Milo Manara's outrageously chauvinist, and often hilarious cartoons have long intrigued me, but this offering isn't up to the standard of the eye-poppingly erotic "Click" series. In fact, this isn't a comic-strip like "Click" but a story by Enard illustrated by Manara. The text is enjoyable and erotic, but its literary pretensions are simply an embarassment- there's nothing worse than erotic writing which tries to pass itself off as "real" literature! The smaller drawings are rather lovely as always but the larger scale, full-page drawings look sloppy and could have done with a lot more work. Manara draws competently but Edgar Degas he is not...

If you are looking for a book that will teach you how to do erotic spanking, don't look here. But if you love drawings, love women's butts, and get turned on by spanking them, then you may enjoy this book. It is all told through the eyes of a minor celebrity who meets a spanking master on an Italian train. The encounters may read a bit unrealistic but it is fiction so set aside your reality meter please. The story has a nice flow of events to it and the finale is pleasant and appropriate.

An exciting, tastefully erotic and beautifully illustrated piece of work by a master of drawing the female form. Although the use of various shades of red is conspicuously absent (unlike one of his "Click 2" episodes), Manara seems to want the reader to use his imagination. The text is also quite provocative--I could read it over and over, without blushing. Truly a classic in its genre!

Gillett has lived a wonderful life. I have read many Texas Rangers books and this one is very good. You have to understand the absolute bravery of the Texas Ranger and the lack of any fear. Never in the book does any weakness raise it's head and at the same time never does Gillett take on the attitude of, "I shot a bear". I have fowarded the book to my son in Chicago. I don't think he shares my admiration for the Ranger force, but someday he will.

This book is a compelling and entertaining first-hand account of one of Texas' most revered lawmen of the old West. James B. Gillett's experiences in the far-western reaches of the Texas frontier make for exciting reading as he takes on the likes of the Apache chieftan Victorio, one of the last and arguably the greatest of the Apache war chiefs. Gillett recounts the day-to-day experiences of those who rode with the Rangers from 1875-1881. From the Mason County War to encounters with the likes of outlaw Sam Bass, this book captures the excitement and the aura of the real Texas near the end of the nineteenth century. For the reader who yearns for the smell of wet saddle leather and gunsmoke, Gillette delivers on a most memorable note.

This is an enduring document of life on the frontier in a company of Texas Rangers. Every laconic sentence has the ring of authenticity from the pursuit of Sam Bass to the last battles with the brilliant Apache war chieften, Victorio. It is a fine, tough little book, just like its author. And you'll know when you finish why the Texas Rangers were so widely feared and respected in the 1870's and 80's.

As General Mike Rose's interpreter, Stankovic had a front-row seat to key events in Bosnia. Those observations alone are worth getting the book. Alas, if only they formed even a scant majority of it.

Informed readers should be ready for some double-takes... and disappointments.

1. Stankovic's grasp of the Bosnian situation is simplistic and at times woefully ignorant. He declares that there was no separate "Muslim" ethnicity in Bosnia until the Western media created it, showing his ignorance of a crucial factor behind the Bosnian wars: the 1974 Consitution and Muslims-as-consituent-nationality issue. He recounts "rescuing" Sarajevans by "slipping" them out in official vehicles, clueless that he and other well-meaning UN personnel were doing the belligerents' ethnic cleansing for them ...and strengthening the Bosnian Serb hand. Perhaps most shockingly, he takes as gospel the Serbs' good faith behind an early "offer" to yield territory later for a cease-fire today. ...Stankevic slams the international community for not jumping on this supposed perfect opportunity.

2. .... His boss General Rose can do no wrong: even Rose's most naive and disastrous moves are depicted with something approaching hero worship. To Stankevic, it's unfailingly "us" (U.N., Britain, Rose) good, "them" (NATO, America, Wesley Clark) bad...Prepare for plenty of adolescent swagger and sneer.... Stankevic simply cannot separate himself from his subject. Any personal angle changes everything. He calls the thoughtful and respected U.S. ambassador John Menzies a "pro-Muslim fanatic," offering no reason for this intriguing characterisation except that Menzies apparently once questioned his judgement. Though he derides the idea that his Serb ancestry affected the performance of his duties, and indeed can criticise the Bosnian Serbs, he appears incapable of ever viewing the Muslim leadership with anything but cold suspicion or painting Izetbegovic et al in any but the most sinister colours.

