A disturbing work that showcases the skills and emotional depth of this up and coming (or is he already here?) author.

Looking for a quick paced mystery to get your mind running as you try to figure out whodunit? Well, Dog 'Em: A Mick Hart Mystery, fits the bill and goes the extra distance to take you into the world of Mick Hart, private investigator! It also throws in a measure of drama and romance to give it an extra twist and provide wider audience appeal.

Mick Hart can't win for losing. When he goes against the rules and bends the rules for a single mom to help her find the father of her child, he loses his job. We then take on a journey through one of Mick's cases in which he's hired to find Amanda Monroe, reported missing by her grandmother, and using his first tactic of checking the city morgues, he comes up empty handed...well, almost empty handed. Instead of finding her, he finds two corpses with similar injuries and then finds Amanda in the hospital in a coma with the same injuries. The plot thickens when he finds out that all the women know each other and are members of the Sisters of Empowering and Learning Book Club.

Their last read was How to Train the Dog in Your Black Men so perhaps that has someone feeling a bit threatened, challenged, and ridiculed by women across the country. Many women are picking it up and trying to put its principles to practice at the risk of becoming the next victim. And the serial killer is on a rampage trying to redeem himself. He's [upset] and tired of being the one dogged.

Christopher has brilliantly penned a novel that is poignant and revealing, just as it is suspenseful and intriguing. I read this book in under two hours and my only disappointment was that it was over. I look forward to the next installment in the Mick Hart series and would highly recommend this book.

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

A very satisfying read, love, mystery, relationnship issues; all in a fast paced slice of life book, I look forward to more Mick Hart mysteries

This book brings back fond memories of when I first heard these songs/stories back in grade school. I really think they are wonderful, motivating stories and songs that truly inspire children. I had to get it for my first baby so he can also experience the magic.

I first heard of FTBY&M in 5th grade(1979) the whole school watched it in assembly. I loved it-all the stories and most of all the music. It touched me like nothing I had seen or heard before. The title song had our whole school singing for days! Years later i just happened to come across the book in our library, and WOW! all those memories came rushing back!! THEN, two years ago, i was given the soundtrack to FTBY&M, and I have not stopped singing since. The music and stories got me thru a serious illness and a horrible breakup= and when I one day have kids of my own, I will pass the legacy on!!!!!

I grew up in the late '70s playing the record of "Free to Be you and Me" over and over. My mom actually had to buy me a second copy because I lost the song book and couldn't live without it. I still sing "When We Grow Up" and "It's Allright To Cry" in the shower and to my nephews. Now I share the wisdom of Atalanta and William's Doll with the teenage mothers I teach. While it doesn't take a genius to figure out the songs on the record were recorded in the '70s, they are timeless treasures for all of our children. Buy this book and the CD for the important children in your life. You'll never be sorry!

This play is so neglected these days! The Lady's Not for Burning is a wonderful rural-social-fantasy in which 'the costumes are as much 14-century as anything else'. Thomas Mendip is a world-weary soldier fed up with living who wanders into a small medieval town determined to get hanged. He swears he's the devil, 'he who sings solo bass in Hell's madrigal choir' (and who's voice should on no occasion be confused with that of a peacock!) and insists that the towns people hang him at once. The only problem is that the town is in a right flap over another supernatural phenomenon, that of Jennet Jourdemayne, the ravishing, solitary daughter of a deceased alchemist who tinkers with her father's chemistry equipment, talks french to her poodle and dines with her pet peacock on Sundays. The old adage that unconventional, independent women got burned at the stake rings true in this comical drama, as the townspeople are convinced that Jennet is a witch and are hammering on the mayor's door insisting that she be tindered. All very inconvenient, when you consider that young Alizon Elliot is arriving from the nunnery to meet her betrothed: slow, uninspiring Humphry, son of the Mayor - who is currently being petitioned by Thomas for a sentence and hanging.

Things come to pass at a dance to welcome Alizon that night, where Thomas and Jennet pace it out, one wants to die, the other wishes to live, and the frivolous self-absorbed townspeople are making them both wait before they can discover their fates.

