Related Subjects: Author Index Reviews Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Book reviews for "Murray,_John" sorted by average review score:

The Hepatitis C Handbook
Published in Paperback by North Atlantic Books (1999)
Authors: Matthew Dolan, Iain M. Murray-Lyon, and John Tindall
Amazon base price: $17.50
List price: $25.00 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $13.99
Buy one from zShops for: $17.38
Average review score:

EXCELLENT BOOK ON HEP C!!!
I can't stress enough how much this book has helped me to learn more about hepatitis C. Matthew Dolan explains important things you want to know about, like PCR and genotypes and he gives an anology on genotypes that helps the new patient learn so easily. There's just so much great hep C info that this book has, it is a "must have!" I often tell people to get this book when they first tell me of their newly diagnosis of hep C. It's the best and I refer to my copy almost "daily!"

The Hepatitis C hand Book
This book is a must have for all who work with people with the hepatitis C, have Hepatitis C, or loves someone who has it. This book saves lives ! Thank you Mr. Dolan.

A Light in a Sea of Despair
I undertook a two-year very brutal drug treatment for HCV, and was recently miraculously cleared of the disease. There were times I felt like giving up, but relied again and again on the encouraging information I gleaned from this book. It is informative, well-written, and emotionally supportive. My Doctor wanted a copy too, since sadly, there is little information availible in the medical community. I highly recommend this book for anyone considering a treatment approach, or wanting a supportive source of compassionate and concise information.


The Silence of St. Thomas: Three Essays
Published in Paperback by Saint Augustine's Pr (1999)
Authors: Josef Pieper, John Murray, and Daniel O'Connor
Amazon base price: $8.80
List price: $11.00 (that's 20% off!)
Used price: $7.97
Buy one from zShops for: $7.87
Average review score:

The spirit and life of Aquinas
Pieper, in these three essays, describes what we have to learn from the works and life of Aquinas. The essays detail the scholastic arguements of the day and how Thomas, in the true spirit of open mindedness (his life and method are the definition of this oft abused term) brought some peace ond understanding to the various sides, a very serious matter in his day. The book explains how much of an Aristotilian Aquinas was, and more importantly how much he was not. Mainly by showing how the charactoristics of the Latin Averroists have been unjustly attributed to Aquinas by his detractors - the Latin Averoists (Averoes was an Arab) were whole hearted Aristotilians.

This book is an excellent addition to reading Etienne Gilson's "Unity of the Philosophical Experience" as Pieper gives further explanantions as to the behavior of the Augastinians and Latin Averroists. It could explain also why modern Muslims are so singularly textually dogmatic - it is in reaction to Averroist's attempting to rid religion of faith altogether - and thus the violent reaction in nixing reason and rationalism. It tells how Aquinas circumvented this problem. The last essay also compliments Gilson's book in that it shows what Existentialism has in common with Aquinas, some interesting things, despite some gapping fundimental differences at their very root and conclusion.

The first essay vividly descibes what an attitude of accademic pursuit and teaching should look like. Too many teachers are dogmatic and are only interested in pursuing and supporting an idea that is presently clear in their minds and propogating it, rather than treating the moment as an active pursuit of truth. Thomas was a model teacher and the book is an active discripition of his method.

The book also argues, with supporting evidence and reason, that Thomas' main work The "Summa Theologica" was intentionally left unfinished. Why it was left unfinished is at the root of what Aquinas was all about concerning philosophy and metaphysics - it is a process not a conclusion. Gilson's book describes what a conclusion is, as sometimes philosophers have rejected the idea that they have reached a conclusion, when in fact they have. Gilson effectively defines what a conclusion looks like.

Both are highly recommended books for Teachers, Historians, and Philosophers.

Great supplemental reading
St. Thomas Aquinas, needless to say, is not easy to understand. In this little guide, which makes nice supplemental reading to get a look "behind the scenes" of the saint's philosophy, Josef Pieper first sketches a biographical outlines of Thomas' life and then delves into the negative element in his philosophy and concludes with the "timelessness" of Thomism, which makes it a perennial philosophy.

