This autobiographical novel set in Europe in the 1940s is dominated by youthful exuberance, friendship, loyalties, love, and survival. The book was first published in French, just a few years after World War II. Rejto describes with realism and light-hearted humor the dark war-time adventures thrust upon him and his friends: school and family life in pre-war Budapest abruptly replaced by forced labor camps, deportation, escape, resistance, the extermination of family and friends. There is no bitterness here, nor desire for revenge. Rather, it is the timeless story of recognizing and dealing with horribly tragic situations, and struggling to rebuild new and productive lives. The story will stay in your mind for a long time.

This is a remarkable story of growing up in prewar Europe and survival told with humor and humility.

This terrifying war-time tale is told though the eyes of a narrator too young and full of life to be terrified. The Reluctant Adventurer is a story of love, friendship, and adventure; it is warm and humorous and informative and just a bit magical....not unlike the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I was very impressed.

As Einstein indulged a long time in wondering how it would be like to be a photon, LN spent his time trying to slip into a fractal. For once it is in it, a particule which follows chaotic movements in a classical frame, goes straight ahead, and then one may understance the apparent disorders of microphysics. The most amazing is that, beyond the theoretical development, LN's scale relativity not only unifies both poles of the 20th century theoretical physics, namely General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, but also gives us new philosophical insights about how to look at our world. Faithful to Einstein's ideas, he reintroduces the necessity of "the maximum elegance" in our description of the world, elegance which had been swept away by the quantum formalism. Roughly said, quantum mechanics is no longer an axiomatic theory but is now a consequence of a satisfying general principle for mind, namely the relativity principle. So what's the new point? We know since einstein that every momentum is relative (uniform momentum with special relativity, accelerated momentum with general relativity). Roughly said, I never absolutly move, I only move compared to another body. LN extends this beautiful idea of general relativity to the notion of scale. I am not tall, I am just taller than something. But this simple looking idea needs new mathematical tools to enter the hall of wonder that is called theoretical physics. There come the fractals. How these extraodinary and strange figures upset our sight of the whole universe, from microphysics to cosmology ? All this is brilliantly explained, in a simple and accessible way, in this book, where intuition and philosophical insights are as significant as theoretical ideas.

Gérard Schumacher who began to apply his theories to planets motions (French Riviera Observatory) deems him a genius: "il y a eu les Grecs, Einstein, et puis Nottale."

Nottale's theory of "scale Relativity" holds the promise of unraveling one the greatest mysteries of the universe: The Grand Unified Theory. His genius stroke is to postulate that the geometry of space/time itself is "fractal". Using this approach, the seeming incongruous nature of the quantum realm may be reconciled with the observed nature of the world at "larger" scales.

The theory expands and complements Einstein's Relativity, identifying the De Broglie "length" as the absolute scale to Einstein's absolute velocity: the speed of light.

Nottale initially introduces the theory clearly and, after an informative backround on theoretical physics and fractal geometry, expands on it in an exhaustive and systematic manner. The conclusion includes prospects for generalizing the theory to cosmology.

"Fractal Space-Time and Microphysics : Towards a Theory of Scale Relativity" is a compelling and potentially seminal work. It is densely packed with mathematical analysis but can be navigated by the lay enthusiast who is determined. Those who are shouldn't be dissappointed.

A must read!

I agree with everything in the previous review, especially the Russell versus Midler versions of the movie. This is a wonderful show, and I am the lucky woman who gets to play Rose in my local theatre's production. I bought this book because Tams-Witmark sends out "sides" for each role -- a small book that includes only the character's lines with just a few words of the cue before. Having the full script is a great help, but be aware that this book is slightly different from the version used by Tams-Witmark. I'm marking the changes in my full script and using it, though, because it's much more convenient.

Do get the memoir Gypsy by Gypsy Rose Lee. It's amazing to see how much of this show was taken directly from the pages of her autobiography. Rose and Herbie were somewhat romanticized in the show, as was Tessie the stripper and many other aspects of the story -- hey this is Broadway! There can't be *too* much misery! But the cow really did come to Rose in a dream and really did get them on the Orpheum Circuit. They really did bleach a gaggle of girls' hair blonde. Both books are great reads.

I am a student in Chicago's New Tuners Workshop, an organization devoted to the writing of new works of musical theatre. In our first year, we are required to read GYPSY. Our artistic director, John Sparks, considers GYPSY to be one of the finest book musicals ever written.

The lead part of the Mama Rose is often considered the musical theatre equivalent of Lady MacBeth or Hedda Gabler. Lucky is the woman who gets to play her. Three women have played her on Broadway: Ethel Merman (in the original production), Angela Lansbury (in a 1970's revival) and Tyne Daly (in a 1990's revival). Lansbury and Daly both won Tony awards for their perfomances. Merman lost in 1960 to Mary Martin in "The Sound Music." She was robbed!

Musical highlights of the show include the character defining "Some People," the desperate "Ev'rything's Coming up Roses" and the tour-de-force finale, "Mama's Turn." A majority of the songs are Mama Rose's, the result, apparently, of Ethel Merman's ego. Nevertheless, it works brilliantly.

If you are looking for a version of this show on video, AVOID the Rosalind Russell version from the early sixties, in favor of the recent Bette Middler version. Not only is the Middler version more faithful to the original play, Bette does her own singing (Lisa Kirk sang for Russell) and her performance rivals Merman's.

