Richard Condon's "Mile High" is one of the smartest, most exciting thrillers in the entire canon of American popular fiction. It was published the same year as Mario Puzo's "The Godfather." Both books feature a mafia leader known as Don Vito (interestingly, each book also has a minor character named Coppolla). There are numerous similarities between Puzo's book and Condon's, but Condon's is definitely the more intelligent and ambitious of the two. The story hits upon many of the highlights (or, perhaps, lowlights) of American history: slavery, Prohibition, the Great Depression, McCarthyism, etc. The book starts out like a runaway train, and concludes with one of the most gripping showdowns in print. There is about a 100-page stretch early in the book where Condon slows his plot down with excessive detail about the family business that is at the core of this superthriller. But from about page 200 onward, the novel is as inescapable as car careening through the loops and lifts of really devious roller-coaster.

I defy eny reader of this book to conclude that it is a novel or a non-fiction work.It is absolutely breath taking - I couldn't put it down. A terrific read. I found it in a library in Palm Springs. If you can find a copy, it will be worth your time!

Miles Davis was more than a Great Musician He was a Man with a Mind&He had alot to say.this Book reflects on that&more.very detail on many subjects.any book usual on Miles is a must read because not only for His Music but His take on the World Around Him.

Miles Davis was far more than just another jazz musician. He was a primary reference for the jazz culture of performers and audiences of his day and a man whose influence on the jazz community continues down to the present time. In Miles Davis And American Culture, Gerald Early has assembled an impressive collection of essays on the world, work, and life of Miles Davis. From Early's opening essay "The Art of the Muscle: Miles Davis as American Knight and American Knave" to Benjamin Cawthra's "Remembering Miles in St. Louise: A Conclusion", Miles Davis And American Culture is a compendium of cogent, illuminating, and occasionally challenging descriptions, analyses, and commentaries on a great icon of American jazz -- and a "must" for students of jazz history, as well as Miles Davis' legions of fans.

This book is really great. It's in-depth, and even has the heads for all the songs for all the parts. Because all the parts for the songs are there (drums, trumpet, saxes, piano, and bass) we were able to perform some of the songs, even using some of the solos from them. Great book! Also includes some background info from the songs too.

this is a great book for the advanced jazz student to learn about the best selling jazz albumn of all time.

understand the melodies and thier relationship to the chords from this monumental recording.

learn about miles, coltranes and the gangs improvisational techniques...

a m ust have for the serious student...

This exceptional book on Miles is THE one to read if you want to know about the man and his music. All jazz biographies should be like that. I'm surprised to see it out-of-stock. Hopefully, it's because Mr Chambers is working on an updated version.

For anyone who enjoys the work of Miles Davis, this book is an indispensible resource. Chambers' track-by-track analysis of each session invariable has me digging out all of my Miles Davis CDs. I am astounded that this book is out of print; I would think that it would have been popular among Miles Davis fans for years to come (and I was hoping that a later edition would cover the last five years of Miles' life). My copy of this book is dog-eared and losing pages; I would certainly buy another copy if it were available.

These books are not really meant to go together. When she was sixteen years old, Miles Franklin wrote My Brilliant Career, A NOVEL, but was plagued for years by people who believed that this book was an autobiography. Some people continued to insist it was, or even misrepresent it as such even after being personally informed by Miles Franklin that the book was a novel. Finally, Miles Franklin withdrew My Brilliant Career from publication, and in the fifties, wrote My Career Goes Bung as a response to those who continued to believe that My Brilliant Career was an autobiography. My Career Goes Bung is a parody of the literary world, not a sequel to My Brilliant Career, and frankly, if you read it immediately after, it will probably spoil the magic of My Brilliant Career for you.

That said, here is my review of My Brilliant Career:

The is a beautiful and startling book. Written by Miles Franklin in 1901, when she was just sixteen, it is the story of a young girl, Sybylla Melvyn, trying to live her own life in Possum Gully, Australia. She doesn't want to marry, and repeat her mother's life. She'd like to travel, but she has no money. She's bright, but her prospects for college are non-existent. More than anything, she would like to be an artist, but not because she has a passion for any particular artistic expression; she just likes her imagined idea of an artist's lifestyle.

She has a brief respite when she goes to live with her grandmother, and meets Harold Beecham, who becomes her best friend. She also gets to know her Aunt Helen, "neither maid, nor widow, nor wife," who cautions her of the dangers of marrying for love. Sybylla wonders why she should marry at all. If she had a fortune, she declares, she would give it gladly to someone she loved, but "the word wife finished [her] up."

Life has tougher things in store for Sybylla, but she is a survivor, and she begins to write. She masters metaphor: "If the souls of our lives were voiced in music, there are some that none but a great organ could express, others the clash of a full orchestra, a few...the...exquisite sadness of a violin..., and mine could be told with a couple of nails in a rusty tin pot."

