"Little Me" is a lavish autobiography of an completely fictional (but wonderfully imagined) movie actress. This book is a witty parody of every self-serving and self-deceiving memoir ever penned by a movie star (and their "ghost writer"). On the surface all is respectability, but between the lines it's bawdy and gay and very funny. We are treated to hundreds of photos, including Belle's favorite leading man "Letch Feely" and her "pals" Carstair Bagley (cum Charles Laughton) and "Helen Highwater". One of the daffiest elements is the excessive use of "quotation marks" to set off "Hollywood lingo" -- all of which is very familiar to the average movie fan. (I recently discovered this same bad habit in a movie memoir entitled "A Cast of Thousands" by Anita Loos. She wrote it in the 50s, so I'm pretty sure Dennis was parodying her use of quotations.) Patrick Dennis got is so right that he even has Belle referring to her child as "Baby Dearest" -- and this was YEARS before the tell-all book "Mommie Dearest!" Read this book out loud and you and your friends will be laughing out loud!

Five stars plus! I am thrilled that Patrick Dennis' "Little Me" will be re-released in October. Bar none, this is the FUNNIEST spoof I have ever read. Although I liked "Auntie Mame," it pales in comparison to the tale of stage and screen star Belle Poitrine. I laughed out loud several times every page. I have lent this book to friends who share my enthusiam for this utter masterpiece of satiric "celebrity autobiography". The many photos interspersed throughout are wonderfully done also. Feeling down? Need a lift? This extravagantly witty book will do the trick! Put it this way: "Little Me" out-cartoons New Yorker cartoons. I have no higher praise! I would give the book ten stars if I could.

Five stars plus! I am thrilled that Patrick Dennis' "Little Me" will be re-released in October. Bar none, this is the FUNNIEST spoof I have ever read. Although I liked "Auntie Mame," it pales in comparison to the tale of stage and screen star Belle Poitrine. I laughed out loud several times every page. I have lent this book to friends who share my enthusiam for this utter masterpiece of satiric "celebrity autobiography". The many photos interspersed throughout are wonderfully done also. Feeling down? Need a lift? This extravagantly witty book will do the trick! Put it this way: "Little Me" out-cartoons New Yorker cartoons. I have no higher praise! I would give the book ten stars if I could.

With the plethora of books currently available on cigars in general and on Habanos in particular, this is (still) the one item no cigar aficionado dare be without.

The only thing that will make this book better is an updated version with the new vitolas now in production. A great referance and a must for serious havana smokers and collectors

I have an extensive collection of cigar books but this is the only one I cannot part with . The author has successfully catalouged Cuban cigars and provided extensive and interesting information not available in other contemporary publications . A must for any serious aficionado.

Let's just cut to the chase: there are a lot of books out there by self-proclaimed "experts" on how to hunt the wily whitetail. Most of them are just re-hashed information that any serious deerhunter already knows (or should). The number of really interesting and innovative books on this subject is low.
In this book, Charles Alsheimer gives us some truly helpful advice--whether or not you buy the moon theory. This is a good book and well-written, to boot.

I believe Mr. Alsheimer is on to something important regarding the autumn cycle of whitetail life, but I am not sure that he has the whole story. The book is based on anecdotal evidence and observations of penned deer. Another author, John Ozoga, writes concerning the effects of age, nutrition, social status, habitat, and population dynamics among the factors influencing the onset and duration of the rut. I do not wish to disparage these observations and anecdotes, he gives sufficient from wide ranging areas to bolster his point; and; anecdotal evidence can, and sometimes does, have the force of experimentation. But then, how would one design more rigorous experiments?

I think that Mr. Alsheimer is a biological pioneer for this theory. He has shown himself to be a keen observer of whitetail life, and has made an important contribution to our understanding of the rut.

This book is, without question, well worth reading.

Charles Alsheimer coveys good usefull information on how the Moon effects Whitetail deer movement and breeding activity. The book moves along a well managed path documenting the ideas based on countless hours of research as well as observation from many an expert hunter. It covers the stages of the rut for North America and suggests times to focus hunting efforts and stratagies to use at these times. I think it's a great addition to any hunter or wildlife enthusiast's library and I can't wait to use some of the information I've learned. Two thumbs up!

