I've always been pretty interested in serial killers, and naturally came across Ed Gein's name in a few "collections" of serial killer biographies. Wandering through the bookstore oneday, I picked up "Ed Gein: Psycho." That's what it says on the cover. Inside, it's called "Ed Gein: Psycho!" The exclamation mark tells you all you probably need to know about the mentality of Paul Anthony Woods, the "author" of this self-loving piece of garbage.

Many, many reviewers already have pointed out the things that turn one's stomach about this book. The writing is sophomoric and ridiculous, and way, way, WAY too much liberty is taken with the story, which, ideally, is non-fiction. The imagined conversations, thoughts, and feelings of Ed that the author relays are ridiculous, and the tone of the book is really grating. I mean, Ed Gein was a really odd duck who did some really creepy and bad things, but he's a person of some note. To read Woods refer to him as "our boy" in certain passages makes me angry. The cavalier style with which it is written is really smarmy, and one can imagine Woods sitting at his typewriter, smiling at his own wit, patting himself on the back.

Beyond the incredibly obnoxious way in which the book is written (and trust me folks, the author's skills are far below that of the average writer who gets published) and the silly "conversations" between Ed and his fellow Wisconsonians (who, in the book, have a kind of...gulp...southern drawl?), there is the fact that no new information is presented, and I didn't learn anything I didn't already know from reading 10 or 15 pages in another book. And the last part, where the author "examines" the pop-culture that has been created around the Gein legend only confirmed my suspicions throughout the rest of the book...he's just a silly, pseudo-psychologist fan with no respect for his elders.

Pass!

I bought this book because I thought it would give me more details about weirdo serial killer Ed Gein, after I had read Deviant by Harold Schector. I was sorely disappointed. Psycho doesn't really go extensively into more facts about this interesting man and I firmly believe that Deviant does. This book is too short. The final chapters rave on about the movies,songs and comics they made about him and even though that has some indirect relationship to the man, I mean really... what does it have to do with Ed Gein? Ed Gein was probably unaware that any movies were being made about him while he was in the institution and he certainly wasn't like the Zodiac Killer; he didn't care.
The story is that Ed Gein was raised by a strictly religious mother, Augusta Gein and an apathetic father who took to drinking heavily to escape his mundane existence. Ed Gein idolized his mother, like his brother too but Edward Theodore Gein was more of a momma's boy.
Ed's brother Henry dies in a fire and there is suspicion that Ed had something to do with it but there is no proof.
Later, when Ed's mother dies, after his father, Ed takes to grave-robbing and wearing human faces as masks over his face.Not to mention he makes furniture out of human skin. Ed denies that he has sexual intercourse with these corpses because they smell too bad but who knows?
After Ed dies in 1984 of respiratory illness, he becomes a hero.Maybe we are living in a sick society where a murderer of two, possibly three women is considered a hero.
I recommend Deviant by Harold Schector. Avoid this one.

First of all I would like to mention the added bonus (sarcasm) of having at least 30 pages filled with garbage containing information on movies that link with Ed's life... it was very "choppy" so to speak. When I was reading that part of the book, I simply skipped it because it was wasteful and uninteresting. (I want to read about Ed, not some producer)

Secondly, I would like to respond to another reviewers' remark. It was stated that the book was almost completely ficticious, and it was supported by their statement that the arrest was incorrect. After reading many other sources on Gein, it is safe to say that this book is pretty accurate in portraying the life of Edward Gein. Who cares about the exact details of the arrest anyways?

Finally, I will bring to light an issue discussed by other reviewers. I bought this book because I thought I was going to get a really good shock, but I didn't. I too, was looking for a more in-depth analysis of Eddie, his motivation, and his behavior. I felt the book was incomplete and therefore I am currently looking for alternative sources on him to fill the void.

This is not really a "Complete Idiot's Guide". It's true that the grand picture is important, you have to know the settings, the histories, people's reactions, and the struggles of political forces, but how can it be a beginner's "Guide" to Vietnam War if the military aspects are not covered adequately?