If you love musicals, you will love this book. Read it yesterday!

Hachette has republished l'Histoire de Babar in hardback. This has a new cover (not the red with Babar holding the sign with the title on it). The new cover features Babar driving his car. The illustrations and original Brunhoff French text in cursive script are still there. I will take this wonderful tale in any cover I can find, thank you very much.

In this book, the first in the Babar series, we hear the tale of the experiences that shaped the the young and adventurous Babar during his formative years, culminating with his being crowned King of the Elephants.

The Babar books contain some of the most charming and entertaining drawings and storylines of any children's books ever written. Proof is that as one grows older, their appeal seems to grow rather than diminish. Although great in any language, Babar is best of all in its original French. The text is simple enough that even those with only a modest French reading level should be able to enjoy this book.

An amazing conglomeration of incredible interviews. Tirard works like a master extracting answers from the industries top directors. The responses are amazing and incredibly helpfull. A must have book!

This is an extremely enlightening book for movie lovers as well as aspiring filmmakers. It is refreshing to read about directors talking candidly about their craft with a peer. It is neither boring like some of the more technical books out there nor is it selfserving like books by lone directors. It does not hurt that most of my favorite directors are featured here. The book was recommended to me, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in filmmaking.

Dr.Saint-Laurent covers an enormous territory in remarkably few words (less than 300 pages). He accomplishes this not by reduction but with intelligent economy of language: this is a jargon-free book. Saint-Laurent crosses major religous boundries without stepping on toes, and reveals in clear language the theme and variations of human spirituality. Spirituality and World Religions functions as an enjoyable read,a college text,an outline,a reference,and a source of enlightenment. This book is a true example of the fact that the intellect and the soul are highly compatible.

George Saint-Laurent has written a poneering study on the inner meaning of the world's major religions. The author explores how beievers may find in each of them a guide to enhance their lives, so long as they are totally committed to the tenets of their faith. There is a great deal of information in these chapters that will enable a reader in one community to come into contact with less familiar traditions of other religions. The book is at its best when it presents insights into the relationship between God and humans, which the great religious traditions promote in their several ways.

I am a great fan of Uncle Billy's DownEast Barbeque. I live in Maine and visit Uncle Billy's restaurant whenever I can. But, since I live 5 hours away at the other end of the state, I find the recipes in this book a great way to indulge my BBQ cravings. The recipes are easy to follow, and simple to make. Some recipes have many ingredients, but I find all of them necessary to the final dish. A great cookbook!

If you like Barbeque, buy this book! It is the reasonably funky story about an award-winning chef's quest to make good authentic Barbeque in an unlikely location-Maine. The recipes are good, the techniques are proven and the book is a delight to read. I fist got the book in 1991 when it was initially published, and as a displaced Texan in Maine, I can vouch for the quality of the recipes. This is the most tattered, oft-used book in my cookbook shelf.

Enjoy it

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Why purchase this book? Ok, here's why:

The cover and the craftsmanship of this book nearly warrant its purchase alone. The work of French designer Laurent Fétis is absolutely stunning. His style and originality has been featured on the covers of bands like Tahiti 80 and Mellow while working for labels such as Emperor, Minty Fresh, Escalator, Emi, Virgin, Universal.. and so on. His work has also been exhibited at the Pompidou Centre (Paris Museum of Modern Art). If you like colorful, vibrant, hip and swanky graphic design, buy this book. It will look great on your coffee table or as an addition to your design book collection. Enjoy.

I have been a Hitchcock fan for years and have always been intrigued by the quiet, petite woman beside the giant behemoth of a man. Now I know her story thanks to this intimate memoir written by the Hitchcocks' only child Pat Hitchcock O'Connell. Pat delves deep into the recesses of her memory, it seems, to bring the reader the details of life in the Hitchcock home. Alma was a remarkable woman, very instrumental in the production of all of her husband's films and a wonderful homemaker to boot. She was a little spitfire of energy, but also quite reserved. She put "Hitch" in his place when he acted up and she was always there by his side when he needed her--which was always! The photos and Alma's recipes and menus in teh back of the book add another level of intimacy to this memoir, practically bringing the reader into the family fold and the Hitchcok world. Alma was quite the successful gourmet cook--as her husband's corpulence proved! While it seemed Pat included a bit too many interviews with friends and family, it just only served to confirm Alma's enormous influence and presence in the Hitchcock legacy.

I highly recommend this book to ALL HITCHCOCK FANS and to all who love to read a good family biography! Thank you, Ms. Hitchcock O'Connell for this long-awaited glimpse into your family life.

The book under review is one of the best books that has appeared in the field of Public Choice Theroy. Myself doing a post-doctoral research on the public choice theory, I found it a necessary reading for not only those interested in the field but also for general scholars of political theory. The author has covered almost all the necessary subjects about which all over the world increasing attention is being paid or needs to be paid. This book is an answer to those who find public choice theory as basically a statistical theory only. The books has actually covered all the philosophical underpinnings of the public choice therory. This books stands out to be a highly recommended reading for scholars of social science. Sukant Vyas Lecturer Department of Political Science Dyal Singh (Evening) College Lodi Road New Delhi - 110003 (India)