Martin Lawrence Books

the book came in excellent conditions but it did take a while 4 me 2 get it so that kinda sukd other then that it was good

The book I received was in excellent condition. It didn't take no time for me to receive. It arrived just in time before school started back. thanks

I like the book as it goes into areas that I might not think of and creates ideas to use, it was required for my critical thinking class but I do have to caution that as good as the book is, you still need a good teacher to show you what the book can't and as English teachers tend to have conflicts of opinion as to how to write an essay, if they don't accept what the last teacher taught, it's useless.

Great source of info, will keep as ref. book. The book has examples and info for every thing that you may write.

I am a teacher of writing at middle school. I use this text book myself to pull-out parts of the included essays as models for my students. The organization and information about how writers think and go through the writing proccess is very helpful to students who think they cannot write ot hate writing. (There is not ONE WAY to go through the writing process, despite what most of our teacher trainings will tell us.) The many quotes about the writing process spark good discussions and free up students to realize that even published authors re-work and revise constantly. This is not a technical book, but is recommended for a more holistic approach to thinking about how to write and how to improve your written communication. Also this book helps teachers who have read and use the methods of "In The Middle" with many authentic pieces of writing, beyond what is in that book.

I thought I was going to read about golf..Wrong..I am not interested to hear Mr Donegan's opinion's on world leaders.. Unfortunately I purchased it at an airport so can't return it and get my money back..

This is a very intelligent and witty book that all of us who understand golf's struggles must surely appreciate. But beyond a golfer's perspective, this should also be enjoyed as a story about any passion in life that proves to be extremely challenging or unattainable, and the humor of brushing aside all obstacles and pressing forward no matter how ridiculous the circumstances become.

True, this isn't a book about Tiger Woods or Madonna or Bill Clinton, so if you are looking for pop culture, you'll need to look elsewhere. But if you are someone who cheers for the underdog and if you also like golf stories from an insider's point of view, I don't think you will be disappointed!

but this one is readable if only because it is a take on the Euro tour. It takes you to golfing venues and places that others dont. If you want a book about a player you know or courses and tournaments you are familiar with, then this is not your book. That, however, is the redeeming factor of this book. It does get dry because of that though, as it does the usual, painful breakdown of all of Ross Drummond's (Ross who?...exactly)shots and putts. This of course it what drops its rating down. A book like this on Tiger might rate 5 stars as we would all like to hear the inside scoop from his caddy. Where it does excel is with Donegan's wit, humor and exploits. When their relationship starts to sour Donegan takes more of an interest in his social life, and in places like Morocco you know it will get interesting. Chapter seven on his experience in Rabat is pretty dang funny.

Period. And I have read them all.

I read this book because I loved Donegan's other book 'No News At Throat Lake', which was both moving and hilarious.

I don't play golf but know enough about it to enjoy the humor in this book, which kept me amused while I traveled around Ireland for three weeks. Donegan has a great ability to capture well the itinerant lifestyle of the B-grade pro-golfer, the emotional ups and downs of losing more than winning, the little triumphs and pleasures of golf, and the mental stamina needed to be a pro-golfer.

I recommend this book to golfers as well as anyone who just wants a very funny read.

This is a GREAT book. It's about the Titanic's birth'till years after the sinking. It feels like you're in that time space of 1907 to 1912, reliving every moment of her history as you read through this book. It's a must have for anyone who wants to hear the cries of that faihtful night when she sank. Elona Zeelie, South Africa

This is a GREAT book. It's about the Titanic's birth'till years after the sinking. It feels like you're in that time space of 1907 to 1912, reliving every moment of her history as you read through this book. It's a must have for anyone who wants to hear the cries of that faihtful night when she sank. Elona Zeelie, South Africa

... As the Introduction makes clear, this book was written to chronicle the associations between the Titanic and the town and people of Southampton. ... it is a fascinating and detailed record of considerable interest to any true Titanic historian, (as opposed to someone whose knowledge of the ship is based entirely on that dreadful movie). ... This is a fine collection of anecdotes, letters and photographs, many of them not found in other books, and a fitting tribute to the 686 crew members who were residents of Southampton who died in the disaster.
Also recommended - The Odyssey of C.H. Lightholler by Patrick Stenson - the astonishing life story of Titanic's Second Officer.

