Produced by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology as a companion to a field guide, this remarkable two-CD set is unlike any other nature guide yet published. It is an audio guide to mammals, and only mammals, of the rainforests of the New World.

As the hot spots of the world's bioversity, rainforests have gotten lots of attention from naturalists and adventurous eco-tourists, who want to explore these green worlds for themselves. There have been countless field guides (both printed and audio) to birds in various parts of the New World tropics, but this audio guide exposes the voices of rainforest mammals, many of them retiring and rarely seen in the thick foliage, for study and appreciation.

The first disc is brief (about 40 minutes), but sound recordings of a lot of these mammals are not easily obtained. Over 50 species give voice to their unique sounds. Opossums snort and grunt, jaguars make a sound like someone sawing on a log, tapirs whistle like birds. There is even a recording of a river dolphin spouting, the sudden explosive noise almost out of place among the other jungle sounds.

The second disc, longer in length, features the most vocal of the rainforest mammals, the primates. Some of these produce sounds that could easily be mistaken for the sounds of other creatures. For example, some of the smaller monkeys, like the tamarins, produces squeaks and chitters that are surprisingly birdlike. The night monkey, calling after dark when it would probably never be seen, hoots exactly like an owl. The loudest of the rainforest monkeys, the howlers, produce roars of such intensity that they will literally frighten anyone who visits the rainforest but does not know that these are the sounds of harmless vegetarians.

"Sounds of Neotropical Rainforest Mammals" is off the beaten track, to be sure, but if you are traveling to the tropics anytime soon, I strongly recommend it. Even if you're not, I recommend it anyway. You haven't really lived until you've startled your neighbors with the loud, cackling chorus of the dusky titi monkey.

Spent a few days in Costa Rica's Los Angeles Cloud Forest (just North of San Ramon) regretting that I didn't have something to record all the incredible sounds--and violà--here is this CD. Great for learning to identify calls & sounds. If you're really interested, I highly recommend "A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica" (ISBN: 0-8014-9600-4) to see what these birds look like. I guarantee 1 of 2 things: if you learn to identify the sounds on this CD before your trip to a cloud forest, you'll be the "expert," and if you don't, you'll will repeat these words over and over: "What on earth was that?

As a Scot myself I can vouch for the uncanny accuracy of this book. A sympathetic (but not unquestioning), highly entertaining, accurate, and short book which explains what makes the Scots tick and also explains some the qualities that have helped them make a contribution to so many other countries where they have settled.

Before movies like "Wall Street" and real-life scandals with Enron and WorldCom, there was this play. Mamet's signature dialogue, rife with profanity and ascerbic edge, exposes the bitter side of the business world: shady, insecure businessmen stabbing each other in the back for a shot at selling real estate to naive customers.

Using a minimum of setting and timeline, Mamet unmercifully chronicles the undoing of his characters in the office place. The reader is left, quite honestly, without a single shred of hope for anyone, which is one of the most souring aspects of this drama. However, to expose a silver lining is not Mamet's aim. Dark, depressing, and ultimately unsalvageable in its tragedy, "Glengarry Glen Ross" is a masterful portrayal of inhumanity in the same tradition of "Long Day's Journey Into Night" and "A Raisin in the Sun."

The book is a sadistically dark comedy which made me laugh even though I knew that it was supposed to make me think. Mamet takes a regular setting of everyday men and turns it into a mob-like atmosphere. He sarcastically talks about the capitalistic system, emphasizing on every single perversion of it. The play begins by introducing the reader to the characters, and by establishing their places in society. Just like any other auspicious play Glengarry Glen Ross follows a specific success formula. It contains its favorites, and it's losers. Even though from the begging you can't really decide what's going on, you see by the middle of the play to which you relate best.

After a crime is committed, and a detective is called on the scene, every man is trying to save himself while still trying to make a buck. While trying to revolt against a cruel and hostile boss the characters find themselves in a world that consists of lies and deceit, where cruelty and heartlessness are necessities to survive. I really can not say anything bad about the play. It delivers on its promise providing you with every detail, starting from the charged vulgarity in its dialogue and finishing by the pure business relations that take place in this capitalistic society. It shows men turning their backs on their fathers in law for the good of the company (Levene and Williamson). This play is more then just a sarcastic tribute to the capitalism. It is an attempt to laugh off the dirt of the human kind. Just like little kids who try to laugh when they are scared in order to make it easier to bear the truth, this play was intended for those of us who seem to have lost the faith in the society.

