This book does an overall good job of demonstrating ASL grammar and vocabulary. Sometimes the vocabulary words include English usage without specifying that the particular sign is not used in that manner in ASL. Other than that, it is a very good course, and provides a good understanding of the interaction of facial and body language with the manual signs for complete communication with the Deaf.

I HAVE JUST FINISHED TAKING THE FIRST LEVEL OF ASL CLASSES AT THE COLLEGE I AM ATTENDING AND I HAVE FOUND THAT THIS BOOK CAN BE VERY HELPFUL IN LEARNING ASL, BUT IT DOES HAVE IT'S DRAWBACKS. SOME OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS WERE A LITTLE HARD TO SEE SO I FOUND MYSELF MAKING THE WRONG HAND SHAPES AT TIMES. ALSO THE BOOK ONLY HAD ONE SIGN FOR EACH WORD. FOR EXAMPLE THE ENGLISH WORD "RUN". THERE IS A SIGN FOR RUNNING WATER, RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, RUNNING AWAY, ETC. THE BOOK ONLY HAD THE SIGN FOR RUNNING AWAY. THE BOOK DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH SIGNS TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT MEANINGS OF THE WORDS. IF YOU ARE TO BUY THIS BOOK ONLY USE IT TO ACCOMPANY A CLASS OR A LESSON FROM A PERSON WHO IS EDUCATED IN ASL. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO LEARN ASL WITH ONLY THE USE OF THIS BOOK. WITH ANY LANGUAGE YOU HAVE TO NOT ONLY READ WHAT YOU ARE LEARNING, BUT ALSO SEE IT IN ACTION. I RECOMMEND THE RANDOM HOUSE AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE DICTIONARY IF YOU WANT TO SEE MULTIPLE SIGNS FOR SINGLE WORDS.

After a semester of Siglish, I took 4 semesters of American Sign Language (ASL) in college as my foreign language requirement. The course was superby taught by a husband and wife team, both who worked at residential schools for the deaf for over 25 years. This book was the text for the first 2 semesters and I still have it on my shelf.

Extremely detailed, lots of exlplainations and superb drawings. The text is spiral bound, which is awesome for laying a book flat while practicing signs. If you carry this book with you in a backpack, however, you should keep the book in a protective bag... the spiral binding makes the book very vulnerable to pages ripping away while being jostled in a backpack.

This text should not replace classroom instruction. There is no text that can replace a real human being explaining how one sign looks exactly like another depending on context, facial expressions and body language. You can easily embarrass yourself by assuming you can figure out the drawings and go about conversing in ASL with someone w/o the benefit of real one-on-one practice with another human being. Signs like "prostitute" and "shy" are almost identical to the learner and if you're talking to someone and you say "I'm shy," you might end up getting a bunch of raised eyebrows if you don't do it just right. Signs for "lemon" and "lesbian" are also very closely similar... you can imagine the types of mis-understandings that can occur if you don't learn these signs properly.

This warning is not meant as discouragement. If you have already learned the manual alphabet and find yourself to be quite adept, ASL will probably be a breeze to you... at least it was to me. Some people really take to it and others don't. Spoken language is not my strong suit and I was a late talker to begin with. If my college didn't offer ASL as a foreign language requirement, I would have never graduated. Regardless of your aptitude, study and practice is essential for good, rapid signing... and more importantly, signing that can be understood. Even if you become a wiz at signing, you must have practice at reading other people's signs or you won't be able to have a conversation. It's been 8 years since my last ASL class and wlithout anyone to practice with, I've forgotten a lot of signs, so I constantly refer to this book... it's a great reference for those wanting to freshen up on forgotten signs or to use to learn in the classroom or with a study partner.

This collection of the originally six-issue storyline "That Yellow Bastard" might just be the best volume the Sin City line has offered so far. Both art as storywise everything is top-notch. The choice Miller made to add the color yellow to the normally only black/white art, which is both finely detailed and mood-setting, is very functional and refreshing, and the storyline has enough plot-twists to keep the reader interested (not like for example in "The Big Fat Kill" which was a nice story but had pretty obvious plot-twists in my opinion).

The story is about a cop named Hartigan who has only an hour to go before he will go into early retirement, doctor's orders. There's just one loose end he really wants to tie up before he does. He wants to save an eleven year old girl out of the hands of a sadistic kid-killer/rapist who has shown before he can kill without remorse. Only problem is that the abductor is the son of the senator, and hardly touchable because of it. He tracks him down and THAT's when things start to happen from which we learn how corrupt Sin City in its entirety really is. Hartigan is in for a world of pain from there on, both psychically and mentally, with only one person in the world who still believes in him, that being the girl he was trying to save. But is that save for her ? Only time will tell, and the story has but just begun ...

