My main objections to this field guide were the illustrations. Artistic renderings are often beautiful, but fail to portray the animal in question with accuracy. Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius)is a case in point. Although I have not observed this animal at sea myself, I spoke with a number of fellow fishery biologists who have spent time at sea as marine mammal observers and no one has ever observed a bright yellow Ziphius in the field. All observed a base color of grey with this genus, at least in the northeastern Pacific. The Tasmacetus rendering is most likely based on the J. Mammalogy (1976) paper by Watkins wherein an unidentified ziphiid whale (probable Tasmacetus) was observed from a bluff overlooking the sea in New Zealand. Useful plates were those showing all similar cetaceans together; eg. all oceanic dolphins without prominent beaks, all oceanic dolphins WITH prominent beaks etc. The ziphidae plates show male Mesoplodon characteristics, but that is to be expected since solitary female ziphiid whales, especially Mesoplodon sp., could be virtually impossible to identify. My own field guide preferences use photographs rather than artistic renderings. Other problems: The distribution maps to not reflect the full distribution (extralimital observations/strandings) of many species. An example: Psuedorca is shown as a species with a distribution much further south than observations/stranding records indicate. The text does suggest that 'numerous records' exist outside of the more tropical distribution shown in the map. Note also that many of the dolphin renderings are positioned so that the dorsal fin is right where the pages meet. We did get a chuckle over the photograph showing what you should wear when watching whales, but that can be explained by our 'silly scientist' bias. One note for potential whale-watchers: do not allow your binocular strap to lie right on the skin of your neck while at sea as you can wear painful wounds into your neck through a day of whale-watching. Make sure your shirt collar or other clothing lies under that silly strap! Voice of experience!

My title sums it up. This is the ultimate book to bring on a field trip to watch whales and dolphins. The illustrations are clear and crisp and would aid anyone (even an expert would have a need for such a book) in the identification of any species (and it covers all the known ceteceans).

This durably jacketed guide to all known cetaceans contains easy to use identification information and illustrations. This is THE take-along field guide to use if you are going whale watching or traveling anywhere you want to know about the whales, dolphins/ porpoises you are seeing, as well as some explanation of behaviors and how they live. We used it in Antarctica; it's field tested. José Kirchner

In preparing our list of Christmas books to share with others, we had to search far and wide on amazon to find this particular book, a paperback edition of the classic Night Before Christmas.

This is the book I've used for years when reading this story to my own children, passing on Tasha Tudor and other illustrators. Why?

Although we can find the same poem and pay a lot more, with award winning illustrators, the illustrations provided by Douglas Gorsline are surely the best. They are quite colorful, and offer details little children love looking into...cats lie sleepily on the window sill, we see an overview of the town, the presents spilling from the open sack are intriguing and plentiful, and Jolly St. Nick is -- well, quite Jolly (as you can see by looking at the cover!)

The story is an "abridged version" - I'm not sure about other parents, but we read this on Christmas Eve, and we only have so much time and energy. Everything we remember from the classic poem by Clement Clarke Moore is in this version.

(From "'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse" to "He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!" In between we have everything, from the names of the eight tiny reindeer, to a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly, including dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky".

In other words, don't be scared off by 'abridged'!)

Perhaps a hardcover edition might be more appropriate if you're giving a gift (unless you're giving to more than one child), but this book is one of the best offers we've found!

A classic done simply and inexpensively!

We have an inexpensive paperback version (see our reviews) of this classic poem, and we said that's enough for us. That was before we looked through this beautifully illustrated (by Bruce Whatley) edition of The Night Before Christmas.

The lyrics are the same, from book to book, but the fanciful illustrations in this one are enough to engage adults and children as they read this book together.

The perfect gift for any family whose Christmas tradition includes reading this classic!

