Although not as thrilling as Hell's Angels and not as profound as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, F+L: on the campaign trail '72 does offer a brilliant analysis of the frenzied, unpredictable nature of American politics. With the McGovern/Nixon presidential race as its focus, this book gives the reader an insider's unflinching view of a year out with the candidates as they crisscrossed the USA. Unfortunately, Thompson takes some of the transcribed dialogue sections a bit too far and the inclusion of many irrelevant details was not necessary. The book should have been properly edited and cut down by about 100-150 pages. But having said that, the word for word transcription of an interview with George McGovern near the end of the book is priceless! What insight! The last 20 pages or so - the "Editor's conversation" - is also very good. If any foreigners want an understanding of the American campaign process, THIS IS THE BOOK TO READ. From no one but Thompson will you get such a realistic account. Gonzo journalism at its twisted peak, perhaps. Excessive at times, but worth the time and effort. Thompson's writing is more penetrating and entertaining than that of any tradional political journalist, period. Hell, you've got to give this guy credit. He's an original! The "football conversation" with Richard Nixon in New Hampshire and the "Sheridan"/Jerry Rubin incident on Muskie's Florida train are both hilarious!

As a Journalist Hunter S. Thompson is by no means impartial. Instead of striving to give an unbaised account of events around him, he writes thing exactly as he sees them. That's the whole point though. In a sense, it's also a large part of what makes this book so very interesting. Thompson doesn't give the reader a glossed over "Road to the Whitehouse" view of politics; his book gives the reader a chance to look at the underbelly of those fat cats who scramble for votes every four years. It captures one aspect of elections that most people don't even really think about. Instead of jumping straight into the Nixon-McGovern battle for presidency, Thompson begins with the primary campaigning. He focuses on the turmoil that occurs within a party when it is trying to choose a suitable candidate. In this case, he looks at all the various democrats who were rushing to face the incumbent: Nixon. Thus, we're allowed to look at the political landscape, and know who the primary and secondary actors are. It allows you to see how Muskey and McCarthy were important then in the same sense That McCain and Forbes are now. For me, this was the most valuable part of the book. However, the actual contest between Nixon and McGovern is interesting, and worth reading as well. Fear and Loathing on the campaign trail is twisted , and hilarious. At times (if not all the time), one wonders just how trustworthy all the accounts that Thompson is feeding you are --the unreliable narrator. However, whether you chose to believe him, or not, his passion for the political scene is unquestionable. For all of his drug induced ranting, Thompson has a certain profound nature about him. His knowledge of the political figures of the time is extremely impressive. I would recomend this book for anyone interested in the political process, or political involvement with the media. Through Thompson's coverage, you can see the profound effect that mass media has had on the porcess of electing the president of this country.

Outstanding!!! Once again, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson proves that his peculiar way of meeting deadlines and covering the story with nothing but dangerous substances in his head isn't a wacked job but instead pure stealth journalism. From riding with the Hell's Angels to talking football with Richard Nixon, Thompson has been part of those moments that stand out in American culture. He's written books like "The Proud Highway", "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Fear & Loathing in America", which have become icon classics of an era in American history that we will never see again. In "Fear & Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72", Dr. Thompson covers the 1972 Presidential Campaign for Rolling Stone, writing the story in highway motels, midnight coffee shops and dim airport bars throughout America for over a year. Only a journalist with Thompsons' character and high-speed lifestyle could cover a story like this with the gut-renching details that allow the reader to grasp the political reality behind a presidential election. After reading this book, it's impossible to ignore the concept of the political junkie because he lives in all of us. Or at least those of us who have some kind of understanding that we are not in all control of our own destiny, but elected public servants in their fifties who think they have a close idea of what we want. But what do we want? Who knows? But maybe this book will give some insight on how the political machinery works. Find out that votes aren't the crucial factor that elect a president, they are just another variable in a very complex equation. Just a rockin' good book. Dr. Thompson writes it as he sees it, which actually makes it even better for us. Maybe his rollercoster lifestyle might be a shock for most people, but when he gets his hands on a typewriter, the guy writes like an orgasm.

