I have been reading books of late about the Texas Rangers. They are varied. This one is remarkable. Half the book is about his adventures as a Ranger. The second half is about being captured and living with the Comanches. It is an amazing story. Not great literature and bit dated in its prose, but I thought a wonderful read.

Jon Lee Anderson's biography of Ernesto (Che) Guevara is one of the best biographies I have ever read, and it definitely belongs on the shortlist of the best biographies ever written. It is thorough, accessible and written in a remarkably unbiased fashion. This biography seems to have it all. Virtually everything you want to know about Che is covered in this biography. Not only does the book give you Che's life in detail, it also gives you a fair bit of history, and a study of politics in action.

Che was a handsome, adventurous, highly intelligent, and an influential figure. He was the oldest son of an aristocratic Argentine family. He was also one of the most complex public figures of Latin America.

This biography is complete from the birth of Che in 1926, his upbringing in upper-class Argentina, his youth which spent in the highlands due to his severe asthmatic condition, including his schooling and medical training, his (early) spirit for adventure, his unusual close relationship with his mother, his meeting with Castro in Mexico, and of course his well-known participation in the defeat of the Batista government in Cuba and the event that followed, which finally would lead to his death in Bolivia.

The author conducted a comprehensive research to reveal Che, the man and the myth, and the events in Che's life that formed him to be the socialist revolutionary that he became. Anderson's biography is really a look on the inside of Che's head, merely due to the fact that much of the author's research is based on Che's own letters to his family and his private diaries. Even better, Che's second wife, Aleida March also cooperated with Mr. Anderson, giving him access to information about Che and also to some of his writings, granting us an even closer and more private look into our hero's (private) life. This book is nearly 800 pages long, and no easy read. Nevertheless, it is worth all the time you invest reading it. Anderson has not only done a thorough research, but I believe that with his unlimited access to sources close to Che, he has clarified inaccuracies and errors in preceding writings about Che.

Whether you agree with his politics or not, Che is revealed as a man with a purpose and a vision, who cared profoundly and sacrificed everything for the cause he believed in. His main motive was to improve the condition of the poor people of the world; to stop Western (read: capitalism and the US) from exploiting the Latin American people and its recourses. Che's remarkable persistence and single mindedness, were valuable personal traits to have in the beginning of the Guerilla Warfare. But the same traits made it presumably impossible for Che to re-group and change, as the world changed, Communism started declining, and Glasnost became everyone's favorite word. It is tempting to compare Malcolm X and Che Guevara as they both were (in their own way) fighting for the same cause. Che lacked one thing that Malcolm X had; the ability to change view when realizing that he had been mistaken in his beliefs and views of the world.

The book didn't convert me from democrat to communist, but it gave me a greater understanding as to the other side of the argument. Even if you find the methods of the guerilla group awful and sickening, it's hard not to respect Che's courage. In the end, I came away with a feeling of mercy for this strong and passionate man who gave so much of himself, his life included, for the beliefs he held to be true, beliefs which he never wavered from.

To be honest, prior to my trip to Latin America in 1999 I knew very little of Che. I am too young (I was born the same year he was killed) to have had Guevara as anything but a handsome "cultural icon". As a teenager, I kept his poster on the same wall where I had my James Dean and Abba posters.. But during the year I spent trekking around in Latin America, studying Spanish, my curiosity was definitively aroused. Upon returning home, this biography was one of the first books that I bought. Funny enough, while in Latin America I visited all the places mentioned in the book except for Bolivia. We even got to be in Cuba on the 8th of October, the day Fidel & Co celebrates Che. It was absolutely amazing to see hundreds of thousands of people parading on the Molocon. (I don't necessarily think you have to have spent time in Cuba or Latin America to enjoy this book, but it definitively helped me capture much of this story's "subtleties").

This book also contains some excellent photos. I love the one of the young Che, relaxing on the balcony, and also his self-portrait of his undercover identity as an old man on his way to Bolivia (Excellent disguise! Even his kids did not recognize him!). If I can have one picture removed it would be the picture of the dead Che "laying on display". We don't really need to see that photo.

This must be the best book yet written about Che and it should be considered compulsory read for everyone. Very highly recommended!

