Reviews Books

Harold Bell Wright may have published "The Eyes of the Word in 1915, but its message is directly applicable to today. Behind the captivating saga of a portrait painter romancing a violinist under the scrutiny of his famous novelist yokefellow, a renowned media critic, and mismatched promiscuous art patrons is a morality play that is just as timely as it was a nearly a hundred years ago.

The narrative repeatedly laments the success bestowed upon much so called "art" that debauches that title. Conrad LaGrange, the celebrated author, begrudgingly iterates that his wealth and esteem have been acquired by accentuating the profane and sacrificing the nobility of his profession. Reading of such a contretemps, it is hard not to ponder the likes of Madonna, Howard Stern, Roseanne Barr and host of other modern icons who've built their careers on the meretricious rather than the meritorious.

As usual Harold Bell Wright displays his masterful command of the written word. Few other authors can match him when it comes to unfolding action in a manner that engages the reader from the first sentence to the satisfying conclusion

I've read this book at least 15 times and everytime I read it I'm amazed at how much I learn and how different the message seems to me each time I read it. The message is so perfect for today that you hardly believe it was written so long ago. If I could give one to everyone in the world I would, the message, the writing, the underlying depth of this life changing book is truly magnifiscent! Read this book, and maybe it will touch your life as it has mine!

After going through all the GMAT books, here is my honest opinion about some of the most popular GMAT books:

Official Guide:
Pros - Excellent source of GMAT questions. Very well organized with real test like questions.
Cons - No review of any math content or test-taking strategies. Not enough explanations of practice questions.
Overall, the Official Guide is a must have for all test-takers. It will give you a good idea about the type of questions to expect on the GMAT; however, if you need more than just a bank of questions, you need to look at some other source.

Kaplan:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Unrealistic questions.

Princeton:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Weird sense of humor.

Barrons:
Pros - Good math review. Big list of questions. Good test taking strategies. Very well organized. This is by far the best of the all-in-one kinds of books.
Cons - Although the book has a good math review, it doesn't go deep enough into each concept. Not enough explanations to practice questions. Does not have a good section for logical reasoning (permutation, combination, probability, etc) questions, which is one of the most important question-type. Does not break down the concepts/questions step by step.

EZ Solutions (set of 9 books):
Pros - Thorough math review from A to Z. Effective test taking strategies. Abundant solved examples. Numerous practice exercises. Great practice question bank in basic and advanced workbooks.
As with most books, you are expected to already have a good knowledge about the various match concepts, but with these books, you can literally start from scratch and reach the most advanced level of the GMAT.
Cons - To get the best result from these books, you have to invest in buying several books (set of 9 books), but if you compare the cost and benefits, the benefits outweigh the cost, or you can buy a few not all. Missing the verbal section. This is not a good option if you are looking for a mediocre score or just looking for a very basic brush-up. Recommended for serious test takers only.

Some of the other books has no real content; whereas, there are some other books that I haven't yet had an opportunity to review, but may be some of them are good supplementary aids.

I hope my review will help some of you in making the right decision.

I bought the series of EZ Solutions for the GMAT and found them to be very helpful. After going through GMAT books from Kaplan, Princeton Review, and others, I needed something more in-depth to tackle all type of questions. The EZ books cover a broad spectrum of content and practice questions with detailed explanations. These are great books for those who are seeking to perfect their score or need something more than just the basic review provided in regular study guides. They are also a good review for those who have been out of school for a while and need to refresh their math skills to score higher on the GMAT . The EZ books are very detailed and comprehensive, far more than any other book that I have seen. I would highly recommend using the EZ Solutions GMAT set of books to improve your scores!

