Garland is an expert at capturing local color. This collection of short stories shows the brutal reality of farm and rural life in the Midwest. His characters are thrown around in the cruel world and have no real way of escaping. His women characters are strong and hold their own in world dominated by hard working men. This book shows how it was like to live in the West one hundred years ago.

Garland captures the American West as it was at the end of the 19th Century. This collection of shorts stories is a slice of life in rural America. Garland is a true local colorist who portrays real, hard working farmers and the struggle to survive in the harsh landscape of the Midwest. Who is a true Naturalist who shows the brutal reality of American life and the lack of control people had on the conditions of their lives. These stories take you into the hardships of the countryfolk of one hundred years ago.

Hamlin captures the essence of American Realism. The vividly painted scenes full of grit and labor keep this book moving. The characters are solid and provide the reader with a painfully honest view of life and love at the turn of the century. A necessary book for any decent collection of American Realism. Escape into the main traveled roads of humanity!

I am CEO of a company in Asia that provides technical support for medical equipment. I employ many "engineers" in several countries. While my team has a very solid grasp of the science side of engineering - on average they have been rather weak on the "art" side of technology support. It is safe to say that this is a global phenomenon. I needed a tool to help them understand the complexities of post production service and most importantly - customer satisfaction.

"AFTER THE SALE" says it all. I would like to formally thank the authors for writing the book that is saving my company a lot of time and money" - and keeping my customers satisfied.

I have not only purchased this book - but all of the other technical support books by the same author. A good use of my companies resources!

Brian de Francesca, CEO - Asia Bio Systems (360) brian@asiabio.com

Joe Patten & William Bleuel have succeeded in providing a quality book that packages the key functions, duties and deliverables in a single text. It is a must for new service managers and is written in a hands-on real world style that matches the needs of both new and experienced managers, whether it is to learn new techniques, improve their understanding of key elements, or review current practices for potential change. It focuses on the core processes within service with a strong attention to detail, quality and delivery. Most of all it is a text that has something for everyone and does not shy away from measurement or implementation issues. It's a great primer and there is no question readers will save a bit of "scar tissue" by applying the principles presented.

In addition this text, and others like it, are desparately needed in business schools. Customer service has too long been missing in undergraduate and graduate education. With the services industry becoming a focal point of our economy, Mr.Patton and Bleuel's text is very timely and it is encouraging to see a few of our institutions. recognize the need to incorporate this within their management programs.

For a novice like myself,interested in real estate the review I read made sence in that it gave commom sence information to the layman,about the dos and dont's .

Good info! Easy to understand.

Casey was a very complex character. He was always on the edge -- always straddling that ethical line (and frequently crossing it). The book is fair and it gives a good overview of the former chief of two much feared agencies: the SEC and the CIA.

Persico provides a balanced look at the deceased former Director of Central Intelligence. William Casey has served as both a lightning rod for criticism of the Reagan Administration's proactive foreign policy and as a right-wing hero. Unfortunately both of these views display an amazing inability to take into consideration all of the facts. The author presents Casey in an objective light, showing that the former OSS man often did what he felt was right for the country but in a fashion that just as often went outside the rule of law. Most importantly, Persico gives a more balanced and accurate view of Casey's role in the Iran-Contra scandal than the view presented in Bob Woodward's Secret Wars. Anyone interested in the career of one of the most respected and disrespected of America's former spy chiefs is encouraged to read Casey, from the OSS to the CIA.

