Maria Cooper Janis has put together a wonderful photographic memoir of her father, the celebrated actor Gary Cooper. Some of these photographs are extraordinary. The life this man led and the people whom he knew! They're all here, from fellow actors like Jimmy Stewart to writer Ernest Hemingway to Picasso to Queen Elizabeth to a very youthful John F. Kennedy, while still in the Navy. I'll treasure this, not simply for the photos. Ms. Janis has also written a series of essays to accompany the various chapters, essays which are finally nothing less then a wonderful extended love letter to her father. A beautiful book.

What a delightful, refreshing book! Imagine, a book by the child of a celebrity which actually extols the father. Maria Janis, daughter of Gary Cooper, one of the half-dozen greatest film stars of the century, has put together a photographic tribute to Gary Cooper, father, husband and private citizen. And what a tribute! Extraordinary photographs, showing the human being behind the celebrity icon. This is a beautiful book.

This warm and loving tribute from Maria Cooper Janis to her father, screen legend Gary Cooper, is a delicious book. Filled with fabulous photographs of "Coop" off camera, out of the public eye, Maria Janis reveals the man behind the legend. For all Cooper's well-documented affairs with women throughout his life, this book reveals that he was nonetheless a devoted and caring family man. Some of the photos of Cooper, wife Rocky and daughter Maria are quite moving. As is the written memoir from Maria herself. It is indeed refreshing to see a daughter extolling her celebrity parent rather thna trashing.

I completed this book in basically one setting. It's compelling and written in a manner that is easy to read and yet describes well the author's disabilities, frustrations, and ultimate joys. It demonstrates what love, support, acceptance, and encouragement within a family and community can mean to a person with a disability. It also demonstrates what strength of will can accomplish in attaining seemingly impossible goals.

Although Dr. Linde faced problems that most people would not think of being able to overcome, especially in the period of time in which he was raised, he faced each problem, found a way to overcome or work around it, and continued onward. His rewards were many - marriage, children, meaningful work, and independence.

I have the pleasure of knowing Dr. Linde and his family, and they are an inspiration.

I highly recommend this book to all as thought-provoking and inspirational reading.

Kate is my cousin, and can't walk or talk very well. She has the same disability -- Cerebral Palsy -- as the doctor who wrote this book. Now I have a better feeling about how hard must be to have Cerebral Palsy. Dr. Linde was lucky to have a family who taught him that his disability did not have to stop him from having fun or going to school and getting to be a doctor who worked with people with mental problems. Dr. Linde made a success of his life even though he pushes his wheelchair backwards and some people can not figure what he is trying to say. That is a problem my cousin has. This doctor tells people it is alright if they do not understand him because he will say things over for them.

I liked the book. I feel I know "Dr. Tom". He has helped me see some of what psychologists do. He has helped me see that having an awful handicap does need to mess up your life. I think it is inspiring to know people can find ways to become productive no matter what so called experts say. I told Kate to read the book because I can tell Dr. Linde is not what he at first looks like. I think he's a "neat dude".

This is a compelling book. To understand that a life can be lived fully and with great gusto- even with a serious physical handicap.
The underpinning of life is explored as Dr Linde surveys his life including early childhood experiences and the people that surrounded him with love, care and great strength of will and character.

As a child, Dr Linde, recalls, " On a conscious, gut level, I lived with chronic discontent at my continuing misfortune. I stuffed torrents of anger and pain into my subconscious, where they were hidden from me, but unpleasantly obvious to many who offered me acceptance and friendship." Yet as one reads on, we discover that his life is full of great adventure and relationships, that he overcame many many added stresses and he continues into his 7th decade, to live a full and productive life.

Linde encounters university life, love, marriage and children, career upheavals, hobbies and grandchildren with great enthusiasm and self-motivation. We get to 'see' the view from his wheel chair.

I was moved by Dr. Linde's expression of angst and frustration with societal systems that neither supported him (or others with disabilities) nor were eager to change their way of doing things to accommodate. Imagine in year 2000 still not having wheelchair accessible bathrooms in national chain restaurants.!

