S Books

This book is amazing in its scope. Mr. Toker has researched the Kaufmanns, Pittsburgh, Fallingwater, Wright, and American culture with incredible depth and breadth. As a fan (but layperson) of architecture, I found the insights into the design and construction fascinating. Of particular interest was the information about the overall architectural milieu into which Fallingwater was inserted by Wright(or inserted itself). I also enjoyed the sections of the book that reconstructed the commercial history of Pittsburgh.

That said, I hesitate to give a universal accolade to this book. Toker occasionally belabors his arguments and stretches his scholarship to its limits. Particularly tedious are his chapters on the literary representations of Fallingwater, the press coverage of the completed house, and the interminable lists of objects d'arte found in the house (either currently or in the past). I also found the lack of illustrations of many of the referenced architectural works (of Wright and others) bothersome. Certainly I can look many of them up on the internet, but I shouldn't have to, especially since Toker insists that these works are so important to any understanding of Fallingwater and Wright's conception of it.

Finally, the binding on the paperback edition is atrocious! Less than a third of the way into my reading, the book fell apart. I am not that hard on my texts! I see that others have had the same problem. This is not the fault of the author, but it does detract from the reading experience.

Overall, if you are a fan of Wright or Fallingwater, or if you want a better sense of the American architectural scene of the period, give this book a read. You will come away with a much better understanding of all of these than if you merely read a picture book or general guide to the house.

The binding on my paperback copy also fell apart half-way through the book. While I found some of the writing less than crisp and the organization sometimes left me confused as to sequences of events, overall it's a wonderfully detailed history of how a great house came to be. I wish I had read it before I visited Fallingwater; it would have greatly increased my enjoyment of the house.

I have now read FALLINGWATER RISING twice, and I think it is one of the most well-written, readable, and engrossing books about any subject. What I like most about it is that even though Fallingwater is an inanimate object, we feel that it is a living thing; this is our emotional response to it. This book makes it clear that people made the building happen. People with all of their strengths, foibles, desires and aspirations. Each of these people come to life on the page, and Toker's delightful spirit of inquiry illuminates the writing and makes it sing.

Every "thing" you could ever want to know about Fallingwater is contained in this book -- and then some. It is an enjoyable, insightful book about an extraordinary house. The writing is convincing, intelligent and clear, covering a wide range of complex and contentious topics without ever seeming either simplistic or academic. For my tastes there was too much detail on some peripheral subjects -- such as Ayn Rand's book The Fountainhead and the PR campaigns relating to Fallingwater. I didn't really need to be given lists of all the doo dads and art objects that were put on various walls and shelves at one time or another, but some of these matters are easily skimmed over. Despite its encyclopedic scope and thorough research and analysis, the book ironically fails to really get at the essence of the creative process that resulted in Fallingwater -- especially the contributions of EJ Kaufmann. How is it that EJ Kaufmann built Fallingwater and the Palm Springs Nuetra house -- two of the most extraordinary houses of the 20th century? In the end the essential mystery of Fallingwater remains.

I must say that as an architect who has been practicing for over 25 years, I have not read any book quite like this before that reaches so deeply into the creation of a master work such as Fallingwater. I have always "appreciated" FLW work but only recently have more fully understood what he has accomplished and created in built architectural works that to me borders on magical and genius at the same time. The glossy pictures alone only begins to reflect him as the gifted craftsman he represented. Living in Chicago I get to enjoy much of his work all the time. I'm still enjoying the book and must say your work here is amazing and a fitting tribute to an increbible individual and architect. Thanks for the experience. Jack Svaicer

According to perpetual social and political critic James Bovard, the power inherent in government is alive and well; unfortunately, as he reminds us, they are not always necessarily accomplishing the people's will. Thus we find ourselves in circumstances in which governments are both larger and more powerful than ever before, while the individual citizen's ability to control and influence the course of his or her own life and liberty is becoming more and more problematic. In this stirring expose, the author explores how the federal government increasingly poses a threat to destroy individual rights and liberties in an attempt to preserve the fiction of government as superceding the citizen. Bovard wonders along with us how this state of affairs has managed to occur, and takes a thoughtful and impressive tour of the history of government control over individual liberties in an attempt to better understand it, and the future it presents for our cogitation.

Long before it was either fashionable or popular, conservative author Bovard was railing against the accumulating power and privilege of the crony-based capitalists who now seem to control the country. Here he draws blood from a dissection of the notion of state sovereignty, which he contends amounts to nothing so much as a glossy justification for the power elite's lust for ever-increasing power and privilege. Especially egregious in the author's view is the way the doctrine is being used to justify the behavior of others, to limit their rights to protect themselves, or to keep the fruit of their own labor. Indeed, all of this is food for thought. Moreover, Bovard is an interesting and quite eclectic scholar, someone who accomplishes both meticulous research and establishes the substantiation for his claims as he proceeds, and does so quite convincingly. He also seems to be profoundly well read, based on his wide use of quotations from such luminaries as Marx, Hegel, Rousseau, and Thomas Hobbes.

