Following the story of a young woman, Gracelin O'Malley is a marvelous Irish tale. The trials and tribulations experienced by those in Ireland under English rule are vividly described in this work.

Ann Moore has constructed a passionate novel of dignity, strength and character. Her characters are three dimensional and will become a vivid picture in your mind. Moore's ability to create a setting is sophisticated. She truly knows how to captivate a reader, and sweep them away to another time.

Historical fiction fans will be delighted with this stirring tale. It truly brings life and a personal aspect to the troubles that Ireland once faced. If you are a fan of Irish literature this read will captivate you. All in all, I think this is a novel for anyone with an appreciation for passionate writing.

Enjoy this amazing read, Moore has truly created a work of art, that will move you.

This is perhaps the most inspirational book I've read so far this year. It makes me real glad that I am not Gracelin O'Malley ~~ having to see my family and friends starve to a slow death in the great famines of Ireland. I look at my rosy-cheeked chubby babies and thank the fate that I was born in this century. This book haunts you and will transport you back into time. A time of love and death, slavery and drudgery, of dreams and lost hope. And Gracelin O'Malley is a wonderful hero.

Ann Moore did an extensive research on this book ~~ looking through letters and journals to get the Irish voice from that era. She has written of despair and fear so well, that you can picture the characters vividly in Ireland. You can picture the huts and cottages, the men singing and the dancing ~~ the fear in the tenants' eyes once they realize they can't pay rent on thier land. When Gracelin's husband, the squire, beat her, you feel as if he was beating on all the Irish. You sense the deep hatred the Irish feel for the English. Ann Moore has revived a period of history that I know very little of. She has also sparked an interest to know more too.

If you're looking at a novel that speaks of love and honor, loyalty, dreams and despair, the fight between two countries, the courage to go on despite all the death and disease ~~ if you're looking for a heroine like Gracelin who did not let anything stop her from living life ~~ this book is it. You will not be disappointed.

Also, this is one of the most inspirational books you'll ever read. Don't fear, Moore didn't throw the biblical verses at you every time you turn a page ~~ no, she picked out verses that inspire Gracelin and her family to continue on despite the strife in their lives. You sense the strong faith in God throughout this book ~~ and the writing is very lyrical ~~ almost as gentle as the lilt in Irish voices.

This is one of the best books I've read in ages ~~ and it is definitely one that I will want to keep.

3-11-03

It seems that most of the world has forgotten the horrible potato famine in Ireland. I don't think that many of us(americans) realize just how brutal it was. This book brought it all to life for me. The poverty and starvation was shocking, but through it all, babies were born, people fell in love, people died. Life continued and this is the story of one woman's struggle through it. Gracelin is such a strong character, I can't wait to read more about her in the sequel, Leaving Ireland.

Barry Moore's book "Cold Fusion MX: From Static to Dynamic in 10 Easy Steps" is an excellent introduction to Cold Fusion. The 10 steps are: an overview of how CFML (Cold Fusion Markup Language) works; variables; databases and SQL queries; conditional program flow; forms; database manipulation; email; the Cold Fusion application framework; user security; and lists, arrays, and structures.

There is no attempt to deal with any HTML authoring, it is assumed that the reader will already know how to code and develop static web pages. The book progresses in logical steps as an already existing site is "madeover" into a dynamic database powered site.

The book is treated as a companion to material presented and available on [internet site]. This site contains links and other supporting material for users and readers of the book; and it also contains a set of files that are to be used in the practical exercises in the book.

Each step or chapter introduces the problem to be addressed. The issues are dealt with in a clear and straightforward style with examples of code and resulting web page. While CFML is deceptively easy, there are a few tips and tricks that need to be known and if not applied can trip many a new developer. These are handled clearly in sidebars or notes that are obvious and easy to refer back to.

At the conclusion of each chapter, the lessons learnt are applied to the original site. Using the files downloaded from [internet site] the user is directed to make various changes. The editing directions are provided in free form; but backed up by a full listing of what the final page should look like. I did found these sections took time and care and I did need the full code listing to assist in the process.

This aspect of the book has been handled in a way to accommodate users whether they complete the exercises or not. In the downloaded files users get: the original site; snippets of files to edit; final edited files; and the final madeover site. This means that if you do not wish to do the exercises, you can simply choose to test the new site; examine the Cold Fusion pages and pull the CFML code to pieces. If you have difficulties completing the exercises, the solutions are available for you.