This beautiful book was in my family as a hard cover edition for many years and was a Christmas Eve tradition for my four sons when they were growing up. It's poor battered body disappeared some time after the last of my little ones went off into the adult world. I am so delighted to see it back again, though this time as a nicely affordable soft cover. Clement C. Moore's enchanting story poem already provides an atmosphere filled with warmth and joyful expectation and with the addition of Tasha Tudor's quaint, nostalgic water-colors from an antique New England the Christmas magic is complete!
The winter landscapes fill our senses and Tasha's own gray tabby cat and Welsh Corgi welcome us into this charming world.
Tasha's Santa that you will meet in this book has been portrayed as the poem describes him...a right jolly old elf. He's not that much larger than the corgi and his team really consists of eight "tiny" reindeer. His pointy ears and his Eskimo mukluks add to the delightful ambiance of the book. He dances with the toys and with the happy animals and we can truly believe it will be a happy Christmas for all.
I hope this book becomes a Christmas Eve tradition for many, many more families.

Unsung Valor: A GI's Story of World War II is a war memoir that will appeal to women as much as men. Cleveland Harrison's recollections reach deeper and wider emotionally than the usual battlefield tales. The reluctant draftee's journey from basic training to college, to combat, and finally to occupation duty in Germany does not put women off with a lot of combat details but strikes a nice balance between the military and the human emotions. Harrison's descriptions of his sensations in every place and time are so detailed and clear that one learns to care what happens to him and his buddies.

A reluctant but good soldier, who was surprisingly innocent and firm in his integrity, Harrison reveals more of his attitudes toward women than is ordinarily found in military narratives. His respect and relations with his mother and his college sweetheart (to whom he is secretly engaged), and the women he later encounters in training and service--a math professor and a group of sorority sisters at college, nurses in military hospitals, State Department officers and secretaries, and WACs in military government overseas--make Unsung Valor a unique wartime reading experience for women.

I read with a great deal of interest and anticipation A. Cleveland Harrison's book UNSUNG VALOR. I was certainly not dissappointed. It is an anutobiography beginning with his youth in Little Rock, Arkansas and continuing through his military experiences in training and in combat in Europe during World War II. The emphasis is on his military life.

My enjoyment of the book was expecially magnified by the similarities I had growing up and as a GI during World War II. I also loved my country but was loath to serve. It, however, made me a stronger person. Mr. Harrison expresses this very well.

I recommend it wholeheartedly!

In reading Unsung Valor, I was constantly amazed at the author's ability to portray the specifics of day to day life as a G.I. in W.W. 2. Many novels go for the bullets, the blood and guts, of warfare - sometimes to its glory - but A.C. Harrison takes the reader on the long hard run of what it took to become a soldier, to be transformed from boy to man, from innocence to awareness.

The author has the ability to take relatively quotidian events and make them specific, interesting and emotional.  I found his style fluid and easy to read, and his imagery compelling. He conveys seemlessly a very personal pov of how it felt to grow into manhood baptized by fire. 

What I found most refreshing was the theatrical experiences he had along the way.  I'd never thought that in the middle of a world war that the most basic form of entertainment; skits, singing, impersonations could have such a large impact on the fighting men. Indeed there's something very poignant
about that - the tough GI who can't help but smile because one of his theatrical brothers in arms is so funny, the songs sung that made soldiers so dearly miss home which some would never see again. Read this book!

Every time there is a horrific story in the news about a mother murdering her children, the classic tragedy "Medea" by Euripides is mentioned. However, a close reading of the actual play shows that the point Euripides is trying to make in this drama is not about infanticide, but rather about the way "foreigners" are treated in Greece (this is best seen in the odes of the Chorus of Corinthian Women). The other key component of the play is the psychology of Medea and the way in which she constructs events to help convince herself to do the unspeakable deed and kill the two sons she has borne Jason. There is a very real sense in which Jason is the true villain of the piece and I do not think there is a comparable example in the extant Greek tragedies remain wherein a major mythological hero is made to look as bad as Euripides does in this play.

