"Black Butterflies" is a short story collection from horror/science fiction author John Shirley. Shirley, who also wrote the excellent gross out tale "Wetbones," is quite adept at charging his stories with equal parts sex, horror, and suspense. It seems that Shirley spends more time working on science fiction novels, but occasionally, he churns out something like "Black Butterflies." When Shirley delves into horror, look out. He likes to write them lean, mean, and sick as you know what.

"Black Butterflies" is divided into two large sections. The first section is entitled, "This World," probably because the stories deal with everyday reality (I use the term "everyday reality" loosely in reference to some of these stories). The type of stories found in this part of the book varies widely. One story tells the bleak tale of a cop with profound suspicions of his partner. Two tales show the importance of screening people before fooling around with them. Stories about a horror film that is a little too real, an answering machine message one hopes never to hear on their own machine, and the after effects of an earthquake round out the first part of the book.

The second section, entitled, "That World," deals with stories involving supernatural elements. Arguably the best story here is the first one, concerning a little girl and her imaginary friend viewing a side of family life that is both disconcerting and extremely gross. Other stories deal with the end of the world and its aftermath, a sculptor looking for inspiration, an encounter with alien beings who pick up victims in bars, the grim results of mixing [narcotics] with industrial strength insecticide, and a funny story about a battle between good and evil that takes place in a heavy metal/thrash bar.

Again and again, Shirley digs deep into the depths of depravity and despair with this collection of stories. What becomes most apparent as the book unfolds is the intimate knowledge Shirley seems to have with the dark side of human existence. When Shirley writes about the dangers of [narcotics], it seems like he knows about it from first hand experience. There are many authors that festoon their books with endless pages of violence and gore, but few do what Shirley does: create the starkest, grittiest atmospheres in which violence and gore not only unfold, but seem natural to the environment.

One slight problem with the stories in this collection is that many of the stories aren't very original. The horror film story concept has been done, along with the bad relationship/horror story. This tends to blunt some of the book's punch. Shirley certainly has the right to attempt to redo a certain storyline that's been done to death in the past, but more originality in doing so would have elevated this book above the merely average.

... But for a quick dip into this author's eerie work, "Black Butterflies" will certainly do the trick.

Black Butterflies is a collection of overtly horrific stories written by cyberpunk pioneer John Shirley. Sadly the tales are evenly divided into either 'This World' or 'That World' sections, allowing the reader to know in advance whether there is to be a supernatural twist or not, which robs the stories of more than a little zing of surprise.

Weakness of presentation aside, the stories themselves are a mixed bag. Some, notably 'What Would You Do For Love' (which could qualify as a cyberpunk romance story), the commute nightmare 'Cram', and the real life inspired 'War and Peace', are quite fresh and invigorating. While others, 'The Rubber Smile' especially (which shares an identical irony laced ending with Shirley's early horror novel 'Cellars'), are nothing but shop worn cliches trotted out yet again and presented as if they were hip and fresh, which they aren't. More than a few are variants on a particular theme and suffer from being too close together (i.e. 'You Hear What Buddy and Ray Did?' and 'The Footlite' in particular). In the end though, Shirley's strong and distinct voice does give each dark hearted tale its own unique character that sticks with the reader long after the tale is done. The Horror Noir crowd should find it interesting.

_Black Butterflies_ by John Shirley is a collection of a decade's worth of dark short stories by Shirley, the author of _Wetbones_ and writer of the screenplay for "The Crow." Half of the stories involve the horrors of "this world," the dark streets and alleyways of our existence; the other half of the stories involve "that world," the strange and supernatural.

Shirley's stories are dark, intense, imaginative and will often sear images into your brain. Recommended for fans of dark fiction, perhaps along the lines of Clive Barker.

Atlantis. A mystical great island nation that once glorified the Atlantic Ocean. But is it really that mystical? Not at all. Where did the 'idea' of Atlantis come from in the first place? Were there people who wrote about it? Were there people who had survived the destruction of it? The answer is....yes. There were people who wrote about it, in the past, and in the present. Presently, one of the greatest authors on the island of Atlantis is Shirley Andrews. In the past, it was Plato. I have the privilage of knowing Shirley Andrews, and, in my opinion, she is the leader when it comes to knowing all about Atlantis. Atlantis - Insights To A Lost Civilization is a 5-star must read book, boasting over 170 references, 4 pages of maps, 9 pages of notes and so much more, the detail in this book is unmatched...For anyone wanting to find out just what Atlantis was really like, Atlantis Insights is an absolute 'must read' book.

