I was looking for a detailed map in the form of a book, with a complete street index. This book has maps on the fold-out covers, a scant 28 pages of text-only sightseeing guidebook material, and a street index. It's more guide than map.

Check out "The Paris Mapguide" by Middleditch for the best maps I've found. Get the Michelin Green Guide for Paris if you want guidebook material (where to stay, what to see) with detailed area maps. For France, look at Michelin or Lonely Planet guides.

Bon Voyage!

Lets Go Map Guides are very good. They are concise, lightweight, and an easy size to store in a coat pocket. You will probably need an additional more detailed map though. But their maps are useful and the Metro Map (subway system) is indispensable. The recommendations on places to stay or restaurants is hit or miss. I would use some other guide book for that.

As soon as I got this book, I took out the inner pages, and just used the cover. The Metro and city maps printed on it proved indispensible. The plastic coated cover made it last through jacket pockets, jean pockets and rush hour Metro human sardines. You *need* a good portable map, and I found this one to be the one for me!

The biggest and most beautiful hotel in Legaspi City, Albay which is Mayon International Hotel is not included in your 7th edition. Your data about this city is very much outdated. Lots of hotels written in the book have shut down. Do another research.

I was able to use this guide exclusively while extensively traveling throughout the Philippines over a period of six months. The only thing missing is a map of jeepney routes in Manila. I found myself frequently, and simply, amazed at the accuracy of so many details, even in the remotest areas. My experience in-country was greatly enhanced and a tremendous success, thanks to this book

We spent two weeks in the Philippines, and although it is a short time, your guide book helped us not to waste a minute. As we were using it we realised we could rely completely on it; all your suggestions became a success. Even in the remotest areas your book has accuracy in all the details. And this is something we would like to thank you for: reading this guidebook the taveler has the opportunity to choose according to his tastes since you offer us a wide range of possibilities to fit in any style of travel. We were so amazed at the quality of your book that we gave it to a very kind Philipinne driver that took us thorougout Luzon for four days. We thought it would be a very useful tool for his job. Thank you.

I received this score this morning and was completly in shock at what a disgrace Dover had published. Please note, I am a very pleased fan of what this company has produced, but I feel that this score is one of the worst that I have seen. Schoenberg's Gurrelieder is know for its use of one of the largest late-romantic orchestras ever required. Unfortunatly Dover has provided the public with a score that lacks any of Schoenberg's orchestration and has printed a piano reduction done some years later by Schoenberg's pupil, Alban Berg. To publish a piece like this in a piano for before a publication of Schoenberg's original. This would be a great addition to the Dover Miniature Score series ALONG with the orchestral version.

It is a great piano reduction of one of my favorite pieces. I bought it in the official edition (much more expansive...). As one reviwer mentionned, this is not the orchestral score. But for most of us, it will do as well.

This a facsimile of the standard piano reduction of an early Schoenberg work. The Gurre Lieder epitomize the post-Wagnerian genre but also introduce a lot of Schoenberg future techniques (e.g., "Sprachgesang").

The piano reduction makes it easy to follow this rather complex score (the Conductor or the study version of the scores is very rewarding but challenging). The piano reduction itrseld has been done by Alban Berg a marvelous musicien himself and a friend and student of Schoenberg. So the reduction is outstandingly well done and in particular all the important harmonic information is very clear. More than a piano reduction, this vocal score is an abtraction of this suberp score.

If you love the piece, you may also want to have the complete score. Even if you have the conductor score and love it, this version will add to your understanding of the piece.

the first couple of chapter was interesting. but it got boring after a while. just normal immigrant story.

It's only after reading this fascinating book that one fully appreciates the irony intrinsic to the title. This is a book that is thoroughly atypical in virtually all its aspects.
Typical American follows the lives of three Chinese immigrants in New York: Ralph Chang, his sister Theresa, and Theresa's roommate Helen, who becomes Ralph's wife. Theresa becomes a doctor, Ralph earns a Ph. D. in mechanical engineering and gets a job teaching at a local college, and Ralph and Helen have two daughters.

