This book is convenient. But you can also find many things online for free if you are willing to do some research.

If I was ever able to drive the Alaska Highway, the only way I'd do it is w/the MILEPOST. It's very detailed & I've found it fun just looking through the book & checking out all the websites. It's a must-have!

The Milepost provides the Alaska and Yukon bound drivers with all of the support (lodging, gas stations, dining, vehicle repairs, medical, etc.) and sight-seeing information needed to have a safe, comfortable and informative journey. It details this information on mile-by-mile basis which allows the traveler to know the joys and potential hazards of the trip. It also provides this same detail for all of the major roads that lead to and from the Alaska Highway - within NW Canada and throughout Alaska. Also a necessary reference for the traveler who flys to Alaska and rents a car in Anchorage or Fairbanks. It also provides history and trivia of many of the little towns in the Alaska Wilderness. Alaska adventurers should also consider getting Discovering Denali if they are going to explore Denali National Park.

I give this book a fairly high rating because all acting technique is personal. An actor's job in receiving training is to simply find the approach that works best for the individual. Method acting simply means to find one's own method. While responses to acting texts, approaches and classes are always subjective, one should always remain open for new ideas.

That said I reject Eric Morris' approach to acting on a personal and professional level.

As every actor knows (or at least should know), his/her job is "to do nothing more than to be believable while telling the best possible story that serves the script" (Bruce Morris). Or as Stanislavski defines acting: "Acting is living truthfully under imaginary circumstances". The root of an actor's technique must always be action. Again with Stanislavski: "while on stage, an actor must always be enacting something". Action verbs are the basis of all acting/storytelling craft. An audience does not pay precious money to watch an actor have an emotional moment, but rather to have the moment themselves.

All the great acting teachers, building upon the work of Stanislavski, have stressed the importance of finding and playing an action as opposed to an emotion. Robert Lewis, Sanford Meisner, Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, Michael Checkov and even Lee Strassberg (although he ventured too far into the emotional realm) all taught students to find the appropriate action and embrace that reality as the basis for their storytelling craft. Emotions are the by product of a person engaging in an action and either failing or succeeding in the quest to fulfill that action.

Eric Morris' approach, centers on "Being" exercises. He asks his students to simply get up in front of a group of people and simply "Be". As related in this book, he proceeds to grill them about their day and call them on the carpet for any false emotion as he dredges for some emotional moment. Morris' approach, at least to this reader, comes off as simply another example of acting teacher "power tripping" as well as pseudo-therapy hidden in the guise of acting. This approach simply leads to the teacher holding such power over his/her students as they become obsessed with pleasing the teacher as opposed to truly pleasing the audience.

This approach leads to emotionally crippling an actor. Actor's become obsessed with evaluating their acting on the basis of whether or not they "felt" the scene. If an actor finds they cannot reach the emotion, they immediately fill themselves with a great sense of guilt and personal disgust at their inability to produce an emotion. Acting should ultimately be a freeing experience as well as a fun and celebratory bit of life. Many acting teachers and actors, bowing under the weight of thousands of years of social stigma feel that they must deny the "fun" factor of acting and make it a painful and serious affair.

As any director or acting teacher can attest, when one simply asks an actor to "be" on stage, one will watch an actor squirm, blink and fold inside him/her self. Put an actor on stage and ask him/her to push a giant stone up a mountain, one will watch a fantastic story filled with all the emotional truth an audience could ever hope to find.

The key to acting is not "being" it is in fact "doing". Apparently Morris has a workbook that combines the two concepts. I will certainly read that as well- again the justification for the high rating. I am still learning my craft and I pray I will always continue to do so.

NO ACTING PLEASE is certainly worth reading and worth trying though so that one can form their own opinion. After trying Morris' approach, this review is simply my opinion. Proceed with caution.

