I am a huge fan of 2GETHER & of Michael Cuccione. This book is a hilarious look at the characters' past and all the little known facts about Doug, Mickey, Jerry, Chad & QT. I am I die-hard fan of theirs & and thought I knew EVERYTHING about them...but I learned sooooo much more from this book! Who was QT's father? What was Jerry O'Keefe's childhood birth defect? Read "Anthology of Awesomeness: The Official 2GETHER Scrapbook ang find out!!!! This book rocks!

2gethers new book is a great way to find out more about the group. Who is QT's father? What was Jerry's birth defect? Find out all this and more in the book. As well as the guys full names, embarassing moments, and see buttloads of pictures. You will not regret buying this book and it is a must have for every 2gether fan! Guarenteed you will learn at least 50 new things about this boyband!

Oh My GOD! this book is sooooo funny, i was laughing outloud the whole time! You don't even have to know 2gether, they tell you all about each episode and the movie! I bought this book because i have LOVED 2gether for about a year now, they are the best band ever. My favorite is definetly Chad Linus aka. Noah Bastian. I know everything there is to know about him! Anyway you should buy this book right away! It helps the Michael Cuccione Found too!

I would say, for those seriously interested in magic, you should skip this abbridgement and get Mark Wilson's Complete Course instead, but for such a low price ($10 for the paperback, not to be confused with the expanded hard-bound edition), this book actually proves to be the best idea for those interested in magic but still testing the water before jumping in. While some neat classics have been left out, there is still plenty to keep a beginner busy for months or even years! And none of the lame tricks that rely more on good patter than sleight of hand--these are real magic tricks. I haven't seen as good a book anywhere near this price.

This is a small but very thick book, rather it was larger and thinner (be easier to handle). That being said, this is definitely THE BOOK you should get. It takes you through close-up magic through stage magic. Effects, secrets and pre-perations, how to perform all the tricks in a simple step-by-step process with diagrams, and finish's up with comments and suggestions.

A quick note: if you get this book, do not get his other book "Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic". You only need one of these two, the have almost the exact same information.

I started magic about two year ago. This book taught me more about magic in two days then i had learned in two years!!! It has all different kinds of tricks. It has card tricks, mental tricks all the way up to levitation!!! I really enjoyed this book!! I will always keep it. I used to just perform in front of my family, now i am getting hired in all sorts of places!! This is a must have book for all magicians!

Truly one of the best children's books out there. The illustrations are incredibly rich, colorful and detailed and the story is so inventive and charming. I love Maxi! I bought this book today and read it to my 4 month old daughter. It held her attention the entire time--quite a feat! It's no wonder--the beautiful lyrical story with its rhymes and the gorgeous artwork are a delightful combination. I can't say enough about this charming story. What a plus that proceeds of the book go to a worthy animal cause. I want to see more of Maxi's adventures!

My two year old son absolutely loves this story. The cute rhyme-style keeps his attention...and the colorful, detailed pictures keep him pointing and talking for quite some time. We particularly like all of the colorful characters who enter the taxi...this book is a real winner in our home.

My 2-year-old absolutely loves this book. He can't get enough of it. Fortunately, it's a nice story so I don't mind reading it 15 times a day.

I caught Kirbyjohn Caldwell's presentation at the Texas Book Festival in 1999. He read from his book the Gospel of Good Success, and I was blown away by his energy, his positive attitude and the message found in his book. He truly is a point of light, a spiritual leader and great community activist. I highly recommend his work!

This book is a must read! If you are struggling on how to bring some of your dreams to fruition please read this roadmap to WHOLENESS. I am not the avid reader but I was so engrossed and encouraged in his philosophy toward Holistic Salvation. the Gospel of Good Success opened my mind to new directions that I needed to begin for my journey of perservance when completing my goals. I have found new life within these 256 powerfully written words.

The Gospel of Good Success is certainly a God-sent good read! Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell provides a spiritual road map for purposeful living through the depiction of the transformation of Houston's Windsor Village and the creation of its Power Center. The book is power-packed with inspiration and insight for any soul seeking success and salvation. I am on a success mission and The Gospel of Good Success provided me with just the mission fuel I needed to keep on keeping on!

Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul pays grateful tribute to nurses - - those exalted and capable servants who selflessly tend the sick, injured, aged, and downhearted with deep compassion and unceasing dedication. Containing more than one hundred true stories of service and sacrifice, this uplifting book tugs on your heart strings and tickles your funny bone while artfully honoring the noble profession of nursing. Anyone who has ever been the recipient or the provider of health care will be challenged, motivated, and enlightened by these inspiring, true-life examples of exceptional courage, commitment and caring.
Dr. Mom, Marianne Neifert, MD

So for nurses, what is better than holiday overtime and that nice young pharmaceutical rep with the glazed donuts? War stories! And a whole group of other nurses to share them with.

