biotechnology groups that donated American corn is "poison" because it contains GM kernels. Based on such misinformation, he is willing to risk thousands of additional starvation deaths rather than distribute the same corn Americans have been eating for years with no ill effects."

Another cautious, reasonable view is that of Bjørn Lomborg, The Skeptical Environmentalist, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2001, pp342-348. Examples of faked data on the toxicity of GM potatoes on rats and overblown fears of the effect of Bt corn on the monarch butterfly were given. Lomborg thinks the gains are worth the risks, and advises proceeding very cautiously, thus not to drop all the GM programs.

*****
The main reason for my 1-star rating for this book is not its conclusions, but its style. Despite academic-style referencing, albeit with almost no peer-reviewed papers on the actual subject of GM foods, the authors use practically every ploy practiced by propagandists.

The herbicide bromoxynil is said to have a toxic nitrile function (p.viii). The most common nitrile, acetonitrile, has an LD50 orally in rats of 3800 mg/kg, thus is less toxic than salt!

A "...horrible debacle from overuse of DDT..." (p.16) is not exemplified, but we are to think it had to do with thinning of birds' eggshells, which was disproven before DDT was banned in the USA by the EPA.

"Many countries like India are at the balance between survival and famine" (p.17). Then how is it then that 1/2 of south Asian adults are overweight and 1/3 are obese? (Lancet 2003;361:79).

"But the metabolic fate of DBHA [metabolite of bromoxynil] in the mammalian body has never been studied -- or at least reported" (p.42). A quick search of PubMed turned up: St John LE, Lisk DJ. Fate of the herbicides bromoxynil and casseron in cows. J Dairy Sci 1967;50(4):582-4.

The paucity of chemical knowledge of these authors is shown by the following: "Bromoxynil octanoate, the active ingredient in bromoxynil, is converted into bromoxynil phenol (what we have been calling DBHA) when it is metabolized in mammals. Although this step is designed to detoxify bromoxynil and make the molecule more easily excreted by the body, the by-product remains at least as toxic as its parent compounds" (p.43-4). The octanoate ester is the oil-soluble form of bromoxynil used in formulations; it is not the active form, which is bromoxynil itself, which is a phenol, so should not be called "bromoxynil phenol". Since most bromoxynil is metabolized to its acid derivative, DBHA, this "by-product" cannot be more toxic than its parent.

"Roundup [glyphosate] may also damage many non-target plants" (p.54). Well, of course! How many of us use Roundup to knock off all plants before seasonal planting?

"In 1993, 6 out of 7 plots...showed lower yields for conventional vs. transgenic soybeans" (p.83). This is exactly the opposite of one of the main points these authors tried to make -- that GM plants give lower yields!

Several times the authors trot out the old vegetarian aphorism that cattle convert their food to meat with only 10% efficiency (p.87), with 12% efficiency (p.112,135), and with 40 % efficiency (p.147). The authors do not seem to understand that humans do not like to eat wild grass, hay, alfalfa, or soybean hulls.

Diethylstilbestrol (DES) which had been used in cattle feed with some health problems in humans is trotted out like DDT as a scare mechanism, but it is not a plant product or a result of GM foods.

The "undesirability" of corporate profits is emphasized many times.

An attempt is made to foment alarm in orthodox religionists by hinting that GM foods may not be kosher or Halal.

As a scientist working in the bio-industry, I felt compelled to read this book. Unfortunately, while it makes a number of good points and correctly identifies areas of uncertainity, it somewhat marres the pleasure of reading it by suboptimal craftmanship - incidentally one of the criticisms that are correctly made to our industry. I resented some factual mistakes and the impression that the book was not proofread before going to print, leaving it with some contradictions and loose ends. But, I repeat, the essence is right: "wait a minute!"

In only 150 pages, "Against the Grain" debunks many of the myths surrounding biotechnology and the genetic engineering that is revolutionizing US (and world) agriculture.One of the myths which "Against the Grain" debunks is the claim that genetically engineered crops are aimed at feeding the hungry of the world. As "Against the Grain" quite lucidly points out, if genetically engineered crops were aimed at feeding the hungry of the world then companies like Monsanto would develop seeds with certain characteristics such as: the ability to grow in substandard soils; the ability for plants to produce more protein, with increased per-acre yield, without increasing the need for expensive machinery, chemicals, fertilizer or water; they would aim to favour small farms over large farms; seeds would be cheap and freely available without restrictive licensing; they would be for crops that feed people, not animals.

None of the genetically engineered crops now available have any of these characteristics. In fact new genetically engineered seeds require high-quality soils, huge investment in machinery and an increased use of chemicals.As "Against the Garin" so adeptly illustrates, the genetic engineering revolution has nothing to do with feeding the world's hungry but everything to do with enriching a priviledged few.

In here Exodus is the trouble maker while Magneto is recovering from the loss of his mind, and colossus feeling kind of guildty for leaving the X-men, THis book is great, it has a lot of heroes in it and you can keep track of all the heroes. If you love The avengers, avengers WEst Coast, The X-Men, Exodus, or even Fabian Cortez, this is the book to read.

