Richard Harris Books

I had earlier editions of this book and just loved them. We found the best places to stay, motels and bed and breakfasts that are really special, at a great price. I used this book for planning many trips to the Southwest, for myself and friends, and it was always a great experience. It is the best reference books on places to eat and to stay, phone numbers of attractions etc. You can find every place in the Southwest. However, I would still use another travel guide for more detailed information about e.g. national parks and monuments or specific hiking tips.

I purchased this book in order to plan a 6 week trip to New Mexico and Arizona. If you want a book that will clearly and intelligently tell you about everything in these two states, this is a good option. Unfortunately, this book isn't very helpful in prioritizing sites. For example, I'm sure every single indian pueblo is listed, but it's difficult to tell which ones are worth allocating time to. Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent book, but, if this is your first visit to the area, you will need a more opinionated book to help you sift though the many, many sightseeing options.

Very personal writing style and detailed recommendations make this a great read and a great guide. This book covers the major sights in more detail than most compact guidebooks. The maps are easier to read than most guidebooks due to higher contrast. I loved the suggested iteneraries and "hidden" travel suggestions you may not find in other guidebooks. This is a thick book, maybe a bit bulky for travel. I do recommend it. It has been a great guide to help me plan a trip.

I was previously a ranger at Mesa Verde. This is without a doubt the best guide to the High Southwest that I've encountered. For years I've recommended this to friends, and each time I've been thanked for giving them an outstanding, wide, yet in-depth, and well written source of critical information about one of the most fascinating areas of our country. From where to go, what to see, and how to understand it -- from history, to geology, to ethnography, and much more -- this is an excellent introduction to the high country of our Southwest.

I bought this book to get some ideas for our family's summer vacation to the "4-Corners" area. The book has alot of information, little of it very helpful for trip planning. Most of the book is about the history, geology and nature found in each park. Details of the actual parks are written in the narrative form as the author drove and hiked in the areas. If you are willing to read through all this you might find a couple helpful gems and tips on your journey.

I travel in the region covered by this book a lot; over the years I have bought lots of guidebooks and other books about the area. Journey to the High Southwest remains my absolute favorite.
I do not understand the comment of an earlier reviewer that it does not include helpful "tips" for "trip planning." You might consider supplementing it with a more standard guidebook of the Frommer/Froder variety, but I have used Journey to the High Southwest since our very first trip to the area (early 1990s) and have found it a trove of "useful tips." On that first trip, using this book, I was able, for instance, to plan travel through the Hopi Reservation, where to stay, how to find out about when and where there would be dances, etc. The recommendations of where to stay/where to eat are terrific. (We would never have found our favorite hole-in-the-corner diner in Espanola without this book!) In addition to all the good travel suggestions, it's beautifully written, a mine of information, and a joy to read. I am so happy to find that there is an 8th edition!

When we are planning a trip we always see if there is a 2 to 22 days book about the area. Once again, they came through with Florida. Information is accurate, and interesting. Check it out.

When we were planning a trip to the Everglades, a friend loaned us this book, even though the copyright dated from 1989. We have yet to return it because it is such a great resource for planning trips through Florida. Not only does it give you a detailed travel route, but the sightseeing highlights along the way make the drive enjoyable. I particularly like the suggested schedules and have followed Mr. Harris' suggestions on more than one occasion. I always pull the book out when I am having out of town company in Florida and it helps me plan my sightseeing trips with my guests. I highly recommend this book and wish it was still in print!

A very nice collection of Farie Short Stories; trully encompasing not just the Whimsy of Faries, but also the depth of emotion and adventure in what all too often is seen as only children's worlds... These certainly do not stop at that; they take you to where you never thought Faries could go, but should have suspected they did.

