Bibliography Books

Recieved item on time, right when we were told it would arrive. Book in very good condition.

This Book seems to be a great tool; I have not had the opportunity to really get into it yet!I am sure I will enjoy!

This product has proven to be an outstanding reference for a teacher of any subject. If you're looking to elaborate on a concept studied in class, music is an outstanding way to relate to students. With the ease of downloading music, lesson plans may be materialized in a matter of minutes with authentic discussion to follow. It works beautifully with any unit. Additionally, the book is categorized for easy reference.

As the Video Hound's Guide is for movies, this book is for songs. It categorizes the songs logically so you can always find a song that relates to what you are teaching to help engage kids, help them connect the content to their world, and sometimes even teach content. (Maybe ask your school librarian to buy a copy if you do not wish to spend the money on it.)

Now in an updated and expanded fifth edition with over 14,000 songs added (and featuring over 35,000 songs overall), The Green Book Of Songs By Subject is a comprehensive and very strongly recommended, "user friendly" reference for looking up popular songs by subject. Basic topics such as Freedom, Rivers, specific states and cities, etc. are listed in alphabetical order; each listing is followed by appropriate song entries arranged by title. An especially excellent book for tracking down the title, composer, or publisher of popular as well as obscure songs, The Green Book Of Songs By Subject is a core addition to the reference shelves of academic music history reference collections, and would prove invaluable in the personal reference libraries of professional musicians, DJ's or music-writers who can't afford to waste time struggling to remember (or needing to track down) who composed, performed, or produced a given tune.

A self-described "working class intellectual" with a passion for collecting jazz records and a "flunky gig" as a file clerk in a VA hospital, Harvey Pekar pioneered the literary comic genre. His long-running series American Splendor portrays not caped superheroes with bulging muscles, but the everyday life of an ordinary guy in Cleveland. Pekar's autobiographical vignettes are introspective, honest, and often funny, candidly revealing his flaws and failures as he pushes on heroically in pursuit of love, companionship, and creative fulfillment.

Pekar's realistic dialogue (the characters speak in different dialects, which helps you "hear" them in your head) accompanies a wide range of art styles by a number of comic artists, from the quirkiness of R. Crumb to the stark realism of Greg Budgett and Gary Dumm and the meticulous, photographic detail of Gerry Shamray.

For me, this book was a great introduction to an addictive series. Chock full of amusing anecdotes and musings on everything from race relations in Cleveland to the joy of a good pair of shoes, it's a slice of life in comic book form.

I've been a fan of Harvey Pekar's work for over fifteen years. The first time I ever read his self-published comix, American Splendor, I was impressed by its examination of everyday life. His self-effacing humor grows on those who want more than mainstream comics starring spandex-clad teens with superpowers. Compared with Pekar, Spidey has it easy.

I was happy when this movie tie-in release of his early collected work was published. The everyday brilliance of the real life interactions between Pekar and his friends, co-workers and loved ones merit more attention by discerning readers. It would behoove anyone who cares about the comix medium to claim a copy for their personal reading enjoyment. This volume is not for collectors, but for fans of alternative graphic literature who want more meat and potatoes rather than the visual eye candy of more mainstream publishers.

Pekar has been described as a "working class intellectual" (The Comics Journal), and this label is respectfully accurate. He comes from a generation who grew up devouring a culture that had more respect for intelligence than is common today. Instead of just mourning this trend, Pekar rebels from it in true beatnik fashion. His long-time association with R. Crumb (who drew the very first American Splendor story, "The Harvey Pekar Name Story") attracted other artists within Cleveland as well as from other locations as the series has progressed.

The everyday heroism of Pekar working a civil service job in order to create his vision of the potential of graphic literature comes through in every page of this collection. I am glad that there are other collections and issues of American Splendor that are available. It would be grand if future generations of comix fans could gravitate around the work that Pekar has never tired from creating. Even at the worst of his lymphoma and chemo treatments, he has never quit observing and relating the drama of everyday life.

i own i think every american splendor collection book there is, and this one is my favorite. there's a few in particular that really blow me away (the one with pekar wondering around a park, reflecting on his past marriage, his present, and whether there is a God is spectacular). there are a wide variety of artists, from the goofy robert crumb drawings to more serious ones. there are certainly weak points IMO, but not as much as in the other collections. while "the quitter" is his most consistent i've read so far, there's no replacement for finding a really cool comic collection like this and reading through it, finding a bunch of random pekar stories and seeing which ones you enjoy best.

American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar is the largest published collection of the comic series, containing the complete text of American Splendor and More American Splendor. With an introduction by R. Crumb and art by Kevin Brown, Gregory Budgett, Sean Carroll, Sue Cavey, R. Crumb, Gary Drumm, Val Materick, and Gerry Shamray this is 320 pages of a classic American comic.

