My qualifications: I used to live 4km from Hameln ("Hamelin", Anglicized), Germany! It's near Hanover, if you're looking on a map. Regardless, I was happy to find this treasure. This is the most vividly illustrated version I've seen.The illustrations are splendid, & the book is nice & large. After seeing ANATOLY IVANOV's illustrations, other versions just don't do the story justice. The text is printed in what i would decribe as "default" calligraphic italic, adding to its charm, if not its "authenticity". I give it a big 5 RATS!

This book would be a wonderful treasure for the pictures alone. Kate Greenaway, noted children's illustrator, has created a magical world of beautiful children, innocent faces, and romantic, nostalgic costumes. The colors on these pages are breathtaking, and the details (although Greenaway is always faulted for not drawing hands and feet well) are superb. This story is not for very young children, as it contains some troublesome themes. For the older child, perhaps 7+, the story might provoke some interesting post-read family discussions about honesty, trust, and the actual state of the children at the end of the tale. This is even a beautiful book to give to adults, as the messages about human nature can be appreciated on a deeper level.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a very different children's classic. Few other children's picture books tell a story in Victorian poetry. The book isn't just original; it is excellent. I have always enjoyed Robert Browning's poetry, and this is no exception. I was surprised at how easy it was to read this book compared to some of Browning's other verse, and it was pleasing to read, especially considering that this is focused toward children. I loved all of the poetic techniques used by Browning. His iambic tetrameter in couplets works very well for young readers, and I loved his use of anaphora and internal rhyme. The story is, of course, brilliant. It is the usual folk tale that every child has heard and needs to hear. It teaches its lesson, and Browning's version is even more entertaining than other versions. Also, the illustrations by Kate Greenway are fabulous. It is impossible to imagine this story in Browning's Victorian verse without Greenway's Victorian artistry. This is a true children's classic, it should definately last for years to come, and it makes and excellent buy for children or for libraries.

Truly readable memoir of a loyal baseball fan. While probably aimed at the male population, I am one female who really enjoyed reading Mayer's "True Confessions of a Skinny-Marink" (his mother's nickname for him). If you enjoy baseball, and especially if you often find your team is out of the running as the season draws to a close, then you should read this book.

A thrilling overview of a man's life as a perpetually disappointed Dodger's fan. References to great baseball works like The Southpaw and Field of Dreams. If baseball is the "Thinking Man's Game", Baseball and Men's Lives is a "Thinking Man's Book." Highly recommended to anyone who has seen their team struggle, and come in second place one too many times -- and to any guy who once dreamed of the big time, but never crossed the fence!

A very useful guide on the history and the development of consumerism in the United States. Complete, analitical and easy to understand (even for an italian reader like me!) at the same time .

The Light-Up Bible: A Bedtime Devotional For Children features a real "pop-out" light, 260 bible stories from both the Old and New Testament featuring scripture text from the Contemporary English Version, lively and colorful art, memory verses, and prayer starters. The Light-Up Bible: A Bedtime Devotional For Children is a unique devotional bible made just for young readers and is ideal for bedtime story reading to kids by their parents, grandparents, and care givers as well.

In a time of real-world turmoil, this book offers a wonderful escape into the alternate reality that is the world of baseball. The writing is wry, funny, insightful. Mayer knows his baseball inside and out -- but he is also wise about life. Some of his best tales wander far from the ball field, into love, fatherhood and other national pastimes. But there is always a subliminal connection to the game. Like a tight ball game, the book gets better and better as it goes along. A great read.

If you've never been exposed to the "Great Books" movement in higher education, you probably don't know who Robert Hutchins was. I only knew him as a dazzling champion of this almost-forgotten ideal of learning, as did his contemporaries. Milton Meyer showed me a man superhuman in his aims and yet tragically flawed. He espoused the Classics without being a true student of them, and yet was he not more Shakespearean than any of the professors he governed? Anyway, the book moved me. If you have any ability to be inspired by the story of an imperfect man, read this book.

'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' is a legendary film that has become buried in its own legend(s). There has been the ugly conflict between its various contibuotrs as to who actually 'authored' the film (with maligned director Robert Wiene, who died before the spats began, losing out). There has been the contentious issue of the framing story, where the screenwriters' conceived attack on authority is neutered as the ravings as a madman. There has been the notoriously influential thesis of art historian Siegfried Kracauer in his book 'From Caligari to Hitler', which claimed that films reflected the subconscious of a nation, and that, by virtue of the framing story, 'Caligari' somehow visualised the German desire for Nazism. Then there is 'Caligari''s position in the history of film, as the first example of Expressionist cinema, the most widely influential 'school' in the medium.

Legend and myth are anathema to the British critical mind, which prefers to deal with verifiable facts. By going back to primary sources - the original script, production memos, trade reports, advertising materials, contemporary reviews, as well as first-hand testimonies (which latter he treats with scepticism), David Robinson builds up a more prosaic, but convincing, picture of the conception and creaton of 'Caligari' (an appendix compares the original script with the finished film, allowing us to dismiss the main myth-disseminator, co-screenwriter Hans Janowitz), showing how subsequent legends were created for various self-interested reasons (e.g. as a calling-card for exiled screenwriters in World War II Hollywood).

