Mr. Bumble, the endearing character in this beautifully told story, tickles my young readers. With its classic charm and beautiful illustrations, it has become the most requested book in my house for story-telling!

Anyone who has ever bumbled in life will love this book! A perfect marriage between text and illustration, MR. BUMBLE teaches us all about overcoming life's obstacles and the unexpected friends we meet along the way. My six year old absolutely loves this book!

This folk story is retold with all the spice of a Cajun jambalaya. San Souci, interweaving several variants of the funny tale, places his characters in the bayou country of Louisiana, where they set out to catch fish for their gumbo. Their comical misadventures reach a climax when the mathematically challenged fisherman decide to count each other "to be sure we all safe." Whoever does the counting always comes up with five, forgetting to count himself, leading the men to conclude that one of them must be dead. Kennedy's cartoon-style illustrations, created with acrylic on velum, are a perfect accompaniment to the story. A short, helpful glossary, as well as an author's note directing readers to more information on Cajun culture, can be found at the end. Suited for ages 5 and up, this book would make a fun read-aloud. A word of caution, however: It's peppered with Cajun dialect, so be sure to practice first!

One day six brothers decide to go fishing. When it was time to go home they all counted to see if they had six brothers.The first brother counted five and the second brother counted five.All of the brothers counted five,and those foolish fishermen thought they had a lost brother.Read this book to find out how they became six foolish fishermen all over again.

My daughter LOVES this book! We sat up in her bed the other night ROARING with laughter over these 6 Foolish Fishermen. She's only 7 but she understood their silly, foolish mistakes. (. . .)

This is a collection of letters written from Hunter's Childhood up to his successful Hell's Angels book. The most interesting thing about this book is the immense difficulty he had selling his stories and the desperate poverty in which he lived for years as a struggling writer. I guess like all people I kind of thought that someone this brilliant was just embraced by literary circles, and any problems he had was because he was a drunken, drugged out, crazy freak who upset everyone who tried to help him. This was not the case.
Like many geniuses Hunter was so far ahead of everyone that he had to wait for them to catch up.
The humor is so funny that it almost impossible not to crack up on every page, even in the midst of terrible personal turmoil Hunter was one funny man.
ONE problem, I wish that there were more letters FROM the people he wrote to over the years. Some of the funniest moments were the letters he received from people over the years. More of those exchanges would have helped and made the book much more interesting. That is why it is not 5 stars. It is still worth reading. Especially if you want to be a writer.

I have just got through reading this collection of Letters and found it to be worthwhile reading. I received the book as a gift and was not aware of a Fear and Loathing Letters Volume. I found this to be a highway of following (if anyone possibly could) and watching Thompson grow as a writer. While at the Air Force Base working as an editor of the Sports Section, he wrote to his family and friends as well as ex-girlfriends. Probably because he was away from home for the first time.

As the years go on the more this book became more interesting. Between following all over this country we follow him to South America were some of his best articles came from. I have read Hell's Angels and The Great Shark Hunt and found this to tie in with those books. Through his consumption of Old Crow and god only knows what else, we see letters to LBJ, various magazine editors, and Mr. Semonin and start to see the Hunter we all know and love to come out. The thing that makes him "likeable" is his blunt honesty, since he calls them as he sees them. He is intelligent and knows a lot about everything. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read Thompson!

If anything this book offers a chance to see what makes this amazing mind tick!

Perhaps, as Hunter Thompson suggests in The Proud Highway, people really do take more of a liking to his letters and not his serious work. This statement is easily endorsed by the fine contents that surround it. This is the perfect book for a typical Thompson fan, a collection of eccentric one plus page letters that suit a person with a short attention span. His sylistic prose is best received in short bursts, such as essays, articles, and letters. The letter format also allows us to see the evolution and experimentation Thompson has endured in his life. This pre-gonzo collection is Thompson as himself, not the "Raoul Duke" character he has personified in the past. While Hunter seems incapable of writing anything unautobiographical, the fact remains he is far more qualified to tell this story than any hack biographer seeking to romanticize and sensationalize Thompson's myth for a profit. The Proud Highway tells Thompson's story in a much more engaging fashion than the biographies, though there is no lack of effort and emulation in any of these books. This book should be required reading for aspiring authors.

I'm thoroughly happy with this book as it is very easy to understand and follow. However, one or two of the tutorials are very dodgy indeed. Like for example the Tidal Wave effect on the CD is not very good, the wave looks extremely fake and out of place. But apart from that, the rest of this book is very well made and presented. A must buy for any intermediate users.

One of the big gripes I hear from people using tutorial books for software is that they are linear. (They make you start with the apple, then they let you model the tree, and somewhere way down they road you get to model Johnny Appleseed.) This is not the case with 3dMax 3 Magic. Each chapter introduces a new technique on a new tutorial model. In one chapter you are shown how to make realistic looking water surfaces, in another you are being shown how to make the best looking car paint I've ever seen. Like the title of this review states, this is a goodie bag. It is for the Intermediate to Advanced user who wants a "How To" on some of the things Max 3 has to offer. The Authors of the book assume that you atleast know your way around the application. I'm happy to have this book on my shelf, right next to my computer!

