Sheridan's phrase "school for scandal" is a grand metaphor for the gossipy London society of the late 1770's, and the longevity of the play that bears it as its title attests to its relevance in any place and time. Sheridan captures the inherent drama and humor in the truism that people are always talking about other people behind their backs and uses it as a foundation on which to devise a plot of intrigue.

The school's "principals" are Lady Sneerwell and a man named Snake, who like to collect gossip about their neighbors and others in London society; one of their cohorts is the brilliantly ironic character Mrs. Candour, who openly reprehends idle gossip but blithely participates in it anyway. One of their favorite subjects of gossip is the Surface brothers, Joseph and Charles. The popular perception is that Joseph is responsible and respectable, while Charles is a wastrel and a miscreant.

The Surface brothers' uncle, Sir Oliver Surface, returns to London after spending many years in India, hears the rumors about his nephews, and decides to verify them for the purpose of choosing an heir between the two. Since he has been gone so long that his nephews would not recognize him, he visits them incognito. Posing as a moneylender to Charles, and as a poor relative to Joseph, he discovers that his nephews are not quite of the natures he has been led to believe.

Sheridan employs some typical comedic devices like love triangles and hiding characters, but for the most part this is an inventive play that picks its targets well and hits the bullseye every time. Considering it was written at such a turbulent time in England's history, it's interesting that social satire still managed to break through greater national concerns and be successful and appreciated.

This book made it fun and delightful to follow how rumors and scandals are started. Anyone who wants a ligth hearted read in the style of a Shakespearean comedy, "School for Scandal" by Richard Sheridan is for you. It has the most entertaining characters, who anyone could recognize as being people they know and are friends with, and it pokes fun at soap-opera-like dramas that have forbidden loves and misleading coincidences. The situations that arise seem so unthinkable and impossible, and then you realize that you or someone you know has been there right down to the last detail. "School for Scandal" is a entertaining read for anyone who has ever passed on a rumor.

The aptly named Sir Oliver Surface would like to know which of his nephews is the more worthy, and, well, nothing is ever simple. This comedy of manners is one of the best ever written, and it rings true 225 years after its first performance thanks to its snide comments on English aristocrats and one-liners such as "I'm called away by particular business. But I leave my character behind me."

The Dover Thrift edition has no introduction or analysis. Intoduction and analysis are of course not necessary, but in some situations they are nice things to have.

Kim-Gibson is able to gather the testimonies of many former Korean comfort women - not an easy task. Generally, the content of the book seemed to be excellent, but the writing was, at times, laughable. Kim-Gibson includes comments about her own feelings during her interviews of former comfort women, such as "Relieved, I handed her a piece of Kleenex in silence." Such irrelevant comments take away from the credibility of the book. They make it read almost like a cheap novel. If the writing had been cleaner, without having to listen to Kim-Gibson's experience (since this is, after all, supposed to be a book about the comfort women's experiences), it might have been a great contribution to the literature on comfort women.

Ms. Kim-Gibson thoughtfully personalizes the stories of comfort-women.

Long-suppressed by the Japanese government and often overlooked by historians, the Korean comfort women's story emerges at last. Activist, film maker and writer Dai Sil Kim-Gibson has tackled the monumental task of exposing these Korean comfort women's stories to the public. With empathetic probing and years of patient interviews, Kim-Gibson succeeds in opening up these women whose lives have been pockmarked by the brutality of their surroundings. Their oral history is moving testament to the human's stubborn will to survive. Elucidating and inspiring, this book is a must-read.

I checked this out of the library, because I had heard good things about it. So far I am not impressed enough to buy it unless the price comes down. While it does have some good techniques, the drawings were not as clear as they could be, and the directions are not written very clearly either--I understood what the author was getting at only after reading another person's description of the technique. The line drawings of the socks also didn't do a whole lot for the overall effect.

Also this particular edition has not only very large margins, but also several repeats of the measurements page (to make socks for others). One to copy is plenty. So, overall, the book is somewhat overpriced for what you get. In fact, I got the impression that it was an expanded magazine article, and a lot of the same information is already out on the net. So check it out to see if you understand what she's driving at first, and wait for it to come out in paper.

Priscilla Gibson-Roberts is a combination anthropological knitter and technical guru; if you want to know about Eastern European socks and stockings, she is the ultimate source. She also spins her own yarns and designs anatomically-fitting socks using the "short-row" technique.