Anderson's biography of Che Guevara is an impressive accomplishment, and an absorbing read. Having grown up a bit too late to have been aware of Guevara as a contemporary figure, I'm of the generation that inherited him as a cultural icon: quite literally, a "poster boy" for anti-imperialist revolutionaries. The thoroughness of Anderson's research is staggering, and he effectively synthesizes and organizes a huge volume of information. His unprecedented access to people like Castro, Guevara's two wives and other family members, and those who fought alongside him in the Cuban revolution and his expeditions to the Congo and Bolivia provide a plethora of fascinating, and enlightening, detail. Anderson also maintains a very objective, journalistic perspective, avoiding both naive hagiography and knee-jerk demonizing, allowing him to present a fully-developed portrait of a real person who found himself at the center of amazing historical developments. I agree with an earlier reviewer that the text could benefit from some tighter line-editing; Anderson will sometimes use the exact same phrases or descriptions several times within a paragraph. But the writing on the whole is lucid and engaging, and the book both an engrossing character study and thoughtful depiction of the political and social developments in which Guevara's character and legend were formed.

This is a great story; it borders on the epic. Anderson got access to seemingly thousands of sources in the U.S. and Latin America and the result is a fascinating and gripping account of Che Guevara's life. Virtually everything you'd want to know about Che is in this book, which has to rank as the authoritative work on the man.

Anderson does an excellent job of laying out the historical setting, which frames Che's life. He recounts the U.S.'s imperial behavior toward Latin America, including directing the overthrow of the government of Guatemala and other misdeeds, which radicalize Che and sets him on the road to destiny. Anderson convincingly describes Che's complex personality, but emphasizes his single-minded devotion to improving the condition of the poor and bedraggled of the world. One can't help but respect, grudgingly or otherwise, someone (with chronic asthma no less) who willingly gives up whatever creature comforts he has in order to fight in the African and Latin American countrysides for such an ideal. Many of course scoff becuase Guevara was a dedicated Marxist, but all things considered, he consistently comports himself better than his enemies, particularly in combat. For example, he routinly frees captured enemy soldiers, while his opponents shot their prisoners. Granted, Guevara presided over executions in Cuba, but they pale in comparison to the behavior of the pro-U.S. regimes in Guatemala and elsewhere. And of course Che himself is executed in the end by his Bolivian and CIA captors.

This book also contains some great photos. I particularly liked those of Che disguised as an elderly professor, his cover for his ill-fated mission to Bolivia.

To be sure, there are some flaws in the book. For one thing, Anderson surprisingly does not fully discuss Che's conversion to Marxism. Just a few more paragrahs on this key question probably would've sufficed. Also, on a couple of occasions Anderson uses the same phrases in the same paragraph; tighter editing would've eliminated this. Still, these are minor defects. All things considered, this is a great bio. I don't know if Anderson won any awards for this book, but he certainly deserves recognition of some sort.

Thumbelina is not normal girl she is about the size of your thumb, but don't let her height mistake you she can do alot of things other people can't do. Like she can fit into small spaces that you can't. So if you like books that are about people doing extremely different things that you don't think that can do then this is the book right for you to read. This book will amaze your eyes with the colorful pictures inside, and with the amazing things Thumbelina can do.

Hans Christian Andersen's story of Thumbeline is so endearing that it's no wonder that so many authors have written their own versions of it and so many illustrators have had a go at making tiny Thumbeline come to life. This version, translated by Anthea Bell and illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger is brimming with charm, rustic folk sensibilities, kindness and compassion spiked with just the right amount of perilous adventure to make it interesting, and a lovely magical feel. The story is well told in satisfyingly descriptive language. The illustrations are superb! Zwerger does a wonderful job with all of the animal characters that Thumbeline encounters and manages to infuse them with emotion and intelligence as well as country charm. Little red-haired Thumbeline is delicate and sweet in several lovely costumes with a peasant feel to them. You know the tale...a woman tells a witch that she wants a "tiny child" and the magic gives her exactly what she wishes for, a tiny child no bigger than her thumb. Thumbeline is born from the heart of a tulip. She's so beautiful and sweet that every small suitor in the neighborhood wants her hand in marriage, including a toad, a mole and a June beetle. They are not interested in the fact that she does not want to marry them! She gets help from other wee folk in the woodland community and makes a good friend when she saves the life of a swallow. The story ends happily for Thumbeline. It may be desirable to point out to your young ones that not every unattached female needs to find a husband, especially very young ones like Thumbeline, and that kidnapping and force are not true ways to get a girl to marry you! Children are smart enough to know that but it's still a good idea to talk over the odd concepts that a child may be thinking about after you read this story. I love this old-fashioned story and this re-telling adds beautifully to its charm and therefore justifies its conception.

