An alternative title for this novel could be Amayer's rut.
For that is the situation that the main protagonist in this novel finds himself in. Almayer is a European trader living in a
trading post somewhere in Indonesia or Malaysia with his daughter,a product of mixed marriage.
Almayer dreams of escaping to Europe after making himself wealthy and bringing his daughter with him also.
But as time drags on it becomes obvious that he is going nowhere with his life. He is not getting richer nor is he getting any younger. His own daughter ends up deserting him by eloping with a native who takes her to his own village.
Not being a pure European by blood she realizes that she would never be accepted as an equal among Europeans or the whites.
For this reason she chooses instead to live with the natives.
As for Almayer he remains as he was.
He is an example that one can find everywhere in the world.
Someone stuck in a situation going nowhere but always dreaming of getting out and changing his life.

Almayer's folly is a powerful beginning to Conrad's second profession, writing. Since the story was written so close to Conrad's adventurous youth (the spring for his most powerful works), it provides the rawest expression of Conrad's views. Almayer, the prototype of Tuan Jim, takes the "leap" when he marries the Malay captive for promised wealth. This transgression drops his character into contact with the cold truths of nature; truths which dispel any artificial illusions or meanings. For Almayer, these illusions entailed sucess and fame in Europe, a place that he had never visited but only heard about from his mother. Superficially, this journey towards inner truth involves a journey into the wilds of Borneo, but,like in future Conrad works, we quickly realize that the journey is inward into the pysche of Almayer. Overall, an excellent introduction to Conrad.

Loosely based on the life of a Dutch merchant, setting up a trading post along a river in the interior of Borneo, Conrad's novel 'Almayer's Folly' is actually about man's alienation from his environment and eventually himself.

Written during the heyday of western imperialism, when the great powers of Europe subjected the tropics to their rule, the tale of Almayer explores how the tropics actually devoured the individual westerner.

The main character of the book is a man obsessed. Chasing a dream, he completely loses touch with reality. Although on the surface it may seem that he is a white man gone native, Almayer hasn't got a clue what he is dealing with. He is blind to the schemings of his Malay wife and equally oblivious to the fact that his daughter is drifting away from him.

Admittedly, the book has 'orientalist' overtones but, then, Joseph Conrad is both a man of his time and a master of poweful prose, not a politically-correct scholar. The stereotypical mystique of Asia and the inscrutable oriental are exploited as a literary means to descend into the deeper levels of man's psyche. Just like the 'true heart' of Borneo and its inhabitants is hidden under layer upon layer of deceiving images, so is the core of each and every individual. The scariest place to travel is not the interior of an Indonesian Island, but the inner reaches of our own soul.

Almayer's Folly is one of the best novels ever written. Not only because of the author's masterful portrayals of character, but also due his astounding command of English. It is hard to believe that Conrad's first and second language were Polish and French: he only learned English as an adult. It is this combination of psychological understanding and extraordinary use of language that make him into a literary genius.

You will have fun reading THE WORST ROCK AND ROLL RECORDS OF ALL TIME, even if your opinions don't match those of the authors.

The book names the fifty worst singles and fifty worst albums. Other sections include the worst rock and rollers and the thirty-three and one-third rules broken by those who make bad rock music.

It is interesting to note that the only solo Beatle the authors spare is George Harrison, who the rock criticism community has overall treated the worst since 1970. But if you like John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr or any other of the rock stars this book attacks, don't worry.

Of course, Guterman and O'Donnell know so much about music that they don't want to make an album and further embarrass Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin.

It belongs on coffee tables and bathroom magazine racks.

