I loved this book very much. When I first got a hold of this book,I wanted to read about the rolling stone's founder,Brian Jones. So I was pleased to read so much about him. I found the early days of the rolling stones to be much more interesting than I imagined. It described in detail how mick,keith,and brian lived together in a small,horrible apartment,owned by Mick,and how they hardly had any money for food. I enjoyed how the author started the book out by describing his experience interviewing Brian Jones's parents,years after his death. The author was very good at detail,in this book. He always described the concerts of the stones with the girls screaming,and the last days of Brian Jones,and all of the band member's different love interests,and some certain instances with groupies. I like reading non-fiction books that have some detail in the writing,not just generalization. Lastly,the weakness in this book is including all of the members of the rolling stones. He included alot of brian,and mick,but not enough of the other band members. Overall,I would say that this book is definitly worth reading and I would recomend it to any stones fan. I know a book is good when as I'm reading it,I can get a mental picture of what is happening,and that's what I did.

Stanley Booth not only wrote the best book ever written about the Stones, but the best book ever written about Rock and Roll period. If "Exile on Main St." was a book, it would be this. The book is a rich tapestry of layers and textures. A must read. Please pay special attention to the chapter that takes place in Sam Sheffler's basement on Hudson Ave. It is filty yet fun.

I don't think it is the best Chinese New Year book on the market, but I can't wait to see the looks on my kindergartner's faces when I pull open the book to show them the Chinese dragon!

I have read this book to my daughter's nursery school class (of 2 - 6 year olds) for the last two Chinese New Year's. It is an accordian style book so you need to practice holding/reading it but quite worthwhile. The children were all interested in watching the dragon unfold and there is a good rhythm to the words. Nice preparation especially if they will have a parade of their own later. It does not make any pretense of explaining Chinese New Year. You would need look at additional books for that or the (animal) horoscopes.

As the other reviewed indicated, this book does use mathematics to support it's treatment of the topic, but is very verbose with well thought out descriptions and examples. The math is a tool, not the purpose of the book. Of course, with such a treatment there are certain esoteric topics that simply dont fit but overall this book was an outstanding supplemental text to me as an undergrad (the actual text was more math intensive so the explanations here complemented it perfectly). Too bad it's out of print. I still refer to it occasionally when I need a refresher!

Digital Signal Processing is the one subject that you really need a solid foundation in maths to proceed furthur. Beginners should go for the book by Richard Lyons ( Understanding Digital Signal Processing). Those who are interested in the maths behind DSP and yet dread Oppenheim might find this book really useful. Stanley takes you through a tour of DSP using maths, but does it so wonderfully well than Oppenheim. The two books, the one by Richard Lyons and this book should give you a head start over others in learning DSP. Use this as a ladder to take you to the books by Oppenheim and Prokias, and you won't regret taking DSP.

There are a couple of errors though - due to bad proof reading

Hopefully the publisher should realise that he has a treasure in this book and bring it back to print.

This book is definitely a milestone of modern economic thought. It is one of the brightest signs of changing paradigm, from considering only those problems as 'economical' where prices and volumes could be estimated, to go beyond towards traditional areas of other sciences. Economics of family and of crime to name a few. Becker considers the decision making in these cases to show that it can be straight economical, the same as applied in a pricing or in a decision to produce. The judgement of Becker's 'economic imperialism', though, is a discussible point of view. To what extent economic reasoning can be applied is a matter of axioms underlying every economic theory. And these are not obvious but questionable instead. Therefore, it is my belief that this book should be read with a greater degree of criticism, just like any analysis of problems beyond 'traditional' scope of issues of economics.

Gary Becker is one of the most brilliant economists of our time, especially when it come to applying economics principles to non traditional areas. For example, Becker provides a rationale for altruistic behavior emerging in society, and he studies crime from the the perspective of a market economy of criminal activity. The book is somewhat technical, so a somewhat quantitative background is recommended.

