This is a really useful book for those who are approaching death and those who are critically ill and don't know what the outcome will be. I'm not Episcopalian, but felt really supported in terms of ethical and spiritual help when my father was dying and I read it.

When confronted by potentially controversial ethical issues, such as those surrounding death and dying, churches rarely distinguish themselves. There are a number of pitfalls. Knowing that they cannot please anyone, they may simply remain silent, abdicating their responsibility to provide moral guidance. Worse, they may make pious-sounding, but vague, pronouncemnts that address issues without actually saying anything. When take clear positions, they may have a hard time making a convincing connection to their own tradition. This work avoids all those pitfalls. The Episcopal Church's End of Life Task Force addresses issues such as assisted suicide clearly and concisely even as they respect the human anguish and moral ambiguities involved.

Although specifically Anglican in perspective, the early chapters offer an understanding of death and its place in human life--including theologically appropriate uses of medical treatment/resources--that will be of value to all Christians (and others interested in what religious traditions have to say). After discussions of mourning, the church's role, and social policy issues like access to health care and the importance of palliative care, the book provides several very helpful resources for use in local parishes. This book by a distinguished panel of clergy, ethicists, physicians, and attorneys (not to imply that any of those categories excludes any of the others!) can serve as a useful resource for all who want to make the end of life a more faithful experience, both for themselves and for others.

This is in reference to the Second Edition because I had read some bad reviews about the Third Edition. It's clear and to the point. Information in other Focus Group books are covered, but without all the fluff.

Essential to the study of marketing research, "Focus Groups As Qualitative Research" by David Morgan succinctly presents a classroom quality look at a much misunderstood aspect of needs and wants analyses.

Each chapter is segmented topically, making this academic essay organized in such a way to be appreciated by the marketing or communications student.

Intended for the collegiate level and above, Morgan presumes a basic knowledge of market research principles and goals. Here, he justifies the credibility of focus groups, and steers the reader away from seeing them as superficial, unscientific examinations and guesswork.

While it has an academic journal tone to it, it is readable. It has a hefty bibliography at the end, with 50-60 works cited.

I fully recommend "Focus Groups As Qualitative Research " by David L. Morgan.

Anthony Trendl

A book with extremely useful quotes and sayings. I would suggest everyone to read it so as to improve the vision for leadership and you don't need to have specific preoccupation with any subject like history or Philosophy etc but you will love this book when you read how Juvaini tries to justify the deeds of the Mongols and the embellished and beautified diction of JA Boyle will enable you to comprehend the subject matter of the book in it's true sense.

This book really grabbed my attention. The book is on a topic that I could read forever. Ghengis Khan is the only subject that doesn't make fall asleep in school.

One issue that I grapple with frequently is the difference between "art" and "illustration". In the world of fine art illustrators are generally looked on as an inferior breed by the critics. In his introduction to "Hardyware" David A. Hardy expresses his reproof at modern art's derision of anything beautiful or representational.

This got me thinking. If SF art is "mere illustration" as an art critic would say, what about all those historical paintings of heaven and hell, the last judgement and armageddon? Critics seem to love those.

But I digress. SF art does have its place, and it plays an important role. The main body of "Hardyware" gives us a glimpse of the possibilties that await us in the future. If things turn out properly and we don't destroy ourselves, our descendents will become great builders with the potential to conquer the stars. Most of the artwork in this collection is done in gouache and acrylic, although more recently the artist has turned to digital media.

We see visions of the past as well as the future. One of my favourite pieces is a scene from "The War of the Worlds". I remember seeing that image on a cover jacket when I was 12, although I didn't know who the artist was back then. The image of a dinosaur looking up at a descending asteroid is hauntingly grim.

I often think SF artists are underrated. Though they are often proved wrong, their visions provide a valuable contribution to the development of our civilization, giving inspiration to those who have the ability to make fantasy a reality.

This super book contains well over a hundred examples of the work of perhaps our best living space artist, along with a fascinating text full of insights into his thinking and his modus operandi.

Language Of Souls is heady and a delightful read. The artwork lends itself beautifully to the written work. The poetry of Mr. Taub, Ms. Frankovich and Mrs. Solomon holds your rapt attention. Definitely a must-buy book.