My compliments go, again, to the art in which it shows that Miller was still incredible into this little project of his and also to a story which skilfully avoids becoming predictable anywhere. With that I can add that this is probably THE most violent and bizar volume of the series, with a very original ending that only gets reveiled in the last three pages.
Note with this book is that although people like Marv and Dwight (main-characters from other Sin City volumes) are mentioned and even minorly featured in it, they are in now way a factor in the story. This is a 100% self-contained storyline. Good pick if you're into police/noir stories. People who like Sin City story-wise are advised to also try out the titles "Astro City" and "Top Ten" sometimes. Not entirely the same but there's a good chance you'll like it.

Frank Miller takes us back to the world of Sin City with a bang. This book is a perfect example of Miller's uncanny ability to turn the most common everyday people into modern-day tragic heroes. Hartigan's story is a change from Mr. Miller's "criminal-with-a-heart-of-gold" tales of earlier Sin City volumes. Also, this is his first (and best) use of color in the Sin City series. Needless to say, this book is a non-stop gripper from start to finish that everyone, comic fans or not, should have on their bookshelf.

Detective John Hartigan is only hours away from retirement but Nancy Callahan, age 11, is moments away from death. In the hands of a ruthless connected serial killer and rapist Nancy will suffer unmentionable ordeals. John Hartigan must raise his 38 cannon and ignor his failing health to save little Nancy, even at the expense of his dignity and his life.

This cleverly written and exquisitely illustrated tale pulled from the dark gritty bounds of Frank Miller's Sin City series will rock you.John Hartigan is not your typical cop and his devotion to the protection of Nancy from the cruel menace that wishes to defile her spans eight years. Miller has created a superior character in Hartigan and molded a believable plot exploring the idiosyncratic mind of a killer and the devotion of an aging man whose body is no match for his adversary. Put away your preconceptions about the "comic book" medium and prepare to be flattened. In the tradition of "Pulp Fiction" and "Silence of the Lambs" "That Yellow Bastard" is praiseworthy celebration of human ability that is illustrated with maturity and candor.

-Brian Franklin

I should have listened to my instincts and held off on buying the book until it came out in paperback. A 200-page 'popcorn' book for $26. Better yet, it could have been condensed down to a magazine article in Vanity Fair. No comparison to 'Liar's Poker.' Plus it doesn't even have an index. And the promos overplay the Mary Meeker/Henry Blodgett connections. Not really much there. Andy should stick to investing.

Andy Kessler is a worthy follow-up act to Michael Lewis, and his Wall Street Meat is as fun and enjoyable as Lewis's Liar's Poker. I read this book cover to cover and was chuckling with delight all the way through.

It really brings us upclose and personal with the biggest rogues on Wall Street. The portraits of Jack Grubman and Mary Meeker are especially compelling. I highly recommend this book - easy to read, lucid and with a sense of bemusement only a true new yorker can have...shame we have to wait for his next book

Andy Kessler, was on Wall Street for many years. This book shares his experience working with some of the names making the headlines for the wrong reason. While depicting his adventure on Wall Street in a humorous way no one is spared in this book from the analyst, to the brokers ,investment bankers, CEOs and Andy himself. This book comes with a warning, be prepared to stay all night reading it. Impossible to put down. Whether you're a Wall Street veteran,about to begin your carrer on the street or an amteur investor this book is a must read.

Great read--Shaw really paints a vivid and compelling picture of what Harbo & Samuelsen must have gone through in their row across the Atlantic. My only complaint is that there were too many visits to the psychological side, which can only be pure speculation. A little bit of psych spec is good, but he went back to the well too often. Still, a very good book. Makes me feel like a wimp for cancelling my planned row across Lake Michigan!

Two intrepid men set out to row across the Atlantic, at a time when new exploits were filling the news. The two men thought their feat, if successful, would bring them fame and fortune. Being life long watermen, they were well suited to the daunting task, and it was a near-deadly challenge! David Shaw masterfully captures the dangers of storms at sea and the physical and emotional challenges involved. The men were Norwegian immigrants to the US and were having a difficult time earning a living in the 1890s. The idea of rowing across the Atlantic seemed to be within their capabilities and might possiblty be a path toward 'real money'. Against all odds, in an open, small row-boat, they succeeded. But they never excited the imagination of the public and their gains never materialized. If you like adventures and challenge writing, or if you like sea stories, this is for you.

