This is an excellent and clear-headed book about Turkey before the dynamic capitalism of the 1980's really set in. As such, it is somewhat anachronistic as all books about Turkey quickly tend to become. On the other hand, the general portrait and the beautiful writing make this the best and truest introduction to Turkey yet written. Read it to understand this unique country, a veritable mosaic of ethnicities, customs and histories; spawning a bridge between the East and the West. For people who see the world through narrow eyes, Turkey might be a paradox: the most secular country in the world, with a solidly modern orientation and a predominantly Muslim (but secular!) population. Not a paradox for Settle who has an open mind.

Recall also that Turkey is a country that suffers an unjustly bad image, mainly because of fanatic Greek-Orthodox fundamentalists (e.g. see the one or two silly reviews below by Greek-Americans with no idea of Balkan history!). Mary Lee Settle has done more than anyone else to rectify the balance. She is uniquely qualified to do so because she clearly has no political agenda to settle with the past or with the future...

One can only hope that Mary Lee Settle writes another book covering the breathtaking changes in Turkey in the last 20 years or so with the same clear vision.

This is an excellent and clear-headed book about Turkey before the dynamic capitalism of the 1980's really set in. As such, it is somewhat anachronistic as all books about Turkey quickly tend to become. On the other hand, the general portrait and the beautiful writing make this the best and truest introduction to Turkey yet written. Read it to understand this unique country, a veritable mosaic of ethnicities, customs and histories; spawning a bridge between the East and the West. For people who see the world through narrow eyes, Turkey might be a paradox: the most secular country in the world, with a solidly modern orientation and a predominantly Muslim (but secular!) population. Not a paradox for Settle who has an open mind.

Recall also that Turkey is a country that suffers an unjustly bad image, mainly because of fanatic Greek-Orthodox fundamentalists (e.g. see the one or two silly reviews below by Greek-Americans with no idea of Balkan history!). Mary Lee Settle has done more than anyone else to rectify the balance. She is uniquely qualified to do so because she clearly has no political agenda to settle with the past or with the future...

One can only hope that Mary Lee Settle writes another book covering the breathtaking changes in Turkey in the last 20 years or so with the same clear vision.

This book reflects personal experiences and insights of the author, which is done very sincerely and poetically. It is not a history textbook nor carries a political agenda. I do not know if the reader had read the whole book but pages 66-67 contain references to Armenian genocide. I can also tell that this reader's knowledge of modern Turkey and Turkish people and their relationships with Armenians, Greeks and Kurds are limited to few subjective publications. If he/she ever lived in Turkey and observed how those people from diverse backgrounds live, go schools and work together, become best friends and marry each other, he/she would not believe every opinion so naively. Every country has its own unique disparities and ways to deal with them. Turkey regionally and politically has a very strategic position (historically much diverse compared to many countries in the world); hence, it experienced and continues to experience many uproars for claims of land. This situation is not unique to Turkey and I strongly believe that most countries would do the same to defend the integrity of their land.

I admit I was impressed by the table of contents of this book, and I admit I had no previous experience with the subject, but sure with the 'real life' of support services for a database company. Most of the book is devoted to review commercial software available on the market and for me, this is just enough to be dissapointed. There are better commercial magazines or even websites can provide you this information for free... Although some formulas and templates looks very interesting (that's why 2 stars), maybe should you consider a help desk book instead.

In the old school of thought, the three most important rules in business were location, location, and location. In today's virtual world, the new rules are service, service, and service. Foundations of Service Level Management establishes a framework from which to address the SLM phenomenon. It is comprehensive, up-to-date, and embraces the actual and virtual complexities inherent in today's computing environments.

How well are we serving our customers? How well are we serving ourselves? How well are our vendors serving us? These are simple questions often extremely difficult to answer accurately, timely, and in an easy to understand manner. These perspectives lie at the heart of FoSLM's focus and, like a breath of fresh air, renews the SLM mindset.

