Great book. Well-written, humorous, well-plotted. I look forward to more books in what could be a well-done series. I'm a big fan of John Morgan Wilson's Justice series and while this is not as dark as those can be, it is well worth the read.

Blue Moon is one of those rare pieces I read in one sitting. The authors craft a story with good pace (the celluloid runs through your mind during the car chase to the Golden Gate Bridge) Having been interested in the Duchin story for years, the authors play with Peter Duchin's personal history and use it to wonderful effect. Just as Philip Damon prefers of his music, the book "swings".

Society bandleader Peter Duchin and Edgar Award winning author John Morgan Wilson team up and give us a smoothly written little mystery in "Blue Moon."

Set in the San Francisco of 1963, they blend history with fiction in an action packed noirish plot.

Celebrities and pop icons of the day from Joe DiMaggio to Andy Warhol---Jackie Kennedy to Jack Kerouac---Truman Capote to Willie Mays pop up along with a major part for Herb Caen.

It has the feel of Archy McNally meeting up with The Thin Man---snappy dialogue, complex plot, lotsa characters with agendas, many cocktails, dead bodies and an alto sax playing San Francisco Inspector who sits in with the protagonist's (Philip Damon) band.

It is an excellent amateur sleuth whodunit peopled with intriguing characters. The atmosphere of sixties San Francisco is truly captured.

There are many laughs along the way. "Blue Moon" is big fun.

This book (as the subtitle says) is a humorous collections of cliches and un-truisms that can be gathered from watching movies. The book takes only about five minutes to read and some of the observations are hilarious, some are right on the money, and some just don't make sense outside of movies. Each statement has a picture from a movie beside it that illustrates what is said. For instance, "The village Idiot is a veritable font of wisdom" quote is next to a picture of Forrest Gump. Some of the observations many of my friends did not understand. Unfortunately, if you are like me and get most of them, you've probably seen too many movies.

"No problem is so big that it can't be solved in 12 reels (or less)". This is a typical statement that one reads in large font opposite of a movie still that complements it. This book is funny and will make you laugh and maybe even says "Huh! Thats true!", or "Oh yeah!" The book is not really a read, so to speak, but a gander across some 200 pages which will take minutes to complete. The title itself is a play on Robert Fulghum's (forever parodied) popular self-help book "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten". Not something I would go out of my way for, however it has some insight into the world of movies and how there are some things that typify the cinematic lifestyle.

I hope you have as much fun reading this humorous collection of film cliche's as I had writing it and collecting the movie stills which illustrate it. I know I wrote it, but I still laugh out loud at my favorite entries every time I pick it up. WHY NOT PICK UP A COPY YOURSELF

The author presents a fascinating and original view on the spatial organization of culture, with many wide-ranging implications. The "domestication" of humans occurred when fomerly nomadic peoples settled down to a sedentary, agricultural (Neolithic) life. Whereas nomaic hunter/gatherers have a "focus-oriented" spatial framework, domesticated people have a "boundary-oriented" framework. Architecture and walls have a fundamental influence over behavior, ideas, and culture.

Although the book has many fascinating insights, it suffers from the overly-broad category of "domesticated cultures." These include everything from the Neolithic revolution up to the industiral revolution. For Wilson, there is very little difference between tribal Neolithic cultures and the preindustrial states of antiquity. Yet the social organizations, use of space, and many other aspects of culture differ widely within "domesticated cultures," and this variation weakens considerably the applicability of Wilson's insights.

The book is nevertheless worth reading for its numerous insights and fresh ideas. For example, he suggests that Roy Rappaport's characterization of rituals (repetition, formal structure, unity, etc.) can be applied to architecture. This has numerous implications (not fully explored by Wilson) and constitutes an independent approach to the built-environment theme of Amos Rapaport and others.

This book offers the best understanding so far of the basics of human evolution. The writing of a very sophisticated yet obvious process in such a clear and understandable way makes this book a masterpiece.

By incorporating the concepts of Wilson's evolution theories into the study of psychology and humanities we, potentially, have the key for an 'evolutionary jump'of understanding how we got here and why.

I enjoyed this book because it was facinating the way that F. Paul Wiilson was able to focus so many writers to create separate stories. Yet, the stories come together to create a world within a novel that will haunt me forever. I'll never forget it. I've read the book several times since I originally purchased it a couple of years ago on a whim. I'm sorry that it's out of print, because now I'm afraid to lose my copy. P.S. An aside to Mr. Wilson...even though it might have been a hassle (dealing with all of the egos and personalities necessary to get this done), from my perspective, it was worth it...

An unusual horror anthology, in which an overriding story ties together all the tales within. It's horrific, smart and filled to the gills with great characers.

The book relates the story of a travelling circus and freak show - The Peabody-Ozymandias Traveling Circus and Oddity Emporium - that, while entertaining (and grossing-out) folks, seeks out pieces of a mysterious machine that threatens all humanity upon its completion. We're treated to all sorts of weirdos, and they're downright frightening, kids. The fiction treatment of even the common types of freak show participants - the mystic, the fattest man, snake-boy - is chilling.

This is a super-rare paperback book, but if you come across it ANYWHERE, even if you don't like horror, get it.

