O Books

This book is one of my all-time favorites from childhood, when you would have bet money that your parents loved your brother (or sister) more than you! Written in cute prose by the wonderful Judy Blume, this book puts sibling rivalry into a funny and sweet manner.

I only wish I could find the one from childhood, when each kid had their own "side" and the book flipped over!

This is a great book, especially for kids with siblings! It shows how both children feel like the parents like the other one better and that they don't like each other but realize that life isn't as fun without the other sibling around. Highly recommend this!!

Wordsmith Judy Blume uses more verbal magic in this illustrated children's book about a little brother and a big sister. Another book that, at age 12, seemed "too kiddie" and beneath me.
I don't care if you're 60, 16, or 6 years-old! Even if you did not have the experience of growing up with siblings, or, in my case, I was the youngest, but had a smaller niece that acted as a baby sister.
Read so you know the title. Read so you know better than any Child Psychology book on the structure of Sibling Dynamics!

My son (8 yrs old) read this to his sister (6 yrs old) while I was combing her hair. We all laughed so much, he had to read parts over. This is a school library book and I am ordering it now to keep on our library shelf. It will be the book I give to ever child I know.

My children are exactly at the age of the characters with reverse gender. They could readily identify with the situations and could laugh at very 'real' conversations. I am sure they recalled how many times they have each said, "You love him/her better than me." I know I could. I want them to read this book once a month so they can remember the joy in having each other.

There are remarkably few authors that have managed to write for almost every single age group. Judy Blume is one of the few. Though admittedly she has yet to write a baby book or large print text for the elderly, Ms. Blume has somehow managed to write picture books, young readers, full chapter books, teen novels, and even an adult title in her day. We all know who Judy Blume is, but we probably know her for very different reasons. As a kid, I knew her primarily as the author of "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". My husband, on the other hand, associates her with that deliciously forbidden text, "Forever". For some kids out there, though, "The Pain and the Great One" is going to be their first impression of this undeniably great author. As of this review, it is the only picture book ever written by Ms. Blume. Be that as it may, it shares with all her books the frustrations and confusions that all kids can relate to on some level. Ms. Blume, the great empathic, should consider adding a few more picture books to her repertoire. This first book demands it.

A white page with a pink border. In black and white print are two words: The Pain. A sister then begins to relate to us exactly why it is that her little brother is a pain. Right from the start, you see where she's coming from. This is the kind of kid who insists that his mother carry him to the breakfast table every morning. Unlike his big sister, if The Pain doesn't finish his dinner he still gets dessert. A truly shocked and probably envious sister watches, broccoli perched on her fork, as her brother dives into a delicious bowl of what looks to be strawberry shortcake. One night, she gets to stay up later than The Pain, but comes to the almost immediate conclusion that, "without the Pain there's nothing to do!". The cat seems to prefer him and she finishes with the thought that when it comes to her parents, "I think they love him better than me". Suddenly we're looking at another white page with a pink border. In black and white print are three words: The Great One. Suddenly the perspective has shifted 180 degrees. We're in the head of The Pain and he's talking about his older sister. Sarcastically referring to her as The Great One, the boy talks about all the stuff she gets to do that he doesn't. She feeds the cat, so it must obviously like her better. She knows how to do all sorts of stuff without messing up. She swims with pleasure and isn't afraid to put her face in the water. The boy's final thoughts refer to his own parents as well. "I think they love her better than me". The end.

The book was originally published in 1985. Reading it, I had to wonder if it could be published today. In the current publishing market, I can see well-meaning but oblivious department heads trying to convince Ms. Blume to give the story an ending where the boy and girl become best friends and everything ends up hunky-dory by the last page. I was a little shocked that on a first reading, this is exactly what I found myself expecting. No, what I expected was worse. Because when I got to the pink bordered "The Great One" page I suddenly thought that the story would show how much the little brother really and truly admires his older sister, even if she thinks he's annoying. There's probably a book like that out there somewhere. This book is not it. This is a book that tells it like it is. Sibling rivalry has never been so clear. Cleverly, Blume inserts tiny (I hesitate to call them) lessons into the story so that in the midst of each kid's litany of complaints, they learn things as well. The Great One learns that staying up late isn't fun without her horrid little brother. The Pain learns that playing with his sister's blocks all alone isn't fun in the least. If you're looking for anything more sappy than this, however, you're out of luck. This is Blume telling children what they already know, and kids will appreciate the honesty.

Illustrator Irene Trivas puts her back into this book. It's funny, but depending on who's telling the story, the illustrations shift ever-so-slightly in their favor. When The Great One talks about The Pain, everything he does is understandably annoying. When the boy talks about his sister, on the other hand, she suddenly becomes infinitely competent, intelligent, and skilled. She's annoying in an entirely different way. Trivas also gives each kid some remarkable characteristics. The Great One tends to sport a cowboy hat with a bright green or red feather planted in the brim. The Pain wears a wide variety of hats ranging from goggles, winged helmets, and baseball caps to his own cowboy hat and football helmet. Trivas hasn't done any picture books quite as prominent as this one since its publication. Let us hope she gets rediscovered in the coming years.