As one manager of a large credit card company put it: "A fool with a tool is still a fool." FoSLM brings this point home by emphasizing that a plan must be in place before selecting the tool to make it happen. The number of companies offering SLM tools is approaching the three-digit mark. Because of this, it is vital that a company have their plan in place before shopping. Otherwise, like going to the supermarket hungry, you may wind up buying things you don't really need. And while you may eventually eat those other things, shelfware has the potential of costing time, money, and careers.

Drawing on decades of combined experience, the authors zero in on the concept of "end-to-end" metrics. This customer-centric view cannot be seen among the vast silos of vertically aligned data based on individual network components. These must be combined and related to business functions at the transaction level -- and reported in a manner the customer understands. Quality service, from the customer's viewpoint, is the prime directive.

For companies embarking on establishing or refurbishing their SLM programs, the FoSLM book is a must. There are strategies, tactics, and operations for building a game plan. There are examples, templates, and references in its appendix. Dozens of available SLM-related products are briefly discussed. To use an Emerilism, the FoSLM takes SLM and kicks it up a notch.

This book is important for two reasons: (1) it's written by experienced practitioners who have specialized in service level management for a large part of their careers, and (2) it covers all of the key points of creating, implementing and managing an effective service level management initiative.

The five chapters of Part I thoroughly covers principles. One of the strongest chapters in this part is 2, which addresses factors and issues that other books (and articles and white papers) seem to sidestep. Among them are the effect of batch processing and workload on your ability to meet service level objectives, security, recovery management and costs/affordability. Lest you think that batch processing is a thing of the past, consider what it takes to refresh data warehouses and data marts, which depend on batch processing. Workload management, especially the balancing act of squeezing in batch jobs, back-ups and other tasks that need to occur in maintenance windows that are shrinking because the demands of e-commerce and supply chain management practically demand 24x7, is highlighted in this book as well. Other chapters in Part I that contained gems include: the report card summary in chapter 3 (service level reporting), the plethora of tips in chapter 4 (service level agreements) and the excellent collection of resources cited in chapter 5 (standards efforts).

Part II of the book is weak. It consists of a chapter on service level management practices for a selection of U.S. companies, and a chapter on service level management products. In my opinion this entire part of the book can be dispensed with because the authors have a web site that augments this book that provides a more up-to-date survey of practices in the U.S. and an additional survey that is global. The chapter on products was obsolete before the book was published. Again, the web site (URL is provided in the book) provides up-to-date information.

Part III is superb. It is a roadmap to developing, implementing and managing service levels, starting with chapter 8 that leads you through developing a business case. Chapter 9, implementing service level management, was a little light because the task is much larger than what the authors squeezed into the 14 pages allocated to this topic. Chapter 10 is devoted to data and metrics, which are essential to a viable service level management initiative. The remaining two chapters are a wrap-up; however, each is worth a thorough reading because there are gems of information and advice sprinkled throughout.

The appendices are forms and templates, which can also be obtained in soft copy from the authors' web site. Each of these artifacts are valuable and will save you a significant amount of time if you're starting from scratch.

I'm tempted to subtract a star for Part II's deficiencies, but I won't because this book still stands as the best I've read. Moreover, the authors make available updated information on their web page, which is something you cannot do with a paper book, and also provide a wealth of additional material that adds significantly to this book's value. My hope is the authors will trade the page count consumed by Part II for a more in-depth treatment of implementation in chapter 9.

The authors seem to walk the line between stating the obvious and dispensing outright bad advice. On more than one occasion, they cross that line with reckless abandon.

First of all, the book is geared towards newly minted Ph.D.'s or ABD (All But Dissertation) graduate students who plan to enter the academic job market. The authors seem completely ignorant of the fact that in many disciplines, particularly the biological and physical sciences, Ph.D.'s first hold postodoctoral research positions for 2 - 5 years before entering the market. I cannot find a single reference to the word "postdoc." Thus, the book completely ignores anyone with a science degree, and all of the advice concerning "timetables for your search" and the advice to "have your degree in hand" is useless.

