This is one of the best books ever written. It was an upliftment & encouragement. David Parkin is a good example (of a husband, father, man, friend, employer, & person) that more people need to follow. We could use more people like him. I hope heaven is filled with people like him, rather than churchy, selfish, judgmental people. Don't get me wrong - church is good & essential. But I'd rather have people like him in heaven with me. I love David Parkin. The only thing that saddens me is that he is only fictional. But perhaps Richard Paul Evans is the same type of man that David Parkin is - and Richard's real! This is truly one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I have read all three books in the series in the correct order, and this final book is the best. I just cannot say how beautiful & lovely it is. God must have been holding Richard's hand as he wrote it.

Even if I am just 11 years old I love the Richard Paul Evans books. My mom was so surprised when I showed an interest in his books because they weren't written for children but she didn't stop me. Now I have read three of them and working on a forth. He is a truly talented writer and his books captured my attention completely. I Love This Book!!!!!

Bravo!! "The Letter" concludes the love story of David and Maryanne Parkin. You must read "The Christmas Box" and "Timepiece", to capture the entire story. Set in the 1930's, Evans did a wonderful job portraying this era. The events, the characters, the places, all well written. This series is one of the best I have ever read. David Parkin is a incredible man. Maryanne is a wonderful, understanding, loving person. Together through their loss of their daughter, Andrea, their lives go in different directions. David sets off on a journey to find answers. As he was abandoned by his mother at six years old, his feelings always haunted him. When Andrea dies, he virtually relives the same feelings, even worse, only this time shutting out Maryanne from his heart. Maryanne makes a major decision that will break your heart. Their love for each is so strong and real, you can feel it just by reading this love story. I can't leave out the characters of Catherine and Lawrence as well. Their part through-out the series is very touching and two very dedicated friends to the Parkins. The ending was incredible. I won't say how it ends but only that I wasn't expecting it and I had to have a box of tissues. As Evans bids farewell to the lives of David and Maryanne, so do I. It was an incredible love story. Don't pass this series up.

I would say this is "David Copperfield"'s B-side. It is a typical Dickensian book: the life of the Nickleby family from the death of the father until they are rich and happy. One of the most important parts of the book is the study of the horrible boarding schools of Yorkshire, where Nicholas is sent. We can read the dirty intrigues of Uncle Ralph, the adventures of Nicholas and Smikes as travelling actors (a world Dickens came to know very well), the kindness of the brethren Cheeryble.

Definitely, this is not one of Dickens's best novels, but nevertheless it is fun to read. The characters are good to sanctity or bad to abjection. The managing of the plot is masterful and the dramatic effects wonderful. It includes, as usual with Dickens, an acute criticism of social vices of his time (and ours): greed, corruption, the bad state of education. In spite of everything, this is a novel very much worth reading, since it leaves the reader a good aftertaste: to humanism, to goodness.

I read criticisms of this book that it is not one of Dickens' best. For me, it is up there with Great Expectations and David Copperfield as one of his most enjoyable novels (A Christmas Carol is a short story).

The social axe that Dickens had to grind in this story is man's injustice to children. Modern readers my feel that his depiction of Dotheboys Academy is too melodramatic. Alas, unfortunately, it was all too real. Charles Dickens helped create a world where we can't believe that such things happen. Dickens even tell us in an introduction that several Yorkshire schoolmasters were sure that Wackford Squeers was based on them and threatened legal action.

The plot of Nicholas Nickleby is a miracle of invention. It is nothing more than a series of adventures, in which Nicholas tries to make his way in the world, separate himself from his evil uncle, and try to provide for his mother and sister.

There are no unintersting characters in Dickens. Each one is almost a charicature. This book contains some of his funniest characters.

To say this is a melodrama is not an insult. This is melodrama at its best. Its a long book, but a fast read.

"Nicholas Nickleby" is one of the best works of Charles Dickens overall. This novel is about the brave adventures of Nicholas, his sister Kate and their mother. The story begins at about the time Nicholas's father dies and the family has to encounter the struggle of life with no imminent prospects of fortune. At this time they make an appeal to the brother of Nicholas's father, Mr.Ralph Nickleby. From this point on, the parallel developments of the honest Nickleby family and their villanous uncle begin to unfold. With many twists and turns the story is as captivating as any of the author's best books. The tale is characteristically filled with the Dickinsian people such as Mr.Vincent Crummles and his family, in particular the "phenomenon", Arthur Gride, Newman Noggs and others. Overall, this book is a pleasure to read and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in good story-telling.

