In the novel, "The Fat Lady Sings," author David Scott Milton takes the reader on a journey into the darkest corners of the human psyche where people and events are like distorted reflections in a cracked funhouse mirror. Nothing is exactly as it appears. Paul Dogolov is a successful author and former Vietnam veteran who takes on a tough assignment teaching convicted murderers in a creative writing course at a maximun security prison. But is he looking for new material for his next novel, or does he seek revelations to unlock some of the secrets in his own soul? Dogolov meets and befriends a quiet young man named Travis Wells who has been convicted of killing his grandfather. Convinced that Wells is innocent and troubled by the injustice of a wasted life spent behind bars, Dogolov visits the desert town where the murder took place. He meets friends, enemies and family members of Wells, following a string of mysterious clues that leads him into a few trials and injustices of his own. As Dogolov moves closer to solving the mystery surrounding an unspeakable crime, the walls inside him come crashing down, threatening his sanity and his very life. If he can survive, he might gain insight to more than one truth. This is a novel that has something for everyone: Action/ Adventure, mystery, comedy and a little metaphysics--a recipe to suit many tastes!

This book was great! From the moment I started it I couldn't put it down. Paul Dogolov is a man who has many ghosts haunting him in his brain. He feels locked inside of a prison from many things that happened in his past. When he decides to teach a writing class in a maximum security prison to convicted killers he is swept up into a search for some meaning in both his life and theirs. Feeling that one of them may be innocent he takes it upon himself to try and solve the murder. From this point on hold on cause you are in for a non-stop ride till the very end. Full of twists and turns and non-stop edge of your seat suspense, this novel has it all. I laughed out loud, I held my breath and I felt much of Paul's pain as he tries to find both himself and a killer. Can't wait for more from the author!

From the opening page I found myself emerged in the life of Paul Dogolov, sometimes author with a bad attitude, sometimes-sensitive father. As a Vietnam War veteran Paul considers himself a failure in his personal life and has hit rock bottom with alcohol abuse and little purpose in life.

Paul swings in and out of his alcohol-induced haze to find new meaning in his life and volunteers to teach the inmates of a maximum-security prison writing skills. Through his prison program the story comes alive with an in-depth look at the inmates and their lives, which also forces Paul to take a good hard, look at his own life. He finds within himself the capacity to care about his fellow humans once again and learns to trust himself and others, misplaced as this trust is at times.

As a lover of mystery and suspense this book kept me on the edge of my seat. Filled with twists and turns and even truly funny at times, David Scott Milton reveals himself as a gifted writer. Bravo!

Sin of Omission grabs you from the beginning and holds you captive so that you must continue reading until the end. The content is rich and colorful; at some points familiar, at others unknown and intriguing.
The history of the characters made them come alive on the page. I was transported back, first to Russia and later to my own childhood of the 50's and 60's in America. I felt as though I were a part of the circle of friends who kept secrets as bloodbrothers and played familiar games with sacred rules.
David Evans Katz describes the scenery, the games played, and the characters' emotions so that you become a character yourself; experiencing all that they experience. Even if you were born later in life, I believe some of your parents' and grandparents' stories will come alive again in Sin of Omission.
Kudos to the author and his talented storytelling!

Sin of Omission is storytelling at its best. The novel combines elements of mystery, history and irony in an extremely intelligent manner. In tracing a multi-generational feud between Jewish and Gentile families, beginning in Russia and later in Massachusetts, David Evans Katz addresses the important subjects of ethnic bigotry and stereotyping. Most of all, the book is a coming of age story, focusing on Danny and Matt and a traumatic event they witness as 10-year olds. The novel includes a number of stories within the overall story, including even a gripping ghost mystery. In sum, Sin of Omission is a beautifully woven quilt. I loved it and recommend it highly.

The principal action of the story takes place in the summer of 1962 when a twelve-year-old boy and his best friend witness a murder. They lie to the police to protect the killer because he's a friend, but forty years later, one of them is forced to deal with the consequences of the cover-up. Much of the early part of the book deals with the family of the narrator/protagonist and how their lives have affected him and the decision he made to protect his friend. The protagonist's own story -- the crime and its aftermath -- turns nostalgia on its ear by showing that the happy and innocent past we all long for wasn't always happy or innocent. Sin of Omission is filled with genuine pathos and believable characters. I enjoyed it tremendously and hope to see more from this author.

