Distributors Books

it's a really great book, more like a bible if u pay atention to it. but if u want the original copy., don't buy it here. i payed regular price and it turn out to be a fake copy (i know the originals pretty well)

This is a really good book for teens and young adults. The book continues the story that efren and dhamar had a daughter citlalli and she goes threw alot of things as a teen.
The book talks about,sex,marriage,hiv,dignity,relationships,masturbation,homosexuality,abortion and many other things.It also talks about morals,values and ethics. this book is not recomended for atheist because it conects even with the bible. Also the author is very direct in what he says sometimes sounds like his giving a sermon but thats one of the things of this author he does not cover things with flowers and bees he is straight to the point even if you dont like it. it makes you think and see things in a nother point of view.

I believe that young teens should read this book before they think about getting into a relationship, especially a serious one. This book is also for people in their late teens and early twenties, it will do you good to read it. It contains very insightful, sometimes shocking information, over sexual behavior and tendencies. It is DEFINITELY a must-read! With the society that we live in, that encouarages drinking and sexual promiscuity, it'll make you think twice.

este libro se teata de muchos jovenes que laes pasan muchas cosas como por ejemplo un capitulo de el libro es de embarazos no deseados eso psas porque no tienen contacto con el padre de su nio tamvien otro capitulo de el libro es nobiasgo ese me gusto porqeu dise que nunca te debes de quedar a solas con ut pareja tambien otro es avorto se trata de una muchacha que quiso ayudar a todas las jovenes con aborto y ella se iso un avorto con camaras para ensenarselas a todoas las mujeres y sei evitar mas abortyos bueno espero que tengan tiempo para leer este libro pues selos recomiendo

If you are a person mature enough to recognize that you could use some advice, tips, maybe a couple of examples on how a good person can easily avoid making BIG mistakes, please read this book! Self respect, a clearer understanding of life and why I was put on this planet, are two very important things I discovered after reading this book, among other beutiful qualities. A complete guide for knowing how to handle your sexuality. Love is a privelege, not a sport.So please don't play it, cherish it! You will grow immensly stronger spiritually, and you might even begin your very first relationship with GOD. God bless you if you too are able to find the meaning of life in this BEAUTIFUL book! I did.

"UN GRITO DESESPERADO" ES LA FUERZA QUE TE IMPULSA A PERDER TU MIEDO Y SACAR TU VALOR. SI TENIAS DUDAS DE QUE ESTABAS HACIENDO LO CORRECTO' ESTE LIBRO TE AYUDARA A COMPRENDER Y DESPEJAR TUS DUDAS. TE HARA PENSAR QUE SI NO HACES ALGO PARA CAMBIAR TU VIDA Y DEFENDER A LOS QUE TU QUIERES' QUIZAS, PUEDA SER MUY TARDE CUANDO DECIDAS QUITARTE EL MIEDO DE PELEAR POR LOS QUE TU AMAS.

Realmente este libro debe leer toda la humanidad, que tanto necesita de valores en estos dias. Si leyeran este libro, todo padre,madre, hermano, hijo y demas familiares aprenderian a ser felices y ahorrarse tantos sinsabores que la vida nos depara.
A todo padre que realmente quiera a sus hijos, les recomiendo este libro que a mi me parecio mas que extraordinario.

Tony Alcazar
Autor de "La Nueva Raza Latina en America"

Este libro esta escrito para que uno lo pueda leer y entender sin necesidad de poseer un harto vocabulario complicado. Te dan los consejos en castellano simple. Al igual que los otros libros de este autor, este te deja una importante leccion y depende de cada lector en aplicarla a su vida como mejor le parezca. Personalmente a mi familia nos ha ayudado mucho a valorarnos mas cada dia y a ver la vida de otra manera. Se los recomiendo a todos porque en fin no hay que esperar a que uno tenga los problemas para pedir ayuda. Lo ideal es evitar que "esos problemitas" que todos tenemos lo sepamos manejar y asi evitarlos y es asi como el autor nos muestra una guia a seguir en nuestras vidas.

Otro libro excelente de Carlos. Lo voy a compartir con mi familia y amigos, mas bien, les voy a regalar una copia, porque la mia la voy a leer muchas vecez mas y aplicare sus consejos para mi y mi familia. Gracias Carlos por compartir tus consejos aquienes mas lo necesitamos.

I must say that I admire Mr. Sanche'z approach to the realities of the youthful views of society in the world. I originally read the SHECCID book by him which drew me to read this book. It helped me understand a lot of viewpoints on how adults and teenagers view life and how the constant struggle between communication will always be..most importantly how life can be so intertwined... reminds me how small the world can be. One's choices can really have an impact in another's. I love the views Mr Sanchez expressed in these books and I recommend but of course!

