C Books

I have never heard a piece of music by composer Jan Swafford, but if he composes as well as he writes, his music should be stimulating indeed. Some reviewers have called this book hard to put down, a page-turner. I found it so. Part of its interest lies in Brahms himself; any book that purports to shed even a bit of light on so enigmatic a figure would cause one to turn pages in hopes of illumination. But I can imagine, too, a very dull book about Brahms. Well, there are few dull pages among the 600+ in Swafford's biography. As is now de rigueur in good modern historical writing, Swafford creates a judicious blend of primary-source material and commentary thereon, along with a rich store of anecdotes told in his own fine, writerly voice.

Musical analysis is treated in such a way that the amateur musician, and even the musically challenged, will not be put off. In all cases, Swafford demonstrates well one of his chief theses--that Brahms was the most Janus-like of the great nineteenth century composers. He looked back all the way to Renaissance masters, assimilating their contrapuntal styles in ways beyond anything that Beethoven, Mendelssohn, or Schumann had done before him. Yet he so thoroughly anticipated the ambiguity of tonality and rhythm in twentieth-century music that Schoenberg could, long after Brahms's death, speak of "Brahms the Progressive."

But there is much more than musical analysis in this book. There is a thorough investigation of the many dualities in Brahms's nature: Brahms the generous, Brahms the curmudgeonly; Brahms the respecter of (intellectual and artistic) women, Brahms the misogynist; Brahms the romantic, Brahms the classicist; Brahms the sentimentalist, Brahms the cynic; Brahms the self-effacing, Brahms the monumentally egotistical. Swafford presents them all in their staggering incompatibility. And while Swafford himself admits that no one can ever quite hope to reconcile all these manifestations or indeed fill in the gaps in a life that the composer himself hoped to keep mostly a closed book, he comes close to making this great study in contrasts that was Brahms into a flesh-and-blood individual whose most mystifying acts seem almost comprehensible because we have seen him in action in similar contexts. By an exhaustive examination of the primary literature and shrewd speculation based thereon, Swafford builds a picture that convinces. He can't make us always like Brahms or even sympathize with him, but we come to understand him better through Swafford's portrait than we ever thought we could. That is some accomplishment.

Beyond this are the passages in which Swafford speaks of musical and indeed cultural history after Brahms. The epilogue to this book, in which the author traces Brahms's paradoxical legacy through the great century of change since his death, should be mandatory reading for all students of culture in the West.

Are there flaws? Yes. Some parts of the book show haste while others show careful crafting. In a work this large, that is to be expected. And Swafford overuses the word "magisterial." This may describe Brahms to a tee, but so, I hope, do a few other adjectives. Small gripes? Small indeed, given the wealth of insight and reading pleasure that Swafford provides here. I'm ready for his biography of Ives!

Mr.Swafford did excellent jobs in dissecting and analyzing major symphonic works without sounding pedantic and dry. However, I wish he had invested more ink on the other major orchestral works such as Piano Concerto no.2 and the Violin Concerto, two of my favorites, like he did Piano Concerto no.1 and the symphonies and variations, etc. On the late concertos he merely described the circumstances surrounding their creation and barely touched on structural analysis.

Other than that, the book is very detailed and enjoyable to read. It sheds a lot of light on the human side of the composer and his friends, and thus makes these historical figures come back to life. At several instances I was so touched by Swafford's writing that I almost shed tears. Reading this book has been an emotional journey for me, and I rank it as my favorite book on music and musicians. Very touching! I love it!

What a wonderful biography. Brahms' dealings with Clara Schumann, Joachim, and other friends is studied in fascinating detail through meetings and letters -- an intimate portrait of personal relations, desires and fears, quiet joys and resentments, etc., all as absorbing as a Henry James novel.

Meanwhile, Brahms' incomparable music is a life of its own, and we are treated to the master's views of it, as well as those of contemporaries and the author. The author's assessments seem to me almost unerringly valid. (Take, for example, his lofty praise of Gesang der Parzen, an underheard choral masterwork, or his concession that the Double Concerto, a concert standard, is on a less than inspired level.)

Add to this the author's occasional shift of focus to the Austro-German culture in which Brahms lived, in retrospect an even more remarkable time and place, where music was valued to a rare degree, and where ideas and events -- artistic, philosophical, political -- were poised to take momentous turns. Fascinating, even haunting, stuff, and all the more appropriate for discussion as these were issues about which Brahms had much concern in his later years.

This is a great story about a great composer. The book tells his life story, and highlights many of his great works. Within this biography, the book also mentions the interactions, disagreements and perspectives of the different composers of the late 19th century - Liszt, Wagner, Schumann, Bruckner, Mahler and of course Brahms. From that perspective, it is not only a biographry of Brahms but in some ways a history of classical music in that period. In my opinion, Brahms was the best composer of the group, and this book highlights why he was. It focuses on many of his great compositions, even providing the major musical notes for key parts of a composition. For example, in what is arguably his best work, the 4th symphony, this book spends four pages on the last movement of this symphony, a very powerful cantata and chaconne that Brahms brought to the symphony. This form, according to the book, derives from the Baroque period and Bach has a great similar work with the violin. Brahms took it a step further and using the whole capabilities of the symphony orchestra, weaves this concept into a very powerful piece of music. Since reading these four pages, I've developed a greater interest in this movement and in the 4th symphony in total. It is a beautiful powerful work and this book provides a beautiful perspective of this work. The same is true for all of the book. It has given me a better perspective of Brahms and classical music. For this reason, I highly recommend this book.