This Faerie book isn't your usual batch of `fairy tales'. This anthology is full of hard hitting, hard-core faeries that take no prisoners. None of the faeries in this book are the Disney `Tinkerbell' variation. The book itself if broken into the following five sections: Warrior Faeries, Outlaw Faeries, Wild Faeries, Street Faeries, and Faeries Noir. In this faerie book you will find faeries both noble and foul. There are cyborg faeries, native American faeries, assassin faeries, street smart faeries, and detective faeries. If you like faeries, or just like to read a good story or something a little different, then this book is for you.

I used this book on a trip to Santa Fe with my kids. Because I had it we found places to go, and ways to get there, that we would never have tried on our own. It made the trip memorable and fun for the whole family. My only problem with it is that it is now so difficult to get.

We used this book in 95 for a fantastic trip through Arizona and Utah; perfect for a couple who like a planned intinery with interesting side trips, history, hotel, in remote areas. One of the greatest trips of my life.

It is a shame this book is out of print - well worth ordering.

This is an amazing book that has done many things for me with the two most important: given me lots of ideas about marketing my business and validating personal ideas and business practices that I had.

I also very much enjoyed reading this book: it's full of examples of people that I have hear of and can identify with, it's well written with few "repeats" and best of all, it almost reads like a novel: you want to keep on reading!

I originally got this book from the library: I am buying it for my own collection as I'll want to refer to it over and over again.

Ferrazzi has some good ideas in this book regarding networking, meeting people and using relationships as a way to achieve success and contentment in this life. While a few examples from the lives of great networkers appear throughout the book, he mainly focuses on himself - which is both good and bad. The good is that he has tried many methods of trying to meet people and staying in touch with them once you do. The result is insightful advice and suggestions. The bad is that you get a sense that this guy likes to talk about himself and his accomplishments, which gets annoying over the course of the book. Not all of his ideas are practical for most people either, like hosting dinner parties once a month and having them catered. But all in all, this is a worthwhile book and goes further in creativity than most networking books. Like the author, I too believe that much of life comes down to who you know and the give and take in relationships and was glad to gleam some wisdom from someone who has literally tried it all within the world of real networking.

This is one of the few books I've read that actually contains advice and tips that I use every day. I once heard "Never Eat Alone" referred to as "How To Win Friends And Influence People", but updated for the 21st century. I'd say that's pretty accurate. Here are some of the things I liked about it.

*Keith Focuses on the mindset behind building relationships before he gets into the how-to. Namely, that you should focus your relationship building on helping other people succeed, instead of seeing them as stepping stones in your own success. AFTER you've helped other people get what they want, they'll be more open to helping you.

*He explains who the "Connectors" are, and the immense value that they can have to you in building your social network.

*He gives examples of things you can do to get close to powerful figures and how you can leverage their knowlede, expertise and contacts to help support you in your cause, while you support them in theirs.

Like some of the other reviewers, I found the constant references to Ferazzi-Greenlight a little annoying, but you know what? For the immense practical value and usability of the information Keith Ferazzi shares in this book (if you actually apply it), I think a little..okay, a LOT of self-promotion is overlook-able, lol.

Nutshell review - An average book about building business relationships. Nothing particularly new or unique that cannot be found in any number of other common sense business books. If you haven't read any others than this is an ok place to start.

Such an odd book. Useless as a guide for networking and growing a business, and is nothing more than liberal propoganda disguised as a how-to book.

First of all, the author has helped Hillary Clinton campaign. Hillary Clinton abhors private business, wants to tax us to death, and if she had her way no private businesses would even exist at all! Does the author agree with this mindset, and if so, are we to take any of his "advice" seriously?

Second, the author continues to talk about how great it is to be "progressive", and how you must seek out "progressive" people to do business with. Huh? Progressives are nothing more than fringe lunatics. If you want to see a "progressive" in action, go to Daily Kos and read some of the disgusting blog postings there. Communist, anti-American tripe.

Lastly, the author is friends with Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post...a cheap anti-American site that does nothing but support terrorists, whine about capitalism, and trash white males in racist fashion.

