This book tells you the basics of what colleges want in an essay, and goes into a lot of detail for all the tips. It also tells about a lot of excercises to help you write in general, which a mediocre writer might find useful. The 50 sample essays are usually from students who got into some of the top schools, such as Cornell. Some of them are really good, but a lot of them aren't (this might raise your confidence). It has some of the essays in the back graded by admissions officers with a few lines of comment. Basically, this is a good book to get, but 90% of it is available for free on the essayedge editing website. I see no reason to pay for it if they make it available for free.

As a college applicant in a foreign country, I had no idea of what American colleges wanted in an essay. I had bought one book previously, but it contained hazy advice and poor sample essays (also lacking commentry). These essays are brilliant, and well analysed. It helped me, and I hear of many advisors who use only this book to give students an idea as to what to write. BUY IT!!

As someone who works privately with students, helping them with admissions essays for college, I highly recommend this book. When students call me in regard to assistance with their essays, I recommend that they first buy this book as a means to get started. The guidelines and essays have helped my clients not only to gather their thoughts, but also to organize and write them into interesting and creative essays. By the time they come to me for feedback and editing, they are well on the way to getting into the college of their choice.

This book acts like an exercise guide. It has smooth pages wtih nice black and white pictures depicting each exercise. The short descriptions on "how to do the exercises" is precise and to the point. Exercises center around the neck, back, torso, hip, wrist,chest, arms, and abs. Minimal equipment is required. Most exercises are done on a mat or a chair. Other accessories are easy to obtain: light weights, pillow,rubber ball, and such. I found this book very useful and easy to follow. The exercises are fairly easy and most anyone can do them. There are programs designed for people sufferning from osteoporosis, osteopenia, and the prevention of such. I found this extremely efficient because my mother and I can use the same book for her treatment and my prevention.

I found the exercises in this book to be very helpful. The photos and descriptions of the exercises are clear, and the exercises are easy to scale up in difficulty as you become stronger. With each exercise, you are told which specific muscles you will strengthen as well as which part of your skeleton (hips, spine, wrists, etc) that will be strengthened.

Without sacrificing effectiveness, the exercises are kept fairly simple, requiring minimal equipment. More than half of the exercises can be done with no equipment at all (enabling a very complete routine), and the remainder can be done with a little supplemental equipment, including a chair, step, theraband/dynaband, free-weights, wrist/ankle weights, and inflatible stability ball.

I'm in my mid-30s and relatively active. While I found I could *do* almost all the exercises in the book, there is definitely still room for me to improve. With the optional increases in difficulty built into each exercise, this book will keep me challenged for some time to come.

Having said that, many of the exercises are basic enough that someone who is experiencing compromised mobility or who is recovering from illness will be able to manage many of the exercises in the book.

This book motivated me to get off my duff and start reversing my loss in bone mass. I'd recommend this book for anyone who already has osteoporosis as well as for those who want to avoid it.

This book is great - full of exercises, illustrated photos and instructions. I also learned some new information on osteoporosis regarding building bone and what exercises don't work (contrary to popular belief.) Dianne Daniels is a clear, concise writer making the information easy to understand. I recommend the book for anyone with osteoporosis (like me) or anyone who wants to prevent it.

This book does what it aims to very well: it describes (and includes photos of) some very unusual plants. However, please be aware that many of these plants do not have mass appeal; that is why, after all, they are still rare and unusual, rather than having been picked up by your local garden centers.

I found myself using this book mostly as a specific adjunct to the Heronswood Nursery catalogue, looking up some photos and cultural information for a few of the plants listed in the catalogue. If this is YOUR intended use, please be aware that you may be able to get this information for a lot less money by just using Heronswood's website, now that it is expanded to include a good variety of plant photos.

This is an excellent book. Dan Hinkley is a funny and engaging writer and speaker. I highly recommend this for the gardener who appreciates subtle yet beautiful flowers and foliage. Many of the plants that he discusses are from Asia where he has travelled extensively. The book is a great companion to the thick Heronswood Nursery catalog and web site since it has a number of photos. Dan discusses care and propagation of the plants as well.

