I'm not a fan of compilations since they tend to be uneven and often predictable but this one is an exception to the rule. It is by turns affirming and profoundly sad. The themes of conflict and acceptance, shame and forgiveness have rarely been touched upon in such a sensitive way. I found it terribly affecting and emotionally honest without it being sentimental. The sort of confessional, self-revelatory writing sometimes runs the risk of sounding preachy or self-rightous; this book succeeds precisely because it does neither. I'd recommend it to parents, gay or straight, as well as to their children.

This book book is great. Over the holidays I had a chance to read it (some of it twice). I have to say i didn't expect it to be such a captivating read. As it turned out it was the kind of thing where you cant just read one story - you have to get the next one in and then the next - staying up way past bedtime!! It was fun - in places dark, in other very funny. I am always amazed at how many different points of view there are on the topic of parents. It is amazing what some parents are capable of. It was fascinating to see how people had come to terms with their lot in life and managed to rise above, forgive, and so on. I also think it is a treasure in the sense that things are changing quickly and that in 20 years, folks might write quite differently. A must for every library. Enjoy!

This is a great collection of true stories written by gay men about their relationship with their fathers. Some are mundane, some are shocking, some are tender and some are thought-provoking. It would be great to see a follow-up volume written by not-so-famous gay men, just to see what would result. I suspect the same kind of wisdom, love and heartache would be present. Required reading for all fathers and all gay men.

I'm a mother of a son, not a father, and I don't golf, but I loved this book! As a parent, it was a great story to read, and offered some wonderful life lessons. Andrew Shanley is a talented writer who truly opens his heart and soul to readers, making this a book with true universal appeal.

Andrew Shanleys book really hits home. I could see myself and my sons in every turn of the page. It's insipred me to do more and be more for my kids.

A deceptively simple beginning, the desire a father has to teach his two sons how to play golf, turns into a powerfully moving story told with eloquence, humor, and humility. If you are a parent or a child, and/or you love golf, this is a book that shouldn't be missed.

If you are serious about understanding the JFK assassination then you need to get all ten volumes of Bruce Adamson's works on the Dallas assassination. The deep and wide research in Mr. Adamson's volumes allows one to see the inportant people surrounding the mysterious Lee Harvey Oswald. You can learn about someone by knowing a persons friends . These volumes contain valuable info on George DeMohrenschildt== self proclaimed == best friend of Lee Harvey Oswald. Knowing who DeMohrenschildt was helps to understand the important question --Who was Lee Harvey Oswald ? Words to the wise ....get these volumes !

Oswald's Closest Friend: The George De Mohrenschildt Story

In the last couple of years under the JFK Assassination Records Review Board Act our government has spent millions of dollars into the research of the assassination of our 35th President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. As a former Federal employee, on several occasions I have offered all of my research under the Whistleblowing Act to the Clinton administration without receiving replies. President Clinton's former Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta, in the past (1992), had supported this author's research as a former Congressman for the County of Santa Cruz. This author believes that it was certainly unethical and boardering upon fraud when President George Bush signed into law The JFK Assassination Records Review Board Act and did not disclose that he knew George de Mohrenschildt since 1942. In order to understand the conflict of interest George Bush played in the JFK assassination investigation in 1963 and in 1976, one needs to look at his entire career with the CIA and Zapata Oil industry.

