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Book reviews for "Gwisdek,_Michael" sorted by average review score:

Medicine of the Cherokee: The Way of Right Relationship
Published in Paperback by Bear & Co (1996)
Authors: J. T. Garrett and Michael Tlanusta Garrett
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Required reading for those walking spiritual paths
J.T. and Micheal Garrett have given us the gift of the Cherokee healing perspective in a way that is easy to understand. They have the gift of condensing hundreds of ideas through one simple sentence, a real treat for the abstract thinker. There is also a little for everyone seeking to learn from Native teachings, including lore, prayers, and herbal remedies. This book is definitely a keeper...

Great way to think, and to help keep things in perspective
The Garretts pull from their experieces from the "real world," as well as their healings and practical experience with the Cherokee to give us excellent starting points in helping ourselves and others. For such a thin book, there is a lot of advice hidden in the stories and accounts, if you know what to look for.

Wado
This book offers a plethora of information regarding the Cherokee way of life. It is very insightful and respectful. I have recommended it to everyone I know. Many thanks to J.T. and Michael for sharing such beauty with the world. Dohiyi and Wado


My Name's Friday : The Unauthorized but True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb
Published in Paperback by Cumberland House (2001)
Author: Michael J. Hayde
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Just What I've Been Waiting For!!
I just put down my copy of this book and I can say after reading it and "Just the Facts Ma'am" - this is the book to read. The author, Michael Hayde, has really done his homework on this nice retrospective on Jack Webb and all the works he did before he died in 1982. While both books are good, the attention to detail is outstanding, making this Jack Webb book, in my opinion, the best ever written to date. This book covers Mr. Webb's associations, detailed history and traditions in the creation and production of Dragnet from its inception, to Adam-12 (1968-1975), Emergency!, Hec Ramsey, and many other Jack Webb related projects. Jack Webb's historic contributions to television production and filming is detailed nicely, outlining many aspects that have not been widely known. I couldn't put it down, and neither will you. Mr. Hayde's years of research really stands out, and there is also a section dedicated the terminology of the LAPD in that era as well. If your a fan of Jack Webb, the Los Angeles Police Department, and vintage cop shows, this book will make an outstanding addition to your collection.

The Jack Webb story: fine book, hard to put down
"My Name's Friday" tells the story of producer-director-actor-writer Jack Webb. Fans of "Dragnet" will be surprised by the sheer volume of Webb's work in radio, television, and motion pictures. The scope of Michael Hayde's engrossing book goes beyond "Dragnet" and discusses all things Webb, with plenty of color and numerous "exhibits": first-person recollections by those involved in production, radio and TV episode guides, dozens of photos, transcripts of Webb's most memorable on-air speeches, even samples of "Dragnet" merchandise from the 1950s. The author takes pains to show the various facets of Webb's personality: intense workaholic, perceptive critic, enthusiastic jazz aficionado, loyal friend. Best of all for curious readers, the author has done a terrific research job, admirably placing the "Dragnet" phenomenon in its proper historical context. A fine book: Sgt. Friday would salute this one.

"My Name's Friday"- Mr. Law and Order personified
The definitive work for "Dragnet" buffs and those fascinated by the genius of Jack Webb. Mr Hayde has done his homework on this one, exploring every facet of the man, his TV and theatrical productions, successes, failures, motivations, eccentricities, and the people in his life, both personal and professional. Well written and alternately amusing, sad and informative, the author has spent years researching his subject and presents his story in a way that keeps the reader glued to the book. Nearly every page contains photos of Webb's "regulars" plus many big-name stars who cut their teeth on early Dragnet. The appendix is loaded with information on each episode from radio, '50's black and white TV, and the color series from the late '60's. In addition, his theatrical film output is reviewed picture by picture.

Although obviously a big fan of Webb's, Hayde does not gloss over the failures and personal shortcomings of this brilliant but flawed personality. For all his successes, Webb apparently lacked an ability to "bond" with people and a miserable childhood undoubtedly contributed to his "control-freak" obsessions. One cannot complete this book without feeling a certain sadness for Webb- so much success and so many wonderful people entered his life, but his perfectionism kept happiness elusively from his grasp.

A "must read" for early TV fans- Webb belongs in the company of Arthur Godfrey, Lucille Ball and Milton Berle in measuring his contribution to the medium. Michael Hayde's narration makes this a delightful book for all who have been enthralled by Webb's work.