A well researched, well thought out guide to some wonderful plants that, to quote the author's witty prose, should be on a good many gardener's 'lust list'. Good photography, HONEST descriptions of the plant (without 'catalog-ese') and cultural information all add to a fine addition to the hort books out there.

Generally, this is an ideal field book for the identification of plants. The descriptions are very informative and complete. The book does have one drawback. The index contains many errors.

THIS MANUAL IS A CLASSIC AND DOES NOT NEED TO BE REVISED.

Best book available But desperatly needs to be revise

Over the past several years there has been an immense body of literature, fiction as well as non-fiction, devoted to the topic of the Mafia. In fact, colleges are even offering courses analysing Mafia Literature.

It seems we have an insatiable appetite when it comes to reading about these wise guys.

The newest book to be unleashed is D. Lea Jacobs first work of non-fiction, Friend Of The Family. According to the inside flap of the book, Jacobs is an established author of historical fiction, writing under a different name. In view of Jacobs' previous writing experiences, it is not surprising that the book reads like an adventure novel rather than a non-fiction tale.

The crux of the story centres around two of the most famous successful undercover criminal operations in the annals of the FBI, the Coldwater and Pizza II operations.The main protagonist is the FBI's first and probably one of the best undercover agents to work against the Mafia, Ed Robb, known as Tony Rossi to the Mob.

It was Ed Robb who in fact pioneered the tactics, techniques, and procedures that continue to guide today's FBI covert operations.

At times reading the multitude of facts, stories and players, seemed like I was watching a spider weaving its web and eventually capturing its prey.

Although, I must admit, it was very often difficult to keep track of all of the names tossed around. However, thankfully, to rectify this problem, an appendix at the back of the book lists the cast of characters. It also indicates to which Mafia family each of the bad guys owed allegiance and who were the good guys.

Apart from describing and analysing the various sting operations of the FBI, the book also explores the conflicts faced by the main protagonist.

The mental stability of Ed Robb played an extremely important role in the overall undercover operation.
As mentioned in the book, " a deep undercover penetration could change forever the mental makeup of the participant. Like the death of a loved one, a wrenching divorce, or any other extremely stressful emotional trauma, they are never forgotten and the effects are permanent."

There is no doubt that the facts and insights Jacobs presents are by and large absorbing, and often unexpected. We are reminded that behind the tough guy mask of these criminals are often paranoid personalities who can concoct infantile schemes leading to their downfall.
One moment they may be gentle, funny or sad, and in the next moment they believe they are invincible and that nothing can harm them.

Over the past several years there has been an immense body of literature, fiction as well as non-fiction, devoted to the topic of the Mafia. In fact, colleges are even offering courses analysing Mafia Literature. It seems we have an insatiable appetite when it comes to reading about these wise guys.

The newest book to be unleashed is D. Lea Jacobs first work of non-fiction, FRIEND OF THE FAMILY. According to the inside flap of the book, Jacobs is an established author of historical fiction, writing under a different name. In view of Jacobs' previous writing experiences, it is not surprising that the book reads like an adventure novel rather than a non-fiction tale.

The crux of the story centres around two of the most famous successful undercover criminal operations in the annals of the FBI, the Coldwater and Pizza II operations. The main protagonist is the FBI's first and probably one of the best undercover agents to work against the Mafia, Ed Robb, known as Tony Rossi to the Mob. It was Ed Robb who in fact pioneered the tactics, techniques, and procedures that continue to guide today's FBI covert operations.

At times reading the multitude of facts, stories and players, seemed like I was watching a spider weaving its web and eventually capturing its prey. Although, I must admit, it was very often difficult to keep track of all of the names tossed around. However, thankfully, to rectify this problem, an appendix at the back of the book lists the cast of characters. It also indicates to which Mafia family each of the bad guys owed allegiance and who were the good guys.

