Listening to this book I found myself laughing. The essay regarding his first sexual encounter had to be the funniest of them all. Ford has a way of pointing out the abserdities of life and the oddities in people. I like the fact he is a down to earth kind of guy and a true gay man. this book however would appeal to both gay and straight alike because it is quite funny. The only thing I did not like about this audio production was the two songs included at the end of each section. I would have preferred another essay or two in place of the songs. Still I enjoyed it and hope there will be another volume on audio. Highly recommended.

I read this Authors book "Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me," and he dosen't disappoint hear either. His sence of humor is both catty and unforgetable. A must for ever gay, or gay at heart. Even if you don't want to admit it.

What an informative and insightful book this turned out to be. I found it on a sale table and gave it a try. I was concerned that the book was nothing more then a tenured professor's attempt at fulfilling his publishing requirements, it turns out that this concern not needed. The book takes the reader through most of the major issues that effect the President in his duties and it does it in an easy to read and understandable format. What is very interesting is that they present the "paradoxes" that the public has pushed the Presidents into the corner on. What we the public what and expects has shaped the office as much as the past office holders.

The authors also look at some stated ways of improving the Presidency and what their opinions are on the methods - very interesting. To bring the ideas and comments more alive they fill the book up with a large number of examples of which a good 70 % relate to the last 10 Presidents. There are also two sections that, given the past years, are even more interesting - Vice Presidents moving to the lead role and impeachment. Overall this was a very good and interesting book. This is the kind of book that both entertains and teaches the reader something in the process.

In Chapter 1, the authors observe:

"We admire presidential power, yet fear it. We yearn for the heroic, yet are also inherently suspicious of it.We demand dynamic leadership, yet grant only limited powers to the president. We want presidents to be dispassionate analysts and listeners, yet they must also be decisive. We are impressed with presidents who have great self-confidence, yet we dislike arrogance and respect those who express reasonable self-doubt."

Throughout the balance of this chapter, they then identify and briefly discuss nine specific paradoxes which serve as the intellectual infrastructure of this brilliant book. In process, the authors also provide (in effect) a comprehensive analysis of more than 200 years of American history during which the office of the president as well as those who have occupied it reflect the dynamic tensions between and among the elements of the nine paradoxes.

The authors seem to suggest that those American presidents who have proven most effective have been those who (a) understood various paradoxes and then (b) somehow resolved them. The Roosevelts offer two of the best examples. Both were born into wealth and privilege and yet each is best remembered for advancing "populist" causes. The authors invite the reader to view the American presidency "by viewing it through the lens of a series of [such] paradoxes that shape and define the office. Our goal is to convey the complexity, the many-sidedness, and the contrarian aspects of the office."

This book will be of special value to those interested in American history, of course, but also to those who are CEOs of organizations, especially of publicly owned corporations whose CEOs must accommodate the needs and interests of so many different (often antagonistic) constituencies.

Let us, for a moment, forget the historical and literary importance of Right of Man and Common Sense. What if this book had just been published today? Would it still be worth reading? The answer is an unequival yes.

Althought many parts of this deal with specific issues of Paine's time (especially Rights of Man), even after two centuries, the writings of Thomas Paine are able to stoke the fires of liberty in the soul of the reader with their passion, their fierce logic and their unexpected humor.

Rights of Man comprises two long volumes written by Paine in response to English criticism of the French revolution. Although much that he says is ironic in light of events that occured after he penned these volumes, you can see the hope that the Revolution produced. He breaks government down to basic principles, pointing out the needs that government fulfills and the method by which they should be constructed. It is thought-provoking, even in the modern day and will make you look on politics of our own time with a new light. Rights of Man does drag a bit when Paine begins repeating himself, but it remains interesting and though-provoking.

But Common Sense is the real treat. The pamplet that set a continent on fire is -- this was a surprise -- a thrill to read. I found myself actually laughing at Paine's sarcasm and satire -- his way of taking monarchy and absolutism and exposing them for the ridiculuous constructions that they are.

Any student of history should read these volumes for their portrayal of late 18th century geopolitics. But you will find them to be unexpectedly entertaining.

Anyone who wishes to understand American History, namely the Revolution, needs to read this book. These essays were crutial in the development of the revolutionary movement in America. Thomas Paine is a keynote figure in this time period and helped the American cause.

