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This is one of the best travel diary ever written--ranking up there with other master travel diaries, such as "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" by the 17th century Japanese poet Matsuo Basho. No other book has so deeply searched for the answers and meanings to the questions of Africa and its peoples. Everyone knows that Alberto Moravia was Italy's greatest writer in the 20th century, writing such novels like A Ghost At Noon, The Conformist, and The Fancy Dress Party. In this book Moravia has taken the resposibilty to make sense of the mess that is Africa, of its politics, its peoples' struggles, and most importantly, perhaps, of their obliviousness of it all, except of course, its effect.

I read the spanish original, which is a refreshing fire hose that strips off the Latin American strongman mystique (Castro, Peron, Villa, Sandino); and, especially the warped idea that violence is the tonic that Latin Americans need to remedy their economic and political woes. A great counter balance to books like "Modern Latin America" by Skidmore and Smith which present a sympathetic view of Castro and other social engineers that have brought only disasters to their "democratically represented constituents" while blaming the U.S. for their failures. Helps explain the bitter humor behind the "Yanqui go home, and take me with you" slogan scrawled on a wall in the Dominican Republic during the 1965 U.S. intervention. Read and weep.

I was very surprised to finally read a book that doesn't portray Latin America as a "victim" of the US or the Old World. I think these three authors intelligently challenge the populist ideologies and myths of the left and the right that have made so much damage all over the spanish speaking countries south of the USA. Having met many "perfect latin american idiots" in the past, I can see now why they are so enraged with the succes of this book. They are perfectly described and they don't look pretty. For anyone else, this book offers a fresh, sharp insight in to Latin American issues that until recently were considered property of marxist and nationalist leaning intellectuals. These writers are shooting straight to the heart and they make no apologies.

Brilliant....outstanding! Highly recommended!

This book is for Latin America what the fall of the Berlin Wall was for Europe.

Required reading for those interested in understanding Latin America and why it has been unable to achieve sustainable development, democratic stability and constructive relations with the United States.

"Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot" has been a best-seller throughout Latin America since its 1996 publication in Spanish. This fact, and its three distinguished authors representing different national perspectives, symbolize the dramatic paradigm shift taking place in the region.

This book is ideal for introductory courses in Latin American Studies to counter the rigid leftist orthodoxy and "political correctness" that dominates so many universities, high schools, NGOs and international agencies. It is these outdated leftist views that have confused and misled so many about why Latin America and the Caribbean continue to be mired in poverty, violence, corruption and underdevelopment.

It demonstrates how leftist "idiots" not only in Latin America, but those in the United States and Europe, have paralyzed the region in a culture of "victimization", creating deep resentments and distrust of market economies, private property, foreign investment, multinational corporations, globalization and the United States. It is these leftist-statist-mercantilist-corporatist attitudes that dominated many Latin Americans throughout the 20th century and continue even today, as so clearly demonstrated by Castro in Cuba, Chavez in Venezuela, Ortega in Nicaragua, Aristide in Haiti, Bucaram in Ecuador, Allan Garcia in Peru, Lula in Brazil among others. It is these, combined with dsyfunctional anti-democratic and anti-market cultural values, that have maintained the region in poverty and political instability. The Latin American poor owe a debt of gratitude to Apuleyo, Montaner and Vargas Llosa for so forcefully showing how these attitudes and populist leaders have contributed to their misery.

For an even broader perspective of these historic changes, readers should also see "Fabricantes de Miseria" by the same authors; "No Perdamos Tambien El Siglo XXI" by Carlos Alberto Montaner; writings by the argentine Mariano Grandona, the peruvian Hernando De Soto, the venezuelan Carlos Rangel, the region's leading intellectual Mario Vargas Llosa; and books by Lawrence Harrison, Francis Fukuyama and those contributors to "Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress".

On the Fourth of July, my 11 year old son and I ran our first 5K race. We had a blast! My son told me he wanted us to run faster in the future. Shortly after the race, I read some nice things about "Daniels' Running Formula." Being that I knew nothing about how to actually train for a race, I decided to purchase the book for myself.

