Only saw it in a bookstore back in '90 --- didn't buy it then, but picked it up and flipped through it. Was very impressed, and am sorry it is out of print. Have been looking for it ever since.

James Nachtway is arguably the best war photographer working in the past two decades. His remarkable vision trandscends mere news photography into a personal expression of a true artist, not unlike Goya. This early collection of his work is a must for any follower of Nachtwey.

It is a tribute to his spirit that he continues to work, bearing witness to some of the most horrific wars of our times. He does so without being a voyeur, but as a gentle and compassionate witness to a world where most of us would fear to tread.

DEEDS OF WAR WAS MADE BY ONE OF THE TOP PHOTOJOURNALISTS ALIVE AND STILL WORKING TODAY. ROBERT STONE DECISIVELY DESCRIBES THE REASONS FOR WAR AS NEVER EXPLAINED BEFORE WHILE JAMES NACHTWEY REVEALS SIMPLY THE BEST IMAGES OF MODERN WAR.

This is a good book for getting an overview of Direct Marketing. It
is, however, not up to date. From the time of the last publishing
(1996, 6th edition) there have been many changes in the world of
direct marketing. Some of the terminology is outdated, especially in
the chapter on creative writing. There is no mention of newer types
of direct marketing, i.e Loyalty Programs and the chapter on New Media
is thin, with scant info. on the internet. (This review refers to a previous edition of this title.)

Mr. Stone lays out in complete and easily to understand terms, the essential techniques for planning objectives and strategies and properly using tactics.

Every direct marketer has read this book and uses its guidelines for timeless, quality, financially successful direct marketing planning.

I encourage you to read it.

I have a friend who has been on this diet for 3 weeks and it's not doing a thing for her. She's read to me from the book and I can't believe the hoops these guys have people jumping thru. I think they're a couple of quacks.

As an ank spon sufferer, low starch diets are a tremendous help

Before the great work of Dr. Alan Ebringer at Kings College, London, this fellow--Dr. Giraud Campbell--found the cure using sound scientific methodology. The answers are now clear, and especially for Ankylosing Spondylitis. Breads and starches must be eliminated for the types of bacterial growth they promote within the digestive system. His diet almost totally eliminates starches although he did not know exactly why it worked--in the late '60s.

I have recommended this book to many, and was saddened that it is out of print now, for the information is still urgently needed by sufferers with the honest desire to become EX-sufferers.

I'd like to ardently thank "A Reader from New York" for giving away the last line of this book, which I bought shorty before reading your review. That was very, very considerate of you.

"They killed my girl... I'm gonna bust up the bar." The closing line of this beautiful book will ring in your head for days afterwards. The entire novel reads as if it were written in a fever dream, haunting and hallucinagenic. First published in 1966, this is a seminal American novel. You can see its influence in movies like "Easy Rider" and "Five Easy Pieces," in countless novels. You could even say this book had a hand in shaping the language of the counterculture in general. The only reason I give it four stars instead of five is because I think it lacks the tight, taught writing focus of Stone's later great novels ("Dog Soldiers" and "Flag for Sunrise"). I still think it may be the greatest first novel ever published by a contemporary American novelist.

Along with Walker Percy's "The Moviegoer" this is one of the best written books I've ever read about New Orleans. However, while Percy concentrates on a slowly rotting family from old-society New Orleans, Stone concentrates on a more modern, touristy, sordid side of the city - one that will probably seem more familiar to those who have visited or lived in the city.

Some of the other reviews below mention that they found this book "overwritten" but I didn't really find that to be the case. I thought that Stone struck an excellent balance between detail and plot. The characters were fascinating, sometimes terrifying, and often hilarious.

Interestingly, I was not nearly as drawn to the main characters as I was to the fascinating side characters, especially the British pseudo-preacher who is definitely one of the most memorable characters I've read in years.

An excellent book, artfully written, and brilliantly executed.

Never mind the unforgivably cheesy cover. Never mind that the reader is being asked to psychically contact an unseen paradise called "Fairyland City". It may sound ridiculous, but don't put the book down until you've done some of the exercises. Do them with the faith and knowledge that they'll work. They've worked for quite a number of people. This volume transcends the usual self-help fodder and glides, albeit gently, into the realm of magick. It comes off like a blend between gentle white magick and new age pop psychology, but it's useful. Skeptics will be forced to engage a "willing suspension of disbelief" here. If you're lacking in imagination, forget it. This book is all about imagination; moreover, it's about actively using that imagination toward the goal of self-liberation. Rather than just reading a compendium of dry pages, the reader is asked to actively pursue one psychic exercise after another. These exercises, strange as they may seem at moments, can be highly effective. There are exercises for luck, self-esteem, purification, forgiveness, prosperity and more. This book has helped a lot of people. It may or may not prove helpful to you, but if you possess enough faith and imagination to put these brief exercises into action, you may just find yourself with an improved outlook on life.

