The authors had a way of inflating what they're capable of writing. It reads just like any other so so old texts. Much of the academic discussions can be found in most other finance books. Beyond that, real business insight? Forget about it. You learn much more by watching evening news.

This book is outdated. The coverage was mostly corporate finance, not investment banking. In addition, I heard and confirmed that the materials covered in this book are close to 100 percent identical to another book by the same authors under slightly different title. A big disappointment.

This book is a good though outdated overview of the investment banking business. I would also strongly recommend instead or in addition
the Vault Career Guide to Investment Banking.... The Vault guide includes more
detailed overviews of all the departments and functions of an investment
bank including corporate finance, M&A, sales, trading, private client
services, credit, etc. If you are a job seeker in investment banking
also try the Vault Guide to Finance Interviews, which contains actual
investment banking finance interview questions and answers and which I
found to be enormously valuable in my Wall Street job search.

I bought this game right when it came out. It was a blast and still is. Being a mostly online player, I quickly figured out that there were way better items than I was finding. So about a month later I bought this strategy guide thinking it would help me get a certain mag or special item I had been hearing about online. This book just tells about the trashy weapons I already have and does not tell how to get a mag you'd like to have. All it does is show some pics of some super rare weapons and say something along the lines of, "we'd like to keep some of the items a mystery." THEN WHAT THE... DID I BUY THIS STRATEGY GUIDE FOR? It also shows weapons like Eggblaster, that are banned by Sega (not usable online) and tells of a Sonic the Hedgehog mag THAT DOESN'T EVEN EXIST! I've been online for well over 900 hours and asked several hundred people about that mag. Nobody has one, seen one, or ever even heard of it! This book lies and tells you that there is one! This doesn't even deserve a star.

The best thing about this guide are the detailed maps and quest walk-thrus. Other than that, it's lacking in other areas. While the mag guide section is O.K., it doesn't tell you anything about evolving mags beyond the 2nd evolution. And it doesn't tell you hardly anything about the rare mags. There are glaring errors and misinformation throughout the guide, but this is understandable since the guide was rushed into publication. What is inexcusable is the total lack of pictures, descriptions, and ways to find the rarest of the rare weapons and armors in this game. But if you're looking for a good source for mag raising and PSO maps, then this guide is O.K., just not great.

This guide's value lies in the multitude of maps and information regarding the quests that come in-game. This guide made the truly long and tedious ruins quests possible and a cinch (well unless you still get beat down by ruins creatures). The maps for regular game play also are great, and include variations of the areas and a break down of monsters and their stats. It also has some strategies that are helpful, but some are truly lame. Why go in and hack creatures when shoting from afar using a gun or techniques will do?

The information on mags goes up to the 3rd evolution, but do not contain info on the rare mags like Robochao, Soniti (the most sought after mag if it is hacked) or Chao. It does has the charts for feeding your baby lvl 5 mag (based on the 6 doff preference types) and changing it into the mag you desire, and the information is specific to your class as well as to the mag.

This guide also has a run down on Photon blasts in the same section. Also noteworthy is the info on the different character classes and thier relative stats, beating each boss that is class specific, a nice poster, and a breakdown of the weapons you'll most likely find in non-cheat device play on all 3 difficulty levels.

However, the bad news. Nothing is very in-depth to the lvl a serious player of this game wants and needs. Forget the teaser on the cover that says all hidden 10-12 star weapons and rare mags are revealed. That is bogus. They give you the name of like 8 rare weapons and 3 rare mags, but do not tell how to get them, where they can be found, or their special abilities, or anything really about the rarest things in the game.

I guess they want the element of surprise to remain intact, but this game is so old and almost completely hacked online that this info should have been standard. Do not buy this if you want to find and know what the most rare weapons are. Instead, go online and find a good website that is dedicated to this game, like PSO Quest V3 or PSO Top 100 sites network. The information is WAY BETTER from these online sources, and many have info on ways to cheat/protect yourself from cheaters.

In all, a good buy ..., but only if maps, character class and race data, mags, and boss & enemy data is what you are looking for.

I was extremely disappointed with this book. This is a xeroxed booklet with a mistake circled on page 4. For a xeroxed book this could have easily been replaced. This book is not something we will be sharing with our children and will find more information about Boston elsewhere.

We read the book before we went on the Trail and enjoyed it so much more. They knew what they were going to see and even remembered some of the lines from the book.

