I bought this book before the store even unboxed it for their shelf. I have to say that I was totally amazed at how Dr. Warshak nailed the description of my experience with divorce poison, the personality profile of my vindictive ex, and the response and effects I've seen it have on my child. It was like Dr.Warshak had interviewed and observed my family personally.

Divorce poison is a sick and serious issue. I don't wish it on any child or parent. If you feel like you are the target of parental alienation, educate yourself, your ex and anyone (lawyers, therapist, family, etc) who has any part in your custody matter. One of the hardest things about the recent outcome of my two year custody battle is to realize how ignorant the court, forensic psychologist, therapist, school system, and especially the father of my son, are about the power and damaging effects divorce poison has on a child.

If you are recently separated and struggling with a vindictive ex, please do not assume things will blow over or die down. People whose personalities allow them to justify bad-mouthing, bashing or even brainwashing often become consumed by revenge and cannot let it go even when it is detrimental to the child. Read Dr. Warshak's book and take action appropriately.

My lawyer made sure Divorce Poison was on our table in full view at all times during our three day custody trial. I just wish the judge could have read it before interviewing my son.

I totally agree with the prior reviewer that said this book is a bible. Picking it up and reading it every time I feel the frustration reassures me that I am not the sick one here nor am I the bad parent. With Dr. Warshak's recommendations, I can continue to try to foster a healthy relationship with my child while trying to address the poison he is being given.

As a child psychologist who conducts child custody evaluations, few situations are more painful than those in which alienation is going on. Unfortunately, most attorneys, courts, and parents are unfamiliar with the details and dynamics of alienation and too often, the children are the one's who lose. Those of us who do child custody evaluations have known about alienation for quite some time. Finally, there is a resource to help parents recognize and deal with these issues in a straight-forward manner. Alienation takes a tremendous toll on a child's life and parents on the receiving end of alienation feel totally powerless. Any mother or father who is caught up in a high conflict divorce must read this book. Parents I've recommended the book to tell me it reads like their biography. I can't stop recommending the book to parents and legal professionals. In terms of state-of-the-art books on divorce and child custody, this one must be read.

If you should read one book on divorce and the impact on children, this is the one!

This outstanding book provides great advice for parents who are badmouthing other parents, as well as ways the target parents can combat this abuse. Unlike "experts" who have not researched the most effective ways of combatting this type of child abuse, Dr. Warshak has determined through studies that parents who do nothing and say nothing are at risk for eventually losing contact with their children.

Dr. Warshak carefully navigates the misconception that alienation is typically a "woman thing" by citing examples of fathers who alienate. In doing this, the author is able to assure readers that the book is indeed written "in the best interests of children," and not for any gender-based political agenda.

Dr. Warshak's outlook on children, parenting and custody is refreshing and should be required reading for every family court judge, every family law attorney and every person going through a divorce. The author argues very succinctly and very successful that the two parents who were so vital to the welfare and growth of the children during the marriage are just as vital after the divorce. He also illustrates how family courts and mental health experts remove children from the target parent at the first sign of alienation -- which is the exact opposite of what actually works in these cases.

Dr. Warshak argues that target parents need time to rebuild this relationship -- to show that they are not the parent depicted in the diatribes of the parent who is attempting to alienate. Instead, courts typically accept irrational reasons from a child for not wanting to see a parent without examining the root causes for the alienation.

Dr. Warshak carefully crafted a "how to" book for target parents, but, more importantly, he has helped all parents become better parents by encouraging them to examine their true motives for making negative statements about their former spouses. In doing so, this author has created a classic that must be read by anyone who truly cares about children and the impact that divorce has on them.

I know that I sound like all the other reviews, but this story took me back to my childhood. I originally checked the book out at the library when I was young and read parts of it each night to my little sister. This was a special time for us and this story transported us to everywhere the doll went. We are older now and have grown somewhat apart. I recently found this book and ordered us each a copy. It is a great read as adults just like when we were younger and we will always have that bond between us. It is such a magical story that I can't wait to hand down to my children.

This review may sound like one further up on the page, but that is very similiar to my story. When I was 8 or 9 I picked up Amy's Eyes and I couldn't put it down, it was so wonderful! Now, I'm 13 and I was thinking about it the other day. I vowed to find a copy of that book! So I did, and I read it again and it is even better now then it was then. I absolutely loved it!

I read this book once when I was still little and I haven't been able to get the story out of my thoughts. I had been looking for it in a passively dreamy way and two weeks ago I discovered it at a used bookstore in Duluth, MN. It's so wonderful and I am again regaining the tangle of imagination that I had enjoyed as a little girl. I wish so much that it were easier to get ahold of this author's books and information about his writing.

