This book was such a joy to read, I was genuinely sorry to see it end. And of course, it doesn't really end; it just goes on into the Guermantes Way. Rarely does one come across a novel that seems so completely pleasing and visionary in its effects upon the reader. Apart from the general relief one feels in seeing the author finally emerge from his prolonged sojourn in the shadow of his mother, there is also the vicarious pleasure derived from experiencing a long-ago summer at the mythical sea-side resort of Balbec, in the shadow of young women in the flower of youth. You feel as if you are truly there with him, walking the promenade, gazing out to sea, hearing the sea-gulls cry, feeling the sand between your toes, and being nineteen again and living carelessly.

Two great characters emerge from this novel who will exercise a profound influence on the young narrator as he matures in future volumes. The first is Robert de Saint-Loup, a dashing young soldier-playboy, whom Marcel clearly adores as a soul mate of sorts. This gives the reader pause; for considering how close the two young men become they manage to still consider themselves straight! Never mind, however, for we eventually learn that Saint-Loup is indeed bisexual, as are so many of the characters in this novel. Secondly we meet the playful, flirty Albertine whom Marcel decides is the one girl in the little band of jeunes filles whom he most wants as his female sexual conquest. Unfortunately, he does not have the capability of relating to her except in the most self-absorbed of ways.

Upon finishing WITHIN A BUDDING GROVE, the reader will have been introduced to virtually all the major characters in IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME. Most importantly for later volumes, we meet and get to know Albertine, Robert de Saint-Loup, the painter Elstir, the diplomat Norpois, and Madame de Villeparasis, as well as a deepened acquaintance with such characters as Gilberte Swann, Madame Swann, and the extravagantly bizarre Baron de Charlus.

Proust's extraordinary genius is evident on every page of this amazing book. One could point to any of a few dozen moments to illustrate this. What is amazing to me about Proust is how he can take an amazingly everyday event, and build it to proportions as great as any battle scene in WAR AND PEACE. For instance, at the end of "Madame Swann at Home," the narrator recounts the times he would wait at the Arc de Triomphe to take a walk with Madame Swann and her entourage. The ensuing eight or nine pages, which merely recount the group walking through Paris, become as majestic and epic as any scene in Homer or Virgil or Tolstoy. No scene would seem to contain less potential for greatness, yet Proust is able to make it something truly unique and beautiful. Or, to take another incident, have there been many incidents in literature as filled with passion and emotion and suspense as the Narrator's first attempt to kiss Albertine? In a mere two pages, Proust is about to pack a surreal amount of dramatic (and comic) action.

Although famous for containing at least part of both of the narrator's great love affairs, I find this novel even more fascinating for the extraordinary detailing of the myriad of social and class distinctions to be found in the seemingly infinitely varied French society. The great theme throughout the book, even when not specifically mentioned, is snobbism, and Proust owns the subject of snobbery as Homer owns that of war. Proust reveals snobbery primarily proceeding from those slightly lower on the social ladder. Ironically, he reveals those at the top guilty not of snobbery but of insolence and disdain, while not even his servant Françoise is innocent of being a snob. The tensions in the novel become particularly acute given the changes that were taking place in French society at the time. This theme is not restricted to this novel alone. It featured in SWANN'S WAY, especially in the attitudes of the Verdurin "faithful" and will be a major theme of ensuing volumes, especially THE GUERMANTES WAY.

The section of the novel recounting his getting to know Elstir contains perhaps my favorite passage in all of Proust, where Elstir, upon the narrator's learning something unflattering of Elstir's past, tells him that no one has not done things that they would not love to expunge, but that no one ought to despise this, because this is the only way one can truly become wise. "We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one can else can make for us, which no one can spare, us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." This is not merely the opinion of Proust's character: it could stand as the central meaning of the novel as a whole.