Pekar's work is a cerebral approach to the comic medium. Many of the panels have no dialog and only illustrate the external while the text reveals the thought stream of Pekar's mind. His ability to portray the inner workings of his thoughts, in a humorous and sympathetic manner, is the key to the success of his writings. The comic is a working class version of Seinfeld with a populist self-made intellectual as the leading character. Yet there is a Existentialist angst to this work that puts it in a class by itself.

This collection of Pekar writings from the 1970s and 80s was issued on the heels of the film "American Splendor," and it collects some of the best of Pekar's earlier work. Although not exclusively chronological, the presentation of the material gives a good idea of Pekar's life from his post-high school days through his meeting and marrying Joyce Brabner. (For a strictly chronological memoir, see Pekar's recent The Quitter.)

In the later Pekar work, the centerpiece of much of it is Pekar's obsessive-compulsive anxiety. But a lot of this work focuses on what might be described as Pekar's existential anxiety: his terrible loneliness, his anger and alienation, his dark reflections on the meaning of life, his desire for recognition, his regret over wasted opportunities and adolescent hubris, and his worries about future contingencies (financial security, illness and death, old age). The Pekar who comes through in these pages isn't the lovable crank of the film. Rather, the person who comes through is the outsider, a self-educated man, extremely knowledgeable in literature and music, who disdains a "normal" lifestyle and seeks freedom through nonconformity. Perhaps the finest single piece Pekar has ever written, "I'll be Forty-three on Friday (How I'm Living Now)" speaks to all this. The collection's lead story, "The Harvey Pekar Name Story," in which Pekar winds up asking "Who IS Harvey Pekar?" is a perfect set-up.

Of course, there are also lighter moments in this collection. Mr. Boats (wonderfully illustrated by R. Crumb) appears here a couple of times, and he's always good for a bit of gently funny homespun wisdom. "Mrs. Roosevelt and the Young Queen of Greece" and "On the Corner: A Sequel, June 1976" are touching pieces about the bittersweetness of memory. And the penultimate story in the collection, "Common Sense," would make even a dyed-in-the-wool misanthrope love humanity.

Highly recommended.

In a previous review of this book, I mentioned some minor gaps in the discography. Actually, it was my own error, I hadn't noticed that the cut-off date for this mainly '60s-oriented work was 1972 and that releases by the artists discussed after that date were discussed fairly extensively in a "postscript" to the main entry on the group or artist.

In any event, that was only a very minor concern. As I've read more and more of this book, I've come to decide that it is an almost indespensible reference work for lovers of rock, blues and 60s music in general.

And I take issue with those who feel a bit miffed that this or that artist or group has not been included in this volume. If all goes as hoped, this book will be one of many in a series devoted to music of the 60s. The old goats at Old Goat Publishing are hard at work at follow ups, so please be a little patient. (You can check them out at www.oldgoat.com.) Many artists of the era were eclectic to the point where genre bending became their modus operadi. Creatively, that was an exciting and flat out wonderful turn of events. Critically, well, it makes classification and categorization all the harder.

Yes, Led Zeppelin had a strong blues influence, but there would be a much stronger argument for including them in a future volume on "metal" or "megastars." The focus of this work is more on those artists that you may NOT have heard of and whose work deserves attention. (No one can deny that Led Zep has not had a fair amount of ink spilled in their name.) By comparsion, the inclusion of Cream in this volume is justified, not just because Cream was significantly "rootsier" than Zep, but because (apparently) an editorial decision was made to include all of Eric Clapton's work in one volume.

And speaking of Erics, wouldn't Burden be more appropriate in an eventual "British Invasion" volume? Yeah, it's all somewhat arbitrary, but if you're familiar with any kind of criticism (literary, film, music or whatever), you know that those kinds of distinctions are absolutely necessary. There are people out there, for instance, who will tell you in no uncertain terms that "classical" music should NOT be an umbrella term for the music of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern eras. But sometimes that kind of critical shorthand is necessary if you're going to have any kind of discussion at all.

BLUES-ROCK EXPLOSION should help initiate discussion of the oft-neglected music to which it is devoted. There'll be plenty more to discuss with future volumes in the Old Goat series. At least this old goat hopes so.

Whenever I find a book that devotes significant ink to my all-time favorite singer (the criminally neglected Tracy Nelson--and no, I don't mean Ricky's TV actress daughter), I can't help get excited. BLUES ROCK EXPLOSION devotes several pages to Tracy and her original band, Mother Earth. And the info is all pretty much accurate, with quotes dug up from what now must be pretty obscure sources like late 1960s HIT PARADER articles. (HP used to be quite the informative little music mag back in the day--before it went heavy metal hair band crazy.) There are gaps in the discography, and that disturbed me a bit. But any coverage of this great singer in a major publication is heartening nonetheless.

