Related Subjects: Author Index Reviews Page 1 2 3 4
Book reviews for "Allen,_Jack" sorted by average review score:
Beat Voices: An Anthology of Beat Poetry
Published in Paperback by Beech Tree Books (September, 1996)
Authors: David Kherdian, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac
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Ted Joans and Bob Kaufmann are my favorites
This is a great overview of Beat Poetics. Check out Ted Joans, who remains the most lucid of the Beat poets and who still writing and reading strong. He has just published a new collection of poetry called Our Thang, also available on Amazon. He and Bob Kaufmann are possible the two most extraordinary writers of this extraordinary generation.

a must for the new beat fan
after reading this selection many times, i have become enthraled the lives of kerouac, cassady, and ginsburg. for a new fan of these great poets, this book is a must. it will give you a great work of information that can allow you to discover the works of many innovative poets

Elementary Statistics in Social Research (8th Edition)
Published in Hardcover by Allyn & Bacon (30 September, 1999)
Authors: Jack Levin, James Alan Fox, and James Allen Fox
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Best Basic Statistical Text for Social or Policy Sciences
Excellent description of the purpose and procedures of basic statistical techniques. Uses simplified formulas, and does not get lost in the math. Easy to read and understand. Good for social science and public policy courses, including public administration. Only drawback: does not effectively incorporate computer applications.

Jack Levin, Elementary statistics in Social research
One of the best statistics books I can think of for social scientists who are not well aquainted with statistical procedures. The book is structured in several chapters, each concentrating on one statistical problem. In the first part of each chapter the theoretical background is given, followed by examples. Then, other examples are given, so that it becomes easily understandable how to correctly use the formulas respectively when they can't be used. Finally, there is a part of exercises where the reader may apply his new knowledge, before proceeding to the next chapter. However, it is just an introduction, not dealing with more complex statistical problems. Very recommendable for anyone who needs a solid basic knowledge in statistic or who wants how to start processing existing data.

Marilyn by Moonlight: A Remembrance in Rare Photos
Published in Hardcover by Dream City Publications (March, 2002)
Author: Jack Allen
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Marilyn by Moonlight: A Remembrance in Rare Photos
It is just a little difficult to state; at the risk of sounding completely redundant, however, "beauty is beauty". When it came to Marilyn Monroe, she was synonomous with the word. This book was written by one of Monroe's fan clubs, (Marilyn Remembered Club). It presents to the reader previously unpublished photos of her during her childhood thru the last days of her life. The book features truly enjoyable and memorable photos from some of her most significant films. Some even show her posing candidly with fans off the set in her "Sugar" Kovalschek costume, from "Some Like It Hot". "Marilyn By Moolight: A Remembrance in Rare Photos", should be a must have addition to any serious Monroe fan as well as any person who enjoys viewing a person who in my opinion personified,(and still does), what feminine beauty is all about. I heartily endorse this book. It is a proud addition to my extensive "Marilyn Monroe" collection.

excellent photo book
This book is written by the Marilyn Remembered Fan Club with Quotes by Marilyn Monroe and containes some of the most beautiful digitally restored photo's of her. This is one book to own if you are looking for a MM book.

The Tool Book (Smith & Hawken)
Published in Hardcover by Workman Publishing Company (October, 1997)
Authors: William Bryant Logan, Jack Allen, Georgia Glynn Smith, and Sean Sullivan
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A good book for choosing garden tools
If you are a beginning gardener and don't know the difference between a shovel and a spade, or what to use them for, this book is immensely useful. It is certainly worth the price and the time it takes to browse through it to find and understand the exact tools you will need for your individual garden before you go out shopping. In addition to pages of full color pictures of each tool, it contains historic accounts regarding the tools and some nice quotes about gardening. After reading this book I felt like I understood garden tools, whereas prior to reading it, I just used tools in a haphazard way without understanding their purpose and how they could help me in the garden.

