"The Diaries of Adam and Eve" is a sweet, humorous and romantic piece and it had me laughing out loud one minute.......and crying the next. Mandy Patinkin and Betty Buckley are outstanding in their "reading" of Twain's words; actually, it's more a theatrical performance than a simple reading. Their expressive voices give life to Adam and Eve and provide us with complex characters full of wonder, innocence, wisdom, joy, and sorrow. There are so many wonderful passages throughout this book that I find something new to marvel at each time I listen. This recording will touch your heart.

The Diaries of Adam & Eve is an incredible representation of both sides of Mark Twain. The cynical side that most people seem to know, as well as a softer side that has largely been kept hidden.

From the unflinching stubborn "maleness" of Adam to the innocent yet knowing Eve, this book is an amazing testement of Twain's love for his ailing wife. It was her persuasion that led him to write the sweetly naive character of Eve. The gentleness of the work is very touching and may be a surprise for people who think that Twain was just a tetchy grown-up Tom Sawyer. Adam and Eve both have equal say in various "experiments" in their new world and their wonderful differing interpretations of shared events make the characters pop off of the page and into your soul.

I would also recommend the audio version of this book as read by Mandy Patinkin, Betty Buckley, and Walter Cronkite. The true musical nature of the text and the spirit of Twain's words really come to life in a spoken format and may move you to tears.

Even Mark Twain's ephemera charms. This well edited collection of separately written pieces creates the whole that Twain himself might have made. It features his most insightful depiction of a female persona, Eve, who is the one truly engaged protagonist in this glimpse into Eden. She is the seeker, the thinker, and the emotionally active partner -- in short, the whole person. It is no wonder that Eve names the animals and discovers fire, while Adam lolls in a tree and complains about her talkativeness. He is remarkably complacent for a miracle of creation. Twain imaginatively and humorously evokes the naivete and sense of wonder of these two innocents as they discover the world and each other -- learn, even, to recognize that they are human. The fact that God is just a voice, mentioned once or twice, and the Fall is the unfortunate incident that changes their lives demonstrates that Twain was not interested in a religious parable. These diaries are his reflection on the nature of male and female personalities and the bond that draws and keeps men and women together. Though it feels somewhat incomplete, the book is an enjoyable quick read. The editor's afterword recounts the history of these writings and connects the diaries to the author's own personal life, affirming its very personal nature. This is a lovely book to give to an engaged couple, a married couple, or anyone who enjoys Mark Twain's unique genius.

Mark Robert Waldman has put together a real gem in THE SPIRIT OF WRITING, and it's my absolute pleasure to have been a small part of it. It's amazing to read classic essays on the subject of writing by such luminaries as Twain, Faulkner and Steinbeck and contemporary pieces by such diverse scribes at Stephen King and Erica Jong. I particularly loved reading Janet Fitch's "The Capes of Anais Nin," which takes us into her mind well before her WHITE OLEANDER was an Oprah Book Club selection. To read that she thought at one point that "there was a very distinct possibility I would never sell anything as long as I lived" and to realize the success that came her way is refreshing and reminds us all that being a writer is not for sissies! More folks will tell you to quit than will encourage the pursuit. But, if you love words as I do, you'll understand what Fitch was saying...and you'll keep THE SPIRIT OF WRITING nearby to forever inspire you!!