Secondly, some of the advice in the book is dubious, at best. The section on cv construction states:

"If you worked prior to attending graduate school at jobs you now consider irrelevant, you may summarize them with a statement such as 'Emmployment 1992-1994 included office and restaurant work.'"

To which my response is, "What the hell for?" If the work was "irrelevant," it has no business on a cv. Period. Unless, of course, your goal is to give the hiring committee a good laugh before tossing your cv into the rejection pile.

Don't worry, it gets worse. The section on writing a "Statement of Teaching Philosophy," which almost all liberal arts schools require, is all of one paragraph long. The authors' best advice is to "try to look at statements written by others in your department as well as those written by applicants to your department, if those are available to you."

Here's an idea: instead of using the last 19 pages of the book as appendices (also known as "filler"), why not actually give some EXAMPLES of teaching statements? I didn't spend money on a book just so I could ask other Ph.D.'s for samples from their application packages!

The section on research interests is equally inane.

The bottom line: If you're a liberal arts major, then maybe you'll get something useful from this book. If you're a science major, then buy "Tomorrow's Professor" by Richard Reis. It's three times as long, and about a hundred times as useful.

It is a must-read book for any academic job applicants. Make sure you read it before you prepare your application materials. It will surelly save you a lot of time. It is really helpful in my job searching.

The earlier in your graduate career you obtain this book the better, since the section on planning your job search gives great advice about positioning yourself as an attractive candidate well before you start applying for jobs. I found the guide an invaluable companion over the seven month period that comprised my job search. The sample vitas, cover letters, and statements of teaching philosophy were especially useful, as was the extensive section on interviewing at conferences, on campus, and by phone. The tone was reassuring but realistic, and the advice was helpful both in conceptualizing aspects of the search (e.g., think of the interview as a conversation in which the evaluative aspect is made overt) and as a series of friendly, pragmatic tips (e.g., don't check luggage when flying to an interview; bring an escapist novel to read at the hotel). The book also contains sensible discussion of how to negotiate an offer, how to handle illegal or simply bizarre interview questions, what to wear, issues surrounding dual-career marriages, and after you've gotten a position, how to handle your new academic responsibilites and secure tenure. I recommend this book to everyone who aims at an academic position, and in the future, I will recommend it to my students!

"Parables: Stories Jesus Told" features text adapted by Mary Hoffman and art by Jackie Morris. This children's book presents several of the classic parables of Jesus of Nazareth. The retold stories include the parables of the good Samaritan, the sower, the prodigal son, the unforgiving servant, and more.

The stories are retold with effective simplicity. Morris' artwork is truly wonderful; her warm, rich tones bring to life the Middle East of Jesus' era. Her human faces are full of emotion, and she is also masterful at illustrating sheep, a wheatfield, flatbreads, and other elements.

The only bad thing about this book are the preachy, hit-you-over-the-head afterwords that follow each retold parable. These stories are some of the world's great literature, and should be allowed to speak for themselves; for a children's book, they only need the accompaniment of great artwork.

This is a beautifully written and illustrated book. I love reading it to my children, who love to listen to it. I hope Mary Hoffman will write another, as her prose is so well understood by my kids. Just wonderful!

There is a scarcity of solaris books. This one is one of the few that actually goes into some details that you need in the real world. I have been a solaris administrator for 3 years and this is the only book that I found to be worth buying.

I found this book to be very helpful in making the SunOS to Solaris transition. From MAILER-DAEMON Sat Jun 2

Having read Morris's "Nothing to Declare," I looked forward to reading this book. I can only imagine that Morris had to make some quick money and resorted to publishing this trivia. There is very little about the New Age community in California or New Age beliefs. There is very little in this book other than what goes on inside of Morris's own head. And it's mostly whining, complaining and feeling sorry for herself-- as well as the tedious minutia of raising her daughter and everyday traffic tie ups on the LA freeway. She goes so far as to spend a paragraph telling us she had to go to the store to buy Pampers for her baby. PLEASE!! What happened just prior to this memoir is that Morris got pregnant by her boyfriend, who turned out to be a selfish jerk who wouldn't marry her. So if you buy and read this book, be prepared for page after page of --Poor me, starving writer, how will I feed and take care of my baby. Babies have to eat. Babies have to be changed. Babies cry and need my attention so I can't write my books!-- We know that, Mary. Now write us a book that takes us to a place other than your baby's dirty diapers!

