How does one write a generic autobiography? Keene has given us an example. In telling of his upbringing in St. Louis, we learn of the flight of whites from the suburbs into which Afro-Americans had moved, we learn of the heritage of the city as multi-cultural, of growing up with an alcoholic parent, of growing up gay etc. Only occasionally is the narrative "personal" in the sense of revealing something about the narrator which we could not know without the self-revelation of the narrative. The result is wonderful prose, interesting structure, and literature that exists only for itself - never revealing something new, specific about the human condition.

This anorexic novel (I tried stuffing mashed plantains in between the pages) is a minor masterpiece. It's small, and you can use it to slide it into the jamb of your door in case you get locked out. Another good use: you can slice someone's head off with it. There's a lot of big words here, words that were like elephants being stuffed into a sandwich bag. You can hear the words grunting in agony as you read the book. It's divided into several chapters with long paragraphs without any speed bumps in them. Whenever there's a red light Keene doesn't let up, he goes right through and ignores the ominous white policeman on the scooter trying to hail him down. I think John Keene is a tiny genius. He can live in a mousehole with a Mrs. Mouse. But he needs to write a bigger book, something that matches the density of a phone directory, something a midget can sit on if the table is too high. Only then will the flora and fauna of his verbal fireworks (illegal in most tropical enclaves) will truly have a chance for a decent stretch exercise.

Have you ever been reading a book and wanted to know what was going on somewhere else in the story? Or earlier? Or later? Or in the author's head? *Annotations* gives you the sense that you are looking out over the story and deep within the characters at the same time. Such a patient, delicate, tight weave. Tight, so there's a firmness to this writing, too. On the one hand, we get to see what's going on inside as we see the surfaces of things. The narrative is not left vulnerable to readers' whims, though. The constantly shifting perspectives teach us not just how to get through the book, but also what to make of it.

BCO2 was published in 1989 and the latest references are from the late 1980's. Opening theory has come a long way since then which makes this book of limited usefulness in 1998. Unfortunately, BCO3 and MCO14 are not even rumored yet, leaving an up-to-date single-source reference unavailable to tournament players. If you must have a copy of this book, try not to pay too much for it.

i have not had time to review the book because of school but every kasparov book has lots of information on chess because he is the former world champion if he defeats kramnik next january he will be world champion once again as for the seller the book arrived at my door in 4 days 1 day before scheduled arrival so im pleased the book was in used condition but i was told that before hand so no complaints

Well, I guess this was great by the time, but MCO-13 is better

I thought that Nancy Drew: Crime Lab Case was pretty good. I read it at night, and i got spooked a few times. Overall, i was quite good.

I read this book in 1 and a half days-but only cuz i couldn't put it down!! This is one of the best books I've ever read!! And it isn't for any age-it could be read by anyone and everyone. I would recommend this to anyone who likes suspicion, mystery, and basically a good read. Not only did I learn lots about solving a mystery, but the story is totally unpredictable. I never would have guessed who commited the crime!!

this book was sooooooo cool. and it taught me a lot too. oh and by the way not only 9-12 ages can read anyone can

There are a lot of puzzle books out there. And there are better ones than this.

This book takes the reader through 20 annotated games. And at certain points, the author presents a diagram with the current position and asks the reader to find the best move. Points are then awarded for correct answers. And these points supposedly add up to an estimated rating that the reader can have claim to.

This idea, in itself, is not a bad one. But it is very difficult to pull off.

First of all, it is important for the perspective buyer to realize that not all of the puzzle positions contain tactical opportunities. We are not looking for "White to move and win!" answers. Often, the correct solution is a simple repositioning of a piece. Sometimes the answers are difficult to find; sometimes they are very elementary. So if you are looking for a challenging lesson on tactics, this book is probably not what you are looking for.

As we all know, there is often more than one good move on the board that can be played at a given time. But no alternative moves are mentioned during the quizes. The author gives one "right" answer and moves on. And this can be very frustrating for the reader.

The author does state at the beginning of the book that the reader can award himself up to "100 points" per quiz at his own discretion. But this makes things even more fuzzy and the rating that one earns becomes too subjective. Thus, by the end of the text, the reader will most likely feel that his effort to discover his chess rating through this book is futile.

Another problem that these type of books commonly have is the layout. To conserve space, the author will place the answer immediately below the question. This forces the reader to be constantly covering parts of the pages as he reads, so as to not see the answer before he is ready. This can be quite akward and very tedious.