The familiar Hans Christian Andersen story of Thumbelina has received the royal treatment from Susan Jeffers. Her large, lovely pictures make this seem like you are stepping into the story for the first time. Thumbelina is so dainty and sweet that it's no wonder the toad wishes to marry her but poor Thumbelina has a harrowing time escaping from her warty suitor. Share a trumpet vine blossom with Thumbelina, a pair of hummingbirds and a fat bumble bee or take a ride with her on the back of a gallant swallow. This whole story is enchanting from start to finish and the pictures are a delight!

Correction: Vision of the Disinherited was first published in 1979 by Oxford Univ. Press

Pentecostalism is arguably the most important mass religious movement of the twentieth century. As it grew out of revivals in Topeka, Kansas and Los Angeles, California in the early twentieth century it rapidly gained adherents across the U. S. and throughout the world. Today, it is the second largest sub-group of global Christianity. It has over 30 million American adherents and a worldwide following of 430 million. Before 1970 there were few scholarly histories of the movement. Academics' unfamiliarity with the world of ecstatic religion might have been one reason for this oversight. But just as likely, scholars thought the conservative religion of pentecostalism, like Fundamentalism, was regressive, entrenched, and not worthy of their interests. Because of the paucity of historical research on pentecostalism, Robert Mapes Anderson's exploration of the movement's origins in 1977 was a seminal study. Anderson applied the newest methods in social history, psychology, and religious studies in his effort to trace the roots of American pentecostalism. What he found was that extreme social strain was the source of pentecostalism. Following Eric Hobsbawm and E. P. Thompson, Anderson located social tension (such as class conflict and class stratification) in industrialism. The shift from an agrarian to an industrial society fed estrangement. "Status anxiety" demonstrates how individuals affected by these changes became pentecostals. Accordingly, when asking who pentecostals were, Anderson answers: those cut loose from their roots in the soil, the highly mobile and unstable in residence, occupation, and religious affiliation, who hovered uncertainly between working and middle class (113). He begins his study by examining the rise of the Holiness movement during the second half of the nineteenth century. Holiness advocates were unsatisfied with the lack of piety in mainline denominations and were put off by the growing wealth and elaborateness of the of their churches. Dozens of holiness sects left the mainline denominations in protest, establishing their own fellowships that ministered to common laborers and farmers. The holiness revival spawned a new zeal for "spirit baptism" or a divine empowerment of believers. Pentecostalism took spirit baptism one step further. In 1901, holiness minister Charles Fox Parham asked the students at his Topeka Bible school to study the scriptures and determine what evidence might be given of spirit baptism. Using the pentecost account of Acts chapter two, they concluded that speaking in tongues was the confirmation of holy spirit baptism. The first practitioners of tongues speaking thought they were speaking in known human languages. They reasoned that God had given them the ability to preach the gospel in other countries. Slowly this view changed, and pentecostals came to believe they were speaking in a divine language, which God alone understood. Even though pentecostals were uneducated and poor, speaking in tongues meant that in God's eyes they were powerful citizens of a higher kingdom. The 1906 revival at Azusa street, Los Angeles marked the second phase of the pentecostals' origins. William Seymour, a black student of Parham's, initiated the revival amidst an impoverished urban setting. The Azusa street revival gathered the "ethnic minority groups of Los Angeles," who discovered a "sense of dignity and community denied them in the larger urban culture"(69). Anderson illustrates Pentecostalism's appeal to the dispossessed by analyzing forty leaders of the early movement. Of these he finds that most came from the lower economic ranks of society and had shifted from job to job throughout their lives. Pentecostalism was a release for these individuals. The ecstatic experience of speaking in tongues offered an escape from their "status anxieties" and gave them a sense of divine significance. Equally important, pentecostals' apocalyptic view of the end times allowed them to explain the past and present in terms equal to their social experience. "From the Pentecostal perspective, history seemed to be running down hill . . . and the world seemed to be at the point of collapse." Pentecostals looked for Christ to return and rescue the faithful from the fallen world (80-81). Anderson concludes that pentecostalism represented a dysfunctional and maladjusted reaction to social pressures. Because of the pentecostals' negative appraisal of society and their pessimistic outlook for the future, they were an apolitical, "conservative bulwark of the status quo." They channeled their social protest "into the harmless backwaters of religious ideology"(239). For Anderson, the radical social impulse inherent in the vision of the disinherited was squandered away in escapism and conservative conformity. This is the tragedy, says Anderson, of pentecostalism. This conclusion is one-sided. Anderson assumes that the pentecostals' faith is irrelevant if it does not foment social and economic protest. He also assumes that religious rewards are less satisfying than material ones. Anderson's materialist reading neglects the religious functions of faith for pentecostals and overlooks the importance of pentecostals' internal religious lives. But for the disinherited, speaking in tongues and partaking in healings and other miracles opened new vistas that improved and transformed their lives. Anderson's use of status anxiety to explain the ascendence of pentecostalism is also problematic. Status anxiety, as someone like Richard Hofstadter used it, supposes that the dispossessed sought upward social mobility. According to Hofstadter, status anxiety occurred among Fundamentalists because they desired social and political clout, but were unable to achieve it. Did pentecostals want to climb social and political ladders? By Anderson's own account pentecostals had removed themselves from politics and society. Their quest for religious enrichment rather than social and economic security, calls into question the status anxiety model. Although Anderson's work suffers from a rigidly functionalist model, it is still the best comprehensive history of early pentecostalism. Perhaps future studies, following Grant Wacker's work, will correct his account by emphasizing the positive functions of faith for pentecostals.