This is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to enhance their abilities with 3D Studio MAX 3. It goes beyond the MAX tutorials to show you how to create effects that obviously took some of these professionals a long time to perfect. The car paint material chapter alone is worth the price of the book. My only complaint is that it's too short.

Having visited New York in early 2001, and being a keen fan of Kennedy, I grabbed his then new work with keen interest.

Kennedy has written his most complete work to date. While his previous works were superb, ranging from travel books, to three well executed thriller-page turners, Pursuit represents an ambitious advance.

The plot centers on a relationship based in the Marcarthyist period in the US, and the principal location is New York.

Having only just visited New York for the first time, I greatly enjoyed Kennedy's description of NYC main streets and avenues that I had only just visited weeks before.

The advance for Kennedy comes in his greater scope of plot and storyline, and even his greater self confidence as a novelist. He manages to very competently convey the issues, concerns and emotions of his main character, a woman in 1950's America.

I loved this book - could not put it down. It is utterly involving and feels real. No cop-outs, great characterisation, good plot, rich language - a quality pageturner.

This is an outstanding work of nonfiction, which the reader may choose to take on faith. Most of Mr. Douglas' work is based partly on Freedom of Information Act inquiries and other documentation made privately available to hims from such individuals as former deputy director Crowley of the CIA. To his credit, Mr. Douglas does show reproductions of crucial documents, and the reader can judge the internal consistency of the material, cross-references, and the like.

This book blows all previous theories of the assassination out of the water, and a subdued was, allowing the historical material to speak almost for itself. In that regard, it is chilling. For example, over 3,000 names of CIA "contacts" are reported by name, address, and zip code from Mr. Crowley's file. Certain heretofore "taken-for-granted" aspects of the behaviour of Oswald, Ruby, and the Dallas Police are analyzed easily to lead to quite different conclusions from other conspiracy theory and the Warren Commission Report, which emerges as a work of political fiction generated to pacify a terrorized populace and nervous leadership.

This will change how you think about the asssassination and other aspects of government, and the consequences of your voting (or your vote not being counted). Your view of the purported democracy (or republic) you live in will change forever. However, this is worth the equivalent of a night at the movies on the same subjects, or a matinee with popcorn, plus you can reread it and show it to your companions, friends, and enemies!

With 40 years of background in the intelligence community, I approached this book with some concern and strong doubts. Now, after having read it through, twice, and talking with a number of my friends, I have to say that this book, REGICIDE by Gregory Douglas, is brilliant, decisive and answers any and all questions I ever had on the tragic events of November 22, 1963. Douglas has taken official documents concerning this terrible business and set them out in a very clear and decisive way that can leave no doubt that this is as close to the truth as we will ever get. It deserves to be read by assassination buffs and casuall readers as well who have been bombarded with hundreds of vague and speculative treatments. It is also a very clear, powerfully presented thesis that has left me stunned. Unlike the famous fake Hitler and Goebbels "diaries" we have seen in the past, this book is as accurate and believable as anything, any official report, that I have ever read. I cannot praise the efforts of Mr. Douglas to get at the truth enough. I think that anyone reading this will want his friends to read it as well. First class exposition all the way around!!
Carl Huskins

There have been many books published on the assassination of John Kennedy. All of them but one consist of supposition, theory and opinion. Some are very well written and others are pure nonsense.
This new book, Regicide, by Douglas, contains 60 pages of official documentation and, fortunately, none of the usual pictures.
This book is very logically and clearly written. Its message is quite simply that Kennedy was killed by order of senior leaders of the CIA because he and his brother, the Attorney General, were in contact with the Soviets and passing what the CIA considered sensitive material to them.
It appears that Kennedy, mindful of the dangers of confrontation with a major nuclear power, decided to establish personal contact with Khruschev. He did this through his brother and was able to defuse several serious international crises. By doing this, Kennedy bypassed the CIA and rendered their expensive projects obsolete.
This book uses an extensive report by the DIA in 1978 on the Soviet intelligence reports on the assassination. The author has published the entire file of relevant papers, both in the text and in fascimilie. The cover letter to the DIA report is signed by Colonel Driscoll, chief of the Soviet section of that agency. The information contained in this report, which includes the Soviet reports, will come as no surprise to those of us remaining who were privy to the matters covered.
This material came from Bob Crowley, the retired deputy director of Clandestine Operations of the CIA and a close friend of many of the plotters. This certainly is a book that should be read and understood by intelligence personnel, historians and concerned Americans.
As as added bonus, the Crowley papers published also include a 3,000+ list of names and addresses of known "intelligence sources and personnel" in Europe and the United States.
Well-researched, heavily footnoted and massively documented, this book is a real stunner.