'Caligari' is revealed as less the inspired breakthrough in Cinematic Art than a happy accident - the famously Expressionist sets were less a necessary visualisation of character subjectivity than a cynical attempt to cash in on the vogue for modern art and Grand Guignol. Wiene, derided in film history as a 'one-trick pony', is rehabilitated, as it the framing narrative once condemned as conformist. The study offers a fascinating history of film-making in the context of post-World War I Europe, the expectations of the public and the reactions of the press. He gives a precis of the wider Expressionist project, showing how 'Caligari' borrowed heavily from the art and theatre of its time (not just visually, but in acting technique), concluding that this style was 'bolted on' to a story that didn't really need it, rather than arising aesthetically out of it. 'Caligari' is no longer considered a great film, but it is important because people thought it was, encouraging film-makers and audiences to take more risks, paving the way for the genuine achievements of Expressionism (co-screenwriter Carl Meyer would write most of Murnau's great films).

This is all very interesting and a pleasure to read, but something is missing - the film itself. There is little analysis of 'Caligari' as a movie, why it can still exert a fascination for a sympathetic audience, what the various stylistsic choices actually mean or achieve. It's not enough to dismiss 'Caligari' as a ragbag of various accidents (so are most Hollywood 'classics') - it is still a film to be watched and understood, even if eventually dismissed.

Nevertheless, this book is a visual joy, full of crisp stills, sketches for sets, and, most pleasurably, various posters for the original exhibition run (including the lurid but mysterious one on the cover) which, I must confess, are more strikingly beautiful than anything in the actual film.

Dr. Caligari's cabinet is a wonderfully done piece of literature. The story is very original and suspenseful. Definately the book to read if you don't want to sleep at night

The BFI Film Classics series is a consistantly stimulating guide to great films, and this is one of my favorites. Robinson is particularly strong in placing this film in its historical context. As wonderful as it is, Caligari is nevertheless a product of its time, and an awareness of this only increases its resonance. This book beautifully passes the only true test of film criticsm - it enhances our experince of the film itself.

I read this book over 20 years ago, and numerous times since then. Being a comic book afficiando, I thought that it was very well written, thoughtful, and provocative. Mr. Mayer makes you FEEL the characters. I loved it.

Really funny and well-written. I bought it at a book fair when I was in high school. I never understood why this book wasn't a hit, but if you read it, you won't be disappointed.

"Superfolks" is an excellent novel.It has everything you might want in a Super-Hero novel: Action,Satire,SEX,Intrigue,Comedy,A True Suprise Ending. The hero,while clearly satirical,still manages to engage our interest and emotions.I have read this book over 10 times since its original publication, and I have always found something new to appreciate , and at which to laugh.It is a crime that this book is out of print!!!

Dear readers,
I am the daughter of Ron Lyon who is the brother of Donna Denice Harraway.She was my aunt...I know her as Denice.I was 4 years old when this horrific crime against my family occured.This event tore my family apart and continues to torment us to this day.When this book "The Dreams of Ada" came out, our family was outraged.The so called "facts" in this book are not only untrue, they are ridiculous.Tommy Ward and Carl Fontenat DID do this.They confessed and then later said it was all a "dream".They had the facts that only the police and the killers would know.I am sickened that this book is still in circulation.I am writing this to inform anyone who has or will read this book that it is merely a collection falsehoods.I just want this to be known.Thank you...

I have never believed that Tommy and Karl were guilty of anything except being poor country boys. There are people in the Ada area who know who did the crime and are just to afraid to come forward. One day there will be a Part II and the truth will be known but in any case the book is a good one to read.

I moved to Ada the same year that this crime took place. The "mood" of the city at that time was unbelievable. Somebody had to go to jail for this crime and I believe the police knew these two men were innocent. Convicted of murder for a dream ...even though every aspect of your dream was proved false by the police. More people need to read this book!!

I am a PA licensed Funeral Director/Embalmer. I studied at NCACC. Most of my embalming training was through hands on experience, the rest through Xerox copies of outdated texts. Also, there was the 1st edition of this book. I only found it useful to study the history section. This new version has not improved at all. This book covers the legal requirements and BORES you to "death", but it is not very practicle for embalming techniques. The title is very misleading. The Theory & Practice Sections you can rip out of the book. I reiterate: This book is only good for the History of Embalming (& perhaps some of the federal requirements too). If you want a good embalming text, ask your local funeral director to Xerox his old embalming book for you --just make sure It's not by Mayer!

Upon reading the standard textbook for Funeral Services in Canada I wasn't satisfied with the large volume of text involved so I turned to Mayer's Theory History and Practice. This book is an excellent resource for students and professionals in the Funeral Services field. There are alot of visual representations and I found it to be very useful in helping with the 'hands on approach' needed to help perfect the embalming process. I hope more students and professionals start using this book as a reference.

This book is not for the average individual interested in gore.

Since I am not a funeral director but have been interested in the profession (I used to work with friends on the east coast), I could not put the book down because it captured and sustained my interest. As a novice reader to the mortuary profession, I could not believe how much technical information you had to know. It is almost like becoming a physician. Although the diagrams/pictures were not in color, just having them spiked and fueled my interest -- with actual embalming techniques.

Finally, my favorite unit was on embalming instruments. I highly respect morticians because of the administrative, logistical, creative, and artistic so-called 'hats' they must wear in order to do a professional service!