This is a collection of letters written from Hunter's Childhood up to his successful Hell's Angels book. The most interesting thing about this book is the immense difficulty he had selling his stories and the desperate poverty in which he lived for years as a struggling writer. I guess like all people I kind of thought that someone this brilliant was just embraced by literary circles, and any problems he had was because he was a drunken, drugged out, crazy freak who upset everyone who tried to help him. This was not the case.
Like many geniuses Hunter was so far ahead of everyone that he had to wait for them to catch up.
The humor is so funny that it almost impossible not to crack up on every page, even in the midst of terrible personal turmoil Hunter was one funny man.
ONE problem, I wish that there were more letters FROM the people he wrote to over the years. Some of the funniest moments were the letters he received from people over the years. More of those exchanges would have helped and made the book much more interesting. That is why it is not 5 stars. It is still worth reading. Especially if you want to be a writer.

I have just got through reading this collection of Letters and found it to be worthwhile reading. I received the book as a gift and was not aware of a Fear and Loathing Letters Volume. I found this to be a highway of following (if anyone possibly could) and watching Thompson grow as a writer. While at the Air Force Base working as an editor of the Sports Section, he wrote to his family and friends as well as ex-girlfriends. Probably because he was away from home for the first time.

As the years go on the more this book became more interesting. Between following all over this country we follow him to South America were some of his best articles came from. I have read Hell's Angels and The Great Shark Hunt and found this to tie in with those books. Through his consumption of Old Crow and god only knows what else, we see letters to LBJ, various magazine editors, and Mr. Semonin and start to see the Hunter we all know and love to come out. The thing that makes him "likeable" is his blunt honesty, since he calls them as he sees them. He is intelligent and knows a lot about everything. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read Thompson!

If anything this book offers a chance to see what makes this amazing mind tick!

Perhaps, as Hunter Thompson suggests in The Proud Highway, people really do take more of a liking to his letters and not his serious work. This statement is easily endorsed by the fine contents that surround it. This is the perfect book for a typical Thompson fan, a collection of eccentric one plus page letters that suit a person with a short attention span. His sylistic prose is best received in short bursts, such as essays, articles, and letters. The letter format also allows us to see the evolution and experimentation Thompson has endured in his life. This pre-gonzo collection is Thompson as himself, not the "Raoul Duke" character he has personified in the past. While Hunter seems incapable of writing anything unautobiographical, the fact remains he is far more qualified to tell this story than any hack biographer seeking to romanticize and sensationalize Thompson's myth for a profit. The Proud Highway tells Thompson's story in a much more engaging fashion than the biographies, though there is no lack of effort and emulation in any of these books. This book should be required reading for aspiring authors.

This is the very best math book I have ever read. As many other reviewers have pointed out, this book is an excellent source for UNDERSTANDING calculus!!! If you want to understand calculus, this book is an outstandingly excellent beginning. I studied calculus over 30 years ago as a math major. I currently teach mathematics and was absolutely stunned when I ran across this wonderful, beautful, lucid exposition of the differential and integral calculus. Dr. Thompson is surely ranked among the greatest math teachers of all time. Of course, Martin Gardner's revision simply increases the lucidity, joy and beauty of this mathematics classic. MUST reading for any literate and intelligent person, who wants to UNDERSTAND mathematics. There are tons of books that one can read in order to learn how to "do" mathematics, but Thompson's book is in a class by itself, when it comes to excellence in teaching mathematial understanding. I simply cannot find the words to describe the sheer joy and wonder I experienced while reading Calculus Made Easy!!!!

I'm going to be a junior in HS next year and take AP Calculus, but I got bored over the summer so I decided to pick up this book and learn some stuff to give me an edge next year. The first few chapters were very easy to understand and were written in plain simple language, but I got pretty hard when I started the chapter on finding derivatives of ln's and exponents. I spent like, a whole week on that one chapter before I finally understood. However, I hit a brick wall on the chapter about dodges, pitfalls, and triumphs (Integration techniques). This chapter is HARD HARD HARD!!!!!!! I'm still on this chapter; the first section of it is easy enough, but it got much harder on the second example of subsitution. Anyways, if you are going to buy this book, then be prepared to be stuck several times throughout the book! Oh and you need to have taken serveral years of math in order to get thru the book; I suggest taking a look at it AFTER you finish 2 years of algebra (Alg I and II), geometry, and Trig (The guy who said he read the book when he took geometry must be on crack or something because theres NO WAY a geometry student could understand this stuff (well, MAYBE the first few chapters, which are REALLY easy; it get MUCH harder from there), because geometry is BELOW Alg II and Trig, both of which are CRUCIAL to your understanding of calculus!) If you do manage to get thru the book, then it is VERY satisfying, and you'll learn a LOT, because calculus sort of ties up all your math up to this point; all that math that you have learned throughout all those years will finally come together!

