Matthew Barney is a disappointment to the art world. I, as an artist in ny, am ashamed to see that it takes so little to amuse the simple mind. His work is not about violence of creation, change, and revolution, but about corporate cheap tricks to bring in the herd of cash cows willing to submit to what a museum calls art for the sake of selling tickets to a side show
In his amateur attempt to create he has plagiarized the work of Fellini's satyricon. His use of the Guggenheim reflects these cheap tricks by the way he uses the spiral ramp with the vaseline flowing down it. An extremely arbitrary move, and a move that many amateurs make frequently when they don't know how to take an idea and transform it into a form.
Ideas are a dime a dozen, but if the end results or form is as cheap as mattew barney's work is then the idea was not translated well. Simple garbage is the only way one can explain his work. I am glad to see there are many puppets out there and less masters.

Matthew Barney has the bizarre ability to disturb you and move you to joyful tears. His work is AMAZING, original, thought-provoking, and surreal. If you saw his work at the Guggenheim, you surely were impressed with his creativity, whether you think it's "art" or not, and must have felt you were inside some epic dream world the whole time. Incredible. His images speak for themselves...so does the book. 5 stars....i'd give 6 if i could.

Matthew Barney's new installment of his Cremaster series is available in book form. The movie, Cremaster5 will be shown in NY in mid October. If you don't get to see it the book hints at what it is all about. Barney's multi faceted works that not only incorporates sculpture, video, photography, and cinema are the most poignant and revolutionary art being created today. Of course many will disagree feircely and feel quite the contrary. The mythology that Barney creates can at times be disturbing, still the provocative brilliant artist is changing the concept of art today. Cremaster5 brings us a little closer to this work, that complex, ambigous, and revealing man-created myth.

I would have loved some scary stuff. I would have loved some suspense. I would have loved characters with whom I could sympathize. The New York Times Book Review said this book had "the perfect plot for a summer beach novel". A good, long nap would have been better.

This book is about female family relationships between three generations of women. Each feels that they can't do anything right for the generation that follows them. Then slowly they begin to understand each other and each others needs, but with the threat of a stalker hovering over them. They work through old problems and old hurts, but the threat is still there. I enjoyed reading this book a lot and would recommend it to anyone who wanted to spend some time thinking about their own relationship with their mother. Not a book for a quick read. I really thought about when my mother and I were going through this particular stage, when I was reading this book. I can't give the book away, but I was very surprised who the "stalker" turned out to be. Enjoy this book, it is suspensful, but without all of the gross, really scarry things like in a King novel.

This is a rattling good yarn, crisply written and neatly plotted, with three-dimensional characters you'll care about. It transcends its thriller genre to offer a compelling portrait of three generations of women: the heroine, her daughter, and her widowed mother. To use the handy cliche, the women come alive off the page. The hard-pressed widow has returned to the workplace as a department store clerk, and, for me, the book's most suspenseful passage portrays her confrontation with a bitchy customer and a hi-tech cash register. For good measure, there's a love triangle. And the book nicely captures the flavor and texture of its Chicago setting. (The author was once a topflight newspaper reporter in Chicago.) The book has but one flaw; the heroine in the end clearly winds up with the wrong man.

Dr. O'Callaghan forces his own unbalanced opinions upon the reader. Hopefully, anyone reading this book will also take the time to read information based upon facts and widely accepted viewpoints and theories, not just one person's beliefs. It would be nice to think that all problems children have could be resolved as simply as the author implies. Recent studies have shown otherwise. But, one could chose to ignore these facts and studies,as Dr. O'Callaghan does.

I have worked with J. Brien O'Callaghan and seen him implement his model in the CT. School Systems. His step by step accountability based approach are very helpful and have helped many students succeed. This model works best with oppositionally defiant and conduct disordered children. Brien's model has become a standard assessment tool as a school psychologist and family therapy intern to help families try to re-balance the levels of "control" and "protection" in their families.

O'Callaghan's book is well-written, well-informed, and persuasive. His structural approach has now been tried in several school based locations, including one recently featured in ACA's newsletter. This material is useful for school-based counselors, school teachers and administrators, and recipients of school referrals for counseling for troubled children.

I have been a Pittsburgh Pirate fan for close to 40 years and I absolutely loved Bob Prince. I expected this book to be a history of Bob Prince's career with the Pirates. What I got was a series of rememberances and reflections by people about Bob Prince. And many of these rememberances are repeated over and over throughout the book. The book also never establishes any kind of chronological pace or order, making it a very disjointed read.

This is one of the first books I have ever stopped reading before I was finished. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was very disappointed.

