As an employee in a distinguished business environment, I highly recommend the Handbook of Internet Stocks. The value of the book and the rich amount of data is sure to delight those who are looking for quality information concerning the perplexing yet exciting digital economy. This source provides charts and graphs on each of the top 200 publicly traded companies. The wealth of information includes an extremely helpful description of each company. Additionally, it offers annual financial data including a summary of the income statement and balance sheet. The cornucopia of data does not stop here. Furthermore, it has a summary of recent developments within this particular company and within the fascinating and dynamic industry of e-business.

I started reading this to my daugther when she was 8 weeks old. She has enjoyed it from the beginning. The language is simple and easy to read. Now that she is over a year old, she still enjoys it as she notices something new in the illustrations everyday. It is a bedtime must have in our home.

My 5-year old just loves watching "Between the Lions" and this book includes all of her favorite characters from the show. It's much more than a coloring book, with fun word games and puzzles for her to solve. I definitely recommend this book for fans of the show!

As a parent, I enjoy this succinct yet sensitive story about a chicken who turns the tables on a very serious situation; that is the healthfulness of her environment, which she shares with the many, many other chickens in her barn. My children, ages 4 and 7 found her antics hilarious. They begged for the story to be read again and again, which I was pleased to do. I would highly reccommend this book to other parents on the lookout for environmental books for their children, or for children who enjoy a good animal story.

As a kid, did you prefer reading cereal boxes to reading books? Ever order something from an ad in the back of a comic book? If so, you'd be crazy not to get this wonderful book ("while supplies last"). It's loaded with some of the most outrageous (yet authentic) comic book advertising ever created. From Sea Monkeys to "FREE" monkeys, the ads are all reproduced in living color (in some cases far better than the originals!). You'll find all the great, original hype and propaganda far more outrageous than would be acceptable by today's advertising standards (and that's saying something)! There are familiar ads of years gone by, and more than a few unusual ads that you've likely never seen before. This book is an absolute bargain for anyone who wants a flashback of fun nostalgia. It's entertaining and a joy to read. In fact, you might just rekindle that burning urge to rush out and buy yourself an ant farm. Highly recommended!

Netherton's History of Casting is a superb book. I orderedthree which I received yesterday and I'm going to order additionalcopies today. What a wonderful book. I was a former tournament caster, but I don't think you need to be a tournament caster to enjoy this. The reprinted articles are amazing...some of the fly casting distances 90 years ago are unvbelievable since they didn't have the tackle we have today. I learned a lot. It's for anyone who cares about the past, and how casting evolved...the tackle ads are particularly interesting. Great book for anyone's library, even though it"may not tell you how to catch more fish..."

In tracing the history recounted in the Bible, Cavalletti makes use of a traditional method of interpretation - typology (prefiguring) - applied in a systematic way: Christological, sacramental, and ecclesial. This is tradition applied more clearly than I have seen before - and I read a great deal of material in the area. She applies this three-fold typology of creation, original sin, the flood, Abraham, Moses ... building a very solid foundation of Biblical and liturgical knowledge in an easy to understanding way. Along with way a variety of other Bible interpretation topics are explored - literary genre, document theory, form criticism - explored in sufficient detail to make the necessary points in language clear enough to be accessible to a very broad audience. This is truly a book to rave about.