The obvious book to pair this one with would be, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorst. Both books are legitimate complaints from kids who feel woefully put-upon. Ms. Blume's books tend to have one thing in common: They know how to show unfairness from a kid or teen's perspective. Nobody does righteous indignation like Judy Blume. "The Pain and the Great One", a kind of he said/she said book is the ultimate example of this. For some kids it'll teach them that there are two sides to every story. For others, it'll just reinforce previously unsubstantiated claims that their other siblings have got it better. For me, it's just a great book that needs to get rediscovered. That's all.

what joy to read galaxian epics, large in their characters, profound in their language, jumbo-gigantic in their theme! for this work concerns nothing more than the salvation of mankind, the source of all our toxica, the origins of reality's thrash of contradiction, decapitation of sense, the justice of God's infinite bewilderment and a host of other themes, some limpid, some latent. yet the true irony of this story, although milton eventually loses interest in him after his hallow triumph is greeted in inferno with the hiss of snakes, is that the author's sympathies, obsessions and fascination lies most in the character of satan! for did not milton jail-suffer at the hands of the restoration of the house of stuart? the blind english word-smith thus explores in depth this cosmic character of rebellion! for he himself most likely also from time to time longed to attack authority, shirk government decrees and restore to power the creed that he thought would best help mankind rose-flourish and ivory-prosper! here we witness satan's frustration, his nails of soul, his menace of catastrophe! here we read of satan's inappeasable torrent of rats as he witnesses adam in the garden, content, at ease, pax surrounding him and satan thus languishes, yearning for the former splendo-times he passed in celestium. and when adam does finally eat of the apple and is thus exiled from eden's rapture - what hiròshimum! what blight! for he laments his fall from grace in a torrent of mental cacophony and quickly sets about to blame eve for his slither among adders! but the work's most rubylicious feature is its language! how rarely do we encounter whole stories written in iambic pentameter verse! and milton embellishes his cosmic tale with all sorts of unexpected syntax, rioting images and flaxen parallels!

author of Lorelei Pursued and Wrestles with God

a riveting book for the philosophy of good and evil

Milton's "Paradise Lost" is the best work of literature in the English language, bar none. Christians and non-Christians alike should marvel at the vision presented by Milton. He is not a Satanist, as the Romantics would have you believe. Indeed, he is a devout Christian. This is what makes the work so extraordinary. Milton's vision of the astral world invokes various responses from the reader, all of them genuine and some contradictory. No matter who you are or what you believe, you will thoroughly enjoy this imaginary look into the events surrounding the fall of Lucifer and the beginnings of man in the Garden of Eden.

Of Man's first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till on greater Man
Restore us and regain the blissful seat
Sing, Heavenly Muse...
Not a lot people know that 'Paradise Lost' has as a much lesser known companion piece 'Paradise Regained'; of course, it was true during Milton's time as it is today that the more harrowing and juicy the story, the better it will likely be remembered and received.

This is not to cast any aspersion on this great poem, however. It has been called, with some justification, the greatest English epic poem. The line above, the first lines of the first book of the poem, is typical of the style throughout the epic, in vocabulary and syntax, in allusiveness. The word order tends toward the Latinate, with the object coming first and the verb coming after.

Milton follows many classical examples by personifying characters such as Death, Chaos, Mammon, and Sin. These characters interact with the more traditional Christian characters of Adam, Eve, Satan, various angels, and God. He takes as his basis the basic biblical text of the creation and fall of humanity (thus, 'Paradise Lost'), which has taken such hold in the English-speaking world that many images have attained in the popular mind an almost biblical truth to them (in much the same way that popular images of Hell owe much to Dante's Inferno). The text of Genesis was very much in vogue in the mid-1600s (much as it is today) and Paradise Lost attained an almost instant acclaim.

John Milton was an English cleric, a protestant who nonetheless had a great affinity for catholic Italy, and this duality of interests shows in much of his creative writing as well as his religious tracts. Milton was nicknamed 'the divorcer' in his early career for writing a pamphlet that supported various civil liberties, including the right to obtain a civil divorce on the grounds of incompatibility, a very unpopular view for the day. Milton held a diplomatic post under the Commonwealth, and wrote defenses of the governments action, including the right of people to depose and dispose of a bad king.

Paradise Lost has a certain oral-epic quality to it, and for good reason. Milton lost his eyesight in 1652, and thus had to dictate the poem to several different assistants. Though influenced heavily by the likes of Virgil, Homer, and Dante, he differentiated himself in style and substance by concentrating on more humanist elements.

Say first -- for Heaven hides nothing from thy view,
Nor the deep tract of Hell -- say first what cause
Moved our grand Parents, in that happy state,
Favoured of Heaven so highly, to fall off
From their Creator and transgress his will,
For one restraint, lords of the world besides?

Milton drops us from the beginning into the midst of the action, for the story is well known already, and proceeds during the course of the books (Milton's original had 10, but the traditional epic had 12 books, so some editions broke books VII and X into two books each) to both push the action forward and to give developing background -- how Satan came to be in Hell, after the war in heaven a description that includes perhaps the currently-most-famous line:

Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in hell:
Better to reign in hell, that serve in heav'n.

(Impress your friends by knowing that this comes from Book I, lines 261-263 of Paradise Lost, rather than a Star Trek episode!)

The imagery of warfare and ambition in the angels, God's wisdom and power and wrath, the very human characterisations of Adam and Eve, and the development beyond Eden make a very compelling story, done with such grace of language that makes this a true classic for the ages. The magnificence of creation, the darkness and empty despair of hell, the manipulativeness of evil and the corruptible innocence of humanity all come through as classic themes. The final books of the epic recount a history of humanity, now sinful, as Paradise has been lost, a history in tune with typical Renaissance renderings, which also, in Milton's religious convictions, will lead to the eventual destruction of this world and a new creation.

