R Books

This book is a great read. It is refeshing to be able to read words, thoughts and dreams from people as they perform such honorable duty overseas. This book is powerful and should be required reading for all, especially Americans.

Some anti-war activist may think it is "pro-war" but it isn't just that. This book reveals personal thoughts and challenges faced by American military personnel in wars from the Civil War until the later conflicts in the 20th century. It is pro-war, anti-war and everything in between.

This book reminds me of the sacrifice that so many make for their country. It is a great tribute for those who have served.

I actually read a review about this book and gave it as a gift to my sister-in-law who teaches high school history. She LOVES it and told me it was an amazing collection of actual letters. She said all of the teachers that she works with have been borrowing it!!

I received this book as a gift because my family knows I love reading personal histories from those who lived it and "War Letters" seemed perfect for that. I enjoy learning what life was like for the average citizen in an era, whether its someone riding the Erie Canal in 1840, a foot soldier in the American revolution, or a journal from the Civil War.

This is a remarkable book and taken individually there are many, many heart-rending emotional stories that probably need to be read by many people. It does in fact put a personal face on war. Because it is a collection of letters, the book is easily read in short spurts; you don't want (and shouldn't) read this book quickly.

I only gave the book 4 stars because I actually found it hard to read. While the personal letters (the spelling, mannerisms of the authors) help tell their stories, it also keeps the book from developing any flow. Some letters are agonzingly slow to read and understand. I'm certainly not faulting the authors or their stories; but if you're looking for a great, well-written, smooth-flowing story that you can't put down, this isn't it.

i only gave it three stars because many of the stories were more about patriotism than about the war themselves. Of course every book has its bias so its still a useful and moving read when taken with this grain of salt.

This book is awesome, I have read it numerous times. My heart goes out to the letters writers and receivers... I urge you to spread the word of this book... It will really open your eyes to see that Military Personel and their signifigant others are real people, with real feelings... I really look forward to another book like this coming out. I will definately buy it.

This is a great resource. It gives many examples of how to impliment the program. One thing I really like about Words Their Way is the fact that is hands on. This will really help my students who are more concrete thinkers.

Words Their Way is an excellent source for teachers to use for word study. It gives great insight into how kids learn to spell.

It's been shown that spelling provides a window to one's reading. This book explains the developmental stages children go through K- adult. The database software on one of the CDs that allows one to analyze the spelling inventories and sort the results is very easy to use. Classroom teachers appreciate the data I have been able to give them on their students. The word games and short videos on the 2nd CD are very helpful. The analytical phonics approach is very kid-friendly right up through high school. This is a very thorough resource that every ELA, SpEd, and Title I teacher should use.

The book is outstanding. The materials in the book is easy to read and follow. I use the activities and word sorts in my classroom each day. I have used the spelling inventory with my class, also.
I do have a problem with the CD that came with the book. I wish the word sorts involving words would be big like the picture sorts are. My students have trouble with the small size of squares.

My children attended a public school where this program was used. When I brought them home due to their various LDs/allergies, I balked at the $40 price tag of this book and opted for the less expensive Spectrum Spelling books for their grade level. I found those to be rather annoying because often my children already knew the words. And the ones they didn't know, they would spell correctly on the tests, but they didn't necessarily continue to spell the words correctly in their writing. Mid-way through the year I abandoned the Spectrum books and purchased this one.

My favorite thing about this approach is how the kids really think about and interact with the words. It is a disciplined program, I require my kids to do a word sort and an activity in their spelling journals every day -- their choice. However, this typically takes less than 10 minutes a day.

The other thing I do is pretest the kids every week to find out which words they need to study. If they already know a spelling pattern, then I don't give it to them and move on to the next one. Sometimes I pull misspelled words out of their writing, and then find the pattern that applies and give them those words for the week.

I will say, that for most homeschoolers, this book is pretty heavy on the theory, and the "how-to" is mixed up with the theory so it may take more work up front to start the program if you are unfamiliar with the idea of spelling notebooks and word activities. But it is quite fascinating, and will give you a new appreciation for a young child's emerging spelling skills, as well as concrete strategies for helping older students with more complex words.

As for content, the book covers spelling from pre-K through at least middle school, perhaps early high school.

And the CD-Rom is a real time-saver too, with its words for sorts and activities.

All in all, quite effective, very interesting, and a great value - you buy this once and then purchase simple notebooks or composition books for their spelling journals, and you are set for years to come.

