If your idea of love is limited to visions of puppies and balloons, The Thing About Love Is... probably not for you. In Polyphony Press' first effort, the heavy topic of love is tackled in gritty, gutsy pieces that cut to core of this complex emotion. Sometimes it's bliss, sometimes it's bizarre, and quite often it hurts, but regardless of its form, love is always intriguing. This anthology is in keeping with that notion. With a variety of styles and voices, the works featured here are unanimous in their ability to draw the reader in and keep him hooked. It is truly a great read that may challenge one's personal definition of love. Call it an enjoyable experiment in mind expansion!

It's difficult to find an anthology that has as much stopping power as this one. Reading it, I was impressed not only by the diversity of the authorial voices, but also by their veracity. Each story, poem and play seems to have come straight from the gut. What's more, the contributing writers help to remove our blinders; particularly when it comes to matters of the heart. Love, they argue, is nothing less than a battlefield on which each of us daily chances victory or defeat.Those seeking to enter the contest fully armed would do well to buy this book.

Anthologies are not my usual choice of reading material, but as this was recommended to me, I decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised. While I could not relate to some of the pieces here, I enjoyed the underlying topic immensely. The poetry, drama, and short stories were a good blend. The Thing About Love Is... an enjoyable and fast read, but has a peculiar lingering effect that required that I return to it for further exploration. It's a perfect book to read from the relative comfort and safety of your best chair, where you know that you can dip into the joy and angst of love and for once, walk away unscathed.

With all new essays, lists, and quotes, the average beer drinker doesn't stand a chance of getting to work on time in the morning with this book lying around. Next should be, "Beer Games 3: Recovering from 'Beer Games 2.'"

The definitive encyclopedia of bacchanalian fun. I didn't think anything could top the first one - I was wrong. No library, or liquor cabinet, should be without this book. Put it up there on the shelf right next to the dictionary.

If you enjoyed "The Complete Book of Beer Drinking Games," you'll love the sequel. With 40 new games, new essays and lists, and the hilarious Beer Catalog, it's a must for party animals and fans of beer-sodden humor

..becasue this book provides you with compareable pictures of the different and often unusual citrus varieties today grown and sold. It give you a hint about were to plant, how to care and shows you the different varieties, so you easily can select an enjoyable variety for you container or backyard. The magnificent pictures make this book worth to buy, because you can choose your tree right from the fruit and see if taste and usage fit to your demand. Let's grow citrus!

This book has informatiom for the professional as well as the village farmer in Africa , its teachings are simple and clear for all those interested in the subject to follow , the illustrations and instructions are simple even for those with a basic knowledge of subtropical fruit growing. Africa is not covered in the distribution map never the less the fruits are for example the mango tree is synonymous with Africa , it gives food, and shelter from the elements and fuel what more can you want from a tree. Every African school would benefit from a book like this , and i know one that will.

I have read several other books on citrus cultivation, but this book is by far the best i've run across. It has excellent photographs of the hundreds of citrus fruits, both on the tree and of the inside of the fruit itself. It has some great citrus recipes, but it mainly focuses on the cultivation and care of each variety. This book tells the grower what he/she can exactly expect to see, and how to best care for your tree. If there is ANYTHING this book lacks, it is more info on out-of-zone citrus gardening. For example, i live in NC and i have phenomenal success with all my trees in containers (i winter them in a "cheap" plastic greenhouse). That is my only criticism of this book---otherwise, all cultivar info is detailed and well illustrated!!!!

This is a collection of the three books: Magician's Law, Demon's Law and Death's Law by Michael Scott.

Scott weaves a fluid story, introducing the character of Paedur the Bard. A man of learning, with a hook in the place of his left arm, he is chosen as the Champions of the Old Faith. Setting out to gain followers and stand against the rise of the New Religion and its gods, Paedur enlists the aid of an errant bandit with a claim to the thrown, a Weapon Master, a slave, a priestess, a long-dead warrior, and many others. He becomes embroiled in wars between the gods and man, making enemies among both the Pantheon of the Old Faith and the New Religion gods.

