I love the Jessica Fletcher mystery books, but this one just didn't seem right some times.
The characterization of Jessica just seemed off. There seemed to be an arrogance about her (and George Sutherland) that I found unappealing and not in keeping with either the televison program or other books in the series.
George Sutherland is given a very large role in this mystery, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But at times, Jessica seemed more like his assistant than the star of the book.

There was also a poorly done scene at a spa. I kept thinking about how much more intersting it would have been if Jessica had done one of her "addle brained old woman" or "rich snob" acts to get the information she needed rather than the direct approach used by the author. Even without going that route, I think the whole scene could have been handled much better. One of the things that I always liked about the character was that she never completely loses her cool. This particular scene just did not ring true to me.
There is also a revelation near the end of the book that seems to come from out of nowhere. I think there was a definite need for some foreshadowing prior to this.
On the postive side, the book is engaging and easy to read. If it were not part of the Murder She Wrote series, I think I would have liked it more. It just doesn't seem like Jessica to me.

Blood on the Vine is just the kind of book you want to read on a rainy afternoon. Donald Bain presents a cozy puzzle with all the right sort of villains to keep the reader entertained. The setting in California wine country was a wonderful vacation from the Maine winters. So vivid the descriptions I could almost taste the wine. Including Jessica's friend the Scotland inspector brought a light touch of romance to the plot. I think this is one of the best in an enjoyable series. I recommend it it to all of Jessica Fletcher's fans

It had me guessing until the end about "whodunnit"!!

This is a useful textbook to have as a handy, quick reference. Not optimal for studying or new learning, but a helpful review. The material is thoroughly researched & easily accessible. I give it a "B".

Treatment and diagnostic suggestions are catered for a fully-equipped ED. Less useful in an urgent care or similar environment. Otherwise an excellent resource.

This is a short-hand, easy to reference version of the full sized Rosen's. It is incredibly useful and easy to use. Great for use in the ED while on a shift or for reading quickly on a subject that you want to learn more about.

There are amongst the hundreds of styles of short story, those that hug the side of pure narrative and those that offer a snippit of the complexities of human life. Of the latter, there is none greater than Anton Chekov, but modern masters also abound... Tobias Wolfe comes to mind. In my reading of Peter Taylor's "The Old Forest and Other Stories", I couldn't help but feel that his audience has passed. I enjoyed many of the stories, some quite alot, but they did not speak to me. They did not resonate. Personal favorites like 'Promise of Rain','The Scoutmaster', and 'The Gift of the Prodigal' contain more of an element of a narrative style, sprinkled with those ominous gaps that lie behind a person's mind. The titular story is perhaps my favorite except for its being bogged down with expository literacy. I have a distinct feeling that I have read a book that added to my knowledge of writing and reading as a whole, but I have not read a book in which I have thoroughly enjoyed.

With full acknowledgments for the differences in taste, I must express a total dislike of many of the other stories: the final play, 'The Death of a Kinsman' in particular. The underhandedness disguised as cleverness on the writer's part is obfuscating and patronizing. In fact, I think patronizing is a good word to sum up the collection. However, good writing intentionally raises opinions. If you've come so far as to read the reviews on this page, it might just be worth investigating these stories yourself.

I have a confession to make. I don't like these stories. I recognize the strengths of Taylor's story telling - the elegant language, the depiction of emotional tension in simple things, the clear progression of 'story' or theme from setup to inevitable conclusion, but I can't get past a deep dislike for his characters. This is a personal failing. Taylor's fiction depicts a world that is inhabited almost exclusively by a certain class of affluent, white, middle class city dwellers whose lives are bounded on the upside by manners, fashion and ritual (in imitation of an upper class to which, presumably, they aspire)and on the downside by a stiff reticence and correctness of behavior to insulate them from their inferiors (not only their black servants but also whites of a lesser social and economic standing). I grew up in Nashville, TN at a time when this world was rapidly passing away, but I have met people, more than a few, who could have stepped from the pages of these stories, and almost without exception developed a deep antipathy for them. Their overt arrogance which seemed to mask a great fear of the world 'outside' always made social intercourse with such people strained and unsatisfying. There is nothing like being politely condescended to to make the recipient want to deliberately break convention and strike through the mask. So it's personal.

