This is a great book. I have written two ad copypieces using Mr.Kennedy's ideas and let me tell you they have pulled fantastically! If you contact me I will send them to you. Mr.Kennedy's plain language and simple style walks you through the thought process step by step. He opens your eyes to how to put yourself in your customers shoes and to understand their psychology. For someone who never went to college he understands business writing tremendously. I can literally attribute his book to refining my sales campaign.Our futures company ... is indebted to him.

This book is an amazing resource for anyone who writes sales letters. I own a business that sells high dollar OD/HR consulting. I bought this book based upon the reviews it got from other readers and the title. At first, I was very disappointed because the book is really directed mostly at direct-mail, reach-out-and-grab-the-buyer type businesses with products or services for consumers. My target audience is much more sophisticated and specialized.

I put the book on my shelf until recently. I picked it up again, mostly forgetting what I didn't like about it the first time. I quickly remembered, but I kept looking for different and new ideas. I found them. All I needed to do was to open my mind and use my imagination on how I could incorporate the ideas he has and use them. The results were amazing! I realized I had limited myself because I was really looking for a letter I could simply copy and change. Once I dropped that attitude, my whole view of the book changed.

Also, the formula for writing a great sales letter is the same whether you are writing something like mine or other types of copy or sales letters...

I highly recommend buying this book. Use it in the right way and you will see results.

Although designed primarily for the direct-mail market, the principles and techniques of "The Ultimate Sales Letter" can be adapted and applied to a wide variety of situations. Kennedy covers all the important topics and techniques on how to write the letter so that it not only gets opened but read and acted on.

One of the most common mistakes a poor salesman makes is trying to sell a product based on features. This is totally ineffective when compared to selling based on the benefits the product will provide the customer. Kennedy does an excellent job of demonstrating the difference and how to write a sales letter that focuses on the benefits to a customer. The result is a highly effective letter.

Add to this the tricks of the trade, writing style, revision information and multitude of other tips that fill the book and you have one of the best books on writing sales letters that I have ever read. Well organized, well written, and easily understood, Kennedy takes you through a complete and repeateable process from concept to followup to sale that does not miss a beat. If you want a sales letter that can produce leads and then convert the leads to sales there is no better book on the market today.

The author, Dan Kirby, goes through the normal steps of teaching golf but he also goes much further. He delves into the mental and spiritual aspects of the game that are rarely addressed in other instructional books. He has taught me to relax and stop trying so hard. The game of golf, in my mind, is 25% mechanical and 75% mental. He focuses on the mechanical side of golf of course, but more importantly, he explains the importance of concentration, the enjoyment of playing golf and just being alive. This new outlook on golf that I learned from reading Dan's book has greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the game and has shaved a couple of strokes off my scorecard!!

Dan Kirby's book, "The ABC's of Golf," does what golf books should do, but don't. His book is simple, easy to understand, and is loaded with common sense. The hight light of Dans book is that he keeps the point sharply focused on the original goal of golf....and that is to have fun and enjoy yourself. Jim McLellan, golf professional...

"I appreciate the simple basic approach that your book takes to the game. Too often authors try to teach their readers to adapt to their particular style of play; whereas you recognize that not everyone has the same physical abilities and encourage the reader to take this into account. Your book should be able to help me knock 3 or 4 strokes off my score and perhaps enjoy the game even more than I do now".

Sam Chaif,Technical Service Rep.Alliance products Inc., Montreal,QC

Of the reviewers posted here, I think I am probably the only one who read Radical Hospitality, the other book by these authors, before reading Benedict's Way. I like Radical Hospitality better if only because it spoke to me about how I need to make some changes in my life. Benedict's Way is a great book for anyone who wants to go a little deeper into benedictine spirituality but isn't much into serious scholarship. My brother is a Benedictine monk and he showed me a review of the book that came out recently. It talked about how this book is written in a simple and direct style but there is an evident scholarship lurking in the backgrounds of the authors. They just don't seem to be showy about it. Which is very good news for the reader who wants depth without pretentiousness. Even if you do read Radical Hospitality first, you'll love this book.

