This book is fast moving and fairly easy to read and understand. A glossary of criminal justice and military language is included for those who are not sure of some of these terms and abreviations. I found that once I was into the book I couldn't get out. There were several scenarios going on at one time, all of them intertwined. While in one scenario you couldn't wait to find out what was going on at the same timein another of the scenarios. I found that I had keep reading in order to find out how each of these would play out, relate to the main theme and how it all would be tied together at the end of the book.Good reading.

First, let me say that "The Trial of Evan Gage" caused me some serious sleepless nights(some nights, I had to sleep on the couch), not to mention what problems its' caused my wife as she was trying to shield herself from the lamp I was using to read this addictive story. I love this book, it kept me on the edge. I just could not put it down. I had to hide it from my wife in fear she would destroy it before it destroy our marriage. Well, I am now finished the book and when I told her I had to read it again because I missed some facts, she now wants to read it. She would not tell anyone, but I believe she is a want-to-be super sleuth. It's now her turn to get a good grip on this book.

To paraphrase, first books are like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're gonna get. Go ahead: Rip the lid off this one! Written in the Stephen Coonts/Joe Weber/Tom Clancy military/thriller style, The Trial of Evan Gage has excellent pace and strong plot, but the characters really make it shine. The dialogue 'sounds' just right; the book's a page-turner, but it cries out for an audiobook version. If you like saying, "I read that before he was discovered," then this belongs in your library. Oh, and it has a lot less calories than chocolates ;-)

For readers unfamiliar with the growing Peace Studies Movement this book will provide lucid, challenging and inspiring information for understanding contemporary world conditions. The dialogue format is excellent for both general and academic reader and it contains none of the alienating, arrogant and removed discourse of academe. For the intelligent reader who is interested in the relationship between spiritual health of communities and how the world arrived at the condition it is in today, this is an excellent starting point that will leave you wanting more from both authors.

Two leading figures in international peace studies explore the applications of Buddhism in nonviolent solutions to various forms of conflict. Well presented. Highly recommended for Buddhists as well as students of peace studies. Admirers of Professor Galtung will be delighted.

In this book, "Choose Peace: A Dialogue Between Johan Galtung and Daisaku Ikeda," world-renowned professor of peace studies at the University of Hawaii and founder of the International Peace Research Institute, Dr. Johan Galtung, and Daisaku Ikeda, Buddhist scholar and current president of Soka Gakkai International, the world's largest Buddhist organization, explore the interface between Buddhist philosophy and nonviolent solutions to war and political conflict.

The two scholars share various painful memories of growing up during World War II. Mr. Ikeda suffered illness as well as the loss of his dear older brother who died in combat, adding to the anguish his family sufferred. In Dr. Galtung's case, during the Nazi occupation of his homeland, Norway, Dr. Galtung's father was imprisoned in a concentration camp in retaliation for his resistance activities.

Their shared quest inspires concrete proposals that are directly relevant to conflict resoulution today, including such hot topics as the death penalty, nationalism and regional unification, religious fundamentalism, the proliferation of nuclear arms, and the role of the United Nations in peacekeeping around the world.

"Choose Peace" is presented as a dialogue between these two scholars, and identifies the various sources of violence and unrest, while demonstrating the role of Buddhist philosophy in formulating solutions that will lead to lasting peace.

I saw Brian Gage speak at an author panel in Santa Monica, and thought he was an interesting character. A couple months later, I broke down and bought Snark, Inc.

It's now officially one of my favorite books. It takes the guise of a kids book, only to then turn the entire format on its head and deliver the reader a completely unexpected message. It's funny, dark, and painfully true. It's a very well thought out commentary on modern society - right down to its appearance of a kids book. I recommend it highly. Check out the Web site too! It's hilarious.

I agree with the reviews below. Snark Inc. is a great book and does a fantastic job of poking fun of Corporate America. The verse is really charming and the pictures are great.

I do have to disagree with the reviewer from Germany. Snark Inc. is a great book, but it's no masterpiece. Lolita is a masterpiece, For Whom the Bell Tolls is a masterpiece. Snark Inc is just a fun book with a sharp slant on consumerism.

Dark and forboding, Snark Inc. is a brilliant satire on corporate America. Disguised as a children's book, Snark seduces you into it's world before you are aware that what you are reading is a sharp, dead-on attack at many of the misguided values we collectively share. Brian Gage's words are clever and powerful. Tom Ellsworth's illustrations are thoughtful. His depiction of the 'boss' as a snake-like dollar sign is simply brilliant. I highly recommend this book and eagerly await future work from these two artists.

I checked this book out at the library a year ago and once I finally read it I have been searching everywhere for it. It was the best book I have ever read. Ms. Gage has a wonderful talent in storytelling. I agree with another review that it does start out confusing but DO NOT give up on it!!! This book delivers romance, mystery, you name it. I felt like I personally knew all of the characters. Never before has a book come to life the way this one did for me. You will feel the pains and the joys of every character you meet. I cried and laughed with them through it all. I recommend this book to anyone! Buy it!

