From the opening page I found myself emerged in the life of Paul Dogolov, sometimes author with a bad attitude, sometimes-sensitive father. As a Vietnam War veteran Paul considers himself a failure in his personal life and has hit rock bottom with alcohol abuse and little purpose in life.

Paul swings in and out of his alcohol-induced haze to find new meaning in his life and volunteers to teach the inmates of a maximum-security prison writing skills. Through his prison program the story comes alive with an in-depth look at the inmates and their lives, which also forces Paul to take a good hard, look at his own life. He finds within himself the capacity to care about his fellow humans once again and learns to trust himself and others, misplaced as this trust is at times.

As a lover of mystery and suspense this book kept me on the edge of my seat. Filled with twists and turns and even truly funny at times, David Scott Milton reveals himself as a gifted writer. Bravo!

In the novel, "The Fat Lady Sings," author David Scott Milton takes the reader on a journey into the darkest corners of the human psyche where people and events are like distorted reflections in a cracked funhouse mirror. Nothing is exactly as it appears. Paul Dogolov is a successful author and former Vietnam veteran who takes on a tough assignment teaching convicted murderers in a creative writing course at a maximun security prison. But is he looking for new material for his next novel, or does he seek revelations to unlock some of the secrets in his own soul? Dogolov meets and befriends a quiet young man named Travis Wells who has been convicted of killing his grandfather. Convinced that Wells is innocent and troubled by the injustice of a wasted life spent behind bars, Dogolov visits the desert town where the murder took place. He meets friends, enemies and family members of Wells, following a string of mysterious clues that leads him into a few trials and injustices of his own. As Dogolov moves closer to solving the mystery surrounding an unspeakable crime, the walls inside him come crashing down, threatening his sanity and his very life. If he can survive, he might gain insight to more than one truth. This is a novel that has something for everyone: Action/ Adventure, mystery, comedy and a little metaphysics--a recipe to suit many tastes!

David Scott Milton's "the fat lady sings" is a great book. From beginning to end it keeps you involved with the characters and the plot.

If you like mysteries, action, twists, turns and deep thought all roled into one, you will love this book.

The story takes place in the central valley of California. Paul Dogolov, the main character, is complex and driven. He becomes convinced that one of his students (he teaches in a prison) is innocent of a murder and he embarks on a quest to find the truth.

This book is a must read for anyone that enjoys a well written, interesting and thought provoking novel.

Sin of Omission grabs you from the beginning and holds you captive so that you must continue reading until the end. The content is rich and colorful; at some points familiar, at others unknown and intriguing.
The history of the characters made them come alive on the page. I was transported back, first to Russia and later to my own childhood of the 50's and 60's in America. I felt as though I were a part of the circle of friends who kept secrets as bloodbrothers and played familiar games with sacred rules.
David Evans Katz describes the scenery, the games played, and the characters' emotions so that you become a character yourself; experiencing all that they experience. Even if you were born later in life, I believe some of your parents' and grandparents' stories will come alive again in Sin of Omission.
Kudos to the author and his talented storytelling!

Sin of Omission

David Evans Katz builds a riveting story around a murder witnessed by two neighborhood friends. They keep the murder a secret and then deal with 40 years of guilt. Late in their adult life the two friends meet and share a beer together. They reminisce about the past and struggle with the thought that their secret caused a family a great deal of grief. You must read the book to discover the strange twist the murder takes. Mr. Katz also provides the reader with a look at the ethnic neighborhoods of Middlesex, Massachusetts and a glimpse of the relatives lives in Russia. Sin of Omission is a great story filled with sociological insights.

I had the good fortune of meeting David Evans Katz, the author of Sin of Omission, at a recent book signing. He read two of his short stories and chatted with everyone. I found Mr. Katz to be a very fine story-teller and most entertaining. I was eager to go home and start reading Sin of Omission. I found the book to be an easy and smooth read, from beginning to end. I am looking forward to his second novel. I highly recommend Sin of Omission for a great summer read.

The Well by Mildred D. Taylor is one of the best examples of juvenile fiction that I have read in the last ten years. (Coming from a teacher, that's a lot of books!) The reader is invited into a world where whites can say and do as they please and blacks are treated to cruelty, deceit and humiliation. Yet the Logan family, the central characters of this book, maintain their strength and dignity through it all. The Logan property sits on the only well that has not run dry in this turn-of-the-century tale of the Deep South. They are generous people and share their sweet water with all their neighbours, even the bigotted Simms clan. David Logan, the narrator, tells us how he and his brother Hammer cope with the abuse and terrors inflicted upon them by the Simms boys and their evil father, Old Man McCallister Simms. This short novel tells us much about the deep seated racism that was so much a part of that time and place. The characters are quickly and clearly brought to life, the setting is vividly drawn and despite the frequent - but historically accurate use of the N word - this book is a great "read aloud."

