Gordon Cooper's accounts of the early Mercury program days are a good read. Cooper covers material that will largely be familiar to readers of other space program books, but adds his own unique perspective and insight. For this reason alone, the book is worth a read.

Cooper speaks frankly to the now-famous story that he encountered a UFO during his flight of Faith 7; it never happened, he says. But there are other things he's seen as a pilot that he can't explain -- things that he describes as being not-of-this-world.

From there, the author loses credibility quickly when he begins to talk about his attempts to unravel the UFO mystery with his clairvoyant sidekick. The reader is left with the impression that not all of Gordo made it back from orbit.

Still, the book is worth a read, and the history (or Cooper's version of it) is an important piece of the story of man's race to the moon.

I've been a fan of Gordo Cooper since he visited my town of Pennsburg 25 years ago. As a result, I was really excited when he decided to write a book. Gordo writes an interesting tale that is worth reading. Are his stories that spins about UFO's and people in contact with aliens true? I'm just a little sceptical but it does make for interesting reading. As for his tales of his Mercury and Gemini missions...I wish he would have given more detail and also double-checked his memories with other astronauts and NASA folk. Inaccuracies such as on page 159, "...the awesome Saturn V, sported eight engines..." is just plain wrong. (FYI: the 1st and 2nd stage had 5 engines each and the 3rd had 1.) On page 165 Gordo claims that on the day of the Apollo 1 fire, "...Gene Kranz had considered being in the spacecraft to try to figure out a recurring problem with one of the systems." Well, unless every other book I've read so far has got it wrong, that person was actually Chris Kraft. On another note, I really did enjoy what little he provided into the life and antics of Pete Conrad. Unfortunately we'll never get to read Pete's autobiography since he died in a motorcycle accident in 1999.

I haven't read many other books about our early space explorers, but it's hard to imagine one with more down-to-earth info and exciting tales of the whole NASA program than this one. Gordon Cooper is one of those people whom you can't help but admire for his guts, his skill, his modesty and his downright courage. He seems to tell it like it was (and is) when it comes to the whys and wherefores of America's adventure into space. His candid opinions count for a lot because he was there and he doesn't pull any punches. And his amazing tales of UFO's and (maybe) extraterrestrial visitors really left me with a lot to ponder. This is a wonderful book about a wonderful American hero. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes an inspiring read.

I bought this book because I love noir, I love strong female characters, I am a fan of some of the authors regular novels and thought I would find new authors in the process. But instead of juicy, fresh, hard fiction from a female view it seems to revel in making characters as vile as possible. Is this the authors idea of liberation, to write stories that just make you wince-no matter what the sex?
I read a good amount of books every year, maybe 75-100, and out of those I would average less than 1 that I don't finish...Tart Noir was this years.
I really tried to give it a new chance with each story but after the one where a 15 yr old girl hacks off her mothers head for messing up her incestuous relationship with her father, cuts out the mothers womb and fries it up for dads dinner, I was done...but the story wasn't, I won't even go into the deformed baby!
Pluck Katy Mungers other books, Legwork for instance, or Sparkle Hayters series for great tarts, but leave this book to wither on the vine.

A few of these stories are easy reading, but most seem unneccesarily violent and shocking. It's worth the price for the three or four decent stories. I enjoyed the stories by Jenny Colgan, Jen Banbury and Laura Lippman and Sparkle Hayter's story was light fun if not exactly "tart noir." You take your chances with the quality of the rest.

I have found that, usually, an anthology of short stories is very uneven, with good, mediocre and poor tales mixed together. This book is an exception, as I found that all of the stories are first rate, and extremely interesting. The premise of the book is that all are written by females, and the protagonists are females. It's an interesting side of literature that has not really been explored in any depth, and this book fills that hole quite neatly. It's a good read from beginning to end!

While this is a revolutionary book for it's type (there are not many guides to coaching cross country) I think that there is an underlying flaw with coach Newton's philosophy. From what I read of Newton's workout chart, it seems that he over works his runners. While this does get quality results and fast runners, it is not working in the runners best interest. High schoolers who are worked too much get burnt out easily and are overlooked by college cross country coaches.

Coach Joe Newton is a great coach, infact, I have ran for him, his coaching is the best that you could wish for. If I were buying this just by his track record it would be highly recomended! He is without doubt in my mind the best coach of Cross Crunty in history, if not all sports.

