I could not agree more with the review by "Reader from Spain". I buy a LOT of costume/fashion books and hardly ever review them, but felt moved to do so for this book because the text is so dreadful. The photographs are stunning, as are the garments pictured, but the words are really quite atrocious (to steal a line from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!). The text is utterly pretentious and so badly written that I (an editor) checked several times to see whether it had been translated from a language other than English - it is that stilted. Obviously a book like this is bought mostly for the pictures, but the text is so disappointing.

Another gorgeous book--I love the photography and the details you are shown. I love the fact that they cover the era from the 1890's right up to today and don't favor one era over another. An equally fabulous book by Richard Martin and Harold Koda is "Dior". They are both among my favorites.

It contains beautiful color photos of the couture garments design by the following houses: Balenciaga, Chanell, Dior, Jacques Fath, Gianfranco Fere, Hubert de Givenchy, Aliz Gres, Jacques Griffe, Christian Lacroix, Carl Lagerfeld, Jeanne Lanvin, Patou, Poiret, Saint Laurent, Schiaparelli, Ungaro, Versace, Madeleine Vionnet & the House of Worth.

The table of contents lists "History, Atelier, Dressmaking, Tailoring, Technique, Embroidery, Lace and Tulle and Featherwork.

I strongly recommend this book because it contains the works of many designers, and the photos of these beautiful creations are taken "up close".

Golding is an incredible wordsmith. With stark realism and deep insight, he probes one man's outer and inner struggles for survival after washing up on a rock in the mid-Atlantic. I found the psychological portrail wholly believable, but I had a difficult time sympathizing with this character. He's a womanizer, a self-centered egotist. With near-animal drive, he carves out meager existence on the rock. I found very little emotional connection with Martin, and read on primarily because of Golding's narrative power.

Essentially, Golding seems to say that, brought to our lowest common denominator in a fight for life, we are all self-centered, that greed takes over. I found the argument weak because we discover that Martin was this way already. I would've liked to see a selfless person's fight for existence and the consequences of his actions.

Or maybe that's Golding's point: Martin's self-centeredness eventually corrodes his ability to survive because the motivations run shallow. Numerous true-life accounts show the struggle of men and women to rise above their base needs and extend life heroically to others. Selflessness often leads to the survival of the group, it seems, but in this book we have only one character's survival to consider.

A second reading might reveal to me more of Golding's intentions in this story, but the fact remains: Golding knows how to build word upon word until you are trapped within the dwelling of his character's minds. That alone lifts this book above the volumes of so-called literature stacked on most shelves.

Based on Golding's own standards from his other books, I cannot highly recommend this as a great story, but only as a great example of powerful wordage and characterization. I think Golding sells us short here on the premise of survival. I finished the last page with little emotional or intellectual reaction. I felt, like Martin, only blank disillusionment.

One star taken away only because some of the material is dated. I'm an ex sailor and was enthralled from first page to last. I felt the motion of the boat, the bite of the weather and the stark reality of the island. This book proved to me Mr. Golding is a master story teller.

Golding proves he is a master of probing man's psychology when in the greatest of danger. The plight of the stranded naval officer is vivid and frightening. Riveting, exciting and thoughful, the story displayes Golding's awesome and expansive imagination in such a confined environment. Take heed that the book is about the TWO deaths of Christopher Martin.

While this is a decent introduction to one of the most notoriously difficult (yet influential) philosophers of the 20th century, as the title says, it is lacking in some respects. The biggest thing I noticed is that the author discusses Descartes and Husserl... but NEVER mentions Immanuel Kant, whose ideas on the Noumenon and Phenomenon were hugely influential on both Husserl and Heidegger. (It has been said, with some justification, that Kant *was* Continental philosophy, and everything else was a footnote to Kant). This is such a glaring oversight that it makes me question the scholarship in the remainder of the book.