TRACKING THE JFK ASSASSINATION

Santa Monica College Corsair - November 17,1997, by Donna Lynn

As the 34th anniversary of John Fitzgerald Kennedy's assassination approaches, Bruce Campbell Adamson, a self-taught genealogist, historian, author and Santa Monica College graduate says that he is close to solving "the crime of the century." When his father died in 1980, Adamson applied for a job at the Santa Monica Post Office. He says he "wanted to work outdoors" because it seemed to be a "healthy" job with few problems. "It took me five years to get hired," he says "And I retired in five years." Adamson ended up filing a federal lawsuit against the Post Office in a worker's compensation claim. He was the case in 1991 and has used the money to research the JFK assassination. "I started researching it (JFK) because I was tired of the subject, said Adamson. When I began my research Oliver Stone's movie, JFK, had just been released and I was sick and tired of all of the theories generated by the tabloid news agencies." This motivated him to write and publish The JFK Assassination Timeline Chart, and eight volumes (now ten) of Oswald's Closest Friend; The George de Mohrenschildt Story. Each bit of information led to another, and Adamson soon discovered that some of his own family members were coincidentally associated with persons connected to George de Mohrenschildt in one way or another. In the past 14 years, Adamson's research has taken him through the government and the Central Intelligence Agency...In a trail that leads from oil fields to Wall Street to the sales of helicopters used in the Vietnam War, Adamson claims that he exposes evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone. Everything that we are today exists today because of the past, he said "If historians don't get the story right, then our lives today are based upon lies." He also link's "alleged lone assassin" Oswald to de Mohrenschildt, an aristocrat who had ties to the rich and famous. Adamson asserts that these elites may have benefited financially from JFK's death. The wealthy "were also retaliating for their political as well as other motives," said Adamson. "Wealthy individuals having prior knowledge of the plans to kill JFK could sell short on the New York Stock Exchange and buy their company back for half the price after the assassination," Adamson aid. On the day of the assassination, the stock market lost 11 billion in paper." Adamson's main theory focuses on a U.S. oil depletion allowance, which grants oilmen a 27.5 percent tax break when reinvesting in their other corporation. Adamson says that Texas oilmen plotted the assassination of JFK to gain more power, and that the Warren Commission found Oswald guilty without a fair trial. He places de Mohrenschildt with a group of friends -- one of whose grandfather's chartered the oil depletion allowance in the 1920s."... De Mohrenschildt died on March 29, 1977, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Adamson, however, says de Mohrenschildt could have been murdered, since the CIA was on his back about his knowledge of the assassination. Adamson asserts that de Mohrenschildt, prior to his death, told a close friend that a number of oilmen, FBI and CIA agents were behind the JFK assassination. "De Mohrenschildt had complained to his friend, CIA Director George Bush in September of 1976 about being harassed," Adamson wrote. "Shortly thereafter, Bush contacted the FBI Director and it was not long after that de Mohrenschildt would find himself in Parkland Hospital receiving nine shock treatments." Were the shock treatments CIA-sponsored, Adamson asks? While Bush was CIA Director, more than 200 Top Secret documents came up missing, including the letters between de Mohrenschildt and Bush, says Adamson. Like Oswald, de Mohrenschildt went to his grave insisting that Oswald was "just a patsy," and that Oswald was not the assassin, according to Adamson. "That's a dying declaration," Adamson insists. "When someone makes a statement on their deathbed, they're likely telling the truth." Is finding the truth about JFK's murder Bruce Campbell Adamson's destiny? Is Adamson possessed by the genetics of his own distinguished American heritage, driving him to correct an error made in history? Is he driven by Hustler magazine's bounty of $1 million to whoever determines the murderer? "Circumstantial evidence does not lie," says Adamson. "And people should not be afraid to focus and speak of these associations in our society, which allows free speech, nor should they fear retaliation for alienating the rich and famous." "Adamson's fascinating bloodline hasn't gone to his head. He maintains that he's just "a simple guy. I'm nothing special," he says, but "here I am trying to solve the 'crime of the century,'" for which "there is no statute of limitations on murder."

...

It was hard to choose how many stars this library worths. It includes 3 completly different books. The Caslow book is absolutly perfect. It's a very good tutorial, probably the best I know. I passed real written test and even I couldn't find answers to some questions from the test in this book, if you want to read just one book and get the maximum information - that's it! You might be not able to answer all questions, but I believe it gives you enough information to pass.

But two other books are completly different. First of all, they are not about cisco. It's just a general theory, a lot of packet structure diagrams and protocol description. Language sometimes is very dull and dry. Many topics, especially in the ATM book are beyond the scope of CCIE exam. Routing book contains a lot of interesting information about routing history, current problems and possible ways of future improvements. Probably, these books are interested to some readers, but it's not the best choice for CCIE preparation.

I put 4 stars just because Caslow book is so good that it makes whole library useful too. But I'd strongly recommend to buy this one book only and spend the rest of money to some other tutorials.

Prentice Hall is fast becoming a name in the IT publishing world for producing material and books that will help everyone obtain just about any certification and the CCIE Resource Library 2001 edition is one set of books that should make passing the exam easier.

The three-book set is comprised of material starting with Book 1 - Routing in the Internet. Over 370 pages covering topics like the Internet and the architecture of the Internet. Also IP v4 and v6 are discussed and compared and then you begin to delve into the routing protocols, both interior and exterior.

The book finishes up with new ideas such as multicasting and overall seems to layout the Internet in fairly easy language. Book 2 - Voice over IP is new to the set and is written by Uyless Black. Black starts this excellent book off with an overview of telephony and the Internet.

Also covered is DSPs, Voice coders, DSL, modems, PPP, the role of the ISP, performance issues, VoIP Protocols, Voice alternatives and ISDN. Black is very good at breaking down the subject matter and making sure the reader can understand the concepts.