Well, I could complain about the elitist No Californian who mocked all us from "Wash" for hailing Keller but that would be boorish and unsportsmanlike.

As a Californian transplant to Washington State I will say this, Northwesterners know their food.
As far as Keller, he knows food and French Laundry isn't a California-typical thing, it's a French Laundry thing.

I received this book as a gift, I have known of Keller's work and of him as a chef for some time.
The recipes and techniques in the book are actually very attainable, it isn't for your basic meat and potatoes quick meal, but if you want to take the time, and shop at higher end markets and get to know your purveyors you will be surprised how easy it is to pull these meals off.

Given you aren't the Executive Chef of a world reknown restaurant, but to the layman that you serve these recipes to, you may as well be.

Cooking is paying attention, loving the craft and having the ingredients on hand. This book makes it one step closer for you.

In case you haven't heard, The French Laundry cookbook's recipes range from pretty darn complex to "nearly-impossible-to-make-by-anyone-except-master-chefs-with-three-assistants". However, none of that matters. This is still my favorite cookbook in my collection because it's one of the most beautifully put together and well written cookbooks, scratch that, BOOKS, I've ever seen. The layout is gorgeous, it's full of incredible pictures and all of the short essays written by Thomas Keller (or a few other people) are well written and interesting, be it on an experience he had butchering rabbits to descriptions of plate decorations to the stories behind all the people who grow the vegetables, catch the fish and raise the lamb that goes into the dishes. I can't emphasize how beautiful this book is, it's truly a coffee table book as much as a cookbook. The dishes themselves are, as I said, all startlingly complex and many hav exotic ingredient. But they have been adapted for home cooks and even though I have yet to try any full recipes, there is a fair amount that seems to be within my reach of doing somewhat successfully, and I'm a teenager who's been cooking seriously for less than a year. I did try the garlic chips that accompany some other dishes and they were delicious by themselves, crispy, garlicky and wonderful. Still, even if you don't make one whole recipe, this is still a great book full of facinating stories, wonderful analysis of ingredients and, as I cannot say enough, incredible, incredible photography. I love this book.

If you are passionate about food, and the cooking process this is an amazing book to drool over. If you are a cook in a hurry, you will find this book extremely frustrating. Keller points out himself that his book is about cooking with cutting any corners at all.

The pictures are beautiful. A lot of them are meant to evoke that psychology of food feeling, and there could be more of the finished product. Also be warned that the pictures are extremely close up, and the finished portions of the recipes are small/gourmet-sized. At his restaurant he serves 6 or 7 courses. To make 6 or 7 recipes from this book would probably keep you busy the entire week though unless you are highly organized!
If you're ambitious, follow a recipe through in its entirety including the garnish. Otherwise, try out just part of the recipe. Letting a tomato dry out (or he suggests the microwave) to the point where it can be ground in a spice grinder for tomato powder for the garnish on the plate may or may not be something you are interested in doing.

Be sure to read the recipes in their entirety before attempting any of them to be sure you can get all the ingredients and that you have all the equipment you need. (sometimes you don't really need the equipment he suggests, but it definitely makes life easier!) The book is a great excuse to go and buy more gadgets, so far a tamis was added to my collection, and now I'd love to get a mandolin to try out the recipes with paper-thin potatoes.

I've tried out the blini with eggplant caviar which was absolutely exquisite. There were about 4 hours worth of steps with the eggplant: letting it render its excess liquid for an hour, roasting for an hour, then wrapping in cheesecloth in the fridge for more liquid to drain - it may seem like an inordinate amount of time but it was well worth it. The lemon saboyan tart was fairly simple (relative to the other recipes) and quite good.

Agnolotti with fava beans started off fun, then became frustrating with all the time it took, then even though I'm sure I wrecked the recipe it still tasted quite good. He suggests making a well with the flour, then putting in the eggs and egg yolks etc. in the centre, and then twirling the eggs with your finger to slowly incorporate it with the flour. While this was fun at first, it takes a very long time to incorporate the flour this way, and at the end of it all (maybe I used the wrong sized eggs?) it was too dry and I had to try experimenting to get it to all stick together.

