It's Frank Peretti's brilliant novel writing skills...condensed! It's a super-cool family of archeologists--minus a mother--who investigate phenomena in the spirit of Indiana Jones, only with a Christian perspective. A nice alternative to the gore and junk in the Indiana Jones movies.

Flying Blind isn't as exciting or as spectacular of a plot as some of the others, but still will keep you on the edge of your seat. Jay Cooper has been struck blind on board his uncle's plane due to airplane turbulence. Now, with the help of ground crew, family, friends, and relatives he must attempt to keep his unconscious uncle alive and land safely...all while he is Flying Blind.

This book appears to be the last of the Cooper kids adventure series, sadly. It's not as grand as some of the other novels, like I said, but it's still worth reading.

For the parents: A pretty tame book, compared to the others. Jay gets whacked on the head and bleeds a little. That's it.

This one keeps you on the edge of your seat. Jay Cooper and his uncle were having a fun flight on his uncle's plane, when a larger plane knocked them terribly. Jay becomes blind, and his uncle is knocked unconscious. Jay must now atempt to land the plane without eyesight. He gets help, though, over the radio, from a friend, an airport trafic controler, and finally his father. His family down on the ground tries to think of a successful way for him to land the plane. But it may cost his uncle his life. Can Jay land the plane successfully without injuring himself or his uncle? This book grabs your attention, and keeps it!

Derek Carroll 3/13/01

FLYING BLIND

I really enjoyed reading this book because it was very suspenseful. It was full of excitement, it made you not want to stop reading the book or even put it down. It was like being inside a movie acting it out as you read on. I believe everyone should have the Frank Peretti collection in their home. If it is your first time reading a book you should start on this book. If you like a book full of action and danger this is the book you should be reading. It takes place on a little two-passenger plane that belongs to jay's uncle. They both were having fun until a huge passenger plane had blown its engine. The force of the turbulence under the plane forced jay's plane out of control and knocking them both unconscious.

With the completion of Glinda of OZ, I can now claim to have read every one of L. Frank Baum's OZ books, including the short story compilation.

After glancing at Glinda's Magic Record book, Dorothy notices war has been declared in a remote corner of OZ no one has ever visited. Being the good, just, and noble queen she is, Ozma decides to travel there with Dorothy and the wooden sawhorse in order to implore her people to solve their differences without violence. The journey there is practically uneventful (Ozma and Dorothy adroitly find themselves out of only one misstep), but once they visit Evil Queen Coo-eh-oh they find themselves imprisoned under a globe. Glinda, alerted of their peril by an enchanted ring she gave to Dorothy, sets out immediately with all of OZ's favorite characters in order to rescue the two girls and make peace between the Flatheads and the Skeezers.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this story as much as I did the others; perhaps that is because I've grown up and lost my ability to see the playful fun in Baum's books-although I certainly hope not!

"In which are related the Exciting Experiences of Princess Ozma of Oz, and Dorothy, in their hazardous journey to the home of the Flatheads, and to the Magic Isle of the Skeezers, and how they were rescued from dire peril by the sorcery of Glinda the Good."

Always one of my favorite Oz books, Glinda was Baum's last and posthumously published. I can't count how many times I've actually reread it over the years-- that should be enough of a review in and of itself.

Excitment surged through me as I browsed the bookstore shelf, I had found the long-forgotten OZ shelf of the childrens section. I read most of the OZ books long ago, but I had noticed that there were a few that I didn't recall reading, so I ventured into the corner were Frank Baums captivating stories were held. I bought this book, excited about Dorothys adventures that I had yet to experience, and when I opened the cover, I noticed a note stating that this was Baum's last book, and that the publishers were going to try to create another book about OZ. I obviously noticed that this never came to be. Baum seemed to know this would be his last book, because the world of Oz went out with a bang. Every loved character was mentioned, or brought back into the wonderful tale of Dorothy, Ozma, Glinda, Flatheads and Skeezers. In a tribute to the amazing wizard of literature, this was one of Baum's best books about everyones favorite fairyland...OZ.

An interesting and quite detailed story of Indira's life, and the Nehru's in particular.
Katerine Frank narrates facts and hearsay with impartiality, leaving the readers to come to their own conclusion.
The most interesting part is the gradual introduction of Indira into Indian politics and her ascent up through the coteries of the congress party, which she ruled with an iron hand at the end of the struggle.
By reading this book, One would be able to better admire indira's strong handling of foreign affairs, and the aggressive strength she showed in making india have a say on the world political map. In particular, her role in the formation of bangladesh, and the transformation of india into a nuclear power.
Leaders such as these are nowhere to be seen in india today.This book is a fitting tribute to this great personality.

