Even if you're one of the five people who have no desire to write for TV, or movies, you will love Robert Masello's hilarious tales of "the business." If you're one of the millions of aspiring writers than you absolutely have to pick up this book. Unlike the usual how-to tome, with its silly rules (only people who indent 1.5 inches on a page are permitted to write for TV) Masello takes us on a journey through the real world, and unreal characters, of writing for television. If you can stop laughing, you'll find some very practical advice on how to avoid the land mines of script writing that await writers daring to cross the California border. This is one non-fiction book that reads like a novel.

Robert Masello's book about writing for television is worth buying for anyone interested in the TV business. Instead of focusing on how to write a spec TV script Masello gives the reader useful information via his own TV experience on how to survive the shark infested waters of Hollywood. He tells the reader what to expect in a pitch meeting, as a freelance writer, and as a writer on staff for a weekly TV series. His advice is honest and witty; he had me laughing out loud starting with his opening quote. His personal experiences served to make the book a page turner from beginning to end. Like William Goldman's "Adventures in the Screen Trade" Masello's "A Friend in the Business" offers a down to earth, no punches pulled primer on what it's like to survive in the business. Even if you're not planning on becoming a TV writer, Masello's book is a fun read. I'd recommend it to all my friends (and have).

I teach television writing and screenwriting classes at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in the Film & Television Department and Department of Dramatic Writing. I have never in 12 years made a book on TV writing required reading for my students because there was nothing good enough out there. That has all changed with A Friend In The Business. Masello chronicles his upstream journey in the strange, funny and sometimes dangerous waters of network television in a style that is both hilarious and sobering. He talks the talk and walks the walk. Any writer who has worked in TV will nod his or her head in painful and comical recognition. I have written for television, worked as a staff writer on two shows and had 3 pilot deals. This is important to know because besides teaching this stuff I've lived it. There is no book about breaking into television writing out there that even comes close to A Friend In The Business. It's truthful, entertaining and will make anyone who wants to know what it's like to break in--and more important--stay in the business. I loved it.

When me and my best friend were shopping at a mall we where looking at books and we found clearwater crossing #1 and 2. So we got them and we read them and loved them so much. So we got the other one #3 and 4. We just got the book #5 and we had to wait a while but we got it like a week ago and now we are waiting to get the 6th one and we can not wait. The first time we read them we could not put them down. Even though we are in 6th grade they are the best books i ever read and i encourage you to read them too no matter how old you are. They make you wanting to know whats going to happen next and you get hooked on them after you just read the first chapter. They seem so like just like real life and i hope you will want to read all of the Clearwater Crossing books because i know that i will.

I use to hate reading. One day I was in the bookstore I noticed the Clearwater Crossing books. I got book #1 and I didn't start reading it till i had it for over a month. I got around to reading it and I LOVED it. In the past 3 months I've read through book #5 and I'm starting on #6. Also I've got 2 friends of mine hooked on the books.

I thought this book was fantastic. The whole series is great, it deals with a lot of things we can relate to, like relationships and everything else people go through when they're in high school. And these are the only young adult books I've ever read that dealt with religion so openly.This book is probably my favorite in the series. I love all of the surprise it throws in, especially with Peter and Jenna!

Our daughter was lucky enough to have been treated by Drs. Thompson and Sherman and she was able to overcome this dreadful eating disorder. Even with their personal attention, we found their book was a wealth of information, advice and pure hope for all of us. If you can't speak directly with the authors, reading the book will certainly be of help on the road to a cure.

This is a great book for a spouse or a fmaily member who wants to help. It details what is happening and what can be done. However, it is not a substitute for therapy. Please get help for your loved one immediately. There is hope.

I have 9 years of experience with bulimia of a family member and also teach others about eating disorders. This is a tremendous resource. It's very well written!

The Faithful Friend is a French tale base in the Caribbean on the island of Martinique. Two inseparable friends, Clement and Hippolyte, are on a journey to propose marriage. After a beautiful woman named Pauline accepts Clement's proposal her uncle sets out to destroy them both. Three zombies have cast spells on the couple and it's up to Hippolyte to save them. The content seems to be appropriate for the ages indicated on the back of the book. However, there are some fairly complex words within the text, but a glossary has been provided at the beginning of the book. The Faithful Friend is definately written for young children, yet adults will enjoy the tale as well. Each illustration brings more meaning to the text. It uses bright, beautiful colors that words could never describe. They are also very accurate and consistent with the story. The artist uses a scratchboard technique throughout the entire book. This book seems to have been binded well, and the front cover bears two handsome young African boys, along with the Caldecott Honor sticker! Two thumbs up!!