I have been teaching Calculus for the last two years, and I just stumbled across this book a few weeks ago. What I found was a book that explains the philosophy of the subject in a very simple manner, making it easy to understand even for people who are not proficient in math.

The concepts in Calculus are really simple things; as Gardner puts it, "the universe seems to favor simplicity in its fundamental laws". But there's always the teacher's pride, which leads him to make it all seem difficult, expecting the student to be amazed at how much the teacher knows. Alas the true result is that the student is usually left confused, loses interest in the subject, perhaps gives up on a career that he/she otherwise would have succeeded in, etc. I know about this, because I am guilty of it myself.

I recommend this book to people who:

1. Are just learning calculus. The book uses easy-to-understand language, simple examples, etc. Read about the binomial theorem before reading this book, though.

2. People who want to grasp the essence of calculus, not necessarily for a college course. Easy, entertaining reading; as stated earlier, the philosophy of the subject is presented in a comprehensible manner.

3. Calculus teachers. Definitely a must! This book is a good example of how calculus should be taught. Though you may not draw totally upon it, having read through Thompson's book can give you a good idea on how to organize your course and how to explain fundamental concepts

This novel looks nostalgically at rural life in Iceland and regrets the effects of a market economy on rural people with simple wants and needs. The protagonist, Bjartur of Summerhouses, is an obstinate, reactionary, and sometimes cruel herdsman who nonetheless possesses fine perception. Through this book, we learn a lot about the ecology of Iceland (it's a nice place to visit but don't try to raise sheep there), Bjartur, his family, and the society he belongs to. Author Halldor Laxness makes you appreciate the difficulties these people face but can also make you laugh out loud when he satirizes Bjartur's neighbors and the local gentry. I was impressed with this book and read many passages to my family. Unfortunately, there are also parts of the book where not much of interest happens for what seems like 50 or 75 pages at a time. I'm tempted to say that this would have been a better book if it were shorter but then Laxness won the Nobel Prize for literature and I didn't.

I first read "Independent People" in 1996 after reading Brad Leithauser's essay in the "New York Review of Books." Leithauser's praise of the book and the author were so intriguing that I went to the library that day and found an earlier edition. I recently had the opportunity to read the book again, with Leithauser's essay serving as an introduction. A single reading cannot exhaust this outsize, obscure novel by the 1955 Nobel-prize winner from Iceland.

On a simple level, "Independent People" deals with the lives of the poor sheep grazers in Iceland early in the 20th Century. The hero is a farmer named Bajartur of Summerhouses who, after 18 years of working for another, the baliff, earns enough money to buy his own small farm. Bajartur's goal is to be independent and self-sufficient, to take what he earns and not take or give to others. In addition to this simple economic credo for independence. Bjartur is an "independent person" emotionally in his relationships with his wives -- he is twice married in the book -- his three sons and his daughter -- actually his first wife's daughter but not Bjartur's -- whom Bjartur names Asta Sollija the "beloved sun -lily" whom he refers to as his soul's "one flower." Much of this long, multi-faceted book involves Bjartur's relationship with Asta Sollija -- their estrangement and ultimate reconciliation.

Bjartur and Asta Sollija and their relationship frames but hardly exhausts this book. There is a picture of Iceland -- or of modernizing society in general with its conflict between farmer and town. There are long discussions of poetry and literature, of war, of politics, and particularly of philosophy and religion, see below. For all its length and seriousness, much of the book is funny, almost satirical in tone in the way it pokes fun at Bjartur and his intellectual and emotional limitations. The reader still comes to admire Bjartur for his fortitude and stubborness.

The book is timeless in character and the chronology is blurred. World War I plays a pivotal role in the middle of the book but the times before and the times after seem to be endless and undefined. There is something that is prototypical and archetypical about this book -- it is hardly an exercise in the realistic novel.