An old saying goes something like, 'The child is the father of the man.' Coming off successful biographies of Queen Victoria, the Prince Consort, and other eminent Victorians, Stanley Weintraub has given us a fine biography of the Victorian era's most elderly 'child' of all, Albert Edward (aka 'Bertie'), the Prince of Wales.

Heir to the throne must be a difficult position in the best of circumstances and despite his luxuriant lifestyle, Bertie's circumstances were not the best. His mother decided early on that her eldest son was uneducable (Weintraub argues he was dyslexic), unreliable, untrustworthy, and at least partially at fault for the early death of the Prince Consort, the husband she worshipped. As the decades passed, she refused to modify this harsh judgment, viewing him as a wayward and unruly child even after the Prince was himself a grandfather. In fact, if never an intellectual like his father (Weintraub seems to doubt the Prince ever in his life read a book cover to cover), Bertie proved himself clever, sympathetic, popular with the people, and a fairly skilled, if unofficial, diplomat. Nevertheless, the Queen would not allow him access to state papers, or hand off to him any but the most minor of ceremonial duties.

Barred by custom from involvement in politics, and by his mother from any meaningful preparation for his inheritance, Bertie devoted himself to the one area he could influence the most, society. Weintraub's biography shines in its illustration of how the Prince's active social life, essentially frivolous in so many ways, nevertheless helped him discover talents and develop skills that served him in good stead as sovereign. And while never prurient, Weintraub is nevertheless comprehensive in his treatment of Bertie's many extramarital affairs, from his brief flings to his longstanding relationships with Lillie Langtry, Alice Keppel, and others (including, lest we forget, his beautiful and long-suffering wife, Princess Alix of Denmark).

Weintraub's picture of Albert Edward, in short, is a fully drawn one, and the reader can develop a fairly complete understanding of him as a man and as a Prince. I found him very human, disturbing and yet sympathetic. I would recommend this biography to any student of Britain's Royal Family or historian of the Victorian era.

Edward the Caresser is a fine biography of the Prince of Wales who became King Edward VII. The title is slightly misleading since he was only called "Edward the Caresser" after he became King in 1901, and while he was Prince of Wales he was known to the public as "Prince Albert Edward". But such quibbling should be put aside. This is a wonderfully entertaining story of a boy and man who had many fine qualities which were not appreciated by his parents Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who set impossibly high standards for him and were constantly and openly disappointed when he failed to meet them. Bertie (as he was known in the family) also had to deal with being compared to his older sister and younger brother, who were their parents' favorites. After being made to bear the burden of being (in his mother's eyes) the chief contributor to his father's death, Bertie spent the rest of Victoria's reign looking for something to do. Since the Queen refused to allow him constructive work, having fun in various dissipations was his main occupation. Given such a background, the fact that Bertie turned out to be a kind, good natured man with a wide circle of friends and a loving wife and family is surprising.

Stanley Weintraub always produces a fine biography, and I hope he will follow up on "Edward the Caresser" with another volume on Edward VII's reign. It will be interesting to see how the playboy prince from an emotionall disadvantaged background turned into one of the most successful and well beloved British monarchs of the twentieth centuries

As with the other "Eyewitness" books on various subjects, this book is also endowded with outstanding photography. The information is still minimal and based on the more popular material most folks are familiar with with the Native American. A good starter book for the yonger reader looking for some information on our American Natives............

North American Indian, a part of the Eyewitness Books series, is an excellent book. On each page, there are four or five stunning pictures with captions that explain the different elements of the pictures perfectly. The book includes descriptons of all sorts of different aspects of a North American Indian's life. It shows artwork done by several different tribes. The book also gives a history of all the different North American Indian tribes. It is a great book for an artist interested in the intricate art of the North American Indians, or a student looking for facts about the people. North American Indian is a wonderful all-around book; it is truly a great read!

