This book covers the basics of childbirth and infant care, offering grandmotherly advice and encouragement to first-time parents. It is somewhat short of practical information, however, and some of the advice seems outdated. In particular, the discussion of circumcision is at best misleading, and at worst downright false. Bottom line: There are many excellent books available for expectant parents. "The Miracle Year" isn't one of them.

When I was expecting my first child, I surveyed a lot of books as well as my friends with children for resources. I found this to be the book I referred to the most. It doesn't go into a lot of medical detail -- there are plenty of other books for that -- but it talks about the emotional and practical issues associated with being a first-time parent. It has a great list of what you really need (clothes, bedding, etc.) for your baby. It was like talking to a helpful nurse or grandmother, and very comforting. I give this to all my friends who are expecting their first child. One of the best things about it is that it doesn't talk about all the things that can go wrong with your pregnancy -- which many other pregnancy books do, which really feed the fears of expectant parents!

Campbell's book blows the lid off the glamour and aura that surround celebrities, revealing how decadent, arrogant and immature he and many of his fellow stars became, thanks to abuse of cocaine and alcohol. Naturally, Campbell's children paid the highest price. It is interesting to read how his parents never compromised on their values despite their poverty, yet he succumbed to substance abuse while having everything he'd ever dreamed of. His fast life certainly clashed with the timeless beauty of his music.

While he chronicles his personal decline, however, he never really discusses his professional decline. After "Southern Nights" hit No. 1, his Top 40 career went south, ironically just as other pop/country crossover artists like Ronnie Milsap, Kenny Rogers and Eddie Rabbitt were beginning to take off. He remained a chart contender in country until about 1990. His efforts to keep selling records and open doors at radio would have been interesting to read. It would also have been interesting to know what, if anything, many of his most famous songs meant to him. The discography would have been more informative had it included dates and chart positions.

Campbell's excellent taste in music is evident in the classics he recorded during the late 60's and early 70's. But some of his most self-congratulatory moments in the book come when he gushes about his bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace" and his annoying habit of inviting various not-famous family members on stage to jam with him. Having witnessed these peculiarities in person, I can say that these are not the high points of his show.

This book will answer some questions and inspire those who have followed his career. Reading about his childhood is especially enlightening. But Gen-Xers like me who learned about him from hearing his oldies on the radio may prefer blissful ignorance about some aspects of his career. I didn't particularly need to know about his stints in Vegas or his memories of cornballs like the Smothers Brothers, Pat Paulsen and Buck Trent.

Glen Campbell has lived a very interesting life-some good and some bad. His autobiography does not hold back on either portion. From his impoverished Arkansas childhood through his many tumultuous marriages and country music superstardom to his regret-free faded status and ultimate peace, Glen lays it all on the (Wichita) line.

While he does not gloss over his own flaws, the dirty linen of some other players-most notably Tanya Tucker is likewise held up for all to see. Arguably, he should have been less open in revealing maligning details about her, but their relationship kept tabloid readers engrossed for years and it legitimately was a salient chapter in his life. Furthermore, he does not condemn Tanya despite attributing less than wholesome motivations to her interest in him. He seems very sincere when he writes of his one-time paramour "I'm inclined to pray for the woman with whom I shared a poisoned relationship. I have since found another love that offers not the threat of death but the promise of eternal life. I pray that Tanya might find that too."

As Glen experienced his twilight maturation, he achieved the rank of solid citizen. Becoming a Branson regular appropriately accentuates his embrace of Christianity and advocacy of traditional values. By spelling out his staunch opposition to abortion and opposing special rights for homosexuals, he takes some daring positions for a celebrity tell-all, but it is refreshing to see a performer courageously step out of rigid show biz boundaries.

One unintended drawback concerns some details of his childhood. Glen is to be commended for the tremendous respect he displays toward his parents and also for admitting his failures as a father to his older children-even accepting significant blame for his middle-aged son's drug problems. However, he relates some paternal behavior that shows his father possessed a cruel streak. From his laudatory portrayal it is easy to see that was not the image he wanted to present, and he would probably disagree with such an assessment. A more prudent tactic would have been to remain mum on some of these mean actions.

