Pete Shotton was John Lennon's best friend throughout his life, and this book gives a positive upbeat and revealing look at that friendship.

Starting from their rebellious childhood antics in Woolton and Quarrybank we are taken on a "Magical Mystery Tour" through the Quarrymen formation and onto Beatles superfame. Throughout it all Pete was the sane down-to-Earth component of John's life. Here's a glimpse of the Real John Lennon from getting every bird around (and the rest) to going off the deep end with Acid. It's sure to entertain you and keep you laughing with uncanny Lennon humor. The book is no whitewash, but neither is it the blackwash of Goldman's book. It's basically as close to the truth as a good friend can get. I also recommend The Man who Gave the Beatles Away and the new book, Lennon in America. I await the release of John's Diaries.

I very highly recommend this book to any Lennon/Beatles fan with a good sense of humour and an open mind. I Loved Every Page Of It. You wont be able to keep a straight face while you read it. What A Clown!

There are only three decent books on John Lennon: Albert Goldman's, Ray Connelly's and Pete Shotton's "In My LIfe". This book is almost completely free of the schmalz that ruins other biographies. It's truthful and frank and is quite fascinating. A good thing about the book, is that it focuses on the man rather than the music. From reading it, you do get an idea of what he was really like. Regrettably, I lent my copy to a friend who promptly left it on a table in a cafe or hostel in Paris (early '96). So if you found it - I want it back!

While I enjoyed reading the recounting of Northsides faith journey into missions I found the rest of the book to be of little importance to a small church leader. It seems to me to be an opportunity for Rowell to carry on about how bad mega-churches, seminaries, and traditional mission agencies are. This applies to the small church leader how?

Don't get me wrong I believe all small churches need to raise their vision for mission in the world and I believe God will equip small churches who are faithful for reaching the lost however and this book raises that vision but most of the book is unnecessary for small church leaders. Instead I would recommend Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby as a better book about increasing faith and vision.

Lastly Rowell tries to pass off his church as a "small church" however it was a church plant begun with a vision for missions from the get-go. It is not a surprise that the church grew quickly under their vision, but how is an established church without a clear vision for missions going to apply this book (and I purposefully don't say principles because Rowell falls short in this)?

If you are a small church pastor/leader think twice about this book. If you are a denominational leader get this book because it will reform your priorities about the small church and about developing leadership for the future.

In this day when the emphasis is bigger and better, sadly, the same attitude has hit the small church. As one who visits nationally with pastors and missions committees of these churches who mostly are under 200 in membership, I often get the sense these small churches feel their worthlessness and insignificance in the Kingdom of God. As a result, they feel the need to trust what little they are willing to do into the hands of the "professionals", those who they feel are better equipped to work in the international arena.

John Rowell's book gives hope and shines fresh light on how a small church can do great exploits for God. And really this is not a new concept. Going back to the church in Antioch which sent out Barnabas, Paul and John Mark, Rowell shows God is still perfectly capable of using anyone, or in this case, any church He desires. And it still is true, availability is far more important to God than is ability.

The case study in this book is the Northside Church's involvement in Kosovo, an area where most churches in the US would never ever launch a work. Yet Kosovo is exactly where they sense God's leading. And they are quick to try and find the indigenous church to work with and partner alongside them. I personally find this most refreshing that his church is not trying to "reinvent the wheel" and compete with the established chruch but to come along side it and become an Aaron/Hur type ministry.

Frankly, this book should be required reading of every pastor and of every seminary student and of course for everyone interested in missions. Were Rowell's principles to be seriously considered, who knows how much more could be accomplished in the Kingdom of God using the current amount of money and manpower we now have available. (Not to mention how involving church members in the pews would bring even more in churches into the mission fields.)

I found this book to be one of the most thought-provoking mission books I've read in the last several years. Not only does it tell the amazing story of how God used a small church that stepped out in faith, but it spells out the biblical principles behind the story. It repeatedly drives home the point that "It is not the size of our resource pool, but the limits of our faith and our vision that determines our impact for the kingdom of God." While this goes totally contrary to our American "bigger is better" mentality,it is a message that the North American evangelical church needs to hear.

"Magnify Your Vision For The Small Church" should be read by the pastor/leadership/missions team of every small church and also by the leadership of every mission agency. I believe God can use this book to unleash what is undoubtedly the greatest untapped resource for the cause of world evangelization - the small local church.

