Yes, his poetry sustains my life! Alan Michael Parker is the American answer to Tennyson's query about the true nature of the metaphysical order of logos. His poems ARE a thing of beauty when you read them. They reverberate from soul to soul, heart to heart, and wing to wing. Go out and buy this life affirming book!

In his book of poems about the vandals, Alan Michael Parker builds his poems like rooms. They become physical spaces to enter and exit, where the vandals act out their impulses. The narratives follow the raucous bunch through several situations, sometimes violent, often indulgently fun. Parker plays games with sounds that beg to be read aloud. The Vandals is speckled with wit, and it is deceptively simple on the surface; stepping further into the poems, however, reveals the complex layers. Parker makes his words work, but I believe they enjoy their job.

Alan Michael Parker's The Vandals is a startling, fantastic book that holds up to read after calculating read, amazing the reader both with its cheekiness and how tightly knit the poetry is as hidden, unsuspected levels of poetry are revealed with every new look. It has pulled me into unimagined levels as both an aspiring poet and a reader of poetry, making me aware of levels of consciousness both briding and standing between the poet and the reader, the poem and its subject, the characters involved in the poems themselves, and I'm sure even more relationships that I haven't considered yet.

Parker Tyler's 1945 epic poem, The Granite Butterfly, was hailed by William Carlos Williams as "the best long poem in English since The Waste Land." This beautiful facsimile edition includes the important reviews (by Williams, Marius Bewley & others) and correspondence concerning the poem (with, for example, Bewley, Williams, Ezra Pound & Kenneth Burke), as well as a charming introduction by Charles Boultenhouse, Tyler's partner, exploring the poem's central theme: his lifelong fetish for the matinee idol Carlyle Blackwell and its grafting on to the poet's Oedipus complex.

One of the finest literary works of the twentieth-century, lovingly reprinted in this edition. An epic about cinema and sexuality and what it is to be human. The accompanying essays are priceless.

This book is about all the strange events that take place in the life of Samanthat Scarlet, Peter Plum, Georgie Green, Wendy White, Mortimer Mustard, and Polly Peacock. This book is the junior version of the real Clue mysteries. If you read this book carefully you can figure out who did what and where. For example, in The Case of the Mysterious Letter, how does Polly know that the letter is a fake? Well to find all about the gang's adventures, you will have to read this mysterious chapter book.

The book very much reminded me of Gulag Archipelago by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. They are both in the style of a cycle and the perspective and depth of human understanding are similar. I have travelled through most of Eastern Europe and Russian and have an understanding of the area. A Dog's Day After Noon is the first book I have read by a foreigner to Russia that explores the kind of depths of the Russian soul that Parker does. He tells it like it is and seems to see the landscape without blinking, squinting or the unnecissarily microscopic focus that I have seen in other works of similar content.

I could expand upon the greatness of this book, but like the book itself, I will strive to condense my conclusion into a small space. It's a wonderful novel. Read it and it will enrich your understanding of Russia.

This is the best work of American fiction writtenin the last ten years. An evocative and skillful work, careful and sage. Deserves to be read.

This is really two excellent books in one. The first book is a comprehensive comparison of how the cognitive abilities of humans, apes, and monkeys develop. Like others of Professor Parker's books, it will be a reference for years to come. A particular strong point is the numerous easily-understood tables that present a large mass of important information in a readily-understood manner. These compare not just the development of the species, but the different theories that have been proposed about how development occurs. The second book proposes a theory about how the differences among primates evolved, then applies it from monkeys through apes and Homo erectus to ourselves. The theory is the opposite of that proposed by Stephen Jay Gould. Instead of being laid to neoteny, or progressive juvenilzation, the authors argue that the cause is progressive adultification. A very worthwhile book for anyone interested in the intelligence of humans, apes, or monkeys.

