Of two most recent books on the life and death of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, this is the most personal and personable. Paco Taibo's translated writing touches the reader with the untouchable moments of Che's life, leaving behind the hype, the political interventions and propositions, and the devious subterfuge of reading into or out of events the vision of Che as a misguided revolutionary. Taibo tells us about a naive man who only near the end came to the beginnings of understanding how revolutions cannot be institutionalized. However, this excellent book is one star shy of perfect because of numerous typos and misspellings as well as horrible mix-ups of words and phrases in the middle of what would have been otherwise a seamless joy to read. Buy the book and read it, but have a blue pencil in hand so that, once you find the butchery of the text, you can excise it in true revolutionary fashion, so that others who come to read later will not have to suffer the confusion of trying to understand a very understandable man. Para que el Che viva, lo podremos creer.

In the US, Paco Taibo II is better known within the mystery readers' crowd for his accomplished police stories with a touch of irony and a shrewd writing style. For this reason with certain apprehension I started reading this biography. In fact it was the first complete and serious Che's bio I have ever read. Later I grabbed Jon Lee Anderson's one... Of all Che's bios Paco's is the most enchanting one. It may lack the huge documention of Anderson's book, but it compensates it with an amazing style. Paco cannot divorce his own admiration of Che from his subject, but, hey, that is exactly why this book becomes so much enjoyable. I still recall grabbing the book (700 hundred pages!) one morning and going that same night to bed with the book in my hands! I couldn't stop reading it! Che's story is reflected under the light of an amazing storyteller. The episodes of Che's story are exquisitely threaded together in a masterful way. His life becomes flesh and blood in Paco's hands. The icon, the symbol of rebellion and struggle for social justice turns a man, an incredible, passionate and admirable human being throughout the book. The end cannot be better: it is ghostly but hopeful with a lot of energy and sadness and beauty: a song to Latin American history of struggle.

I was walking around wearing one of those 'Che' T-shirts and a guy asked me some questions about him. I felt pretty stupid not knowing more than I did. So I started reading about Che. That was 3 years ago.
I have read his diaries, speeches, FBI files, everything I could find....THIS was the BEST.
The author is truly a Che fan, but he still points out mistakes Che made, but the best thing is he provides everything in its context. He builds the background of where Che came from, what his life was. The reader FEELS 50's 60's Latin America so you can really emphasize with the actions and emotions of the integral characters.
Sum it up, even though it was a factual biography I still was totally engrossed reading 500 some pages in about 3 days, and still re-reading it.
A pleasure.

This should be the "second book" you read on OO design, after any of the introductory books.Martin's lucid writing painlessly introduces the reader to "real world" OO analysis and design. The use of iterative design, exploiting the tension between static and dynamic modelling is explained beautifully with detailed examples.Buy,buy,buy!!!

I have used this book in the years since it was first pubished and have reccommended it on numerous occasions. It tackles the chasm that seperates idealistic design from realistic implementation. I refer to it no matter which OO design methodology I am using, no matter which OO language a system is being implemented in. I have found that the difference between the designs of people who exercise the principles of this book and those who don't are noticeable - especially during the design of large systems

Even if you don't know C++ or use the Booch method, this is the best work I've read on how to engineer software systems. The principles presented in this book apply regardless of computer language or design notation. And, while the book is geared to O-O, those priciples, I think, apply to software design in general. When you finish this book you will think "Of course! Why would you do it any other way?!". Despite over 20 years experience is software design and programming (including 10 in O-O), this book was the "Aha!" moment that made me truely understand how to design and build software systems. I can't reccommend it highly enough. Now, if Martin would just do the same book using Java and UML...

I've seen too many drunk, passed-out, "Maya" in Guatemala, laying belly-up on the side of the road, the asphalt ribbon some strange skimmer in a waterless aquarium of patchwork land plots, to really romanticize the "beauty" in drunken public rituals and feasts. Yet, Prechtel makes a really solid case for Beauty breaking the Glass Ceiling to the Gods: Beauty in the ornate ancient eloquence of their speech (often expressed in food terms of deliciousness and "cooking"); Beauty in their many layers of opulent, intricate clothing; and yes, Beauty in being drunk out of their gourds from having made themselves irresistibly delicious to the Gods during an income-leveling, life-renewing, inner-twin calling, Desire-Fest with the Gods.

