Public Relations Worktext: Writing and Techniques provides students of public relations and corporate communications with well-organized lessons in many of the major tasks expected of a communications professional -- from speechwriting and preparing news releases to writing effective newsletters and pitch letters to journalists.

The authors, who are recognized leaders in public relations education, provide readers with real-life examples of many of the techniques and tactics they highlight. For example, the reader will find examples of news releases, newsletters, pitch letters, etc. from corporations and non-profit organizations along the side of many chapters in the book. In this way, you see some of the best examples of what you're learning.

Used by students of public relations in colleges and universities across the nation, Public Relations Worktext: Writing & Techniques is a valuable resource that will provide straightforward lessons for the future public relations professional.

From the Editor's Preface: "_Understanding Contemporary American Literature_ has been planned as a series of guides or companions for students as well as good nonacademic readers."

Well said. _Understanding Raymond Carver_ is the kind of thin textbook you would expect to read in an undergraduate Figures of Literature class at a public liberal arts college. Saltzman only scratches the surface of literary criticism and interpretation regarding Carver, but adequately. For students: you will find decent quotes to support your research papers. For nonacademic readers: you will find brief critical analyses of your favorite stories.

Here's an illustrative section:
"Because Carver's locations are unexceptional, they are deceptively lulling, seeming immune to eventfulness; yet all the while, in familiar homes and neighborhoods, acts of brinkmanship regularly take place. What, for example, could be less precipitous than a waitress serving a customer? Yet in 'Fat' the event looms monumentally in her consciousness. Breathless and repetitive, the narrator anxiously tries to 'sell' her friend on the significance of the tale of her incredibly fat customer as if she had just been implicated in some vague parable. However, she cannot pin down the reason its having unsettled her so: 'Now that's part of it. I think that is really part of it.' 'I know now I was after something. But I don't know what.' 'Waiting for what? I'd like to know.' "

"Perhaps it is the surprising dignity and pleasantness of the fat man that is so remarkable -- one can easily surmise what sort of course [sic] treatment she is accustomed to -- and that causes her to defend him against the rude remarks of her co-workers. Perhaps his use of the royal 'we' to refer to himself, as though he needed to measure up verbally to his size, makes her realize how dwarfed and submissive she has been. Or perhaps the jokes about her being 'sweet' on him lead her to evaluate her relationship with Rudy, who is similarly incapable of appreciating feelings she can hardly approximate. (During their lovemaking, she imagines herself to be so astonishingly fat that Rudy disappears within her bulk.) Her inarticulateness stakes out the limits of her growth of consciousness. Significantly, although she believes her life will change -- the meeting with the mysterious fat man surely heralds it -- she characterizes herself as passive, waiting for a transformation. 'Fat' concludes with the narrator prepared for something different but at a loss as to what that 'something' could be or how she would go about initiating it. Insight extends no further than dissatisfaction."

Saltzman provides an overview of Carver's style and themes; has a chapter for each of the four major collections (_Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?_, _Furious Seasons_, _What We Talk About When We Talk About Love_, and _Cathedral_); and one for selected poems. His conclusion "feels" dated (the text was published in 1988), but is otherwise adequate.

Overall, this is a good text, worth having if you are a dedicated Carver reader.

I have read the book on Yvon Durelle at least several times since it was first published. As a 11 year old kid growing up in a small fishing village in Nova Scotia during the time Yvon was at the height of his career, he will never know the impact he made on our daily lives. He was one of us, the fighting fisherman. The author could of spent more time on how the Durelle family lived during this period. The 40's and 50's were difficult times in the Maritimes to say the least. The book should of portrayed the struggle of Yvon's career more. For someone from a small fishing village in New Brunswick to fight the greatest light heavy weight Champion of all time, and almost K.O, is the greatest achievement reached by any Canadian boxer ever. I fully understand that the author in order to write the full story has to write the negetive as well positive side to ones biography. Today we have a tendency to get caught up in the sensational, if the author would of stayed more with the grassroots issues of the day, such as family, the struggle to build a career in a very difficult business, more in depth description of his earlier fights, it would have been a better read. I had the chance to meet Mr. Durelle and his wife 12 years ago. They are very gracious hosts and I look forward to visiting their boxing museum someday in the near future.

Hi - this book is one I read a few years ago and again recently. I feel it was an honest attempt to relate the story of Yvon - but I do feel that more of it should have dealt with the challenges he faced in his boxing career - and less to depict his personality - or the way the author perceived him. The book would have been more intriguing if the reader could 'see' the lifestyle and era that Yvon lived through - for example look at the popularity of Frank McCourt's books - T'is and Angela's Ashes - the style used there would be better used in depicting the story of Yvon - and his wife and kids too. I was a little dissapointed in the sensationalism of negative things in Yvon's life rather than portraying the 'whole picture". The culture, lifestyle, and sense of family and pride is not shown as well as it should be.

but it just didn't.