As they each become caught up in achieving the American dream, they must make difficult choices about the importance of success, family loyalty, and the people they hope to become.
Essentially, however, like all immigrant tales, the underlying aspect of the story is one of assimilation. Usually tales of Chinese assimilation into the American mainstream demand the forsaking of Chinese customs; conversely, preservation of Chinese traditions requires the rejection of any possibilities of assimilation. The dramatization of such cultural conflicts has become somewhat formulaic, and Chinese-American writers seem locked in this conventional depiction of the Chinese immigrant experience.

Not Gish Jen. In Typical American Gish Jen rewrites the formula that has long dominated Chinese-American immigrant fiction, and complicates firm notions of Chinese and American identities that have been staple elements of that formula.

Normally these assimilation tales are multi-generational sagas where the conventional opposition between American and Chinese cultures is usually played out through generational conflicts, in which the older, immigrant generation's insistent preservation of Chinese traditions are pitted against their first -generation offspring's desire to cast off those manacles.

Not here. Eschewing this "typical"' setting for her narrative, Jen breaks from the paradigmatic use of Chinatown that has been a staple of Chinese immigrant narratives. This also removes the Changs from the clutches of parental demands or strict Chinatown societal codes. Rather than settling in an established Chinese community for moral and financial support Ralph, Helen and Theresa remain very isolated in their new life in America. This isolation from the "parental' or "traditional" elements of Chinese culture enables Jen to illustrate the conflicts inherent to cultural assimilation within the context of the individual rather than a group. And, so, while the characters strive mightily to achieve "typical American" status-the full middle class lifestyle with all the accouterments and benefits that implies-they nevertheless still see many of the traits and behaviors attendant to that lifestyle through Chinese eyes and refer to these behavioral traits in Anglos pejoratively as "typical American" Behavior. Thus they are in the position of decrying what they actively seek to attain, thus brilliantly illustrating the often schizoid process of assimilation.

The first line of the book asserts that this is "an American story", but in fact this is neither a "typical Chinese-immigrant" story, nor a ""typical American" one. In the end, no one is "typical" anything. Ralph's revelation at the end is not the disillusionment of a Chinese nor an American, but simply a man confused by the complexity of the new context that surround him: "Kan bu fian. Ting bu fian. He could not always see, could not always hear. He was not what he made up his mind to be.

Both Ralph's and Helen's revelations at the end of the book 'are critical moments in which Jen invalidates the generational/ cultural conflict paradigm; she has deftly shown that the notion that the choice that one "stay Chinese" or "become American" is an illusion. In fact, the "typical" immigrant will never be either.

This is a wry, ironic, emotionally complex novel that is well worth reading.

Ralph, Helen, and Theresa immigrated from China to escape political instability in the post-War era. The trio of young ambitious Chinese immigrants slowly transformed into everything they once despised in the typical American as they set out after their dreams and created their own suburban paradise. Ralph, like many of his counterparts, struggled with his visa but mangaged to finished his PhD in mechanical engineering and obtained a university tenure. Together with his wife Helen (introduced to him by his sister Theresa), the young couple set out to make the so-called "American dream" come way in all possible ways: finding a split-level home in the suburbs of Connecticut, making huge bucks in fast food (America is such a fast food nation), walking dog and sending dog to training school, making excursions into adultery. Theresa studied to become a doctor who later on engaged in an affair with a man. Ironically, as the ambitious trio fulfilled their "American dream" (ahhhammm) they have become someone whom they despised in the first place-typical American: the typical American no-good, typical American don't-know-how-to-get-along, typical American just-want-to-be-the-center-of-things, typical American no-morals, typical American use-brute-force, typical American just-dumb, typical American no-manners, and typical American eating-junk-and-not-healthy. The trio began to adopt to more American vocabular but still retained their Chinese ways of thinking like "xiang ban fa"-think of a way. In a way, the American dream has corrupted the trio. Ralph became so money-oriented that he believed he can only fit in the society if he made good money. If he couldn't make a lot of money, he would be dubbed Chinamen. "Money, in this country, you have money, you can do anything. You have no money, you are nobody. You are Chinaman! Is that simple!" Even Helen, she allowed himself to engage in sexual quickie in her own house behind her husband's back with Grover Ding, who represented a typical American-born-Chinese that was not rooted in any traditional Chinese values. Afterall, the American dream will never be the same again. Gish Jen's writing has astutely portraited a typical immigrant experience through her witty style and choice of waords. As a Chinese-American, I can deeply relate to the Chang's experience-the desire to fit in but at the same time the quest for prosperity, success, and respect. The novel might seem funny but who can really understand immigrants' life struggles if not being one?

