Lessons from the School of Suffering is written for a person with a heart that seeks God. Fr. Jim passionately and honestly expresses all of his feelings about his illness, his human condition with its doubts, fears, and struggles. Then he shares prayers that lead to spiritual growth, words for ALL people, not only those with life threatening illness.This is a book with humor amid the pain.It's inspiring!!

In telling his story, Jim Willig demonstrates incredible strength and human weakness. It is heartening in a sense to see a man of such incredible faith struggle with his own mortality; It makes one feel better about the doubts we struggle with. Jim teaches us that in the end, all we have is faith (I don't know what the future is, but I know Who the future is). He lived an example of acceptance that we can all learn from. God bless Jim Willig. May his example lead us in our daily acceptance of what life gives us!

Fr. Jim Willig is my brother. His cancer not only had a profound effect on his life and our family but on the many thousands of people who searching for Jesus. This book is a close up look at what he thought and went through. Nothing happens without a purpose. Those who are suffering with cancer or other tragedies will be conforted by Jim's book, there is a reason and purpose to life. It all holds meaning. Those that God holds dearest are the very ones often given the most difficult path.

Jim passed away on June 24, 2001 surrounded by our family and frineds in what I call a very holy moment. There is no doubt in my mind that this book was inspired. I see the hand of God in all this writing. May it be a blessing to you. It will no doubt change your life, forever.

Romeo and Juliet

Felipe Gravier and Lorenzo Schiavo review:

We think that Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two star-crossed lovers whose families are in a terrible fight which prevents them from coming together. How far the couple will go to be together becomes the focus of the story. Of his richest poetry. The opening and closing choruses are some of his most outstanding work. Romeo's It is a brilliant love story but not much more. It still possesses however some wooing of Juliet is fabulously written. The Friar gets the best lines. Mercutio is one the best friends of Romeo. It is not as good as Shakespeare has written but it's still a fabulous book and up there with his best work. One part of the play we didn't like was that for the tow families get arrange there two kids had to die.
The English language wasn't finally finished so Shakespeare had the liberty to create words and play with the language, as he liked. That's why It was so difficult to understand what each character wanted to express so the teacher had to explain us each of that words and teach us all the words in that age and told us which were the words in the English of today.

This book provides lots of Shakespeare's Storys like "A Midsummer's Night Dream" and "Hamlet" with a children's fairy tale twist. The storys are the same as Shakespeare's, but easier for children to understand. My favorite story was Hamlet because I had just seen the play. A while after we read Children's Shakespeare and it helped me to understand Hamlet better.

Shakespeare is for kids and adults in E. Nesbit's creative mind. I always liked fairy tales, but I couldn't read Shakespeare very well. In Children's Shakespeare E. Nesbit turned his work into fairy tales without changing the story and morals. This book is not much like Nesbit's other books because it was written by Shakespeare, but I bet there are some simularities.

This book was a overall well writen book and I beleive E. Nesbit put a lot of hard work into her books in her life-time. I'm sure if she were alive now she would still be writing good books to this day.

This compilation of critical essays by Dr. Patrick Smith is the first full-length text to thoroughly examine the scope of Harrison's fiction. Smith's writing is clear and concise and offers itself as an intellectually rich and beautifully written companion to the work of a truly incredible contemporary writer. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates the fiction of Jim Harrison. Thank you Dr. Smith!

If you care at all about Jim Harrison's peerless work and the timeless craft of writing, you will devour the emerging talents of Patrick Smith as he leads you through the rich world of Mr. Harrison's work.
Insightful analysis, thought-provoking attitudes and fresh reasoning pour forth from the new and credible voice of Dr. Smith, who demonstrates complete mastery of his subject matter. I applaud this long-overdue look at one of the great voices in fiction, by a new and worthy writer.
Bravo, Dr. Smith!

