This is a compelling read. I have had the book for some time and just never read it.... But when I finally did pick it up I didn't put it down (except to eat and sleep) until I finished it. It is very reminiscent of Frank Abagnale's memoir Catch Me If You Can in that both writers were devastated by fathers they both loathed and loved and as a result turned, themselves, to lives of crime. Psychologically, it is very interesting, although it does not pretend in any way to be an analysis of the writer's actions or thinking or even feeling. This book has been described as humorous, but I didn't find it funny at all. It is painfully sad and excruciatingly honest and describes various situations the author got himself into, but funny they are not. In fact, after many of the crimes and weird situations with people he knew, he burst into tears, not being able to explain why. It's something we can all feel without having to know. I love to find such honest books. It was a delight to read and now I will move on to Rayner's other books.

I picked up this book on a lark and was very, very pleasantly surprised. The book is subtitled, "a memoir of crime," but the book is less about the author's life of crime than it is about his examination of himself. The story goes: Rayner, the author, is a smart Cambridge student whose life stifles him, so he turns to a life of petty crime and deception. Along the way, he grapples with such issues as love and whether he is destined for this life of lies (his father was a crook). But the tale is told through the lens of the middle-aged Rayner, reflecting on his upbringing. "The Blue Suit" is a colorful coming-of-age tale told with the powerful but delicate voice of a man reflecting on his growing up. I highly recommend!

This is a British contribution to the field. It is discerning and scholarly. Different concepts are clearly distinguished and defined. The authors have critically assessed the literature of diverse models of cognitive styles and only accept two basic dimensions --the wholistic-analytic (tendency to organise information into wholes or parts) and the verbal-imagery (tendency to represent information verbally or in mental pictures). Cognitive style is an independent construct or psychological notion, not related to intelligence, personality and gender. It is an important component of individual differences. It is related to a range of behaviours, including learning performance, social responses and occupational stress. Style (fairly fixed with probable physiological basis) is also distinct from learning strategy (can be learned). Riding and Cheema (1991) have developed a computer-based assessment tool, Cognitive Styles Analysis (CSA). Riding also has a booklet on Personal Style Aswareness (PSA) for personal development. All the representative learning style models associated with a learning-centred tradition are also evaluated. Part II elaborates on the relationship of style with behaviour. This is an academic book valuable for understanding the concepts. It is not immediately useful for teachers.

I think all of the students and educators must read this book. Because of learning strategies are very important in learning process. And want to know that "How we learn ?". The answers are here...

I took a class this summer and one of the Text we used was the Guide to Wildflowers of South Carolina. This book is very informative and gives many different topics for each plant listed. Later I met Dr. Porcher and he really knows his stuff.

My husband and I moved to the country,living on 5acres surrounded by woods.We have all kinds of beautiful wildflowers growing here.A guild to wildflowers in s.c.has helped us to identify alot of these flowers.what a wonderful book to have around.Its just full of helpful information on these plants.

ROAD TO PERDITION is a graphic novel by Iowa-based writer Max Allen Collins with illustrations by British comics artist Richard Piers Rayner. As a fan of Collins, I made sure I read his original before heading to the cinemas to see the recent movie adaptation.

Collins has written some great crime thrillers. I wish that his "Quarry" series, about an amoral hit-man, were back in print. Currently, those books are fetching some very high prices, but that's as it should be, because they contain some wonderfully tough and gritty writing. His comics work is of a high caliber as well: his character Ms Tree comes to mind, but there have been many others.

However, the movie and book of ROAD TO PERDITION are two very different animals. The graphic novel is much more of a true-crime actioner, with plenty of shootouts and long silences, where the pictures are allowed to carry the story without many word-balloons or captions. In his intro, Collins describes how the book was inpired by the extremely popular Japanese comics series, LONE WOLF AND CUB (which also was adapted to a movie, "Shogun Assassin"). It's apparent: anyone who has read LONE WOLF will recognize many similarities in the telling of the tale.

Ultimately, the movie (directed by Sam Mendes) does a better job with the framework of the story, deepening the relationship between the two main characters: a young boy and his enforcer father, who have to go on the lam to save themselves, when the father's crime-lord boss murders their family.

