This issue of Ascent is superior to some of the others. More professional and less flaky, it contains gripping trip reports and hilarious satire. The poetry is overall good, though very focused on the work of one author. The photography is beautiful but too much of it is in black and white. I found the reproduced paintings to be luridly colored and uninteresting. Overall, though, this book is well worth reading, with highlights including excellent work by Kelsey and Viola.

The scope, quality and depth of the prose in this issue of Ascent are of astoundingly high quality. Each one of the essays and stories in this collection provokes thought, and the sheer variety of the material, from farce through introspection to commentary, makes this a trove for climbers who love to read.

Alas, I cannot comment on the poetry, as I skipped all of it without reading a line.

The images in this issue are of more varied quality than the prose. While the colour photgraphs are crisp and rich, the monochrome photos are genreally poorly-reproduced, being flat and lacking in contrast. I was not impressed with much of the non-photographic art, as little of it has any quality that might draw attention to itself other than its subject matter.

Overall, I think that the 1999 issue of Ascent easily justifies its purchase price for the wonderful prose alone. If you are looking specifically for photography or artwork that pertains to climbing, though, you would do well to look elsewhere.

Like other readers I thoroughly enjoyed the foundation trilogy, but had the same feeling that I experienced when reading Sherlock Holmes for the first time i.e. that his deductive conclusions were questionable to say the least.. Examples of this are...... 1. why would the population of Anacreon treat nuclear technology with awe and subsequent religeos reverance whilst retaining space travel and advanced weapons..? 2. physchohistory is supposed to only deal with planetary masses but without the actions of mallow and hardin would the result have been the same , particulally as they appeared to have been the only ones to see the solution. ?. our own world's history is litterd with individuals who have altered the destiny of world history ,napoleon, hitler alexander etc. Despite these faults it still a ripping read! not so the sequels /prequels. Asimov should have left his masterpiece alone. thank god conan doyle cannot ruin sherlock holmes !!

....reminiscent of detective stories but in a futuristic age, the Foundation books occur during the breakup of the Galactic Empire and involve crisis after crisis, most of them planned for by the dead hand of Hari Seldon...positivistic and slanted toward Newtonian scientific values, but very entertaining.

A cute look at Elmo doing everything possible to keep a monster left in his care from waking up. Very typically Elmo--my kids love it.

Nora won't let me read the Elmo book though. She literally won't put it down. She is holding it in one hand right now while she plays with her F. P. farm with the other. Great choice!

This book is written in a lean manner. It is simple, common and easy to read. It describes ordinary things and ideas very clearly and with one purpose. This book provides all the roadmap, tools and insight needed to allow plants to achieve excellence. The authors take great pains to address common failures issues. They provide a single source handbook that any plant can understand and use, a source with example metrics and tools, with logic and simple ideas to prevent and overcome the daily issues faced by the team that implements Lean.

This is not a book that deals much about soft issues. It is not a fuzzy warm feeling book about the people side, nor is it a motivational "you can do it" book. It is a frank easy to read book about simple steps and simple ideas that make plants great. It explains the people issues and the fact that unless working teams make the decisions and changes Lean will not happen. It is a long book, more of handbook length, but much easier to read.

Lean Manufacturing: A Plant Floor Guide fills the space between a detailed "How To" text and an overview. It provides coverage of every key issue in moving to Lean Manufacturing, offering rationale, plans and encouragement.

From understanding your customers needs, metrics, building a solid business case and launching a methodical process, this book has all the tools necessary for a sound lean transition.
Perhaps most importantly, it offers reliable advice on overcoming resistance and building an effective team.

This book is well written but it will not help you to jump start your acting career. If your looking to have a career as an actor, study read this book,
take classes and then get a workbook, like Twelve Step Plan To Becoming An Actor by Dawn Lerman and Dori Keller. It will give you tangible ADVICE ON HOW TO GET YOUR CAREER MOVING .

Jim Stevens
LA

One of the worst things that happened to acting was the development in America of the infamous and incomplete "METHOD" propagated by a well known acting school that was popular amongst many actors including James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Steve McQueen - I wonder what the link is between their training and their deaths - is the METHOD psychologically sound and safe?

The Method is based on one of two books written by Constantin Stanislavski - a long break between publishing the two volumes (somewhere in the order of 10 years) saw the USA get a glimpse at part of what Stanislavski meant ... this little book helps fill in the gaps..