This book is written in a disjointed fashion. There is no theme, just mish-mash. And the few people mentioned in the books we have heard the stories before. The few people they mention over and over again in Titanic Voices were too loud. They needed to turn the volume down.

This is a GREAT book. It's about the Titanic's birth'till years after the sinking. It feels like you're in that time space of 1907 to 1912, reliving every moment of her history as you read through this book. It's a must have for anyone who wants to hear the cries of that faihtful night when she sank. Elona Zeelie, South Africa

Lenin's State and Revolution is the most crucial analysis of the Marxian theory of the state and its relation to class struggle. Lenin was a revolutionary determined to reveal the provisional government's capitulation to the forces of imperialism and to revivify the revolutionary edge of Marxism that "socialists" had attempted to obscure. Lenin writes
"According to Marx, the state is an organ of class domination, an organ of oppression of one class by another; its aim is the creation of "order" which legalizes and perpetuates this oppression by moderating the collisions between classes."
In Lenin's view, the aim of the revolutionary proletariat is to overthrow the state, and in turn, use it to redistribute the wealth and seize control over the means of production. The state will subsequently "wither" in time. State and Revolution is a powerful testament to the dictatorship of the proletariat, as well as an excellent critique of the anarchists and social-democrats.

Considered a classic by most, "The State and Revolution" is a work of decisive importance to communist thought. The Marxist's conception of the state is expressed clearly and concisely by Vladimir Lenin, who consistently reinforces himself with the words of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

"The state arises" Lenin explains, "where, when and insofar as class antagonisms objectively cannot be reconciled. And, conversely, the existence of the state proves that class antagonisms are irreconcilable."

If you are unfamiliar with the elementary concepts of Marxism, you may not be ready to read this book. It isn't a particularly difficult read, but the author assumes that you have a general understanding of Marxism. This was one of the first books that I read when I began to study communism, however, and I remember enjoying it thoroughly. It was easier for me to understand than "The Communist Manifesto".

If you haven't read "The State and Revolution" and enjoy learning about Marxism, then I highly recommend purchasing it, but I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the fundamental principles of Marxist thought beforehand.

Lenin wrote `The State and Revolution' as the task of achieving socialism in modern industrial society. He focused on the relationship between the state and classes both in the past and in the future. He asserted that the government and their subordinate agencies were not impartial in handling conflicts amongst classes. For him history was largely a record of class struggle and that the state in every society pursues the interests of the ruling class at the expense of society. The state for Lenin was a vehicle of exploiting the oppressed. No ruling class allows its rule to be abolished without armed struggle therefore revolutions should be expected to be violent. He professed the working class would have to engage in such struggle if it ever was going to gain power. The objective for this struggle would be for the eradication of all class based discrimination. After this privileges and antagonisms and conflicts, which they engendered, would be eliminated classes themselves would disappear.

Lenin affirmed the workers should dismantle the bourgeois state once power was seized; and then the state should be re-constructed after the bourgeois overthrow. The dictatorship of the proletariat would follow. An entire intermediate epoch would separate the destruction of the power of the capitalism and the inception of the fully classless and communist society.

He believed to rid the tyrants a violent struggle was needed. Contrary to the beliefs of Karl Marx that socialist may be able to gain power peacefully. Lenin professed that the bourgeoisie state machine must consequently be smashed; this would be achieved with the removal of the standing army, the police, the civil service, the judiciary and the clergy. For him it was a campaign of through repression.

He believed that the freedom established in the freest capitalistic democracies was fully enjoyable only by the rich, who were not exhausted by the material and spiritual grind of poverty. Lenin contended that the economies of capitalism prevented most people from influencing the politics of any capitalistic society. Under socialism with the inception of dictatorship of the proletariat, the majority of the population would at least gain as distinct from purely formal enfranchisement. The majority would benefit from policies ending mass poverty and would take their unprecedented opportunity to engage vigorously in politics. The means of economic production would have stopped being privately owned. Lenin denied that the material equality was achievable in the first phase of transition to a communist society. The phase would be the dictatorship of the proletariat and would be typified by a pattern of wages rewarding individuals strictly in recompense for the work done by them for society.

