Mike Dennison went to some exotic locations and got photos of himself doing handstands there. That pretty much sums up this book. If you've never, ever, traveled beyond the outskirts of your home town, then maybe - just maybe - this book has something to offer you. But if you've ever been outside the U.S. and have a modicum of curiosity about the rest of the world, you already know more than this book can tell you.

The book's subtitle is "A backpacking trip around the world." The author did not do a "backpacking trip", nor did he travel "around the world". He kept his travel gear in a backpack, but if he spent any time in the back country, he didn't write much about it. As for going "around the world", he visted locations in Southeast Asia, Africa and Western Europe.

The author didn't bother to learn much of the history or geography of the places he visited. As a result his insights are superficial and his descriptions, bland. Despite having made this trip when he was in his 40's, the author seems naive as a teenager. As if to emphasize this adolescent tenor, or perhaps to fill out his thin narrative, he treats readers to facile observations on his traveling companions' marital problems.

It may seem mercurial to give this book one star when others have given it five, but I honestly cannot find a reason to give it more.

BEYOND THE EDGE may give you a firm testimony that you are "OVER THE HILL" - and quite content to be there. Or are you?

Reading Mike Dennison's book inspired me to take an introspective journey and just make sure that life hasn't become too routine, learning hasn't come to a standstill, dreams haven't been lost, and adventure isn't only possible, but pending

Haven't we all had the desire to just chuck it all, throw a pack on our backs and take off. No more alarm clocks, freeways, boring meetings and the million other distractions that keep us from our adventerous instincts. Well Mike did it. Better yet, he takes us all along with him in his fast paced narrative. Without moving from our armchairs we can share both his joyous and trying experiences. This is definitely a book to be revisited whenever the unrequited wanderlust hits.

Mike Ashley has assembled a large collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories, mostly new to this collection (three are reprinted, but I only had the previous appearance of one of these).

If you are someone who is a fan of Sherlock Holmes and is always looking for more, than this is a book you will want. The stories are of a consistent quality, written by authors who are practiced in their art, and involve Holmes and Watson considering problems whose solutions are not normally obvious from the outset.

For me, while none of the stories were particularly outstanding in either good or bad terms. I enjoyed Stephen Baxter's 'The Adventure of the Inertial Adjustor', Peter Crowther's 'The Adventure of the Touch of God' and Zakaria Erzinçlioglu's 'The Adventure of the Bulgarian Diplomat' marginally more than the others.

I'd recommend this book to Holmes enthusiasts, or to those with little exposure to the Great Detective. It is a good collection of decent quality.

I find myself disagreeing with many of the other reviewers here, but I found only a very few of the stories as good as the Doyle originals. And I think I know why they didn't grab me like the originals do. The originals were written by a man living in Victorian England while these stories were all written almost 100 years later by writers trying to interpret Victorian England. I think that's why the originals ring more true to me. Conan Doyle had all the little details right at his fingertips because he was living in the period. Modern writers try but I don't find the little touches needed to evoke the period. I also found that many writers strained to add those little deductive touches that Conan Doyle always managed to put in. Some of the examples of "deduction" were downright silly.

That said, there are a few stories that do come close with "The Adventure of the Bulgarian Diplomat" being my favorite. If you really like the Conan Doyle originals you may be disappointed in this collection.

This is a wonderful collection! As with any collection of Holmes stories by modern writers, there are bound to be a few clunkers. What impresses me is that, even though a few of the stories are slightly off the mark, the vast majority of the stories are dead on.

Only one of the cases, in which a series of grisly killings are investigated, is not quite in the voice of Doyle (mostly due to the graphic descriptions). However, this case also lets Watson shine. Rather than the standard Watsonish "Amazing!" or "Remarkable, Holmes!" every time Sherlock utters a revelation, Watson gets to do a little detecting of his own, albeit medical. What I particularly liked in the story was that Watson is not left to simply marvel at Holmes, but gets to contribute more than just the use of his service revolver.

The timeline at the end of the book is also helpful in putting Sherlockia in some sense time-wise. When did Holmes first begin detecting, when did he stop, when did such-and-such a case occur? All are nicely laid out.

The book is divided into the early years of Holmes' career, his middle years, and later years. We get to see early cases, and his final case.

The choices of stories by the editor are first rate. This is easily the best collection of new Holmes you're likely to find on the market.

The voice of the Master can be heard throughout the book!

His analysis of where we are is lucid and convincing. Unfortunatly, his solution is a return to bible-thumping WASP mentality.

Personally, I'm not certain I don't prefer anarchy and mahem. Religious values that include denigration of women and abuse of children are part of the problem, not the solution.

And while public life was undeniably more orderly, safe, and pleasant, some incredibly nasty things went on behind closed doors in the 50s.

We need to go forward with a clear, dispassionate understanding of our history. We not only can't go back, if we could it would be another tragedy.

It's an interesting book and I'd recommend reading it, but don't expect to find rational solutions.

Huckabee with Grant provide us with a fine delving into this issue which has so tugged at the hearts of Americans: our kids killing other kids.

Many thought this very thing would happen (along with all the other cultural malice we have) given the cultural downturn did not right itself.

Convincingly and winsomely, this book presents the road America has been on and is being urged on by the postmodernists, but one that is destroying the very foundations and fabric of our great country .... faith, family and work.

They well document the contributors, and resolve that government and legislation are not the answer. Culture must gather itself around these three areas, faith, family and work.

Fine expose on the topic. We can't expect or let the government do those things for which we individually and communally were created to attend to as stewards.