After reading Eric's brilliant books, I was curious to see what "the man" was like in person. WOW! "No Acting Please" is an incredible primer for actually studying with Eric. Eric brings the principles of "No Acting Please," "Being And Doing" and "Irreverant Acting" to life in his 2-day seminars. I don't care how long you've been acting or how accomplished you think you are - what this man teaches, in writing and in person, cannot even have a value put on it. I'm a regular on a Top 15 drama series, and when I first started studying with Eric about 6 months ago I realized how little I really know. He's taken my acting to new heights, heights I never thought I could reach. He made me excited to be an actor again. You can't put a price on passion. I highly recommend reading Eric's books (get ALL of them) and sitting in on his seminar. Check out his website too.

This one of the best books on acting ever published. It is also one of the only books where you can significantly improve just by reading the thing, "getting" it, and playing around with some of the exercises. Eric stumbled upon something great with his "Being State" stuff. However, I have studied with Eric, and run from Eric, and so have many established actors/celebrities. He is a total narcissist neurotic whose "craft" sucks all pleasure from acting. Personal recommendation: JUST READ HIS BOOK AND DON'T GO NEAR HIM.
And one more thing: Eric's books on imaging and craft and Carl Jung-based theories on acting are all bogus. If you read them you see how more and more self-indulgent and full of it he gets and how these lengthy pop-psychology theories are truly ignorant. Save your money but keep "No Acting Please" as a bible.

Jan Morris is a fascinating personality. She originally was a he, and he was a guardsman in the British army, an officer from a good family. He left the service, became a historian, and then went to Denmark or wherever, and came back a she. She now writes unusual, affecting, eccentric, entertaining books that are terribly British and a bit disorganized. The Pax Brittanica trilogy is her life's work, near enough, though she's done other books that are very good. This one, however, is three volumes long, quite involved and very detailed. The series includes Heaven's Command, Pax Britannica, and Farewell the Trumpets. The first generally deals with the Empire in the 1840s on, the second follows things through the thirties, and the third follows the empire through its disbandment.

As I said, Morris is eccentric. This means that though the books are sort of chronological, they aren't exactly sorted the way you would expect, and this isn't really a history of the empire or the era. Instead, it's an anecdotal collection of tales, incidents, and sketches, marvelously told. Sort of like the difference between going through a cafeteria once and a sumptuous buffet where you go back and forth, taking time with what you enjoy. I thoroughly enjoyed the books, though I would hesitate to recommend them to someone who wasn't clear on either geography, or at least some basic history of the British Empire. Since this isn't either of those, you need them to understand what she's talking about occasionally.

I bought the trilogy in 1984 and have re-read it every year since then. Morris's attention to the finest details is amazing! I especially love the footnotes that provide further details to the cast of characters or updates on places, bulidings or sites as they are today. Jan's travel writing background especially evokes the visceral, from the bright colors, smells even the humidity of far flung places.

Its the only series you will ever need to read on the British Empire!

James Morris' PAX BRITANNICA, which uses the British Empire as it was in l900 as a framework, is the best work of popular history I've every read. Morris (who is now "Jan" rather than "James") is one of the world's great writers. This absorbing book focuses on the personalities, great and small, who shaped and controlled the Empire in its glory days. Of course there are many diversions, surprises and curiosities, and Morris fully exploits his brilliant talents as a teller of stories. Morris is as much travel writer as historian. Much of the pleasure (and credibility) of PAX BRITANNICA rests in the fact that Morris visited most of the places of empire and he describes many of them as they were when he was writing the book in the early 1970s. Nothing brings history to life like going to the places where it happened.

PAX BRITANNICA is part of a trilogy. Although the first in the series to be written, chronologically, it falls between HEAVEN'S COMMAND, about the creation of the Empire, and FAREWELL THE TRUMPETS, about the loss of the empire. Although quite splendid, in my opinion, the latter works lack the edge of inspiration, engagement and liveliness which make PAX BRITANNICA so special.

Other notable books by Morris include OXFORD, HONG-KONG, THE WORLD OF VENICE, AMONG THE CITIES and MANHATTAN '45. The versatile, wide-ranging Morris has also recently written a book called LINCOLN: A Foreigner's Quest.

As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams is a truly nonwestern work. In its tone, its narrative devices, and in the world it presents, this is a work that is clearly "other" from traditional Western fare. While sharing the same structural shell as the Western novel, its story is largely outside the limits of Western expectation.

