This is not really a "how to deal with kids and divorce" book, but a personal memoir of the two authors and their post-divorce situations. It's a good read - particularly the harrowing story about how Nancy's ex-husband abducted her children and took them across the world to Australia. But it is NOT a guidebook. I also was bothered by the fact that Karen handled her parenting in what I thought was a very selfish way. If I recall correctly, she moved him away from his father after the divorce, and then each time the child settled in to a town, with hobbies and relationships, she decided - for no compelling reason - to move someplace else.

I have not only read Karen and Nancy's book, but I have also attended a seminar presented by both authors. I am shocked at the negative review given by the lady from Fla. Karen's book was from the heart ( as was Nancy's) The bash that she gave Karen Todd was shocking. After reading the many times that Karen selfishly let her son go for him to experience the unconditional love from both of his parents was anything but selfish. It was a beautiful story that had coping skills that not only work with divorce children but with children that have moved away to college,gone to summer camp, or moved to a new school. The bonding and re-bonding chapter was a fantastic guideline in helping me understand the adjusting that children go through in change. When I last heard Karen speak, she was proud of her son acommplishments as a lawyer, father, and member of a community. She obviously did something within the 'guidlines' Karen Todd has a heart that opens to all families of divorce, and she has a wonderful mission. I highly recommend both of their loving stories to all families. Thank-you Amazon for having such a caring book available to all.

In a divorce, many people are effected. Parents, children, grandparents, aunts and uncles and friends. Karen discusses ways in which we can all cope with the realities of our lives after divorce. There is hope and practicle ways to create a happy reality after a divorce.

Set in the heyday of the Roman Empire, "Virgin Territory" is Marilyn Todd's second foray into the historical thriller genre. Continuing the series begun in "I, Claudia", this novel finds heroine Claudia Seferius once again embroiled in a web of suspense, as she is caught up in another mystery that she must solve at all costs. The reappearance of fellow investigator (and erstwhile suitor) Marcus Cornelius Orbilio does nothing to simplify the situation. It is up to Claudia to use her brains -as well as beauty where necessary!- to find her way to the bottom of the puzzle.

On first reading Todd's work I was strongly reminded of Lindsey Davies, another writer of historical crime fiction whose work predates this by several years. Certainly there are parallels between the series. However, Todd's characters are sufficiently individual to banish any lingering suspicions of copycat writing. In particular, female protagonist Claudia is an intensely likeable character who fairly sparkles with intelligence, charm and feminine guile. Orbilio, the tall, dark and of course handsome patrician, provides a worthy foil for her wit and the occasional moment of sexual tension (although somewhat obviously engineered) provides a frisson of added interest.

The major flaw of Todd's work is a certain awkwardness of style. Dangling participles and incongruous metaphors are scattered throughout, while her habit of concluding almost every chapter with a grammatically incomplete sentence (presumably for added emphasis) quickly becomes annoying. However, if you can silence your inner editor for long enough to get past this, you will be rewarded with an enjoyable and amusing sleuth story with a satisfying but not excessive amount of historical detail.

All of Todd's Claudia Seferius Roman series veritably glow with life. She comes across as the party girl's Agatha Christie with flair; stumbling from incident to incident with naught but luck and startling good looks and ready tongue to negotiate both her's and Drusilla's way out of danger. An imperfect heroine with an undeniable infatuation of the noble Orbilio (disingenously desribed as a 'policeman') Todd manages to set her murder mysteries in Rome with minimal care for historical accuracy. Gone is the Roman mater, in is the twenty-first century party girl.
To be fair you can see the development in Todd's writing through the series and her latest (Black Salamander) finds Claudia moving out of Rome, but, unlike another great author, Lindsey Davies, her mysteries depend on the character rather than the setting so Claudia travels rather better than Falco.
Any mystery afficionado should have these on the shelves. They are delightful.