From a subsequent essay about Laxness by Brad Leithauser, I learned that Laxness was the kind of person generally called a seeker. This made me admire him and this book all the more and informed greatly my second reading. Growing up in a small, isolated nation, Laxness read exhaustively and put something of himself into his readings. He changed his mind many times during his life, being at various stages entirely secular, a socialist with perhaps communist leanings, and an adherent of various forms of Christianity. He took a rare delight in important ideas and showed an openness and fluidity to them that I find reflected in the themes of "Independent People." Most obviously, their is Bjartur's character with its emphasis on economic self-sufficiency and laissez-faire. This attitude leads to Bjartur's heroism but also his poverty, and it is contrasted artfully with the cooperative movemement and, implicitly, with a socialist approach to society in the early 20th century.

The book is pervaded by a strong spiritual tone. Bjartur for most of the book represents a position of independence and utter skepticism, but at key moments he does things not fully consistent with his stated beliefs. The book is framed by old Icelandic pagan legends and by spirits who are said to continue to haunt Bjartur's farm. We see various Christian ministers who in general are satirized in the course of the novel. But I was most impressed with the following erudite, and well-taken reference to Zoroastrianism, the religion of good and evil,which is alluded to many times during the course of the book and frames its story. In a moment of irony, Laxness puts the following speech early on, at Bjartur's first wedding, into the mouth of the bailiff's wife.

"I don't know whether you are aquainted with the religious beliefs of the Persians. This race believed that the god of light and the god of darkness waged eternal warfare, and that man's part was to assist the god of light in his struggle by the tilling of the fields and the improvement of the land. This is precisely what farmers do. They help God, if one may say so; work with God in the cultivation of plants, the tending of livestock, and the care of their fellow men. There exists no calling of greater nobility here on earth. Therefore, I would direct these words to all husbandmen, but first and foremost to our bridegroom of today: You sons of the soil whose labour is unending and leisure scanty, know, I bid you, how exalted is your vocation. Agriculture is work in co-operation with the Creator Himself, and in you is He well pleased." (p. 25)

I am intrigued by the repeated references to the "religion of the Persians" and to its appropriateness for the story. This quote,and its irony, reminds me of the sermon in "Moby Dick", a book which shares in its obscurity and in its questing character many of the qualities of this one. The speech shows the author's ability to adopt material from little-known traditions into his own ideas and work, and to make them live for the reader. It was one of the qualities that leapt out at me in my second reading of "Independent People."

This book remains a little-known masterpiece. It will reward those readers willing to take the time with it.

Haldor Laxness, the Nobel laurette and Icelandic genius, creates one of the most satisfying books with "Independent People." It is of such epic proportions and yet so earthy that one is continually struck by the dichotomy. The hero is a simple, poor farmer; he is not great, he will never be great (unlike Achilles who was great all his life). The landscape is so expansive and beautiful that it is hard to imagine a more magnificent scene, and yet this is also a land of hardship and famine and cold death. The book operates on so many levels that all one can do is bathe in its beauty and try to absorb as much as possible; whether the names (Asta Sollilja is exquisite), the land shapes, the farmers life, the love, the hate, the passage of time, the pressure of living an independent, free life, all of this deeply impress you upon reading the work. It is something I enjoyed, enjoy, and hope to read every year hence, so that I may enjoy the epiphanic revelations it provides.

If you are going to take any classes in calculus, this is the book to have to help you along. The authors put formulas and theoretical ideas that are definitely intimidating and down right scary into simple words with some very funny examples. It covers from how to approach your professor to what most likely will be covered on any test or exam you may encounter. This book is definitely a lifesaver when teachers fail to spend enough time on the theoretical ideas of calculus. The book is also well-laid out and flows from one topic to another in an order in which they relate to each other. This book helped me ace calculus and it will definitely help anyone struggling with calculus.

Bought this book to serve as a Calculus quick-review guide before embarking upon Calc III. Not only did it bring me up to speed on differential calculus topics, but showed me the usefulness of calculus which makes me appreciate it for the first time.

With this book, I've finally managed to grasp seemingly elusive concepts like related rates and gained a deeper understanding of fundamentals such as limits and derivatives. Before, I used to just plug in numbers into a formula without understanding what it really was that I was doing. Most textbooks will give you 2-3 pages of problems in a section and you will have to mechanically solve them. This book is different because it not only teaches you the how, but the why as well. The word problems are interesting and help solidify your understanding of the material.

