This book is extremely well-researched and every state should have one like it. The book covers the status and distribution of the 443 that have been observed in the state. Each bird has a text overview including breeding, winter, and migration ranges and elevation distribution, relative abundance of each species by region and season, and unusual records, birds of special concern in Colorado, and historical changes in distribution. The beginning of the book has a really useful section on the different habitats, too. A great resource for a Colorado birder!

Marc-Andre Hamelin is universally acknowledged to be 'primus inter pares' among pianists living today, and Robert Rimm has written a first-rate book which explains why this is so, placing Hamelin into the context and rich legacy of the composer-pianists.

The core of Rimm's evaluation consists of four chapters which compare, contrast and illuminate the lives, careers and aethetics of The Eight: Alkan and Sorabji; Busoni and Godowsky; Feinberg and Scriabin; Medtner and Rachmaninov. The major "find" here is Samuel Feinberg, about whom much less is known by many of us than any of the other Eight. Rimm leaves us wishing to hear much more of this composer's music and of his recorded performances.

In these chapters, Rimm manages to deconstruct several myths and misunderstandings about each of these provocative musicians, while calibrating, aligning and amplifying the essence of each. His observation of the correspondences, contrasts, parallels and congruent aesthetics of each of the eight is insightful, and leads to his core thesis: That pianistic virtuosity, as shared and practiced by them (and upon which their public fame largely exists, to the dismay of each), exists to serve the music, through their consumate musicianship, and is not an end to itself. Indeed, their virtuosity must be seen as the necessary precursor to their art; none was satisfied to stop at the "merely virtuosic", but instead recognized that virtuosity was the mandatory platform for the creation and recreation of great music.

These four core chapters lead to a fifth: "From Alkan to Hamelin", which examines Marc's career to date and his place in this distinguished lineage of composers and performers. [NB: I feel comfortable using Mr. Hamelin's first name, with respect, in writing about him, for I was fortunate last year to have met and briefly talked with him after a pair of recitals he gave at the Portland (OR) State University Piano Recital Series. These recitals included the music of Bach, Schubert, Brahms, Schumann and, yes, Alkan's Concerto!... plus encores from his then-just released "Kaleidoscope" CD (Hyperion CDA67275), a direct successor to "The Composer-Pianists" CD (CDA67050) which is in turn the companion recording to this very book. Marc is a most cordial and approachable individual, totally without pretense, and unfazed by those who insist on referring to him as "a super-virtuoso". Our conversations were brief, following his generous performances and after he tolerated lines of autograph-seeking well-wishers -- I'm sure he'd not recognize me in a crowd, yet I left feeling like I'd met a new friend.]

Rimm's chapter on Hamelin (who is indeed his friend and collaborator in this book) examines Marc's own views of The Eight (and others), his championship of their art and music, and his own recognition of virtuosity as an element of musicianship itself. This chapter is perhaps the gem of the book: it is constructively analytical, not hyperventilating with hero-worship (difficult to do when faced with Marc's executant talents), and comfortably conversational. Marc offers his own insights, including a clear-eyed personal view of his own performance skills and technique, on concertizing and composing, and the push-pull demands of a varied and creative career.

The chapters on the pitfalls of criticism, the liabilities of virtuosity and the art of transcription are also strong, interweaving a fine counterpoint of notions and ideas again at the foundations of The Eight's (plus one's) aesthetics and lives. The weakest chapter is "The Erotic Muse" -- I suppose that, especially in light of Scriabin's world view of mysticism and sexuality, this is somewhat of an obligatory chapter. I'm no prude (nor is there anything the least bit titillating herein), but I found that this chapter could be ripped without loss from the book. Fortunately, after examining certain views of how (some) music(s) and sex are (somehow) linked or of "the same" human impulse, Rimm ultimately comes to the obvious conclusion that sex and music are really two different things altogether. I'll need to re-read this chapter in a few months to see what, if anything, I missed.

Along the way, we encounter other musicians, composers and pianists of note, including Liszt (of course), Prokofiev, Ives, Horowitz, Kapustin, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Earl Wild, Alistair Hinton, Radu Lupu, Zoltan Kocsis and Stephen Hough, who provides an enticing foreword plus complementary remarks in various chapters. Hough is, of course, a peer, compatriot and colleague of Hamelin's -- boy, a duo-recital &/or recording by these two would be almost too much of a good thing! Hyperion, are you paying attention?

Bonus points for the appendices: Complete Solo Piano Works for each of The Eight and for Hamelin (an emerging composer of note), plus a Discography for each who has left a recorded legacy (Alkan's the exception; he died just before Edison put cactus-needle to wax) ...and of course, Hamelin's own discography is fortunately a catalog-in-progress.

This is mandatory reading for all pianists and other musicians, professional and serious amatuers (like me!), and anyone else who wants to understand the fascinating hold that virtuoso musicians have over us all. Bravo, and thank you, Mr. Rimm!

Concise, and image intense discussions are to the point yet encompass all necessary details. Excellent resident review book and excellent for the generalist in practice. Highly recommended.

A surperb intorduction to the stock market, mutual funds & bonds including a very concise history of the U.S. Stock markets. Geared to the totally new investor, it even covers some advanced subjects like options and money management in very understandable ways. My favorite book to recommend when someone asks "how do I get started?"

Being a beginner myself, I can't say that I enjoyed this book as an introduction to the Egyptians. The lack of a timeline and the assumtpion by writers that the reader is accustomed to the history of Ancient Egypt makes it difficult for someone who doesn't have a proper grasp of the ancient Egyptians' era to enjoy the reading. However, the portrait it gives of the various social groups which made up the Egyptian world is quite remarkable and can be enriching for any reader, even the unexperienced ones.

This book starts off with the basics but then goes into the details of each subject. It goes well beyond the other books which usually say to do or not do something but does not go into the details of why. I hightly recommended this book.

Robert Jastrow does a wonderful job of explaining the various theories and mindsets of Charles Darwin without pressing any bias in the mix. Robert, if you read this, thank you once again for another outstanding read.

I was alternately outraged and amused by Free Minds & Free Markets. I was outraged at numerous losses of freedom and the major media's poor reporting of them. I was amused at how weak the case has become for continued government expansion. For example, Paul Ehrlich predicted worldwide famines by 1975, and former Senator Gaylord Nelson said everybody would have to wear breathing masks in the 1980s -- thus, correctly predicting the fad of oxygen bars. Freedom is a new idea that is sweeping the planet. Free Minds & Free Markets provides an eloquent defense of freedom that is hard to find anywhere else.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Spurgeon explains using scripture what GRACE IS in a believers life.Understanding God's grace will set you free , because His grace has set us free. This will pierce your heart with the truth's of God's love and abounding, overflowing grace towards those who He has saved by the work Jesus did and completed on the Cross for our salvation.

The History Channel has put together an interesting American History trivia quiz that consists of 101 questions with subsequent answers on the next page. This reviewer played a game against her husband as we tried to see who could answer the most over a week's time. The book is fun and enlightening, especially for trivia buffs.