Ray Kurzweil brings his legendary scientific mind to the world of nutrition and produces a work of science that becomes a work of art. Founded on facts and research this is a entertaining and well written work guaranteed to inspire and motivate depending only on experience and well subsitiated facts. This books covers many areas but is never overly obscure or unweildy.

Ray has included an robust index and a clever socratic dialogue that helps the reluctant reader digest his

This book is a wonderfully easy-to-read "How to" guide to living in a healthy way. Ray Kurzweil does an excellent job in pooling together so much well-substantiated research data regarding what truly makes a healthy diet. His focus is on HEALTH and LONGEVITY rather than weight loss. He is concise, motivating and right on target. I encourage my patients to read his book if they are truly serious about getting/staying healthy!

The author is a scientist, not a nutritionist, who literally saved his life from terminal illness by researching how diet correlates with disease. The "hook" is that virtually EVERY reader in the USA has atherosclerosis --but does not know it! One detail overlooked (but noted by Andrew Weil, MD, elsewhere) is the essential ratio of omega-3 to omega-6. Very practical suggestions. You will die unnecessarily early if you fail to follow this advice. Makes tough technical stuff easy to read, understand & live by.

I read this book in this time of Christmas, 2001-2002. The content was incredibly interesting and changed my mind about the narratives of Jesus infancy. The two initial chapters of Matthew and Luke now say different things than I understood just a month ago. Recommendable only for people with a very well cemented faith. Short and very interesting and clear reading. That is the reason why I am a father Brown's fan.

This booklet contains an excellent summary of some of the important conclusions reached in Father Brown's comprehensive and scholarly work, "The Birth of the Messiah." Father Brown's concern in the booklet is the theological message of the evangelists--he views this as the most important aspect of the message, and something that can get lost amid modern searches to either prove or disprove each item of the stories as historical events.

As usual, the late great Father Brown did an excellent job. He explores the Old Testament roots of Mathew's and Luke's Birth Stories and analyzes broad and beautiful topics such as "the Meaning of the Magi" (the Good News is for all who will believe, including Gentiles) and the "Importance of the Shepherds" (they symbolize an Israel that comes to recognize and glorify its Lord Jesus, the Davidic Messiah foretold in the Jewish Scriptures).

Father Brown said he hopes the regognition that there is an adult Christ in the message of Christmas--i.e., that the theological meaning of God's gift of Jesus is included in these beautiful opening verses--will lead believers to proclaim that revelation to others, and that they will respond in faith. It was a wonderful thing to have this brilliant and intellectually honest scholar also put his faith on display.

This book is short (50 pages) and well written. It can form the basis of an lay class on Christmas or Advent, either led by clergy or laity. Excellent resource.
This book is an exacting and thoughtful set of essays by the most eminent bibical scholar of our time, the late Fr. Raymond Brown. It is a summation of much of what he wrote elsewhere in his volumnious work (for example, his epic "The Birth of the Messiah"). In this 50-page book he explains why the gospel writers wrote the birth stories the way they did, with differing plot twists. Brown reaches profound insights with major implications for the spirituality and theology of the Christian Church. His insights about the centrality of Mary is particularly interesting, especially for a Roman Catholic. He sees the miracle of Mary not so much as the "virgin" birth or as the theotokos (mother of God) of the early Church, but rather as the first and most loyal disciple of Jesus. And that should have implications about the role of women in the Church and priesthood.
Brown, as ever, does his homework. His scholarship is solid -- even the footnotes are worth reading.

This book details the consequences of unequal wealth distribution and false dreams. As a native Detroiter I was amazed at the accuracy that the book details choices and options that are left for inner-city youth. I do not ANY form condone the actions of Mr. Jones or other Young Boys but I do appreciate the candor that Mr. Jones spoke upon the choices that one is faced with when staring down the evil eyes of poverty. This book should serve as an example for all conservatives who vehemently support the "bootstrap" theory. Not all criminals are unintelligant, but when you are hungry and you can be accepted in "da hood" and recieve immediate gratification or struggle with "the man", what would you do?

