My 3 year old has already asked me many questions in this book,
so it hits the mark on being full of real questions that a real child would ask. The explanantions are short (about 1 paragraph)
and easy to understand - although I found the vocabulary sometimes a bit tough for my 3 year old. I often used simpler words while reading to her. I expect therefore that the rated age range beginning with 4 years is probably accurate from the point of view of understanding the explanations completely. The questions are arranged in groups such as "bathtime questions" and in a "story" order revolving around a child in that particular situation (ie. the child is getting a bath and is asking questions that start with "how does hot and cold water run out of the same tap" and ending with "why do my hands get all wrinkly after I've been in the bath a long time"). Each question and it's associated exaplanation and illustration cover a full two-page spread of the book. My only complaint is that the book does not actually contain as much detailed "science" content as I had hoped to find - since it is based on questions that children ask, not on concepts someone wanted to include purely for the sake of completeness. I would guess that 8 year olds might be left wanting more information that is given in the answers (which could be considered a good thing, spurning them on to further research). Certainly for the younger ages though, this is a great book. (More questions from the book: "Do the doors at the grocery store open by magic?" "Why do stars Twinkle?" "Why does it smell so good outside after it rains?" "Why do I have to use the toilet and where does it go when I flush?")

This is a fun book filled with amazing animals. For example I like the furry frog. It can't get much weirder than that! The book tells a lot about the animal you read about and it has pictures of the animal too. I think you would like this book.

Hello? Where is the nervous, insecure, most probably insane pathological liar we met in the excellent "Talented..." This book is a weak sequel, with an improbable plot, and a house full of guests that has Ripley running back and forth like a character in a 1930's comedy. How stupid are the police? A seasoned detective can't tell the guy's wearing makeup and a fake beard from a few feet away? The ending is just ridiculous: the cop takes Ripleys word about some very strange goings on in the middle of the Salzburg woods, and that's the end of it. If it were this easy to get away with murder, I would have tried it myself.

Mr. Ripley is indeed talented and so is Patricia Highsmith. Being in Thomas Ripleys world is a unique and exciting experience. I was actually rooting for him and sympathizing with his predicament. He has worked so hard to attain his life of leisure and does not bother anyone. So, when the meddlesome and uncouth Americans threaten to destroy his charmed lifestyle, death is certainly a convenient solution, even if he didn't have to do it himself. Well fleshed characters, great plot. If you enjoyed the first book, The Talented Mr. Ripley, you will certainly enjoy this continuation. Even if you didn't read any others, give this one a try, it's fun and entertaining.

"Ripley Under Ground" is the first book in the Ripley series to follow the talented Mr. Ripley. It establishes Tom Ripley as a married man living on a French estate and explains much of his transition from parasitic murderer to suave psychopath. This novel is possibly the most psychological one in the Ripley series since it endows Ripley with a tremendous artistic sensibility that often validates his homicidal choices.

In this novel, Ripley has evolved from a sponger and a drifter to a country gentleman. In true aristocratic fashion, he shuns professional life and devotes his energy to painting, gardening, language study, and--well--forgery. Ripley plays a pivotal role in setting up a forgery ring in England that produces the work of a dead painter whom the world believes is still alive. Unfortunately, an art aficionado discovers some of the forgeries and begins an investigation that threatens to expose the ring. In an effort to validate the forgeries, Ripley disguises himself as the dead painter and holds a press conference. The investigator attends the conference but remains unconvinced. As a result, Ripley (in his own guise) invites him to his estate and subsequently murders him. This puts Ripley in an ironic predicament since the police approach him not only in search of the missing investigator, but also in search of the dead painter who, thanks to Ripley's impersonation, they believe is still alive. To complicate matters more, the forger himself appears at Ripley's estate in a state of agitation ready to confess his crime to the world. Somehow Ripley must avoid incrimination, subdue the distraught forger, and prevent the police from searching for the dead painter whom he inadvertently brought back to life.