This book is devoted to a neglected aspect of film-making, illustrated with hundreds of stills, which were produced in vast numbers by the great studios in their Hollywood heyday. Although the invention of photography preceded the development of cinema by over half a century, the stills unit was an important part of the movie-making process, up until the decline of the studios in the mid 1960's. Even in the fledgling silent days, a photographer was usually attached to every production, to provide on the set shots of the cast and crew, which were used in posters and images reproduced in newspapers and magazines as the means of publicity. When it became apparent that audiences were drawn to particular players, portrait photography and "candid" views of the stars became a thriving industry. Galleries were established at the studios, with specialists in lighting, make-up, wardrobe and retouching employed to create timeless, universal and strikingly glamorous images. Sometimes this was of the lower-brow "cheesecake" variety, exploiting the subject's physical attributes, or in line with kitschy seasonal or holiday calendar art. Photographers also took pictures at the star's homes, nightspots, at parties, and premieres and award ceremonies. They took any photos that were needed as props in the films themselves, and occasionally tried gimmicky trick shots, created images that were not to be found in the finished film, or devised a new way of capturing an important scene which had been staged in a way not to lend itself to a still photo. An example given is the still of Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable as hitchhikers in It Happened One Night, sitting side by side on a fence with their thumbs out - a simpler and more direct image which encapsulates the moment in the film. And the stills ordered by Harry Cohn of Rita Hayworth in the hall of mirrors climax of The Lady from Shanghai, made with Hayworth wearing a more provocative costume than she would wear in the film itself. Stills could also be the last surviving visual record of lost or missing films, or films abandoned midway through production like Josef von Sternberg's I Claudius, and George Cukor's Something's Got to Give. Stills also can provide evidence of scenes cut, censored or changed, and even changes of cast. The 1983 reconstruction of the 1954 George Cukor/Judy Garland A Star is Born used stills of cut scenes to fill the gap where the soundtrack had been found but the footage remained missing. Vito Russo's book The Celluloid Closet presented a rare full face portrait of Sebastian Venable from Suddenly Last Summer, who can only be glimpsed from behind in the film. And we see Ingrid Bergman in a draped Grecian gown and an arrow through her neck, meant for the dream sequence devised by Salvador Dali for Spellbound, which Hitchcock edited. Whilst some stills can show details that are not meant to be seen, like a crate of oranges labelled "produce of Israel" in The Sound of Music, others deliberately do not reveal detail as part of the publicity campaign, such as the appearances of E.T., John Hurt in The Elephant Man, and the strict control Alfred Hitchcock placed on stills for Psycho so as not to disclose plot. The studio heads did not approve of these latter stills, finding them overly static and failing to represent the "excitement and flavour" of the film. One can imagine how dumb-founded audiences were to one still in particular of John Gavin and Vera Miles gazing fearfully at a wooden rocking chair, the meaning lost without having seen the film. It is thought that the quality of stills associated with a film indicates the aesthetic of it's director - someone like Erich von Stroheim took a great interest in his stills, and Josef von Sternberg even accompanied Marlene Dietrich to her portrait sessions. Others were less co-operative. Some hitherto undiscovered talents furthered their careers with portrait stills - Rudolph Valentino is an example - or established stars tried to remake their images. Harold Lloyd lost two fingers and was almost killed in one session when a real explosive bomb was accidently substituted for a paper mache prop. A picture of Clarence Brown directing Garbo in Flesh and the Devil shows the huge lights used, and how close Brown and the camera is to Garbo's face. Garbo is also seen in a Clarence Sinclair Bull shot for Two Faced Woman yet to be retouched, revealing her "imperfections" - lines under her eyes, and a tiny mole to the right of her nose. The nature of stills was also influenced by censorship, with special concern over the display of women's cleavage. Numerous stills were also taken as camera tests for costume and makeup at many different angles for continuity and reference purposes, exemplified by the monumental effort to help Dustin Hoffman look like a woman in Tootsie. The studios also liked to photograph new stars arriving in Hollywood, though a publicity stunt backfired when a giant tame bear who was supposed to shake hands with Mary Martin, had other ideas and ended up on top of her. Of further interest are examples of "doctored" stills, such as the ones Woody Allen used for his Zelig,. The notorious mishap which occured during a photo session wth Carmen Miranda dancing with Cesar Romero, where what she wasn't wearing under her skirt was captured. The leaning board invented to prevent wrinkling of the dress worn by Jean Harlow in Dinner at Eight. A wedding shot of the sham marriage between Rock Hudson and Phyllis Gates. Boris Karloff in Frankenstein costume eating lunch. The still of Betty Grable which became the most famous pin-up shots of all time. And the genuinely candid and notorious mug shots of an arrested and dishevelled Frances Farmer, juxtaposed with a glamourous portrait taken when she was a leading lady only a few years earlier.

Zollo, who has been a master at interviewing songwriters for years, now turns his focus to old-timers of Hollywood who remember this mythic, confusing town for what it once was. This is a vivid, funny, historic, surprising and poetic series of history and memoirs and a tour of Hollywood which all adds up to a collosal collection of Hollywood as it really was. There's the hilarious Jonathan Winters, plus Steve Allen, Marie Windsor, Jerry Maren of the Wizard of OZ, Eveyln Keyes, Charles Champlin, Walter Bernstein,Karl Malden and so many more, all remembering their own personal Hollywoods, and collectively reflecting this special town in a way it's never been seen before. It's Hollywood from the inside, with all its blessings and curses reflected together. For anyone wanting to know of the full evolution of this singular town, this is the book by you, written and compiled by a writer who clearly loves his subject. A must for any lovers of Hollywood and its history.