The Well is a very compelling and resonant book by Mildred D. Taylor, the Newberry Award winner for Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. You will experience many emotions while reading this book, which are not limited to anger and sadness .The Well is set in the south during the mid 1910's, a time in which deep-rooted racism is practiced and where whites can do and say anything they please with abandon to blacks.
David Logan tells a poignant story of his boyhood in Smallsville, Mississippi when blacks could be hanged for considering themselves as equals to whites. The Logan family, the main characters in the book, are among few black families to own land. During an awful drought, they have the only well of sweet water in the whole town of Smallsville. The author eloquently describes how the Logan's believe that the water is not theirs to hoard but gods gift to share with black and white folks alike. Everyone is grateful to the Logan's except the white Simms family who hate being obliged to blacks. David's family lives by his father's words, 'use your head not your fists' but his insubordinate hotheaded brother Hammer is sick of the constant degrading of Charlie Simses and when Charlie pushes his handicapped brother with bitter rancor to the ground, Hammer reacts and does the unthinkable.
The characters are quickly and clearly brought into life, the setting is vividly drawn despite the frequent but historical use of the N word. The large cast of characters is masterfully individualized with opinions, beliefs, personalities and ways of life. I personally gained tremendous admiration for Mildred D. Taylor as an author for making such a luring plot seem so stupendous in a small book.

I think Mildred D. Taylor is a good writer. She makes her books inspiring to most people. I like her books a lot because it is really interesting and talks about history and has good contrasting in the story. Her book tells you how people lived back in the olden days. Mildred writes a series of religious tales not just one book. Her books sound lifelike and it is easy to picture the story in your head. Her book makes me want to read more of the tales because they are so interesting. This book makes me wonder what it was like back then and WOW I'd like to be there. The charectors have good charectoristics. The story has a great conclusion. I'm inspired to learn more about the history back then. Her book has a sensitive plot that a person can understand.

I was so excited to get this book when they showed the story on 60 Minutes. The photographs were all taken with a Yashica T4 point and shoot camera, (the point and shoot of choice for most pro photographers)! The pictures are all in black and white too. The pictures are the pulse of New York City from the viewpoint of a New York Cabbie. I love this concept. I love that this man has used a wonderful point and shoot camera (now discontinued...shame on you, Yashica!), and how he photographs the city while driving. He also photographs the passengers (great idea!!). The text is fantastic. It lets you really understand where he is coming from when he took the pictures. What makes this book winderful is this combination of text and photography, and that it is a new struggling artist who makes his living by driving a cab in New York City, a very rough job indeed.

This afternoon, I hailed a cab near Union Square in New York City. As we pulled away, I noticed the driver had two small black and white photos (New York cityscapes) posted next to his hack license. The pictures were small but alluring in that New York noir sort of way. One was signed "Bradford," the same name on the hack license. "Cool photos," I said. "Do you show?" To which the driver said, "My book," and he handed me "Drive-By Shootings." The book is substantial, somewhere near 500 pages with thick paper to accomadate these extraordinary photos... Bradford has an alert and whimsical eye. Of all the photography I have seen of New York, Bradford's body of work captures the energy and essence of what it is like to be here and live here, better than any I've seen. There is enormous love for the city and compassion for his subjects. There is also present a strong sense of irony alongside the photographer himself being humbled by this thing --New York City -- which is depicted here as being as tame as it is wild. Like Bradford himself, this book is very engaging. If you like New York, or have an interest in photography or art, you'll appreciate "Drive-By Shootings."

I found this book to be a true depiction of what it means to be in New York - not just the skylines and the tourist attractions. Bradford's perspective - both literally (from the inside of a cab) and mentally - give the pictures a unique feel. In addition, the organization of the book - day, night, rain, snow - convey the notion that the city is continually changing it's mood and it's feel. I would highly recommend this book.

This well done book fills in the gaps that field guides and bird identification books create. It is a logically laid out, valuable tutorial on each bird family. While the chapters are not highly detailed with species-level information, you get a general flavor of each family of birds. I highly recommend this work to birders and to those who are interested in learning more about our beautiful, feathered friends.

