Barry Williams Books

Very good self explanation with updated information.

An extraordinary look back of the 'magic' period of the early '70s, when the world first became aware of this superb orchestra--despite its (then) 80-year history. Solti's demands to tour, combined with what can only be called a vacancy at the top of the American orchestral world, projected the CSO forward--but for the first time ever, it occurred at the speed of modern media.

Heavily detail-oriented, the book spends a lot of time on individual players, which for many players of the era end up serving as memorials. It also lacks a grand overview of the direction of the season, dealing with schedules, tours, recordings and the work stoppage as episodes rather than clearly drawing the arc. But the book is redeemed by its loving depiction of what makes the CSO unique in North America; its extraordinary internal discipline, fierce pride in its Central European heritage and sound, tradition of training its own, and insistence on the very finest world-class first chairs, many of whom would ordinarily have superb solo careers. In explaining the CSO from that perspective, Furlong has written less of a diary and more of a primer as to why no one else gets it so right, year in and year out.

The CSO recently left a prominent first chair open for four years, rather then comprimise on replacing the legendary Ray Still. Despite the troubles that today's rather generic conductors may cause, Furlong allows you to understand the CSO fully: the virtuosity, discipline, and tradition are intact, awaiting only the right conductor.

William Barry's WHAT DO I WANT IN PRAYER was published nearly ten years ago, but his information is still very helpful for those who wish to grow spiritually. Fr. Barry is a well known Catholic writer and retreat director. His works flow from his Jesuit/Ignatian perspective and training. Fr. Barry believes that God can be experienced in daily life and prayer can help us become more aware of God's working in our lives.

The book is not so much a "how to" pray book, but more of a book to help a person get more out of prayer. He invites his readers to view the book as a retreat and each chapter can be used as a mini retreat talk. The chapters contain prayer exercises which rely heavily on scripture and a person getting personally involved in the scripture passages. The chapters help a person get in touch with the deepest desires of the heart and aid a person in getting to know Jesus in a more personal manner. Readers will discover that Barry leads a person from the very basics to a desire to serve God in all things.

This book is helpful to people who want to experience more from prayer and is written in a manner that is inviting. For people more mature in prayer and spiritual techniques, it will more than likely include new insights that will deepen the life of prayer. The book can be used by individuals, but it can also be interesting to use this book with a prayer group.

In the search for the more authentic Jesus, William BArry provides an excellent work for moving beyond the Biblical Jesus to a Jesus with skin on! BArry's chapters start with the familiar and gently challenges with the unexpected. It's as though one rediscovers the amazing qualities of an old friend! It calls us to look at Jesus with new lenses. A book well worth reading for ones own devotional studies, but also one well worth using for small discussion groups, where Christians are searching for a more real and challenging experience of Jesus.

The book has lots of interesting anecdotes on Thackeray, Hawthorne, Dickens, Wordsworth, "Miss Mitford" and others, many from the author's personal interactions. He seems to enjoy dropping names and letting you know where he has been! He is a bit wordy, and admits as much, himself, in the preface. Few others would have been as well-equipped to offer personal observations on well-known authors of this period.
. . . . some have suggested that his wife, an outstanding literary person in her own right, may have been the source of more of his insights into the authors' thought than he acknowledges . . .

(I have included below some excepts on the author, from Wikipedia, for the edification of browsers):
Fields was the publisher of the foremost contemporary American writers, with whom he was on terms of close personal friendship, and he was the American publisher of some of the best-known British writers of his time, some of whom he also knew intimately. The first collected edition of De Quincey's works (20 vols., 1850-1855) was published by his firm. As a publisher he was characterized by a somewhat rare combination of keen business acumen and sound, discriminating literary taste, and as a man he was known for his geniality and charm of manner.

