I am a hugely ardent fan of the movie... and I think I have to admit that is even better. It goes into a lot more depth- this is apparently what Pogue really wanted to do with the screenplay but couldn't. You get tons more about character here too and the whole story is somehow filled out. There are some very funny bits (Gilbert's first encounter with Draco par example...), and some haunting dark passages - a lot of Einon's thoughts...
And everything describing Draco and his thoughts is just beautiful... There's a bit near the end where he wants a last flight and sunshine which completely breaks my heart *sob*.
It's the sort of book I will gladly stay up all night reading... beautifully written... just amazing!!!




(Pls. note: this review was written by me about the BOOK - I don't know how much the tape has been abridged, but I strongly suggest you read the book anyway cos, as I said, it's brilliant!!)

I read this book because of an article I read in which Charles Edward Pogue claimed that his screenplays for Dragonheart & Kull were savaged by their Directors. To give the man a fair shake, I read his Dragonheart Novel. I can see why he was so upset! Wherever the film takes a wrong turn, the Novel goes in the right direction. Everything that is wrong about the film is RIGHT in the Novel. The writing, while now and then a little spare [which is better than overwriting] and a little too modern, is, overall, exceedingly literate [some of the dialogue is close to Tad Williams level]. The characters are believable and involving. The story explains itself and it's world. I HIGHLY recommend buying a copy of Dragonheart!

Ijust have to say that I love this book!! Also the movie is Awesome!!!!

I have Always Respected Charles Barkley's Game.THe Brother Can Ball&for his Size he is something else.but even better has been his Honesty about the Nba.He Rips into all kinds of Issues&it's the mark solidly.The NBA needs More Brothers Like Charles who tells it like it is.He is a Winner.this book keeps your full attention.

AS A CHARLES BARKLEY FAN THIS BOOK ALLOWS A READ BETWEEN THE LINES APPROACH TO THE COMPLICATED MAN KNOWN AS CHARLES BARKLEY.

I think a reason why this book was so entertaining, is the unabashed honesty Charles Barkley has. It is a funny, and also eye opening book on a very misunderstood man.

I really enjoyed the book. It is a a no-nonsense, common sense approach to leadership, time management, communication skills, strategic planning, etc. When I was studying for my 6th year in Administration and Supervision (a required education degree for CT administrators), many of these topics were discussed.

This book applies to ALL who desire refining their leadership, business, and professional skills. The market expands well beyond the medical profession. Perhaps The 12-Minute MBA for Doctors should have been called The 12-Minute MBA for Professionals. Actually, when Charles Johnson and Andy Thibault write the sequels, they can be entitled The 12-Minute MBA for ________. Educators, Engineers, Attorneys, etc. There is a market for those books. I am sending this review and my personal recommendation to all members of the CT Council of Language Teachers for their dissemination to World Language teachers in CT. I look forward to reading the sequels myself!

Carol A. Kearns
Vice-President / President-Elect CT Council of Language Teachers
National Vice-President La Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica

Self-help manuals rarely impact professions other than their targeted audiences. "The 12-Minute MBA for Doctors," however, shatters that myth by providing practical skills for any novice trying to survive in today's chaotic business world.

You don't have to be a medical professional to benefit from this fluent and provocative book. Anyone who doesn't know how to negotiate a lease, hire staff or deal with an insurance company will learn how to build a successful business.

Written by two Litchfield, Connecticut friends and neighbors, "The 12-Minute MBA for Doctors" is a lively collaboration between Charles Johnson and Andy Thibault. Johnson's firm, Medical Education Training Associates of Woodbury, Connecticut, helps doctors, bankers and other professionals run their businesses.

A couple of years ago, Johnson delivered a 12-minute talk before the Society for University Surgeons in New Orleans. After several colleagues asked for help running their businesses, one of them suggested Johnson call his program "The 12-Minute MBA for Doctors." A book was born.

