'Slam' is a fantastic book, criminally under-rated and deserves a wider audience, even a filmic adaptation. Imagine the energy of the flim Kids, mixed with the speculative sci-fi of J.G Ballard and the quirky humanism of say Jim Jarmusch, and you might be close. No book written in the last 15 years creates a better fratured suburban Utopia than Shiner's 'Slam'. Burn your Moody Ricks, because Shiner's 'Slam' is the real thing.

This is about architecture and skateboarding, and lust, and about just being out of prison and trying to reenter society that is different from the one you left. He was in for tax evasion, and now has a job looking after twentysome cats that have inherited a fortune, which a lot of people are after. It is pretty cool and hard to explain. It all comes together in the end. If you like Lewis Shiner you should like this one.

****

This book's subtitle -- "Keeping Hope Alive for a Tomorrow We Cannot Control -- is more descriptive of its content than the title. Smedes explores the subject of hope from three angles: what everyone should know about hope; how the hopeful keep hope alive; and when God enters into hope. The author shares his wisdom from a philosophical view, a theological view, and a practical view -- all with open honesty. His real-life illustrations clarify his viewpoints. He writes about hope being our most precious energy source, but he also warns that false hope can be worse than no hope, even heartbreaking. Lewis Smedes is a respected counselor, retired teacher of ethics at Fuller Seminary, and a best-selling author of "Forgive and Forget" and "Shame and Grace." (Mature Living, March 1999, reviewed by Mary Darby)

Smedes' book has wonderful stories of hope inside its cover. Our world sometimes seems so hopeless, but this book will help hope come alive within you. Everyone should read this no matter what religion you are - hope is at the center of your faith and this book will strengthen your hope for the future. Smedes really writes to everyone!

The problem with our society today is that individuals do not have enough hope. If only everyone could read the pages of Smedes' book our world would be a better place and our children would have hope for their futures. I beg everyone to read this incredibly wise and inspirational book. The stories alone are worth the price - renewing or finding your hope is the bonus.

A little boy had a set of tin soldiers that were made from a melted spoon. One soldier was missing a leg because there was not enough metal left over from the melted spoon.

Tossed aside by the boy, the one-legged soldier sees a paper cut out figure of a ballerina. She is poised on one leg and he feels an instant bond. He has found another one-legged toy and believes this to be love.

The steadfast tin soldier has a series of mishaps. He falls off the window sill into a stream. From there, he is transported to a rat infested sewer. He is swallowed by a fish and through an unlikely stroke of luck, winds up back in the boy's playroom with the other toys and the ballerina.

The ending is what gets to me every single time. A gust of wind lifts the paper ballerina up and she flutters into the fire place, winding up a charred heap of ashes. Devastated, the tin soldier joins her. The remaining metal that was once the tin soldier is a charred piece of heart shaped metal.

I still think this is a very sad story. The photographs really emphasize the feeling this story evokes.

I taught 1st grade for 4 years and all of the teachers in my grade passed this book around at Christmas to read to our class. I cried everytime I read it. It has a wonderful message and my kids in my classroom always loved it! I have now (finally) purchased my own copy of this book to read to my little girl. It is a classic and I know she will love it as much as I do. Every home should have this book to read at Christmastime.

This is a really good book. It has all the characteristic's that made the original a cherished and remembered fairy tale. It is a great gift for any young child, and can be enjoyed by adults too. It maintains the feel of the original tale, but is more like a poem. The art work on each page is beautiful, and the pictures are totally devine. I would recomend buying this for a different and fully enjoyable version of the original.

This book is a summary of the 97-98 Utah Jazz season; and even as a diehard Jazz fan, I didn't know of some of the sticky situations that went on in their season and what a miracle it was that they made the finals. The whole state of Utah (they're all Jazz fans, right?) needs to read this book; along with any other Jazz fan.

I just finished this book and I can't say enough about it. It describes the Jazz's season perfectly! If you get 1 book this year make it this one.

I bought this book recently and I must say that I love it! The author is honest about the team, writing about the good times, bad times and how players react to all kind of distraction. I strongly recommend this book for all the Jazz fans out there. This is a well written book which alows the reader to travel with the team, hear what they have to say and see how they react to reporters for example. Just buy it.

Turkish Language Reform, from its beginnings in the thirties to this day, has been a highly politicized issue in Turkey. Professor Lewis, a lover of "Beautiful Turkish", gives an excellent account of the historical development of this language engineering while successfully keeping his views out of the realm of language politics of Turkey. Any criticisms he has to make about the Turkish Language Association (Turk Dil Kurumu) come subtly and delicately through the carefully selected quotations from others.

