This is one of my favorite books. Written like really good fiction, Mr. Conrad (a writer and artist by trade) takes us through his addiction and recovery at BFC. It is not only extremely helpful and insightful, but also a "can't-put-down" tell-all bio. A book I have bought for others. Well worth it!!!!

This tale of American bullfighters held me from cover to cover. I was unaware that this latin artform covered so many countries, so many basis, so much suffering on the hope of success.

Gene Kilgore's 'Ranch Vacations' should also be called America the beautiful because his various editions create a veritable smorgasbord of panoramic delights.

This is the quintessential America-the great ranches of the Great Plains states - and a whole lot more, including Canada and even the eastern regions of USA.

The vastness, colour, scenery, atmosphere all leap out of the pages of these books-enough to make this Aussie want to pack his bags and go a ranchin' tomorrow.

The only problem is determining location -there are just so many choices available in so many states.

While more information can be found on the web Kilgore's book has the advantage of easy cross reference and is transportable.

In this age of terrorism the beauty, tranquility and grandeur of America stands in ample contrast to those who wish to destroy the Great Republic.

Unlike those who seek to wreck and destroy, the people in this book, including the author, seek to build by offering the best hospitality and advice possible-and in doing so reveal an authentic part of America to both the reader at home and abroad.

Gene Kilgore's Ranch Vacations is what all travel guides should strive for. Gene succinctly provides critical information on almost 200 ranches. He's identified and presents information on the major features that are important to ranch guests (number of guests, season, cost, closest airport and medical centers, activities, children's programs, accommodations, dining). He introduces a little history/background on each ranch (which largely seems to be taken from ranch brochures) but he also includes his own capsule summary with each review that accurately captures the essence of that ranch. Ranch Vacations allows the reader to easily compare ranches to one another to find that perfect vacation destination!

Gene also cross-indexes the ranches so it is easy to narrow down ranches that offer cattle work, fly fishing, English-style riding, or those that are adults' oriented, resort-like, and wheelchair accessible. The guide also contains wonderful black & white and color photos of the ranches.

While I've done a lot of ranch searching on the internet, and use Gene's ranch website extensively, I always come back to my Ranch Vacations guide. It provides fingertip access to side-by-side ranch comparisons - something that is still difficult to do on the internet!

My wife and I have been on six ranch vacations, and over the years purchased three edition's of this book. There is no better starting point in planning a ranch vacation than this guide. It allows the reader to narrow his search to the type of dude ranch one is looking for.

As a lifelong Peanuts fan and a writer, when I learned of this book I was immediately excited. I got it from Amazon.com and read the whole thing in about two hours. It's a good, satisfying book, but not quite what I expected. I never thought I'd say this, but probably the best thing about the book is the introduction.

Monte Schulz, son of the great Charles, uses the introduction to cast his father as a lover of books and as someone who always thought of his work as low art. (Personally, I consider "Peanuts" to be among the highest art there is). The stories Monte tells about his father are wonderful and made me feel a bit closer to one of my heroes.

The strips collected here, most of which feature Snoopy pounding away at his infamous typewriter or getting a rejection slip (sometimes tied to a rock) are excellent. I've always said that anybody can find his or herself in a Peanuts [comic] strip -- I'm in MOST of the strips about Snoopy.

Where the book falls somewhat short is in the essays collected from some really great writers. Rather than being anything really groundbreaking or informative, most of them are little more than pep talks. The one from Julia Child is completely superfluous unless you're out to write the world's greatest cookbook.

It's a worthwhile book, especially if you're a writer who loves Peanuts. Just don't expect too much from it.

At first glance, this book seemed to me to be just another one of the many Peanuts books that have been published since Charles Schulz's death, which after reading it, my suspicions were confirmed.

It has about a page or two from each of many famous authors, each giving some pointers on writing. These are separated by 2-4 Peanuts comic strips.

It is an excellent book for someone who wants a few pointers on writing from famous authors. It gets its classic Peanuts touch by having lots of strips from the comic every few pages. Virtually all of the comics are the ones with Snoopy writingn on his typewriter, so if you like Snoopy's attempts at writing, this book may be worth it just to get all of these strips in one place.

It is a good book, but nothing amazingly new. I give it a 4 out of 5.

This is a fun book. It doesn't provide much practical advice on writing, but it does contend with the psychological hurdles of writing, from struggling to get words on the page to dealing with rejection and bad critics. The short essays by famous & successful writers helped me by providing a little perspective on how various writers work.

I liked the comic strip and short essay format. You could read it cover to cover, but you can just as easily put it down between essays and actually get some writing done. I checked it out of the library, but I think it would make a great gift.

i picked up this book wanting to know more about cigars. this book did not disappoint. it was very informative and useful. the photography was excellent, so excellent, in fact, that looking at all those stogies made my mouth water. so sit down with a nice glass of cognac, a nice cuban, and read "The Cigar".

