The Carrot War is a wonderful story about some Horrible Hares and some nice rabbits. The Hares steal their carrots and take them back to Fort Hare. The rabbits develop some plans to get their carrots back. The illustrations are wonderful, with lots of details to look at.

My son loves this book and likes to pretend we're all rabbits (or horrible hares) and have to escape, etc... So, the book has inspired his imagination.

Unfortunately, this book ends during the '92/93 time frame. That's too bad, because this is one the finest rock biographies ever written--illuminating, meticulously written, insightful and sympathetic. This isn't one of those Kitty Kelley hackjobs, but a responsible, extremely readable portrait of one of the major composers of the post-war era. Highly recommended.

This is a sensitive and articulated unauthorised biography of Elton John. In fact Elton has favourably stated that this is quite an accurate account of his life.

Only Elton can fill in the gaps.

For compelling reading by Philip Norman and for a great insite to the life of a legendary music star try to get your hands on a copy of this book.

This book is an excellent reference work for anyone who may wish to visit historic ships. The listing of ships is geographical and supported by many photographs.

This is book is an amazing trip through the history of the group that took the world by assault and changed the rock and pop music forever. From their childhood to the break down of the group in 1970. From the Hamburg days to the Sgt. Pepper's psychadelic love summer. SIMPLY GREAT!

While having first-hand experience of what it is like to study inside one of Foster's creations (the fabulous Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and faculty of arts for the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK) I have developed something of a passion for his work. The excitement of Foster's designs and current projects is conveyed with each page, demonstrating his unique talents with materials and cutting edge design and the amazing clarity of his thinking. From his very first construction to the ongoing Reichstag renovation in Berlin, and the soon-to-be built Millenium Tower in London. This shows that Norman Foster is truely up there with the likes of Frank Ghery and his recent Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. In this instance, definately a case of being able to judge a book by its cover.

I have been a fan of this group since '65 and this is one of the best books written on the band. Unfortunately, it does not cover the group's entire career--rather it leaves off in the mid-80s. However, it does cover the Brian Jones time period (which is the most pertinent since this is when their best work was done in my opinion). Facinating reading and extreemly informative--great for learning of the beginings of the Stones and what drove them to be the greatest rock and roll band in the world! If I can recommend a few of my favorites along with this book it is Stone Alone (who better to tell the story than an insider), Our Own True Story by The Rolling Stones (if you can find it--it was published in '65 and out of print for over 30 years), Dancing With the Devil by Stanley Booth and (of course) A Life on the Road.

Although not on quite the same level of Volumes One and Two in this five book set of all of Philip K. Dick's short fiction, Second Variety and Other Classic Stories is a worthwhile read for any PKD fan.

Dick cranked out stories very quickly in his early years, and some of these tales do have a certain sense of being rushed, but others, including the title story are nothing short of brilliant. As usual, Dick focuses on dystopic futures that are politically and/or environmentally ravaged; usually these stories have a level of humor too, but others in this collection are more purely downbeat.

While some stories are just okay, I particularly enjoyed "The Golden Man," "Second Variety" and "Foster, You're Dead." There are some other great ones, too. I would recommend this to any science fiction fan who wants to read some truly original fiction; this is another good collection of Dick's short stories.

The man is good. If you have not read any of Philip K. Dick I would highly recommend any of his books. He is by far the best Sci-Fi writer ever. Some of my favorite short stories from this book are "The Father-Thing, The Golden Man, The Hanging Stranger." Heck, they are all good. They remind me more of episodes of "The Twilight Zone" then just Sci-Fi.

This book, third in a set of five from Citadel Press (who are doing similar definitive collections of Robert Bloch & Theodore Sturgeon), collects all of Dick's short stories, the vast majority of them from the 50s - not coincidentally, the high-water mark of the sf pulps. All are introduced by later-era sf writers like Tom Disch, Norman Spinrad & this volume's John Brunner; unfortunately, all take pains to point out that the true value of these stories was in their raw wealth of ideas, which Dick later cannibalized and expanded upon in his novels. During his short-story tyro period, Dick wrote fast and furious (how does a story a week sound?) and the conventional wisdom states that these tales are too one-dimensional, formulaic and crudely-written to have much artistic quality on their own merits. I strongly disagree. While Dick's later novels are of course worth reading, these early stories literally SEETHE with fevered imagination: it's important to note that he does not employ recurring characters or settings here. He literally starts each story with a blank canvas, which only makes his prolific output that much more astounding. All of his obsessions and central themes are already present, but emerging as they did against the backdrop of the American 50s, the oft-noted 'flaws' in these small gems lend an eerily authentic surrealism and subversive power that his 60s and 70s work (when the world he lived in was already waist-deep in 'science fiction time', to use a Spinrad phrase) somewhat lack. Actually, Dick's COLLECTED STORIES, like much of the most resonant 50s sf, can be savored as much for their horror-story frissons, or their mythic and allegorical properties, as they can as pure speculative fiction. (And one could make the argument that such work, produced under the spectres of McCarthyism, The Bomb, flying-saucer sightings, a growing militarism and the incipient gray-flannelled paranoia festering in the newly-minted utopia of suburbia, was much more daring and revolutionary than similar Dick-inspired work published in the far-less-restrictive, anything-goes 60s). Sure, many of the characters in COLLECTED STORIES read like print versions of Kenneth Tobey and Morris Ankrum, but therein lies their power; they're true to the era in a way that 'better-written', more fully developed protagonists probably couldn't be. Anyway, to cut a long-winded sermon short, readers drawn to either sf or horror, as well as those who nominally detest both genres but do enjoy a touch of strangeness and obsessiveness in their fiction, should run out and buy SECOND VARIETY and the other four books in this series. You may be surprised to find many of these 'one-dimensional' stories, written hastily for money, clinging like burrs to your subconscious long after the work of Great Authors have slid noiselessly from memory. Mandatory reading.

