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Book reviews for "Lyle-Smythe,_Alan" sorted by average review score:

On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals (2nd Edition)
Published in Hardcover by Prentice Hall College Div (10 June, 1998)
Authors: Sarah R. Labensky and Alan M. Hause
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Real Cooking for the Real World
This book is a text for a class I am currently taking. While it covers all the basics, even the classics yet it also reflects how the cooking is today. The recipes come from a wide variety of sources and not just the school's own files.

My Teacher
I am lucky enough to have studied under Chef Labensky. This is an outstanding book. This was our text book at Mississippi University for Women. We used it for everything. It gives great history, backgrounds, techniques, and recipes. My husband, Colley, (Which I met at MUW)and I still use it on a regular basis and we have been out of culinary school for 2 years. I highly recommend this book for anyone considering culinary school.

A must for cooking students
This text is very thorough, and covers everything from history, nutrition and sanitation to classic and innovative recipes using the latest trendy ingredients. This text is geared specifically for the cooking student, however, with most recipes written to serve 12 or more, and ingredients listed by weight rather than volume. It will be tremendously usefull to add to a library of cookery books, and can be used to provide a solid foundation of the basic principals of cooking.


The One Earth Herbal Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Chinese, Western, and Ayurvedic Herbal Treatments
Published in Paperback by Kensington Pub Corp (2001)
Authors: Alan Keith Tillotson, Nai-Shing Hu Tillotson, and Robert Abel
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One of the best herb books ever written
I have a degree in Chinese herbs and at least 50 books on herbs. This is one of the best.

The author reviews Chinese, Western and Ayurvedic herbs. He includes research and little known facts about the herbs.

There are chapters on different diseases and the herbs that will treat them, including HIV, cancer, diabetes and thyroid problems.

There is a great explanation of the immune system, with each component explained very clearly, along with herbs that have been proven to affect that specific function. Which herbs boost interferon and which ones boost NK cells? What is tumor necrosis factor and what herbs stimulate it?

There is a seamless integration of Naturopathic and allopathic.

For example: Cases of hyperthyroidism and of hypothyroidism were confirmed via blood test. Hyperthyroidism correlated with a yin deficiency diagnosis and hypothyroidism with a yang deficiency diagnosis. As would be expected.

Everyone who loves herbs should have a copy of this book!!!!

An Awesome Reference
This book is amazing. It offers in-depth, well-referenced information. The contents are priceless!

A Truly Remarkable Book
This is a truly remarkable book.In a sense it is an encyclopedic treatment of herbology for the layman, and a reference book for the specialist. One correctly gets the impression that the author and his two co-authors really know what they are talking about. The book is based on an extensive knowledge about herbs, and considerable clinical experience. It covers the area of herbal treatment comprehensively. The content is well organized and information is clearly presented.The index is lengthy and detailed. The Appendix conveniently lists herbs, according to their physiological action, by their common and Latin names. The Resource Guide. is unusually comprehensive. It is a pleasure to recommend this book.

Albert Schatz, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus Temple University.


Postmodern Pooh
Published in Paperback by North Point Press (2003)
Author: Frederick Crews
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Witty, pointed, good-natured satire
Excellent skewering of a branch of academia that seems to set itself up for it. Crews put a lot of work into these essays, which are clever, intelligent, and extremely funny. He isn't nearly so vicious in his satire as many of his speakers (and their real-life counterparts) are in their literary-political maneuvering, but he exposes the void at the heart of much modern literary criticism where the work itself used to live. Pooh is as good as any other subject when the theory drives the criticism, which is why this book works so well.

Howlingly funny...
...yet shockingly frightening. It took me a while to 'get' the meaning of the pieces in this book because at first I thought they were real! The pieces are excellent. For example, after reading the 'feminist' perspective on Milne, I could have sworn that he was a misogynist.

Yet it soon became apparent that these essays provide brilliant exposes of our postmodern intellectual traditions.

Just as Will Rogers and Dick Gregory would read straight from the newspapers without commentary and would be met with laughs at the absurdity of the pieces read, so too did I find myself doing the same with these pieces.

Not only do they present in clear fashion the 'truths' espoused in the various philosophies of our day but by reading these very philosophies into the Pooh stories, the hubris of humanity glares from between the lines. I walked away not only educated and humored but humbled.

