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Book reviews for "Asher,_Michael" sorted by average review score:

Meeting the Add Challenge: A Practical Guide for Teachers
Published in Paperback by Research Press (August, 1994)
Authors: Steven B. Gordon and Michael J. Asher
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Right on target... Not just for teachers
I originally purchased this book because my child is a patient of Dr. Gordon's. I not only bought the book (and the worksheet book not shown here) for myself, but I quickly purchased a set for my child's school and my sister as well.

The information and approach are straight forward, easy to understand and most of all, easy to implement. They don't just give you a way to "solve a problem", they teach you the core theories, which then enable the family and school to customize their approach.
I have purchased many "ADD" books, and this one far surpasses in quality and presentation. The second runner up (and has more worksheet templates inside) is "Add/Adhd Behavior-Change Resource Kit : Ready-To-Use Strategies & Activities for Helping Children With Attention Deficit Disorder".

If you purchase this book, I STRONGLY recommend that you also purchase the accompanying workbook, The AD/HD forms book: Identification, measurement, and intervention. [Contains 30 forms and checklists for children and adolescents with ADD/ADHD] ...


My Brother Michael
Published in Audio Cassette by Chivers Audio Books (January, 1996)
Authors: Mary Stewart and Jane Asher
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Mary's prose has that effect!
35 years ago, as a very young girl, I also dreamed of visiting Greece after reading this book and "The Moonspinners". I see that all this time later, Mary Stewart's wonderful stories are still working the same magic... I love all of her books - she will always have a special place among my favorite authors - for her dry and subtle sense of humor, great storytelling ability and of course... that rich descriptive prose (I can't think of anyone else who does it so well). The Merlin books are being reissued - so should all of the romantic suspense (or should they be in the travel section?) :)

Mary Stewart's Magic
I'm so glad to see some of Mary Stewart's romantic fiction reissued. As a young girl I envisioned Greece while reading My Brother Michael, as a young adult I went there and it was sublime. We read and, then, we experience. If you read to see the world, start at home with Mary Stewart and let your imaginations take you to Europe; her books will grow with you. With Madam Will you Talk in mind, (her best I think) I danced on the entrance to the Pont d'Avignon, I stood on Hadrian's Wall and thought of the Ivy Tree; Corfu did indeed boast men named Spiro, but sadly, no magic dolphin. I wish there were more of her books.

I thought that this was one of Mary Stewart's best books.
"My Brother Michael" was such a good book! It has beautiful descriptions of Greece, and the characters were so interesting. I've read almost all of Mary Stewart's books, and they all give that kind of depressed feeling. Not that they're sad (well, the Merlin Trilogy is), but her books just envelope you, and you can't stop reading them. I love her books, and I wish that she'd written more.


The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Published in Paperback by Harperperennial Library (January, 1994)
Authors: Milan Kundera, Michael Henry Heim, and Aaron Asher
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The poetic confessions of a once-upon-a-time circle-dancer.
This novel (a novel of fragments and variations on a theme) concerns those concerned with recovering history, in the literal sense of covering over. Made up of seven parts, with only Kundera and a character named Tamina the revisited positions, the novel plays with the notion of musical variation and gives it literary expression. Kundera takes the familiar cords, the exile, the rebel, the man and the woman with A Past, the photograph, and the supposed "innocence" of children, and he plays them in a variety of combinations and tempos to highlight the subtlety in each note and the infinite variety and depth of each life. This is a novel in which Kundera stares fully at his own culpability in Czech politics and he does so at the novelistic moment of watching his father die. One of the most poignant moments in the book, and one which underlines Kundera's notions here about Utopias, ideals, and aspirations, is that "while we seek the infinity of the stars, we lose the infinity of our fathers." The book circles around this notion of creating the ideal world and aspiring to the ultimate human organization, and sends in pointed and damaging attacks on the dehumanization of such processes and aspirations. It is, to my mind, the finest of Kundera's novels (though _Slowness_ comes a close second). It is seemingly non-linear, asks more questions than it provides answers, and will demand the acute attention of the reader, but, in the end, it is worth every strain of concentration

A Truly Great Book
This work by Franco-Czech writer (not a combination one sees everyday) is best if read quickly before or after his other great work, The Unbearable Lightness of Being. All of Kundera's works take a post-modern approach to the novel's themes and style, liberally sprinkling philosophical and metaphysical questions throughout the text; this one is no exception. It's constant and enduring image is that of the Circle Dance, as shown on the cover, and its power to allow the human spirit to rise into the clouds. The classical opinion of what a novel should be must be abandoned, or at least silenced, in order to thoroughly enjoy this work, but it makes any trouble well worth it. HIghest recommendation.

