This book is an anthology of essays describing some important aspects of literature and criticism. It's a really good idea, but badly done here. The book identifies itself as 'a landmark introduction to the work of literary theory' and claims to be suitable for 'the reader beginning to learn about critical theory.' A more accurate description might be, 'written by stuffy, self-important old people for same to enjoy.'

The editors seem to have taken great pains to select works written by people who feel a need to choose the longest word they can find to represent an idea; if a suitably long word does not exist, they combine a word with prefixes and suffixes until they are satisfied. There is no reason to write like this, especially if you're trying to teach someone something. The chapters of the book can be translated into speaking man's English to good effect, and every one of the 28 critical terms really is simple enough to explain without the comically frequent fallback on Latin phrases and words.

I don't know why so many people think this is a great book. Maybe because it's filled with words like 'prosopopoeia,' which is, I'll admit, a valid English word, but a little bit limited in its general use among readers beginning to learn about critical theory. The flow of the essays becomes stinted by the necessity of referring to a dictionary at every fourth word and then translating the resulting mess into a sentence that normal people understand.

In short, this is a bad textbook. The authors have hidden very simple concepts behind such a thick wall of confusing use of language and terminology that the reader becomes a gold miner, chipping away at the useless mountain of words before him to extract what little vein of content he can find.

This book offers a very interesting, concise look into many of the terms employed by contemporary literary/critical theory. I would suggest anyone read this book if they want a short introduction to some of the thoughts employed by contemporary critics when analyzing a piece of literature. It is not, however, sufficient as an introduction to that theory. I would suggest supplementing this text with several primary sources--people who want to speak intelligently about Foucault or Derrida or Lacan or Saussure should read their primary readings. If one decides not to, one comes out with the impression that these literary critics could give the last, or at least the most authoritative, word on their topic. This is, of course, not necessarily so. Use this book, it is an exemplary secondary source on literary theory, but supplement it with primary readings to get a more nuanced impression of contemporary thoughts about literature.

Many times I found myself arguing against the assertions made about literature and theory in this book. I think, perhaps, that sometimes particular "American" critics fail to capture the fullness of the arguments by French theorists. This is not to say that "American" theorists "do not get it"; however, it should make you weary about simply accepting the presentation of the topics in this book. The ideas presented by literary theory are inordinately complex, and sometimes it takes actually grappling with the confusing language of the French, or of the translated French (though this introduces yet another problem) to actually understand what critics actually say about literature.

By all means, buy this book for a concise rendering of the issues. However, do not think for a moment that this book accurately portrays contemporary literary study in its fullness. There is so much more than this book initially communicates.

The book provides a very useful guide to terms ranging from Lacanian desire to narrative. Each author discusses the history of the term and its current use and then goes on to use the term to inform their own critical reading of a specific text or texts, providing a very useful illustration of the term's implications.

The notion that depression is not real and rather a state of mind is frustratingly misguiding and the reason that scores of people commit suicide around the world every day. Depression is a crippling disease that requires treatment and therapy just like any other and anybody who has ever fought it knows this. What this book screamed to me as someone who is vulnerable to mild depression, is that people allow themselves to be depressed; That depression is an attitude, perhaps one I can wake up tomorrow and throw out the window. But the truth is, it is not. It is not something we imagine nor is it something we can forget. In fact, sometimes, we don't even have a clue what is causing it in our lives so how can we simply "pray for it to end." I'm somebody who talks to God and prays for help with a lot of the challenges that come across my life, but even I know that depression is not something, which will simply go away with prayer. A person needs friends, support, therapy and sometimes a prescription to fight depression.

I feel like depression is both physical and spritual problems. It is a sin to let depression control our lives. I have been diagnosed through the Minirth Clinic as a bipolar individual. I am on medication to help me. The idea behind Dr. Minirth's books are to make you realize that God will help us through our depression. Only through prayer will we have the strength to overcome depression. It will not make it go away but it will help us not to give into Satan's control over us through the depression. If you don't believe that Satan battles for our lives then maybe you shouldn't read this book. May God lead you.