"Pirate Utopias"is a refreshingly new look at an almost forgotten episode in European/North African history.Wilson not only examines the lives and actions of several notorious pirates in order to identify their incentive,but paints them against a colourful backdrop of a restricted Christian Europe,comparing this picture with the more democratic tendencies of the Islamic nations. During the period concerned (from the 16th to the 19th century),several thousand European Renegadoes renounced Christianity to join the pirate "jihad".In Wilson's view,only a few had been forced to convert,but the majority may have chosen Islam in order to practise social resistance.- The author's view on the socio-political aspects is challenging our pre-conceived perceptions on piracy in particular and history (in the Hegelian Monumentalist sense) in general. He describes the Bou Regreg republics as the first democratic spaces ashore-the pirate ships already being such. While the main subject of the book is to examine and re-evaluate the relationship between Islamic pirates and European renegades,Wilson also uses the figure of Corsair Captain Murad Reis as a link to inspect piracy in 17th century Ireland. Because a closer look would stretch the limits of this book,he kept it brief,just as he only mentions the Uskoks in a footnote. Consequently the latter Utopias of Hispaniola,Libertatia and Nassau are confined to the last chapter. It is a generally well-researched book,which is very exciting in its innovative take on piracy in relation to larger social structures. An exciting book which satiates your literary appetite only to leave you wanting more! And good fun to read, too...

I really thought this book was great. It has a unique stance and is not just written from a historical perscpective. Wilson's premise is that the pirate republic of Salle was actually the first democracy (leadership not based on class, race or money) even before the French Revolution, though I'm still a bit skeptical on that point, I thought it was well argued and a good read. I've actually bought this book a few times and given it away to freinds and had to buy a it again! I especially liked the chapter on female pirates.

This is a very good book for those in the military establishment to study and heed. One point though, it is quite complicated to follow and requires a bit of technical knowledge of simulations and how the military runs exercises in order to fully grasp RAND's conclusions. Not for the faint of heart or curious reader.

Dr. Molander et. al. do an outstanding job bringing home the dangerous reality of warfare in the information age. The scenarios are well-designed and plausible, and the entire work is engaging and readable.

4wd Adventures is a monstrous book. Seriously, this thing has to weigh a couple of pounds. It comes loaded with historical information, information on nature, and some nice maps.

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Well, I'm a bit iffy on this encyclopedic compendium. Let me tell you why, when I first arrived in Moab I talked with a bunch of fourwheelers and asked them where they were headed. They told me I have to check out the Sands Flat Rec. area. Honestly, I blew them off. Why? Well, I had this huge book full of trails. What did they know that my 4wd Adventures couldn't tell me? So I pick out the best of the best of Moab and go driving around some trails. Overall I was disappointed. The trails had some fun spots (I'm talking mainly the ones located within the Arches), and it was lovely to see, but overall...ehhh, I wouldn't do it again. I head back to my hotel and remember my earlier discussion with the fourwheelers, and I decide to check it out. I couldn't believe my eyes.

With their help, I had found the Slickrock Trails. This is the spot that helped put Moab on the map! Why in the world was it not included in this book? Everything else was! This area is a gem, and absolute marvel. But the book? Basically, the book was a real let down, especially for the price I paid. Note, I haven't tried much of the other trails, but a good portion of them are rated as 1, 2, and 3 on the difficulty level, which can be likened to driving up your dirt driveway. I'm not one of those maniacal fourweelers with the giant tires and portable welding kits, but I was surprised by how much of this book I don't really need.

Want my advice? Skip this one and check out the Guide To Moab, UT Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails by Charles A. Wells, Shelley Mayer.

A fantastic reference book that makes back country exploring not only possible for anyone at any desired level of difficulty (or not), but also great fun. This book rolls trail information & descriptions , places and history, for the whole state, into one comprehensive book; great value for money.

This book like the first one, is a comprehensive guide to the Utah back roads. Anyone who is interested in driving the back roads must have this book.

Over the past forty years, Coldham has become a very highly regarded compiler of volumes of information from London's Public Records Office relating to British emigration to North America. This time he mines the PRO's vast collection of papers dealing with American Loyalist Claims. (The National Genealogical Society attempted this as long ago as 1980, but they managed to abstract only thirty-seven boxes of papers -- out of 150 -- before funding dried up.) The first claims were made following depredations against property owned by Loyalists by mobs opposing the Stamp Act of 1765 and they resumed ten years later and continued throughout the Revolution. The papers themselves vary widely, "from one-liners jotted on a dirty scrap of paper to immaculately penned essays and printed expositions," and Coldham has examined and extracted key data from all of them. An introductory essay describes the conditions under which applications for relief were made and the problems encountered by those who made them. Proving residence and ownership of property apparently was the major stumbling block in dealing with the Claims Commission's bureaucracy in London. A large part of many of the memorials examined was the applicant's elaborate protestations of loyalty to the Crown, which have been deleted. Unfortunately for some readers, Coldham seems also to have eliminated the details of British military service included in many others. However, complete citations to the originals are included in each alphabetical abstract for followup research. If you haven't found DAR-type service for your late-18th century ancestor, you will want to peruse this volume. And of special interest to those of us here in Louisiana are the three dozen relief applications submitted by those residing in West Florida.

I found this book, which is an anthology of essays on the subject of the community gardens movement in New York City and other urban areas, to be very informative and a good source of history. Though I do not have an intiuitive understanding of the consciousness of most environmentalists, and I have grown little more than an avocado plant in my lifetime, this book helped me better undertstand the importance of natural surroundings to the urban community. The opposing forces are the indigenous, autonomous, self-help movement that created the gardens on garbage-strewn, abandoned lots during the 1970s; and the government's favoritism toward private developers and other forces of gentrification which threaten the ethnic and class diversity of the city.

For anyone new to the technology or interested in learning the technology behind creating VPNS, this a a very useful book. The author has done a good job explaining in detail what is necessary. More and more companies are turning to VPN's to provide themselves with secure means of transmitting company information and resources. this book will help get you in the right direction1