I learned about this bible from my daughter, a preschool teacher at a Christian Day Care. She uses it for three year olds. It ties the old and new testaments together with all the stories they love, with a glimpse of God's plan from the beginning of a "Forever King". This is not a story-at-a time, but a book with a plan. Excellent, and can be used through Elementary. I've purchased four, one for a newborn-parents in vocational ministry and one for our Worship leaders two year old for Easter.

Have your children ever begged for more Bible stories instead of food? Have you ever read 160 pages to attentive toddlers in one sitting? And then have them ask for more? I certainly hadn't -- until I got this book.

The Big Picture Story Bible is unlike any other Bible story book I've seen. Rather than telling the familiar stories in the familiar patterns, this book instills in children a unified theme through both the Old and New Testaments. Author David Helm makes the common thread clear by emphasizing in each chapter how these true stories show God's love for the world and the fulfillment of His promises.

This is a big story in a big book. It measures about 10" square and contains 456 pages. Broken into 26 manageable chapters, the book begins with creation (Genesis) and ends with the Apostle Paul's vision of the new heavens and new earth (Revelation). Gail Schoonmaker serves as illustrator. She fills the book with big pictures, both colorful and unique.

What I Like: I love how my kids can't get enough of this book! We read 9 chapters (156 pages) yesterday, and they cried when I said it was time to stop. The chapter breaks offer easy "intermissions". The theme is clear! The text is perfectly toddler and preschooler friendly. I appreciate the use of repetition and the insistence on truth.

Some have complained that not all the best-known Bible stories are included; other stories do not provide all the details. This is not a Bible where you can look up favorite stories, but this is key to the point of the book: the Bible is more than just a collection of great stories; it is one big story consisting of several parts. Often children fail to see the connection between all the stories; they miss how God and His love for us strings the stories together to make sense of it all.

Overall Rating: Excellent.

Tanya -- Christian Children's Book Review

Hands down, this is the best story Bible I have ever read, reviewed, or recommended. It is a theological homerun, is kid-friendly, and is superbly written. Our church now uses it as a gift to every family with a new baby. I could not be more excited about this resource, and if you're looking for a story Bible, I'd say start here.
David Morris, Associate Pastor (with an emphasis on children's ministry)

I am sure this bible story book is great for families who want to teach their children an extremely conservative, fear-based view of religion. The text of some of the stories is rather severe (lots of "punishing", anger and "he**" references), and it would have been important for me to know that before buying the book. I would not have bought it in the first place, and it is going right back. This book is not for people who want to convey more of God's love and the lessons of forgiveness that Jesus teaches us. I would not read the Old Testament stories to my children for fear of scaring them right out of their faith.

I heard about this book on a John Piper podcast. We checked it out at the bookstore and then ordered it from Amazon. This is a fantastic deal!

Likes:

1. Quality - Smyth sewn pages to last a life time! Thick pages too!

2. Presents God as the rejected king of his chosen people throughout the Old Testament.

3. Presents Jesus as the rejected king of all people in the New Testament.

4. My younger girls (3 & 2) will sit with me for as long as I will read.

5. Quality of the graphics are superb.

Dislikes

1. It's huge and heavy. (But this helps to make it last so...)

This is a book that will be around for MANY years.

The Color Atlas of Anatomy was recommended to me as a reference for designing implantables and surgical instruments.

As a non-anatomist, I found the illustrations and cadaveric photographs to accurately reflect my cadaveric surgical trials in the wet-lab.

I often referred to this atlas while designing an Achilles Tendon repair instrument and other orthopedic surgical instruments.

There are not very many books of this type of presentation to begin with so I must be careful here as to how I may sway your opinion of high priced books. Color Atlas of Anatomy has been a staggering companion to my study of Human Anatomy. After careful study of Grey's Anatomy for Students along with Clinically Oriented Anatomy I don't believe I was ready for what was presented in the fifth edition of Color Atlas of Anatomy. Astounding revelation. I don't know there may be a few of you that have actual access to Anatomy Laboratories but I must say everything is in the right place as far as what I was told in the books mentioned above but this book is something else as far as what you see is what you get. Color photographs make short work of any pedantic ravings of the layman's terminology. I never did get to go to any medical school in North America but I'm sure that any student there would agree there is no trick photography here.

There are 1158 figures with 1035 in Color and CTs and MRIs as well. All in 8 chapters and over 400 pages. This is not a book to leave out for the hackers to scoff and judge so keep it under your bed or better still in your locker at your Medical School.

