In this absurb comedy, Christopher Durang makes a bold statement about our violent society, our hunger for sensationlism, and how we have come to view human horror and tragedy as entertainment. Through characters that appear as stereotypes of dysfunction, Durang demonstrates the worst of human nature, amorality and a lack of personal responsibility. The audience is treated to rape, murder, maming, incest, sexual addiction...to name of few...all in the name of "comedy". I didn't find the play funny. Instead, it was very disturbing in the portrayal of a society obsessed with violence and horror...one not that far from the one in which we currently live.

"Betty's Summer Vacation" is a thinly veiled attack on "tabloid television" and the people who follow it obsessively. Basically, the same man who has taken on complex human relationships, religion and politics in his work has stooped to shooting proverbial fish in a barrel.

That's not to say the play isn't funny. It's uproarious. Betty is a perfect "voice of reason" for the other characters to play off of. And while the material is ridiculously dark - rape, sexual perversion and murder is the norm - Durang's handling of such is light-hearted enough to not be disgusted.

(Side note: Could this play work in a society not as desensitized to violence and sexual mayhem? Hasn't tabloid television and the instant gratification trigger of the masses been one of the main culprits of said desensitizing? Discuss.)

Make no mistake: This is a well written, funny play from one of the great comic playwrights of his generation. But Durang "taking on" instant gratification through television is akin to the Lakers playing my college intramural team.

It's been a rough decade for Christopher Durang. A handful of lukewarm scripts had people wondering if the vicious and yet strangely empathetic edge of his writing had been lost forever. Thankfully, with Betty's Summer Vacation, Durang is back with style. This bizarre allegory about our tendency to turn real-life tragedy into entertainment is right on the money and has all the earmarks of Durang's best scripts: A likeable but ineffectual central character fighting desperately for normality, an insane matriarch, and a cadre of strange characters imbued with an inhuman honesty that is unintentionally brutal, and completely hysterical. This will not be to everyone's taste; there are vile situations played for laughs (including a rape - possibly Durang's most disturbing writing since "The Nature and Purpose of the Universe"), and a healthy dose of absurdism and audience alienation. But if you like to think and laugh and be disgusted all at the same time, pick up Betty's Summer Vacation. If your idea of theatre comedy is, say Run For Your Wife, you best keep running.

We loved the pictures in this book! Unfortunately, the plot was lacking. A pig, who is about to eaten by the ferocious beast, manages to divert the beast's intentions by pointing out that he is overweight. The pig proceeds to cook diet foods for the beast. The verse was humorous to adults; my children, however, were not that interested. The ending left much to be desired.

This is a great book with wonderful illustrations, but be prepared to explain to your Nick-kid why Maggie is not in this book:)

My children couldn't get enough of this story. They loved the text and the pictures... I can't tell you how many times I've read this to them. it's a great bed time book.

Its cover claims that this book can "change your perceptions and enhance your destiny." That would be likely only if the reader had never read a word about or given a single thought to the subject of communication. Michael J. Papa has reduced a terribly complex topic to gross simplifications and cliches. Most of what he has written "goes without saying." Usually I can find some reason for keeping a book, even if it isn't exactly what I hoped it would be, but I'm returning this one.

I believe this book gives great insights into reading & understanding people from all walks of life. This book shows a new and unusual perspective to how to learn about communication through body language. This book can help you with your relationships personally, in business, even with nature on many levels. If you are looking for a different way of seeing the world and getting along with it, this book is for you.

This book is insightful and gives a unique prospective as to how to read into, not only people but also the world around you. Understanding body-language and Mr. Papa's use of what he calls the "Levelizing Technique" can help anyone avoid the pitfalls that we all suffer in our personal and business relationships. This book is well worth the price and time that it may take you to absorb the information and principals that it encompasses.

