This contains one of Althusser's late writings on materialism, which might be read profitably alongside "Machiavelli and Us". The train metaphor is especially useful, and Althusser here rejects -- as he did increasingly after 1967 -- any idea of materialism as a philosophy of the primacy of matter over ideas, and grounds it in the thesis of the materiality of ideology, or that "the imaginary exists only in its effects" ... As far as the claims made by Althusser regarding his abilities and knowledge in the text, or his criticisms of his books, these need to be read in light of his quest of self-annihilation, and this genre of autobiography -- and the authority which readers conventionally regard it to have regarding the 'truth' -- provides the best means of achieving that end. Warren Montag's essay on the autobiography, which can be found in Callari, Cullenberg & Biewener (eds), "Marxism in the Postmodern Age" (1992) is essential reading for anyone tempted to take Althusser's confessions at face value.

A review in New Republic by Tony Judt of Althusser's posthumous The Future Lasts Forever implements what might be called the standard reactionary reading of that "curious" autobiographical document. Judt was, at least initially, correct in refusing to read the text as a "Rousseau-like confession", although he claims, and not incidentally, that Althusser would have us read it as such. Curiously enough, however, Althusser cites the exact reason as Judt for encouraging readers to repress the inclination to read the memoir as his Rousseaudian "Confession": he is simply not up to the challenge, at least in the sense that he has no pretensions concerning originality and philosophical profundity. Rather than Rousseau, Althusser sounds more like a victim of a Stalinist inquisition: all he has to do is to confess his guilt, explain in vulgar psychologistic terms his aberrant psychoanalytic constitution. He would have been wise to adopt the Deleuzian stance of, "I have nothing to admit" - who cares if Althusser only studied Vol. 1 of Das Kapital? This would be the effective hystericization of Judt's position in his review. Thus, it is not that he overidentifies with Althusser, takes him too literally, but that he does not identify with him enough - that is, we must take Althusser at his word when he says, "Alas, I am no Rousseau".

I like Althusser. He was the first to try to fit the esoteric Heidegger, as presented by Jean Hyppolite in Logic and Existence, together with Marx. There had been attempts (by Sartre and Henri Lefebvre) to put the explicit Heidegger together with Marx, but no one was buying it, since the German thinker disavowed humanism. Hence Althusser's rather bizarre (to contemporary eyes at least) claim that you need to READ Marx correctly, that is find all the esoteric truths in Capital, to have a revolution.

Althusser was a depressive all his life. His illness prevented him from entering into les evenements of 1968, where he might have actually done some good. But he was also a manic. His books have the sort of obsessive compulsive features you only find with people on amphetimines. Those who say that this memoir is just a depressive trying to commit suicide aren't taking Althusser as he was diagnosed. He was also capable of limitless affirmation of life.

And we find Althusser making some pretty huge affirmations in this book. He liked the USSR in the post-Stalin era. Since the people of Russia are so much worse off under the system that they have now (arguably the world is, both for their infamous Mafia and the lack of a check on US hegemony), this is probably not a bad thing. His argument as to how the people of the USSR really were free in every way except politics is specious (it's sort of like saying the people of the USSR were free in every way except the one that counts), but its very speciousness smacks of a manic affirmation.

He also says that he never had sex until he was 29. This apparently was because he was disgusted with sex. He says something like "We have bodies! And they have sex organs!" He went on to be quite the ladies man, even conquering women in front of his wife. Which means that he affirmed, like a good Deleuzian, life in all its ugly glory.

Then there's his last work on Machiavelli. Or is it his last work on himself? Machiavelli formalized the relations between king, nobility and people. Just as Althusser formalized Marx's discussions of class relations and structures in Reading Capital. The fact that he's pulled this off so convincingly in Machiavelli and Us, and the fact that the people who have made a career out of riding on his coattails totally missed it, implies to me that he successfully became-other/imperceptible. In the same way that both Bataille and Sartre missed the point of Genet means that Genet did successfully become-other (as per Derrida's Glas).