A great work that takes some effort to comprehend, but yields great rewards for those who stay the course.

This edition includes more than 50 pages of Milton's other poetry, including sonnets; there are also extensive sections of the KJV biblical text that directly relates to themes in Paradise Lost. Dozens of essays of literary criticism, from the likes of Voltaire, Dryden, Blake, Keats and Wordsworth as well as contemporary commentators such as Bloom, Frye and Adams complete this critical Norton edition.

I was assigned to read Paradise Lost on my own over the summer and I am so glad that I chose the Norton Critical edition. Obviously, reading Paradise Lost is a daunting task for anyone who isn't a religious historian and without the Norton Critical edition, I might not have finished the epic at all (which would be much of a loss, not only in my grades.)

This edition has a vast array of extremely helpful footnotes (have a Bible at hand for all those cross-references) and it has large margins for taking plenty of notes of your own. More than half of the book is a collection of various literature, excerpts and explanations that are also quite helpful.

Certainly, there is no doubt that Paradise Lost is an excellent work, but the Norton Critical edition is invaluable for any average person (like me) who wants to truly appreciate it. I highly recommend this.

Three years after being publishing, this fine work continues to fly off bookstore shelves - already in its 4th printing. I was first introduced to the Passionate Steward as a seminary text. When I arrived in my first parish it was already in use for our entire parish council and stewardship committee. Our Diocese gives a copy to every parish! The Passionate Steward is clearly written, concise and easy to read - but the thoughts it provokes are profound. The Church owes a debt of gratitude to O'Hurley for challenging conventional wisdom in pursuit of true discipleship!

The Passionate Steward is an insightful, well-researched resource for anyone interested in the theological and spiritual principles of stewardship in general and as it should inform the Church's fund-raising activities. O'Hurley-Pitts demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the topic and challenges the reader to reshape and revision current understandings and practices. He gets to the heart of what stewardship is truly about as he presents a holistic vision of Christian stewardship. I give this book to stewardship leaders in our Diocese and recommend it to anyone who is serious about discipleship and the life and mission of the Church. -Robert Cammarata Office of Parish Stewardship - Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY

There are few books which can make a well-read, highly educated and experienced Church leader stop and reconsider so much of what they have accepted and embraced in the past. This is one of those iconic and timeless books.

O'Hurley-Pitts writes in uniquely clear, compelling and persuasive manner. The Passionate Steward is suitable for individual reading; a parish training and education manual; professional guide; and academic text all at the same time and equally well. Written from years of experience and academic training, this book cuts through years of accepted practices driven by errant conventional wisdom and re-grounds stewardship in the reality of parish life, sound theological precepts and biblical tradition with a view towards the theology and spirituality of stewardship.

The Passionate Steward brakes the mold of books that are mere step-by-step "stewardship" guides and truly parses the issues that create impediments for both parish leaders and the faithful in embracing true Christian stewardship. Concise writing, easy to understand graphs and charts, historic comparisons and helpful critiques allow the reader to get to the heart of the issues. Significant reasearch, good footnoting and a brilliant index makes the book highly accessible.

Although a Roman Catholic, O'Hurley-Pitts' book has been selected by the Episcopal Book Club as one of their four 2003 selections. Promotional cover quotes from Evangelicals to Greek Orthodox religious leaders alike demonstrates that The Passionate Steward crosses all barriers and focuses on the essential truths of Christian stewardship.

The Passionate Steward is an essential tool for everyone in the practice of ministry, parish and diocesan leadership at a very inviting price.

Few books have been honest enough to challenge the conventional wisdom that we have embraced in the name of raising money for ministry. The Passionate Steward does exactly that in a concise and forthright manner, and goes even further, treating the gift of time and talent as equally essential to Christian stewardship. The use of reliable sources and the true depth of the book marks it as far above what passes for the run-of-the-mill stewardship or fundraising works now in print. Before you read a "how to" book - read a "why" to book faithful to our biblical and traditional values and gives practical advise for implementation as well.

O'Hurley-Pitts' fine book, full of gravitas for people in ministry today, is pleasingly easily read, clear and inviting. There are few books on the practice of ministry that will reach this level of excellence or relevence for any Church and for the development of the faithful's wholistic understanding that our lives as stewards is intrinsically part of our vocation as Christians! Whether a minister or member of the laity, or a person involved in charitable work at the volunteer or professional level, this book can change your life and therefore the Church's by helping us better explore how secular fundraising has deprived us all of our more worthy Christian and philanthropic values of generosity and caring.

O'Hurley-Pitts did a wonderful job in his book "The Passionate Steward". Our church has taken this path for the past five years in focusing on the spiritual meaning of stewardship instead on the budget. As a result, each year our pledges increased by double digits. Two years ago, we hired a volunteer ministry director and mission coordinator to formalize our volunteer efforts. We still have a long way to go as a main-line church to bring God closer to our everyday life. But we are getting there!

I'd encourage Michael not to stop there and help us dig deeper into the spirituality of stewardship.

This book has the best recipe for potato salad, BBQ chicken, and salsa!

I got this book as a gift. It was a cute book - something that brought me back to the days of "Dad Knows BBQ Best." Sadly, I don't really use the book too much.