Truly wonderful
A piece of art, fits the coffee table and yet is packed with valuable information

The Feline Friendship: A Jack Caleb and John Thinnes Mystery
Published in Hardcover by Thomas Dunne Books (May, 2003)
Authors: Michael Dymmoch and Michael Allen Dymmoch
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solid police procedural
Chicago police department veteran Detective John Thinnes is unhappy when he is forced into a partnership with the beautiful rookie detective Dom Franchi. She isn't elated that her new partner is part of the good old boy network. Both realize they have to make the best of a bad situation and their immediate superior thinks that in time it will prove to be a good pairing.

Their first case turns out to be a brutal rape in which the victim is so battered her own roommate doesn't recognize her. The rapist's next target dies but the police recognize the signature of the perpetrator and connect him to two other rape cases. A break sends Thinnes and Franchi to the northern suburb of Waukegan where a series of rapes years ago bear a startling resemblance to the crimes being committed in the present. Just when they think they have a lead in the case another woman is abducted and the bickering duo has to race against time before she is abused.

Anyone who likes to read a solid police procedural is going to love THE FELINE FRIENDSHIP, in spite of the crime topic. The plot is an action thriller that doesn't neglect in depth characterizations. It is fascinating to watch the partnership of Franchi and Thinnes evolve from prickly co-existence to one of steady understanding and trust. Michael Allen Dymmoch is an expert at creating a believable investigation so that readers understand what police officers have to deal with on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see how the Thinnes-Franchi partnership holds up in future novels.

Harriet Klausner

Incendiary Designs
Published in Hardcover by Thomas Dunne Books (October, 1998)
Author: Michael Allen Dymmoch
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Best tour of Chicago since Bueller

Psychiatrist Dr. Jack Caleb is jogging in Chicago's Lincoln Park when he hears some chanting. When he goes in the direction of the noise he observes a cultist mob about to burn a police car with the cop inside the vehicle. His presence puts a halt to the festivities and the wannabe arsonists flee the scene. Later on, the officer's partner Arlette Banks is found dead, a victim of a stoning. The Chicago police department assigns John Thinnes to investigate the case, which circumstantially point towards the cult.

However, the case becomes more complicated when members of the cult begin to die in what appears to be a series of arson fires. Soon, evidence surfaces that makes the prime suspect appear to be Dr. Morgan, a close friend of Jack. To prove his buddy, who he wants a closer relationship with, is innocent, Jack sets in motion a plan that, if it fails, will leave him and John burnt to a crisp

The third Thinnes-Caleb investigation, INCENDIARY DESIGNS, is a well-designed tale. The story line is obviously crisp and fast-paced. The secondary characters and the lead duo strengthen the plot. However, what makes Michael Allen Dymmoch's novel so good is the best tour of Chicago since Bueller needed a day off. This is a wonderful series that is worth reading.

Harriet Klausner

One Day in the World of my Brilliant Mind
Published in Paperback by Xlibris Corporation (03 October, 2000)
Authors: Bobby Jack Nelson and W. Allen Mulholland
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"Brilliant" is brilliant!
The deceptively simple, crisp, clear writing in this book never bogged down and held my interest like a magnet. The story I suppose is basically a satire. It is certainly humorous. But it is also the story of a very intelligent and serious mind, and in my estimation Bobby Jack Nelson is one of the best writers I have read. But he is also apparently not well known. Why? Perhaps because he is not "commercial". He's an artist.

