The reviewer below is utterly right-- this book is a waste of everybody's time. What he fails to note is that Runyon's "thesis" is itself unacceptable. Who could buy for one second the idea of Carver "arranging" his stories? Anybody who's done the research understands that Carver's stories were arranged FOR him. Runyon's premise-- and book overall-- is preposterous. The "correspondences" he finds are belabored, contrived, unsubstantiated and unsubstantiatable, outrageous, insane.

The introductory essay by Dobyns is delightful but the rest of the book is truly bad. The author has a thesis -- that Carvers' stories are interconnected and purposefully arranged in the books -- and that's all he deals with. Once you accept the thesis, what else is there to say? Not much, but the author spins his wheels trying. The book is a waste of money and will add nothing to your understanding or appreciation of Carver.

Author Runyon provides an insightful interpretation of Raymond Carver's short stories collection from the books, "Will You Please be Quiet, Please", "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love", "Cathedral" and "The Last Seven Stories". He labels this insight "intratextuality", where the strategic placement and sequence of text makes a connection to other stories. As he says, "- and this is the thesis of my book -to the interstices between the stories as well."

If you are new to Raymond Carver's stories and poems, you may overlook this as you become ensconced into what has become known as Carver Country. Ruyon astutely explains these connections. An example: In the story "Intimacy", the last line, the narrator sees the need to pick up the leaves strewn, while the beginning of the next story, "Menudo", the narrator is unable to put up with the accumulation of leaves.

In Carver's story "Collectors", narrator Slater, waiting for the mailman, would "look through the curtain" while the next "What Do in San Francisco?", the narrator becomes the mailman who tells that the resident, Marston, would be "looking out at me through the curtain".

This is, indeed, an excellent book that not only gives us this insight, but it has interpretation of the stories we, as readers, may or may not agree with. There isn't a need to search for these connections, but the noted premise doesn't hurt. Excellent reference material. ....MzRizz.

Randolph's book is a plea for the advancement of the Latin Mass, altar rails, tabernacles behind the altar, the priest at the altar with his back toward the people, etc. It is not a guide to the Mass as understood by the Catholic Church, but as Randolph wants it to be. He takes misguided shots at everything he doesn't like in the Mass.

I loved every page of the book. It was hard for me to put it down. I am hungry for every morsel of the Church and Fr Randolph fed it to me like a good shepherd. I have traveled a rocky road myself and thank God I found the Church. I want to show God all my love and reverence for His Son and this book has helped me do this. I want to enjoy all the treasures my Father has stored for me in the Mass and this book has done this. I want to teach my children everything about the Mass just as I have promised God and this book has helped me. As I read the words I sense the Love for Jesus in Fr Randolphs' pages. I want to give my all and this book tells you how. The faith is not a buffet where you take only what you want nor is it a democracy its the Kingdom of God and this book tells you why certain things are done and how the body and blood are to be treated. Worship Him!

Contrary to other reviews, this book is not necessarily a plea for the Tridentine Mass, but is a recognition that some of those advocating changes to the Mass in recent decades have perhaps gone too far. Moreover, the book provides a balanced look at the different elements in the Mass, what they sumbolize or mean, and the history behind them. Fr. Randolph does often insert his beliefs in what the Mass should be like, but that doesn't detract from his reasoned look at the meaning of what we celebrate every Sunday, the source and summit of our Christian life.

I recently purchased this book followed its instructions, and tried to file the correct paperwork with the courts when I was informed that the format is no longer acceptable as of 1/1/99. This book should not be sold anymore, being that it is not current. I then contacted Nolo Press, and they informed me that the new edition would not be out until June. THIS BOOK SHOULD NOT BE ON THE MARKET IF IT IS NOT CURRENT!

This book is wonderful for anyone who wants to adopt their spouse's child and has the consent of the other bio-parent (or other stipulation such as the death of the bio-parent, etc.). It not only provides needed forms, but also has word-by-word examples of the documents you will need to type yourself (for me, that was actually fun!) Additionally, if you live in Los Angeles as I did during the process, it gives you special instructions for filing in L.A. county - very helpful! I had to pay only a $700 assessment fee and 2 or 3 small filing fees and the whole process, from filing the initial petition to the final hearing (which is especially enjoyable) was completed in under 4 months! And the experience brought me even closer to our 5 year old little girl as well as my wife! A lawyer quoted me legal fees of "$2,500 to $3,000, not including filing and assessment fees" before I found this book. You will not only save money, but come away with an amazing sense of accomplishment and a renewed appreciation for your family. I highly recommend this book!