This book is very strong in providing you with all types of Word Problems that you can meet on real GMAT test. But the main target of this book is not only to show you all these problems, but provide you with everything, what you need, to successfully solve all of them. You shouldn't read boring theory, because you study it when you practicing.
In every GMAT textbooks (here I mean textbooks that provide you with preparation for all GMAT sections), you definitely find a chapter or section "Word Problem" where you find theory about this type of problems and enough limited set of problems. If you go through the theory and do all problems, but don't understand something or find them easy then you have to search in other sources for additional examples.
This book helps you to discover your gaps in all types of Word problems. It helps you to understand why and where you make mistakes because everything is done step-by-step without jumping and dropping any stage of explanation in solutions.
The level of difficulty of problems is ranged from easy to difficult. It means that you can solve easy problem, but make a mistake in more difficult one, then you immediately find your weaknesses. The conception of this book is to provide you with problems, but these problems are in blocks that related to one rule or one type of problem. Even if you take a problem and whether guess the answer or solve it occasionally, you can't guess all answers or use your flaw approach for the same type of problem that is paraphrased or conditions are changed. Doing problems in a row show you whether you are good, or you need to improve your skills. Because the worst what could happen is when you solve pretty easy examples of word problems and think that you are pretty good with these questions, but on real test you get more complex problem. Uppps...
May be other providers want to provide their users with the same approach too, like EZ, but they want to cover as much as possible in one book and with theory, and it's unreal to insert all this stuff in one book.

Good Luck!

After going through all the GMAT books, here is my honest opinion about some of the most popular GMAT books:

Official Guide:
Pros - Excellent source of GMAT questions. Very well organized with real test like questions.
Cons - No review of any math content or test-taking strategies. Not enough explanations of practice questions.
Overall, the Official Guide is a must have for all test-takers. It will give you a good idea about the type of questions to expect on the GMAT; however, if you need more than just a bank of questions, you need to look at some other source.

Kaplan:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Unrealistic questions.

Princeton:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Weird sense of humor.

Barrons:
Pros - Good math review. Big list of questions. Good test taking strategies. Very well organized. This is by far the best of the all-in-one kinds of books.
Cons - Although the book has a good math review, it doesn't go deep enough into each concept. Not enough explanations to practice questions. Does not have a good section for logical reasoning (permutation, combination, probability, etc) questions, which is one of the most important question-type. Does not break down the concepts/questions step by step.

EZ Solutions (set of 9 books):
Pros - Thorough math review from A to Z. Effective test taking strategies. Abundant solved examples. Numerous practice exercises. Great practice question bank in basic and advanced workbooks.
As with most books, you are expected to already have a good knowledge about the various match concepts, but with these books, you can literally start from scratch and reach the most advanced level of the GMAT.
Cons - To get the best result from these books, you have to invest in buying several books (set of 9 books), but if you compare the cost and benefits, the benefits outweigh the cost, or you can buy a few not all. Missing the verbal section. This is not a good option if you are looking for a mediocre score or just looking for a very basic brush-up. Recommended for serious test takers only.

Some of the other books has no real content; whereas, there are some other books that I haven't yet had an opportunity to review, but may be some of them are good supplementary aids.

I hope my review will help some of you in making the right decision.

I bought the series of EZ Solutions for the GMAT and found them to be very helpful. After going through GMAT books from Kaplan, Princeton Review, and others, I needed something more in-depth to tackle all type of questions. The EZ books cover a broad spectrum of content and practice questions with detailed explanations. These are great books for those who are seeking to perfect their score or need something more than just the basic review provided in regular study guides. They are also a good review for those who have been out of school for a while and need to refresh their math skills to score higher on the GMAT . The EZ books are very detailed and comprehensive, far more than any other book that I have seen. I would highly recommend using the EZ Solutions GMAT set of books to improve your scores!

It is truly and indeed a master piece of work by Kroll on the topic of "The Judgment Seat of Christ". Kroll has written an in-depth book on this very least preached and understood but in fact should be one of the most important topics to be taught in the church. Within the 33 short, readable and inspiring chapters, Kroll has significantly bettered my understanding in the Judgment Seat of Christ through his sound exegesis and vivid explanations. Kroll has convincingly demonstrated that the eternal rewards are God's promises and most importantly they are worth fighting for. It is important for Christians to know what they are living for as a Christian and start working for the eternal rewards utilizing every opportunity and effort they have now. Kroll's book is encouraging and strengthening. I highly recommend this book to all Christians. I am sure anyone who takes this learning journey with Kroll will have a wonderful discovery and surely their faith strengthened.