"Glengarry Glen Ross" shows off to great effect the power of Mamet's language. Some readers may focus on the profanity -- and there is plenty of it -- but the profanity only serves to underscore the overwhelming anger that drives the characters in the play. Mamet's characters are bit players on a stage dominated by cockroach capitalism. It's a world that measures a man's worth solely by his ability to turn a buck, and if he can't do it, he's worthless. The characters know this, and they rail against this knowledge in venom-filled, machine-gun bursts of words.

Beyond the anger, however, the language derives its power from Mamet's much-discussed use of everyday rhythmic patterns of speech. Characters interrupt one another, leave thoughts unsaid, toss out cryptic ideas, and finish one another's sentences. It all sounds and feels absolutely real, and if you've ever tried to do it yourself, you know how difficult it is for a playwright to accomplish it.

In the end, Mamet's play presents a bleak world, yet it's a refreshing antidote to the cheerleading from the press and elsewhere that American business generally enjoys today. Mamet reveals the dark corners of small-time business, the petty jealousies, the insincere work relationships, the undisguised chauvanism, the phony macho posturing, and most of all the clear understanding among all concerned that the only measure of worth is the mark in the ledgerbook that says you made a sale. If most of the characters sound unsatisfied, it's because they are. Selling, the play says, is a hard way to make a living, and it comes at enormous spiritual cost.

I found the play's ending (which I won't give away) a bit unsatisfying and I can imagine that some readers might find the repitition in the dialogue tedious. Still, there is no denying, in my mind, the power of Mamet's vision and his devotion to his technique.

Science Under Siege: The Politicians' War on Nature and the Truth. By Todd Wilkinson. Johnson Press, Boulder, CO. 343 pp.

Reviewed by Pete Geddes, Program Director, Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment

From the Civil War until roughly Earth Day, commodity production dominated federal land management. This was often at the expense of ecological integrity, economic efficiency, and social sustainability. Todd Wilkinson's new book Science Under Siege: The Politicians' War on Nature and the Truth adds personal ethics to this list. He demonstrates how bureaucratic and political pressures sacrifice both environment quality and careers to political expediency.

Wilkinson, a western correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor has been following western environmental issues for the last ten years. Science Under Siege reaffirms that bureaucracies function ultimately as machines to protect and perpetuate their budgets and co-dependent political interests. Wilkinson tells the stories of eight well intentioned and hardworking "whistleblowers" and the personal and professional price they pay when their convictions confront the leviathan. The stories of political manipulation and agency retaliation are depressing but important reading for those seriously interested in federal land management reform or bureaucratic pathologies more generally.

For readers east of the Mississippi River, it's important to understand west of the 100th Meridian, the federal government controls of half the Western lands. At the turn of the century, the West was the staging ground for experiments in Progressive Era conservation. Through "scientific management" benevolent, centralized bureaucracies (e.g., the Forest Service) were to stop the abuses of the nation's natural resources. This was a well intentioned, but naive idea. Instead an "iron triangle" emerged among Congress, federal agencies, and clientele (chamber of commerce/stock grower/mining alliances). As this alliance hardened, the federal agencies, dependent upon the political process for budgetary survival, bowed to political pressures. This may come as a surprise to those who believe it's the mission of the Forest Service to preserve 191 million acres of national forests for "future generations". But as Wilkison documents, the interest of these agencies comes at the expense of national taxpayers, sustainable ecosystems, and agency employees.

The danger in a book like this is that Wilkinson opens himself to charges of being a pawn for disgruntled employees. For most of the book Wilkison avoids this trap. He insulates himself in two important ways: First, Wilkinson chooses carefully. He selected eight subjects from a field of 110. To each profile Wilkinson brings in a range of supporting characters. This adds both substance and a soothing tone. Second, by profiling scientists who publish in professional journals, Wilkinson avoids "he-said, she-said" mud-slinging.

