I'm a die hard VW loyalist now. So when I saw this book I had to see what it was all about. Incredible story! Very well written!

It was incredible to read about all the things that went on within and without the company, it helps to understand the car a lot better :) If you're at all interested in VW's or car company history in general, this is a must read.

I love the Volkswagen story. My family had nothing but Volkswagens growing up. It was my first car like so many others. I have a collection of Volkswagen books that are lovely pictorial salutes to the cars. And I loved reading another book, Small Wonder, about the Beetle from conception to about 1970. Kiley does a very good job of covering ground that has been gone over before in order to get you to the early 70s when the company really began to fall apart. Then, he is the first to really go into inner workings of the company from that point on to where the company almost went out of business in the early 1990s. And then into the fabulous comeback more recently. I work in the marketing field, and have been a student of VW's marketing story. So, besides loving the subject, I learned a lot here too. Extremely worthwhile book for VW lovers as well as for anyone with something to sell to the public.

I'm an avid VW driver, and when I saw this book I had to read it. It's great! The VW story is incredible, I never would have guessed that there was so much interesting history there.

The references to the advertising brought back some good memories. I remember each ad and how great they were.

A dfinite must read!

J.

I use the "Medicine Cards" along with the "Sacred Path" Cards. I started using them together as recommended by a friend of mine, to help me with the healing process of a divorce. I was amazed at the accuracy of what the cards said I was feeling and what was about to happen. I also took the daily lessons and followed them faithfully. My friends cannot believe the difference in me! I believe these cards can be used for entertainment as well as a "Healing" and Nuturing process for those in need.

I love this set, I kept my cards a secret to myself for the first few weeks I had them, but the identification of the reading and the situtaion I was questioning was eerie - so I asked various people who visited if they would not mind having a "Go" with the cards, well now my friends, family and acquaintences beleive I am a Shaman Sacred Card reader, this may be so but I believe it is the book and card set that are the true hero, as long as the person giving the reading has respect for the essense of the set the truth will Out. A teriffic gift to give someone interested in the subject of Native American Wisdom, it is so much fun to see a friends face change into the "Oh my god how did you know that" look. All readings are positive (I don't mean polite I mean give positive guidance for good news or bad) but one would have to be dim not to understand the significance of every card reading. If I can make sense of the set anybody can - The cards are Beautiful and the book print size is big enough for my bad eyesight, for late night reading with a bedside lamp.

I have used the medicine cards myself and found the results of the spreads to be helpful and right on target. But I have also used them in another way. They worked very well in a group therapy session on a rehab unit where we passed around the easier cards, such as self esteem and boundaries, etc. and got the patients talking about how such topics affected their lives. They enjoyed the discussion as it was a totally different approach and were still talking about it several weeks later.

Having taken over 10 years of French lessons through elementary and secondary school, I learned the grammar and had a decent vocabulary. However, after 5 years off of French lessons while attending university, I found myself struggling to form even simple sentences.

I bought this book because of its many (many!) exercises and complete "answer key" for instant feedback. It is organized almost exactly the way I learned it in school which I find very helpful. This book would be very difficult, however, for people with absolutely no background in French. It truly is for the intermediate level.

The book does not have much help for people with poor vocabulary skills in French, but it will drill the grammar into you, if you're diligent about regularly doing the exercises. That being said, if you own a dictionary and a verb conjugation book, the combination of those plus "The Ultimate French Review and Practice" would be a ***** combination.

And easy to follow--I've been away from the formal study of French for several years, and this book really has helped me to dust off my grammar. Great for someone who already knows some French, and refreshing not to have to start with level one, as in most books. The exercises have lots of repetition but don't get dull.

I bought this book to relearn all the grammar I used to know. Having had six years of French (last class was ten years ago), I needed something that would take me through grammar lessons fairly quickly. This book does that.

This is a handbook on grammar and conjugations. It follows a simple pattern for presenting material--it provides short lessons with examples, and then gives 8-12 practice exercises (with answers in the back of book), and so on.

This book emphasizes grammar over vocabulary, but translations are provided for the words that are used in examples and exercises. Translations also appear for idiomatic phrases.