This book will work best when supplemented with lots of practise problems. If you don't have a good textbook and solution manual, use something like Schaum's Solved Problems in Calculus. Like the authors say, the best way to study is by doing problems. Read the relevant section(s) in this book for understanding and then follow up with several related problems.

I would highly recommend this book if you need to review calc, are currently struggling with it, or plan on taking it soon. You'll also find it enjoyable reading it just for the heck of it. Right now I'm using "How To Ace The Rest of Calculus" in my Calc III course and it's remarkable how it makes seemingly complex topics look so simple.

I purchased both of the How to Ace Calculus books: "How to Ace Calculus : The Streetwise Guide," and "How to Ace the Rest of Calculus: The Streetwise Guide: Including Multi-Variable Calculus."

Here in Boston, I went to several large bookstores and checked out all the "Calc Help" books. The "How to Ace" books are infinitely superior to the others. As a matter of fact, it is a whole separate species of book. The authors have an unusual ability to explain in a style that is crystal clear, and they make the subject a lot more hospitable with their wonderful sense of humor.

Most math texts are written by Ph.D. mathematicians who have absolutely no empathy or insight into the difficulties that non-math majors like myself encounter when setting out to learn subjects such as calculus. As a result, their textbooks are about as pleasant as viewing the aperture of a colostomy.

I just hope that the authors bless mankind with future titles, such as "How to Ace Differential Equations and "How to Ace Linear Algebra." If they are so kind as to do so, I can assure you that the world will be a better place to live.

The Schlegel sisters are interested in the arts and in the more idealistic liberal social movements of their early 20th century world. The Wilcoxes are practical and materialistic. There seems to be little in common between the two families, but not even a highly embarrassing early amorous encounter can keep them apart. Poor Leonard Bast is as idealistic as the Schlegels, but encumbered by an unloved wife with a shady past, he has not their financial means to avoid dealing with the practicalities of life. Caught between the two factions, he eventually is crushed. Only Margaret Schlegel is finally strong enough to bridge the gap between the practical and the ideal by exerting her benevolent humanity, her passionate and yet controlled determination that people must "connect."HOWARDS END is a minor masterpiece, capturing perfectly the conflict between rigid Victorian values and the more free and open changes in the turbulent years before World War I. Forster handles his characters with great sensitivity and sympathy, yet with a subtle and skillful irony. The novel is not intended for rapid reading, but there is a felicity of expression that is an ample reward for careful perusal. Less fastidious than Henry James, not quite the equal of Trollope in characterization, a more subtle stylist than William Dean Howells, Forster combines some of the best elements of all three of these social chroniclers in an important work that is both highly personal and universal in scope.

I have read Howard's End two or three times and listened to it once on tape and it remains one of my favorite novels. Many people were introduced to it by the film, which, good though it was, does not begin to capture the subtle wisdom Forster put into this book. Howard's End can be seen as a quaint period piece about British culture in the early Twentieth Century. On another level, however, it's a brilliant exploration of the human soul. In the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes, Forster has created the perfect embodiment of the eternal conflict between reason and passion. These two families, destined to be united by the marriage of Margaret Schlegel to Henry Wilcox, represent two seemingly irreconcilable aspects of humanity. The Schlegels are artistic, intellectual and impractical; the Wilcoxes materialistic and unapologetically bourgeois. Margaret and Henry have their differences, but it is their relatives who display the more extreme family traits. Margaret's sister Helen is a classic bohemian; Henry's son Charles is a humorless and intolerant banker. As the novel unfolds, the two families are forced to confront each other and decide whether to ultimately part company or compromise. What is most impressive to me about the novel is the naturalness and grace with which the story unfolds. When an author uses characters to embody universal qualities, it is quite a challenge to make the people and story real and not merely symbols. Howard's End succeeds brilliantly as both a thoroughly engaging novel and a rather profound metaphysical inquiry.

