Not an avid reader of detective or Christian books, I yet thoroughly enjoyed this one. A powerful mix of God and grit, with a terse wit and suspenseful plot that keeps you turning the pages to see how the believable and likeable Joe Box triumphs over evil.

Oh, wow! I loved this page-turning story! Mr. Robinson had me glued to the edge of my seat throughout the entire reading of his VERY IMPRESSIVE, "Sock Monkey Blues" ...A Book You Definately Do Not Want To Miss! Be sure and watch for the sequel... (A Highly Recommended Novel!)

I gotta tell ya, I'm not a Mike Hammer fan. Opening a book with a prologue often annoys me, even if shrieking bullets and first person narrative ARE outstanding hooks...when well done.

Be warned: this tale is done well. Fast paced, well balanced, and completely absorbing, this hard-boiled detective's confrontation with questions of faith, while racing to save the girl, (what else?), challenges every reader without detracting from the entertainment. And when Boneless Chuck grins, you really can feel the ice pierce your heart.

The good news is that this is the first book in a series. Don't be surprised if Joe Box becomes the new icon in Christian fiction.

Hercule Poirot was a short, fat, dapper detective who solved his cases by exercising his "little grey cells".

"The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" was Christie's fourth Poirot novel, while "Murder on the Links" was her second. In both Christie adopts the motif of narrating the story from the point of view of someone who undertakes to assist Poirot in the solution of the mystery. Christie introduces the cast of suspects, gives each of them a dark secret and a motive to lie, and piles up the circumstances in such a way that the flying fickle finger of suspicion points to every one of them at some time or another. She compounds the confusion by supplying false leads and deliberatly glossing over hot clues.

In each case Poirot holds his cards close to his vest, tantalizes the reader/listener with cryptic comments, and finds the most inconsequential-appearing facts to be highly significant. Eventually Poirot airs everyone's dirty laundry, explains his chain of deductive reasoning, reconstructs the crime in all its improbable complexity, and gets a confession. The stories are less mysteries than they are sliding block puzzles. Though extremely short on realism, they are long on entertainment value.

Although the BBC radio play had excellent production values, audio cassette may not be the best way to enjoy a Poirot mystery. I listen to radio plays as I drive on business, and I find the Poirot plays hard to follow because of the large cast of characters and the complexities of plotting. Poirot could probably be enjoyed more readily in print. You could then read, re-read, take time out to mull over the complexities, and follow the story much better. Probably the best way to enjoy Poirot would be to read the story first, and then listen to the radio play.

The mystery is beyond our imagination. The background and characters truly victorian, and above all the narrative very gripping! Oh! I am re-reading and every time I enjoy even though I know the mystery! Once again, Poirot at his best with his passion for order and method.

As a Christie addict, having read all of her Poirot and Marple stories many times over, I can only say that "Roger Ackroyd" stands out as the best of the best. Even now, knowing the ending, I enjoy rereading the book, with all the delicious and subtle (but misleading) hints to the grand conclusion. And to the first-time reader, the ending comes as quite a surprise. The fabled Miss Christie leads the reader down so many lovely garden paths before the perfectly logical denouement! Delicious! The audio version is beautifully performed, and does proper justice to the book.

This winter break I went on a Shakespeare buying spree, and this book is one of the fine gems I found. A large, but fascinating book, this work of great scholarship and excitement takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of Shakespeare, even into rather obscure corners of his works (Trollius and Cressida, Timon of Athens). This book is a must read for any would be deep thinker about Shakespeare.

Shakespeare as Political Thinker is a must for everyone interested in the political thought of William Shakespeare. This reprint will finally allow new comers to become familair with a commonsensical approach to Shakespeare's plays. The introductory chapter by John Alvis is worth the price. Perhaps the best Shakespearean critic alive, Alvis has an uncanny ability to show Shakespeare's moral seriousness without making the bard an unquestioning adherent to any political school or theological creed. Many of the essays that follow are also well done: Jaffa's chapter on Shakespeare's entire corpus, Laurence Berns' meditation on Lear etc.