The most fascinating aspect of this novel is the artistic sensibility that seems to govern Ripley's homicidal choices. For example, the investigator whom Ripley murders is more concerned with commercial authenticity than artistic value. He ignores Ripley's argument that the successful forger is as great as the artist he imitates and retorts that building a reputation on forgery is like stealing another person's bank account. When Ripley murders him, one wonders if he does so out of artistic revolt rather than self-preservation. This idea is reinforced by Ripley's refusal to kill the forger even after the forger attempts to murder him. Despite the enormous danger posed by the forger, Ripley is affectionate and nurturing toward him.

Is this thriller really an assault on middle class values? I think so. Ripley the art connoisseur loves his forged paintings and his genuine ones equally. Unlike the investigator, he feels no need to distinguish between them as long as they are of the same aesthetic caliber. While Ripley despises the business concerns of his forgery partners, he admires the forger who paints for passion rather than profit.

Equally as interesting is the attitude of Ripley's wife. Ripley confesses his murder to her and indicates that she knew of his homicidal past even before marrying him. He frequently alludes to her amoral tendencies which, no doubt, are quite compatible with his own.

I recommend "Ripley Under Ground" as a thriller, a psychological study, and a novel of ideas.

This was my first experience with a Ripley book and I was very disappointed. Since the book's setting is very close to where I live, I found her descriptions of the environment and the characters interesting. However, the story dragged on and on and the solution to the crime was contrived.

I've read quite a few mysteries, but this one kept me guessing. Each character introduced seemed a likely suspect. Great plot and story development. You don't have to be a gardener to appreciate this mystery, but if you are, you'll love it even more. This one stays in my personal library.

Louise Eldridge, co-anchor of the "Gardening With Nature" TV show, agrees to allow her former lover, news reporter Jay McCormack, to stay at her Washington DC home as a houseguest. Jay is conducting an undercover investigation of the Goodrich camp's presidential campaign tactics. He has evidence that they are spreading ugly lies about their opponent, the incumbent president, to discredit him and elect their man.

When Jay is murdered, Louise begins to investigate. She learns that Jay has incriminating proof that Goodrich approved his camp not only spreading lies against the President, but buying informers to verify those falsehoods are "true". They established a phony audit trail. However, the Goodrich campaign team has proven that they will do anything, including murder, to insure that knowledge is never made public.

Readers will enjoy this humorous and poignant political who-done-it. The heroine is charming as she struggles to get out of trouble and the political dirty tricks (though apparently extreme) are fun to read about. However, the gardening essays, interspersed throughout the novel, will interest only to those who enjoy this hobby. The essays for us non-gardeners can be easily skipped without losing the story line. The rest of Ann Ripley's DEATH OF A POLITICAL PLANT: A GARDENING MYSTERY is a wonderful mystery, leaving readers with the seed of wanting the next installment to be published quickly.

Harriet Klausner

Packed with some great stories. Be better if they were true. He explains little. Ben Franklin invented the harmonica. He doesn't explain it is not the mouth organ but an instriment that didn't catch on. The largest prime number is... He gets it wrong in the title but gets it right in the body of the story. The Tower of Brahma. A legend used to sell a toy (Tower of Hanoi) that Ripley beleived as a fact. Cute. Never corrected in the reprintings and never re-released in paperback because of the massive numbers of corrections needed.

Robert Ripley keeps your interest for 100s of pages of interesting and weird,odd facts. Learn about the fire walkers, south-african neck strainers, and a sneeze that murdered 2000 people!

The publisher makes you wonder why this book is so expensive, and when it arrived my suspicions were answered! First off, the book has no dust cover and contains about 150 black and white photos (no color) with pages not being of very heavy weight and with a only a semigloss finish.
Some (about 20%-30%) of the photos are new but most have been seen before in other publications. The book is only about 8.5 x 11 inches so the size of the photos are not very large. There are numerous diagrams throughout the book. If one is familiar with Fedorowicz books for about the same price this book is much more inferior in quality. This book should retail for about half the price of what is being asked. Am I going to send it back? probably not, but I think you have to be a die hard fan of German Army battle tactics and Units depolyed to really want it. I think had I seen it on the bookshelf in some bookstore I probably would not have bitten. All in all, if you are looking for fresh references of German materiel and uniforms in service you will be disappointed.

...

