i read this book as a child, as it was part of the third-grade curriculum when i was there, say, thirteen years ago. one story in particular, the title of which i cannot remember, struck me so especially that i decided last week to look for this anthology of charming children's stories. the art, i can clearly recall, is rather psychedelic & avant-garde, definitely made to appeal to a baby-boom generation of peter max-ed educators & parents. it's really a shame that this book is out of print, because it would do well to shape young minds with timeless themes & topics, of which they will become more familiar as they grow up, & returning to this unique collection of stories again & again, they will understand how important it is, indeed, to keep certain books, certain 'special happenings' in our lives & families.

Wheeler's book is invaluable--as much for providing the ancient Greek and Latin terms for stratagems as for his discussions of the Odysseus and Achilles ethos. While this is supposed to be a primer in the strategies of war, it functions amazingly well as a primer in understanding the rhetoric and writings of such political philosophers and essayists as Plato, Plutarch, Montaigne, Bacon, and Emerson. Military trickery and rhetorical trickery have the same ends--for the ancients, the moderns, and the neocons.

If you search amazon.com for books about bodybuilding you will get over 700 hits. This is up from about 400 a couple of years ago. Most are just the same old exercises with pictures of different people. This is not a book about bodybuilding per se. There are bodybuilding exercises and much information -- such as exercise safety, tempo, adjusting the rest between sets depending on the training objective be it hypertrophy, strength, or muscular endurance -- that bodybuilders will find useful. The book's bigger audience includes many others who routinely train with weights. For the athlete or the coach, or for the trainee whose objective is fitness for a particular sport this book will be a valuable resource.
Current buzzwords in the field athletic training are "core training" and "functional exercise". Aabergs's book is an excellent introduction to core training and functional exercise.
As in his earlier book MUSCLE MECHANICS Aaberg lists sources of further information. It's probably nitpicking on my part, but some of the texts listed in the bibliography are a little hard to come by (they are not sold by amazon). A search of the internet was necessary to track down sources for purchasing some of the texts. That said, the bibliography alone is worth the price of book.
For the average new trainee this book will probably seem overwhelming. And maybe it is too technical for someone who just wants a routine and a description of how to perform the exercises. As a personal trainer I have clients who are not iterested in why an exercise is chosen or what it does. All they want is someone to lead them through the exercises so they can get the results they want. Such exercisers would not read past the first page of this book. For others, such as myself, the information is critical for program design. However, anyone who wants to should be able to look at the illustrations and read the accompanying exercise descriptions to find many new exercises that will enhance their athletic perormance. Getting the full benefit of this book will require studying the entire book. My recommendation is to buy the book, do the tough reading, apply the knowledge, and reap the harvest of a high-perfmance body.

It was a good book. I thought it was a "Puzzlemania" for older kids. They also had funny jokes in it. Some puzzles were very hard. I liked it.

superbly observe

Tonatiuh, the sun god who lives in Third Heaven, had a son named Ixcocauqui whom he loved very much. His son was told that he could explore all that there was to see, but whatever he did he was not go beyond the garden wall. Curiosity got the best of him. An exciting retelling of the legend of how the Valley of Mexico came to be. Beautiful and brightly colored illustrations do a fine job depicting the events in the story and express the emotions of the characters involved. A pronunciation guide is included for assistance in pronouncing the Aztec names.

This one-volume commentary is written from the REFORMED point of view. The authors are established scholars who hold completely to the fundamentals of the Christian faith. It is not a devotional commentary, rather, it focuses on understanding what the Bible says and means, leaving it up to the reader to apply this to life today.

....an informative,fun approach to pilates and yoga with exceptionally easy step by step picture instructions. Also along with each exercise,there is an AIM that describes what the exercise will accomplish,a CHIROPRACTOR'S COMMENTS ,so you know it's safe and beneficial and a REMINDER noting the common mistakes people tend to make doing the exercise.
....a well done book!
It works for me!

