Mr. Williams says things I've always believed, but was afraid to say aloud for fear of being thought of as intolerant, uncompassionate, or politically incorrect. Mr. Williams knows how people work and what they do to further their best interests (which is the study of economics) and explains it in a jovial and colloquial manner. READ it.

As stated, this book is a must read for any person who wants to have a clear grasp of the issues of our day. As other reviewers have noted, this book is a collection of some of his syndicated columns that were previously published. That being said:

Dr. Williams writes with a style which is completely opposite of much of the intellegencia. His writings are straightforward and to the point. This book is worth the price just to read his wrtings about Dunbar High School, a primarily black school in a poor district of D.C. which yielded outstanding results in the 50's and 60's....until the great forces of public education intervened and destroyed that success. I urge anyone who is a great supporter of public education and who buys into the "education needs more money....Black schools can't succeed" philosophy to obtain a copy of this book. It may not change your mind, but it will challenge your thoughts.

Dr. Williams writings on affirmative action are equally superb. He, again in simple terms explains how the economics of affirmative action don't match up with the political rhetoric. Be not scared that he is an economist, he writes for the reader and not for himself, with practical examples easily understood by all. Walter Williams is a national treasure.

This book is a reprint of great articles from Walter Williams. It is a shame we do not have more teachers like Williams in our schools. If only more people took economics.

First there was The Black Stallion, then there was The Black Stallion Returns, then there was Son of the Black Stallion. Then the series went rapidly downhill. Of the entire (long) list of Black Stallion books only a few really stand out in my mind years later. This is one of them. Perhaps it's because Farley is writing with a new set of characters, and a new horse - a son of the Black raised for harness racing. Whatever the reason there is freshness to the people and plot here that was sadly lacking in most of the later books.

I have read all of the original Walter Farley "Black Stallion" books, and would have to say that this is one of the best of the sequels (although, since The Black are mentioned only in passing as Bonfire's sire, I don't know if it could strictly be labeled a "sequel"). One of the very few young adult novels I have found that writes about harness racing in an exciting fashion. Reading this book makes me long for the 'good old days' of country fairs where everyone knew everyone else. Walter Farley was gifted not only in bringing the excitement of horse racing and his love of horses in general to life, but in this book the human characters -- Jimmy, Tom, Uncle Wilmer and the others -- are drawn in such a way where the reader can easily visualize them in his or her mind. I couldn't imagine any horse loving person NOT enjoying this book (as well as the follow up "The Black Stallion's Sulky Colt" which I believe is currently out of print, but worth looking for if not only to continue Bonfire's story).

Jimmy Creech was old and tired. He had been harness racing at county fairs for over fifty years which was overcrowded with newcomers who raced at "night raceaways" and wasn't making much money anymore. Jimmy's only hope to keep on making money lay between the Blood Bay Colt and his yound driver and apprentice, Tom Messenger.

*If you like horses, than this is a great book to read!

Here, in this relatively obscure work, Thackeray is at his ironic and satiric best. Modern critics lightly dismiss the book as a piece of journalistic hack work, but it is much more than that. Redmond Barry, later Barry Lyndon, chronicles in a fairly sophistocated and always lighthearted manner his rise from a poor Irish country boy to the astral heights of polite English society from 1750-1820. Mr. Barry is always Machievellian in his way, and is quick and efficient with his sword. He is Odysseus, Holden Caulfield, Don Juan, and Nabokov's Humbert Humbert merged. In a word, he is very, very entertaining and very, very good. The book's only glaring flaw is it's belabored and uninspired ending. But it is much worth reading to watch Redmond Barry when young