It became apparent that we can read whatever we like not only into the Pooh stories but into pretty much anything we so desire.

silly academics
Literary Criticism so long ago slipped over the edge into self parody that when I first found an old dog-eared copy of The Pooh Perplex at a book sale many years ago it took me more than a few pages to figure out whether it was meant to be serious or not. In a series of essays, various critics, of dubious but seemingly impressive pedigree, read the Pooh stories through the distorted lenses of their own literary/political/philosophical/psychological perspectives. It turned out of course that the book, published in 1964, had been the work of a young English professor at Berkeley (of all places) and was a parody, skewering several of the then current schools of criticism. Now, nearly forty years later, retired from academia, Professor Crews gives today's critics the satirical drubbing they so richly deserve in this manufactured set of lectures to the Modern Language Association convention. Happily, this second effort is just as funny as the first, though it is somewhat depressing to realize that his targets have become even easier to poke fun at because, one shudders at the thought, their theories are even more ridiculous than those of their predecessors.

I'll not pretend to understand all the nuances of what Professor Crews has written; heck, I don't even recognize all the schools of thought he's sending up, nor all the specific people he seems to have targeted. Everyone will discern Harold Bloom in the person of Orpheus Bruno, whose lecture is titled The Importance of Being Portly, and whose last three books are titled : My Vico, My Shakespeare, My God!; What You Don't Know Hurts Me; and Read These Books. And one assumes that Dudley Cravat III, whose contribution, Twilight of the Dogs, is one long bellow against the "sickness unto death" of the modern university, must incorporate at least a significant touch of William Bennett. Knowing who the victims are in these instances definitely adds to the enjoyment. Unfortunately (no, make that fortunately) most of the other models for these characters will be so obscure to anyone outside academia that the reader, at least this reader, won't know recognize them.

You can figure out, without too much trouble, that specific lectures are aimed at Deconstruction, Marxism, Feminism, Queer Theory, Postcolonialism, Evolutionary Psychology and so forth. Much of the enjoyment of the book lies in the way Crews can make the Pooh stories fit these absurd theories. He'll leave you half convinced that the Hundred Acre Wood is alternately a seething pit of repressed homosexual longings or pedophiliac torture; the oppressed colony of a brutal imperialist master; and a laboratory of Darwinism. The very capacity of these simple children's stories to bear the weight of each of these ideologies only serves to undermine them all. Such infinitely plastic criticisms must ultimately be about the theories themselves, not about the text that is supposedly under consideration.

One final feature of the book is particularly amusing, and especially frightening. Though the lectures are obviously made up, the footnotes appear to all refer to genuine sources, with titles like "The Foul and the Fragrant: Odor and the French Social Imagination" and "The Vestal and the Fasces: Hegel, Lacan, Property, and the Feminine". I suppose someone trying to complete a doctoral thesis will write just about anything, but, please God, tell me no one has actually ever read them.

It all makes for very funny reading, but with a serious subtext. This is the kind of garbage that kids are being taught, with a straight face, in our schools today. That scares the heck out of me. Hopefully Professor Crews will keep that skewer pointy. We need someone to puncture the pretensions of these self-important intellectual nitwits.

GRADE : A


Primate Sexuality: Comparative Studies of the Prosimians, Monkeys, Apes, and Human Beings
Published in Hardcover by Oxford University Press (1998)
Authors: Alan F. Dixson and John Bancroft
Amazon base price: $145.00
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An excellent text
Dixson's book is a very good collection of the published works of others and makes a very handy reference for students of primate sexuality. The text was thorough and included a review of neuroendocrine systems in nonhuman primates, which is especially useful to anyone considering the molecular basis of sexual behavior. It is a technical, comprehensive text and is especially useful in outlining the gaps in our understanding. All in all, an excellent addition to the library of a primatologist.

Reviw by "Nature".
Alan Dixson has drawn together an impressive body of literature in this landmark volume. The book takes a comparative perspective, seeking a seamless review from prosimians through humans, and viewing this taxonomic diversity from a Darwinian and phylogenetic perspective. Primate sexuality is an essential starting point in this field and a must for every primatologist's library.

Animal Behaviour 1999
"On more than 500 pages, with more than 2000 references, many tables, and hundreds of beautiful illustrations,Dixson provides a fascinating, comprehensive, up-to-date and unparalleled synthesis of our current knowledge about primate sexuality ." Andreas Paul University of Gottingen, Germany.


Psyched For Life
Published in Paperback by Alan Guinn (10 December, 2001)
Author: Alan Guinn
Amazon base price: $12.95
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A Great Book from a Great Friend.
I spent great hours with Alan Guinn's book and since I know him in person it was even a better experience because it was like hearing him saying those words.

