One of the most interesting - and funniest - books I've ever read, and certainly by far the best on masculinity. I especially enjoyed the masterpiece chapter on the movie 'Top Gun' which completely convincingly interprets it as a gay movie and shows how Cruise's real interest is Val Kilmer not Kelly McGillis.

Shortly after this book was published Quentin Tarantino appeared in a film called 'Sleep With Me' arguing this exact point. I wonder if he had a copy of Simpson's book in his dressing-room?

"Mark Simpson detects and dissects the myths of machismo and its attendant media circus with refreshing gusto and wit."'

"Like me this book plays with men. Provocative, irreverent, acerbic and witty, it offers one gigantic intellectual orgam after another." - Margi Clarke

As a Dominican myself (from Santiago, Republica Dominicana) I can imagine the excitement and joy of being a student in Professor Cambeira's class. He has an unmistakable talent to make history and culture vibrantly relevant for today. His style is refreshingly light, but certainly not without obvious scholarship. Cambeira's insightful treatment of many serious issues in our island nation convinces me that he is an honest Dominican author not afraid to speak the truth. His work is unencumbered by weighty and obscure historical theories and ceremonial pomp traditionally associated with books of this kind. I learned so much more about our complex society that so many of my fellow Dominicans themselves misunderstand or are completely ignorant about. Cambeira is a proud Dominican, but his pride doesn't get in the way of honesty. This is an excellent book for anybody who is looking to understand Dominican culture.

Learn more about this tropical paradise! Miss Universe for this year hails from the Dominican Republic and I now understand why. Professor Cambeira's book about the people of this Caribbean island (shared with its neighbor Haiti) explains in very clear and uncomplicated terms why this intriguing culture is much more than baseball, bachata, and merengue. Mangu (a favorite staple in the Dominican breakfast diet) will reach millions of people around the globe thanks to the lovely new beauty queen. But Cambeira's skillfully written book should definitely accompany the exciting world tour of Miss Universe. I guarantee you that this is a book that will open your eyes to the beauty of a wonderfully strong and resourceful community that many people in the States don't even realize exists --and located so close to us. Excellent work. Highly Recommended reading.

En este excellente libro se recogen de manera intrepida opiniones y observaciones eruditas por el autor. El libro también nos presenta un claro analisis de las causas y consecuencias de una ideología racista muy fea que opera en muchos sectores de la sociedad dominicana. Excellente presentación. Se las recomiendo a todos aquellos interesados en la cultura dominicana.

This is the best book ever.Alan Dean Foster did a perfect job with this book!I read like mad,and so I'd had no books I hadn't read,save for Spellsinger ,which jumped at me from the shelf.This book rocks!

Read it for the story, read it again for the enjoyment, and you will read it a third time for the learning.

Wow, Alan Dean Foster has done well here. The book has a enthraling and yet humorus storyline in which animals who walk and talk (AND cast spells!) Seem science fact rather than fiction. Without spoiling too much you have to read this book just to see Falameezar. (I think that's how it's spelt!) The best character I've ever come across in any novel ever. Well worth reading and well worth Getting the series.

_This Is It_ by Alan Watts is a good solid work, but is too short to provide the rigorous instruction needed to achieve any appreciable amount of enlightenment or Zen Satori. That said, it is a wonderful, enjoyable, and profound book page for page, and is essential to round out your collection of Alan Watts' more recent and well-known works. _This Is It_ is also perfect for someone who does not want a megadose of strenuous philosophy and theology; it is ideal for those who are new to psychological-religious non-fiction, or who do not have the time to hack through some kind of magnum-opus epic of philosophy. If, however, you want to read one of the more comprehensive books by Alan Watts, I would recommend _Psychotherapy East and West_, which is his best work.

Alan Watts explains what unity/non-dual consciousness or nothingness really is and explains how it may be different from what many people think it is. He uses various interesting examples to make his case and I thought they were very effective. Ken Wilber has elaborated on this error that people tend to make as well but I think Toru Sato's "Rhythm, Relationships, and Transcendence" really explains it the best. Anyways all of these author's books are well worth reading. They are all brilliant! We are very fortunate that these people write books.

Yes, the Nike ads have captured the essence of Zen. As Alan Watts puts it, This Is It.