I have read, and reread, these stories enough to see that Taylor's characters are frequently as frightened of change and the possible corruption of contact outside their little world as I had sensed in the real Taylor-type folk I have met. There is great skill in his presentation of this tension, but it doesn't lead me to empathize, much less sympathize, with his characters.

Any given person's response to a piece of fiction is going to be colored by a host of factors over which the author has no control, and no writer ever had universal success at generating the response he desires the reader to have. In the case of my response to Taylor's stories, I fear that my dislike of the specific milieu (and its inhabitants) that is his chosen subject will forever keep me from a full appreciation of his work.

I have trouble with assessments of great writing that tend to subordinate every concept to setting. We know that Chekhov wrote about the Russian provinces, Cheever wrote about WASPs in New England, William Trevor writes about lower middle-class Ireland, and Faulkner wrote about Mississippi. We also know that Taylor writes about the upper South (not the so-called "Deep South" that some others have mentioned). So what? What many of us realize, but often fail to mention, is that Taylor is writing about the human condition, as all of these great writers have. I'm a firm believer in the notion that the setting is incidental--a product of the world Taylor understood. So, as we can say with Chekhov, Cheever, and Trevor, Taylor writes about people. We appreciate these stories because they are about us, whether we're from Maine, Mississippi, or Maryland. If you have any belief in a universal human condition (whatever that may be), in the truth inherent to archetypal stories about people, you'll find that the setting only serves as the metaphorical framework in which the author works. It's our own problem if we have trouble shedding our regionalism, not Taylor's. Also, this book is not an obituary to the death of any particular culture, but a celebration of life and universal human relationships. How can "The Gift of the Prodigal" be about anything but that? Who would say that "The Gift of the Prodigal" is about Charlottesville, VA? So, by all means read this book. Don't be turned off by its Southern setting or its WASPy characters anymore than you would be turned off by Chekhov's rural Russia.

Bauckham has done a fine piece of work with this commentary, and his thoroughness in the Greek makes his points quite solid. My only real complaint is his arguments for 2 Peter not being an authentic letter by the Apostle. Although I understand his arguments, I think some of his presuppositions and conclusions have some holes. Michael Green's (less extensive) commentary on these letters addresses some of these points, and I think makes a better case for Petrine authorship.

Aside from that, Mr. Bauckham's work is top-notch and does a fine job of correcting some erronious teachings that stem from Peter's letter. For serious and in-depth study, this is the commetary to have.

I'd agree with the reviewer from Syracuse, this is an excellent commentary reflecting the high standards throughout the Word series.

My only reservations are that in several cases Bauckham follows traditional assumptions without considering other options.

The first example would be in the assumption about the Assumption of Moses (no pun intended) in Jude 9. While the phrase "body of Moses" does suggest a connection with Jewish Testamental literature, the surviving Christian evidence is very flimsy. I certainly am not convinced by the verbal evidence that the Byzantine Palaea Historica is independant of Jude 9. Likewise all the other Christian evidence which features Michael telling the devil "may the Lord rebuke you" is most obviously explained as an attempt to explain Jude rather than a credible independent source. If Jude's aim was to use Zech3:1 to contradict the "false teaching" of 1En.9:1 then no further source is required. Also anyone reading Bauckham would think that the Christian evidence was a perfect fit for the missing ending of Jewish Testament of Moses, when it is clearly a different genre of pseudepigraphic literature.

The second example is the dating. All commentaries assume Jude predates 2Peter, but the evidence is highly circumstantial. Whether one thinks Jude is pseudonymous is irrelevant, the differing Greek tenses used in the two books ("will be" 2Pe2:1 vs. "have slipped in" Jude 4) clearly imply that either the *(genuine or pseudonymous) author of Jude intended his readers to consider it the later letter, or the author of 2Peter intended it to be consider the earlier letter. And so what if Jude's quote of 2Pe 3:3 is not verbatim. How many NT quotes of the OT are verbatim?

A third example is p.93 where faced with the dative TOUTOIS (prophesied to them) Bauckham says "this use of the dative is odd but must bear this meaning [prophesied about them]". Oh really? If one searches the Berkeley TLG CD-Rom, which contains most extant Greek texts, and count the examples of prophesy + dative meaning 'prophesy about' it becomes clear that if Jude had meant 'about them' he would have written PERI TOUTWN, and not TOUTOIS. It makes much better sense both in the context of the legendary Enoch prophesying to the Fallen Stars, and in the context of Book-of-Enoch prophesying to someone other than Jude's audience, and it respects the grammar of the Greek. It is only "odd" and "must bear this meaning" if one has already decided that Jude "must" feel positive towards 1Enoch.

