One of the cool things for me (when I first read this book) was realizing how many spots I've drivin past over the last few years without realizing that some historical event took place there. For instance: there is a Hollywood Video in LA that I've actually rented from that used to be the bank that Patty Hearst and her posse ripped off.

It is a very easy-to-read-guide to all those cool events we've witnessed on TV over the last few years. And, no matter where you live in the country, you are bound to find an event that took place near you.
GET IT!

This book highlights events you know happened, but may not know where they happened. I particulary liked items such as the fact that there is now a Virgin Megastore where the old Schwab's drug store was in Los Angeles. (Where, in fact, the author tells us that Lana Turner was NOT discovered!)

A great summertime read. (Or any other time of year, for that matter!)

the where is practically every pop culture landmark you can think of in the u.s. (and some you may have forgotten). area 51, the brady bunch house, the manson ranch, all places that you can actually go and see for yourself (of course, some places have less access than others).

each listing comes with a street address, some even provide phone numbers and driving directions.

but the beauty of this book is in the details, the bits of info that accompany the listings. like the fact that the lizzie borden death house has been turned into a bed and breakfast where guests can view the murder scene and sleep in lizzie's room, her parent's bedroom, or the guest room where her mother was killed.

it's sad to note that some of the places that are part of our collective history are no longer there. it makes you realize the transitory nature of our culture.

whether you visit the places in the book or not, i think you feel richer for having taken the journey with the author. his love of pop culture is infectious.

Dr. James Herriot, a veterinarian in North Yorkshire, England, wrote Cat Stories. He lives in a beautiful estate on a hill with a large wall around it. He visited many animals and is well known by many people for his many adventures and his style of storytelling. Cat Stories is an autobiographical book, so Dr. Herriot is the main character in most of the stories. He has written several books including All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord God Made Them All, Every Living Thing, and James Herriot's Dog Stories. He retired after 50 years of treating mostly domestic farm animals. The conflicts in most of his stories are man to self or man to nature, because he tries his best to try to think of what to do for the animal and has to remember something. He helps all kinds of people, from young farmers, to wealthy old ladies. Dr. James Herriot is a good man with a large heart. In one of the cat stories, He visits an old lady, Mrs. Ainsworth who owns two basset hounds. She calls Herriot whenever one of her dogs does anything unusual. In the story there is a stray cat that comes to visit Mrs. Ainsworth. The rising action started when Herriot saw the cat and inquired about her. The Mrs. Ainsworth told Herriot that the cat was a stray and she had named her Debbie. The climax comes on Christmas Day, when Dr. Herriot gets a call from Mrs. Ainsworth about Debbie. He then proceeds to her house to check on Debbie. She was stretched out on the floor and motionless. However, she had brought a kitten in with her because she knew that it would be well cared for in the house. In the falling action this kitten grew into an energetic cat, which Mrs. Ainsworth called Buster. On one of his later visits, Herriot finds out that Buster would chase a rubber ball and bring it back to whoever threw it. He was a Feline Retriever! Mrs. Ainsworth said that Buster was the best Christmas present she had ever received In another story, Olly and Ginny, the Herriot's adopted cats, are fed and cared for by Mr. and Mrs. Herriot. He has to treat them, so they think of him as the bad guy. Later, He tries to make friends with Olly, and succeeds. Days later, however, Olly dies. The Herriots were devastated. Mr. Herriot then decides to try to make friends with Ginny, although she was the more skittish of the two cats. He slowly makes progress and begins to make friends with Ginny. After several months, He starts to pet the cat from head to tail. The two were finally friends. Mr. Herriot considered this one of his greatest triumphs. In conclusion, as you may see Mr. Herriot does many great, and strange, things. I believe this is why so many people love his books. His books seem to be larger than life, but they are actually true. I feel that his many adventures capture and mystify many people, and that is why his books are so well known. Dr. Herriot died unfortunately in 1995, but I believe he had a great life.

This is a good book for people who like animal stories. The story is full of stoires that evoke different feelings. James Herriot tells you eventful tales of his social life with cats. He is a vet and lives with his wife in a little town. They also have a cabin in the hills a couple miles away. It's modern time so every one has running water, electricity, etc. He talks about his feelings, emotions, and actions he has to take concerning his cat patients. He also explains his encounters with two strange kittens, called Ginny and Otis, that he encounters at his cabin . He tell about how he tries to protect them from the cruelness of the world when their mother leaves them. Some of these events are predictable so you won't get blown away if something terrible happens. For example, when one of the cats James adopts runs away for the first time, or when you know the mother cat will have kittens and it's really not a medical problem. When you read this story the theme James Herriot is trying to tell you is to take all of the time you're given in the world to enjoy everyone and everything around you, because you'll never know when you will be able to see or love them again.

James Herriot's Cat Stories is a one of a kind book. It is full of wonderful stories, and will be very much enjoyed by anyone interested in cats. It surpassed my expectations as a great book, and I think anyone who has read it would agree.

Includes over 800 entries, illustrations, synopses of books and chapters, biographies of Joyce and his contemporaries, bibliography, a very useful index, as well as the text of Jude Woolsey's ruling to lift the ban on "Ulysses." The writing is clear, wide-ranging, and complete without bogging the reader down in minutiae. Not as thorough as the encyclopedic "Ulysses Annotated," but very useful in disentangling Joyce and his works without great effort! Written by a Professor of Theology and English at Molloy College (and vice president of the James Joyce Society), and a professor of English at Marquette University.