I REALIZE THAT NO BOOK IS A MIRACLE WORKER FOR THE CURE OF DEPRESSION. I WAS GOING THROUGH A HORRIBLE TIME WITH DEPRESSION. I FELT LIKE I WAS IN A PIT. THIS LITTLE BOOKED HELPED ME SO MUCH. THE REASON IT DID WAS BECAUSE IT WAS FULL OF GOD'S WORD, ALONG WITH GOOD SOUND ADVICE. I WOULD READ THE LITTLE BOOK OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I ALSO READ MY BIBLE. I EVEN SLEPT WITH MY BIBLE. LOTS OF THE ADVICE IN THE LITTLE BOOK HELPED ME TO HAVE HOPE DURING MY DEPRESSION. I ENJOYED THIS BOOK VERY MUCH. NOTHING IS A QUICK FIX. BUT THIS LITTLE BOOK WAS A BIG PART OF MY RECOVERY. THE REASON I CAME ON THIS SITE WAS TO SEE IF I COULD ORDER ONE FOR A FRIEND. THANK SO MUCH AND GOD BLESS YOUR MINISTRY, ELAINE

It is a shame that someone would sacrifice a tree to write this book. Not only was the scholarship seriously lacking. The author ignored all evidence that did not fit into his conspiracy theory. It's no surprise that this book is out of print.

Sorry I had to give it one star. There is no category on this form for zero.

An excellent book written by a brave and fearless jewish author, who has the guts to reveal what many historians have known for a long time, and that is the so-called "Diary Of Anne Frank" is a monumental hoax written by her father for financial gain and holocaust propaganda purposes. This should be an eye-opener for those still believing the gas chamber fables, babies boiled down into soap, six million jews gassed, and human-skin lamp shades fairy tales. I would give the book ten stars if possible. Just to set the record straight, the ADL and their fellow tribesmen absolutely refuse to take part in an open, televised debate on the wild tales of the so-called holocaust, which has reaped them multiple BILLIONS for their Zionist cohorts, even when offered large sums of money to appear. And to think they can brain-wash our kids in school with this tripe. Oh, yes, I know...I'm a nasty "Nazi" or so-called "anti-Semite for refusing to be lobotomized by skilled soothsayers.

I read a friend's copy and feel there are too many LIES about history. It was very factual and a real eye opener. Every LIBRARY should have a copy so people could make up their own minds with ALL THE FACTS ARE ON THE TABLE. The idea of suppressing the truth for ANY REASON, should be a crime. Let the evidence speak and any reader should be able to make up their own minds. Never be afraid of FACTS. I am a retired teacher and have several Degrees, but I will never know enough unless the thrth is available.

I would buy 10 copies if I could.

I get this book in college. I am student of CNC studies and machining. This book did not have the knowledge we need and teacher did not like useing it because mistakes in it.
The CD does not work for almost half our class.

Vic

I take exception to the previous reviewer's statement that the average machinist reads at a grade 7 level. He must not confuse his own reading skills with those of others working in the trade.

CNC Workshop is a big disappointment. As the other person pointed out, you can get far better simulators (freeware) from the web. There is very little of use to anyone but highschool kids in this book.

Buy Smid's or Mike Lynch's book for REAL cnc knowledge.

I am a CNC machinist and also conduct CNC training for my company. No book or CNC simulation program I have ever come across is perfect(the world is not perfect). This book and multimedia CD package is no exception, it has a few flaws. I can live with the flaws because the quality and value of the material is super! Nowhere will you find a CNC training package this good at this ridiculously low price!!!

This is not college level text and it shouldn't be. The average machinist reads on a 7th grade reading level. I've used training material costing thousands of dollars and the trainees were so intimidated that half of them struggled. The CNC Workshop package gets rave reviews from the trainees and there is a significant performance increase on the shop floor.

One of the best bargains you will ever find!!