I bought this book before I converted to Islam almost 7 years ago. I have read it over and over. For the lay reader it is thorough, easy to read and right on the mark.

I have since bought a copy for most members of my family. It is a general knowledge book and like its title includes information that 'everyone should know'. My intention in sharing it was to dispel many of the misconceptions people have about Islam and to open the door to understanding and dialogue. I personally have read no other book more suited for that purpose.

Great book!

Intro: This book is a great intro for Non-muslim readers. I was looking for a book just like this to give to my non-muslim friends. The book is simple and straight forward. It backs itself by using verses from the Holy Quran and Sayings of the Prophet (PBUH). The book also uses logic to explain why Muslims do what they do and what the benefits of the various acts of worship are. Furthermore, the book explains how Islam is not a set of rituals (as commonly understood) but instead is a complete way of life that starts with character and moral development.

Cons: I believe the book was written before 9/11 therefore does not include much about Jihad. I had to supplement this book with a few more articles about Jihad as well as Women in Islam (the two most misunderstood concepts).

Overally, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Islam or Muslims.

Just buy this book... you will love it
Easy, simple, breef.
highly recommended

Excellent book
Although this book has some grammar mistakes, it is very good
Just buy this book and I'm sure you will like it

She makes grammatical mistakes -- using a colon when she should've used a semicolon; writing `which' when she should have used `that'. Sometimes she gropes unsuccessfully for the right words. Her understanding of Christian theology is occasionally unsophisticated. THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING ISLAM, 2nd ed., by Yahiya Emerick, explains Islam to Americans more clearly than does this book.

But when Haneef wrote her book, Emerick's book wasn't around. Back in the mid-nineties, the only books on the subjects were written by lifelong-Muslim clerics with passable English, and who wrote a lot of grand statements that Americans were unable to understand, or were expected to (pardon the pun) take on faith because the author was a shaykh or mullah. Trust me, those books are a waste of your time, at least at first.

Suzanne Haneef looked around, saw that there were no book on Islam by an American, explaining Islam to Americans, and so she wrote such a book. It is precisely because she wasn't five-star qualified for the job that I applaud her for taking up such a daunting task.

Two final remarks: a) My criticisms of the book are to explain why I didn't give it the highest rating. I give it four stars -- it's still a good book, overall. b) I'm an atheist (Arabic, _kafir_) who is researching Islam for a novel I'm writing.

Goines scores an interesting tale of a criminal mastermind in the Midwest who builds an empire through business saavy and absolute power. The settings are vivid through his descriptive and detailed style, and the characters are gritty, realistic people with no options and trying to make a buck and remove themselves from harm's way.

The backdrop is mostly Detroit (with a bit of Chicago), so as a native Detroiter I found that very accurate and interesting. The protagonist is a classic anti-hero along the lines of a Tony Soprano...love him one minute, despise him the next. I think fans of the Mafia genre would find this a compelling read.

WELL THIS IS MY FIRST TIME READING A BOOK BY DONALD GOINES - I DONT THINK I WILL TRY ANOTHER ONE. I LIKE WHERE THE STORY WAS COMING FROM AND WHERE IT WAS GOING, BUT IT JUST DID NOT HOLD MY INTEREST. IT WENT FROM BORING TO CONFUSING TO MEANLESS IN EACH CHAPTER. I DONT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK - IT WAS A WASTE OF TIME, I COULDN'T EVEN FINISH READING IT.

This guy seemed to be ahead of his time. This was the first book I've read from Goines, but it won't be the last. He had a way of making the story so vivid, so real; he had a way of just bringing it to life and putting you right in the middle of the action. His characters in this story(the main ones) all had their own traits, and Prince and Ruby surely were the mad couple if there ever was one. The thing most impressive about it to me was he tied in actual events along with his story. The riots in Detroit, along with Black nationalist issues were key then, and he tied all of it in with what he was bringing to the table.

this book is great. it tells the story of prince, an inner city youth forced to rise from common street crimanal to commander and cheif in one of the most ruthless crime organizations in 1970s detroit. filled with truley detailed and discriptive writing about street life. this book portrays the risks it sometimes takes to gain respect and importance. a must read for any fan of crime novels, black or white. goines has struck gold again.

This is the third book that I've ever read by Donald Goines and now I'm confused about whether I like him as an author or not. This book was really hard for me to get into after Prince got out of jail. Then when the Cougars came in, I was all over it. Then when Ruby got all Queen Bee, I was bored again. It was just one big roller coaster of emotions. I'm still going to read another one, because I didn't like his first one, thought the second one was great...so I figure there's a pattern there too!

