I read this book as a young man at the age of 18. As I grew older I was to revisit this work again and again.

A first time author? Creative Arts should be so lucky to have this man with them. He is bound to go places. This story is so smooth moving that you don't want to put it down. "It's smooth as butter" . GET IT. READ IT. And hope he comes back with more.

Helen Buss Mitchell does a great job at introducing the reader to philosophical topics and concepts through this book and its accompanying "reader" with excerpts from essays by astute philosophical authors. I am currently enrolled in a philosophy telecourse and these are the required books for the class along with two videotapes. IF you can get the videotapes, they help a great deal as well. Mitchell has poets and authors reading some of their work as she discusses how it relates to the topic at hand. Even if you are not enrolled in school but want a solid grounding in philosophy, I highly recommend these books.

This book is facisnating, not just because of it's content but also because of the way it is written. Many times guides like these are slanted, but this one is written in a very collected, objectional view that not only makes it super-easy to read, but allows you to draw your own conclusions. You can look up anything from urban legends to recorded unexplained phnomena to the existance of ghosts. It's all presented in an organized manner and in related categories, so if you find one thing that interests you, it's easy to find others. Also has a complete index and accompanying pictures with each entry. Definitly worth buying, if only for reference, but it's an excellent read as well!

Mitchell's "Colonising Egypt" transformed my experience as a student in Egypt, so I was looking forward to this work from one of the best minds in in Middle East Studies. "Rule of Experts: Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity" does not disappoint. Mitchell's work is self-reflective, de-orientalized, thought-provoking scholarship. Mitchell not only connects contemporary political and postmodern theory to his Egyptian primary sources, but he extends theory in new directions and unique interdisiplinary ways. Mitchell empowers the reader to think critically about the negative influences of power and hegemonic discourse on policy and scholarship to create distorted representations and self-fulfilling, self-replicating prophecies. We need more writers like Mitchell to question and challenge the current theory and expertise that has so much currency and momentum in the echo chambers of the Washington Consensus.

The essays cover a wide range of 20th-century topics from malaria to mapmaking, from the manipulated image of the peasant to techno-political nonsense in current development praxis. I have long believed that developmental applications of modern economic theory are very much a "faith-based" process, and Mitchell has put these thoughts in engaging prose. In addition, I was particularly impressed by the chapter on violence, which helped me frame my own thinking on violence, for example, in Syria, Algeria, or Tunisia, places where not so hidden violence functions as an instrument of power and social control. Mitchell writes eloquently on issues that have troubled most of those who work or live or travel in the developing world and who have not found the right language to express their reservations about the descriptive and prescriptive power of current scholarship and techno-political expertise.

This book is unbelievable. It cuts through old belief systems and inspires you to look deeper into what the truth might be. It begins as the old myths and legends throughout history did, but has such a force in it that you hate to put it down. At the same time you must re-read passages for all the hidden meanings. Better than I ever imagined.

The book that hooked Nicholas Blake (pseudonym of C. Day-Lewis) onto the Great Gladys, as Philip Larkin described her, the book combines pure farce, two murders, and a large amount of satire on Agatha Christie's "Murder at the Vicarage", with several of the characters (the vicar, curate, etc.,'s importance to the tale, and their reversal by Mitchell), and the sheer amount of secrets and shameful past every character is concealing. The detection is done in a workman-like fashion by the greatest female detective of all time, Mrs Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley, later being made a Dame, and the ending is ingenious. All in all, one of the true classics of the genre (though her previous novels, "Speedy Death", and "The Longer Bodies", come close).

This book answered my questions about SAM-e in an easy-to-read format. I like the fact that there are references at the end of each chapter...I like to know I can check on the research studies mentioned. Nicely done

After spending three years in London, Colorado private investigator Mitch Roberts begins the trek home. On the way to Miami, Mitch flirts with stewardess Rosemary Collins, who suggests he meet her at the Tropical Lounge, just off the Miami-Dade International Airport. However, once in the lounge's parking lot, a masked dude holds Mitch up taking his money and credit cards. Mitch's efforts to obtain a replacement credit card fails so feeling stranded he calls former minor league baseball teammate Bobby Hilliard, a crazy person, for help.

Bobby assists Mitch with some cash, new clothing, and a place to bonefish in the Keys. Bobby later offers Mitch a deal of several thousand dollars to take care of something on Hispaniola. Apparently, someone stole Haitian art that was headed to one of Bobby's Florida galleries. Bobby wants Mitch to find the thief. Reluctantly, Mitch agrees not aware the danger he will face in Haiti.

The latest Mitch Gaylord mystery, SAMEDI'S KNAPSACK, is an exciting tale that moves rather quickly forward. The key (no pun intended) to the tale is that author Gaylord Dold insures his prime characters seem genuine though a bit flaky, which in turn adds essence, reality, and enjoyment to the plot. Fans of a fun to read private sleuth series will want to try other Gaylord stories as well as other novels by Mr. Dold who is solid gold when it comes to novels.

Harriet Klausner

I give this book by Scott Mitchell FIVE STARS! After tediously working my way through more than half a dozen other ASP.NET books in order to learn this new technology, this is the first one that made sense using examples that were not only easy to understand, but useful for future applications as well. I ran into configuration problems half way through the book, and Scott (the author) was quick to email me with solutions the same day! Just how much more can a student expect? Scott has a way of explaining complicated concepts in a way that someone studying this topic for the first time can understand, and he uses just enough repetition to reinforce a topic thoroughly. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn the basics of ASP.NET.