"Virgin Territory" succeeds on several levels - the heroine Claudia (first met in "I, Claudia") is a realistic, feisty and nicely rounded (in more ways than one!) character with the foibles and attitudes typical of her time. Marilyn Todd manages to make her other characters stand out as individuals also, even the walk-on parts. The murder mystery is both intrigueing but not too obscure (something which always irritates me). The research into the period is obviously intense but used to create atmosphere and a solid backdrop, and isn't allowed to overwhelm the story. A welcome addition to Lindsey Davis and Janet Evanovich for amusing, clever crime fiction on my bookcase.

In my opinion, Mr. Todd writes books by some type of writing formula. No matter the subject, He uses the same source material for each of his books. I find them shallow and sophmoric. They are like an expanded version of a college freshman term paper.

Todd's book is the single best introduction to the subject of Germanic peoples I have found. It contains an accurate summery of the current state of scholarship and is an easy read.

If you can have only one book on the subject, this should be it.

Todd's book has become the standard introduction to the history and archaeology of the early Germanic peoples in English. In a remarkably clear and concise work, Todd manages a comprehensive overview of much of the main evidence regarding the Germanic tribes which goes a long way to correcting the popular conception that they were the filthy grunting savages seen in the opening sequence of the movie 'Gladiator'.

In the first part of the book he covers most of the important aspects of the culture of these tribes, covering the physical landscape of forest and marshland in which they lived, their general social structure, trade and diplomacy with Rome, burial customs, art, technology and (of course) warfare. He draws on both literary and archaeological sources of information and uses both judiciously to present a concise picture of these complex and warlike peoples.

Part Two gives brief but useful summaries of the history of the major tribes who took part in the 'Age of Migrations' from the Third to the Seventh Centuries AD. He presents information on the Goths, Seubi, Vandals, Franks, Alemanni, Burgundians, Gepids, Lombards, Thuringians, Bavarians and the Scandinavian tribes, with mentions of many other minor peoples. Each of these is little more than a useful sketch ranging from four to forty pages each (consider that Herwig Wolfram's 'History of the Goths' checks in at over 600 densely packed pages), but each of these is enough to introduce the essential information about each these peoples and direct the interested reader to more extensive information. It also shows that these tribes differed from each other culturally and, to an extent, linguistically and that what is true about the Germanics in the First Century may not be so in the Sixth.

The book is well illustrated with maps, diagrammes, photos of artefacts (both Germanic and Roman) and line drawings and its bibliography, while not comprehensive, is an excellent jumping off point for the reader who wishes to know more.

While the Celts have become a topic of keen interest in recent years, with a plethora of books on them ranging from fine academic works through coffee table books to arrant New Age nonsense, the ancient Germanics are, in a way, the neglected peoples of the ancient world. Given that England was established by Germanic tribes and that they were in many ways the successors of the Roman world, it is a little surprising that these vibrant, warlike and artistic 'barbarians' are not far better known and understood in the English-speaking world.

An excellent book for both the undergraduate student and the general reader. Along with his 'The Northern Barbarians' I can recommend this work very highly.

You definitely can't tell this book by its cover. Not only are the title and the cover's synopsis very misleading, but the picture you see on the front of the book has nothing to do with the book's subject matter.

I bought this book because it was recommended by The Economist in a book review when it was first released. It appeared to be an interesting discussion about how different religions have accepted or rejected images that were memorialized in print. In light of the Taliban's destruction of the Buddha statues, I was especially interested in this topic to enlighten me about how various cultures have viewed the representation of God, gods, people, animals, landscapes, etc. The Economist review and the book's cover led me to believe that this book would enlighten me in that regard. It didn't.

Be forewarned that this book is almost entirely about religious images and Christianity. There is some discussion in the beginning of the book about images of gods in ancient times (and what Plato and Aristotle thought about them), but most of the book is about the iconoclastic and iconophilic schools of Christian theology. (The discussion about iconoclasm in Judaism and Islam is limited to a few pages.) Hence, I would characterize this book under the heading philosophy, not art.