Let's face it, we have to edit our stories around lay people, temper the humor, spare them the deep, down visceral core of our feelings---the fact that have to laugh in the face of disaster, and that we cry in linen closets. But around other nurses? Honey, just sit down a minute and prop up those tired feet and let me tell you a tale....

This is what is so absolutely great about Chicken Soup For the Nurse's Soul: it's the nitty gritty on why we love our profession. And why we continue to love it in the midst of our hardest times, our darkest hours and even now when our country is in crisis with a nationwide nursing shortage. It's a book about dedication and caring. And just who it is on the other side of that thermometer.

Every story in this book is aimed right at our hearts---to make us cry, laugh, shake our heads at what we have survived, and to bring us hope and strength. To make us proud of what we do.

Kudos to Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, LeAnn Thieman--a hero in her own right-- and Nancy Mitchell Autio for this gift you have given us: The right to speak out and be proud.

Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul is a book long overdue. These stories cannot help but touch the hearts and souls of all who read it, nurses or not. Nurses will recognize their own experiences somewhere in these stories, which affirm the personal nature of nursing and the importance of personal touch involved in the care of others. The authors have done nursing a wonderful service in bringing to light the touching, funny, heartfelt anecdotes shared by those at the bedside.
Sally Russell, M.N, R.N
Educational Director
Academy if Medical Surgical Nurses

Finally a book that explains questions that I have always had about why things are done that way in Nascar. I have subsriptions to several Nascar magazines, but this is the first source to explain such concepts as the bizarre series qualifying practices to set the running order in the Daytona 500 (as well as the point system for the Winston Cup Championship) in a meaningful way that the averager person has a chance to understand. Those new to Nascar will appreciate the in-depth detail and entertaining stories linking to concepts in book as explained by veteran Nascar driver Mark Martin. Even die-hard fans who already know much about Nascar will find this an enjoyable read.

Mark is an awesome driver and now he's written an awesome book! I've been a NASCAR fan for several years and this book helps answer some of the questions I've had about the sport. Mark gives info on tracks, drivers, rules and how a stock car runs. I recommend this book to all NASCAR fans, male or female, those new to the sport or those who have been following it for years. GO MARK!

I had been trying to write a similar book just for some of my friends and was delighted when I found out one of my favorite drivers, Mark Martin, had written one. Even though I am a Nascar fan, a lot of my friends aren't and I wanted to help them understand racing--that it's more than just driving around in circles. I read the book cover to cover just this morning; I couldn't put it down. Thanks Mark!

I've read this book, and also the Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine and found them to be full of demystifying information about jazz theory. Before reading these, I thought it was all magic and unattainable talent that made it possible to play jazz music. Mark Levine managed to lead me through the complexities of this form with remarkable ease and clarity.

This is easily the best jazz theory resource I have ever seen. The book is exceptionally well written and is liberally sprinkled with numerous musical examples. The basics are covered here as well as some quite advanced topics.

Players of all instruments can benefit from the information presented in this book. Music reading ability in both treble and bass clefs is required.

When I was younger I used to read about how playing with various famous jazz musicians like Monk or Dizzy was like going to school. I just thought it was for general inspiration. Now I can see that there is a mass of musical harmonic theory that has built up over the years, and mostly passed on from player to player. This book presents all the basic harmonic innovations that Jazz came up with between the 1940's and 1980's, and it's a lot. You'd have to know this stuff in order to play with the musicians of those times.

I think the best audience for this work consists of players who have mastered the "basics of their horn" and are ready to move into the "real world" of jazz improvisation and writing. However, even beginners can get into the book and I'd bet there are some masters out there who could learn a trick or two from it.

Many of the ideas presented here may have been printed before, but I've never seen them all together like this, never seen them related to each other like this, and there's lots and lots that this musician at least had never conceived of before. Reading it was like opening my eyes for the first time in the morning. So much of what I had listened to for years suddenly became explicable.

Do you want to know what to do with that B-flat alt chord in the "Real Book?" Want to know how pentatonic scales can build over various chords? Want to know why it somehow sounded right when that V chord resolved down a major third instead of a fifth? Read this book.

