One of the best books I have ever read. Mixes many personal antecdotes with a lot of history. It's not a how to, as much as it is a why to. Very insightful about a mysterious part of Japanese culture.

As a person who has practiced Kendo and Iaido for almost twenty years, I judge The Heart of Kendo to be one of the best martial arts books ever written. One of the serious challenges any author in the martial arts field faces, is the need to convey concepts and ideas in a manner that provides guidance for the beginner and the experienced practioner. Craig Sensei meets that challenge. The Heart of Kendo is the type of martial arts book that will appeal to persons who are seriously studying a traditional Budo and to those who are just beginning their journey on this path.

As one of Craig Sensei's students, I can vouch for the amount of work and many hours that were spent by Craig Sensei writing and rewriting the book's text. The section of the book containing some of Craig Sensei's many conversations with Chiba Harutane Sensei is absolutely priceless and conveys a sense of the connection between our modern society and Kendo as it was taught to Chiba Sensei by his father in an almost feudal atmosphere.

I sincerely recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn and understand more about the practice, and daily application in the real world, of a traditional Japanese martial art.

I am a former (16 year) student of Craig Sensei in judo and taiho-jutsu. Craig Sensei, in my biased by humble opinion, is one of the true great Western master of traditional Japanese martial arts and ways, advanced holding rankings in kendo, judo, karate-do, jodo, aikido, jujutsu, and kobudo. Craig Sensei is of that disappearing breed of true, dedicated martial artists which were forged in the post WWII occupation of Japan. Craig Sensei, and other teachers with whom I have been fortunate to be acquainted with, who received their martial training in Japan at the beginning of the cold war, were unique men at a unique time. The conditions rarely exist to produce professional exponents of this caliber anymore.

I am not ranked in the art of Kendo but have seen it practiced at the Budokan and other dojo. For years, I have seen Craig Sensei give demonstrations in various arts, but his Kendo is unique among them. I believe his understanding of the spiritual, mental and physical requirements for expert Kendo are unparalleled, certainly compared to most Western teachers.

I have read Heart of Kendo. It is very well written and organized. His anecdotal experiences with Chiba Sensei are worth the price of the book alone. I have several other books on Kendo and can recommend, wholeheartedly, that this should be one on your shelf also. It is an excellent reference for both the beginning and intermediate student. Advanced exponents will find it useful as both a resource and a refresher or new approach to their own practice. The Heart of Kendo reflects the heart of a true master practitioner.

Once again, I have to wonder what book I was reading. It couldn't possibly be this book, with glowing reviews of how funny it was.
Now, don't get me wrong; this book was funny. In a few places, and at certain moments, sure. But it wasn't great humor, or, to me, even very good humor. When I was 12, I'm sure I would have found this book wonderfully funny. But I think I've passed the point where I can overlook all of the things about this book that irked me.
Good idea, the whole story, but there was nothing to this book at all. I know there's such a thing as light humorous fantasy, but this was a little much, even for me.
The characters are bare bones in development, and the plot just seems to go in circles. The humor has it's moments; unfortunately, they're few, and far between.
All in all, I much prefer, say, the Myth series, or Phule's Company.
I'll probably finish the series, just to see how it turns out, but I have to say, I'm not enjoying it all that much.
And, to those who love this book, I'm sorry. I just don't see it.

Suspended somewhere between the shallow-silly world of Xanth and the wry quirkiness of Discworld is the strange world of Ebenezum and his hapless apprentice Wuntvor.

Wuntvor is the apprentice of the famed magician Ebenezum (whose main vice is being somewhat greedy). But when a sinister demon, Guxx Unfufadoo, is conjured up -- the worst kind, a rhyming demon, whose power grows with every rhyme he utters. (Fortunately he's not too good at it) And Ebenezum manages to survive Guxx's attempt to kill him. But he soon discovers that Guxx has made him allergic to magic: whenever he's near magic, he starts sneezing uncontrollably.