The Well by Mildred D. Taylor is one of the best examples of juvenile fiction that I have read in the last ten years. (Coming from a teacher, that's a lot of books!) The reader is invited into a world where whites can say and do as they please and blacks are treated to cruelty, deceit and humiliation. Yet the Logan family, the central characters of this book, maintain their strength and dignity through it all. The Logan property sits on the only well that has not run dry in this turn-of-the-century tale of the Deep South. They are generous people and share their sweet water with all their neighbours, even the bigotted Simms clan. David Logan, the narrator, tells us how he and his brother Hammer cope with the abuse and terrors inflicted upon them by the Simms boys and their evil father, Old Man McCallister Simms. This short novel tells us much about the deep seated racism that was so much a part of that time and place. The characters are quickly and clearly brought to life, the setting is vividly drawn and despite the frequent - but historically accurate use of the N word - this book is a great "read aloud."

The Well is a very compelling and resonant book by Mildred D. Taylor, the Newberry Award winner for Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. You will experience many emotions while reading this book, which are not limited to anger and sadness .The Well is set in the south during the mid 1910's, a time in which deep-rooted racism is practiced and where whites can do and say anything they please with abandon to blacks.
David Logan tells a poignant story of his boyhood in Smallsville, Mississippi when blacks could be hanged for considering themselves as equals to whites. The Logan family, the main characters in the book, are among few black families to own land. During an awful drought, they have the only well of sweet water in the whole town of Smallsville. The author eloquently describes how the Logan's believe that the water is not theirs to hoard but gods gift to share with black and white folks alike. Everyone is grateful to the Logan's except the white Simms family who hate being obliged to blacks. David's family lives by his father's words, 'use your head not your fists' but his insubordinate hotheaded brother Hammer is sick of the constant degrading of Charlie Simses and when Charlie pushes his handicapped brother with bitter rancor to the ground, Hammer reacts and does the unthinkable.
The characters are quickly and clearly brought into life, the setting is vividly drawn despite the frequent but historical use of the N word. The large cast of characters is masterfully individualized with opinions, beliefs, personalities and ways of life. I personally gained tremendous admiration for Mildred D. Taylor as an author for making such a luring plot seem so stupendous in a small book.

I think Mildred D. Taylor is a good writer. She makes her books inspiring to most people. I like her books a lot because it is really interesting and talks about history and has good contrasting in the story. Her book tells you how people lived back in the olden days. Mildred writes a series of religious tales not just one book. Her books sound lifelike and it is easy to picture the story in your head. Her book makes me want to read more of the tales because they are so interesting. This book makes me wonder what it was like back then and WOW I'd like to be there. The charectors have good charectoristics. The story has a great conclusion. I'm inspired to learn more about the history back then. Her book has a sensitive plot that a person can understand.

I found this book to be a true depiction of what it means to be in New York - not just the skylines and the tourist attractions. Bradford's perspective - both literally (from the inside of a cab) and mentally - give the pictures a unique feel. In addition, the organization of the book - day, night, rain, snow - convey the notion that the city is continually changing it's mood and it's feel. I would highly recommend this book.

I was so excited to get this book when they showed the story on 60 Minutes. The photographs were all taken with a Yashica T4 point and shoot camera, (the point and shoot of choice for most pro photographers)! The pictures are all in black and white too. The pictures are the pulse of New York City from the viewpoint of a New York Cabbie. I love this concept. I love that this man has used a wonderful point and shoot camera (now discontinued...shame on you, Yashica!), and how he photographs the city while driving. He also photographs the passengers (great idea!!). The text is fantastic. It lets you really understand where he is coming from when he took the pictures. What makes this book winderful is this combination of text and photography, and that it is a new struggling artist who makes his living by driving a cab in New York City, a very rough job indeed.

This book has got to have one of the best concepts I ve seen in a while. The idea of a taxi driver while driving around New York taking pictures of the city from downtown to uptown is one ofmost original ideas. The pictures in the book give you a true feel for New York city. It catches the glitsy, fancy parts of the life, while also showing you the real people in the city. The actual photo quality is fairly impressive and some of the shots are particularly impressive. There isn't a part of the city that isn't captured. The text is interesting, and in 4 languages (english, german, and french), which makes it a little touristy, but it is none the less relatively well writen. Definately a great book for any photo-documentary / photo-journalism fan, or New York lover.