For some knitters (like spatially-challenged little old me), the short row heel and toe method is hard to grasp, so if you long to do that kind of construction on your knitted footwear, this is a valuable reference book. The explanation of the shaping (it's an hourglass) and the description of what parts of the "hourglass" go where (front, back, top , bottom) are good. They are accompanied by ink drawings to illustrate the text.

There are schematics for various types of socks; toe up, toe down, short rowed, stripes vertical and horizontal, motif knitting in the round, and an especially good set of drawings on doing intarsia such as argyle, in circular knitting. Normally, intarsia is done flat knitting only.

The book has only line drawings with ink dots for shading. While it serves to put some dimension to the flatness of the sketches, I found the dot shading made the sock drawings look a bit strange.

If you are a sock knitter and want to advance your technique, this is a useful reference book and should be on the shelf next to Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. It's not as pretty a book as some, but I recommend it as a good technical reference.

As one who views socknitting as an engineering design challenge, I am always looking for ways to improve shaping and fitting the socks I make. I have never been happy with the way toes are shaped, and wondered why we couldn't use the "short-row" technique on toes just as we do on heels, then make a straight join on top of the foot, as commercially made socks do. I was delighted to discover that it is not only possible,but this author tells us exactly how to do it, and then goes on to give us an extraordinary variety of other ways to vary our designs. This is not a book of "patterns"; it is much more valuable than that! You can find the General Laws of the Sock-knitting Universe in this book and then you will become the master all all the socks you can knit. This book should belong to every person who knits socks. If you know a sockmaker, give them a copy of this book. You will be rewarded for years to come!

When I first came across this story line, I was thinking, "How cool! I MUST read this book!" So I got it as soon as I could and started reading it. By the end, I was bored and confused and bewildered. How could something like this be published?! The characters are all one-dimensional, and I think the girls in this book must have blushed 300 times each. Every sentence. "So-and-So's face turned a bright red as she blushed." But that's only the beginning! You see, these people are totally brain dead. Murder doesn't have a damn effect on them. When they find a body, they put it in a fridge at one of the restaurants, then go bowling! Or to the movies! The deaths of their friends don't matter jack! I wish all those characters were killed, especially Heather, who made her transition from flirt to nice girl over a bowling game! My God, how cheesy! I have seen cheesy horror movies better than this book! Don't waste your money on this. You will just find yourself wishing for an escape from this stupid story and it's killer who is avenging his grandparent's hardships, which, how coincidential, all seven in that mall contributed to. Oh please! Spare me! And spare yourself by NOT buying this book. (P.S.-Cute name.)

Diana Connelly is amongst the hundreds of new employees at the Crossroads Mall. The mall will be opening shortly, and all workers must prepare for the grand opening. After hours of preparation, the police come to advise them of a winter storm. After the cops arrange driving situations, there are still people who need a ride home. Eight friends give up their vehicles and decide to wait-out the storm at the mall. They use a furniture store for sleeping purposes, and restaurants are open to them, care of management, for food. They think that things couldn't get any better until someone in the group is found dead. Was it an accident, or is someone out to get them? The question is answered very quickly when another person is found....The phones are dead, and each person receives ominous messages....Who's doing this, and who will be next?

I thought that "Slay Bells" was very entertaining! Reading it within a few hours definitely added to the on-going suspense! The storyline was very original, and so were the murders. Also, I like how it was different from most other thrillers. Instead of starting off with the suspense, it had foreshadowing, which didn't rush the book, like most other thrillers. Even though it was strong in those areas, it lacked logically. How coincidental that all the people that the murderer wanted to kill were the ones stranded at the mall? Also, the way the friends disposed of the bodies were very radical, and didn't seem to have a long-term shock on any of the friends until the third murder! Still, the book deserves five stars for originality and suspense, which is the main purpose of a thriller, right?.....

a.) "The Train" by Diane Hoh
b.) "Secret Santa" by D. E. Athkins
c.) "Double Date" by Sinclair Smith
d.) "Starstruck" by Richie Tankersley Cusick
e.) "Vampire" by Richie Tankersley Cusick
f.) "Trick or Treat" by Richie Tankersley Cusick
g.) All R. L. Stine young adult thrillers
h.) All books by Joan Lowery Nixon

this is one of my favorite book of all time... I read all of Jo Gibson's book and Slay Bells and My Bloody Valentine are my ultimate favorites.

