Mr. Antin has spouted his views on how advertising should be and at the same time single handedly created copydrones to carry on his boring dictums. Thank God for Luke Sullivan and many other creatives that follow their own drummer and keep this business alive and vibrant. I think this book should have a pillow top cover so when you fall asleep reading it you at least have somewhere to rest your head.

The ads he advocates (he gives numerous examples in these pages) were bland 25 years ago. TIme has moved on...but Mr. Antin has not. If the idea of advertising is to capture your audience attention, why do what has already been done? What you can see on any UHF station anytime? Mr. Antin apparently doesn't like to be challenged, because there's nothing here a bright twelve year old could not come up with.

I read Tony Antin's book. As a print advertising copywriter, I found it very useful because it supports the idea that "customer-centric" advertising is the way to go. Antin doesn't say you can't be creative or memorable. Just the opposite, in fact -- as long as you quickly and clearly communicate the most compelling reasons why the target audience would want your product. I highly recommend the book.

I read his book for one his classes. I have never been so bored in my life. It did cure my insomnia, though.

I do have to agree with my fellow emerson colleague on Deluca. His books might be ok, but he is not the best teacher in the world. I took a few classes with him, and I thought he was a regular lecturer. After having graduated from emerson and gone off to grad school, I have come to realize that there are far more intelligent and less arrogant and aloof people than him. I think he should stop hiding behind his degree and books and become a better person. The greatest people I have met in life, have been the most humble people. Deluca IS NOT a humble person.

I am also a student at emerson college and I have to disagree that Professor Deluca is a good professor. He is impartial and displays favoritism. He is also extremely arrogant and he talks down on people. We all might not get doctorates from Stanford in our lifetime. But some of us do look up to him and yet he treats us badly and does not gives us a fair chance.
His books are just as dull as his lectures.

I agree 100% with Mr. Steven Epstein's review (February 7, 2000), about Dr America: The Lives of Thomas A Dooley 1927-1961 by James Fisher

The tale of Dr. Dooley is indeed worth telling but, sadly, this book misses the boat. The author is mired in arcane (and not terribly interesting) tales of intrigue among Catholic factions and almost lost me many times. And although this book is a biography, the author seems strangely ambivalent towards the good jungle doctor. You never get close to Dooley. Few evocative anecdotes. You get no feel for Laos. Reading it is liking eating dry toast.

Why does The Talented Mr. Ripley come to mind? I hope that someone will take another stab at writing about this remarkable man.

Certainly a provocative and interesting story, however, little context is given to set the time regarding Asia, and the Cold War. Organization is deplorable, reflecting both huge gaps and many redundancies. Three notable nonsentences make me wonder why these guys publish without an editor.

If it were possible, I would have given this set a negative star rating.

The book itself may have a redeeming quality. However the accompanying items [ostensibly a teabowl, a whisk, and a packet of green tea] have not the remotest possiblity of being functional, much less authentic, within the context of the Way of Tea ("Japanese Tea Ceremony"). To begin with, the small size and rough material of the bowl render it non-functional for traditional whisking of powdered green tea; then the coarseness of the whisk renders it incapable of producing the marvellous frothy beverage that powdered green tea is; last, the packet contains a substance that shares not a single quality with powdered green tea -- a point which renders the first two objections moot.
This gift set is a cynical rip off of traditional cultures and trusting readers. Buyer beware.

The book is informative and nicely produced, but the tea kit which comes with it (which was a main reason for buying the set rather than just a book) was worse than a disappointment. It was simply unusable. The tea bowl (chawan) was of unglazed terra cotta which acts more like a sponge than a vessel, and it is too small for the essential whisking of the tea and not even the proper size of a true chawan. The packet of tea itself was of terrible quality, gray and full of stems, not the fine bright chlorophyl green powder that is matcha of even the lowest grade. So the "matcha" is not matcha and the chawan is not a chawan by any stretch of imagination. Furthermore, the whisk might work if the bowl were large enough, but it, like the other items, is crude and inelegant, which is totally against the spirit of Chanoyu. If one is unable to make and drink the tea how can one experience tea ceremony, even on a trial basis? It absolutely gives the wrong impression of what the tea ceremony is, in spite of the author's grasp of the subject. In the meantime, I have since undertaken studies at Urasenke Chanoyu Center, and know whereof I speak. Caveat to the curious.