Pamela Paul gives her audience an excellent account of the causes and effects of a far-reaching social phenomenon called the "Starter Marriage." Paul makes an emotional plea to her readers, whatever their current or past personal status, for opening their eyes and ears about the challenges and rewards of marriage. Her positive message is especially relevant because many of her readers have been actors or witnesses of starter marriages. Paul's book is an excellent topic of discussion for singles, divorced and married people that could be used to help reduce the high rate of divorces and therefore strengthen the marriage that plays a key role in our society.

As a single, never-married girl in my twenties, I bought The Starter Marriage not because I've had marriage problems, but because I want to prevent them. As prevalent as the starter marriage (awesome phrase, btw) is in our culture, I plan to do my best not to have one. I found this book instrumental in teaching me -- in a fun, beach-read kind of way -- how to go about making sure that when I marry, it will be right. Reading about other peoples' mistakes (a guilty pleasure in itself) helped me to examine my own attitudes toward and expectations of marriage. And what do you know, I saw some things within myself that I'm now working on changing so that, when I'm ready, I can do this marriage thing right.

I am recommending this book to all my single friends so they can all take preventative measures to avoid the pain and heartache of a starter marriage.

As a parent The Starter Marriage made me aware of what to watch out for. A lot of my friend's children have gone through marriages like those described in the book. What I found encouraging was what these young people learned from their understandably difficult experience. As far as I'm concerned this is must reading for anyone, parent or otherwise, in a position to gently advise.

Long-married, New York City

Johnson does a great job of summarizing the Renaissance in a quick 150 pages. The book summarizes the forward thinking which resulted in a revolution in the sculpture, paintings, and buildings of this period. Man was outwardly focused during this time and shows developments in Italy and then in the rest of Europe.
The problem that I find with these quick reads of a complex subject is they have so little space to explain the subject and adequately make it interesting. Johnson does a great job in the summary but fails to motivate the reader to other works which expound on the Renaissance.
For those who need a quick read on this fascinating time in history, this is a quite capable book. It describes the advancement in literature, sculpture, painting, and building of this period.

It is no small feat to capture in one hundred eighty-six pages the essence of the most powerful artistic and intellectual movement in history. But historian and journalist Paul Johnson, as only Johnson can, has accomplished just that. In this new addition to the Modern Library Chronicles, The Renaissance: A Short History, Johnson systematically identifies the primary elements of the Renaissance movement, illustrating each point with colorful biographical information.
The hallmark of Johnson's writing is a clear, universal presentation of subject matter combined with skillfully selected detail. In Renaissance, he divides his narrative into six parts, each focusing on a different aspect of the era-literature and letters, sculpture, architecture, and painting-framed by sections on the movement's rise and fall. Each chapter is a beautifully constructed piece, expounding upon the minutiae of its respective topic, exploring how each demonstrated the Renaissance principles of individuality and human glorification. For example, in his section on literature, Johnson attributes Dante's Convivio, penned not in Latin but in his native Italian, as "the first great Renaissance defense of the vernacular as a suitable language for works of beauty and weight" (26).
Johnson paints the historical landscape with a broad brush, beginning his discussion of the Renaissance with a contrasting picture of the Middle Ages. He explains how the coarse craftsman of the village guild, laboring in stone, leather, and wood, blossomed into the master studio artist, creating aesthetic works through sculpture, painting, and carving (16). The monastic scriptorium became the modern printing press; the local dialect became a script; the illiterate public official became a learned patron of the arts--a uomo universale.
Johnson illustrates these artistic movements through an exploration of the individuals who propelled them. The essence of the Renaissance was man's discovery and expression of himself: "The emergence of an artist as an individual in his works-both processes reinforced each other" (66). Johnson demonstrates how this theme of individuality manifested itself in every area of art. For example, he discusses how writers such as Chaucer had a "fascination [for] the individual human being, as opposed to the archetype or mere category," so fashionable in medieval literature (51). Instead, Chaucer created characters that were utterly human, each possessing his own unique set of quirks and foibles. Johnson also readily identifies this trend in the material arts. Sculptors, such as Nicola Pisano (c. 1220-c. 1284) accomplished this same "humanizing process" in his stone relief, The Last Judgment (c. 1260):
[T]he embodied souls, whether saved or damned, emerge as
individuals, not types; they have faces you would see in the Sienese
streets, and bodies you can imagine walking or running-real, working
bodies. (64)