Another important thing to remember in reading "Medea" is that the basic elements of the story were already known to the Athenian audience that would be watching the play. Consequently, when the fact that Medea is going to kill her children is not a surprise what becomes important are the motivations the playwright presents in telling this version of the story. The audience remembers the story of the Quest for the Golden Fleece and how Medea betrayed her family and her native land to help Jason. In some versions of the story Medea goes so far as to kill her brother, chop up his body, and throw it into the sea so their father, the King of Colchis, must stop his pursuit of the Argo to retrieve the body of his son. However, as a foreigner Medea is not allowed to a true wife to Jason, and when he has the opportunity to improve his fortune by marrying the princess of Corinth, Medea and everything she had done for him are quickly forgotten.

To add insult to injury, Jason assures Medea that his sons will be well treated at the court while the King of Corinth, worried that the sorceress will seek vengeance, banishes her from the land. After securing sanctuary in Athens (certainly an ironic choice given this is where the play is being performed), Medea constructs a rather complex plan. Having coated a cloak with poison, she has her children deliver it to the princess; not only will the princess die when she puts on the cloak (and her father along with her), the complicity of the children in the crime will give her an excuse to justify killing in order to literally save them from the wrath of the Corinthians.

This raises an interest questions: Could Medea have taken the children with her to her exile in Athens? On the one hand I want to answer that obviously, yes, she can; there is certainly room in her dragon-drawn chariot. But given her status as a foreigner, if Jason goes to Athens and demands the return of his children, would he not then have a claim that Medea could not contest? More importantly, is not Medea's ultimate vengeance on Jason that she will hurt him by taking away everything he holds dear, namely his children and his princess bride?

In the final line of the play the Chorus laments: "Many things beyond expectation do the gods fulfill. That which was expected has not been accomplished; for that which was unexpected has god found the way. Such was the end of this story." This last line has also found its way into the conclusion of other dramas by Euripides ("Alcestis," "Bacchae" and "Andromache"), but I have always found it to fit the ending of "Medea" best, so I suspect that is where it originally came from and ended up being appended to those other plays sometime during the last several thousand years. However, the statement is rather disingenuous because one of the rather standard approaches in a play by Euripides is that his characters often deserve their fate. In a very real sense, Euripides provides justification for Medea's monstrous crime and his implicit argument to the Athenian audience is that the punishment fits the crime. However, Athenians would never give up their air of superiority; at least not until foreigners such as the Macedonians and the Romans conquered the self-professed cradle of democracy.

Medea, as our heroine, is the true definition of a woman scorned. Not only does Medea leave her homeland to follow her one and only love, but she sacrifices her whole life to him. What happens in the book when she finds out Jason wants to take on another wife after Medea has scrificed everything for him...? Well, I'll leave that to you to find out. I'll simply say that Medea is, suprisingly, very imaginiative - at the time of it's writing, it broke all the barriers that surrounded around Greek tradedies. I must also say that Medea is in somewhat of the same arena as "The Odyssey" - it's incredibly descriptive, even with the language used that is so different from our own, Euripides genuinely "takes the reader there." All in all, a wonderful, very readable play. And remember, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! A great commentary, if a little extreme, but still wonderful, enchanting - you WILL be pulled into the action! 5 stars!

This play is regarded by many as Euripedes' masterpiece and should be required reading of all educated people. It retells the tragic story of Medea, who had helped Jason in his quest, became his wife, gave him two sons, and feels betrayed since he is marrying the daughter of the ruler of Corinth (Jason has come to the conclusion that this is necessary to protect Medea and his sons since she is a barbarian). With horrible vengence, she kills the bride and the king and then kills her two sons. Euripedes depicts how much passion and vengence can overcome not only individuals, but those who strive to be rational. Men (and governments) can't ignore the influence of emotion, and even irrationality, on their decisions and actions, even when those actions may seem rational and just. Man has to remain flexible. The play also shows how emotions, anger, and unbridled fury can cause a person to do stupid and irrational acts. Euripedes is undoubtedly warning Athens with respect to the war that is going on with Sparta.

