This is quite possibly the most eloquently written book filled with a multitude of facts. I used this as a reference for a thesis paper, and it was a tremendous help. I advise anyone even remotely concerned with abortion to get this book. You wont regret it!

Kacy, a sixth grade, usually does not succeed in school. Then she comes up with a science project that gets her interested. She wants to send a plant into space. Kacy has to fight to succeed, but finially she gets NASA to do it. Little did she know her plant would change her life forever.

Mark Cramer, The Odds on Your Side (Cynthia Publishing, 1990)

Widely regarded as the definitive book on setting an odds line in your Thoroughbred handicapping, and for good reason. Cramer, who's authored a number of excellent handicapping tomes, spends a couple of hundred pages on the concept of value and how to achieve it. His greatest strength is his simple asserion, backed up with a number of examples, that there is no mechanical formula to be used; it's different for every race. He illustrates handicapping as art, rather than the handicapping-as-science approach used by many other books. Definitely a work that belongs in the bookshelf of every horseplayer, casual or serious. **** 1/2

This is a very interestig and readable book, therefore Irecommend it not only for the gay people but also the bisexual or heterosexual inclined people , including young students. However, I was astounded at the scantiness or absences of the classical Greek & Latin, Sanskrit literature, Arabian et Persian poetries, archaic Chinese and Japanese texts.

It was a pleasure to read this book for its refreshing and unhackneyed investigation of the special world of virtuosi. The interspersal of autobiographical material reminds the reader that all responses to music and musicians are individual and personal. We react both to the experience of the music and to our relationship (real or imagined) with the performer. Of course sex is a part of that - why else has Tom Cruise spent a fortune in lawyers' fees recently defending himself of charges of being homosexual? As I read the book, it is neither a scientific analysis of the phenomenon of virtuosity, nor a psychological one, but the written musings of an author who has obviously spent a lifetime researching these artists, attending their concerts, reading their biographies, listening to their recordings, and who then shoots us, the readers, stream-of-consciousness fashion into their world with all its many facets. Although this scatter-gun approach is sometimes dizzying, it is also exhilirating at times.The author's biases cause us to pay heed to the pianists' motivations, drives, training, sexuality, musical priorities and repertory choices, and then presents us with the major question of the book - is music better served by the pianist who has dedicated himself to becoming a superlative and electrifying performer, or by the pianist who has sought to minimize his own personality's contribution to the performance in an effort to reveal the composer's intent? This is a central question in the world of classical piano today, and at least this book's author is not scared of proclaiming his opinion unequivocably.

I have grave reservations about the amazon rating system, not because it's so democratic but because like it or not it's for all intents and purposes anonymous. ... Since part of Mitchell's premise is that being gay is necessarily a component of personality, and personality is vital to an artist's performance or mode of expression, it only stands to reason that virtuoso playing should involve a personal aesthetic. It is a very personality-driven and paradoxically private public endeavor, rather like the "private language" (as Edmund Wilson describes it in AXEL'S CASTLE) of the Symbolist poetry being written throughout much of the period Mitchell is describing. This book is attempting to elucidate and describe a phenomenon in an area where very often little is known of the performers' private lives, since artists such as musicians and composers have always relied heavily on the graces and approval of patrons. (I'm talking about a time before an era saturated with mass media--when people can choose to come out either as a sincere gesture of solidarity, or as a savvy, provocative career move, flouting the conventions to get a rise out of sales.) A patron--a bishop or prince, an industrialist's wife--was someone you didn't want to risk offending. No wonder Proust was taken until quite recently by critics--in France included--as the same heterosexual cocksman as his narrator Marcel. Proust avoided alienating his readers, 90% of whom were straight and wouldn't have "gotten it" if Proust had written 3000+ pages of narrative filtered through the point of view of a gay man.

Part of what Mitchell is pointing out is that despite plenty of evidence pointing to the fact that a horde of top-flight artists in all fields have been gay, in music--particularly piano pieces without lyrics (the very form Mitchell is concerned with)--we have, paradoxically, the most abstract and elusive medium, in which a "private language" (like Rimbaud's quizzically visionary abstractions) must carry the full weight of artistic expression. These can only be supported by currents drawn or springing from the artist's personal reserves of experience and interpretation. The fact that the artist might be in love or have in store a hot date later that same night would certainly be relevant to a piece driven by the private language of passion.

... What Mitchell is trying to do is decode the transpositions of what we've always presumptuously held to be universal back into the private particulars. In doing so, he must of course presume, but keep in mind that he's also swimming against the currents of centuries of culturally sprung presumptions.

