This is the best and most complete description of the life cycle of a mole I have ever read. It also gives supplementary information on other moles and incompetents in the CIA as it goes along. There is one problem in the book. It assumes that the CIA has a monopoly on people with common human nature imperfections. I have seen similar problems in the military, academia, and industry. The reader is probably familiar with the recent Catholic child molesting scandal which is another example. As a result of this, the author advocates corrective action which involves the either-or logical fallacy and "throwing out the infant with th bath water" type actions.

Well written, and stunning in its detail of the incompetence, unbelievable bungling, and the persistent failure to follow up on what was obvious about Ames to all but the blind--this,within the bowels of the CIA at the highest levels. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Not even Ames's rampant drinking, lavish lifestyle, and poor performance could for years unmask or launch a thorough investigation, something in any other organization would certainly take place. And then, to have the same person assigned to the CIA's Counter Intelligence Center with access to highly classified material and at the same time was "considered a dumping ground for CIA underachievers" has to be the apex of irony on a scale incapable of measurement.

"The directorate of [CIA] operations regarded the Counter Intelligence Center as a place that poor performers could be sent because they could not do much harm," said panel chairman Jeffrey H. Smith, a former Senate Intelligence Committee staff member. "It was like a bank concluding that because one of its officers had performed poorly, he should be put in charge of the vault." (pp. 248-49) Indeed.

For the many who did their jobs, this must have been a crushing revelation, none more so than for Jeannie Brookner, a successful case officer who was forced to bring a sexual discrimination lawsuit against the Agency, in which the court papers revealed "a male-chauvinist nightmare of drunkeness, drug-taking, and wife-beating, in which the mentally unsound [Ames might well qualify, in certain respects] serve alongside the corrupt to produce a parody of the intelligence community that is far more bizarre than anything a novelist might imagine. It is difficult to believe that in this apparently lunatic world the CIA could ever spy successfully against anybody." (p. 250)

A companion book would to have to be "The Year of the Rat: How Bill Clinton Compromised American Security for Chinese Money."

While Rick Ames smugly and gloatingly languishes in jail, he must wonder at times why he hasn't Bill as a cellmate because, as both books reveal, "Ah shucks, we did it for the money."

I like this book. I like the dragon story the best. He was green and red and had fire in his breath. I liked the adventure. It was exciting. It was not dangerous. It was fun. The dragon was Ho, Ho, Ho. (Ho? That word means good--way far away in China.)

Stuart Adams' charming compilation of letters from Santa Claus offers readers of all ages new insights and pleasures with each read.

Seven Sleeps Until Christmas is about giving the gift of ourselves and the ongoing discovery of oneself in the context of our relationships with others. This book reinforces important values; it emphasizes creativity and imagination, being with others and sharing, and the joy of giving.

Some of the things that make 7 Sleeps a thoughtful book, are its attention to details...Santa's handwritten salutations, the font, and a built-in display stand. These sweet details make it a favorite and easy gift to give to teachers, family members, and friends.

(***So far, each copy I have ordered from Amazon.com was signed not only by the author, but also Santa Claus himself!)

It is a really great book. I could read it 40 times. It is only good if you havent read any of the other ones.

If you are a lover of the office philosophy and observations of Dilbert and the gang then you will love this book. It is truly what the title suggests in that the publisher took three popular Dilbert books and placed them together into one large volume. As always, the biting humor and often accurate portrayal of all things corporate will have you laughing out loud as you realize how absolutely preposterous some of the situations are while also realizing that this sure looks a lot like real life.

I'm a big fan of the show (I guess that means I'm a Buffyholic) and this book sums up why. The writers are so playful with language, and by incoporating youth culture slang and morphing it into Buffyspeak they bring an authenticity to the show. A sense of the real. And that's saying something for a show about vampires. I love how serious the glossary is too. Makes me want to become a professor of Buffy studies. I love this dictionary. It's so much fun!

I am not a huge Buffy fan (I've just seen the last couple of seasons) but I got this as a present and it's GREAT. You really get a feel for how English is changing and how tv shows like Buffy are pushing the boundaries of our language.

There's a lot of information here but it's not hard to read. I read a lot of it straight through. I thought I was pretty strict about "correct grammar" but this guy makes some really good points about how language changes. He really won me over.

The words from the show are so funny! I'm going to use a lot of them, especially "much," like "lame much?" or "late much?"

I recommend this for anyone who likes Buffy, or for anyone who just likes words.

This book is definitely a must-have for all people interested in functional analysis. It provides a great introduction for beginners but also clear and rigorous demonstrations of more technical points. As a PhD student in applied mathematics and engineering, I found this book a great deal.

I highly recommend this book. It is a valuable reference and a great introduction to sobolev spaces for people interested in functional analysis. I read it completely many times and despite my important knwoledge in the field, I can't stop finding illuminating explanations.

