I don't normally read romance novels but I was marooned (so to speak) on an island and the only book available in English was "Passion's Tempest." I was pleasantly surprised by the well written and seemingly historical accurracy (I am a history major) of this novel. It was also an interesting and exciting story which I could not put down. The characters were very real, interesting & memorable. I would compare this novel to "The Thornbirds." I have tried to find other books by this author but have been unsuccessful. I highly recommend this book even to those who feel they are intellectually above reading so-called "romance novels." This is definitely not your usual romance novel.

A kid nearly burns alive in a New Zealand volcano, but for the nimble heroics of our fearless tour guide. Great stuff.

Schipper is one of the few of European descent to ever become an ordained Taoist priest. This gives him a unique view on some of the history and practices of Taoism but there are some caveats to be noted.

The book provides a good contextual overview of many facets of the culture that gave rise to Taoism. Schipper makes a number of interesting points regarding the general culture and Taoist practices including the so-called 'bedroom manuals'. Also included are some good points about gender issues and Taoism as well as his take on some of the Taoist legends and past masters. There are short chapters outlining Qigong and the practice of cultivation which include some very good (although short) translations of some of the more famous Taoist canons. There is also a great overview of the whole cereal abstinence debate as well as some thoughts on Taoist external alchemy that I found quite interesting. There is a good (although too short, IMHO) overview on Taoist hermits and why the took to the mountains.

All of this is presented in quite a scholarly manner, more in line with a true reference book than many others available right now. This is both good and bad, in my opinion. That is, we should remember that "the Tao that is spoken of is not the true Tao". Schipper needs to be taken with a large 'grain of salt' since obviously his 'version' of the Tao is dependent on his master's lineage. There is a reason there are so many 'flavours' of Taoism and that has to do with the fact that, ultimately, cultivation is an extremely personal past time!

So there are many aspects that are missing and possibly misleading here. Bigu (or even fasting) is not really mentioned, probably because it is not part of his sect's way. His overview on 'bedroom manuals' is interesting but that is not to say it is the 'truth' - answering something like that is ultimately a personal journey and all the spoken and written material is ultimately just a finger pointing at the moon. The same goes for everything else in the book - just one man's opinion. If he is truly practising the Way and cultivating daily then I suspect he will need to rewrite this book every year (or few months).

Anyway, definitely worth reading and some good ideas. As always, your focus on practice will ultimately determine your path.

Having studied Taoism under an orthodox Taoist priest in China, I found this book an excellent comprehensive introduction. I highly recommend it to all academic students, researchers, and serious practitioners of Taoism.

The author of the Daoist Body, Kristofer Schipper, is one of the few non-Chinese to have completed a Daoist apprenticeship. In this book, Schipper gives us a glimpse of the reality of religious Daoist practice, as distinct from speculative academic Daoism, which has largely dominated English-language literature on Daoism.

Schipper eloquently describes many facets of Daoist practice and cosmology. Indeed, the Daoist Body is a fitting title, since Daoist cosmology concerns itself with reconciling the inner environment of the body with the external, natural environment as the basis of spiritual practice.

Schipper dispels many of the myths around Daoism that arise in Western discussions of Daoist materials from a superficial reading of Daoist texts and a general lack of connectedness to living practice. For example, Schipper illustrates how most of the supposedly Daoist "bedroom manuals" have little to do with religion or spiritual practice, and were even deemed harmful by Daoist practitioners.

Of course, this book is not exhaustive, but Schipper's insights and observations into Daoist history and modern practice are fascinating. Anyone interested in discovering the cultural context of Daoism, long ignored by Western writers, will cherish this insider's look at Chinese religion and cosmology.

essentially this book hopes to fill a space in bukowski history previously unfilled, or merely touched upon, which is buks relation to the beat writers which he frequently gets lumped in with. the book touches on connections as well as differences, and does it fairly well. the author refers to many book titles which he referenced to write the book, some of whose validity could be debated i'm sure. i noticed an error here and there such as neal cassady's prison time being served at san quentin, not alcatraz as the book states, also what may be a simple proofreading error of referring to william reich's research, which is actually wilhelm reich of orgonomy fame. the interview at the end of the book between the author and buk makes for an excellent read, and gives strength to the book overall.

