The author begins with this tribute by James Russell Lowell:

  These pearls of thought in Persian Gulfs were bred,
  Each softly lucent as a rounded moon;
  The diver Omar plucked them from their bed,
  Fitzgerald strung them on an English thread.

To which I feel inspired to add the following:

  These pearls that Omar found and Edward threaded
  Cecile MacTaggart, to a Scotsman wedded,
  Took, some from one string and some from another,
  And in a setting splendidly imbedded.

As an often overly dramatic and imaginative adolescent, I would go about chanting (silently to myself, of course) "I sent my soul into the invisable..." and since, have peruised the editions of Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat translations with sometimes thrill and sometimes apathy Now comes this new editor's compilation; this is a volume that will enrich all the senses. It is not just the verses of Omar, it is a fusion of all our artistic expressions. It should be read both silently to oneself and aloud, to oneself and the one you love. The pictures must be studied and drempt about. The book is not for brisk reading, but slowly and repeditively, allowing reality to fade and fantasy and memory to emerge. It is the "gourmet" for the soul.One suggestion: Cecile,(once this book is read she can no lomger be Mrs. MacTaggart) writes her editorialc history at the back of the volume, humbly allowing the history of the Rubaiyat to preceed the verses. I think her tales of the "agony and exstasy" that evollved this edition are so marvelously human; laughter, anger and tears, that they embellish the enjoyment of the reading. Perhaps one should read the last first.

Last August, I was impressed by this book and decided to try using it with my students, who are graduate and undergraduate computer science majors.

The book has been particularly helpful to students who speak English as a second language, but it provided useful insights to native English speakers as well. When I teach students about specification reviews (ambiguity is a big problem for specifications), I recommend this book highly.

The book covers key issues and provides exercises and answers.

I teach computer science professionals (experienced people in the field) as well as undergrad and graduate software engineering students. I primarily teach software testing and software-related law. Both require careful review of documents.

Many native English speakers are not aware of ambiguities in the materials they read and write, which leads to misunderstandings, errors, software defects, and surprising results from contracts. People who speak English as a second language often have a much more difficult time with ambiguities.

After reviewing this book, I plan to use it with several of my students, providing after-hours coaching. I expect it to be a useful supplementary text.

In America's Favorite Uncle, we see how American cartoonists developed and employed the American political icon that came to be known as "Uncle Sam". Featuring more than 120 drawings by a host of influential political cartoonists from 1904 to the present, America's Favorite Uncle documents and illustrates American political culture as it matured over a century of cultural turbulence and social change. America's Favorite Uncle will be a popular, informative, entertaining addition to any school or community library collection.

I just finished reviewing another scratchboard book titled Scratchboard for Illustration by Ruth Lozner. This book by Cecile Curtis is just as good. In fact, it is an even toss-up as to which book is better. I enjoy them both equally.

The book starts off with the history of scratchboard and etching art techniques as well as a thorough overview of the materials available.

The next chapters focus on various techniques along with combining scratch techniques with pen & ink. The author will give advice beside each subject shown as to what tips and techniques where used to achieve certain effects and why she chose them.

There are discussions on subjects such as value & light and even concern for various techniques on how the art will look when reproduced. She also discusses approaches to various subjects and whether a particular subject might lend itself better to an all-black scratchboard or rather a white scratchboard with some black areas and/or pen & ink. There are chapters on combining scratched details with pen & ink and also color applications and for experimental and even some mixed media effects.

Step-by-step instructions are given for creating a good composition and then using tracing paper to transfer the drawing to the scratchboard. One of my favorite chapters in this book is titled Tricks of the Trade in Illustrating. This chapter gives hints and tips for creating dynamic and interesting scratchboard art particularly if one is working on a commissioned piece. Actually, the information given is useful for any work of art whether commercial or fine art.

The middle section of the book has color plates showcasing scratchboard with color and shows artwork not only by the author but by other artists as well.

Throughout the book there are a wealth of subjects illustrated. Everything from portraits & people to wildlife art (a LOT of wildlife art - the artist is an official artist for the World Wildlife Fund) to architecture interiors/exteriors and landscapes.

This is an excellent scratchboard book and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning scratchboard.

Our two year old son will be starting preschool in September and this book was a perfect introduction to what happens at school. It covered making new friends, building blocks, snack time and story time. It's been our bedtime story every night this week!

Our almost 2 year old daughter fell in love with this book immediately! We took it with us on our vacation and it kept her completely happy during a long car trip and even during late nights in a tent. The illustrations are adorable and young children quickly identify with Teddy's experiences at the petting zoo.

We, as parents, appreciated the excellent use of vocabulary and the introduction of several not so common petting zoo animals (llama, tortoise and deer). The author has also conveyed through Teddy Bear a respect and love for these animals.

This is an excellent book for animal lovers of all ages to share!

The writing is of such quality and passion that I had to give 5 stars and yet I can't say I enjoyed reading it. It begins as a Kafaesque tale of a functionary in a totalitarian country conscripted to deal with a nuclear or biological disaster. It becomes more dreamlike. The protagonist constantly finds himself in bleak or claustrophobic setting surrounded by callous authorities. Cruelties seem to be going on all around him but he cannot be sure what they are and is helpless to stop them. Bardo is the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The cover says "What if the 20th century lived as a character and what if that character dying passed though a Bardo state." (Didn't anyone ever have any fun in the twentieth century). The back cover refers to "the massive coronary that ends his own life." More clarification would have been welcome. Some predictable liberal targets are hit. Can we equate My Lai (halted by a brave American airman, reported in American newspapers and punished by an American court) with Babi Yar? Yes there are parellels but they need rational discussion not fictional polemics. This is very different from Love Queen of the Amazon (understatement of the year) but even that showed a pessimistic view of human nature and a delight in puzzling the reader. Pineda still seems want experiment and intrigue. I hope she will condescend to entertain and explain.

A wonderful book for those who wish to engage in the game of collecting shells - beautifully illustrated and written. While the book is written at an adult level, an engaging card game is included to amuse and educate young shell collectors. Mactaggart is clearly passionate about shell collecting and her enthusiasm comes through loud and clear. The author's discussion of the ethics of shell collecting is especially apropos. Thou shalt not kill a living animal for its shell, nor support such behaviour in others. Her simple philosophy and respect for the islands shines through the pages of this book, for readers young and old.

I found this writing to be an excellent source of information and reference material. Ms. Carter clearly has an extremely enviable position from which to view and record the unfolding Caddo Tribal Culture.

I was also enamored with the authentic Tribal photographs. This book contains very well taken photos of the Caddo Tribal grounds in Binger, Oklahoma and Culturally accurate Caddo Tribal members in authentic Native American dance regailia.

This easily read book is also providing me with many bits of information for my childs research projects.

Where We Came From is a must have book for your personal library.

Adrienne Rich was one of the first feminist writers of her time. After her husbands death in 1970, she went on as angry young woman who wasn't about to let life grind her down. This collection of poetry showcases some of her best work ever, and it well worth the read.