As a last point to consider, for those who see this book as just the sorry chronicle of someone who had better shut up before he gives the entire game away, look at the books he did claim to read. He read all three volumes of Marx's Theories of Surplus Value. I know of no one else who can make that claim. I barely made it half way through the Grundrisse before I gave up. Since he's so humble about his actual reading of Capital (didn't get past the first volume and didn't get the theory of fetishism in the first 50 pages), he probably really did read TSV.

It's true that after this book Althusser was shunned by French intellectuals. It was, as a French student of Badiou wrote, a form of social suicide. BUT that wasn't what Althusser intended to do with this book. Or not only that.

If you're a Marxist and you liked Althusser, you can always enjoy Etienne Balibar who has at last fitted together the esoteric Heidegger with Marx in his Marxism and Philosophy. That was what dear old crazy Louis was trying to do all along.

This is a superb book. It's aimed at people who must decide how to use agent software and technology-related products & services, but it applies equally well to the management and application of agents. The writing is crystal clear and the book is highly structured.. Even so, it's not a weighty reference work, and it's as enjoyable as it is enlightening.

I first read this book after getting a copy from my local library. I liked so much I bought a copy. The first thing to realize is this book is a management book about Software Agents. It does a great job of explaining the various aspects of agents. It could also be used for as a college textbook. There aren't sets of problems, but there is a whole lot of basic knowledge. I don't have a lot of agent experience, but I have more now after reading this book, but I was never lost reading this book. The book is a great starting point to learn the field. When you finish the book you will have a basic understanding of the different branches of the field, and the whole book is truly top notch.

I am very surprised at the recent reviews of this book and I agree with the vast majority of the other more positive reviews that this is one of the best books on agents that I have come across. The book is well written, concise and to the point. It provides strategic value,with recommendations. It is practical, pragmatic and easy to read and understand.

I have no hesitation in recommending this book to my CIO ( I have already done so) and other senior management, project managers, agent developers.

I enjoyed reading this book as a layperson, not having gone to medical school. I have a number of minor skin problems and this book allowed me to differentiate the insignificant ones from the ones I need to pay attention to. I think that this book should be in every household, because a person or parent should know what skin affliction(s) they have and how serious they are before they rush off to the doctor. One thing that should have been elaborated on more is the sub-section on The Nails as Clues to Multiorgan Disease. There are only a few pages of examples of this, yet there are dozens of correlations between abnormal fingernails and systemic disease. The book only gives blantant and graphic examples of serious nail problems and then gives the possible associated underlying disease. It should be expanded to include more "soft sign" nail problems to help doctors make educated guesses about what tests to run.

I am a Certified Physician Assistant in family practice. I have used this book both as a student and as a professional and have found this to be an invaluable resource. The pictures are excellent, and more importantly, the discription and synopsis of each clinical situation is precise and reader friendly. I highly recommend this book.

This is the best quick reference dermatology book available. It is concise and well organized. The pictures are excellent. There are great explanations, differential diagnosis, and treatments. This is an absolute necessity in every resident/medical student library.

This book was o.k., but it is basically for someone who doesn't know anything. The word "Fast" in the title was also misleading. That's really the only reason I bought it, because I thought it would give some other facts and instructions other than the old-fashioned "go to the court house", "haggle with the clerk", "write to some records office somewhere using snail mail" stuff. It's just a little outdated, though that is not unusual for todays fast-moving technological pace. There were a few informative points and references, but generally I'd say it is very basic. For those who are just now needing to learn the basics, it's a good place to start. For those who already know a thing or two, I doubt it would help all that much.

This book has much solid advice from what appears to be
an experienced private detective. The writing is clear and
there are helpful lists of addresses and other information.

In fact, I was successful in a search where I'd failed before.

Some of the info was outdated or not true (for example, Texas
universities will not confirm enrollment via a phone call), but this is nitpicking.

There are MANY books out there on finding people and/or getting information on them. "Find anyone fast" is by far one of the most superior books out there. As an experienced investigator it still provides me with invaluable leads and resources!

The first chapter gives you 'case studies'. Invaluable to anyone just starting out in this field or looking for someone. Understanding how people are found is easy when you see the different twists and turns it takes. This is no movie where finding people is easy and glamorous.