This play is an absolute gem, I've read before that Fry's images lack symmetry, but I find the description of a castle 'draughty as a tree' absolutely delightful. It's a bittersweet story about two reluctant lovers who find falling in love more complicated and inconvenient than anything else. But in the end, the 'pitshaft of love' is what saves one of them from life, and one of them from death. Jennet and Thomas's jaded romance is balanced by a subplot involving the young, foolish, all-consuming love that develops between our two orphans: Alizon and the mayor's servant, Richard. One of the reasons the play works so well is that one can recognise both predicaments tenderly from experience.

Fry's images and language are delightful, painfully tender, wickedly, deliciously funny, his characters are recognisable, some of them sufferable, some lovable. The language and approach is fresh, even at age 70, and the ending is just sumptuous, tying everything in just so. I long to see a production of this play, having only read it, even though the characters are already so alive. Bitter Thomas, Gentle Jennet, Pompous Hebble the Mayor, Insufferable Nicholas (he has three virtues, how many do you have?). I'd be roling in the isles, laughing and weeping at this tragic comedy that transcends any century.

My introduction to this play was catching it on PBS many years ago in a production starring Richard Chamberlain. Since then I have always talked about "The Lady's Not For Burning" as the best Shakespeare play not written by Shakespeare because in the first place it makes people stop and pay attention to what you are saying, and in the second place if they actually read the play they are going to be forced to agree you are pretty near the mark. Christopher Fry is not only a poet, but a wit, to whom words are beautiful play things.

The play is set in a room in the house of Hebble Tyson, Mayor of the small market-town of Cool Clary, more or less or exactly in the year 1400. The story involves Thomas Mendip, a discharged soldier, and Jennet Jordemayne, daughter of a recently deceased alchemist. The disappearance of Matthew Skips has the town in an uproar and although Thomas claims credit for the deep and demands to be hung, Jennet is accused of witchcraft and may well be burned at the stake. He wants to die, but no one will kill him, while her life is in danger and she wants to live. Of course, the pair will fall in love, in dialogue that represents the most dazzling verbal invention since, well, Shakespeare. Particularly enjoyable is Jennet's soliloquy on how her father managed to turn lead into gold.

"The Lady's Not For Burning" is a play that has actually improved over the years because Christopher Fry never stopped tinkering with it, as evidenced by the improvement of the second act scene between Thomas and Jennet in the 1995 Yorkshire Television production with Kenneth Branagh and Cherie Lunghi. I have enjoyed it in all its myriad manifestations and when I finally had an opportunity to direct any play that I might choose, Christopher Fry's masterpiece was my immediate choice. Share this play with everyone you know who loves intelligent, well-written drama.

First of all I have never finished the book. I got up to act three and never got beyond that. I have been trying to find it ever since. Even without the ending, Fry's use of words and language comes across as strikingly beautiful as well as clumsy. I find it refrshing that two completely different couples can be represented in one play to make us view the over all effect of a relationship based society. I loved it and cannot wait to read then end..

This book in it's unique video format embraces your heart and leaves you feeling a gentleness to surrender to Love, to see and welcome the Divine in all things and especially within ourselves.

Christopher Harper's approach to this beautiful work is as simple as it is profound. It's message pulses through you allowing for full understanding of each word spoken, giving opportunity to fully take in the majesty of the message of Jesus and the power of Love. Each viewing reveals deeper understanding of the words spoken.

This book is a treasure and a wonderful method to meditate on God's mission for each one of us and an opportunity to open to our spiritual mastery. It would also make a lovely and meaningful gift.

I found this book on video great for meditation, and almost hypnotic. Its message brought shivers up my spine. I was interested to read Christopher's book because I know that there is another great book going to be published in 2003 titled THE LITTLE BOOK IN THE ANGELS HAND/ No. 333, by the Author: Edwin Martin. In fact if you have read Christopher Harper's little book, then you should'nt miss reading Edwin Martin's book which will show the steps and keys of knowledge needed for the Christ Mastery, which can and will unveil the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

This is a great video to start your day with! It reminds you that you are blessed everyday with the love of Jesus. I highly recommend this video to everyone of all ages!

