Wilson crafts a compelling page turning mystery but unfortunately cannot resist interjecting some supernatural horror to the ending. This book would have been much finer had he controlled himself.

This is a sit-up-and-take-note kind of book. I was halfway into the book, thinking to myself that it wasn't half bad. Then, 5 pages later, I was sweating bullets engrossed. He blind-sided me with the plot (in a good way).

Mr. Wilson is one of my favorite authors, and I must say that SIBS is my favorite book written by Mr. Wilson. I read this book several years ago and it is just too hard to put down! This unusual plot has a lot of psychological intrigue. The more you read the story, the more you're trying to figure out what's going on. Although the book is now out of print, if you can find it at a secondhand book store, I highly recommend this book. I think Mr. Wilson was at his all-time best with this book.

I've had this book forever and had no idea it was rare. I love it because it is clear at a younger age but doesn't get boring or repetitive, as one of those classic books that just get better. I think it is superior to the Princess Bride as the characters are beleivable. I highly recommend it!

I found this book in a used bookstore and couldn't believe my luck. For a second I thought it proved the existence of Morgenstern...but the Goldman style is easy to recognize. This is a great book, but like ALL Goldman titles it is really hard to find. It's worth the effort!!

This is a great book, and it deserves to be in print! I stumbled across it in a university library (if you've ever searched for light reading in a library geared for research, you'll realize how lucky I was) and it was very good. I think in some ways I liked it better than THE PRINCESS BRIDE. I think that maybe have been because Luigi, the main character, wasn't perfect at all the way Buttercup and Wesley were. (Well, Buttercup was too stupid to be perfect, but otherwise . . .) If you can find a copy of it, read it!

Great reference for all aspects of this subject. Use it every week. Highly recommended for novice-expert.

Its even better than the previous edition. Check my comment in the previous edition's review. Good work Roger Jennings and Group.

Along with Robert Cowart & Kenneth Greg's book on the WindowsNT Bible which is for beginners, this book by Roger Jennings is the BEST that is available for NT.

Stories in this collection were of generally good quality and enjoyable to read. However, this collection definitely lost the over the top, right on the brink, edgy feel of the first Splatterpunks collection. Sure it has its share of necrophilia, gratuitous gore, usw.; but, it just didn't do it for me. It's worth the read if you can pick it up cheap, but don't expect it to live up to the first collection.

This book outshines the original. It is as full of viscera and violence as the first, but contains even more thoughtful stories, perhaps there is something to be said for the female point of view. Not every story will resonate with the reader, but for a short story collection most stories will have been well worth your time and will stick with you.

Jim Goad interviews Anton LaVey, story by Debbie Goad, am I dreaming -- buy it, not necessarily from Amazon

I really dug this book. If you like stories where no one gets out clean, then this is for you. Everyone has a past, and Paul writes it well. At times he even had me feeling sorry for the kidnapper, something that is not so easy to do considering the pain he puts young Ford through. I consider that the sign of a truly good book.

This is a short but powerful first novel that follows the fortunes of a boy that is kidnapped and effectively transformed into a personality distant from his original one. Cody's narrative is not only sympathetic to the boy and the mother and brother he left behind, but also to the abusive kidnapper and to the various teachers, waitresses, and others that cross their escape path. The stream of consciousness narrative elements that emanate from a death row cell reveal Cody as an outstanding prose stylist.

this book shook me up for so long, then i read "deep end of the ocean" and was so disappointed in that being the oprah pick, and a disturbing and moving book like "stolen child" got overlooked. "deep end" i couldn't wait to get through it, it was awful. "stolen child" was so tense and disturbing, a great read. one i think about years later.

This was a fairly quick read as Hugh Cornwell tells us his version of THE STRANGLERS history song by song. Using this format it is far from the full story that you could read in NO MERCY (the other Stranglers biography that Hugh claims is Jet Black's version even though he is not the author)
As a fan of Hugh's music I truly enjoyed reading this.He tells the history of each song instead of a biography of The Stranglers. If you are a big Hugh fan as well you need this. A casual fan or someone looking for a true band biography should read No Mercy.

I really enjoyed this overview of The Stranglers song catalog, As told by Hugh Cornwell. I thought it might be dry and sort of boring in some respects, but I was thankfully Wrong! I found myself re-exploring songs and albums from a new jumping off point. Hugh speaks in actual musical terms, he addresses lyrical content, inspirations, as well as the cultural world of Music while they were being created. I have loved this band for so long so I was thrilled to see this book available in America. Never just another Punk Band, The Stranglers should be part of your Life, like they were part of Hugh's, and mine!

