I have read several of John Horners books on paleontology. I, myself, am planning to go into the field of paleontology. Horner's books are informative, interesting, knowledgeable, and smooth reading. Although I disagree with the recommended level of reading this web site has given this book, ages 9-12, please! John Horner didn't write these books to put children to sleep at night, I'm assuming. Overall this book rocks and John Horner can keep 'em comin'!

Reading this book, you feel like a real paleontologist at a dig. This is my idea of what non-fiction for children could be at its best, nothing cute or overly simplified, but a story giving information in a scientific perspective that was so compelling that now my five year old daughter wants to be a paleontoligist when she grows up, and John Horner is her hero.

excellent pictures and fantastic description of how excavating and preservation is done. We wanted to go out and look for dinosaur bones right away.

You will, I believe, be fascinated by the side-by-side comparisons of photographs taken in 1923 and 1991, and the remarkable degree of change or lack of change in many of them over the span of 68 years. If you have run the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, or hiked it extensively, you will undoubtedly recognize many of the river and rock features that are depicted in this relatively slim volume (167 pages). A favorite of mine is plate 17, Nankoweap Ruins, taken high above the river. This must be one of the most photographed scenes in the Grand Canyon below the rim, and I know that many river runners have their own shot of this same down-river vista in their personal photo albums. There are 45 sets of photographs in the book, and each set comes with a description of the shot, any significant changes that may have occurred, and other information useful for appreciating the photographs.

The authors achieved a nice balance between text and photos, and provided informative historical summaries of both Grand Canyon river running and the 1923 Birdseye Expedition that produced the original photos. Of possible interest to reader/photographers are overhead maps of locations of all of the shots. With the maps yet more "rephotography" can take place in coming years.

If you love the Grand Canyon, especially at river level, I think you'll love this book.

John McAleer's massive biography, or rather hagiography, of thelate, brilliant Rex Stout, nowadays best remembered for his creation of the fictional detectives Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, goes all the way back to Stout's maternal and paternal ancestors who arrived in America in the 17th century.

While McAleer's volume has been criticized as "one of the most trivia-crammed and uncritical works ever written by a Professor of English" (David Langford, Million Magazine, 1992, reproduced at ...l), nonetheless it is the only complete biography of one of the most astonishing figures of the 20th-century American literary landscape.

Stout, of Quaker ancestry for five generations on both sides of his family, was the embodiment of both the puritan work ethic and the true heir of his distant relation Benjamin Franklin, in that no moss grew on the man: he kept busy from the day he was born until the day he died, originating and becoming independently wealthy from business enterprises, founding and managing literary and charitable foundations, and producing a prodigious literary output which was at once entertaining and also reflecting a liberal and world-federalist social conscience in a fashion acceptable to most Americans even at the depths of the Nixon-Jenner-McCarthy anticommunist hysteria of the late 1940's and early 1950's.

While McAleer's compendium of the minutiae of Stout's existence predicated upon long personal acquaintance, friendship with and love for Stout and his works may not be to the casual reader's taste, those of us who have dimly glimpsed the soul of one the masters of American letters reflected in his witty and amusing detective fiction can savor Stout's genius in this remarkable book.

Stout fans will love this new edition of the definitive, Edgar award-winning biography of Rex Stout. This printing by James Rock Publishing Company contains a new introduction by Professor McAleer and an Afterword by his son, mystery writer Andrew McAleer (Appearance of Counsel) who visited Stout's home and study at age eleven. In addition, there are never-before-published photos of Rex Stout. As always, P.G. Wodehouse's Foreword is great fun. Satisfactory Times Three!!!

If you ever wanted to see the Presidents bedroom or the First Lady's dressing room....get this book - a truly WONDERFUL treat!

