From the reviews I had expected much more from this book. I regret spending to money to buy it. Last spring I put in a small orchard and found the book to be a bit short on specifics. It contained the type of information I had already gotten from my nursery about pollinators, root stocks, chill times, etc. though the book only covers a few very common varieties. I found the pruning section to be too much of an overview. I was able to find the much more comprehensive information I needed (not only on pruning, but on pest management, fertilization, irrigation, etc.) from various state agricultural extension services--on line.

This guide has helped my husband and I correctly plant and maintain our peach and apricot trees. It's easy to follow and has many helpful hints for the novice orchardist.

In the words of the famous poet Archibald MacLeish, "An orchard should be palpable and mute as a globed fruit. Dumb as old medallions to the thumb. Silent as a sleeve-worn stone". In Stella Otto's superb orchard bible, her life's work truly takes on a new meaning as she explores the roots and branches of modern day fruit tree keeping.
"Twig by twig the night entangled trees"... Archibald's infamous words come to mind as the reader experiences Otto's in-depth and detailed pruning techniques that are vividly described with full page color photos from her own garden. This book inspires the green thumb in all of us.

Newcomers to the exciting story of Germany's war-driven unification process will find this book extremely useful. It assumes no prior knowledge on the part of the reader, but gives enough detail to be considered a decent summary of recent historical research. Older hands will admire the sound judgements and the choice of primary sources. This is one of the best in the excellent Seminar Studies series.

The book is well written and organized. It helps to understand the complexity of German policy of the 2nd part of 19th century with maximal simplicity. But it should not be your first book if you know nothing about Bismark or divided Germany

Williamson does a brilliant job of simplifying the complex German policies before World War I. An interesting read for anyone who enjoys history.

This is a helpful guide if you are interested in keeping hamsters as pets or if you just want to become familiar with them. Written by Otto von Frisch, it was released in 1998. There are 64 pages, and it is in softcover format. Five chapters are included. I like the layout of the manual, the information, and the impressive color photos of the hamsters. There are handy charts, tables, and sidebars. Examples of topics covered are physical characteristics, sensory capabilities, buying a hamster, housing, breeding, handling (seven rules are included, for instance), nutrition (for example, ten important feeding rules are stated), behavior, and health. The tables--which are interspersed throughout--discuss hamster breeds at a glance, hazards for the hamster, and recognizing ailments and illnesses. There is a page that displays the ten golden rules for hamster care along with another page that outlines the hamster's body language. Also, two pages are devoted to an expert who gives answers to the ten most frequently asked questions regarding the keeping of hamsters. I find this to be a useful publication.

Before we got our hamsters, my brother and I decided to order this book so we could better care for our new pets. It was a decision I don't regret. Along with many adorable color photos, this book provides ample information for the new and not-so-new hamster owner. Covering many topics, including feeding, health, care and breeding, it has an FAQ section in the back, and also several comprehensive charts to figure out what to feed your pet, if it is healthy and, if not, what the problem is and how to solve it, and how to figure out what your hamster is trying to tell you. I really can't think of any real problems I have with this book, although the little section on color and breeds doesn't sound like other stuff I've read and I'm not sure if you should feed hansters strawberries. With a perfect mix of photos and easy-to-understand information, this is an interesting and superior pet book which belongs in every hamster owner's library.

THIS BOOK GIVES ALL OF THE INFO. YOU WOULD WANT IF YOU NEEDED IT. AND THE PICTURES ARE IN GREAT COLOR AND DETAILED. I ALSO RECEIVED MY ORDER ON THE EXPECTED DATE.

The reader below who bemoans (understandably) the lack of maps in this edition can blame the publisher; there were excellent maps on the inner cover, front and back, of the hardcover edition. The book is an excellent introduction to the Weimar years.

To many, calling a book "anecdotal" is to condemn it as lacking in historical rigor. I disagree. To me, being anecdotal is synonomous with being readable---after all, who wants to be bored when reading for pleasure?

Ralph Waldo Emermson said that "there is no history, only biography." This book paints a portrait of Berlin by assembling a collage of personalities who lived there during the 1920's and 30's and who were prominent in film (Marlene Deitrich and Peter Lorre), art, music, literature (Isherwood from "Cabaret" is one, Brecht is another), science (Einstein for one), crime (serial killers-a sign of cultural decline) and ultimately politics (Goering air hero and drug addict, Goebbels the novelist and manipulator, and Hitler the artist and underestimated Southern corporal)---for politics is what ulimately dominated Germany after 1933.