I read this book probably more than 10 years ago. I loved the characters and the story. I could not put it down. When the story I ended, I actually missed it.

I read this book a few years ago, I haven't yet had a chance to reread it. From what I remember, my impressions from it were ones that will linger a long time. I felt what each character felt, and the images that were conjured up in Gage's word were spectacular. I honestly recommend this book for anyone who wants a little bit of everything on their plate. This is one book that you will want to stay up late at night with... it's that good!

This book, "Dawn After Dark," is a discussion between an acclaimed French art critic, writer and expert on French painting, René Huyghe, a member of the Académie Français, and an international Buddhist leader, Daisaku Ikeda. The dialogue aims at gaining an overall perspective on humanity's current predicaments and the reforms needed to move forward and avert disaster.

To paraphrase Huyghe's introduction, never before has humanity had to face problems on so vast a scale as those confronting us today. Until recent times, human groups had no interest in knowing anything but their own needs, customs and beliefs. Rejecting or ignoring the beliefs of others, they attempted to enforce their own set of values wherever they went. Today, a more universal awareness is emerging. Humanity has come to realize that it is essential to examine the characteristics, causes and effects of current problems and to establish reforms to avert them.

In this book, Huyghe and Ikeda bring together and compare ways of thought from opposite sides of the world, France and Japan. Through an objective comparison of traditions, cultures, and religions from East and West, they provide us with a global view of problems at hand.

Their discussion is divided into five parts. In the first, the nature of the varous dilemma we confront is exposed and shown to be first and foremost a moral crisis. The second part points to its historical roots, and the third investigates the changes that humanity is now undergoing, the social tasks before us and what is needed from within ourselves to build a new, more peaceful society.

The fourth part turns to solutions - the key to harmony in life and the means to reform the inner lives of human beings. Part five discusses major resources for peace that are uniquely human, art and religion, which are linked by a sense of the sacred. With their distinct but complementary viewpoints, Huyghe and Ikeda take different paths that eventually converge to illuminate the increasingly complex world in which we live with clarity and profound optimism.

In this book, Rene Huyghe, writer of dozens of books on Art, Art History and Collections, one of Europe's great intellectual masters of the Art World, meets with Daisaku Ikeda, writer of dozens of books on philosophy and Buddhism, one of the world's great Buddhist leaders. Throught their exchanges, we learn not only about each man and his fields of expertise, but about the wisdom each has gained by their keen observations of life itself - through their fields of expertise, and well as their incredibly rich and diverse sets of experiences. Both men have lived through the untold horrors of war, both know that Art and Culture holds keys to leading humanity toward a new "Dawn After Dark."

Tina Turner is the reason I found this book, and all others by Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International. After hearing Tina Turner speak about her Buddhist practice in interviews, and hearing her give credit to Buddhism for her happiness and in life, I decided to look further into it myself.

Tina mentioned Daisaku Ikeda as the person who brought Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, the practice of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, to America. This is the Buddhist practice to which Tina attributes her spiritual fulfillment and strength. Thanks to Tina's explanations, I was able to locate the Soka Gakkai International and from there I discovered many profound, inspirational and educational writings by Daisaku Ikeda. This book is just one of Mr. Ikeda's many contributions to further the understanding of Buddhist principles and their application in every day life.

I highly recommend that anyone interested in the Buddhist practice of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo read the writings of Daisaku Ikeda to learn more about Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism.

The first time I picked up this book I was 18 and found it in a closet of my uncles house. I sat down and started to read, 5 hrs later I was still sitting there and reading the last chapter. This book has everything in it, sex, intrigue, romance, horrer, incest, there are moments that make you smile, and others that make you cry, all in all the charachters become real, you love when they love, hate when they hate, and get angry with them at all life's injustices.Once you start this book it is hard to put down. An in the end the ending will blow you away, it is shocking! I have owned several copies since then and in 9 yrs I still consider it one of my favorite books, one word for you if you buy this book,ENJOY!

This is one of my favorite novels. I have owned several copies. It has everything. Romance, intriuge, an exotic and foreign way of living. Real but imaginary, and extraordinary characters and an ending so shocking to have left me breathless and in tears. I feel close to Christine, as if she were someone I knew, or someone I recognized in myself. I collect all of Ms. Gage's work now although I believe this to be her best work and unsurpassible in quality. I will never loan it out.

