L Books

I bought the book as I am going on a birding trip to Colombia in 2009. I know that the species list for Colombia is long and just wish that there was someway to have the plates as separate booklet. This book is great for studying before the trip but it way too heavy to think about taking it into the field on an all morning trek. This book weighs over 4 pounds! That said, the book is very through and it is wonderful to have a guide to this country that is so full of wonderful birds and for so many years has been out of bounds for the birder from the USA. At last it is possible to go to see these wonders and after my trip I might add to my review.

The product arrived fast and secure, I'm very happy. It's a beatiful book, I recomended a lot.

I just started birwatching and this book is a must have for every birdwatcher both amateurs and specialists.
The spanish version is very hard to get and probably in the future the Organizacion colombiana de ornitologia will release a revised version of the book.
For the moment this book is a must have!!!

I live in Medellín, Colombia, South America, I was looking for this book in the spanish edition, but it's hard to find it, so I bouhgt the enlgish version.
This book is an excellent knowledge tool and it will open the eyes of the readers to one of the many wonders we have. A Guide to the Birds of Colombia is just AMAZING. For those who love animals, in special birds, consider buying it, you won't regret it.

"A Guide to the Birds of Colombia," by Steven L. Hilty and William L. Brown is mandatory reading for serious field observers. This book treats all of the 1,695 species of resident and migrant birds known to have been reliably recorded in Colombia and on its island posessions of Gorgona and Malpelo prior to 1984.

Moreover, this massive Princeton University Press text (836 pages) includes sixty-nine color and black and white plates by Guy Tudor (one of the most talented living bird illustrators in the world) & others. And before I forget this book includes superb line drawings by Michel Kleinbaum.

I found the sections on Topography, Climate, Vegetation, Habitat Descriptions, and Conservation & National Parks excellent. In addition, the review of Colombian Ornithology and the Range Maps are valuable field observer tools. In conclusion, this is a meticulous text with an expert index that will absolutely fill all the needs of serious field obsevers. Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

I recently bought "Cretaceous Dawn",by these authors,after reading several passages from both books,it appears to be the same book.

It's hard not to compare any book about humans encountering dinosaurs
to "Jurassic Park" but in the case of "Hell Creek" I liked the pace and
the scenario much better. The book appealed to my curiosity in science
fact and adventure. Hell Creek is not written in a dry scientific way,
it's well written, well paced and the characters are believable.

Humans are accidentally cast deep into the past and have to survive in
an alien environment with unusual encounters at every turn. I now feel
I know what the Cretaceous period was all about.

The Grazianos have written a real page turner, from chapter one to the
end, you can't put it down or stop thinking about it. Well worth
reading and reading again. A real "keeper".

This book is a page-turner! I read it literally overnight!

The story evolves around a scientific experiment turned bad and projecting a group of very different characters back in time, that is, 65 million years in the past. They are obviously trapped with little to no rescue to expect from present day people. Of course, the next thing for them is to find a way to get out by themselves, hence a journey throughout the territory of these fabulous living creatures, the dinosaurs and the early mammals.

Beyond the storyline, I believe the real intent of the writers was to have us share their love of this extinct world by putting their description in a nice, enjoyable format. They hit their goal bull's eye. The dinosaurs and, more importantly, their behavior, is credible. They take some initiatives as to the attitude of some of the larger hunters (T-Rex for one). Some of today's questioning about this specific species is: was it either a scavenger, or a hunter? Could it run or was it limited to fast walking? Was it numerous? Actually, the authors bring their own responses to these questions.

But more importantly, they describe a beautiful, pristine yet ferocious world that has the reader wish to jump into it physically.

Also, I was very pleased to see, for once, the Japanese female character of Yariko, as Far-East people rarely find their way among the top contenders of western novels' characters. Beyond Yariko's beautiful description, I found the group of heroes well described, each coming with a thoroughly thought-out personality.

In short, a very good book with a fast-paced drama, a never-ending tale of a long-gone world that has you sigh in awe at the end of the story.

When's the sequel planned???

Some earlier reviewers commented about the quality of the editing of this book -- not so! Whomever did the proof reading apparently used spellchecks and did not bother to read -- or else they do not know the difference between discrete and discreet. And let's not even mention the differences between loose and lose! Good writing does not deserve sloppy preparation. This kind of sloppy copy-editing is a major pet peeve. It is unnecessary and unacceptable.

That said, this IS good writing. Good character development, fast moving plot, well-researched and with enough suspense to leave readers looking forward to a sequel.

Earlier reviewers also commented about giving the book to a younger reader. My copy went to a grandson who shares the name of the hero. It is a little more graphically violent that I ordinarily choose for him, but there is no explicit sex, and what youngster does not love dinosaurs?

