I'm an editing book junkie, and this is hands down the best one I've ever read. It gives specifics on trouble spots and what to look for, and actually tells you how to fix them. So many books I've read just advise of what to do, but never show you how. I read through the pages thinking, "I do that. Yikes, I do that too." My work has improved trememdously since I read this book. I think every writer who wants to polish his work or give it a final once over before submission should read it.

Weak plots. Writer's block. Lack of suspense. Unrealistic characters.

These are just a few of the many ailments that can infect your fiction. "Fiction First Aid" offers "instant remedies" for novels, short stories and scripts.

You don't have to know exactly what's causing the problem in your project. The layout of this guide helps you diagnose your "sick" manuscript and provides a prescription to get your work back on track.

Chapters are categorized for easy reference. Plot, characterization, setting, style and theme are all covered in great detail.

The very last section deals with the common questions writers of all experience levels face. How can I find more time to write? How can I tell if what I'm writing is good? What is the best way to revise my manuscript?

Each chapter contains hints and tips on making your work stronger. And when you're ready to examine your own work, check out the symptoms, ailment, diagnosis and treatment you can use for your manuscript.

The doctor is in. Author Raymond Obstfeld uses examples from popular novels, films and short stories to illustrate his point. Even if your writing isn't in Emergency Room status, a little check-up won't hurt. It's easy to learn how to take your fiction to the next level no matter what your writing background.

[Thanks to] Mr Obstfeld for publishing this book. This book is gave me sooooo much useful advice that I think I will spend a day outlining it. This has to be one of the most practical writing books I have read.

Obviously highly recommended.

REMEMBERING JIM CROW is a colletion of first hand accounts of life in the Jim Crow south. The stories are compelling and at the same time sad.

The stories create the atmosphere that one is sitting in one of the elderly story tellers living room listening to them.

This book is especially worthwhile for non-African-Amercians readers, because virtually all African-Americans that have roots in the south, know these stories all too well.

This is an absolutely superb book, comprised of recollections of the Jim Crow years in the form of oral histories. It can be read through, or picked up at any part. There is an appropriate amount of historical introduction to each chapter.
This material needs to be read, and remembered. There was a long time in our history when, although there was no more slavery, African Americans were treated as a separate serf class, under constant pressures and reminders of their lower status. Whites used pervasive legal and social downward pressures to keep African Americans out of an equal education, and equal access to public facilities, much less the right to equal jobs and the right to vote -- and then claimed that African Americans' lack of achievement was a racial fault. If an African American violated one of the many social taboos, the sanctions ranged from a beating, to loss of job, and even being lynched.
While whites benefited from Jim Crow, the whites, also, were trapped in the system. They were also forced to abide by legal segregation, and were subject to social pressure if they were too liberal (being called "n* lover," "white n*," etc.).
What led to the mindset that the end of slavery should lead to continued legal and social oppression of African Americans? It was part of white American culture. Lincoln himself said that he was not "in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry.... [T]here must be the position of superior and inferior. I am as much as any other man in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race." In 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes traded the end of southern post-war Reconstruction for the electoral votes he needed to win the presidency. Southern states then were free to institute the Jim Crow system.
I believe we are more subject to peer pressure than we would like to believe. Although reviewer McInerney asserts that "no civilized person" would benefit from Jim Crow, I feel many otherwise-good people were trapped and/or blinded by their own interests and surroundings. When allowed, and even encouraged, their evil side showed itself. On this topic, see John Griffin's _Black Like Me_, on the different faces that whites showed to other whites, and to African Americans.
While we are certain that we wouldn't go back to that system, we shouldn't be so sure that we, also, wouldn't be trapped by it if we were born into it. Consider that Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy (to a large extent) didn't take effective action to end segregation.
This book is excellent. Those dreadful and shameful times -- and the vestiges which still continue -- must not be forgotten.

This slipcased book and 2-cd set supplements the written word with oral history, gathering the voices of men and women who were firsthand witnesses to segregation in the south. Stories by men and women from all walks of life reveal how blacks fought against the system, built communities, and ran businesses in a society which denied them basic rights. Remembering Jim Crow offers the reader a comprehensive, involving, highly recommended presentation.