Norman turns in his usual better-than-average show biz bio, with careful research and lively writing. He leaves off after the death of Brian Jones, which in no way diminishes the book. He also gives a valauble assesment of the Stones' subsequent influence. A very good beginner book about this group.

This is about the most complete and clear-headed account of the drug busts, media scandals, paternity suits, and internal fighting, Andrew Loog Oldham, Marianne Faithfull, and Anita Pallenberg to date. Musically, it explains the Stones' transition from a blues cover band to a songwriting band very clearly. The Mars bar incident and Brian Jones' somewhat suspicious death are convered with restraint. Believe what you want.

It does seem to lose interest after 1970, but then, so did a lot of fans.

Especially good are the stories of the early recording sessions -- "Not Fade Away", with Gene Pitney, who just happened to be around, helping on maracas; "It's All Over Now", the song that forged the group's instrumental approach, recorded at Chess Studios; "The Last Time", described as a musical migraine headache or some such.

The talent and fall of Brian Jones are also well narrated here. (I am a Jones fan.) The story of the decline is clear-headed and fair, taking no sides. His impressions of the music of the guy who could get a tune out of just about any instrument he could pick up show some high regard -- his whinnying harp in "Not Fade Away", the country fingerpicking in "It's All Over Now", and especially the description of the inspired madness of his sitar playing in "Paint It Black."

This book also works as a good introduction to swinging London at its apex.

Just when I thought I couldn't cram any more Beatle lore into my cranium, I read Philip Norman's biography of the four lads. The story of the Beatles is known worldwide and I'll not repeat any of it here, except to say that Norman gives each phase of the group's life and career equal time and equal detail. Showbiz bios too often linger on an act's childhood and background (to prove that they've researched extensively?) or are simply a cash-in on current success and add nothing to the story that one couldn't get from People Magazine (see bios of Selena, etc.). If the book has a fault, it is that Norman has obviously joined the "John was the real leader and only decent songwriter" camp and takes swipes at McCartney's personality and music early and often. This is another subject that has been covered ad infinitum, and I will add only that this bias detracts my overall rating of this otherwise excellent and detailed work.

The Beatles were still recording when the first major book appeared about their lives and careers, and a two-disc record album by Capitol Records ("The Beatles Story") pre-dated even that opus.

I've read several Beatles books, and Norman's book remains my favorite. It is well-written, wears well (I have read it cover to cover more than once), and it's a fascinating story. Norman's clear interest in scholarship and accuracy allows him to present the Beatles sympathetically, but he never stoops to deification/iconography. He appreciates the humanity of his subjects; he does not worship them.

The book is divided into segments that parallel the career of the Beatles. I learned much I did not know. I was very touched by Norman's literary treatment of the late Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager who pursued a "tormented, double life" and found precious little happiness even while the world celebrated him as the entertainment impresario of his generation.

This book will make you think, make you laugh, make you cry and make you wonder. If you are too young to remember all the hoopla surrounding the Beatles in the early and mid 1960's, this book will tell you what all the shouting was about. More importantly, it shows you the humanity of the four young men who, as the Beatles, helped shape a generation.

"Shout!" has such an eye for detail that the reader feels they were with the Beatles throughout their history, from the distant childhood days in Liverpool to the not-do-distant days of "Abbey Road" and their break-up. While everyone knows the group split apart, it's Norman's keen observances and poignant style that draw you in, and make you care how it all happened. Yes, the end was unhappy -as most break-ups are. But the feeling at the end is never bitter and never cynical.

I enjoyed how Norman breathed life into the years when the Beatles were touring and recording. You can almost hear the banter down in Studio One at Abbey Road, or the arguments at Apple, or the wind-bitten playing at the rooftop gig. The subtitle, "The Beatles in Their Generation", is an apt description of the world described in this book. Whether it's a particular street in London, a cheap dive in Hamburg, or the sumptuous apartment of some pop star, you understand the Fab Four's presence and influence throughout.

Although McCartney was treated somewhat as the "villain" who caused the split between the Beatles, I don't see a real hatred on the part of the author. All the Beatles get their share of scrutiny, and Norman brilliantly and gently reveals the greatest rock band as being, simply, human. Anyway, fans of individual Beatles will know the real McCoy after so many years. "Shout!" was written soon after Lennon's death; it's natural that the book is something like a tribute to him. As a documentary of four incredible lives and eight tumultuous years in the 1960s, "Shout!" reads like you are there.