An uncomplicated guide to main courses, salads, desserts, etc. Gives variations on basics (i.e., roast chicken recipe also offers Oriental Chicken, Dijon Chicken, and Chicken Kiev). Super cool guide in the back shows user how to Stock a Kitchen.

This is a fantastic book! It's great for rank beginners, because it presents 25 basic recipes with clear instructions, and for each one it also gives three variations, many of which change the nature of the dish completely while keeping the same fundamental procedures in place. It's an excellent way to learn how cooking works, not just how to make particular recipes. More experienced cooks will also find this book useful and inspiring, as it has such solid, reliable recipes, and suggests ways to vary them to great effect. Also includes cooking terms, fundamental cooking procedures, and lists of foods and utensils you should keep on hand.

Loving What Is introduces and inspires the reader to do "the work." This is a term used by the author to describe the self-discovery process required to change unexamined thoughts so that unconditional love can be experienced. Doing "the work" is important because unexamined thoughts are the source of all suffering and pain.

The strength of this book is the verbatim dialogues of several people who openly and candidly answer their self-discovery questions. We can easily see ourselves in these people because we all have the same issues. Typical life problems are explored including hatefulness, money, adultery, addiction, parenting, and more. Katie's abundant awareness and wisdom is authentically revealed through her interactions with these people.

Note that the introduction to Loving What Is does not provide a big picture overview of the process that Katie is presenting. Because of this, the first few chapters are somewhat hard to follow and do not fully grab your attention. Consequently you may be tempted to put the book down, but don't. You'll be rewarded for hanging in there or for cutting straight to the dialogues.

This book received a score of 7.875 on a scale of 1(low) to 10(high from The Spiritual Reviewer.

I can honestly say that out of many many self-help and spiritual growth books, this has by far been the most transformative, uplifting and profound. Rather than offering ways to fix my life, it offered a way to change my thinking, so that the circumstances of my life no longer caused me pain. This requires a pretty big paradigm shift, but I can say with complete honesty, after years of seeking, that it is the only authentic way I have found (so far) to experience true - and reliable - happiness.
The book / audiobook provides instruction in and examples of a technique of self-inquiry called "The Work". It is an extremely simple technique but one which I have found extremely powerful.
Here is my testimonial...
Before I even heard of this book, I began to explore the idea that happiness comes from loving what-is, whatever it is. My first challenge came when I injured my shoulder very badly and was essentially disabled for nine months. The pain was terrible and there were times when I couldn't pick up my own baby for days at a time. During this time, however, I made a remarkable discovery. I discovered that without what Byron Katie would call a "stressful story" about pain, pain couldn't hurt me. It was possible to be experiencing extremely strong sensations of pain, and still be completely calm and happy. Fortunately, I recovered, but my "apprenticeship in pain" served me well. When I had my next baby, I went through labor at home with no pain medication and it was the most blissful day of my life.
My postnatal experience, however, was far from blissful. It was both physically excrutiating and emotionally traumatic and left me feeling eaten up with resentment towards my in-laws. In the year that followed, I desperately searched for inner peace once more, and read many self-help and spirituality books in my attempt to put my soul back together.
Browsing on www.amazon.com one day, I spotted the title "Loving What Is" and was intruigued because it was an expresion used by my teacher, Jeannine Parvati Baker. I read the reviews and was impressed, so looked up Byron Katie's website. There, under "Samples of the work" I listened to the introductory chapters of the audiobook, and two dialogues. I was blown away. The dialogue called "The work on family life" instantly cleared all the painful issues I had been struggling with with my in-laws. I felt like I had suddenly woken up.
So I ordered the audiobook and soon after, bought the paperback. I also attended a workshop on "The Work" with Rosie Stave. One of the changes in my life since I started doing "The Work" is that I have become a vegetarian. Before, I had a lot of stories about eating meat that were causing me a lot of stress. On the one hand, I believed that I SHOULDN'T eat meat for environmental and compassionate reasons. On the other hand I believed that I HAD TO eat meat for health reasons (I have been iron deficient before). In the course of doing the work, I realized that I didn't really know if any of these beliefs were true. When I sat down in front of my plate, without these thoughts, I noticed that I just didn't eat the meat. Not because I thought I shouldn't, but just because I didn't. When I approached food with the belief "It's okay if I do eat meat, and it's okay if I don't" the transition to vegetarianism happened all by itself. Incedentally, I just had a blood test (because I investigated my thoughts that blood tests are traumatic, my dr would be judgemental of my new eating habits, and I dislike drs) and my iron and everything else are excellent.
The one irritating factor I have with the audiobook is that there is no table of contents to tell you which sections are on which CD. However, it is not hard to note down your own on paper or against the table of contents in the paperback. Also, the audiobook and paperback are organized differently with some dialogues in different sections. Also note that the paperback contains some dialogues not on the audiobook and vice versa. This is one of the reasons why I highly recommend getting hold of both the audiobook and the paperback. Also, I find that listening to the dialogues is much more effective than reading them. But I prefer the paperback as a refernce on how to do the work myself. Particlarly the chapter "Deepening Inquiry". Buying both might seem [costly] but, personally, I have found that "The Work" has meant that I haven't needed to buy any other self-help books since. (A considerable saving in my case).
However, I am not asking you to order both items on my word alone. ...
So if you are looking for a way to be happy no matter what - to be able to be happy even if your soulmate leaves you or you body falls apart - I cannot recommend this book and audiobook highly enough.