The Grazianos have given us a page-turner, based on scientific fact, and it is worth your time to curl up with it. Would I like to take a trip to the Cretateous? No, thankyouverymuch, I would miss indoor plumbing -- but I will eagerly wait for their promised sequel.

Two physicists, a paleontologist, a security guard, and a dog walk into a bar . . . Okay, not really. But, two physicists, and their dog, are working on an experiment in a sealed vault in a small university in South Dakota, when odd items begin appearing inside the vault, and then disappearing. They begin to suspect that they found something much more Earth-shaking than what they sought, and invite a paleontologist on staff to help them figure it out. A security guard catches the unauthorized staff-member there but, before he can do anything about it, everything blows up, with startling effects on the four people and the dog.

The quartet ends up in the same location, but sixty-five million years earlier, in the Cretaceous period, when mammals were beginning to get some numbers and variety, dinosaurs were dwindling, the Rockies were big, rolling hills, the middle of North America featured vast jungles and an inland sea, and humans were sixty million years into the future. The physicists use a complex equation to calculate where they have to be, at a certain time, to stand any chance of "reverting" back to their time of origin, just as the items that appeared in the vault had reverted back to the past, after a short time.

Thus launches an epic journey across a thousand miles of harsh, dangerous territory, with only their wits and creativity to help them survive. Their journey is long and loaded with peril, plus they encounter several surprises, not all of which are unpleasant.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, er, university, the police, led by Chief Sharon Earles, who reminded me of the police chief in the movie Fargo (ya, you betcha), had to figure out what happened to four people and a dog, who seemed to have vanished. Well, actually, four-and-a-half people and a dog vanished, as a second security was cleanly sliced in two, by the phenomenon that caused the disappearances. Is it murder? Did the missing people just leave, or were they abducted? Chief Earles calls in two more physicists, to help solve the riddle --- or will they end up helping themselves?

All of this adds up to a wonderful novel that combines an adventure story, part Jurassic Park, and part Dinosaur Summer by Greg Bear, along with a crime or detective mystery, with plenty of scientific tidbits sprinkled throughout. The science part emphasizes, in descending order of prominence: paleontology, physics, and geology.

The writing here is generally excellent, with vivid descriptions of settings and great character development. There is plenty of action and suspense, as well. However, the story does get a little slow, in a few spots, right after the characters translocate to the Cretaceous period, which, by the way, immediately followed the Jurassic period, whose critters were made famous in Jurassic Park (book and movie). The pace does pick up quickly, and then remain quick and steady after that, and those few slow spots did not detract from the reading experience, for me.

Who will like this book? Anyone who enjoyed Jurassic Park and/or Dinosaur Summer would, an this one has a bit more scientific meat on its bones. Anyone who enjoys a good adventure story, with pieces of detective work, education on several scientific fields, and even a touch of romance mixed in, should love this. I know enough about paleontology, physics, and geology to enjoy this book, but experts or amateur aficionados in any of those areas might find a flaw or two.

Who will not like this book? If you are squeamish, you might be put off by a few scenes. If you are strong in your beliefs of opposing the theory of evolution, I suggest you avoid this novel.

This book has also gone under the title Cretaceous Dawn. It is written by Lisa Graziano and her brother, Michael Graziano. Lisa M. Graziano is a piano teacher, freelance writer, and editor. Michael Graziano is a professor of neuroscience at Princeton University.

-- Chris McCallister, author of Coming Full Circle

The wartime adventures of William Rasmussen amazed me. His unflagging spirit in the face of so much adversity is inspiring.

As the ball turret gunner of Hell's Belle, a B-17, he was in the most dangerous and exposed part of the plane, a plexiglass bubble underneath the midsection. When the plane is shot down over Germany, he manages to escape from the tight space of the turret with only moments to spare.

Captured by the Germans, he, along with other members of the flight crew of the Hell's Belle, spend a month in an interrogation center and federal prison suffering hunger, the cold of winter, and deprivation. His captors want information and, though they have a begrudging respect for the fact they are American fliers, they put Rasmussen and the others through a variety of intimidating tactics and punishing activities in order to get information; no one cracks.

They are moved to Stalag B-17 and spend 15 months in squalor and under scrutiny. Rasmussen's descriptions of prison life are genuine and straightforward. He spares no details and sugar coats nothing. A forced march through Austria follows.

Two anecdotes resound for me especially. When Rasmussen is forced by his captors to withstand the cold without proper clothing or blankets, as a means of getting him to give them information, Rasmussen notes, the cold has no effect on him as he is from Cedar, Michigan, and he's used to the cold. It's a classic Man vs Nature scenario and Nature does not beat Rasmussen.