I learned of this book by researching the materials used in upper level French composition classes at various universities. This one came up several times as a companion to the literature that students were required to obtain.

Here are the contents of Ultimate French Review and Practice:

Part I, Verbs--Basic Forms and Uses: 1. Present tense, 2. Present tense of irregular verbs, 3. Negative sentences, 4. Interrogative sentences, 5. Imperative, 6. Passe compose, 7. Imperfect; imperfect versus passe compose, 8. Reflexive verbs, 9. Future and conditional; conditional sentences, 10. Pluperperfect, future perfect, and past conditional; conditional sentences, 11. Passe simple, 12. Present participles; uses of the infinitive.

Part II, Nouns and Their Modifiers Pronouns: 13. Nouns: gender, number, and articles; uses of articles, 14. Stress pronouns; subject-verb agreement, 15. Possessive and demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, 16. Interrogative adjectives and pronouns, 17. Adjectives; comparative and superlative, 18. Object pronouns.

Part III, Other Elements of the Sentence: 19. Numbers; time; dates, 20. Adverbs, 21. Negative and indefinites, 22. Prepositions; prepositions with geographical names.

Part IV, Verbs in Two-Clause Sentences: 23. Relative clauses, 24. The present subjunctive, 25. The past subjunctive; literary subjunctives, 26. The subjunctive (continued).

Part V, Idiomatic Usage: 27. The passive voice and substitutes for the passive, 28. Important idioms and proverbs.

Don't be fooled by the price. This is a great resource.

SCTV is perhaps the best comedy television ever produced or written. If you are at all a fan of the show, you will love this book. Who can forget Johnny Larue, 5 Neat Guys, The Days of the Week, The Great White North, the Sammy Maudlin Show, Bobby and Skip Bittman, and the VJ (before there were VJ's) Gerry Todd. The satire is dead on. The show just nails TV; the horrible vision that was the variety hour shows of the 70's, the newsroom, the "sweeps week", and especially the commercials.

The book itself is a running commentary on the show, it's stars, the writers, and the various ways the show aired. The photos are perhaps the best feature (who can forget Carl's Cuts with the pig-men) or the fact that Rick Moranis does Woody Allen better than Woody. Dave and Rick really do Bob Hope and Woody Allen so well it is scary. The book runs in mostly chronological order, with input from the starts all along the way. However, some of the commentary is WAY behind the scenes, perhaps a bit too far back for the average fan.

Dave Thomas, the author, does an excellent job of capturing the egos, the infighting, and the creative styles of the shows writers and performers. People often forget just how much talent came out of this ensemble: John Candy, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, Catherine O'Hara; all have had major roles in TV and movie comedy since their stint on SCTV.

The best features of this book: The photos and the quizzes at the end of each chapter. The worst feature: too much information on the writers and producers behind the scenes and not enough info on what went in front of the cameras.

Overall, I recommend highly as a great look at the best comedy shows ever made.

This was a book that definitely should have been written, and thankfully Dave Thomas did us the favor. Second City was a breeding ground for most of the innovative comedians from the mid 70s on. Its contributions to comedy exceed John Mayall's to music. This book deals with those roots and continues to follow the SCTV show, which is the more ideal sketch comedy offsprings. Saturday Night Live, being on NBC, had its control shifted away from the performers to Lorne Michaels and the programming office, whereas SCTV simply translated their stage improvisation to low budget TV with little such interference. It makes for a fascinating study. Where this book falls short is somewhat obvious after a brief looksee. Dave Thomas is an unashamed packrat. He had, over those years, collected everything from the shows. The exhastive tabulation of every sketch in every episode in the appendix is evidence of that. However, that would also be welcomed by SCTV fans in a book outlining the development of each of the sketch characters and perhaps a sketch-by-sketch description with his recollections. Perhaps that should be his next book. (C'mon Dave, what else are you gonna do with all that crap?) Anyway, it's a good two sittings of reading entertainment.