Apart from describing and analysing the various sting operations of the FBI, the book also explores the conflicts faced by the main protagonist. The mental stability of Ed Robb played an extremely important role in the overall undercover operation. As mentioned in the book, " a deep undercover penetration could change forever the mental makeup of the participant. Like the death of a loved one, a wrenching divorce, or any other extremely stressful emotional trauma, they are never forgotten and the effects are permanent."

There is no doubt that the facts and insights Jacobs presents are by and large absorbing, and often unexpected. We are reminded that behind the tough guy mask of these criminals are often paranoid personalities who can concoct infantile schemes leading to their downfall. One moment they may be gentle, funny or sad, and in the next moment they believe they are invincible and that nothing can harm them.

review by Norman Goldman

I have not as of yet read the entire book, only excerpts from it, but I am sure that it will be amazing. This incredible story is about my Grandfather, Ed Robb!

Anneus writes from his heart about a subject that might be the most important facing our society. His obvious bias is overcome by the shear force of the rightiousness of his cause,

Although hierarchy (patriarchy) advantages some and disadvantages others, everyone benefits to the point that hierarchy maintains social order. Hierarchy, like death and taxes, is a certainty where societies form. When revolutionaries (feminists, communists) say they want equality and want to eliminate hierarchy, what they REALLY want is another system of inequality where they're in charge. It may be that feminism may be a potential cause of so much social dosorder, because we've scrapped hierarchies that maintain order wholesale for the last 35 years. The "garbage generation" will have to clean up the fallout from this failed social experiment...let me put it this way, the results will make the current social, political, and economic turmoil in the former USSR look like paradise. This book is a must read for anyone who doesn't want this to happen.

Amneus deftly describes in this book how thefeminist/liberal/leftist attack on the notorious and now officiallydiscredited "patriarchy" is in fact an attack on civilization itself, since the former was the prerequisite for the latter. He documents how the feminist wish for the rights of the more primitive matriarchy along with the benefits of civilization, which only patriarchy can produce and provide, is wanting to "have your cake and eat it too", of wanting to have it both ways, that the two are incompatible. That, and that the effects on men are uniformly negative, which is why men should oppose these trends. And while many claim we're still under a patriarchal system, Amneus shows that we're actually a long way towards going back to the matriarchal stone age. Not only that, but many applaud this as if it were something progressive. Even the "family values" and "compassionate conservativism" crowds don't get it. Amneus shows how deluded these folk are, pointing to the ghetto, Haiti, and the indian reservation for what actually ensues when women are in control. On the one hand, the material in this book is something we already kind of know; on the other hand, reading the book reminds one of how much we've forgotten in the last generation or two as other assumptions and beliefs have become the unexamined norm and certain ideas have become verbotten. That's what makes the book so refreshing and eye-opening, since it's definitely not a re-tread of standard 50's traditionalism. It urges men to view their work as their bodies in "Our Paychecks, Ourselves", where he implores men to refuse to pay child support for the male-only "privilege" of having their families destroyed and their children taken from them. Further radical ideas include a thorough debunking of conservative favorite George Gilder's sentimental views about the civilizing effects of women, and the reasons why single men should avoid educated, independent, "career" women like the plague. Some would no doubt consider this book to be a misogynistic diatribe, such is the strength of its point of view, except that in promoting civilization over primitivism Amneus is hoping to show how patriarchal systems benefit everyone, not just the evil, brutish, straw-men erected by feminism or the incompetent bozos of the TV sitcom (which are actually more common under matriarchy). Much of the material in the book is, in fact, taken from feminist writings, only it's turned around to show what its real implications are once men and children are included in the consideration. The book says so many things that aren't even on the radar screen of others in the murky public debate over gender roles and the relationship between the sexes, divorce and custody, the rise in adolescent gangs and crime, the "breakdown of the family", etc., that anyone reading it is certain to feel as if the author is from another planet. This is perhaps the best evidence that we're no longer living under some oppressive patriarchal conspiracy, as the common propaganda would have us believe. This all doesn't imply Amneus comes across as some wacky lunatic throwback, only that he provides a unique and clear perspective sadly lacking today anywhere on the left or right. In fact, the book is concise and well-documented scholarship, not a creation of some ranting Archie Bunker or Andrew Dice Clay. It's also available in its entirety on-line..., though after reading it you'll be sure to want to order several copies - either to give to friends or to burn, depending on your persuasion. Read this book only if you're ready to have your thinking seriously re-aligned, especially if you're a male confused by the many conflicting messages coming from the mostly female dominated debate of the last decades.

