This book contains many of the classic tricks we see in other books involving magic, thus not making it very different. On the other hand, the last chapter contains a section on stage illusions, which contains the methods behind How Houdini walked through a brick wall, how to make a piano disappear, and how to transport a person shot out of a cannon into a sealed container. An average book.

You need to know that there are NO color pictures in this guide. This book has small b&w photos of what must be nearly all of R.A. Fox's prints with a price guide. It's great to know all the names of the pictures that I have, and the one's that I've seen that I would like to have. However, this book is better for someone with better eyes than I have. For me, the b&w photos are too small to distinguish much of the detail.

This novel is an anomaly in James's canon - a mid period piece which completely lacks the "Sinister Undercurrent." It is a comedy, everything works out fine in the end, and the characters dissipate in the air a few weeks after you've read it. However, if you are a grad student looking to knock out another thesis on the transatlantic theme in Henry James, this one is a must read. Near the bottom of the list for me as far as James goes, but I liked it better than "The Europeans." Read it for curiosity's sake: how often does everything work out happily in a James novel?

I bought this journal to replace another one. I loved the fact that it was spiral bound but that a cloth covered it. This journal has many downsides. The reason I like spiral bound is that it's easy to hold the book and write without the other half of the book getting in the way, well the spiral bound part of this book is worthless for me in that you can't fold the book in half. It also very difficult to write in, I need lines to write words nicely, and this book only has lines on the right hand pages, the left hand pages feature a scripture verse and a small picture with no lines and no room to write, so you can only write in half of the book. The lines on the right side are so light you have to look pretty hard to find them sometimes, which stops the easy flow of writing in it's tracks. Overall it's not bad, but I personally wouldn't recommend it.

This very short book aims to explain Gibson's ideas about risk and return in investing. Essentially he suggests that investors can afford to put more money into equities if their "time horizon" is a long one.

He has extracted a number of the earlier chapters from his longer work " Asset Allocation". These chapters focus on the time horizon argument.There is no new material in the book.

The book is a good one for the novice investor, worried about the short term volatility of the market. It would be an ideal book for financial advisers to give to intelligent clients nervous about the market.

Joy Leslie Gibson's handsome book is a strange mixture of useful fact and wishful guess work. Her early chapters are terrific - she summarises in an accesable and interesting way the work of early scholars and extends it by examining the sumptuary laws and dress standards of Elizabethan England.

I feel she is on less steady earth when applying her assertion that the breathing patterns of Shakespeare's major speeches for women were written with boy actors in mind. As a foundation she asks the reader to accept that all punctuation in the plays is unrepresentative of the authors intentions - including the 1623 First Folio (ignoring the fact that the two editors were actors who had worked with the author since 1593!) and then arbitairily replaces it with an assumption that the thought patterns of the speeches can be understood without them and breath points established. Essentially she removes one set of punctuation that does not fit her thesis and replaces it with one that does - of her own making.
She also makes some doubtful assertions about the women's roles always being shorter than their male counterparts, ignoring roles of such depth, range AND length as Juliet and Rosalind.
Some great material let down by some questionable use of information.

The Trespasser is the tragic tale of Siemund, a music teacher with an unhappy family life, and his student, who becomes his lover. It isn't a worthless book, but your time would definately be better spent reading one of the famous Lawrence books - this is clearly the creation of a young, impressionable mind. For instance, Lawrence makes constant reference to Wagner's 'Ring' in the book, rubbing the reader's nose profusely in heavyhanded hints that Siemund is borrowed from the German composer's work.

This strategy guide contains a lot of useful information such as stats on all creatures, enemies, weapons, items, and bosses as well as how to beat or use each of them. This is helpful in getting through the game. However, the walkthrough was quite brief, especially for an RPG title. It primarily tells you where to go to complete the next quest. Maps of the various levels and location showing secrets and treasures to find as well as where the enemy is waiting in ambush would have been very useful to players of the game. When purchasing a strategy guide for a game, I usually look for a good walkthrough to help in areas where I get stuck. Despite the light walkthrough, I recommend this book for those who want to understand the game better and play more effectively. It does help fill in the gaps left by the game manual as far as the combat system and gives good descriptions of the different spells (disciplines) as well as how and when to use them. V:TM is a great game and this book will help you to enjoy it more.

