Miles Faber, Male and Female, and finally, the north american slang that is too profane to be written. These are all the incorporated subtitles of this title.
M/F is the adventure of a young man whose history bears much resemblence to that of Sophocles' King Oedipus, combined with an anciet north american fairy tale of the Algonquin Indians, though neither are necessary to know to enjoy this wonderful novel.
Mr. Burgess is at his most minimilistic and concise, stylistically, and as usual hilarious, in this at times disturbing story. As the opening few quotations suggest, this novel is about territory within human relations, as well as art, and territory that eventually leads into incest,chaos, and disorder. However, incest is not the real theme of the novel, but rather the mask for the theme of miscommunication. We follow Miles Faber from his old university(from which he is recently expelled) to New York to a small, secluded island springing from the prolific imagination of Mr. Burgess. And as he encounters one adventure after another, all of which bear some resemblence to the above mentioned literary allusions, as well as the bible, the theme of the novel is highlighted in the somewhat questionable sticky canvas' of Roshumberg, the graffity blasting a politic Norman Mailer, as well as others in the search of another prolific poet, writer, composer and artist who has yet to be discovered. What he discovers instead is the difference between youthful ambitions of chaos in art with that of the structure that all genuine art must be supported with. As Mr. Burgess has previously shown, youth is concerned with destruction (A Clockwork Orange ), whereas maturity is the offspring of order. It is a fine thing to think about bringing something new to art or life and living when one is young, but to ignore established practices without attempting to understand them is, well, youthful, and the result of inexperience or lack of imagination.
Through a maze of delightful riddles and connundrums, Miles reaches some sense of what art and life are about, coming to disregard the youthful preoccupatin with chaos and destruction. Incest eventually breeds a defective strain, as chaos in art breeds the destruction of order, the order of all that is best in mankind, love, duty, faith, shame, pity, home, hope, et cetera.

I recall reading an interview with Anthony Burgess in which he bemoaned the critical reception that "M/F" received upon its publication, and one can certainly see the point of his complaint. It is a small, highly original masterpiece that was unjustly dismissed as a frivolous exercise in intellectual faddishness. It is certainly not that; indeed, "M/F" is probably the best example of Anthony Burgess' manic, protean genius. Language, art, and myth are stirred together in a structualist stew and the resulting dish is as familiar as fish and chips and as strange as roasted Orang. This, of course, was the whole point of the structualist enterprise; to reveal the commonplace in the exotic and the exotic in the commonplace, and Burgess has great fun playing with this idea as he puts Miles Faber through his comic paces in Manhattan and Grencija (I hope I've spelt that right . . .) Don't be deceived by the book's slender size; it is a marvel of linguistic invention that repays numerous rereadings. And don't be discouraged the fact it is currently out of print; it's fairly easy to find in used book stores and it is certainly worth the effort to track down a copy. "M/F" is perhaps not of Nabokovian excellence, but it's very close. Highly recommended

I have read MF at least three times, along with most of Burgess novels. I found it very interesting, not for the plot, but for all the linguistic clues and mythological references that an attentive reader can cautch in it. We can start to play just from the title, MF, apparentely two letters of the alphabet but with a deeper meaning underneath. First of all MF are the initials of the first and last name of the main character, Miles Faber. " Miles" in Latin means "solder" and " Faber" means "artist". The term "solder" brings up the idea of distruption, death , while "artist" joints itself with something positive, with life. So in this two letters we have one the main themes of the novel, evil and good, dark and light, that dualism that is part of everyman's life. MF stays also for Male/ Female, another important theme so loved by Burgess. And I should keep on with many other clues, but I leave the readers to have fun in finding them and high recomanded the reading of others Burgess books. I think he is one of the best novelist of our century, unfortunately not always he has got the right appraisal he deserves. I also suggest the rading of the Irish writer James Joyce, Burgess "grande maestro".

