Don't buy this book unless you like fiction. And bad fiction at that. This book contains absolutely no analysis (like all of this author's writings).

Easterbrook and Fischel collected a series of law review articles into the classic text on the contractarian theory of corporate law. During the 1980s, E&F were two of the corporate law academy's enfants terribles. Their articles were provocative, yet insightful. They raised a lot of hackles, yet did ground-breaking work. Both E&F have gone on to bigger and better things. Easterbrook is now a judge on the US 7th Circuit. Fischel is dean of the UChicago law school. "The Economic Structure ..." stands as their legacy for corporate law.

Like other contractarians, E&F model the firm not as an entity, but as an aggregate of various inputs acting together to produce goods or services. Employees provide labor. Creditors provide debt capital. Shareholders initially provide equity capital and subsequently bear the risk of losses and monitor the performance of management. Management monitors the performance of employees and coordinates the activities of all the firm's inputs. The firm is simply a legal fiction representing the complex set of contractual relationships between these inputs. In other words, the firm is not a thing, but rather a nexus or web of explicit and implicit contracts establishing rights and obligations among the various inputs making up the firm.

The nexus of contracts model has important implications for a range of corporate law topics, the most obvious of which is the debate over the proper role of mandatory legal rules. As a positive matter, contractarians contend that corporate law in fact is generally comprised of default rules, from which the parties to the set of contracts making up the corporation are free to depart, rather than mandatory rules. As a normative matter, contractarians argue that this is just as it should be. E&F devote the bulk of this text to tweaking out these implications across an array of important topics, such as limited liability and insider trading.

Their analysis is not flawless. As but a single example, E&F consistently opt for the so-called majoritarian default. Their basic thesis is that by providing the rule to which the parties would agree if they could bargain, society facilitates private ordering. Majoritarian defaults are not always desirable, however, even if a potentially dominant one can be identified. Sometimes penalty defaults are preferable. Penalty defaults are designed to impose a penalty on at least one of the parties if they fail to bargain out of the default rule, thereby giving at least the party subject to the penalty an incentive to negotiate a contractual alternative to the penalty default. They force the parties to choose affirmatively the contract provision they prefer. Penalty defaults are appropriate where it is costly for courts to determine what the parties would have wanted. In such cases, it may be more efficient for the parties to negotiate a term ex ante than for courts to determine ex post what the parties would have wanted.

Having said that, however, this remains one of the most significant monographs on corporate law. I highly recommend it for an corporate lawyer's bookshelf.

The classic exposition of law and economics in the corporate field. This book consolidates and expands upon several law review articles written in the early 1980s that have reshaped how corporate and securities law and policy have developed. If you want heavier economic analysis, this book is lacking, but if you want *structure* and *framework* then this book is ideal.

I purchased this book for my two sons ages 2 and 4. I am incredibly disappointed in this book. Jonathan London should be ashamed of this title. If you as a parent think it is funny for the text to teach your child "trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat; if you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear" then buy it. Otherwise, boycott this book for all the right reasons!!! Truly distasteful and offensive literature.

It's almost Halloween and Froggy still can't decide what costume to wear. Should he be super frog, ghost frog or vampire frog? How about a football player, cowboy or even a zombie. All week he gets ready for Halloween, carving pumpkins and hanging spider webs and ghosts. He's even practiced saying "Trick or treat, smell my feet./Give me something good to eat." Finally when the big day comes, Froggy decides to be the Frog Prince, complete with crown and sword. Now he's off for a scary evening of tricks, treats, surprises and fun..... No one captures the essence of a busy pre-schooler as well as Jonathan London and Frank Remkiewicz. Mr London's lively text is full of sound effects, energy and humor and complemented by Mr Remkiewicz's bold, bright and expressive artwork. Together they've authored a clever and entertaining story about an engaging character that your little "Froggy" will easily identify with. This is the perfect read aloud story to help everyone get into the Halloween spirit. Froggy's Halloween is part of a marvelous series that youngsters just can't get enough of. Read them all and enjoy!