This book represents the length that a friend will go to help and care for a true friend. These two young men have built a very strong bond that holds them together like brothers. This story takes place on an island with many twists and turns that make it a very exciting story. I think it is very important to let children know that we should be loyal to others in time of need. This story really hits on the true meaning of friendship, although it is fiction. My students love the illustrations which are done in scratchboard. Robert D. San Souci is a very good author for folk literature. I also like his book, The Talking Eggs. His work is good for teaching good values, or morals to students through unreal happenings.

This story is told similar to that of a folkloric tale passed on for many years from generation to generation. It has spiritual undertones and an essence of an important life lesson passed down time and again in a family. The illustrations are wonderful, (Pinkney's artwork is always great) and it is evocative of the island's mystery and danger. The two main characters' friendship is strong, bi-racial and surprise! The friend proving loyalty is the white man to the black man. This is a new one. It is the black man who has good fortune and is getting married! We need more examples like this in children's literature of mixed friendships, different ways to look at the world, new culture, strange new lands, and ties that bind people together rather than the tired old stereotypes. The students in my classroom loved this tale, because it was so fresh and new. As a teacher who is caucasian teaching in a predominantly black school, I look to Robert D. San Souci for interesting stories that appeal to the population I teach. The students always enjoy his stories such as The White Cat, etc. All are folktales with strong, interesting themes.

It's a wonderful book that is enjoyable to read. Not only is it interesting, but its editor, John Oliver, is a wonderful man who deserves much credit.

Wonderfully written, insightful. Felt as if I began to know the Malones and to appreciate their vision.

This book does a wonderful job of telling the life of J. Walter and Emma Malone. Their vision of a Christian College has changed many lives including mine. Not only that, but Editor John Oliver deserves credit for his devotion to the study of Quaker/Friends Heritage.

Robert Adams' latest book of landscape photographs - "Notes for Friends" - continues to challenge our views of what a landscape photograph can and should be. Beware though, not only are Robert Adams and Ansel Adams not related, neither are their photographs. I believe Robert Adams is responding to a reality that was only beginning to be recognized when Ansel Adams was producing his greatest works during the 30's and 40's. As a result, Robert Adams' pictures are not the glorious large format views of wilderness once synonomous with our concept of 'nature'.

Most of these pictures were taken at the boundry of commercial farmland and encroaching urban sprawl. If you think about it for a while, what else is there? Does it really make sense for any photographer to plant his tripod in the same spot as the previous dozen have done in order to photograph the same 0.1% of our land reasonably preserved as wilderness? Isn't the seemingly endless succession of photographs of pristine beaches, glowing aspens and towering clouds over unspoiled mountains a deception if not an outright lie? Does anyone in 21st century America still think this is 'nature'?

But, what if a perceptive photographer who truly cares about all this were to just go out a few miles from home and walk about with a 35mm camera any of us could afford to own? What if his goal were to find whatever beauty may still exist and, perhaps, some reason to be hopeful for the future? What would result? I believe the result would be photographs just like the ones Robert Adams has given us in "Notes for Friends". For those who can cope with what we have done to our natual heritage, it's a wonderful book of pictures. For others seeking refuge in the past, it will invariably disappoint.

Just this day received my newest purchase, by Robert Adams, wonderful dreamy and poetic, yet gritty and real.

Someone paid me the best compliment ever recently when they compared my own art to Mr Adams'

This book will take a proud spot beside my bed for the next few weeks it will be a joy to fall asleep with it in my hands dreaming of the impending spring and summer light that is soon to reach us here in the southern hemisphere.