I believe this is the best, concise revolutionary analysis of the role of the State ever written.
I find it very annoying that here in the US, while many students may cursorily read the Communist Manifesto in school, I have never once met ANYONE in my life who has read the basic works of Lenin except for avowed Marxists (and only a minority of these)....and being a Communist myself, I have asked several students, and often looked through university bookstores to see if any poli-sci or history professors would break the "no Lenin allowed" rule.
Consequently, there are many people on the "left" who pretend to understand Marx and/or Marxism, but still make the exact same errors to which Lenin here responded over 80 years ago.
For example, someone just this week argued to me than Lenin was "not a real Marxist" (!!!) because he "introduced" the notion of "dictatorship of the proletariat", which was "alien" to Marx (hint: read Chapter 4 of Marx's Critique of the Gotha Programme for just one of many passages which prove this notion
totally false). State and Revolution gives many more examples of extensive quotes from Marx & Engels. One of the greates merits of S&R is that it restores the revolutionary essence to Marx, which was obscured and watered-down by the Social Democrat reformists of the 2nd International led by Karl Kautsky. Incidentally, the concept of the "dictatorship of the proletariat" has been much distorted by capitalist demagogues and anti-communist "leftists" into something completely alien to its original meaning.
To all "Left academics" and others, don't assume (or pretend) you know anything about Marx or Lenin if you've never read them...If you have to be an academic "armchair radical", at least try to get the basic facts right instead of misrepresenting what they stood for...There's no shame in not having read Lenin (join the vast majority), but it's disgusting to just pass off what you've heard about Lenin from "bourgie" intellectuals as the truth (when the truth is those intellectuals never read Lenin either most likely).
There are not a few pseudo-Marxist fakers in academia, who do more damage to popular revolutionary understanding (in the name of Marxism) than do the outright enemies of socialism. NO WONDER these "Left" anti-communist professors don't assign a book like State and Revolution, they're still trying to pass off the same lies and distortions about revolutionary Marxism that Lenin and other genuine revolutionaries tear to shreds in works like S&R.
I dedicate State and Revolution to all the "Marxian" fakers who still try to paint Marx as a mere liberal humanist reformer, and strip him of his revolutionary essence.

V. I. Lenin wrote this book in 1917, while he was hiding from the Russian government. Lenin pointed out that "The question of the relation of the state to the social revolution, and of the social revolution to the state, like the question of revolution generally, was given very little attention by the leading theoreticians and publicists of the Second International (1889-1914)". He wanted to correct that oversight, and that is probably the main reason why he wrote this book.

"The State and revolution" is a very short book, well structured and not difficult to read at all. Initially this pamphlet was going to have seven chapters, but Lenin didn't conclude the seventh, due to the outbreak of the Russian revolution. In the postscript to the first edition he explains that, saying that due to the reasons already explained the conclusion of the seventh chapters would have to be put off for quite a long time, but that all the same "It is more pleasant and useful to go through the `experience of revolution' than to write about it".

The main idea in "The State and revolution" is that the State is a product of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms, and an instrument for the exploitation of the oppressed class (a "special coercive force" that rules through violence). The State of the bourgeoisie will disappear, but only through a revolution that will take the people to the dictatorship of the proletariat. The proletariat (the working class) will become then the ruling class, "capable of crushing the inevitable and desperate resistance of the bourgeoisie, and of organizing all the working and exploited people for the new economic system. The proletariat needs state power, a centralized organization of force, an organization of violence, both to crush the resistance of the exploiters and to lead the enormous mass of the population -the peasants, the petty bourgeoisie, and semi-proletarians- in the work of organizing a socialist economy."

The dictatorship of the proletariat will be only a first stage in the path to Communism ("Then the door will be thrown wide open for the transition from the first phase of communist society to its higher phase, and with it to the complete withering away of the state"). According to Lenin, the necessity of systematically imbuing the masses with the idea of the necessity of violent revolution lies at the root of the entire theory of Marx and Engels. All throughout this book, Lenin cites and examines Marx and Engels' writings, in order to explain and support his own point of view.