The book is an introductory book for Cold Fusion and concentrates on the Cold Fusion development framework. The chapter on user security is based on the way user security is handled in Cold Fusion MX and users must refer to the web site for changes to the text. The book was based on a beta version of Cold Fusion MX and there are alterations for the coding for this chapter. Many of the new features for Cold Fusion MX are left to the end of the book and only briefly explained as they are complex and powerful and beyond the scope of this book and its purpose. Difficulties in installing Cold Fusion and configuring the server are also provided at the end of the book and steps to change settings explained there.

The language of the book is clear and concise. There is an engagement and directness in the style that makes the material easy to read, and understand. I would recommend this book as a first introduction to Cold Fusion as it is simple yet comprehensive in the material it covers. I particularly liked the chapter on the application framework as that provides an excellent treatment on what is quite a complex and baffling area for many new developers. With the help of the links in the book and the web site; there is enough support to whet the appetite and direct users who wish to learn more about the power and versatility of Cold Fusion MX.

This is a must have for anyone looking to move from static web design into dynamic web development with ColdFusion. I am not the fastest reader, but Barry's writing style made this book very easy to read and understand. Each of the book's 10 steps cover topics that logically "fit" together for a seamless transition from one step to the next.

This book offers the best explaination of "#" sign usage and the ColdFusion application framework that I have seen to date. And Barry doesn't stop with just presenting the necessary information, he also provides invaluable tips along the way.

I just wish this book had been around when I first started with ColdFusion!

I started reading this book at precisely the same time I began fooling around with ColdFusionMX.
The best thing about this book is that not only does the author tell you how to build workable applications in a simple manner, but explains "why" the application works the way it does. Too many books on the market seem to forget how important this is. This book brings you a greater understanding of ColdFusionMX through it's very thoughtful explanations throughout each chapter.

ColdFusion can be intimidating when looked at in a basic, technical aspect, but the author does a great job of putting the reader at ease with a matter-of-fact, "non-techie" approach. I seriously looked at some of the code in the first couple sections and thought "it can't be this easy", but it really was simple to follow the book and create some dynamic pages after my first day of reading.

Everything from understanding/using the ColdFusion Administrator to building an actual shopping cart is covered in this book. Mr. Moore doesn't get into some of the more advanced features of CFMX, but that doesn't seem to be the intent of the book. The focus appears to be getting you to understand ColdFusionMX and to build workable pages with it. This book does that extremely well.

Most reviewers seem to see this book as a reaction to the rise of fascistic and nationalistic tyrannies of Mr. Ortega y Gasset's day. Fascism is a tyranny of the bourgeois. And though a tyranny is a tyranny is a tyranny, the bourgeois were the minority whom the author claimed were the progenitors and preservers of European civilization. (And for those who feel that Revolt of the Masses is Euro-centric, well you are right. That was his target audience; just read the second to last paragraph. But so what. That complaint is like denouncing the Bible as being biased towards Christians.) Additionally, the fascists, though thuggish and violent in their actions, at least made a pretense to their past and heritage (a la Rome). A far greater representation of mass man is found in the socialistic and communistic nations, then and now. Communism makes no appeal to the heritage of civilization but instead seeks to separate itself via Revolution. Additionally, communism is not a revolution of the bourgeoisie, but against it. What could be more mass man than that? In this I wish to make no defence of fascism, not in the least. But rather to form a distinction between the two and to note, sadly and a little fearfully, that though 99% of us agree that fascism is a dangerous counter to civilization, there are far too many proponents of communism still swaying the opinions of mass man for us to feel comfortable. All in all this book is a good warning to the defenders and partakers of Western Civilization and has not, in any way, become dated by the passing of the fascistic states of Europe. Danger still abounds.

A superbly written book, "The Revolt of the Masses" can be considered of limited value if one views it from a strictly historical perspective. True, Ortega y Gasset, writing in 1932, offered a clear and devastating critique of the tenets of fascism in particular and totalitarianism in general. He is particularly effective when he takes apart fascism's mystical elevation of race, blood and soil, arguing that the popular appeal to these factors was shallow, explained nothing about the process of nation-building, and was used only as a political expedient for the emerging dictatorships of Europe.

But one could argue that however effective his argument, Ortega y Gasset, a Spaniard, was in perfect position to critique fascism and its foibles, being able to observe it from a closer perspective than others. After all, the war for men's hearts and minds was fought out in no small part on Spanish soil in the '30s.