What can I say to recommend this book? ...there is nothing out there that surpasses what Katie is doing and the power of the Work..There are PLENTY of teachings and techniques out there more complex than this method of inquiry but there is nothing more profound and direct...It's not a philosophy or a religion but philosophies and religions you've studied in the past will become far more accessible and comprehensible..more simple and more clear as a result of doing The Work...Too often we try to access Reality through the "medium" of the profundities and Wisdoms we've read or heard discussed...It's akin to trying to appreciate the Grand Canyon by merely reading about it's beauty, agreeing that it's wonderful and spending lots of our time discussing how great it is with other people..we do that so much we start to think we've actually been there..until we DO go there...when that happens, words fail us..That was my experience anyway...Don't be fooled by The Works simplicity...E=MC2 is simple too...

Tom Sawyer is the first great coming of age American novel. In addition, Tom Sawyer is one of the most endearing characters in American fiction. This wonderful book deals with all the challenges that any young person faces, and resolves them in exciting and unusual ways.

Like many young people, Tom would rather be having fun than going to school and church. This desire to enjoy life is always getting him into trouble, from which he finds unusual and imaginative solutions. One of the great scenes in this book has Tom persuading his friends to help him whitewash a fence by making them think that nothing could be finer than doing his punishment for playing hooky from school. When I first read this story, it opened up my mind to the potential power of persuasion.

Tom also is given up for dead and has the unusual experience of watching his own funeral and hearing what people really thought of him. That's something we all should be able to do. By imagining what people will say at our funeral, we can help establish the purpose of our own lives. Mark Twain has given us a powerful tool for self-examination in this wonderful sequence.

Tom and Huck Finn also witness a murder, and have to decide how to handle the fact that they were not supposed to be there and their fear of retribution from the murderer, Injun Joe.

Girls are a part of Tom's life, and Becky Thatcher and he have a remarkable adventure in a cave with Injun Joe. Any young person will remember the excitement of being near someone they cared about alone in this vignette.

Tom stands for the freedom that the American frontier offered to everyone. His aunt Polly represents the civilizing influence of adults and towns. Twain sets up a rewarding novel that makes us rethink the advantages of both freedom and civilization. In this day of the Internet frontier, this story can still provide valuable lessons about listening to our inner selves and acting on what they have to say. Enjoy looking for fun in new ways!

This is the classic tale of a boy's life in St. Petersburg, Missouri (based on Mark Twain's [Samuel L. Clemens] home town of Hannibal, Missouri), on the banks of the Mississippi River (I believe the time frame is pre-Civil War). The original manuscript of "Tom Sawyer" was the first American novel to be submitted to a publisher in typewritten form. Tom is living in the house of his Aunt Polly with the irritating Sid, who turns him in for playing hooky from school. Tom's punishment is to whitewash a thirty-yard fence, nine feet high. With legendary skill and deviousness, he is able to get his friends to complete the onerous task! Later, he and his good friend Huck Finn go to a graveyard to swing a dead cat (to get rid of warts). They witness Injun Joe murder the town doctor and see Joe set up the evidence to appear that the drunken Muff Potter is the assailant. The boys hide out on Jackson's Island and the town believe them drowned. Of course, at their funeral they appear, falling right into the middle of the ceremony. At the trial of Muff Potter, Tom proves Potter innocent; but, Injun Joe escapes. At a town picnic, the boys (as well as Tom's girl Becky Thatcher) get lost in a cave, find Joe's treasure, are rescued, and become heroes. And, unfortunately, respectable. Tom and Huck represent typical boys, having their own adventures and dreams. It is sad to think that, in today's world of behavioral psychologists, counselors, and some teachers, both Tom and Huck would be considered abnormal and some physicians might even prescribe certain drugs to "calm them down." And, they are just being boys. The adventurous spirit of Tom and Huck should be celebrated, not repressed! Not enough adults read "Tom Sawyer" or "Huckleberry Finn."