I really enjoy the book Neuromancer, and was really excited when I found a copy of the graphic novel in a used book store in my home town. Since it was sealed I could not look inside until I got home. I must say I was truly dissapointed with the poor art work. I realize the story is the thing, but I bought a graphic novel for the graphics, I already have the text version, and would have stuck with it had I known the art work would be so bad. There is no excuse for a novel of such high quality to have such a low standard of art. While the street scenes and inside scenes looked good the people were lacking. I thought that the character Molly Millions was drawn especially poorly. She looks like Sylvester Stallone in drag most of the time. I am sorry to say this graphic novel was a dissapointment.

I'm fortunate to have a copy of this. It covers the first third or so of Neuromancer. It's a shame they didn't continue it.

Other William Gibson rarities and short stories at my complete bibliography/mediagraphy, http://www.slip.net/~spage/gibson/biblio.ht

If you like SF, specially the cyberpunk branch, this book is a must. Case, a Netrunner (who cannot jack in the net due some neural damage) is hired to do another run, to crack an ICE, to get into Tessier-Ashpools data...

Gibson's world is vivid, and he takes us trough lot of scenarios, all of them decadent, and all of them possible these days: Night CIty in Japan, Istambul, An spacial station full of Rastafarian guys (The sionites), Ashpool the last of the true magnats in the world...

And the personages are all interestng: Molly, a bodyguard (a razon-girl) with some kind of mirrorshades instead of eyes, Ratz: a bartender with a russian plastic arm, and even the AI's.

I liked it very much, and it's avery good introduction tho the cyberpunk world, that has been partially showed to us with films like "Johnny Mnemonic" or "Lawnmower", and the recent released "The Matrix"

just a comment. The term "CYBERSPACE" first appeared in this novel

This book was good but... Some of the magic tricks were to easy for someone to figure out.They also don't explain very well a few tricks in the book.Bottom Line:This book is good for people who have just started trying out magic tricks.Other wise don't buy it.

Joining the party? Amuse your friends with this easy to use tricks.

This is a collection of around 10 articles all on the subject of preaching. Though it won 1999 Book of the Year from Preaching Magazine, I'm not sure what the fuss is about. Some of the articles are indeed interesting, such as the one about researching one's own culture in addition to the biblical culture. We will be unable to connect our listeners to the text if we are not knowledgeable about the situation and culture of our listeners.

This book is a tribute to Haddon Robinson, and the contributers don't let you forget that. Many of them re-explain "Big Idea" preaching, so that you end up reading the same thing several times.

Anyway, there are some good points. The main gist of the book is that Big Idea preaching is a philosophy which can be applied to almost any biblical passage and any preaching method.

This book is required for Preaching I at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. It has some good examples of how to do good preaching (homiletics). It is also in honor of famous preacher Haddon Robinson, a professor emeritus.

Being a collection of essays, there are a number of famous names, including Bruce Waltke, Paul Borden, Bruce Shelley, Scott Gibson, and others.

The book is divided into 3 sections: first is why a single idea lands the biggest punch, the second is the biblical and theological power (foundations of exegesis and how to do some exegesis and how to apply to preaching), and the third is communicating the point.

This is also a book that applies Haddon Robinson's book, Biblical Preaching. The first section is two essays, one of which asks questions Robinson poses ("What is the big idea?" "What are the subject and the complement?"), and then applying this to be text-centered and audience-focused. Then, the sermon is developed with examples, illustrations, it is applied, proved, or explained, for development, and constantly re-iterated (repeated) for force. There is also necessity for the preacher to know his people and is clear, and applies theological and biblical principles, applying the right texts to address pertinent issues.

The second part of the text looks through how to do proper exegesis (for instance in Old Testament sources and challenges, such as poetics or wisdom literature, or New Testament challenges like defining the right texts and limiting the text) and applying this to preaching. In addition, Borden's essay in this section tries to address the issue of finding the big idea within a narrative. Then Terry Mattingly has an essay on 'exegeting the culture,' dealing with the issue of the audience, being composed of cultures and subcultures, to be pertinent, relevant, and clear in communication. Bruce Shelley then has the final essay in this section to relate the biblical theology's grand theme to the big idea: Christ. This leads into "What shall we do?"

The final section starts with an essay by Sunukjian on developing a flow in a sermon, applying Robinson's methods (inductive and deductive preaching, applying, proving, or explaining propositions, etc.) Joseph M. Stowell III has an essay on "Preaching for a Change," where the preacher must have his life and doctrine the same, that teaching (patient instruction) must come with preaching, and that application must be grounded in the text. He is concerned with the process (of sanctification) rather than the product (perfect holiness) in the lives of individuals, transforming them through preaching in and about many contexts (regarding individuals, small groups, local contexts of regions, all humanity, etc.) John Reed writes an essay on finding the right questions to ask in the sermon as well as finding good illustrations. Gibson wraps up the text restating the major points, and shows how flexible (adaptible) this method is.

