I was not predisposed to like this book. My mother is Nisei and spent the war in the camps (and like the author, I had two uncles already serving in the U.S. Army when Pearl Harbor was attacked), but I'm ambivalent about dwelling on the experience, I don't think a similar internment will happen in this country again, and going in, the plot of this book seemed to offer a strong whiff of unseemly paranoia.

But it turns out, given the outrageous premise of fierce economic war between Japan and the U.S., resulting in the revival of Executive Order 9066, and a couple of unbelievable plot turns, that _21st Century Manzanar_ is a surprisingly engaging book. The plot and style shift easily between lyrical reminiscence, action thriller, character studies, and even the somewhat surreal (both drug- and faith-induced).

When the story opens, David Takeda, a Sansei (third generation Japanese-American) in his late 40s from the Venice Beach area, has been reduced to earning his living by delivering eulogies for deceased relations and friends -- their numbers cut down by disease and racist violence. His brother Johnny is beaten to death before they get to Manzanar, in the desert of eastern California, but sister Kate and her children make it to camp. The bulk of the book recreates camp life and the characters' hopes for escape.

Though there is naturally much Japanese-American content (even a 6-page glossary of Japanese and slang terms in the back), this is a highly multicultural novel. David's best friends are a black man and a Hispanic lesbian; also, Miyake significantly plays up the similarities in physiognomy, behavior, and values between Japanese and Southwest Native Americans. In camp one gets to know an alleged half Chinese, half Korean character -- a gay man named Bradley Kuwata, who serves as both a clown and an eventual saviour.

The villains of the story -- particularly a Nurse Ratched-like camp director and a recurring soldier-guard figure -- are a little too unidimensional and caricatured (but this IS a satire), however the "good guys" are complex, ambivalent, and given to fatal changes of mind ... and their body count jarringly high.

Even more surprising, Miyake mixes a fair amount of the lyrical with the profane. This book is not only a love letter to Japanese-Americans (the author reportedly included much of his own family's biographical details in the background of his hero), but also to Los Angeles. There's a strong sense of place in the opening chapters, and Miyake names names and recreates businesses that actually existed and he remembers fondly.

Obviously, anyone with a Japanese background will easily slip into the milieu of this story, but I think even gaijin may find it worthwhile, for its grittiness, detail, and odd shifts of style and perspective.

From Chapter One there is a natural flow to the writing. I came to care about the characters and wondered how I would face these same circumstances if they came to pass. This book opened a world to me that I knew very little about. Perry Miyake's book entertained and educated. He made the reader question and explore their world and at the same time, he kept the reader wondering what the next paragraph would bring.

I heard about this book through the East West Players theater group, for which Perry Miyake has staged several plays. I had heard about the author, but didn't know what to expect. From page 1, I was thoroughly engrossed in the story of a family whose lives were turned upside down by an economic was with the Japananes and its byproduct: the reissuance of an exective order banishing all Japanese to inernment camps--Manzanar, in California. While this book has strong political undertones, the writing is what drew me in. It's smart and spare and left me wishing for more--despite a very satisfying ending that I won't give away.

This book, like all of the other Perry Mason books, far succeed their t.v. counterpart. This book was very good and surprising. It's always interesting to find out whodunit. It's never the one you think it is. Great read. Highly recommended.

Very well plotted mystery. The Glamorous Ghost is trapped by a deadly web of circumstantial evidence. It is partly her fault; she piles up so many lies that even Mason can't believe her. But, as Mason points out, Hamilton Burger, the rival District Attoney, is not a thorough thinker. He often overlooks and/or deliberately ignores some evidence "to keep from confusing the issues". It is superb how Mason digs out such buried evidence through the persistent cross-examination.

For those out there whose only knowledge of Perry Mason comes from the old Raymond Burr series, I implore you to find the books! They're loads of fun, with snappy dialogue, complex plots, and sharply drawn characters. Perry's relationship with Della Street, his confidential secretary, is extremely interesting, not at all the innocent friendship as one might think.

THE CASE OF THE GLAMOROUS GHOST has all the aforementioned elements plus more: beautiful women, murder, misdirection, Perry's client trapped within a web of circumstantial evidence. But it is the trial sequence in this book, which is over 100 pages long, that elevates this novel. Slowly we learn exactly what happened in these people's lives and who REALLY is the villian of the piece. As is true with most Mason books, no one is who they seem.

This is an exciting work, with an above average puzzle. Gardner never, EVER lets the action drag (one of his primary trademarks) and I feel that it will appeal to modern tastes as much as it appealed to those in the 40s and 50s. Let Perry light the way for you in one of his more interesting adventures. You'll love it!

