If you want to get some real belly laughs read this book. It was well written. Can't wait for the movie to come out on video. I think it will become a real cult film!

I thought the movie was hysterical. I insisted that my hunting, fishing husband see the movie. I am hoping that it is put out on videotape so it can be shown to his fellow hunters and fishers together.

To the woman from Kansas. If you have ever truly seen the UP you will discover that not all yoopers talk this way. True born and breed yoopers do. You must not have spent much time there or exployerd the area very much! This is an excellent example of the UP lifestyle! I think you have to be from MI to understand this humor though.

I found this to be a real page turner. It has an interesting and topical basis in the crime and corruption that can surround the taking of a private company public in the days of greed that we have been and are stil living through, to some extent. Add to the mix that the company is Russian and that the owner is as amoral as he is ambitious and then add to that mix those that are trying to prevent it from happening and the pages are starting to turn. The focus of the book, Jett Gavallon, a former F-16 jockey and now a high tech entrepreneur is suspected of some very serious crimes in his association with Konstantin Kirov, the owner of Mercury Broadband. How that all meshes together is what makes this book such a good read. I was fortunate to have a weekend during which I could really sit with this book and let the story just run. I throughly enjoyed it and I suspect you will too.

Jett Gavallan is a corporate warrior on a very dangerous mission: he must save his best friend from the grasp of a Russian mobster while somehow salvaging a huge business deal that might just keep his business afloat. Careening from San Francisco to Moscow to Florida and New York, "The First Billion" is one of the most suspenseful and satisfying books I've read this year, at once a nail biting page turner and an instructive meditation on the risks of international business. I'd place the style somewhere between Ludlum and LeCarre, but Reich has a snappy panache that is all his own. Highly recommended.

A very compelling novel, a page turner. Reich
has gotten back on track after a disappointng
second novel, "The Runner." This novel is very
timely, in regards to the current greed by a
few headline making CEOs. If you haven't read
his first novel, "Numbered Account," order it
along with this book.

Just returned from Paris where the Lonely Planet guide once again proved the value of the series. I have used their guides in Italy, Spain and Mexico. They have consistently proved to have the most detailed information and are marked by their slightly-off-the-beaten-path restaurant advice; if you want to eat where and what the locals eat at excellent prices and with marvelous service, BUY THIS BOOK. I am still remembering the tartare du poissons and the lapin aux pruneaux--and with wine and dessert less than $25 per person.

I was traveling with a friend who had purchased a guidebook from another well-known series. She soon announced that , "Your guidebook gives better directions and has more accurate information."

3.5 stars.
I have to say - I am a die hard "Let's Go" and "Frommer's" follower; I hardly EVER stray to another series. I was initially drawn in by the flashy pictures and the more robust content of history. I picked it up, and have found it interesting, if nothing else. Now... my trip is a couple of months off, so I haven't been able to verify whether the advice given is on target. (I would never doubt Let's Go - they are the difinitive guide in my opinion [Let's Go, Europe]) So far, I've found that they seem to focus on giving loads of general information about a particular arrondissement and then some details about very few specific establishments. Again, I enjoyed the history lessons - it helped to build the excitement of our upcoming trip. It's a better than average guide with pretty pictures.

For my wife, 14-year-old nephew, 12-year-old neice and I, the Lonely Planet guide to Paris was perfect. (Nephew and neice to uncle: "No museums!") It suggested renting bicycles at the train station to ride to Giverny and told us on which days and at what times we could rent toy boats in the Jardin du Luxembourg -- two highlights of our trip. It suggested getting the Carte Orange Metro pass and explained the airports so well that we had the courage to take the train into the city (which worked out very well). The one restaurant suggestion we took from the guidebook (Le Bateau Lavoir in Montmarte) was very nice. The maps were useful (but you still need a pocket map book) and the book is not too large or fat. I liked the color pictures before the trip, and now that I open the book, I like them even more as a momento. We also had the Frommers, Michelin and Eyewitness Paris books. They were better as references. The Lonely Planet guide was better to have at hand while we were out and about. I wish it gave prices in Euros and not Francs, but I assume the next edition will.

Although I'm an ardent admirer of Clowes, Caricature left me disappointed. Out of the nine stories in this collection, I was only really impressed by and interested in two. One of which was the title piece, which told the somewhat charming, somewhat unnerving story of a cartoon artist who makes his living drawing caricatures at carnivals and his odd relationship with a teenage girl who's in awe of his work. In typical Clowes style, all of these stories feature characters that are obsessed, alienated, and depressed, but unfortunately most of them (such as MCMLXVI, which is nothing more than a guy ranting about his preoccupation with 60's pop culture) feel tedious and don't really seem to go anywhere. Clowes is a brilliant cartoonist, but this collection isn't his best work.