Having written an entire data warehousing system in db_lib I thought I'd like to call attention to this book's very good introduction to db_lib. The sample application builds a bulk loader that requires NO, I repeat, NO disk storage. This is possible because Sybase put in a special sub-set of db_lib that implements a bulk-load API, and Microsoft got that in the bargain too. Using these techniques I have been loading 91 million rows to 38 tables in 5 hours on a old Compaq Proliant 4000. The total memory requirement for my loader, which is MetaData driven and so is doing a ton of other stuff too, is 4MB. It occured to me that somebody out there might really find this chapter a god-sent so I decided to add this footnote to my previous review. If you're doing SQL programming and you don't have this book you're working WAY too hard. Good luck!

I can't say much that hasn't already been said in other's praises, without sounding redundant (there's too much of that in this field already.) This book is worth every cent paid. Of all the poorer-quality publications out here, esp. those with reams of endless prose and little substance, this one comes through. I do apply several criteria when judging a computer book (yes, even "theory" has its place...sorry), but the ultimate test is: does the book REALLY address useful issues, and solve problems. This book scores. Make sure you keep this baby close to your computer at all times.

I really enjoyed this book. It is well organized and well written. Plus, it deals with issues and topics that just aren't covered in the twenty pounds of books that Microsoft provides with SQL Server. All the information on data storage, transaction processing and, especially, query opitmization is invaluable to any serious MS SQL Server DBA/developer. Knowing how the query optimizer "thinks" helps solve most SQL tuning problems.

REVIEW: This book performs a tremendously important task in reviewing and organizing most of teachings found in the public work of Peter Drucker. However, it is not a book for those new to Drucker and it is not aimed at mass market appeal. The author is obviously very knowledgeable about Drucker's work and often adds new insight, but the book has an academic aire and is just plain sterile. The style/tone choosen by the author is an academic one which is totally devoid of the author's personality and opinion. Flaherty wouldn't dare state something that isn't a provable fact. Thus, too many sentences begin with "According to Drucker . . .", or "Drucker maintained . . .", or "Drucker argued . . ." which gets boring quickly and makes for less enjoyable reading.

The book is at its best when it goes beyond organizing the content of Drucker's writings and gives the reader context and additional information. I found this mostly occured in the beginning third of the book when the author injected more of Drucker's personal history and his relationship with others (e.g. Drucker and Sloan). There was just too few of these moments in the book. Despite these limitations, I did find new insights into Drucker. Overall, I'd consider the book an essential for the serious Drucker student only. Others have plenty of other Drucker material to choose from first.

STRENGTHS: A very thorough, analytical look at Drucker's work. I liked the summary list of key concepts ending each chapter. Exhaustively footnoted and indexed. I repeatedly refer to the thorough list of "Published Works of Peter Drucker" at the end of the book.

WEAKNESSES: The book is too academic for my taste. It is totally devoid of the author's opinions and personality. The author has a tendency to use "big" words e.g. "chimerical", "propinquity", "insouciance", "shibboleth", "obsequious") not used by the average person.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Serious students of Drucker who've already read a number of his works. The casual Drucker reader or reader of mass market management/business books should look elsewhere.

ALSO CONSIDER: "Adventures of a Bystander" by P. Drucker (for an autobiographical-like look at Drucker); "The World According to Peter Drucker" by J Beatty (for a biographical look and an overview of Drucker's thoughts); and "The Essential Drucker" by P. Drucker (for a select sample of Drucker's writings).

[feedback welcome]

Peter Drucker is perhaps the most influential thinker on business and management in the world today, and John E. Flaherty explains why in this in-depth analysis of Drucker's work and ideas. He starts with biographical details and provides a definitive account of Drucker's achievements as a management researcher, thinker, and writer. Flaherty's fascinating book highlights Drucker's contributions to the fields of management and business strategy. Of necessity, the author includes summaries of Drucker's books and quotes from his work. But, reaching a little deeper, Flaherty also shows how Drucker, who began as a social and political theorist, came to create the new academic field of management. Many of Drucker's early ideas are still applicable today, as Flaherty makes abundantly clear in this book, which we [...] strongly recommend to managers of all levels and students of business.

The book came out after Jack Beatty's excellent book, The World According to Peter Drucker. That ordering of publication was fortuitous for the two authors, and for those who will read their books.

Beatty's book works from the level of the detail, exposing critical sections of Drucker's writings that few will have read. Based on that, many (myself included) found new works of Drucker's to examine. As a result, one's knowledge and understanding grew.

Flaherty's book works from the opposite direction. It begins with the themes and works towards the detail. After being immersed in Beatty's detail and intellectual history approach, this book extends your knowledge in another useful way.