I rarely write reviews, but I felt misled by the other review available for this book. The review is both well-written and encouraging. Unfortunately the same can't be said for Ms. Berzon's book. It's full of relationship clichés familiar to anyone who has watched daytime TV in the past 15 years, "alcohol can affect your sex life," "self-esteem issues can lead to infidelity." There are a few gay cliches to distinguish this from the trite of the self-help books available for straights, "gay men are less likely to assume that monogamy is an integral part of committed relationship" etc. These are not exact quotes, but they're accurate enough. Read the sample pages available here. The book doesn't get any more insightful. I'm sure we're all intrigued by the possibility that we may only be touching the surface of our relationship potential, but this book isn't going to help you.

This is a well-written, informative book. The author is insightful and understanding, at times penetratingly so, often drawing observations from both her personal, extended experience, and from the lives of those she counsels. She has the wisdom of one who has seen many social and cultural shifts over the past decade, and this is well-reflected in her work. No book is a magic bullet; this one inspires, encourages, and lends persective. Lesbian and Gay relationships are often targets of disruption because usually, nobody wants them to succeed; sometimes not even those who are in them. The author does an excellent job of tempering one's vision and supporting the need for building respectful boundaries in a loving, healthy relationship that nurtures and protects both people. I highly recommend this book; it was well-worth my time, attention, and investment.

This book is great! I have read a large number of gay relationship books lately - trying to figure out why my partner of 8 years wanted to all of a sudden break up. We had never had an argument and got along just fine (or so I thought). After reading Ms. Berzon's book, I realized that we were only touching the surface of our relationship potential. Realizing this, finding out why, and what I could do about it has given me hope to save our relationship. Thanks to Ms. Berzon for this insightful and useful book.

This book is helpful if you read it in the beginning of pregnancy. It does a lot of cheerleading for you to get the most out of your employer for maternity leave but lacks specific instructions or advice. I was looking for ways to get the most out of the maternity leave I was already on and the book did not fit my needs.

This book is good to read if you have not yet even thought about your maternity leave yet, like in your 2nd trimester of pregnancy. However, if you've already got some idea of what you're doing, or if you're already on leave (like myself), then it really doesn't have a lot of info for you. Really, the parts that I found most helpful in my situation were just emotional anecdotes about how crazy you feel at this time in your life - it's just nice to know someone else feels the way I do. The answer to the question the title seems to ask ("how do I make the most of my maternity leave?") is really given as "Don't expect to get anything accomplished on your leave. Just take care of that baby." Well, I think there are better suggestions out there than that. (If I may be so presumptuous, I'll add my own advice - Get the baby on a tight 3-4 hour feeding schedule. Keep a pen and paper by your chair where you feed the baby. While the baby's feeding, make a list of things you want to get done. That way you at least know when you can do things, and when you have that time, you know what needs to be done. It's working for me!)

The book does offer some facts about leaves of absence and ideas about alternative child care and work arrangements, but this was knowledge I already had, at my stage of the game. The title of the book should have been "The Best Friend's Guide to Maternity Leave: PLANNING FOR Your Precious Time at Home."

(Another note, and this is a pet peeve: the author takes literary license and writes with sentence fragments, which is fine in small doses. However, there are so many examples of this in the book that it makes it very distracting/awkward to read in some places....)

A cross between the "Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy" and "The Rules," this guide is chock full of useful advice on how to handle your maternity leave from work. The author takes you step-by-step on all the essential steps of your maternity leave, from deciding how much time you will need off to making the transition back to work. You will learn a great deal about what steps you'll need to take before, during and after the birth of your child. Some important topics that are covered include how to negotiate time off, deciding between breast and bottle, making the transition to parenthood, how to find time for yourself, and finding quality childcare. Last, but not least, an entire chapter is dedicated to getting back to work. With the humor and wit of this book, you will feel like your best friend is with you during the entire time - giving you real-life wisdom and perspective that only a best friend could give you. A great gift for your pregnant friends that will be returning to work.