This book is just as funny and charming as the other Froggy tales. I especially liked the Halloween costumes in the illustrations. Just as expected, Froggy has an embarrassing moment and of course he is "more red in the face than green"! This book is a wonderful addition to any personal or educational library!

I have been a fan of Mr Howard for nearly 12 years now, which in my opinion, makes me a bit of a connoisseur, and frankly this book was a bit of a disappointment. Undoubtedly the contributing writers are well-respected and immensely able but their writing lacked the Howardian flavour I have come to love. Ghor's sudden personality shifts are hard to follow and the various ideas in the story lack sufficient depth. This book is not the way Mr Howard would have written it. Nevertheless, this should be read because the original idea belonged to the great REH.

Ghor is a nice blend of Conan and the Cthulhu Mythos together. Abandoned as a child because of a deformity, Ghor is adopted by a pack of wolves. Raised by them, he adopts the ways of the wolf, yet when he meets up with humanity joins them. Constantly struggling with his wolf upbringing and his human surroundings, Ghor becomes a mighty war hero wherever he goes.

This is an excellent adventure book that takes a Conan like hero and plots him against all sorts of evil (and good), including some Cthulhu creations as well.

Originally Ghor was an unfinished story by Conan creator Robert Howard. Upon finding this unfinished story, a magazine decided to finish it. What they did was have a different chapter every month written by a different top fantasy writer. It made the reading interesting.

While most of the chapters were great. Some were excellent. Unfortunately there were a couple chapters that I just wanted to get through to reach the next writers' chapter. Overall a really good read.

I WAS VERY SUPRISED ABOUT HOW WELL THIS STORY CAME OFF. THE VARIUOS WRITERS DID AN EXCELLENT JOB IN WRITING AN EXCITING BOOK THAT FLOWED SMOOTHLY. IT DID NOT COME OFF AS A SERIES OF SHORT STORIES. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR ROBERT E. HOWARD FANS, AND FANS OF FANTASY IN GENERAL.

It's the industry standard. Everyone has one. It stands alone in its field. And if you're reading this you're probably going to buy regardless of what is written here.

But I've found this book (along with some of the other Fabozzi 'Handbooks') to be overrated. Basically, the format of 30 or so different authors each writing a chapter in the form of an article diminishes the usefulness of the book. There is no narrative, pedagogical or otherwise. The format leads to significant gaps in coverage. The quality of the chapters is uneven, as is the level of detail covered.

Don't misunderstand me -- the Handbook isn't bad, by any strecth of the imagination. It's just not as good as it could be. It has almost no fluff, and all the information in it is good. And the competition is a very slim field. For many things Fabozzi is not only your best choice, it's your only one.

I have seven years of experience selling these products, and I use Fabozzi's book often. This is a good reference, and a good treatment of mortgage and asset backed securities. I only gave it four stars because the fact that this is a compiled work of research material interrupts the flow of ideas. On the other hand, there is some merit to getting different angles on the subject from different viewpoints.

One caveat. Mortgage derivatives used to mean calls and puts on mortgage backed securities. Today, however, entire portfolios of mortgage risk are laid off in the form of credit derivatives.

Tavakoli has the best treatment of that topic in the book: "Credit Derivatives".

A vast collection of articles by practitioners on Wall Street, this book covers a broad number of topics on Mortgage Backed Securities. While not a scholarly approach, 'street research' typically aims to educate the fixed income portfolio manager.

This book, written during the communist era, mostly by people in high positions in that regime and their American fellow travelers, reflects that perspective. It is multicultural and politically correct.

Just one example of their sinister multicultural views. They talk about the six NATIONS that make up Hungary and complain about "Hungarian ambitions of hegemony," ignoring the history of how these minorities were allowed to settle in the country.

A great disappointment!