To be fair, the 20 games included in this book are actually quite interesting. So the idea of buying this book as a small game collection is reasonable.

But in conclusion, this book does not achieve the goal it set out to accomplish. If you are looking for a chess puzzle book, or a way to estimate your chess rating, look elsewhere.

I would recommend three books to improve tactical strength. While they won't give you an artificial "rating", they will hone your combinational skills.

I would suggest Winning Chess Tactics by Seirawan. This book teaches what tactics are all about. And the puzzles inside range from beginner to professional strength that you simply won't be able to figure out. Thorough explinations are included for each one. Though introduced as a "beginner's book", experienced players can definately prosper by reading up on it.

Chess World Champions' Wonderful Ways to Win by Krizsany is also an interesting book because it provides real examples taken from games of the best players in history. Simply playing through the examples is entertaining and educational.

Finally, for those who want a real lesson on tactics, Chess Tactics for Advanced Players by Averbakh will take you to the very limits of tactical understanding.

here you can find out with an expert grandmaster guide. this is not a puzzle book-it tests your strategic and tactical skills by giving complete and deeply annotated games. if you dont want to get a good idea of your potential playing strength just sit back and enjoy the games and comments without testing yourself!

lets get one thing straight-this is not a book about chess puzzles-it is an anthology of complete games by grandmasters and champions which have been carefully annotated by a grandmaster author who is chess correspondent for the london times and the international herald tribune. at virtually every stage the reader is invited to answer questions which can be move predictions . variations or strategic ideas and there are bonus points given simply for avoiding blunders. i know of no other book of this type that takes this useful facility into acount.of course you cannot get a published rating without playing in tournaments but this book will certainly give you an idea of what you can aspire to!

As the instructor of "Practical Object-Oriented Programming" (a 5-week course that uses Dylan that teaches object/functional application in the software domain), I chose _Dylan Programming_ as the text book. It is well-suited to the methodology of teaching programming: the chapters can be comprehended by people with no programming background (I had two such students), yet the material is stimulating so that even experienced programmers find it useful. Married with the Functional Developer (a Dylan IDE), _Dylan Programming_ makes teaching, or learning, Dylan quick and easy.

I have three points where I find the book wanting: organization, exactness/correctness, and completeness.

I found the book's organization a bit puzzling: especially when it came to control structures. In my teaching sessions, I needed to move forward 11.1-11.5 (skipping parts of 11.3 and all of 11.4) before I covered chapter 4 (classes). Also, interspersing the airport example seemed random at times, particularly in the second half of the book. I chose to skip those chapters (for teaching purposes).

The book was incorrect for several of its page references. This was particularly annoying as it happened that I followed a reference on several occasions, only to be led to the wrong page. For example, page 182 (center) refers one to page 172 for the definition of sum (a function), this function actually appears on page 174. Page 183 (center) refers one to page 147 for the use of curry ... this example is actually at the end of page 148. Page 183 (center), again, refers one to page 181 for the use of the function choose, which is not mentioned until page 182 ... and on, and on, and on. Some references were so obscure that I could not find what these references meant on any page near the page they mentioned. Chasing referred pages, then, became a tiresome venture that often disappointed.

As for completeness, I mentioned in the previous paragraph the function choose, a very useful function. However, if one looks in the index, no mention, anywhere, is made of it. The authors took pains to highlight it in the text, explain it, and provide an example. This exact problem exists also for the function apply, another very useful function. _Dylan Programming_ falls down in the index for generalities as well as specifics, as we've seen: no entry exists for first-, or higher-, order functions. Also, the index entries for protocol and efficiency point to one line definitions in introductory sections, where their explanations occur much later in those chapters.

Even though the index has some faults, the references are off at times (too often, unfortunately), and I disagree with the book's presentation of fundamental topics too late, the book shines overall, and shines primarily that it teaches Dylan well.

First, some of the book's explanations surpass those of the _Dylan Reference Manual_ (DRM). It used illustrations, code examples, and metaphors repeatedly to get the point of the section across. Not only that, but it went in depth on some topics where the DRM chose terseness: for example, _Dylan Programming_ has explained modules as namespaces very well. Accompanying many sections were interactive examples in a Dylan listener so that the reader could try out the topic's techniques as they read.

Second, the book unifies the presentation of the language very well. The DRM is excellent at examining language features piece by piece; _Dylan Programming_ is excellent at putting these pieces together at the chapter level. They even have a bulleted chapter summary of the topics covered.