In this charmingly illustrated book, Casey, a cat from Beacon Hill, takes children on a walking tour of Boston, in rhyme. It is a book that a child and an adult can read together, as well as one that older children can read independently. Line drawing of the sights around Boston make it a book children can color as they read, to insure that they remember their trip. Theresa Maronna Speech and Language Pathologist City of Boston Public School

What a disappointment! This is a well laid out book with great illustrations. However, despite its "1999" publishing date, it does not cover changes in the 1996 or 1999 National Electric Code. The book makes no claim that it is up to date but it certainly is implied. As a loose leaf publication, it seems all the publisher would have to do is supplement pages with current data.

I took SBCCI's Residential Electrical Inspector exam, which is based on International Resesidential Code (IRC) and National Electric Code (NEC). I passed the test quickly & efficiently.

This checklist showed the difference between the 1999 and 2002 NEC. Unlike the other Code Check books, there was no cross reference to the IRC. This made things difficult for the test because I couldn't get to my references directly.

The beauty of this checklist is that I was able to quickly discern differences between the old and new NEC code. This allowed me to review these areas in the IRC for differences.

I'd recommend this checklist to any residential inspector because after the test, the IRC is not likely to apply in the USA for the electrical code--the NEC does.

I love the format of this book, simple, easy and I love the playful nature of the illustrations. Never have codes been more easy to understand.

As an educator in a high poverty, low performing school I agree with many of the points brought out in this book. Unfortunately, this Heritage Foundation work (i.e. extreme right wing, ultra-conservative) comes off as solely pushing a pro-voucher, anti-public school agenda. Most of the schools listed in the book are public schools who have turned the situation around and I know personally one of the principals. The book is extremely critical of teacher education programs in our colleges and universities and advocates the direct instruction, anti-whole language, anti-person centered classrooms that almost all extreme conservative educators and think tanks rally around these days. Another interesting point to note in this book is that of the 21 schools listed only 2 are high schools. It has been my personal observation that it is easier to turn around an elementary or middle school than it is a high school because of the age factor and decreased parental involvement as students progress through the system. Overall, this book lists several good points that EVERY school should implement but I could have surely done without the extreme conservative agenda the book's author rams down your throat. Perhaps the NEA or a progressive educational teacher training university should publish a book with their agenda refuting this research and ideaology point for point- I am sure there would be plenty they would agree with and disagree with in this book.

If there's any book that works like a coach in a locker room giving a half-time pep talk, this is it. The tone is inspirational and invigorating and Carter identifies several important points that educators need to tune into in order to be better teachers. Yet....

Yet there is something bothering me. For all the important emphasis on teacher and administrator improvement (a priori knowledge in recent educational debates), there is a heavy reliance on standards. Listen: No teacher is opposed to standards. It would be tantamount to saying I am against breathing. But just what those standards are and who sets them and who measures them--that is the debate.

Maybe it is the emphasis that Carter places on the importance of Direct Instruction as an instructional method that bothers me. DI has been widely advocated in educational certification programs as the standard modus operendi for classrooms instruction and it relies heavily on behavoralistic methods of learning: skill and drill, frequent assessments, highly scripted teacher stimuli and highly structure student response. Carter says that we have built too much into studying how children learn and forgotten to teach them. While this is catchy, I disagree: we must be cognizant of our students abilities when instructing them. It reminds me of one of my favorite teacher jokes. Did you hear about the teacher that went home and taught his dog how to whistle? ....No? She didn't learn, but he taught him.

But I still endorse this book. The 21 different schools are important for someone looking for other schools that have gone ahead with reform programs and that may be beneficial.

The book is outstanding and very inspiring. A must read for any teacher.

As a reluctant mate, I found this book disappointing. Despite the refreshing title, once again, we have an enthusiastic male sailor rattling down the same old story. I recommend Diana B. Jessie's "The Cruising Woman's Advisor", in which cruising women, some of whom started out reluctantly, share their experience and give advice. If you're already hooked on sailing, this book does not tell you anything new, and if not, this definitely is not going to convince you of the opposite.

This is the third Don Casey book I've read and I like them all. Don has a easy going infomative style that doesn't come of as Mr. Know It All. His other books I've read were on maintenance related issues. This book is all about the emotions and realities of cruising. The chapter tiltes tell it all. "What is cruising really like?" "Confronting fears" "stocking the galley" etc. I have a hard time giving books five stars, but this is definitely a 4-1/2 star. It's only 170 some pages I'd like to see more. Would I buy again? Absolutely- If this title appeals to you the book will deliver. A two thumbs up!

"Dragged Aboard" is a comforting and instructive book.