This book is a must have,must read by everyone.Especially those like myself who are from Detroit and know about the Y.B.I.first hand.I became a member of Y.B.I. at age 12.I am now 34 and have a 13 year old son who I'm going to make sure reads this book to maybe steer clear of the painful,bloody,murderous & cold,cold path that this book reveals.I remember Butch Jones, and personally knew most everyone mentioned in this book. I thank God I'm alive and able to read it. Because most of my fellow Y.B.I. friends & members are expired as a result of membership.May God have mercy on there souls most of us were just kids. Dwayne(DUB)Davis,Ricky(RENO)Thomas & Shaun(ork)Boyce R.I.P. And last but not least the Dog of Dogs Raymond Peoples R.I.P.

A book that should be read by all high school students, Butch Jones' autobiography presents a wealth of accumulated knowledge. It is a lesson in economics, philosophy, and Detroit history. Butch Jones, supreme teacher and urban philosopher, turns learning into a game.

G. R. Beasely-Murray (B-M) set out to write a book on his full understadning of baptism, and the results are amazing. I would warn you that this book is not easy reading, but is necissary reading for those who are truely interested in God's word. It seems like B-M did not leave any stones unturned in his quest to understand baptism. He brings anthropology, history, literature, theology and many years of knowledge out in this book.

B-M starts with a pre-christian history of baptism and cerimonial washing, including the Baptisms of the essenes, John, and the baptism of Jesus. He then looks at the formation of Christians baptism in the bible (broken down into each book starting with acts). Then he does a topical look at what Christian baptism means and theology about baptism: icluding grace, repentence, and faith which are almost always overlooked in modern discussion of baptism. The book ends with a look at infant baptism.

B-M is thorough in his quest to figure out baptism. He rest his arguments on facts and logical conclussions instead of assumptions (normally a problem with modern theologins). Instead of writing a book to support his denominations theology, he has the courage to challenge it (and other denominations as well).

Although this in not meant to be an "easy reading" book on the vast subject of baptism, "Baptism in the New Testament" is well worth a careful read by the serious Bible student. This scholarly book is written by a Baptist, but as the back cover says (and I agree), "his discussion transcends denominational lines." Baptism is a vital part of the Christian experience, yet it is so often misunderstood, especially when it comes to any possible role baptism has with salvation (specifically, justification). Beasley-Murray concentrates much attention on the historical aspect of the doctrine and shows how baptism has been practiced and believed in the last 20 centuries. I would heartily recommend this book to the person who is serious about his/her study.

This is the most thorough and scholarly study of the subject of baptism I've ever seen. It is particularly noteworthy that the author, a Baptist, challenges the doctrines of his church at several points. Unfortunately, at the end of the book, he fails to maintain his earlier conclusions when discussing the question "Is baptism necessary for salvation?" In spite of this inconsistency, this is an outstanding work.

