I read this book in 10 minutes and passed it along to a friend. It's completely accurate and highly readable, but WOW, is it simple. You feel like coloring in it. It's one tip per page - literally.

I'm glad I didn't miss this book. So many literary works seem to contain some vengeance or spite, but this is the first work of criticism that I've come across which studies the constant of revenge across a number of authors.

The betrayals described in the book are extreme, and include a homosexual husband writing of his bride's "frigidity" while the two are still on their honeymoon. The book is not for the young or squeamish reader, as Desalvo describes in detail some bizarrely depraved acts committed by adults upon the chidren in their care. There were a few letters from an incestuous grandmother that I found quite disturbing, and would prefer to have skipped.

This is a type of book I never thought I would encounter - an absolutely captivating work of literary criticism. I couldn't put it down.

EARTH WORKS by Nancy Hugo is exactly the type of book you give to a new gardener along with an illustrated garden catalog. Hugo lives in Ashland Virginia, just north of Richmond in a Zone 7 setting which borders on Zone 8. Her book is filled with all kinds of gardening advice which she dispenses as a free lance writer for the RICHMOND-TIMES DISPATCH. Her writing is not particularly insightful (Diane Raver), funny (Henry Mitchell), spiritual (Jim Nollman), or scientific (Elizabeth Lawrence, Allen Lacey), but elements of all these aspects are present.

Her strength is her pragmatic advice for the novice. Picure her as the neighbor you wish lived next door to you when you move into your new house. She has gardened for over 30 years at two locations (primary home and vacation home in Buckingham County). She offers advice for Zone 7 gardeners that is comparable to that from the PBS program Victory Garden.

For example, she urges gardeners to grow organic and natural lawns because she is sensitive to the water pollution caused by the runoff from lawns (Americans use larger amounts of pesticides and herbicides on lawns than on food crops). On the other hand, she can take out 28 year-old pines because they are blocking her view and overshading her garden. She offers advice on gardening equipment from tillers to post-hole diggers, how to establish a compost pile, when to clip bushes and hedges, what to do with the needles that fall off the old pines, and which plants to grow for Christmas greenery. She describes her gardening year in month to month episodes, and covers a variety of plants that will do well anywhere in Zones 7-8.

I recommend this book to anyone about to become a gardener.

Without seeing the contents of this delightful book you might be inclined to think the subject of gravestones and cemetery markers a bit morbid. Happy to report, it is humorous, insightful, and most of all very upbeat. The cemetery monuments which most intrigue photographers Bunnen and Smith are those which give us an insight into the people whose lives they summarize. There are bowlers (the title of the book refers to an avid bowler who couldn't resist featuring his favorite passtime on his tombstone), booze lovers, mystics and motorcyclists. There are cowboys and klansmen, soldiers and surfers. The range of treatments is so astonishing, so upbeat, such fun, that the reader (well, the traveler/viewer--the book is almost all photographs) cannot help but begin thinking of his or her own funerary arrangements in a whole new light. The the real subject of this collection is one of vitality, personal expression, and hope of a heaven in which the people and activities we loved in life will be ours forever. If you like visual books, I urge you to track down a copy of this tome and share it with your friends.

This coffee table book offers a complete photographic review of beautiful Virginia - from the history to the mountains to the seashore. Quotations from numerous Virginians provide that "extra" touch that makes the photographs even more meaningful. I intend to give the book for a wedding gift.

This is a good book to bring along on day hikes. Clear photos and identifying information. It is not about gardening wildflowers.

Really. This book was a lot of fun to read and, despite the claims of the "Kirkus" review, it really isn't heavy reading at all. It does require some minimal knowlege of the life during the Renaissance era, but ample footnotes are provided to explain the numerous classical references and anything else that the reader might find confusing.
One thing to be aware of. While the title of the book is "The Worth of Women", the dialogue spends FAR more time talking about the lack of worth of men. (The author's basis thesis seems to be that women are virtually perfect, so the occassional "bad" woman is either an utter anomoly, or has been made "bad" due to the influence of men; while men are basically evil, and the even rarer "good" man is an anomaly.) I will confess that the constant harping on the evils of the male sex got a little tiresome after a while.
If you don't want to read that men are incapable of love/kindness/caring/intelligence ... this isn't the book for you.

The title "Piet Mondrian in the USA" is rather misleading, as the main interest of this book lies in its descriptions of the work of Mondrian's immediate followers in New York, events contemporary with Mondrian's life there, and the careers of the major American artists who continued making abstract art in the wake of Mondrian's influence. All of this is peripheral to Mondrian himself, and the magnitude of his importance is often lost as a result.

What actually does pertain to Mondrian is related in the form of personal anecdotes and reminiscences by his circle of admirers, such as Harry Holtzman and Charmion von Wiegand. At least half the text is devoted to these followers, and how they applied Neo-Plastic ideas to their own work.

Rembert's writing style is often obtuse and vague, and her scant commentaries on Mondrian's paintings are insubstantive and incomplete. The reproductions of works by Mondrian and other artists range in quality from good to poor, those in the latter category being mostly blurred, badly-lit photographs taken by the author. In addition, the editors seem to be largely unfamiliar with the orientation of abstract paintings, as Mondrian's final work, "Victory Boogie Woogie," is reproduced sideways. Some of the images of Mondrian's paintings are inextricably cropped, while others are placed against a black background and cropped so that the background reads as part of the work. Unfortunately, these mistakes are pervasive-Rembert identifies a Jackson Pollock painting as "Cathedral" from 1947, when in fact it is "#31" from 1950. The image is also reproduced backwards.

In short, this book suffers greatly due to the effects of sloppy editing, bad photography, and weak commentary.

This book is an invaluable addition to the literature of the field, dealing with a period of the artist's life previously little studied. There are many fine illustrations. This is a must for scholars and others interested in modern art.

As a former fallen pastor, I wish this book would have been available a decade ago. After doing years of research and helping other religious "restorees," I believe "Restoring the Fallen" is the most comprehensive and insightful book on the market. The writers (multiple authors) convey workable truths obtained from practical experience. Every "nook and cranny" of restoration is dealt with in an easy-to-read and understandable style. These authors believe that there is life after a fall - and for religious leaders hurt by sin, it is needed help, hope and healing.

This book gives a tremendously extensive look at the process of restoring Christians that have fallen because of sexual sin.

Ever since early 1999 it seems like more and more Christians, especially leaders, have been falling sexually. This book provides a comprehensive look at the process of nurturing, comforting, and bringing Christians back into wholeness. The major strength in this book is that it was written by people who experienced it. There are 6 authors. 1 sexually fell, 1 was their spouse, and the other 4 were part of the "restoration team". This book was written by people who have experience in this area. This is basically a detailed explanation of what they did and what worked for them.

This kind of information is a must for all those in Christian leadership and for those who minister to others. This book is very practical and easy to understand. The author's openness and transparency brings this real topic closer to the heart of the reader.

This book drifts back and forth with no solid foundation. It seems as if the author can't make up his mind--which seems to set the book back at times--with the proper editing I believe this book my begin and finish some sort of consolidated theme.

There is much fluff and little substance. This book is not a good read.

Professor Varano's book is insightful, interesting, and analytically sound. His work in Forced Choices sheds light on the complex dynamics involved in the social, economic, and political life of a small community undergoing structural and cultural changes. He does a superb job in bringing into life the contradictions and ironies of these dynamics through the richness of ethnographic research and the potential of sociological analysis. Great book for work and organizations, industrial sociology, labor studies, and stratification.