Bowles likes to place his characters in situations where all the usual comforts have been removed. So his locations are remote ones. South America and North Africa are two of his favorite. The characters in these stories are usually sensitive types and so are already fragile and impressionble but in the unusual settings those characterictics are even more evident and make them especially vulnerable. Bowles characters are travelers set against native cultures and in such conditions the traveler is always at a disadvantage because he has left behind those things which have served to stabilize his life. The traveler is merely adrift in the world, while the natives of the visited region have remained rooted to a very old culture. America itself is a very young culture, a colonial culture, and the authors that Bowles admired were those early colonial writers like Poe. Bowles in a way continues with Poe's themes of Americans lost in the untamed wilderness of themselves. But also in Bowles writing one can feel the influence of writers he was contemporary with like Camus, who also experienced colonialism as he was raised in North Africa under French rule. There is violence in Bowles work of many kinds but always along with the violence is some discovery about either an individual or about the nature of the world in general or both as the violent act often serves to strip away a characters long held illusions which kept a certain version of the world in place and reveal a more primitive more vital world beneath. The stories by and large take place in the mind of the traveling westerner, though one story is told through the eyes of an Arab. You can get a complete collection of Bowles stories for about twice the price but this collection contains all the stories he is known for including the title story and Delicate Prey, his two most famous.But there are at least a dozen stories here which once read will never be forgotten.

Paul Bowles will go down as the only writer of the soi-disant "Beat" generation worth a look at. In my opinion, of course, he ALREADY is the only one of them with a mote of talent. And what a talent it is!!-His style is original and inimitable. His writings convey a feeling totally unlike any other writer's....But what is it? The paradox is that since it's so original and unlike anything else, it's difficult to find words and comparisons to convey to the would-be reader why to buy this book. Almost all the reviews aver that Bowles' characters are defined by place. This is eminently the case. In fact, one might say that his characters are SO defined by place that they aren't really "characters" at all, but mere functions of the universes they find themselves in (rather harsh and bleak ones, to understate things a bit). -Reading these stories, you actually begin to lose a sense of self: YOUR self. That's how powerful Bowles' writing is. What you are left with is, of course, a hollowness, on the one hand, in finding that you have lost your sense of identity. But you have gained something: a lost wonder, beautiful and terrifying, of what existence, after all, is, that captures something of what a child feels at times. But the comparison with a child's view is to simplify things enormously. What you really gain, to put things perhaps a bit awkwardly, is the terror and wonder of being alive. The Greeks had a word for this feeling, Deinos. We don't have such a word, a word that so effectively combines the feelings of terror and wonder. - It's where we get the word dinosaur from, if that helps any.-But this may be beside the point. Just read the book...and...you'll see...

Reading these stories, set in North Africa where Bowles lived, is like like roaming some lonely alien landscape while being helplessly asaulted by feelings of dread, wonder, strangeness, and beauty. Lacking much descriptive prose,these stories are naked, simple, raw. Gradualy the self dissolves, the character's behaivor is so defined by their enviroment that they becme part of it . The reader, too, melts into the background. East and west colide violently, explode ; and nothing remains but the stark terror and magic of life. Own of Bowles best. A must forWilliam Burroughs fans too.

Don Segundo Sombra is a classic that deserves to be re-issued. Elegantly written with superb images, the novel despicts not only the adventurous life of the gaucho but also the journey toward self-discovery.

I am surprised by how few people know of this book. An excellent novel protraying the master/disciple relationship and questions of ones destiny. It is a pleasure to read.

This is one of the greatest books in Argentine literature. I can remember reading it at the age of sixteen and the impression it made on me. It was as it was telling my own life and childhood in the countryside with the good men that I knew there. And how they all dissapeared facing a modern and much different world giving the word gaucho a more "typical" and superficial meaning. Very, very strange, it made on me the same effect than, lately and older, Islands in the Stream by Hemingway. I strongly recommend it, though my comment is very personal. (sorry about my awful English)

'Don't lean out of the Window' and 'Don't mention the war'chronicle the travelling experiences of three barely post-pubescentyoung men as the tour Europe aboard train, truck, tram and ship. Being lost in war-torn Serbia seems a hilarious way to spend your summer holidays thanks to Bassett and Ferris. All manner of shenanigins in Holland; including a few young ladies to please you menfolk. Brits have to love the shameless Franco-bashing, or should I say, hilarious observations of our European neighbours. Excellent.