Most of the Medial Schools that I want into have this required or recommended as a text and unless you can say something's changed in the last hundred days since 2007 all is as it should be.

I consider this book to be a must for any anatomy student. The pictures are exactly what you will see when you enter the lab.

In case it isn't clear from the description or title, this is an anatomy atlas made up of photos of actual human bodies. I don't know why we didn't have this in A&P. Fascinating, and a nicely produced book as well.

AM A SECOND YEAR STUDENT OF ANATOMY, AND AM GOING INTO THE RADIOGRAPHER TECH PROGRAM AT MY SHCOOL I JUST BOUGHT THIS BOOK AFTER SEEING IT, AFTER SOMEONE BOUGHT IT. SO I ORDERED MY OWN COPY, AND AM TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY BY THE PERCISION OF THE BOOKS DETAIL ON EVERY SINGLE PHOTOGRAPH. I THINK THIS WILL BE A DEFINATE KEEPER, AND IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE PRICE WITH A SIGH, DON'T JUST GET IT AND ENJOY!~

Also recommended: ALSO STRONGLY RECOMMEND THE COLOR ATLAS OF HUMAN ANATOMY by Wolf-Heidegger!!!!!!!!

When I bought this book in November 2007, my right eye was 20/100, and my left eye was 20/50. Both had additional corrections for astigmatism. I also had double vision, requiring a 2D prism (1D in each lens). In January 2008, I passed the drivers' exam with 20/40 on the right and 20/50 on the left. Three months later, I reached 20/20 on the right and 20/30 on the left, with no double vision. If you are stuck on the path to increasingly bad eyesight, get off. This book will show you how.

This book has a ton of information in it. The most thorough I've ever seen. It may be a little too technical for some, but it is a great book!

People with vision problems MUST purchase this book because IT WORKS. I was skeptical, at first, after reading all the tribute and praises for this book. I thought it just sounded too good to be true. Can a book really improve my myopic vision? But after trying out for a month what the book was preaching, I was surprised to find out my vision slowly improving. There seems to be less tension in my eye muscles too.

There are no exercises in this book, only HABITS to follow 24 hours/day and that, to me is the reason why your eyes will improve. You are practicing good vision habits, not just for 20 minutes a day which other vision books will tell you to perform as eye exercises, but 24 hours/day good vision habits for the rest of your life.

People who are considering having laser surgery done on their eyes should buy this book first because, not only are they saving money, they are also ensuring that their eyes will never have to deal with the various dangerous side effects of laser surgery.

I bought this book on Amazon.com a month ago, after my doctor prescribed stronger lenses from -.50D to -1.50D. I performed these natural seeing habits during this one month period, and went back to the doctor because I couldn't believe myself that the glasses became too strong for me (luckly I didn't get rid of my old glasses with -.50 strength) so I could wear them in the mean time. After being tested, doctor went down from -1.50D to -1.00D. I started to see more clearly and objects are becoming more dark. I now am convinced that I'm on my way to 20/20 vision and the most important thing is that it is possible to achieve!

This is the best book that I have read on vision! Thomas Quackenbush did his homework in putting this book together. There is a lot of information on Bates research and how Bates came to his conlusions on restoring vision naturally. This book answers all of my questions about my own vision. Now I know why my vision improved at times and was worse at others. I had 20/20 vision until college and my vision got as bad as 20/400 at its worst. I certainly fall into all of the behavior patterns mentioned by bates. My vision has been improving as I have changed my behavior as indicated by the Bates recommendations. If you have vision challenges, you have to read and re-read this book until you really have the principles down and practice them. You will get results!

This book is a must read for Boomers that lived in and through the '60s, and should be required reading for their children! Everything you'd want to know about a Boomer, from how he dresses, to how he talks and makes decisions is in this little known book.

Anyone aspiring to rule the world should be forced to read this book at the end of a "pointed stick".

It's also one the funniest books I have ever read. The first part of the book exploring world history through the lens that each great culture has had the absurd notion that they were (are) "the most chosen nation" is priceless.

I first read this book in the mid '90s. It's still funny and important. It's required reading for my teenage children.

SG

The amount of work that went into this brilliant piece boggles my mind. Long, drawn out, stunningly comedic, the passages are cleverly cross-referenced to other verses, something akin to a thousand page inside joke. I have read exactly one book that I consider funnier than this one, that being Christopher Moore's "Lamb: The Gospel of Biff, Christ's childhood friend".

