What a wonderful book! I read it as a child, and still pull out my old dog-eared copy every few years to give myself a pick-me-up. The author's outrageous creativity and humor only add to the poignancy of the subject matter.

I bought this book when I was in elementary school. I read it and was so taken aback that I read it over. It was so creative that, for the first time, I was swept into a story. I would lose all track of time. Like the bookworms I started to take the book to the dinner table with me. I've read a dozen times since then and always come back to it when I think about the greatest book I've ever read.

I remember reading this book as a kid and loving it. It had the most obscure and creative plot I have ever read and it made the story just wonderful! I highly recomend this book to children of all ages.

As president of Sea for Yourself snorkeling tours, it's my job to stay informed about the areas we visit with our groups. Although I've been to Fiji over twenty times, both leading our programs and doing personal travel, David Stanley's Fiji Handbook is always a welcome companion.

In preparation for a trip to Fiji, I will recommend that our clients read through David's Fiji Handbook. Although our participants don't have to deal with any of the logistics of travel (that's our job) because of the excellent background information on Fiji's culture, politics, and economics, as well as a concise overview of the marine environment, we always include this book on our list of suggested reading.

I know many parts of Fiji as well as I know my hometown, and can confirm the accuracy of much of David's information on accommodations, meals, transportation, and excursions. It's impossible for any guidebook to stay truly current, but David does better than most. For the absolute latest up-to-date info, simply turn to the website and email directories near the back of the book.

When I need a detailed reference for Fiji, I'll continue to use this 5th edition of the Fiji Handbook ... until David comes out with the next edition.

David Stanley continues his fine in-depth coverage of Fiji with this latest edition. The book is very well-organized, user friendly and is very up-to-date and informative. For any traveler planning a visit to Fiji, and especially for adventurous budget travelers, this book is indispensible. I first visited Fiji 30 years ago and in subsequent visits have returned to favorite places like Savusavu, Levuka, Kadavu and Suva. Places somewhat off the beaten track like Savusavu and Levuka have changed little in that time and the author is right on target with his descriptions and information. The maps are excellent and the book is very readable, a good combination of background history, culture, custom and practical information on today's Fiji. There are tons of useful resources provided including an extensive listing of website/internet resources on hotels, lodges, travel resources, etc. There's more to Fiji than just the hotels and resorts of the Coral Coast and Nadi and this book will help you experience it whether you're a first-time Fiji visitor or an old Pacific hand.

Fiji by David Stanley continues to look good after all these years. As an island traveler who has knocked around various parts of Fiji over the years, I have come to admire Stanley's comprehensive work in gathering the material for his guidebook. This book is a must have for any aspiring Fiji traveler. The book is compact, easy to handle and use and is very reader friendly. It has a detailed table of contents, tons of clear easy to read and very visual maps, an extensive website directory of resources (worth the price of the book alone, because you don't have to surf the 'net looking for it all!), an Accommodations Index and a general index, all very helpful and useful. There are nice pictures and artwork throughout and a lively, informative text. It's all straightforward information, exactly what today's budget traveler needs in a rapidly changing travel world. You won't go wrong putting this book in your backpack and it's guaranteed you will use it. This book touches on every major area of Fiji and covers indepth a variety of subjects of interest to travelers.

The main complaint I have about this work is that it was for too long out of print or hard to find (a failing now apparently remedied). That's good, because Karnow has produced one of the definitive works on Philippine-US relations -- and one that I will use for classes I teach on the subject. While Karnow has been called a "nostalgic colonialist" for his sometimes slightly "White Man's Burden" view of Philippine history as, roughly, "better under the Americans than the Spanish," his criticism of turn-of-the-century American jingoism and broken promises to the Philippines redeems him in my eyes. All in all, a thorough, well-told tale of a too-invisible chapter in American history.

History writing rarely is this good... even Stanley Karnow's more famous book on Vietnam pales in comparison. The best part of this book is that it doesn't read like a dry history, but like a very rich and interesting novel. No wonder Stanley Karnow won the Pulitzer prize for writing this book.

The reality is this book details the wonderful, rich, benevolent, and sometimes tragic relationship that the US had with its one and only true foreign colony. And as someone who has traveled extensively and lived in the Philippines, this book is spot on.

As an American, I can only shake my head at President Clinton's sheer ignorance for not visiting the PI during the national celebrations of their Centennary of Independence from Spain in 1998, an independence that the US helped them get... and then took away for another 50 years.

Read this book, especially if you are American, and learn something important about America's involvement in Asia... some may argue even more important that America's involvement in Vietnam. To this day, the Philippines is the world's third largest english speaking nation behind the US and UK....

A monumental piece of history.