After self-treatment fails (miserably) Ebenezum concludes that he can only be cured in Vushta, the City of Forbidden Delights. Wuntvor, being a typical teenage male, has no problems at all with this. But their way is fraught with peril -- much of it with silly dialogue, beautiful girls, and more than a few lunatics. Along the way they will encounter a singing-dancing dragon, a used-weapons dealer (who is also a demon), a mildly crazed warrior Hendrek with his club called Headbasher, Death in a game-show setting ("Now, Wuntvor, are you ready to double your lifespan?"), a cult that worships Plaugg the Fairly Magnificent, trial by custard, and demons trying to invade the world from the supernatural Netherhells.

As you can tell, this is not a particularly serious book. It reads like a series of loosely interconnected vignettes (because it was originally published that way) but somehow the episodic tendencies never bothered me. Every chapter is started with a hilarious quote from the Teachings of Ebenezum.
The humor ranges from the character oriented (Wuntvor's perpetually hormone-addled state) to the wry and funny (the hideous torment of aspirin commercials) to the low ("Neebekenezer's Syndrome of Universal Flatulence" and the chicken that... well, never mind).

The humor generally stems from the characters (Wuntvor's perpetually hormone-addled state) or the silly situations (Ebenezum being chased out by Grandmother) or the delightful dialogue ("What rhymes with silver?" "Orange!") such as Ebenezum critiquing Guxx's terrible rhymes. ("There is no justice in the cosmos. At least no poetic justice.")

The characters are hilarious: Ebenezum is the archetypical wizard, with a few secrets and flaws up his voluminous blue sleeve. Wuntvor is the character we see the world through, but he is as quirky as Ebenezum in his own realistic manner: He falls for every pretty girl nearby, looks forward to Vushta, and is a little too gangly and earnest for his own good. Supporting characters (with the exception of Snarks and Hendrek) are generally not developed as well, since they often vanish after a few chapters. This book is okay for most kids and all teens -- a few kisses between Wuntvor and his various love interests is about all that is objectionable.

It's fantastic that this book is back in print. A must-read for fans of fantasy and comedy.

First and formost, I would like to express my most dire sorrow that this book and it's fellows were ever allowed to go out of print. I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of the first three books in this series at a used bookstore some time past, and was amazed to discover that I had purchased one of the greatest reads of my entire life! Truly absorbing, these novels weave along the border of the ludicrous, but never betray their sincere nature to crack humour. Each character is at once incredibly distinct and incredibly funny! A MUST-READ for any fan of fiction!

John Skipp and Craig Spector, The Bridge (Bantam, 1991)

Skipp and Spector wrote seven novels together, of which The Bridge is the sixth. The first five are inconsistent, but pretty bang-up thrill rides all the same. When they started on the downhill slide, they started steep.

The premise is pretty simple and very well-used in the atomic age: a whole bunch of toxic waste that's been dumped in one particular site starts mutating things and eventually takes on a will of its own. Hard to go wrong with that one, eh?

It's hard to pinpoint what, exactly, it is about The Bridge that makes it so much less fun than Skipp and Spector's first five wild rides (I have yet to track down a copy of their final collaboration, Animals, which many fans consider their finest). Perhaps it's the kludgy, overbearing moralizing mixed in with Skipp and Spector's usual closet-romance-novel style (one-sentence paragraphs liberally used, large chunks of melodramatic prose, that sort of thing). Perhaps it's an unsuccessful attempt to combat one of horror's most glaring problems-- the "I need some minor characters to kill off, so I'll just put them in the chapter where they die" problem-- by introducing almost every minor character in one previous chapter before they get offed. (Not necessarily THE previous chapter, just A previous chapter.) But hey, at least they made the effort, even if it didn't work too well. Perhaps it's the feeling that there really ARE no major characters here. But then, that ties back into the first problem, which violates the One Sacred Rule of Art: if you have a Big Sociopolitical Idea you want to get across, make sure you have a good enough framework to carry it (or, to once again misquote McLuhan, "the medium IS the message"). Idea Novels that push for social change are almost uniformly bad. As much as I hate to say it, this one is no exception.

That's not to say that there's nothing good about this novel. If you know Skipp and Spector, you know you're in for a gleeful ride through the wonderful world of splatterpunk, where nothing is sacred and every cow gets shish-kebabed before the book ends. All of the unwritten rules get broken here in throughly disgusting ways (the "toddler bouilliabasse" is a particularly nasty moment, I must say). Even with all the moralizing, the lack of connection to the characters, the usual genre-based bad editing, it was still fun. And then I got to the ending.