I must admit I was pleaently surprised to see that it was almost exclusively images, I was expecting another collection of essays similar to his recent book "Why People Photograph"

Crikey I'm not complaining

I couldn't agree more with the previous review. If I see another (Ansel) Adams calendar on a wine-bar wall, I think I may just throw up. That stuff just feels like chocolate box kitsch to me now, whereas (Robert) Adams is at least trying to show us exactly what he actually sees, rather than a stage managed image of 'natural' perfection, and so to me at least, he feels more genuine and far less smug than his more famous namesake. But hey, I love this book, and this photgrapher, so I'm probably a tad biased.

The book had excellent information on each B&B, Resort, etc.. However, it was very disappointing that most of the book was about lodging in California. The title indicates that it's for the "West Coast". I expected more information on each state, not just California. The listings for WA, OR and BC are limited.

I've used the West Coast version of On the Road Again with Man's Best Friend for many years and have found many gems all along the West Coast. We've stayed with our dogs on house boats in Washington and British Columbia, a dude ranch in southern Washington, and in many of the neat waterside accommodations along the Oregon coast. We not only rely on the Habgoods' excellent descriptions, but also on their extensive appendix where there are hundreds of other dog-friendly places to stay that cover the entire West Coast. We live in the Seattle area and have yet to use it for our adventures in California, but look forward to doing so soon!

We've found the Habgood's "On the Road Again..." books invaluable on our travels with our wonderful Golden Retriever, Murphy. Each location is given a complete review with tips about sights of interest nearby. We have stayed in many quaint B & B's, up-scale hotel/spas, beachside resorts, and charming inns, all found through these books. Murphy has enjoyed all of our visits and gives the Habgood's books a "tails up".

Appreciate the stories told by this author about his life and consider the insights that he has gained from reflection on his experience; but, please, do not base your understanding of Quakerism on his presentation. In spite of the fact that Smith is a lifelong Friend and a former Quaker educator, he quotes George Fox (an important leader in the early Quaker movement) and the Bible inaccurately or out of context several times. In addition, some of Smith's statements about facets of Quaker faith and practice are historically unfounded or ignore the diversity within the Religious Society of Friends today. If you are interested in learning about Quakerism, read Wilmer A. Cooper's book, A Living Faith: An Historical Study of Quaker Beliefs (Friends United Press: 1990). Read Robert Lawrence Smith's book as a book of wisdom written by a Quaker, but not necessarily a Quaker book of wisdom.

This book speaks for me, a relatively new Quaker without the family support mechanisms birthright Friends might take for granted! My own friends and family members ask me why I chose to become a Quaker; acquaintances and curious visitors sometimes ask me what Quakers believe. The former is easier to answer than the latter, but this little book explains Friends in a welcoming manner that is easy to understand.

Robert Smith touches on the history of Quakerism, his grandparents and growing up in Moorestown, New Jersey. He wrote the book because he believes there is a need in the world today for what he calls the compassionate Quaker message.

The author voices his belief that "Quaker values of simplicity and silent contemplation, truth and conscience, seem more important now than ever before." He explains further. "To Quakers simplicity does not mean turning the clock back on progress or rejecting the benefits of modern science and conveniences of modern technology. Nor does it mean casting off one's possessions and embracing a life of poverty. And it certainly does not mean casting off joy."

With all the currently popular books on Simple Living and spirituality, Smith's book stands out, speaking briefly and clearly in chapters titled Silence, Worship, Truth, Simplicity, Conscience, Nonviolence, Service, Business, Education and Family. In these brief chapters, he covers more issues than I can fit into this review -- Quaker history, his own military part in World War II, intermarriage, the internet, and more are within these pages. He weaves in quotes from Jesus, Martin Luther King Junior, Shakespeare, Rabindranath Tagore, as well as those from Friends past and present.

The chapters fit together like quilt squares. Any one could be read and comprehended by itself, but as pieces of a whole, they reveal much more. A simple lifestyle, not necessarily "forsaking worldy goods" is connected with silent worship, bare walls, and simple folks. He tells us of his own childhood, of Quaker cousins who had more toys and possessions than he had, and of his own 'un-Quakerly jealousy." A trip to Toys 'R Us to buy a checker set with his grandson brings them down the action toys aisle, and leaves us to guess which his grandson found more appealing. He recognizes that there are increased difficulties these days when trying to sort out for children -- and for ourselves -- what is necessary from what is desired. The answer is the same as it has always been.