My name is Richard Davis. I am an original member of the Memphis Mafia. Apparently, Frank Coffey, has not researched the subject of Elvis Presley for this book. This book is full of falsehoods and a plethora of errors and every true Elvis fan will see through the book's inaccuracies from wrong dates to out and out lies. I am an authority on Elvis because I am an original member of the Memphis Mafia and have been since 1961. I am one of the only members who actually lived with Elvis at Graceland. I was his movie stand-in, one of his bodyguards, wardrobe manager and part of his "inner circle" of friends. If you enjoy reading fiction this book is for you!

Er, excuse me, but wouldn't ANY guide to Elvis have to be for the complete idiot?

I found this book to enjoyable,easy to read full of lots of information.It was worth the buy.

What a load of [junk]. I was written like a poor romance novel. I have never seen the words, "I'm sorry" or "Forgive me" used so many times in a novel. I simply could not get through it. I got bored reading the same stuff over and over and over and it was just too predictable, whether it was through regressive therapy or merely someone's erotic fantasies...and I have never seen so much joy expressed and using the whip over and over and over. I left it unfinished in my hotel room in Vancouver. It is just not plausible and too much fantasy and 'romantic' ~ and poorly written [junk] novel romance jargon thrown in there.... I am a student of the Inquisition and it is just does not make sense.

And when the Inquisitor says comments on how 'cute' something is. I don't think a) that would happen or b) cute was a term of the time.

Give me a break.

... I got bored reading the same stuff over and over and over and it was just too predictable, whether it was through regressive therapy or merely someone's erotic fantasies...

I sympathize with those who couldn't finish this. It's VERY unfortunate that the author chose the "historical novel" format because it effectively destroys what could have been a serious work by a serious researcher. "Antonia," our heroine, revealed under hypnosis back in the 1970s and 1980s a mass of details concerning a past life during the Spanish Inquisition. The author, who was the second hypnotherapist to work with Antonia, spent years (including trips to Spain) to verify the details. Some of these could be verified only in genuinely obscure, non-English sources and are quite amazing. The effort that the author put into this, and the seriousness of her research, are apparent in the Introduction and the End Notes -- which, unfortunately, are the only parts of the book that I found interesting. She says that she chose the "historical novel" format because the events as described in the hypnosis sessions were disjointed and she didn't want to bore us with a series of verbatim transcripts as in The Search for Bridey Murphy. Unfortunately (I seem to be over-using that word), verbatim transcripts can be RIVETING while this reads like an inane Harlequin Romance (which I'm familiar with only because my wife was hooked on them until I told her I'd set fire to the house if she brought home one more; drastic problems call for drastic solutions). Anyway, if you can force yourself to wade through this, you can be assured that it's based on serious research and could have been a lot better. It reminds me of Mark Twain's comment about composer Richard Wagner: "Wagner's music is really a lot better than it sounds." Unfortunately, ...

CNC Workshop does an injustice to the trade of precision machining. If CNC programming was a simple as it is portrayed here, any monkey could do it..

This book has missed about 80% of CNC programming facts and theory, and the 20% that is present is littered with errors.

Smid's book is far superior, as is Mike Lynch's work.

The CD that comes with this book crashes easily and the G-code do not represent true CNC commands (only vague movements.)

My opinion is the complete opposite of the previous reviewer. I too read CNC books and have read over 10 of them in the last few years. This one is loaded with mistakes and doesn't even scratch the surface of proper CNC programming technique. Not one of the programs in this book would actually work on a CNC machine. Plenty of codes are missing or misrepresented. Where is tapping...Hello??? There are plenty of CNC simulators for free on the internet that take proper cycles, even subprograms and macros.

Valentino's book is far better. Smid's book is great. They seem to know CNC concepts far better than Nanfara and company.

I disagree that this is a good value for the money. It is written for Gr.9 level technical education. Adults would be better off spending (money) and buy a real book and download a free simulator off the net.

My background: Who Cares! I work with late model CNC machines and have used several CNC training packages costing thousands of dollars each.