Looks and sounds like it might be a good book to learn actionscript, but like another reader, I was very quickly lost. How can you name a book "zero to hero", when the book doesn't start at zero? In fact it assumes you know stuff about actionscript, and then moves along way too fast with these assumptions. It just doesn't clearly explain actionscript. Find another book. This one doesn't make sense.

I was very excited to read this book after browsing the contents at the bookstore. But when I tried to follow along, I was lost. I only got through chapter 2 and I couldn't get the example tutorials to work. I am not a Flash Beginner, so I don't think that was the problem.

Unfortunatly, I am returning this book. I felt lost within the "fast paced tutorials" and I couldn't understand how the code was supposed to work. I felt like some additional explanation was missing.

I am a tutorial writer myself, and I know how hard it is to write, so I feel bad for giving a bad review.

I have only animated with Flash before, and had never really used much actionscript with my designs. This book really covered a lot, and explained it very easily. I read this thing in around 2 weeks, and feel I really understand what it is all about now. It doesn't assume anything of the reader, luckily for me!! If you want a book that is very clear and easy to understand, and is pretty funny too, I recommend this book highly.

I was hoping to purchase a book that covered digital photography in some detail, from composition to lighting to equipment limitations. In particular I was looking for an in-depth look at the tactics and strategies of digital photography. Sadly, this book did not fit the bill for me. It's scope is too large and covers topics that I had no interest in -- scanning, printing, file manipulation, stock art, and other "off-topic" subjects. The title is misleading on that front. I would suggest the title be changed to something like "Digital Imaging: Capturing, Manipulating, Scanning, and Printing" It is a nicely presented book, but not what I had hoped for and expected.

Obviously, in the new digital age, we have to be concerned with more that pushing a button. This book gave me a great insight to how to make a great image using cameras, programs, and printing. I use it constantly

This book is a major overhaul of the earlier Digital Web book for Mage: The Ascension. It has lots of little detail-ey improvements over the first edition, and some nice thoughtful material about games in the web, and storytelling in general. I'm not sure I'd encourage anyone to buy it if they had the eariler edition, unless they're obsessed with running games in the Web. But a modern Mage game ought to have *some* Digital Web in it, and if you don't have any verion of this book, I highly reccomend it. Also hs plenty of cool terminology and saucy web culture tidbits, and an interesting piece of history on the "recent crash" of the Web.

The Digital Web 2.0 is a book full of information about de Digital Web and the virtual reality world that makes a good home for the Virtual Adepts. These creatures of magic, once followers of the traditions, now spend their time exploring this new realm. With the hope that some day they will bring all the human kind to the acension. The plans are to take all in to this digital web. The book itself doesn't explain how this will be posible, but explain te secrets areas of these realm, as well the most comon places to hang out and search for hot information. At the same time indicate waves of moving, fighting and hacking in the tree posibles ways of inmersion. The normal, the astral und the holistical. Each one have their advantages, and each one have their ones problems. The digital web, and his famous meeting place Spy Demise are the structural line of this book, and the structure is very good.

I found this book rather dull perhaps because I generally dislike "period" mysteries. A few clever paragraphs to be sure, but in between these were alot of somewhat stereotypical characterizations and forgettable dialogue. Those who enjoy period pieces and all their assumptions and artificiality may like this novel but I did not.