"'What do I need?' is simplicity's fundamental questions, a question that rubs against our natural proclivity for acquiring things, a question few of us feel ready to address. America's favorite weekend activity is not participating in sports, gardening, hiking, reading, visiting with friends and neighbors. It's shopping." (pg. 54)

He does not preach or focus on the Bible, but writes in an open and inclusive way about the variety within the Religious Society of Friends.

"But for all their differences, Meetings for Worship are fundamentally the same. At each Meeing, a group of individuals gathers and, open to the word of God, waits in attentive,expectant silence for a spark of the divine in their midst. Sometimes it comes in words; sometimes in silence. The language of truth can often be heard in silence, if only we know how to listen." (p. 29)

He closes the book with Ten Life Lessons, with explanations of each: Seize the Present; Love Yourself, whatever faults you have, and love the world however bad it is; Stop talking and listen to what you really know; Play soccer; Accept the fact that our lives are only partly in our hands; Believe in the perfectibility of yourself and society; Make your love visible in the world through your work; Seek justice in the world, but not in your own life; Look for the Light of God in everyone; Let your life speak."

The wisdom of this book is that it doesn't presume to prescibe solutions that will work for everyone as much as it provides a practical framework for individuals to think about their lives and spirtuality. I found the simplicity of the message to be refreshing and inspiring and would highly recommend this book to anyone who is seeking to uncomplicate his life by first uncomplicating his mind. William Penn, a prominent Quaker, in stressing the need to make one's life speak, wrote that one might be told "Well Done", but not "Well Professed". Mr. Smith has made his life speak and deserves to be told both Well Done and Well Professed!

Robert Bernstein's account of the development of P-Flag is emtional and inspiring. His book helps parents of gay children to learn about what gay means and how to accept their children. One flaw in this book is that all the examples he uses are men and women who have achieved high status as pretty much defined by society. Most of them are in "marriages", long-term relationships. All of this makes them look "just like" straight people. This position is only one of many taken by gay people and gay organizations. I wondered as I read this book where I fit in. None of those gay people were like me and I did not share many of their views. So where does that put gay people like myself in Bernstein's perspective? The book seems to whitewash much of the gay world. Bernstein does not seem to be in touch with the youth programs. As a volunteer in one of those programs, I can tesitfy that none of the teens in our project reflect the kind of gay people he described. That criticism aside, Bernstein's book attempts to fight bigotry and help straight parents climb the mountain, as one parent put it to dealing with their own issues and reaching out to their children in love.

This book is a great source of "how to" for parents when they find out that their children are gay. The author details a number of different situations of inter-family conflict and resolution

I have concluded my search. I have spent the last 18 months looking for a book to give my parents to help them come to terms with my homosexuality. Every other book I read had something if not many things wrong with it. This text addresses every concern a parent could have...including the religious ones without getting too bogged down in biblical translation and interpretation. Straight Parents Gay Children says all the thing things that would be too preachy for me to say myself. An excellent resource!

Elusive in a good way, of course. Our Mutual Friend, his last novel, shows some decidedly modernist techniques and situations that were very much ahead of their time. This novel would have been at home if written in, say, the early twentieth century. The twin images of the River and of Garbage (not just decay and dust, but also recycling and renewal) permeate the beginning of this book, and carry through with characters that don't fall into easy categories. All of the requisite Dickensian elements are here, but the reader is also presented with an ending that is both an epiphany and a recognition that the story REALLY doesn't end, after all; storytellers just move onto different subjects. In other words, there isn't the neat bow at the end of the novel that is so prevalent in Victorian literature--one more reason this novel remains somewhat apart from Dickens' other works, while at the same time being a fresh, engaging read. Probably not the best work to begin with, if you're new to Dickens, but if you have the rhythm of his prose down from other, shorter works, you'll certainly enjoy the greater complexities of Our Mutual Friend.

I have always loved Dickens since I first entered the world of Pip in a 9th grade English class. I have read many of his works in the twenty years since, and I just finished this novel last week. Although "David Copperfield" remains my favorite, "Our Mutual Friend" amazed me with its intricate plot and how Dickens pulled off such jarring tonal shifts without alienating the reader. I disagree with other readers who still found Bella Wilfer one-dimensional and unsympathetic...I was very caught up in her transformation. I also think that Bradley Headstone is one of the scariest of Dickens' villains, even surpassing Mr. Murdstone. I wish that I had not seen last year's TV production before reading the novel. Although the production was quality, I would have liked to approach the work with a fresher perspective.