This is a good play, but it does not match Shakespeare's other history plays. In my opinion too much of the play revolves around a doting mother who wants to see her underage son on the throne even though he is very incapable of ruling. Furthermore, any intelligent observer can see that the King of France only wants Arthur on the crown because a child would be a lot easier to manipulate than the shrewd King John. Remember, John WAS NOT a usurper. Richard the Lionhearted named John as the heir to the crown! On the positive side, Richard I's illegitimate son is a powerful and convincing character. John is an interesting 3 dimensional character. At times he comes off as harsh and cruel. But he also shows himself at times to be to be a strong and competent king. And at times we can feel sorry for him. Shakespeare also manages to squeeze some comical touches in. I feel that to appreciate this play as much as possible, you must realize that Richard I named John the heir to the crown. I also feel you must understand that John did prove himself to be a competent king. (Unlike his unfairly blackened reputation in "Robin Hood.")

the Oxford Shakespeare has been touted as 'a new conception' of Shakespeare, but is in fact merely an update of the cumbersome old Arden editions. Like these, 'King John' begins with a 100-page introduction, divided into 'Dates and Sources' (full of what even the editor admits is 'tedious' nit-picking of documentary evidence); 'The Text' (the usual patronising conjecture about misprints in the Folio edition and illiterate copyists); 'A Critical Introduction', giving a conventional, but illuminating guide to the drama, its status as a political play dealing with the thorny problem of royal succession, the contemporary legal ambiguities surrounding inheritance, the patterning of characters, the use of language (by characters as political manoeuvring, by Shakespeare to subvert them); and an account of 'King John' 'In the Theatre', its former popularity in the 18th and 19th century as a spectacular pageant, the play distorted for patriotic purposes, and its subsequent decline, presumably for the same reasons. The text itself is full of stumbling, often unhelpful endnotes - what students surely want are explanations of difficult words and figures, not a history of scholarly pedantry. The edition concludes with textual appendices.
The play itself, as with most of Shakespeare's histories, is verbose, static and often dull. Too many scenes feature characters standing in a rigid tableau debating, with infinite hair-cavilling, issues such as the legitimacy to rule, the conjunction between the monarch's person and the country he rules; the finer points of loyalty. Most of the action takes place off stage, and the two reasons we remember King John (Robin Hood and the Magna Carta) don't feature at all. This doesn't usually matter in Shakespeare, the movement and interest arising from the development of the figurative language; but too often in 'King John', this is more bound up with sterile ideas of politics and history, than actual human truths. Characterisation and motivation are minimal; the conflations of history results in a choppy narrative. There are some startling moments, such as the description of a potential blood wedding, or the account of England's populace 'strangely fantasied/Possessed with rumours, full of idle dreams/Not knowing what they fear, but full of fear'. The decline of the king himself, from self-confident warrior to hallucinating madman, anticipates 'King Lear', while the scene where John's henchman sets out to brand the eyes of the pubescent Pretender, is is full of awful tension.
P.S. Maybe I'm missing something, but could someone tell me why this page on 'King John' has three reviews of 'Timon of Athens'? Is somebody having a laugh?

Many people feel that this play of Shakespeare's is either unfinished or a poor effort. But I do not think this is accurate or fair. The reality is that many people can never find a middle ground. It is actually (in my opinion) quite common for people to only be able to see things from one extreme or the other. Despite Apemantus' cynical nature, there is no denying that whatever his faults are, HE DOES HAVE RIGHT ON HIS SIDE when he tells Timon: "The middle of humanity thou never knewest,/ but the extremity of both ends...." (4.3.342-343). Critics also tend to think Apemantus is unlikable, but are we missing a crucial point? I can not help but think Shakespeare is commenting on the fact that more people DON'T have a concept of reality. Apemantus refuses to join in the delight when Timon thinks highly of his false friends. Apemantus is aware of reality and no one wants to hear it. In my opinion Timon and Apemantus are VERY TRUE to life. In addition, the roll of Flavius is very touching. He can not dessert his master even when he knows (or thinks) Timon has nothing. Finally, I can not over estimate the mastery of Shakespeare when first Timon has money, he can not do enough for his so called friends and when he has nothing they dessert him. When Timon through fate gains a second fortune, he does not turn back into what he was, but rather he uses his 2nd fortune to destroy Athens. It is interesting that Shakespeare derived this play on the legend of 'Timon the Manhater,' and decides to take it a step further and show how he got there. And how much more realistic could Shakespeare have made this than by first showing Timon as a 'manlover?' Many people feel Timon should have somehow found the middle of humanity, but if he had, that would have defeated the whole purpose of this excellent play.

