This book clearly states the life of lots of the artists in the book, but not enough on their art related life. The book is intresting, but not the best book in the world. This book is good for reports, and has almost every artist you can think of. I think that this book is good if you are reading it for a reason, but if you are reading it because you have no other books to read, then it might get boring.

Very good help in the little practicum.

In it's original incarnation as a monthly comic, the "Transfer of Power" story arc was one of the most troubled comics in recent history. In it's collected edition, it's a spotty mess, with a few glimpses of brilliance.

Writer Mark Millar had already decided Transfer of Power would be his last story arc, but after completing one issue, Artist Frank Quitely jumped ship to illustrate Marvel's New X-Men. (I consider Quitely's abrupt departure from the book that made him famous at best unprofessional. At worst, downright $h!tty...) This left DC/Wildstorm with a big problem: Since the artist they tapped to finish off the story, Art Adams, is notoriously slow, how could they keep the book coming out in a relatively timely fashion? Answer: Since The Authority are killed and replaced by an even MORE vicious team in the first chapter, Tom Peyer and Dustin Nguyen would create a 4-issue fill-in that would detail the new team's adventures. Adams STILL wasn't able to get his three issues done, so Gary Erskine needed to do the art chores on the final issue. And in the midst of all of this, September 11th made the suits at DC rethink their stance on publishing such a violent book....So this simple 4-issue story became an 8-issue mess that dragged on for almost two years, and also became the swan-song for The Authority. (After all the hubbub, DC is quietly getting ready to lauch a new version of The Authority, with an unknown creative team....yay.)

The story starts off strong, as a Government sanctioned Hillbilly/Billion Dollar Cyborg is sent to kill The Authority, and seemingly succeeds. The team is replaced with a bunch of brutal look-alikes, who waste no time in putting the entire Universe in deadly peril. Only The Midnighter (with little Jenny Quantum in tow) has any hope of putting things right. The DRASTIC differences in artistic styles really make the book seem schizophrenic; Nguyen's style just doesn't mesh with Quitely & Adams' cartoony artistry, and the realistic renderings of Gary Erskine aren't a good fit to follow two chapters of Art Adams. All of the artists involved are very talented, but read as a whole, the book has no artistic flow. Peyer's fill-in arc is okay, but nothing special. It could have easily been skipped entirely, and nothing would have been lost, story-wise. I did enjoy the hillbilly killer, Seth, but the final fate he suffers is taken whole cloth from Garth Ennis' excellent Preacher. I was hoping for something a little worse. I also enjoyed the realistic relationship between The Authority's Batman/Superman duo, The Midnighter & Apollo. Maybe one of the best romantic relationships in comics today.

While FAR from the best Authority tale (See Warren Ellis' issues for those), Transfer of Power has it's share of powerful moments, and is worth a look for fans of the team. I just wish they could have gotten a better send-off.....

Great book, but not worth the dollars. Buy the Band Saw Handbook and you get everything in this book and more. Even the pictures and captions are identical.

It's the book with large and colourful pictures and aamount of text, there child can lern how to use library.

Masters Press Baseball Crosswords Volume 3 fell short of my expectations. I thought the book would have puzzles about baseball and the players of the past and present with stories mixed in. The book is made for the younger crowds ages 8 to 15.

While the puzzles are of good quality, they lack any real challenge and often they are there could be more clues. Each puzzle does talk about a major league team; provide you with basic information about the team and a listing of leaders over the past ten years.

I do like the idea that each team is given an exclusive puzzle. I also like the stories, but I fell that the author could have given each team it's own book. Also there is nothing about past players and for a baseball purest this is a major disappointment.

Price in the right range, this book would and will make an excellent gift for the young, aspiring ball player in your family. Overall the book is good, but definite improvements can be made.

Although the content of this book is good, it is very out of date. Much has changed in the aviation business in the past 6 years. For example, it didn't talk about finding jobs on the internet, only that you could sign up on bulletin boards. And the sample salaries are very outdated. It did however, show me the various ways to go about getting my advanced pilot ratings and the time frame it would take to acquire them. This information is relatively still the same. This book would be helpful for someone who has no flight experience and is just at the beginning stages of becoming a pilot. But it is not helpful for someone who is already a private pilot and wants to make it a career.

We hear plenty of general commentary and criticism about the national media - its role in society, how reporters and editors are influenced, and whether coverage is balanced and fair. But what about our local news, which takes center stage for many Americans and shapes the way we think, feel, and respond to events, people, and issues in our hometowns? Mark Kelley, a longtime favorite regional TV anchor at WNDU (South Bend, Ind.) points the camera at local news, providing insight into the ways in which reporters, news directors and producers, and media businesses have an impact on the communities (both large and small) that they serve. Local newspeople and media organizations must realize the power they have. They need to be challenged to put aside their egos and honestly examine how they present "the truth" - to look for the untold stories, not just those that will get good ratings, and to understand that they aren't just clocking time but working in a profession where ethics, humility and concern for their neighbors are vital.

9June98 The CD AUDIO called "A Third Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul". by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen.

My comments:

I have several normal books of Chicken Soup and I very much enjoy them but this is my first experience of an audio CD with such material. I would definitely make the following suggestions:

1. There should be some way to 'pause' the listening.

2. There should be some way to select particular storys instead of being forced to listen for 70 minutes without any kind of break and being forced to listen to every single story repeated every time you listen to the CD.

3. There should be a 'menu' that initially appears on your screen that allows you to pick the story or storys that you would like to hear again. Included with this menu would be the ability to pause while listening.

In today's world, who can listen for a 70 minute period without interruption? Possibly a hermit only. The phone, the FAX, the toilet etc. all constantly intrude on any 70 minute slice of your life.

Great material but the format of the CD cries out for the above modification. Because of the above omissions, I would highly recommend the book versions far above the CD versions.

Bertrand A. Lang Email - robertl@loxinfo.co.th

Would appreciate if Amazon would replace with the normal book version. It is next to useless in the current CD version.

Although this is a useful book, and one frequently cited in bibliographies, Lewis tends to focus on perpetuating a myth (the "Big Four" as robber barrons) rather than substantive biography. It's practically all we have on Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins, but far better biographies of C P Huntington are available: David F. Myrick's The Great Pursuader is excellent, and so is Cerinda Evan's Collis Potter Huntington. All three of the published biographies of Leland Stanford are well done, especially Clark's. This is a marginally useful book, but far better biographies of Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, and David Douty Colton need to be written. Lewis' remarks that Crocker in his later years was lethargic and obese are despicable given the Crocker's advanced state of complications from diabeties (which eventually killed him), especially considering that probably no other man in American history ever equalled his genius railroad construction. Buy it but beware its serious ethical shortcumings. -- these are my thoughts from one who has studied Southern Pacific history for nearly three decades.