MRs. Susasn has written a readable book, but in a naive language, spending much time talking about Gibson personal problems and little about his combat days. There is no sensation that the reader can understand the real hazards of flying night bombing over occupied Europe in WW2.

I just read this book and I can only be grateful to the author. I first met Gibson's life history when I was trying to become a member of my country's air force, which I didnt do. Nevertheless, I bought a copy of Enemy Coast Ahead which has been with me for nearly 40 years. I became interested on his life, but there was no available information. This book filled the gap and I believe it is a great book. I have nothing further to say!.

Dr. Wortle's School is basically the story of two couples in love and how their affections disrupt the tranquil setting of the school. The main plot revolves around Dr. Wortle's "usher" or school assistant, Mr. Peacocke and his wife. A scandal from their past threatens their happiness. The second, very minor, plot is the love story between Dr. Wortle's daughter, Mary and the good-natured Lord Carstairs.

The joy of the novel is watching Dr. Wortle deal with these crises. Will he stand by Mr. Peacocke in his time of need? Will he allow his daughter to become engaged to the very young Lord Carstairs? The answers to these questions and the reactions of the other characters are handled in the typical Trollope fashion, with compassion and common sense. Sprinkle the whole thing with deft strokes of humor and you have what is Dr. Wortle's School.

As I mentioned in my review of Castle Richmond, I am amazed what a modern thinker Trollope was. His reputation as a "old-fashioned" author is entirely undeserved. In a day and age (late 1870s)when actions and image were everything, where a hint of scandal could ruin a person, it must have seemed radical to stress that persons should be judged as much on their "nature" or character as anything else. This is one of those general notions that could be applied just as well in 2000 as in 1878.

You might wonder, given what I have already said, why I give Dr. Wortle's School four stars. When you compare them to his towering Last Chronicle of Barset, Orley Farm and The Way We Live Now, it seems a slight injustice to those five star books to give all the others five stars. Dr. Wortle's School is very readable certainly, but it does not quite obtain the status of "masterpiece" that these other novels can claim. As always, Trollop's humor, dialogue, and characterizations make this an enjoyable novel that can be recommeded to anyone.

In 'Dr. Wortle's School' Anthony Trollope takes on a very controversial and scandalous subject, that of a bigamous marriage. With a very even hand Trollope allows us to see into the motivations of his characters and truly come to understand why they've done the things they've done, and how they justify their actions. Instead of preaching religion, which clearly isn't Trollope's style, he chooses to take a more liberal look at the underlying morality of the actions of his characters. 'Dr. Wortle's School' has a very modern ring for a Victorian novel, and the themes and characters could easily have been depicted by Joanna rather than Anthony Trollope. Add to that the mysterious tone of Wilkie Collins and you have a very satisfying Victorian novel.

Gibson Walker was appalled when Chloe Madsen came to work for him. he's only agree to employ her as a favor-- he had no time to babysit an innocent small town girl. So why was he finding himself tormented by Chloe's shy beauty-- and infuriated that she didnt even notice him?
Chloe didnt dare notice Gib. She was already engaged, and only in NY for the summer. besides, Gibson walker was exactly the sort of man mothers warn their daughters about: sinfully gorgeous and determinedly single!

this is a fun read, but dont expect it to be one of your favorites. i enjoyed reading this book but this is the type of book that i wouldnt read twice. I found some of what's happening absurb and the guy wasnt up to my standard for an ideal hero. Gibson was conceited.. too sure of himself.. he was ridiculous! i didnt really feel that he cares for the heroine.

No, it's Iowa. And Iowa's own Chloe Madsen is set to turn the Big Apple on its collective ear. (If apples can have ears!) Gibson's Girl is a delightful read from start to finish. Loved Anne McAllister's true to life characters. Gibson Walker is used to beautiful women--in varying states of dress and undress. As a high fashion photographer in Manhattan, he's photographed the most stunning women in the world. But none of those beauties prepare him for the down-to-earth warmth and sensuality of Chloe Madsen. Chloe has come to New York to get the bright lights out of her system before she settles down to a sensible, comfortable life with her sensible, comfortable boyfriend back in sensible, comfortable Iowa. Sensibility and comfort are out the window from the moment she lays eyes on Gibson Walker. Heaven is in Iowa. And it's in New York. It's anywhere these two characters come together. A definite keeper!