This book seems torn between being an entertaining list of fascinatingly awful music and mere invective against artists the authors don't like. When the book focuses on curiosities like Elvis' hilariously cringeworthy "Having Fun with Elvis on Stage" and Think's generation-gap stinker "Once You Understand", it is witty and enjoyable. On the other hand, the authors' swipes at so-called "sacred cows" is often mean-spirited and not very fun to read. While I applaud anyone who takes shots at bloated soft-rockers like Billy Joel, I really don't think that U2's "The Unforgettable Fire", whether flawed or not, is worthy of inclusion in a list that contains howlers by Bruce Willis and Richard Simmons. Also, the authors' satisfaction that Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney's songwriting collaboration yielded a bigger hit for Costello doesn't really help to justify Macca's inclusion as one of the worst rock and rollers ever.
I fully support iconoclasm in rock journalism, but placing a mediocre Bob Dylan album on a list with William Shatner's insane "The Transformed Man" says more about the authors' tastes than it does about Dylan's lapses in artistic judgment.
In short, the book only half-delivers on its subtitle of "the stuff you love to hate". Its occasional wittiness is cheapened by its overwhelmingly smug, bitter tone.

Anyone who likes pop and rock music to the extent I do will be overjoyed by this book...and probably offended at least once. The authors know no sacred cows, and proceed to skewer such untouchables as Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones et al (curiously, the Beatles as a unit emerge unscathed). I of course have set out to get copies of every one of these worst singles and albums of all time, so if you know where I can get a copy of Irene Ryan's "Granny's Miniskirt", lemme know...

This book needs to be considered alongside _The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated_ edited by Florentino Garcia-Martinez. Both are "comprehensive" translations of the Dead Sea Scrolls which have become available since the end of the embargo in the fall of 1991.

Wise, Abegg, and Cook organize this book primarily by the Qumran manuscript number. The exceptions are the manuscripts found in Cave 1 which have no number. These appear at the beginning of the book along with other manuscripts which relate to the same text. So for example, the Thanksgiving Scroll appears at the beginning of the book along with 4Q427-432. The Damascus Document also appears at the beginning of this book along with manuscripts Geniza A and B.

At the end of the book there is a helpful index of DSS manuscripts and the page(s) on which they may be found. There is also an index of references to other liturature, the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and Rabbinic texts. So for example the editors find some connection between 4Q525 and Matthew 5.3-10. Both are beatitudes.

It is not a disadvantage of this book that it contains no Hebrew texts. I find that I want to look at photos of the manuscripts and judge the translations for myself. Nor is it a disadvantage of this book that it does not contain any biblical texts. Those may be found in a translated form in Martin Abegg's _Dead Sea Scrolls Bible_.

The advantage this book does have is its commentary. The editors have brought numerous significant items to the the attention of the reader which the non-specialist probably had not noticed. Even so, the commentary will bring some enlightenment to DSS specialists as well.

This volume is an excellent book to either start or enhance one's study of the scrolls discovered near Qumran, commonly referred to as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Although there has been some negative critique, (see other reviews) this book is very unbiased and scholarly in nature. Yes, there is an added commentary, and words filled in where there were no words preserved, but that is besides the fact. There has been no cover-up attempt to claim that these added texts are somehow the original; a guide at the beginning of the book clearly explains how to see what was actually contained in the scrolls and what was not. The commentary is necessary especially for those who have never looked in the scrolls at all to begin with, to at least give a basic framework. By nature, any commentary will have a level of bias - but it's not as though the book claims to have an inspired commentary - ignore the commentary if you're solely interested in the text!

I have had Dr. Wise for several graduate-level classes, and he has been very scholarly in his teaching, presenting the information that is known, and only on rare occasion giving his actual opinion instead of simply what has been discovered. His area of specialty is the Second Temple period in which the Dead Sea Scrolls play a significant role, which is one reason why he is so involved with them, and why this particular volume is so well written: it from the perspective of one who really cares about the issues surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I would recommend this volume to anyone as a fascinating source for study.

[...] These texts were not filled in. The point is-this is what the texts say! The parallels in terminology and phraseology are astounding. These are the texts that the early Christian writers of the New Testament were familiar with. Though the New Testament gospels may be reedited and reworked documents of the 4th century, they were still largely born in phrase and genre, from these writings. These Jews were most likely the Jews who gave rise to the Christians. These Jews used a different calendar than the Pharisees, the solar rather than the lunar calendar. There is an ancient Christian writing called the Didache which begins with a piece called "The Two Ways," there is a scroll fragment of the same title, and on and on. It would be insane to attempt to bury these facts in the name of some perverse political correctness.