"Necklace and Calabash" initiates the third Judge Dee series, which Heinemann Publishers dubbed as "More Judge Dee Mysteries". This third and last series was conceived at the beginning of 1966 in Tokyo so that van Gulik would explore more directly the character of Judge Dee, who would solve cases without the help of his assistants. "Necklace and Calabash" proved to be the penultimate Judge Dee Mystery.

As van Gulik notes in the book's postscript, the calabash or bottle gourd has played an important role in Chinese philosophy and art. In "Necklace and Calabash" Judge Dee, the quintessential Confucianist, meets a Taoist monk who emphasizes to him the importance of emptiness - as in the emptiness of a calabash. With the pressure mounting on a timely solution to the theft of a princess's pearl necklace, Judge Dee empties himself and discovers the key to the mystery.

Once the puzzles are solved, Judge Dee springs into action. In his temporary exalted position as Imperial Inquisitor, he conducts himself with equanimity, even when dealing with the highest officials of the Water Palace; incorruptible, he dispatches the cases fearlessly and unmoved by temptations of wealth or status.

---
...is absolute and unremitting damnation whenever there's a sociopolitical topic under consideration. In thirty years of reading (and citing) NEJM, I've found that there is no correlation whatsoever between the standards of scientific rigor with which they peer-review their clinical articles for factual accuracy and the politically-charged "public policy" stuff they publish when the editorial officers of the Massachusetts Medical Society have an axe to grind. Dr. McDowell's 2001 review of this book (quoted in its entirety on this Web site in order to extoll Cook and Ludwig's bogus-from-the-premises-up calculation of estimated costs associated with "firearms misuse") is a perfect example of the marshmallow gooiness of the NEJM's institutional excuse for intellectual rigor whenever the subject of individual autonomy comes under discussion.

By the standards of evidence-based medicine, the analysis upon which this book is predicated *CANNOT* be relied upon as a tool for the accurate evaluation of violence- or accident-related trauma associated with firearms. That same would hold true if Cook and Ludwig were looking at injuries and deaths associated with motor vehicles, toys, pharmaceuticals, power tools, agricultural equipment, or sports activities, and if there were a similar study -- using precisely this kind of analysis -- published on misadventures involving any of these other elements of modern life, the editors of NEJM would sandblast the authors with scathing sarcasm.

But because this book is about firearms, and because the Massachusetts Medical Society is collectively incapable of intellectual honesty in their continuing effort to restrict the rights of people to think and act for themselves, Dr. McDowall's review demonstrates precisely how deeply into blatant deceit the NEJM will shamelessly descend.

This book is bilge, but I encourage its purchase (along with Bellesiles' even more disgraceful and completely discredited ARMING AMERICA: THE ORIGINS OF A NATIONAL GUN CULTURE) as absolutely essential additions to the library of every defender of individual rights. Such works are powerfully demonstrative of the unspeakable dishonesty of the wretched neurotics who have long projected their unjustifiable terrors into the statute books and courtrooms of America in their campaign to secure a specious "safety" by reducing every law-abiding citizen to the status of a disarmed and helpless victim.

This book is obviously strongly on our side, but unfortunately it is not going to provide us with serious evidence. Suppose someone challenges me on how they got their $100 billion estimate of the costs of guns. Will I be taken seriously if I tell them that the book relies on one public survey question in one survey? If I do use this number, where does that leave me in arguing with gun nuts that cite these wacky surveys showing that guns are used defensively 2.5 million times a year? So they have 16 surveys. I don't believe any of them, but what do I say when they say I only use a survey to measure the costs, why not also the benefits? What if the gun nut morons point out that the estimates of benefits from the surveys are greater than our estimated costs? The one paragraph that Cook and Ludwig have on defensive gun uses being silly could just as well be used against their reliance on a survey. I want to use the figures here, but could one of the people on our side write a review saying how I could respond to these concerns. Absent that this book risks making us look rather silly and hypocritical.