At its heart, As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams is a song sung in retrospect by Lady Sarashina. This is a song of denied dreams that always just barely seem to fail.

The one constant of the narrative is sadness. Whether Sarashina's life was really so melancholy or whether she wrote this looking back through the lens of bitterness is speculation. Yet the sadness is palpable. Sadness hovers over each scene. When happiness breaks in, it is an unexpected and short-lived guest.

The narrative covers most of Sarashina's life. It starts in her childhood and leads up to her later years. She lives a very sheltered life in her father's house. So much so that it, in some ways, could be described in non-religious terms as a cloister. All the young Sarashina has to occupy her time is her love of tales and the hope of a more fulfilling future.

The genesis of Sarashina's great unhappiness is the glimpse she gets of the greater life around her--a life that she is never capable of partaking in. In all her travels she is never able to break free from her own internal solitude. She will not allow herself to live in anything more than a "dream."

For me, the extremely episodic nature of the book made it hard to get deeply involved as a reader. There were long spaces in this book where the author dwelt on seemingly unimportant matters. There are also quite a few brief sections where the author skips ahead a number of years. This made things difficult for me to follow on a number of occasions.

The one part of the book that I enjoyed was the poetry. I greatly enjoyed the poem that the author's father had his daughter compose to send to his ex-wife. The moment was both touching and insightful into their relationship.

The native Japanese worldview was wholly foreign to me. All the pilgrimages, priests, nuns, and what I would term "superstitions" struck me as convoluted and semi-capricious. The mother's taking of vows while still living within the house, yet being separated from the household, was a truly odd moment.

Though sometimes hopeful, Sarashina has no true hope. In its place Sarashina resigns herself to the idea that all the bad things happening to her are the result of Karma.

I have a hard time swallowing this much hopelessness. There is an endless sense of wallowing about As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams. I wanted to talk to Sarashina--to tell her that no matter how deep the darkness, it only takes one point of light to dispel it.

While this book may have value in being representative of the Japanese Literature of its day, it is not something I would choose to read again. The problem with As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams is that no one ever crosses the stinking bridge.

The Sarashina Nikki was written by a Lady depressed over the death of her husband and anxious about the future of her children. As grieving people often do she tries to find a reason for her affliction and decides she is being punished for prefering frivolous literature to serious religious study. Lady Sarashina was apparently not only an enthusiastic reader of romances, such as the Tale of Genji, but authored tales of her own though none have survived. How she wasted her youth reading and writing fictions is the theme of her retrospective memoir. I like to think the Nikki reflects a passing mood, that Sarashina eventually recovered from her losses and took a more balanced view her past life and involvement with literature.

This work was likely written as a warning: don't get caught up in fiction! Almost like a Madam Bovarie from 800 years ago, the author looks back over her own life, remembering the ups and downs fondly while carrying overtones of Buddhist thought. Enchanted by the Tale of Genji and other popular fiction of the time, her youth was spent longing to be able to go to the capitol (Kyoto today) so she could lay her hands on the volumes upon volumes of novels. Her father's work takes him back there briefly, and the author wraps herself in constant reading... at the expense of Buddhist study. Her own "Prince Genji" even appears, but this love ends and she herself is swept along to another destiny. Written in retrospect, this makes a lovely book to read along side both fiction and non-fiction alike. Also, the brightness of the naration will no doubt keep one's attention focused while the eventual "message" seeps through. This translation has few problems, but it might be interesting to see what someone else can do with this well-loved classic.

Used this book all of the time in my German classes! Wish I had had this sooner, would have made everything a lot simpler. Its easy to use, easy to understand, and great when you need to find something quick. This should be a book every college student, studying German, should be required to have.

When this book was first published in 1980, the producers wanted it to be 'the most helpful one-volume dictionary for students, linguists, and all translation needs'. Twenty-two years later, I would dare to suggest that if this aim has not been met, then this dictionary has not fallen far short. There are over 200,000 words and phrases in both English and German. All words are defined in context (this is especially important for the novice student) and the clear abbreviations make the dictionary easy to use. Moreover, there is also a four-page guide in English and German on how to use this dictionary to assit the user further.
On account of its age, this dictionary is inevitably a little dated, but it is still a very useful linguistic tool for students of German. I heartily recommend it.

