The topic matter of this study--the interface between the sciences of neurobiology and philosophy as they try to resolve the mind-body problem of dualism vs. monism--is extremely promising, and the participants in the debate (Jean Changeux and Paul Ricouer) are eminetly qualified to attend to it. Their discussion is exciting and thoughtful, though it is marred by their lack of a common language (which seems to undermine their whole strategy from the beginning). They can't even agree at times on basic terms, and at times they try to cover these differences by engaging in an irritating exchange of name-dropping (thereby belying the claim on the book's dust jacket that this book is accessible to non-specialists--you're expected not only to know who Kant and Spinoza are and what they've said on the subject, but also the Churchlands, Eccles, etc.) and "mutual admiration society" overpraising of one another. You do come to learn the impasses in their respective disciplines in speaking to one another, but the book seems very scattershot and happenstance. It seems like a noble project that failed due to a lack of structure and to the participants' oversized egos.

This book will blow your mind, er, your mind. Um, well, which is it?

This exchange between the Neuro-Scientist and the Philosopher is utterly gripping - but only if you are willing or caoable of the sustained concentration needed to acquire the sophisticated arguments and subtle differentiations that they each make. It is worth doing so.

In an age where scientistic triumphalism feels no need to explain itself, its methods, or its assumptions, to a public capable of understanding it (i.e., after the destruction of our education systems and the dumbing down used by the media and the government to prevent any meaningful "political" debate - i.e., the "political" as "that which concerns us all"), this book is some kind of touchstone - and a dozen similar books should be following it on a dozen different science/philosophy topics. For starters, who is informed enough at this level (which this wise people make so accessible to the willing reader) on: stem cell research, the origins of the universe, surveillance technologies, and so many other scientific "advances".

If this is the standard of public discourse in France, we are all sadly stupid in comparison.

We need such before we perish from our ignorance.

I like cigars, and I like mysteries. But this novel is far too cozy for my tastes.

Still, there are some interesting moments. The students' tradition of stealing the cigar store indian was a nice touch and made the protagonist's relationship to the community all nice and warm and fuzzy. Really. A good touch.

But the plot is predictable and so much attention is paid to what kind of cigar goes with what meal or drink, that it;s hard to take MURDER seriously.

Give me some tough hardboiled guys with broken bottles and brass knuckles over this kind of timid crime novel any day.

This was a very good mystery...one that kept me guessing to the very end. I never ever dreamed I'd read about cigars...but I have to admit, it was interesting to learn about them as well as the people who appreciate them...all this while reading a good mystery, too!

Well worth reading if you're a fan of Bowles. Slow and mysteriously vaporous, like much of his fiction. Full of subtle insights (both intended and unintended) into his mind and his writing.

Reading books like this makes me wonder why I have a day job. Bowles weaves an intricate yet breakneck-speed bio of his life, starting with childhood and racing to his life in Tangiers in the early 70's. The biggest shock to me was the amount of work this guy got done. He was writing ballets, scores, soundtracks, books, poetry, newspapers, pamphlets, and orchestra pieces almost nonstop. Even as a kid, he'd write pages and pages a day, and later, he'd type for hours without stopping, hence the title of the book. His travels are also amazing; in an age with little air travel he zips to France, Morocco, India, Panama, Cuba, the Bahamas, all over the US, and dozens of other places too numerous to count. Plus he's met and had long friendships with scores of famous people: Salvador Dali, Bela Bartok, Aaron Copeland, Gertrude Stein, Arthur C. Clarke, Bill Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Tennessee Williams, and many others. The book is thick and takes time to crawl through, but every time I set it down, I wanted to either start writing a book or a play or take off for a distant region. My only complaint is that sometimes Bowles like to insert a random line of French or Spanish, which annoys me because I know either. And he tends to drop names rapidly, making you wish you had a score card or a flowchart or something. But Bowles is definitely an interesting guy, and his life story is worth reading.

There are so many poorly researched segments in this biography, that to list them would be too lengthy. Half of the book is biography, the other half academic deconstructions of Minnie's songs. The first 30 years of her life is nearly absent; questions remain unanswered even after that. The one good thing about this work, is that there's all sorts of room left for someone to write a definitive--or even near definitive--biography of this great blues singer and song writer.

