Calvin & Hobbes was so popular during its run that people never needed to explain what the strip was about to anyone; it's been a couple of years and with the exception of little kids, people seem to remember the strip for the most part. So, all I'll say about this collection is that it is the preferable purchase over the first two books, the self-titled "Calvin & Hobbes" and "Something Under The Bed Is Drooling." Why? "The Essential Calvin and Hobbes" actually collects every single strip from those two books (it's NOT a best of, as some people would say), and most importantly, the Sunday strips are in color. Hands down, Watterson painted the most beautiful looking Sunday strips since Walt Kelly, and it would be a shame if you only knew them through the black and white reproductions of the smaller collections. It's also cheaper to buy this book instead of the first two, as well. As a special bonus, Watterson included a nice, water-colored poem at the beginning, which isn't available anywhere else.

Watterson's talent is pretty hard to get over. What's the big idea, making a cartoon so consisently funny, explosively creative and accessibly brilliant that no other cartoonist could ever hope to match wits? When I saw the first Calvin strips in my paper several years ago, I knew it was something special. Here's a little kid more clever than most adults, whose stuffed friend comes to life and has philosophical debates with him while they careen down a gully in a wagon.

Calvin and Hobbes is more than a comic strip, and that's what makes it so special. Far Side and Dilbert are clever and hilarious as well, but Calvin's creator has an artistic talent that will not be confined. The everyday life of his six-year-old protagonist is frequently spliced with daydreams--Spaceman Spiff, Dinosaurs, etc.--which are consistently staggering in their rendering. It's art good enough for Marvel but stylistically superior. In the later years he was arguing with newspapers for half- or full-page spaces that would do his work justice.

What impresses me perhaps the most about Watterson, though, is his integrity. From the great beginning that is this book, up through the end, he refused to have his art form violated by commercialism. Calvin will be found ONLY on the printed page, not on TV, not on a baseball cap (save the amateur ones), not in a breakfast cereal, nor action figures, nor a fanclub, nor a box of fruit snacks. Watterson was true to the integrity of his character. What's more, he quit while he was ahead--before his strip could become repetitive, but after its potential had been fully explored.

So buy this book, if you haven't already. In fact, do yourself a favor and buy every Calvin collection, because each is completely flawless. Calvin and Hobbes is the best cartoon that ever was, and it's the best cartoon that will ever be. I'd bet my sense of humor on it.

I have used all of the Calvin & Hobbes books as bed-time stories for my two young sons for years. The artwork is engaging and holds their interest, while the writing clearly explains and handles complex issues that all people run in to in their everyday life. From the seeming stupidity of adults to the death of a baby raccoon, Calvin navigates the often dangerous pathways of childhood and learns life's lessons with a gentle humor that gets the point across with an innocent clarity that all ages can understand and appreciate. With Hobbes as his sidekick keeping Calvin's megalomaniacal ravings in perspective and providing a voice of reason in a six year old's quest for the meaning of life, both my sons and I learn a valuable lesson with each page turned. Spaceman Spiff and the ever-destructive T-Rex are favorites for my sons, as well as the special and beautifully done extended stories in the front of each book created just for these collections. I can start at the beginning of one book, work my way through to the end of the last, and start back at the beginning of the first one again, and the same strips appear fresh and new to all who read them. Bill Waterson's genius for showing complex issues in a clear light will be missed, but the world, and my son's bedtime stories, are richer for his labors. Highly recommended, to fans of the strip and to anyone who thinks that the best humor is the truth.

Fastrack Business Management is an interesting and enjoyable read. It is extremely substantive, with a wealth of helpful insights on subjects of interest to top and middle managers today. I would recommend it to anyone.

The BEST business book for the Millennium - superior value and information for the business professional who wants answers, fast. "Fastrack" is extremely relevant to the critical issues facing business today and cuts through the typical buzzwords with refreshing clarity and directness. It is a timeless practical guide to making better decisions and improving the way you manage. You will find the "Key Points" (at the end of each chapter) most valuable. Each lists a succinct summary of the author's important business tips you will refer to time and time again.