This is like a sort of holy grail for SCTV fans. Tons of background information on how the cast(s) met and how they came together to create this unforgettable series. One of the things I liked about this book was how the writing process went for these people. It talks about how they got along with management and how passionate they were about getting their ideas on air. It also tells us what some of the highlights were for various cast members, but also some of the bad times. For instance, I didn't know how much tension there was among these people when Bob and Doug MacKenzie became stars. Even Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis were bothered by it, because they felt that those Great White North skits were not nearly the best things being produced on the show. It's also nice to see how things progressed over the years and how their outlooks on what they were producing changed. Just watch any first season episode and then one from a few years later and you will see what I mean. All in all, this is a very good read and is an ABSOLUTE MUST OWN for any fan of the show. You will definitely not be disappointed!

I started reading bibles in depth 3 years ago, and I have purchased just about every translation and study bible in print. I was looking for God, for healing, for insights into what it really means to be a Christian, how to find release from the bondage of addictions and idolatry of any sort, and how to grow spiritually.

I purchased this bible in August 2002. Since then, I have found answers in it that no amount of personal or group bible study using other bibles, Christian radio, professional counseling by therapists or pastors, church attendance, or prayer have given me.

Almost every page has foot-notes, devotionals, in-depth comments, which teach about addictions and how to gain freedom, details about the road to recovery, all within a Christ-centered framework using the 12 Alcoholics Anonymous steps.

You can look up just about any life-experience topic in the excellently organized index/concordance in the back of the Bible, to focus on passages which help you understand who you are, what you do, why you do it, and ways to gain release from whatever plagues you, and get closer to God in order to gain peace and restoration.

I have abandoned all my other bibles in favor of this one. I would urge anyone who needs help in self-control, discipline, overcoming compulsive/obsessive behaviors, to dig into the Life Recovery Bible. You will be blessed abundantly.

If you simply want to grow spiritually, and you have no addictions, this bible is also for you.

Every day I can look forward to new insights and teachings in this bible, which I can apply immediately to my life.

The text is easy to read for such a large Bible, the NLT translation is easy to understand, and the footnotes and other devotionals do not interfere with my enjoyment of every page.

There is another Life Recovery Bible in the NIV (New International Version), which in my opinion is not nearly as good as this one.

Shalom, "The Life Recovery Bible" has truly been a God-sent resource of revelation in my recovery. The insight, the answers, and the "ease-of-understanding" provided by this Bible is like a living and refreshing drink of water to a barren soul!

It is THE text book of our "Alcoholics Victorious" group, assisting souls to the Joy and Freedom available to anybody... especially those in recovery... through God's True and Living Word.

I have read many, many books and spiritual publications in my life-long "program" of healing; this is the Word of God- containing the essence of the required healing power- written in a language easy for the recovering person to accept and understand.

I thank the authors for their obedience to His guidance, I thank the publishers for their making this resource avalable to the population, and - most of all- I thank God for His Love, His Mercy, and His Son, Jesus, for taking our disease, and freeing us from our bondage.

If you are in recovery, you will be better off with this Bible. In Christ, Amen.

I am a regular listener to Steven Arterburn on the radio--and have read several of his books. He frequently gives this Bible outrecommends it to listeners, so I couldn't resist the urge to check it out for myself.

The primary reason I purchased it was to read the study helps, as I know that he has some tremendous insights into the recovery process from a biblical perspective. I was not disappointed. I received a bonus though when I began reading the text of the Bible. The New Living Translation is without a doubt one of the most readable (without sacrificing accuracy) translations that I have read. It is like reading one of those good novels that you cannot put down. Within a week of purchasing it, I had read the books of Acts, Romans, Ephesians, I and II Timothy, and am halfway through the book of Matthew. It is that good.

One of the problems with older translations (i.e. the KJV) is that you have to mentally translate what is being said into language that you are familiar with. Its like a person who's first language is Spanish, but speaks English fluently as a second language. Unconsciously, they have to filter an English conversation through their natural Spanish proclivity. When they communicate in Spanish, that process is not necessary. That's the way that I found reading the NLT. It freed my mind of a distraction so that I was more free to hear the Holy Spirit. Doing so gave me some insight into one passage in particular that I had never received reading other versions.

I would highly recommend this Bible to new believers. I would also recommend it (especially for devotional reading) to seasoned bible students.