Don Casey, who left his banking career to devote more time to cruising and writing, addresses the questions and apprehensions of the reluctant boating mate.

Thunderstorms, sun exposure, going to the bathroom, and even present-day pirates are just a few of the topics that Casey addresses.

He also details what general items you should be sure to take on your cruise, and where you should store them.

And he lists and explains 13 simple sailing terms (from Bow and Stern to Port and Starboard) that will make a reluctant mate's trip far richer and more enjoyable.

Casey's explaination of motion sickness could have been better handled, especially since that's a prime concern of many reluctant mates. Not only is motion sickness not listed in the index (you can find a short paragraph about it under "Sea Legs," on page 92), but when Casey mentions that we can find some effective remedies later in the book, he doesn't say where. (The info, by the way, is in Chapter 10, "Health and First Aid.)

Still, this is a commmendable book. It deserves to be a part of your nautical library, whether you have a reluctant mate or not.

It all began with a dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. Forty years from now, the dream is still living on strong in the hands of comics creators and quite recently movie studios. The X-Men franchise is the most popular of all comic mythos and collectively has take on the like of the big guns like Superman and Batman. It all began with a simpe idea, that people wherever they are can live and coexist with others of a minority. Be it race, social status and age. Going back to how the dream began makes the person only fathom of how the X-Men have gone through their drastic changes to become the force in comics they are now.

Joe Casey weaves a good story at first on how he introduces his early mutants that made up Prof X's first batch of students, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman and Angel. Kids with the only difference from others is that they're different. Everyone who has ever been through the teen years feels that difference and you don't require the X-gene to know it. The story begins with the shadow of Columbine still looming over certain plot scenes. By the end, however, it seems that the story was rushed and the originality of the first three issues is lost on training, bickering and a dominating personality readers are not used to in Prof X's character. He's more of a school master than a father figure that he is these days. Even his restaurant confrontation with Magneto is anything but benign. He actually threatens to wedge a knife in the guy's brain. Are we talking about the same old, kind man of the early series. Not really. Casey, just fails to capture the essence of Xavier's dream.

The art also goes through this twist. Steve "the Dude" Rude is known to emulate greats such as Jack Kirby in his retro style art, but when the other fill in artists take over, it becomes another X-Men story and not the flashback to what is already being chunked out in the monthly series.

The book is good and you learn how these X-Men came to be. The best scenes include those with Magneto in them. That guy is great wherever he appears and no matter how many times Marvel tries to kill him, you have to admit, he's the best X-villain out there. It's a wonderful read for the first few issues, but then the story and art becomes eclectic and too out of track. Casey is a good writer, but needs to work more on his story contination. Rude is a bonafide genius. 'Nuff said!!!

Joe Casey and Steve "The Dude" Rude set out to tell the story of how those uncanny franchise-builders, the X-Men got together in the first place. Set just a few years ago, "Children of the Atom" features Professor Xavier setting up shop in a troubled high school, thanks to a helpful FBI agent. Anti-mutant gangs are on the rise, and a number of familiar youngsters are in danger. Shadows of Columbine definitely drape this book in darkness, but so, too, do other teen issues.

First, the flaws. In true comic book fashion, there's little subtlety to the villians this go around. Viewing an episode of "Jerry Springer" about racists would have sufficed for research. It would've added some depth if Casey had done more to indicate his young skinheads were as much at risk from their own hate as the young mutants are. The X-teens encounter skinheads who speak in a kind of adult-writer-attempts-youthful patois, and both Casey and Rude indulge in pop culture referencing and caricaturing in an attempt to layer the story, but only distract from the central players. In other words, Frank Miller already covered this territory way too often; give us something we've never seen before, go deeper into all the characters. Although in his defense, the always-amazing Rude gives some of the bit players some facial expressions that suggests he gets it.

Where the book succeeds is in adding a new layer of metaphor to its mutant mythology. The X-Books have long relied on the "anti-mutant hysteria" theme, usually depicted as a commentary on racism. Here, it's most evocative of teen homosexuality. After all, this is a story about seemingly average-looking people who hide their true natures in the face of a disapproving public. And while most of the demogogic antagonist Metzger's rhetoric is borrowed heavy-handedly from white supremacists (and his name!), it's readily apparent that's only part of what this story's addressing. Or looting for effect.

Not that any of the heroes in this story are shown as overtly gay (and Marvel history would suggest they aren't), but bits of dialogue between Professor X and the FBI agent seem to indicate the G-man might have a hidden, personal motivation for helping the Professor. Also, Hank McCoy, the Beast, has his mutant identity stripped bare in public, followed by the kind of reaction sexually confused young people have to face; McCoy is effectively "outted." It's during these scenes the story gains emotional resonance.