Finally comes book 3 - Cisco Certification: Bridges, Routers and Switches for CCIEs 2nd Edition, written by 2 well-respected CCIEs and authors. Over 900 pages broken down into six parts, part one is the configuration of the hardware.

Part 2 is breakdown of IP and the configurations of the routing protocols like RIP, OSPF, IGRP, EIGRP and BGP. Part 3 deals with non-ip routing, part 4 is bridging and part 5 is for management. Overall the entire collection is some of the best technical material I have seen so far.

One of the toughest, if not the toughest certification to get is CCIE. That's why it's very important to make sure that the books you use are the best out there. Prentice Hall has put together the only CCIE Library I have seen.

In book 1 of the 3 - ATM Volume III - the entire world of ATM is taken apart and dissected for you. Encapsulation, frame relay, DXI and FNNI, LNNI and ARP, multiprotocols over ATM are but a few of the topics discussed in great detail. In the second book - Routing in the Internet 2nd Edition - the book is broken down into 4 parts. Part1 discusses IP and associated protocols including IP V.6. Part 2 takes a look at the interior routing protocols like RIP and OSPF, it does breakdown both RRIP1 and RIP2.

Part 3 is the exterior protocols like BGP and CIDR. Finally in part 4 you have explanations of new developments in multicasting and mobile hosting. The book is well written and well documented and the author really gives a complete look at the internet and how routing is used.

The final book - Cisco Certification - Bridges, Routers and Switches for CCIE is written by Andrew Bruce Caslow a CCIE himself. Caslow has written several other book on the CCNA certification and as with the other books this is an excellent reference manual.

The advanced routing techniques like ISDN and DDR as well as excellent coverage of the Catalyst 5000 switch are some the topics Caslow goes over is this book. Caslow also sheds light on ATM and extensive detail on IP Addressing and routing.

Protocols like RIP, IGRP, EIRGP and OSPF as with non-IP routing protocols AppleTalk, DECNET and IPX are broken down for you. Caslow's knowledge of bridging, which includes source route, transparent and translation is nothing short of tremendous.

Caslow's book has sample scenarios, about the only thing it doesn't do it take the test for you. Prentice Hall has a great number of book on computers and networking and you should checkout their website today. Overall this book can be used as a handy reference manual and a study guide for Cisco tests. The price is small in comparison to what you get.

First book I've read and thought it deserves a 10, simply because of its direct impact to my everyday projects. The author has clearly used ASP himself. This is not your usual 'academic' approach to a subject. Great examples and specific details (like using redirection from within a page instead of the header). Takes the mystery out of global.asa and sessions. Great ADO info. Very project oriented, like user authentication discussion.

After going thru a number of other asp books I find this book to be the premier source of information on the subject. The topics covered are from the ground-zero level without spoon-feeding yet the material will help build a foundation for advanced application needs. It is obvious that for the advanced development one should seek specialized books addressing the topics - eg: ADO, Java & Active-X, ExchangeServer intergration etc. Compelling Reading !!

This book provides excellent coverage of both the underlying technology and specific techniques needed to implement ASP. It also gives you (most of) the information you need to configure your Internet Information Server to handle ASP, a failing in other books I've seen. The book provides many useful code examples and an excellent reference to various objects used in ASP. Couple this book with a good reference to VB Script and you're in business. I selected this book as a text in an advanced business programming course.

This text is traditionally seen in the classroom, however not all EMT classes utilize this text and some technicians may not be familiar with it. In essence, the text is designed to provide the necessary knowledge to become an Emergency Medical Technician.

Content includes basic physiology, medical terminology, patient assessment, and emergency interventions on the basic life support level. The book assumes no prior medical knowledge on the part of the reader and the information is presented in a clear and logical manner.

The text is also useful to the layman who would appredciate a more in depth approach to the recognition of medical emergencies and life saving interventions.

This is really a reference textbook for the education of new EMT's, but the information it contains is complete, concise and extremely up-to-date (important in a field that is changing ALL the time!)

Highly recommended as a text to have on your EMS shelf.

I am an EMT Basic student and use this book very much. It is a very easily read book with a good amount of emphasis on the practical applications neccesary for emergency care. It is also divided for ease of refernce, which is neccessary for quick checks of how to do something.

This is overall a very good and comprehensive history of the past 50 years in F1. In a year-by-year fashion the reader is able to follow how the world's fastest sport has evolved. A fascinating read in general and a must for every true F1 fan. Every decade is covered by a different expert guest writer, all of them great past and current champions of the sport, and this adds personal color, but also bias. David Coulthard of the McLaren-Mercedes Team covers the 90ies and of course gives his very personal perspective on the most recent seasons. The downside of the guest-writer format is a general loss in homogeneity that can't be avoided with this system. While the pictures are carefully selected and in part very stunning and excellent, some true gems of the past are sorely missed. It is very, very clear that this is a british book, and some of the other great European and South American drivers are not covered in as much depth.