My only other comment pertains to the writing. Keep in mind that Besancon wrote this book in French, so you are reading a translation. I don't know if it's because of the writing in the original, the translation or the subject matter, but this is a very dry read. I will confess that I keep the book on the bedside table to provide soporific assistance. Calling itself an "Intellectual History" does not, to me, give a book license to be painfully boring.

While there are some interesting passages (such as the discussion about the Trinity in Christianity, which was helpful in explaining the concept of the Holy Spirit), I rate this book as two stars. I do this primarily because it was not what it purported to be. It would have been more aptly entitled, "The Depiction of the Divine in Christian Theology." And the cover picture should have been from a painting of a crucified Jesus. But then again, that probably wouldn't sell as many copies.

Forbidden Image is a college-level intellectual history of iconoclasm which examines who the representation of the divine came to be a philosophical issue, with the idea of 'graven images' receiving different interpretation by different religions. Philosophy and theology blend in a comprehensive examination of how the status of the image has changed over the centuries.

This is a thorough and entertaining history of the critical fortunes of religious imagery. The author tells the long controversial story of the many debates surrounding the worship of images of gods and other notables in Western culture. Starting with the proscription against the Golden Calf and the Hebraic and Islamic laws against the 'graven image," Besancon tracks the history of this debate through Greek and Roman culture, the various phases of early and medieval Christianity, including the ways in with the Eastern and Roman Catholic churches have dealt differently with the problem. Besancon then tracks the status of the religious image through the Renaissance, and how it was perceived by Enlightenment philosophers. He ends with a discussion of how art came to be perceived in religious terms and how the artist came to be perceived as a kind of romantic god starting in the late nineteenth century. He ends with a discussion of the tense relationship between modernism and spirituality, dealing with the art of Kandinsky, Mondrian, and others.

The book is a little strange: one is always aware that Besancon has his own view of things--but it is a highly learned, far-ranging and charming view. Highly recommended.

I felt that while this book is a fast pace read, there are some errors that greatly bring down the value of this book. The Iditarod was run to provide medicine for diptheria, not smallpox as is stated in the book. The dog museum is in Cinicinati, not in San Francisco. While this is corrected in the end of the book, it should have been correct all throught the book. The most grievous error though is that Doris and Richard were not provided a home within there village. A home in the village would be found for children in their circumstances. I feel this book should have been better researched.

Tyler is VISITING his uncle in Alaska. I had a great sense of what Alaska, and it's wildlife is like after reading this book. I am going to recommend it to my intermediate elementary aged students as well as my high school aged son who is a reluctant reader. It is fast moving and enjoyable. While I usually use a Paulsen book when kids are looking for an adventure book, this book reads quicker and will be a hit. I am going to go out and buy the entire "Against The Odds" series for my elementary school library today!!

Tyler has gone to visit his uncle in the wilderness of Alaska. He doesn't expect to find two kids, Richard and Doris, who are half-Indian, living with his uncle. Now Tyler's uncle is sick, and Tyler and Richard aren't getting along. Then a ferocious grizzly attacks the cabin. Can Tyler and Richard work together to fend off the grizzly

I'm surprised the reader who said Riesman's book was hard to read had the basic skills even to write a review. The Lonely Crowd is not only easy to read, it's extremely easy to read. Hegel and Heidegger are hard to read. Quine's Word and Object and Carnap's Philosophy and Logical Syntax are hard to read. In terms of sociology, I guess Parsons had his moments. But Reisman? Come on. That reviewer must have had a steady diet of Harry Potter books to think that The Lonely Crowd is difficult to get through.

A classic of American sociology, Riesman's book still rings true to a great extent in its preternatural sense of the (then) coming break between the modern and post-modern era. These days Reisman's characterological framework of social personality types -- tradition oriented, inner-directed, other-directed -- seems too pat, too simplistic, too culturally bound. Nevertheless, whether one believes in it or not, the framework remains so compelling that the reader begins to group all one's friends and acquaintances in one or another of the categories. It's the power of imaginative writing that holds our attention in spite of the too neat framework, proving once again that fiction is always more compelling than sociology. Crisp and evocative metaphors work every time! Two memorable metaphors -- the inner-directed person has a "gryoscope" implanted in him by his parents and his society, while the later other-directed personality is equipped with radar to seek out social cues, are deservedly famous. So are his distinctions between the way these different cultures control their members through negative self-assesment: tradition-oriented = shame; inner-directed = guilt; other-directed = anxiety.