Eventually, as the story winds down, The Dude's wonderful "Dr. Seuss-meets-Jack Kirby" artwork gives way to some surprisingly disappointing pages from Paul Smith, and the story loses its racial/sexual subtext to become standard fare. By the time Essad Divac comes on board with some obviously rushed and frankly, bland art, we're involved in a cliched superhero battle, rendering something that began with much promise only average.

this was a good read & an interesting take on the original x-men's history. please note however, that this is not their actual history, it is more of a fanbased 'what might have been' kind of thing.

Little said about the supposed biography. I am sure if Casey Donovan was alive he would be suing for defamation. Too many anonymous names lots of hearsay. The pics of Casey are good but thats about it. Don't bother

Confession: I started reading this book wanting to like it. Really. After all the inaccuracies that have been written and said about gay men and their (supposedly? occasionally?) promiscuous sexuality (which depends, I suppose, on who's doing the talking; to use a literary analogy, you say "bookworm", I say "well-read"), I was looking forward to an in-depth look at the development, creation and iconization of a gay porn star. What would lead an otherwise "normal" young man, in the era of the overwhelming closet, to enter, and ultimately maintain a career, in this industry? Long before it was considered somewhat fashionable to have a little bit of scandal in your past, long before the days of straight bodybuilders making a few quick bucks, most hardcore gay film performers were doing it out of desperation for the money, to avoid homelessness, or under some form of duress (e.g. runaway teens, drug users, etc.). Then along comes this boy next door, who seems to want nothing but to be a performer, and there he is, making adult films? What created this man? What created our urge to watch him, honor him, and make him an icon of liberated gay sexuality? How did all these factors come together, and ultimately help create the mega-billion dollar industry that is gay porn today?

Unfortunately, we're left hanging, unsatisfied, on most of these fronts. While the author does occasionally delve into the psyche of his subject, his family, and the public that seemed (and still seems) to adore him, these are brief glimpses. In most cases, the curtain is pulled back rather quickly, as if the author is somehow more shy about revealing the interior of this person than he is about revealing the external body he dwelt in.

Not that those looking for a quick bit of titillation will get much here, either. Better to purchase an anthology of male erotica, if what you're looking for is a bit of arousal. Here again, the author experiences a surpising chastity about his subject.

Where the author does exult, however, is in his descriptions of Cal/Casey's natural beauty, and its effect on those around him (not to mention the author himself). There is a certain degree of goddess-worship in his tone and constant, repitious descriptions of our hero's boy-next-door looks, unwavering smile, honest eyes, tight body (and so on, over and over again).

True, you can hardly blame the guy: Cal/Casey WAS good looking, seems to be awfully charming, and might not be a bad person to spend an evening with. But, like the end of an ultimately boring date, where you don't get much beyond the surface of your partner, this book, too, leaves the reader wanting more substance.

Being a big porn fan (especially 80's movies), I found this book very interreting to read. Lots a details. The short interviews of people who knew Cal/Casey are put in in an original way. With all the modeling he did, I was a little deceived there were only a few pictures of him. But I bought the book for his story, and that part was good. I can only imagine that his life was not ordinary and was one of a kind. Other porn stars must have been through hell in comparaison. You'll enjoy the reading !

This book is snippets of conversations from people who were influences in the .com era. Unfortunately, there are so many people, I have no idea who JOHN is or what project he was related with. And I don't care. The book does nothing to tell a story. Its not really a book...its more like journal someone would use to write a book.

I am very interested in the real-life stories of .com businesses...how they got started, how big they got and how they fell from grace.

This is not one of those books.

This 'book' is nothing but a collection of stutters from too many people. There is no central character to follow. Its really hard to stay motivated in reading this.

The content of this book is interesting and even fascinating at times. However, the way the content is structured makes it difficult to read and understand. Essentially, the authors have conducted many interviews of the key players of Silicon Alley companies in New York. The interviews provide a story of the rise of Silicon Alley from 1995 to 2000. What makes the story so interesting is the rapid rise of the companies such as theglobe.com and then in 2000 the rapid fall. There are many companies stories in the book and also a description of New York culture through-out the period.

The whole book would be more interesting if it had been organised in chapters according to each company. Instead the book is organised by themes like "The New Worker". The chapter then contains partial segments of interviews from many interviews conducted which help to understand the theme. This causes quite a bit of confusion, because it is similar to skipping from one music track to another very quickly . It would have been better for the authors to do as little work as possible an simply presented the interviews as they were created. This would have turned the book into a narrative of easy and historically fascinating reading.