Some ingredients are difficult to find depending on where you live, such as creme fraiche, which is common in France. However I think the ingredient hunting is worth the effort and this is an amazing cookbook if only to dream. I found some of the recipes are not practical to make by the sheer expense of trying them out. He has several recipes with fresh truffles and while they sound fantastic, since fresh truffles cost over $1000 per pound I don't think its something I will be trying out anytime soon.

Its well written but its a waste of money if you know about the site verion of All Music Guide which really is one of the best sites on the internet.Not only does the site version have everything the book does and has pictures but also the lists of artists,albums,music styles and reviews are seemingly endless and gloriously delightful.

I wish the word "comprehensive" wasn't used on the cover of this book because it isn't comprehensive. Some groups, that weren't obscure in their time at least, aren't here. And many of the groups that are here don't have all their albums reviewed. They may have a review of a group's "Greatest Hits CD" and that's it. This book has 5 star reviews of music I think sounds awful and 2 star reviews of music I think sounds good, so it's all in the ear of the listener. As a guide it's good, but I'll bet you haven't heard of half the groups here, so if you buy something by one of these groups based on the review, don't be shocked if it doesn't sound as good as you were led to believe. Also, if you hear something by a group you like but aren't familiar with and want to buy some of their music you may not see it all listed here. They could at least tell you all album titles a group had. Still, it's one of the best guides I've seen, I'm not sorry I got it, and actually recommend it.

A magnificent source for information pertaining to album or cd purchases. This book includes information on some more obscure groups, rather than only the most popular artists. I have used this book repeatedly as a guideline for my own compact disc purchases. As a result of reading this thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking guide, I have discovered many new artists which belong to my favorite rock genre. I recommend this book highly to anyone who wishes to increase their cd collection and is looking for a great guide.

This is a great book. It provides a excellent foundation for learning the basics of: WSH, vbscript, jscript and provides useful real-world examples for scripting: IIS, MS Office, ADO, ADSI, etc. The author even devotes a chapter on how to deploy scripting solutions.

After you finish reading this book get the MS help files on: WSH, vbscript, jscript, ADO, ADSI, other COM, and MS OLE/COM viewer and you'll be ready for scripting in the real world.

I am really new to WSH but this book made it really easy for me to grasp the concepts. It strarts from the basics and moves to harder material. I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to learn not just WSH but VBscript and jscript.

For a programmer who has used VB, Java, or any ASP, this book will boost your skills incredibly with a minimal learning curve. It shows the basics of the WSH objects and an overview of VBScript and JScript within the first few chapters- it is worth buying the book just for those chapters alone.

If you are not familiar yet with the concepts of OOP and looking at object models, you might need a primer found in another book before looking into WSH. It is built purely on objects that your code will refence and it can be a bear to take on unprepared.

It will be interesting to see how the .Net framework will integrate the objects in WSH- there is a significant chance that little in this book will be completely valid after Windows XP and Visual Studio .Net have become standard. Nevertheless, this book is an invaluable tool to the Windows programmer who wants to simplify life by automating as many tasks as possible.

This book should be getting more attention. Mike writes a very interesting book on his feelings about past and present talk shows. His show was such a FUN show. It is a fast read and enjoyable.

....but, he was one of the best. He set a standard in his day that I'm sure many talk show host have aspired to, but frankly I can't think of anyone that did it as well as he did. Unfortunately, his book doesn't "show" how strong his connection to his guest and audience really was. I have my memory to serve me, but many of the readers probably weren't around during Mr. Douglas' heyday and don't know how unique he was. For example...he was one of the few greats that did something rather unusal. He listened! He offered his guest the opportunity to have the spotlight on themselves instead of constantly trying to catch the beam himself...which sadly is what so many of todays host do. Perhaps someone else could have captured Mike Douglas a little better then Mike Douglas did. His modesty may have tainted the outcome somewhat. But, it's still a better than normal read for a biography.

Yep, I also remember watching Mike after school, like so many others.

You are not getting controversy from him, not getting hard edges. Mike will never say anything bad about anyone else.

However, when you look at the guest list, wow!!!!!

His editors must have had a miserable time deciding what to leave out.

Am I imagining things or wasn't he based in Philadelphia for much of the show's run. Mike ignores that in the book and he ignores other things as well.