Logical paradoxes aside, the "just shut up and get on with it" approach to Life is one of the key elements in Zen. The 'kill the Buddha' psychology of avoiding the pitfalls of externally arising enlightenment is well in line with Watt's own philosophy.

Completeness comes from within and from a place of non-duality, which the koans of Zen are designed to lead you towards. One of the key human errors and the cause of immense suffering is the belief that Life must make sense. Who ever said that? And make sense to whom?

The Techno Bible in The Hitch Hiker's Guide bore the words "Dont Panic" on the cover. That's a good starting point. Add to that Just Do It and This Is It, and you're going to be just fine.

Another great read from the man who gave us The Two Hands Of God.

This book is great when working with various platforms like I do in Customer Support. The only problem is they have to update it from 1994 to include more and/or less terms and their definitions. Otherwise most of the terminology is good, accurate and concise when one is trying to work with scripting or just using the commands in the book. Otherwise, an excellent book. I hope they come up eventually with an update on it.

If you want to do something in UNIX this book has the command. It won't hold your hand and teach you unix step by step, but it is an excellent reference. The book lists zillions of commands - from common to obscure - and clearly explains what they do (in different flavors even). Anyone working with UNIX should have a copy.

This is my most valuable UNIX book. The real-life examples, both stand-alone commands and piped-together commands always come though when I don't remember exactly how to do something. The keyword index is grouped by functional categories, so, if you know that you want to do "job control" and not a "printing" command, then you are 80% of the way to finding the command that you want in the index. The authors did the work, so I don't have to. What a great, great book for anyone dealing with UNIX.

Although this book was written almost 20 years ago, the constitutional issues briught forth are timeless. I may not agree with his politics, but I can now understand how Dershowitz can sway a jury.

A phenomenal writer, Dershowitz takes his own experiences and transcends them onto paper in way that the average reader is truly gripped by the story. Along the way, we learn some of his background, we can understand his views, and we can understand how courts and government interact with the law of the land.

Dershowitz is not afraid to press his personal viewpoints, but he does not make that the focus of the book. Instead, he focuses on telling stories, describing supreme injustices, and informing teh reder as to the workings of the modern day court system.

I felt his examples were well chosen and fit with his goal to expose the reader to a broad view of the constitutional issues that must be faced by society. I would have liked if some opposing viewpoints to the arguments were mentioned, but then we would not have a book solely written by Dershowitz, would we?

Overall, this book will entertain and inform any reader interested in the law, constitutional rights, or just courtroom dramas in general. I found the book very intriguing and Dershowitz has shown that he is just as good a writer as he is a lwayer.

The first ten pages will teach the average reader more than a year of reading a newspaper or ten years of watching "Law and Order." What is more, Dershowitz backs his account with personal experiences and harrowing tales. Such anecdotal evidence is not compelling but can serve as a wakeup call.

The author lays out laws of criminal justice, not as portrayed in books or ideals, but as practiced in courtrooms. The most telling of these is the last -- no one wants justice. To be sure, that law is imprecisely put. What Dershowitz means is that, in an adversary system, almost no participant wants to do justice more than she or he wants to win.

Why might such an insight matter? Well, when I listened to Marcia Clark and Geraldo Rivera and others whine about O.J., I was nonplussed to endure their cant about the search for justice. When Johnnie Cochran and Robert Shapiro packaged their defense as the pursuit of justice, I cringed. If Clark and the prosecutors or Bob and Johnnie were seeking justice, what were they doing in court? You don't look for filet mignon in a hindo diner!

Dershowitz need not convince any reader that the criminal justice system is as flawed or that Dershowitz is as flawless as the book pretends. Nonetheless, the read will be an enlightening, entertaining call to see and think anew.

The author of this book is a law professor who does appellant work part time. Unlike the cut and thrust of jury work appeals have generally been seen as dry rarefied and uninteresting. The author however writes in an entertaining and self deprecating way which brings the process alive. It is one of the most enjoyable books written about the law that I have read for some time.

The author also writes about the cases he loses. So many books by advocates focus on the success and are about self grandisment.

Overall the impression given is how much of a dogged slog it is to achieve justice in the American System and how much calculation and thought has to go into every strategy and move. One of the amazing things in the book is how the author is so critical of a number of judges and how willing he is to make those criticisms.