In "Erasure",Percival Everett has written a book within a book and the reader can be excused for feeling he or she has purchased two books in one. Everett is clearly fed up with the current plague of "blaxploitation" novels, badly written by writers with no art and even less craft, whose only purpose is to jump on the "ghetto fab" bandwagon and make a quick buck. His protagonist, Thelonious Ellison (with the name Thelonius, what else could he be called but Monk?), writes literature deemed too obscure (read: too "white") for a black audience and finds his work relegated to dusty corners in the back of the bookstores. Fueling his outrage is a piece of trash literature called "We Lives In Da Ghetto", hailed as an "authentic" voice of the "black experience" by reviewers who lump all blacks as ghetto blacks, which rakes in $3 million. What's a struggling author with bills to pay and a terminally ailing mother to do? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em... better yet, out-do 'em. In no time at all, Monk has banged out the blaxploitation novel to end all blaxploitation novels, a mishmash called "My Pafology" (later renamed a four-letter word I can't print here), under the pseudonym Stagg R. Lee, which not only wins the National Book Award, but also has Hollywood beating his door down for the movie rights. Everett is clearly disgusted both at those whites whose contempt of blacks runs so deep that they take trash "blaxploitation" novels at face value and consider them as representative of "the black experience" (as if there is one single "black experience"), and at those blacks whose lack of self-respect is so deep that they buy into the hype. As a black reader, I share his feelings totally. Everett at times takes himself too seriously and this is the only thing that kept me from giving this book five stars; but he's an enormously talented and promising writer who has the gift of making you think even while he has you laughing out loud. I'm looking forward to his next book.

My last few reads have been easy reads, just a step above watching televison in terms of depth and plot. Hey, sometimes I enjoy a nice breezy read.

With Erasure, Mr. Everett isn't making things that simple. It's not a complicated, boring textbook read but you will have to *think* (and in some cases, bust out a foreign language dictionary) and the more you think, the more layers you'll uncover.

While the main plot centers around Monk, a writer with marginal success, and his sudden fame at writing a ghetto fabulous new-wave Mantan novel, the incidents that surround this rise to fame touch deeply on other themes - family ties, socio-economic status, and love (to name a few). Everett covers a lot of ground with this book and ties it all together masterfully (and with quite a bit of humor).

If you're at all interested how race intersects with the publishing industry (i.e. "Hey, I wrote a book about plumbing and I happen to be Black, why is my plumbing book in the African-American section of the bookstore?"), pick this book up. If you want a good read that will make you think without making you choke on your own yawns, pick this book up. Hey, even if you like stereotypical novels filled with difficult to read Ebonics, pick this book up - just skip to Monk's mini-novel in the middle.

I wanted to be the first to say it but someone beat me to it. Erasure is a Awesome, a multifaceted satire of the NEW Black Literature scene, dead on target and right on time, no doubt one of the best books I've read this year.

Thelonius "Monk" Ellison is a lit professor slash writer who has had marginal success with his previous novels and now can't get a publisher for his new book because he doesn't write "black enough". While visiting his mother and sister in his hometown, Washington DC, he steps into a Border's bookstore and is mortified by the fact that one of his previous works was found in the "African American Studies" section of the store when his book has nothing to do with African American studies but instead a Greek tragedy. He comes across a book called, We Lives In Da Ghetto, and his sister lets him know that it's the hottest selling book right now and will be made into a movie. He opens the book and reads the first few paragraphs and again, mortified, "this is the black experience that they want him to write about." So he does, under an pseudonymous alter ego. The novel catapults him to instant success and money, which he is in need of badly to care for his mother who has Alzheimers.

The psuedo novel is included in Erasure and is complete with have finished sentences, Ebonics to the tenth degree and lots of explicatives that describe sex, violence and finally, life in da ghetto. Alas, he's written a "true gritty black novel." The pressure mounts when his publisher wants him to make a public appearance as Stagg R. Leigh, his alter ego. Does he show his face to the literature community that he once mocked for it's incompetence and ingnorance? The cover of the book pretty much tells the rest of the story.

This is a story set in the stifling atmosphere of upper-class turn of the century New York, where everyone does what they think others expect of them, and are more worried about appearances and 'tradition' (though really, the city is till so young the traditions are relatively new) than what is right or good.