This book is a must for lovers of Turkish language, linguists, historians of language (and surely for the Turkish Language Association), and it can be a fun to read for a non-Turkish taxpayer whose tax money could not be reached to finance the whole project.

For a better grasp of the book, some knowledge of Turkish language helps; the more the better to really get the beautiful "taste" of this excellent book.

The changes in the Turkish language over the past century are fascinating, and this book does a great job of explaining some of the political and social background. The author is an expert and extremely knowledgeable on this topic. To me the most telling summary was seeing a paragraph of one of Ataturk's most famous speeches presented in the original, then in a retranslation done later, then a re-retranslation done yet later! The first retranslation was necessary because the original could hardly be understood any more, with all the Arabic-derived words etc. The second retranslation was necessary because even the first retranslation could hardly be understood today! This book will be mostly interesting to those who know at least some Turkish already (and the more the better) or to those interested in linguistic change and social engineering. As the other reviews mention, the changes in Turkish are the result of deliberate re-engineering of the language, not of the more usual processes of linguistic evolution. Imagine taking English and trying to get rid of all the words derived from Latin or French and use only Anglo-Saxon words or words newly derived from other Germanic languages, and you will get a partial picture of what happened with Turkish. The author's views are probably summed up by the subtitle: a catastrophic success. The language reform was effective and some of it was valuable but it may have gone too far in destroying some useful distinctions and making Turkish a somewhat less effective and graceful means of expression.

Prof. Lewis' book gives the full account of the reengeneering of today's Turkish which was essentially for political reasons. The author, atrue erudite and scholar, in about 200 pages pens the process of the death of the ottoman Turkish and the birth of modern Turkish with sometimes bizarre and tragi-comic results. The book must certainly appeal to all Turkish intellectuals irrespective of their ideological position. But it is equally appealing to linguists and orientalists. I cannot praise this book high enough and recommend it strongly.

Born well after Jack Gould's retirement..it is exciting to feel the development and growing pains of the medium..through the columns Gould published. Lewis Gould's profile of the man and his life added to the sense of connection I felt to him..

You feel television's evolution...as if you were there.

Jennifer Salem
Antioch California

Since I was born well after Jack Gould's retirement..it was exciting to feel the development and growing pains of the medium..through the columns Gould published. Lewis Gould's profile of the man and his life added to the sense of connection I felt to him..

You feel television's evolution...as if you were there.

Jennifer Salem
Antioch California

I have spent a delightful day reading this book, which brings together more than seventy columns written by the late Jack Gould, television critic for the New York Times from 1947 until his retirement in 1972. Not being from New York or a regular reader of the Times until after Gould retired, I must confess that I had never previously read any of his media criticism. This book has been a most welcome surprise.

The critic's son, Lewis Gould, a distinguished scholar in American history, selected the reviews that appear in this volume and also provided a remarkably candid and objective assessment of both his father and his influence. Insights about television, political figures--American culture in general--can be found throughout. Among the topics that Jack Gould considered were Edward R. Murrow, the quiz show scandals of the fifties, blacklisting, and live drama. As a baby boomer, I particularly enjoyed reading about two of the most memorable television performers of my childhood, "Miss Frances" of "Ding Ding School" and the inimitable Pinky Lee. Perceptive, too, is his assessment of the phenomenon that was--and is--Lucille Ball.

Some months ago the TODAY show celebrated, with much fanfare, its fiftieth anniversary on the air. But what was the show like in its earliest days? Gould tells us, in a no-holes-barred critique that NBC executives later admitted spurred changes in the program's format and presentation. Readers will find here in its entirety the review that Gould wrote in January 1952 in which he bluntly said that TODAY "needs a lot of work." "Thus far," he concluded, "TODAY has been excessively pretentious and ostentatious and unreasonably confusing and complex." Gould did not throw softballs!

In September 1952 Gould recognized that Nixon's so-called Checkers Speech, while "effective," might herald a turning point in the nature of political campaigning. Gould praised the embattled Nixon (who was on the ropes because of allegations that he benefited from an illegal "slush fund") for his "earnest" and "persuasive" presentation of his side of the story. Unfortunately, "the second half of the program saw Senator Nixon succumb to theatrics," as he attempted to grab the audience's heart with his tale of the cocker spaniel that had been given to his two young daughters. In Gould's judgment "there is a very real danger in superimposing the methods of show business in politics." He cautioned that the American public should "hold the line against television turning politics into a coast-to-coast vaudeville show or a daytime serial."

Any reader interested in television, media studies, or America at mid-century would find much of value in this collection.