It has been said that 'Jurassic Park' is one of Crichton's best books (if not THE best) and I agree. An absolutely amazing work of original fiction which is written to near perfection. The movie was ripped to shreds by many fans of the novel for having 1-dimensional characters, but you cannot say that about the novel. Crichton breathes life into these people, especially Ian Malcom, easily his greatest creation (and Jeff Goldblum was perfectly cast in the movies I might add).

The idea of resurrecting extinct animals wasn't originated by Crichton, but he is the guy who took the idea and ran with it to the publisher first. I just cannot think of a more compelling idea for a fictional story which bases its original theory on literal facts. The idea of visiting living dinosaurs is facinating beyond words, but Ian Malcom said it best about the process of bringing to life animals that have been dead for millions of years when he said, "You were so interested in discovering whether or not you COULD clone dinosaurs that you never stopped to think if you SHOULD." Quite possibly one of the most entertaining adventure/thrillers ever published.

'The Lost World' in many ways was set up to fail by many even before they read it. How do you top 'Jurassic Park'? Since the total originality of the first book is gone, that takes away a little of the enjoyment, but I believe that Crichton sacrificed nothing with this sequel. Staying true to his original story he wrote a sequel to his book rather than the movie version, making this that much more compelling and entertaining. Never for a minute think that 'The Lost World' isn't as fun in almost every way as the original, because it IS. It is also SO different than the very poor movie that shared the same name. Actually they only shared about 5-10% of the same storyline, enough of a difference to wonder why they didn't come out with a novelized version of the movie. While not his best novel, I found it as exciting as the original and chock full of everything that makes a thriller worthwhile to read in the first place.

I had heard for years that 'The Andromeda Strain' was Crichtons best novel...and this is one area where I disagree. Although being a fun and very good book, it is easy to see how far he has come as an author when you read it. It is very possible that this book inspired a rash of movies which imitated the main plotline of a disease or alien being brought back to earth unknowingly, but one of Crichtons best novels? I don't think so. Still it IS a must read for every fan.

Jurassic Park is an outstanding book. This is the second time I have read it and it got better. It is interesting becuase companies will probably be able to clone dinosuars like that soon. The book really kept me interested, it really didn't have a low spot. The book kinda tests your ability to understand fiction. At times you have to use a lot of imagination, but even with that it is a real good book.

All three of these books are absolute winners, and being able to read them without lifting a finger is a plus on its own! Full of action and adventure, all thee titles are sure to keep you o the edge of your seat. You'll never want to stop listening!

Jen Green's introduction to the life and work of Michelangelo is at something of a disadvantage compared to other volumes in the Famous Artists series because he was both a painter and a sculptor, although there is also a spread on his work as an architect as well. Ultimately Green focuses more on Michelangelo as a sculptor, looking at his Bacchus, Pieta, and David works before looking at the painting of the Sistine Chapel (the reproductions of these paintings unfortunately predate the remarkable restoration efforts). Ironically, in terms of explaining Michelangelo's distinct style, Green has much more success dealing with the painter than the sculptor. The political climate of the time is also dealt with, since perhaps no other artist in history worked at the whim of patrons and popes more than Michelangelo.

The strength of the Famous Artists series remains its emphasis on allowing young readers to experiment with the techniques of particular artists through the use of hands-on projects (e.g., proportion, composition, carving in relief) as well as by providing preliminary sketches and materials to show the artistic process at work. Each two-page spread features an illustration of the artist's home or environment, the continuing story of the Michelangelo's life, details and examples of the his work at that particular time, and a feature on the artist's technique with practical projects to try. Often there are enlargements of key parts of the work and there is always a symbol indicating the size of the work relative to a human being. As a general rule, these are excellent books for providing readers, young and old alike, with a basic art appreciation introduction to the world's greatest artists.

Hughes gives a lot of info in a short book, and paints a very well balanced idea of Michelangelo the man. I felt bad for
Buonaratti after reading this. He truly was a miserable man, yet his committment to his art was never diminished for a moment. In the end the story of his life is inspiring and humbling. Inspiring because it proves what man can acheive, humbling in the sacrifices that were made in order to fulfill his destiny as one of the great geniuses to have ever lived.