This much-needed study documents the life and work of Lizzie "Kid" Douglas, preeminent blues vocalist and guitarist, c. 1920-1950. Poets will appreciate the careful transcriptions and interpretations of Minnie's lyrics; scholars, the meticulous research; and feminists, the story line of a rough n' ready woman making her way in the music business. Fifty photographs of Minnie, her record contracts and sheet music, and period advertisements, further vivify this portrait of an African-American musical legend

Wreath Layer or Policy Player discusses the changes in the vice-president's role since the end of World War II with an emphasis on the making and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. The book examines the five most active vice-presidents in American history--Richard Nixon, Walter Mondale, George Bush, Dan Quayle, and Al Gore--in an effort to evaluate how beneficial their involvement in foreign policy was, both individually and collectively, and to discover what lessons can be learned from their experiences.

The majority of the book is organized around five "profile" chapters that examine Kengor's subjects individually. In these chapters, Kengor focuses on historical detail and information about each vice-president's role rather than analysis, consciously choosing to postpone broader conclusions and policy implications to end of the book.

The last section of the book contains the author's prescription for the future role of the vice-president in making and implementing American foreign policy. While constantly reiterating the caveat that the president is ultimately responsible for the breadth of the vice-president's involvement in the administration's foreign policy, Kengor concludes that the "vice-president can be very helpful to the president in foreign policy, but the president must be careful where he inserts him." This conclusion, when combined with a detailed analysis of the policy recommendations Kengor rejects as nonessential, indicates that the author supports definite limits on a vice-president's foreign policy portfolio.

While the book does provide a useful review of vice-presidential performance and involvement in foreign policy during the postwar period, it is beset with a number of flaws. The conclusions drawn by the author are ambivalent to say the least. Kengor has a tendency to temporize every recommendation he makes; he concedes that even those he rejects outright in the final chapter, such as a weekly one-on-one meeting with the president on foreign policy, might be useful and implemented depending on the circumstances and personalities involved. Indeed, virtually all of his conclusions are qualified in some way. He falls back repeatedly on what he labels the "idiosyncratic variable"--that is, the vice-president's foreign policy responsibilities within the administration will depend on the president. Kengor argues that the foreign policy role of a particular vice-president is "largely dependent upon the unique set of circumstances in which he finds himself," including the "idiosyncrasies of both he and the president." Kengor's idiosyncratic variable is merely an application of common sense. It is clear that since the vice-president has no significant constitutional responsibilities in the realm of foreign policy and only a single statutory one, his job description will include whatever the president decides is in the best interests of his administration--both personally and politically. The book also suffers from a lack of original ideas and poor writing and editing.

Overall, this is a nice review of the careers of the vice presidents Kengor examines, but little more than that.

This is a truly impressive work. It is comparatively short, but packed with information. Kengor looks at 5 vice-presidents(Nixon, Mondale, Bush, Quayle, and Gore) and how they made an impact in foreign policy. It can be a bit dry at times, but it is structured very nicely and reads well for the most part. If you are interested in the impact a vice-president can have on foreign policy, read this!

This is an exhaustively researched book, with interesting photos and all sorts of detail. But it was a little short of the one thing I thought it would be filled with, given the title: Life saving. There's very little in the way of actual tales of rescue, and almost none until the last quarter of the book. I would have preferred a little less day to day minutae and a little more adventure.

There are a few other good books on the old life-saving service, but this is the first one to focus on the Great Lakes. I bought it to discover my roots, since I've been a longtime lifeguard at a converted life-saving service station. While my station (Rogers Park) is only mentioned in passing, the great information and detail of other stations, keepers, and rescues kept me engaged. The writing's a little uneven but Stonehouse is a great researcher and obviously has a deep passion for the subject. The pictures & illustrations are top-notch.

Who would have belived it ,that this diminutive magician from ,the large toadstool in county mayo , could write such a stirring novel, of love, ambition, passion, magic and the american way . Apparently any one from 18 to tablet induced slumber,can perform magic tricks ,that will delight your hells angel neighbors for seconds . After only three days with this book, I was confident to perform magic at MADISON SQUARE GARDENS . I now own a large yacht ,have a very young wife , take regular holidays to the seychelles and am developing gout . I recommend you read this book . I did and hey .

This book is great for the adult who's tired of those magic books that all have the same effects or that make you feel like an idiot when doing them. Paul has put magic into a realm for grown-ups with "Anti-Stress Magic", "Office Magic", Dinner Magic, and much more. Also included are six of the best card tricks you'll find anywhere. These will even stump any magicians you know. Pictures and easy details make this book enjoyable and beneficial. If you have an interest in more than just "kid's" magic books, then this is one for you!

I chose Deitel and Deitel because I used their superb C++: How to program book while doing a Computer Science Degree. Mistakenly, I thought that the Visual Basic book would be of the name mould; Clear, well thought out with good examples.