This book was a pleasure to read. It is replete with pictures and diagrams, and explains the tea ceremony with reverence and clarity. However, I must say that I was very disappointed in the quality of the accompanying materials. The kit includes only about 1 teaspoon of the powdered tea, and this tea was of very poor quality- rather than a bright green color, it was a dark brownish color, not ground very finely, and in no way had the characteristic matcha taste. Having had the benefit of having tried "authentic" quality matcha tea before, I can definitely see and taste a huge difference in quality. The bamboo whisk was of fair quality, and the terra cotta bowl is not one I plan on using. In sum, I do like the book because it is very informative, but I would suggest that people looking for the tea brewing supplies (especially the tea) look beyond this kit because of the poor quality of the materials.

I read the first two chapters and then returned the book because it was so bad. While I expected a book examining guerilla warfare with analysis and comments on the guerrilla and counterinsurgency strategies, it was only a sophmoric recitation of events that involved guerillas at some point. For example, in Chapter 1 about partisans during the American Revolution, he spent less than about 5 pages actually discussing the impact of the guerillas, who they were and how they operated. In Chapter two, he spends about 7 pages on Southern guerillas in the Civil War, and then launches into about a 40 page tirade against the South, the Southern military, Southern leaders, and the cause of Southern secession. In a book that is supposed to discuss guerilla warfare, the auther even feels compelled to spend two pages making his case that the primary cause of the war was slavery (an issue which is still debated). There are 1500+ page books on this war, where authoritative historians don't even attempt to divine the "root" cause. This is just the ramblings of somebody on various historic events; that they have anything to do with guerilla warfare is purely accidental.

Although the book can be a slow read, the author's intent was to analyze the situations and discuss its implications in modern warfare theory. Anthony Joes is an expert on the military and international relations. Having met and spoken with Dr. Joes many times, I understand and appreciate the standpoint that he takes and why he has those viewpoints. If you are looking for a book detailing combat experiences and substantial action, try something else. I recommend this book if your interest lies in understanding what guerilla warfare really is and what it accomplishes. Anthony Joes has written several books on a variety of subjects. I recommend all of them to anyone interested in learning more about U.S. Military theory.

Without having read the book, I can fully agree with Mr. Giuliano's review because I've lived in Tripoli for one year. Libya is all that Mr. Giuliano has written about and more. Streets strewn with plastic bags of all sizes and ages (yes, plastic doesn't seem to rot!), Libyans trying and sometimes succeeding in tricking and cheating you, a total lack of any restaurant that resembles a restaurant. The only place I ever ate at was in a foreigners' camp and most of the time I had Yalla (Montezuma's Revenge) shortly thereafter. Unfortunately I have few fond memories that I have taken with me. I have lived in many countries, some comparable to Libya, but none has left me more disgusted and disappointed than Libya and its hypocrisy. Without the plastic bags and rotting cans, I am sure it could be a beautiful place. I just wasn't shown the pretty places.

