Harry Houdini, the master of all escape artists, walked through walls, released himself from straightjackets while hanging upside down from tall buildings, jumped into rivers while bound by handcuffs and chains, and once escaped from the stomach of a large animal! Clinton Cox has done a thorough job of researching Houdini's career and personal life. He reveals an unbiased view of the unusual and often shocking feats of Houdini, also known as Erich Weiss, and his eccentricities. The book contains several photographs of Houdini performing escapes, with family members, and poster ads for his shows and movies. Reveals fascinating information about Houdini's venture into exposing spiritualist mediums as frauds. Easy-to-read for juveniles, but intriguing enough for adults.

This book was the best books I have ever read! It shows how Houdini did his stunts and what happened in his life. The book started out with Houdini as a boy who wanted to be a magician. As he got older he learned how to pick locks and master locks. Then he was able to pick any lock that was thrown on his wrists. Soon he was named "Houdini King of locks." If you want to know how magicians do their tricks you should read this book.

Clinton Cox's Houdini provides an excellent biography of Houdini's magic. Chapters are filled with insights on how he developed his skills.

REGARDING ANIMALS, Arnold Arluke and Clinton Sanders, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996, 218pp.

Regarding Animals, by Arnold Arluke and Clinton Sanders, explores the special symbiosis that exists between human animals and non-human animals. Theirs is a sociological exploration navigated by their skills in ethnography that ventures them into cultural frontiers seldom seen and therefore left uncharted by sociological experts. For Arluke and Sanders, fieldwork took place wherever human-animal interaction was likely to occur, "the pet store, circus, riding stables, and countless other settings where animals play a part" (p. 19). This interaction united them with "exotic tribes" they identified as "pet owners, veterinarians, animal trainers, slaughterhouse workers, mounted policemen, and any other group that works with or cares for animals..." (p. 19). Arluke and Sanders attempt to record what was happening in these places and to articulate the meanings that animals have for people. Traditional sociological ethnography was the framework utilized for the authors' research. Their job as sociologists was to identify some of the social forces that are behind the inconsistent treatment of animals and to show how they work. Their ultimate goal was to convincingly argue the merits of sociological analysis in popular and scholarly discussions about animals in Western cultures. The purpose of Regarding Animals is to dissect how humans regard animals in modern Western societies.

The book's format divides its discourse into two sections. Part one, "The Human-Animal Tribe," discusses a myriad of issues ranging from studying the social construction of animals to understanding ethnography to recognizing the existence of the non-human animal "mind." Particularly striking was Arluke and Sanders' rhetoric on social constructs. They regard the social construction of animals to be the meanings that animals have for cultures, and, consequently, determine them to be dependent upon the variables of place and time. Then, after a discussion of the criticisms of ethnography, the authors move on to the animal "mind," which can only be described as a modern paradigm drama. Arluke and Sanders testify to the "mind's" existence, and consequently refute conventional positivistic assumptions by reasoning that the animal "mind" is capable of more than just capricious, instinctual thought response.

In the next section, Living with Contradiction, ethnography plays a key role. The authors infiltrate the world of animal shelter workers, animal trainers, primate labs, and the history of Nazi Germany. The chapter entitled The Sociozoologic Scale was particularly compelling. The scale ranks animals "according to how well they seem to 'fit in' and play the roles they are expected to play in society" (p. 169). Arluke and Sanders deduce that society constructs good animals and bad animals. They discuss the latter as being characterized as freaks, vermin, and demons. Good animals, characterized as pets and tools, included minority groups that, according to the majority's perspective, seem to accept their subordinate role in society and are patronizingly treated like children. This same society has a tendency to treat pets and children very similarly. Therein, the authors infer that this is the reason why society finds it easy to dehumanize minorities like women, blacks, children, the elderly, and the mentally challenged to the status of animal when using descriptive language about them. The discussion on animals as valued tools was also very compelling. Here they recalled the infamous Tuskegee experiment where more than four hundred blacks were unknowingly infected with syphilis and subjected to forty years of suffering with no treatment. These people were dehumanized to the subhuman level of a tool or guinea pig.

The only fault of Regarding Animals lies in some of the excerpts used from interviews. The responses appear staged. And, although I am convinced that people would feel these things, I only question the lack of vernacular used by those respondents who talk about their pet.

Regarding Animals takes an informative yet critical look at society's relationship with animals. They expose the "constant paradox" (p. 4) defined as the consistent inconsistency of human's emotions toward animals, like advocating the vivisection of a dog as long as it was not their pet. Arluke and Sanders' fieldwork gives the reader access to places, like research laboratories and veterinary hospitals, that permit a broader understanding of our four legged friends that we worship and who sometimes worship us.

Subcultures like pet owners, veterinary personnel, and breeders have always had a greater perspective of the dynamics of human-animal symbiosis. It is only within the crucible of academe that the "mind," social influence, and the pragmatics of animals have been omitted from discussions. Arnold Arluke and Clinton Sanders are determined to increase our knowledge and question our values regarding animals. This book is an asset to anyone interested in deconstructing myths we have made that separate us from the wet nosed companion nestled by our feet.