It is an excellent book which shows the many flaws and weakness of the American justice system.

As someone who operates a popular and very informative breast implant web site and forum...I cannot recommend this book enough. Dr. Engler covers everything, including information on other plastic surgery techniques, such as liposuction, breast lifts, breast reduction, and tummy tucks. The complete history of breast implants is covered, as well as the types of implants available (saline and silicone), the silicone controversy, shapes of various implants, placement of the implants, possible risks and complications, as well as before and after photos. This book really has everything. You will learn what to expect at your consultation, to anesthesia, to what the neighbors will say.

Plastic surgery is not something to be taken lightly. Much thought should go into the reasons WHY you want to have the surgery. This is covered in the book as well.

Dr. Engler is a highly respected surgeon, and is a wonderful authoritative source on breast augmentation. If you are contemplating any of the procedures outlined in this book, I urge you to read this book.

I have run a popular plastic surgery resource website, IMPLANTFORUM.COM, for over 4 years and I can't think of a thing Dr. Engler neglected to mention in this book, BodySculpture! Dr. Engler covers everything. From what to expect before, during & after surgery to the emotional aspect of undergoing plastic surgery. Each procedure (breast augmentation, breast reduction, liposuction and tummy tucks) is explained thoroughly, yet in easy to understand layman's terms. He details what you'll get from a consult and all your options, to how to prepare for surgery and what transpires during surgery. He lists the risks of each surgery and what to expect when recovering and he does not sugar coat! Bravo!

The book includes lots of before and afters of each surgery, which is a great reference if you are planning on surgery or even if you are only contemplating surgery.

Dr. Engler is a graduate of Yale and is a ABPS board-certified plastic surgeon (the ONLY plastic surgery board recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties). He was listed in 'The Best New York Metro Area Doctors' and in New York Magazine's The Best Doctors in New York. His office is in New York City.

An excellent resource for anyone considering plastic surgery. This book is very informative and very simple to understand. Even my plastic surgeon was impressed with how well informed I was at my initial consult. He even asked for the name of this book so he could recommend this book to his patients as a resource prior to surgery. I've been researching this topic for two years and this book, "Body Sculpture: Plastice Surgery For Men and Women" is definetly the most valuable source of information I've come across. To anyone considering plastic surgery, buy this book and read it before your consult. You'll be glad you did.

First I must say that I am not saying that ethnobotany is boring. I am just saying it seems boring to me and it might to others, but even if you know nothing of botany and have little interest in it you will find great interest in this book. It is a fascinating narrative and Paul brings you into the Samoan world as well as a palagi really can.

I had a chance to hear Paul Cox speak and he talked about how the rainforest became his mother. The book starts with the death of his mother by cancer. He travels to Samoa to search for a possible cure in the rain forest, his quest however becomes to save the rainforest from the forces of globalization. I think the most compelling issue of this book is the positive and negative aspects of western scholarship when it comes in touch with another land and culture.

Paul is a very good storyteller and makes you want to continue reading.

This unique and fascinating book by Dr. Cox has important implications for development practitioners and academics interested in political ecology as well as ethnobotanists. The challenges faced by the people of Falealupo village in choosing between preserving their forest or building a school for their children are typical of the environmental trade-offs that many people in developing countries feel compelled to make simply to achieve, by our standards, a minimally acceptable standard of living. The solution presented by Dr. Cox, in which social networks are built such that people willing to invest in the preservation of ecosystems are put into direct contact with those people overseeing these ecosystems (without government or NGO intervention) has important lessons for people interested in promoting "Conservation-with-Development" approaches to economic development. This text also illustrates the complex ways that the human imprint on ecosystems is embedded in power-laden social networks and that change involves contestation and negotiation of power within these networks. This book thus holds important insights for those interested in political ecology. (For those interested in these topics, Dr. Cox's contribution to People, Plants and Justice - Charles Zerner, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2000 - makes an informative companion-piece to Nafanua.)

Finally, as a person who has lived in Samoa for several years as a volunteer teacher and as someone who conducts ecological research there, I find Dr. Cox's presentation of the people of Samoa, shown from a more personalized perspective rather than an academic one, to be open, honest and fair. He avoids falling into the trap of romanticizing or essentializing the people as "ecologically noble savages" that live in perfect harmony with their environment that has become so common in depictions of indigenous peoples in the popular media. When I read the book, I often saw the Samoa that I knew from my own personal experience.