I'll make this review brief:

Cather didn't know how to write very well when she put this novel together. I have read iher style here as being comparable to Henry James... no way. This novel is too short, too abrupt, and too lacking in the details needed to pull off decent character motivation, somethng I find vital to novels dealing with infidelity and love.

The scenes read as disjuncted and they do not develop very well. If you want a short Cather novel that is better and want to avoid the commonplace Death Comes for the Archbishop, then try "My Mortal Enemy" This shows Cather off at the better end of her career.

Light on plot, heavy on symbolism, and a little predictable, Cather's first novel (a novella, actually) still contains moments of brilliance, especially in its strong characterizations and occasional flashes of wit. The story concerns a Boston architect who is contendedly married but suddenly embarks on an affair in London with an old flame from his youth. He soon becomes tormented over his double life but finds himself unable to resolve his conflicted feelings. Heavily indebted to the Gilded Age novelists, "Alexander's Bridge" reads like a typical first novel from a writer who shows a lot of promise.

Later in life, Cather wrote an essay entitled "My First Novels (There Were Two)," as close to an apology for a first novel as most writers ever make. She admitted that most of the "younger writers" in her peer group followed the manner of Henry James and Edith Wharton, "without having their qualifications"; she "thought a book should be made out of 'interesting material.'" Only while writing her next novel, "O Pioneers!," did she realize that "taking a ride through a familiar country"--the rural Nebraska of her youth--was "a much more absorbing process." Nevertheless, "Alexander's Bridge" hints at the virtuoso novelist she was later to become, and it's certainly better than many writers achieve in an entire lifetime.

This was Willa Cather's first novel, and, while showing glimpses of her later talent, is mostly disappointing. The metaphor of the bridge--the conduit to both the past and the future--figures prominently in this story of a Boston architect torn between his ongoing "mid-life" crisis and his energetic, passion-filled past.

The story contains some heavy-handed symbolism (e.g., the bridge), melodramatic action ("With one [hand] he threw down the window and with the other--still standing behind her--he drew her back against him), and awkward phrasing: "'He was simply the most tremendous response to stimuli I have ever known.'"

Still, the story moves along well, and there is an interesting Henry James-like contrast of Europe and America. The beginning nicely portrays the Boston upper class, and the dramatic conclusion includes passages of great strength and imagination. It is in this last chapter, especially, that her skills are most evident. Willa Cather is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of "O Pioneers!" "My Antonia," and other great works. Definitely recommended for those with an interest in her work.

Maybe 40 years ago this passed for a book on knots, not today. With so many good books about knots and ropework available, there is absolutely no reason to get this one. I felt cheated out of my money when I actually started to go through the book in detail. The illustrations don't match the text, and in some cases are just plain wrong. I collect books on ropework, knots and rigging and currently own dozens. This is the first one I considered throwing away.

A good selection of knots, but some illustrations have errors. Other problems: there is a picture of each knot as it's being laid, but not of the knot as it appears when dressed (tightened) -- this can make a huge difference for some of them. Also, the text doesn't tell you how to use the knot, what it's good for, or when you might want to use it.

This is not a bad intro book, all in all, but I'd be happier with something more thorough, better illustrated, and with more detailed text.

This book was originally published in 1961 and I suspect, parts of it appeared in "The Boy Scout Handbook" during the 60's. It covers a large variety of knots and tricks, too. Each subject is accompanied by hand drawn pictures of the knot being described as well as a clear description of how to tie it. Two rope knots are illustrated with one dark and one light strand to make them clearer. Uses and nicknames of the various knots are also included. The knots are divided into sections in the book, arranged by similarity of application.

This is a great reference for anyone who works with rope, from a Boy Scout to a Sailor. Teamsters all use ratcheting nylon straps now, but the original method of tieing down with ropes can be learned in this book. There are knots for Cowboys, Fishermen and Magicians. Even Decorators could learn a few fancy knots here. There are dozens of knots here for many purposes.

When you order this book, get a rope, or two!