Some will find the portrait uncomfortable--after all, Hitler was a moderate leftist and his Berlin cronies (Gregor Strasser and Goebbels) were far left. His supporters were the unemployed, college students, women, and teachers--- traditional stalwarts of the Democratic Party in the United States. This book will tell you how they came to support the National Socialist German Workers' Party---The N.S. otherwise known as the NA---(N)--ZI's (S's).

Overall, this book is just a good read. It covers a broad range of topics, is filled with interesting anecdotes, and will have something which should interest just about every reader.

Enjoy it.

I'm just finishing this book. Like Mr. Friedrich's "City of Nets", it's a fascinating read, well-researched & highly literate with much humor & many interviews with first-hand participants of those incredible years. Ignore the ignorami who have to denigrate a fine piece of work because it doesn't meet their narrow politically-correct preconceptions.

I love the illustration style - however, the story of this book is overly long and really not so interesting. My son won't stay by my side to listen to me read all the text in the book; I have to edit the book myself for him to be interested at all. I think the Seibolds' have produced better books (like the Olive stories, or the first Mr. Lunck book) and would reccommend those before FREE LUNCH.

My nephew loves Mr. Lunch, and so do I. We were very distressed to see our hero victimized by the machinations of a very, very bad elephant in this installment. However, we know that Lunch will always prevail -- with a little help from Ambrose, of course.

OK, so it may have great pictures and cute characters, but it is also a good story! Your kids will definitely love it...i did, and i am not even that young!

I was disappointed with most of the stories in this anthology. The first half of the book had me interested, but midway through the stories, my passion for them waned.

My favorite story in the group was the first one (BLIND LEMON by Doug Allyn). It was a moving story in which two strangers reunite ten years later after getting their friend killed. Due to guilt as well as fear, they both go their separate ways trying to escape the tragedy. They see each other at a bar where one of them is performing. The story was very poignant and heartfelt. I wish Mr. Allyn success with his other works.

My main disappointment was with Jonathan Kellerman's THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE. It was a good story and it could have been a surprise to the reader. Unfortunately, it is in a book about mysteries. If things seem a little too ordinary three quarters of the book, then there must be a twist somewhere in the end. I think this story would have worked better in an anthology of love or family stories, as well as in a magazine guided towards women.

It is good to read short stories every once in a while to discover new and promising authors. As I previously stated, nothing really stands out in this particular anthology, however, I recommend the 1998 as well as the 1999 Best Mystery stories. You will find some pleasant surprises in them.

I love almost every story McBain has chosen.
But I do regret not finding in this anthology a Hunter/Marsten/Collins/Cannon story from the Master,himself.
(He reads on the audio,though....)

"The Best American Mystery Stories 1999" is a strong collection of modern crime related short stories that run the gamut from Private Eye tales to ameture sleuth stories to whodunnits? They are as varied as the authors themselves. Some giants of the genre check in here, including Lawrence Block with "Keller's Last Refuge," Loren Estleman with an Amos Walker short "Redneck," and John Updike with the sinsiter little tale "Bech Noir." Among the best of the rest are "Poachers" by Tom Franklin, the gruesome mass murder aftermath story "Safe" by Gary A. Braunbeck, "Netmail" by Brendan DuBois, and an excellent Vietnam era story, "A Death on the Ho Chi Minh Trail." As with every entry in this fine series, there were a couple here that didn't work for me, but overall the quality of the nineteen stories selected cannot be disputed.

After reading the book description for this book I was very excited to read it but I was soon to find out that the book description was the better than the book. I really enjoyed reading How to make an American Quilt but this book made no kind of sense at all.

None of the characters were real enough to understand and I didn't care for them at all. In the middle of the book for no reason at all the author inserted little bio's of famous people and they were interesting but I don't understand why they were there. I guess she was trying to take up space because this had nothing to do with the story at all.

If you want to read a good book by Whitney Otto read How to make an American Quilt and pass this one by.