As a drama teacher I have found this an invaluable resource in teaching students about "method acting", realism, emotional recall, etc - it clearly articulates the concepts at a level that just about anyone can deal with... the pictures and the brevity of text make it an enticing read for students and teacher alike...

do yourself a favour - get this little gem and check out others in the series.

Talking With Artists volume.3

This book is pretty interesting. It is about artists who share what they like to draw and about their lives. They are asked questions such as, "Do you have any kids or pets?" The illustrators show some of pictures that they drew when they were children. They also show how the children illustrators got their inspiration to draw.

I liked this book because it was neat to see how good some of the kids are at drawing and then to see them draw as they are older. Also that was cool it showed how to draw pictures in the back of the book. I recommend this book to people who are just stating to draw and people that want to read an interesting book.

I got this book at the library for my children, but I think I enjoyed it as much as they did! (I plan to buy a copy of my own!) Instead of a cool, impersonal presentation of artists and their work, this book provides a refreshingly personal view. The artists talk about their childhoods, how they spend their days (the answers are fun & honest!), their families, and best of all, they give us peeks inside their studios. I don't know about you, but I love seeing inside of an artist's private workspace! It's like a glimpse inside his/her mind.
The styles of the artists are very diverse and they use many different techniques that kids and adults alike would like to try out. I highly recommend this book!

I recommend this book to all my students who are getting started in working with the AB SLC 500. This book will give you a great start if you are trying to learn about AB PLCs. I also recommend ... for ActiveX driver software to communicate with AB PLCs. The reason I did not rate it at five stars is because the book is a little pricey and it omits some of the more advanced ladder instructions.

Here, we can find a lot examples, of basic Programmable Logical. But, no enough examples using advanced Programming instructions such as, PID, Shift Resister, Sequencer. Excellent book for the beginners.

this book contain good valable notes on PLC's so i like to read more .

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve eyesight. The book is straightforward with complete instructions on the eye exercises. It is true that everyone can improve one's eyesight by doing eye exercise. Although the method does work, it takes time. Don't expect a quick fix. You have to be patient and persistent. I think the book has exaggerated the speed of results. I believe, for someone who has low a prescription, they can improve to see perfectly in a short period of time because I saw a big improvement in my vision for the first 3 months after I did the exercise. However, it levels off. To reduce a high presciption like me, it is slow. In my case, I was -8.75. After exerersing for a year and half, my vision has been reduced to -7. I am still doing it beliving that I will one day, many years from now, do not have to wear contacts.

By the way, don't buy the "See Clearly Method" program. It is exactly the same program described in this book but is packaged with additional video/tapes and fancy marketing for over ten times the cost of this book. Buy this book instead.

I had once asked my eye doctor if there was anything I could do to improve my eyesight. He said, "No, you will need to get stronger prescription glasses". Two years later, I stumbled upon this book. My prescription strength was -3.00 (L) and -3.50 (R), with a slight astigmatism in my right eye. After two and a half months of performing these exercises roughly every other day, my prescription strength is now -1.75 (L) and -2.25 (R), with no trace of astigmatism.

I personally don't care what method this is based on and what new packaging the authors are doing. This book works for me and that's what I care about. For the first time in 15 years, I can look at my alarm clock in the morning and see what time it is without glasses or squinting. This book has worked for me.

This is the best book ever on how to improve your eyesight. The book is concise and easy to read. "Talking about an eye opener!" If you are serious about getting rid of your glasses, this book is a must! I recently had an eye exam after only two weeks of doing the recommended eye exercises. The results were; the right eye from -3.00 D to -2.00 D and the left eye from -3.25 D to -2.50 D. "I will be for ever grateful to the authors of this Book!".

I have always been a fan of the intellectual debates in the New York Review of Books letters to the editor pages. This book consists of two articles by Crews and the subsequent debates surrounding them. I would have liked to see better defenses of Freud, but none of the eminent defenders of psychoanalysis is able to mount a serious challenge to Crews's devastating attacks.

