Lots of writers have tried to convey Alaska to non-Alaskans. Few have succeeded. Those who have are the ones who have chosen to illustrate small parts of the larger whole, and selected the right parts. Margaret Murie comes to mind. But 16 years on, Coming Into the Country is still the best.

I own and have read everything McPhee has written. I subscribe to New Yorker mostly for the annual or biennial piece by McPhee. I like the geology series very much, and parts of Birch Bark Canoe still make me laugh out loud, but Country is his best book.

McPhee's many gifts including finding and understanding interesting, compelling people, and writing about them eloquently and non-judgmentally. He uses those people and what they say to convey his larger themes. Stan Gelvin and his dad, Willie Hensley and, of course, the folks in and around Eagle. He somehow wrangled a seat on the state capital relocation committee's helicopter. He somehow charmed the irascible Joe Vogler into candor. I talked with Vogler - who has since been murdered in a gun deal gone bad - about McPhee's interview, and he told me that McPhee took no notes during interviews over a week, and yet "pretty much got it right."

I've lived in Alaska most of my life. I've read the gushy stuff (Michener, for example), the political diatribes (Joe McGinnis, for example), and the gee-whiz tourist fodder. McPhee, instead of trying to paint the whole state, paints a series of miniatures which give you a much accurate glimpse than the writers and hacks who try to "describe" Alaska.

Maybe it's that America's best non-fiction writer brought his special tools and skills to the right opportunities; maybe it's just luck. It all came together in this book. The last bit, his walk down to the river and the growing worry, verging on panic, that this is wilderness, that a bear could be around the next corner, that he is not in control and can never be in control; the eloquence and the message are what makes Alaska. No one has described it better.

If you want to try to understand Alaska, its people, its politics and why I live here, this book is the best place to start. This book is a great writer's greatest book.

In the late 1970's my mother and father were inspired by John McPhee's Coming Into the Country to the point of venturing out onto the open highway. I was but two years old, headed across America, from Georgia to Alaska, towards Eagle, the tiny community that McPhee discusses with a keen eye in the third section of his book. I spent my childhood in that community and it would not be until I was fully grown that I would actually read his book. Just a couple of years ago, when I was attending college in Georgia, I became homesick for Alaska and decided to read the book that had been so impressive to my parents. I was amazed by McPhee's way of seeing the truth in something foreign to him -- how he described the people of Eagle. I highly recommend this book to all those who wish to venture into the land of Alaska, whether in their actual travels or in their imagination.

Again and again we hear it, but it's true: John McPhee can interest a reader in anything. He manages to combine a richly sedimented prose, which frequently rises to a level of virtuosity of which 95% of novelists would be envious, with a tangible involvement in the activities of the people he writes about. And he does always write, first and foremost, about people. 'Coming into the Country' is McPhee's longest single book and contains about ten capsule biographies (and quite a bit of modest autobiography, too) in addition to observations on the hibernation of bears, the various techniques of panning for gold, the advantages of sled-dogs against snow-machines, the failings of bush-pilots, and three-dozen other disquisitions.

Without wishing to carp, I do think that the book is a shade too long -- the final section 'Coming into the Country' could profitably have been pruned of about forty pages -- but the greater length does allow the reader to see the effort McPhee goes to to provide his stories with an aesthetically pleasing structure. The first section, 'The Encircled River' deposits us, in medias res, halfway down a tributary of one of Alaska's northenmost rivers. McPhee and his companions travel downriver to the confluence of a larger river, and then we head back to the headwaters of the earlier river -- the story describes an encircling pattern. The second part 'What they were looking for' is a very funny record of a helicopter trip taken by a committee established to decide on a new capital for Alaska. Here the story skips around the theme as the chopper skips around proposed sites for the new metropolis. It's in the final section which gives the book its title that McPhee really lets loose, leaping from the present to the past, from those living on the river to those encamped in the small town of Eagle, back to the Indian village, on to a white mountain trapper and his Indian wife, back to the first goldrush era in the Yukon valley, all the time incorporating off-the-record views of Eagle townspeople, journal entries, his own observations of the breathtaking landscape. It's a tour-de-force. McPhee is the best journalist in the English-speaking world. Alaska is a wonderful place. The meeting of the two is something to behold.

