It doesn't get any more real than this!! I really enjoyed this book. It lets you really get to know the people in the book who are real and not just some made up characters. I hope to see more of these type of books from Joseph Rodriguez. I also like the idea that someone made above about the author doing an update to this book. That would be great!!!

Finally someone writes a book and tells the truth i grew up in East los and believe me it was hard but something we chose,we chose to gangbang and finally someone was real about it and wrote this book showing the way it really is and what we really go threw.........THANKS,VBTP

I live in East L.A., and I know two of the young guys that were in the book. This is what life for us is really like.Im 19, and the guys that came out in the book are around 22 now. I think that this guy has come a really long way and hopefully when he looks back at this book he will realize that he has turned into a better and smarter person.The author has my support in whatever he does. To come here to the neighborhood and write about what goes on in here is opening society's eyes to the everyday struggles and pressures that our young Chicano men have to go through. Behind every picture that Joseph has taken there is a story,and the people that live through it are the authors. I am sure that Joseph has some how helped these guys, because when I first met Porky the first thing he told me was that Pony and him had came out in a book!I think that this book should be updated and see how everyone is doing now.I recommend this book to anyone that wants to see some of the hardships of life.Pony died after this book was made but his smile and memory are always with me.When you see his face in this book don't think of it as another gang member, but as someone who was sill a kid that got caught up in the gang life.

Edward Castro was a piece of work. He was a sociopathic serial killer who enjoyed his life of crime way too much. Professor Joseph Diaz is a Professor of Sociology who specializes in criminology and antisocial behavior, has a wife and kids, and is a very Christian man. Professor Diaz was also a person who used to be ambivalent about the death penalty. The Execution Of A Serial Killer is Professor Diaz' very personal story of how he came to watch Edward Castro executed by the State of Florida, and what effect this event had on his thinking. I was thoroughly involved with Diaz' physical and mental journey, and highly recommend this book, especially to those folks who are either ambivalent about the death penalty or pro-death penalty, but couldn't see themselves pushing the button personally.

The Execution of a Serial Killer begins by taking readers on a disturbing journey through the unspeakable crimes of a sociopath, with descriptive narration of the savagery of Edward Castro and of several other serial killers and the emotional and physical torture endured by their victims. Although opposed to the death penalty myself, the accounts quickly and temporarily induced a desire for revenge and for the death penalty, a normal human response to such brutal killings.

But author Joseph Diaz continues by sharing his own experience of indecision in regards to the death penalty, which is compounded by various arguments on both sides of the issue. Finally, when faced with witnessing the execution of Castro, the author comes to terms with the death penalty, concluding it is not the solution.

What especially captured me was the author's style and candidness. He has a sense of humor that is used appropriately, helping to relieve some of the edginess that builds from the intense subject. I was able to know the author as he shared his innermost thoughts that at times, if not odd, bordered on bizarre. Yet, they were very much like the thoughts that sometimes pop into my own mind and that we probably all encounter but would be unwilling to share with even our closest confidant.

What an amazing book. For anyone for, against, or undecided about executions.

It also does a great job of descibing how people become serial killers and discusses the minds of various serial murderers (including the one the author watched being executed).

I thought this was a powerful book and I admire it.

This book is seems like it would capture a child's interest! There is a ton of detial into the illistrations! It's alittle confusing reading one page, but that is the only bummer about this book!

Wow, how grown up my grandaughter felt when she read this book to me. It's very easy reading. After my grandaughter checked it out three times in a row at the school libarary I jumped on the chance to buy it.
I've heard the story many many times: "my eye your eye"...and with each reading my grandaughter was learning how to recoginize these simple words, and now she can spell & write every word in this book!

The Foot Book made it into my son's library by accident but he loved it so much at only 12 months that I looked for other 'body part' books by Dr. Seuss. The Eye book has elicited similar interest on a more 'thotful' scale. He turned to me a week after the book arrived and said 'wink eye pink eye'. Oh the wonderful sights the little boy and his pink rabbit see with their big, buggy eyes. And the inevitable 'hooray, hooray, hooray for EYES' ending continues to captivate my busy little boy who takes this book to his favorite spot when he needs to be quiet for a while. Of course, we now have the tooth book and the nose book en route for a long airplane ride.