4. Okay, it's a sideshow, but I for one would like to know the rest of the story behind his arrest. His introduction leaves him in a jail cell from which we never see him released. Was he ever exonerated? Fined? Sentenced? We're never given the opportunity to judge whether his detainment made any sense. We're simply to take his word that it was a trumped-up load of bureaucratic hysteria.

So if you're a subject expert, buy the book. You'll be able to make sense of what Stankevic witnessed, even if he obviously can't. If you're new to the Bosnian conflict, look elsewhere.

As someone who was in the balkans at the same time as "Mike Stanley" i saw the same hopeless situation that the UN was placed into without the wholehearted support of the world community. To say that the UN is hopelessly bearucratic is to simplify the entire situation.The UN and UNPROFOR could not take resolute action against any of the 3 sides under the mandate which had been issued by the security council. a lack of wilingness on the part of the major members of the UN especially the USA to bolster the the presence of the UN and the forces which were there to PROTECT UN personnel NOT the indigenous population and the fact that the USA wanted to arm the croat and bosnian goverments against the wishes of the UN. This book shows the futility of sending military forces into an enviroment and expecting them to act as saviours to a population which are hell bent on butchering their neighbours mostly with arms provided by the good old US of A.The most inportant point from this book was that the UN is not and has never been a military organisation due in part to the intransigence of the superpowers at the end of WW2.The UN was not to blame for the war in the Balkans and as much as some countries have tried to militarise it this book shows that this is not only practically impossible but fundamentally dangerous.'Trusted mole' talks about world politics from the perspective of the balkans and it shows just how thin is the veneer of civilisation when it comes down to it .

This book is quite simply brilliant. In painstaking detail, Stankovic relates his experiences during two tours in Bosnia as part of the British UN presence during the war.

This is no "advocacy" literary piece. There are no sentimental biases or hidden agendas - it's so refreshing to read something which just sticks to the facts and tells the story as it is. As an Australian of part Serbian heritage I totally understood the "mentality" that Stankovic tried to convey, he did it so well, but unfortunatly I think this "mentality" is so foreign to your average westerner that a lot of the true gems of this book would be lost on them. Nonetheless, Stankovic has attempted to articulate it, and once you understand this "mentality" that drives the people of the Balkans, you will start to see why this war happened. That is not to justify the horrors of the last ten years in any way, shape or form - but I feel that this innate understanding of the "mentality" is what is perhaps lacking from most books on the subject.

It's a great read. Stankovic has portrayed the nitty gritty reality of the war in Bosnia, and provides an insight into the lives of the "little people" and the behind-the-scenes players that we otherwise never hear about because it's not newsworthy enough, or won't fit into someone's colour-by-numbers view of what is going over there... Or quite simply does not suit whoever's agenda.

This book is an important read for anyone with a serious interest in recent Balkan history. After being falsely slapped with charges of espionage and his military career in tatters, Stankovic has written a probably the best and most important book on the Bosnian war. Put it at the top of your reading list.

Contents:

Introduction by Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis

1. Conversation with Yo-Yo Ma by Ted Levin [music]

2. Melodic Migration in NW China by Bright Sheng [music]

3. Fashioned from Fiber by Elizabeth Barber [textiles]

4. Astrology and a Japanese Star Mandala by Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis [astrology]

5. Sacred Sites along the Silk Road by Kenro Izu [photography]

6. Traveling Technologies by Merton C. Flemings [metallurgy]

7. Iranian Cinema by Hamid Naficy [film]

As the table of contents shows, this introductory work is rather a mixed bag in both quality and content, much of it originally published elsewhere in longer form. Hits include the pieces on music, textiles and metallurgy. The piece on astrology probably won't find a general audience and the pop art chapter on Iranian film seems oddly out of sync with the rest. Photos and illustrations are good. Text is a double-spaced 144 pages with fairly wide margins. There are irritations such as the p. 42 suggestion identifying the ancient Xiong Nu as ancestors of modern Hungarians that show outside review was needed (the common blunder of confusing Huns and the similar sounding Hungarians). Bright Sheng's piece discusses White Mongols and Yellow Mongols without really explaining the terms and one has to wonder why we have the music composer writing about history. Elizabeth Barber's piece shows the influence of the theories of Victor Mair, with whom she has worked. These theories of ancient Iranian influence on China (what Mair terms the "East Asian heartland") are not so universally accepted as the text suggests, or, at least, not everyone discusses them as much as does Mair. One gets the feeling that the book was thrown together fairly quickly and haphazardly in order to have merchandise to sell at the concerts of Yo-Yo Ma's worldwide Silk Road tour. In these circumstances it was probably too much to hope that it would have the same excellent quality as the tour itself.