This is a fine example of 20th century writing which focuses on issues that most people would rather not think about. How many of us have sat through history class and learned that John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln and never even thought about why? What is most surprising about the play (and music) is that you really begin to understand why these people thought they should try to kill the President. Unfortunately this musical will go down as one of the most seldom performed because of it's subject matter and the fact that people will believe it promotes the assasins. Sondheim and Weidman seem to make quite a statement about gun possesion as well as the insanity of the perpetrators. Samuel Byck's monologue alone is enough reason to buy this book and I plan to use it in an audition if given the chance.

Unfortunately, too few people in mainstream America have ever heard of 'Assassins' the darkly-comic musical theatre masterpiece by Stephen Soundheim and John Weidman. While it is sad, the public's apathy toward this ingeniously-written musical actually came in useful to me this past year. A participant in high school Speech, my partner and I were searching for the 'perfect' piece that would give us success, something achieved in past years, but not to the highest levels. Veterans of the Speech circuit, and this being my final year in the program, we were looking for something that would really stand out from the competition. Almost by accident, I came across a copy of 'Assassins' and soon saw its potential. Scene 16 (a seemingly-impossible exchange between Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and Lincoln killer John Wilkes Booth) is one of the most creative scenes of any play I have ever seen, and after examination by both my partner and I, we knew we had a winner. In addition to its unusual setting (something judges love), it blended the right amount of humor, suspense, and irony to put all other speakers simply out of the race. Thanks to Soundheim and Weidman, Nick Cook and Brad Mariska (that's me!) took home first place trophies at a number of meets during the regular season and advanced through the sub-seciton, section, and state prelims, into the final round of the state speech tournament. While we didn't take home the title, we were crowned as the 5th best speech team in Minnesota, and all audience members there that day certainly agreed (despite the results) that 'Assassins' was the most unusual and interesting piece competing that day. And we couldn't be happier.

Unbelievable -- stunning, tragic, poignant, frightening; Sondheim and Weidman take one of the most bizarre subjects for a musical and make it totally accessible. It's a piece of theatre which doesn't just revolve around assassination, but examines what it is and what it means (or should mean) to be an American. There are moments of high hilarity (the almost vaudevillian comedy teaming of would-be Gerald Ford assassins Sara Jane Moore and "Squeaky" Fromme) as well as moments of heartbreak and pathos (the monologues of Sam Byck, who highjacked a jetliner and attempted to crash it into the White House in order to kill Richard Nixon). Certainly not a piece of musical theatre for all audiences or all tastes, but one which is compelling, innovative, and thought-provoking. A must for all fans of Stephen Sondheim's work, or for deep and complex works of theatre in general.

Diadem 4 tells of great of 3 kids who have to help Thunder the unicorns leader to stop marmanki from taking his herd. This should be a tv show this books can give a continent a knew meaning of imagination. You should also keep on writing books and make this a computer sofware and tv show. I read 1,2,3,4, and know I will buy5, and 6

I have read all six of the diadem series at least a zillion times. Though i get teased alot by my older brother, Robert(16) for reading "childish books" i can't help but love them. I wish that John Peel would write more of the diadem books so that i can read them over and over again till they fall apart!!!! I've read like every book he's written and so has my friend, Lisa(13, soon to be 14). Though the books are recomended for ages 9-12 i'm 14 and love them!! Have i said that already? Oh well, i just wrote this to beg Mr.Peel to have mercy on my poor soul and to please PLEASE write more of the DIADEM books:the greatest series ever written!!!!

This is a great book. You should keep on writing. I read books 1-4, and know will soon buy 5 & 6. You should make this a computer software, and a cartoon if you like. You should keep on writing. I read every book 3x. Please makes the series a television show on channels 11/5 , and 44. Keep writing until series 90000, or 5

After reading this book, I not only learned the nuts and bolts of network marketing, but found a man with a heart for network marketers. The first few chapters dealing with purpose, changed my life. I'm proud to say I have the privilage to work with him in his Nikken downline. With network marketing on the increase, this book is a "must read".

Having read other works on network marketing, I honestly don't think anything can come close to this one. John walks the reader through, step by step, the practical applications and procedures of SUCCESSFUL network marketing. As an added bonus, this is a generic book, geared for any individual in ANY MLM company, thus making it very useful. (Readers of this commentary should note that this book assumes that the MLM company you are in is already established, and you are seeking to become a successful distributor. It is NOT for those who wish to set up their very own network marketing company.) Even still, this book contains valuable information that you may not learn from your sponsor, but will need to have any notable degree of success in MLM. This book is an iron-clad, rock-solid, 10! Thank you, John!