This is a very quick read and presents a thorough overview of a disturbing problem. I finished it in less than 24 hours.

Mike Huckabee was governor of Arkansas when the tragic schoolyard shooting took place in Joneboro. In the heat of such an unforeseeable horror, many voices offered soundbite explanations as to what could possibly have cause such nightmare-stretching pogrom. Unfortunately, as the governor wisely points out, many of these diversely-intended know-it-alls look at one aspect of the problem but fail to dig deeply enough to reach it true roots.

The books detailed hypotheses will not sit well with those who wish to utilize such a tragedy to call for strict gun control regulations. The authors (Dr. George Grant collaborated with the governor) wisely explore the current splenetic forces at work throughout American culture from the breakdown of the family to Hollywood's repeated celebration of gratuitous violence. In one especially harrowing chapter the reader enters a perverse video game and sees just how much hate and violence is being peddled at American children.

If the book has one drawback is that it may be that it will be confined to preaching to the choir. Tumescent with quotes and references to support every idea propounded, the authors rely almost exclusively on conservative voices from William Bennett to Alan Keyes to Michael Medved. Few open-minded people could serious question the knowledge of these sources, but their pandemic citings and the under-representation of liberal mover and shakers (and there a few who advocate such common sense values) may turn off those who ideology blinds them to the sapience of conservatives.

It's definitely worth a read and will serve as a useful tool to parents who must contend with a culture that is assiduously fighting them at every turn.

A great master of humour, George Mikes has done incredibly well in this book. This parody of English humour is absolutely hilarious; we can find in this little gem of a book the best of Mikes's patented ironic humour. I would say this is definitely vintage Mikes: thoughtful, provocative and very, very funny.

The Gentlewoman's Choice is a sweet story of one woman's devotion to God in spite of the cultural pressure of her day. I enjoyed the story and admired Hester's courage, though the ending wasn't at all what I had anticipated. The ending was perfect for the author's point, however, and made the reader respect and admire the character even more. Hester Raymount provides an excellent example of one willing to obey God by caring for His children in spite of their social or financial standing. A story with a message that's just as relevant today as it was in MacDonald's time.

A very nice book, poking gentle fun at George Mikes, America and England. Lots of gems of wisdom in here. Composed of three books: How to scrape skies; Wisdom for others; Shakespeare and myself.

There must be thousands of books on how to be rich. I don't think it's easy to find one on how to be poor. George Mikes (pronunced [mikish]) Set out to write one and the result was this hilarious yet serious and philosophical essay. In a world where being rich seems highly desirable George Mikes analises the draw backs and miseries of this condition. Any rich man fep up with having so much money and wanting to become poor, could read this book. A lovely book indeed with a lot of wisdom in it.

While essential fare for John Waters completists, "Desperate Visions" does not offer much information about the director of "Pink Flamingos" and other cult classic films that cannot be found elsewhere. As far as literature about Waters' productions and his cast of crazies, I recommend reading his own "Shock Value" and "Crackpot." These books, which also feature interviews with dreamlanders and articulate in hilarious prose the director's views and philosophis, are every bit as outrageous as the films themselves. What "Desperate Visions" offers is an excellent introduction by Jack Stevenson that takes a probing look at how Waters' films work in a socio-political context. He does gush about the work, but he deconstructs it too, and in an interesting way. His handling of the interviews is less compelling, as he seems to be pushing for the various actors to wax as shocking and ludicrous as they are in the movies. This works only with Jean Hill, the 400-lb actress known for her turn as Griselda in "Desperate Living," whose insane segment is worth the price of the book alone. Also included are pictures from her photo shoot at Jumbo magazine that you really have to see to believe.

The second half of "Desperate Visions" is about Mike and George Kuchar, twin independant film-makers whose work had a tremendous influence on Waters. I didn't expect to get into this part considering I had only seen one Kuchar film prior to reading it, but what a fascinating read! Stevenson locates their work in the 1960's underground film movement and provides a history o f what was going on at that time. He also includes a number of written works by George Kuchar that are incredibly beautiful. And finally, there is a chunk of the book devoted to Marion Eaton, a cult celebrity who appeared in some of their films. I was left wishing that "Thundercrack!" had been released on video - hell, DVD - before it's untimely demise.

For fans of John Waters, Divine, the brothers Kuchar and the rest of this perverted cavalcade, this book is a must. The interviews are rather informative, almost a little too informative, being as how a lot of the content is focused on very personal experiences and unless you ran with the crowd in Baltimore you have no idea what Stevenson and Waters are talking about. The pictures are awesome. There are some nice shots of Waters' first flicks including Hag in a Black Leather Jacket and Eat your Makeup. The section on the Kuchars was not nearly as interesting to me because i am much more of a Waters fan. I am sure it is very well done if you are a fan of those Kucharian films. Still, it's hard not to feel left out of the loop. The filmography and index are especially helpful. Not something to just sit down and read. More of a film class research type piece. Also, many good quotes.

Mikes was extremely funny when he first retold his experiences of becoming an Englishman. That was dry, on-the-mark humor in its best form. Unfortunately, the pattern wears a bit thin when repeated. The book is still a good read, but it it misses the final edge.

George Mikes' _How to be an Alien_ is one of my favourite books, so when I saw _How to be Decadent_ in one of my local used bookstores, I bought it without even paging through. I don't regret the decision (after all, it only cost $2), but it was a big disappointment after _Alien_. It's along the same lines - unconnected vignettes of observation poking gentle fun at the English - but just doesn't have the same spark. For Mikes fans only, I would say.