As a cookbook: ok
As a cute gift for a dad who likes to cook: priceless

This is such a fun book, plus it has some great summer recipes (easy, too!)! It's even just a "fun" read for us "babyboomers", takes us back to the good old backyard bbq days with the family!

Being an excellent cook myself, I read cookbooks more for ideas than anything else. This book not only gave me lots of ideas, it brought back memories of my Grandmother's cooking. Also, it wasn't filled with a lot of endless, useless, chatter.

This book has incredible graphics - 50's style. I've stood it up on my counter and everyone who comes over says, "Patio DaddyO!" Unfortunately, it hasn't inspired my husband to take over the tongs. Ah well. This makes a great gift for any BBQ'er or yourself - especially if you're into the late 50's/ early 60's style of anything. Worth the low price and more.

My new favourite cookbook, and I haven't even tried out the recipes yet! Everything about this book seems so fresh even though the graphics are items that are over 50 years old. The copy is vividly written, just reading the recipes makes you want to throw on an apron and get grillin! The titles of recipes are fabulous, such as "Slab o' Fun Barbequed Meat Loaf" and "Cheesy-Drippin, Garlic Fumin' St. Louis Salad" and the recipes are equally creative. I love how they take classics and give them a twist! There is not a single recipe in this book that I expect to find in any other cookbook. Even if the recipes didn't look delicious and interesting I would still want this book. It's a wonderful reference for the 50's kitsch collecter...all kinds of bbq items and pictures illustrate each page, all appropriately chosen. The graphics add so much! This is a gem of a book! I can't wait to display this wonderful conversation peice on my chrome bakers rack in my retro kitchen and have my friends over for a classic patio party!

The Payroll Source is the best payroll book available in the market today. I use it for reference material almost every day. Practically every payroll issue is covered and if you need to see the IRS regs involved, just look at the bottom of the page. What could be more efficient? Try it. You will be thrilled. How did you ever live without it?

I wouldn't have it out of arms reach at my desk! I use it every day and would be lost without it.

This book has been my life blood as a payroll professional. It explains complicated regulations which are often incomprehensible when viewed as code and states them in a concise and useful manner.

Michael O'Toole's book has saved my day on many days!!!

This is THE book to have if you are at all involved with payroll. It is a comprehensive resource and provides information in an easy to read and understand format. It goes well beyond the basics of paying employees and handling taxes by including information on recordkeeping, accounting, technology and management. A truly complete reference that I reach for again and again!

I wouldn't have it out of arms reach at my desk! I use it every day and would be lost without it.

For anyone searching for answers about the meaning of life and curious to understand what death means in this context - this is the perfect source book. Annamaria Hemingway opens up our awareness into understanding how death helps us to appreciate life in a far more meaningful way and illustrates this fact through deeply moving and inspirational stories. The text material that accompanies the stories draws on a wealth of hstorical, philosophical and mythic perspectives that make fascinating reading. The book also demonstrates how letting go of our fear of death gives us the opportunity to consider the strong possibility that death may only be a transition into another form of consciousness. A wonderful book that I highly recommend.

My Four Stars is ringing the top bell in My library. So think 5. I work with the dying and their families daily. This is a very well researched and documented book on death and dying. A compilation of lives touched by personal loss and continuity of conciousness experienced. It should be in everyones library. I teach several classes on line about concious death and dying, for a private university. I have Annamaria's book listed as a " Required Text" for all my current classes. In my private practice, I take it along to clients homes. It often helps bereaved family members find solace. Also an excellent book for those who wonder "what comes next" and for those who question "if awareness continues after the body dies". I was especially impressed with the integrity and ethical character of Ms. Hemmiingway's book. It is well organized and can be read in parts or sections; especially important for those facing loss. In active grief we can only absorb information in "sound bites" or " one story at a time". This book fullfills that requirement! Uplifting and Solid. A great book for everyone including those interested in the study of Neath Death Experiences.
Katherine Rosengren R.N., M.A.

I absolutely love this book, not only does it share experiences of NDEs but also the difference in the peoples lives afterwards. What I am finding particularly inspirational is the stories of people who have been directly affected by traumas ie Oklahoma bombing and 9/11 and how they have turned around their grief into doing amazing things for the benefit of others to the point where i have been moved to look up some of the charities and learn more about their amazing work. This book stirs huge compassion and shows us how a seemingly simple idea when actioned can have such a positive and life changing effect on others. All this and I still have a bit to read :-)

Over the past 8 years American Fundamentalists have attempted to monopolize the literature on Near Death Experiences and associated phenomena, usually employing their publishing factories to disseminate Trojan Horses - books purporting to be about this subject, but carefully crafted for the furtherance of their narrow "religious" agendas. As an Anthropologist (specializing in Death & Dying) for over 40 years, I study the impact of these insidious and often downright untruthful vehicles on the fabric of culture and society throughout the world.

Ms. Hemingway's book is truly welcome on several levels. Her presentation of historical and mythological data is accurate, unbiased,, and very much appropriate to her subject. Her presentations of what many people feel have been their experiences are also unbiased, particularly in her introductions and summary analyses. As a scientist, I am impressed.

Her exploration and treatment of the implications of the reported experiences speaks beyond just the scientist; it speaks to the human in all of us. Thus, the broad value of this book. To her great credit, Ms. Hemingway does not allow herself to be sidetracked onto epistemological cul-de-sacs. Her egalitarian approach allows Deists and non-Deists alike to find validity in her materials, and therefore in their lives.