"Writers love language. They play with words, rolling them around on the page, arranging and rearranging them until they come alive. The meanings are stretched and changed, and if the writer is successful, he or she will lure the reader into that mysterious world where fiction and reality blur."
These words were penned by Mark Waldman, who edited this amazing collection of literary gems. Written by award-winning writers and poets, and several as-yet-unknown new talents, these authors open their hearts to the reader, sharing the most intimate adventures of their lives, moments that are frequently filled with vulnerability, pain, and ecstasy. The Spirit of Writing exemplifies the writer's life in a way that inspires us to write and read, and then to write some more. In many of the stories, you will witness how a writer's life unfolds. You'll roam through childhood memories, nostalgic and sometimes trajic, discovering what inspired them to write. These authors write lyrically, playing with subtle nuances of tone. And for those who want to write better, there are mountains of literary advice.
Humor also abounds in this delightful collection of essays. From Mark Twain's hilariously brutal attack upon poets to the wild and sexy muse of Henry Miller, I laughed my way through the pitfalls and pratfalls that plague a writer's life (in Hamilton's essay, she literally gives birth to a six pound book). Even the classic essays by mixed pathos with humor, as in Joseph Conrad's monologue with his pen that drives him mad. And imagine what the poet Peter Joris must suffer through when the letters and words keep falling off his page (Joris' story is one of a half-dozen experimental pieces that demonstrate the cutting edge of creative writing today).
One story, "Clawing at Stones," touched me deeply. It was written by Sindiwe Magona, a well-known black author who calls herself "a migrant worker," a South African woman who lives in the Bronx and works for the United Nations. "I am convinced," she writes, "that it is only by probing both the joys and woundings of time that we might be blessed and empowered to affect the future." She talks about the dangers that women of color face, especially if they write about the atrocities they see. Through such memoirs, we begin to understand the darker forces that guides a writer's pen. Several other stories in this anthology, like Lia Scott Price's "Without Wings," also illuminate the suffering that have driven many women to write.
Perhaps we are all "clawing at stones" and "fighting without wings," living with our stories inside. And with the memoirs that this unique anthology holds, perhaps it will inspire more people to write. About the truth, the pain, and joy that fills our lives.

I just finished reading Without Wings by Lia Scott Price and decided I had to write to say how much I enjoyed the story. While reading it, I felt the pain, the anguish, the pure and raw emotions from her characters. I am so greatly impressed. To finally stumble upon a writer with a gift for storytelling, I would just like to say congratulations on this, what I consider to be a masterpiece of a story. I hope to read more of her works! --A new found fan.

Some books just have the right feel about them and this is one of them. The author clearly knows neural networks and also knows how to communicate to others in a no-nonsense fashion. With so many books being published, you rarely find a technical book that is as good as this. The emphasis here is on conveying the insights that the experts in this area would know. Importantly, concepts are explained equally in words, graphics and mathematics, maximising the uptake of knowledge from the book. Tufte would be impressed by the quality of the line graphics in this book, and the information that they convey, not to mention the overall presentation. I suspect that this book would make an ideal textbook for a course in neural networks. Overall, I've enjoyed reading it very much.

Book is excellent. Covers the theory very well, such that you can make the computer code yourself. They also provide puedocode. You will be able to learn it better than other books that just give you the code. I find that once you understand the theory, writing the code is easy.

Everybody who tries to use NNets for real goes through these steps.
First, there is the Delta rule.
Then, there is overfitting, local minima, generalization problems and frustration.

The complexity of NN is not in it's math; the difficulty is in the construction of a NN. This book is excellent in providing rules-of-thumb for NN construction, while at the same time providing the theoretical backing.

Hey I am not making money reviewing this book, it's just really good.

Although one's search begins with an alphabetized listing, the main body of this thesaurus (its original concept) is organized by category. This means that to find a synonym for e.g., "trouble", you will not simply be presented a list all the possible meanings of the word but you can choose your search depending upon the sense you are looking for. If you mean "annoyance" you will be sent one place for synonyms (nouns, verbs, adj, adv); if your meaning is more "presume upon" you will be sent somewhere else. In the case of "trouble" there are about a dozen places to go in the thesaurus depending upon the subtlety of meaning you are looking for. If you are a writer, this reference work is a sine qua non. Look no further than here for the best thesaurus in the world.

These days it's tempting to believe that you can do without a printed thesaurus. Thesauri are available on the web and there are even thesauri built into word processors. But these are pale substitutes for Roget's sixth edition.