The BEST business book to come along - superior value and information for the business professional on the move. "Fastrack is extremely relevant to the critical issues facing today's leaders. It cuts through the typical business jargon with refreshing clarity and directness and is a timeless practical guide to making better decisions and improving the way you manage.

Moonheart, the first Charles de Lint book I ever read, remains one of my all-time favorites. I've read many de Lint novels since I first picked up Moonheart in 1984, but I always remember it and recommend it to anyone looking for a good modern fantasy. de Lint it simply one of the best modern fabulists writing today.

Moonheart was the very first deLint book(and contemporary fantasy book) that I'd ever read. It's still only surpassed in genre by Neil Gaiman's work, and de Lint has never risen to this level again(except maybe with The Little Country). When work of this type has this kind of quality, it has a sense of true magic in the ordinary. That is what flows out of this book in torrents. From the beloved characters to the sense of wonder behind every corner and the sheer vision of this piece of literature, Moonheart has earned a place on my favorites list and in my heart.

After reading Moonheart, I was desperately sorry that I hadn't read any of his books before! There is so much True Magic in his writing; pure enchantment. This book sends shivers of delight and terror down your spine. Definitely my new favourite author of modern fantasy fiction. The characters seem to take on a life of their own, until you could almost believe that they are living and breathing in the room with you. The plot is so compelling that I read it cover to cover in one sitting. I can't think of any other writer to compare Charles De Lint to; he is definitely in a class all his own. I can't wait to read more. After all, who doesn't wish to cross over into Otherworlds? Reading a Charles De Lint book might be the next best thing

...featuring luscious graphics and design layouts, "The Art of Charles Schultz" is definately aimed at those who are already big fans of his work. This is not a standard collection of comic strips. Instead, there is commentary about the development of the strip and Schultz's devlopment as an artist. The first 50 or so pages contain samplings of his pre-Peanuts work, which is fascinating for how it shows the development of his ideas. Next the book provides a real service by providing a generous helping of the early Peanuts strips (circa 1950-54), many of which have never appeared in book form. The characters look radically different and their personalities were just starting to settle in. Charlie Brown was a bit of a dandy instead of always being a loser, Lucy was sort of an airhead and Snoopy didn't "talk" yet.

The book has a genrous helping of photographs of Schultz, his staff and of various Peanuts memorabilia. The Sunday strips are rendered in glorious full color and there also rough drafts of strips that give an idea of how the creative process works. The book's only drawback is that it is oddly laid out, with some strips cut in half at page breaks and other pages featuring minaturized strips, apparently to save page space. Nevertheless, this book is of high enough quality that it will look good on any Peanut fan's coffee table.

I have loved Peanuts since childhood, and have an almost complete collection of Peanuts books. Charles Schultz has always been an inspiration to me in my work as an occasional professional cartoonist. Not only is Schultz unsurpassed as an artist, he is also one of the great philosophers of twentieth century life in America.
This book is, first and foremost, a celebration of the comic strip. It is a work of art in its own right. All the cartoons in the book are photographed from either their original drawings, or directly from the newspapers. The reader can see the artistic details that Schultz has used in creating each frame in photos of the originals. And the use of the original strips, with their rough paper and newsprint lines, brings back the joy of reading the comics for the first time in the funnies. The Sunday comics are complete with the little color dots that created the color images. There are literally hundreds of comic strips, both daily and Sunday, in this book, and they give a good overview of Schultz's long career.
There are many photos of Schultz's doodles and rough sketches, of his desk and his artist's tools, early cartoons 'Sparky' sold to the Saturday Evening Post, early drawings of certain characters, some of which pre-date 'Peanuts' itself. One can actually see the characters develop, artistically and as human beings. Interspersed with the cartoons are textual explanations and stories about Schultz and his characters, including many insightful comments by Charles Schultz himself about the evolution and personalities of his characters. Also included are photos of early Peanuts toys and dolls, and even these are photographed lovingly and with attention to detail and shadow.
This is a magical book, and any Peanuts fan would love it and treasure it. It is a book one can return to over and over to enjoy. Leave it lying around the living room where everybody can enjoy it and relive the joy Charles Schultz and the Peanuts gang gave us for over fifty years. Better yet, introduce a new generation of kids to the strip. The Peanuts gang is a microcosm of us, and reading it reveals much about ourselves and helps us to look on life with tenderness and humor.
Buy this book, read it, and share it. It would make a wonderful present as well. It is the best Peanuts book to date.