The book was smaller than I expected(after all, a movie was made that was based on it), but, after all, it is a comic book and there is plenty of content in it(a picture is worth half a page from a normal book). Anyway, a thing worth bying.

The Romans turn elsewhere for some invasion fun, Britain. These leaves Obelix very bored. Things perk up when Anticlimax, Asterix's British cousin, comes to visit. His village is the lone holdout in Britain.

Getafix makes him a barrel of magic potion, and the boys offer to help him transport it. They also take with them a strange new herb Getafix has discovered.

Great adventure for a great character as Asterix! Include it in your collection, it will be worth!

"Asterix in Britain" is the eighth Asterix adventure, first published in 1966, and later made into an animated movie in 1986. This is the original comic, and I really enjoy this one.

Caesar has taken over Britain, by only fighting during teatime and weekends, when the British are drinking cups of hot water and milk on their breaks from battle. All the Romans have gone over to make it part of the empire, while back in Gaul Asterix and Obelix are bored in their village. They have no legionaires to hassle, that is until a British relative of Asterix's comes and asks for their village's help. They have heard of the magic potion that gives the Gaulish village strength against the Romans, and they would like some to drive Caesar away. He gets the potion, a whole barrel, and Asterix and Obelix come with him to carry it. They dodge legions, lose the barrel, get captured, and even get caught up in a rugby match. Will the English village be able to push away the Roman armies.

It's great fun, like the Asterix's are, and shows Britain in a warm but funny and colourful way, which is interesting for a French comic. You can tell the two guys who write/illustrate the series (Rene Goscinny and Albert Udzero) love the place, and say so in the earlier prints of the comic to English fans. It's worth picking up, fan or newcomer to the series.

Asterix and friends are called to Britain to help a cousin who lives in a village plagued with the ubiquitous pest: Romans. "Asterix in Britain" is among my favourites of this cartoon, being both funny and quick-witted in observing some well-known stereotypes.

Much of the humour is based on poking fun at British stereotypes, which might be a touch on the nose for some. However, for those with less politically correct humour, these very gibes should give plenty of laughter. Coupled with the antics of Asterix and Obelix, the book is a great little story and a great laugh.

Any fans of the Gauls should really enjoy this installment. The way in which one or two icons of British culture actually arrived in the Isles was very interesting. I had not known it before. This is both an entertaining and educational book. Really. ;-)

I brought two books, this one and another one at the same time. This book is very idealistic and repetitive. I knew most info already. But I found a very good book written by some renegade ivy students at [...] , I strongly recommend that one. That book has strategy and is scary.

the book isn't too helpfull. Thanks God it wasn't too expensive. Only a small fraction of the book was about the addmission process. If you already know something about the whole thing and seek more info, it's not a good choice!

I was recommended this book from medicalhelpnet.com. I really thought it was a good buy. It was concise without being too redundant. I also like the essay books on Amazon.

I bought all the books and wound up using this one the most. The interview section was right on the money. I was asked questions verbatum from the book. I did read one review stating that the information was to basic. The sample mcat is worth the price of the book alone and there was nothing basic about it. Get this book.

Fair warning--if you aren't positive you want to be a doctor yet, get this book. If you're looking for a hint of MCAT study material and very generalized background information on medical school admissions, get this book. Only 3 chapters concern admissions. That's only 58 of its 192 pages devoted to admissions. Most of the information it contains concerns what to expect while in medical school and even study material for the boards, but I certainly do not feel the title is appropriate. An "Insider's Guide To Medical School ADMISSIONS" it is not. It's an interesting collection of medical information though, so for that purpose this book is worth the money, but not as advertised....certainly not an admissions guide.

I find it stunning that a black pimp (the author, Iceberg Slim)can take you inside the mind of a racially-mixed con man (protagonist, White Folks) in a time period where race where was a central issue of daily life. There is such an authentic feel to this book that it's hard to believe it's fiction. If you've never read Iceberg Slim before, prepare yourself for an up-close look at a world that most people don't even know exists. Urban culture as popularized by music and movies today has never been as glamorous as Snoop Dogg would have you to believe it is.

The fact that Iceberg Slim never enters popular lists of great American authors like Twain and Hemmingway is a shame. He's truly extraordinary. This book, as well as other Iceberg Slim novels, takes a look at the true feelings and struggles of the urban underworld. I would NOT recommend this book to readers under fourteen years of age.

