Quintessential Jackie! Hilarious! A must-have in a Jewish humor library. May I also recommend a nifty, gezunta book I received as a gift and fell in love with? "A Little joy, A Little Oy" -- if Jackie's a main course Joy, Oy is one amazing antipasto.

Lillian & Joe Moses

Only a meshuggener would not find this book entertaining and informative. Then again, probably only meshuggeners would want to READ shtick like this. Too bad Jackie didn't record this for the blind and the goyim; LISTENING to his spiel would just make this so much more of a mecheieha. If only that gantseh macher Webster had had Jackie as his editor -- oy!

This is a smart little book of 93 Yiddish words and expressions that are defined, illuminated, and used-in-a-sentence by comic and philosopher Mason. In his Introduction, a thoughtful essay on Yiddish, he asserts that although he born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin in 1934, he grew up in a one hundred percent Yiddish-speaking world ("I didn't know that anybody in this country spoke English until I was old enough to go to the movies.") His family moved back to New York before he was five.

This little book contains a wealth of Masonisms. Jackie Mason used to have run-ins with censors and others. He reserves the right to be both self-deprecating and insulting. Jews, gentiles, politics, marriage, family, ethnicity, money, power, and God himself - all are up for grabs. There are a lot of funny stories. In addition, he has an understanding of the Yiddish language that he is happy to share. (Harry Truman was haimish - accessible, natural - FDR was not. Colorful explanation is provided.) He offers a theory of chicken soup that links it -successfully - to most of the world's cuisines. He is never dull. Mason: "It seems that in English that you have to prove that you're not emotional in order to have class." He posits his sociolinguistic theory (which you've heard if you've seen or heard his stage show) that the more emotional the speech - content and structure - the more "low class" the speaker. He defends emotionality. He loves Yiddish, and in fact the language (black English, specifically) of any people engaged in a battle of wits to survive.

A funny and endearing book.

I came across National Public Radio many years ago just tooling around the FM dial. I found "Fresh Air with Terry Gross" and was hooked by the interview at the time, with Clint Eastwood. The questions were ones I would want to ask him. I was intrigued by this voice I have never heard before on radio, sophisticated, smart, smooth, curious, and down to earth. No commercial radio hype, none of the exaggeration for a big news story, not a celebrity exclusive. I've since heard this audio compilation of the the comedians interviewed on "Fresh Air laughs" and loved it. This isn't just a side splitting laugh a minute tape, it also brings you a realization that these are real people. The Bill Murray interview is so unlike his performer identity we all know that you have to listen to it carefully, because Terry brings out his humanity with her interview style. We get to listen to conversation that has substance and not just style. This is a tape you can sink your teeth into, it's that thick.

Every recipe I have tried is wonderful.Many have become family favorites.

This book is a must for those wanting to fully exploit the power of OpenGL. In this 3rd Edition, the authors have included the newest features of OpenGL, Version 1.2. In particular, the discussion about multitexturing and imaging subset deserves a special mention, since they represent the latest rendering techniques available in form of a standard library.

Although all features, from the most basic to the most advanced technique, are covered in this book, it is not an introductory graphics text book. Readers should have a basic knowledge about computer graphics in order to benefit from this book. Also, it is useful to be familiar with 2D/3D geometry and other graphics libraries. As code fragments and samples are written in C, experience with this programming language is also required.

I recommend this book for any serious OpenGL programmer, perhaps complemented with the "OpenGL Reference Manual" and "Programming OpenGL for the X Window System" by Mark Kilgard.

The Opengl Programming Guide has become a standard to which other 3D programming books are compared. It serves two basic functions: a tutorial of topical 3D concepts inherent in todays 3D graphics hardware/software and an instructional manual offering a precise explanation of the functional calls with supporting attributes/arguments defined by the OpenGL Application Programming Interface. The book is extremely well organized and allows readers to focus on specific topics while still maintaining perspective of the entire rendering pipeline. It is comprehensive, up-to-date and easy to read making it my first choice for clarifying all 3D technical issues. I cannot imagine a serious 3D programmer or software architect not having this book included in their personal library.

I'm new to graphics programming. I started out by programming in DirectX, using LaMothe's "Windows Game Programming for Dummies". The book was OK, but due to the extreme confusion of DirectX, I wasn't able to understand past chapter 3.

So, if you're confused about DirectX and really need to program in OpenGL, that's the best book to buy. The book takes you step by step from scratch to building up your program. Tons of coding examples are included in the book, and are very well documented. What's good about this book is all the coding examples are based on the C language. So, if you're not a good C++ programmer, or a better C than a C++ programmer, then this is the book to get.

One drawback about the book, is it doesn't include a CD. So, you have to write all the code yourself. That gives you a hands-on experience. The book also doesn't include the GLUT library, and most of the examples in the book use it. So you have to download it. ...