The Boomer Bible begins with bad history: the kind of history that Boomers learned, but didn't pay attention to. It goes further into the invention of the Boomer culture: do what you want to, blame everyone else for what goes wrong. Finally, it ends with an invitation to surpass this most pathetic generation, knowing that while most of what they do is a mistake and misguided, they'll only blame someone else for it.

Read for enlightenment.

Laird has something to say about the human condition - and he says it with a striking amount of style and humor. Copying the format of an actual bible (books divided into chapters and verses, complete with cross-references) the Boomer Bible gives an irreverent and scorching account of every nation's history. The prose favors brevity and hilarity. Very quickly the reader gains the impression that we humans have botched it. From the very beginning we've been nothing but bad news, killing each other with pointed sticks and spending all our time inventing new ways of murdering one another. It's been the same all through the centuries; we're bad, bad, and worse. There's no reason to expect the future will be different, there's no point in changing, so why try? Or so says Harry, the Christ-like effigy that pops up in the "New Testament" portion. The Boomer Bible was poignant, touching, and so funny there were times I had to stop reading just to appreciate it. Praise is cheap, but this truly was an amazing book.

Why only 4 stars? The books meant to parallel the prophets of the Old Testament were just plain dry, and I suspect the author might have intended them to be skipped. I slogged my way through much of them hoping for something, but surrounded by the humor and significance of the rest of the book, they were a barren desert. I ended up skipping very many pages, though I hated doing so for fear of missing something.

I unconditionally recommend this book.

I am a licensed PI in Washington State, primarily working for attorneys providing litigation support. By the time I'd gotten to page 50, I'd learned something which would save me more than the price of the book on my next case.
Each chapter is summarized with "The least you need to know" and all are written in a matter-of-fact yet entertaining way. I enjoyed Mr. Brown's wry sense of humor and have gleaned much more from the book than I'd expected.
Lots of techniques, sources, and practical knowledge in here, an excellent value. Never mind the title, this is not for, nor written by, idiots, I wish I'd gotten a copy sooner.

I have briefly read through this book. It has a lot of helpful information. I do collections and have been doing skip tracing for several years. I am always looking for books or anything else that will help me find my debtors. This book, unlike some other ones I have come accross, has good legitimate information.

I thought this book was very educational and explained a lot about the field of private investigating.

I ordered this book just for fun and because I like to read detective novels. I have already found it useful in locating an old Navy buddy I lost touch with over the years. Written with a sense of humor.

Having researched many titles on private investigation before ordering any
books I placed this one at the top of a short list of "To Order" based on the excellent reviews. After receiving the book and reading it cover to cover I say WOW! The rave reviews were all true.I have since ordered and read the second book on my list(Private Investigation 101 by N.M Tillman). It was also very good and did offer some additional refrence sources.
For anyone who wishes to learn the basics of P.I. work this should be the
FIRST choice!

O'Reilly's an up and coming publisher of computer related books. Maybe a kingpin already. This selection is a true quick reference guide. Written by the Thompsons, this selection gives you a thorough look into buying, assembling and operating computers. You do need a basic understanding to get anything out of this book, but if this is the case, you won't be disappointed. I have a first edition copy, and it's still current. That says a lot, a first edition published four years ago is still not too outdated! Think about it. How many computer related books can you think of that's relatively current after four years? Huh?

This book is amazingly concise and thorough, yet also very easy to read. It contains many helpful photographs, and the authors maintain a great website that is tremendously useful and is a great addition to the book. I am not a big fan of the "In a Nutshell" computer books published by O'Reilly, but this book is definitely an exception. It's great for both beginners and experts.

Robert Thompson is a man who doesn't hold back from giving his opinion on why something is good or bad, either on his website or in his books. In _PC Hardware in a Nutshell_, he tells you just what he thinks of what's good and bad about PC components in just about any category you can think of, and backs it up with all the facts, figures and personal experiences you could ever ask for. Every chapter includes historical information on the components under discussion, detailed reviews of what they do and how they do it, and recommendations on what to use (and what not to use). The final chapter walks you through building your own machine step-by-step, though, this being an omnibus book, the chapter is necessarily slightly skimpy in comparison to _Building The Perfect PC_. The writing style is clear and lively, in fact the book is well worth reading as a book even if you don't need any specific information at the time. The only real complaint I have is something the author has no control over - the fact that new PC hardware comes out so fast that it's just impossible to review every single new thing in a paper edition. (Well, that and the fact that Thompson doesn't like Western Digital because he's had bad experiences with their hard drives, whereas I've been using WD exclusively for years and never yet have had one go out on me. I think that can be chalked up, though, more to the fact that there's just so much PC hardware out there that different people are just going to end up having completely different experiences with components from a particular manufacturer. That, or I just got lucky with WD hard drives.) All in all, this book is truly indispensable.

