First of all the abduction in the movie is nothing like the book, what was that about. The most interesting part of the book was of course the abduction but only two short chapters are about the abduction. The rest of the book was quite boring. There was no dialog with the extraterrestrials, we didn't find out that the hell they wanted, no message, no nothing. Your better off watching the movie and reading the two short chapters in the book about the abduction. Very intersting if the story really is true but you don't find out too much in this book.

Along with Betty and Barney Hill's story, the Rozwell incident, and the Area 51-Bob Lazar stuff Travis Walton's intriquing experience makes for some pupil-dilating, pulse-quickening occult reading. If it's science fiction, it leaves "2001", "Star Wars", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Hangar 18" and all the rest of them in the dust. If it's not...what is it? Did Travis tap into another level of reality? Or did he expose himself to a *natural* phenomena which electrocuted him, and caused him to wander around the Arizona woods in a semi-conscious state where his dream chemistry took over his brain for awhile?
Travis uses alot of space (printed page space, that is) to try to convince us that although he has a definite history of risk-taking and has a super inquisitive mind, he does not have the fertile imagination or the inclination to cook up such a story. He dispenses plenty of sentences in a defensive stance against the criticisms of folks such as Philip Klass, the noted UFO debunker. The final chapter is a tedious counterpoint to Klass' summation of the situation as...bunk.
The most interesting is Chapter 8, "The Aliens". It is absolutely fascinating; finely written. But it is revealed that these details originated in a question and answer hypnosis session.
That transcript, along with the actual interviews with his friends who claim they all witnessed the mysterious object's effect on Travis, is also not provided, and this technique (used effectively in Fuller's "The Interrupted Journey") makes up in riveting "realism" what it loses in literary quality.
On one TV documentary about fifteen years ago Walton came across as a very down-to-earth (pause) individual who sincerely wants the world to know that *something* happened to him in '75, and he's got many witnesses to that fact. He conveyed his message briefly and convincingly. Here we have a 170-page book running at 370 pages!
By the way, the color artwork is attractive.

There is no question that this is the real thing. I am not happy with the pictures, but much of what Walton says particularly his description of the aliens rings true. For those who want only the information on his abduction experience you might be disappointed, it is good but much of the book is about his and his crewmembers experiences resulting from the abduction. However, the story of an abduction only begins with the event. What happens afterward is often has more effect than the aliens. Read it all particularly if you suspect or know that you may have had a similar experience. What tipped me off, even though it rang true from the start, is his description of the aliens' skin, chalky white. The big aliens, unlike the little grays, have chalky white skin. Like the one that did a brain scan on me. However even though you are not into this kind of thing it makes exciting and revealing reading.

The Flying Fisherman. (about.com.UFO's and aliens)

The will be differents of opinions, but this commentary points the scriptures toward Pagan doctorine. There is more pointing toward the pagan background than Christianity.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary is an excellent resource for understanding the Bible in its historical context. Sure, that means it sometimes reads counter to tradition, but if tradition is being refuted by physical evidence, I'd rather know that than be left in my blind tradition.

The book does lean toward a more Earth-bound discussion of the Bible. It shows how political, economic, and societal influences helped shape the way the books of the Bible were written (or spoken) and passed down through history. It shows how the writers, even though they were inspired by God, were still influenced by the times in which they lived.

This is not a book for the strict Fundamentalist Christian unless you want your beliefs challenged. But it's a wonderful book for the literary Christian who likes to engage in some healthy Biblical discussion.

The only thing that really disappointed me (and kept it out of the 5-star category) was that a few of the historical discussions are sometimes cut short. But I'm sure that was a balance between depth of research and final page count. Overall, this is definitely worth the money, and it will keep many people thinking critically about the Bible for quite some time.

I love ya,daddy!

Way to go Mark Chavalas!

Elizabeth C. age 12

I still remember Bill Walton's 44 point performance in the NCAA Championship game in 1973, maybe the greatest NCAA final performance ever. Walton followed his collegiate career at UCLA at the end of the 1974 college basketball season with an injury filled NBA career with just three full seasons, his championship year with the Portland Trailblazers in 1977 in his first full pro season (he was hurt most of the 1974-75 season and the 195-76 season)--still Portland's only championship--1985 with the LA Clippers (he missed all of the Clippers' 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons), and an unusual season as Sixth Man of the Year in 1986 as he won a championship with the Boston Celtics.

After more injuries Walton retired and started a new career as a basketball announcer for NBC, and I've been impressed:he's good, he's honest, and he's funny! And he's parlayed the broadcasting into a career as an entertaining writer, too, as his articles are a blend of former New York sportswriter Dick Young and every ultraliberal who ever played a guitar, protested, or smoked marijuana. So I was expecting a lot from NOTHING BUT NET, but as much as I hate to admit it except for the stories about his 3 seasons with the Boston Celtics--particularly a one on one game with Kevin McHale and his thoughts about Larry Bird--Walton leaves out too much of the obvious, like what happened to his wife, the mother of his 4 sons? And what about all the controversies involving drugs, the Draft, and Patty Hearst that he got into at UCLA? And what about the feud between him and John Salley at NBC?