This is the definitive work on Early Pentecostalism. I cannot imagine why it is out-of-print, with it's extraordinary insight, unbelievable size of Bibliography which is worth the price of the volume in itself, and if that's not enough, the insightful and perceptive original material from original sources. Get this volume if at all possible. Recommended

In this book, John Lee Anderson provides a fairly insightful and educational narrative of his experiences inside Afghanistan after the 9-11 attacks. In it, you read of his encounters with various people inside Afghanistan, some colorful and tragic, others brutal and dangerous. The book serves as a nice backdrop of Afghanistan during the US war there, and the immediate consequences of it. However, it suffers from a few flaws that kept this from being a really good book.

The book is titled the Lions Grave as a reference to the grave of one of the most tragic figures in Afghanistan, Ahmed Shah Massoud, the Lion of the Panjshir. Several of the articles reference him, and his presence is felt almost constantly throughout the book, as it is in Afghanistan. Massoud was the charismatic leader of the Northern Alliance, the hodgepodge group of fighters opposing the Taliban. Just two days before the 9-11 attacks, two men sent by Osama Bin Laden managed to kill Massoud by dressing like reporters. This was in order to fracture the delicate alliance, to hamper any assault on the Taliban. Anderson points out how the man has become an almost religious figure, worshipped by millions of Afghanis. Anderson gives us a cursory look at the politics of the alliance, highlighting their disagreements and past atrocities. All throughout the book, you get a sense of the total devastation of the country, which has really fallen into the dark ages. I was surprised at how dangerous it was for the reporters sent to Afghanistan, as the countryside and the roads were patrolled regularly by all sorts of heavily armed brigands. One other interesting theme of the book was the educated class of Afghanistan that we usually do not hear about. It may come as a surprise to many readers, but Afghanistan was once a pretty civilized country. The remnants of this era survive in little hamlets of professional and academic men and women, desperate for a way out of the constant turmoil. I found that the most tragic part of the book.

There are a few reasons I did not really love this book. First, it is way too short and barely scratches the surface of the situation. Now I know this was not meant to be an in depth look at Afghanistan, this is just Anderson's story. Still, I felt like a lot more commentary was needed at certain parts, where themes are broached but never examined. Also, the book is full of interludes of real emails Anderson was sending back to his editors. At first, this is a clever and exciting way to track his movements on a day by day basis, but eventually it becomes tedious.

An average reporters book.