When one is about to take the big plunge and give oneself the trouble of making what is always -in our age of lighter reading, of course - the strenuous effort of reading a XIXth. Century novelist, one - at least me - must make the following question: What was this author's particular attitude, as a man (or woman) of the most bourgeois of all centuries, towards his/her preceding century, the most aristocratic and un-bourgeois XVIIIth. Century? If s/he scorns the XVIIIth. Century, or is indifferent to it, it's quite likely that the author in question is a bourgeois philistine regarding Victorian times as the undisputed acme of human civilization. If s/he is an admirer, than s/he is obviously starting out of a clear sense of alienation from his/her own society, and one should expect at least for this XIXth. Century _avis rara_, genuine sense of humor. Thackeray was one of such Victorians who realized the philisteism of his own society;Eça de Queiroz, his Portuguese disciple (who seems to have learned a lot from reading him) was another. Therefore: Read this book, QED.

Having seen the movie "Barry Lyndon" by Stanley Kubrick years ago, I was taken aback by this book which is so markedly different than the 1975 film. In the book, Lord Bullingdon is actually the hero, where Kubrick presented him merely as a cowardly cad. Redmond Barry (later as Barry Lyndon)deserves all the evils that befall him and his first person narrative is quite humorous especially when blaming everyone for his own shortcomings. Unfortunately, the ending leaves one a bit unsatisfied, quite like the dismal end of Mr. Lyndon himself. This novel is not on the level of Thackeray's "Vanity Fair", but fun to read nonetheless.

Christian Mythmakers is a good overview of some of the thoughts and ideas of various Christian fantasy writers. While the chapter on John Bunyan is basically little more than a summary of Pilgrim's Progress, the rest of the book is interesting and thought provoking. The chapter on Charles Williams is a "must read" for anyone interested in or confused by Williams' work.

This book is a fascinating look at ten Christian mythmakers, that is authors who have used the power of myth to convey Christian truths in a new way. The narrative begins with John Bunyan and his seminal Pilgrim's Progress, continues through George Macdonald, G.K. Chesterton, Charles Williams, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and finishes up with Madeleine L'Engle, Walter Wangerin, Robert Siegel, and Hannah Hurnard.

Professor Hein begins with a short biography of the author, and then proceeds to explain the author's work, examining its theology and significance. I found this book to be quite fascinating, with the author giving me a look at these masterpieces of Christian literature in a way that I had never thought of before. If you are a fan of any of the authors above, then I highly recommend that you get this book!

I had the privilege of taking courses under Dr Hein in the early 90's at Wheaton. He is a very knowledgeable teacher and has great affection for the people he is writing about in this book. If you have any interest in these authors, this book is a must read. I wasn't aware that he had written this book when I came across it looking for books on George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis. As an Economics major, I somehow ended up taking four Lit. classes from Dr Hein because he is such a good instructor and passionate about his subject matter.

This is a classic study of Dante's _Divine Comedy_, by Charles Williams, who was, among other things, a close friend and colleague of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. If one wants a solid critical interpretation of Dante's masterpiece from the neo-Romantic (and commitedly Christian) perspective of mid-century Oxford medievalist scholars, there is no better book. It's clearly written by a fellow who knows his stuff-- and it has been a major influence on how others (especially other Oxfordian Christians) have viewed the Commedia. (Those folks familiar with Dorothy Sayers' translations of Dante know that all of her notes and comments are pretty much cribbed wholesale from Williams...) Still, this book was written a half-century ago, and many of its assumptions, approaches, and insights seem a bit old-fashioned-- and there are a lot of new perspectives and questions in Dante scholarship that it just doesn't discuss at all. Nevertheless, it remains an insightful study that offers astute insight into Dante's art, and though dated in some ways, it is by no means outdated.

Ben Sem, Ben Sem--We are, We are Beatrice. Not knowing or understanding much of Dante, I can nevertheless not forget what Charles Williams wrote about him, as about the above quotation from The Divine Comedy. Dante's heaven-sent guide announces "we are," not "I am Beatrice," speaking in unity with the Cloud of Witnesses, the testimony of the saints and out of the relationship of the divine life which is realized in heaven.