At one point, after the prisoners have dealt with a German informant, Rasmussen starts a rumor about an escape. The inmates know it is a ruse. Rasmussen starts the rumor, knowing the guards will learn of it, just to make the guards work harder and longer. His plan was a brilliantly executed nuisance for the guards.

Through the entire recounting, the courage, determination, intellect and humor of William Rasmussen, just an ordinary guy from the upper Midwest, never fail. Hell's Belle is the kind of book I did not want to put down, and yet, when I finished it, I wished there was more.

This book is very well written. While following the experiences of Bill Rasmussen, the reader comes to appreciate the courage it took to be a crew member on a B17 flying missions out of England during the war. It was a time when the equipment wasn't so high-tech and the planes flew on guts, teamwork and willpower. Surviving Stalag 17B required the same strengths. You wonder if you could be as strong in these situations. This story will make a good movie.

Hell's Belle is a captivating and extraordinary account of William Rasmussen's experience as an American flyer and POW in Nazi Germany during WWII. Dr. Randall Rasmussen has translated his father's memoirs in a way that effectively conveys to the reader the tremendous courage and spirit of these young men who endured severe hardships while serving our country. What a fine and honorable dedication to William Rasmussen. I highly recommend this book.

Hell's Belle is a captivating and extraordinary account of William Rasmussen's experience as an American flyer and POW in Nazi Germany during WWII. Dr. Randall Rasmussen has translated his father's memoirs in a way that effectively conveys to the reader the tremendous courage and spirit of these young men who endured severe hardships while serving our country. What a fine and honorable dedication to William Rasmussen. I highly recommend this book.

This is a great read. The authenticity of this story comes through on every page. At one level, it is a story of just one man, but really is a tribute to all the soldiers of WWII, and the people at home behind the war effort. The absence of spite or anger for his captors makes the story all the more powerful. I will have my teenage daughters read this book as a reminder of the sacrifices have gone into the making of America.

Enjoyed reading this book as it presents another perspective on treatment. I, too, espouse the theory of "practice based evidence" as opposed to "evidence based practice". I am a therapist in a community based program, and it is hard to do any innovative treatment, but this book as given me hope and incentive. I, too, believe "the answers lies within (the client)". I think medication is over-prescribed, and clients need to learn tools to access their own God-given strengths.

This is a great book, in perfect condition and mailed very well - good
packaging, arrived in time. Great seller, thanks!

I was searching for a book that would help me begin the process of assessing and measuring client outcomes in my counseling practice. It is a very useful book with very practical tools. Thank you!!

This book is not about learning a therapeutic technique, its about using simple tools in therapy (regardless of theoretical orientation) to help measure outcome - something MFTs need to know in order to provide good service to clients. I am a grad student and this has been some of the most valuable information I have learned thus far.

After being a counselor for over thirty years it is refreshing to see a scholarly book by authors who understand what is important in change, growth and healing. For far too long therapists and medicine have taken credit for the work done by the clients.

This book outlines important research and common sense reasons why we need to really listen to the client and his family to learn how to support what he is doing to be healthy. Anyone interested in helping people change can benefit from this newest volume from the people who get what counseling is all about.

If you're looking for a light read, Trotsky's History of Russian Revolution is not the way to go by any means. But, despite its length, and despite the enormity of its topic, this is an amazingly accessible and engrossing account of one of the modern world's most important political and historical events, written by one of its main players. There are certainly some parts that are more difficult than others, and some where clearly Trotsky assumes an understanding of what happened in Russia during 1917 - an expectation of his readers that would have been utterly reasonable for the audience he was writing for, at the time he was writing, but which at times can be a bit confusing for a Westerner reading it almost 100 years later. But this is only occasionally frustrating and there is, in any event, a very helpful set of appendices and glossaris at the back that help you know who's who and what's what. It is, undoubtedly in my view, well worth the effort that it will take you to get through it. I don't think any other history of the revolution is as detailed, as comprehensive, and as engaging as this. There are times when it really has you on the edge of your seat - and that, no doubt, is largely because it is written by someone who was actually there.

Max Eastman, who was a friend of Trotsky, gives us a translation that feels tremendously fresh and was enthusiastically endorsed by Trotsky himself.