I would recomend Tom Sawyer to anyone around the ages of nine to twelve years of age.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a book best for children. This is a book best for children because it is about a young rambunctious boy who gets into trouble all the time. Tom Sawyer is a normal boy.
Many exciting things happen in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In the beggining of the book Tom tricks his friends into white washing the fence for him.Tom falls in love,gets engaged with Becky Thatcher,and chases a box of gold. In church a dog makes a bad choice to bothera pinch bug and gets pinched and the dog runs around the church howling. And much more.
I learned that back then kids could be kids. Not like now when everyone expects you to act like you are twenty-five when your only twelve.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer tought me many things.

Many people are eager for a true alternative to the usual gang of talking heads (or shouting heads), pundits, etc, for commentary and analysis of political and social life. Noam Chomsky continues to offer such an alternative. However, people often find Chomsky's several dozen books on international affairs difficult to read; books of interviews with Chomsky tend to be much more popular than his own writings. The reason is simple: in the informal setting of an interview or the (often lengthy) question and answer periods that follow his talks Chomsky retains his remarkable ability to bring many topics together into a coherent response. He does this by drawing upon the same wealth of source material cited in his books, but the answers given in the casual setting flesh out Chomsky's keen sense of humor, his dedication to social justice and make for easier and even more interesting reading.

Carlos Otero realized this, about 15 years ago, and published "Language and Politics," an excellent book flawed only by the lack of an index or footnotes. Mitchell and Schoeffel, with "Understanding Power," have improved on Otero's book by providing an index and the much-requested and -needed footnotes. Everything in "Understanding Power" is well documented. So well documented that the notes are longer than the book itself! To handle this the editors have set up a web site especially for this book, where notes may be down-loaded (or read on-line) in either HTML or PDF format.

This book, almost all of which is in print for the first time, is at once a very accessible introduction to Chomsky's political thought as well as an excellent addition to the library of the most serious Chomsky critic or enthusiast.

This is a very articulate reflection on US capital and state policy which raises questions few if any people have answered in the popular western media.

Chomsky has an amazing mind, and that is an understatement; in his ability to quickly connect real and often disparate facts to explain complex ideas--that tie the systems of power. With a respectably high scientific experience and method he has created a formidable legal, philosophical and concientious case against the structure of capitalism in our country and laid out a daunting and unexposed history that every student or citizen should be aware of.

The book is easy to read. It is transcribed from his lectures over the years and is stuffed with accurate and easily accessible citations that allow one to make one's own decision over their legitamacy. Chomsky's writing is translucent and a voice that is far too unrecognized...

That I am the first person to review this book scares me. There are reasons why wars are fought and planes go crashing into buildings--and in many ways it has nothing to do with the interests of democracy or freedom or "violent" religions.

What can I say to convince people to buy this book? I wish I could give it 6 stars. Many are turned off by Chomsky's books, not because of what he says, but how he says it. People are intimidated by his "dense" language and barrage of facts. I've even heard his political books described as "too scientific". This is precisely why his interviews are so popular - they're informal discussions that bring out his incredibly vast knowledge in language that even a highschool student can understand. Anybody who has attended a Chomsky lectures knows that the liveliest part of the whole event is the question and answer session, where the interaction brings out often heated discussions and very brilliant insights. Understanding Power is a collection of informal discussions from the 80's and 90's that captures the very best of these insights.

Chomsky covers a formidably wide range of issues. Some of the most enjoyable discussions include the following topics (taken from the TOC): The U.S. Network of Terrorist Mercenary States, Overthrowing Third World Governments, Government Secrecy, The Media: An Institutional Analysis, Testing the "Propaganda Model", The Media and Elite Opinion, "Containing the Soviet Union in the Cold War", Orwell's World and Ours, "The Real Anti-Semitism", Ronald Reagan and the Future of Democracy [HILARIOUS!!], The Permanent War Economy, Heroes and Anti-Heroes, "Anti-Intellectualism", Spectator Sports, The Totalitarian Strain, Escaping Indoctrination, Transcending Capitalism, The Kibbutz Experiment, "Anarchism" and "Libertarianism", "Want" Creation, Science and Human Nature, Charlatans and Science [EXCELLENT], Adam Smith: Real and Fake, Marxist "Theory" and Intellectual Fakery, Ideological Control in the Sciences and Humanities [EXCELLENT], Mass Murderers at Harvard, Self-Destruction of the U.S. Left, Conspiracy Theories, Moral Values, Popular Education, and The Future of History.