About John Lusk & Kyle Harrison, two Wharton MBA graduates who eschewed the siren call of the dot coms to start their own business selling computer mice shaped like the head of a golf club. A real page turner, this book originally started out as a series of e-mail newsletters that the authors wrote to keep their friends and family apprised of how their company was doing. I found the writing style honest and realistic, yet humorous. Must read material for anybody who has ever thought about starting a company, or who worked in the computer industry during the dot-com era and ever thought about joining a startup.

A real-life account of two young smart entrepreneurs with sterling educational credentials (MBAs from the Wharton School of Business) who start a business in an industry that they know nothing about. It's a tale told with insight, pace, and self-deprecating humor that will teach you a lot of lessons about being a small-business entrepreneur. After an era in which everybody focused on VC-funded companies seeking to dominate multi-billion dollar markets, it's refreshing to read a story that reminds you about the boostrap process of the great majority of American businesses. As a former small-business founder myself, many of their lessons and observations hit home with me, and I think this book represents a great education in the perils and pitfalls of taking a business idea from concept to fruition. Whether you are considering starting a business yourself or just enjoy reading a well-written story that will make you laugh, I'd rate The Mousedriver Chronicles as a must-read!

When I first saw this book, my heart did not exactly skip a beat. Another book about (and worse, BY!) 2 American entrepreneurs selling computer mice? Haven't publishers had enough of all these human interest business stories that all share the same beginnings and endings?

I decided to give the book a go anyway since it was a gift from a friend. Surprisingly, I was unable to put it down. Even though I am an Asian doing my MBA in Europe, I believe the experiences of the authors hold true for all aspiring entrepreneurs.

And what experiences! I won't give the story away (go to mousedriver.com and look at their Insider newsletter for a summary of some of their tales),but DO consider this book to get an idea of what it means to passionately believe in a product, get that product to the market -- and how to deal with all the obstacles in the way while preserving your sanity and bank balances.

If, like me, you have thoughts about being an entrepreneur but are not sure of what to start being passionate about, read this book and "Just Drive It" ! The marketing slogan for the MouseDriver (that's what these guys are trying to sell, a mouse that is shaped like a golf club) is certainly effective shorthand for all those who have always THOUGHT about being their own boss but have have not dared to fall out of their 8 to 8 routines (Worry about the landing later:-)

MouseDriver Chronicles is a true, compelling story that deserves a wider audience. I now understand why my friend (who gave me the book) actually went on to help publish it. Happy AND educational endings, anyone?

Undeniably a book of mystery. The reader always gets a dual sense of distance with Hamsun. There is the proximity - at times alarming - between the narrator and the synaptic impulses of the main character's brain. Yet there is also this persistent sense of not being let into a secret, the key to the disturbing, possibly insane nature of the hero (if you can call the prominent figure in Mysteries that). What Hamsun, and I'm guessing now, was trying to let the world in on was a kind of proto-existential angst - Kafka before Kafka if you like. The hero lives in a constant tornado of emotional highs and lows at times appearing in control, at times not. And this is the unsatisfying, fascinating heart of Mysteries. I urge you to read it, but only after reading Hunger, which set high standards
not only for Hamsun but for modernist writers for decades to come.

He is one of the great writers of the twentieth century, though his best works were written before 1900. He is one of the most influential European novelists of the last hundred years, yet he is not well known in the United States. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the most important Norwegian author since Ibsen, he is often ignored in his own country. He is Knut Hamsun -- novelist of genius...

Hamsun, in "Mysteries, Pan, and Hunger", wrote three of the greatest novels of the late nineteenth century, novels which created a new literary style and which delineated a new literary hero: the alienated loner. His work was widely admired in the first half of the twentieth century, with writers as diverse as Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, and Henry Miller citing Hamsun's work as being of special importance and influence. Isaac Bashevis Singer, in his essay "Knut Hamsun, Artist of Skepticism" goes so far as to claim that "the whole modern school of fiction in the twentieth century stems from Hamsun." Henry Miller said of "Mysteries" that it "is closer to me than any other book I've read." The second of Hamsun's great early novels, and my personal second favorite...!

