When I saw this book at the local library years ago, the title made me reach out; and I've been glad that I did ever since. Saloon owner 'Mac' McCorkle runs a popular bar in Bonn, Germany. And becomes the cloak and good friend of a very suave, multi lingual, and lethal dagger named Mike Padillo. Late of the OSS, Padillo is the man they send out on the little 'jobs' that never make the papers. His assignment in the 'Swap', is to bring back two defectors from the NSA (No Such Agency, at the time) through Checkpoint Charlie. Unfortunately, anything that could go wrong does, and McCorkle is soon on his way to help Padillo through assorted mayhem, kidnapping, murder, and the odd double and triple cross. The plot is exquisite, the dialogue, believeable, and the travelouge, tension, and sense of surroundings, superb. You may want to look for a character named Cook Baker, who's a dead ringer for Dr. Hunter Thompson. And probably the finest description of a favorite watering hole, bar, or saloon, in print: Comprising only three sentences! Ross Thomas had a splendid talent for words. With Hammett's brief, juicy, four course descriptions and Chandler's eye for noir and mysterious mood and humor. 'The Cold War Swap' was his first offing into literatue, and very likely his best. If you see a title from Ross Thomas, pick it up. I guarentee you won't be sorry. But don't blame me if you begin to seek high and low for his 24 later novels. Four of them under the pseudonym Oliver Bleeck.

McCorkle, Bonn Saloon-keeper, meets the mysterious Padilla, and becomes a reluctant spy. Chase back and forth across the Berlin Wall. Good guys win. One of the first Ross Thomas novels. Sets the standard. Fast paced. Witty dialog.

This is a collection of poetry like no other - Ross has found a way to strike a balance bewteen being silly and nonsensical and making coments on the world we live in. He causes his readers to re-discover what language can do. He makes you laugh, but he also makes you pay attension to the messages behind his fantastic imagination.

This book puts a high value on clarity and logic. Time invested with this book is repaid with UNDERSTANDING.

I think that this book is very good. The harmonies in it are incredible. I have done this show and Amazon.com has been the only place I can find the sheet music and soundtrack. It's incredible! =)

As a chinese who is not capable of fast-reading, I appreciate that the authors make it comfortale to read and loss no details. I like the sections of menstrual cycle, vaginal infecion, and genital neoplasms. Compared to the Novak's, the Kistner's is easier and I say -more sensible- to readers.

Although a couple of years out of date-1994- this book, with excellent pictures and local maps, has proved itself very informative, detailing the area, places of interest,location and description of the local Pousada. The information is very realistic, Stuart Ross is not adverse to pointing out any downside there maybe. We have found this small book very reliable. Shame there isn't an update.

Taylor has written one of the worst science books I have ever read. If I didn't have to finish it for class, I would have put (nay, THREW) it down before the first chapter was over. I'm not criticizing the science in the book, which I believe is quite good, since Taylor is a well-respected planetary geologist. The problems with this book, rather, are primarily grammatical and stylistic. First, and most ingratiating, Taylor keeps telling us that he will explain things "later". I lost count of the number of times the sentence "More on that later." ends a paragraph. Secondly, there are a number of typographical errors in the book, mainly the kind discovered only by human proofreaders (like using "from" instead of "form"). It seems as if Taylor just did a spell check on his final draft and then sent it off to the printers. Thirdly, there is no flow to the book. Sentences are, for the most part, simple. Paragraphs and sections follow one another with apparently no connection, like a laundry list of information. Unlike a novel, the reader of this kind of book should have some idea where it is going and what grand statement is being proved. This doesn't happen. Fourthly, Taylor spends too much time explaining simple concepts but not enough time on difficult concepts. He also thinks that annoying pop culture references will clarify things. Finally, otherwise this list would be much to long, Taylor doesn't show any interest in his subject. I know he IS interested, since he spent his entire life studying our solar system, but you wouldn't get that idea from the book. This must be due to bad writing. Sorry Taylor, but you ... at it.

Having just finished the book, and enjoying it immensely, I was curious what the general consensus was on this work. I was a bit surprised at the negativity aimed at the book.

The negative reviews appear to come from students dismayed with the writing style. They should have read the Introduction. For more scholarly purposes, Taylor refers the reader to his more properly cited and thorough work, Solar System Evolution (1992). This volume's style is more akin to a museum tour, with meandering asides and conjectures. Taylor's references to subjects past and further-on are no trouble, if one reads to book front-to-back. I can see how students picking through the book "salad-bar" style would become frustrated.

For a book intended for the layman, the style is very effective. As a casual read, it was intruiging and entertaining. Taylor brought me to a more comprehensive view of our Solar System, and its strange members. He goes to great efforts to keep his writing accessible, and scientific jargon to a manageable level.

As a nit-picky student of English, I'll confess to not seeing all the "typos" mentioned in prior reviews. Either I missed them, or the other readers are in error. One glaring error I did notice was a picture and caption reference to a "Brontosaurus." This term has been out of favor for decades, and is only seen in books for children. The correct word is "Apatosaurus."

For a good view of the present state of knowledge of the origins of the Solar System, I'd recommend this book.

Destiny or Chance is an interesting look at the question of how we got here. Whether or not we are here by accident is an important question as it deeply influences how we view ourselves and other people. Taylor takes us through many (what he sees as) amazing coincidences that got us here in an interesting journey. The order in which he presents the material is a bit different, but it is logical in retrospect.

As for the conclusions he offers, I must respectfully disagree with him. He shows clearly that our presence here is either the most amazing of coincidences or a clear miracle, but he chooses the coincidence. He then spends a little time complaining that we don't spend our limited time here better. I find that inconsistent, though -- if we are here by accident, there is no higher calling to direct our lives. It is only if we were put here by a higher being (read, God) that anyone has a right to say that better should be expected of us.

Nevertheless, it is an interesting read full of sometimes startling facts.