Written by Elvis expert Gail Brewer Giorgio, The Elvis Files: Was His Death Faked? is a revealing expose that candidly questions every aspect of the death of Elvis Presley's and the subsequent official investigation, presenting all the reasons and media that have debated whether the rock star's death was faked. The Elvis Files is an intriguing, closely researched, highly recommended account written especially for Elvis fans who want to learn more about the "King" in general, as much as they can behind what really happened at the tragic close of Elvis' public career in particular.

The Elvis Files is a fascinating book, offering factual information regarding Elvis Presley's supposed death. Even if you are not an Elvis fan, I challenge you to read this book and not doubt the fact that Elvis may still be alive. Unlike many conspiracy theories, this one is built on solid evidence, from F.B.I. files to actual "post-death" pictures and tape/telephone recording transcripts of Elvis himself. The book is well written, very exciting and a wonderful ray of hope for all you Elvis fans out there. Excellent and truly unmissable. Buy this now and read the amazing facts surrounding Elvis' death that will astound you - guaranteed.

I have read and reread this book so many times,its amazing how much proof Gail has uncovered that Elvis is alive.I always believed that there was a cover up.I only hope that she will continue her investigation and keep all her loyal fans informed.It cant be over.

Most military-type books are sad or violent. This one was refreshingly different. These tales were obviously told by someone with a great sense of humor, someone who very much enjoyed the quirky side of life in the service, and chose to focus on that, as well as remember and cherish it. "No Rules" brought back many memories for me, memories of comradery and mischief as "therapy" against war's backdrop of death and destruction. Good job, Armstrong!

I especially liked the stories that were funny.

My favorite was 'Quarantined.' What do you do when your hung-over section won't clean up for the general's inspection--and your tough young combat vets say, 'If you put us in the stockade, at least the VietCong can't shoot at us--sounds like R & R!'

When I read this book, I kept telling these stories to my friends, who got a kick out of No Rules vicariously.

I've read "No Rules" four times. Each time, I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time. Mr. Armstrong's style of story telling is honest, straightforward and succinct. I earnestly recommend this book for anyone for his or her own reading pleasure, and for gift giving for any occasion.

I know the author personally and I can honestly say--Amos Raymond put his heart and soul into this book.

Amos writes with a passion that is hard to find in many works. He also takes great pride in his photography and always seems to find the perfect shot to set the mood of each individual poem.

I have not met anyone who owns this book that did not absolutely fall in love with it. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to read about true love and romance...but dont get too attatched ladies, he's taken.(smile)

I have read Mr. Raymond's work over and over again. Everytime that I read it I find something new and endearing that I previously missed. Mr. Raymond's work is wonderful. Every person male of female should purchase this book. Everytime you pick it up your heart will be touched and you mind expanded. If you're a person who believes in love you need to purchase this book.

My fears have finally been relieved! It is such a refreshing joy to find that men who know how to openly and honsetly express their feelings about loving and living are still among us! Raymond takes his readers on a lyrical journey filled with poetic twists and turns as he explores the many facets of this thing we call life. From friends to family, females to failure, Raymond strikes a chord with his poetry that will find a place in us all. One simple, indulgent pleasure would be to read Sincerely Yours.

no hype. i couldn't stop laughing as i was reading this. and i mean laughing out loud. in a cafe. with everyone staring at me. but i didn't care. and i couldn't help it if i did. it's just too hilarious.

There is at least one author who may remind you of Stephen Leacock, namely Garrison Keillor of Lake Wobegon fame, but Leacock should be recognized as the ultimate master of quaint, bucolic humor. Leacock, who died in 1944, became arguably the most prominent Canadian humorist of his day (and probably of all time). What is ironic about that claim is that Leacock worked for most of his life as a professor of economics. We do not usually equate economics with humor, preferring to think of that profession as one of bow ties and supply and demand charts. Throw that presumption out the window and pick up a copy of "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town," Leacock's best known work available through the New Canadian Library series.