Mysteries is that rare breed of book which mesmerizes you and pulls you through its pages, transfixed, before you know what's happened to you. With Norway serving as the idyllic backdrop, we are suddenly living life through the eyes of the charming but insane Johan Nagel. Nagel lands as a stranger in a small coastal town and weaves the unwitting residents into the reckless schemes of his disturbed mind. As he does, he gives desperate vent to his frustrations, dreams, romantic yearnings, joys, rage, love, and compulsion to belong. Peopled by the midget Grogaard, the unattainable beauty Dagny Kielland, the disapproving magistrate's deputy Reinert, and the whimsical spinster Martha Gude, Knut Hamsun's narrative genius lies in the things he leaves unsaid at every stage of the story, and doing so especially brilliantly towards the book's end, where everything coalesces and resolves by subtle implication. Hamsun's artistic mastery is overwhelming and refreshing. I hope you enjoy the dazzling display of his talents as much as I did in this book.

First off- the book itself is just beautiful; an amazingly well designed book. It's just HUGE, and every page is a treasure; lovely to look at. My big problem was the cost- I wouldn't mind so much if all (or even SOME..) of the proceeds went to charity. Do the Beatles (and the inexplicable Yoko) not have enough money?

That said, I enjoyed the book a lot. The book is laid out in a way that makes you feel that you're sitting around a table with The Fab Four, just shooting the breeze. Their stories are fascinating, especially the way their memories don't...quite....gel. John, unfortunately, comes off as something of an egomaniac, and a rather pompous one at that. It seems that everything of any worth (in his opinion) was his idea. I'm still a fan of his music, I'm just a little less a fan of the man.

My only real beef with the book is the lack of a narrative voice- The Beatles mention John's car accident, Mary Quant, etc., but there is no narrator to let the unenlightened in on what happened, who that person was, etc. Otherwise, Beatles fans will spend many a happy hour reading this book.

So very many books were written about the Beatles, and so many TV documentries were made about them. Anthology is definitely the best one yet, and I don't think there will ever be another book as complete and sincere as it. For the first time the Beatles tell their own story (yes, even John - material from old intreviews with him are beautifuly collected and edited into the book), along with some help from George Martin, Derek Taylor and Neil Aspinall and some old quotes from Brian Epstein, Mel Evans, Pete Best and others, and that makes Anthology a truly unique experience. The story is told from such a personal viewpoint that you will feel like you're part of the band. George, Ringo, Paul and John will become your closest friends for the period of reading the book.

Anthology covers every (well, probably almost every) aspect of the Beatles' life and musical career. It starts as four seperate stories as every band member describes his childhood, then melds into the story of the band. All the interviews from the wonderful Anthology TV series are in the book, but so are many more. There are far more details - especially about the music itself, which was neglected in the series. While in the series some albums were hardly mentioned, in the book the Beatles refer to almost every song, telling a thing or two about its background. Also, more touchy subjects which were avoided in the series appear here - such as, the (phony) death of Paul McCartney, the (real) death of Stuart Sutcliffe, the unfortunate Hell's Angels incident and the terrible case of Charles Manson and his connection to the White Album. The photographs and documents shown in the book are facsinating as well.

And no, it's NOT too long. The only problem with the book is its weight, which makes it quite uncomfortable to read. Anthology is a superb book, which reminded me why I used to love the Beatles so much and got me to hear all their albums again - twice.

This is a beautiful book. The pictures are well-presented and interesting. The stories are done in-depth. I especially enjoyed the detailed review of what happened in Manila, plus all the early background stories and pictures. It seemed like there was quite a bit of new info there.

Hard core Beatles fans get most of their information third or fourth hand from many different, and not so reputible sources and hope it is the truth, but wonder if it is a rumor. They also covered this in the anthology, but I had read somewhere that Ringo had left during the making of the White Album, but how can you believe what you read?? It was great to hear and read about them discussing these subjects themselves for a change.

One funny personal note. I usually read laying in bed at night, and when I tried to recline back and rest the book on my ribs, it was so heavy it made my ribs ache, and I had to sit up. It really us a humongous volume, not just in size, but in content.