This book is seriously funnier than Bill Bryson, the antics that these guys get up to round Europe ! Any young person considering coming to Europe should read this, and as it was so good, I had to read their next book "Don't Mention the War!" - for the complete European travel experience you can't go wrong with these.

This book is funny as the War books by Spike Milligan. It gives a witty account of the ups and downs of inter-rail travelling along with the added bonus of meeting all those gorgeous 'Dutchies' along the way. Starting at home and travelling down to the South of France on to Venice, almost being shot by a 'fascist' policemen, up to Austria, Germany and Switzerland then to Scandinavia and then back to Venice, only to get arrested. Finally up to the Netherlands to meet up with holiday lovers.

A delightful read from start to finish and has convinced me to go busking round Europe next summer. Anyone who can tell me how to achieve such a trip, I would love to hear from you!!!!

A fantastic book with some magnificent pictures.
extremely educational for the equine world.
Well done!

This is the most technical book that Belasik has published to date, and it provides a visual counterpart to his outstanding audiotape series. The pictures are particularly useful; the best of them bravely show the master in the "bad" moments-- hanging on the inside rein, for instance. These pictures assist the rider in recognizing the fool's gold that feels like bend but is weakness; I return to the mirrors in my own school equipped with brutal honesty. His descriptions of the logical progression of training will help any rider to comprehend her progress with a young horse, or her relationship with a schooled horse. Although this book is a more technical treatise than Riding Toward the Light or Songs of Horses, it shows the same poetic voice that makes those books so memorable. In my humble opinion, this book-- in combination with the audiotapes-- is the best book to educate the rider about the purest principles of riding integrated with the practical means of achieving them.

This has to be the most complete book on Equitation to the highest levels, ever to be written. It is quite simply, a masterpiece- highly readable, yet totally scholarly, as would be expected from an author such as Paul Belasik, whose previous books have gained him a worldwide, and well deserved, following.

The photographs which lavishly illustrate the book are exemplary in every way- Belasik's seat is impeccable and the horses look at ease in their work- real harmony between horse and rider.

Paul Belasik's vast knowledge of Classical Equitation, is woven effortlessly with his own conclusions, arrived at through the odyssey of research that he undertook, and chronicled in his book 'Riding Towards the Light'.

This book is a must for anyone who sees dressage first and foremost as an Art, and only secondarily as a sport.

Francis Tack and Paul Robin have created a masterpiece with this book. A lot of so-called coffee-table books / photographic books are rather thin on factual information. Not so this book. Apart from breathtaking photographs it also contains excellent information on how dunes build up and move etc.

A phantastic book that is worth every penny of its price.

My compliments to the photographer Francis Tack. A complete overview of the most beautiful deserts and dunes on many different continents all over the world. I'm only missing the Dutch dunes.

Oct. 3, 2002
I must be honest and say that I have known Francis Tack for many years and that we have travelled together to the Sahara and other deserts a good many times.
This being said, I still try to look very objectively at his work.
The book is a work of art, and there exists no other equivalent publication on the subject. The narrative by Paul Robin, a scientific writer who spent the better part of his youth in the Sahara, is very well researched, yet remains perfectly accessible to a neophyte and also poetic. The graphic design and photo reproduction quality are outstanding.
Most important is the quality of the photography itself. The author of three previously published books and the recipient of many photo prizes and awards, Francis Tack has worked for many years on his "Dunes" project, offering us a magical trip through the sands of the world thanks to his mastery of composition and light. Everyone I know who has received the book remains glued to it and keeps turning the pages over and over. I do the same and will continue to do so for quite a while.
Let yourself be transported into the magical realm of the sand deserts. You won't be disappointed, guaranteed.