Howard's End can be read again and again and again - and the reader comes away with something fresh each time. Like all of Forster's tales, it's concerned with the deep and petty differences in the various classes of English society, as well as economics and education, and how these issues come to affect personal relationships. Set in the early 20th century, Howard's End follows the two Schlegel sisters. Margaret, the elder, rather suddenly finds herself engaged, then married to Mr. Wilcox, a much older widower, a rather superficial and bombastic English gentleman. Meanwhile, her sister, Helen, becomes involved in politics, good works, and the attempted salvation of Leonard Bast, an impoverished clerk and intellectual. The ownership of Howard's End, the country estate of the late Mrs. Wilcox, becomes central to the story; the wrangling this bequest causes is a metaphor for the class struggles that weave like tangled braids throughout the whole of the book. The tragedy chronicled in the book is seen to have resulted from chance encounters, foolish pride, and petty misunderstandings.
A deeply sad and beautiful book.

At first I had a hard time keeping the many characters straight, but after I got into the story, I found it fascinating!! This is not your typical family of the 1950s, but the author does a great job telling the story and making the characters believeable. I found the book to be depressing at times, but I also looked forward to reading the next Ida Mae saga. It's obvious that the author loves country music - different strokes for different folks. I found this book to be very easy to read as I finished it in a day.

The 1950's! A white family adopting a black baby! I was prepared to say "hogwash" but the author spins a very believeable tale. The characters are realistic. The story grabs your attention and will not let go. Ida Mae has lots of drama and hardships but it is a book about overcoming obstacles just as ordinary people overcome day-to-day obstacles. Very well written.

I would recommend the book to friends and acquaintances to read.

The moment I began reading this novel, I was hooked. The contents and the characters felt so true to life--as if they were someone in my own life experiences. I especially liked the fact that, although she was raped, Ida Mae was able to pick up the pieces of her life and move on. Her adopted parents, who are white and Ida Mae is black, had a lot to do with her having a normal life, getting an education, and evetually meeting and marrying her soulmate. This book is very unpredictable and you must keep reading in order to find out all of the events that are about to unravel. The plot and the scenes are extraordinary and out of the ordinary. In 1998, when the world is still having racial problems, this book teaches all people a lesson on love for the person inside and not for the person outside. That is really love when a white man and woman adopts a black girl, whose mother dies at an early age, and rears her with their white son; and the father loses his life to right what he thinks is a wrong done to his adopted black daughter. A must read for any person (no matter what race).

First off, this review is of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle" published by Dover Children's Thrift Classics, $.... While most reviews might concentrate on the merits of the stories themselves, this review is meant to support the benefits of purchasing this particular edition over others.

That said, the first thing I would like to comment on is the price. You can't ask for more of a bargain that to pay less than a ... of America's most popular and well known Revolutionary War era stories. Great for anyone on a budget, or parents who want to expand their child's library but don't want to break the bank on something they may only read once. ....

Secondly, I would like to mention that this book contains BOTH "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" AND "Rip Van Winkle" in their respective unabridged entirety. Both are relatively short, entertaining, and easy-to-read stories that supply a great introduction to period literature, beliefs, and storytelling for children and adults alike. While these are not Washington Irving's only writings, they are perhaps the most well-known.

As a former teacher, I have the following suggestion: If you live in the New York metro area, this book would be an excellent jumping off point for a trip to Washington Irving's homestead, "Sunnyside", in Tarrytown, NY, for which you can find plenty of information online. There are several other "living history" sites in the area as well.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle" brings together these two classic stories by Washington Irving. The text of this Dover Children's Thrift Classic is accompanied by the whimsical illustrations of Thea Kliros. Both tales are set in the Dutch-American communities of rural New York State.

"Legend" tells the story of Ichabod Crane, a schoolteacher who lives in an area purportedly haunted by a terrifying spectre: a headless horseman. "Rip" tells the story of a farmer who has a remarkable paranormal experience while wandering in the mountains.

Each story explores the intersection of the supernatural with everyday life. The stories are full of vividly drawn characters and are rich with the local color of rural Dutch American communities. Issues such as folk beliefs, geography, history and oral tradition are well handled by Irving.

Irving's playful, earthy prose style is a delight to read. Passages such as a description of a Dutch-American feast are memorable. Funny, ironic, and poignant, these tales are true classics by one of the most enduring figures in American literature.

Will Moses' illustrated retelling of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow rivals Arthur Rackham's near century-old version as the best edition of the book ever published. The Rackham version, with its moody, archetypal illustrations, has the slight edge, as it contains Irving's full original text in addition to Rackham's spectacular artwork.