To his credit, Riesman bends over backwards to say that people can belong to all categories at once through various manifestations of their characters. Nevertheless, the categories are so simple, and feel so descriptively true, that the tendency to believe in the categories and Riesman's historical sketch of how each comes about almost our overwhelms skepticism. Almost. But as Todd Gitlin points out in the foreward, Riesman's theories are tied to a population theory (other-directed societies could supposedly be distinguished by their lower birth rates in combination with economic prosperity) that was almost immediately overturned by the baby boom in the years immediately following the publication of the book. Riesman himself in the reprint of his introduction from a previous edition points out the flaw in the population projection, recanting this part of his theory. And although the flaw is minor in the sense of the meat of the book -- psychologizing various populations at certain stages in their economic development, it does began after awhile to discredit even the psychologizing. For so tightly does he link the other-directed to a phenomenon which is almost immediately proved wrong, that it calls into question everything else he contends. Remember the book "The Population Bomb" which predicted in the 60s that world would soon be overrun with humanity? It didn't take into consideration famine, disease, war -- the usual plagues of humanity. There is nothing so humbling as building a theory on bad demographic predictions.

Whether or not the theories about social character are true, they were extraordinarily influential at the time, shaping ideas about the American character and American society that persist fifty years later. There are parts of this book -- most of it in fact -- that feels vital and true to this day. The question is, however, is this because the ideas contained herein have become so dissolved into the cultural discourse that they have become true in the retelling, or are they literally true for their time and so remain?

That's part of the fun of reading this old chestnut -- deciding for yourself!

This is a superb book, a masterpiece of American sociology. Riesman's eye for detail and his capacity for historical sweep are prodigious. This is not a dry book, though it is probably more academic than your average customer can stomach; but Lonely Crowd stands with the work of Dwight MacDonald, C. Wright Mills, Daniel Bell as a vade mecum to the character of our country. Don't be fooled by this other review --Riesman added to the language with his descriptors "inner" and "outer" directed; if you are raising children, fending off Disney and Time Warner, these are critical weapons in your arsenal.

I turned to this book based on my experience with
"Windows NT 4 Server Unleashed", which let me bring
an NT server up rather painlessly some years ago.
However, this book does not measure up. Not only are
there many places where it's obvious that a proofreader
was not used, but I found quite a few places where
text was simply cut-and-pasted from chapter to
chapter, resulting in duplication of whole paragraphs.
Look elsewhere if you're looking to understand the
differences between NT4 and W2K from the ground up.
If you're already experienced with Win2K, perhaps
you'll find this a good reference, but it's not for
beginners.

This book is intended to all expert Windows NT administrators only! If you're new to Windows Administration and you want to start from the ground up with Windows 2000, then this book is NOT for you. Although I praise the book for it's in-depth technical explanation of the great new features of Windows 2000, it doesn't have much of the details on how to actually use them from within the server or your application. This book discusses in detail the internal workings of Windows services and components, but not on practical applications of the new technologies available or will be made available (eg. ASP.NET on IIS 5.0). I'd say the author focused on the "why's" but less on the "how's".

I am a web developer and I wanted to learn all the technical processes and hardware requirements in setting up and administering Windows 2000 such as setting up a LAN, a name server to point my domain at and make it available on the web, or even just to connect my network to my ISP (like setting up a router, a hub, proxy server, etc.), but I was disappointed not to get even a single hint. I guess I failed to review the table of content beforehand.

Anyway, I still believe this book deserves a space on my shelf for future reference - when I am already an expert in Windows administration. And I will still remain a fan of SAMS Unleashed book series!