The author also spends a good deal of time dealing with Heidegger's brief flirtation with Nazism... but neglects to mention that Heidegger soon fell out of favor with the Nazis and spent most of the Nazi years under a cloud of suspicion. (Perhaps Heidegger never disclaimed Nazism as loudly or as clearly as some would like ... but it's also worth noting that one of his major influences, Edmund Husserl, was Jewish... and of course there is his longtime friendship/love affair with Hannah Arendt, the author of *Eichmann in Jerusalem* and a major thinker in her own right).

Still, this is about as good an introduction to Heidegger as you are likely to find. The author manages to make his concepts of "Dasein" as clear as one can make such an abtruse concept. This will make explorations of Heidegger on your own a bit easier ... but it certainly won't serve as a replacement for same. Unfortunately, there's no way around studying Heidegger in his full glory... much as you may want to avoid the verbiage which was tangled in German and next-to-impossible in translation.

(On the bright side: after slogging through a few pages of Heidegger, Sartre looks like easy reading)

INTRODUCING HEIDEGGER presents the reader with a lucid and thoughtfully rendered overview of Heidegger's overall corpus. However, this book does not represent a profound encounter with H's original texts by any stretch. Rather, it is a handy reference book, refresher, or study guide. The pictures are somewhat evocative and illuminating at times, but the book reminds me -- and this is NOT a slight-- of a well executed Cliff Notes edition. The main virtues of the book include reasonable clarification of terminology, consideration of H's predecessors and successors in philosophy and other fields, chronological presentation, very concise explication and the often helpful use of visual art. Still, the book is best for either "absolute beginners" or those who need a handy refresher/reference. It can also be used alongside original texts if existing commentaries seem too abstruse. In any case, it beats HEIDEGGER FOR BEGINNERS. But for those who want more depth and breadth from an introduction to Heidegger, I reccommend Macquarrie's HEIDEGGER AND CHRISTIANITY and, secondarilly, George Steiner's HEIDEGGER. These are both books (particularly Macquarrie's) of greater profundity than the INTRODUCTION, yet they are concise and accessible. In sum, INTRODUCING HEIDEGGER is a fairly reliable short study guide in which some of philosophy's most difficult terms and concepts are cleanly introduced, if not deeply explored.

When I first became interested with Heidegger, my first impulse was to tackle the big one- "Being and Time." However, after reading just a few pages of this tome, I realized the material was way over my head. I turned to guides concerning Heidegger's work, and "Introducing Heidegger" was extremely enlightening. Although it is in "comic book" format, the writing, although concise, is full of helpful observations and anecdotes. The pictorial aids also accentuate what the writing describes.
Heidegger's concepts are laid out in full here- from his "secular theology" to his concept of simultaneous disclosure. His observations on art are revealed, also.
This introduction to Heidegger was invaluable to me. I can now recognize strains of Heidegger's thought in the work of writers much easier to read such as Foucault, Sartre, and Jaspers.

There are two stories worth reading in this anthology of supernatural Civil War-themed work: those by Collins and Somtow. (The latter is a depressing tale of race hatred, but at least it's well written.) One or two others are vaguely OK. The majority of them are awful. They are not written well; they are not researched well; they suck. The worst is probably Moorcock's surrealist nonsense, but Ballard's boring George Todd story, Wagner's silly cannibalism/undead tale and McCaffrey's sentimental plantation claptrap -- not to mention a plethora of Sherman's Bummers meet Zombies splatter -- just leave me bored. I'd recommend avoiding this.

Being a Civil War buff and zombie lover, I couldn't ask for any better combination. It was one of those books that was literally hard to tear myself away from. It's been awhile since I read it, but from what I recall there wasn't a bad story in the book. Holds your interest from beginning to end. One of those few books that I can honestly say I have every intention of going back and reading again.

This collection of horror stories inspired by the War Between the States has found the triple point between surrealism, history, and macabre insanity. Many of the authors, all of whom are well-known in this as well as other genres, have found new ground to tread in this well-edited compilation of "Civil" War-inspired horror fiction. From the tragic unwelcome homecoming of a maimed soldier in "The Sunday Go-To-Meeting Jaw" to the grim folly of "Terrible Swift Saw", there is enough plausible reality to anchor the supernatural twists of "Foragers" and "Darker Angels". "The Master's Time" is a very fresh piece by two newer writers with a stunning ending. One could find her or himself whistling "Dixie" to ease the tension if reading this in solitude. Once these unsettling 25 short stories find their way into your mind, your dreams will no longer be the same...

