This book is about a leopard who is very proud and his name is Osebo. I liked it when Achicheri (the tortoise) trapped Osebo in his drum. Then Achicheri took the drum with the leopard inside to the sky god, Nyame. A python, an elephant and a monkey all tried to get Osebo's drum, but they failed. But Achicheri got the drum by tricking Osebo. It was a great read.

While it may be difficult to comprehend every word of Sartre's infamous play if one is not a fluent french speaker, those who understand moderate amounts of french can easily visualize the characters and symbolism through the play. As Sartre wrote his play during the time period in which France was occupied by German troops, other works similar to his were commonly contraband. However, because Sartre disguised his message of contempt towards German troops through the Godly characters of Jupiter, Electre, Oreste and Le Pedagogue, it got past the German'guards.' Readers encounter prime examples of humor throughout the passages, one of my favorite examples being that in which Electre discusses her disgust of Jupiter and hopes that his statue breaks into two. Sartre's Les Mouches allows individuals to enjoy the thrill of reading something which only fifty years ago would have resulted in punishment.

Barclay's book on The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians is an excellent analysis of these books of the Bible.

Barclay provides an introduction to each book before proceeding to a line-by-line, verse-by-verse discussion of the text and its meaning.

The author has a very good understanding of the history and backround of these books and shows detailed knowledge of the language used by Paul. His commentary sheds light on the reasons for Paul's letters and clearly explains the specific guidance Paul was offering to these followers.

Finally, I liked the quotes and short stories Barclay tossed in with his analysis. It's a good book for Bible study. It's easy to read a little bit each day. It's also easy to spend a great deal of time reflecting on the most meaningful passages.

This book is, quite simply, two books in one. At one end it is a French to English glossary of terms, at the other English to French. If, for example, you have come across a word or phrase eg "cuve inox" in text or conversation you can look it up and find out that it means a stainless steel tank. When travelling through France this is very useful even though many English words relating to wine are originally French. As a professional winetaster I use it a lot both on the road and when reading French texts. Indeed, I would like to see a similar book for English to German, Spanish and Italian. If I am to criticise the book it would be that there are some words and phrases which are not included. For example, the malolactic fermentation does not figure at all and some French words eg "buttage" are also excluded. This can pose a problem as the very time you really want a word translated it's not there! However, it is still useful (I've been using the 1988 version for some time now and the newer version may be better) and, even allowing for the gaps, I feel it's worth 4 out of 5.

Dr. Elliott makes a wonderful argument for a new reading of Paul. He looks past the screen of history (especially Luther's views on Paul) and allows the context of the 1st century Mediterean world shape the possible intentions of the Apostle. While this book presents solid arguments of history and language criticism, Elliot's conclusions are liberal and might upset people with closed minds.

A wealth of information! A fantastic book for anyone who loves Hardy's poems, short stories or novels and wants to know more about the man behind the pen. Much of the book's merit is in its lay-out. Each in the series of thirty-two chapters relates to a single work providing a wealth of penetrating insights into both biographical and literary facts (Hardy's passion for Greek tragedy, Latin poetry, Shakespeare, his interest in architecture and work as an architect, his marriage) - and how closely these were intertwined. Throughout the book there is a compelling sense of how compulsively Hardy the man worked to develop the extraordinarily creativity of Hardy the writer. A wide ranging and scholarly book that is wonderfully informative and never, ever dull.

True to is title, this book is entirely devoted to life on the red planet, but does not restrict itself to the modern scientific data. Instead, the text chronologically explores the evolution of the idea of Martian life in the last few centuries.

Mostly based on the scientific results of each period (except the last part), the author starts his expose with the knowledge acquired before the space age. The 'canali' of Schiaparelli turned into canals with Percival Lowell, which lead to the conclusion that a Martian civilization did exist. The debate raged for decades, until technological improvements finally killed the civilized Martians. Mars was a dead planet after all.

Then came the space age, the Soviet and American probes were sent to Mars, confirming Mars as a dead planet... but revealing a once warmer world, with rivers. And if Viking failed to detect life (did it?), what about extinct life?