Dr. Jack Daniels provides running instruction that anyone can follow - beginner to experienced. The book contains some technical material, but overall it is very easy to understand. It includes useful charts to determine your fitness level, based on your most recent race results, and from that fitness level another chart tells you at what pace you should perform different workouts. Dr. Daniels offers sample training schedules that are very helpful to beginners like me. I am especially impressed with his placing limits, based on total weekly mileage, for the various workouts in order to avoid over training. My son and I ar! e following Dr. Daniels advice and are making improvements in our conditioning. We are also enjoying our workouts more! And NOT because they're easy! But they are worth it!

In summary, if you are looking to improve your running performance, or if you have a child who is, get this book. I think you, and yours, will benefit greatly.

If Better Training for Distance Runners is too technical for your tastes then this is the book for you. Daniel takes the guess work out of finding the training paces that you need to know for sound training with his VDOT method. I'm currently using the program and this works. You don't have to worry about over-training with this program because it is where you are and is adjustable as you improve -- unlike other running programs that you have to run the course of the training plan. Daniels' plain language approach should have great appeal. Excellent book.

Jack Daniels, the author of this book, holds a PhD in Exercise Physiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He first got involved with running when he used to compete in triathlons. He is currently the head coach of the SUNY-Cortland women's Cross Country team. This book is FULL of EASY TO UNDERSTAND technical information that will make you FASTER...period.

Personally, I am a high school distance runner and on our cross country team we run about 40 miles / week. Our coach started using this book before our outdoor track season started. I ran a 5k road race in 19:50 (6:23 pace) on March 11th, 2001 before the track season had started and before we started using Daniels' formula. Daniels' book has you establish a VDOT based on recent race performances. He explains the PURPOSE of every workout you do. He believes it's important that you realize what you're trying to accomplish with every running session that you do. Therefore, Daniels has easy to use tables which set intensity guidelines to prevent overtraining and injury. He shows you that if you train anywhere in between the intensities, then you're training in "no-man's land." This means that you are doing "junk-training." There are four training paces in all for high-quality running sessions: the easy/everday training pace(65-75 percent of VO2 max), the interval pace (designed to stress VO2 max or maximum oxygen uptake, performed at 98-100 percent of VO2 max), the threshold pace (designed to improve lactate threshold, about 86-88 percent of VO2max), and the Repetition Pace (designed to improve running strength and economy, at a pace greater than one's VO2 max).

For me, I ran a 5:15 mile at the beginning of the track season so my coach used this to determine my VDOT. According to the book's tables, my VDOT was 56. I trained by doing "R Pace workouts," "T Pace Workouts" and "I Pace Workouts." R Pace workouts, designed to improve running strength and economy, consisted of 200, 200, 400 meter repeats with a 1 to 4 effort to rest ratio. For a 56 VDOT, the paces would be 39 and 80. The T Pace Workout, designed to improve lactate threshold, was 6 x 1000 for me with only 1 minute rest, at 3:53 pace. The I pace workout, to stress VO2 max, is also repeat 1000s. However, we do only 4 x 1000 at a faster pace, 3:34, but get 3:34 rest as a result of the 1 to 1 effort to rest ratio.

In addition, he shows you exactly how to schedule your training sessions around races so you can be in peak physical fitness to set a HUGE PR!!! As a result of his training for less than 2 months, I ran an 18:14 5k (5:53 pace) on May 6th, 2001. I was 7th overall out of 166 runners in the race. In the race last March 11th, 2001, where I ran 19:50, I was 47th in my race, PATHETIC!!! I have no idea what I would run the mile in if I were to race it now, but I would guess that I'd be around 4:50 thanks to his workouts which have resulted in an increase in my fitness level.

Jim Ryun, a former world record holder in the 800, mile, and 1500m says "Simply put, Daniels' formula works. This book is a must read for every runner and coach interested in achieving peak performance."

