I was trying to encourage my ten year old nephew to read so I got this book for him. He doesn't like to read, especially anything long. He read this book in one week, and he kept talking about how much he liked the illustrations! A beautiful book.

I can't really put into words how much this book has meant to me as an African American Christian parent. Simultaneously, I'm educating my six year old son about great Bible stories and the plight of our ancestors. Further, we tend to get lost in both worlds while reading this astonishing book. All I can say to the authors is: Please give us more! This book is a work of art, history and faith.

My son and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing allowed me, the reader, to appear well-accomplished in the art of storytelling. The beautiful illustrations looked like something you'd expect to see in the Cistine Chapel. They piqued my son's interest and seemed to tell a story, even wthout the words.

The passage of nearly 40 years, has shown the test of time for the following poets featured in New Directions 18: Gregory Corso, Russell Edson, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Denise Levertov, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Thomas Merton. They and many others prove this collection to be worthy of any collector studying the early work of these famous writers.

Editor James Laughlin provides an "exhibition gallery in book form" for experimental and unconventional writing including a previously unpublished film scenario by Lorca, seven poems and a translation by the late Denise Levertov plus five zany parables from a young Russell Edson. This is fine reading with a historical look back into the early Sixties.

There's a reason why 'A Cross to Bare' is a self-published novel. Publishing houses are experienced in recognizing marketable projects which will be of interest to the general pubic. They were very adapt and alert in this instance.

Certainly books on the subject of religion, Christ, and the history of Christianity designed to assist the reader in questioning the accuracy of what has been taught over the years are valuable; but only if they are thought-provoking, coherent, and utilize valid ideas to make their point.

'A Cross to Bare' alas does not remotely fit into that niche. Rather, as one previous reviewer indicated; 'writing this book seems to have been a catharsis for Mr. Fredrick, and for his guts in baring his soul...'. The author would have been better served spending time on the psychiatrist's couch. The money would have been better spent than in paying the vanity press to expose the thirsty-for-knowledge-public to Fredrick's personal and intimate, but quite twisted, beliefs.

Jackson Cross, primary character in this fictional biography, is more confused than enlightening. The ramblings of his interviews, comedy routines, novel (The Judas Conspiracy), and other revelations reveal him to be more psychotic than introspective. The concept on which 'A Cross To Bare' is based, is both juvenile and boring and certainly beneath the intelligence of educated, thoughtful adult. It is essentially unworthy of the time it takes to read it.

The plot might have made a so-so comic-book-offering for the young-adult searching for vehicles of knowledge to strike out against the 'establishment'; but even that is questionable. The youth of today are sharper and more intellectual than the young people of the 60's/70's, and would likely find the professed intent of 'A Cross to Bare' just too simple-minded for their interest. Simply said, it is possible 'A Cross to Bare' is too juvenile for even a juvenile.

Having read interviews of the James Fredrick, unfortunately AFTER reading the novel, it is clear the author has a LOOOOOOT to say, unfortunately the bulk of it is rambling, incoherent and wretchedly egotistical. More unfortunately, for those who have already purchased this novel, a great deal Mr. Fredrick's delusions of grandeur have generously seeped into this novel and into the personality of its protagonist, making it as uninteresting to the public as legitimate publishers predicted it would be and as boring as the author himself appears to be.

If you haven't purchased the novel yet, as most intelligent readers apparently have not, search in another direction. Your search for knowledge will definitely be better satisfied.

Readers interested in questioning the premise of Christianity would certainly be better served to read: 'How We Believe - The Search for God in an Age of Science' by Michael Shermer; 'The Christ Conspiracy - The Greatest Story Ever Told' by Acharya S.; or 'In The Beginning' by Isaac Isamov. They are well versed in their subject matter, but more importantly they have the necessary talent to enlighten and entertain the interested public.