The above three examples may sound like niggling, but repeat them several dozen times over in the course of the book and you can't help wishing there was more rigour in testing the received wisdom.

Otherwise it's still the best commentary on 2Peter and Jude.

I agree with previous reviews. It is an outstanding work. I didn't know that the apocrypha books like Enoch also had such wisdom. Richard combines a collection of resources and his analysis is superb. If you thought the book of Jude was a flyby book, think again, it is a book for the matured, some of the truths in there are solid meat.

FYI: Don't jump into conclusion that other commentaries in this series are as execellent as this as I have found out.

...What would you do if someone left a baby boy on your doorstep? Would you keep them? Send them up for adoption? Try to find their parents? Well, a family from England kept him, and named him Spider for the way he walks. They found some interesting facts about him. He can mimic animal's calls perfectly; one of his only phrases is "Good un!", he walks weirdly, and can't learn any thing.
His friends make fun of him for the way he walks, how he can't learn, and how he does not go to school. His parents also worry about how he acts. The people on the farm make fun of him behind his back, but none of this matters to him because he does not understand any of it. His parents try to make him act normally but they notice that he is happy, so it does not matter.
This great fiction book is set in World War II! This book is terrific for anyone, especially because it teaches you about a boy who is different then most kids. This book is interesting because you can learn a lot about kids who have disabilities like Spider does. This book is a page turner. I highly recommend it to anyone.

This book is so subtle but somehow kept me gripped. The imagery is superb and I felt I really knew Spider as I neared the end. The ending was beautiful- everytime I read it I am left in tears of sadness. I'd reccomend it to anyone as you can read it over and over again.

A simple, beautiful story, Spider Sparrow will definitely leaveyou in tears (the good kind). I highly recommend this book - all ofthe characters are real and likable, and Outoverdown Farm is somewhere I would love to live, as Spider did. And "simple" Spider has many things to teach us...wonderful book!

I expected a careful, general overview of the various uses of technology in music. This book is clearly for a classroom that uses Macs and the specific software indicated. There is not one entry for Finale, nor microphone/recording techniques. The book is pretentious in its organization (academic music ed. types) and woefully lacking in providing the required general overview of concepts, and prefers to teach specific software applications, many of which are not mainstream.

Not exactly the greatest book I've ever owned...the computer background information is woeful (I found 3 glaring mistakes in 70 pages of material by just skimming). The book has generally good information on the software it covers and a pretty good intro to MIDI.

This is a great resource for a lot of people. Whethr you are a music teacher looking to enhance your music teachning with some technology, or you are a professor wanting a textbook for a music technology class you are teaching, this book has something worth-while. David B. Williams and Peter R. Webster are veterans in the field with many years' experience.

Okay- I know that this is a seminal work re: the Middle East, but it is as dry as any other history text that you might find on the shelves of MiddleEast 101. In comparison to Price of Honor or other more reader friendly texts that in my opinion carry as much critical information about the volatile region, it pales in comparison.

This books provides a special insight about the Middle East. Since the author lived in the region, he has a close perspective of its intricacies. In the book, the author explains certain of the big differences that some of the countries of the region have with each other.
Hot topics such as Palestine, Israel and Iraq are also dealt in an excellent way.

This book is a very solid introduction to the modern history of the region. Although it covers a much longer span, the first chapter is subtitled "from Ancient to Modern", the book spends 34 pages on the entire period prior 1800. Rather skimpy. But, it does well given its limited treatment of pre-1800. Another problem is the lack of spirit in the book. One can tell that author is British just by the style.

Having said the above, it does a very good job of summarizing the major history since 1800. And, I would recommend it to any seeking an introduction to the Middle East, esp. the modern world.

For lovers of great photography, one of the real gaps for a long time has been a monograph on this master of Euorpean street photography, whose images of Paris in the 30's in particular are among the greatest of their kind. Since the unfortuante deletion of the magnificent mid-80's reissue of PARIS BY NIGHT there has literally been nothing available except an over-priced paperback from Germany (I beleive) that has made its way to US museum bookshops and the like. What great news it was that Abrams, who are one of the best houses for this sort of thing, was publishing a major catalogue to accompany the travelling exhibit now at the National Gallery in Washington. The book was delayed several times earlier this year (no doubt to the chagrin of the museums the exhibit has already passed through) and has finally arrived in time for Christmas.