I heard KT and David do a Poetry Reading from their Book Language of Souls, it was done with such love and special meaning,I know that the words and poems chosen,When kt and David recited their works it made you feel as if you were reliving the experinces that they shared in there superb poems. They have such depth in the way they express themselves and beauty in the words. Just wonderful, there are not enough words I can say about these special people. Keep up the Wonderful Work God Bless Janet Russell Host and Producer Beyond The Unexplained

This book is quite a treasure.The artwork of Freydoon Rassouli is evocative and dreamlike adding a marvellous dimension to the language imagery of authors k.t., David and Ruth - an extraordinary trio of poets whose differing styles keep the reading fresh as they wander through topic and theme. I will remember and re-read 'The Precious Bag Lady', 'Winter Walk' (and other seasons) and 'Luminary Appropriations' and many others. I can recommend Language of Souls as a rich and rewarding reading.

They're not really boys anymore, yet, while they are physicaly mature, they still play like boys. THE BEACH is a thrilling mix: playful pixie, Peter Pan, meets the Olympian Gods on a vast beach. I wonder if the energy and creativity of boys is why they are so widely preferred to girls around the world (especially by women).

I have to be honest--I've never understood the appeal of beaches at all. Strangely, though, I love deserts [which some friends refer to as 'a beach with no ocean']. At any rate, this book may change my mind -- regarding some beaches at least.

While I've seen David Morgan's work for years, it wasn't until the "Global Groove" CD series that I actually paid attention to the photo credits. To say that this book is a real treat for the eyes is an understatement. The photography--all black and white here-- is just magnificent. The images are sensuous, and erotic, but never 'pronographic'; sexy without ever looking 'dirty'; great studies in natural & enhanced lighting, along with the human body in top form.

The pictures are appropriately playful and despite the beefiness of the bodies, never mean, threatening or hard looking (it's that boyish thing again). Like the mythical "peter Pan", the guys in these photos seem to be forever young, and in what is such an odd example of life imitating art, it seems that every year boys get younger while observers like me, go on, inexorably aging. There is a bit of the modern here (the sexy briefs many of the guys are sporting), but really, these pictures evoke the imagery suggested in ancient Greek, Roman and other Classical art, that celebrated, rather than exploited, the beauty of a well maintained body. But unlike Tom Bianchi who recreated the Classical formalism along with the god-like male imagery, BEACH suggests that when no one is looking, even the gods are still boys inside.

While there was no doubt a lot of effort that went into posing and composing for each phot, they somehow all manage to look spontaneouos and candid. And, unlike some of the modeling photography that David Morgan has done, these pictures exude a casual friendliness that is in many ways more effective than some of the more rigidly posed and arranged ad copy [check out the 2X-ist shots].

As stunning as the photography is here, this book does have a minor flaw: the prose. It is as noteworthy for its vapidity and insipidness and thephotography is for its aesthetic beauty and strength. Perhaps that is deliberate: Morgan is a photographer, and prefers that people buy books to see the pictures, rather than to read them. But, whatever the reasons for the bad writing, it can easily be ignored, since th phtots are what this book is really all about.

Taken over a 10 day period in the waning days of summer, BEACH makes for the kind of September one will always remember. Even when all those 'boys of summer' have left, you can always relive memories through delightful books such as this..

David Morgan is a talent that you must behold. Working withhim on BASIC TRAINING (available here at Amazon.com) gave me aninsider's perspective of his artistic eye and natural talent as aphotographer. David's passion is performance and in his images, andwhat images these are, is a performance. Beach is his way of showingthe world his experience of Fire Island. These men are his friendsand this unique beach environment IS paradise. BEACH is a malecandyland, a summer fling, a celebration of being out and proud and ofcommunity. I am so proud of the work David and I created together andcelebrate this new collection of his. I know that people who admiregreat black and white photography, sensual imagery and a poetic textto bind these images together, will be fully satified with this book.

David Morgan has secured his reputation as one of America's finest photographers---certainly our finest photographer of the male body. His photographs for the earlier book Basic Training help explain why that bestseller flew out of the stores, and although an impressionistic tale by Ernesto Mestre-Reed weaves through these pictures, they exist for themselves. These young men's sleek muscled bodies are bountiful, but it is Morgan's art that makes them beautiful. The restraint of the black-and-white plus Morgan's concern for pure form and outline is classical, and teach how beefcake can be exalted into art.