By all means, this Lonely Planet guide is an extremely useful tool for those travelling in Libya, and is probably the best guidebook about the country. The author and editors have put some great work into it, resulting in an excellent achievement in terms of overall coverage and book's presentation. Few other Lonely Planet guides are as interesting and fascinating to read as this one, so filled with thrilling information on history and culture, with great anecdotes and stories about Libya's wonders. But the problem is, exactly, that this guidebook is too filled with Libya's alleged 'wonders', making Libya truly appear a real dream-country for the visitor - which, very arguably, it is not. So, if you have already made your mind about going to Libya, by all means you should take this book with you. But if you are tempted to visit Libya mainly because you have been enchanted by this book, as might indeed happen given the book's excellent prose and contents, then you should think twice. The author seems to have made great friends in Libya and have enjoyed the country greatly, and I am glad for him. But please do note: Libya is far from being a pleasant place filled with "the most pleasant people on Earth" (book's wording). I have so far been to 155 sovereign nations, and to my chagrin I am sorry to say that I have found no other place on Earth as harsh, boring and outright tidious as Libya - I enjoyed Somalia, Sierra Leone and Kosovo far more ! If you are looking for Arabic warmth, Morocco or Tunisia are a much better bet. If you are looking for desert, you have a whole half-continent to consider, including nearby Algeria. If you wish to go somewhere 'new', maybe try Cuba or Iran. And I don't see why would one bother with Libya's ancient Roman ruins, since Italy is just opposite, on the other side of the Mediterranean. And if Libya fascinates you because of its alleged dangers and novelty, plenty of other alternatives exist, from Syria to Yemen. As regards the people too, I have not had the pleasant experiences which the guidebook seems to guarantee: without wishing to stereotype a whole people, I must say that I have found a great deal of arrogant, cheating, rude and inhospitable people among Libyans. Therefore my advice simply is: please take this book's positive words very cautiously. Many inacuraccies or misrepresentations are also contained in the book. The whole range of Tripoli's top-end hotels (allegedly 5-stars), listed very positively in the book, are in reality no more than low 3-stars properties with appallingly low or inexistent customer service. Some of the restaurants listed simply don't exist, or are horribly disappointing compared to the book's description. The whole procedure of getting a visa is described in the book in a way that makes it seem complex and lawyerly, while in reality I was able to get a visa very straight-forward, and was amazed by the lack of bureaucracy encountered along the process. Having said all this, thereby placing this book below the excellent standard usually offered by Lonely Planet, the book is indeed a great achievement in terms of coverage of the whole nation. In a region so hard to get to know, the author has been able to cover small towns and villages, albeit with errors, in a way that is amazing and wonderful. And as mentioned previously, the book is so rich with facts about Libya, that it makes fascinating reading, by all means great for the armchair traveller, and for those wishing to dream of a wonderful Libya. Indeed, I wish Libya were really as the author describes it...

Boy was MI5 asleep at the wheel. It is really something that this level of KGB penetration could take place, especially in a government that was so focused on the issue of stopping the spread of communism. This book details the Blunt, Burgess, Philby, Maclean and Cairncross USSR spy ring inside the British intelligence services. This books main theme is trying to increase the roll one of the 5 spy's from one that has been traditionally thought of as a lower level pawn to one of the leader of the whole enterprise. The book basically unfolds as a biography of Blunt, instead of an overall review of the full ring. Blunt being the subject of the book, the author goes out of his way to increase his involvement in the spy ring thus increase the readers interested in the book. He does a good job here, both with the detailed history and the way Blunt interacted with the others in the spy ring. I just did not believe this book that fly's in the face of all the other literature on the topic. I was a little put off by all the detail of Blunt's best know personality trait, homosexuality

Regarding the telling of the story the author does a good job. The book was a bit jumpy, not the best construction of a story. It also tended to drag at times; the author did not have the skill to present a laundry list of facts in an interesting way. The author did do a very good job in documenting his sources. I have read a few books on this topic and this one would probably not be my first choice, I suggest Spy Catcher. This is a good book if you are deeply interested in the topic.

John Costello's premise in this book is that Anthony Blunt's role in the Soviet Cambridge spy ring was not a minor one but that Blunt was, in fact, the first man of the ring, the lead recruiter of the others including Burgess, Philby, Maclean and Cairncross. I found his theory plausible, yet not perfect, upon my first read of this book. However, Costello's premise is simply wrong, as the author himself admits in a footnote in his subsequent book Deadly Illusions, co-authored with Russian Intelligence Service press officer Oleg Tsarev in 1993. Deadly Illusions was based upon the post-cold war disclosures of the former KGB's files, particularly that of "defector" Alexander Orlov and those KGB files reveal that Philby, in fact, was the principal recruiter of the others in the ring.

Mask of Treachery serves several roles, as a biography of Blunt, as a history of Cambridge and the English upper classes in the 1930's and 1940's, and as a history of Soviet espionage in Britain. Setting aside the book's primary fault, it does provide a thorough biographical and historical view of Blunt and his surroundings. Costello clearly did very thorough research into the background of Blunt and the others at issue and does present a number of facts and anecdotes about the Cambridge Five that do not appear elsewhere in the numerous other sources on this topic. Additionally, Costello has taken very painstaking steps to provide the sources for his information, footnoting frequently throughout the work; Costello's concern for academic-level historical accuracy is in sharp contrast with that of the cursory, more sensationalistic and conclusory writings on this subject by British journalists such as Knightly, West, and Pincher.