Leon Trotsky's History of the Russian Revolution is partisan history at its best. One does not and should not, at least in this day in age, ask historians to be `objective'. One simply asks that the historian present his or her narrative and analysis and get out of the way. Trotsky meets that criterion. Furthermore, in Trotsky's case there is nothing like having a central actor in that drama, who can also write brilliantly and wittily, give his interpretation of the important events and undercurrents swirling around Russia in 1917. If you are looking for a general history of the revolution or want an analysis of what the revolution meant for the fate of various nations after World War I or its affect on world geopolitics look elsewhere. E.H. Carr's History of the Russian Revolution offers an excellent multi-volume set that tells that story through the 1920's. Or if you want to know what the various parliamentary leaders, both bourgeois and Soviet, were thinking and doing from a moderately leftist viewpoint read Sukhanov's Notes on the Russian Revolution. For a more journalistic account John Reed's classic Ten Days That Shook the World is invaluable. Trotsky covers some of this material as well. However, if additionally, you want to get a feel for the molecular process of the Russian Revolution in its ebbs and flows down at the base in the masses where the revolution was made Trotsky's is the book for you.

The life of Leon Trotsky is intimately intertwined with the rise and decline of the Russian Revolution in the first part of the 20th century. As a young man, like an extraordinary number of talented Russian youth, he entered the revolutionary struggle against Czarism in the late 1890's. Shortly thereafter he embraced what became a lifelong devotion to a Marxist political perspective. However, except for the period of the 1905 Revolution when Trotsky was chairman of the Petrograd Soviet and later in 1912 when he tried to unite all the Russian Social Democratic forces in an ill-fated unity conference, which goes down in history as the `August Bloc', he was essentially a free lancer in the international socialist movement. At that time Trotsky saw the Bolsheviks as "sectarians" as it was not clear to him at that time that for socialist revolution to be successful the reformist and revolutionary wings of the movement had to be organizationally split. With the coming of World War I Trotsky drew closer to Bolshevik positions but did not actually join the party until the summer of 1917 when he entered the Central Committee after the fusion of his organization, the Inter-District Organization, and the Bolsheviks. This act represented an important and decisive switch in his understanding of the necessity of a revolutionary workers party to lead the revolution.

As Trotsky himself noted, although he was a late comer to the concept of a Bolshevik Party that delay only instilled in him a greater understanding of the need for a vanguard revolutionary workers party to lead the revolutionary struggles. This understanding underscored his political analysis throughout the rest of his career as a Soviet official and as the leader of the struggle of the Left Opposition against the Stalinist degeneration of the Russian Revolution. After his defeat at the hands of Stalin and his henchmen Trotsky wrote these three volumes in exile in Turkey from 1930 to 1932. At that time Trotsky was not only trying to draw the lessons of the Revolution from an historian's perspective but to teach new cadre the necessary lessons of that struggle as he tried first reform the Bolshevik Party and the Communist International and then later, after that position became politically untenable , to form a new, revolutionary Fourth International. Trotsky was still fighting from this perspective in defense of the gains of the Russian Revolution when a Stalinist agent cut him down. Thus, without doubt, beyond a keen historian's eye for detail and antidote, Trotsky's political insights developed over long experience give his volumes an invaluable added dimension not found in other sources on the Russian Revolution.

As a result of the Bolshevik seizure of power the so-called Russian Question was the central question for world politics throughout most of the 20th century. That central question ended practically with the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's. However, there are still lessons, not all negative, to be learned from the experience of the Russian Revolution. Today, an understanding of this experience is the task for the natural audience for this book, the young alienated radicals of Western society.

The central preoccupation of Trotsky's volumes reviewed here and of his later political career concerns the problem of the crisis of revolutionary leadership of the international labor movement and its national components. That problem can be stated as the gap between the already existing objective conditions necessary for beginning socialist construction based on the current level of capitalist development and the immaturity or lack of revolutionary leadership to overthrow the old order. From the European Revolutions of 1848 on, not excepting the heroic Paris Commune, until his time the only successful working class revolution had been in led by the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917. Why? Anarchists may look back to the Paris Commune or forward to the Spanish Civil War in 1936 for solace but the plain fact is that absent a revolutionary party those struggles were defeated without establishing the prerequisites for socialism. History has indicated that a revolutionary party that has assimilated the lessons of the past and is rooted in the working class allied with and leading the plebian masses in its wake is the only way to bring the socialist program to fruition. That hard truth shines through Trotsky's three volumes. Unfortunately, this is still the central problem confronting the international labor movement today. Read this book many times.

This is one of the most exciting books I've ever read. It tells the amazing story of the Russian revolution of 1917, from the overthrow of the Czar to the Bolshevik Revolution of October. What makes it an incredible read is that the author, Leon Trotsky, was at the middle of it all, as one of the central planners of the insurrection that took power. Trotsky was a great revolutionary and great writer. But one thing I especially like about the book is that Trotsky uses excerpts from many other accounts, including those who hated him with a passion, to tell the story accurately. It is an inspiring story, especially for new generations of young people, workers and farmers who need to learn about an example showing that the dog-eat-dog system of capitalism we live in can be overthrown. For the definitive account of how this great revolution was later derailed, see Trotsky's Revolution Betrayed.

