If their is a comic strip more fabulous, I beg the smarmy bitchy gods of fashion to allow me an eensy, weensy peek at it! Its an insider's delight, for certain. But one need not get every joke to really lap it up... One only need love camp, satire and neuroticism to enjoy this! It helps if you have a clue about gay culture, (but, please, why would you be reading this review if you didn't? And, really, SHAME on you if you don't know anything about the life!), a FABULOUS clever witty mind, and you've set foot in NYC (or even Bountiful, Utah. Major double points for moi!) Seriously, I couldn't get enough of this comic strip, and decided (after being halfway through it) that I had to have it, and am so relieved it is not out of print. Get thee to your checkout cart with plastic in hand!Go, go!!!

Isaac Mizrahi has done it again. He truly is a genious, not only in the fashion world, but also in writing. The illustrations are gorgeous and anyone who reads this is sure to fall in love with the lovely and innocent Sandee.

These comics are Smarvelous! I cant wait for a Movie! Every bit was entertaining!

One of my favorite memories growing up was sitting around the fire pit in my grandparent's backyard. Those summer nights with the crisp breezes would carry embers of the roaring fire my Grandfather couldn't help feeding. With every twig or twist of paper he's poke in, a story would ignite. Its those "I remember when's" that educated me, inspired me, molded me and triggered my youthful imagination.

Now, thirteen years after his passing, the embers no longer blow in the crisp breeze . . . but the "I remember when's" are continuing on. Only now, instead of embracing my Grandfather's spirited recollections and insights, it is the words of others I am capturing. William Isaac Douglas, author of the Amateur Parent, pens the words of the latest "I remember when's" and tales of insight I drank in.

These words, however, are different. Douglas intertwines lessons and pieces of nostalgic moments into bits of writing and pieces of poetry all sprinkled with wit and humor. At just the right moment, you'll find quotations from singers, writers and the like. While learning about him and his family, you can't help but learn about you and yours.

This inspirational work, comprising of 154 pages, is a relatively quick read. I wasn't able to put it down - each turn of the page unfolded a mystery both within the life of his amateur parenthood and my own. I found myself related to a lot of what he wrote and expecting to experience that which had nothing to do with me or my family. This book taught me that the journey never ends and the journey of my own parents continues.

Jennifer Hollowell -- Editor -- This Book Reviewer

WOW, this book sent me through a full spectrum of emotions. I was laughing, crying, and completely inspired by it's words. The book touched me deep in my heart.

I read it on my way to Washington DC this past week. I just got home this evening. It allowed me to view my fellow man in a new
light while I walked the countries capital.

Dr. Michael Steward, Sr.
Team USA -- Senior Coach

Bill Douglas has written a fine book about parenting, but this book is so much more. It's about learning and teaching, and mostly it's about love.

"One of the things parenthood has done for me, or "to me", is that I have been forced to see my parents with wholly new eyes -- in a way meeting them for the very first time." "I am so grateful to my children for helping me rediscover my childhood, and my parents as the real people they were, struggling to do a good job -- just like you and I are."

This understanding, that children are basically innocent, and we parents bring them out learning experiences, not meaning to teach them prejudice or anger or hostility, is Bill's revelation. "Each new generation is proof that God has not given up on us," says Bill, quoting Deepak Chopra.

The Amateur Parent gets you to look inside yourself and the journey you've made so far. And understand that respect for God-like innocence children are born with is the same respect we must share with all of humankind. After being rough on his daughter because she wouldn't listen, Bill reflected, "I think when I get home we'll have a talk, about what they need, and what I want. Then maybe we'll hold hands and walk a new path . . . a little higher than fear . . . a little farther than wrath."

The Amateur Parent is about wisdom and courage and beauty. William Isaac Douglas has discovered and now imparts the importance of loving and understanding and respecting one another. And he does it with grace and humor and timeless insight. If you can read only one more book, that book should be THE AMATEUR PARENT - A Book on Life, Death, War and Peace, and Everything Else in the Universe.

Richard Fuller -- Senior Editor -- Metaphysical Reviews

Isaac Asimov has such a delightful wit that even his explanations of archaic terms are fun to read. When combined with W.S. Gilbert's hilarious librettos, it makes one entertaining read. Actually, it makes more than one entertaining read. i have read it several times and still enjoy it.