An interesting characteristic of North American academia is its strange reluctance to accept a political role. Thus, the discomfort evident when trying to explain the obvious political heritage and tone of continental philosophers such as Heidegger, Sartre, or Derrida. Somehow, we imagine that the academic world is not to be "sullied" by such pedestrian concerns as politics. Consequently, Americans and Canadians both have misunderstood how profoundly political post-modernism is in its most basic tenets.

Here, from Stanley Rosen, comes a timely reminder of this, and a hard-headed and tactical one at that.

While some may take exception (I did) to the unnecessarily strident tone of argument employed here, there is no doubt that Stanley Rosen's analysis of post-modern hermeneutics from a politico-historical perspective is nothing short of brilliant. This is not a philosophical text for those who prefer to evade debate, or shrink away from conflict.

However, aside from the often unnecessary "bran" in many of his arguments, there is an incredibly studied, deeply knowledgeable mind at work here. His obvious mastery of material outweighs the often reactionary aspects of his writing. He appreciates the political nature of post-modernism, and clarifies it (and would probably like to convince us of certain of his own preferences regarding it). However, this is not the main thrust of the book.

And, if you want to read a philosophical essay so insightful and cogent it will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, you must read his chapter "Platonic Reconstruction". It is worth the cost of the entire book.

More Wanderings: http://www.broken-hill.net/wanderings/wander.html

Rosen displays uncanny ability here to touch the most vital issues in the conversations of so-called postmodern thinkers--"so-called" because he envisages them as continuing the work of enlightenment. That Derrida, Foucault, and others have critiqued western philosophy's dead ends is no accident, argues Rosen, because enlightenment thinkers such as Kant were themselves dealing with these problems. The dilemma of the relation between freedom and knowledge, for example, has led some--not necessarily Rosen--to the conclusion that reality is nothing more than what is politically entrenched. What Rosen wants to advocate, though, is that theory can glimpse a reality lying behind multiplicity of interpetation--"theoria" means "to get a look at." Finally, this book excels at explicating modern philosophical conversations, whether between Foucault and Habermas, Derrida and the Talmud, Kojeve and Strauss, or Rorty and Lyotard.

This cassette and booklet are perfect for serious students of the Italian language. It focuses on accurate pronunciation of vowels, dipthongs, tripthongs, consonants, double consonants and consonant combinations. It also goes over stress and intonation in words, sentences and questions.

The methods used are sound and the speaker utilizes the appropriate linguistic names for the types of sounds that you'll be making. (For instance, aspiration, vocalizations, plosives, etc...) The importance of including the linguistic aspects is merely to make the listener aware of how sounds are formed in the mouth. Because the differences in an Italian pp or dd and an American p or d are pretty, subtle, the speaker gives EXCELLENT examples in English for comparison.

Instructions are also given for exactly where in your mouth your tongue should be placed in order to make the most accurate sound.

The book does require that you have at least a basic Italian vocabulary. Mine is very small and I was still able to utilize this set. However, I wouldn't buy this as my first set of language tapes for Italian. It expects you to repeat entire sentences and questions that you may not have encountered before.

This cassette will not help you to improve your vocabulary. It will not provide you with new phrases. But, that's not its purpose. It primarily exists for those who have some knowledge of the language, but want to improve their pronunciation. It accomplishes that goal very well.

If you're going to spend hours and hours memorizing Italian vocabulary, you may as well practice a good accent at the very beginning. It would be a pity to learn all of those words, only to find that no one understands you.

How to Pronounce Italian Correctly begins with the vowels, a, e, i, o and u. Then, it teaches the dipthongs and tripthongs. Consonants come next, all 16 of them. The tape cassette also teaches consonant combinations and doubled consonants.

Next, the cassette teaches the proper stress in words and sentences. Finally, it teaches the correct intonation in statements, questions, words in a series and counting.

NTC Publishing Group produced this self-study course in such disarmingly simple fashion. All you have to do is follow along in the book as a woman provides the instructions in English and demonstrations in Russian. It's the old familiar genre of such courses, but it still works: Just listen and repeat, rewinding and replaying as many times as necessary until you feel that you've mastered it. In this instance, the cassette player becomes your "tireless teacher." It sounds corny, but it's true.