The mythology of Paedur's world is brought to life in the stories that he relates while on his mission... stories which then take on new meaning as the events they depict have fallout in the present day. The climax brings the story full circle, actually having caused me to flip back to the beginning of the first book to doublecheck something.

If there is one fault in Scott's writing, it is that the stories are woven so naturally into the tale that when the events come up again, I frequently found that I couldn't remember the details earlier presented. A timeline would have proven useful. But this is really a minor hindrance, and the series is overall extremely enjoyable.

This has to be one of the greatest collection of Fantasy volumes I have ever read. In truth this is a collection of three books that were published as far back as the early 1980's. Magician's Law, Demon's Law, & Death's Law make up the three original volumes, published in Paperback I only wish I could get them in Hard Back. The original Art Work fully complimented the volumes and the amazingly original fictional mythology contained within. Unfortunately they are very difficult to find, so what a treasure to find this collection. I have always wanted to share these volumes but had no wish to release the original books to others, they were so important to my collection.

Scott creates a world so real you can almost hear the voice of the Bard as he works his magic. Scott peoples his creation with creatures both original and incredible, a unique class of characters that have both depth and substance. He weaves a web of intrigue and action and populates it with creatures of nightmare and wonder. One of the most important characters is of course the Bard, a man or a monster. He is seen as a Demon, a DemiGod but never a mere man, except when Scott allows us to enter his mind.

Scott is a true Seanachie, and one of the best Authors I have ever had the pleasure to read. This is one investment you will never regret.

This is an outstanding series. Rich with colorful characters, both Gods and men. A rich archeological history unfolds as the Bard attempts to save all the planes of existance from the folly of man and deity. The characters are strong, with a great sense of growth. Kept me reading late into the night; I'm a bit tired this morning but feel oddly satisfied.

The second installment of Michael Scott Rohan's trilogy progresses the story of the apprentice smith Elof. I am reading George RR Martin's _A Game of Thrones_ as I write this, and I cannot help but draw some parallels between the two novels. The strength of Rohan is in my opinion his wonderful use of the English language. The prose is rich, it is a wonderful book just because of it. And the story is very good. In the previous book, our heroes traveled through well-known territory, there was no tension and suspense from that point of view. In this book, they set out in search of a lost people through uncharted territory, and the reader follows their footsteps wondering what Elof and his band will stumble into next. However, Martin's book is tremendous in its characterization. Every character is very realistic, each one seems to be showing a facade to the people around him but is really much more intricate underneath. Although Elof, Rohan's main character, shows signs of progressing as a personality through the first two books, he really is the only one with any real depth. Otherwise, read this (if you are luck enough to find it) and enjoy the wonderful story.

The Winter of the World Trilogy (Anvil, Forge and Hammer) stands out as a classic in the Fantasy Genre. In my opinion MSR has succeeded very well to integrate nordic mythology in his writing. Especially the Smithcraft and the Powers wrought in the fire of a Mastersmith are cleaverly written. The Powers come from runes set into the metal. It's description and potential is one I like very much.

As one reviewer said before, MSR is highly underrated. His way with words surpasses many in the field. Highly poetic and --in writing style and tecnique -- matching Tolkien every step of the way.

As the one book of the trilogy yet to receive a review, I thought I'd write one, both out of tribute to M. S. Rohan, one of the greatest fantasy writers ever and certainly the most underaclaimed, and because the book merits it on its own. The Forge in the Forest leads the band of friends from the first volume into the great and uncharted forests of ancient powers in their quest to reach the East Coast of their continent. Every page is unbelievably well written in a style in the same echelon as Tolkein. In fact, Rohan's trilogy is in many ways Tolkein's equal. Only the vast scope of Tolkein eclipses this otherwise perfect trilogy.