Interesting though, the entry on Tracy goes on at some length about the inevitable Joplin comparisons (which were always somewhat misleading, since Tracy was more gospel influenced and much less raspy and raw than Janis--god love 'em both though). But oddly, there is no entry on Joplin herself. Hmmm. Could it be that they're going after only the rootsiest of "blues rockers" for this book, and that Janis and Big Brother will surface in some future volume (psychedelia maybe? or rock icons in general?).

Some of the reviewers below complain about this or that artist or group not being included in this otherwise fairly comprehensive reference work. I AM guessing here, but as indicated above, this appears to be the first in a series of Old Goat publications, and it is likely that when the artists overlap genres that they will be included in some other volume. Led Zeppelin may strike some as the "ultimate blues rockers" as one poster notes below. But, as mentioned, this book's focus seems to be on the rootsiest artists--and Led Zep could be being saved for the metal volume. And of course, Zep only showed up at the tail end of the 60s (which is the temporal focal point of this volume) and went on to conquer the world mainly in the 70s, so that could be another factor.

I have less of an answer for why Eric Burden and the Animals didn't make the cut, however, although Eric could slip into a psychedelia volume later on too (that just wasn't his BEST work). And maybe Hot Tuna was too much tied to the San Fran scene as well (though on their own, they were pretty darn rootsy too). Well, we'll have to see what future efforts by the Old Goats bring. In the meantime, this is welcome coverage for some pretty deserving artists, much of whose work is still available. Even though the book is a bit on the pricy side, I recommend it to any half-way serious student of the blues.

No cobbled-together overview, this is an impressive, meaty book of great integrity. Care has obviously been taken to do the research & get the facts straight. "Heavy hitters" like John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac, the Butterfield Band & the Yardbirds are covered admirably in a way that is both comprehensive & concise. Lesser known artists also appear, & when reading the book one constantly encounter players who would turn up in other places, at other times. The reader feels himself in good, knowledgeable hands from the get-go. (Martin Celmin's introductory essay is worth the price of the book in & of itself.)
It's that rarest of things, a book that is both entertaining & a solid reference work as well. The A-Z approach also makes it, as my friend Chris Darrow calls it, a great "toilet book." Meaning, I hasten to clarify, a book one can dip into whenever or wherever.
It's the first in a series, & I look forward to the future volumes.

This book is fantastic! The only thing that would make it better yet, would be the addition of a few more blues artists that seem to have been left out. (The Animals, Eric Burdon, Spencer Davis,...and WHERE is Led Zeppelin!...the greatest Blues rock band ever??) It is still well worth owning, if you can still get one...lots of information, and things even an avid Blues Rock fan probably didn't know. The "Introduction" is one of the best parts, giving you virtually a complete history of how this great music evolved. Gives Blues Music the attention it has deserved for so long, and never got.

Old Goat Publishing Company, located in Mission Viejo, California, is a group of elite rock music writers who have come together for a common purpose: Bring the vibrant music scene of the 1960's to life in a series of books that are painstakingly researched and meticulously detailed. Blues-Rock Explosion, the first offering in this series, delivers 42 profiles of many of the seminal groups of the so-called "Blues Revival Movement of 1968." Generously assisted by recollections from many of the principals involved, Blues-Rock explosion paints a vibrant portrait of a (primarily British) scene suffused with excitement, as the musicians start by slavishly imitating the great American bluesmen like Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters, then grow by leaps and bounds to create an entirely new genre (blues-rock) that forms the basis for much of popular music's later development into hard rock and heavy metal. One could argue for inclusion of more bands, such as, say, the Animals and Led Zeppelin, but the author's decision to limit the time period covered (from roughly the mid-1960's until 1973) puts sensible boundaries around the subject, making the book's length a very manageable 300 pages instead of 900. Several future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are detailed in these portraits (the Allman Brothers, Cream, Eric Clapton, and the Yardbirds), but just as compelling are the chapters concerning artists whose careers were cut short by tragedy (the Mark Leeman Five, Jo Ann Kelly). Also, even though it is not surprising that many of the British artists played with and were influenced by each other (since England is a smallish country), it is a great pleasure to read that Chicago in the 1960's remained a vital component of the blues scene, contributing such greats as Electric Flag, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Mike Bloomfield, and Nick Gravenites. Last, and perhaps most important, Blues-Rock Explosion finally spotlights such long-neglected heavyweights as Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Canned Heat, and Ten Years After, many of whom are not only still alive in the 21st Century, but are still contributing relevant, listenable new albums to those of us who never tired of hearing the blues in its many incarnations. Good luck and continued success to the Old Goats for continuing to believe that these great artists are still worthy of our attention.