While Rayner's pictures are wonderfully evocative of the 1930s Al Capone era, the graphic novel may disappoint those who may have been fans of the movie, and who seek to further their knowledge of the characters. Still, it's a very fast read, and an enjoyable one.

Unlike the gangster adventure film starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman THE ROAD TO PERDITION presented in original graphic novel(comic)format is a Gangbuster Epic. Set in 1930--at height of Prohibition and depths of The Great Depression--Max Allan Collins renders this tragic story of former WWI decorated soldier selling his soul as ruthless hired killer for Ganglords of incipient Organized Crime (for sake of family in a bleakly unforgiving time of destitution). The anti-hero is Michael O'Sullivan. He is Enforcer("Angel of Death")to Irish mob oligarch, John Looney(in the film, Rooney).A series of violent mishaps and a young boy's(O'Sullivan's son)terribly costly curiosity frames this tale of betrayal, vengeance and SIN.

The movie evades PERDITION's theme: reality of mortal sin and damnation over against HOPE FOR REDEMPTION. Mendes--who directed Yuppie New Age Classic, American Beauty--was perhaps incapable of more than meretriciously glossing what is a complex study of evil. The fact the film ignores featured roles of archetypal figures Al Capone,Frank Nitti; Eliot Ness & The Untouchables will suprise viewers who enjoyed the film but sensed something was missing. The Jude Law/Dutch Shultz character(in the film)is typical of Hannibal Lecter psychopaths who are allowed to preen in "glamour of evil" as if conscienceless embrace of EVIL were admirable. In the graphic novel, Law's character is nameless and appears on a single page(297). Theology and iconography of Roman Catholicsm (definitively nuanced, pre-1960's middle-class mid-Western Irish sensibility)defines THE ROAD TO PERDITION as quest of a Good man choosing EVIL to protect those he loves from this Evil. "GREATER LOVE HAS NO MAN THAN ONE WHO WILL YIELD HIS VERY SOUL FOR THE SAKE OF THOSE HE LOVES"? "The movie ROAD does not dare radical Christian paradoxes evoked in this "comic" book.(A horrendous movie "novelization"--aegised by Warner Bros--is to be avoided under pain of eternal perdition). Max Allan Collins graphic novel(accompanied by starkly realistic, black and white photo-GRAPHIC art work of Richard Piers Rayner, which some reviewers condemn as too minimalist)is mythic morality fable that will startle readers with its literary "gravitas" and its gripping gangbuster epic action...

The graphic novel "Road to Perdition," the basis for the movie of the same name, is a grim, bloody work about the grim, bloody world of an assassin for the Chicago mob whose family gets pulled into the violent fray of his business.

Michael O'Sullivan is a man conscious of morality, though he is not a good man. His "business," which he does because he's expert with a rifle and because his boss raised him like a son, is kept separate from his normal life, in which he's a loving, churchgoing husband and father of two boys. The boys are curious about his life outside of home, so one day the oldest son tags along on a mob hit - and endangers the family.

The book, based upon the Japanese "Lone Wolf and Cub" series, is gorgeous to look at - the art really looks like old newspaper photos of actual crime scenes. This gives the work an authentic feel that evokes the period and is incredibly haunting.

The book's plot goes differently in some ways from the film's, and the book is actually better than the film. Michael is never portrayed as a soft man - even as he saves his son. The son is soon drawn into the world of killing people, unlike the son in the film, and has to save his father many times.

The ending of the book, which is different from the movie's ending and which I won't give away here, is a nice, ironic touch.

This is one thought-provoking, consistently interesting piece of art.

I hope Rayner is able to sell this as a movie because it would be even better with a third cut out of it. I thought it was a good story but I doubt there is anyone on the LAPD--or any police force--who is as articulate and introspective as the detective in this story.