Thibault, a columnist for The Connecticut Law Tribune, is an award-winning feature writer and nationally known investigative reporter.

Together, Johnson and Thibault provide punchy insights in eight chapters on such practical business skills as persuasive communication, team building and conflict resolution. One section in the chapter on communication is applicable to the home front as well as the business world.

Johnson asks: "What are the first three answers you hear from your significant other when you get home. For most people, it's three words - fine, fine, chicken. Why is that? Simple. The questions you asked were probably: How was your day? How are the kids? What's for dinner?" Not exactly great conversation starters.

"After I spent a day with one of my sales managers," Johnson continues, "I was invited to his house for dinner. We talked about a strategy before we went home. We walked in the door and he says hello to his wife. He says, 'Tell me about your day.' She started to say, "Fine," but then she heard his question.'Well, the kids and I went shopping and we went to the park and we played on the swing, and.' He could actually hear information she was imparting and was able to give her positive feedback."

This is just one communication example of trying to persuade people with your people power instead of your position power. Communication, the book notes, is one of the five components of a successful team, along with leadership, defined roles, clear objectives and trust. Specific chapters deal with negotiating skills, interviewing and hiring skills, understanding financial issues, strategic and tactical planning, teamwork and leadership.

As Johnson and Thibault detail, surgeons are still trained like blacksmiths. Although they are at the pinnacle of their profession, they tend to know little about business - after four years of college, four years of medical school and then five more years of residency and fellowship education. They are turned loose in their early to mid-30s and expected to run a business that is not run by their peers.

Today, health care is run more and more by business people - not doctors. Hospital administrators tend to be business people. Insurance companies have everything to do with the running of health care today. Yet the highly skilled physician, untrained in management and economic matters, has to deal on an everyday basis with people who run business. How does he get his business started and survive?

The answers are in this book. But readers from many other disciplines will benefit significantly from any 12-minute helping of this management primer.

(Richard McGowan, former White House correspondent for the New York Daily News, retired from government service after
serving as spokesman for the federal Office of Personnel Management. He resides in Wicomico, Va. and lectures on the
modern presidency at universities.)

My business is helping companies, organization and agencies solve problems worldwide. 'ACCELERATING ON THE RUN' offers an approach that takes in consideration the 'real world' conditions that confront a multitude of entities. The book is presented in a style which helps the reader develop procedures that can be tested and implemented without total disruption of their operation.

Well worth reading and a good companion to any library shelf for continual reference.

Roi Tauer IDEATORS LIMITED (Hong Kong)

As an entrepreneur and business consultant I find the perspective of combining military disciplines and business principles will be a value adding tool.

This lean volume is everything you'd want in a companion: Lively, intoxicating, and beautiful in appearance; her lean, supple prose swells provocatively beneath the sheer, black jacket that clings suggestively to this tight, curvaceaous body of work. But she is more than a sensual treat! Her wit, though not of the highest order, gives some delight as well and one would be proud to appear with this companion under one's arm even at a Mensa gathering.

....

I am the librarian at the Sonoma County Wine Library, and I have known Charles Sullivan for some years. His newest work will probably be THE one volume reference on California wine from now on. In concise and informative entries, Sullivan encompasses the whole of California's rich wine heritage. He covers all the varietals and most of the wineries A to Z. His writing is insightful, dispassionate and fluid, and his research is superb.

The words of 1998 MacArthur Fellow Charles Johnson's ccoupled with the poignant photographs of Bob Adelman climax in this excellent literary work that chronicles the life and legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The wonderful photographs and literary prose compliment each other beautifully throughout this masterpiece, detailing the life and democratic stuggles of King. Beginning from the early childhood of Mr. King to his untimely death,
Adelman's photographs depict a very young King with his family. It provides insight into his his upbringing and illustrates the foundation that culminates into the life of the great civil rights leader. It continues to depict his educational pursuits and ultimate marriage to the lovely Coretta Scott.