After exploring its impact on the creative culture, Johnson explains how this emphasis upon the individual gradually transformed the structure of civil society. This trend produced new attitudes and expectations not present in the communities of the Dark Ages. He describes how artists began to cultivate their own distinctive styles, creating art for the sake of personal expression rather than at the behest of a bishop or public official. Noblemen, also, gained a new respect for craftsmen, patronizing their works and bearing with each one's idiosyncrasies (such as Leonardo da Vinci's notorious habit for never finishing a commissioned work) (148).
This new creative freedom unleashed an era of artistic production of unprecedented scale. Indeed, Johnson's descriptions of the innovative minds of the Renaissance dazzle the reader. He maintains a sense of wonder throughout his text as he describes the "fantastic imagination" of Donatello's work, Michelangelo's "supranormal powers" of sculpting, and Chaucer's "extraordinary ability to peer into the minds of diverse human creatures (51, 74, 81).
Ultimately, it is this characteristic-Johnson's utter respect for the brilliance of the leaders of the Renaissance-in this work that the reader comes to appreciate most. Through Johnson's writing, one develops a sense of camaraderie with the individuals of a bygone era who sought to better understand our common race. The work is an exciting and useful read not only for those who wish to expand their knowledge of the period, but those who wish to understand the driving passions of mankind.

The beauty of this book is its size and simplicity. Perhaps the best thing the compilers of the Modern Library Chronicles Series did was use historians who have the literary style and writing ability to clearly explain the complexities of THE RENAISSANCE and possess the skill to do so in under 200 pages. I can't imagine a situation like this - but if ever an occassion arose where you would need immediate access to some fact on Renaissance architecture, literature, paintings or sculpture - you could just pop out this little pocket-sized volume. It's that small.

The book begins and ends with a discussion of the economic, technological, and cultural factors that both brought about the Renaissance, and contributed to its decline. Printing by movable type was "the central technological event of the Renaissance" and was a prime mover in the spread of the culture of this golden age. Johnson in fact says it was "the most important cultural event by far of the entire period." Johnson shows how the Reformation with its demands for popular and vernacular forms of religion had a concomitant influence on cultural forms such as music and painting. The polyphonic complexity and richness in music, and Gothic influences in art, were replaced with emphasis on simplicity and austerity. The Renaissance he says became "a spent force" and "by the 1560's and 1570's it was dead." This may be true of the Renaissance as a movement but it had now "become part of the basic repertoire of European arts, subsumed in the Baroque and in Rococo, ready to spring to life again in the neoclassicism of the late eighteenth century."

In between his explanations on Renaissance's rise and fall are discussions on the main topics of interest in this period. In the development of architecture Johnson makes a distinction between Gothic form and style and a Gothic spirit. The former captivated all, but in southern Italy (particularly Florence) where Renaissance architectural styles first emerged, there was a longing for something else. From within the local culture an emphasis on classical themes rather than Gothic clutter emerged. A theory and practice of architecture was developed that looked at "a balance between the elements so that there is no dominant feature but a pervading style that brings the whole together." Florentine innovations were also significant in painting techniques. Johnson mentions that fresco painting methods were amended to incorporate a greater emphasis on drawings and draftmanship. These preparatory sketches are of course now works of art in their own right but then they were simply tools to allow artists to explore other subjects such as the human form. Johnson says that "the glories of the High Renaissance, and its celebration - one might almost say sanctification - of the human body, would have been impossible without this meticulous tradition of draftmanship."

There are some equally interesting insights into Renaissance sculpture and literature, and it's all written in a very readble, clear, and concise prose. This is a good introduction to the Renaissance period.