'The Blue Flowers' is the most lovable of all Raymond Queneau's novels, one of those rare books you never want to end (for me, the only others I can think of are 'Huckleberry Finn' and 'Dance to the music of time'). It relates two paralell narratives (or rather - and Queneau is the great mathematical novelist! - base and perpendicular narratives): the historical narrative of the endearingly aggressive Duc d'Auge, nay-sayer to royal authority and public opinion, friend of Gilles de Rais and the Marquis de Sade, and debunker of religion to the extent of daubing on caves in the Perigord region to 'prove' the existence of humanity before Adam; his three daughters, including the defective, bleating Phelise, and their small-minded spouses; his squire Mouscaillot and their talking horses, philosophical Demosthenes and taciturn Stef; and his clerical foils, the abbes Biroton and Riphinte. We meet the Duke at 175 year historical intervals - refusing to rejoin the barbarous crusades in 1264, and forced to slaughter disapproving bourgeoisie; investing in new weaponry, most notably the cannon, in defence of his castle in 1439; dabbling in alchemy in 1614; fleeing the French Revolution in 1789. Throughout he hunts, visits the capital, marries woodcutters' young daughters, feasts ferociously, and debates with his clergy.
From the terrifying active Duke, the contemporary story focuses on passive Cidrolin, once wrongly convicted for a crime for which he is still persecuted by an unknown graffiti artist who daubs obscene accusations on his fence every night. Now living on a barge, drinking endless glasses of essence of fennel, he doesn't do much, giving directions to tourists, staring at construction sites or the nearby camping site. Any trip out of the ordinary invariably finds him back where he started; conversations are banal and repetitive. Like the Duke, he has three daughters and sons-in-law, a dead wife and the first name Joachim. He spends most of his time taking siestas, dreaming of the Duke. When the Duke sleeps, usually replete from an enormous meal, he dreams of Cidrolin. Queneau says his book's starting point was the old Chinese saying about a philosopher - When he went to sleep, he dreamt of a butterfly; when he woke up, he wondered whether he was a butterfly dreaming of a philosopher.
'Flowers' is, according to the experts, Queneau's most dense and philosophical novel, an intimidating mixture of Chinese philosophy, 'Finnegan's Wake', Plato, Hegel etc. It certainly deals with Big Themes, such as History, Time, Cosmology, Art, the Importance and Interpretation of Dreams. But for the less intellectually alert amongst us (including me), 'Flowers' offers sundry, more accessible pleasures. The comic set-pieces, which can arise from slapstick; bathos and deflated rhetoric; the deadpan recording of absurd conversations, and the absurd convolutions of deadpan conversations. the characters, from whom biography and psychology is deliberately and crucially elided, nevertheless end up being so completely endearing you don't want to leave them. The eulogy to dreams and their subversive power over official history. The detective story element - what crime was Cidrolin accused of? Who is his persector? Why is the watchman of the camp spying on him? Who sabotaged the new flats? Mostly, 'Flowers' is a joy for its language: the historical settings and wide social range of characters allowing for an Augian feast of archaic and obsolete words, jaw-breaking technical terms, slang, puns, neologisms, for all of which Barbara Wright finds delightful and rich equivalents in the wealth of English life and literature. So inventive, audacious and important is her translating, she should really be credited as the book's co-author.

Queneau is a master, as is his translator Barbara Wright. I don't think you will find a translation that communicates more of the book's essence than this one. Every sentence is a play on words and meaning...Wright manages to take Queneau's French "jokes" and make them equally artistic English ones. This book is a delight in its entirety, perfectly deliberate and crafted, yet whimsical, personal, rambling, historical, and more all at once. It is as forward-thinking as Joyce's Ulysses, and in my opinion as important a primer for the ultimate literature.

There is a phrase in the original french edition of this book which explains everything: "REVER ET REVELER C'EST A PEU PRES LE MEME MOT". Italo Calvino translated in italian with a fantastic "STAI ATTENTO CON LE STORIE INVENTATE, RIVELANO COSA C'E' SOTTO. TAL QUALE COME I SOGNI" Keep attention with your dreams, they will disclose your intentions. Read this book and sleep with Cidrolin dreaming about the life of the Duc d'Auge in the past or, if you prefer, live with the Duc d'Auge and dream about Cidrolin's life in the present. Just a surprise: one day, in Paris, they will meet themselves...

This book is a chockful of puzzles and riddles, humorous and bizarre. The author (Raymond Smullyan) uses these puzzles to introduce formal logic in a particularly fun and interesting way. This book also illustrates the unique sense of humor many mathematicians. He characterizes a drunken mathematician as one who says, "I can prove anyshing!"

Added January 2003

I used some questions from this book in my college physics class last fall (2002). I noticed a couple problems with the book and what it tries to present. The book is still fun and amusing, but not fully accurate. Consequently, I reduce my rating to a four.

I believe that logic is nothing more than reading (or hearing) and comprehending sentences, and identifying whether sentences are true or false. This book does an excellent job of training the reader to read what he reads. This is something the modern reader needs desperately -- witness the success of persons like Hugh Ross in persuading people that the Bible says what the Bible manifestly does not say.

