I like the book, frankly, because of its weight. I don't mean the weight of its ideas and insights. I mean its weight, in ounces. At 145 pages, you'd expect it to be light and it is. Most books today weigh too much.

The book is a collection of writings assembled by Professor Thomas John Hudak. It features articles penned by the most prominent authority on Tai language and linguistics, the late Professor William J. Gedney. It is 155 pages in length and covers several interesting areas, to include "Siamese Riddles, Problems in Translating Traditional Thai Poetry, and Siamese Verse Forms in Historical Perspective." As with all Professor Gedney's writings, this collection is exhaustively well-researched. The information provided is quite illuminating, in particular concerning the history of Thai verse forms and the Sanskrit influence on the origin of some of them. Knowledge of the Thai language and basic components of Thai literature is presupposed by the writer, and for those with an interest in Thai literature this book is a "must have."

Harnett anticipated Dada (his use of unrelated found objects) and the Cubists (his flat, geometric sense of composition). This, coupled with his uncanny realism, gives his homely still lifes an intriging sense of subversion. This book is the definitive source in print and is a bargain at $10.

Risotto is a wonderful, filling, nutritious meal and can be simple or sophisticated, served at family meals or dinner parties. (It also makes great left-overs!) Whether you're browsing or planning a menu, this book will fulfill your appetite. Each recipe is beautifully illustrated and presented on a separate page with easy-to-follow instructions. Several of the recipes I've tried have become family favorites. Just serve with a fresh baguette, and some can be considered one-dish meals.

Prior to writing this review I stopped to re-read the editors description on the back cover: "Joachim Schulte's introduction provides a distinctive and masterful account of the full range of Wittgenstein's thought. It is a concise but not compressed, substantive but not overloaded with developmental or technical detail, informed by the latest scholarship but not pedantic. Beginners will find it accessible and seasoned students of Wittgenstein will appreciate it for the illuminating overview it provides." Proceeding from this backdrop, then, I shall build on these comments.

First, let me say that the translation by William H. Brenner and John F. Holley is brilliant. I have been very critical of a sew pieces I've read that were written in different languages (French and German mostly) that make it very clear that whomever is doing the translation doesn't have a clue about English. This is not the case in Schulte's Wittgenstein: An Introduction. The translation is smooth as silk and the English usage is almost always clear and understandable.

Second, the book is indeed manageable, but not too condensed like some other books that aim to do a "fly by" of any given philosopher's main ideas. Schulte goes into well enough detail to make Wittgenstein's thoughts comprehendible and provides just enough substance to make them "stick" in your mind - and does so without dumping too much on you at once.

Third, the comments regarding an acute awareness of contemporary scholarship is very accurate. Schulte presents alternative hypothesis regarding Wittgenstein's ideas frequently and in a way that usually allows the reader to decide for oneself (Schulte's reasonable conclusion always win out in the end, however). I especially enjoyed learning how often Saul Kripke misinterpreted Wittgenstein (assuming that he actually did), because it gave me sense relief to know that some of the most brilliant minds of our time haven't read Wittgenstein correctly.

Finally, I'm not sure where I fit in on the "beginner-experienced student" spectrum, but I've had some Wittgenstein in undergraduate school prior to reading this book. That small exposure doubtless served as a bit of a primer for me, but I am far cry from an "experienced student." As such, I did find the book pretty accessible, but I certainly had to go back and re-read some of the more difficult portions. In sum, I chose to read this book before beginning a graduate-level course on Wittgenstein, and I feel a heck of a lot better about my knowledge of Wittgenstein's ideas after reading Schulte's introduction.

Any one interested in Islam should have this book. So many books try to tell you what Islam is. This anthology *shows* you Islam through classic works from within the tradition. It has elegant translations for important passages from the Quran, and extensive excerpts from the hadith of the Prophet (anecdotes about him that are normative for Muslims, as a kind of scripture). There is an excellent chapter on Islamic Law displaying the logic and content of that complex field. There is a generous and appealing section on Sufism (Islamic mysticism). And finally, theology and minoritarian movements are both explored through wide-ranging excerpts that discuss predestination, the role of dissent, and the significance of the Prophet's son-in-law, Ali. Unlike the textbooks that abound, Word of Islam helps the reader not just to understand, but to appreciate these sometimes complex topics through careful choices of material and through lucid and sympathetic introductions. And the translations are both accurate and very sensitive.. I've given away several copies and everyone who has received one has loved it. It's also a wonderful classroom text, and discussion-group support.

Dr. Rudy's explanation of Wordsworth is outstanding. Wordsworth probes deep into the Taoist mind. I found Dr. Rudy's book most edifying. It has given me renewed insight into Taoism and into nature. However, I do not recommend this book for beginners of Taoism. Dr. Rudy's use of verbatim is exstinsive throughout the entire book.