I wonder how Brahms would have compensated for the defeat to his friend's wife - Clara Schumann. Although lively attention to details was a notable characteristic of the German woman, pianist and composer, her love to the sentiments of her husband - the German composer Robert Schumann - was, at times, so shallow as to miscalculate Robert's perturbation with Brahms's apathy.
How could Brahms, having degenerated to low stage, get over the perfidy of his feelings for the woman who was fourteen years his senior (and who also raised seven children)?
Brahms could find no strength in a faith in the after-life; he remained peculiar, having sneering disbelief about human relationships, though devoted to his true friends and to Robert Schumann in particular.
While there are grounds for believing that he had anxious feelings about the strength of his own passions, he was denied the excitability for happiness in love ... On the face of it, Brahms was soulfully devoted to Clara Schumann and regarded Robert with the utmost respects. Clara cordially returned and her emotions remained held in careful control. ""Yet the profound seriousness of his temperament demanded a philosophy; above all, if Death was no longer accepted as the gateway to eternal life for the righteous, what was its meaning?"" Those were his words
Yet Brahms remained 'the confirmed bachelor''
With women, Brahms's approach was destined with indecision of purpose.

Brahms gave us medley of music; conscious of the shadow of the dead, Ein Deutsches Requiem {1867/8} is one that represented heavenly masterpiece as if to seek pardon in humble supplications like the sinner who renounces lifelong bad habits when in extremity of pain.

_Lost in the City_ (1992) - a collection of short stories - is Edward P. Jones' first book, followed by the Pulitzer Price winning novel The Known World (2003), and All Aunt Hagar's Children (2006), a second collection of short stories. Both Lost and Aunt Hagar are about blacks in Washington, DC where Jones grew up in the neighborhoods he writes about. His stories are like mini novels with lush detail, multiple fully evolved characters and densely colloquial prose.

The stories have a common theme surrounding an old colloquial saying "Don't get lost in the city". The word "lost" means having no direction, aimless, with no intention, and the stories are about people in that sort of state of mind, simply doing time with no direction home. It also means alienation, being lost is the opposite of family and compassion, the stories involve broken and dysfunctional families, coldness. Charles Dickens wrote about London and the poor of the 19th century, but his stories were the opposite of Jones. Instead of that "coming home to family" Christmas time spirit of Dickens, Jones invokes coldness, alienation, purposelessness. I hesitate to call Jones "anthropological" because it is also very aesthetically pleasing, but like Balzac did for Paris in the early 19th century and Dickens for London, Jones invokes the spirit of a time and place that, while not full of good feelings and happy endings, does speak truthfully. The last story of the book, "Marie", ends with an old woman listening to an audio oral-history and I think Jones is telling the reader how he sees his own work, a history of a people and place.

My favorite story is in the middle of the book, "The Store", it is the most uplifting and optimistic surrounded by stories of tragedy and sadness. It is about a poor boy done good by hard work and honesty. Other stories I thought were excellent include "The Sunday Following Mother's Day" about a husband who kills his wife for no reason, and the resulting years of failed relationships with his son and daughter. It's epic scope crosses generations of multiple people, but it is also grassroots, concerning people who are invisible to society. "His Mother's House" is about a street drug dealer and his relations with his family, it helped me better understand how families (mothers, fathers, sons) and the drug culture can intermingle ."A New Man" is a heartbreaking story of a 15 year-old girl who runs away from home and is never heard from again. Overall I think the stories in _Aunt Hagar_ are better - more fully realized, longer - however these are still excellent, Jones is one of my favorite authors.

Truman Capote in his masterpiece In Cold Blood (1960) has the following quote (an actual quote from a sister to her brother who is in jail) which I think sums up Jones' stories:

"Your confinement is nothing to be proud of.. You are a human being with a free will. Which puts you above the animal level. But if you live your life without feeling and compassion for your fellowman - you are as an animal - "an eye for eye, a tooth for a tooth" & happiness & peace of mind is not attained by living thus."