The importance of Marxism for nowadays world has diminished enormously, but I advice you to read this book nonetheless. It is certainly not a grueling task, and it will allow you to understand better some notions that many Marxist leaders believed with all their hearts. Ideas drive men, and men make history. "The State and revolution" will help you to get acquainted with some of those ideas, and that is not a small feat.

Belen Alcat

I got the first novel in the Stella Mooney series from the library. Now, all of the UK police terms are making sense!

In The Dead Sit Round in a Ring, the police find four people dead in a flat, three are related and suicides and the fourth, well, that is the problem. That fourth person, Jimmy Stone, has a punctured heart from a steel needle. Yes, Jimmy was murdered. Thus begins a mystery that takes Stella Mooney and her team into the underworld of London, where people trade in drugs, guns, and women. During the course of the investigation, the team comes up against some very powerful gangsters and a link to the war in Bosnia.

The writing and dialog are tight and gritty. Stella is an excellent heroine, a woman, as I have said before, that has some baggage. And while she is the center of the novel, she has her fair share of beatings and close calls with death. She is single minded in finding the killer of Jimmy and that gets her in trouble with some of her peers.

Like the other novel I read, Lawrence doesn't end the book cleanly. That is, not all loose ends are tied up, just like real life (or an episode of "Law and Order"). I think that is part of what makes these novels so good - sometimes the bad guys do get away. One thing that happens in the novel, I couldn't tell if it were a random act of violence or a premeditated attempted murder. There are a few episodes like that and I think that it lends a measure of realism to Lawrence's writing.

If you are interested in the Stella Mooney books, I highly recommend starting with this one. It prepares you for the others, laying the groundwork for Stella and her relationships and providing good explanations of policing in the UK. An excellent novel.

I generally like the tough, gritty, can-handle-anything character, particularly a female. But Stella is so unrelentingly dark as to be oppressive. Thankfully, she is in therapy, which offers the only hope of my continuing the series because I read first for character. The book is well written but, without a single spark of light, I did not enjoy this book as much as I might have done.

Here comes a likable female detective sergeant named Stella Mooney. Stella is an amazingly durable lady when you consider the mental and physical pummeling she takes during the course of the story.

First of all she finds four people sitting cozily in a circle in an apartment living room. Problem is that they are all dead. Three of the victims are cult suicide victims, but the fourth has a just slightly detectable stab wound to the heart, something that smacks of the work of a professional assassin. Stella's search for the killer takes her into the London underworld, and a mafia type family that the word evil really doesn't begin to describe.
In one scene one of the brothers arrives at a warehouse in a limousine to whack someone who is skimming from the business. He trots in complaining that it is too hot and humid for this sort of thing, shoots the guy in the head, and walks out still complaining about the weather.

It's a grim world of drugs and prostitution, and Stella cruises through it, getting beaten up periodically even when she is minding her own business. It isn't enough that she gets slugged by humans, she also has a turn with a jungle animal that leaves her quite shaken. Stella doesn't need these sorts of troubles as she is also seeing a shrink for the nightmares she is having about one of her previous cases. And in her love life she is torn between two decent guys.

People get whacked, and Stella continues her precarious chase for the murderer. People from Eastern Europe get involved, and matters get darker. Stella drinks a bit too much, but, hey, what would you do if you had her problems? Author Lawrence is also a poet, and he injects many a clever phrase into the narrative. A second book about Stella is out, but to date is only sold in England. American readers should note that British jargon is kept to a minimum. Just remember that "nick" is a police station or jail, and "shebeen" is an unlicensed liquor bar.

The title comes from the opening scene of this outstanding debut - three elderly family members sitting in a circle, dead. Suicides. And one extra man. Not suicide.

London Detective Stella Mooney sorts out the bizarre scene soon enough, but finding the killer of the extra man, small time crook and purveyor of grisly "murderabilia," Jimmy Stone, leads her into the shadowy underworld of sex slavery and criminal turf wars.