Writer Martin Gardner once told Isaac Asimov that if he really wanted to have fun, he should find a book he liked very much and annotate it. "Asimov's Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan" is one of the results of that suggestion. This enormous volume contains the words to all the G&S operas, plus extensive notes explaining allusions and words that might be unfamiliar to today's listener. Asimov assumes minimal knowledge on the part of the reader, so this book is useful and entertaining not only for the veteran G&S aficionado but also for the neophyte.

This book is a great handbook for people working to analyze the research they have compiled or for people preparing to do a report from a compilation of data. It helps with every step along the way. It gives 9 basic methods of research, so there is a good chance that your needs will be met. This book outlines how to go about starting, collecting your data/research, and how to compile it into a report. It is extremely helpful and its information is easily accessible for those without any formal training in research and evaluation. The only problem with this book is in its very nature. As a handbook, it covers only the bare bones of research and evaluation--and in the preface the authors suggest that you supplement your reading of this book with "standard texts or qualified consultants" in this area.

This handbook is one of the most authoritative references I have found on research and evaluation methods. It is designed for the education or behavioral science researcher, but students of any type of social science research will find much to offer here. It contains some of the best bibliographic references on the subject of research to be found anywhere. If you are a graduate student or seasoned researcher, you will find something of value in this book. I have literally worn the cover off of my second edition copy. The third edition is even better than the first or second. It is on my reference shelf, within easy reach, and I recommend it to my students in classes in research methods. I cannot recommend it too highly.

FOUR SCIENCE FICTION CLASSICS is an exceptional compilation of the absolute best the genre had to offer in the 1940s and 1950s. It is composed of six powerful stories which transcend the decades in which they were written, stirring the heart and mind as powerfully now as when they were first published.

While these stories would shine under any conditions, the narrations of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy actually serve to further energize the prose. I was especially moved by the performance of William Shatner. Despite having been a fan of Star Trek for decades, I was completely unprepared for the depth and the brilliance of his vocal talents. Shatner's clear insight into the stories and their characters radiates with every word and intonation.

I could not more strongly recommend either an audio book or a science fiction collection.

I only wanted "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" and it did come separate on tape and even on vinyl at one time. It did not hurt to get the rest of the tapes. Foundation: The Psychohistorians is what the Foundation trilogy is all about and the newer foundation books you can read the separate reviews. The Martian Chronicles is ok but I do not want to spend time reviewing this section, as better reviews will be under the book description.

However Mimsy is a different animal. So I will say something about this. It is a small sci-fi story about a formula that allows you into an alternate universe that everyone used to have access to. The problem with getting there is that it requires a different paradigm and a formula. The paradigm requires a mindset that diapers as we get older and the formula is in front of us if we know where to look. An added plus is that it is read to us enthusiastically by William Shatner

Robot City is an intriguing book about the presumed future of man. It is an excellent read because it shows how people from the past viewed our future. This book was written in 1985, but is still shows a total different view of the times to come. The book takes place in the Twenty-third century, and is very mysterious. The mystery is one of the elements that makes this story great. The true identities of the main characters are not revealed until late in the saga. When you start the book, Robot City, I guarantee that you will not be able to put it down. Although this might not be one of the non-stop, exploding, shooting, books that are popular now, it is a mysterious book that will leave you hanging after every paragraph. It is amazing as the author uses his skillful writing to introduce the reader to his view of the future. There are many kinds of robots, new materials, new devices, and many more things that you had never dreamed of to discover in this excellent novel. This book is very hard to come by, and if you are lucky enough to obtain it, I highly reccomend you read it and behold the mystery that Robot City has for you to explore.

This anthology takes us on an SFnal tour of our home system, with a story for each planet, plus one for the Sun. It's a solid collection, with no really weak stories, and a couple of outstanding ones. All are reprinted from Asimov's SF magazine. This collection should lay to rest any lingering doubts of whether the magazine publishes hard-SF. Recommended.