Overall, "Rhinestone Cowboy" is a well-orchestrated rendition of a child born into poor Southern Nights but who eventually went "riding out on a horse in a star-spangles rodeo."

An endorsement on the back cover of STATES OF GRACE describes it as "perhaps the first... in a new phase of anthropological research carried out on African migrants in European cities." This fact alone should make Carter's study inherently valuable. But readers looking for a window into the world of his ostensible subjects--the Senegalese of Turin--may come away disappointed. Only one of the book's seven chapters concentrates on these immigrants in any depth; the remaining six offer up disquisitions on Italian history and society, criminality and marginality, and the writings of Antonio Gramsci. The Senegalese themselves virtually disappear from view, obscured in a haze of social theory.

To his credit, Carter's analysis of Italy and things Italian is well researched and persuasive. I especially enjoyed the parallels he draws between stereotyped images of the Italian south and stereotypes of Africa. He quotes the saying "Africa begins at Rome" to illustrate northern Italian prejudices. But if Africa begins at Rome where Carter's study is concerned, it pretty much ends at Palermo; anything beyond that is given rather short shrift.

This problem would be more tolerable if the text itself weren't marred all too often by errors of style and syntax. Otherwise authoritative declarations are frequently undermined by these mistakes. Consider this one: "The economic, social, and political problems of 'over there'--that is, some imagined space beyond the West--is now 'over here,' a part of the very rhythm of life in Western democracies." A fine premise, but lacking subject-verb agreement, and unfortunately this sentence is no exception. Another example: "The growth of Mouridism is somewhat dependent on the dynamic increase in its numbers." Well, yes, that's why it's called "growth." I think ultimate blame here lies not with Carter but with his editors at the University of Minnesota Press, who apparently couldn't be bothered to examine his dissertation manuscript closely enough to catch the most basic faults. One wonders how many other, more substantial errors got past them.

Still, STATES OF GRACE is a noteworthy and ambitious study that should interest scholars of Italian social history, popular media, and Gramsci. Those of us hoping for enlightenment on a particular immigrant community, or for insight into the slippery notion called "transnationalism," would be better served elsewhere. No doubt someday we shall be.

This is a highly original and well-researched account of the recent problems of immigration in Italy and in Western Europe more generally. Carter's penetrating analysis reveals the deeply conflictual relationship between Italian culture, the Italian Left, and African immigrants.

I'm a fan on Lin Carter's work, espically the Mars novels, so this book took me by surprize. I did not expect explict sex discriptions. I guess I wouldn't recommend this book unless you're NOT offended by sex and are interested in a different Lin Carter. The heroin is Tara, a warioress and her pet "lion". The books ends with you expecting a sequel, which has never happened. Books I really like, I reread, I only read this once.

This book has lots of explicit descritption yet it also has deepth and feeling. There is such insight that I was shocked it was written by a man. I read it twice and would love to read it again. I'm sorry he never wrote a sequel. Great charcter developement. I would recommend this book to any mature reader.

I thought this book was really interesting because you get to explore a new planet in another galaxy.This book also had a lot of adventures that were jammed packed with exploring and meeting new things.

I'm glad that Edward Packard allowed himself to do an outer space adventure so early in this series (#7) when his colleague, R.A. Montgomery, ahd already written "Space and Beyond" as #4. Montgomery's work was pretty incoherent, but this one offers a consistent tone and unified set of plots that make it among the better of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" games. There is a pervasive weird atmosphere in this one that I rather like.

This is one of the rare books that my art college actually required me to purchase for a Typography class. The design of this book is poor and very dated. Just take a look at the cover. The first chapter offers a timeline which is interesting in concept--it features a brief history of lettering and type, and adds images of other significant events happening at the same time. But the timeline design forces you to jump back and forth from images to text and the grid layout forces the image placement to be so inconsistent that you give up trying to find the corresponding text. The rest of the book provides interesting and useful information for the type neophyte, but again, its WAY too dated to be a required textbook. I'm sorry I bought this book.

Very well organized, structured, etc, etc.... but, can you believe the illustrations of posters and printed examples in this book have NO INFORMATION ABOUT THE ACTUAL SIZE of them????? What happened??? Were all designers doing postcards and stamps before our time??? Shame on the authors, shame on the publishers.