The second printing of Shakespeare as Political Thinker gives hope to those interested in relearning ancient wisdom and pays tribute to its inspiration, Shakespeare's Politics (Allan Bloom).

Both inspirational and humbling to listen to the voice and intellect of such a great man. Such command of the English language and speaking skills unmatched! After listening to him speak you will see how pathetic in intellect and moral character our politicians of today are. I've finished his biography as well and coupled with these speeches he emerges as one of the greatest men of our or any time. I cannot recommend enough these tapes or his biography, it filled me with a renewed sense of purpose and conviction in life. If there was a phrase to sum him up it might be "never give up" on life or one's possibilities to achieve. Buy these tapes!

John Laurence's The Cat from Hue is an emotionally exhausting tour through one man's personal history of the American war in Vietnam. Don't mistake the fact that despite giving good coverage of many of the major events of the U.S. war in Vietnam, Cat is a very personal memoir. Laurence covered the war as a television journalist for CBS, and was in country for almost five years between 1965 and 1970. Most of this book is a detailed description of the combat the author witnessed, and the people he met. While Laurence is highly critical of the government, war, and the policy behind it he is always sympathetic to the troops and the book never reads like a catalog of war crimes that some Vietnam criticisms become. In fact, for at least the first three-quarters of the book Laurence is sparing in his open political comments.
The last quarter of the book covers Laurence's 1970 tour, spent largely with C Company, 2nd of the 7th Cavalry. It is during this time that the writing splits between war coverage and political criticism, but this is largely because Laurence became embroiled in a bureaucratic argument with the Army over his participation directly with C Company. Laurence presents this argument more even handedly than you would expect, but I personally still had mixed feelings after reading the book. Indeed, the narrative falters a little at the end. Some of the last parts of the book spent a little too much time on Laurence's relationship with his future wife, and his personal problems during and after the war. This makes the story more personal but it also detracts a little from the impact of the real story. This IS a very personal book for the author.
The book reads quite quickly despite its lengthy size. At almost 850 pages, the book does not appear to be an easy read but is, largely due to the informal writing style of the author and the first person presentation. In the end, I wasn't sure if I really liked Laurence or not, and I can understand why some readers would be put off after pushing through the book: this is a very personal account, more so the farther into the story you get. Nevertheless, The Cat from Hue is an excellent account of one man's journey through the Vietnam War, and at its best gives the reader a front row view of the horrors of the war and some of the real heroes who fought and survived it.

John Laurence was a CBS-TV journalist during the Vietnam War. Now, thirty years later, he has pulled together all his recollections, notes and collected data in this in-depth tome, fully 841 pages long. Its physical weight alone meant that it was too heavy for me to carry around, and so I kept it at my bedside, reading only a few pages at a time each night and taking more than six months to finally finish it. This gave me a chance to fully digest the impact of the thousands of details that make up his story, bringing me right into the heart of the action, and sharing his experience of the conflict as he was living it.

In 1968, during the Tet Offensive in the city of Hue, amidst the bombing and destruction, he found an abandoned kitten with a feisty personality. To him, this symbolized the strong will of the North Vietnamese enemies. He adopted the kitten who then shows up sporadically during the long narrative, always getting into trouble, attacking other cats and generally being a nuisance. The author came to love this cat however, and the reader can sense the author's humanity in the way he cared for his pet.

The book is filled with hundreds of direct quotes from the men in the field, descriptions of day-to-day life in a war zone, the challenges of filming the war "up close" and getting the film to CBS on time for broadcast, the camaraderie and competition among the journalists, the physical discomfort of life in the field, compassion for the horrors experienced by both the soldiers and the Vietnamese people and the sharpened senses of knowing your life is always in danger. There were several incidents of conflict between the journalists and military brass and an incident captured on film when some soldiers made their own choices rather than accept an unwise command. There were also descriptions of drug and alcohol use, both among the men and the journalists, and some wild plane rides. Underlying all this, the question of "why" was always there.