This book is by far one of my favorites. A very encouraging book looking at your positive traits. A great way to improve your self-esteem and help others. This book is jam-packed with great things that are good for the soul. I highly recommend this book to everyone; even grown-ups. It is also a great book because it also tells you websites or books you can check into to gain more knowlege about a certain topic. I totally enjoyed this book, and it has helped me a lot!

What a well organized, motivational book on defining a person's character. Feeling like courage, friendship, integrity, empathy, caring, etc... For each term the author gives an story-like example and defines the meaning of the feeling, then gives examples and role playing questions of how to respond to ethical questions. A GREAT tool for parents and children. Plus websites and additional resources to understand terms. A wonderful book for parents to make sure their children have the character and responsivness to handle the world's problems. :>) GREAT BOOK! KUDDOS to the Author! I also recommend the American Girl Books as well.

This is an exceptionally well written book. The author explains ethics in such a way that children can truly grasp the meaning. Each section contains a story about character in action, character dilmmas, activities, and additional resources on the topic. I highly recommend this to all parents.

The blurb on the back of the book is right! What to Charge is one of the most practical books you'll ever read. It provides a wealth of concrete information for freelancers and consultants on how to negotiate a fair price for themselves -- and for their clients. Based on the information in the book, I accepted my first freelance writing job on a per word instead of per hour payment basis -- and ended up making three times an hour what I would have! I did not have to negotiate these rates, I simply chose the more profitable of two options offered me by the company based on information from the book about how to estimate the price of a job. It's essential reading for new and experienced freelancers.

"Am I asking enough for this job?" "Will I lose the job if I ask for more?" "How often can I raise my rates?" If these and other pricing questions have ever bedeviled you, What to Charge will remove some of the guess work for you. Clearly, concisely, and with many examples, Laurie Lewis discusses how to develop a successful pricing strategy, analyze pricing decisions, negotiate rates with clients, and avoid pricing pitfalls. With suggestions that are simple, practical, and easy to follow, this book gives sound advice for overcoming the "How much should I charge?" dilemma and is a "must" for would-be consultants and experienced freelancers alike.

Deciding what to charge is a basic issue freelancers struggle with constantly. As a soon-to-be freelance editor and proofreader, I found this book immensely useful AND inspiring. On a practical level, it offers a truly rational approach to setting consulting fees--no matter what field you're in. Second, and most importantly, it teaches you not to undervalue yourself and, consequently, your services.Any freelance consultant, even the most experienced, will find much of value in this book!

This is one of the few nonfictional books that I have ever read that I have literally had a hard time putting it down. Dr. Altman not only wrote a book of significant importance about the need for self-experimentation, and the history of it...but he wrote it so well that I wanted to know what and who did the next group of experiments. It also explained a lot of procedures I learned about in medical school, but sometimes without the knowledge of the history behind it complete understanding is impossible. The author also explains quite clearly why we can't use just animals in experimentation, and gives numerous illustrations of physicians and scientists who...surprise!...actually think about others compassionately and are able to put themselves in the shoes of the patients. After undergoing an experimental cochlear implant which failed (in its early days), this book makes it a lot easier for me to explain to others why I undertook such a risk and didn't sue when it failed and made me ill. The book also makes clear the need for both patient and doctor awareness of informed consent...for all patients, including those who are disabled or those who lack a complete education. Dr. Altman wrote a book that should definitely be required reading by all medical personnel in ethics classes. Karen L. Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh, klsst23@pitt.edu

This book discusses a taboo in medical research--self-experimentation. The self-experimenters ranged from the oddball to the dedicated, experiments ranged from shots in the dark to well planed out Gives a glimpse into the courage of these men and women. I highly recommend this unusual and thrilling book.

This is a wonderful book about a nearly wholly ignored aspect of medical research - - doctors who are the cutting edge of experimentation. Hopefully it will be in paperback soon

Debra Maze did an excellent job at putting illustrations to these classics. Her artwork is gorgeous! She has done a wonderful job of keeping the story simple enough for a three to five year old to appreciate and love. In fact, I have happily read it over and over again to my children. All of Debra Maze's Narnia books are perfect for introducing or accompaning children to the world of Narnia.
These books make excellent gifts!

Growing up I loved Narnia, and the wonderful picture books by Deborah Maze have enabled me to introduce Narnia to my 4 year old son who loves them. I tried reading the rest of the original outloud, but he is not ready for that level. This is a wonderful way to introduce children to Narnia. Our only problem is we want more. We would love to see the rest of the "Magicians Nephew" in this format and "The Vogage of the Dawn Treader" would provide wonderful illustrations!

In the first 24 hours since this book was purchased my daughter has insisted on having it read to her 7 times. No other book has had this affect. She wants to know what is holding up the next volume, and when is her dad going to get it for her.