This is a very dynamically written biography of Fridtjöf Nansen, polar explorer who established the farthest north not to be beaten for a couple of next years. The journey in "Fram", custom built ship, is bizarre enough, indeed. As intended, the ship entered polar ocean close to the Siberian coast of Taimyr Peninsula, where it was locked frozen in the ice for the next three years. The expedition mainly performed some scientific observations, self-imprisoned in the lonely ice of the north. The drift helped the frozen ship move slowly towards the North Pole with no activity on the part of explorers. It failed however to approach the pole itself, so Nansen set for the pole using dogs and sleighs, together with only one human companion, Hjalmar Johanssen. Cut off from the ship and inventory, they tried hard to achieve their goal. Having failed, they decided not to come back to the ship, which itself would be hard to find given the conditions of the environment and the ice drift. They headed for Svalbard instead, hundreds of kilometers away, instead. Meantime, they discovered an unknown archipelago, or at least it seemed so to them. They spent winter there in the ice cave, having hunted enough walruses to make a living. The story is full of adventures, exciting, unexpected, amusing or just otherwise sad, but always engaging. Read for yourself how they ended up. The journey for the farthest north is only part of the book, which is extensively long, covering all Nansen's life, and all of his activities, including the League of Nations leadership, for which later he was awarded a Nobel prize. Very recommended, as it is by no means a typical biography.

Our book club, all ladies over 60, loved this book. It is a wonderful subject for discussion - Nansen himself, his adventures,his heroics, his accomplishments and Huntford's amazing writing makes for a great read whether or not you are
Norwegian.

Nansen is a norwegian hero and legend. Huntford does a thorough job uncovering Nansen, the man and his triumphs. The Fram expedition and his travels with Johansen make this book hard to put down. Huntford is the premier biographer of polar explorers. Shackleton, Scott, Amundsen, and Nansen are all featured in books by Huntford. To learn more about norwegians, one only needs to read this book. Nansen was not only an adventurer, he was a pioneering scientist!

Imagine having one or more efficient robots living in your home. The robots are intelligent, friendly and non-violent. They have learned about human behavior by watching good old Hollywood films and reading fine literature. The robots seem almost human except that they remain free from emotions and other human frailties. And imagine the plight of a couple whose son, Adam, is the last human. (An unexplained phenomenon prevents couples from conceiving children.) As CEO of a company dedicated to improving robots, Adam faces dissent from an organized group, HARP (Humans Against Robotic People), yet he expands the robots' capabilities while humanity is quickly becoming extinct. Have robots evolved sufficiently to possess free will, or are they merely following programs that make them seem to think and act independently? This hard-to-put-down book may read like science fiction, but it poses questions that make us ponder about much in our contemporary lives. Enjoyable. Fun. . .with a serious underside.

This book [lured] me in after the first few paragraphs! It contains some very thought-provoking issues. You will stay up late to finish this one. Will we get a sequel?

Superbly written!! This book explores a question that is at the core of our humanity ... what makes us human? Is it unique, or replaceable ... something that can be mimicked with the right kind of technology and programming? Humans have a tendency to think that we are somehow special, set apart from the rest of the life forms inhabiting Earth as well as from any technological device that can be created by us. As we face our own imminent extinction, perhaps we would scurry, as our instinct direct us, to find a way to carry on our legacy. The struggle, as we watch our last generation of children mature and grow elderly, is heartrending.

If Angela Carter called Emily Dickinson the Madame deSade of Amherst, maybe we should call Barthes the Charlie Chaplin of language. Barthes is a Quixotic little tramp with too much erotic energy for the common reader. Of course, Barthes' Eros, like Chaplin's, is not a matter of subject but of point of view. From this angle, his project--the ripping-at-the-seams of the stale pleasantries of any Victorian approach to reading --seems more important now than ever. Everyone knows ours is a dispensation infected with simulations of pleasure--from the Ecstacy-riddled rave scene, whose aim is pleasure, to bad Kubrik movies "about" pleasure, to ever-tyrannical taxes on tobacco, which tax pleasure unfairly, to the very dubious simulo-pleasure of sending a critique, such as this one, to an invisible audience in hopes of getting 50 much-needed dollars.

Given all that, then a re-reading of Barthes may be mandatory to remember that the good old fashioned word can be and has been in fact just as irrational and fearsomely enjoyable as anything else. Finally, it is far past time that Barthes be relinquished from the category of the avant gard and join the ranks of *covertly* Socialist products such as Coca Cola, Camels, and Kodak, and all the other bad habits that may now be used to prevent us from straying off into some atactile ionosphere of Internet affairs, book-of-the-month clubs and long-distance learning courses.

