I picked this book up because I live in Bay Area and I was interested in reading a Bay Area author. This book is truly a find. The characters are fully realized and the writing is quite beautiful. I have to admit, I did find the first section (the first reunion of the comet) to be a little hard to get into, but I plowed forward, and now I am entirely wrapped up in the narrative. There are lines in this that sparkle--the kind you write down to remember long after you have put down the book. Further, the way time works in this novel is quite astonishing--you believe you're on this linear path where you're marching through the years. However, the narrative keeps circling around these moments. While on some levels this isn't Virginia Woolf (and I am also reading MRS DALLOWAY at the same time), I do find that both Greer and Woolf are interested in the "moment" and the ways in which a moment can resonate but not actually change a life--these moments are not Joycian epiphanies that become public acknowledgments of change. Instead these are touchstones in our lives that we return to again and again and ponder. A great book.

This novel is a remarkable find. Beautifully written, with many highly individualized characters, described with sharp and subtle insight. They interact through a cyclical plot that documents the effects of time on ambition (declining)and compassion (increasing). Never predictable, it is always intelligent and profoundly sympathetic to the human condition. The story moves with Comet Swift, from its discovery through two orbits (24 years),with periodic reunions at aphelion and perihelion. The second comet is discovered along the way by the protagonists, the reluctant lovers whose sad and joyous affair is the backbone of the narrative. One of the best I've read in recent years.

"The Path of Minor Planets" is a reader's delight. Complex. Character-driven. Agile. Beautiful. It's a magnificent, mature work, amazing for a first novelist.

Written in what critics now like to call "psycho-narrative," Greer's book displays a third-person omniscient narrative that bores into its characters heads. It's a risky style: after all, Greer has to populate his characters with enough detail and freshness so that they feel real. And that he does it, not through action or scene or dialog, but for the most part through the subtler, richer stuff of the human brain and its wandering eye. Like "The Waves," "Path..." brings us about as close to our essential humanity as a book can.

"Path..." ostensibly is about a group of astronomers who meet once every six years to celebrate a minor comet discovered by their own academic star, Professor Swift. Their first meeting to witness the comet's passing from a lightless and distant Pacific isle is interrupted by an accident involving the death of a child. Subsequent chapters track characters who were present at the scene through their lives, failed marriages, and stormy careers.

But "Path..." reveals much more. "Path..." shows us the effect of inhabiting different heads, of the space separating human objects in their orbits around one another, of the physical and emotional laws tying us together.

It's unfortunate that Greer's book has thus far been under-appreciated. However, with the talent available to the author, I have no doubt as to his future successes.

This book is by far the best book I have read on identification of psilocybian mushrooms. It has good information as well as some interesting perspectives on psilocybes. A must have for anyone who is serious about this stuff!

This book is a must for any enthusiest of Magic Mushrooms. The Photographs and detailed descriptions of the various species make this book a definite must for anyone wanting to identify Magic mushrooms, including deadly look alikes. The book is a complete guide, from history, experiences and all relative information that you could want. Paul Stamet's is "The Man" of mushrooms and a lot of his time and effort has gone into making this book factual and interesting. Hope you enjoy this book a much a I have.

"Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy" http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy

Though this book cannot be compared to Whittaker and Watson's classic book. It comes quite close to it. I just want to comment on the the area covers are too concentrated and the rigorous manner which is the hall mark of " Modern Analysis " is lacking. Anyway, this book deserves 5 stars.

It has a very good style of writing for the nature of mathematics. It is clean, no unnecessary explanation or examples. In a way, one can feel something similar to Axler's. It is an excellent reference book. One should keep this book just as Axler's Linear Algebra Done Right, Numerical Recipe, DE Knuth's Art of Programming.

Professor Roy et al have made Special Functions clearer to me in this comprehensive volume than any previous authors I have read.

