Their aren't many books in print that tell fictitious stories about fighting dogs. It's not a subject with universal appeal obviousily. There have been some classic, simply written books about the subject written in the early part of the 20th century, such as The Bar Sinister, and White Monarch and the Gas House Pup. Blazer: The Story of a Fighting Dog is not up to par with those earlier examples. The writing is not that good and the editing is not much better. There are consistent typos and grammatical errors throughout that get in the way of enjoyment. Regardless, it does have a fairly interesting plot following the journeys of a rough-and-tumble bull terrier stolen from a honest, caring owner by thieves who attempt to earn money from fighting the dog. The bad guys are shown for what they are - morons, and the good guys are willing to be pushed around until they decide enough is enough. Nothing too original, but if you like reading about fighting dogs track this one down. You won't be bragging about it but you won't be kicking yourself either.

I think it's better to have some poster of the flighter in the books and more pictures.

Nicholas Whittaker, Blue Period: Notes from a Life in the Titillation Trade (Gollancz, 1997)

Nicholas Whittaker, just out of school, jobless, and dreaming of writing the Great British Novel, answered a small ad for an assistant editor in the Sunday paper. This started him on a seven year career at two of Britain's men's magazines, Fiesta and Razzle. He distilled the essence of those seven years into this little autobiographical yarn. And having finished it, I'm still not entirely sure what to make of it.

Whittaker strikes me as the self-deprecating type, and that tends to bleed over into his descriptions of his co-workers and office areas. Obviously, it's a different-colored lens than that of the usual self-aggrandizing autobiographer, but it still telegraphs to the reader to take everything herein with a grain of salt. It also says quite a bit about what working in the porn industry did to Whittaker; it always seems as if he's just this side of uncomfortable talking about sex, whether he was involved with it or not.

That's not to say the whole book has the "nobody knows the trouble I've seen" pall cast over it. Whittaker is possessed of a quick wit, even if it is usually turned on himself, and there are parts of the book that are laugh-out-loud funny. The balance is a bit rigged, it seems, but the attempt is there, and for the most part it succeeds. There's never quite so much despair that the reader stops caring.

Whittaker's ultimate aim, when one reads between the lines, is the demystification of the porn industry. He often compares himself and his workmates to the more public porn barons (for Americans, the comparison would be the guy in the copy room looking at his life as it relates to Hugh Hefner's), and wonders how the rest of the world can think everyone who works at a magazine could possibly live like that. But it's the illusionary atmosphere of the whole thing that keeps people buying the magazines, and Whittaker shows us the illusion time and again. It is in this where the book best succeeds; Whittaker relates his anecdotes and lets the reader's mind make all the necessary connections. One thinks that, after he's done with the Great British Novel, he'd probably make a fine living as a barrister. Assuming, of course, they don't castigate him for his shady past. ***

Spike is the cutest guy in school and everyone has been hearing a lot of things about him.... like every girl that has gone out with him never was saw again! Sarah the girl that likes him keeps hearing the rumor and ignores them.... she thiks that they're all lies. When she goes out with him she finally findes out that all the rumors were true.

Ms. Nicholas has done quite a nice job for someone who has not actually lived with a Shar-pei. But that also explains the limitations of the book. One must actually have spent days and nights with one to fully begin to understand exactly what they are like - their unique personality - their intelligence - their playfulness - their dedication to their owners and their one of a kind relationship with humans. I love the breed and did not see that same love in the book. Decent information ( somewhat outdated ) I give it 3 stars.

i did not find it very interesting cause need for further info
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It is very clear that this author knows and understands fish and shellfish. The reference materials about the different types of fish with nutritional information was very helpful.

However, this book is very difficult to use. One has to go to several different sections of the book to complete a dish. For instance you must first read the section and complete a fish fume in order to make a volute sauce, in which to complete the fish dish with a mornay sauce.

The setup of this book could be enhanced with page number references next to the ingredient that requires preparation from a receipt in another section of the book.

I am not unhappy to have this book in my collection simply for the reference information on the differenct seafoods. However, this book is not for a novice cook. Even for someone with advanced experience around the kitchen with excellent resources for fish and shellfish, this book falls short of my expectations for enjoyment of use, due to its difficulty in having a receipt's critial components on multiple pages.

This book is OK, as far as Poodle books go, but it is part of a large chain of dog books. This chain has a habit of using breed -related information in the first few chapters, then switching over to a generic, all-breed dog care information manual for the rest of the book. This doesn't mean that it is not a good book, but I prefer to read more specific information about the breed the book supposedly is about. One thing that I liked about this book were its colorful pictures, but I would recommend that the reader spend his or her money on a more exclusively "Poodle" book.

This guide is a succinct rating of many 1980's board wargames. Very much worthwhile if you are a board wargaming enthusiasts and would like to compare a game you own to a game you are considering buying. Each game is rated according to five categories such as playability, length, complexity, etc. This is not an independent source for gaming however.

Saberhagen seems to have trouble whenever he strays too far from his more familiar and popular works (Berserkers and Dracula). This story starts well, drags on in the middle and ends rather poorly. The so-called stinger at the end is no surprise to anyone even remotely familiar with Russian history. Saberhagen's transliteration from Russian to English is often faulty. The story also has very many obvious inconsistancies, reads more like a draft. Shine it on