I am a 42 year old woman who has traveled extensively throughout Europe and most of the world. American men could learn a great deal from this book. How about it guys? Are you up to the challenge to really know how to treat and love a woman. Read this book and you just may find the woman of your dreams. Pass it by and you will be like every other American male, sitting on the sidelines watching the Italian men sweeping the woman of your dreams off her feet. If enough men read this book, I won't have to go to Europe to find my Knight on a white horse.

Finally, a book written to help both men and women relate to one another. I really enjoyed "Dr. Paul's" open, say it like it is attitude - aimed at the intelligent reader - Thank you Dr. Paul!

i found this book to be invaluable in my search to develop a better understanding of the male perspective on dating in the 90's. i was entertained and amused. i consider it a "must read" for all my single friends.

Some mysteries may never be solved. Where did the Sumerian language come from? Who built the stones at Carnac and why? Who was buried in the Great Pyramid.

What do the mysterious inscriptions found at Easter Island say? And what were the stone statues for. Those are the mysteries of Easter Island.

The tragedy was what happened to the Easter Islanders. The westerners were not all evil, and the islanders themselves were not all good (e.g., they practiced human sacrifice) but the enslavement, kidnapping, rape etc. of the islanders by western maritime visitors is shocking even today. And the book tells that story too. So it is not just a book about the mysteries of Easter Island but about the almost complete destruction of it by Europeans and I am sad to say Americans.

And the two are related. If slavers had not taken hundreds of islanders to Chile to work as slaves, including the king and prince of the island, perhaps enough of the culture would have survived for western scholars to meet with those who could read the writings of the tablets. Perhaps we would really know why and how the islanders built their mysterious giants.

This book (published by Harry Abrams) is an English translation of one of a series of small, lavishly illustrated French historical guides. One really cannot go wrong with this series, whether in French or in English.

Everyone involved in this Easter Island book did a great job, and they produced a wonderful way for a beginner to learn about some of the strangest archeological sites on our planet.

This book provides readers with many of the facts of Easter Island. I had heard about the stone statues, but had little knowledge of the history of the island. This book provided quite a bit of information on the history and covered all the theories of the statues and what they might mean and how they got there. An excellent book!

This is a translation of "Des dieux regardent les etoiles -- Les derniers secrets de l'Ile de Paques" ("Gods gaze at the stars -- The last secrets of Easter Island"), Catherine and Michel Orliac's excellent little book about Easter Island. Easter Island and its mysteries -- from its huge statues to its strange hieroglyphics -- have been a magnet for crankery of all types, from the benign to the outrageous. How refreshing, then, it is to see such a delicious book, factual and balanced, with high-quality authentic illustrations on every page, every one of them well chosen and to the point. Almost everything you may ever want to know about Easter Island -- short of a tourist guide -- is there, with full sources and references. How so much information could have been packed in so few pages is a wonder. Complete, attractive and scholarly, this little book will appeal to all, even to the specialists. The illustrations alone are a never-ending source of wonder and delight. Highly recommended.

This little volume is a delightful classic in Christian Spirituality. Often it is shunned by the proud and intellectual as being 'to simple' and 'to basic' but, when it comes down to practical spirituality in everyday life, it's often the simple and the basic that we can remember and actually practice. In fact this book is used in formation in the Order in which I have the honor to be a member, and I have never heard anyone express anything but praise and gratitude for the book and its effect on their spiritual life. I heartly recommend it to anyone who is willing to read it with simplicity and a heart of prayer; I think you'll be very happy with the results.

Father O'Sullivan, once again authors a great book on ways to achieve the union with God that so many of our friends, the Saints, have done before us. He tells what prayer really is, and since we know what it is, how it should be sincere. Great read for those seeking the exalted holiness of the Saints.

This is probably the best book about spirituality that I have ever read. Fr. O'Sullivan tells his readers that by loveing God and offering our daily actions, thoughts, words, trials, and joys to Jesus for love of him, we will gain inestimable joy and grace. He says that we do not have to do anything extraordinary to become the greatest of saints. This book changed my whole life. I heartily recommend it to anyone Catholic, Protestant, or neither.