There's a job review that has a more definite and long term impact than any you'll ever have to face before that date, claims "Facing Your Final Job Review: The Judgment Seat of Christ, Salvation, and Eternal Rewards". Preaching to not be so concerned with so much frivolities in the mortal realm, and to prepare yourself more for the only job review that ultimately matters, "Facing Your Final Job Review: The Judgment Seat of Christ, Salvation, and Eternal Rewards" speaks on how ones life is evaluated in the after life according to the holy bible in a plain-speaking simple to understand method with a blend of narrative and Q&A format. "Facing Your Final Job Review: The Judgment Seat of Christ, Salvation, and Eternal Rewards" is highly recommended to community library Christian studies collections.

This is one of the best short stories I have read in a long while. The craftsmanship and use of language is poetic; the story line is engaging, familiar, funny, and poignant. A must read - and a good choice, I think, for anyone studying the genre of the short story.

this is a potent demonstration of what a really exceptional writer can do with apparently all-too-familiar subject matter, in this case, the dysfunctional American family.With a precision and physicality of description that is breathtaking, Saknussemm brings characters and situations to life in way that speaks for an entire generation while also creating a lost and very private world. But beyond the clarity and strength of the language, what sets this story apart is its unique blend of humor and understanding...there is a richness and fullness-and forgiveness to this story, which sharpens both its comic and sad, poignant edges. I will never think of cocktails, hunchbacks, mules, baked beans or death in the same way again.

I read this book a few years ago when I was new to strategic planning and particularly enjoyed how it deconstructed the assumptions of strategic planning and encouraged strategic design and systems thinking. I can't help but think that the past few years of business misteps and unfortunate mergers have only added value to this work.

Strategic Planning came on the scene in the mid-1960s and was embraced by organizations as the most effective way to draw up and implement strategies. However, it fell from the pedestal it once occupied. According to Mintzberg, this fall was due to confusing strategic planning with strategic thinking. Planning is concerned with analysis, which entails breaking down goals into steps and formalizing the steps to enable implementation. Strategic thinking, on the other hand, is about synthesis which involves intuition and creativity, the outcome of which is an integrated perspective of an organization and an articulated vision of direction the firm should take.

Mintzberg argues that strategic planning is rooted in a grand fallacy that analysis encompasses synthesis, therefore strategic planning is strategic thinking. He states that this grand fallacy arise from three fallacious assumptions namely that prediction is possible, that strategy formulation can be separated from implementation and that strategy making can be formalized. The result, according to Mintzberg has been disappointing corporate performance and hence the decline in managers faith in strategic planning.

Mintzberg is right that "we think in order to act, but we also act in order to think". We experiment with things and we take what works and these "converge gradually into viable patterns that become strategies". According to Mintzberg, this is the essence of strategy making as a learning process.

This article is very interesting and is in contrast to some views of another strategic planning guru, Michael Porter, who favour analytical techniques for developing strategy. Having read the article, I recommend that one reads the book by the same author "The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, Free Press, 1994" for a more in depth look into this subject.

Elizabeth Drew, courageous journalist and scholar long based in Washington DC, here republishes a series of articles originally presented in the American intellectual journal New York Review of Books between May Day 2003 and Saint Valentine's Day 2004. Altough it reads with journalistic immediacy, the historical importance of the events described and of the larger issues addressed makes this collection essential reading for us now today, as we approach another election cycle.

Ms. Drew completely covers the ins and outs and hidden agendas of the first WBush regime. The first article in this collection in fact reports the doings and bio of Karl Rove, as it ostensibly is a review of the books Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential and Boy Genius: Karl Rove, The Architect Of George W. Bush's Remarkable Political Triumphs. This article remains important for us to consider now, as it exposes the nefarious strategies of this powerful man, who recently claimed to join the rats abandoning the sinking ship of state, but who remains firmly in power.

