I chose Coren & Ward because a GRE study guide recommended it. C&W was the best GRE studying I did.

The writing is clear, the organization is great, the illustrations, diagrams, and inset examples are excellent. You can't do better than this to get an overview of S&P. Good introductory or mid-level book. Starts with all the basics (how the ear works, how we see color) and winds up with complex topics like how we perceive music.

A good reference book, it's even fun for browsing, or for sharing with friends and saying "This is so cool! Check this out!" (regarding some of the perceptual illusions and demonstrations etc.) How many textbooks can you say that about?

More than a discrete work of literary criticism, this work plays an important part in Cavell's ongoing philosophical project. If Cavell's earlier work had Wittgenstein and Austin as involving a modernist break with the dominant Anglo-American philosophical tradition of positivism, then this work exemplified how analytical philosophy might continue. Cavell finds in the word conscious text of 'Walden' a linguistic economy complimentary to the idea of a logic or necessity to ordinary language. The American Transcendentalists are recast as philosophers who anticipate the turn away from metaphysics to the ordinary and everyday to be found in Wittgenstein. At the same time, as newly recovered American philosophers, they rehearse an encounter between English (empiricist) and German (idealist) philosophy before the split between these strands became institutionalized. 'The Senses of Walden,' then, is a key philosophical text by Cavell as much as a work of literary criticism on Thoreau. It is the text of a philosopher unable to completely give up an analytical training, but equally unwilling to ignore the broader cultural issues that such training obscures. Paul Jenner, University of Nottingham.

This is Professor Cavell's loving reading of Thoreau's "Walden." I was struck by his accounting of Thoreau's daily means. There is even the general ledger that Thoreau made of his financial bearings. To live so simply in a gentle world is a scholar's dream.

Ok, the low-down...this book is amazingly awesome regarding the figuring of just what the heck the Bard was on about in his writings!!! I can't express in words or thoughts just how much this book helped me understand seemingly simple Shakespeare words and/or phrases! Many many Elizabethan words carried different meanings than do their counterparts today. Please...if you like Shakespeare...GET THIS BOOK!!!

I'm no Shakespeare scholar, that's for sure, so I admit I was a bit apprehensive when I bought this book, thinking that perhaps it would be an "insider" book with obscure referents and references--you know, the kind that Shakespeare fanatics who write "tho" instead of "though," &tc. This book, though certainly filled with formidable scholarship, is a wonderfully readable book for everyone (or almost everyone!). I loved every page of it (or almost every page).

This is the most comprehensive and authoritative guide to edible herbs and spices in such a small format. 280 species are listed, with clear color photographs, and concise descriptions of origin, history, culinary and other uses. Included is information you won't find in other books, including international production by country, and names of each herb or spice in Latin, English, German, French and Italian. And unlike many other herb books, this impressive encyclopedia isn't just about Mediterranean herbs -- it covers the globe. You won't find any crafts, recipes, or pictures of vinegar with herbs. It's small enough to pack for travel, hiking, or shopping at the nursery or Asian grocery store; any other guide with comparable content weighs in at 8lbs! The only shortcoming is that different varieties of major herbs, like the myriad mints and thymes, aren't covered individually.

Benjamin Hoff's foreward, biography and afterward paint a picture of an incredibly gifted little girl, but even his glowing bio does not prepare you for the depth and beauty of Opal's writing. Her view of the world, the wonderful names she gives the trees and creatures around her, her "angel mother" and "angel father", and her general view of life are the most awe inspiring I have ever read. If you are a nature lover, this is a must read.

Dot Antoniades' objective correlative leaves T S Eliot in the dust as you experience with her the toilet bowl expunging of a young woman's over indulgences. You've never seen a love poem like Miriam Stanley's "Dull Without Regret." Kyrce Swenson's "Politics As Usual" could become the defining mantra of the 21st century feminist. Meaghan Williams doesn't hide sex in metaphor, but exposes sex as what it is, a metaphor for power. Aileen Reyes states she wants to be desirable in one poem, followed by "Village Voice 1996" which could be looked at as an exploration of what "desirable" has degenerated to mean, as aparent in the personal ads. Staceyann Chin defines "Women's Issues" and provides a prophetic threat to the men who have marginalized and disregarded them long enough. And Amy Ouzoonian takes you on a surrealistic journey that, when you least expect, becomes stunningly straight-forward and real.

All seven, very different in style, bound together by their gender, youth, and location (The Lower East Side of New York City) and by a briliant editor (Amy) who has truly outdone herself.

This book sets the bar higher for, not just the coming generation of women writers, but the coming generation of "people of gender." As every house should have a smoke detector, as every ambulance should have a defibulator, every teenage girl should have a copy of Skyscrapers, Taxis, and Tampons. It's a matter of life and equality.

Our son has always been afraid of snakes - until he read SNAKE CAMP. Now, while he's not exactly a snake charmer yet, he is interested in overcoming his fear of snakes. This is a funny, very clever book that also has a very important message.

I've never visited Europe, never skiied, never been a spy, but this extraordinary novel makes me want to do it--except for the spying, which apparently can be hazardous to your health where international terrorists are concerned. Where did Bernard Oldsey unearth these amazing details? Has he been there, done that?

Without eating, I almost had to burp, and without drinking, I got a nice, relaxed buzz. And then I got scared! Professor Curtis Fielding, the main character, partook of the best that Europe had to offer while ferreting out the worst. What gorgeous description! What foul, rotten misdeeds! Anyone who lives for intelligent writing, densely woven plots, and plain sensual pleasure will love this book. I did!