Stanley Karnow's "In Our Image" does exactly what it purports to do in the subtitle. It is a very complete political history of U.S. involvement in the Phillippines and how American influence has shaped that country. It is, in fact, as much a history of the United States during the same period, giving detailed portraits of important figures like William Howard Taft, who was the first civilian governor of the Phillippines after America won the colony from Spain in the Spanish American War, and who considered the islands to his personal political domain, even after he became President in 1909. Another American who looms large is, of course, General Douglas MacArthur, whose father Arthur fought during the little remembered Phillippine insurrection against American rule at the turn of the last century and who became an icon to the Phillippine people despite his serious personality flaws.

Karnow begins the book with an overview of Phillippine history under Spanish rule that sets the stage quite well. He then describes America's conquest and subsequent torment as it found itself bogged down in a jungle guerilla war quagmire that unfortunately portended the Vietnam War six and a half decades later. Over 100,000 Phillippinos and 4,000 American soldiers died in one of the bloodiest colonial wars ever. Once the islands were finally subdued, however, America became the most benevolent of all colonial powers, granting the Phillippines unprecedented autonomy and zealously undertaking to educate its people and improve its infastructure. After World War Two, the U.S. became the first colonial power to voluntarily relenquish a colony, granting the Phillippnes full independence with a minimum of fuss.

Overall, Karnow's book is a very throroughly researched and highly readable account. It is also very well balanced, and describes America's colonial experience fairly. One comes away from the book conflicted about whether the America's colonial rule in the Phillippines was ultimately a good thing or a bad thing. Certainly, there are plenty of arguments on both sides.

If you love nature and children, you will love this book. Opal's connection with nature is absolutely amazing and the events of her life, riveting. As a naturalist, I found Opal's diary to be inspiring and enchanting. Although mentally ill, Opal was gifted as a naturalist and an interpreter of nature. I highly recommend this book.

I was alternately enthralled and appalled by Opal Whiteley's life story. Her "explores" into the beauty and hardships of nature, as she so intelligently and sensitively recorded them at age 6, helped reconnect me to the magic of childhood. But nearly every diary entry also revealed the cruelty and coarseness forced upon this gifted child by her immediate family. My heart broke, time and again, over the complete lack of understanding she received--throughout the years. Hers was a life of promise laid waste by the dull and perhaps malicious minds that surrounded her at nearly every stage.

I hope that Hoff's second-hand information was accurate, and that before she died, Opal indeed knew about his book and was pleased

From the time I opened the covers, I was altered by this book and the world around me has transformed as well. I think that Opal Whitely was the best writer that ever held a pencil in her fist while a doormouse slept in her petticoat. I am full of admiration for her insight and love of nature and I'm sometimes just as baffled by humans. A great book by a great teacher.

The Age of Federalism is a fascinating and in-depth review of the politics, ideas, personalities, controversies, and events that shaped the American nation during the Washington and Adams Administrations. From the character profiles of many key players in the 1790s to the carefully weighed and thoroughly presented analyses of the causes and outcomes of these events, this book shows you not just how our history was interesting, but why it is important to know. I came away hungry to see a similar treatment by McKitrick and Elkins of the years following the 1800 election. McKitrick and Elkins made me care about these events. This story and these compelling personalities held an almost soap opera level hold on my attention. Only it was a soap opera for smart people. It would be easy after reading this book to get into a heated argument over the policies of Hamilton and the methods of opposition to them chosen by Jefferson and Madison. It becomes clear that, had we had different leaders--or had they made different choices--the United States we know today could easily have turned out far differently. This book records the triumph of the great experiment, and the tragedy of the toll the founding exacted. To watch Madison and Hamilton slowly drift from true friends to bitter enemies was as painful as watching again the Zapruder film or the Challenger footage. In the end, the reader can look back and see that, despite the dour portraits our crumpled green currency presents, this was not time of boring dead white men, but an Age of Passion.

This superb book has to be one of the most memorable and thought-provoking works of modern history I have ever read. I bought my copy on a visit to the USA and read it immediately on my return home to New Zealand. I was riveted, not by the narrative so much, as by the sheer intelligence and reflectiveness of the authors. Rather than pile on a mountain of details, the book is constructed around a series of particular developments and problems, each of them analysed in a calm, lucid manner which is history-writing at its best. Best of all, I thought, was the authors' brilliant discussion of the foundation of Washington DC, which they seem to think was a colossal mistake. Had New York or Philadelphia been the capital, they suggest, then America would have possessed a culture of interchange between government, commerce and high culture; separation of the capital from other great centres of American civilization has had major implications for the cultural development of the United States. A provocative thought.