This book to me seemed to combine all the loose odds and ends from the rest of Mary Morris' writing. Granted, I read it after reading five or six of her other books, so I was able to recognize where she transformed autobiography into fiction, but in a lot of cases the fiction was better written. The overarching theme of "Angels and Aliens" of being a single mother, involved in a neither-here-nor-there with a man who won't take responsibility is the center of her novel "The Night Sky," her meditations on the places she is traversing are more organic and poignant in her other memoir, "Nothing To Declare," detailing her journey through South America. Her flashbacks to her childhood in a privileged Chicago suburb and the family tensions that lurked beneath the perfect Midwestern front are the basis for "Acts of God," her best novel IMHO. The problem with this book is that it is too unstructured, it does not flow, and although it is engrossing to some degree, because she has an interesting voice and a way with words, and does make the reader invested, I would suggest pretty much all of her other work before this book.

It takes a brutally honest author, as Mary Morris is, and has done, to admit what she did for love. The sacrifices Mary made on behalf of her lover and father of her baby is basically the spinal cord for the novel. Her search for life's meanings and attempts to reconnect to a world so devoid of personal responsibility by this man open up painful recollections, yet serves as a foundation to offer her fresh experiences and rich sources of humor and honesty which are skillfully revealed.

Let me say right off that this is not just another "man bashing novel". It would be truly unfortunate for a reader to be unable or unwilling to see beyond the appalling behavior of her partner and not appreciate how brave she is to allow this information to be shared. The fact that he is professionally influential is a sad reflection on the perception of the public.

Personally he is manipulative and deceptive, or, also known as "married with children." Providing for his "first" family and their priorities, he makes promises AND children (not by his first wife, obviously) he can not and will not keep. Do not ask him for his time, he has "too many commitments". Electing to buy an expensive pure bred puppy to give as a present to his legitimite son, he sends ROSES for his and Mary's daughter's first birthday. Never a cent to feed, clothe or care take her, he neglects all responsibility for his fatherhood. Left to babysit for only one hour, he forgets where the baby is in favor of a televised ball game. When confronted by Mary, wakened and shocked into an incredulously terrified alertness , he notices the baby poised at the electric socket, her little finger wet and ready to probe. He is, however, unwilling to divert his attention from the TV. Obviously relieved that mom has come to HIS rescue, he returns to the game oblivious to the consequences of his behavior.

The attraction of this novel is, therefore, dependent on Mary's awakening. The pages will turn rapidly with anticipation and your senses will be alert, preparing for all possibilities. It is difficult not to relate, she effectively taps into so many facets of complicated relationships. The need to protect her child is life altering and she finds the strength to make the decisions that must be made. With an inquisitive nature, she allows herself to examine alternate beliefs and applications with a sense of humor and reasonable doubt. Willing to admit to her own faults, her history is offered with no apologies and some outright laughs. A traveler memoir author, her trip to the west coast with her baby daughter reads like a novel. True to the spirit of the west the angels and aliens were her companions along the way.

This book was a quick read & I was engrossed! I couldn't wait to get home from work to read it. The plot, the characters, the "scenery"...all very interesting and mysterious. Being an armchair traveller, I was especially interested in the Island itself and the people who lived there.

The problem was the flat ending. Where did it go? It was very abrupt. After all the excitement that happened, the ending was quite unceremonial and unimaginative.