I liked this book because of its sheer bravery.

This book is for everyone that would like to open their hearts and minds to understanding the needs both physical and psychological of persons with physical disabilities.

I have found Sports Medicine Advisor extremely helpful in my practice as an NP. My peers consult it regularly. It really helps patients understand their injuries and it gives them an important role in their own recovery. They can take some control over their rehabilitation, have a better understanding of what happened to them, and how to prevent recurrence of their injuries.

As an NP educator, I have recommended the book to my students for the past four years in two of my courses. It is on my bibliography and I endorse it wholeheartedly. It is a unique, easily understood text for both the beginner and the more expert.

Students are eager for information around orthopedic and sports injuries and this text provides them with a practical, common sense approach to evaluation and management of orthopedic injuries. Students don't always buy books that are recommended, but they have embraced this book as essential to their learning and a valuable resource for their clinical practice. They also see that their preceptors in clinical practice use the book very frequently.

Our Family Practice Residents and Faculty use this resource daily in practice when confronted with the myriad of sports- and activity-related injuries. Informs the doctor as well as the patient on causes and rehabilitation of these injuries with well-designed illustrations formatted for photocopying. My Physical Therapist loves it as well. Dr. Rouzier's love of Sport's Medicine comes through in this carefully crafted work. It is the best sports medicine resource for patient education out there.

The Sports Medicine Patient Advisor is excellent. I have referred to the book, unfortunately more than I would like, because of my sports related injuries such as sprain ankles, lower back problems, strains and others. Also, my kids have also benefited from the information. I especially like to the way it's written, easy to understand without a lot of text. Also, the illustrations are fantastic; they augment the text well and make it easy to follow the rehabilitation exercises. The Sports Medicine Advisor represents the best in its category, a great example for other similar books. I would like to thank the author, Dr. Rouzier, for helping me through physician challenges of an active lifestyle. I would recommend the book highly!

Richard Thompson

All the other big names of horror-movie-actors have been covered: Karloff, Lugosi, Chaney, Lee, Cushing, Price ... Here is finaly the first book about John Carradine and all his films (and not only the B-Movie-Horrorfilms !)It was time !

German: Endlich ein Buch über den grossen John Carradine. All seine Horrorfilm-Schauspielkollegen sind ausreichend gewürdigt worden, von Lugosi, Chaney und Karloff über Price, Lee und Cushing. Nun endlich gibt es ein Werk mit vollständiger Filmograhie (und nicht nur die Horror-B-Filme) über diesen Altmeister. Wie alles aus dem McFarland-Verlag teuer aber in jeder Beziehung in Topqualität !

This is an indispensible book from two very gifted writers (I highly recommend Mank's Hollywood Hissables and Karloff and Lugosi: A Haunting Partnership) and an enterprising publishing house. Carradine was one of the greats, a versatile character actor and a tremendous villain. He also possessed one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard. This book will help you seek out great films you have missed, as well as entertaining you with stories about a very colorful man. It clears up some mysteries (I always wondered why Carradine underplays too much in his one classy horror film House of Frankenstein), offers tantalizing surprises (what became of that Carradine audio Bible?), and is simply lots of fun. We are left to wonder why one of the greats was so underused in his later years. Thanks are due to Fred Olen Ray for treating old veterans with respect in his films. I'm so glad Christopher Lee hasn't met the fate of all the other old horror stars. Nearly 80 and doing Lord of the Rings! Will Amazon carry his Jinnah movie soon?

John Carradine's career spanned six decades and films thatranged from acclaimed classics (The Grapes of Wrath) to undisputedstinkers (can anyone say anything positive about Billy The Kid Vs. Dracula?). In John Carradine: The Films, author Tom Weaver deftly documents each and every film of the multi-talented actor. Complete cast and credits listings, synopsis and author commentarty for each film are included, as are remembrances from various co-stars, directors, Carradine's sons and even Carradine himself.