Synchronicity is, more or less, a random event that seems to have more than a random meaning. Such it was when I read Edward P. Jones' short story collection Lost In The City directly after having read Sherman Alexie's Ten Little Indians. The reason was that Alexie's book showed off everything that's wrong with PC Elitist art and literature, coming from a person in an ethnic minority, while Jones' book- a 1992 National Book Award finalist, reprinted after the great success of his 2003 NBA and Pulitzer prize winning novel The Known World- showed off almost everything that minority writers can do to `fight the stereotype', as Alexie preaches, but does not practice. Both men's books deal with specific peoples in specific locals- Alexie's with Spokane Indians in Washington state, while Jones' with blacks in Washington, D.C. Jones, unlike Alexie, has quality writing in all fourteen of his stories, because his characters are fully realized, and nor caricatures nor stereotypes, and the situations that they have to deal with flow naturally out of predicaments of their proscribed lives. Are there some stereotypically `black' characters? A few, but they are minor characters, and in the background of the tales, as are most walking stereotypes you or I know. And there are seeming stereotypes- such as young hoodlums and drug dealers, that are revealed to have nuances and depths. Alexie does not undermine and nuance his characters in any way in his worst stories, while his best tale- one on the life cycle of a marriage between Indians, is his best tale precisely for the fact that its focus is on the marriage, not that it is an `Indian marriage'. Race and bigotry and pain are the reason for many Alexie tales, and they quickly devolve into screeds. Jones is a much more mature writer, and his worst tales, which are merely solid stories, are so not because of predictability, screeding, nor stereotyping, but simply because they go on too long, or the conversations do not serve the tale well. Those are minor ills, though, as this is a book that well should be praised. In comparison, especially, to the pap that's published nowadays, it's a great book....Why is it so difficult to find great writers and stories? Why does not the publishing industry find and promote more Edward P. Joneses? Well, first off, there are not that many, but, these stories may not be `moneymakers' because they do not offer pat solutions, nor are the characters caricatures, and they do not skim along the mere surfaces of things. It also takes an effort for readers to fully appreciate the multi-hued, and deeply textured tales and portraits Jones relates, and most people suffer from video game or MTV languor. Yet, is there, or has there ever been, a better virtual reality machine than a great piece of writing? A great poem puts you in a moment, and a great story can arc you through events that you can feel, almost as if experiencing them for yourself.

I loathe the cheapening of thought and conversation and striving for insight. That is why I love this book, and the relative handful of other works like it that are out there. Instead of the shot at a quick, cheap, moneymaker, publishers should seek quality, and promote it, to develop careers, rather than get one hit wonders, whose one hit was dependent upon things other than the writing quality- which is usually sorely lacking. Accept lesser profits in the short term, but greater in the long run, while also contributing to literature. It then forces an upward spiral of writing, where people can look to an Edward Jones, or William Kennedy, or Charles Johnson, and say, `I want to write like them, because they're good, and I want to contribute to my culture,', rather than this several decades long downward spiral where bad writers see a Mary Gaitskill or Yann Martell or Stephen Elliott or (fill in the Oprah-type writer) being published, and say, `I want to write like them, because it's easy, and I can write better than that crap, and I want to be famous.'

It is not enough to merely say why a writer is good, but show it, praise it, and honor it as among the best an individual can do, and the highest that human beings can achieve. On that note I will close with the terrific end of The Night Rhonda Ferguson Was Killed:

She made a pallet for her daughter beside the bed and turned out the light when she left the room. Occasionally, Cassandra would drift into what Anita thought was sleep. All the while Cassandra gritted her teeth. Sometime, way late in the night, Cassandra spoke out, and at first Anita thought she was talking in her sleep: She asked Anita to sing that song she sung in the car on the way home. Anita sang; long after her parents had gone to bed, long after she stopped wondering if Cassandra was listening, Anita sang. She sang on into the night for herself alone, her voice pushing back everything she did not yet understand.
Understand yet?

An artist whose prose and narrative arcs generate irresistible pull and evoke in readers a genuine sense of entire worlds, Edward P. Jones has written two books. The first, Lost in the City, garnered the PEN/Hemingway award. The second, The Known World, won the Pulitzer Prize. African American, a luminary of American letters, Jones affirms that which is humble and human, and does so with startling power. In the words of MLK he has a "heart full of grace, a soul generated by love."

This collection, first published in 1992, was considered Jones's first literary effort. I find this idea of firsts interesting and would like to look at it briefly before I move on to a few of the craft elements in his stories that I would most like to steal.

This collection of short stories was published a decade before Jones won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for his novel "The Known World." Some of the stories in the collection were first published in the 1980s in literary magazines like Ploughshares and Callaloo. One of the stories "Marie" also appeared in the Paris Review in 1992. The thing that I find interesting is that these publications do not seem to register with the general public or even reviewers. Instead, his books are presented as sudden, award winning events. Instead of a writing career spanning 25 years of craft and respectable publications, we are presented with the image of a of sudden event, a spectacular storm, a writer whose first novel won the Pulitzer Prize.

In any event, the first thing I did when I opened "Lost in the City" was to read the opening lines of each story. I wanted to see how and where he began his stories. I was thinking of an essay by Debra Spark called "Getting In and Getting Out." The essay appears in "Bringing the Devil to His Knees: The Craft of Fiction and the Writing Life." There is an anecdote in the essay about a friend the author who is screening stories for the Iowa Short Fiction Prize. She says, "If I have to read another story that begins `The alarm clock rang,' I'll shoot myself."

