Rick Bass, You have hardly the talent you say you have in the interview in writers market 99, your writing is dull and its ridiculously lame you won the james jones fellowship given your publishing credits...Uh, well at least your last novel or whatever you call it got trashed by the critics, and they seem to agree with me. Quit plagiarizing yourself and try to interest the reader, you arrogant tree-hugger. I do, however, think you might write a great one one day, but it is highly doubtful due to your poor attitude etc...

I have long been an admirer and fan of Rick Bass' works. He is a nature writer that understands the importance of landscape and wild places and creatures to the human spirit and the necessity to have all the appropriate elements of a particular landscape to make it complete. The Mexican wolf has been gone from the American Southwest for 70 years and Bass argues that the reintroduction of these wolves into this area is one of rightness and inevitability, as the landscape wants and cries for the wolves to be here. The book is sprinkled with a varied cast of characters, from Ted Turner and an assortment of wildlife biologists, (the heros of this story,) ranchers, students, amd many others. All points of view are thoughtfully considered and also the land and the wolves are described in the haunting manner that only Rick Bass can fashion. A great book for anyone interested in wolves, ecology, biology, or just landscape and nature and our human connection to it. I would highly recommend this book.

I was disappointed at all the four letter words, vulgarity and the mention of one night stands while he is married. I felt it was also degrading to women. I love Richard Belzer as an actor but as a writer I was disappointed in the book. Does he want his two daughters to read his book?

While reading this book is mildly amusing, you will not learn how to construct a joke or bring out your funny side by reading it. In short you won't learn much about "how to be a stand up comedian". I was disappointed because I do think Belz is a funny guy. I just didn't think the book was very instructive.

First of all, I had a terribly hard time locating this book... For good reason it turns out. Although published in 1988, 'How To Be a Stand Up Comic' appears to be a remainder from an earlier, long forgotten era. Shoddy production value, crappy packaging and all together amateur layouts do little to improve this book's allure - once opened it can be read in a single bowel-movement. Not to say that this book is entirely disappointing, it isn't. Richard Belzer is a master of his craft. Being a Stand Up Comic. Writing and assembling a book which captures his celebrated, irreverent wit proves daunting. Entirely devoid of substance this 208 page collection of cheap, grainy B&W photos masquerades as a 'book,' containing no more than 6 pages of text. What fills up the remaining 202 pages are a serious of poor-quality black and white photographs of 'The Belz' in a series of 'comedic' skits. Whereas these pictures could ideally have served to coincide and reinforce the text, Belzer uses them as a way to replace his written word leaving the 'reader' cheated. This is basically a scrappy attempt at a half-hearted and entirely unrealized premise. Rarely do you see a talent such as Richard Belzer's so blatantly betrayed. I anxiously await the publication of his next work 'Conspiracies You Don't Have To Be Crazy To Believe' which will hopefully ameliorate my current feeling of betrayal.

It's just the sort of thing which would appeal to a professor of Perception and Philosophy somewhere in an obscure university. Rather wishy-washy. But then again it makes a change from the usual hand-me-downs from the other sutra-reading throng.

These poems are mostly of unrequited love/lust. Some of them are moveing. It certainly shows that Dalai Lama's can be subject to the pains of Samsara. I think the introduction to the book sums it up when it says that he was either an advanced tantric master of mysterious methods or a false Dalai Lama. There are two versions of this book available. The one pre-fixed "The Turquoise Bee" is the better presented one.

Like the story of Goldilocks, this complilation had "too much" and "not enough". Too many short chapters, each by a different "warrior-writer" (including Bly, Campbell, Millman, and Martin Luther King) each with yet another definition of just what a warrior is suppose to be -- the silliest chapter had to be Gloria Steinem's admiration of Wonder Woman. There wasn't enough of a common thread, or enough detail, to get a handle on what concepts was actually being discussed.

Not a bad book I suppose; but not very useful or insightful either. Throw in being politically correct and new age and it had me wishing Mark Twain or Dave Barry could review it and see what they made of it.