Very, very helpful and well researched. If our elected officials would only realize what the real costs of gun violence, gun suicide and gun crime are! It is time to regulate firearms like any other consumer product!

Dear Review reviewer - my previously submitted review was edited to omit a note the the effect that only part of the review was posted, and included my email so that readers could obtain the rest. I saw nothing in your review guidelines to forbid this, so why was it omitted? Please have the courtesy to contact me at SSemans@aol.com and explain how I may make it clear in this review that only part has been posted. Thank you.

The previous reviews make good points for the most part and no need to repeat them here. So I will add a few additional comments. I have been a serious collector of Chinese coins for a dozen years or so with much of one full year and a dozen other trips spent scouring the local markets and back alleys of China searching for coins.

A lack of comprehensiveness is endemic with anything Chinese, so too much can be made of Ren's omissions--it is after all an identification and pricing GUIDE. In the 1990s coins relatively common in Beijing may have been relative rarities in Chengdu, Urumuqi, Xian, Lanzhou, Datong, Shanghai, etc. This regional character of markets in China is indeed not only disappearing, but is leaping from regional to international which should result in a sorting out of rarity and price relative to a more coherent market demand.

Ren's price guide is a very useful attempt to reconcile a coin's value to this rapidly approaching, more integrated international market. Rather than being "most useful only for the gullible", as an earlier reviewer unkindly suggested, I find it quite useful, thoughtful and honestly advanced with its assumptions and rationale clearly stated. Having followed the China, US and internet markets I think it is a very reasonable evaluation effort. I would differ in opinion here and there but that's what makes a market and Chinese price guides are by no means uniform either. I think Ren's valuations will be looked on as very conservative as the collector community expands and disposable income increases in Asia.

I do think a next edition should collapse sections 1 and 2 into a single section. I would also ask Mr. Ren to throw another 100 (you pick a number) pages into the book to cover some of the more common Schjoth type omissions and add a bit more informative text. A very good job will be an even better one.

David Jen, an American citizen who spent much of the 20th century living in China, is a volunteer assistant at the American Numsimatics Society, the world's leading insitute for the study and conservation of coins. As a paid employee of the ANS, I would like to stress that the ANS does not endorse this work directly, and the following are my own opinions.

Many collectors have primarily worked from one of four works in Western languages: the catalog of Terrien de Lacouperie, F. Schjoth, the George Fisher translation of the Ding Fubao collection, or the Arthur Coole series. Although there is much merit in all of these works, very few of them work with the economic history of China and are far more concerned with the aesthetics of the coins they collect. Primarily interest has centered on the spade and knife coinages during the Zhou period. Jen's work instead concentrates on coins that have a primary place within the economy, and key variants upon those coins. It is a much smaller catalog than the 6-volume Coole, which cannot be used easily, and I do not believe Mr Jen attempted to supplant the Ding Fubao or Schjoth catalogs.

However, I am distressed that none of the readers have noted that there are fine catalogs now in the Chinese and Japanese languages, which are truly most important. The 12-volume Daxi catalog, published by the Shanghai Museum, is the standard reference work for Asian numismatists, which far supplants the Ding Fubao or Schjoth. In addition, it appears that French is no longer a reference language for numismatists, because the fine work of Francois Thierry of the Bibliotheque National is completely omitted in reviews.

David Jen's book is a nice update to the Schjoth and "Fisher's Ding" catalogs for those who only read English, but anyone serious about Chinese coinage must read Chinese, and will instead use the Daxi. Thierry's many researches are important, and as his catalogs tend to represent hoards, are important for their economic significance. In sum, for the collector who only speaks English, this is a good supplement to the Schjoth and Fisher's Ding. In that sense it is an important addition to any numismatic library, but it does not supplant these earlier texts, nor do I think it was intended to do so. Serious scholars of Chinese numsimatic history may wish to use it for its variants of some Chinese coins, but their research is likely to be more profitable in working with the standard catalogs instead...