I have searched all over for a good book about Sinclair Lewis and his writing. This one is the best anyone could hope for. It has a useful and very easy-to-use format and unlike other similar books, it is LOADED with photographs-- a pic is worth a 1000 words. This book proves it. A little expensive, but worth it.

This book was a lifesaver. As a book collector, I cannot tell you how important a bibliography formatted like Pastore's can be. I wish he would write more. BRAVO to him for writing and to AMAZON.COM for carrying this book.

This book provides the most honest and concise bibliography of one of the foremost authors of our time and Mr. Pastore has essentially re-engineered how a bibliography should be written - that "thin" can be better than "fat".

All (ALL!!) bibliographies should be this clear and TO THE POINT. I hope this bibliographer works on some other authors. What value!!!

Intelligent and thoughtful analysis of a very difficult author. Quite nice, really and beautifully presented.

Excellent information on the history of gemstones, understanding color and cuts. Exquisite examples, beautifully photographed. A must for anyone interested in gemstones or the history of jewelry.

This is a beautiful book with lots of interesting information on the gem collection.

This review is for the paperback version of the book, which I loved. It has a lovely balance of terrific photos & explanations of the various sources of the featured gems. It serves as a nice beginning reference when you have heard the terms sapphire & red sapphire (huh? I thought red gems were rubys or spinels) and would like to know more about which gems are related to others.

And did I say the photos are just wonderful? Enjoy!

If you have visited the National Collection and want a souvenir to remind you of the stunning array of unique World Class Gems then this is the book for you. Both the format of the book and the superlative quality of the photography make this book the next best thing to being in the exhibition hall. There is a fairly light weight coverage of the gemmology in the text, but it mostly focusses on the history and ownership of these fabulous gems. The National Collection is unique, no where else in the world is there such a concentration of fabulous jewels with such an interesting history, with the possible exception of the British Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. This book is a fitting celebration of such a marvellous collection.

"The National Gem Collection," by Jeffrey E. Post, features photographs by Chip Clark. The book is a beautiful celebration of the title collection, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution. The informative text discusses the history of the collection, facts about types of different gemstones, and specific pieces in the collection.

The full-color photography is really stunning, and brings a rich assortment of gems to glorious life. Some of the historic pieces pictured are the blue Hope Diamond, the diamond Napoleon Necklace, the Hooker Emerald, and more. Also shown are a colorful collection of "fancy" diamonds, a rare red diamond, the 858-carat uncut Gachala Emerald, the delightful "pink tutu" (a band of dainty rose quartz crystals on a large smoky quartz crystal), a dazzling group of fire opals, a lapis lazuli carving from Afghanistan, and more.

I appreciate how the book celebrates gemstones at various stages: uncut, cut, and set in artfully crafted pieces of jewelry. Many different types of gemstones--aquamarine, garnet, spinel, chrysoberyl, turquoise, etc.--are covered. Features such as a scanning electron microscope photo of the inner structure of an opal give the reader a deeper understanding of the science behind gems. From start to finish, this book is a marvelous feast for both the eyes and the brain.

In the wake of 9/11, the terrible finger of terrorism touched everyone.

For those with even the faintest glimmer of further interest, where to start is the obvious question. Professor Leon Newton, Ph. D., provides the answer. His book, Terrorism 101: A Library Reference & Selected Annotated Bibliography, is a valuable tool for the neophyte reader on the subject and for the terrorism researcher. His diligent, thoughtful and thorough analysis provides an overview account of terrorism - a massive subject that is a particularly pungent topic for most of us - while providing an excellent annotated bibliography which allows those interested to pursue further reading.

As a former student of terrorism, I wish this book had been available when I sat down to write my thesis. Unlike many academicians, his prose is lucid, direct and easy to digest. I would highly recommend this book as the perfect starting point for anyone interested in terrorism. To those already informed about the topic, his bibliography will greatly reduce the effort and time needed to discover new sources that are worth examining.

Tom Peric, president, Cherry Hill, NJ-based Galileo Communications Inc., and the author of Wacky Days.

When bullets are flying and emotions running at a fevered pitch, it is a difficult thing indeed to maintain composure and seek to inform without inflaming. This book is such a work. Dr. Newton here presents a well-written objective primer on the practice of terror particularly in the last decade of the 20th Century and the beginning of the 21st. This is not to say that the past is ignored. Dr. Newton starts out with a good introduction to the history of the practice of terror; first as an instrument of state policy and then to its modern incarnation as a weapon of forced social change.