In 1862-1870, as the successor of James Russell Lowell, he edited the Atlantic Monthly. In 1871 Fields retired from business and from his editorial duties, and devoted himself to lecturing and writing. He also edited, with Edwin P. Whipple, A Family Library of British Poetry (1878). His chief works were the collection of sketches and essays entitled Underbrush (1877) and the chapters of reminiscence composing Yesterdays with Authors (1871) in which he recorded his personal friendship with Wordsworth, Thackeray, Dickens, Hawthorne and others. He died in Boston on the 24th of April 1881

In many ways, this book left me confused. I read along, following the story closely and with great interest. It moved in strange ways, with different voices, but it all seemed to flow just fine. And then the ending brought me to an abrupt "huh?!?!"

I went back and read large portions of the book thinking I must have just missed something, but in the end it just confirmed that although some of the twist was in the text, a lot of it was not. Too much of the fiction was fiction, or otherwise left completely open ended. I could make sense of some of it, but in the end the reader is left to decide how much of the narrative was a figment of Sophya's mind, and how much was "real". It was pretty unsatisfying, I have to say, and I don't know that it was necessary to the story. I think some of it could have been explained better in the end.

I enjoyed Sophya's story, the hope and circle of life quality of it and I enjoyed reading about her relationship with Rafferty (although I have to say that was telegraphed with the very first appearance of Rafferty in the story). The sense of place was well developed and I felt pulled in, just in the end the whole thing got very tangled and left me with more questions than the text could answer. I believe in leaving some things to the imagination, but I think this one went a bit too far.

In the end, I can't even clearly say whether I really liked it or not - is it a mess, or is it a forgivable twist in an interesting story? Maybe it's just a bit of both.

I didn't think I'd like this book, but got hooked from the beginning. I live in New England, and am very familiar with Salem, so I was happy to see it in the spotlight of this book. The sense of place truly played a role in the lives of the characters.

I did *not* see the twist coming in this story, and it will keep the book with me long since I've finished it as I will continue to review what happened.

All in all, I think this is a good book with interesting characters, including place as a character.

Good job!!

THE LACE READER

I stuck with this book to the bitter end, hoping it would get better and more exciting. It never did.

I had high expectations for this book -- set in Salem, witches, lace reading, which seemed akin to palm reading -- however, it just didn't happen. The story line was thick, slow, constantly repeating itself and going in circles.

Towner and her family are lace readers, women who can read people's futures looking at lace. Towner comes to Salem for the funeral of a relative and then what? Not much -- a young woman goes missing, Towner remembers this and remembers that and rides in the boat, and the island dogs chase people, and religious fanatics rant and rave and Towner remembers this and remembers that and rides in the boat, and the island dogs chase people and on and on and on. And on --

I am in the minority with my low rating of this book, many people enjoyed reading this. I started off liking the writing, the story line and by page 25 I knew this was not a book for me. However, I kept reading, wanting to give the author and book the benefit of the doubt. I do not enjoy giving low ratings or negative reviews. The author has potential and it seems a sequel may be in the works. Count me out.

This book was disappointing to me. I won't be recommending it to others -- off to the library donation box.

Thank you!
Pam

Thoroughly enjoyed this book - the tidbits at the start of each chapter about Lace/Lace Readers was a nice change up to the story. Could picture each of the characters, appreciate when that connection can be made. The ending did make me want to go back and reread the whole book again! Well done, Enjoy!

I know there are many fans of this book, and while I tried my best to be drawn in by the characters and the unusual story, I just couldn't care about any of it. The ending, as other reviewers point out, is a huge "huh" moment, and the characters often left me wondering - and not in a good way. There is a great deal of literary fiction I can recommend, like The Thrall's Tale or The Heretic's Daughter, both of which have multifaceted characters you care about. But this novel didn't move me at all, and by page fifty I was wondering when it would end.

Very beautiful publication with Indy's early Dark Horse stories. The stories contained in this volume are discribed by the previous reviewers and although they haven't changed the comic world they are fun to read.