Volume 3 of 12 of proust's Remembrance of things past is another great example of beautiful literature. In this volume Proust's leaves the innocence of boyhood and ventures forth towards young adulthood. His relationship with young Gilberte grows and eventually he falls in love with the pretty thing. Alas however there are problems and the narrator must face the fact that Gilberte will never be the one for him. All the while Proust's writes of Madame Swann the much talked about woman with a shady past. Though the mother of Gilberte the narrator paints her as a vision of beauty and grace. He is captivated by her as well and in one charming passage describes in great detail a spring coat she is wearing on one of her walks where in it he finds treasures and scents like no other. the reader can feel the coat as it is being described such a writer is Proust. this volume ends with Proust arriving at Balbec with his grandmother and observing the Hypocrisy around him. It is quite comical for no one is spared and each class at that time viewed the other with suspicion and disdain. I was quite disappointed when the last CD was through but I have already ordered volume 4. Naxos has done an excellent job in bringing to life Proust's masterpiece and I can't wait to listen to all 12 volumes. I will savor them however ordering one every so often just to excite my anticipation a bit more. this book contains 3 CDs and includes musical breaks between the reading.

As a SSR Master Teacher, I've been using this manual for my own Sekhem/Seichim/Reiki practice. The atunements in the back of the book are especially powerful and filled with love. For anyone interested in energy work, I would consider this required reading. Even if you have never been exposed to Reiki before and are interested in learning more about it from one of the best teachers out there (she attuned the woman who attuned me), this is a great book for novices as well as seasoned professionals.

When I opened the book and began to read about Seicheim, an Energy System I have been looking for more information on, I was delighted with the material. I felt it was well written, straight forward and very helpful for practitioners and anyone who is interested in Seichiem. It was as if I were in a class with Diane. I feel that anyone who is interested in working with energy will find the book very helpful. I do not know Diane and I have never taken a class with her or Patrick Zigler, but I am looking forward to taking a class from her very soon. Enjoy, the book is a Jewel.

I loved Diane's book. Patrick recommended this book to me and I'm glad he did. Diane has put a lot of time, love and effort into producing this book. I have found it very informative, well written and displayed. Two of my pupils have already purchased this book after seeing my copy! Another great book Diane!

Joanna C. Scott was born in London during an air raid, was raised in Australia, is a widely published poet and author of a book about refugees in Indochina, and now lives in Hunt Valley, Baltimore County, with six children - all or part (or none) of which may explain her powerful descriptions of pain and injury and suffering in her new (and second) novel, a tale of the Vietnam War, Charlie and the Children. The protagonist is a young Texan, Charlie Lucas, who is drafted into the Army infantry after graduating from law school in D.C. and marrying the sophisticated daughter of a U.S. [sic] diplomat. In Vietnam he kills a lot of "dinks" (or "gooks") and cuts off their ears. He also marries one and has a son by her - without informing either wife of the other. Then, while out on a search-and-destroy mission, every soldier in his squad except Charlie is blown to bits by a booby trap, and he's captured by two Viet Cong "children" - as he perceives them - and imprisoned alone in a narrow tunnel. He also thinks of his captors as VCs or "Victor Charlie," which is sort of hideously ironic (since his own first name, remember, is Charlie). In the tunnel, apparently for a long time, Charlie is tormented by fear of torture, chiggers, an injured toe, rotten food, primitive hygienic facilities, flashbacks of a dead buddy's recitation of distractingly pornographic letters from home, thoughts of his American wife, hallucinations about his Vietnamese wife and son and - almost as nauseating to the reader as to the prisoner - a constant stink of blood, guts, sweat, tears, human waste, cordite, wet fungi, etc. Scott is especially good at describing odors. Charlie and the Children is a strong novel, very strong, probably too strong for the squeamish.THE STAR Democrat by John Goodspeed Friday, August 1997 Joanna C. Scott was born in London during an air raid, was raised in Australia, is a widely published poet and author of a book about refugees in Indochina, and now lives in Hunt Valley, Baltimore County, with six children - all or part (or none) of which may explain her powerful descriptions of pain and injury and suffering in her new (and second) novel, a tale of the Vietnam War, Charlie and the Children. The protagonist is a young Texan, Charlie Lucas, who is drafted into the Army infantry after graduating from law school in D.C. and marrying the sophisticated daughter of a U.S. [sic] diplomat. In Vietnam he kills a lot of "dinks" (or "gooks") and cuts off their ears. He also marries one and has a son by her - without informing either wife of the other. Then, while out on a search-and-destroy mission, every soldier in his squad except Charlie is blown to bits by a booby trap, and he's captured by two Viet Cong "children" - as he perceives them - and imprisoned alone in a narrow tunnel. He also thinks of his captors as VCs or "Victor Charlie," which is sort of hideously ironic (since his own first name, remember, is Charlie). In the tunnel, apparently for a long time, Charlie is tormented by fear of torture, chiggers, an injured toe, rotten food, primitive hygienic facilities, flashbacks of a dead buddy's recitation of distractingly pornographic letters from home, thoughts of his American wife, hallucinations about his Vietnamese wife and son and - almost as nauseating to the reader as to the prisoner - a constant stink of blood, guts, sweat, tears, human waste, cordite, wet fungi, etc. Scott is especially good at describing odors. Charlie and the Children is a strong novel, very strong, probably too strong for the squeamish.

