This book features a thorough review of the previously published works in the field of Chinese non-segmental phonology, followed by a number of interesting experiments aimed at reaching concrete conclusions as opposed to the rather vague, impressionistic comments of much earlier work.

Shen prepared a corpus of 72 utterances. Each utterance consisted of a sequence of syllables all of the same tone. The utterances varied with respect to which tone was used, grammatical complexity, and sentence type (e.g. statement, yes-no questions, alternative questions, etc). This type of corpus offers several advantages, giving a sufficient range of data to draw broad conclusions, while being controlled enough to factor out phenomena such as tone sandhi from her broader account of intonation group prosody. Shen also used a number of informants, so that it is rather difficult to dismiss her conclusions as reflecting idiosyncrasies of an individual speaker. For those who wish to question her conclusions, Shen provides the fundamental frequency values in Hz for each of her informants at 4 points that she identifies as key to each intonation group: the starting point, highest peak, lowest trough, and ending point. Shen doesn't fall into any specific theoretical camp in this work, being content to summarise the data as she has observed it. She concludes that there are three "tunes" in Mandarin Chinese; that tone, stress and intonation interact in a complex way; that rising and falling endings are suprasegmental, not extrasegmental; and that pitch output may be separated into 5 strata.

In the post Romer vs. Evans era (1996) this book is out-dated. The authors are experts in their fields. But the material needs up-dating. The ACLU is highly respectable as defenders of gay rights.

Social Capital is a theory that, in part, describes the catalyst for human social systems and networking. It defines and explores methods humans employ to gain advantages. The book's application is sweeping; although, readers should have a background in the theory before tackling this particular work.

For educators, this book provides another angle for social contract theory, socio-economic systems, and synergy. For managers, this book provides a rationale for understanding and developing employee systems, including those in organized labor.

Factual information about Canada Geese has been nicely woven into this heartwarming tale of a father and son who rescue and care for an injured Canada Goose and her mate until she is able to fly south for the winter. The illustrations are drenched with the golden glow of autumn and greatly add to the overall appeal of this delightful children's book.

"The Women, Gender and Development Reader" is a useful compilation of articles on the subject. It has five parts, each dealing with a different aspect of studies on women and development. It starts out with a theoretical section that includes landmark articles, or excerpts from studies, by leading feminist scholars. Subsequent sections include articles on women and the household economy, women in the global economy, women's situation under social transformation in different parts of the world and finally women's movements in the developing world. This book is a welcome addition to publications on the subject of women and development and fills an important gap. It has both a broad theoretical and global perspective and pieces on specific communities around the world.

Not much of a book here. Seems that it was only published so the individuals featured could buy a copy. As for it being about 'mail art', it's not. Not if you mean in reference to artists known for the process. Basically, it a competent group of hobbists that got a buddy at the university to publish a book of their stuff. Of no interest to anyone not personally connected.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. From its Dada cover, to its scores of wonderful illustrations inside, I loved it. Before reading this book, I hadn't understood the folk art aspect of the rubber stamp genre; now I do. Rubber Soul also includes a collection of correspondence art, with its colorful rubber stamp and collage-like effects. I found the images and the text of this book fascinating, a window into other people's creative and personal lives. A treasure.

I bought this book as soon as I heard about it. I liked the story of the correspondents who almost competed with each other to produce interesting art to mail to their friends. Full of interesting characters.

The San Francisco Chronicle praised Stewart O'Nan's The Speed Queen as "Classic American Noir". It is a really interesting and fast paced read, but the book is not really classic noir. It's more contemporary pulp with a moral - which takes away from the pure pulp element . It's kind of a teenagers version of Natural Born Killers.

The book opens with the protagonist on death row. A good place to begin a hot and heavy story. About to put to death for a vicious murder rampage through the American desert wastelands, Marjorie was once a speed freak involved in what became a deadly menage a trois. THAT is interesting stuff, and all the elements are there for a kicking ride through rebellion and counter culture insanity.

What brings the reader down from that high is the fact that Marjorie has found Jesus, and with the love of Jesus backing her, she maintains her innocense through interviews on trendy spots such as Oprah. The rights to her life story have been bought be Stephen King, who is interviewing her in prison before her lethal injection.

The story was powerful enough to hold its own without having Mr. King involved, which really makes no sense, as he is the king of horror, but not of real life debauch and devilry. Finding Jesus is lovely, but not in a thick plotted pulp or noir tale. Oprah is great, but Hard Copy would have taken the story first. The mainstream trendy references really distract from the meat of the story.

Real noir has no remorse, that is what makes is so fascinating to read or to watch. The author almost seemed fearful of letting go and living the thrust of the story.

This book would have been better had it just been the story of Marjorie, her husband Lamont and her lover Natalie riding high and nasty on meth amphetamine and a pipe dream gone up in smoke,

I loved the concept, but the final product was a bit weak.

It's totally worth having on the shelf, but as a skim read, not as a bible of bad girl.