This was a good collection of many explorers travels to locate Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat. I was a little dissapointed that they didn't put many details in about other areas that are now being explored by other searchers. It's great to see all of the difficulties that people have gone through just to climb the mountain, and after reading the book, I hope that the search continues in a broader area since Ararat may not be the mountain described in the Bible.

This book is an essential historical report of the many liars {often in their own words} who claimed to see, touch or bring back samples of Noah's Ark. It is also a list of the many dupes who courageously or recklessly climbed this mountain over & over again (like possessed little children) to see the same sights & suffer more depravation & degradation by nature & man. I wrote another review two days ago but did not make a copy to send to Ark searchers & believers. I think most of the Ark veterans are convinced that the Ark is NOT on Ararat but are ashamed to admit it. They still have two locations to examine!! Ararat is a volcano that probably was created around 2400 BC, just after the FLOOD in 2437BC c. or by 2200 BC the latest, at the time of the Babel dispersion. It did grow through the years, erupting in 1840 & shaking in 1883 & 1966. (This is from the book.) The authors understand earthquakes as they understand glaciers, but in this book, they do NOT dwell upon earthquakes for very long. Why? Because their Ark would have disappeared down the mountain where the vast majority of sightings are located. Another aspect I did notice was their neglect of those who DIED climbing Ararat!!! Most people like to remember those courageous enough to pioneer, to explore. This book only tells of three - very quickly!!! And now we get to the reason why. I believe under Reagan & Bush, various hoaxes were perpetrated by the US government to deceive the world public. Corbin uses the term "boxcar" about three times, & that is the number of boxcars I believe the US & Turkey buried on Ararat. I don't think they let these boxcars stay up there for long - 1-2 years at the most. These explorers were told to shut up about it when they discovered them. These plants were during the time of their most successful & prolific ground searching during 1984-1990. Suddenly with the US-Iraq War, the US could not sponsor or support these expeditons. It was NO miracle James Irwin wanted to climb. The Ark expedition of 1966 & other secret expeditions were sponsored by the US. The paragraphs on Bud Crawford were very important - the CIA wanted him to take pictures. Only if he was taking pictures of a bogus Ark would that be important, the US already had everything else!!! And it is NO coincidence that Stephens 3rd, a US military employee spotted one of those plants in 1988 around which an expedition was sent in 1989. But these bogus arks only got laughs for a few elite; they did NOT damp the determination of some to find an Ark where it would NEVER be found. This book is VERY important & very interesting to read. Thank you for it. Now let us find the spot on Mt.Judi where the historical record supports its landing & build all the shrines, churches & observation sites so modern tourists can make a haji to it. This IS important to do BEFORE the nuclear war of Rev.6:8!! Contrary to your already proven erronious beliefs, there is NO rapture. Buy this book for your library & to support the true Church of God in truth & love. In Jesus' Name, Clifford Catton - Sept.6, 2000.

I just finished " Explorers of Ararat ". What a fabulous adventure story. I have followed the hunt for Noah's Ark for years and by far this was the most objective book that I've read about it. Regardless of the religious convictions of the explorers , they gave an unbiased account of their experiences trying to uncover this great mystery. I can hardly wait until the new edition comes out in 2001. Bravo !!!

Quality, not quantity, Jack. This kind of thing slips out when you begin to believe your own legend. This book could have been so much more if it had not been dumbed-down. Not to kid level, but far enough to be below the level of the average buyer of this book. As it is, it stands in the way of the book that will not now be written, with more info on other members of the tyrannosaur tribe, f'rinstance. You're capable of better. Write fewer, but better books.