Benedict's Way guides the reader easily into understanding God's intentions of our time here on earth. We have created a fast paced lifestyle that is self serving causing much anxiety. This is evident by the ever increaing need for lifestyle managing drugs. Our current society with all its technology and materialism has the highest rates of divorce, depression, sucide, etc., in history. It seems that all this financial wealth has done little to make us truly happy. Is it possible that God in is infinite wisdom understood this and inspired spiritual teachers like Buddha, Mother Terresa, and St. Benedict to teach us how to live?

Pratt and Homan have challenged the reader to look at their own life and reflect on it. For me personally this book has opened my eyes to my own self serving ways. Each chapter is thought provoking and one of my favorites Balance and Celebration caused me to pause and look at how I approach my family time, work time, personal time, spritual time, etc.

The format makes this an easy read with each chapter ending in a reflective prayer. Another great aspect of the book is the suggested reading section that includes web-sites to visit.

This book is a must read for anyone serious about living a simplier spirit filled life.

I'm new to Benedictine spirituality but am learning to value the simple things. I thought that made this book a good place to start my Benedictine journey. The book challenged my long-held ideas about spirituality and the nature of the universe and I came away feeling good about myself believing that maybe the universe is a good place after all. It helped me. I think that's what I really needed from a book rather than advice on Benedictine spirituality although I'm confident that is also a strength for this book. We all want balance and this really does help.

yes the DBI as it is called in the Wilhoit house is the bestest book ever (after the Bible of coarse!). i have been meandering arround his office and old students have come in and told him what a great book this was!!! Buy it!! I come in like a billion languages (Korean, Chinese, and English)
~Juliana Wilhoit

This is a very extensive, yet concise topical dictionary that explores the countless metaphors and images so prevelant in the Bible. It is amazing how much God used symbolism to represent Himself or His promises, and most people (including the OT Jews) never caught it.

One point of interest to me was the meaning behind the lampstand God had Moses contruct. Most people overlook the details God gave concerning it's construction and what it referred to, but not this book...

If you are a fan of the IVP series that includes such volumes as "Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels," "Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments," "Dictionary of Paul and His Letters," you will thoroughly enjoy this reference book.

I really had no clue as to how important biblical imagery was before i read many parts of this dictionary. Biblical imagery isn't just for Catholics anymore! Biblical imagery is so important to the bible because the bible is wrapped up in imagery.

Why does God refer to His followers as sheep? What was the significance of the prodigal son getting a robe, ring and sandals when he returned home? How are various metaphors used in scriptures? How does Old Testament imagery relate to New Testament writings? All these are questions that many of us have entertained and are answered in great depth in this dictionary. I don't remember what course this book was necessary for in bible school, but I am sure glad that I got my hands on it.

If you are a preacher, pastor or a leader in the church you need to get your hands on this book too. Biblical imagery is too important for us to be ignorant of. God uses imagery to emphasize points or principles and we need to know what He is saying instead of being confused at why such a figure would be used to tell a parable or story.

y algo maravilloso que aprendi de una persona muy sabia, ME ENSEÑARON EL DIFICIL PERO RENTABLE ARTE DE PERDONAR:
Primero, lee el libro con sumos cuidado y atencion.
Después, haces una lista de la o las personas que odias o aborreces y, repitiendo su nombre, recitas:
"TE PERDONO Y TE BENDIGO !"
Al principio, ese "te bendigo"se te atora en la lengua, pero entre mas lo repitas, mas pronto te encontraras que no solo se hace facil repetirlo, sinon que UN BUEN DIA AMANECES CON LA SORPRESA DE QUE TU CORAZON YA NO ALBERGA NINGUNA ODIO !