Let's start with the pros and cons.

CONS:
The print quality of the book is terrible compared to first edition that came out. The book wastes print by addressing CAM software not commonly used in the machining industry. The material does not dive extensively into the subject matter. Other than corrections and a software update, this release is identical the first release I bought in 1999.

PROS:
You may be asking "why five stars?". Simple...it is the CNC bargain of a lifetime. The CD that comes with the book is the real gem. The CD has been updated to run on the latest Windows operating systems.

The CD contains an interactive multimedia presentation that covers the basics of CNC. Just put the book away and let the CD educate you on the basics of CNC at your own pace. EIA standard G codes and M codes are presented and animated for both turning and milling operations.

Milling and turning simulators are included and are easy to operate. You can experiment all you want on your own computer. You can write simple CNC programs, see your mistakes in the 3D animation and learn by working out the bugs. Avoid cocky instructors or punks in the machine shop that will rub it in if your program doesn't run right.

You have to learn the basics before you can dive deep into CNC. There is no easier way to learn CNC basics than by using the multimedia CD included in this package.

I am recommending this package as strictly an introductory course. It is perfect for the CNC newby that wants to learn by seeing a task performed and having an opportunity to make mistakes and fix them instead of just reading a boring technical book.

FIVE*****STARS!!!!!(At this price it's a steal!)

There is no doubt that Thorne is one of the most gifted comic artists around. More is the pity. Given his increasingly meager output in recent years, this long-awaited book was a huge disappointment. His sketches and anecdotes are fine, but not worth the 90% of this thin volume. The how-to section is what every fan of Thorne's would be most interested in. This "instructional" chapter looks like a direct rip-off of "How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way" (a much better investment). Aspiring comic artists should also pick up Joe Kubert's new book. For Shame, Frank!

I bought this "book" thinking it'd add something to my training in drawing comics, but this is not just an awfully written book, it is also one of the clumsiest and clichéd drawings I've seen in other self-help books, not that this one is one of those. For more than 70 pages the writer rambles about women and what they are to finally give us extremely general rules or advices on how to improve your drawing. ANY other similar book that you can find will be of much more help than this one.

I've been a fan of Frank Thorne's artwork for decades. He's probably best known for his work on Red Sonja for Marvel Comics and Moonshine McJugs for Playboy, but he also drew several syndicated comic strips during the 50s and 60s, and even then, he had quite a reputation for drawing beautiful female characters. Drawing Sexy Women has the subtitle of Autobiographical Sketches. Indeed, the book is an illustrated narrative of Thorne's long artistic career. Besides being an incredibly talented illustrator, he's a great storyteller. His recollections of childhood are amusing and touching, and his account of meeting the famed pin-up model Betty Page is a total treat, as are the chapters involving Red Sonja's rapid rise in popularity in the late 70s. At the end of the book, there's an eight-page chapter of Thorne's drawing technique, so if you were expecting an entire book of "How to Draw" sexy women, yes, you might be disappointed. Personally, I think aspiring artists could learn a lot just from studying Thorne's sketches, and Drawing Sexy Women offers plenty of material for study. Except for a few chapter breaks, every page features new sketches by Thorne (there isn't a single previously-published piece in the bunch). For that reason alone, this book is an absolute must for fans of illustration and comic art.

This book was entirely a waste of time. Sanello's account of Murphy was shallow to uninteresting. Sanello even mis-quoted jokes at times. The book was empty, and barely had enough fresh information on Murphy to fill a magazine article.

The author also failed to effectively use metephores to illustrate his point. Rather, his analogies were clumsy and unremarkable.

Save yourself some time and rent Murphy's movie Boomerang instead.

Hi I wrote the answer and the truth about your so called demons "Drag Queen"s didn't search Eddie out for fun it was the other way around Look for In The Closet With Eddie By CANDACE WATKINS

this book was fantastic and very informative,it goes behind the man we all know and into his life and his desire to be financially free and have a family to live with,it has funny moments also and misquoted jokes but all in all are great read.