This posthumous collection of the work of Charles Schulz could easily have turned into a rehash of other works, such as the Peanuts Golden Celebration that came out in 2000. It never fell into that trap. Focusing both on the strip and the way it evolved, this feels like (if possible) an even more thorough telling of the Peanuts story. It has rarer strips than "Golden Celebration" as well as comments made by Schulz at various points in his career that help shed insight on how he crafted these stories.

There are lots of sidebars in this book -- pictures of "Peanuts" merchandise and the stories behind the items abound, for example. There are also photos of things like Schulz's drawing board and art tools, just as he left them after finishing the final "Peanuts" strip.

Jean Schulz, in the introduction, starts by saying that Sparky was a genius. I think most of us who want this book already knew that, but it's beautiful to have this reminder. Every "Peanuts" fan simply must read it and treasure it.

i thought this book was wonderful, charles de lint has such a rich imagination and feeds it with his wide vocabulary and descriptive talent. i love his way of writing urban fantasy, and i love the idea of faerie and the way he puts it into his books. i am reading 'the little country' at the moment, and it is a classic but dreams underfoot still resides in my heart and mind as the best book he has written that i have read. i sound so learned to myself, and i am only 16 ;) anyways, this is an extremely good book, read it and see!

In the nineteen stories about the fictional Canadian city of Newford collected in this book, Charles de Lint relocates the mythical creatures of fairy tale and folklore from their traditional settings and surrounds them with urban scenery. As one character writes in the final story: "That was the real magic for me: the possibility that we only have to draw aside a veil to find the world a far more strange and wondrous place than its mundaneness allowed it could be." That quote sums up why I love the Newford stories than I ever could.

While not a novel, these stories do add up to more than the sum of their parts. Minor characters in one story may go on to star in stories of their own. Events in one tale have resonances later on. The reader is given a cross-sectional look at the small events that make up life in this city, and gets a chance to know its inhabitants.

De Lint's prose is gentle and relaxing. These stories almost beg to be read aloud, so that the reader can savor the language. Whenever I'm feeling upset, I know I can read one of de Lint's stories and feel better, just by "listening" to his voice. He doesn't always have something groundbreaking to say about people or life or love, but sometimes it's good to be reminded of things we already know to be true, and even better to be reminded in such a beautiful fashion.

I was already in love with Charles DeLint's work befoe I read Dreams Underfoot, but now I am uterly obsessed! After hearing great reviews, I bought it, and started reading. The first story, "Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair" Left me a little confused, but as I read more and more, I fell into the rhythm of the tales of newford, until I had suddenly finished the book. That night, I ordered the next, Ivory and The Horn. Everything about Dreams Underfoot is amazing. Each story is filled with an unfeniable sense of hope, wisdom, magic, and wonder. My particular favorites are Freewheeling, The Ghosts of Wind and Shadow, and The Conjusre Man, but all of them are fabulous. I can't get over DeLint's use of descriptive language, the way he painstakingly sets the foundation for each tiny detail in your mind, making the world of Newford more real than the trees and sky. Anyone, Everyone! Read this book!!!

This compilation of Oswald Chamber essays and sermons was originally captured by his wife after his death. The format of a daily devotional provides an excellent daily read for the avid and growing Christian.

The individual devotionals are not easily devoured in one reading, generally requiring a second or third reading to fully grasp the depth of Oswald Chambers' deeply Christian messages based on Biblical scriptures. This is not light reading, but in the small fifteen minute devotional increments daily, this makes for excellent reading and provides specific daily focus for the Christian reader. This thought-provoking book can easily become a favorite habit, and it also makes an excellent evangelical gift to those who are new to Christianity.

