These novellas require readerly effort and patience. In what at first seems like a bit of a patchwork they tell a sort of blinding truth, in the tradition of Hasidic folk tales. God is not only a presence, but a character. In a mirror of the human mind, an assortment of worlds - places, times, emotional and mental states - somehow coexist. There are important yet homely recognizable details plucked from bourgeois prewar European life, but no quaintness in the descriptions of the characters' histories in Europe (mainly Germany, Hungary, Austria, Rumania) and then Palestine and Israel. For example, the protagonist segues quite reasonably from a consideration of an ice cream cone to the burden of his father's mental illness - in several paragraphs. Love among people (parents and children; men and women) is often a troublesome thing. "Women, Joseph thinks, yearn to embrace a man, and a man yearns to embrace his Creator [...]"

Patience is required, and rewarded. The presence of the several languages (German, Yiddish, Hebrew, Arabic and the English of the translation) is the tip of the iceberg, really, in these stories that attempt so much. Definitely worth reading.

This book contains two novellas - each excellent and unlike each other.

The Book of Joseph is written in a mix of poetry and prose. It follows, to varying degrees of detail, the lives of several individuals who lead intersecting lives. Don't consider this "just another Holocaust novel" - it is a significant and unique addition to the corpus of Jewish Holocaust literature.

Katschen is a very low key novella following the life of an orphan in Palestine - describing life through the very imaginative child's point of view. Katschen's view is a delightful mix of naivete, taking words literally, and a vivid visual imagination. His life is followed through care by an aunt, by an elderly uncle, thru a kibbutz, a friendly Arab, the police and finally by his father - a man confined to an insane asylum through most of the story.

Both tales include footnotes that translate the bits of German, Yiddish, Hebrew and Arabic that occasionally occur. This multilingual facet is the only trace of a scholarly background on the part of the author.

Yoel Hoffman is an author with absolutely stunning control over his story - an unerring sense of concrete detail in sparse prose. I have yet to find any of his work less than awe inspiring.

The entire series is excellent!!! I have all four and I highly reccomend them. They teach science, literature, native american culture, and give children a respect for the natural world at the same time. (there is even the occasional bit of math thrown in). My son loves doing the activities with me! Excellent for unit studies!

We use this book as a homeschool social studies/ecology resource. Each section begins with a Native American story related to the topic of the chapter, then moves on to a discussion of the subject matter. Each section also has activities/experiments, questions for review and discussion, and recommendations for materials for further study. My kids really look forward to each lesson in this book, because the information is presented in a fun manner, and the activities are appropriate for a wide-range of ages!

The entire series is excellent!!! I have all four and I highly reccomend them. They teach science, literature, native american culture, and give children a respect for the natural world at the same time. (there is even the occasional bit of math thrown in). My son loves doing the activities with me! Excellent for unit studies!

While all of the "Keepers" books are excellent in their presentation of Native American stories and activities to enhance learning about the natural world, this one is my hands-down favorite. There is something magical about the night, and we have strayed so far from that magic in our incandescent world. The stories and activities in this book will allow you to try and recapture some of the enchantment of the nocturnal world for your kids and maybe even for yourself.

The stories themselves are very tellable. I have had sixth graders learn and tell these tales. The activities are broken into categories, such as the night sky or nocturnal animals. This is an excellent resource for anyone working with groups such as Scouts or nature centers, wishing to incorporate enjoyable activities and stories into their night-time programming.

As humans have done for eons before us, take this guidebook with you to your next campfire, and share the magic of stories spun by fireside.

This excellent tome is aimed at those sitting the boards examination or the UK FRCS(Tr & Orth). It is highly readable and concise and constitutes an excellent alternative to Miller's textbook of Orthopaedics. however it is more expensive but should be obtained in the year leading up to the examinations. Highly recommended.

This text is a must for Orthopaedic Registrars and trainees about to sit the FRCS(Tr & Orth) / Boards examination . It is a credible alternative to the Miller textbook ; Review of Orthopaedics. For hthose tired of wading throgh longer texts it is easy to read and easily digestible. It should be a readily accessible tome in Orthopaedic Departmental libraries

I would rate this book ****** if it were possible. If you are looking for material on how to start a "software metrics program", look no further. This is the ultimate reference on software measurement initiatives. The PSM method is compatible with the CMMI (Measurement & Analysis Process Area) and the foundation for the ISO/IEC 15939 standard. All of the authors are recognized authorities in software measurement and process improvement. Dr. Barry Boehm (COCOMO author) has written the foreword. The PSM process is sponsored by the DoD and the U.S. Army. The book itself is comprehensive, well-written, and easy to read. It provides ready-to-use templates such as "Measurement Construct Template", "Project Measurement Plan Outline", and "Data Verification Checklist". Chapter outline:

1 - Measurement: Key Concepts and Practices
2 - Measurement Information Model
3 - Plan Measurement
4 - Perform Measurement
5 - Analysis Techniques
6 - Evaluate Measurement
7 - Establish and Sustain Commitment
8 - Measure for Success
Appendix A - Measurement Construct Examples
Appendix B - Information System Case Study
Appendix C - Synergy Integrated Copier Case Study

Note: Appendix A provides 14 detailed, complete examples of measurement constructs ("metrics"). Appendixes B and C provide 2 comprehensive case studies (approximately 60 pages).