I guarantee this book will make you think differently than ever before. Not only does it give an outstanding representation of poetry that fits in the category of cross-gendered verse, but the introduction and conclusion provide a clear-cut, straightforward analysis and context in which to read the poems. This anthology cannot be compared to anything else, because it is so original. I have not found anything like it before, and yet after I read it, I agreed entirely. The editors explain exactly what cross-gendered verse is, and why it is not simply "cross-dressed." I have noticed on the internet that two universities are using the anthology as part of their classes. However, these universities are in Sweden and England. I hope that it is a result of not putting course information on the web, rather than not using the book in the States. This book would be a wonderful addition to any gender-studies, literary criticism, or poetry course. The writing is reader-friendly, as well as profoundly insightful. This would also be a great addition to your personal library, if you like new and refreshing viewpoints to add to your understanding of the world and literature. I recommend reading the essay at the end of the book before reading the poems. It provides the backgrounded needed to understand the cross-gendered concept, and why the editors chose the poems that appear in the book. The only qualm that I have with the book is that there is not more. Although the subject is covered well, I think that an in-depth extensive discussion of this concept could cover a whole book, itself. However, because this is an anthology, it is understandable why the essay is not longer. I only hope that the editors come out with a second volume.

This impressive collection will appeal to anyone with the patience to learn to respect what language can do. Parker's poems reward the reader who needs and wants a poem to be more than a banal reflection of life's tedium. At the level of the infinitesimal and universal, these poems bespeak an unmatched sense of poetry's aural and philosophical possibility.

_Love Song with Motor Vehicles_ builds upon Parker's densely and deftly crafted _Days Like Prose_ and the esoteric play of _The Vandals_ to offer verse that achieves the miracle of writing synchronously the infinite and the moment. Parker's poems extend far beyond their time; they echo past traditions (Eliot's "Prufrock" haunts the collection, as the title makes apparent) while they figure as a testament that contemporary poetry (this collection, at least) can balance an attentive poetic craft with an imaginative wit. These poems do not shy from grappling with pain, alienation, and grief; yet they instill a faith that remains long after the poem has finished: here, god literally is in the details (and the draperies, the bath, the broom, the vase), and Parker writes such intricacy with elegance.

Both unflinching and benevolent, these poems heighten our intelligence, embolden our hearts, and sustain our poetic, if not worldly, faith. Moreover, _Love Song with Motor Vehicles_ proffers the inextricability of intellect, love, poetry, and faith--a synthesis we could all do well to cherish, if not hope to express. Parker achieves such expression beautifully.

The release of Alan Michael Parker's third book of poetry is an occasion to rejoice. His work both deals relentlessly with contemporary culture and is informed by an encyclopedic knowledge of literary history. He sees with Shakespeare and Eliot while running a diagnostic on an SUV, as the title of his new collection, _Love Song with Motor Vehicles_, implies. Parker is virtuoso with the English language, who thrills the reader with his music, his intelligence, and the astonishing, lovely risks and leaps of the work.

In _Love Song_ Parker proves, as he did in his two earlier collections, that he is a brilliant craftsman but not merely so; his work is philosophically and psychologically complex, accessible to the reader, and reveals empathy for his subjects. One such moment of philosophical inquiry and personal empathy occurs in his poem, "Text" in which the poet admits "emotions have no words," and meets a woman snowblowing her driveway: "the enormous trumpet of the red machine / blew powder in the air / noise going nowhere as she wept." The poet asks what all real poets must: how can my pretty words account for the suffering of others? what good do they do? There is no answer except in the hope of reaching the reader, as Parker beautifully puts it in the title poem of the collection: "(In the gap /between the picture and the sound / you take my hand.)" This book is always reaching out to you with wit, music, painting, philosophy, and, above all, humanity.

For this reader, Parker's new book turns a significant corner in a poetic career. His debut volume (Days Like Prose, '97) marked his as a sharply distinctive new voice. The second collection was freshly formalist, deceptively fun, and a great read; five years later I still think it's no less than brilliant (The Vandals, '99). That book's success was a potential problem for Parker's third volume, in the hard-act-to-follow department. But with Love Song, Parker has become the kind of poet I'll continue to read from volume to volume, because his lifetime work will repay that investment. These poems follow The Vandals in every right sense, including leaving them behind, all but the echoes. Now what was there from the start really comes clear for me - though his voice and his sensibility are postmodern, Parker is an elegiac poet whose vocation is representing mutability, very much in the 17th century metaphysical sense. His speakers are smitten with the sentient world (in which they include enlivened objects), identifying with as many doors and vases as with people, and they're always finding unlooked-for qualities to be curious about, and then to love. Equally balanced between celebration and dirge, often in the same poem, he is maturing into a poet interested in the big questions, asked in small ways: how to live intensely with the knowledge of mortality, how to "delight in our daily dying," and then how to "go to the door/ and step out, and be gone." (These lines come from the first and last poems in the volume.) As time goes on, I read only the poets who ask such stuff of their art.