Costello does make one interesting suggestion: that Guy Liddell, a senior officer in MI-5, might have been the elusive top level mole sought after by Peter Wright and Arthur Martin for so many years. There is some degree of plausibility to this theory - Liddell spent so much time socializing with Blunt and Burgess during years in which he was emotionally unstable that he could well have been a prime target for recruitment. Liddell also had access to some of the information that was allegedly leaked to the Soviets, although he probably retired too early from MI5 to fit all of the the major "serials" listed by Wright in his Spycatcher. Many of those in MI5 who knew Liddell vehemently denied any suggestions that he could have spied against Britain, but not much of substance has ever surfaced to support those statements of loyalty. If it were possible to obtain such information (perhaps in a decade or two from the old, as-yet unreleased KGB files) it would be curious to learn if there was another mole in MI5.

Ultimately, though, Costello falls into the same bad habit as his journalistic competitors in this field of espionage history: he develops an hypothesis, supports it with some facts, and thereafter treats his theory as the gospel, proven truth. Other specific criticisms of this book are that Costello spends too much time and too many pages describing the aesthetic influences on Blunt from his public school and his days at Cambridge, and spends a bit too much time on describing Blunt's homosexuality, which tend to drag on rather than provide useful, interesting information. Additionally, Costello's organization of this book is not the best, as he tends to change topics without a logical, relevant segui between them.

All in all, this is a mildly important work for serious historians of Soviet espionage in Britain, but readers must keep in mind that Costello simply made a serious overestimation as to Blunt's importance in the Cambridge ring.

I've read many books on real estate, some average and some pretty good. After reading this book I can confidently say that it is the worst real estate book I've ever read.

All the information it contains can be found in other books - all of them better written. This book is so boring that no matter how well rested I was, whenever I picked this book up I never failed to become sleepy within just a page or two! The book's sole saving grace: it was thankfully short.

I am an Romanian appraiser and for the moment I read not this book. I read only the review write by Stephen Traub and I think it is an interesting and useful book even for an non american.

The documentation for Visual Cafe leaves so many questions unanswered. This book was no help whatsoever! It could be useful to newbees learning java, but if you want deeper understanding of the application DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!

This book seems to assume you know some Java, and is a good resource for an overview of the features of Visual Cafe. It _does_ have an overview of Java, but not to the detail that I, a new learner, need. To learn Java itself, read Dietel & Deitel's book. Now THATS detail! ......Im glad I bought Visual Cafe Frontrunner.

Anthony Shriek, a college student and artist, has overcome his horrendous childhood mainly by putting it out of his mind. One day as he is quietly studying in the library a seductive woman named Emily picks him up and his life is forever changed. She claims he is a demon, as is she, which is why she is attracted to him. Her arrival reawakens his suppressed memories and opens up a dream-like world called Nightland where Anthony is forced to deal with strange, twisted versions of his past. As his love for Emily grows in intensity the more he fears he is losing his mind.

Anthony is a very sympathetic character. He's lives quietly and has survived life on the streets and has somehow managed to rise above his horrid beginnings and is attending college. He's a survivor but once he meets Emily the reader realizes just how close to edge of insanity he really is. His heart-breaking past was revealed in little bits in pieces with just enough information to make me want to keep reading. I really felt for Anthony but had a bit of a problem with Emily who I never really got a handle on, which may have been the author's intent. While the reader learns everything about Anthony very little about Emily is revealed and I found her dialogue so stilted that it continually threw me out of the story. Although most of the story was compelling and made me keep turning the pages there were too many times when the book wandered off on odd tangents - these were mostly times spent with Emily looking for a frog fountain, kung-fu fighting off dirty old teachers or having pow-wows with her Indian friends. They added a surreal sense to the book but didn't do much to advance the plot. Or maybe I just didn't get it. So, although Anthony was an interesting character and the book had plenty of horrific moments I can't wholeheartedly recommend this one.