Unfortunately, what we have is a meandering overview of Visual Basic. Some parts of the book are excellent (String, Dates for example) while other areas are abysmal. The sections on Object Oriented Programming and Database implementation are useless and I would recommend a user does not even bother reading these sections. Instead get two books that deal with these aspects seperately.

I liked the fact that the book came with a learning copy of Visual Basic as it allowed a user to get programming right away.

Having said that, I think the authors have tried to fit too much into this book. It barely covers important issues like Object Oriented Programming yet spends pages discussing string manipulation. Add in errors in the coded examples, the way that the authors presume that you know which component to add for given examples and the price and you have an expensive doorstop.

I have done alot of Internet programming (ASP) and I wanted a book to show me the power of Visual Basic and how to implement programming aspects that I am already familiar with in an new environment. This book did not help me at all and I would not recommend it to anyone.

This is an excellent first text in Visual Basic. Although many of the reviews say that it will not help you learn Visual Basic if you are new to programming, it certainly helped me. It is the first book I used and could write simple programs by chapter 6. It is not enough to continue on in Visual Basic, however that can't be done in one book. You will have a basic understanding of Visual basic by chapter 3. The first two chapters don't have any examples, but are in introduction into basics of programming. Starting in Chapter 3 you get examples. The examples go line by line and explain what is being done. It takes a little work, but by chapter 6 you will be very comfortable with the development environment. Don't let some of the other reviews scare you. This is for beginning programmers. You won't be able to program a complex game at the end of this book. You won't be able to write a complex database interface either. What you will have is a basic understanding of programming as well as a lot of basic code. As far as I know, no book will bring you from beginner to expert, it would be 20,000 pages long. This will bring you from absolute beginner to intermediate quite quickly.

This is not a book with big pictures and lots of redundant information: it's packed with valuable information, extremely well structured and geared towards the needs of the beginner as well as the more advanced student. Each chapter is preceded by an introduction to the respective topic followed by programming projects exemplifying the use of commands, procedures, data types, etc. It is rounded off by concise recap of the material covered. All programming examples are supplied on the accompanying CD ROM which also includes - lo and behold! - a MS VISUAL BASIC 6.0 Working Model Edition as a FREEBIE. So you do not even have to have your own Visual Basic Programming environment in order to do all the exercises and try out the examples given in the book. Algorithms and theoretical background are supplied where necessary and just add to the fun of learning. A wealth of good tips is summarized for each chapter under the headings of "Common Programming Errors", "Good Programming Practices", "Software Engineering Observations" and "Testing and Debugging". The practical hands-on approach to programming of the book is topped off by self-review exercises at the end of each of the 21 chapters for which solutions are supplied and discussed adequately to make them a true learning experience. More challenging exercises are offered to the more ambitious student. This is one of the most instructive and comprehensive books on Visual Basic I have ever had a chance to lay my hand upon. Highly recommendable!

I've read every Ludlum book multiple times. His mastery of the past of twisting plots and extremely interwoven details has gone by the wayside with Prometheus. Way too many "just happened to have" answers and overly simplified answers that lead to plain unbelievable consequences. I have considered Ludlum to be the absolute best at keeping details and plots with "no holes" and this book does nothing to compare to his previous works.

Ludlum has gone from writing his unique style books, to writing cheap James Bond type thriller types meant to please the mass public accustomed to TV paced adventures.

The true Ludlum fans can only hope he comes back to his own unique writing form in the future.

I bought this book to read on a transatlantic flight because I had read several Ludlum books earlier in my life and had thoroughly enjoyed them all but had then decided that I was "too old" for Ludlum books. I realized my mistake almost as soon as I started reading. Ludlum knows how to grab and keep a reader's intention throughout dozens of action scenes, one right after the next. He is also a clear writer and I was able to follow the story even as characters popped into and out of the book at dizzying speed and the plot went through twists and turns. With any other author, I would have needed a flowchart.

The plot, in a nutshell: a super American agent, Nick Bryson, for an ultra-secret spy agency is sent into retirement unwillingly after failing to carry out a mission. Several years later, the CIA show up at Bryson's door and tell him that he had unwittingly been working against America for all his years as an agent. It turns out that the super secret spy agency was a secret to the entire U.S. government, and was, in fact, working for the Soviet Union. The CIA sends him out to find out what his old bosses are up to now.

The plot twists and turns from there through global terrorism and corporate conspiracies, with Bryson surrounded by enemies almost all the time and putting his trust in friends that may soon become enemies.

