I bought this book with hopes to show my kids around Dallas area. Well, some information in the book were outdated, and some others were no longer there. I would like to see the author rate each place by ranking them. This guide otherwise gave me a good place to start.

Ostensibly, a book entitled "Quick Escapes Dallas/Ft. Worth" would emphasize the "quick"--that is, follow a general theme of time, suggest short-but-satisfying trips, give an approximation of travel time upfront, list trips from closest to farthest away, not require you to read the entire book to figure out which trips are the closest to Dallas etc (after all, you're trying to save time). However, a more appropriate and truthful title for this book would have instead conveyed that one should have good knowledge of Texas geography and roads...because that's how this book is laid out--not exactly friendly for the Texan newcomer! Counter to what I expected, this book does not suggest or organize "quick escapes" based upon the destination's distance from Dallas, but categorizes the different trips based on direction--do you want to go East, West, South, or North? (hmm, I thought I just wanted a "quick escape," I don't really care which direction I go in!) You'd better have a detailed Texas map handy too because otherwise you won't have a clue how much mileage is involved for each trip! And I'm sorry but 7 hours in the car is not my idea of a "quick escape," which is how long some of the suggested trips would take you if you actually compute the mileage. Some other gripes I have is that approximate prices are not included for suggested lodging and that some of the "escapes" cover redundant territory and/or don't give you a sense of how little (or much) there is to do once you are there. I took the trip to Caddo Lake and realized that I could complete the suggested itinerary for TWO other "escapes" (Jefferson and Mineola/Tyler) all in the same weekend--and no, I wasn't racing through towns just to say I had been there either, it was all at a leisurely pace. Leads me to believe that one should be retired, well-off, adept at cross-referencing this with other guidebooks, and not exhibit any ADD tendencies if you are to find this book truly helpful. But if you can ignore these details, and don't mind the misleading title of the book, the content is quite good...and I like how the author has included "pit stops" (cafes, bakeries, local restaurants and dives) into the itinerary. I have actually found "Official Guide to Texas State Parks," a book that I bought at the same time as "Quick Escapes," the more inspiring of the the two. Though it has similar faults (although it neither claims to be about quick escapes nor Dallas, so that isn't even a valid fault) it has gorgeous, compelling photography that give you a real sense of what the place is like. When used in conjunction with the Texas State Parks website, planning a trip is a snap...which is what I had hoped "Quick Escapes" would be.

A good introduction to some of the important issues in electric utility deregulation. Has a short history of the electric utility industry and the laws & regulations that have brought the industry to where it is today. Outlines several of the possible market models that an electric utility market could take as it enters deregulation. Issues identified are still being played out in the California utilities market. Written at a level for the general public outside of the utility industry.

If you're a football fan looking for a good football book, you should look elsewhere. This is more about celebrities and their excesses and behind-the-scenes shenanigans, the gossip and the rumors with all the scandal and intrigue. It just so happens that the celebrities in question are affiliated with the Dallas Cowboys as players, coaches, etc. This is about the soap opera between Jerry Jones and Barry Switzer - why Switzer coaches the way he coaches and why Jerry brought Switzer to Dallas. Or one version of that soap opera. Anyway, there's not much football here; it's pretty strictly off-the-field stuff, and maybe out-of-bounds at that.

A very intersting book for Cowboys fans. The access that Bayless was given during this championship run gives readers a unique insight about the ups and downs of a football season. However, as in his two previous books, Bayless makes himself too much of a part of the story, trying to make it seem as if he's more important than he really is. He also continuued a pattern of going overboard with innuendos, in this case potentially damaging the reputation of Troy Aikman. Skip always thinks it's necessary to combine football with National Enquire type material, and in this case it ruined what had the potential to be a great book and essentially ended his career in Dallas and on ESPN.