David W. Shaw captures the taste of salt in this well written and researched book. It is a page turner not only because of the subject matter but the author obviously knows what the sea is capable of with first hand knowledge. The reader can taste the salt and viscerally feel the ordeal these men went through. It is sad that these men were so soon forgotten and wonderful that Shaw has brought this story back to life.

While this was Waugh's least favourite of his own books, the one that he blamed for exposing him to the trials of fan mail and public recognition, it is in fact, a great and glorious book. Spanning the short adult life of Sebastian Flyte, it is told retrospectively through the eyes of his friend and former lover Charles, who goes on, once youthful experimentation is over, to carry on an equally passionate and hopeless love affair with Sebastian's sister. But in some ways, these themes are not the great story. The larger pictures are of the slackening grip of British aristocracy, the power of love and the power of Faith. Waugh paints a masterpiece of the sweet, desperate years between the wars, at Oxford, in London and Paris, with one generation lost and the next helplessly watching history lurching towards a repetition of the same madness.

Brideshead is a gloomy book but a must-read nonetheless. I am sometimes embarassed to say I liked it enough to read it twice and I'm sure that I'll read it again. I read mostly for the story- (not particularly postmodern of me) and for the pleasure of perceiving with some hard intimacy the lives and surroundings of a period and time that is no more and wouldn't have been mine anyway. The Catholic intensity would be meaningless to a younger lapsed soul, but even in my American youth, the religion as destiny- for better or worse- was certainly a part of my parents' top ten issues of life. As such, they were also for the younger me.
Waugh's own yearnings for lineage and the rest of inheritance and 'class' are transformed into a good story with details of snobbery and those horridly cold (British upperclass) childhoods. Those children became adults only having born consequences of World War, modernism and legacies of excess- religious and alcoholic. All of those were certainly bedeviling Waugh as much as any of his creations. No doubt the novel was chosen by a smart BBC producer for the very same details that made the book work for me. If you are a reader of Waugh or Nancy Mitford or any of the first half of the 20th century 'greats,' I cannot imagine that you would forego Brideshead- if only because it is certainly more serious, and in that, more silly. Even his lesser literary efforts- and God knows he had plenty of those-reflected his superstardom, his trajectory as one of the most multifaceted authors.

I had a friend who made it a point to read "Brideshead Revisited" once a year without fail. She considered it the finest book ever written. While I might quarrel with that hyperbole, I do in fact list it in my own personal top ten. I, too, re-read it, in my case, every few years. And of course I was riveted to the brilliant BBC production starring Jeremy Irons as Charles Ryder.

Imagine my delight, then, when I found this unabridged reading by Irons himself! My delight was rewarded. Irons' perfect reading of this book opened up a whole new world for me. This time, I heard and felt the absolute poetry of Waugh's words--his ability to take his reader from sultry ... summertime to the slums of the Casbah to a storm at sea that is the perfect metaphor for the turmoil to come. Waugh never wasted a word. Never said more than he had to say. Never helped the reader by sugarcoating the story. And the result was breathtaking.

Maybe because I was listening this time rather than reading, I paid much more attention this time to the book's main theme, religion versus humanity. Can one exist without the other? Does one destroy the other? How far can one stray when bound by the "invisible thread"? Waugh's very personal and moving tale of upper-class Catholics in a Protestant country is a brilliant affirmation of faith, and at the same time, a bitter acknowledgement of the price that faith can exact.

I cannot say enough about this recording, which brings all the best of Waugh to the fore even more so than the written word.

'Bridges' is an excellent book to have in your library. It also makes the perfect gift to give someone who has an interest in not just architecture, but history as well. It gives a brief history on each bridge together with very large high quality B/W photos. An excellent follow up from Dupre's first in the series 'Skyscapers'. I hope Judith Dupre is considering to continue the series with another book in the same style. A book on 'Stadiums' perhaps. If you loved 'Skyscrapers' you will find 'Bridges' just as rewarding, a must to add to your collection. Thanks Judith!

