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Book reviews for "Potter,_Stephen" sorted by average review score:

The Theory & Practice of Gamesmanship
Published in Hardcover by Buccaneer Books (2001)
Author: Stephen Potter
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The Funniest "How to Book " around...
Potter has performed an invaluable service for those of us who must rely on cunning and guile whenever faced with more talented competitors. By taking advantage of the good nature and naivete of an opponent, the skillful "gamesman" often triumphs (or at least saves face) despite a relatively poor performance on the field of play. I laughed so much it hurt.


Exorcisms and Ecstasies
Published in Hardcover by Fedogan & Bremer (1997)
Authors: Karl Edward Wagner, J. K. Potter, and Stephen Jones
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Limited Buy
I really excellent read. Will really chill you through and through.

Superb
This collection is an essential purchase for Wagnerphiles. Buy it now.

Buy It Soon Or Miss It
This book was printed in a hardcover trade edition of only 2000 copies (which is the version being sold here at Amazon) and a limited edition of 100 signed copies. The book is excellent (see the other reviews for details), so do not delay if you are interested in buying a copy. The editorial review for this book should state that this is a very limited offering.


Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Cover to Cover)
Published in Audio Cassette by BBC Consumer Publishing (01 November, 1999)
Authors: J.K. Rowling and Stephen Fry
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Even adults can enjoy this ... well almost
Much has been made of the Harry Potter series. Here in the UK the hype has been almost at fever-pitch with the publication of the latest in the series. With all the fuss, and my nephew an enthusiastic reader of these books I thought I'd find out for myself whether the accolade was appropriate.

Adults, friends of mine amongst them, have read the book for themsleves (as opposed to reading it aloud to their offspring) and while I decided I wouldn't be seen reading it on a train, I would do so in the evenings.

It's very readable. Rowling manages the difficult balance between readability pitched at a young age and a fairly complex plot. My own love of literature was nurtured on Enid Blyton's Famous Five books, the style and grammatical content of which are execrable. I found this to my cost when trying to read them aloud to my children many years ago and began to realize why many libraries in the UK had banned her from their lists. Rowling's construction, on the other hand, is excellent and reads well aloud. I understand that her later novels in the series are even better, interweaving more complexity for 'older' appeal into the work. This may well encourage me to borrow the next novel from my long-suffering nephew.

Rowling also doesn't fall into the trap of dishing up cheesy humour for the youngsters but opts rather more for a nascent dry humour which is more stylish and may well prepare youngsters for a more advanced appreciation of humorous literature.

The characters are reasonably three-dimensional for a children's novel, and the story-line holds up well for the most part. Her inventiveness in the paraphernalia of the magic world, and in particular the game of Quidditch is particularly to be commended. There is even a moral message in this novel, one of not judging too hastily who is one's friend and who is one's enemy, an excellent topic for human cubs developing interpersonal skills without guidance.

The content is, however, very British (I almost said English but she's Welsh) and I can see where some references might need explanation to American readers, but this will not detract from the novel's enjoyability.

In summary, then, an excellent read for 9 to 13 year-olds, an amusing read for adults and pleasantly engaging to read aloud to young family members.

A hit.

wizarding about
This is the best book of the Harry Potter series so far! When Hagrid tells Harry that he is a wizard it's just so exiting for him and you don't know what is going to happen. I think it would be so good to be told you're a wizard (or a witch) and be famous too. J.K. Rowling is a really fantastic author! She makes up the most interesting names for the people and places, like platform nine and three quarters. My favourite character is Ron Weasley. Also I like his pet rat Scabbers! I'd like to taste the lollies and food in the wizard and witch world and especially butterbeer. I think it was interesting how you didn't know what was going to happen next. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone is truly the best book in the series so far, in my opinion! I would recommend it to anyone from the age of six to sixty and over! J.K. Rowling is the best author to come up with a book that would be loved so much all around the world. Keep up the good work and keep writing those Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling!


Programming Perl (2nd Edition)
Published in Paperback by (1996)
Authors: Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, Randal L. Schwartz, and Stephen Potter
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Who said ....
The book is definetely written for those who at least have some (or maybe a little more than just "some") programming background, and willing to learn Perl from the author of the language.