... If you have EVER been captivated in any way by the myth of "the lost continent of Atlantis", here is your chance to satisfy your curiosity! Indeed, after reading this book, you will come to realize what most scholars of classical antiquity take as second nature: It is a VERY gray area between where ancient mythology ENDS and where ancient history BEGINS. Reading this book brings the 'myth' of Atlantis ever so much closer to us out of the mythology of the FAR past and up into the ancient history of the more RECENT past. It is the wonderful work and lifelong dedication of Shirley Andrews that has accomplished this for us. This book IS, truly, "a labor of love".

... As some of you read this book, you may begin by thinking to yourself: "WELL... this is going to be a FUN read, but I SERIOUSLY doubt that I am going to end up BELIEVING in the reality of any 'lost continent of Atlantis'!" ... However, when you are THROUGH reading the book (and you WILL finish reading the WHOLE thing!), you will definitely find yourself wanting to not only read MORE about Atlantis, but also wanting to go on any number of excursions to MANY of the places where Ms. Andrews herself has gone to in order to personally do her firsthand, primary research for this wonderful book.

... I, myself, am very tempted to take a trip to the Canary Islands in order to see for MYSELF all of the evidence that the author has most generously shared with us all. ... At one time in my life, I, too, merely thought of Atlantis as being that great, mythical place that the folk singer, Donovan, sang of with such eloquence and respect - a song that still, to this day, always makes the hairs stand up all over my body whenever I hear it playing! After reading this book, the 'myth' of Atlantis has become a REALITY for me. ... See if it does the same for you. - The Aeolian Kid

A MUST READ for all who are intrigued by the legendary lost continent of Atlantis! This is a book you will enjoy reading and will want to share with your friends. Shirley Andrews has brought together an extraordinary body of supportive information to lift our thoughts beyond myth to the real possibility that Atlantis existed! This book is thoroughly researched and presents many points of view from the scientific to the metaphysical. Atlantis comes to life through the clear and skillful writing of Ms. Andrews. You will easily imagine this beautiful continent and learn of its great history, advanced culture and the high evolution of its people. You'll learn of their customs and beliefs, their entertainment, education, government, religion, aviation, medicine, energy and more. You will gain insight into the location of Atlantis, what problems befell it and what caused its ultimate demise. Even the most skeptical reader will have to reflect on this great body of exciting and convincing evidence. This is truly an exceptional book!

I am not any kind of sanskrit scholar but I have enjoyed reading mythological literature for about ten years and I found Buck's Mahabharata to be a bore. I found it incomprehensible and disjointed. It was as if the author was trying really hard to create such an air of enchantment that he gave us something that sounded downright obscure and pretentious. At first I thought that maybe the original is this way, but then I came across R.K.Narayan's crystal clear version. After that I read Rajagopalachari's, which was beautiful. I recommend these versions much more.

Overall, I should say I am fairly impressed. I do not know the Mahabharata enough to say whether the translation preserves the spirit of it, but as a piece of writing it is highly satisfying. It made me want to learn more about Indian literature. Buck has written a tale accessible to us westerners who have never heard of Arjuna or the like, with characters that we can identify with. That said, the brevity of it sometimes makes some episodes impossible to understand, unless, I suppose, one has external knowledge about the epic. Some references within the text I understood only after reading a bit more about India, but on the whole it does not hamper the overall comprehension of the epic. A fine read. I would have appreciated a more detailed directory of characters and gods (especially the latter) so one could see what Buck is talking about.