This book is a bit shorter in size, it doesn't stand as tall as the original issues were, and it doesn't feature the original cover art from all the issues. The publisher has chosen to randomly pick one for each story and let it run continuously. Although not a mistake in judgment it would be nice to dedicate a couple of pages at the end of each story to demonstrate the covers.

Hope to see the Marvel stories in this format too!

Indiana Jones Omnibus Volume 1 is certainly not what you might except...

I just have one word for it: dull. A lot of editing have been made to present these stories to look like one shots, but omissions were made on several pages were the title of the next "episode" is announced ( p. 202, for example, include the title of the next episode, and reprint the exact same splash page in smaller format, ruining the whole flow of the story).

The stories are also very hard to follow. The narrative structure is so poor, one wonders how the writers and artists could make sense of it before publication.

On a positive note, I like the overall presentation very much; the format of the book and the quality of the paper, but the content is nothing compared to some of the Marvel issues that were published in 1983. Since now Dark Horse have the right to the Indiana Jones franchise, I sincerely hope that they'll reprint the Marvel run instead of these 1990's mini-series that have nothing to be remembered for...

Fresh on the heels of the release of the new Indiana Jones trailer and May 22nd film debut, Darkhorse Books has reprinted three complete treasure seeking adventures fans can whet their appetites on. The Indy flood not only includes comics, but also books (film adaptatons and series), but also the Young Indy Chronicles and the three previous films.


With an archaeological smorgasborg like that to choose from, you can't go hungry!


In the early 1990's, Dark Horse Comics secured the license to create new Indiana Jones adventures. Ìndiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis`was based on a Lucasfilm Game concept and written by a William Messener-Loebs and Mike Richardson. Dan Barry and Karl Kessel provided exceptional artwork on the chase through Atlantean legends and escape from the power of the Nazis. The `key`, of course, is in the possession of an old flame, Sophia Hafgood and the quest leads to danger under the oceans near Crete, to Iceland, and even South America.(again).

`Thunder in the Orient`is the longest piece in the book, at 140 plus pages. Given the story `reach`, Indy and Sophia start their journey at the ruined city of Bas Shamra, north of Tripoli. Dan Barry and Dan Spiegle are our hosts as we follow Indy to Nepal and another cog disguised as ancient Hindu document. One clue leads to another, and the team travels to Katmadu, The Colossus of Bamian, two ancient temples, one treasure, and into the grip of a powerful warlord. While I appreciate the advetnture, the sheer length of this story would make all 100 plus chapters of the `The Perils of Pauline` action filled.

Lastly, the Àrms of Gold`is a more average length adventure, involvong only one trip to South America packed with death traps, gold treasures, and a long lost race seeking to gain political power. Sure, Indy runs across a beautiful woman, and manages to get buried up to his neck in snow, but this is Indy afterall.


The book is very impressive, and priced at only $24.95 for 300 plus pages, a good deal too. Artwise, the pages seem reproduced from the comics themselves with re-done coloring. All in all, impressive.

This is only Volume 1. I can imagine the rest of the adventures will soon be out as well.

Until I pick up a fedora and whip,

I remain

Tim Lasiuta

This Indiana Jones Omnibus comes from Dark Horse Comics and contains a collection of comics from three different story volumes. The stories were originally published in comic book form in the early 1990s just after the 1989 release of INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE. The three story arcs are:

"Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis"--this story is a rough adaptation of the Lucasart video game with the same name. Indy travels around the globe with a ravishing redheaded woman named Sophie Hapgood. Sophie is one of the foremost experts about Atlantis and is also a part-time psychic. She and Indy have worked together on a previous expedition in Iceland that uncovered some unusual relics. When some Germans show up at Barnett College to steal Indy's relics from the excavation and attempt to kill him, it starts Indy on a world-wide odyssey in search of the lost city of Atlantis.

"Indiana Jones and the Thunder in the Orient"--this adventure finds Indy in the middle east teamed up with Sophie Hapgood again and a boy named Khamal in search of the original writings and testaments of Buddah. This is the longest story of the three.