I have taught Opengl for four years. I've found the best results by teaching from the OpenGL programming guide. Students are lectured from the material in the book, numerous examples are provided illustrating the concepts and principles of 3D programming and opengl function calls. I use VRML 2.0 to demonstrating the code examples, and student can read the opengl code for the example. During the Semester students use the OpenGL programming Guide to create a 3D game. The game uses movable cameras, hierarchial motion, collision detection, display lists, texture maps, materials, lighting, and nurb surfaces. The material is absorbed within a 5 to 10 week period. I've tried other books like the OpenGL superbible, but found the Opengl Programming Guide to be much more comprehensive, and therefore more productive in the results. The OpenGL Programming Guide is a book to keep. Some of the new features in the current release is : introduction to interleave arrays, new glut libraries, and increased documentation on picking, selection and feedback. Get on the Game Programming bandwagon by buying this book. Email me with any additional questions.

This is a wonderful OpenGL book. I especially like the fact that it is specifically written to be platform independant. Other books fail because they try to concentrate on one type of platform, like Win95/98/NT. It does use GLUT but it uses it as a tool to allow the reader to learn the concepts and get right to work with the fun stuff rather than tinkering with the specifics of your OS. This book is especially welcome to Linux programmers because of the fact that it doesn't concentrate on the Windows API and instead uses GLUT to work across all platforms.

as a winNT programmer, i broke my teeth trying to understand OpenGL with the use of the MSDN library. although the MSDN library does offer a few tech articles about how to begin using the NT port of OpenGL, it does a poor job at explaining the basics of OpenGL. moreover, in the best of microsoft tradition, the WGL functions (win32 to openGL interface) are cumbersome and very unintuitive and make the learning process almost impossible. this book on the other hand, throws you into the water by releaving you of all the annoying initialization details and technical details that you would only want to know once you have a feel for the OpenGL API. this is done with the use of the GLUT library. while it is true that GLUT is not the most efficient way to write openGL code, it is better to start learning openGL using GLUT then to have to understand each and every detail of openGL architechture before you can draw one vertex. this is an easy escape. I am most pleased with this book and cant wait to finish it... go fetch...

This book is a fantastic reference to OpenGL, Glut and Glu APIs. Even if you didn't want to do Computer Graphics with OpenGL - the Glut and Glu APIs are fantastic in their own right. This book rocks - what you can't figure out directly is given in clear and meaningful examples.

What says it best: At the end of the semester I didn't try to sell it to the college bookstore!

I am an experienced graphics programmer an I have found this book to be the absolute bible for OpenGL programming. To all the readers I would suggest to pay an special attention to chapter 3. The camera analogy made by the authors conatins perhaps the most clarifying paragraphs along the book. This book covers all aspects about 3D application programming and OpenGL. It is so easy to go through it in a progressive fashion that no one should find any difficutlties in becoming a real expert 3D programmer. The chapters devoted to avanced rendering techniques make things to appear so simple... So lots of ins for the whole book. The only out I have found along it, is that it looks pretty much like the OpenGL specification, and for those readers without a good background of programming and windowing might be a little difficult to understand how opengl relates to X windows or Windows NT. Anyway, thanks to the authors for this text. I guess that Mr Kempf isn't going to have the things easy with his 'Official Guide to learning OpenGL release 1.1'. I wish him the best luck in the world. Javier Velasco (SPAIN)

Regardless of what other OpenGL books you get, the Red Book is the place to start. Get the latest version for OpenGL 1.1. Comprehensive review of entire API, and how to do all the basics.

Every comedian who is worth a farthing knows the importance of timing, but Jackie Mason is the master. The only trouble he had with it was the timing of reaching the level of success he desired--that took thirty years (and ten million beats, mugs, and gestures) longer than he thought and deserved. Raised in a rabbinical family, first in Sheboygan (What part of Russia is that? he was later asked) and the Lower East Side, Jackie rebelled. His true talent, he knew, was in laughter production. From the corner candy store to being the best joke telling but worst dish carrying busboy in the Catskills until his first years as a rabbi, he insisted that the comedy business was a mere sideline. After his father's death he abandoned the rabbinate and became a full-time comedian, leading to a California gig which itself led to a Steve Allen show appearance which led to recordings which led to what he thought would be the success he craved--but then came a misunderstanding with Ed Sullivan (he says it was a thumb, not a finger) and a stay in a sort lounge-only-act Coventry that led him to despair. Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and second-rate Miami hotels were steady work, but it wasn't IT. Failed business ventures, plays, and movies didn't help--and troubles with Sr. Sinatra led to beatings, guns firing though his window, and a car he was riding in being forced off the road. (He denies any Sinatra culpabilty, but once said on stage that he couldn't identify the gunman, but did hear someone singing dooby-dooby-doo fleeing the scene.) Then came a one-man show in L.A. It was so well received that it moved to Broadway. Critical acceptance at last. It was then Jackie knew he made it. Perfect timing.

I really enjoyed this book, but it describes a very "bittersweet" life. Jackie overcame tremendous odds - an impoverished childhood, headed by an overbearing father who insisted that his son become only a Rabbi - and forget the comedy shtick. But Jackie couldn't; and even though he became a Rabbi, he soon cast that off to pursue what he was naturally good at - making people laugh. And there are plenty of laughs in this book. In particular, I praise him for standing by the sense of humor he developed and believed in; even when he was told too many times that he was "too Jewish for the Gentiles". He proved that everyone came to love his jokes, and to accept him. I give Jackie credit for having the Chutzpah to really let us into his life - even though some of it wasn't pretty. But - don't let me distress you too much - if you want to laugh: get this book!