I am a special education teacher and this book gave me and my co-workers MANY useful strategies and ideas to incorporate humor and laughter into the classroom. Dr. Michelli uses his personal experiences to present healthy, humorous ways to deal with children in our lives. This is a must read for anyone with children of their own or for those who work with children.

Though childless, I found Dr. Joseph Michelli's book "Humor, Play & Laughter" a highly entertaining read. I was particulary impressed with the "Activities" sections, which lacked the boring exercises found in other such books, replacing them with humor and joy. Dr. Michelli possess a fantastic sense of humor and fun - and nowhere does this stand out more than in the Chapters themselves. His treatment and respect for children as little people was very moving. The book kept me rolling. A reading MUST for caring parents, and those working with children.

I enjoyed reading this book and trying to put it to use in dealing with my children. I have had the opportunity to hear Dr. Michelli talk and realize that he too, uses the things that he tries to teach through his book. Finally somebody believes that you can parent with humor and fun and not strict forceful anger. I would recommend this book to every parent.

Once again, Charles Swindoll has brought a biblical character to life. I felt as if I was going "through" with Joseph! Mr. Swindoll makes it easy to relate what happen to Joseph with his family relations to today's family. If you're having difficulty relating to the trials and tribulations your family faces, read this book and get a revelation from God!

This is only the second book by Swindoll that I have read. The first was "Intimacy with the Almighty". I liked this one much better. Swindoll did a fantastic job with the life of Joseph. He included a lot of details and perspective on issues, Jacob's poor parenting, geographic locations, etc. that really put you in Joseph's shoes. The book was an engaging page-turner, which I devoured and greatly enjoyed. I am looking forward to reading some of the other books in the series. (Moses, Daniel, etc.)

Much like with the first novel in this series, "David", this book is not only wonderfully written and explained, but inspires great strength in the reader. Also like "David", "Joseph" should be read with the intent of learning, of bettering one's self, not for strict entertainment value alone (although the book is highly entertaining). Another tool for the modern day Christian, and another wonderful book from Swindoll though the power of God.

I obtained a copy of the play from my local library think that it would resemble the movie; it did not. This play was so riveting that I read the play 4 more times while in my possession. The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance follows the tragic life of Joseph Merrick. Pomerance wrote everything just right to complete a masterpiece. Pomerances use of diction and dialogue took the read right into Merricks hospital room in turn of the 20th century London.
While reading the play, I found myself becoming emotionally attached to Merrick as he transformed from a horrid animal to a person of intelligence and wisdom. Each time I read the play I picked up the little things Pomerance wrote about how cruel humanity can be to things they don't understand.
I found myself finishing the play and then turning back to page one. The play was enthralling. Expanding my mind to the world before me while ironically keeping me away from it. The Elephant Man should be dispersed to high schools nation wide, so teenagers have the chance to read and annotate a great piece of literature. This play is great to read for your own pleasure. It will expand your mind, and rethink your position in society.
A strong worded masterpiece like a cannonball ripping through the literary cannon. I recommend this play to anyone of any age looking to expand their mind and thoughts of the society around them.

I obtained a copy of the play from my local library think that it would resemble the movie; it did not. This play was so riveting that I read the play 4 more times while in my possession. The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance follows the tragic life of Joseph Merrick. Pomerance wrote everything just right to complete a masterpiece. Pomerances use of diction and dialogue took the read right into Merricks hospital room in turn of the 20th century London.
While reading the play, I found myself becoming emotionally attached to Merrick as he transformed from a horrid animal to a person of intelligence and wisdom. Each time I read the play I picked up the little things Pomerance wrote about how cruel humanity can be to things they don't understand.
I found myself finishing the play and then turning back to page one. The play was enthralling. Expanding my mind to the world before me while ironically keeping me away from it. The Elephant Man should be dispersed to high schools nation wide, so teenagers have the chance to read and annotate a great piece of literature. This play is great to read for your own pleasure. It will expand your mind, and rethink your position in society.
A strong worded masterpiece like a cannonball ripping through the literary cannon. I recommend this play to anyone of any age looking to expand their mind and thoughts of the society around them.