To veteran fans the title can suggest only one thing: Bob Prince, The Gunner, who did the broadcast of the Pittsburgh Pirates from the 1950's through 1975. You don't have to be a fan of the Buccos to enjoy this book, but it helps to be familiar with Prince as he rooted unashamedly for his beloved Bucs. Like other announcers, he had his pet phrases such as "We have a bug on the rug." "You can kiss it goodbye. Home run!" "Let's spread some chicken on the hill with Will." And, of course, at the end of a close game in which the Pirates were victorious, "We had 'em allll the way." Bob was Pittsburgh's answer to Harry Caray. He was colorful, controversial, and a people person. Most importantly, to me, Bob was a giver of himself to others, and I think it is exciting to know that we go through our life not knowing how we helped someone in some way. An incident that may be totally insignificant to us in behalf of someone else, may have a profound effect on the life of the other person. We live in the memories of our friends, and The Gunner touched the lives in a positive way of those he came in contact. To those of you not familiar with the Prince of Pittsburgh, you missed out. He will always be a treasure to the city of Pittsburgh, and to those who follow the game of baseball. The book is over 400 pages long and full of colorful anecdotes such as the following when he and his wife Betty were going to go out one evening. Bob said, "Betty, your stockings are all wrinkled." Betty replied, "Bob, I'm not wearing any stockings." Another from relief pitcher ElRoy Face" "I remember one game at St. Louis. I threw a forkball down and away and Musial hit it over the right field roof. And I think I'd been 21 innings without giving up a run and we lost the ballgame on that, a good pitch. After the game I'm sitting at my locker and Murtaugh, who had this dry sense of humor, comes in and slaps me on the back and says, 'Relief pitcher, my ass!'" Finally, here is a great quote I would like to share with you from the book. "When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice."--Old Indian Saying

OK, so this isn't a comprehensive, chronological life of one of the greatest baseball broadcasters of all time. SO WHAT! The fact is, anything on Bob Prince brings me back to my childhood, when i would listen to "The Gunner" root the Bucs on to another win. And this book does the job just fine. I stopped rooting for the Pirates, in fact, when they fired Prince (I'm an Orioles fan now, and they did the same stupid thing with another great, Jon Miller). Iron City Beer was the first beer I ever drank -- thanks to Bob Prince. This guy could call a game and make the experiemce a memorable one. I'm just grateful that his art has not gone unremembered; and this book brings back the memories.

This book was interesting but it had several flaws. It was a basically a defense of the army's 27th Infantry Division during the Saipan invasion during the Pacific war. It was at Saipan where the 27th did not measure up to marine units.

The author claims to be objective but I find that difficult to believe. He is writing about his own Uncle, William O'Brien. He was also writing about the 27th Infantry Division, a national guard unit which consisted of men from his own home town and area. I detected a bias in defense of the 27th and a bias against Marine General "Howlin Mad" Smith who relieved 27th Division commander General Ralph Smith.

The author claims that this was the one and only battle where army troops fought under the command of the a marine general. This was untrue. Army units fought successfully under marine General Vandergrift at Guadalcanal in 1942, under marine General Geiger at Peleliu in 1944, and briefly under Geiger again at Okinawa in 1945. The author blames marine command for many of the 27th's problems but has a shaky arguement.

The author also defend the 27th divison as "one of the best trained units in the Pacific". I have read many other books and many other authors do NOT share this opinion of the 27th. Many other authors have a much lower opinion of the 27th. In fact, at Okinawa in 1945, an army general withdrew the 27th from the main battle and sent it to the rear for "garrison duty". Let's be realistic and honest. Not all members of the armed forces in WW II were "the elite". Units differed in quality. Some units were excellent and some were of lesser quality.

Note: I am NOT a marine but just someone who has read many books on this subject.

Mr. O'Brien gives a vivid detail of the 105ths movements from the landing on the beaches of Saipan to the final evacuation from the Gyokusai attach in Tanapag. He follows his uncle Lt. Col. William J. O'Brien from battle to battle all the time merging stories of the hundreds of other men who fought along side him. Giving an almost play by play of scirmishes from survivors stories. I couldn't put it down. I will never Hash through the jungles here the same way again! Infact, I went to the memorial and looked for his name of the thousands that are there and I found it. As you look at it you face to about the appoximate location of Tagapag village.

The Words of Mr. Unko Tamezo is basically true. Most of Mr. Yoshimi's books are published from Otsuki Shoten Pub. and Iwanami Shoten Pub., both well known as pro-communistic publications. Esp. No anti-communists want to publish their books from Otsuki Shoten. Please remember Korean people is totally in the dark by the Korean government. All both compensations were completed by the Japan-(South) Korea Basic Treaty (1965). So, their acts are a sort of duplicate billing.

