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Book reviews for "Benlowes,_Edward" sorted by average review score:

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
Published in Hardcover by W.W. Norton & Company (May, 1988)
Authors: New York Vietnam Memorial Comm., Bernard Edelman, Edward Arving Koch, and New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commi
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Insightful
This book consists of letters written by American soldiers during the Vietnam War. It's extremely heart-breaking to read these letters as they gives "voices" instead of a mere figure. A lot of times, the figure of how many were killed, wounded, missing, etc but it does not portray any "emotions" the soldiers felt. At the end of each letter, the editor includes a few sentences on what happened to the author. It's extremely sad to read how many of those killed were just 19 year-olds, 20 year-olds, and these soldiers were just kids! It makes you think how wasteful, stupid, unnecessary wars are, and the sacrifices that has to be made.

The last chapter of this book speaks a lot. It is chronologically listed and you can see the evolving sentiments of the soldiers. At the beginning of the war, the soldiers were proud to fight against the Communists, how they think the war will be over soon. Towards the end of that chapter, most soldiers were scared, depressed and just wanted to get out of the war... alive! This shows why many Vietnam War veterans suffered from postwar depression as the horror of the war, how their friends, buddies were killed or wounded in front of their own eyes and how many could not possibly forget these horrifying images.

I highly recommend this book as this book speaks a lot. To me, the important message that it is trying to convey is the unnecessary sacrifices that these soldiers have to make, to fight a war that is not theirs, and the horror and bloodiness of the war is vividly described by these soldiers.

I thought it was a very moving book/movie!!!
I have seen the movie in class last week and my teacher was in the war, but only as an engineer controller down in a ship. When my eighth grade class saw it, it was very good only some parts my teacher cut out because of nudity. I would suggest this boook or movie to anyone that has ever wondered about the Vietnam thing. This "war" that some people like to call it was not a war at all, it was just a police action and the soldiers were the police and we were just looking and were going to arrest the V.C.'s. If you have any problem with what I am saying then you can contact me at my address below. Thank You!

Sarah Quartuccio 14yrs. old

Powerfully emotional
I still remember the day I walked into my college's library back in the late 1980s and saw this publication sitting on the table of new releases. I picked it up and headed for a couch. About six hours, many tears, mixed emotions, and several missed classes later I emerged from that couch and put the completed book back on the table. In those six hours my view about the Vietnam experience and those who fought it changed. The words of those soldiers in their letters are powerful evidence of the collision between innocence and experience that takes place when young men are thrust into battle.

This book should be required reading for all students of that war and required reading for every President who ever contemplates sending soldiers into battle.


Fair Not Flat: How to Make the Tax System Better and Simpler
Published in Hardcover by University of Chicago Press (Trd) (April, 2002)
Author: Edward J. McCaffery
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Tax and A Participatory Democracy
Every American pays taxes in one form or another, but not many of us understand its broader social policy implications. I read this book and it gave me a working understanding of how the dry old tax system affects broader human behavior: How tax affects how each of us saves, spends and invests. Ultimately, the tax system is about what values we as a society want to promote. Here, McCaffery explains how the tax system is wrong-headed by encouraging spending and discouraging saving and challenges us to rethink age-old liberal assumption regarding taxing income, rather than consumption. While a consumption tax is not a new idea and McCaffery certainly is not the architect of it, McCaffery does a good job of synthesizing the literature on taxes and challenges us to rethink the values behind our current tax code.

OUTSTANDING!
Mr. McCaffery's analysis is superb. This is a must-read for anyone who thinks their income tax is too high or that the tax system is in desperate need of a major change (that's just about everybody- isn't it).

A must read for Tax Techies
Any [one] can see that the transaction costs of the current income tax system combined with its accompanying incentive to waste make it unworkable from a wealth maximizing perspective. Anyone who understands the current tax system, even a left-wing, ivy league educated law professor has to admit that a consumption tax, coupled with the elimination of the estate tax would better equip America to reduce transaction costs and incentivize saving. "The Mac" lays it all out for the world to see ... are they looking?


