A fine contemporary overview of the international language, translated from the original French by H. Tonkin, former president of the Universala Esperanto Asocio (Rotterdam) and updated for American readers.

I have all of Tomarken's books. As a Johnson hobbyist, it encourages me to see how carefully Tomarken has studied his legacy. The last few books were about Johnson himself, but now Tomarken is using his quick wit and sharp intelligence to survey Johnson's legacy as it exists in criticism.

I think Tomarken would be the first to admit that all criticism competes with the work it studies; this work, then, has the difficult yet enviable task of contending with both the titan Johnson himself and the nearly equally titanic bulk of those who would review, praise, or belittle him.

Tomarken doesn't suffer fools glady, and the book is worth reading for no other reason than the facility with which he dispatches the ignorant, the ill-informed, and the insipid.

All in all, not really a book for the Harry Potter set, or even for the idiots who have admitted Alice Walker and E.L. Doctorow to the literary canon - rather, this is a a bonsai of a book, obsessively groomed, fanatically detailed, lovingly grown to maturity.

I'm sorry to see that this book out of print. It's both an excellent collection of articles, and a "how-to" for budding writers on how to write in the style of the "new journalism". I'd love to see this book back in print, or even better, a revised edition, with more up-to-date articles (anyone for a collection of New Journalist articles on the 80s and 90s?) and perhaps a new assortment of writers.

This book is great: it's full of practical advice for lawyers who want to increase their bottom lines. The book is not overwhelming, the individual articles are short and to the point, and the writing style is friendly. I recommend it.

Really great toys and dolls shown, alot of things shown that I never knew were made.Lots of pictures.I really enjoyed it, and will use it for priceing stuff.

The price of 8.50 is great for this book.

Being a foreigner learner of English Language, I am delighted to find such a comprehensive material on good usage of English. It certainly pushed me onto a superior plateau of understanding, and opened my mind not only for strict grammar and rules but also for a different culture not quite my own. Clear in concepts and examples this book would greatly improve your own performance on using English (be it written or spoken). Congratulations Mr. Johnson!! Count me on among your fans.

As a copyeditor, I need not only to know the answers but also to back up the choices I make when editing a manuscript. In that regard I have found this book exceptionally helpful. The author was a copyeditor himself for many years, so he knows the kinds of difficulties I am likely to encounter, and he helps me make the best choice when I am on the horns of a grammatical or stylistic dilemma. I would recommend this book to anyone who cares deeply about writing well and using language to its best effect.

Triage gathers three of the leading lights of horror fiction, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, and the late Richard Laymon, under one cover for a hellacious trio of novellas all spun off of the same premise: A man walks into a place of business with a gun, and starts shooting....

Richard Laymon leads off with the title story, "Triage". He takes the most straightforward approach to the subject matter, with a grim tale of Sharon, a woman trapped in an office building with the madman who just killed all of her co-workers. Laymon hammers the reader with all manner of grotesque, twisted doings, so faint-hearted readers might want to give this a pass. The more daring reader will find Triage to be a fast-paced walk on the dark side; Laymon makes his heroine too real for this to be chalked up as mere exploitation. I actually had a few moments where I was afraid to find out what was going to happen to poor Sharon next....Now how many books have YOU read lately that got a reaction that visceral out of you..? Laymon was one hell of a writer, and I'm sorry I didn't discover him until after his untimely death. He left a great legacy behind, though....

Edward Lee's story also stars a heroine named Sharon, but his take on the subject couldn't be more different. "In The Year Of Our Lord: 2202" takes place in outer space, aboard a ship bound for a top-secret destination. Lee quickly gets away from the book's theme, and spins his story off in a totally different direction, effortlessly combining theology, sci-fi, and horror into a gripping, fast-paced tale. I'm generally not much of a Sci-Fi fan, so for Lee's story to grab me the way it did is really a neat trick. I was absolutely floored by the ending. This is a must-read.

Last, but not least, is "Sheep Meadow Story", by Jack Ketchum. It's the shortest story, and although I liked it a lot, I thought it was the weakest one due to it's far-fetched ending. It's a more down-to-Earth story than it's companion pieces, but it manages to be funny, creepy, and touching all at once. Ketchum is clearly a VERY talented storyteller.

The book is part of a limited-edition of 1500, signed by Ketchum & Lee, and Editor Matt Johnson. (Richard Laymon passed away before publication.) As you would expect from the always dependable publisher, Cemetery Dance, the book is just gorgeous. The only problem is this: Stories of this caliber deserve to be seen by more people than this limited-edition could possibly reach. In a perfect world, these three Authors would be topping the best-seller list....

A woman sits alone at her desk, waiting for her shift to end, when her telephone rings. She hears a man whisper the words: "I'm coming to get you!" Seconds later, a man enters her work palce, holding on to a gun.

This is how the three stories of Triage begin. But what follows this differs greatly from one story to the next. The three masters of independent horror - Lee, Ketchum and the late Richard Laymon - each tell their own take based on this scenario.