Col. Weiland has earned his CAVU days after a lifetime of service to his country as a Marine Corps Aviator. This relatively short memoir covers his youth in South Dakota; his decision to join the Corps before Pearl Harbor; and combat tours in "Cactus" (Guadalcanal) and subsequent assignment to form VMF-451 and take it into combat. That combat tour was shortened by the Japanese bomber attack of 19 March 1945 on the USS FRANKLIN.
Some background research has led me to learn that this memoir is an expansion of a shorter article that Eric Hamel of Pacifica Press (the publisher) encouraged Col. Weiland to write. I am very glad he did. Pat Weiland tells a wonderful story; top of the line writing; tinged with the poignancy of loss.
As these WW II era vets climb into their eighties; these personal stories become the more precious.
READ THIS BOOK!

A gripping account of World War II history in the Pacific. Follow the trials a tribulations of a young Marine flying cadet and his compatriots as they battle the Japanese on Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands. Returning to the United States for reorganization into a new squadron, VMF-452, they retrain in the new F4U Corsair for a new deployment aboard the USS Franklin, CV-13. Disaster strikes on the morning of March 19, 1945 just as the 2nd launch of the day starts. A lone Japanese dive bomber has loomed out of the low overcast and found it's mark. Within scant miles off the coast of Japan the carriers fully armed and fueled planes make for a deadly inferno as planes, bombs and rockets explode one after another. The entire hanger deck is also awash in flames and explosions. Within minutes the carrier seems doomed to destruction as 3/4 of the flight deck is aflame. However, the gallant crew somehow manages to get some control of the holocaust. Over 850 men loose their lives this day as "the ship that couldn't be sunk" fights for her life. The narrative is not only told by Lt.Col. Weiland but interspersed with events and humor from the other officers and enlisted personnel associated with each event. This truly adds to the rich and colorful reading experience about these events. If your interested in flying, combat, or World War II history you won't put this one down !

I was fortunate enough to have been able to borrow this book from a friend, He suggested it for research use into the figure of Marley's Ghost which I am playing in a local production. This book is full of everything you might want to know about "Christmas Carol". It is broken into five chapter's, four of which deal with each of the spirits contained in the story. Picture's and drawing abound in this text, making it invaluable to me as an actor trying to create a character. Right down to an original drawing of Dicken's on his death bed and re-prints of sketches from the very first printing of the book, it's all there and by the author himself...what could be more diffinitive? If you can procure a copy I highly recommend it.

I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow this book from a friend. He suggested it for research into the ghost of Jacob Marley which I am playing in a local production. Amazing book! All the information you could want on this Christmas Classic. The book is broken into very informative sections begginning with "Marley's Ghost" and continuing through all the spirits and other background information. I highly recomend it, if you can find it that is!

Patrick Dunne is one of, if not the, leading experts on food-related antiques in America, and French antiques in general. His shop on Chartres street is one of the best-kept secrets in New Orleans. This book lists "et al" as additional authors of The Epicurean Collector, but don't believe it: without Dunne, there is no book. This stunning book is a fascinating look at lovely pieces and Dunne's excellent prose. If you love antiques related to food, own this book and be very happy.

This ravishingly beautiful book is also a highly entertaining and informative jaunt through history. Patrick Dunne writes with great wit and intelligence. Whether discussing the unusual "sugar nipper" or the ordinary egg, he succeeds in bringing alive whole worlds. This is a wonderful book.

I've taught Intermediate Algebra for the past 5 years, and this is the best Intermediate Algebra text I've ever seen. The sections are clearly organized with many more worked examples than in most textbooks. The problems sets are excellent also. You won't find anything better in Intermediate Algebra: I've seen the rest, GO WITH McKEAGUE CAUSE HE'S THE BEST!

