Talk, talk, talk. So much information about city hallmarks and nothing about purity marks. No way to really identfy general items that a novice collector would have. Is it real or not? Talks about fakes and again nothing about standards of silver and what they are. High brow attitude toward the subject with little or no information on Continental European silver in detail. Too little to late!

This book is a must have if you collect antique English silver. If you only want one book on the subject this is it. If you collect American or European silver, this book would not be my first choice. You can't get more info on antique English silver including hallmarks, history, and the different pieces of flatware and holloware that were made with any other Silver book I have ever read.

An excellent reference book for all your silver identification. Easy to read and far more comprehensive in information than its competitors. Highly recommended to identify your silver pieces.

It's a very good, but definitely not the greatest. The suspense builds up as Tori tries to figure out who the mysterious stranger who's watching her at practice is. A pretty okay plot.

This is another good book by Melissa which deals with a very common problem that all athletes have... the pressure from competitions and mostly the presure from their parents.Being a former swimmer my self i remember what it was like to be waken up at 5 in the morning b4 school and I remember the pressure I used to get from my parents during training....Maybe an athletes parent should read this for a change!!!!! All in all a good book.

When Tori Carson's mother starts hiding mail, and a mysterious stranger is watching her Tori gets nervous Then Tori doesn't know if she'll be able to compete in the competition. If Tori doesn't practice what will become of the competition

Financial writer Don Silver has penned a kind of Socratic dialogue (fictional, of course) about how accountants cook the books to make corporations seem more successful than they really are. Instead of writing a text for Accounting Fraud 101 (which he could do very well), Silver imagines that he is walking the beach with his dad who is both a gourmet chef and an expert on corporate financials. Basically the dad talks "cookin' the books" and the son listens and asks questions. The son, who is eighteen-years-old, is about to go away to college. Dad thinks it's time he learned to protect himself from investing in the wrong companies.

While I think Silver's advice is timely and clearly expressed, I think the metaphor wears a little thin after awhile. I also think a more appropriate occasion for the old dad to wax Socratic on accounting tricks and fraud would be when the son is thinking of investing. Maybe have the wise old dad visit the son on his thirty-third birthday as he's reallocating his portfolio and wants to know how to separate the Enrons from the Exxon-Mobils. Or better yet maybe the son ought to come home after a couple of years in college after taking a particularly vivid course in accounting and advise the dad on how to protect HIS retirement nest egg from rapacious portfolio managers and brokers who wouldn't know a bottom line from a line-up.

Or better yet, just write the advice out straight.

The problem with the method chosen by Silver is its artificiality. For centuries writers have tried to emulate Plato by arguing a philosophic point through an imaginary dialogue. The idea is to make the wisdom dispensed as easy to take as Jell-O sliding down. It looks easy to do but actually it's an extremely difficult art to master mainly because to write veracious dialogue one has to have the skills of a playwright, and to argue effectively for both sides, one has to know and believe to one's core the arguments of both sides. Usually what happens is the dialogue is artificial (as it is in Silver's book) and the argument one-side. Here Silver has the son becoming enlightened as he asks questions that the dad easily answers. More realism would have the son trying to trip up the dad or contradict him or get him to change the subject or to complain, "Dad, you've told me that a hundred times." Maybe they could have a true philosophical diagreement about how to evaluate risk or whether executives should be jailed for accounting fraud.

Silver's book is 176 pages and reads fast, mainly because a lot of the text is there just to lend veracity and color to the imaginary dialogue, and also because there's a lot of air on every page. Reduce the text to its essentials and the book would make a nice chapter in a larger tome.

On the positive side the book is very well and attractively presented, well-edited and proofread and might be just the ticket to send to somebody wanting an introduction to fundamental analysis or someone just wanting to know how to read a corporation's financial statement. The book works very well as an introduction to corporate accounting for investors. It's a shame that Silver tried to fancy up his "menual" (yes, that's quote, unquote) when all he's done is dilute the soup.

Don Silver has cooked up a little gem. I plan to give copies to recently hired auditors charged with finding where deadbeat companies have hidden the money. Written at about the level of the Sunday funnies, a couple of hours with Cookin' the Book$ will give you the basics of Enron and WordCom style techniques.

Sections include a Brief History of Cookin', Four Copoprate Recipes for Cookin' the Books, 10 Ways Corporations Cook Revenues, Ways Corporations Cook Expenses and A Financial Defense 'Menual.' Chapters are a bite sized 2-5 pages.

Silver's storeyline for this work of fiction is a corporate chef''s gift of advice to his son. I'll have to admit, I was initially turned off by a presentation that seemed too basic to even skim. However, I soon found myself reading every page and picking up bits of spoonfed knowledge with no effort. With Silver's examples, I can now explain the fundamental techniques of modern corporate fraud to novices.

Cookin' the Book$: Say Pasta la Vista to Corporate Accounting Tricks and Fraud by Don Silver is an invaluable and very strongly recommended corporate guide to accounting fraud which takes the form of an advice guide on how to spot and avoid typical fraud secrets in corporate accounting. This primer on deceptive accounting practices will prove an easy read, and an important eye-opener for many, with its specific examples and insights.