Johnson and Knox also provide information on using the internet to find people (of course one of the easiest and free ways to do it), performing adoption related searches with ease (they provide the necessary places to check and how to do it) , military searches (I also recommend getting the book "How to locate anyone who is or has been in the military" also available on Amazon.com), and they also provide a very valuable section: Solving difficult cases...something I haven't seen in very many books on this subject!

You also get a great resource: every state address and phone number for all sorts of informaiton...you need this information! And they provide it in a very easy and comprehensive manner. There is also federal resources and civillian resources in this appendix as well.

You are also taught how to do a FOIA or Freedom of information act request letter, get a data sheet so you can organize your investigation and more!

Get the book, you will not regret the small investment you'll make in it!

I gave this book 3 stars because it's still a useful resource for those who are interested in LabVIEW. However, I wouldn't recommend buying it if you have the previous version and don't wish to pursue the creation a real time LabVIEW application on an embedded Linux platform. There really is little, if any, mention of some of the new, interesting features of LabVIEW 6 which to me was a major let down, such as control references and the like. The examples included with the book on the CD Rom aren't incredibly useful or new for that matter, but could be of some benefit to a new user. Overall, if you're new to LabVIEW and have never seen the previous version of this book I'd recommend it, but if you have the older version I wouldn't be too inclined to recommend it for anything rather than the detailed information in the latter chapters regarding LabVIEW RT and Linux.

I've purchased all three editons of Gary Johnson's LabVIEW book and haven't been disappointed yet. This is one of those rare books that lives up to its hype. The writing is clear and engaging, without condescending to the more advanced user. If you're using or learning LabVIEW, check this book out.

For those of you who do not have this book, this book is one of the top Labview books available. It goes very quickly through the basics, and focuses more on building actual applications in Labview. Many pointers on how to maximize resources are through out this book. It saved me many hours of trial and error. The book reads as if an articulate person is speaking to you. Very no nonsense.

For example, there's a comprehensive chapter on actually developing a Labview VI for use. It goes through the requirements, the development (internally and also the user interface) and the release of the VI. Further, it has a nice section on DAQ.

This book is more or less a rehash of the old book, with some upgrades, but for those who don't have the old one, read it's reviews. I wasn't terribly disappointed with the omission of Labview 6i stuff, since the content extended beyond it. You'll be making a good investment in this book.

This author of this book is twice guilty. First he is guilty of the all too common academic act of reducing a fascinating subject to a dry and lifeless pseudo-rigorous study. Second he, while attempting impartiality, refuses to opine on what the reader really wants to know.

The characters involved, the location (a combination bar/whorehouse), the actual fight and the defense all could make for some seriously juicy reading. Richard Holmes has succeeded in completely boring the event down. Also he is too timid to really let us know what he thinks of Savage's parentage or Savages culpability in the murder. I suppose he is just trying to present the facts and let the reader draw his or her own conclusion. Holmes: these guys have been dead for centuries. You can go out on a limb and hazard some hard guesses!

The only thing this book really succeeds in doing is whetting my appetite for a good book on the subject.