It is much more comprehensive than other Thesauri, but it is still very easy to use. The index in the back contains an alphabetical list of words, and with each, an associated list of finer-grained definitions. For example, suppose you want to describe someone as "mopey" but that word doesn't seem quite right. When you look it up in the index you'll find "sullen" "glum" and "unsociable." Obviously, these have somewhat different characters. Next to each there is a reference to an entry to synonyms organized by category (instead of alphabetically). These lists make up the bulk of the book. Thus, the entry for "sullen" will lead you to a list of words similar in meaning to "sullen," and so on.

What makes this thesaurus easy to use is that the index at the back of the book is complete, so you seldom if ever have the experience of trying to look up a word and then find that it's not there, so you have to try to think of a synonym yourself to gain entry to the thesaurus. Second, there are 330,000 words in the listing of synonyms by category. Considering that the average college student's vocabulary is 60-80,000 words, this thesaurus should satisfy you.

One final note: if you really hate to shell out the money for this book, at least consider getting a used copy of the 5th edition, which came out in the early 90's and it still servicable.

A dictionary of synonyms or a "thesaurus in dictionary form" (now that's phony titling) requires that you think of one of the words by which they sorted the language. A true thesaurus, though, while unfamiliar at first like any new and powerful tool, will let you find the word you are looking for when you can't think of ANY word to start. All you have to do is go to the area with the right sort of ideas and browse a bit. This book only gets better with time. Every writer of every sort needs a copy of this. (Oh, and the index makes a great spelling list for all the words science- and law-obsessed spellcheckers leave out.)

A publishing event of the most signifigance for 1997. The long establisher bible for medical doctors and almost everyone in the field of medicine, is for the first time written specifically for the non-medical reader. Over 1500 pages covering diseases, causes, treatments, drugs etc. this is the finest 1 volume medical authority every home should have. A layman's medical book has been long overdue. Who but the editors of Merck Pharaceuticals could take on this daunting task. At AMAZON's discounted price of less then $21.00 the bargain in hard cover publishing. WE RATE IT A BEST BUY !!!!!!!!

This reference book is easy to use and understand. When I first leaned of this home edition version of the Merck manual I was hesitant. Over the years many books have been published that are medical in nature, some published by doctors, but the content is watered down or so vague that a layperson doesn't derive much information from it. Some books are actually condescending in attitude, some patronizing. So many books briefly skim symptoms and then caution to call a physician for more information.

Recently my son was diagnosed on the phone by our pediatrician with chicken pox and it was made clear that they did not want to see him for a physical exam. I was given a tiny bit of information by the office staff but was still curious for more information. I spent over an hour surfing the Internet looking for information but found watered down information, repeated many times over on multiple websites, including some written by physicians intended for laypeople to use. I looked at my parenting books written by doctors (one titled "The Portable Pediatrician", no less) and was still lacking any substantial information. When I consulted the Merck Manual home edition, (which I had forgotten I bought recently and had not yet used), I was surprised at the level of information given. There are many details that I had not found elsewhere, such as number of days from exposure to outbreak, how long it takes the pox to change from first appearance to crusted over, about how long the infection lasts, and treatment suggestions. Reasons why some children have a mild outbreak vs. a severe outbreak were even provided, something I had not found anywhere else.

The information here is not dumbed down in that it is not so vague that it is not useful. There is a lot of information here but it is written in a style for the layperson to understand. I appreciated the writing style, which presents information to the non-physician without putting on airs.

Anyone who, like me, prefers to gather information and learn about things rather than making a call or office visit to their doctor to get just one opinion will appreciate owning this book. At about 1500 pages it covers many illnesses and ailments. If you are interested in this book I suggest you buy it so that you have it at your fingertips 24 hours a day, for whatever may arise. I am not suggesting this take the place of a doctor, but I know from working with physicians that there are certain calls that are non-emergent in nature that are not appreciated when the office is closed!

If you are looking for a book about children's ailments that encompasses not only western medicine but lists an array of other treatment methods, I suggest Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child: A Practical A-To-Z Reference to Natural and Conventional Treatments for Infants and Children by Janet Zand. I found this to be an excellent companion to the Merck manual, home edition. The Merck manual gives more information about the disease or ailment itself through a Western medicine viewpoint while the Zand's books' specialty is sharing treatment options grouped by category (herbal, homeopathic, western, etc.).