I have taught German for ten years, and I have done freelance translations with German for fifteen. This dictionary remains my favorite German dictionary. It is complete, contains loads of idiomatic expressions, it's easy to read, it's vocabulary is up to date (including lots of software and computer terminology). I recommend this dictionary whole-heartedly. Another good choice is the Langenscheidt--but Langenscheidt is sometimes too British, so the Collins is the best option for any American.

It's unfortunate this is the only hardcover picture book of the Biltmore, available at the time of this review. Because it was the best one I could find, I bought it albeit, reluctantly as I like to have a picture book keepsake when I visit these places. There are many beautiful and often full page colour photographs, but there are also many black and white. Some of the latter are historical, so that is understandable, but others are not. With a predominance of construction pictures and the emphasis on the actual building process which of course ties into the history. This focus veers away from the main objective of a picture book momento, to include plenty of photographs of both the interior and exterior, preferably at least one colour photograph of each room. The estate boasts 255 rooms, and hardly 10% of them are represented. I would like to see this book enlarged to 3 times the size, with about 200 more interior pictures, then Rizzoli, who usually produces outstanding books of this genre, could up the price, but it would be worth it.

I enjoyed the story, don't get me wrong, but as for the pictures, yes it had numerous colors, but mainly black and white. I was surprised. Even pictures that weren't historic were in black and white.

When I purchased this book, I had hoped for a good floorplan of the home, instead I got a little sketch that could hardly be read with a magnifying glass.

Overall, very factual. It makes you realize just what went into the building process. Even if the paragraphs are a little too wordy.

I found this book on George Washington Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate in Ashville, North Carolina, to be extremelly through. This book includes sketchs of many of the considered facades for the home, and what their floorplans would have been.

Pictures of all of the beautiful rooms in the house are included in this publication. Also included are sketchs of the many details of the home, included are the east facade, the Gate House, the gates that set next to the house, the Biltmore Village Church, and sketchs of many of the statues from Biltmore's gardens.

Also included in this book is the histories of many of the principal players in Biltmore's creation, including Fredrick Law Olmsted the landscape designer, Richard Morris Hunt the arcitect, and of course George Vanderbilt the home's owner.
Included is many of the landscape designs of Biltmore's gardens, and beautiful pictures of many of them. Pictures of Biltmore's Conservatory are included which sits in Biltmore's Walled Garden, to the north of Biltmore House.

All in all, this book is great, and a great companion to a day long visit to Biltmore! If you loved Biltmore Estate, you'll love this book, I garentee it!

HNIC is a novel written in today's time, however the many facets of slavery rings out as Chuck, the main character, wears the title obliviously. He is a great 'love-to-hate' character. HNIC is a true 'who-dun-it' page-turner. It enlightens and entertains the reader on everyday doings in the world of big business and big money. With a mysterious twist this novel dictates the cons of politics and the diring need of a "racially" operated city to groom a HNIC in order to keep "faux" peace within the communities; black communities that is. HNIC differs greatly in plot as the author's first novel, 'Zon', but the need to reveal the world and its prejudices plays major roles in both. This is a quick and easy read.

I could not put this book down! Never in my wildest dreams would I have been able to solve the mystery. Mr. Morris did a fine job of fitting all the pieces of the puzzle in this novel. I highly recommend this book. I can't wait to read another novel by Gregory Morris.

If you Don't like Murder Mysteries, then You have not read HNIC. I picked up this book and the next thing I new, I was done, shocked, and hungry for more. I would hate characters in one chapter and love them in the next. My prediction for the ending changed at least three times, and all three of them were wrong. Very witty and filled with virtues to live by. I am eagerly anticipating Michael Johnson's next adventure.

The authors assume way too much reader knowledge for this to be a true guide for dummies. Also, the For Dummies format does not allow for much illustration. So a lot of what they describe goes way over my head. It does help me understand what I need to say when I call a pro. That's actually a big help for one as home-maintenance-challenged as I. Don Aslett's excellent books are more my speed, though he does tend to write the same book over and over again.