Of particular interest, regardless of a reader's a priori stance, is the inherently honest message she conveys through the detailed discussions of the life changing nature of these phenomena. Without a subversive agenda of the furtherance of what some narrow group defines as good, this manuscript presents a cornucopia of examples of how to be of benefit, even ultimate benefit, in the lives of others as well as of the self. As such, this book is a service to all mankind.

PRACTICING CONSCIOUS LIVING & DYING takes us where people go when they die, traveling with those who have been declared officially dead and who managed to return to life to share their stories. This refreshing book is a collection of sixteen very different personal accounts of people who have come face-to-face with death in many various ways. There is a rich treasure trove of experience shared in this book which invites the reader to come on a journey each of us cares about, because it's a journey we are all destined to take. I love the way each first person account vibrates with such heartfelt emotion that I feel I'm right there... and the way that many people have found ways to make the deaths of their loved ones richly meaningful.

One of the most surprising and moving stories that touched my heart was the story about search and rescue teams of firemen with their special dogs. After learning of how such close relationships between fireman and dog affect and improve the firemen's other relationships, I will never see the world the same way again. There is a gift in being fully in this moment, right here, right now, rather than mentally or emotionally elsewhere... and I feel immensely grateful to this book for helping me vicariously experience how to go about regaining that sense of childlike wonder and simple heartfelt appreciation with the simple beauty in this world.

There is truly something ennobling and empowering in consciously living one's life, and PRACTICING CONSCIOUS LIVING & DYING helps us discover the secrets of how to better to enjoy the lives we are so blessed to have right now. This book is an extraordinary breath of fresh air for anyone caught up in the minutiae of daily life who longs to catch a glimpse of meaning, continuity, connection, and inspiration beyond the hum-drum everyday.

Oxford University press is currently undertaking the massive editorial work required to finish this ground-breaking four-volume set that was started more than 25 years ago. The third volume, covering the alphabetic range of P through Sk, is due to appear in March 2007. Volume IV, covering Sk through Z and including a bibliography of tens of thousands of items, is planned for two years later.(...)

I'm an American slang bug and that's why I'm just chafing at the bit to browse next volumes of this undoubtedly the very best and most comprehensive and authoritative complete on-going dictionary of slang. A lot has been already said and written 'bout this work hence I'm lost for new words of appreciation. On the other hand, however, dear editors, mercy on us, you can't just now dump this big project halfway thru editing thus leaving us, all American slang lovers throughout the English-speaking world in the lurch. There's a glitter of hope, as I heard, to cooperate with Oxford University Press. OK! Go ahead and good luck then but let these words be soon followed by real actions. Sincerely Alex

murdered by the media

These words are no longer in use, as we no longer converse truly and freely as a nation of English and slang speakers

This volume is little more than a nostaligic curio, like Dr. Johnson's dictionary, or the great Ambrose Bierce's better.

The only English slang currently in use is that receptive vocabulary emitted by our media, and not expressive nor creative as our one way media permits no conversation. We are made to listen, to hear, to receive, only. The internet alone allows literacy, and look at the level of written speech there. Yet even there the formerly great oral tongue is lost.

The most vibrant languages heard throbbing through our land are now those not dictated by our anglo media. There alone does the uniquely human aural ability live and breathe. And thus this massive dictionary properly fades away unfinished.

In any case, what anglo librarian would permit its presence in a library?

Intriguing for historical reasons alone. Not useful for comprehending the language one actually hears around oneself, as no living and present language is heard. Just dust off your old Lord Buckley collection instead, or the Mercury recording How To Speak Hip. Not even riding the city bus helps anymore.

Forty years ago our Amrican language was still richer, more diverse, more playful, more subtle. Now we have only whitely phosphorized talking heads bleating how we must speak and thus how we must think, and by limiting our vacabulary limiting our capacity for free thought. Our only hope is a healthy jolt of James Joyce and the trembling Twain.

I must agree with settimio biondi from Italy. Having purchased the first two volumes, we've been waiting for 7 years for P~Z. This is an excellent, comprehensive work. Hopefully, Oxford...or someone with a sense of responsibility...will finish the final volume.