I bought this book for my 4 year old - who is really enthralled with sea life - especially Orcas. Its a great bed time reading book - 1 chapter at a time. Lots of facts that are interesting for adults too.

Apart from the gospels and new testament,this is,THE,most rewarding book i have ever read.It stresses with clarity the fundamental importance of becoming aware of our true identity in christ,and equally important of becoming aware of our false self,the self rooted in the ego.The book is a wake up call for all those who would see the spiritual life as a process of self agrandizement.With it's raw honesty and gentleness one gradually becomes ever more aware of just how important the issue of identity is in the spiritual life,and the huge importance merton ascribed to it.This book is a threat to the ego and it's hollow and false little world,that it creates in it's rivalry with god.I advise all christians to read and reread this beautiful book,even if at times,it becomes a little tough.

Patrick Davis The Passenger (Berkeley, New York, 1999, 349pp)

This is a surprisingly interesting action-mystery, in which an Air Force officer is set up by his commander to take the fall in a cover up for an airplane accident - in which the half brother of the President of the United States is killed.

It is technically correct about a wide range of topics and settings, and is one of the few novels to compare the Washington Times coverage favorably with that of the Washington Post. Its description of a high powered columnist setting up an innocent person on behalf of his high placed inside source certainly rings true with my experience of the less desirable parts of the Washington media. And the description of a media firestorm engulfing an innocent and unprepared Air Force Colonel is realistic and a chilling reminder of the lynch mob mentality that occasionally gets under way.

Some parts of the conspiracy are too complicated and implausible, but the suspense is riveting and the action never stops throughout the novel. As an airplane or late night book to relax with it this book is a worthy addition in the Jack Higgins' tradition.

Former Air Force pilot Patrick Davis has written another quick read that combines military technology with conspiracy and good police work. It reads quickly and while there are a few technical errors, which Davis, as a former serving officer should not have made, comes across as for the most part believable.

In this book, the Learjet carrying the half-brother of the President of the United States goes down under mysterious circumstances. An senior AF officer assigns a brand new Colonel, a former fighter pilot grounded by ejection injuries to the case. He hopes to embarrass this promising officer and lay the blame elsewhere to conceal his perfidy and inside connections with corrupt administration officials.

The officer in charge of the investigation must also deal with the fact that his former wife, now the Deputy Director of the NTSB has also been assigned to the investigation. Although the Air Force team also includes Lt Col Chen, friend of Colonel Quinn and a former civilian homicide investigator before he joined the Air Force, Jennifer's assignment leaves COL Quinn looking for the underlying motive behind insider attempts to blame the pilots for the crash.

Along the route of the investigation, innocent people die. Previous government scandals are brought back to complicate the mix. But the two lead AF investigators are men of integrity and honor and they deal with the incessant corruption in the media, the FBI, the White House and the Congress with the courage that only people who have seen real combat can bring to bear when the going gets tough.

As I said, this is a quick read. Davis is still a new writer and is sure to develop his story telling skills with each new outing. I look forward to his future efforts and recommend this book to fans of military and police procedural thrillers.

Paul Connors

I gave this book to my dad as a gift. He's retired Air Force. He loved it and insisted I read it... not my usual genre. (I'm more of an Oprah-type reader, actually.) Well, for the two days it took me to finish this book, the dishes were piled in the sink, laundry in the hallway... you get the picture. It was fascinating to "ride along" with an air crash investigation team. The action moves right along. The government corruption Davis writes about is so believable, sadly. I asked my dad if the often negative depictions of these high-ranking military officers bothered him, and if the foul language bothered him (my dad never swears). He laughed at me and said, "Sweetie, this book tells it like it is!" My dad is now reading Davis's first book, "The General," and I'm next in line to read that. So I give the book five stars, and since my dad isn't on-line, here are his for you, Patrick Davis: *****. We can't wait for your next book.