However, the book itself is only *half* of the entire work. There are over 500 pages of footnotes documenting in broad scope and unrelenting detail each and every point that Chomsky discusses. The entire collection of footnotes is *longer* than the book itself. Furthermore, it's FREE, available on the internet at the book's website. That's half the book for free. The editors have done a phenomenal job in collecting so many references. There is literally a lifetime's worth of references for future reading - consider it a liberal education. Readers will be left with their jaws on the ground when they discover how thoroughly Chomsky has researched the issues. Every pretentious comment you heard but never believed is documented here, in full. Furthermore, the website offers an invaluable guide to Chomsky's books, breaking down the many and diverse topics he writes about and providing exact references. This collection is incomparably better than anything David Barsamian has ever put out and that can be said entirely without exaggeration. Understanding Power will leave you with the feeling of a child sitting before a wise teacher. As The Nation remarked, "[n]ot to have read Chomsky is to court genuine ignorance".

In the image-conscious world of 1970s Beverly Hills, 11-year-old Lori knows she's different. Instead of trading clothes and dreaming of teen idols like most of her pre-adolescent friends, Lori prefers reading books, writing in her journal and making up her own creative homework assignments. Chronically disapproving of her parents' shallow lifestyle, she challenges their authority and chafes under their constant demands to curb her frank opinions and act more "ladylike." Feeling as though she has lost control over her rapidly changing world, Lori focuses all her concentration on one subject: dieting. Her life narrows to a single goal--to be "...the thinnest eleven year old on the entire planet." But once she achieves her "stick figure," Lori really sees herself for the first time in a restaurant bathroom mirror and decides then and there to bring herself back from the brink of starvation.
I found this book to be rather shallow. There obviously was more to Lori's eating disorder than her simply choosing to stop eating one day. Yet Lori glosses over clear examples of her mother's disdain for her and seeming lack-of-affection, preferring to focus on her mother's poor body image instead. The author also repeatedly gave references to what an intelligent, precocious child she was and how persecuted she was for enjoying math; this got annoying after a while. Although it seems unlikely that Lori would decide to start eating so suddenly after a botched suicide attempt and without any set-backs, I will say that the causes and cures for anorexia nervosa are mystifying. However, there did not seem to be any question that Lori might die in the first place. I can understand the author not desiring glamorize these high-profile disorders, but I feel there was too much humor and sarcasm and not enough evidence of genuine danger.
My favorite part was when Lori turned he life around and started eating again. I believe I saw this as my favorite art because, at the beginning I, myself, thought she was going to die. I guess to me it was just a turning point in Lori's life because she had decided to start eating again. I won't tell you how the book ended; I do suggest you read this book, though. After reading and enjoying this book, I rate this book with four stars.

Looking through the eyes of an eleven year old girl growing up in the 70's - Lori tells her story of a battle of an eating disorder and parents that can not seem to understand or grasp what is happening to their little girl. Lori Gottlieb did an excellent job of putting questions in your head of how it is that we can let society can make one think they must look, feel, and act a certain way.

Remember that this book is also referring to the 1970s and there was also a lot less information on anorexia at that time, so there are parts in the book when you will not believe the way Lori's situation was handled (with both family and medical staff). The book is both humorous and poignant with great insight on anorexia looking through the eyes of an adolescent girl. This is an extremely great book and very true in all aspects of what a person thinks when they do have an eating disorder.

I may be 31 years old, but reading Lori's diaries brought me right back to age 11, when I thought I was smarter and saner than the adults around me but secretly felt as Lori says, "like a moron" verging on insanity.

I heard the author on a radio show (hilariously funny but insightful comments about her dieting 20 and 30-something friends, trying on clothes in dressing rooms, going to lunch with a group of women, ridiculous ways that women "compare" their bodies to other women's bodies) and bought the book because I know someone who's been on a dangerous diet for years, and I thought it would give me some insight into her. Instead, Lori's diaries gave me insight into ME -- back then, but also now, as an adult.

