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Book reviews for "Roth,_David" sorted by average review score:

Grill Pan Cookbook: Great Recipes for Stovetop Grilling
Published in Paperback by Chronicle Books (1999)
Authors: Jamee Ruth and David Roth
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Everyone needs this book
If you have only one pan and one book this is it. This book should be the first for everyone who wants to cook. Jamee is the best teacher. This was my first book of hers, also check out Mix It Up! The only book you need for the stand mixer. Do not settle for anything less than what Jamee gives you, the manual. Not just a cookbook.

Thank you Jamee!
I never thought I would be able to cook like this. I will buy anything Jamee writes! Don't be afraid to try everything. Just read and follow the simple perfectly written instructions and you will be a cook. Give us more Jamee!!

easy yummy, guides you through the technique
Good cookbook with easy directions, and by and large, not too many difficult-to-find ingredients. Normally I shy away from special appliances and the books to go with 'em (always believed you should just learn to COOK, period), but I got a grill pan for xmas and then I bought this book. I'd say I now cook at least 50% of my dinners with the pan, and this book covers the topic well -- a good section on basics of using a grill pan. The recipies are not complex, they're more there to teach and reinforce general grill pan techniques. It covers vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, etc, so it pretty much runs the gamut. If you use cookbooks only for step by step verbatim technique and ingredents, this gets the job done. If you use cookbooks to guide you through a technique to add to your kitchen skills, this is excellent.


Real World Photoshop 3
Published in Paperback by Peachpit Press (15 January, 1996)
Authors: David Blatner, Bruce Fraser, and Stephen F. Roth
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Excellent Resource
This book should be included as a standard accessory in any digital artist toolbox. I use this book as a desktop companion whenever I am working on images with Photoshop. JWoods@kodak.com

One of the best books available on pre-press production
This book is tremendous for professional graphic artists using Photoshop for high end electronic pre-press production. It's full of useful techniques and guidance not only on how to color correct, etc., but also what to look out for. We are an electronic graphic arts production company in the Chicago area, and we learned a lot from this book

A real eye-opener for aspiring digital artists.
Taking you step by step from picking a computer system, through calibrating it, acquiring images, correcting them, and getting them on paper, Real World Photoshop 3 is a whirlwind introduction to pre-press production. As a photographer with no publishing experience, I was fascinated by some of the things that could be achieved with my images as I applied each chapter. I was also horrified at the bloopers I had unwittingly pulled and relieved to find ways to avoid them. David and Bruce share their personal approaches (and differences of opinion), which gave me a bit of reassurance. The humor interspersed is head and shoulders above that in "Photoshop for Dummies" and does not distract when you are struggling to grasp a hard concept.


Cake Decorating Simplified: The Roth Method
Published in Paperback by Allen D. Bragdon Pub. (1990)
Authors: Lawrence M. Rosenberg, Bart J. Devito, and David Gamon
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Excellent resource
This is the best book on this subject I've ever come across. It has beautiful pictures, good close-up pictures to accompany the step-by-step directions, and a lot of helpful information.

If you're looking for a book on cake decorating (or just want to gawk at some yummy pictures), this is THE book.

This is a wonderful cake decorator's resource book!
I only recently heard about this book & i'm very glad that i did.It has detailed instructions,color picture's of the work process & the finished product.This is a book that i will refer to again & again while decorating a cake.Not just for ideas but for instructions or reminders on just how to make that flower.Its covers buttercream as well as fondant,has recipes for each & cake recepies.


Original Tao
Published in Hardcover by Columbia University Press (15 December, 1999)
Author: Harold David Roth
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Excellent introduction to early Taoist thought
Original Tao is a wonderful translation of an often over-looked text. The verses contained within this short work rival and often surpass those found in the more well known Taoist classic, Lau-tzu.

In addition to the translation, Professor Roth's commentary on Chinese mysticism is phenomenal and provides an interesting back-drop to the history of Taoist thought.

I highly recommend this book to both newcomers and veterans of Taoism

A foundational text of early Taoism.
Original Tao provides a new translation and commentary which revise Taoism's origins and reflect new historic discoveries, uncovering the original expressions of Taoist philosophy and using original texts as masterworks for revision. From an introduction of short poetic verses devoted to meditation to the author's contention that the seminal Taoist work Inward Training is the foundational text of early Taoism, this provides an intriguing new examination.