For me, one of the funniest sections of the book was the introduction written by Leacock, where he gives you some background about himself and his profession. This short piece of writing quickly gives you an idea of the type of humor you will find in the actual sketches: a very sly, very quiet and clever type of humor that often takes a while to sink in. Leacock does not rely on rim shot jokes or manic posturing in his writings. Instead, he creates the fictional Canadian town of Mariposa and populates it with small town archetypes that are wonders to behold.

All of the characters are hilarious in their own way: Mr. Smith, the proprietor of the local hotel and bar, full of schemes to earn money while trying to get his liquor license back. Then there is Jefferson Thorpe, the barber involved in financial schemes that may put him on the level of the Morgans and the Rockefellers. The Reverend Mr. Drone presides over the local Church of England in Mariposa, a man who reads Greek as easy as can be but laments his lack of knowledge about logarithms and balancing the financial books of the church. Peter Pupkin, the teller at the local bank, has a secret he wants no one to know about, but which eventually comes out while he is courting the daughter of the town judge. All of these characters, and several others, interact throughout the sketches.

Leacock has the ability to turn a story, to make it take a crazy, unexpected twist even when you are looking for such a maneuver. That he accomplishes this in stories that rarely run longer than twenty pages is certainly a sign of great talent. By the time you reach the end of the book, you know these people as though you lived in the town yourself, and you know what makes them tick.

Despite all of the crazy antics in Mariposa, Leacock never lets the reader lose sight of the fact that these are basically good people living good lives. There seems to be a lot of feeling for the citizens of Mariposa on the part of Leacock, which comes to a head in the final sketch in the collection, "L'Envoi. The Train to Mariposa," where he recounts traveling back to the town after being away for years, with all of the attendant emotions that brings as recognizable landmarks come into view and the traveler realizes that his little town is the same as when he left it years before.

I suspect there is a historical importance to "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town." These writings first appeared in 1912, a time when many people living in the bigger Canadian cities still remembered life in a small town. In addition to the humorous aspects of the book, the author includes many descriptive passages concerning the atmosphere and layout of Mariposa, something instantly recognizable to anyone who grew up in such a place. Nostalgia for the simpler life of the small town probably played a significant role in the book's success.

I look forward to reading more Stephen Leacock. While much of the humor in the book is not belly laugh funny, it does provide one with a deep satisfaction of reading clever humor from an author who knows how to tickle the funny bone. You do not need to be Canadian to enjoy this wonderful book.

Perhaps the finest comment about Stephen Leacock in the last half century is that "he is a
Will Rogers for the 90's."

Rogers, of course, is one of the most beloved of American humorists -- he was killed in
1935 when his plane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska. Leacock died on March 28, 1944.
Like Rogers, he had been Canada's favorite humorist for decades.

Sunshine Sketches is about Orillia, Ontario, Canada, where Leacock had his summer home
on Brewery Bay (he once wrote, "I have known that name, the old Brewery Bay, to make
people feel thirsty by correspondence as far away as Nevada.") His home is now maintained
as a historic site by the town of Orillia. I lived there for almost 30 years, and the people of Orillia are still much the same as Leacock portrayed them in 1912.

These stories about various personalities in town were printed in the local newspaper in the
1910 - 1912 era, before being compiled into this book which established Leacock's literary
fame. The people portrayed really lived, though some are composites; the events are of a
kindly humorist looking at the foibles of small town life. Once they came out in book form
and soared to national popularity, everyone in town figured the rest of the country was
laughing at them because of Leacock's book and he was royally hated in Orillia to the end
of his life.

Gradually, and this took decades, Orillians came to recognize that genius had walked
amongst them for several decades. (It's hard to recognize genius when your own ego is so
inflated.) Orillia now awards the annual "Leacock Medal for Humor" -- Canada's top literary
prize for the best book of humour for the preceding year.

Leacock died when I was six, but I did know his son, who still lived in town. I delivered
papers to the editor of the "Newspacket," Leacock's name for the Orillia Packet and Times
(where I worked) and the rival Newsletter. The Packet had the same editor in the 1940's as
when Leacock wrote about him in 1910.