While the text essays in this book are a bit dry, the photographic reproductions are of top notch quality. Kenna's photographs are beautifully elusive, sometimes printed quite dark, yet remain salient throughout. I found myself wondering how the images looked on the contact sheets, straight, with no darkroom manipulations. This book serves as a great example of what you can do in the darkroom to bring out a more poignant image than you actually shot at the location. It should be required for anyone who works with black and white photography in the darkroom; not because you will gleen any certain tips or techiques but because you will study the final results and perhaps wonder how they were achieved.

As a photographer, this book will remain in my photo book collection and it is Kenna's strongest work to date.

I am very lucky indeed to have been able to see many of Michael Kenna's photographs at live exhibitions, both in Washington, D.C. and in New York City. Any art book is a "poor" substitution for the real thing, but there are some books that can give you true, beautiful examples of specific art works that then, hopefully, can someday be seen live. Kenna is a British photographer, in his 50's, who now lives in San Francisco....and seems to concentrate, in large part, on landscapes as his subjects. His images in this book are of the gardens created by Andre Le Notre, "the most important garden designer of the court of Louis XIV." In approximately 6o plates on 80 pages, we are taken to 10 different locations in France including the Tuileries in Paris and Versailles and Fontainebleau. The photographs are nothing short of breathtaking, obviously taken at dawn or dusk when the natural light is almost unreal. These images evoke mysterious, art movie settings---one almost expects a stranger to appear from one of the designed paths or pools or from behind one of the symmetrical trees or shrubs. All of it: the photographs, the accompanying essay, the way the book is put together with obvious care and love is magnificent magic.

A beautiful book that is full of some of Michael Kenna's finest images. Truely beautiful black and white printing. Michael Kenna is a master in his own time. Some of the fimest landscape I have ever seen. A must have for photography lovers!!

Tom Crean's life deserves to be told, but may never get fleshed out fully. There is just not enough material available for a good in-depth biography. Crean wrote few letters and left no interviews or diaries for a biographer to use. He was mostly uneducated in the sense of a few years of schooling. The author of this book has admitted in a past interview that due to these limitations, as well as until recently the forgotten Shackleton & Endurance saga, Crean didn't warrant a biography! The information about Crean and his polar experiences with Scott & Shackleton have been covered before in many books. A few years after the Endurance expedition ended in 1917, Crean retired from the seas, got married, and opened a pub in Ireland, the South Pole Inn. He apparently never spoke much of his polar days. I was mildly disappointed with this book, expecting more than I received. It's worth a read- the story of that heroic age of polar exploration is amazing and absorbing no matter how many times you read it, and you are left with much respect for Crean and his fellow explorers who lived through such incredible experiences.

I've read almost every book I can find on Antarctic exploration and without a doubt, this is one of the finest. Tom Crean is always mentioned in books about early Antarctic epics but we've never really got to know him and what kind of a man he was. Michael Smith has done a fine job in tracing Crean's life from his early days in the Navy, his subsequent trips with Scott and Shackleton right up to his final days as a Pub owner is his home in Ireland. This is the kind of man you'd want whatever your expedition might be. He was brave, strong, honest, trustworthy and humorus, no matter what the circumstances. A great story about a real hero!

Tom Crean survived several famous Antarctic adventures of the Edwardian Era, and yet is hardly mentioned in most of the popular Antarctic Exploration books. Michael Smith does a fantastic job telling Crean's personal history with humor and understanding, while giving insight into the expeditions, the explorers and Antarctic History as a whole. This is a must-have for polar enthusasts (or shall we say, PolarGeeks?).

I had just read Coming home (A must by the way) and the last shot Aunt may standing over a battered Peter had me gripped so I had to get this aswell. The drawings are vivid and great just what we have come to expect from Romita and the story is exciting, a real page turner. So why the not 5 stars? Well my big gripe with this story is the Shade who is spideys enemy at the end. It feels almost like Stracynski has just thought "well the story can't be completely between May and Peter I'll just shove this guy in" Which is a real shame. I personnally would suggest anyone buying Revelations should go for the the double and get Until The Stars Turn Cold with it. It helps to develop the story a little and has a great fight between Doc Ock and his counterpart. Revelations is very good but I'm glad I bought the double.

