I have no idea why this edition of Duchossoir's work is still in print. His update to this book is "Gibson Electrics - The Classic Years." "Classic Years" is a much better book with much more information. It's better organized and it has much more in the way of B&W and color photos. It's an excellent resource.

This 1981 volume is a good piece of work, but it's incomplete. Duchossoir originally conceived of a two volume work covering the history of every Gibson electric model from the first lap steel guitars that Gibson produced in the early 1930s through the "Norlin" era (Gibson was still owned by Norlin when this book came out). He ran out of steam after finishing this volume and Volume II never came out. The updated book is MUCH better and you should spend your dollars on that book rather than this one.

If you are a die hard guitar enthusiast/collector you will find this book helpful and it does cover some areas and have some good photos of hard to find instruments that are not included in the updated "Classic Years" book so it's not a bad idea to grab both books if you're a died in the wool Gibson nut (like I am). If you're a casual reader/collector get the newer edition.

I am bothered by the claim on the cover stating "... a COMPLETE and illustrated history of ALL the electric guitars ever manufactured by Gibson Inc."

Although the first edition is copywrited in 1981, it fails to mention anything about the SG production models (excluding unrelated Les Paul versions)produced from the early '60's or lesser known models like the solid body 335-S (not to be confused with the ES-335)produced in the Norlin years (very early '80's).

There is a great deal of information on the the early acoustic/electrics, the Les Pauls and the ES series instruments which makes it valuable, but it can hardly be called complete.

I believe that all books need to be reviewed good and bad. And sad to say, "Melissa" was a disappointment to me. The plot and storyline were just to fictious, even for a book that is fiction! The events that happened just didn't capture my attention. It was to unrealistic.

I greatly enjoyed reading this work of fiction. The characters were interesting, the book was personable, and the message the author tried to put across was easy to understand. The story line, although not realistic, was unique and very mysterious. I was on the edge of my seat and I was caught up in a tale that teaches us how to forgive others and trust God.

Oh dear. This could have been a very good short story, especially if given a better twist ending, but stretched to novel length, even a very short novel like this one, the tale wears terribly. The story is of a Dean (the religious kind) who when made drunk on imperial tokay remembers his former life as a dog. The kindest thing I can say (and why it's got two whole stars) is that the observations of a dog's behaviour are spot on. But, oh dear, there is no Characterisation at all, all of them are flat as though cut from cardboard. One person says "never trust a teetotaller or a man that wears elastic-sided boots" - it would have only taken 3 repetitions to get over that he's a drunken bore, but he says it ten times or more - and he's supposed to be a great wit among the group, not a bore. There is no plot, just a series of encounters all of which are the same - and the punchline? That the narrator finds out the meaning of doggy life but he himself had got too drunk to remember it. Oh that it had been something like he got so drunk he remembered his own doggy life, or he remembered being a cat and was chased by the Dean or that the Dean was really a dog imagining that he was a Dean when sober. Lord Dunsany is reported to be one of the originators of science fiction, so perhaps I've seen the worst of him, but on the basis of this book he seems to have been an amateur that got published because of his wealth and connections - a dilletante with half-developed stories and ideas. Sorry, Your Honour.

This is an entertaining read but not one of my favorite Dunsany's! The writing is delightful as always and the outre tale is consistently dottily amusing, it just isn't the grand fantasy Dunsany could do so well. A London clubman discovers that when slightly drunk a Dean drifts into a reminiscent mood - but what the Dean reminisces ABOUT is his previous incarnation - he was the family dog on a country estate! A very clever novel in its own way.

For the bulk of the novel, Fennimore Cooper seems to spin his literary wheels attempting to develop depth into his characters. Failing miserably, the plot quickens and the novel becomes more entertaining, although hardly believable. The ultimate reason for the danger in the book becomes rather silly, but still there is some redeaming quality to the novel. This was basically Fennimore Cooper's first attempt at an American novel and so some tolerance is warrented. I shall try the next book, The Pioneers, in time.

The plot of this book is based on a real spy story. Therefore, although some do consider it unbelievable, the basis of it is entirely true. The way that the author slowly brings out the character of Harvey Birch is wonderful. He creates numerous sub plots that make the story very interesting. The only weakness is the fact that the author was rushed into stopping the story abruptly. As a result, one hears no more about many important characters until the very end when some are fleetingly mentioned. The ending is so strong, however, that this fault isn't as glaring as it would have been.

This is the first in set of episode guides to the TV science fiction series "Stargate SG-1", which formerly ran on Showtime in original release and now debuts new episodes on the Sci-Fi Channel. The existence of these guides is not too well known from what I gather, which may be because they're produced out of the UK by one of the genre specialists on that side of the pond.

Readers spoiled by the hefty and image-packed guides typical of "Star Trek", "The X-Files", or "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" will most definitely be very disappointed here. (For my money, the definitive ep guide is the one for "Deep Space Nine".) Other guides have dozens of photos (including color plates), large sections dedicated to set and costume design, cinematography, casting, and special effects, detailed actor and character biographies, cast and crew credits, and episode synopses, reviews, and ratings, usually with frank behind-the-scenes discussions from the writers, actors, and directors.

Here? Not so much. The entire two first seasons are jammed into one very small book, and each episode is addressed quite fleetingly. There's a fair bit of input from the actors, mostly Christopher Judge and Amanda Tapping, and a few pages at the end about the production side of the show, but on the whole, the material is thin and not at all revelatory. Far greater detail can be found at fan websites.

I'm discouraged to say that the hightest praise I can offer for this guide is a lukewarm "Well, it's better than nothing." So unless you're a hardcore fan who collects the action figures and everything else, give this one a pass.