I was disappointed in the miniscule amount of information provided in this book. There are hundreds of marks, but almost no information that is helpful. With that said, I am a beginner, so my opinion might not be the best to rely on, but I would certainly not recommend this book for beginners like myself.

A wonderful reference guide. Within minutes, I was able to ID two pieces quickly and easily. Easy to use and very handy to carry with you to auctions and yard sales. It could contain some more dates specific to makers. All in all, a useful tool for the price!

If you collect English Victorian silver plate this book is a must. It has the most comprehensive directory of English silver plate makers marks I have ever seen. There are also Sheffield Plate marks which could come in handy if you can not decide if your piece might be electroplate or Sheffield Plate. If you collect American plate this book is not for you as there is little info on American marks.

While this book did have many wonderful photos and stories, I was dissapointed in the total lack of photos of that incredibly interesting cemetary in Leadville which has graves of people who died 150 years ago. I find that cemetary to be just as interesting as the abandoned mines in Leadville.

I had a hard time putting this book down. The pictures and photographs are arranged in chronological order so to me it read like a story. The tragic tale of Baby Doe was one of many great human interest elements. There were a couple typos, but I guess that's to be expected. I just got another book by this author with a similar format, Historic Telluride. It looks equally delightful.

Thanks so much to Christian Buys for this book of knowledge and memories. I grew up in Leadville in the 60's and 70's. Lived on the same street as Tabor's house, went to the old Presbyterian Church, played on the mine dumps in our back alleys. It was a wonderful place to grow up, but I never knew the whole story (or, as a kid, didn't listen when I should have been!). So, it's interesting and just so fun to read this book. A great investment for those of us who miss that wonderful place.

The tape is quite informative but as one of the previous commenters suggested, quite basic. Perhaps a good solid introduction. My complaint is with the format of the tape. The music selected for the tape could not be more melancholy and depressing. It was entirely the wrong choice and will drive parents, who are already worried about their kids, into despair. In addition, there are points were the music is used for transition and it goes on entirely too long. Final comment, for getting one cassette tape, the price is much too [spendy].

I found the audio cassette and book very informative but there was little information that I did not already know. I found this to be a very broad overview and did not provide any in-depth information.

I do give it 4 stars because it is very clear and consise. The author and panelists explain SI in a very easy to understand way. I had already read "The Out of Sync Child" and I wish it had been the other way around. I found "The Out of Sync Child" a little difficult to read at times and I think that if I had listened to and read this tape and book first, then I would have had an easier time with the other.

In a nutshell, I highly recommend this book/tape as a "jumping off" point for understanding Sensory Integration Disorder.

What everyone with a child diagnosed with SI should listen to. Pass it around to family members, teachers, friends and neighbors. Let them further understand your child.

This children's book is a collection of nineteen folk tales collected and retold by the author from his travels throughout Central and South America. The book won the 1925 Newbery Medal for best contribution to American children's literature. I am oviously in the minority with my opinion: I only awarded the book two stars. I simply found it boring. But, this is obviously a good resource of South American folktales. Perhaps those who enjoy such material will like the book more than I.

I first got this book when I was in the 4th grade. Thats right, the 4th grade. It is an excellent compilation of above average stories. Ancient tales like the "Calabash Man" and "The Tale Of The Gentle Folk." These stories can be appreciated across the board by all ages. The fantastic wording creates vivid pictures in the mind, and slips a moral in while you're not looking. I struggle to describe my appreciation for this wonderful compilation of tales. It is still my favorite book, since the 4th grade, and I'm in college. So it just goes to prove my point.

This book has a collection of South American folk tales about witches, etc. It is written very well and can be read without having to reread and comprehend more of the page.

My four daughters and I have had so much fun making these models. (Yes, I love making them, too.) I've recommended it to several friends and they've all loved it, too. The Body Book makes basic anatomy more understandable for those of us who are hands-on learners. This book is reproducible.

If you have been frustrated using a text book to teach your children anatomy, you've got to try this book! It gets the kids involved instead of just reading big words out of a book. I have 13,12, and 8 year old boys, and they all enjoy the making of the models. I highly recommend this book.

This book is an excellent primer on the subject of colloidal silver. It's full of reasons and stories of why you'd want to use silver in the first place. If the reader happens to be beyond that point, the less than informative directions for the old 9-volt battery-operated colloidal silver generator may not suffice. There are cheaper, easier and more eco-friendly methods of colloidal silver manufacture available. Nobody beats Mark for his "time in the trenches" though. The information in the book is crutial to the new medical "researcher".

I have read many articles about colloidal silver and found this book to be a composite of most important details of most of them.

This book will compel even the most skeptical critic of colloidal silver to give it a try.

Having already been familiar with the medicinal properties of colloidal silver in livestock and personal use, this book personified my belief that in silver we see another example that God put everything here on Planet Earth to address our health needs.

This book is easy to follow, covers about any aspect of colloidal silver and even presents it with a sense of humor.