While there is not a detailed analysis, the book is all the more readable for it: battalion level expositions of every battle of ww2 would fill a DVD with text probably!. Offers some good philisophical and historical insight, particulalry in the formative years of the Wehrmacht, in particular is pursuit of armored warfare and how this pursuit dovetail with geopolitics, economics and of course, post WW1 anyalsis and revelopment of the Reichwehr and wehrmacht. Good theory too on why hitler stopped the panzers outside of Dunkirk...never read that spin before.

In all, not a bad read. A history buff might not find too much in it they don't already know...but for one new to the field...it could be a good intro....just that NASTY price is this issue!

...

This book is one which should never have been written. Wolfe's writing is almost adequate, but the subject is a loser

A good introduction to/outline of the history of women in the South, crossing racial and class lines in the telling. This book proved to be concise and readable; I finished it in less than a week. As an under-30 Mississippian, my education in women's history is much of my own making, so the forty-eight pages of endnotes were comforting to me, suggesting that the book has been well-researched. I would recommend it to the literate general reader as a springboard into further reading (I plan to find a book with more in-depth coverage of African American women's history ASAP). The most fascinating surprise of it was the discussion of labor movements and YWCA work in the 1920s and 1930s.

This is a subject the author knows better than any other could possibly know. The book gives evidence of thorough research and personal involvement. As a former student of Dr. Wolfe, I was able to experience first-hand the history of Tennessee brought to life. Daughters of Canaan fortunately focuses on real southern women and their tribulations and triumphs. If you can't meet Dr. Wolfe in the classroom, this book is the next best thing to being there.

This really only kept my interest to a point and then I skimmed through just to find out how it ended. I have no desire to try any of her other books. You have to like the main characters and care about them enough to keep reading . The main character was too whiny for my tastes.

I enjoy mysteries with sleuths who are realistic. I am always scavenging leaves for my compost pile so I really relate to Louise Eldridge's leaf-collecting methods. This book is obviously written by a true gardener. I thought the plot was good and I enjoyed reading the book. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 mainly because details don't always fit together and that is an irritation. For example, Louise painstakingly monitors every word she says to neighbors so noone will know her husband is a CIA spook. But she feels it is OK to get publicly drunk and be hypnotized which would both be situations where secrets slip. If a few inconsistencies in the characters don't bother you, especially if you are a gardener or composter, read the book.

I am always impressed when authors make their characters become real. And, that is just what Ann Ripley has done! Louise Eldridge seems to have a real husband who nearly falls into the lust garden for the neighbor and real kids who fall in love with the neighbor boy or have "pricey" college expenses.

Here's the garden scoop, Louise becomes a local celebrity when she lands her own public television gardening show in the Washington, D.C. area. However, this is her first real job. So, she's a little naive when it comes to professional competition. When a murder occurs in this setting and context, she becomes a big time suspect. Her technical skill about plants along with her humor and character parlay against her fears.

Though I am always anxious to find new mystery series authors, I find Ann Ripley's character, Louise Eldridge, great fun and educational. Read this book if you love plants . . .or if you love new types of mysteries! I bet you will be just like me and want to read "Mulch" (which I wish I had read first) and "Death of a Political Plant."

Much of the text appears as if the authors wanted to put information on paper and get it published, without regard to the readability or clarity of the text. The information in this text is largely good information. I have used a lot of it. However, you can get most of the same information elsewhere without having to "read between the lines" (and without all those damned footnotes!!). For example, a MUCH better and more comprehensive book is Programming with Data: A Guide to the S Language (1998) by Chambers (Springer): Chambers defines terms before using them, illustrates concepts with simple examples before moving to complex examples, and gives overviews of ideas prior to more extensive chapters. All of that is routinely missing in Venables and Ripley (V&R). Thus, even if you buy V&R to learn more about programming in S, it almost cannot be your sole reference, which is unfortunate and misleading given its title.

This text was not well suited as an introductory text. I do not recommend this text unless you have some knowledge of a high level programming language or prior experience with S plus. This text is well suited as an intermediate level text. As its title implies it is inteded for those interested in more advanced programming with the S plus language. It is hard to read and the examples are are not always clear. The authors do provide a nice comparison of how S plus and R differ. For first time users of S plus I would recommend "The Basics of S and S-plus by Krause and Olson.