Charles Dickens's 1865 novel, his last completed novel, "Our Mutual Friend" is an extraordinarily dark and convoluted work. Featuring such unforgettable figures as Mr. Boffin, Mr. Podsnap, Bradley Headstone, Jenny Wren, and Silas Wegg, Dickens continues, or rather concludes his artistic legacy with a work rich in well written and compelling characters. Exploring, as do many of Dickens's works, the intricacies of inheritance, "Our Mutual Friend" is also deeply concerned with families and the things that hold them together or rip them apart. Interesting and fraught emphases on education, upholding particularly English interests in the face of the still rising British Empire, and concerns about the absolute uncertainties about life and death, this is quite a way to come at a last complete novel.

"Our Mutual Friend" begins with Lizzie and her father Gaffer Hexam patrolling the river in the dark of night. Pulling a body out of the river for the potential reward money, the novel jumps right into the action with a bang. The body is presumed to be that of young John Harmon, just returned from South Africa to claim a huge inheritance from his recently deceased, hateful and miserly father. The only heir dead, the elder Harmon's loyal employees, Mr. and Mrs. Boffin stand next in the will to inherit everything. This causes a stir in Society, where Mortimer Lightwood, the legal executor of the will, and his friend Eugene Wrayburn are called in to view the body and question Gaffer Hexam. This causes two others to be drawn into the plot - Lizzie Hexam, an uneducated, but prescient young woman, who immediately catches Wrayburn's eye, and Miss Bella Wilfer, a sprightly young woman whose marriage to young John Harmon was the sole condition for that gentleman to come into his inheritance prevented by his untimely death. The novel tries over the next 700 pages to work out the personal ramifications of the murder, the will, and the fates of these two young women.

So many of Dickens's novels deal with the lives and educations (scholastically, socially, or both) of young people, and "Our Mutual Friend" is no different. Gaffer Hexam, the boatman, is opposed to book-learning, and refuses to allow either Lizzie or his younger son Charley, to learn even to read. Lizzie arranges, though, for Charley to remove himself from the cycle of riverside drudgery by facilitating his escape to a school, where he excels under the tutelage of one of Dickens's most intense characters, Bradley Headstone. Elsewhere, the Boffins, now in a state of financial ease, seek to improve their cultural understandings, hiring a literary man "with a wooden leg," the well-versed Silas Wegg, and even buy the mansion that Wegg works in front of. Other characters, like the mercenary Bella Wilfer, the absolutely indolent Wrayburn, and the articulator of bones, Mr. Venus, all seem to be in sore need of social and moral educations.

Just to kind of continue this theme, one may be particularly interested in the kinds of literary funds that Dickens draws on in "Our Mutual Friend": His debt to 18th century literature is heavy indeed, with the works of the poet James Thomson and the historian Edward Gibbon coursing through the novel like the very Thames itself, laying the groundwork for literary and historical commentary on the nature of Empire and particularly British Imperial interests, and how those interests reach from the international into the lives of individuals. Another important predecessor in this line is the infamous Mr. Podsnap, a very dark descendant of Laurence Sterne's Corporal Trim from "Tristram Shandy." Trim's famous flourish, in Podsnap's hands acquires the power to annihilate entire nations. Dickens also reveals heavy debts to fairy tales and nursery rhymes that continue and complicate the novel's emphasis on children's educations, how they are managed, and the impact that they can have on the world as it will become.

If you aren't interested in reading "Our Mutual Friend" yet, you should be! Clearly, my interests lay in the national and educational strains of the novel, but there's obviously so much more. Now, my knowledge of Dickens may be limited to the five or six novels I've read so far, but you will be hard pressed anywhere in Dickens, (or anywhere else for that matter), to find a more frenetic villain than Mr. Bradley Headstone - to see him in action alone makes this novel worth reading. He ranks right up there with "David Copperfield"s Uriah Heep in terms of Dickens's most insistently horrifying creations. Ok. Enough from me, go, read "Our Mutual Friend." What are you waiting for! Go, now!