Windows 2000 Server Unleashed is a very productive book. This book covers a lot of aspects of Windows Server Advanced Server ranging from installing it into your server up to securing your server from hackers, crackers and script kiddies. The book also explains just about all you need to know so that you can successfully manage a Windows 2000 server. I like how the book explains all the different aspects of each part of the operating system. The information ranges from how the operating system actually works up to the different techniques that you can use to tweak the server. Another thing I liked about Windows 2000 Server Unleashed is that it tells you both the GUI way to do things and also the command line way. Tips to different parts of the operating system are scattered throughout the book and these tips are usually pretty useful. Overall the Windows 2000 Server Unleashed book is a very useful reference manual that should become a bible for any administrator who is thinking about a Windows 2000 network

I've bought a few Spawn-related stories in the past, when a favorite Writer was involved, such as Dave Sim, Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, etc. With the exception of Frank Miller's Spawn/Batman crossover, and Alan Moore's Violator and Violator/Badrock, they've all stunk. I blame this on the character of Spawn himself, which is truly limited by it's one-dimensionality. Not even the greatest Writers in the field of comics can make him interesting.

Angela's Hunt will be incomprehensible to people who haven't read Spawn #9, also written by Neil Gaiman. It should have been included in the book, as the story makes precious little sense without it. Gaiman, who created the amazing Sandman for DC, has finally done something I didn't love. (First time for everything, I suppose...) The book is only interesting as a historical footnote now, as it was the catalyst for the recently decided Todd McFarlane/Neil Gaiman Lawsuit over the ownership of Angela, Cogliostro, and Medieval Spawn. (Gaiman won, and was granted ownership of the characters, as well as a settlement and residuals from other uses of those characters, including their appearances in the Spawn movie & cartoons.)

Spawn fans ONLY should read this; Gaiman fans should steer clear. You're not missing anything.

After writing mostly Fantasy-influenced stories with throlls, faeries and wizards which worked out good for him, Neil Gaiman takes a risk here with the further creation of a character who later turns out to be one of the most popular members of the cast of a superhero title according to many. I myself take quite some characters over her (Billy Kincaid, Violator, Jason Wynn) but as a character that's supposed to be the perfect opposite of the Hellspawn she's indeed a very satisfying new (at the time) character. Luckily most of the story stages in Heaven and Hell, places Gaiman is familiair with since he explored them many times over already and THAT shows. His writing is being aided by the art of Greg Capullo who I think started here in showing himself to be worthy to take up drawing Spawn after McFarlane. It's obviously NOT the perfected art Capullo shows of later when he gets to draw 'Spawn' yet though, to be honest. I don't have a specific word for it but it's showing that typical "Image-look' that most Image books had in their early days.

About the story: The Angelic warrior Angela is celebrating her 100.000th birthday in her own unique fashion when all of a sudden the Hordes of Heaven come to place her under arrest. She's being put on trial for treason and conspiring with a Hellspawn (See the events in Spawn #9 to see what happened), among other things. It soon becomes clear to most that she's being set up and her friends attempt to help her. In doing so they need to get Spawn from earth and take him to heaven un-noticed to testify for Angela, the woman who once tried to kill him.

This story takes place right after #10 and is really a very good enhancement to the early days of the ongoing Spawn series. In saying that I'm also saying that it's definately NOT for people who haven't been reading the first 10 issues of Spawn, or at least #9 and 10 where the first Spawn/Angela meeting takes place. It explains a lot about some changes Angela went through between #9 and the later issues, which aren't addressed in the Spawn series itself. So when you've been a Spawn reader you must surely get this because it will only make your experience and understanding of Angela better, because it ties up some loose ends. If you haven't you should think about getting Spawn #9 and 10 first (#9,10 + the Angela minies makes a perfectly good stand-alone story without you having to go further into Spawn afterwards), or not get Angela at all. The story won't make sense otherwise.

I thought this comic was great. It has a great story to it and the drawings are exelent. I thought the person who did the color on it did a great job, too.
I usally don't read the Spawn comics, but I thought this one looked interesting so I bought it. I am very happy with it and can read it over and over again.
The cover interested me by its great artwork and detail. I recomend this to fans of Spawn's Angela.