This well done book fills in the gaps that field guides and bird identification books create. It is a logically laid out, valuable tutorial on each bird family. While the chapters are not highly detailed with species-level information, you get a general flavor of each family of birds. I highly recommend this work to birders and to those who are interested in learning more about our beautiful, feathered friends.

I am not a bird expert; I am a homeschooling mother who is interested enough in birds to feed them and provide nesting boxes in our yard. I enjoy watching birds and this has lead to a curiosity about what they are doing and why.

This hardback version is wonderful and will grace our family library shelves for years. The paper stock is heavy and fine. There are beautiful and detailed watercolor illustrations and very detailed explanations of bird life and behavior. This book picks up where the bird identification books leave off and is more comprehensive than other books I have read about bird identification and behavior.

The index is easy to use for quick referencing about specific birds. There is loads of information here, probably everything you'd want to know about birds. Amazon has over 50 sample pages for you to view, including the detailed table of contents, so I won't repeat that information inside of my review. The information is detailed but not intimidating for amateurs such as myself.

As a homeschooling mother this has already come in handy for discussions about the activities of our chimney swifts and Eastern Bluebirds that have taken up residence in our yard and home.

Even if you are an amateur birdwatcher, I encourage you to buy a bird identification book and then this book, rather than others on the market. Once you see this hefty volume and all the information it contains you will see the price is worth it! This is a reference volume that will be used for years.

This is the content that was lacking from the Sibley Field guide. Want to know if that little brown bird with a slightly red head was an American Sparrow or a finch? Well was it in a field, your back yard, was it eating seeds or bugs. These sort of questions are answered by this book so if you missed the red or black eye stripe you can make a better guess as to the species of bird.

This book is excellent for people who *are* bipolar or have family members that are. Unlike so many books on the disorder, this one doesn't 1. solely spit up another DSM-IV hairball to describe the complexities of the actual *bipolar experience*, or 2. present a narrow viewpoint of how symptoms may manifest themselves. It made me chuckle as I read it, because it addresses the sometimes downright *silly* defiance a person can feel towards their diagnosis, and hopefully explains some of what's really going on inside a bipolar person's head to family members or people they might live with. The section on meds is still pretty updated, which is cool, and I like the fact that they mention some of the slightly less conventional means of dealing with cycling and depression--like thyroid supplementation--that some other books leave out. It also adequately discusses (I think, anyway) Bipolar II and the soft-spectrum versions of the disorder.

This book isn't the one to read if you're strictly reading it for research purposes--you'll find more scientifically-orientated articles on medscape--but I think I'd recommend it as the first book to run out and get if you're diagnosed.

I found this book to be extremely helpful in dealing with and accepting my 39 year old son's ten year battle with bipolar illness. I have entered an order to buy three additional copies for family members-who sometimes are in denial that it is a real medical illness & think of it as only an excuse for not taking responsibility. I have read several books on bipolar disorder but find that this book gives one a real sense of empowerment. David Miklowitz has written a book that is clear and concise and ends much of the confusion as to dealing with the illness.

When media began publicizing the increase in diagnoses for bipolar disorder a few years ago, it was all but certain that the naysayers eventually would follow.
Bipolar? Yeah, right. That's just the latest fancy excuse for people who don't want to take responsibility for their own actions.
That backlash has already begun.
Those who doubt bipolar is real, or serious, might talk to a friend who's been diagnosed with this potentially devastating brain disorder (once better known as manic depression). It is characterized by cycles of crushing depression alternating with periods of excessive physical, mental and even spiritual energy.
Anyone who has bipolar disorder will tell you: It's real. Unlike other mental health conditions, it does seem to have an "upside" -- sometimes people in hypo-manic stages can be highly creative, gregarious and energetic -- but over time, it can be debilitating, exhausting and even fatal.
In a time of increasing public skepticism, it's nice that one of the nation's top bipolar disorder researchers has published a user-friendly guide to the disease for patients and their families.
"The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide;What You and Your Family Need to Know" by David Miklowitz, (Guilford Press; $18.95) professor of psychology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is an essential resource.
Time and again in his practical guide, Miklowitz reminds those with bipolar disorder that they are not imagining their disease, and even that the disease itself can make patients prone to doubting themselves.
"The absence of a definitive test (for the disease) makes it easy to forget that you have a bio-chemical imbalance and even easier to believe that you never had one in the first place," he writes. "... Many people start to believe that 'I had this illness once, but now it's under my control,' especially when they've been well for a while. But bipolar symptoms have a way of recurring when you least expect them."
The book offers a wealth of material that can help demystify the disorder. Miklowitz methodically explains the disease, its symptoms and diagnosis, moves on to cogent explanations of its possible causes ("genetics, biology and stress"), then spends most of the book offering advice on how to manage it. He even offers worksheets and logs to help people come to a better understanding of and approach to bipolar illness.
Books by academic researchers always have the potential to be bone-dry. But Miklowitz understands that accessibility is the goal here and is writing for the layperson, even peppering the text with real-life experiences of people with the illness . Reading some of these can be both illuminating and horrifying. Especially when they are in mania, people with this chemical imbalance can do some dangerous, illegal and destructive (to family, friends, self and even strangers) things.
Informative, interesting, and compassionate, "The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide" is a valuable new resource for people with the illness, and their family and friends.