His profile of David Mattson is illustrative. A former Yellowstone National Park grizzly bear researcher, Mattson is an internationally respected as a leading authority on grizzly bear populations dynamics. He arrived at his office one morning to find it ransacked; data gone, computer confiscated, and personal files locked away. Mattson's offense? His research was leading him to conclude that grizzly bear populations in and around Yellowstone may be declining over the long-term. This was counter to the official line preached by bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen. Servheen maintains that grizzlies in Yellowstone have multiplied since the species was listed as endangered in 1975. Mattson recently opened his data to criticisms of the entire scientific community by publishing his results in the journal Ecology. Servheen has the same opportunity.

The ultimate vindication for Wilinkson's whistleblowers may be found on the land itself. Readers can judge the veracity of former Forest Service fisheries "combat" biologist Al Espinoza by visiting the Clearwater National Forest in central Idaho. They can see the steep slopes, denuded of trees from top to bottom, and the miles of logging roads responsible for spilling sediment into fragile salmon streams. (I spent a summer reviewing appeals of Forest Service decisions on the Clearwater and provided Wilkinson information.)

In the patchwork pattern of clearcuts on the national forest of Oregon and Washington, whistelblower Jeff DeBonis made his mark. DeBonis, an up and coming Forest Service timber sale planer, was responsible for "getting the cut out" in the region's old-growth forests. The Pacific Northwest is the "Big League" of professional forestry. Here both the trees and the stakes for meeting timber quotas are big. Sometimes the results are disastrous. For example, the Forest Service recently "accepted blame" for trashing the entire Fish Creek watershed on Oregon's Mount Hood National Forest. It will cost taxpayers $5.4 million to restore areas where logging caused some of the "worst landslides in the region" and runs of wild salmon have "been nearly wiped out".

After a crisis of conscience DeBonis left the Forest Service and founded the Association of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (AFSEEE). He notes, "For many people who wear the green (Forest Service) uniform, the working environment is like living in East Germany before the Berlin Wall fell". This is a predictable consequence when decisions are made in the political arena. Here, political considerations trump ecological, ethical, and economic factors.

Without explicit reference, Science Under Siege reaffirms the thirty year-old message of public choice economists Noble Laureate James Buchanan, Mancur Olson, Gordon Tullock, and others. They described how concentrated, motivated interest groups forming around economic benefits, have significant advantages in political struggles against more disorganized groups. The powerful analytical tools of economics can help explain the causes of maladies environmentalist condemn: money-losing clearcuts on the national forests; federal dams that don't begin to cover operation costs (let alone the amortized costs of construction); federal agents killing predators such as mountain lions and bears on federal lands grazed by livestock at a huge ecological and economic expense, and a gaggle of other environmentally costly practices. The poignant stories in Science Under Siege, provide further motivation for removing resource management from the political process.

From a review that appeared in Bear News, the journal of the Great Bear Foundation: Calling science "a moral compass for making the right decisions," Science Under Siege argues convincingly thatpublic agencies have lost sight of true north. This book is very hard on bureaucrats--many of them professional scientists who have lost their way--and on political manipulations by elected officials and corporate lobbyists who care not one whit for the bears or habitat! This is an extremely good book; it hits hard but it cleverly lets the bad guys hang themselves with their own words while promoting the good science, the good scientists and government officials. It also makes one sad to realize how the concepts of civil service and specialized agencies have been so destroyed by politicians and Big Money. President Nixon started the trend of replacing professional agency heads with politicial cronies--a problem that is still growing today. Dave Mattson, "the hero of the bears," who studied grizzlies in Yellowstone National Park and others deserve all the credit this book gives them.

His subject is the fate of scientists whose research brings them into conflict with the policies of the agencies they work for, especially the Forest Service, The Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Wilkinson's profiles of responsible scientists dislodged because of political pressure create a portrait of environmental irresponsibility-comtempt, even-within the bureaucracies whose ostensible mission is to serve the public interest on federally owned lands.

The Genesis Debate allows 3 pairs of scholarly authors to present (and dialog on) the 3 most widespread evangelical interpretations of the creation days. The presented views are the 24-Hour (young earth created in 144 consecutive hours), Day-Age (old earth created over 6 extended periods of time), and Framework (Genesis 1 is a literary expression of actual non-sequential creation events at some unknown time in history). The book format allowed each team to present their view, the other 2 teams respond to that presentation, and then the view presenter responds to the responses. This back and forth format was better than many similar multi-view books.