The plot is sensational. There are many turns and twists, yet in a way loosely gathered until the end that there is little doubt of the plausibility of the story. The book's most glorious attribute, however, is the happy yet tragic ending that somehow gives statement to the few lives it carefully traced through twenty and more years. Each character is dynamic, full of personality yet not entirely in the grasp of the reader. The sense of the enigmatic only enhanced the strength of the characters. They were cold in their ruthlessness, pitiable in their weakness, lovable in their humanness, and memorable because of their ability to stand erect from the experiences prescribed by the writer and come forth as individuals of complex natures. In the end the result is tragedy, or triumph that rises above the tarnishes of life and simply shows off its beauty. It leaves the reader with a sense of the regrettable and uncontrollable events of life as much a result of fate as our doing, and also a yearning to overcome it all and survive.

After listening to Randy's tapes, my business has sky rocketed. His no nonsense approach showed me exactly what I needed to know to find more prospects, hold effective meetings, manage my business, and overcome the typical objections that you face in all network marketing opportunities.

If you're reading this, you're probably in network marketing. Maybe you're looking for the "secrets" of the heavy hitters; or the the information that will help you get "over the hump" in your business. You might just be starting out.

Either way, this tape set is worth it's weight in gold. More so, in fact, since I believe it lives up to its name.

Randy Gage is a dynamic speaker but has very little "hype". This is a information-packed tape set that was recorded live in front of some of the biggest names in MLM as well as many new MLMers. In this tape set, Gage explains why most networkers really have no idea of what they're doing. They're trying to find fat people or sick people or trying to build a business by peddling products every day all day.

He shows how the "big business model" in MLM means that you have to have a simple, cookie-cutter, duplicateable SYSTEM that everyone in your downline uses. And in this tape set, he explains exactly how to do that.

He also explains why doing "what works" will put you in the poorhouse and how you should always be focused on doing "what duplicates".

This tape set normally sells ...from Gage directly. If it sold for $1,000, I'd still say it was a bargain.

I'd give it 10 Stars if I could. If you are looking for training on the "nuts-and-bolts" of network marketing and not just "hype" and "rah rah" philosophy, this is IT. Gage takes you step by step through his system which does several things: 1. Keeps you from presenting the business to non-prospects. 2. Reduces personal rejection to NOTHING. 3. Why enrolling and selling will NOT get you to the top of your pay plan. 4. What it DOES take to make it successful and much more.

I was very frustrated in my business until I implemented Gage's principles. It blew my business wide open and gave me the success I was looking for. Today, it's all we do!

Well, that will teach me not to read the entire review of a book before sending for it! Not that I'm complaining about the book...I thought it was for adults. It's not really, though I can see using it for reading and science literacy for deaf adults.

This is a great book. The explanations concerning what happened to Mr. Gage, and the science behind his medical recovery and subsequent personality problems is fairly well covered. There is a great glossary in the back with more information concerning terminology used in 'brain science' such as abscess and neurotransmitters that can be used as a jumping point for students to do their own research into areas that interest them, whether on the Internet or in libraries.

I kind of skimmed through the text. Most of it was stuff I've had over exposure to. The text is well written, just more simple than I am used to reading. Fleischman writes very tongue-in-cheek (come to think of it, Gage couldn't do that for a while on one side!). I appreciate Fleischman's humor, and I am sure most teachers and students will find it refreshing from boring textbooks written by professors or publishing houses. The science is correct in this book, which I am finding is often NOT the case in textbooks...so maybe teachers should stop using textbooks and use books such as this, journals and the Internet!

My favorite part of this book, of course, are the pictures, the MRI scans, the reconstitution of his brain within his skull using modern techniques. Very fun to see all this together. Gage is learned about in every neuroscience class I had from an undergrad to graduate level. We talk about the fact that he survived this stunning blow, about his personality changes in neuropsychiatric classes, about possible relations between other disorders such as autism and what happened in lobotomies (ugh!...). Everyone in Neuroscience knows about Gage. He is fascinating to the point of remembering his name when we can't remember names of past acquaintances.

Fun book, good science, great pictures, a good introduction for kids to neuroscience.

Karen Sadler,
Science Education,
University of Pittsburgh

This is one compelling and very entertaining read, albeit not for the squeamish. While aimed at kids, adults will find it equally fascinating. It has all the elements of a wild work of fiction, yet it's an eyepoppingly true story--just try and put it down once you've opened it. It's great to see factual science presented in such a winning, approachable style. After ordering a copy for my biology-minded kids, we thought so highly of it that we got a copy to donate to our local library as well. Highly recommended.

This book reads like a novel while delivering scientific knowledge and history effectively and accessibly. Highly recommended for youngsters (or adults!) interested in history, science, or unusual stories.

A Sweet Quartet is a charming tale about the history of sugar, almonds, butter, and eggs, and how each made its way independently into the kitchen and became the foundation of all desserts. She tells the story of each ingredient by weaving history with personal recollections in the field at a sugar mill, at a hatchery, as owner of a patisserie, and other experiences. The story is compelling, and comes complete with 33 recipes. -rkc

Four basic elements make desserts possible: sugar, almonds, eggs, and butter. A Sweet Quartet blends a culinary history of these ingredients with a recipe guide and travelogue. No color photos, but the easy recipes don't need them, while the culinary history of dessert-making is fascinating, adding a literary touch to the results.