While Girzone's earlier "Joshua" books left no doubt as to whom Joshua really was, neither were they the forward, subtle-as-a-ton-of-bricks parables this one is. Perhaps that was Girzone's intent: to make this millennial Joshua more of a "Gospel of John" character [who boldly asserts his identity], rather than a "Gospel of Mark" character [who guards his true identity, only to be revealed upon his resurrection]. It's hard to reconcile the two Joshuas, but, again, maybe that's the point.

I was not so much offended as distracted by the very topical themes of the book. Earlier books in the series stayed away from using references to specific religious or cultural figures; this one names names (Pope John Paul II and the Church of God in Christ, for example). I found this unfortunate, as it seemed more a negative statement about them than a positive statement about the work of Jesus in the world. Prior books were fun to read over and over; I barely made it through this one the first time through.

Though I appreciated the messages offered, this was not a pleasant read (as the prior books were) for me. If this is the first of the "Joshua" series you read, I would encourage you to immediately read any of the earlier ones. They are a cut above this offering, both in reading enjoyment and in the message presented.

I have read all the books in the Joshua series and a couple other books Joseph Girzone has written. My favorites are JOSHUA and JOSHUA AND THE CHILDREN. JOSHUA AND THE CHILDREN really moved me and affected me deeply, giving me a deeper appreciation for the finer things in life. I was really looking forward to reading JOSHUA THE HOMECOMING, the latest book in the series.

What a huge disappointment! The Joshua of JOSHUA THE HOMECOMING is not the same Joshua who appears in the other books in the series. The author says he is, but he's not really. No, the Joshua in this book is really just a puppet that the author uses to express his own beliefs and philosophies, some of which are not even Biblical. Now, there's nothing wrong with an author using a character he has created to spew forth the author's beliefs. However, Joshua isn't just some character. Joshua is supposed to be Jesus. Jesus isn't just a character and he shouldn't be treated as such.What made the first few Joshua books so enjoyable, memorable, and meaningful is that Joshua was Jesus. Girzone seems to have forgotten that. Instead, Joshua has become a mouthpiece of Joseph Girzone.

No longer does Joshua hide the identity of who he is, but now he lets people in on the "messianic secret" sometimes even telling them point blank who he really is. Not only that, but this Joshua claims that the Bible really isn't God-breathed but is an embellishment made by men. According to this Joshua: the claims of Christ about when the world would end aren't true and a prophecy might never reach it's fulfillment; macro-evolution is a fact of life; and we should all be blindly listening to scientists because they are the new prophets. This is just a sample of the teachings from the new Joshua.

I enjoyed reading all the other Joshua books, but JOSHUA THE HOMECOMING was a struggle to get through. The book isn't very long and the language is simple, yet it drags. Instead of caring what was going on with the story, I found myself wondering how long the book was going to drag. What a disappointment.

My family gave me a copy of Joshua, the Homecoming, for Christmas. I read it twice in one week. It is one of the best Joshua books thus far. It came at a time when I was searching for answers - answers to why some churches are not meeting the spiritual needs of their families. It made me realize I was not alone in not having my spiritual needs met at church. Fr. Joe has such a strong insight into each of us and knows how to tell us how Jesus would respond. I would strongly recommend the book for anyone in search of answers about their faith.

I have never read such an unbelievable essay of self-congratulations in my life! I've spoken to some of the personalities mentioned in this book, and they have a different story of what occured way back in 1987-89 in the homeschooling community in Pennsylvania. Howard Richman trashes Christians in this book and appoints and portrays himself as the intellectual arm of the Pennsylvania Homeschooling Community. He is currently making an incredible income off of the very law he helped to write....have your barf bag ready if you read this book.

Tippy

I've researched the events and 'characters' that appear in this book. A better explanation of how Pennsylvania got the worst homeschooling law (thanks to Richman) can be found in Karl Reed's book, Chapter ten.

Learn how Eldredge and Richman strong-armed the true organizer of change - Ann Cameron - out of the process.

this teacher union member has the audacity to boast about a law that he put in place and from which he makes a ton of money. Keep your money and don't buy his book - its filled with misinformation and self-serving lauding.

I cannot call this a laugh riot, as Mr. Cook is humorless. Yet there are laughs to be culled here by those who believe in a single standard of conduct. The author deplores the very IDEA of innuendo, guilt by aquaintance, and "wild charges"--then proceeds for several hundred pages to list every nutty and outrageous claim about McCarthy and to damn just about anyone who ever thought Stalin belonged in the nogoodnick file. He does not, however, mention Paul Hughes, who sold a false story to leading liberals that McCarthy was stashing guns in the Senate basement, and that the New York Post food editor was a right-wing agent. No, Mr. Cook is selective--and an ink blot test of what liberals WANT to believe. For a non-emotional view--and better history--pick up "McCarthy and His Enemies" by Buckley and Bozell or "McCarthy" by Arthur Herman. The only thing worthwhile here is a snicker.