Norman Geisler gives a very wise forward to the book. He states that "the creation-day debate is not over the inspiration of the Bible, but over it's interpretation...no one holding any of the views should be charged with unorthodoxy for the position he espouses in this volume...the Church needs to shift its focus to the real enemy - evolutionism - not to other forms of creationism that remain true to the historicity of the events recorded in Genesis". I think all believers involved in these discussions would be wise to heed Dr. Geislers advice and lower the intensity and frequency of their attacking of one another.

The 24-Hour view based their arguments primarily on tradition. They went to great lengths to show how most interpreters in the early history of the church (pre-1800) held a view similar to theirs. They also presented a bible overview of various verses that speak of creation. The main weaknesses (pointed out by the other scholars) of their presentation is that tradition has been wrong in the history of the church. While tradition is important, if evangelicals/protestants thought it was the ultimate authority then the reformation would never have occurred. The second weakness of their presentation was that their Bible overview had virtually nothing that contradicted the other two views. The verses basically all supported the concept that God performed special creation (something the other two views agree with).

The Day-Age view based most of their arguments on how well scientific discoveries correlate with the sequence of events in Genesis 1. The science presented was very convincing. Unfortunately, neither of the other 2 teams had the knowledge or inclination to dialog on any of those issues (other than a few feeble attempts to instill doubt in the scientific evidence). Perhaps another book where the 24-hour vs. Day-Age view, focussing primarily on scientific evidence, would be good. Another major facet of this presentation was to show how various Hebrew words have multiple meanings (e.g. yom - 24-hours, daylight period, or unknown period of time). There was some good dialog, especially between the Framework and Day-Age teams, on these lexical type issues.

The Framework view (surprising to myself) was actually the most interesting. They went into great depth of exegesis on Genesis 1 and several other creation related passages. Though I'd not seriously studied this view before, I found myself more persuaded by their presentation than either of the other two (though I wasn't convinced, I was persuaded to consider this a viable and legitimate option). Interestingly, Framework holders can believe in either a young earth or an old earth, since (as they interpret) the issue of "when" in creation really isn't covered in the text.

Overall, this was a good book. I wouldn't recommend it to someone new to this topic (as some level of previous knowledge is required to follow parts of the presentations), but for someone wanting to expand their understanding of the issues and read a relatively polite dialog on an often heated issue this is about the best book I've come across.

In getting two Young-Earth proponents to debate their ideas in a civilized format with proponents of other views, the editors of this volume have more than earned their 5 stars (I'd give them six if six were an option). Young Earth'ers are vociferous dogmatics who routinely castigate other believers as heretics for not subscribing wholeheartedly to their particular interpretation of Genesis - in arranging for a fair debate between Young Earth creationists and other scholars, this book reveals how Biblically hollow and unsatisfying Y.E. arguments really are. I was literally shocked to the point of revulsion at how weak YEC theories are - all the YEC team did was assert that ALL prescientific Biblical commentators (Calvin, Luther, various church fathers) believed that the Earth was 6,000 years old and that anyone with another view was a liberal-compromiser with evil "science." The YEC team's assertation that all pre-1800 Christians believed in a young earth was quickly shown to be false (although the YECs refused to accept the truthfulness of the Old Earth team's quotes!), and the YEC team was unable or unwilling to interact with or deal with the scientific evidence or the Biblical evidence. I came away from the YEC essays with a profound feeling of disgust at how so many Christians can be seduced by this blatantly false ideology.

But the book does one better: rather than casting the debate as strictly old earth vs. young earth, the book gets to the heart of the problem: how is the Bible rightly interpreted? Proponents of the Framework theory point out that the Bible is a literary account of creation, not a scientific one, and debates about how old the earth is may be scientifically interesting, but they simply aren't Biblically relevant. The Bible doesn't tell us how old the Earth is - it tells us that God created us in his image to love and know him, and man is lost because of disobedience.