Although I have never started a story with this particular phrase, I do tend to begin a story at the beginning. So as I read through the Jones collection I paid particular attention to the places he began his stories.

In "The Girl Who Raised Pigeons," Jones begins the narrative at some undefined future moment when the crisis of the story has already forced the characters' world to change. "Her father would say years later that she had dreamed that part of it, that she had never gone through the kitchen window...." The story never travels completely forward into the world from which these first lines are described. However, the story does end with a certain inevitability--a sort of narrative arc that points forward so that we understand how the characters arrive to the point we find them in the opening of the story.

"The Girl Who Raised Pigeons" covers a lot of ground in twenty-five pages. It outlines the decay of a Black, D.C. neighborhood and shows us how that decay affects the community. On one level it is a story about a father's coming to fatherhood as well as his young daughter's coming of age. It is about the place and the power of the natural world even in the urban environment. It is about an urban Black community on the edge of change.

The narrative is carried along by the story of the young girl and her pigeons. The story is usually told through a close third person narrator; however, the point of view does shift at times from the young girl, Betsy Ann Morgan, to other characters. These shifts offer insight into the community in which Betsy and her father live. But these shifts seldom last for more than a line or two and then quickly move back to Betsy.

I paid close attention to these shifts in point of view. But before I discuss them I would like to think a bit more about where these stories begin.

Another story that begins post-crisis is "The First Day." The story opens with the line: "On an otherwise unremarkable September morning, long before I learned to be ashamed of my mother, she takes my hand and..." This is the story about a child's first day of school. The story is short, only 5 pages, but it has taken a common event, a child's first day of school, and uses it to point out the divisions between social classes in the Black community. One of the interesting things about this story is that it is told in the first person. The protagonist never reaches the crisis described in the first line within the span of the story. The narrator shows nothing but love and admiration for her mother throughout the course of the story. We are lead by that single clause, "long before I learned to be ashamed of my mother," and the trajectory of the story to understand that the protagonists shame is inevitable.

I find it fascinating that he entire story hinges on this single clause. We never see a hint of shame in the narrator aside from her opening line. If that clause were deleted we would not necessarily know that the narrator would ever come to be ashamed of her mother. But knowing this first line and following the trajectory of the story we know that the crisis and the change are inevitable.

Jones also opens his stories from the middle. The narrator then takes the story back to that middle before moving farther forward. He does this in the story "A New Man."

"A New Man" begins with the lines, "One day in late October, Woodrow L. Cunningham came home early with his bad heart and found his daughter with two boys." The narrative eventually makes its way back to explain exactly how Woodrow came to find his daughter with two boys, but it does not stop there. The narrative continues. It carries the story farther. We come to understand exactly what this event means in the life of Woodrow and how it comes to define his essential character.

Now, rather than continue with this idea of how or where Jones begins his stories, I would like to move on to two other divices Jones uses: point of view, and the idea of epiphany and change within a character.

As I mentioned earlier, Jones does not shy away from changing the narrative point of view if it serves the story. But the places where he shifts point of view seem to be dependent on a few things. He only ever shifts in a third person narrative. The point of view never shifts for more than three or four sentences. The point of view only shifts in stories that are 20 pages in length or longer. He always quickly brings the point of view back to its original place.

It is the brevity in the shift that I find most interesting. It is like one of those little flashes of insight that Woolf wrote about--matches struck unexpectedly in the dark--or the mirror in Joyce's "The Dead." The shift lets us see for a moment how the character looks within their world. For example the title story of the collection, "Lost in the City," is told by a close third person narrator. However, there are two moments in the story where the focus shifts from the protagonist, Lydia Walsh, to her taxi driver. The first shift occurs about two thirds through the story: "He thought that maybe she had been born elsewhere, that she did not know Washington, would not know the streets beyond what the white people called the federal enclave." This shift in point of view ends quickly. The narrator brings our focus back to Lydia. "But in fact, the farther north he went, the more she knew about where they were going."

At the end of "Lost in the City," the point of view again shifts for a moment. "The cab driver thought that her crying meant that maybe it had finally hit her that her mother had died and that soon his passenger would be coming to herself."

I suspect that it is the brevity of these shifts that make them work. Another aspect of these shifts is the fact that they are subtly revealing--not deeply or overtly revealing--and they are always revealing something in the protagonist. These shifts in point of view seem to stress the importance of community in these stories. They show, however briefly, that these characters do not live in isolation, that on some level they are always aware of themselves within the context of others--or perhaps it is that we should always be aware of them within the context of a greater community.

The final aspect of this collection of stories that I would like to look at relates to an issue raised in an essay by Jim Shepard titled, "I Know Myself Real Well. That's the Problem." In this essay, Shepard criticizes the tendency for novice fiction to create characters who are "whooshing along the conveyor belts" of narrative toward some kind of epiphany. Given that my stories have this tendency, I am curious how Jones creates a sense of movement and revelation without allowing his characters to fall into that whooshing conveyor belt.

