Did you know that women were the first popular blues singers? Black Pearls explores the pioneering women who in the 20's changed the record instustry and music as we know it. Having read a few blues books by now, I found that portions in the introductory sections lacked the sort of awe-inspiring insight that makes for an excellent blues book. And my attention span had me skipping half-way through the chapter on lyrical analysis. Howvever, once I got to the sections that focus on the individual performers, this book excelled. There are many who seem hellbent on denying these particular women a hallowed place in the history of popular music (read Alan Lomax's brief dismissal of the classic blues era in his "The Land Where the Blues Began"), but Harrison's prodigious biographical and musical insights really open the door to a greater appreciation of the women she features. As a companion, I might suggest the cd "Classic Blues Women" by Rhino Records.

This monograph is typical of the short monographs in the SAGE series. It provides a gentle (light on mathematics) introduction to the topic with social scientists in mind. Some applications are presented and it provides a good list of references. It was written prior to the now popular book by Efron and Tibshirani and others that followed. At times it is overly simplistic in order to provide concepts without much mathematics. However, most of the descriptions are accurate. It provides an intuitive understanding of bootstrap, presents some applications, exposes the wide variety of potential applications, puts things in an appropriate historical prospective and briefly describes situations where the bootstrap fails. My book "Bootstrap Methods" published by Wiley in 1999 has many of the same objectives and features of this monograph. For a thorough and more recent account of the literature and more detailed examples see my book. Other books including Efron and Tibshirani (1993), Davison and Hinkley (1997), Hall (1992), Shao and Tu (1995) and Manly (1997) provide more detail, theory and mathematics. This book is good though, as a place to get that first quick and gentle introduction to the subject.

The search for treasure is what this book is all about. Treasure in the molly houses. Treasures of self-discovery on the road and independence. The politics of London were fansinating but I wish the narrator had stayed more in the background. I also found the ending wanting, but I did enjoy the book.

From Hollywood blockbusters to obscure, direct-to-video titles. From obvious, Las Vegas-lensed features such as _Casino_ and _Leaving Las Vegas_, to films shot in lesser-known locales, such as _The Shootist_, John Wayne's last picture, filmed in the area around Carson City, Gary DuVal's _The Nevada Filmography_ does a comprehensive job of profiling films shot in the state between 1897 and 2000. The book covers both films that used Nevada as a primary location, as well as those which shot only briefly in the state for brief sequences.

The book is arranged alphabetically by title, and each entry provides complete information on cast and crew, as well as technical information and production credits. Also included in each entry is information on the locale. There are five appendices that cover locations, chronological listings of the films in the book, awards the films received, an extensive listing of alternative titles, and films available on videocassette. There are also a number of black-and-white photos of behind the scenes moments on some of the films.

This is an interesting book, with a lot of good information and behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the films. For example, the entry for the original _Ocean's Eleven_ (1960) includes mention of the fact that Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack made the film during a two-week engagement at the Sands casino, performing at night and filming during the day: "all the Las Vegas scenes were completed during the Rat Pack's two-week engagement at the Sands, which made for very long days for the stars."

Unfortunately, not all entries are as informative. The careful attention to detail in the cast and crew information, material which could be easily researched using the Internet Movie Database, often overshadows a one-sentence mention of the locations where a film was made. And the extended anecdotes and notes are rather few and far between, reserved only for the highest profile pictures.

It is hard to gauge who the intended audience is for this book. It would most likely be of interest to Nevada libraries, for general or film reference collections. It would also be of use to any library with a comprehensive collection of film books or Western memorabilia. But the cover price probably rules it out for most general collections.

The plot is pretty typical of a 1970's romance, and has something in common with "The Last days of Pompeii." There's orgies, Vesuvius exploding, and lots of lecherous men drooling over our fair heroine, an incredibly unlucky girl named Lysandra who must get raped at least three times in the course of the story. But unlike "The Last Days" there's some really funny bits in it. I remember one hilariously funny cameo with the Emperor Nero, who queens it up better with his over-the-top histrionics better than Nathan Lane from "The Birdcage." I imagine the book should be read for that alone...

I cannot figure out why this book has such
a good reputation. As a beginning French
student I want to be able to easly find
the corresponding French/English-English/French
word, and the phonetic pronounciation.

I can't do either with this book.

When I find the word there are paragraphs
of text to wade through to find the many meanings.
Yes I know. There probably are many nuances and
meanings depending on context, but it's just too
much for my purposes.

Too many words; too little useful information.
This book is utterly worthless.

I am finding the English translations predominantly British and scores of American English words and expressions missing. I thought this was because I bought mine in France but my LaRousse pocket dictionary doesn't have the same problem. I am writing a series of books and use this constantly, hours and hours every day, and so I am further able to see a disturbing trend: the things females talk about, the words and expressions they use tend to be the shortest entries in the book! This is making my research very rough going since half my audience is female! This may be a function of the American vs. British thing; maybe British females aren't as fluent with psychology, for example, as American women... but I doubt it. Talking about emotions and relationships is a pretty globally female trend, yet many of the words describing these things are labelled "Psych", as though they are used only by professionals when in fact in the US they are part of the vernacular. This is forcing me to cross-reference three or four times to be sure I'm using the correct form of the word.

My next complaint is that the meanings are sometimes inaccurate. For example: the second connotation of the word "appreciation" is "gratefulness" and the onlyFrench word they supply is "reconnaissance." The sense "like, admire" is not addressed at all. There are many examples like this and I am not really sure to what it can be attributed but I can't imagine it would be a good resource for college students if it doesn't work for a writer.

This is my experience and I would love to hear an American provide some tips because I bought 2 versions of this brand!

"Harper Collins Robert French College Dictionary" has a rather long name, but that is the only big blame I have for it. It quickly opens the door at the request of any French enthusiast.
This well-compiled lexicon covers almost all the contemporary words that French natives use in daily conversations. It has a good structure, and its double-spaced outlay makes it easy to locate words. However, intending (American) buyers should bear in mind that this edition paid more attention to the Queen's English than it did to the American one.

Black Pearls is the first novel I've read that depicts what was going on in Hawaii during the 1880s. The story's characters were ok, but the hero Peter Darien was really controlling when it came to the heroine Rosalind. I think the book could have had a lot more romance and conflict.

To those Americans who need a car guide out there, this is most certainly not one to buy. Most of the information given in the book is purely speculative, and when real facts do pop up, they say little about the car, focusing mainly on the styling and engine of the car and little else. Also, the pros and cons sections of the reviews mean little, and some are meaningless ("Car has too many options! Car has a nondescript silhouette! Car's cupholders are too easily deployed! Car has indifferent tires!") (?!?)
And, to top it all off, their photo of the Acura NSX is a picture of the old model with Lamborghini headlights grafted on!
This book seems to convey the author's opinion over all else and offers the consumer little help in buying a car. Look elsewhere if you want a car-buying guide. The only good thing about the book is its lavish photographs.