This is primarily an ID guide to 188 native and naturalized trees, and another 84 that are commonly planted in what is termed the Central Hardwood Forests, defined as those portions of eastern North America dominated by deciduous trees. This is an octopus-like area that includes all or parts of 30 states and provinces to varying degrees. The only states wholly within the "shading" are IL,IN,RI, and KY; nearly so are CT, OH, TN, and MO. Small to large chunks of MN, WI, MI, PA, WV, IA,NE, KS, OK, TX, AK, AL, GA, NC, VA, MD, NJ, NY, MA, NH, Quebec and Ontario fall within the boundary; but ME and VT are inexplicably outside it, as are vast areas of deciduous forest in New York state. Few if any of the trees in this book are restricted to the Central Hardwood Forests -- most range widely beyond the boundary of this arbitrarily defined region, and many barely enter it at all. The reader would be better served if the book simply covered trees of the northeastern United States, without contriving an ecological framework for choosing species to write about. Most of the book consists of tree descriptions alphabetized from Abies to Zanthoxylum, with over 900 photos of varying quality, and maps for most species. Data headings are Habit, Bark, Twigs, Buds, Leaves, Fruit, Wood, Habitat and Range, Propagation, Wildlife Value, Landscape Value, and Best Recognizable Features. Discussions are very brief. A section of 116 color photos adds a welcome break to the cramped and confusing composition of the text. Summer and winter keys to genera are confusing due to the inclusion of numerals referring to previous couplets, and left unexplained; and because there is no identation, or spacing between couplets. The book is sturdily made and contains valid information, but is uninteresting in its style and mostly visually unappealing. It is not likely to inspire students.

This book is the best i have ever laid hands on for describing the trees of the eastern forest. I have a B.S. in Forestry, Im a certified Arborist and am currently working on a M.S. in Forestry. I have seen lots of books on trees and this is the best. Period.

The implementation manual is informative and easy to read. I find useful and noted that it assists me in easily identifying ETIF's that may apply to my clients. It does lack the FASB's so if you are looking for an all inclusive book, this is not it.

This is a promising book that is thoroughly researched.

Unlike every other supreme court justice that has had the opportunity, neither Justice Brennan nor Justice Marshall ever voted to affirm a death sentence.

The first third of the book covers familiar territory as it recounts the lives and possible influences on Brennan's and Marshall's approach to the law, including their consistent opposition to capital punishment.

The remaining two thirds of the book tries to place Brennan's and Marshall's approach of dissenting for the same reason for about 20 years, in historical and jurisprudential context. It does not fully succeed. In some sense, neither Brennan nor Marshall were writing to recapture the past or to have death penalty cases decided according to established legal approaches; they wrote for the future. They believed that at some point the rest of this country would "mature" and, like them, renounce the death penalty as a legitimate penal sanction. It would have been more meaningful if the book contained a detailed examination of Brennan's and Marshall's influence on capital punishment in the 20th century -- both nationally and internationally, notwithstanding their "relentless dissents." That is, I would have desired that the book look in detail in what occassion their dissents eventually became the law of the land, or the compromises that had to be made by the other justices to accommodate or rebut their views.

The book could use a little more editing, as in several places the thoughts contained in some paragraphs are repeated a few pages later.

I confess I only read D. C. Somervell's abridgment of Arnold Toynbee's first six volumes A Study of History, so I cannot claim to be a student of his work, but I was impressed mightily by that reading. This biography of Toynbee by the eminent historian William H. McNeill is of consistent interest and does not fail to relate Toynbee's troubled personal life as well as explore his eminent historical writing life. After reading this bio I concluded that Toynbee's theories and prophecies have not proved overly valid. E.g., he feared the U.S. more than Soviet Russia, and that is a novel and unspportable fear to me, naturally. Toynbee, along with most great thinkers, did not foresee the Soviet collapse. I think an interesting work would be an exploration of the why so many people looked on Communism as the wave of the future, even including Whittaker Chambers. Does anyone know of a good book exploring that phenomenon?

This book is covers a very concise and clear area of Pediatric Dermatology. The index is easy to use and photographs are clear. It should be a very useful reference book for any busy pediatric practice or for those pediatric residents studying for the Pediatric Boards.

This book offers practical advise for the ecologist or biological data manager. Although some of the principles of data management in this book should be review for those in the field, this book brings together this advise in one place. Most useful to me were the sections on data archiving and metadata, which go hand in hand. Throughout the book are references to data standards, and examples (such as online web sites) of implementing the principles. I would have appreciated more mention of XML, which has the potential to promote data exchange. I would have enjoyed more discussion of warehousing and mining, but you have to have the basic data management first! I would whole heartedly agree with the basic premise of the book of the need for treating data as a resource and the need for stewardship to increase understanding, data value, and understand long term problems.