Y TE SIENTES LIBERADO... PARA SIEMPRE

MI ALIVIO...PORQUE NO ABORRECIA A NADIE, EXCEPTO A MI MISMO...
Y aprendi a perdonarme...¡ES TAN DIFÍCIL ! Pero ESTE LIBRO ME DIO LA TECNICA INFALIBLE !

"...y perdona nuestras ofensas..."
¿Y AQUELLO DE
" ...asi como nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden..."
Te aseguro, amigo, que eso lo repetimos como loros huastecos... sin verdadera intención y sin ninguna atención..
Y DIOS ES MUY SABIO: Nos manda perdonar porque el resentimiento nos daña..Y PORQUE ES JUSTO QUE HAGAMOS POR OTROS LO QUE PEDIMOS PARA NOSOTROS MISMOS !

Y esta obra contiene UN GRAN METODO PARA PERDONAR.
Por eso te la recomiendo

Daniel Haley's book, "Politics In Healing", reveals a deeply disturbing portrait of agencies and organizations created to protect the health of the American People actually contributing to their unnecessary death. By embracing toxic chemotherapies and radiation therapies that are known to be carcinogenic, despite little proven success over the last fifty years in curing and preventing cancer, while actively supressing research and objective clinical trials on extremely promising non-toxic therapies, The National Cancer Institute (NCI) and United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) indirectly kill more people each week than the almost 3,000 people who died on September 11 2001 in the World Trade Center and Pentagon terrorist attacks.

On the surface this book documents twelve different non-toxic therapies that showed anecdotal or clinical benefit in slowing or reversing cancer. The discoverers and early advocates of each were persecuted and the therapy suppressed. The book really documents a cancer in our medical and government bureacracies that needs to be exposed to the killing radiation of public scrutiny and legally prosecuted for any duplicity and fraud it has perpitrated on a trusting and unsuspecting American People.

It is fairly well known that approximatley 10,000 people die each week in the United States from cancer. It is less well known that over 3,000 Americans die each week from FDA approved prescription medication prescribed appropriately and taken according to instructions. That is over four times as many people as died on September 11, 2001 each and every week.

The evidence presented in this book leads to the inescapable conclusion that the NCI, FDA and AMA are either totally incompetent or they have actively and maliciously sought to continue poisoning cancer patients rather than permit the discovery and free investigation of non-toxic therapies that have, in many cases, shown remarkable abilities to slow and reverse cancer.

I predict that history will look back on Medicine in the United States in the second half of the 20th Century and marvel at the wanton greed and barbaric practices that have prescribed fear without hope and death by poison and mutilation, while manipulating the political and legal sytems to maintain their unholy monopoly. As we look back in horror at the holocaust in Germany during World War II, future historians will wonder why good people did not step forward to stop the senseless slaughter. Despite spending more money per person on healthcare in the United States than any other country in the world, the people in at least nineteen other countries live longer. This book documents how the NCI, FDA, and AMA may contribute to this apparent contradiction. Many of these countries have embraced non-toxic cancer therapies suppressed in the US.

The "Politics in Healing" will open your eyes. The "Politics in Healing" is a clarion call to action. We must take responsibility for our own health. Knowledge is Power!!

LETS ROLL!!!

This book is shocking in its revelations of the motives of the medical establishment which keep patients from successful alternative treatments of disease, especially cancer. The book has ten stories of medical pioneers and their persecution by the medical establishment which read like horror stories, but unfortunately are true, not fiction.
This is a must read for persons interested in health and/or politics. The book outlines several successful treatments for persons with cancer and offers hope.

Pay no attention to Amazon's capsule review above. EVERY CANCER CURE DESCRIBED IN HALEY'S BOOK, AS WELL AS ITS CAREFULLY CRAFTED SUPRESSION, IS DOCUMENTED IN METICULOUS AND CONCLUSIVE DETAIL! This is not the rantings of some whacko as your own doctor or government official might try to "sympathetically" inform you. The evidence is there--from personal letters between top medical university researchers, to testimony before Congress: you are systematically being deprived of the means by which to save your own life! Haley should be awared the nation's highest tribute as a true American patriot and a national hero. Read this book and decide for yourself. You will never think about our health care system the same way again.