Stasheff sets them up, while Forstchen knock's em down. This book is a one-two punch for any fan of the PC video game, but also simply as a tale of science-fiction. It is broken up into two parts, a short story which acts as a 'prologue' (Milk Run, written by Stasheff) that will just rip your heart out with deep characterization and plot; the title 'novel' portion, written by Forstchen, follows up the result of the short story with continuation of the character Jason 'Bear' Bonderevsky aboard a slapped-together escort carrier _Tarawa_. Where Stasheff rips your heart out, Forstchen stomps on it with character interaction and the tragedy that is war. The last scene in this book always brings me to tears. I highly recommend this novel, and urge you to hit up one of the auctioneers or go to a used book store. This book is sadly out of print!

I have read all the Wing Commander novels even the horrible ones written for the movie, which in and of itself was a horror, and I believe this is the best book of the series. Yet, I wonder of all the books why this won hasn't been reprinted? None of the other books in the series are as complening and captivating as this book.Without giving to much away, the plot seems to be a combination of the World War Two Dolittle Raid, and the Battle of Midway and like the US Naval the Confed fleet is outnumbered, out gunned, and the Kilrathi like the Japanese are winning the war, but out numbered and stretched to the limit the humans in the ConFederation have to take an all or nothing through of the dice on a plan that has almost no chance of success. Read the Book and Find out if the Confederation hits the heart of the Kilrathi, their homeworld, or we lose? Find the book, the answers will surprise you, the cost will be high, and don't stop reading to the end.

I know this probably won't help those who are looking for this book, but all I can say is that it's worth it in the end. It's one of the best Wing Commander novels that I have ever read, and I really hope that you find the book. So don't give up. You'll find it. I did...

My four stars aren't meant to detract from this novella's favorable reviews. Rather, I'd like to suggest that readers tackle this work after they read "Fateless." There's allusions to this more accessible novel in the novella; the latter seems to me more the interest of a philosophically inclined reader's group. While "Fateless" can be read on one's own and grasped, I believe that "Kaddish" would be better suited for collective study and discussion.

It offers few of the pleasures of fiction. Rather, with its considerations of Adorno, Hegel, and Bernhard, and with its nods to the prose of Beckett, Camus, Sartre, and perhaps Kafka, it's more a meditation/fulmination than a novel with an easy plot trajectory. It offers food for thought, but may be rather indigestible if gulped in one sitting. This is more the type of work that Nobel laureates get rewarded for late in their careers; the popular acclaim granted "Fearless" by contrast would first gain an audience for this author, in my estimation.

Again, this is not to detract from Kertesz' achievement, but simply to point out that (at least in English), this compressed, concentrated message may better be shared if taken in smaller, diluted portions among like-minded friends. (My impression is that in the original Hungarian, the agglutinative nature of that language would make this an even heavier, more weighty lump of prose.) It would serve as a fitting challenge after you've all read and discussed "Fateless." As I suggest, this novel can be contemplated with profit by one's self; this smaller work is best divided, nibbled, and ruminated over bite by bitter bite.

Definition: Kaddish -- A prayer recited in the daily synagogue services and by mourners after the death of a close relative.

In this novel, or more appropriately novella (it's less than 100 pages), the narrator, a failed writer and a holocaust survivor, writes what is ultimately a love letter to his unborn child, his child not born. He begins by reflecting on a night some time ago at a writer's retreat in Soviet-era Hungary when perhaps he first started pondering the context of his existence with one obsessive question in mind -- "my life in the context of the potentiality of your existence" with "your" referring to his unborn child. This is not a question the narrator necessarily wanted to address, but he had little choice as if being pulled by his unborn child, being "dragged. . . by this fragile little hand . . . down this path." What has led to this point in life where he will never see the "dark eyes" of his own little girl or the "gay and hard eyes like silver-blue gravel" of his own little boy.

This is not a nice, linear narrative. Instead we enter a dense story full of stream-of-consciousness with all of the narrator's philosophies, emotions, obsessions, fears and contradictions. We learn about his failed writing career, his school experiences, his relationship with his father and, most importantly, his relationship with his wife (now his ex-wife), the backbone of the narrative. Of interest to note, the author's concentration camp is never addressed in detail but is only referred to indirectly. The effect is intensifying as the holocaust becomes an evil lurking in the darkness, driving the narrator in ways only partially observable.