Not the ending of the novel. The ending of the novel is actually bloody fantastic for a horrorbook. Not a single punch is pulled.

But what happens after the ending of the novel.

(Note: the above is the kind of emotionally manipulative one-sentence paragraph to be found at least twice per page in this book.)

What happens after the ending of the novel as that John and Craig trump their overbearing morality by adding a whole lot of nonfiction morality that's even MORE overbearing. The "please save our earth" appendix chops a star off the book's rating by itself. Note to authors: once you've slapped raders in the face with a dead fish, proceeding to then cram it down their throats is a real good way to anger them. **

*
Simply put, The Bridge is one of the finest horror novels I've ever read. If you enjoy your horror on an epic, apocalyptic scale, then this is one book that is sure to delight. There are only a handful of books in this genre that deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as The Bridge: The Stand by S. King, Phantoms by D. Koontz, Swan Song and They Thirst both by R. McCammon, Deus-X by J. Citro, Imajica by C. Barker (although some might argue that this title is better classified as fantasy). However, make no mistake, The Bridge is an altogether unique effort. I refuse to give any particular plot points away. In brief, The Bridge deals w/ the ultimate ecological nightmare scenario. It is absolutely riveting and features and ending that creeped me out for days-weeks-months! (Heck, I read this book over a decade ago and IT STILL CREEPS ME OUT!!)

If you a remember a rather [bad] horror movie from 1979 called Prophecy w/ Talia Shire(not to be confused with The 1995 film The Prophecy starring Chris Walken) that dealt with the monstrous consequences of man's reckless polluting of the environment and suspected that there was real potential for a truly great story embedded deep within that cheesy...film, then this book confirms those suspicions!

I truly believe that if adapted for the screen by the right filmmaker - Kubrick would have been my ideal choice, - it could potentially scare today's jaded and desensitized audiences on a level heretofore reached only by the likes of The Exorcist.

To take any stock in Robert P. Beveridge's bone-to-pick review of this fine book (which unfortunatlely occupies the pole-position in the reviews for this book) would be an enormous misatake on your part. Trust me! If you're looking for THE wild ride, then this is it. Mr. Beveridge claims that this is not the case, stating that The Bridge is "...so much less fun than Skipp and Spector's first five wild rides." Nonsense! Mr. Beveridge simply appears to be an unfortunate gent whose intellectual capacity causes him to take himself way too seriously. Lighten up, bro!

There are few books that I would go through the effort of bashing a reviewer who had in turn bashed it . This is one of those books. I simply don't want to see any of you folks miss out on one helluva good read because of someone's scathingly negative over-analytic review of a true horror classic.

Peace.

Nature evolves according to its environment and the changes in its ecosystem. Poison it too much, and it will compensate in the most horrific way possible.

This book was very painful to read, like watching a train speed off its tracks into a playground full of children. Relentless and unforgiving, its plot held me captive from start to finish, unable to put it down no matter how much I wanted to.

This is not a book you will read over and over again, but it is a book you should read at least once.

A detailed and well documented trip through the mind of a great leader. An 18th century gentleman caught up in the burden of a 19th century conflict. Symonds shows how Johnston agonized through the days with Hood in the west, avoiding decisions that may have had a marked impact on the eventual outcome of the war in the west. Johnston's feud with Jefferson Davis is also well covered and it is clear that Johnston became so engrossed with this struggle that one cannot help but wonder if things in April, 1865, might have been very different had these two men cooperated rather than bickered with each other. Johnston's relationship with his classmate, Lee, is covered lightly, although the jealously in Johnston's heart sneaks through. The only reason I did not give the book five stars is the brief treatment of Johnston's early life - probably due to a lack of source material - and his life following the war. The treatment of this latter period seems rushed. All in all, an excellent history and an insightful look at a often unfairly maligned warrior. ...But, I'm prejudiced.

Symonds presents a well-balanced account of Johnston the man, the soldier, and the friend and husband. This book is interesting, not overly complex and contains as much detail of Johnston's life as one would require to render an objective opinion of Johnston.