What's most fascinating about these diaries is that they cover so much ground: the trenches of an eating disorder, an examination of the way women view their bodies (why is it always "not good enough" or "too fat"?) and themselves ("not good enough"), incredibly painful (and bittersweet and funny) entries about teenage angst and confusion, well-meaning but clueless parents and family members, hospital and medical attempts at dealing with what seems more to be a societal issue (or at least an emotional one), and more.

Lori at 11 reminds me of the girl in the television series "Absolutely Fabulous" -- precocious, brainy, but also vulnerable and witty and someone who makes you laugh and cry and think about life from a totally unique perspective that you realize later is also your own -- you've just been too afraid to say it!

This is one of the most compelling books I've read in a long time -- and the BEST of all the journals/diaries I've read (most seem so fake, and these - the language, emotions, inconsistencies, immediacy, impulsiveness, wandering tangential comments - even if they've been edited, are clearly the real deal. To anyone who might think this is a kid's book - buy it for all your ADULT WOMEN friends. I did, and we're all STILL talking about it!

This is David Mitchell's debut novel, and it has received some lively reviews. It's an ambitious book, which goes from East to West. Ghostwritten seems to follow an Edward Rutherfurd format: nine individual stories that are subtly linked. It's like the Six Degrees of Separation or the Kevin Bacon game, whereby everybody on the planet is linked much more closely to each other than we would have ever imagined. Half the fun of Ghostwritten is trying to spot references from all the other stories. Despite having such seemingly random stories, Ghostwritten does follow quite a strict chronology. There's also a slight element of the ballad in these pleasing repetitions and hooks.

Ghostwritten is very much a book of the nineties. It starts of as a thriller, with a story based on the Japanese Aum cult that released Sarin gas in the underground....

We then whisk off to the plains of outer Mongolia, and inhabit the gers along with parasitic backpackers and a restless, disembodied, spiritual entity, who hops from body to body. This kind of device is very tempting for a first time novelist, but Mitchell acquits himself well in this story of a wandering spirit. Mitchell is very subtle here as he explores what it might be like to be a Tibetan Lama's spirit, ceaselessly trying to identity itself as it strives to find a final home. Then we're off to St. Petersburg, for a tale of art fraud and gangsters. The next destination is London, and the next host is a ghostwriter. ....

The ghostwriter himself is an engaging chap, and the actual ghost story is quite compelling. The ghostwriter's observations about the various characters of the London tube systems are very witty and ring true. His band is called 'The Music of Chance', and this fits in very well with the themes of the novel. To what extent is life dependent on fate or chance? 'The Music of Chance' is also the title of a novel and film by Paul Auster, and indicates Mitchell's subtle employment of intertextuality, as the Ghostwriter is involved in a night of gambling, just like the characters in Auster's novel. David Mitchell has also created a very believable womaniser in the shape of the ghostwriter. Then we're shipped further westward, to Clear Island off Eire. This is the story of Mo, a scientist who knows a little too much about quantum cognition for her own good....The final section concerns the birth of an SF AI; its intriguing debate with another disembodied spirit, and its confessions to a shock jock who loves jazz. I loved the bit about Freddie Mercury, and David Mitchell does have great wit. David Mitchell's prose is also quite lyrical, and is a delight to read. However, the final question about this sparkling debut is this: does it really go round in a circle like a certain London tube line?

David Mitchell is another great talent that can be added to the group of first time Authors, who if they can maintain the excellence and originality of their first book, are destined for long, distinguished careers.

You and I have read books that were made of stories that interlocked, each story complete and seamlessly transitioning from one's end to the beginning of the next. There are also great books like, "An Instance of the Fingerpost" by Iain Pears, that have different voices recount the same series of events, as they perceived them. "Ghostwritten" is entirely different, it can only stand in its entirety, and its nine stories in ten parts equal one great tale.

The 9 elements of the book range from the familiar, to what appear to be historically based fiction, and then on to science that I believe to be well into the future. The interesting point here is the style the Author uses to bring these storylines together. It is not a single event viewed from many perspectives. The common cue that ties one part to another can be an event, an object, or something a bit more exotic in a spiritual/life form capacity. Also very well done is the Author's placement of the cues, the points at which he ties one element to another. The stories do not unwind in a linear sequence, nor are the common cues based on a formula, by doing this he keeps the reader's attention to detail, anything less and you will miss some of the fun.