This play by Bernard Pomerance is one of the most moving and beautiful scripts I have ever read. The dialogue is richly textured and has many layers of subtext, including implications about British colonialism. I chose to see the play as, among other things, a metaphor for the British view of the "white man's burden" and their fascination with the idea of the "civilized savage", but I think the most brilliant works of art are open to myriad interpretations. Although a play needs to be performed to fully come alive, Pomerance's script stands alone well, as a poem or novel would. Its words go to the core of the human experience.

I am simply beginning my journey with NT Greek, and am loving every minute of it while using this resource. It is very extensive, yet easy to understand. I would highly recomend it.

Great, classic book on NT Greek words and their usage. He gives a good deal of derivation information, which is very valuable. Note to fellow Greek students: even though your book may include all the vocabulary you need, you should still get this book right away. One of the hardest thing about learning languages (at least for me) is memorizing vocabulary, and having the derivations makes it much easier. Example: the word PROSWPON (face). Mounce gives the memorable phrase "Pour soap on" as a mnemonic; but even more helpful to me was Thayer's explanation that PROSWPON is derived from PROS+OPS="what's in front of your eyes." Another one: ENOPION (before). Thayer explains it comes from EN+OPS="in the eyes of". Beautiful.

Another thing I especially like is how he relates many Greek words to words in other languages, not just English. For example, "IDE" could be defined as look, behold, etc; but Thayer would give the helpful hint "Latin: ecce". Where useful, he also lists equivalents for some words in German, French, etc.

The only drawback is that it's an reprint of an old (1880?) text, so some of the print is a little hard to read, and some of the references are hard to figure out and then to find. But, especially for the money, it's a great tool.

A simple but in depth reference book that lets us look up any word in the new testament and find out it's meaning, or meanings, it's pronunciation and Greek spelling, it's roots, and derivations, places it is used in the Bible, and all kind of other interesting thing in a paragraph or so. The only other thing you should know before you do buy this is you have to have a Strong's concordance to work with to know which English Bible words correspond to which Greek word.