When reading the description, high hopes are raised on the potential reader. Mr. Sugar's selection is disproportionally biased towards boxing. Even Mr. Sugar's boxing selections are disappointing; quite a surprise considering his prestige in the field. Other popular sports such as football, soccer, and basketball are not covered in the depth that they deserve. Furthermore, his oppinions are rarely supported by facts, sometimes leading to disinformation . Sincerely, I regret buying it and I would not recommend it to any serious sports reader.

Bert chose the 100 greatest atheletes of all time, but the reader must understand that these are his choices, not yours. Who is ever going to agree with lists like these? THe previous critique of Berts book said that there was aheavy slant to boxers, which there is not. Ali, Robinson, Louis, Dempsey, Johnson, Armstrong and Pep are the only fighters chosen. 7 boxers in a list of 100 athletes is not a heavy slant. One could make the argument that he left out too many fighters. Bert's list, like all other lists of it's like. are very subjective. They are derived from personal opinions and are meant to strike up debates. I did not agree with several inclusions and omissions, but the book was an excellent read. Bert is a very entertaining writer and his profiles on each athlete was well worth the purchase. The selections and order, I felt were secondary. A must buy for sports fanatics

What through the subject list appears to be a book on the power of the mind and how to harness it is simply the authors religious ideas spattered with quotes and misquotes from the bible.

This book is best reviewed in the audio section of Amazon.com. Simply put, the content is a stroke of genius. Don't put this on your MUST READ list...simply buy it and read it and get the audio while you're at it. It'll get you through those dark days - and propel you into a new thought pattern.

This book is written by two philosophy professors who also have some experience in sport (one in archery, the other in baseball). Their philosophy bias is clear throughout the book, as they take time to define the term "sportsmanship," and explain why it has value in terms of respecting teammates, officials, coaches, and the game itself. The book does raise some relevant and specific questions, (for example: "Is it ever acceptable to give less than a best effort to conserve energy?" and "Explain the difference between respecting an opponent and liking an opponent.") mostly in the "time for reflection" portions that are interspersed throughout the book, but it falls short in that its arguments are very much idea-based and conceptual rather than suggestions for practical application. The appendix does provide some practical advice, but it is included almost as an afterthought rather than a priority. The book does well to provoke thought and provide the "why," but the "how" is left almost completely to the reader. It is for this reason that I think the book would have been better had it been titled "A Philosophy of Sportsmanship" or something to that effect.

Downes "Council Fires on the Upper Ohio" was written in 1940 and here reprinted in paperback, making it accessible to a modern audience. It is concerned with the wars of empire that took place in the Ohio Country from 1700-1795, a time when the land that is today the states of Ohio and western Pennsylvania were part of a vast untamed wilderness inhabited by numerous Indian tribes who fought to keep the land from the encroaching white settlers. It shows the interdependant nature of the early white settlers and their Indian neighbors and how slowly, the Indians came to be so dependant on trade items like guns and liquor, that they lost their ability to keep themselves seperate from the alien European culture that threathened to envelope them, and in the end, they could not resist the overwhelming tide that would displace them forever.

The book begins at the time of Queen Anne's War, showing how the growing white settlements pushed westward from Pennsylvania and Virginia, displacing numerous native tribes like the Delaware, Shawnee, and Seneca. It chronicles the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754 as France and England vied for control of the Ohio Country, and their attempts to manipulate the tribes to fight for their cause. It addresses the roles played by the Ohio tribes during the American Revolution, as the British, desperate to keep the Americans out of the Northwest rally the Ohio tribes to strike the western settlements with a bloody upraised tomahawk. Finally, betrayed by their British allies, the Ohio tribes, now left to fend for themselves against an unstoppable juggernaught, despite valiant resistance against Generals Harmar and St. Clair, finally succumb to Anthony Wayne's forces at Fallen Timbers in 1794. The Greenville treaty a year later will seal their fate and that of Ohio once and for all.

This book in filled with much information and is a useful reference work, but is far too dry to hold much interest as an entertaining read. However, it is effective in that it tells the story of the eastern frontier from the Indian perspective, one that in 1940 was decidedly negelected. But it is also ultimately a tragic tale, as it is a chronicle of the passing of a people and their way of life.