I began Casey Nelson's first novel with great expectations: it's a mystery, it's gay, and it's set in London. All three make it
unique in this particular genre of popular fiction. But I came away sorely disappointed. I got gay and I got London, but I got
shortshrifted on mystery.

The plot has merry old London under siege by a vicious serial killer nicknamed Prince Bi, for his propensity for
killing young men and women in most sexually aggressive ways. The murders hit too close to home for our protagonist Ray
O'Brien, an American abroad studying drama and sexuality at an exclusive London summer program. His new friend, the
handsome free spirit Derrick Quince, is the latest victim of Prince Bi's atrocities, and Ray sets out, so to speak, to discover
Who Done It. Things are further complicated for our hero when he finds himself falling under the sway of his fellow student
Eduardo, an Argentinian beauty of mysterious background who may or may not himself be the killer.

It's a good set-up for a thriller, but Nelson doesn't follow through. He is obviously much more interested in showing us how
well he can write convoluted sentences than providing us the suspense we've come for as mystery readers. The book dissolves
into a kind of parlor comedy/drama, a la Jane Austen, or a study of conflicting American and British cultures, a la Henry James,
and Nelson even retains the Master's loquacity. Often the dialogue consists of ruminations on art and sexuality and sexual
politics, which is all well and good, but it doesn't move the plot along and it's just...well...show offy...as though the author
thought a display of his erudition would make up for his inability to "construct" (one of the narrator's favorite verbs AND nouns,
so you can see what section of academia he comes from; he's not talking about skyscrapers here when he uses it) a compelling
mystery. But it doesn't. It just sounds stilted.

There are a few moments here and there of suspense but not enough. The ending is especially perfunctory. The killer just
confesses. There's no showdown with O'Brien and no sense of endangerment. The killer confesses, and all is suddenly right
with the world.

It's really kind of a cheat.

I'm not a big mystery fan, so I DIDN'T guess the killer right away (and I'm not sure I believe those who say they did...), but I agree that the real pleasure of this novel is in the writing itself - Nelson's prose is fluid, his metaphors apt, and his insights into the position of the gay male in society at the turn of the millenium simply dead on target. His choice of the first person pulled me right in and made me a part of the experience - I've never been to London until now.

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" is an enormously enjoyable read - suspenseful, funny, sexy, descriptive and thought-provoking. Lovely to say its intelligence is nowhere stuffy, or set up in such as way as to impress the reader, rather than simply to entertain and intrigue. In fact, the first few pages read like an old-fashioned pot-boiler, and Nelson doesn't really hit his best stride until almost a third of the way through.

I'm a regular mystery reader, who did not guess who the murderer was until a few pages before it was revealed. Don't really see how other reviewers knew. It really could have been ....

Nelson keeps his readers concerned about the safety of his protagonist, Ray, who takes on the task of investigator when it becomes apparent that the police are being hounded by the press into possibly settling upon an innocent foreigner -- Ray's more-than-just-a-friend Eduardo -- instead of finding the real serial killer. Or is Eduardo really innocent?

As other reviewers have noted, the story is enhanced by Nelson's descriptive writing and the trip to London that he gives to readers.

I especially liked his descriptions of people. One character, Lily, "betrayed no outward signs of frazzlement on her pretty, 40-ish face. Under her soft,brown, indifferently bobbed hair, Lily always had an air of baffled yet determined self-possession, as if everything connected to her happened by accident. She seemed confident in her ability to shape order out of this chaos, then unsurprised when it slipped back into chaos."

Ray sees one fellow student, Ursina, as a reflection of the "Old World's sour old soul."

"Ursina was Europa herself, sleepwalking across a bedrock of indifference to suffering. She embodied Europe's premedieval tribal darkness, the selfishness it required to survive when your neighbor got bludgeoned by another neighbor in that cool deciduous jungle of ever-contested lands."

This is good stuff. I identified with both these women.

Nelson also does an extraordinary job of describing what the world looks like to a gay man -- a well-adjusted gay man, but one nevertheless who has been buffeted by the loss of so many friends to AIDS. He's also realistically wary of a Western culture whose contempt for "the homosexual lifestyle" is never far away. How long has that been the case? It's a question considered in "Nothing Gold Can Stay."

This really isn't a run-of-the-mill mystery. Recommended for anyone looking for an intelligent, entertaining read -- and a visit to the gay bars and baths of London they might otherwise never see....