Pole to Pole
Published in Audio Cassette by BBC Consumer Publishing (04 October, 1999)
Author: Michael Palin
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Must see for fans of traveling shows
Michael Palin provides an offbeat and interesting documentary of his trip from the North Pole to the South Pole. This video makes you wish you could have gone with him!

Excellent!
This is a great video set; watching Michael Palin travel the world, adding his unique sense of humor to every situation is a treat. ditto w/ Around the World in 80 days, and Full Circle.

Excellent - a must-see!!
Along with "Full Circle" and "Around the World in 80 days" travelling with Michael Palin is sure to be enjoyable (and humrorourous!)


Nice Shot, Mr. Nicklaus : Stories About the Game of Golf
Published in Hardcover by Huntington Press (01 November, 2000)
Author: Michael Konik
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MUST READ
Excellent book about golf for fanatics as well as ignoramuses like me. I liked how Konik reminds us that the high stress of competition and money and stardom don't excuse a rotten attitude on the golf course, or in life in general. The way he describes some golf courses made me want to log onto the Internet to instantly buy an airplane ticket. And the clever chapters -- describing equipment in the style of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and rewriting the Canterbury Tales to include golf -- were a charming surprise. This is a very touching book that made me laugh as well. A great combination for a sport I used to find sort of boring.

A Winner from Michael Konik
Michael Konik weaves humor, insight, golf trivia, travel adventure and philosophy into a wonderful set of short stories. You don't have to play or even like golf to enjoy this collection of clever and witty observations about the game of golf and the people who play it. The "hero" of each story might be a world class pro, or a caddie. Konik's ability to capture the moment makes this book a joy to read.

Thanks Mike. Waiting for more.

Easy Going
Very enjoyable to read one chapter at a time. Like one nice golf hole after another. Funny, touching, educational. Any golfer you know will love this book. Looking forward to more.


House of Many Shadows
Published in Paperback by Fawcett Books (1978)
Author: Barbara Michaels
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House of Many Shadows
My all time favorite Barbara Michaels novel. Although I read it many, many years ago, it's one of the few that has stayed in my memory bank. It is the one that has kept me searching through the library, used books stores and e-books lists with hopes of finding more. I've read most of her other pseudonyms as well, but this is the one that touches on most of her contemporary themes with a dash of the gothic as well. If Michaels is a new author to you, this is the one I would start with.

Another good book from Barbara Michaels
Although I read this book a long time ago I still re-read this book often. Perfect for a cold, stormy night spent under the covers. It has the perfect touch of suspence that will keep you up till you are done. It has a little romance but not enough to get in the way of the story or to overwhelm it. I loved this book I would recomend this to any suspence/mystery/romance fan.

Bravisimo!
This book was absolutely awesome. Not that anything written by Barbara Michaels would be anything less! The supernatural suspense/mystery with the touch of romance is just what i needed on a cold Michigan winter day. And, even being the paranoid mystery reader that i am, it didnt send me locking doors and checking out dark hallways! Definitely a good read in any kind of weather!!!


Kirinyaga: A Fable of Utopia
Published in Paperback by Del Rey (1999)
Authors: Michael D. Resnick and Mike Resnick
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a tour de force
Kirinyaga is one of the best books I have read of any genre (I read just about anything). It made me think about many things:

1. humans and where humanity is headed

2. what gender roles mean and how changing them changes a society profoundly

3. the past is a place that holds many charms and many restrictions

4. the consequences of our choices, and the effects that those choices have on those under us-- who amongst us is wise enough to make the decisions?

5. utopia, Resnick explored this topic in ways that I could never have predicted, and in very human ways without over-exaggeration (unlike the treatment in Candide, etc.)

I was alternately fascinated, interested, angered, amused.... At one point I was so upset that I put the book down for about two weeks because of the emtions that it aroused in me-- I can't say that about many books that I have read. I finally picked it up again and was completely satisfied by the ending. The fact that it was written as a series of separate stories was effective as well. I have used this in class (adult ESL) and it was successful.

A real story
I have been a Resnick fan for some time so I am somewhat biased. Saying that, I find Kirinyaga to be the finest fiction ever written. Rarely, every three or four years, I find a story so moving I share it with everyone I know, a story that will not leave my mind. I read Kirinyaga to my wife. Some stories like, "For I Have Touched the Sky", brought us too tears. This series of short stories combine into one fine novel. These are lessons everyone should learn. Every story has a message. Read this book and share it with a friend. It is the only thing to do.

