The problem with this book is that it stretchs the reader's suspension of disbelief beyond the point where it's an enjoyable read. It's the story of two young Alabamian recruits in the Army of Northern Virginia, but it seems to really have been intended as a morality tale. It's all about race -- the lynching of black prisoners, the unsupported and unbelievable rejection by the main characters of racist beliefs -- and violence -- sentimental scenes with wounded Yankees and a portrait of a ridiculously corrupt army. Now, there's nothing wrong with an author wanting to make a moral point, but reality shouldn't be ignored. I don't find the characters' mentalities, the over-the-top portrayal of army politics, or the depiction of the Battle of Fredericksburg to be consistent with my own research. Davy, Josh and Luke seem to only exist as innocent, ignorant young blank slates for the points the author wishes to make. Davy in particular is far too saintly. In addition, the dialogue is terrible, with clumsy, phonetically rendered accents. Having said all that, the writing is occasionally good and it's not utterly unreadable, but overall, I don't think this is worth reading.

If you are an average computer-novice-but-having-been-surfing-the-internet-anyway like myself, I reckon you already know what you find in this book along the way. The basic functions are same from previous browser products. You'd rather want to know more. The only reason I can think of why you consider buying this book is you want to learn how to 'push' the contents from the www. You can't with this book. It has a few comments and a few pages about how the Marimba's Castanet software but not the Communicator is supposed to do the job(the software is included in the CD-ROM that accompanies this book), but there were no specific procedures in this book. It is read like you can just follow the program's instructions but it didn't work with me. Worse, because this software interfered with Communicator and I couldn't browse with the software in the backgrowd. All of this reminded me of how I had to choose IE 3.0 because I couldn't find an appropriate textbook or an authoritative source from Netscape. If you are familiar with the scenario approach of Microsoft, you would probably find little practical value of this book. This book covers probably most basic things about this browser in fragmental descriptions but you can figure them out if you have used other browsers before. And even if you are a complete beginner, you will have to buy another book to learn the much-advertised 'push' functions about this browser. Frankly, I regret I bought this book. I think you should think twice before buying this one. Look around carefully. It might save your time and money.

Taming Monster Moments is a cute book of so-called "meditations," which come across like unrhymed poetry. They are nice and fun for the most part, although the repeated references to monsters will be scary for some children. Other children will find the entries interesting, but the intended messages are at times rather abstract for young children. While the book is listed as appropriate for children ages 4 to 8, I did not find it useful for my five year old.

I found this book in a used book store. This book is certainly a great resource for developers starting to use Cafe, but the CD only has source code, and is not accessible for developers that do not have Visual Cafe. Throughout the book, numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes were found. This book certainly needs an errata.

I was looking for a good resource on Linux system tuning. This book does NOT fill the bill. The word "tuning" doesn't even appear in the index!

If you need help with installation options that go beyond the basic defaults, you'll find this book helpful.

If you want to tune your Linux system for maximum performance, look elsewhere.

This book contains work by many comics creators, both American and abroad. Be aware that it's only 48 pages in hardcover! It was originally published by Editions Carabas in Europe, but this particular version was released in the US by Dark Horse Comics (its first English translation). This is a collection of pin-ups and short stories all focusing on vampires. The stories are very much like what you'd find in Heavy Metal: great artwork, with plots ranging from decent to confusing. The lineup includes Bryan Talbot, Philippe Caza, Benoît Springer, David Lloyd, Mike Mignola (pin-up), Tommy Lee Edwards, Richard Marazano, Gary Gianni (pin-up), Yoann and Sfar (hilarious Batman parody), and others. The book is topped off by a great cover by Matthieu Lauffray. Basically, the book looks great but is lacking in coherent storylines and content. Still, if you're a comic art afficionado, this is a good deal.

Maybe it's just me but there are quite a few broken links that is featured in this book. That's kind of understandable because companies do change sometimes but when the reference web site that is associated with the book is also non-functional you have a problem.

Prof. Singal has an interesting thesis here, one well worth exploring, but his book needs more focus. Singal wanders from psychobiography (including some ill-fitting speculation into Faulkner's neurological problems!) to literary analysis to critiques of other Faulkner critics. Singal ends his study when it reaches the midpoint of Faulkner's career, essentially saying that Faulkner did not write anything interesting after 1942 or so--and while this well may be a valid opinion, asserting it without substantiating it is a cop-out. At times I felt I was reading the work of a talented undergrad rather than that of a tenured professor.

Readers interested in more rigorous studies of Faulkner's life and works should stick with Blotner's *Faulkner: A Biography*, Brooks's *WF: The Yoknapatawpha Country*, and Frederick Karl's relatively recent *WF: American Writer*.

I develop Windows device drivers professionally, and I was impressed with this book at a glance. However, several blatant errors in the book cost me more hours than the book saved in the first place. Combined with a crucial appendix that is referenced, but simply not between the covers, this book needs editing more than publishing. I recommend waiting for a second, corrected edition before investing.

I am a big Patricia Cornwell fan and love her writing style but "Isle of Dogs" was by far one of the worst books I've wasted time reading. I thought the plot was pretty hokey. Its hard to believe Cornwell actually wrote this book. The only reason I made it to the end of the book is that I was reading it on the commuter bus on the way home from work....now I realize that sleeping would've been more entertaining.

Get over it, people! So it isn't another Kay Scarpetta novel. BIG DEAL! It's nice to see an author I'm fond of venture into new territory on occasion.

I have read nearly every novel available by Patricia Cornwell, and yes, I did enjoy Isle of Dogs. Then again, I have a weird sense of humor and found talking seafood incredibly amusing. Yeah, a lot of the characters are odd, but don't you know some pretty freaky people if you think about it? As opposed to other reviewers, I understood the connection between the Trooper Truth essays and the overall novel. And I learned some interesting things in the process.

My main point is that Isle of Dogs was never intended to be another novel in the vein of Scarpetta. It is humorous, quaint, strange, and absorbing. Don't let other reviews throw you off. I enjoyed this book, and yes, I would definitely recommend it. Just make sure you have the right mindset going in. And please, don't overthink it!

Leave it to me to somehow seperate myself from the pack and go in a different direction. I keep reading the reviews for this book and wondering why don't I agree with them?

My fortay is legal fiction. I'm a lawyer, my escape is the fictitious side of the world in which I live. And no, I did not read "Legally Blonde", nor did I see the movie. It hit too close to home. (Yes I'm blonde.)

As I said, I stick to legal fiction. The John Grisham's, Perri O'shaughnessy's, Harper Lee's, Scott Turow's, Norm Harris's, and Steve Martini's of the world. Ocassionally I will choose to read something diverse. Patricia Cornwell's "Isle of Dogs" was my choice, in this instance.

Speaking of diverse. In "Isle of Dogs", Ms. Cornwell has taken a different direction from her normal medical thriller. Much like John Grisham did with his recent "A Painted House". Like the diehard Cornwell fans, Grisham fans did not seem amused either. I suppose it's because these diehard readers get into a groove and are just happy to remain there. And who would blame them? But what's wrong with a writer excercising his/her talent from time to time?

I found "Isle of Dogs" to be both well written and funny. Several times, as I read, I could imagine Ms. Cornwell chuckling along with her characters as she wrote and plotted their lives.

I won't discuss the plot, all prior reviewers have already done that. I will encourage any who asks of my opinion, to give this one a try. You be the judge. (hehe) A little legal pun. In this case one might apply, what we legal beagle's call "a posteriori" reasoning. Reasoning that achieves its goal by means of actual experience. Cammy Diaz, lawyer