The book is very well done, was a very different read, however it was not vague, nor obscure, or surreal. There are times when a new style of story too often means dense complicated prose that can cause some readers to not try the new Author. This is absolutely not the case with "Ghostwritten". This is different and accessible, and I believe will appeal to a wide range of readers.

There was only one reason I stopped short of 5 stars, and it had nothing to do with the caliber of writing. There was an event that by definition is very disturbing and uncomfortable to read. It was made even more grotesque by the language used. The vile language, in my opinion, was unnecessary. It was used to describe an event that if the reader was not appalled by it taking place, the reader is one who cannot be shocked by anything.

With the one exception a very fine work and debut.

GHOSTWRITTEN is a startling original debut novel set in places as disparate as Okinawa, Mongolia, and London, each locale and its attendant narrator adding another story to Mitchell's tapestry. This is new millennium globalism, where people are connected by the most tenuous threads as they inhabit the same world run by coincidence and fate. You'll find that many reviewers will be unable to summarize the plot of this book; instead, they will describe the characters. That's because the plot IS the characters - who they are and what they represent.

The rhythms of the prose are often staccato and simple, but there is a beauty to it, a sure truth to the words. I entered this fiction and emerged blinking in what seemed like sudden light. Sometimes Mitchell's inventiveness was simply too much to take in, and it struck me as forced, originality for originality's sake, but, all in all, he succeeds admirably.

I suspect David Mitchell's GHOSTWRITTEN will be one of those books people either love or hate; you'll react to it on a visceral, not an intellectual, level. Certainly people who like only traditionally told tales will be disappointed, as will lovers of naturalism and realism. One thing is clear: this book will be discussed by serious readers. You should read it so you can throw yourself into the fray.

This Guide provides a wonderful, factually accurate, quick-reference to most aspects of the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Yes it is true, as many reviewers on Amazon.com state, that this book does not give much credence to the standard Arab view of the Middle East conflict. However, that does not mean the book is factually incorrect. Indeed, the author bravely sets forth the actual facts as they occurred on the ground (as much as one can in such a short amount of space), despite the politically correct approach of accepting that the losing side in a conflict, particularly if they are from the "third world" (here, the Palestinians), must also be the righteous victims in a conflict.

The facts show that this is not the case in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Not a single Israeli-Arab war was started by Israel. All involved Arab aggression aimed at eliminating Jews from their ancient homeland. Bard presents this theme with clarity.

Implicit in the criticism of The Guide is the discomfort with the book's acceptance of the notion that Jews have a right to an independent state within some boundaries in their ancient homeland. If one rejects that notion, it is easy to cast aside the Idiot's Guide as "one-sided". However, if one accepts that notion, then the Idiot's Guide presents the history of the conflict in its proper persepective.

Like most people, I read the paper every day and try to stay up to date on what's going on in the Middle East. But also like most people, I really never had a good sense for how the conflict started, who started it and why we, as Americans, care. Every book I've picked up on the MIddle East has been written in such technical language, and is so confusing that I just get too frustrated reading it and throw it aside. I thought I'd give the Idiot's Guide another chance. And boy am I glad I did! The book covers everything you've always wanted to know about the middle east but have been afraid to ask--and more. It presents an unbiased, thorough analysis on the topic in a reader-friendly, unintimidating style. I love the fact that I finally understand the basis of the middle east conflict and where we stand today. I strongly encourage people of all ages to read it!

The current trend in academia is largely based on Edward Said's thesis in "Orientalism" which can be boiled down to "if you praise Muslims and aren't a Muslim, you are a condescending bigot" and "if you condemn Muslims and aren't a Muslim, you are a virulent bigot," thereby stifling any possible rational discussion concerning the Middle East. It simply is impossible at any major university to major in Middle East Studies or to study Arabic without being subject to heavy-handed political indoctrination.

By contrast, Bard's book is a breath of fresh air, slicing through the morass of politically correct muddle-headed equivocating thinking. Get Bard for an excellent one-volume overview of the Middle East, anything by Bernard Lewis (for more scholarly insights) and Barber's "Jihad vs. McWorld" to begin to understand that nowhere on earth have enemies made peace through negotiations and concessions. Anyone who doesn't understand that there is a life-or-death kulturekampf between those who yearn for Jihad and the values of the West is blind or in deep denial.

Given that Palestine was already partitioned and 2/3 of it is already under Arab sovereignty (it's called Jordan), Bard presents an excellent case that the remaining 1/3 of Palestine doesn't need to be repartitioned.

