Some of the best writing of the late 20th century has come from Latin America, and Luisa Valenzuela keeps up that tradition with "Symmetries," a stunning collection of short stories. This gifted writer from Argentina writes stories that can be nightmarish, comic, disturbing, erotic, playful, Kafkaesque, brutal and witty.

Valenzuela takes us to many different places, and introduces us to many different people. The mind of a suicidal five year old, a young couple's visit to Venice, the twisted rites of a religious cult, the lonely gaiety of a dance hall, a torturer's chamber--these are a few of her narrative arenas. In many of her stories, Valenzuela plays with the conventions of the art of fiction. In one cluster of stories, she revisits and reimagines the female protagonists of traditional fairy tales; in the remarkable final story, she juxtaposes a tale of sexual violence with a bizarre, bestiality-tinged love story.

At times, Valenzuela's writing brings to mind the fictional achievements of Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Vargas Llosa, and some of the other experimentalists of Latin America. But Valenzuela's is a wholly original voice. Check out "Symmetries" and prepare your brain for an odd mixture of pleasure and shock.

Dona Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza was a poet of the Spanish Golden Age and a missionary to England during the time of the intense and cruel persecution of Roman Catholics there. This volume includes Carvajal's "Spiritual Life Story", the vows she made, her poetry and a selection of letters. It is a bilingual edition, with the original Spanish on the left and the English on the right. This makes it useful not only for people who have no Spanish and want to expose themselves to her work, but also for students who are trying to learn the Spanish of the Golden Age period, which can be quite challenging. The notes are enlightening and the bibliography is useful. Carvajal deserves our attention, and the editor Elizabeth Rhodes organizes her material well.

"Sentry Towers", by Maria Luisa Spaziani, and translated and edited by Laura Stortoni, is a beautiful dual language collection of poetry. "Sentry Towers" presents both the original poem, written in Italian, and on the opposite page, Stortoni's rendering of the poem in English, affording the reader the opportunity to refer back to the original. It is appropriate that both versions are presented. The translated version of a poem could never replace an original, which makes offering only the translated version an injustice. In presenting both the Italian and English, Stortoni does not pretend to REPLACE the original poem, but compliment it. Spaziani offers up "a summation of her most moving life experiences" in a simple yet deeply personal style. The book is divided into two sections, "Sentry Towers", and my favorite, "Verona-Paris Trip". The "Verona-Paris Trip" poems are an invitation into the author's psyche as she explores the memories of her trip and her love affair with Paris. Spaziani effectively conveys to the reader her sentiments of love, loss (of her mentor poet Eugenio Montale), and nostalgia. The end of the collection cleverly coincides with the memory of the end of her trip, narrated in the seemingly everyday, yet powerful words "I must leave again. I will do it/ without the flood of tears . . . I thought I would never see Paris again./ It was not easy to travel in those days./ I have returned twenty times (and yet,/ was I the same person?)." This book of poetry demonstrates why Spaziani is deserving of the praise she receives, from being considered one of Italy's foremost poets, to achieving candidacy twice for the Nobel Prize for literature.

A reader from Santa Barbara, CA

This book is a must have for anyone with the slightest interest in Italy's majestic country side. This book covers Tuscany and it's unparellel beauty in some of the most magnificant photography ever seen. An excellent gift to anyone!

This book is great! I bought a scanner and didn't really know anything about scanning. There were many other books on the subject, but it was only this one that I felt was for beginners. It is very well written. The chapters are well organized and things are explained clearly.-Chantal G.

If you want to learn how to lead a more healthy, balanced and fulfilled life, this is the book to read. It's brimming with amazing information about what sort of things undermine our health; contaminated food, antibiotics and doctors themselves, to name a few. I appreciated the humorous, frank style of the writing and the fact it was written from a christian perspective without being preachy. People from all walks of life should be able to benefit from reading it. Conventional medicine versus alternative medicine is a hot topic these days and this book clearly lays out both sides. Alternative methods are gaining popularity and now I understand why

"Dr Contreras's hospital has been a blessing to all of our viewers, and now Health In The 21st Century will be a blueprint for all to follow."