This is a great book to start off this great series. The Invasion starts of the animorphs series and is one of the best. Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie and Marco are normal kids heading for home. Then they decide to take a shortcut through the abandoned construction site. Suddenly, a space ship lands right in front of them. Out comes an injured andalite (which is an cross between a human, scorpion and a deer). He explains that the yeerks, a band of paristic aliens have come to Earth. They have turned some people into "controllers" by going inside their heads and enslaving them. The kids have to stop them. The andalite gives them the power to morph, which is the ability to turn into any animal they touch. Then a yeerk ship comes. Out pops Visser Three, the only yeerk able to control an andalite. He morphs into a horrible creature and EATS Elfangor (that's the andalite's name). The kids escape and think over these horrible events. Most of them are reluctant except for Tobias. But then they all fight together. It all ends in a fight on the yeerks' feeding ground. Find out what happens to Tobias who loses the battle in a way you can't imagine.

The Invasion starts off extremely well. When Jake, his cousin Rachel, her best friend Cassie, Jake's best friend Marco, and an outcast named Tobias are walking home from the mall they decide to go through the abandonded construction yard instead of taking a safe road. When Tobias notices a light in the sky and points it out the others put it off as a shooting star. That is until the "shooting star" lands and an injured alien comes out of it. He tells an unbelievable story. Earth is being invaded by a parisitic alien race. The only weapon he can give the five of the kids comes in the form of a blue box. With this the kids gain the power to "morph", become an animal that they can touch and absorb the DNA from. The kids run off after a brief encounter with the bad aliens called Yeerks. The next day, Jake and the others put it off as a dream. Except for Tobias. Tobias is the first to morph and also the first to experience the nightmare that comes with the Andalite's gift. In the end, they go to war against the Yeerks, but that's when the real story begins. There are 54 books in this series. All of them are great and I recommend them to readers 9 to 15.

Animiorphs #1 A book review By Alexander The Invasion is about five kids named Jake, Marco, Cassie, Tobias, and Rachel who go through an abandoned construction site and see a space ship. The alien gives them the power to morph into whatever animal they touch.

Now Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, and Marco have the power to morph into any animal they choose. And they must use that power to outsmart an evil that is greater than anything the world has ever seen...

The bad guys are called the Yeerks. Their main enemy is Visser Three. The yeerks go into a person's ear and comes out every three days to feed on a ray called kandrona rays.

I like this book because it's funny and it's about animals. You can find Animorph books in a bookstore or check it out in your local library. There are lots more Animorph books.

I first read this book back in Junior High, where some relative had most likely picked it up at a used book store and it some how made its way into my basement. When I read it then, it was one of the first books that I loved from the very first page, all the way through to the end. I also fondly remember it as the first book to make me laugh out loud. Now, 4 or 5 years later I have managed to find the book again and buy it new, and I love it just as much as I did the first time, if not more.

The story follows the life of a humble farmer and how he gets manipulated into joining the army of the future and the many misfortunes that follow. It's basically a satire on the future, civilization, and the military. Don't let this books cheesy cover or silly name disuade you, its worth every penny. And now that I have found out there are sequels to follow, i'm one happy man. In the same vein as Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett and even Kurt Vonnegut, this game is one hillarious treasure.

I first read this book back in Junior High where some family member most likely found it at a used book store and some how it made its way into my basement. When I read it then it was one of the first books I truly enjoyed page for page. It was certainly the first book that ever made me laugh out loud. Now, 5 or 6 years later I have found myself a new copy of the book and it is just as great as I remembered it. A hillarious take on the future of war. This story follows a gentle farmer through the many obscure misfortunes that make up his life. Very similiar in style to Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, or even Kurt Vonnegut. It's really hard to find, but if you can get your hands on it I deffinatly recommend it.

It's comforting to know this title is still in print - I've lost copy after copy to friends over the past 30 years. "Bill" was one of the first SF books I read as a kid and having just re-read it in middle age, it's as fresh and funny and clever as ever. And I understand more of the jokes, too. Definitely the first book I would save from a burning building.