Reading Lessons from the Fighting Commandos helped crystallize my own fighting experience. The neighborhood where I grew up was rough and tough, so my brothers and I learned early to use boxing in a street fight. As a teenager, I hung around a boxing gym. In the process, I learned a lot about boxing and picked up tips on street fighting. In high school, I was on the wrestling team. I later studied at a local school that emphasized a gung-ho attitude coupled with the use of open hand blows. The abrupt open hand attacks were easily countered by what I had earlier learned in boxing and wrestling. Sparring with the others in class was too easy, because I had no real problem defeating them using a combination of boxing and wrestling. I switched to a combat jujitsu school where the instructor told me that the toughest guys he had ever known had boxing experience. He went on to relate how during WWI and WWII some countries trained commandos for warfare through a combination of boxing, wrestling and other moves drawn from various sources. Now this brings me to Fred Neff's book on commando strategy that is by far the best book on fighting I have ever seen. He tells it the way it is, not how others fancifully want to hear it. His book combines boxing, wrestling and jujitsu to make a person ready for the street. My considerable experience tells me that this is an effective combination. I especially like the way he teaches to manipulate the adversary into being hit or open for a takedown. Face it, no street fighter is going to stand there and let you hit him with a series of open hand blows. The reality is that you had better learn to figure out a winning strategy and be ready to improvise along the way. Such a strategy often involves moving in and out with blows like in boxing, while being ready to use other techniques and tactics as needed. The strategy section near the end of the commmando book encourages the reader to learn to think, adapt to the opponent and to be prepared for an all-out fracas. This book is necessary to read for anyone who is serious about learning real self-defense.

The balanced presentation on self defense in Lessons From the Fighting Commandos makes it an excellent book for children and adults alike. After my husband's death, I noticed my son's depression and withdrawal from activities. His schoolwork greatly suffered and I found that it was nearly impossible to get him to read. Finally, I bought Fred Neff's book on Lessons From the Fighting Commandos for my son hoping it might at least get him reading again. At first he looked at the pictures, but within a short time he was reading the text. A few days later I came home and saw him standing in front of the mirror practicing lessons from the book. As time went on, it became clear that the book had a profound effect on my boy. He started taking an interest in athletics and reading as well. Lessons from the Fighting Commandos is a book any parent would love because it not only gets children interested in reading, but teaches other valuable lessons as well. It avoids the irresponsible approach used by other books that tell children that self defense involves a kill mentality or that one simple blow will defeat any attacker. Instead, Lessons From the Fighting Commandos teaches that to be good at self defense, like any other discipline, requires learning its principles, hard work, persistence, conditioning and developing the ability to think analytically. These life teachings transcend self defense and transfer to other important endeavors as well. I love the book for what it has done for my boy and strongly suggest its purchase for children and adults.

I have been involved in studying combat related fighting tactics for many years. The combat techniques and tactics taught in Fred Neff's book on Lessons from the Fighting Commandos is what I know from experience works. This book gets right down to business in teaching real fighting. There are a lot of armchair theorists that ignore the effectiveness of boxing and wrestling for street combat. These sports are based on hundreds of years of experience of what works. In a real fight, I have seen the effectiveness of boxing and wrestling. There are times where hitting someone with an open hand will do nothing more than hurt your hand. Anyone who thinks that you can simply move in on a good street fighter and take him out with open hand blows every time is living in a fantasy world. What it takes to win out in a no holds barred fight is the type of knowledge imparted in Lessons from the Fighting Commandos. Other books often ignore the fact that in a real fight you cannot always rely on blows to end the fight. What often happens in a fight is that you end up wrestling with your adversary. Fred Neff's book gives some good wrestling moves that from my experience work in a fight. You cannot prepare to defend in a fight without having both hitting and wrestling skills. To me Lessons from the Fighting Commandos is a five star book, that anyone who wants to learn real fighting will enjoy reading.