The Fundamentals of Extremism
Published in Paperback by New Boston Books, Inc. (01 February, 2003)
Authors: Kimberly Blaker, Edward M. Buckner, Edwin Kagin, Bobbie Kirkhart, Herb Silverman, and John Suarez
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Eye-opening
Kimberly Blaker and her co-authors have presented a well-researched, informative, and eye-opening account of the not-so-obvious ways Christian fundamentalists are seeking to overhaul our society, its government, and the educational system. The authors address the serious impact that these radicals have on children's welfare, women's rights, and separation of church and state issues. Anyone interested in preserving our constitutional and religious freedoms, from athiests to conservative believers, will benefit from understanding the epidemic of extreme beliefs in our country. This book has made me realize that it is not safe to sit by passively. The fundamentalists count on that. Instead, we must pay closer attention to the Christian fundamentalist movement and use our voting rights, at local, state, and federal levels, to take action against this very active minority emerging in the United States.

Disturbing but eye opening ..
Kimberley Blaker's collection of contributions is as disturbing as it is eye opening. In this single book you are walked through a virtual maze of the many facets of religious fundamentalism and how it is seeping in to every pore of our society unnoticed ... almost.

The book is not an attack on Fundamentalists as one might fear, but is a very thought provoking examination of the threat fundamentalism, as a practice, poses to the future of our democracy. As the line of separation between Church and State becomes even more muddied, it is imperative that we each look around us and identify the factors which are contributing so heavily to this attempted erosion of our freedom. As Blaker, et al, point out so clearly - one of these factors is fundamentalism.

Frightening but timely
A book you can't put down. Very timely in this day and age of religious fundamentalism growing world wide...People think it can't happen here?? Think again.


The Headless Bust: A Melancholy Meditation for the False Millennium
Published in Hardcover by Harcourt (15 October, 1999)
Author: Edward Gorey
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vintage gorey, but not for starters
If you're unacquainted with Gorey, don't start with this - start with Amphigorey. But if you've already got the EG bug, here's another must for the library. This sequel of sorts (in as much as anything can truly be linked to anything else by EG), is a delight that will get you snickering everytime you put marmalade on your aubergine.

A Gorey Sequel
In this sequel to "The Haunted Tea Cozy," the Bahhum Bug returns to Edmund Gravel and takes him on another journey to ponder over the fates and destinies of others. Upon their return to Gravel's home they calmly await the millennium. After all, will another day make a difference in the lives they just saw?

Edward Gorey (1925-2000) RIP
Edward Gorey died in the Hyannisport Hospital on April 18, 2000 from heart failure. On April 23, 2000, Charles Osgood on "Sunday Morning" (CBS) aired a final interview with Gorey and gave a short memorial to him. Gorey final interest featured finials, and his final stuffed creation was the figbash. Gorey's first work was THE UNSTRUNG HARP (1953) and THE HEADLESS BUST (1999) appears to be his terminal one unless he has left some manuscripts for posthumous publication. Let's hope that he did. He's gone, but he is now draped with the robe immortality and on his way to take his place in the Pantheon of Literature next to Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. A fitting poem for his mausoleum would be one by Walter Hamilton: "I never had a piece of toast, Particularly long and wide, But fell upon the sanded floor, And always on the buttered side."


Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration
Published in Paperback by Belknap Pr (September, 1995)
Authors: Bert Holldobler and Edward Osborne Wilson
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fascinating journey
What a fantastic journey this book was! The myriad adaptations that these creatures have made to various different challenges is truly fascinating. The photos of different ant species and the many detailed behaviours are very exciting. I would recommend this book to anyone with the slightest bit of curiosity. My only complaint (and certainly not a criticism) is that the writing in this book is clearly aimed at a 12-14 age level. Others may find the descriptions of behaviours and experiments a tad facile...