Informative! It does get a bit long & wordy at times, but it's a fair representation of Helen & Annie's lives. The more I read about Annie Sullivan, the more I like her. I think it was a real shame that Arthur & Kate Keller felt threatened by the close bond Annie had with Helen. I think Arthur & Kate just wanted Helen to be "trained," but not really the free independent spirit she was meant to be. I'm so glad Annie stood by her & helped her become a free person & became a lifelong friend to Helen as well. Annie was very open about whatever failings she'd had & was a warm, loving supportive guide in Helen's life. I get the feeling Helen & Annie had almost a mother-daugher-like bond, which of course practically killed Arthur & Kate. The stupid thing was, the Keller parents wanted to just shift over the responibility to Annie of educating her & getting her to fit into society, yet wanted total control over Helen's life. If anyone was manipulative & controlling, it was Arthur & Kate. Esp. Arthur, I think was really patronizing & downright domineering toward Annie. Kate didn't help matters either & when I read about her attempts to break Helen & Pete up later on & her consent to try to split Helen & Annie up, I really lost respect for Kate. I know I'm slamming Kate & Arthur here, but I see Annie as more of a loving parent figure in Helen's life. I really commend Annie for standing strong against Helen's domineering, manipulative parents. Oh, boy, was that John Macy a real creep! I was sooo glad Annie got away from him; he accused Annie of being "manipulative & controlling" when he was controlling himself! He KNEW Annie & Helen had a tight bond, yet after he married Annie, he started giving poor Annie a hard time about it! What was really contemptable was that John wrote to Kate & others badmouthing Annie behind her back & it's good that the book exposed that clearly. That made me lose respect for John too; sorry, but I have no sympathy for John Macy. I think Annie tried really hard to be a good wife, yet John just criticized her for being too close to Helen. Poor Annie, it was sad reading about her heartbreak. It was touching & kind of reassuring to read that it was Helen who came to Annie's support when Annie couldn't stop crying for several days over John. It was Helen who fired a letter off to John blasting him for badmouthing Annie. I cheered when Helen was the one who helped Annie get back on her feet, esp. since I hear that John cleaned out the Macys' joint account & closed it without Annie's consent & Annie had to struggle to get her career going again. Boy, was it inspiring to read about Annie's heart healing & her getting her writing going again as well as back on her feet financially! I love how Helen & Annie stood by each other all the way & once Polly joined them, stood by them too. Annie's shaky pride suffered a lot of blows in her life, but always she managed to get back on her feet. I always knew Helen was forever grateful to Annie for freeing her from her early wordless prison & helping her get started to an independent free life & Helen showed this gratitude by being the one to take care of Annie when Annie grew old & frail & went permanently blind. It was a touching mother-daugher bond almost...when Helen was young, Annie looked out for her, then the roles reversed; when Annie got older & weaker, Helen was the one to look out for her & it was great that Helen was able to be by her bedside when her mentor & friend died. What was wonderful also was that Annie was a really sweet, accepting person; she had so many problems in her life, yet never sank into self-pity; she even made wry jokes about her blindness & even wrote a self-effacing column "Foolish Remarks From a Foolish Woman." That part cracked me up! Annie was a quick-tempered little thing, but was quick to forgive & had a big heart & I'm glad this book acknowledged that. Even Helen said that Annie was generous "to a fault." But the last best gift Annie gave Helen was the capacity to be completely independent, even from her, so once Annie died, with only a little help from Polly, Helen was able to live a free life, even long after Annie was gone. I say kudos to both Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan!!!!

This is the best biography about Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller that I have ever read. Since I was a child I have been fascinated by them and have read everything that I could get my hands on. Lash goes beyond their heroism and describes Annie and Helen as real people with "feet of clay."

He relies heavily on voluminous correspondence to show the many facets of Helen and those in her life. Many of these details are not explained in great deal in other biographies. For example, Helen's father tried to shore up his finances with loans (often defaulted) from Helen's patrons. The "Frost King" incident caused many people to doubt Annie's voracity and credibility as a teacher for the rest of her life. Mr.Sandborn and Mr. Anagnos used the controversy to divert credit from Annie's role as Teacher to Helen and to re-focus attention on the role that the Perkins Institute played in her education. Lash also shows that John Macy had a complex relationship (for the good and the bad) with both Annie and with Helen. Helen was a radical Socialist and often risked her popularity and therefore income. In the end the reader sees that Helen and all those around her did great things, but they were not perfect. Insecurity, jealousy, money and a desire for love and fame caused all of them to act ugly sometimes.

The other point that was never clear to me before, is that Helen and Annie spent their lives marketing themselves in order to generate an income. Helen's father faced a serious financial downturn that prevented him from supporting them from Helen's young womanhood on. Therefore, to continue Helen's formal education and to maintain a home away from Alabama, they had to cultivate sponsors, write publishable material, and earn money speaking at a myriad of functions. In many ways, this was an uncertain life that dictated that they remain in good standing with public opinion at all times.

The other connection that Lash made for me concerns the complexity, the depth and the breadth of Annie and Helen's relationship. Because Annie suffered through a harrowing childhood, she desperately needed to create a loving family. Helen presented the perfect opportunity for Annie to be needed and to love and be loved unconditionally. While some people construed their relationship to be unhealthy or manipulative, it seems that it was a natural outgrowth of their particular situation. Once again, it was not perfect, but it served a huge need for them both.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to see a more realistic view of the lives of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan.

The lives of Helen Keller and her teacher, Ann Sullivan Macy are eternally intertwined. Helen Keller, blind and deaf since infancy depended on Annie since the age of 6 when the latter was hired to teach her.