Show an average person the Golden Gate or the Brooklyn Bridge and watch their eyes light up. Tell that average person some history or what design methods were used, and watch their eyes glaze over. History, technology and entertainment is a difficult mix, especially in print, but Judith Dupre' combines them wonderfully in "Bridges" - a worthy follow-up to her best selling "Skyscrapers". Fifty of history's most famous spans are detailed in this wonderful collage of text, photos, graphics and trivia bits. Bridges are wide, and so is this book, which measures a full 36 inches when opened. One most appealing aspect of Judith Dupre's work is the many "sidebar" views she takes of her subjects. Pages are devoted to covered bridges, portable bridges used in war, bridge catastrophes, even "Bridges in the Movies". An interview with the Guinness Book record holder for "most suspension bridges walked across" offers a personal dimension, and mirrors the passion that many readers no doubt feel for these creations. This is a fun book, suitable for the aficionado or for people who would like to enjoy the subject without being overpowered. The author is not afraid to have fun with her subject, and that makes "Bridges" a fun book you will enjoy for a long time! - Jeff Herzer

Every day we traverse bridges in our daily lives, scarcely to give them thought. Dupre pulls back the veil and brings highlight to these engineering feats. From the simple to the revolutionary, we are brought on a tour of bridges through time, and around the globe. The superlatives are here: the longest suspension bridge, highest, oldest. But it's not a book about the superlative; it's about what moves us forward in our quest for technology, and for our ability to move across space in a timely manner. It highlights those bridges that mean something to us: where the Romans said "let's make a permanent way of moving water." Where politics came into play and tried to prevent bridges that we can't imagine not being there like the Golden Gate Bridge. Bridges become important to history such as the ones over the Rhine during the World War. And sometimes when we make mistakes and things don't work out like we planned - the most spectacular example being the Tacoma Narrows Bridge that lasted all of 4 months.

But as she shows in her book "Skyscrapers," there is an intertwining of form and function, and where man built up in buildings, he builds out via bridges. The book's design even emphasizes - where Skyscrapers was an extremely tall and thin book, Bridges goes for width, to try and bring the spans into the range of the printed page. Yet so often, the task is not possible, and even on the wide pages the bridge disappears into the distance.

The book looks at the engineering involved, but does not dwell on it. Rather it celebrates how the improvement of engineering practices have been able to move man forward. A veritable love poem to something that we often take too much for granted.

This book is more than a Sicilian-American version of "Roots," more than a detective story about a vicious crime, more than a cultural and political history of a complex island. Journalist Frank Viviano set out to uncover the truth behind the murder of his namesake, his great-great-grandfather, who was a revolutionary in Sicily and a bandit in the vein of Robin Hood. However, for reasons that become clear in the shocking end of this tale, Viviano is compelled to weave descriptions of what he uncovers and the process he must undergo--the difficulty he has finding the genealogical and journalistic information he needs, and the even greater difficulty he has getting the persons controlling this knowledge to share it with him--with portraits of his family members and depictions of life in Sicily now and during thousands of years of conquest by varying outsiders. As one man Viviano asks for help tells him, "Sicily is the book you must study." Sicilians have not known much freedom from oppression, so they have developed ways of protecting their communities, harboring secrets, and speaking in code that are difficult for outsiders to comprehend. As the book's title indicates, in Sicilian tradition, a crime against a family member makes the victim's relatives assume the inescapable obligation of redressing this wrong. In the town Viviano's family came from, one man avenged the death of his mother by killing not only her murderer, but every living male relative of the murderer. However, this is not the only means to settle the score. Because my husband's family came from Sicily, I was eager to read about the island's past and the experiences of the families who left it for America. I was not disappointed in this. It was a surpise to learn that a large proportion of Sicilians have never been more than a half-day's walk from their villages. (However, this may explain why some of my husband's relatives crossed a big ocean to get to Boston, but once there found no reason ever to go outside the city limits.) I also appreciated the information on how the Mafia developed and the role it plays today. What I did not expect, and was enchanted by, were Viviano's hints about the sensual aspects of Sicily, such as how the island smells of lemon blossoms. The book is weakened when Viviano dwells on his failed marriage and subsequent relationships, his regret over not having children, and many of his experiences as a foreign correspondent. He tries to link these discussions with his namesake's reputation for wandering and unhappy second marriage. However, this doesn't work, and merely provides an annoying distraction from an otherwise gripping story that compelled me to stay up too late until I finished this book.

This is a true story. I was off-put by the name, fearing it
was going to be a mafia novel, full of shoot 'em up scenes and bad italian. I was really
wrong this time!
This book is as authentic as they come.
For anyone the slightest bit interested
in their family history, this book is a must read. Especially
if you are Italian, and Particularly if you are Sicilian!
The daily life of Frank Viviano while living in Italy gives
you an excellent idea of what one is up against trying to
search for roots in this vastly different country.
A novel couldn't be more satisfying, after one gets to the
end of Frank's book and we share his discoveries.
Read it.

