A stunningly bad debut. These tales fall somewhere between short stories and rambling cracker monologues. Painfully obvious in their need to "SHOCK" and be "EDGY" they amount to little more than the work of a beat poet with tourettes. Self-consciously strange without being believable or even interesting I was left only with the conclusion: Hillbillies are impressively capable of buggery and squirrel hunting but the demands of character, setting and plot are way beyond this writer's gifts.

Perhaps this stuff passes for "daring" in the provinces but anyone who's taken Lit 101 will recognize this for what it is: hackwork.

A man waits endlessly for his daughter to return from the bathroom at a rest stop. He asks all passersby if they have seen her. You'll never guess where she is....

Two deaf teenagers find a way to "hear" one another on a bus full of other deaf children...

A search party tracks through the woods looking for a missing teenage girl. Will they find her?....

A family on a campout gets more than they bargain for when they meet up with a Bear Scout....

A mother searches for her son's body in a field of post-war corpses....

Mary Brown's fisherman husband was lost at sea....or was he?....

These are just a few examples of the twenty short stories included in Rest Area by Clay McLeod Chapman. This book has a unique aspect...each story is the monologue of only one person. The reader only gets an idea of what the responses of others involved (if there are any) may be through what the main character says.

Also, there isn't necessarily a plot present. They are more like the narration of moments in time. The tales range from compassionate to eerie, shocking and just plain odd. It's a collection straight from the author's imagination.

This book requires a lot of concentration in parts, or the reader won't "get it." At times it's like trying to sift through a Chinese riddle to find the words that will explain the meaning.

Imagine listening to someone talking on the telephone, only one side of the conversation is audible. Sometimes it's easy to understand what the point of the discussion is, and sometimes it's virtually impossible.

One thing can definitely be said....reading this book is an experience like no other.

I feel without reservation the Clay McLeod Chapman is a talented, skillful, imaginative writer. This collection of short stories can make provacative reading in small portions to digest between readings.I have seen some of Chapman's PUMPKIN PIE SHOWS wherein he and other actors narrate his tales injecting some humor and all the required intonations of a drama.Remarkable watching which is mirrored in the Rest Area reading.This authors first novel I find to be a valid measure of his continuing progress as an author. Having just completed an Advance Reader's Copy of Miss Corpus I think Chapman's growth is quite apparent in this moving, macabre and painfully detailed story of death and dispair. Two totally different love stories that come
crashing together. I digress

It's an okay book, but nothing close to the original. "The Small One" was actually written by Charles Tazewell, best known for "The Littlest Angel". Tazewell's version, which is heartbreakingly beautiful, is out of print. If you can lay your hands on a copy via your local library or a used book store, do!

Granted this book maybe nothing like the original story. However, it does contain the heart of the original story. The message of love, sacrifice, hope, and how God has a plan for everyone comes through clear. True, most of the language is simple, but that's to be expected of a book based on a Disney film based off a classical work. Though this may not be as powerful as the original, it contains the essence of the story and for that, it's a book worth reading.

This is one of my favorite children's books. It is about a little boy who loves his donkey, Small One, but the donkey is old and weak. The boy's father cannot afford the donkey anymore. The boy goes into town to sell Small One. Small One is willing to sacrifice his life for the boy, but the boy will not allow it.

This is a cute and inspiring tale of friendship. I would definitely recommend this book to people. This book teaches us a lesson. There is no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend. The ending of the story is great. You won't be disappointed!

This book has many things to be desire. One of the things I noticed on each page was the shoddy workmanship. Terms are not good english translation.

While the projects and pictures presented here are worth a look, and are good for beginners, there is an extremely important point worth mentioning. It's something that knocks the book down several pegs, in my opinion.