"Unencumbered by conventional ignorance and political correctness, Dr. Contreras's incredible book will arm you with what you need to know so you can make responsible decisions for your and your family's health."

For a smaller book designed to give a high level overview of Van Gogh's life and career as an artist, this book is surprisingly informative and well written. Van Gogh's life is covered in a well researched commentary and there are also sub-sections devoted specifically to "Masterpieces". The graphics are excellent and the analysis clear and concise. In terms of a good, brief overview of Vincent van Gogh, this book is first rate.

First of all I must say anything DK Publishing touches turns to gold; and the same goes double to infinity for Vincent. You would not believe the information packed into this 64 page carry anywhere book full of photographs of family and places he lived, amazing sketches, personal belongings, influences, quotes, and over 70 of his most popular and beautiful paintings and so much more! This is for everyone! It does not include "Starry Night" however.

Here are the contents: 1 YOUTH AND FAMILY 2 LIFE IN ENGLAND 3 PREACHING AND POVERTY 4 THE IMAGE OF THE SOWER 5 ETTEN AND THE HAGUE 6 PEASANTS AT WORK 7 A LOVE OF NATURE 8 A MATTER OF FAITH 9 A PEASANT MEAL 10 ARRIVAL IN ANTWERP 11 THE ANTWERP ACADEMY 12 A PARISIAN EXPERIENCE 13 IMAGES OF PARIS 14 THE IMPRESSIONISTS 15 NEW APPROACHES 16 JAPANESE INFLUENCES 17 SUNFLOWERS 18 A STUDY IN YELLOW 19 THE LURE OF THE SOUTH 20 VAN GOGH AND GAUGUIN 21 A HEROIC SELF PORTRAIT 22 THE AFFLICTED ARTIST 23 NATURAL STUDIES 24 COPIES 25 PROVENCAL LANDSCAPE 26 AN ERRATIC RECOVERY 27 A RETURN TO THE NORTH 28 THE FINAL ACT 29 KEY DATES/ VAN GOGH COLLECTIONS 30 GLOSSARY/ WORKS ON EXHIBIT 31 INDEX/ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

What makes this book so enjoyable is that it has it all. Most books I've seen on Vincent are either loaded with art but the book layout is impossible to read due to lack of organization; or the opposite--books with tons of information but nothing but black and white thumbnail sketches. This book is a gem; extremely colorful plus has some black and white-- but each and every page is fully organized and beautiful to read and look at. Bruce Bernard, you have got to be the most organized man in the universe! WOW!

A must own for anyone and everyone! Especially the beginner to intermediate van Gogh enthusiast, however; the personal belongings, photographs, quotes and succinctness of this book would be well appreciated by the most acumen of Vincent's studiers/admirers.

P.S. I highly recommend this book and any other of the series of Eyewitness books that strike your fancy. I also own book #25 Crystal and Gems. There are 110 different books from everything to Music, Fossils, Reptiles, Invention, Weather, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Bible Lands, Volcano and Earthquake, Shark; Aztec, Inca and Maya; Castle, Pyramid, Ancient China, Archeology, North American Indian, Ocean, Battle, Witches and Magic-Makers, Space Exploration, Crime Detection, Force and Motion, Chemistry, Time and Space, Astronomy, Earth, Human Body, Medicine, Technology, Electronics, Renaissance, Impressionism, Goya, Manet, Monet, Leonardo & his times, Future, Mythology, Titanic, Football, Hurricane & Tornado, Presidents, Baseball....on and on! Oh I've got to buy a few more I see!