Red Card is the perfect book for summer, or anytime you find yourself looking for a quick, highly entertaining read. The protagonist is Zeke Armstrong. He's thirteen years old. He plays soccer. He solves mysteries. He's got a secret. The book opens in the middle of a soccer game at the Lone Star Invitational Soccer Tournament. Zeke's team wins, but afterwards his coach is shot and left for dead. Zeke is the first person on the scene. After doing what he can for his coach and calling for help, he starts gathering clues. The action shifts back to the tournament, and then a second attempt is made on the coach's life. Zeke starts to put things together, but none of the adults or his teammates will take him seriously. To make matters worse, the attacker may now be after Zeke. It was a lot of fun watching Zeke try to solve the mystery with the attacker still on the loose and still a threat. Red Card's mix of intriguing detective work, exciting sports action and engaging characters keeps the pages turning. Although the book is geared towards younger teens and up, I can't imagine anyone not enjoying it. Red Card appears to be the first book in a series; if so, I'll definitely buy the next one.

Zeke Armstrong is playing in a soccer tournament with his team, the Dallas Sundogs. Things are going well, until his coach gets thrown out of a game for loosing his temper with a ref. The next morning, Zeke discovers that the coach has just been shot. After he's rushed to the hospital, another attempt is made on his life. It has to be one of the team's fathers, but whom? The police think they have their man, but Zeke is convinced they're wrong. Can he make the other parents believe him and save his coach's life?

I'll read a good mystery aimed at any age group, and I loved this one. The main character is lots of fun. I'm not a big sports fan, but the descriptions of the soccer games held my interest and were easy to follow. In fact, a book that could have been awash in characters did such a good job of introducing them that I had no trouble keeping everyone straight. And the climax had me turning pages as fast as possible to find out what how everything would end.

This is an entertaining debut that left me wanting more. I recommend this book to anyone of any age looking for a good mystery.

Mr. Hale came to our school to tell us about this book. I reccomend it to anybody who likes mysteries. I don't really like soccer, but I still give this book two thumbs up

Borgel is a classic example of Daniel Pinkwater's very imaginative, creative, and captivating writing style. A very good example of that indeed , I enjoyed it thoroughly. The basic story is as follows, a boy who lives in a relatively boring, normal family, one day is startled by a man at the front door claiming to be a relative of the family and in need of a place to stay. The family obliges and the man comes to live with them. The man (Borgel) takes the boy (Melvin Spellbound) on a long trip and they have many unexpected adventures. Good words to use when talking about this book would be unique, interesting, funny, fantastic, goofy, unexpected, ingenious, weird, and that's just to name a few. If you like hearing about new, interesting, people, places, and things, then this is a great book for you. They encounter all sorts of amazing and intriguing people and things. Everything from giant popsicle museums , to bloboforms who own root beer float stands. This book is less of a book than an experience, one must however, enter with an open mind, because without an open mind, one is doomed to monotony, which this reading experience does not provide. It instead provides a colorful, exciting, (as much as this may sound monotonous), imaginative new perspective of things. The physics of time will be revealed, the dimensions of space will be unveiled, the very reasons for life will be explained to you in this book. Someone who wants to learn about how to plant azaleas however, should read something else. I actually found this book rather refreshing, because instead of dealing with the corruption, indecency, and everything dragging our country down a moral sewer, or people going insane from war, or how hard it is to leave home and everything you love, this book shines as a golden ray of light in a mire of depressing, monotonous, dark books. Frankly, I was getting sick for a second of all those books they make you read in school about conspirators killing people and mothers killing their sons. I was ready for something new, and this was the book for me. I think it will be the for you as well.