Just like Walton's career, sometimes in NOTHING BUT NET Walton is there, and sometimes he's not.

Chari Krishnan RESEARCHKING

Having been a freshman at Helix High School in La Mesa, California when Bill Walton was a senior there, I had the privilege of seeing all of his home games in person. His playing was phenomenal, of course, and the team that year (1969-70) was exceptional as well. Although I didn't know him personally, we all admired him tremendously. He wasn't "just a jock"; he was also an A student and politically aware as well.

Having these treasured memories, I was more than a little motivated to find out more about Bill Walton the person when I happened upon this book.

After reading it, however, I was taken somewhat aback. While some interesting anecdotes are revealed, it leaves the reader thirsting for more substantive, human detail in many places.

First of all, this book is not a proper biography, so if that's what you're expecting, disabuse yourself. One gets the impression that his co-author plunked down a tape recorder, had Bill reminisce haphazardly, and then just transcribed the result with minor editing. There is no attempt to deal with Bill's life in a clean, logically connected, chronological way which is satisfying to the reader.

Secondly, the book gushes maniacally about basketball from cover to cover, but leaves one wondering about his non-basketball life as a human being. We learn very little about his childhood, and even very little about his time as a basketball player in Helix High School or as a student at UCLA. The absence of references to his personal life (except as they pertain to basketball) is so cold that it borders on the bizarre. (Perhaps this is what led to the "Nothing but Net" title.)

For example, he talks almost obsessively about his coach at UCLA and his influence on his life. But what did Bill major in at UCLA? What kind of life did he have? Sorry, nothing but net.

Another example: he mentions that he is a "single father with four sons", but nary a mention about who the mother(s) is or are or how he came about to have custody of (or adopt?) them or what his relationship is with them. He gives only passing reference to his love life. He mentions his "fiance, Lori Matsuoka" once -- but how did they meet, etc? Most authors writing about their lives would give greater importance to this side of their humanity.

Perhaps not unrelated to this is the total absence of any mention at all of the twin burning issues in basketball of drugs and sex. How did these issues affect his life personally?

Perhaps Bill was trying to maintain his privacy (a contradiction in an autobiographical work as this), but the overall effect is that of a still immature, shallow athlete narcisstically preoccupied with his place in basketball history. I'm sure that's not what Bill intended, and that's why I was disappointed in this book.

Perhaps someday when Bill has the maturity and the comfort to write more openly about his own humanity, and work with an author who can place the events in his life in a more satisfyingly coherent, chronological order, will we have a decent autobiography of this fine human being who has given us so much and who has suffered so much.

I liked this book. I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Walton a few months ago and I subsequently read his book.

What you get in the book is an honest discussion of basketball and life. It is not written so much to "entertain" you with juicy gossip or snide remarks as it is to explain what it is really like. What are the pressures of big time college basketball and the pros? That is the insight that I appreciated.

Bill clearly conveys his experiences, the successes and the failures. As a person of similar age, I found it fun to remember what I saw and thought and compare it to someone who was experiencing it first hand.

Bill Walton is a man of principle and honor. He doesn't necessarily say the popular or the politically correct thing. But, he speaks his mind and he makes a lot of sense.

Read this book with an open mind. If you approach it as a conversation, not a logical, step by step lesson, you will find yourself like I did, listening, reflecting, and thinking. Isn't that what you really want in a book?

I have seen Bill Walton go to great efforts to speak to ordinary people he meets on the street. I have seen him personally provide motivational materials and notes of encouragement to Special Olympics kids that he will never meet. I have seen the real Bill Walton. It is someone that you should meet. Your life will be all the richer for it.

I'm well aware of the maxim that at the heart of a stereotype is a kernel of truth. However, this book is an exercise in laziness, drawing as it does on so many old and hackneyed stereotypes.

I thought, from the moment the eponymous Blackpool Landlady appeared, that we were veering into cliched territory. She is portrayed a single woman, fond of gin, never seen without the omnipresent cigarette hanging from her rouged lips, wearing a striped apron and with a knotted kerchief on her head. I persisted with the book, but to be honest I wished I hadn't.

Eventually I grew tired of her - the crude and lascivious comments she makes to her lodger, the terrible jokes about her cooking, and constant drunkeness are merely tiring rather than entertaining. One chapter began well when it seemed to suggest that she was on the verge of some sort of breakdown. This hinted perhaps at past traumas, and I felt this could lift the book from its rut. However, three pages in it transpired that she was simply more drunk than usual, and an interesting plot device was casually tossed away.

Not recommended.