This book was a great tale of action and writing. The book is a must read which features four more great charachters added to the marvel lineup. It has action and humor in this awesome graphic novel showing the webslinger at his best . Excellently written and drawn no wonder it is a favorite of many fans of marvel.

Actually, This was a brilliant way to add life to the series. Before Identnty Crisis, the Sipder-Man books were going downhill, and fast. This book shows Marvel's ability to give a title a quick boost (Identity Crisis sold very well on the shelves) And then return to a normal storyline afterwards, regaining their reading audience. And the Slingers weren't totally random either, each of the four represented a specific portion of Parker's personality, or Spider Man's powers. An excellent collection.

Many are right when they say that Marvel has gone down as of recently, but this superbly written and illustrated book shows what Marvel can really do. Some of Spider-Man's best writers and artists got together on this book and forever made an imprint in the Marvel universe.

The author manages to tell the story of this extraordinary life in the most laboured way imaginable. It is clear that she has done considerable research and she seems determined to force every finding into the story, regardless of its relevance to character or plot.

The attempt at an interesting narrative technique fails (each chapter is narrated by a different central character: Valadon herself, Lautrec, Degas, etc) because the 'voice' of each character is the same and no independent personality or emotion emerges.

Even the repetition of exclamations in French (just in case we forget that the book is set in Paris?) became pure irritation by the end.

I finished the book because the subject matter is of interest to me, but it was a struggle. There is no subtlety in the writing at all. I was suprised to learn that this is the work of an experienced author because it seemed more like the work of an enthusiastic amateur.

It is telling that of the two 'reviews' on the back cover, one from 'Bill Henderson - Editor and Publisher' is too brief to be informative and the other, from Germaine Greer, is clearly about the book's subject and not about the book.

If you are interested in Valadon, you would be better reading 'Mistress of Montmartre : a life of Suzanne Valadon' by June Rose.

As a reader interested in the Impressionist Era, I was particularly drawn to Suzanne: of Love and Art, a novel based on the life of the artist Suzanne Valadon. This very beautiful daring modeland mistress of Toulouse-Lautrec and Renoir who taught herself to draw and paint, was well portrayed, I felt, by the author. The obstacles against women artists which she had to overcome in the 19th century in her rise from obscurity, made for a colorful and fascinating novel and certainly an interesting one.

As a parent, I felt that the passages between her and her alcoholic son, Maurice Utrillo, were by far the best written in the book. The passage starting with "and on the fifth day with the daylight streaming through the window and with the snow plaguing Paris. . . .Maurice began to mix his paints," was a particularly moving one. In her forcing her son to paint in order to deal with his alcoholism throws out the question in this century, "How far should a mother intervene in her child's career?" Certainly, her son fought her desire that he be an artist. That is, at first. She followed her gut feeling and insisted. In these times, in modern psychology, her insistence that he paint would appear slightly ludicrous. But it worked! If her son had not become an artist, he would have remained a hopeless drunk.Yet I kept asking myself as a parent, "What would I have done?" The author, of course, followed the actual facts of Suzanne's life and Maurice Utrillo became a great painter.

Suzanne's dilemmas were twofold. Aside from her problem with her son, there was her life with her husband, a womanizer, 21 years her junior. Ms. Koren, again handled this deterioration well in her relationship with him.

I felt that the structure of the book a bit unusual, having the characters close to her in her life tell their version of their relationship with Suzanne. It was a fresh departure from the usual first person narrative.

I found the book interesting an well written and certainly shows the research and knowledge of the subject matter. There's also insight into the times. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Suzanne Valadon was certainly a woman ahead of her time. It is refreshing to read a book that gives such a clear perspective on all the challenges that women face, as artists, single moms and as sexual beings. And Suzanne managed to live such a rich life in a time when it really was unheard of. This book has let me learn about some of the most famous French Impressionist painters in an riveting and provocative way.

I thoroughly recommend this book.