This book is written in an academic style, but that shouldn't deter the average reader. History that is well written and crafted with the reader in mind can be read quite handily by anyone with the desire to learn. The reader is aided in this quest through the use of `Appendix A'. This appendix is a rather well-done compendium of resources on the subject of terror. It includes references and excerpts drawn from materials that back up and expand upon the points made in the main body of the text. They also point the reader to further sources of information as this subject is quite complex. It is refreshing the author includes these as it helps the reader to formulate individual thoughts and opinions on the problems and possible resolutions, the freedom to do so being the cornerstone of a free society and the responsibility of its members. This book is highly recommended to both academics and casual readers interested in terrorism and security in today's world.

The author, Dr. Leon Newton, Ph.D., is a Professor of Political Science at Jackson State University and has taught courses on a wide variety of subjects within this field. He has received numerous awards and recognition for his work. Other interests include the writing of fiction and a screenplay.
Reviewer: John Helman, Allbooks Reviews

Terrorism 101 is an annotated bibliography, a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief descriptive and evaluative paragraph, or annotation, the function of which is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

Webster defines terrorism as "the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion." For most, that definition is sufficient, but there is no single definitive definition of the word. Author Leon Newton says, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." I believe that "terrorism" is a relative term open to many different interpretations.

Newton observes that most "terrorists" do not conform to the typical expectation of what a terrorist is. For instance, he or she is not necessarily a socially or economically lower-class person. Newton combines many different views to support his own perception of terrorism. There may never be a "complete" compilation of outlooks on terrorism simply because it continues to evolve on an almost daily basis. That being said, Terrorism 101 is certainly a good reference for today's current perspective on the term.

The book itself is not what I would describe as an easy read, but apropos to an annotated bibliography on the mark. Newton does use this venue to express his disagreement with the PATRIOT Act. I agree that the PATRIOT Act has its shortcomings, but more so I feel that it is for the good of the country. Certainly it is the result of a terrorist act and as such has its place in this book, but it should not be vituperated in each chapter. This book is recommended for those needing a thorough reference on the topic of terrorism.

Dr. Leon Newton is a Professor of Political Science at Jackson State University, and he has drawn on his experience as researcher, strategist, and analyst to author Terrorism 101: A Library Reference and Selected Annotated Bibliography. Written in thesis format, Terrorism 101 provides an exhaustive introduction to modern terrorism, and its effects on both world and U.S. policy. Dr. Newton goes a step further to provide a lengthy annotated bibliography of English language books, documents, court cases, and internet sites on a wide range of topics related to terrorism. Terrorism 101 would prove an invaluable research tool for the dearth of information on terror to libraries, researchers, political scientists, and students. Dr. Newton's writing is succinct and referenced, and he has written from a point of authority that lends credence to his arguments on causes and responses to terrorist acts beginning with the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center.

One aspect of terrorism that gives pause for thought is the very definition. Politically this has become a heated topic as more and more terms come spilling out of the Senate and Executive branch. Verging on McCarthyistic anathema in certain circles, the notion of the terrorist as any one other than a card carrying mujahadeen is becoming extinct. Acts like John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry or the bombing of the steamboat Sultana or even, perhaps loosely, the Boston Tea Party are largely forgotten in light of this new and somewhat ethnocentric definition of terrorism. The fatal flaw to this current American definition of terrorism is the loose way in which terrorist groups work. Dr. Newton provides numerous examples, but perhaps most vital is the rise of mujahadeen opposed to Communist occupation of Afghanistan. The covert aid the US provided to guerilla groups ultimately forced Soviet withdrawal, but the weapons and training where turned on US troops when war heated up post-9/11.

This brings to mind Benazir Bhutto's argument that the most successful weapon for a war on terror is education. People would not be inclined to violent protest if they understood the means of democracy and freedom of expression. But, this same argument applies to the US as well. In light of the ambivalence of No Child Left Behind's definitions of "proficiency" and "assessment", perhaps a misunderstood definition of "terrorism" comes as no surprise. That's where Terrorism 101 provides a vital link to understanding current US policy with insight to history and world events.

Dr Leon Newton brings us an extremely comprehensive study of terrorism. This book is more than a library reference book. It is written in an easy-to-follow format, covering the history of terrorism from Bible times to modern times. Organized terrorist groups are well covered, as are the mavericks. The weapons of terror, biological warfare, nuclear weapons and cyberterrorism are just a few of the issues discussed in the book.

My interest was captured and held from the book's introduction through the bibliography. Each chapter is preceded by its own introduction and most of the chapters are followed by a summary.