You are known by the company you keep, and the author is cleary not someone to take advice from. And aside from all the political faults he has, tbe book pretty much is useless anyways. There is no solid strategy to networking here....just a hodgepodge autobiography of some random left wing "radical" who has somehow managed to make some money in the same capitalist system that all of his buddies hate so much.

I would suggest "Endless Referrals" By Bob Burg instead.

Sir Walter Scott. Ivanhoe. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Ian Duncan, Barbara and Carlisle Moore Professor of English at the University of Oregon. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press (Oxford World's Classics Edition), 1996.

Reading some of the reviews published on the site about "Ivanhoe", I have been shocked and horrified to discover that well-meaning (?) English teachers have apparently been letting schoolchildren loose on "Ivanhoe" without the necessary guidance and preparation. No wonder that some of them have turned away from a book, which, although famous (thanks probably to the early-1950's film starring a stunning young Elizabeth Taylor as Rebecca), is almost as difficult to read as anything else Scott wrote and despite its phantastic tale of knights in armour tries the patience of the modern reader until the very last page.

That is one very good reason to opt for the Oxford World's Classics version, which I believe contains just about all the additional information that a normal reader could require. Ian Duncan has not only printed Scott's final text (which he has carefully scrutinized and compared with both the autograph and early editions), but also includes Scott's own introduction and his notes (21 pages of them) as well as his own editorial notes containing explanations of difficult terms, speculation on where Scott may have got his details wrong and, last but not least, details of Scott's use of the language of the Bible, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Spenser, Webster, Dryden and Pope. Of course, reading the book with one thumb in the notes at the back is not as comfortable as reading a modern novel, but it is probably the only way to understand Scott.

And if you want to understand Scott, I would strongly advise not reading "Ivanhoe" before tackling some of his earlier novels. In "The Antiquary", for example, Scott portrays himself under the pseudonym of Jonathan Oldbuck. In "Ivanhoe", Scott is pursuing not only his literary career but also his antiquarian predilections. That is why the book is full of old-fashioned vocabulary and why there are long descriptions of things medieval which matter little to the plot; Scott found history interesting of itself, and was also an expert on medieval law, on heraldry etc. And he also had an interesting personal background as the scion of a fairly strict Calvinist family who had turned episcopalian; Scott himself was a member of the Freemasons and took very much an "enlightened" stance on the things of religion (to be followed in books such as "Old Mortality" and "The Heart of Midlothian"). Yet he was never a scoffer; rather, he portrayed characters who fulfilled his ideals as well as gross hypocrites. Here in "Ivanhoe", his ideal is obviously Rebecca whose tolerance (despite persecution), humanity and self-denial are painted in the clearest colours, contrasting greatly with the pseudo-religious values of the Templars but also of Friar Tuck who here seems to represent the degenerate Saxon form of the Roman Catholic Church. It is perhaps the supreme irony that in a book populated by devout Catholics, the only character who really behaves in a model Christian way is the Jewess Rebecca.

It would take too long to enumerate all the other fascinating aspects of this novel here, but I recommend it to anyone looking for more than just entertainment. Pay attention to the nuances, and these 500 pages will amply reward the not inconsiderable effort needed to comprehend them.

I loved all that knightly action stuff when I was younger, but I found this quite stultifying, and really had to force myself to finish it. Very, very dry. I may change my mind if I have a look at again, but given the time period, that is probably unlikely.

I'm sort of glad movie producers haven't discovered (and ruined) this great story yet.

This book has nearly every genre packed into it: romance, history (highly fictionalized of course), action, humor, social satire, even some poetry.

Scott's a great writer whose main concern is to give the reader an enjoyable story. I think he successed admirably. At the same time he slips in some important issues to consider (like family and leadership responsibilites, loyalty, and racism). One of the best things I like in Scott is his ability to give some of the more minor characters an individual flair (check out Wamba son of Witless).

I'd recommend the Oxford World's classics edition of the text as it provides many helpful editorial notes as well as an interesting introduction, bibliography, and chonology for Scott.