I read this excellent book by Roland Perry some time ago and became convinced of the assignation of the role of the Cambridge University's 'Fifth Man' to Victor Rothschild. Perry's narrative was convincing and thoroughly researched. The book is an excellent read yet I, like the previous reviewer, am puzzled as to why the 'revelation' was not picked up by the press as would have been expected in such cases. I am now even more puzzled. Reading through Christopher Andrew's and Vasili Mitrokhin's book "THE MITROKHIN ARCHIVES" no mention is made of Rothschild as the Fifth Man. Instead the pre-Rothschild fall guy John Cairncross is once again fingered as the last of the Magnificant Five. Can someone tell me - who is the REAL Fifth Man?

Paul Hellander, Travel Writer - Photographer

'Just as the three musketeers were really four so we were really six' Anthony Blunt. This book is a result of high class investigative journalism and has left me totally convinced. In regards to John Cairncross, it is my belief both Cairncross and Rothschild were traitors as Blunt admitted they were really six. Only Rothschild had the ability and position to betray the UK so totally and there certainly has been a cover up.

While browsing in a local Public Library, I came upon this very well presented, and convincing, professional account by Mr Perry, of the unveiling of The Fifth Man. I am astounded that a spy story, detailling the activities of an individual traitor, who was responsible for the greatest influence on world history ever revealed, has apparently been concealed from the history of the twentieth century. I recommend this book by Roland Perry to all interested readers of history, and to those of us fascinated by the espionage history of the twentieth century, and of the Second World War.I further recommend that the publisher of this book (Sedgwick & Jackson, London)consder reissuing this title.It is an absorbing read. This book is an astonishing revelation of History.

Gemini Twist is welll-written and full of interesting characters. Shelby Jones is a young college student who is beautiful, adventurous, and full of life. But, she seems to keep falling for the wrong men. The story is entertaining and romantic with a touch of mystery. The author has great story telling ability. I'm looking forward to future novels.

Gemini Twist was written in such a manner as to peak
the reader's interest while at the same time describing
topics and events using a creative approach that is not
often seen in today's novels. The author clearly made
a conscious effort to describe the characters and points
of interest which made me feel as though I was an
intricate part of the surroundings and ambiance.
I am truly looking forward with great anticipation to
Ms. Perry's next novel which I hope is released very
soon.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It's a fun read with an unexpected ending. I hope Ms. Perry will write some more Gemini books, because I really liked this one.

This book covers the fundamentals of JMX but where I was disappointed was that it uses a pretty basic queue example and doesn't really get into J2EE applications and praticle uses. I was left wondering when to use it. If I had it to do over I'd choose another book with more praticle applications for JMX.

Java Management Extensions by Java expert J. Steven Perry is a superbly organized and written reference and instructional resource to managing Java applications with JMX. Individual chapters address standard, dynamic, model, and open MBeans, dynamic loading, the monitoring class and timer service, and much more. A practical study of JMX architecture as well as a thoroughly "user friendly" how-to guide for technical managers, Java Management Extensions is an exceptionally useful and straightforward manual.

Java Management Extensions (JMX) enable configuration, management and monitoring of Java applications at runtime in a standardized manner. Furthermore JMX offers an exciting new approach for building component based applications. JMX makes it possible to exchange these components with new implementations or add new components without ever stopping your server. A lot of application servers, like JBoss, Apache Tomcat or BEA WebLogic, are based on this approach nowadays.

The O'Reilly book "Java Management Extensions" offers a sound primer to the JMX APIs. It starts off with a high level view of the JMX concepts. The author then introduces a sample application which is used throughout the book to explain the different parts of the JMX API.
For every type of MBean( standard, dynamic, model and even the brand new Open MBeans) the author devoted a whole chapter, covering the complete API of the Mbean type. Therefore, and because all the chapters are so very well structured, the book is perfectly suited for serving as a reference book.
Further topics covered are the MBean server, JMX Notifications, dynamic loading with MLets and the JMX Services (monitoring service, timer service, relation service). Again there is a whole chapter for every single topic.

All in all I like the book very much, especially because it is so clearly structured and because of the author's straightforward way of writing.
Be aware though that, while the book covers the complete standardized JMX APIs, it does not talk a lot about the not yet standardized parts, like connectors and adaptors, except for the obligatory HttpAdaptor. But that is a reasonable decision as these parts a different for every implementation of JMX, and the best place to cover them is probably the vendors documentation.
Highly recommendable.

This book was a pretty good book. It gives lots of examples as what to do, and what I learned from, what not to do. Very informative and the information can be used to look back on. Lots of examples to writing classified ads as well as sales letter that will get you the responses you are aiming for.