You do have to pay close attention as you follow along because the book contains added text to further assist in obtaining a spot-on Russian accent. Fortunately, such text is isolated through reduced margins or smaller print, so it shouldn't be much of a problem.

The woman speaker goes over each letter and sound thoroughly enough to not give extra attention to any "problem letters," and I feel that she presents it in very good fashion. If I have a complaint, it's that the synopsis claims that the course features native Russian speakers. After listening to this woman the entire book almost word for word, I don't believe it. Still, her Russian is almost native-like in nature to keep the instruction fresh and the impact strong.

Overall a well-structured and presented course and a good value for the money. I recommend it.

I bought the audio CD version of this several years ago but only recently have I started studying Russian with serious intent. Since the hardest part of learning Russian is adjusting to the Cyrillic alphabet, this is a great introduction to not only the alphabet, but the sounds of the letters.

The first half of the book and CD/tape covers the letters. It does it not in alphabetical order, but rather with the letters that most closely mirror the letters in English in both apperance and sound. New letters are added until the entire alphabet is covered.

The second half of the book covers the sound variations, such as the use of the soft and hard signs, and voiced and voiceless consonants. The second half really is where the meat of the pronouciation of the Russian language is covered. Byt the time you finish the book and CD/tapes, you will be able to sight read any Russian word like a native.

Also, if you have the chance to buy the CD version, do so. If you also have a computer with a CD-ROM drive, copy the CD as MP3 files and buy a set of headphones with a boom mic so that you can hear yourself say the words after the speaker. Then it's like you're in a language learning lab in school.

In this book called I Am An American that I read is a really good book because it is for the kids at the reading level of 9-12 (ages to). If you wanted to know the story. Well in the story their is a yough boy and his family that were intered with others. Also in this story is based one a true one, it is almost like a biography. As I was thinking about this story I realized that is was a very educational it makes you think about the world itself. When I was reading some other reviews I saw one and it caught my attention and I had to write about it. It was about a girl who had experienced what went on in the book. As I was reading on in this review it said that the girl and her family were interned too, just like the boy in the girl in the review. The girl's name that was interned with her family was Shi Nomura. I think being interned is like you having to pack up all of your things and then moving out of the place where you were and then never returning. I think that is just like being interned because you can never go back. And then I started to read another review and it mentioned that this whole thing happened during World War II, and that was one of the worst wars that went on in the world years ago. They said that Japan and many other countries were over world order. "Freedom has a Tousand charms to show". I used this because the people that were interned probably thought that they were going to be free because it makes it seem like they were going to be free but they weren't, going to be free at all. I think that it was a good book because it tells how badly people were treated, it had said that it was a good book. Some people may say that it was not a good book because it might make kids think that when they grow up they will be treated that way. It also might make it seem that this is still going on. It also might make teens think that the world around them is unfair to different people (races). Then it might make teens feel that some people in the world are disrespectful to different people (races), and should be respect to them no matter what race the people are. And it could make them think that people have no kind of respect for others and instead of being mean to them. It is a good book however kids can read it, get an educational idea of their life and the world that surrounds it. I Am An American can get a teen or a child to start reading at the reading level of 9-12. If you by this book then you will enjoy reading it because it will tell you what went on in the world back then instead of now. If you read this book now you will think that "Life isn't the same".

Your Fellow Adolescent, Shanti Lipscomb

I read this boook because I had a history project all about Japanese Internment. Before I read this book I thought Japanese Interment was only about the Japanese in some camps. I didn't realize the injustice that we set upon these noble and great people. After reading this book I felt enraged at how the Japanese would have to sell or burn their beautiful and valuble items. I think they deserve so much more than a letter from the President. We should have a much better tribute toward them. I have always been proud of living in such a great state such as California, but I am not proud that they were the least tolerant of the Japanese.