In a nutshell it is an Indian story of Cousin's War that takes place more than two to three thousand years ago. I have read and heard narrations of Mahabharata in three Indian languages; Telugu, Oriya, Hindi as well as tried reading it aloud in English to my 10 year old. It is very hard for any Indian well versed in another Indian language to relish reading it in English. To use another metaphor,may be as discomforting as it will be for a Chinese person, adept at using chopsticks, to eat noodles with fork and spoon. Hence all the panning and bad marks heaped on this book from many readers who claim Rajagopalachari or RK Narayan or some other Indian has written better versions. Yet for anyone totally uninitiated in ancient Indian mythologies and epics as many of my current friends are, this happens to be a very succintly written version that conveys the essence. Yes, there are a few inaccuracies like Arjuna, in stead of his son Abhimanyu, marrying Virata's daughter Uttara and omissions of many sub plots like Ekalavya's triumphant self taught archery and devotion to a virtual teacher. But author himself has acknowledged that it is not a scholarly transliteration, and I am glad he made it more readable in the process. Even Tolstoy is accused of historical inaccuracies while creating a masterpiece called "War and Peace". I always like to compare Mahabharata with Tolstoy's epic novel with its multitude of characters and centrality of war as a metaphor for human life for those who have not yet been familiar with either of them. Anyone who has grown up in India may have been exposed to Mahabharata in one form or another, including many movies, one of the good ones made by Peter Brooks and a popular TV series in late 1980s. Yet; I could open any page in William Buck's Mahabharata and read it to enjoy the story. His English rendition is more palatable than the Indianized idioms of many other translators. In his short lifespan of 37 years he seems to have fallen in love with the Indian epics of Mahbharata and Ramayana after discovering them in a Nebraska library and translated them for the uninitiated. However my best version happens to be what my late uncle(he would have been 90 years old now) used to narrate to us during long evenings of summer vacation get-togethers of myriads of cousins. Alas we did not have access to even a basic tape recorder to record at least one his many evenings' narration of Mahabharata(he used to break it in to 12-18 episodes);where princes in disguise were meeting their consorts in forests, getting married and begetting children instantly by only touching tongues; his simplification of the whole process for the minors in the audience. My uncle and narrators like him spanning many generations of Indians added color to the story in their native languages and in the process enriched the narrative and rendered it more enjoyable, long before writing materials and the scholars came to codify an authorised version. Hence I will strongly recommend William Buck's version of Mahabharata as the next best thing to having an audio cassette of my own uncle's narration in Telugu. Hope the publishers release an E-book version so that one can easily search for an episode for its topicality in a day's event. Wish they could also hire someone like Roshan Seth to read it as an audio book CD or audible.com for the road.

As indicated in The Empire Strikes Back, the Yoda would agree with one of the 12 ("Perform, Perform, Perform"), advising Luke Skywalke:, "Do or do not. There is no try." Paradoxically, Microsoft's emphasis on performance (eg dominance of a market) co-exists with Microsoft's requirement of calculated risks because, as Thielen explains, "Fast failure is acceptable; slow failure is not. But even more unacceptable is no failure. If people never fail, then they are not trying hard enough. They are not pushing the envelope....There is no penalty for understandable failures on the road to success (aside from exceedingly stupid things), and there are substantial rewards for success. So employees at Microsoft will make attempt after attempt for success without worrying about the failures the unsuccessful attempts led to." But not indefinitely....

Throughout The 12 Simple Secrets of Microsoft Management, Thielen provides hundreds of specific examples of HOW these so-called "secrets" are consistently applied each and every day throughout the entire company. At least in theory, the Microsoft management strategies (with appropriate modifications) can be effective for any other organization, regardless of size or nature. For example, a family-owned dry cleaner experiments with several different coupon promotions until it finally comes up with one that substantially increases business. Past "failures" are often a necessary cost of eventual success. However, I caution those interested in this book to keep in mind that listing and then explaining 7-75 "secrets" is relatively easy; implementing them effectively and then remaining committed to them is (obviously) much more difficult. My own experience suggests that such a commitment should continue unless and until certain realities require the modification or even the replacement of a strategy. The corporate juggernaut we know as Microsoft is in a process of constant self-transformation. The same should also be true of that hypothetical family-owned dry cleaner.

Obviously the management strategies used at Microsoft must work, justify Mr Gates' success otherwise. Insiders, obviously have the best idea of what goes on, so this book really hits home. A great read, and certainly a recommended one. This book could easily help any Manager of any business make, at least, a small difference. A well set out and easy to understand book. Even I could make sense of it, and I'm just a blue-collar worker from Down Under. If you get the chance to read or buy this book, do so without hesitation.

12 Simple Secrets is an insightful look at how things get done in Bill Gates' company. David Thielen provides a wealth of info and anecdotes from his experience working with Microsoft presented with a light, often humorous, flair.