Let me start with my own qualifications for reviewing this invaluable book: 25 years' editing and indexing of professional medical texts and reference books; 20 years of creating "translations from the medicalese" for the rest of us; 3 years as consulting reviewer for an online health publication.
In this work, I use both the "senior" Merck Manual, which is written for professionals (though many nonprofessionals have been referred to it by librarians and such), and this recently developed "home" version, which I can't praise highly enough. It is literally the first text I have encountered that provides essential medical information in terms the average educated person can understand, WITHOUT writing down to people. It covers all the basic diseases and conditions and many unusual ones, including prevention where prevention is possible. Clear, understandable charts cover such topics as common blood and laboratory tests. The index is superb, so finding things is easy, whether you are coming at the topic by way of some medical jawbreaker your doctor has mentioned (myocardial infarction) or by way of what most people call it (heart attack). Any household would benefit from having this reference on its bookshelves. Even as a professional, I look in this edition first and tackle "Papa Merck" or a specialized textbook only if I need more than the basic information.

Don't think Rubber Neckers is just for kids during family vacations. I own a business and a job required us to send four employees to a customer's site, 3 hours away. I left Rubber Neckers on the dashboard. I can't tell you the laughs and fun my employees had on this trip. It built comradery amongst them and they arrived at the job site eager to work efficiently so they could hurry back to the car. Now they want their children to play. It's addicting.

Where was this game when I was a kid? I bought this for a recent long car trip with the kids and we all had a great time playing it. Now even if we are driving thru town someone will call out items that they have found. It is entertaining for the whole family!

This is a great game to have for car trips (especially the long ones)! Plus, I've found that my kids (ages 4 & 6) are even learning new items... things they didn't know before, now they do. To make it simpler though, we just made it team game, instead of indiviually. And we don't keep score (so there are no hard feelings). We just have a great time finding things together!

For family fun in the car... buy this game! It's great!!

I had had this book for about 2 years before even thinking of picking it up and when I did I read it in under half a day. It kept a constant grip on my imagination (mind you I am very interested in all sorts of aircraft) A GREAT READ!

There is so much in this book i don't know where to begin............

ALL I CAN SAY IS 'READ IT' AND FOLLOW CHAS,CEM,NICKY AND AUDREY IN THEIR FIGHT TO BE THE BEST AND DO THERE COUNTRY JUSTICE IN THE WORLD WAR. MOVE WITH THE CHARACTURES AND BE INVOLVED WITH THE MISCHEIEF THEY CAUSE. I REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK

as previous reviews have mentioned, this is a first rate novel from one of britain top childrens authors, now sadly deceased. It highlights some of Westall's own experiences in war torn tyne and wear - an idea born from his own son (who many of Westall's books are based on - in memorium), when asked by him to stop a leaking roof on the den/base his son and friends had built. Westall states that he felt extremely priveliged to have been invited into their secret world.(hence the den in the book). a very detailed account for those interested in ww2 britain - right down to shrapnel collections found under hedges, to chrysanthemums for christmas. an excellent read, and a book adopted by many schools for english tutoring. This is his best and first book, but try secret lovers, a collection of short stories, and in particular Blind Bill.

I planned a trip to Ireland for my Mother, 4 sisters and Myself.
I started with "Ireland for Dummies" then read "Frommer's Ireland 2001" and crossed referenced with "Ireland from $60 a Day". I learned more from these books in 2 weeks than in all of my years as a Travel Agent and Airline staff!! Their detailed in-sight and straight-forward advice was right on target. They give prices,times, phones numbers and payment information. They tell you where to go, what to do and who to talk to. I loved their list of on-line addressess for information. Only two things were wrong with my copy. They quoted every price in Irish pounds that were useless after February 2002. I realize that they had to go to print before this change and were unable to adapt in time. The other was lack of detailed mapping. A free map was included inside "Ireland 2001" but only had some of the streets shown for Dublin. I know these will be corrected in future printings. I would recommend these Frommer's books to anyone!! They are written in plain English, yet don't talk down to you(even the "Dummies" book. It was quite humorous)