I felt I was right there with Mr. Laurence, throughout the book - observing the carnage and meeting the people, enjoying brief respites from the violence, and, most of all, bringing the story to the people back home as a witness to his times. I learned facts in this book. And felt emotion. But, most of all, it made me think, and that is where the strength of this writing lies. I give this book an extremely high recommendation. It's a slow read. But definitely worthwhile.

I have read a number of books on the Vietnam "experience" written by journalists and/or military. Each book, on its own merit, has presented truths and experiences that were unique to each author. As a radioman on a task force flag aircraft carrier from 1969 through1972, I spent a great deal of time reading about air strikes, KIA's, MIA's, battles and all sorts of other details as presented from a purely high level military point of view. I wondered about life on the ground, and wondered what "in-country" was like.

As I served my tours, I saw the war change and of course at the time attitudes at home changed. I didn't understand it much then, and now 30+ years later, I find myself trying to understand the truth of what was going on at the time.

When I left the service in 1973, I saw old friends who had served in the Army, Marines and Navy at various times from 1964 until the conclusion. We had all been changed by the experience at some level.

John Laurence, in his book "The Cat From Hue" records changes in himself, those he worked with, and those he accompanied into battle in amazing detail. His record of changes, and the circumstances that brought them about, is something we can all learn from, whether we were fighting the war in the field, protesting, or simply catching it on the news.

The physical size of the book (845 pages) was a bit daunting to me at first. Simply stated it is the story of a young man who went to Vietnam to gather truths and tried to share them with the America of the 1960's. The book had to be long enough to capture his experience as fully as possible. It did. The lives of the soldiers were beautifully interlinked with the life of the author. The military and political leadership, the good and the bad, are painted with remarkable clarity.

Then there was the "Cat", Meo, the dreaded cat who hated Americans. Always stalking and studying its enemy, attacking with stealth and fury, retreating from a superior force to regroup and wait for a better time to strike, Meo seems the perfect metaphor of the relentless and dedicated warrior. Laurence's description of the life and actions of this unusual cat helps the reader gain a better understanding of our enemy in the field. Unconquerable, never truly "pacified", involved with Americans only at arm's length (paws in this case); Meo inflicted much pain on the Americans he encountered.

This book has a good bit of info for those who suffer from Peripheral Neuropathy. I am glad I bought the book and every new bit of information helps me cope and feel some mastery over PN. Still, it was not organized quite as accessibly as I would have liked, and it suffers from the inevitable publishing-lag when compared to information straight from the Internet on current studies and thinking on PN.

A great book. A must for all who have neuropathy. Very Glad I bought it. Thanks Linda

I don't have the inner or outer peace to meditate but I still found this book very helpful and inspiring as a daily devotional. It gives very valuable insights about coming to the presence of Jesus whether or not one is practicing the art of meditation.

Father John Main (1926-1982) was an Irish Benedictine monk raised in England who was instrumental in renewing interest in the living tradition of Christian Meditation. His work is being carried on by his friend and successor, Father Laurence Freeman (who provides the introduction to this book). It is edited by Paul Harris (also one of the founding members of the World Community for Christian Meditation, a non-profit organization based on the teachings of Father John). It consists of 365 readings--usually about 2-3 paragraphs in length--from the many books and lectures of Father John. These readings can be used devotionally or for basic instruction on the method recommended by Father John for Christian meditation, which is based on the repetition of the mantra [sacred word] "Maranatha"--which means, translated from the ancient Semitic language of Aramaic, "Come, Lord." The only reservation I would express is that, as rich and varied as these selections are, seekers would perhaps be more completely served in taking up his full published works, e.g. WORD INTO SILENCE. Fortunately for us, his writings are coming back into print (newly published by Continuum). This book is a fine introduction to the thought and teachings of Father John Main. It does come highly recommended.