"Patriot Dreams" is the most gripping true story I have ever read, and I am a voracious reader. From the opening page, you will vicariously enter the inner world of Robin Higgins, and experience the tragic death of a true American hero.

Rich Higgins was a Marine lieutenant-colonel who saw himself as a peacekeeper and a protector of the nation he loved. His duties in Lebanon required him to be unarmed, and he accepted those conditions as part of the job.

Unfortunately, the Hezbollah did not respect his show of good faith. What happened to Rich and his ever-faithful wife, Robin, will give you the deepest understanding of the contemporary Middle East and the ineffectiveness of our government in protecting its citizens in that area.

"Patriot Dreams" is written with an understated passion that sweeps the reader along; I was unable to put the book down until I finished the last word.

Robin Higgins is an extraordinarly powerful writer. Her work combines the best features of a novel with a strong dose of reality therapy. You will be both wiser and better informed as a result of this read.

The author was a student at North Shore High School when I taught there, and I can, without qualification, vouch for her good character and loyalty. When she introduced me to her husband, Rich Higgins in 1982, he was a major, and she was a captain. You would, as I did, recognize that he was a product of the best of our culture--strong but humane, highly intelligent without conceit, loyal without fanaticism.

Rich Higgins will be mourned, but he must never be forgotten.

In a world where good role models are few and far between, Robin Higgins sets an extraordinary example. Because of her dual roles as wife and fellow Marine, Robin Higgins' story provides a unique insight into the psyche of both a desperate hostage family and a soldier trained to save one of her own. I was constantly amazed at the delicate mental and emotional balancing act she successfully kept up for the entire time her husband was held captive.

Robin's powerful and insightful recounting of her husband's story is extremely timely, as Col. Rich Higgins' fate in Lebanon holds lessons for the peacekeepers now in Iraq. Like the U.N. weapons inspection team in Iraq today, Rich's team sought to enforce peace in a land where war is a way of life. And like lead inspector and fellow Marine, Scott Ritter, who was recently accused by Iraq of spying, Rich was distrusted because he was an effective leader.

It was an honor and a pleasure to serve as editor of this book.

This very powerful book is a tribute to the memory of Rich Higgins. I was one of the "bubba group" identified in the book and was proud to be so. During the time Rich was held hostage, I wore many hats -- as a spokeswoman for the Rich's family, as a fellow military officer and as Robin's friend. I came to know him through the eyes of his fellow Marines as well as the eyes of the author.

Rich Higgins was a man of courage and honor. He led by example and his troops learned by his example what a genuine warrior is. They loved him. And they still grieve his loss.

The tragedy of the book is that it had to be written at all. Robin's account of the support from many at the highest levels of government is heartwarming. Her criticism of bureaucrats who repeatedly turned their backs on efforts to bring Rich home alive is true, well deserved and chills the soul.

The book is also a love story. Robin loved Rich more than life itself and never wavered in her fight to bring him home. Rich and Robin were fellow Marines, friends and mates. The words included in the book that she wrote to Rich in her journal reach deep inside the soul of one who feared the worst for her husband, yet still dared to hope he was alive.

When Rich's remains were finally dumped on a lonely street in Beirut, she sent a fax to me where I was stationed in Korea, saying only "I can only see one set of footprints in the sand now." That's when I knew Robin's hope had died.

I know Rich is proud of her...for she sought the truth about what happened to him. And she continued the fight to bring him home to the country he for which he lived and died.

There aren't many composers whose philosophical views are of such crucial, and controversial, importance as Wagner's. But this is not because Wagner was an important philosopher.

As Magee shows, Wagner's thinking should not be too readily dismissed. Wagner was no philosophical dilletante. He was awesomely well-read in the philosophy, philology and linguistics of his day, in addition to his vast reading in literature ancient and "modern", in history, myth, and the history of myth, and much more. And he was an intelligent and sometimes extraordinarily perceptive man, whose erudition was not just for showing off with but of vital importance to his thought and work.

However Wagner believed, wrongly, that his intuition was as sure a guide in the world of ideas as it was in music and drama. So his philosophical writings follow his intuitions, not his reasoning - indeed he seems to avoid reasoning, except in small bursts, out of principle. His writing is therefore irrational and self-contradictory, obscure in the worst German manner: neither original (except accidentally, where he achieves originality by misunderstanding a source, particularly Schopenhauer), nor lucid, nor "true". "True", that is, in the sense of being based on "matters of fact or reason".

