One might think, looking at the 1999 publishing date and the publisher's description that King's translation is among the most recent. If so, one will be sorely disapointed upon reading this book. This is a reprint of King's 1902 translation of the Enuma Elish, the Assyro-Babylonian creation myth. In the intervening years, additional copies of the text have been discovered, filling in most of the gaps found in King's translation and correcting his tenative translations of lines that in his day were only partially known. If you are looking for a more complete more updated translation, you'd be much better served with Stephanie Dalley's 1989 work, Myths from Mesopotamia, where you'd also get translations of several other Akkadian language myths. Further off-putting is the one page preface by Paul Tice, which spends more space endorsing the rather questionable theories of Zecharia Sitchin than it does addressing the contents of King's book.

There are some useful features in this book though. More than half of the Enuma Elish that King worked with was complete and his translation is presented in parallel with a transliteration of the original Akkadian. There are included additional scholarly essays by King on varying subjects related to the creation story including parallels with Genesis. Some of these essays, are hampered by the lack of available knowledge at the time and for significant portions of them King must make speculations which are no longer justified.

Ninety-eight years ago, this must have been one of the more thorough, cutting-edge works on the subject, but so much more has been learned in the mean-time, that I would only recommend this work to those who already have more recent translations of the Enuma Elish.

The highpoint of the ancient Mesopotamian year was the New Year celebrations. It was a time of parties, games and the reading of epic stories. In Nineveh, an important epic was their creation story, which told the story of the creation of the universe, and the rise to preeminence of the god Marduk (Nineveh's patron deity).

Though lost for millennia, the seven cuneiform tablets containing the Assyrian creation myth were found in the ruins of Nineveh at the end of the nineteenth century, and were translated by L.W. King in 1902. Although translated so long ago, Mr. King's text is still easy to follow, and is a highly enjoyable read. Unfortunately, since there was only one set of tablets extant in 1902, and that set was damaged, there are holes in the narrative that do somewhat decrease the enjoyment of the story.

As a student of Sumerian literature, I must say that I found this Assyrian text quite interesting, showing how the stories changed and evolved as they were passed on to later generations and cultures. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in ancient Mesopotamia.

"Essential Cross-Country Skier" is a good handbook for beginner skiers. It is an easy read and probably what you want to get you started.

Intermediate level to elite skiers could take issue with many of the technical explainations, for then I would suggest "Ski "Skating with Champions" or "Tao of Skiing" but the then, the book "Essential Cross-Country Skier" was written by someone who obviously loves the sport and will be enjoyed by those who want to take it up.

I'm a beginning cross-country skier and former Valley Girl with no downhill experience and found this book to be helpful. The book covers choosing equipment, getting started and gives good tips on technique. I haven't purchased any other books on cross-country skiing but this one seems to be a valuable resource.

I was attracted to this book by its provacative title. Unfortunately it reads like a book by an English professor which, in fact, it is. It is also an attempt to analyze the nature of moral, as oppossed to natural, evil. Personally, I found it tedious and pedantic.

For a better grasp of the origin and expression of moral evil I would recommend a little book of less than a hundred pages called _Blue Rose_ by Peter Straub (ISBN 0-14-600107-9, Penguin 60s, 1995). William March's classic _The Bad Seed_ (0-88001-540-3, 1954) is also illuminating in this area. Be advised that the movie based on this book changed the ending to appeal to a wider audience. Books by Bret Easton Ellis will help one to see the world through the eyes of a psychopath -- the psychopath being a fashionable model of evil incarnate. _The Silence of the Lambs_ by Thomas Harris is also to be recommended. Other sources of insight into the origin and experience of moral evil include works by and about Adolf Hitler.

I'm sorry I can't recomment Mr.Oppenheimer's book...it had such a great title!

To begin with, I'd like to say I for one am not an English professor, although I see nothing inherently bad (or in fact evil) in being one. The previous reviewer unfortunately mistook Oppenheimer's blatant genius for tedious pedantry (two words I'm sure he learnt from some professor to whom these terms applied much more closely than to the author at hand), which is a shame because it shows he must've read the book with something else on his (or her?) mind - supper on the stove, an unsolved mystery in his neighbor's life, or ....??? Oppenheimer's book for those who have read it (and I know quite a few, since I keep recommending it and sharing it with people) is a revelatory experience which provides a deep insight not only into the author's intellectual and linguistic abilities (which are both exceedingly stunning to say the least) but also into the nature of (yes, moral) evil. In expounding his theories, the author draws on a mind-boggling array of cinematographic, literary and political sources, which make the book one of the two most convincing books I have ever read. It is written in quite an entertaining style and is a great read even for those who may not be quite so familiar with academic discourse about evil (although it might be better if you first removed the supper from your stove). So, forget other books on evil. If you're only going to read one book this year (or next), get this one. It's worth it!

I loved how the main character was a normal guy, not a Super Christian. In a world where layoffs happen, it was nice to hear that subject dealt with in a Christian book. It's tough to have a great attitude if you don't like your work or circumstances in life.

My only gripes are that it seemed to shift from third person to first person--maybe I am imagining it? And some of the family conflict went on a little too long.

Overall it was a refreshing read---real people, real problems, working through difficulties and holding onto Faith.

