Growing up in Alabama I had heard about the tradition of Alabama Football. The only history I was familiar with prior to this book was Paul "Bear" Bryant 70's-80's. I didn't know about the earlier years of Alabama football. After reading this book I understand the RICH Tradition of Alabama football. This book is a History book of Alabama football. I reccommend this book to any college football fans,especially Alabama fans who like me may only remember the Bryant 70's-80's years.Knowledge is the key to understanding Alabama Football. Buy the book.

Al Rose has provided a unique and important look into the lives and times of many of the most influential jazz men and women of the 20th century. His book, "I Remember Jazz" is a valuable historical glimpse at not only the musical influence these wonderful musicans had on the arts, but also a fascinating look at the social and economic conditions they endured.

This book should be required reading in every music program at the high school and college level. Some of the language is not appropriate for younger ages.

If an effort is not made to educate our young people about the history of jazz and its pioneers like Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, James P. Johnson, and the rest, this important part of our American history will be lost.

The book also includes many rare and fascinating photographs of the author with many of the musicians featured in his book.

Jazz is America's original artform and Al Rose has written a book that is required reading.

First written in 1317 A.D., The Secret Rose Garden is a classic work of poetry by Mahmud Shabistari celebrating Sufi wisdom, tradition, life in a dream world and the exploration of divinity and destiny. Skillfully translated by Florence Lederer from the original Persian, these flowing verses have weathered the centuries while remaining as fresh and mysterious. Featuring an introduction about the art and meaning of this enduring literature, The Secret Rose Garden is highly recommended for students of Sufi philosophy and Persian poetry. The Charm Of Beauty: From the unseen world descends/heavenly beauty,/and plants its flag in the city/of earthly fairness,/throwing the world's array into confusion;/now riding the steed of comeliness,/now flourishing the sword of eloquence,/and all alike bow down--/saints and kings, dervishes and prophets--/swayed by the charm of beauty's fascination.

With a solid plot, deft characterizations, and the right touch of tragic romance, Craven follows the lives of three siblings and their guilt-ridden father over several decades to a page-turning climax.
An enjoyable read from an author who obviously did his homework and enjoys his craft. Highly recommended.

Al Rose's history of America's only (until recent decades in parts of Nevada) legalized red light district is an entertaining read if you have an interest in American history, Victorian and Progressive Era culture, historic preservation, jazz or prostitution. Featuring Ernest Bellocq's bittersweet photographs of Storyville's denziens and reproductions of 19th century New Orleans newspapers and gossip sheets this book has a moral for all of us: namely, that the legalization of prostitution can put an end to disease, abuse, and harrassment by johns and the authorities and become a viable part of the economy.

"Storyville, New Orleans" starts out with a brief history of prostitution in the Crescent City and takes the reader on a street-by-street tour of the district created by city aldermen in 1897. Photographs of the girls and their houses are on just about every page and really shows the day-to-day operation of Storyville. In addition, scattered throughout Rose's work are the surviving calling cards and advertisements for each prostitute and her place of business. This includes the "Blue Book", a sort of Yellow Pages for the lecherous. There is also an extensive chapter on the jazz musicians--professors--who played in the various brothels and bars. Storyville was closed by order of the US Navy in 1917 and Rose shows us what happened to some of the women and many of the buildings.

My only problem with this book is that many of the newspaper reproductions--especially that of the full-length Mascot in the back--are hard to read. I first found "Storyville" in my university library years ago when I was a student researching a paper. It was an original hardback copy and the pictures and reproductions were of a much higher quality. This paperback edition is not as good. I hope future editions will correct this when it comes time to print. Other than that, I recommend this "Authentic, Illustrated Account" to anyone who likes their history a little on the raw side.

If this was a fictional account about the section of New Orleans called "Storyville," no one would ever believe it. That it is true is wonderful, monstrous, fascinating, horrible, and damn good reading. The birthplace of blues, jazz, Dixieland and the beginning of the "Black take" on music that has swept the world and reinvented itself many times...right up to the present. The sex in this book and the way it was practiced and viewed at the time is unbelievable; it boggles the mind. This book cries out to be the basis for a movie, a musical, and/or a TV series. The cast of characters defies explanation. If this book doesn't blow your mind, you don't have one. Great!