Clowes has always been an excellent storyteller, but the brilliance of his work is not in his stories (which are often mundane and uneventful) but the rich and poignant display of emotions that play underneath the narrative. This was certainly the case in "Ghost World" and "David Boring" in that the exploration of loneliness, adolescent angst and self-loathing took place in the nuances of facial expression and the subtext of spoken word, and not in the unfolding of the plot. "Caricature" is no different, but with the added advantage of Clowes working without the burden of having to tell a story. Being less constrained by the demands of a longer, more cohesive narrative format, Clowes in this collection of nine vignettes is able to explore his themes with greater freedom and whimsy. Thus, many of the stories here take on a dream-like quality and even the more grounded ones have a strong sense of unreality. And indeed, it is in the weird plane of reverie where the emotions he means to convey are best communicated. This is stream-of-consciousness in the form of the graphic novel and more than in any of his other work he communicates at the level of the subconscious. Needless to say there are moments in this book that are transcendental.

How does Dan Clowes manage to tell pointless, meandering stories about monstrously defective people and still make them entertaining? Beats me. I'm just glad to know that, as messed-up as I may be, I'm not anywhere NEAR as bad as the folks portrayed in Caricature....For instance, Clowes introduces us to Mona Beadle (Green Eyeliner), a former fat-girl who has devoted her life to a strange revenge fantasy, which fails miserably. Or there's always the malcontent who just rants about how every year after 1966 was no good. Or Mal Rosen, a caricature artist who meets a severly messed up girl who may or may not be: 15 Years old, 22 Years old, the daughter of a famous artist, battered by her boyfriend, etc. And don't forget the luckless Super-Hero and the strange trick-or-treater...

In addition to great storytelling and lovely art, Clowes also delivers the reader a feeling of inner peace....because no matter HOW bad your life may be, Clowes shows you it could always be worse. Highly recommended!

After starting out as a short story in the Missouri Review, this tale was expanded into the novel Woe to Live On, then made into a movie, by Ang Lee, as Ride With the Devil. Just to add to the confusion, the book was then rereleased in a movie tie-in version as Ride with the Devil. At any rate, it is a brisk, brutal, sometimes funny portrayal of a small band of Southern guerilla fighters, the First Kansas Irregulars, loosely associated with Quantrill (the Devil of the new title, as in "the Devil knows how to ride," a grudging compliment he was paid), as they carry out a series of increasingly bloody and senseless raids, killing men, women, children, and ultimately each other.

The narrator of the book is Jake Roedel, sixteen at its start, a young German orphan, often victimized by the surprising anti-German animus of his fellow bushwhackers. Woodrell makes a fairly daring choice in having the boy commit a brutality quite early in the book, thereby establishing that there is nothing romantic or heroic about their War. However, this also puts a considerable distance between the reader and the ostensible hero, making it hard to care too much about his eventual fate.

At least since Ken Burns's Civil War series there's been a tendency to look back at the War a little too fondly; and, of course, Southerners have been inclined to do so for much longer. This book offers a much needed antidote to such silliness, reminding us of just how ugly and wasteful a thing it was, and of how surely any war degrades into hatreds and killing, no matter how "noble" the cause..

GRADE : B-

Civil war history buffs will love this novel, as the fiction dovetails quite well with historical facts. Some real-life characters appear briefly in this story (William Quantrill, Cole Younger and others) but not in a way that is disrespectful to historical accounts. One of the story's major fictional characters, Black John Ambrose, is evidently the real-life bushwacker Bloody Bill Anderson, who was notorious for his ruthless "no-parole" tactics. The story is full of wonderful conflicts. The main character, Jake Roedel, is distrusted by his Southern companions because of his German descent (most Germans were "Union men.") Yet the bushwacking band to which Jake belongs favors murdering his fellow Dutchmen. Another surprising character is Holt, the black man and former slave, fighting for the Southern cause out of loyalty to his 'owner' and friend George Clyde. I was also taken by the quality of the dialogue in this book. The characters speak with a language that is at once backwoodsy and eloquent. This book stands on it's own as a solid piece of work, but is even more enjoyable if you know some of the history on which it's based. For that, read The Devil Knows How To Ride (a Quantrill bio) by Edward Leslie. Then read this book, and while you're at it, rent the movie. You won't be sorry.