But Williams could almost say "We are Charles Williams," because he somehow seems to be such a kindred soul with Dante, and so attuned to the poet's thought that the effect of hearing or reading him on Dante was and is magnetic--so much so that Dorothy L. Sayers taught herself Italian and translated Dante's Divine Comedy in three volumes for Penguin Books (the Paradiso was completed by her student, Barbara Reynolds). Sayers dedicated her translations to "Charles Williams, The Master of the Ways." The Ways referred to are the way of rejection and the way of affirmation, two sorts of spiritual paths explained in this, and many other Williams volumes.

But she was not the only one to so lionize CW. C.S.Lewis wrote similarly in his Preface to Paradise Lost that Williams had revolutionized Milton criticism. Apparently the door was unlocked all the time, Lewis wryly notes, but only you (CW) thought of trying the handle. Who else did this supposedly obscure and unremarkable British writer influence? How about Canadian poet and singer Bruce Cockburn in his albums Dancing in the Dragon Jaws and Humans (the latter often considered one of his best albums)?

If Charles Williams did have a fault as a writer, it was that he tended to write too telegraphically, almost in a kind of shorthand, assuming his readers were with him when some of them, at least, would be lost. This happens in The Forgiveness of Sins, which assumes a good grasp of Shakespeare, and He Came Down From Heaven, which assumes a good grasp on everything else. Some of his essays do this also, particularly his book reviews, which assume that in reading the review one has also read the book. His reviews of some writers, however, such as D.H. Lawrence, and for that matter, St. Augustine, are so lively and unforgettable that they have long outlived their time. Of his nonfiction works, The Descent of the Dove (subtitled a History of the Holy Spirit in the Church) and The Figure of Beatrice flow the best and assume the least. Oddly enough, you can read the latter knowing nothing about Dante and the former knowing nothing about the Holy Spirit and learn a lot about both. Better yet, you learn a lot about Williams. Once one has met him, his trademark style is unmistakeable and for readers like me who have fallen under his spell, greatly compelling. There is no other writer like Charles WIlliams and no better place to meet him than in The Figure of Beatrice.

Williams in this book traces the image of Beatrice throughout Dante's life and work. This is not a straight examination or study of the Commedia; rather it is precisely this tracing of Beatrice through Dante's childhood, and through his writing in the Vita Nuova and the Convivio. The last half of this book examines the Commedia, centering on the fulfilling of the image of Beatrice.

There are several themes throughout, the first of which is a focusing on Dante's "Way of Affirmation," or the Affirmation of Images,which is one road, as it were, to see God. The other road, the Way of Rejection is also always there, but this Way does not apply to Dante. The Commedia is the greatest exposition on the themes of the Way of Affirmation. Another theme that runs throughout is the paradoxical statement, "This also is Thou; neither is this Thou." Each of these themes, if you are familiar with Williams, is treated anagogically. If you are not familiar with Williams, then you should know that Williams is an anagogical writer (i.e. he deals with the mystery of, what is vaguely called, the spiritual realm; read his book Descent Into Hell and you will see what I mean). Though I haven't read much modern Dante scholarship, I doubt many moderns would, or could, find a significant anagogical and spiritual meaning, at least not one as satisfying as Williams.

Finally it has been a few years since this book has been in print, and may not be around for much longer (if, God forbid, Williams is forgotten). Its a great opportunity to snatch this one up. Don't let any "modern" ideas get in your way.

I first read Aristoi not long after it's original release in Hardcover, and have re-read it three times since then.

When I first read the book, I thought it was a work of art that created a world and culture as it someday might come to pass and still remained realistic enough to be believable. I was very impressed, and have since read most of the authors other works.

After re-reading the book a couple times, some of the magic I originally experienced faded but the underlining principles that made it a great book remained. It remains a classic on my bookshelf, and to this day I hope to see a sequal.