Sacred Honor: Colin Powell the Inside Account of His Life and Triumphs
Published in Paperback by Zondervan (1996)
Author: David Roth
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Colin Powell is great, and so is this book
This book tells you every detail of the wonderful history of Colin Powell. This book is a must. YOU must book this book!!!! I read it, and you should. This book tells about the responsibility, courage, and bravery one single American had.. This is a great book to read during this time of tragedy, because it tells you the whole life of one of our American heroes that are working their behinds off, and helping President Bush a bunches! If you want to buy a book, then buy this book.

Facinating man who talks the talk and walks the walk.
I don't usually read biographies, however, I have always been interested in this man and his rise through the ranks of our military.

David Roth did a fine job, but then his subject was worthy of his efforts. I am most impressed with Colin Powell, and was glad to have had the opportunity to read about him from his childhood through his White House years. I am even more impressed after having read his life story, though we all know, he has so much more to give and so many more roads yet to travel. He is a most impressive man, a man who must be counted with other great leaders, a benchmark of success, and a man that all American's can be very proud of. From his humble beginnings to a distiguished military career, he has left his mark on world history with firm guidance and much forethought. How very lucky we are to have had him in this time and place shaping world policies.

A most enjoyable book to read!


Encountering Evil: Live Options in Theodicy
Published in Paperback by Westminster John Knox Press (1995)
Authors: Stephen T. Davis, John B., Jr. Cobb, David R. Griffin, John H. Hick, John K. Roth, and Frederick Sontag
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Very well done
Although there are probably as many theodicies as there are people in the world, Stephen Davis does a fine job selecting scholars who represent various, major viewpoints on the classic problem of evil to elucidate their positions. John Roth represents a theodicy of protest whereby it is insinuated that God may not be totally good. God, says Roth, has a dark side and so must be persuaded by human protest and prayer to do what is right. Hick, of course, represents the position of an Irenean theodicy where God is portrayed as simply unable to stop all evil since evil is born our of free will and God cannot contradict the free will He gave us (lest it cease being free will). More than that, however, God has created a world in which trouble and evil exist in order that, by virtue of our free will, we might grow in character through the hardship. God, says Hick, is in the business of soul-making and has an overall plan for us as His creation to grow into spiritual maturity through the joys and sufferings of this life. Davis takes the classic Christian perspective position that evil is the result of human sin, that Jesus died to redeem us of that sin. We are responsible for the evil in the world, but God has created a way to redeem the world by taking sin on Himself in the form of Jesus Christ. By recieving Christ into our lives, not only are we promised a future in eternity without evil, but we are able to grow through the sufferings of life instead of shun them as worthless. He argues that there is no logical contradiction between the Biblical God (omnipotent and omnibenevolent) and the existence of evil in the world. Griffin represents the process theology position that God is evolving with the creation and so is learning as He goes. Matter, says Griffin, is eternal like God and has its own kind of "free will." Complexity in the arrangement of matter, furthermore, is tied to the amount of free will something has. Thus a rock can do less evil and yet God is less able to use it for good, but something as complex (and thus having more free will) as a human is capable of doing much more evil by resisting God and much more good by submitting to God. Finally, Sontag takes a highly skeptical position about God's goodness. God is unpredictable and violent at times and all we can do is hope for the best. We must acknowledge God's existence and power, but Sontag's god is semi-demonic in nature which explains evil in the world and why he doesn't stop it.

Of course, this small review doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the indepth and well written arguments of each of these scholars. The book is complex enough for college and graduate classes but written with the lay-person in mind as well (the writers are careful to define their terms in most cases). Also, I really enjoyed the fact that each contributor has the opportunity to critique the other's theodicies and then the chance to defend against the other's critiques. This point/counterpoint approach was excellent and informative.

My only critique of this book is the subtitle ("Live Options in Theodicy"). While the five views represented in this book are indeed reflective of five major worldviews of the problem of evil, they are not the only *live* options. To suggest so implies that any theodicy significantly different than those represented in the book is not a valid option. But because the problem of evil is more of a mystery and less of a logical problem to be solved with a fancy syllogism, it can be approached in a number of ways -- not just five.