Based on the well-known fact that relaxed imaging, or daydreaming, activates the right hemisphere of the brain. This hemisphere is essential for healing, creativity, problem-solving and enjoying meaningful relationships. Dr Stone's book provides a series of exercises (action plans)on "Calling for answers" with your right brain and covers prosperity, health, justice, creativity, protection, intuition and more. I find his approach to self-help original and refreshing, and the book is really a pleasure to read. Also, the exercises are fairly easy to perform and memorize. There is even a reproduction of the mysterious "Solomon's Seal" that one would expect only to find in books on magick. Dr Stone has been a Silva Method lecturer for more than 2 decades and introduced the program to a number of countries. I like his writing style and his acumen for putting across metaphysical concepts in a manner that is easy to understand.

Dr Stone provides a clear and loving approach to the reawakening of human potential. By accepting his reasons for the use of such terminology as 'Fairyland City' as a way of directing our visual imaginations toward the latent potentiality of the consciousness waiting within us it will be seen that Dr Stone presents a plan of ACTION that people, working along, or with others can quickly grasp and use. That caracteristic of growing consciousness which one highly attained being refered to as 'leavening' is active in Dr Stone's work. Just one example is his clear vision of the remarriage occuring between Science and Spirituality. Be it the words of the New Testament, the collected work of Dr Bucke's 'Cosmic Consciousness' or Murat Yagan's 'Ahmusta Kebzeh' Dr Stone's work is right there among those keenly aware writer's who care for their fellow man. Thank-you Dr Stone!

Of these seven stories, only "Under the Pitons," about love among drug-runners, pulls off the grand, sweeping melodrama that most of the rest just nod toward, and only "Miserere," about a woman who rescues aborted fetuses for burial, feels like a true short story. The other works seem like abandoned novels. They are filled with characters that are hopelessly self-indulgent (the alcoholic in "Helping," the drug-addicted daughter in the title story) and tediously

self-important (the incestuous poet in the title story, the drugged-out poet in "Porque No Tiene, Porque Le Falta"), with plots that lead to violent, cop-out endings. The writing often seems disengaged, and even bored. On the whole, a surprising disappointment.

This isn't the most uplifting collection of stories; in fact, it's a bit depressing. Each story seems to remark on the fragility and transience of human life. From the first story, Miserere, centered around aborted fetuses and religion, to the last, Bear & His Daughter, about the renuinion of alcoholic father and daughter, readers will perhaps not see a flicker of optimism in each of Robert Stone's stories. Despite the dark themes in Stone's stories, reader's will notice the beauty of Stone's narratives. He is a master crafter, and his words flow with beautiful consistency and intellect. His sentences were a treat for me to read. All the stories are particulary strong, my favorite being the title story, Bear & His Daughter.

In William Golding's landmark The Lord Of The Flies we weep for "the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart." The heart's blackness is mourned again in two sharply drawn story collections. Despair is their leit motif.

Emotionally scarred, the characters in these tales are fragmented by substance abuse, by obdurate personal demons or both. Nonetheless, such unengaging personalities become compelling when presented by a pair of Pulitzer Prize nominees writing at top form. The child of a schizophrenic mother and unknown father, Robert Stone spent three years in an orphanage. Later, as a New Orleans census taker, he walked that city's back streets. With Bear And His Daughter, seven intense tales penned between 1969 and today, he depicts communal deadends and the dissolute souls trapped therein.

Begin with "Miserere." A widowed librarian's bitterness becomes a mission to have aborted fetuses receive the church's blessing. Another vignette explores the effects of childhood violence: "The worst of it, Mackay says, was the absence of mercy. Once the punishment began, no amount of crying or pleading would stay the prefect's hand. Each blow followed upon the last, inexorably like the will of God. It was the will of God."

The title story sears as it traces the downward spiral of a visit by an alcoholic poet to his drug addicted emotionally deprived daughter. The author's chilling denouement rivals Euripidean tragedies.

Robert Stone's writing is edgy, scalpel keen. He probes, cuts, laying back the protective coverings of our human condition. He well knows life's underside.

It would be easy to pick this book apart. Poor character development and a somewhat formulaic story line complete with an obligatory sex scene. I found it dark, depressing and disturbing. I did not not want to like this book but in the final analysis I could not just put it down and forget it. Not just an entertaining action adventure story of one man against the sea but a story that will get you thinking; and not always comfortable thoughts. An unusual find.

How does Stone do it? In this book, he has taken a decent plot about a man attempting to sail around the world and filled it with so much philosophical reflection and relationship analysis that it becomes absolutely unforgettable. Anne is remarkably well-written, with honest human emotions and flaws, and Owen and Strickland both serve as great examples of various extremes of the human character. I particularly loved the aspects of the book dealing with Owen's relationship with his daughter and Anne's relationship with her father. While Outerbridge Reach is undeniably disturbing, it is an incredible tale that deserves to be read over and over.