However, the book emphasizes something that is very wrong: the claim that "A false statement implies anything" and its logical equivalent, "Anything implies a true statement."

"If we hadn't stopped and turned back, we would have been caught in an avalanche" would be just as true (after stopping and turning back) on the hottest summer day in the desert as on a stormy snowy day in the mountains in winter. Likewise, "If Al Gore had been allowed to take office as President, 9/11 would have not occurred" and "If Al Gore had been allowed to take office as President, 9/11 would have occurred" would both be equally true without considering what might have happened had Gore been President.

If "a false statement implies anything," then we cannot discuss intelligently what might have happened if we'd made different choices.

The book does prove that "If 2 + 2 = 5 then I am the Pope." It is possible that false statements of a certain type are guarranteed to imply anything.

I would like to see this book back in print. Most of it is excellent and on target in logic. Perhaps a second edition could be published, adjusting its take on these issues.

An amazing book that trains you to use your brain effectively through a careful structure that increases in complexity as you progress. I read it when very young and would like to get copies for all my staff as it is an excellent tutorial on logic and perfect for orienting systems programmers into looking at complex problems with a fresh viewpoint. Sadly it appears to be out of print and I join the cry in asking the publisher to pull it out of the archives.

I use this book to give puzzle exercises to my University students. Publisher should re-print the book!

Queneau offers a caleidoscope of satirical views about Paris and the people there, and he populates his novel with truly bizarre guys. Zazie is a perhaps twelve-year old girl that comes to Paris with her mother for some days; the mother visits her lover, and Zazie visits her uncle Gabriel. Gabriel works as a dancer (with a balley costume) in a gays' night-club without being homosexual himself. Some of his friends (a shoemaker, a pub owner, a parakeet, a taxi driver, Gabriel's wife, an almost-rapist) make the scene complete.

Queneau does not forget to fill the book with swearwords and other vulgarities that are common in Paris, and he leaves no opportunity out to make everyone look ridiculous - a bus full of tourists, the "gendarmerie", the Parisian car drivers...

I laughed a lot.

Raymond Queneau's comic cult novel is an unjustly neglected classic that was once distributed by the same French publishing house that handled Burroughs' Naked Lunch and Miller's Tropic Of Cancer when no one else would dare. Zazie is a sweet, sassy, cynical little girl with the mouth of a truck driver. She arrives in Paris to visit her uncle (a female impersonator), but what she really wants is to ride the Metro. Alas, the Metro workers are on strike, so our little heroine goes off on her own in search of adventure, driving her poor uncle nuts in the process. This wonderful book manages to be funny and heartwarming while maintaining a raunchy, satirical edge. A perfect book for a rainy day! Definitely not for children or the easily offended, but great entertainment for young-at-heart adults. Be sure to see Louis Malle's great 1960 movie version, which he directs with the pace and energy of a Roadrunner cartoon!

You see a portrait of your beloved inner-Zazie. Isnt't she just adorable

Do you belong to the race of man? Then this book is about you. Resnick has brought all five billion of us along on this magnificent journey. You will feel joy and grief, burning shame and blazing pride. Birthright shows humanity's potential- for good, for evil, and for humanity. This book is very personal- for everyone.

I'm not sure why this book was out of print for so long. I hoarded copies of it, loaning it out to only my most trusted friends for years. It is certainly a book up there with Greg Bear's Eon, Frank Herbert's Jesus Incident and Dune and the Foundation series.

If you're a fan of sci-fi, Galactic strategy games or scathing social commentary, you will completely enjoy Birthright.

If this is as good as his collection, "Kirinyaga", expect excellent, thought-provoking, award-winnig level prose (He recently won yet another Hugo for Short Story).