The Quarkxpress Book/for Macintosh
Published in Paperback by Peachpit Press (1994)
Authors: David Blatner, Eric Taub, and Stephen F. Roth
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Save yourself hundreds of dollars in Quark courses
This book will carry you through your first frame to the most advanced project and guide you in a jam. It's a must have reference book and tutorial for all Quark users and DTPers.

The advice is excellent, easy to read and well organized.

My only reservation is that Quark 4.0 will be released soon, so if you're not currently going to be using the current or prior release, maybe you should wait for the upgrade.


On Marriage and Family Life
Published in Paperback by St Vladimirs Seminary Pr (1997)
Authors: St. John Chrysostom, Catharine Roth, David Anderson, St John Chrysostom, and Catherine Roth
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Chrysostom doing what he does best
This book gets 4 stars only because I reserve 5 stars for something really extraordinary. Chrysostom is a top-shelf preacher, and even though I may not agree with all of his dogma, his gifts cannot be denied. Let it be said from the outset that any preacher can benefit from reading his work, if only stylistically. Chrysostom has a gift for making his point in a stunning yet simple fashion. He deftly slices through to the heart of issues and sets his arguments in "real world" terms.

These sermons have to deal with, as the title says, marriage and family life. A real knockout is Chrysostom's sermon on how to choose a wife. Although it is set in 4th-century proto-Byzantine culture, the basic principles still stand. If only more preachers would offer such frank counsel on this issue from the pulpit today....

This text is inexpensive, so I would recommend giving a copy to someone who is at the stage in life where they are forming their ideas of marital/romantic relationships. Chrysostom's voice provides a good -- and well-articulated -- counterpoint to the dreck that passes for relational counseling these days. If nothing else, this volume may make them think critically about the cultural assumptions of our modern society, so they do not merely get swept along in the current of trendy mores.

Wonderful advice!
This text is easy to read and understand, I recommend it to anyone, whether or not they are considering marriage. The book is most definitely appropriate for High School age and up. However, the lessons that are taught in "On Marriage and Family Life" should be taught to children from birth.

Should be manditory by law to read
I really mean what I said in the title, this should be manditory by law to read for anyone even considering marriage. If people seriously weighed Chrysostom's words on marriage, divorce would probably be cut by half.

St. John, as always, lays forth an eloquent (yet simple & easy to understand) convincing argument for his views on marriage. He doesn't advocate marrying for money or looks or social position (something I'm sure is way more common than most people would want to admit) he advocates marrying for virtue. St. John argues that virtuous and poor is a million times better than excess gaeity & wealth.

He lays out criteria for selecting a wife, as well as traits that husbands and wifes should display. Not only does he discuss the institution of marriage, but he also talks about wedding celebrations themselves. Other topics such as sex are discussed as well (he doesn't hold negative view of it.)

He greatly stresses EQUALITY OF RESPONSIBILITY of both partners to make a marriage work. Children are also discussed in great detail. St. John Chrysostom is not only a great writer, but a holy man whose words we should try to incorporate into our lifestyles.

Highly recommended book.


Crazy from the Heat
Published in Paperback by Little Brown & Company (1998)
Author: David Lee Roth
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About what you'd expect, I guess...
I suppose that the only reason that anyone would read an autobiography by David Lee Roth would be to either finally get the scoop on his bitter fighting with his ex-bandmates in Van Halen or to pick up the juicy bits of dressing room sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll from his heyday.

Not only does Diamond Dave shed almost no light on the Van Halen conflict, he only mentions Michael Anthony once or twice in the entire book. The Van Halen brothers rate a few more pages, but only as the reunion "scam" unfolds in the late 90's. I understand that Roth doesn't want to sling any more mud, but that's what makes a rock bio a rock bio. Without it, it's pretty much a lot of chapters about his cars and his house and which comic books he likes.

As far as dressing room stories go, there's a few. No names. And there's more debauchery about Dave in Motley Crue's The Dirt than in his own book, so I'd assume he's leaving a lot of the worse stuff out. To hear him tell it he had a few drinks, tried a drug or two, had a ball, rode his bicycle a lot, did some rock-climbing, and never really had a bad/sad moment or serious relationship in 30 years. Sure.

David Lee's no writer (surprise), and his fragmented sentences and use of words like "ginormous" make many chapters completely unintelligible. He claims that this was weeded down from 1100 pages by his editor...I hope the editor got more money than Dave did. Dave's had quite a life, but a ghost writer is sometimes a good thing. This book manages to make it all sound very bland and a little bit pathetic.