I started reading this book one afternoon and I could not go to bed until I finished it. Mr. Viviano weaves a compelling story and you feel you are trying to solve his family mystery along with him. It is beautifully written and the author uses his sharp reporting skills to get ever detail just right. He illuminates many of the mysteries of modern Sicily and shines a light on its violent history. A MUST READ!

We have all grown up with the Wizard of Oz movie, book one, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is basically the same story as the movie with some slight differences. Marvelous Land of Oz, the second book of the series is the one that will reel you in and have you wanting to read more. I just finished reading this one, a chapter each night, to my preschool age son. He loved it, especially the surprise ending which I won't spoil for you. Jack Pumpkinhead, the Woggle Bug and a mean witch named Mombi are all new characters, even more colorful than some of those from book one. I loved it, Jonah and I are really looking forward to starting the Ozma of Oz after we finish Black Beauty which we will begin tonight. I hope you will fall in love with the Oz series like we have. It will provide you with a great opportunity for some quality time reading with your children or grandchildren. I think that I look forward to reading time as much as he does.

This book has a special place in my heart since it was the first Oz book I ever read. The book was so exciting and fun to read that it started me on a wonderful journey through the many other delighful books in the series. Tip is a great character and his life with the witch Mombi still make me feel anxious just thinking about it. I read this to my neice and she loved it so much that she now asks me to read another Oz book just about every time I see her.

this was undoubtedly the best in the oz series. i am not lying to you! in fact, i enjoyed it so much that i just couldn't put it down for THREE WHOLE DAYS!

I couldn't wait for the 3rd installment of Suzanne Franks' series based on time travel and our heroine, Chloe Kingsley. Ms. Franks' wit is up to par with the other two books. I realized that I was trying to remember my bible and comparing the story of David with what I had read. I am glad that this time, Chloe and Cheftu had a more "normal" married life together. But I do want them to go on other adventures together in other time periods. How about the French Revolution? The possibilities are endless, as I am sure Ms Frank realizes what an audience she has captured. Please..may we have more?

Suzanne Frank's wit, and obvious knowledge of Biblical times makes this book a page turner and a story you will long remember. Again we meet our time-travelling pair; Chloe and Cheftu, this time during the moments before Jerusalem becomes King David's Kingdom, and before the conquests of this city begin.

In a style that leaves your mouth agape, you are introduced to the characters who WERE the Bible. Ms. Frank not only weaves an original 'You are there', but she continues the special love and devotion between Chloe and Cheftu.

This series is a winner, start at the first and work your way through, it's worth the trip!

I couldn't wait for the third book in Frank's series to come out as each one seemed better than the last. This one is no exception! 'Sunrise' ties up all the loose ends from the previous novels, clearing up issues I had not understood before. And finally (!) Chloe and Cheftu get through a whole book without questioning each other's love! They are the ultimate love match, destined to be togeter throughout time. The end is left open so Ms. Frank, can we hope for a book 4? Wonderfully researched, I felt like I was there. A great, original take on the characters we think we know so well, from the Bible. Stayed up reading till my eyes were crossing from fatigue, at 5am, but I could not put it down. Please, please give us a sequel. I love these people. Maybe they could go to the New World next? The Aztecs or Incas? Great story.

This was required reading in high school. I read the book in one day. I don't think I'll ever see Chinese culture the same ever again! Buy it, you'll like it.

Donald Duk is an excellent book for ALL readers, not just Asians. I'm an African American woman and I found the book insightful and eye-opening. The book made me realize that as a minority you forget that you're not the only one who has to deal with daily prejudices and embarassment because you wish you could for one day be the majority. I recommend this book for everyone, not just for minorities but for the majority as well. I read this book as part of an English class in college.

A strong and complex male lead, great dialogue, and the heroic tradition - all make this novel vintage Frank Chin. Meet Donald Duk who believes Chinese can never be Americans because they're too "passive" and "non-competitive." Meet his father, King Duk, who wishes "Pearl Buck was alive and walk into my restaurant so I can cut out her heart and liver." Meet Kwan the Coolie worker who will not bow down to the White racist's ways. And meet Kwan Kung, the best representation of what it means to be Chinese. You want a great intoduction of why Chinese do the things they do? Read this book. Want to know what Chinese New Year is like? Read this book. Want a book that is REALLY Chinese and not a fake one? Read this book. Want a book that tells the REAL story about the Coolie workers? Read this book. Want to know how it's like being in a Chinese Opera? Read this book. I'm proud of being Chinese after reading DONALD DUK.