I'm writing these words under the assumption that anyone who has found himself looking at this review knows a pretty good bit about Samuel Johnson, English Literature in general and at least a little about Mr. Savage (if only from his rather appropriate surname.) It's interesting how literary fads come and go; how a prominent poet or author of one era would find himself outcast in another, and, vice-versa; how an unknown of one era would find himself the talk of the town in another....Imagine Jack Kerouac in the days of Matthew Arnold! But I digress. I think I am one of the few people (the only person that I know of, in fact, Mr. Holmes included) who regards Mr. Savage as a great poet, greater than almost any writing during his lifetime: Thomas Grey and Cowper might be exceptions. He is an early, nearly forgotten path-setting pilgrim in the Romantic tradition, the Visionary Company (a phrase coined by Yeats and picked up as a title for his groundbreaking critical study of the Romantics by Harold Bloom). He is a Shelley, a Rimbaud, a Hart Crane before his time. Dr. Johnson is an anonymous, erudite scholar before his time. There just happened to be no satisfactory English dictionary before he came along, so he became famous for writing the (endearingly quirky) first of its kind. And there you have it. This book is to be commended for revealing what we know of Johnson before he became the old curmudgeon we love to ridicule. Like we all were at one time (Well, the better lot of us anyway.): Johnson was impressionable, naive and idealistic when he met the older Savage, and Savage was almost undoubtedly the subject Johnson had in mind when he penned "Slow rises worth, by Poverty oppressed." in The Vanity of Human Wishes. As Holmes makes clear, Johnson idolized Savage for some time, and with good reason. Savage was what we would call "the real thing," even though the book makes clear that he was a notorious liar, particularly about his birth. What I mean is that he was truly a man possessed by his poetic daemon. As Johnson himself put it, "...what was Nature in Savage would in another be Affectation." Besides Johnson's biography, The Wanderer (subtitled "A Vision") is Savage's (just) claim to fame. This review is no place to give the poem its full treatment. But a few lines Holmes quotes from Canto V will suffice to make my point:"Fishers, who yonder Brink by Torches gain,/ With teethful Tridents strike the scaly Train./ Like Snakes in Eagles claws, in vain they strive,/ When heav'd aloft, and quiv'ring yet-alive." As Holmes astutely points out, "There are moments when Savage's whole universe seems to be convulsed in pain like this, as if agony were the condition or proof of existence, 'quiv'ring yet alive.'...Mother Nature seems to be persecuting an orphaned Earth. This is the central vision of The Wanderer." You have to remember that this was the age in which Pope's pompous and didactic Essay on Man was the norm to gain a full appreciation of how original (and therefore unacceptable) such poetry was at the time. Compare this to Shelley's fragment on the moon (metaphor for himself of course): "Art thou pale from weariness, of climbing Heaven and gazing on Earth, wandering compaionless?" or Rimbaud's Le Bateau Ivre and his comment that "Everything is spiritual. Those things that are called material are merely what is evil in the spiritual realm." Or Hart Crane's "Bequeathe us to no Earthly shore until is answered in the vortex of our grave the seal's wild spendrift gaze toward Paradise." These are the words of the lost and dispossessed, those whose visions of other worlds cause them to despair of this one. But, let's not get too gloomy. The book is a rollicking good read for all that, and even readers not too keen on Savage will find it a page turner....Thank you Mr. Holmes for resurrecting a forgotten genius.

Richard Savage's sole claim to fame is that Johnson wrote a book about him. At the time it was written, however, Johnson wasn't very well known himself and was only marginally more respectable than Savage. Holmes does an excellent job of describing their relationship and showing us how Johnson lived before he bacame a tory sage. He provides an excellent counterweight to Boswell, who tended to play down Johnson's awkwardness and barely concealed rage. At the same time, Holmes never forgets that Johnson was a great writer and man.

I started this book with much anticipation and for the first couple of hundred pages or so it did not disappoint. The discussion of and facts concerning the interaction of Johnson and Nixon with the people around them was extremely interesting, and revealed much about their "hubris" (i.e. how each of them treated their families and associates was very interesting). Then... well the author began an ethics lesson with painfully long discussions at the beginning of each chapter regarding the various levels of hubris without really, in my opinion, applying them clearly to Johnson or Nixon. In second half of the book, he continually referenced to their respective actions regarding Vietnam and Watergate (in Nixon's case), as examples of hubris. Clearly Johnson and Nixon displayed hubris in how each acted during and in response to such events and clearly such events were huge during that time, but how often can you reference to the same events as examples of hubris. In addition, I'd be surprised if the author missed any historical quote regarding hubris, even remotely, from any recognizable historical figure.. there were, it seemed, hundreds of quotes, which slowed me down considerably. Finally, there were some glaring incorrect statments in the book such as, for example, toward the end there is a passage about a possible Nixon impeachment trial in the Senate before Chief Justice Rehnquist!!!!! Warren Burger would have presided.

Again, not bad, but too long and bogged down with repetition, ethical sermonizing and needless and endless quotes.