This book is an intimate look at the inside world of life on the desolate Bowery. It is as much intriguing, as it is mind-blowing. I have to admit, this book, is something to be read, not necessarily as a bedtime story, but more of a quiet, alone story. I suggest this book completely. wonderful!!! GOOD JOB DEAR FATHER! ATTA BOY DAVID!

Flophouse is a collections of pictures and words by and about people (mostly men) who ive in the dwingling number of flop houses on the bowery in New York. There are some 50 or so snapshots of these man the spread throughout four hotels, The white house, the providence, the andrews and the sunshine hotel. Don't let the names of these hotels fool you they're no four seasons. The men come from various races, creeds and generations. Some are old men who've lived on the bowery for tens of years and don't want to live to younger men who have hit rock bottom and are trying to get back on their feel again. Each man featured tells his own story about how they got to the bowery. Most of their stories are sobering and the pictures are even more powerful. Many of these men were woking productive members of society until something happened to them to throw them off track. It is hard to leave a book like this one unaffected. If your only opinion of the homeless and destitute is that they are lazy, mentally deranged or drug addicted men this book may change your perceptions. I left this book feeling very somber about how fragile life is and how easily it can be taken for granted yet also feeling uplifted in a strange way. Many of these man despite their conditions still continue to keep on living their lives and keeping a postive attitude. The men in flophouse are a dying breed of america's growing underclass.

Flophouse gives America a rare glimpse into the underbelly of the American Dream. With photos and personal interviews of 50 residents of genuine Bowery flophouses this book reveals the raw grittiness and humanity of those at the bottom of American society. So often politicians and other such moral crusaders seek to demonize those on drugs and welfare. The real story why these men have fallen into the abyss is often more complicated than simple explantions provide. The story of these men asks each of us to re-examine our beliefs about the least among us. I should know-I live among them and am featured in the book with my bicycle. Many of you who read this are but a few paychecks away from similar circumstances. I encourage you to buy this book and keep it as a reminder to save every dollar you can in a 401K-lest you spend your last days in a Bowery Flophouse!

The book covers generally all aspects of Sybase SQL Server using in real life. It is outdated a bit (SQL Server version 11 already isn't latest release of Sybase DBMS), but, in my opinion, it is still the best book for any serious Sybase database administrator or programmer.

If you buy only one book covering Sybase, this should be it. This book covers everything from security to tuning to backup and recovery. In my department, we refer to this book as "The Bible". I would like to have seen some coverage of Replication Server, but hey, I guess you can't have everything. I can't wait for the next edition covering 11.5 and 11.9. Keep up the good work guys!

I already knew Sybase fairly well when I got a copy of this book. So I never felt the need to read the entire thing.

The reason I know it is valuable and the reason I give it 5 stars is this: every time I have a problem or run across something I don't know how to do, I open this book. Then I quickly and easily find the solution. That makes the book good as gold as far as I am concerned.

I have been trying to learn AutoCAD for quite some time, I found David Frey's book to be very easy to understand and fun to use as a companion to complete my first drawing.I've finished the cabin drawing, and am now doing some drawing on my own. The skills learned will let you draw on the first day you open the book. Great job David, I will keep learning from this book for a long time.

