The book is divided into an introductory section, guides to harvesting plants in each of the four seasons, the plants themselves (also presented seasonally), poisonous plants, a nutritional guide, and two great indices. The introduction includes great tips on how to prepare wild foods as drinks, snacks, entres, and condiments, along with recipes for 25 jellies, 20 jams and 17 fruit and berry pies. But the good part is yet to come.
Each plant is presented with a good-to-excellent photograph, a distribution map (so a person in the Pacific Northwest doesn't have to wonder whether he or she is looking at a squashberry or a hobblebush berry), a complete description, identification of the edible parts, harvest and preparation notes, related species, and poisonous look-alikes (if any). The presentations are just excellent. My only complaint is that the book isn't twice as thick.
Whether you just want to be prepared for emergencies or you want to collect wild edibles for making jams, jellies, pies, and wine, this book is one of the only two you'll probably need. The other is a good regional guide, because with over 20,000 species of plants to choose from north of the Rio Grande alone, a guide to regional edibles is a must.
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I don't have a solid figure, but this 50$ book probably saved me over 3000 in attorney fees, searches, filing and etc. So you can pretty well guess my opinion of the volume is quite high!
One recommendation: If you use this book to write your first patent filing, let a patent lawyer review the filing before you submit. This shouldn't cost you more than an hour or two in attorney fees and from my experience can enhance your submission and improve its chances for allowance significantly. I did this for my first several submissions and learned something each time. Eventually there was little the attorney could offer, and I then ceased the practice.
Wish I could give 6 stars for this remarkable book.
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Kazan also pioneered the use of cinematic realism with his location shooting and the realistic performances of his cast through the use of "method" acting. Kazan would be responsible for launching the careers of Marlon Brando and James Dean.
However all these achievements have been overshadowed by Kazan's appearance before the House Un-American Activitees Committee in 1952. Unlike many other moviemakers and actors, Kazan cooperated with HUAC and named names. One of the most high profile entertainment figures to turn informer, Kazan helped to consolidate the Hollywood blacklist of the 1950s. This has made Kazan arguably one of the most hated and controversial figures of the McCarthy era. As a result many people are uncertain of where to stand on Kazan.
In this book, reporter Jeff Young interviews Kazan extensively about each of his films. It's very interesting to hear a little about what it was like working with his actors and how he would coax great performances from them. Kazan was a very good actor's director in large part, I think, because he was good at empathizing with them and making them feel comfortable. Instead of telling them what to do as most directors would, he told them what to think and what to feel. It was touching hearing how when the neurotic James Dean came onto the "East of Eden" set, Kazan moved in to a trailer across from him to keep an eye on him.
It was also quite interesting hearing how Kazan got some of the ideas for his films. For instance, I didn't realize until I read it that much of the ideas for "On the Waterfront" were based on real cases and that the Terry Malloy character was based on a real person who worked on the docks. Nor did I realize that "East of Eden" was a semi-autobiographical film. "Wild River" (alas, to date never released on video), stemmed from some of Kazan's documentary work during the Depression, and "America, America" stemmed from the experiences of Kazan's Greek uncle's journey to the America.
People looking for insight into Kazan's decision to name names may be disapointed. This is not really an in depth discussion of those events, but a loving look at Kazan's films. However, in case you think that Jeff Young has fallen too in love with Kazan, there is a probing question that Young asks Kazan near the end of the book. Kazan has always claimed that he named names because he thought that Communism was a threat to America, not because he was interested in personal gain. However, Kazan doesn't seem to have been prepared for the specific question that Young has to ask him. Kazan's emotional response is quite revealing and manages to take some of the gloss off the way he portrays himself.
For anyone interested in Kazan, this is a good place to start.
Kazan proves to be erudite and witty and humorous and surprising. He openly hates some of his own movies, though reviewers consider them classics. He does love his version of a STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, which he also directed on Broadway. He speaks with some regret that he didn't also direct the movie version of DEATH OF A SALESMAN (another Broadway play he debuted).
That is just a small bit, but I would recommend the book to anyone interested in the politics of communism in the 1950s and its aftermath, or any film fan that likes to dissect film directors and their work. I am interested in both subjects and found Kazan illuminating on both.
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The answer is surprising and it leads to one of my favorite editions to the outlanders series.
Overall-If you think that this has been done before you are sorely mistaken, read the book and find out!!
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The book is also fluffy -- nine pages dedicated to specific jokes is overkill in a parenting book. If I wanted to read jokes, I'd get 'em on the Internet. And it was filled with psychobabble where plain English would have sufficed -- phrases as "material reinforcer" (also known as a reward) and "developmental adaptation" (changing as you grow.)
I was deeply disappointed in this book and regret the money I wasted by purchasing it. For parents seeking more useful advice, look for "Kids Are Worth It" by Barbara Coloroso.
I am usually loathe to read this genre. The instant quantification of an entire field into a few pages generally does not appeal. In this book, no pretense is made. The subject matter is well circumscribed and is covered thoroughly. I highly recommend this book to any parent seeking a more effective means of communication with his child.
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By assuming you will hold a particular stock forever, Elias can then legitimize, ... the unrealistic view that all realized option premiums are 'profit' and then he ignores the price effects of the stocks. As Alexander says "paper losses are real". All of Elias's profit claims in his examples are highly exaggerated for this reason, and he also ignores taxes for those trading outside of a retirement account, which converts in those cases most of his so-called 'profits' into losses.
Elias['s book] has performed a great disservice for the public,... in perpetuating the myth that one should 'buy and hold' one's favourite stocks. Elias does say you should "only buy in an uptrend and sell short in a downtrend" but Alexander takes nearly 400 pages in his book to show you actually how to do that and explain what the relevant trends are and favours stop losses for ALL purchases rather than Elias's ubiquitous written options which actually cost you in a bull market.
Elias has craftily hedged his comments by only discussing stocks 'you want to hold' [forever!] but his flagrant error is in treating all realized option premiums as profit and ignoring offsetting stock losses [that were not subject to stop loss orders) and taxes.
However the book was entertaining to see such a well developed flawed approach. The key is in identifying the flaws. There are useful 'real life' examples provded one carefully uses Alexander's princples as the over-riding criteria! However wait... and don't expect to get rich on this false premise alone!
The recent real life examples that he uses show the power an individual options trader can have during a bull/bear market.
I have since revised my trading philosophy and style to incorporate the techniques described by Dr. Elias.
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