Everyone should read this book whether they are in network marketing or not. This book helps you choose your path and purpose. This book should definitely be read by any business person or networker, especially Nikken distributors. I give it to all of my associates.

Over the last 15 years I have been involved with organizations undergoing major change. For all of those years I have tried to discover why change, that appears so essential to these companies, fails most of the time. I have searched for years for a logical answer.

I happend to notice the title of this book at a donated book sale at our local library.... I picked it and others up and proceeded to add it to the pile of books I would some day scan. On a long business flight I started to read this book.

I could not stop. As the authors laid out their ideas I covered the pages with notes.

Finaly a logical explanation of why change, even obviously necessary change, fails. Even more the begining of a method on how to make it work.

Knowing the difference between first-order change, and second-order change can change your life! See if you can figure this out: "It obviously makes as difference whether we consider ourselves as pawns in a game whose rules we call reality or as players of the game who know that rules are 'real' only to the extent that we have created or accepted them, and that we can change them." This is pretty much what this book is about. And this, "When a person enters therapy, he is fully entrenched in a dilemma: what he wishes to attain has become all the more important and urgent ... and because of this urgency it is all the more important that no risk of falure be involved in the eventual action." Complex stuff. I read it once, and now I'm back to read it again. It's hard to absorb it all the first time even though you know you're reading some pretty radical stuff that you probably ought to be acting upon!

This is a great book on the mind. It shows us that we don't really need to know the mechanisms of things to make it work. Just like we don't have to know how a car works in order to drive it. The mind is the same way. Never mind the mechanisms it involves but if you do this and this, a person will do this and this. And surprisingly, although most of the suggestions are counterintuitive, most of the things discussed in the book actually work when we try it out on others. Try it and you will see! If you want to know why these things work, I'd suggest you read "Rhythm, Relationships, and Transcendence" by Toru Sato. It is a very insightful book about relationships and consciousness. If you get the message, you will know why the things suggested in Watzlawick's books actually work. Happy reading!

This book is a good guide to becoming financially independant. The concepts are straightforward and realistic. However I wish there was more discussion regarding the Pros and Cons of prepaying a low rate mortgage versus investing that money in an stock index fund. Even at a historic 10% average return, the market might be a better long term place - Later you could pay off the mortgage from the stock fund - meanwhile having more liquidity than a pre-paid mortgage. Similar questions regarding pre-tax 401K contributions - seems those should be maxed. Nevertheless, I would indeed recommend this book.

I ordered the course in August 1997. I was able to wipe out 6,000 dollars in car loan and credit debt. The mortgage I had 25 plus years yet to pay will be paid off in three years. Many people I approach believe it sounds too good to be true. Not true, the advertisers, creditors and the government have allowed us to be blinded to the truth. Getting rid of all consumer debt and living strictly on cash is the answer to a prsperous life.

I read the book about a year ago. By the end of 1999 we will have eliminated 2 car notes and various credit cards. I will be able to quit my job and raise our children, and we will still pay off the mortgage in 7 years. This is not only a "must-read," it is a "must-do!"

By all means, buy this edition if it is your only way to enter the marvelous world that Sienkiewicz has given to Poland and to posterity. Discover why the Trilogy has been a best-seller in its native land for more than a century. Epic adventure, star-crossed love, villains, heroes, treachery, heartbreak and humor. Sienkiewicz wrote to lift up the hearts of his people, and if he doesn't lift yours, double-check to make sure you still have a pulse.

But beg or borrow if you can, and steal if you must, the translation by W.S. Kuniczak that was published in the early 1990s. Discover what happens when a novelist translates. Kuniczak is true not just to the sentences, but to the spirit of the work. He blows the dust out of the century-old writing and lets it shine. And for readers not on intimate terms with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th Century (admit it), he effortlessly drops in helpful hints.

Here's how Curtin starts:

There was in Jmud a powerful family, the Billeviches, descended from Mendog, connected with many, and respected, beyond all, in the district of Rossyeni. ... Their native nest, existing to this day, was called Billeviche; ... In later times they branched out into a number of houses, the members of which lost sight of one another. They all assembled only when there was a census at Rossyeni of the general militia of Jmud on the plain of the invited Estates.