A magnificent pilgrimage through time and space
There are only a few writers who truly capture the natural world's complex structure, presenting it in a readable manner. Edward Wilson is one of these. Here, he's joined by Bert Holldobler in picturing one of our world's more enigmatic creatures - the ants. This book is a joy to read, whether you seriously study evolution or simply want a grander picture of life's mysteries. This book is a collector's item in reviewing what is known about ants and calling on students to consider how much remains to be studied.

The ants are one of the dominant forms of life on this planet. They've spread to nearly every environmental niche, adapting their habits and colony structure successfully. Wilson and Holldobler willingly convey their awe at this variety to anyone wishing to share it. Among the amazing accounts they relate, perhaps two stand out. The finding of the earliest known fossil specimens by a New Jersey family, and the night-foraging ants of Australia. Holldobler and Wilson's journeys have taken them to remote sites around the planet. They have a fine sense of how to bring the reader into their camps and excursions, sharing their discoveries and their tribulations.

Along the way, we learn how ants form their colonies, breed, forage, make war and enslave or absorb their fellows or other creatures. "Ants all look the same to the naked eye" they state, then show what a fallacy it is to continue believing that outlook. Beginning as solitary ground wasps, the ants have become one of the most complex social creatures in life. Their colonies range from simple bivouacs to huge structures. They can remove tonnes of soil to build a nest or range over extensive territories, terrifying even people with waves of migrating insects.

Anyone seeking to understand even a little of the diversity of life should own this book.

Great teaching aid for non-science teachers.
This book is easy to read. Could easily be used by elementary, middle school, and secondary school teachers to prepare a number of interesting lessons and scientific projects. Not only can insects (ants in particular, of course) but society, community, non-linguistic communication, evolution, and putting the universe into a size perspective provides many areas for class discussion. "Ants are oblivious to human existence." An incredible statement that will spark great conversation. Ants do not even know we are here! And they wont miss us when we are gone. After we have destroyed our natural habitat, they will continue to live in their microwildernesses. Text also provides a brief chapter on how to collect and observe ants and ant colonies. I am a language teacher but found reading this text simple and interesting.


The Love Compatibility Book: Twelve Personality Traits that Can Lead You to Your Soulmate
Published in Paperback by New World Library (February, 2003)
Authors: Edward, Ph.D. Hoffman and Marcella Bakur, Ph.D. Weiner
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Sophisticated Guidelines Leading to Practica l Goalsl
The Love Compatibility Book offers the reader sophisticated guidelines to choosing a soulmate based on sound research of 12 personality traits . It helps to understand and match similar traits with your own personality style.
Written in contemporary and easy to read style, the authors Drs. Hoffman and Weiner offer practical advice based on their combined knowledge,professional and life experience of qualities that enhance loving relationships.
Dr. Lenore Powell, author of Alzheimer's Disease:A Guide
For Families and Caregivers

Comprehensive and Enlightening...Science meets Spirituality
Drs Weiner and Hoffman devoted 7 years to compile the research necessary to complete this book...they have integrated their information from a number of fields, including biology, developmental psychology, and personality theory. A more subtle undercurrent of the book has to do with spirituality, and gaining further insight into the Self. I believe this book will be extremely helpful to other professionals in the field of psychology, as well as those looking to meet their spiritual and practical counterpart...if you are looking for love and haven't found it, this book will help in illuminating why and will assist in self-enlightment, the first step of finding true, lasting intimacy and love. Highly recommended!

Sorting Out Mr. Right from Mr. Wrong!
At last, a more reasonable approach to sorting out Mr. Right from Mr. Wrong! It's an amazing book and very empowering. I learned so much about myself and why some of my past relationships just didn't work out. Now my love life won't be left totally to chance. Thank you, authors Bakur-Weiner and Hoffman for your help!


