The principles outlined in this book which helped Jerry Dunn to escape the hold of alcohol on his life are applicable to ANY dependence or additiction a person may have. The book reads well and holds your attention. You see, I have known Jerry personally for the past 20 years. I was fortunate enough to marry into his family and have had the pleasure of knowing that he did not merely "write" a book about what one should do, he lived it out in his own life. What a testimony! Thank you Jerry Dunn!

Jerry Siegel's writing is energetic and fast-paced, and Bernard Bailey's art gives The Spectre a simultaneously luminous and creepy feel. As stated in the previous review, The Spectre himself was a truly original idea for the time. He dresses unlike any other hero of his day, and his powers are almost limitless.

This is, however, my main complaint with this collection. How do you create difficult, dramatic situations for a character with seemingly ultimate power over the entire universe? Why does he not just blink every gangster on earth out of existence? If he can heal the sick and bring back the dead, why not end all disease? And so on... While often providing entertaining scenarios to read, this collection never really answers those questions. Comics historian Jerry Bails tries to justify this in the foreward, but with limited success. Basically, he just says read it and don't think about that kind of thing.

Overall, this is a collection to be appreciated for its scope and ambition above its practicality. If you're a fan of the golden age, I'm sure you'll enjoy this. If you're not, this may even make you one. But either way, I'm not sure you'll end up with a satisfied grasp of the character or his place in the DC universe.

Most of the early war comics from the late 30s and early 40s tend to be the same story told over and over again. While a number of The Spectre stories follow a pattern, they are told with a panache lacking in most other comics of the day.

The Spectre is a slain police detective whose spirit is returned to earth to rid it of crime. The very concept makes it the most original character of its time. Jerry Siegel, half of the duo that created Superman, uses this extraordinary concept to explore the idea of a hero with no real limitations and takes us places no other writer in the 40s thought of. The Spectre faces his enemies with an amazing battery of powers, sometimes just willing them out of existence. He travels to other planets, even other dimensions.

Bernard Bailey's illustration, while not spectacular, holds up to just about any other artist of the day, with the possible exception of Bill Everett. The costume he created for The Spectre is unusual, break the unwritten rule of the era. Heroes were always dressed in primary colors and villians in seconday. The Spectre is garbed in green and white. It is suitably erie for a rather creepy character. (Green Lanten would later break this rule as well, dressed in a tacky orange, green and purple ensemble.)

This is actually some of the best the golden age of comics has to offer.

I used two books to prepare for the GRE. I started with REA's Math Builder for Admission & Standardized Tests which is fraught with errors and presents mathematical concepts in a disconnected manner, but at least loosened 18 years of rust.

Then I studied every single page and did every single problem (some twice)in GRE CBT. I completed both sets of timed tests. I felt more than ready for the computer-based GRE. I was indeed well-prepared for the Verbal & Quantitative tests. However, I had problems in the Analytical.

The good news is that the test-taking tips are good. I'm an execellent test-taker, but I still got a few new ideas. Plus the first sample test gives you an idea of how you will flow through to easier or more difficult questions. And the problems are generally well-edited so you don't often hit those frustrating errors in the questions. This becomes less true at the end of the book, but by then you should have a handle on when you're right and the book is wrong.

The Verbal and Quantitative preparation is good. The verbal questions definitely stretched my vocabulary and the math questions covered almost everything that I saw on the actual GRE. I did astonishingly well on both sections.

The Analytical prep is good for half of that test, drawing conclusions from text passages. My problem was with the logic puzzles. The book has a multitude of samples, but none of them were as difficult as the ones I encountered on the test. Since I had aced every single puzzle in the book, I was completely unprepared for the speed at which I was expected to work on some very difficult problems. I ran out of time with 1/3 of the questions remaining. Fortunately, that turned out to be a "pre-screen" unscored section and I paced myself better on my godsent second chance.

This is a good study guide. I still recommend it. However if you expect to be working at the high end of the difficulty range, I recommend that you also purchase a second study guide that has a better Analytical section.

And here's a free tip that's in neither book. Study with mild distractions in the background. The computer test center is not quiet. Someone will be typing an essay while you're trying to remember a math formula. Every few minutes, someone walks behind you to get in or out. The chairs creak like crazy. While I was studying, I cursed my two-year-old's Barney videos. While I was testing, I blessed them.

I began my test review using this book... it was given to me by a friend, and I was happy to have the free book. However, I wish now that I had not wasted my time. I started my review with the vocabulary, which I admit is pretty decent. When I started to take practice tests, though, I knew I was going to be in trouble if I continued using this book. The practice test questions, particularly in the Analytical section, are absolutely worthless. They are too involved and lengthy, and are not at all accurate when compared with the style of questions found on the actual test. I scored 800 on Analytical on the GRE Computer-Aided Test. Even knowing that I received some of the toughest Analytical questions the CAT has to offer, I still feel that the Cliff's questions were completely off base and way too difficult. The Cliff's Analytical questions had so many more variables than the actual test that there was very little review value.

I broke down and spent the money on Barron's test prep two weeks before the test and was very glad I did. Trust me, if you want a good test review, do not use this book. I suggest you find a book that has good Computer-Aided Test guidelines and a CD-ROM, essential items which the Cliff's book does not have.

The book provides a quick, ten-days like preparation for the GRE. If you want to get a reasonable score, you can use it but it should not be your only source. It provides three exams and their solutions, as well as some strategies for computer-based testing, but if you plan to take the CBT, you'd better try another source to practise.

Overall, it is a reasonable book and you can get reasonable training for the GRE from it, but you should not depend on it as the only source!