So his philosophy is not, despite what Wagner probably thought, of much importance in its own right. It is mainly important because it permeates and influences his major works, which are among the few most endlessly fascinating human creations of any kind. The increasingly Buddhist resignation, withdrawal from the world, of his later works are steeped in Schopenhauerian doctrine, just as the leftist radicalism of the earlier works are steeped in the work of the libertarian democratic-socialist Feuerbach. Magee's book is invaluable in tracing the effect of these and other philosophers on Wagner's work. _Tristan und Isolde_, for example, was indeed written in the white heat of a love affair, but that love was Wagner's love of Schopenhauer, not of Matthilde Wesendonck.

Wagner's philosophical ideas are important to his work in a way that seems true of no other composer. Mozart's use of Masonic symbols in _Zauberflöte_ and elsewhere (eg his "three" chords, three maidens, three boys, etc) has never seemed more than skindeep, almost flippant, references, while in Wagner the philosophical ideas cut deep both with the drama and the characters. Magee shows how the many complex layers and depths of works like the _Ring_, Tristan_, _Parsifal_, and even the earlier Romantic operas like _Lohengrin_ and _Tannhäuser_, can never be fully explored without an understanding of Wagner's key ideas: the futility and evil of power-seeking and conquest, the struggle of the artist to escape from, and yet redeem, the constricting culture in which they operate, the desirability of losing the world by annihilating one's one ego-consciousness, the value of the irrational and of dream, and much else.

There is another, hopefully temporary, reason why it is worth knowing what Wagner's philosophical ideas actually were. Recently there has been a small avalanche of books presenting Wagner as a proto-Nazi, even a serious influence on Hitler, and one who put proto-Nazi ideas into his dramas. Books by Rose, Weiner, Köhler, Zelinsky, Millington and others creak and twang with the sound of long bows stretched past the breaking point, as they try to fit Wagner's operas and his prose works into a Nazi frame.

And "frame" is the word. As Magee shows, Wagner was a radical democrat when young (democracy being a radical idea at that time, in Europe), who drifted as far right as supporting constitutional monarchy, particularly when constitutional monarchs were writing his cheques. And who, after his disillusionment with Bismarckian Germany, lost interest in politics altogether. There were slim pickings for the Nazis, except for the antisemitism that Wagner shared with Hitler's other favourites, particularly Bruckner, also Beethoven, Bach and Brahms and many others, whose antisemitism is as ignored as Wagner's is stressed.

Magee adds an appendix on Wagner's antisemitism, putting it back in context as a disgraceful form of bigotry, just like the ignorant bigotry of today's taxi-driver who sounds off about Vietnamese, or Afghan, or African immigrants. Wagner, like many a talk radio jock, populist politician and barroom loudmouth of our own day, called for Jews to lose their separate culture and identity and assimilate into German culture. This is contemptibly racist, but the diametric opposite of the Nazi program of racial segregation followed by genocide. I might add, as Magee does not, that Wagner was an ardent abolitionist, passionately opposing slavery in the US. On some racial issues Wagner was more progressive and less racist than many Europeans and Americans of his day. But we seldom hear about this from those who prefer a simple caricature to a complicated human being.

And of course the Nazis banned _Parsifal_ for its pacifist content, as well as banning complete cycles of the _Ring_, which charts Wotan's moral degradation and downfall in pointing out its message of the futility of power and conquest. Magee notes that Wagner performances actually became much less frequent under the Nazis than before the takeover. The soundtrack of the Third Reich was not Wagner, as today's filmmakers think; in reality the opera houses played Auber, Lortzing and Lehar (Hitler never attended a Wagner opera after 1942). When classical music was played at the rallies, it was Bruckner and Liszt as much as, or more than, Wagner, but mainly the music played was "cholly Cherman" brass band music. Magee makes these points clearly and elegantly.

My main criticism of the book is that Magee clearly loves Schopenhauer almost as much as does Wagner. As a result I think he grossly underestimates the influence of the left-wing Feuerbach not only on the early works but on the later works: even _Parsifal_ ends with a political revolution, the peaceful overthrow of a hereditary monarchy. And the _Ring_ ends with us, the vassals and working women, alive after the fire and flood, facing the future with all heroes and gods swept away. I believe there is at least as much Feuerbach and Schopenhauer in the mature operas, and Magee tends to skimp on the continued radicalism of Wagner's Feuerbachian leanings and borrowings.

But this is a minor criticism of a splendid book. It is an invaluable guide to Wagner's philosophy, as well as being a remarkably clear exposition of Schopenhauer's philosophy. Highly recommended.

Cheers!

Laon

This book is an investigation of the relationship between Wagner's art and his intellect. Bryan Magee, who has been both an academic philosopher and a music critic, is uniquely qualified to describe this relationship. The book is based on Magee's careful analysis of both Wagner's music and Wagner's voluminous writings, including his autobiographical works, letters, and polemical writings on art theory. Magee is also an expert on 19th century German philosophy.