We have been waiting for this dictionary for a long time. Specifically, since 1975 when Harold Wentworth and Stuart Berg Flexner issued their second supplemented edition of the "Dictionary of American Slang."
Editor J.E. Lighter, a researcher at the University of Tennessee, is somewhat disparaging of Wentworth and Flexner, the only previous lexicographers to take a healthy swing at American slang. (I don't count H.L. Mencken, who compiled many lists, but not in a format that a working writer can use.)
Lighter faults their "looseness of definition, unpredictable allocation of citations and a certain historical naivete." Maybe, but their book had, and still has, the most important merit a dictionary can have -- it is useful.
Also, theirs goes through Z, which is more than Lighter can say in 2006, 12 years after his Vol. 1 came out and many more years than that since he began.
Also, Wentworth and Flexner's volume is wieldy. Lighter's dictionary has many excellencies, but handiness is not one of them.
Wentworth and Flexner covered the whole of American English in a small volume of two pounds, six ounces. Lighter covers one-third the ground in a massive folio of six pounds, one ounce.
Lighter is often, but not always, more comprehensive. Take bum.
W&F give this useful word 26 definitions in a page. Lighter gives 29 in three pages, but three of his usages have earliest dates since W&F's last effort. It looks like a draw, but it's not, quite.
W&F give a nice little essay on the finer gradations of meaning of bum (in its sense of vagabond); Lighter is less preachy on usage, letting the extensive quotations do that work for him. This is the approved method for serious work, but although Lighter's citations often seem repetitive, their length does not always ensure completeness, as we shall see.
W&F derive bum from the German bummler, idler, but Lighter appears to think this an example of historical naivete, finding bum sprung full-blown in 1864, without any certain antecedents. (In its sense of fundament, it goes back in English to at least 1387.)
Turn now to cracker. Lighter gives it nearly half a page, in the sense of "a backwoods Southern white person regarded as ignorant, brutal, loutish, bigoted etc.," tracing it to 1766. W&F does not have it at all.
Lighter is clearly ahead here, but there are problems with this definition.
First, it is politically correct but lexically incorrect. A cracker is not a white person but a white man. Like its synonyms redneck and woolhatter, it is never used of a woman.
Second, not one of the 31 citations even hints at a usage that would explain how the Atlanta professional baseball team in the old Sally League (slang for South Atlantic League; I will be interested to see if this makes it into Lighter's Vol. 3, if I live long enough to see it) came to be called the Crackers. Or how Georgians' and north Floridians' own nickname for themselves came to be crackers, the way people from Indiana call themselves Hoosiers.
Lighter does also give five other definitions of cracker: beans, a remarkable individual, dollar, a poor skier who often loses control and a light-skinned Negro.
Taken in all, Lighter has lifted the compilation of American salng to a new, much higher level -- except for Hawaiian American slang.
Except for go for broke, which is listed as "apparently originally Nisei or Hawaiian English," I cannot find any slang words from the Hawaiian dialect of Standard American -- even though some words in Standard Hawaiian have migrated into Slang English, like kahuna.
There are many definitions in Lighter of grind, for example, but none for the ways we in Hawaii use it as noun and verb (for eating). Chance um is missing, too, and give um and blahlah.
The absence of Hawaiian American Slang (Alaskan, too) is a serious fault, but on the whole the book is a corker ("a person or thing of extraordinary size, effectiveness, quality etc.," originally English slang traced to 1882 but brought into American by Mark Twain in 1889).

This book (TRPL) represents a great alternative for those who are not entirely satisfied with the "Pickaxe", as it goes into much more detail in some areas of Ruby. After reading both books, my general impression is that the Pickaxe can be seen as a lighter reference and TRPL as a more in-depth description. In that sense they complement each other. Make no mistake, though: this book is not a comprehensive reference for the standard library (just as "The C programming language" is not a complete reference for the C standard library).

It was with delight that I ordered this book. Finally, it's here! There have been other books... but leave it to O'Reilly to put out one this good. The authors have done a great job. And you gotta love the illustrations!

Very small complaint: I wish there was a bit of a story about the Ruby language in here. I learned more about the birds on the cover than the history of the language!

Kudos: Never once do they mention "chunky bacon" in this book. THANK YOU.

i write in ruby for about a year or two, mostly as a hoby. after i wrote a lot of simple and complex programs, there were still some basic (or not so basic) things that about ruby that were not so clear to me. this book made it all clear. all i can say about this book is that it is a great book and i recommend it to anyone programming in ruby.

"The Ruby Programming Language" is everything you'd hope for from an O'Reilly book that is co-written by the language creator and the author of "Java in a Nutshell." This is a well-written, concise, and thorough guide the Ruby language.

Unlike the Pickaxe, which tries to be everything from an OOP introduction to a complete library reference, this book focuses on concisely documenting the Ruby language. If you're looking to learn how to program, look elsewhere - the Pickaxe is a much better choice. On the other hand, if you're already familiar with OOP concepts, this book (along with [...]) is all you really need to understand the language.

Of note, the book is also very current, covering both Ruby 1.8 and 1.9. As such things go, this is about as future-proof as it gets - it will remain current for years.

I can't really stress enough how well-written this book is. The authors don't overwhelm you with jargon, nor do they bury important details between fluff and analogies - I find it to be the perfect balance of density and legibility. Seldom do I find technical references such a joy to read.

In short, if you work with Ruby (or plan to in the future), you really should buy this book. You won't regret it.

I only began learning Ruby in earnest a few weeks ago, and I really appreciate how quickly I can go in depth with this book. I examined many well-known Ruby language offerings at the bookstore, and there really was no comparison in terms of readability and comprehensiveness.

True, the book can be fairly exhaustive in detailing langauge specifics; no doubt this will turn some readers off. The problem with other books is that they often avoid detail at the expense of clarity. For my money, this book makes learning the minutae required for competent programming that much easier, by being so complete and well-organized. There's no need for readers of this book to turn to any sort of "supplementary text," as is so often the case with less well thought-out books.

One caveat: if you are coming to Ruby as a very inexperienced programmer, then this book is probably not the place to start (perhaps try "Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional" by Apress? I haven't read it, but it seems to have good reviews...)

Originally a "Nutshell" offering, written by Ruby creator Yukihiro Matsumoto, the new edition (written along with David Flanagan) retains the laudable grittiness of a "Nutshell" book, but can be read cover-to-cover. The very first chapter takes readers on a tour of the language, then presents a nifty Sudoku solver consisting of just 129 lines. It's startling how well the program reads, and how quickly one begins comprehending Ruby code. The approach gives readers a feel for Ruby's succinct, efficient syntax, as well as its expressiveness and power.