Ortega y Gasset was also not alone in critiquing the rise of mass man, which is the book's major point. Joseph Wood Krutch, for example, in "The Modern Temper" (an excellent companion to this book) had pointed out that the emergence of mass society and the development of technology had stripped away Man's sustaining illusions, at great cost.

"The Revolt of the Masses" decries the leveling of society that the author observes, and the reader is at first made uncomfortable by the argument. I found myself mentally attacking Ortega y Gasset's elitism. I nearly concluded that the book was simply an apologia for an anti-democratic bias and for those who would protect political power from seizure by the common man.

On further reflection, though, I concluded that Ortega y Gasset's argument is more complex and that the sustaining power of the book lies in its deeper layers of meaning. While he is certainly elitist, he glorifies the elites who invest in society and contribute to it, not those who simply hold onto power for its own sake and justify their hold by clinging to the past. In fact, he upholds republicanism as the most effective form of government -- and the one most difficult to sustain.

His strongest point -- and the one most important for the modern reader -- comes when he says that the mass of men have no appreciation for the labor required to build nations and societies and the commitment required to sustain them. He writes pessimistically that the mass man of his day had little or no appreciation for this effort and considered his place in the world to be justified, rather than earned.

This is an old-fashioned message, but in my opinion it was one that we do well to heed today. How many of us today consider our goods and services and access to intellectual and monetary capital -- much less our political rights -- as things that we must constantly struggle to preserve? How many of us take the time to consider the societies in which we live as dynamic, organic entities that must be studied and understood if we are to appreciate their worth? How often do we undertake even a cursory analysis of the routes we have taken to get to where we are today with an eye toward seriously reforming that which needs changed and preserving that which makes society strong?

Some might find the author's insistence that mass society must defer to a group of elites repugnant and of course if the idea is embraced simplistically it is just that. But if one is prodded by Ortega y Gasset's demand for a radical commitment to building society, he will quite possibly begin looking at his surroundings and the time in which he lives with a new appreciation and sense of urgency.

After reading "The Revolt of the Masses" it would be easy to criticize Ortege y Gasset's elitism and Euro-centrism. However, the importance of this book lies not so much in Ortega y Gasset's exposing the ignorance and ineptitude of mass man, but rather in his expressing a concern with how he will be able to come to terms with the modern world and its new level of social complexity. Ortega y Gasset, recognizing the social, economic, and political trends of a de-historicized and de-humanized Europe can do nothing less than place mass man at the center of an uncertain destiny--a destiny that becomes his inheritance as a result of blind force and numbers. Throughout the book, there is a constant tension between the historical present and the possible future, a tension that can be seen in much of Ortega y Gasset's other writings. As we experience the psychological force of the coming millennium, Ortega y Gasset's ideas provide us with a general blueprint for both the new possibilities and the inevitable complications that we must face. If Ortega y Gasset were here, he would perhaps wonder: Are we about to enter an age that will be able to unify the energies of mass man toward a common and transcendent purpose, or are we to enter an age that will, like on the eve of fascist Europe, lead mass man, not forward, but into the murk and mire of an apathetic commonality. At the heart of this book is the fact that whatever happens, and for better or worse, mass man is here to stay and his potential must not be ignored.

I've tried, several times over the past ten years, to pick up a book or two and dive into programming. It always starts pretty well, the books do a fairly decent job of describing how to design the user interface. Then a few chapters later they invariably turn the writing over to someone else and it comes out looking like a dictionary. "Here's the IF-THEN-ELSE statement, an incredibly useful tool, go figure out how it works and you'll be a fine programmer."

Now, recently I decided to give it another try, don't have a clue why really, but I bought the package, installed it, found the books included with it to be utterly useless, bought the dummies book, found the first half fascinating, and then got dumped into that dark code world once again. With more determination than usual, I searched the web and ran across VBWorld.com and Karl Moore's tutorials there. Learned things about the user interface that the book hadn't even mentioned, and actually had a good time following along. Still, no help with the code though, and as I was walking through the book store one final time before saying goodbye to my latest fling with VB, I saw Karl Moore's name name on a book. Then I saw Tutorials on the same book. After what he had taught me in six simple tutorials on the web I grabbed it without even opening it first!

