This guide was wonderful and to the point. The authors certainly know there stuff. I would recomend this book to anyone wishing to travel to South Florida!!

i am the photographer and i have tried every recipe in this book and i rate them 5 star

This book and the journal articles on which it is based pioneer a new branch of statistics. The reader who is unfamiliar with semimartingales can think of them as a generalization of supermartingales, where the latter are roughly a sequence of variables whose means increase and such that each variable is bigger than its conditional mean (a conditional mean is the mean of one thing or variable with another thing or variable fixed). Intuitively, when you use semimartingales to approximate or model something in the real world, you are approximating its mean by a sequence of increasing or decreasing means or alternately both, keeping track of where and when the means increase or decrease inside the mathematics. This allows you to make fewer assumptions than usual about how the things that you are modeling behave, since roughly you only have to keep track of the means. This has an advantage over computer techniques now in common use such as linear and polynomial regression. This book shows that you can actually make statistical estimates for the unknown quantities in your model for large samples ("asymptotically"). The reader is cautioned that a somewhat parallel but interesting theory exists with conditional means replaced by logic-based probability (LBP) means, which is to say that division is replaced by subtraction and adding 1 to the result. The latter allows study of very rare events since it is defined when events have probability zero, and also other events of importance. See some of my reviews of other mathematics books or my articles abstracted on the internet at the Institute for Logic of the University of Vienna for LBP methods.

Jane Austen's classic novel PRIDE AND PREJUDICE begins with the oft-repeated line, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Paula Marantz Cohen lets her readers know, right on the opening page, that she is of a similar mind. "Take it from me," the book opens, "A nice widower with a comfortable living can be nudged into settling down by a not-so-young woman who plays her cards right." Her debut novel, JANE AUSTEN IN BOCA, takes the action and gentle intrigue of Jane Austen's 18th century country gentry and schleps them all the way to a Jewish "retirement club" in Boca Raton, Florida. In this club, dogs wear embroidered jackets because in Boca "many dog owners feel their pets should be entitled to enjoy an accessory now and then." It is a sweet and gentle look into the lives and loves of some pretty hilarious senior citizens. I'm way under 70 and about as WASP-y as they come, but I still liked it.

The central plot of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE concerns the very British Bennet family's attempts to marry off their five daughters and all the subterfuge and machinations contained therein. The first two-thirds of Cohen's book borrows fairly heavily from Austen's classic. All the main characters are here. Elizabeth Bennet is now Flo Kliman, a retired University of Chicago librarian, while Elizabeth's sister Jane shows up as May Newman, a softhearted widow. Mrs. Bennet is turned into May's daughter-in-law Carol, a woman who "was constantly striving to improve the lives of those around her, whether they liked it or not." Carol believes May is depressed and needs some companionship, preferably of the Jewish widower variety. She, like Mrs. Bennet, hopes to help her mother-in-law snag a live one, whether May likes it or not.

The man for whom Carol sets her cap (a turquoise sequined cap, I'm sure) is Norman Grafstein, a fellow Boca resident and acquaintance from back home. The courtship of these two septuagenarians is, of course, not a smooth road --- nor is the improbable but inevitable romance that develops between May's friend Flo and Norman's friend Stan, the Elizabeth and Darcy of the book. In a portrayal of retired life that is neither overly sentimental nor tragic, Cohen allows her characters to be real people who enjoy and embrace life. The men, especially, view their retirement as a second youth. Feel free to insert your own Viagra joke here. The women form remarkably close friendships with each other --- and at times, it sounds more like they are all kids away at summer camp than in their "twilight years."

Like Jane Austen, Cohen has a flair for observations and dry humor. Carol, who is a force of nature, is seen by May as "the incarnation of a good fairy in the guise of a suburban yenta." On noticing another friend's "unusually extensive cleavage," Flo thinks, "breasts, beyond the age of forty-five, she took to be assets best kept under cover. Flo was distinctly in the minority among her peers in Boca Raton, however, where cleavage was as common as Bermuda shorts and often worn with them." Cohen's story is much less pointed than Austen's. Her characters may be fools, but they are well-meaning fools. The plot moves quickly, as one might expect with a novel that weighs in at only 258 pages, but one has plenty of time to get to know the characters and to root for them as they find much deserved happiness.

In EMMA, another of Jane Austen's classics, she writes, "Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced and the inconvenience is often considerable." Cohen must have taken this advice to heart, as the reader will probably see the end coming a mile away. It may be predictable and fluffy, but JANE AUSTEN IN BOCA is satisfying, like a nice chewy bagel or maybe some mandelbrot or some kugel or a sweet piece of rugelach. Maybe my next book should be a cookbook.

--- Reviewed by Shannon Bloomstran

This is a rare book in modern fiction. It has an elusive element that many authors seek but few attain: it has charm.

Jane Austen in Boca is a Pride and Prejudice novel set in a modern-day Jewish retirement residence in Boca Raton. Unlike many efforts to borrow Jane Austen's plot lines, this book successfully translates the plot into its setting. The characters are witty, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, but always interesting. Even though I knew perfectly well how it had to come out, I read as though I were in a genuine state of suspense. In other words, the book lured me into its world and into the minds of its characters with enormous success. If only life were really like this!

This book is a delightful read. It is elegantly written and beautifully paced. Without Jane Austen's acerbity, it was nonetheless both compelling and comedic (in the classical sense of the term). I look forward to more fiction from this author.

Author Paula Cohen has created a memorable cast of characters in this, her first novel. Because the story is based on Austen's Pride and Prejudice, the fate of its characters is hardly a mystery, but Cohen has a sharp eye, writes with charm and humor, and has transported Austen's classic plot to a very entertaining setting -- the senior centers of Boca Raton, FL.

Three friends -- May, Flo andLila -- reside at Boca Festa, and during the course of the book they each experience romance -- with complications. Even smaller characters are written with complexity and fun. This was a very entertaining read and I was sorry to see the end of these characters.

A nice book but I would have liked it alot more if more of the
photos were of the actual recipes. Very few reflect recipes in book. I have not tried many recipes yet, this is my first impression. It just seems a little over-done and not as easy as
most cookbooks to sort through.

I love this cookbook. Because not only is it about cooking, but about entertaining as well. There are great menu suggestions and even decorating tips on making the occasion more enjoyable.

The recipes are wonderful. Your guests will go away very satisfied.

I highly recommend this for any one who loves to cook and entertain.

I bought the cd-ROM version and it works really well,simple,user friendly,with beautyful recipes well explained,stunning suggestions to make every occasion unforgettable and good pictures.Really worth having it in my home!An example I liked better, the suggested tea-party :really something different!