Not until I read this book did I understand the impact that Johnston's leadership had on the Confederate army's achievements and set-backs during the Civil War. Johnston could be cautious in his execution of battle plans and overly sensitive to criticism of his leadership and the strategic use of his army. However, Johnston understood that winning battles against numerically superior odds required picking the right circumstances in which to use his men. Johnston's first priority as a soldier was always the well-being of his men. The book also explores in depth the antipathy that Johnston and Jefferson Davis shared toward each other, indeed for a lifetime. This biography provides an easy-to-read account of all significant events in the life of Joe Johnston.

This is an excellent, well written, un-biased look at the life and military carrier of Joseph E. Johnston. I now better understand Johnston's strategies, and the numerous problems between himself and President Davis. I must read to better understand the war in the western theater of operations.

the first half of this book was pretty good but the last half was not good.the good thing about this book is that the authors detail the situations pretty good.the bad part is that the story is pretty boring.there are better horror books out there.

This was Skipp & Spector's last work, and it's a bit uneven to me. I liked it, but it didn't inspire me the way The Scream or Light at the End did. It felt... unfinished, to me, as if there were something more that should have been done but wasn't.

However, it's still excellent by most standards, fast paced and fun to read. It only pales in comparison to some of their earlier works.

For an interesting comparison, read this and then read Nancy Collins' Wild Blood. Two takes on the same theme.

Well, it's near impossible to find this book, but look long and hard and you'll score it like I did! This is a very different take on the werewolf novel, just a great well-written book all around....Vivid characters, story, plot, EVERYTHING! This is the last effort from Skipp and Spector, after The Light At The End, The Cleanup, The Scream, Deadlines, and The Bridge, and like all of those books, this one is a 10 on a scale of one to FIVE! FIND IT!

This is a wonderful book filled with important information, ideas and suggestions backed up by the kind of thorough, careful research for which Sharon and Craig Ramey are well-known and respected. It's also clearly written and enjoyable. I truly believe that parents owe it to their young kids (and themselves!) to read this insightful, practical guide.

A friend gave this book to my daughter who has three children. She liked it so much, she gave it to me to read. Although we no longer have young children, I was so impressed by the book and the practical information it provided. Its divisions are very clear, and it offers easy to follow tips and suggestions.

This is a terrific book that's filled with practical information. I really appreciated the Rameys' approach of using research findings to show what matters and what doesn't in preparing my daughter for kindergarten. The chapter on "Ten Hallmarks of Children Who Succeed in School" was a gem, explaining what I can do to give my daughter a real edge in her education. This is a no-nonsense book with loads of useful advice.

I bought this book on a last-minute trip notice to Indonesia and boy what a mistake it was. Perhaps I was the only one, but Craig Robson's Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia refers to part of SEA north of Singapore (He does list the countries on the cover). This is just a reminder to those who might, as I thought, assume Indonesia would be included in his guide to SEA birds.

Otherwise, Robson's guide to birds of SEA was useful for identifying birds in Singapore and East and West Malaysia so far. With nicely illustrated Plates for clear and clean identification, except for the tailor birds which had the colours right but were not illustrated too professionally.

Other downsides is that it is a little bulky for long trips into the field and that there are no size guides or range diagrams. Otherwise, if you're planning a trip to the part of SEA (that excludes Indonesia) this is a worthy book to have with you. Though if you're planning trips to specific territories, I'd suggest you buy the relevent country's guide.

In Taiwan, I compared to those books which guide to migratory birds.
I found Craig Robson's book is more precise than others.
Although hes never been there, Taiwan.