I purchased this book recently and now I can't put the book down.It has every wonderful imaginary world from ancient times to modern day (even Jurassic park!). It's the kind of book you can put down, come back to later and find a new gem to read. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for any fantasy reader or any literature lover, in general.

This book, which has places from Lovecraft, Tolkien, Baum, and nearly every other fiction writer, is really a gem. It has cross references between related locales, bibliogaphic data for research papers and the like, and maps and pictures. You can look up virtually every allusion there is to made up places, and tourist information is included if you somehow manage to get to any of them. I recommend this book heartily, and have enjoyed it constantly for the nearly 10 years I've owned it.

I bought this book because I was intriqued by the concept. A book that catalogs all of the places mentioned in other books. What I got completely amazed me. Not only were the places cataloged and indexed by book and by place, but the descriptions were long, even better they included maps.

The people who put together this book understood that the reason people would buy the book was not because they were looking for a one line definition but because they were looking for information about the places themselves. For example, for the definition of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it would have been easy to write a one line definition stating that this was the school that Harry Potter attended in the Harry Potter series. Instead the book has a definition several pages long including a drawing and also explains everything that has so far been written about the school including the moving staircases and the portraits on the walls. That is just the beginning thousands of places are included in the book, and all are given as much attention in their descriptions as the authors took to explain the locations in the original works of literature.

So enjoy this book, it will make you want to read about places to help you to figure out if you want to read the books that created them.

When looking into books for any tech-related topic, I look for two qualities to assess the value of the book. The first is the depth of the subject matter of the work. I look for books that teach me new technologies, technique, or process. The second is the book's lasting value as a reference for future work. When spending money, I'd like to be sure that the lasting value of the book is at least potentially there. This book has neither of those qualities, here's why:

- Depth of Subject Matter -
It's difficult to determine who this book is written to educate. The forward identifies the audience as existing software testers looking for education in the finer points of web software testing. That's legitimate, but it falls far short of this or any other unstated goals. The delivery of material in this work is quick and dirty. There's no topic that extends beyond a single-digit number of pages. This makes plenty of sense in the early chapters where the discussion of things like hardware compatibility are discussed. Other areas deserve far better coverage. The topics of browser compatibility, performance testing, and scalability testing, for example, are scantly explained. It's a disservice to the reader, since these are paramount topics for the intended audience. Another downfall to this approach is its failure to discuss the organizational differences between an IT team deploying software frequently versus one deploying incremental releases on a yearly timeframe. To be fair, the authors touch on this topic, but it's nothing comprehensive.

- Reference Value -
The reference value of this book is almost zero. I run a test team for a web based business of considerable size, and I have to say I found some actually misleading advice in the work. A lot of the explanations of what's smart and what's avoidable fall completely off the mark. Even worse, and this is actually enough of a reason to start looking for a different book right away, is the poor quality of the references throughout the book. While they spend some considerable time explaining the difference between the time in a normal software development cycle and one that operates under 'web time', they cite sources from two and three years ago that are completely irrelevant considering the widespread and fundamental changes to the online software development domain. They establish 'web time' as an accelerated, hectic calendar where nothing is the same after two months of churning, but then cite references from 1999 market research studies to back up their points. Though definitely not intentional, it's very neglectful. I turned to the front of the book at one point to re-verify the copyright date. ...

So, for me and for my needs, this book is essentially worthless and I'm sad to have spent [$$] to learn this. The topics are covered only as summaries, but those that deserve and in some cases completely require a much deeper explanation are treated similarly. Regarding the intended audience, it's still a head scratcher because of the delivery of the material. It's not heavy in any one area, so it's difficult to determine if this is for a QA manager (can't work, not enough attention to process), the new tester (can't work, not enough detail on the actual testing), the converting tester (might work, but the high-level descriptions coupled with the indescriminate delivery of the subjects would confuse anyone without due insight), or the experienced web tester (can't work, too much of the data is elementary to those already functioning as a tester in the web space). I don't suggest it, and I wouldn't suggest it in a future edition if they work to update the references.