It is books like these which are so important to educating those who are ignorant or in stubborn denial (like Unko Tamezou) of their past history. The history of the ianfu are just one of the many war crimes from the Pacific War that Japan continues to deny and/or treat lightly. Other countries, of course, are guilty of similar injustices to their own history, but Japan's is well-known and blatant. It is my hope that books and research like these as well as the gradual rise of Japanese witnesses to these war crimes continue to make the truth be heard so that defiantly nationalist people like Unko Tamezou may learn from the wrongs of her nation's past history and truly begin to understand why Japan sets itself up as a pacifist nation.

It is a delight to find a scholarly work that is so accessible to non-academics. This fascinating examination of "comfort women" should be read by every WWII scholar, feminist, historian, college student, and thinking person! Particularly of interest is the critical introduction; Ms. O'Brien (who translated the book from the Japanese) has provided an excellent overview that not only examines this work but demonstrates a wide comprehension of similar works by contemporary authors. Superb.

This is truly one of the most lacking of the general histories of Ireland available on the market. Conor Cruise O'Brien and Maire O'Brien provide a rather pourous account of the history of Ireland and manage to not quite even skim the surface. Leaving out many of the events that would embarass the author or not promote his own political agenda, this book is at best a waste of time. There are many, many better accounts available.

This is a brief and impartial account of the history of Ireland from 3000 BC up until 1994 . There is no in depth analysis of the historical figures involved but just a simple yet concise narative of the important events that shaped this country .

It is after England's brutal conquest of the native Irish , and the protestant plantations that followed , that this book comes into it's own , as it gives the reader a clear understanding of the political dynamics at work that would eventually lead to a divided Ireland .

The book has a generous amount of illustrations and photographs that compliment the very readable text . I'd recommend this book as a starter to anybody who is interested in finding out about the tragic history of Ireland , or as an overview to more in depth books for the discerning reader .

If there's a better overview of Irish history out there, I'd like to see it!

The book is in 'school' format, for want of a better word, that is to say very generously illustrated. Don't let that give you the impression that the book is superficial. This man and wife team know their Ireland inside out and are both topnotch writers. Maire MacEntee is one of the most eminent, if not the most eminent, Irish language poets alive, and her husband is very well known as a scholar and essayist.

Read and enjoy!

I began reading this book with great expectation given the bold title and the accolades that are printed on its back cover. However, I was soon disappointed. While she raises some important points about the limitations of risk assessment, her argument is occluded by a rash sentimentalism about environmental concerns that is removed from the real economic choices that risk-takers may CHOOSE to make. There are indeed many problems with sole reliance on risk assessment and the author raises some good methodological points. However, her alternative to risk assessment is a somewhat ad hoc and feel-good process which she calls "alternative assessment." I think it is somewhat disingenuous for Ms. O'Brien to suggest that risk assessors do not consider alternatives -- risk assessment is a further step by which each alternative is subsequently analyzed with analytic rigor to make sure all factors of hazard and exposure are accounted for. Perhaps we should heed Ms. O'Brien's advice and further institutionalize the consideration of alternatives. However, that alone cannot substitute the subsequent assessment and comparison between the alternatives. Ms. O'Brien, in my opinion, is presenting a sort of pseudo-methodology, that is predicated on a belief that the right to a clean environment should be placed before all other criteria. I agree with her completely that de facto, all communities have a right to a clean environment and pollution should never be inflicted upon them. However, individuals and communities, inevitably make choices about their lifestyles and may CHOOSE to tolerate a certain measure of environmental harm for other benefits. In this case they should have measurable indicators by which those choices are made -- hence the need for risk assessment. My fear is that in her aversion for risk assessment Ms. O'Brien has thrown away the proverbial baby with the bathwater.

This book raises a number of good points about Risk assessment and it's potential flaws. As many of us know, there are many. The book is short and interesting and definitely worth the read. I agree with the second reviewer who said that the methodology that she presents is a little unclear - a pseudo-method. There IS much value, though, in insisting that a wider range of options are considered in decision-making at every level of society.

The book is a little repetitive - obviously stemming from the author's desire to have each chapter tell part of her story and be a stand alone piece.

It seemed to me that the author could have used many more supporting examples throughout the book, instead of hitting the same ones over and over. Without prior knowledge of the issue, the book seems to show you a few examples and say 'trust me the rest are like these few'

The ending is definitly a little touchy feely, go out and change the world esque. But it is also just a few short chapters that you blast through.

This brilliant little book should be made compulsory reading for all politicians, environmental health officers, and officials from environmental agencies. It completely debunks the idiocies of the 'game' of 'risk assessment' in a comprehensible, readable and intelligent way and comes up with a realistic, sane alternative.