He indentifies the six dominating themes as: (1) a systems approach (2) continuity and change (3) challenge of productivity (4) role of the practitioner (5) moral dimension (6) organization of ignorance.

Anyone who is familiar with Drucker's writings will immediately recognize these themes and recall favorite passages and examples. On the other hand, those who are new to the writings will find them helpful to put Drucker's work in context as the work is learned.

One of the things that amazes all those who know Drucker is the astonishing extent of his knowledge and perspective. He is just as likely to use an example from 1215 as one from 1995. He will refer to the evolution of Japanese art as readily as to the divisionalization of General Motors. Professor Flaherty has a wonderful quote from Drucker that explains that perspective. Drucker defines himself as a " . . . social ecologist concerned with man's man-made environment." Does that sound like any other management thinker you have ever met or read?

As Professor Flaherty points out, almost all management writings draw something from Drucker so these themes will also help you to see the Drucker influence in newer books.

More significantly, these themes are also deeply imbedded in the way almost every manager and executive thinks about managerial tasks and responsibilities. So, you can also connect Drucker to your own thinking and proclivities.

After reading this book, you will probably come away with an expanded and more appropriate understanding of the pervasive and defining influence that Professor Peter Ferdinand Drucker has had on us and our world. Our debt to him can never be repaid.

I congratulate Professor Flaherty on the fine job he has done in this important defining work. For future generations yet unborn, this book will become an important primer into the social effects of Peter Drucker's thinking and life. Even he does not realize how pervasive his influence is. What a wonderful tribute for his 90th birthday!

Use this book to consider how you could create more positive influences on the people who come into contact with you, your ideas, and your ideals.

From what i have read of this book it is very good, networking topics are very clear and in depth. Only problems i see with this book is that it talks about 10Mbps networks, but the standard is more and more going to 100Mbps, and soon to be 1000Mbps. And the second problem is that it doesn't cover Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, which like NT Server it is not exactly the same, OS. But all in all this a very good book very informative. I recommended it to anyone trying to get into networking, and even if you know networking, like my self this book is very good, but if you do not know NT Server this is the book to start with. Very Good Book in the end

I found this book very intersting and analogies were good. A good 101 book to just know how things work.

I liked this book and the topics it covered. I used this book to teach a Networking class and I think it touches on the basics of most topics. I think it was well written and written at a level that most everyone can understand.

This book is a great book if you're starting out UNIX, which it was for me. However, it doesn't show you much in the way of UNIX's programming enviroments for other languages (C, C++, etc.). But because of the really nice reference that this book supplies, it'll most likely stay on my shelf for a very long time.

And one more note - the author tends to be biased towards SCO Unix (now part of Caldera) and will, from time to time, incorporate SCO-only commands.

This book, I have found, is not especially conducive to reading straight through. However it serves my purposes as a refence tool quite well. The last 500 pages are nothing but explanations of the [most] commands available in UNIX. There are very few examples in this area of the book though. Overall, page for page, I think you'll find this book gives you the most quantitative and qualitative information for your buck.

This is the first computer book ever to make me cheerful reading it. The book proceeds slowly and carefully through the essentials of Unix. No flummery, no witchcraft.

Everyone with a MS-DOS background who is starting out into Linux , as I am, should start with this book.

This book (as the subtitle says) is a humorous collections of cliches and un-truisms that can be gathered from watching movies. The book takes only about five minutes to read and some of the observations are hilarious, some are right on the money, and some just don't make sense outside of movies. Each statement has a picture from a movie beside it that illustrates what is said. For instance, "The village Idiot is a veritable font of wisdom" quote is next to a picture of Forrest Gump. Some of the observations many of my friends did not understand. Unfortunately, if you are like me and get most of them, you've probably seen too many movies.

"No problem is so big that it can't be solved in 12 reels (or less)". This is a typical statement that one reads in large font opposite of a movie still that complements it. This book is funny and will make you laugh and maybe even says "Huh! Thats true!", or "Oh yeah!" The book is not really a read, so to speak, but a gander across some 200 pages which will take minutes to complete. The title itself is a play on Robert Fulghum's (forever parodied) popular self-help book "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten". Not something I would go out of my way for, however it has some insight into the world of movies and how there are some things that typify the cinematic lifestyle.

I hope you have as much fun reading this humorous collection of film cliche's as I had writing it and collecting the movie stills which illustrate it. I know I wrote it, but I still laugh out loud at my favorite entries every time I pick it up. WHY NOT PICK UP A COPY YOURSELF

Peter Ackroyd has a frustrating habit of taking absolutely wonderful premises, such as this one, and turning them into quite dull books. Occasionally he writes wonderfully, but he appears to have no idea of human emotion, and as normal his characters here are like stilted wooden puppets.