This book wasn't nearly as good as Skip Bayless's book 'The Boys', for one big reason: 'The Boys' focus was mainly on what happened on the field. This book is filled with unsubstantiated rumors, and gossip (from questionable sources I might add). Worst of all, this keeps Bayless from discussing what an incredible season the Cowboys had. For example: in discussing the opening day win (on Monday Night Football) over the New York Giants Bayless doesn't even mention Emmitt's (Smith) first carry of the season: an up the middle 60+ yard touchdown run that was spectacular because Smith smoked the Giants secondary. He also fails to mention Prime Times (Deon Sanders) awesome interception against the Raiders (leaping over the top of Rocket Ishmail while running stride for stride with him).............and on and on. He also failed to mention that Jay Novachec was out late in the season (getting his knee surgically repaired), and how this affected the team's performance. (I mean lets face it as much respect as I have for Kevin Williams, that offense was a 2 receiver offense.) Bayless preferred to lay the blame of the late season slump at the feet of the alleged conflict between Troy Aikman and Barry Switzer.
Later in the book is a chapter on the cowboy's "family secrets" and Bayless reports all sorts of unfounded rumors and half-truths about many Cowboys. At one point Bayless claims he knew all about the "real" Michael Irvin but choose not to report on it because what he was doing wasn't "breaking the law, and certainly hasn't affected his performance". Well Skip why are you reporting it now? Hmmmmmmmmm? Buying drugs, (which Irvin later pleaded no contest to) isn't illegal?
I will give Bayless credit for giving Barry Switzer more respect as a football coach than probably anyone else. Everyone who knows anything about football knows the man's a good coach. (3 National titles, 4th highest win percentage in college football history, and oh yeah, a world championship with Dallas.)
Overall this book would interest you only if you are more interested gossip than football.

Although several people had recommended this book to me, I found it to be lacking both in the number of schools listed and the information regarding each school. Not a single one of the schools I am investigating is reviewed in this book. Where is Lamplighter? Where is Callier? There is nothing in this book you cannot find by a simple internet search. Don't waste your time or money with this book!

I was not impressed with this book at all. It is as though the author sent a questionnaire to each school and then simply published whatever she received back, with absolutely no research or investigation. The information is organized 3 different ways, none of which are intuitive or easy to maneuver. It seems as if they were just looking for a way to fill up the book. Many of the top name schools are not listed, which makes me wonder how many of the lesser-known name schools are missing. Some of the schools profiles read like an advertisement from their brochure. There is more information online that is worthwhile and helpful, not to mention many of the private schools now have web sites...

This book does not have all the DFW Private schools listed. There isn't any information in this book that you could not find on the website. Just factoids. There are so many schools left out, I don't trust any of the information. Saint Thomas Aquinas, Hockaday, Jesuit. Just visit their websites and save your (money)!

It reads like completely scientifical, but especially when you are not trained, it's difficult to understand where the writer is wrong and where he's right. HCA for weight loss is complete nonsens. I tried it myself with no result and recently a scientific study pointed out that HCA has zero effect.

This was a good place to start learning about HCA. If you use this book to understand basically how HCA can be used to prevent excess calories from being stored as fat, and to aid in appetite suppression by increasing glycogen stores in the liver, you can then reference the most recent clinical trials (there are now 18 of them) showing that if you take the *proper amount* of HCA, you WILL lose weight with it. The only problem with this book is it is dated, since the new research indicates a daily dosage of 4000 to 6000 mg of HCA for effective weight loss. This book doesn't reflect this new knowlege. But again, a good place to start learning about this wonderful herb.

Having enjoyed both North Dallas 40 and other titles by Peter Gent, I was surprised to find this particular title somewhat lacking. Of course, it is a reprisal of the characters we met in the original ND40 but quite a few years have passed and the lives of the main characters are not quite the same as they were. I would have prefered if the last impression we had of them would have been from ND40. The follow up wasn't needed.

I read one other book by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg several years ago and swore I wouldn't read another. Well, I checked this out (a book on tape..unabridged) from the library and listened to it while driving...that's probably the only reason I finished it.
The characters are laughable, the writing is amateurish....I won't make this mistake again.

I must agree with all of the reviews. I lasted until page 20 and couldn't take it any more. I have read Rosenberg's past books and don't remember hating them. If her next book is as bad as this one, I will add her to my list of "No more", which unfortunately contains alot of (modern day) authors! Where are the great authors?

The author should retitle this book. I gave it a one-star rating because there is no 0-star rating.

The problem? The author can't write.

What a sorry state the publishing industry is in when this sophomoric gibberish ends up on the New York Times best-seller list, and when its covers and intro pages are filled with praise by people who should and do know better.

Writing a bad book is one thing, and most folks are capable of it.

Reviewing a laughably bad book and showering praise on it for whatever reason is another, and to all those who did so in print -- shame on you!

I'm interested to know about bacteriocins. What is bacteriocins? how it works? Whay it is important? why LAB produce it? What is the contant of bacteriocins? is bacteriocins anti-microbial properties? Thanks..

This book of plays is terrible. All of the plays are very poorly written. Uninteresting to both children and adults. The plays are based on Pioneers, but they are so badly written that no one will want to perform or watch them. I got a real sense that the authors threw together a few quick plays to make a buck. If you're looking for good plays, I recommend Bad Wolf Press. Their plays are much, much better.