"Indiana Jones and the Arms of Gold"--Professor Jones finds himself teamed with an attractive female professor who has been given his "pet" class for the semester to teach. The professor, Francisca Uribe del Arco receives a strange package from her missing brother. The package contains a golden finger. Supposedly, the finger is part of an entire suit of gold that allows the wearer to lift and carve huge blocks of stone. Someone is desperate to get the golden finger and Indy and Francisca set out to South America in search of the rest of the golden arm and Francisca's missing brother.

I've been a fan of Indiana Jones since a kid and with the arrival of the new movie in May 2008, there will be an onslaught of Indy related books and merchandise. However, unless you are the most die hard of fans, you probably will not enjoy reading INDIANA JONES OMNIBUS VOL. 1. The artwork is rather bland and at times doesn't match from one panel to the next, for instance in the "Thunder in the Orient" story Sophie Hapgood goes from being a ravishing redhead to being a blonde bombshell halfway through the story. The stories themselves aren't very strong and they skip key portions of the story, for instance once again "Thunder in the Orient" spends a huge amount of time building to the climax and then just ends. As far as comics go, they are average, but as far as Indiana Jones stories go, they are subpar.

Dark Horse Comics has been publishing these fantastic Omnibus volumes the last couple of years. This particular collection contains previously out of print "Indiana Jones" miniseries from 1991-1994. All three tales are pretty solid.

"Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis" is the first story and is an adaptation of the classic Lucasarts computer game of the same name. I felt this was the weakest of the three stories but that might be because I'm comparing it too much to the game. It'd be hard to adapt the game fully because it is so immersive. I do think though that those who have never played the game should enjoy this story because you won't know what you're missing.

"Indiana Jones: Thunder in the Orient" is the second story, my favorite of the three. Indy goes on a quest for the original scrolls written by the Buddha and tangles with warlords and a crazed Japanese general. At times, there are shades of Temple of Doom in this story and that's not a bad thing. The artwork in this story has a 1940s feel that works really well too.

"Indiana Jones and the Arms of Gold" is the last story in this volume. The story here involves Indy helping a Spanish professor who is new to his college track down her missing brother, which leads them on a quest for a pair of golden arms. There are a couple of really good twists in this story that I won't give away. The artwork is good again, although is very different from the style in which the first two stories are done. It's quite good though and fits the thematic material.

This volume is well worth the money for any die-hard Indiana Jones fan. It's great that Dark Horse is finally reprinting these stories after all these years. This book will make a fine edition to any Indy fan's collection.

I received this book from an old friend who I hadn't seen in nearly twenty years--she showed up unannounced, spent a few hours sitting in the sun, and then disappeared just as unexpectedly. I still don't know if she meant to leave the book behind, but I've decided that I won't give it up. Cornell's boxes have a strange beauty that seems to attract strange birds--deceptively simple, at first you barely realize how quickly you can slip into these lost, overlooked, forgotten worlds that seem to hum along according to an amusingly skewed logic. Many of the stories and poems show writers who've successfully crossed over and have sent back postcards filled with the fresh and unfamiliar voices of travellers far from home.

... I was so psyched when I first saw the book, but then I noticed that many of the contributors to it--famous though they may be--pretty much just handed in whatever they had in the bottom of their drawers for this collection. I don't know that for a fact, but it seems that way. The poems and stories in here are vapid, lacking any of the kind of creative formal risks that Cornell and his boxes are known. Add to this the fact that the editor included one of his own stories in the anthology (alongside the famous chaps) .... WAy over priced too, I'd say. I can't recommend it. The book offended me in fact.

With it's tipped in plates and beautiful end papers I think this book is a bibliophile's dream. Being a big fan of Cornell's work I was very impressed and pleased with the overall packaging, which I find to be quite lovely, and the quality of the writing. Finally I was really impressed when I found out that the editor put it all together while he was still in college. I think this is a great book for fans of Joseph Cornell's boxes.