This is not really a book about how to amass your retirement savings, but rather what to do with it when you are retired. The system is simple. You have 3 buckets. In bucket number 1 you put your money for the next 5-7 years. Bucket number 2 is for the next 5-7 year period after that. And finally, bucket number 3 is for the money you will not need for 10-14 years. The book then discusses the proper investment choices for each bucket, how to rebalance them when necessary.

The plan makes sense and seems simple. The only part I was not entirely clear on is when to move items from bucket 3 to bucket 2. Maybe I missed it. In any case, the book was a good read and I plan on reading it again when I get closer to retirement.

I'm looking forward to Ray's next book (the radio show is good too).

I really enjoyed reading Ray's book, and it helped me to understand the "Buckets" philosophy he talks about on the radio. It's a great retirement strategy, although you do have to be somewhat disciplined at saving to make it all work properly. It also requires you to take money from only about 5% of your portfolio each year, which some people may or may not be able to do, so if you're used to taking huge chunks of cash from your savings each year you might not be able to follow it. It seems rather foolproof (which I like), and while it doesn't promise huge returns on your money (it's very conservative), it does make sure that you never run out of money even if we run into another "bad run" in the stock market. I wish I read it two years ago, but that's the breaks.

I also enjoy his radio show, he's much better than that boring Ramsey guy that follows him. Maybe I'll get the nerve to call in one day and ask a question to the Braintrust!

I listen to Ray's radio show all the time and now that I've read the book I can understand the whole "Buckets" retirement strategy even better. It was easy to read and enjoyable! Thanks, Ray!

I don't own very many Tarot decks - I've never been interested in collecting them. I'm a lot more interested in using a deck that speaks to me - a deck that allows me to be a better reader for others.

I find the vibrant colors and highly evocative imagery of this deck to be one of the more interesting I've ever used. The basic images aren't that different from other decks that you won't know what the cards mean anymore, but they're different enough to allow you to gain a whole new insight on the Tarot by using this deck.

The four cards that are shown in the picture section give you a good idea of what some of the cards from this deck look like. I'm particularly fond of the secondary interpretations that one can divine from these cards. Are those Gypsy children getting a drink from the cups on the stairs of the Six of Cups or are they spiking a cup with a Gypsy love potion? It's up to the reader to decide - based on the cards around you in a reading.

The art is fantastic and reminds me a lot of the supposed Gypsy heritage of Tarot cards, although some people might be put off by that type of imagery. The colors and symbolism give me a great insight when using this deck to give readings to others.

The book is very informative and it's use of the images from the cards enhances it's value to potential users of this deck.

But it's not too overpowering for new Tarot readers either, and that's a big plus. This deck might work well at a carnival or renaissance fair if you want to give it an ideal flavor. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Tarot reading, especially if you are interested in Tarot readings for other people, and not just self discovery.

After taking a very interesting tarot reading in downtown sau paulo, I was hooked this original method of divination. I started looking around for something that displays the tradition in itself and is also well designed to learn from and for quicker reading. Many books were on the subject, some kits which contain the decks too. However, most were designed in a way that only experienced tarot readers would be interested. I lost my desire after a while. Then, I came across the Buckland Romani Tarot kit. I was impressed by the cover art done by Lissane Lake so I bought it as a last chance pursuit. Three weeks later, I was literally being paid a visit by friends and relatives who were amazed by the degree of accuricy and speed of my previous readings. It took me two days to get the actual hand and with the amazing, thorough guide book that comes with this deck, I quickly became a Gypsy myself! This is an amazing kit, just looking at the deck itself i sense the power within. If you're interested in tarot and you want to be a part of this amazing art, buy this and only this!

What a remarkable odyssey! Such things have been revealed to me since I bought this deck. My mother tearfully confessed to me that for 82 years she has kept the secret that she was born of English-Romani ancestry, and so I too must be Rom--like those depicted in these cards. Then I found out that my father's family just might also be Romani. Unbelievable! I'm still in shock. I had no idea but it's no wonder I love this deck and book. They seem to speak to me personally, and I find they work very well for me indeed. I also love the illustrations. They depict a proud people. -- Harry Mason