Firstly, I was thoughroughly impressed by the quality of this little book. The layout of the pages, the quality of the paper, everything. I'm glad to report that the content matches its presentation: Very clean, clear text featuring an unbiased look at Michelangelo's life. The book often cites former biographers (specifically Vasari and Condivi) and more often than not, it tries to find the right history. Very good illustrations of his more famous artwork as well as some drawings. Excellent!

I read this book before reading the other 3 in the quartet, and I absolutely loved it. It made reading the others irresistible, and yet I believe this third edition is the best. The love stories are incredibly deep and diverse, and Durrell's writing is both beautiful and inspiring.
Mountolive is an Englishman working with the Foreign Service who comes to know his Dionysian self in the humidity and turmoil of early 20th century Egypt. He falls in love with his married hostess, and this relationship leaves him capable of loving only one woman and one place. The other notable couples portray a stunning array of what drives people toward love. A desire for power drives Justine and Nessim together as it does much more subtlely in the vignette about Amaril and Semira. This book stands out on its own but leaves you dying to find out more about these rich characters.

Poor Mountolive. This is a tale of his rise to success and his parallel loss of being able to respond humanely, and his ultimate debasement. In addtion, Durrell continues to remove layers of the Alexandrian social web: Justine's motivations are different again. I worry that they will change again in the last of the series. Motivations for love continue to be explored. I wish I had started a list when I started reading these books of all the different nuances of love and various motivations. It really has made me think.

If you read the first two of the quartet, you cannot afford to miss this installment. It really helps you understand the mysteries. Of course, Durrell continues in his mastery of the language. Descriptions continue to be lush.

Mountolive is a welcome new point of view on the events, after Justine and Balthazar. It helped me put things together before I read Clea. I can even say that I found it 'refreshing'. Next time I read The Quartet (and I surely will), I might begin with this book.

This is an excellent text, especially its challenging problems and also the wonderful explanation of historical contexts. This 1st edition (743 pages) was published in 1971 and is the most appropriate one to use for a more leisurely course that covers both mechanics and some history of mechanics. Definitely less daunting than "An Introduction to Mechanics," by Kleppner and Kolenkow, 1973 - which has more difficult problems.

The 2nd edition (310 pages) was published in 1986 and was renamed "Introduction to Classical Mechanics," by A.P. French and M.G. Ebison, Kluwer Academic Publishers. This latter updated edition is much more compact and drastically removes most of the historical and discursive material. More emphasis is placed on rapidly developing the principles and applications, thereby achieving the same depth but reducing the number of pages by more than half; unfortunately, it's also much more expensive - characteristic of Kluwer books. It seems to be more often used in British universities.

I worked through French's challenging problem sets in Newtonian Mechanics while I was in the military and found out that I could "do physics." I immediately returned to school to earn my physics degree. A lot of authors mention in their prefaces that the best way to learn physics is to do problems. I agree. Reading the text of this book is easy for anyone who desires enough to do it. Working the problems (always the tougher and less convenient half) will pay dividends in confidence and deeper understanding. This book--like the rest in the MIT physics series written by French--has all of the answers to the problems in the back of the book that allows independent study. The book is well-motivated and gives a lot in return but asks a lot of the student in his or her maturity and perseverence.

I think it's THE book of mechanics for Physics' students. Itcovers from basic mechanics (kinematics, newton laws...) to sometopics of classical mechanics. It has many clear demonstrations that are not found in other books for engineers (like Resnick, Tippler...) and contains excellent examples. It has a high level but is very easy to understand. French style, that combines history, original observations, clearity and high-level topics makes you love Mechanics.

