if a train watcher of any kind you need this book but the black and white pix, or lack of many pix as well as lack of any maps at all shows a distinct lack of effort by Kalmbach; very dissappointing

American Shortline Railway Guide is a great help for any train buff. Over 500 short lines are described: history, current status, number of engines (some lines with full listing), cars, as well as address of owner and radio frequencies. I especially liked the many pictures accompanying the text. There is really one drawback only: The book does not contain any maps. You will need a train atlas or a Rand Mc Nally on the side, unfortunately. Other interesting details are lists of abandoned and non-operating lines as well as addresses of ownerships companies. A must-have for US train buffs, especially in conjunction with the Train-Watchers Guide to North American Railroads (also by George W. Drury).

The Cheapskate's Guide was a major disappointment!! It wasn't cheap, either! The book was just a rehash of the other, more complete and better written guides. This book could have been written at the dinner table using the others as sources, because it didn't offer any new information, and offered very little in helpful tips. Too much of the book was wasted in describing rides that are described in the brochures given out at the park. The rides are part of admission, and have nothing to do with saving money. Our personal experience has netted many tips to saving at WDW, that were not even mentioned. One of the more obvious examples was in one of the "Itineraries" suggested. The authors recommended eating supper at 6:30 in the evening. There are no "Cheap" prices at that hour. We saved money on numerous occasions by looking for "early bird" meal specials, that ran just before the usual dinner hour. We also found some meal "specials" that were only on certain days, none of which were even mentioned. There were some "old wives" tips that are useless, such as "Always get in the left-hand line because it is faster". Finding the faster line is more a matter of watching them for the type of groups. Had it not been for the constant mention of the authors love of Disney, one would conclude the opposite, from the way this is written. We would recommend Sehlinger's "Unofficial" guide as a better bargain, with more tips to make the experience enjoyable.

The above review notwithstanding, I found this book to be informative, well-organized, and extremely helpful. I also liked the way it was written -- all too often "guides" like this tend to be boring as hell. The fact that the author Michael Lewis has also written books on Tom Hanks and Harrison Ford (I collect movie books) shows in his entertaining style and confident tone. I would recommend this book if you're interested in an easy-to-use, helpful guide to the Land of the Mouse!

Elaine Brown may have had Panther bookkeeper Betty Van Patter murdered on orders from Huey Newton, according to strong circumstantial information recounted by author David Horowitz, former movement member, in his book "Hating Whitey". Even by her own writings in "A Taste of Power" she comes across as a dangerous psychopath who gets sensuous gratification from seeing people brutally beaten. If you buy this or any other book by her, you very well may be giving money someone involved in a murder.

See chapter 9, "Black Murder, Inc." of David Horowitz's book "Hating Whitey" for the full story on Elaine Brown.

Elaine Brown presents much more than the title suggests. Rather than restricting herself to the case of Lil B (Michael Lewis) by itself, she places this case in a setting of racism, both in history and in our time, nationally and in Georgia, in such a way as to challenge both the white power structure as well as the African American community to face up to our abdication of responsibility for the marginalized, especially the adolescent African American males. The handling of the case of Lil B is symptomatic of this abdication, beginning with Atlanta's blindness to the existence of the Bluff (a drug infested block of west side Atlanta); moving on to the self-absorbed ambition of some of the African American leadership; and ultimately indicting the white power structure's arrogance rooted in the so-called brilliant insights of Thomas Jefferson on the subject of African Americans. Brown is well versed in her subject, articulate in expressing her views, and forthright in calling for action from all segments of our contemporary society. Brilliant piece of work.

The quality of the speakers in this collection varied. Some, like those by Fred Friendly and Tom Brokaw, were interesting and thought-provoking but the decline in talent from lecture to lecture was obvious - the last one was by conservative ideologue and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, defending sleeze (sp?) on TV. The editors also did a poor job - all they had to do was transcribe some speeches. The fact that they wound up with spelling and grammatical errors just goes to show how quickly this work was thrown together. My advice - read the offerings by Wicker, Chancellor, Friendly and Brokaw and skip the rest.

I was mainly drawn to Bulletproof Monk because John Woo, one of my all-time favorite action-movie directors, is helming an adaptation starring Chow Yun-Fat. Woo also wrote the introduction. Along with Mike Avon Oeming's art, that's about all that's worth a look.

The story seems to be patterned after kung-fu movies, but the creators seem to forget that the fun of a kung-fu flick is NOT the dopey plot, or the deep meditations of the tortured characters, but the KUNG-FU. Seeing 2 VERY short action sequences in print is not a thrill....

The characters are all forgettable, and I didn't feel for any of them in the slightest. My sole enjoyment in this waste of money came from the numerous self-congratulatory essays from the various people involved with the book. They practically break their arms patting themselves on the back..
You'd think you were reading about Catcher in the Rye, instead of an overrated amateur-hour piece of junk. Pass at all costs!

I thought the movie increased Jades role and that perhaps she belongs in a jupiter video what with all the sanskrit/tibetan writing on her at the end.

Iloved this bok. Oeming is a GOD. The editorial is incorrect. The movie is being PRODUCED by John Woo. Not directed by. It is directed by Paul Hunter.

I had to Beowulf for school OVER THE SUMMER, so I wasn't interested in the first place, but it isn't exactly enjoyable either. It is hard to follow because sentences are broken up onto different lines, historical digressions interrupt the main plot, and the characters are difficult to relate to. There is also no feeling, so it is hard to sympathize for Beowulf and his companions. This poem was meant to be told in a middle ages court, not read on a pool deck by a 16 year old in the middle of the summer. Perhaps if I was being elaborately told the epic as well I would have liked it.

Despite being a very lenghty peom Beowulf appealed to me. It was an epic of Anglo-Saxon peroid which focuses on a single main character, Beowulf, who overcomes evil, Grendel. I would recommend it only to those who are into reading epic peoms.

His friends leave him behind in the end when he is king. he is mortified that he is left behind because everyone is afriad of the dragon

I am a die-hard Tom Hanks fan so any book about him and his awesome career belongs in my library. This is a good one, but there are some serious downfalls in it. I am not sure if the authors are just overly impossibly critical or what, but they refuses to see the good side of his work in the early days. I was depressing. If you know anything about actors you know that they are not all overnight success. Why can't they deal with that? I was able to forgive them this type of criticism until I read about Sleepless in Seattle. Where was the editor the day these pages came in? Sam Baldwin's sons name is Jonah, not Joshua!