I do not buy into the notion that "Revelations" was published so that Marvel could exploit their 9/11 issue of "The Amazing Spider-Man." This trade papaerback collection of issues #36-39 follows up on "Coming Home," so there is continuity at work. Besides, given that the current cost of #36 is rougthly the equivalent of what you would have to pay to pick up the previous 35 issues of the comic, there is little to complain about for those who somehow neglected to pick up the issue in the first place.

As it says at the beginning of #36, "We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring you the following Special Bulletin." The reaction of Spider-Man, Captain America, and the other Marvel superheroes to the attack on the World Trade Center is out of time and space for the Marvel Universe. The event has to be acknowledged on one level, and it is the emotional response to these events that the comic is about, but on another level it cannot be dealt with. J. Michael Straczysnki and John Romita, Jr. touch upon the issue of where were these superheroes and why did they not do something about this horrible event, but there is not much they can really do about it. Spider-Man is not going to go across the ocean and beat up terrorists the way Superman took on the Axis during World War II. This is not going to happen. For one reason Marvel has no more interest in overshadowing the troops in the field than they do the NYC firefighters and police honored for their sacrifices in this issue. Beyond that such real events expose the Achilles heel of all superheroes: every time Superman is Clark Kent, there are people dying that he could have saved. Issue #36 is thoughtful, extremely so by comic book standards, but the comic book moves on.

Even without the 9/11 tribute, "Revelations" remains a great collection because of the other three issues. At the end of issue #35, Aunt May came into Peter Parker's apartment and found him bruised, beaten, and bandaged, in a deep sleep, his tattered Spider-Man costume at his meet. Issue #37, "Interlude," finds Aunt May wandering the streets, trying to absorb the shock of the revelation, while Peter Parker becomes involved in the life of one of his students, offering a telling counterpoint to the relationship he has with his Aunt. Issue #38, "The Conversation," has Aunt May confronting Peter about his big secret, and there is little time wasted denying the truth. They actually talk about the things these characters should be talking about. This is not a deat bed declaration like it was in Volume 1, much as I liked the way Aunt May finally confronted Peter with the truth atop the Empire State Building on the day she died. This is a key part of an ongoing attempt by this writer and artist to rework the elements of the Spider-Man mythos that have become overworked commonplaces. Now, instead of worrying about hiding his secret identity from Aunt May, Peter gets to worry about her knowing the truth.

Issue #39, "Meanwhile," combines Aunt May dealing with her new perspective on Spider-Man (she cancels her subscription to the "Daily Bugle") with Peter's other major interpersonal headache, being separated from Mary Jane. This is also "The Amazing Spider-Man" entry for the 'Nuff Said sweepstakes, where all of the monthly Marvel titles can up with issues using no dialogue or caption boxes to communicate information. The result is a series of cute and poignant moments that show Straczynski and Romita rose to the challenge and avoiding descending into gimmickry. "Meanwhile" fits quite nicely as an interlude in the storyline, although the bits with Aunt May are a lot better than the unnecessary reminders that Mary Jane and Peter miss each other. This just underscores how these comics are part of the continuity of "The Amazing Spider-Man," and you have to been following the story from at least the point when Straczynski took over as writer to fully appreciate what is happening in these stories. But within that context, they are four of the more memorable issues from Volume 2.

J. Michael Stracynski and John Romita, Jr.'s tribute to 9/11 alone makes this worth the purchase. The story and the art are great.

It is a good book with some very interesting stories. The only thing I would have against it is that there seems to be no order about the stories. I know that you could never find the exact time line for the stories but they could have been set in some sort of order. For anyone who is not Irish and hasn't heard these stories before it could be quite confusing.