It would require at least a 2-day workshop to address all the information provided by this book (probably at 10 times its price). You can't afford to miss it if you are more than casually interested in software measurement. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

There is a wealth of material available from the PSM site, including the PSM Insight application and PSM Guidebook. However this book is not redundant because it is structured as a clearly written introduction to practical software measurement, that includes excellent guidance for implementing it into your organization. In addition, the 304 pages that comprise this book manages to convey the information contained in the existing PSM documentation, and does so much more succinctly.

I found the most valuable parts of this book to be the clearly described measurement model, and the way the authors distinguish between data that is useful to projects and organizational data collection and analysis. This material places PSM in context and is a sound starting point for an organizational SQA initiative.

The case studies reinforces the mechanics of PSM, and also contain advice and pointers for implementing enterprise-wide measurement. Although I've been following the PSM initiative almost since its inception and have read all of the copious materials available, I still gained much from this book. If you're establishing an SQA function or striving for CMM level 4 or above you'll find this book invaluable. The URLs provided will lead to even more material, including a free Windows-based software tool that fully supports the practical software measurement process.

Tobin's book has been around for a number of years now. Nevertheless, it continues to set the standard in the creation of video ethnography. Graduate students across the nation use this book for its brilliant methodology and for his insightful readings of culture.

Tobin et al compare preschools in Japan, the US and China in a fascinating cross-cultural study. What makes this study so compelling is that you hear not only the authors' interpretations of what they see, but also the opinions of the teachers, administrators and the parents OF ALL THREE CULTURES. By having parents, teachers and administrators watch video tapes of the preschools in the non-native country, you get an eye-opening assesment of what each preschool is trying to do in its culture and how it compares with what other preschools accomplish. I have my daughter enrolled in a Japanese preschool, and the opnions and analysis on what Japanese preschools are like is dead-on, as is the analysis of the American preschool.

The real eye-opener for those readers not familiar with preschools in Japan is how chaotic, loosely-structured, and easy-going they are. The 30-1 child-teacher ratio makes chaos inevitable, but it forces the kids to learn how to deal with each other, rather than an authority figure. Contrasted to the American pre-school style, where the teacher runs the show, enforces the rules and molds the kids to act in a manner that the teacher/school has decided is appropriate, Japanese kids actually get more practice resolving conflicts and taking responsibility for problem-solving.

This is actually one study that is fun to read, too! Highly recommended.

I really don't think we can put Hugh Nibley into a book, much less a box. But this book comes in third, after "Approaching Zion," and "Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present."

This book covers the Joseph Smith ground, and deals with the long and noble tradition of telling tales about Joseph Smith. It is really an omnibus reprint of several other books.

"No Ma'am, That's Not History." This is Nibley's famous response to Fawn Brodie's "No Man Knows My History." This book, or booklet, can be read in one setting, but it is a sound and full refutation of Brodie's rather overrated book. I have read it, and, no, it is not a slam-dunk. Aside from its original purpose of outlining Brodie's absurdities, it also demonstrates Nibley's methodology in responding to the critics: he has the primary sources in order, and uses a scathing and well-honed logic to lustrate his points. This mini-book is a great gateway for Nibley novices.

"A Note on F. M. Brodie." This article rounds out Nibley's discussion on Brodie, and serves as a coda and outro to the previous section.

"Censoring the Joseph Smith Story." This is one of the funniest history you will ever read. Nibley runs among the footnotes of Anti-Mormon literature, and illustrates how the stories of Joseph Smith have been embellishes and exaggerated over time, as one anti-Mormon critic mindlessly quotes another, without ever reading the primary documents. It is a good illustration of not only the perils of plagiarism, but of the childhood game of "Telephone."

"The Myth Makers." This book is the transcript of the celebrated court case of "Joseph Smith v. The World." We Nibley's Shakespearian background shines through in this acidic and stinging satire. It reads as a play, or a Socratic dialogue, where every one of Smith's critics since Dogberry takes the stand against Joseph Smith. The key, and the very subtle point to this book, is that Joseph Smith never takes the stand.