This is one of the few books in the book store which tells you how it all started back in 1950. You can find a lot of rare F1 photographs (B/W and Colour) from 1950 to 1999 in this book. For each year's championship, there is about 1 to 2 pages of text depicting the highlights of that year. All in all, I found this a very good book. Whether you are a F1 fan or not, you will enjoy reading it.

Unfortunately, I also bought "Autocourse : 50 Years of World Championship Grand Prix Motor Racing" by Alan Henry and I gave that book 5+ stars. In most parts, these two books are on par but on subjective preferences, I found the photographs in Alan's book more attractive and give more depth into F1. If you are a serious F1 fan and your buget allows, get both books. If you have to pick just one due to whatever reason, I'll recommend Alan Henry's over Bruce Jones'. Sorry Bruce!!

Comprehensive but not exhaustive review of the 1st 50 years of the sport.

Loads of fabulous photos I never saw before. The 60's are especially well covered. Very good year by year synopses, plus insightful re-caps of the decades written by such greats as John Surtees.

I cannot put this book down!

I have read this book since last Oct. At that time, there were not too much CCIE books you could choose and I was kind of new to this area.

Last month I passed the CCIE Written Test and now is head on lab exam preparation with sold foundation about internetworking system.

As I looked back to this book and the reviews on this site, I felt that this book really provides something helpful in the way for troubleshooting methodoligy and frame relay. But for CCIE lab or Written Test, it might not be helpful too much.

You have to look for more resource to prepare yourself. Everyone with diierent backgound may have different view about this book. I'm sure that once you find something different from couple months ago about this book, you really learned a lot of things !

As a qualified CCNP/CCDP gearing up to take the CCIE lab, I have found that this book is invaluable. Sitting next to a CCIE that used this book to help prepare for the lab I am confident that I can also benefit from the book.

I have noticed that there are a few reviews that don't recommend this book at all. The main concern is the fact that it appears not to go into enough depth with regard to packet structure, handshaking processes etc. However, by the time you come to taking the CCIE certifications you will already have passed the CCNP and CCDP. By this time you will be profocient with the theory behind the technologies the book deals with. Therefore the book can focus on pointing you in the right direction with regards to the thought process you should exhibit when facing the lab and real-world scenarios.

The format of the book is such that it shows you key point and configuration issues, and gives you tips on those things to look out for and bear in mind when dealing with each of the technologies put forward in each chapter. At the end of each chapter I have found that it is a good idea to set up your own scenarios and try as many different configurations as possible. This will reinforce all the information put forward in the text. This is important as the main foe that we will face in the lab is time. If you know how to configure everything initially, without spending time searching the CD in the lab, then you should be onto a winner. This book can prepare you for this but only in conjunction with a fair amount of initial knowledge and a lot of hours spent in the evening tinkering with configurations and make and break scenarios.

With this book you will need a little less luck to take the CCIE lab as you will be a lot better prepared.

This is the best Cisco-related book that I have read so far. The author presents the topics in a very logical manner; one topic flows into the next, without missing a beat.

Caslow does a fine job of tying the different parts of the Cisco IOS together in a manner that makes it easy to understand. The way that he carefully points out potential problems and creates lists for the steps in each process is refreshing when compared to other books.

BRS was intended for CCIE candidates, but it would be perfect for any Cisco specialist, whether or not you are pursuing certification. The in-depth understanding of each topic will be very useful on-the-job as well as for test preparation.

Nathan once said at a conference I was attending that he writes what sells and won't write what does not.

This book like all of his work is shoddy from an academic standpoint. While it might be interesting to read, there is no substantial merit to anything Nathan writes.

He wants to denigrate China's leadership so that he can stay in the spotlight in the US and make money selling his books.

Stay away from this book until Nathan actually backs up what he writes with solid evidence.

The value of this book is severalfold. It gives intriguing hints at the nature of top level Chinese decision-making processes. It contains excellent biographical sketches of top leadership in the Chinese Communist Party -- new and old. And it reveals relationships among the various players that is invaluable in attempting to fathom the workings of a secretive government that sees its relationship with the United States as the core of its foreign policy.

Even with insider information (the secret files), it is always risky business to predict the future, and authors Andrew Nathan and Bruce Gilley are surly aware of this. The fact that they got most of their predictions right isn't as important as examining the ones they got wrong, and trying to figure out what may have happened.