I must say that this had to probably beone of my favorite murder mysteries that I've ever read. It's about a detective who's wife found out that he slept with another woman. She's going to leave him, but it's difficult for him to let that happen because his daughter from this marriage who he loves so much has to go with her mother. Although he's been recently assigned to a new murder case. But not just any murder case; The dead mother of the biggest druglord in Los Angeles. The detective wants his daughter and his ex-wife to be happy and have plenty of security, and while the detective is questioning the druglord in the precinct house, the druglord offers $500,000 for the name of killer. The detective does some searching and comes up with a name. Desperate to get the $500,000 to give to his ex-wife and daughter, he goes on a hunt for the killer. Can the detective convince the druglord that he knows who the killer is, so that the druglord will give the detective the $500,000? And can the detective really find this ruthless killer, before he himself gets killed?

One of the things that I liked most about this book was that there were not really any GOOD characters. They've all done something bad some time or another. It's about time a story didn't have a perfect character who saves the day all of the time.

If anyone wants a riveting murder mystery that actually makes some sense, and is surprisingly complex, then I'd say that "Murder Book" would be the best choice.

Good read, especially for seasoned readers of detective/crime novels. Original characters and good prose. I especially liked the lead characters imperfections because they were not always "politically correct". To be honest, the "tough cracking with a heart of gold recovering alcoholic who always does right" detective gets a little old. Only negative is - whats with the VCR'S??????

I read an excerpt from this book in Granta and couldn't put it down. What's so riveting about a guy talking about his former life of crime? In this case, he's a Cambridge student who steals for thrills. You keep wondering, "When is he going to get caught?" It's not a moral tale of a fall from grace and subsequent redemption. It's more like the strange tale of a man's youthful excesses

A man goes from harsh winters in rural Finland, to the fast-paced excitement of New York. A story I can relate to because it applies to my own father. It is also the story of Esko Vaananen, the central character of The Cloud Sketcher. Imagine my excitement at discovering a book that is set largely in the home of my ancestors! It's a grand tale too. Accurately telling the reader about Finland, it's Civil War, the Big Apple in the Jazz Age and the competitive world of architecture. The story also centers around the protagnist's undying love of a woman despite innumerable obstacles. Like many "epic" style novels, The Cloud Sketcher depends on repeated chance enounters and discoveries that stretch credulity. But what keeps this from being a great story and turns it into a flawed one, is the inexplicable actions of so many characters.

I think I love you after all. I suddenly don't love you. I don't really know you but I'll hire you. Get away from me, no, let's work together. I trust you, no, I want to destroy you.

Many characters are stick figures whose actions cannot be explained other than they help move the story along. I believe a good story is driven by characters, in The Cloud Sketcher, the characters exist to move along the the plot outline. Certain type of readers, such as myself, will still be unable to resist The Cloud Sketcher (architects, Finns, Jazz Age fans) but others will be quickly discouraged by characters acting out of... well, character.

I'm a big fan of Richard Rayner's work. I loved "The Blue Suit", "LA Without A Map", and "The Murder Book". "The Cloud Sketcher" is not only his most ambitious, but also his best book to date.

This book is a passionate love story that begins in the back woods of Northern Finland in the early 1900's and continues through the Finnish Civil War. It ends in New York during the twenties.

What intrigues me most about this book is that it captures a time and a place about which I knew very little. It's got everything: a wonderful love story, history, politics, architecture and murder and it's all interwoven in a very compelling way. I could not put this book down.

To me, "The Cloud Sketcher" delivers what I expect from great literature. I highly recommend it to all who appreciate beautiful writing, a riveting story, and a unique journey into an incredibly vivid world.

It's unfortunate to me that so far this book hasn't attracted the widespread audience it deserves. It begins in Finland with a boy named Esko Vaananen who becomes obsessed with the skyscraper, or pilvenpiirtaja as he knows it. Shortly after he meets a young girl who entrances him, and his destiny converges in his quest for love, and his desire to be a brilliant architect. Spanning nearly thirty years and crossing from the frozen Finland tundra to The jazz infused gang run clubs of New York City Rayner's intricately researched novel certainly brings to mind comparisons with Ayn Rands, "The Fountainhead". Yet for many this will be a much more accessible novel. The dramatic journey the character goes through makes this book an obvious choice for a feature adaptation. A satisfying and wonderfully woven book!