Joe Newton is the GOLD STANDARD when it comes to coaching high school cross country. Year in and year out his teams challenge for state and national titles. This book is not as good as the "Long Green Line" but that is THE book on high school cross country. This book stands by itself as an excellent, practical guide for coach, fan and runner. It is broken into easy to read sections and full of interesting antedotes. Joe Newton gives solid insight into his highly successful progam.

This book is great for beginners in that it introduces and familiarizes readers with tools, lumber, and techniques. In fact, I would go as far as to say it's a great motivator to start building your own projects. As far as the plans in the book go, I recommend either redoing measurement calculations on lumber and hardware, or finding plans elsewhere. I built the lawn chair, and found some measurements to be wrong in lumber and in the screw lengths. I wrote down the corrections as I went along, and found that my second chair only took me a fraction of the time to make, compared to the first. Looks great! Just be careful if you're using the plans! Good luck.

Neat things that you can make to have a great backyard/patio/whatever. All it takes is some time. . .

Interesting ideas for your home. I haven't made any yet, but I hope to. Who would have thought about constructing a backyard deck that's portable? Some things are bigger than others, but they are all built to please. Rudimentary knowledge of woodworking is advised, however--you should know your way around a hammer and nails, if nothing else.

Warning to HS coaches...

The West Coast Offense, like any other offense, requires a certain type of athlete at certain positions. Just as the wishbone quickly degenerates without a power fullback to draw 4 - 5 defenders at the point of attack (Bear Bryant's recommendation, not mine!), the WCO requires a QB who is accurate within a given range (in the HS environment, 30 - 50 yards accurately and consistently) and mobile, receivers who have the native speed to force DBs into a 10 - 15 yard cushion and are capable of executing the occasional deep route. You run the WCO at your own risk if you lack those athletes, with predictable results.

Defensive coaches run 6 - 7 man blitzes, DBs congregate in the short zones (since they conveniently aren't forced to worry about the bomb), and unless your QB is exceptionally mobile (think young Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, etc.), you can count on him taking a pounding w/multiple interceptions, rushed throws, and sacks. Furthermore, most HS QBs lack the experience and maturity to avoid locking onto primary targets, which means that if the DBs hang in the short zones, you'll increase the opportunity for blitzing lineman/linebackers to take out the QB w/delayed throws.

Offensive lineman generally have an easier time in the WCO, since they are not forced to try to move defensive lineman/linebackers through drive blocking, but instead become amateur sumo wrestlers (another warning: Pro and College lineman routinely get away with blatant holds that will result in penalties at the HS level, so if you are counting on using WCO blocking techniques like the pros, think again).

The primary attraction of the WCO at the HS level is that many districts are composed of teams running offenses from the 1970s (the wishbone being the main example), and you may find success simply because your opponents aren't preparing to defend against a WCO every week.

In terms of best book, this is not. But it is a must read. The small chapter on how his protection works is different from Ron Jenkins The multiple West Coast Offense.(Which is a better book). But this book will increase your knowledge about the west coast offense, you can implement the offense with this book, so it's not a bad book.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in learning about the West Coast offense. It goes over every essential part of this difficult-to-learn offense and gives helpful insight into the strategy. As a quarterback, it helped me a great deal in understanding the offense and my role in it. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is serious about football and learning this offense.

The Jacket by Andrew Clements
In this book Phil thinks he's prejudice. Phil took Daniel's jacket and probably wouldn't have taken the jacket if he was white. The main characters in this book are Phil, Daniel, Lucy and Daniel's mom. Daniel's mom had given a jacket to Lucy, which had once belonged to Phil. When Phil saw Daniel in school one day, wearing the jacket, he thought that Daniel had stolen it from his brother. Phil grabbed the jacket from him and they both got in trouble at the principal's office. Daniel was my favorite character because he he was ghetto (mean and tough) in the story.

I couldn't really relate to any of the characters in the story because I am not prejudice. I did like Daniel, though, beacuse he liked to play basketball and I always play basketball in the gym.

My favorite part in the book is when Phil got in a fight with Daniel and had to go to the principal's office. If I could change something in this book, I would have made Daniel have more money and live in a bigger house.

I would recommend this book to my younger brother and other kids in elementary school.