If only other composers did this: write a book about just what they meant and what they were doing. Yet it's a safe bet others in the business, a trade given to Tommy Lees and J-Los, couldn't possibly handle it as well, and with the humor and respectful reflection in this book. Hugh Cornwell is a smart man, a former doctoral candidate and teacher. Herein he takes us through his fifteen years with the Stranglers, documents what they were trying to say and why, and informs us just who Dagenham Dave is (was, actually). His reflections on the band's personalities are quite interesting. Dave Greenfield NEVER heard Ray Manzarek before joining the band. (Really.) Jet was in jazz bands. And JJ Burnel is a born joiner (from karate classes to the Hell's Angels to the Mishima crowd). All in all, you'll never get this information elsewhere--and never as well written and with such heart.

I'm of 100% italian descent and live in toronto but have always as a child refused to speak italian with family members.. But obviously, if i needed to, i knew how to get by in italian since i was surrounded by the language 24-7. But, I recently became unhappy with my inability to say i can understand two languages because my italian and french are on the border lines.. anyways, I got this book. This book is a very good one as I have gone through about half of it, but people who buy these types of books without any prior knowledge of the language are just kidding themselves if they think it'll make them proficient in italian. If the purpose is to just get by on a two week vacation, I think this'll help tremendously as it goes through many easy sayings such as 'excuse me sir, what time is it' and 'where's the beef?'. ok, i'm kidding about the last one! but the best way to learn languages is take actual courses at universities where you speak and practice with others on the same level. This book may be helpful in that situation if you use it while taking an actual course. But, through whichever method you choose, or purpose(mine being work in italy since i have citizenship already) I believe everyone should learn italian because it's a beautiful language. ciao

I am in an Italian club at school, and we use this book. At the meetings, we listen to the great example dialogues and repeat them ourselves in English, and/or practice them in Italian. If you read over the chapters and listen to the dialogues and practice speaking with your friends, you will definitely pick up plenty of Italian. This book teaches very systematically, lets you really absorb the information, and does not overload you with memorization. This is a wonderful book, I love learning Italian from it. It is incredibly easy and fun. I encourage all prospective self-teachers of Italian to buy this book. You could start an Italian club at YOUR school!

I am in an Italian club at school, and we use this book. At the meetings, we listen to the great example dialogues and repeat them ourselves in English, and/or practice them in Italian. If you read over the chapters and listen to the dialogues and practice speaking with your friends, you will definitely pick up plenty of Italian. This book teaches very systematically, lets you really absorb the information, and does not overload you with memorization. This is a wonderful book, I love learning Italian from it. It is incredibly easy and fun. I encourage all prospective self-teachers of Italian to buy this book. You could start an Italian club at YOUR school!

I read this book with my 13 year old daughter. Out loud. She did all the female parts. I did all the male parts. She'd already read most of Max Shulman's books. Sure this one was a little adult. But I'm sure I was more embarrassed than she was!

Then we watched the movie. It's kind of strange watching a movie for the first time when you already know every line before the actors say them!

Anyway, I wouldn't rate this as Shulman's or Smith's best work. I've been told that they didn't get along that well. But it's still worth reading.

Sexist or not, period piece or not, "Tender Trap" is still a lot of fun to read. Max Shulman's work was always about the battle between the sexes, and as that battlefield changed, some of his stuff, inevitably, got left behind enemy lines (That metaphor doesn't actually work, but you know what I mean). Robert Smith also wrote one of my favorite childhood books, "Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing." And I think he and his wife did "The Great Big Messy Book," which was an absolute delight. Hey, Smith Junior-- drop me a note at bigeye@drexel.edu to tell me if I'm right about that.

It's wonderful to see the work of my father, Robert Paul Smith, still in print, and apparently still well-liked.

Obviously, I'm not going to give it less than five stars, but, personally, I see "The Tender Trap" as a kind of period piece, which in 1999 seems as embarrassingly sexist as a Rock Hudson/Doris Day movie. And although it is a well-constructed play, I am surprised that others see it as having more substance than, say, a really first-rate television sitcom...

The movie version is available in video cassette, and, to the best of my recollection (hey, I was eight years old at the time) reasonably faithful to the stage version. With, of course, the addition of the wonderful Sammy Cahn title song, which has probably done as much as anything to keep the play's memory alive.

I would be interested in having the previous reviewer contact me. (I have to wonder whether it's one of Max Shulman's kids...)

