I have used this book as the basis of several theatre and playwriting classes that I have taught. Ball's language is simple, though the words he creates to explain his theories, such as "trigger" and "heap" (a trigger is the moment when people's motivations are exposed, while a heap is the result of that action) make it it easy for any non-theatre person to grasp the clever concepts.

By having a person read a play backwards, Ball shows how to grasp the playwright's intentions, and the character's movements. It's a basic theatrical literary theatre that is surprisingly effective, especially in trying to teach young writers how to create a play.

I highly recommend this book to the theatre neophyte as well as the theatre professional.

David Ball's Backwards and Forwards is a concise, to-the-point handbook useful to anyone involved in theatre. He, step-by-step, gives methods of analyzing a play, using Hamlet as an example. This is a very useful technique, whereas some books of lesser quality will give information with no examples of application.

As an aspiring director I found the content very helpful, rudimentary, and although at times basic, always insightful. A must-have.

David Ball's book is a must-have for all students and professors of theatre. It demystifies the playwriting process and presents a simple, down-to-earth explanation of why a playscript works the way it does. In a word, it explains how scripts work. I find the deceptively simple explanations help the novices in my Introduction to Theatre classes understand how playscripts are put together and make a fun game of script analysis for these students--a concept that is often hard to communicate to Intro students. At the same time, it make so much sense that it becomes the cornerstone for Beginning Directing, Playwriting, and Script Analysis students. Students whom I teach using Ball's ideas always come through the semester with a lot of self-esteem because having such a solid cornerstone allows their creativity to take off in unexpected directions.

I'm a medical student whose school uses Bates' guide... I must say that this book FAR surpasses Bates. Not only is the information complete, but the pictures and "jewels" it presents are wonderful. This is also better than the Schwartz (which I own also). If I could choose all over which book to buy of the three, I would DEFINITELY buy this one.

Excellent book, superior picture and graphic, good explanations, If you want to buy an excellent book of semiology...here it is. The CD bring usefull information, and friendly interface for students. A recomendation for the Authors could be insert video of each maneuver and sign, as well as clinical interviews of each capital syndrome.

More explanations, more detail, even more color than its rival (Bates). However, lacking in the area of psychiatric diagnosis, which would have been immensely useful in the evaluation of "Robin of Lockslay"...

Carter and Rovell do a masterful job of highlighting the fundamental truths of good business. There is a right way to play the game, and this is the rule book.
Please pay close attention to the anectodes about Minor League Baseball. Sometimes, the greatest success stories do not occur on the grandest of stages.

Congratulations, Mr. Carter and Mr. Rovell!!

I am a college student who really wants to have a future career in sports business. I have read many books but this book by Carter and Rovell takes the cake. It is very well written and they should take pride in the amount of research they did for this book. There are more examples that I can understand than in any other sports business book. Are there two better people to learn the business of sport from? Rovell being 'the guy' for ESPN and Carter being a successful businessman in sports. It is very hard to ignore all this experience. This is a must-read!

I would highly recommend this book! I initially thought it was going to be a fun read about sports marketing. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the book was more about how to apply lessons from the sports world to the business world. As a strategy consultant, I found many of the examples given (especially on brand building, sponsorships, and customer needs) to be very relevant to the kind of work that I do with big consumer products companies. You can't afford to miss this one!

The first of Reynolds' books, _Playing Ball_ is the gateway book. From one perspective, this book with its emphasis on practical, pragmatic ways of coping with life is all you'll ever need. However, you may find it so useful and meaningful that you will want the rest of his books, too, for exactly the same reasons. They're all useful on a day-to-day basis. The best part of _Playing Ball on Running Water_ is that there is no filler, no b.s.. It is all practical, useful, immediate, sensible advice. No matter what shape your life is in, this book can make it better. And it doesn't hurt that Reynolds is an excellent writer.

"Playing Ball on Running Water" by David K. Reynolds is a book that advocates conscious living. The subtitle belays that concept, "The Japanese Way to Building a Better Life." Reynolds takes the Morita psychotherapeutic concepts and adapts them to Western life. The whole basis for this Morita approach is to live life by doing it. Doing it conscientious, with full awareness. This approach is based in Zen Buddhism and it is deceptively simple.

It is amazing that so many of us who are not present and get caught up worrying about the future and bemoaning the past. The book's contention is that we paralyze ourselves with thinking and speaking too much. Reynolds contends that we are not acting on life, not doing life, not actively observing where we are now and not noticing what is around us right now. "...every act provides the opportunity for purposeful accomplishment and personal growth. Every act can involve moments of directed attention."