Sun Dog Press did a terrific job! It is obvious that lots of love went into putting this book together, from the exceptional cover photos (the one of Buk is one of the best ever!), design as well as what's inside. Credit also goes, of course, to the author: Jean-Francois Duval. Written in French and translated--although it does not read like a tranlation; it is that well done. Smooth and truly professional.
While Buk was alive he liked to poke fun at The Beats (he liked to put down Kerouac's writing, as well as Burrough's--well, the truth is On The road is a well-written novel and a modern classic, and the same could be said of Burrough's Junkie. So here, within these pages, you get to know something about The Beats--if you're new to all this. Worth buying for your library, even though the Buk interview also appears in the Daniel Weizman tome Drinking With Bukowski. Thanks to all involved!

Lastly, I found out recently that John Martin (Buk's publisher)
sold Black Sparrow Press...am still reeling from the shock...but then I thought what a terrific book idea, to have Martin write a book ( or have someone else do it for him) all about Black Sparrow, how it got started, how he met Bukowski and made it happen. That would complete the entire picture. People like myself would be interested in reading a book of this type. John Martin, to me at least, has always appeared to be this mysterious figure in the background, behind Buk's success...and I, for one, would love to know how Martin and his wife made it all happen: the early struggles, and finally the acclaim, success; all of it.

Bukowski and The Beats gets five stars! You bet!

I enjoyed this book a lot. I think Jonathan Kirsch is perfectly right when he writes in The Los Angeles Times Book Review of Sunday, June 2: «Bukowski and the Beats» is full of affection and admiration for Bukowski, but Duval brings a sharp edge and a smart take to his work, which is composed of biography, literary criticism and cultural history in equal measure». As an echo to Kerouac's lyrical motto «the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk», Bukowski states: «Thank the gods that the first 50 years of my life were spent with the Blue Collars and the truly mad, the truly beaten.» However, Bukowski was a beneficiary of the Beats in more than one sense, as Duval points out. «Bukowski and the Beats» is also great fun, for instance when it shows Bukowski joining a 1974 Beat tour that featured Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti and Gary Snyder. The book also contains photos I had never seen, and one of the best interview with Bukowski that I have ever read.

This is one of the best concise French-English / English-French dictionaries available. It is small enough to be portable while large enough to be complete. The dictionary lacks a fair bit of culinary and other specialty vocabulary, but I don't expect such minutiae from a dictionary this size. Entries are easy to read, and phrases are not difficult to find. The Webster's New World is my primary foreign language dictionary, and I am rarely disappointed by it.

Excellent dictionary. Includes international phonetic alphabet (IPA) transcriptions as well.

Although, I am always looking for a better dictionary, I have been very pleased with this one. It rates better than the larousse, which is also a good dictionary. The other dictionaries should not even be consulted...I think the french department at OSU recommends this one. It does matter what dictionary you are using. What I like about this one is that it seems to be equally french and english rather than just an english perspective on French. Therefore it is easier to translate back and forth rather than in just one direction, presumably French to English.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Edwards' first autobiographical book, we were pleased to learn there was a sequel. This proved even more interesting than the first. It was fun to read, with the kind of adventures few young people would experience today, and each teaching a useful lesson for living a moral life.

It was indeed an outstanding surprise to read the powerful and charming biographical books written by Duval Edwards: "The Great Depression" and "The Senator and the Runaway Teenager". Here you have an exemplary life: a fighting soul, a hard-working boy, a lawyer, a soldier, and a father. These are the role models that America needs, not the phony material that the media presents as examples to our youth. Duval Edwards represents the best that America has to offer to the world - a poor young man, coming out of poverty through hard work, stamina, ingenuity, and good use of the mind.

My feeling is that these two books (which, by the way, make very easy and pleasant reading) should be in the Must Read list in every intermediate and high school in the country. They are extremely inspirational. Thanks Duval.

Raul Bravo, Professor of Mathematics

While this book has great definitions, a nice font so everything is easy to read, the section on verb forms is a little lacking. Since irregular verbs are probably the hardest part of this language, I didn't feel it was a good idea to put all the irregular verb tenses in a very simplified table form with just the verb endings. You really need to see the entire verb spelled out properly. This may not bother everyone, but it did me.

For a person who is hungry for words, this is THE dictionary to opt for. The umpteen entries make this dictionary the most sought-after bilingual dictionary to look up for new words. The additions of recent words, which have made an entry into French, make this a contemporary dictionary of the French language. This would have proved to be the best in all possible ways if only the manner in which the skeleton has been structured was more pragmatic. One would be dissatisfied after futilely looking up in the dictionary to find how to express certain expressions native to an English user like "receive a proposal" et al. If only this dictionary had been more user-friendly (by drawing heavily from corpus) like Oxford-Hachette is, it would have been an indispensable tool.