-alan

THIS BOOK WAS GOOD ONCE IT FINALLY GOT TO THE POINT! THE BOOK WAS A SLOW DRAG THAT MADE YOU WONDER IF IT WAS EVER GOING TO COME TO AN END. I FELT KIND OF SORRY FOR WHITE FOLKS. HE WENT THROUGH ALOT BUT NEVER GAVE UP. I WILL READ ANOTHER ONE OF THE AUTHOR BOOKS BUT IF THE BOOK IS A SLOW AS THIS ONE WAS, I WILL BE DONE READING BOOKS BY HIM! I WANTED TO LIKE THIS BOOK SINCE HE INSPIRED 1 OF MY FAVORITE AUTHORS TO WRITE (DONALD GOINES). WHAT'S FUNNY IS THAT HE INSPIRED DONALD GOINES AND TURNS OUT DONALD GOINES IS BETTER! THIS BOOK WAS JUST TOOOOOOO SLOW!

In this story we get to see Johnny O'Brien grow up to a teen with his black mother named Phala. His father is white and was not around to raise him. Johnny looks white but is raised in a ghetto type neighborhood. When he is a teen his mother is gang raped and put into a mental institute. This is where the story really begins, when Johnny meets a guy street named "Blue" because of his dark skin. He takes Johnny under his wing as a partner in the con game and teaches it to Johnny. Blue street names Johnny "White Folks". Blue's whole life is "Con" and he believes that with a black partner who looks white he will be able to run the con on a larger group of people. Which turns out to be true, I had a good time reading about the different ways that they conned people and all their trials along the way. The book is comical in some parts. Blue really takes on a fatherly role for "White Folks" as his relationship with his lesbian daughter is not as close as he would like. I liked being taken to a whole different world while reading this book. Late 50's early 60's. The way they talked the slang and the price's of things - I really loved this book. White Folks and Blue go through a lot of drama - that they bring on themselves. I do recommend this book. I am looking forward to reading the sequel "Long White Con"

...Equipped with a slang term dictionary, this book has me spoiled.

It was good to take a break from the... "Sister-Sister-Fan-Me-At-The-Mall-Dissappearing-Blues-Aint-Like-Mine-Acts" sagas...
Truly poetry in motion as Ice Berg took me through the slums and gutter of the con game.

I truly fell in love with all "Trick Baby" characters as I learned more and more about concentrated 'White is Right' and Blue-Black phrases with no in betweens, amazingly how it applies to my world today, and frankly how somethings never changes.

This book is humorous and truly a gem. When it came to a close, I couldn't put it down, in awe that it was over, fiending for the next Robert Beck novel. So sorry I'd waited so long to get access to the spoken word of Iceberg.

-Sadgyrl
03/12/02

I loved reading Trick Baby. I read it within 24 hours, so whoever said it is slow I would have to disagree with. But let me warn you, it was a very, very depressing story. Do not buy this book unless you are prepared to have your heart ripped out! I won't give you a plot summary, but this is a story that deals with issues of love, lonliness and deciet. There are two types of people in the world: those who con and those who get conned. Overall, the book is bleak (antithesis of heart-warming) but very enlightening and entertaining. I would profoundly affected. Highly recommended.

George Bernard Shaw's ARMS AND THE MAN (original production: 1894) continues to entertain audiences a century later. Considered one of his "Pleasant" plays by the author (one might say, Comedies) this amusing
parody on War and Love is set in distant Bulgaria in the 1880's. Throughout the piece we witness curious interpersonal relations between the daughter of the household and her handsome officer and a gentleman
fiancé. But the small cast engages in almost farcical surprise developments: there's a saucy maid with upper-class pretensions,
and a dignified fellow servant with her best interests at heart. Raina's parents are the prototype for modern sitcoms, with their behind-the back finagling and opposing motivations.

As if the war between Bulgarians and Serbians were insufficient to provide dramatic chaos, Shaw introduces a literary wild card (THE MAN)
into this volatile mix: one Swiss mercenary named Bluntschli. As a fugitive from a ferocious calvary charge, the desperate man makes a nocturnal entrance into the heroine's bedroom, fleeing immediate death by climbing up a drain pipe--begging pathetic sanctuary from the
impressionable young woman. Should she hide and protect him--an enemy of her country, or turn him in? What begins as a potentially serious situation gradually devolves into delightful comedy and ends in romantic farce.

Shaw's sardonic wit mercilessly spotlights the manly art of war, false appearances (bravery, courtliness, obedience, social pretension), plus marital attempts to hoodwink the gullible spouse. Women's hearts seem fickle, while only the Man remains true to his original feelings. Despite the subtle themes of the hopelessness of being In Service and the superficial reputations of soldiers and maidens, this play offers moments of humor interspersed with wonderful opportunities for Stage Business. Regardless of the verisimilitude of the denouement women readers should take up arms to defend their men--no matter their rank. In the end it is Women's arms which prove stronger than Men's.