As stated in the book's Editorial review, the back cover, and other customer reviews, this book is *not an introductory book*. If you need that, check out Modern Applied Statistics with S-Plus (same authors). However, if you're familiar with an S dialact (R, S-Plus), and are writing your own functions, packages, etc., this book will save you from Great Anguish.

It presents the ideas behind S; the engine under it all. In doing so, it is very good at shifting your thinking from S usage to S programming - thinking "close to the machine". It also walks you past the common traps, pointing out the "gotchas" along the way.

It's not a big book; around 260 pages for a very big subject. It is, however, very clear and far-reaching. I can only think of one other book that puts as much clear information into such a small space; Kernighan and Ritchie's "The C Programming Language".

On the whole, a very useful, very carefully written book.

I was highly wary of this book to begin with--and with good reason. The book is....ridiculous, to say the least. Ripley took the MOST far-fetched idea possible and ran with it, and that would be to have Scarlett go to Ireland. Ireland!! What's worse, is that when in Ireland, the villagers practically do a dance around her because they love her so much. Ugggh! No one loves Scarlett that much.

The ending was probably the worst part of the entire book, though. It is nonsensical and improbable. That said, if you manage to detach the idea that this is THE Scarlett O'Hara from THE Gone With the Wind, the book isn't an entirely bad read. When I remembered that I was reading about the "same" Scarlett, I got pretty upset, because she's just not the same at ALL, and Rhett's not even there most of the time. He's only there when it's convenient.

I guess I'd recommend reading it if you've never read GWTW or seen the movie. It's better that way. Much less painful.

...is that "Gone With the Wind" was the story of Scarlett O'Hara's growth into a strong, courageous woman from an adolescent brat with potential unrecognized by everyone including herself, that progress hindered along the way by the "advantages" of her wealth and beauty. In the beginning of the original story, the reader is stunned and infuriated at the way she objectifies people--they're only "real" insofar as they relate to her. But then a war comes along, turns her world upside down and gives her the much-needed smack upside the head people of privilege hardly ever get in the real world. So by the time that story's thousand-or-so pages are through, she has become a tower of strength to the people around her. But more important to that, she now has a clear realization of her responsibility to those who look to her and can't survive without her strength. That earlier book's identity and unwritten subtitle as "The Most Powerful Love Story Of All Time" is but a part of the main story as a whole. But nobody's perfect, even after paying all sorts of dues, and one obsession remains neither resolved nor outgrown at the end. Having just lost Rhett, she's determined to get him back. Therein lies the transition over to this book. Alexandra Ripley's other work indicates clearly that she's a writer of romances. So she does the cliche thing. The hero of the story has just received a psychological "haymaker" and gets "decked". So as the old song goes, she picks herself up, dusts herself off, and starts all over again (doop-dee-doo) here in volume two. She does the defeated hero thing of going far away to recover from the defeat. In this case, back to her father's Auld Sod of Ireland, where she's showered with the acclaim due the big shot American Cousin. Of course, this story is about a lot more than this pilgrimage, but it's still as a whole a misinterpretation of the main premise of the book it's supposed to a sequel to. "Gone With the Wind" is a work of historical fiction, telling on the story of a rich lady whose storybook world is "rent asunder" by the Civil War, but Our Heroine gets through it by not being as effete and (sniff) wishy-washy. as those around her. This book is simply a romance with a historical setting. Probably a good romance for all that. But hardly the landmark of American literature GWTW is. That's what you get when you base a sequel on only part of the premise of the original, I guess.

This is a wonderful sequel and I would recommend it to anyone who read GWTW. If you are a die-hard fan of M. Mitchell - do not read this book. It cannot meet some of the standards you expect a sequel to be. With sequels, things have to change. They cannot remain exactly as they were or it wouldn't be a sequel. Scarlett had to get out of Georgia. She had to grow up. It would be a completely boring novel if she continued to stay at Tara trying to build up the plantation. I think a lot of readers wanted her to stay the same and were disappointed when her actions were different from those in GWTW. I was enchanted by Scarlett's determination to get Rhett. That is the main thing that kept me from putting the book down. It would be wonderful if Ms. Ripley decided to continue the story between Rhett and Scarlett.