Weaver's commentaries on the films spices up the usual dryness found in many "Films Of" books, due to their rather strict cast/crew/summary formula. An opinionated reviewer/critic, Weaver doesn't pull his punches in offering up his takes on Carradine's films. Whether or not you agree with his views, it's nice to hear definite opinions for a change in a book like this, instead of the oft-times "take-no-controversial-stand" approach which, while certainly objective, doesn't always make for the most fascinating or interesting reading.

And for regular readers of the author, not to fear...the classic puns are here in good abundance, and will not fail to make one groan and shake one's head on occasion.

Rounding out this tribute to the "thin" Dracula are recollections of Carradine from directors Joe Dante and Fred Olen Ray, and a mini-biography by Gregory Mank. Carradine's flamboyance, lust for life, and love of Shakespeare, as well as his regrets and resignation to the many poor roles he either chose or was forced to accept in order to "feed the family" are just a few of the many sides to the actor that are captured by Mank.

In all, Tom Weaver has assembled an extraordinarily fine and fitting tribute to a too-long overlooked personage of classic horror history. Par for the course for the author, John Carradine: The Films is thoroughly researched, hugely informative, frequently amusing, and most importantly: simply a must-have book.

As a personal friend of Ken Millar (Ross MacDonald) during the sixties and seventies, as well as a regular attendant at the writers' luncheon he encouraged and supported in Santa Barbara during those years, I was especially interested in reading Tom Nolan's "Ross MacDonald: A Biography." I was curious to see whether the writer could possibly capture the personality of Ken, a man whose combination of brilliance and internal conflicts made him so enigmatic that most people, even after knowing him for years, could scarcely undestand him at all. I was pleased and amazed to discover, after reading the book, that Tom Nolan had come closer to explaining him than anyone I'm aware of--and by "anyone" I mean to include not just those who have written about him, but also those other friends of his, who, like me, found him so fascinating and incomprehensible. And this from an author who never even met the man! While it is true that Tom Nolan, as a biographer, had to present sides of Millar's pesonality and events from his life that Millar, understandably, had been interested in keeping secret while he was alive, Ken indicated to me many times that he knew anything that had happened to him would, of necessity, have to be eventually included in any biography that was ever done, and I don't feel he would have had an objection to the balanced and considerate way that material was presented by Tom Nolan in "Ross MacDonald: A Biography." I certainly had no objection. The forthright, kind and dispassionate way Nolan treated this material reminds me of those same qualities I often observed in Ken Millar. Had they met, he and Tom Nolan would have become great friends.

A good biography defines for the reader the complete subject. An exceptional biography not only defines the subject but offers insights and generates feeling for the subject. Nolan has done a truly masterful job of offering us Kenneth Millar, without ever once inflicting any kind of authorial (hence subjective) opinions on the material.

As someone who, to this day, can remember many of Millar/Macdonald's exquisitely crafted lines and scenes, and who loved both his work and that of his wife Margaret Millar, it was a wonderful experience to read this book. Since they were so integral to each other's lives, author Nolan has wisely, and quite fully, included Margaret in this biography in order to give us a full perspective on their life together--a pair of (ultimately) enormously successful writers who happened to be married.

Margaret comes across as a clever, difficult, quite damaged woman, often hiding behind throwaway quips and quite caustic remarks; not at all sociable, undeniably gifted, and possessed of a humor that was frequently cruel.

Millar, on the other hand, is shown to be, first and foremost, a generous, thoughtful, kind, and immensely gifted man with a fine, fine mind. His long struggle to achieve the success he so richly deserved is, in some ways, very contemporary; in other ways, it's reflective of the times (the late 40s through the late 70s).

Rich, too, in physical detail, what I particularly liked was Nolan's comprehension of Millar's sense of being an alien in America. Despite his American birth, having grown up in Canada, Millar brought to his life and to his work a kind of interior chill that is so very much a part of Canadian life. A very tricky thing to describe, yet Nolan does a masterful job of highlighting the difference in sensibilities between Canadians and Americans. It's no small achievement. We Canadians are not Americans, but articulating why--and defining the cultural niceties--can be exceedingly difficult.