The books carries the reader through the voyage as a young King rises to prominence as a preacher, his continued quest for racial equality, and mainly
his persistent call for agapic love in conjunction with nonviolence. Also, shared in this tome is intimate photographs of King's time spent with his loving family and information about King's life that may not be well-known.

Although nearly 300-pages, this book capitvates the reader from cover to cover. All in all, Johnson and Adelman are to be commended for their efforts! This liteary piece is nothing short of superb!

Reviewed by Nedine Hunter
...

I have many photography books in my personal collection, and I have several on the civil rights movement, but this book is by far the best I have seen. The book combines the work of several photographers - including Alfred Eisenstadt, Charles Moore, Henri Cartier Bresson, plus some lesser knowns - who have been individually recognized for their own work. The photographs are a true documentary of Martin Luther King's life and death with many photos I have never seen before.

I first read this book in 1961 when it was published by Signet in a mass market edition when I was at university. I have found it so valuable that it is still in my collection.
As a long time "grunt" historian of the life and times of the common soldier I have had occasion to refer to this time and again for details of clothing and equipment. Post was an illustrator for a New York paper and went to war carrying his sketchbook as a member of a New York National Guard unit still equipped with Indian War vintage single shot "trapdoor" Springfield rifles firing black powder whose smoke revealed their firing positions to the Spaniards concealed with smokeless firing Mauser rifles.
A less grim story is that the box knapsacks carried by the troops were admirably suited to carry bottles of whiskey in the blanket rolls and demijohns in the compartments along with a pair of spare socks and some toiletries.
Seldom was an amphibious campaign more mismanaged or carried out but this is not the place for that discussion.
This war was the last gasp of that primitive nineteenth century organization dominated by the technical bureaus and in which the Commanding General of the Army commanded only his own personal retainers in peace time. The main result of this war was the establishment of a proper general staff for planning and training on the European model.
The commentator, Graham A. Cosmas, is a long time specialist in the history of the Indian fighting army.

A classic story of one man's experiences during the short, but brutal war in Cuba. Private Post details his everyday struggles to keep his health, his sanity and his life intact. Amazing information on small details of what life was like in the army at the time. The heat, bad food, military blunders, inept commanders, cunning Spanish foes, the wounded, sickness and victories are explained in Mr. Post's basic and direct style. A must read for any fan of this conflict that allows the reader to suffer along with the soldiers wearing wool tunics and armed with weapons that were outdated. A classic. Check it out.

Unquestionably the most understandable,interesting,even entertaining text for introduction to music courses. It would also be an excellent gift for anyone wanting to know more about classical, ethnic and contemporary music. The CD ROMs add immeasurably to the book, providing graphic illustrations of the ideas in the text. An outstanding book.

This is a beautiful book. Anyone who wants to learn more about music -- its notation, its instrumentation, its history, how and why it moves us -- will enjoy this book immensely. It discusses music theory in understandable terms, covering rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamics, timbre, and organization. The instruments of the classical orchestra are all explained, as are folk instruments. In fact, folk music from around the world is discussed as a prelude to the main sections on the so-called "art music" of Europe and America. I especially liked the Listening Guides. They correspond to tracks on the two CDs that come with the book. The author explains what's going on at each important part of a piece of music, with timings provided so you can follow along, and even provides musical notation showing important themes. I don't read music, but I enjoyed being able to see the score of a familiar strain and following along with the Listening Guide to better understand what the music was about. There are also biographies of each important composer and beautiful full-color reproductions of art from the period being discussed. The book also includes an appendix about musical notation (which if I had studied better would probably give me musical literacy). It also has a very useful glossary and index. This book is obviously a college textbook, but anyone who wants to increase his or her understanding and appreciation of the world music will benefit from reading it.

This book presented 12 powerful talkes about slavery that impacted me in a way were i could not believe what people when through back when slavery began. It showed the terrors and the savagery of slavery that no one can forget. It hit me with the realism of what effects and causes of slavery and i am glad that it has come to a point where slavery is abolished.