Newland Archer is engaged to marry May Welland, a young woman from the same social strata as himself. He then meets May's cousin Ellen Olenska, and falls in love, which is a major problem - not only is Newland expected to marry May, but Ellen is a married woman, who did the wrong thing and left her rich European husband. The story explores the attempts by Newland to break out from the expectation of society to be with the woman he loves, and how society and his own beliefs keep him reined in.

This story is a joy to read, not only for its narrative, but also because of Wharton's lush descriptions of the locations and rituals of New York life - she can make you feel that you know a house inside and out just by the way she writes about it. This book reminded me a lot of Anna Karenina - the same stifling societal rules that kept people from doing what they wanted in life, the same sumptuous settings. Only Age of Innocence is a lot shorter, and I have to say a lot more readable!

Although the story line was not my favorite out of Wharton's books, I did like The Age of Innocence for what it seemed to be, a social commentary of the time. Age of Innocence is a mirror of the society where Edith Wharton lived. The book was written concerning the high society around the turn of the century. May Welland, the van der Luydens, and Countess Olenska represent the stereotypical characters that made up that society, although with a little closer examination they embody not only the stereotype, but much more. Wharton is able to make the characters come to life. I must admit that I'd seen the movie before I read the book, and I was not looking forward to the read. However, once I got involved with the characters, they seemed to come to life even more than the actors on the big screen. Especially the characters of Newland Archer and Countess Elaine Olenska stand out. In one way they are complete opposites, Archer is a man completely accepted by the upper class community, while Countess Olenska is avoided at all costs until Archer intervenes. Yet, both find themselves in the same community with the same types of restrictions. Archer reminded me a lot of myself in certain ways. He questioned a lot, but he could not always force himself to do what he desired. I think that's one reason that he appealed to me so much. What made it more difficult for me to read was the involvement between the countess and Archer. Although nothing really happened as far as an all out affair between them, knowing that Newland was engaged was painful. It was difficult to know what side to cheer for because if he stayed with May, he may not ever be truly happy, but with anyone there is always that possibility. Over all I liked the book, but if I had a choice between The House of Mirth (also by Wharton) and The Age of Innocence, I would read The House of Mirth. All of the same type of social commentary is present, with out the suggestion of adultery. I think that Wharton really is an effective author and that she knows just how to make characters come alive while showing how their surroundings affect them.

One decision can impact a life forever. Should one choose what is best for him or what society demands of him? Newland Archer ponders these questions throughout the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton. Love, lust, power, deceit, greed, and settlement are employed throughout the book as the author explains the plight of May Welland's fiancé, Newland Archer. Being members of an elite social class in New York City, the couple abides by strict Victorian rules of conduct and etiquette. Their world is turned upside down upon the arrival of Countess Ellen Olenska, (an independent and radiant woman, much different from any proper lady of the time). Archer secretly falls in love with the recently separated countess, who is the complete antithesis of the naïve woman he is about to marry who cannot make any kind of decision about her life without consulting outsiders for guidance. Archer begins to question society roles and standards, but most importantly, doubt his love for May.
Seen through the eyes of Archer, the reader has the ability to pick up on emotions, which plague him as his wedding day approaches. He struggles with the thought of settling for a life of true unhappiness to appease his family and the aristocracy of New York, by marrying May. Archer breaks the mold of stereotypical ways when he questions society and their values. He is ridiculed in the process by supporting a blasphemous and flamboyant woman who speaks her mind, Ellen Olenska. Archer is immediately attracted to Ellen due to her vivacious and feisty personality. Archer is able to view the difference quite clearly between his innocent fiancé and a worldly woman who has real opinions and concrete views. "And with a shiver of foreboding, he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together by ignorance on one side and hypocrisy on the other," (page 63). Through his thoughts, one is able to discover the major theme of man verses society, and true love verses reality.
I have never read a more captivating book in my life. Ms. Wharton kept me engaged in the story throughout the entire book. She created a visual aid, which was depicted so clearly that it was nearly impossible to put the book down. It is clever, witty, and holds controversial issues, which are relevant to the present as well as during the 1870's. It makes me think, should I be a bold Countess or accept society protocol and demands as May did?