I've enjoyed the Maxine comic strip for years. In fact it's about the only one I read. And Maxine is so much more than just a comic strip. It's real, it's funny, it's insightful, it's human. It's reality described through comic strip characters, from a woman's point of view of course. So what a pleasant surprise to find the best of Maxine all bound up for me to enjoy while laughing myself into a frenzy. Ah, good times...

In my opinion, MARIAN HENLEY is an extraordinarily gifted writer and artist. It's quite rare to find a comic strip in which the writing AND the drawing are equally brilliant-- but MAXINE is a prime example.

I can't think of another comic strip author who can move so freely and naturally between fantasy, observational humor, social and political satire, stark symbolism and deep personal insight.

And, as beautifully crafted as her strips are, they all have that special quality of truly great art-- they seem as effortless as a daydream.

I highly recommend this book to all men who'd like to understand women, all women who'd like to understand men, and anyone under the delusion that he understands housecats.

Ed Newmann
Director of Animation
Calabash Animation, Inc.

Henley holds up a whimsical magic mirror to society and the world in which we live. Intelligent, insightful, thoughtful, revealing and all with a wry sense of humor. If one of Maxine's life observations strikes a wrong note its worth taking a long look at yourself, as it has probably hit a little to close for comfort. This ponytailed princess proves laughing gas is the fuel of life.

Marian Novak's story of a wartime bride needed to be told and she is the perfect writer to tell it. Anyone would benefit to hear her story--if you have lived it or not. Those who have been married to a soldier--or had any loved one at war--will feel a bond and comradeship. Anyone who has not had this experience should read this--there is so much we do not know. I am in awe at her ability to share it.

I will be a USMC wife on July 4th, 1999 and so much of what Mrs. Novak writes about is so similar to my own encounters with the USMC. Anyone who has a loved one in the military should read this book. It's time our story was told.

This is a book I have read many times and each time I am touched and reminded of all the men and families who went through so much for the war. I am glad that Mrs. Novak wrote a story from the perspective of someone who suffered at home. I could relate to her and her experiences.

Having no formal training in marketing, I was impressed by the straightforward way this book explains how to write a marketing plan. At times I'm tempted to go straight to the tactics-where should I advertise? What should I charge?-but this book prompted me to go back to the beginning, starting with my small business's situation, goals, and competition. This was the first time I've drafted a highly detailed, full-year marketing plan. I used the software packaged with the book as a starting point, but wound up creating a different format and order of topics for my finished plan.

Although I've been in marketing for more than a decade, I got a lot out of this book. The checklists provided invaluable pointers about what to cover when writing a marketing plan. I also bookmarked many of the web sites listed in the appendix so I can use them for further research. The author peppers every chapter with lively, in-depth examples that sparked a couple of new ideas for my business. Even the sample marketing plan in the back of the book was a helpful guide for fleshing out my own thoughts. Highly recommended!

this book is a great supplement to any intro marketing textbook or by itself -- taking you step by step through the process of writing a marketing plan. a practical book for anyone interested in learning/understanding how basic marketing concepts come together, or any new product managers out there not wanting to look like homer simpson ("DOH") when asked to write your first marketing plan. it'll help you frame your thoughts, create an outline of things to cover, and remind you of things you might otherwise forget to include. also serves as a great "cliff notes" type reference of the hefty marketing textbooks you devoured while in b-school.

I am the webower of Mental Health Today.

This book includes the latest information on depression: causes, symptoms, diagnosis, latest treatments - medication, complementary & alternative. Families, children, work, suicide prevention, new hope through research and much more.

I highly recommend this book to consumers and families if you are looking for facts needed in order to recover.

Speaking as a former board member of a community psychiatric center, I recommend this book as a worthwhile reference for understanding the problems associated with depression. This book deals realistically with the kinds of situations that confront people with depression and their families. This book answers important questions regarding the problems and the hope now available. There are so many more resources available than there were in the past. A good buy.

