This book is about the author's story regarding her Ataxia disease. I become very knowledgable about this disease when my doctor tells me I have it. I find a lot of similiar things happened to me the author described in this book. Also, there are a lot of helpful tips and suggestion near the end of this book to help me cope with this disease. And it is quite comforting to know how other people deals with it.

It was comforting to read about the trials that another individual has had to deal with over the course of the years since being diagnosed. I too am affilicted with this dis-ease, several other neuro-diseases as well as being a disabled Veteran. I have kept journals but have not shared them with anyone other than close family members. Ms. Hamilton has helped me to take a step, so to speak, toward getting my experiences out in the open. Thank you Ms Hamilton for your courage and determination. I empathize with you on so many levels.

Pat does a very good job in describing her life and how it was to live with a debilitating disease such as Ataxia. In it, she also describes how she went about applying for social security and the barriers she had to overcome--a very good book for those facing challenges or diseases (not just Ataxia) and how to overcome them. It is also a good book for anyone wishing to understand what a person with a disability has to go through to succeed in life--a very good book

It was very exciting. Once I got started I couldn't put it down. I have started reading all of the Star Fleet Academy Star Trek The Next Generation books. This is a must for any Star Trek fan.

I am now 13 years old, and I still read this book (even though most of the time I read novels). It is an excellent book that any young Trekkie should have in his/her collection. Read it. You'll like it. :-)

This book is very appropriate for the stated reading level. It is very beautifully written and is most probably the best of the series. I enjoyed the intricate use of various phrases and how the plot slowly developed to allow the protagonists to overcome any difficulties that they faced. If you read this book, I would suggest other books by the same author. The style persists.

As you would expect, the Complete Works contains all of Donne's well-known poems. Many of these and several of his lesser known pieces are absolutely brilliant works. But there are reasons why all of Donne's habeas corpus isn't wildly popular, and the Complete Works allows you to find those reasons for yourself. If you really want to study Donne, by all means buy this. If you're looking for old favorites, a book of selections will spare your wallet, shelf, and time.

Was Donne a crude versifier, or a more precise craftsman than the Milton- and Dryden-influenced poets who largely rejected his style? I would argue the crudity was part of his precision. The crudeness I refer to is his frequent use of harsh rhymes and the jarring and uneven rhythms in his meter. Dryden smoothed these out, which is commendable, but later poets, steeped also in Milton's grandeur, had a difficult time getting to the subtle cracks of meaning and music Donne was able to reach in his bumpy, coarse lines. I regard him as the equal of any other English poet, for the exactness and depth of his expression, but I leave it to you to find out why. And there is no better place than this inexpensive hardcover edition in the Everyman's Pocket Poet series. It includes all the important poems-- the love poems, the satires and the epistles-- and a nice selection of prose. As with the rest of the series, we are relieved of any introduction or explanatory notes, which I feel bog down the poetry and distract us from what matters (namely, the poetry). One can then read other books to explain the literary allusions, the historical context, the archaisms and variant spellings and so forth. Part of the joy is simply dwelling in these words, without worries of critical debate and other factors that are the domain of Poetry 101. Simply buy this book, open the cover, and live in the words for the rest of your life (placing the pretty cloth bookmark between the pages when necessary). [Note: I am not referring to the Everyman edition of Donne's complete English poems.]

In my humble opinion, Donne was the greatest of the English poets. The sublime combination of the rhythms of human speech and classic meter, the eroticism of lyric, the passion that stirs within...Donne had no equal when it came to poeticism.

Shakespeare, Shakespeare...you hack! There is a lot owing to this master poet. Let us recognize him; he is more deserving of our adulation.

DEEP RIVER is about much more than a Missouri bottom-land farm, although that farm and the author's family who worked it are central. Hamilton delves back in time to the days of Indian tribes and of slavery, and along the way spins some great stories about Frank and Jesse James, Blind Boone (a virtuouso pianist), and other colorful characters. He gives a memorable account of growing up in rural Missouri and of his school days. I found the book absorbing, and relished the author's shrewd insights and morsels of wisdom. It's the nearest thing to Thoreau's WALDEN I've seen in a long time, and it too deserves to last. Not incidentally, Hamilton, for many years the editor of THE IOWA REVIEW, writes like a dream.

I can't recall ever reading a memoir similar to David Hamilton's Deep River. I don't know if that's because I've just haven't read the whole range of this kind of literature or because his book is unique. What I do know is that I enjoyed it, that I found myself reading it again, that it is beautifully written and that it is still kicking around inside of me.

The book is not organized around any immediately recognizable principles. Yes, all right, there are sections where Hamilton leads us to believe that he is now going to concentrate on the issue of slavery in western Missouri, or on the movement of pioneers through western Missouri, or the Civil War as it affected western Missouri, as well as, of course, on his memories of growing up on a farm next to the Missouri River. But the problem is, or perhaps I should say, the delight for the reader is, that all these various themes keep slipping into one another, folding in and folding out, forming a kind of fabric. The reader starts with one thread and then is diverted to another, and then another, until he meets the first thread again, now somehow changed.