I have been TOAD-devotee for several years now. I have found it as an indespensible tool for myself, and have converted my Oracle development departments at each of my employers to drop their current SQL tool (SQL*Station and Rapid*SQL in another) and pick up TOAD as the tool of choice for developers and business analyst alike.

Over the years I have found one feature after another that further solidifies my devotion to the tool. Now I finally have a book, that gives yet more hidden secrets. What a wonderful Christmas present it was when I opened it under the Christmas tree.

BChase
MylxHQ - Oracle Resource Portal...

In my past few years, I am working as a developer for an e-Banking System, I have an opportunity to know Oracle, however, I would like to know more about it, apart from reading books or being certified, the best way is to "Practise", there is an experienced DBAs told me you can use a tool called "TOAD" for your reference, you will be much faster to be on tract and see what's going on in Oracle, it helps during load test and development time. Also, it is a tool for Oracle developer, some of my friends test their program in Oracle, but it is not a good practice and TOAD provides a good way for us to defend our standard and practice.

Actually, why do you need this book ? Why don't you just download the documentation or print out the manual from [the website]?

The reason is simple: This book is precise and direct.
This book likes provides clear steps for you to achieve various functions including administration, debugging , SQL and Procedures.

If you find, there are two books called Unix For Oracle and Oracle DBA Checklists, those are simple and crucial steps required by DBA as well as manager, we don't need a thick book with 800 pages, we just need a book with 100 pages and portable.

I strongly recommend this book for consultants and developers.

It helps me to solve problems many times...:>

Anthony

I've been downloading TOAD for a few years, but mostly done the same old stuff in the same old way. This book, by the TOADman himself, has been great because it covers the 95% of options I've never bothered with, especially the right-button mouse-click options. I wouldn't claim a 500% increase in TOAD productivity, but maybe a 50% one, when using TOAD, especially with PL/SQL. And the size of the book is great too, perfect for coat pockets, and the desktop, with all the tabs, clicks and being being quickly accessible. Nice work.

A good coding standard should focus on advice that encourages the correct and consistent application of a language. The more widely-adopted a standard is, the more benefit. No less than the Java Language Specification acknowledges this by listing a limited set of naming and usage practices. While the JLS falls far short of establishing a complete coding standard, the naming conventions it established have alone been of great benefit to the Java community. The "Elements of Java Style" nicely fills the gap left by the JLS in other areas, although it too falls a little short in places--thus the 4 star rating instead of 5.

I strongly suggest "Effective Java" by Joshua Bloch as a companion to this book. Whereas the 108 rules in this book focus on style, format and many pearls of practical advice, "Effective Java" provides an excellent set of 57 rules that go much deeper and tackle more advanced aspects of writing correct and consistent code. The two books complement each other well.

Of the 108 rules, the most glaring technical error is rule #99 which promotes the use of the flawed double-check synchronization pattern. Ignore this rule.

The 108 rules are divided into six chapters as follows:

4 General Principles: While I would have added a few, the four here are quite sound.

4 Formatting Conventions: Programmers tend to get weird about code format. After long enough you realize any reasonable and consistently adhered to standard is fine, so just use this well-considered set.

23 Naming Conventions: These are of great benefit as they resolve the ambiguities left by the JLS. I especially like rule #12, "Join the vowel generation".

35 Documentation Conventions: These very well-reasoned conventions will help to produce useful documentation as well as to eliminate unnecessary or excessively wordy documentation. The rules target both internal and external documentation as emphasize the different goals of each.

37 Programming Conventions: While there is a lot of good advice in this section, it also contains some of the weakest advice. Rule #74 on enumerations is flawed ("Effective Java" provides better coverage on how to use enumeration classes). The section on using assertions (4 rules) doesn't mention the important rule to only use tests with no side effects. It will also need to be modified for the assertion facility being added in J2SE 1.4. The section on threads and synchronization is the weakest (7 rules) as it contains rule #99 as well as some weak and incomplete advice in rules #97 and #98.