This devastating book has two parts: (1) The Unknown Freud, where the reader gets a picture of Freud as a dictator, a megalomaniac and egotripper. A pope who alone knew the truth and who founded a secret commission to protect his 'church' against the heathen. He was a bad psychoanalyst (e.g. the Wolf Man case) and a venal man (e.g. the catastrophic Horace Fink case, where he tried to get his own hands on some money of the heiress).
I agree with the author that psychoanalysis is a pseudoscience - statements cannot be tested and the research results cannot be verified uniformly. Although it is not totally without meaning (Karl Popper), it is not a science.
(2) the revenge of the repressed
A frontal attack on the caste of the psychoanalysts, depicted as 'religious zealots, self-help evangelists, sociopolitical ideologues, and outright charlatans who trade in the ever seductive currency of guilt and blame, while keeping the doctor's fees mounting.'
The author is particularly severe with their latest 'school' : the 'recovered memory movement', based on the rape of children by their parents (really!). This lead to false accusations and condemnations of innocent people. No wonder the author predicts an accelerating collapse of psychoanalysis as a respected institution.
A much needed and courageous book to halt a profession riding at full speed on a misty highway. And a much needed angle on Freud as a person, written in a style to slaughter the not so innocent father of psychoanalysis.
After reading this book, I agree with Peter Madawar, who called doctrinaire psychoanalytic theory "the most stupendous intellectual confidence trick of the twentieth century".

Frederick Crews really knows how to tap that deep reservoir of hostility found in modern Freudian psychoanalysts. In 1993 and 1994 FC wrote two essays in the New York Review of Books debunking Freud in the first, and tearing to shreds the recovered memory movement in the second.

These two essays and the letters in response to them have been put into the book The Memory Wars. As someone trained in experimental psychology you can guess my own personal bias in this matter. Crews discusses Freud's botched cases; his frequent vacillation in theory formation; some of his sillier theories; and his serious interjection of personal bias into the formation of his beliefs. The main problem with the whole Freudian system is the total lack of scientific evidence supporting it. Freudian psychoanalysis is founded on anecdote and supported by anecdotes. To be fair, much current non-Freudian therapy is also based on anecdote. Indignant Freud followers write back, and their letters are indeed interesting (and often pompous).

The second half of the book takes on the recovered memory movement. It would be great to poke fun at this movement if it weren't for the fact that it has caused so much damage to all parties involved. Symptoms checklists are published with the statement if you suffer from these symptoms you may be a victim of sexual abuse. Read the list and you will find that the majority of Americans will find that they have been abused. It's all a patient seduction game with the intent to make big money. Hospitals have even set up units to treat such patients (Having worked in the psychiatric hospital industry I am well aware of the "product lines" that such facilities set up in order to fill beds). Crews does an excellent job of dissecting the memory movement, and once again we get to read the indignant responses.

Those who believe that psychological therapy should be based on sound scientific evidence will love this book. Those who have accepted Freudianism with a religious like faith will, of course, hate it. To me this whole subject is analogous to the evolution vs. creationist debate. It's science versus pseudoscience.

This book, by the editors of the Washington Post, does a good job of describing the events which led to the deadlocked 2000 Presidential election. In addition to detailing the paths which led to the deadlock, the book discusses all the post-election issues in a very readable format. Surprisingly, the books editors seem only slightly tilted towards Gore (especially considering it is the Washington Post, which is noted for its liberal bias), so no matter who you voted for, there is much to be found here for anyone with an interest in contemporary politics.

Two things struck me while reading this book, the first is that I doubt there is a book out there that is truly balanced and not somewhat biased. The second thing was that Gore really got the shaft, not so much by the recount wars, but by the election official that came up with the Butterfly Ballot. In the history of the USA this decision ranks up there with new Coke and the XFL, what a mistake. As far as the reporting in the book it was not bad for a review of all the articles they had in the paper, but it did not really dig into the particular issues very deeply. I wanted more detail and behind the scenes with both the candidates. I also wanted more details on the court cases; I felt like the sky-high overview of the issues of the cases did not do such an important issue justice.

In reading the book I think a little bit of a democratic bias comes out, just a little, but enough to notice. I also thought it interesting that they had far more details of the Gore group then the Bush camp, it follows the perception that the Post is somewhat liberal in its views. The book is an overview that came out almost 10 minutes after Gore hung up the phone on the second concession call so there are a few more details out now that they did not get in the book. Overall it is a good effort and a readable book, but not the end all be all on the subject.

Deadlock: The Inside Story of America's Closest Election is a workmanlike and emotionless recollection of the events surrounding the most controversial election of the past 100 years. It is a well organized, easy to follow and not visibly biased view of the relevant events leading up to and following the November 7 Presidential election. Seemingly accurate and double checked to a fault, reading this book left me with the impression that I had just read an excellent 275 page newspaper article and not much more. With almost no humor, lacking any sidebar comments, it is a book Joe Friday would be proud to call his own. While I am a Texan and Bush supporter, I much preferred Jake Tapper's Down & Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency. I guess this means that like most people, when push comes to shove, I'd rather be entertained than informed. I do regret this intellectual weakness and like some of the votes in Florida I may change. But probably not in the next 36 days.