Look, it is time to set the record straight. I am against the death penalty, and admit the U.S. justice system is flawed and corrupt, but MUMIA IS GUILTY. All you idiots who want to free this cold-blooded killer are as ignorant as any white supremist. Study the case, carefully, like I did, and you will uncover the truth. He killed Faulkner, and he recieved his fair trial. Somehow, hundreds of thousands of people have allowed themselves to be sucked into supporting this murderer. Listen, Mumia supporters, read the case, not garbage propaganda like this book, and make an unbiased judgement. You really are fools if you waste one more breath on this guy. There are people truly innocent on death row who deserve your help more.

I give this book a 5 star rating. It's that good. S.E. Anderson and Tony Medina have put together a mesmerizing collection of poetry, art and prose that rekindles the kind of passionately political wrting that dominated the literary landscape of the 1960s and '70s. Not only do you have giants such as Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Morrison, Sonia Sanchez, Jayne Cortez, Amiri Baraka, June Jordan John Edgar Wideman and Cornel West to name a few of the older generation of writers,but you have new up-and-coming hotshots like Ras Baraka, Mike Ladd,Asha Bandele, Suheir Hammad, Paul Beatty, Kevin Powell and Tony Medina himself. This is a book for everyone interested in socially committed art. It is also a worthy cause...to defend the life of a fellow writer, intellectual and political activist who was sent to death row with little or no evidence when the trial he was given was not fair. This anthology leaves one with the nagging question: How many innocen people are sitting on death row because they weren't able to pay for a competent defense like, say, O.J.? If the system is allowed to execute Mumia, then what will follow in the urban areas of these as-yet-to-be-united states will be a fate worse than that which preceeded the assasinations of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "In Defense of Mumia" is a book that clearly and boldly warns of a fire this time.

This book speaks to the need for people of color to protect our men from being railroaded by America's so-called justice sytem (read "just us" system). And this need is even more evidenced by the New York City cases of Patrick Dorismond and Amadou Diallo who ultimately lost their lives. In Mumia's case, we as people at least still have the chance to save his life and liberate him.

I read Anna Quindlen's essays in Newsweek with passion and devotion. In picking up one of her books, I expected to see the same richness of language and depth of expression and thought that draws me to her exposition.

Unfortunatly, I was disappointed. One of the best things that a novelist can do for his/her book is to pare down the number of characters and then give them each many dimensions and depth...make them real, make them matter.

I felt as though there were way too many characters in the book to really become attached to any of them. 12 year old Maggie occupies most of the story, but her conflicts are not well examined. Why does she care so much about losing her ditzy friend? Why is she drawn to fire? What is her *feeling* about fire? Why does she cling to a grandfather that alienates her mother? Why does her ex-best friend's much adored older sister favor her so much and vice versa? Either the character has limited feelings, or the depth of her emotion is only slightly alluded to on the page. There are about five or six other characters that are given significant portions, but at a scant 261 pages, the reader doesn't get to know or love them well. You wonder what makes Monica so mean, why Connie considers cheating, why Tommy won't partner with his brother, why Celeste is in the book at all.

I felt that the end dragged on, and was riddled with cliches. Every other line seems to begin with, "And she knew..." ...[the voice in her head] was her grandfather's voice. ...that 20 years from now she would still hear all those voices ...that as long as they stayed there sheould be able to do all the things she had to do ...that even a week from now things would be different.

It is an interesting look into changes in the lives of the Catholic community in the 60's. The portrait of this family, while lacking in engaging detail, is heartwarming. There are some blatant and irritating clichés, but Anna Quindlen really does have a gift for the language. She is able to inflect ethnicity into dialogue without a lot of weird misspellings and apostrophes. It is an accurate picture of how much your course and destination can change based on your choices wherever you are in life, as well as some touching and truthful conculsions about marriage, love, and growing up.

For the flaws I've listed, it is still a strong literary work. Pick up a used copy from a vendor here for the next time you're headed out to your hammock or easy chair. It's a light and fun read, and I look forward to finding more of Anna Quindlen's novels in the amazon.com marketplace.

Having read One True Thing and Black and Blue, I knew I could rely on Quindlen to teach me new things about myself and my family--that she does, quite well. However, Object Lessons is much more weighed down by direct narrative than the other two books--at times, I found myself wishing the characters would talk to each other and quit thinking so much. I also found Maggie's age implausible--even the most precocious 12 and 13 year olds do not possess her incredible depth.

Connie's relationship with Tommy and subsequent realizations about what marriage is are the most powerful points in the book, and I credit Quindlen with another "perfect" ending--she is one author who does not leave her readers confused or disappointed on the final page.

This book has literally changed my perspective on life. I had to read this as a summer reading right before my junior year in high school and not only was this book fascinating, the characters that Anna Quindlen portrays are so true to life as are the situations. If ever you want to just curl up and read a book, this is the one. Literally, I tell all of my friends about this book. I can relate so much to Maggie's character and her journey through adolescence and maturity...