This book was such a pleasure to read with the most endearing characters ever. People on the subway must have thought I was strange when I was snickering to myself over this book. I just fell in love with Trim! Don't read this with the idea that everything will make perfect sense, let it take control of you and you will fall in love with the nonsensical writing in about 50 pages or so. As I was reading along, I just couldn't wait for Shandy to change the subject again, make more phallic references or tell another funny story.
I docked one star off because starting in volume seven some of the chapters really get off track (to the point where I didn't know what he was talking about at all) as if Sterne wasn't sure where he wanted to take the book at that point and the reader has to read his thoughts as he tries to sort it out. It soon gets back on track again and moves along nicely until the end (or was it?).

As an undergraduate English major, I was recently dragged through this book kicking and screaming. "There's nothing happening!" I kept arguing in vain. How wrong I was. Fortunately, my Professor saw the value in making me continue. This book continues the work that Shakespeare began in the English language and that Joyce would later undertake. All explore the human condition excellently, but none do it in as funny a way as Sterne. Within marbled and black pages, instructions to re-read chapters and descriptions of courtships as battles, we see not only Sterne going through the growing pains of being a novelist, but the novel itslef going through its own growing pains. Sterne helped to define the genre and created a scathing farce in the process.

Tristram Shandy has a cult following -- although few people have actually read it, most of us have read something directly influenced by it. Sterne was a creative genius, and pulled no punches when telling the story of Tristram Shandy, gentleman. Not only is this a shaggy-dog story, and a prototype for "experimental" writers like James Joyce and William Burroughs, but it is also a (remarkably early) meditation on the self-referentiality of literature, and the fine (nonexistent?) separation between a book's abstract textual form and its physical, material, paper-and-ink form. Like a good postmodernist, Sterne realizes you can't very well separate the two.

You didn't like this book? Well maybe Sterne didn't want you to like it. Maybe likeability should not be the primary project of a text. One of the meta-statements Sterne seems to be making is he has no respect for your time, nor your desire for narrative cohesion -- and why should he? Defiant, Sterne is. Very defiant. Cool.

We used this book to teach an introductory Java course for experienced programmers. Without exception the students didn't like the book. They felt they really couldn't learn from it--topics are covered too quickly. They wanted a text with a more step-by-step approach and one with more examples.

If you are looking to learn real java 1.1 coding then this is the book for you. Mastering java 1.1 is one of the faw books out today that will see you have to code with java to the 1.1 spec ! !

I like the book for the way the approach is organized, and all the components, and details are patiently and thoroughly studied, no assumption is made about what you know , and the plan to this complicated program is laid out in a very understandable way

If you want to read about Jack Kennedy and his dad, with a little more information about Joe Jr., then this is a book for you. Mr. Leamer never delivers the promise his title suggests. This is not to say the book fails to be interesting, but it paints a rather incomplete picture of the Kennedy history. He spends a great deal of time on Joe Sr, and goes through a fairly deep analysis of the relationship between Joe Jr. and John, but we se only fleeting glimpses of Ted as he runs for senate. We only see detail on Bobby when he becomes his brothers AG. We never see the depth of information on Bobby, who played such a significant part in JFK's life.

The book also fails to give a complete picture of any of the men by failing to explaing the relationship that occurred with Rose. We are shown that she tolerated her husband's indiscretions, but we see hardly any interplay with her sons at all. Any decent psychologist will tell you that you can't understand a man without understanding his relationship with his mother. We never see it at all.

Although I found the information delivered to be interesting, I also found it to be quite one-sided, as though it had been written by a strong fan. It gave a good amount of information into the events the Kennedy men lived (and died) through, yet left out much of the day to day information that would have filled out the image. Bottom line; interesting read, but not a detailed analysis...not by a long shot.

I read The Kennedy Women a few years ago and found it to be one of the most impressive biographical works that I had ever encountered. I was most impressed with Leamer's ability to fully chart the lives of so many diverdse characters.

I eagerly awaited the Kennedy Men. If I had not read his previous work, this probably would have seemed better. I felt that the Kennedy Women had a broader scope dealing with a longer (and earlier!) time frame and more individuals. This started, really with Joe Kennedy and didn't focus on too many others. A very minor complaint, is that the Kennedy women had a comrehensive time line in the beginning. It would have been useful to include one here as well.

