I have heard people comparing this work to Walter Mosley. I don't think so. While the writer does have an intersting style and does go into the histor of music in L.A., it seems like that is all he does. There were too many characters to keep up with and there was no true suspense. However, the writer does have a nice style which he should develop more instead of giving the reader a history lesson in jazz.

Easy Rollins move over. Doghouse Washington is a black private eye who lives on Central Avenue in the 1950s. Unlike the Rollins books, Doghouse gives a true feeling of the music scene in Los Angeles in 1955, complete with a murderous doo-wop group and double-dealing R&B record companies.

The book contains mostly historical material -- photos and text. I was looking for a book about contemporary Central Valley. A one-page graph shows dollar-value of products and the percentage of U.S. production. One photo, of the planting of asparagus in a dust-storm, shows mostly dust.

I bought the book mainly to see the work of photographer Stephen Johnson, and his work truly delivered. These pictures are a must study for landscape photographers. His photographs capture a simple beauty and are a heartfelt display of the region. Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the work of photographer Robert Dawson, and by the amount of information contained within the pages of "The Great Central Valley". If you enjoy photography or are interested in California history, you will highly enjoy this book.

First off, this book is not a hardcover as advertised. It's a legal size paperback. The photos would have made the book but they were blurred and extremely poorly replicated. The photo collection and newspaper shots looked like good choices. I only wish I could have see them clearly.

Mermaids On Parade: America's Love Affair With Its First Olympic Women Swimmers is a fascinating compendium of stories and interviews with more than two dozen American women who competed in Olympic swimming events and helped to bring the sport to the enthusiastic attention of the sports minded public. Buck Dawson's informative and engaging text is enhanced with a profusion of period photographs of the female athletes who dominated this women's sport event from 1907 to 1957 and rose to excellence in this competitive sport with grace, beauty and personality -- making generations of girls want to learn to swim and to compete. Mermaids On Parade is highly recommended reading for Olympic sports enthusiasts, women's studies supplemental reading lists, and anyone who has every thrilled to a women's swim meet competition.

Book Three of the Tenebrea Trilogy reads like it was rushed to print before it was fully polished. Tenebrea Rising delivers up some nice moments and a satisfying enough action climax, but ends far too abruptly and with far too many dangling plot threads. Its first half doesn't quite live up to the promise of Tenebrea's Hope, though it overcomes its early failings as events move along. The title is puzzling: the Tenebrea aren't really involved much after their initial rescue, and the authors don't particularly follow through on the implied theme of gradually rising fortunes.

Andrea and her team save the imprisoned Tenebrea, but then she learns the full extent to which K'Rin has used her and others for his own ends. Torn between heartache and rage, she breaks with the Tenebrea and swears to kill K'Rin if she ever sees him again. Considering her own ruthlessness in using others, she really shouldn't be throwing stones.

The Ordinate hit Jod, obliterating most of the fleet, pulverizing the capital, and annihilating the government. Then the Chelle make their own first move into open war with Jod, while Cor Admiral Brulk returns home to rebuild his intentionally sacrificed fleet and forces. K'Rin takes over as both military and civilian leader on Jod, making plans to wage a dual campaign against Cor and Chelle.

With Brigon, Eric, and Andrea overdue in returning to Cor, a crippled Tara leads the starving outlaw clones out of their wilderness retreat to fight the Ordinate at close quarters again. While she's finalizing the details of their proposed assault, the Tenebrea rescue team at last rejoins her with much-needed supplies, equipment, and tactical support from K'Rin. He needs the clones to help wipe out the Ordinate before Brulk gets back to fighting trim. Andrea comes along only as a favor to Brigon, wanting nothing more to do with K'Rin even at a distance.

After waiting all the way through Tenebrea's Hope for some major plot action, readers are again left waiting too long before things finally break in Tenebrea Rising. In the early chapters, the writing seems more clumsy and repetitive than in either previous book. References to prior events don't always agree with earlier accounts. As in Hope, there are too many scattered points of view, with choppy transitions that make it hard for readers' attention to remain engaged. Neither Andrea nor K'Rin shows up often enough or long enough to serve as a necessary anchor for the other story lines.