Highly recommended.

No author to date has fine-tuned the story of O'Connor from ranch to robes as well as Ms. Biskupic. The extent of her study and interviews shows, but does not become an academic report. It is fresh and insightful, and certainly as amusing and straight-shooting as its subject.

If you are interested in the law, the Supremes, history in the making, or simply the politics of what it means to be a woman in the law, this is the book you want to read.

As an admirer of SDO for quite some time, this book opened me up to admire her even more. This book told me so many things that I never knew. It also explained her reasoning behind many of her decisions, both as a justice and in life. Worth the read.

Joan Biskupic's biography _Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice_ provides a compelling picture of the first woman Supreme Court justice and of the inner workings of the Supreme Court through four presidential administrations. Biskupic combines assiduous research with a writing style that makes the intricacies of Supreme Court proceedings accessible and fascinating. The biography is impressive on many counts, especially in how it captures O'Connor's skilfull handling of the challenges of being the nation's first female Supreme Court Justice. Throughout, Biskupic's stance is balanced, outlining the strengths of O'Connor's jurisprudence while acknowleding O'Connor's critics.

While the main focus of the biography is on O'Connor's work in the Supreme Court, the early chapters offer a snapshot of O'Connor as a driven career woman, a devoted wife and mother, and an adroit politician. Biskupic shows how O'Connor's life on the family's "Lazy B." farm in Arizona was a formative influence, even though her parents consciously separated her from the farm in order to give her more educational opportunities at a private school in in El Paso. Her father's independence and opposition to the expansion of federal powers in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, and O'Connor's experiences as a trial lawyer, an Arizona state senator, and a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals shaped an approach to law based on pragmatic, narrow definitions as opposed to overarching theoretical positions in rulings. As Biskupic shows, O'Connor's Arizonan, Western roots are manifest in her respect for the Tenth Amendment, which gives to states those powers not directly assigned to the federal government.

Biskupic is sensitive in tracing O'Connor's role as a trailblazer (though, often, in a purposefully understated way), and the biography shows how attitudes toward women have evolved from the 1950s to the present. O'Connor, for instance, despite graduating in the top 10% at Stanford University's Law school in 1952 and having been a member of the Stanford Law Review, received no offers at firms. One prestigious firm, Gibson, Dunn offered her a legal secretary position, which she declined. In an irony reflective of social changes, when Fred Smith, Ronald Reagan's White House Counsel and a former lawyer with Gibson, Dunn, and Grutcher, interviewed O'Connor in 1981 for the Supreme Court vacancy, O'Connor asked him if it was an interview for "a secretarial position." Biskupic begins her book with this effective anecdote, and the biography throughout reveals how O'Connor astutely negotiated gender prejudice in public life.

Biskupic also offers a detailed picture of O'Connor's important votes related to Roe v. Wade, affirmative action, capital punishment, and Bush v. Gore as she became increasingly the fifth tie-breaking in a deadlocked court. Biskupic chronicles O'Connor's evolution as a jurist, arguing that her role as a centrist often made her a baramoter of where the nation as a whole stood. Biskupic points out that O'Connor's legislative background as an Arizona State Senator--as a person who ran for office and thus who was directly accountable to the electorate--gave her a unique perspective in the Supreme Court with its life-time appointees.

Chapter 15, "Scalia v. O'Connor," highlights O'Connor's judicial pragmatism and minimalist interpretations, offering a contrast with Scalia's philosophically driven understanding of law on originalist grounds. In this chapter, Biskupic addresses critiques of O'Connor's decisions and legal reasoning from both the right and left. This chapter is fair in its discussion and highly informative about different approaches to law and about the role of the Supreme Court, in general.

An anecdote at the end of the book reveals O'Connor's personal style. In an interview with Biskupic, Clarence Thomas recalled O'Connor's congeniality and even the subtle impact this had on the court . O'Connor had attempted for a number of years to convince the other justices to eat lunch together after listening to cases. Although Thomas and other justices initially resisted, prefering to work on cases, he and others later relented. Thomas remarks, "Now, you have a group of people who really enjoy other's company." Biskupic argues that such tact helped lead to O'Connor's ascendant role in the court.

Biskupic's biography chronicles O'Connor's own life and provides a view of the day-to-day dynamics of the Supreme Court, including shifts in the court with retirements and the investitures of new justices. The biography, while telling many important stories affecting American law and life, maintains a clear argument of O'Connor's unmistakable influence.

This is a most engaging portrait of a model justice in the common law tradition. Justice O'Connor is a true American icon of humble and hardworking origins rising to the heights of leadership based on character, critical thinking and an ethic of service. Her good will and civility toward those with whom she disagreed is an example to follow. The narrative is well informed, nuanced and flows steadily in a current that merges national, judicial and personal events in the judge's life most artfully. A wonderful book about a wonderful lady and an excellent Supreme Court justice. It is the likes of Sandra Day O'Connor that make one proud to be an American. And though I've never (yet) voted Republican she is also one more beautiful reason to love Ronald Reagan.

Biskupic picks up where Justice O'Connor left off in her joint biography (with brother Alan) of growing up on the Lazy B ranch in southern Arizona, and includes O'Connor's decision to pursue law studies at Stanford ("to make a difference," and as an outgrowth of a professor contending that an individual had a responsibility to the community).