As a boyhood fanatic of the Civil War including annual family trips made to places such as Vicksburg, Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge and Shiloh, this reader has years of imagination when it comes to this country's bloodiest war. As an adult, I can now thank Daniel Woodrell for allowing me to rediscover the fascination. He has not only tapped into a real time and place of historical facts, but has explored them in a story with fantastic characters that schoolbooks never told you about. Bushwackers and ruffians! In the heart of an ever-expanding nation, the Kansas-Missouri border conflicts were in many ways the essense of the Civil War. But these American citizens were not caught-up in slavery, nor the heady politics. And they were not gallent, but nor were they cut-throat outlaws. They simply shared the common belief in individual rights and a undying thirst for revenge when injustice was committed. For them, war never possesses a clear winner. Death is everywhere. Property is destroyed. There is no law to abide other than kill who will kill you. Filled with brutality and horror, Ride With The Devil allows the reader to shuffle off the heroic efforts common among war epics and enjoy a different type of romance -- the truth of cruel war. Please take the time to read heartily as you can discover a people that we forgot about. Not to take away from the others, but this certainly belongs in a great new category away from Gone With The Wind, The Red Badge of Courage or the more recent Cold Mountain. Thank you Daniel Woodrell.

This is one of, maybe the first of, Wood's books with Will Lee and Kate Rule as the main characters. This one leans more on Rule, her role in the CIA to uncover a Russian plot, and the attempts by Company agents to prevent her discovery from coming to light. I didn't know this one existed and was glad to add it to my Stuart shelf. A good read.

I have never read Stuart Woods before. I only got the audio because I could not find anything else. It was a great audio. It moved fast enough that I did not forget to listen, as I sometimes do when listening to a book. The character names were a bit hard to keep up with, but it did not distract. I recomend this as a book or an audio. Of course I have the audio for sale, so what else would you expect me to say. Really, I did enjoy it from the quick beginning to the end. I hated that it was finished.

I was having an online conversation with a friend some time ago, and he recommended Stuart Woods as an author to read. I started with Dirt, then Choke, then continued reading, but I have been most pleasantly surprised by this book. The main characters are all very well written. The novel was also more espionage oriented, which Wood's masterfully wrote, with only a few minor mistakes that one (like myself) who has studied something of Russian history, would find fault with. The novel was so well written though, none of those come to mind at this moment. Then again, the novel was puplished in 86, and I didn't start my serious Russian studies until after the fall of the wall. Many thanks to Mr. Woods for an excellent novel.

Shawn's book is exactly what hip-hop needs. I have long been a fan of hip-hop, but am sometimes let down by the attitude and direction of the industry. At last!! Someone truly inspired has come along to bear the flag and show that there is a historical depth behind the lyrics that now pervade American Culture. Whether you are looking for historical context, a great story, or a truly uplifting journey --- you gotta pick up this book. It is as racy as any rap lyric, but still contains many tense thought provoking moments. I can't stress strongly enough that you simply have to get this book.

Wow, I was really impressed. This book was definetly informative and entertaining. I noticed that some guy keeps writing bad reviews posing as different people but seems to be the only person that doesn't include his name (He must have a lot of extra time on his hands). I guess he didn't read the subtitle "Growing Up With Hip-Hop" The only thing I can really complain about is the incredibly trite and muddy one page forward, but that was written by one of Shawns friends.

1st I have to say that Shawn Lov is a musical genius! I was an instant fan of his as a result of the 1st Eminem diss joint he put up on mp3.com a few years ago which was a genius publicity stunt! I knew after hearing joints like "Turn Back Time" that this isn't any average cliché rapper... his concepts are original, his lyrics are incredible, and he is bringing something different to the Hip-Hop table besides the over used, simple minded, thug mentality that is so commonly placed on the "Hip-Hop" shelves of music stores today! I knew automatically that he was educated and was capable of writing material that would appeal to more than just your average Hip-Hop Head but 'DARN'...!!! Shawn has really done it this time with his Incriminating, shockingly truthful confession of a biography! During the reading of this book I found myself relating to him at times and even feeling his pain. All I can say is that this book is a must for anybody who has been or is in a rough period in their existence here on Earth! It just goes to show that no matter how unfair and unbearably hard life has been to you or how low your opinion on the quality of your life is that you can always do a 180 and turn that around with a little help! Not only does it tell his amazing story and teach life lessons but it also keeps a very well documented evolution on the history of Hip-Hop! I don't know how hard I can stress that if you don't own this book already than cop it! It's well worth it's penny & you will thank yourself for the investment... guaranteed!!! Don't be surprised if you start hearing the name "Shawn Lov" roll off of peoples tongues everywhere in the near future!

It will come as a great shock to most retail investors that their brokers add cost, not value. For all their claimed expertise, brokers' stock picks perform less well than if investors just bought and held a diversifiable portfolio with the correct mix of stocks and bonds. When brokerage firms extract 5, 10, or 15% per year from their customers' accounts in explicit and hidden costs without adding any value, they are simply reducing their customers' wealth by the amount of these costs. When brokerage firms encourage investors to hold poorly diversified portfolios in the face of the overwhelming evidence that brokerage firms' picks underperform the market portfolio, they expose investors to additional risk, risk for which the investor is not compensated. It is time that someone like Mr. Solin explained these simple, irrefutable facts to victims of brokerage firms' incompetent or fraudlent practices. His discussion of the undisclosed, pernicious conflicts of interest in the brokerage industry is especially timely.