I have been fascinated by the incident for many years. The incident IS fascinating. The book is a joke. Poorly written. Poorly edited. It reads like a conversation over coffee at some hole in the wall pancake house deep in the bowels of North Dakota. I feel for the ex-cops that experienced the shoot-out. I am sorry, but leave the writing for the professionals - so the two guys who unfortunately had to deal with the poorly planned attempt at apprehending Kahl - can have their memories for their kids, grandkids, etc.... I am sorry but the book is just plain BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a former law enforcement officer from a small North Dakota town. After reading this book, I felt as if both authors just told me their stories face-to-face. The diagrams and photos really put me "at the scene". It is obvious that the authors of this book are not writers by trade, which actually made it a refreshing change from the same old, same old. I can relate to these officers having to wear many "hats" at their job. Graf shows the world, through this book, what being a Peace Officer is all about--trying to keep the peace. Unlike other authors of books on this subject, Graf actually met with and talked to the murderer on several occasions prior to the shoot-out, making informed decisions on first-hand knowledge. Others chose to ignore this knowledge when it was brought to their attention. Unlike a previous reader review, I've actually had a chance to meet with and talk to the authors after I read this book. I've seen the documentation they have to back up everything they write about in this book. Read the others first if you like, but save this book for last. It is the only true and accurate account you will read!

I lived in North Dakota at the time of these events. The author's first-hand account is consistent with, but fills in a lot of the blanks that have been written and reported about the confrontation at Medina ever since.

Critics of the book may point to minor flaws such as allegations of ...covering by the authors. I do not find such flaws nearly as credible as the book. Both Graf and Schnabel were professionals who were cooperative and did more than they were asked. Yes, their small-town police departments was organized like (surprise!) a small-town police department. And, yes, their account is factual, direct and down-to-earth, not full of socialogical [stuff] like Bitter Harvest, the first major book on the incident.

Neither author is apt to get rich on the book as it tells neither side exactly what they want to hear. Accordingly, the only fans of the book are likely to be those interested in just the unvarnishied, unfiltered facts from two police officers who did the best job they could with the tools available and are probably the only ones who conducted themselves properly thoughout all the events leading up to this incident and the aftermath thereof.

In short, if you believe your government is always right and never lies, skip this book because it will shatter your dreams. Skip it also if you believe the tax protest fringe is always the unfortunate victims of a government conspiracy. However, if you believe the truth lies somewhere between, you owe it to yourself to get and read this book.

"Mecca" is a companion volume to Peters' earlier 1994 study, "The Hajj: The Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places" (reviewed in Middle East Quarterly, September 1994). That book focuses on the experience of the pilgrimage, in Mecca and outside it; this one focuses on the geography and history of what Peters calls "the Muslim Holy Land," by which he means "Mecca and Medina and their spiritual environs." "Literary history" points to the fact that there is little or no material evidence for Islam's holy cities before 1925, this book's cut-off date, compelling the researcher to rely almost exlusively on written sources.

As in the earlier volume, Peters mixes his own scholarly findings here with long excerpts from primary sources, both Muslim and Western. Rather than impose his own schema on the materials at hand, he follows their vagaries, jumping from the early centuries of Islam to the Age of Discovery with only a few pages on the intervening centuries. The result is an unusual but highly successful mix of literary collage with academic inquiry. Subjects especially worth noting include the account of the Qarmatians' conquest of Mecca in 930 and their stealing of the Black Stone; the story of Thomas Keith, a Scotsman taken prisoner by the Ottoman forces who converted to Islam and eventually became governor of Medina in 1815; and late nineteenth-century British musings about the recruitment of spies to keep an eye on possible seditious activity during the pilgrimage activities in Mecca.

Middle East Quarterly, March 1995

Well Onslaught will perhaps forever be Marvel's most controversial storyline. I only gave this chapter three stars because it focuses on the Hulk's side of the war with the mad mutant. Peter David tried as much as he could, to make the Hulk chapter of the Onslaught war, interesting and he mostly succeeds. The Hulk takes part in the battle, but he somewhat regards this whole affair as a waste of his time. I wonder if that's how Peter thought of it too?

Pugad Baboy has gone a long way from its comic strip beginnings and over the years, it hasn't lost its outstanding ability to humor a lot of people. It's too bad that this book is written only in Filipino preventing others from enjoying its contents. The fact that Pugad Baboy often dwells on the quirks of Philippine society makes this book a more enjoyable read. Filipinos abroad would surely be in stitches once they grab a hold of this book. Brosia, Polgas, Mang Dagul and the rest of the Pugad Baboy community shall forever be the toast of Philippine comic strips. Kudos to Pol Medina!

As someone who has collected every film, book & magazine about Jennifer Jones, I am casting my net wider and reading biographies of people who knew her, i.e.Paticia Cotton nee, Medina.She wrote this book in 1998 as a suggested therapy by a friend, following the death of her famous husband Joesph Cotton from throat cancer in 1994.