Definately a haunting book. I am surprised that none of the previous reviewers mentioned the incident that inspired this book: The events of the first solo round the world sailing race in 1968. Outerbridge Reach is one of a number of books that followed "The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst" which first brought to light the events that inspired Robert Stone to write Outerbridge Reach. Those readers in the sailing/racing/crusing communities will easily recognise the connection. After reading Outerbridge, I want to read the Crowhust story even more (as soon as I find a copy). Many other Stone readers may want to do the same.

Focusing on the Santa Monica mountains and Griffith Park, this book contains a number of very nice short hikes. For longer hikes or hikes in a larger variety of areas, I'd suggest Afoot and Afield in Los Angeles County.

One very nice feature of this book is the simpliflied map which accompanies each hike. Each hike's map is zoomed in to cover only the area of interest, with important landmarks identified. I did find one small mistake on one of the maps, but it was easy enough to figure out what was intended.

The descriptions of the hikes are very brief, and there isn't any detailed information about what to look out for, but all of the hikes go to very interesting places. Again, the book Afoot and Afield in Los Angeles County can fill in many gaps, as that book lacks the nice maps, but has great descriptions of many of the hikes in this book. I recommend buying both. Read the long descriptions in the bigger book, then carry this book with you on the trail as it has more useful maps.

"Day Hikes Around Los Angeles" is a great place to start exploring L.A., especially if you're new to the area and not a regular hiker. The book gives decent directions on where the trails begin (but bring along your Thomas Guide for backup), and provides a generous estimate on the length of time you'll need to complete the hike. Most of the hikes are short -- a couple hours or less. If you're a more experienced hiker, or you're interested in doing hikes that last a whole day, check out "Afoot and Afield in Los Angeles" instead. But beginners or those who just have a few hours to spare will prefer "Day Hikes." If you do all the hikes in the book, you'll get a great feel for the L.A. area -- and you'll be able to say, without hesitation, that it's one of the prettiest areas in the U.S. And you'll have the pictures to prove it.

New in town? Don't know where to go to get away for a day?
This is the most economical way to get started, with 45 suggestions for hikes that are mostly in the Santa Monicas (a lot of these are in Malibu), state parks and wilderness areas, and even a few smack dab in the metro area (including the Venice canals and Runyan Canyon, right in Hollywood).

Each hike includes location, some directions to the trailhead, and a very loose map to show the routes suggested by Stone.

A reality check is very important with respect to the maps and the directions (especially distances). Landmarks change and in a couple of cases the distances are either mistakes or typographical errors. The maps are sketchy, and do not always accurately reflect the side trails you may find or their names.

Stone also does not describe very much of what you will find, leaving most of that up to you. Tuck the book in your pack, or leave it in the car, and explore.

I'd read a lot about how prescient Stone was about the drug trade and American involvement abroad, so I picked this book up, excited about a literary author who actually seemed interested in getting the reader's blood pumping. In any case, I was disappointed: I'm not sure how novel this was when it appeared in the 70s, but many of its scenes have become standard cliches of the movies - the torture scene, the bags of drugs, the shootouts in precarious and picturesque locations.

Perhaps it isn't fair to criticize a book for how much it's been imititated, but a genuine work of art shouldn't lose much of its lustre just because of mediocre followers, and I found myself genuinely bored by a great deal of Dog Soldiers. The only scene that showed the talent of the author was the surreal conversation between the central character and his slightly crazy mother. I haven't read A Flag For Sunrise or any of Stone's other books, but I'd certainly try those before this one.

Stone's DOG SOLDIERS is a fine book, but if you happen to see this without exploring the rest of the reviews on Amazon -- access them. The novel was assigned as a high school project in Iowa, and the kids who had to read it seem to have flocked en masse online (perhaps part of the project) to review it. I found reading these reviews very entertaining, and recommend the experience to anyone, though it won't tell you much about the book. I like kids, what can I say. Now that that's out of the way, Stone is one of the most important (and most strangely neglected) writers of the 20th Century. I think comparisons with Hemingway and Conrad are a bit off the mark; this novel is far more reminiscent of COMEDIANS-era Graham Greene, in his troubled Catholicism and concern for the decline of religion in the 20th Century. While Stone is hardly interested in promulgating any particular religious point of view, he IS a moralist, and a scathing critic of what we've become without a sense of God. This novel can be read, I think, as a crucifixion myth of sorts, made relevant to the 20th Century. It IS dark, but it's brilliantly paced and written, and a fairly accurate look at the time it deals with. Stone, by the way, talks of a recurring dream he has, where he's bringing drugs or contraband into a country, usually on a ship, and knows that he is about to be caught. This motif informs the paranoid tenor of the novel. A final point: the title has nothing to do with Lakota warrior societies, and is a bit of a misappropriation. It appears to be a reference to the proverb "better a living dog than a dead lion," which Converse muses on in the text. The outstanding performances by Michael Moriarity as Converse and Richard Masur (who usually seems to have a limited range) as Danskin are two really good reasons to see the film...

