Again and again we hear it, but it's true: John McPhee can interest a reader in anything. He manages to combine a richly sedimented prose, which frequently rises to a level of virtuosity of which 95% of novelists would be envious, with a tangible involvement in the activities of the people he writes about. And he does always write, first and foremost, about people. 'Coming into the Country' is McPhee's longest single book and contains about ten capsule biographies (and quite a bit of modest autobiography, too) in addition to observations on the hibernation of bears, the various techniques of panning for gold, the advantages of sled-dogs against snow-machines, the failings of bush-pilots, and three-dozen other disquisitions.

Without wishing to carp, I do think that the book is a shade too long -- the final section 'Coming into the Country' could profitably have been pruned of about forty pages -- but the greater length does allow the reader to see the effort McPhee goes to to provide his stories with an aesthetically pleasing structure. The first section, 'The Encircled River' deposits us, in medias res, halfway down a tributary of one of Alaska's northenmost rivers. McPhee and his companions travel downriver to the confluence of a larger river, and then we head back to the headwaters of the earlier river -- the story describes an encircling pattern. The second part 'What they were looking for' is a very funny record of a helicopter trip taken by a committee established to decide on a new capital for Alaska. Here the story skips around the theme as the chopper skips around proposed sites for the new metropolis. It's in the final section which gives the book its title that McPhee really lets loose, leaping from the present to the past, from those living on the river to those encamped in the small town of Eagle, back to the Indian village, on to a white mountain trapper and his Indian wife, back to the first goldrush era in the Yukon valley, all the time incorporating off-the-record views of Eagle townspeople, journal entries, his own observations of the breathtaking landscape. It's a tour-de-force. McPhee is the best journalist in the English-speaking world. Alaska is a wonderful place. The meeting of the two is something to behold.

In the late 1970's my mother and father were inspired by John McPhee's Coming Into the Country to the point of venturing out onto the open highway. I was but two years old, headed across America, from Georgia to Alaska, towards Eagle, the tiny community that McPhee discusses with a keen eye in the third section of his book. I spent my childhood in that community and it would not be until I was fully grown that I would actually read his book. Just a couple of years ago, when I was attending college in Georgia, I became homesick for Alaska and decided to read the book that had been so impressive to my parents. I was amazed by McPhee's way of seeing the truth in something foreign to him -- how he described the people of Eagle. I highly recommend this book to all those who wish to venture into the land of Alaska, whether in their actual travels or in their imagination.

McPhee lets the reader feel just how huge Alaska is-almost wider than the mind. From geological to political history Coming into the Country shows how it got that way. I picked this up at the airport in Fairbanks, and kept it in my pack to savor after returning to the wilds of Philadelphia. McPhee's sense of adventure and storytelling, his close interaction with the people and the land, make this the Portable Alaska.

I profess to be of a young age, and those who don't know me would probably consider my experience with musical theatre to be rather inextensive. I am, however, even at a young age, a Stephen Sondheim admirer. Yet even I, whose favorite musical is the ghastly and mind-numbing masterpiece "Sweeny Todd," was not entirely prepared for the unabashed "Assassins."

Assassins combines all the would be and have been presidential assassins of the United State's history and throws them all into a timeless world where Charles Guiteau (Garfield) can chat with Leon Czolgosz (McKinley) and Sam Byck (Nixon) at a bar while John Wilkes Booth (Lincoln) reads a copy of Variety magazine. It is more of a revue than anything, but the music (which you MUST own if you're going to buy the libretto) is so moving and so powerful it actually is able to draw sympathy for Lincoln's assassin. If the prospect of feeling pity or sympathy for Lee Harvey Oswald makes you angry, Assassins is not my recommendation.

Indeed, Sondheim and Weidman sucessfully made me feel sorry for Leon Czolgosz and Booth and Oswald and nearly all the characters in the musical. Some may think it unpatriotic; I think it presents the other side to woefully biased history lessons claiming the Assassins to be vengeful madmen searching for chaos. Assassins truly brings to light what's wrong with the American dream, and for any history buff, Sondheim fan, or just plain theater fan, Assassins is a MUST have.

