If you love C.S. Lewis as much as I do, then you will find this book captivating, transporting you into the world of Jack as a boy and as a man, as a pagan and as a Christian. Hopefully it will be back in print soon. Every page is lavishly illustrated with photos and artwork of people and places that were dear to Lewis. What makes it even more special are the descriptions of each place or person by lewis himself, taken from his letters and books. IT is the best gift a Lewis fan could receive, too, so look for a friend!

It is most unfortunate that this superb book has gone out of print. It is a pictorial tour of the places and people familiar to C.S. Lewis. Next to each picture or illustration is a caption explaining the relation to Lewis, with most of the country scenes having vivid, picturesque quotes from Lewis himself. This book can be read in one sitting or slowly digested over several days. If you ever find a copy, hang on to it. It's a lovely book.

Douglas Gilbert, the author of this fine work was a character to say the least. He drank hard and played hard but loved vaudville. My father, George A.Gilbert a journalist, who worked for Variety for 45 years told me his father could play a mean piano and loved to play all sorts of ragtime. Living in New York City and working for every newspaper at one time or another , he was getting constantly fired for his drinking,and writing his "show biz" column meant he had to be out in the forefront of all happenings in the city. So adept at this he landed a major radio show during the depression and was quite the "bon vivant".Like i said he loved broadway and really loved vaudville , sadly my grandfather died in 1948 appropiately at the bar in the Gotham hotel on west 56 st., i never met him .If you like vaudville then read this book ......it's the real deal.see ya grand pa .........larry

A pleasure to look at when you have a quiet minute. The photographs are beautiful. The history included is nicely written and covers so much that happened in the area.

The Piano Book by Larry Fine (not the same of 3-Stooges fame, I take it), is a must-read if you are thinking of buying a piano. Fine names names--the skinny on all available modern pianos you are apt to find in a dealers' showroom, new and used. Reviewed are servicability, construction quality,tone, and street prices. Armed with this book, a consumer takes a big step towards getting the most piano for his or her money and, most important, reduces the likelyhood of being stuck with an overpriced dog.

To put it another way, I have not met a piano salesperson or dealer who had anything really bad to say about any piece in his or her inventory. Tone quality is something you can distinguish after hearing a few good pianos, but the actual quality of the instrument and how it will hold up over time is known only by those who regulary service them in the field. This is good to know, especially with so many asian-made pianos of questionable quality floating around on the used market.

If you're looking for an entry-level practice piano or a full 9' concert grand, this book will help you cut through all the manufacturers' and dealer hype.

Fine's knowledge of the instrument is great.

The new fourth edition of Larry Fine's Piano Book is the most informative one yet. I have enjoyed the three preceding editions immensely, but the fourth surpasses them all.

To me, the most valuable part of Larry Fine's book is the information on new pianos (although he supplies lavish information on piano mechanics,used pianos, piano care, and piano shopping as well as the information on new pianos). His book is unique in its effort to describe and explain the different brands and what sets them apart from each other. While the first three editions were all packed with useful information, the fourth edition adds an informal (but enlightening) rating system that ranks the new piano brands. This new rating system represents an extraordinary effort at an unbiased review of the different new brands, and it provides an extremely useful comparison among brands.

The rating system breaks new pianos down into general categories, providing a basis for the reader to use in comparing pianos within categories as well as between categories. Within each broad category, the rating system ranks the various brands. While many of the brands end up with similar ratings, this highly useful fact in itself provides the reader with enough knowledge for an educated evaluation of claims made by dealers in rival brands. The dealers should note: as Larry Fine points out, it is poor selling technique to try to sell pianos by criticizing the competition! Larry Fine's rating system highlights the unwisdom of this critical approach.

Educated by Larry Fine, a piano shopper will have a much more enjoyable experience than he or she might otherwise have had. You may agree with what he says, or disagree with it. You may find an individual piano that transcends the category into which the average piano of that brand seems to fall, or one which does the opposite. But at least you will be in a position of greater knowledge when you shop. Moreover, the book is well written and fun to read. A truly remarkable collection of attributes!

Larry Fine does an outstanding job with explaining how to recognize quality in pianos and how to get the trade-off you are looking for. As I read the book, particularly the first edition, it came more obvious which choices for a piano I would like to consider or weed out. It told me many of the aspects of the various piano manufacturers as well as what kind of sales gimmicks to be alert for when I am shopping for anything. Since this book will do all of this explaining, it would definitely be useful to any piano shopper, whether you are looking for one to use or rebuild. It could be also useful for anyone who is studying the economics because it even shows examples of all the different trade-off combinations that a purchaser can run into while shopping for a piano. The Piano Book is also useful because it has information that would be essential to piano owners as well as piano technicians. It tells them everything one needs to know while moving, maintaining, cleaning, or whatever the case may be. Since this is the case, it could help just about anyone involved with the piano decide wisely what they want to do as far as their instruments are concerned. Since Larry Fine gives information on roughly what the piano market is like in his "Piano Book", he helps many purchasers come to a successful conclusion with their piano purchase or maintence, so definitely before you come to a decision about what you want to do about a piano, STOP! Read Larry Fine's book before making an expensive piano decision.