It was a time of knights, ladies fair, violent jousts, power-hungry villains and lovers sworn to each other. It was the period after the Norman Conquest, in which England became Anglo-Saxon. Like Alexandre Dumas, the great French writer who gave us "The Three Musketeers" & "The Count Of Monte Cristo," Sir Walter Scott reinvisions history the way it should have been (thus the historical inconsistencies) and creates a masterpiece of enduring quality. This story is packed with romance, adventure and a few more surprises. It's never boring. Rated PG for medieval violence.

Ivanhoe shows up on just about every list of the 100 greatest books ever written. There is good reason for this. It's descriptions of time, place and character are vivid and engrossing. Perhaps most interestingly, the book describes an almost dizzying array of complicated relationships. Strict father to independent son, lover to lover, lover to unrequited lover, father to daughter, conquerers to the oppressed, jew to gentile, servant to master, king to subjects (loyal and disloyal), it's all in Ivanhoe. Personally, I was most taken with the treatment the Jews received, with Scott being very modern in his treatment given the time and place in which he was living. Rebecca comes through as one of the most interesting characters in the novel, the Jewish woman who seems to understand Christianity better than any of the Christians. Beyond the engaging relationships, we are given action that draws in characters that have become mythic: Richard the Lion-hearted, Robin Hood, the Knights Templar and of course Ivanhoe himself. This is a novel that is worthy of the intensive study it has received, a staggering achievement.

This book isn't terrible. If I could I'd give it 2.5 stars.

E Lynn Harris is black, and gay. This fact is stated so many times in the book that it is a wonder the book isn't titled "MY LIFE SUCKED BECAUSE I'M BLACK AND GAY, BUT MOSTLY BECAUSE I'M BLACK!!!! DID I MENTION I'M GAY!???!!!!!!" Seriously, all in caps, just like that, that should be the title of this book.

Lynn Harris is exactly the type of person I have zero interest in knowing. Nothing is ever his fault. He doesn't work hard, fails at everything, gets a second chance due to being the same race as his boss, or is accepted without proper qualifications because of affirmative action in the 70's.

But then... then he starts to succeed. He becomes a salesman, and you know what, he's good at that. Sure he didn't have the qualifications for the job and was initially hired because he was black, but it turns out that he is actually -good- at what he does. So does that success and greatness become a large part of the story? No, of course not, outside of work his entire life is a mess and he goes from closet case guy to closet case guy wondering why they treat him so poorly... while these guys still have girlfriends. Nothing is ever Lynn's fault of course.

Give me a break.

If you want to hear what it's like to be a complete loser, this is the story for you. You'll be fascinated by how self defeating one man can be.

The kicker is that at exactly 7 hours and 30 minutes in Lynn nails it down perfectly "...who would be interested in reading a story about a sexually confused black man who basically wasted ever opportunity given to him." Not me.

At some point I felt as if alot of his friends reflected many of his characters which and while after reading you discover they did lend him inspiration.It must have been very difficult to point out his flaws to his readers , and it was done very well at that. Most people prolly wouldnt want to reveal there past so openly to the public but E. Lynn did it and I can respect that.

Follow Harris on his journey of revelations about life and love in this well-written, east-to-read memoir. Within the first couple of pages, I burst into laughter, then as the story unfolded, I felt kind of bad for Harris. The abuse he suffered at the hands of his step-father and then the destructive life he led during his adult life makes you wonder how he survived it all, suicide attempts and everything. I think I've read all of E. Lynn's books and this one really shows you from where all of his prior offerings evolve. I'm glad that at the time this was published he had found the love he was searching for. I hope that love continues.

What Becomes of a Broken Heart. In it, E Lynn Harris offers a tough and tender glimpse of the man between the covers of more than a few literary sensations. The raw emotional honesty is heartbreaking at times, yet redeeming at others. Through some of the roughest storms, he blooms, beautiful and strong.