Life- Changing! Read it young!
This book totally blew my mind when I first read it, maybe more than any other book since. Kundera has a way of looking at the world that is totally unique and pretty enlightening, and although I didn't understand everything he said at the time, I feel like his sharing that view with readers is an incredible gift. None of his other books grasp it quite as completely (although several other people I've talked to also say that the first one of his they read was the best, whatever it was). Read it, read it young, and let its ideas float around in your mind forever- you'll be a more complex thinker, I guarantee it. (I'm not sure how much my guarantee means to you, but it means a lot to me)


The Basic Elements of the Game (Best of Coaching Volleyball, Vol 1)
Published in Paperback by McGraw Hill - NTC (February, 1996)
Authors: Kinda Asher, Michael Oleksak, and American Volleyball Coaches Association
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A Great Read For Beginning Coaches
If you're considering becoming a volleyball coach, I'd recommend this book. There are tips on every phase of the game, from the physical skills of your players to the mental aspects of dealing with athletes under stress.

When I began thinking about coaching high school ball, this was one of the books I turned to for help and advice. It helped me, and it can help you, as well.

Great series
There are three books in this series of compilations of articles from Coaching Volleyball Magazine, the magazine of the American Volleyball Coach's Association. These articles are written by coaches going through the Coaching Accreditation Program Level II certification. Many are collegiate and high school coaches, some are club coaches. Interesting perspectives on many different aspects of running a team, a program, or a club. The technical elements are good, but you have to know the game relatively well for some of the advanced parts because the illustrations are kind of vague. The basic elements book is good for the beginning coaches.


Walter Winchell: A Novel
Published in Paperback by Vintage Books (August, 1991)
Authors: Michael Herr and Marty Asher
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Interesting, but ....
After reading Dispatches and Kubrick, my expectations for a Michael Herr book were so high that Walter Winchell would have had to be a masterpiece to satisfy them. Unfortunately, although it's entertaining, interesting, and educational, Winchell isn't a masterpiece. Herr's screenplay-styled prose -- complete with character names in all caps, cinematic devices like spinning newspaper headlines, and a story driven almost entirely by dialogue -- may constitute a unique blend of styles, but it's also a good reminder of why most people don't walk around reading screenplays. (William Goldman's creed that screenplay is structure, not dialogue, isn't followed here.) Herr may have used lots of cliches on purpose -- the better to evoke a period movie feel -- but the countless cliches nevertheless wear thin. We see Walter rise through vaudeville, lower journalistic standards, make and break stars, and throw tantrums, but everything feels vaguely predictable -- down to a description of Sinatra as a "skinny little Italian kid from Hoboken", and a final tear-jerking scene of defeated Winchell watching the hoisting of an American flag.

Having said all this -- Winchell is still a good fast read. It's more colorful than a traditional biography, and the endless patter gives a good sense of the rhythms of Winchell's life. If Dispatches and Kubrick hadn't been so brilliant perhaps I'd have given it four or even five stars. That may not be quite fair to Mr. Herr. But that's the price of creating such classics as Dispatches -- expectations go through the roof.

Fast-paced, funny, & touching.
Herr calls it prose fiction, & it's funny & fast paced; Herr seems to be parodying the very people he's writing about. Winchell spoke & wrote (Larry King's USA Today "column" is a 3d-rate parody of Winchell), & Runyon & Hemingway wrote the way this book reads. Who needs 500-page researched biographies? It's almost all dialogue, quips, & jokes. And where else can you discover that Hemingway nailed Josephine Baker?

Unputdownable!
Michael Herr, author of the incredible 'Dispatches', again takes on the challenge of altering the nature of narrative, and creates a new type of book, part screen play, part novel. Amazing character development. I had hardly heard of Walter Wenchall before I read this. It's amazing that a figure of this magnatude could become a forgotten footnote in our culture. Rush should read this.


Eye of Ra
Published in Paperback by Firebird Distributing ()
Author: Michael Asher
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Acceptable B-Grade Thriller
I had high hopes when I initially picked this novel up, and sadly it did not live up to my expectations. While the premise was encouraging, I thought Asher could have been a little more imaginative with the key plot point. I cannot reveal it here as I hate spoilers in reviews, but it won't take a casual reader too long to figure it out.

Things ancient Egyptian always fascinate, and it was with this in mind that I bought this book. The hero of the story, Omar Ross, is an archaeologist on the fringes of acceptable theory, and decides to dig into the death (no pun intended) of one of his former colleagues in Cairo. What follows is a twisting plot of intrigue and double-cross. With good action sequences and wonderful descriptions of desert survival, this thriller is diverting, but do not expect too much of it. It was a great read B-grade read that I enjoyed without having my socks blasted off.