As has been said in several other reviews, the study aids are helpful to ANY Christian. We are all in recovery. Some of our addictions are just more socially acceptable than others. I give this Bible 5 stars!

This book is GREAT! A fantastic field guide, giving great pictures, stories, recepies, and more. Even covers some of the psilocybin species. This book is aimed at mushrooms in the western U.S. so if your elsewhere it may not be helpfull, but most of these species do grow all over the world so I don't think it matters much. A great book!

What can I say, but wow! It took me about three weeks and better than 12 hours of reading time to put it down. It has been indespensible on my hikes and has expanded and enriched the lives of myself, my husband and four children. Even if you don't think you love mushrooms, you will. An essential for any outdoor enthusiasts library!

This is the book you must have if you are even casually interested in wild mushrooms. I am replacing a copy that some cretin stole from me. It is a reader's digest version of the big book by David Arora that is also indispensable. Great photographs and very good descriptions of the most commonly encountered species. A nice touch of humor to make it more than just a reference. Don't miss this one!

I remember ordering this book,about a year ago,through the mail and just couldn't wait until it arrived. I've proudly made "Gladiator" a part of my DVD collection and have seen it many times since. Once I got this book I was not in the least disappointed with it. In it was absolutely everything and more I ever wanted to know about this spectacular movie. This book has it all! MANY photos, some history, costume design, about the cast, some drawings by Sylvain Despretz(storyboard artist), the making of "Gladiator", and more. I just couldn't get enough of this book. If you're crazy about the movie as I am then buying this book is highly recommended! "Gladiator" has a great book, great soundtrack, and SPECTACULAR film! ~Did You Know all the armor was made out of foam covered with leather?

A visually stunning book, which portrays the movie 'Gladiator' in detail. Lots of photo's from the movie that were not part of the media blitz that promoted the movie in magazines and other publications. The book is well written using interviews from the filmmakers as well as actors. The best aspect of this book are the full page color photographs, production drawings as well as costume sketches and architectural drawings of the sets used. Overall a great book for the 'Gladiator' fan.

Presuming that prospective buyers of this book probably saw the movie, this book will not disappoint you. The movie was epic in scope, and although some historical inaccuracies existed, they did not detract at all from the movie, nor the performances of Russell Crowe, Connie Nielsen, Joachim Phoenix, and Richard Harris.

If you like to know the 'nuts and bolts' behind the making of a movie such as this, this is your book. If you are curious how they managed to 'reconstruct' the Coliseum complete with gladiator 'fans', this is your book.

A great gift for Gladiator and Russell Crowe fans alike.

Commodus was in fact Marcus Aurelius' son and the downfall of Rome, while already in progress, hastened when Commodus was made Caesar.

Enjoy! And watch the movie again.

I write in response to the guy who felt "totally ripped off" by the chapter in this book on dealing with irrational attacks.

I can't tell whether he's baiting the author to see if he'll follow his own directions, or if he's simply throwing a childish tantrum that illustrates the excessive and irrational attacks people often have to suffer. Either way, he obviously didn't get it, and although he calls himself a "fairly nice, sensitive, compassionate person," his letter makes that difficult to believe. Perhaps if he had read the whole book and used the practical exercises, he would have seen how helpful this book could be.

This book opened my eyes to a lot of important insights into how my "niceness" has undercut my integrity and effectiveness as a person. I'm impressed with the substance and clarity with which it's written, and especially the fact that I couldn't find any "psychobabble." I'm also impressed with the balance of theorhetical understanding and practical information. It's been of tremendous help to me. I cannot recommend it too highly.

I was recently interviewing for a job and was called in for EIGHT interviews. The stress was on! Duke helped me to see the big picture, to focus on what I wanted and needed, and not be bogged down with needless baggage that some of us "nice" people carry with us.

This book has helped me with personal relationships at home and with friends, has refocused my attention to my communication methods so that I use clear and succinct wording, and it has helped me see that nice guys can finish first.

Thanks, Duke. The book is great

I have an admission: I can't process Duke Robinson's book as fast as I would like. That's because it contains vast insight into how we would-be nice folk trip over ourselves. So, I'm reading it slowly and taking time for reflection.