If you buy only one Christian book this year, buying Oswald Chambers' 'My Utmost for His Highest' would be an excellent choice.

Each morning I read this book, I find myself drawn to a place of accountability and yet filled with a desire to worship and commune with my Lord. Oswald Chambers has a way of opening the reader's eyes to the plan that God has for each one of us individually. Combining this book with reading the scriptures included for each day has expanded my morning devotional time to a depth and breadth I could not have imagined before.

I received this book as a Christmas present and in the month and a half that I've been reading it on a daily basis, it continues to speak to my spiritual condition in a way that's almost eerie. Not every day hits but those that do shock me back to my faith journey and remind me about where I should be focused. How could He/he (God and Oswald Chambers) know so accurately what I need to hear? As a committed Quaker (Religious Society of Friends), I have been surprised to find that "My Utmost" transcends the unfortunate Christian political divisions and meets us as followers of Christ. This book had become as central to my daily routine as brushing my teeth but far less rote!

Any book defined as a true classic is likely to be thought of as stultifying and incomprehensible...at best. Yet, there are dozens and dozens of books that are true classics and still manage to speak to today's modern audience. Boccaccio's Decameron is one such book.

The Decameron was written around 1350 during an outbreak of plague in Florence. It is the fictional account of ten young people who flee the city to a country manor house and, in an effort to keep themselves occupied and diverted, begin telling stories.

Ten days pass in the pages of the Decameron (hence its name), and each person tells one story per day, making a total of one hundred stories. These are stories that explore a surprisingly wide range of moral, social and political issues whose wit and candor will probably surprise most modern readers. The topics explored include: problems of corruption in high political office, sexual jealousy and the class differences between the rich and the poor.

The titles themselves are both imaginative and fun. One story is titled, "Masetto da Lamporecchio Pretends to be Deaf and Dumb in Order to Become a Gardener to a Convent of Nuns, Where All the Women Eagerly Lie With Him." And, although the title, itself, is a pretty good summary of the story, even a title such as this cannot adequately convey Boccaccio's humor and wit.

Another story that seems surprisingly modern is, "Two Men are Close Friends, and One Lies With the Other's Wife. The Husband Finds it Out and Makes the Wife Shut Her Lover in a Chest, and While He is Inside, the Husband Lies With the Lover's Own Wife on the Chest." A bit long for today's modern world, perhaps, where popular books are dominated by titles such as John Grisham's The Firm, but the outcome of this story is as socially-relevant today as anything that happened in fourteenth-century Florence.

The Decameron, however, goes far beyond plain, bawdy fun and takes a close look at a society that is unraveling due to the devastating effects of the plague. The people in Boccaccio's time suffered terribly and the book's opening pages show this. The clergy was, at best, inept and, more often than not, corrupt. Those who had the misfortune to fall ill (and this includes just about everyone) were summarily abandoned by both their friends and family.

Those looking for something representative of the social ills of Boccaccio's day will find more than enough interesting tidbits and asides in these stories. Serious students of literature will find the ancestors of several great works of fiction in these pages and readers in general cannot fail to be entertained by the one hundred stories spun by these ten refugees on their ten lonely nights.

It seems almost redundant that I bother to rate this with yet another 5-star review (especially since I didn't buy it from Amazon-- Sshhhh, don't tell anyone), but this is one of the books that changed my life.

As a mind struggling to repair the damage caused by the American education system, I set out to follow other curriculums from times when learning was actually valued. Since many of the so-called "classics" American students today are forced to read in school are thinly-disguised socialist propaganda, I chose to look to much earlier times. I picked up The Decameron by chance, having remembered it from an off-hand statement a high school history teacher had made once. The book had everything, exalting adventure, romance, heroism, virtue, and other things I had been taught were subjective and dangerous. I found it the most refined and tastefully deviant book I had ever read and I have never been able to understand why students are not exposed to it as the basis for the study of literature.