Magee presents Wagner as both a great creative artist and a substantial self-conscious intellectual. Magee shows that Wagner made a conscious effort to shape his art to match philosophical/ideological concerns. Wagner's philosophical/idoelogical preoccupations did vary over the course of his life and this resulted in differences in content and forms of his operas. Magee is careful to demonstrate consistent themes (dare I say leitmotifs) throughout this artistic career. These include disgust with contemporary society, strong belief in the importance of love, and a conviction that Wagner's art could have a transforming effect on contemporary life.

Magee shows well that Wagner was initially a political radical and German nationalist with strong anarchist leanings. Under the distant influence of Hegel and the more immediate influence of Feuerbach, Wagner rejected contemporary society, conventional religion and mores, and believed strongly in the redemptive power of love, particularly sexual passion. Along with the idea that he could create an integrated music drama with equal roles for poetry, dramatic expression, and music, these ideas strongly color his early successful operas and writings about artistic theory. Wagner began the Ring cycle with these ideas in mind and intended that the Ring cycle would be an essentially revolutionary document, an incitment to the destruction of contemporary society.

Midway through the lengthy gestation of the Ring cycle, Wagner underwent a conversion experience after he encountered the work of Schopenhauer. Magee treats Wagner's experience with Schopenhauer sensitively. He shows that Wagner's embrace of Schopenhauer was based on very careful reading and analysis of Schopenhauer's work. Magee shows also that Wagner's enthusiasm for Schopenhauer resulted from the fact that Wagner's considerable intellect was already moving towards conclusions reached by Schopenhauer. Wagner's later work is shown to be a combination of Schopenhauerian ideas translated brilliantly into powerful music and opera.

Magee is an excellent writer with a warm, conversational style. As intellectual history this book is first-rate and it is highly accessible. A bonus of this book is that it is an excellent introduction to 19th intellectuals like Schopenhauer and Feuerbach whose work is largely unknown here. As an aside, Magee makes it clear that important ideas usually associated with Freud originally derive from Schopenhauer and Feuerbach. Magee provides also a very good chapter on Nietzsche's relationship with Wagner and an appendix on Wagner's anti-semitism. The former contains what I think is Magee's only misstep. He attributes Nietzsche's descent into insanity as being partly due to Nietzsche's realization that he would never be the creative artist that Wagner became. This is unlikely. Better explanations are that Nietzsche suffered from dementia due to tertiary syphlis or simply developed severe and probably idiopathic depression. The section on Wagner's anti-semitism is clear, unsparing but also vigorously attacks those who judge Wagner solely on this basis. Magee puts Wagner's anti-semitism in context and rebuts claims that his operas exemplify anti-semitism.

Most of the major secondary material about the intellectual influences on, and influence of, Wagner, refer to philosophy and Schopenhauer in particular. Magee cogently argues that these ideas were not just influential, but central to, Wagner's art. In particular, Magee shows that all Wagner's work after Tristan is deeply infused with Schopenhauerian epistomology and ethics. No other work that I have read so clearly and completely explains this seminal influence on Wagner.

Magee writes energetic prose without sacrificing any depth of analysis. I cannot recommend this book too highly to the following: 1) Wagner lovers 2) those interested in late 19th century intellectual history 3) those interested in philosophy 4) anyone who wants to know more about one of the most important thinkers of the last hundred and fifty years.

This is an interesting and wide ranging book. In the main it presents, develops and explains it's ideas very well, although I did not always find it, as one reviewer, a mister Albert Einstein described it, "easily understandable". I have two minor complaints about this book:

1) Print quality
For no apparent reason the text size varies occasionally, and in places the printing is slightly blurred, so that sometimes the subscripts and superscripts on formulae are illegible. Perhaps they skimped on typesetting costs by photoreproducing formulae from the original printing?

2) Incompleteness
If you bought this book because the front cover says "...representation of the fundamental concepts and methods of the whole field of mathematics" (another A.E. quote) you may be disappointed to find this is not the case. Trigonometry, for example, is not discussed, except where it crops up in other topics such as applying calculus to trig functions.

This book will give you a superb introduction to basic mathematics culminating in the CALCULUS. The topics and manner of presentations are excellent. I have the 1978 edition that I still use to much benefit. Things such as numbers, matrices, algebra and trig are introduced in rapid but detailed segments. If you have been away from mathematics for a while you will soon get drawn into the text and the exercises. If you are into math today this will serve as an excellent review and perhaps give you a gem or two. However, if you have been put off by math in the past you may want to approach with caution. For even though the pace is within speed limits the text does expect a good effort to reap the rewards. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the theory behind mathematics. A real jewel for your library and personal enjoyment. Just superb!

