This book should have been better--it's a comprehensive collection of journaling ideas--but the final effect is bloodless and draining. Sadly, the author saves significant journal writing examples for a final section and uses quotes instead of examples in the chapters. Perhaps she's trying not to sway the reader as to a preferred type of writing, but it also doesn't impart much energy or passion. Go back to "The New Diary" or "One to One," or go forward to "Leaving a Trace;" this one isn't worth the effort.

Writing Your Authentic Self is a great resource for anyone interested in journal keeping and self exploration. This book is chock full of ideas, tips and exercises for both the beginning and experienced journalist. The sample journal entries are incredibly moving and inspiring and demonstrate what a profound tool for inner discovery that journal keeping can be. If you are considering starting a journal or have been keeping one, but want to take a fresh approach, get this book.

Very good conditions, very well packed for mailing delivery. I am glad I purchased through you. Very Satisfied

Written with biting irony, Horne has produced the most comprehensive analysis of the Watts uprising to date. He examines that rebellion from a variety of angles, and gives the casualties of the repression a human face. This book will become required reading for any public policy course that deals with the urban unrest of the 1960s.

Gerald Horne's book, Fire This Time: The Watts Uprising and the 1960s is an extensive scholarly study into one of the United States' most violent riots and an event that characterized the civil unrest of the turbulent 1960s. Originally published by University Press of Virginia in 1995 and reprinted by Da Capo Press as a paperback in 1997, Fire This Time thoroughly examines the causes, conflict, impact, and meaning of the 1965 Watts Uprising. Horne, a noted black social historian, contends in his thesis that the Red Scare retarded Los Angeles' left based liberalism, once a progressive minded center of the working class in the United States. This move away from the left created a "vacuum that would be later filled by black nationalism" and eventually fueled the flames of the riot. Furthermore, this black nationalism manifested itself in the Nation of Islam, cultural nationalists, and the Black Panther party, all of which played a role throughout the uprising.(5)

Although Horne devoted some of his introduction to a brief survey of Los Angeles social history, he never made a convincing argument that the absence of a left based movement brought on by the Red Scare lead to black nationalism. This accusation coupled with the work's emphasis on class struggle gave the book a Marxist slant typical of many of the author's previous works. Instead, a more convincing argument might have been that racist attitudes and behaviors on the part of a white majority in the Los Angeles area resulted in South Central's devastated economic condition thereby leading to black nationalism. In the economic squalor of Watts, African Americans had no other recourse than to turn to themselves when society abandoned them. In essence, racism served as a catalyst for the emergence of the black nationalism that the author writes.

Horne chronicled the denigration of African Americans in Los Angeles by demonstrating the numerous ways in which government failed to treat them as equal. In chapter seven the author portrayed the Los Angeles Police Department as the "principal malefactor, the single offender in angering blacks to the point of insurrection. . . . [It operated] at the behest of the political and economic elites who administered the city." (134) Later, in chapter ten, the voting populous of the State of California betrayed blacks by passing the racially biased Proposition 14. This legislation repealed the Rumford Fair Housing Act in an effort to keep blacks out of white neighborhoods.(224) The remainder of this chapter describes the appalling housing, education, and religious opportunities afforded to blacks in Los Angeles thereby steering them toward black nationalism.

Horne superbly illustrated the importance of black nationalism's role in the 1965 uprising. He explained that due to years of repression and disenfranchisement African Americans had come to be stereotyped as the subordinated, dominated, or "female" race even behind Mexican and Asian Americans.(12) Black nationalism offered African Americans an identity the void of such stereotypes. In addition, black nationalism made no apology for being black and anti-white sentiments in Watts intensified. Organizations that celebrated black nationalism such as the Nation of Islam, gangs, and the Black Panther party grew in popularity along with a new cultural identity. Black organizations established in white society like the NAACP, with their lighter-skinned, middle-class leadership lost appeal.(13) The nonviolent message of Dr. Martin Luther King seemed diminished compared to the rising popularity of Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam.(102) Clearly, by 1965 black nationalism championed the view that African Americans were no longer the submissive race dominated by white society. Blacks tired of the long, slow civil right movement demanded taking back economically depressed neighborhoods for themselves.