The suggested remedies almost all require an act of the legislature. The problems derive from the ego and training and self protection habits of the legal profession. The legislature is composed of many lawyers and will not act. Citizen passage of a propositions is essential, part of which will be citizen insistence on citizen review of fees and performance. An uphill fight, which can be won, to the benefit of all. WaltonCA@aol.com

Anyone picking up this book should know from the start that this is as about as unobjective a biography as one is bound to find. Henry Adams has multiple scores to settle, on behalf of John Adams and John Quincy Adams (his great-grandfather and grandfather, respectively), with John Randolph of Roanoke (who never had a kind word for either of the Adams presidents). The reader would be strongly advised to read both the introduction by Robert McColley, as well as the notes on the text (located at the end of the book) which deals with specific matters of interpretation in the book.

Adams uses this book to savage Randolph at every opportunity. The bulk of the book follows Randolph in his congressional career up through 1806, when he broke with the Jefferson administration over the administration's attempt to pay France two million dollars to secure Western Florida from Spain. Up until 1806, as Adams puts it, Randolph was the "spoiled child of his party and recognised mouthpiece of the administration." (p. 118) Randolph was in the thick of things up to that point, including the Louisiana Purchase, the approval of which he helped shephard through the House of Representatives. He was also given the responsibility for the February 1805 impeachment of Samuel Chase, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. At that point in history, the question of the Executive Branch's authority over the Judicial Branch was far from settled. A successful prosecution of Justice Chase might well have changed the history of Executive-Judicial relations, but Randolph botched the job thoroughly. Adams can barely contain his glee when describing how unequal to the task Randolph was.

The bungled Chase impeachment increasingly made Randolph an embarrassment to the Jefferson administration. Randolph's political prospects were damaged beyond repair after 1806, and from that point on, as he became increasingly erratic, was on the periphery of the American political scene. He quarrelled, at one point or another, with every administration from Jefferson to Andrew Jackson. Adams devotes only 70 pages to Randolph's life from 1806 until his death in 1833. It is evident at this point that Adams is more interested in directing criticism at Jefferson and his successors in the Virginia Dynasty than he is at studying the life of Randolph.

Adams does make good points in his book, especially regarding the notions of states' rights. Coventional wisdom holds that Randolph was one the early advocates of the states' rights philosophy that John C. Calhoun subsequently embraced, but Adams argues persuasively that actions such as the Louisiana Purchase and the protection by the federal government of slavery (such as the Fugitive Slave Act) were in themselves encroachments on the rights of individual states and helped further the centralization of government in the United States. Far from being a traditional states' rights advocate, Adams contends, Randolph did a great deal to undermine the notion of states' rights as it existed in 1789.

Despite the rather venomous nature of the book, it is none the less a wonderful piece of literature that is worth reading. Adams' skills as a writer are evident throughout. The three stars represents a dual rating: 5 stars for the quality of the writing, 1 star for the utter lack of objectivity...although what could the reader seriously expect anyway?

Most of those now negatively described as hackers are in their teens. Relatively unskilled in both the computer and personal areas, they use simplistic means to break into systems and are often caught. Frequently as a result of bragging about their exploits. In vying for attention, they fail to understand that the computer equivalent of joyriding is a very serious crime. No one knows how much the latest outbreak of a computer virus cost, but some estimates are in the hundred of millions of dollars.
This book is written for teens and is designed to give them fair warning concerning the consequences to both themselves and society if they choose to follow the hacker path. The point is to get the reader to understand where the ethical and legal bounds of computer use are. In that sense, the point is good, but it is not effectively executed. Very little time is actually spent in the gray areas of computing. No one can dispute that disabling an air traffic control system is dangerous behavior. How about middle ground such as playing a joke on another by using their e-mail address without their knowledge? Such more likely situations are not adequately covered.
The purpose of this book is an honorable and necessary one. However, it is written more for the pre-teen age and more ink should have been used setting down the limits of hacking. The user sophisticated enough to be able to hack would find the explanations in this book too simplistic to be of interest.

The book is to-the-point, it answered some of the questions that I had, it is a quick read for an adult. I recommend it for children.

This book is an excellent guide for my students. It explains many complex subjects in an simple manner. This book will stay a fundamental part of my schedule. I strongly recommend it for 4-6th graders, it provides a reference while keeping reading interesting. Way above any other book on this subject for this grade level. If you are unhappy with it, you are probably too old to be reading it in the first place.