As a student of Professor Antin's at the University of California- San Diego, it was not surprising to me when I found his book just as uniquely interesting and enthralling as his classroom lectures. His collection of stories in this book examines the human condition in a way that is humorous, and richly written, even without the use of punctuation.

As a student of Professor Antin's at the University of California- San Diego, it was not surprising to me when I found his book just as uniquely interesting and enthralling as his classroom lectures. His collection of stories in this book examines the human condition in a way that is humorous, and richly written, even without the use of punctuation.

It's a real shame that New Directions press doesn't aggressively market books like "What It Means to Be Avant-Garde". David Antin is one of the most entertaining serious writers working in the English language. His insight into the human condition and the stories he spins in this book are refreshing and hilarious. If Antin relied upon traditional rules of punctuation -- it's somehow liberating that he doesn't -- and had a publisher interested in making a few bucks this book would sell well...very well. Treat yourself and give it a try!

David Antin recognizes the absurd and alien state of living in the world, and draws attention to the numerous fundamental assumptions we make and take for granted. He is unafraid to delve to the very bottom of an idea that initially seems too simple for academic consideration; in doing so, he deconstructs both the idea and the reader's own mental habits, as if taking apart a puzzle whose pieces contain more meaning than the whole.

What strikes me most about Antin's work is his fixation with the present time. Each poem (transcribed from a speech he gave) begins and ends in the present.

Antin has been called a storyteller, but I don't think the title does him justice. He is not in the business evoking sentiment or emotion, as the archetypal storyteller is, because that necessitates a connection to the past, which Antin's work escapes.

In short, Antin's poetry will most likely not evoke memories of the past. It also won't inspire the reader toward the future. It encourages us to live and think right now.

100 Great Problems of Elementary Mathematics is such a goldmine of ingenuity that it is hard to comprehend how it could be sold for so low a price. Ten dollars is practically a steal.

This publication, which was translated into English back in 1965, is a concise summary of some of the greatest works of mathematics throughout mankind's history. The problems contained are quite challenging. Many are such that if you understood any one of them, then you would probably know something that even the best math professor nearest you would not. This may sound like an overstatement, but in a day and age where some PhD's in math have either forgotten or never really learned how to determine so little as the square root of a number by just pencil and paper, it is probably not.

It is from analyzing the book's passages of Bernoulli's Power Sum Problem that I was able to achieve a great mathematical triumph after discovering the following challenge found in William Dunham's The Mathematical Universe: determining a precise mathematical formula to figure out how Jakob Bernoulli could take all the positive integers from 1 to 1000, raise each of them to the tenth power, and then add them up to where the sum came up to over 30 digits! I tried to develop algorithms that would work but failed each time, until I, once again, read this volume.

The situations presented are quite difficult to grasp, but once you get to where you know how to apply any one of them in solving mathematical puzzles, you feel elated. I know I did.

For the individual who enjoys looking at mathematics in a historical context and who wants to approach problems that are perhaps not entirely solvable with the use of the calculator and/or the computer, I recommend this book.

Elementary algebra and ingenius ideas are combined to solve some of the most difficult problems in the history of math.This book helped me solve several difficult technical problems .
The concise treatment and cross reference to other solutions is outstanding . This is the finest treatment of advanced mathematical treatments I have ever seen. First published in 1932, it represents the best from the masters and can be used to discover tricks which were helpful to me in algorithm development . The treatment of astronomical problems alone is worth the price .

Perhaps the stress given to geometry gives evidence to the age of the book, but it still represents an example of how a collection of problems should be written. It is too entangled with mathematics to be defined an issue about mathematical games, but also fans of games can find out some enjoying items. Because, if much room has been given to proofs and resolutions, the boundary of elementary curiosity never goes out of sight, even if it can sometimes look like a far horizon. It is surely the best book about elementary problems, mathematical games and jokes I have ever read till now, and I have found its language as clear and straight as a non-English reader (like me) usually finds a non-English writer.