In the move from Italian to English, there are several examples of badly-translated words and/or phrases. If this were an intermediate or advanced book, it wouldn't be such a big deal, as anyone who has worked with Polymer Clay for a while already knows the correct terminology for many of the tools and supplies needed. However, as this is a beginner's manual, it is very important that the language be correct. If a newbie reads that s/he needs to buy "resin pastes" to make a "murrhine," or "purpurin" and "metal lamina" to achieve different surface effects, that person may spend hours scouring a craft store for supplies that don't go by that name in the U.S. These terms refer to "polymer clay," "canes," "glitter," and "metal leaf," by the way.

It may seem nit-picky, but I think it's important to use the right terminology with beginners so as to reduce the frustration level. At the very LEAST, they should have been able to translate "polymer clay" correctly - it's the subject of the book!

I bought this book last year on a trip to Europe, and I took it to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I live and where I work with polymer clay from a long time. Some craft lover friends saw it, appreciated it, learned a lot from it, and wanted it so much that we had to order half a dozen copies of the book from Italy. Now, all of them are fascinated by the easy way instructions are presented and by the variety of projects. I'm glad to know this book is now translated to English and it's available from eveywhere. I highly recommend it to people who love art and like working with their hands, and to people who think they don't like working with their hands too.

I was so disappointed. Most of Tim McCreight's books are terrific and packed full of helpful tips and cost saving ideas. This book was written for the novice who has no jewelry experience. I thought it would be much more advanced. The back information was helpful, but it seems like Tim may have "rushed" to get this book in print and left out so many other PMC possibilities.. ones that I was so anxious to know about.

The projects were not of anything I would want to make.
I enjoyed the back half of the book the most.
The book is well written, with only a few typos. Nice illustrations, by his son, I believe.
The author is very knowledgable on the subject.
He is, afterall, the PMC Guru.

This book has some very good techical info, including how to make rings that actually fit, but it also some major drawbacks:

1) The directions on some projects have omitted steps and steps out of order, making it difficult for beginners to follow.
2) The projects are not artistic, even downright amateurish, so you won't find new creative ideas here.
3) There is a tendancy toward reliance on metalsmithing skills to correct problems that could have (should have!) been resolved in the clay stage before firing. This is understandable, since the author is a skilled metalsmith, but it isn't practical for many newcomers to PMC. And it isn't necessary, since most problems can easily be corrected at either the wet clay stage, or the leather-hard stage.

Even with all its faults, it's still the best book out there on PMC at this time.

I have always despised novels that tried to mix fantasy and reality, but Cup of Clay was a wonderful breath of fresh air. The characters are neither perfect nor heinous, but realistically flawed. Though some elements of the plot were predictable, there were quite a few unexpected twists. Finally the unique setting and culture drew me into the world of Veil and kept me enthralled until the end. The pleasure continues in the second novel "Seed upon the Wind" and I am anxiously awaiting the third book in the series.

I'm a VORACIOUS reader. And this was good enough. I've had books that were so bad I couldn't get through the first chapter, much less finish the book. But, I liked this book, and the follow-up book, and I'm waiting for the third now. Granted, when I read this I was still in Highschool. Trying to find a fantasy book that entertains as well as feeds a highschool girls sense of growing feminism is hard to do. Usually, the women in fantasy books are extremes. Either powerful beyond belief or weak beyond bearing. Alison is just normal. Yes, she's hypocritical in that she adores Native American philosophy and doesn't like the Desymene society. But that's true to her character. She's a Caucasian female of the 90's who is a reporter. A lot of caucasians (and other ethnicities in america) enjoy saying "Oh, I have *Indian* in my family" but they don't truly understand or respect the traditions that ARE very similar in some instances to the Desmeyne traditions.

Either way, I enjoyed this book because it appealed to the girl in me who wants to do something special, to be something special, and who wants to save the world...even if it's not my own.

I disagree with some others who found this book lacking! I enjoyed the second as well, and I am desperately trying to find a 3rd!

Another bomb from Lonely Planet. Incoherent, often wrong and poorly written. It amazes me how this company's guide books have become the most popular amongst young travellers. This one covers the entire Scandinavian region - including the baltic republics and St. Petereburg. Like most of the regional LP books, this one doesn't follow a standardised format and provides the reader with reams of useless information. How anyone is supposed to plan a trip using this book is beyond me. Garbage.