Although few people knew his name, Supreme Court Justice William Brennan became a force of history. Applying his belief that the Constitution and Bill of Rights was written for all Americans, Brennan shaped the nation by attaining majorities is such cases as Roe v. Wade and Texas v. Johnson (flag burning). His legacy is one of justice and equality, of cooperation and liberty, of criminal rights and human rights, of compassion, moral rectitude and courage. If you do not know this man, you do not know the greatest force in constitutional law this American century has ever seen. Kim Eisler, using various sources, opened a window through which every American can see the Court, and one of its most important jurists, in langauge we can all understand. The best book on the Supreme Court (and a supreme Justice) I have ever read.

I had the chance to see the first Theatrical Production of this play, done at a local theater here in Northern California. It was wonderful, and the book is the same. I especially liked the aunt!

Flatland and Sphereland are very well written books, but for entirely different reasons. Flatland is a fun story that takes you into the 2nd (and 1st, and 0th) dimensions to see what life is like there with its final goal to make you speculate on what the fourth dimension would be like. Flatland, the first book, excels at making you grasp the concepts and has a very good story to go along with it. The story seems to be the main focus, rather than the other aspects.

Sphereland is entirely the opposite. Sphereland deals with ideas such as the expanding universe theory others. This it explains even clearer then flatland did. But Sphereland's focus was not on the story, but rather on the theories that it tried to convey. This may be a good thing in some people's minds, but I enjoyed the story of flatland and didn't like it pushed aside to explain the theories. I also didn't like the fixing of flatland to make it less backwards (Besides giving equality to women) since flatland to me was backwards.

So If you want to learn complex Ideas simply and with fun, these are the books for you.

Much has been said about how Edwin Abbott's "Flatland" is a fun and thought-provoking mathematical fiction novel, introducing readers to dimensionality by personifying geometrical shapes. As a high school math teacher, I first read it planning on using it in my class to teach geometry. However, almost as interesting and its mathematical observations are its metaphors and, in my opinion, satires of Abbott's 19th century society.

All inhabitants of the novel's world, dubbed Flatland, are polygons, the narrator being a square. Flatland features a strict caste system, with a polygon's class being determined by his number of sides. A square is higher on the social order than a triangle, for example, yet lower than a pentagon. The rulers, or priests, are circles. Well, actually they are polygons with very many sides, approximating a circle. The lowest figures in Flatland are women, who are straight lines. One can interpret this fictional social order in a number of ways, including accusing Abbott of being classist and sexist. I happen to see this as a critique, even a satire, of our (spaceland's) social order, replete with classism and sexism. "Flatland" also spoofs eugenics and political short-sightedness, so there's plenty to choose from.

After introducing Flatland's social order, the narrator describes a journey he takes to lineland and spaceland, which offers a great way of looking at dimensionality, even for mathematics laypersons. I'd advise reading it slowly or even more than once to be sure your mind grasps all the interesting narrative and dialogue.

Mixing a clever introduction of mathematical concepts with an element of social satire, "Flatland" is well worth reading, even for those who are normally averse to anything that has to do with mathematics. While I still plan on using this novel to teach geometry, perhaps I'll also infuse some social justice issues into my lessons.

Certainly the saving graces of this little gem are its brevity and Abbot's creativity. Much more of the descriptions of life in Flatland would have bordered on tedium. However, the explanation for the banishment of color in Flatland was very clever and one of the better parts of the story. As it is, it's a humorous, demure satire in the Swiftian vein whereby the protagonist, A. Square, teaches us about his world, has a series of adventures, and learns lessons about life (and mathematics) along the way.

I question its value as a teaching tool, though. I fear the Victorian niceties employed in the exposition will seem stilted and nigh unbearable to today's younger audience, especially if assigned as schoolwork. But, I think those who already grasp the mathematics involved (basic geometry) will enjoy it. Also, A. Square's unabashed enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge are qualities one would happily encourage in students.

My favorite part of the whole book has got to be the visit to the King of Pointland. The way Abbot so succinctly portrays humanity's capacity to ignore evidence that does not conform to preconceived notions, then force the facts to fit long established beliefs is a stroke of genius. In Pointland, ignorance really is bliss.

This little tale definitely provided excellent entertainment for the price I paid here at Amazon. If it sounds interesting to you, I suggest putting it on your wish list, and then adding it to the next purchase you make (your wallet will barely feel it).