Whenever I read any of Mr. Pinkwater's books I am amazed at the range and intelligience of this humorist.
"Borgel" has become one of my favorites. From the first chapter I was hooked. The arrival of Borgel ,a flaky, casual genius, to the home of Melvin and his family is like a spark to dry wood. The world that "Uncle Borgel" takes his "Nephew" is fantastic but oddly comparable to our own (though I don't believe you'll be able to get any french fried meteorites in your local McDonald's).
This story moves along with a series of events that keeps one's mind sparked and one's lips twitching with laughter.
Mr. Pinkwater's "Borgel" flows like melted popsicles.

Borgel is a fast-paced space adventure strongly reminiscent of Douglas Adams' 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. At least five years after first reading it, I still tell the Aesops' Fable parodies as jokes (acknowledging their origin, of course :)).

The good:
--Provides a quick look at the regular expression components of .net.
--Verbose enough to give you some idea of how to use the components.
--Much better than the Microsoft documentation.
--Provides examples in both C# and vb.net (this is a Microsoft centric book, obviousy....)

The bad:
--Not enough examples. I humbly suggest some exercises/answers to test yourself. It wouldn't add much to the virtual page count but could help solidify concepts.
--Downloadable code works but doesn't seem at all polished.
--Some examples could be better documented (E.G. better identify which is Group 1, Group 2, etc.)

The ugly:
--Grammar errors. In an e-book there is really no excuse for these errors. C'mon, lets get them fixed in revision 2.
--Errors in examples. If you understand the concept, you'll figure out what is wrong. If you're struggling with a concept, you don't need the additional errors.

To add to the previous reviews:

- he does a good job of building from the ground up - starts with a very clear english explanation before you start in on the examples.

- separates advanced topics from basic issues, making it easy to learn first what you need, and then what you want

- provides a nice summary in the back, like a regular expression help desk reference

- the download code is pretty shoddy, contrary to the other review's comments, but it does get the job done and it's from playing around with the compiled executables that you'll really gain understanding.

if you're finding yourself searching around newsgroups looking for a 'numeric regular expression validator' or something and then copying and pasting code that you don't understand, get this book. It's not hard, but you probably won't pick it up on your own.

.02

Once you become serious about .NET, you'll find Regular Expressions staring you square in the face. They're there and they are very important, but the .NET documentation doesn't help much in learning about Regular Expressions and how to work with them in .NET.
That's where Dan Appleman's Ebook comes in. I think that Dan has done an absolutley stupendous job in the following 3 areas:
a) Dan explains the essence of Regular Expressions from a general perspective. After all, "Regular Expressions" is a language unto itself, even without .NET. This Ebook gives you a good intuitive feel of how pattern matching is expressed with the "Regular Expressions" language.
b) The Ebook shines in its explanation of .NET's take on Regular Expressions. This book thoroughly explores the various classes and methods that .NET offers for working with Regular Expressions. Dan does a great job teaching you about Groups and Captures.
c) The code download for the book is top-notch. Clearly, there was a lot of thought put into providing meaningful examples to help the reader internalize the .NET approach to processing with
Regular Expression.
I think the Ebook format is perfect for this topic.
I have one criticism, though. I believe that the advertising glop at the end of the end of the Ebook is somewhat extraneous.
A link to this material should have been sufficient.

Don't judge a book by it's cover doesn't apply in this case because not only is the cover of West Wind Review a work of art, but so it the writing. I love the prose poems/sudden fictions in this book. Please keep up the good work.

Not a dull page in the entire anthology. My only regret is that is could include a few more writers.

I recommend this anthology to anyone wanting a break from trendy genre novels, boring non-fiction, me-me-me poetry and nonsensical language poetry. Writers in West Wind Review are superb at mixing humor with pathos on their quests to find the meaning of life. You know how most writers seem to be trying too hard and sound fake deep? Not this group. Check it out.