Other than having to walk two miles with no shoes to fill a tank with water before going to school, it makes me Wanna Be Maya. I guess I have to start with my Bundle: objects, previously unknown to me, exactly like one seen in a dream. "One's power would then have an actual physical place to sit...The spirits must have a home, or they become sad orphans or renegades. A person whose spirit has no home becomes depressed or a criminal". Maybe if I could have a dream about mousetraps or blossoming avocado seeds, I would be spared the ignomy of 21st century affluent society. Then I too could divine that Holy Boy has his hand near Mountain Goddess's cucaracha and avoid getting lice in my eyebrows. Or at least have enough breakfast cereal to fill my molars.

The real message here is, don't send missionaries, Peace-Corp volunteers and aid (lawyers, guns and money), it ain't going to change something that was never really broke. Or if it is broke, it wasn't meant to last that long anyway, and just gets fixed the time-honored way of remembering the Gods with feeding Them deliberately and ritually. Try telling that to a Psych major Peace Corp volunteer, and watch them beat themselves with a solar oven brick. Chiviliu is laughing all the way to the buried cigar box.

Anyone with an interest in indigenous people as well as a lust for fascinating accounts of wayward travellers will find this impossible to put down. Humorous, yet poetic at times, the writer has a gift to share, and he does so with incredible dexterity. The insights into how the Maya lived within nature, their social heirarchy, inside jokes, love of life, and slow victimization by 20th (and 21st) century power-mongers make this account a valuable resource for all human beings.

Interestingly, the Mayan calendar, put forth centuries ago, ends within this decade, fodder for Armegeddon-theorists in the last half century. Prechtel's book helps to explain how this happened before his eyes and the role he has come to play in keeping the soul of the Maya alive.

This should be a must-read for anthropologists, linguists, spiritualists, environmentalists, economists, missionaries of all faiths, travellers, and policy makers. And yet with such a broad base, it remains a fascinating narrative as well. This was unquestionably one of the best books I have ever read.

Even after traveling to Guatemala a half dozen times for business and pleasure, this book opened many doors to understanding the embattled Mayan culture and to build a greater respect for it. Alas, I was saddened by the book's message -- that another unique culture is rapidly disappearing -- but armed with the knowledge gained from reading the book, I feel that I will be able to relate to indigenous peoples and their plight better, thanks to the authors. Read it.

Any author who tries to su up the life of Robert Johnson is going to have a hard time. The life of this man is a mystery beyond belief. The one thing that stands out is the music. I really feel that owning Johnson music is better than any book. Pick up the two CD set that has the booklet. Read that booklet and then put the CD's in and get ready for an experience this book can not give you. This book is good after you have done this. The music helps explain things a little more.

It's a long way from the Mississippi Delta to Australia but this screenplay allowed me to visualise and feel the passion and raw edge to the music and landscape of Robert Johnson. It seems a shame that no Director has been brave enough to attempt to put this tale onto film as it could surely be an outstanding work if properly attacked. The comprehensive attached notes provide the reader with an opportunity to fill in any gaps in their knowledge to the point where one can almost picture the juke joints with their duelling musicians. The brutality of life in this community was shocking to me and the early death of Robert Johnson now seems to be less of a tragedy and more of an inevitability.

I never read anything like this before--it was like watching an amazing movie in written form. This unique book is an undiscovered gem.

I read this book during the summer prior to me senior year in high school, and literally could not put it down. I read the whole work cover-to-cover in a week.

Going in, my background in biology was an introductory cell biology course and my background in chemistry was an introductory chemistry class. That I had little formal training in the sciences was irrelevant when reading this; it explains all the concepts so clearly that I think even a person with no background in science at all could understand it. The diagrams and photos are well-done and highly pertinent.

This is not to say that this book is only for non-scientists. Indeed, I even used knowledge gleaned from this fantastic book to teach my teachers a thing or two. Perhaps the section on muscle contraction is the best written of all - no other book I have ever seen comes close to this in clarity, and this section was one that I recommended to my Anatomy and Physiology teacher for clarification about a few concepts.

I am soon to be a sophomore in college, and this book continues to inspire me on my path to be a professor (I study chemistry with an emphasis on chemical biology). This book was invaluable even in a rigorous microbiology course, not to mention other introductory courses.

In summary, I rarely leave home for extended periods without this text (literally). If there is ONE BOOK that you should buy for studying cellular and molecular biology, let it be this one (or, if you are so inclined, its larger brother, Molecular Biology of the Cell).

I used this book as a studying supplement during the cell biology module of my first-year biology course. It explains key cell biology concepts clearly, thoroughly and concisely. The text is very well written and has wonderful photographs and diagrams throughout. Updated and recent biological and biomedical findings are used to further tie in the concepts of cell biology. Those that prefer a more detailed source of information should look to Molecular Biology of the Cell, but for beginners, Essential Cell Biology is an excellent place to start.

A gem of a book. It puts at the hands of lay people the wonders of molecular biology. The best way of spending $65 I can think of.

