This book ws great. If you don't like Mysteries i would try this becasue, i didn'tlike mysteries either. And i tohught the book was great thamks byw

I think this is something that every planning and zoning officer of a small community needs. This book is an excellent reference. It gives step by step directions for conducting surveys, writing a mini plan, special ordinance for special issues (such as signs) and more. There are charts and graphs and pictures that help clarify the text.

I am sure that by the size of it and the way it reads this is a text book for a college class somewhere. IT does read a little bit dry, but I'm not sure how much more exciting you can get with law, legalities, procedures and such.

Good information.

This is an intensive and informative kind of book about Thailand and the United States alliance. There is probably no other book like this around that describes the background of Thailand and it's many coups and revolutions from 1947 to 1958, and it's involvment in all the Indochinese conflicts. And why the United States would support and ally with a corrupted and often brutal Thai army which at that time controlled the country and government. The book is really about Thailand at it's most, but it also tells Thailand's relationships with (besides USA), France, Britain, Laos, Cambodia, China, etc. Its a very useful and valuable book for those who wants to know about Thailand and the United States relationship from the very beginning, and how Thailand became as USA's most important ally at that time. A recommended history book.

Epstein has made quite a name for himself as a biographer, but it's still in his poetry that he truly shines. No poet of his generation has written both lyric and dramatic poetry with such classical grace, poeams at once moving and intellectually rigorous. "The Traveler's Calendar" follows the structure we have come to expect from an Epstein collection: many lyric poems of dazzling imagery and seductive music, like "Boblink" and "The Circle Dance" ("May love like the evening shadows grow/Till light and life pass away") and a tour de force of a dramatic monologue, "The Genie" (Aladdin's--an allegory about the sacrifices of the artist). The book throughout has a sad beauty as Epstein muses on the losses inevitable in middle age. But it's definitely my favorite of his books.

This book is an excellent resource for non medical people who are interested in using herbs. Although it does not discuss many herbs, it is very thorough with the ones that are covered.

Side effects are addressed in every case.

All of the herbs in this book have been studied and tested and are known to have some medical effectiveness. There is a matrix of the herbs in the books and various medical conditions that is very useful.

I have a nice little library of herb books and this is the one I always check first.

It's a tad bit technical for the lay-person, but it will definitley give one a solid grasp of what nanotech is all about.

What a nice, easy introduction for the lay reader to an important new field of science that will be a part of our lives for years to come! I am a professional, non-scientist, and I found this intro to nanotech to be an easy-read that provided a perfect survey of the breadth and potential impact of this field. I have listened to a couple of lectures on nano-applications in medical science, but in comparison, this book was a more lucid and entertaining preview of this field.

The book is tailored for the non-specialist who has been yearning for an insight into a field that seems to mostly exist in rumor. The breadth of topics is astonishing, discussing the physics, the engineering techniques, the economics and even the philospophical implications of this new technology. The prose is also excellent - its casual and often humerous style helps make a conceptually difficult and technically demanding field approachable.

If I could have given this 4 1/2 stars, I would have. Sister Aimee : The Life of Aimee Semple McPherson is an incredibly entertaining book about an amazing woman. Epstein beautifully describes Aimee and her early "tent revivals." Sometimes when reading it was almost as if I was actually in the tent, caught up in the sermon and everything going on.

One of the best things about this book is the way that the author handles the healings that Aimee performed. Many writers would view these with a skeptic eye but Epstein does not. While he does sometimes offer a psychological explanation for certain healings, he never comes out and says that the healings had nothing to do with God and that Aimee was a fraud. He also makes a very valid point, one that many have overlooked: It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to use actors and fakes to organize healing ceremonies the size of the ones that Aimee McPherson held.

My only complaint about this book is that near the end, the writing just seems to slow down. It's almost as if Epstein put all this passion into the first part, and started to lose it as the book drew to a close. But that really does not take too much away from it all (as I said before, if I could have given it 4 1/2 stars, I would have). This is a wonderful book.

I read this book perhaps five or more years ago, and it remains one of the top two books that I have ever read, besides the Bible. As I passed it in the library, I deliberately avoided it, yet felt compelled to go back and check it out. I couldn't
put it down! I had stereotyped Aimee McPherson as simply a long-ago female evangelist, but Daniel Epstein compelled me to follow him as he
brought her out of the shadows of the past and into the light, as though she lived now. Her story became so compelling to me that by the time the book was finished, I felt that her story stayed with me for weeks and weeks. I even wondered what her point of view would have been as I encountered various things in life. I literally could not read another book for months, and I have never had that reaction to a book. I simply had no desire for another book. All I can compare it to would be akin to the aftermath of an excellent steak dinner!