And, third, the book succeeds in a practical way. All of my students were new to Dylan (some new to programming), yet each completed their final project assignments, due in large part to the help this book gave them. One programming neophyte created a final project that computed the possible blood types of a child from known parents' blood types (a relatively simple task), but then created a blood type inference system that postulated a blood type of a parent based on one parent's and the child's blood type ... a more significant achievement. Another created a mathematical symbolic processor (it found, among other things, the roots of quadratic equations).

Overall, then, this book has some minor shortcomings. As a book to learn Dylan, though, it is without peer, and I strongly recommend it as the first book from which to learn the language.

While primarily aimed at people just learning Dylan, this book has some great info for people who already understand Dylan reasonably well (the chapter on performance is especially valuable.) The book is well written, and the information in the book is very accurate.

The book does not attempt to cover all the standard Dylan functions and classes, and thus it does not intend to replace the Dylan Reference Manual (DRM). I often find myself using this book as a reference for language features though.

I think this is one of the better programming books I've seen, in that it is task-oriented. The authors have a goal of building a program to do airport scheduling; while they are building this program, they are teaching you Dylan. Consequently, you are learning how to do a real-world task (well, at least someone's real world task) rather than just a bunch of example programs that don't correlate well or at all. Along the way, they are teaching you how to build classes and methods effectively, which is sadly lacking in most other programming tomes.

The only thing that I considered a "problem" is that it took them until chapter 11 to start discussing control structures (like the loops and decision statements). My attention was wandering and I had to skip ahead to keep my interest.

It also seems to be oriented towards people who are already familiar with C++ or Java (or some other object-oriented language), which is probably not a bad assumption. I can't imagine someone picking this up as their first language, but it is just a word of warning, just in case.

In summary, very, very good book. Don't make the mistake of getting the Dylan Reference Manual as a way to learn Dylan -- "Dylan Programming" is the book to get for learning the language.

The Wordsworth Classics here presents a nice translation by G.B. Sansom of a classic, the Tsurezuregusa of Yoshida Kenko, written around 1330 by a Japanese monk. The format of the work is reminiscent of the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon - short observations, bits of memoir, commentary on the manners and morals of people around him.

There's a minimum of footnoting and the translator's style is smooth and readable. It's a dipping book which will appeal to modern Buddhists and pensive readers alike. As Kenko himself says:

"To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations - such is a pleasure beyond compare."

Good literature is sometimes called "news that stays news" (originally refering to art). Kenko's work is very much that, as it is simply the random, frank thoughts of a man who lived through a time of great upheval and was involved with many tiers of society. The candor expressed by Kenko regarding life and living rings true with many people in many nations in many times.

Although a certain amount of life experience is certainly necessary before a full aprectiation of Kenko's words can be had, this work still has something for most anyone. It can also serve as an introduction to medieval Japan and Japanese thought. While certainly Kenko's views on things were not the only ones of the time, they represent an ethic and aesthetic that saw its formation around this time and serves as an important guide to understanding the philosophies which developed in Japan.

Keene's translation is one of the few around, and probably the most accurate and easily readable. Though too "literary" at times (the original being "literary", but still strait forward in expression), with a few mistranlsations here and there (though perhaps intentionally so, given the gap in the languages), it still offeres enough to get the feel of the original.

For all you students, this will be a good start into one aspect of Japanese literature, but use this as a stepping stone in to reading original text. The original is not that hard, and a fairly direct translation will help.

Anyone interested in or studying Japanese history/literature/culture should read this book. It contains a series of short essays (zuihitsu) and reads much like Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book. These essays range from Kenko's moral opinions about various aspects of life to his aesthetic tastes and thoughts about beauty. These essays are Kenko's opinion, yet they can be taken as the opinions of Japan's society at the time of the writing. Therefore there is a great deal of interesting cultural information and meaning behind Kenko's words. So if you are interested in Japanese Buddhism or religion, this book's a must.

If you are interested in Japanese aesthetics- aware: the idea that beauty is transient/fleeting, wabi-sabi: by becoming aged and through use, an object's history and experience bestow upon it greater value than an object that is new, the idea that uncertainty/non-uniformity/ and incompletion can inspire imagination- by all means read this.

