For anyone who used the AAOS's "Orange Book" for their EMT-B course, this book is an excellent choice because it gives you a different perspective on the same things. Of course, the Brady series is solid reference material anyway.

For anyone who used the AAOS's "Orange Book" for their EMT-B course, this book, under the Brady name, is a good book to have because you get a different perspective on the same things. Of course, the Brady series has always been solid anyway.

...this is a two inch paperback book with 216 anecdotes, precepts and lessons from various Zen teachers of the Song Dynasty in China. Some interesting history and discussion appears in the 30-odd pages of the Translator's Introduction at the beginning of the book...Thomas Clary says of this period that Zen was "characterized by complexity of form and ingenious imagery with multiple meaning" and so, one finds many ambiguities in the lessons. And also there's much discussion on what the nature of Zen (Tang vs Song Dynasties) and what the way of the Sages should be. That should not, however, stop the modern day student (whether in business, politics or some other leadership position) from seeking some of the lessons offered in the book. In fact, Clary also translated Sun Tzu's "The Art of War", most recently found in corporate bookshelves.

It is said that there is nothing new under the sun. Certainly the issues facing leaders today are comparable to those that have faced leaders across cultures and throughout time. Human nature has not changed, and therefore the fundamentals of leadership -- the process of channeling human nature in a particular direction -- have not changed.

"Zen Lessons: The Art of Leadership" conveys this message in spades. In the format of a series of compact passages, it presents excerpts from the cumulative wisdom of thousands of years of experience with continual political society. The insights and lessons contained in this book are as poignant today as they were when they were first put forth; the reader will be astounded, gratified, and ideally energized to pursue a path of virtuous leadership in his or her personal and professional life.

This reviewer highly recommends this book for those in corporate, governmental, public or private positions of leadership, as! well as for the general reader. After all, it is the duty of the citizenry to expect great things from those it follows.

If you liked Kung Pow, you'll love this book. Or if you like this book, you'll love Kung Pow! This book is absolutely hilarious. It's great bathroom reading material. I've read it through three times now, and I'm still laughing out loud, literally. People wonder what I'm doing in there! I just tell them I'm with Mike Keefe. You should get this book, if not for what's in it, get it for the funny picture of Mike Keefe on the back. If not for that, use it for toilet paper.

This book offers some really insightful pieces on the Pope John Paul II's "Veritatas Splendor." Especially thought-provoking was O'Keefe's piece on Augustine and perfectionism. A great resource for those who really want to think through this Vatican document.

Excellent book, and extremely informative; I just completed the EMT-Basic course and the National Registry exam. The book was a wonderful source of knowledge, and reference. What I would like to see is perhaps a cheaper, paperback version of the book come out; we completed the course and had to return the book, and I just think that if it was more accessible, more students would have purchased it, instead of signing it out.

As a future EMT-B student I wanted to buy some books prior to my course beginning. I bought Mosby's, Aehlert's, and Brady's books. I finally got to this one (being the last I was to read), and have to say this is the best Ive seen so far. With clear concise text, and abundance of knowledge, real life situations, and amazing pictures (which Aehlert's has almost none of), I must say that this book is not only the most informative, but is also the most user friendly. It has a great index, glossary, and the anatomy pictures are cut outs of REAL humans. I mean it just doesn't get any better than this. I just found out a few days ago this is the book my instructor is going to use, and for a good reason!

This EMT Emergency book ROCKS! As an EMT student, I find this book to surpass all other EMT books in print. The whole class loves the book as well. I recommend getting the, self study Workbook that accompanies the textbook. Without a doubt, it wins a Gold Metal and a Five Star Award for outstanding publication and instruction into the field of the EMT - Basic.

Pat Conroy brings his characters from some world in which nobody can possibly be in the right situation. A military father, married to a gentle lady with weak children; a southern lady who has a vulgar family; a cynical girl with optimistic siblings; and a boy who just can't cut it being tough.

Ben has the typical abusive military father. Ben draws some sense of false motivation from his father's insults and threats, so he never can truly grow by himself. Ben fears his father, yet at the same time, has some sense of loyalty that holds them together.

Ben as a person is too weak to challenge his father's cruel treatments. He needs to conform to the expectations of his parents, as well as society, even though he is an outcast. Near the end of the book, when Ben assumes the role as family leader, although he has shown some growth, he hasn't avoided conforming to his father's expectations. Mary Anne still flicks tears at the back of his neck in the car, as she did to her father in the beginning.

Conroy has the ability to place characters in seemingly impossible situations, and yet somehow their struggle makes a good story.