Boccaccio's stories (told one per day, by each of the ten characters over ten days) give great insight into the midieval paradigm while poking fun at its obvious problems. The tales cover the whole of Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor, which was very unique for their time. The rolls of heroes involve characters of every culture, race, religion, and background in the known world-- something unheard of before this book. Boccaccio's great love and understanding of women also shines through, the expression of which tops the list of reasons as to why he was exiled from Florence! Most of the stories are based on actual people and events, though the author takes a great deal of artistic license in some cases. A great many little-known facts can be learned by reading the historical notes (one reason why I chose the Penguin Classic version). Boccaccio surpasses every other man of letters (before him or since) in ability and creativity and will no doubt do so for centuries to come.

Giovanni Boccaccio THE DECAMERON. Second Edition. Translated with an Introduction and Notes by G. H. McWilliam. cli + 909 pages. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin Books, 1995. ISBN 0-14-044629-X (Pbk).

Second-hand opinions can do a lot of harm. Most of us have been given the impression that The Decameron is a lightweight collection of bawdy tales which, though it may appeal to the salacious, sober readers would do well to avoid. The more literate will probably be aware that the book is made up of one hundred stories told on ten consecutive days in 1348 by ten charming young Florentines who have fled to an amply stocked country villa to take refuge from the plague which is ravaging Florence.

Idle tales of love and adventure, then, told merely to pass the time by a group of pampered aristocrats, and written by an author who was quite without the technical equipment of a modern story-teller such as Flannery O'Connor. But how, one wonders, could it have survived for over six hundred years if that's all there were to it? And why has it so often been censored? Why have there always been those who don't want us to read it?

A puritan has been described as someone who has an awful feeling that somebody somewhere may be enjoying themselves, and since The Decameron offers the reader many pleasures it becomes automatically suspect to such minds. In the first place it is a comic masterpiece, a collection of entertaining tales many of which are as genuinely funny as Chaucer's, and it offers us the pleasure of savoring the witty, ironic, and highly refined sensibility of a writer who was also a bit of a rogue. It also provides us with an engaging portrait of the Middle Ages, and one in which we are pleasantly surprised to find that the people of those days were every bit as human as we are, and in some ways considerably more delicate.

We are also given an ongoing hilarious and devastating portrayal of the corruption and hypocrisy of the medieval Church. Another target of Boccaccio's satire is human gullibility in matters religious, since, then as now, most folks could be trusted to believe whatever they were told by authority figures. And for those who have always found Dante to be a crushing bore, the sheer good fun of The Decameron, as Human Comedy, becomes, by implication (since Boccaccio was a personal friend of Dante), a powerful and compassionate counterblast to the solemn and cruel anti-life nonsense of The Divine Comedy.

There is a pagan exuberance to Boccaccio, a frank and wholesome celebration of the flesh; in contrast to medieval Christianity's loathing of woman we find in him what David Denby beautifully describes as "a tribute to the deep-down lovableness of women" (Denby, p.249). And today, when so many women are being taught by anti-sex radical feminists to deny their own bodies and feelings, Boccaccio's celebration of the sexual avidity of the natural woman should come as a very welcome antidote. For Denby, who has written a superb essay on The Decameron that can be strongly recommended, Boccaccio's is a scandalous book, a book that liberates, a book that returns us to "the paradise from which, long ago, we had been expelled" (Denby, p.248).

The present Penguin Classics edition, besides containing Boccaccio's complete text, also includes a 122-page Introduction, a Select Bibliography, 67 pages of Notes, four excellent Maps and two Indexes. McWilliam, who is a Boccaccio scholar, writes in a supple, refined, elegant and truly impressive English which successfully captures the highly sophisticated sensibility of Boccaccio himself. His translation reads not so much as a translation as an original work, though his Introduction (which seems to cover everything except what is most important) should definitely be supplemented by Denby's wonderfully insightful and stimulating essay, details of which follow:

Chapter 17 - 'Boccaccio,' in 'GREAT BOOKS - My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World'
by David Denby. pp.241-249. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. ISBN 0-684-83533-9 (Pbk).

I like books that tell a story, use examples and create benefits that is I can use. "Beans: Four Principles for Running a Business in Good Times or Bad" is that kind of book!