One way that Jones avoids this narrative conveyor belt is by beginning the story someplace other than the beginning and ending the story in a place that points to the inevitability of change or crisis, but he does not necessarily show us that change or crisis. This can also be seen in the story, "The First Day." We do not experience the moment when the narrator becomes ashamed of her mother. We are told in the opening line that the narrator will indeed one day be ashamed of her mother. We are lift at the end of the story with the inevitability that, despite the strength and character of the mother, the child will one day become as ashamed of her as other members of the community.

Often in this collection of stories the narrator is not even aware of his or her change. The reader senses that something is in fact permanently altered, but it is difficult to say exactly what that thing is. At the close of the story "My Mother's House," we do not find the protagonist, a mother whose biological son has just murdered by her godson over a dispute involving drugs and money, in the throws of some sort of epiphany.

Her husband, who is not the father of either child, works as a bodyguard for her biological son. Her husband skulks away from the scene of the crime, leaving her in the street to comfort her dieing godson. She has always known that her husband was a weak man. At the close of this story we find the protagonist drinking a fifth of vodka and walking from room to room in the house her drug-dealing son purchased for her. She unlocks all the doors and windows, "for Santiago (her son) had no key to her house. And outside that house there was a very cruel would and she did not like to think that her child was out there without a place to come to."

The protagonist knows throughout the story that the world is indeed cruel. The cruelty is not a revelation. Nor does she necessarily seem poised to make some sort of change. In fact, she opens her house in a rough neighborhood so that her son, who has just murdered her godson and pointed a gun at her face, may come into the house for comfort.

Perhaps the real change at the end of this story takes place in the reader. After we have experienced this world, we can never view these characters or their world in the same light--we will never be able to read this story in the same way again.

In the end, there are still many more aspects of this collection that will occupy me throughout the coming months. I have marked my copy of the book with many notes. I find myself referring back to them often.

Edward P. Jones's stories about Washington D.C. are unconventional in that some don't have endings. Often they just come to a stop. You are forced to reflect back on what you just read.

Some are better than others. "The First Day" is about an illiterate mother taking her daughter to register for kindergarten. She has to pay another woman to fill out the registration papers for her. If that one doesn't get to you, you don't have a heart.


Many of the other stories are quite long, some as many as thirty pages. My favorite was "The Store," about a boy who takes a "make work" job at a neighborhood grocery and ends up managing the place. The store becomes more important than his personal life and he loses a woman he loved because of it. "Young Lions" is about a violent young man who doesn't hesitate to shoot a clerk during a hold-up. In the end, his violent lifestyle impinges on his personal life, and he starts slapping around the woman he really loves.

Washington D.C. is definitely a character in the stories. The streets are Alphabetical and the Avenues are named after states, but this the Washington of the sixties and deterioration is only just beginning to envelope the black section of town. There are stories about how involvement in drugs debases the characters and their family members. There are stories about characters who emigrated from the South. I can't think of one that didn't touch me in some way, and that doesn't usually happen in a collection of short stories.

Edward P. Jones should be a better known author than he is.

This is a great book, the best about cameras. You can find almost any camera in it, with lots of pictures(b&w)and the orientative prices in dollars and many of them in euros too. It is a must-have book for any camera collector.

This is great! It has more information than you could ever want in it. Great reference for camera lovers everywhere!

If you have some old, vintage and classic Cameras, This book (ALL WHAT YOU WANT) to start.. [Highly Recommended]

This book has awesome coverage of makes and models although the amount of information given of a particular classic (e.g., Hasselblad) seems thin. I guess I'm saying an encyclopedia is needed.

McKeowan's Guide since its first issue has been, and still is, a fantastic tome which is a must for every camera collector. I was astounded many years ago when visiting Leningrad to see that a camera vendor selling old Russian cameras from a small table on the pavement had made a full photocopy for his use! To me it is the best catalogue of cameras ever published and I will continue to buy each update as they become available.

Mr. Parnell has produced an invaluable tool for assisting in preparation for the 473 & 473C postal exam. After using his work-book format in evenings for 1 week, culminating with a faux test run the morning of the exam, I went into the test with confidence, and 6 weeks later, have received notice of a passing score which is much higher than I had anticipated. In my estimation, I would never have passed had I not used this guide which provides both realistic simulations and great tips.

D. Kerr, Portland, OR

if anyone of you were interested in an entry level mail processing position in the USPS, this is the book to buy. i bought 7 books and found Pernall's the most helpful. the practice tests were perfect. the dude knew what he was talking about. in fact, using his strategies for memory part, i believe i got 100% in that section. in fact, i'm currently working for the USPS in santa ana, have been there since last august. i must say that this book helped the most.

I purchased this book about 3 weeks before the exam. I studied very hard and just recieved my results......86.70%!!! That shows that you can score higher on the test than an 85% I also have 10 disability points which makes my score a total 96.70% It shows my score (on the mailed test results) of an 86.70% then below it says, "score with disabled vet points, 96.70%. The book has helped me so much. I wish you guys the best of luck! You may email me questions about the test if you'd like. carl_wingate@yahoo.com. p.s my results took ALMOST 6 weeks to come back so dont freak out when they dont come in 3 weeks.