Pellucidar (Bison Frontiers of Imagination)
Published in Paperback by Bison Bks Corp (November, 2002)
Authors: Edgar Rice Burroughs, J. Allen St. John, Jack McDevitt, and James Allen St John
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David Innes returns to Pellucidar for Dian the Beautiful
"Pellucidar" is the second volume in the Pellucidar series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and find our hero David Innes and his scientist friend Abner Perry returning to the inner world. At the end of "At the Earth's Core" the duo had returned to the surface only to discover that Hooja the Sly One has substituted a Mahar, one of the rhamphorhynchus-like sentient reptiles that tyrannized Pellucidar, for Dian the Beautiful, the woman Innes loves. So the plan is to get back down there, rescue Dian, and if time allows end the exploitation of the primitive humans by the evil Mahars. The good news is that Innes returns to the inner world, but the bad news is that he ends up in a different part of Pellucidar where he has no friends and new enemies. This 1923 novel is stanrd ERB adventure, where the hero is separated by circumstances and bad guys from the woman he lives (in fact, it is very reminiscent of "The Gods of Mars," the second John Carter novel). But this is still before ERB was in his potboiler stage where the main game was turning out as many Tarzan novels as possible. What makes Pellucidar a bit different from the rest of the Burroughs fantasy adventures is the unique geography of the inner world and the prominence of smart guy scientist Abner as a supporting character (i.e., the brains of the outfit). If at all possible you want to pick up a copy of "Pellucidar" that has the original illustrations by Illustrated by J. Allen St. John, who remains by favorite ERB artist. The Pellucidar series consists of six stories, including a Tarzan crossover, and continues in "Tanar of Pellucidar," but these first two novels stand alone as

LlamaScout Like Book
Pellucidar continues the tale of David, the lovable protagonist from At The Earth's Core. It tells the story of his return trip to the fabled subterrainian stone-age land known as Pellucidar. Here he must locate old friends, reunite with his lost loved one, and face his all-but-forgotton foes.

Burroughs' writing is simply fabulous, and even makes the characters seem all the more realistic, though many of them are not even human, but sentient creatures who can exist only in the minds of great writers like Burroughs, and in the land known as Pellucidar.

Thrilling Adventures Inside The Hollow Earth
In the incredible world inside the Earth David Innes discovers a new frontier for Mankind. He strove to carve a civilization out of its Stone Age perils. But the kidnapping of the beautiful cave-woman-empress, Dian, made him drop his fight for advancement and enter into a still greater battle against all the primitive monsters of Pellucidar!

1st rate book!

Four Plays: Bald Soprano/the Lesson/Jack or the Submission/the Chairs
Published in Paperback by Grove Press (June, 1982)
Authors: Eugene Ionesco and Donald M. Allen
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The Bald Soprano: a lesson in futility
This book, being one of Ionesco's greatest, is without a doubt the epitome of the Theatre of the Absurd. I read this in a college french class of mine a few years ago and loved it. One warning for those who are unaccustomed to the tenets of this genre: this book does not make sense to the normal mind! nor does it intend to. The lesson this book teaches us is about the extent to which we take our language, and the reality behind it. Ionesco shows us, with alarming ease, that our language as we know it is useless, and ends up leading us in nothing but circles. Futility is a very crucial theme for this type of literature, and it is expressed by Ionesco wonderfully. If you'd like to try something with "a little more to it" , so to speak, Jean-Paul Sartre is a good place to start. Enjoy this book, this genre, and the lessons they provide.

The paradox of tragedy
I am directing the Bald Soprano soon. One of my major battles has been this: How do I translate Ionesco's ideas to my audience. Ionesco did not write his seemingly meaningless text to be a funny piece of sensless fluff. Ionesco saw in his work a profound meaning with deep implications. He shows us six people, whose interactions with each other are completely absurd and meaningless. The characters speak to each other in endless non-sequinters and cliches. They cannot communicate with one another. Their inablity to communicate unltimatally leads to conflict and the end, not only of the play, but of the lives of these characters (made alive only as long as the play lasts) the audience laughs at this. They look at these characters on the stage and think, "What aweful people they are." What they don't realize is that they are laughing at themselves. It is infact they who scurry about the earth speaking to one another with meaningless words, and in cliches. They are trapped in a world of political correctness, and useless sayings. They don't communicate, but say only what they are expected to say. They fight about things that have no eternal significance, and they fight until it is impossible for either side to win. The Bald Soprano shows us ourselves. The tragedy of the Bald Soprano is that we laugh at it, because we except that our relationships and indeed our existance is laughable. The tragedy is that we don't even know that we are laughing at ourselves, because we are blind to our own faults. WE don't allow ourselves to see that we are talking without speaking, and fighting without winning. The difficulty to the director is: How do we make the audience see Ionesco's point. If we made it completely obvious, than it would lose it's comic value, for who could laugh if they knew how desperate their circumstance was. And if they don't laugh, than the play loses it's tragedy. It would be simple if Ionesco had given us some text at the end to wrap it up, and tell the audience the meaning. But Ionesco didn't see the need to. To him, it was not possible for humanity to change. Even if he had made the audience understand that the characters were showing them themselves, they would not have been willing to change. To IOnesco, the world was headed on a downward spiral, so we night as well laugh about it, even if it is at our own expense.