Jiang Zemin stepped down as general secretary and president -- as predicted -- but stayed on as chairman of the powerful Centeral Military Commission. This event was not foreseen. What happened?

Nathan and Gilley forecast that the Standing Committee of the Politburo would consist of seven members. That group today stands at nine. (The PRC constitution allows for seven to nine members on the PBSC.)

One of the seven predicted to attain Standing Committee status, Li Ruihuan, was not chosen. Li, a reform-minded member of the previous Standing Committee, didn't make the cut for this one, even though he would have been young enough to serve another term before "mandatory" retirement at age 70. Credit Jiang Zemin for his ouster.

Three unexpected members were chosen -- Huang Ju, Jia Qinglin, and Wu Guanzheng. Nathan and Gilley discuss these men (and many others) as well as the leaders they predicted would rise to power.

There are brighter red stars than Huang Ju. Jiang has mentored him since Shanghai days in the 1980s. A former mayor and party chief of Shanghai, his daughter is married to a pro-Taiwan newspaperman from San Francisco.

Jia Qingling, a former Beijing party chief, was the best man at Jiang's wedding, and saved by Jiang after a corruption scandal involving Jia's wife.

Wu Guanzheng is secretary of the important Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC. An ally of Jiang, he has close links with Hu Jintao as well.

The new members of the PBSC that were correctly predicted by Nathan and Gilley are:

Hu Jintao, Mr. "Zero Defects" is China's first "resume president." Hu used force in Tibet in 1989 two months before Tiananmin, creating the precedent for the June 4 massacre. Jiang labeled him the "core of the fourth generation."

Wen Jiabao is a protégé of Zhu Rongji and supported by anti-Jiang factions. As premier of the State Council, he will oversee economic reforms. A capable administrator, he has been called "most dazzling."

Wu Bangguo. A Jiang man from Shanghai days, Wu oversaw the Three Gorges dam project. He is said to have a "common touch" and is cautious about reform.

Zeng Qinghong has been mentored by and is the former personal secretary to Jiang Zemin. Zeng is perhaps the most influential member of the Standing Committee, and a possible challenger to Hu Jintao.

Li Changchun is supported by Jiang, but lost the premier's position because of purported missteps in Guangdong. Still, he was able to solve problems in the province and bring it in line with Beijing's policies in the 1990s, making it a favorite of Jiang and where he chose to announce his "Three Represents" campaign in 2000.

Luo Gan. Mr. "Go To" when there's trouble, Luo controls the security apparatus of PRC, including the People's Armed Police. He did Li Peng's bidding at Tiananmen.

At least seven of the nine are Jiang's men.

One of the interesting, if not amazing things that the authors show is that the succession to power of the "fourth generation" leadership in China is the most orderly transition of power in China's history. No small claim. Still, it remains to be seen how these men will govern and engage in foreign affairs.

None of the nine have any direct military experience. Only one has studied outside China (Luo Gan), and only one has had international travel (Hu Jintao). The preceeding leadership "traveled extensively, made diplomatic visits, attended summits, and entertained a ceaseless stream of visitors from abroad."

To varying degrees each man is well-grounded in domestic policy, and they are poised to work together as a consensus team under the watchful eye of Jiang. As Nathan and Gilley point out, and as many China-watchers agree, "stability" will be a key word in making policy at home and abroad.

Last year, some of my Chinese colleagues in Beijing attempted to forecast the future too. "There are others besides Hu Jintao," one high-ranking PLA officer told me. But he missed the mark more than "China's New Rulers" did.

If you're interested in the inner workings of the CCP, and the relationship between different levels and persons of power in Beijing, you'll appreciate the information this book conveys.

Starting late last year, a new generation of leaders -- often referred to as the "fourth generation" -- began to take over the top posts in China. This book is something of a scorecard of what we might be able to expect from them as they lead China.

Based on what is supposedly a Chinese insider's look at secret files on the new leaders, China scholars Andrew Nathan and Bruce Gilley write a highly readable account, focusing mainly on the seven men they expected to form the sixteenth Politburo Standing Committee (the book went to print before the announcement of the new leadership in November, 2002 -- however, most of the Chinese leaders it examines are still in power; with the exception of the early retirement of Li Ruihuan, it appears the authors were mainly correct in their early predictions).

The authors also briefly deal with other PRC leaders, including the top women leaders and those early candidates for leading the fifth generation. One of the final chapters focuses on the way the new leadership sees China's place in the world, including most importantly its relationship with the U.S.

This is a superb book that is not harmed by its being somewhat dated by recent events. Its only flaw is there is no index, leaving a reader to flail around when he wants to reread sections on particular leaders.