The book covers several topics including how to hire the best employees, how to decide who to promote, how to operate a megacorporation with a startup's capital, etc. The concepts are simple and straightforward and can be applied to any business.

This is book is great for managers, and is an even more powerful tool for entrepreneurs who have full control over decision-making within their company. If you own or want to start your own business, this is one of the books you should definitely read.

12 Simple Secrets of Microsoft is one of my favorite office desk references, and highly recommed it for managers and entrepreneurs who are motivated to bring out the best in themselves and in their people.

Cat on the Edge is clever and whimsical. This is not great literature, but the "fun factor" is high! I loved it and have ordered every book in the series.

Joe Grey is a typical tomcat who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He witnesses a brutal murder, and is seen by the perpetrator. The murderer seems to know something about Joe Grey that the tomcat hasn't even discovered himself yet--that he can talk.

The "characterization" of humans and felines is darn good, and the story is engaging if not believable. If you're ready to kick back and just enjoy a creative journey through the imagination, then this book will delight you.

What a wonderful day when a new series of books is found which guarantees hours of reading pleasure ahead. such is the case with this delightful mystery series. I have just completed two of the books and am totally delighted. Cat on the Edge was my first and I unexpectedly loved it and had to have the rest of the series. I am more of a dog person but loved these cats! The author obviously knows cats well as Joe and Dulcie behave exactly as you would expect a cat to behave except......they find themselves having human feelings about various situations, and the ability to talk, read and understand human speech. Add mystery and murder to all of the above and you have a delightful, light reading adventure. I felt like the characters in this book were old friends when finished reading and could hardly wait to begin reading their next adventure.

Somehow, to his surprise and horror, Joe Grey has learned to speak, read and understand English. And to make matters worse, he's on the run from a murderer who will stop at nothing to kill the small grey tomcat. You see, Joe saw the killing, and he can identify the murderer. So Joe has had to leave his comfortable home, and hit the road in an effort to get the goods on the murderer and save his own skin. On the lam, he meets up with Dulcie, a female cat with the same mysterious talents as Joe, and a taste for soft human garments like sweaters and underthings. Dulcie, the other witness to the murder, is also on the run from the fiend trying to kill Joe. The two cats team up with a spurned wife who also has a few tricks up her sleeve to save the day and catch a killer.
This is a charming and interesting novel. Other than their amazing linguistic abilities (which are never really explained, but don't let that keep you from enjoying the story. Just go with the flow!), the cats are very true to life in every other respect. Dulcie is a particularly winning "cat"racter, I just fell in love with her from the moment she appeared on the page. If you like cats and cat mysteries and enjoy an element of fantasy in your reading, you'll have fun with Joe and Dulcie.

it may be good for the novice, but as i already know 3 other languages i found it slow and missing alot of important information. It goes straight in with programing examples and doesnt provide a good foundation for understanding how delphi programs are structured. The tiny chapter on objects was very poor. Also they never explained how find the info on the components. I think the fact that delhpi is so easy to use may make this book seem better than it is. It is a bit like giving people instructions without ever helping them to undestand what they are doing. I expect beginers will like it because it avoids the in depth explanations and is more about trying out examples.

If you are already a proficient programer then you will find this book far to long. It could be easily sumarised it into 50 pages and still contain all the info. If you want to learn about Object Orientated programing forget this book. The thing that most anoyed me was the fact that they had code snippets that were numbered as if from line 1 when the code was not from the start of the program. To the novice programer this could be very confusing. And they had snippets with no line numbering. Are they purposly trying to confuse people.

If you have never programmed in Turbo Pascal, than you should almost certainly get a copy of this book. It does indeed teach Delphi from grounds up and you will learn a great deal.

If you are fully conversant with Pascal Syntax and structure, you might gain something reading through this book, but I do believe that you will gain more by reading through Tom Swan's book Delphi Bible followed by Charles Calvert Delphi Unleashed

I found this book to be very good in presenting Delphi in a understandable manner. Having a computer science background, I could grasp the concepts easily and never seem to get bored of the book. Even if you don't have a background in programming, I definitely recommend this book to start you off because its an easy read, and you will not have go through tons of concepts before reaching the code but instead, it'll present useful coded examples followed with important explainations on how/why its done.