Morris is excellent with atmosphere and mood, and my chest felt tight with anxiety. But I found Maggie, unclear and unbelievable. Why, for example, does she go whenever and wherever Isabel wants, do whatever she asks, even when she is not interested and in spite of work deadlines? Why did she return to the island where obviously she would be in danger after helping Isabel escape

For a traveler to a foreign country, part of the intrigue is that you are vulnerable to the laws that do not take your nationality as a priority. The urge to be accommodating and submissive is a response to the insecurity of not having the freedoms and protection expected in one's home country. Some travelers are challenging, some are paranoid and some are just trusting to the point of naivete'. For Maggie Conover, all or none of these responses may apply, at least for her initial visit to "la isla" in the Caribbean. A travel writer for the magazine, Easy Rider, she meets the daughter of the island's rebel leader. Isabel has grown up restricted and confined to the island, which is her prison, and her father as the jailer and ultimately the murderer of her two husbands.

Maggie revisits "la isla" several years after her initial trip. As other readers retort her possible stupidity in going back to the island and risking what she ultimately risks, I can understand the woman who does go back.....There are no clear cut reasons except one, and that is all about Isabel and the mystery of her whereabouts.

The reader will have a racing heart when you read about the authorities detaining her. Confined to a house arrest in a hotel, she fears her situation in an escalating climax beginning with the awareness that the room and phone have been surveiled, and the hotel staff briefed as to the seriousness of her impending charges. Of course, no one tells her what the charges may be. She is under the charge of a Major, who escorts her in a confusingly obsequious manner to various prison and detention centers for interogations. Unable to trust anyone, the secrets she carries are now compromising her very own freedom. What did she do to risk her life and make herself so vulnerable to the justice of a foreign country?

An engaging book that will keep you breathing fast until the very last pages. It will make you rethink your travel plans...well, maybe!

There is some really good material here. Unfortunately the first three chapters are incredibly fluffy and vague. They are also full of grammatical mistakes, non sequiturs, and spelling errors. The home page of one fairly pedestrian and old-fashioned site is shown in grayscale half-a-dozen times, wasting 15 column inches. The valuable ideas in the front could have been distilled into 8 pages instead of taking 70.

-Start at Chapter 4. From here out the book is very good. It starts with developing for the audience, navigation principles, color and graphics, etc. and goes all the way to Java, VRML and interactive design. So don't give up. The book design and editing are poor, but the last two-thirds makes it worth the price.

This is not about how to make a site look great so much as how to organize and structure it. I found it very useful and hardly dated at all. - Marcia Yudkin, Author of Internet Marketing for Less than $500/Year and nine other books

I'm a freelance web designer, i find this book very useful.It teaches you about Web marketing and some hot tips, The structure of the website,rating a website.How to design a perfect webpage.include some case study which is useful. Yet another good book.

I just finished reading Fiona Range & had to write this review. I read 150 pages in one sitting--which says a lot about a book. I have to say that when I got this book, I was enticed by the title because I like the name Fiona. When I first started reading it, I saw Fiona, the main character, as pretty much a slut & someone I wouldn't like if I ever met her.Fiona Range became really good & you saw that Fiona was more than just a slut. I could relate to her struggles of trying to fit into her conformed life with her aunt & uncle. She struggled to grow close to who she thought was her father & deal with the fact that she was 30 & had become nothing & constantly made mistakes. This novel had a very surprise ending & I really thought it was creative & well written. It's only (small) problem was that it did have some sub-plots that threw you off, but the significant events ending weaving into an understandable story. i would definitlely recommend this book, for even someone who doesn't enjoy reading. It's worthwhile!!!!

Once again, I bow down to Mary McGarry Morris for enabling me to get so involved in these people's lives, I think they're real. I feel like a "fly on the wall" just watching all these people's relationships and interactions and decisions. With a house/husband/kids/p/t job, Ms. Morris is the only author that completely absorbs my thoughts and takes me away into another realistic world. I'm a die-hard Oprah book club fan, and Morris' books exemplifies all the relationship intricacies. Her characters are always 3-dimensional, never just "cliche" people. She's not a "happily ever after" author, which is also realistic. If anyone else out there also loves Mary McGarry Morris' books as much as I do (I read them all), please e-mail me to give me other books similar to hers, that are just as absorbing and realistic. I'm a avid reader and would love to share book info. Thanks. Enjoy Fiona!