The book I am going to talk about is the book Arms and the Man By Bernard Shaw. I really did not like this book because it was hard for me to understand. The reason I didn't like it was because it was challenging for me. The English was hard to understand. I liked how the writer wrote the book and I would probably look for another one of his books. This book was more like an opera with out music. If I could have and known to I probably would not have this enthusiastic about the book. One reason I picked the book was because it was dealing with war and I thought it would have been cool to read about war, but when I got more in to the book it was really not about war it was more about a love at war. If you're an older audience it would be a good book, or if you're looking for a good love-war story.

One of the most important times,if not the most important,in English literature history was the 19th. century when a plethora of genres of fiction writing were flourishing with gay colours. Victorian literature was perceiving society and its swelling decay from various perspectives,stretching from Charles Dickens's depiction of destitutes and middle-class people to George Eliot's rustic illustration and even as far as Anthony Trollope's revelation of the dark end of the parliamentary tunnel. But a major fraction of the myriad distinguished novelists employed humour and comedy to focus on the social unstability and on conventions and traditionalism. Be it Jane Austen in "Pride and Prejudice" or Oscar Wilde in "The Importance of Being Ernest",humour always plays a distinct role in taming reality and simultaneously mocking it when other means of attack prove futile.

George Bernand Shaw might not be the most serious of prechers of the application of comedy to prove a grave point but in this drama,"Arms and the Man",by the late Victorian playwright,there's a vivid usage of sardonic humour and playful comedy to convey the futility and harm of old-fashioned social analysis. The theme is effectively that of war and love---and by extension marriage---and a combination of both. "Arms and the Man" is a short play of three acts that endeavours to decipher te compatibility between love and war and to portray how these apparently diametrically opposite truths of life are interwoven with each other.

The action takes place in Bulgaria in 1885 against a backdrop of war between bulgarian forces and Serbian and Austrian coalition army. Raina Petkoff is the young,beautiful and dreamy daughter of the Bulgarian Major Petkoff and is engaged to Major Serguis Saranoff who is out in the battles. She is standing on the balcony of their house near the Dragoman Pass and is conjuring up heroic images of her lover and seems to feel the "romance" of war and heroism herself. But then an enemy soldier,Captain Bluntschli,takes refuge in her room and this is what makes the whole drama happen. Bluntschli and Raina at first exchange certain comments of sceptism towards each other between them but then Raina's sympathy and compassion overcome her nad she protects him from his enemies. Next morning she and her mother Catherine see him off but consequences of sheltering an enemy soldier are not to be waved off so easily.

As the play shifts from one act to another,so does the focus;from war to love and then to the amusing connection between them. Raina's "hero" Serguis comes back from the war with the aura of heroism and gallantry and victory firmly round his head,and so does her father,Major Petkoff. And from this act onwards other characters of the play,namely the servant maid Louka and the manservant Nicola---who's actually engaged to Louka---are called into action and the plao now commences to branch out. the numerous dimensions of human nature are poignantly penned down into words and the characters's masks are exposed and each one of them is stripped down into imperfect and susceptible individuals. Serguis is proven to be a flirt andfar from a contented happy model of a soldier;Major Petkoff is discerned to be a man allof of anything beyond the battlegrounds,a man who cannot translate his nous on the military front to daily household activities;Louka and Nicola bring valuable import of snobbish humility of servants in to the story;and even Captain Bluntschli,who makes a dramatic and eventually crucial entry into the plot again,is transgressed from a mere "professional" Swiss soldiers to one who shatters the veil that society,and the individual in the realm,wares.

"Arms and the Man" then is both an amusing and thought-provoking play that retains its relevance even today,more than a century after it was first conceived. George Bernard shaw mocks at the popular theories on war and love and coalesces a military satire with a taunt on love and family structure. The play is replete with brilliant dialogue,flashing wit,buoyant humour and bitter sarcasms which reach their acme in this statement of Captain Bluntschli to Serguis:"I'm a professional soldier:I fight when i have to,and am very glad to get out of it when I haven't to. You're only an amateur;you think fighting's an amusement". Indeed as a Swiss hotel-keeper's son,Bluntschli had no reason whatsoever to get involved in war and it's in this absurdity that Shaw questions patritic sentiments. Shaw explores the whole concept of war and military both from the victors as well as the vanquished's angles and in the end shows that the feelings surfacing in both the camps aren't different at all.