This is an enjoyable and wimsical tale set in White Wolf's World of Darkness halfway through the second millenium. Unfortunately this book is no longer in print, but White Wolf, in an effort to remedy this, has reprinted it along with the second book in the series, Blood and Fire. I just finished my first read through the book, and soon I will be telling this tale of the Giovanni's beginnings, via the fall of their founders, the ancient Cappadocians. I hope others who read this will feel the sense of awe and fear that the World of Darkness conjures in me.

The Giovanni Saga 1 makes up the first of two collections of books detailing not only the creation of the Giovanni clan but the time and events leading up to it. This edition contains the now out of print first two books of the Giovanni Chronicles (The Last Supper and Blood and Fire). The first book details the main players in the Conspiracy of Isaac, the founders, and other minor players. The second explains the beginnings of Clan Giovanni and the troubles it faced in the beginning. The entire book is set up as instructions for the storyteller, with ideas for live-action roleplay and character stats. The book, aside from a very nonlinear and detailed chronicle, can also be enjoyed by simply reading as any other book. The book includes detailed storyteller information for every possible variation in the story. I recommend this book for anybody who plays vampire, is interested in the Giovanni, wants to host the greatest chronicle ever, or just wants to read a really neat book.

This is an enjoyable and wimsical tale set in White Wolf's World of Darkness halfway through the second millenium. Unfortunately the books The Last Supper and Blood & Fire are no longer in print, but White Wolf, in an effort to remedy this, has reprinted them in this superb compilation, I await the next parts of the series. I just finished my first read through the book, and soon I will be telling this tale of the Giovanni's beginnings, via the fall of their founders, the ancient Cappadocians. I hope others who read this will feel the sense of awe and fear that the World of Darkness conjures in me.

I bought this book after reading the first few chapters of Shu Lin's "An Introduction to Error Correcting Codes" pub in 1970. Since that was very understandable (but unavailable), I opted for this one. Alas, I got bogged down in the additional math almost immediately. This is a bit heavy duty stuff for learning on your own. Maybe I can find a class some day and get through the wall of fire.

a very detailed book for getting into Galois field arithmetics, cyclic codes, convolutional codes, ... As a very beginner I had no big problems understanding the content. I am not the type of guy who could understand just by reading the theory - this book gives a lot of very useful examples, so you could call it fun reading it!

Lin and Costello produced an excellent text which is targeted towards engineers as opposed to mathematicians. The mathematics behind error correction can be extremely intensive and, with other texts, I quickly become lost in complex proofs. Lin and Costello present error correction in method, with plenty of good examples, which those who need to know how to apply it can understand and the gory details of the theory are not as important. I used this book as my introduction to error correction and it continues to be a great reference book. The only drawback in it is since it was published in '82, it stops at convolutional coding and does not cover trellis-coded modulation or turbo codes.

This book is a decent text for an introduction course in philosophy. The selesctions that were chosen from some of the greatest philosophers: Plato, Kant, Buddha, Descartes, Locke, Hume and Nietzsche, were well thought out before being put in.

This text is seperated into sections, God, death, ethics etc. to put Western (and some Eatern) thought into bite size pieces. Having the works of the philosophers in their own words and not interpreted for you is one of the strenghts of this text.

There are questions and exercises at the end of each section, placed there by the editors to be helpful; these are the major failing of the book. The beliefs of the editor (who includes some of his own work in the text book) come through in the questions and are quite biased (though not invalid).