The Passion Dream Book is really like a dream, I felt the highs and lows of the characters unlike any other book I have read. It's easy to devour books and say I couldn't put it down...but sometimes there are just no other ways to describe it. I read How To Make An American Quilt many years ago, and enjoyed it as well, but this one, is completely in a different league. It is absolutely beautiful and so well written. If you are wondering if you should buy it or not, wonder no further, you won't be sorry you did.

I loved this book. I plan to read it again and again. It is the kind of book that you can find something new in each time that you read it. It challenges your imagination and inspires you to dream as you read it.

I'm not the biggest fan of mystery stories, so I was unsure of how much I would like this collection. I was surprised at how much I liked it. There were a few that I didn't like that much, but most of them were good stories and most were well written. They ranged from ok to good, better, and on up to great stories like Shel Silverstein's story, Edward Lee's twisted story "ICU", and what i think was the best, Robert Girardi's "The Defenestration of Aba Sid", which is his 'anti-Grisham' story. A great deal of the selections here come from books and there is no surprise that both Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine both had three stories in here (the most from any one place). I suppose it's because there aren't many genre magazines anymore, but a few of these stories first appeared in literary magazines. The book is a little longer (around 480 pages) than those in The Best American Short Story series, but mystery stories need a little time to unfold. It's a good selection for the mystery reader (no matter which 'type' of mystery story you like) and for those of us who don't normally read the genre.

In this anthology, Donald E. Westlake includes a lot of new authors who have not yet published their first novel. I had trouble following some of the stories after reaching their conclusion (GHOSTS by David Beaty), but others show real promise for the future.

One of my favorite stories is MOTEL 66 by Barbara D'Amato. It is a fairly short story that packs a lot of suspense and intrigue. The story takes place at different points in time (1971, 1985, and 1999) in which two events that happened in 1971 come full circle in 1999. There is no real ending to this story except for the one in the reader's mind. This is what a good short story should be like. It should leave the reader wondering what will happen after all the stories secrets are revealed. Another one of my favorites is WRONG NUMBERS by Josh Pryor.

There are some other good stories in the anthology written by Dennis Lehane, Shel Silverstein and Jeffery Deaver.

"Best American Mystery Stories 2000" lives up to its title. It is a varied collection of (mostly) fine mystery and crime stories, many by up and coming authors. I'll confess that two or three of them didn't work for me, but that's a very small number in a book than contains 20 stories and nearly 480 pages of text. My two favorites were by two of the few old names in the collection. Dennis Lehane spins an excellent down south slice of life tale in "Running Out of Dog," while longtime television writer and children's author, the late Shel Silverstein, chimes in with the light-in-tone but still serious courtroom story "The Guilty Party." Doug Allyn contributes a fine private eye tale with "Miracles! Happen!" while Barbara D'Amato spins an on-the-road yarn with a twist in "Motel 66." Also first rate are Tom Franklin's "Grit," and the down and dirty gangster in the hospital tale "ICU."

Basically, there's a mystery story here for just about every type of mystery fan, from hard-boiled detective tales, to crime stories, to amature sleuths to compelling whodunnits? Modern short stories do not get nearly the audience they should, and this is a book that deserves to be read.

(Note: The 2000 "Best Mystery Stories" collection is far superior to the 2001 anthology, mostly because it has a better variety of stories).

There are many reviews that describe how wonderful this book is, which it truly is. However, there are phrases and words out of use, such words as dost, thou, weasand, and phrases such as "mare's egg". More importantly, there are many gaps in the book that all but the most precocious 8 year old reader will not be able to cross, leaving them lost in the story. It might work to read to younger children and explain the gaps, but certainly not to 4 year olds.

I can only describe this book as being written out of love, though modern readers may object to absolute "goods" that are identified in the book. Two are the monastery and the King. The later is much the same as the Disney/Grim's fairy tales ilk.

There is a fair amount of implied violence in the book, though only one explicit scene comes to mind, when the father, to save the life of his son, sacrifices himself to his arch enemy.

Howard Pyle (1853-1911) was a famous artist, storyteller, and teacher. His was a strong influence on the Brandywine Group of artists. He taught at Drexel Institute in Philadelphia (now Drexel University), and his pupils included Maxfield Parrish and N. C. Wyeth. The latter's son, Andrew Wyeth, was influence by Pyle's "precision and elegance of line." The illustrations in Otto of the Silver Hand show these characteristics in 25 full page illustrations plus headpiece and tailpiece drawings for each of the 14 chapters. The exciting story of Otto concerns the growth of a boy living in the Middle Ages, who becomes advisor to a King, and practices the motto, "Better a silver hand than an iron hand."