The author's emphasis is on accepting the current state of being, not letting that keep you from moving on in life, and creating purposeful action. The doing is the important process, not the result. Not having your emotional state or your past keep you from going on at this moment is how Morita is applied. To put what Morita is succinctly, "...to teach students to accept feelings as they are, to know their purposes, and to do what needs to be done."

In summary, Reynolds does more than to illustrate what Morita psychotherapy is with client cases, with Zen Buddhist koans (puzzle), parables, and a clear process to follow. Reynolds gives the reader a blueprint to a life without regrets, to a life that you are fully responsible for.

If you love poking into the obscure corners of history, you need to read this book. Henry Berry Lowery and his gang are driven into the swamp and hide there for years, living like a 19th-century Robin Hood and Merry Men. Tragedy, comedy, romance, and real history! A great combination! The author has discovered an astounding story, and tells it beautifully.

I don't care if you don't like "true story" books. Read this one. Henry Berry Lowery did exist, and he was a freedom-fighter, sort of, for his people (North Carolina native Americans), and he did some incredibly funny things and some incredibly violent things. But it's the writer who goes into the swamp to interview him and his gang who broke my heart and healed it. You never find out the writer's name and you don't need to. You won't forget him and you won't forget Henry Berry either.

I just wish someone had warned me first; normally I think "good literature" is stuffy. But this one is beautifully written AND it has low comedy and serious tragedy and bigtime action, which means that I couldn't put this thing down till past midnight. Open this one up on Friday, because you'll be wrecked at work the next day if you start it on a weeknight.

Even if you speak French, this book is an indispensible source on the great, 20th. century poet Henri Michaux. One of the important things that David Ball establishes is the chronology of Michaux's publishings. Michaux often published a string of small books between major collections - the major books overlapping, partially containing and redacting the earlier books in a highly complex and confusing way. In some cases, the larger work even duplicates the title of a smaller work. Ball untangles this gnarly time-line once and for all.

This is the most extensive selection in English from all phases of Michaux's long poetic career. It includes excerpts from his prose works - the travel writings and the mescalin writings, although nothing was taken from A Barbarian in Asia and Miserable Miracle. There are some plates that provide a view of Michaux's often superb graphic art.

The translations stand up pretty well against Richard Ellman's in Selected Writings (also highly recommended); however, this is a much larger work. Ball is perhaps on the literal side as a translator, a respectable choice. Probably, the only way to translate a poet impeccably, is to have a team of accomplished poets working in direct collaboration with the living poet who also speaks the second language well. And, of course, that's not the case, here. As far as I know, among major 20th. century poets translated into English, only Jorge Luis Borges was tranlated in this arcadian manner. That said, there's nothing wrong with these translations, except that David Ball, though possessed of a good ear, is not himself a poet, or trying to use a translation of a poem as an occasion to write another poem. Again, this is a respectable choice. In a sense Michaux is easy to translate. His language, though highly individual, is clear and direct (except when he's creating his bombastic new words). It's this language and conscience (John Ashberry's critical insight) in service in service to a deep and powerful visionary faculty, that makes Michaux one of the truly great poets of the 20th. century.

I found this book to be a terrific biography of Hal Newhouser, who had his best years during WWII while many other players were off to war and thus had his reputation somewhat tarnished. Jordan writes evocatively not only of what wartime baseball was like, but also what wartime America was like. The writing is clear and vivid - Newhouser was no angel, but his fierce competitiveness made him a winner wherever he pitched. Jordan also makes a compelling argument that Newhouser should be in the Hall of Fame after being snubbed for 40 years, and shortly after this book was published he was indeed inducted. I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in baseball or American history.

A very special first-person childs-eye view of life in Hawaii in pre-Pearl Harbor Hawaii. It's a wonderful and unique story, sometimes very funny, rich in descriptions of places and people leading up to and during a highly dramatic historical event. I gave it only 4 stars because I prefer stories that are more tightly woven, and I felt that there were a few inconsistencies in the narrative. Still, 4 stars for a first novel is definitely well above average and a worth-while read for anyone who loves children and their views on life in a dysfunctional family. Add the settings of Hawaii in 1940-41, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and a child's loss of innocence to the mix, and, well, read it for yourself!

This is the story of Percy, a fat and sassy movie-crazed kid, who loves mayonnaise sandwiches, his mother and his wonderful housekeeper/companion, who is Japanese. Percy is a cross dresser because he loves to re-enact the movies they see...His life is set against the late 30's, to mid-forties, up to and including the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It depicts a rich mix of people and customs in The Hawaiian islands and the shock of that bombing seemed very real. There is also a family curse which is tragically ongoing.
Percy is so very alive, that when I finished the book, I felt compelled to learn more about what had happened to him since, and was inspired to meet the author. Happily, I found him working on the sequel. I am eagerly awaiting it's publication!