If I could choose just one word to sum up what the book does for its readers, I would say that it "Enlightens".

the most detailed read on so many artists&there impact on the charts.it covers Artists from A-Z&everything else in between.a very fun kind of read for folks like myself that just love Music.and also great to understand the changes with Charting&also how songs got as far they did&whatnot.a Great Read.

In recent years, the RIAA and its member record companies have bemoaned the decline of music sales, blaming digital music piracy and other hobgoblins. One look through this informative tome will tell you the real problem - the industry has destroyed its entree for the fans to new and talented artists - the hit single!! At $$$ a pop, not too many buyers are willing to try new or unfamiliar music, but at $-$, if an artist or group has several "hit" singles (established by radio air play), the subsequent investment in an album seems less risky. The music industry, in it's zeal to maximize profit by selling full length CDs instead of priming the demand pump with singles, has contributed to its own decline. If you peruse the shear breadth of music styles listed in Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles that have been able to make the "Top 100" over the years, you realize just how rich and exciting music WAS in the 50s through the early 80s. As the corporate entities who owned the stations became fewer and fewer due to mergers, the current blight of narrowcast programming blossomed. It worked - for a while. But a steady (and excessive) diet of your favorite food will ultimately become boring. This book is not just a dry list of song titles, artists and dates. It's our lives writ large in song - teenage crushes, first dates (and dances!), first automobile, leaving home, possibly time in military service, marriage, kids - all of these events punctuated with the musical nuggets listed in this volume. Here's hoping that a bright future continues to exist for the indelible impact of the "hit single".

This is a great collection for the music lover and for anyone who wants to get to know their favorite artist. This book features all of the songs from 1955 that hit the top 100. So if a song hit 92 you will find it in this book. the only problem I have with this is the price I think 50-70 dollars is high but it is worth it. I recommend this item to the music lover inside everyone.

You don't need to buy TOP POP SINGLES 1955-1999, because Joel Whitburn's own site (record research) will sell you the most up to date volume TOP POP SINGLES 1955-2002. I still have my TOP POP SINGLES 1955-1993. Essentially, it's the same book but updated by the year, by the inclustion of "B" sides, and Top Air Plays, making the new the edition the better buy. Why can't Amazon sell us the current most up to date record of this valuable resource? Any collector of popular music from 1955 to 2002, will find the TOP POP SINGLES 1955-2002, the best value. No school music library should be without this book as an addition to the curriculum. All songs the made the top hundred along with information on the artist is great as a resource book, a coffee table book or just for looking up your favourite song.

Joel Whitburn's book covers the pop charts from the Hit Parade era on up to the end of the century. This book is not just for collectors, but rather, it will satisfy anyone who loves music and has a desire to know more about the dynamics of the Billboard pop charts. Besides the easy, alphabetical listings by artist, the book includes features such as:

* debut date for each song
* a chronological listing, by peak date, of every song
* the peak position and weeks on chart for each song
* a listing, in the back of the book, of all song titles (listed alphabetically) in the artist selection
* assorted chart "facts and feats"

In addition, the book's typeface and bolding features makes it easy to read, without straining for particular entries. In total, this book is the most comprehensive source of info available for the music of this era. No one but Whitburn does anything close to this in terms of music factology. It's well worth the money, and if you intend on flipping through it over and over, the few extra bucks for the longer-lasting hardcover will be worth the expenditure.

I wish I had had this wonderful and varied list of children's books when I was growing up. Because I didn't, I know now that I missed out on a great deal of excellent reading. Just think, this collection of reviews covers 550 years of children's literature. There are 133 titles, and the reviews are written by 62 people from every walk of life. This is truly an amazing book, one that you will want to read from cover to cover for the pure enjoyment of it. It also contains brief biographies of all the authors as well as biographies of each of the reviewers. This is a book that should be at the elbow of every parent and teacher, to suggest different titles based on the reading readiness of each child. The editor has thoughtfully put together a compilation that you won't want to miss.

Donald W. Burnes, PhD

In reading the reviews in Rev. Peck's great undertaking I have found that many of them are of things I have read in my youth and others are of things I have heard about, but never read. Of the ones I have read, I find myself wanting to experience them again with a grandchild. Many fairy tales, fables and stories as they have been presented in modern times have been Disneyfied far away from the original and show little resemblance to what the author actually wrote. Many author's of children's literature were not concerned with political correctness if it interfered with an imaginative and worthwhile story. These reviews are a fine avenue for a parent, teacher or grandparent to refresh or increase their knowledge in preparation for exposing their own charges to the wonderful world of the imagination as represented in classic children's literature.

Choosing books for children can be a daunting task. So many out there, which are the good ones? Here is an anthology full to the brim of good ones. Variety, quality of prose, and thematic excellence are its hallmarks. It is a pleasure simply to read through. Reading is an adventure and now you have a road map!