I first picked up this novel about fifteen years ago, after I'd seen the film adaptation of it-the strangely titled "Who'll Stop the Rain" with Nick Nolte and Michael Moriarty. I had never read any of Stone's work before, and I was absolutely blown away by this, his second novel and winner of the National Book Award. The story of drug smugglers in the waning days of Vietnam, the novel owes much to American Naturalism (Stone has been compared to Conrad, but I think Jack London and Stephen Crane are closer), but filtered through the post-war sensibility of Ken Kesey or even Hunter S. Thomson. Fast-paced and utterly plausible, the narrative ranges from the shadowy cafes of war-time Hanoi to the lawless valleys of the American southwest. Throughout, Stone describes the varying landscapes of moral corruption with equal vividness and intelligence. For my money, "Dog Soldiers" is the best novel of the 70s, and yet it still seems completely contemporary today. I re-read it every few years and always discover something new.

I love Spenser (even 'Spenser for Hire'). His strength, indomitability, intelligence, wit and integrity are in short supply in this world, and a well written story (and Parker CAN write) that showcases these character traits makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.

Stone is smart and competent, and his heart is in the right place. But he's entirely without humor, alone (no Hawk for backup and witty repartee), and spends all of his non-working time feeling sorry for himself because of his recent divorce. And there's no worthy protagonist! Only a couple of spineless, loony bozos. (Vinnie Morris, a frequent and interesting Spenser opponent is here in a very minor role, but as I recall he and Stone never meet.)

There is one constant in this comparison of the two. Stone's ex-wife is also sans any worthwhile qualities (Stone loves her primarily because she's 'quirky'). Susan, Spenser's main squeeze is similarly unendowed, but redeemed herself somewhat in later books. So, as is the wont of such heroes, both Stone and Spenser are true-blue to their self-absorbed partners.

Overall, the story is just OK. Stone's character is just OK. Parker's narrative talents as usual are terrific. But what is missing is our hero's frequent manipulation of the characters and the system to provide an unexpected ending that matches his unusual sense of justice and unity. These conclusions may not at first satisfy the reader, but after some thought can be appreciated nonetheless.

For those who would rate Parker's talents having read only 'Night Passage', don't! Read Spenser. Some of my favorites (in no particular order): 'Early Autumn', 'Small Vices', 'Ceremony', 'Paper Doll', 'Valediction', 'Looking for Rachel Wallace', 'Pastime'.

I've just recently been fortunate enough to stumble across Robert B. Parker's work, and I must say I'm truly sorry it's taken so long!

I have yet to read any of the Spencer books (I seem to be going in reverse order somehow), and even though this is the first Jesse Stone book, it's the second one I've read. I made the comment after reading Trouble In Paradise that even though it was second in the series, the reader didn't feel lost in Paradise, as it were. That feeling still stands, but I have to admit the background of exactly how Jesse found Paradise does put the second book in a somewhat better perspective. Even though, as another reviewer mentioned, the ending sort of seemed rushed, as if time was up and the pencils had to be put down, in retrospect, it really does set the stage for the next Jesse Stone book.

I can't put my hands on it, but for some reason I felt this book was not written quite as well as the other Parker books I've read, yet it was still very interesting, compelling, and filled with in depth characterizations of the many personalities in Paradise even though while reading it, sometimes it didn't seem that way. OK, breathe, Michael ;)

One of the things I enjoyed about the book were the very short chapters; of course, it didn't stop me from reading the book in a couple of days, since it IS very fast reading, but it's nice to know that if you're reading this at bedtime you can get to a natural break without going 30 pages to finish a chapter.

I'm very much looking forward to reading many more books by Mr. Parker. I hope this review helps you come to the same decision!

The new characters introduced in this book will have most Spenser fans looking forward to the next installment. The focal character,Jesse Stone, is a real person to the reader and makes you want to know how he's doing even when he's not on the page. I do wish Parker's women would grow some hair on their chests and not depend on shrinks to straighten them out. The menfolk deal with their problems in a manly fashion all by themselves. Therapy for the Parker male frequently involves the application of a fist or foot to some other person. Much more entertaining then getting in touch with one's inner child.

This quibble aside this book is a worthy departure with stylish dialog and interesting developments. The ending is a little rushed but the reader will be reluctant to see the end of Jesse and will want to read more about him . The author that can make a reader care about his characters is a success. Robert Parker has done it. END