Can We Live Without Change?
A highly educated man tries to, in effect, stop time for the Kikuyu tribe, on their own planetoid, where he can isolate them from the outside world (so-called "western" influences) and propagate their ancient customs.

This is a remarkable book, written with so much wisdom and insight. The dialogue and prose is sharp and controlled. Resnick presents both sides of the arguments with such clarity and humanity, it's sometimes heartbreaking. Koriba's well-intentioned but ultimately misguided crusade against change is challenged again and again, not necessarily by the "outside", but by the "inside" - the minds and hearts of his villagers. It's fascinating to see how he resolves these challenges to his authority and his hopes for the Kikuyu ... and sometimes downright scary.

The book also shows us the erroneous assumption of multiculturalism - that everything in every culture is worth saving and perpetuating. The modern myths of the Kikuyu - and indeed of many peoples on this planet - that "the West" is to blame for their condition and/or corruption (and everything "Western" should therefore be anathema) is not spared. It's tempting to carry on here about the general public's overwhelming ignorance of Africa's booming slave trade, because it's all in the same vein.

The stories show that for all our differences in time and space, people are the same everywhere - and that is the "problem" that cannot be controlled by isolation.

The reality is that every culture is always changing. The Kikuyu ways Koriba is trying to preserve are only a snapshot of a tribe that is both naturally degenerating (see "Eternity in Their Hearts", by Don Richardson) and gravitating towards "Western" ways - which, by the way, were largely exported from the Mediterranean, that is, from Israel! (See "How the Irish Saved Civilization", "The Gifts of the Jews", "Desire of the Everlasting Hills" by Thomas Cahill.) No culture is meant to live in statis, nor can it be done. Peoples and people are meant to grow, to mature. Multiculturalism can serve us by preserving, recording, or interpreting that which is worth saving; but it's self-evident (I hope) that it should stop at re-instituting human sacrifices, or some of the more subtle horrors we read of in this book. And that fact alone should make us question some of the sillier aspects of this trend.

The view that everyone is of equal worth, that freedom, accountability, and responsibility are important clues about what it means to be human. The dangers inherent in free will, and the element of curiosity sometimes recalls the Garden of Eden, but this is no Paradise. The problems of humanity, it is shown, lie squarely within.


People of the Silence (The First North American Series)
Published in Audio Cassette by Soundelux Audio Pub (1996)
Authors: Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear
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The Best So Far of a Great Series
I agree that this is an amazing book. It is the best of the series, I think. I've read them all except the last two, so we'll see what those are like. Anyway, it's a lot like the other first people books - competition for power and competition to maintain survival of a certain kind of people and their way of life. But this is more poignant because we know that this Pueblo civilization vanished with hardly a trace. They were a great and sophisticated nation but that didn't slow down their extinction. The book is a page-turner and I highly recommend it.

hate to see the story end
I have read all of the "The People" series and just started "The People of the Mist". I anxiously await each new book. They are entertaining and informative at the same time. When a book can make me feel like I'm there, the author has hit his mark. Keep them coming

Entire series wonderfull
The first book I bought from this series was People of the Mist.I really enjoyed it so I bought People of the Wolf.After reading the second book I realized the story followes through from one book to the next.I went out and got the entire series.I am now on my third time reading these books.I never get tired of them.There is history,romance,action,adventure and mystery all wrapped up in every book.Well worth the investment.Not for young readers,adult content.


McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container: A Container Garden of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Edible Flowers
Published in Paperback by Workman Publishing Company (01 February, 2002)
Authors: Rose Marie Nichols McGee, Maggie Stuckey, and Michael A. Hill
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Fabulous Container Gardening Reference!!
I cannot rave enough about what a WONDERFUL container gardening resource this book is. I have read dozens of books on vegetable & herb gardening, particularly those on container gardening, and NONE compares to Stuckey & McGee's masterpiece (except maybe "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew...not about container gardening, though). Stuckey & McGee have given the world a practical, yet entertaining, tome that takes the gardener through all the steps of gardening...dreaming, planning, preparing, planting, nurturing, harvest, preservation & consumption!! If you are ready to move from being an armchair gardener to getting your fingers dirty, this is one of the best resources available, and it is cheap enough to have money left for seeds & plants!!