Thus, he manages to raise some thought provoking issues regarding our seeming need to regulate many aspects of private behavior (such as the use of pot) that we can neither effective enforce nor usefully demonstrate to be evil for the individual. Bovard argues quite convincingly regarding the potential dangers of allowing others to regulate our Constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties according to their own moral prerogatives. Bovard reserves special scorn for the so-called "Peter Pan" theory of government as the benevolent and paternalistic defender of the commonweal, and actively guides the reader through a critical review of the two hundred year history on the subject, a history he finds rife with examples through which government has repeatedly used its power to thwart rather than support the will and civil liberties of the majority. This is a splendidly researched book that reads well and which has some disturbing thoughts regarding the state of our polity. It is also one I highly recommend. Enjoy!

James Bovard is a bestselling libertarian author and lecturer, whose political commentary targets examples of governmental waste, failures, and abuses of power.
His Books:
The Fair Trade Fraud (1992)
Lost Rights (1995)
Shakedown (1996)
FREEDOM IN CHAINS: THE RISE OF THE STATE AND THE DEMISE OF THE CITIZEN (2000) Just finished this book and it is filled with examples of the "Statist" (politicians and bureaucrats) extorting money to facilitate their appetite for power and thus controlling as many aspects of life in these "United States"(separation into red and blue states does not make much difference). The research is excellent and the sources of "wisdom" are unrivaled. The EEOC and EPA appear to be the most outrageous of bureaus but closely followed by HUD and others; however, the Supreme Court clearly wins the "stuck on stupid" award between the three branches and the Senate is a clear choice in the Congress. Much of what Mr. Bovard relates is probably well known by the average political savvy reader, but his ability to back up his message with research, i.e. facts and sagacious quotes makes for an excellent read. Still, as one other reader stated, "What exactly can be done with the current apathy and addiction to the Welfare State by so many voters?".
Feeling Your Pain (2001)
Terrorism and Tyranny (2003)
The Bush Betrayal (2004)
Quotes:
"Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner." (1994). This is my favorite and another version could be a jackass (Dems) and an elephant (Republicans) fighting over "hay" (tax receipts) that does not belong to them. They then give some back to the "original owners" (taxpayers) after eating their "fill" (outrageous retirements, perks, etc.) and providing some to their "herd" (special interests). THIS ITEM WAS EDITED--From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia--LOG ON http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy

"Your government knows your mind, and you know your government's mind." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." -George W. Bush (sometimes it is more honest to deviate from the script and speak from the gut!)

One would hope that a political tome written 7 years ago would become outdated; that politics might have changed since then. Sadly, James Bovard's "Freedom in Chains," is more relevant now than it was then. Despite a republican president (and congress) which, at one point, professed a "small government" platform, the size of the government has grown to unprecedented heights.

Bovard's "Freedom in Chains" not only documents the incursion of government into the people's liberty, but tries to dissect how this began. Not suprisingly, his first chapter points largely (but not exclusively) to FDR. With a careful eye, Bovard analyzes FDR's shifty rhetoric, which was able to effectively redefine the word "freedom": a word that used to mean "absence of coercion by the state," was now morphed to mean "safety provided by the state." Where we used to talk of freedom to buy and sell as one pleased, now we heard talk of freedom to buy and sell at "fair" prices as dictated by government. FDR (and others) were soon able to tell the citizenry with a straight face that freedom meant the ability of the government to take care of them via legislation.

From there, Bovard spends chapter after chapter highlighting examples of this paternalism run amok. "Cagekeepers and Caretakers" highlights how politicians use the idea that they were democratically elected to justify incursions into liberty under the guise that "that's what the people wanted." (And witness in 2004 the argument from the GW Bush camp that the president has a "mandate" from the people!)

In what might be the best chapter, "The Moral Glorification of Leviathan," Bovard documents how government has claimed for itself such things as: the right to tell farmers how much of what they can sell and at what price, the right to tell landlords that they may not discriminate by refusing to rent to drug addicts addicts (or any other group the government happens to like), and the right to tell companies what numbers of which "groups" they can hire. (A particularly great example was the government's failed attempt to mandate that Hooters employ as many male waiters as female waitresses!)

From here, we read documented accounts of government officials exempting themselves from laws the public is expected to obey (e.g. while it is illegal to lie to the police, the police may lie to obtain a confession!), etc. I confess that at this point, the book does become a bit monotanous. While an advantage to Bovard's "laundrey list" approach is its thoroughness in documenting claims, a disadvantage is that after so many examples, each one begins to lose its bite. (I must admit that after a while, I began to skim rather than read, as so many paragraphs began looking like ones I'd read before.)

Another small criticism is that I do not think that supporters of government's growth will be convinced by this book. In other words, this is not a book that argues forcefully that government growth is a bad thing in itself; rather, it documents the growth of government and assumes that the readers' symapthies will be against such trends. (For books actually arguing against statism, read Freidrich Hayek, Richard Epstein, or anything coming out of the CATO institute).