The author's thorough academic research of the black nationalistic movement in Los Angeles brought a human characteristic to the story of Watts. The stories, in many cases tragedies, spoke of people affected by the riot and demonstrated an uprising directed against the LAPD and the "well-to-do."(340) A careful analysis of the events that followed the Watts Uprising showed a significant "white backlash" to the violence that propelled Ronald Reagan into the governor's mansion and eventually the White House.(281) Finally, Horne revealed that little changed since the 1965 revolt and the Rodney King Beating Trial of 1992 sparked similar civil unrest.(358)

The author extensively drew on the papers from Governor's Commission on the Los Angeles Riots and transcripts from the McCone panel both governmental studies into the uprising. Horne used records from various city and county agencies along with studies and oral histories from Southern California universities. The most valuable primary sources came from The Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research which is located in what was once the curfew zone and is a depository of numerous historical facts on the Watts community. At this library, Horne collected oral histories from residents in conjunction with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the riot invaluable to his study.(423) Before the extensive notes the book is 364 pages and includes a map of Los Angeles and photographs from the period.

Unequivocally there is no other treatment of urban racial unrest that can compare!

Some interesting stories perhaps, but little real data. The "statistics" are lightweight and sparse. Reads like an infomercial for Doman's Gentle Revolution.

I went to the week-long seminar at the Institutes and was privleged to see these children and all I can say is WOW!! I have never been so hopeful about tomorrows generation until I saw these well-adjusted, mature and intelligent kids.

Ok the book, like most statistics books is a little dry, but it sure is a hope giver- and for anyone wondering if doing early learning is beneficial or damaging I think this book will prove, to those who can't see for themselves, that there is nothing "damaged" about these kids.

Dr. Harvey, Dean of The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential in Phialdelphia, wrote this book for people who wonder what happens to kids whose parents teach them to read at a very early age. While this was not a "scientific" study, the evidence that these are happy, well-adjusted kids is compelling. They may not all be rocket scientists, but they have a confidence and love of learning that will take them far.

i just made a recipe from this series of books

tasteless. very disappointed

This book inspires innovation. Variations on simple recipes from Chicken Breasts with Herbed Creram Sauce and Asian Pork Chops to the more traditional White Chilli and Osso Buco alla Milanese. The writing style is to the point yet detailed enough to provide easy instruction. Photographs are excellent. As a new restaurant owner and a passionate home cook the book is my current favourite.

More Cooking Secrets of the CIA is a look at how the pros cook and present wonderful food -- sometimes healthful, sometimes quickly, but always delicious. I've never tried a recipe from this book without a successful result -- everything works and there's never anything left. Not everyone can attend the Cooking Institute of America, but anyone can learn from this lively little book.

For the average newcomer to investing this is an OK book, but it does focus alot on subjects you probably do not need to know unless you plan on working for a brokerage firm. It does give good descriptions and examples of all the security instruments (stocks, bonds, options, futures, etc.) but it accounts for only about 50% of the book. The rest is in my opinion redundant to the lay-person and is in places woefully out of date (especially the taxation section). If updated, I would rate this a 4, but given the age of the text, I would recommend looking elsewhere for an introduction to financial markets.

Are you getting NASD series 7 registered? For quick references and review this book will make a wonderful addition to your study materials. It's definitely a keeper.

If you're new to the financial world and want to understand the lingo, terrain, and equipment of pure capitalism, this book is for you. Don't let the 1991 publication date fool you. Aside from some out-of-date tax information in a later chapter, this book packs an amazing amount of useful financial clues and explanations. One of the strongest features of this text is its use of examples. Whether it's options, futures, or IPOs, the authors provide number-based scenarios to guide the reader towards understanding. This book will not excite you or show how to make $2 million in the stock market. It will help you understand many of the financial instruments which comprise capitalism.

It has many erroneous entries. Many names listed here are not of Sanskrit origin.