Dr. Heyne was an outstanding professor. In fact, the most memorable and influential of my college "career." You will understand from reading his books how brilliant he was.

This book makes the complex subject of economics very easy to understand, and will cause you to think very differently about social issues. Paul Heyne is also one of the best teachers I've ever had.

If you need a textbook on Economic, and you do not know the theory, you HAVE to read it before you get started. It's also very usefull for businessmen. I've read it in Russian

As an innovation matures, it moves from one characteristic group of adopters to another. The topics of complexity and nonlinear dynamics were initially adopted by people who were considered "outliers" by their peer group, "freaks". Such innovators are comfortable spanning across disciplinary boundaries to learn how something works. The successful diffusion of the innovation does not occur however until the innovators hand over the ideas to the change agents in the system--those individuals who are creative enough to listen to the innovators, and yet respected and legitimized enough within the system to steer collective opinion. Today complexity and nonlinear dynamics have reached that level of diffusion, and in such instances "implementation" becomes of utmost important, and such discussion of implementation is necessarily domain-specific.

Such is the nature of "Edgeware", a new book by Zimmerman, Lindberg, and Plsek. "Edgeware" is aimed at health care leaders--nurses, doctors, and administrators--who want to learn specific techniques and intervention strategies based on the premises of complexity. The book is broken up into four sections: a user-friendly primer on complexity, a summary of basic managerial principles based on complexity (e.g. "grow complex systems by chunking"), tales from the field (e.g. "Learn-as-You-Go Strategic Management", a story from University of Louisville Hospital), and Aides (e.g. "wicked questions" that surface differences in people's mental models). Additionally there is an appendix written by Adelphi professor Jeff Goldstein that provides the most effective "non-mathematical" nominal definitions of complexity terms that exists anywhere.

The book is unique in several respects. First, the authors span an intriguing experiential set. Zimmerman is an associate professor of business at York University in Toronto, and has written extensively on the "fractal" nature of organizations, and on emergent strategic planning. Lindberg directs an educational and consultative activity within VHA (Voluntary Hospitals of America, a purchasing cooperative that also engages in leadership and organizational development, and encompasses over 1400 health care providers in the U.S.), transfering the concepts of complexity into health care practice. Plsek is a former corporate quality manager at AT&T who now consults extensively in health care quality issues. Second, the book is the result of an evolutionary design process where it was given extensive "field testing" before being finalized. "Edgeware" essentially serves as the handbook for VHA's efforts to spread the concepts of complexity into practice.

Third, the book is arranged in a hypertext fashion (in fact, it is available on-line to VHA members), in a fashion similar to Senge et al's "Fifth Discipline Fieldbook". For example, references to books or articles, or principles and aides, are made in the margin of each "tale"; the book does not need to be read sequentially. Fourth, the science of the book is solid. Unlike so many other business and complexity books being published, the principles of complexity are represented faithfully. Finally, the book's section on "Aides" gives practitioners very specific advice on how to move from theory to practice, another missing element in most current business and complexity books.

This book is an excellent read and reference for anyone interested in the application of complexity principles to business and social systems.

Peter Drucker once described healthcare as the most complex of all business enterprises. So perhaps it's appropriate that the best book on the emerging science of COMPLEXITY should come out of healthcare. EDGEWARE will prove useful to managers in all industries. The book contains a primer on complexity, a set of unifying principles, practical applications, a rich bibliography, glossary and web site guide making it, page-for-page, the most valuable book to date on complexity and management.

As a journalist and business author myself, I've read virtually every book seeking to apply complexity science to strategy, work, and economics. None, I assure you, comes close to EDGEWARE in terms of sheer clarity and utility. Though solid on the theory of complexity, this book's real breakthrough in its tremendous practicality for leaders. The pages are brimming with case after case--episodes of complexity in action that inspire as well as inform. For leaders (in hospitals and anywhere else) who ask, "What do I do on Monday morning?" EDGEWARE provides literally dozens of suggestions.

Don't get me wrong. Applying complexity is hard work. No book will ever make it easy to abandon command-and-control leadership or to let organizations "play" their way into the future. But with EDGEWARE as your guide, the work will be joyous.