This is a very readable account of post-9/11 Afghanistan, and I finished it in the course of one day. I did notice, however, after reading this book and his current dispatches from Iraq, that the US itself is sort of an unseen factor in all of his work, implicit in the goings-on but not directly reported on. For example, during his time with the Northern Alliance, there is one description of a B-52 strafing a hillside and that is our one explicit clue that a massive campaign is occuring. Instead, we are graced with very intricate and impressive first-hand accounts of internal Afghani struggles, specifically concerning the assassination of Massoud. I think that Anderson's very noble intention is to prevent Afghanistan (and subsequently, Iraq) from becoming an abstract idea for Americans, by supplying readers here with details about life under siege. I would've enjoyed a bit more specific information about American operations and strategy, but I was not disappointed at all with what was provided in Anderson's account.

Full disclosure: While I do think Lion's Grave is a tremendous book, and provides a unique insight into the way journalists cover zones, I should also point out that I'm Jon Lee Anderson's younger brother. Rather than trying to pad his numbers, however, my main motive for writing is in amusement over Hilliard's comment that it seemed a bit Rambo-esque (i.e. unbelievable) that Jon Lee would give a tongue-lashing to a group of heavily-armed 20 year olds. After having traveled through five war zones with Jon Lee over the years, I can assure you that this is exactly the sort of thing he does do! Ill-advised, perhaps, but not hubris - and certainly not Ramboesque.

This is a useful little reference amongst a sea of other such references. However, it's not a book!

Not a Book? This most certainly is a book. I hold a copy of it in my hands as I write this. It most certainly is a book. Cannot understand the reasoning of the reviewer below.

This is an excellent general fitness guidebook. It focuses on general strength training and aerobic fitness over a lifetime. The calisthenic exercises are presented clearly, as are the justification for the exercise. There are many good guidelines for maintaining fitness from an early age into late middle age. The calisthenic and weight programs listed at the end of the book are comprehensive and thorough, as you would expect from our military academies.

This is a great book for general fitness. It covers weight training sufficiently, but it is not a body building guide.

I am a dental student taking gross anatomy, and like some of the folks who posted reviews below, my anatomy professor listed Grant's as the text to be used for the course. Put simply, Netters is a vastly better atlas, particularly for someone who has never taken gross anatomy before.

My issues with Grant's are many, ranging from the drawings to the way the index is organized. From start to finish, the book has some serious shortcomings which create substantial inconveniences for a new anatomy student.

Many of the drawings in Grant's atlas are far more lifelike than they are explanatory. It is almost as if the illustrator's intent was to show what one would see when dissecting, rather than explain what is what and where it is. This is particularly evident when dealing with the head/neck region (which, unfortunately, is a complicated area we focus on heavily) and the routes of the cranial nerves. The small footnotes at the bottom of the pages are almost useless, as it is difficult to determine what specifically they are referring to. There are very few boldfaced references (such as those you'd see in a cell biology textbook) that allow you to quickly locate a description of the item you're trying to understand in the picture, hence, you find yourself having to read the entire thing. Netters has almost no text, yet the drawings are done in a way that clearly explain what's going on, thus no need for text.

Another serious issue with the Grant's is the index. The major entries are not in boldface text. This is such a small detail (it wouldn't have cost them a cent more to make) that makes locating things much quicker. For example, there are hundreds of items under the entry "Nerves", yet "Nerves" is not in bold-faced text. That is inexcusable, considering the fact that most of the structures we study are muscles, nerves, arteries, fascias, processes, fossas, i.e. things that must be found under major entries. Believe it or not, it makes finding a topic in the index a real hassle. There's nothing to distinguish major entries from the items found beneath them, except for the indentation.

Although some of the problems with Grant's are small, they cause problems when you have to repeatedly deal with them. Anatomy is tough enough as is without having inconveniences from your atlas. On occasion, you'll find a picture in Grant's that is more descriptive than Netter's, but rarely. In general, Grant's is a lowsy book, which should be used only as a supplement to Netters in cases where you want a more lifelike picture.

I used Grant's Atlas of Anatomy during my gross anatomy class in medical school because it was the one recommended by the staff. It was fairly good, but not great. The illustrative pages on the twelve cranial nerves are perhaps the best. A few years after finishing that class, I found that Frank Netter M.D. had finally come out with an atlas of human anatomy. If your budget is limited (and most medical students have limited finances), buy Frank Netter's Atlas of Human Anatomy because it is hands down the best atlas available. I wish it would have been around when I was struggling through first year gross anatomy class. Grant's Atlas may supplement it to some degree if you are looking for a second presentation for variety, but Netter's is without question unequaled. Beyond this, if you ever decide to specialize in a medical field involving surgery - neurosurgery, gynecology, general surgery, orthopedics etc. - you will have opportunity to continue using Netter's A! tlas after medical school, whereas Grant's Atlas isn't very good in this regard. In short: buy Netter. If you want another text to go with the first, Grant's Atlas isn't bad.