There are tons of cigar books out there, but this is the first I've found that actually explains how to cook with cigars. The rest of the book is great of course, wouldn't expect any less from Conrad, but the recipes are really where it starts to shine above the others. Unfortunately there is no mention of the cigar burrito (one of my personal favorite dishes), but all of the dishes I've tried have been great. This will definitely give those who complain about the "smell" of cigars something to complain about! To quote the note that came on the cover when this book was given to me, bon appetit.

A very good, very enlightening piece of work. Much easier to read and get along with than similar volumes. This is primarily because the book is a collation of many authors' viewpoints, each offering a different slant on the topic at hand, enabling the reader to plot their course with the combined advice of legions of famous and not-so-famous writers available at their fingertips.

Highly recommended.

I found this book to be very through when it comes to giving advice on a wide range of topics regarding fiction writing. I loved hearing the different points of view from both well-known and little known authors. It kept me interested from beginning to end, and I was actually a little sad when it ended (That has never happened to me when it comes to a writing book!) I'd recommend it to any aspiring author.

I've been a writer for some time and with the ever present desire to increse my abilities as one, I've added this book to my collection. I must say it is a worthy addition to my eclectic array of resources, but not with out its points, good and bad. The book, like the title suggests, deals with writing samples from the "masters" of the English language. The book does very well in addressing the essentialities of fiction writing: setting, plot, dramatization, characterization, dialogue. It is helpful in that Conrad has selected specific textual examples from past works of English authors to support what he is saying. Let me reiterate the fact that this book is very example heavy. It has more of other peoples' words, I think, than Conrads own. It's not the best book I've seen, but it does help you if you're struggling or confused on how to best write dialogue or portray specific characterizations. Don't expect to become a phenomenal writer overnight by reading this book. Purchase this book with the proviso that you take it into your arsenal so that you may study and learn from it, not that you expect it to make you an instantly better writer.

Although I might question one or two of Mr. Conrad's selection for the canon, his instincts and approach are right on target. Before I came across this book, I had discovered that any great writer does at least one thing well. I would study how he or she did it and try the same thing myself. Sometimes it didn't work for me, but often it did. More important is to read good writing because reading good writing will influence your own. Since reading this book, I have tried to read less junk and more books, old and new, of real quality. I find that it makes a difference.

For reasons which are not very clear to me, the collection of photographs seems to stop in the mid sixties. The other curious aspect of this book, is that it not really focused on the canines living in Paris, it seems to be more oriented towards on those Parisians who like dogs. Still, the images and too frozen and it feels as a way of life that happened a long time ago but no longer exists. Actually the contrary is true, the Parisians are incorporating their dogs into their lives more closely than ever. If the author had taken the effort to include more material it would be much better.

This is a much better deal than the more popular "Dogdogs" (Erwitt), even at 1/9th the size and half-again the cost. Many big names are in here-- Doineau, Cartier-Bresson, Erwitt. Barnaby Conrad has carefully chosen the choicest shots he could get. Every single picture is a gem. Most are as good-- and as droll-- as the cover.

Generally a good history of a journalistic rather than scholarly kind. Unlike other books on this topic it sticks to absinthe rather than getting side-tracked into details of artists and writers not relevant to their absinthe consumption. Covers the history of wormwood, the technology of production and the present day use of absinthe. Recommended if you have an interest in 19th century French art or absinthe itself.

Perhaps my favorite book of 1997. The art reproductions are deliriously good; as for the brief writer bios, I mean come on, the names themselves are an intoxicant: Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, Manet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Jarry, Wilde, Hemingway... Good Lord man, thank you! I found the historical aspect provocative--was it 1890s France, or 1990s "drug hysteria" America? I recommended it to plenty of customers where I work and they loved it. It's virtually the only book out there on the subject! Strange coincidence: the day after I read it, I saw the (then) new Nine Inch Nails video "Perfect Drug" & guess what potent & exotic liquour our man Trent Reznor was imbibing? The whole production design was fin-de-siecle artwork. I hope the MTV kids were paying attention! A must-have for those interested in French art and literature, bohemian culture, or esoteric subject matter. Now if they just put the stuff in six-packs....

I have been a fan of this book ever since it first came out in 1988. No amazon.com then, so I was forced to order it at the local Walden books. I have since given it as a gift several times and all my friends love it,too. Not just a history of the "green fairy," but a sociological history of 19th century France. Every page in this glossily produced, gorgeous book has either an old photograph, advertisement for absinthe or reproduction of art from the artists who were fans of absinthe. Really an art book, it is for anyone interested in art and history.

There are some amazing shots of cats in this book, more so, even, than of dogs in Conrad's "Les Chiens de Paris". (I would assume it's more difficult to pose a cat than a dog.) However, there is also a bit of filler here, which wasn't true of the dog volume, possibly due to a smaller pool of eligible photos. Still, these cats are in rain gutters, atop pay phones, chasing mice along yardsticks, peeking over sheet music, performing in a street circus, tucked into a man's four-foot beard.

The pictures are adorable and innocent, but watch out. Conrad's witty introduction contains some racy passages (about the she-cat's sexual prowess, and a neutered tom's suicide) that might make some think twice about giving it to (literate) children. (If "Chiens" is G, "Chats" is PG-13.) For the urban adult ailurophile, however, this is the perfect gift.