This is a fine example of 20th century writing which focuses on issues that most people would rather not think about. How many of us have sat through history class and learned that John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln and never even thought about why? What is most surprising about the play (and music) is that you really begin to understand why these people thought they should try to kill the President. Unfortunately this musical will go down as one of the most seldom performed because of it's subject matter and the fact that people will believe it promotes the assasins. Sondheim and Weidman seem to make quite a statement about gun possesion as well as the insanity of the perpetrators. Samuel Byck's monologue alone is enough reason to buy this book and I plan to use it in an audition if given the chance.

Unbelievable -- stunning, tragic, poignant, frightening; Sondheim and Weidman take one of the most bizarre subjects for a musical and make it totally accessible. It's a piece of theatre which doesn't just revolve around assassination, but examines what it is and what it means (or should mean) to be an American. There are moments of high hilarity (the almost vaudevillian comedy teaming of would-be Gerald Ford assassins Sara Jane Moore and "Squeaky" Fromme) as well as moments of heartbreak and pathos (the monologues of Sam Byck, who highjacked a jetliner and attempted to crash it into the White House in order to kill Richard Nixon). Certainly not a piece of musical theatre for all audiences or all tastes, but one which is compelling, innovative, and thought-provoking. A must for all fans of Stephen Sondheim's work, or for deep and complex works of theatre in general.

I have read all six of the diadem series at least a zillion times. Though i get teased alot by my older brother, Robert(16) for reading "childish books" i can't help but love them. I wish that John Peel would write more of the diadem books so that i can read them over and over again till they fall apart!!!! I've read like every book he's written and so has my friend, Lisa(13, soon to be 14). Though the books are recomended for ages 9-12 i'm 14 and love them!! Have i said that already? Oh well, i just wrote this to beg Mr.Peel to have mercy on my poor soul and to please PLEASE write more of the DIADEM books:the greatest series ever written!!!!

Diadem 4 tells of great of 3 kids who have to help Thunder the unicorns leader to stop marmanki from taking his herd. This should be a tv show this books can give a continent a knew meaning of imagination. You should also keep on writing books and make this a computer sofware and tv show. I read 1,2,3,4, and know I will buy5, and 6

This is a great book. You should keep on writing. I read books 1-4, and know will soon buy 5 & 6. You should make this a computer software, and a cartoon if you like. You should keep on writing. I read every book 3x. Please makes the series a television show on channels 11/5 , and 44. Keep writing until series 90000, or 5

Everyone should read this book whether they are in network marketing or not. This book helps you choose your path and purpose. This book should definitely be read by any business person or networker, especially Nikken distributors. I give it to all of my associates.

Master teacher John Kalench will teach you about the how and more importantly the why of Network Marketing with this treasure chest of information. John tells you like it is and more importantly helps you develop the fuel to keep your business on track well into the future. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in starting into the industry of network marketing. It provides the answers that you may not learn from your sponsor, but need to if you want to succeed in this industry. If you are looking for a book that can inspire both you and your organization read and practice what is in this book.

I gave a copy of this to my Arbonne successline and they are all loving it. One of my distributors told me she now thinks this is the BEST book on network marketing she has read! I encourage anyone who is thinking of buying this to do so as fast as they can!

Over the last 15 years I have been involved with organizations undergoing major change. For all of those years I have tried to discover why change, that appears so essential to these companies, fails most of the time. I have searched for years for a logical answer.

I happend to notice the title of this book at a donated book sale at our local library.... I picked it and others up and proceeded to add it to the pile of books I would some day scan. On a long business flight I started to read this book.

I could not stop. As the authors laid out their ideas I covered the pages with notes.

Finaly a logical explanation of why change, even obviously necessary change, fails. Even more the begining of a method on how to make it work.

Knowing the difference between first-order change, and second-order change can change your life! See if you can figure this out: "It obviously makes as difference whether we consider ourselves as pawns in a game whose rules we call reality or as players of the game who know that rules are 'real' only to the extent that we have created or accepted them, and that we can change them." This is pretty much what this book is about. And this, "When a person enters therapy, he is fully entrenched in a dilemma: what he wishes to attain has become all the more important and urgent ... and because of this urgency it is all the more important that no risk of falure be involved in the eventual action." Complex stuff. I read it once, and now I'm back to read it again. It's hard to absorb it all the first time even though you know you're reading some pretty radical stuff that you probably ought to be acting upon!