If you start to read "What is Mathematics?" in order to find a direct answer to the title's issue, forget it! I would like to adapt a piece of "My Brain is Open", by Bruce Schechter, in the following way: "Asking a mathematician to explain exactly what is mathematics is a little like asking a poet what a poem is, or a musician what jazz is. Asked this last question, Louis Armstrong replied, `Man, if you gotta ask, you'll never know.'" On the other hand, if you start to read just to go deeper and deeper in the beautiful, and sometimes magic, structure of Math than I say: Go ahead! Because this book is a perennial source of pleasure. Of course it demands a lot of work to solve some of its problems (at least for me!), but as Courant says, you cannot learn music only by listening! I have reproduced almost all the calculations of this book and I know that it demands a lot of effort, but it is one of the few books I know where each small piece of calculation has its own reward! This book is my definition of perfect guide to Math style! Try it!

What does it take for three generations of women to overcome the mistakes of the past and forge the bonds of love missing in their family? What are two mothers and a best friend willing to risk to save the ones they love? What does is mean to be a family?

The seedy world of drugs, gangs, and strip clubs is often unseen or, perhaps, ignored by the typical Myrtle Beach tourist (at least this Myrtle Beach tourist). The Redneck Riviera opened my eyes to the secrets of those sucked into that life.

Three women are driven to confront the demons of their own pasts. Grandmother Anne must admit that she looked the other way while her daughter was abused. Mother Dolly is forced to face her past, swallow her pride, and admit that she needs her mother. Daughter April has to turn from her bitterness and discover her mother's love in order to save herself and her best friend.

Côté has created a "beach novel" with a message, a story that entertains and enlightens. The Redneck Riviera is the story of a family. Each character's definition of "family" is questioned, changed, and ultimately reformed. These women discover that family is more than the ties of flesh and blood. Family is sacrifice, perseverance in hardship, and unconditional love.

Dolly Devereaux, the thirty-something divorced mother and lead character in "The Redneck Riviera" is one tough lady. I like her! Who wouldn't? (Except maybe the pothead she married whey they were both in their teens. His apathy enables their daughter, April, to run wild on the streets.) Dolly is a hard-working realist who has her priorities in order and keeps passions in check -- well, most of the time, anyway! She works long hours at menial jobs to earn her keep and care for her daughter. At the same time, she has her eye out for a handsome and prosperous boyfriend -- one way to climb the ladder of success -- but jumps at the chance to take on responsibilities of a store manager when fate cuts her some slack and she inherits her former boss's job.
The story revolves around two mother's love for their daughters and the power and challenges of the mother-daughter bond. April, Dolly's daughter, C.B. "Cue Ball" Correlli, April's drug-dealer-boyfriend, and a host of other strong, finely-chiseled characters play out a fast-paced, life-and-death adventure on the pages of "The Redneck Riviera." The reader will emerge from the reading enriched by the journey and in possession of a prized souvenir -- time well spent.

This brand new book by Richard N. Cote is a fast paced novel set in the tourist area of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, sometimes referred to as "The Redneck Riviera". Dolly Devereaux, a single mother in her thirties, works two jobs to support her 18-year old daughter, April, who runs around with a drug manufacturing gang and is headed for self-destruction. But Dolly is determined to save her daughter. This is that story, and it's told well. There are obstacles of course and lots of twists and turns. It was hard to put the book down as I was drawn into the world of strip clubs, drug labs and tourists.

Not only were the characters sympathetic and well developed, but I also felt that I had taken a short trip to Myrtle Beach, especially the strip clubs. The world of the dancers is made real, and I got a sense of what their lives are like, right down to the smallest detail of having to avoid a spot on the stage where they could catch a heel on a protruding nail.

Mostly though, the story is about relationships and a second chance to make things right as Dolly has to come to terms with her relationship with her own mother as well as her daughter. She also has to look at her own life and the choices she, herself, has made and is making about men. There's a lot of food for thought here but the story never gets bogged down and the action is constant. Recommended

Like many of Worcester, MA, I watched this fire and was overwhelmed by its power. The loss of life was without equal. This recounting is a great tribute to the Fire Department and all the men present at this fire. Many of us listened to the events unfold on scanners; others watched as the flames colored the night sky. Sean Flynn tells all the details and the humanity of these life shattering event. No matter where you live, this book is a must read to understand what firemen and women do everyday. As well as to see their lives through their family and friends.