Golly gosh, this was the best book on animals I ever read. I immediately went out and bought a little parrot after reading it, who only says one thing: "I love jesus, I love jesus."

An excellent book covering many aspects of our interaction with non-human animals. Packed with information, interesting examples and a wonderfully useful bibliography, I couldn't put it down. A real shame there's not more books like this, as a student of human-animal interaction I could have done with reading something as comprehensive as this years ago. I particularly liked the application of symbolic interactionist theory to this area of study.

I'm not an illustrator but a small business owner who is thinking about recruiting an illustrator. Having read "The Business of Illustration," I wish to make my own *subjective* suggestions regarding this otherwise very good title.

If an illustrator, especially an inexperienced one wants to be a business then I would fear for him/her. Think about me trying to sketch a figure and that's the same for an illustrator who thinks s/he becomes a business once a corporation is established. Actually it is worse because I will immediately notice how my sketching is awful and drop the issue yet in a business failure comes in all forms and the reasons for failure is sometimes so difficult to analyze given the human ego.

In my view, Illustrators should find honest reps or businesspeople to work with and avoid becoming entrepreneurs until they accumulate good business experience through detailed observation.

There are nice courses (i.e. New School in Manhattan) geared towards people with no business background. Yet, even after taking such courses an illustrator should not jump into corporate world and continue his/her observations for another couple of years.

Artists, almost by definition, do not like business. Even the authors themselves celebrate the opportunity not to wear "three piece-suits." I would hardly imagine what I see as a 'business' and what an artist sees as a 'business' is similar to each other. For those ones who have established a dislike towards this profession that you even do not know yet wish to succeed in, I have one simple question.

How will you succeed in business if you don't LOVE IT ?

Arkin Kora

I hate to disagree with the other reviewer but, frankly, he doesn't know what he's talking about. Mr. Heller has written a wonderful book explaining the ins and outs of the illustration industry and it's crucial that ALL illustrators read it. The illustration industry is going through a terrible time at the moment with large corporations preying on the lonely illustrator, so it doesn't surprise me that the businessman below feels that illustrators shouldn't know their business!! Illustration IS a business, not a hobby and should be treated as such. Business and art can co-exist and illustrators can be some of the most creative business people I know.

Mr. Heller is a well respected Art Director/Author and you would do well to head his advice.

My experience has taught me that the letters of Paul are some of the most theologically influential books in the bible. Therefore it is a must that those who study or teach from these sources have a good understanding of the context within which they were written, but enough of my rambling... This book deals with religious and philisophical beliefs of Christians and Pagans alike in Collosae and the surrounding cities. The arguments presented are well thought out and the evidence is meticulously presented (while this is a good thing from an academic point of view, it can put you to sleep real fast). I highly recommend this because it is extremely informative about aspects of life in Paul's day that were familiar to people that Paul wrote to, but rather foreign to us today. This book has provided me with a deeper insight into Colossians and all of Paul's letter. Any serious teacher of religion, Sunday School, etc. should read this and I guarantee that your presentations of Paul's letters will be the better for it. One other point is that if you are considering getting this book, get it right away. I've learned that book's of this nature (though potentially beneficial to many) have a limited audience and typically go out-of-print or become otherwise unavailable.

This book opens up our understanding on what beliefs were attacking the church in Colossea based upon recent archeological findings that shed new light on "difficult" Greek words such as the "worship of angels." This book sheds light on the dangers behind much of the "revivalism" and "charismania" with the emphasis on "spiritual warfare" that we are experiencing. An excellent read.

In Ireland, Ulster and Britain, the book was titled "The Greening of the White House" - a much more apt title. That said, it shows how the Clinton administration is committed to shafting Ulster. No fence-sitting here. The US government under Clinton has underwritten pan-Irish national-chauvinist ambitions.

Daring Diplomacy was the perfect title for this wonderfully written book. Throughout the course of this book, Conor O'Clery traces the involvement of the Clinton administration in attaining a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Northern Ireland. What is most refreshing about this book is its wholehearted attempt to be honest and balanced--an honor not bestowed on many books written on the conflict in Northern Ireland. From Clinton's commitment during the 1992 presidential election campaign until immediately following the end of the IRA's ceasefire, this book chronicles the efforts of the Clinton Administration to involve all parties in discussions regarding the future status of Northern Ireland. The U.S., at times seeming to threaten the "special relationship" between itself and Britain contributed much to the current political situation in Northern Ireland--one in which we now have Loyalist and Republican ceasefires and a forum for talks on political representation. Daring Diplomacy gives f

I was attracted to this book after I saw the movie, Enslavement, based on the life of Fanny Kemble who lived before, during and after the Civil War. This book uses exerpts from her letters and journals to tell the story of her adult life, but it does not contain all of her written material. She published several journals, letter collectiions, and plays. Fanny was a remarkable woman, obviously much before her time. She was unusually independent and energenic, and her writing includes few of the steriotypes typical of the period. However, we are able to see how the customs of society restricted her ability to act, especilly her efforts to help eliminate slavery and improve the life of her husband's slaves. Because of her popularity as an actress she was able to earn a living after divorcing her husband, but he had control over their children until they reached adulthood. This book gives unusual insight into the lifestyles and concerns of the period. It actually reads like a novel.