This book is a good book to start off with. Im starting my own home based business and I felt like I was about ready to start after reading this. He gives you good examples of classfied ads that he has used and shows you how to write sales letters that will pull responses. He tells you what you should and shouldnt do. I will probably always refer to this book. You should also try Melvin Powers mail order books but dont try 101 Great Mail Order Businesses by Tyler Hicks.

experienced writer, philospher, adult, creative, thoughtful, kind, generouse, genius, lazy, reliable, acgive, energi

My crazy friend Liz bought this for me. I am 30 years old, but it was very funny.

a friend brought this find to work - i read it and what a hoot! this is THE most adorable book ever ! i will name my next pet perry, just becase this rabbit is adorable and the book is so funny. i believe this book will become a collectors item some day - I LOVE PERRY !

Perry, an adorable rabbit with explosive anal talent constantly defecates, much to his friends' consternation. They fear being enveloped by his excrement and exile him. However, they soon come to miss their fecal friend, and relent. They all join up again, and revel in the rabbit's waste. This book for all ages is a joy from cover to cover, hilarious in its treatment of the act of defecation.

Following on the heels of THE MATRIX by the same author, we find our hero's on holiday and in danger again. Ultimate weapons, a waterlogged world,intelligent dolphins and underground cities mixed with a juggernaut of a hurricane bearing down on them all... this is one busy book, and when creatures are not attacking the city, and Ace is not on the run, and the Doctor isn't hatching one escape after the next... it does take time to build on the relationship between the Doctor and Ace. Few Doctor Who books do this, and when they do I like to point them out. The Doctor and Ace share both an intelligent and adult relationship here, and it's in these moments that the book shines through the standard (and overly used) plot. For fans of the series, not for first time buyers...

The Doctor takes Ace to the water world of Coralee, intent on having a holiday (and given the previous events in 'Matrix', this seems like a good plan). But there is something under the water, and another something in orbit around the planet, which will together add up to a potentially world-destroying threat...

The third consecutive Seventh Doctor and Ace story from the writing partnership of Robert Perry and Mike Tucker, this is a relatively simple but nevertheless effective traditional Doctor Who story. In that I mean a story with a human base (in this case, the holiday resort) under threat from a mysterious menace, the nature of which becomes apparent as the story progresses.

The world of Coralee is an effectively realised one - humans and dolphins are the dominant species, and the dolphins are better depicted in a book than they would be on TV. The cooperative nature of the two races in sharing the society seems, to me, quite believable.

One of the things that is common in Doctor Who on TV is the buildup of tension until the climax of the story. With the control of events and the periods of time they happen in, this is fairly easy to accomplish (although somewhat undone by video and DVD technology!). With the reader's control over pace in reading a book, the same feeling of claustrophobic fear is not so easily achieved in a novel. For me, this book managed to do that, which is to be commended.

And, as one would expect, the portrayal of the Doctor and Ace are very true to their televised versions.

Overall, this book has no major defects and gives us a novel that is true to Doctor Who, the TV series, as we know it.

The team of Mike Tucker and Robert Perry have fused together to bring us another fantastic 7th Doctor novel. Looking for a holiday from their previous adventure, the Doctor and Ace arrive on the colony planet Corralee. Their peace is soon shattered as a series of vicious attacks on underwater divers and ships occur which leads to an almost unstoppable attack onto the colony itself. Very well written, you can feel undertones of the JAWS and ALIENS movies throughout, plus there is more of a connection between the Doctor and Ace occuring. This is another story that would have been excellent on screen. RECOMMENDED to everyone.

I just received this book and have read it cover to cover for two days. The History is Very Interesting, it explains where all these different gods and goddesees are dervived from, and why some are mixed. It even includes a map, so you can trace your background (I did anyway).
The Spells are very detailed and ask for specific things not available at Albertson's. So Have not tried any. They could work, but I don't know.

Ancient Spellcraft offers a storehouse of knowledge derived from the most important of ancient cultures, civilizations and empires; including Babylonians, Canaanites, Celts, Cretans, Egyptians, Etruscans, Greeks, Hittites, Phoenicians, Romans and Sumerians.

Refreshing to read, as historically correct and accurate, well illustrated and offering a host of interesting spells which are well explained in exact detail with step-by-step instructions, that really work!
Each time I read this book, I focus on something new, gaining additional knowledge. This is a delightful book, which will not just sit and catch dust!

Ancient Spellcraft is a well written book; and one I would recommend for class, coven or the solitaire; one which will serve well, as a practical reference for any one practicing magickal workings, and very enjoyable reading.

Laura Perry's Ancient Spellcraft provides a practical book of spells and charms derived from various ancient pagan cultures. From spells to promote business success to the usual ones for health and prosperity, this provides in-depth descriptions, backgrounds on the deities invoked, and instructions for completing the magic.