Ultimately, the narrator evolves his obsessive question from questioning his existence the context of his unborn child's potentiality to "your nonexistence in the context of the necessary and fundamental liquidation of my existence." And while his wife has her theories on what is going on with the narrator's retreat into darkness, the narrator can only leave us with the facts as they are and the conclusion there is an inscrutable survival instinct in us that drives us to survive even when we want to die. And the results of our survival instincts can make for a messy life, including the inward retreating, the severed relationships and, in this case, a divorce and a child not to be..

And then the heart-breaking realization may come to the reader of all that could be in our world. But in the end, sometimes we need to say Kaddish for both our children who die and our children never meant to be.

This book feels like a hundred-page sentence although there is punctuation and even a few paragraph breaks. It has to be read carefully as it is poetry and philosophy combined. While it has no plot in the normal sense, it beckons you into its world. It is a monologue delivered by a lonely, aging writer who is wrestling with the ghost of his failed marriage and with his secular Jewish identity years after the Holocaust. The monologue has a comic edge: the whining repetition about how a woman left long ago makes the reader feel slightly superior. But the narrator's repeated gripes are ultimately not intended to make him seem childish; they show us how we cling to the past and to other people when confronted with the terrifying, unfathomable realities of racism and loss.

No philosophical truths are uncovered. Rather, philosophical power is unleashed through the exploitation of contradiction, like the splitting of the atom. Do I exist? Does that mean anything? A negative answer inspires emotion. Emotion implies that we must exist and that this must have meaning. Death and life, hope and fear, sex and loneliness, race and assimilation are juxtaposed. The narrator reaches for the pairs with two arms outstretched. The philosophical effect of these contradictions lies in the poetry.

"No" is the first word of the book. Structurally, poetically, the book revolves around the spoken "no" more than it does around the narrator's decision not to have children. He lives in his "no." The "no" is his suicide. All other words are as a continuous breath that supports the "no" that frames the narrative. And, after this hundred-page sentence, we are left with the impression of a vast silence.

I spent two days in Madrid in November 2002 with this guidebook. I found it to be well-organized and readable, with photos accompanying the text. With this guide, it didn't take long to gain a basic understanding of the history of the city and the different neighborhoods. The restaurant listings were particularly helpful.

There were two downsides, in my opinion. One is that there is no pull-out map. The map pages are integrated with the rest of the book. Second, the prices in the book are given in pesetas, not in Euros. I found that hotels, restaurants, etc. were all quoting prices in Euros, making the guidebook slightly less user-friendly. Still, the printed prices seemed to give a good idea of relative cost.

Overall, a good guidebook, but be sure to pick up a map when you arrive in Madrid.

.
Summary:
Every Dorling Kindersley Guide has been a great and interesting book... and delightful to have and use, even if you are not traveling to that location, but are only interested in learning more!

The Guides are well organized in a logical and easy to follow manner. They are beautifully illustrated, well developed with accurate information (it is unusual for hotel and restaurant information to be that accurate), have enough history to help the reader understand the people and cultural background, and have a lot of useful travel information and useable maps in the appendixes.

The really great attraction to this book is several fold; it is:
............Very complete
............Easy to read
............Beautifully and artistically completed
............Good shopping, safety and other tips
............Gorgeous photographs too numerous to list.

Specifics:
The guides are organized as follows:

How to use this guide
Introduction to Historical and Geographical information
Geographical Regions
Introduction to Madrid
............Putting Madrid on the Map
............History of Madrid
............Madrid at a Glance
............Madrid Through the Year

............Madrid Area by Area, each section includes:
........................Introduction to street by street area
........................Detailed pictorials of area buildings
........................Architectural drawings, pictures, cut-aways of buildings

........................Specific stops, historical monuments, churches, buildings, etc.

Madrid Sections Reviewed:
........................Old Madrid
........................Bourbon Madrid
........................Around La Castellana
........................Further Afield
........................Beyond Madrid

Travelers Needs - includes full list with rankings and notes
............Hotels
............Restaurants, cafes, bars
............Shopping
............Entertainment

............Outdoor activities

Survival Information
............Practical
........................Tourist info., Etiquete, Personal Security and Health
........................Currencies, Telephones, misc info.
............Travel Information (Getting to Madrid )
............Street Maps (Getting Around Madrid )

............General Index
............Phrase Book

Discussion:
The book begins with "Introducing Madrid", including a complete map, a review, the city's history, and Madrid thought the Year - including events, etc.