Well, very unusual and interesting book. Unusual, because photos of Paris are given under different angles. Interesting, because...simply interesting to look at famous places sometimes at 360 degrees view.
However, this book has one disadvantage or may be I did not understand the idea of authors. At the end the book there are all photos in small size and black-white color (back pictures). But sometimes the pickup angles of back pictures do not agree with the same pictures in the book. For example, back picture is of 180 degree view, and real photo is 90 degree. Therefore, you feel that there is a flaw of the book. As for the rest, I liked it.

Even if you've never been to Paris, you'll still appreciate the photography in this book. If you have been there you'll also find that the book paints a beautiful portrait of the city. I bought a copy for my wife's birthday and she keeps it in the livingroom near our photo albums. We'll look at our own photos when we want to see how Paris was during the brief time that we were there, and we'll look at this book when we want to think of Paris at its dreamlike romantic best.

I have found few computer books that can be used both as a reference manual and as a way of learning the programs ins and outs. This satisfied both needs for me. A very good job of describing many of the potholes that might be encountered and descriptions of what to do. The program must have been used to write the book.

Even experienced users will learn something from this book. I have used Microsoft Publisher for several years, but it wasn't until I read Microsoft Publisher 98 By Design that I really understood the program. Ms. Simone does an excellent job of explaining how each and every tool works. After reading this book I felt confident using advanced functions, like mail merge, and even designed my own Web site!

This is really two books in one. The first part of the book is a technical guide to Microsoft Publisher. This section includes lots of screen shots and step-by-step instructions that are far superior to the skimpy manual that comes with Publisher. In the second part of the book Ms. Simone teaches you the basics of good design by walking you through 13 original projects. Whether you need answers to your technical questions, or inspiration for your own designs, this is a must have book.

I have always felt that much of the Bible and the Church was hiding the heart of Christ's message. The Bible seems a tool that the Church arbitrarily canonized to use for justification; eerily much like the teachers of law that Christ came to nullify.

Tolstoy goes to the original Greek texts and renders a striking and illuminating account of Christ's message from the four gospels. He purposely does not delve into Christ's miracles or divinity. Why?

Well, Christ himself was more concerned that people understand his message of how to live one's life in the spirit than to worship him because of his divine acts. Religion is dead if it is not lived continually. Tolstoy dared to explain with clarity how to live Christ's message. It is harrowing if you understand what is asked of you.

"...small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." -Matthew 7:24

I know why this was said now and is rarely emphasized in churches. Read this book if you want to change and are open to the idea that Christianity has been severely perverted.

This is the kind of book either you like or you hate.

Three kinds of people will read this book. The first (and most moderate) will be Tolstoy scholars, etc. interested in his religious beliefs and influences, and there readings of this book will be value-empty and hygenic. The second group of people will be those akin of mind to Tolstoy, and they will love and cherish this book ahead of almost any other: when the philosopher Wittgenstein first read this book he decided that it was spectacular and went off into the countryside to begin to change the world (and failed... leaving Austria to go and study with Russell at Oxford....) The third group will be more traditional Christians-- for whom Jesus' particular authority and the authority of the Church handed down through the Fathers is paramount, and they, generally, will detest this work.....

I love this book. I find it splendidly written, insightful, and clever: I'm of the sort who would toss out the whole of the Bible excluding Ezekiel, Daniel, and James: I want Christ as a man and a social reformer. Unfortunately, Gandhi and Christ were not usually considered one in the same. For people like me, this book is a must-read and almost guaranteed as a world-changing event.

For more traditional Christians, this book is probably better left forgotten. It's going to be objectionable and even with his style being beautiful, there are better things to be read....

Tolstoi, one of the five best novelists of all time, in any language, was born into a rich and powerful family (second only to the Tsar) and loved wine, women and song; was married and had fourteen children. In short he was a superstar! And suicidal, depressed and lonely until he learned to live like a Christian instead of living like his church would have him live. He leaves the "churches" contributions out of the Gospels and leaves Christ in (for which he was proudly excommunicated). If you have rejected Christ because of the hyprocisy of the church and the people who run it - get this book and get a life.