The text is a most refined product distilled by an all-star team of leading scientists. Oriented towards the lay person or the would be specialist, it is simple, unpretentious, sometimes even funny, but always powerfully explanatory. The diagrams are exceptionally clear (a must for explaining such complex subjects) and the photographs are astounding. Love for their subject and passion for teaching are present all along. And mysticism is always around the corner...

If you have ever wondered things like "What are exactly chromosomes?", "How do exactly enzymes work in the cell?", or "How the hell does all this machinery work at a purely chemical level ?" and you are not quite satisfied with popular science books, this one is for you. It will answer these questions and much, much more.

An enjoyable, deeply satisfying tour the force through the molecular level of all living organisms.

Don't miss it!

This was my first Robert Goddard book and I was pleasantly surprised. Goddard's writing evokes a sense of place almost as strong as those created by P.D. James. I don't think all of Goddard's characters are as well drawn as they might have been, but he does a good job with the Great Uncle, Christian, and Nicky. "Simone" is over the top at times, and her character stretched my suspension of disbelief pretty taut.

The plot reminded me of LeCarre's "Perfect Spy" or Deborah Crombie's "Kissed a Sad Goodbye" with it's the twists and turns and links between the present action and the events of the past. I found it a challenge to keep things straight at times, but I anticipated almost every plot twist before it happened with a few exceptions, so either I'm pretty good at deciphering mysteries, or the plot isn't as confusing as some critics have suggested. I also think it helped to read the book in a 24 hour period.

I recommend this book. It's head and shoulders above many other mysteries I've read lately by "famous" authors.

Robert Goddard is an excellent writer who is expert in weaving intricate plots. This is a book that one is compelled to read from start to finish. I always look forward to Robert Goddard's next book, and "Beyond Recall" met all of my expectations.

This is my third Goddard book and he never really ceases to amaze me. I read Closed Circle first, which was great, but then Out of the Sun was incredible. This one, like all of his work, has a wonderfully crafted plot and excitement galore. Goddard is a hidden gem outside England, and that's a shame. If you don't know which of his books to buy, start with Past Caring and you'll get all of them after that. Goddard has quickly become my favorite author and I will gladly devour anything he writes!!

What do you know about a book's authors if they ...

• Begin by congratulating themselves for their company's success?

• Quote favorable reviews on the first page, particularly from executives whose success stories are cited in the text?

• Claim to synthesize "the leading management approaches and business strategies," and then provide virtually no footnotes (15 notes for a 222-page volume)?

Robert Blonchek and Martin O'Neill are consultants. Like many consultants not overburdened by humility, they are proud to preach their doctrine and win new converts to their views - and their services. And as experienced public speakers, Blonchek and O'Neill have accustomed themselves to condensing their notions into a few words in large type. When your creed boils down to "run your business like my business", you want to keep your language as simple and transparent as possible.

Unfortunately, in the case of Act Like an Owner, simple language has produced simple thinking. The book supports all the right things - empowerment, entrepreneurial spirit, open information, Mom and apple pie - but they don't offer any striking insights or tools to get you there. Their central (tautological) concept, that "the ownership culture is the franchise agreement" within the organization, is like a tenor singing bass: less deep than it sounds. And the book's air of breathless naivete is both endearing and baffling; readers are given standard questions to identify customer needs, for example, and then advised to match the needs to their products' benefits. Elementary, my dear Watson.

"Elementary" is in fact the key to this book. Despite its claims to be applicable to large organizations, Act Like an Owner reads like Entrepreneurship 101. It's designed to answer such questions as:

• What is an operating model?

• Why is empowerment important?

• What is a corporate culture?

• Why is communication valuable?

If you find such questions startling and galvanizing, snap up your copy now. If you answered such questions long ago, or if you find them distractingly rudimentary, move on, perhaps to a book that recognizes the value of the compound-complex sentence. There's nothing new under the sun in Act Like an Owner; whether you enjoy the book will depend on how long you've spent in the shade.

"Early on, as a company of just six people, we wrote a corporate creed that documented our principles and values-our culture. This creed simply stated that we would build a successful business by focusing on the customer, encouraging entrepreneurial spirit, empowering everyone, and sharing both success and failure. We call this culture an ownership culture. We discovered that this environment was enjoyable to work in and was a powerfull strategy...To this day, when we ask people associated with the company why it was successful, and why they were committed, the answer is always the same. It was empowerment; it was team-spirit; it was vision. It was mutual respect and trust. Most important, it was the culture...This book is a distillation of our experience in creating, nurturing, and maintaining an ownership culture...The ALO model is a synthesis and practical application of leading business concepts along with our own personal experiences...The ALO model is not academic theory, it's a roadmap for applying today's most important management practices to the real-world problem of building an information-era business...In this book, we present the internal franchise, the foundation of ALO and a framework for unlocking entrepreneurial spirit in your organization...The heart of the internal franchise is the ownership culture, a corporate culture built on the principles and values of the entrepreneur. An ownership culture compels everyone in your organization to think and act like an owner of the business" (from the Preface).