I've just put down Richard Curtis' book, "Hubris and the Presidency," and it has left me with a great sadness. It leaves one with a sense of shame, almost,that such a glorious conception as democracy has become so subverted, and perverted, as to have become a battle between two almost indistinguishable groups of politicians intent on maintaining their positions of power, and access to the money derived thereby. What makes me the saddest, however, is the realization, through the examples Curtis has chosen, that it might be said that any president (or other politician) will pay the price of overwhelming hubris eventually even if he was not born with traits that encouraged the development of that hubris in the extreme in the presidency.

The quote on page 613 by David Frost, in trying to pin Nixon down on how he justified the illegalities he (Nixon) had resorted to, tells a great deal about my hypothesis: "Nixon's answer will probably resonate throughout history as the epitome of an hubristic president: 'Well, when the president does it, that means it is not illegal.'"

Since I was teethed on the age of FDR, and have lived through many and varying types of presidencies since then, we feel most acutely the risk that any mere man must run if he is to persuade his party he can persuade the electorate to make him president. Although few presidents have reached the horrifying levels of pure criminality permitted by that hubris as LBJ and RMN with Vietnam and Watergate, if the lives and deeds of others before and after them were examined as closely as Curtis does these two, the similarities, I am sure, would be even more striking than appears to us through limited memory alone.

I am also mightily impressed by the sheer volume of research, from details of their lives to the quotes of those who "knew them when." More significantly, I am impressed with Richard Curtis' ability to pull it all together in such a masterly way that one can read through the whole thing and find a sense of continuity, a nice flow, as it were, to the narration in support of his thesis, that one can indeed finish such a lengthy book, and one of such intensity, without flinging one's hands up in despair at the sheer volume of the material. I am really impressed!

Hubris and the Presidency: The Abuse of Power by Johnson and Nixon is an intriguing and well-balanced book about the modern American presidency.

The central thesis of Hubris is that excessive pride and self-confidence (what the Ancient Greeks called "hubris") intoxicates American presidents and eventually is the cause of their eventual downfall and self-destruction.

There are thirteen concepts that comprise hubris in Curtis's schema ranging from delegation and confrontation to paranoia, isolation and "immolation" (being consumed by the flames of political ambition and misdeeds.) Curtis devotes a chapter on each concept to both Johnson and Nixon. What results from this parallel, back-to-back presentation is a careful and examination of the characters and foilables of each man and how thier egos, inflexibility and faulty decisions consumed them.

Secondly, what emerges from the book is an interesting blend of history, psychology and political analysis, written in a lively story-telling style that appeals both to the scholarly, as well as the general reader. There are a lot of interesting facts about the Office of the President that are both revealing and illustrative of how the ever-increasing costs, complexity and power of the Office contribute to hubris. Patterns of presidential behavior, which at the time seemed unreasonable, with hindsight, fit the hubris model.

Finally, one clear conclusion of Hubris is how complicated the modern American presidency has become. It is no longer the stuff of great national myths. Instead, it has become a window for showcasing national character flaws and to pillory any individual who holds the office and dares to damage the American mystique.

I ordered this book from Amazon after reading the review from Scott Air Force base, and Stu, you were right on! Though I did see CRIMSON TIDE, this was my first book by Richard Henrick, and it was without a doubt, my best read of the summer. I like a story w/ quick cuts and plenty of interesting action, and this one took me to places I've never even heard of before. Henrick did his homework and it shows, especially when it comes down to the intracacies of the command and control of nuclear weapons. As a former Looking Glass EAO, this story gets a solid thumbs up, and I'm already awaiting the sequel.

Just finished reading NIGHTWATCH, and in all honesty, I had a hard time putting it down! As a former Army Combat engineer, this is the first book that I've ever read that captures the true spirit of the Sapper. The story itself is part airborne version of CRIMSON TIDE(which I loved), and part DELIVERANCE(in the Missouri Ozarks). And yes, the movie will be awesome. Sappers lead the way!