Testing Web-based applications and web interfaces is a new focus for many companies. Web-based application testing is different from the traditional client / server, PC, and / or mainframe system software products. Also factored in are code quality, browser compatibility, site navigation, user interaction, performance, and scalability.

Recognizing that companies need to conduct evaluation as they develop their "next generation" web sites and applications, The authors have written an insightful introduction to the concepts and techniques for conducting various tests. The book starts with an introduction to web programming, servers, architecture, and all those something 2 something terms (Business to Business (B2B) and Market to Market (M2M) for example). To select and conduct appropriate tests requires an understanding the purpose of the application and the architecture that supports it.

The authors reference a study by Creative Good during the 1998 holiday season on 10 leading Web shopping sites. The study found that for every US$1 spent on advertising generated US$5 in additional review while US$1 spent on "customer experience" improvements yielded more than US$60 in additional review. What more motivation is needed to ensure your Web site is usable?

This handbook guides you through the web testing process. The book is easy to follow and avoids dry "theory" talk that you find in many technical books. How often have you read such a book and found yourself unable to apply it to real world situations? You'll find a handy checklist of test conditions along with URLs for further references associated with the section to help you apply the test concepts. You can take the relevant items from the checklists and create your test case templates. The authors took another step and created a companion Web site using an imaginary company as a case study and included downloadable sample business requirements and test plans associated with the case study.

Covering all of the possible bases, the book offers guidelines and checklists for conducting all kinds of testing that applies to web-based applications, from interface usability to server functionality. It also includes common software development scenarios and provides possible options for handling them. For example, a team may require everyone to work on the weekend to test the Web site's ability to handle a large number of users. However, it may not be the best way to go functionally and financially. The authors explain the reasoning and present available options.

While traditional software developers are probably most familiar with concepts like load testing (determining how much load a server can handle) and software testing (making sure that all of the functionality works), human factors professionals have touted the concept of usability testing as a way of determining how well a user might be able to navigate and use a web site or application. Jakob Nielsen has been one of the most vocal in this. The book provides a variety of methods for testing usability.

The book provides something for everyone in a software development shop including developers, testers, managers, and project managers. Testers get help on how and where to begin. Managers can benefit from the test strategies and planning. Companies new to testing and not knowing which tools and resources to use will want to review the book's unbiased discussion and resources of such tools. You won't feel overwhelmed by the resources because it's organized by sections, which helps you focus on current needs.

The book is well laid out and it's a fast read. It would be difficult to miss its concepts. This well-rounded book would be a boon to any software development team's library even if it were only one person playing all the parts.

The Web Testing Handbook is an excellent guide to 'real world' testing of web sites and web applications. The book includes techniques, tips, checklists and - what I found really useful - lists of relevant URLs giving me instant opportunities to obtain up-to-date research, statistics and further expert opinion. The book also overcomes the problems many people have with endless acronyms by containing explanations of underlying web technologies. As a tester, I found the level just right - not over my head and not (like many Internet books) around my boots.
The book's approach is pragmatic and doesn't seek to give instant answers where none exist. Neither does it push academic approaches, which are never going to work in a high-pressure industry. I found the discussions of issues and solutions to be practical and useful. There is also a case study to reinforce the points made by the author - as well as making the topics more interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone directly or indirectly involved in web testing. It shows testers what to test and how. It gives test managers a framework and an approach to managing web testing - even including information on software tools. It is informative, understandable and, above all, readable.

I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. First, I am a Presbyterian. There are no virgin Mary statues in my church. However, my religion instructs me to have faith. This book has is the encouraging story of a person who started out with little faith , but developed a great deal through trial and error. Second, it is a rather universal story of a person who makes mistakes, learns from them and becomes better and more at peace. Instead of just meditating on her mistakes, she learns to understand herself better as she grows in her faith. Third, the author is so easy to read and enjoyably weaves her life experiences into her search for Mary. Fourth, it was educational to learn about the role of Mary in Catholicism. This was a good book with an empathetic narrator.
This book reminded me a little of Anne Lamott, who also writes about spirituality. Even though I think Anne Lamott is Presbyterian, her work is much more "new agey" than Ms. Donofrio.