This is a very informative book.However, more than being full of facts and figures and information, this book is interesting. The interviews with prostitutes, pimps, visitors and musicians that lived and worked in Storyville make this book interesting. The pictures are tactful and add a lot to the book and it's contents.

Anyone interested in the history of New Orleans will find this a not to be missed book. Anyone interested in prostitution will find this book useful.

I'm a sucker for any anthology that ends with Richard Petty accepting the National Book Award. . . This one also has a lot of heart. The first of what promises to be an annual collection of stories promoting "a rebirth of beauty and life-affirming values," the Silver Rose Anthology offers a strong mix of voices and attitudes. Not every story here will appeal to every reader (the opening story, for instance, does little for me), but the collection overall is outstanding. Personal favorites (in addition to George Singleton's outrageous "Richard Petty Accepts the National Book Award") include Robert Olen Butler's seamless "Rafferty and Josephine," Julie Orringer's touching "Note to Sixth-Grade Self" Patry Francis'"Limbe," and Patricia Hackbarth's provocative "A Brief Geological Guide to Canyon County."
Move over Bill Henderson, Katrina Keneson, and Larry Dark. Watson's in the house!

When Kevin Watson gathered the stories for this anthology, he was doing us a public service. This is a hard world: hearts break, and lives are shattered. Stories that don't deal with those realities aren't true to life. But there's so much more to life--and should be to art. These stories are "life-affirming" in the best kind of way: They don't stay sunk in gloom, but they don't stoop to easy answers. Each one shows us a new facet of getting on with life, making things work, following the path. The individual stories are excellent--I especially like the story by Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Olen Butler, although it's one of several strong stories--and in their cumulative effect, the collection becomes (and I mean this in the best kind of way) inspirational.

i only gave this book 5 stars because i could not give it more. i went to a reading of one of the writers and soon went on to read the rest. it has a good mix of voices, but by far the best writer is Heidi Shayla and her story "The Coffin Builder's Romance", it is a beautiful story of quilts, boxes, and of course, coffins. it is my all time favorite anthology, and i would definetly recomend it.

I would like to contact Michael H. Zajdel who wrote a review on this book.

Please contact me at LELawson@aol.com

I am a court reporter who is using continuous speech recognition software to produce transcripts and to do realtime reporting. I am considered to be an advanced user and have assisted and consulted many other people on speech recognition products. This book immediately became invaluable to me. "Dragon Naturally Speaking Complete" gives the reader a well-rounded understanding of the basic mechanics of state-of-the-art speech recognition products on the market, and then serves as a compass to guide them through how to best apply this technology.

I receive numerous calls and e-mails every week covering a fairly wide range of speech recognition issues. I answer those questions as best I can, but usually I feel like the person needs more information than I can give them at the time to understand the software and hardware well enough to achieve their goals. This book covers almost every aspect of speech recognition that I have had to deal with. Paid consultants might want to keep this gem under their hat, because this book will empower its readers to a very high degree. This book not only gives its reader insight to methods and techniques to rapidly build their speech recognition skills, but it also gives a very good explanation of hardware issues concerning speech recognition. The authors also have given numerous references to sites, products and newsgroups that are invaluable resources.

Before buying the book, I thought the book might turn out to be too technical in nature for many people. Those concerns were quelled after reading just the first few pages. This book is written clearly enough so that a novice to speech recognition can understand it, and then be incrementally elevated to a high level of proficiency. If some thought and common sense is applied, the reader will be elevated to an advanced level. I consider this compendium to be a speech recognition treatise, only written so we mere mortals can understand!

I have gone thru almost all the book so far and I find that is full of tips to make my speech recognition use a better experience. Yes, it is true that in some instances I would like to see more macros, but that would require a devoted book on the subject. I am a software trainer and I always find that different audiences have different expectatives and sometimes they find I have not met them. Good work and I congratulate the authors for the effort on putting so much information at hand.