Areas with an "At a glance" overview, then has subsections of specific blocks, or forums, then specific locations, churches, historical monuments, bridges, galleries, etc.

Architectural reviews include various views, and cutaways; given greater understanding and better perspective. They are all attractive, if not works of art - honestly.

The travelers' Info. offers good and valid info. on prices, currencies, customs, important words, etc. I have used the reviews on hotel's restaurants and nightclubs, in most European cities, and Dorling has yet to disappoint me. I have found they were useful and accurate, and helpful with my touring and site decisions.

The books are so well thought-out that it has multiple maps, with various lookup tables, and the book's flaps are designed to be used as bookmarks for map pages.

Negative:
The only negative with this book is that it is substantial with good quality paper, and is therefore heavier than other travel books.

Conclusion:
Each book in this series is a great help, and beautiful collectible resource. As the President, CEO of an International Meeting Planning Corporation we have many resources and techniques to learn about places we have meetings / groups at as well as the cities and sights. But, as a traveler, this book really is top notch and I would recommend it to anyone going on a personal trip, or wanting to learn about a city, or location. We have used some of these books to augment our research to investigate cities for our groups.

I am an experienced traveler (30+ countries) who is nearing retirement and plan to travel extensively, who has recently become obsessed about finding "good" guidebooks. So this review is a comparison of the books I looked at for Madrid.

I started with the Insight Guide. I was seeking to get background, history, etc. The Insight Guides seem to vary enormously from one to the next in both quality and orientation. I think they are good for an entire country if you are trying to decide where in the country or what parts you want to see. I thought the guide for Madrid was useless. It provided very little information about the city or the culture. It seemed to be best if you were planning on moving to Madrid and wanted to find out the differences between the various suburban areas. I suggest you forget this one.

I looked at the Mini-Rough Guide. I didn't like the format and it was too terse for my taste. In my opinion, Rough Guide still needs to produce a guide for Madrid that is a regular, not a mini Rough Guide. The LP Guide to Madrid seemed pretty mediocre. The stiff covers also made it awkward to use or hold open to a particular page. The information and descriptions were inadequate compared to some other guides. The Eyewitness Guide to Madrid is, I think, the best overall guide to Madrid. (Generally I prefer Eyewitness guides for City's much more than as a guide for an entire country.) The maps are good, the pictures of the food and other items are very helpful. The hotels and restaurant sections were pretty good, but not great. If you are looking for hostels, you will need the LP guide. Eyewitness does not give great historical depth, but it gives you some, probably enough for most tourists. Guide Books are not the best source for detailed historical and cultural information anyway. The Time Out guide was almost like a tourist's yellow pages, primarily a listing of hotels, restaurants, sites, services, etc. It had the best listing of restaurants and hotels and covered all price ranges. It wasn't as good as Eyewitness is describing the things to see and do.

I ended up getting the Eyewitness Guide to use while sightseeing, supplemented by the Time Out Guide for picking hotels, restaurants and being able to look up things. Another reviewer recommended this same combination in order to visit Tapas bars. I'm not that much into Tapas, but I still think these two are the best combo. Eyewitness is not perfect, but it's the best one that I saw.

Incidentally, the Spain Rough and LP guides Madrid sections do not cover Madrid as well as the Madrid-only guides. You are looking at a 60-page section, compared to the Madrid-only guides of around 300 pages length.

This is a small book (95 pages) that hits all the important points. It starts with the theory of Ice Cream, why do most recipes for home have eggs, why is it important to chill the mixture before putting it in an ice cream maker.

Most important: how hot must you heat the mixture (as measured with a thermometer, no ambiguous 'until done' instructions here), and how hot is TOO hot.

There aren't a lot of recipes here. A few examples and variations so you can understand the theory and techniques. So if you are looking for a collection of vast numbers of recipes (and you already know the theory and how to make ice cream) then this isn't for you. But if you are new to making ice cream and have yet to learn WHY the things the recipes call for are in there then this is for you.

A book to learn the theory from and apply it to all the recipes you find elsewhere.