This book tells investors how to avoid becoming a victim of brokers and what to do if they are already one. I particularly liked the real world stories of victimized investors which appear at the beginning of each chapter. I have been a finance academic, an SEC economist, an arbitrator and an expert witness for both brokers and customers and can attest that for many investors, this will be the most important book they ever read. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the brokerage community.

I was very impressed by how Solin condensed complicated ideas (financial theory, legal theories, and the nuts and bolts of brokerage operations) into a highly readable text that is useful for both laymen and for lawyers who want a good overview of securities arbitration, causes of action, collectibility issues, etc. I would call this book a superb distillation of many of the concepts of an MBA-level Investment Theory course, a J.D.-level securities arbitration course, combined with a practical understanding of how brokerages operate. There is no doubt that most investors would do well to read Dan Solin's book.

Mr. Solin's book is an indispensable guide to anyone with a brokerage account. For those who suspect wrongdoing on the part of their broker, this book is a roadmap to getting their money back. For investors looking to become better informed, Mr. Solin draws back the curtain on how Wall Street works revealing hidden costs and conflicts of interest that are rarely, if ever, disclosed by brokers.

As a twenty year veteran of Wall Street and as a secutities arbitration attorney, I can say without reservation that Mr.Solin's in depth analysis of broker behavior is right on target. This book is a must read for anyone with a brokerage account as well as any attorney who is new to the complex field of securities litigation/arbitration.

Congratulations to Mr. Solin for providing a much needed guide to uncovering and preventing broker fraud.

this book is a book that you cannot put away. You want to read it over and over again.... and I did.
It's not a book for gay people. In fact everyone should read it. Not only to understand more about the gay life and it's problems, but to learn something about friendship, honesty, secrets, thoughts, fears and all beautiful things and not beautiful things that can happen to people. I think Vilmure has written it from the heart, it's not only his personal feeling, but the reader feels it too and recognizes a lot in this book.
To me it's a beautiful sad, but also humorous story. A shame that it's out of print !!!

TOBY'S LIE is, quite simply, one of the most brilliant novels I have ever read. It is funny, charming, wise, and heartbreaking, & I have read it several times now and it only gets richer upon each rereading. The young hero of the novel is gay, but to say this is merely a "gay novel" is to shortchange the author as well as potential readers, straight and/or gay. Its canvas is too broad, its themes too rich (love, death, friendship, betrayal) for it to be pigeonholed in any category. The only novel I can think of that uses a youthful narrator with such skill, flair, and telling humanity is a little novel called THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. TOBY'S LIE is that good - and deserves that kind of audience. If you are in the mood to read a book that will steal your heart, read this. It's destined to become a classic.

The novel was largely missed by the "mainstream gay press", and that's surprizing. It's really a must-read for any gay teenager. Overall, it's a great book: Vilmure touches a whole lot of questions, not just "gay" ones. The book has a wild, but redeeming, plot and, as far as I am concerned, everything else that a great novel needs. It is intelligent; the principal characters are captivating; the book is neither politicized nor moralizing, and it moved me and prompted me to think about what is love and what is forgiveness. And of course, I couldn't help but to admire Toby's character.

I love to read American history and Daniel Boorstin is one of the best. After reading this book, I had a much better understanding of the American colonial experience. I also understood to a greater degree the affects that Christianity has had on our culture. In this book, Boorstin compares three colonies. It is interesting to read the cultural differences. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the origins of our nation.

Boorstin examines the influences Old World ideas had on the New World of America. He pays close attention to how the Old World ideas were transplanted and changed in America. Boorstin demonstrates that this change was present with most every institution or idea brought from Europe to America. The Americans is the winner of the Bancroft Prize, a prestigious award for works in History. And rightly so. Boorstin's The Colonial Experience is extremely well organized, thorough, and related the history of America to me in a contemporary style. I applaud Boorstin, for he has succeeded in writing an excellent book on the history of early America that even a fledgling history student, like myself, could fully grasp without losing any detail.

Boorstin outlines the fundamentals and development of American consumerism and capitalism of the 19th Century. A great read for understanding why America was the great attraction of emigration. A good emphasis is put forth on how much American ingenuity happened by accident. This book is excellent for describing who we are, how we dressed, how we ate, and how we profited from it. Like the rest of Boorstin's works, this is a must for any student of history!