Just a couple of points to add to Dr. Schwartz's fine review of all three Film Noir entries. The price of this reader is...hefty .... Considering what you get in return, only confirmed enthusiasts should pony up that amount. A big point in the book's favor: an interview with screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring, aka Geoffrey Homes, (Out of the Past, Invasion of Body Snatchers,et.al.), a major influence on the genre, and the only interview with this neglected figure that I know of. Lastly, it's remarkable how many of these artists were unaware of contributing to a distinct body of work we now call film noir. Perhaps the zeitgeist of the time wore a trenchcoat; certainly something generic was afoot.

If you are a "noir addict," as I am, you are indeed fortunate to have read the original FILM NOIR READER, its sequel, FILM NOIR READER 2 and the last one in the series...FILM NOIR READER 3.
The first one was the most interesting of the group, containing the most seminal essays on the noir style by Durgnat, Higham, Porfirio and Schrader and even a translation from Borde & Chaumenton's French framing of the "noir mystique." Also, several noir films were considered in a "case study" section, among them KISS ME DEADLY, NIGHT & THE CITY, ANGEL FACE and the post-noir LONG GOODBYE. The last section of Volume One dealt with "Noir, Then and Now" with several interesting articles on noir's legacy and the new noir. It was a sensational critical work after Silver & Ward's trend-setting volume FILM NOIR, now in its third edition from Overlook Press.
FILM NOIR 2, in the Limelight series carries on the tradition of including seminal essays on noir by Nino Frank, the film critic who actually named the style, Jean-Pierre Chartier and Claude Chabrol, among other worthy and perceptive American
critics such as Tom Flinn and Stephen Farber. Reverting to the case history approach, Robert Porfirio, Robin Wood, Silver and Ward, among others scrutinize critically the films of Hitchcock,
the femme fatales of PUSHOVER (Kim Novak) & THELMA JORDON (Barbara Stanwyck)among other themes as "jazz & noir," "tabloid cinema" and "neo-noir fugitives," all wonderful essays written with style and critical acumen. Part 3 of this volume seems to suggest this would be the last in the series, discussing the "evolution" of noir, especially essays on the "new noir," and especially Kent Minturn's excellent article on "abstract expressionism and film noir, demonstrating the effects of Jackson Pollack's paintings on the noir style.
FILM NOIR READER 3 must be the absolute last in the series because it focus is on mainly interviews with filmmakers of the classic noir period. Divided into 3 sections, it deals with 8 directors such as Andre de Toth, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, Robert Wise among others, filmmakers such as photographers James Wong Howe and John F. Seitz, actors such as Claire Trevor and Lizabeth Scott, composers such as Miklos Rozsa and finally a series of commentaries about noir by Curtis Bernhardt, Budd Boetticher and Daniel Fuchs.
Of the director section, all were fairly interesting interviews by Alain Silver or Robert Porfirio with the exception of Otto Preminger who seemed to defy the questions put to him and did not care to be labelled a "noir" director. Of the actors, I enjoyed Claire Trevor's appraisal of her roles and Lizabeth Scott's method of transforming herself psychologically into a "femme fatale." But the commentaries section of this interview book really runs out of steam with Daniel Fuchs' perception of Jews, Gentiles and Communists in Hollywood as well as the take of his own words on THE GANGSTER with Barry Sullivan.
He even complains as he writes answers to Porfirio's questions, while admiring the critic, he feels "it pains him his own prose is so lousy."
While this third volume is chock full of wonderful stills
from classic films of the period, sometimes the stills have absolutely nothing to do with the text...worse, there are serious flaws in editing that mar the book...on p. 60 Anne Bancroft is referred to in THE BLUE GARDENIA while on the next page it is Anne BAXTER, the real star of the film is seen in a still with Ann Sothern; the still facing p. 135 identifies Ray Teal as the actor in the foreground with Orson Welles on the stairs in CITIZEN KANE while it is actually RUSSELL COLLINS and more blatantly, in the still on p.141 from BODY AND SOUL, how can any one mistake B-actress HAZEL BROOKS seen here with John Garfield for the beautiful and classy Lili Palmer identified in the caption.
Finally, I believe FILM NOIR READER 3 is a worthy entry in the series for its preservation of information and stills about noir although the interviewers seemed to have scraped rock bottom to put this volume together. Perhaps they should turn their attentions to the new noir. However, I must commend the publisher, Limelight, for continuing the series and bringing about an affordable paperback with such gorgeous stills that are alone worth the ... price. And some of the interviews are really excellent--the ones with Billy Wilder, Miklos Rozsa and James Wong Howe among others. But it is difficult to take such diverse views on noir and give them a unique, systematic frame of reference because of the very complexity in the material and the divergent views among the authors. I simply cannot imagine how far down "the noir trail" we can go without stumbling in the future. Volumes 1 and 2 are certainly superior to this last one, but Vol. 3 gives me a sense of closure regarding the material, but not the "noir style." For as long as there are men deceived by women for cash or sex, noir will go on forever.