Born in Liverpool, England in 1920 of middle class parents, her mother was quintissentially English while her father was Spanish - hence - Medina.She attended an all girls' boarding school and eventually "got into movies".Of her first husband, Richard Greene (of the 1950's British tv series: "Adventures of Robin Hood" fame), she alikened to her "twin brother".There was evidentally no real passion, just friendship, and an amicable divorce soon followed.

Her initial film career was in European films since she was fluent in French, Italian and Spanish.I must say she is very frank about her first sexual experiences sur la Continent!Eventually she moved her base to Hollywood but did not let the star system blind her to her family.She was not averse to giving up a chance of a film part if she wished to go back to England especially to see her mother to whom she was especially close.I wanted to see an example of her acting after reading this book, especially in the 1940's when she was at her most attractive.I found "They Met In The Dark (1943) with James Mason, still in print which I obtained through Blackstar.co.uk.In this film she played Mary a manacurist but unfortunatly not being the principal female star (it was Joyce Howard), she got bumped off after the first reel.With her good looks, black hair and perfect shoulders, she was often csst in the "femme fatale" roles and rarely saw her part to the end of the film.Certainly her work seems mainly undistinguished, what we would call today a "Hollywood starlet".

The services of a professional literary editor whould have improved the style and content since the chapters and sentences a rather "punchy".

The greater part of the second half of her autobiography is taken up with being Mrs Joseph Cotton and sublimating her career to his, then nursing him through the disease which finally killed him.There are some interesting vignettes of famous Hollywood stars e.g.Rex Harrison giving intimate sketches to which the gossip columnists of the day were not privy.Jennifer Jones was a life-long friend in the genuine sense to her husband (and to her) as they did four films together.

Not being partial to reading Hollywood memoirs, I am left with no basis for comparison. The only interest I had in this book was that for a while she was my favorite actress and at first was thrilled to find this book. The lens, however, is not so much on Hollywood as it is on the more personal impressions of a person remembering and commenting on her past. Divided in two, between the first part, "The Living was Easy" covering from her early years through the apex of her career during the 50's in the first 75 pages, then meeting Joseph Cotton and stories from her marriage another 90 pages. The second part, "Only When I Cry", the last 50 pages, details his illness and ends with his passing. Reads like it could have been a novel, if it were fleshed out, sometimes it reads as if your sitting and hearing quick stories from your grandmother over tea. Sometimes an obscurity isn't explained or a commonplace reported. The friends enter and exit like any friends, but they have names like David Niven or Jennifer Jones. It's a difficult book to rate, and it would have been nice if it had been a picture book because she is very lovely, possessing Hollywood's most beautiful shoulders. Her own character arises from this as a timid tempest and the admiration and love she has for her husband Joseph Cotton is boundless. I always know a good book because I read it quickly, but if it takes 8 months to get through a 220 page book, I can only recommend it for those who have an interest in either of the two actors. The title no doubt arises from a publisher's wish to give the work a slant; this actress never got the film she needed to launch herself into the list of Hollywood icons.

Planet of the Apes: The Human War commits the cardinal sin for a movie tie-in: It assumes you've seen the movie, and loved it so much that you'll buy into a story that really has nothing in common with it except the basic framework.

Considering that Tim Burton's film wasn't well received by either critics OR fans (I liked it, though!), maybe Dark Horse's decision to have this book revolve around a trip to Calima (Astronaut Leo Davidson's downed ship, from which all Ape and Human life on the planet evolved) wasn't such a good idea...Why not? Well, because they assume the reader KNOWS what Calima IS, and what it's secret is, so they never tell us...we're just supposed to KNOW. I knew, and I was still unsatisfied, so I can imagine how a casual reader would feel after putting this book down. I was also disturbed by the totally out-of-place art, and the slang the Human characters use...."I am SO gonna kick your butt!!" doesn't scream out Planet of the Apes to me...it screams out sloppy writing, which surprised me, since I only bought the book because of Writer Ian Edginton, who is usually rock-solid.
All in all, a terrible effort, which makes it easy to see why Dark Horse's Ape revival only lasted a pitiful six issues. Avoid at all costs!

I picked up this comic book since I liked Tim Burton's movie a lot and wanted to read some other stories in this world.

It takes place at least 40-50 years after the movie. The main characters are grandsons of some of the characters from the movie.

The story is pretty interesting. I liked how it was linked up with the movie. The characters were fairly good.

The artwork is somewhat cartoony and not for all tastes. I found it to be satisfactory. Because it has more of a cartoon feel, it is colorful and also clear. Although I like lots of detail in comic art, sometimes it gets annoying in the action when everything is too cluttered. This comic avoids that.

Regarding the content: there is some graphic violence and some brief cursing.

All in all it was a brisk, entertaining read. Followed by an on-going monthly series published by Dark Horse, which continues with this story and characters. I read the first three issues of that series and found it to be along the same quality, perhaps a little better.

Worth checking out if your an APES fan. If not, you might want to steer clear of this.

This reminds me of a high school workbook, the pages fell out as soon as I started reading. I couldn't find very much information at all on Hepatitis C, which was my interest in the book to begin with. I wouldn't recommend this book to anybody who wants current information.