The book touches upon the evolution of mankind, and focus' on one individual, Gabriel, who is one of the cultural elite. With god-like authority, Gabriel can create worlds of great beauty while at the same time compose poetry and music and still hold a conversation on medical science.

Gabriel is restless though, and in his desire to solve a mystery he sets off on an adventure that ultimately challenges his beliefs, and the foundation of his culture. In the end he discovers that the aura of arrogance and power that came naturally to him before is now a difficult matter, and for the first time in his life knows fear and what it is to be "just human".

As a cultural analyst, I found the book rich in depth and, despite a couple raw points, very well done. The nuances that make a culture, and which I find lacking in many science-fiction books that attempt to create new or alien cultures, were very well done. I hope the author will someday write a sequal and continue the saga as Gabriel explores the universe in search of what he lost.

Being a long time fan of Walter Jon Williams, I was naturally delighted with Aristoi. Like many authors, there were many ideas that he borrowed from his previous works. But also there were plenty of new and refreshing ideas. I would say Aristoi is either a book a person reads before reading any other novel by Williams, or after they have read through his works. The ideas in it are covered in virtually every other book he has written, save each individual novel covers only one or two aspecs of Aristoi. What sets Aristoi aside as one of the best modern S/F novels written was the intriguing writing style of Williams. In the novel, people have controlled split personalities (who are beholden to the prime). Williams splits the page in half and while on one side the story progresses, the other side has the commentaries of the personailities. Unique to say the least. I can not recommend this book any higher. Buy it, borrow it or steal it.:

What happens after The Diamond Age? Will nanotechnology run amok and melt down everything it touches? (The concept of "rogue nano" is one good reason to read this book!) Williams explores a fascinating future in which access to the immense power of nanotechnology is permitted only to the aristoi. But how do you become one of "the best"? Why not employ nanomachinery to enhance your brain capacities, then develop and express multiple personalities, each gifted with specific abilities and skills? But will your emerging personalities work together? What surprises lurk in the depths of the mind? And who will watch the watchers? This is one of my all-time favorites -- fascinating, subtle, thought-provoking and a good read!

First let me say that I've been a Star Trek fan since Star Trek priemiered in he 60's, although I preferred Jean-Luc Picard to James Tiberius Kirk. I'm also a technically oriented person, with a background in physics and computer science, so I came to this book already reasonably well informed on most of the topics Shatner wrote about.

Despite that, I still enjoyed the book. Shatner and the scientists he spoke to do a good job of explaining in plain English some horrifically complicated and obtuse subject matter. No one should think that they'll walk away from this more with more than a very rudimentary understanding of the basics of, say, Artifical Intelligence, for example, but deep understanding isn't Shatner's goal. Rather, his goals, are to convey some of the wonder of science as well as to warn about the potentially fatal pitfalls that we'll have navigate in the years to come if we are to survive our creations.

For this neo-Trekkie with a fascination for the future, "I'm Working on That: A Trek from Science Fiction to Science Fact", is an entertaining look at how our imaginations have converged with reality and how technology is impacting our lives now and will, exponentially, change the way we live tomorrow. The book should resonate even more with those well versed in the toys and voyages of the Enterprise. Chip Walter and William Shatner explore where fiction meets reality in a smart style that is absorbing, tangible, and fun, and will engage the novice futurist as well as those conversant in the theories and foresights of Kurzweil, Moravec, Teller, von Neumann, and their contemporaries.

Star Trek: I'm Working on That written by William Shatner with Chip Walter is simply... fascinating, as Spock would say. A book that is a true trek from science fiction to science fact as Shatner talks to different scientists as gets the scoop on whats coming down the pike in the future.

The book is written in an easy style narrative, as Shatner is talking to you and finding out whats in store for the future. From nanotechnology to suspended animation, raising consciousness in computers to scrambled atoms, Shatner takes the reader on a real TREK.