Among those who have been lost since the publication of this book is of course General Colin Powell, who here emerges as a noble and even heroic figure of integrity, but a tragically heroic due to his honesty, integrity, diplomacy (over war, which he experiened first hand, unlike the civilian saber rattlers involved) and his wisdom, and thus not one long to endure within the darkening regime of the W.

The second article republished comes from June 12, 2003, and mostly focuses on the neocons in power, inclduing Perle and company, and thus of course the corrupt, embezzling proposed puppet Iraqi president Chabadi. This article gives us further insight into how and why things went horribly wrong in Iraq.

The third article entitled Hung Up in Washington examines the Tom Daschle book Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever with many realted issues. It examines the shifts of power at that time, and includes insight into 9/11/01 on Capitol Hill. It includes the interesting insight that no one ever revealed the source of the anthrax envelopes sent to Democratic congressional leaders's offices. One wonders (although not Drew) what happened there while their offices were evacuated for cleaning for weeks and what partisan bugs were installed.

Despite the slim size of this volume, at seventy pages, the substantial and well researched and elegant writing of Ms. Drew makes these important articles for us to re-read at this point in time. The excellent and measured preface by PBS's Russell Baker makes it even more valuable, and at this current price we cannot afford not to read it.

Know your history. Read this book.

If you are interested in the way that politics drives (in some cases distorts) how government accomplishes what it has to accomplish, or you're interested in how government actually works (not what flacks, spinners, and headlines would have one accept on faith), you're cheating yourself if you do not read everything that Elizabeth Drew publishes. This book is no exception.

Of the cataclysmic changes that The New Yorker magazine went through starting in the early 1990s, one of the earliest and worst (and that's saying something) was parting ways with Drew, who until then had been writing the Letter from Washington column, and publishing a book every couple of years, it seemed. Her reporting was and is unparalleled: factual, addressing in detail questions that actually matter, not polemical (unless one considers disappointment with the corrosive effect of money and political fund-raising polemical); its equivalent or even a reasonable substitute was and is not to be found elsewhere.

Her current periodical gig is with The New York Review of Books, and this book reprints 3 of her columns (2 are also book reviews) published in NYRB in May and June 2003 and February '04. They cover key aspects of Bush's political side (particularly Karl Rove); the current Congress (which doesn't present much contrast to the Bush Administration); and Bush's Iraq-focused side (the "neocons"). The Rove and Congress pieces are the latest dispatches in Drew's long-term effort to report on how the profession of political strategy affects policy outcomes.

The neocons piece is quite different, and it is important because its subject is one of the more successful projects in the history of American policy entrepreneurship. A few friends/colleagues with ideas about the Middle East, not one an elected official (except Dick Cheney), convince the world's current great power, led by a man who campaigned against "nation building," to wage a major war that fulfills their dreams. Most entrepreneurs would be satisfied if they convinced investors to put up money and start a successful business; in the policy world it's a coup if a ground-breaking law is enacted (maybe even an agency created). But a war--billions invested (with a vague up-front price tag), thousands dying and sacrificing--and the conquest of a sovereign nation: for that you have to give the neocons their due. And study them. Drew's report is a fascinating short account of a subject that has generated several books and will continue to do so.

Everyone is afraid of something. No matter where they are in the world, no matter what culture, people know that there is something lurking around the shadows, creeping under the bed. Every culture's creative expression is ripe with these specific horrors, including painting, novels, poetry, plays and, of course, film. If a civilization has access to a movie camera, they will make a horror flick.

"Fear Without Frontiers" is a guided tour of this world horror-fest. Traveling from Spain to Hong Kong to France to Singapore to Japan to India to Italy to...well, pretty much everywhere, the various authors showcase the horror-film culture and history of these respective countries. Your tour guides through this atrocity exhibition are an elite group of film scholars, professors of film studies, film historians and other academic film professionals. This is no fan book.