Anthony Mlikotin is a thinker and writer of genius. His books are the best books written in the last 20 years. His grasp of what he reads is profound, lucid, and unerring. He writes with great beauty. For example, he describes Zarathustra as "a human silhouette against the rising and setting sun". (p. 47) I cannot begin to describe everything excellent in this book. It is the best book that I have read on Nietzsche. The margins of my copy are filled with the word "yes". Mlikotin describes perfectly the essence of Zarathustra's teaching, "to suggest a new way of life" of "living and meditating in solitude" in order to "be able to achieve human perfection." (p. 48) In my opinion, this was Nietzsche's own way of life, and he is the clearest proof that it is a recipe for self-destruction. A person is a social animal. If he withdraws from a normal social life onto a solitary peak, hurling curses on other people for failing to acknowledge his height above them, he cannot be happy. I believe that this is the tragic lesson of Nietzsche's life, a lesson more important than anything he wrote.

Probably because of the multiplicity and variety of Nietzsche's books, most studies on Nietzsche are rather fragmented. Even when one teaches with The Portable Nietzsche, or The Collected Works, to get into the totallity of Nietzsche's philosophy has not been easy, nor has it ever been very smooth, as those books have largely been direct translations of Nietzsche's books, albeit with an extended introduction, or with some translators' footnotes here and there scattered throughout the pages. Anthony Mlikotin's Nietzsche is markdly different. As this book goes from one Aspect of Nietzsche's work to the next, it does a meticulos work of exploring every brush stroke and enters into every crevases left on the canvas by the author, Nietzsche. After reading the book, I was left saying, "I wish this book was out when I was in college. It would have made my reading more enjoyable, much simpler, and less complicated." I recommend this book to every college professor, and all philosophy students, to use it as a supplement in their study of Nietzsche.

In this book the author takes Nietzsche in a spontaneous totality, i.e., he keeps all aspects of Nietzsche's thought open and at all times. Emphasis on one part only, the author thinks, would make Nietzsche's opus meaningless, including the selected part. Contemporary scholarship, Professor Mlikotin argues, has fragmented Nietzsche's thought to the point where the living fabric of his thought has ceased to display its original outline and its pristine beauty. The attempt is thus made to see Nietzsche the way he wanted to be seen, to respect his inspiration and his intentions. The author's conclusion is that Nietzsche was a great eye-opener, a legitimate and wise iconoclast, and a powerful enlightener of many of the dark corners of human mind. In the course of his journey into the mind's myriad openings, Nietzsche enlightened humankind as to the greatness and value of existence. Speaking eloquently on all major themes of our spiritual concerns, Nietzsche emerges as the greatest storyteller of the human mind.

I have read tens of thousands of books, but most especially science fiction. I can only attribute my love and fascination for sci-fi to this wondrous work by Piers Anthony! This was my first sci-fi book, but it has not been my last. Anthony's extraordinary ability to describe the incredible alien environment, the beauty of the background and it's entitled creatures was so amazing that I am forced to renew it's wonder regularly. I highly recommend this to all readers!

A cyborg is sent to investigate the activities of three scientists on the planet Nacre. As he questions them, he hopes to find out the secret of the Mantas, creatures brought back from Nacre. The alien world covered by fungoid live forms is a truly unique creation. An excellent Anthony foray into science fiction.

The beginning novel in an excellent trilogy. Well worth the read; it's a shame we lost these characters.

This book is one of a series on OPEN (Object-oriented Process Environment and Notation). Unlike the other books in the OPEN series, this book is independent of any methodology and can also be used in non object-oriented environments.

The title is appropriate: this 426 page book and accompanying CD ROM is a toolbox of techniques that can be applied in any environment or within the context of any methodology. It is, literally, an encyclopedia of techniques that consultants and business analysts can use to perform a variety of tasks or produce associated deliverables.

If you are using this book as a generic compendium of tools and techniques, or you are not interested in OPEN, you can safely skip the first chapter that is an overview of OPEN. If you work within an object-oriented environment you may find chapters 2 through 4 useful. These chapters describe OPEN and how it relates to other O-O approaches. If not, you can also skip these and jump to Appendix A, which is the heart of the book.