Complete, simple guidelines
I have an apartment with a small balcony, and this book has been very helpful for gardening ideas both inside and outside. It's been especially helpful for giving clear but detailed descriptions of different types of container plants, and giving advice on what types of plants work best in different conditions. It's well-organized, includes personal anecdotes, and makes you feel like you can try out anything in the book. I especially liked that they warn you if something has specific requirements for growing--it's much easier for me to cut down on my choices for buying seeds or plants when I know what will grow best.

The wise and companionable, complete guide.
I usually eye gardening books suspiciously according to the quantity of glossy supermarket photos of ripe fruits and vegetables that mar up the chapters, feeling that they are there to distract from a lack of useful content. So, I was delighted by their absence from the McGee&Stuckey handbook. (Instead, there are Michael Hill's sensible schematic sketches.)

Need help with clay pots? mesclun? pruning fig trees? pinching tea leaves? How's your recipe for begonia sorbet?

This wise book is itself a bountiful container of inspiring ideas and suggestions and enabling instruction for everyone from beginner to experienced gardener.


Official VisiBroker for Java Handbook
Published in Paperback by MacMillan Publishing Company (08 January, 1999)
Authors: Michael McCaffery, Bill Scott, and William Scott
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A must have book for CORBA/JAVA developer
Too many CORBA/JAVA books just discuss the CORBA in a high level and throw a lot of terms in the first chapter and make the readers frustrated. (Something I thought those authors just do a simple copy and paste from other sources). "The official VisiBroker for Java" is different. It is an excellent and practical book. It is the first CORBA book I can read throught the first three chapter after try many others.

The most comprehensive book on Visibroker for Java to date!
This book is by far the best handbook for any development tool I've ever read. I recommend it to anyone who has a vague interest in learning how to program with the VisiBroker for Java.

Excellent Book for Visibroker 3.x
This is a very good book if you are using and JDK 1.1.x and Visibroker for java 3.x.

If you are using Visibroker 4.0 and jdk 1.2 , you may need to read the Visibroker 4.0 documentation on compatability issues before using this book.

There are also some minor typing errors.

Overall This is a great book.


A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson
Published in Hardcover by University Press of Kentucky (1998)
Author: Michael Troyan
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A rich and extremely detailed portrait of a legend.
I thoroughly enjoyed Michael Troyan's biography of Greer Garson. Like many who came along late in her career, I knew little about the star who was apparently a legend in her day. Troyan provides a vivid picture of the actress and the woman. Troyan's thoroughness in researching his subject is obvious from the many anecdotes provided by those who knew and worked with Garson, as well as the behind-the-scenes information on many of her films. When I met Troyan at one of his promotional appearances, he indicated that the rich detail comes, in part, from Garson's own unpublished and unfinished autobiography. Troyan's enthusiasm for his subject is obvious. The book is well-written and a relatively easy read. To provide a fair assessment, I should mention the book would benefit from a timeline, since it is at times difficult to keep track of what happened when. Also, Troyan commits the quite forgivable mistake of the first-time author. He provides perhaps too much detail in places. Don't let that keep you from reading a very informative and enjoyable book.

Lovely book for a lovely lady
This is an utterly enjoyable book, both for the fans of Greer Garson and for fans of classic Hollywood in general. Michael Troyan weaves her story together with all the simplicity, grace, and humor that his subject deserves. The best feature, to me, is the wealth of personal commment included that Miss Garson had on her own life, as the reader sees her wit, personality, and loveliness of being begin to take form. It is the best star biography that I have read.

Excellent presentation of an incredible woman
Michael Troyan's writing style provides so much insight and information about this wonderful person, one cannot help but feel that Greer Garson had become a personal friend long before the end of the book. His extensive research has resulted in a genuine treasure for Greer's old fans and the new ones generated from reading this well-done biography. He is to be congratulated on an easy-to-read format with amazing attention not only to the details of Greer's life, but also to the history of Hollywood's Glamour Years and the behind-the-scenes activities that resulted in so many of our favorite movies. This book celebrates someone who wouldn't quit or loose sight of her goals, while "following her star". One cannot help but be inspired to excellence after reading Michael's tribute to Greer Garson. Highly recommended for readers of ALL ages.


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