The precision of language,piecing and biting mockery on the common notions of life are entangled with a gentle assurance of the gradual movement of the story towards a fairytale gratification. The end where all charactes are rendered happy and lovers change and love shifts is what underlines the essence of this drama as a comedy. First published in 1894,"Arms and the Man" is also remarkable for its explicit treatment of sexuality which was either denied or shyly elucidated in early Victorian literature and in this feature George Bernard Shaw paves te way for other writers to make their respective marks. This is a play that sustains its image of possessing a universal appeal and of the hopelessness of misconceptions of the basics of life and is apt in this modern day culture when the concepts of war and patriotism and love and marriage have taken massive blows. George Bernard Shaw's "Arms and the Man" would maintain its ambition and relevance as long as there're things like love and war.

Comedies are often stuck with the unfortunate reputation of having little real depth. Arms and the Man, however, is one of those comedies that proves that notion to be false. Shaw's play is quite the masterpiece of comedic drama, combining an utterly entertaining plot with true philosophical depth.

On the plot level, Arms and the Man is a successful, and somewhat unique, romantic comedy. The young, melodramatic, and rather superficial Raina comes from a military family deeply involved in a war, her fiancé and her father both being officers. She is surprised, though, one night by the arrival of an enemy soldier. She rescues him, knowing that she'll have to keep the episode a secret from her family forever, and the soldier eventually leaves. Of course, once the war is over, that soldier comes back, forcing each of the primary characters to reevaluate their values and their relationships.

It's really quite surprising how Shaw layers meaning within the somewhat standard comedic plot. Shaw manages to comment philosophically on class constructs, on the absurdity of war, and even on the nature of love. And, of course, he does so quite wittily and within a satisfying plot. A lot of times, Arms and the Man is thought of as one of Shaw's lesser plays, but that's really not accurate. There is so much here to think about that I think a lot of people miss. Arms and the Man is truly a masterpiece of comedic theater and is definitely one of Shaw's very finest works.

First staged in 1894, ARMS AND THE MAN might best described as a comic opera without music. The story concerns Raina Petkoff, a young woman given to melodramatic displays of emotion who has recently seen both her husband and her would-be husband off to war. She is most disconcerted to find an enemy solider hiding in her bedroom following a decisive battle--but fancying herself in the role of romantic heroine, she elects to help him escape. Trouble is, he comes back.

This is in some ways among the least of Shaw's work. Still, the nonesensical situations, witty dialogue, and delicious ironies of the situation make for a memorable package, a package which Shaw ties up in ribbons of ideas about the illusions of romance, the realities of love, and the practicalities of war and peace. The result is a delightful confection with unexpected depth, and the combination has caused ARMS AND THE MAN to be among Shaw's most often revived works. Not among Shaw's great masterpieces, but worthy reading all the same.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I always enjoy books about books or bookstores. This one was pretty good.

The writing style was refreshing and did not go into too much useless details about the book business (i.e. financial aspect,etc).

I was amazed at all that was accomplished by Jeannette Watson and thought the book was very interesting.

A great read for all who love to browse bookstores and ever wondered about how they came to be.

I bought this book thinking I would save it to read during one of those rare times that I didn't have anything else to read. That time came sooner than expected, but as I started reading Bookstore, I found that I hadn't given it the credit it deserved. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the twenty year account of Jeannette Watson's bookstore ownership from the time it was just an idea until the day the doors closed forever.

Although, the lack of chapters or any sort of division in content was foreign to me, I loved the way it was put together with words that seemed to come from Jeannette Watson's personal journal (written by Lynne Tillman) as well as quotes from famous authors and regular customers.

By the time I got to the end of the book, I felt like I'd visited the store regularly even though I've never even been to New York City where the store was located. I could almost smell the atmosphere as it was described and as it was decided to close the store, I grieved right along with other customers who saw the closing of the store not only as a personal loss, but a loss for community as well.

Although, I don't condemn the bookstore chains in any way, it's very unfortunate that there isn't room for the independently owned bookstores to survive alongside them. I've always felt that to be true...but even more so after reading Lynne Tillman's Bookstore.

If you've ever dreamed of owning a bookstore, you will love this book as you live vicariously through Jeannette Watson's own dream come true!

Although I enjoyed reading about the arc of a bookstore's life, I thought that this book was self-indulgent and self-centered in its view. A bookstore is a business, not a public service, and it is interesting that all of us here would be damned as the people who put this store out of business by choosing to buy our books from Amazon.com, rather than our local independent store.

Perhaps my view is colored by my day-job, but I think that had Watson worked harder on the "store" half of the bookstore, she might still be in business.

At its most basic, Lynn Tillman's "Bookstore: The Life and Times of Jeanette Watson" is an oral history of the life cycle of one independent bookstore, in this case Books and Co. in New York. Spanning the mid-'70s to late '90s, the book is a collection of reminscences by booksellers, writers, and patrons of the bookstore intercut with the "memoir" of the store's owner, Jeannette Watson. (In a strange twist, the memoir is written by author Lynn Tillman from interviews held with Ms. Watson, which is a little jarring. Maybe Ms. Watson had an aversion to taking credit for a ghost writer.)