Gross and Levitt know their subject, and they present their case with wonderful lucidity and sophistication. Some may call it pedantic, but it taught me a few new words, and for that I am grateful.
However, there remains something troubling about this book. First of all, the author's views of politics are egregiously simplistic. As far as their concerned, there are only two political beliefs: left and right, the latter being populated mostly by their enemy the "creation scientist." Second, the book sends dangerously mixed messages. They call the academic left their "friends" even as they lambast them in a manner that would give Ayn Rand a lesson in polemics. Because of this, their critique is limited to myopic analyses of specific blunders (with a hasty appeal to their representativeness), while leaving untouched the mistaken postmodern premises that give rise to such blunders.
Last, and most importantly: Gross and Levitt come across as watchdogs patrolling their own profession. When they find a transgressor, they simply throw her over the fence into the humanities and social sciences, to run amok as she pleases. Granted, the sorry state of the humanities is not their problem; they are scientists. However, as scientists, they of all people should hold the virtues of objective inquiry in high regard. If the postmodern word-salad of relativism does not work for the natural sciences, why should it work in the humanities, which is every bit as concerned with understanding of reality?
I give the book four stars because these men are heroes for taking on the postmodern academy. I did not give them five stars because they do not go far enough. They pawn their misguided "friends" off onto their sister departments, and think that sufficient. But they will always come back. By refusing to strike the root, Gross and Levitt work against their intention.
Still, what is good in here is EXTREMELY good, and I recommend the book highly.

Triggering the most hilarious literary scandal in recent years, this book will be a major influence in determining how our society progresses. Science has been under severe assaults during the past generation. Much anti -science feeling arose as a reaction against the use of science and technology to support war. Later, science was accused of supporting racism and sexism. Now, as this book makes clear, a new wave of slander on science has arisen and is gaining strength. The origin of these assaults began with the wave of "postmodernist" writings among French philosophers and social commentators. The attitude of science being merely the tool of society instead of working aloof or apart from social issues leapt the Atlantic to take firm root among North American academics. This "academic left," having begun as a movement for social equality, has turned its wrath on science. Nearly every element of science, from relativity to biology, has come under the distorted scrutiny of humanities scholars. Alan Sokal's fictitious example in Social Text demonstrated just how contorted this outlook can be.

After an excellent presentation of "postmodernist" concepts, the authors address the anti-science critics declarations. The authors offer us a rogues' gallery of misguided "spokespersons" who bend language, misinterpret what science discloses and the methods it uses, and who fail to comprehend the very topics they purport to critique. They accept that much of science seems obscure and eludes quick or superficial comprehension. Why then, they query, do these critics insist either on denouncing its methods or adopt the findings in an attempt to restructure society? In Gross and Levitt's view, the critics see attacks on science as a means of attaining intellectual power and guiding society along a revised path. Since these critics see corruption at every level, they mean to "purify" society by tearing out any and all roots supporting it. That they have been effective at this slashing exercise in many areas is the reason this book was written.

Gross and Levitt show that those condemning science as "patriarchal," environmentally destructive or racist, are almost universally devoid of knowledge of the workings of science. These attackers seek to replace traditional science with new "ways of knowing." Gross and Levitt offer some real howlers as examples of this genre. From the frivolous "Newton's Principia is a rape manual" to the bizarre notion of a "feminist algebra," Gross and Levitt expose the fallacies of these "anti-patriarchal" constructs. Given the long term campaign by feminists to rebuke science, they show remarkable restraint in their assessment of this aspect of post-modernist techniques. The chapter "Auspiciating Gender" is but seven pages longer than the next longest one. Still, as they remind us, those adherents to such grotesque notions are now firmly established in academic positions and making education policies.

Throughout the book, the authors remind us that science is "a reality-driven enterprise." Science achieves its results by constant attention to methods and results. Whatever impact "culture" has on science, it isn't in the methodology. No reputable scientist assumes his theories will go unchallenged, especially as new data emerge. The cycles of checks and confirmations or refutations has kept science moving forward since the Enlightenment. Gross and Levitt urge readers to remember that without the methods and results of science, countless human achievements from the elimination of smallpox to the computers viewing this page would never have occurred. In the words of Richard Dawkins, "show me a cultural relativist in a jet aircraft at 35 000 feet, and I'll show you a hypocrite." What more can be said?