After graduating from Stanford, marrying, and living in Germany with her husband while he competed his military assignment, Sandra Day O'Connor eventually settled in Phoenix. Failing to find employmente commensurate with her education, she started a law firm with another attorney, had three sons (took off five years to raise them), joined many community boards, helped/led several major Republican political campaings, became an assistant State's Attorney General, was appointed to a legislative vacancy (and subsequently elected in her own right), and became President of the State Senate.

Upon William Rehnquist's nomination to the Supreme Court, Sandra O'Connor undertook considerable effort to support him, including contacting fellow Stanford classmates, U.S. Senators, and newspaper editors, as well as making supporting speeches. Afterwards she left the State Senate to run for a vacant county judge position (won).

Several years later O'Connor was appointed by Governor Babbitt (Dem) to the state Appeals Court, and then had the opportunity to spend some time vacationing with Chief Justice Burger.

O'Connor's having grown up on a Western ranch seemed to make her more attractive to President Reagan, who had made a campaign promise to appoint a woman to the Court. Her prior abortion stance (voted to end an Arizona law prohibiting it) threatened to torpedo her nomination, but supporters (including Senator Goldwater) managed to quickly move the process forward and overcome opposition.

The remainder of the book details O'Connor's actions in a number of Court cases. (It was somewhat comforting to read of how sharply she honed in on issues while on the Court - I had a brief experience before her in her County Court, and was amazed and even intimidated by her sharp questioning even then.)

Finally, while I have the highest regard for Justice O'Connor, it was disappointing to read of the large role played by politics - even in our judicial system, and especially the centrality of the abortion issue. I was also unhappy to read about O'Connor's political comments (wanting to retire while a Republican was President), her dancing around the abortion issue, and key role in the 2000 election.

Excellent book. I work in the security space and ended up talking with folks in our Human Factors department about trying to do some work in this area. Other priorities prevented things from going forward. Now they have been re-organized to another department. Does anyone have any hints on how to "sell" this type of program to folks? This book spurred me to action.

Are you a security researcher or professional? If you are, then this book is for you! Editors Lorrie Faith Cranor and Simson Garfinkel, have done an outstanding job of writing a practical book that will help you realize the need for increased security usability in your systems.

Cranor and Garfinkel, begin by stating their premise: that security and usability can be synergistic. Then, the editors take an in-depth look at techniques for identifying and authenticating computer users to systems that are both local and remote. They continue by examining how system software can deliver or destroy a secure user experience. Then, the editors explain how this book is devoted to systems that allow people to control the release of their personal information, enabling them to use the Internet in relative anonymity if they so desire. Then, they look at specific experiences of security and software vendors in addressing the issue of usability. Finally, the editors discuss their collection of classic papers on security and usability that everybody should read.

This most excellent book discusses case studies of usable secure system design, along with the latest thinking about how to approach this problem. More importantly, the content of this book will give developers important insights that will lead to successful designs.

Lorraine Faith Cranor & Simson Garfinkel's SECURITY AND USABILITY: DESIGNING SECURE SYSTEMS THAT PEOPLE CAN USE examines the future of computer security with an eye to consider not only the factors which make a system secure, but how privacy design pitfalls, web bugs, and other issues can affect security choices and effectiveness. Most security titles advocate complex systems which are hard to use, but the authors maintain this belief to be wrong, and provide insights into the future of security which presents over thirty essays from leading security experts around the world.

This isn't a typical O'Reilly book, and it's definitely not an "animal" book. I think that's something that's thrown a lot of people for a loop the first time they see this book. That change is good, however, because what O'Reilly has delivered is a book whose contents will stand up much longer and be more useful than most of the books out there on any technical subject, from any publisher. By having various viewpoints in information rich, managable pieces so well organized, the book itself is usable both as a read through from cover to cover and as a reference.

Security and Usability (S&U) is targeted at two main camps. The usability camp who doesn't quite understand what a security system is. They think in terms of making the user's experience with the software better, and often that means making the design more accomodating. That's great, and very valuable, but sometimes that's been known to compromise the system's security.

The other camp this book targets is a security application or a security system designer. Often this camp doesn't have a great grasp on usability. We (I think I fall into this category) tend to be power users and build systems that work for power users. When regular users (read: "everyone else") encounter such a system they're usually stuck, and understandably so. S&U introduces many usability concepts and paradigms to the software or system designer and provide a springboard for better results.

Make no mistake, this book wont make you an expert in either field, but it will give you a deeper understanding and a strong foothold at improving both scenarios. If nothing else, it gives both camps the vocabulary to start talking and working together.

One of my favorite chapters in the book outlines how ZoneAlarm was designed and implemented, along with some of its issues along the way. This is a remarkably successful application that achieves both good security design and utility while being usable by a large portion of the population. Such a study - and the book has many similar studies to back up viewpoints - is an invaluable aid in getting the message across.

If you write security software, design security systems, or work with a team that does, by all means look at this book. It will improve your product.

I was really hesitant when I got this because I tend to hate collections of academic papers. They're often hard to read, heavily redundant, and jargon filled. This book isn't, and my copy is already dog-eared, and filled with turned-down pages. It is chock full of useful advice, interesting stories, great references, and useful lessons learned. If you build security software, or software with security implications, you should buy this book.

Once you've bought it, it may help to skim the first few chapters, which set the scene, and do contain a fair bit of redundancy, probably unavoidably. If you get bogged down, skip forward, there's lots of great stuff.

[Disclosure: I got a review copy from the authors, but have since bought a copy for someone else.]