Nancy and George are vacationing in England, and, of course,the hotel at which they are staying is plagued by someone whoperpetrates dangerous pranks. It's a fast and fun read, but some partsare just a little bit incredible. OK, really incredible. Now really, would a woman not recognize her own sister when Nancy sees the resemblance instantly? It's funny, but it wasn't meant to be.

Not the best or most tightly plotted ND, but, again, a fun read.

What an awsome book. I read these books non stop. You just can't pry me away. Nancy was ready for a mystery free vacation in England, but no sooner did she get their than odd things started happening. These things weren't just tricks to get a good laugh, they were begining to hurt the inn's customers. Was some one trying to put Moorsea Manor out of business? It looked that way to Nancy. Soon Nancy was hot on the trail of the culprit. Will Nancy ever catch the villian? I learned alot about the Moors of England. Often, people have gotten lost in dark caves and tunnels and no one will ever see them again. I highly recommend you read it.

This was one of the better Nancy Drew stories that I've read. Although Nancy, Bess, and George aren't great horseback riders, the horse scenes are fun and adventurous, and the mystery is fast-paced. The supporting characters are also well-rounded. There was even a surprise ending!

This was a pretty good Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys, not as good as some I've read. But whoever wrote it obviously just read a guidebook on New Orleans. Mistake No. 1: It's impossible to be pushed off a streetcar in New Orleans. They aren't open-air. (I guess you could try to shove someone out the window, but it would take quite a while and someone would definitely notice.) Nancy Drew could have never been pushed off one. No. 2: New Orleanians don't have southern accents! Sorry, no pleasant southern drawl here. Some have N'Awlins accents, but those aren't real common either. No.3: NO ONE USES VOODOO IN NEW ORLEANS! The only thing connected with voodoo is the voodoo museum, and that's just for tourists. No one I know has ever visited it. If you ask a New Orleanian anything about voodoo, they will either look at you blankly or laugh in your face. NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT VOODOO IN NEW ORLEANS! Okay, I'm done sounding off. This was a good book and I recommend it to anyone who likes Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. The plot was unusual and the characters realistic. Just don't believe anything they say about New Orleans.

I'm a Keene reader.... I like how the book's suspense kept me from just skimming through the pages of the book. I just wish somehow that maybe Nancy's & Frank's romance would be more than him/her getting a little jealous of the other, and a warm feling here or there.

1 sugestion.... give them a bit more emotion and thought... Sure, solving the case is important(like all mysteries, it gets solved anyways), but it isn't everything a reader sometimes would like to read.

This book is very good. It's not just about mystery. You know how Nancy and Frank like each other? Well, in this book something happens. Not necessarily between them. A third and fourth person(s) may be involved. The plot was intriguing and suspenseful. It kept you guessing. I reccommend you read it.

Nancy goes to Flash magazine to see who's threatening a woman named Yvonne with freaky letters. One of her main suspects, Mick, seems really dangerous so Nancy calls Ned to be her bodyguard. But it backfires when Ned falls head over heels for Mick's sister Sandra!! This was a really good book.

Nancy's new case takes her to Chicago, where Yvonne Verdi, editor and co - owner of a new teen magazine called Flash, is getting death threats. Yvonne claims that the culprit is Mick Swanson, her partner, and she just wants Nancy to prove it. Nancy isn't so sure until she's the victim of one of Mick's sick practical jokes. Nancy's working under cover, but Mick has branded her as Yvonne's spy, so half the office is giving her the cold shoulder. When Nancy's boyfriend, Ned, comes to help her with her detective work he falls for Mick's sister, Sondra. Now Nancy has two jobs; find out who the poison pen writer is and keep Sondra away from Ned. I loved this Nancy Drew because Ned finally gets a little fed up with tagging along on all of Nancy's cases, and Nancy realises how much she takes Ned for granted.

Nancy Drew is asked by a magazine manager if she would come and solve a mystery about some threat's she's getting. The mystery get's really hard when things take an odd turn, but Nancy can't bear it when she finds out that Ned is flirting with an other girl! Now she has to choose. Keep on solving the mystery and loose Ned or drop the mystery so she can be with Ned. To find out what happens, you have to read this book.

I thought Nancy was a great detective.Everytime I read Nancy's adventures,I am really into it.When Nancy got into troble,I was very frightened that my hands were shaking!

I think that this book was really good except how Nancy found out who the murderer was. It didn't really seem to go with the rest of the book. It sort of just got scribbled on at the end like someone just starting to realize that the end to their mystery does not have a solution! Sorry, Ms. Keene!