I am not into forcing people to read books, but if I were, this book would be near the top of my "must-read" books. Gross/Levitt's in-depth analysis of several of the current trends in sociological writing about science and the lamentable rise of pseudoscience (e.g., Afrocentrism, Difference Feminism) hits the nail on the head. They demonstrate very convincingly the handshake between the radical right and the left when it comes to fighting rationalism. Their final example of "upmanship" (pp. 243f) - the relationship between the Sciences and the Humanitities - is essentially correct, and the level of scientific knowledge among students of sociology, contemporary linguistics, or political science is deplorable. In my opinion this is because the "hard" sciences are exactly that - hard (although *nothing* can be harder than reading sense into a postmodernistic text). And when it comes to the "power" of "deconstructing" things and "demonstrating that science is just a social construct", this is simply wishful thinking.

I expected better from him. I enjoyed the warm silliness of his other books,like The Pigman. This one was dramatic and true-to-life. However,it bungled in many places. Some characters were hypocritical and detestable. Maggie and Dennis weren't all that romantic and close,but they were the strongest characters. They provided relief from Liz's ridiculousness. I will give kudos for a poignant,thought-provoking ending. I use such strong language because I knew Mr. Zindel could've done better. It was overall an OK book,but don't read it if you're anticipating more great literature from him. Try The Pigman and its sequel or The Undertaker's Gone Bananas instead.

The book I read was very interesting. I thought it was the kind of book where you really thought you would start reading and not want to put down. It presents problems that arrive in schools and the issues in teenagers lives. Abortion is a very hard thing to talk about and I thought that Zindel did a very good job at making it known how different thought about it. It also shows how different people deal with different problems. It's a good story about friendship as well as true love. It is also about doing things that you'll regret. I felt like Liz was a friend of mine, kind of like I was Maggie. I really fell for this book. I would recommend this to all ages.

I read this book in high school and loved it. It was written in a way that felt just like my life at the time. I just bought it again recently and I still love it. One of my favorite books of all time. Paul Zindel is an amazing author!

The author, John Newport, a very good amateur (handicap 3) spent a year taking lessons, practicing, and competing on the mini tours, trying to improve enough to make it through PGA Q-School to the Nike/Hooters/Whatever Tour. The book is a good read for us amateur golfers, including those who are not as talented as the author but aspire to be. I could relate to the main character and his experiences more than I could relate to the PGA Tour heroes in other books about golfers. Newport tried hard. But it seemed that every step forward was followed by a step back, with occasional joyful exceptions. Ultimately, Newport was undone by his inability to play his best under the pressure of formal competition. And that is the fine green line that separates the best golfers from the rest of us: the ability to play well under pressure. The book was entertaining, with Newport's personal, sometimes hopeful, often agonizing reminiscences, and his descriptions of fellow mini-tour travelers and their exploits. Most of us amateurs like golf tips, and there are some good ones here as Newport passes on what he learned in his golf lessons. The book is a good read. And it reminds us that no matter how much we love golf, we should keep our day jobs.

I'm an avid reader on golf. Doesn't matter whether it be instruction, biography, history, etc. I've got a growing collection. This book will have a cherished place, because it's such an honest, insightfully written epic of an average golfer who finds out what the upper reaches of the sport are all about.

Finding myself playing to much the same level of the author, I knew enough from being around some mid-level echelon golfers that one dedicated year to try and crack this game would not be enough. One would have to start much earlier than that and want it far worse.

JP is a neat guy, one that many of us would enjoy so much treading around the links trying to keep each other playing our best, but enjoying whatever we're given that day in this humbling game.

JP is pro league writer, and his ability to transmit what was happening inside is not only articulate and entertaining, but it to this reviewer is so admirable, not trying to embellish or spin to portray the disappointing results any different than their raw numbers.

I'll take away from this great read some unforgettable remembrances ... promoter Buddy's unplayable lie invention, the Skill-O-Meter analysis, the MJ incident with failure by one shot, etc. Great stuff for us who love this game and collect incidents like this for the 19th.