The rhyme and story in this book are so much fun to read, they would keep young children asking to read it over and over. However, I do not feel I can use it in my classroom because of one illustration. A sexy blond is using her body to get what she wants from firemen-very inappropriate for young children! Bill Martin, please bring back your original version of this wonderful book.

My daughter checked this book out of the library and made me read it to her over and over again. I didn't see the appeal of this book! But she loved it. So for Fire Safety week with my preschoolers, we read this book. They loved it! My god, they made me read it over and over and over again. They followed me around the room and made me read it. I still don't see the appeal. But kids love this book. Each Mrs. is on the proceeding page, they tell the story of a fire in an apartment building. It takes a bit of explaining for 4 yr olds to get the concept of a flaming cake, but they got it. They even counted the candles. The old lady is represented by about 30 candles---thanks to the author for that one!

I owned this book when i was a little girl and now that i have a son, i want him to be able to read it and know that females are not just a second class citizen and that they can hold positions that men are able to hold. This book also shows that you should not believe everything you see, there is probably something else going on if you dont see the whole picture.

This book covers the important aspects of OO approach as well as the STL for C++. It is definitely not suitable for those who have no programming experience in C, and indeed, I find that one actually even needs to have a little knowledge of C++ to benefit from the book. The first two chapters let the C programmer make a transition to C++, and explain clearly on input and output in C++. The next three chapters then strive to explain the OO features in C++.
Generally, the book goes at lengths to illustrate classes in C++ and their workings, and offers many tips and traps as well as certain programming styles and approaches which would produce robust programs. The worked examples were also quite comprehensive. However I feel that the concepts of OO were not well illustrated, and from my experience, a thorough understanding of OO concepts help very much in being able to manipulate classes and using the methods in C++. The chapter on MFC was not very useful, it really looked as if it was just there to fill in space. It does not teach much about MFC.
All in all, however, I would still consider it a fairly good book to keep as a reference.

A lucid traversal of basic OOP concepts and the C++ language. Lots of exercises, at a rather low level of detail. J&K focus on the basics, avoiding the trap that others (e.g. Lippman & La Joie) fall into of trying to cover too many advanced topics in an introductory text. A scattering of typos and minor errors should not confuse the perceptive reader.

This book is concise but clear. I think the typesetting in this book could be redone better to give it better readability.More diagrams & few more example would make it perfect.The authors explains many subtle points of C++. This book is good for academic settings if you already knows C & Data Structures. Overall, a good concise book.

I'm lucky, see, because I live in the same town as Kim Underwood and get to read his Sunday newspaper column.

Why do people like Kim's writing? It's joyous. He is joyous. Compassion seems all out of fashion nowadays, and cynicism has boldly taken its place. Thankfully, we still have a few books out there to bring our attention to ubiquitous things. To celebrate the mundane. To contemplate the everyday matters of life.

Dope on a Rope is a very guy-next-door take on life. He a well-versed snacker. His dog Buster (aka "his dogness") figures prominently in his life. And I'm pretty sure that he makes up at least one new word each week. Many of his essays read like short homilies on the state of his life. This makes perfect sense, being as he probably picked up a few techniques from his father, the minister.

Everyone who wants to be a better neighbor needs to read Dope on a Rope. Good neighbors pay attention to one another and the life around them. Makes you wish Kim would buy the house next door.

I grew up in New York reading almost daily columnists like Buchwald, Hamill, and Wilson Sr. I remember the "Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight as a novel and not a former class of the St. John's basketball team. So when DOPE ON A ROPE arrived, I felt comfortable reading a compilation of what I expected to be small town columns written for the Winston Salem Journal's by Kim Underwood.