I couldn't be more happy, this book has me convinced now that I'm not too dense to learn this stuff, and I'm having fun following the lessons. Hopefully, if I get addicted enough to programming that I want to learn C++ or C#, I'll be able to find Karl has written a book on those as well.

I'm not easily convinced when it comes to technical books, but this is real cream of the crop. I only bought one copy for a new team member in the beginning, but have since ordered eleven - one for each of our NY-based dev team.

The author has this amazing ability to describe some really complicated concepts in way that just anyone can understand. And it's isn't all beginner "learn to show a message box" stuff - I've been using VB for years yet by the end of the first tutorial, I'd already learned lots. It don't matter who you are, you can pick it up with this book.

Karl writes in a way that is intrinsically interesting. For the first time, he actually made me laugh out loud at a technical book - then on the next line, poised a question that made me stop and think about programming in a completely different light. It's a truly refreshing experience and probably the only technical book I'd take to bed with me.

The style of the book is also completely unique. There are eight or so tutorials each covering an area of VB.NET/ASP.NET, split further into different parts. Each of these parts is about fifteen or so pages long and very easy to digest. There are points at which the author progressively "discovers" things with you, whether you're in front of a computer or not, which is just so refreshing. It reads as though Karl is sitting next to you and almost just "thinking out loud".

I don't know whether this technique is purposeful - but to be frank, I don't care. It works, it's a great style, and I will be buying copies of all Karl's future books.

A VB.NET career in a book? Definitely. Everything you need to know? Definitely. Mounds of hands-on info for just what you really need to know, no excess garbage. Plus, it's hillarious and thought provoking to top. Buy it.

By the way, the Amazon listing shows it as having 350 pages. That's wrong - it's actually 550.

I'm not one to write reviews, but this book is fantastic. It really is. A true experience to read!

It teaches you VB.NET programming in a way I've never been taught before. It's as though you're in a class with the author Karl Moore. He provides information, prompts you to actually -think- about what you're doing and how you could make it better, ALWAYS make you laugh at his subtle wit - plus, if he doesn't teach you everything you need to know about a particular subject, he tells you exactly what you should be learning next and how to go about doing it.

He's da man! He is da MAN!!

I e-mailed him just three days ago with a question, too, and he got back to me straight away. I was blown away. Karl Moore fans: he's also writing another book "VB.NET + ASP.NET Secrets"...

IÕm glad that I had grabbed Soul Mates off the shelf along with about four other self-help books that I purchased at the same time.

S/M has helped me understand (or given a new perspective on) all relationships -- from spousal to neighbors to co-workers to friendships and family. Thomas Moore says that we should appreciate the complexities and mysteries that come with all relationships.

S/M doesnÕt offer any concrete step-by-step advice for solving relationship problems. Instead, Mr. Moore explains that every relationship is different and that everyday problems on the surface may have a deeper hidden meaning. And with this in mind, by not immediately relieving ourselves from what it is that is bothering us at the moment we may be able to understand what it is that is really troubling us if we give ourselves the time.

S/M is a great book if you are looking to better yourself, improve existing relationships, and gain insight on all relationships and life in general. I reccomend it and I believe it can help everyone understand themselves and others. --Douglas

If you have ever been in a situation in life as a result of love and relationships that have left you feeling like the cover picture of this book i.e. a boat navigating stormy waters, then this book is your guide. Many of the real life examples Mr. Moore uses involves married couples, but I, a single woman, still found much needed direction at a time in my life in which "soul" was powerfully exerting itself in my life that left me totally bewildered. His thought provoking and socially nonconforming ideas about marriage and sex, particularly, have given me new hope in pursuing love and relationships again.

Only rarely can I claim to have been touched by a tale, a text, a book, even words so hauntingly beautiful and enduring as those of Thomas Moore as expressed in Soul Mates. Moore's writing ensnares you almost as unpredictably as love itself with a literary insight and philosophical exhiliration that is the ultimate journey with an author. You owe it to your spirit, your heart and your intrinsic self to become a cherished and enlightened part of this psychological nourishment. Moore turns everything you wondered, dreamt and felt about the real experience of human relationships into something as clear and precious as air itself. Gently, yet perceptively, he guides you back to the core and the unique and individual thoughts of your very existence. Moore's Soul Mates may even be the closest you can get to the simple truth of taking a single moment in this life for confronting and embracing yourself and everyone around you. Certainly, this is a book that is the perfect expression of the deep, spiritual force working in and out of our lives, making anything at all-even self-love still possible-again and again. Without pretense, heroics or high-minded words on paper, Soul Mates offers us the non-intrusive space to no longer hide our hearts, our souls and emotional performances beneath the glaring lights of a fast-paced, technologically driven world. Soul Mates may be considered by some to be one of the great texts of our time, but most importantly, it remains true to the sense of what it is to be human and humankind in all its guises and manifestations. Touch this book with both hands and let go only when you want to!.

