I purchased this book to refresh my skills when organizing a series of focus groups with very diverse demographics. Edmunds allowed me to brush up on key techniques, but also painted a great visual for the those on my team that were focus group virgins.

NOT BAD,BUT I HOPE THEY COULD TELL ME MORE SOMETHING NEW!

A real canal buff's opportunity to see canals as they really might have been--gritty, deadly, dirt-hard working conditions--hardly romantic as we'd like to believe. References to real times and real places on the Erie and the Ohio & Erie canals,as well as depicting the lifestyle, make it a good resource.

folk stories (could be true but probably changed much in the retelling) about life in the heyday of canaling. Gives you a real slice of life of the times. Would recomend to anyone interested in the canal or history on them. (Mostly from the Erie canel but some are from Ohio-Erie, and the rest of area.) It was a good read, very entertaining.

This book was mildly interesting. Doesn't rank with the oral histories written by Ambrose or Ryan.

The stories and memories from the Iwo Jima veterans will make you laugh and cry. When I think about the "trail of beer cans," I wonder what other mischief these Marines were up to!

The author explains Faulkner in a direct, straightforward, "Hemingway" style, risking reductiveness but undeniably expanding the potential audience for the book. Readers entirely new to Faulkner may benefit from the general introduction as well as the interpretations (basically sound, "widely-received" readings) of individual novels. Others may understandably take a pass on the first two sections in favor of the third, which provides a breakdown of the narrative order as well as the "actual" chronology of each of the chapters in Faulkner's novels. Included are scene descriptions based on compiled evidence from the chapter as well as verbal clues that alert the reader to scene shifts in a narrator's consciousness.

A downside: Like most other commentators on Faulkner, Volpe often takes too seriously the seriousness of Faulkner. This is especially apparent in discussions of "Absalom, Absalom!" Unquestionably, it is apocalyptic, tragic, visionary narrative, but it is also supreme farce. Readers need to know that it's OK be bemused by the first chapter and to laugh out loud at the second. Critics have done a grave disservice to Faulkner by representing the novel with such unrelenting sobriety. (Reading Robert Browning's "Caliban Upon Setebos" might be the first step to a cure from much insensitivity to the playfulness of Faulkner's discourse.)

Finally, the page references to Faulkner's novels have not been updated to agree with the current Vintage editions. And the decision to ignore all of the short fiction might have been more palatable had the author not cast aesthetic judgement upon it, in effect "ranking" it beneath the novels. Faulkner's short fiction is not only of the same high order as his long narratives but is inseparable from them.

The second and third sections of this book are invaluable to the serious reader or repeat teacher of Faulkner. Volpe has done all of the difficult sorting and taxonomy we are obliged to do before we can come to our own terms with a novel. Who is each narrator or character, what do the events look like in chronological order, etc. To have that kind of work done for you for such novels as "Absalom! Absalom!" and "The Sound and the Fury" is worth the price of admission.

In the second section, each novel is given a reading, and while one may not always agree entirely, they almost invariably identify all the major features and events of the novels and are often closer to very careful glossed summaries than they are argumentative. If you've read a novel, these are comprehensive enough to return to you whatever you might have forgotten. If you haven't read a novel, they function very adequately to convey the essentials.

The third section provides detailed chronologies of events for nine novels.

If you're interested in making your own sense of the novels, Volpe's meticulous work will allow you to get down to business more quickly.

A fascinating book documenting thousands of accidents in flying, mountaineering and sailing along with causes and comments on avoidance. The accidents are categorized by root cause (mechanical failure, weather, lack of experience/planning etc.). Difficult to read cover to cover - there is too much information. But very interesting and entertaining to dip into. People participating in 'risk' sports should read this book.

I think the author is doing a great job here. I recently bought this book because it deals with Bipolar Disorder (manic depression). He tends to have his ups and downs in the material but I think overall his writing is very inspirational and uplifting. If one is looking for a variety in poetry this would be the book I would suggest. The author has his own way of writing but is easy to get into and hard to put down. Some of the poems made me happy,some kept me daydreaming while others left tears.

I enjoy to read that fantastique book.it speak about the short life of the last Napoleon called l'Aiglon. It is written in a romantic way.You live a period of the French history throught the life of that young man whom destiny was to be emperor but who was to ill to become one.It is a sad book but very well done.You will remember that book for ever.

'Ancestral Geographies of the Neolithic: Landscape, Monuments and Memory' (AGN) is a useful and thought-provoking work that brings together the experience and imagination of an archaeologist of the Neolithic. Mark Edmonds uses short fictional pieces to bring to life his knowledge and understanding of Neolithic Britain: the result is very interesting and useful.

One of the problems with studying the prehistoric is the dry and exceedingly complicated research papers and books. It is impossible for me to understand a period in time without some sort of mental image of real people living in that period. So often writers forget that while *they* have such an understanding, their readers do not. Edmonds addresses the needs of both Neolithic newbie and Neolithic expert in his book by taking the Neolithic and using short fictional pieces to try and bring the objects and places to life. He does so carefully, and it is clear to me that his synthesis of the material has made me understand his argument far more clearly than other methods. The material gains coherence and reality, and it underlines part of his thesis about the nature of 'ritual' and 'mundane' space.

In addition, Edmonds' writing has a remarkable clarity. Often in archaeology, I find myself wading through practically incomprehensible paragraphs. Despite the intimidating title, AGN did not sacrifice plain argument for technical expertise. It was a pleasure to work through AGN's complex theses without first having to struggle through paragraph-long sentences using deliberately specialized terminology.

I am not a specialist in the Neolithic. Others may take umbrage at Edmonds' use of 'created reality' to present his material. I think that the format he chose (short piece followed by argument and presentation of material) is useful because it clearly expresses his assumptions. Anyone who claims to understand a particular society or set of societies and claims not to have imagined those worlds in their heads is fooling herself - or is not the proper person for the job. Part of how we explore and grasp the remains of the past is to imagine, and I really appreciate how AGN brings this process forward. Edmonds makes deliberate use of fiction to reconstruct the past, taking what has been a 'behind the scenes' process and laying it out before the reader.

Since its publication in 1957, Edmonds has been the reference for physicists and chemists interested in angular momentum calculations in molecular, atomic, nuclear and sub-atomic physics. Though it contains some typos in various editions, one famous instance being the reversal of conventions in a couple of key definitions between the 2nd revised printing in 1968 and 3rd printing in 1974, it remains a standard for a two generations of scientists.

Father Bliven has compiled a book of Roman Catholic prayers that I haven't found an equal to. The titles of the main sections say it all: 'Walking with the Lord', 'Talking with the Lord', 'Listening to the Lord', 'Knowing the Lord', 'Reading the Bible' and 'Suggested Books for Further Reading'. I have given copies of this prayer book as gifts to my godson and to other young people. The section on 'Morning and Evening Prayer' is an excellent, accessible introduction to the Liturgy of the Hours, as well. If you don't have any other prayer book, get this one!