The thing I didn't like about the book The Jacket was that it didn't really have an ending.
The thing I did like about the book was the lesson of the story. The story is about prejudice.

The thing I think could have made the book better would be to of said whether or not Phil and Daniel became friends.
I thought the story was a little short to have explained the story so that you new what the problem was, the solution, and how it worked out.

This book is written in a brisk style. The pace is quick and not heavy on detail. Instead Andrew Clements takes the time to let us into the mind of a young man struggling with his feelings. I really applaud Andrew Clements for taking on a sensitive issue.
This story gives a picture of a brief encounter between two young men Phil and Daniel. In this encounter Phil and Daniel squabble over the ownership of the jacket Daniel is wearing.
This event pushes Phil to really think about who he is and what his core beliefs are. You see, Daniel is an African American boy and Phil happens to be white. Phil begins to question if he is actually a predjudiced person.
Clements does a wonderful job of portraying Phil's questioning. He also touches on the way we are shaped by the views of a parents, whether we realize it or not! Clements also shows us that we can rise above the misconceptions and predjudices of our environment. Which to me, is the greatest message in this story.
I'm sure this story would challenge the thinking of late elementary students and middle school students. The copy I read has great discussion questions for literature groups.
I really enjoyed it... and I'm sure you would too!

"Pagen" [sic] is misspelled in the Beowulf introduction. Henry II is described in the introduction as having ruled from 1154 to 1177, when in actuality, he ruled until his death in 1189. The more I read, the less I trust what I'm reading. I recommend M. H. Abrams' Norton anthology instead.

otherwise its a great collection of texts. 3 books too.

This is an excellent anthology, with generous selections, lively introductions, and beautifully reproduced color plates. Though published on "bible paper," there is very little bleed-through. It is an splendid alternative to the Norton Anthology, not only for its ample contexts sections and for its loving attention to both canonical and new writers (especially women writers of the Renaissance), but also for its favoring of complete works--More's Utopia, Sidney's Apology, etc. I've been using IB this semester, and though there are, as the (I think excessively) negative reviewer notes below, occasional errors, these are not unusual in massive endeavors. An old game in the 1950s used to be to send grad students in search of errors and typos in the standard literary critical books of the day. I'm sure these will be cleaned up. For now the book works especially well for "survey" courses and for upper-level, specialized courses, when supplemented by another paperback or two, or course packets.

Did I miss something? Heavy on the mood; plot was hard to follow; couldn't figure out why the characters did most of what they did. I wanted to like Blue, but I didn't understand him. At least Sam's story made some sense. Gilbert seemed much more like a poor plot device than a character. And I have no idea what happened at the end.

Henderson joins the ranks of Jim Grimsley, et al, who write in the self-conscious literary style of the immediate present tense; rather than showing the reader what happened, such writers show the reader what IS happening. In a sense this literary device makes reading Native like entering a dream, and at times what is happening is unclear, as dreams are vague and disquieting. But still, I grew to like Blue as he discovers himself and his relationship with Sam, though I was disturbed when Blue just leaves Sam to live or die without explanation--like dreams. --Ronald L. Donaghe, author of Common Sons

Henderson's writing is reminiscent of Faulkner. His story of Blue takes you completely into a journey where landscape, emotion, physicality and spirituality are woven together with an artistry that is both delicate and powerful in the same dimension. This is not a novel to think your way through. Rather it is a shamanic journey you must abandon yourself to.

I recently read "Silent Warrior" and thought it was a really good book.I'm a military buff and have read many military books both fiction and non-fiction.I read "Marine Sniper" with a vengenance because I couldn't put it down.I became completely enamored with Carlos Hathcock and I'd never heard of him before then.Then I saw "Silent Warrior" was out and I salivated to have it.I read it in 2 days.I don't think it was as good as the first book but it was excellent none the less.It tells more of Carlos and Burkes missions through Carlos' "minds-eye" as he lay suffering in his final days with MS.It picks up where "Marine Sniper" left off and fills in some holes.It tells just how close the NVA and VC came to collecting the bounty on Carlos and Lands head.It doesn't rehash the same stories, but adds some insite to them with retelling them.I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan and supporter of Carlos, the art of sniping, and the military.I gave it 3 stars because it's not as good as "Marine Sniper"(4 stars) and only one book has ever gotten 5 stars from me.