This book is primarily concerned with St. Thomas' epistemological assumptions (which were taken for granted, hence the "silence"), what knowledge meant for the saint, and how and to what extent it can be achieved. Pieper tackles Thomas' seemingly paradoxical stance on essences, and whether or not they can be known, for Thomas maintains both that we cannot know God in His essence and that God's essence is His existence.

Pieper shows St. Thomas' beautiful conviction that "it is part of the very nature of things that their knowability cannot be wholy exhausted by any finite intellect, because these things are creatures, which means that the very element which makes them capable of being known must necessarily be at the same time the reason why things are unfathomable" (p.60).

All in all, this book is a fine look at Thomas' profound epistemology, so rarely discussed in philosophical courses today. If you have an interest in the philosophy of St. Thomas, don't pass this one up!

Illuminating
The unifying theme of the three essays composing this book is the paradox that the intelligibilty of things and their incomprehensibility both derive from their being creatures, that is, from their possessing natures that are communications of the ideas in the mind of God. Things can be known only because they are created, but at the same time, things are unfathomable because they are created: "one and the same factor explains both why things cannot be entirely grasped and why they can be known" (pp.95-6). Why is this so? I'll not deprive the reader of the pleasure of reading Pieper's book to find out.

For me, this book ended a long struggle to discover what St. Thomas Aquinas really taught about our knowledge of things. Pieper succeeds in reconciling Thomas's frequent statements that we cannot know the essence of any created thing with his repeated claims elsewhere that our minds are receptive of the forms (i.e., essences) of things.

While my attitude toward Pieper's understanding of St. Thomas's thought is not uncritical, I must concede that he is one of the best and most original (the two are not the same) of twentieth century Thomist philosophers. Unfortunately, he is sometimes (unjustly) put down by scholars as a mere popularizer. Let them read this book and be disabused; Pieper has much to teach them.

My ratings of other books by Josef Pieper: Guide to Thomas Aquinas ****; Leisure the Basis of Culture *****; Scholasticism *****


Windows 95 Multimedia & Odbc Api Bible
Published in Paperback by Waite Group Pr (1996)
Authors: Richard J. Simon, Tony Davis, John Eaton, and R. Murray Goertz
Amazon base price: $54.99
Used price: $12.64
Buy one from zShops for: $43.99
Average review score:

Windows 95 Multimedia & Odbc Api Bible
This book, is the best result of the masterminds of the state of art, and I Suggest as a read for everyone that work with this technology.

It's great in any language!
I do not read Japanese but the only available edition of this book when I needed it was the Japanese edition. I still found the book to give me all the information I needed to do what I needed to do, write an audio recording app without knowing anything about Multi-Media beforehand. I also liked that it used mostly lower level coding so that it would not be so at risk from Microsofts whims.

Simon gets it right again!!
I can honestly say that I have never been disappointed by any Robert Simon book and this is no exception. Rather than read this book from cover to cover I use it as a reference. It is a fairly complete guide to multimedia and ODBC API calls and it is presented in a way that anyone can understand. Good job Mr. Simon!!


Alaska (Compass American Guides)
Published in Paperback by Fodors Travel Pubns (1997)
Authors: John Murray and Don Pitcher
Amazon base price: $18.95
Used price: $1.98
Collectible price: $8.95
Average review score:

By far the best Alaskan guide book I've ever seen..
This book is just great.
I'm moving to Fairbanks Alaska in just under a year, to attend college and then teach somewhere in the "bush".
Anyways, after just doing a quick glance at Alaska books in the local bookstores, I saw this one.
It's just amazing.
It rises FAR above any other guide book I've ever seen...I had to buy it on the spot.
What sets this book apart is a combination of things.
1. The photos.
this book is FULL, I mean FULL, of very good quality professional/artistic photos.
2. It doesn't skim.
This book is one of the few books on Alaska that I've seen that didn't just skim over the Arctic and Seward Peninsula regions.
These areas all have very detailed descriptions, photos, climate info, sun rise/sunset info.
It delves into even the minor towns such as Kiana, Anaktuvuk Pass...etc.
3. It includes literary ESSAYS written by professional authors about certain areas...and there are at least one or two essays in every regional subgroup detailing everything from culture to climate to history.
4. As mentioned above, this book details the history of Aaska as well. And just like everything else in this book...it doesn't merely gloss it up into a 3 page chapter.
it gets very much into virtually every aspect...and includes historical photos, carvings, etc.