To learn that a mind as fine as Millar's is destroyed, ultimately, by Alzheimer's is achingly painful to read. To "see" the man begin to falter and then fail is harrowing and, finally, heartbreaking. Millar redefined the mystery genre, bringing it forward into the mainstream of literature with consummate skill and a peerless talent. Nolan does his subject proud. This is a book that would, undoubtedly, have pleased the shy and unpretentious Millar enormously.

Read every Ross Macdonald book you can find. And then read this splendid biography.
My highest recommendation.

This exhaustively researched book is not so much a biography of Ken Millar (real name of "Ross Macdonald") so much as a history of Millar's career as a writer, and as such it is extremely valuable to anyone who dreams of being an author.

Millar examplifies the classic situation of the genre author who achieves "overnight" fame after publishing 18 previous critically aclaimed books. This book makes it clear just how much work and how much frustration is involved in the life of the genre novelist, as well as portraying how complex it can be to deal with success when it finally comes.

What is particularly interesting in this story too, is the fact that Millar's wife, Margaret, was a successful mystery writer long before he was. The way that these two authors, with their quirky, authorial personalities, supported each other through their life's journeys and tragedies is particularly poignant, though Nolan, unfortunately, takes a very negative attitude--unjustified by much of the data he himself presents--towards Margaret's personality and achievements.

Today's novelists often look back with envy at those who wrote in the "Golden Age" of the pulps, before TV had ended the brief Age of Literacy of the first half of this century. Reading this book will dispell much of that envy. The tiny numbers of books sold in that "golden age" (3,500 being a typical hard cover sale of Ross Macdonald's first 16 books) and the pathetic sums paid him for paperback rights to books that had gotten enthusiastic NYTimes reviews show us that if anything today's genre writers are doing better(in adjusted dollars), not worse than those of Millar's day.

I found this book while searching on Amazon.com for gift ideas. I have not read the book but it seems to be just what I need to finish a gift for my father. My parents grew up during the Great Depression and as a result saved everything. Last year I cleaned out the attic of the family home and sorted through bags and boxes of what we now refer to as disposable items such as bags of pencil stubs (did they really think they would use them again...especially if they are stuffed in the attic?). However, being the child of "savers" has paid off. I am preparing an "album of memories" of the original letters that my father, Roger Griffith, a WWII Navy veteran, sent to his parents during the war. I plan to buy Mr. Brokaw's "An Album of Memories" as a companion to the my album. Mr. Brokaw has again made gift giving easier for the older and greater generation. Thank you.

Being a baby boomer, I have not truly experienced war, albeit was born during WWII and have never failed to be impressed by its stories of bravery, of sacrifice, of unrelenting determination to pursue the glory that awaits those WWII heroes who have not died in vain, for all of us, and for our country. I have only read the book reviews but I feel that I have read the entire book. I also fully concur with my fellow book reviewers that the WWII veterans are, perhaps, not the most recognized, to this writing, as opposed to those veterans of recent wars. Some of the WWII veterans have long died, as well, such as those from the Bataan Death March, waiting to be recognized in vain. This is what truly hurts the most.

Characteristic of Mr. Brokaw's deservedly multi-awarded journalistic style, he has, and continues to impress on the whole world how vital and necessary it is for us to love history (as does this Filipino-American journalist reviewer with all of my strength, my mind, my will, my heart, and my soul so much so that it runs in my veins).

The book is a must-read for all future journalists. I cannot but add it to my personal library.

This book brings the dangerous and trouble-laden world of the 1930s and 1940s to life in a remarkably vivid and compelling way. Almost every letter comes with a photograph or memorabilia that make you realize that many of the servicemen and women were just kids when they moved into their place in history. They wanted to fall in love, marry, and raise a nice family. But first they had to take on incredible risk on land, on the beaches, at sea, and in the air around the world in places that they had never heard of. If they didn't become injured or killed, they knew that it was just a quirk of fate that they did not. Everyone lost family members, friends, buddies, and heroes. If they worked as a medic, they saw more ravaged bodies than we can imagine. Many still bear the pain of their wounds today. Nightmares continue to haunt the dreams of many others. Yet most have spared their families the full horror of that experience. Through Mr. Brokaw's books, we can better imagine some of what it might have been like.