This is a great book on the mind. It shows us that we don't really need to know the mechanisms of things to make it work. Just like we don't have to know how a car works in order to drive it. The mind is the same way. Never mind the mechanisms it involves but if you do this and this, a person will do this and this. And surprisingly, although most of the suggestions are counterintuitive, most of the things discussed in the book actually work when we try it out on others. Try it and you will see! If you want to know why these things work, I'd suggest you read "Rhythm, Relationships, and Transcendence" by Toru Sato. It is a very insightful book about relationships and consciousness. If you get the message, you will know why the things suggested in Watzlawick's books actually work. Happy reading!

I read this book. I followed the advice and suggestions given by John Cummuta. In January of 1999 I paid off my mortgage and became completely debt-FREE. My 30 year mortgage was paid in 6 1/2 years. I saved over $82,000 in mortgage interest. The program works, the book is wonderful and the system is practical and doable! It's the best financial investment you can make, this book is your financial bible!

I ordered the course in August 1997. I was able to wipe out 6,000 dollars in car loan and credit debt. The mortgage I had 25 plus years yet to pay will be paid off in three years. Many people I approach believe it sounds too good to be true. Not true, the advertisers, creditors and the government have allowed us to be blinded to the truth. Getting rid of all consumer debt and living strictly on cash is the answer to a prsperous life.

We attended a class on this material last night. We had just figured out how to get our budget in order the night before. This absolutely will work, without changing our lifestyle or monthly budget at all. We will pay off our 30-year mortgage in 6 years with no pain. We cannot recommend this book enough for people who wish to get out of consumer debt - forever.

By all means, buy this edition if it is your only way to enter the marvelous world that Sienkiewicz has given to Poland and to posterity. Discover why the Trilogy has been a best-seller in its native land for more than a century. Epic adventure, star-crossed love, villains, heroes, treachery, heartbreak and humor. Sienkiewicz wrote to lift up the hearts of his people, and if he doesn't lift yours, double-check to make sure you still have a pulse.

But beg or borrow if you can, and steal if you must, the translation by W.S. Kuniczak that was published in the early 1990s. Discover what happens when a novelist translates. Kuniczak is true not just to the sentences, but to the spirit of the work. He blows the dust out of the century-old writing and lets it shine. And for readers not on intimate terms with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th Century (admit it), he effortlessly drops in helpful hints.

Here's how Curtin starts:

There was in Jmud a powerful family, the Billeviches, descended from Mendog, connected with many, and respected, beyond all, in the district of Rossyeni. ... Their native nest, existing to this day, was called Billeviche; ... In later times they branched out into a number of houses, the members of which lost sight of one another. They all assembled only when there was a census at Rossyeni of the general militia of Jmud on the plain of the invited Estates.

And Kuniczak:

In the part of the old Grand Duchy of Lithuania that was known as Zmudya, and which antedated the times of recorded history, there lived an ancient family named Billevitch, widely connected with many other houses of Lithuanian gentry, and respected more than any other in the Rosyen region. ... Their family seat, known as Billevitche ... so that in time they split into several branches that seldom saw each other. Some of them got together now and then when the Zmudyan gentry gathered for the annual military census near Rosyen on a plain called Stany...

Honestly, which version would you rather spend 1700 pages with? The native nest or the family seat?

(And just by the by, when will a smart publisher sell the Sienkiewicz Trilogy alongside Tolkien? Why do they squirrel it away with the Serious Literature in Translation that mostly gathers dust? There's millions and millions of dollars in these books, lying around, waiting for someone to market them properly.)

Nor ears heard what Sienkewicz has prepared for those who love his works! Number two in the trilogy on the history of Poland, this is the best I have read in a long, long time. It stands alone as a story, but many of its characters have been proven in war in other stories of Sienkiewicz. If for that alone, it is worth reading this book after "With Fire and Sword". It tells the love story of a man and a woman tragically separated by foolishness, pride, confusion and the Swedish invation of Poland in the 1500s which divided a nation against itself and drew the best and worst out of its citizens. Above all, this is a romantic novel, but with enough battles, action and virtues to outdo the Illiad. You will cry and laugh as you read it; you will hope against hope; you will feel in the middle of the battle; you will want to unsheath your sword and run after the neighbours... In sum, another Sienkiewicz masterpiece. Written from a Catholic perspective, this book summarizes well the soul of the Polish nation and its love for the Church.