Paul Lachlan Peck's "Classic Children's Literature" is a delightful collection of priceless works which are familiar, at least in title, to all of us. Stories from our own childhood and schooling are uniquely reviewed by a vast cross section of authors from all around the Country and from all different walks of life. This book is a "must" for your personal library and is also a great gift idea for family and close friends.

What better way to divert your children from the dead-zone of television and mindless video games than to offer a solid alternative?
Could there be a better choice for young minds than reading? Or a better source for their material than classic children's literature?
The great news is that in this single volume our dear friend Rev Paul Peck has collected all the research you'll need to aim those fresh minds toward the finest adventure, fantasy and wonder that these great authors have left us.
With such a wonderful guide there is no reason for them to miss out on the great tales you loved growing up.
I was proud to be a part of this project as I know this book will be you and your child's best friend!

Clute and Nicholls have produced a masterful piece of work here, the breadth and detail is immense, and even includes errata and other information at the end. An amazing treasure trove of information and is something I have found myself using many, many times this year, having gone through it from cover to cover. If you see one lying around at what looks like a decent price, get it without hesitation!

You could also use it to bludgeon camels.

Along with its companion volume, "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy," the editors offer the most comprehensive references currently available on speculative fiction, covering authors both minor and major, discussion of the impact of writers and their works upon the genre, influences both obvious and obscure, as well as erudite observations upon the history and development of imaginative fiction. And this is but a fraction of all this marvelous reference has to offer! Indispensable to either the devotee of the genre or the casual reader, this text, along with its companion, should grace the shelves of anyone seriously interested in science fiction or literature. As with most references of this scope, already it is beginning to become out of date, lacking entries for newer and already significant authors, such as China Mieville, but one can hope a new edition will soon be in the offing. I know I will rush out to buy it, and in the meantime there is more than enough information here to occupy and entrance me for many months to come. If you read science fiction regularly, shame on you if you don't own this book.

This is a massive reference work and an obvious labor of love. It covers almost every conceivable aspect of science fiction, from movies to history to criticism. This is the second edition of this work, with large updates to bring the work up to the time of publication (1992), especially new authors and newer works by old hands, and there has also been a good deal of new material added to the thematic sections.

For anyone wanting to develop a good course on science fiction , or anyone interested in how SF came to be what it is today, a perusal of these thematic entries on everything from ANTIGRAVITY to MUTANTS to UTOPIAS will yield a wealth of material concisely presented, profusely cross-referenced, and source material properly indicated. Often within these sections even an experienced long-time fan of the field will find works referenced that he hasn't heard of before but deserve a look.

Within the author entries you will find one of the works most useful features: a listing of all of that author's works that belong within a given series or author created world/universe, often with a good description of the salient features of these author worlds. Also very useful is a listing of all known pseudonyms for each author. Still another useful feature is the indication of every variant title a work has appeared under, which can end up saving the reader money by knowing that he already really has that title under a different name. But these entries are also the most problematic of the information presented in this volume, as the opinion of the writer of the piece (almost all of the author entries were done by John Clute) about the quality of each of the author's works clearly shows. While it is probably impossible to avoid having this type of opinion appear, what I found disappointing was the lack of indication that there are other opinions about some well known works (in some cases these other opinions run to millions of words and many a flame war on the internet), such as Heinlein's Starship Troopers. At the same time, these entries provide a wealth of biographical information and very complete bibliographies for every major and almost every minor writer who has ever written within the field, and this information seems to have been very solidly researched (at least I haven't been able to find any obvious errors, and I've been reading in the field for 40 years).

This is an expensive volume, but it is probably worth every penny of its price when you consider that it collects in one volume such a wealth of diverse information that prior to this work was scattered across hundreds of articles, essays, books, and research papers or had never been written about in any cohesive manner. Highly recommended for any serious student/fan of the field, and highly entertaining and informative reading for just about anyone.

This is a book beyond all expectations. It is thoughtful, detailed, deep, and enlightening. It is truly encyclopedic. SF as a genre had no right to expect such an asset to materialize. But it did, and we all gained something from it, if we loved SF and read any part of this spectacular work.

But...

It came out in 1993. SF is a young field. Where's the 2005 edition? Where are the continuing updates that should be available by subscription? Where's the sense of _community_ that is the distinguishing element of SF from all other genres?

It's a five-star work, no question. But, as a reference text, it is already obsolete, and will grow ever more so as the future unfolds. Will C&N write another? Can anyone else? I hope so, to either or both of those questions.