Laymon's tale is dark and disturbing; the story becomes a race for survival as the killer chases after the heroine as she tries to find a place to hide in the building where she works. Lee's take, although fun and different, is a bit over the top and a little too long. He decided to bring his story to the year 2220 and sets in a a spaceship that just happens to be on a Godly misison.

The real reason to get this book is for Ketchum's take, which is called 'Sheep Meadow Story'. It takes the reader through a very realistic nightmare, where a down-on-his-luck man tries to make sense out of his disturbed existence. This story alone is well worth the price of the book. Another great story from an amazing, underrated writer.

This book is a great one for any horror fans. It has it all! I was greatly pleased by it and I know this is one book which I'll want to read again and again.

"First Cases" is a collection of the first short stories by classic private eye writers featuring their heros (or heroines). That should be the book's caveat, as many of the protagonists had already appeared in full length novel form before these stories were published. The lineup includes such luminaries as Loren Estlemen's Amos Walker, Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder, Bill Pronzini's "Nameless" and Editor Robert J. Randisi's own Miles Jacoby. All of the series characters featured are currently ongoing (or at least were as of 1996, when the book was published). Editor Randisi knows his stuff, having been the founder of the Private Eye Writers of America.

All that said, the quality of the stories varies. Some of the writers had yet to really find their voice and some (especially the older) stories are somewhat by-the-numbers. Nevertheless, the book is an inetersting historical artifactfor those who want insight on how their heros developed. My personal favorites are Block's and Estlemen's. They show again why they are, for my money, the two best and most consistent private eye writers currently working in the genre.

Reminiscent of the Hardy Boys books in feel and style. The reading level is suitable for pre-teens. The story was entertaining and should prove interesting to young boys (it has it all - a ghost, old house to explore, pirates and a dog, what more could you ask).

The historical elements provide a moderate overview of pirate life along the American coast in the early eighteenth century and seem fairly accurate without introducing some of the more unsavory elements of pirate reality. The historical figures involved, Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and Isreal Hands, are fairly true to life; Blackbeard may even be more realistic than the demonic depiction in Captain Charles Johnson's A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates.

Included in the book are various elements like a short biography of Edward Teach, a guide to ship's rigging, and a timeline. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to children with an interest in pirates.
P-)

Johnson did an excellent job researching the Gestapo archives. Further, he strengthens the scope of the book by addressing questions one may not even consider (e.g., why church leaders, at the end of the war, actually testified in favor of Nazi/Gestapo functionaries; the petty nature of denunciations). Unfortunately, I found the book too much of a micro study of life around Krefeld and Cologne. The book's title implied (i.e., NAZI Terror) a study to include aspects of life all over Germany and even the occupied territories. To assert and suggest that what occurred in the Krefeld-Cologne area was a manifestation of the overall Nazi apparatus seems to overstretch the limits of the research provided.

Of course, Johnson's intuitive and probing translation of facts, as presented in the Gestapo files, elucidates the nature of life in Hitler's Germany. Several case studies provide glimpses into the existence of the several groups Johnson investigates (including "ordinary Germans"). Here also, I found myself keeping my mind open to the possibility that Gestapo members were only police officers. That was a feat very difficult for me to overcome having previously (a view I still hold even after having read the book) perceived that the Gestapo were simply armed thugs meting out terror at every turn. In acknowledging the "ordinary German" theory, Johnson illustrates the societal roles of people in Krefeld and Cologne, from lowly factory workers to the Cardinal and those of wives and husbands. In this sense, the vertical examination was fruitful to see how the terror operated at various levels of society. Very informative! To further complement Johnson's book, the scope of works cited in the bibliographic section should be enough to satiate any minds enquiring about any aspect of Nazi Germany.

Eric Johnson's skill is to have made us understand how the Gestapo actually operated at local level without falling into the trap of identifying with the police organization. We learn, for example, that senior Gestapo were usually law graduates with a comparatively small number of officers. They relied to a great extent on third party informants often with a grudge against someone. Target groups for the Gestapo were Jews, churchmen and homosexuals. But it seems most "ordinary" German citizens had little to fear from the secret police even when they indulged in that most favorite of pastimes - listening in to the BBC. Gestapo oppression was very real but also selective and even passive on occasion. This reviewer would have liked a little more background on how the Cologne Gestapo, the subject of the study, related to their bosses in Berlin. An insightful study of the "Little Eichmanns" who abounded in the Third Reich. The book is all the more convincing as Johnson has conducted research in the 1990s on what elderly Germans remember about the events under discussion.

In world history of the 20th century the one event that will forever standout is Nazi Germany and the attempted extermination of the Jewish people. This book takes on that very subject and the over 600 pages is simply one of the best books I have ever read on the subject.

Johnson holds nothing back as he shows how one man took a country to the brink of world domination, mislead and lied to the German people and tried to rid the world of one religious group all in the name of power and control.

The book details the Nazi Party and the fear tactics, the Nazi regime and the actions of the Gestapo. You'll read, in stunned horror, the atrocities inflicted on a group of people by the Third Reich, from first hand interviews by those who were there.

While some of the stories are extremely graphic in nature, the overall book is extremely well written and well researched. I was deeply moved by this book and I am very proud to have had the chance to review it. An excellent book - well done Eric Johnson!