As denoted in its title, this book aims to enrich the popular study of North American birds--it is a layperson's access to avian biology, rather than an identification guide. It is an authoritative effort by almost 50 authors and three editors. The first part of the guide reviews five major themes, each deemed basic to an understanding of the group Aves: avian flight, evolution, behavior, habitats, and populations. Throughout, principles are nicely illustrated with Sibley's colorful artwork. The second and major part of the book reviews each of the 80 bird families found in North America. This natural organization by families (e.g., "owls," "wrens") is very familiar to birders and allows for accessible overviews of selected subjects: features that distinguish the family, taxonomy, plumages, ecology (habitat and foods), behavior (including migration), and conservation concerns. Where appropriate other subjects are included (such as vocalizations), and again the work is enhanced throughout by Sibley's art. This guide will be well praised. All levels

I bought THE SIBLEY GUIDE TO BIRD LIFE AND BEHAVIOR for myself for Christmas. I wanted Sibley's Guide because I am an avid birdwatcher, interested in books, articles, films, etc. about birds. I had read glowing reviews about this book (here and elsewhere) and thought it must be the best bird book ever. Also, several reviewers noted that like JJ Audubon, Mr. Sibley was a gifted artist who depicted birds rather beautifully.

Sibley's Guide is a beautiful book bird watchers will want to add to their collection (hardcover, please). Those who already know the difference between Bewick's Wren and a Carolina Wren may appreciate Sibley's Guide more than those who can't tell a White Throated Sparrow from a pigeon. However, sooner or later every bird enthusiast needs to understand the ecology of birds, and this is the strength of the Sibley Guide.

I've been a bird lover since I was a child, and lucky enough to have parents and grandparents who were bird fanciers (my dad was an ecologist, my grandmother raised tamed birds). As a result, I know a great deal about birds and their environments. Sibley's book appeals to me because its central message is that all living things are connected and that the environment matters. One should never take the continuing presence of birds in the back yard as a given as their habitats are threatened.

The Sibley Guide is not as well suited for fieldwork as the Smithsonian's Handbook, BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA (regional versions), or THE AUDUBON BACK YARD BIRDWATCHER. For example, on p. 440, the Sibley guide has an illustration titled "Troglodytid diversity" which shows the very small Winter Wren and the very large Cactus Wren. The Smithsonian handbook contains separate entries for each of these birds (and many other wrens) and each entry has a separate map showing the individual bird's range. You will immediately know from the Smithsonian Guide that the Winter Wren has an Eastern and Northern range while the Cactus Wren is more likely to be found along the Southwest border and in Northern Mexico.

In contrast, Sibley's book contains a paragraph on "habitats" in the "wren" section and it says Winter Wrens can be found in the Pacific Northwest old-growth forests and the Cactus Wrens can be found in the Chihuahuan Desert. In an earlier part of the guide Sibley has described these areas with lovely maps. You can figure out the approximate ranges of each bird with a bit of page flipping, but you may not quickly deduce that the Winter Wren is also found on the East Coast.

The Sibley Guide is nifty because it groups birds based on DNA results and discusses them as well as their general ranges, habitats, food and foraging behavior, and various aspects of breeding. The Sibley Guide promotes a deeper understanding of the ecology of birds. You will not want to take the Sibley Guide to the field for birdwatching, however.

I amt the webowner of Bipolar Disorder Today and have the bipolar disorder myself. This book contains excellent material with self management information, etiology, diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder. Up to date information. I recommend this for consumers and familes. Good stuff.

Having self-diagnosed my illness of Bipolar I during nursing school in 1980, I have read numerous articles and books on the illness. In my opinion, it is written with a style that I find it difficult to believe that the author is not bipolar himself. It is extremely rare to find helpful self-management tools, advice and knowledge base, coupled with the spirit of the illness, from an individual who has not lived it...I am currently working on a manuscript whereby the focus is on the unaccepting health care professionals who have discovered a professional registered nurse's bipolar diagnosis. This author will be cited with the hope of becoming a change agent through educating the target audience of healthcare professionals. Having been stable most of my adult life, I recommend this book to those who meet the challenges of the illness as well as their friends and families. It is not a book that is merely read, but one that is studied closely and referred back to on occasion. Never lose hope!