I got this book because I wanted to start off my Delphi adventure, and it delivered! Its also comforting to know that its not a thick book!! It gives you plenty of examples and teaches you what you REALLY need to know, using Object Pascal and the RAD components! Not only that, it gives you self-review and practice questions to work on after each chapter. So basically it cuts to the chase and tells you what you ought to learn rather than what you might find useful.

As a conclusion, I recommend that you buy this book whatever your level of programming may be as it not only shows you how Delphi is used but also builds up your foundation on programming principles as shown in the book.

If you--like some of the previous reviewers of this book--expect to snooze through your calculus class for a year, pick up a $13 book and ace the AP exam, thereby earning college credit for material you never really learned, this book (and, most likely, all others, along with college and life itself) will be a huge disappointment. After some deep thought, you perhaps would come to the conclusion that if this were actually possible, there wouldn't be much need for Calculus courses, Calculus textbooks, or Calculus teachers, like myself.

HOWEVER, if you wish to supplement (i.e., not supplant) your classroom text with a variety of informative review sections and practice problems, this book is an excellent choice. Here's why I think so: In my AP calculus class of 21 students, this book was used during the second semester. (The first semester, I taught the topics from a standard text.) The second semester, each night I would assign about 15 problems, and the next day we would review the problems and have a 5-question quiz over the types of questions seen in the homework. While this book does not include free-response questions (except in the cumulative review section, something our vitriolic reviewer probably failed to locate), there is really no need for this, as the College Board lets each school KEEP the free-response questions. So, we also practiced free-response questions from the last 10 years. The bottom line: of 21 students -- all of whom said they had been more than well prepared for the exam -- there were (7) 5's, (10) 4's and (4) 3's earned on the exam. Yes... I know, 7 + 10 + 4 = 21, which means nobody earned a 1 or 2, and right you are!

If you are a diligent student, this book is a worthy addition to your arsenal, IF you begin using it well before the exam. If you are not, save your $13. (or--more likely--your parents' $13.) This book can't perform miracles.

I am a junior student in high school from Hawaii. I had an AP Calculus test this year (2001). I bought this book for reviewing, this book is wonderful. This book is harder than the actual test, but that's good. The practice exams are very similar to the real exam (easy part. It overprepares you; it also make you feel confident on the test! The non-calculator part in the book is MUCH MUCH harder than the actual test, so don't get depressed if you get too many wrong on the practice exams. I bought three AP books to review, of all three, Barrons' is the best one!! I recommended!

I used this book to study for the BC exam, and I have to say it helped me quite a bit. Although a lot of the multiple choice questions in this book are more advanced than those on the Ap exam, they give you the general idea of your standing. This book also covers a couple of topics that are not going to show up on the ap exam any more, but quite honestly, it is a good idea to go through them. They are relatively easy and sometimes may be used as an alternative way of solving the problem. The only downside of this book is lack of part II (free response) type of problems. Other than that, it’s a best buy. Also, if you want to ace the AP exam, highly recommend that you get this book: “SOLUTIONS Ap Calculus Problems Part II AB and BC 1986-2000”...

I have been a fan of the book _The Secret Garden_ since the first time I read it in grade school. I read the book a minimum of once a year - probably for 12 years. I was really disappointed in several versions of the movie I have seen. They either added weird scenes that were not true to the book or left out too many details for my liking. I know that I can't expect movies to stay entirely true to books - particularly when modern Hollywood makes a movie out of a children's literature classic... but this is absolutely the best version of the story I have ever seen as a movie.

I only gave it 4 out of 5 stars because they made a strange frame around the story - with Mary coming back to the Manor after the war and flashing back to the whole story. That in itself is fine -- but for some reason at the beginning a cat jumps out at her (and then instantly the flashback begins), why??? And at the end Colin comes and meets her in her garden and proposes... aren't they COUSINS?

This has to be one of my all time favorite Hallmark movies. I have seen other movie versions of "The Secret Garden," all of which seem much darker. I have to say, Hallmark has made the most enjoyable version of "The Secret Garden" to date. the childeren in this movie are wonderful.

Child characters: "Mary Lennox," spoiled, lonley, sad child. Taken from her home to live with a guardian in England after her parents death. "Dickon", Mesterious boy who communes with nature. "Colin," son of Mary's guardian, is hidden from society.