THE CHILDREN WE FOUGHT(reviewer Stan Sirmans) How many Vietnam Veterans saw dead or captured Vietcong and thought they were just children? Many of them were. In her insightful and beautifully written first novel, Charlie and the Children, (Black Heron Press, 235 pp., $22.95), Joanna C. Scott has captured the essence of an enemy a French general referred to with disdain as "these little people." She has also portrayed the physical and mental deterioration of an American captive of the Vietcong. During the 1980's, on the Bataan Peninsula, refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos were infused with hope as they waited acceptance by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service for an American visa. It was in these camps that Scott interviewed many refugees and published their stories in Indochina's Refugee: Oral Histories from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (McFarland, 1989). Touched by the account of an Amerasian teenager abandoned by his U.S. Navy officer father, Scott conceived the story of Charlie. Drafted soon after he is married, Charlie Lucas arrives in Vietnam and is befriended by a second-tour veteran who teaches him how to survive. One afternoon, as Charlie and his new friend sit drinking at a sidewalk cafe, an enemy grenade explodes. Charlie rescues a young woman named Minh from the rush of the crowd and promptly falls in love with her. Although he continues to write home faithfully to his wife, Charlie marries Minh, and soon a son is born.Torn by love for his wife in the States and for Minh and his son, Charlie begins to feel trapped in a hopeless situation. He channels his emotional distress into merciless assaults against the enemy. While on patrol, his platoon is wiped out, and Charlie is captured by children in black pajamas. His captors march him deep into the jungle and place him in a dark hole inside one of their tunnels. Left alone and fed little, Charlie's body and mind deteriorate. His world becomes a series of hallucinations as he descends into despair and death approaches. The singing lilt of Scott's clear narrative reflects her background as an accomplished poet. She has peppered the story with metaphors and similes that are stunning. A medevac helicopter, carrying one of Charlie's dead platoon-mates, for example, goes ^Qsobbing its way across the treetops.' Her meticulous research is reflected in the conversations of her soldiers. They talk the language of the war. The combat scenes, too, ring true. Unlike other authors with no military background who attempt to write about war, Scott is believable. She doesn't stumble. She has crafted an unusually graceful war story that depicts the experiences of young soldiers in Vietnam. It is a prodigious feat for a writer who is not a Vietnam War veteran, and it is a reflection of her enormous talent.