The book chronicles years that marked a decline in independent bookstores around the country. It is fanciful and nostalgic -- anyone who has ever worked in either publishing or a bookstore will appreciate its accuracy and the affectionate tone. It is also full of suggestions for lesser known literary reads; a nice tear out list of 50 of the store's lesser known finds is found at the book's end.

I enjoyed the book without loving it. I'm sure many book lovers will find it a worthy escape from the usual.

This book is primarily an extensive assemblage of quotes and reminiscences from the various and sundry parties connected with Jeannette Watson and/or Books and Co.

What this book did was give me a crash course into the world of Literature as High Art as defined by the guardians of cosmopolitan New York "high culture." They are indeed an intellectual, highly educated, well-read crowd. Yet I cannot seem to get past the needless pretentiousness and arrogance that inevitably goes along with it. I could make many harsh, critical and obvious observations about Jeannette Watson and how she reveals herself (and is revealed by others) within the pages of Bookstore (other than this one). But instead I'll take the (sort of) high road and say that she comes across as a person who sincerely loves reading and enjoys literature, be it hi-brow, low brow, or anything in between as long as it talks to her, as it were. And that is wonderful.

But the book itself comes across as a self-congratulatory toast to a group of elitists who, for a time, kept the wolves of mainstream pop culture at bay (not that this is in itself bad - mainstream pop culture IS the societal equivalent of cotton candy - good for an occasional snack, but a lousy meal). The irony is, that what did Books and Co. in was another scion of highbrow culture - a New York art museum.

So what are we left with? Probably the loss of a good bookstore that need not have gone out of business had its owner been more financially savvy (another irony in itself). The anecdotes are sometimes interesting, and it is an interesting birds-eye view on how to (in some cases) and how not to (in others) run a bookstore.

I read Nesta Webster's "French Revolution" a few years ago and was extremely impressed. I found her narrative vivid and well written, her research impeccable and her conclusions illuminating. I felt that she successfully exposed the inner workings of the Revolution and traced its origins to the artificial machinations of secret societies. From my point of view it seemed like her assertions were well supported by primary source citations. I eagerly sought to read more of her books and was excited when I got my hands on this one. I mention my esteem for her other book only to establish that my disappointment with "Secret Societies and Subversive Movements" was not politically motivated, as many of her critics are. I found this book to be practically unreadable.

I don't recall ever reading such an impenetrably opaque, poorly written, disorganized and incoherent work of purported history. It gives one the impression of reading the jumble of Ms. Webster's working notes, rather than an organized historical thesis. The author's plan for this work was apparently to utterly deluge the reader with every tidbit of information- factual and theoretical, contradictory and consistent- ever written on the subject of secret societies and have us make sense of it somehow. That I was completely unable to do.

Apart from the book's lack of logical organization, the big problem is that there are few reliable primary sources on secret societies, which by nature are- of course -secretive and exclusive. They're not big on record keeping or publicity, especially if their aims are subversive. Therefore, Ms. Webster was reduced to presenting us with a ragbag of second and third-hand legends, unsupported assertions, rumors, occult conjectures and metaphysical theories. It wasn't surprising that once objective standards of historicity were abandoned, Ms. Webster found it easy to shoehorn every member of the conspiracist's enemies list into the mosaic and find a direct relationship between the lot of them: Babylonians, Druids, Egyptians, the Assassins, Templars, Gnostics, et al. It really became mind-numbing after a while. I am frankly surprised at so many positive reviews for this book, but judging from the extremely vague descriptions contained therein, I would have to conclude that most of the favorable reviewers didn't understand it any better than I did.

I believe in conspiracies. The people who don't believe that bad men of common conviction secretly join together to plan nefarious activities are the ones who need their heads examined. However, I think this book represents the opposite error of seeing a conspiracy behind every_event_and a spiritual and historical relationship common to every secret society down through time. I think that it's comforting in a way to blame all of history's evils on a single, identifiable group or groups of people, like the Masons, or secret societies in general. It gives us a tangible target to fight, against which we can conceivably win. It's much scarier to think that the real motive forces for history's events are simple human stupidity, chance, greed, and the inclination to evil that exists in every human heart.

I still admire Ms. Webster's work and will definitely read more of her in the future. However, I earnestly warn the reader away from this book. I don't know what other book to recommend on secret societies, but I think I can safely say that this one will utterly repel the objective reader.