So many long held beliefs about the origins of Christian ideology have been attributed to Greco-Roman influence. We now know this wasn't the case. These early Christians were Jewish, not the Jews we know today, for the Pharisees were the only sect left in numbers great enough to route history after the great slaughters by the Romans at Masada and Qumran. These freedom fighters that were massacred are our scroll writers or carriers as some of the writings were from earlier centuries. These people were all but forgotten and unknown until their writings and sacred texts were found in these caves around Qumran.

This brings us to the next point I would like to make as to why you should have and read this book. The Universe doesn't revolve around the Earth, bleeding people (extracting quantities of blood) is not an efficacious treatment for the sick, ulcers are not universally caused by stress and the Dead Sea Scrolls were not composed at Qumran by the Essene's or anyone else. Where these scrolls came from, who these people were, what they fought for and how they died is important. This book does great service in helping to repair the unforgivable damage done through shoddy scholarship and attribution by Father Roland de Vaux in his early excavations. This is now the conclusion of most scholars who didn't already invest their entire identity as academics on the first hypothesis.

Moby Dick is so dry for young readers with all the details of life on a whaler, this book is much more the adventure, the what happens when the whale decides that he's had enough. How men endure when they run out of food, then water, then people start to die. It's a fairly fast read and Owen gives a fairly good account of the problems and the horror of the men as they watch the whale ram their ship.

"The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex" is much more than just the inspiration for Herman Melville's "Moby Dick." It stands alone as a remarkable account of survival in a hostile environment. It's probably difficult for modern readers to truly grasp the impact First Mate Owen Chase felt when his ship the Essex sank in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, leaving 20 men to fend for themselves in three frail whaling boats. In 1820, the loss of the ship meant that Chase and his men were truly on their own. His account and shock reflect the enormity of what losing a ship meant to these men. The ship was their world and without it, they faced an ardorous journey. Chase also accurately captures the shock of seeing a whale attack his ship twice. An experienced whaler, Chase watched dumbfounded as a creature he always thought to be gentle and placid appear to deliberately sink the Essex.

Chase has managed to balance these feelings of anguish and fear with determination to survive. His story also vividly recounts a bygone time when Nantucket whalers seemed to own the seas, and industry at home depended on the oil these men brought back. We seem to forget that whaling and its fruits were an essential part of early American commerace and life. This book puts Chase's account of his survival clearly in context with its times. Highly recommended.

Just imagine the unthinkable:- a whale, that most placid animal, suddenly turns on its tormentors with malice apparent in its intent and within a few minutes, reduces the ship, not the boat that harpooned it, to a sinking wreck, a thousand miles from any land. The subsequent journey to safety of the eight survivors is recounted by the first mate in graphic detail and with great literary skill; you have to admire the fortitude displayed by Mr. Chase in keeping an accurate log, even in the extremes of privation and heat exhaustion, as well as the psychological assault of that ultimate horror (at that time) of cannibalism. Put in their position, would I do the same - absolutely! It speaks volumes that very little was said about the Essex party, whereas the Donner party were unjustly vilified for doing exactly the same thing to preserve the remaining members of their company. I can do no better justice to this book than to quote Gary Kinder:- "...settle back into that overstuffed leather chair and let the most amazing story in the annals of the sea transport you to a different time, a different breed, an experience few could believe...".

The book was quite interesting and the author apparently researched it very thoroughly. Time after time, Owen refutes (quite convincingly) a number of well-known stories about Augusta National and Clifford Roberts.

The problem with the book is that Owen seems to have written the book to support the following hypotheses: (1) members at Augusta National have not been nor are the racists (in the context of their times) that they have been portrayed as in the mass media, (2) Cliff Roberts was the most misunderstood man in modern history, (3) Without Roberts, TV golf coverage would have been set back 30 years.

The book's one redeeming quality is the way that Owen methodically refutes what have become generally accepted facts over time (for example, that Jack Whitaker was banned from Augusta for 15 years for describing the fans (whoops, patrons) of the Masters as a mob. After reading this, I'm convinced that it didn't happen that way). But Owen adds little new material that you could not find in the Samson or Eubanks books. Owen often goes out of his way to contradict much of what is in Samson's book, and while he claims he is not trying to "pick on Samson," it sure sounds that way to me.