A persistent and attractive journalist who seems to know more about the case than he should complicates Stella's murky personal life as he draws her into the bleak and dangerous corners of London inhabited by Eastern European girls forced into hopeless lives of prostitution.

Point of view shifts periodically among various secondary characters from cops and doomed petty criminals to George, Stella's live-in lover, and Ivo Peric, a vicious Serbian assassin (and Jimmy Stone's killer though we don't yet know why) growing bored waiting for his assignment. Each scene's focus is intense and local, and the panorama of views gives the reader a full and complex picture of the crime, the politics and the people.

The prose is spare and pointed and often poetic, the characters expertly fleshed and flawed, the pace sharply punctuated. A gritty procedural, sure to be enjoyed by fans of Ian Rankin and any who enjoy urban noir.

What a fine debut novel! Lawrence's plotting is dark, textured, and laced with tales of the seedy underworld of London's crime scene. This first book in a (hopefully!) series starring Stella Mooney is well thought out and consistently gripping--the end is believable without being predictable.

If you like British police procedurals, like Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Mo Hayder, and Denise Mina, then this will be an author to add to your list of fun authors to watch.

This is not really my kind of English mystery - I am more of the "cozy" type. But for what it is, it is pretty good. It's rather rough reading and I did get tired of the main character angst about her two lovers but the mystery itself was interesting. I started to put it down a couple of times but kept going back until the end just to see how it ended. Definitely not a cozy but if you like rather rough police procedurals, you will enjoy this. It's a London you will NOT want to visit.

While at the library the other day, looking at the new books, I saw a new book by David Lawrence. The book, Cold Kill, caught my eye, especially since it said "A Stella Mooney Novel." I put that one down and went in search of Lawrence's earlier novels. The second book, Nothing Like the Night, was the one that I took from the library (the first one wasn't available).

A young, successful, beautiful woman is found dead in her apartment (or, since the action occurs in London, I should say 'flat.'), stabbed over 50 times. There isn't much forensic evidence, so the police believe it to be over drugs, a former lover, or a robbery gone bad. It isn't until a second woman is found, murdered in the same manner that the police, and Stella Mooney, think that something else is happening.

Let me say, first off, that I am not familiar with a lot of British customs/phrases, so some of the reading was difficult to comprehend. Specifically, the references to "DS Mooney," "AMIP" (Area Major Investigation Pool), "DC Harriman," and the like. I suppose that I needed some reference to compare these to the US police departments. But, those are very small complaints.

This is a wonderful book. The main character, Stella Mooney, has issues. She is prone to nightmares, she is in two relationships, she's seeing a psychologist. She isn't "superwoman," but she is a great detective. As the pressure mounts to find the killer(s), Stella has pressure mounting in her personal life. Also, the reader is introduced to the seedier side of London. It would be fair to say that the writing is gritty and realistic.

A highly recommended book. I am looking forward to reading the other books in this series.

I did not order this book nor have I received it and I hope I wasn't charged for it.
Pauline Picerno

Lawrence's second Stella Mooney procedural is even better than his exceptional debut, "The Dead Sit Around in a Ring," Mooney, a tortured soul who doesn't want to give up the devotion of her longterm love, George, or the excitement of her passion for journalist John Delaney, approaches her work with an appealing tough relentlessness.

Another serial killer story with graphic depictions of torture murders and gruesome forensics, the novel's quality rests on the noirish complexity of the characters, intriguing subplots (the homeless boy living with dogs in a mausoleum, for instance) and the depth of the setting as much as the suspense of the chase.

Though the first victim is a glamorous former fashion model, there is nothing pretty about Lawrence's London. The glittery models keep slim on cocaine; the dealers inhabit a world where brutality is strength and death is a teaching tool; sex is either a commodity, a sickness or both. Stella's heartfelt passion and integrity are balanced by guilt and secrets, some worse than others.

Point of view centers on Stella but shifts frequently, from the omniscient witness of a brutal drama in the slums to the specific terror of a marked man, a murder victim, a betrayed lover, a sadistic killer. Gritty and dark, Lawrence's series should appeal to fans of Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly and Val McDermid.