For a class in contemporary literature, I read Charles Johnson's novel, Middle Passage. The novel provoked a big response in me, big enough that I contacted the author to discuss the book. The book and the discussion piqued an interest in me to read more novels that reflect my ancestors' painful time in history.

When I purchased Soulcatcher, I was excited to find a collection of stories that bring many voices together to tell of the horrible tales of slavery. Each story was poignant and painful to read, but each enlightened me on the realism of an era where my ancestors were treated like the basic of animals.

Each of the 12 stories in this stellar collection provokes attention to a time in history that tends to get swept under the rug; however Johnson, with his tight, and at times, tongue-in-cheek, literary style, painfully brings it out with stories like, "The Transmission," a story about a boy's despairing journey on a slaveship and "Martha's Dilemma," a story told by Martha Washington about the care of her slaves after the death of her husband to a boy chained in a slaveship.

This collection is a must to everyone. These stories are testaments to a reality that won't be forgotten, and Johnson vividly portrays the horrific within beautiful prose.

Shon Bacon

"Soulcatcher and Other Stories," by Charles Johnson, is a contemporary collection of stories that brings to life the era of African-American slavery. Johnson uses various techniques throughout the book: dialogue, monologue, third person narration, diary entries, a letter. This variety of form helps keep the book interesting throughout.

Johnson deals, either directly or indirectly, with a number of important names from U.S. and Caribbean history: Frederick Douglass, Martha Washington, Toussaint L'Ouverture, and others. The topics of the individual stories are varied; they include passage on a slave transport ship, black soldiers fighting for the British during the Revolutionary War, the pursuit of a fugitive slave, and more. My favorite story, "Poetry and Politics," is an intriguing fictional dialogue between groundbreaking African-American poet Phillis Wheatley and her mistress.

Overall, this is a solid collection which would, in my opinion, be good both for classroom use (high school and college) and for individual reading. My recommendation: read it alongside relevant works by such 18th and 19th century authors as Douglass, Wheatley, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry David Thoreau, and others.

This book is not for everyone. If you believe what is happiness,
and you're happy w/ your life w/ no dought, skip this book.
If you doubt everything including your feelings (especially
happiness and satisfaction), then this book provides some idea
to fill up the hole (at least partially).

There is a book by the same author called "the Misterious Stranger" which is much easier to read. It's enjoyable. So I
recommend you guys to try out the misterious stranger first.
Then, if you like the story, and you'd like to know more
about the philosophy behind it, read this one

After having read the first few pages of What Is Man? I knew that I would not be able to let it go just like that. In the form of a dialogue Mark Twain raises a bunch of questions about Mankind and the way the mind works. And without revealing too much I can safely say that these are not regular everyday questions!

Whether or not one finds the questions and ideas raised in the book outrageous or greatly revolutionary, one will still be able to get many hours of reading satisfaction out of it. With his usual wit, Twain has created a beautiful dialogue that in many ways can be compared to that in Plato's The Republic. And I would be amazed if this book doesn't put your brain to work. In my case I spend hours, days and even weeks discussing the book with friends and family. I simply wanted to get other people's conceptions and opinions of the ideas raised.

What Is Man? is not just a great piece of art. It is a somewhat behaviouristic philosophy and a way of looking at Mankind. In my opinion a must in every personal library. In my own case I'll need it as an e-book on my laptop for when I'm on the road and as hard back on the book shelve when I'm sitting in my easy chair relaxing after a long day.

Do you wonder where your thoughts originate? Do you wonder what motivates your, or why you act or react to different situations, or just everyday life? Mark Twain, in the characters of the old man and the young man, present arguments that can change you way of looking at living. It is a must read book, that will cause you to pause...everytime a thought comes to mind and everytime you react to any situation. You will wonder who it really belongs to......take a new look into your own mind. See people from a new perspective..it is amazing.