If you ever wondered how the USA developed after an 8 year revolution followed by 4 years of debate surrounding our constitution, then this is the book. Very well written, but filled with immense reference material, TAoF is a monumental, scholarly work that should become high school reading material and at the least read in every college. Culturally, economically and politically - the USA was not an assured thing. If you ever wondered what the founding fathers thought about political parties, read this book. Some of the partisan politics played during the 1790's make the our most recent presidential election look like child's play. And you may want to purchase this work due to the detail and style of writing.

An interesting read. However there's not really a lot of sales techniques one can learn from the book. I found the Joe Girard Law of 250 quite useful -- the idea of how one person could affect your sales opportunities in future, since he/she would likely know or be related to another 250 people.

Joe Girard turns his abusive childhood identity into what drives him to be successful. He proves that it is not what has happened to you. It's what you do with what has been done to you. Joe answered so many questions that I had about cold calling; mailing lists; asking for the money; and getting the support of others in a way that benefits everyone.

Even though he made the Guinness Book of Records for selling cars, this is applicable to selling seminars, coaching sessions, and other non-tangible services.

I just finished reading this book. Before finishing, I have already profited from his "birddog" system. This system teaches you how to get satisfied clients, and others to bring others to you.

When he say's, "among our kind of salesman, I am the world's greatest," at first I though he was being stuck on himself. But, I kept an open mind, took notes, both in the margins and in my notebook. And I really experienced within 2 days of reading this little book that --- He really is the greatest.

This book offers a deep insight into the most amazing life achievements of a man called Joe Girard. I enjoyed the author's great sense of humour, which made the book a fun to read. His obvious passion for life and selling cars, would surely inspire anyone who is interested in improving their sales technique. A great read for anyone wanting to sell their soul. Jo Sea

Why is it that every post-apocalyptic book must have the same old tired plot: a youth, hearing about the grand old past, investigates and discovers the "truth" of the past? Of course, the fact is that these books, like most "non-adventure" SF, are about the present using this simplified vision of the future as a looking-glass to it. My problem with the sub-genre is that I don't hold with the simplification--most of these books Imply that our present life is "out of balance" and that, in a antediluvian world, the balance will be restored. I can hold with the former, but I disagree with the latter.

So too may Stan Robinson, if I understand the theme behind his Orange County trilogy, of which this is the first book. Taking a common starting point, Robinson looks at the world through three different fun-house mirrors, the first of which is a back-to-nature, return to the "simpler" life. This is pure conjecture on my part, not having read the other two volumes as of yet, however.

The Wild Shore was an Ace SF original, published in the same line edited by the late Terry Carr as Gibson's Neuromancer. While it did not set the genre on its ear as Gibson's novel, the seeds of Robinson's later career and his interests can be seen here. While post-apocalyptic, this novel is not a rehash of A Canticle of Leibowitz--rather than concentrating on the tragedy of the apocalypse and how it might happen again and again, Robinson celebrates the enduring human spirit by attempting to show that life goes on much the same as it ever did. Parents will continue to be parents, both supporting and domineering, and children will continue to be children, full of rash actions and the naive belief that they can live forever. Like his short story, "Down and Out in the Year 2000," The Wild Shore can be read as an answer to the cyberpunk belief that technology will reinvent the world. Robinson says, the world may change, but people will not.

As a final aside to this incoherent rambling, I was surprised early on in the novel to find another coincidental relationship between this book and Neuromancer. Much has been made of Neuromancer's first line, which, to paraphrase, goes "The sky was the color of a television, tuned to a dead channel." On page 34 of The Wild Shore, Robinson depicts the same color by saying, "On the coast the sky was the color of sour milk...." The two similes are one of the best indications of the different milieu depicted, and the underlying themes of both books.

This story takes place in post apocalyptic California. What I liked about the book was the characters and the woven world. Both were very real to me. The book is told from the perspective of the protagonist Henry and told in the first person. I have always prefered books in the first person as I am able to better connect with the character from whose perspective the story is being told. I don't think this book could of been written any other way. KSR paints an incredible picture of post apocalyptic California as you, the reader, and Henry, the protagonist, experience life in a world in what one hopes will never come to be. But, if it did, would it be like this? Perhaps. The story is strong and believeable, the characters as I have said are real and you easily get wrapped up in their lives. No super hero or villian types. Normal people struggling to survive. You get a real glimpse KSR's post apocalyptic California (and World to a small degree). I have never been to California, but through this book I was able to walk the shoreline, climb the cliffs, fish its waters and breathe its air. True, I wouldn't want to be there given the circumstances, but it was all very real. A very compelling read. Recommended for middle teens to adults.

The world of SF has been filled with apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic stories since its very beginning as a separately identifiable genre. Do we really need another one? In the case of this book, the answer to that is a resounding yes! Robinson has crafted a finely wrought work of character and theme that will resonate with readers, that is highly evocative of some of the other truly fine works within this sub-genre, from Pangborn's Davy to Stewart's Earth Abides, that delivers insights into societies and individual human motivations at a level rarely found in any fiction.

