I read Pinchrunner Memorandum in the fall of 2001. It was the final book for the assigned reading for a class taught by the translator, Professor Michiko Wilson. After reading the novel I became a single goose bump as the significance sunk in. I later found out that this book was the final in a series often called the Handicapped Son, and I have read the rest of the series that has been translated. It is comparable to Mishima's tetralogy, except that it is much less trite and self-indulgent.

Oe encompasses all of humanity in Pinchrunner Memorandum by delving into the marginal world and explicating how it reveals the darker side of society led by a force seeking chaos through subliminal tyranny. Similar to Oe's parody of Mishima in One Day He Himself Shall Wipe My Tears Away, Oe takes the role of court jester and reveals the panting, self-destructive struggle of humanity through his use of grotesque realism as a man and his son attempt to save the world from the annihilation it so desperately seeks. They brave savage riots of students from the left and right, nuclear terrorists, and maniac capitalists. One common trait among all these people is that suicide is a foregone conclusion for victory. Those who are not willing to die condemn themselves to defeat.

England's Queen Mary--grandmother of the current Queen Elizabeth II--commissioned the construction of her extraordinary dollhouse (or "dolls' house" as it is referred to here) in 1921, during her own reign. It resides at Windsor Castle, as it has since being constructed there. Designed by Edward Lutyens (famous for his graceful furniture), the house is a reproduction of Windsor Castle right down to the last nail--almost literally.

David Cripps' photography beautifully captures the interiors of this amazing dollhouse, from the grand to the plebian. Here is the linen closet, each batch of towels tied with different-colored ribbon to denote whether they were intended for the nursery, the staff, or the kitchen. Here is a lacquer cabinet with gilded stand, dovetailed working drawers, and gold-leafed decoration. Here is a bed, complete with pillows, bolsters, sheets, blankets, and even a tiny walnut-handled bedwarmer. The toilet, complete with toilet paper discreetly placed in a bowl alongside, really works. The toothbrushes are made of ivory and have bristles made from the hair of a goat's inner ear. In the cellar, bottles of Chateau Margaux are properly corked and waxed and labeled. The pantry shows real bows of Fry's Chocolates sharing space with McVitie & Price biscuits, barley sugar candies in hefty glass candy jars, and Frank Cooper's Seville Marmalade in squat jars tied with brown paper and string.

The garage houses a miniature bicycle with brakes "in perfect working order," not to mention a Rudge motorcycle and sidecar, a seven-seater Rolls Royce limousine-landaulet, a Vauxhall, a "Sunbeam open tourer," and two Daimlers. Gorgeous royal crests are hand-painted on each. The house even has its own petrol pumps and fire appliances, as was normal for large houses in that era.

The house's garden is splendid despite the absence of a single living thing. The lawn, made of cut green velvet, boasts several tiny mowers (both motor-powered and not), and the nearby garden has its own lovely benches, hoes, spades and the like. There is even a robin's nest, complete with eggs, and a tiny, tiny snail.

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing in the house is the book collection. Famous authors were asked to contribute their own works. Arthur Conan Doyle obliged by submitted "How Watson Learned the Trick," an original 500-word short story done in his own handwriting. The bookplates for each of the books were designed by beloved Winnie-the-Pooh illustrator Ernest Shepard. Rudyard Kipling submitted not only two poems, but illustrated them himself as well. Other well-known authors who gave their own works to the Queen's house included G. K. Chesterton, Joseph Conrad, Robert Graves, Aldous Huxley, Hilaire Belloc, Rose Macauley, W. Somerset Maugham, and Vita Sackville-West. Topping off the fine works of this distinguished crowd are the leather-bound autograph books--one each for famous folks from stage and screen, famous folks from the military, and famous politicans.

There is even a room for storing the scepter, crowns and other regalia--all featuring flawless gemstones!

The details are endlessly fascinating and the house and its furnishings so well-constructed that without a tennis ball or coin or some other everyday real object, you easily forget that everything your eye falls upon here is miniature. For those who cannot get to Windsor Castle themselves to view the house in person, this book offers a very fine tour.

I am a traveling tech and this book is a must. It provides everything in Nuclear Medicine. Protocols, sample worksheet and NRC regulations. I couldn't live without it.

Jack Worthing is engaged to lady named Gwendolyn and they are soon to get married. Jack had to find away to escape from Miss Prism because she disapproved of him so he created a brother named Earnest. While Jack was in London he feel in love with another women named Cecily Carden. Over time his fiancée's mother started to see that there was more to Jack than what he was letting on to. The only reason that Cecily wants the marry Jack is because she thinks that his name is really Earnest. Jack/ Earnest has a fiancée but is in love with another women at the same time.