This text book starts at the beginning, with each lesson progressing a step further. The language and examples are clear. Particularly noteworthy are the study guides. Follow them faithfully, keep plugging away, and you WILL master Algebra!

A new italian Futurist Manifesto, but this time a good one.

It was a an Italian virtuoso contrabassist who told me to read these Lectures. Stefano plays all the arduously difficult new music literature for the contrabass. He travels with a violoncello,so he can play all that repertoire as well. When he plays this music he often ponders Calvino, five primary conceptual corridors toward what he thought of as literature,but music as well can be contemplated with these ideas. "Lightness", well music has a density, Mozart played games with it, and interpreting Mozart can be a treatise in the dialectic,the transformations and timbral modulations of lightness to heaviness.,ask any violinist.Calvino of course expounds on Kundera's popular book, on the weight of the lifeworld of living in the East,the coal-dusted passageways,or of a fallen love,begun transgressivly there as well. Dante is a frequent pilgrim(example) here the lightness of snow falling imperceptibly on the mountainside. "Quickness", but not how fast things move,(our Silicon Valley) odious airjets that may puncture the ozone layer,or violins, but the quickness of an image to transform our consciousness,to lighten it up from the cruel oppression of citylife.That's poetry. I think.Robert Musil is here as well, the complexity,the numbering imagination of his transitory work to modernity the opening two decades of this century,his "Man Without Qualities" a seemingly endless work.And Gedda's "Awfull Mess. . . " on the street a probing detective novel of complexity of a murder in Rome,on the way to the Labor Bureau of the Roman Government. In music I frequently think of Visibility when I have nothing to transport me into the bowels of a Bruckner or an Antheil Symphony,what do I see in the music,like the weight of this century in the "Largo" from the "Fifth Symphony" of Shostakovich.Multiplicity as well another Calvino chapter is here,sprouting its wings like a peacock, all around us if we only have the patience for it. To phanthom and explore all images of a work as looked at through a plexiglass. We seldom do that. How exact is art, "Exactitude" is what Leonardo di Vinci lived his life with, rewrote almost everything,Calvino tells us, as Leopardi,the Essays.

My interest in reading this collection of essays stems from a curiousity about narrative structure. I found that, while Calvino writes candid insertions about his own works, and while he writes with great fluency of ancient, medieval, contemporary world writers, the power of this short book lies in his erudite observations and keen, bits of wisdom. Here's a sample: "Saving time is a good thing because the more time we save, the more we can afford to lose" (p. 46), and this one, "Were I to choose an auspicious image for the new millennium, I would choose this one: The sudden agile leap of the poet-philosopher who raises himself above the weight of the world, showing that with all his gravity he has the secret of lightness, and that what many consider to be the vitality of the times--noisy, aggressive, revving and roaring--belongs to the realm of death, like a cemetary for rusty, old cars" (p. 12).

Calvino writes about five different qualities of literature: Lightness, Quickness, Exactitude, Visibility, and Multiplicity (he had intended to write a sixth chapter on Consistency, before his untimely death). He examines these qualities closely, using his own facile language as the medium.

Read it, by all means.

My bookshelves are filled with books on many topics, including death and dying and spirituality -- this book might be the only book I really need.

For years I have thought I must read the Tibetan Book of the Dead -- but whenever I tried, it was much too complicated for me to understand.

Sogyal Rinpoche has written this book so that it is easily understood by anyone, even us Westerners, without compromising any of the Buddhist teachings it offers.

In essence, we begin to die the moment we are born. We spend this life preparing to die well. Nothing is permanent, but we spend much of our lives filling our time with activities and pursuits that help us elude ourselves into thinking that what we see and touch is all that matters.

Sogyal Rinpoche says, "To follow the path of wisdom has never been more urgent or more difficult. Our society is dedicated almost entirely to the celebration of ego, with all its sad fantasies about success and power, and it celebrates those very forces of greed and ignorance that are destroying the planet. It has never been more difficult to hear the unflattering voice of the truth, and never more difficult, once having heard it, to follow it: because there is nothing in the world around us that supports our choice, and the entire society in which we live seems to negate every idea of sacredness or eternal meaning. So at the time of our most acute danger, when our very future is in doubt, we as human beings find ourselves at our most bewildered, and trapped in a nightmare of our own creation."