Okay, it would help to know a little bit about golf--even though you kind of can figure things out eventually. Maybe tack a glossary on the back in future editions? Because golfer or not, this is a great book. The premise is smart: over 50% of American men believe that, if things had just worked out right, they could have been a professional athlete. John Paul Newport gets specific: could have been a GOLFER. So he puts that hypothesis to the test, and designates a year of his (and his wife and kid's) life "The Year of Golf." This is an honest, funny and smart book. Newport is a wonderful reporter. Nice to know he's got a writing career to fall back on, whatever happens with the Year.

I came across Jamie Glazov's booklet almost by accident, through a friend of mine from College. Reading Glazov's work was a total joy and I found that he was able to articulate much of the frustration I have felt in my dealings with the radical left. Glazov uses humour as a most effective means of expressing his argument with the left. My only criticism is that, at times, it seems as though Glazov is unable to control his apparent hatred for these people and, consequently his satire becomes almost too vicious. On the whole, however, 15 Tips on how to be a Good Leftist is a gem and deserves much more attention that it has hitherto received.

As a person who prided herself on her progressive and liberal beliefs for most of her life, I must say that it hurt me to read this book. It is funny and completely true what the author is satirizing. Funny, I guess, at the expense of people like me who actually entertained beliefs for a long period of my life that I never really examined or thought through. The book hurt in that the author shows that, when you really think about it, the socialist idea is absolutely ludicrous and, worse still, part of a profound sickness. It is a sickness of the soul. Now that I really think about it, I can't think of one of my former Leftist friends that was actually well-adjusted in society. Every single one of them had some kind of a really serious problem. But we never talked about our problems. It was always about something larger. Something larger had to be fixed and then we would be okay. 15 Tips cuts to this main point in a very painful manner -- for me and for my memories. And apart from all the humour in the book, I was left not laughing but squirming, at the realization that the people he was ridiculing was actually people like me, who literally spent years of their life believing and saying all of the things that he ridicules. Sitting here now, I think of all my friends, all of the people that I associated with in this calling. I remember, with tremendous discomfort, all of our conversations, all of our certainty about how wrong things were, and about how right they could be if only this and only that. 15 Tips slices with no mercy. How much mercy, I guess, can there be? I abandoned "the cause" years back, as I gradually began to see some of the irrationality in the whole enterprise. To be truthful, I ended up with almost no friends in the real world. The joke about me was that I was the "lecturer", the one that was always teaching other people. One day I realized I didn't want to be that anymore. When I really thought about it, that's a pretty sad way to go out in life, always teaching other people, and in an unsolicated situation. But I became more apathetic and indifferent, rather than anti-Left. To become anti-Left would have forced me to re-question things that are better left unquestioned. Great. So here's 15 Tips. How great to be the target of ridicule that makes total sense, and to know that you were that. I hope something good will come from my experience. But it takes awhile to reinvent yourself, after having committed years of conversations to useless ventures and ideas. More seriously, these were ideas that actually hurt people. Perhaps that is why the Marxist idea works to erase the idea of conscience and ethics, which I at one time thought was a great thing. How many nights of my life I remember sitting somewhere, drinking some kind of politically correct wine, and saying, arrogantly, that there was no such thing as right or wrong. How proud I was at that time of that view. And yet, almost everything I talked about was based on the asumption that so much was right, and so much was wrong. But yes, erasing ethics was my goal. Perhaps that makes it easier when it comes time to do what the idea demands. Perhaps it made it easier for me to live with myself. Because now I know that I was ashamed. I was ashamed about a lot in my own life. I didn't know it at the time. I just knew that without conscience, there would be no shame, and Marxism offered to erase conscience. Now I know why I was against conscience. Now I know why I was attracted to the Marxist idea. If you don't like seeing the darkness in yourself, then emerge yourself into complete and utter darkness. At least then you do not need to contrast darkness with light, because there will be no light. Make your crime your culture, and then erase the meaning of crime. I don't really know what more to say. 15 Tips is important. For me, it's just a really sad and painful experience to have read this thing. I wish I could rationalize it, but at this stage it's hard. Five years ago I would have just called this guy every name in the book, convincing myself that that would somehow delegitimize what he was saying. But things don't work like that. Sometimes I think not too much works. I never thought I would actually say this, but the only thing that really works is maybe to humble yourself. How unfamiliar to me. And yet, it brings so much peace, and more wisdom than I ever received from all of those courses I took in Women's studies, anthropology, gender studies, etc etc. Those memories make me want to cleanse myself. I feel something dirty. I touched something profoundly dark and foul. I have left it behind me. Silence, I think, will be refuge, atleast for awhile......