I was raised, like many, to believe in Creation Science, but immediately I was unconfortmable with the position. The old-earth or "Day-Age" theory appealed to me, but I never felt that theory was 100% right. I am not a scientist, and I cannot debate the fine points of geology or chemistry. I do, however, have a degree in literature and an advanced degree in Writing. When I applied the techniques of my own discpline to Genesis, I arrived at the Framework view. The Genesis story has plain symbolic elements (e.g., the Snake), and from a literary standpoint, it's a parable. It is not against a "literal" interpretation of the Bible to say that a portion of the Bible with obvious symbolic elements is, well, symbolic. Even the most literalistic among us routinely recognizes this quality in other portions of Scripture, and even within Genesis 1 itself. (Relatively few people will argue that man really fell simply due to a talking snake...particularly since the Bible later informs us that the Snake was a symbol of Satan.) I'm glad that my insight was not an aberration, and that this view point is in the ascendency. I greatly respect Hugh Ross and other old earth creationists, but even their reasonable attempts to reconcile a literalistic reading of Genesis with modern cosmology, while a vast improvement over YEC theories, aren't really faithful to the Bible's own character. I work with engineers, and I know that scientific people are often very literal in their mindset and aren't the best people to interpret a poetic text. English majors are the ones who really have the goods on Genesis 1, and debates on the earth's age belong wholly outside any discussion about the meaning of Genesis 1.

Critique:

Each of the three pairs of authors have contributed something vital to the Genesis 1 discussion for which they should be commended and thanked for their time and effort. Duncan and Hall have rightly reminded the reader of the dangers that conformity to the present age presents to every generation. Their appeal to past interpreters further reminds us of the dangers of "novel" thinking and the importance of an orthodox consensus. Ross and Archer bring with them an arsenal of scientific understanding that has been used by the unbelieving community to attack the Bible and have sought to use it in support the Bible. They have found no reason to reject the Bible in the name of science. Their efforts affirm that the Bible can be reasonably interpreted without compromising inerrancy or a critically scientific mind. Irons and Kline offer a strongly textual argument reminding the reader that the Genesis 1 text had and has primarily a theological and a literary meaning. By offering an exegetical and theological argument that leaves ample room for secondary apologetic considerations.

Of the three arguments presented, the strongest by far is the framework view. Irons and Kline have put together an impressive work of exegesis and theological erudition that places the biblical text in its proper place without snubbing a literal treatment of the text or sidelining the concerns of science. On the other hand, Duncan and Hall do not present a unified and exegetically convincing argument. Too much rests upon the lexical use of a single word divorced from a broader context. Ross and Archer similarly offer a minimal amount of exegetical work and only that for which accommodates their pre-commitment to make science fit the textual data.

Presuppositions become clear in this discussion. The 24-hour view and the day-age view appear to come to the text with a strong commitment to something other than letting the text speak for itself. Duncan and Hall even chide Irons' and Kline's work for doing this. Yet the chiding reveals that they themselves have not done this. Duncan and Hall are set against a conformist's view and see anything less than a belief in their view as a compromise to worldliness. But the accusation only stands if the biblical text demonstrates their view convicingly. And while in actuality it might, it does not in their presentation. Their constant appeal to church tradition rather than a fully orbed exegesis appears to show a failing in their argumentation. Other voices have to shore up where textual evidence has fallen short.

Ross and Archer show a pre-commitment even more strongly than Duncan and Hall. They are unabashed about their belief in certain facts of science as irrefutable, requiring the text to accommodate for them. They assert that general revelation ought to share a proper place alongside special revelation. But in practice, it seems that general revelation is taken as "fact" whereas special revelation is subject to interpretation and is more subjective, thus the Bible can bend in places where its strict literalness can be questioned. Here Ross and Archer have not demonstrated the awareness that science is just as subjective and involving interpretation as biblical exegesis. Not only are the scientific "facts" today often overthrown or changed tomorrow, but most importantly, while the "facts" do not lie, the way they are interpreted, handled, systematized, and shown in relation to other facts (which cannot be avoided in any knowledge-based inquiry) is absolutely a matter of interpretation. The most recent hermeneutical discussions have not only crossed philosophy, theology and linguistics but are now branching into the realm of science which is beginning to see that it, indeed, involves interpretations of facts and the use of models to generate systems of knowledge. Ross and Archer seem to take the "facts" of science too much for granted, not allowing for immense complexity involved in moving from observation of phenomena, to understanding of said phenomena, to extrapolation of said phenomena from present observation to past reality, and then to abstract principles that govern theological issues such as creation. Each of these steps involve many levels of interpretation, especially since no one ever has "all the facts" even in scientific inquiry.

