The film Jaws 2 had as troubled a production as the first shark thriller had. Many screenwriters toiled on its script. The novelization of the eagerly awaited sequel is based on a early draft by Dorothy Tristan (wife of John Hancock, the original director who was replaced by Jeannot Szwarc) and Howard Sackler (whose rewrites of this script were later revised further by Jaws co-scripter Carl Gottlieb).

The basic outline of the film is here (opening diver attack, an attack on a water skier, a shark versus helicopter scene, and a group of shark bait teens trapped during a boating outting), but the events and storyline are radically different. Searl's adaptation follows Hancock's wish to have the story be more people oriented than the original film had been. It is also interesting to note that the mafia subplot echoes the discarded subplot from Benchley's source novel. Neither the film or its alternate novel version (which would have been Hancock's film) acheive the impact of the first film or its source novel, but then how could they? Still Jaws fans should seek this out, just to find out what might have been.

I purchased this book off Amazon and couldn't wait to get it. When I got it, I read it in three weeks. I couldn't put it down. It was very descriptive and had a high atmosphere on terror and suspence. This book is based on an early script of Jaws 2 written by Howard Sackler and Dorthy Trisan. There are really cool subplots to the novel. Some of it has to do with the mafia. Some parts get very Tony Soprano like! This should have been the movie. When writer, Carl Gottlib, came in for rewrites, he butchered the script. I'm not saying the movie is bad, I'm saying the book is better. This book is also much better than the book of Jaws 1, not the movie Jaws 1, the book Jaws 1. The book Jaws 1 went into really stupid subplots. The author of Jaws 2, Hank Searls, did a great job on this book. It is too bad that the book went out of print. If you don't like the movie of Jaws 2, forget it, this is the real deal....! Hank Searls is also the author to Jaws: The Revenge which, like Jaws 2 was written after the movie. There was no book for Jaws 3-D. I haven't had a chance to read Jaws: The Revenge yet, but I have it. The book Jaws 2 came out the same year the movie was made. If you ever chance, pick up this book and buy it. It is a reading experience with a climax you will never forget. A novel of parylyzing terror that will grab you from the openign chapter... JAWS 2.

Cannon gathers together in one volume a wide range of memoirs of H P Lovecraft. The best are those writings from the early amateur press while Lovecraft was still alive, which comprise a small part of his book. It's fascinating to read these contemporary accounts of Lovecraft at an amateur press convention, visiting the Eddys, etc. For someone who just wants to read his tales, this book is not essential. For those who want some glimpse into the writer behind the scariness, this is a great book. Cannon, as editor, could have done a better job of putting the writers' memories into context, explaining references that are otherwise obscure, but overall, this book is a treat to anyone who wants to find out more about what HPL was like. Recommended.

There have been a number of biographical sketches or personal recollections of the immortal H. P. Lovecraft issued over the decades since his untimely death, but many of these were privately printed or issued in paper pamphlets of less than 100 copies total, since so many of Lovecraft's friends were in the Amateur Press movement, and it was natural for them to publish their memories and research through AP publishers.

What editor Cannon has done here is to gather together as much of this material as he could find, and give it the relative permanence of hard covers. Although the popular notion of Lovecraft has him as a hermit or recluse, he in fact had a surprisingly large circle of close friends and an even hugher circle of correspondents. It is not a surprise that most of those who have committed memories to paper are other writers, but in the case of Lovecraft, one must particularly lament the absence of detailed accounts of him from female friends. His wife Sonia wrote two short accounts of Lovecraft and their life together, but they are fairly reticent as regards personal details.... both are here, combined, and you can be the judge. Even more disappointing is a brief note by the surpassingly beautiful Helen Scully, who went on a date with Lovecraft in which he treated her to a seafood dinner (!) and carried her to a cemetary where he proceeded to frighten her into a panic! Her account can best be described as "extremely reticent" where a firsthand impression of what Lovecraft was like might be hoped for. I found all the contributions fascinating, and bought the book even though I have probably 3/4th of the contents already in their original pamphlet forms. Unless you are a pure-quill, top-rank Lovecraft expert, there is a good deal here that will be new to you. Recommended!!

Peter Howard is a name is Australian cooking and lives up to it in this book where he combines truley unique flavours to give a wonderful barbque experience, you can't go past the homemade barbque sauce with the orange-scented meatloaf. The book is laid out easily with a receipe per turn and and the pictures are mouth watering. It makes a great present for the chef extrordinare on the barbque for that little bit of exotic on a Sunday afternoon or just to impress the friends. The receipes are east to follow and easy to read. Give those chicken fajitas a go.

I felt terrible for Lin Shi, a young Taiwanese girl in this book, when I read it. I felt terrible that anyone would have to live a life like this. I cannot imagine having an arranged marriage, let alone an arranged marriage from someone who didn't care about me. She is forced to marry a pig butcher and the abuse he puts her through is terrible. She is a vegetarian and I thought that played a big part in the story. He treats her terribly and makes her do things she doesn't want to, and she is driven to madness and finally murders her husband. The reality of the cruelty in this book will just send shivers up your back.

I used two books to prepare for the GRE. I started with REA's Math Builder for Admission & Standardized Tests which is fraught with errors and presents mathematical concepts in a disconnected manner, but at least loosened 18 years of rust.