I really enjoyed this book. I have read all of E. Lynn's work and by far this was the best. I cried, laughed and got upset several while reading this book. Truly it was remarkable.

As I am neither an atheist nor an evangelical, I tried to read this book with an open mind. In it, Vox Day states his case that Christianity is the best defense the West has against Godless totalitarianism, so he has a moral and civic duty to "dissect the unholy trinity" lest the world be destroyed. I found his efforts lacking, primarily because while accusing his atheist opponents of faulty reasoning, hasty generalizations, unfounded assumptions, and flippant arrogance - and therefore wrong - the author was guilty of all the same crimes!

Still, to be fair, I found the criticisms of Sam Harris presented here to be well-reasoned and valid, and Vox Day does advance a rather interesting theology in chapter 15. As the author's stated goal was to defeat "the new atheists" in an "intellectual deathmatch" and I find my opinions of Dawkins, Dennett, and Hitchens essentially unchanged after reading this book, I must conclude that it is of little value... the non-believer can dismiss it with ease, and the believer needs no convincing.

I've seldom suffered through such a smug, sophomoric, content-free pile of bilge as Theodore Beale's "The Irrational Atheist". Beale, who evidently imagines himself to be the "Voice of God", doesn't know anything more about atheism than he does about Latin. (It's "Vox Dei", loser.) He spends about 400 pages writing a paean to what he imagines is his own wit and genius, and attacking Hitchens, Dawkins etc. in the crudest and most juvenile manner imaginable. Hitchens is a drunk! Dawkins is a wanker! Onfray is French! Case closed! Aren't I clever? But as you thankfully reach the end of this book, you realize that Beale hasn't landed a single blow on the actual arguments of the hated "New Atheists". Instead, he's only succeeded in showing at great length what a nasty and immature person he is.

There have been many books in response to Dawkins et al, and if you want a book that actually (but unsuccessfully) addresses their arguments, try "The Dawkins Delusion" by Alister McGrath. Personally, what I find much more interesting than any of the anti-Dawkins books is the fact that there is such a wildly disproportiate backlash against a handful of authors pointing out that the religious emperor is naked.

Religion is invariably treated with kid gloves and fawned on by the media. Politicians trip over themselves to secure the advice and endorsements of dog-collared parasites who sometimes preach hatred and violence, but are assumed to be exceptionally wise and moral persons, and experts on evolution, medical research, human sexuality, cosmology, etc. just because they can wrap themselves in the cloak of lowest-common-denominator religion.

But then along comes a Hitchens or a Dawkins, and points out that religion's holy books are full of ignorance and absurdities, and have often incited violence and bloodshed. Immediately the religious establishment goes into panic mode and sends out armies of preachers and theologians to do battle, as if the church's very existence is threatened by a handful of books that, ironically, would be read by a handful of people if the theocrats didn't call so much attention to them.

I guess one can take comfort from the fact that bottom-tier hacks like Theodore Beale are joining the fray. It means all the more talented and educated writers have already left the field of combat and now we are down to the dregs.

Holy Cow!

A poorly written mean spirited diatribe. The author was apparently following the advice of Samuel Clemens to "let others lie, wantonly, gratuitously, if they will, but let you and me make it the rule of our life to lie for revenue only" when he wrote this book.

There is at least one fact in the book, however. To quote the author, "Speaking as a member of Mensa myself, I can state with some authority that most of my fellow Mensans are functional idiots, their high IQs notwithstanding."

We now know of at least one.

Vox really nails Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens and other militant atheists to the wall! His arguments are really well thought out and researched. Vox exposes the hidden agenda behind militant atheism and reveals these atheist authors for the rabid Anti-Christians that they are. He debunks their claims that they are writing in the interest of defending science, when they are really driven by a hatred of anything Christian.

Vox uses good, hard facts to debunk the "Unholy Trinity's" ridiculous claims about Christianity, which are all based on their own opinions and conjecture, not any actual physical evidence.