But the book is more than Orillia; it is a wonderfully kind and humorous description of life in
many small towns. The American artist Norman Rockwell painted the same kinds of scenes;
it is the type of idyllic urban life so many of us keep longing to find again in our hectic
urban world.

Leacock realized the book was universal in its description of small towns, and in the preface
he wrote "Mariposa is not a real town. On the contrary, it is about seventy or eighty of
them. You may find them all the way from Lake Superior to the sea, with the same square
streets and the same maple trees and the same churches and hotels, and everywhere the
sunshine of the land of hope."

True enough, which gives this book continuing appeal nearly a century after it was written.
All great writing is about topics you know, and as a longtime resident Leacock knew Orillia
well. As for Leacock himself, he wrote, "I was born at Swanmoor, Hants., England, on Dec.
30, 1869. I am not aware that there was any particular conjunction of the planets at the
time, but should think it extremely likely."

He says of his education, "I survived until I took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
1903. The meaning of this degree is that the recipient of instruction is examined for the last
time in his life, and is pronounced completely full. After this, no new ideas can be imparted
to him."

In reviewing Charles Dickens' works in 1934, Leacock wrote what could well be his own
epitaph: "Transitory popularity is not proof of genius. But permanent popularity is." The fact
his writings are still current illustrates the nature of his writing.

In contrast to the sometimes sardonic humor of modern times, Sunshine Sketches reflects
Leacock's idea that "the essence of humor is human kindness." Or, in the same vein, "Humor
may be defined as the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life, and the artistic
expression thereof."

Granted, this book is not what he recognized to have widespread appeal to modern readers.
In his own words, "There are only two subjects that appeal nowadays to the general public,
murder and sex; and, for people of culture, sex-murder." Yet, anyone reading this will
remember scenes from it for much longer than anything from a murder mystery.

In today's world, where newspapers almost daily track Prime Minister Tony Blair's dash to
the political right, Leacock wrote, "Socialism won't work except in Heaven where they don't
need it and in Hell where they already have it."

He described his own home as follows, "I have a large country house -- a sort of farm
which I carry on as a hobby . . . . Ten years ago the deficit on my farm was about a
hundred dollars; but by well-designed capital expenditure and by greater attention to
details, I have got it into the thousands." Sounds familiar to today's farm policies ?

It's what I mean by this being a timeless work.

Leacock himself noted, when talking about good literature, "Personally, I would sooner have
written 'Alice in Wonderland' than the whole of the 'Encyclopedia Britannica'." This is his
'Alice' and it well deserves to be favorably compared to Lewis Carroll's work.

By all measures, it is still the finest Canadian book ever written.

My third time reading it! The Movie would be a really decent contemporary sequel to "Close Encounters", because it's that different. The Ace Bark character (Art Bell...sort of?) is a great addition, and there are unpredictable twists every few pages! I'm glad I read it ahead of the pack. Watch out! Sooner or later this will be a movie. Uh huh. That's what I know.

Mr. Raymond may have been an extra-terrestrial himself in one of his lifetimes ~ his sense of the understanding of things outside our realm comes through that strongly. This book is a total escape from the mundane and a real page-turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what in this world can explain these weird occurrences. His visualization is spooky. A good read.

With all of the so-called sci-fi books out there, it is nice to know that there are a few that occupy the fields of true science-fiction and literature. Henry Raymond's "Third Kind of Midnight" is a credible combination of post-modern literature and science, along with a little mystery thrown in. While keeping the story believable, the author takes the reader much, much farther down the road than any X Files episode ever has....

My "Science of Soils" class at Stanford University (Autumn '01) used "The Nature and Properties of Soils" as our main textbook. It is clearly written, easy to read, and has lots of helpful figures (including graphs, diagrams, drawings, and black-and-white and color photos). The chapters are well organized, so that you can find exactly what you need to know. The authors include hundreds of websites for those who want more information, and make the book more readable by starting off each chapter with a quote and a "big picture" statement.