Walter Storch

Astonishingly gripping for the first two-thirds of its length, THE BIG PICTURE has it all: great concept, superb characterizations, vivid style, and a compelling pace. The lead character, Ben Bradford, is a failed photographer who has become a dull-but-prosperous trusts-&-estates lawyer on Wall Street. Bradford's life is shattered when he discovers his wife is having an affair with the loser next door. An anguished Bradford confronts the lover, who taunts Bradford mercilessly. Bradford kills the man with a wine bottle. Rashly, he decides to cover up the murder by staging his own death and assuming the identity of the man he killed. This book is breathtakingly well-written, and perfectly captures the quiet desperation and abandoned dreams of working professionals in the 1990s. Candidly, around page 250, the book suffers from the "Indecent Proposal" syndrome, namely, once the spectacular deed is done, the intensity of the plot lurches to a disappointing halt. Things heat up again while on the lam in Montana. Still, The Big Picture is unputdownable good and Kennedy shows Grishamesque promise

Ben Bradford is one unhappy Manhattan lawyer. His half million-dollar house and 300K salary are not enough to keep his wife satisfied and their once happy marriage is heading downhill fast. When Ben discovers his wife is having an affair with a neighborhood looser, a confrontation occurs that changes Ben's life forever.

Have you ever dreamed of leaving it all behind, turning your back on a career you hate, a sour marriage and starting entirely over? How about faking your own death, changing your name, and moving to a small city in the middle of no where? If you've ever considered it, then this book is for you.

Douglas Kennedy has written a compelling, easy to read novel, with superb diction. The author masterfully added suspense where I least expected it, and left me hanging at the end of several chapters. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end and would recommend it highly. For me, there were a couple of minor flaws, specifically some inconsistencies with Rudy Warren's character, which prevented me from giving a 5 star rating. However, this was a great read and I would certainly read more of Kennedy's work.

Douglas Kennedy has written a well-crafted novel for yuppies burdened by mid-life crises and itching to be free. At its heart, it is as much a novel of ideas about identity, the burdens of obligations and honesty to one's self as a traditional narrative. But what makes it fun and interesting is that the story works just fine as a cliff-hanger(almost to the very end). The launching pad for Kennedy's meditation is the story of a miserable no-longer-young lawyer at a big New York City law firm who lives in the elite suburbs of Connecticut and whose marriage has been slowly disintegrating. When our hero discovers his wife is having an affair, a confrontation with her lover unexpectedly escalates into murder. Rather than throw himself on the mercy of the justice system, the lawyer determines to escape, which means, he quickly concludes, that he must disappear. From this premise, reader is invited to ponder perhaps the ultimate "what-if" question: How would my life change if I had to walk away -- irr

Douglas Kennedy is great a taking an arrogant yuppie, and bringing him down a few pegs, and does a great job here. For some reason, it's fun to see Ned Allen's high-style life fall apart, and then watch him try to hold it together. One big quibble: Any time the protagonist or anyone else flew somewhere (South or East or out of the Country) Kennedy would always mention in the book that it was an American Airlines flight. Even a flight to Cayman is on American Eagle. It was so distracting, at one point, for no reason, Ned is asked, "Are you flying Delta" and he says, "no, American." I thought maybe the airline figured into the plot later, but now, having finished the book, I'm wondering if Kennedy received a stipend from the airline!

Otherwise, it was a quick, fun, page-turning read, and ironically, I finished the book while flying an American flight from Boston to LA, so maybe the subliminal messages worked!

Formulaic? Yes. Reminiscent of John Grisham? Sure. A real page turner? You betcha!!! "THE JOB", Douglas Kennedy's follow up to his terrific debut novel "THE BIG PICTURE", is a rollicking good read, and like his first book, deals with the Hitchcockian dilemma of a good man tripped up by fate. Ned Allen, an ad salesman for a successful computer magazine, seems to have it all---a beautiful wife, a Manhattan apartment. Then his company is sold, and he's fired. On the verge of losing everything, he takes what seems to be a job too good to be true, and discovers he has become a pawn in a dangerous game. Kennedy has an easy way with narrative, and sharp, witty dialogue that keeps you obsessively turning pages. His two books prove he's great at what he does, and I eagerly await his next book!!!

Fans of Steven Frey (The Takeover) will love this book! It starts out centering on the daily highly pressured business of selling advertising in the computer magazine business. It then progresses to corporate takeovers, off-shore investment funds, and money laundering.

The main character, Ned Allen, is one of the best salesmen there is because of his "closing" ability. His decision to follow ethical rules leads him to lose his job, his wife, and be literally thrown out to the street with no future prospects.

Desperate for anything to keep him going he meets up with Jerry Schubert, a friend from his old hometown. Jerry seems to be a godsend, taking Ned in and helping with many of his prior problems (credit card debts, etc.) with ready cash and a fairly well-paying job. As usual, what seems too good to be true, is in fact that. As Ned finds out he is sucked into being a "slave" for Jerry and his shady dealings. A situation, which seems there is no way out of.

I read this book in half the time it normally takes me to read a book. It is one of those difficult to put down books. I found myself stopping at the end of a chapter but being so intrigued that I needed to look ahead to the next chapter.

The only distraction is that the book is written in first person. When dealing with thriller type fiction I usually don't like this technique because you know right up front that the storyteller is not going to die so some of the suspense is lost.

I recently read another Kennedy book called "The Big Picture." As much as I liked that one, I think this book is superior overall.