For those who are quick to dismiss Aimee Semple Mcpherson as the prototypical religious huckster this book will give you much pause to think. Although Epstein doesn't attempt to minimize her mortal weaknesses and often a naivete which frequently had her at odds with the more worldly he also shows the tirelessly devoted humanitarian who pushed herself to the point of breakdown. The book helps one to appreciate the multifacted, sometimes subtle and sometimes dominating personality she possessed, a woman who can command admiration for her spiritual gifts despite the feet of clay.

Daniel Mark Epstein, like so many men of her own time, is obviously enamored of Edna St. Vincent Millay. He urges that she be restored to the "canon",although her work has not been lauded in recent years.

The intense, highly emotional poet comes alive in the pages of his well-researched book. She comes to us as a rebel, determined to live on her own terms, to make love with the freedom of a man,to explore the ecstatic heights of feeling. (Shelley, the author tells us, was her idol.)

A central point that I feel Epstein misses is that, although she may have escaped the feminine role dictated by conventions of her time, she did not escape her own compulsion to make the search for love the driving force of her actions. Her poetry also has as its overriding theme, romantic and sexual love. For this reason she missed achieving stature as a great poet. Even though she possessed a great facility for language, her works are too limited in scope.

Her eventual descent into alcoholism and drug addiction can serve as a cautionary tale against the wild self-indulgence and perpetual adolescence that plagued Millay. It must be said, however, that her verbal gifts were so great that even in the midst of her addled despair in later life, she was able still to produce, although the work then was of lesser quality.

Kudoes for Epstein's carefully researched, comprehensive biography.

This biography was a fast and furious read, due to the great anecdotes as well as the tightly-written analysis. Ms. Millay's life was a whirlwind and many heretofore unknown facts and episodes are revealed, adding richness to the typical chronological description of this writer's life. Ms. Millay was more than a writer, she was a full-blown creative personality, in a time when to do so as a woman from a modest background was virtually unheard of. Even for those who do not know her poems or do not usually read literary biography, this book documents a fascinating woman's life and is well worth picking up.

Daniel Mark Epstein brings a special understanding to Edna St Vincent Millay's biography by virtue of being a poet himself. I think that's why this book is in many ways superior to the Nancy Mitford book.

Edna St Vincent Millay was not only a great person of words, but a great seductress and everyone, male and female alike, fell under her spell. Apparently, accordingly to this book, she managed to live up to their expectations quite well. Mr Epstein matches the love poems to the folks they were written for and gives the details of the various affairs. It may not sound interesting, but it is quite interesting - especially since M's Millay seemed to have a weakness for men who were not quite as talented as she was. The background behind "Fatal Interview" and the story of her (apparently) one love she lost before_she_ was ready to is quite an interesting read by itself.

Mr Epstein focuses on M's Millay as sort of a self made goddess and how her various affairs shaped her writing. M's Mitford focuses on how M's Millay's relationship with her mother shaped her life. Both of these are very interesting and I'd advise reading them consecutively and draw your own conclusions. In some respects, I think Mr Epstein is correct in what he presumes, but the same can be said of M's Mitford.

Throw yourself into the words and life of Edna St Vincent Millay - you'll find yourself awash with her beautiful poetry and prose and this book will help you make sense out of it.

My Grandma didn't like books with naughty language and excess sex. In the '80s, I started to read different mystery series that I thought she would like and the Mrs. Murphy books fit the bill. Even though Grandma's gone, I still read the Mrs. Murphy books because I'm hooked on this lightweight, but cute series by Rita Mae Brown [and Sneaky Pie Brown]. Murder On The Prowl, the sixth book featuring 'Harry' Haristeen, postmistress of Crozet, Virginia, and her very talented companion animals, is not the best book in the series, but is still an entertaining read. St. Elizabeth's, Crozet's private high school, is the focus of the multiple mysteries in this story. Film classes, false obituaries, field hockey, high tech car washes, and halloween dances are some of the things that occupy the time of our now familiar cast of characters. It has never been difficult to accept the fact that the animals can communicate with each other or that they solve the mystery before the humans do. My biggest complaint involves the poison used on the second murder victim. Malathion can't kill people in the way it supposedly did in the book. That out of the way, I recommend that you read Murder On The Prowl and the 5 previous Mrs. Murphy mysteries.