Other topics: Coltrane's changes -- modal scale theory -- a whole section on using melodic minor scales to basically reharmonize every which way but loose --- be-bop scale theory and great gobs of four-bar examples (properly notated in case you can beg borrow or steal the original record) -- playing "outside". There are also complete treatments of some key tunes such as Giant Steps, I Hear a Rhapsody, etc. I think there's enough in this book to keep any musician busy for a decade practicing and working out.

One nice touch is how Mark Levine points out practicioners of the art, not only Coltrane for his famous reharmonizations, but people like Woody Shaw for his pentatonic harmonies and Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock etc. etc. There are some nice pictures of all these people, which to me exhibits one of the best qualities of jazz culture -- that of giving proper and humble credit and tribute to the many great musicians that have formed and furthered the music.

One thing this book is not -- It's not just a book of licks written out and transposed in various keys for you to practice over particular chords. Examples of licks are there, of course, but the focus is on giving you enough of an understanding so that you can make your own practicing agenda.

This book is a unique collectors item. Many recent films have come out with a companion "Art of ____" book. There have been many special effects books that focus on one company or another (ILM, Digital Domain, etc). But the content of Invisible Art spans the entire history of film itself.

The focus of the book is matte painting, a specific branch of visual effects. It is a technique that has been used in films from the beginning. Over the last 10 years, matte painting has been transformed by the digital age. Before computers, many of the most stunning and beautiful effects were hand painted. Sadly, most of these paintings have been lost or destroyed. At the time of their creation, the paintings served a practical function. Looking at the pictures in this book make you realize that these paintings should have been saved and displayed in museums.

This is an outstanding document of art, film history, and some of the personalities involved in this branch of visual effects. It follows the history of film through artists working in the industry. In the last chapter, it bridges that history into the digital age. A major achievement.

The authors have done a definitive job with this chronicle of the unique and rather mysterious art of matte painting. The lavishly illustrated volume is strongly supported by a text that's rich with interesting production anecdotes and insights into the lives and personalities of the various practitioners of the art, in addition to the thorough technical information.

Of course, the many original paintings reproduced -- both with and without the "intrusion" of live-action elements -- is the feature that recommends it the most. Examples range from the high-tech polish of today's blockbuster productions, to classic "Golden Age" films and material from the very dawn of film.

All in all, the perfect book treatment of this subject and an indispensable addition to the library of anyone with an interest and appreciation for the true magic of the movies.

Solong have I waited for a book like this, and it was over a year ago I heard Craig Baron of one of the best VFX houses out there, along with Mark Cotta Vaz, the best VFX journalist and writer out there, planned on making this book.
And it was worth the wait! This book is incredible. My favorite FX technique finally given the attention it deserves, and it is more extensive and detailed than I imagined. All matte paintings I've come to love over the years, plus an incredible amount of matte-painting-mastery I had never seen are represented by incredible photos, in their full glory. All are accompanied with a stunning print from the actual footage shot for it, or the final composite. Other pictures like photos from artists, cameramen, directors, sets, cameras and other equipment, but also original sketches and illustrations are shown throughout the book. This of course accompanied by Vaz's well written texts and anecdotes, informative, and energetic. The book has been divided in chapters that show the various stages of film history, as well as the several generations of matte painting wizards, and the development of the techniques.
I congratulate Craig & Mark on their beautiful acievement, very inspiring, stunning and moving, pure candy for the eye and mind. My library of VFX books and magazines seems finally complete!

This is also the third time I will be buying this book - first two copies have mysteriously disappeared. It is incredibly stupid, but it had me laughing uncontrollably for a very long time. In public. My only regret is that the later printings have used asterisks to cover the swear words - part of the pleasure was seeing these taboo words in cold print in a pseudo-serious context...

Have you ever wanted to be a Superhero? Have you ever dreamed of having your high-flying adventures printed in comic book format, licensed by a fast food chain and made into a million sequels while you fight crime and watch your "pension fund" grow? Then you need this book! I have now bought 4 copies of this book for friends and myself. My copy has been read by so many people, so many times that it has disintigrated. If you don't read this book and laugh, you have no soul! Seriously! You will hurt yourself laughing. If you want to take some time to away from reality and give youself a treat, then this book is for you. And if you don't want that, what's wrong with you? Take this as either a guideline to gaining(and using superpowers) or as a safety guide for life. Afterall, many a superhero has gained their super powers by accident, and maybe you just don't want that happening to you! So stay away from radioactive badgers, be wary of neighbors disguised as the state of Idaho, and never let your robot duplicate have a night alone with your wife.

This is easily the funniest book I ever read. Every page will have at least one part that will leave you rolling in fits of laughter.

If you can find it, BUY IT!