This book is a good collection of Sanskrit names and their meanings from various contexts and commentaries. I don't think this is a complete collection of all the remarkable names that exist in this great language. Many of the missing names(?) that can't be found in this book are from Yoga itself. This is a good reference book and the authors did good job in compiling the names. I was disappointed to find that a book from Yoga Institute does not have complete resource of the names of Yoga itself in this book.

This book is well designed and well organized, offering a unique service. With its pronunciation guide, serves as a great introduction to Sanskrit, as well as mythology. Highly recommended!

If you already have Gleeson's "The Personal Efficiency Program : How to Get Organized to Do More Work in Less Time," don't buy this. It has pretty much the same information. It's not "high-tech" at all. Most of the book is like a Computer 101 class. I'm quite disappointed, since I was looking for ways to organize my electronic resources, NOT "how do I create a folder in Win95."

Simplicity is the greatest strength of Gleeson's suggestions for saving time and literally cleaning up your act. She appears to realize that the reader's quest to save time should not begin with a book that takes hours to read and assimilate.

If nothing else, follow one of Gleeson's first suggestions: Remove everything in your desk drawers and place it on the top. Talk about Slob, meet Thyself. The incomprehensible handwritten notes, staff memos from 1995 and rubber band collection should inspire you to at least try Gleeson's other suggestions.

The author uses a great approach: first get your low-tech materials organized, and then move onto the high-tech materials. There is a parallel structure applied to both paper and electronic resources, which is really great for organizing. Great book.

Like many mutual fund investing books, this one was a bit of a disappointment. With the huge selection of funds from which to choose, the authors select just a few of their favorites and don't give ample justification for many of the funds' inclusion. The advice on building a fund portfolio was ho-hum--you can find the same information in any issue of a monthly investment magazine. Also, as with many investment books, the data and commentary quickly feel outdated.

Provides good overview of the mutual fund industry (basically the same material from his 1999 book). He also provides his list of "100 Powerhouse Performers for 2000" (Chpt. 5) and several recommended portfolios (Chpt. 6).

In "Guide to Mutual Funds 1999" he lists his 100 powerhouse performers for 1999. My problem with his new book is that he doesn't account for his 1999 picks.

When I first saw his "2000" book, I first looked to see how well his 1999 picks performed compared to the usual suspects (e.g., S&P 500, Russell 2000). Unfortunately, he does not list this information. If his picks performed well, then WHY NOT include this critical information, especially since this would help to establish credibility and sell more books. Since he does NOT provide this basic information, the logical inference would be that his picks did not perform that well (compared to other funds and indices).

Besides the overview of mutual funds, the main reason for buying this book (especially if you bought his 1999 book) is his fund recommendations. That presumes that his recommendations carry some weight. Although "past performance is no indication of future performance," I would like to see some track record of his prior recommendations. He seems to have done a great deal of research and his suggestions maybe very good, but with no track record, it's hard to put much faith in his picks.

Fund managers are held accountable for their picks and those that make fund recommendations should be as well.

To the author (Kirk Kazanjian):

1. How did your 1999 recommendations perform (overall and individually) compared to other funds and the main indices?

2. Is there a single place (URL?) where readers can view the performance of all 100 picks from 1999?

3. Why did you not include this information in your latest book?

I have recently read several compilations of mutual fund data and, in my view, this is the best. Morningstar reviews 500 funds extensively, and Business Week reviews 885 equity funds (and an unknown number of bond funds, but who cares?). This book covers 9000 funds. The trade-off for the extensive coverage is less detail about each fund. If you want more material, and will only look at the major players, then Morningstar is the better bet. If you want to go mining for overlooked gems, as I did, then Kazanjian's book gives you a better chance of finding them.

Much of Morningstar's information is available on-line. Mutual Fund Magazine is also a good on-line source for information.

I read the previous review and would be very interested in hearing how Kazanjian's 1999 picks have fared. His reviews of what he considers to be top funds are interesting and thought provoking, even if they don't prove to be the very top funds for the coming year. Everybody's got to do the work and decide which funds match their own personality and what's best for themselves.