Frank Reynolds' well-organized world comes crashing down in a day. His schedule at the Bradley Publishing Company, up until 4:45 PM that day, is routine. He has worked for the company twenty-two years and pictures the rest of his career at the same office. His boss calls him in and explains that the publishing house who bought them out, despite their promises, is laying Frank off. When Frank arrives home, his worries about how to share this news with his wife, Colleen, are sidetracked by a letter from Aunt Minnie. Frank's father, Pap, has Alzheimers. Aunt Minnie wants them to come down for Pap's birthday and convince him to move to The Faded Flower nursing home. These events set Frank, Colleen and their two children, Greg and Vicki, for a life change none of them would have imagined. Frank is forced to either accept God's control over circumstances or to focus his bitterness toward God isolating himself from his family.
Paul McCusker uses an interesting choice of voice in The Faded Flower. The book begins more objectively in third person. The last third of the book, however, switches to first person allowing greater understanding into the heart of Frank who narrarates it. Although the book deals with serious, lifelike situations, McCusker weaves humor throughout making the novella enjoyable to read and the characters realistic and enduring.
McCusker is the executive producer of Focus on the Family radio drama, which includes Adventures In Odyssey. He lives in Colorado Springs, CO with his wife and two children. His radio drama on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a WWII pastor, has won the coveted Peabody Award...

I RECENTLY BOUGHT THIS BOOK IN MY QUEST TO CLIMB ALL 50 STATES HIGHEST PEAKS. ALTHOUGH IT HAS A LIST AND SUMMARY OF ALL THE PEAKS, SOME OF THE INFORMATION IS INCOMPLETE AND/OR OLD. THIS IS PRIMARILY TRUE OF THE ROADS AND ROUTES LEADING UP TO THE CLIMB ITSELF. I HAVE CLIMBED SEVERAL OF THE PEAKS IN THE BOOK AND FOUND THE INFORMATION HELPFUL BUT BY NO MEANS COMPLETE. THE PRIMARY REASONS ARE THAT THE AUTHOR USES OLD ROUTE INFORMATION AND HAS NOT BEEN ON THE PEAKS HIMSELF IN SOME CASES FOR OVER 10 YEARS. THIS BOOK IS A GOOD PLACE TO START YOUR QUEST, BUT YOU MAY WANT TO GET MORE UP TO DATE INFORMATION BEFORE SETTING OUT ON YOUR TREK. (THIS REFERS TO THE 1998 EDITION 4-B)

Yes, it's a bit outdated -- but this is THE classic book on Highpointing. Paul Zumwalt used his skills as a surveyor for USGS to find many of the more obscure state highpoints, and writes in a warm and enjoyable manner about his trips with his wife, Lila.
Paul just turned 90, and still attends Highpointers conventions and climbs to the highpoints.
So, buy this book to enjoy some history. If you want the most recent information, Highpoint Adventures by the Wingers seems to be the most up to date. Start a library of highpointing books!

I have taught English in Japan for over 2 years now and studied a dozen different texts for class use. This book was unquestionably the best. It was designed in Japan and is especially effective for children not yet familiar with Latin letters, but is great for kids of any nationality. The pictures are wonderful and attractive, as well as being appropriate for kids up to (and even including) junior high school students. The best part of the Finding Out system, however, is in the Teacher's Manual, which explains the appropriately titled Finding Out system of learning--i.e. as opposed to teaching. In The Questioning Approach, kids steadily see the rewards of reaching out into their universe and exploring their world through English, rather than having random information pounded into their memories. It works great with small classes of about 5 students, but I regularly use it for classes approaching 20 kids. I highly recommend the excellent flash cards, as well as the Teacher's Manual, Class Book, and Home Book. I love this system and hope for the kids' sake you take a look at this approach for your kids or your classes.

I used this series in Korea to teach kids ages 3-12. They learned to read and write in about 30 days. It teaches the basics very well. The class books aren't much good without the teacher's manuals though. The teacher's manuals are worth way more than the class books. The teacher's manuals are worth much than the class books. I am going to use this for kid as well. We are teaching him English and Korean.

This book centers around full-days "walks" in each of the cities covered. Great concept, poor execution. While trying to follow the walks in Florence and Siena, I found myself frequently unable to tell where I was supposed to be on the walk. Was it just the jet-lag? I don't think so. Even before I left home to embark on this journey, I read the descriptions of history & so on, and they often left me with a "say what"? A good editor could clean up the problems, I suspect, but apparently the publisher didn't decide to spring for one. The book contains great ideas and suggestions, if you can only find them when you need them, underneath the poor organization.

We just returned from a holiday in all four cities and although the maps and directions could use some spit and polish, we found the authors' insights and sense of humour brought out aspects of Florence, Siena, Pisa and Lucca that we would have completely missed just relying on our Michelin and Rough Guide. The only problem: sore dogs at the end of each day!

I think this book would be good if you already knew some previous Frech but can be a little confusing at times.

Excellent book for those who have had minimal formal French. I highly recommend purchasing the version with the audio cassette.

This sturdy little book contains six precut, convenient stencils of trees. The designs themselves are bold and simple without being vague, and are a nice size for many projects. I used them to put a forest scene on one of my windows with dry-erase markers, but you'll find other creative uses. Included here are a balsam fir, a palm, the Monterey Cypress, a sugar maple, a white oak, and an apple tree.

There are six tree stencils here, cut into heavy laminated paper. All are disconnected stencils, having separations between elements. The stencils are: white oak (3.5 inches high and 4 inches wide), white oak (5 inches high and 3.5 inches wide), ssugar maple (5 inches high and 3 inches wide), apple (3.5 inches high and 4.5 inches wide), balsam fir (4.5 inches high and 3.5 inches wide) and a cypress (3+ inches high and 4.5 inches wide). The cypress, white oak and balsam fir are pictured on the cover, left to right. Depending on your project, you might want to shrink these basic designs a bit, but you can't beat this price for getting some good basic stencils.

Chandler provides some unique cultural windows into the worldwide church. An intriguing and useful read.

The book contains little snippets of Christianity from cultural perspectives... saying that culture strenghtens certain aspects of Christianity as opposed to diluting it. It truly opened my eyes to thinking in a global sense about God's love... made John 3:16 come to life as God loves the "world" and not just the little bubble that so many of us westerners live in.