Overall, this book is incredible.
It transcends what is traditionally a guide book and becomes something anyone would read to learn about Alaska.
Very good book, definitely recommended.

~ Will

Best Alaska guidebook: gives history, culture, photos
This is the best guidebook I've seen about Alaska. Its an illustrated introduction that lures you into the wilds of Alaska with amazing, artistic photography. It provides background, history, insight, and discusses things to do that don't fit into the cookie-cutter format of other guidebook series.

The photography is beautiful and artistic, printed in a format just large enough to give you some idea of the grandeur of Alaska without making the book too unwieldy to take along on your trip. Also included are historical drawings, sketches, and high-quality maps. Its humorous in parts (what is a "sourdough"?).

This book goes beyond the normal guidebook which might list town, lodging and restaurants. It starts off with a fascinating history of the entire state, a discussion of the people of Alaska, the wildlife; then discusses four major areas of Alaska (and their history, people, etc.). It helps you get to know the state.

The descriptions of food, lodging and tours are adequate, but you may want to supplement these listing with a AAA guidebook or travel agent.


Another Country: Encounters With the Red Rock Desert
Published in Paperback by Johnson Books (2002)
Author: John A. Murray
Amazon base price: $12.25
List price: $17.50 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $5.07
Buy one from zShops for: $12.16
Average review score:

A special book about a special place
John Murray is one of the best writers on the West practicing today, perhaps the best. He has authored or edited more than forty books including such classics as Desert Awakenings, Cactus Country, and the highly acclaimed American Nature Writing series.

This book is a collection of fifteen essays and fifteen stories, both fiction and nonfiction, that celebrate what Murray describes as the most beautiful desert in the American Southwest, the Red Rock Desert. It is loosely located in a triangle shape anchored by the Gates of Ladore to the north, the Grand Wash Cliffs to the southwest, and the Zuni Mountains on the southeast. All things considered, a pretty good boundary description for the Colorado Plateau and the four-corners area. Indeed, the twenty-one locations of his stories and essays are in southern Utah, northern Arizona, and western Colorado.

In his incomparable style of graceful prose and lyrical musings Murray takes the reader into the world of form and color that define such diverse locations as Monument Valley, Escalante Canyon, Navajo Mountain, Grand and Coyote Gulch, Wilson Mesa, Professor Valley, the Burr Desert and a host of other locations that form this wonderland of incredible beauty and harmony and time and space. Using the desert as a metaphor the stories tell of life and death, greed, togetherness and separation, hope and despair and a myriad of other conditions that are so like the West itself. The essays describe the ever changing beauty and danger of the rivers and canyons and space, indeed all of the flora and fauna that comprise the Red Rock Desert and reveals Murray's deep affection for, and encyclopedic knowledge of, this special place. The following from the Afterword will give the reader an idea of the special talent of Murray: "I only know this. There are few things as beautiful as the shapes a desert river carves in the rock of a country, or the way a canyon rose holds it wine-colored blossom toward the sun, or the sound of the wind as you climb to the summit of a solitary peak. To have been among these places is to have known a happiness not often found elsewhere in this world."
Truly a special book about a special place.

Red Rock Rhapsody - and Reality
John A. Murray's latest book, "Another Country: Encounters with the Red Rock Desert," is a tour de force. Murray has created a new genre, alternating non-fiction nature writing with gutsy, O. Henry-surprising short stories. A lesser writer might founder with this format, but Murray brings home the goods.

From a touching elegy for his mother ("Sandpainting") to hard-ball, edgy murder and action ("The World Behind the Sun"), the author writes with a deft, sure hand and leaves no false notes.

Tying the work together is the place, the sun-splashed, crimson walls of the Four Corners region, Hillerman country, Abbey country - and, now, Murray country. You can't fail to want to grab your sleeping bag, lace up your boots, and head out for a hike to the Red Rock wilderness after reading this book. And after reading the title story, a gut-wrencher with a surprise ending, you'll also remember to bring along a gallon or two of water.

This book is great stuff. Buy it.