This text should go well for anyone who understands Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s maxim ". . . You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely 'anti-Zionist.' And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God's green earth: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews--this is God's own truth...
Antisemitism, the hatred of the Jewish people, has been and remains a blot on the soul of mankind. In this we are in full agreement. So know also this: anti-Zionist is inherently antisemitic, and ever will be so."

Bard is a must-have.

From the introduction: "Previous programming is not required, but will help immensely" (page 1). Correction: programming experience IS required and will indeed help immensely. "The only must-have prerequisites are a basic knowledge of HTML and some familiarity with your operating system" (page 2). Correction: In order to be able to follow the examples, you need to be familiar with C#, VB, and XML programming languages and understand what .NET delivers and how to install its components on your machine because you will need all these to run your examples, exercises, and projects.

Having said this, I move to state that the master ASP in 21 days does not look like a realistic goal. In fact, if you are a beginner, chances are that by day three you will be thoroughly confused (and maybe even frustrated).

According to my view, the main weakness of this book lies in its overly ambitious scope. Although clearly and coherently written, despite its 900 plus pages, Teach Yourself ASP.Net... barely covers the basics and lets you hanging on at topics that need substantial coverage, for example: web forms, user controls, caching, and business objects, to name a few. It does start on an ambitious note with an impressive agenda but the author soon loses touch with his audience and starts using advanced notions without properly explaining their purpose or entangles himself in some awkward phrases: "The if statement on line 18 checks the CheckBox control's Checked property to determine if the check box is checked" (page 163). The learning process is also slowed down by lack of practicality; after going through ten listings where the "Hello World" or "Hello There" outputs are used, one starts to get a little bored. In all fairness though, the book does contain a few interesting projects, which add to its stronger features.

Another feature that I disagreed with was the usage of VB and C# languages. The author starts by listing examples using both languages but soon abandons C# almost completely in favor of VB.

This is clearly not a book for beginners and one absolutely needs to complement the reading with other books on the subject. As far as the 21 one days goal is concerned, I think that although not incorrect, it is deceiving. It depends on how many hours a day one can set aside for study. If the answer is 24, then, yes, the target is achievable.

This book has taught a lot about asp.net and I now feel I have enough knowledge to create asp.net sites to some degree.
The book users VB for all examples it has a very small section on C# but I felt examples in C# should have been suplied on the CD.
I was very dissapointed that this book didn't have any examples of conection to SQL server, connecting to access is not that useful for me.
Apart from that I found the book easy to understand and have learned a lot.
I should point out that I'm an asp developer I found I could skip a lot of the stuff I already knew and conentrate on the new things. Overall it's worth a read if you are interested in this topic.

After literally stalking the bookstores nearest me for the last couple of weeks, I finally found a copy on the other side of town, and took the drive to get it. This is already in demand!

I'm a big fan of any TY in 21 days titles, and this book is no exception. It helped to have programming experience on my side, but learning all the new things there is to learn about ASP.NET is still easy as I finish this book. Rarely do I finish a book cover to cover (it usually ends up on the shelf as a reference) but with the way everything is explained and the examples and programming projects given, I feel really good at the knowledge this book has given me to get an early start on the technology.

Thanx a bunch Chris!

I am currently being forced to read this book for my Honors English class in high school. I've already read it once before for a different class, so I know what I am talking about when I say this book is the ultimate cure for insomnia.

I honestly try to appreciate what is *supposed* to be fine literature, but "Great Expectations" is about as entertaining as watching kale grow. First off, the fact that this book has two endings inspires a bit of skepticism in me. I've never heard of an author so indecisive that he would put two endings in a novel. It creates a generally unsatisfying conclusion, as you're at a loss for which ending to "accept".

Aside from which, this book has enough useless passages to fill a hundred pages or so. It seems that, basically, Dickens didn't quite know exactly what to write about, but felt the urge to *write* *something*. So he wrote "Great Expectations", following the traditional poor-boy formula of his previous 15 or so books.

I find it especially hilarious that none of my teachers have ever even read the bloody novel, but it's "good" according to the curriculum. In the words of someone from a certain other Charles Dickens book, "Bah! Humbug!".

Don't judge Dickens by this book, however. "David Copperfield", for example, even though it follows the same "poor-boy" formula, is worlds better than this.

As much as I'd love to say, "Oh, it's a classic, everyone should read it!", I personally don't think so.