In spite of its length, I've read this book several times. It isn't just a widely acclaimed historic and literary masterpiece, written by a leading participant in the events he describes. It isn't just vividly written and thoroughly researched.

More importantly, it's one of the best books ever written about revolution, as relevant today as ever.

The most important conclusion that emerges is the crucial role of a revolutionary party with an overwhelmingly working class membership, leadership and political orientation: a party that has trained itself in the many years of partial struggles that precede a revolutionary crisis; studied together the lessons of past revolutionary struggles throughout the world; and done everything possible to educate broader layers of workers in those lessons.

(The point is illustrated both positively and negatively. More than once, Lenin had to turn to the Bolshevik's working class rank and file against wavering intellectuals in the party leadership.)

Please don't be put off by the first chapter, the driest and most difficult in the book. The basic idea is that capitalism arrived late in Russia, imported from abroad in the form of huge factories, which laid the basis for the rapid development of a strong, militant labor movement. As a result, the emerging capitalist class was reluctant to mobilize the masses against the feudal nobles and landlords that stood in their way, for fear that the aroused workers might turn on the capitalists themselves.

Under the impact of war and economic crisis, the resulting mixture of different forms of class oppression exploded in a combined revolt of workers, farmers, and oppressed nationalities, destroying both feudalism and capitalism by the time it was through.

Several postcripts:

(1) If you're wondering what went wrong in the Soviet Union after such a promising start, I recommend "The Revolution Betrayed" by Trotsky; also "Lenin's Final Fight" by Lenin.

(2) I disagree with Trotsky's assessment of the pre-1917 differences between himself and Lenin concerning the role of working farmers, the relationship between democratic (anti-feudal) revolution and socialist revolution, and Lenin's formula, "the democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry". I think Trotsky's discussion of this is confusing. I recommend "Their Trotsky and Ours" by Jack Barnes. There is also a good debate in "Bolshevism and the Russian Revolution" by Doug Jenness, Ernest Mandel, and V.I. Lenin.

(3) Another reviewer pointed out that this book is available online. However, the printed version has glossaries of people, places, organizations and unfamiliar terms; a more complete chronology; and a thorough index. I relied very heavily on all of these, so much so that I used color-coded post-its to turn to them easily. Also, parts of the online version are full of obvious typos; books from Pathfinder Press are proofread very thoroughly.

(4) Finally, I recommend the ads in the back of the book. Pathfinder Press is defined by a political goal, not commercial success. It aims to provide a platform for revolutionary leaders speaking in their own words. If you like one book, you will probably like others.

This is a huge and wonderful book-- three volumes in one book, some 1200 pages in all. The story Trotsky lays out is most inspiring and encouraging: how revolutionary-minded workers and peasants in Russia, led by the Bolshevik party, overthrew the centuries-old Czarist monarchy, defeated the attempts to impose a capitalist dictatorship and went on to establish a worker and peasant revolutionary government, opening the road to the possibility of building a socialist society. It's a book you can read repeatedly, getting more out of it each time.

Trotsky explains with rich detail the growing social crisis that wracked Russia, the devastating impact of World War I, the economic collapse, and the incapacity of the old regime to offer any way out. He takes up political developments amongst workers and peasants and the oppressed nationalities of the Russian Empire, including the many millions forced into the Russian army. You understand their growing conviction that the old society had to be and could be overturned and a new order established. And Trotsky gives real insight into the leadership that made possible an actual revolution under these conditions-- the development of the Bolshevik party led by V.I. Lenin and it's successful fight to win the allegiance of the struggling millions.

Trotsky was, along with Lenin, a central leader of the 1917 revolution and of the government it established. After Lenin's death in 1924, he led the international fight to defend the Bolshevik's revolutionary course against the conservative and reactionary bureaucracy headed by Joseph Stalin that came to power later in the Soviet Union. This work was a key part of Trotsky's efforts to make the real facts and lessons 1917 available to future generations of workers, farmers and radicalizing young people. Read it along with some of his many other important works, including The Transitional Program for Socialist Revolution, In Defense of Marxism, The Revolution Betrayed, and The Struggle Against Fascism in Germany.

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.

Jeffrey Caldewey and Chuck House's Icon: Art Of The Wine Label is also a highly recommended, distinguished guide which offers a collection of work by the modern masters of wine label design who have for decades helped define global wine label design strategies around the world. Icon is a collection of some of their best works, providing both an artistic assessment of the art of iconography to examples of 120 wine labels and bottle designs complete with their distinctive branding qualities.