How can I put this? I got the job!!! If you only buy one book this year, other than the new Harry Potter one obviously, then THIS is the book to buy. Of course I am assuming that you WANT to have a job with double the pay of any other entry level job, immediate full benefits, and job security out the "wazoo".

I used Mr. Parnell's book as an aid in preparing for the 473-c postal exam. I read it cover to cover, went through each of the practice exams, and found that my confidence and speed improved dramatically with each testing. After grading my practice exams my scores went from the high 80's to the high 90's. This book is a godsend!

When I went to take the real exam, I wasn't nervous; I was prepared! I found that I was completely at ease and that I was able to focus on the questions, rather than the jitters. Mr. Parnell's book is precisely the same format and question types that you will see on the current exam.

After receiving my score back from the post office (6 weeks is about normal), I had my first interview within a month. The interviewer informed me that my score was the highest (unadjusted for military service) that he had seen! Oh, did I mention, I got the job!!!

I was SO satisfied with this study guide, I'm now looking at the other study guides in preparation for advancement exams to help with promotions to higher paying positions as well.

Buy the book. The very first hour you work at your new job will pay for it twice over. How can afford not to?

This book is produced in three versions to suit your study preferences. These are:

The Original Postal Exam 473 & 473-C Study Guide -- This version is text only. It has reference material and sample exams with many test taking tips.

Complete Postal Exam 473 & 473-C Training Program with 2 Test Prep Audio CD's -- This is the same book, but two audio CD's read it to you while you follow along in the book. Using two senses, eyes and ears increase the retention of information.

New Postal Exam 473 & 473-C Computer-Based Course -- This is again the same book, but there is a CD that contains both test prep classes and realiztic practice exams, you'll need an internet ready PC with Windows to use this version.

I used this book. I took the 473 C exam. I got a very good score. I got called in for an interview about 3 months after getting my test results back. Make no mistake about it that you need to score very well to be where i am and the only way to do that is by preparing for the test. Don't expect to do well by just showing up on test date and "giving your best effort". This is not that type of test. It's the type of test where practice is the key. And this book is by far the best study guide for the 473 exam. It's not even close. I tried a few others and it's blatantly obvious how little they know do about the ins and outs of this test. The author has personally taken this test dozens of times and his knowledge of the postal office and how it operates in general is very deep. So if you are serious about getting a great score on this exam, you need to get this book.

I'd been confused about pointers in particular for a while. I took a C class with this as the textbook and was finally able to understand the pointers better.

I'm still working through the book but was pleased to FINALLY find an author whose style is clear without being boring. An enjoyable book which has already cleared up some confusion I had before. I have a couple of comments for other reviewers, though:
(1) The title is a play on words. It doesn't mean that the book is supposed to be
entirely about pointers, as a couple of reviewers seemed to think. I think its a great title! (2) The book IS expensive, probably because it is widely used as a textbook. Textbook publishers have been gouging students for years, and in this case it affects more than just university students. (I'm a prof myself.)

As others have noted, this book is exremely expensive. I was lucky enough to get a used copy for about half the retail price here on Amazon and I intend to keep it. I haven't read every book on C, so I may be ambitious to say this, but this is the best explanation of pointers I've read to date. The author doesn't assume anything and this is helpful when learning something as tricky as pointers for those new to the concept. The author explains concepts with clarity while being concise. I don't develop software for a living, but need to write the occasional program here and there. I thought this book accurately described the methodology of writing the most compact, yet readable code, for the problems presented. I'd reccommend this book despite the price. Those new to the C programming language won't be disappointed.

As before I bought this book I have problems about advance pointer like a pointer to function, array of pointer to function, pointer to structure or other topic like this. The author explain this topic very well.
By the way, the purpose of buying this book is to solve reading C language code on embedded linux which involve pointer and hardware. The author do not give enogh information about this topic.
However I still rate this book five stars for the topic Pointer on C.

When programming in C you must use, love and own pointers. Look at the function templates for the standard C lib. What do these functions return? POINTERS! If you don't want to learn pointers, or think about solving problems using pointers, then please go drive a truck or program in Basic or some other half-wit language. C will frustrate you to tears if you insist on using subscripts. It's not how the language approaches problems.

I am having to use C# right now and want to gag. Any language that claims to be "C" but doesn't support pointers is an oxymoron. Have a glass of dry water while you try to swallowing that load of bull. Thanks MicroSlop for ruining two languages, Basic (who cares) and C, the language that built the computer revolution (punishable by death in a better world). Arrrghhh. Thanks Ken for a great book for the strong and the brave amongst us.

....on today's society. A woman who blames herself for all the shortcomings in her marriage, a man whose indiscretions destroy his marriage and scar for life his family, a teenage daughter who is disrespectful and deceitful, a mother who doesn't have the backbone to discipline her daughter or the inclination to even parent her. All that wrapped around the girl-meets-guy, girl-dumps-guy, girl-gets-guy-back storyline, laced with acceptance of immorality and distorted Christian views. Disappointing.