It's arguable that Pat Conroy is the Faulkner of the 'Boomer generation, and this story is a good argument for the opinion that some warriors should not raise families. The syndrome of "bringing the job home" can really get out of hand. Bull Meecham (a.k.a. "the Great Santini") has only his Southern Belle--Philosophical Version wife to counteract his attempts to turn his household into a boot camp and his children into grunts (until I read this book, I thought my own WWII generation Dad was the poster child for vets who never really became civilians again--at least my old man wasn't still serving). "Santini" is without a doubt an asset to his jet fighter wing, but he's managed to father a son who's got an identity crisis from trying to emulate the old man without being enough of a hardcase to bring it off. There's also a daughter whose above-average intelligence, combined with the household invironment, has made her into an aggressive cynic. Then there's a baby sister who's still young enough for naiivite, but you can't help but speculate about what kind of person she'll turn out to be later in life. "Santini" is a curious mixture of a superlative fighthing man and a lousy parent.

This was the first Pat Conroy novel I ever had the privelege to read. I have recommended it over and over to numerous friends, relatives, and the like. Conroy tells us, sometimes in brutally honest terms, what it is to grow up trapped in a military family. From his own real-life experiences that he has woven into his novel, we are tormented, debating whether or not we love or hate Bull Meecham, the symbol of old-corps Marines that fought so hard for our country. Kudos to Conroy on this one! My favorite of all the novels. I have read this book over 15 times already and every time I reread it, I gather new insight and new appreciation for his mastery of the English language. Conroy's scenery alone is enough to buy this book! No one else can paint a picture of the American South like Pat Conroy!

WROX books used to be the only ones I'd buy; after having a grand ol' time with the ASP and ASP Databases series. The Professional series has been a real disappointment (and waste of money!). The books tend to be more wordy than necessary and spend too much time on the obvious and too little on the abstract. Cold Fusion is a fairly straight-forward programming language. WROX has somehow managed to make it much more. Perhaps too many cooks in the kitchen; looks like they had 18 authors put this beast together.
Look elsewhere...

Being a ColdFusion user group president, I give this book my seal of approval. This book is well written with easy to understand examples. It will help someone with no CF knowledge all the way to the experts. This book is well laid out and is enjoyable to read. I didn't know what to expect from Wrox on this. I have been a huge Ben Forta fan but this book is just as good as his (if not better)! If you want to learn CF, or just want to get better, buy this book. You will be very happy with it.

This is a very good book!
Vale a pena galera!

I found myself, overall, agreeing with one of the reviewers when he stated specifically that "Walden" is not a book to be read purely for enjoyment, it is not a thrilling read or even a very deep one in general but then one must remember in which time we live and the style used by Thoreau is one of the mid 19th Century which was prone to the type of writing he uses. Anyone who has read other novels of the time or rather written in that period will find similar styles eg James Fenimoore Cooper, Charles Dickens etc. In addition this is not a novel but rather a retelling of experiences of one man in his own adventure as he would put it.

That is not to say that Thoreau does not illuminate or at times give remarkable insights especially when it came to some of the people he met who had fascinating ways of life eg the woodcutter. The book varies from downright mundane and tedious to being very insightful and beautiful. Its amazing how someone can do this as he writes, verging from one extreme to the other. But then it was written from journal notes as he lived his life in the woods over two years experience and during that time a person changes as he adapts to his new way of life. At first its very exciting and new, any new experience is always full of a kind of life shock whether it be painful or joyful, the thinking mind, the mind absorbed in everyday "safe" tasks which define the "normal" life are absent in this new environment which requires new creative energies to survive, after a while this way of life becomes the accepted one and starts to be drained of the vitality it possessed at the beginning as one is fully acclimatised to it and it becomes the norm, after this stage comes the usual safety associated with the walls created to keep life ordinary rather than really being alive. This is hard to do when living in the woods by yourself where you need constant awareness to survive unless its a little too close to civilisation which provides the safety net which Thoreau always had available to him. But still during the period where he was very much alive and aware, life is lived without need for too much unnecessary thought, and this is the place from where insights and great creativity burst forth.

If one wants to know what it is like to be really truly alive in the moment and you are afraid to try it yourself and would rather read about it then try the books "Abstract Wild" by Jack Turner or "Grizzly Years" by Peacock. Am I wrong to criticise Thoreau so much ? Yes and no, eg Yes:see the comments by John Ralston Saul on exactly this aspect of Thoreau's writing, No: look at your own life or mine for example, in each case we do not escape this ordinary life we ourselves create. For the purely lived life expressed in poetry look at the poems by Basho, no clearer or more beautiful expression of life has yet been written. I say written not lived, lived can't be written down in full only a brief glimpse or shadow of it is possible even with Basho.

As regards what is said it often betrays Thoreau's astonishingly well read mind, quotes from the Baghvad Gita or other Hindu texts surprise because in Throeau's day very few people would ever have bothered to read the Indian works, the average American thought his own life and European works to be far superior. Thoreau often quotes Latin, often without reference, and the notes at the end of the book are very helpful. Thoreau's experience becomes the one Americans want to live at least without being in too much danger as he would have been in the true wild still available at that time in the lives of say the trappers or mountain men of the Rockies or any native American. As such it is an in between way of living wild.

So Thoreau's work is definitely worth reading even for only the historical value or the literature it represents. It stands by itself.

After I crashed and burned in a college intro to philosophy course, I wanted to see if I could find a work by someone who was both a thinker and a writer.