For an intro course this is a wonderful text. Also, it may give a person that is new to philosophy, some ideas and thoughts as to whom they may wish to read in the future.

All in all, not a bad book. It serves its purpose as a text for 101 level classes at the college level, but does not do much beyond that.

When I picked up this book and read through many of the works contained I was delighted. Alot of texts focus on the historical side of philosophy, but this book focuses on great ideas. I did readings for class but also found myself reading more and more if simply for the sheer enjoyment and mind-blowing proufoundness. If you've read some philosophy then you'll know that the works were chosen carefully: of the "knock you on your #ss" variety. Plato, Krishnamurti, Russel, Buddha, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Berkeley, Pascal, Tolstoy, Sartre, Camus, as well as many more modern philosophers are scattered about in this great book. Highly recommended.

Philosophy straight from the philosophers is what this book contains. The editors give questions before and after each selection to subtley guide and help, but what you interpret are the philosopher's words, not someone else's summation. Kolak and Martin, philosophers themselves, write with powerful, poetic expression at the beginning of each section. The selection written by the editor on cosmology is a must read for anyone who wishes to understand what the great contemporary thinkers are exerting.

This book, Hopping Freight Trains in America, is a wonderful guide to the lost art of train hopping. With witty remarks and amazing anecdotes, the plot hops along at a cheerful pace. I first read this book out of sheer curiosity, but the more I read, the more enthralled I became with the idea of actually trying to hop a train. Having finished the book, I packed it in my napsack and joyfully skipped out to find my ticket to freedom. My heart raced with the fear of getting caught, but train hopping proved far easier than expected. I made it as far as Ohio (from Wisconsin), where I stopped to visit my Uncle Art who kindly forced a tired but liberated young man to book a flight home. It's an experience I'll never forget and one I wish everyone could experience. Thank you David Leen for writing such an inspiring, informative narrative/guide.

This book, Hopping Freight Trains in America, is a wonderful guide to the lost art of train hopping. With witty remarks and amazing anecdotes, the plot hops along at a cheerful pace. I first read this book out of sheer curiosity, but the more I read, the more enthralled I became with the idea of actually trying to hop a train. Having finished the book, I packed it in my napsack and joyfully skipped out to find my ticket to freedom. My heart raced with the fear of getting caught, but train hopping proved far easier than expected. I made it as far as Ohio (from Wisconsin), where I stopped to visit my Uncle Art who kindly forced a tired but liberated young man to book a flight home. It's an experience I'll never forget and one I wish everyone could experience. Thank you David Leen for writing such an inspiring, informative narrative/guide.

A good, if basic and slightly dated handbook. It was written in the 1970s so has some out of date advice, such as recommending cabooses, which are no longer used, as good cars to ride. Leen does include an update as the last chapter in this edition. It's one of only two manuals that I know of on the market, the other being Duffy Littlejohn's "Hopping Freight Trains in America", so some comparison is in order. Daniel Leen writes from a 1970s counterculture slant, aimed more at hitchhikers and mobile hippies who want to try the railroads as an alternative form of transportation. Duffy Littlejohn writes from a "yuppie hobo" or thrillseeker slant. Littlejohn's book has extensive information on safety, and railroad history, how trains work, railroad slang, and more; Leen's book is a basic primer on hopping freights but pretty much assumes you already know the railroads. It's easy to read Leen's book and get lost among the railroad terminology unless you know something about trains before reading it - but if you don't know the trains you probably have no business hopping freights to begin with. Leen has better information on dodging the yard bulls, which Littlejohn brushes off as a non-concern (trust me, it *is* a concern). Littlejohn has much better information on safety, while Leen's book includes some photos of people doing unsafe things, including riding with legs hanging out of a boxcar, a definite no-no, and one of somebody sleeping on the tracks (!!). Suggestion: Get both the Daniel Leen and Duffy Littlejohn books, each has information that the other doesn't and the good advice in each book reinforces the other.