The story of the Drake Estate swindle is legendary around Sioux City and this book purports to tell the story of it. The author says he did lots of research but he carefully declines to give authority for what he says in the book and it is really frustrating since it is clear that at times he exaggerates or is slipshoddy with the story. He tries to make the fantastic story of this gross swindle which led so many dupes to part with their money read like a novel, whereas he would have been far better advised to footnote his assertions and cite where his authority is. He apparently unearthed the trial transcript and why he doesn't tell us where it can be checked I do not know, since he just skims the trial rather than explaining it. The lawyer for Hartzell, Carlos Goltz, is a legend in these parts and still invokes comment, tho he has been dead over 50 years. His role in the trial is not well told. I thought it odd for the author to tell how he himself was a crook at one time and that this led him to be interested in Hartzell. One need not be a crook to be interested in this amazing story and I only wish it were better and more carefully told. I really enjoyed reading the account, but it could have a so much better book. To get a flavor for the trial read the opinion, Hartzell v. U.S., 72 F.2d 569 (CCA 8, 1934). It will make you want to read this book, even tho the book is not as well-composed as it should be.

This was an interesting and amusing yarn about one of the great cons perpetrated in America. The author obviously researched this con and others well. However, I found the book to be a bit thin. If there was not more to flesh out the primary tale - and I doubt there were since the author clearly had read everything ever written on it - then I wish Mr. Raynor had included more about the other cons he had researched. Often he went to interviews of other confidence men to substantiate a point. He easily could have added their tales to show just why the Drake Fortune con was so outrageous.

All in all though, worth the read.

This lovely book succeeds for a number of reasons, which I'll gladly explain as follows: Firstly, not just the relationship of character to plot-- which in my opinion is the key ingredient of any successful nonfiction-- but the evolution of the character as the plot; in the case of "Drake's Fortune," the evolution of Oscar Hartzell, madly and finally, into Sir Francis Drake, the Baron of Buckland. The book twists and turns perfectly with Hartzell's deceptions and permutations. Richard Rayner takes us deep inside Hartzell's head in a way rivalled only by Don Delillo's "Libra" and its tortured and confused Oswald. Secondly, Rayner's explanatory digressions-- the history of the con, the history of the 1930s, the psychology of con artists, as well as his own fascinating family and personal (and criminal) history-- are inserted to maximum effect and pacing. It's just a great read. Thirdly, Rayner breaks new and important historiographical ground. Thanks to his work, the Drake Estate and its "donators" will have to be examined by historians of the Depression midwest as a mass social and quasi-religious social movement. This is a great find, and one for which historians should thank Rayner. Like Simon Winchester's "Professor and the Madman," "Drake's Fortune" is based on records found largely in archives-- American and British. These valuable repositories-- the US National Archives and the (UK)Public Records Office-- are, as Rayner notes, where the stories are. They are indeed, and aspiring writers of all stripes-- historians, journalists, screenwriters, and novelists-- should scramble to these facilities posthaste. And finally, this book succeeds because it falls within the tradition of the "New Yorker" magazine's style of seemingly effortless and fine nonfiction writing. A pleasure to read.

This is a pretty interesting father/son story, told over the course of 40 years or so by the son. Set in Bradford (a formerly industrial city in Yorkshire), it all revolves around the son's attempt to grapple with his father's nature: which is that of a boozing, womanizing, fun-loving, extrovert, life-of-the-party, war hero, scoundrel, con-man. In a sense, he never escapes his father's shadow, with many of the same failings. None of this is all that fascinating in and of itself, however, Rayner keeps it popping along at a good rate as he switches back and forth in time, bringing up episodes from the past in cracking language. It's engaging and definitely likely to be more of interest to fathers and sons.

written by an stereotypical brit who is trying to make los angeles seem to be something that is ironic and funny. he fails in all area and this book is out of print for a reason.
don't waste your time...

I found out about this author through one of his published short stories... I found his short stories to be more enjoyable. Still, this book is funny. I don't regret reading this book, but it didn't really change my life.