This comprehensive, fascinating and completely riviting biography does an excellent job of separating the two women's lives and analyzing each woman in her own right. Helen takes giant steps beyond the water pump where Annie first impressed upon her the concept of language. It is to this author's credit that the reader does not languish at that water pump, but follows these women throughout their lives.

The true symbiosis is fully described when other teachers as well as Helen's own mother Kate, try to separate her from Annie. Feeling that her maternal authority had been usurped, Kate understandably wanted to wean Helen from Annie. Each attempt by any person to effect such a change resulted in disaster. Even Annie's marriage to a gifted editor named John Macy ended in an acrimonious split because he felt Helen took up too large a portion of their lives together. From all accounts, Macy seemed to feel that Annie used the same domineering methods she had used on the child Helen with him. He also described Annie as "manipulative and controlling," which certainly seem like apt descriptions of her approach. Resentful of Helen's constant presence and feeling like an odd member of an equally odd triadic relationship, John retreats further from the marriage.

When Annie dies, Helen is disconsolate; she feels she can't survive without her "Teacher," although she, by that point had been at Annie's side for nearly half a century. A bright, progressive woman named Polly assumes the role of "Teacher," and Helen flourishes under her gentle tutlage and interpretation. Polly is clearly accepting of Helen's challenges and appears to make a sincere effort to see that Helen is fully included in all conversations and activities which she [Polly] is part of. One does not get the sense that Polly is a martyr. One gets the impression that Polly is loyal and determined with no agenda of her own.

Helen's relationship with Polly does appear to be much healthier than her relationship with Annie. This book fully explores Helen's character, her life experiences and the types of relationships she forged in the post-Teacher years with intelligence and sensitivity.

Ted McFadden's Hermes' Viper main character, Hera makes the real life California Black Angel look like "Bo Peep." The frightening thing is that although Hermes' Viper is fiction, it could be lifted right from the pages of the national news. This is definately not a book you want to give to your favorite person when they are going in for surgery. Otherwise it is a compelling read.

Hera is one of those otherwise bland people, like Lawrence Sander's Zoe Kohler in The Third Deadly Sin. Hera wouldn't stand out it a crowd, but her deadly deeds are hair-raising.

If you enjoy a mystery with some horrifying twists, this is the book for you.

BRILLIANT WRITER JOINS THE RANKS OF OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI, WRITERS. Susan Harring, Free-Lance Writer ' AP

'Not since Robin Cook has an author kept me up all night reading a medical thriller. Joseph T. McFadden is responsible for a nail-biting, sleepless, scary night of chilling intrigue with 'Hermes Viper' his first novel.'
Hermes is Stuart Holton, neurosurgeon to Chicago's poor, and the viper is a psychopathic murderess stalker suffering from multiple personality disorder and erotomania. Although her disguises are clear throughout the book, the viper's identity remains a mystery until the very end. More than once my smug thoughts of knowing 'who dunnit' were denied, shattered like the villainous viper's illusions of love. The master of disguises starts knocking off patients at an increased rate in her twisted hope of winning the love of Dr. Holton, the object of her erotomania for sixteen long years. Mercy killing her way through the wards of a Chicago charity hospital the viper insanely believes that by poisoning patients she is helping Holton free up beds to further his career and perform more surgeries. His children give him the idea to use virtual reality to solve the high death rate enigma. A computer literate colleague, a forensic pathologist develops a program using fuzzy logic and artificial intelligence to predict the next victim, someone very close to Holton.
The story heats up as the killer goes after his family, friends, and colleagues, people the viper views as standing between her and the man she has been stalking for sixteen years. Another mystery that plagues Holton throughout the book is the puzzling death of his wife from an incurable rare disease. Once you get started you cannot stop until it is over and you discover just who 'Hermes' Viper is and why the abused little girl, rescued from a house fire at the age of five, grew up so warped.
The novel will raise your consciousness of just how life-threatening a hospital visit really is. Fortunately the masses are beginning to wake up to the realization that the medical profession is, indeed, in need of drastic changes and the cause of our maladies need to be treated, not the effect by slapping a bandage on, OR popping a pill as a curative. Excellent, excellent book. It's long overdue. This writer is a pioneer in many ways. God Bless You Joseph T. McFadden for telling the truth in your brilliantly written novel.
Hermes' Viper is sure to be made into a movie, but do not wait, read the book.
McFadden's second medical mystery, 'The Wafer' delves deeply into organ donation and will be released in Spring of 2002.