But I'm also trying new behaviors that the author suggests. For example, I've started saying "I'll have to get back to you" when my own reactivity kicks in. A simple suggestion, almost common sense. But it helps preserve important relationships and gives me time to come up with a calm, healing response.

If you feel a need to be perfect, if you lose yourself into other people's problems, if you sputter in the face of ambush, if you have trouble saying what you want, this book is for you. It offers practical, down-to-earth, doable ideas that work.

But be warned: the author will help you envision the climb toward more authentic niceness, and he will provide some handholds. But the work will be up to you. If you're like me, you will find his suggestions difficult to pull off. But the effort will be worthwhile.

Always being "nice" looks so good from the outside, but oh, the pain that is there inside. Duke Robinson's touching book guides you through simple, yet challanging steps to relieve that pain forever.

My first intention was to read this book as a self-help guide in learnng how to deal with my mistakes. I found my "niceness" in many chapters and immediately began trying some of the suggested changes. They do work and I feel better!

Being a believer that continuing education is a lifelong process, I want to share this book with others. Using the author's study guide, I plan to introduce "Good Intentions" to an adult study group at my church.

Rose and her family have had to move into town because of hard times, and Rose misses Rocky Ridge Farm. All Little House fans will love this book!

I liked this book second favorite.New Dawn On Rocky Ridge was my favorite.In this book,Rose and her parents move into town becuase of tornadoes,fires and droughts on the farm.She meets new friends, and watches her freind Swiney change his name to Nate.

This book was an excellant read for children to get a real look at the life and times of pre-twentieth century life in the U.S. Mr. MacBride brings out wonderful details and continues the legendary story of Rose Wilder and her family as they try to better there lives in Mansfield.

Loved reading Etta James' story. I didn't know much about her life, but was quickly drawn into the story line. Etta James was very candid and the story was written so well that you felt that she was sitting at a kitchen table telling her story. The Etta James story tells the successes and failures of the music industry. This is one of the best biographies which I have read.

I dont remember when was the last time I read such a honest autobiography - while others would be tempted to describe themselves in the best light,Etta James achieved to be likeable BECAUSE she is honest person.Everything she went through,happy times,bad times,brutal,funny and sad,she tells with such a original style that her talking voice almost leaps out from the pages.I read this book in 2 days without a break,what a original character,never afraid to say it as it is,even if occasionally her story may sound down-right depressing,then she makes it clear that she still have that life-saving sense of humour.Besides making me laugh and cry,Etta also describes music legends from different perspective - Chuck Berry,Jackie Wilson,Sam Cooke,James Brown,Ike & Tina,Aretha,Keith Richards,Mick Jagger,Bo Didley,Ray Charles,Jesse Belvin,Esther Phillips... Etta knew them all and paint the picture as we may never knew it,from the backstage.While Tina Turner's autobiography curiously lacks any personal comments,Etta James book is all about its subject,this is the woman who is not afraid to say what she thinks and what a story she have to tell!

Despite all odds, Miss Etta is still with us: read this book if you have the courage to learn what life 'on the road' was like for an entertainer in the 50's and 60's, with the difficulty enhanced tremendously for African-Americans. The debt today's divas owe Etta and others from 40 years ago will never be repaid. The book pulls no punches: white record label owners shafted their acts in every way imaginable, yet there's a snapshot of Leonard Chess that you'll be thankful for. Etta writes of doing heroin with Little Esther, being in and out of jail, being up and down, getting her "X" by joining the Black Muslims, touring with Little Richard, the dangers of driving through Dixie in the late 50's and early 60's with a blond 'do' (and a monkey).

There's another reason to buy the book: you can dine out for weeks by sharing the story of Etta's father. The book includes a photo of the two of them side-by-side. Yup, amazing resemblance. And no, I'm not going to tell.

Etta did the Letterman tv show a few weeks ago; is still making music. She's a national treasure. When she appeared in Dallas I slipped a note to a member of her crew to pass along, thanking her for all the music that has meant so much to me. If you've never heard Etta, look for that two cd set of her Chess recordings. One listen, and you'll be hunting for a pen and pad to send her the same kind of note.