As a girlfriend of a Marlborough, MA firefighter, this book hit very close to home. I cried many tears as I turned each page. Because of my first hand experience with the bond of brotherhood, I initially speculated the value of the author's words. I was pleasantly surprised. Sean Flynn created such strong insight into Chief Macnamee's thoughts. I constantly feared what he would be faced with next, and I felt as though the only way to support him was to keep the book in my hands and the lives of those men in my mind. Even though I knew of the devastating ending, I couldn't stop reading. The reactions of both the chief and widowed wives seemed like an invasion of privacy but at the same time created a pocket of peace in my heart. At first frightened by the idea of what the story would unfold, I am grateful that I trusted Flynn to tell a story of courage.
With each chapter, Flynn's words became more and more resemblant of a voice in my mind each time the fire fighter in my life kisses me goodbye and says "See you tomorrow." This story is as real as it gets. After closing the back cover, two days ago, I feel greater appreciation and pride for not only the man in my life, but the firefighter in my world. This story is a must read.

The title at the beginning of these comments is from St. Florian, and was on a medal recovered from the spot where one of the men fighting this fire died. The medal should not have survived, silver melts at 1,600 degrees, a body is incinerated at 1,800 degrees, and the heat in the building had reached 3,000 degrees.

I came to read this book from a rather unusual direction. Worth Magazine just did a profile of the most generous Americans, not necessarily those who gave the most money, but as a percentage of what they have, their reasons, and other intangibles beside the traditional yardstick of amount only. Actor/comedian and member of this very special group is Dennis Leary. Of the 6 men who died in this fire, one was his cousin and another was a childhood friend. His foundation has raised $2 million for firefighters in Worcester MA and NYC. His organization was cutting checks 3 months after September 11th in NYC; he has no use for bean counters.

Sean Flynn's book, "3000 Degrees", is easily one of the most powerful books I have read in 2002, it is the first of many books I will now read on Firemen, and others who put themselves in lethal harm's way, for the rest of us. As I read this book, I asked the same question I often ask when men and women put the lives of others before their own, not for a single moment, but every day, for years and often for decades. Some members of a team are the rescue members, and these men enter the building without any fire fighting equipment, like hoses, to protect themselves. They go in looking for victims and are unprotected against flame and other lethalities except by their experience and luck. They are in a burning building looking for you and me before the houses may even be turned on.

Firemen are not drafted; they are not military, although some served prior to becoming Firefighters. The serve their own communities, but adjacent ones when needed, and generally walk in to situations that may kill them to save people they do not know, or to be sure a building is empty of persons. The latter was the case on December 3, 1999. Six men died in a building that was boarded up, and devoid of human life. It had many lives within it for several hours, and then 6 lives became the only bodies that the building would ever contain.

Tim Jackson, Joe McGuirk, Paul Brotherton, Jay Lyons, Tom Spencer, and Jerry Lucey died, because as one person involved in the fire wondered, that 6 of his friends had died because, "two misfits were too scared to dial 911". These misfits not only started the fire, accidentally, they did not report it, but because it is not against the law to fail to report a fire in Massachusetts, even if you started it, neither person was convicted of anything.

Now Julie and Tom continue to live their lives which up until the night they started this fire were notable only for the similarities they shared. They were the personification of life's losers, living illegally, living in filth, living any way they chose as long as it required nothing from them, no effort. And if that meant going to jail, breaking the law, and living in their own filth like no animal would do, that was what they did.

They killed these 6 men by their actions, even if you call their act one of omission as opposed to commission, the men are dead, and Julie and Tom started the fire, Julie and Tom ran, and Julie and Tom did not bother to let anyone know the building they illegally were squatting in was empty. That their illegal residence was barely worth the water to contain the blaze, much less the lives of 6 men, a host of new widows, and a large number of now fatherless children, never occurred to Julie and Tom.

They went to Media Play and listened to music while the fire spread, books were out for Tom, he's illiterate. And while the candle falling over and causing the fire was called an accident, it probably would not have fallen if Tom did not try to force himself on Julie. Tom was in the mood, Julie was not, so 6 men died.

The men who fought this fire and died and those who fought it and lived are all remarkable people. They are people that few of us can measure up to. Are you willing to take a job where you place your life at risk every day, not for fame, or money, or even job security? I don't think you are; I'm not.

Firemen are willing to make the sacrifice, so are Policemen and women. So the next time you are tempted to park in front of a hydrant, don't, next time you get nailed for speeding, take the ticket, call the officer sir or mam, and act like an adult. Don't whine because your radar/laser detector did not allow you to get away with speeding. Want to speed, pay the ticket; don't blame the officer who stops you.

30,000 Firefighters from all over the world came to Worcester to pay their respects to these men and the families that were left behind. So the next time you pass a Firehouse, think about the people in side, you probably don't know them, and they don't know you. Would you die for them, they are prepared to die for you, every minute of every day.