This collection of short stories, was a very nice one to read. Though I'm usually not fond of anthologies, this one has it's charms. Many well-known female writers, as well as some unknown ones, make this collection of short stoire a very nice read. For those who feel related to the subject (bad girls) and for those who just like them, this would make a fine book.

This was an excellent collection. The stories are full of strong women, complex characters, dark eroticism, and lush prose.

Like all anthologies there are some stories that are weaker than others but on the whole it is a wonderful collection and a must for any Angela Carter fan!

As a belly dance instructor with a diverse student following, I was interested to see what this book had to offer. After reading it, I decided that I liked "Grandmother's Secrets: Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing", and I liked the "Belly Dance Book" edited by Tazz Richards better than I liked Zaida. I felt that "Zaida" did not contain the depth of information and insight present in the other two books. "Grandmother's Secrets," in particular, is an eloquently written & illustrated book about the mind-body connection of belly dance. It was disappointing to me that "Zaida" did not contain a single illustration, other than the cover. Belly dance is a visual art, and pictures add clarity in description. To me, it's like writing a book about music and trying to communicate a specific idea without having a single musical note or instrument depicted.

Zaida's book is GOOD!
I could identify with much of what Zaida expressed. I would defintely buy this book again. This is not an elaborate "how to learn to belly dance" book (I learned belly dance 30 years ago-Greek/Turkish, Egpytian and Moroccan styles) it is more of a how to live with Joy and dance in your life. Would like to read more from Ms Carter in the future.

I was highly wary of this book to begin with--and with good reason. The book is....ridiculous, to say the least. Ripley took the MOST far-fetched idea possible and ran with it, and that would be to have Scarlett go to Ireland. Ireland!! What's worse, is that when in Ireland, the villagers practically do a dance around her because they love her so much. Ugggh! No one loves Scarlett that much.

The ending was probably the worst part of the entire book, though. It is nonsensical and improbable. That said, if you manage to detach the idea that this is THE Scarlett O'Hara from THE Gone With the Wind, the book isn't an entirely bad read. When I remembered that I was reading about the "same" Scarlett, I got pretty upset, because she's just not the same at ALL, and Rhett's not even there most of the time. He's only there when it's convenient.

I guess I'd recommend reading it if you've never read GWTW or seen the movie. It's better that way. Much less painful.

...is that "Gone With the Wind" was the story of Scarlett O'Hara's growth into a strong, courageous woman from an adolescent brat with potential unrecognized by everyone including herself, that progress hindered along the way by the "advantages" of her wealth and beauty. In the beginning of the original story, the reader is stunned and infuriated at the way she objectifies people--they're only "real" insofar as they relate to her. But then a war comes along, turns her world upside down and gives her the much-needed smack upside the head people of privilege hardly ever get in the real world. So by the time that story's thousand-or-so pages are through, she has become a tower of strength to the people around her. But more important to that, she now has a clear realization of her responsibility to those who look to her and can't survive without her strength. That earlier book's identity and unwritten subtitle as "The Most Powerful Love Story Of All Time" is but a part of the main story as a whole. But nobody's perfect, even after paying all sorts of dues, and one obsession remains neither resolved nor outgrown at the end. Having just lost Rhett, she's determined to get him back. Therein lies the transition over to this book. Alexandra Ripley's other work indicates clearly that she's a writer of romances. So she does the cliche thing. The hero of the story has just received a psychological "haymaker" and gets "decked". So as the old song goes, she picks herself up, dusts herself off, and starts all over again (doop-dee-doo) here in volume two. She does the defeated hero thing of going far away to recover from the defeat. In this case, back to her father's Auld Sod of Ireland, where she's showered with the acclaim due the big shot American Cousin. Of course, this story is about a lot more than this pilgrimage, but it's still as a whole a misinterpretation of the main premise of the book it's supposed to a sequel to. "Gone With the Wind" is a work of historical fiction, telling on the story of a rich lady whose storybook world is "rent asunder" by the Civil War, but Our Heroine gets through it by not being as effete and (sniff) wishy-washy. as those around her. This book is simply a romance with a historical setting. Probably a good romance for all that. But hardly the landmark of American literature GWTW is. That's what you get when you base a sequel on only part of the premise of the original, I guess.