In the movie Mray sets out to find and unlock the secrets to the mesterious garden, making friends along the way.

The scenery in this movie is breath taking at times. One of Hallmarks best! A must have for any Hallmark Hall of Fame fan. Good to have in any movie collection!

Little spoiled Mary Lennox is orphaned in India and sent to live with a distant relative. Alone and scared she has to learn the English way of life. Martha her maid teaches her how to dress herself, and gives her a jump rope opening up a whole new world to Mary. The gardens of the 100 room mansion. Here she meets the head gardener and learns of the Secret Garden. Mary also finds that there are many other secrets in this house, her hunchback caretaker that seems so sad, and the crying at night.

The setting of Yorkshire England and the rich cast of characters including the maid Martha, Dicken, Martha's brother, and many others make this a wonderful book for all ages. I have read the secret garden hundreds of times and each time I get something new out of the book. It's a true classic.

This is a pretty twisted book,which blends a kaleidescopic array of mathematical concepts with surreal and enigmatic situations and inncidents.There's some really colourful writing here,and it's very impressive the way Rucker brings to life the various chaos and infinity theorems.VERY out-there cybermetaphysipunk!!

with reference to another review, this was my first rucker book and it made me want to read more. finally, a book about a mathematician and a proper look at the ramifications of mathematics. i think rucker must be one of the greatest authors out there today, the reading was fluid and enjoyable. i'm not much for the little sexual excursions, but it didnt seem too out of place or trashy. overall, one of the better books i've read, and i would highly recommend it to anyone.

I read "White Light" when it first came out in 1980. I liked it so much I lent it to a friend, and of course never saw it again. Rudy Rucker has a masterpiece here, as far as I am concerned. He deals with infinity in a very interesting fashion, and makes it entertaining to us average types. Rudy Rucker deals with the soul; and the concepts of heaven and hell are approached in a very strange fashion. White Light refers to the melding of the soul with God, The Absolute, or Infinite, and in a sense, with the loss of one's ego and sense of self. While being irreverent, Rucker, a professor of mathematics at San Jose State, has very seriously written about the concept of mathematical infinity and with the absolute brain busting theory of infinity plus one. This is a novel, and you travel to the afterlife with Felix Rayman and, almost like Odysseus, embark on a journey of discovery. You will experience what it would be like to be in a place where you can change body shape, defy gravity, meet weird creatures, and deal with the infinite and eternal. But all is not groovy. You and your guide, Felix Rayman, encounter many frustrations and even sinister spirits now incorporated into bodies and who inhabit a strange place reminiscent of an R. Crumb landscape. Prepare yourself for a wild ride with "White Light". Oh, I ordered 2 copies this time, in case my loaner copy goes astray.

For a person reviewing books before live audiences, Managing Martians by Donna Shirely is a winner! Shirley's story is multifold - from her childhood perched in a sycamore tree in rural Oklahoma to the realization of "getting to Mars" via the little robotic rover, Sojourner Truth. It is a 35 year journey with all its valleys and peaks associated with space exploration that keeps readers and listeners expectant. Donna Shirely's intellect, determination, courage and love of life shines through and could make an important movie in a time when young persons are hungry for a hero.

In Managing Martians, Donna Shirley shows the interaction that takes place in the solution of complex engineering problems with mostly male colleagues. We learn that it is the interaction among team members to find solutions that makes for success. We also find that real women can do engineering and managment of complex projects, even if they were Miss Wynnewood. This has been an eye opener for my college students that one of their fellow Oklahomans from right down the road is working on the frontiers of space exploration.I love this book because I have used it for a model of working together for my students. It should be on every woman's or manager's reading list. Dr. Nedra C. Sears East Central University Ada, Oklahoma

This book vividly tells the story of the intense and exhiliarating adventure scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) experience at the cutting edge of the technological exploration of our solar system. In addition, it is a gripping and optomistic tale of the journey of one woman's success in a usually all male fraternity. It frankly portrays the difficulties and triumphs along the way. Ms. Shirley has broken ground for many young women in the future for careers in the area of science and engineering. In addition, it is a fun read for anyone interested in technology, management and the progress of women in our society. It also is a very accurate portrayal of life at JPL.