- Portsmouth Herald

The second in the relatively new Stella Mooney series continues dark and gloomy, giving us wide swathes of the dank, gritty underground of London where the gangs, prostitutes and drug-pushers hold sway. Now, someone is torturing and killing beautiful women. Although the scenes are full of evidence, it is of no use because there is no one to whom it can be linked. As the death tolls mount, and Stella's personal life grows ever more dark, this thriller races to a pulse-pounding beat.

This book is definitely right up my alley - the descriptions are vivid and almost poetic without being overboard, bringing the reader into the scene. Definitely worth the read - I look forward to the next in the series.

I studied English in Europe in college and I don't understand why Ross Thomas was not on the menue...
I read Thomas because this man's got more taste, sensitivity and fine humor than you'd expect from anybody.
This book is one of his finest. When I'll have finished all his books, this'll be the first one I'll read again.

Benjamin Dill of Washington, D.C. makes his living as an investigator for an obscure Senate subcommittee. His investigative powers are put to the test when his own sister, a policewoman, is murdered.
Briarpatch is an extremely well written mystery told as a third person narrative. Most of the action unfolds in Dill's hometown, an unnamed city in the southwestern United States.

Just as in all Ross Thomas novels, there is plenty of urbane humor. However, unlike most Ross Thomas novels, the story itself is a fairly mainstream, straightforward one. Missing are the way over-the-top characters and situations Thomas fans are used to encountering.

Briarpatch is a well crafted mystery novel noteworthy for having a very smooth narrative flow, an appealing cast of characters, clever dialogue and an engaging plot. This is a book all mystery fans will enjoy.

Ross Thomas isn't exactly one of my favourite authors, but I liked some of his other books, so I didn't miss the occasion to read his Edgar-winning novel (his second, because he had won twenty years ago for "The Cold War Swap") and I have been very disappointed. It's as well written than usual, with brilliant metaphors and dialogue, but the plot seemed to me some confused. The characters speak almost only by epigraphs, and one never know what the story is about. I don't have in mind the other Edgar nominees for this year, but I'm sure there was many novels more deserving than this.

This was my first Ross Thomas novel. I had heard from friends what a wonderful writer he was and was eager to give him a shot. The writing is truly outstanding. His desciptions left me alternately laughing and shaking my head in amazement that someone could describe things so perfectly.

The plot however leaves a bit to be desired. It is a rather conventional whodunit. It was a bit too straightforward for my tastes and most readers will figure out the ending well before getting there. Having said that it was entertaining and the language Thomas uses makes it well worth taking the time to read.

A fellow book lover tipped me off to the great books authored by Mr. Ross Thomas last summer. Since then, I have read nine of his books and Briarpatch is one of the best. Read this book. Read his McCorkle & Padillo series. Read his Wu and Durant series. None will disappoint. How this author has remained off my radar screen is a mystery to me.

If you pick up this book just for pure entertainment you will not be disapointed, the stories inside range from the merely wonderfull to the fantastic in quality.
Great for a moment of reading durring morning commute or a moment of relaxation in a quet corner of a waiting room.
If however you are like me, and you want more then just entertainment for its own sake you will find that this book reprisents allso the posibility of studing different tecniques and stiles of writing.
Now, admitidly when you do this you run the risk of being a little confused, unlike a textbook the transition from one story and one tecnique to another is sudden, litterally the turn of a page, however there are few other examples out there where you can study and be entertained at the same time.
Just dont let the entertainment distract you from the study.

FYI, This book is/was also published as "Best In Show" by Sofawolf Press.

This anthology is very good and I heartily recommend it. It contains stories from authors on my "buy-on-sight" list and I had nearly laid out the cash for it before I started reading the descriptions and realized it sounded awfully familiar. It's darn good, but I don't really need two copies. :)

I think the biggest strength of this anthology is its variety. With twenty six different authors, you are almost guaranteed to find something new. I already knew Brian Antoine and Phil Geusz were excellent furry authors. In this anthology, I discovered "The Color Of Rain" by Gene Breshears, "Crucible" by Kim Liu, "Messenger" by Mel White, and more. If you like anthropomorhic short stories, this is for you.