It is sad indeed to report that the book is a total disappointment- at least so far as the images themselves are concerned:

One: The source material and printing of the picutres are truly second-rate - without richness, luster, or dimension. Many look like photocopies from magazines or other books. They are oddly glossy but flat. Compare these to the incredible matte reproductions in PARIS BY NIGHT and the contrast between what can be done with with what is here is nearly heartbreaking.

Second: What is with the recent tendency to print photographs in an oversized, right-to-the-edges format with no sense of border or space to let the composition breathe and no sense of frame lines. The bleed-over simply kills the impact of many of these photogrpahs. It's a ruinous way to present great imagery. (It afflicts Abrams' new Bill Brandt book as well but to a lesser extent because the printing of that book is so much better.)

Third: There is very little that is new here. For such a major undertaking it comes across as a routine collection of well-known images, a greatest hits, that ends up delivering little emotional punch or insight into this great artist. Compare this to Abrams' own exhaustive works like Walker Evans: The Hungry Eye and you'll see what I mean.

With so many great photographers receiving deluxe treatment in the past few years from Abrams' W. Eugene Smith book last year to Bulfinch's Lartigue mongraph, it is a real shame that someone as seminal but poorly represented in print as Brassai should receive such a well-intentioned but unsatisfactory tribute. PLEASE BRING BACK PARIS BY NIGHT!

I am surprised that this book has gotten such mixed reviews here -- it is the definitive book on the subject. The essays are full of new information and elegantly presented. The design of the book, bleeds and all, remind me of the particular way Brassai made his books (which is why we care about Brassai today). The reproductions look like the original prints! The book is smart and real.

I saw this exhibition at the National Gallery of Art and bought the book. The exhibition blew me away and so did the book! It is the best exhibition book on photography I have seen. The print quality of the photographs is superb and the text is excellent. This book is a lesson in photography, political science, and sociology.

Having read this book two thoughts come up:
1. They should have had much more in-depth data, why stick so much to the surface ?
2. Is their overview of ways to deal with radical innovation comprehensive ?

Seen the impressive list of authors and the impressive research they've done the book is disappointing. Maybe because they were limited on what they could disclose, time pressure etc.

To learn more about dealing with radical innovation I recommend the books 'Corporate Venturing, 'Intrapreneuring', 'Webs of Innovation', 'The Innovators Dilemma'.

So should you read 'Radical Innovation ? Well if you're active in the field it should be on your shelves, otherwise I wouldn't spend my dollars on it.

I think this book will have the greatest value if read in combination with Yoffie and Kwak's Judo Strategy. Why? Because the authors of that book correctly stress the importance of maximizing organizational speed, agility, balance, and leverage in any competitive marketplace. What they do not address (except perhaps indirectly or by implication) is the importance of radical innovation which, more often than not, proves to be a decisive competitive advantage. Indeed, the seven authors of the book I am about to review identify "Seven Challenges in Managing Radical Innovation" (see Table 1-1 on page 8) and meeting these challenges effectively indeed requires maximizing organizational speed, agility, balance, and leverage. Obviously, no single volume asks all "the right questions," much less provides "all the right answers." Hence the importance of carefully correlating the ideas from several different sources. I also strongly Michael Hammer's The Agenda which offers a "model" by which decision-makers in any organization (regardless of its size or nature) can determine appropriate priorities and then set appropriate objectives before formulating strategies and tactics by which to achieve those objectives.

The subtitle of this book ("How Mature Companies Can Outsmart Upstarts") reminds me of Jack Welch's comments when explaining why he admires "small and sleek" companies:

"For one, they communicate better. Without the din and prattle of bureaucracy, people listen as well as talk; and since there are fewer of them they generally know and understand each other. Second, small companies move faster. They know the penalties for hesitation in the marketplace. Third, in small companies, with fewer layers and less camouflage, the leaders show up very clearly on the screen. Their performance and its impact are clear to everyone. And, finally, smaller companies waste less. They spend less time in endless reviews and approvals and politics and paper drills. They have fewer people; therefore they can only do the important things. Their people are free to direct their energy and attention toward the marketplace rather than fighting bureaucracy."