I would definately recommend this book to anyone who whats to get a good insight into the life of Indira Gandhi. This is has a lot of interesting information about Indira and her family.

I found this book to be an absolutely fascinating introduction to 20th century Indian history through the story of an absolutely fascinating woman. Indira's early years as part of the most prominent family in India post-independence were chaotic--her education was haphazard, her health very poor, her sense of security forever damaged by periodic visits to jail by her father and even once by her tubercular mother. Her life goals were confused--she longed for anonymity as those around her pushed her into the limelight. Her marriage was troubled and she had children against the advice of her doctors.

Indira's political life began in my opinion with her decision to separate from her husband and live with her father and become his "right hand woman," plus the advent of anti-biotics which cured her own TB for good. She became strong and accustomed to power, but never overcame the fear and suspicion of others and fear of disorder which so tragically played itself out in her own political career.

This book is over-sympathetic to Indira during her years in power. Taking advantage of certain constitutional provisions which thank god have no equivalent in the US, she systematically dismantled local governments which were the backbone of this country that is fractured by ethnic and religious conflict. She surrounded herself with loyal but not very wise men, and as the older generation of politicians retired from public life, a new generation of leadership failed to emerge in the corrupt, authoritarian atmosphere she created. She allowed her son Sanjay to roam uncontrolled and sat by as he knocked off enemies, took enormous bribes and payoffs, and perpetrated some of the worst injustices of the Emergency. She was voted out of office in 1977 but amazingly voted back in in 1980, in part because her years in power had allowed her to keep the opposition weak, disorganized and divided.

In fairness Indira was faced with intractable problems--conflict in Assam, Sri Lanka and Kashmir, war with Pakistan, unimaginable poverty, illiteracy, Muslim-Hindu strife, the caste system and the tragedy of untouchability, drought and famine. Unfortunately her reaction to these was to eliminate opposition and protect her own position, and in later years do nothing as she was overwhelmed by paranoia and a clear sense of her own imminent assasination.

And yet the people loved her. On a recent visit to India I visited Gandhi's house and the garden where he was assinated--it was peaceful and uncrowded. Meanwhile long lines awaited those seeking admission to the garden where Indira was killed and her memorial. She styled herself "Mother India," and was idolized by the poor. She spoke to their needs but tragically did little to help them.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Indira, or those looking to gain some understanding of the modern history of India.

I am about halfway through this book, but so far I enjoyed Frank Partnoy's first book, "FIASCO: Blood in the Water on Wall Street", much better. FIASCO was mainly an auto-biographical account of Partnoy's career at Morgan Stanley. Writing about his own life afforded Partnoy the opportunity to be more anecdotal and humorous about his subject matter. In this book, his focus is on scandals that made the headlines, or even worse, were suppressed from greater public knowledge. (Enron, LTCM, Orange County, the Salomon Bros Treasury auction scandal, etc).

He recants these tales with tongue in cheek humor, and he translates finance-geek-speak into a language which people outside of the business can understand. However, in his Vernacular translation, he loses some of the wind of the real story. Maybe its because I am in the business, so no details need to be spared for my benefit, but I would have preferred reading more technical accounts.

At any rate, Partnoy is a crusader, out to teach the world about the dangers of financial products. Frankly, I think he goes to far in his ranting, and this book is merely a vehicle for him to advance his agenda of reform and regulation. Its true that some people have exploited the market for less than altruistic purposes, but the truth is that derivatives have been more beneficial than harmful to the global financial system. To tell the tale all of the evil in the financial markets without mentioning the good is misleading.

In a much more serious project than his previous FIASCO, Partnoy gives an extremely persuasive explanation of how the interaction between financial product developments, legal change and administrative character have led to the series of financial scandals witnessed over the last twenty years. Few books on the subject have managed to explain the bizarre stories of Enron or LTCM in a way that really rings true but using his knowledge and experience of legal, administrative and financial products Frank puts together a highly believable interpretation. It is a story which throws the major scandals into a new perspective and gives a sense of how the corporate and financial worlds have become destabalised.
If not as humorous as the first book, Infectious Greed is still a fascinating and entertaining read and should be read by anyone keen to understand the true nature of modern financial markets.