The plot takes on new meaning after 9/11 because it involves the government (and in fact the whole world) taking away civil liberties because of terrorism. The cause of the terrorism in the book is certainly different from that in real life and the reaction of the governments has certain been more even-handed then the reaction in the books. But it does get us all to think about where the line should be between liberty and security. So, if you pick up a Ludlum book (like I did) believing that there would be no deeper issues to think about, you should probably choose a different Ludlum book. For me, this twist made the book a lot more interesting.

A few books ago I'd given up on Ludlum. He seemed to be going through the motions - he used terms sloppily, let too many plot points sit unresolved, and his story lines started blurring from one book to the next.

I'm glad I took some time off, because The Prometheus Deception was a very welcome surprise. Based on earlier Ludlum works (the Bourne trilogy, Holcroft Covenant, etc.), I knew to expect a first-rate espionage yarn. What worried me going in was his ability to handle such a complex technological plot line.

Fortunately for us, he gets it right. From the crypto details to the massive amounts of data collected about individuals, Ludlum manages to weave together threads of various current topics and turn them into a thoroughly enjoyable story. For someone who's been writing these novels for more than 30 years, Ludlum manages to make it sound contemporary - an impressive feat.

Other reviewers have correctly noted that Nick Bryson is a bit too good to be true. Between his incredible physical prowess (after a five year hiatus no less!) coupled with his skill at eluding impossibly difficult situations, he's presented as the uber-spy. The twists do pile up - making it difficult at times to remember who's working for whom.

Overall, however, I found the story to move along well once we got through the preliminaries. By the way, I listened to this on my Rio (downloaded from audible.com) and thought that the narration was exceptionally well-done. Every character's accent & inflection was used to great effect, making the story even more engaging to listen to. Considering its length (nearly 15 hours), that was indispensable.

If you enjoy complex spy thrillers and are interested in seeing where today's technology fits in, then the Prometheus Deception should satisfy. The ending also invites at least a slim possibility that this could turn into another "franchise" for Ludlum... I wouldn't be surprised to see Nick et al. show up in a future novel.

Saturnalia

This book is about the Saturnalia, or December 22, the day when the roles of slaves and masters are switched. William, a slave sent to Boston from his indian tribe, is the main character.Throughout the book, he tries to find his long, lost brother and stumbles along two slaves who are in fact members of his tribe.
The day of the Saturnalia comes and a shocking event takes place. Will the people find out William's secret? You won't know until you read the book.
I found this book interesting even though I don't usually read books like that. It keeps you waiting at the end of every chapter and it's very detailed and explains the characters and their actions well.
I would reccommend this book to anyone who likes history because it takes place back in the 1800's. I would also reccommend it to anyone who likes a little mystery because it's kind of mysterious.
Some important parts of the story are:William finds the two slaves who were from his tribe, and the Saturnalia comes and slaves and their masters switch places.

I disliked the story Saturnalia for a few reasons, I think that it was written very confusing, the beginning was very boring and that is the most important part, the beginning is supposed to introduce the characters and it didn't really do that, also because I really didn't get into the story so I really did not enjoy the book.
The book takes place in Boston and its about a boy named William who lives a double life, by day he is Mr. Currie's printing apprentice, by night he is an Indian from the tribe Narraganset and his name is Weetasket. Mr. Baggot (the Tithing man) is very unsure about William and he doesn't trust him. With the winter holiday Saturnalia, which is when master and servant change places for one full day, he thinks that Williams secret life will be reviled. I don't want to ruin the story so wont tell you.
I would recommend this book to people that like the author Paul Flieshman and to people that like books that have characters that are mysterious, also to people that like books that have some history in them.The reason I would is because in the story there is some history and you don't really know much about the main characters.

Saturnalia is a good book. I think Saturnalia is a good book because it is fictional but could happen making it historical or historical fiction. Though the main character is a Narragansett Indian named William there is another character that my class thought was funnier. The character's name is Malcolm. This book is confusing though because it's like three stories in one book but it's really only one story. The stories jump back and forth between each other telling the story but when you finish and think about it you can see easily the different "parts" or "stories". One of the "stories within the story" is about the main character William, the family he's with, and the tithingman, Mr. Baggot. The second "story within the story" is about Malcolm, the character my class thought was funnier than William, his master Mr. Hogwood, and Madam Phipp, the person Mr. Hogwood is after for love. Finally, the third "story within the story" is about a man named Mr. Speke, an Indian girl, and a feeling he is desperately trying to get rid of.