Simply put, this book has changed my life. After years of being in denial about my illness, or perhaps more correctly-in confusion about my illness, I picked this book up this summer and could not put it down. David Miklowitz warms up to the reader like a small town country doctor, who comes into your living room, holds your hand, looks right into your eyes-and tells you exactly what's wrong with you. He doesn't frighten you with jargon or condescending academic mumbo-jumbo or scientific psychobabble. His tone is friendly, calming, and his concepts accessible, even when he explains the biochemical basis for bipolar disorder. I particularly like how he peppers every chapter with small capsules of what other bipolars have gone through in their own words. The book is a must for every bipolar's library-newly diagnosed, veterans, those still in denial. Relatives, loved ones, friends, and professionals working in the field with bipolar disorder patients will find it an excellent resource as well.

Flophouse is a collections of pictures and words by and about people (mostly men) who ive in the dwingling number of flop houses on the bowery in New York. There are some 50 or so snapshots of these man the spread throughout four hotels, The white house, the providence, the andrews and the sunshine hotel. Don't let the names of these hotels fool you they're no four seasons. The men come from various races, creeds and generations. Some are old men who've lived on the bowery for tens of years and don't want to live to younger men who have hit rock bottom and are trying to get back on their feel again. Each man featured tells his own story about how they got to the bowery. Most of their stories are sobering and the pictures are even more powerful. Many of these men were woking productive members of society until something happened to them to throw them off track. It is hard to leave a book like this one unaffected. If your only opinion of the homeless and destitute is that they are lazy, mentally deranged or drug addicted men this book may change your perceptions. I left this book feeling very somber about how fragile life is and how easily it can be taken for granted yet also feeling uplifted in a strange way. Many of these man despite their conditions still continue to keep on living their lives and keeping a postive attitude. The men in flophouse are a dying breed of america's growing underclass.

This book is an intimate look at the inside world of life on the desolate Bowery. It is as much intriguing, as it is mind-blowing. I have to admit, this book, is something to be read, not necessarily as a bedtime story, but more of a quiet, alone story. I suggest this book completely. wonderful!!! GOOD JOB DEAR FATHER! ATTA BOY DAVID!

Flophouse gives America a rare glimpse into the underbelly of the American Dream. With photos and personal interviews of 50 residents of genuine Bowery flophouses this book reveals the raw grittiness and humanity of those at the bottom of American society. So often politicians and other such moral crusaders seek to demonize those on drugs and welfare. The real story why these men have fallen into the abyss is often more complicated than simple explantions provide. The story of these men asks each of us to re-examine our beliefs about the least among us. I should know-I live among them and am featured in the book with my bicycle. Many of you who read this are but a few paychecks away from similar circumstances. I encourage you to buy this book and keep it as a reminder to save every dollar you can in a 401K-lest you spend your last days in a Bowery Flophouse!

This book is just what I looked for: A complete reference of howto's in Sybase ASE administration. It describes the ways to handle sybase admin tasks using the non-graphical interfaces. Especially for the friends of linux who get the ASE 11 for free this is the perfect manual to use ASE easily!

I already knew Sybase fairly well when I got a copy of this book. So I never felt the need to read the entire thing.

The reason I know it is valuable and the reason I give it 5 stars is this: every time I have a problem or run across something I don't know how to do, I open this book. Then I quickly and easily find the solution. That makes the book good as gold as far as I am concerned.

This book is a must have for anyone using or planning to use Sybase SQL Server. I find myself constantly grabbing for this book whenever I have a Sybase question that needs to be answered. My copy has become frayed and tattered with use.

This reference is easy to follow for architectual drafting. If you are drawing simple box type structures this is the book for you. If you need a mechanical drafting Autocad learning reference dont buy this book. You will be disappointed. For example 12 pages are devoted to "laying out the kitchen". I suggest the author and the publisher do two things; 1) change the title of the reviewed book to Architectual-Autocad 14 and 2) write another book titled Mechanical-Autocad 14.

An excellent learning manual for Autocad. The author will take you step by step through the creation of a drawing for a small cabin. The reader can follow each step or break off at anytime to pursue topics of interest using the index. The book is accessible for random access readers who have a job to do. Those who take the time to follow through the book will be amply rewarded for their efforts.

For many years I have wanted to learn AutoCAD, but the complexity of earlier programs, and the instructional materials available made the task far too time consuming and difficult. In this book, David Frey presents a simple project which by continuing development of it cover to cover, takes an individual from the basic functions of AutoCAD R14 through 3 dimensional modeling.