Wonderful story and mystery, realistic characters. Thank You Ms Richards

What a great book, and having lived in Dupont Circle several years ago, the images painted of Georgetown, DC, Booeymonger's, etc brought back vivid and accurate images. I'll bet I can even guess the name of the restaurant from which Pavel brought curry, rice and daal to Faith's home! Enjoyed every page immensely!

I loved the characters, the plot, and the mysteries. I feel like I've just been to Georgetown for a brief holiday. This book is going on my "favorite books" shelf. Thank you, Emilie Richards, for a wonderful read.

I haven't written a review in a while but I was so excited to have found a new author (to me)whose writing I really loved, I couldn't let the opportunity pass to offer encouragement to Ms.Richards to keep writing and to readers who are wondering whether to delve into this latest novel.
I thoroughly enjoyed the character development and sublte mystery in this novel. The issues addressed by the author were sensitively probed with an expert understanding and depth of
prose. There was no gratuitous sex or distasteful language. The author writes with feeling about a family in trouble; their needs, secrets and the people who enter into their lives to help.
You finish the read realizing that everyone has a story and truth and love and doing the right thing is the only way to live a life. Wrongs can be set right and forgiveness is possible.
I found the insight particularly helpful since the author worked in the counseling profession and knows the nuances of charter human beings are capable of displaying and the deep reasons for their actions. Read it! It's like being in therapy without even knowing it!!

Laughed so much reading the first Tantamoq book that I started reading parts to my family--then we all realized this author reads better out loud anyway. Ordered the whole series from Amazon, but unfortunately they seem to be sold out of the 3rd in the series (another printing? hint hint). May have to go on to the 4th skipping the 3rd.

Cute adventure/mystery featuring the watchmaker turned amateur sleuth mouse, Hermux Tantamoq. Very lively story with plenty of action, suspense, and humor. This would be a great read-aloud. Although obviously the second book in the series, it wasn't too difficult to jump right in and follow Hermux on his adventures. I didn't feel like I was missing too much by not reading the first one yet. Recommended.

This was a cool book about the watch fixing mouse, Hermux Tantamoq! It is the second in a series about him, but it's just as good as the first book(which doesn't happen very much)and I loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It all starts when Mirrin Stentrill, puts on an artshow in the museum. When Mirrin was blind, she saw many visions and so when she recovered from her blindness, she decides to paint pictures of what she saw when she was blind. But it turns out that the pictures she paints are cats- a word no one likes to use in the city of mice and rodents. Then along comes Birch Tentintrotter, an old chipmunk, a friend of Hermux's father. He tells a secret to Hermux; a secret no one knows about, and about a map he had found in a library years ago. Birch believes that cats really did exist. To prove that, Hermux, Birch, and their friend, Linka Perflinger, set off on a journey to the Kingdom of Cats. On their journey, Hermux and his friends uncover the evidence that cats once had mice as slaves. Now, Hermux doesn't know if he's doing the right thing to find the whole truth about them.
Michael Hoeye describes all his characters and the scene very carefully and really well. I like the way he gives a personality to a character and he sticks with it. He doesn't mix Hermux and Mirrin's personality together. It's just Hermux. And it's just Mirrin.
I really enjoyed this book because of the great journey that Hermux and his friends went on. It was so exciting and I really loved how Michael Hoeye made me want to keep reading more and more!

Hermux Tantamoq, a distinguished mouse who lives in the heavily populated city of Pinchester, is sailing through life day in and day out, in his watchmaking shop, until one day, an old, weather worn chipmunk missing an ear stops by, says his name is Birch Tentintrotter, and he would like to speak to Mr. Tantamoq seinor. Hermux's father had passed away five months ago, and no friend of his from college would look like that old wreck!
Meanwhile, Hermux's friend Mirrin Stentril's first art show is causing tremendous uproar. She's been painting CATS!!! Everyone (the hamsters, mice, ferrets, squirrels etc.) knows they're not real, right? Well Hermux, Birch and aviatrix Linka Perflinger are out to prove those art critics wrong!
Michael Hoeye combines detail, vocabulary and suspense in this stunning sequel to Time Stops For No Mouse, proving never to overlook history, even if you are afraid.

Fun and light hearted view from Dora's perspective how fun and important it is to visit a dentist. This book familiarizes young ones with the experience of visiting the dentist, from the tools used to details of the entire examination. My son likes the story and asks me to read it often.

The concept is great, anything to help us brush the little ones teeth. For some reason I thought this was one of the books with thick pages that can stand up to the kids. It is not. Has thin pages that are destroyed in no time.

my son never let the dentist perform the full cleaning until after we read this book together. kids who like dora will most likely respond well on their next dental visit when they see dora acting like a big girl and letting the dentist examine and clean her teeth. i convinced my son that the dentist will make his teeth white and shiny like dora's - he fell for it like a champ! thanks Dora!! :-)

It's a good idea to start early so when that time comes to go the the dentist, your toddler will be willing to sit there just long enough to complete the checkup. Dora rocks when it comes to getting kids to do things like say words, jump up and down, whatever. A must have.