As a 1st generation Hungarian American, I wanted to learn more about my history. This book gave me an excellent in depth overview of the tumultuous history of this often overlooked nation.

This is the finest single-volume history of Hungary in the English language. Highly recommended work, by one of the most incisive historians of central and south-eastern Europe around.

....Psychotherapist Adam Phillips develops these themes in the context of Houdini's career, the attraction of his escapes for audiences, case histories such as those involving a five year-old girl who plays hide-and-seek in peculiar ways and a man who avoids women he is attracted to, mythology (Oedipus, Prometheus, Daedalus, Icarus, and Sisyphus), and literary characters (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Emily Dickinson).

The book's themes work best in the context of Houdini. The other examples provide context, but not nearly as much insight. I was particularly interested to learn that the story I had heard about Houdini's death was wrong. ....

In general, I found the book interesting, but found that it had some serious drawbacks in its structure and focus. For example, there is discussion about prostitution, pornography, and avoiding sexual relations that is loosely tied back to Houdini's skills in escape illusions. I found the connections tenuous, not well made, sometimes puzzling, and of little interest.

The discussions with patients are probably easy for a psychotherapist to follow, but I found them not very clear. I suspect that I would have enjoyed the book more without the patient sections.

At the same time, the mythological references are mainly of value to someone who doesn't know the stories. For those who do, those sections become long and somewhat tedious.

Basically, the book needed to be edited down further and to connect the dots more. At the same time, the section on Emily Dickinson could easily have been expanded.

If you know a lot of about psychological theories, this book will probably not add a lot for you. If you don't try very hard to avoid things, this book will probably not be very interesting. For those who strenuously avoid and would like to know more, this is a pretty low-key introduction into seeing the possible meaning behind patterns of avoidance through self-questioning.

What are the implications of your avoidance? Can you embrace what you care about in healthy ways? How well is your seeking out or avoiding behavior serving you and others?

Find ways to serve others, give love, and enjoy life!

Was there a time when this was the stuff I believed actually healed people? After an intensive period of reading books on the brain and its neurochemical 'ecosystem' capacities- this book was a bit of an escape for me. The book is short and the concept simple- just not a real powerful theme.
This was a relatively simple concept- the escape process- from either real or imagined stimuli. Whether we are attempting to evade the unconscious or conscious stimuli, the process itself can become addictive. It isn't hard to include Houdini in this concept, and the parts that substantiate fact with theory remain persuasive whenever he is part of the examples. The other people, famous and not that were included were harder to incorporate. Emily Dickinson's late life retreat into solitude-while it was escape, was just limp in comparison. Too many mysteries about Dickinson's personality and psyche seem to require clarification before she can be attached into any metaphorical framework.
Still, it is an interesting little novelty of a book and has an element of cautionary charm. It is not controversial-but is it relevant? As many mental health professionals are exploring reverentially the biochemical, and evolutionary nature of consciousness, memory and mental illness- there is that notion of "Here we go again! Buying everything hook line and sinker." Hearing some of the voices of past-glorious psychoanalytical solemnity, was a bit of a kick!

Both the fan of magic and the psychotherapist in me read Houdini's Box ---- with our feet propped up on the back porch railing, on a September Sunday afternoon.

The psychotherapist in me respects Adam Phillips' way of provoking thought without claiming any corner on "the truth." (If you like being introspective about the human psyche, this is a good one.) But mostly, the fan of magic enjoyed Phillips' take on Harry Houdini. There is little doubt that Houdini would be proud to be receiving so much attention 75 years after his death, but I think he would especially like becoming an archetype for the human condition.

If your taste runs toward mixing introspection with entertainment, and if you are curious to discover what you may have in common with "the great mystifyer," the two of me definitely recommend this book.

This book tries to cover all aspects of e-commerce on the internet but stays at a "dummy" level in terms of educating the reader about the specifics. It lacked depth and was too general for me to get anything out of it. Plus it is cluttered with many outdated and annoying web references that detract readers from the chapter readings.