My Dad was pretty open about many of his experiences in the Eighth Air Force, but every so often a new one slips out. I suspect that even in these stories we are getting a censored version of what the actual experience was like. Dad did share the number of times that Luftwaffe bombs blew up part of his barracks (while he was sleeping there) and obliterated his sleeping area (when he was away on leave). What he remembered most searingly were the horrors of the shot-up crews returning from bombing runs over Europe (especially when they crashed in a ball of flames) and officers committing suicide by jumping off the top deck of his ship on the way home. As a youngster, I was terribly surprised and thrilled when former president Eisenhower came through our hometown and recognized my father in the crowd at the train station, and called Dad by name and rank. We had no inkling that Dad had met the president. Dad's response was simply that he had met a lot of the top brass, but he never told us any of their names.

Our family was lucky. My parents met because of the war, so my life was immeasurably influenced for the better. None of my father or mother's families were killed or physically injured in World War II. One uncle did experience shell shock as a teenager in the Battle of the Bulge, and had to avoid stressful situations for the rest of his life. From this book, I was able to imagine what it was like for families that were not so fortunate.

I was surprised to see that many of the veterans and their families had never been back to the battlegrounds and cemetaries. I asked Dad a number of years ago if he wanted to go back. He said he didn't care if he did or not (a typical Greatest Generation answer), but my Mother did. So my wife and I gave them a trip to England as a present. They had a ball, and saw many of the old sights. My Mother said that it seemed to do him a lot of good to see things back in peaceful circumstances. But there was no way that we could presuade him to go to France or Germany on the trip. He gave no reason. I suspect that the pain of the memories of those he had known who had died om bombing runs over that territory would have been too great for him.

Since then, I have attended a reunion of Dad's old unit, and was pleasantly surprised to see how much the men care for each other. I don't know of another man my father was ever close to after World War II, but here were dozens he knew well and liked. It was a side of him that I had never seen.

This book contains many memories like these. Often written by family members, the introduction then puts letters from the veteran into evidence at the court of history for us to experience.

You will be powerfully moved by the stories of sacrifice (whether from being POWs, lack of supplies, discrimination, or the chilling experience being exposed to grave danger), loss (families losing their only child, wives losing husbands after just becoming pregnant, and veterans losing their buddies), and willingness to serve (great efforts to volunteer when too young or too old, to volunteer for tough duty, and trying to help all and sundry). One of the most powerful for me was the description of the horrors of a concentration camp that was considered well kept by the Nazis in order to make a good impression on the Red Cross. Most moving for me was the sense of forgiveness that many veterans felt towards their former enemies.

If you know someone who served in World War II (whether a family member or not), I hope you will consider giving them this book and saying "thank you." After a few months have passed, ask them if they will tell you their story. If they will share, why not ask them if they would be willing to let you make copies of old letters and memorabilia so that you can send them to Mr. Brokaw? In this way, we can capture more of what happened then, honor these wonderful people, and pass on their legacy to generations yet unborn.

May the best and most important of these memories live forever!

Teach an old dog new tricks? Absolutely, provided the pooch in question is Blue Dog, that colorful canine spawned from the mind of Cajun artist George Rodrigue. (For those no up to their four-legged friends fodder, the cobalt canine with the yellow eyes is based on three of the artist's now-dead dogs, and was first immortalized on slick papers back in 1994.) Who says a sleeping dog must lie? This babe is everywhere: portraits hang in the White House, on the set of "Friends" and in fan Whoopi Goldberg's abode; Blue Dog also stars in an Absolut ad. This volume boasts 60 gorgeous never-before-published paintings, along with commentary by Rodrigue on the birth of Blue Dog and its transformation into a pop culture icon. Tom Brokaw, an avid Blue Dog collector, wrote the book's forward. The cat's meow. Really.