I first read Otto of the Silver Hand as a child and was completely intrigued by its medieval feel and simple, yet poetic, grandeur. I can honestly say that it is one reason that I went on to become a medievalist. As an adult, I've enjoyed it even more. Pyle's evocative illustrations add enormously to the mood and beauty of the work. I strongly recommend it for people of all ages and particularly as a good book to read aloud to children.

Amazon dot com gives no credit for my earlier reviews.... I wrote the first review without thinking or spell checking, fast. There are still parts of this book I can't duplicate! And parts that are just written so bad no one can understand them, but most of it stands the test of time, like Mandelbrot's article. This will probably be a classic in the future! I think the free Fractint documentation is probably better for a beginner or Hans Lauwerier's " Fractals".

I spent all last evening reading snippets of The Beauty of Fractals (those few paragraphs that a layman could understand) and admiring the sheer beauty of the diagrams/maps. I had not realised there was an aesthetic component to mathematics, and I certainly did not know that aspects of what is generally thought of as a dry science can be so visually appealing, not to say stunning.

I cannot understand why some people would argue the intrinsic artistic merit of something computer-generated and 'unnatural', when the results speak for themselves.

Beauty, true, is perceived, and lies in the eye of the beholder. It can be very subjective. But there are certain aspects of visual appeal that go beyond that. One would think that a symmetry of form, the complementary use of colours, the balance of shape and form, light and shade, arcs and curves--all these combine to give an objective, irrefutable fact of beauty that transcends thought and emotions, if not the senses.

In a couple of the chapters, it was said, and here I paraphrase:

The two modes of analysis and intuition as human means of understanding the natual world--need they be considered at opposite poles? Do they not complement one another? Are the thinker and the dreamer not one?

I find that very intriguing, just as I find the idea of chaos and order existing together in natural, dynamic processes being actually TYPICAL of Nature.

The word 'Chaos' has such negative connotations, implying confusion and destruction, but if I were to replace it with the word 'Disorder', then things begin to fall into place.

There can be no Order if there were no Disorder, for how then would we know the difference? In fact, one of the writers go so far as to say that it is the very existence of Disorder within Order that confers the essence of beauty found in Nature.
That is so true. It is the very non-linear aspect of Nature, that which mathematics, up till Mandelbrot, have been unable to map, that is so appealing in the visual sense.

In Nature, which, apart from abhorring vacuums, also has no place for a straight line (oh, how the poor, innocent straight line is maligned in the preface), beauty is inarguable, irrefutable, and only after that does it have history and context, different to and for each beholder.

So both Chaos/Disorder and Order co-exist in Nature, hand in hand. Order alone, rigidly disciplined, artificially-imposed, seems to require Disorder to breathe life into it.

Taking this a step further, our perception of beauty in all things is affected by Nature.

In yet another chapter, someone quoted someone else and here I go
paraphrasing again.

Beauty in science is the same as beauty in other disciplines-art, music,literature, what have you. 'A fog of events, and suddenly you see a connection. It expresses a complex of human concerns that goes deeply to you, that connects things that were always in you that were never put together before.'

The thinker and the dreamer co-exist within each person, just as the analytical and intuitive modes of thought co-exist, not at opposite poles,but complementing one another.

Intuition and analysis complement, rather than confound (or they should, gods-willing).

The artist and the scientist complement each other, i.e. Art and Science are not the opposing polarites of disciplines as some would have us think.

The thinker and the dreamer ARE one.

And this book has shown that the essence of beauty lies in the marriage of Art and Science.

(Disclaimer: Mere thoughts from a layman.)

Although one of the earliest titles to bring fractals into the mainstream, 'The Beauty of Fractals' isn't as visually exciting as the follow-up, 'Chaos and Fractals', and it's a very dry read - in 1986 complex dynamics were an esoteric field of mathematics that had yet to transfer to student posters and rave videos. At this price it's restricted to people who absolutely need it, although along with 'Godel, Escher, Bach' it's one of the seminal hackish coffee-table books.