Of the several Betty Crocker's cookbooks that I have tried, this one lacks in presentation (pictures bunched in the middle of the book) and in flavor

I have found this cookbook to be a great addition to my kitchen. It has recipes of varying levels and diversity througout. Good buy especially if you hate eating leftovers for days!

Everytime I cook something from this book my husband loves it -- just once! No more leftovers! You can through out your Tupperware and start cooking the right amount for two. The ones I've tried have been really tasty and healthy too; the portions aren't skimpy either. I like that the nutrition info is so clear.

Just in case you think any of what this writer said is real, I'll bet you that most of it was lies.

Yes, Jack was murdered. Yes, the sisters were tried. The only injustice, however, is that Peggy wasn't found guilty.

You see, the lovely thing about tv shows and books is that they can skew reality into whatever they want them to say. They don't always show what REALLY happened.

You wanna know what REALLY happened with Jack, Peggy, James, and Betty? Why don't you read through The Huntsville Times for the past 10 years? I'll bet you didn't know that Betty Wilson had actually plotted to have Jack murdered at least once before.

Yes, James is a liar, but who knows? He could've actually been telling the truth.

I actually know one of the people who was a witness in the trial. I knew the victim (he was my family's eye doctor). I know what went on, and this book is an all-out lie.

I like to read crime books in which, at the end, justice has been done, but such is not the case in Jim Schutze's *By Two and Two*. It tells the story of two Alabama sisters charged with conspiring to murder the husband of one of them. Although apparently neither woman was involved in the crime, one was found guilty and the other was not, because of personal, social and racial issues tangential to the case. In pursuing the investigation, well-meaning police were evidently manipulated and deceived by a career criminal who sought, and won, preferential treatment by helping them make a case against the women. The author himself was clearly disturbed by the outcome

I want to know some background on Betty and Peggy. Maiden name and parents, and siblings?? What city and state they were born in? childhood pictures?

When I lived in Hong Kong in the 90's, Wei's book was a useful introduction to ways to behave around Hong Kong hosts and clients. But the book suffers from a typical Hong Kong problem, the reluctance to prepare the first-time visitor for the more unpleasant "underbelly" of Hong Kong society, which any westerner has to deal with. There is a general sense of insecurity in Hong Kong society which affects all interactions with westerners, business or social, and grows out of the tragic influx of millions of refugees fleeing China to the safety of British Hong Kong - this aspect of Hong Kong is not dealt with by Wei, but is dealt with in Jan Morris's Hong Kong (which contains much other fascinating information). A knowledge of this tragic history (which is often too painful for Hong Kong Chinese to discuss - like any criticism of Hong Kong, it causes loss of "face"), is essential for any understanding of how the place works. The unpleasant fallout from this historical situation, in terms of the societal frustration and bad public behaviour it causes, is dealt with brilliantly in Bo Yang's The Ugly Chinaman and the Crisis in Chinese Culture. Two novels of Hong Kong, Timothy Mo's The Monkey King and Paul Theroux's Kowloon Tong, offer suprisingly accurate takes on many actions and attitudes that the vistor and short term resident in Hong Kong will encounter, but can again be too painful to discuss. All the above books deal with things Betty Wei doesn't, and knowing about them will enrich your understanding of this interesting city during your visit/domicile there. Also helpful for understanding Hong Kong is the "classic" Hong Kong book, Myself a Mandarin, by Austin Coates.

While I've not been to Hong Kong, I've had supervisors and co-workers who were Hong Kong persons, and have done some reading about this unique cultural mix. Thus I can't speak for the accuracy of all details except to say that the ones I can verify are accurate.

The authors' knowledge of the SAR is clearly that of the native, and an effort has been made to explain cultural nuances that a non-Hong Kong author might never have seen. (Example: the way of life of the vast majority of low-paid publicly-housed wage labourers, most of whom are Chinese.) Of course, there's a tradeoff: we do not get the perspective of a non-Hong Kong person as to what stands out. Ideally one author would have been native and another an immigrant.

