Behind W. C. Fields's public mask there was a human face, and James Curtis reveals it completely in this sterling biography. Many show-business stories about Fields have become legendary (often perpetuated by the comedian himself), and author Curtis has taken great care to show how much truth there was to the legend. For the first time we can read WHY Fields encountered so much trouble when he tangled with (or was victimized by) producers, doctors, women, and others he turned into comic targets.

Every facet of Fields's career, from boy juggler to international vaudevillian to movie star to radio comedian, is covered commendably. Curtis's research is extraordinary: there are innumerable quotes from Fields's personal and professional contemporaries, and far more detail than is customary about Fields's private life, including the full story of his medical setback of the 1930s.

If you're looking for a solid, engrossing biography, look no further than "W. C. Fields: A Biography" by James Curtis.

The most famous quote by W. C. Fields is, "Any man who hates dogs and children can't be all bad." The trouble is, it wasn't said by him. It was said about him by, of all things, an anthropologist who was studying the motion picture industry. And it was not close to true about Fields. Among the many pleasing revelations in _W. C. Fields: A Biography_ (Knopf) by James Curtis is that Fields was not inimical to children. Oh, he didn't like dogs very much, but he owned a few and didn't put up objections against the species. And he didn't like Baby Leroy, the child co-star most associated with him. The [child] was terrified by Fields's appearance and could burst into tears at any scene, and it does seem to be true that Fields spiked the nipper's orange juice with gin to make him more a trouper. But throughout Fields's life he was partial to children. Will Rogers's son remembered Fields as a guest for dinner, both because he took time to talk to the boy, and because he juggled the brand new imported glass plates for his entertainment; his mother was not as well pleased. Watching kids at an Indian reservation play ball, he saw them using a wad of tape for a ball and a stick for a bat; he had an Indian pal buy full equipment, but warned, "If you tell a soul I did this, ...I'll never supply you with any more booze." He ingratiated himself to young Freddie Bartholomew, who played David Copperfield as a boy, by asking, "Tell me, son, are you a midget or am I overgrown?"

The stories about Fields and children are scattered throughout this large and detailed volume. It might be that they were a reaction against his own childhood, but that childhood was not as bad as he liked to make it seem. He early discovered he had a genius for juggling, and began imitating the comic tramp juggler acts he would see on the vaudeville circuit. He began talking more during the performances, conquering a stammer and forming a habit of ad libs that was to be a blessing and a curse throughout his career. He did less juggling as he worked in more legitimate theater, like the Ziegfeld Follies in which he performed from 1915 - 1925. He concentrated on sketches that emphasized physical comedy and his perpetual warfare against inanimate objects, like the family car, twisted pool cues and floppy golf clubs. Such performances were incorporated into his films, the best of which often were only excuses for a series of sketches. He had done some silent films, but worked in Hollywood full time starting when he was all of fifty-one years old. He had strong friendships, but a terrible marriage. His death at age 66 in 1946 was hastened by the alcohol he loved; he had drunk very moderately while his juggling act depended on superb coordination. His intake became legendary, and a part of his persona, and a recurrent joke that he himself enjoyed. He did not, though, play drunks on screen, however much the characters imbibed, and he was ashamed of those who let alcohol degrade their film work.

This is a thorough and engrossing biography of an American character who still matters. Not only are there detailed descriptions of life on the theatrical road and the difficulties of motion picture production in the 1940s, but there are insights into many of the characters with whom Fields worked. Memorable among these is Edgar Bergen, a shy and reticent man, who used his wooden alter ego, Charlie McCarthy to insult others and fight battles. The famous Fields - McCarthy radio duels are here shown to be surprisingly personal. There have been few Hollywood performers who have deliberately perverting such American ideals as industriousness and generosity; screen comics now may be tasteless, but they are not subversive. Fields risked pushing his audience away with all manner of not just exaggerated shortcomings but also vices, and allowed his comic creations to be held inseparable from his own personality. There is no one else who could have put the holiday advertisement in _Variety_, as he did in 1928: "Happy New Year to almost everybody."

Finally, THE definative biography of one of the most revered figures ever to appear on an American stage or before a movie camera. While there've been almost two dozen books about Fields published already, ( mostly filmographies, quote books, picture books or screenplays, ) this collection is essential for several important reasons. First of all, it's one of the best books about a film personality ever written. Head and shoulders above Simon Louvish's sluggish "Man On The Flying Trapeze", more ambitious than Ronald J. Fields' collection of letters and radio scripts: "W.C. Fields By Himself," on a literary par with Robert Lewis Taylor's brilliant "W.C. Fields: His Follies And Fortunes," ( but without that author's fictional flights of fancy, ) James Curtis turns out to be the ideal biographer of the iconoclastic comedian. Setting the record straight regarding volumes of Fieldsian apocrypha, the legend remains intact whilst the enigmatic man behind it emerges for perhaps the first time in print. Full of nostalgia, fascinating revelations about Fields' working methods and creative approach to filmmaking, scandalous professional behavior, revealing personal data, heretofore unsuspected alliances, ( it comes as no surprise that Fields was a fan and drinking pal of his tempermental soulmate, H.L. Mencken ) and many, many wonderful anecdotes. The ideal book to curl up with on a winter's eve, ( when it ain't a fit night out for man nor beast, ) with the necessary pitcher-full of your favorite "snake bite remedy," as Fields would say. ( He'd also recommend you always carry a small snake... ) A worthy tribute to a giant of American comedy. ***** 5 stars, easy.