Hence, the approach of Irons and Kline not only takes us back to the proper focus-- the text-- but also to the proper focus of the text which is theological and practical issues. Since it is a theological conclusion we are attempting to reach, priority is placed rightly by Irons and Kline in the exegesis of the text rather than upon science or an appeal to a single lexical term or to church history. Duncan and Hall claim that when all is said and done the 24-hour view will stand when science and novel interpretations have fallen away. What is more accurate is that the Biblical teachings will endure when all else has fallen away, and Duncan and Hall have asserted more than successfully argued that their interpretation is the correct one. Irons and Kline have presented a more biblically convincing argument and have used their space in their essay to argue the text of Genesis 1.

Overall, the book was interesting, readable, and helpful in understanding three of the major views on the debate. I commend and recommend it highly.

With Soulful Divas, David Nathan - a true lover of r&B music - has compiled interviews with many of his favorite singers of the past 40 years. Some of the subjects, like that of the humorously raunchy Millie Jackson and the troubled Nina Simone, make for compelling reading. Most suffer from his endless fawning however. Take, for instance, Diana Ross. By all other accounts, Miss Ross is a difficult person, yet Nathan makes her out to be practically a saint.

Nathan's frequent access to all of the top divas exposes the modern journalist's dilemma: if he fully captures his subjects in print, warts and all, he risks alienating them and being denied interview access to them in the future. Instead, Nathan fawns all over his subjects and gets repeat interviews with high-profile women who are often leery of the press (Aretha Franklin for one). Because of his "tactics", we are able to enjoy his many interviews in one setting (this book). Too bad most of his portraits don't penetrate the surface.

David Nathan has given us all a wonderful gift in writing this book. One of the leading journalists in rhythm & blues over the past 25 years, he presents thoughtful and incisive portraits of some of the greatest ladies of soul (kudos for including two of my all-time favorites, Esther Phillips and Millie Jackson). Rather than merely rehashing career informaion, David lets us observe, through his keen eye for detail, the often difficult process behind the interviews themselves. The chapter on Phyllis Hyman is especially revealing: at one point, David is ready to interview her, but she insists on watching television! We see how the manic depressive behavior that led to her demise seeped into her business relationships. Other chapters, such as the compelling profiles of Chaka Khan and Patti LaBelle, contain equally telling observations.

Entertaining, informative, and often endearing, The Soulful Divas is a must-have for any comprehensive music library.

David Nathan KNOWS his R & B. For close to four decades, the book's author has been a contributor, in some way or another, to the production of over 500 albums of soul music. He has done countless interviews, provided liner notes for recordings, served as producer on several, and even done a little background singing. It is obvious that if anyone knows what a "diva" truly is, David Nathan is that man.

"The Soulful Divas" covers the recording careers of the ladies profiled with little snippets of their non-professional beginnings, as well as individual highs and lows. However, it's these little "peeks" into the artists' characters that make the book such a fascinating read.

Not meaning to reveal much of the text, there are many little known facts reported in each profile. Each of the women has experienced her share of failed romantic relationships, legal battles with recording companies, perceived public opinions, peaks and valleys in album sales, and personal tragedies.

Most tragic of all showcased within the pages of the expose is the late Phyllis Hyman, a diva in every sense of the word. Like Nathan, I am a fan of hers, also, and her untimely demise still brings a lump in my throat.

But, the chapter on Millie Jackson is a welcome find. Jackson is the only diva profiled that is not represented in my musical library, save for a duet album with Isaac Hayes. However, after reading about the singer's body of work, as well as her down-to-earth and honest demeanor, I think that this is about to change.

I am curious about a certain "expletive deleted" symphony that she composed.

Note for the author: The next time around, include Patti Austin in volume two.

This book have the two point of view of the people involved on fisheries: practical and scientific. But the book was writed with the fisherman approach trying to explain how the ocean can change the fish behaviour. I recommend this book, one of the best on fisheries oceanography.

David Ross gets to the point with consise, informative strategies about surfcasting. The information he presents does not reek of egomania, but instead offers a variety of methods in catching the Big Kauna. It's pure fishing and a guide that is keeping me in line during these colder months. Another positive about this book was the fact that I did not feel like it was an advertising section for certain tackle or gear. The details were not overly wordy, but were easy to grasp and take out to the jetty. I recommend this book to all surfcasters - both rod and fly alike. Good fishing!!