This book is written without bias.It is intended to bring the many facets of clinical depression and its treatments to the attention of those experiencing this common, human, and misery producing condition, and/or to those with more than a passing interest in it.
It is a fair( today so necessary)and impartial exposition of the many notions concerning perpetuating and precipitating forces that impinge on people from within and without.
The author emphasizes that "chemical imbalances"occur within living,breathing, and feeling people who are more than a collection of synapses and what passes between them ; hence, there are no quick fixes(e.g."take this TV advertized happy pill") This should help people to appreciate that there are many approaches to treatment rather than just a pill .
This book should be read as well by medical students,primary care physicians,and specialists.It would help them remember that patients are people("bio-psycho-socially" based)and hence capable of active and broad (e.g.psychotherapy)participation in their own treatment programs.This would help avoid patients' being encouraged, however non-verbally,to become passive participants in treatment and thus more impersonalized(feeling impotent-read hopeless/helpless)than they are already feel.It would also add to the interest physicians could have in treating people rather than symptoms.As importantly it would then lessen the burden that physicians so often feel to be totally responsible for treatment formulations and their delivery.

The best thing next to having heard the late Dr. Proctor speak is reading this memoir. This is the story of Proctor, and his journey from a young man to becoming the beacon of hope and faith that he was, and in our memories and hearts still is for so many. It is a story of survival, faith, hope, and progress which speaks not only through the black community, but through all of humanity.

I checked out The Substance of Things Hoped for from the Newark Public Library and have listened to it three times during the past three days. I was always deeply moved whenever I heard Rev. Proctor preach and hearing his voice read his text was marvelous. I was a bit uncomfortable with some of his observations about accountability, and the reasons why Blacks are not doing as well as they should. I also find his points difficult to reconcile with Dr. Beerly Tatum Daniels' book "Why do all the Black kids sit together in the cafeteria." Rev. Proctor is unapologetic for his views and has the moral authority to advocate them. A remarkable book.

The text was so mesmorizing that I read it in 2 days. I read it in 2 days. Dr. Proctor should have written more. I am glad that I have heard him speak before he was laid to rest. Reading the book was like hearing him preach and extended sermon non-stop.

Solomon Volkov had a very good idea in putting together this book. Over a period of many years, he sat down with Brodsky and interviewed him about poetry, metaphysics and world events (with a little gossip thrown in for good measure). The result is a thorough and fascinating look at Brodsky's opinions at many different points in time. And the conversations are not just
one-sided: Volkov keeps up with Brodsky just fine, so it's like listening in on a tete-a-tete between two brilliant minds. If you like Brodsky you will love this book.