Reading this long essay, I was reminded of Barthes' contention that he was not a literary critic--this work goes farther than most anything that passes for literary criticism nowadays. This is a beautiful, concise essay on what makes reading pleasurable, something most critics wouldn't dare to tackle. But Roland Barthes is no critic--he's a philosopher and a poet, a gifted writer whose words desire your reading (and you'll desire the words) as much as they illuminate that desire itself. It's a rare person who can explain literature while creating it. Barthes is one such person, which is just another reason he's no literary critic.

"The Pleasure of the Text," by Roland Barthes, is a work of literary and cultural philosophy that actually transcends the genre. The short book consists of a series of "meditations," many less than a page long, that explore various facets of language and reading. Barthes' work has been translated from French into an elegantly playful English by Richard Miller.

As a whole, the book has an informal, almost stream-of-consciousness feel to it. Barthes' text is richly studded with numerous cultural references--Bataille, the Kama Sutra, Sade, Severo Sarduy, Marx, the Buddhist sangha, Poe, Chomsky, and much more. Barthes often uses sexual imagery as a vehicle by which to construct a philosophy of reading. The result of all these elements is a dizzying, yet oddly delightful reading experience.

One of the key themes of "The Pleasure of the Text" is Barthes' attempt to define "pleasure" and "bliss," and to delineate the differences between the text of pleasure and the text of bliss. From Barthes' project the close reader can thus derive a new way of looking at all texts.

Among other topics Barthes considers the hierarchical nature and pleasure factor of the sentence, as well as the erotic potential of the word. And throughout, his writing is marked by passages of wit and insight. A typical observation: "The bastard form of mass culture is humiliated repetition [...]."

"The Pleasure of the Text" often takes on a metaphysical, almost prophetic flavor. For those who are willing to dig into this dense text with gusto, it may prove to be an intellectual treasure heap.

Forget about cloaking these shots with the guise of "art".
Von Gloeden kept the laurel wreathes, but somehow forgot the fig leaves. These photos are fun for what they are---the first (acknowleged by its creator) gay softcore porn. Many of them are positively hilarious, but, seemingly by accident, some are actually quite beautiful.

The baron was a lover of youth and the beauty that that portarys and it shows in his images. He captures the natural sensuality of his models in a truthfull and honest moment. He is as insynch now with my own desires as he was with his patrons. One of which was a priest who died recently who had a collection of more then 300 of his plates, a find that will entrall us all if or when they are released. If you love boys you will love this.

A contemporary of the greats (Oscar Wilde, poets, the avante guarde of his generation), the Baron was an unabashed lover of the male nude. Obviously very persuasive, he was well-loved by his models. Nazi criminals later destroyed much of his work, but what remains is air and light to us all. Unabashedly, he was a living example of self-esteem, positive body image, and love of art for itself. Many today pay thousands to achieve the certainty of self-realization he so efortlessly showed in each and every print. Their historical value alone is unmeasurable, as the plates that each image was made from is unique and irreplaceable. The Nazi hammers on the glass plates horrifies me as the burning of the libraries of Alexandria must have others at that time. Buy this book! Show it proudly!

Once again i love this Authors work,i really wish he would make some new ones.However the ones that are out there are very useful.This one has some very cute figures & it goes step by step on how to make them.Everyone will want to know how you did it.It does have black & white pictures for alot of things but it does give us the final product in color & some of the steps in color.It does have a tool list so you will know the right tip to use.The figures it shows how to do are: a baseball player,a drunk looking person,a housewife w/a mop,clown,bride & groom,circus lion,motorcycle,skier,teddy bear,bonnet girl,race car,& a stork.If you like to create figures with icing this Author has great books for you no matter what your experience is.

Although this book is fairly old, it is the easiest instruction book for figure piping decorations on cakes and cupcakes. It's step by step directions and ideas make it very simple to follow. This is also one of the few books I have been able to locate on this topic. Anyone who is into decorating cakes, etc should use this book for great instruction.

The book is very colourful. Full of pictures. But not a lot of "inside" stories. Great quality!

Lazenby captures the zest of the Bulls' drive, determination and heart. Pages of action packed sequenced season photos function as a valuable single source edification of the Bulls/championship season. TOPS!

Come Down Now, Flying Cow!, is a funny, fast and entertaining book. My 2yr old has loved this book since I first read it to her. The illustrations are cute, and the dialogue is simple enough that your child can learn the "chorus" very quickly.

Definitely a recommended buy. I have bought it for many of my friend's children.

Sent to us as a gift and sitting on our book shelf, our daughter discovered this book by herself. It has now become a favorite of hers, wanting us to read it along with her other favorites almost every night. She is only 19 months old but enjoys the pictures and saying "cow" along with us. The illustrations are brightly colored and appealing. The text is simple and the story is entertaining. I would recommend this book to any parent.