Finally a book on fishing that can teach an angler something about the subject. Although it is written to a degree from the author's perspective as an ocean fly fisherman, it has a lot of really good scientific information about all aspects of fish and fishing, oceans, tides, etc. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to, "catch rather than fish", whether he (or she) is a salt water or fresh water fisherperson. Obviously if you are the latter sort, the portions relating strictly to the ocean and estuaries will not be of much interest. But I know of no book that has given me more information nor made me so excited to try out what I learned!!! I am a life-long avid salt and fresh water angler and considered myself reasonably knowledgable until I read what Mr. Ross has to say.Granted this book takes effort to read. It is more like a text than an easy read. Frankly the first portion of the book put me into a deep slumber after an average of just 5 pages but the last half kept me awake.

I have purchased a copy for my fishing partner since I don't want to give up my copy. My wife(also nuts about fishing) will never see this book. She is already much too competitive(and lucky)! I figure that the information in this book will give me the edge I deserve.

This book is a remake (a tenth anniversary) of an earlier publication of the same name. Being that I don't care for cutsey wooden plaques, and the red, white, and blue of the "original" American Country look made famous so many years ago, I was hoping for the best with Formal Country.

It just did not live up to the terminology "formal" for my tastes.

This book experiments with different shades of country style, from the Santa Fe to the European Tuscany or Provence, displaying the versatility that country decoration can have, departing from the traditional decoration ideas one may have.

The photographs offer an amazing display of the richness and colorfulness of the different settings that make possible to visualize the match of these many different styles to the country warmth.

This book is great for its innovative approach and its simplicity in the combination of elements and the degree of contrast one may play with.

This book experiments with different shades of country style, from the Santa Fe to the European Tuscany or Provence, displaying the versatility that country decoration can have, departing from the traditional decoration ideas one may have.

The photographs offer an amazing display of the richness and colorfulness of the different settings that make possible to visualize the match of these many different styles to the country warmth.

This book is great for its innovative approach and its simplicity in the combination of elements and the degree of contrast one may play with.

Agreed, excellent character development and story telling with many twists and turns, but in my opinion the book just fizzles in the end. Booth Stallings is the main character throughout most of the book; however, in the last few chapters his importance and intelligence just fades away. He's supposed to be an extremely knowledgable, brilliant "terrorism" expert, but by the end of the book he's portrayed as an old fool. Maybe I missed some elusive underlying point, but I was very disappointed. Thomas's writing reminded me of the John Grisham novels I have read. Great, fast paced reads with highly identifiable characters, but alas....quick spurt endings with very little thought.

OUT ON THE RIM features two senior citizens. One is in the process of recovering from a stroke while carrying on a revolution and the other is re-entering the world of work after being between jobs less than twelve hours.

Thomas comes up with an entertaining plot full of double and triple crosses set in the early years of the Aquino government while the Marcos forces still loom as a large threat. The story centers around an attempt by the Marcos gang to destabilize the Aquino government by funding a rebel group led by Alejandro Espiritu. Enter Booth Stallings, Espiritu's World war II buddy and presently a down-and-out sixty-year-old academic just fired from his job with a foundation as an expert on terrorism. He is hired indirectly by the Marcos regime as an intermediary.

On his way to the Philippines, Stallings joins forces with a collection of experienced international con men. Artie Wu is a forty-four year old giant who is a pretender to the emperor's throne in China. He is accompanied by his long-time business partner, Quincy Durant. In a cast full of desperadoes and other untrustworthy people, Otherguy Overby manages to stand out. His nickname speaks for itself. It's always the other guy's fault. Georgia Blue is a statuesque beauty who doubles as both a body guard and a strong-willed, brilliant and independent operative. As a team, their most remarkable quality may be their ability to survive.

As the plot unfolds we begin to appreciate the latent talents of Stallings. He also starts to believe in his own abilities and realizes at the end he has found a new career for his dotage in company with Overby, Wu, Durant and Georgia Blue.

A spellbinding book that I could not drop until it was finished. The characters (Artie Wu, Durant, Otherguy Overby, ... ) are so alive - I expect them to step right out of the pages. The plot is marvelous and the story is written beautifully.