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Thirty years ago this book could not have been written. With the increasing ascendancy of the New World wine makers and in particular the influence of the Davis campus of the University of California, viticulture and oenology are now rigorous, scientific and commercially oriented professions. This is reflected in the "Oxford Companion to Wine" which has to be the most comprehensive, authoritative and accessible resource dealing with all aspects of the world of wine.

Jancis Robinson who edited this encyclopedia of wine is a highly respected wine writer and educator. She is also very well credentialled, holding the prestigious title of "Master of Wine".

The real power of this book as an information source is the very effective use of cross-references. Its great fun to see how far one reference will take you on subjects of particular interest to the reader. It would be good to see this book published as a CD-ROM. Hyper-linking all the cross-references would make it even more powerful.

The changes in the wine business over the past generation have seen the previously exclusive, "clubbiness", almost snobby world of fine wine appreciation opened up to everyone. It is books like this that have provided the sources of knowledge which give people the confidence and curiosity to pursue their interest and enjoyment of wine.

France is the traditional home of fine wine. The French approach to wine making is still dominated by practices and methodologies that go back centuries. It is interesting to see in the "Oxford Companion" the strong contrast between the empirically rigorous New World (particularly USA and Australian) methods and the mystery (or mystique) that even today, shrouds much of the French industry.

One of the best illustrations of this dichotomy in the Companion is the entry on "Terroir". This French term encapsulates the mystique that defines a particular vine growing area. It goes well beyond the issue of soil and microclimate but instead embraces everything that makes a particular wine unique.

In the "Companion" the terroir debate seems to come down on the side which believes the term is used to cover vagueness and explain characteristics that are otherwise difficult to explain. This allows sometimes ordinary wine to be passed off as something special.

Compare this to the innovative, scientifically supported approaches used in the New World. A good example is the development of "Canopy Management" the varying techniques used to optimize the yield and ripening characteristics of a grapevine.

Similarly we have see the arrival of "flying winemakers" from Australia into regions like the Languedoc-Roussillon area of France. They have introduced stainless steel fermentation vessels, temperature control and meticulous cleanliness, to what was previously a very rough and ready local business. They are now producing some of the some best Merlots, acknowledged by even the French.

This book will no doubt become the definitive reference book on all matters to do with the world of wine. It will be of the highest value to both the wine professional and the enthusiastic wine lover.

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Some reference books sit on the shelf, forgotten, hoping to be used someday in the future when someone has a desperate need to know how to calculate the third log value of an arctangent.

This book is as far removed from that fate as a Petrus is from a White Zinfandel!

At least once a week I have opened up this gorgeous wine tome and looked up the answer to a question, or read more about a particular wine I was enjoying. With over 3,000 entries to choose from, you can explore the ancient roots of wine in Iraq and Egypt, or learn about new vine-growing techniques winemakers are using in Washington State. The information is clearly written, well illustrated, and not overly technical.

Jancis Robinson, the editor of the tome, is well known in the industry for her knowledge and fluency in wines of all types. Combine her amazing knowledge with fantastic photographs of each wine region, and even reviews of various personalities in wine, and you have a book that you'll keep on the coffee table and actually read often! Be warned - you can lose guests in its pages for hours.

The book is great for a beginner. Confused about Beaujolais Nouveau? Want to know how a White Zinfandel differs from a Red Zinfandel? The Oxford Companion to Wine has clear, concise descriptions of all wine types, explaining their histories, their characteristics, and where they're found now.

The Companion is also a boon for experienced drinkers. It goes into the fine details of how wines are grown, and how various winemakers use different techniques to bring out the best in their particular grapes. There are maps of wine regions, and insights into what makes certain wines unique.

Great as a gift for your favorite wine drinker, but buy one for yourself, too! The book is a wonderful reference tool to have around the house. With its lovely photos of France, Italy, and Spain, it serves as a wine-lovers guide to places to visit or dream about, and wines to drink while doing so. Highly recommended as the only wine book you should ever need.

This encyclopedia is extensive and very good. It is also very heavy. You may want to get a primer on wine (e.g., "Wine for Dummies") before getting this as a reference, but this is one for your shelves. It covers many aspects of wine and to a great deal of detail in some areas, which is welcomed. Almost all of the information is current. What little is not current is insignificant in size and importance. Take at a good look at this reference.

"Winnie the Pooh" and "House on Pooh Corner" were two of my favorite books growing up. When I came across this 75th boxed anniversary edition, I just had the get it. Keep in mind, this is just the same great stories in new packages. "Winnie the Pooh" has gold trimmed pages and "House on Pooh Corner" is trimmed with silver. I recommend this to anyone who hopes to pass on the love of the original Winnie the Pooh characters to any young ones in their lives. I know I definitely will.