This is a excellent psychothriller. When Pete Cochran decides to move his family to the small mining town of Buckthorn,Oregon. Cochran will soon regret it. The town has been terrorized for almost two decades by a sadistic serial killer who has been targeting the young men in town.This novel has great plot twists,terror, and a truly chilling surprise ending.If you like psychological thrillers with some nasty twists, violent shocking conclusion you will enjoy this shocker.

After promising his late wife's charge not to involve their two children with her pernicious family in Oregon, irrevocable events herd Peter Cochran and his family in New York right smack into the web of his in-law's aesthetically deceptive lair! One would yell, phone, or E-mail "DON'T GO!", but contemplating intervention only affirms Andrew Billings literary excellence!

Tainted Blood has all the elements of a first-rate thiller and then some. When Pete Cochran's wife dies, he and his two children move to Buckthorn, Oregon to live with his in-laws. Something his wife made him promise not to do. What Pete does not know is that for the past eighteen years, Buckthorn has been troubled by the brutal slaying of young men. With his over zealous in-laws, a nephew who is diagnosed as the "stuff made of monsters," and a lover that looks remarkably like his wife, Pete has to leave town before becoming the killer's next victim. Tainted Blood is one heart pounding, in-your-face of a thriller. Just when you think you've figured out what happens next, the unexpected happens.

Mr. Andrew Lohrey informs us in his introduction, to this collection of essays by the late Australian psychologist Alex Carey, that Carey was prevented from going to college by his parents after he finished secondary school as they wanted him to manage their sheep farm which he did with such success that he could sell it about a decade later and enter a university.

Here and there this book is dreadfully dry, particularly towards the end. His ideas probably would have been made clearer and much better organized if he would have been able to put together a regular book instead of a book of essays put together by someone else but he died in 1988 before he could get it done. But the topics he discusses are very important especially now when business and government propaganda has never been more powerful.

The main title of this book describes what big business and their intellectual and political minions have tried to do particularly in the United States as rights to vote and to organize in this country were extended to large segments of the population of this country over the last hundred years. Carey's old friend Noam Chomsky quotes in his preface the numerous intellectual advocates (Walter Lipmann, Harold Laswell,etc.) of what Thomas Jefferson called late in his life "a single and splendid government of an aristocracy" made up of the "banking institutions and monyed incorporations" whom he feared would destroy the freedoms gained during the American revolution. Many prominent liberal intellectuals devoted loyal service to the state during World War one particularly in the government propaganda agencies putting out massive bogus atrocity stories about the Germans and turning a largely anti-war population in a short period into a bunch of maniacs looking to destroy everything remotely connected with Germany and German culture. A young German soldier named Adolf Hitler was deeply impressed with the allied propaganda effort and blamed German weakness in this field for their defeat and vowed that Germany would learn its lessons by the time the next war came around.

The best part of Carey's text, by far, is about the first five chapters. The first topic discussed is the Americanization movement begun in the few years before World War one by big busisiness associatons who were particularly worried about such events as the victory of the IWW led strike of textile workers in Lawrence Massachusetts in 1912. Big business was particularly worried about the influence of IWW-type radicalism on the U.S. immigrant population which mostly worked under very bad conditions at very low wages and set to work with a somwhat successful drive to inculate immigrants as well as the population at large with "American" values like free enterprise and the status quo and social harmony and against alien values like socialism or the welfare state or non-pliable unions. Out of this campaign came the Fourth of July holiday signed into law into 1918. This campaign culminated in the government crushing of the labor movement during 1919-21 under the cover of chasing communists and German spies.

The labor movement, says Carey, did not recover until the Great Depression which forced the U.S. government to enact very basic welfare legislation and protection of unions. This greatly alarmed important segments of big business. The National Association of Manufacturers literature in 1938 warned of the "hazard facing industrialists" of the "newly realized political power of the masses."