I'm a huge Joseph Cornell fan, and own every book that has anything to do with him. This is the best! Not only are the images beautiful and plentiful (and many new to me), but the stories and poems are so unbelievably entertaining and different from one another. I've never seen a book quite like this one, and I'm going to give a copy to everyone I know!

I too am a big fan of Joseph Cornell, and this sort of new book, A Convergence of Birds, is one that I was eager to read. The first short story, Emory Bear Hands' Birds, by Barry Lopez is powerful and worthy of being placed in this anthology. But the rest of the collection, pa-tooey. Even the Joyce Carol Oates contribution is suspiciously unworthy of publication. The rest of the pieces, both the poetry and short stories, are simply stream of consciousness junk writing that should never have found publication anywhere, least of all, in this beautiful-looking tribute to Cornell. Perhaps there are writer snobs "out there" who claim to understand this stuff, but once again I'm afraid the emperor is wandering around looking for his underwear.

"with Paul Perry."

Slight effort about attempt to recover Kidd's flagship from a real-life "Pirate Island" is basically a high-level overview of Kidd's career intertwined with Clifford's misadventures in looking for the ship with few results. Superficial and ultimately disappointing effort left me questioning if this was really enough to be a stand-alone book; it would have made a decent National Geographic article.

See my review of The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd which was also disappointing. There seems to be a dearth of serious scholarship in this area.

This is Barry Clifford's narrative of his trip(s) to Ile Saint-Marie off the coast of Madagascar in search of William Kidd's Adventure Galley. It is pretty standard Clifford style based upon his other books. The author jumps back and forth, alternating present day with historical reference in an engaging fashion. The dual narrative maintains a nice sense of suspense, pulling the reader along.

The historical elements are well represented with discussion of Kidd and Culliford. The author takes time to support the link to Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island from the title. However, the reader soon finds the present day trials and tribulations eclipse the historical and lead to an unsatisfying conclusion that I can only describe as anticlimactic.

The book is not a bad read, nor void of merit, but, ultimately, one has to ask whether this particular set of expeditions truly deserved to be written up in book format. Clifford's other book, The Lost Fleet and Expedition Whydah would be better places to start you appreciation of Clifford's work. And, Richard Zacks' Pirate Hunter is a better history of William Kidd's adventures.
P-)

Clifford does a good job of alternating between the story of Captain Kidd and his own search for Kidd's flagship. But far too much of the book is dedicated to a long, boring rendition of Clifford's dealings with the local authorities, his rival ship hunter and the resulting phone calls and meetings required to secure permits for the excavation of the ship. Over 90 percent of the modern portion of the book reads like: "Then I called the President's daughter. Then she called me back. Then we met with the minister of the Interior. He told us to come back the next day. So I rode a bike around the island. The next day we called the President's daughter again...." The politics is simply filler so that he wouldn't be selling a 50 page book. To summarize -- there are many books that are a better use of your time.

This is like getting two books in one! Part of the book tells the fascinating story of Captain Kidd and the other part, the story of Barry Clifford's expediton to Madagascar to recover Kidd's flagship, the Adventure Galley.

With the pictures and all, this book is better than TV.

I used this textbook for an MBA Marketing Research class. Very useful complementary textbook.

I used this book over five semesters for the class of Marketing Research I teach at ASU. It is an OK-to-good book. However I would like to warn potential buyers that WebSurveyor has discontinued its contract with the book's publisher many semesters ago; so even if you find a coupon inside the book with a code to enter to use WebSurveyor online, you will not be able to log in...

I am an MBA/Graduate Marketing Research adjunct professor at Lindenwood University in St. Louis, MO and I am currently using this text for my class. The students find it very accessible, even for non-researchers, and easy to read. I find that it flows very well and makes good use of real-world examples. The only criticism is that there could be even more real-world cases and examples and some interactive projects that could better allow students to have a more hands-on learning experience. This text is very good overall, but I am needing to supplement the class with some outside real-world projects.