Riveting . . . a heartstopper . . . yet more than just another story about war. In taking on the issue of the children soldiers leave behind, 'Charlie and the Children' transforms itself into a fable for our time. I was astonished to find myself in tears

Scott Bilker is a financial expert that turns the tables around to save money with credit. It is hands down advice on taking a radical approach as a consumer that is in charge of your money, not credit in charge of your money. Scott's book goes beyond traditional ideas in fianance and offers functional finance ideas that will move you ahead in your goal to be financially independent. It is a step in the right direction no matter where you are in your budgeting skills. Scott Bilker also provides an exciting free DebtFree email newsletter that is full of information that is understandable and realistic in pracitically to obtain fianancial freedom! Thank you Scott!

What a refreshing,knowledgeable and easy to understand book. Many others have failed to teach us about debt and credit card management in a language we could relate to. This book not only teaches but guides you along the way. Intimidation of debt management and saving money is not a factor anymore, thanks to the author. It opened my eyes to many things I didn't know, or should already have knowledge of but could never understand. This book has encouraged me to take charge of my financial management and I now subscribe to the Debtsmart Newsletter, to keep the educational process going. I enjoyed the book tremendously and highly recommend it.

"Credit Card and Debt Management" is without a doubt the TOP OF THE LINE in its class. After having read through several debt management books, this one assisted me the most in debt reduction and managing personal finances. It's clear, concise and practical, with real world examples to learn from. As a member of the U.S. military who has had to relocate every few years, the use of credit cards has been essential in maintaining an enjoyable quality of life. This book has greatly assisted in balancing it all. Investing in "Credit Card and Debt Management" is money well spent!

"100 Things Every Writer Needs to Know" is one of those books that the title alone causes you to set your expectations low. Not being the thickest tome doesn't help the cause.

But what a surprise this pleasant little book is!

In a sea of writers' helps, this one carves a niche by not only being surprisingly comprehensive in the breadth of topics it addresses, but also densely packed with useful tips. And did I mention that it is also breezily written, so it is not a chore to wade through? Kudos to Scott Edelstein for writing such a fine book to help writers, while also simultaneously proving that it is possible to know the writing profession inside and out and STILL actually write well!

This book contains plenty of the typical writer's advice like getting through writer's block, fostering creativity, and such, but also discusses the spiritual aspects of writing, common myths of the profession, and even technical advice. Each of the one hundred tips of the trade runs little more than a couple pages (with major exceptions being a few of the glossary tips), so this is a book that can digested in spurts. Read a bit, put it down for a while, and then read some more later.

What makes this book, though, is Edelstein's welcoming writing style. Within a few pages, you feel like you know him and vice versa. He's the mentor all of us need.

Much more than expected. A worthy addition to your writing library.

I love the short concise chapters--so zen. He gets to the point and doesn't let the reader forget why she started writing--for joy! For fun! He encourages; he makes us laugh. When I'm having a down day either writing new projects, or promoting my novel, "Forever Retro Blues," I love to pick this book up and just flip to a page. Inevitability, there is some priceless gem of advice that bolsters me.

If I had to pick ONE THING in this whole book that I found was of value, it would be Chapter 10 beginning on page 16: "You Can Safely Ignore Most of the 'Have-To's' You've Been Taught About Writing."

He lists nearly every 'have to' in every writing book (and MOST of them have 'em):
You must write by hand.
You must write a certain amount of time/words/pages every day.
You must have a special place to write.
You must have a set writing schedule.
You must know how the piece will end before you start.
And so on.

I nearly stopped writing altogether trying to follow some of those "have-to's" in other books! It's great that some combination of those things work for *some* people, but Edelstein is the only author I've seen who truly recognizes that everyone's writing process is unique and that a large part of writing is discovering what works for YOU.

Definitely worth the money!

This is a great book from beggining to end! After I read this book, I got really hooked on to magic after I read this book.

an awesome book, but im questioning whether is really good, or just good. Odyssey was, i hate to put it this way, but, garbage. I advise ANYONE to stay away from anything written by Vance Moore. i think what made torment seem so good, is that odyssey so bad. though the book was extremely good, emotional, the ending was nice too, i look foward to scott's next book for magic, he seems promising just by reading torment.