Having gained an interest in the war nobody seems willing to discuss, I started reading about the Vietnam war about a year ago. During this time I've read some pretty heavy books and some very moving personal accounts, yet found it difficult to recieve an overall picture of the war. This book does a great job of giving that background story and very general sort of history from which to build on. I must admit that I find the comments that the book may not be entirely accurate somewhat unsettling, but I still think that the book has great value. In High School and even college I recieved virtually no instruction on the Vietnam war, and having to start from scratch I found this book very valuable. In the end, it may not be the definative history of the Vietnam war, but if you take it for what it is it doesn't have to be.

This isn't a book that Henry Kissinger needs to read. It's a book for those of us who feel like we don't know what happened during the Vietnam era and who want to be able to converse halfway intelligently about it.

I did not find the approach bizarre at all. The section on Indonesia, for example, was one of the book's best parts in that it attempted to show the the US's view of Vietnam involvement was based upon its (America's) experience with Indonesia. This section compared Indonesia and Vietnam in a variety of ways in order to show that American involvement in Vietnam, while ultimately disastrous, may have been partly motivated by our hope that events would unfold the same way there as they had in Indonesia.

In my opinion this is sadly a missed oppurtunity to educate the public, but not a missed oppurtunity to cash in!

Since I am a very big Tony Robbins fan, I decided to buy this book. As many other reviewers have said, this book was poorly written with a lot of misspelled words. Furthermore, it was poorly laid out and very cheap looking. I can't believe that this book could ever sell for its list price if it was in the bookstore and someone could actually look at it first. However, I did give it two stars because it did contain information (if true) that I did not know about Tony's history and background. Seeing this book also gave me a lot of hope for the book I am currently writing. I am sure that I can do a much better job!

This is quite a short book. It has got short chapters, each about a stage of Tony Robbin's life. Some of the stuff are quite irrelevant (to me) and I dont need to know them. This is a work written by someone who is obviously a total Tony Robbs fan.. I think in some cases, Tony is treated like a God or something as great. Don't get me wrong, I myself am a fan of Tony, but I just have to say the author abviously idolises Tony from his writing. Well, it's quite good cos you get to know more about Tony's life. But I didnt really learn any great distinction from this book. The text are really big, chapters are kinda short and simple..

The book gives you an overall structure you can apply right away as soon as you read it. A big chunk of information in the book contradicts what other authors say on this subject. (eg: Tolbert : "women eventually fall in love with the nice guys given the time", David DeAngelo "Double your Dating": "women USE nice guys, however, they give their hearts to the guys that take them for granted or are more challenging, cause a beautiful girl has hundreds of nice guys/guy-friends to choose from. Hence the really fine girls want the cutting-edge guys that DON'T HAVE TIME FOR WOMEN, which if your able to create this illusion, you can win them over) The latter sounds slightly more realistic to me. But it also depends on the setting that your in. A lot of women these days step on guys who just merely want to be friends that don't show romantic interest. But i must respect the author and where he comes from in this book, I do see his method working however, but not on most women.

The women reviewers love this book and I see why! Women want men to aproach them the way it is spelled out in this book. Men will have more success following all that is said in the book.

I laugh at those men who want to read a book that will tell them how how to get sex from a woman on the first night. This book teaches men how to get a woman that is way out of his class. That takes skill. It also explains how easy it is to have most women become attracted to almost any man.

The book is short and I think I know why. One, the author has it down to a science. Two, most men's attention span is short. So why are some of you complaining that the book is only 38 pages! The darn book works! It really works! Sure in some cases it may take a little more effort but everything does not come easy. I will be glad when you men wake up! This book will be around forever.

I found this book to be profound, accurate, different, and a potential danger to women! I am a woman, age 30, who is very outgoing and attrative. This book in my opinion will become a best seller. One reason is that the book can be of help to a lot of men and women in a positive manner. In ONE example, not the only example, of how to meet a woman, that a man may not have a direct road by which he can have a quality introduction to a woman, so one would have to find a way into her enviornment. Such would be, as the author gives, through, her church, restaurants she frequents, clubs or where she may workout. This does not fall under the definition of stalking in any way.

Sometimes a man should go the extra distance to get hooked up with that woman who is the bomb (in the book where the reader is then told to seek out and get to know someone in her enviornment, who knows the woman he is interested in, so that person can be his letter of introduction). Hey, that is what a real man would do if he wanted a good chance to meet me! However, on page 26 of the book it states, "If you feel you may never see her again, you will have to go for it and ask for her phone number." The reader is also given a great way to ask for her phone number. The book is great, too good.