The Eye of Ra
This book combine Egyptian Mytholodgy with a today spy thriller. I absolutely loved it. It was the best book I have ever read.


Lawrence: The Uncrowned King of Arabia
Published in Paperback by Overlook Press (03 July, 2001)
Author: Michael Asher
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Lawrence deserves much better
This book fails in many ways. The reason it gets 2 stars instead of one is that it's hard to discuss Lawrence without some fascinating things coming through.

First, Asher makes himelf part of the biography. He discusses his own personal travels in a manner that add absolutely nothing to the reader's understanding. The final paragraph of the book begins with "I." Further, the frequency and manner in which he interjects himself in the book is highly annoying.

Second, there are numerous factual problems with the book. At one point Asher refers to Turks shooting their rifles at Bedu who are over two miles away. Even a trained sniper with modern equipment wouldn't take that shot. Further, his description of Lt. Junor's plane crash is at odds with other accounts. Asher says the plane erupted in flames even though there are published photos of the crashed plane that show otherwise. Lastly on this point, Asher doesn't use Tunbridge's writings on Lawrence's days in the RAF as reference material. It's a surprising omission.

Third, as other reviewers noted, Asher writes extensively about Lawrence's psyche. This would be sensible if Asher was either trained in psychology or referenced studies by those who are; unfortunately, neither is the case. Instead there are a few bibliographical references to works on psychology, but none specific to Lawrence. Asher's vehement discussion of Lawrence's mother makes the reader wonder whether the author or the subject had the greater maternal relationship issues.

Fourth, is Asher's style, or more accurately, styles. At times he uses the contemporary jargon of British soldiers, whereas at other points he writes in a very stilted manner adding unnecessary Latin phrases to the text. His best writing is when he's providing background or contextual material such as the discussion of British military actions elsewhere in WWI.

Lawrence was one of the most fascinating personalities of the 20th century. He deserves a much better biography.

Psychological Study of TE Lawrence
This book is most certainly an easy read. Asher whets your appetite by giving a different perspective from other Lawrence biographies. He follows in Lawrence's footsteps to historically significant spots and gives an eyewitness account of varing desert terrains with a pleasant nostalgia. However, instead of pursuing that route he turns to psychological interpretations of Lawrence's personality that are not supported, but merely purported. Overall this is not a definitive biography of Lawrence.

A Crowning Glory Of A Man Much Mistaken.
It was with the greatest fortune that I happened across this biography a couple of years ago,and immediately I was struck by the galloping pace and relentless ability Asher displays in making you turn each page.Two years later I find myself re-reading passage upon passage of this wonderful literary work with just as much enthusiasm as was spent the first time around.
Out with the old and in with the new.This assessment of the enigmatic Lawrence steers joyfully clear of the deeply mundane school years that most other biographers choose to dwell upon.
Instead,at last we have a biographer that is willing to put Lawrence to the test and travel in the footsteps of the little man.An experienced camel trecker and linguist himself,Asher portrays the whole Arabian experience and sustains our interest with fantastic descriptions of landscape and personal thought as to what Lawrence was thinking at the time.However,Asher is aware of the complex character of Lawrence and acknowledges the limits one is faced with when dealing with motive.
Ashers reluctance to be drawn into the shallow debate of Lawrences sexuality in a present climate where the obsession of scrutinising potential homosexual desire in the disguise of political corrctness is overwhelming,is both refreshing and worthwhile.He has managed to put to one side obvious adoration and produced a constructive view of personality and genius.On a respectful level this book is clearly too honest to be even sentimental-even though he often discovers that all is not black and white in the world of Lawrence.
In this single work Asher offers us a vast depth from an angle that all previous biographers have failed to acknowledge and attempt.One is struck by the sense that this book is reluctant to enhance the myth of Lawrence.This is the only point on which Asher fails.His conclusions concerning the exploits of Lawrence could have no other outcome.
"All men dream: but not equally.Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men,for they may act their dream with open eyes,to make it possible.This I did."
Can this biography of Lawrence be bettered?Keep on dreaming!
Paul Barnes.


The Ad/Hd Forms Book: Identification, Measurement, & Intervention
Published in Spiral-bound by Research Press (01 August, 1998)
Authors: Michael J. Asher and Steven B. Gordon
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A Bibliographical & Historical Essay on Dutch Books & Pamphlets Relating to New Netherland & to the Dutch West India Company
Published in Hardcover by Martino Pub (April, 2000)
Author: George Michael Asher
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A Desert Dies
Published in Hardcover by St. Martin's Press (August, 1987)
Author: Michael Asher
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