This book is obviously aimed at the budget traveler, and does its job well enough, pointing out clean and cheap places to stay, eat, and get around. It doesn't have much to offer however to those travelers who'd like to sleep and dine a notch up. It gives adequate overviews of the cities, but I found the cultural particulars lacking.It seems to have a bias toward Disney style miniature villages etc., more than major museums. Or perhaps that's just Scandanavia; I haven't been there yet, am still in the process of planning a trip this summer.

When you don't have a lot of time you want to know the outstanding sights in museums you'll visit, since you won't be able to see everything. Like most travel guides, this one will work better if you also read its competition, such as Fodors, Michelin Green, Insight in planning your trip. LONELY PLANT however, by skipping those glitzy color photos that might lure you away from home in the first place, creates a light and compact package that's sufficient for the journey, as long as you've used other guides and resources for advance planning.

Give credit to Lonely Planet for packing all of these areas together in one book. It would have been very easy to keep Iceland, Faroe Islands separate, the Baltic States separate, and a St. Petersburg city guide in a different book or just with Lonely Planet Russia.

Besides the fact that the area it covers is very comprehensive, here's why I like this book over others. Lonely Planet does a great job covering budget options for food, hostels/pensions/hotels, and activities. The city maps are extremely comprehensive. For example, there are exact points for each place to stay, place to eat, and other important landmarks (train station, post office, bus station, sights, etc.) in each city map. How easy is that! In addition, Lonely Planet is the best guide to cover how to get there, get around, and get away. I find that many guides only assume you are getting around by Eurail or bus. And unlike other guides that treat only the major cities and outlying areas (Frommers, for example), Lonely Planet is just as concerned with telling you where to find the smaller, less-crowded parts of Scandinavia and Baltic Europe (Norway's fjords, Iceland's hot springs, etc.) Without a doubt, get this book.

A lovely compendium of pictures worth looking at, but don't read the commentary! While the artists may be doing noteworthy work, there was too much whining and self-congratulations to suit my taste. A book such as this is no forum for scolding others who are influenced by their techniques. After all, didn't the millefiori technique come from the Venetians? The writing, I thought, was amateurish and poorly written. As I said, if you buy it, look at the pictures, but avoid reading it.

This is a good book if you are into knowing clay history and seeing good retrospectieve off clay artists work. It has fairly good pictures, and you are able to see details clearly. However this is not a project book, and it does not have hints and tips. This is more "admire me" book than "learn from me". Good book, but now for you if you search for a book with projects.

PöRRö

This is a beautifully illustrated book...a nice compendium of work by a diverse group of artists. Some of the criticism here seems a bit unfair. The book is explicitly biographical. To criticize it for NOT being something else, surprised me.

I found this book to be encouraging and motivating. If others can accomplish such beautiful results, maybe I can too.

Large can certainly write a smooth and engaging narrative. But that's about all that I can recommend about this book. Large's caustic and cynical view of Berlin and Berliners is can be extremely off-putting, bordering at times on the offensive. I found his particular comment that the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church looked better after the carpet bombing of World War II than before to be extremley offensive, especially in light of how many thousands of Berlin's civilians were killed during that particular episode of "architectural improvement."

Add to this that the book seems to lack any sort of historical context, placing artistic, social and political movements apart from similar movements that were sweeping through other European cities of the time, and I find it very difficult to recommend this book to anybody.