The chapters are organized by area of the house (outside, inside, appliances, etc.) and really pack a good amount of advice and tips in each. As another reviewer said, there are recipes for your own cleaning solutions (deck cleaners, floor cleaners) that work really well (our deck was in rough shape). The maintenance schedule in the back is also handy. This was our first home and having this book was such a help. I've read it and keep referring to it!

The brothers Carey hit the nail on the head (no pun intended). Clear suggestions and illustrations and a maintenance schedule to try to aspire to.

Although this book has the beautiful layout of all Taunton books, it unfortunately lacks clarity. Many techniques desribed left me pondering how they actually work. The book does have some good general advice on selecting fabrics, and some possible ways to personalize your work. It might be worth a look, but the author seems to have some trouble when it comes to specific explanations.
I'd be interested to see if anyone could figure out how to do a "turned lace hem" from the instructions.

Beginners may find some of the instructions difficult to follow. I don't know where to find some of those lovely parts to make bras with--that's something I've long wanted to do, and previous attemps to make really good bras failed. I have taken their advice and used patterns and my own ideas for lingerie, but one day I want to draft my own French panty pattern. It takes a little measuring and drawing, but once you make your template I'm sure it works fine. I have used one of the Vogue shirt patterns they list for a pajama shirt (eliminating the cuffs on the sleeves), got another pattern for the bottoms, cut up an old sheet and trimmed the PJ's with a little lace. Looks great, and wasn't that difficult.

I have to say I have a nice library of sewing books and this is one of my favourites!! It delves deep into the topic, has lots of inspiring photos and clear, concise instructions.

If you like beautiful lingerie, want to try your hand at sewing something new, create one-of a kind garments, this book is great.

One unique thing about this book, is while this book goes into depth about specialty lingerie fabrics, it also gives great ideas on how to use regular fabrics in ways you may not have considered.

It also gives instructions on how to adapt regular commercial clothing patterns for sleepwear and how to draft some custom underwear patterns.

Just inspirational and great!!

I started reading this slim volume quite a few months ago and I put it down, never intending to finish it. Some of the early parts of the book rubbed me the wrong way, to the point where I wondered just how much of a true Christian Mr. West really was. Recently, I picked it up and basically started where I left off, and my previous judgementalism gave way to a certain admiration. Morris West has not only the wisdom of a man of advanced years but the worldly experience that gives him a valuable perspective to share on such issues as evil, violence, dissent, and death. He has seen things most of us with never see, and this book is all the more enlightening because of that fact. Although not a Catholic like Mr. West is, I share his experience of a life that is centered around the institution of the church, and can appreciate the love/hate relationship one can have with the Body of Christ. Like many, he cries out for a church that values the person above laws and regulations. I look forward in the future to reading some of his fiction (although much of it is out of print and rather hard to get at this time).

Morris West qualifies as one of my favorite writers. He's thrilled and educated me through his Vatican trilogy while also challenging our views of spiritual ministry in a modern era. In this book, a memoir of sorts, West tackles similar topics from a non-fiction stance. In so doing, we catch a glimpse of his own emotions and experiences and how they played out in his fiction masterpieces. West has refused to be boxed in by dogma or religion, instead he points to God as a still viable part of our lives while refusing to dispense pat answers. West shows his truth faith--the honesty to question and still believe in the Answer.

I've long admired West's ability to move me with words. His papal trilogy in particular ranks as one of my favorite in literary fiction. To read this delightfully honest and heartfelt memoir is to gain even greater insight to the wisdom and insights of his fictional work.

West, long a respectful rebel of sorts, has managed to approach subjects and questions many wish to avoid. In doing so, rather than turning these into platforms for personal grievances, he elevates their importance in community discussion.

Despite his literary prowess, West manages to come across as an everyday man, a man you'd like to converse with over coffee. No, don't remind me that the most likely place for conversation would be at his deathbed. He may be getting older, nearer to unknown that he says he welcomes willingly, but his words will remain as a part of our culture. His thoughts and ideas will remain to challenge future generations.

Mr Morris West, thank you for that gift.