This book is part of Robinson's triptych (the other two pieces being The Gold Coast and Pacific Edge) that deals with various futures as seen from the perspective of Orange County, California. These books are related by theme only, and can all be read independently of the others. In this one the United States has effectively been destroyed by the use of about 3000 neutron bombs that were smuggled in by truck (the country of origin never provable but supposed to be Russia), turning almost every city into a waste land and wiping out the economic and industrial structure that allows today's Americans to enjoy a standard of living so very much higher than most of the rest of the world. The United States has now been placed in quarantine by the rest of the world, and any attempts to try to re-organize and re-build the country are ruthlessly disrupted. Orange County has returned to a fishing/agrarian level society with government by communal consensus. But this is the mere background to a remarkable tale of two young men, Henry and Steve, trying to find their own way and life answers within this community, underneath the strong influence of the town elder Tom, one of the last survivors who remembers what America was like before the bombs. Henry and Steve are close friends but are two very different personalities, and how each reacts to the opportunity to 'do something' to those who are maintaining the quarantine forms the main basis of the book.

The depth of characterization here is remarkable, and the portrayal of the society that grew under these imagined conditions is just as remarkable for its believability and economic viability. I found myself living and feeling right along with the main characters, could see myself in just the situations portrayed, facing the same moral dilemmas and wondering just how I would react, what I would do. The prose is smooth and with a nice balance between description, dialogue, and action, and a theme that is presented via 'show, not tell' methods.

All of the 'Three Californias' books are good, but this one is clearly the best, and should be put on everyone's 'must read' list.

I feared that this might be a maudlin book about "special children." Instead, it is a collection of parents' stories -- straight-forward and often uplifting without straying into the maudlin. These parents talk about their shock, their grief, their struggle, their pride, their success. This book helpfully includes a variety of types of disabilities and stories about children ages infant through adult. Several of the parents talk about school inclusion -- an extremely important topic for parents of kids with special needs.

One quibble that I have with this book is the frequent emphasis on parent-to-parent support. I believe that, while this is extremely helpful to some parents, it is not necessarily universally helpful.

If you're a parent of a child with special needs, I believe that this book will speak to you. If you are a teacher -- of any kind, at any level -- PLEASE read this book and gain new insight into the experiences of parents of children with special needs.

Over the last couple weeks I have been browsing through "You will dream new dreams". As I read, I am struck again & again by the raw emotion contained in this book -- anger, guilt, frustration, denial. But overwhelmingly the feelings you leave with are those of hope & love. This book is a testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. Each story shows a family that grieved, learned acceptance, & grew stronger. Many of the families talk about the struggle they had accepting that their more negative emotions were simply a "part of the process" & perfectly normal. If this book serves no other purpose it can reassure parents just receiving their diagnosis that: a) It's OK to feel how you feel b) That coping is a journey that gets easier with time c) And that YOU WILL COME OUT on the other side -- a stronger person, a different person & probably a better person for loving someone with special needs.

As a side note, I would strongly encourage professionals who work with parents new to disabilities to get 1 or more copies of this book & loan it to new parents. You can read it in small moments of time & the message could be invaluable to someone in desperate need of hope & comfort!

Finally a book that understands and can help you to understand and cope. It is like finding a new best friend on every page! You will go away feeling better about yourself, understanding your feelings and loving your special child even more! Welcome to Holland!

Is a good book to read if you're searching to (and, I know this is ironic) nail down postmodernism to a few tenets you can understand. Provides the necessary framework to understand the topic when it comes up-- and, at the same time, Grenz does a good job of sifting out the negatives of the movement while pointing to the opporutunties it holds for Christianity to communicate to this culture.

Does not contain much info at all an literature, art, and architecture, which are the main purveyors of the movement. Then, again, by the time most of us in the Church catch wind of anything like PM it's already in the rear-view mirror for most of society, anyway.

Dr. Grenz always seems to write in an enjoyable, clear fashion. He has done this again in "A Primer On Postmodernism". This book discusses the worldview that our society is has left (modernism) and then relates this to our present worldview (post-modernism). Dr. Grenz helps the reader to see how Christian thought can not only survey within this post-modern world, but actually thrive. By beinging to understand what post-modernism is we can relate the truth of the gospel to it, we merely need to consider what parts of the gospel best relate to post-modern thought and then points our good news out to the post-modern world. Dr. Grenz helps to make this possible but explaining why we should not fear post-modern thought and displaying how we can use it in benefical manners.

This is probably the best book I've read to understand postmodernism and it's imact upon the church. Grenz is highly readable and immensely insightful in making plain the complexities and realities of our day.