The end of World War two saw the beginnings of a massive attack on independent thinkers and organized labor under the cover of a red scare. After a lag in the early 1970's, the elites in this country began to steer this country towards a very markedly right wing political climate, seeing the rise of previously regarded fringe elements as represented by such think tanks as the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage foundation which featured such profound thinkers as former Nixon and Ford treasury secretary William Simon who fulminated about how the Carter administration was steering the country towards collectivist totalitarianism.

He goes into some detail examining the right wing apparatus in his native Australia. He ends with discussion of some matters dealing with industrial psychology and industrial sociology culminating in a study of the Hawthorne studies, laborious research at an Illinois assembly plant made up of female workers in the late 20's and early 30's where a group of industrial psychologists tried to secure evidence that workers don't care about money and just want to be left alone to do the wonderful jobs that the labor market has forced on them. The Hawthorne chapter is in large part almost unintelligible and very dry, probably inevitable given that it is a scientific paper.

Alex Carey's work is absolutely some of the best. My favorite quote of his is this: "The 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy." This has become a touchstone for Sheldon Rampton and me in our books Toxic Sludge Is Good for You, Trust Us, We're Experts, and our writing for PR Watch. Carey is much missed.

Carey points out that citizens living in totalitarian regimes have no choice but to tow the government line out of fear for their personal safeties. In free societies, Carey explains that more subtle means are used to keep populations under control. Specifically, propaganda is used to ensure that most people will think in a manner that is consistent with the corporate agenda (such as belief in the free market and business' right to unlimited profit). Carey documents how Americans and Australians have been subjected to corporate propaganda during most of the 20th Century, and explains how these efforts have perverted our democracy (for example, American's over willingness to fight communists, real or imagined, to protect capitalism). Indeed, while many Americans were conditioned during the Cold War to believe that propaganda existed only in the Soviet Union, China and other communist regimes, Carey persuasively argues that propaganda actually played (and continues to play) a more critical role in molding the attitudes of citizens in democracies.

Heaven is part of a five book series by the author V.C. Andrews. This one is about the Casteel family. The main character is a girl named Heaven and the story is about her life. It tells how her West Virginia family is so poor and how hard thier lives are. Heaven is always looking to overcome this and prove to everyone that someday she will make it out of this town and have a better life. The story is so unbeliveable that people actually lived this way during the 1950-1960's. This book is for everyone who likes realistic fiction and can handle adult content.

I have read every single book V.C. Andrews has ever written. I started in 5th grade and I have never stopped. Dawn was the first book of hers that I have read. I have been hooked ever since. Her books show so much emotion that you can't help but fall in love with the characters. Dawn, Heaven, and Ruby, are all characters that as humans we can relate to. They all go through the hardships of life and love, but they have fun adverntures while doing so. Through these characters, it is possible to dream and live out your own personal fantasies. Visit places you've never been or share experiences that are beyond reach.

I first picked up this book when I was 13, and I couldn't put it down until I came to the last page. The series is compelling, bitter-sweet and I recommend it to anyone.

I bought this book for my grandchildren, ages 4 and 7. Both of them enjoyed the stories (there are 12 in the book) and the well drawn illustrations. I was pleased to see that the characters in the book were from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Reminded me of the old Dr. Suess stories. Bravo, Mr. Liput!

The rhyming and cadence style of Dr. Seuss has been too long gone from the children's book line up. Liput's book about the Snarfdoodle provides a new character, not unlike the Cat on the Hat or the Lorax, who has a special relationship with kids. The stories are written in song-song quality lyrical verse that captured my kids' attention and left them wanting more, and more. Very impressive effort by the author--hope we'll see more.

I have read this children's book to my son Adam along with a few of his darling little friends. What a delightful book for an adult who reads to his or her child over and over again. Sometimes we actually have to do this depending on how much your child enjoys the book. Thank you Mr. Liput. Now please write us another!

i love this book soo very much. it has an un-ending glimmer of magic that captivates you and makes you want to keep reading. it has a quality many books don't have, re-read-ability. i have read this book un-countable times and i love it more and more, it doesn't get dull, it keeps on shining, i recommend this book to anyone who can read, your SURE to love it. {i apologize for the miss spelled words :) }

this was an incredible book of two innocent girls, and one who turns out not to be human. I got this book five years ago, and i am 19 now and still love it. It is truly a timeless classic!!