The authors choose the "Ps" of Passion, People, Personnel and Product. They lead us through the success of Jack and Diane's coffee shop. It is an easy read. It will urge you to understand your workplace journey. It doesn't matter if you are an employer or the employee.

"Beans" is a journey from employment for a major airline (working for money), the unfulfilled entrepreneur step of self-employment selling martinis, and arriving at a passion for selling a cup of coffee. The realization that the "Ps" of Passion, People or Personnel will not make up for a quality Product leads Jack to develop the "best" cup of coffee! It takes all 4!

If you liked "Fish!" - you will like "Beans."

You might like to buy extra copies and give them to your personnel!

Every time I think there are too many of these fable books out there, along comes one that totally charms me. This one starts with a great story but it was the four principles that really grabbed me. Though they may seem basic to some people, I think it's always good to be reminded of how important it is to stick to the basics of treating people right and running an honest business. The characters seem like real people (are they?) and really captivated me from the very beginning. Jack Hartman is a natural-born leader. Would that there were more out there like him!

These fable/parable books would not be so maligned if they had believable characters (like this one), great stories (like this one) and real lessons that can be used in your own company (like this one). I have been having problems with one of my team leaders (his attitude stinks) and I gave him this book with nothing more than a "please read this and see if others in the company might learn something from it." He came back two days later and said, "You're right, Anne. I think we should use it as the basis for a staff meeting discussion" -- never even guessing I meant for it to improve HIS own attitude! He's been walking around smiling, saying hello to everybody, and calling customers we haven't been in touch with for months. I think this book can be a real motivating factor in improving morale and attitude.

Here is a book about Ayn Rand that contains no drama and no philosophy. What we get instead are vignettes mostly of work and life in her small apartment in the 1950s, and two or three funny one-liners cracked by her husband (quoted by the authors).

An inconsequential book about an important person.

There is mention of such interesting things as AR's two trips (by invitation) to see President Ford, her sojourns to stamp collecting conventions, and her husband's painting career. There is a strikingly reasonable explanation of her dislike of surprise parties (while reading this part, I realized that I dislike them too). There are sections where the authors respond to criticism of AR's "anger." All of this is effective and valuable, but unfortunately the bulk of the book is typified by the following scene (pp. 43-44):

"One day, she was in the kitchen getting lunch, and I was at my typing table. She called to me, asking if I could come in and help her. I didn't know what I could do to help the author of _Atlas Shrugged_, but I was pleased by the request. I went in and saw that she was holding a hot dog, and she asked me if I thought it was edible. When I asked why, she said that it had been in the refrigerator for a while and it was shriveled. So I examined it; it was wrinkled but I pointed out that the color was good and it didn't have a bad odor. So, I told her that if it were immersed in boiling water, it would plump up. I asked her if she wanted me to do it, and she said, 'Oh, no. You have work to do.' That amused me, because my work consisted of typing up *her* brilliant thoughts while *she* was going to cook a hot dog! Some minutes later, she came out of the kitchen, holding up a plump hot dog speared by a fork. 'You were right,' she said, and thanked me for the suggestion."

I'm not making that up. Frankly, I too would be thrilled to have worked for AR and given her advice on hot dogs, but people unaware of AR's greatness are sure as hell not going to learn about it from passages like the above. (Haven't we all cooked a hot dog?)

The book is worth maybe $5, and then only a fan should buy it. The current price is too high.

Facets of Ayn Rand is an enjoyable behind-the-scenes look at Ayn Rand, the person. For those familiar with Ayn Rand's philosophy (which holds integrity as one of seven virtues), it will come as no surprise that her personal life was consistent with her philosophy. Reading this book is probably as close as one can get to actually spending time with Ayn Rand these days.

Facets Of Ayn Rand is an impressive and informative memoir that collects 48 hours of interviews from two people who remember Ayn Rand as their friend and as a person who was totally unafraid to voice her convictions, no matter how unpopular or controversial they were at the time. Facets Of Ayn Rand offers moving testimony filled with personal touches, rendering a closer and more intimate understanding of the life and thought of a truly great and influential woman. Facets Of Ayn Rand is "must" reading for her many admirers and students of her work.