Speed Queen is the exciting story of Marjorie, a death-row inmate from Oklahoma who is waiting to be executed. The woman reflects on her troubled drug-fueled life, and gives the reader a detailed description of her childhood, how she met her friends and came in contact with drugs before she ultimately reports about the crimes they have committed, and which are the reason why she has been sentenced.
Marjorie bluntly reveals the most intimate secrets of her love triangle, -between her, her girlfriend Natalie and her husband Lamont-, gives deep insight in what it is to be to be married to a car loving drug dealer, having a baby and living a life on speed.
The author's unique style of writing is a hallmark of this novel: song names, movies, books, drugs, local drive-thru restaurants and their menues - when reading this story the reader comes across numerous proper names, most of them only Stephen King fans, local citizens, junkies and car addicts have heard of. However, this does not affect the story negatively. The every-day language matches the story perfectly, yet it does not get too coloquial and after a few pages one quickly gets familiar with O'Nan's style and is introduced to the realistic world of Marjorie that is exciting, beautiful, strange and brutal at the same time.

Since when have you started believing the communists propagandas from mainland China? Iris Chang? You got be a little more realistic.

P>After repeated denial of the war crime what comes next is still denial... so, there has been RIGHT-WING PROPAGANDA like:
"the comfort women had become sex slaves voluntarily..."
"the invasion of the Asian countries was for the liberation of Asia..."
So, there has never been a sincere apology from the Japanese GOVERNMENT but effort to omit some war crime facts in publishing high school history textbooks.

I read this before I read Ms Chang's (which is, by the way, an excellent book) book, and in some ways, they're complementary. Where Ms. Chang's was written, with many studies, reports and psychological insights, Xu Zhigeng eloquently tells of the Nanking massacre in photographs.

It scared me, as much as when I was ten (that's when I first read about it) as it does now, at fourteen, and probably will no matter how old I get -it's hard to forget the grisly eyewitness accounts, the gut-wrenching photographs, and to really think: it really happened. And even worse are the subsequent denials of the Rape. It's almost enough to destroy your faith in [man]'s inherant goodness.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and in this book there are PICTURES. With such blazing evidence, one would simply not be human to say this never happened.

After reading the other reviews and finishing "The Scandalous Miss Howard" I decided to try this one out. Well, Nan Ryan's writing style was too bland and ridged for my taste and I was unable to read past the first half of the book. I recommend any of her other books instead.

This is an enjoyable read, creatively written, refreshingly different from the run-of-the-mill predictable romances. It keeps you guessing what's going to happen next.

Countess Madeline Cavendish is on her way to live with her Uncle and marry the man she thought she loved. During her vogage to New Orleans she meets a handsome stranger who makes her blood boil. The ship she is on gets hit by a raging hurricane and knowing she only has hours to live she spends them in the arms of the handsome and seductive stranger. She is rescued but the stranger is not.... Going to her new home to see her Uncle and Fiance she trys to forget the blissful hours she kept with the stranger. As fate has it, he too was rescued and wants to continue where he left off........

Gertrude Bell was a fascinating woman, doing things that women just didn't do in the early part of this century: meeting Arabian royalty (and bandits and terrorists as well), going places uncharted by European men or women, and becoming something of a heroine to many Arabs of high and low rank. But this book, though it starts off well, becomes rough going fairly quickly. It feels as if Wallach quotes extensively from Bell's letters simply because she had access to them, not because they were always interesting or enlightening (though some were). There is lots of repetition (we must hear about once every two or three pages that she drank "bitter coffee"; the phrase "Young Turks" is defined three times, each time slightly differently, inside of about one hundred pages) and inexact detailing (three fairly detailed maps of the Middle East still leave out a number of sites important to the events of the book). By the end, when Bell was doing her most important political work in the construction of modern-day Iraq, I was skimming over the thick accrual of tedious detail that doesn't really bring Bell to life in the way she deserves.

I first became interested in Gertrude Bell while on a tour of Jordan, visiting a museum which included a number of her wonderful photographs. I was extremely amazed that a woman had such access to Arabian men at that time, and admired her adventures and curiousity. Even in this day, her exploits are unheard of, for a female. I was thrilled to come across this book, quite by accident, a few months after I heard of her. After reading the book, I am even more amazed by her life, and although it bogs down a bit at times, I still believe Grace Bell is one of the most intriguing females of this century.

The life of Gertrude Bell is both inspiring and sad. Janet Wallach conveys the accomplishments of this woman in a way that makes one want to read on just to see what she will do next. Conversely, Ms. Bell's personal life lacks the luster of her accomplishments. From the story, I wonder if her lonliness is because she is a woman far ahead of her time or just a bore. Nonetheless, the dichotomy presented in this book makes it good reading for those who look to biographys as a little window into someone's soul.

This book is a good introduction to Gertrude Bell and discusses a few, limited issues surrounding the centuries of unrest in the middle east. It truly focuses on the life of Gertrude Bell and should not be used as a primer on mid-east issues.