For those who seek radical innovation in so-called "mature" companies, the challenges which the authors of this book identify are obviously much greater than they are for those in the "small and sleek" companies which Welch admires. A majority of upstarts pursue a "judo strategy" (in one form or another) because they lack the resources of their much larger competitors. (David had no chance if he wrestled Goliath.) For that reason, they cannot afford incremental innovation. They must take bold, decisive action when and where it will have the greatest impact.

When explaining what they call an "imperative," the authors of this book make a critically important distinction: "...incremental innovation usually emphasizes cost or feature improvements in existing products or services and is dependent on exploitation competencies. In contrast, radical innovation concerns the development of new businesses or product lines -- based on new ideas or technologies or substantial cost reductions -- that transform the economics of a business, and therefore require exploration competencies." This is indeed a key distinction.

Much of the material in this book was generated by the authors' research over a period of five years (1995-2000) which followed the development and commercialization activities of 12 radical innovation projects in 10 large, established ("mature") firms. For the authors, a radical innovation project must have the potential to produce one or more of these results: an entirely new set of performance features, improvements in known performance features of five times or greater, and/or a significant (i.e. 30% or more) reduction in cost. What the authors learned from the research serves as the foundation of their conclusions; also of what they recommend to those who seek radical innovation in their own organization. All of the ideas presented are anchored in an abundance of real-world experience. Although this brilliant book's greatest value may be derived by decision-makers in "mature" companies, I think substantial value can also be derived by decision-makers in the "upstarts" with which such companies as DuPont, General Electric, General Motors, IBM, and Texas Instruments will continue to compete. One final point: All of the "mature" companies discussed in this book were once "upstarts" themselves. How revealing that all of them are now so hard at work on regaining or preserving certain competitive advantages which once served them so well.

Very succinct yet comprehensive. It has key advice on the marketing, finance, and people skills necessary to see a new idea advance to a great new product. This book should be required reading for all MBA students, managers, and anyone who has the dream of a great new idea but is unsure as to how to make it come real. Although the title states that the book focuses on how more established companies can create environments to promote radical innovations, the information can readily be applied to any firm regardless of length of operations - and yes, to individuals.

The authors present a list of 7 challenges that face the radical innovator and then they provide the competencies, or skills, that are necessary to meet these challenges. Throughout the text, real-life examples from well-known firms help the reader to understand how these challenges come about, and to even recognize a challenge should it present itself. The examples do tend to focus on radical innovations that are new technological products, but the recommendations could also be applied to other new ideas such as new management systems or organizational structures.

Our beloved Ann Richards gives us an idea of where she came from, and how she got where she's going. Written for comprehension at any reading level, she is her usual witty self. Some of the text is slightly disjointed, sometimes jumping topics or leaving stories unfinished. She writes of obviously painful phases in her life with grace and humility, while still preserving her privacy and diginty. An enjoyable read, leaving me wishing to know the continuation of the story, and hopeful that she will consider extending her political career.

Mrs. Richards tells her story up through her two terms as Treasuerer of Texas with candor, common-sense and a clear love of Texas. The writing is not the best - she is prone to introducing people and then not saying why she introduced them - but her tale of accomplishing amazing things simply building on her love of politics, family and Texas is inspiring. I was left with the feeling that I too could be a player wherever I hung my hat. While the book may have been written in part to help her to the Governorship, Mrs. Richards is candid about her motivations, weaknesses and political evolution. This book made me glad I live in Texas and sorry that Mrs. Richards is no longer our Governor.

This autobiography of former Texas Governor Ann Richards allows us to follow the political transformation of Texas and of our nation in the eyes of someone who participated in the changes. She grew up amidst segregation. She notes how racial prejudice arises from ignorance and unfamiliarity.
It was in college that one class changed the direction of Ann Richards's life: Speech class. It would mold the woman who decades later would utter the famous line before the Democratic Natioanl Convention that "Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaore did. She just did it backwards and in high heels."
Readers follow Ann Richards through her days with the Young Democrats in alliance with Lyndon Johnson. We learn how she led the North Dallas Democratic Women and how the FBI infiltrated its section that advocated integration. We feel the sadness of what it was like to be at the luncheon towards which John F. Kennedy was headed yet never reached due to his assassination.

Ann Richards show readers her personal side and struggles. She describes what it is like being epileptic. What it is like to fight alcoholism. What it is like to be a woman running for office in Texas. This is a great book from a former Governor.