The third part follows with the possibilities of fossil life and the famed Martian meteorite ALH84001. With a comparison of the origins of life on Earth, the chapter tries to deduce where life could be hiding now.

The final part leaves the area of science and enters the realm of conspiracies and telepathy, Cydonians, UFOs, movies and books. After all, they are all manifestations of Martian life, at least in our culture.

Quite easy to read, this book effectively covers the 'life' subject, and, as a bonus, provides an interesting look at the evolution or scientific knowledge. However, you won't learn much about the red planet, since the astronomical and geological data are quite rare, and, unfortunately, badly documented, contradictory or even false.

For a complete coverage of ALH84001, you may be interested in Donald Goldsmith's "The Hunt For Life On Mars" (1998, ISBN 0452278554).

One must feel a bit sorry for Alix Wilbur and Roger Kimball, so tuckered are they from days spent ruminating their television viewing schedule for the week they find themselves up to little more than prose in which the simple declaratives line up like busses at the tired curbs of their imaginations. No, West is not in love with the sound of his own voice. He may, however, be guilty of a love affair that may rival the one he describes in _Life With Swan_: an affair with the music of language and the triumph of imagination such music nurtures.

Certainly, West's work is not for readers of "airport fiction"; hence Wilbur's and Kimball's exasperation. West's approach, rather, is to combat the message, continually drummed into us by the Wilburs and Kimballs of the world, that we must expect and accept the apotheosis of mediocrity in the culture we create, the lives we lead. This may explain the juxtaposition West establishes between the 25-year love affair evoked in _Swan_ and the lovers' proximity to the visionaries involved in the launches of the Viking I and II space probes. Drawn into the realm of the universal and its Magellans, where the minds they encounter have solved the riddle of the Sun and posited the science of exobiology, the narrator and Swan, writer and poet, both little more than amateur astronomers, find themselves both humbled before science and elevated by the effect it has on their imaginations.

Newly conscious of his status as "star stuff," those atoms we hold in common with such distant neighbors as the moons of Saturn, canal-laced Mars, and the numbered stars and planets astronomers chance upon as they "bore holes into space," the narrator, turning earthward, is confirmed in his suspicion that there is nothing quotidian about the phenomena in which we play out our days. All of this phenomena he brings to bear in his attempt to create an artifact of language that might due justice to the love and life he's shared with Swan. Such an artifact may occasionally lapse into solipsism, but it's interest in the other's species of solipsism (in fiction, manifest in elements such as style and voice), those peculiar flourishes of the individual of which we see less and less today, that nourishes the arts.

The narrative proximity of such an undisguised roman à clef might temp a writer of more limited range with endless opportunities to wallow in the mire of lugubrious sentimentality or sniping personal attack. West deftly avoids such transgressions. Perhaps it's undisguised nature (a partial legend is offered in the jacket notes) has a chastening effect. His worst sin, if one can call it that, is his repeated references to Penn State University, where he taught some twenty years, as "Pigskin University." One supposes only the most rabid alumni would take issue with the epithet, and certainly not while waiting for their coveted season tickets to arrive courtesy the FedEx van.

In these depressing days of tell-all tales of scandal and seduction, it's encouraging to see an artist take on the most intimate aspects of his life with intelligence, wit, imagination, and taste. Possessing, in broad terms, some aspects of the bildungsroman, West gives us a new form, a kunstler/bildungsroman in which two principal characters share and assist in each other's development as artists and lovers. While perhaps not a novel of "broad appeal" (West's work rarely is), _Life With Swan_ keeps hope alive in those of us for whom the term "lyrical" still connotes exuberance to be sung, emotion to be celebrated.

Linkage, a leader in training and development, has created a practical and useful guide in building teams. This book should be used by individuals who a creating or maintaining highly effective teams regardless of the project at hand. This is also a great resource for experienced managers who are looking for new insights in making their teams even more powerful. The book is more revelant today as corporations are moving from individual "comand and control" management tactics to more complex project management teams.

Two outstanding artists compete and finally cooperate. The text and illustrations are unusually well done. The story is for children but told in such a way that adults can enjoy it too. A very unusual childrens book.