Where do I start? At the beginning of course. Fiona's character jumps off the page from the start, in fact her life was thrilling to the end of the novel. Morris once again paints a complete portrait of a woman. By the time I finished I felt I knew Fiona inside and out. If she waited on me at the local diner here in town, I'd spot her before I read her nametage. But it wasn't just Fiona. This book is packed with 3-dimensional characters. The judge-what a crafty, yet somehow still respectable man. (By the way, has anyone stopped to follow how Morris portrays judges in her four novels? That would be an interesting essay itself) His wife, Aunt Arlene-keeping up appearances no matter the cost. Dear Elizabeth-Almost as complex a character as Fiona. Get this book, you won't be disappointed.

My disappointment with "Songs In Ordinary Time" began with the first chapter. Though the initial prose was beautifully executed, it offered no clue to its purpose or eventual meaning. After several chapters, the loose ends were twisted together a bit, but I had an irritating feeling that I must have missed something in the first reading; that feeling wasn't compelling enough for me to read the first chapters over.

Every time I set down the book, I vowed not to return to it. I eventually picked it up, each time hoping to discover why this book received any acclaim what-so-ever. And each time, I struggled for the next page and a half to piece together the new chapter and new character.

Mary McGarry Morris has a gift for creating believable characters with accurate, realistic psychological profiles. She has an potent precision of perception in regards to human motivations and justifications. But, I didn't feel as if she created a story set in a small town. She created a metropolis of character sketches with no plot, no significant purpose and no emotion. I felt no positive or negative emotional attachment to any of the characters while reading the book. I was given no reason to care for the Fermoyle family nor did I particularly fear or dislike the antagonist, Duvall. I felt the characters were trapped in a static but realistic photograph while I longed to behold a moving, breathing body that could whisper in my ear.

For those who believe that the jumbled, dragging and confusing construction of the plot is a sign of "heavy and deep" literary material, I thoroughly disagree. Readers should not have to suffer to find meaning in a book. I have read a great deal of literature lately dealing with poverty, destitution, and unfortunate family situations. When I compare "Songs" to the exquisite clarity of books like "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" by Wallace Stegner and "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt, I can't help but feel I was cheated in wasting my time on the book's 740 pages. Classics in literature like "Mountain" and "Ashes" enlighten, illuminate or edify the reader. "Songs in Ordinary Times" is far from a literary classic. It led me down a path of detached scenery and disappointing turns with too many detours that led nowhere.

I am baffled by the bad reviews I've read for this book. I have read many of the Oprah books, and this is the first one that felt like true literature and not a Harlequin romance. Yes, it is long. Yes, it can be depressing. Yes, it can be graphic. But so can life! Get over yourselves, people!

The characters were so real and clearly defined that, at various points in the book, I loved and hated them all. They had real problems and afflictions that were accurately portrayed by the author. Sometimes they made good choices and sometimes they made bad ones -- no one was a victim. I had to keep reminding myself that the story took place in Vermont, because I felt this book belonged in the Southern Lit course I took in college.

If you want a "happily ever after" book where nothing bad happens to anyone, this is not the book for you. If you want a story where complex characters experience the consequences -- both good and bad -- of their choices, then buy this book. I found it engrossing and hard to put down.

If you can get through the first 150 pages, you'll be happy you did. With a slow start, that's when the story really starts to pick up & you start to remember the characters, there's a lot of them! I agree with an earlier reviewer in that there were too many sub-plots & characters.
I did end up liking the book, and I was VERY close to putting it down & not finishing it. I am glad I stuck it out.
The characters are memorable. Their plights, long & hard.
You will cringe with them when things go wrong. It's a story that is so believable it feels real. I see why Oprah picked it.
Just remember, there are many books that start off slow, but they don't always have such a rewarding ending.