Appendix A is a collection of core techniques in alphabetical order ranging from abstract class identification to workshops. There are over one hundred core techniques, each of which is presented using the following format: Technique Name and Star rating - 1 star = well tried, 2 stars = reasonably well validated, 3 stars = experimental. Focus, typical tasks for which the technique is used, related techniques, entry criteria and underpinning concepts. This header information is followed by: Technique description Technique useage Deliverables and output

The CD ROM contains additional techniques that make this one of the most comprehensive resources available to a consultant. The content on the CD ROM is in PDF format and is divided into three additional appendices. Additional techniques are in two of these appendices, with the third covering supporting reference material.

What I like about this book is the wide coverage of techniques. All of the standard fare is covered, and a lot of esoteric ones are also included. I use it as a memory jogger or idea book when I an trying to find that "perfect" approach to performing a task or creating a deliverable. Some minor irritations include the star ratings - I found them to be somewhat ambiguous, and the fact that the techniques are presented in alphabetical order instead of grouped by class. A cross-reference in the front of the book would remedy that complaint.

However, this book deserves a solid five stars because it is comprehensive and packs a lot of information into 426 pages and a CD ROM. If you are a consultant or analyst this book is money well spent, and will make a great addition to your short list of everyday tools and references.

This book contains lots of interesting techniques, many of which are essential to the business of software development. Excellent value for money.

If you are serious about the actual business of developing OO software, don't go past this book. Have one on your shelf, although mine doesn't stay there very long.

Painstakingly compiled by Anthony Quain, The Political Reference Almanac 2001-2002 Edition is a thorough, comprehensive, 1,038 page fact-filled reference and resource on the current political system and the elected men and women who serve it. Listing information about state and local governments, all three branches of federal government, political parties, other nations and their leaders, international organizations, state and local governments, political documents, economics, statistics, mission statements, black-and-white photographs of featured individuals, and much more, The Political Reference Almanac 2001-2002 Edition is the core source to consult for quick, useful information on just about any important and influential political figure.

This guide has everything the policy analyst or 12th grade civics student needs, but the international data is where it really shines. If the county has a government, all the relevant data's included. Even if you don't pay attention to politics, having this guide on your shelf will (1) make you look smart, and (2) help settle countless arguments and bets. Trivial Pursuit doesn't stand a chance.

Also, make sure you pay the extra to get access to the Internet site. It includes updated information and a great search function.

This is an excellent reference tool for students and professionals. I use my almanac regularly for national and state information. As a consultant in the field, I find that I can answer questions and find the information I need quickly and efficiently. In addition, the layout of the book makes it easy to use as a teaching guide for students and interns. I look forward to the new edition.

I teach in a district in suburban Chicago (Maywood) that saw many of its young men go off to the Philippines in the early days of WWII when a local National Guard Unit was sent there (Co. B, 192nd Tnk Bn). Needless to say, after the combat, death march, hell ships, etc. most did not return. Our community was devestated, and they remember Bataan still. I am currently doing a research project with some of my students at Proviso East High School and have done alot of reading on the subject. Mr. Czerwein's books is one of the very best in the whole genre. Its a quick, yet graphic and disturbing read. Another good book is My Hitch in Hell by Lester Tenney, who was a member of the Maywood unit. I met Mr. Czerwien, and Mr. Tenney, a few weeks ago at a Bataan event here at the high school. He is still going strong and told me he is now writing his 3rd book. God Bless Him.

In a very straightforward fashion, my uncle tells his story of Bataan and of being a POW. It is a very moving piece of history which should never be forgotten. I strongly urge anybody who has even a passing interest of the Second World War to read this work.

I have found this book to be very interesting and to the point about a mostly unknown tragedy of world war II. Mr. Czerwien gives an indepth look at mans inhumanity to man. Not only about the death march but about the ship that took him to Japan, that in my opinion was worse than the march itself. To survive this ordeal is in itself a miracle. I highly recommend this book to anyone that seeks the truth, from a man who was there.