This is a very short book but at the same time it is very easy to get in to because of the conflicts that occur. This book is very funny especially the conversations between Jack and Algernon. The story is a political and social satire and a look at the upper British society. I thought that the story was great because of the humor but at the same time the story was kind of sneaky which drew me into the story even more. I would suggest the book to anyone.

Perhaps it is my unique sense of humor, but I found this book incredibly funny. I wasn't rolling on the floor or anything, but it is funny in an Oscar Wilde way. My personal favorite is The Importance of Being Earnest, although all the others are very good also. Get this book. There are great quotes and good characters.

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.
Is that clever?
It's perfectly phrased! and quite as true as any observation in civilized life should be."

This is just one of the many jocular exchanges and epigrams in this short but brilliant social satire. Wilde wryly and cleverly gets his claws into the upper caste and its twisted moral etqieuette, romantic relationships, and self-critically the propensity for sententious moral (and aesthetic) self-guidance.

Dispensing with politeness and social convention through his farcical dialogue, Wilde unleashes his comic criticism on all types of hypocrisies and spurious norms. The Importance of Being Ernest is always subversive and funny, but never crude or sophomoric.

This book does a wonderful job of presenting a wide variety of debates that have surrounded evolutionary theory from the time of Darwin to the present. Ruse makes his own positions known, but tries to present all sides fairly, and for the most part does it well. He is especially interesting in his dissection of the underlying philosophical concerns that have driven the discussion of evolution.

In spots the writing rambles somewhat and can become unclear. After going to great lengths to define what is meant by "evolution," Ruse makes no such effort to define his term, "secular religion," which recurs frequently throughout his discussions. In other places, the author veers off in a new direction before finishing his point. For example, while addressing Philip Johnson's criticism of the "methodological naturalism" of science, Ruse slides off into the question whether one can be a methodological naturalist and still believe in God. It's a fascinating and worthwhile discussion, but it leaves out what seems to me to be the more important question in response to Johnson: can one do science at all without assuming that physical events have predictable physical causes?

For serious students of the subject, this book will not be the last word. For general readers it opens up a window on the rich field of evolutionary science and the debates that have surrounded it. The suggested additional reading at the end of each chapter should help anyone who is interested in pursuing a topic further.

It helps to have some basic background in biology to understand this book, but no extensive knowledge is necessary.

Talk about darwinian wars sounds to me as old and outmoded as talk about World War II and even the cold war. Darwinian weapons of random mutations and natural selection or even stasis and punctuated equilibrium have led us not to a meaningless, pointless and purposeless universe, as darwinians enjoy saying (as if they had discovered the wheel) but to a meaningless, pointless and purposeless scientifc paradigm, unable to deal with the "complex specified information" in nature (William Dembski), the "irreducible complexity" of biological systems (Michael Behe) and the "computational structure" of the universe (Stephen Wolfram). What's more, darwinism never really got to refute biblical creationism (contrary to what the vast majority of uniformed people think) as it has been proposed and defended by Douhane Gish and John and Henry Morris or R. Humphreys. You may be surprised if I am saying this. But is is just plain fact. Darwinism never refuted creationism. It just assumed that creation never took place, which is something very different than a true and convincing refutation. All the darwinian arguments about evolution assume it existed, rather than demonstrate it existed. They are circular arguments that only convince the already convinced. This means that, as Donald Rumsfeld is reforming the Pentagon and getting it ready to fight new wars, so there should be a profound reform in the realm of scientific paradigms. I am convinced that the future "scientific wars" will be about information, intelligence and even creation. Intelligent design theorists and even biblical creationists seem to me more prepared in the long run to fight the new scientific wars ahead of us than darwinism. This outdated paradigm looks more and more like a kind of "cold war relic".

A well written and interesting bit of science fiction.

But I think we all know, as Prof. Wizzleteet's so eloquently illustrated, evolution is a compelling story but scientifically laughable.

Wizzleteetian proofs of creationism:

Great ape hygiene is a sham.
Great ape anatomy vs. Human anatomy is problematic in that they look different.
Great ape's have a natural aversion to proper clothing.
Great ape's cannot be taught capitalism/materialism with the exception of an appreciation for Happy Meals.

That said this is an enjoyable read just don't take it serious.