Annabel Temple (B.A. DPH (Cred)) Christchurch, New Zealand

Let me be the first reviewer since 9/11 to weigh in on this valuable book. Every American reacted to the horrors of that day in their own personal way and many reflected on the secular foundations of our constitution but few people know the details of the struggle that went into the conception, the codification and the defense of our first amendment. The separation of church and state is the greatest source of our strength as a country; every American should know the struggle of Roger Williams, the history of the Southern Baptists, and the strong belief of our founding fathers in the freedom of choice regarding personal beliefs. All explained in this simple and scholarly book.

One of the most common misperceptions about the United States is that it is a Christian nation. It is not. It never was, nor was it ever intended to be. American citizens have been spoonfed a false nostalgia for a "better time" when religion, specifically, Christianity, was the "center" of our government and home life: that has been the propaganda of "freedom of religion".

Early settlers were a despotic lot, intolerant and stringent in their views. Modern-day evangelists would not have been welcome in New England. Quakers were hanged for their beliefs. There was little freedom of anything, let alone religion.

This book gives a resounding answer to those who are fond of saying "the phrase 'separation of church and state' doesn't appear anywhere in the Constitution". Well, neither does "right to a fair and speedy trial", but it is part of the common lexicon and a sacred principle of our society.

If you've ever wondered what the truth really is about the first amendment and the role of religion in the founding of the United States, this book is an excellent place to start your search.

Currently, we don't have an informed discussion of the wall of separation between religion and politics, between faith and law, in the media. Instead, we have shouting matches free of information that might help end some of the disputes.

Karmnick and Moore set out to provide a brief, readable primer on (1) what the Framers had in mind when they separated Church and State, (2) what thinkers or events informed their conclusions, and (3) what relevance all of this has to the current debates on school prayer, tax-exempt status for churches, and other issues.

Their argument is hard to argue with. The "no religious test for public office" clause (and the debate it generated) in the Constitution is their starting point for understanding what Madison, Jefferson, and others had on their minds when they wrote the core documents of American politics, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. And there's a lot more critical background they discuss, such the Lockean view of the secular social contract between citizens and the government they create, and the religious arguments by people like Roger Williams and others in the 17th and 18th centuries against intermingling politics and religion. It's pretty clear what the Framers had in mind, and it was to keep religion and politics separate to the advantage of both.

By the way, Steven Tooley's rebuttals here on Amazon are completely disingenuous and hit not the core of the book's arguments, but peripheral matters. He misunderstands Locke, a man of profound faith who also felt that government was not sanctioned by God, but created by human beings to serve very specific purposes. And for a guy who complains about "ad homein" [sic] attacks, Tooley doesn't hesitate to make comments like, "Are these two professors trying to pull the wool over everyone eyes for a reason, or have they themselves been brainwashed?" Read the book (which contains a lot of quotes from primary sources, by the way) and decide for yourself.

Here is the message of "Dark Night Of The Soul": God wants our will more than anything else. To get it, he may allow us to stumble on without any sense of his presence or obtaining any pleasure from our spiritual exercises or even our life. All that will be left us is our decision to continue doing our duty despite not receiving any apparent gain from doing so. According to St. John, this is what pleases God more than anything for then we will serve God solely for Himself and not for any good feelings, sensations, or rewards we might experience by doing so. Whatever the validity of this spiritual approach (and I wonder about the value/point of sanctifying depression in this age of anti-depressants), St. John wrote this detailed book to explore it and did it better than anyone else has ever done. That makes it an important contribution to the literature on spirituality. But it also makes it something that most people will not be able to fathom or have any use for. The hours of daily prayer required by the school of thought that produced this book seem to me excessive and to miss the whole point of the Christian life. Most of us would be driven mad by such intensity-and I don't doubt that some have been. I tend to think that doing our duty is sometimes just work (true) but also sometimes will give a great sense of fulfillment and satisfaction because there are intrinsic rewards that come with being a good worker, spouse, parent, friend, etc. There is little point in getting this book unless you live in a cloister or are planning to do so and only if God is calling you to the depths of contemplative prayer. That leaves out 98% of the human race, including me. This is a dry treatise; admirable without being in the least bit inspiring. It is best left to graduate courses in spirituality or medieval Spanish literature (the poem is reportedly excellent Spanish poetry).