If you wade into the book,"Conversations with Joseph Brodsky," by Solomon Volkov (Free Press, 1998,) more or less by accident, as I did, prepare for immersion in deep waters. I was only peripherally aware of Brodsky's work, his background as a major Russian Jewish writer, emigree, and later Nobel Prize winner and American Poet Laureate based on reading his short poetic volume,"Watermark," (Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux, 1992.) Based on this work alone I should have been prepared for the depths of thinking, the force of personality, and the scholarly mind that earned him his esteemed position and global reputation as the,"Lone Wolf of Poetry." Brodsky is, if nothing else,like one of those rare gems we find originally mined from and cut to shape on Russian soil, but later ending up here in the United States, much to our cultural enrichment. Once here, in this setting of freedom, they seem to shine even more brilliantly than they ever could in their homeland. Clearly, poetry is Brodsky's realm, and yet in Volkov's meticulous rendering,(the book represents a compiliation of more than fifteen years of purposeful dialogues with Brodsky,) it is evident that Volkov uncovers the man, his life experiences, and his force of personality in a manner that perhaps Brodksy, with his grand sense of irony would appreciate, perhaps even take perverse pleasure from reading. Hearing Brodsky literally thinking out loud, as this book allows us to do, adds a deeper dimension to an understanding of his life's work, and passion. Tragically, Brodsky suffered an untimely death by heart attack Jan. 28,1996 at the age of fifty-five. The reason I say perverse appreciation, is that Brodsky, in his conversations, claims that a poet's work alone should speak for him, that one needs no further digging into the poet's personal life in order to grasp the significance of his writing. Among the many topics Brodsky thinks out loud about are some perhaps unexpected ones. For example, his love for the poetry of Robert Frost, W.H.Auden, and Robert Lowell, as well as his love for the great Russian Poets, Anna Akhmatova, Pushkin, and Marina Tsvetaeva. I found myself scrambling for my long buried volume,"The Poetry of Robert Frost, (Holt Rinehart and Winston,1969) to find the poems Brodsky discusses," Servant to Servants," and " The Wood-Pile." Even as I am reading his commentary, I have to remind myself that Brodsky is quoting these American poems from memory, improvising freely like a brilliant jazz soloist, a John Coltrane taking off in counterpoint to the questions Volkov poses to him. It's a brilliant duet in dialogue form. As such, if you love literature, and poetry, and know of Brodsky's work, or even if you have never heard of Brodksy, but would like to know more about Russian writers, this book is a treasure chest filled with literary gems. Also, it needs to be emphasized that in great measure, it is Solomon Volkov's remarkable ability to stimulate and challenge Brodsky on issues that makes the dialectic so vital. Clearly, Volkov's depth of knowledge, common Russian upbringing, and his own aesthetic sensibilities serve to bring out the best in Brodsky. Towards the end of the book they get into an intense dialogue about their homeland, in particualr, St.Petersburg, a city that looms very large in the background, much like the Chorus in Greek drama. Here the discourse becomes deeply personal, going far beyond the academic realm of literary works, and anecdotes about other writer's lives. St. Petersburg is an area that Volkov knows something about, as evidenced by his recent book,"St. Petersburg: A Cultural History." In the heat of their discussion Brodsky suddenly takes off on an inspired solo: "...in as much as Petersburg is a city by the sea, so the notion of freedom-perhaps phantasmagorical, but very powerful-inevitably arises in the consciousness of anyone living there. In this city, the individual is always going to strive to reach beyond because the space in front of him is not limited or delimited by land. Hence, the dream of unlimited freedom. This is why I think that in this city it is more natural to reject the whole existing world order..." It strikes me as particularly painful that this volume is the last, unless Volkov compiles a 2nd companion volume based on his records. No more chances to raise the hand to ask the master to explain what he meant when he said such and such. As was his wish, we now have to read his poems to figure it out for ourselves.

to face the reality that you must keep on loving and living. This is for those who have lost a family member through gang violence and for the people who are getting breast implants.

I have read this book and it is a very good book to read. The author explains in short detail her life and the trial and tribulations of her life. I would suggest everyone go out and buy this book.

Of all of my "healthy cooking" cookbooks, this is the one I'd save from fire! The food is truly delicious, and they are easy to prepare. I generally find I increase the sauce quantities, but there is not an appreciable increase in calories. My husband and I have each lost over 20 pounds this year, slowly and easily, with great enjoyment. I got online to order this book as a present for a friend who survived a heart attack, and am sorry to find it not available! Does anyone have a copy to spare? Probably not now, with this glowing review!

I've had this book over a year now and keep going back to it for easy, healthy and most importantly quick recipes. With it, I'm able to serve a variety of meals yet not spend the afternoon cooking them.

Being that the author IS a caver makes for a truely believable story. A great underground adventure enjoyable for caver and non-caver alike. Non-stop action throughout the book. I really felt like I was there in the cave with them. If you can't bring yourself to go in a cave, this is the next best thing!

This is an easy read that grabs your attention and won't let go untill the last page! It lacks the usual (and unnecessary ) Page fodder that so many contemporary writers seem to find essential to fill up their books. The Heroine is just the kind of person I would want with me if I ever got in trouble in a cave! A combination of cool and confidence with just the right amount of self doubt to keep her human and approachable. The twists and turns will have you holding your breath. A Must Read. Great job by first time novelist, Marian McConnell!