And Kuniczak:

In the part of the old Grand Duchy of Lithuania that was known as Zmudya, and which antedated the times of recorded history, there lived an ancient family named Billevitch, widely connected with many other houses of Lithuanian gentry, and respected more than any other in the Rosyen region. ... Their family seat, known as Billevitche ... so that in time they split into several branches that seldom saw each other. Some of them got together now and then when the Zmudyan gentry gathered for the annual military census near Rosyen on a plain called Stany...

Honestly, which version would you rather spend 1700 pages with? The native nest or the family seat?

(And just by the by, when will a smart publisher sell the Sienkiewicz Trilogy alongside Tolkien? Why do they squirrel it away with the Serious Literature in Translation that mostly gathers dust? There's millions and millions of dollars in these books, lying around, waiting for someone to market them properly.)

Nor ears heard what Sienkewicz has prepared for those who love his works! Number two in the trilogy on the history of Poland, this is the best I have read in a long, long time. It stands alone as a story, but many of its characters have been proven in war in other stories of Sienkiewicz. If for that alone, it is worth reading this book after "With Fire and Sword". It tells the love story of a man and a woman tragically separated by foolishness, pride, confusion and the Swedish invation of Poland in the 1500s which divided a nation against itself and drew the best and worst out of its citizens. Above all, this is a romantic novel, but with enough battles, action and virtues to outdo the Illiad. You will cry and laugh as you read it; you will hope against hope; you will feel in the middle of the battle; you will want to unsheath your sword and run after the neighbours... In sum, another Sienkiewicz masterpiece. Written from a Catholic perspective, this book summarizes well the soul of the Polish nation and its love for the Church.

The DEluge as with the rest of SIenkiewicz's works is literature of the highest quality. It summarizes the heart and soul of a nation and few other nations can claim to have such an outstanding piece of literature that touches the nations souls as does SIenkiewicz. The DEluge is thelargest of the three books of the Trilogy butlike the others you will simply not be able to put it down. The character development is so real - it is as if you know these people in your personal life - the plots - the action - the human drama - the history - it is simply outstanding. I do not understand why a mini series has not been made out of these novels - It is work of the highest quality which seems to have laid undiscoverd for nealy a century now!

The DEluge centers about Swedens march into POland. POland initially accepted their incursion, however, as the situation worsens the POles srrike back. The Swedish war machine was beleived to be unstoppable throguhout Europe and they did march through Poland but they made a mistake - attacking the town of Czestochowa (pronounced Ches toe hova) which had significant religous importance to the POles. The POles were rallied by a Bishop who held out against the Swedes under great odds and touched the soul of Poland. It is something we need to learn in our country - that we must put country above our personal needs to exist and win in the world. Sienkiewicz brings this point home again and again throughout the novel. Mike Niziol

This book covers such issues of web site globalization as translation, design, development and management. Besides that, it shows in various examples and case studies that globalization aspects should be taken with care to avoid cultural, legal, technical and linguistic traps and pitfalls.

However, not all of the advices should be taken literally, because they can be the author's guessing, not experience. An example is the advice to use Unicode characters to display textual language selection menu in a global gateway web site. Rather than merely not displaying the characters of fonts not installed on a user's computers, a web browser may offer the user to download and install all the fonts needed to properly display all of the characters used on the page. Thus, the North American user will need to download fonts for Traditional Chinese, Kanji and so forth. The user may however choose to skip downloading fonts, but the question dialog box may nag the users, but the author writes nothing about this.

The book tends to expose problems, rather than to focus on solutions, because the solutions in this particular topic (web globalization) may quickly become outdated. Thus, the book encourages the reader to do further research, and offers references to companies that provide translation services and software for web content-management frameworks with globalization support.

Overall, this book to be very thoughtful, insightful, and well-organized.

The book is a helpful introduction-- and probably invaluable to someone who wants to get into the business-- but some of the hands- on was a little lacking.

However, it's really not geared towards those of who are decision makers at larger companies-- for example, Yunker praises the infrastructure underlying Fedex.com, but fails to mention the company that designed the infrastructure--OnlineFocus. Additionally, the ESPN comments lack any reference to Starwave's global reach and how that may have helped them design ESPN for diverse audiences.