My family used Frommer's Ireland 12th Ed. extensively before, during ,and after our trip to Ireland in July of 2002. The first two chapters Best of..., and Planning your Trip... were worth the purchase price alone. All of the Best of tips we followed were excellent choices.
The large fold out map that was included served very well during our driving tour of Ireland. Using the county and town maps that were included in the local sections kept us right on track. Distances are deceptive however. It takes longer to get anywhere you go than it would appear from reading the map. The Irish road system is not built for speed ( nor comfort for that matter) so plan accordingly. It takes a long time to drive across the country, or from county to county. More could have been made of this issue in the guide. Our biggest mistake was trying to do too much.
The up to date information on Dublin was very helpful, as were the frequent tips throughout the guide on ways to avoid the summer crowds. I used the web addresses that were included for lodging and found them very helpful for checking availability and booking our rooms quickly. Don't go without it!

My wife and I traveled around Ireland for two weeks this summer, and Frommer's Ireland was an amazingly helpful tool.

Realizing this would probably be the last time we'd be traveling abroad for a while, we decided to mix it up a bit --"inexpensive" to "moderate" accommodations and restaurants in most places, with a few dabbles in the "expensive" (and even one "very expensive") splurges along the way. Across the board, the recommendations in this book were outstanding. What to see and do, where to stay, where to eat and shop.....all were presented in a very down-to-Earth way. The eye for small detail and nuances throughout the book made us feel we were getting advice from a local expert who REALLY knows her stuff.

I can't say enough about how helpful this guide was to us -- it really made our trip a memorable one. The fold-out map got us around most of the country with no trouble....once a nice gentleman in a petrol station showed me how to get my rental car into reverse.

All in all, a terrific book.

While this slight volume can't hold a candle to something like Will Friedwald's comprehensive analysis of Sinatra's recorded career, it's quick and handy. Moreover, while the authors' selections will inevitably produce disagreements, their choices are unlikely to provoke incredulity (no "My Way," or recommendations from the "Duets" albums). And when there are multiple versions of the same tune, which is more often than not the case, the authors give helpful rankings of the best choices. But just to give you an idea of how necessarily inadequate a collection limited to 101 recordings is, Sinatra's absolutely sublime, definitive Reprise recording of "I Hadn't Anyone Til You" is not mentioned. Still, I find myself making more use of this book than any other about Old Blue.

The music of Frank Sinatra is timeless and though the title contains the words "the 101 Best Recordings", you may find that it is just a starting point and find your own 101 favorites. You have over 1000 songs to choose from so your picks are bound to be different than the authors. The book lays out 101 excellent songs, gives information to listeners (date recorded, album it can be found on, arranger, etc.) and tells the background of the song and sometimes an anecdote about when it was recorded. The book is not only for longtime fans of Sinatra's work (though they will be more familiar with all the names, etc.). If your Sinatra cd collection extends to one cd of his greatest hits, then this book can help you figure out where to go next. The stories and anecdotes may not mean much but you can figure out if you want to explore Frank's Columbia, Capitol, or Reprise years. For the experienced Sinatra listener, the book is excellent for starting debate with fellow Sinatra fans or perhaps rediscovering a gem you've forgotten or never really listened to before. Obviously, it is not a biography so don't expect stories about Frank the man, just Frank the singer. My only complaint is that I wish they gave more detail to the songs. I realize they had 101 songs to review, but I wanted more background about the recording session and Frank's opinions and views of the songs. However, there are other books for that.

How do you pick the 101 greatest Sinatra recordings? The authors certainly came up with arguably the definitive list,and presented it in a most enjoyable read.Another reviewer wished there was a CD boxed set to accompany the book. I did the next best thing. I have an extensive Sinatra collection and I happen to have all the 101 songs(the correct versions). I bought some high quality cassettes and simply went through my CDs and tapes and put together the audio to the book..three 90 minute and one 60 minute tape covered the 101 songs.Needless to say, it was a labor of love putting these songs in order and is fascinating to read the descriptions and history of the songs as they are playing.

