I really liked Harrison's gloomy '70s novels, the Viriconium stuff as well as _The Committed Men_, and _The Centauri Device_. I'd all but lost track of him, though, except for a few short stories, before _Signs of Life_ was published.

It's a strange novel, ultimately quite affecting, though I admit I didn't quite "get" it all. The genre is rather odd: sort of an SF analog to Magical Realism: that is to say, SFnal things happen (or, rather, one SFnal thing), but the explanation might as well be a typical Magical Realist explanation for Fantastical events.

Anyway: the story is the first person narrative of one Mick "China" Jones, a middle-aged Englishman. It seems to be set in the early '90s. China is involved with a very unpleasant character named Choe Ashton: the two of them run a shady biological courier and toxic waste disposal business. China falls in love with Isobel Avens (a significant last name, that), a much younger woman. After some happy years together, her dreams of flight, as well as possibly her unhappiness with China's dealings with Choe, begin to drive her away, finally she leaves him for a doctor who does some advanced bioengineering (here is where the SF theme sneaks in). All comes to a believable and moving and depressing end.

A disturbing book about a woman who wants to become a bird and her amoral lover. Picked by Graham Evans as one of his favorite books of 1998. It's short enough to be read in 1 night if you have insomnia. If you didn't finish, you'll automatically have insomnia until you do. It was probably designed to be read in the bathroom, and that's where I'd leave it.

Nowadays when people think of the 1960s youth culture, they think "American Graffitti" and "Grease", both rather shallow and semi-comic overviews of a time when America really didn't think its youth were particularly funny. Henry Gregor Felsen came closer to the realities of that era, but his best-known books centered on ownership of modified cars. You know--those "little deuce coupes" the Beach Boys sang about. But this culture in those days regarded all youth not depicted on the "Donna Reed Show", "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Leave It To Beaver" as juvenile delinquents--or at least potentially so--the difference from one kid to another was seen as merely one of degree. But this book--which later was adapted for the screen under the title "Because They're Young"--tells a pretty readable tale of a high school football player named Jim, his two teammates Buddy and Buck, his cheerleader girlfriend Ricky--and only one "hoody type"--a troubled kid named Griff who drifts toward crime because of the possible affluence and ego enrichment it can bring. And unlike much of today's fiction about youth, this story does not blur the lines between good and evil. The "good guys" and the "bad guys" are clearly identified in a way that would be seen as narrowminded today. It is clear here that--while this book explains why Griff acts as he does--the "environmental" hypothesis of criminality takes a back seat to the behavioral one. Maybe I'm a bit of a reactionary, but this book makes me nostalgic in more ways than one.

Hard to find, but worth it if you can. I highly recommend buying it used.

This is the only historical book you'll find on Cook County Hospital. It provides complete details of information on how the hospital started, why, when, and who. Although, most historical books can be boring, this book is written in a way to capture your interest. The writer makes you feel proud of a hospital that has been given so much disapproval from the public who doesn't realize how the poor rely on the hospital for care. His stories on the pioneering of medical science is very interesting and easy to understand. How lucky is Chicago to have a facility like the Cook County Hospital!

The only thing I don't really like about this book is the categorization. It discusses Napoleon, then skips to the industrial revolution, but then comes back to Napoleon again and the Bourbon restoration. In my opinion, history books should follow the chronology of history, and include everything from one time period in one section.

I am a teacher in Mexico and i use this book like a textbook. I think is a great history book, because all the mayor events are compress, so in one semester we see vol. 1 and 10 chapters from vol. 2, we start second semester in chapter 42 to the end. And now we are searchin for the books in english. Our intention is gave the class in english.

Just like most books of collected readings, Classic and Contemp. Readings presents many conflicting view points that can either confuse the reader or stimulate the reader (hopefully both). Some of the readings are relatively old so the language and ideas are a little archaic. All in all however the diverse readings represent a good majority of the ideas behind synaesthesia. This book is for serious exploration into synaesthesia.

This book is about John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The authors Barbara Harrison and Daniel Terris do a good job making this book seem like we really meet John. A Twilight Struggle describes John's hopes and dreams. After the first few pages it is a page turner.

This is a good collection of literature from the Enlightenment to the early 20th century. Some of the choices were wuite interesting such as Wuthering Heights as the example of the Victorian novel, (I, myself, would have chosen Jane Eyre), but all in all this is a well put-together collection. The biographical information before each author is also interesting and puts the works into context. This is amust-have for English majors and literature fanatics alike.

After checking out the book for couple hours in the Book store. I realized why some one would want to create a simple Window by writing extensive API code, which takes about 15 lines, when you can do it in delphi by visually creating it (Chapter 1). I was hoping they would cover Windows Messages as opposed to APIs which Borland takes care of them with their wrappers. I personally I find this book neither helpful nor informative at all.

I cannot find out for an expert trick or undocumented windows API. I expected more about this book ! Badluck for me :( But , It may OK for some beginner programmer , who know ?

I believe, it's on every Delphi programmer to concentrate on this book.