This book was not only interesting to read, the artwork and dedication to all aspects of wine was unbeleivable. This is one I will read over and over again. Ok, maybe I will be just looking at the pictures...

This is a great book for any wine enthusiast. It is the ideal coffee table book to have out when your friends stop by. The book is interesting and a great conversation starter. I really enjoyed this book. Of course, it didn't have every wine label I was looking for, but it did contain many of them. This book would make a perfect gift for anyone.

A designers must have! Great inspiration on pushing the envelope in packaging design. Jeffrey Caldewey and Chuck House are the top of their field and it shows in every design. A great gift for the upcoming holidays. Everyone from wine connoisseur to artist will enjoy this book.

ICON - the embodiment of spirit, matter, and time. In Einsteinian terms, ICON would be the equation that sums time, space, matter, and ideology.

ICON is a tour de force, a signature piece representing the extensive body of work by two of the wine industries brightest stars, Jeffrey Caldeway and Chuck House, package designers.

One once told me that the contents of a barrel, brown bag for a label, sans introduction, sipped from a coffee cup in your kitchen, will defy distinction by most and keep both the wine and the consumer most honest.

But we of sophistication desire more than honesty, and more is ours in ICON. To the vast universe of wine, the package brings order to chaos, diminishes chance, dispels mystery, stamps a caste, creates distinction, and strokes your ego and those of others. We assume the package as an intimate expression of Self, much in the same way one would don a designer creation. Albeit, a label does nothing to alter the wine.

In this treatise of wine package history, we are reminded that necessity is the mother of invention. Order to chaos produced the first labels. Labels of origin, distinction, and personality followed. It wasn't until recent times that ego drove the package, and Ego is the stuff of ICON.

This book reveals both Jeff and Chuck as modern day alchemists, intently stirring their witches brew of ego, dream, soil, anxiety, money, sweat, clone, ambition, microclimate, and desire, distilled into an amalgam of glass, cork, paper, and ink which will transform total of Past into the largesse of Future . . . a responsibility from which all but the most tempered would shrink.

And whom amongst us do we charge with this lofty responsibility? It must be entrusted to those select few who have the creative talent, skills, will, and ability to lift mere grape juice to the pedestal upon which it currently resides. Package designers must do for others what they are incapable of doing themselves.

Jeff Caldeway and Chuck House are gifted Iconoclasts, challenged with creating an artistic expression which will herald not only the product but, moreover, the totality of the person, the sole of the winemaker, the beast that lies within. We find the authors delving into a very intimate and complex process of discovery. Needs. Wants. Values. History. Family. Dreams. Hopes. Fears. Stuff. From all this they must derived a package that projects not only the person and the product, but also an expression that potentially becomes a fulcrum on which success and failure balance.

Drawing from ancient beginnings, Jeff Caldeway and Chuck House have successfully bred charm and aristocracy into the great wines and spirits of present day, inscribing pedigree after pedigree that will endure. Page after page brings to mind another example of success that can be directly attributable to the profound influence their package had on the wine selection process.

The depth and breadth of their body of work clearly place Jeff and Chuck at the forefront of the wine package business for more than three decades, leaving a legacy most others could only hope to achieve. ICON secures their place amongst the elite who's creativity exceeded all those before them, who's work will not soon be eclipsed.

Art, beauty, and finesse abound. ICON elicits something that is deeply satisfying, much like a well-turned ankle or great music. Printing, inks, paper, photography, binding are all first cabin. ICON is a calling card, a testament, and an example of excellence that the authors expect from themselves and deliver to others.

We are blessed to have such a fine compendium to grace our lives, the likes not often achieved. It is a gift, a reference, a history, a conversation maker, and a commanding centerpiece for any lover of wine and art. I would recommend you add ICON to your collection and see how long it stays on your coffee table! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Share it with a friend.

ILLUMINATIONS is truly a MUST. This book is perfect for those of us who are looking for beauty, understanding, and spiritual richness in life. It is filled with magnificent art work, photographs, drawings and the myriad of various texts just left me astounded. I have given this book to a dozen friends and have received nothing but kudos for doing so! I have referred to ILLUMINATIONS several times during the past year and inevitably receive the inspiration therein.

A book to slowly taste--word by word. Bask in glorious graphics; savor the thick paper; turn only a page a day to make it last!

I gave this book to all my good friends for Christmas. Every one of them, and they are an eclectic group, loves it. This is a book to be savoured like a fine wine. Each time you pick it up, you discover something new and wonderful. I find a favorite poem or photograph or essay or quotation every time I look at it. There are so many jewels here, so much accumulated talent. The editiors, Jennifer McMahon and Mark Tompkins, have truly given all of us who are lucky enough to encounter this book a gift to be treasured for many years. If you haven't been lucky enough to have been given this book, buy one for yourself today. You will love it!