Over five hundred pages of Irish stories provide one with great enjoyment. A few anachronisms, like a cyclops forseeing the devastation of the New World, give some stories a distinctively modern flavor, which is not entirely a bad thing since it is the prerogative of every storyteller to add his or her own flavor.

The deus ex machina manner of some heroes' baptisms into the Christian faith would confuse a newcomer, but bear actual roots in Irish history. As Catholicism grew to dominance, baptisms were tacked on to the ends of stories to provide spiritual aedification.

An introduction to this work is sorely needed, since the reader cannot tell how many of the stories are folk stories retold, and how many bear the embellishment of the anthologizer. The historical context from which these stories arose requires further explanation, especially for the Irish diaspora.

In short, not a masterly work, but closer to greatness than mediocrity.

This book is one of a few that I had the most fun readin

Having a little experience of python, but none using zope, I purchased this book because of the other reviews I read here.
The first few chapters are very good and have helped me 'sell' zope to management because they describe why zope is such a good applications environment.
However, when it came to helping build applications, unless you want to build products, then this book contains almost nothing on scripting or using external methods (and hence the python functions outside the safety of zope). There is just a few pages on zope methods and only a 'hello' world on using external methods.
I was hoping to get a zope based application up and running fairly quickly to convince my colleagues that we can use zope effectivley, and for that I needed to access existing application (and hence external data using external methods).
I don't doubt that once you become experienced this book serves as a good reference book and a good guide for advancing to more sophisticated applications, but for an inexperienced zope applications developer it is not at all helpful.

The Zope Bible took me where I needed to go in learning Zope. While the Zope Book was quite excellent on the use of Zope and the Zope Management Interface (ZMI) for doing work, it was far, far too thin on the scripting and programming front.

The Book of Zope had very little I found useful.

I bought the Zope Bible after looking it over in them bookstore for about a half-hour. It is not for Zope newbies, for sure (though a particularly hardy newbie could probably grok it OK). But if you've done some Zope work and you find yourself hemmed in by the fences of the ZMI and hampered by a lack of ability to understand how the Zope objects interact with one another and with the outside world, this book is exactly right. It has answered more than a dozen questions I had that I had asked on the Zope mailing list to no avail.

The book is clear, well-written, cleanly organized and quite complete.

I agree it's probably not worthy of the monikder "Bible" but it is easily the most comprehensive book on Python devleopment in and for Zope that you'll find. And, believe me, you need to learn Python to make most effective use of Zope for anything beyond toy apps. Zope's ZClasses are a fragile gossamer. The real power is in the Python programmability of the thing.

I have a fair amount of experience in Python, but I had not yet had time to really get into Zope despite being intrigued by it for some time. When the opportunity presented itself to do some work with Zope, I jumped at the chance... only to find myself somewhat lost in a thicket of new concepts and vocabulary.

After initially trying with "The Zope Book" and "Zope Web Application Development and Content Management," I could create simple applications with dtml and pythonscripts, but I still felt like I wasn't really grokking Zope: I felt that the things which I created were not terribly scalable or portable. There is an extensive section on ZPatterns in the end of "Web Application Dev," but I gave that a pass when I found that ZPatterns are not supported in the current Zope releases.

This book was exactly what I needed to get past that wall: The section on application development in Python allowed me to leverage my existing knowledge to create some products that have now gone into full production use. I now feel much more confident building, extending, and integrating Zope apps.

This book is well written; It answered the questions that I came up with almost as soon as I came up with them, making it an easy read. The code listings were helpful without being prohibitively long. The book doesn't coddle the reader with excessive detail on simple topics, but gives just enough to understand. I loaned this book to a friend who only knows Perl and C, and he found the included Python intro enough to bring him up to speed on Python as well as Zope.

All that said, there is no substitute for actually sitting down with Zope and playing with it. This book will not make you an expert on the complete system, but it will make Zope transparent enough that you can continue your education on your own.