"Milton in America" is another piece of historical fiction by Peter Ackroyd, in which John Milton, accompanied by the boy Goosequill, flees England in 1660 for the sanctuary of America.

Milton swiftly becomes the leading light of the Puritan settlement he (somewhat fortuitously) arrives at. The Brethren rename the settlement "New Milton" in his honour. However, tensions arise, not only between the native Americans and the Puritans, but also between the Puritans and a neighbouring group of Catholic settlers.

"Milton in America" is at times funny, ironic and tragic. The main part of the plot revolves around the irony that Milton's flight from religious persecution does nothing to stop him resurrecting religious intolerance (that is, his own) in the New World. As such, the novel is a critique both of religious intolerance and of the oppressive nature of organised religions. It's much less of an historical mystery than Ackroyd's other novels, much more of a morality tale. Very well written, entertaining and thought-provoking.

G Rodgers

I'll leave it to other reviewers to summarize the plot of this excellent novel, instead calling your attention to the significant episode when Milton disappears from his Puritan village for 6 weeks, regains his lost sight, and is welcomed as an equal when adopted by an native tribe--whose mysterious animism he, in turn, adopts. We see a great 17th-century intellect overwhelmed by a 21st-century spirituality, and we contemplate the structure of faith, intellect, history and truth. Structure is a theme, too, as again Ackroyd's modus operandi is a strand of narratives and narrators whose knot of stories are worth the reader's untying. Of course, Ackroyd's protagonist is a Milton, not the Milton; and this Milton is a doer, not a writer. As another English revolutionary, GBS's John Tanner, said, "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches." So the novel never mentions "Paradise Lost" because Ackroyd's Milton has come to America to regain the paradise--to 'do' paradise--rather than stagnate in Restoration London to teach about a paradise in an epic poem. To take off from Stanley Fish's title on "Paradise Lost," we are surprised by Milton's virtue when he becomes our post-Christian co-religionist. By far, this is Ackroyd's best book from the 14 novels, biographies and critical studies of his that I've read. And the best Milton I've read in a many a year.

mr madden sure knows how to select great foods for this book. ihave great respect for his ability to eat. this is a very userfriendly cookbook, & i have successfully tried severalrecipes,,,they are fantastic. he may be a loudmouth, but he knows howto feed that big belly! :-)

jeff steadman

John Madden-I salute you! I grew up listening and watching you coach and provide excellent commentary on NFL games throughout my life! I always wanted a cookbook that dealt with those wonderful tailgates that you displayed on your TV shows, but never got a chance to give recipes! Thanks for "filling in the BLANKS"!!! You are a great man and I love this cookbook!

ed saunders jr. Nashville, TN

While many of the receipes are for large groups, the basic ingredients are here, including humor and barbecue tips for both novice and top gun. The review of other stadium and facilities for those who want to travel with their team let you know what to expect in Seattle or Dallas, for instance, and to me, that is worth the price of the book alone. Last year I gave the book to many of my male and female friends as a Christmas gift.

Designed for the intermediate users of Windows XP, this book, "Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Windows XP" is well-written and well-detailed.
With the analyses that covered both the Home and the Professional editions of Windows XP, it contains every information any intermediate user of the software would need. However, the more acquainted a user of this book is with any of the Windows 9x editions, the easier he or she will find this book. Even power-users appreciate the helpful annotations that are found in most of the sections.
But given the listed price of this book, it is a shame that Norton did not back it up with a CD-ROM. Nearly all comparable texts come with attached easy-to-use CD-ROMs, which serve as comprehensive e-books. And although that I still agree that this is a good book, I will say that its value for money ranks lower than those of many comparable texts that come with CD-ROMs.

Peter Norton's Complete Guide To Windows XP will introduce and discuss all of the new XP features in a style that is both conceptual and informative. Topics include why and when to upgrade to XP and if so, how to do it, understanding services and their configurations, explanation of the new internet options, such as third party cookie alert, firewalls, and web publishing wizard. Value information included on registry configurations and why the configurations work as they do, networking topics and integration ideas for home networks as well as explanations about using the networking wizards and understanding how XP works with software and hardware.

I purchased this book because Win XP Professional as it is preinstalled is very slow and I sought answers on how to enhance performance. This book had the most thorough section on performance enhancement which I followed with great success. I did have one problem and emailed the author who was kind enough to respond and solve it.