This is a POWERFUL book. A good, quick read from some of our premier modern-day American historians. This collection of essays gives us an inside look at most of the presidencies of the second half of the 20th century. A must read for any history buff.

• Edmund Morris - Last fall, Morris published the controversial biography Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan. His book The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt earned him a Pulitzer Prize.

• Ben Bradlee - Author of That Special Grace, a tribute to John F. Kennedy, Bradlee is a vice president at the Washington Post. He previously was the executive editor at the Post who oversaw reporting of the Watergate scandal.

• David Maraniss - A reporter at the Washington Post since 1977, Maraniss earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his coverage of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. He subsequently wrote the Clinton biography, First in his Class. His latest book is When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi.

The "Power and the Presidency" series was created on behalf of the Montgomery Endowment by alumnus Robert A. Wilson of Dallas, a communications consultant who put together a similar series, "Character Above All" (dealing with the impact of character on presidential leadership) in 1994 at the University of Texas at Austin.

These well written essays provide vivid glimpses of varying Presidential personalities, with thoughtful discussion of individual strengths and weaknesses. To me, especially in an election year where character is a major issue, it was an enthralling read, with highlights of qualities such as "Reagan's voice, which was a large part of Reagan's power..." or the speaking style of TR, with plosive P sounds, which "would pop with Gatling-gun force. The effect of his oratory was to bury every word in the psyche of his listeners." or the political genius exhibited by FDR who talked "at a level at which very few people could follow him and understand what he was really saying" that FDR also recognized in a young congressmen, LBJ, as "he saw Johnson understood _everything_ he was talking about." I enjoyed reading these examples of behavior and the illuminating contrasts such as: "It is hard to imagine two more different men than Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy..." or "despite the major differences in their temperaments--indeed, I would argue, because of these differences--Eleanor and Franklin forged their historic partnership..." I would recommend to readers the book "Presidential Temperament" by Choiniere and Keirsey, another well researched volume which gives an explanation of "how each President's temperament inevitably expressed itself in his behavior, both in office and in his personal life."

"The Essential Bond" is extremely well researched and very informative. It provides detailed information on the assignment, 007's women, 007's villains, 007's allies, vehicles, gagets & weapons, music, marketing & merchandising, and the box office in every Bond film from Dr. No to Tomrrow Never Dies. It also includes a short but sweet foreword, tribute to Albert R. Broccoli or "Cubby", a chapter devoted to the literary 007, the James Bond family, 007 and popular culture, the other James Bonds, and the 007 phnomenon. Over all this is a extremely informative book that is a must have for any Bond fan.

This book got me hooked on the James Bond phenomenon. It goes into great detail about 007's villains, allies, gadgets, vehicles and of course, the women. It is witty and informative and looks at every film from Dr. No to Tomorrow Never Dies. The only criticisms are that the book omits minor characters and at times, the authors include too many of their own opinions which does not allow the reader to make their own mind up about the films. In summary, an excellent book worth the money with loads of colour pictures (some never seen before).

The Essential Bond: the Authorized Guide to the World of 007 is one of the best 007 books ever. If you want a 007 book that's filled with exciting and rare photgraphs and a book with interesting information about James Bond, then this is the book for you. One day I went to a book store and saw this book, i expected it to be filled with the same dull pictures that every 007 book has, but this was different. Want to see what Ursula Andress was really wearing in the radiation scene in Dr. No? Want to see Pussy Galore's Flying Cicrcus girls showing off a plane? Care to see behind-the-scene pictures for every Bond movie, this is the book for you.

The book begins with a tribute to the father of the Bond Movies, Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli. Learn how he took over the series in 1976 and how finally died in 1996. The book then moves in chronological order discussing ever Bond movie from Dr. No to The World is Not Enough. Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again are also included. For every film a list of cast and crew is present as are a section on the assignment, women, villains, allies, vehicles, gadgets, music, marketing, box-office, sevreal rare phots and small captions about certain parts of the movie. every film has exclusive pictures like Luciana Paluzzi and Terence young clowning for cameras on the set of Thunderball. Take a peek at home items and toys that were released for every film by several companies. Find out all about the talented group of people such as Shirley Bassey and Duran Duran who performed the stunning title songs. After the film sections are finished, a section called The Literary 007 follows. this ection tells all about Ian Fleming and his 14 novels that formed the basis for many films. The James Bond Family comes next. Learn about Cubby, Dana and Barbara Broccoli and her step-brother Michael G. wilson and how they create the wonderful Bond movies. Harry Saltzman, Terence Young, Louis Gilbert, John Glen, Guy Hamilton, Peter Hunt, Michael Apted, Roger Spottiswood and Martin Campbell are all included. Writers, Cameramen, stuntmen, production designers, special effects and some very talented men that created the main-title sequences are in this section. The book includeds a part on Popular culture and other James Bonds and finally closes with a picture of Harry Saltzman, Ian Fleming and Albert Broccoli with a fitting sentence that describes their view of the world of 007.