An excellent learning manual for Autocad. The author will take you step by step through the creation of a drawing for a small cabin. The reader can follow each step or break off at anytime to pursue topics of interest using the index. The book is accessible for random access readers who have a job to do. Those who take the time to follow through the book will be amply rewarded for their efforts.

In January 2001, I got a job at an engineering firm to train as an autocad operator. I had absolutely no knowledge of Autocad. I came to this site to see if I could give myself a head start and in less than 40 hours I knew all the basics (and some shortcuts) that I needed to know for my new job. Long story short I got a $5,000.00 raise in three months and now I am training others in my firm on autocad14. To keep a step ahead I'm now reading the AutoCad 2000 by Frey. This book was easy to follow and Frey did a Great Job with explanations of terms and all the questions that I had were answered right there in the book. I'd recommend this book to everyone interested in learning AutoCad. It's a no brainer here.

What always gets me with Wells is the forcefulness of his imagination -- his ability to construct powerful, symbolically resonant setpieces based upon the scientific ideas of his time. In the final pages of "The Time Machine" he gave us one of the great apocalyptic visions in all of literature. In "The First Men in the Moon," he gives us a magnificently alien setting, full of bizarre moments -- jumping about the lunar surface in 1/6 G; the Giddy Bridge and the Fight in the Cave of the Moon-Butchers; the bizarre lunar ecology, in which all the plants die every night and are reborn each dawn.

Scientifically, much of this stuff doesn't hold up after a hundred years. And the device he comes up with to get his characters to the moon -- Cavorite -- is without basis, an arbitrary magical tool not unlike the time machine. Even when Wells' science is iffy, though, he presents it in such a clear, convincing fashion that you are only too glad to suspend disbelief while the story unfolds.

In the Selenites we have a metaphor for a different type of society -- rigidly hierarchical, with the needs of the individual sublimated to the whole. The metaphor obviously comes from social insects; though it became a sci-fi cliche, it was still fresh circa 1901. In the remarkable last section of the book (Cavor's communications from the moon), Wells describes the Selenite society with delightful attention to detail. He ends with a haunting, unforgettable image, and probably the best closing sentence of any sci-fi novel.

Although it is not as famous as some of his earlier science fiction books (or "scientific romances", as they were then called), and is not an absolute classic like those books are, The First Men In The Moon is nevertheless a delightful and important satrical SF novel. Also, its importance in the development of modern science fiction cannot be overestimated. Although numerous books before had dealt with a story set on another world (let us here, for the sake of convenience, refer to the Moon as a "world"), Wells's book is the first to make it convincingly real. Although, one hundred years on, much of the novel's science is dated and Well's Moon is far different from how we now know it to be, nevertheless, Wells here created a world out of his own imagination, and describes it with such a convincing level of detail that one actually feels like they are there. And the science, indeed, was, in fact, quite up-to-date for the turn of the century. The structure and format of the novel also was highly influential: one will see immediately upon reading it just how much modern science fiction owes to this novel, and to Wells (and yet, Wells himself borrowed prodigiously from previous books on the subject.) The book was originally supposed to end at Part I: Part II was added later by Wells after the book was already in the process of serialization. I think that the addition of Part II is what makes the book good instead of great. If it had ended as it originally would, it would still be a good book - a rousing adventure, an interesting yarn - but it would not be great. The second part makes the book a full-on satire - something that the earlier portion had merely hinted at. It sharply and bitingly satarizes manking and his many follies, particularly war. This addition of satire and borderline philosophy makes the novel a truly great one. I read an essay on this book that said it differs from Wells's earlier SF novels because it is not grim. I beg to differ. The ending, to me, seems quite grim, indeed. Although it does not involve the imminent extinction of man himself as earlier works did, it is nonetheless quite pessimistic and grim. The addition of the second part of the novel and the ending also pave the way for Wells's later works - ... This is a true science fiction classic that deserves to be more highly-regarded than it is.

Cavor, a genius, invents a material that allows him to build a Gravity-Defying Sphere. Soon he and a young, and very greedy, businessman use it to go to the moon. They find not only life, but the Selenites, a culture who can change their shape to fit their jobs. In other words, form is designed for the function of their class or in this case their caste. Over them rules the Grand Lunar, a being whose large brain gives him awesome power and foresight beyond even the businessman who tells us the story. Both characters show their human merits and their very human flaws. Not science fiction as much as a book on society.