Australian Native Plants: A Manual for Their Propagation, Cultivation and Use in Landscaping
Published in Hardcover by Australia in Print (1991)
Authors: John W. Wrigley and Murray Fagg
Amazon base price: $75.00
Used price: $136.23
Average review score:

This book covers all areas of native Australian species well
Fantastic, a book that covers all.Well worth a look at if you are interested in Australian plants.

An encyclopaedia of Australian Native Plants
Probably the best reference book available for Australian Native Plants


Cinema Southwest: An Illustrated Guide to the Movies and Their Locations
Published in Paperback by Northland Pub (1900)
Author: John A. Murray
Amazon base price: $21.95
Used price: $40.00
Average review score:

A Work of Love
The author John A. Murray really wrote a work of love on movies and their southwest location (California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas). From such diverse films such as High Plains Drifter; Leaving Las Vegas; Sergeant Rutledge; Thelma & Louise; Jerimah Johnson; Easy Rider; and Tender Mercies. If you travel through parts of the Southwest (including the mystical ones) then your journey's will be a bit more enjoyable having been to the spot where Clark Cable, Montgomery Clift and Marylin Monroe created the Misfits! My trips have been more interesting! Cheers!

Grab the microwave popcorn and an easy chair!
Movie lovers and afficionados of the western genre films...this book is for you. Author, John Murray packs each page with photos and movie stills of films that were shot in the American southwest. Along with recognizable movie scenes from classics and contemporary films are tidbits and information on the filmmakers, the actors and the locations. Cinema Southwest is a joy to read and you will pick this book up again and again.


Desert Awakenings
Published in Hardcover by NorthWord Press (1998)
Authors: Jeff Gnass and John Murray
Amazon base price: $20.97
List price: $29.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $4.25
Buy one from zShops for: $10.00
Average review score:

Fantastic!Suggestive!Inspiring
Well,I had heard of this book before I saw it in a local bookstore,but I thought it wouldn`t be good,as the desert book "Western Horizon" was said to be better.
But I was wrong at this time. Already when I first looked inside it,I knew it would be amazingly suggestive for me. And I bought it. It was rather cheap for beeing such a book.
It features all kinds of deserted landscape from the US.
Some times,it doesn`t look much like desert,mostly in the Mojave,which the first chapter is about. Deserts are not at all lifeless places - in fact,it is full of wild palms,beautifull flowers and cacti with artistic shapes.
The second chapter treats the Sonoran Desert,and it,too,contains more of the diverse flora,especially the red cactus flowers.
In the third chapter,called Colorado Desert - Life on the Rocks,there are lots of such pictures too,but there is one special image that catches your attention immidiatley - pressure ridges in a salt pan,which looks like the finest crystals ever found!
The fourth chapter shows other kinds of desert. For you who like rocky deserts,this is something. It has fantastic sceneries from hundreds of feet high rocks,as well as a picture of dunes with white sand. That is the most lifeless of all deserts and the quietness is sometimes even frightening.
The fifth chapter is about The Great Basin Desert,and that is the largest desert of North America. Many pics in this chapter contains really fantastic views,and you`ll even find SNOW here!In a desert!Just amazin,isn`t it?Some of the most inspiring pictures are found here,and therefore,this is my favorite chapter. The special with those pictures are the mud formations at dusk.
The sixth chapter is "Painted Desert",which is also very inspiring,and here there are some pictures of the Colorado Plateau,which is fantastic rock formations where fossils of my favorite animals can be found (dinosaurs!). Many of the formations here are well-known from Western Movies. In this chapter,amazing pictures of Grand Canyon can be found as well.
I have now realized that this is my No.1 inspiration source for my animal stories. When I am drawing them,I am always looking at pictures of this book to find a suitable background for my dinosaurs. I am combining the best pictures. And then it is just to add the dinos. When I read this book,I pretend that I am trying to create a good dinosaur movie when looking at the pictures. It is incredibly inspiring,and ABSOLUTELY something for anyone who likes painting or look at landscapes.
You could spend (money) for "The Western Horizon" or (less) for this one. The choice is up to you. But I have made mine. Get inspired and save a lot of money by buying this one!