An excellent book that covers a great amount of information and enhanced with magnificent photgraphs and pictures. A must-have for all Bond fans!

If you plan to use this book as your only teaching tool--good luck. With any language, a book will not help you fluently speak it. You have to do the work yourself, and use books as helpful tools. This is well setup and doesn't contradict anything in classical Latin (the same can not be said for Chruch Latin, which isn't usually taught in school). I liked it, but only gave it three stars because I don't think you should spend too much money on Latin books when you can easily get the same information in just about any textbook.

This book presents a concise summary of the major grammatical structures of Latin. It is divided into two sections: Part I deals with the morphology of nouns, adjectives, verbs etc; Part II presents syntax. A number of examples in both parts of the book highlight the grammar that is being presented. Though the examples may be a little brief, nonetheless they provide a good insight to the grammar. This book is ideal for the beginner and is an excellent reference source to accompany any Latin textbook.

This is one of the best Latin grammer books I have read. It is very precise and clear, and allows people to grasp Latin grammatical topics quickly. Great book for any one that really wants to learn AND MASTER the Latin language!

Some great pictures, I won't deny, but particularly, my expectations were way beyond that what I could get from this book. Most of the pictures are in plain old B&W, instead of bein in living colors. The great majority don't even have a subtitle, therefore, we get a little lost sometimes. Besides, as this book was supposed to be something like a filming diary, it could depict much more behind-the-scenes stills, making of candids and so on, and even could show some text in it. I think if you only like to see pictures then the book will be ok, but if you're a die hard fan, searching for news about the filming of the picture, then this book will be the wrong choice. I think maybe to those photo admirers the book will be a disappointing, so, I wouldn't recommed it at all. I am quite disappointed myself!

The most recent James Bond films have had 'making of' books published to coincide with the films cinematic release, and it seemed that Die Another Day would be no different. However, Greg Williams 'Bond On Set' isn't quite a 'making of' book, it's something more special.

Past 'making of' books are a mixture of text and pictures, with the latter receiving the least attention. With Bond on Set Williams has reversed that factor and provided a book that is mostly a compilation of pictures.

At first, the change did cause disappointment. I wanted to read behind the scenes stories, find out little pieces of trivia about Die Another Day, and hear of complications and unexpected successes. However, Williams' brilliance with a camera, described by producer Michael G Wilson in his 'forward', really eclipsed my initial disappointment.

While promotional pictures from the book have already been circulated across the Internet, some of the best photos are definitely found within the book. Look no further than the Williams' photos of actress Rosamund Pike to highlight his skill; these are definitely the best photos of Rosamund published to date. Other behinds the scenes photos are just as unique, and seem to have definitely benefited from David Tattersall's cinematography.

Disappointment aside, Pierce Brosnan's small introduction really sums up the book, "never before have we seen back stage intimacies of a Bond movie in such a classic book as this."

Bond on Set: Fiiming Die Another Day is perhaps one of the most unique 007 books on the movie ever. When you open it up don't expect to see text. This book is filled over the top with behind the scenes pictures of the cast and crew. Greg Williams does an absolutely fantastic job of showing off the film. Pictures include Rosamund Pike in her fencing suit, Michael G. Wilson in his cameo, Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Rick Yune, Toby Stephens and many more. From the forward by Michael G. Wilson to the end of hundreds of pictures, this book is a treasure to all Bond fans!

Check out the vi search and replace commands they use. The examples. Try using them on Solaris. Notice how they don't work & are completely wrong?

Well for the person who stated that the command line syntax in this book is incorrect, is completely wrong for the fact that Solaris is pretty much Suns's version of unix. She is correct about them not working on Solaris though. This book is excellent and well indepth. If you are looking for a great place to begin your foundation on unix, this is it. But I would recommend using it on FreeBSD, OpenBSD, HP UX, and a few others, Solaris is not recommended

I use this book to teach Unix Introduction at a community college.

It is one of the best books that I have found that teach the concepts of UNIX as well as providing a great overview of UNIX.

I would suggest this book to ANYBODY who wanted to get a firm foundation of the UNIX operating system.