In my country ( BRAZIL ) as in other parts of the world the Merck Manual is a standard of medical book.
Here in Brazil this books is used as a legal reference in cases of legal judgement of doctors by malpractice.The explanation for this : The Merck Manual has all of a good doctor must to know.
Merck Manual has chapters about every topic in medicine (except surgery).
I think this book very large and almost impossible to read until the end, word by word.But I think is a great book to read about a specific disease of a patient and so expand our compreention of that.
It is a great book to the resident doctor makes a first reading.
This book is very cheap too and I think it is a good acquisition to medical library of medical schools.
A final point : This book is easy to read and understand , a great feature for people of country where the official language is not the english.

My daughter bought me this book last year and I have updated the editions through the years. It has the latest information on medical conditions that can even help you to know if your doctor is keeping up with the latest in the field of knowledge he is supposed to be treating, for whatever condition you have to be managed. Not all doctors graduated in the top half of their class, patients need to keep in mind. It also helps a patient be knowledge to be able to speak better with their doctors, but please do not mention that you read the Merk Manual, he will think you are trying to diagnose yourself or be critical of him if he knows that he has not kept up with the latest information. It will help a knowledgeable patient to know when their doctor perhaps is not the doctor they should be seeing if the doctor always seems to midiagnose or order medications that make their conditions worse, but will not compromise or change how they treat them. I have a great deal of respect for doctors who have not forgotten that keeping patients well, the best that they can was the mission they were supposed to get into medicine for in the first place. If a doctor does not take the time to keep up with their field, it is time to find another doctor. Being upset with your medical care or lack of interest by the doctor is just going to make a patient sicker. It is true, if you have your health you have just about everything. Medicine is not an exact science as it is proven by the new additions of this book that are revised frequently. This edition has the "original" Merk Manual as a bonus to prove that point. Doctors are not infallible and many are very incompetent, while others are exceptional, and keep up with the latest. When a doctor states your medical is too complicated for him to treat, he does not want anything but assembly type simple patients, and earn the money as fast as he can. We need dedicated physicians, and I think most doctors are in the dark when they do not know, even without a medical degree, patients can tell when they truly do not care. Patients have the intelligence to get familar with the terminology in this book, and if my life depended on it I woould certainly purchase a book on medical terminology to get understanding. Ignorance is no excuse to allow a doctor to victimize your health. Mrs Symmington

Dubbed the Bible of Medicine, the Merck manual is a book condensed enough to cover all the major aspects of of medicine in a text written that even though is targeted towards health care practitioners, can also be used by that layman. Written first at the end of the 19th century, the manual covers nearly most of everything in the medical field. From why epilepsy occurs to that dreadful itchy rash, the topics are concise, up to the point and easy to understand. Even though a home edition exists, the black book can be used by educated people to know anything they would like to know, with the exception of surgery.

The book is divided into an alphabetical scheme, where all the topics are featured in that order. However that can be confusing as such since the subtopics are not arranged that way. Case in point, if you wanted to search for Candidiasis of the skin, you should not search under C, but S for skin disorders and then follow things through. This can be confusing at first, but then again, this is not an encyclopedia or dictionary of medical terms. The great thing about the book is the way everything is covered in the basic schema of background, signs and symptoms and then therapy. This helps people understand the topic in the right sense and actually makes it stick to your mind for a long time. The book is also good enough to mention the doses of the drugs used to treat an ailment.

No medical clinician should be out there practicing without the Merck Manual on his desk. This is a quick reference that is essential in the day of evidence based medicine and where the patient is educated enough to be a part of his or her treatment plan and not just the silent recepient. The book can be found in the hard copy format and is available for the PALM, which makes it the best reference carried in a doctor's pocket.

Very Highly Recommended!!!