A POWERFUL FIRST-RATE MYSTERY NOVEL THAT WILL FOREVER CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD MEDICINE, LAW AND JUSTICE. Joseph T. McFadden, professor emeritus of neurosurgery at Eastern Virginia Medical School, has written a powerful novel, Hermes' Viper, set in a huge 3,000-bed charity hospital. "After the first chapter, the 423 page novel had me by the throat. I read through the night and into the next day, " says Guy Friddell, book review editor of The Virginian-Pilot Newspaper, Norfolk, VA, October 30th. More from the review. Idealistic Dr. Stuart Holton is a neurosurgeon in a hospital on Chicago's South Side. He chose that exceedingly active practice out of love of humanity and a drive to save lives. In the reaches of the large hospital wards, terminal patients beyond treatment are routinely found dead, but the dedicated Dr. Holton realizes that the mortality rate among his patients is becoming abnormally high. Then, patients who are not terminal die under troubling circumstances. The guilty party is a staff member, close to him, who is gifted in assuming disguises, ranging from a pink lady volunteer to a minor lab technician. She has sought to get in touch with her own identity since fire scarred and maimed her at age 5. Looking for her true self, she turns to ending the suffering of terminal patients. Armed with syringes and poisons, she flits late at night along dimly lit halls, an angel of death. Obsessed by erotomania, a maniacal fixation on one individual, she stalks Holton and determines to remove all who stand between him and her, whether hospital employees or his family. He can't identify her nor, for that matter, could this reader, even though she records her deadly rounds in a journal. When someone other than my suspect proved to be guilty, I checked and found that the author had played fair in delineating the stalker from the start. I'd been as obtuse as anybody in the book in picking up the clues. They were right there in front of us. One of this book's strengths is its portrayal of the hospital environment, the crises met with team spirit, and the surgeon at work. In depicting the deft motions of the surgeon and his aides in an operation, McFadden comes down close, paring them down to their bare, vivid essentials. Each operation becomes an absorbing vignette, and reading it, one pulls for the patient. The characters are as numerous as those in one of Charles Dickens' novels. McFadden succeeds in making each one believable. The book has two rousing pursuits. When Holton discovers the stalker is on the prowl for his family, he races to find and rescue them. Then, Holton's chase turns to capturing and unmasking the stalker. His second novel, The Wafer, addresses the organ donor dilemma, and he is currently at work on the third, A Hooker In The Choir, set in the nursing home scene of the American landscape. It also deals with HMO problems.McFadden is a brilliant writer.

I myself am a young investor and found this book to be very easy to understand and follow. After reading this book I now feel that I have enough information to start down my own investment track. I would recommend this book to any new investor looking for some direction with their investments. Joe really hit the head on the tack with this one!

I really enjoyed reading 'The Investment Train'. Its a fast read, very informational and extremely helpful in explaining the 'need to know' facts for personal investing. It gives a great deal of food for thought and practical advice on what to do with your money.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a way to cut through the clutter and get some good, solid, easy to understand information.

The Investment Train: Choosing the Right Track to Retirement really was helpful to me and my husband. We are in our 50s and were looking for something more than just your basic, run of the mill advice. This book offered the back-to-basics information we needed, but took things a step further to allow us to learn more and add to our basic knowledge.

If you enjoy doing your own investing, there is enough information here to help you with that -- and, if you have a financial adviser and just want to learn more about what he/she does, this book also is extremely helpful. The book also provides insight on minimizing tax implications, proper insurances and strategies for withdrawing money from a retirement account.

I plan on trying to get in touch with the author to discuss our retirement plans.