Well what can I say. It is a pretty good book although she is an ultra-leftwing political conspiracy theorist. People seem to forget the Fascism is an ultra-leftist ideology while anarchism would be an ultra-right. She places too much emphesis, with distorted facts about Zionism and this "Jewish" conspiracy. If anything from the manipulation and continual twisting of facts today concerning Israel would prove exactly opposite to her position. There is more of an International Socialism/Communism or even one could argue "Theosophy" and its ideological cohorts are determined to undermined Judaism. This arguement is holds much water due to the fact that all subversive movements are based on previous Gnostic Pagan ideologies while Judaism is the only sole faith based on monotheism. Debase Judaism, the debasement of Christianity is a very easy task. I would deffinately suggest "The Rainbow Swastika"-H.Newman or "Hitler's Preistess" for a well rounded background to understand where Webster attained her vast, and contorted hatred for the Jews. As a Christian I found many of her facts in the sections "Ancient Secret Traditions","The Cabalists", "Jewish Peril" as well the section on the Talmud to be held from a traditional anti-Jewish Catholic point of view. I believe, and advocate, that if anyone truly wish to understand Cabbalah or the Talmud to walk into your local Orthodox Synagogue and ask all your questions to a learned Rabbi. In the Jewish Culture Education and teaching others, like in Christianity, is considered a blessing. Therefor when it comes to the specifities of Jewish Theology one must go to the source, the Rabbi and the Bible. Webster bases no fact that the Jew is the only people on this planet that practice the faith Pharasee Jesus Christ had worshipped, nor does she give any account whatsoever that the entire ethical, values and moral system and the belief in one G0d in the Christian West is solely due to the Jew. I believe that any individual above the mere minimum level of intellect would knowledge themselves to the long history of anti-semitism. This World Jewish Conspiracy is a fraud. Israel is a State therefor Zionism is technically no more. The book is very interesting although it is very clear that she dismisses Communism and the Power Elite in Britian and America: Round Table Group and the forerunners to the Council on Foreign Relations (see "Fabian Freeway" - R. Martin. Looking back one can accurately see that Webster's insight was misguided but I must admit that for her day, one might actually believe her work, due to the 1920's the Protocols were in full swing, Pogroms, the Dreyfus Affair, Revolutions. It is too bad that Carnagee, Ford, Rockefeller (CFR) and most of the elite are not Jews. Nor are they Christians or even Muslims. A Christian believes in Jesus, A Jew believes in G0d, A Muslim believes in Mohammed and their god Allah. These power elites are gnostic or G-dless at best. It is a very interesting read but very obvious written with an agenda to further the Jew as the traditional evil in a Protocolist, anti-Semitic Europe.

This is a good book. Now I second everyone'se ratings with encorced acceptance BUT JESUS taught AGAINST ALL deception and any occultic movements and actions. I was in the Black Dragon and I will take a risk in saying that online but oh well. Believe me, they are very much occult and connected to illuminism. I do NOT support any of that. Any version of the Bible will clearly state this about the truth of Jesus and being a Christian. And no, it does NOT mean anyone is perfect. History books will not reveal what this book will reveal because secret societies do NOT allow their secrets to be taught openly in a way that will give anyone the power to stop them, expose them and otherwise defeat them. This is why they are called SECRET SOCIETIES. So even though you will see books and myriads of information on them through the net, you will never get a true list of all member's names, where they live and their own connections to groups like the Illuminat. And if they do that, they would be risking death for sure. The truest and darkest secrets that would damage them will not be revealed enough to allow the world to truly stop them save World War Three, and with the way things are going, I would not doubt that this will not happen in the future sorry to say:( This is what happens when you take the side of the occult in satanism via witchcraft and any occultic movement desiring a one world order under their sick, twisted and dark agendas. GOOD BOOK.

This book written by Nesta Webster is not a typical sensationalistic book.
While this work is dated,it's also loaded with a lot of information about well-known and little-known secret societies.This author investigates the origin,founders,and in some cases the actions of these organisations.The French Revolution being one.
Not all of these societies are bad and that is expressed in this book.
This book is an excellent introduction to the study of secret societies and I recommend it.
It's written well and despite it's size,I found it hard to put down.

Originally published in the 1930s this book covers several known secret societies that made a mark in history. The Islamic assassins, the Knights Templar, the Freemasons, the Bavarian Illuminati among others are all explored. The big thing that this book does that other more recent books on secret socieites don't do is it explores the role of Jews, the Cabala and International Jewry in this age old conspiracy. This is something that is completely neglected in most recent conspiracy related books due to political correctness. While only a fool thinks that all Jews are somehow involved in this it takes an equally foolish person not to see that while the majority of them are not Jews, Jews are still disproportionately involved and the roots of most, if not all, of the ideologies and tools that move the globalist conspiracy forward spring forth from ideologies and ideas that have roots in the Jewish culture.