This book contains six booklets: Cuneiform by C. B. F. Walker, Egyptian Hieroglyphs by W. V. Davies, Linear B by John Chadwick, The Early Alphabet by John F. Healey, Greek Inscriptions by B. F. Cook, and Etruscan by Larissa Bonfante. The information on each topic is extremely detailed and quite informative. The text is remarkably readable, despite its scholarly nature. One weakness is that Indian scripts are almost entirely omitted. Although mentioned briefly in the text, they are missing from the chart entitled "Relationship between Main Scripts" on page 255. However, information on Semitic, Greek, and Lain scripts is quite extensive. The major weakness of the book, however, is the lack of an overall story, a big picture view. Without such a synopsis, each section stands by itself, and it's difficult for the reader to put the pieces of the story together. The brief introduction by J. T. Hooker works toward this goal, but by bringing in Chinese and Japanese, it's a little too general, yet the brevity of the piece prevents the full story behind the scripts covered in the book from being told.

Very interesting and enjoyable. The section on Greek is a bit dull (it relies more heavily on "picture - Greek transcription - translation" content than the other sections), but as informative as all other sections. Lacking in some areas, such as Indic scripts, but covers each area very thoroughly. Unfortunately, since each chapter was originally a separate book and by different authors, the sections lack a continuity of ideas and information. Very good for those without an academic background in historical linguistics.

16 test sections, each followed by a test-game.

In both the game and test sections, whenever he asks you a question, the answer follows immediately. You don't have to flip to the back, but you do have to avert your eyes. At least the answers are not in bold-faced.

Then he gives you different numbers of points for correct answers to different questions. In theory, you could add up all your points. I find it simpler just to notice how often I correctly answer questions of varying degrees of difficulty.

The tests, each consisting of several separate diagrammed puzzles, concentrate on the movements of a particular piece, rather than a particular tactic. This makes the tests particularly easy, since you already know which piece is going to move. That's not a good way to get a realistic assessment of your abilities, but it's fine for drilling tactics, particularly knight moves, which are particularly difficult for beginners to see.

The test games are full of tactical opportunities, and Walker pauses with a diagram at each one. When the tactics get a bit deep (more than 2 moves, since this is a beginner book) he breaks up his annotations into "if A, B, C," etc. That is helpful.

In short: A good book for drilling tactics. A fair book for learning the tactics. A poor book for self-assessment, so the title is a misnomer.

Excellent format. Easy to read. You can do a couple of problems in your spare time quickly. You can go through a full game without a board. Good beginner book, for about 1250 USCF rating. But only 4 stars because of the price.

J.N. Walker has produced a brilliant learning tool for players of all strengths. The interactive format engages you and the test games cover everything from time management to the seventh rank.

really good monologue book for actors. lots of great stuff to choose from. I found tons of monologues that i'd never seen before. better than the usual actor monologue books out there.

This truly IS the ultimate monologue book! Any actor who is auditioning at all, really needs this book. These are wonderful monologues that the casting people haven't seen 1,000 times. It offers so many more choices than the other monologue books out there. This is a life saver!!! (Actually, I probably shouldn't encourage other actors to get this, but there is so much to choose from, that it will be years before casting people hear these monologues too many times)

Can't quite give it 5 stars because Agee's self-indulgence does get to me (Evans, though is flawless). The indulgence I speak of is not so much the Agee's overdescription of his own mental states, though this can be intrusive and less than profound, but the too frequent willingness to let language and imagination take flight from reality, when reality, ultimately, is what is so compelling here. Imagination and trustworthiness unnecessarily depart ways, as Agee at times prefers the poetic to the truth. Nonetheless, the decision not to hem in those very flights of empathetic understanding that may depart from specific reality surely allowed him to give the essential breath and life to the portraiture. The perhaps more accurate, but much less illuminating, 1989 followup by Maharidge & Williamson (discussed below) is a useful contrast - all facts, rather little life. And one after all knows, reading Agee, that he probably hasn't quite got everything right; despite the book's inescapable flaws, it (and the marvelous photos) achieves the much deeper task of bringing these people to life and making outsiders understand their dignity in the face of poverty, even where that dignity is expressed in perverse ways (though sometimes seeing dignity when further investigation or more honest reporting, as Maharidge found with the Rickets, would have acknowledged more distressing truths).

But just adding a review to point the curious to a 1989 followup, And Their Children After Them, by Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson, which traces what became of the Gudgers, Woodses, Rickets, and their descendants (they keep the pseudonyms, though the names are elsewhere widely known - Burroughs, Fields, and Tingle (or Tengle)). The newer book certainly does not have the poetry of the original, and it is out of print, but it's worth checking out of your local library if you're left haunted wondering whatever became of the people Agee made you care so deeply about (and how much he got right).