I wasn't really going to comment on 15 Tips until I checked out the reviews. Sarah Fredrickson from Detroit wrote a negative review on April 15, 1999. As a person who was once on the Left and now considers himself on the center, I would say that it is the mentality of people like Fredrickson that made me abandon the Leftist cause. I was very embarassed reading Fredrickson's review. This is obviously a very troubled individual. She says Glazov should be "silenced" because he is an "enemy" and a "danger". Her main argument is that she was very "offended". I mean, for God's sakes, if this is the only argument the Left can come up with against Glazov's piece than it is really a sad statement for the position socialism is in. I personally do not agree with everything in the 15 Tips, and I sense the author is some kind of a Reaganite. At the same time, I am not sure I have an answer to Glazov and I will wait till I do. Meanwhile, I strongly suggest to Ms. Fredrickson that she abandon her cause for awhile and take a look in the mirror. She's got "loser" written all over her forehead. Her "review" is an embarassment to the Left. I am begging anyone on the Left, if you have any hope left, answer a book like 15 Tips with something profound, not with ignorant statements, insults, and complaints about your emotional pain after reading the book. If you want me to come back to the Left, state your case, not the biography of your emotional instability, intellectual bankruptcy, and political intolerance.

In a (1970) television interview Richler said that his best writing was the stuff that flowed out from him and did not require too much revision or re-writing. I think that a lot of that sort of "one-take" inspiration must have found its way into this fourth novel of his. As I read it, there was one word that kept recurring in my thoughts... "raw"! I don't think Richler is the type who had much use for a thesaurus in his study, and I say that in praise of his ability as a writer. Everything is just right up front and center with him, nothing embellished or re-written for the sake of eloquence. The result is sometimes brash, often vulgar... but all the while, it is very REAL and necessary to explain the impetuous character of Duddy. Very well written. Great bantering dialogue. Count how many times Richler puts the word "but" at the END of a sentence. It's bizarre.

This is a story of ambition run amok! A precocious upstart trying to satiate his obsessive perception of success. Duddy's particular obsession is this phrase that "a man without land is nobody!" Richler creates a fascinating (realistic, albeit despicable) character here in Duddy. There were a few redeeming moments, but most of the time I just wanted to strangle Duddy... in fact, my feelings for Duddy alternated between wanting to strangle him and then (next page) laugh at him. He's such a shyster! Often this story is hilarious, but it's really not funny. I see Duddy as a tragic figure. He consistently abuses the two people (Yvette and Virgil) who are trying the hardest to help him realize his dreams. Ultimately, Duddy has to face the fact that perhaps the only thing legendary about him are the stories that his father Max is already inventing down at Lou's Bagel and Lox Bar. There can only be one thing more miserable than someone who reaches his goals by trampling on others, and that is to find out after all the trampling... that you are no success story after all. In the end, Duddy can't even afford bus fare. He becomes a nobody... with land!

This book is fast paced, vulgar, funny, and human. The world of Duddy Kravitz--an extraordinary Jewish teenager in Montreal in the 1940's--may sound very far removed from our lives, but very few things I have read have struck me as being so irresistably recognisable as life. It would be to deny yourself an immense pleasure not to read this book. Certain chapters are as classic as things we remember from great 19th century literature.

I was first introduced to Mr. Richler's writing when I read "Duddy" in the '70's. Since then, and partly because of Duddy, I have enjoyed many of Richler's books. The irreverent humour, fully realized characterization and exotic Montreal and Quebec settings make this book riveting. Duddy, a young, almost tragically (except it's too funny) ambitious man, embodies all the tensions and pitfalls of scheming to make a buck.