Otherwise, this is an extaordinarily well rearched volume. What I enjoyed most was the conversational approach taken by Leamer. It is a pleasure to read. I wish that the final chapter "Requiem for a President" was slightly more detailed, but this was a chance to learn not about invididuals, but about complex family relationships and bonds.

I am glad that I read it and look forward to volume 2!

The Kennedy Men: 1901-1963 By Laurence Leamer has been an appendage of mine since its release in mid-October. I literally could not put it down and when I finished, I lamented its ending. It was personal, like a friend, a wonderful place to go when I read it. I wanted more -- yes, even after reading 700-something pages.

Leamer put this family into context with grit and courage. The book does not mince words. He did not just give us the bad and the ugly; he also gave us the good. And even the bad and the ugly are in a context where the actions are understandable, unlike the Seymour Hirsch book, "The Dark Side of Camelot," where it was all seamy and skewed.

When Joe Kennedy had the lobotomy done on his daughter, Rosemary, one could understand his motives, even the hubris that made him do it. In his own way, he was being protective of her, but his suffering after the disastrous results that left her a mere shadow of her former self -- was some of Leamer's finest writing.

It was as if the author were inside Joe Kennedy's head and had become omnipotent. That is the part of the book that was the most tragic and deeply sorrowful. The fact that he never spoke of her again, and the rest of the family followed suit -- all parched by their unspeakable grief at her loss -- gave more insight into the human condition than I have ever seen in a book, bar none. I believe the lamentation today is still borne by the Kennedy family and that is the demon that drove Eunice to work so hard for the handicapped; she was doing penance for the entire family. This one section could be pulled out alone and made into a morality play; Albert Camus and the existentialists have nothing on Leamer here.

The dossier of facts in this book will stay with the reader, who will not be the same after reading the book. Your heart breaks for this family, what they suffered through -- even if much of the catastrophic consequences they endured were their fault. One can clearly see the motives.

Leamer is sans judgmental hostility. He doesn't lean on the Kennedys for their faults -- rather he puts them into this a historical frame of reference without blue-sky illusions.

Who knew how much John F. Kennedy suffered his entire life? His transition to adulthood was inevitably painful emotionally but also physically. He bore upon his frail shoulders the burden of his older brother's death. His drug habit, scary as it appeared, could also be understood in this book's context. Leamer neither softens nor sentimentalizes it. Kennedy's lifetime of pain makes the reader wince with a lump in their throat. One leaves the book admiring what he accomplished rather than judging him harshly. He was trying to find an even keel for himself. He was looking for an even playing field. One must remember, he was taking the injections wearing 1960s glasses. No one knew the dangers of amphetamines back then. They were the "smart" drug of the day.

I was rather surprised that Rose was as cavalier as she was toward the end, after Joe's stroke -- with cruel indulgence, showing him gowns she would wear to parties she attended without him. She appeared to enjoy her "last-laugh" status her continued health gave her.

Even more surprisingly, Rose was rather cruel to the children as they grew. She wrote letters to their schools but she never visited. She expected the children to be "little men" and "little women" from the time they were babies, another fragment in the mosaic of their shattered lives. To justify this shoddy behavior, she opined that she thought it was best if the children were not dependent on her.

This was one of the big surprises for me of the book: Rose's distance from the children. You were either with her or you were gone. Witness what happened to eldest daughter Kathleen, who died in a plane crash in Europe. She wasn't even brought back for burial, rather, she was buried in England. That fact will stick in one's craw. "Kick," as she was called, was divorced and having an affair, so she was banished, even in death.

Of course, affairs were de rigueur for the Kennedy men. I'm looking forward to Leamer's next volume and hope he explores the relationship of Bobby Kennedy with Jackie after Jack's death when both were .

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. It's one of the truly great books I have ever read. Henry Kissinger once said of an argument, "It had the added advantage of being true." That is The Kennedy Men.