It was published, however, before the 1997 handover, so a lot has probably changed since then and I can't recommend it for those interested in the politics and government of Hong Kong. For those interested in the culture--which will change only slowly, barring drastic action by Beijing--it's a very useful reference.

This book contains a lot of good historical information on Hong Kong, but it came out before the biggest historical event of recent years -- the return of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule. I hope the authors are working on an updated version. It would also benefit from the inclusion of a good map to give people planning their first visit to Hong Kong a sense of proportion and location.

I have been a Pagan for over 12 years now, but I was mainly concerned with Low or Sympathetic Magics. I wanted to 'upgrade' my studies, and since I work with the Egyptian Neter, I thought this book would help. Since I believe all books have some use, and there was a lot of information about the Gods themselves in here, I gave the book 3 stars. However, it is not a book for the novice, and there was a strong undertone of Golden Dawn Teachings, which I was not looking for. I suggest that a person looking for an introductry book for Egyptian Magic, not pick this up. It is far to advanced for even me! and Ive been practicing for a decade. Most of the Rituals are completed in the Astral Plane Temple... If you have no idea what im talking about, like I said, dont buy this book! The Schulers require the reader to have extensive knowledge of Astral Projection , and if you dont, then your lost.Because they dont teach any techinques (which is ok, since ther are countless books on the subject out there)Still,the Astral Heavy work should have been hinted at on the dust cover at least! I would reccomend this book however, if you want a few outlines for Iniaition and Amulet Creation Rituals. The book is well written, however it does lean towards Quabalist Teachings, and since the authors teach Golden Dawn Magick, this should not come as a total shock. On the whole, if you need help farmilirazing yourself with Egyptian Magick, seek elsewere.Ellen Cannon Reed's Invocation of the Gods, is a good Primer.It is sadly out of print, but still, check used book stores, its worth it!

Well, I had purchased this book thinking that is was a beginners book and would explain all the essentials of Egyptian Magick, and to my suprise it was not. It was a very good book though, I would recomend a different book for beginners.

It was a bit hard to follow at parts and the rituals we're hard to perform (you needed to memorize alot). It also seemed a bit to new age for anything actualy "Egytpian Magick" It was more "Egytpain Astral Travel" All together it was a pretty good book and very interesting. I recomend it for soemone who is exsperianced in magick. It could be very hard for a beginer or novice.

This book was written more in the form of a textbook than a novel. It contains factual information but is neither suspenseful nor very interesting. It may have been good for its time but is now dull

Herbert Asbury, by default, was the most important crime historian of the first half of the twentieth century. He produced a series of books published before 1950 surveying the red light districts, criminal haunts, and notorious incidents occurring in Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans and elsewhere. In those days, before the public fascination with true-crime resulted in a flood of new books rushed into print, Asbury had the field pretty much to himself. Gem of the Prairie remained out of print for many years, but it inspired generations of Chicago writers to produce more of the same; Herman Kogan, Finis Farr, Lloyd Wendt, Bill Helmer, Henry Justin Smith, Emmett Dedmon, Curt Johnson, (and myself, I must confess), to name but a few. Asbury blazed new trails for all of us, but his research is largely based on newspaper accounts and poorly documented second-hand sources. Many of the anecdotes, though engrossing, cannot be verified upon further research. Mr. Asbury colors the text with florid prose,unintentional wit, and a withering cynicism common to the Chicago school of writing, but he fails to provide the reader with synthesis of his subject matter. Stories are evenly told, but we are left to ponder the obvious question. Did the same economic and social forces that fueled Chicago's phenomonal growth in the late 19th Century also contribute to the reputation the Windy City is still enjoys as a wide-open, corrupt town where anything goes? The answers are to be found elsewhere.

Excellent book describing the Chicago underworld from post civil-war to the 1920's. I have an original copy from my great aunt who was a flapper in the 1920's. Born and bred in Chicago--I loved this book.