"The Nature and Properties of Soils" has a good mix of theoretical and practical information. Wherever possible, the authors do sample calculations and describe applications for agriculture, ecology, and engineering. They thoroughly cover every major topic in soil science, as well as delving into some more specialized ones (for example, symptoms of micronutrient deficiencies in plants).

In conclusion, I've found this textbook to be both very information-rich and very readable, and highly recommend it. (The other day I caught my boyfriend, who's a materials engineer, reading it for fun... that's about the highest accolade any textbook can get!)

I had this text (by Buckman & Brady), for "Soil Science 200" back in 1965. This edition, now with Buckman and Weil still follows the basic design of the original work. I have come back to this book time and time again. My edition, though dated, is still a solid work. All major aspects of soil science and quite a bit of agronomy are presented extremely well. The writing is brisk but does not sacrifice content. This book will give you a solid foundation should you decide to pursue the subject further. There are numerous tables,charts, etc. An excellent resource.

As a student, this book has picked my interest in soils and related studies. This most updated version has many informative and helpful graphs, charts, pictures, and links to websites. In my two years of college education, this has been my favorite assigned text. It has some real meat to it, but it is presented in such a way that the novice can understand. It is one of the books that I will hang onto as I am sure it will come in handy down the road.

I finished The Cats' Paw several months ago.  Although I don't usually have a great deal of time to read for fun, I'm glad I took the time to finish it when I went to the beach on vacation with my family.  For me it really provided an interesting mix of technology and thriller in a smart, well written, and even occasionally funny, package. The premise of sentient microrobots, combined well with the humans that had traits of innate intelligence, bravery, greed, and in some cases stupidity. I hope we will see Ring, Kit, Regina, Rud and the others in the future, there is much more that can be written about the technology and future of Artifical Intellegence and robotics.

Long time fans of Raymond Radner will be thrilled that his work is back in print! "The Cat's-Paw", his first novel, will delight all fans of the modern techno-thriller.

The age-old Man Versus Machine morality play has never been played out more dramatically than in this story of high-tech and political intrigue. The micro-mechanical wonders and human interactions that unfold here will keep you on the edge of your seat!

Keep them coming, Mr. Radner!!

Fans of Raymond Radner have been waiting for his work to come out again, and it is finally here!! "The Cat's-Paw", his first published work, makes us question anew our assumptions of the man versus machine controversy.

The micro-mechanical wonder here that takes on human characteristics, and resists attempts at corruption, is a remarkable creation. This is a must-read for fans of the modern techno-thriller!

James Schuyler's COLLECTED POEMS is a great volume of poetry. Ranging from aspects of daily life (such as plants, walks in the countryside, friends, urban life, etc.) to contemplation of death, life, one's interiority, and God, Schuyler's subjects are compelling and relevant. What I especially like is his ability to take a mundane, everyday object or concept (like a view from a building) and give it a new, intensely personal perspective. This is his major gift. One aspect that I didn't like about some of his poems (and this is true for all poets) is his tendency to be obscure at times (though only a small portion of his poems are abstruse) and his long, rambling prose poems, like "Hymn to Life." "The Morning of the Poem," though, is a fantastic and imaginative piece of literature, broad in its scope and revealing of Schuyler in its tone and subjects. Overall, this volume of poetry unites the works of a superb poet, who valued the artist's perspective and his or her obligation to record a view of the world different than that of the average person. This volume will, I fervently hope, remain in the continuum of literature and in discussions of it for many years to come.

Except for his last poems, JS is one of the best poets ever and deserves more attention. If you're unfamiliar with his work, look at the cover and it'll tell you almost everything you need to know before you bask in the light.

This collection should establish Schuyler as one of the great poets of his generation. I particularly admire his tautness--precise names and descriptions, inventive phrases--as well as his flexibility--a wide-ranging eye and ear and a free-flowing memory. Throughout these poems there lurks a clear intention to inform, to connect, to synthesize. I look forward to returning to this book many times for refreshment and illumination.