Interesing, well written with a good plot. It was a very fast read. My criticism is that some of the plots and "facts" are simplistic. For example one of the protagonists who is in charge of schooling the population argues that extreme intelligence is abnormal. Her arguement is written "...Being able to play Chopin is abnormal, as is being able paint like DaVince..." Now I don't know of many people who would present an arguement in such a black and white simplistic (and antagonising) way. There were many examples of goofy plots and cheesy characters. But it was entertaining reading!

Weber presents a tale in which the world is entering a sudden, catastrophic climate change. A new ice age decends upon the planet and creates social and economical upheaval. In addition, many new species are beginning to emerge and punctuated equilibrium theory is demonstrated in the new beasts evolving to cope with the enviromental strains presented by the growing cold. Humans also undergo sudden evolutionary changes and as these strange, genetically different children are born our society seeks to contain what they see as a threat. Weber weaves sound biological theory, scientific speculation, and social and polical issues into an entertaining look at human nature at its best and at its worst. I enjoyed this very much. I a biology student and avid reader of science fiction so I hope to see more from Mr. Weber in the future. Good biological fiction is hard to come by.

A very well written, fast-paced, yet easy read. Was always very interesting, had a hard time deciding where to leave off for the night.

Mr. Weber combines sound (and quite convincing) biological theories with philosophical and political viewpoints. In a quickly changing world, new species suddenly begin to appear; among them, a new species of humanoid, which springs forth from their Homo sapiens parents. These creatures are unlike the others: near-hairless, thin bodied, with large heads and large eyes--seemingly unfit for the new environment.

But it is soon discovered that their power lies not in their brawn, but in their brains. Their intelligence is far greater than their human counterparts, and they are very quiet and withdrawn--because of this, they are scrutinized and put into "special" schools. In these schools, the new children aren't given any learning material of any kind (which drives them crazy--they crave knowledge), and the corrupt government attempts to make them more social.

There is much more! But I don't want to give it away! Read it yourself!

This volume showcases the earliest works of Sturgeon, and it shows both that he was going to be really, really good, and that he wasn't quite there yet.

One of the great tragedies of science fiction's success in taking over the world is that we've lost our sense of the history of the genre. After the explosion of popularity the genre saw in the late seventies, there has simply been way too much science fiction and fantasy for anyone to read all of it, much less read the best of the past. In other words, the time when every fan had read the essential works has passed; any sense of tradition and common ground has vanished into the mediocrities of Hollywood and the latest endless series of repetitious commercial formula. Which is precisely why this series of Theodore Sturgeon's complete stories, accompanied by the recent reprints of most of his novels, is so incredibly important. When one considers the fact that at the 2002 World Science Fiction Convention I met three fans who had never even heard of Sturgeon, much less read him, these reprints are highly essential. How anyone can call themselves a fan without reading Sturgeon (and Heinlein, and Asimov, and C.L. Moore, and Kuttner, and so many more) is beyond me. This first installment of the complete works of the greatest short story writer science fiction and fantasy ever produced may not be his best, but it is critical for any understanding of where science fiction began to attain the levels of greatness it has all too often forgotten. Among the best this volume has to offer includes the utterly chilling and absolutely unique "Bianca's Hands," which will both revolt and delight you, and the charming "Ether Breather," with its original aliens. As a writer myself, I enjoyed all the journeyman work, especially since I could see how the craft developed; as a science fiction critic and scholar, I also thoroughly enjoyed the biographical story notes at the end, which may be the closest we ever get to a biography. All in all, one of the great publishing events of the history of our chosen obsession.

Ted Sturgeon was the best short story writer of the 20th century. He wrote the novel "More than Human" in the early 1950's.

Writers try to change the world in a way to make it better. Isaac Asimov looked for more intelligence in the world. Robert Heinlein for more deliberate good work, not accidental, in the world. Ted Stugeon, however, looked for more love in the world. Which is pretty much what all of Sturgeon's great work is about: love.

It is probably because of this that Sturgeon is still read today. But not as much as he should be. He should be a writer who everybody has heard of.

It is sad that the SFWA don't give out the grand master award to those who have shuffled off their mortal coil. Theodore Sturgeon is one who should be granted the title postumously. It is sad that he couldn't be granted it in life, but it something that should be granted to him now that he has pasted from this world.

This volume of this series focus' on the early work of Sturgeon. Probably from even before he started thinking of himself as anything more than a parttime writer. It is still good stuff to read though.