In this context, Robert Blonchek and Martin O'Neill divide their book into three parts:

I. In this part, they present the internal franchise as a framework for putting ownership culture to work as a competitive weapon. According to them an internal franchise consists of three components: an operating model, entrepreneurial employees, and an ownership culture. They argue that "An internal franchise is similar to a traditional franchise operation. In an internal franchise the company makes its operating model explicit and then 'franchises' the operating model to its employees. The employees are then coached, mentored, and trained to operate the business at the highest level of proficiency. In an internal franchise, the franchise agreement is not a legal binding contract, it is the company's culture-an ownership culture."

II. In this part, they present a formula for creating an ownership culture. They argue that an ownership culture is a corporate culture based on TRUST:

* Teach your employees your operating model.

* Reward them based on the performance of the business and their contribution to that performance.

* Unconditionally support their actions in order to develop a truly empowering environment.

* Share information so that everyone can make effective business decisions.

* Be Trustworthy by making and keeping commitments.

III. In this part, they apply an ownership culture to one of the most pressing problems facing business today: attracting and retaining skilled workers. They argue that "Without a doubt, attracting to talent is a key business challenge for most organizations. But that's only half the problem-changing employee attitudes and expectations make it difficult to hold on to talented workers as well. In fact, the loss of talented workers forces many companies to reduce their growth projections and negatively affects their ability to compete."

Finally, they write, "It's time for the grand finale in the drama of twentieth-century business. It's financial capital versus human capital, and we'll soon know who wins. But all indications are that the winning businesses in the next century will be those that understand how to mobilize human intellect and ingenuity for competitive advantage. Adopting the principle presented in Act Like an Owner is the best way to ensure that you end up on the side of the winners."

Highly recommended.

If only more companies would realize the power that lies in creating an ownership culture in their organizations! This book presents a truly common sense approach to empowering employees to think and act like owners of a company. I have never been more motivated and have never enjoyed reading a business book as much as this one! I believe this business philosophy would help make a valuable difference in every organization!

1/3 of this book - the starhopping section - is excellent. Just the right amount of commentary and detail for intermediate observational astronomy. The maps are also very good. Here's the problem: Only 1/2 of the sky is covered in the starhopping section! Why go halfway? A good number of interesting regions aren't covered at all. Instead, they clutter up the first 2/3 of the book with the usual info about types of telescope, stars, pictures of planets, etc. We've read and seen this before. Any library book tells you the same stuff. Use the pages to cover ALL regions of the sky. It's really a shame.

Another problem is the hardcover format, which makes the book difficult for field use. It's thin and tall, which doesn't help it to stay open. A spiral bound version would be better.

Time was, the Nature Store was everywhere in Canada, and you could depend on them for just the right Xmas gift or whatever. That's gone now, but they left the excellent Nature Company Guides behind.

This is the book of those who have gone beyond "the stars are up there" stage but aren't at the Hawking level yet. I loved the crispy photos and the straight from the shoulder directions (not pretentious or dumb). I recommend it highly if you want something with a little more meat to it.

This book is very helpful, even if you are just an amiture astronomer like me. This book tells you how to navigate through the Heavens. It tells you what stars you can see, the dates that you can see them, even the times that you cansee them. This book tells you what to look for when buying a telescope, how to spot a trash scope, and what types are good to purchase for your needs. This book tells about anything that you need to know, from nebulas and double stars, to planets and black holes. Advanced Skywatching tells you almost anything you want to know. This is a book that no astronomer, begining, advanced, or professional, should be without.

As all other books start off, you'll start with a project and more elements are slowly added in as you go thru each chapter. Of course there's the usual side notes, explaining certain tips, concepts and more advanced features. It starts off with the basic controls, but doesn't get carried off by explaining every single one, which can be good or bad in a way.

The book goes with idea that if you know some of the controls, you can figure out the rest. After dealing with various multimedia features of Director, it finally reaches the Lingo language, but rather than explain the basic semantics, its starts quickly with functions and procedures which hopefully can be figured out later.