Once again David C. Large proposes that college required reading and a sense of humor can be assimilated. Stating that the "Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church looked better after the carpet bombing of World War II than before" is comical, yet sadly true! Large educates the reader about Europe's most captivating city, Berlin! He manages to not only remind us of its beauty, but that it is a romantisch city that need not be known only as the former Nazi capital. A consistent and entertaining book, an asset to history itself. Steve Newman

Any fan of the city must read this book. This history of Berlin from its time as the Prussian capital to today covers such varied topics as music under the Nazis (I learned some things about Richard Strauss and Herbert von Karajan I hadn't known before!), Wall escape attempts, and the problems of reunification, among others. It's liberally sprinkled with examples of the famous Berliner sense of humor. A great read for the novice or the experienced Berlinophile. My one major grumble: the Cold War era section covers the western half of the city far more extensively than the eastern half. I would have liked to see more about life on the "other side". Minor quibble: being a first edition, it suffers from a very noticeable number of typos. Still a fantastic introduction -- or reintroduction -- to the city on the Spree.

This book is a collection of articles about Sporting Clays. Most of the articles are by different authors. Several of the articles cover the same subject matter. Few of the articles give any depth of coverage. Since this is not written by a single author, it lacks a cogent and thorough handling of the subject. (It is as scattered as a shot with Cylinder choke.) If you know nothing about Sporting Clays, and you can't wait for the revised version of this book to be published, then I still recommend that you skip this book. A much better treatment of Sporting Clays is in Gun Digest's book on Trap and Skeet.

This book is a good intro to the world of shooting sporting clays. It fully covers the game, it's introduction and growth in the US; guns, ammo, targets, course layout, etc. Not much in the way of actual shooting instruction, but overall book worth reading.

this book has alot of B&W photos. it also has good metheds of how to hit what you look at without aiming. this is a good book for the brid hunter as well as the clay shooter.

This book is a typical example of what one of its subjects (Gurdjieff) would have described as armchair philosophy, i.e. someone with no practical experience of what they're writing about dreams up an idea in the comfort of their own home, creates an extremely shallow thesis and finds "victims" to fit into it, be they they Jesus Christ, Gurdjieff or Jim Jones.
The chapter on Gurdjieff in particular is utterly awful, using the cheap journalistic trick of taking things so wildly out of context that Storr presents a case for Gurdjieff being almost the opposite of what he was. An in-depth study of the wide range of literature about Gurdjieff would not only counter Storr's rather feeble arguments, but utterly decimate them. Storr simply does not understand Gurdjieff. This is not an opinion based on reading, but on practical experience of Gurdjieff's methods as taught by some of Gurdjieff's former pupils, now extremely elderly and still displaying a perspicacity, intelligence and understanding which, in no small part, has been developed as a result of their contact with Gurdjieff when young.

Anthony Storr examines the lives of an odd assortment of nine "gurus" (with reference to others along the way): Jones, Koresh, Gurdjieff, Rajneesh, Rudolf Steiner, Jung, Freud, Loyola, and Jesus. He argues that gurus tends to share a number of characteristics, he argues: isolation as children, mental distress followed by "revelation," intolerance of criticism, elitism, hatred of rules, love of speaking and travel, charisma, narcisism, and a delusional worldview. Other religious leaders who fit this pattern -- Buddha, Krishnamurti, Mohammed, Hong Xiuquan -- do come to mind. But Storr does not clearly list all these characteristics in one place or clarify which are necessary. This makes his argument fuzzy around the edges.

The most interesting part of the book for me was the account of the lives of individual gurus. Gurdjieff believed the moon controlled human action: he was literally a "lunatic." Jung and Freud didn't entirely fit Storr's profile, but his take on them was fair enough, I think.

Storr's discussion of my guru, Jesus, seemed contrived. He did not seem too familiar with primary sources, but appeared to filter perception through modern skeptics, respected (Sanders) and dubious (A.N. Wilson). (Nothing from good opposing opinions like N.T. Wright.) Neglect of primary documents may be what Storr calls "science" (a word of which he is fond), but is not good historical method. Thus, he quoted a couple Gospel passages (one very misleadingly) to argue that Jesus was hostile to families. But the Gospels show Jesus was obedient to his parents as a child, had frequent contact with mother and siblings during his ministry (even helping Mom at a wedding) and took thought for her during his death. And Jesus' disciples married. Storr ignores all that: he has a theory to prove. It is plausible, (though not, in my view, reasonable) to dismiss the Gospels as unreliable. But to conjecture about Jesus' psychological state based on second-hand "facts" that are explicitly denied by the primary documents -- that's not scholarship, it's witch-doctory.