P.S. The Sofawolf version has cover art by Ursula Vernon, which you might prefer. :)

This book is the best bargain I have ever gotten. It is a must read for Furries. And Non-Furries will enjoy it just as much.The stories are well written and well catigorised . I will read them again and again.

This book is the literary manifestation of sexual repression and malformation. Coherent stories, decent prose, actual plot and character development, but all in support of repressed bestiality. Though non-furries will find it readable and perhaps even enjoyable as fiction, the true reason behind each and every one of these stories is furthering the spread of the mental abhoration that is furrydom.

Do not support this book or any of its benefactors.

If you're like me, you're tired of sword-and-magic fantasy, weary of Lord of the Rings clones and you couldn't care any less about Harry what's-his-name. You do not understand what is so fantastic about the medieval period. You are tired of humans getting all the attention. You wish Jurassic Park had been told from the dinosaur's point of view without all those humans getting in the way (and you were rooting for the raptors). We want something different.

This collection of furry stories breaks out of what is considered normal fantasy by making animals the center of attention, and it's a refreshing break!

Fully realized worlds with intelligent, humanized animals. Some by genetic manipulation, some by transformation, and many where there is no explanation. If you're willing to buy into this and get a dose of a different kind of fantasy, this is a great find! These are writers who have broken from the norm and explored the less-traveled road of animal stories for adults. Humanized animals have a nasty reputation as being cartoons exclusively for kids, but these authors write them for adults who are open-minded enough to take them seriously. There's nothing childish about them; they explore themes meant for adult minds and I'm not talking about sex. Yes, there is some (and it's all tasteful), but a lot of these stories will make you think about far-reaching subjects. Some will touch you emotionally, like good literature should.

As with all collections of short stories, the quality varies from story to story, but there are some real gems in here.

Foxy Lady--a very touching love story. It tickles the hormones without ever breaching good taste. Wish it was longer!
Canis Major--great action with a cute ending.
Wings--this one alone is worth the retail price of the book. Emotionally, it is the deepest story of them all. It gets you in the heart.

Secret Weapon--you just don't see dragons portrayed like this! The funniest in the collection.
Mercy to the Cubs--I thought the ending needed to be poignant instead of happy, but it's still a suspenseful read.
Messenger--the Eater is a unique idea.

Find the Beauty--I like foxes, so I have to like this one. An unexpected twist in a transformation story.
Little Monster--the most original take on a werewolf story I've ever read! Real fun!

The rest range from barely passable (only 2 or 3) to very good. I'm glad to find fantasy that does not copy TLOTR and rehash the tired old dethroned-king-peasant-becomes-unlikely-warrior-medieval-politics-group-of-friends-on-epic-journey plots that dominate much of fantasy. We've been there and done all that for over 50 years. It was fresh and original when Tolkin did it, but it's time for something different. Time to view talking animals as something other than childish cartoons. I'm glad I read this.

This is easily one of the most insightful and profound books I have read in my life. Both the conservative Christian and the man of pure science will despise this book. But if you have an open mind, prepare to have it blown against the wall. Lawrence understands human spiritually like a prophet and conveys his insights in blasts of crystal clarity. This is my first experience with him and I can guarantee he will be a lifelong favorite.

You can get this kind of thought if you really spend time with Nietzsche or Deleuze, but very rarely is it possible to find deep thought written by a master of the English language. There is nuance here - and Lawrence would be the first to advise care - but if you can't learn from this book then you are missing out.

Attacks everything blindly and madly promoted by the dominant ideas of the dominant socio-economic classes and strongest institutionalized influences in the current civilization of inauthenticity and death.

The power of money must go, according to Lawrence, as the power of the sun must return--as it indeed has always been the power of life whether we recognize it or not. Also, the power of blood must be reasserted. As human beings we are connected to all things. However, this perspective is suppressed as it constitutes a threat to the status quo.

Lawrence here sees no salvation in either democracy or western monotheism; but solely in human beings connecting up once again to the universal forces of nature from which come life's vitality.