Beverly Donofrio's experience of Mary is both inspiring and stunningly real. Her honesty about her life and her journey to belief imparts hope to us all. I have never been to Medjugore or Guadalupe, but I trust Donofrio's account of those places and their spiritual impact because of her clear-eyed and unvarnished descriptions. In the midst of a troubled world, with war raging and evil brazenly stalking some of our most treasured territory -- the Catholic Church, our children, and our own United States -- Donofrio's book about Mary's intercedence and concern for all her children is comforting and gives one courage to stand up (or kneel down) to fight the evildoers. We can be confident that Mary will protect us and help us in our efforts. I have bought several copies of the book to give to my friends who are mothers. The book has special meaning for moms, with its message of love, forgiveness, and the promise of the love and support Mary can give us as we try to emulate her divine motherhood.

A friend recommended this book ... and I have to say it was a fine read. It's the story of Beverly Donofrio's search for meaning in her life via the Virgin Mary. She started out collecting Mary icons at yard sales and soon had an entire room dedicated to Mary. God does work in mysterious ways.

She delves in depth into her relationship with her son and how God healed that part of her life. But I had to laugh out loud at one statement she made. She said she just couldn't understand why God did not include Mary in the Trinity, bless her heart. What most people don't know (and male preachers/priests seldom ever mention) is that in the Old Testament God is referred to as El Shaddai. Shaddai is formed from "shad" (the breast) Genesis 49:25 or "The Breasted" - the "Nourisher", "the Strength-Giver", the "Satisfier" who pours Himself/Herself into believing lives. God is all female/all male and thankfully, much, much more than the sum of the two! ...

Manguel has done a wonderful job of capturing the many fascinating aspects of reading from the neurological (just what is reading, what our eyes and brains do), to the evolution of reading out loud to 'silent' reading, to the history of some of the great collections of the world, and much, much more. This really is a great book, that I would recommend to anyone who loves to read, as you are sure to find something of interested, and undoubtedly something you did not know previously. The title is a *little* misleading, in that it is not a straight chronological historical study. My only quibble would be that the approach at times can be a little too scatter-gun, but perhaps that is part of the charm - it is like a fascinating rambling conversation about every bibliophiles favourite topic.

A strange thing, reading. It doesn't immediately strike one as THE easiest subject on which to write a history, but Alberto Manguel does a wonderful job tracing reading from Sumerian stone tablets to contemporary computers. The guy seems to know as much as any ten people. He's taken a very private act and made it public, in the process creating not only a history of reading but a history of thinking as well. This is a great book to read late at night. One slips into it like a warm bath. Anyone who doesn't smile at the section in which the young Manguel reads to the blind Borges doesn't deserve to own books

When I first saw Alberto Manguel's A History of Reading, two thoughts ran through my mind. First, what a wonderful topic for a work of non-fiction. Second, how can one possibly write such a book? I am thrilled to report that Manguel has succeeded beyond all expectations. Both a personal essay telling of Manguel's own learning to read and encounters with books and a highly eclectic survey of books and reading through the ages, History provides both erudition and levity, scholarship and wit. In broad outline, Manguel groups his books in two sections. In the first, "Acts of Reading", he tells how reading itself took different shapes during the ages, including being read to, picture reading (books made up of pictures for the non-reader), reading silently to oneself, and other matters. The second part is captioned "Powers of the Reader and deals with the forbidden reader (e.g., pre-emancipation slaves in the American south); translation; prophesy; and other matters. Manguel quickly becomes an old friend and companion. I hated to see this book end!