Storr takes a similarly tunnel-visioned approach to other aspects of the Jesus question. He lamely ascribes the power of the Gospels to their position in the Western tradition. If that were so, why do many non-Westerners seem to agree with Lin Yutang, the Chinese scholar who anthologized Chinese and Indian literature, and concluded at the end of his life that "no one has ever taught as Jesus?" Storr misses what is most obvious about the Gospels, whether because of over-familiarity, or a pandering, patronizing scientism, I'm not sure. Storr is like a 3rd Grade grammar teacher who corrects the errors of his third graders, William Shakespeare, and Dostoevsky, all with the same confident frown on her face.

Belief in a transcendent calling is delusional, hence a sign of psychic disturbance, only if one is wrong. Confucius believed he had a call from God to preserve the best in Chinese culture and teach China kindness, and that God would preserve his life in the meanwhile. Was he wrong? I would be seriously delusional to see myself as the greatest painter who ever lived. Would Rembrandt? Storr claims to be an agnostic, but he dismisses all evidence for the supernatural without even considering it. He assumes, without argument, that anyone who thinks he has a revelation from God must be deluded, and that miracles are impossible. Then he bases a large part of his diagnosis of the most influential man in history on that assumption. It seems to me for a person claiming to be an agnostic such questions should not be considered settled apart from some mention of the evidence.

The book ends on two more odd notes. First, Storr repeats one of his themes: "morally superior individuals influence others by their private behavior rather than haranguing crowds." Yet the book itself is more a harangue than private behavior. That's all right, were Storr being consistent. Good people have in fact often changed the world for the better by preaching. Secondly, Storr reminds us that "the wish to help is not confined to believers." Of course not. But then, bizarrely, he ends by quoting Nietzche, who despised kind deeds, to support his point.

In the end, this is a difficult book to evaluate. Storr is bright, though not as bright as he obviously thinks, often sympathetic, and appears well-read in psychological literature. I found some of his ideas helpful. But somehow it seems rather tinny. Storr's level of insight is not nearly as deep as C.S.Lewis, (Four Loves and Trasposition are especially relevent), Rene Girard, or Lin Yutang. I suspect the Gnostic science vs. pre-science view from which he works is holding him back. He seems to view people from the outside, as a "scientist," rather than from the inside, as a human being.

Other readers may also find Vishal Mangalwadi's The World of the Gurus interesting.

author, Jesus and the Religions of Man

I do not agree with the other reviewer's comments; I think Starr does quite a thorough analysis of the 'gurus', whom he has chosen from a large scope of times and nations. I agree that it is not very scholarly; and furthermore it has a 'conversating' atmosphere to it. But I personally like it that way. It's clear and intelligible. Why make it seem profound, for the sake of looking more important?

The book has eleven chapters. Anthony Starr describes a couple of gurus, whom he identifies as people who declare themselves the experts of life. Gurddjieff, Rajneeh, Rudolf Steiner, and the two leading psychologists Jung and Freud are among these. It becomes interesting when there's seemingly different people.

Starr has a degree in psychiatry, and he's been a professor at Oxford, a distinguished psychiatrist in the English society, as well as honor members of the Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Psychiatrists. To deny his achievements and knowledge, would simply be not right.

His writing is flowing. The whole book is like a long story, but definitely not a long and boring story. His writing consists of his presentation of the gurus with references from other writers and his personal comments in between, which I find quite logical.

The book changed my view over prophets and beliefs. Now I know the reasons why we have major religions, and why some are the only figures in religion. I now recognise the other gurus.

It was also interesting to know about the secrets of Jung's psychological sickness at his late age, in addition to how Freud was driven to become the Freud we know of him.

This book is worth reading every single page. It's a good analysis, and a good story.