Contradictions abound. Hamilton's careful scholarship is hedged with cautions than none of these "facts" may be supported by careful scholarship. He floods us with handed-down stories of the region, but asks us the question: How is he to compose a readable book except by choosing the most readable stories -- whether they are true or not? His detailed, graphic and beautifully written accounts of how he learned to hammer a nail, dig a fence post hole or which objects his uncle carried in the back of his pick-up truck, are set against a sweeping historical and pre-historical panorama that takes us back past the Missouri Indians to possible evidence that this land was inhabited by humans 35,000 years ago.

And on and on. Although I have read nothing else of Hamilton's (he is a professor of English literature at The University of Iowa and the editor of THE IOWA REVIEW), I suggest that this book can most successfully be approached as poetry writ large, and in reading it, above and beyond its engaging parts, we are being offered Hamilton's very personal take on the nature of reality.

A very interesting book. Thoughtful and fun. Amazing sentence structure - I do not remember reading anything quite like it - it was rather refreshing. I note that the author is a Prof. of English at U of Iowa - I do wish I had had someone like him teaching fourty years ago. Hope we see more of his work.

This book was my first in-depth introduction into the intricacies of the Viet Nam War. I feel like I've only scratched the surface of this monolithic subject.

In the final chapter, Mr. Bui lists the main reasons why the war was so unmanageable and why the US (and coincidentally S. Viet Nam) eventually lost it. The reason listed last (the problems resulting from US intervention) is the focus of his book.

"The South Vietnamese people, and especially the South Vietnamese leaders, myself among them, bear the ultimate responsibility for the fate of their nation, and to be honest, they have much to regret and much to be ashamed of. But it is also true that the war's cast of characters operated within a matrix of larger forces that stood outside the common human inadequacies and failings. And it was these forces that shaped the landscape on which we all moved."

"First...was the obduracy of France, which in the late forties insisted on retaining control of its former colony rather than conceding independence in good time to a people who hungered for it. Second was the ideological obsession of Vietnam's Communists. Not content with fighting to slough off a dying colonialism, they relentlessly sought to impose on the Vietnamese people their dogma of class warfare and proletarian dictatorship. Finally came the massive intervention by the United States, inserting into our struggle for independence and freedom its own overpowering dynamic. These three forces combined to distort the basic nature of Vietnam's emergence from colonialism, ensuring that the struggle would be more complex and bloodier than that of so many other colonies which achieved nationhood during mid-century."

In this book, you definitely will get a S. Vietnamese diplomat's point of view. I was hoping for more on the common man's outlook, the characteristics of the Vietnamese people themselves, and the demographics of the country, but it is not provided at all in this tome. I think this would have done a lot to make the actions of the S. Vietnamese government understandable, if not excusable.

Also, another weakness of the book is that Mr. Bui is always quick to point out American missteps, but rarely expounds on S. Vietnamese imperfections. For example, he writes that one huge problem was corruption. But he never fully elaborates on the nature of this corruption.

The story is easy to read except for when you start to get towards the end. The reason being that no more new insights will be given, and you already know what the disastrous outcome will be.

"In the Jaws of History" is most valuable for Bui Diem's account of his early years in the North, when the "great dilemma in the lives for all nationalists was coming to a head". Nationalists saw collaboration with the French as "repugnant", but then so was "giving the nation ... over to a future ruled by Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap, and the Indochinese Communist Party" who were then murdering nationalist leaders in Hanoi and along the Red River. Giap's role in the purge of the nationalist Dai Viet and VNQDD needs to be kept in mind by those who tend to accept as fact the popular communist myths woven around its leadership figures. "In the Jaws of History" is perhaps best read along with Bui Tin's memoirs "Following Ho Chi Minh: The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel".

This book offers a compelling and fascinating read. The perspective is one we don't see in most of our histories of the Vietnam conflict: the view of a South Vietnam nationalist who tries to save his nation from the Communists. The absence of bitterness, the appraisals of both the weakness and strength of his South Vietnamese compatriots, his views on the American intervention: all are fascinating.

Overall, this is one of the best books I have ever read about the conflict: it's right up there with Stanley Karnow's well-regarded book.

This is a wonderful book with many illustrations. There are extensive patterns, wonderful details, could go a little more in-depth with the patterns and have a little more variety of Victorian clothing. A wonderful book, it is a must for the heirloom sewing library!

I have now tried most of the patterns in this wonderful book, and even with my limited sewing skills, I have been very pleased with my results. I have particularly enjoyed the tips for constructing clothes without patterns. The simple smock dress idea works well for my Ginnys, as well as for my composition baby dolls and small antique bisque dolls. I'm looking forward to learning to make hats and purses. I have a stack of old leather gloves just waiting to be made into the darling shoes pictured in the last chapter of the book.

The book is a must-have for anyone wanting to sew reproduction clothing for dolls.  This book includes wonderful color plates of the antique dolls chosen for the study.   You can clearly see every detail of the wardrobe.   There are many underwear items included : corsets, hoops, bustles, etc.   There is a large detailed explaination of each dress, listed by the color plate.   Then, there is a large section which not only tells you how to sew a duplicate of the original, but which includes much useful information about the period of time the dress represents.  Finally, there is a wonderful bibliography and an excellent section on how to hand sew the items, carefully detailing descriptions of each stitch used.