Eldrie the Healer (The Bastard Princess, Book 1)
Published in Paperback by Random House Trade Paperbacks (March, 1989)
Author: Claudia J. Edwards
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Great Book -- Must read
This is a wonderful story. Runaway princesses, search for magic, battle, death, love, heatbreak. The only bad thing about it was the death of the author 6 months after the release. So, unfortunatly, no second in the series.

First and Last Book
This book is great. I love the idea of a runaway princess. I got the book when I was at a 1/2 off book sale. When I went to write to the publisher for the 2nd book. To my horror I found the series to be discontinued. Sadly Eldrie the Healer is the first and Last book to the series that wasn't to be. I still give the book 5 out of 5 stars for plot, character development and the whole 9 yards.

Eldrie the Healer
I agree with all the excellent reviews. WHERE is the rest of this series? I have searched ever since I read the first book and have been unable to find one.


Enzyme Nutrition
Published in Paperback by Lotus Press (March, 1986)
Authors: Edward Howell and Maynard Murray
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SMALL; BUT, TOUCHED THE VITAL POINTS.
In this "Enzyme Nutrition", Eddie Howell and May Murray managed to squeeze a lot of information into a compact space. A good effort indeed!
The book is small; but, touched every vital point. Its outline good, and includes: the catalytic nature of food enzymes; their individual sources; stability; instability; as well as other biochemical and physiological characteristics.
This book will be of great benefit to nutritionist/dieticians, biochemists, pharmacologists, and many others. Its theme is simple and straightforward. Still, I will advise any non-science biased enthusiasts (like: bodybuilders and fitness [people]), who would like to venture into it, to keep a biochemistry dictionary at hand. "Enzyme Nutrition" will assist its readers in assessing and selecting healthy natural foods. It is an ideal and affordable advisor, which diabetics and other persons with limited food choice would enjoy reading.

Enjoyable but too technical at times.
I found this book very informative and enlightening but too technical at times which made the learning process a little less enjoyable for me.

The Missing Link of Essential Nutrition
This seminal work by Dr. Howell fills a much needed void in the nutrition paradigm. With abundant clinical research to back his findings, he explains the critical importance of consuming foods rich in natural enzymes and how these life-sustaining molecules are destroyed by our modern methods of cooking, sterilizing, and processing foods. Written on a level basic enough for people with little nutrition background, yet comprehensive enough to take a doctor like myself to a new level of understanding regarding the power of raw foods in both health and disease. He even takes one quote from the standard "bible" of anatomy for all U.S. medical schools, Gray's Anatomy, which points out that the human stomach is actually similar to the well known ruminant animals in having two seperate divisions for digestion. This book, which took over 20 years to compile and originally spanned over 700 pages, was written by a man who dedicated his life to patient care and research. This is an excellent primer for anyone interested in learning the value of unadulterated food in its natural state for health maintenance, as well as the ultimate natural weapon in conquering disease.


Eqbal Ahmad: Confronting Empire
Published in Paperback by South End Press (July, 2000)
Authors: Eqbal Ahmad, David Barsamian, and Edward W. Said
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The world according to Ahmad
It is hard not to like Ahmad as you read these interviews. First, he is a thoughtful critic of international politics and economic systems. He is as tough on the Soviet left as he is on the capitalist right. And in the process he is engaged by such thinkers as Edward Said, Albert Camus and Antonia Gramsci. Like many leftists, however, Ahmad offers more criticism than solutions. He is not as rabidly anti-American as Chomsky, but he does embrace some of the third-world cliches about the West and the US that grow tiresome after a while. I, for one, am not convinced that the rest of the world is trapped in an American economic construct from which there is no possibility of liberation or advancement. The tough work of building a civil society, of opening the doors of debate and freedom, of embracing a reasonable economic policy that allows for some human ingenuity, none of this is prevented by a US power structure. On the contrary, the US generally has only blocked -- on a few occasions -- forays into Stalinist systems hostile to both local and international interests. On the other hand, some of his observations are keen -- his conclusion, for example, that non-violent resistance can only be effective against oppression that is morally founded, such as British colonialism (bringing enlightenment to the rest of the world). It would not work against Stalin or Hitler (or Saddam). He is also a valuable guide through some of the India/Pakistan issues that are confusing to many of us. Like William Appleman Williams, another US critic, Ahmad has some interesting things to say, but they must be weighed against the total evidence of history.