Starting with a personal CAD knowledge base of zero, following Frey's lessons, I was able after about 8 hours with the book to create from scratch a basic architectural floorplan. Within four weeks, I had completed this book and was able to produce full, architectural quality construction drawings. Individual ability to create such sets will depend upon prior architectural training. But, one will most certainly be able to create simple plans, and make modifications to much more complex ones. As way of comparison, the easy to read and understand material presented here amounted to what is taught in a much more intense three month college introductory level CAD course. I give this book an A+.

A word of note. This book is written for those who are needing to aquire AutoCAD skills for architectural design, construction, or structure documentation purposes. In this respect, Frey delivers. It is not a book for mechanical engineering, or civil engineering CAD skills.

In conclusion, this work quickly provided me a comprehensive set of skills needed to assume a leadership role in historic preservation project management, cutting many months off what is normally a steep learning curve. I recommend it to anyone who needs to learn how to create or modify architectural drawings, without reserve.

Following this book, I recommend George Omura's "Mastering AutoCAD Release 14". Purchase these two together, and one will have a high quality architectural CAD training package and reference source.

Although it is not as famous as some of his earlier science fiction books (or "scientific romances", as they were then called), and is not an absolute classic like those books are, The First Men In The Moon is nevertheless a delightful and important satrical SF novel. Also, its importance in the development of modern science fiction cannot be overestimated. Although numerous books before had dealt with a story set on another world (let us here, for the sake of convenience, refer to the Moon as a "world"), Wells's book is the first to make it convincingly real. Although, one hundred years on, much of the novel's science is dated and Well's Moon is far different from how we now know it to be, nevertheless, Wells here created a world out of his own imagination, and describes it with such a convincing level of detail that one actually feels like they are there. And the science, indeed, was, in fact, quite up-to-date for the turn of the century. The structure and format of the novel also was highly influential: one will see immediately upon reading it just how much modern science fiction owes to this novel, and to Wells (and yet, Wells himself borrowed prodigiously from previous books on the subject.) The book was originally supposed to end at Part I: Part II was added later by Wells after the book was already in the process of serialization. I think that the addition of Part II is what makes the book good instead of great. If it had ended as it originally would, it would still be a good book - a rousing adventure, an interesting yarn - but it would not be great. The second part makes the book a full-on satire - something that the earlier portion had merely hinted at. It sharply and bitingly satarizes manking and his many follies, particularly war. This addition of satire and borderline philosophy makes the novel a truly great one. I read an essay on this book that said it differs from Wells's earlier SF novels because it is not grim. I beg to differ. The ending, to me, seems quite grim, indeed. Although it does not involve the imminent extinction of man himself as earlier works did, it is nonetheless quite pessimistic and grim. The addition of the second part of the novel and the ending also pave the way for Wells's later works - ... This is a true science fiction classic that deserves to be more highly-regarded than it is.

What always gets me with Wells is the forcefulness of his imagination -- his ability to construct powerful, symbolically resonant setpieces based upon the scientific ideas of his time. In the final pages of "The Time Machine" he gave us one of the great apocalyptic visions in all of literature. In "The First Men in the Moon," he gives us a magnificently alien setting, full of bizarre moments -- jumping about the lunar surface in 1/6 G; the Giddy Bridge and the Fight in the Cave of the Moon-Butchers; the bizarre lunar ecology, in which all the plants die every night and are reborn each dawn.

Scientifically, much of this stuff doesn't hold up after a hundred years. And the device he comes up with to get his characters to the moon -- Cavorite -- is without basis, an arbitrary magical tool not unlike the time machine. Even when Wells' science is iffy, though, he presents it in such a clear, convincing fashion that you are only too glad to suspend disbelief while the story unfolds.

In the Selenites we have a metaphor for a different type of society -- rigidly hierarchical, with the needs of the individual sublimated to the whole. The metaphor obviously comes from social insects; though it became a sci-fi cliche, it was still fresh circa 1901. In the remarkable last section of the book (Cavor's communications from the moon), Wells describes the Selenite society with delightful attention to detail. He ends with a haunting, unforgettable image, and probably the best closing sentence of any sci-fi novel.

Cavor, a genius, invents a material that allows him to build a Gravity-Defying Sphere. Soon he and a young, and very greedy, businessman use it to go to the moon. They find not only life, but the Selenites, a culture who can change their shape to fit their jobs. In other words, form is designed for the function of their class or in this case their caste. Over them rules the Grand Lunar, a being whose large brain gives him awesome power and foresight beyond even the businessman who tells us the story. Both characters show their human merits and their very human flaws. Not science fiction as much as a book on society.