Still, I have extremely fond memories of him and wish he would come out of retirement. He is amazed that people remember him so well?

In 1945 a couple of Egyptians digging in the Nile River valley found a sealed storage jar that contained a collection of fifty-two ancient manuscripts, most of which were devoted to the teachings of Gnosticism, early Christians who believed that matter is evil and that emancipation comes through "gnosis" (the Greek word for "knowledge"). The Gnostic inner quest for spiritual understanding put them at odds with the authority of the Church in the first, formative centuries of Christianity. It is not surprising that the Gnostic writings were suppressed by the early Church and were really only known to us through the writings of their opponents. The discovery of these manuscripts allows us to read what these early Christians were thinking and to judge for ourselves the value of their beliefs.

Marvin W. Meyer has provided new English translations of several of the most important and revealing of these early Christian texts. Of these, the Gospel of Thomas is the most interesting. Biblical scholars have long maintained that one of the source documents for the Gospels was a collection of sayings that was integrated with the Gospel of Mark to produce the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The Gospel of Thomas is an example of such a collection, providing dozens of sayings attributed to Jesus. For example, Saying 75: "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: all came forth from me, and all attained to me. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Pick up a stone, and you will find me there." The words might be different, but certainly the idea is recognizable, which is true of the vast majority of 144 Sayings collected in the Gospel of Thomas. These sayings are not a radical depature from what we have in Scripture and at the very least we can accept them as being accurate representations of early Christian beliefs. Certainly they are more familiar than the other Gnostic writings Meyer has translated. You will have to judge for yourself how compatable they are with the New Testament. But I think they are definitely worth thinging about.

The Gospel of Thomas was found in 1945 along with the Nag Hammadi Library near the town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt. It's text dates back some 1600 years. The gospel contains many sayings which are found in the New Testament Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John). However, it also includes many sayings never found before. Unlike the other gospels, "The Gospel of Thomas" has no story line but instead focuses on the specific sayings of Jesus Christ. There are 114 sayings, spoken by Jesus and recorded by Judas Thomas the twin. Many have come to know this man as Thomas the disciple or "doubting Thomas". Either way the fact that it was written by one of the twelve disiples adds credibility to the text. As far as the translation goes; in the preface, Marvin Meyer explains his careful use of coptic text to translate the document. Nothing is added, nor is anything taken out. What a relief for christians seeking the truth! I highly recommend this book, however, I would advise skipping the reading by Harold Bloom.

To my utter surprise, this book in question, i.e., The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus by Marvin Meyer (Translator) was so much better then I had ever expected. In fact, one can and should draw striking similarities between the Thomas's gospel and that of the book of Q. The similarities are very striking; in both version one is presented with a prophet (whom is not the son of God or divine in any way, shape or form and tells parables in order for people to understand the real nature of God) and this picture is so much more compelling to a person whom is a Unitarian Universalist by choice, will and credo. The picture of Thomas's Jesus is very compelling and some of the things that he says can be attributed more to the study, the craft and the art of ethics and morality then to purely religious thought, ideas and study. Overall, I thought that this book, i.e., The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus by Marvin Meyer (Translator) was extremely thought provoking, intellectually stimulating and was written with a sense of scholarly authority that is rarely seen in any book (regardless of subject which the book covers).