You'll find yourself reading this book and then reading it some more until you have it finished and time has simply melted away. Reading about people working on the future is an adventure from Caltech to MIT what was once considered impossible or improbable, just might be a real possibility.

If you're like me and you have just a little modicum of curiosity, you'll like reading this entertaining look into the future. Who knows, maybe there will be transporters, wrap drive, and replicators. Either way, though, I vote we move cautiously before kicking things into warp drive.

There could be advantages to that. Caution: reading this book will severely afflict you with "wonderment disease," as these technologies are appearing in the real world, someone must actually be out there making them happen.

You'll find a suggested reading list and web sites to surf making this book compellingly interactive.

Arriving at the home of best selling crime writer Miles Dane after receiving a cryptic phone call from the reclusive author in the middle of the night, attorney Charley Sloan doesn't know what to expect. Entering as instructed through the back door, he comes upon a disoriented Dane, who takes him to the master bedroom, which contains the bludgeoned corpse of Dane's wife, Diana.

After Charley summons the police, Dane relates the story of how he discovered his wife's body upon returning to their bedroom after completing a late night writing session. Minutes later, he tells the police he heard a loud noise, ran upstairs and came upon an intruder, who then leapt out the window. Miles' odd behavior, and the subsequent discovery of seemingly incontrovertible evidence against him, does little to inspire Charley's confidence in his client. Nevertheless, he resolves to do his best to win Dane's freedom, in what the media quickly blow up into the next "trial of the century."

Despite the familiarity of it's plot--a beleaguered defense attorney battles aggressive detectives, a wily prosecutor, unreliable witnesses, and an irascible judge, all in an effort to secure a "not guilty" verdict for a less than forthcoming client--Proof of Intent should prove popular with most readers, due in large part to the presence of it's likable narrator, the colorful Charley Sloane. Painfully self aware and self deprecating, the alcoholic attorney provides a wry running commentary on the case, never missing an opportunity skewer a hypocrite, whether it be an opponent, an ally, or even himself.

St. Martin's has made a canny business decision in resurrecting Charley Sloane and placing him in the hands of the capable Walter Sorrell. Hopefully, sales will justify another entry in this newly energized franchise.

William Coughlin has been dead for years, yet the books keep coming. His latest posthumous legal thriller is "Proof of Intent," written by Walter Sorrells. This novel brings back Charley Sloan, a slick criminal defense attorney who is a recovering alcoholic. Charley has a shaky relationship with his grown daughter, Lisa. She, like her father, is an alcoholic and she has recently dropped out of law school. While her father has remained sober for seven years, Lisa is having trouble staying on the wagon.

Charley and Lisa team up to defend Miles Dane, a writer of pulp fiction who is accused of bludgeoning his wife, Diane, to death. Miles claims that he worshipped Diane, and he would never think of harming her. Sloan faces a hostile judge, a skilled prosecuting attorney, and a mountain of circumstantial evidence that points to Miles Dane as the murderer. Charley and Lisa have their work cut out for them in this difficult case.

Sorrells does a creditable job of setting up the characters and making them believable. Charley is, as he has been in the past, sharp, funny, resourceful, and not above pulling shady courtroom stunts to help his client. His daughter, Lisa, is not fully fleshed out, but she is an intriguing character and I would like to see more of her.

The courtroom scenes in "Proof of Intent" are dramatic and suspenseful and the murder mystery is engrossing. The problem with this novel is the contrived ending, which seemed tacked on to "surprise" the reader. However, I still recommend "Proof of Intent," since it moves forward briskly and does what a legal thriller should do. Sorrells holds the reader's interest until the end and he does so with considerable style.

This is a superbly written novel by two authors, William Coughlin and Walter Sorrells, where I have not had prior exposure to their writings. I do not proffer 5-star ratings unless the novel meets a few personal criteria:

1. Challenging, great command of English language, diction, and syntax.
2. Depth of main and supporting characters coupled with an engaging story line.
(Nowadays, notice how authors introduce too many minor characters that don't deliver substance to the novel?)
3. Logical and twisting plot. Suspenseful and thrilling.