If you're a moose-aphile, then this is your book! Every aspect of the moose is covered and includes great pencil drawings and photos. While written for scientists, most of the book is still quite readable for the layperson. I haven't read most of the book, but I do thumb through it regularly, and I always read something else that I never knew about the moose!

I would like to take this oportunity to thank all of the people/scientists, biologists, volunteers, etc. who helped put this awesome book together. The information in this book is coming from hands-on time consuming experience. This book is truly a mooselover's bible. I hold the men and women who devote their lives to researching this beautiful animal in the hightest respects. I just hope someday I may be part of the group of people contributing their knowledge into a future book as great as this one. I would like to say a special hello and thank you to the people of the Moose Research Center (MRC) at Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. I hope to be offered the wonderful opportunity of being able to volunteer at MRC. Moose and this book combined have opened up whole new doors to life's avenues for me. Again, thank you for your time and efforts in bringing this great book to us. I love it

This booklet is an excellent resource for educators (elementary through college, families, and resource management/research groups) with need for a practical and easy to use guide to identify juvenile salmonids in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. The 32 page soft covered booklet is easily slipped into a daypack or coat pocket. The guide is printed on water resistant paper that will not fall apart even if it accompanies the user on an unexpected icy cold plunge into the stream. Mud and slime wipe clean from the pages with a moist cloth.

The content of the book is excellent. Included are color illustrations and photographs of all the species described, including Atlantic salmon which are more and more often finding their way into Pacific Northwest streams. Also included are pen and ink drawings that help the user identify key diagnostic feature. Having the three views of each species is very helpful in arriving at a correct identification.

In addition to information pertinent to any basic taxonomic key, the guide includes helpful clues about habitat usage, behavior and life history that direct users to the best locations for finding each species. This booklet accompanies all my crews when they take to the streams for salmon management and research activities.

The plastic bag viewing chamber is a great addition for the identification of juvenile salmonids. The illustrations are very understandable and the photography is very good, with standardized backgrounds a real plus. This manual will be very useful for our salmon and steelhead restoration project for making sure those involved will have a resource for checking the identification of salmonids that is of the highest quality.

If you read no other book on continuum mechanics, read this. The only other book you need read is The Classical Field Theories by Truesdell & Toupin. One must expend effort in reading The Non-linear Field Theories, but one is rewarded with keen insights and the ability to achieve and understand new results.

The Nonlinear Field Theories of Mechanics is THE most comprehensive book on continuum mechanics to date. The multitude of books that have been written on continuum mechanics since the publication of this book (almost forty years ago) derive both their content and inspiration from this book. The Nonlinear Field Theories of Mechanics is an invaluable reference, and any serious researcher in continuum mechanics ought to have a copy of this book. This is the bible or the quran or the gita of continuum mechanics.

The book surveys our current scientific understanding of chimpanzee behavior. Both common chimpanzees and bonobos are covered. I doubt any reasonable person who read this book would challenge the notion that the term "culture" is applicable to chimpanzees. I particularly liked the sections on social relations and cognition. Anyone wanting to understand human behavior would do well to read this book.

What a fascinating theory: that electrodynamic fields can indicate moods and other psychological characteristics. A most interesting application of this theory was for birth control: the data showed that, through non-instrusive methods, one can determine exact moments of ovulation.

Why hasn't anybody followed up on this theory? I'd love to see data developed by more recent experiments using the most modern equipment.

This book is a good introduction to the overall principals of geology as well as to the specific geology of the eastern US. There's lots of diagrams, maps, photos and an easy to read text. Sections include background information about geology, the major geological features of an area and what you would see along the major highways of that area.

Land degradation is now recognized as a major environmental problem and, globally, millions of dollars are now being spent annually on soil and water conservation programs. Many success stories can be found among these programs but, overall, progress has been slow and there have been many failures. there is an apparent reluctance of landusers to adopt conservation-effective practices, and it is usually not clear why practices that have appeared so promising in trials have not been accepted by them, or have been rejected after a short time. Attention has therefore turned to the landusers themselves, rather than the technology. Landusers are now much more involved in the process of identifying the problems, developing practical solutions and applying the necessary measures in the field. The International Workshop on Soil Conservation Extension: Concepts, Strategies, Implementation and Adoption, held in Chiang Mai in June 1995, looked at how soil conservation programs were being presented in the field and what were the problems. It appeared that although progress is being made in many ways, there was one major shortcoming: even where extension services are effective in fully involving landusers in the process of problem identification and the development of acceptable solutions, progress may still be very slow. The reason for this is that landusers may simply not be able to change their practices because eof economic, social or political reasons that are beyond their control. To overcome this problem, programs have been using a variety of incentives and over the years a wide range has been developed and used. Because of the need to examine incentives more closely and to discover which incentives will work and under what circumstances, the editors, on behalf of the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation, invited workers in this field to contribute to the present book. It contains a variety of articles that explore many aspects of the use of incentives in soil conservation programs. The book gives a clear understanding of the subject and also provides guidance to those involved in the development and implementation of soil conservation programs. An interesting addition to books on soil conservation!

One of the better books on quantum fields that I have read so far. An especially good treatment of the Casimir effect and boudary terms is given. The authors have a wonderfully conversive manner of discourse which I enjoyed very much.

This book helps to easily identify the various species of trees and shrubs that occur in the Virginia area. The descriptions are short, to the point and easily understood. Any one can enjoy this book and it is small enough to take on nature walks with the kids, or grandkids. In a very short time it makes even a notice seem like an expert in tree identification.