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy is a compelling and intriguing novel. Instead of most conventional novels that rely on plot, it places its emphasis on getting certain points and ideas across to the reader. It is a book meant to make the reader think, not as a leisurely Sunday afternoon story. The story takes us through a series of tragic events, starting first, in contrast, with Jude as a young child full of hopes and dreams, the primary dream being to go to Christminster to become a learned fellow. We follow his life as he marries Arabella, a woman who fakes a pregnancy to get Jude to marry her. Because their marriage does not have the foundation of love, it quickly crumbles and Arabella leaves Jude to go to Australia.
Jude then decides to follow his old dreams and travels to Christminster, only to find it was little like what he had imagined. There he falls in love with his cousin Sue, who in order to spite Jude, marries the schoolmaster Phillotson. She despises their marriage, and soon asks her new husband to let her leave. After much contemplation, he consents, and Sue runs off with Jude. The two start a life together with Jude worshiping Sue and Sue constantly pushing Jude away. They will not commit to marriage, and live a life together looked down upon by all of society. After a while, they get a surprise from Arabella, saying she has a son that belongs to Jude, and that he will be coming to live with them. Father Time, as he was nicknamed, comes to live with them. He is a very depressed young soul, burdened by things way beyond his years. Sue and Jude have two more children out of wedlock, and constantly move from town to town to get away from the jeers of society.
Just as things are starting to look up, as Sue seems to finally love Jude, Father Time decides to take things into his own hands and hangs himself as well as the other two children. Sue, being unable to cope with the situation, leaves Jude and goes back to Phillotson, saying it is her duty. Jude, left alone, is then visited by the vivacious Arabella, who gets him drunk so he will consent to re-marry her. Their marriage, however, is simply one huge lie, and Jude, from depression and a loss of hope, becomes sick and finally dies in his misery.
The main topics looked at by Hardy seem to be about goals and marriage. Hardy clearly defines Jude's many goals, for instance his pursuit of knowledge and his pursuit to win the love of Sue, but just as St. Jude, the saint of hopeless causes, Jude is never able to achieve them. The idea seems to conclude that no matter what your goals are, you will never be able to attain them. This is a depressing thought, and though it may be true for some people, I believe it does not clearly express the true things that happen in people's lives. Most people, if they have a goal in sight, do achieve their goals, bringing themselves happiness.
Marriage is clearly looked down upon in this book. Hardy shows marriage between both Sue and Phillotson as well as Jude and Arabella as a trap of unhappiness. He then contrasts that unhappiness with the life of "true" happiness that Jude and Sue had together, out of wedlock. This idea, in my opinion, is absolutely false. Marriage is meant to be the union of two people who love each other so much that they are willing to commit their entire lives to each other. It is meant as a means for happiness and love to blossom. Hardy's demented idea of marriage is clearly false.
Even though some of the philosophies in this book tend to be skewed, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It made me think on an entirely different level. I could sympathize Jude's pain, and though it may not be a leisurely novel, it is a classic that I recommend any educated person should study.

Jude the Obcure is really a book about life. It involves Jude's search for happiness. Of course, he never quite achieves happiness because something is always in the way-preventing him from being happy. He starts out as a young lad living with his working-class aunt, dreaming that one day he may study at Christminster. The problem is as he grows he falls in love with a devilish girl named Arabella who tricks him into marrying her. Inevitably the marriage goes sour and he goes to Christminster, while she moves to Australia. Jude then meets his cousin Sue. He sets her up with Phillotson and they get married. Sue is then not happy and leaves to live with jude. As you can see this is really just a soap opera, but isn't life really just one big soap opera. Arabella then comes back to Jude with a son in Australia. Basically Jude feels responsibility to go back to Arabella and Sue goes back to Phillotson. Jude then dies soon after.

It's quite interesting how Hardy devises his plot. It's quite a dark novel, filled with every character's problems. Through this book we see that what society thinks is the right thing to do isn't always best for everyone. The climax of the book is a horrifying murder-suicide of Jude's children. This is no doubt a book that makes you think about the psychological aspect of life. It's a good read if you like the fact that none of the problems actually get resolved and trying to solve problems only makes new ones.

Hardy wrote Jude the Obscure at the height of his career. Does the book reflect his mastery? Or does it fall short of his capability? At the time of its publication, Jude (like Tess) received critical admonition from the public: The blatant sexuality and the unfulfilled/unheroic main character won over fanatics and made enemies of literary elites.

I picked up this book out of boredom, believing I'd put it down after a few pages. I enjoyed Tess from High School, but Jude for leisure? I was wrong: Hardy's poetic melancholy and rythmic cadence drew me in yet again. I was mesmerized by Jude, Arabella, and Sue. Though their conversations seem forced and some of their characterics unnatural, I felt sympathy for their deterioration and sadness. And in my feeling this, Hardy has accomplished a great poetic influence.

I really believe that Hardy could have written a greater Jude the Obscure if he was unhindered by the public. Though his true passion lay in poetry, he had much potential in prose. Too bad this was his last novel...