This is a wonderful sequel and I would recommend it to anyone who read GWTW. If you are a die-hard fan of M. Mitchell - do not read this book. It cannot meet some of the standards you expect a sequel to be. With sequels, things have to change. They cannot remain exactly as they were or it wouldn't be a sequel. Scarlett had to get out of Georgia. She had to grow up. It would be a completely boring novel if she continued to stay at Tara trying to build up the plantation. I think a lot of readers wanted her to stay the same and were disappointed when her actions were different from those in GWTW. I was enchanted by Scarlett's determination to get Rhett. That is the main thing that kept me from putting the book down. It would be wonderful if Ms. Ripley decided to continue the story between Rhett and Scarlett.

Imagine a beautiful novel that masterfully blends a genre within a genre, such as Michael Chabon's Kavalier & Klay, in which a magnificent work of literature is set against the backdrop of the world of comic book writing, with story and sub-story feeding seemlessly into each other. Now imagine an utter failure of an attempt at this structure, and you have Salman Rushdie's Fury, a flawed and misguided mix of literature, fantasy, and science fiction. Rushdie's latest novel, while filled with the magical prose that he is known for, too often reads like an unpolished rough draft. Malik Solanka, the main character, is a man consumed by fury who escapes his wife and child in London because he is overcome by fear that he will kill them. He finds himself in New York, a city itself filled with fury and extraordinary wealth, and attempts to reconcile his wild thoughts and emotions in a world that at times seems out of control. Through his love affairs, his venture into the world of science fiction, and his tangential contact with a series of murders, we venture deep into the soul of a man tortured by the darkest sides of human nature.

Sound interesting? It might be, if it were well written. The book's themes are important and powerful, but their presentation is seriously flawed. Rushdie's tendency to prioritize style over substance and structure leaves this novel with an unfinished feeling. The book wanders aimlessly at times, and unfortunately lost this reader's interest long before the suspense-less climax. While Rushdie is rightly considered one of the master practitioners of English prose, this is far from his finest work.

This is the same satirical Salman Rushdie I've read recently in his novel "Shame", replete with satirical, yet profound, comments on American culture in the months and days prior to September 11, 2001. Yet unlike "Shane", this elegant little book is purged of the former's memoiresque asides, and hence is a tighter, more gripping read. Admittedly "Fury" is the Salman Rushdie novel that is truly a roman a clef, with the hero and his girlfriend thinly fictionalized versions of Rushdie and his current love (I'm sure Rushdie's ex-wife, a noted American writer of fiction, isn't amused by her fictional counterpart.). Rushdie strongly criticizes the most virulent hedonistic aspects of American culture without sounding like an angry preacher; indeed, I couldn't help but laugh every time Rushdie's superb prose rendered sarcastic observations on prominent American politicans and media figures. I must confess that this novel isn't as well written or as captivating as Rushdie's "The Ground Beneath Her Feet", yet it does deserve recognition as one of his best works. Salman Rushdie is still at the height of his literary powers.

"Fury" was my first encounter of a Salman Rushdie novel, and I was very impressed. This my friends, is great contemporary literature!

The novel is a multi leveled incursion into the life of a middle aged creative soul who is tormented by his past, trying to find salvation in the complex post modern world. You are put on a journey of exploring human relationships in and out of marriage, in and out of friendships and in and out of reality.

The story unfolds more like a web site than a traditional chronological history in written form. The reader is transported with the main character, Malik Solanka, throughout different parts of his life in the same manner as hitting links on a web page but always coming back to the home page of his present life.

On these web pages structured as literature, you will find mystery, science fiction, love, politics, social commentary, anguish, murder, sexual tension and many surprises, all in the quest of finding the authentic Self.

I also enjoyed the play and examination of the modern American (Western) culture, its hold on materialism and the quest for fame and power all the while being juxtaposed against the backdrop of traditional (Eastern) culture in India.

For me, "Fury" was a great introduction to Salman Rushdie and I look forward to stepping into the lives of his earlier works to again find his magic with the written word.