I read this book thinking (and probably pretentiously so) that I myself was passing through a 'dark night' of sorts. This, however, is dangerous. Reader beware - this book is written by a saint who is also a Doctor of the Church. It tells of the "aridity" and consolations the soul experiences when approaching God. To be honest, I found it quite frighting. I recommend it, but I advise mature handling of St. John of the Cross' words.

St. John of the Cross is truly a superb Saint and Mystic. Through his writings You can see how your own spiritual journey may not always be easy. If you are looking for a book that will not only inform you of the dark night, but also give you a self evaluation of your own life, then this is the book for you. In parts it may seem that St. John is peering into your soul and speaking directly to you. The wonderful thing about this book is that no one will have the same experence of it. Everyone who reads it will read it in light of where they are in their own lives. the reflection and thoughts of this Holy man will force you to look inside yourself to find what you need to do to reach the Ultimate union with God. St John of the Cross...Pray For Us!

At the time of the first edition, this book was the best thought out and researched of all. The concept of protein complements, among others, is crucial to making a vegetarian diet work for any length of time. I tried to work with several others, and still have their books which I use occasionally. This one has stuck we me over three continents and as many decades. In times when I wasn't totally vegetarian it still provided a welcome change and a reminder that I wasn't reliant on the local meat market. Of all the books this has the philosophy and practicality to stay with one as a viable guide to a vegetarian lifestyle.

With this edition my wife and children have discovered, for quite different reasons (one from concerns about ecology, pollution, additives, GMOs, etc., the other from a more 'economic manipulation of peoples food habits' as well as nutrition) this book once again and found it as relevant now. They were thunderstruck to see my yellowed, fingermarked, and well-worn, copies with notes of variations I had tried. The beauty of the open-ended concept here is understated, but crucial. It has given us a stronger nutritional base as well as contributed to our growth as a family.

For someone new to this area this contains some of the most sound nutritional, philosophical, and economic, reasoning I've seen in print. Over time it becomes quite easy to adapt conventional recipes to the methodology in this book. As a guide for your cuisine and your life it is very good indeed.

Oh gosh what can one say about a book that is so insightful and factually sound? I commend Ms. Lappe for pulling together all the data contained in this book. She does not preach nor try to change anyone's mind. The info contained in the book reminded me of that old line "just the facts please." I believe she focused on protein because it is "lack of protein if we don't eat meat" (not vitamins, minerals, iron, etc.) that scare people about giving up meat. Ms. Lappe includes charts and facts and figures -- all kinds of information -- to reassure the reader that plant eaters can in fact get adequate protein from veggies -- minus the artery-clogging fat. Certainly, one gets plenty of vitamins and other nutients from plant/grain foods. Perhaps we bring our personal baggage along when reading such a book. I believe it is wasteful to feed grain to animals when people worldwide are starving and I doubt the earth can continue to support such wastefulness. So I welcome books such as this. Each person should think over the issues then decide. If one decides to stop eating meat or to cut back on the amount eaten, this book is loaded with information to help with food combining in the plant/grain families to make sure one will get the necessary nutrients. The recipes are included to help us along, and I will be referring to them and this book often in the coming weeks (or months!) Ms. Lappe's philosophy gets 5 stars too. I highly recommend this book.

This is an amazing book. It has lasted longer on the shelves than many other books of its kind and packs an influential punch.

The secret of "Diet for a Small Planet" is that it contains something for everyone, whether you believe in vegetarianism, the ecological production of the food supply or just want better health.

If you are an animal activist or don't eat meat for religious reasons, Lappe provides valuable info on how to get the proper balance in your diet by matching foods to get all the essential amino acids you need (the building blocks of proteins.)

If you are interested in health, you can use Lappe's book to provide alternative main dishes that are satisfying and lower in fat, higher in fiber. Meat is a major source of saturated fats, beans and rice and other grains provide lots of benefits such as soluable and insoluable fiber, vitamins and minerals.

If you are ecologically minded, and this is the thrust of the book, you can eat comfortably, knowing your dietary items take up less resources to grow.

