The presentation here is well organized and easy to follow but there is a lack of detail and a failure to address key points. For instance, how long should one drill on techniques presented to improve "linear reading" before moving on to "layering"? The title implies a seven day structured course. Yes, exercises are suggested and methods to improve reading speed are clearly explained, however, there is no clearly defined seven day syllabus. I am intrigued by the teasing suggestions that, fully applied, one may experience a paranormal "visualizing" when reading. Unfortunately, I have not been able to successfully progress past step one. The tape is primarily geared to secondary or college students and some helpful study tips are presented which I would like to have gleaned when I was in those learning years. Because the prospect of reading beyond my current, pitifully slow, level is so enticing, I have not given up on the idea that this process may work. However, if you are (as I am) curious about the prospect of reading at a rapid pace with high comprehension, I suggest seeking out a speed reading course that goes into more detail and presents a more formalized plan for achieving proficiency.

The book talked about young architects that were influenced &/or taught by Frank Gehry & is better known as the Gehry's Kids. Gehry commented in his essay that some of the talented ones ought to be given opportunity to leave their marks in LA but sadly enough, the young architects are only given the chance to explore in the residential market rather than in the public market. Even though Gehry was recognised internationally, he was still regarded as a loose cannon, quite unbecoming for a metropolis that seemed liberal & thrived on changes. Only after reading further, things were not what they seem in actuality. LA wasn't receptive towards avantgarde public buildings at all as fund providers were conservative in their outlook towards such architecture. It's only after Frank Gehry's success with his Guggenheim in Spain that his earlier winning proposition of the Disney Music Hall was given the green light. The book also explained that Anglo population in LA now is a minority whilst people from not less than 80 ethnic background keep flocking to the resource strapped metropolis for its Utopia image; good suburbs like Santa Monica, Brentwood & popular destinations such as Venice are located on the verge of ghettos, & therefore it's hard to find some sort of order or sanity from this place. Where cities such as Chicago, New York are easily identifiable via their skylines, posters & scaffoldings are what differentiate LA from other cities in the States & formed part of the landscape. Even pollution gives LA its distintive character by glowing the city with its golden red hue. Young architects love working in this City as it's devoid of historical inclincation & that any architectural styles are not dictated by any form of constraints but then again, due to the fast paced nature of LA, the avantgarde experimentation carried out by the architects soon enough become their own victims as they simply become news of the past. Then, there were discussions about the mild temperature, City's vulnerability towards earthquake that caused the architects to explore materials & method of constructions that are deemed appropriate for LA. Whilst some architects tried to create forms that are reactive towards the chaos, some are creating orderly forms that tried to make sense of their environment. LA seemed to be running out of land, & the number of people living in garage is phenomenally high & young architects were working on how to add upon the existing properties rather than building from ground up. LA was indeed an interesting place to be & the essays compiled in this book were enjoyable to read. But majority of the book comprised of works by young architects endorsed by Frank Gehry & other contributors such as Aaron Betsky, John Chase, Leon Whiteson with elevation plans, pictures (quality could be better though) to boot. Good effort, indeed.

This book is a penguin reprint of a 60s publication. For someone looking for a general overview of the campaign, there is a lot here. The detail is most rich in this overview in the initial fighting in the North, Kota Bahru and the probe into Thailand to stop the Japanese. The way that Britain and the Commonwealth squandered their forces in defence of the penninsula makes for sordid reading of a campaign that never should have gone the way it did.

The initial invasion of the Island of Singapore is well dscribed but there are far too many questions not answered and not too many raised in the first place. The initial fighting on the island and the confused situation is not clearly outlined. It remained far from clear why the initial Japanese landing was so slowly responded to, why reserves were not commited quickly, and why vital supplies especially tanks and modern fighter aircraft were not allocated.

Exciting but not the definitive account of the campaign but a good place to start.

Hoffman and Bailey have compiled a couple hundred brief descriptions of fads from the United States. The focus is on fads from the last 50 years. There isn't any analysis of what fads really are, or what makes them happen, but it's interesting reading. It's enjoyable for anyone interested in fads, but I particularly recommend it for younger readers.

