My daughter was recently diagnosed with asthma and this book has been very helpful with describing what environmental factors can worsen her condition. I thought the contact information on asthma resources was most helpful. I truly did not know where to begin looking for help, but this calendar points me in the right direction. I would recommend this for any parent who has a child with this disease.

Two things struck me while reading this book, the first is that I doubt there is a book out there that is truly balanced and not somewhat biased. The second thing was that Gore really got the shaft, not so much by the recount wars, but by the election official that came up with the Butterfly Ballot. In the history of the USA this decision ranks up there with new Coke and the XFL, what a mistake. As far as the reporting in the book it was not bad for a review of all the articles they had in the paper, but it did not really dig into the particular issues very deeply. I wanted more detail and behind the scenes with both the candidates. I also wanted more details on the court cases; I felt like the sky-high overview of the issues of the cases did not do such an important issue justice.

In reading the book I think a little bit of a democratic bias comes out, just a little, but enough to notice. I also thought it interesting that they had far more details of the Gore group then the Bush camp, it follows the perception that the Post is somewhat liberal in its views. The book is an overview that came out almost 10 minutes after Gore hung up the phone on the second concession call so there are a few more details out now that they did not get in the book. Overall it is a good effort and a readable book, but not the end all be all on the subject.

This book, by the editors of the Washington Post, does a good job of describing the events which led to the deadlocked 2000 Presidential election. In addition to detailing the paths which led to the deadlock, the book discusses all the post-election issues in a very readable format. Surprisingly, the books editors seem only slightly tilted towards Gore (especially considering it is the Washington Post, which is noted for its liberal bias), so no matter who you voted for, there is much to be found here for anyone with an interest in contemporary politics.

I personally think the Washington Post and NY Times are liberal rags that are generally not worth the paper they are printed on. However, in fairness, when they do well I think they should be commended. I read the NY Times "36 Days" and still think that book was not worth the paper it was printed on. It was nothing more than a reprint of their articles.

Conversely, though, Deadlock was a well-written book. Two passages are worth noting. The first is about the book itself. About one-third of the way into the first chapter the book says: "These are the ... decisions, alliances, power plays, snap judgments and personality flaws revealed when a flukishly close election is played out for staggering high stakes. Both sides were nimble and brilliant and occasionally shady; both sides were also capable of miscalculations, divisions and blame. The best and worst of politics were on displayed in those 36 days, and both sides trafficked in each. This is how it happened." Although the Post endorsed Al Gore (no surprise) they tried to be equal in their appraisal of how the two campaigns sought resolution in their favor.

As for the two sides' strategy one only has to look within the first three pages of Chapter 2 where the Post records that the Democrats enlisted the services of three authors who wrote "The Recount Primer". The book reads: "Anyone who read and heeded the booklet could predict how the two sides would play America's closest president election -- at least in the broad outlines. Gore would gamble; Bush would stall. Gore would preach a doctrine of uncounted ballots; Bush would extol the dependability of machines. Gore needed more: more counting, more examination, more weighing and pondering of more ballots. Bush needed it over while he was still ahead." The only trouble for the Gore forces with this gospel was that the Republicans knew the same gospel. The book attempted to show how the two sides played out the roles assigned them.

For a behind the scenes objective look at the two sides, I think the Post did a very decent job. This could have been a... job on the Republicans and conservatives, but generally it was not (though I expected it). It could have been a... job on the Democrats and liberals, but it was not (nor did I expect it). I am not accustomed to this degree of fairness from the liberal Washington Post nor do I expect to see it very often in the future.

This book is ok....I mean i wouldnt read it if i didnt have to (we had to read it for school).......well some ppl might like it..but i am more into fiction books.......teh book was well writen........

I couldn't get past page 9 where the author, in discussing trailing PE ratios, attributes a remark made in 1987 to "Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Alan Greenspan." Greenspan, of course, has never even served on the SEC, much less chaired it. Sorry, but if the author can't get the basics right, the rest of the book is suspect.

While this book (based on the PBS series of the same name) is far from perfect, it does give a pretty good overview of some of the main themes of modern investing with profiles from some of the Street's biggest stars. You can do far worse than listening to thoughts about growth investing from Foster Friess and value investing from John Neff. And the final chapter on risk with Peter Bernstein was an exceptional overview of the basic concepts of behavioral finance and the mental mistakes often comitted by amatures and professionals alike.

However, people with a deeper grasp of Wall Street will be frustrated by the lack of depth on many topics. Just to cite one example, the chapter on asset allocation ignores the current debate about the amount of benefit investors really get from international diversification. Yes, in normal circumstances the correlation between markets may be low, but in times of crisis - when the benefits of diversification are most needed - correlations tend to rise dramtically. When panic starts in one market, other markets often are either guilty by association (Brazil and Argentina got hit during the Peso crisis) or because money managers sell those assets which are easiest to sell. Just ask the folks at Long Term Capital Management what happens when correlations suddenly increase.

But that lack of depth also makes this a pretty easy read and there are enough useful bits to make this a book worth reading, especially for people new to the great game.