Talk about New York stereotyping, I found a warm, often humorous but sometimes serious look at life that could been written anywhere in this country. Don't worry Mr. Underwood, I will not tell the world about your mauve (not purple) shirt or what dope jumps from a hot air balloon attached to a bungee rope even if a Playmate is accompanying them. This compilation is fun, well written while readers gain insight into the "oddments from the mind" of a writer who makes his personal look at life a lot more interesting than canned asparagus (think what those shoots look like) or is it spinach? DOPE ON A ROPE is plain ole fun.

Harriet Klausner

Richard Polt's little book joins a growing array of little books promising to "introduce" Heidegger and adds to a sadly growing list of "analytic-style" readings.

One caveat: if one is able to read Heidegger on one's own, this book will do more harm than good. If one is not quite up to the challenge of reading Heidegger, this book will not help.

I am unable to agree with the other reviewers, probably because I am closer to being your 'average' reader. I am not a philosophy specialist. Also, Polt tells you good and plain that you should be concurrently reading "Being and Time", and using his book as a secondary text. Nope, I am not going to read Heidegger's translated prose.

I also ordered Hubert Dreyfuss' "Being-in-the-World", and I am cheerfully cruising through it at one chapter per day, and I am getting a lot out of this reading experience. Polt for beginners? No way.

The is the best introductionary book to Heidegger's philosophy I know. If this book is too long for you, the second best choice is Inwood's book, "Heidegger." The concepts of the intrepretations on Heidegger's ideas in Polt's book are very clear. Polt's entry on the "nothingness" is interesting, though I don't completely agree.

suck

This collection of Twilight Zone literature includes Bradbury's "I Sing the Body Electric," a classic, and several other classics that are unforgettable.

I think that these collections have some of the best ironies out of all of the Twilight Zone episodes. Aside from "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street," this book has the necessary works for the Twilight Zone lovers.

Recommended to any sci-fi fanatics--

I loved this book. All of the stories were fantastic, I recommend it.

A good read, however I found this book somewhat tedious in parts. One of two novels that inspired Irwin Allen's blockbuster disaster movie "The Towering Inferno", I saw the movie before I read the book, and it doesn't live up to what I expected. Not quite as hard hitting as I would have liked, the technical details are well written, but it lacks a punch elsewhere.

Richard Martin Stern's The Tower is one of the two novels that Irwin Allen's production of The Towering Inferno was based, the other being The Glass Inferno by Scorita and Robinson.

On the gala opening of the latest world's tallest building, an unstable construction worker detonates a bomb and starts a fire that spirals quickly out of control, leaving the celebrants trapped on the top floors. As the fire climbs closer and the situation grows grimmer, the characters true natures are revealed, and some are not pretty. The elements Irwin Allen used in his film version are easily found, but they work far better in the source material. An excellent suspense story with a refreshing and somber finale, highly recommended.

THE TOWER
Richard Martin Stern
ISBN 0679503633

"The Tower" is the world' stallest building at 125 storeys. Built in downtown New York, the city has put millions towards its construction. Its architects and designers think it is perfect, but on the day of the opening copies of unauthorized changes are sent to them.
Meanwhile, an ex-employee at the tower, John Connors, has entered the building posing as an electrician. Unknown to the security guards he is carrying, in his tool box, plastic explosives with which he will seek revenge.
While preparation is under way for the opening ceremony the contractors are seeking to find if the changes were made, and what they mean. The building's architect, Nat Wilson is determined to find who forged his signature on the change orders.

The ceremony goes ahead as planned, but disaster soon strikes. A fire on a 4th floor apartment as well as an explosion in the basement wreak havoc with the organisers. As the investigators soon discover; the changes were extremely serious. The situation has suddenly gotten out of hand: 120 or so people, trapped 1500 feet up, with governors and senators amongst them, and a raging fire beneath them.
The fire soon eradicates both the stairs and elevators as possibilities for escape. The men on the ground must work against the clock, and the searing heat of the flames, to rescue the "hostages" of the tower.

Stern tells this tale at a terrific pace, building the suspense right up until the final trumpet; blown on a slightly different note. His characters develop their personalities through-out the book and finally show what each of them is made of.