My gosh, I have never read such a poorly written book! Wasn't there an editor at Prentice Hall to have, at least, reviewed this book prior of it going out to print? The poor grammar usage, the garble & ambiguity of explaing the concepts; it truly lacks direction...where are the solutions to the problem exercises?

I consider myself a strong avid reader, but I have found myself re-reading a page or two before pressing on.

If this is a required textbook for your accounting class, I highly suggest investing in a good supplemental study guide to aid you with this book. Good luck!!

I've just completed my managerial accounting course with an "A" grade DESPITE having been assigned this text. These authors, like many accounting authors, don't know how to use language to convey the concepts they're attempting to get across. (Does that mean they're "numbers people" who can't use language correctly to develop ideas?? Perhaps!!!) Even more so, the way they choose to conceptually develop managerial accounting theory is somewhat farcical. If you've been assigned this text from your instructor, RUN OUT NOW AND INVESTIGATE OTHER MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING TEXTS TO USE IN CONJUCTION WITH IT. (Try "Managerial Accounting" Weygandt, Kieso and Kimmel) The problem with "Management Accounting" is that it has little precision in describing the main issues of managerial accounting and wants to be an Operations Management text or Management text rather than an authentic Managerial Accounting text. As students, let's vote with our wallets and tell these accounting authors to get a 2nd degree in English so that they can actually convey to us the ideas they're attempting to convey!!! Tell your professor he/she needs to wake up and change texts! The book was written for people who really don't want to actually learn Managerial Accounting theory, but want to pretend to have learned it. It can't describe the critical concepts in enough detail for you to get a good grip on the material - and it's conceptual development of the theory is confusing. Switch it!

I would not recommend this book to anyone who has not have any prior Managerial Accounting classes or sufficient work experience in this area. The way the topics are presented in the book requires familiarity with a number of related concepts in order to gain full understanding. Additionally, there is a number of instances in which concepts are introduced in a given chapter, but not explained until a later one, which makes it really confusing for those exposed to Managerial Accounting for the first time.

What happened to this author, his first book was one of the best I have read, the second was ok - better then average, but then he gave us this? He should have dumped this manuscript in the Formosa Straight instead of publishing it. Bland, lifeless and dull, without using profanity that is about all I can come up with. I was dedicated to finishing the book becuase I was hoping for any small bit that would let me keep a high opinion of his, but the only good part was actually closing the book on the last page.

Stripped to its barest essentials this is the story of a hunt for buried treasure. As a novel of international intrigue FORMOSA STRAITS is above average and it is laced with captivating bits of Chinese history. The author also gives us some scandalous morsels about both Mao Tse-tung and Chiang Kai-Shek.

Wonderful sense of being in a foreign land. While the protagonist is very much the foreigner, he is a sophisticated foreigner who is able to believably convey the strangeness of a strange land. Complex, well plotted, fully fleshed out minor characters; Hyde is really cooking in this one.

This guide blows. Those three words pretty much sum up the whole thing. Basically it shows u the maps for all the scenarios, and gives a detailed description of all the units.(fun to look at in your spare time, but not worth 20 bucks!) For the most part, the cheat codes are the only good thing. But if u need those codes to play the game, then u should take up another hobby.

The book is not helpful. It's written like you are a character in the game. The only good thing it has is the cheat codes. But you can just go to search under Warcraft Codes, and get a few puds while you're at it.

it's written in a first-person viewpoint, and it's a bit confusing at first, but if you follow what they're doing, everything turns out fine. that, paired with the amazing price I got it for (one cent) makes it awesome

I have studied many aspects of financial and management accounting, management issues, etc. from introductory to advanced levels. I have never used such an unappealing book. The student must sift through much wordiness. There are few, and sometimes no examples of the various calculations. There is very little use of white space. Virtually no colour, no use of bullets. Not only is the material presented in a "dry" form, but the book is not pretty to look at. The most praise I can give this book is that it is not too heavy to carry, and it has a pretty blue cover.