David Lee Roth... under-rated physical intellectualist.
Diamond Dave wrote a book? You bet I wanted to read it... Being a fan of Get in the Van by Henry Rollins (documenting his life on the road with Black Flag), I figured this would be another series of road rash stories from one of the biggest stars of the 80s. Wouldn't you know I was both right and wrong? Right about great road stories, but about the wrong roads. The material about life on the road with Van Halen completely pales in comparison with DLR's experiences and travels while away from the band. Hearing his mountain climbing and Amazon river boat tales, you realize there's FAR more to this man than the music. He does have a brain and shows more insight into life than you might expect from a "rock star." A great and natural read that reminds one of Lenny Bruce and the aforementioned Rollins.

David Lee Roth's Crazy from the Heat is a Must Read
Being a fan of Diamond Dave, I eagerly awaited the arrival of "Crazy from the Heat" from Amazon. The wait was very much worth it. In this whirlwind biography, Dave proves why he is considered the greatest showman in rock and roll. His stories of the road and his dedication to his craft are inspirational. How many other singers would take the time to scrub the floor of the stage before a concert tour? I would recommend "Crazy from the Heat" to anyone who is a rock music fan and especially those of us who admire Mr. Roth because it shows the human side of him that many of us have not seen. There is depth of character revealed in his interactions with ordinary people and in his travels as a "Jungle Stud." I think that it is a reflection of David's maturity that he has not taken the opportunity in his autobiography to make derogatory comments about Van Halen or any other of his business associates. If you want to read about the David Lee Roth band or the mudslinging with Van Halen, I can provide you with copies of articles on those subjects. But if you're wanting to learn more about the greatest front man in rock music, then "Crazy from the Heat" is a must-read.


Real World Scanning and Halftones: The Definitive Guide to Scanning and Halftones from the Desktop
Published in Paperback by Peachpit Press (1993)
Authors: David Blatner, Steve Roth, and Stephen Roth
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Too basic, no meat
I bought the book sight unseen based on the glowing reviews here.

I wanted to get specific, detailed insight to which scanners worked well, and how to get great and consistant color out of them.

I got none of that. There was no detailed instruction on how to make and use color profiles with scanners.

They talk "about" scanning quite a lot, but give no hard specifics. Often the advice is that "more expensive scanners work better." That's something that I didn't need the book to tell me.

It does cover a great deal of basics for first-timer users, but little for people who already know how to pump pixels.

Every time I thougt it might get into some of the details I wanted, the chapter ended.

It is written too casually for me. It appears to be written by a few guys who have been around publishing. It reads like a collection of casual "shop talk," more than hard info. The authors occasionally get in over their heads technically and make some mistakes trying to explain things that they admit they don't understand, like how JPEG compression works.

I returned my copy, a great thing about Amazon. I got nothing out of it. One cool trick they suggested for Photoshop didn't even work. (c) 2000 kenrockwell.com

Great title...
I've learned some thngs from this book, however like one other reviewer stated, just when you thought it was going to get to the good stuff, some stupid flip remark would be made and the chapter or discussiong would end. Very difficult reading. Too much about prepress. Not enough about photoshop, scanning and color management. Reads like childish manerishums. Author's have very immature writing styles.

I'd call this a "Try it."
Frequently, I find that I have to buy books that are overly technical for my purposes in order to get all the info I want. This book suits me, (though it may not suit the needs of a graphics profession). There are no buyer's guides to specific models of scanners here. However, there is a lot of detail about how scanners, scanning software and graphics programs work. The authors provide such arcana as the formula for determining what size a scanned image will be (depending on the options you pick) and goodies like this. There is info on file formats, compression, how to choose resolution and what influences the outcome of scans and how to correct the result. There is also a lot of information most applicable to professional print work, for which I have no particular use, except that info of this type helps to fill out my picture of how digital imaging works. If you want suggestions for scanning projects to do with your kids, look elsewhere, but if you're interested in the theory of scanners I would recommend this book. I'll also mention that, in my view, the writing is clear and well-organized and if I occasionally must pause to consider it's only because the material requires a little thought. This is not rocket science, but neither is it Sponge Bob and the authors treat it accordingly.


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