What Owen ends up with is a PR piece for Augusta, which is too bad, because the book is well-written and well paced.

David Owens has scored again! For anyone who is not familiar with his books, he has an uncanny ability to take a popular subject, and through careful research and brilliant writing, make it engaging and fun.

His newest book on Augusta, The Masters, and its founder is no exception. Unlike other golf related books, which tend to be more shallow and aimed at the purely popular crowd, this one actually holds its own against any painstakingly researched history.

And the outcome of this never before granted access to Augusta are a series of revelations. Almost unthinkable today, the Club and the Tournament, almost went belly up. It was not only the legendary, well known Bobby Jones who put Augusta on the map. It was probably more the intensely private and very unusual Cliff Roberts who conceived the Club and fanatically nurtured it.

Every controversy and major event surrounding the Club and this uniquely American event is surfaced, and treated comprehensively and fairly. No issue is ducked; nothing is sugar coated.

On top of great content, the writing is magical. In this day and electronic age, it is a pleasure to read someone who has such a command of the English language that he can make it stand up and bark.

Anyone who appreciates great writing and is even remotely interested in golf or America, for that matter, should buy this book. I know they will like it!

Over the years many untrue articles have appeared concerning Augusta National Golf Club and The Masters. This was probably due to the very private nature of the club which I'm sure rubs some people the wrong way. So to get back at this secret rich man's club, some journalists made up stories and repeated them for years. Now that the archives have finally been opened we are better able to judge the facts. Mr. Owen clears up many of these past inaccuracies in the last third of the book. He also shows us just how "touch and go" the whole enterprise was in the early years. The photographs and maps are worth the price alone and the history of the club is interesting to read. If you have ever been to Augusta you understand what the word "perfection" really means. This book is similar to Curt Sampson's "Hogan" in that it finally dispels much of the nonsense that has been written about these two remarkable gentlemen.

The Death of Death in the Death of Christ is a polemical work designed to show among other things that the doctrine of universal redemption (or universal atonement) is unscriptural and destructive of the gospel. The introduction by J. I. Packer is worth the price of the book.

Owen is not light reading and this work is no exception. It will require no small effort on the part of the reader. It must be read slowly and carefully, and then re-read again. However, as Packer says, "Nobody has the right to dismiss the doctrine of limited atonement as a monstrodity of Calvinistic logic until he has refuted Owen's proof that it is part of the uniform biblical presentation of redemption, clearly taught in plain text after plain text." And nobody has done that yet.

I rate it 5 stars for content. But if readability is the measure, then you best move on to something else.

This is Puritan John Owen's classic work on the doctrine of the atonement, which seeks to answer the question: for whom did Christ die? Owen was, and is still considered to be one of - if not THE - best English theologian who ever lived. This book demonstrates why he deserves such a distinction. It is one of the finest outworkings of the theological shift brought about by the Protestant Reformation, which is summarized by the latin phrase, soli Deo gloria. Thus, for Owen, the atonement was not just to make possible salvation for sinners. Rather, it was the securement of salvation for God's people, and it was accomplished and applied all for the glory of God alone (soli Deo gloria).

Despite the claims of others, this book as in all reality remained unrefuted since it was written. Many have tried, and many have been declared triumphant. However, those books pale in comparrison to Owen's work. Why? Because they all fail to do address him on the level of the biblical text. In other words, they have no exegesis! It is amazing that many will argue that Calvinists argue the system to defend their beliefs. However, virtually all of those who seek to refute Owen do not engage in strong exegesis, but argue in broad terms, from the vantage point of their own systems. Talk about calling the kettle black! Perhaps the worst of these so-called responses are Dave Hunts's book, "What Love is This?" and Norman Geisler's, "Chosen But Free." Both are filled with historical inaccuracies, misquotations, and worst of all very little exegesis. Regardless of our positions in this "in-house" debate, we must above all be biblical in our arguments, and, unfortunately, that seems to be missing from those arguing on the other side.

Lest, I appear to make unfair assertions that are unsupported, check out James White's "The Potter's Freedom" for a truly devastating critque of "Chosen But Free."