We started reading it every day 2 weeks before her first dentist appointment. Great book! Worked like a charm!

Maxwell is brilliant as usual. He helps you examine your purpose and get at key motivations that help you set up goals that in the end are satisfying on all levels, not just business. I have just about every book he has written and CDS too.

John Maxwell wrote a timely book on how to plan your life. No detail was left unturned in this book. John helps you define your purpose, where do you want to go, how far can you go, how do you get there from here! Then he helps you see your full potential by asking simple questions: What should you pack for your journey, how to handle detours, are you there yet. He than introduces the concept of helping others get to their dreams in route to your dreams. Is it a family trip, who else should be on the journey, and what should you do along the way! John than beautifully ties a bow on the book by asking what you like best about the trip.

This is a great book for planning the rest of your life. Again, I buy it by the case and give to everyone involved in any type of business! My way of helping others grow as I grow myself. A must read!

A popular leadership speaker and prolific author, John C. Maxwell has a great deal of experience in the process of personal growth, and he communicates it well. This book, published as The Success Journey in 1977, is a useful step-by-step guide to plotting your journey to success, right down to the thoughtful exercises at the end of each chapter. Maxwell does a nice job of mixing the personal and professional sides of success and encouraging you to redefine it. His definition is that success is following your true purpose and living up to your dreams and potential, rather than just accumulating wealth and possessions. The book is quite a fast read - probably because a good portion of it is devoted to quoting others - and its evangelical tone may not appeal to all readers. Maxwell also makes frequent use of catchphrases, which help fill a page but say little. We recommend this book to ambitious individuals looking for guidance on creating and following a workable, actionable life plan.

The Roadmap to Success is by far the best motivational book I have ever read. It was the first book that I have read by Maxwell, and since then I have read four others. He teaches us a new way to think about success. Clearly stated success is: knowing your purpose, growing to reach your potential, and sowing seeds to help others. It is amazing how much better you perform and how much more you enjoy life when you view success through this framework. If you have been successful so far in your life, this book will help reinforce any doubts you have about your choices and reaffirm the actions you have taken. If you are committed to growth and development then this book is a great start to helping you put aside your fears to get the most out of your life. If you are closed minded, resistant to change and generally a pessimistic person this book is not for you. While those people that continue to make excuses for their failures or the way their life turned out will never succeed, those who have the right mindset and follow Maxwell's advise will surely go far in life and reap the beiefits and joys of success.

The following is what I liked best:

The section on Goals
They MUST be activities that are: written, personal, specific, achievable, measurable, and time sensitive.

The Quotes:
"You can not make any progress when you are facing the wrong way." & the another one by Charles 'Tremendous' Jones who said "The only difference between the person you are today and who you will be in 5 years come from the books you read and the people you associate with."

The Benchmarking idea:
To attain success you should ONLY pick 3 to 5 areas to work on & grow in at one time.

The section on Choices:
In order to make progress it will involve 3 choices: to gain something, to lose something, or to trade something
and when you choose: pick the former rather than latter:
Achievement over affirmation
Excellence over acceptability
Personal growth over pleasure
Future potential over personal gain
Narrow focus over scattered interests
Significance over security

And finally the Laws on Developing others:
Take someone with you: "There is no success without a successor"

Rating: Strong Buy

I picked this book up at the San Francisco MOMA a few years ago. I saw it and immediately began to wonder, "What exactly did I do with my old Blythe doll"? I spent endless hours as a child, pulling the string, and clicking through the eye colors (though I always loved the purple best). In the absence of my girlhood doll, the book was a delightful trip down memory lane!

I'm a collector and I love having a book with photos of Blythe that I can study for the endless possibilities the doll offers for dressing and customizing.

..I just had to add that I picked this up not knowing that my 30-year quest for a beloved doll that was taken from me was about to end until I turned to the page (near the end) where the two dolls are wearing that famous green dress (the only part of my doll I was able to salvage).

Gina Garan, thank you!!

Oh my gosh I love Blythe! She is the best doll ever. in this book, gina garan photographs Blythe so well that the dolls actually look real. i have a Blythe doll collection for myself and I don't photograph it but maybe I should! Blythe might be expensive doll-whise but she's worth every penny! (Or every...dollar!) Blythe, your eyes can change but the rest of you can't! Blythe, dearest Blythe......YOU RULE!!!!!!!!!!

I am several years (almost 5 to be exact) reviewing this book but after seeing a few of Gina's Blythe pics online, I ordered this book and ever since I've been hooked! BIG TIME. These pictures and all of Gina's are so beautiful that I had to get a collection of my own Blythes underway ASAP. Here I am 5 years later and more than 20 Blythes richer! Get the book! Like most people I know, you'll either fall in love or be creeped out.