I've been looking for the book since viewing the movie My Live So Far. I agree that there must be a reprinting to satisfy the renewed interest. If you haven't seen the movie, do.

Haven't read the book, but the movie was so good, I would think a renewed interest in the printed book would occur.

The 5 star rating is for the movie.....

Absolutely excellent book that (refreshingly) covers the more than just the technique but gives you the brutal honest truth that a lot of success is tied to the "blocking and tackling." In other words, you can have the best technique in the world but if you don't sit down and make the calls, it really doesn't matter.

Stephen Schiffman, one of the most renowned sales trainers, discusses how to assess your current performance and then increase your sales. If you've read Getting to Closed, skip the first section or just consider it a useful review. From Getting to Closed, you already know his techniques for tracking your numbers and understanding your ratios. He offers insight on how to move from initial contacts to prospects to sales and how to continually delve for new customers while working with your most promising leads. What really makes this book sing are the short, bite-sized chapters and concluding action items that help you implement and practice each axiom. Schiffman's succinct, breezy style makes this a quick, easy read. You'll also find his examples of phone conversations and responses helpful as a guide to adapt to your own situation. We from getAbstract leave this message: call Shiffman into action to increase your sales as you put these steps to work.

Each time I go back and read one of Stephen's poems I am reminded of the joy, wonder, love and hope that surrounds us every day. This young man was truly a gift of pure love. For every family who has a special needs child, I recommend this book. For every family that would like to help their children understand the person inside "the package" and see the heart, mind and soul of a special needs child, I recommend this book. For every person who has known that physical limitations cannot measure the depth of a soul, I recommend this book. For every person who has doubted and questioned if a mind, heart and soul exists inside a body wracked with physical limitations, I recommend this book. Read this book in conjunction with his mother's "Eagle Doctor: Stories of Stephen, My Child With Special Needs" to understand their path together and the miracle of their lives.

The beautiful poetry of Stephen Michael Nelson will capture your heart and enrich your faith. His words reflect a young man's dreams and aspirations unaffected by his lifelong contest against the physical ailments of cerebral palsy, epilepsy, asthma, and heart disease. Stephen reaches out to all of us with an offering of love, and a never ending amount of energy to fulfill life's dreams. It is obvious that he had no obstacles or limitations, and that we should not either. This book is a must read... as it is a glorious celebration of life and love.

Stern is perhaps the funniest book i have ever read. it has incredible depth and, at the same time, has remained true to the humerous aspect of the story.

Bruce Jay Friedman wrote the screenplay for several movies including "Splash". His book, "Stern" is the story of a man named Stern who has forsaken New York City for a home in the suburbs with his family. Things in paradise quickly collapse when a neighbor yells a slur at Stern's wife and knocks her down. Stern is overcome with a mixture of guilt, fear, anger and dementia. His attempts to confront the neighbor (as well as his own fears) lead to an endless paranoid mind-game and Stern's eventual physical collapse. Yeah - I guess this sounds sort of sad - BUT I guarantee you this book is HILARIOUS!! As in all of Friedman's books - the world of "Stern" is seemingly normal but filled with ridiculous and comic elements. Stern's attempts to face his neighbor, to convince himself that he can "take him" are really funny. I can not recommend this book highly enough. If you have ever felt persecuted or if you are neurotic AT ALL - this is the book for you.

This is undoubtedly my favourite book of all time. Pretty big call I know and particularly considering the fact that it took me about three goes before I actually could finish the first chapter. Why? It is initially quite a difficult read, breaking nearly every writing convention I had learnt. Few sentence breaks, no 'new paragraph for a new thought' philosophy here. I found it quite frustrating at first, having not previously been exposed to stream-of-consciousness writing.

If you persevere, and allow yourself to be immersed in the flow of the character's thoughts, you will be richly rewarded with an extremely humourous and very, very clever piece of writing. I read this book about 2 years ago and even now, some of the 'scenes' remain so beautifully clear and funny in my mind. Particularly when I'm sucking on M&Ms....

I cannot commend this book highly enough. I urge anyone out there to read it and allow yourself to be swept away with the words and the wit.

it's thick as the London phone book, god, and every line stream of consciousness what's that oh a fly it's in the airplane you wonder if they know they're flying in the plane i mean anyway it's about Ricky Thornby who never was, he never was anything much but a down at heel producer of industrials well maybe the Eisenstein of industrials, but still... fan as i am of adam thorpe, and acquainted with ricky from Clive's Seasons, you know, the little dreary Beeb thing at the end of ulverton the part with the skeleton and all, anyway, fan as i am, this book still scared the hell out of me i mean 600 pages or so and all like this only more tough sledding sledding would it be citizen kane or ulysses or some Blooming other thing, well, it was Ricky, ricky and his secrets revealed a word and a word until my word it takes your breath away and you will never forget it