I have read Silent Warrior as well as Charles Henderson's first book about Carlos Hathcock II, Marine Sniper, and I enjoyed this book just as much as I enjoyed the first one. Both were well written, and both were inspiring. The life and career of Carlos Hathcock II embody those traits most noble in mankind: courage and devotion to duty, but most of all, concern and love for a fellow human being. Carlos Hathcock II demonstrated that care time and again in risking his own life to help protect his fellow Marines, and especially in risking himself saving men from a burning vehicle. His friend and fellow sniper took this to the ultimate limit in sacrificing his life to save injured men.

I feel that this book, along with its companion volume, Marine Sniper, could be an inspiration, not only to servicemembers, in ALL branches of the military, but also to the public in general.

Utilizing materials omitted from his original book on Carlos Hathcock, "Marine Sniper", Charles Henderson fills in some very interesting gaps in this earlier book. Additional information was also obtained from interviews conducted in Vietnam in 1994, particularly with general Gen. Tran Van Tra, Commander in Chief of the Viet Cong. "Silent Warrior" may start a bit slow, perhaps owing to the maudlin and unnecessary fiction of Hathcock reviewing his life upon his death bed, but the action and the suspense picks up fast. Particularly chilling was the account of the sadistic torture methods employed by the notorious Frenchman, Philip Metz, and the Apache. The elimination of both by Hathcock were clear examples of the necessity of taking life to prevent further killing. The telling of his taking out of the Frenchman shortly before he could utilize his particular skills again was very well written.

Hathcock's sniping was so effective and had so demoralized the enemy that they placed a bounty oh his head equal to three years pay. Additionally, under Colonel Ba, a ten-man team of snipers was brought into the area with the exclusive purpose of killing Hathcock and his Captain, Jim Land. The elimination of the leader and best sniper of this team in a tense cat and mouse game of stalking and tracking was extremely well done, both in the act and in the retelling. The shot that brings his counter part to his demise would be unbelievable were it not so well documented.

"Marine Sniper" and "Silent Warrior" are well written books about the life of Carlos Hathcock, the finest sniper to take to the field. His life and exploits are the stuff of heroes, of men larger than mortals. Among Marines he is one of the best known and most beloved of their members. Fitting of Hathcock although written for another are the words, "The elements so mixed in him that all of nature would stand and say, this was a man".

Once more Lawrence Sanders casts his eye over some odd ball inhabitants of Palm Beach, Florida. Through Archy McNally, a local layabout from a wealthy family, Sanders is again able to play fast and loose with the Queen's English, and display his tastes in cars, clothes, food and wine. This novel is perhaps a touch too clever, and while entertaining, does not build up the story to the extent that the reader can get deeply involved.

This book had most of the delicious features of the other McNally books, but was missing something. I guess the killer's motivation was a little weak. Also, some of the juicy details were never wrapped up (e.g., why the nude photo collection?). McNally's case revolves around an eccentric family of nuts. He feels pity for the sane little 8 year old girl, who suffers with bitter parents. The killer was fairly easy to guess, and the show down near the end was dramatic.

...a mucho rich client of McNally and Son, Attorney at Law hires Archy McNally to find out who's been lifting some priceless artifacts from a huge mansion. Among these items is a one of a kind edition of an Edgar Allen Poe novel. As Archy investigates (he goes to chez Forsythe under the pretense that the pater-familias has hired him to catalog his massive library) he finds that everyone in the household is some kinda nut case, except for the youngest member, a little girl named Lucy who is more mature and more lucid than anyone around. Someone tries to kill the one of the ladies of the house and then the pater familias is warned with a note saying "Your Next"...which wouldn't in itself be much of a crime, but when he does winds up dead, everyone in the mansion and the surrounding horse stables becomes a suspect. Except for Archy's new little girl friend, Lucy.

Archy bribes most of his informants with dinners, cases of booze and weekends in the Bahamas....to get the info he needs to help the crusty ol' police sargent put the kibosh on the murderer. But Archy also comes dangerouly close to complicating matters with some injudicious bedhoppings. What helps the novel become a fun read is because Archy fancies himself as a gourmand of sorts and he always tells you what he's had for breakfast, lunch and dinner and Archy is a ladies man and he always tells you what his leading ladies--especially his main squeeze, Connie--is looking like when he approaches them. Sanders has managed to put a British styled murder mystery smack in the midst of South Florida...