I don't subscribe to all Lappe's philosophies, yet, this book had and continues to have a major influence on me. Rice and beans or grains and beans are regular items on our table, meatless days outnumber days when meat is on the table, and this is because I read Lappe's book long ago. I am sure I am better for knowing the information here.

I'm very pleased with this. For a long time, I had to make do with the old Star Trek Roleplaying Game from FASA Corporation, scrounging what source material I could to kluge together a campaign. Fortunately, Last Unicorn Games has produced a beautiful product which does an excellent job of capturing the feel of the Next Generation. The book uses primarily color photo stills from the television series, though there are some illustrations which are generally very good. I've been running a Next Generation campaign with a group of six players for the past few months, and generally the system has worked smoothly. The game uses a number of six-sided dice, one of which serves as a "Drama Die", a generator for Dramatic Successes or Failures. There was some confusion as to how attributes and skills worked (roll the attribute number of dice, add the level of the skill to the high roll), and the book is a little scattered in relating some of this information. The skills themselves tend to be very open fields, in order to reflect the ST:TNG tendency of characters who seem to know at least a little about a whole lot of things. The system is simple, but even more importantly, the writers seem to really understand what makes ST:TNG different from the other Star Trek settings (in terms of themes, mood, and so on). Last Unicorn has been producing a large line of products for this game which are generally of high quality, and they have been working with Paramount to make sure everything is accurate (or as accurate as you can get with a weekly television show). The main drawback that comes to mind is that LUGTrek takes the position that players should play lower-ranking characters instead of the command crew of a starship. This is reflected in the rulebook's included adventure, "Shakedown Cruise", but I found it simple enough to adapt to an all-PC command crew. LUG's other published adventures for this game allow for the possibility of PC captains and such, and thus far, there are no printed adventures which force your players to play the characters from the show (thus putting LUG one step ahead of FASA). In summary, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in running a Next Generation campaign. Last Unicorn is doing some excellent work here!

I have been waiting the arrivial of a Star Trek TNG rpg for a long time. This game was worth the wait! The core rule book is very complete and is really all a trekkie needs to get started roleplaying in the star trek universe. The character generation system allows for easily to make yet highly detailed characters. The game mechanics are decent and easy to learn. The systems for hand to hand combat is excellant and phaser combat is as lethal as it should be. Solid rules for starship combat are contained within the core rule book as well. The only real flaw with the product is the lack of statistics for the Borg.

Long in waiting has been the resource tool for Role Players both on the Internet and in Real Life, to be able to play Star Trek RPG's with accurate rules. This book finally allows Role Players the world over to benefit from ACCURATE rules and information, When as before we had to rely on our own sagacity. SIMMING an Internet role Playing game genre is also benefited greatly by this utility. And simmers Everywhere will be appreciative of their new found knowledge. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

While I enjoyed the story and thought it was a fun, frothy, quick read, great for the beach, the editing of the American version of the book left a lot to be desired. I was completely confused (not to mention flabbergasted) when, almost at the end of the story, I suddenly realized that these London-based characters are using American dollars and cents instead of British pounds and pence as their form of currency (see page 220). I actually stopped and went back to the beginning to make sure that they really lived in London, after all! I mean, COME ON! Do these people who "dumb down" British books for those of us forced to buy them in the United States REALLY believe that we are so stupid that the wording has to be changed--what, we might not be able to read British??? And who is proofreading this stuff?? I feel sorry for the author that such a travesty was made of her book. But a word of advice for her ---proofread EVERYTHING because you never know what idiot is going to be changing things in YOUR WORK. It reflects back on you, not them--your name is the one on the cover!

I just finished this book yesterday and I absolutely loved it! I was worried when I read some of the other reviews. But to me the "sex" scenes were not that bad and were done very tastefully.
I thought this book was very well written and it keeps you wanting to know what is coming up next. Jo the main character is very funny and uplifting.
Very good book in my opinion.

The reviews I read on this book were that it was a modern day fairy tale, and I couldn't agree more. While you will identify with the heroine, the lovely Jo Miles, I don't think it's realisitic to think you'll have four men panting for your attention. Two of the men could have any woman they wanted, and one of the others could easily buy any woman he wanted! But it's a fun read, I couldn't put it down, and it's a nice break from the real world. You'll find yourself rooting for Jo at the end of the book, and wishing you could find out what happens next. To me, wondering about what happens after the end, is always a mark of a well-written, entertaining read.