This is the first book I have read by Scott McGough, and I was pleasantly surprised. From the first few pages I was drawn into the detailed story and characters, and really never wanted to put the book down once I started. The story of the Cabal and its rogue empire was interesting, and the main characters in the story weren't the "good guys, heros" as in most books.
The only problem I had was the ending, it kind of just fizzled out with no real dramatic ending. All in all though this was an excellent book which I would highly recommend.

This is the bible for tape/CD traders of Grateful Dead shows! It lists, as far as is known, all performances in chronological order, plus whatever tunes were performed at each show. For the most part, I've found very few errors in the book. When the author(s) don't know for sure, they're up front and say so. But sometimes shows differ from Deadbase. I've got a Jan. 1970 Honolulu show that has all the tunes listed in Deadbase, but in a different order. Are my two CDs of the show right, or is Deadbase? It doesn't really matter, of course, because the music is good. Deadbase also contains a statistician's dream of information, such as how many times songs were played, when they were first played, when the last time they were played, and on and on. It also has a great section (which, after the show listings is my favorite) of reviews from fans. This book gets 4 stars and not 5 from me simply because I really don't care how many times Loose Lucy was played. I'd rather have fewer stats and more reviews. The reviews are great and, though I have some 800 shows on tape, there are some reviews of shows I'm looking for and they've been very helpful. The reviews also are helpful for "newbies" (an affection term for someone just starting out on tape/CD trading) to decide what shows they want to get first. I could sit for long periods of time and enjoy Deadbase. For a while, a Deadbase Jr. was being published, and I liked it because it was not much bigger than a paperback, had all the shows, major venues, some stats, but was easy to refer to when looking at lists on the Internet. I STILL use my tattered Jr. when I can, but kicking back on the couch with the "big book" and dreaming of shows yet to come is a pure joy. For anyone involved in tape/CD trading, this is ESSENTIAL and very, very highly recomended!

If you have a huge collection of unlabeled tapes, this book will help you ID the tape by listing every song played with every song played BEFORE and AFTER it. It's a blast to just leaf through. There isn't another book like it anywhere. You really have to get a copy of this book. It's not like it's an optional purchase. The information in this book is not found anywhere else.

If you are a taper, collector, trader, or just forgot what opened the second set in the last Philly JFK show, then this book is a must. Finally make a setlist for all those unidentified MP3s. Check off what you have to make trading easier. Get goosebumps over one of the transitions you forgot about. Kick yourself for working and not seeing the second night. If you collect you gotta have this or wait for the next one coming soon.

I think that I would give this book five stars because it had a lot of action in it and the coolest Dinosaurs that they talked about was a Skybax because they say that Skybaxs can' t talk well they were wrong because one Skybax can talk. His first partner Daniel had teached him how to talk but unfortunetly a fire started where they were and Daniel got caught in the fires and Windchaser tryed to save him but he was to late and he got wings burned from the fires and so Windchaser never ever had a partner again but Raymond had become his partner because they both had something in common they had both lost somebody.

I read this book at school and love it. It explains Dinotopia so you don't have to have read "Dinotopia a Land Apart From Time" to understand the story. If you want to read the children's series I recomend that you read this book first. I particualy like how it is about Skybaxes ( a tipe of flying dinosaur that can be rode on by humans). I have read two other books in the series and this is by far the best one. This is a must have for both people who have read other Dinotopia books or have never read a Dinotopia book.

I'm not even into dinos, but I loved this book. It has a great plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat with the book glued in your hands. Raymond and Hugh land on Dinotopia, meet some neat characters, and then proceed to learn many valuable lessons. Hugh needs to learn to fit in, and Raymond wants desperately to help an injured dino named Windchaser. How will they accomplish these feats? Read the first Dinotopia book to find out!