Like many other high schoolers who wrote reviews on this page, I was forced to read this in my freshman english class. I thought it was an extremely good story. The characters (my favorites being Orlick and Trabb's Boy) are brilliant and subtley funny. The story is creative and unpredictible, and overall, it was absolutely supberb. The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars is because it tends to drag a lot of the time, and Dickens overlong descriptions are a bit grating on the nerves, but I DO understand why people would have liked it like that in the 1800's. They liked their books long and juicy. It's a bit dated but Great Expectations is well worth a read if you have the patience. Even if you are impatient, you can not miss this great story and its wonderful characters, so at least see one of the many great movie adaptions. My personal favorite movie version of Great Expectations is the 1999 Masterpiece theatre version.

I spent a whole term going over this book in freshmen English class. It is an overall good book, full of interpritations. There are many symbolisms and allusions. However, it is important to remember that this book was originally a serialization, as it came out every week in the paper. There are some parts when Dickens drawls on with his plans, events, ect. However, there are scenes that are very fast paced and action filled. The overall plot is a young, naive boy of about ten lives with his sister and her simple husband named Joe. However, Pip is given a secret benefactor and is thrust in the life of nobility. Pip is tangled in his probelems of leaving Joe behind and his encouters with the shallow (and I mean SHALLOW) Estella and the wicked Miss Havisham. Dickens is a master with characters and the languege, but he doesn't describe any everyday events. For example, Pip goes to study law, but thats all we know. In my opinion, it gives the characters this higher than life importance, and less real. But, if you take this book slowely, maybe a chapter a night (instead of the five I had to do), you will definately enjoy this book.

I have only read one other version of the Tao Te Ching. The other was very pretty and well respected. It also made very little sense, was sexist, and had little if anything to do with my life. Stephen Mitchell, after 14 years of Zen training, has brought this amazing and beautiful work into our times. With non-sexist language and beautifully illustrating examples, he shows the modern westerner how to truly comprehend and embrace this wise and simple philosophy. Mitchell sometimes strays from the literal translation, but always for the better, and never without letting the reader know. His notes in the back are amazingly insightful and include the literal translations of the few parts he's changed. I read from this amazing and beautiful book every day.

If you choose only one Tao te Ching translation... this shouldn't be it.

BUT.... if you choose 2 or 3, this should definantly be among them :)
It is also the best for introducing a Westerner not familiar with Taoist thought to Taoism.

There have been complaints by many Taoists about this translation, and I understand their complaints, BUT some people are not interested in Taoism as a Dogma or "religion" or a history lesson.... but in the *WISDOM* of the Tao, which is what this book conveys perfectly.
Though it is not literal I do not find it to be in any way inconsistant with the spirit or wisdom of Lao Tzu's teaching.

The language, poetry, and insight in this book as well as the utter simplicity make it a WONDERFUL read... and the "liberties" help make Taoism more accessable to those not accustomed to interpreting the meaning of the literal translation and giving it modern application.
This is one of 2 Tao Te Ching translations I know by heart, I highly recomend it.

Next to the Bible, the most translated book in the world is the Tao Te Ching, the ancient Chinese Book of the Way. It lays the philosophical foundations for one of the world's great wisdom traditions, Taoism. Written approximately 2,500 years ago by the legendary sage Lao Tzu, this classic continues to inspire readers today. To translate a work that has been translated so many times before--and so well--may seem almost an act of hubris. But as the English language continues to evolve, it is the duty of the translator to attempt to restate a classic for his or her generation, in a language that they can best understand. Stephen Mitchell, in Tao Te Ching: A New English Version, has done that for our generation. And to him we owe a debt of gratitude. Huston Smith has called this translation "definitive," and he has spoken well. At first, a traditionalist may be startled by, for instance, Mitchell's referring to the master as alternately "he" and "she;" whereas, the original refers to the master as masculine, only, thereby reflecting the truth of things in sixth century B.C. China. But when one remembers that the translator is duty-bound to bring the ideas of the text to his or her contemporaries in a way that will have most meaning for them, then one can see the wisdom of taking such a liberty. And, after all, it is in the spirit of Taoism to adapt to the circumstance. As water sometimes comes to earth in the form of rain, sometimes snow, and sometimes sleet, but always in accord with the season, so this classic comes to us now in a form that is right for our own day. Thus, once again, this time with the help of Stephen Mitchell, the Tao Te Ching speaks to humanity, pointing the way.