Many people argue about Agee's complex text. The entire body of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is written in a kind of highly emotional euphoria in which Agee combines his own thoughts and perceptions with exhaustive description of the world around him. His intense feeling causes the writing to be, by conventional grammatical standards, virtually unreadable. Once the reader gets past his chapter-long sentences and widely varying themes, however, the book emerges as one of the greatest written accomplishments of the 20th century.

While the nominal subject of the documentary is an in-depth exploration of three tenant farming families during the Great Depression, the real project (and Agee himself admits this in his remarkably confessional prose) is the documentation of his own experience living with those farmers for several weeks--sleeping in their vermin-infested beds, eating their home-cooked food, and interacting with them on a human level. In addition, Agee self-consciously writes the text and explores the act of writing, both during his stay with the farmers and several years later, when he completed the vast majority of the book.

The final product is a patchwork book pieced together from Biblical prayer, Evans's photographs, Agee's flawless descriptions (which, in several cases, may be more accurate than Evans's probably manipulated prints) and meditations on writing, poverty, art, and day-to-day human experience. Two things make this work remarkable: Agee's honesty (he never claims to be objective or non-judgemental) and his innate talent for description. I approached this book with an open mind, and found it to be one of the most thoughtful and rewarding works I have ever read.

a remarkable use of the english language. agee takes you places you thought impossible through his astounding use of language. the prose is exhilirating and mind expanding. he takes free-form writing to new heights and just as aptly tells the tragic story of three alabama tenant families. you must read this book. it is, in a word, significant.

The Amos Walker private detective series is one of the best ones currently going, as is also one that a reader who has never indulged can pick up any entry in the series and not feel lost. Loren Estleman has all the moves down by this time for Walker, and "The Witchfinder" is typical of the series. Walker has run-ins with the cops, gets mixed up in a homicide investigation, and comes up against an assortment of low lifes and homicidal killers, your typical day at the office. He's hired by a dying millionaire archetect to find out who "framed" the love of his life eight years ago and caused him to break off their relationship. The story takes an appropriate number of twists and turns, and as usual Walker remains uncorruptable throughout.

Though not among the best of the Walker series (that would be "Sugartown," or "The Glass Highway"), it is still a solid effort from one of the best P.I.s since Phillip Marlowe.

This is my first Amos Walker detective novel, and I must say, Boy am I impressed! I listened to the audio version and the narrator manages to capture Amos Walker's dialog, and the dialog of the other characters with such detail, I found myself taking the long way home just to extend the listening experience!

Amos Walker, is a Detroit Private Investigator hired to discover the 'witchfinder' a person who faked an incriminating photograph of a famous architect's girlfriend. While he is investigating this case, Amos finds himself up against a whole bevy of strange and interesting characters including a hitman, a pornographer, and cops from two police departments!

Amos's one liners were really amusing, and quite unrepentant. If you haven't already done so, pick up the audio version of this book. You won't be disappointed. This book is a must for lovers of mystery fiction, or private investigatory fiction in general.

Jay Bell Furlong is a successful architect who only has a few weeks left to live. Before he dies he wants to make sure that all his affairs are in order. His biggest regret was losing the love of his life, Lily Talbot. Eight years ago, Furlong received a picture that showed Lily and another man in an uncompromising position. Feeling betrayed, Jay broke off his relationship Lily without giving her a chance to explain. Furlong recently discovered that the picture was a fake and that this lie has caused him the love of his life. He hires Amos Walker, a Detroit Private Investigator, to find out who was the instigator that wrecked his chance at happiness.

Amos Walker is a riot. He does not take guff from anyone and he has a quick mind that helps him with his detective job as well as coming up with great one-liners. Estleman explores most of the aspects in the life of Jay Bell Furlong. He introduces several of his relatives and acquaintances and shows how he affected each of their lives. He does not make Furlong to be a saint but he does a great job in developing him as a character.

The plot is well done and I did not feel lost at any point in this book. I have read some of Estleman's short stories and none of them have been very memorable to me, however I digress with his character of Amos Walker. This is the first Amos Walker novel I read and it will not be my last. One reason I consider him a winner was that I was able to understand the character without having read any of his previous adventures. I have read some novels that take readers for granted and assumes one knows everything about their main series character. This particular author does not do that and for that I am grateful.

This book seemed to have a lot of potential and I was excited to read it. However, Updike's incessant name dropping of varying 20th Century abstract expressionist painters (that had little relevance to the story except as background participants), his lofty prose and seemingly implanted facts about the cultural significance of the art of this movement became tedious and downright boring at times. I wasn't reading this book as a substitute for an Art History class I was reading this book to be told an engaging and insightful story. I feel like I got neither. The characters of Hope and Kathryn, to me, were blanks. Forward moving action in the story was nil, and Updike chose to use flashbacks in lieu of any kind of plot construction. The next time I feel like reading a book about art and its constituents I'll make sure to go to the reference section and NOT the fiction section.