This book is great for the average 5 to 7 year old. The problem I had is I bought it for my nine year old, and it was too babyish for him. I was desperate to find a book that explained childbirth and the emotional changes of becoming a big sibling for an older child, but never did find one. My son did read this several times, but he enjoyed Baby Science by Ann Douglas better. This book very explainatory, so if you do not want your child knowing about pregnancy I wouldn't get this one.

What a beautiful book about pregnancy! The illustrations are absolutely delightful, and add to the warm, soothing yet factual tone that Ann brings to the writing. Just like with "Baby Science", Ann shows a unique ability to write the information in an intelligent manner that respects the child, while not being too medical. This would make a wonderful gift for a new baby, who is sure to enjoy having this book read to him or her over and over again. I can see this will be one of those books that become a family favourite, right up there with "I'll love you forever" and "The runaway bunny". I like to have a few extra copies on hand to give away.

Children have a lot of questions about what life is like before birth and this book has the answers. Your child will discover what babies spend their time doing (taking catnaps), what they can see (on bright, sunny days, they can see a reddish glow inside the womb), and what they can hear (the sounds an unborn baby hears inside his mother's body are a lot like the sounds a dishwasher makes.) There are all kinds of great science activities for kids to try, like covering their hands in zinc oxide cream to experience what it was like to be covered in vernix before birth. This book makes the ideal companion to Ann Douglas' other excellent book, Baby Science: How Babies Really Work. A fun read for both parents and kids. Highly recommended.

At her death in 1964, Flannery O'Connor left a small canon of works that made her one of the most critically acclaimed authors of her time. Author Harold Fickett and photographer Douglass Gilbert have teamed up to produce a work that explores O'Connor's development as a Christian writer.

Fickett does a superb job in giving us a biographical view of her life and a detailed analysis of her works. He does a thorough exploration of her work through a Christian lens. Through his meticulous care, Fickett brings out the symbolism, concept of Grace, redemption and salvation that is found throughout her work. He looks at her life and shows how her religious faith as a Catholic served as the impetus for her work.
O'Connor's mission was for readers to see the grotesque and ugly that we in our fallen state share. The ugliness of our human condition is not the final answer for through her work we are shown how God's grace permeates even the darkest hearts.

Douglas Gilbert's black and white pictures of the south and its relationship to O'Connor's work is a compliment to the text. You can feel the soul of the southerner. You can see the human and natural devastation of man through these moving pictures. The two men have done a splendid job in presenting a critique of O'Connor through a Christian perspective.

My only criticism of the work is that Fickett overstates his case of O'Connor's Christian vision. He sees Christian themes in every detail of her works to the point where you become lost in attempting to focus on the main theme that she is trying to get across.

This is an excellent book for Christian writers and readers who can gain a greater appreciation for O'Connor through the author's analysis and the photographer's pictures. It is also a good work to have in your library for those who have studied O'Connor's works but have failed to consider her Christian perspective.

A) Why is there a whole law class on cashing checks? B) Why is the subject so convoluted and obnoxious??? This Gilberts was useful in that it gave diagrams and drawings to illustrate points. The first two chapters were helpful and (somewhat) easy to understand. The later chapters on bank deposits and electronic banking give light to the future of this subject (and future bar exam questions). However, the longest chapter, "Liability of the Parties" was the most confusing. It should have had more diagrams and would have been better as two chapters. But this Gilbert's help me understand this nefarious topic more than any other legal aid.

Do not purchase this outline. Its publisher has not updated it to reflect the changes to Article 9 that became effective in 2001.

This one does not include the recent code changes, however I didn't find those changes drastic enough to make a difference in my Secured class, but then again, we were forced to review Burt Reynolds bankruptcy case in its entirety. For general purposes, understanding basic concepts, this review is fine, just don't forget to study and know the Code updates!

I used Gilbert's to get through the most boring class in lawschool without reading a single case.Sounds impossible? Not if you use the Gilbert's on Secured Transactions along with with a book of canned briefs such as Casenotes. Like all Gilbert's outlines this one has all the major rules of law, a capsule outline and citations to major cases. It also has some practice questions to help prepare you for the exam.