The Kirkus review of James Whitcomb Riley: A Life is hardly a fair one. It criticizes the book because of two opinions of the reviewer that clearly the author had no hope of changing:

1. The facts about Riley are not as interesting as the myths about his life.

2. He was not the author of great literature.

It is, of course, the duty of the serious biographer to present the truest picture possible of the life of the biography's subject. To this end, Elizabeth Van Allen has done a prodigious amount of research in documents relating to the life of Riley. The result is a scholarly but readable and interesting book. She rightly puts to rest the myths about the poet, intriguing though they may be. Furthermore, as a historian, Van Allen discusses the significance of Riley's poetry but does not attempt to defend it as outstanding literature.

Certainly, the biography of Riley will be most popular in Indiana where he is still revered by many, but it also will be of interest to anyone who is interested in American cultural history. In presenting the context for Riley's early years, the author paints a clear picture of life in the Midwest in the second half of the 19th century. As Riley rises to national fame, the reader learns of the role of newspapers as a purveyor of literature in the late 19th century, the national importance of regional literature in that century, and the important role of the national lecture circuit as mass entertainment of the period.

As an immensely popular entertainer on platforms throughout the nation and later through the marketing efforts of his publisher and of Riley himself, before movies, radio, television, or rock and roll, Riley was the 19th century precursor of the 20th century pop culture celebrity. This fact alone makes him a figure worth reading about and the author's authoritative and entertaining book worth buying.

Another evaluation of the book that is recommended is the review by Rich Gotshall in the Indianapolis Star issue of Sunday, November 7, 1999.

We received book as a gift for our 7 year old son. He was able to read it during Mass. It answered many of his questions about the Stations of the Cross.

I enjoyed this book very much. It is about a young female duck, that is a telephone operator. A lot of people know her and she is almost famous. One day while manning the phones, and stating the time, she heard a cry of help. She went everywhere trying to figure out who it was because she really wanted to help. When it all came down to it all it was, was a little kid playing with her doll on the phone. Her doll was saying, "Help, help."
I would recommend this to people because it shows how much people care for little things like someone saying help. Mary Alice was a very good duck and more people should be like her. This would be a very good book for little kids that like to read funny stories.

As an early elementary school teacher, I read a lot of children's books. Mary Alice is one of my all-time favorites. She is a very efficient telephone operator who tells people the time. "At the tone, the time will be 1 o'clock exactly. Quack". (Did I mention, she's a duck?) Mary Alice catches a cold so Boss Chicken insists that she go home to take care of herself. Her boss tries to assure her the position could easily be filled by someone, but Mary Alice is hurt by the remarks and frets over someone permanently replacing her. Boss Chicken interviews and hires a series of different operators, who, for various reasons, don't fit the bill (no pun intended). The snake hisses and scares the customers, the dog can't tell time, an armandillo has trouble seeing the clock, and the beaver is so eager that she can't wait for people to call her so SHE calls them. In the end, Boss Chicken fully understands the difficulty of the job and appreciates Mary Alice.
The story and the pictures are wonderfully funny. I especially love the picture of Mary Alice wearing her pink bunny slippers.
What makes this story even better is that it lends itself to dramatic storytelling. I use different voices for the various characters in the story.
My kids and I thoroughly enjoy Mary Alice Operator Number 9 and I know you will, too.

If you want to know how it really was for the presidency, for poor men who followed God and served the Lord, read this book. You feel like you are really there with them. It brings you closer to their troubles and their triumphs. It was inspiring, and so real.

The Moon Maid: Complete And Restored is a classic pulp-magazine saga of the late Edgar Rice Burroughs' science fiction adventure hero Julian the 5th whose destiny is to be reincarnated again and again, until he can lead mankind's fight for freedom against vicious alien oppressors from the moon. An engaging science fiction odyssey by the celebrated creator of Tarzan, The Moon Maid includes countless passages, sentences, and words originally removed from the magazine edition and/or added later by the author. Enhanced with an brief but informative introduction by Terry Bison, this superbly presented Bison Press edition of The Moon Maid is a "must-read" and "must-have" for the legions of Edgar Rice Burroughs fans everywhere!

Very good book. I like how it has scriptural references so I can go back and read it in the scriptures as well. The pictures are really cool too. It is sure to be a Christmas favorite in my family!

The authors have used real-world measures of quality (=dependability) to define a strategy for improving the TRUE QUALITY of manufacturing output for electronic products and sub-assemblies. If you're involved in electronic design and manufacturing (as I am), chances are your present employer is doing many costly things in the name of Quality that you KNOW are counterproductive. This gem of a book points out a lot of these practices, and provides OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE about how they're bad and why we do them anyway. And if you're like me, this book will also point out a few things you DIDN'T KNOW where counterproductive, too. Reading and studying this book has made me DETERMINED to fight the forces of pseudo-quality that are a growing menace within the company I work for. Wish me luck!

Writing after the fact, historians often conclude that a war was preventable. This is generally false, as the dispassionate writer is removed from the context of the times. The war in 1812 between the United States and Great Britain has often been viewed as a pointless, forgettable war, yet in fact it had enormous consequences. The war was the defining moment of the Madison presidency and a significant break from the policy of the previous Jefferson and early Madison administrations. In describing the war, Rutland is masterful in describing the context and emotions of the times, the combination of which caused a war that was inevitable.
At the time, the Napoleonic wars were raging on the European continent and both Britain and France sought to wring every advantage they could out of what they considered an upstart nation. For years, Jefferson and Madison tried every tactic they could short of war in an attempt to delay a call to arms. Finally, national pride won out over all other factors and the war began. Madison's conduct of the war was not nearly as effective as it could have been, and yet the tie was all that was needed. James Monroe, the successor to Madison, enunciated what is now known as the Monroe doctrine, which warned all nations to avoid colonization efforts in the Western Hemisphere. With little American sea power to back it up, it was the first example of cooperation between Britain and the United States, as the enforcement was due to the power of the British navy. It is doubtful that this could have happened without the war.
The ways in which Rutland places the war in the context of power struggles in Europe and in the United States is masterful, as he describes how fragmented the United States was in those years. It is also possible to see the seeds of an eventual split and internal war, not over the issue of slavery, but over commercial and social differences.
In so many ways, Madison's best years were behind him when he became president. And yet, his handling of the war of 1812 was most likely the best that could have been done, as he sought to defend a fractious nation against an old foe who afterward became a staunch ally. For that reason alone, his administration should be considered a success and this book is the most realistic appraisal of his years in the White House that I have ever seen.

This book is exceptional. It provides several programming scenarios for different operations, then lists the good and bad points of each. It also explains in which situation they are best used. For example: .NET Remoting vs. Web Services vs. COM

There are several performance tips given that I never thought about and they really work . . . I, of course, had to test them for myself.

If you are like me, you don't have time to test every scenario to find out which technique is best for every situation, this book helped to guide me in the right direction.