The desert never looked more beautiful
Jeff Gnass and John Murray have managed to convey with in the pages of this wonderful book the incredibly diverse and colorful landscapes that makeup the desert regions of the south western United States. Their photographic images are with out a doubt some of the best ever put to film. Tne text is entertaining as well with personal insights relating to visiting a particular area photographed. I never grow tired of looking at the images- they are as close as you can get without actually being there. Highly recommended for lovers of the desert regions or for those that would like to experience them but cannot get there.


Fisher-Price: Historical, Rarity, and Value Guide, 1931-Present (Fisher-Price: A Historical, Rarity & Value Guide, 3rd Ed)
Published in Paperback by Krause Publications (2002)
Authors: Bruce R. Fox and John J. Murray
Amazon base price: $20.97
List price: $29.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $20.82
Buy one from zShops for: $19.88
Average review score:

Great book
I enjoyed this book because of the great photos and details. As a toy lover and collector, I can appreciate the authors' memories of collecting and the interesting facts about Fisher-Price. It's a great portable reference to take with you to garage sales or flea markets! The colorful pages and concise information make the world of Fisher-Price toys come alive. It's been a wonderful edition to my library.

Excellent resource book
I collect toys. A friend gave me this book as a gift. It is an excellent resource for anyone starting to collect toys or someone that has been doing it for a long time. I applaud the authors for making this available. The history of the company was also quite good.

Everything you want to know about Fisher-Price toys
If you are at all interested in collecting Fisher-Price toys or simply want some interesting background about the toys you grew up with -- then you'll like this book.

It is by far the most thorough book I've found related to Fisher-Price. It has a complete company history, product catalog and price guide for all the toys made by Fisher-Price (and even some never released).

I am a novice toy collector and bought this book because I've always loved my FP toys. I found every toy I've ever had (or at least can remember) in the book along with some amazing facts about them. Unfortunately, I learned that my Jalopy prized #724 Jolly Jalopy is probably not worth more than...

The authors were obsessive in their attention to detail, pointing out all the nuances that make certain products more valuable than others and providing a detailed history of the company and how some of their favorite toys were born.

My only disappointment was that the book is not available in hard cover.

Have fun!


Schaum's Outline of Probability and Statistics
Published in Paperback by McGraw-Hill Trade (17 March, 2000)
Authors: Murray R. Spiegel, John J. Schiller, R Alu Srinivasan, and Alu Srinivasan
Amazon base price: $11.87
List price: $16.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $8.76
Buy one from zShops for: $11.09
Average review score:

This is a helpful tool
This is a great helpful tool for students to use! I was struggling in my stats class and this book helped a great deal. It is set up with many helpful hints and practice problems! Bravo Schaum's

Need a replacement
As per all Schaum's thjis is also excellent. Like many of the others I have, especially the Concrete Book, this one too, worn out. Since it was required for a course that I took for an elective, would you beleive Economic Statistics. An easy A for math majors and Engineers; no real hard core economics covered.

Had this course over thirty years ago; upon recomendation of a friend. Professor did ask one question regarding economics; "which one of these bell curves represents percent of total income". Most wrongly (as I did) the symettric one as opposed to the correctly skewed to the left one.

Nom more economics, then. Pure probability, Stats, and Fun. Since the prof was a sports and gaming fan, as am I, this is my favorite math.

The downside, was the prof was veiwed as biassed against women, because his one-point (out of 500) bonus question was always sports trivia. I actually usually hit them, although I remember, the one test before Memorial day 1970, that if were after I would have known that the Late Tony Hulman alwasys said "Gentlemaen, start your engines".

But I digress. Get this book, agree -- cheap thorough and worth it. My favorite and most practical branch of math; so buy, learn and beat the lotto, cards, horses, and slots.

Practical way to become proficient in problem solving
I have used this book to teach myself statistics and probability theory in a relatively short period of time. The essentials are well laid out and reinforced with plenty of examples and exercises. I would recommend using a Schaum outline authored by Murray Spiegel for becoming proficient in problem solving in that particular area. I got started this way after reading the book, Indiscrete Thoughts by Gian Carlo Rota.


Related Subjects: Author Index Reviews Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Reviews are from readers at Amazon.com. To add a review, follow the Amazon buy link above.