If you want to go fishing in the whole ocean of equity funds, stop first at this bait shop.

There's pulp fiction, then there's worse--namely, thin, obvious, breezy commentary that pretends to be scholarly, or at least "academic." This very slight volume wastes time talking about websites dedicated to the film, then attempts to argue that "Pulp Fiction" is strictly a "postmodern" event to be experienced rather than thought much about (the author's grand conclusion: it represents "style over substance"). I didn't even find the book of much use when I wanted some reminders of plot sequence and characters' names.

Perhaps I expected too much for my money as a result of reading this same series' "The Birds" by Camille Paglia (who obviously immersed herself in an exhaustive research of the filmmaking process as well as the final product). This edition, on the other hand, has the feel of something tossed out in a couple of week-ends.

this book starts off a tad amateurish as Polan tries to tackle the film as a phenomenon first, and then analyze the actual film second. it seems that the author's initial take is that PULP FICTION is more pre-occupied with style over substance but as the film is analyzed in more detail argues that there is actual depth and substance to Tarantino's film!

this comes across as kind of awkward but Polan's writing style does improve the further along you read. i just wish that the author hadn't been so concerned with writing the first academic analysis of PULP FICTION and blasting the slew of sloppily written Tarantino biographies and websites, and focused more on the actual film.

i also question Polan's research notes. out of all the articles used/read there is one glaring omission: Gavin Smith's seminal article/interview with Tarantino about PULP FICTION in Film Comment around the time the film came out. Smith's article still remains, in my mind, THE best analysis of Tarantino's film. it's a shame the BFI didn't get him to write one of these books on PF.

Dana Polan does an excellent job of breaking down the phenomenon of Pulp Fiction by examining it both textually and culturally, and in doing so, brings the runaway success of Pulp Fiction and the apparent "God-liness" of Tarantino back down to Earth. The book is a quick read, informative, stimulating, and fun. Having been ambivalent about this film since its release, Dana Polan hits the nail on the head about exactly why I both love and hate this film.

At any rate, if you are at all interested about Pulp Fiction (whether positively or negatively), I urge you to give this a read. And, the section on the cyber-world of Pulp Fiction is, at the very least, a humorous added bonus.

The State of War and Peace Atlas, new revised edition 1997, 128 pp., is published by the director of the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo. An official publication, impressively printed with many multicolour pages. It offers a wealth on details regarding armed conflicts in recent history. A closer look however reveals a number of inaccuracies : p.15 (spread of Islam) Western Sahara indicated as Muslim population below 30 %; in reality around 90+ %. Burkina Faso also shown as Muslim population below 30 %, according to Fischer Weltalmanach 1999 it stands at 43 %. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (India) are shown as Muslim majority country; they obviously were allocated to Indonesia by mistake. On pages 46/47 bottom, Assam was allocated to Burma when India was partitioned in 1947 - again a mistake in computer graphics. Page 52 shows Africa during the colonial (pre-World War I) Era. Yet, Cameroon is shown in it's post WW I borders, as is Togo and Libya. The list might be continued. The book is still offering valuable information; the user is advised to cross-check geographical and historical data. In case a new edition is prepared, I sincerely hope the unnecessary mistakes are corrected, for I do believe that a handbook on armed conflicts in recent history should have it's place in every English language library and the Oslo-based institute is the proper authority to issue it.

The book was all right, but not very interesting. It didn't hold my attention too long. It had a lot of redeeming values though.

Together with the State of the World Atlas, this book ranks as one of the very best and most useful compilations of what I call "strategic generalizations", but with the very great added value of being presented in a graphical form that is easy to understand. As the international media becomes less and less useful as a means of appreciating how global conditions threaten our own internal security and prosperity, guide books like this one become all the more valuable to citizens and their elected representatives. This is an essential desk reference for every student striving to learn how to think, not just memorize, and for every adult who cares to understand just how unstable and diminishing is the world we are leaving to our children. The book is *not* out-of-date in 2000, but we would all benefit from a new edition coming out that might expand on the core value of the 1997 edition.