An excellent review of some of the better-known financial scandals of the last two decades. Partnoy is an engaging writer, and he provides enough background information to make the book understandable to a layman. This is not a book for anyone who needs to keep an eye on his blood pressure. Partnoy shows how a few troubling trends--desire for prediction-busting profits, weakening social norms, and poor controls over employees--spread from one sector to the next, bearing increasingly bitter fruit throughout the financial world. His take on Enron--that it was really a trading firm, and a successful one, right up til the end--is controversial but worth the time. Partnoy has an impressive command of the facts and the industries he covers and a rare ability to communicate. Essential reading for anyone interested in this field.

One man's story sandwiched into a lot of facts/astute observation. Since I was only 11 at the time, it filled in a good number of gaps. Yes, cooks cover their mistakes with spices, doctors with earth, and the CIA with lots of duct tape tape, boundings, and gag orders. And, worse, they never learn fully, blundering again and again (just a guess). Such is life and the public's general willingness, in my life opinion, and this book fills a very important niche in that.

This book can be a little hard to grind through, and that give it 'only' 4 stars, as the reading public demands to be favorably entertained -- so a more difficult book by a small margin will be mostly preaching to the choir (the already converted or few read-a-holics as well I guess in this case).

When this book was originally published in the late 1970s, it caused a firestorm of controversy due to its savage critique of the conduct of both the CIA and military advisory units within Vietnam. Written by a career CIA officer who resigned in disgust over the ways in which American policy both undermined and betrayed the very purposes we were supposed to be in Vietnam to promote, the book quickly became an international best-seller. Frank Snepp was the chief strategy analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency in Saigon, and from his unique vantage point was able to discern most of policy discussions regarding the American approach to the ongoing conduct of the war assistance being provided to the South Vietnamese. What he discovered alarmed and surprised him, for the authorities were making plans to allow the fall of the Saigon regime even while reassuring their Vietnamese clients they would support them to the very end.

As the title of the book indicates, the most salient characteristic of the American policy was to withdraw our forces in such a way as to allow a sufficient amount of time to go by before the North Vietnamese forces made a final fatal thrust into the south to take over, so that America would save face by not directly involved in the action resulting in the losing of the decade-long war. Instead, according to this strategy, there was to be a so-called "decent interval" of time separating the associated events of American withdrawal on the one hand, and the final campaign by the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) forces, on the other. Snepp was outraged by the treachery involved in such a strategy, and argued strenuously against thus, which would leave hundreds if not thousand of ardent and loyal South Vietnamese operatives at extreme risk, for they would be caught unaware when the final critical days came that the American forces would not come to their rescue.

Snepp was even more surprised when he discovered that this strategy was not either the result of a local CIA operative such as the station chief, nor that of the CIA itself at the Langley, Virginia headquarters, but rather that it appeared to emanate from the highest levels of the executive branch of the government, from the office of Henry Kissinger and the office of the National Security Advisor to the President. This meant, of course, that it was a deliberate betrayal of the South Vietnamese by the American Government with full knowledge of the savage consequences this action would have for most of those who had worked so closely with the Americans for so long. For Snepp, this was treachery of the lowest and most unforgivable sort, a policy that served to punish our friends and reward our enemies, all done in the name of political expediency.

Of course, in order to be effective, this strategy must remain secret, for having such information made public would expose both the Executive branch and the CIA for the craven treachery they were conspiring to commit. Thus, the press releases associated with the rapidly accomplished American withdrawal of troop, material and advisors were spun to give the public the impression that all of this was part of the so-called successful "Vietnamization" of the war, under which the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) was increasingly shouldering the exclusive burden for conduct of the war against the NVA. What both the CIA and the U.S. Army command authority hoped for was a campaign in which the ARVN performed well enough to make the eventual NVA victory appear to be more gradual than it was feared it might be.