Sometimes they do a book and just get everything right. Many reference works on Sci-fi are distressing by how much truly essential material is left out or ignored. Not this one. For instance, years ago I read an extremely early and very odd book by Philip K. Dick called THE COSMIC PUPPETS. Most Sci-fi reading guides or dictionaries or surveys omit this title, but not this one. I have a friend who is an exceptionally good mainstream novelist, Jack Butler, who usually publishes his highly praised and critically acclaimed works on publishers like Knopf or Penguin. But he also published on Atlantic Monthly Press what he intended as a straightforward Sci-fi novel in the grand tradition. Because Jack's reputation is as a mainstream writer and because it was published on a prestigious literary press, the novel was almost universally ignored by the Sci-fi community and Sci-fi reviewers (even when Gregory Benford wrote a review lavishing it with praise, it was published not in a Sci-fi mag but in the New York Times). But when you look Jack up here they not only have a listing, they recognize the book as the superb work it is and evince an understanding that its failure in the Sci-fi community stems from marketing errors.

What I like most about the book is its combination of balanced, critical judgment on the one hand with a careful thorough-goingness on the other. The work is too short to be completely exhaustive, but it is about a complete as a single-volume work of just under 1,400 pages can be. It is hard to imagine how they could have done a more thorough job than they did. The book is currently out of print, but anyone interested in Sci-fi should search out a copy. I might go so far as to say that if you can own only one Sci-fi reference book, this is the one you should own.

I have one tiny bone to pick with the volume and one big hope for the future. The hope first. It is now over a decade since the book was published and we have continued to be deluged with Sci-fi novels and movies and especially television shows. With some justification, the entries on pre-1995 television shows are either dismissive or belligerent. Most of the good Sci-fi ever done on television has been done since 1995. Book-wise, Sci-fi is as big business and mainstream as it has ever been. There is simply a big need for a completely up-to-date work. We can hope for an updated edition. Whether it is financially feasible is another matter, but I do hope that the step is taken at some point. And mind you, I want an updating of THIS work, not a new work by other editors. They did it right; we just need it updated.

The tiny bone is that I wish the volume had done a bit more in guiding readers to new authors. Some of the articles do a better job of summing up the career of a writer without letting the reader known precisely which books would be the most important to read. Perhaps they could have put an asterisk beside the most important titles. Some of the entries are phenomenal at letting readers know how to proceed, but it isn't carried consistently through the whole work. But this is a minor point. All in all this is an admirably compiled work. As I said, if you love Sci-fi, you need this book.

The text is written in modern English which is easier to read and comprehend than some of those ancient scrolls translated from german or some other archaic language. In addition to the information of technique and method, I especially enjoyed the lengthy resource lists for rated (according to level of difficulty)musical compositions for flute.

The book is dictionary-like in terms of weight and feel. The pages are filled with well-written standard type font. I mention this because I have become weary of those pamphlet-thick 'modern music method books' and their clip-art laden, nearly empty pages that are too often mass produced and marketed as an only source of published information.

The author also addresses, in great detail, some of the well and lesser known flute debates(such as the flutest/flautist conflict), the history of flute (with photos from the Dayton C. Miller flute museum/collection, where the author is also the currator), development and changes, and those other topics and issues some(those only superficially dedicated to the wonders of flute) might consider trivial.

I originally borrowed this book from the library. I have since added this title as a must have for my personal music book collection. If you are looking for a recently written, detailed, modern exploration of the flute, by an accomplished authority, this publication is a smart choice!

Nancy Toff has left nothing out of this grand book -- the history, anatomy, selection, and care of the flute in its popular and more esoteric forms; an extensive discussion on the development of not only classical and modern technique, but also personal style; building a repertoire and creating or finding performance opportunities; the history of flute music, and authoritative suggestions for building a sheet and recorded music library; countless charts and reference materials -- all has been included that a flute player, whether amateur or professional, student or teacher, could and would want to know and reference in the course of their playing career. And if one happens to find anything not included, I feel confident that Ms. Toff would personally see to correcting the matter immediately. An absolute must; look no further, oh wearied flutists (as Ms. Toff insists you are to be called, and not flautists, based on a well-researched etymological conclusion), for your redemption is at hand.

Nancy Toff does an exceptional job with this complete and well-rounded reference book for books. Any information that one could hope for about playing the instrument, buying the instrument, or listening to the instrument is included. The author also does well to give many perspectives on many flute issues, reasoning them out for the reader. The second half of the book on the history of many composers is exhaustive and complete. The catalog of repertoire pieces in a table format with available publishers is invaluable for any performer. Really a must own.

I borrowed this book from the library. I love the pictures of different flutes of different era. You can see how flute evolved through hundreds of years. Truly amazing.

I find this book absolutely helpful but I just want to say that what a pity that only paperback is available. It would be nice to have hardback version..