He writes about the importance of realizing the interconnectedness of all living beings (including nature), of meditation (and gives instructions and advice), of finding and being devoted to a good master (something very difficult for Westerners to accept -- he acknowledges that there are fraudulent ones about), of learning to live and learning to die, of letting go of egos and becoming egolessness. Throughout the book, he tells of female masters as well as males, something female readers may greatly appreciate.

Sogyal Rinpoche is from Tibet, and speaks of the cruelty of the Chinese to the Tibetan Buddhists (very similar to the persecution of the early christians, and later the Jews by the Nazis -- when will we ever learn, but then that's the point of this book!)

In the last section of the book, he speaks of "The Universal Process" which is about spirituality, living and dying of all humans, regardless of race, spiritual beliefs, gender or national origin. There are in the back two mantras with explanations and he shares photographs of his beloved masters. Throughout the book are inspiring poems from such poets as Rumi and St. Francis of Assisi, as well as Buddhists. In the very back he gives suggested readings, and offers phone numbers and addresses of Rigpa National Office, where those who are interested can find referrals to cources and study groups in the US, Canada and around the world.

This book is a very good place for the seeker to begin. For those curious about Buddhism, or seriously interested in becoming a Buddha or a Buddhist, or just looking for more thoughts and information on death and dying, this book is excellent, easy to understand, thought-provoking.

This book is like an armour for those like minded people that want a deeper understanding of life and the nature of mind. Sogyal Rinpoche takes lengths to explain in detailed chapters, the MEANING and PURPOSE of life, death and dying; how we can use our true nature of mind to overcome difficulties, and use compassion and meditation to become enlightened in this life. This is a serious book for those that want to follow the spiritual path, of believing and listening to the inner self and overcoming obstacles by healing one's self first. Sogyal Rinpoche has a lot of wisdom to teach and share through his words, and you will find that the end of the last page, you had everything to gain.

This book should be read by or to everyone at some point in their lives. It not is not just for the buddhist. As His Holiness, the Dalia Lama explains, no matter what religion you practice the goal is the same: happiness. This book can be an inspiration at all times in life. Once you have read it through once, it is organized in such a way, so one can go back and read certain sections to help along the way. Sogyal Rinpoche captures the essence of his purpose of creating the book when he writes: "to learn how to die, is to learn how to live." That simple statement is a social commentary on the development of modern society and the direction it is heading in. The ageing and dying are quickly isolated and doctors are rarely educated in emotional or spiritual care. Sogyal Rinpoche's proposes a new attidute to those who are in a stage that we all will reach at some point. His beautiful writing style and comforting compassion radiates from the pages themselves. I do not associate myself with any one religion, but consider myself a wanderer following my own road in search for answers, for all those who feel the same, this book can illuminate some of the darkness that surrounds us all who have not yet awakened.

I think this was one of the best thriller stories of its time. I personnally think it also is one the best water thrillers ever. I think any who is scared of the water should read this book.

If anyone out there either surfs or enjoy's Surfing as a way of life, this book is for you! Go out there and purchase this book! Jaws is more than a book, the colourful pages come alive in front of you, looking at Laird Hamilton coming down the faces of massive 50+foot surf, it's like your right there below him (holding the camera) Blue Max did an amazing job of illustrating these waves for us, I was lucky enough to have visited Maui, for others out there, what are you waiting for..? Killer Waves..Best Surfers in the world.. see it all..? or save your money and buy this book

aloha Jim Mellanis :-)

Jaw Maui has much more to offer than your average coffee-table book. It is an incredible blending of inspirational writing and insightful interviews with the watermen themselves. Charlie & Leslie Lyon have done a great job letting us in on the inner workings of these accomplished athletes. Everyone that visits us gets a chance to read Jaws, and has come away mightily impressed (and longing for a trip to Maui!).