Of course, after the hasty American withdrawal, the NVA rapidly pressed their advantage and the ARVN collapsed so rapidly that no such "decent interval" was realized. Instead, the campaign took a disastrous turn, and the final result was a panic for the American loyalists now trapped in Saigon with little hope of rescue. The rest, as they say, is the stuff of history. Yet the facts laid out by Snepp in this book show just how treacherous, cynical, and self-concerned the actions of the American authorities were toward their South Vietnamese clients. In the end, we failed the loyal citizens of South Vietnam by largely abandoning them in the time of their greatest need. Left to choose between doing the honorable thing and doing what was expedient, we chose to beat feet. This is a wonderful book and a mind-boggling reading experience

The author captured the dismay and controversy of the age i.e. the overwhelming desire to help everybody but not being able to. As an Air Force Security Policeman I was a guard on a C-130 as we loaded refugees up at Da Nang and Ton Sun Knut. On another assignment I had sniper duty on off loading refugees due to intelligence fears that refugees might be used as cover for an assualt.

I think if you are in sales...this book will add a lot of value in your career. Some of the stuff is not relevant for non-sales people.

This is an interesting book that is laced with recommendations that you may be tempted to initially dismiss. Get up and get into the office early / spend 9-5 in front of the customer and do your paperwork outside of normal working hours. However the writing style is as if you are listening to the author tell his story. It is simle to read and relate to all of his examples concerning his work with the Xerox office that he took from worst to first.

Books like this that serve to reinforce the basics are invaluable - especially when they are an entertaining and interesting read. This book is both entertaining and interesting while also giving a healthy dose of solid advice.

I had to read this book for my Sales and Management class and I thought it was going to be a real pain. Now that I am in the "real world" the contents of this book have been insightful and I see where they are applicable to people outside of the sales world. This a great book and easy to read!

You know this book is great if you want to learn about hash and where it comes from and how it is smuggled around the world. It is very scientific with lots of information on the ingredients of hash, different types of hash and it's effects on the body. You get nearly 400 pages on that. This is the best Hash book on the market but...... Clarke only shows us what the hash makers want the tourists to see and the book fails to explain how we can successfully make hash for ourselves using modern techniques.

Clarke gives us the "3rd world" look at how hash is made. In reality, yes these "traditional" methods do still go on and are nice to know about, but they have been replaced by newer methods at this stage in the game. So as a historical read this book is prime stuff, but in reality we need to look elsewhere for what really goes on.

Most people would buy this book because they would like to get their teeth into hash making using modern techniques. There is a chapter on this, but it is not modern nor is it useful. That chapter is called "Hi-Tech hashish making" but should really be called "80's Hi-Tech but low grade hash making." The chapter will only explain how to make inferior quality hash the hard way. More up-to-date methods are not even treated. This is totally surprising, as most of these new methods are simple! And a lot cheaper to do than what his sections explain. I mean in 400 pages and you get nothing really substantial about how you should go about making hash for yourself. All he would have to do is sit down and write 10 - 20 pages on the subject of home hash making and how it is REALLY done. Then the book would deserve 5 stars.

i bought this book of a bum on the street in berkeley, ca. its awsome. its got great history and knowledge about the traditions of hash making and hash smoking around the world. its pretty neat. nice middle section of color pictures too ! very cool. the methods for making hash could be a little bit better explained and maybe some better pictures. but overall, its a winner.

While certainly not infallible, this is as likely as close as any author will ever come to writing the "bible" of hashish. Dense with information and enlivened with wonderful photos and illustrations, Clarke's masterwork is both exceptionally entertainng and an invaluable reference work. I have to rate this as one of the best gifts I've ever received. First Rate!

This was the second Herbert book I'd ever read - the first being, not surprising, Dune. I was already in love with Herbert's imagination and development as he crafts a story. When I heard about this book - a group of humans with a Hive-insect mentality, I HAD to read it, the mere idea just seemed so cool. As with Dune's "Writings of Princess Irulan", parts of the book are divided by excerpts from characters journals, notes, reports, or what have you. I always thought that was a cool way of doing it. Herbert quite convincingly creates his Hive world, with it's superior technology, emotional stoicism, and hard insect drive for survival, which is neither cruel, nor kind, just based on what it takes to survive. The book is definitely a good read, I love the introduction of "stun wands", although I had read in a previous review of a "surprise twist ending" and man, was I looking forward to it. However, I didn't find the ending to be particularly surprising or even very good really. The whole book was enjoyable, but the ending was a bit of a predictable letdown, I thought.