Upon finishing this book, the word WOW kept looping through my mind. Mr. Fredrick has invented one of the most interesting characters in recent fiction and surrounds him with a pantheon of others. The story of Jackson Cross is the main focus, with a style that is hip tell-all bio, pop-culture mirror and a bit of science fiction all combined into one remarkably riveting package. With well-drawn sub-plots and secondary characters hearkening to Puzo, pacing that is pure Tarrantino and flowing interweaving of the characters & sub-plots that would make Altman jealous, this looks to be the first of many great offerings from a talented artist. I hope to see the film version, if the industry can do it justice.
The primary plot is based upon the controversy surrounding The Judas Conspiracy, the fictional work of Cross, and the background of this cultural icon. This story alone is a testament to imagination, with alien civilizations, imaging technology, FBI standoffs, the Rat Pack, clones, the Crucifixion and even a trip to Hell thrown in for good measure. It just begins there...and to this reader's delight even a few sacred cows are skewered along the way. Thanks Mr.Fredrick; I anxiously await your next gift!

This book is quite amusing, as long as you skip the male-on-male rape scenes and forgive the author's naive and angry ideas about Christians. It doesn't seem to have a set theme, even though Mr. Fredrick tries to tie it together at the end. Still, the author has a wonderful writing style and is very easy to read, though not always easy to follow.

Mr. Fredrick is an old acquaintance of mine, so I bought his book to try to understand his psyche. I'm a devout Christian, so I'm not part of the crowd he's trying to sway, but I wanted to see what could possibly be the reasoning behind his anger and resentment toward just about everything. I see throughout the book that it's the Catholic upbringing and his own shattered trust in that leadership when he was young that have largely embittered him. The irony is that he, himself, is possibly a modern-day Apostle Paul, with a vengence toward Christianity as Paul had before, and with God possibly waiting for the right moment to close Mr. Fredrick's eyes to the darkness he seems to embrace, so he can see that the enduring love of God is better than the fleeting smiles of man.

Still, writing this book seems to have been a catharsis for Mr. Fredrick, and for his guts in baring his soul and for his originality, I give Jim 5 stars.

This book is in no way for beginners. This book talks about Assembly language for the HC 12 without detailed explanation of the code. If you do not understand assembly language you are lost with this book. However the book is a good reference once you understand the basics. A good book for beginners with some level of C programing knowledge is Embedded Microcontrollers by Tood Morton. it explains the assembly code in comparison to C/C++ code.

It's a kind of a copy of M68HC12 data sheets.

This book and potential customers have been done a great disservice if they've been misled by previous customer reviews. While not for beginners, that fact does not take away from the value of this book to others. And it is far more than just data sheets. Anyone who's tried to learn a new microprocessor strictly from data sheets will certainly recognize the value of this book. It does not replace the data sheets; it supplements them. It straddles well the region between primers and reference material.

The intended audience for this book is college Engineering students, or people already familiar with microprocessors. A highly motivated beginner could use this book as well, but they would probably need access to someone with experience to answer questions when they get stuck. (For a more beginner's book see Fredrick Cady's "Microcontrollers and Microcomputers - Principles of Software and Hardware Engineering".) Familiarity with the HC11 could be helpful, but it's not required. I have never worked with the HC11, and I found that of little consequence.

The HC12 is an amazing microcontroller. But gleaning and understanding the necessary material from 400 pages of data sheets in order to learn what you need isn't easy. The authors, one of whom helped design the HC12, have already done that for you. Several very useful, but complex peripherals have been integrated into this line of microcontrollers, in addition to tons of parallel I/O. But what initially attracted me to this chip were the native Fuzzy Logic instructions. The authors do an excellent job of detailing an "example" Fuzzy Logic application, and the basics of Fuzzy Logic. It's worth the read for no other reason than that.

Modern microprocessors and microcontrollers have become very complex. Learning a new one without the help of a colleague, strictly from the data sheets is a monumental task. This book can fill that gap well. My one criticism is its age. Published only in 2000, it is already out of date regarding some of the newer versions of the HC12. The A4 and B32 are covered in this book, and while the B32 is still a workhorse suitable for many applications, some of the newer chips include many additional features and peripherals. A new edition that dealt with those would be useful.

If you're interested in learning the HC12 and/or Fuzzy Logic, I highly recommend this book.