Yesterday I planned on reading "The Great Gatsby," but instead I read A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh."

What! you say.

Well, I bought it a while back, and I never sat down to read it. So yesterday I just grabbed it, and started reading---and despite the fact that it's meant for children, the insight it offers is unparalleled. Maybe some of you have read "The Tao of Pooh" (which I read in high school). That book explains how Winnie the Pooh behaves in a Taoist fashion. But instead of reading the "Tao" book, I think people could have done just as well, if not better, reading the original work.

I have great respect for an author who can write a work that appeals to both children and adults. Such is "The Phantom Tollbooth" or "The Wizard of Oz." Such is "Winnie The Pooh." The joy of reading Winnie is the absurd logic it follows. Or the way it satirizes adults, which it does quite well through the characters of Eeyore and Owl. For example, how can you NOT enjoy this passage from Chapter Four:

"The old grey donkey, Eeyore, stood by himself in a thirsty corner of the forest, his front feet well apart, his head on one side, and thought about things. Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, 'Why?' and sometimes he thought, 'Wherefore?' and sometimes he thought, 'Inasmuch as which?'---and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about."

Now the only decision that remains is do I read the other Pooh book I bought, "The House at Pooh Corner" or do I read F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." Hmm.

I recieved this book (and its companion, the color edition of "The House At Pooh Corner") as a gift. I cannot speak more highly of them both. Unlike the editor at Horn, who found that the colorization detracted from the illustrations, I find exactly the opposite -- that the color lends depth and detail to the drawings, which are completely untouched otherwise.

The paper is crisp, semi-glossy, and brilliant white; the cover and page edges are guilded; the typeface is sharp and crystal-clear; and the full-color endpapers are truly magnificent.

In all and every way this is a truly magnificent and sumptuous edition -- with perhaps the single exception of price. And even then, with such a marvelous work, that is to be expected!

This book gives a practical presentation of Gestalt psychology for photography and imaging. No background is assumed, no complex theory or jargon is introduced, everything is very educational and remains completely oriented toward practical imaging. The style is very enjoyable, the book is full of excellent illustrations and all the chapters end with exercises which are not only useful in a classroom context, but are also very inspiring for artists and photographers. This book is an excellent invitation to have a different point of view on imaging.

It covers the figure/ground differenciation, the white/dark balance, perceptual grouping, associations, the importance of contours and in particular apparent contours, illusions, various morphisms (anthropo, zoo, ana, etc.), some subliminal aspects, personality, critique, etc.

The bias towards a Gestalt explanation of all phenomena may sometimes be a bit too much, you just have to be aware of it and keep a critic mind.

This book follows the landmark work of Pr. Arnheim on the subject (Art and Visual Perception), but with a more practical purpose and in a style which is easier to read.

Pete Turner's eye-catching photograph on the cover of Richard Zakia's Perception & Imaging, Second Edition, invites one to pick up the book and examine it, and the text and illustrations between the covers capture the reader's eye and the mind. The objective of the book is clearly stated in the author's preface: "Pictures, regardless of how they are created and recreated, are intended to be looked at. This brings to the forefront not the technology of imaging, which of course is important, but rather what we might call the 'eyenology' (knowledge of the visual process--of seeing).

The table of contents provides a good overview of the wide range of topics, which include both the theory and the practice of visual perception, that are covered in the eleven chapters. Some 300 illustrations provide reinforcing connections between the printed words and the visual imagery, and, of course, are indispensable to the discussion of many visual-perception concepts, such as Illusions and Ambiguity (chapter 6).

A unique feature of this book is the inclusion of some 400 concise and relevant quotations from almost that many sources, ranging from Ansel Adams and Aristotle, to Edward Weston and Oscar Wilde, that in addition to being interesting and illuminating by themselves, emphasis the universal significance of the related topic. The reader-friendly writing style of the author is a bonus.

Dr. Leslie D. Stroebel

There are many different and useful ways to talk about images; aesthetically, historically, socially, technically, and so on. I have chosen the area of perception and psychology, and have selected those concepts that are highly relevant to photography-to image capture, creation, design, manipulation and editing. The concepts cross the various disciplines of imaging, from photography to graphic design, from camera to computer. Concepts such as synesthesia, pupillometrics, personal space, memory and association, archetypes, visual field dependency, color connotations, and subliminals are discussed. There is also a section on applied semiotics and an entire chapter on visual rhetoric.
When asked about the value of books, the author Eric Hoffer, remarked that any book that provides the reader with one new idea, has great value. I believe "Perception and Imaging" will do this and more. The book includes 125 photographs, 300 illustrations and 400 quotations that support the text.