This charmingly study of the Hollywood studios explains that it was the personality and taste of the moguls that determined the house styles of both the kind of films made and the artists who made them. Mordden is particularly good in analysing at length certain films that exemplify each style. Paramount was the industry's first big studio and monopolised the theatre chains which guaranteed exhibition of their product, giving founder Adolph Zukor the confidence to experiment. Paramount valued the individuality of directors Ernst Lubitsch and Mitchell Leisen who made elegant "boudoir snafu", and writer/directors Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder. The actors they served best were clowns, like The Marx Brothers, WC Fields and Mae West. MGM was Louis B Mayer and he reigned with zealotry, blackmail and tyranny. His operation was a factory and anyone who disturbed the running of the assembly line was discarded - director Erich von Stroheim who's Greed ran for 7 hours, tempestuous diva Mae Murray, womaniser John Gilbert), even the self-willed Lillian Gish who demanded artistic control of her films. Mayer favoured factotum - company men who had a talent for treating actors, like Clarence Brown who guided Garbo's transition into talkies in Anna Christie. Whilst Mayer's style of polished glamour was epitomised by Grand Hotel, which featured stars, art direction by Cedric Gibbons, gowns by Adrian, and the high-key lighting of William Daniels, his head of production, Irving Thalberg earned cudos for greenlighting unprofitable prestige titles over Mayer's objections, like King Vidor's The Crowd and Todd Browning's Freaks. However Thalberg's death left Mayer unchecked, and his Andy Hardy "family" values homogenised the studio's mentality - like Dorothy's banal realisation that there's no place like home. Arthur Freed's unit produced innovative musicals, but as the studio wound down Mayer was replaced by bookkeeper Dore Schary, who favoured the reliably mediocrity (Kathryn Grayson) to the unpredictable avatar (Judy Garland). The smaller studios may have existed on low budgets but that doesn't mean their output was always crummy, even if history has forgotten them because the titles have been lost. Hal Wallis' First National featured Colleen Moore who originated the flapper bangs that Louise Brooks gets credit for. Republic was a minor major (or a major minor), starring the singing cowboys Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, skater Vera Hruba Ralston (the wife of mogul Herbert J Yates), and John Wayne, who won the studio the best picture Oscar for The Quiet Man. Columbia rose to greatness via Frank Capra, Rita Hayworth and screwball comedy, but it's real success was due to mogul Harry Cohn, legendary for being mean. His idea of artistic freedom was "just do it. If it makes money, do another one. If it loses money, you're fired". Some independent artists tried to adapt to life at the studios. Buster Keaton's experience with MGM ruined him. Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D W Griffin formed United Artists, but had no studio of their own. Samuel Goldywn retained a studio after the merge with Metro and Mayer. He saw himself as a showman like Ziegfield, his taste ranging from literary titles like Wuthering Heights and The Little Foxes, and vaudevilleans like Eddie Cantor and Danny Kaye. His famous blunder was Nana, an attempt to make Anna Sten the new Garbo/Dietrich and also present Zola to the American public. Amusingly Sten's fractured English was as imitable as Goldwyn's own malaproprisms. David O Selznick shared Goldwyn's taste in literature though his quest for control was without equal. Beginning at RKO then joining MGM when he married Mayer's daughter ("The son-in-law also rises" was the nepotistic quip) before forming Selznick International Pictures, his vision was as epic as the infamous memos to his directors. He had his own Anna Sten in his wife, Jennifer Jones, and though their efforts weren't as disastrous as Goldwyn's, he could never better the albatross success of GWTW. Warner Bros was the major studio run on a quickie's low budget, Jack Warner's motto being "keep it moving". The look is flat realism, the milieu urban. Warners was Edward G Robinson, Cagney, Bogart, Bette Davis and Rin Tin Tin. The Jazz Singer was a stunt that paid off. Warners is also backstage musicals with Busby Berkerley's kaleidoscopic formations, Depression-era socially conscious titles like I Am a fugitive from a chain gang, The Maltese Falcon, and Casablanca. Fox is 2 studios - Fox Film with Mary Pickford, Theda Bara, Will Rogers; and Darryl Zanuck's Twentieth Century Fox. Zanuck was bold. His Depression-era saviour was child star Shirley Temple. He liked blonde women and dark men - Alice Faye, Betty Grable, Marilyn, Victor Mature, Tyrone Power, and vaudeville interlopers, like The Ritz Brothers and Carmen Miranda. In response to WW2 his technicolour was garish. His humanist polemics like The Grapes of Wrath and The Ox-bow Incident led the way for Gentleman's Agreement and Pinky at the height of McCarthyism. Zanuck outlasted all the other moguls, and even had a second chance. RKO never had a mogul but was the distributor for independent producers like Pandro S Berman who made the early Katharine Hepburn. Selznick's success with King Kong enabled RKO's Astaire/Rogers series. Orson Welles made Citizen Kane, and Lucille Ball's Desilu saved it from the ghost town Howard Hughes had made. Universal and founding mogul Carl Laemmle had reactionary tendencies - Griffith directed Mary Pickford and the Gish's. Their big ones served their aesthetic - Showboat, Lon Chaney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, All Quiet on the Western Front. However things improved with Fritz Lang's film noir, James Whale's Frankenstein, WC Fields and Abbott and Costello. Later we have camp - Maria Montez, Deanna Durbin, Douglas Sirk's camp weepies, and the Rock Hudson/Doris Day comedies. The divestiture of the theatre chains in 1950 signaled the end of Hollywood's Golden Age, the bulldozing of the MGM backlots in the 1970's a metaphor for a lost era, though Universal turned their lot into a successful theme park.