I loved this book!!! It has so much info!! Well okay, many books on dinos have tons of info but in this one you don't have to leaf through the whole book before you find the page your looking for. This book has nice artwork to understand more clearly how this, and many other dinosaurs looked like. Very good. If you like dinosaurs, this is the book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

R. Alan Culpepper is most noted for his ground breaking literary study of John's Gospel, Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel. This new work is not a verse by verse commentary, but rather an overview of the Gospel and letters of John. It is very good on the Gospel of John, but sketchy on the Johannine letters (only one chapter out of ten). His introductory material concerning the author and situation of the Gospel is a bit one-sided with little or no imput from any evangelical perspective, but it does introduce some of the problems associated with these issues. Chapter four, "The Gospel as Literature" with its theory of anagnoriseis or recognition scenes, is an excellent chapter when it comes to understanding the flow of this Gospel. Graphs and maps and sidebars seem to be the "in" feature of many new commentaries, sometimes overwhelming the actual commentary itself. Culpepper's sidebars are very judicious and actually very helpful.From a literary perspective this is certainly one of the best introductory commentaries overviewing John's Gospel around (again, the section on the Johannine letters is perhaps too brief).

This book is well-organized for touring Kansas--It describes things in the order you will pass them on each major highway. It does have lots of trivia, but about 2/3 of the information is geological; much of the rest is historical. Natural history, other than geology, is poorly covered. Unfortunately, even much of the geological information is not explained well or given any context or interpretation. Obviously a tremendous amount of work and research was put into the book, but it ends up seeming like a long list of geological feature names and obscure historical trivia. Interesting, but not really informative on a profound level.

If you are touring Kansas, have plenty of time, and are very interested in geology or fossils, this is the book for you. If you are touring Kansas, and have an interest in history, it is okay. If you have an interest in wildlife, plants, or generalized natural history, it won't be of much value.

Easy is the word that describes this book. The mile markers, bridges, towns, and other landmarks makes this text THE guide for the investigator from out of state. The museums described were excellent sources of information with plenty of friendly people to guide you toward additional landmarks. The roadcuts were full of described fossils, even my teen daughter found bags full of whole shellfish that littered the byways.
A small amount of research before hand can pay off big time in collecting the best fossils still on the back roads of America. Take this book along and the trip through Kansas will be one that you will remember for years to come.

I found Roadside Kansas by chance in the gift shop at the Old Mill in Lindsborg. I had been showing my wife and daughter some of the sights I knew about from growing up in Ellinwood, Kansas which is located right on the Santa Fe Trail (Highway 56).

Little did I know what a treasure we had found. Beginning as a geological research project by the authors the book took on a life of its' own as a very nice directory of various interesting attractions and oddities in Kansas. Its' photographs also prove to readers once and for all that Kansas IS NOT FLAT.

The first item of note we found was that we were just minutes from Coronado Heights, named after the Spanish explorer. We also found that wheel ruts from wagons traveling the Santa Fe Trail were still visible only a few miles east of my hometown. And I found that after having spent the better part of 27 years driving past and through Fort Zarah that the old cemetery still exists just north of the park out in a field only a few yards from where I had spent many evening hours with female companionship. Imagine my surprise!

Additionally, we found that about 25 miles west of Castle Rock, which I had visited and photographed many times while in college at Fort Hays, are what is known as the Kansas or Chalk Pyramids (just off Highway 83).

Needless to say I was excited and impressed. We spent the rest of our trip running the roads looking for mile markers and the treasures that lay beyond.

The book is laid out quite simply. Find the highway number you are traveling and what mile marker you are at and the book tells you what attraction is coming up with excellent directions for the directionally impaired. Oh, and I guess the geological information is pretty good too.

Since I found this text in 1995 I have wholeheartedly recommended it to anyone traveling the Land of Ahs, both visitor and resident, and all have been impressed. If you like to seek out items of interest off the beaten path, then this is your guide. I only wish those guys would do a book like this for every state in the Union.