My little girl can spend all day pulling back the flaps and discovering what is behind the door. Any child would really enjoy this book.

It was his child... it had to be

Bittersweet experience had taught J.D Satterly that rich women were shallow and materialistic. But when he discovered that his ex-wife had left town with their child- the one she'd never told him about- he added "viscous" to the list. Rage gave way to fierce determination . He would find his child- no matter what it took.

When his search landed him on Kate Randolph's doorstep, he knew real trouble was ahead. her mischievous adopted litle boy had to be his. Yet watching them together made him realize that the warmth they shared would make it painful to take Danny away. Even worse, despite her moneyed background, beautiful Kate was the woman he'd always dreamed of. And like his sone- he had fallen in love....

Professor Tyler of U.C. Berkeley has written a lucid and useful treatise that explores one aspectof why people obey the law: their perceptions of the procedural and substantive justice of thelegal system. As this issue is multifaceted, Tyler examines various aspects of a wide variety of perceptions and opinions within his sample. The data he presents are extremely valuable in explaining, not why people break the law, but the equally important (or more important) question of why they usually do not. His conclusions emphasize the importance of public perceptions of substantive and especially procedural justice and how people's interactions with courts and the police shape those beliefs. Certainly, Tyler has not explained "why people obey the law," as that would be a gargantuan task (although the book is not small). Rather, he explicates one extremely important aspect of why people obey the law, and for that Tyler has made a valuable contribution to students of the law, politics, and psychology. This book will be a classic in the law and society movement, if it has not already become one.

I've been using this book since I bought and installed Windows XP. I've been able to learn the new operating system in a very short period. He did a good job of organizing the book making it very easy to locate XP's features. It makes a very good handbook for learning XP.

i used to read these books when i was very young and just starting out as a programmer..... lots of fun!

With her gentle humor and detailed observations, Anne Tyler can paint a family portrait like no other author. The Davitch's -- quarrelsome, moody, and sometimes downright dislikable -- are another of her quirky creations.

Rebecca marries into this difficult family when she falls in love with Joe Davitch. She is just twenty and he is in his thirties. When he dies, she is left to care for four children, including three difficult step-daughters.

We meet Rebecca in the midst of a full-blown midlife crisis. She wonders how she became this jolly, sociable woman, so adept at handling and helping people. Once she was a quiet, studious girl who cared about history, philosophy, great books. Which person is the real Rebecca? What life is her real life?

The feeling of being a stranger in one's own life, of being adrift and off-course in the middle of life, is captured beautifully here. Rebecca is not the most fascinating or brilliant of Anne Tyler's characters, but she is somehow universal.

The book moves with her journey to find her real self and live her real life. It is a book that acknowledges darkness, death, loss and grief, and still affirms the wonder of everyday life.

Anne Tyler, surely one of this generation's preeminent writers, has a penchant for outre characters, exploring family relationships, and probing inner feelings. She doesn't veer from this course in her affecting 15th novel, Back When We Were Grownups.

Rebecca Davitch is a buoyant fifty-plus widow who tends to numerous relatives, including a 99-year-old great-uncle, with cheerleader vivacity and a cool head in a crisis. She is also the force behind a party/catering service, the Open Arms. "Beck," as her family calls her, is also given to introspection as she begins to wonder what chain of events has brought her to where she is and who she is today. "How on earth did I ever get like this?" she muses, remembering her rather impetuous decision to marry Joe, an attractive older man, divorced, with three daughters, and a home in Baltimore. They shared six years before he was involved in a fatal auto accident.

While attempting to revive the values of her youth, she ponders taking up the research she did not finish in college, perhaps even taking up with her now divorced college sweetheart. Or, is her life as it should be?

Rebecca does at last unearth the truth, while fortunate readers are allowed to share her quest and discovery.

I have recently become a huge Anne Tyler fan, and this is one of my favorites of hers so far. Anne Tyler writes about the things that should be written about - real people going through real dilemmas and gaining insight from them.

Here, her subject is Rebecca Davitch - a 53-year-old widow with a large, eccentric family. Recently, Rebecca has been going through a little crisis. She is unhappy with her place in the world, and she wonders if she became the wrong person. This thought sparks her search for her true self. She goes back to her roots; she begins dating her high school sweetheart and begins studying her old interests. But her search is also forced to include her family from whom she reaps great insight into how she should really lead her life.