It was the same Alan Guinn I know just talking to me. And that was one of the best features of the book, it was a person to person experience and not just like other books where the authors believe they know everything about my life and know exactly what is better for me.

It was like if he was telling me his perception of life and shared with me some insights he collected through his life. It was a sharing experience, not a teaching one.

That's why I feel confortable in recommending this book.

POWERFUL SIMPLICITY!!!
"PSYCHED FOR LIFE" is as powerful as it is simple. A highly enjoyable and easy to read guide that arms people with decision making skills that will help them make better choices in life. The author's wisdom and insight, gained from being a highly successful mentor, tutor and businessman has been captured in its essence and offered to the reader. Anyone who reads "PSYCHED FOR LIFE" will be inspired, motivated and enlightened through its basic corollaries which will help strengthen their personal and business relationships. I strongly recommend "PSYCHED FOR LIFE" to everybody. This book is invaluable. Read it!

I am now Psyched for Life!
Mr Guinn has written an exciting and thought provoking book that has allowed me the opporunity to re-evaluate the way I approach my business and personal life. I highly recommend Psyched for Life! as an entertaining and useful tool for individuals looking to make important changes in their lives.


Secrets of Uechi Ryu Karate: And the Mysteries of Okinawa
Published in Paperback by Cherokee Pub (1996)
Authors: Alan Dollar, Alice Dollar, Robert Davidson, and Kiyohide Shinjo
Amazon base price: $44.95
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A Great Addition to any serious martial artist's library
Mr. Dollar does a great job tracing the lineage, training, and technique of this powerful but little known school of Okinawan karate. The flow is good and steady and the material found in here is first-rate. Investigate and documented by a real practioner trained by the real masters this book is worth every penny, so check it out!

Huge, beefy book worth every last penny
Uechi-ryu is not a well know style in many parts of the country. As such if you looking for a book that covers not only the history of the style but also the some of the history of the island that developed it, and does so in depth, this is the book for you. Its a huge book and its packed full of info both on Okinawa and on the history and development of Uechi-ryu.

Uechi- Ryu History 101
If you study Uechi-Ryu this book is a must for you.
The Incredable lenghts that Sensei Dollar went to give us this
History should not be taken Lightly. The great way that he
gives the acuurate details without takeing sides on any fractions
of the Art are to be admired. This is a must have Book.


The Secrets to Increasing Your Power, Wealth and Happiness
Published in Paperback by Wisdom Publishing Co (01 January, 1994)
Author: Alan C. Walter
Amazon base price: $27.77
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Careful about loaning this book out...
This book is an integral step to moving forward and achieving what it is you want to do, with ease.

I've read and re-read this book at least three times, and each time I gain something new. I keep loaning this book out to my friends, and I don't think a single one of them has returned a copy to me! So beware.

Enjoy!

Being in the right place at the right time
Have you ever been "in the right place at the right time?" I have on many occasions and I'm sure you have, too. So how did we get there? That, to me, is an important question.

The "Secrets" book will give you a very good idea on how to be in the right place at the right time...consistently! It has answers to many of the questions I've wondered about and it's written in a very easy to understand manner.

I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in improving their game, whatever that may be!

A life changing experience
I can only say that reading this book was and continues to be a life changing experience. I have read it several times and each time I get more and more out of it.

Prior to finding this book I had read many self improvement texts and made some progress in my personal development. The only problem is that the improvements were not lasting, things just did not 'stick'. Some time later I would find myself drifting back into the same 'old ways'.

The 'Secrets Book' has changed all that. The improvements I have made are real and lasting. I can only say that Mr Walter has produced a true masterpiece of great value.

If you really want to make lasting and certain improvement to your state of mind and mood level, read this book. Not just once, but many times.

May you never be the same again!


Ortho's Home Improvement Encyclopedia
Published in Hardcover by Ortho Books (1994)
Authors: Alan Alhstrand, Ortho Books, Robert J. Beckstrom, John Reed, and Edith Allgood
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Ortho's Home Improvement Encyclopedia
This is a fine starter book for the first time home owner. In the first few pages, I had the answers to the three major problems I had been dealing with! Nice and straightforward catch-all book on working over existing stuff or putting in new.