5 Packaging Conventions: This section contains some good advice not just on how to organize your classes into packages, but also on how to design stable packages.

Particularly on points of style and format, individuals will find aspects of any coding standard (at least any standard they didn't author) that they disagree with. Having written several coding standards in a variety of languages, I too have some rules I would have written differently. However, the benefit of a language-wide coding standard is that if everyone follows it, then everyone benefits from that shared agreement.

My company has adopted "The Elements of Java Style" as its coding standard with as few amendments as possible. You and your company should too.

This book is an excellent style guide for the Java programmer. Your code will really benefit very significantly by following the principles listed. The book starts out about general principles. " Follow standards whenever you write a code ( my favorite! )It talks about formatting conventions. Then naming conventions. Then it talks about documentation conventions, both the internal comments and JavaDoc. Then it really talks about programming conventions. Then it finally gets to packaging conventions. Following principles accessible in this book will make your life easier! You will understand and easily maintainable code.

This book is the marriage of Rogue Wave Java coding standards with those of Scott Amber. Standards are formulated as brief rules with one or more paragraphs of explanation, illustration, and justification.

The first part of the book is devoted to general principles. There are just a few of these. For example, "Do it right the first time," that is, follow standards whenever you write code, even "throw-away" code.

The second part is devoted to formatting conventions. These have to do with indentation, placement of openning and closing brackets, etc. I second the prohibition against hard tabs--use spaces instead. I've seen code written in an IDE that looks bizarre when viewed in a simple text editor like vi.

The third part is devoted to naming conventions. Good naming conventions make code more nearly self-documenting. An example from this part is "Capitalize only the first letter in acronyms." For example, use "loadXmlDocument()" instead of "loadXMLDocument()," where the obvious exception is constant names which should contain only capital letters.

Java facilitates a deeper integration of code and documentation (via JavaDoc) than most programming languages. The fourth part is devoted to documentation conventions--both JavaDoc and internal comments. If you have ever struggled with the wording of a JavaDoc comment you will appreciate the authors' no-nonsense advice.

The fifth part is devoted to programming conventions. An example from this part is "Do not synchronize an entire method if the method contains significant operations that do not need synchronization," that is, use a synchronized block for the appropriate sequence of statements rather than synchronizing the whole method.

The sixth part is devoted to packaging conventions. Package naming conventions are covered in part three. An example from this part is "Maximize abstraction to maximize stability." That is, use "stable abstractions to create stable packages."

Consistently following standards such as those offered here will result in simpler, more understandable, more easily maintainable code, a worthy goal.

Author Patrick Davis delivers an action packed thriller based in Washington DC that fully engages military intelligence, the government, and the Washington DC police department in a "who done it"mystery. His indepth knowledge of the military, the Pentagon, and information systems adds much to this action filled story. This book made my commute to NYC each morning and evening bearable. I look forward to his next novel!

I started this book in bed, late at night, and had to force myself to stop reading, hours later. It's fast-paced, and I enjoyed all the inside-Washington, D.C., touches. The book jacket says that Davis was an Air Force major, and planned U-2 surveillance missions, so it makes me wonder how much of this "fiction" might be based on things he's seen?

The General is an exciting military-based thriller written by a talented storyteller who knows his subject well and has the ability to make the reader a participant. This is Patrick Davis' first novel, and while he will no doubt become better at character development and scene description, the reader of this remarkable story will not be disappointed. The earlier reviewers who say that the author does not know the military are simply wrong; I'm a Naval Academy graduate, and I served with officers just like the author describes (villains excluded, of course). Those who say the plot was easily guessed are either not being truthful or are unusually perceptive. The plot is intricate yet completely believable as it unfolds. I had to force myself to put the book down so I could get some sleep. Hardcover fiction prices are too high, but as soon as this exciting author's current novel, The Passenger, makes it into paper, I'll spring for a copy. If you are looking for a really exciting pageturner (at a fair price), pick up a copy of The General now.