In Cozet, Virginia, the best kept secret is that all the animals fully comprehend English to the point of being able to talk to each other and read the language. Humans are unaware of this ability. When the headmaster of a local school, a film director, and a female assistant are all murdered, Mary Minor "Harry" Harristeen and her two cats (Mrs. Murphy and Pewter) and her dog (Tucker), independently investigate the killings.

Rita Mae Brown with the help from her own feline, Sneaky Pie Brown, demonstrates why she is such a popular author. She creates an exciting mystery series that deftly anthropomorphizes animals so that readers believe in the fantasy world she has devised. MURDER ON THE PROWL is a particularly well constructed mystery that is a brilliant blending of The Lady And The Tramp with Ms. Jessica Fletcher.

Harriet Klausner

When phony obituaries begin appearing in the Crozet, Virginia's local newspaper Harry knows that something strange is going on. But when dead bodies start turning up, she begins investigating. But even before she can find out what's going on her furry companions, Tee Tucker (Welsh Corgi), and Pewter and Mrs. Murphy (cats) are on the case trying to find out who will turn up murdered next, and trying to keep their owner out of danger.

Rita Mae Brown has done it again. This is one of the best Mrs. Murphy mysteries to date, and a must-read for fans of the cat-cozy genre.

I found this book to be revealing and enlightening about one of my favorite singers. Nat King Cole had a voice like no other before or since. With his calm demeanor you'd never think that he endured so much hell in his life. No wonder he smoked as much as he did. This book is one of the best I've ever read about the life of Nat Cole, but like some of the previous reviewers, I found little errors, too. I also felt that it had a strong sympathetic bent towards Nat's widow Maria, as if she were the heroine of the story. That isn't any wonder; this book was written in full cooperation with the Cole family, so I'm sure Mrs. Cole would have had to come out of it looking good, or she wouldn't have cooperated. Also Epstein says that shortly before Cole died, that he and his wife reconciled after Nat's torrid love affair with a twenty year old chorus girl. According to many other sources, though, they never did reconcile their differences. But this is what Maria Cole wanted people to believe. But still this book is very interesting. It reads like a juicy novel, but it's better, because it's a true story. It's engaging and will definitely hold your attention. You will feel like you knew the man personally. For anyone who loves Nat and his music, this book is a must.

I finally got around to reading Nat King Cole, and like the previous reviewer, I, too, caught a few mistakes such as the one about Elvis. At least Mr. Epstein did have the family's approval to write this book, and to be interviewed by him as well. Like most baby boomers, I grew up listening to NKC's music but never really knew much about the man other than the fact that his wife's name is Maria, his daughter is Natalie Cole & that he died of lung cancer at age 45. This book enlightens us on Nat King Cole not just as a singer and musician but as a man. I really felt for the Cole family when they were subjected to prejudice while moving into their home in Hancock Park. I also felt anger while reading of how a group of radicals attacked NKC while performing onstage in Alabama, planning to kidnap him. Mr. Epstein also periodically mentions the warnings about cigarette smoking throughout the book, as it is heavy smoking(several packs a day)that eventually killed NKC. The book is still highly recommended for all fans of one of the greatest singers of romance, bar none.

This biography lets us view this gentleman and his music from his early days on the Chicago jazz circuit to mega star status as a pop singer, film and television artist. Daniel Mark Epstein, the author has been thorough in his research. We meet Maria and Natalie and a litany of Nat's friends, JFK, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Bobby Darin Buddy Greco and George Shearing. There is even an item about Marilyn Monroe. Nat's public image was one of poise and elegance. The author captures the hidden side of Nat's personal turmoil and anxiety. Nat died at age forty-five. So young, so talented, and very very unforgettable. I can still almost hear his trio and his smooth vocals crooning "Blue Velvet", "When Sunny Gets Blue" and of course, "Unforgettable". I liked this book. If you get a chance, listen to John Pizzarelli's version of "Straighten Up and Fly Right", a Nat King Cole favorite. It's on John's CD, "Dear Mr Cole." I liked this book and the CD