Was more than surprised to get this book as a gift and then to find how very excellent it turned out to be. Henrick got me hooked from the first sentence, pulling me right into the action. There's never a dull moment, and it's remarkable how Henrick puts together all the fascinating plot lines into a final climax that sent shivers up my spine long into the night! I'm certain that the movie version will be right up there w/ Henrick's CRIMSON TIDE, and I can't wait for the next Kellogg book to be released. So by all means, read this novel--you won't be disappointed!

DREAMER held a lot of promise and was a very deep read. The story involves Chaym Smith, who offers himself as a decoy/stand-in to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., because he bears too familiar a resemblence to the good Doctor. Told from the perspectives of Dr. King and one of his aides, Matthew Bishop, the novel took us from marches to meetings involving heads of state to the breakdown of Chaym's personality, which was a complete 360 degrees from that of man he was hired to impersonate. The author was able to structure the personalities of the players involved and made the fictional charaters of Matthew and Chaym convincing and compelling. However, the book was so weighed down with thoughts and agendas that were so complex in context, that it was a little hard to get back on track, especially when you have forgotten where you left off, and you are still reading the book. A good read for those wanting something different and four-dimensional.

Dreamer by Charles Johnson gives a unique look at the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. By using a fictitious double, who must examine his own life in light of the civil rights era, Johnson allows the reader to see both King and Chaym Smith, the man who would be his stand-in, struggle with issues of nonviolence and its meaning in a violent world. This well-researched novel presents a fresh look at King's life by allowing artistic license to soar while it never clouds the truth. Although some details are the product of the author's imagination, others are well documented among King scholars. The presentation of fact in the environment of creative detail allows a glimpse of King that I have seen nowhere else. The story moves quickly and never digresses into detail that is irrelevant to the narrative, but gives enough pertinent detail to help those unfamiliar with the setting, while convincing those who know more details concerning King's life that the author is also a brilliant scholar. A GOOD READ.

Like Faith And The Good Thing, Dreamer works as philosophy and social criticism as well as fiction. Mr. Johnson has the personal courage to eschew trendy thinking and to pull together the truth from all corners of the world, ancient and modern. I like reading him because he tells me the truth; I can trust his judgment. He's incredibly erudite and yet there's no jive in his prose style, no textbook tone, no pretension. It's obvious thatl he's learned a few things while becoming a man and isn't afraid to show it. He demonstrates admirably that "rapping" needn't be doggerel. Kudos! Long live Martin Luther King!

This is a very good, very understandable book. It could (maybe should) be used as a first course in multivariate techniques. Concepts very well explained, it needs no more than a good basic course in statistics to be fully absorbed. It also includes enough matrix algebra to be self-contained.

this is an ideal text for advanced statistics students who would like to learn about factor analysis, canonical correlations, principal components analysis, linear discriminants, etc... you definitely need to have some background in linear algebra --reading the first few sections will not be sufficient. the examples are better than those found in mardia's book. knowing splus (matlab or similar software) will help you get through the exercises. IT'S A GOOD BOOK TO ADD TO YOU LIBRARY

First: I must prefix this by saying that I am majoring in the Mathematical and Computer Sciences.

This semester I decided to take a class that happened to use this text as its source. I have been extremely pleased with it: the theoretical work is excellent, the proofs are thourough, the exercises are both good and cover a broad variety of difficulties, and the tables on the CD provide excellent experience in analyzing real world data.

A couple of things to keep in mind before you purchase this book, however:

1) A good background in linear algebra and basic statistics is highly recommended and virtually necessary to interpret this book. Remembering the knowledge gleaned from "Sequences and Series" (often taught in Calculus II) will also prove useful. The text is good, but it is often nontrivial.

2) Some kind of software that does multivariate analysis (and if nothing else, will find eigenvalues and orthonormal eigenvectors) is necessary to get the most out of this book. The software package SAS is touched on in the book, but by no means is given a comprehensive review. However, the data files on the CD-ROM should be loadable by any competant software package, so use the one you are most comfortable with.

If not overly familiar with any of them, I can recommend S, SPlus, and "GNU's S" (also known as "R") for their power and flexability to work with the data presented in the book.

All and all I found this to be an excellent book, definantly worthwhile if you want or need to know how to do multivariate analysis.