I wholeheartedly agree with those who say that this particular dictionary is THE French dictionary for students of French (and French enthusiasts). Not only is the vocabulary comprehensive, but the usage notes are invaluable; symbols indicate British versus American usage, the "slang quotient" of a word, and archaic and colloquial words, among others. The entries are full of examples that make it very easy to find out exactly how to use the word in context. There is also a special "Language in Use" section in the middle for particular cases, especially idiomatic phrases. The pronunciations are in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), with guides in English and French. Highly recommended!!

Although I enjoyed the story itself, this deluxe edition really didn't do anything for me. The book is 9.5 x 13 which makes it awkward to handle, hard to read and difficult to store. Fernando Duval did the illustrations and are alright at best. Supposed to be limited to 1000 copies. Hard to believe it is still available since it was published 8 years ago. The book is autographed by Duval but not numbered. Not that it would make any difference. Overpriced, stick to the regular hardbound edition unless you are into odd-sized books.

The only reason I actually purchased this particular book was that I found it in an old comic book store for half price. I have always loved this story. However, the size of this book makes it akward to store on your average bookshelf. The artwork is ok, but nothing to get overly excited about.

After finishing "At the mountain of madness" is not difficult to understand H.P Lovecraft's own vision of the world. A vision which by no means can be considered demented or uncanny. The idea of an old civilization thousands of million of years before mankind is something that may seem fantastic to some but no one can deny completely. This is the whole theme of Lovecraft's stories and this is what keeps them so interesting and at the same time so appealing. I would recomend this book to anyone who is not completely convinced of the story of the world that books like to tell. The oldest fear of mankind is fear of the unknown, fear of the OLD ONES...

I've been avidly researching George Parr as a topic in political science for some time now, and I find this book very dissapointing and upsetting. This is not a history book. This book was written by a man who was personally involved in a ideological battle against George Parr, and says many things that aren't true. He obviously knew all the details from memory, because he didn't cite any sources for his information. The captions for the pictures in the book are extrememly ridiculous. A picture of a dirt road is supposed to convince readers that George Parr kept the people poor. This is silly. If you talk to anyone who lived in Duval County during that time, you will find that he took care of everyone, and everyone loved him. Duval County actually had one of the better school systems in Texas during his reign, and according to one woman "he was our Robinhood." Political scandal, yes. Humanitarian, yes. Good book, no. I hope no one believes everything they read.

This book is an outstanding journal of the "Duke of Duval"
George Parr. Parr had made his mark on history by determining
the final outcome of the 1948 Senate election in Texas. Thanks to
his efforts Lyndon Johnson emerged the winner by an 80 vote margin. This book details how George Parr was finally brought to
justice. You have details of the investigation that resulted in the sucessful prosecution of The "Duke of Duval" and several of
his associates. The details of his downfall will prove to be very
interesting. You will also understand the dominant role that the
"Duke of Duval" had in Texas politics. This is an excellent read.
You will not be dissapointed.

The Duke of Duval reigned supreme in his South Texas domain in the 1930's while I was in early school years in Corpus Christi, Texas near Duval and Jim Wells Counties. Many people knew what was going on in Duval County since businessmen from Corpus Christi, including my father Clinton E. Smith, CPA, interfaced with George Parr's regime in their normal business dealings.

I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Clark, the author of The Fall of the Duke of Duval at a book signing event at the small library at San Diego, Texas on March 2, 1996. Several hundred copies were signed that day. Mr. Clark's short message was to recognize and help prevent it all from happening again. While at the event, I had occasion to talk to the current Mayor of San Diego, TX and he quietly said to me about the book, its only the tip of the iceberg.

George Berham Parr changed U.S. history by orchestrating a vote fraud that caused Lyndon B. Johnson to become a U.S. Senator and later a good candidate for Vice President with Kennedy to help get southern votes. Many Texans never thought of Johnson as presidential material and after two Kennedy terms LBJ would have been too old to run effectively.

But The Duke of Duval made it happen, leading eventually to LBJ's starting programs that today have been bloated by beltway politicians until they are about to bankrupt the country and destroy our culture.

The speech in Mr. Clark's book, delivered by Mr. Josh Groce, a San Antonio attorney, should be MUST reading for any student of history.

... only Pascal or Descartes could possibly have understood it at the age of eight. This book is for mathematicians, in particular, those who are "into" polyhedra and similar topics in geometry.

This is NOT a children's book. It is written by a mathematician for people interested in mathematics, geometry and the complexities and mathematical beauty of polyhedra.