Thoreau, in his book Walden, proves himself to be it.

Walden is the narrative of the author's two year stay at the aforementioned pond. He has decided to live life simply, and in a collection of loosely connected essays, he describes the people, animals, and the pond that make up his new home. If you haven't spent real time out in nature, you might think this book is ridiculous. But go into the woods, and stay there until boredom and longing for the city stops. Just then you'll realize the awe he felt when examining the ice bubbles and listening to vagabond squirells. Thoreau has rediscovered the patches of Eden that still exist in the world. And if we are open-minded enough to listen to his instructions, we can find our way back to them.

Even if his insights into the idyllic perfection in nature fail to sway you to live more lightly in the world, Thoreau will open your eyes to the benefits of philosophy. He understands the man who marches to the beat of a different drummer, and shows through his clear, crisp text the results that thought and contemplation can hold for anyone.

This book screams simplicity!

In this book, Henry David Thoreau takes an extended look beyond human nature and human habit. He brings forth a new and exciting view point on life and teaches how to live in happiness without the confusion of mechanical materials. I had to read this book for a 9th grade Language Arts assignment, and I had never heard of Walden or Thoreau before this project was assigned. When I completed this book, I felt very refreshed. It encouraged me to take a second look at my own life, and simply discard of the things which were causing complications or confusion. This book stretched past the limits and capacity of my mind as a 9th grade student. It forced me to think. Judging by the majority of my peers, I am convinced that anything that would force them to THINK harder, deserves 5 shining stars.

What I enjoyed most are the characters in the story whose personalities and quirks persisted to the end. I liked especially those who stood on the sidelines such as the bubbly Kim; the librarian, Mrs. Cleaver, who would sneak out for a smoke; the honorable Dr. Berlins; the ready-to-help Candice and the peculiar Nose. The children of Lomax were also endearing, as well as Deputy Dawg. However, Julia remained cold throughout and I could not empathize with her miseries and loneliness even at the end. I know that there is a connection with Lomax' resolution of his earlier suspicions regarding Dr. Berlins that contributed to his change in the end but I could not really feel it the way I wanted to. I think that there should have been more in the final confrontation between Lomax and Julia.

This book is fairly interesting, but with a distinct lack of cohesion throughout. After the second read, it becomes apparent that most of the book is poorly developed and that the only suspense and interest is from the rather unusual and surprising ending - which could also have been a lot better with some serious development. (I almost missed it totally the first time round)

One of the best mystery suspense novels I've ever read, and I'm very critical! Extremely literate, complex, and believable, as well as being very very creepy. Read it practically all at one sitting, couldn't put it down. Up there with Presumed Innocent and Silence of the Lambs, don't know why it's not more popular here in the US.

As it is often the case with WROX books, this one is glued from pieces written by different authors. Reading their books is like having deja vues all the time. The synergy among chapters is quite poor.

Compared to Kothari's book this one merely scratches the surface and leaves a lot of important details by the side. If I hadn't read Nikhil Kotari's book first, I would've been completely confused by this piece. Don't get me wrong---the book *does* have valuable information for developing server controls *if you are not a beginner*.

Would I recommend this book? Only if you go through Nikhil Kothari's book first and then want to learn a few more tricks. Don't expect to be taught much from this book.

Overall, 2 stars for inadequate coverage and a ton of typos and errors in the samples and throughout the text. I really wish WROX quit releasing hodge podge books and did a better job at reviewing them prior to publishing.

For the price you may expect twice the book (a tad over 400 pages is small in tech books terms), but don't be fooled, the content of this book is very rich and much of it is hard to come by otherwise. Unless you enjoy spending hours digging though the msdn and Microsoft newsgroups, this book is for you!

As with many of the newer Wrox titles, this one is organized more like a collection of articles. This format has been the cause of many bad reviews, and while I don't care for the article approach most of the time, on Pro ASP.NET Server Controls... it works quite well. I bought the book with a specific task in mind, I needed to create a unique custom control that had multiple child controls inside of it, my only previous knowledge of server controls was what I had from the Professional ASP.NET book (which equates to about a chapter of this book) the material found in the Pro ASP.NET book left me with more questions than answers and I needed something to help me really understand what goes on inside and out of a web server control and how to integrate properly with the .NET Framework, with this book I achieved that goal within three hours of reading and experimenting, it truely was a life saver for helping meet one of our milestones.

So why only four stars? Well, as others have pointed out, the book isn't perfect, I did have to use the VS.NET on-line help to lookup how to generate client-side script for postback events, better examples could have been provided, but overall it's very good.

This is probably one of the best recent books from Wrox. Typically, there books have been rehashes of older books or simple a rehash of the Microsoft documentation. Someone once told me the value of the book is inversely proportional to the number of authors, but I can say that is not the case with book. Very good coverage for writing server controls.

This book gives good coverage to the creating of server controls, with decent coverage of some very advanced aspects of building server controls.

It does suffer however from very simplistic examples that don't have much application in the real world.