I'm a student of second year BMMD. Anatomy is one of the difficult subject but Grant's atlas of anatomy helps me learn and understand. This book shows clearly illustration.

The title is catchy enough. I expected lots of facts and figures in tables and graphs that would illustrate international trade and finance. Was I surprised. There are facts and figures there, even pictures and cartoons. But the authors see the world differently. "The problem..." we are told, "...is not so much that the world is so tightly linked now...but that the links converge in such a small number of hands." The hands they're refering to belong to corporate executives and billionaires. An ongoing theme throughout the book is the old cliche' that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.
One thing different about the current process of globalization, the authors claim, "is that a number of poorer countries, led by China and Mexico, now have the infrastructure to house practically any industrial or service operation...." What's wrong with that? They object that "...Ford, Boeing, and other global corporations are now setting up state-of-the-art manufacturing plants in countries where wages and other costs are kept extremely low through repression." We can all agree that repression is a bad thing. We may differ on where it's happening. For instance, according to the index of economic freedom constructed by the Heritage Foundation (what the authors call a "corporate think tank") and the Wall Street Journal, China is "mostly unfree" (but not "repressed") and Mexico is "mostly free." "Repressed" countries include Zimbabwe, Iran, Cuba, Iraq, and North Korea. Corporate capitalism does not appear to be causing problems in those countries by any stretch of the imagination. Vietnam is among the repressed, but it's difficult to see how workers who produce sneakers for the Nike company would be better off if Nike weren't there.
Much of the book is devoted to criticizing "globalization claims." Although some free traders will justifiably dismiss this criticism, in my view the authors' attacks will work to strenghthen the case for free trade. Put differently, any economist who wants practice defending free trade can find it reading this book. Warning: the bile may rise in you.
To their credit the authors provide an abundance of endnotes to support their case. They offer some criticism a free trader would appreciate. For example they object to export subsidies and IMF bailouts of banks with troubled loans to developing countries. They even profess to reject protectionism. However the alternative they recommend, "fair trade," is better described as "managed trade."
The authors minimize the role of consumers in the process of globalization. Corporations would not achieve their goals if consumers weren't buying their products. The authors also fail to recognize the importance of property rights in economic development. If the governments of poor countries established and protected property rights, the people would get wealthier. Given that these authors reject international trade and investment as a cause of our prosperity and cannot tolerate disparities of wealth, they'll always remain idealists with axes to grind.

That is the first book on economics I read that does not necessarily employ a lot of incomprehensible terminology. Moreover, it is written for the average reader who wants to get a "first introduction" into the topic. It is definitely not written for people who search any detailed infomation. This book explains perfectly the basic correlations in today's global economy.

A group in our high school had been planning a symposium on the global economy when our advisor suggested that we take a look at this book. "Field Guide" offers a clear, concise description of many of the global issues that confront citizens of both the industrialized and unindustrialized nations. To its credit, it offers both the pros and cons of many of the issues it discusses and offers a resource list for others to get involved. I encourage anyone interested global politics or economics to read this book, share it with a friend, and get involved!

I was very disappointed with this book. It is small, a little larger than a paperback novel. The pictures are poor quality. Poor quality meaning bad coloration, grainy, and uninteresting (most pictures are press or news type images). I bought the book because I think Pam is beautiful, and I like looking at pictures of her. I think I would of liked this book more if I was interested in her life story, which seems to be the focus. This is a cheap small biography of Pam with not so great pictures. If you want a good book FULL of good pictures of Pamela Anderson, I recomend "Pamela Anderson Her Life in Pictures" by Stephen Wayda.

This is a must have pictorial book for all the Pamela Lee Anderson fans! It features many compromising photos of Pam. See this Baywatch Babe in many different swimsuits and outfits as well. You will not be disappointed by the content. Hurry up and purchase the girl featured most ever on "Playboy" covers!

I think it is an awesome book because i am a really big fan of hers. I love the pictures. It says a lot about her and what she did

This book was, well, how shall we say, 'a walk on the wild side'.