Back When We Were Grownups is an all around wonderful novel. The characterizations are complete. You love the people and hope for them. They make you laugh and they make you think. The book is always entertaining and the final message is both family affirming and life affirming. This is a truly charming and worthwhile story, very worthy of a read by anyone.

I never write reviews. However, after reading and rereading TRICKS OF THE TRADE, and buying at least five copies for friends, it's time I got the word out to everyone. This "trick" is a "treat!" The novel's story takes place in the town in which I work: Hollywood. The author, Ben Tyler, has blown the pixie dust (he's gotta be writing about Disney!) off all the pre-conceived glamour of the motion picture industry. I can only applaud him for writing the TRUTH in such a fun and extremely erotic way. I recommend this book to EVERYONE! It's not just a "gay" novel. Sex is merely the subtext. If you like the comic sophistication of Joe Keenan or the laugh out loud observations of David Sedaris, you'll LOVE this novel. I hear it's going to be a movie or miniseries. I'll be the first in line for a ticket. As one who works in casting, I already have my list of sexy actors who should play each character. TRICKS OF THE TRADE is fun multiplied to the nth degree!

I heard about this book from a review in UNZIPPED Magazine that said, "****! At last, a gay Jackie Collins novel! If Aaron Spelling is reading this review, he should buy it for a series. NOW!" This is a terrific book in many ways: (1) it's impossible to put down; (2) the barrage of erotic scenes don't cheat on the heat, you may need asbestos gloves when handling these pages; (3) the Hollywood guessing game of thinly-veiled celebrities in fictional form is as entertaining at those weekly blind items on the gay gossip column ...; (4) it has a nasty, biting, bitchy sense of humor; (5) it has an honestly engrossing STORY of backstabbing ruthlessness that reminded me of ALL ABOUT EVE and SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS; and (6) when it IS made into a Showtime series (like QUEER AS FOLK, which it resembles) you can say, "Oh, I read that LAST SUMMER and the book was better!" Its the ONE book I'm recommending to ALL my friends this season.

I have to admit that I bought the book solely based on the really hot cover. I mostly read non-fiction, but the story grabbed me from the second page and now I think this is THE BEST NOVEL I'VE EVER READ! There is more than enough sex to satisfy anyone who expects a hot time after looking at the cover. The writer knows Hollywood and isn't afraid to name names. I hope there is a sequel coming soon!!!

I purchased this book on the recommendation of Jesse Wise and Susan Wise Bauer, authors of "The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home." I am using it as the basic history text for my 1st and 2nd grader covering the beginnings of civilization all the way to the beginning of the 1900's.

The book is well organized into 1-2 page spreads that cover a brief time period or subject relating to a time period, which makes nice divisions for daily or weekly history lessons. For larger subject areas such as the Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations, there are several 2-page spreads covering more detailed areas of life and culture. The book begins with a 2-page spread called "Digging up History" then continues with early settlers, earliest cities, then major civilizations and empires. The page layouts are "Usbourne style," meaning there are many illustrations per page with captions about a paragraph long accompanying them. The illustrations are well done in that they give a good idea of what life was probably like during each time of history.

Each spread usually has a caption entitled "How We Know," which tells specific archeological evidences for the specific cultures. There are also small time charts on several spreads giving key dates for that specific culture. There are two large time charts in the book, the first covers First Civilizations to the Fall of Rome, the second continues on from there to 1914. Each chart covers 9 major geographical areas and gives a basic overview of what was happening in each.

This book is an excellent general overview. It is a good starting point, but for a more in-depth study needs to be supplemented with additional books that go into more detail.

I absolutely love Usborne books! I homeschool my K and 2nd graders with several Usborne books and even my husband can't put them down. HOWEVER, I have found this book to be inaccurate in reference to Christian and Jewish history. This has not proven to be a problem because I simply use the inaccuracies to teach my children about truth and inaccuracies.

I use this book to homeschool my daughter, and I've found it to be a good introduction to history for young children. It's not the only resource you will need, but it provides a good framework.