Now that English is becoming a minority language on the World Wide Web, companies wishing to do business on a global basis, and their consultants, need guidance in doing it right. Author John Yunker has accumulated a rare quantity of practical experience at web globalization firm Byte Level, working for clients such as Giorgio Armani, Wal-Mart, SAP and Victoria's Secret.

Yunker is a fine writer, communicates well, and organizes even better. This beautifully laid out book contains a mass of unique information on just about all the issues you will encounter in commissioning and producing multi-language web sites, in doing business across borders, dealing with very different cultures, and their laws, and on how to make less than fully globalized software do a reasonable job at handling more than just ASCII English text.

To better reinforce his lessons, Yunker has provided several Hands On practical exercise chapters on how to globalize in several different languages, case studies and Q&As with major corporate globalizers. Many precious little gems drop out of the book's pages, as well as sterling advice on how to get right things that most web page designers currently get badly wrong. Common mistakes like creating forms that fail to take into account differing standards in phone numbers, or the many ways dates and times are expressed around the world.

The issue of globalization has only just come up for my firm. To remain viable, and then grow, our web agency must seek clients beyond its immediate vicinity. And that means suddenly having to cope with a plethora of non-European languages, and very different cultural precepts. Beyond Borders has proven invaluable already by enlightening us on what we are in for.

The book is actually co-authored; Forrest Church writes the odd number chapters and Buehrens writes the even. The two have completely different styles of writing, which Church acknowledges in the forward (which begs the question of why they would attempt such a book). It makes it feel like two different books altogether. Beuhrens' is far better and clearly quenches the objective of the book, giving a splendid introduction and education on Unitarian Universalism. I urge him to write his own book. Church, ironically, represents the very kind of religion I would assume UU's want to avoid. He "preaches" (he even compares himself to a spider - one "who spins what he has to say out of himself") and often speaks in complexed, theologian rehtoric that only a scholastic author of religion text books would understand. You might as well read a King James Hymnal. Buehrens words flow like Emersons, which warm with logic and burst with revelation the way one's free religion teachings should. Skip the odd chapters and you'll be satisfied.

This book clearly explains what Unitarian Universalism is. At the same time, it is an incredibly enjoyable read. I find it inspirational and insightful. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an open-minded faith that emphasizes service and the search for Truth instead of dogma.

I grew up attending a Unitarian Universalist church, but once I reached an age to begin to understand and question the ideals of the faith, I went in search of information on this and other religions. This book was recommended to me by more than one person. I expected dry, history-filled rhetoric, but instead was treated to warm, humorous and thought-provoking sections that challenged me to evaluate my views on religion, social issues and my own value system. By the time I was finished I felt very comfortable with the ideas expressed about UUism and was intrigued to learn more.

DELANO is a real treat. It's everything it claims to be. It's one of the fastest paced books I've ever read. I enjoyed the characters very much. Sam is one of the most unusual people ever put in a story. The part about the worm farm had me laughing out loud so hard, people stopped to see what was going on. I even liked the villans, like Winston. What a jerk! But he says things that make you think. The best character is Eddie. I won't give away anymore. This should be a movie.

Eddie Delano and his world are a stitch! And like surgical stitches, Orozco's satirical needlings of domestic and college life sting as well as correct social and psychological deformities that characterized the surreal sixties. No target, large or small, eludes the author's jaundiced eye (check out the back cover art) or his sharp-honed pen--you'll feel its prick on every page. One asks no more of good satire. Combining the complete arsenal of satirical, humorous, comedic, slapstick, and burlesque techniques, this novel starts you laughing and wincing on page one, with Eddie's admission that he shot off his big toe to avoid Viet Nam, and sustains it through the hilariously implausible and implosive self-destruction of the whole sick crew. And they are legion: hustlers, cheaters, political poseurs, worm farmers, gender freaks, and doobie brothers (all of whom inhale). If you participated, especially as a student, in those hallucinogenic days, had children who did, taught that generation, or just nostalgically miss those sweet, sweaty summers of love, this is the book for you. Almost forgot. There's some interesting sex, too.

The misadventures of Eddie Delano at college are still true today decades later. As a recent college graduate, I can attest to this. I had the pleasure to hear the author read his book at The Reader's Edge Bookstore in Montrose, CA and it's even better with his deadpan delivery. After hearing him read the first chapter, I knew I had to have this book.