Fran Gage's "A Sweet Quartet" is filled to overflowing with gorgeous writing about four basic baking ingredients: sugar, almonds, eggs, and butter. She refers to these with the charming assertion that they are "the DNA of desserts." Although I'd disagree with her here (in my book, flour would replace almonds, much as I love almonds!), this former bakery owner makes her case so winningly and with such conviction that you are swept along in her cause.

The recipes are few--just under three dozen total--which may seem like very little for a cookbook that costs over twenty bucks. But Gage isn't trying to provide you with recipes as much as she's trying to fill you in on the background, the history, the chemical properties, and the world view of these ingredients. On the task she sets for herself, she does beautifully. Did you know, for instance, that:

"The Germans have loved marzipan since it arrived in the sixteenth century from Venice. They sought out the best almonds for it, and trade guilds regulated its sale; only apothecaries were allowed to sell it, much to the chagrin of confectioners . . . Neideregger, a marzipan maker in Lübeck since 1805, still boasts two hundred varieties."

or . . .

"The rhythmic slapping of balloon whisks beating egg whites in copper bowls is more than a romantic holdover. Atoms from the copper bind with one of the white's proteins, which promotes cross-linking between the protein molecules, resulting in a foam that is creamier and not so easy to overwhip."

or . . .

"There is real butter, and there is fake butter, and they are not the same . . . Spurred on by a challenge from Napoleon III in 1869, Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès came up with a cheaper substitute. Relying on shaky biological knowledge of how a cow produced something that became butter, he mixed the oil from beef fat (oleo) with skimmer milk and water, throwing in a strip of cow udder for good measure. His invention was surprisingly like the veritable item. He called it margarine, after the Greek word for 'pearl,' a name that reflected its glossy appearance. People liked the price, and some may have liked the taste. The new product became popular."

"A Sweet Quartet" is filled with fascinating nuggets like this, studded with information that way one of Gage's desserts might be studded with dried cranberries or chocolate chunks or, well, almonds. This is a super book for anyone interested in peeking behind the bakery curtain to see the whys and wherefores of the way these essential dessert ingredients work and how they affect both each other and other ingredients. And the recipes, by the way, are wonderful!

I read this book for my book group and it was very hard to get through. It is very well-written and interesting, if you can get past the Greek names, killing, starvation, torture and general horror. Not wanting to be defeated by a book, I read on, trying to mentally cover my eyes and rush through the worst of the beatings and torture. Somewhere along the way I became mesmerized by Nicola's story of his Mother's life and how she managed to defy the communists. It is a very heart-wrenching story, from the clouds of war in the beginning to the final horrible outcome for her. But it is also uplifting in the sense that her spirit prevailed right to the end and lives on in her son, who upholds her example in his most trying hour. Anyone who can read this book and not thank God he was born in the United States, and is living in a time of peace must be crazy!

"Eleni" is an hymn to the author's mother. It describes the strength of his mother's love for her children that helped the family survive through a variety of hardships - the father's absence in USA, civil war, poverty, hostility by other villagers. The book describes a compelling story of the family, their struggles and the escape of 9 year old Nicholas Gage to the U.S.A. As an adult, Gage returns years later to get revenge from the people who tortured and murdered his mother but at the end he decides to honor her by following her teachings instead of revenge. The book provides a look in the life of small villages in the Balkans and the beginning of cold war. It is a great novel and the author is a masterful story-teller.

Unfortunately, despite Mr. Cage's credential as an investigative reporter, the book falls short on historical accuracy and serves as a [...] tool for the pro-western faction of the civil war against the "evil" communism. It is a romanticized version of the actual events as witnessed by a young boy who wants to "protect" the memory of his mother since he was not there to defend her life and as re-told by the villagers who want to absolve themselves of any crime.

Great portrayal of a mother's love for her children just do not buy it for its historical value!

Eleni is a gripping story of man's inhumanity to humans; in this case the Greek Communist's inhumane treatment of its own men, women and children during the Greek Civil War in the late 1940s. Although this book is a biography, Nicholas Gage's narrative prose reads like a powerful novel. Every aspect of the hard-working villagers' life is depicted, right down to the peasants' ignorance, their superstitions, and their cunning and cruel treatment to each other for survival in the hands of the communists. Above all, this story is about Gage's mother Eleni who sacrificed herself to save her children. If you can read beyond the killings, the cruelty, the starvation and torture, you will find it difficult to put down this 470 page masterpiece. For the weak-hearted, simply skip those parts, it's worth reading.