This novel is one of the best I have read. Alex Haley and Stevens express a kind of compassion from a grandmother/mother that no one could do better. It's a very emotional book, and touches everyone that has ever experienced a good book. Once you start it, you can't put it down!

Reading this book is like cozying up with a warm blanket. The authors provide so much detail that you feel like YOUR grandmother is sitting in front of you, recounting the tales. The book spans the decades, from the early 1900s to the late 1970s and throws in a bit of history/current events to place the family's hostory in context. Great book!

This book made you feel apart of it. I loved it! I loved the history, the story, the emotions and how it wove a story of a loving family working their way through life. This is a must read.

This book is excellent for anyone with little programming expericence. If you have ZERO experience, then I recommend starting with on of the "...for Dummies" books first, as the terminology in this book may be hard to grasp at first. But if you're moving over from C++, Java, or VB, this is a great place to start. In fact, this book contains much more needed for just beginning, and by the end of the read you should be able to write a full-fledged Windows app with little problems.

The downsides of the book are few, but important to note. First off, the author doesn't spend enough time visually describing how OOP (object oriented programming) works. Before you know it, you'll be diving into classes, methods, delegates, and events before fully understanding basic concepts. Chapters 9-12 are by far the most difficult in the book to follow. Most everything else is cake. Also, because the book is just loaded with information, it may be hard for a beginner to differentiate from a beginners topic and a more advanced topic that you may never use.

Overall the book is a great read and I recommend it for anyone who wants to jump into C#. I easily finished it within less than a month with a pretty sound basic knowledge of what C# is about. After reading this, I recommend buying Professional C# (Second Edition) from WROX along with The C# Reference book they also put out. With those three books, you have a foundation to do just about anything you can think of.

Great book if your are new to programming. However, it is, just like the title implies, designed for beginners. If you have any C++ or Java experience you might want to skip this book and go straight to Professional C#.

I purchased the 'visual blueprint for c# 'first went thru it
in three weeks. This book was like the dummies and then
I bought 'the "begining c#' and went through it like
lightning.
This is the best book I see for getting you on yur feet with no
programming experience and the examples were certainly
very easy to follow.
I have no complaints.

When this book came out a couple of years ago it was the first and only book on designing speech recognition systems. It was very valuable then, but now more books are available that cover the same information and more, for a lot less money.

Developing speech applications is not easy to master. Even with VoiceXML becoming more widely adopted, there are a lot of intricacies that that a developer must understand. This book will provide you with a solid foundation to become an effective speech application developer.

The book did very well in presenting the limitations of the current speech recognition technology (dialog design, large vocabularies, promtp design, etc.) and made suggestions on how to overcome such problems in specific situations.

Author, Bruce Balentine's goal with How to Build a Speech Recognition Application is to produce the Strunk and White of speech recognition. An electronic musician and composer, Balentine was a pioneer in the speech recognition field. The text's examination of the problems of navigation from human perception to machine recognition give comprehension to even the layman. The book is well organized and structured with the +,/,- system which allows a novice to follow. According to linguist, Dr. John White, the first chapter could stand alone as a treatise on the dynamics of the human speech interface with the machine.

"Using Lotus Approach 96" (Special Edition) by Cynthia Morgan and Susan Sloan provides the reader with a thorough understanding of Lotus Approach. It is not limited in terms of application to the Approach 96 version. It certainly applies equally well to Approach 97 and probably to the latest version included in the Millenium edition of Lotus SmartSuite. The book is long, more than 600 pages, but many pages are devoted to actual hands on skill building exercises that are extraordinarily helpful. Anyone who expects to use the database application more than casually would, I believe, find this book answers most of his or her questions and probably will keep going back to it as a reference resource.

Having purchased this book in 1997 in an attempt to learn "something" about Lotus Approach, I discovered that not only was this a suitable guide for the novice, it was also a reference manual of some mighty weight. Using this book as a guide I have created several major databases with over 150 macros automating numerous functions. Through this book I have also learned enough about Approach to answer other users queries. It is still in my view the definitive guide to Lotus Approach.

This book takes a step-by-step approach to teaching the basics of database design as well as how to use Lotus Approach effectively. It is written for the "non-programmer" without all of the jargon one usually finds in books of this type. It is also a great reference book - not a "one time read".