However, Moses's simplification of the narrative is masterfully executed, and the colorful, playful, and numerous paintings which adorn the book have a warm period charm of genuine Americana. Moses portrays the Hudson River Valley as a lush expansive valley not unlike the Garden of Eden on the first day of creation. Happy farmers, their wives and children, cows, geese, ducks and pigs frolic together amid fields of wheat and corn; galleons approach dramatically from the river; and the Catskill Mountains, sun, and sky suggested an infinite panorama and endless horizon full of promise.

The story tells us that the Dutch colonists were a superstitious lot, and that the Sleepy Hollow region itself was or seemed to be under a spell of some kind. The farmers and their wives suspected witchcraft; strange music was heard in the air; visions were seen; and the inhabitants themselves lived their lives in a kind of continuous dreamy revery. These tales and superstitions give rise to the legend of the headless horseman, said to be the ghost of a Hessian soldier who lost his head to a canon ball in the war, and now nightly prowling the region in search of it. Moses' nocturnal landscapes of the swamps, hills and the Old Dutch Cemetery under a bright harvest moon are particularly effective. Significantly, these stark, haunted landscapes do not violate the spirit of the book, but enrich its sense of wonder.

Moses' Ichabod is a cheerful but somewhat hapless fellow, confident and foolish in equal parts. His Katrina is a strong but innocent blond beauty, and a friend to children. Brom Bones is an appropriately square-shouldered, square-jawed hooligan, rowdy and full of mischief, if not absolute spite.

Anyone familiar with the tale knows that it is not a horror story but a folktale, a fireside spook story, and a 'legend' as Irving, writing here as Diedrich Knickerbocker, himself called it. This edition of the book is appropriate for children but is equally suitable for adults. Highly recommended.

Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys, by Dan Kindlon, Ph.D. and Michael Thompson, Ph.D., is a book that captures the emotional struggles of adolescent boys in this day and age. It was fascinating in many regards to learn of the issues that boys deal with throughout the second decade of their lives, and how they deal with them. Raising Cain describes how boys desperately need a "clan" throughout their adolescence to help them grow and mature into emotionally healthy men. The book greatly emphasizes the importance of both a boy's father and mother, why these relationships are so extremely significant, and how parents can and should go about maintaining the strongest possible relationships with their sons. The book also explains boys' tendencies to keep things bottled up inside instead of talking about them, this being due to a lack of emotional vocabulary and the inability to express feelings. Boys, therefore, tend to suffer in silence or release negative feelings through anger or violence. Raising Cain does a great job of explaining how and why such behaviors exist in adolescent boys and how parents, educators, and mentors can help them through these challenging times in their lives. Although the book is very insightful, Raising Cain tends to over-emphasize the differences between the struggles and obstacles of adolescent boys and girls, and at many times, seems to pit them against one another in terms of which gender has it harder. This implicit competition makes the book frustrating to read at times. Overall, though, Raising Cain is a tremendously educational book, both from a professional perspective and a personal perspective.

This extraordinarily insightful, easy to read book will benefit any parent or teacher of boys. As I read it the first time, I was amazed by how honestly, truthfully and succinctly it described the challenges boys face. As the father of two boys, this is my bible. It is a reminder to celebrate the spirit of young boys and watch out for ways in which that exuberance can be stifled by parents, schools and other children. Armed with the knowledge contained in this essential guide to raising boys, parents will have greatly improved their chances of having a close connection with their developing boy and ending up with a man who is emotionally whole.

This book may be of most value to women because it gives them insight into the lives of boys (and men) that are not otherwise available to women. For all the love my wife feels for our sons, she -- like all women -- has no first-hand knowledge of what it is like to be a boy. Instead, she (mis)interpreted our sons' behavior in light of her experience growing up as a girl, and by comparing it to stereotypes about boy behavior. This remarkable book gives women a unique opportunity to stand in their son's shoes and see the world from their perspective.

Raising Cain merits the highest recommendation.