Agreed the art isn't great in the Avengers pieces, but if you like a lot of variety and a fun, fun book with a lot of adventure and a good ending that is a surprise till the end, this may be for you.

A good story with Avengers tension, mutant vs hero tension, mutant vs mutant tension and a great "Mageneto's Family" suffering for Magneto's sins storyline.

I would reccomend it.

An excellent story, showing a darker side to the marvel universe. The tragic story of war in the island nation of Genosha, the gritty realism of the story along with the excellent artwork, makes for a great read. I would strongly recommend this, for it is truly, one of the few classic storys produced by Marvel.

i tried and TRIED to get interested in this book but to no avail. could not hold my interest. too shallow.

This book follows along with the storyline of the Lord of the Rings and is helpful in pointing out both + and - virtues within characters and/or their development of those characteristics. It might be esp. helpful to those who want to teach the books in a scholastic setting, including home schooling, so that children can see virtue in action. I would recommend it also for the person who simply wants to enjoy the epic more and see some of the thematic elements he/she might be missing.

This is quite light reading; it isn't a major philosophical treatise. However, even with that being true, it draws the readers' attention to choices made by characters in novels, to choices that people may need to make in their own lives, (and these are realistically balanced against frequent occurrence in day-to-day life), and virtues that Tolkien included in his novels. The Lord of the Rings is considered sensu lato, (including the Hobbit). Some of these virtues may even have been included by Tolkien unconsciously, but this is a useful perspective on virtue.

This book was a waste of time and money. The book does not give any direct advice, just suggests the obvious. At one point, the authors even suggest taking up smoking to shmooze with your smoking boss.

I would recommend looking for a book by Aye Jaye. I believe it's called the Golden Rules of Shmoozing. Much more informative and direct than this vault book.

Waste of money. It points out many things obvious to the average reader. Book totally lost my interest and was extremely boring. The Vault staff has a good library of books (i.e. Vault guide to Finance), but this one was a disappointment.

This book is a good starting point for those people who are just beginning to build their networks. It gives practical advice on how to start schmoozing as well as how to get better at it. Terrific.

This book presents an incomplete, but well rounded collection of cocktail recipes, it also dives into a number of areas that normal cocktail books rarely go. In addition to the standard overview of spirits, tools, procedures, and recipes, it also includes sections on bar layout, landing a job, bartender tricks & puzzles, and jokes.

However, it falls short of actually providing enough information to be considered a self-teach book for budding bartenders, primarily because it lacks the depth necessary to do more then just skim the surface. The only diagram it includes, is one on different glassware, but there are at least a dozen other areas in the book where a clear diagram of what is being discussed is almost required.

There are very few recipes in the book, and those that are included are scattered around under categories of "I want something creamy", "I want something fruity", "I want something hot". These categories would be fine if they were a little more rich and inclusive, but several classics, such as the Old Fashioned and the Sidecar are not listed at all. Combine that with the fact that there is no index whatsoever in the book, and it renders it virtually useless as a reference tool, which is what a real bartender really needs.

You won't get a lot of useful info out of this book. There is a limited listing of cocktails, and two chapters on bar jokes and practical jokes. One tenth of the book is a glossary telling us such valuable things as 'jack' refers to jack daniels and a five dollar is a 'five spot'. Another chapter deals with landing a bartending job with sub-headings such as The Want-Ads and Friends and Relatives. The quality of the writing is what you might expect from the content.

I mean, really,.... :^p

i thought this book was extremely helpful.it gives you variety of information(only that it doesn't have as many recipes as other books) but the author does give you tips that only a person who has done this for years, a professional would know. how to get better tips,how to land a job,tricks of the traded and much more. a must have for any bartender.

Pretentious, overdone, myopic, ca-ca

Mark Doty's poems are seriously overrated. They are overwritten, full of what reads as faked-up emotion, limited in range--both of subject and imagery. Can't think of anything to say? Just pile on more language.

I only started reading Mark Doty because he teaches at my university and I wanted to get a feel for his style before taking a course by him. I read Turtle, Swan, and only one of the poems in that collection left any impression upon me. (The title poem of the book--it touched me very deeply.) I came into Atlantis not expecting more than one poem to impress me.

I was pleasantly surprised. In this collection, he wrote many more poems about his homosexuality (as opposed to boring nature poems), people he knew, and talked more about his love of language. He talked about real things as opposed to the esoteric things poets seem to love. It's poetry that is simple enough for most to understand, yet it doesn't hit you over the head with what it's trying to say.

Mark Doty is always lyrical, and uses wonderful words, but this collection also has some poems about real life. It is well worth the price and time.

"The Story of 'Miss Saigon'" by Edward Behr and Joseph Steyn is, quite simply, a work of propaganda. This is true not only because the purpose of the book is to persuade the reader to buy a ticket to see the stage musical "Miss Saigon," but because the book tells an egregiously one-sided account of the 1990 controversy over the casting of white British actor Jonathan Pryce as the musical's Vietnamese male lead, the Engineer. In the summer of 1990, "Miss Saigon's" powerful British producer, Cameron Mackintosh, wanted to cast Pryce as the Engineer -- Broadway's first Asian-male lead (non-supporting) role in 15 years -- without seriously considering any Asian actors for the part. Actors Equity, the American stage-actors' union, denied Pryce a visa to play the role, citing the paucity of lead roles for Asian American actors and Mackintosh's refusal to audition any in good faith. Rather than take the matter to arbitration, as was his option, Mackintosh indignantly accused Equity of "discriminat[ing] against Mr. Pryce on the basis of his race" and canceled the Broadway production, which had already amassed a then-record $25 million in advance ticket sales.