If you like stories about the hardships of a teenage girl, then you'll like this book. This book jumps around a lot and does not stary in order of events but it is still pretty good. The reason for all the jumping around is because the events are memories of Arilla, a 12-year-old girl. Arilla trys to find herself but can't because of her older brother Jack Sun Run. Arilla is always in her brother's shadow and she can't stand it. But at the end of the book that all changes. Arilla becomes the one on center stage. As she saves her brother's life she realizes that she had finally found her self, and all it took was a little time.

If you like stories about teenager's struggling with difficulties in life that you learn from, you will love this book. This book does not go in chronological order it is told in little snippets of a little girls memory. Arilla who is trying to find her identity but is held back because of her crazy brother and being interracial. Her mother is African American and her father is Indian, so she wants to have an Indian name to show her place in the Indian community. When she goes to visit her father's family, she is called Moon. Ordinarily, she lives in the white community, but people talk about her family because they are interracial. She is trying to live a normal 12-year-old's existence until an accident happens that will forever change her life. Her brother Sun is wounded badly when he falls off horse they are riding together. She must save him and all the while she is saying Arilla, Sun is down on the ground.

Read this intriguing, heartwarming, exciting, powerful, meaningful selection, and it will show what love, hate and life is really all about.

Arilla Sun Down is the Virginia Hamilton book I reread the most. I read it first when I was a teacher of seventh graders; I read it when my children were in seventh grade; I always read it when I give book talks about children's books; I read it also when I am working with Native American books with students. I often read it aloud with students just to get them involved in it; the first part is a little different from most books; I like the way the words flow. Kids like the sibling rivalry of Arilla and her brother. I like the fact that Arilla comes from a home in which the mother is Native American and the father is African American--the bi-racial aspect. It's hard to find books with interracial families; this is one of the few and one of the best--if not the best. My female students like the parts about horses; my male students like the parts about Sun (Arilla's brother) finding his identity, being assertive when the townspeople are prejudiced against his family. All of my students like the boy-girl relationships and friendships. I recently introduced this book in my teachers book club. We read books that are for children or adolescents--but also for adults. They are books for everyone, just good books. I don't think Arilla Sun Down is a children's book; it's a book that children might read, if adults introduce them to it. Mostly it's a book that focuses on a family and particularly on the children in that family. This book is interesting because it reacquaints adults with their growing up years and tells us more about life itself at any age.

Suffering from emotions concerning the death of his partner in France, Matt Helm decides he deserves a holiday in Hawaii. But Mac reckons since Helm is going to lounge on the beaches of that part of the world, he can also carry out a small job. Suddenly, Helm's therapeutic vacation has turned into a cat and mouse game of ferreting out a traitor who may be aided by two suspicious ladies.

There is treachery afoot as Matt must battle his own agents to find the traitor. A must have in the Matt Helm series.

Matt is off to Hawaii for a vacation -- or is it? Wiley old Mac is up to his tricks again to get more mileage out of his agents. This story finds Matt pitted against an old adversary called, "Monk" that has a grudge. Matt wins the girls, battles the bad guys -- Russian and Chinese, and some from his own agency. Donad Hamilton does it again as he keeps you guessing with a plot that constantly thickens. Great reading.

The book was a great adventure which takes us back to where it all began. Three raw cadets attempting to work out their differences and triumph in the best traditon of Star Trek lore.

The first adventrue of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. This book was made for kids, but it does apeal to adults too. To see the beginnings of friendship and leadership by Kirk was good. Kirk was by book, and it was surprising. McCoy was witty and Spock was somewhat solid. The three of them trapped on a planet trying to thrawt a plan to kidnap a popular doctor. This book resembles novel Trek books quite well. I liked this book and I'm sure other adults will too.

It was a great charcter ddevelopment book. Not many people could imagine that Kirk used to be so by - the - book. After all he has broke every rule in Starfleet and has been demoted. Still, the story turned out nicely. And the way Kirk tricked Spock, that was genius. There was only one thing, if McCoy is an ensign now it would have been a year or more between books but Kirk is still a first year cadet. Did he flunk? Another five star job by Todd C. Hamilton.

I puchased this book for my wife who brought home some pottery when she was in Umbria. I was hoping for a book that had a lot of pictures of the different kinds of Deruta pottery. This book was a history of the pottery from 1200-present. Although it was not what I thought, it was still very informative and enjoyable. I would recommend to anyone who wants to find out the history of this beautiful Italian pottery

This book is an excellent source of study, for the ones who want to know a little bit of the history of Deruta and its pottery tradition. For artists, it provides some wonderful pictures of many kinds of pottery in bright colours. The publishing quality is also very good.

This is a beautiful book! I highly recommend it to anyone enchanted by Italian majolica and interested in it's history. After I read it, I thought I'd leave it on my coffee table for easy reference...but so many people at work have asked to borrow it! Even as I rode the train to work with the book in my lap, people next to me couldn't resist staring at the pictures and commenting on its beauty.