For a long time there was only one bird guide for the region, King and Dickinson's Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia. This well written book did not illustrate all the species, and many of the illustrations were in black and white. Also in the version I own at least, the plates are scattered throughout the text, making things a little hard to find at times. In 1991 Lekagul and Round's Birds of Thailand came out, and more recently Jeyarajasingam and Pearson's Birds of West Malaysia and Singapore appeared. These last two cover only Thailand and the Malaysian part of the Malay peninsula, respectively. They are both good books and certainly a traveler to these areas will find them useful. Now we have this new book by Robson. Here is proof that an "international" guide, one that covers over 1200 species, doesn't need to be a doorstop. This volume is slim and weighs less than some guides that cover fewer species. But it doesn't skimp on information. The well written species entries all are numbered sequentially, that same number appears along with a brief description opposite the bird's image on the plate. For me at least, this makes the book easy to use. The text includes voice descriptions, detailed habitat information (generally more than the region's other guides), descriptions of all distinctive plumages, and nesting information, etc. For the more serious student, there is some mention of subspecies and their ranges. There are no range maps, a defect for some people, but the succinct range descriptions are coupled to a map at the front of the book, and are easy to comprehend. Finally the plates. These are generally excellent, and fairly even in quality, in spite of having been produced by 14 artists! They are clumped together near the front of the book and are crowded as one would expect with over 1200 species to cover. That said, these are in general, easily the best illustrations for birds of this region to date. There may be a species here or there that is better represented in one of the other guides, but here the artists more reliably capture the look of the birds. In my copy the printing is sharp, and the images are clear. To close, this book picks up where King and Dickinson's left off. We have an expanded species list and more information generally, than that work. And a set of really nice color plates. If packing light means taking only one guide with you, then this is the one to get.

Professionals should know managing change is not for dummies. This book is insulting to managers. It's not helpful at all.

This book was written with working people in mind. It was easy to follow and had humor added in examples which were beneficial to the content. I enjoyed reading this book and feel I learned how companies should deal with change, and why some companies cannot make this transition. It also showed why some companies do make changes successfully and how it is done. I would recommend this book to other professional business people even if they are not considering change at this time. The insight is indispensible.

As I was reading this book, at every page I wish that managers in the organization I work read it too. This book is definitely on the top of my gift list for many people I know. This book, in summary, is not just for folks in business, but for everyone, at every stage of life, since we all experiencing changes all the time. When I began reading this book, I was working on a project with short deadline. But I could not put the book down. I am glad. It helped me to think better about what I was doing.

The book was absolutely intrigueing and compelling just to learn about the inside workings of the metals and oil business. Needless to say, I worked at this company for a short period of time... I did not see any of the implied pimping of secretaries or traders prostituting themselves for a deal. The author has gathered much information on the sequence of events, but found that he was presenting this story, not as a reporter, but a snotty bitter little man. Marc, did not have shifty eyes, and to say at 6ft, his presence was that of a tall and looming personality, makes me believe that this author is of short stature. There are many good and charitable things this man and his company have catered to, but not once did i see anything listed in this book. The people I worked for and with at this company, were a group of the nicest and most professional people I have worked for. I have since to find a company that performed in such a refined and distinguished manner. They werent the whores Copetas has implied them to be. My being a secretary there, I took quite offense to the pimping of the staff for info. This is business, but just someone working by a different set of rules. Broke some, now cant come to the country whose rules he broke. Unless, the Pardon sticks. And wouldnt that be something to really irk this author a little more than he already seems to be. His being a "journalist", I was surprised by his unprofessionalism in giving the facts. All the facts, and not his opinions.

The brevity of Copetas' book allows it to be mercifully readable. On the other hand, Metal Men is so condensed that federal prosecution of Marc Rich (who managed to become a Spaniard in order to avoid extradition) and Pincus Green (who became a Bolivian for the same reason) is difficult to follow. The best sections of the book are the juicy nuggets that leave the reader whetted for more information. This is especially true when Marc Rich's relationship with Henry Kissinger and Kissinger Associates is discussed. Marc refers to the good doctor as "K", perhaps an allusion to Franz Kafka's narrator in the book Schloss. How appropriate. Clearly there was, and perhaps still is, much mutual benefit in the relationship between two master players who operate at the same level in their respective games. Copetas would not be faulted if he enlarged on this particular topic. One might wish for more background on the peculiar relationship the wholesome country of Switzerland has had with mobsters, white collar crime of a certain calibre, and kleptocratic despots over the past decades, if not centuries. The enchanting Canton of Zug emerges as an especially infested banana republic within a national governmental system that sees all money as created equal, and equally welcome into its banking system, regardless of provenance. This is a far cry from the Switzerland of alpine cheeses, pure air, teutonic ski bums, and clinics for the super rich. More the Gnome Switzerland of secrets and Croesus grade wealth and grey teflon coated bureaucrats. Then there hints at generally unreported connections, such as a strong, if not well known, presence Swedes in Thailand. Swedes in Thailand ? We would like to know more. Perhaps additional insight into the underworld of international arms trade, which figured in some of Rich's dealings, as with the Ayotallah Khomeni. Somewhere in here we expect to find the thread of Iran-Contra, but that subject, too, is left to mere suggestion. Considering what Mr. Copetas appears to know, but has edited out for the sake of brevity or marketability, there is a much larger and more enlightening book waiting to be composed from his files. One doubts that such a work would be welcomed with open arms by much of the political establishment, but by golly it would make eye opening tome.