For those who enjoyed "Youth in Revolt", here's a pre-computer version that offers an unique blend of coming-of-age and historical relevance. Percy, the protagonist, serves as an excellent conduit for the author's remembrances of pre-WWII Oahu, with side trips to Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii. For those familiar with these islands, this book offers a chance to see Hawaii when it was a relatively unspoiled paradise. For those of us raised in "unconventional" families, Percy's search for answers will strike poignant chords.

Animal Farm is the story of a revolution gone sour. Animalism, Orwell's take on Communism, is an illusion used by the pigs as a means of satisfying their lust for power. At the beginning of the book, Mr. Jones, the master of the farm, is irresponsible toward his animals, so old Major, a white boar, informs the other animals of the need to form a rebellion against Mr. Jones and the human race. The other animals embrace the idea of a revolution and develop a scheme to overthrow Mr. Jones. After the revolution is complete, the animals feel an immediate freedom, a set of commandments is developed for the new "Animal Farm," and they all begin working together for a common good. However, it does not take long for the new society to begin to corrupt. The satisfaction of removing Mr. Jones from the farm prevents the animals from noticing the politics still going on within the farm. The animals are convinced by those in power that their memory of the original utopia and commandments are false. So long as the animals cannot remember the past, because it is being continually altered, they will have no control over the present and future. George Orwell is making a great political statement in Animal Farm with specific emphasis on mass rebellion. It personifies Karl Marx's ideas for communism and illustrates what can happen after a revolution with specific attention to the fact that every society is political and contains "pigs" who will always grab for power. This satirical fable leaves the reader with a better understanding of communism and the anatomy of political revolution in any culture.

The story Animal Farm is something that every person in the entire world should read. This simple tale of a group of animals, neglected, abused, enslaved, and put down, rising up against their hateful masters with the hopes of creating an egalitarian society was meant as a commentary on the state of the Soviet Union. The depiction created of a Communist society from its conception to its death is one of tyranny, deceit, distrust, and rivalry that destroys the pure intentions of the original revolutionaries. Though the depth of the underlying political commentary may be lost on people with no interest in the operation of the economy or the government, Animal Farm is a very accessible story with easy to understand lessons in morality, fairness, and honesty.

One note on the additional "filler" information added to this edition, it is both poorly written and uninteresting. While the life of George Orwell is interesting and something worth learning about, especially if you have aspirations towards being a socialist, the author of this section does such a poor job that reading tax codes in IRS publications is more interesting.

In summary, buy this book, read it, lend it to someone else, read it again, lend it to more people, read it again, and dream of a world of egalitarian communism. Or you can just read the story, enjoy the struggles and triumphs of the heroic animals, despise the greedy pigs, and share the experience with someone else.

George Orwell's Animal Farm is a superb animation of the Russian Revolutioon. The book is amusing and interesting; it includes a comic element as it synonymously demonstrates the evolution from the proletariat revolution to a totalitarian government led by the swine of the society. Orwell successfully simplified the not-so-simple theory of class stratification and Karl Marx's proposed solution of communism. Orwell's method of conveyance is incredibly inventive. He uses satire in the form of a fairy tale to share his indignation for ideological doctrines that would, if allowed, lead to the eventual destruction of a society. Each character in the story is representative of someone who was involved in the Russian Revolution. Old Major is Marx, and inspires the proletariat revolution by motivating the over-worked animals and educating them on the ways of the human beings, who represent the bourgeoisie. Orwell's creativity convinces the reader that the animals on the farm are intellectual beings, revolting against the tyranny of the humans. Animal Farm offers itself as an example of a responsible criticism of Marxism. The story gives us a peek at the Utopian vision, and then offers a long look at what results from using a Marxist approach at achieving it. I strongly reccomend this book, as it is entertaining and educational. Orwell succeeded in creating a fairy tale that evokes both sadness and laughter, while causing us to feel sympathy and even empathy for the working class animals. The book escapes complexity, but its message does not.

The book seems to contain quite a bit of information, but as a person with no prior expiereince with Linux I found it very difficult to use as a reference book. I would recommend the book to people with some Linux expierience.

I believe that this book is perfect for learning everything about linux. I know when i bought it i was a little confused...well a lot, but now i understand it much better. It takes time, you must use linux a lot and when you come up with problems, look them up in the book. The more you look up, the more you will understand about linux. Basically i'm saying the more problems you have with your linux console, the better you will be with linux (because you have used this book to help you solve your problem).

....this is the book for you. It provides the locations of files and important documents. Overall coverage of just about everything you could ever want in a book. If you don't use Red Hat, Caldera, or Debian then this isn't the book for you; but if you do, it's the ultimate reference.