It does jump around a bit, because of the commitment to chronological presentation of *world* history. It's difficult to get the right mix on this, because one wants to see the continuous development of a particular region, but one also wants to see events in the greater context of World history. If the mix given in the book doesn't suit, though, it's possible to simply skip over parts and come back to them later. We use the book to provide a frame of reference, and a jumping off place for further study. In that respect, I think this book is better organized than The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. The latter has far more text, but, in my opinion, it's too dense for young children.

Some reviewers have mentioned the nudity in the pictures. I'm not sure what to make of that. Presumably they don't allow their children to view works of art that contain nudity either, since the Usborne nudity is far less graphic than a classical or renaissance statue. I don't know what harm a child could suffer from viewing Michelangelo's David, or Botticelli's Birth of Venus, though. The pictures in the Usborne book are harmless.

Other reviewers have claimed that there are inaccuracies in the Usborne book, particularly in how the catholic church is portrayed. I've looked at the examples that they've provided, and don't find them convincing. For example, one mentions the conflict between Pope Gregory VII and the Emperor, Henry IV. The claim that the pope made Henry stand in the snow for three days is one that I've seen in adult history texts. To call it "voluntary" penance is stretching things a bit, since Henry had been excommunicated, was in danger of losing his crown, and later reverted to his original opinion.

It's also claimed that the text doesn't present both sides of the Protestant/Catholic wars equally. Yet, on p.135 it says, "priests on both sides were tortured and even hanged. Both Protestants and Catholics believed they were saving their opponents from hell by doing this."

Another objection concerned the book's statement that "people decided [Joan of Arc] was a saint." There's nothing false about that statement. Of course, a saint must be cannonized by the church, but the pope doesn't make someone a saint out of the blue. Her sainthood was acclaimed by the people first, and then confirmed by the pope. It seems trivial to take issue with this.

I could go on about the other alleged inaccuracies, but I will just urge people to take these claims with a grain of salt. Read through all of the reviews of this book, and make your own decision.

The book is sketchy on detail, but that's to be expected. It's aimed at elementary school age children, it is heavily illustrated and it is wide-ranging. It skims the surface of history, and the parent/teacher is expected to provide greater detail through other sources. The book contains a list of additional resources on the inside of the back cover. If you use the book in that manner, it's a valuable resource. There are few texts that fill the niche of teaching history to children in the 6-10 age group, and none that I know of do it as well as Usborne.

I have to admit that I was glued to this book from the first sentence. I could not put it down. I was transfixed by the idea of a married woman with children simply walking out of one life and into another. Even the minute details of her new (extremely boring) life were delectable because they seemed to signify such richness ahead of Delia. I was bucketing along at the end of the story, certain that the plot would resolve in a deep and meaningful way, but the swift and startling wrapup at the end simply blindsided me. After careful reflection I have decided that I never understood why Delia left her family (although I never really warmed up to her husband, not even at the very end of the story) and I certainly don't understand why the story ends the way it does. I felt that there were so many loose ends left flapping forlornly in the breeze that I can't say that I really enjoyed this entire novel, although I was completely captured by the characters. I feel that the author may have had some deep meaning in mind that didn't make it to the page. "Ladder of Years" is a beautifully crafted, suspenseful story that ultimately fails to deliver the real goods.

Delia feels profoundly the diametrically opposed emotions many of us have as we reach the midpoint of our lives. Middle age is a time of retrospection-we wonder if the choices we made were good ones. We question our choice of spouse, our choice of career, our future without children in the house, our achievements (or lack thereof), even our very purpose in life. Delia acts on her doubts-pushed along by a grossly inattentive husband and acrimonious children. Without her unpleasant home life, Delia might have stayed forever, never knowing the answers to her questions. Tyler provides all of us going through the pangs of middle age an alter ego through whom we experience what we might never actually do ourselves. She demonstrates her great talent by creating a sympathetic character in Delia. We feel for Delia, even though, in leaving her family, she commits an act generally condemned by society. As other readers have expressed, at one time or another everyone with a spouse and children has felt like walking away. However, Delia doesn't "abandon" her family, she is emotionally shoved out the door.