The novel explores the contradiction implicit in artists, forced to live and act in the present, trying to create works that transcend time. This theme is returned to repeatedly. The protagonist is 'Hope,' a female painter who's first husband, Zack, pursues pure art in the passion of the present and achieves a place of permanence in the art world. Her second husband, more calculating and commercial, rolls up and down the hills of fame as his work becomes more or less relevant in the ensuing years. Her third husband, a businessman who personifies long-term planning, collects art but creates none himself; his contribution is fathering their children and nurturing her. Thus each husband makes a long-term contribution to the art world in proportion to their focus on the immediate: an irony not lost on the narrator--an artist herself.

Reflecting this dichotomy, the book's written to take place in one day yet covers subject matter from several decades. Mr. Updike writes in that conversational, New Yorker style, yet with much longer sentences than a magazine would allow. The book has no chapters, which sustains the experience of living through one, continuous day. The result is casual prose of thoughts weaving in and out of the present, dipping into past events of interest and re-examining them in today's light.

The writing sparkles with experience of finding meaning in the seeming inconsequences of daily life. Only Updike can make the description of a comfortable chair or plate-glass window breath-taking and thought-provoking. The characters are well fleshed-out, and the relationships and emotional landscape have the complex and irrational stamp of reality. The settings bring you into the art world--both urban and rural--so that you taste the energy and desperation of creative angst.

Although shocked by the unnecessarily vivid sex scenes in this novel, I strongly recommend it for those who enjoy reading literature that primarily reflects on life, relationships, our struggle with mortality and our desire to transcend it. I assume the author chose the name 'Hope' for the main character to underscore her pivotal importance is guiding these tender, unstable personalities towards greatness. Indeed she outlives all her lovers--at least mentally--and can report on which ones succeeded or failed at various turns.

She is a successful, late-career artist who's work has opened a new door for art and, as readers, we suspect that her success was assured. She's a born, true artist; and that's probably why these legendary artists needed her as a soulmate. Hope became their external compass, rewarded or thwarted them as needed, and moved on when they were spent.

If you ever wondered what it would have been like to be married to Jackson Pollack and Andy Warhol during the 50's and 60's, all the while trying to raise three children and having an artistic career of your own as a woman in a male dominated art world, well, this book will let you know.

Through multiple layers of dialogue and memories, John Updike unfolds this novel much like the creation of a painting. The masterful strokes of literal paint takes you on a journey through mid twentieth century art history - the beginnings of Modern Art.

The most surprising aspect to this journey is that it takes place in only one day, all within the dialogue between two people in the form of an interview. This is a deeply personal story, full of vibrant life. The dialogue between the main characters, Kathryn and Hope is rich and complex. What unfolds during the interview is the life of a 78-year-old artist looking back on her life, remembering her myriad relationships and how each relationship is a reference point to important moments in modern art history.

As Hope looks back on her life, layers of time unfold the search for real art, real expression and real love coming up against the hard reality of life. Birth, death, fame, money, friendship, infidelity, humility and sacrifice are topics explored in the story of a wife and her husbands, a mother and her daughter, an interviewer and her subject. This is a story glorifying the full circle of life, a life worth living in a book very worth reading.

This is a great reference for film-lovers. Especially if you enjoy viewing less main-stream films.

I'v just cheked out for THE DROWNING POOL ; again no star , and again ,the reasons why I appreciate STUART ROSENBERG are remarkable the same .(Has he a past, something like that?) Just that he couldn't pass two stars sounds kind of unfair. I will add something , yet : his sensitive aproaching of some kind , makes his movies that LIGHT , so any oter films appears heavy , incoherent or unclear. (inspite of their artistical values , of course )

Gensu2000 seems to think Halliwell's is "as stuffy as a film book can be" and comments on their horrifying undergrading of such groundbreaking cinematic productions as "Evil Dead" and "Braindead". Why surely these great films should be given four stars and placed on marble pedestals! Face it, most horror films are the paramount of lowbrow entertainment. And seemingly lowbrow people like Gensu2000 will enjoy them, as they are intended for that audience. And it's good that they have made a film review book for that type of person, such as the VideoHound book, but Gensu does not have to go around expressing his idiotic opinion. Laymen term the intelligentsia as "stuffy" because they have no understanding of what it is like to be intelligent. Keep quiet, Gensu, and go on watching your primitive ape movies, and reading their glowing reviews in your primitive ape film guide.

"Machining Fundamentals" by John R. Walker is a quality production. What I mean by that is this hardcover book is printed on good paper stock, the text is very descriptive and it is filled with an appropriate number of illustrations and photographs. In addition, the coverage of various topics is scaled to provide information consistent with what a typical reader of a "Fundamentals" book needs. Yeah, I know, what does that mean? Only that lathe, milling, drilling, and grinding operations, including relatively elaborate setups, are covered extensively, while manufacturing automation received a well written single chapter.