This book takes you into the life of a self absorbed man who thinks of only ME! ME! ME! ME! and the aftermath/consequances of not caring when a girl he is with OD's on drugs.

This book was good just curl up and see what the drug life is like for scene down in Florida. It is something that will make you think long after the last page is turned.

It will also leave you feeling as if you had done the drug fiesta that happens at the end of the book with them. For the list cover price, it is cheaper than doing the drugs itself.

Review by Ken Sheehy, The Village Observer...

Apart from just freaking me out, Sweet Demon Love Baby by Lee Anderson ... contains my favorite opening line ever...Beginning with a line like that, you have to admire the writer's attempt to get that bookstore browser's attention, huh?

The reader is then dropped into the dead center of a Miami Beach fashion party, a gathering of beautiful people and those that celebrate them. Y'know: People you feel jealous of while simultaneously looking down your nose at. It's during this party that we are injected into the start of what will become five turbulent days in the lives of four models.

First, we meet Drexel, a shameless hedonist and womanizing jerk. Later at the party, he abandons an overdosing girl in her hotel room, thus eventually incurring the wrath of her filthy-rich father. It is his predicament which propels the plot, helping make the novel into the page-turner that it is.

The next model is Ophelia, his co-dependent girlfriend, whose name, I'm guessing, is some sort of Shakespeare metaphor. Of all the characters, she serves as the most tragic, suffering from astoundingly low self-esteem, especially considering that she gets paid to have her picture taken. She also suffers from a serious cocaine addiction since, as she pathetically puts it: "It's the only diet drug on the market that's proven to work."

Then we have Ty, a black model who is Drexel's best friend. Ty shares Drexel's urge for excess, only he has a nettlesome conscious about it, serving as the Super Ego to Drexel's Id. Not enjoying even half the career success of his friend, Ty also seems to represent the continually uneven regard for African-Americans in the fashion/entertainment industry. (For instance, note the adjective "black" before "model" in the first sentence of this parapgraph.)

The fourth character, Pascaline, is a new model whose career is on the rise until she meets a high profile photographer. He promises to help take her career to the next level. All he asks in return is that she make a little visit to him alone at his hotel room one night, explaining to her: "It's not that big of a deal, all right? Think about the business you're in. You have to expect situations like this."

There are also two subplots involving the alcoholic detective covering the case of the overdosed girl and the frazzled owner of a failing modeling agency, whose point of view is provided through diary entries. While both serve to counterpoint the out-of-control lifestyles of the other characters, their plights, while necessary to the plot, aren't nearly as interesting.

Some lines in this novel though are nearly unforgettable, approaching poetry. In one scene, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Ophelia speaks slowly, "imagining her words as letters on a string being unspooled from her throat." In describing Pascaline's beauty: "Eyes the color of shallow surf, lashes thick as thorns, sandy-blond hair coiling and uncoiling in hectic curls around her shoulders, flat, diveted, nut-brown torso lassoed by a butterfly bellychain." On the dance floor of a nightclub, "crisp cones of colored light twirled and flashed about them in dramatic ray-gun duels."

Owing much to Joan Didion, Anderson's writing is lean, so lean that the first three pages can be disorienting. But once the reader catches their breath, adjusting to the streamline style of Anderson's prose, the novel turns into quite the ride. While the pornographic, in-your-face opening paragraph did throw me off at first (It will throw you, too...Bet me.), this book is genuinely one of the most fun reads I've had in forever. And deeply disturbing. And bleakly hilarious. And very, VERY intense. I actually haven't had anything mess with my head like this book since the first time I saw Natural Born Killers. In other words, I cannot recommend Sweet Demon Love Baby enough. (By the way, that quirky, elliptic title comes from the fictional brand name of a designer perfume, mentioned only briefly by one of the characters. How did it merit the book's title? I have no clue. But whatever.)

When learning that the subject of this book was fashion models, I was expecting (read: hoping) for a relaxing expanse of fluff to pass my evening with. But no such luck with this particular read. Anderson does much more than simply dispel the glamour of modeling. He demonizes it, even to the extent that I'm now having nightmares which involve naked fashion models with hypodermic needles in their arms, covered in blood, and having sex with knives. While there is no such scene in the book (well, not exactly), trust me: You'll understand what I mean once you've read it, too.