If you've ever been involved in a campaign against against a polluting industry, as I have, you'll recognise the following tactics used by them: Downplay estimates of hazard: Discount harmful effects experienced and reported by local communities as 'anecdotal'. Downplay estimates of exposure: Use complicated mathematical models or formulas that can only be analysed in a complicated computer program, that community groups cannot easily gain access to or understand. Downplay risks: Compare the risks to other 'voluntary' activities like smoking. Do not discuss whether the risks are necessary or whether they could be avoided entirely through reasonable alternative behaviours.

It is on this common sense latter point that the book really concentrates. Mary O'Brien gives the example of a woman standing besides an icy river that she needs to cross. Four 'experts' are advising her. The toxicologist tells her the water is probably free of chemicals; the cardiologist says she is at little risk as her heart is sound; the hydrologist states that the currents are probably safe; and the EPA specialist tells her she will probably survive the crossing as it is a low risk compared to many other environmental problems. They are amazed when she continues to refuse to wade the river. Until, of course, she points to the bridge a few yards away which they all had conveniently ignored or failed to notice!

O'Brien also emphasises the public right to know; after all, it is those living in a community who will suffer the impact of pollution. If we could actually name those individuals who will die from the effects of pollution, we could accuse agencies and businesses of premeditated murder. But why is it any different when they talk of a 0.1% increase in the likely number of premature deaths resulting from a process? Even though we can't name the people who will die, death is still death. And the polluting process still killed them.

O'Brien calls for all government agencies and businesses to put their options in understandable language, and to consider ways of creating the least possible environmental damage. She argues that all citizens should be given easy access to relevant information, especially on health effects, and that we should have access to legal and financial resources to enforce environmental laws.

For those campaigning on these issues, take a really close look at Chapter 16, 'Getting Started'. Here O'Brien gives step-by-step advice on how 'Alternatives Assessment' could be carried out, forcing regulators and industries to evaluate the real impact of their actions and forcing them to find the environmentally best options, not a statistical justification for the harm they are already doing.

For campaigners, don't get swallowed up in the 'Risk Assessment' game. At the end, however much scientific expertise and statistical skill you acquire, you will probably be defeated. And in the process, you are helping to justify a fundamentally flawed approach. Instead, ask the basic questions, and try to get the local politicians, regulators and bureaucrats to take on board the real issues of 'should we be doing this at all' and 'what could we do instead'.

Certainly the most helpful, and practical book of this kind that I have read in ten years of environmental campaigning.

Adrian Fox Chair of Environmental Working Group, West Wiltshire District Council, United Kingdom

What a cute concept, word play and visual play on the phrase "change the baby." This story presents a contest of avoidance and one-upmanship between an unusual pair of parents -- a wizard and a witch. When mom tells dad it is his turn to "change the baby," he does so, literally, changing the baby into a cat and telling his wife "its your turn to feed the cat." She responds in kind, and things escalate in a picture book version of "War of the Roses." The play on words is cute; the pictures are cute. In the New Yorker this would have worked beautifully, but the underlying message -- that the competitive spouses are willing to give up everything including their humanity and their home to avoid the responsibility involved in caring for their child and their pets -- makes for a disturbing picture book theme.

My two year old really enjoyed this book although it's designed for older children. He liked reading with me and saying "Poof" everytime I prompted him. He liked it so much that he cried when I returned the book to the library!

I think Poof is a book that can be enjoyed by the entire family. If you and your family need a good laugh, this will be a good one!

After giving this book a few reads, I can safely say that the author is simply too tame. I cannot get any feeling out of the words and the verses do not flow well. Not saying this to badmouth the author, but I just cannot identify with this writing. If you want to be moved by poetry, look elsewhere.

Delving into the unknown, I was exhilarated to find this new voice. A refreshing return to simplicity without banality and form without rigidity. This is purely my own belief, but too often I find American poetry veering toward one of two extremes--sheer laziness of the "MTV poetry slam" variety or self-indulgent and overly academic obscurity. Say what you will, but we wonder why people aren't reading poetry anymore. Good poetry belongs to everyone, otherwise, what's the point?-- it speaks not above or below, but TO everyone. Cheers to O'Brien for breathing new life into one of our oldest and most sacred forms. More, please.

I have been familiar with his newpaper column for
quite some time, and was pleased to see he authored a book of poetry.
I connected with his poems immediately; there is beauty, there is sadness and there is truth. They are full of haunting sentiment without ever being sentimental.
As I sit here on this dreary winter afternoon, I find comfort in this collection.