I have studied, practiced and taught managerial accounting for more than 17 years at work, using excellent supporting text and case books from recognized US authors. But to be honest Dr. Kaplan is making easy concepts to appear complicated and cumbersome. His case readings as well as the text materials are very length and hard to "digest" since it does not capture the attention of the reader.I would not recommend the book neither for and undergraduate or graduate degree, despite the well known and worldwide recognition of Dr. Kaplan. His book is far from being pedagogical in nature.

MBA students alike may not even have the patient to read through it. But, as a management consultant in China ( i used to work for 2 of big 4 accounting firms, and now working as a freelance to help local companies to solve their managerial costing problems), this book is my primary reference for my work. I applied ideas in this book helping my clients building ABC and transfer pricing and costing control models. When you really need to solve true business problems (rather than reading in the school), you will find this is "the" book. In my view, you have to read Kaplan and Cooper's staff if you want to get some true knowledge about managerial accounting.

One day I have to figure out how to give a book no stars 'cause I feel horrible about giving "Cradle of Splendor" a star since it deserves none. This may be the worst book I have ever read (and I've read a lot of books). Let's just get it out in the open: this is a bad book. Bad writing, moronic storyline, and annoying characters. Bad enough I had to put up with cliched writing and a asinine plot but I couldn't understand half of it! I'm still not exactly sure of what happened. Some kind of alien/sex-thing..not that it matters. And let me just say that this book is very offensive to Brazilians. Throughout the book she describes Brazilians as lazy, dirty, incompetent, violent and stupid. She describes Brazilian society in the worst way possible and at the end thanks a Brazilian family for hosting her. I wonder what they would think of the beautiful way she depicted their country...don't buy this book. Please.

Patricia Anthony's oblique style of storytelling is usually an ill fit with her broad-stroke plots, which is why her novels Brother Termite and Happy Policeman missed the mark and are worth reading only for Anthony's stylism. In Cradle of Splendor, however (as with Cold Allies before it), Anthony finds a plot sufficiently multifaceted and enigmatic to match her style. It is hard to explain the plot, not only because so much of it is a surprise but also because so much of it is left to speculation. Given how little of the story is spelled out, it is surprising how well Anthony's writing holds the reader's attention. I cannot call Cradle of Splendor a failure because it leaves us with so many questions, possibilities, and levels upon which it can be taken. I am sure that was Anthony's intent, and I found it a welcome and interesting challenge. Her ambiguity would make Cradle of Splendor an excellent novel for book-club discussion -- and her writing makes it a good read.

Patricia Anthony has written this novel with obviously extensive understanding of politics, gender relations, the UFO subculture and the craft of writing. It is a tragic, sad tale, filled with absurd moments and startling beauty. Her characters are vivid and surprisingly believable in their eccentricities and obsessions. Her canvas is wide and it contains a full spectrum of people whose lives (and deaths) are woven into an intricate and subtle mosaic of mystery and tragedy.

The novel is provocative science fiction, compact and quite as readable as her previous books. It is a bit eccentric, as perhaps expected, and eminently comparable to a Phil Dick novel. But you wouldn't mistake hers for his. As he was, she is. An original.

I love Piers Anthony, I love fantasy and science fiction, I love the blues, and I love to play guitar, so I thought this book looked interesting. Turns out that it's the ... ... that ever .... Obviously Ron Leming is unable to get over past failed relationships, hippy-ism, and theophobia. He sees no hypocrisy in constantly bashing mainstream religions but then pushing his own set of ethics and morals. And a world where there is no Fender? Or what about Gibson, man? That's no world for me.

I too read the Authors notes and appreciate that this is more Leming than Anthony...It IS an enjoyable read though. I suffered through unfamiliarity with the music quoted throughout the book - lyrics always mean more married to the metre of a melody.
I enjoyed it though....

If you are looking for Piers Anthony's lighter PG rated material or think sex is a four letter word; this won't be the book for you. However, get this book to understand what the Blues music means to the people who play and enjoy a fantasy adventure. The abundance of very loving sex in it is true to the Blues culture.

Recognized some of the Texas characters which made the Tejas of the book plausible and more enjoyable for me. This book doesn't fit properly into any one genre. It is a cross between a socio-historical novel, science fiction, and a fantasy adventure.

The book reads like a good Blues song. It is simple on the surface with emotional depths and a directness that reveals the truth of human nature. Very enjoyable.