Written in response to widespread condemnation of the sexuality and libertine lifestyles presented in his books, Apocalypse was the final attempt by D. H. Lawrence to make himself understood. The modern reader will probably detect a full throttle blitz against the puritanical deacons of the Church of England and his establishment tormentors. Launched from the most contentious and abstruse of the Bible's books, Revelations, Lawrence levels his antipathy at a rigid, superficially moral, life denying exposition of Christian thought. He argues that the confining nature of living the 'good' life in expectation of reward in Heaven cuts to the root of an immensely rich potential for experience and passion presented in the world. He continuously falls back on opaque codices-- of arcane civilizations that he states more fully explored the metaphysical realm. Lawrence divines a heroic age where apparent creation and destiny were seen as integral and complete. Robert Graves's 'The White Goddess' comprehensively analyzes the same mythological, magical architecture, but Lawrence uses it in a much more targeted and critical way.

Lawrence saw the aesthetic brilliance of Revelations as a bridge to a more mysterious, immediate, compelling theology. At the same time he condemns the apocalyptic churches who interpret the book as the evocation of Hell and Judgement, rather than in its potent poetic symbolism. He goes so far as to accuse John of Patmos of not presenting a revelation at all, but of appropriating a truer, more ancient historiography for eccliastical and political reasons. Not above placing his own eccentric opinions of government in this tract, he could be accused of mounting his own pulpit, if with literary distinction. His claim of an affirming devotion to the visible universe as the only 'true' route to the holy can be countered by reading some of the lively writings of Christian ascetics. This treatise, however, is not about them. It is aimed squarely at the convention seeking, socially regulating, sanctimonious attitudes that had censored and prosecuted him. Not surprisingly it did not raise his stock much among his critics, but it is an essential text in understanding the underlying motives behind his works.

The greatness of Lawrence as a writer is not in question. But in this final work of his , we see a 'visionary ' side which involves a neo- Neitzschean and almost Fascist reading of ' the Book of Revelations'. Lawrence may as other reviewers claim be here most interested in defying a pagan life- affirming tradition against a spiritually dehumanizing Christianity. But the main thrust is in his condemnation, a very strange one indeed, of the poor of the world for their envy of those higher people, the true aristocrats of life. Borrowing a page from Nietzsche's conception of re-sentiment morality he condemns the poor and sees their anger as barren and empty. So too his reading of John of Patmos condemns him for dessicating the life in a false and distorted spiritual vision.
Lawrence's work comes most alive far from theory, in his novels especially but also in his poems.
In terms of pure ideas his contribution , at least in this work, is more negative than anything else.

Yes, this is the book you need to understand acid-base. The secret is the easy to read and well structured approach. You will stop attending many lectures or workshops to understand acid-base.

I was given this book when I rotated through the ICU as a 3rd year medical student. I had gone through other training classes that attempted to teach me how to read a blood gas but I never could get it down right. THEN, I read this one...it put things into the proper perspective and taught me what I needed to know when I was reading a blood gas. I highly recommend it!

If you could only read one book on blood gasses this would have to be the one.

This book covers the nitty-gritty about Arterial blood gasses (ABG). As a PhD who performs biomedical research, I have come across "experts" who resort to physiological babble because they dont know what arterial saturation is really all about. You will if you read this book.

The book centers around four classic expresssions: (1) partial pressure of co2, (2) pH (3) alveolar gas equation, and (4) o2 content. From these four expressions, and a little knowledge of clinical medicine, you will understand just about everything you need to know about ABG. Dont let the equations scare you off; you know them already.

The book is simple to read, and has example problems. The real-world examples/problems really help in applying the knowledge, which I found to be quite useful. The author does not go into deep biochemical details. But if you need a good solid introduction to blood chemistry, or have to review how to read an ABG report this is a great book.

I am an RT instructor and I chose this book as a text book for my arterial blood gas analysis class. the students found it very difficult to understand and some of the formulas have been abreviated to the point that a novice will have trouble understanding them. This is a very good review for anyone who already has a general understanding of acid base, blood gas and electrolyte interpretation and can clear up some misconceptions, however, this book is not adequate for someone just learning the basics. My students were very unhappy and I wound up not using the text nearly as much as I had planned.