"Sounding Brass." This book deals specifically about the tall tales surrounding Brigham Young, and his plural wives. It deals with the later anti-Mormon literature, especially about the book "Wife No. 19." The crown jewel of this book is Part 3: How To Write An anti-Mormon Book (A Handbook for Beginners). Nibley lists the 35 rules essential for any and every anti-Mormon book. I think Rule 17: "In Place of Evidence, Use Rhetoric!" (p. 495ff) should be memorized by every undergrad everywhere, since we fall prey to rhetoric so easily. One I understood this rule, my mind was reborn into a whole new and better organ. There is a difference between rhetoric and evidence. Rhetoric is just a series of arguments, rationales, ratiocinations, and philosophies without any evidence, data, facts, or proof. Confusing evidence and rhetoric is confusing a cookie with a cookie sheet. Your jaw will thank you for choosing the right one. This one paragraph alone justifies the books existence, and makes it worth our hard-earned dollar.

This book is a great gift for anyone curious about anti-Mormon literature, or if you yourself are curious about an intelligent response, or weather there is any intelligence at all in this ever popular genre of books.

In this thorough book, Nibley reveals the real stories behind criticism of the LDS (Mormon) Church. Once you understand where some of these tales originated, the weak foundations of the most frequently-heard attacks on the Church become crystal clear, and sometimes sadly laughable. Nibley's dry humor is delightful and his enthusiasm is contagious. This book is a MUST-read if you are interested in the LDS Church. It is particularly important if you've been misled by the critics. Read this book and check Nibley's historical sources before you believe what you read elsewhere.

This ia a truly masterful work on a person British Columbians recently selected as their person of the century.

Mitchell has done a top notch job in recounting the life and times of W.A.C., using the medium of a biography to relate the growth and development of a region. This is even more remarkable given the disfavour that biographies of white, male politicians have fallen into in the past few decades as a historical means of recounting the past.

Mitchell relies heavily on personal interviews he conducted with Bennett in the last years of his life, along with those of the many individuals involved with this first Socred regime. The only fault I can personally site with this book is that it might be too sympathetic, a point Mitchell even alludes too!

There is not much that this book misses out on. It starts literally at the beginning with W.A.C.'s start in New Brunswick, the move to Alberta and the starting of the first hradware strore, and then the final move to the Okanagan where Bennett was to become involved in politics, leading a rather obscure existence (with a few failures along the way) before he finally bolted from the coalition government to start Social Credit in the early 1950s - a move which was decidely different than the grassroots movement of Social Credit in Alberta. Social Credit in B.C. would always be a top-down movement.

Regardless, this is an excellent piece of work and does much to shed some light on the political history of a province whose historiography has been woefully inadaquete in this area.

With the ascention of the technocrat Bill Bennett to the premier's office, one may indeed wonder if the age of populism in B.C. and across Canada is over. David Mitchell provides a masterful picture of one of Canada's great politicans; a man in the exclusive company of past politicans like Bill Aberhart, Diefenbaker, Mitch Hepburn, and Joey Smallwood. The difference between Bennett and these others is the amount of success in their political careers. Mitchell also guides readers through the time of expansion, "The Rise of BC," accomplishments that were largly due to the efforts of it's premier. Mitchell states that when Bennett finally passed away in 1978, BC was, for the first time in a quarter of a century, on it's own. He's right. BC has always lacked strong premiers to lead the province since Bennett. The book is a beautiful journey through Bennett's life, his times, and the province he moulded in his image. Anyone wishing to understand BC politics and BC in general need to first understand the man who defined both, and Mitchell does an exceptionally good job of doing so.

"Women Confront Cancer" presents strong, positive women who refuse to become victims of their disease. "Passive patients fare worse" is a Medical Literature classic truth, yet breast cancer patients are treated like robots: their bodies are cut, burned with carcinogenic radiation and poisoned in order to "kill" the cancer. Unfortunately, doctors can't kill disease, only the patient. Alternatives are the future. Disease cannot be cut out of the body, but cancer can be healed. It takes work and strength and dedication. It takes research and experimenting to find out what works. It can be done and without medical "treatments" which will someday be called the dark ages of cancer treatment. These women did it their way. They showed the way to survival. This book empowers all cancer patients, men or women.

For anyone considering an alternative or complementary cancer therapy, this book is a guide to the pitfalls and the opportunites, the struggles and triumphs of choosing your own way. An inspiring account of how 21 women, very different from each other, faced their diagnosis of cancer, evaluated the science, used their intuition and made their own choices about treatment and how they would live their lives. This collection of their stories, told in their own words, is set against the backdrop of conventional medicine and the emergence of complementary and alternative cancer medicine in America. The collection is an illuminating read. Every woman can find a bit of herself in this book which is empowering and instructive.

The stories describe life in the opium dens, dealing with the Federal Narcotics Farms (Texas & Kentucky)and dealing with the pressures applied in the Anslinger era. It's a telling exposé of how little progress has been made in Drug Control Policy.