This uniquely candid portrait of Chicano men gives the reader an intimate, honest look into their lives. "Vatos" doesn't discriminate -- it shows all aspects of Chicano life to give a full perspective. The most interesting idea here is that Galvez and Urrea worked independently of each other, yet the photographs seem to work with the poem perfectly (and vice-versa). I suggest checking this out. The poem is provocative, with lines like "All the Vatos brave in deadly classrooms," and the black and white photos give a subdued effect.

The title "Vatos" and the picture of the homies on the cover are a little deceptive as this book covers many different men in varied situations. There are also farmworkers, mariachis , Aztec dancers, lawyers, men with their mothers and daughters and children in church included but the vast majority are mostly your stereotypical images of hard core dudes or vatos. These are images of strength, of strangers in a strange yet familiar land. The beauty of the strength and yet vulnerability of the young and old men is frozen in time, locked into the moment for future generations. The pride and respect for family tradition, the refusal to assimilate, to stay seperate but within the confines of barrio pride and the cultural pride glow from these beautiful black and white photographs. The words or the poetry accomapanying the images make for a heartfelt experience revealing the deep conviction of Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Jose Galvez and award winning young writer Luis Alberto Urrea. The imagery is touching and gives a glimpse into the ordinary lives of people who have claimed a piece of the American dream through tinted brown glasses, squinting from the shiny veneer of traditonal American life. The vatos portrayed have claimed their own dignity even under undignified conditions. The pictures span decades of time and when you look at them you can't help but speculate about the people in them. When you see a young teenage vato, dressed in typical homie attire, you wonder where he is now and if his chosen path has detoured for the better or worse. Looking at the old men, the lines revealing the years , the paths of experience, the eyes looking at you showing the depth of their experiences , you can't help but feel the time lost. This book is a moving visual experience and a great gift idea. If you look closely into the eyes of the vatos you will see the ghosts of Moctezuma, Morelos, Juarez, Hidalgo and Zapata, shrouded in the flesh of the Huastecs, Olmecs, Maya, Toltecs, Zapotecs and Aztecs, rising from the barrios and fields of Aztlan to live another day.

Vatos is a joining of the photographs by Jose Galvez and the poetry of Luis Alberto Urrea. The word "vatos" is Chicano street slang for "dude, guy, pal, or brother". The poem comprising the text is Urrea's "Hymn to Vatos Who Will Never Be in a Poem", and is an evocation of Chicano manhood and a shining spotlight on Chicano men who are typically ignored or misrepresented by the surrounding culture, from migrant workers and barrio homeboys to blue-collar husbands and social activists. Jose Galvez's memorable, black-and-white photographs throughout Vatos bring its reverberant poetry to life, creating a unique visual and cognitive experience. Highly recommended.

This is one of the few instances that I have found in which the movie version of a novel is better than the novel itself. This is a contrived work through and through, and one can understand why Bertolucci completely changed the ending for the movie. Moravia here displays his utter sentimentality with an admixture of arm-chair psychology that is truly laughable....and this is probably his best novel.

This novel is fairly difficult to follow at times, but the entire story comes together at the end. You do not have to really be into Moravia's other novels to enjoy this one, but you do have to have some patience. The good parts of the novel are only made better by the rather dull beginning. Read it if you have some free time and you want to get a taste of Moravia's talent.

I tried watching the movie AFTER the book and I had NO patience with the movie, though directed by a person for whom I have great respect. Moravia is a lyricist and this prose poem of a novel describes some very hard facts of boyhood during fascist times in Italy, and more. The boy becomes a man, a conformist, due to an incredible mistake. And a mistaken mistake at that! Add to this an almost abusive father, who is institutionalized later in the novel, his lovely decadent drug addict mother with her 15 small dogs, and her chauffer, of course. A most harrowing, yet not disbeleivable, ending winds up the novel in just two pages. More from Moravia! Get this book back in print! For the scenes in the Paris clubs, it is alone worth reading this fascinating book. I read it two years ago and it has stayed with me, unlike many of my other favotite novels. This book is incomparable; it is not for the conformists, nor is it for the faint of heart!