If it's not in this book, don't attempt it.
I picked up this book in Home Depot back in 1997. At a glance I found out how to take out a load bearing wall, something I needed to do. I bought the book, and with it I had the confidence to take on a major remodel of my house. The book has everything, from framing an addition to fixing a leaky faucet. I consult it often. Right now (03/2002) I'm using it to build a shed. The language is clear and concise and the book doesn't waste words. I recommend it highly.

Tbe Best Basic Home Improvement Book
I, recently, purchased this boook (my brother said he had one, and it was great). I flipped through most of the book -- it isn't the kind of book you sit down and read straight through. I've done a fair amount of handyman stuff around the house (I just replaced the motor in my dryer - which wasn't too difficult once I had the right parts). Well, as I flipped through the book, I would stop and read sections which interested me. There are well-written sections on, basically, everything about a house and what is in it. After spending about an hour scanning the book, I said to my wife: "You could build a house with the information that is in here!" It is one of those "I'm glad I bought this book" books. A great book to have if you're looking for stuff to do around the house; it is a real "Home Improvement Encyclopedia."


The Power of Passion
Published in Paperback by Jamie Clark and Alan Hobson (01 June, 1997)
Authors: Alan Hobson and Jamie Clarke
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What is YOUR mountain?
I heard Jamie Clarke speak and found him to be quite fascinating and was inspired to get and read his book, "The Power of Passion". The book was very good but not near as good as hearing Mr. Clarke speak in person. If you ever have a chance to hear him speak, don't miss it. If not that, read his book. It's more than about climbing a mountain, it's about striving to do our best, to try our hardest in what ever we do every day. Everyone has a "mountain". We each need to face the challenge and strive to do our best to conquer it.

Awesome Powerful!
Ditto on what Rockford Illinois said: I heard Jamie Clarke speak and found him to be quite fascinating and was inspired to get and read his book, "The Power of Passion". The book was very good but not near as good as hearing Mr. Clarke speak in person. If you ever have a chance to hear him speak, don't miss it. If not that, read his book. It's more than about climbing a mountain, it's about striving to do our best, to try our hardest in what ever we do every day. Everyone has a "mountain". We each need to face the challenge and strive to do our best to conquer it. ********** I bought multiple copies of this book to hand out to friends! All of my friends now own a copy, so I want to share this with all of my Amazonian friends! Enjoy!!!

WoW
WoW, At first this sounded kinda boring, like o wow another inspirational speaker, But only minutes later, I was taking in everyword i read and heard him say. Im am a 17 year old teenager from california. This book is the top of all inspirational books, i could only give it 5 stars, i'd give it more if I could


Search the Scriptures: A Three-Year Daily Devotional Guide to the Whole Bible
Published in Paperback by Intervarsity Press (1984)
Author: Alan M. Stibbs
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If you do it, it will change you.
Most Christians spend time reading the bible or listening to sermons, but very little actually sinks in. In Acts the Bereans were classified as 'noble' because they searched the scriptures daily. That is really the basis of this book. It differs from a daily devotional in that it is full of questions. This forces people from passive to active participation, the difference in retention in switching between those study modes is huge.
It is not deep or particularly insightful, but it is manageable in twenty minutes a day. For someone that doesn't have the self discipline to really study on their own this will help tremendously.
Whenever I come upon someone who wants to learn God's word and is of reasonable education level I buy them one of these books. I haven't regretted it yet.

This Book has blessed my life considerably
I taught Sunday School for many years to an adult class. I never really did any kind of systematic study in preparation. I taught in faith that the Holy Spirit would work through all of us in the class, and that He would teach us. I never felt that I had a handle on the "Big Picture" of God's Word. When I purchased Search the Scriptures, I found what I needed. It divides the Bible up into small study portions that can be handled in about 30 minutes to an hour. The questions can be easily answered, but at the same time were challenging. Most of the time scripture references within the question helped in finding an answer. The best part was how the questions forced me to look at my own life, and my relationship with God. I am a reflective man with much on my mind. I found this approach to be an opportunity to write back to myself about the issues and concerns of my life. I completed the study with 1,025 pages of work printed out, including the questions. This is my gift to my children. I am revising the work by adding intoductions to all 66 books, and it is a joy to re-read what I wrote and augment it with commentaries from other sources. I highly recommend Search the Scriptures.

Best I've Ever Used
This is the best devotional aid I've ever found. You can spend the suggested 20 minutes per day reading the passage and answering the questions, or you can use the questions as a starting point to probe deeper into the meaning and message of Scripture. This book ranks as one of the best kept secrets in Christian publishing.


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