After reading this book, I have started my own website. It gives most of the information required to setup online business

There are a lot of references to resources on the web relating to the topics covered in the book. Just what I needed! The book has straightforward and simple writing about the considerations of starting and running a web site for profit. Then if you want to do more research, there are plently of URLs to start your research on the web about the resources available. Perfect for a beginner. This book also is showing up on bookshelves under the title "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting an Online Business" under the same ISBN. Gordon Whyte is not given credit as an author on this version, he just does the forward for the book.

It is obvious from the first ten pages that you are left with the feeling that, if Frank Miller had written it, it would've rocked but instead it flopped. The poor writing is a complete turn-off and the ending is horrible. The only story in the book that I actually liked was the Daredevil vs. Hulk one. It was awesome and, although I am not a big fan of Frank Miller art, it was appropriate for the story but other than this, the book was not worth buying. I recommend Dardevil:Gang War which was written by Frank Miller as well as illustrated by him and that was plain awesome!!!

Daredevil: Marked For Death reprints some of Frank Miller's earliest Daredevil stories. Published in 1990, this trade paperback collects Daredevil (first series) issue #'s 159, 160, 161, 163, and 164 (Miller had started with issue #158; Miller did not draw issue #162). These early stories that Miller worked on were not written by him. Roger McKenzie was the writer. Miller would become the regular writer and artist of Daredevil a short time later, and would, of course, revive the character's history with his acclaimed run on the book.

The stories collected here still made for enjoyable reading. I liked them, and found them to be very well told. Some highlights include the villain Bullseye kidnapping the heroine Black Widow, with Daredevil coming to her rescue. Another highlight is a spectacular showdown between Daredevil and the Hulk. The last story is a retelling of Daredevil's origin, as Daredevil, while recovering in a hospital from his battle against the Hulk, tells Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich (who by his own conclusions, discovers that Matt Murdock and Daredevil are the same person) why he became a crimefighter.

I would say that this book is worthy to add to anyone's library. If you want to collect Frank Miller's entire Daredevil run, then pick up the trade paperbacks Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Volumes 1, 2 and 3 instead.

This volume collects the first several issues of Frank Miller's run on Daredevil. But be warned: he wasn't writing yet. These issues feature Roger McKenzie as the writer. Is he as good as Miller? Maybe not, but very few people are. He is, however, a wonderful writer, and these stories build the character of Daredevil well before Miller took over. Miller himself said that McKenzie was the best writer he ever worked with. These stories are a must have for any Daredevil fan.

I felt like this book was written for and by a third grader. I'll paraphrase the book - Frank Gotch was a good wrestler. Frank trained hard. George Hackenschmidt wasn't as good as Gotch. Frank was the good guy. Everyone else was bad. Give me something I can use. According to Mike Chapman, Frank Gotch was a combination of Superman, Gandhi, Babe Ruth, and Albert Einstein all rolled into one. That makes for a boring book. The list of the best professional wrestlers has Verne Gagne in it and credits Dory Funk and Jack Brisco. Sorry to break this to you Mike, but Gagne, Funk, and Brisco's wresting was just as predetermined as Hulk Hogan's and Steve Austin's. They might have been credible wrestlers in a illegitimate "sport", but don't say they were the best wrestlers. At least wrestling in the early 1900's was real. I'm sure there are Olympic wrestlers who would have had a field day with those gentlemen. I found the book simplistic and childish. The picture were nice though. For that I will give the book credit.

A fascinating look at a sport which no longer exists in our country. Wonderfully researched and complete with photos, I read it immediately. A must read for anyone interested in Frank Gotch.

We'll never know the whole story about Gotch, but amid all the accusations of dirty fighting and set-ups , from fans of his opponents, this book nicely balances with a positive tone, and plenty of opinions from those who were there, to preserve the probability that Gotch was the world's greatest wrestler, ever. Also, great pictures unavaiable through any other source currently in print.