This was an outstanding work. I am a palagi who has been married to a Samoan woman for 9 years and have had extensive dealings with Samoans for 14 years. We visited Western Samoa in 1988, so I have seen the culture first-hand, as well as my state-side exposure with Samoan American organizations. I could almost see myself interacting with the people as he related his accounts... although my 50 or so word Samoan vocabulary can't be compared with the author. He truly captures the essence of Samoa and its people.

This book is a well-written and enjoyable summary of what we know about Pluto and its relatively huge moon Charon. However, the fact of the matter is we don't know much because we have yet to send a spacecraft to this fascinating double planet! Stern and Mitton do a great job presenting the timeline of our discoveries about Pluto as well as the latest theories on the compositions and origin of these bodies.

I was especially impressed with the discussion of Pluto's atmosphere changing as a result of the planet's greatly elliptical orbit around the Sun. In addition, the authors give a great detailed breakdown of the discoveries gleaned from the mutual occultations in the late 80s. Also, this book was written several years ago but we have since indeed found many more Kuiper Belt objects that lend great credibility to the theory of Pluto simply being one of the largest of that family.

Too much time was spent on describing the birth and continuing struggles of the Pluto Express project. This discussion would have been more appropriate if the spacecraft had even launched, let alone successfully completed its mission. But the fact is that NASA's funding issues have kept the project grounded for now. Hopefully it'll fly in the next couple years. If it doesn't, much of the mission may be compromised because Pluto is getting farther from the Sun each day and as a result its atmospheric activity is dying.

Overall a great effort and worth your time. Don't expect incredible revelations and photographs though, because we still have yet to visit the place!

If you don't know much about the "King of the Kuiper Belt", read this book, and you will have a very clear scientific description of this "massive comet"...

This book is complete, starting from the historic discovery (blind luck, really) of Pluto, the subsequent observations that kept on shrinking the planet, then the suprising discovery of Charon, the fortuitious Pluto/Charon occultation, and the latest HST results.

Easy to read, and yet technical enough, this book will probably make you love this planet, even though it's only a big comet saved from destruction by its orbital resonance with Neptune... and will make you hate NASA (or the US Congress) for not going forward with their Pluto Express probe.

A well written historic perspective on our outer-most-planet that by books' end will change your view of our solar system.

A thoroughly enjoyable easy-to-read book. More hard science/discovery books should be written this way.

It's not just the facts that are amazing but the proven-wrong theories we use to have on Pluto. Too bad we're still waiting for our first encounter with this mysterious planet. If history proves right, the Voyager probes were just another step in our discovering the 'real' solar system.

Al Capone was a real life mob boss from the 1920's and this is his story

from beginning to end. The author describes the man, Chicago, and organized

crime in the 1920's perfectly. It's almost like your with Al Capone on his daily

routs, on the streets and in jail. Money, booze, and women are what gangsters

desire and this is what the book is about.

The book was very written, and is very easy to read. The book seams like it

is at a sixth grade reading level with cartoons and hand written notes said to be

written by Al himself. It was in perfect order so you the reader could under

stand where the story was heading.

This book is a good read for anyone who likes old gangsters, prohibition, and

Organized crime. I liked this book because it wasn't strenuous to read and had

great info. about Al Capone and his gang. I give this book a four star rating.

It's not a five star rating due to the lack of information on his wife and kid.

Al Capone and His Gang by Alan MacDonald is a great book about Al Capone. It describes his life in a comic book way. It also tells about his bootleg career. The quote I like best is, "I love my job,thats what I'm good at," because I don't see how anyone could think killing is fun. This book also reveals Al's secret diary, and it's the number one source for gangster slang. I like this book because the life of Al Capone is really interesting and full of surprises. I recommend this book to teenagers who love biographies that are suspenseful and full of surprises.

I liked this book because I learned a lot about gangs and their code words like "bump off" which means to kill someone and I really liked the comics on most of the pages. It was a gang book with comedy instead of gore. I would highly recommend this book if you are interested in Al Capone.