Delia feels intensely the diametrically opposed emotions many of us have as we reach the midpoint of our lives. Middle age is a time of retrospection-we wonder if the choices we made were good ones. We question our choice of spouse, our choice of career, our future without children in the house, our achievements (or lack thereof), even our very purpose in life. Delia acts on her doubts-pushed along by a grossly inattentive husband and acrimonious children. Without her unpleasant home life, Delia might have stayed forever, never knowing the answers to her questions. Tyler provides all of us going through the pangs of middle age with an alter ego through whom we experience what we might never actually do ourselves. She demonstrates her great talent by creating a sympathetic character in Delia. We feel for Delia, even though, in leaving her family, she commits an act generally condemned by society. As other readers have expressed, at one time or another everyone with a spouse and children has felt like walking away. However, Delia doesn't abandon her family, she is emotionally shoved out the door.

After being totally delighted by "Back When We Were Grownups" and "A Patchwork Planet", I eagerly ordered "Breathing Lessons" expecting it to be even better since it won the Pulitzer prize. I loved the first two books because the characters were so wonderfully human. By no means perfect, they managed to be lovable despite their flaws. Their daydreams and moods and perceptions were very recognizable to me. I also thought that the situations they found themselves in, though perhaps a bit on the quirky side, were quite realistic. I found the characters in "Breathing Lessons" annoying and unappealing for the most part and the plotline farfetched. I don't know how two people who got along as poorly as Maggie and Ira could possibly stay married for 28 years. They belong in "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?" more than in a novel by Anne Tyler. Their lives come off as dreary, depressing and pointless. I kind of liked Maggie but I found myself wondering about her contact with reality. I thought Ira was meanspirited and moody for the most part, and his treatment of his son Jesse was horrifying. I think Maggie and Ira are lucky Jesse is only an unmotivated slacker and not a mass murderer considering the emotional and verbal abuse Ira dishes out to him. My other complaint about this book is that none of the action really rang true. I mean how many people manage to crash their car twice in one day by mistaking the gas peddle for the brake and not have their driver's license revoked? Why is Maggie estranged from Fiona and Leroy in the first place? How many people would be willing or able to perform at a funeral without any prior notice or practice? Just to mention three of the many unlikely situations in this book. I'm glad that "Breathing Lessons" was not my first experience with Anne Tyler because I'm afraid it would also have been my last.

Many reviews refer to Maggies as a hopeless but well intentioned character. I found her actions at times bordering on cruelty particularly in her treatment of Fiona. Fiona, teenaged and pregnant, living away from her mother and incredibly vulnerable was manipulate and plain lied to by Maggie - and what for? So Maggie could become a grandmother and have a sense of self - worth and so also she could feel that her son was somehow noble and sweet - injecting herself into her son's and her daughter-in-law's lives. The saddest thing ever in the book was Jesse's failure to make the cradle - the supposed promise that he would - Maggie's lies about Jesse's intentions was the clincher for Fiona in making her decision to continue the pregnancy. Maggie cannot accept that her son is a loser who sends child support payments many months late and her attempt to encourage Fiona back to him when she has gotten on with her life is cruel in the extreme - not to mention for the little girl. We discover when disaster strikes that Jesse has been seeing another girl anyway - thanks to Ira's outbursts. How can Maggie possibly justify the fact that her son never visits or seems to wish to play in any role in his daughter's life. All the characters in this book made me cringe and the only one I felt any sympathy for was Fiona - as for Maggie - she just needed a few good hard slaps (not that I condone violence!!).

As I was reading others' reactions to this novel, I found that many complained about Maggie's annoying character and how her scatterbrainedness seemed to detract from the story. Although I have to agree that this character enraged me at points in the story, I would also like to inform these critics that IF AN AUTHOR CAN CHARACTERIZE A PERSON IN THE STORY SO WELL THAT A READER IS REPULSED BY HER, SHE CERTAINLY DESERVES RECOGNITION, and this is the conclusion I have come to in my process of assessing this novel for my English class. Yes, it went slow; yes, the characters were sometimes aggravating. But Tyler's books are some of the most skillfully written which I have ever had the experience of reading. She reinforces the sacred institution that marriage is, gives us a model in Ira's patience, and shows us how important a person at whom you can, as Serena told Maggie, steal a glance when others are bothering you and you can't complain out loud. Rather than complaining because this book isn't the shallow, exciting "story" that typical readers expect, let's praise Anne Tyler for her skill.