You just can't fully appreciate or understand the scope and delight of Blue Dog until you read this book. I adore Blue Dog. This silly, goofy blue dog provokes emotions in me that I have not experienced with art before...there is some strange, sad, beautiful, eerie, rapturous, haunting, joyful essence to this darn dog. This book is completely unique, fun, inspirational...I could go on and on. You just have to touch this book (the cover is fuzzy!) and open it...you will be hooked. The best coffee table book and a sure conversation starter, though that is hardly its value.

Any book with more of Blue Dog is great. This features more of the pop art world of Blue Dog than the previous books of Rodrigue's work. (I actually like the paintings of Blue Dog in cajun settings best.)

Though Nigel Findley was the one of the last true Shadowrun authors, Tom Dowd recently took the late novelists place. Burning Bright has an edge, a quality, that most of the other(and more recent) Shadowrun novels lack. The characters are excellent, as is the plot. I was always confused about what happened in Chicago in the late months of summer. This novel clarified everything.

I honestly didn't find many errors. The actual plot slowed down a little, but before I could get impatient, everything picked back up again. A must read for the Shadowrun fan. Actually, a must read for the casual reader, as well.

Not infrequently I get into debates/arguments about the utility of novels in game universes (for example, do the Forgotten Realms novels make the Realms a better, or worse, game setting?) In those debates, "Burning Bright" is the example I use of a good use of game-related fiction.

Most game-related novels, whatever their other merits, end up with one grave flaw, which over time weakens the utility of the setting as an RPG universe - they end "happily," with the heros triumphant and villans humbled (Zhentil Keep is nuked, Tethyr unified under benign government, etc, etc). This makes the setting gradually less interesting as a place to adventure in. Most authors seem to lack the stomach for anything other than a happy ending, and most readers seem to agree. Also, most such novels answer more questions than they leave you with (reducing the game world's mystery), solve more problems than they introduce (reducing the "threat level").

In Burning Bright, Tom Dowd was bold enough to take another path. He took the road less travelled by, and that made all the difference. In addition to solid characters and a engaging storyline, this book's ending paved the way for a very dangerous, dark game setting (Bug City). While publically exposing the bugs, it left the problem not only unsolved, but more dangerous - and eventually this storythread led to Yeats, Penchyk, and the Empowerment Coalition.

This was one of the first SR novels I ever read, and if only all game related fiction were this good, RPG gaming might not be a withering hobby. . .

Burning Bright is a great novel. The first Shadowrun novel I was actually fulfilled by in its premise and storytelling. It is such an amazing and incredible book. I only wish I though to comment sooner. Oh well.

If you are at the beginning of your golfing experience, go to your local library and check out whatever they have on the golf swing and golf mechanics in general. Then, after you have some knowledge of the swing and have started to understand what you want to be doing during the swing, come back to your computer and buy this book. It teaches the basic mechanics also so you will have that foundation, but then Flick stresses a much under-taught lesson. The lesson of feeling your game. You have to be able to feel the rhythm of the swing, the ability to connect with the ball rather than whack or stab it. It is an invaluable lesson to learn and one that you will continually need to refer to.

If you are a more experienced golfer, you may have read a hundred books and still find yourself reverting or being absolutely baffled because you can't wuite figure out what you're doing wrong. Well, you need to feel your swing. This book will help where the rest have left you standing in the bunker.

I have read countless books on golf. This one is short on pretty pictures but large on the magic that we all who call ourselves golfers are after. It's that moment of impact when you know that you felt the club face meet with the ball so cleanly that you barely felt it. If you know the moment I'm talking about and you want to feel it more often, this book is for you.

I own and have read over 20 golf instruction books (I'm a nut for this stuff!). With the exception of Manuel de la Torre's "Understanding the Golf Swing" (for which I wrote the first Amazon review) it is by far the best golf book I have ever read. Flick's instruction, swing drills, humor and motivational messages are all right on. This book is not only instructive, but funny; it is a delight to read, and to put into practice. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone wishing to improve their game and have more fun in the process. By the way, the "4-step", "left foot, right toe", and "left hand off after impact" drills have improved my golf swing immeasurably. Thanks Jim!