This book is aight because you can not really tell what is going to happen unlike other books I have read. I liked how the writer ded not jsut write one paragraph to explain why the main character is doing or why they are doing that. This is a good multi-cultural book because it teaches some history on the Native American tribes that are in this book. Other multi-cultural books I have read do not tell as much about the history of the culture. The book describes the main events very well and the characters reminded me of real life people I know. Some things that kind of bugged me about this book is that the book just kind of stops at the end so I was like that was it. I think they should of have a little more information about the Mexican Wolves it would of been more interesting. I would of liked to know how one of the characters afforded all of the things it seemed impossible to pay all those expenses off without a job. Like I said The Last Lobo just stop and doesn't tell what happened to the charcters.

The last lobo was one of the best books I have ever read. I just finshed it this morning. The thing I liked about it was the ending.And all of the problems he faces. Even though I was too old for this book It was very well done. Check this one out!

I rated the last lobo as a five because it is a wounderful and intersting story. It is about a kid how travels to arazon to find his grandfather. but he fond more than his grandfather if you want to now more read the book and don't forget to check out the other two books.

This is an example of what the fruits of scholarship should yield: careful, concise, clear, simple but uncompromised prose, moving from insight to insight, nothing gratuitous. If only such a book were available for every period in cultural history. Bainton renders the phenomena surrounding the Reformation so lucidly; really, in its own careful way, a small masterpiece.

A very boiled down book with unique vocabulary showing the interaction between the Roman Catholics, Luther, Calvin and the Anabaptists in the 16th Century and the impact on political, economic and family life.

Bainton describes the breach between Luther and Roman Catholicism. The major figures are Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Erasmus, Knox, and Cranmer. He utilizes compare and contrasts on doctrines and positions; such as, justification by faith, predestination, separation of church and state.

Carl L. Possehl

As is the case with almost all of Bainton's books, this book is very well written, easy to follow, and contains a good amount of historical facts and evidence. This text is very well researched, just take a look at the bibliography. However, the reader should keep in mind that this is a type of survey text, not a text with a specific target topic in mind within the Reformation; though Bainton does detail several key elements which he believes helped to shape the overall movement in Europe. Moreover, the Forward (by Jaroslav Pelikan) itself is worth the price of the book.

Bainton covers all the major figures, movements, creeds, Papal Bulls, positions, assertions, and historical settings which occurred during the Reformation. Some detail is left our (for further research), but for a survey text on the Reformation, this is one of the best!

Bainton begins with Luther (who is the core source of the Reformation) in Germany and then expands out into other areas and People who help to promulgate the ideas of Luther. He discusses the various movements such as Calvinism, Lutheranism, the Anabaptists, etc. Bainton also discusses the political atmosphere of the Reformation and details the ideas of nobility and political figures within the Reformation who either hindered or aided the movement. Finally, Bainton discusses the economic situations of various areas, its effects and ramifications of the Reformation.

Overall, this is a wonderful survey text to wet the appetite of the reader regarding the Reformation. Bainton has very easy to read writing style and he keeps his audience's attention well. If you are interested in the Reformation and have yet to really dig deep into the issues, then this is a great place to start. If you are seasoned researcher of the Reformation, I still believe you will glean some wonderful gold nuggets of facts and information from this text.

Cost being a factor in determining books to be purchased by students, I strongly recommend this translation by Leonard Bacon (1914). The lines are mainly in iambic heptameter (seven beats per line) with a clear caesura, which facilitates a student's oral reading of the poem. Though the original French used assonance more than end rhyme, Bacon does rhyme his English lines. Compared to the iambic pentameter of the Dorothy L. Sayers translation, Bacon's is a little faster paced, but one senses the hoofbeats of the horses with two more beats per line, which isn't altogether bad for an epic poem about a military massacre. Though a good choice in terms of price, Bacon's translation lacks glosses of archaisms (e.g., the word "eme" is not explained as an archaism of "uncle"). Still, the teacher can supply these as necessary. For [the money], you can't go wrong!

well worth the time. Sure, it gets a little repitious, but you really get a feel of how important knighthood and chivalry were to these people so lang ago.

Not a must-read, but definitely worth the time for leisurely reading, especially if you enjoy history or just heroic epics.

I have had a chance rather vividly to contrast this version with the Glyn Burgess translation, and Harrison is not only more readable, it's better poetry. I use the book in a class of eighth grade boys in New York (who love it), and by mistake a bought a slug of the Burgess translation. Then I had some boys with Harrison, some with Burgess, and the howls from the Burgessites were considerable. Harrison is just a better, livlier, even funnier translation.