This is a great book that covers every aspect of building a PC. However, as of August 2004, the 3rd edition of this book is a bit dated. For example PC3200 memory is considered the newest memory and both Pentium 4 Prescott processors and Athlon 64 processors were not out when this book was published. If you are buying this book, you may want to wait for a 4th edition, unless you are looking to assemble an old computer.

I would not accept the author's hardware recommendations as the final word. For one thing, the components they review are in many cases no longer manufactured. Magazine reviews and PC hardware Web sites are going to have different opinions on what the best components are.

Let me start out with a huge thanks to O'Reilly. I'm not a big fan of large corporations or publishers - but I have come to trust O'Reilly implicitly wherever technical issues are concerned. Although I'm certain that they are not the "perfect" publisher, nor in the business for wholly (ha!) altruistic reasons, I AM amazed by the remarkable originality, diversity, range, quality, accuracy, and honorable business practices of this publisher. Oftentimes I wonder how they manage to maintain such a level, when their current library is so chock-full of tough-to-follow acts.

That said, PC Hardware in a Nutshell does not fail to meet up to these high expectations. Let me get the review portion of my review out of the way - simply put, this is the book I have been hunting for a couple years. That I did not immediately search the O'Reilly library only shows that I am a bit silly. I should have known better. End of review.

But I would like to carry this a bit further, and go out on a limb to discuss the only complaint prior reviewers have voiced: that the book is too "Microsoft-centric."

Rather than a weakness, I believe that this is actually a strength. Let me offer big kudos to the authors and publisher for realizing that a serious, yet accessible, compendium of computer hardware knowledge was necessary. The folks who register such complaints are those least in need of an in-depth introduction to PC hardware. These are the high priests of hi-tech, who rule the roost by virtue of their knowledge-monopoly on all issues technical. They would have you believe that if it was not hand-crafted from spare parts, duct tape, and copious amounts of solder and configured with the most obscure version of Linux, then it's only fit for a 4-year-old. They are, quite simply, dead wrong. Let them compile their own "PC Hardware for Only the Most Serious Tech Gurus", I say!

Thompson's very first point is that he intended the book to be of the most practical usability possible. The practical reality is that the people who desperately need such a compendium are poor fools, like Yours Truly, who are too technical to be satisfied with tutorials on how to use Microsoft Office, yet are not quite knowledgeable enough to get right under the hood of their PCs (never mind build a Linux box from spare hatpins and Reynolds Wrap). We, the "psuedo-techies", often do not come equipped with enough experience, knowledge, or confidence to take ourselves to the next level. We are the crowd who are using Microsoft products, yet would love to learn enough to understand exactly WHY Microsoft means "mush-mind" and Linux is God - but will never get there without a guide. This book is the guide, and to me it says, "Psuedo-techies unite! Power to the people!"

With very little French (what I got from a phrasebook on holiday for a couple of weeks), I bought this book and started reading it on the train to work. It was great. It has a good lexicon in the back, and as you progress most new words appear in the margin with a translation. It still takes effort, but is a great way to get your vocab and reading up and running. I am now reading it again, as my French improves, and it is still improving my vocab and comprehension.

It has been the best book I have had as a beginner learning French.

I am middle aged, poor at languages, and attempting to learn French. I have completed 50 hours of lessons that have mainly focussed on learning language fragments. With this book, everything started to click into place for me.

The book is in three sections, each progressively more difficult. I tried to read the whole book in one go and found the first section very accessible, the second section less so, and the third section impenetrable. It is a well graded book. The stories are engaging and designed to teach bits of French culture and history in addition to the French language. I have started reading the book a second time, and this time I am picking up more of nuances of the language. I will continue to use this book to supplement my formal learning, and when I am finished with it I know that my skills will have developed significantly.

Like others, I have found it annoying that not all the difficult words are included in the glossary/dictionary at the back. However, this book has helped me so much that I am willing to forgive this small point (that can be overcome with an accompanying dictionary) and give five stars.