Maybe she writes because of what she knows, or maybe she has insight because she writes, but Sybylla, from Possum Gully, to genteel Caddagat and Five-Bob Downs, to the muddy M'Swat farm, and back to Possum Gully, knows classism, demagoguery, democracy, socialism, feminism, and cynicism.

Sybylla is a joy to know. I can't recommend this book more.

It's hard to believe that this novel was written by a young woman in her teens. it's even harder to believe that it was written in the late nineteenth century. So much for Victorian attitudes... Sybylla rages against her parents, shuns marriage in favor of a career, sees classism and injustice as it truly is, and at one point questions the exuistence of God. The result is an entertaining story. Sybylla is a worthy literary sister to Anne of Green Gables, or the March sisters. The story has a little less of the innocence to it, but all of the charm. The description of 1890's Australia are vivid, as are all the people Sybylla meets (and those great Australian geographic names.)

Try and find a copy of this book... and then demand it go back into print! You won't regret reading this, and you'll enjoy it wholeheartedly. (Beware, My career Goes Bung is not a "true" sequel, and can easily be skipped without missing anything.)

This is a time capsule of life in the Northern Maine woods through the 1920's-30's and into the early 1940's. My grandparents (briefly mentioned in the book) were French Canadian lumber workers who lived and worked the woods in the operations based around Jackman, Maine. (The Jeans and the Veillieuxs, respectively, my grandfather and grandmothers family).

A great read for people curious about the lives of those who worked in the lumber camps of Northern Maine in the early 20th Century. I've heard countless stories my late grandmother told of those days, and this book adds immensely to that rich experience.

This is a part of American History that will never occur again, the way of life in such remote locations, the teamwork, effort and work ethic and fun ethic of these folks was astounding. A true Gem worth buying.

Living in the 'wilderness' early in this century was a daily adventure. Much different from 'backpacking' as we know it. Folks like Helen Hamlin set up camp and lived and worked miles from any sizable town, with only a small number of neighbors, if any. Life was difficult and hard, but never dangerous, if you prepared properly. Ms. Hamlin is a first time author and, as such, is not to be compared with modern, well practiced authors of our time. Still, her story is fascinating reading of a life and times that is part of the wonderful fabric of our country. Highly recommended for those with a bent for real-life perspectives of a different America.

I thought this book of Norman Rockwell's work was a fascinatining look into the typical/almost idealistic life of everyday embarrassing/comical/poignant situations which do commonly occur. The picture I enjoyed the most was "The Gossips" where upon I could imagine the tale behind the laughter and enjoy looking at the different facial expressions and that there was such a great twist to the tale. Thank you for such a great book!.

The book is small, but the illustrations still are reproduced extremely well. The essay alone is worth every penny. If you feel uneasy about your love for the work of Norman Rockwell, this book will give you the courage to like what you really like, without any more appologies. Buy it, read it, enjoy. You will, I guarantee.

Can attest that this is an excellent source for cheap and good paris hotels. Also new edition available published in UK in 1997. See amazon.co.uk search Paupers Paris or ISBN: 0330350226

I used this book from 1986 to 1995. For the most part, during that time interval the book was a gem providing information that generally isn't found in Lonely Planet guides etc. I keep hoping a new addition will come out. I've travelled during the above time period about two dozen times to Paris for business and pleasure, and found Turner's guide to be outstanding independent of your budget.

Piloting the Panama Canal, Experiences of a Panama Canal Pilot, is a remarkable true tale of adventure you won't forget. You will meet Noriega, and other characters you already know from newspapers. You will know the life of 'Zonians' - the Americans stationed in Panama who are leaving now that Panama gets its canal, for good or not-good. You will travel the canal with Russian captains and with East Indians. You'll be there and you will come back from your book-travel knowing more than you did before.

Piloting the Panama Canal, Experiences of a Panama Canal Pilot, is a remarkable true tale of adventure you won't forget. You will meet Noriega, and other characters you already know from newspapers. You will know the life of 'Zonians' - the Americans stationed in Panama who are leaving now that Panama gets its canal, for good or not-good. You will travel the canal with Russian captains and with East Indians. You'll be there and you will come back from your book-travel knowing more than you did before.

I love this book. I am an intermediate level printmaking student and it has helped me so much. I have a lot more confidence with etching my plates, and I know how to get what I want out of them. It helps with techniques from learning to time your acid baths, preparing, tool orientation, etc. It has been a great help in the lab.

A very good reference ,for beginners as for already experienced etchers.It has a very detailed explanation of each step,with very useful practical indications,b/w pictures and a short appendix of famous etchings. I really recommend it.