Mr. Copetas has written a highly readable and informative book. No doubt much of the information is true; however, the author appears to rely heavily on government documents for the prosecution of Mr. Rich when it come to writing about Marc Rich himself. Without Mr. Rich's input much of the book is open to speculation. The U.S. "justice" system is notorious for magically changing allegations into facts and hearsay and second-hand information into evidence.

I also noticed the copyright dates and found it interesting that the same political party was in office both times and that members of both of these administrations, privately, have a vested interest in the oil business. Which prompts me to ask: Is Marc Rich a corporate criminal, did he defraud the country and evade the law, or is it a case of sour grapes with a private vendetta being carried out in a public forum? I question, too, the fact that Mr. Rich was indicted while Oliver North ran for public office after committing virtually the same "crime".

It's mentioned that greed was a huge motivator and this I don't agree with. Profit is simply the by-product. Currently, I'm paper trading and honing my skills. Last December I placed a June DJIA put option costing me 2,100; in March, when the Dow fell I liquidated my option for 263,000. The excitement that's felt while everyone else is wringing their hands is incredible and the money was plowed right back into trading. Money is a marker, and trading is a test of skill and competition against yourself more than anything.

Mr. Rich, in his business dealings, reminds me of J.P. Morgan when he started out; and I would willingly relocate to Switzerland and become a lehrling, so persuasive is Mr. Copetas' writings.

If you're a Craig Rice fan, as I am, you'll be pleased by the publication of this book. Whether it's the first or only biography that will ever be written about an author whose work has been egregiously neglected by reprint publishers--to the detriment of the reading public--it furnishes the curious fan with some vital information about a fascinating but very troubled woman whose life was a far cry from the delightfully wacky works she's best remembered for.

So why am I disappointed?

Because a lot of Marks's writing is sloppy and thus confusing, which in turn suggests sloppy editing; and because the proofreader, if one existed, didn't do his or her job very well. Typos abound. Even the page numbers given in the index are incorrect!

Nevertheless, I applaud Marks for his scholarship and dedication to the project. Perhaps his book will spur future biographers to delve more deeply into Rice's life and works. Above all, perhaps it will spur a publisher into reprinting her novels and story collections to reach new readers.

It's nice to see the witty, vital work of Craig Rice finally getting some scholarly attention. Jeffrey Marks has done a thorough job of research, and he deserves praise for untangling such apparently Gordian knots as Rice's real name, the history of her marriages, and her confused publication history. However, his biography is more of a necessary first step than a truly engaging work in itself. While he details the sorrows of Rice's life, he never really shows us why her contemporaries referred to her as funny, bright, and lively. His analysis of her place in the history of her genre is cursory at best (surprisingly, given his knowledge of the field), and he tends to summarize rather than discuss her novels. The book is also quite badly proofread. Nonetheless, he has performed a true service for Rice fans and critics, who I hope will use this book in order to do more analytical work.

Jeffrey Marks does a fairly good job writing about a woman who lived such a hard and bizarre life. Finding details for Craig Rice's life story must have been a real challenge. I am Craig's grand-daughter and I learned more about Craig's life from this book than from conversations with those who knew Craig. The book must have required exhaustive research on Mr. Mark's part. He ties the story of her life together and includes a great deal of information about Craig's novels, her movie scripts and her short stories.