Where was Einstein's spirit when Paterniti needed it? This book could have used a little energy. In it, nothing happens to two not-very-interesting people. Paterniti moons about his girlfriend without going into their relationship much at all (though there's all sorts of "Book of Us" New-Agey goopiness) and barely exchanges a word with the keeper of the Einstein brain, Mr. Harvey, who comes across as a bit slow. But then, he's in his '80s, so why not? Maybe this worked as a magazine piece, but it's a dull book with a padded-out feeling. Even as a road trip saga, it has little to say. And Paterniti's obession with the brain is never explained--though I suspect that's because he had none, but just faked it because it seemed like a good idea for an article. I didn't believe in quite a few of the recounted conversations/incidents, as they just rang false (e.g., the bit about the hostile cocktail waitress in Las Vegas and the tale of the transvestite in West Hollywood--after having lived in LA for 15 years without having run into a drag queen on the sidewalk, I find it hard to believe someone's second encounter in LA is with one). The book isn't well-edited, either. There are lots of annoying verb usages ("shunted" without an object, as in "she was shunted" though perhaps he meant "shunned") and the LA geography is off. A let down.

When I first heard about this book, I thought it was one of those weird, stream of consciousness stories, so when I discovered that yes, the pathologist who autopsied Einstein *had* taken possession of his brain, and yes, Paterniti *did* travel cross country with the now-elderly pathologist and brain, I just had to read it for myself!

The book itself, like the situation, defies easy categorization. I found it to be at its best as Paterniti describes the travels and visits cross country with the likes of William Burroughs and crazed night clerks for Days Inn. He peppers the travelogue with details about the previous owner of the brain in the trunk, Albert Einstein, which were also interesting, particularly in the context of the journey. I did not feel especially drawn to the ramblings and philosophizing Paterniti sometimes felt the need to include, but was willing to go along for that ride to see where the rest of the journey would take me.

Most compelling is his portrait of the pathologist, Dr. Thomas Harvey. At turns irritated with his quirks and fascinated by him, he paints the doctor as a somewhat eccentric but gentle octogenarian. He handles his near-obsession with the desire to actually see the brain in question with as much dignity as this whole crazy scenario will allow.

If you enjoy the genre of "truth is stranger than fiction," you will find "Driving Mr. Albert" as living up to this category of non-fiction.

"Driving Mr. Albert" is one of those unique works that elude interpretive hyperboles...a 'magnum opus'. You don't describe it...you experience it. The weighty equation E=mc2 and the theory of relativity, conjure up images of a wiry-haired wrinkled old genius known to the world as Einstein. The author, Paterniti, mixes his own equation with words. The result? More than just a relative success, "Driving Mr. Albert" is a light and amiable concoction of humor, eccentricity, wit, poignancy, as well as raw and often highly amusing observation. The ever-curious journalist (Paterniti) researches and finally meets Dr. Harvey, the mortician who performed the autopsy on Einstein in 1955. Scandal ensued when Harvey absconded and ultimately "disappeared" with the brain of the genius himself, claiming to be doing scientific studies to assertain if there were any unique facets to it. As Paterniti and Harvey's worlds collide, the result is far from prosaic.

Paterniti writes with such a personal flourish of his own, I was instantly captivated and found myself a passenger aboard his eccentric cross-country pilgrimage with Dr. Harvey and their third "passenger", Einstein's brain (bobbing in a formaldehyde-filled Tupperware container stowed in the trunk).

"Driving Mr. Albert" is the embodiment of the cliché: it's not the destination, but the journey that counts. As Paterniti and Harvey bomb towards California in a rented Skylark to rendezvous with Einstein's granddaughter, Evelyn, the author not only ascertains much about the contradictory persona of Einstein, and Dr. Harvey's fascinating life, but also about his own existence.

The words I absorbed enraptured me in laughter, had me strolling down my own memory lane, and brought me near to tears during unexpected poignant scenes. The story and the intriguingly vivid characters, coupled with Paterniti's descriptive rhetoric made for an utterly arresting read. It's also makes for wonderful light weekend reading, as it's mere 211 pages will attest, and can be finished in a few sittings. With a plethora of these factors in its favor, I would not hesitate recommending "Driving Mr. Albert" to anyone who enjoys a truly entertaining anecdote, both deep and humorous.