This book is a real treasure. It's a wonderful compilation of art and personal stories from people who are looking for greater spiritual meaning in their lives. Rather than preaching, it has people share their experiences from around the globe about their spiritual journey. It reminded me how alike we all are and validated some of my own inner reflections. I highly recommend this book.

I was delighted and fortunate to discover "Illuminations" through the publication
of one of my poems. It is a gem of a collection, encompassing all faiths and beliefs,
very spiritual and uplifting, filled with beautiful and inspiring pictures, a work of art
in itself. It is at the same time meditation, essay, poetry, and will even spur
your creativity. I was blessed to be part of it and recommend it as an opportunity
for communion with the self.
Helene Cardona, author of The Astonished Universe

Havnt quite finished reading but this is an interesting journal of the events experienced, people encountered and travels of Mr. Stephens as he visits Central America.

This is a Must read for anyone with even a passing interest in the mayan culture. Still easy to read even though it was written over 150 years ago! Imagine you are one of the first explores to adventure into the the jungles of the Yucatan and vist the ancient cities hidden in the jungle. I wish I had read this book before My trip to the Yucatan, would have made my trip that much more enjoyable! The Catherwood engravings are spectacular!

I realize that not everyone shares my taste in literature, but if you are an armchair adventurer (or a real adventurer) with a refined sense of humor, I guarantee you will thoroughly enjoy this book, as well as Volume II. Many evenings, after a grueling day in the office, John L. Stephens transported me to another place and time with his excellent gift for writing, eye for detail and sense of humor that frequently had me waking my poor spouse with irrepressible laughter. As an author, explorer and humorist with the subtlest of wits, I place Stephens in the ranks with Mark Twain, and that is the ultimate compliment. Enjoy.

I think this book is fascinating for two types of people:
- Those who are interested in the history of Central America, who will see in Stephens a witness of time
- Those very familiar with Central America's geography (specially Guatemala's), who will enjoy reading Stephens' descriptions of many places that (in their majority) still exist

In 1839, at 34, John L. Stephens was appointed as "United States Minister" - a sort of US envoy - for Central America (which at the time was still one country). Stephens was a serial traveler: 5 years ago, he had visited Eastern Europe (Greece, Turkey, Russia and Poland) and the Middle East (Egypt and Syria), and had already published a couple of books about these trips.

Stephens decided to combine his diplomatic duty with his interest in searching for Mayan ruins in the region. By October, he embarked with his friend Frederick Catherwood (another extensive traveller) in a trip that would take them to what was (already) a politically convulsed region.

At the time, Central America was filled with political turmoil. The largest state of the country, Guatemala, had basically fallen in the hands of Rafael Carrera, a non-educated peasant. Carrera refused to recognize the authority of Francisco Morazán who, based in San Salvador, was at least in theory, the President of the Central American confederation. Rumours, political intrigues and suspicions abounded at the time.

And so, in this setting, Stephens got into a boat, and after a few days in Belize, travelled (by boat again) to the Caribbean shore of Guatemala. He entered the country through Rio Dulce and touched land in a small village in the shores of the Izabal Lake.

Starting there, Stephens made a trip, generally by mule's back, that took him to Zacapa, Chiquimula, Copan (in Honduras), Esquipulas, Guastatoya, Guatemala City (already established by then where it is now), Antigua Guatemala, Escuintla, Iztapa (in the Pacific shores) and Amatitlán. He later took a boat and went to El Salvador, and then to Costa Rica, where he disembarked and returned to Guatemala by land.

Apparently, Stephens was one of the first "adventure tourists" of modern times. He ascended many volcanoes and spent a considerable time in Copan, cleaning up the forrest that was still covering the ruins and helping his friend Catherwood to draw reproductions of the ruins (these drawings are included in the book). In addition, and as part of his diplomatic duties, he met some of the leading political figures of the time, like Carrera himself.

Stephens not only did all the above, but ended up writing a very nice and enjoyable book that describes very well what he saw and thought at the time.

In short, this book is a rare jewel that allows the reader to better imagine how was life and nature in Central America in the middle of the XIX century.

(Note: the review above is based on Volume I - a book that curiously did not exist in Amazon's inventory at the time of my reading in 2005. Being respectful of my own past review, I havent' changed it. The next paragraphs though, are 2007 additions in which I comment on Volume 2)

If the reader enjoyed Vol 1, she/he will surely find Vol 2 a satisfying read. Vol 2 starts in Nicaragua, and continues in El Salvador, where Mr Stephens continues in his search of a Central American government. I will not delve into the details of all of Mr Stephens' adventures. Suffice it to say that he gets to meet the recently defeated Francisco Morazán, meets Rafael Carrera (again), travels through the Guatemalan western highlands, gets to know the story of the Los Altos state, crosses the border to Mexico, visits Palenque and Uxmal, finally returning to the US.