The world's two largest Buddhist sculptures were once at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. There, travelers found not only lodgings and supplies but also Buddhist instruction. It was one of the stops on the Silk Road, running from E Asia to the Mediterranean cities of Aleppo, Antioch, Sidon and Tyre.

19th-century German explorer Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen thought up the term Silk Road. But the road was much older than that, at its busiest from about 2,200 years ago, until about 600 years ago. It was kept up, for farflung trade in carved ivory cosmetic boxes, cotton, gems, gold ornaments, horses, incense, jade, lacquer ware, linens, Roman glass, silk, spices, tea and woolens. But it also was a way for culture and know-how to be swapped. For example, from the east westward, the road spread knowing how to smelt metal and make cast iron, glass, gunpowder and steel.

Particularly sections on cultural trading in music I found most interesting. Sometimes it's not obvious why we need to know history. But in this case it's long ago, but not long gone. Ancient musical influences still are seen today. For example, qin opera in Shaanxi province has happy tunes, which is common in Chinese music. But it also has sorrowful tunes, which isn't common. They're based on a scale of 8 pitches in the octave. They're also sung in a shouting style. Neither's common in Chinese music. But both are, in the music of Central Asia, where they came from during Silk Road times.

ALONG THE SILK ROAD also brought up a musical mystery. The first town at which east-bound Silk Road travelers stopped inside China was Dunhuang. There, merchants, pilgrims and traders built Buddhist temples inside the rock, in the Mogao caves, about 1,400-1,500 years ago. They also had painted about 45,000 wall paintings. Many dealt with the Western Pure Land, the supposed source of all good music. So some even had music scores, in ancient notation. Modern music scholars feel they know the pitches. They don't agree on rhythm and meter.

However, the money needed for further research may be out there. In 1998 world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma founded the Silk Road Project, Inc. The project's a nonprofit foundation to help artists nowadays in Silk Road lands. It's most known, since winter 2001, for paying for music works played in concerts and festivals around the world.

Elizabeth Ten Grotenhuis has edited a clear, nicely illustrated book. She sets the stage for the more in-depth CAVE TEMPLES OF MOGAO by Roderick Whitfield. Her sections on music are invaluable for THE HUNDRED THOUSAND FOOLS OF GOD: MUSICAL TRAVELS IN CENTRAL ASIA by Theodore Levin and CARAVAN TO AMERICA: LIVING ARTS OF THE SILK ROAD by John S Major and Betty J Belanus.

When I first opened the book, I was caught into the lyricism and straight-forwardness. It's a fascinating story of a well-known and highly in demand courtesan who aims to seduce a sculptor. The sculptor falls for her and aims to please her, but once she is his, she falls into the shadow of his beloved statue. The story of sumptious, and I finished it in two days. It isn't for everyone, but for anyone interested, it is an excellent read.

This book is beautiful in many ways, but is disappointing at times. The combination of Louys' text and Manara's art is a sure winner. Originally published in France with the original French text, this English version chooses an anonymous, but wonderful, translation from the 1920's. Following a long tradition of publishing this work with sensuous illustrations, the publisher has come up with a new approach. They will publish an original one volume novel in four volumes and illustrate each with the work of a different artist. This first volume contains 15 full-page watercolors by Milo Manara, an artist better known for his adult comics. Those expecting Manara to have converted Louys' sensual story into a graphic novel may be surprised that this is not the case. Where Manara shines as a comic artist, his watercolors are uneven. While some are outstanding, the painting of the statue of Aphrodite is a disappointment. The illustrated binding and layout is sumptuous... This promises to be a beautiful set with Georges Bess and Wendling slated to illustrate volumes 2 and 3. It is wonderful to see Louys' work getting this lavish treatment. The text is still vibrant enough to take on the sensual artwork of these modern artists....

Well - commanded "The complete short stories"; receved only 3th volume - Let me guess, what do you think about? - A swindle?