Molly-Jane-Bryson is on Ambrose Island,and her Oldest friend (Ruby) finds a "SEAl" on the beach. This child is a seal in a discise-like thing. With Molly's little brother Douglas who calls them "SELZ", they have a nice adventure. You must read this Book..... SEAL CHILD by Sylvia Peck

Story-telling is a time-honored way of teaching in all cultures. In this tradition, Andrews is One of The Great Teachers.
It is encouraging to note that the Wisdom of Native Americans continues to guide us through our transitions and growth. The same Wisdom that helped form the American Constitution.
In our sometimes adolescent society, teachings about conflict and transitions included in this and earlier books by Andrews, can truly benefit our development. Tree of Dreams addresses becoming an Elder.

Tree Of Dreams: A Spirit Woman's Vision Of Transition And Change by Lynn Andrews is a deeply moving narrative of her quest for growth, spiritual fulfillment, and better understanding of sacred things. Embracing the power of healing and coping with "little deaths" such as divorce or the sudden loss of a job, as well as the great losses of loved ones to "Time's Eternal March", Lynn Andrews' Tree Of Dreams is a powerful and moving metaphysical reflection. Also very highly recommended are Lyn Andrews' previous books: Medicine Woman and Jaguar Woman.

TREE OF DREAMS is not my favorite Lynn Andrews book -- and I've read and loved most of them. That's not to say I didn't like it! Any time spent with Agnes and Ruby is time well spent. And Lynn is a GREAT storyteller. It's just that there isn't as much adventure in this one (until the end) and there's a lot of talk. But very valuable talk it is! She's much more philosophical in this book -- reminds me of Ecclesiastes: We get older, our friends die, we think about the circle of life and death, the transitions, the fact that we are one, that our loved ones never really leave us. Be open. Believe. Move with the flow. It's all about love. Her closing words are golden: "There is magic in the world if you want the world to be magical. If you want life to be special, it will be. ... What matters is your ability to love. ..."

Hi! I am also one of Andrew Fraknoi's former students and we used this book in our class. It's awesome! It is very well written and he makes it very easy to understand everything about the planets and the Universe. He is also an awesome teacher so if you have the opportunity to take one of his ASTRO classes at Foothill College-you should take it!

If you have any interest in Astronomy, this is a must have book for an introduction to the subject. It is a non-mathematical introduction to the subject and is extremely well written. The book was intended for a non-major science subject in college, but even if you are not attending a class on the subject, this is still a great book to learn from.

I personally don't have the hard cover edition but I have the paper back edition. I plan to purchase the hard cover edition when I have the money for it. I can expand a little on the subject matter of the paperback edition, which I'm sure is simply a stripped down version of the hard cover book. It covers the history of astronomy to the latest theories in the field. Such topics as gravity, planets, the Sun, stars, thermo-nuclear fusion, black holes and quasars are explained in a easy to digest manner. I found the topic of how thermo-nuclear fusion especially facinating as I always wondered how stars (like our sun) generated it's energy, I knew it was fusion but did not understand how it functioned, all was made clear to me.

There are also plenty of visual aides and pictures in book. A large majority of images are directly from Hubble Space Telescope that will leave you breathless at the beauty and vastness of space. The book also directs you to websites that will expand on the material covered in the book. Great stuff!

Fraknoi, Morrison and Wolff have done a tremendous job in writing this book. Kudos to the authors for taking to the time to do it right.

This book is great if you want to get a feel for all the different astronomical objects, what they are and how it all fits together.  I like the way the authors start with the Earth and then move on to the other planets, the stars, galaxies, clusters and eventually to Relativity and the Big Bang, without digging too much into the details.  It's a thought-provoking book and I recommend it to anyone who is eager to get into the field.