The Brazilian Sound is good as far as it goes - a who's who list and discography of 20th century Brazilian music. Although, the book has the feel of a junior college textbook, it's written in plain language. It would be a relatively easy read if it were not that a parenthetical list of Brazilian names breaks up every third or fourth paragraph. There are some very informative passages - notably the chapter on Bossa Nova and the "Escolas de Samba" section of Chapter 2. At their best, the authors provide clear and comphrensive explanations of the geneology and sociological context of the music.

Unfortunately, unless a person is willing to spend countless shopping hours and a couple of thousand dollars building up collection of Brazilian records, he or she will gain almost no insight from this book into what the music feels like. The authors describe individual works and artists in only vague terms - terms often identical to those previously used to describe others. They beat the term "syncopation" into irrelevance - it's clear only that all Brazilian music is syncopated. The authors habitually refer to folk music genres and song forms ala "Composer X's work is all based on the Y song form..." But they provide no practical examples or definitions of those genres or forms.

The authors stridently dumb-down their text, accepting as axiom that one has to "hear it to believe it" and that it is meaningless to describe Brazilian music in technical terms. They generally refrain from even using common musical terms - bar, measure, pulse, key, etc. - to give the reader a clearer understanding of Brazilian rhythmic and harmonic structures. They use few effective musical comparisons or verbal metaphors. It is understandably difficult to describe music in writing. But it is possible. Judicious use of metaphor, comparisions, and technical descriptions would have greatly fleshed out what in the end comes off as a skeletal text.

This 1998 edition serves as the update to the first, apparently published in 1990 or 1991. However, the amendments appear to have been quite minor - embodied by an isolated paragraph here and there, and four meager pages in the final "More Brazilian Sounds" chapter. It's as if nothing has really happened in the evolution of Brazilian music since 1990 - an impression that must be wrong.

The Brazilian Sound catalogs decent research, but is neither good writing nor effective music history.

The best book ever written about Brazilian music in English, "The Brazilian Sound" is a beautifully written, in-depth guide to samba, bossa and other Brazilian genres. Many of the reviews below are on the mark, but BGB from WA seems not to have read the book (or to have read a different book!). The 1998 edition substantially upgrades the original 1991 version. There is much added in terms of early history, capoeira, racial issues, choro, and the blocos and afoxes in Bahia. There is more on important artists from the 1990s, like Marisa Monte, Daniela Mercury, Carlinhos Brown, Chico Cesar, Chico Science and Karnak, though these additions are in various chapters, not just the final one ("More Brazilian Sounds"). One needs to have actually read the book to know that, of course...The music is nicely described, in both musical and cultural terms. One gets a strong sense of how it sounds, and a clear understanding of its rhythmic, harmonic and melodic ingredients. Some of the writing is rather encyclopedic, dispensing a rather staggering amount of information, while many sections vividly convey a sense of the music. I often felt I was at a bossa nova club in '59, at an escola de samba rehearsal, watching one of the 1960s song festivals, or attending a forro party. "The Brazilian Life" brings to life both the current and past greats of Brazilian music. As a result, I added quite a few CDs to my collection, especially of artists like Milton Nascimento, Pixinguinha, Jobim and Marisa Monte. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

You could fill a book with all the information I _don't_ know about Brazilian music... In fact, these guys already have! Concise, conversational, informative and very well laid out, this is an exceptionally readable book. Chapters on samba, bossa nova, tropicalia, forro and jazz include focused biographical sketches of dozens of key artists, as well as succinct historical information about the progress of Brazilian music from its European and African folk roots into its bewildering and often beautiful modern offshoots. The book's focus is nonpartisan: although there is plenty of room for aesthetic criticism within the various styles, the authors generally hold their preferences and dislikes to themselves. They do, however, give readers a good sense of which recordings might be best to check out -- an invaluable service considering how little of Brazil's vast musical output makes it to the United States. Highly recommended! Certainly the best English-language guide to Brazilian pop that you will find in print (online is a different matter), this is great for casual listeners and hardcore fans alike.