Sometimes focusing on an individual creator, such as Brazil's Jose Mojica Marins ("Coffin Joe") or Hong Kong's Anthony Wong ("The Untold Story,") and sometimes a phenomenon, such as Singapore's Pontianak films and Italy's Zombie obsession, each entry is an incredibly well-researched and intelligent exposition of the subject matter. Each article is footnoted and referenced, leading the way to other books and journal articles on the same subject matter. The amount of information is truly staggering, and I would have never have guessed that there was an expert on Indonesian snake-woman films.

While each country gets a fair showing, Japan gets a special "case study," with three articles on different aspects of Japanese horror cinema. There is an article/interview with Miike Takashi ("Ichi the Killer," "Audition,") an exploration of two popular horror cycles, the "Ring" films and the "Eko Eko Azarak" series, and a look at the modern shocker "Suicide Circle" along with an interview with director Sion Sono.

What is missing from "Fear Without Frontiers" is a cross-examination of the various world horror-cultures. Although the Vampire film is fairly universal, there is no comparison of a Turkish vampire film with an Italian or French vampire film. Each entry is an isolated event, having no relation to previous entries.

This one flaw accounted for, "Fear Without Frontiers" is an amazing book, of great interest to anyone interested in horror films and/or world cinema. The sheer variety of things-that-go-bump-in-the-night is fascinating, as are the laws and censors that shape how these fears can be expressed on film.

Horror is the only true international genre. The fear of evil knows no borders. Mr. Schneider my be the only true international horror expert around. He's constantly digging up old films from the past from the tiniest country to find what kind of fear factor they might have had. This specific book is a grand collection of significant horror films from almost every major country. It speaks volumes about the different insecurities that lie between different nations. There is a wealth of grisly photos for the serious horror buff but also an abundance of educational information for the intellectual horror fan. If you want to know what the horror genre truly means and stands for, this is the book to get.

This book is simply awesome. Here, Raoul Berger focuses his in-depth analysis and attention toward the history and the original understanding of Article One-Section Eight of the Constitution: the powers of Congress. His conclusion is an inconvenient truth: most of the federal government under which we live is simply unconstitutional.

Berger first explains the true relationship between the federal government and the states: a dual sovereignty. The kind of powers the states were supposed to have retained for themselves are truly amazing. He explains in great detail the original meaning of the "necessary and proper," "supremacy," and "general welfare" clauses along with the 10th Amendment. The most fascinating part of the book for me was the in-depth analysis of the "commerce" clause. The power of Congress to regulate commercial trade between a state and another state is much more limited than one could expect; certainly far removed from what Congress is allowed to get away with today. Berger goes on to shred apart the majority opinion of Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985) which declared that a local mass transit system within a state can be regulated by the federal government via the interstate "commerce" clause.

This short, but information packed read is truly a classic and is highly recommended for anyone curious about the true meaning of the Constitution. The insights about the true meaning of the "commerce clause" were my favorite.

~Federalism: The Founders' Design~ by Raoul Berger is an intellectually rigorous and accurate exposition of original intent, the compact nature of the Union, and dual federalism. Raoul Berger, an honest liberal, made the diligent effort to recover original intent, for as John Taylor held, "there are lights toward true construction." Professor Berger is the leading force behind the jurisprudential philosophy known as original intention. Strict constructionist philosophy commands judges to strictly construe the written law. Original intent binds judges to the supreme law, the Constitution. James Madison accurately surmised, "...the legitimate meaning of the Instrument must be derived from the text itself; or if a key is to be sought elsewhere, it must be not in the opinions or intentions of the Body which planned & proposed the Constitution, but in the sense attached to it by the people in their respective State Conventions where it received all the authority which it possesses." In point of emphasis, "all the authority which it possesses."

This is a great book for starting a film group of friends. I truly believe that, especially for baby boomers, film groups are the coming new thing. What a great way to keep your mind active and at the same time have fun with friends! The book is short, very well writen and has lots of good ideas and clever chapters. I highly recommend it to everyone.

What a great idea! After reading this book, I am definitely planning to start a movie group. I've talked it over with several friends and we think it would really be fun to get several couples together and try it. Even though we work, we all go to movies at once a month. This book makes it easy to start a group and gives lots of ideas of good movies.