Then I studied every single page and did every single problem (some twice)in GRE CBT. I completed both sets of timed tests. I felt more than ready for the computer-based GRE. I was indeed well-prepared for the Verbal & Quantitative tests. However, I had problems in the Analytical.

The good news is that the test-taking tips are good. I'm an execellent test-taker, but I still got a few new ideas. Plus the first sample test gives you an idea of how you will flow through to easier or more difficult questions. And the problems are generally well-edited so you don't often hit those frustrating errors in the questions. This becomes less true at the end of the book, but by then you should have a handle on when you're right and the book is wrong.

The Verbal and Quantitative preparation is good. The verbal questions definitely stretched my vocabulary and the math questions covered almost everything that I saw on the actual GRE. I did astonishingly well on both sections.

The Analytical prep is good for half of that test, drawing conclusions from text passages. My problem was with the logic puzzles. The book has a multitude of samples, but none of them were as difficult as the ones I encountered on the test. Since I had aced every single puzzle in the book, I was completely unprepared for the speed at which I was expected to work on some very difficult problems. I ran out of time with 1/3 of the questions remaining. Fortunately, that turned out to be a "pre-screen" unscored section and I paced myself better on my godsent second chance.

This is a good study guide. I still recommend it. However if you expect to be working at the high end of the difficulty range, I recommend that you also purchase a second study guide that has a better Analytical section.

And here's a free tip that's in neither book. Study with mild distractions in the background. The computer test center is not quiet. Someone will be typing an essay while you're trying to remember a math formula. Every few minutes, someone walks behind you to get in or out. The chairs creak like crazy. While I was studying, I cursed my two-year-old's Barney videos. While I was testing, I blessed them.

"Color and Fire" is based on the collection of the exhibition at the Los Angeles in 2000. This book collected the wonderful picture of the unique clay objects that created after 1950. It introduces the development of the American ceramic from 1950 to 2000. Every one who involving in the ceramic should have the book on hand for reference. It is a good book for People who want to know the history of the modern American Ceramic.

This is Frank Buchman's story, or part of it. Written by Peter Howard, it tells about the formation of "Moral Re-Armament," and how Buchman's vision was that "..he wanted all men to learn to live like sons of God, and poured out his life to win that glorious liberty."

Buchman fearlessly held everyone to the truth that if he listened to God, God would tell him where to make a start in their own lives. When he made that start, he said that God showed him the place in another man's life where change could begin, and how to help the other man to make that beginning. Buchman believed that we needed to learn to read men like a page of print. "Sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny."

He also believed that democracy was as strong as the character of those who spoke in her name, and that free men were blind to the fact that the way they lived shouted louder to the world than the fine speeches which their representatives made at the conference tables.

All in all, it boiled down to this: Buchman's secret was that "peace was not just an idea, but people becoming different and that the true peacemakers were those willing to pay the price of it by giving their lives to bring nations under God's control." That was his life's secret. He died in August, 1961, at the age of 81 years, and when he died, apparently messages came from 22 heads of state and prime ministers from all over the world. He was heralded as the greatest man of our age.

It was Frank Buchman's belief that everybody who wanted to be a re-maker of men and nations should in the first waking moments of every day, move out of themselves into Christ, and then out to others and then live out to others all through each moment of the day. A mighty message, but there are few today who may be able to stand in his stead. Interesting reading.

Ace AVG and Ninth Air Force pilot James H. Howard was born in Canton province, China, of American parents. Smitten by a recruiter's pitch for naval pilots while studying at Pomona College, he enlisted, and successfully became a naval pilot. Enjoying this life, but eager for combat and promotion, he was swept away again when a very different call for pilots arose. This time the recruitment was for Chennault's American Volunteer Group, later known as the Flying Tigers.

This relatively recent addition to the few AVG pilot autobiographies gives a candid, first-hand account of the group and its missions, methods and pilots. Howard describes his days with the AVG, from its problem-ridden start to its transformation into an effective fighting force. Fans will appreciate the description of famous AVG missions and pilots. Following the disbanding of that group, Howard then fought with the Ninth Air Force, stationed in Britain. This is a bonus for readers, who are given the view from both Southeast Asia and Europe. The European portion often becomes a tiresome, blow-by-blow story of aerial gunfighting, however.

Though this is an autobiography, Howard is not excessively self-centred, and the narrative is not simply a dry listing of his life's accomplishments. A fair amount of the book is impersonal, and relates the routines of military life, or historical information. The writing is intelligent and reasonably objective, and Howard apparently has had a longstanding interest in history. He has included quotes from military luminaries and fellow pilots in order to support his views, to recount aerial actians, or to relate wartime moods in various locales. This unique opportunity is the result of the book's recent publication, and it adds considerable flavour.

As a military autobiography, Roar of the Tiger is clearly written and informative. As it is about performing military duties in service of country, readers should not expect relationships or introspection as with other memoirs. Roar of the Tiger is primarily for those interested in fighter pilots of the period and the challenges they faced.

I think this inexpensive book is a gem! I have found it suitable for use as teaching material with pupils of all ages. The progressive layout is attractive and easy to follow, with modern illustrations and text supporting the printed music. As my title suggests, one of its plus points is that, on the whole, the book offers REAL tunes for students to play (particularly important for older learners!) rather than specially concocted ones. Reservations? Some of the "advice" given is, perhaps, down to personal opinion (e.g. cleaning strings with eau de cologne!). Basically though, this book will encourage, rather than put off, the beginning pupil and carry them onto greater things!