As Cook's Illustrated readers would expect, this book deconstructs ice cream making with every detail you could want. I'd get this book first, then get a book with a zillion recipes. You can use the techniques in this book to adapt and perfect recipes from any other source.

I've never been moved to write a review before, but after my first successful batch of ice-cream (following many miserable failures) - I decided that I must share my joy.

First of all, this is a lovely little hard bound book. It will take up a tiny space on your shelves - and, most importantly, it is easy to hold with one hand while you are fastidiously stirring custard with the other.

Texture had been a problem for me since I recieved my Cuisinart ice-cream maker for Christmas. I've had some batches that just wouldn't freeze - some with so much cream that they left a buttery film of fat on the spoon and one unfortunate creation that went directly from machine to garbage disposal. Believe it or not I was following recipes. But some are very general in describing how to know when something is done, like how thick a custard should be. It was actually very liberating to have the very specific and exact temperatures given by this book.

The introduction and Master Vanilla Recipe are priceless. As are the explanations of correct temperatures and proportions.

I have to admit that I've been egg phobic in my recipe hunting. So many recipes call for an obscene amount of eggs and the thought of six to eight eggs in a pint of ice cream gives me the heeby geebies. The authors have tested many milk/cream/egg/sugar proportions to come up with the best flavor and best texture. Early in the book they explain the purpose of egg yolks in ice cream to emulsify the dairy fat. This is especially important to home made ice cream since we won't be using chemical emulsifiers like commercial brands. What was helpful for me was the section on them trying different amounts of eggs to get the right texture - without that eggy taste.

There are also some very nice illlustrations of what the egg yolk and sugar mix should look like after beating them, and some handy tips like how to peel hazelnuts.

I highly recommend this book AND a digital candy/oil thermometer (I got mine from Williams Sonoma - but Amazon.com may have one too). I was literally stunned by the silky texture of my Hazelnut Gellato and how quickly it froze to 'soft-serve' texture - and the flavor! It was all I could do not to eat the entire batch right from the machine!

I like the details inlcuded in this book, like the logic
parts. An example would be, how does the pilot enter the mecha,
or how the cockpit looks like, or what the suit should look like
and so on...

His style though, is only moderate, and if you really REALLY
want to learn to draw robots, you should take
a look at "How To Draw Manga - Giant Robots" by Hikaru Hayashi.

Having both books can give you an excellent insight on the genre,
and lets you make your own style, because that's what it's all
about!

I loved this book about Japannese Mecha drawn by and American artist...Hart does a great job here by presenting a "detailed" catalogue of mecha drawing... This book is not only for begginers but for advanced artists who finally recognize japanesse cartoon styles rule this days...Great book!!

What a great book. He goes through all the important aspects gradually, and shows you how to draw perspectives, detail, how to emphasize certain features, and just about anything you need to know. The examples rock hard, and he really does a great job of getting you started on drawing mecha. A great book, hands down.

Now go buy it!

One of what is becoming a library of works on golf course designs written by leading architects - fun thing here is that not only do you hear from Nicklaus the architect but also get more insight into Nicklaus the golfer (something not found in books by Trent Jones, Trent Jones II or Fazio in their books).
What is surprising are the sometimes very technical descriptions of drainage, irrigation and agriculture that you don't find in books of the other leading architects. As with the other books of this type on the market, lots of great pictures, lots of great stories and narratives about designing of particular courses and just generally interesting stuff about golf and golf courses.

This book is a masterpiece. It is very rich in its contents. It is not only interesting and historic but explains the creativity of design and the thought process that goes into designing a great golf course. Millard, Nicklaus, and Dye who could come up with better names in the Golf World. Millard in his beautiful wit and writing, Nicklaus in his play and design and Dye with his creativity. A must read for anyone who has played the game of golf. The photography and pictures are beautiful. Read,relax, and enjoy this wonderful book.

Of all the books I have read by Jack Nicklaus, this is the most accessible. Who would have thought that the subject of golf course design could evoke such excellent writing and superb description. Nicklaus has finally teamed with a writer to match the caliber of his own golfing and design ability.

I only wish that Nicklaus -- or his Boswell, Millard -- would have taken the time to compare Nicklaus's style to the classic links-style courses such as Saint Andrew's and Fenwick.

A great write and a great read!