If being proficient in Director is what you aim to be, then this book is definitely a good buy. But if you're more into average projects with decent animations, and yet can't be bothered reading too much or knowing too much too early, then you'll be better off with the Visual Quickstart book. I found that after covering more than half the book and finally reaching the Lingo chapters, I stopped coz I felt I didn't need to know all that unless I was doing hardcore projects. Besides, its also cheaper than other books which are just as THICK.

I turned to this book after making the mistake of buying Lingo Sorcery to learn object-oriented programming in Director. It was a great relief to find (at last) a coherent introduction to OOP in Lingo, with lots of examples in the text and code on the CD. The rest of the book is terrific, too.

When I began reading this book, I had been a user of Director for about three years. While my experience producing multimedia CD-ROMs using Director had been good, it always took forever to work out the bugs in my Lingo code. I knew there was a better way to write the Lingo scripts using object-oriented programming techniques, but I didn't understand the concepts or how to do it very well. I was also reluctant to change from my tried-and-true style of programming that had worked for me since beginning with Director 3.

I'd read other books about Director and tried a few things to push my personal envelope, without a lot of success. But as I began to read in this book about how to use OOP structures in behaviors, it was like a light turned on. This book made it very understandable. I kept (figuratively) slapping my forehead and saying "of course!" as I tried the examples in the chapters. I can't remember the last time I've become so excited about learning something new as I have with this book. It has really empowered me to become a better multimedia developer. With the new understanding this book gave me, I'm more confident that I can build any interface feature I want into my Director projects. Before, when a client would ask for some feature, I would be hesitant to agree or promise it. Now I don't have to "kludge" things together...and I can implement it fast and with high reliability so that works consistently in cross-platform projects. My turn-around time on projects is also a lot faster now.

The events in this book take place mostly in Guatemala in the 1970's, where the author lived as part of a "traditional" Maya community. "called" by the local Shaman he was trained in the arts and responsiblities of a shaman, in order that he could save part of the "village Heart" on the old man's death.

The author has some valuable insights into values and a way of living that has been lost when modern "culture" over rides traditional indigenous cultures, proclaming all that they have as bad (or non-christian). I think he is right in saying we have all lost something valuable. Ways of living that can probabaly never truly be recaptured.

However, having looked up the author on the net, he seems heavily into the "new age" speeking circut today, despite all he was taught when he was younger. I wonder if the written word, despised by the Maya, will be his main legacy. And by his own admission you never get the whole story that way. Certinally, despite the wisdom in this book it is not the be-all answer for all of life's problems.

A previous reviewer called this "a rip-off of Indian culture" after seeing the author in person at a book signing and later "researching" his background. . . . . Please, do not judge a book by its cover or a shaman by his skin. At least read the book's intro by Robert Bly and what he says about "Secrets of the Talking Jaguar."

SHAMANS: "The Mayans call shamans "spirit-lawyers," that is, men or women who go to the spirits and try to argue them into giving a benefit of some sort to human beings. Mayan tradition does not teach that the Gods want people to be sinless or perfect, but to believe that the Gods love beauty, eloquence, fine clothes, great music, fine poems, bravery, high animal spirits, and gratitude."

TONGUES LIKE PUPPIES: "At conferences I've seen men and women weep when Martin Prechtel talks of the complex and rich village life of the Maya. The listeners realize how much more open their lives in youth would have been if their beauty had been honored as the young ones are honored in Santiago Atitlan, and if they'd had a chance to be kissed by the invisible faces "'with tongues like puppies.'" They also weep when they realize how men and women, though they speak separate languages, can fly together like the two wings of a bird."

INDIGENOUS SOUL " . . . If we can be quiet, this book will be a bucket that drops down toward the water of our indigenous soul. All the words that Martin writes here amount to a meditation on this soul as a natural force. Whether we are Swiss or Mayan or American, the indigenous soul, threatened all over the globe, still lives inside each of us. We can rejoice in its abundance, its ingenuity, its determination not only to exist but also to continue giving its gifts, if we will turn and meet it."

Bly says it all. You will experience a "Journey to the Heart of the Indigenous Soul" no matter what your ethnic background or skin color. The indigenous soul is within all of us. Read this book and decide for yourself. -- Bill Arena

A treasured gift from a culture exploited and destroyed by the Western/Modern world. Martin Prechtel blesses and honors us by telling his story and those of his people. As he writes, "Possibly my own story will give your stories courage enough to blossom". This book reminds us of the importance of retrieving and feeding the indigenous soul that lives within each of us.

This is not some fabricated tale or fictionalized story of a spiritual journey. This is an authentic, first-hand account told straight from the author's heart. Those with a true interest in shamanism and spiritual healing will cherish this book. The ancient wisdom contained in its pages are a valuable resource that I will refer to often and share with those around me.