I read the first edition of the book, which was about 200 pages, or something in that range, which filled my mind with nothing but questions. Current edition, however, could answer to all of those questions (well, almost). Of course, to make it answer them I had to re-read the book four times. But none of the books I currently own (and I own quite a few) could've taken me to the innards of the language so deep no matter how many times I had read them. So the book is of value.

The Camel book, especially, does a great job on Regular Expressions and pattern matching. If you want to learn RegEx of perl in very details, you definitely need listen to the author of Perl. "Mastering Regular Expressions" by Jeffrey Friedl is also a good choise, but doesn't include the latest updates.

Formats aren't covered very well though. So you might consider "The Lama book" for that ("Learning Perl"). Still, none of the books can tell you about the innards of the Perl in so much detail overall than "Programming Perl".

OOP is also toched upon in the book. Since purpose of the author is not to preach you OO lingo (but plain Perl), you'll treat that part just as an intorduction to OOP and consider "Object Oriented perl" by Damian Convey as the next text book.

I found chpater 14, "Tied variables" very helpfull though. It might remind you of DBM/Berkley DB, through the syntax

tie my %db, 'AnyDBM_File', 'my_file', O_CREAT|O_RDWR, 0664;

but unfortunately it's not about DBM at all. It is about how the "tie" function works, and teaches you how to create your own classes for implementing with "tie". After that chapter, I even had to update some of my classes and saved lots of time for their updates.

"Compiling", chapter 18 ,is a must read chapter for those who "live & breath" with Perl (like me, may be ?).

I don't want you to buy the book unless you have a good understanding of Programming or/and have knowledge of some programming languages. Otherwise, it won't help at all.

If your purpose is just to get started with Web applications, go for "CGI progamming 101" by Jacqueline Hamilton. It is a good start. But if you want to go even deeper, "Learning Perl" and "Perl Coookbook" is the next choise. Keep the "The Camel" book as the next (but definitely, not the last).

Recommended for any Perl bookshelf
I bought this book in 1998 when I was first learning Perl. Five years later as I write this review, this book doesn't cease to be the first place I turn for help. The first part of the book does a great job of explaining Perl concepts, especially pattern matching and regular expressions (which have a book of their own). The next part, which is what I now primarily use, is the function reference. I admit I have only taken advantage of part of the book's usefulness, since I haven't done much with Perl modules, a reference to which is also included.

Plus, the authors inject just enough light humor to make your programming project bearable. :) If I didn't find my current copy so helpful already, I'd buy a newer edition.

Excellent introduction and reference
I just started programming in Perl only 4 months or so ago. I had previously picked up some very CGI-oriented Perl books and these turned me off to the language. But _Programming Perl_ is wonderfully different, for a number of reasons:

First, it is about the language in general, not just about CGI programming. It has an excellent little introduction to the CGI:: module, but of course it also introduces you to hundreds of other useful CPAN modules.

Second, it isn't a "for dummies" book. You have to understand programs and files and loops. That said, it doesn't fall into the trap of teaching you how to translate C to Perl - it shows you the "easy" way of doing things (via hashes, OO, grep and map, etc.) without getting too caught up in the things that make other programming languages such an amazing sink of time.

Third, it teaches the idioms of Perl programming. Follow the idioms, and you'll generate readable and maintainable code.

It's not the only Perl book I own - I can also recommend Christiansen's _Perl Cookbook_ and Conway's _Object-Oriented Perl_ - but it is far and away the one I refer to the most.


Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife
Published in Paperback by The Vision Forum, Inc. (01 November, 2002)
Authors: Bill Potter and Stephen Lang
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Wonderful!
This is a wonderful little book and shows, believe it or not, the "tender" side of General Jackson. While the mere mention of Jackson's immortal sobriquet, "Stonewall," would strike fear in the hearts of Union Army commanders, his wife would one day write of, "...that tender and exquisite phase of his inner life." This book reveals Jackson as a "humble Christian and loving husband father" and bolsters the contention that Jackson is a worthy hero for men and boys today. Buy the book. (Rick Williams, author of "The Maxims of Robert E. Lee for Young Gentlemen.")