Once again, though, the patient reader is rewarded; the second half of the book is substantially better than the first. Except for one noble sacrifice, the key characters all get the outcomes they deserve. There are occasional philosophical asides and small action vignettes that rise above the rest of the story and show what the authors might accomplish after a bit more seasoning. The Chelle provide some welcome comic relief. Additional follow-up books might be expected.

Tenebrea Rising provides a satisfying end to an ambitious trilogy.

In books one and two, Andrea became ruthless because of the evil done to her. Her mentor, K'Rin has long been ruthless because of his practical, if not exaggerated, sense of duty. The Jod's leader, Pl'Don, is ruthlessly ambitious as is his Cor counterpart, Admiral Brulk, who manufactures clones that he uses like ammunition. Even the Chelle, who offer comic relief, demonstrate a kind of pettifogging ruthlessness. The Chelle's arrogant meddling on Earth actually started the whole disordered mess.

All these unbridled self-interests collide in Tenebrea Rising. As with all moral tales, redemption comes from selflessness, embodied by the maternal (although ironically sterile clone Tara) and Andrea's companion, the noble H'Roo Parh. Andrea finally breaks hate's hold on her when realizes that she is becoming like K'Rin, the latest object of her hate.

The ending of Tenebrea Rising leaves many unanswered questions, but such is life. Andrea quips at the end, "Now we have a future," and we are left to wonder, what kind of future? These books are so much more than space opera--very enjoyable at one level, and deeper still.

Well Im a nature enthusiast, and have many field guides.
I liked this one because it covers all of the venomous animals around the wolrd, but I found it short on descriptions, hazards, etc. It doesnt tell you what you can touch and what you cannot, and it sometimes mentions very dangerous animals to human but sometimes it doesnt mention anything on more dangerous animals.
The book sometimes specify how venomous is a certain specie, and it does not talks much about on others..
I found it helpful as a starting guide in order to have a starting point on a deeper research on any animal found around the world.
Good for families that like the outdoors, if they consider not to touch anything pictured on the book, altough some animals on the book does not represent any risk for human.

A very interesting and practical guide. Its always good to know what animals are venemos and what the effects of their poison is, which is what this book shows.

Good book- great things I didn't know. I loved it!

Alan Dawson is an excellent journalist who covered the fall of Saigon from the city itself. Not surprisingly, he is highly critical of the U.S. leadership that failed to get a large number of its Vietnamese employees out during the chaotic evacuation. He is also highly critical of the corrupt South Vietnamese regime that squandered billions of dollars in American aid and ultimately sacrificed their country to the communists almost without a fight. I would recommend this book over "The Fall of Saigon" which is far less readable.

This text is designed to provide the MBA-level student with a meaty, reference-packed discussion of organization. In the first two-thirds of the book Dawson explores the nature and interrelationships between between people, strategies, technology, environment, structure, and culture. She then turns her focus to organizational change and the dynamic elements that are involved in this process, such as power and influence. Importantly, the creative and intuitive are interwoven into the model of change Dawson presents. As a consultant working with organizations on their change initiatives, I find this book, although academic, to be interesting and helpful. It is geared for students, but it holds value for practitioners who are willing to tackle a book with 15 pages of bibliography and which cites the research and writings of others on virtually every page. In fact, for practitioners a plunge back into books of this kind can be a refreshing change from the sea of slick how-t! o publications which too frequently offer content that fails far short of what we may hope to find, given thier alluring titles. In short, "Analyzing Organizations" is a worthy contribution.

This book is a wonderful story! All about a girl who is sent to school in a totally foreign country . On the way, she meets a boy and becomes casual friends. When she finds he lives near her boarding school, they become closer and gardually romance blooms! Also on the way you meet a bombshell with an attitude and a handsome hunk of a ski instructor. This book has been a favorite of mine for years.