Simple yet hard-hitting. A must read
I read this book in 3 hours on a long haul flight and then talked my neighbouring passenger into following suit. It's that good.

A stirring page turner with simple unawashed straight-talk about politics, religion, world order, even the vagaries of corporatization. Really, I hesitate to make this into a long intellectual review but you will find themes ranging from the opportunism of Gandhi, to the seeds of discord that US itself sowed in the middle east and south east asia (and what the future holds), to the after-effects of blatant commercialization on our social lives, to.... Wait, what am I doing. There is no way you will regret the 11 dollars that go into this incredibly eye-opening insight, so stop wasting your time reading these reviews and just buy it!

Quite simply as close to an intelligent thriller as a work of non-fiction can come. Required reading.

A must read
Eqbal Ahmad is a rare example of a man who struggled to live by his principles and has shown others the way by the sheer humanity and clarity of his thought. He was a true and worthy inheritor of the sufi tradition.


Little Bo: The Story of Bonnie Boadicea
Published in Hardcover by Hyperion Press (October, 1999)
Authors: Julie Andrews Edwards and Henry Cole
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Julie Andrews is truely magical
As a child I fell in love with the actress Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Still an outstanding actress, I enjoyed her recent Princess Diaries, I am continually amazed at her abilities. If singing like a nightingale and acting weren't enough, she has also proven to be equally talented as an author! My eleven year daughter bought Little Bo two years ago with her hard earned allowance money. She couldn't put it down then and frequently goes back to enjoy it over again. She is currently reading it to her five year old sister who can't wait for bedtime now since she so enjoys her bedime story. The only problem is that their eight year old brother runs off with it at the most inopportune times thus wreaking havok! He thought if he could sneak away and read it in hiding no one would tease him. Boys who are almost nine are only supposed to read cool stuff, you know. He, too, found Little Bo irresistable and no longer even tries to hide it. I'm beginning to wonder if Mary Poppins wasn't really a fictional character at all but a chapter in Julie Andrews life. Don't stop now Ms. Andrews. We love you!

A Must-Read Children's Book
Bonnie Boadicea "Bo" is a little kitten born into a family with a loving mother and father, but not to kind owners. She is the runt of the litter, and doesn't eat much due to her small size. Her father loves her, and to make her feel special gives her a big name, but calls her "Bo" for short.

One day it is time for the kittens to leave their mother, and the nice warm house. They realize that they are going to be hurt unless they escape from Mr. Withers, who was supposed to take them to the pet shop. So all the kittens run in different directions, and are soon scared, wet and hungry.

Bo meets a nice sailor and gets into all kinds of mischief with him on the boat he works on, and is soon a sailing cat with a nice home and a kind owner.

This is a must read children's book that anyone, young or old, would enjoy.

Julie Andrews Edwards reading _Little Bo_ is a must.
The CD/book edition of _Little Bo_ is a must for young children. Julie Andrews Edwards reads as well as she sings. This edition adds much to the written text. The CD can be used as a series of short readings. The conclusion of each chapter is accompanied by gentle music that tells the child or parent that there is a natural break. The author researched the book well, and the portions of the book that take place on a fishing boat during a severe storm are very plausible. Henry Cole's soft drawings do much to convey the flavor of the story.

Bo, the kitten, and her siblings were sent away during a snow storm by the owner because their sire was an alley cat. Bo finds a friend in Billy Bates, a sailor aboard a fishing boat. Bo survives a severe storm and the dislike of the boat captain. Billy and Bo leave the boat to find new lives for themselves.


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