Elvis, the Beatles and Marilyn Monroe have received the A to Z treatment in which every aspect of their lives and works have been reordered alphabetically, so it was only a matter of time that the mania would spread to lesser figures in our popular culture, in this case Mark Twain, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf.

This series of three books, originally published by Facts On File and now updated and reprinted by Oxford University Press, combines facts culled from the writers' lives and works, shakes them up thoroughly, and recasts them into easily locatable entries. The result is an addictive pleasure, a page-turning odyessy for anyone interested in learning more about their favorite writer.

At 304 pages, the Joyce volume is the smallest of the trio, but what it lacks in size it more than makes up by offering extensive commentaries on "Ulysses" and "Finnegans Wake." Those who have tried to read these modernist (or post-modernist, the argument still rages) classics have quickly recognized the need for assistance. For "Ulysses," the Joyce volume reprints Joyce's chart that lists each chapter's time frame, location, symbols, technics, organs, art and correspondences to the original. Each chapter is given its own entry, which describes the action, Joyce's intentions, and clairifies points of Dublin's history. As one who attempted "Ulysses" solo, and suffered for his sin, I can speak with authority that this volume would have saved me a great deal of agony. I only wish they had abandoned their schema and combined the chapter descriptions into a single, lengthy appendix.

No detail is too small to escape the editors. There are also entries on Gustave Flaubert, an influence on Joyce's writing style; Throwaway, the race horse whose victory in the Ascot Gold Cup figures in "Ulysses," and the Volta Cinema, Dublin's first movie theater, which Joyce helped to open.

In short, this guide can help the Joyce reader move through the complexities of his work without feeling like you've earned a Ph.D in comparative literature while you're doing so.

Be prepared to find what many inexperienced cooks may find as exotic ingredients. We're lucky to live by a huge Asian grocery store, so finding things like jasmine extract, kilfer lime leaves, fresh lemongrass, and other interesting-sounding bottled or dried flavorings was not difficult, but could potentially be.

I appreciate the sumptuous photos supplied with each recipe. Obviously there was a hefty budget for food stylists and photo shoots, but it really helps when you're trying to envision the finished product and the presentation.

The Library of America's series of writings by America's Founders -- including Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton and many others besides the book of James Madison's writings -- are longer and more difficult to read. They consist of original texts with only the slightest endnotes and historical chronology. (In this book of Madison's writings, the historical chrononogy is excellent) The disadvantage, if that is the correct word, of the Library of American's series is that reading these books takes substantial effort and digging. In addition, it is difficult to stop with one book, as each collection relates to and requires and understanding of the work of the other Founders. The advantage these books offer, though, can't be found anywhere else. They offer a chance to meet and encounter American's Founders in their own words and on their own terms and to see the development of their thoughts over time.

James Madison (1751-1836) was probably America's greatest political thinker. His career spanned the Revolutionary War, the formation of the Articles of the Confederation, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, the creation of party in America, the Louisiana Purchase, and the War of 1812, which occurred during his Presidency.

The Library of America's collection of over 900 pages offers a rare opportunity to read in one place the major writings of James Madison. It allows the reader an opportunity to assess his importance and to see the themes Madison developed throughout his life.

A major contribution of Madison was his insistence on freedom of religion in the United States and his opposition to any established sect. These theme pervades this volume from the Amendments Madison proposed to the Virginia declaration of rights in 1776, through the Bill of Rights, Madison's Presidency, and beyond.

Madison was also the architect of representative government. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention and took copious notes of its proceedings. He was the major draftsman of the Constitution. He spoke for both a strong National government and for representative government -- in which the people chose their leaders.

Together with Alexander Hamilton, Madison wrote the Federalist papers which explained the Constitution to the people of New York but in a larger sense to the United States in his day and in succeeding days as well. This collaboration was significant in that Madison and Hamilton would later quarrel and be the founders of the party system. Madison and Jefferson spoke for what has become the Democratic Party (the "democracy) with its emphasis at the time on individual rights and participatory democracy and a narrow reading of Federal power while Hamilton became the spokseman for a strong central government and for economic development.

The book chronicle's Madison's efforts in supporting and drafting the Bill of Rights. Subsequently, Madison wrote a lengthy article for the State of Virginia expressing opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts that Congress enacted during the Presidency of John Adams. The opposition was based on the inconsistency of the act with the freedom of speech set forth in the First Amendment and to the lack of authority for these Acts in the original constitution.

The book has comparatively little on Madison's career as Secretary of State under Thomas Jefferson and on Madison's own relatively unsuccessful Presidency during the War of 1812.

Upon leaving the Presidency, Madison enjoyed a long retirement at Montpelier. This collection gives a good view of Madison's continued activity during this time. It discusses his views on slavery and on the impending Missouri compromise (Madison opposed it -- an opposition that would haunt the United States in the later Dred Scott decision) and on Judicial Supremacy -- the power of the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional. (Madison agreed the Court had this power but he disagreed with the way Chief Justice Marshall used it.)

One of the final items in this book is a short, two paragraph article entitled "Advice to my Country" written 1n 1834 as a parting before Madison's death. Looking at the impending conflict between North and South, but speaking to our time as well Madison wrote:

"The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated."

This is an important wish for our country now as then.

This book will repay reading and study. The study of our Founders is, I think, one of the best ways to learn to love and understand our country.