No one knows more than Jack Foley about California poetry. A literary host on KPFA radio, as well as a reviewer, critic, and poet, he can be counted on to tell us what the Language poets, New Formalists, neo-Beats, and myriad movement-of-one poets are up to. In O Powerful Western Star, he brings his critical insights, artistic vision, and prodigious knowledge of literary history to bear in essays, interviews, and a timeline that chronicles events of the ever-evolving Northern California literary scene from 1940 through 1999. In addition to discussing the work of individual poets--including Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, Allen Ginsberg, Gerald Vizenor, and Larry Eigner--Foley explores issues such as the relationship between the spoken and written word in poetry and the simultaneous emergence of new forms of expression in visual art and poetry. The book has an introduction by Dana Gioia and a companion volume, Foley's Books, with essays, reviews, and interviews on the work of many more poets. O Powerful Western Star comes with a CD that proves literary criticism can be a performance art. But perhaps only Jack Foley can make it so.

It seems that Dana Gioia can't do much of anything without turning the poetry world upsided down. More controversy, and all collected in this slim volume for us to take in. It starts with Gioia's essay "Fallen Western Star" which chronicles San Francisco's fall from it's height as the second largest literary center in the US. Like most of Gioia's essays, it is well-written, well-though out, and pertinant. It applies to more than just San Francisco, but discusses the danger we are in of losing all regional literature. And from there it was a hornet's nest had been poked. There are some well written discussions from Jack Foley (who edited the collection) and Richard Silberg (who opposes Gioia). Silberg makes a good case and writes almost as eloquently as Gioia does. I leave it up to the reader to decide which side is right. There are also well written responses from Dave Mason, Jonah Raskin, Micheal Lind, and Scott Timberg. There is also a letter from Howard Junker, which really doesn't belong here because it is a rant against Gioia, which is not thought out at all and clumsily written. The book is one that is essential to understanding the state of American literature. As usual, Gioia is in the center of some flurry of anger or controversy, but as usual Gioia makes a point that all of us need to understand to help save the state of American Letters.

I wonder if the authors have actually compiled and run the codes. It simply won't work. Take Chapter 20 (RMI) as an example: 1. In class StockMarket, the line Quote q = (Quote)Naming.lookup("HelloServer"); should be Quote q = (Quote)Naming.lookup("///QuoteServer");

2. Class StockMarket should belong to package examples.ch20.bean, not package examples.chap20.bean;

Here is a book that is designed to allow the reader to begin immediately programming JavaBeans. The combination of examples and source code in the text, as well as the accompanying CD allow the reader to develop sophisticated JavaBean applications quickly and easily. This book does an excellent job of explaining design concepts, methodologies, and uses for JavaBeans, as well as providing useful and appropriate tips and ideas for applications. The book explains the relationship of JavaBeans to different component Architectures, and problems associated possibly encountered within these environments. Some basic programming skills are required to adequately use this book, so it should be considered for an intermediate to advanced user level.