I finally bought the thing. I've been stalling and stallingfor years. All I can say is, if you like Jack London, the set is worth it. It contains 197 stories (by my count; oddly enough I couldn't find this statistic in the blurb or the introduction). ...

I think Jack London is at his best in his short stories. NONE of his novels are QUITE first-rate, and as you explore beyond the famous ones the quality falls off rapidly. Most of his less-well-known novels are deservedly forgotten. ("The Little Lady of the Big Hous e-- EEeeeeeewwwww!")

This is not true of his stories. When you explore beyond the couple of dozen that are anthologized, you discover treasures. I am finding that many of the stories I don't know are every bit as good as those I know.

One of my recent "discoveries" is a story entitled "The Banks of the Sacramento." It's not deep, it's not portentous, it's not Great Literature--it's just a superbly constructed little gem of a suspense story* that concerns a fourteen-year-old boy who conducts a daring rescue of--well, read it. Aloud, in company, if possible.

There are, as you'd expect, some curiosities, some juvenalia, some outright bad stories, but not enough to dilute the collection. And of course even these have their interest. "The Handsome Cabin Boy" is not a very good story, but it certainly is another piece in the puzzle of Jack London's sexuality.

Look, if you've bought more than three collections of Jack London stories, you know you're going to buy them all eventually--so why mess around?

These are, as you'd darn well expect at the price, nicely printed, sturdy volumes. They are intended for, and meet, both the needs of general readers and scholars seeking accurate texts. One annoying peculiarity is that an alphabetical list of story titles appears only at the end of the third volume.

These volumes are, alas, priced on the self-fulfilling assumption that they will be bought only by libraries, and your library is probably where you will go for them. (Interlibrary loans are a wonderful thing; be sure to ask about them if your library does not have these volumes). .... END

This movie can relate to the different tastes of people. For example one person might hate it, but then another person might love it. Movie about Larry Flint's (founder of Hustler magazine) life where he gets in and out of trouble. This movie shows that you can do something if you struggle and don't give up. Rated R: for graphic language, nudity and sexuality.

Love him or hate him (and does anyone really love him?), Larry Flynt has been a lightning rod for 1st amendment issues over the past few decades. This brilliant script looks at the complexities of a man who chose willingly to go into pornographic magazines, and who almost fell into being a free speech advocate. Certainly a difficult man to like or even respect, but certainly worth throwing some gratitude for doing that which other couldn't or wouldn't.

This is the book that made me a Manara fan. The critique of TV is delicious and the Fellini-esque fantasy is perfect. It's the Eulogy to John Lennon, however, that raises this collection out of the box. It is witty and superb. Unfortunately Manara's taste for sophmoric sex jokes provides us with a dreadful personality test (he fails).The S&M film sequence and the bizarre judgement on the sex-obsessed teens leaves you wondering what's really happening in his head.

I like MANARA's incredible worl

I think it will be good for me. however, there is others which is the best..

Now in a newly updated and expanded fourth edition with additional topical material and the results of current research and trends, Soil Science Simplified is an excellent guide to the basic principles of soil science. From soil physical properties, chemical equations, water, and fertility to soil conservation, surveys, and engineering, Soil Science Simplified is densely packed with so much information that it is eminently suitable as a high school or undergraduate soil science textbook. Black-and-white sketches and diagrams illustrate the scholarly, methodical, highly instructional text. Soil Science Simplified is strongly recommended for students and professionals in seeking to understand soil science principles -- especially engineers, environmentalists, landscape architects, as well as anyone with an interest or career in agriculture.

This is the best modern introductory book for Atlantic Salmon fishing, and the one least likely to lead you astray. That said it has some severe limitations, mostly from brevity - works by Joe Bates, Charles Phair, and Lee Wulff would be worthwhile to explore.

Bodo removes much of the mystery (and some of the mystique) from fly fishing for Atlantic salmon in a straightforward and virile style. As one getting started (at last!) I found this book very helpful, especially in times of year, access, equipment, flies, and the basics of fishing with classic methods. I expect to become aware of the more arcane subtleties involved in persuading a salmon to take a fly, but I think I can at least begin on a solid footing--without spending a king's ransom for flies and other equipment. The mysteries can come later, on the water.

This book covers all aspects of Atlantic Salmon fishing with clear and experienced explanations .

A must for advanced and beginners !