Being a native speaker , I always have trouble finding a reader for my students that is without mistakes...This is it! Not only is it fun because of the topics but it is 100% accurate...what a thrill!

I have been attempting to learn French on my own for the past year and have CD's for my car (wonderful) and have been buying dual language book after book, but finally realized they are way too advanced for me. This book is great because it's at the perfect not-a-complete-beginner but still-has-a-long-way-to-go level. There are exercises after each reading, a glossary & each reading has new words noted in the margin. Highly recommended.

My friend and I are in our 50s and started studying French on our own several months ago. We wanted something we could each read during the week then get together over coffee to talk about, in French, of course. We tried several French magazines and Le Monde, but their level was beyond us...way beyond us. It was laughable. Easy French Reader is perfect. We read the little story, answer the questions, and have a conversation about the characters. New words are discreetly defined to the right of the text and there is a more thorough vocabulary section at the back. We will continue with the series when we finish this reader. I highly recommend Easy French Reader. Maybe next year we can handle Le Monde!

I first read this book when I was 17, and have reread it more than once; I loved it the first time, and it gets better each time. Perec can be a bit frustrating, and the book is not necessarily the easiest to get into, but if you give it time, by the end you'll be absolutely hypnotised. What I love especially is his attention to small things, everyday things, insignificant things: these are, after all, what make up life, and by portraying them with such loving care, Perec creates something very beautiful indeed, something like a love-song for ordinary life (though this is not to say there is no drama in the book - there is).

If you read Bellos's wonderful biography, a lot of things in the book become clearer, but you don't actually need to follow the various tricks and games (I hadn't a clue when I first read it, but that didn't interfere with my enjoyment). Another reviewer compared Perec to Glenn Gould; it would be equally apt to compare this work, I think, to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (so wonderfully performed by Gould): both take the basic elements and carefully show how they are things of profound beauty.

This book is really a rare one. If you are not ready to spend a long time with a complex book, find another one. This book takes time and patience. But as stated in the title, I think this not only my worst but also my best read.

If you are to read the book, it is nice to know that Perec was a member of the Oulipo philosophical group in France, who believed in constrained writing. Constrained writing means that by adding a constraint, the story will be "easier" to write, because you have ruled out many options. In this book the story revolves around jigsaw puzzles and this is the main theme & constraint in the book. Each chapter is like a little piece: in itself almost completely incomprehensible, but the more pieces you see, it suddenly seems to make sense. Until you understand the even greater motif and (metaphorically) see that the sea you thought you were matching together was actually a painting on the wall.

The book is very intelligently written, and very enjoyable. But at the same time is it not written in a way to make it nice to read, but written to follow the set of rules constructed.

To summarize: if you are into COMPLEX but REWARDING literature - READ THIS BOOK!

Book arrived in on time in excellent condition. I am very satisfied with this bookseller and highly recommend them.

[This book still ranks as one of the greatest novels I've read, so I'm re-publishing the review I put on this site nearly ten years ago. The bracketed text has been added to the original review.] This is the second most fascinating novel I've ever read [my favorite was The Possessed by Dostoyevsky], the best one I've read in twenty [now thirty] years. If you revel in complexity, this book is for you. [Check out the edition of Perec's sketches for this book, published by the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.] Perec prompts introspection on many levels. The plot(s) are some of the most intriguing anywhere. The human condition is probed to the greatest possible depth. Despite certain minor [really minor] infelicities, Bellos has done an excellent job translating, consistently capturing the atmosphere (and there is a lot of atmosphere) of the original. (The title is one of the few translating gaffes. The original French does not convey the image of a computer manual and the term "user's manual" was not in general use in English until after the novel was written.) Once you've read it you will be on the constant look-out for others who know Perec. [Read all of Perec and try Harry Mathews.]

It is possible to fall in love with this book. As an intellectual exercise it is a triumph as it is never stuffy and self important but infinitely compassionate, humourous and inclusive. Little touchs like the index of all the different stories contained in the book are delightful and enable you to dip back into a particular moment.
Life a User's Manual is a description of one moment in time. Perec takes you through all the rooms of an apartment block, leads you to scenarios and objects and then into their histories back through other stories and objects as if you were a ghost moving through time and space.
If you enjoy quirky eccentric characters that have been created with a rich original imagination this is the book for you. I would also recommend The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potoki for further enjoyment.