Owen's deals with the entire scope of the death of Christ. Who it was for what it accomplished etc. This book is not for those who, as most are in the church today, wish to be entertained or be force fed. Owen himself adivses his reader, in his introduction, that if he wants to be entertained you have been stop reading and move on. However for those who truly desire to wrestle with the great doctrines of God's Word and base their views on the entire witness of Scripture and on sound reason this is the book for you. Owen not only presents a clear view of what the Bible teaches concerning the death of Christ but also refutes numerous false views. Many of these views still plague the church today.

Portions of this book actually brought me to tears while others challenged me to think and bring every thought captive to Christ and His Word. The introduction by J.I. Packer, as are most things written by Mr. Packer, was very thorough and helpful. In this age where God is viewed as nothing more than a glorified fortune teller or a cosmic santa claus Owen's classic work is desperately needed.

"Hidden Evidence" is a trade paperback that relies more on photographs than text, and some of the pictures are pretty gory. The is the first forensic science book I've read where there was actually a photograph of the aftermath of one of the 'Jack the Ripper' murders. David Owen has still assembled an interesting book. Some of the forty crimes that he uses as examples are well-known, e.g. Wayne Williams, the Atlanta child killer. Others will probably be unknown to the reader (Americans, at least). For instance, there are several gruesome goings-on Down Under that the author touches on, including the sixty-three-year-old auntie who liked to put thallium in her relatives' tea.

Although "Hidden Evidence" held my interest, I wish the author had gone into more detail about the forensic techniques that he describes and also more detail about some of the crimes. He skips from case to case so quickly that there is little room for suspense or a clear description of the amount of work it took to solve some of these crimes. I think the British have the edge over us Americans when it comes to writing true crime/forensic science books. One of my favorites is "Forty Years of Murder" by Professor Keith Simpson, who was the British Home Office pathologist for forty years. Another favorite is the biography of Bernard Spillsbury, who was Simpson's chief crime-solving rival.

This book is a 2003 nominee for the Kentucky Bluegrass Award for high school students. I would definitely choose this one for any student who had an interest in forensic science. Hidden Evidence is not just a fact-filled textbook-type of book. Owen explains the process behind many types of murder investigations, from arson to drowning to poison. The details are well explained and easy enough to understand even for those who are not familiar with forensic terminology. The book contains forty true crime cases and how forensics helped (or didn't help)solve them. It contains many graphic photos of actual crime scenes, but is definitely not for the squeamish. This is an excellent choice for anyone who enjoyes reading about true-crime and forensic science.

I'm always a little leary of saying a book like this is fun. I don't want people to think that forensics is anything but a serious science, and one that is unfortunately used way too often in this world. I've always wondered why I am fascinated by this particular field, and it worries me less it says something bad about me. However, I can say that of all the professions especially in the sciences, forensics is the one that comes nearest to being able to solve puzzles and mysteries and still manage to get paid for it! When I see a book like Owen's I find it is hard to put the book down. Like other reviewers, I wish the author had put more information in the book about the techniques and the crimes. I did not recognize some of the crimes, so when the author refers back to them it is difficult to understand where the technique was used. The photography and graphics were phenomenol. For someone like me, who is deaf, graphic presentation is as important as the written presentation of the science. I feel like the author got all these pictures (and that was a lot of work doing this research, because I have not seen many of the pictures before)and did a rush job on the writing part. The book is still very good, and I think this is a valid book to refer to for people who are deciding whether or not to go into the particular field as a career. It is basic, but it provides enough information and 'gore' to see if a person can stand dealing with the awful situations in which forensic scientists are called upon to view. I know in medical school I was a little leary of if I was going to be sick when we had to go down to the morgue, for fear I'd get sick or not be able to do my work. I found out that it didn't bother me (except for children)and it did bother my interpreters (went through 3 in less then a month!) It is imperative for people who are even considering this field to look at a book like this to see how squeamish they are in dealing with this stuff. I know too many people who tried to become doctors or nurses who had to quit because they could not deal with death and illness on a daily basis. How much more important is it for someone who will be exposed to violent death to decide whether this field is actually for them? This book would be a good career guide for this field. They no longer just use a coroner, but specialists in anthropology, entomology, firearms, photography, psychology, etc. and the need for these trained people is going to increase because of population increases. For the most part this was a good book, but be aware that the author does not give as much information about a lot of the crimes as many people want. This book is mainly about the science behind the police and prosecutors, and not about the crimes themselves. If the reader is interested in the crimes themselves, they will have to go elsewhere to find the information. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