Commoners, Tribute, and Chiefs: The Development of Algonquian Culture
Published in Paperback by University Press of Virginia (1994)
Author: Stephen R. Potter
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Commoners, Tribute, and Chiefs
Potter combines findings from ethno-history, archaeology, and anthropology to trace the living patterns of natives occupying the Potomac Valley during the years from 200 to 1700. In particular, Potter uses these findings to trace the Chicacoan political organization, social behavior, and settlement patterns as they changed over time showing how and why the Chicacoans went from being a distinct group before contact with Europeans to moving to new land and merging with two other tribes and becoming the Wicocomoco by the latter 1600s and finally becoming landless tenants living on an English plantation. Potter shows that Chicacoan life (as well as the living patterns of other native groups in the region) was affected by changing subsistence patterns (increasing importance of agriculture), increasing population, conflicts with neighboring tribes, changing climate, and finally contact with Europeans.


Lifemanship, Or, the Art of Getting Away With It Without Being an Absolute Plonk
Published in Hardcover by Moyer Bell Ltd (2001)
Author: Stephen Potter
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A must for those who enjoyed 'School for Scoundrels'
It is undoubted that any serious library of classic English humour will contain this title, for it would show complete lack of literary candour to be without this `bible of the intellect'.


On the Right Lines?: The Limits of Technological Innovation
Published in Hardcover by Palgrave Macmillan (1987)
Author: Stephen Potter
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An evolutionary perspective on train technology.
Potter provides a highly analytical debate on the development of train technology from the perspective of evolutionary economics. By using contrasting steel track with magnetic levitation technology, he also asesses the reasons that we may have found ourselves 'stuck' with a sub-optimal form of rail transport.

This book is an excellent case study for anyone with an interest in the evolutionary economics perspective on technological innovation.


Robert Potter, Founder of the Texas Navy
Published in Hardcover by Pelican Pub Co (1901)
Authors: Ernest Fischer, Earnest G. Fischer, and Stephen L. Walter
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A MUST-HAVE BOOK FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN THE TEXAS NAVY
Ernest Fischer did an excellent job of blending information about the personal and political life of a largely overlooked Texas patriot. Fischer has managed to keep the book both intersting and factual from the standpoints of Potter's womanizing personal life and his firebrand political life in early Texas, using primary references. Like the other founders of the Republic of Texas, Potter's life had rough spots that many would see as flaws. After being kicked out of the U.S. House of Representatives for castrating two men suspected of dallying with his wife, and displaying other personal character flaws Potter went to Texas for a new start in life. Fischer details how much Potter contributed to the formation of the government of the new Republic and the organization of its Navy.

Fischer has provided the researcher in Texas Navy history with many little known but important facts not likely to be found in other published books. It is also very readable by both researcher and lay reader, written in an elegantly simple yet factual style.

I would rate this book with four and a half stars if it were possible. This book is a must-have for anyone researching the Texas Navy, or just looking for an interesting read on what life and politics were like in early Texas.


The Potter's Field
Published in Paperback by Warner Books (1995)
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The book was all right
I took the author to long to get to the point. She went all around in circles to get to the point

Compelling and Touching Mystery
This is the first Brother Cadfael I have been talked into reading, and I loved it. The characters are compelling and touching and the perpetrator of the crime is understood by the Benedictine monks, and, thus, the reader. It's the mystery that sucks you in, but it's the character development and the way the author tells of Medieval life that are the value here, I think. At the end, I teared up a bit. I'm anxious to read more about Brother Cadfael and his colleagues!

Extremely well written - a gentle & interesting story
I found this (unabridged audio) book at the library - knew nothing about the series or the author. What a pleasant surprise! Very well written, a meticulously crafted story that gently unfolds in a way that engages you from the start without any bumps or discrepancies, using a language and style that seem to come from the very times that it describes. Written with an obvious affection for the characters portrayed. And Stephen Thorne's narration is equally masterful. My recent joy at discovering that there are at least 17 other books in the series had my daughters rolling their eyes like crazy in the bookstore. Can't wait to read more!


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