By vetoing Pryce for "Miss Saigon's" Asian-male lead, Equity hoped to call attention to a simple fact: Asian American actors do not have equal opportunities to play lead roles in the U.S. entertainment industry. White actors have always been allowed to play lead Asian roles -- from Charlie Chan to "The King and I" to "Kung Fu." Recognizably Asian actors, by contrast, had never been considered for white leads, and Asian lead roles are extremely rare. However well intended, casting Pryce as the Engineer would only perpetuate this racially discriminatory double standard. Pryce had many other opportunities to play lead roles; Asian Americans actors -- because of their race -- did not.

Although Mackintosh justified the casting of a white actor as the Engineer by saying that the character was of mixed Asian and European ancestry, nowhere in "Miss Saigon's" original London libretto is any reference made to his Caucasian background. In fact, the logic of the plot requires him to be 100% Vietnamese. So, many believe that the Engineer was labeled "Eurasian" solely to accommodate a white actor in an otherwise full-blooded Asian lead role.

In its chapter about the casting controversy, "Calamity and Catharsis" (written by Behr), "The Story of 'Miss Saigon'" does its best to demonize Equity's veto of Pryce and, in doing so, obscure the entertainment industry's historical discrimination against Asian American actors. For example, Behr attributes the objections against Pryce's casting to a "hard-core...radical fringe," when in fact, opposition to the casting of a white actor in a rare Asian lead was broadly supported by Equity's minority constituents. Behr refers to those opposed in principle to such biased casting as the "anti-Pryce" lobby, as though their objections were a personal attack upon this individual actor. And anticipating future arguments against affirmative action, Behr disingenuously accuses the non-white actors of "introducing the notion of racial privilege [for minorities] under the guise of multi-racial equality." The idea that *Pryce* might be racially privileged -- that he would not have had the opportunities to become a star on the London stage if he hadn't been white -- never occurs to the author.

Granted, the "Miss Saigon" controversy also raised the issue of Cameron Mackintosh's right of free speech. But this could have been negotiated with the actors' equal-opportunity rights in the arbitration process, an option that Mackintosh *chose* not to exercise. And while it's important to protect a producer's right to free expression, the entertainment industry is also a business, and as a business, it has the responsibility to make sure that arbitrary obstacles do not keep any particular group (in this case, Asian Americans) beneath a glass ceiling. "The Story of 'Miss Saigon'" twists itself into knots in an effort to obscure such issues. A few months after the dispute was settled -- and it was decided that Pryce would open the role of the Engineer on Broadway -- the New York City Commission on Human Rights held hearings on the subject of racism in casting and concluded that there was "widespread discrimination" in the entertainment industry. These hearings were held in direct response to the "Miss Saigon" controversy and its outcome, but Behr doesn't acknowledge their existence. To do so would have undermined his highly biased, circumscribed argument.

Discussing the "Miss Saigon" dispute in the New York Times on August 26, 1990, African American actress Ellen Holly talked about the times when she was forced to surrender roles because of *her* race, but no one stood up for her. She wrote: "Racism in America today is nothing so crass as mere hatred of another person's skin color. It is rather an affliction of so many centuries duration that it permeates institutions to the point of becoming indivisible from them. Only when the darker races attempt to break out of the bind -- and inconvenience whites in the process -- do whites even perceive racism as an issue. Only when a white is asked to vacate a role on racial grounds does the matter become a front-page issue....That, of course, is the blatant hypocrisy that infects this whole issue. Nonwhites are forced to give up parts on racial grounds in the back alleys, behind the barn and inside the closet, and no one could care less."

I'm glad that..."The Story of 'Miss Saigon,'" is now out of print. For a more accurate picture of the casting controversy, see the chapter "Gangsters, Gooks, Geishas, and Geeks" in "Asian American Dreams" by Helen Zia.

On the odd occasion, the artistic world welcomes a book portraying any number of angels taken from a piece of brilliant music theatre. This is such a book. On this rare occasion, it would be appropriate to state that the production of "Miss Saigon" is worthy of a beautiful cultured book to be written about it. Possibly the most elegant layout you're ever likely to see in a documented book that can be used for pleasure or reference.

Miss Saigon fans will not be disappointed by this pictured-packed, thoroughly written work. (And this is a keeper for Lea Salonga fans, too.) The format is akin to the more accessible "Phantom of the Opera" books -- in fact, I cannot understand why the publisher doesn't have stacks of "The Story of Miss Saigon" sitting beside the coffee mugs and T-shirts at theater gift shops in London, on Broadway and at the tour stops. Amazon's Out of Print Search Service also rates a "10" -- quick, helpful and very reliable.