My mother gave this book to me when I was ten, which was a very long time ago. Those images of the mummies, so well-preserved that they don't look like mummies but like still-living human beings in some eternal pain we can't imagine -- they gave me nightmares then and they can still chill me to the stomach.

My mother gave this book to me when I was ten, which was a very long time ago. Those images of the mummies, so well-preserved that they don't look like mummies but like still-living human beings in some eternal pain we can't imagine -- they gave me nightmares then and they can still chill me to the stomach.

After seeing a clip on the Franklin Expedition in a documentary on mummies, I rushed to the library to see if there was a book on the subject. The only one available was this book in the juvenile section. At first I was disappointed, but, noticing a photo of the preserved body of one of the sailors, I checked it out. For a kids' book, this one is pretty cool. The first part of the book is a fictionalized (and very sanitized) story of life for the average seaman on the doomed expedition. This story leaves the reader with questions that the author will answer in the second section describing the disinterring of three buried crew members and the information their well-preserved remains revealed. The photos are amazing and make this book fascinating for all ages (I don't remember juvenile books being this cool when I was a kid). The reading level and, at times, disturbing content is probably appropriate for kids 5th grade and up.

Some wonderful and successful writers gather their thoughts in this book to bear light on the magic of Tolkien's writing. Being a fan myself, I enjoyed the individual tales of discovering "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" for the first time. I related to the same sense of awe and dread, of wonder and inspiration. Surely, Tolkien has inspired many.

Unfortunately, the praise gets to be redundant and--may I say it?--almost hollow, without the balance of some thoughtful criticism. Personally, I wouldn't have much negative to say regarding Tolkien's work, but I found very little that was genuinely fresh or enlightening in this collection of "meditations." I did discover an interest in some of the authors included (not a bad reason for their involvement in the project) and in earlier 20th century writers that I have never familiarized myself with. Lord Dunsany, E.R. Eddison, Fritz Leiber, and Mervyn Peake are only a few of the old standbys mentioned repeatedly.

Although interesting, a quick read, and well-written, this collection might best serve those curious in unearthing the inspiration beneath some of their favorite authors. I was hoping for something with more vitality, but overall I'd recommend the book.

Imagine if you could gather some of the world's best Science Fiction and Fantasy authors into a room for an informal chat about Tolkein's influence on their personal and professional lives. Unfortunately, the authors are not all IN the same room, so each conversation is quite a bit different from the last. The authors were clearly given quite a bit of lattitude and therein lie the strengths and weaknesses of this collection.
The tone of the essays are personal, even familiar. For fans of Tolkein or of the contributing authors, the book is worth reading, if for no other reason than to spend some time with distant friends. Another perk is the reading list inadvertently provided by each author as they comment on their other influences. Apparently there are a few seminal works in the genre that I have completely missed.
The quality is admittedly a bit spotty, even within the same essay. Some of the best essays came from authors I knew nothing about. However, like any good conversation, there are snippets of great wisdom throughout. (It is the rare friend who offers up nothing but gems.) I can assure you that every essay will leave you smiling, or nodding and a few might even have you reaching for a pen. In short, you will find much to enjoy in this collection.
I should note that there is something here for everyone: hobbyist, devotee, english major, or bibliophile. Rarely does one get to listen in on the personal conversations of authors as they discuss their lives, their work and the influences that have made their careers possible.

If you're a fan of Tolkien's Middle Earth, this little volume of essays will be a welcome addition. It's refreshing to see how deeply "The Lord of the Rings" effected the contributors; and how, over time, their perceptions of LOTR have changed. My favorites were the submissions of Michael Swanwick, Esther M. Friesner, Robin Hobb, Orson Scott Card and Diane Duane. Douglas A. Anderson and Ursala K. Le Guin offer more cerebral takes on both LOTR and the role of story in our lives -- the eternal rhythums Tolkien tapped while writing his masterpiece. For "Meditations" I offer what I believe is the best praise anyone can offer for a book: It's much too short.

