This book mainly deals with generalities, and is more a definition of common sense than of how to start a business. Instead of concentrating on specifics, what forms to use, the amount of time to set it up, the cost, etc. It gives a very general, almost a "duh", feel to it.

It's a small book, but the amount useful information presented is even smaller.

I don't think Filkins' translation was in poor faith; he appears to be a poet himself, which is surprising, and he does take pains to retain word order from the German and, most jarringly, preserve rhyme schemes. (Remember high school "translations" of Chaucer? Oh, the grief...) But there are just as many flat-out semantic errors in translation as ingenious attempts at preservation, and it's clear he has no intuition for Bachmann's thought patterns and her ear for sound. Here's hoping someone who does eventually replaces this "standard" text with a more sensitive rendering.

For the record, this reviewer has disagreed strongly with everything Susan Sontag has said about Central European literature, notably Peter Nadas' "A Book of Memories."

I thought this book was alright. It was a great version of this American legend. The illustrations weren't very vibrant, more dull. Don't let my opinion turn you away, read this book for yourself and see if you like it.