This slim volume is hardly a polished effort. In fact, it is crude in many respects: poorly written, a choppy narrative that flows in fits and starts and little effort to fully identify many of the persons whose names appear in this history which focuses on the Franklin Roosevelt years in the White House.

Nevertheless, what Mr. Walker writes about is fascinating. So fascinating, in fact, that the general reader may overlook, even forgive, the crudities.

Frank Walker, of good old Irish stock, was a Butte, Montana boy who rose to prominence in national affairs. Ultimately, he become an intimate and reliable confidant of President Roosevelt, a member of FDR's team of reliables. In gratitude for his effort, the President appointed him national chairman of the Democratic Party and for a time, Postmaster General of the United States.

A devout Catholic, he spent three years with the Jesuits at Gonzaga University in Spokane but then transferred to Notre Dame to study law. After a successful career as a lawyer and businessman, he helped New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt become President and followed FDR to Washington.

There, he was, you might say, a high-principled, soft-spoken henchman -- one who often did the dirty work for a politician who had no stomach for it. So when FDR had to inform former Senator James F. Byrnes that he did not want Mr. Byrnes but instead wanted Harry Truman as his vice president in the 1944 elections, FDR sent Frank Walker to do the job. FDR relied on Mr. Walker's nice way of doing such things.

The book is edited from dictated notes kept by Mr. Walker. Much of it reads like an old fashioned business letter. "Be that as it may" or "as I've said before" -- clichés such as those are sprinkled throughout; they even add a certain charm, as though we were listening to Mr. Walker talk about his fascinating experiences in high places.

I personally was intrigued by Mr. Walker's unconventional opinion of two renowned Supreme Court Justices: the "near-sainted" Oliver Wendell Holmes and the renowned Felix Frankfurter.

What did Mr. Walker think of these two justices and their proteges, the "so-called Harvard crowd"? They "did more damages to the New Deal and to Roosevelt than any other faction that came to Washington." He does not go into detail, unfortunately.

The walk through those times with Mr. Walker as the guide was a highly satisfactory visit to an important part of America's history. And Mr. Walker's final view of Franklin D. Roosevelt records his disappointment even though he concedes that no man in American history left a greater "impress on the nation than he." But, "I can say regretfully that to me Franklin Roosevelt was not the great man he could have been. To me he failed in becoming a truly great man."

Mr. Walker died in 1959. He is buried in the family plot at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Butte.

=pjr=

This book is a prologue to more in-depth study of Gehry's work. It's small page format and brief text is ideally suited to a quick brouse and whets the appetite for more substantial critique.

Do not expect an encyclopaedic tomb - you can fully digest the entire text in half an hour. It is beautifully presented with full colour photos of most of the significant works. A useful starting point for students of architecture it will provoke interest in the reader but not satisfy those who know Gehry's work well.

A good introduction to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. The book focuses primarily on Wright's residential work ("Fallingwater" is included), though there are a few churches, a civic center, and of course, the Guggenheim Museum. The photographs are terrific, but the writing is, while eloquent, nevertheless a bit lacking; one gets the impression the poor writer was hired merely to wrap words around the pretty pictures. Still, if you're new to the work of this masterful, prolific artist (as I am), this book serves as a good introduction.

I thought it kinda dragged on and was boring but it had it's good moments

I've read a number of books dealing with this genre, but this was (by far) the most dry. It is extremely clinical, and reads more like a doctoral dissertation than a book. That's not to say that there weren't some interesting points made in the book, but you REALLY had to dig through the anthro jargon.

Franks cites other source a lot -- more than any other book I've read. Nearly every paragrah refers to an exterior source. I found this a little distracting.

Overall, I'm not sorry I read the book, but be prepared -- it does not wisk you along -- you really have to fight to glean Frank's points.

As the developer of tours at Crown Hill Cemetery where Dr. Gatling is buried I found this book to be very useful. It has much more information about him than I have found anyplace else, though from my more narrow focus, it contained too much information about other family members. I especially enjoyed the photographs.

Though I can offer no direct proof, I also want to comment that given the cemetery's practice of burying blacks in lots next to whites, even in the 1860s when the cemetery first opened, I question the veracity of of the statement about how difficult it was for Jordan to have his black cook buried in his family plot.

But that is a rather small point. For any one interested in the inventor of the Gatling Gun, this has more information than anything else I have ever found.