This was a good book as an introduction to developing ASP with VI. I had come from a "code everything by hand" approach and VI unleashed has given me a great introduction to the visual developement capabilities of InterDev 6. However, the major drawbacks are Chapter 23 and 24. I learn best by doing and while the steps in creating the example online catalog helped me to learn how to use DTCs, etc in the end the examples did not work. Examples that don't work are very frustrating. I want to see the program I did in the examples work, not chase down bugs. Also adding to my frustration is that there are no online resources where fixes and updates to the text exist. All in all though, the book presented the material well and helped me get a good grasp of VI6.

Considering the importance of Visual InterDev 6, and the marketability of VI6 certification, I am puzzled by the scarcity of good books on the subject. Thurrott, et al., have produced one of the better ones. It is a compendium of VI6 topics that cover all the necessary aspects of VI6 development. Rather than introducing the reader to the mechanics of the interface, the book is true to its stated assumption that readers already "have a basic understanding of the product." Perhaps the authors took this too much to heart in their chapter layout. For example, in the very beginning of the book are the topics "Creating Cross-Browser Web Applications", "Using Dynamic HTML" and "Programming the Scripting Object Model". Now, these are certainly important subjects, but if you are attempting to learn VI6 from scratch, these topics seem to come out of nowhere. If, on the other hand, you have been using VI6 for a short time, and have already read an introductory book, such as Microsoft's "Using Visual Interdev 6" or Sams' "Teach Yourself Visual Interdev 6 in 24 Hours", then Thorrott's book seems to start in just about the right place.

WEAKNESSES: First of all, I must state that when I read a developer book such as this, I use the concepts discussed in the text to create my own sample code to test those concepts. I seldom copy the text examples onto my system, and seldom test the sample code on the accompanying CD. (Most CD's that are shipped with books contain very little that might interest me. I would prefer that the publisher keep the CD, and lower the book price. Besides, placing the examples on a publisher's web site, rather than on a CD, allows them to be corrected dynamically.) So, I can not comment on the issue of the examples working as is. My own examples, created using the text as a guide, worked fine. So, speaking of the book alone, its greatest weakness is in chapter to chapter flow. Each chapter seems to work well in covering its designated topic. I did not find this to be a significant distraction. Another area of weakness was in the amorphous arena of browser support for specific features. While I realize that this is a moving target, simply stating that Netscape and IE interpret stylesheets differently is inadequate.

STRENGTHS: I loved the simple example of creating a VB component for Web data access, then running it within Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS). Since all component discussion emphasized the importance of custom marshalling of parameters, rather than utilizing class properties in DCOM, the component examples were already suitable for MTS, which prefers stateless objects. VB old-timers, who are accustomed to programming object classes will appreciate this.

A great strength in the text is the frequent clarification of particular techniques that work and those that don't -- based entirely on the experience of the authors. And there are wise and bold assertions of which technologies to avoid. I was particularly pleased with the inclusion, in the appendixes (I guess they're not 'appendices' any more.) of over 300 pages of quick references (7 in all) covering HTML, JavaScript, VBScript, Active Server Objects, ActiveX Data Objects, T-SQL, and the Scripting Object Model. Although none is in great depth, they usually provide all the necessary info to jog the memory of someone who is already familiar with their subjects.

For experienced VB developers, this book provides the essential guidance needed for breaking old habits when making the transition to web application development. And since many intro books on Active Server Pages (ASP) tend to encourage the intermingling of VBScript and HTML, Thurrott, et al., provide the antidote, and the reasons why. There is a lot of wisdom here.

CONCLUSION: While this is not a particularly good choice for a complete beginner at VI6, it is an excellent book for an experienced VB developer who needs to sort out the plethora of options and approaches available in VI6, or for the novice who has already made it through one of the beginner books and needs to move on. For the most advanced VI6 gurus... you're in virgin territory.

I restrained myself from buying other books on Visual InterDev 6 and I am glad I did so. This book focuses on the more practical uses of VI6, but doesn't leave out the more obscure topics. It explains a task at the hands on level, but also takes the time to explain the theory, and help you to decide the best way to do something. On a side note, the database chapters focus on SQL Server 7, with Oracle and Access mentioned very briefly. This formula met my needs perfectly, and I recommend the book to anyone who wants to get something specific done quickly, but get a general working knowledge of the product at the same time.