I found this book thoroughly fascinating--not merely a detailed consideration of specific piano virtuosi, but a philosophically complex meditation on how we, as human beings, cope with the phenomenon of genius. As its title suggests, Mitchell's book is above all a defense of virtuosi against charges that they are demonic, super- or sub-human, and his enthusiasm and passion for his subject is contagious. The alternation of personal essays with investigations into such issues as historical performance, the experience of women pianists, and the virtuoso in literature gives the book a quality of personality that I found distinctly refreshing, while the discussion of the connection between (homo)sexuality and pianism, which other readers found annoying, I thought brave, astute and powerful.

All in all, in a superb book.

This is an excellent book to read if you are searching for more information about Indian movements west and the details of the movements. I bought the book specifically to find out more about the Cherokee East Indians and their movement west to Join the Oklahoma and Texas Indians already in place. John Ross, of course went to Washington, and tried to use his understanding and influence to affect the longevity of the Cherokee nation. Unfortunately, Andrew Jackson and his Federal Troops saw the world differently and Cherokees were being driven out of Georgia with the discovery of gold. Other tribes were dispersed as well. The movement west was called by some, the Trail of Tears of 1838, but this book describes in detail a larger period of time with a much wider scope to include many tribes, and the details of their destinations and their plight in arriving there. The book is candid about the people who became interlopers, i.e., became so normal to see about the place that they were put to work and became tribal members. Many had married indian women, and the author details that many had no skills to speak of. In fact, the author details, many became blacksmiths for lack of any other trade and the Indians welcomed them to their homeplace to practice such trades. Todays excellent automobile mechanics are of Cherokee or other Indian Ancestory and they possess uncanny analytical skills which are probably due to the Indian Ancestory. You will enjoy reading the book because it has new points of view which you will probably not see in other Indian publications , and it will, no doubt, help you to answer your Indian questions.

The editors have done a very good job unearthing literature with content of some interest to gay men from centuries past, but reading a lot of this stuff confirms the notion that much writing goes out of print (if it was ever in it) for a good reason: it was no good in the first place! Nearly everything worth reading from the point of view of real literary value, contemporary interest, or entertainment in this book (roughly, 20% of its content) is in fact still in print anyway, and the rest can surely only be of interest to serious students of gay literature. On a more positive note, the editors' introductions to the various pieces are erudite and a pleasure to read.

Considering the reputation of the primary author, I found the book to be ponderous to read and seemingly focused more on what the authors wanted to discuss than what might be really useful to students and those practicing M&A. The authors should have sought a more appropriate balance between theory and practice. This tome is weighted in favor of theory. It seems to spend more time addressing societal issues and issues of government policy than addressing the mechanics of how to plan for and implement transactions. In fact, only the last few pages of the book deal superficially with an approach to doing M&A.

The book also assumes substantial knowledge of accounting, finance and economics on the part of the reader. The dearth of examples also hinders the readers ability to readily understand how to apply complex concepts explained in torturous paragraphs of prose. It would have been helpful to use more illustrations to communicate concepts that are difficult for those of us that don't have Phds to understand.

Thankfully, there are other books that are far more helpful in explaining both theory and application of M&A. I have found Mckinsey's book on Measuring and Managing Valuation to be a much better guide to understanding how to apply complex valuation techniques. Integration methodology is well explained in Marks and Clemente's Winning at Mergers. For an excellent detailed overview of M&A, see Depamphlis Mergers Acquisitions and Other Restructuring or Weston's other, more recent book on M&A.

The book is really only useful for those interested in a literature survey, discussion of public policy, and somewhat tedious discussion of theoretical concepts.

On balance, this book provides a good overview of the subject and of recent academic studies. However, it is often theoretical and "ivory-towerish." There is relatively little that really instructs the reader about transactions are actually done. A great deal of time is devoted to discussing why they occur, but little practical insight is provided as to the challenges and issues that must be resolved. This book may be suitable for someone who is curious and interested in reading about M&A but provides little guidance for those interested in learning how to undertake transactions.

This book has many typographical errors and some scientific errors as well. Intended to reach a nonscientific audience, the authors have oversimplified many topics to the point of giving incorrect information. Nonexpert secondary teachers, for whom the book is intended, will not be well-served and will convey incorrect information to their students if they rely heavily on this volume to the exclusion of other scholarly references in the areas of limnology, zoology, entomology, and general biology. Other general guidebooks, such as the Golden Guides or National Audobon Series provide better information, although not tailored for an educational purpose. Teachers should use this book with caution with respect to the scientific material. Although the science-in-action concept is pedagogically appealing, there are too many errors in this book. With a thorough editing by a knowledgeable expert, this could be a useful tool for the high school classroom.

This book should only be for adults because it uses the "n-word" too much, and has a southern accent incredibly impossible to understand. Also it is so boring!