The Mac Bathroom Reader is one of the more quirky books about Apple Computer and its equally unusual story. Mostly filled with trivia relating to the most obscure Macintosh information, this is definitely a book for serious Mac users or those who really get into Silicon Valley culture.

It's also great in telling the first two parts of the Steve Jobs tale, his rise and his fall. Unfortunately, as this book was published before Jobs' return in 1997, it is missing a large part of recent Apple history, including the creation of the iMac, Microsoft's 'grant' to Apple, and the beginning of Mac OS X.

In any case, Linzmayer's storytelling skills are sharp and playful in this book and no serious Mac fan should be without it.

As noted by another reviewer, there is an overlap with Apple Confidential, but they're not the same.

This book has the answer to various trivia questions (including stuff about third party vendors). The other is organized more as a history, and has a lot of new material about things such as clone licenses that was not available when the Bathroom Reader was published.

Both books are written by a very knowledgeable true believer, although there is definitely criticism of inept management in Confidential (Bathroom Reader is more positive in tone).

So if you want a history to read start to finish, buy Apple Confidential. If you want something to read a page or two at a time -- say, IN THE BATHROOM -- then this is a better book.

Book Critique on " The Mac Bathroom Reader"

This book was a really great book. I greatly enjoyed reading about the company I admire so much. Although you could tell that the author was very bias towards Apple, I didn't have any problem with it. It taught me a lot about the company, like how they had an Apple III that flopped, or how there was a 3rd founder of Apple along with the 2 Steves (Steve Jobs, Steve "Woz" Wozniak). In this book, the author starts from the beginning, 1976, when Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak made a computer in the garage of Steve Jobs's garage. When the two saw that what they had made would be profitable, they made Apple Computers, Inc. In this book, I learned about how Hewlett Packard, Atari, and Commodore turned down Apple when they tried to sell the company to them. It talks about apples first success, selling 50 Apple 1's to "the Byte Shop" which was the first chain computer store. Each Apple 1 was sold for 500 dollars each. It talks about how Mark Markkula came out of retirement to help fund Apple. Once they were funded they started making the Apple II's. They were an instant success and stayed on the company's product line until 1993. In 1980 the Apple II was made, and it was the company's first failure. John Scully, then the CEO of Pepsi Cola was recruited by Steve Jobs to come be the CEO of Apple. Steve Jobs told him " do you want to make sugar water for the rest of your life or do you want to have a chance to change the world." Scully, an experienced CEO came down hard on the company, stripping away all official authority of Steve Jobs. Then in 1985 Steve Jobs resigned form the company to go start a new company, NeXT. (NeXT would then be bought by Apple and Steve Jobs would come back to be the CEO of Apple.)This book talks about the truth behind the 1984 commercial.1984 commercial it also talks about how Microsoft licensed BASIC to Apple for the Apple II, and made Apple halt production of MacBasic for the Mac, just so Microsoft would renew the license BASIC for the Apple II. Although this book is fairly recent, it's not entirely recent, for the tale and history of Apple Computers, Inc. is an ever-changing one. The Author seemed like a complete Mac addict trying to write an unbias book. That would explain some of the bad stuff about Steve Jobs. But mostly the book was geared at bias towards Apple not against them. I would recommend this book to the Mac addicts, also to the people that hate Apple for no apparent reason. This book tells the tale of Apple Computers, Inc. and how it shaped the computer industry. It also gives a lot of insight to what kind of person Steve Jobs was like. If you like this book, you will also like "Insanely great", and although I have not yet read it, I'm guessing "the second coming of Steve Jobs" would also interest the readers of this book. In a lot of ways the history of Apple was/is like a great tale, with "anarchy, knowledge, hope, and lust" just like the Apple logo that precedes it. Even if Apple goes bankrupt (which isn't likely to happen) the story of Apple Computers, Inc. and how it changed personal computing, as we know it will live on forever. Think Different.