Proof of Intent exceeded my expectations and is a fabulously written criminal defense novel. The main characters are richly developed and the minor characters have enough character-descriptions to identify with them lucidly. Recently, this is one of the best fictional books that I have read. I look forward to read additional books by these authors. This is a "must-read" for the spellbound enthusiast, who enjoys courtroom drama to its finality. Enjoyable!

...cyberpunk doesn't mean it is cyberpunk. Walter John Williams uses all the archetypes of cyberpunk fiction - mind-to-machine interface, powerful corporations with money superceding national sovereignty, criminals as the 'good' guys, cybernetics becoming intimate with the human body, and such - but that doesn't make this a cyberpunk novel. Its like painting stripes on a horse and calling it a zebra.

It is a good story, and the characters are compelling, but it is also very clearly written in imitation of a cyberpunk story. Part of this stems from the contrived 'future-tense' narrative style, but that's just the best example of the overall 'contrivedness' of this story. Cyberpunk doesn't have to be about futuristic technology at all (see William Gibson's "The Gernsback Continuum" and Greg Bear's "Petra") so long as it carries the cyberpunk sensibility. "Hardwired" doesn't do that. It imitates a cyberpunk story.

Gibson and Sterling are often considered the masters of 80's cyberpunk fiction, with Stephenson trying to keep it alive in the 90's, but this effort by Williams proves he could master that genre. The fast-paced adventures of his protagonist are only exceeded by the unforgetable panzer-run sequence across the great plains. I found the ending a bit simplistic and predictable, but your taste may vary. Overall I enjoyed the setting, the characters, and the action as much as any cyberpunk I've read. This was the book that made me always look for Williams' latest on the shelves. What more can you say than that

While this book, like Neuromancer, is one of the founding books in the cyberpunk movement, the two books could not be more different - except they are the same.

That is, Hardwired is a story set in a future dystopia where people are caught up in events that lead to changes that seem beyond the scope of changes that people like them could make. Of course, there are drugs and other fun stuff, a network of computers that are hacked, and large corporations.

Hardwired is different in that it is a much better action story, with the main characters being a street samurai and a panzer driver. Gives the book a much different focus than Neuromancer with a decker as a main character.

And the world is much more alive. Dirtboys and mudgirls are moving, struggling, alive in glorious MOTION.

It's a book that you can immerse yourself in for the hours it takes to read it, blink, stagger outside, and look around at the world, disappointed, because it's not the right world. Somehow, the world of Hardwired is so compelling that you forget for a while our world.

That's about as high a recommendation as a book can get.

Just-In-Time:Making It Happen can be an invaluable guide to implementing JIT principles in the manufacturing environment. Although it is not a cookbook, it does provide a comprehensive step-by-step to understanding and implementing a workable JIT process. Perhaps the most valuable contribution of the book is the way it demonstrates that JIT processes can coexist with MRP effectively. Sandras defines those functions that need to be incorporated in the MRP System to most effectively interface with and support JIT. However, he also describes how the MRP System can be manually augmented to allow their coexistence. But what I liked best was the practitioner's understanding of the problems facing the JIT implementer.

Gives a very good insight into JIT, making you aware of the zillion things manufacturing companies can (still!!) do to avoid waste. The book, however, does not prepare you for actual implementation. For that to happen, there is nothing to replace being an 'insider' in the manufacturing environment.

This is a great introduction to JIT. It covers main issues as the core knowlodge of this technique as well as the implementation cornerstones. It's an easy to read way to get a handle on this planning and production control. It has also tried to get a compromise with MRP without forgeting currently popular topics as the link to suppliers and customers. As a plus, there are some chapters for problem solving using quality control techniques as storyboards which are actually useful in many others environments and areas.