Utter perfection of absurdism
In The Bald Soprano, Ionesco captures the true essence of the Theatre of the Absurd, while also offering significant political and social commentary. This is all not without the presence of humour. The Lesson contains Ionesco's traditional absurdist touch, but is indeed more grave and at times, disturbing. The focus is on the teacher-student relationship, but not without further political and social commentary. These two plays are essential for an understanding of Ionesco and his dramatic techniques, and, of course, they are both brilliant works of modern drama.

Skull Full of Spurs
Published in Hardcover by Dark Highway Press (01 May, 2000)
Authors: Richard Laymon, Brian Hodge, Jason Bovberg, Kirk Whitman, Allen G. Douglas, Jack Ketchum, and Yvonne Navarro
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Weird Western Tales had nothing on this book.
Inspired by Joe R. Lansdale and DC comics such as Weird Western Tales and Jonah Hex, Dark Highway's Skull Full of Spurs left a big ole smile on this cowpoke's face. Jack Ketchum's story Luck, about a man who continues to get himself killed over and over and the unfortunate fates of his killers was one of the books highlights. Another was Richard Laymon's story The Hangman, a great and surprisingly funny story about a vengeful ghost. The stories about the midget sheriff, a magic bullett which hangs in midair in the middle of main street and Cthulhu mythos in the old west are all also great. Pick this book up.

Twisted, Twisted, Twisted
Skull Full Of Spurs lives up to its name: It is truly a roundup of weird Western tales that will shock you, scare you and entertain you to the uttermost degree. I had a blast reading this book and anyone who's a fan of horror fiction will, too.

The book contains 12 stories, all of them good, none of them bad. But of course, some stand out against the others. Jack Ketchum's "Luck" is a great little campfire tale, Rick Hautala's "The Screaming Head" is about a horrifying folklore legend that comes to life and Yvonne Navarro's "Divine Justice" plays with the idea of heaven and hell in a Western setting.

But there are three great masterpieces of the bizarre in this book. Richard Laymon's "The Hangman" is a classic ghost story mixed with the elements of the Western tale and ends up being a great, satisfying read. Lawrence Walsh's "The Devil's Crapper" is a funny and twisted story that will make you laugh with every word and every sentence. And Adam-Troy Castro's "The Magic Bullet Theory" (the longest story in the book) is an epic tale that is brilliantly written and highly satisfying.

And if that's not enough for you, there are also stories by Edward Lee, M. Christian, Nancy A. Collins and a very twisted, very disturbing story by Robert Devereaux. Skull Full Of Spurs has it all; horror, action, fantasy, humour... It has something to please every reader of the genre. This is one collection you'll want to come back to time and time again. So saddle up part'ner and get ready to be entertained!

A helluva fun read
I just finished Skull Full of Spurs and I thought it was great. My favorite was the story by Edward Lee. It's a real departure for him. The Brian Hodge story is also quite good. I haven't enjoyed a book this much since Razored Saddles. I'd like to see more of these weird western type stories hit the shelves.

Highly recommended.

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