I must say, I have never seen insight so dignified on such a subject in all my years of book review. When I read this book, every page enlighten me with an overwhelming sensation of sadness, guilt, freedom and anger. Every one of my emotions were totally stimulated by this master piece of modern society. Regardless of the date in which Fanny published this book, it still leaves a gruesome reminder of the pure agony suffered from the hands of Prejudice and Hate. I have just finished watching the TV movie of Fanny's story, and I am absolutely blown away by the extreme emotional precision used in creating this film. Let this film and this book be a lasting reminder, to the youth of our age. It is important for the younger teenage generations of this new century, understand the facts of what had to be done, to win them the lives they have today. I rate this book 5 plus stars. It was amazing. :-) ~ LiteratureLuver418thCentury... ~

The intoxicating power of politics gives meaning to a young man's world. The book presents an interesting insight into Clinton's thirst for political and personal acceptance

NOT your standard political biography. Excellent example of the craft of biography, regardless of the subject. This reads reads like fiction and author David Maraniss clearly deserved his Pulitzer for his balanced reporting on the Clinton '92 campaign. The 400+ page book ends with Clinton's announcement for president. This goes a long way to explain why Clinton is the way he is. Love or hate him you can't be indifferent. A must read before the electiion

If you are going to play fantasy live action, this is the game to get. In fact, if you are going to play live action at all, THIS is STILL the game to get. A quick, easy magic and combat system, handy coil-bound for ease of reference in an outdoor setting (and the covers do not have that habit of pulling off easily, as happens with a lot of small press publications), and a nice little primer on weapon and clothing making all add up to a splendid package. And the Artwork! The cover is very nice, but where the book really shines is in some of the more action-oriented illustrations (such as the Combat title page on pg 81 with the minotaur). What other books have featured these artists?

Overall, a nice, handy package for live action, definitely superior to some of the more prominent game systems out there.

I recently purchased the Havok! book, and I must say, it is one of the coolest LARP systems I know of. I had the opportunity to attend the first official Havok! event in my city, and I just have to say it was amazing. Please purchase this book and support Seventh Moon! You won't be sorry you did!

This book has potential, but some of the high tech features leave a lot to be desired. The Essential Study Partner CD doesn't work in older CD-ROM drives (my computer is 3 years old) but since it works with either a PC or a Mac so I was able to use my husband's new I-Book, but how many other poor students can upgrade? The on-line tests are downright horrible though. There are numerous times where the answers that were considered incorrect were actually correct, such as being told in the book that osmosis is the diffusion of water across a membrane and being told by the quiz that it's the diffusion of oxygen. There are other times that it tells you that you put the wrong answer and shows what you had entered as being the correct answer. A little (OK, a lot) of proof-reading prior to publishing would have been very nice, considering that I am getting concerned about remembering the wrong information during a test. The flashcards and matching are very good though and the text doesn't have many more mistakes than I have seen in other textbooks so that's why I am giving it 3 stars.

There was a bit of a delay in the process, but the seller notified me right away and it's exactly what I had wanted.

It is brief, detailed, colorful and in conjunction with the related Web-site, (which offers and grades quizes on line) it is PERFECT. Thumbs UP!!!

PS: I haven't checked the Study Guide yet, which is (by the way) not available through the Amazon.com, but I've heard it's pretty good and helpful.

This bio of Clinton is not as easy to read as the Maraniss book; however, the effort to plough through it is well worth it. Because Oakley had covered Clinton for so many years, she offers far greater detail and insight into the inner workings of his years as governor. Sometimes she provides too much detail which, unless you are a true policy wonk, you may find tedious.

The result is an insightful and generally balanced view of our most gifted politician who is also a complicated and enigmatic man.

This is, next to David Maraniss' bio, the best one available. Although Oakley spends too much time glorifying Arkansas Democrat Editor John Starr, she does present a look at Clinton from his home crowd, the people who have known him longer than anyone else. At times she seems almost jealous of Clinton's success. This remains, however, a definite book to read if you want to get inside Bill Clinton's head and stroll around for a while.

Great Bio. Here's an excerpt from page 68. Taken from a statement made by Clinton's friend, Clifford Jackson during their student days at Oxford. " One incident stands out very clearly in my mind," Jackson said. "We were talking about politics. Bill recounted a story he told to be true. He had heard a ... staff member telling about a White House secretary walking into the Oval Office...to find Lyndon Johnson and a certain attractive young woman...engaged in sex on the Oval office floor. She was on top of the president ,and she had a peace symbol on a chain dangling between her breasts." Jackson recalled the look of amusement on Clinton's face as the anecdote unfolded." Sure..it was a funny story...but the impression I got was that Bill thought it was so neat that Johnson could get away with something like that."

So, as I said, great book!