Its particularly interesting to read Stephens' account of Carrera and his young government. The fact that Carrera was even known at the time as the King of the Indians is an interesting point to notice -any reader knowledgeable with Guatemala's history and societal dynamics could extrapolate this to many events of the past 50 years.

Also interesting is Stephens' rebuttal of previous accounts regarding the difficulty of visiting ruins like the ones in Palenque. The more widely known stories at the time created the impression that visiting the ruins was full of dangers. Always the practical and matter-of-factly adventurer, Stephens bluntly says that they are (were) untrue, and that the greatest hardships he and Mr Catherwood endured were due to the unstable revolutionary state of the countries.

If the reader is interested or has knowledge of archaeology, he/she must also know that Vol 2 has plenty detailed descriptions and diagrams prepared by Mr Catherwood (who in my opinion was a very gifted artist, being able to draw the intrincated details of many Mayan ruins).

I strongly recommend Vol 2 to anyone interested in Central American history, archaeology, the mayans, or true old-fashioned adventure travel.

This is a must read for any one with an interest in the ancient Mayan culture an ruin sites. the other reviewers have summed this book up great, but I just wanted to throw in my two cents.

The title of Maurice L'Heureux's Into the Back Country may inspire images of barefoot, kumbaya-singing wood nymphs, or perhaps flannel-clad, snake-shot toting woodsmen, prompting us to ask ourselves: `why should I read L'Heureux's Into the Back Country?' To this query I can only respond, `why shouldn't you read L'Heureux's Into the Back Country? L'Heureux espouses timeless doctrines such as `never thrash and flail while in quicksand' with commonsense wilderness survival tactics such as `how to successfully wrestle a snake to the ground after it drops onto your person from a tree'. L'Heureux gives practical, applicable advice while simultaneously challenging our worldview. Do aardvarks live in the wilderness of other countries? How about in our own? Into the Back Country, though somehow evading the radar of both the Children's Newberry Awards and the Nobel Prize for Literature, has succeeded in winning a place in my office's library.

Truly, without exaggeration, this epic masterpiece will reach down into the very soul of the reader, ripping it from it's prison of literary mediocrity and violenty drown it in an ocean of splendor. Each page brings you closer to the end. The obvious subtleties wonderfully woven into the plot draw strong comparisons to French-Moroccan author Abdellatif Laâbi's work of genius, Rue du retour. Enough cannot be said about this book. After reading the first page, I was literally thrown back into my China cabinet by the overwhelming force of its refulgence. I recommend this book more than breathing, to not read it would be an abomination unto the Lord, as its genius will echo throughout eternity.

What an amazing book! It has saved my life four times so far. I used it to wage peace in the Balkans. Why this hasn't been nominated for the National Book Award I'll never understand. All other American classics pale in comparison. To Kill a Mockingbird? Please. Huckleberry Finn? Don't make me laugh. Into the Back Country makes The Grapes of Wrath look like Toilet Training for Toddlers. It has no peer in the cannon of great literature, with the possible exception of Leonard Nimoy's I am Spock.

I've got to be honest. When I first heard about "Into the Back Country" all I could think was, "Oh, boy. Here we go again. Another book about going into the back country." True, I had read and very much enjoyed "Into the Dark Forest" and "Into the Remote Cave", but after "Into the Wild Blue Yonder", "Into the Barren Desert" and "Into the Swamplands, Woohee!" I began to tire of the man-loses-self-man-finds-self-before-losing-self-and-then-finally-finding-self-once-again-thanks-to-the-help-of-a-hunger-induced-vision-in-the-woods genre. Yet L'Heureux finds a way to tell it all again as though it's the fresh and fun first time we've been down that garden path. Compasionate prose detailing the principle storylines (there are more than 100) is juxtaposed on an existential internal monologue (written in Turkish) that results in more than a few guffaws, tears and "hmmmmns." It truly is a remarkable piece of American-French-Canadian literature. Were it to be summed up in a word, the word would doubtlessly be "book" because first and foremost, "Into the Back Country" is nothing more or less than it sets out to be.

This book is simply a classic and is a must have for any man's non-descript bathroom reading collection. I couldn't put it down for 3 or 4 minutes at a time! It now occupies a place of honor next to my copies of the July 24, 1988 Sports Illustrated featuring Bo Jackson and the 1993 Farmer's Almanac.