Since the solving of the genetic code, the priesthood of molecular biology has stressed animal biology, usually the complexities of development or neurobiology or immunology, as where the important science is going on. But microbiology has continued to find out amazing things, from the diversity of metabolisms that microbes use to live, to the molecular mechanisms of how microbes infect other organisms. I am a research scientist, working in molecular genetics, with shelves full of books. The Biology of Microorganisms is my very favorite textbook. I read it from cover to cover and was very impressed with its exposition of what I know, but even more with what I learned from reading it. I continue to reread chapters as my journal reading triggers questions about microbes. The chapters on microbial diversity, on what has been learned about how microbes live on iron oxidation reduction gradients, on the probable metabolisms 3.5 billion years ago, on the antiquity of photosynthesis, etc. There has been a renaissance in the study of diverse microbes. It is a huge field now and very difficult to understand its many strands. This book does an outstanding job of making it understandable. Anyone who thinks about the origin of life must read this book, for the diversity of microbial metabolism speaks volumes about early life. In addition, though the book does not stress it, anyone interested in life on other planets should read this book carefully, because of the diverse microbial ecosystems it describes.

The book is written for an advanced undergraduate, but I found that after the introductory chapters, it had just the right mix of explanation and detail to keep me engaged. A must buy.

If you are an aspiring microbiologist or simply a student or teacher of science in general wishing to have a well-rounded, solid microbial background, then this is an absolutely essential resource. It is an unsurpassed publication in the vast field of fundamental microbiology. It is designed for the upper-level undergraduate student and thus takes a holistic and all-encompassing approach to the field. However, I have no doubt that even seasoned instructors and professionals alike will gleen invaluable information from the material presented. Its authors masterfully and lucidly convey the salient points of their respective expertises in each of the major themes presented (general microbiology, microbial diversity, immunology and epidemiology, and molecular biology and microbial genetics). The sections pertaining to microbial diversity are particularly well done and informative, as are those providing a general, basic background to microbiology.

The book (ninth edition) contains 991 pages in 24 chapters, as well as a glossary, a superb index, and 2 appendices (the first containing useful bioenergetic calculations; the second presenting a taxonomic hierarchy from Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology). There are many photographs and micrographs (invariably of outstanding quality) supplementing the text throughout. These, in addition to various tables and clear, colorful figures, aid the student in visualizing the most important points of the text. The tasteful and copious use of color in figures throughout the book serves two purposes: It adds visual interest while detering the mundane, overly sober look of some other publications, and more importantly, it allows the reader to see vital associations between particular related elements in each figure, and often, in several figures. The book also employs the use of "feature boxes" to elucidate related or historically significant applications of material presented in the text. Rather than being distracting or disruptive to the flow of the text, I found these boxes to be informative and interesting supplements.

The overall look and feel of the book is very well done. It somehow actually looks INVITING, which, as any undergraduate student knows, is extremely appreciated when it comes time to actually sit down and do some reading. The text itself is presented in a clear, progressive manner from start to finish and provides the student with a plethora of essential concepts and facts in the immense world of microbiology.

As stated above, the book is aimed towards upper-level undergraduate students, so some of the more in-depth and detailed aspects of the concepts are understandably omitted. Otherwise, the book would have to be ridiculously lengthy and unnecessarily complex for its intended audience. As it stands, this publication is very comprehensive and will serve as a valuable resource for any student or teacher of the subject.

This great textbook from Michael T. Madigan and his collegues is an excellent microbiology textbook. It has great and colorful illustrations that explain the concepts such as DNA transcription, RNA synthesis, various biological tests, viruses(especially the operation of HIV virus. He did an EXCELLENT JOB on that topic), and other topics.

Besides the microbiology aspects this book excellently illustrates it also gives you an EXCELLENT biochemistry aspect of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, viruses and other microorganisms as well. It is EXTREMELY well written to the point that ANYONE can understand clearly what Michael T. Madigan and his colleges are trying to explain. Heck, it even has a little bit of genetics as well. I mean lets be serious here. What more do you want? He gives everything in a high-quality manner!