Jim Flick has a special ability to teach golf to guys like me (12 handicapper). His ability to verbalize concepts is excellent and I love his emphasis on feel while playing golf. After using this book as my golf "bible" for a number of months I have definately improved my tempo, feel, touch around the greens, and above all else: my scoring.

As a former professional musician I know Jim speaks the truth when he discusses the difference between the practice grounds and the playing grounds.... thinking about technique on the golf course is not playing golf - thats practicing on the course. Thinking about what notes to play on stage is not playing music - it's practicing it on stage..... they are very different things.

I can not reccomend this book enough - I'm giving away my other golf books (way too many) except this one and my Bob rotella books.....

Point number one: As a Seattlite, Tom Douglas' three fabulous restaurants have always been among my favorites. I'm thrilled to have the recipes for all my favorite dishes - Lobster Potstickers, Tuscan Bread Salad and Cornbread Pudding, just to name a few. And then there is the world's most amazing dessert: Triple Coconut Cream Pie. I don't particularly care for coconut, but I'd walk miles for a bite of this marvel. Whenever visitors come to town, we inevitably take them to the Dahlia Lounge and insist, no matter how loud their protests, that they at least try a bite. Without fail, they, too, become converts. Trust me on this. Douglas' recipes are well-written and adapted for the home cook. He does a great job of explaining off-beat ingredients and preparations. Where appropriate, he even includes photos of how to tackle some of the more unusual preparations that make his recipes even easier to follow.

Point number two: Not only does Douglas give you his best recipes in this book, but he has also written what should be considered a mandatory guidebook to visitors and newcomers to Seattle. Douglas generously mentions most of the other great restaurants in town and tells you when to go and what to order. His description of the local markets is so comprehensive, it should be mandatory reading for every new cook who comes to town. Clearly, this man loves Seattle, and he wants to share all the best of it with his readers.

I first read Tom Douglas' cookbook while dining at his Etta's Restaurant near Pike Place Market. I was savoring his Roasted Salmon with Etta's Rub while reading the recipe in the book and became more inspired with every bite. It was also good to see recipes for other dishes on the menu. Now I'm ready to recreate Etta's at home. Fabulous pictures of Seattle and a wonderful read overall.

Being a Seattle ex-patriot, I feel like I know Mr. D well. I've had the privledge, over the years, not only to dine at all three restaurants but to meet the man as well, (I once begged him to let me live in the basement of the Dahlia and let me eat the crumbs from the table). In the chapter titled "Starters", my wife and I were among the 12,000 devouring Flash-fried Squid at "The Bite" (Side note: Tom, we're sorry it became a pain, but we just couldn't stop from stuffing our faces).

Tom is not only a genius in his restaurants, but this book as well. Even if you have never had the chance to eat at one of his restaurants, this book will introduce you to you to one of the true greats of American cooking. Having eaten at all of the restaurants AND tried the recipes, he is right-on in telling you how to make these favorites.

I never thought I would actually hold in my hands the "secrets" to Tuscan Bread Salad, but yet, here it is. (But Tom, how about the Tamales from Etta's?)

Oh, and by the way, this book is not just about Tom's restaurants. Listen to his advice about visiting Seattle. Any world-class chef that will recommend Dick's for a late-night burger has his finger on the true pulse of the city!

I may now live a thousand miles away, but Tom is here now, in my kitchen, guiding me as I make most of my favorites from his world. It will never be the same as a wonderful, romantic evening spent at the Dahlia or a rainy afternoon at Etta's, but at least it fills the void.

Some of us remember the Blues 'n' BBQ events that Tom did for Food Lifeline. These events, not held at the restaurants but at a local park, spoke not only of the true giving spirit of Mr. D, but also give credibility to the chapter, "Mo'Poke Dadu". Is there anything the man cannot do?

I do wish the recipe for Gingerbread that we enjoyed one dark miserable fall afternoon at Etta's was here, but hey, if enough of us buy this book, perhaps Tom will take requests for the next one....

Tom, we miss you. Thank you for making the journey, via your first cookbook, to the culinary wasteland of Southern California.

(P.S. I'm available for "R & D" anytime you're in the neighborhood!)