I bought this guide in hopes of learning a lot of background information about each episode. I was disappointed in what I found although it can be useful and interesting.
Covering the first two seasons the guide gives each episode a single B/W photo, a guest cast list, the writer and director (and sometimes who did the teleplay). This is followed by a quote from one of the characters in each episode, a one paragraph synopsis and a paragraph or two about the episode by a cast member or someone behind the scenes. A gray box with information about a character or race in some episodes.
The forward, the character profiles at the books end, and a couple of other short sections on episode production actually gave the most information. It seems obvious to me that the cast seem to like each other and generally enjoy doing the show, I just wish I'd gotten more information about how it's all done.

This book should never have been written. It is poorly researched, riddled with inaccuracies, and so relentlessly anti-Kennedy that it induces mental nausea. Ms. Gibson has made capital out of her secretarial job, but neither her pontificating nor the scuttlebutt of "household staff" is worth reading.

Having read and enjoyed Barbara Gibson's story about working with Rose Kennedy during the matriarch's later years -- and the related stories of the fun and foibles of the clan's grandchildren -- I anticipated a more in-depth chronicle here about the lives and significant contributions and problems of the grandchildren-generation of America's Kennedy clan.

It was a bloodbath.

Whereas Gibson sounds as though she enjoyed her job despite the frustrations of working in such self-centered and affluent milieu in her book about Rose, this book presents those same grandchildren as selfish, snobbish, hedonistic hellcats with thorough disregard for the lives of those around them... resulting from their sub-par parenting courtesy of their abused, neglected, drug-addicted folks and hell-bent-on-success grandparents.

This is a textbook of intergenerational blame.

The redeeming qualities of this book include its attempt at even handedness (for example, the author does note that with few exceptions, Maria Shriver did in fact earn her journalistic distinction on her own... and that Caroline and John Kennedy were basically good children, exceptions to the Kennedy rule) and its historical validity; based on my experience reading every other Kennedy biography I can get my hands on, most of Gibson's factual information is accurate.

However, allegations that Rosemary Kennedy never was retarded ring false to me (Gibson claims Rosemary was merely unacceptably mediocre as well as dyslexic... seems to me that other Kennedy children were similarly underendowed in priority areas, but no one wanted to lobotomize THEM -- except maybe Gibson herself). The word "hate" and its relative "hatred" are flung around with reckless abandon, classifying everything from Ethel's feelings about her son David to Rose's reaction to Kym to Jackie's response to John Jr.'s potential acting career.

The author truly seems to hate this family, to use her already overused adjective. Obviously, she anticipated a windfall of money to make such a distasteful book worth her time, or maybe her co-author bewitched her... but there are more judicious Kennedy biographies out there, ones that manage to highlight accomplishments of this very accomplished family without seeming to relish their weaknesses, proclivities, deviations, or vulnerabilities.

Get this from the library.

In spite of the title, a good portion of the book is devoted to a repetition of familiar family history centering on Joe, Rose, Jack, Bobby and Teddy. This book is not friendly to the Kennedys. It will be most interesting to those who enjoy watching members of the younger Kennedy generations self-destruct.

I am very well-versed in Children's Literature and find this book a huge disappointment. While the art work is lovely, the story line is so vague and abstract, an adult can barely follow what the meaning of it is, let alone children. There is really no understanding of what takes place, the purpose of the crocodile, or the pond for that matter, or what the whole point of the story is. The meaning of all the implications in the story never come through. Cornwell is outstanding with her Scarpetta stories and I can't get enough of them! But to be so unclear in a children's book means that children don't get anything from the story, and that's a shame.

In reading the book, I found it laborious. Cornwell uses figurative language and metaphorical elements in her telling of the story. It also seems choppy and disjointed throughout. As an adult, I found myself rereading several pages to clarify what exactly the meaning was. I also lost interest in the book. I think that the elements of children flying and being unbound by gravity will be appealing to children, but I think the way that she delivers the story would confuse most elementary age children. The illustrations are beautiful, but I don't really see them portraying this magical world that Cornwell created. To me it looks as though the "land of the pond" is exactly like our world. Over all I would have to say, that the book was very disappointing.

I bought this book quite a while back for my little boys, purely because I am such a huge fan of Patricia Cornwell's books and I wanted him to read and enjoy her books aswell. When I found out that she had wrote a childrens book I ordered it straight away and it was one of the best things I did. Rhys loves it, has included it in his top ten all time favourite books, and reads it all the time. We both love the story, the fact that it is actually a poem, the way it almost sings to you and that Jarrord realises that things are OK where he is and doesn't need to know what is on the other side or anything else. Truly a wonderful, delightful and enchanting sotry. By the way my little boy is now eight years old and as I said, still loves the book. So come on Patricia write some more - Please.

It's a good book with an unexpected end. The author does not fail in hes descriptions and you can easily imagine the situation. A lot of suspense!

This book is pretty worthless. It doesn't give some of the major variation of the game, such as double pack Pinochle where the winner bidders exchange 4 cards and such. Some of the melding scores are incorrect. I would buy a general card rule book, instead of this very outdate and incomplete book.

Once again another book which is light on true solutions.
You could find all the info within by sufting the net.
What's needed is for someone to write a book with actual facts;
ie.To match MARIAH CAREY "NEED A FRIEND",do the following;
Lead vocal 200hz q=2 g=-4db
1000hz q=2 g=-5db
5000hz q=1.4 g=3db
10000hz hi shelf g=+4db
bass etc,etc,etc
all instruments etc,etc,etc
(there should be a list of quite a few songs)
If or when someone decides to tell, the whole true and nothing but the truth,that person will sell books by the bucket load.
however this is not the book