What is the value of all of this information ? I purchased the book in anticipation of buying a bench lathe. I found myself reading the book in front of the TV, nodding in acknowledgement, and verbally expressing in ways I'm sure were irritating to my wife, "Oh, so that's how they do that. Duh! Of course that makes sense. Gees, you're kidding me. Why didn't I do that?" And when I was done, I realized how far off the mark I had been in assessing what I would need to upgrade my shop area; better now than after those trucks dropped 20 tons of less than useful equipment in my driveway.

"Machining Fundamentals" won't replace equipment shop manuals, or classroom training and shop experience, but it is a good reference book. As an example, it does a good job of explaining the differences amongst 3 and 4 jaw chucks, Jacobs chucks and collets. The book even explains when they apply, why they apply and how to clean, maintain, inspect and install/remove them. Still, 9 very good pages on lathe cutting tapers, from setting up to measuring and checking, 10 pages on thread cutting, and even a few on cutting threads on tapered surfaces, will not qualify you to knock off a related project. But there is enough there to illustrate how the job is done, which may steer the reader to further detailed research, armed with enough conceptual information to attempt the job, and maybe practice the same type of work for a non-critical purpose while developing hands on experience. I liked the book.

Joe

This book is very good and when you ask yourself what is missing to make it complete encyclopaedia for the field, you see that you only need more tables and data for specific appilication.
But.
Concept of technical encyclopaedia that gives you all available data related to some field NEVER has invaluable features that this book offers: clear and patient explanations, extremely well illustrated, allways beginning "from the bottom" (very basics) to a very reasonable level of sophistication. If you start form zero level knoledge or if you need pragmatical reference book that covers whole field, choose this book. All you further need to master machining is: some good desk reference book i.e. collection of practical table data (there are couple of them very useful at really modest price), manual of a particular machine that you have and practice, practice.
That combination is, in my opinion, of muche more value then some hard-stuff encyclopaedia.

The previous reviewer probably never read the book very closely. There is no cover page picture for the chapter on the computer numberical control. The chapter starts by describing the differences between manual and computer controlled machining -- hence the picture of a machinist on this page operating a manual machine.

As a former sailor and current resident of Virginia Beach, I was stunned to learn that much of this entire story happened in familiar places surrounding me. The author spares no details and does not hesitate to give addresses, places, names, etc. to make the story come to life.

I read this book over a weekend because I simply could not put it down. I enjoy the way the story was told. Our country should thank the FBI, Bob Hunter, and his team for their professionalism in catching America's most damaging spy.

Excellent true spy story from the justics side of the case. Other books ont his case don't cover this much at all. The author (and case agent) is a good, unpretentious storyteller.

Espionage stories like this are usually fiction! The author tells his story in a casual way, like he's talking to you personally over a glass of ale. He's a character himseld!

The Courtship Dance Of The Borderline is a informative, humanistic look at "borderline personality disorder", a mental illness characterized by the afflicted person's tendency to resolutely divide the world into heroes and villains. Author and psychiatrist Anthony Walker, M.D. recounts the his marriage to a woman with borderline personality disorder and how their relationship became pathologically harmful to both of them. A straightforward, understanding view, The Courtship Dance Of The Borderline was deliberately and successfully written to be as accessible to the lay reader as to a mental health professional.

This account of the author's marriage to an abusive woman with BPD reads like a novel - except it really happened! I couldn't put it down. Now a psychiatrist, Dr. Walker details the experiences surrounding his youthful marriage to a charming and captivating - but manipulative woman - who nearly destroyed him. The reader gains an understanding of the BPD mind as well as the partner's co-dependent participation in the events. As Jacqueline's verbal abuse escalated into violence over time, a loving husband progressively lost touch with his inner self, running the risk of becoming violent himself. Neither person set out to hurt the other. Unfortunately, this is how too many of these one-sided relationships go. BPD is poorly understood by the lay public, yet is a prevalent illness more often diagnosed among women than among men. This clearly written and informative book is excellent reading for any person interested in BPD relationships. This book is MUST reading for any man who has been in a destructive relationship with a BPD woman - the woman he just can't do enough for... Dr. Irene

The term Borderline Personality Disorder seems to get thrown around easily. Sometimes it is even used as a pejorative. Friends and families often don't understand what someone married to a BPD goes through. This is a book to give them. Many of the instances in the book are very easy to identify with if you have ever been in such a relationship. Manipulation, all-or-nothing, up-and-down, good-or-bad, nothing in-between, suicide threats. This book is written by a psychiatrist but it is a memoir and not clinical...anyone can read it. I found it though to be a tremendous asset mainly because Dr. Walker put down his thoughts and motivations in ways that I could understand my own. I read it in one night unable to put it down.