Overall this is a great book with great color illustrations, review questions, and is VERY CLEAR in its explanations of the concepts of microbiology, biochemistry and genetics. This is a great referance manual as well. I'm in pharmacy school and I still use this book as a handy referance to perk up any forgotten concepts in biochemistry, microbiology or genetics.

Anybody who criticizes this book don't know jack-squat of what a high quality textbook this is. I'm very happy that my microbiology professor at University of Missouri-St. Louis(my former school) chose this book as our class textbook.

I usually sell my school textbooks back but I'm not selling this one back due to its high quality. This book is too good.

Bottom line this book has everything you want. This is a top-notch book that will make learning microbiolgy fun, fun and more fun. I take my hats off to Michael T. Madigan and his collegues for working hard in writing such an excellent textbook. I hope the publishers keep publishing this book for the next 100 years.

Can Anyone Hear Us?, goes beyond typical methods of poverty assessment to get the inside track on global poverty through the use of Participatory Poverty Assessments (PPA's). PPA's seek to understand poverty from the perspective of the poor and directly involve the poor in follow-up action. This publication encompasses the uninhibited voices of 40,000 impoverished people around the globe. The result is a definition of poverty much richer than the traditional one, as well as, a behind the scenes evaluation of the current methods attempting to alleviate poverty in the world today. This new means of evaluating poverty is truly interesting because it puts a fresh spin on the issue.

Specifically, Deepa Narayan, the book's primary author, reveals that poverty is much more complex than generally perceived. She goes to great lengths to discuss that while poverty is material in nature, it has tremendous psychological repercussions. She weighs the voices of men and woman equally and uses the results of the studies to evaluate current programs, government, community-based and non-government, on the experiences of the people whom they aim to help. Finally, the book recommends various changes be made to status quo international poverty reduction programs.

Narayan succeeds in weaving the accounts of the poor into a convincing call to action without being overdramatic or whiney. Through her use of stories and quotations, her book has an unmistakable human cry; a cry that cannot be blocked from the ears of the reader. These unheard perspectives make the book a quick, yet thought provoking read. At times it seems that the personal accounts will never cease, and the reader is left feeling overwhelmed and depressed. This type of appeal is probably necessary, however, to awaken us to the reality that millions of people on the planet struggle daily for survival. Ultimately, the reader is left thinking, why didn't we consult with the poor earlier?

The most incredible issue highlighted in this book is the general lack of power and control the poor have over their lives. They are most often victims of circumstances beyond their control. Hard work does not make a difference. Many go to bed each night with their hunger unfulfilled, despite long hours of grueling labor. Their governments, our global markets, and even NGO's are not adequately responding to their desire to have a voice in the matters concerning their own fate.

Can Anyone Hear Us? is compelling. It gives a voice to those who have been unheard and forgotten and reveals that our current efforts to help alleviate poverty are falling short. It is an indispensable read for anyone seeking to understand the nature of global poverty.

Several studies from Europe have over time shown that children growing up in poverty have long lasting effects on their physical and mental health, medical service utilization and criminal behavior. Poverty is even today in developed countries like United States and Israel (about 25% of children living in poverty) a major public health problem of a magnitude that is markedly different than Scandinavian countries (3%). The official poverty rate for children (the proportion of those poor) in the United States declined sharply between 1960-69, had an upward trend between 1969-93 with a steady figure around 20%, since 1981. In 1996, the federal government counted 20.5% of the children poor, 18.3% of those 6-17 years of age and 22.7% of all those under six years of age. In 1996, 16.3% of all White children were living in poverty, 39.9% of all Black children and 40.3% of all Hispanic children. This book is the first in a series of three books on “Voices of the Poor” with information gathered from the views, experiences and aspirations of over 60,000 poor women and men from 60 countries. This first bring the cry from 40,000 poor persons in 50 countries. It is devided in seven chapters: Listening, definitions, state institutions, civil society institutions, gender relations in the household, social fragmentation and the conclusion with ways forward. The work has been undertaken under the auspices of the World Bank. In the pages of this book you will find testimony to the poor people of this world, their hunger and pain, but also strength and resilience, which will point the way forward. We can see the need for further research into the effects of poverty on child development, investigate resiliency, adaptive behaviors and find ways to make policy relevant research...

very interesting, full of true-to-life experiences. It throbs. I could feel it right away. tells us how the poor see their poverty. hope the rich can hear the poor...