Virgil had set out to create the perfect poem and he succeeded! Unfortunately we no longer use to speak his language. As the millennia pass by we lose rapport with a culture, which had made a science of oratory and banked its entire stock in learning and political persuasion on the fine art of oral delivery. But I feel it still has an edge over our snazzy sound bites designed to titillate the 30 second attention span of hypnotized telly-junkies. Sustained arguments donÕt ambush you on your solar plexus. Inevitably we lose out on VirgilÕs greatest asset - his incomparable melos of sustained oratory and the onomatopoetic effects to highlight the semantics. It comes with an uncanny grip on the significant nuance and with a choice of words which provoked some of his ancient critics to berate Virgil for his ÒinappropriateÓ language. Virgil was felt to have a fondness for the ordinary vocabulary of common people. In fact this extremely shy man spoke with a rustic accent. To pillage the museum of archaic and rare words and add to it a Miltonian accent, is therefore not the way to translate VirgilÕs exceptional qualities. However Mandelbaum and Humphries are living examples for how hard it can be to avoid the opposite extreme of a limp prosiness. A modern reader probably associates something nostalgic and sentimental with this kind of poetry, a hypocritical invocation of good old times and conservative values, but Virgil was never sentimental and the inevitable eulogies on the Imperial regime never exceed a peasantÕs noncommittal deference. Virgil had been indebted to the former triumvir for his intervention in the eviction procedures of VirgilÕs paternal estate and this poem was meant to repay the favor. VirgilÕs wry smile under a heavy brow however betrays the epicurean, even if his line of work demanded more than the occasional nod to the mythological pattern. But the gods up there remain aloof and detached from human interest, although, as a farmerÕs son, Virgil had never lost an affectionate regard for the crowd of genies and minor deities who protect the soil, spray sparks from the cooking-fire, and guard the lintel. Call it superstition, but it is a world cocooned in spiritual comfort. However we would misunderstand VirgilÕs entire outlook, if we ignored his admiring familiarity with LucretiusÕs poem ÒThe Way Things Are.Ó DrydenÕs popularization of the heroic couplet introduced into English prosody a new, slightly ironical, and highly conversational idiom of almost unlimited flexibility. Great poets, like Alexander Pope, could completely specialize on the couplet and drag a living out of it. In the end the 18th century went out of favour, but the saccharine pseudo-lyricism by Romantics, Victorians, and Eduardian poets failed to educate the publicÕs taste for something better than candy for the ear. No wonder that Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot felt as if on a mission. However Eliot couldnÕt bring himself to pick up where the AugusteanÕs had dropped ApolloÕs quiver. This would have placed him close to the later Byron, and everybody knows how much Eliot detested Byron. Besides, DrydenÕs and PopeÕs tone was conversational and of an almost impolite lucidity. For EliotÕs taste their irreverent humor lacked the oracular exuberance of the so called ÒmetaphysicalÓ poets. The romantics had felt the same way, but had managed to fudge the issue and to supplant the old and, in their view, outmoded set of ethical decorum, with J.J. RousseausÕs constipation of the heart and early forays into hard-core nihilism. Indeed, in such company, VirgilÕs ÒGeorgicsÓ must look like a party crasher from outer space. Yet the greatest miracle in VirgilÕs poem is something that remains invisible. It originally ended with an eulogy addressing M. ®lius Gallus. At the time of composition (27 BC.,) Gallus had been AugustusÕ commissioner for Egypt but for some reason fell from grace and was recalled and bullied into committing suicide. So Virgil took out the entire passage from his poem and replaced it with the narrative of Orpheus' quest for his wife at the gates of death. I don't know whether the reader can appreciate what that means: according to my calculation we look in the final edition at some 380 lines rewritten and seamlessly dovetailed to the tightest knit structure of leitmotifs and cross-references ever done in any poem; a little more than 15% of the entire thing. This is not just surgery, this is heart surgery, because it took Virgil 7 years to compose altogether 2,188 lines. If purity of style was his ambition, then Virgil is one of the purest poets of all times. Text and context totally absorb the means of expression without flaunting the poetÕs versatility, something I find sorely lacking in James JoyceÕs ÒUlysses.Ó (See my review on Ulysses.) So Dryden had every reason to put as much effort into his translation as Virgil had put into his composition. And he did. Across the millennia this cooperation of 2 of the greatest poets has created one of the marvelÕs of Augustean prosody; a poem, easily on a par with EliotÕs ÒQuartets.Ó It contains everything a poet would want to tell, as he celebrates life, the seasons, and why it is good to be here, even if it is a hard and unsentimental life under a blazing sky. The Georgics are incredibly rich in content, outlooks and insights, they open unexpected and intriguing perspectives on every page. In a handful of lines Virgil manages to create an entire cosmos. It even contains the original topography for DanteÕs ÒHell.Ó Lesser poets would need a lifetime to cover that much ground and it would take them a whole library of tomes to do it. I think I just have found the book to take with me, if a little briefcase and a T-shirt should be my only possessions left.

This hefty chunk of book is a career spanning selection of cartoons and doodles from the bizarre pen of William Steig. Plenty of these illustrations and gag cartoons first appeared in the New Yorker. All of them are fantastic. Any individual page in this one should be enough to convince any sensible person that he is among the best of the New Yorker artists, his only competition is Saul Steinberg. Other good points: John Updike introduction and good biographical information by Lee Lorenz. See also: Abel's Island, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, the Steig Album. Seth's It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken is a great comic book with deep influence from the New Yorker. Choice.

I was looking for mathematical models to build an ALM software and obtain the best performances from this software. None of the theories shown in this book perfectly matches my customers' requests, I could proudly build my own model, joining some of the models I read to grant my customers' satisfaction. Thanks to the Newton Institute, I could find both existing and currently building models.