As a colleague of Michael Thompson, co-author with Dan Kindlon of the forthcoming book Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys, I had the chance to read a pre-publication copy of the manuscript, and I recommend it highly. The book is well-written, engaging, informative, and thought-provoking. It is unusual for two pyschologists to write so well for the general public, without talking down to them and without being too academic. Raising Cain reviews the latest research about boys, gives rich and poignant anecdotes, offers a profound understanding of the depth of situation for boys in our society, and makes helpful suggestions for parents and teachers. Raising Cain covers a wide range of topics, from boys' emotional lives (the way they are untrained in reading and expressing emotions) to their early school years (which the authors refer to as "thorns among roses," referring to the way boys often fail to fit in or thrive in early elementary school) to the role of mothers (who try hard to stay connected to their sons in the face of overwhelming pressures on boys to separate) and the role of fathers (too often absent, at least emotionally, from the lives of sons). Another chapter discusses the fact that boys are more likely to be subjected to harsh discipline, and offers a variety of alternatives. There are also chapters on boys and romance, alcohol and drug use, depression and withdrawal. My favorite chapter, and the one that distinguishes this book from other recent books about boys, is on 'the culture of cruelty,' about what boys do to each other, espcially in early adolescence. Despite many efforts by paretns and educators, boys attack each other physically and emotionally, enforcing narrow definitions of masculinity and sexuality, leaving many boys scarred guarded, and lonely. The unique perspective of Raising Cain is that boys, for many reasons, impose these conditions on each other--it doesn't all come from the media or the broader culture. Several recent books have covered roughly similar territory, with a shared concern for the welfare of boys. Unlike Michael Gurian's book, Raising Cain rejects the idea that the 'boy-brain' is somehow ill-equipped to handle emotions. Though boys' biology does play a role, its contribution to boys clipped, withdrawn style is small compared to the role of socialization--boys are systematically pressured to shut down and shut others out. Unlike William Pollack's book, Raising Cain does not argue that mothers abandon their sons prematurely--rather, Kindlon and Thompson argue that the culture drives them apart, while most mothers strive mightily to stay connected, and keep trying even when they are confused and bewildered. Meanwhile, they describe boys having a 'hole in their soul' from their lack of a close emotional connection with men, starting with their fathers. I understand that Raising Cain will be available in early April--it is worth the wait.

This is really the only book you need to buy by Robert A. Wilson; his fiction is pretty awful (cardboard characters and self-referential plots drowning in footnotes); and all his other nonfiction works are the same repetitive rambling about the strange soup he makes of his favorites: Leary's levels of consciousness, general semantics, James Joyce, western philosophy (all of which he well understands), mysticism (which he does not) and Wilson's own mediocre interpretation of the philosophical implications of the quantum theory (he's an old-school copenhagenist). Cosmic Trigger has all that but much more; autobiography lends it a lovely basic narrative structure that is far more affecting than any of his silly novels, it has the phantasmagoric black-comic mood he fails to quite pull off in fiction, and of course is written in his usual direct, smooth, readable, and frequently hilarious prose style. If only he weren't from the foul "take more dope" hedonistic-materialistic school of consciousness and hadn't therefore been eating acid like candy when he wrote this, we might even be able to relate some of these events from his internal universe of perception to the external universe we share.

Robert Anton Wilson is one of the most forward thinkers of his time. Wilson's first book in this series leads you down his path of exploring the changes he underwent by using mind expanding drugs and experimenting with magick rituals. Wilson's storyline of his mind expansion intersects along the way with his real life and allows the reader an insight into what types of things were influencing his decisions as he probed deeper into this fantastical realm. The timeline shifts around but the reader is never dissatisfied. The second part of the book deals with the scientific basis behind his studies and those of other free thinkers such as Timothy Leary.

I first became interested in Wilson after reading the Illuminati trilogy. This book will only add to anyone's appreciation for that book and its author. This book provides some background into the events which are covered by the trilogy. In general, the Cosmic Trigger series begins with a bang. 4 stars losing one for the sometimes cryptic nature of the writing, but then again, that is RAW.

This was my first introduction to the writings of Robert Anton Wilson, at a time in my life when the limited, inconsistant, and ludicrous models of reality offered by the world seemed too limiting to bear. What Wilson offers here appears (in my reality tunnel) to be a look into the largely misunderstood philosophy of agnosticism, as well as his own experiences with love, sex, drugs, yoga, magik, life, death, and governmental corruption.

Does this review capture Wilson, or Cosmic Trigger I in its entirety? Of course not, and Wilson is fully aware that his writings and non-beliefs defy any catagorization (his books are very hard to find in retail stores). All I can offer is my uninformed opinion that there is no wiser, more humorous, and generally more interesting than Robert Anton Wilson.