This was the second Herbert book I'd ever read - the first being, not surprising, Dune. I was already in love with Herbert's imagination and development as he crafts a story. When I heard about this book - a group of humans with a Hive-insect mentality, I HAD to read it, the mere idea just seemed so cool. As with Dune's "Writings of Princess Irulan", parts of the book are divided by excerpts from characters journals, notes, reports, or what have you. I always thought that was a cool way of doing it. Herbert quite convincingly creates his Hive world, with it's superior technology, emotional stoicism, and hard insect drive for survival, which is neither cruel, nor kind, just based on what it takes to survive. The book is definitely a good read, I love the introduction of "stun wands", although I had read in a previous review of a "surprise twist ending" and man, was I looking forward to it. However, I didn't find the ending to be particularly surprising or even very good really. The whole book was enjoyable, but the ending was a bit of a predictable letdown, I thought.

I love science fiction that proposes "what if..." and takes that "what if" to a logical conclusion. In "Hellstrom's Hive", Herbert asks "what if humans were genetically engineered to be an insect-colony organism?"

This book, written long before genetic manipulation and cloning was a reality, is scarier than ever. The insect-humans in this novel are cunning yet totally without the human reactions we would consider "normal." This makes for some very disgusting scenes in "Hellstrom's Hive" and is possibly why this book has not yet been re-released along with the other Herbert novels that were out of print.

But if you can get past some of the more chilling aspects of "Hellstrom's Hive" you are in for a real thriller. No one can write about smells, sights, tastes, and all aspects of the senses, combined with exciting action better than Frank Herbert. This book will stay with you. If you like a bit of horror in your sci-fi, this is for you.

I rather enjoyed this offering. Because I was such a great fan of his, I bought the book anyway despite the reviews written by other readers that it didn't contain much insight. In fact, this book was rather insightful. It was realised after the involvement of the author with the maestro himself over a period of 7 years. It's amazing to read about Gehry's inspiration from his favourite items, the 'fish' & the 'snake', & how it gradually evolves into something else completely different. The book explores his previous realised & unrealised projects, & their corelations with the Bilbao Museum. After exploring his subconscious & conscious minds thru random sketches mostly done in the plane or in hotel room, he would have his colleague, Chan built the models which they would constantly refine. I also learnt here that Gehry isn't a great fan of both computer & drawing plan. The blessing by Gehry of the usage of the computer program, Catia is a God sent because the other Principal understood that without its usage, it would be almost impossible to finish the project on time, on budget, or at all. The part about why he chose titanium instead of copper despite that it costs more is interesting to read. Here, we also learnt that Gehry is a team player & he credits other people's contribution to his project. One of them is Krens, the Guggenheim Foundation Director who assisted Gehry in forming spaces to display arts. He's the person who urged Gehry to trust his intuition to come out with huge spaces & yet, sculptural in nature. In other words, Gehry is fortunate to work with professionals who remain objective in their judgements & never steer him away from his vision. This book oozes with beautiful pictures, taken from all angles imaginable, in different lighting, & even pictures of the Museum under construction. There's also Appendix at the rear of the book mentioning all you need to know about this iconalistic project of our time. Highly recommended.

... understand how one could build such an ugly building. I confess, I only saw the building when they started the process. Students and architects will appreciate the book because such a design process is not common and justifies these hundreds of pages and pictures.

I first heard of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao on National Public Radio. NPR offered a commentary on the Museum on its opening day. I was utterly fascinated. I started my college years as an architect, but later changed my major. No regrets about my decision, but I still have a passion for buildings and bridges.

Since the day of the NPR commentary, I have been seeking photos of the Bilbao museum. The best photos I found are within the pages of Gehry's THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM BILBAO. I think the illustrations are absolutely wonderful! The text explains why the Museum was built in Bilbao - the most important feature of the text.

A couple of years later on another NPR program, I learned of the many changes that occurred in Bilbao as a result of the Museum. Bilbao has world class restaurants that rival New York and Paris. Interesting... that a creative design of a single building can have such a profound effect on a local economy.

This book made our vacation to St. Augustine great. Our boxers had a great time, especially at the beach! Thanks Sally, Robert and Maggie!

This book is right on the money. We stayed in the Clearwater Beach area while vacationing in Florida, and used this book to find a place to stay at Clearwater Beach that is dog friendly. Also, the book listed dog beaches and dog friendly cafes. The dog beaches were so much fun for both us and the dog. The book also gave some great tips about taking dogs in Florida, like alligators and salt water, which us Northerners didn't really think about. A great book, would reccommend it to anyone traveling to Florida.

The best book for dog owners living or traveling in Florida. The reviews of places to visit, eat, and stay are accurate and straight foward. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for something to do in Florida with their dog.