If this book was just all about bashing the militant atheists, it would not be very interesting and kind of pointless (they really are easy pickings). However, this book is much more. Vox gives some great history lessons and makes some interesting comments on the misguided views of the "enlightenment", socialism, etc. His wit and sense of humor make this book an entertaining read.

I lent my copy of this book to an agnostic friend of mine who is a big Dawkins supporter. After reading it, he had to admit that it was a very interesting read and well researched.

Well done!

A short review.

The book is unreadable. Illiterate, full of ad hominem attacks and just plain silly.

As Winston Churchill once replied to an author, "Sir, I am on the lavatory and your book is behind me!"

I found little value in this book. Perhaps I misunderstood the title, but I hope to save you from doing the same. This book contains no best practices - only a very general (and incomplete) overview of the project management process.

I would have expected to see a book heavy on "practice" considering the book's title, but the book is mostly theory at a very high level. The book has more of a dictionary feel than anything else. The project management process is presented, and each area in the process is defined (at least partially).

Sections on release management, configuration management, and problem resolution were under a page long. From the description and other reviews, I was really expecting to find some meat in these areas. For that matter, most of the chapters were rather light on content - again, not what I would expect in a "practice" book.

A few other notes:

* The writing style is rather dry - not academic, but more corporate process team.
* The quality of the book materials, binding, typography are excellent.
* Resources for further reading are poor.
* Some excellent graphics: CRUD matrix, process overview, status report template (it's for this reason that I didn't give it a one star)
* Case studies were poor: they seemed to have no ties to the chapter in which they were presented.

In a nutshell, for a very high-level overview of project management theory, this book will prove beneficial. If you have a background in project management, or are familiar with the process, or are looking for infomration you can put to work, this is not the book for you.

Book provides very general high level overview of PM. It does not get into details such as case studies, examples or best practices, documentation etc. You can read the same information on the web freely.

There are too few of real world examples on how the activities or standards are applied. Although no doubt that human communication is important, but I think some good examples will make the technologies understand better on how to manage IT projects in a proper way. I think, this book is more suitable as keynotes instead of a primary reference book. If you are serious about putting some standards to your IT projects, try to check out the book titled "Quality Software Project Management", ISBN#0130912972.

Best Practices on Every Page

This is an excellent well-written, concise and extraordinary value book. As a IT professional with over 25 years project management experience I have been looking for a complete guide to PM - and now I have found it. The book leads the reader through the phases, issues, techniques and best practices in the industry. I shall be using it for teaching PM best practices in my corporation from now on as well as recommending it to other managers.

It is an exceptional well produced book, with well-illustrated diagrams and explanations where appropriate. It has clarity and style - unlike many PM books. I was also surprised to find a FREE class questions and answers available from the publishers in a separate volume.

Clearly Murch knows his craft and what makes good ( and bad ) project management. I would encourage Murch to write another follow-on book in the same style and quality that deals with advanced IT PM techniques. For a book like that is clearly needed in the IT industry.

Must recommend this book for all interested in PM, IT professionals and end users, seniro IT management and students

Thank you,

Whether you are an experienced project manager, a novice or someone who manages project managers,this book is for you. It is also a book for senior management and CIO/CTO's particularly. Almost all in IT department can gain from this book. BUY IT and READ IT.

Breaking down the practice of project management into easy to learn steps, Mr. Murch take you through the basics of project management. Each section is methodically thought out and presented well. The writing style is excellent, clear, easy to read and understand, more importantly it stays with you.

There is an excellent section of the software development lifecycle (SDLC) which is full of best practices and excellent advice for any reader. This is unusual, as my many other books on project management do not address thus important issue, KUDOS Mr. Murch and thank you~!

Once you understand the basic principles of managing a project (any project!) and lay out the steps defined, it is easy to bring your projects under control. This book belongs in your library. As with any good reference book, you'll find yourself referring back to it over time.