The DEluge as with the rest of SIenkiewicz's works is literature of the highest quality. It summarizes the heart and soul of a nation and few other nations can claim to have such an outstanding piece of literature that touches the nations souls as does SIenkiewicz. The DEluge is thelargest of the three books of the Trilogy butlike the others you will simply not be able to put it down. The character development is so real - it is as if you know these people in your personal life - the plots - the action - the human drama - the history - it is simply outstanding. I do not understand why a mini series has not been made out of these novels - It is work of the highest quality which seems to have laid undiscoverd for nealy a century now!

The DEluge centers about Swedens march into POland. POland initially accepted their incursion, however, as the situation worsens the POles srrike back. The Swedish war machine was beleived to be unstoppable throguhout Europe and they did march through Poland but they made a mistake - attacking the town of Czestochowa (pronounced Ches toe hova) which had significant religous importance to the POles. The POles were rallied by a Bishop who held out against the Swedes under great odds and touched the soul of Poland. It is something we need to learn in our country - that we must put country above our personal needs to exist and win in the world. Sienkiewicz brings this point home again and again throughout the novel. Mike Niziol

Out of Recommendation from a friend I bought this incredible book and surprisingly, I proceeded to enjoy the openmindedness this religion has to offer. A Chosen Faith has shown me a whole new perspective on the Unitarian Religion, and although I was raised under a Catholic background. This incredible book has changed my views on life emphasizes equal respect towards people of all religions and cultures. The book has taught me the virtues of Unitarianism, and I am now proud to say that it has changed my life. This book is a must read for anyone interested in a religion/philosophy in which you are free to question the soul, choose your own morals and experience openminded love towards one another. 5 stars

I grew up attending a Unitarian Universalist church, but once I reached an age to begin to understand and question the ideals of the faith, I went in search of information on this and other religions. This book was recommended to me by more than one person. I expected dry, history-filled rhetoric, but instead was treated to warm, humorous and thought-provoking sections that challenged me to evaluate my views on religion, social issues and my own value system. By the time I was finished I felt very comfortable with the ideas expressed about UUism and was intrigued to learn more.

This book is a wonderful introduction to Unitarian Universalism. It is easy to read and explains well a religion that many people have a difficult time describing. After having read this book it is always the first book that I reccommend to persons who have have questions about Unitarian Universalism.

I have read this several times, and still enjoy it. From the opening line through the end, I laughed and cried.

The novel is a farce, set against the backdrop of college in the 1970's on the GI bill--but as with most farces, it has a serious point. The lead character, Eddie Delano, discovers that almost everyone he meets hides a true identity behind a facade.

Since Delano has gone around my circle of friends, we often refer to people and events from the book as if they were real. I sometimes describe acquaintances as 'a little like Sam' or having 'Alice's taste in health food!' This book prompted me to ask myself, 'How many of us went through that era pretending to be someone different than who we really were?' Yet I find that younger friends (who didn't 'survive' the 60's and 70's) recognize that in the book even sooner.

I give Delano thumbs up for the kind of love of human beings, with all our quirks and hangups, that you find in authors from a previous age.

DELANO is a real treat. It's everything it claims to be. It's one of the fastest paced books I've ever read. I enjoyed the characters very much. Sam is one of the most unusual people ever put in a story. The part about the worm farm had me laughing out loud so hard, people stopped to see what was going on. I even liked the villans, like Winston. What a jerk! But he says things that make you think. The best character is Eddie. I won't give away anymore. This should be a movie.

The misadventures of Eddie Delano at college are still true today decades later. As a recent college graduate, I can attest to this. I had the pleasure to hear the author read his book at The Reader's Edge Bookstore in Montrose, CA and it's even better with his deadpan delivery. After hearing him read the first chapter, I knew I had to have this book.