For all this, I must still give this book four stars. Bovard does an admirable job documenting abuses of government power and attempting to alarm an appallingly unalarmed public that a government unchallenged translates to a people unfree.

If you still labor under the delusion that the United States Government is here for your benefit, read this book. Mr. Bovard puts paid to that myth. Americans are now subject to such an unrealistic array of laws and statutes that every one of us is ripe for picking by some bureucrat looking to "get his numbers up". America has truly gone from a government "for the people" to one "against the people". Our constitutional protections are not worth the paper they are written on. If you manage to go through life without running afoul of some government functionary, you are indeed a luck individual. Read this book

I read this book when it was first published and as I was reading was half the time wanting to throw the book across the room. It was the frustration making me do that.

I re-read this book again and after 3 1/2 years of Bush I found Bovard to be very prophetic. What he said is even more true today than when he wrote it.

If you are concerned for that state of this country, don't just read this book, but think about and act on it.

Bovard is the anti- Micheal Moore.

Read this for a view of whats really happening.

Oh yes, DON'T throw the book.

Can anyone give more detailed instructions on how to interpret this 'game'.

I find it interesting, but also a bit frustrating at not being able to fully comprehend the valuable message.

Thank you in advance everyone.

I have replaced my original book, which was handed down to me by my grandmother in the 1960's. Even for people that don't want to believe in fortune telling, this book and the way the Chinese have done it for centuries, amazes as it hits the nail on the head. The numerology is interesting also. Highly recommend it to all.

I read all the 5 star reviews about this book and I decided I should get one for myself to verify whether the reviews are true or not. I got my copy from Amazon.com last January. I was very excited to do my first reading the day I got it to see the result. All I can say is that this is truly an AMAZING BOOK! I'm always fascinated about the pyschic world and I wanted so bad to develop my psychic ability (if I have one). I have books about tarot card reading, scrying using crystal ball, dream interpretation, numerology etc. but sad to say none of those books helped me develop anything. But the good news is--I have this book now! I'm glad I did bought this book. After I received my first copy I bought 2 extra copies more. I found my very first reading very interesting and out of curiosity I wrote them down on a piece of paper to see which one will come true. Believe it or not, the book is INCREDIBLY ACCURATE! One thing I noticed about consulting this game board is that there's a balance of positive and negative reading. Good vibrations are fun to read but when it comes to the negative vibes I look at it as a warning signs for me....something I need to watch out for. There were several readings which actually happened to me couple of weeks after consulting the game board. Whether it's a coincidence or what--no one knows!...All I can say is that I wish I can give this book not only 5... but 10 stars! This is truly an INCREDIBLE book about fortune telling. Get a copy and see for yourself.

I bought the 1948 version with board included. I am truly amazed that this is the most accurate card book that I own. I have other card books that are not clear. I have been doing readings for friends and they have told me that mostly everything I have read to them is accurate. Hope this article was helpful. This is definately the one to own.

Within four days of my doing a reading for myself, six predictions already came true! This book is a reprint of "Gong Hee Fot Choy Book Of Fortune" but this reprint is easier to read.Most used copies don't have the gameboard. You can buy g.h.f.c. Book Of Fortune (which is still in print) and get the gameboard from that book then use this book, which is organized better, for readings.

This is a good book to read if you are a serious yoga practitioner or teacher, since it reviews in a simplified way the Yogasutras of Patanjali and Iyengar's point of view on life and life experiences. It has nothing to do with religion, it is just a different take on life that might prove useful and enlightening.

If you love yoga, or even think you would like to practice, this book is a must. Iyengar is the guru who will help you see the light and love of your practice and understand what yoga really is all about. I refer back to the book all the time. Merritt Becker, Maputo, Mozambique

Mr. Iyengar writes so anyone can understand and brings humor to complex subjects. The book has helped me deepen my yoga practice immensely. I completely recommend to anyone, especially those choosing to follow the yogic path.

I thought this was quite an interesting book of life--the life of B.Y.S. Iyengar. Recommended for those who are real curious.

This is a surprisingly accessible overview of yoga and levels of practice. It is not a "how to" manual, but rather a "why to" manual with insights for the beginner as well as the experienced.

This book is so great, that I can't even explain it! It is full of suspense and HORROR!!! I have read many more of this series and hope to someday have read them all! I would reccomend this book to anyone who loves reading and horror stories! HORROR!!!

Prom Queens are dying 1 by 1 and Lizzy is determined to find out. This book is highly recommended. If u don't believe me then check the other reviews.

There are five prom queen candidates for the Shadyside High senior prom. One of them gets kidnapped and then another one gets murdered. Lizzy McVay, one of the prom queen candidates, realizes someone wants all the prom queens dead. Now she must find the murderer before she's next to die.

All I can say is "wow." What a great book! There are so many suspects in this book that it's almost impossible to guess who it is. I could've sworn it was that guy but it was actually someone else. Trust me, you'll never be able to guess the murderer.

If you read this book, expect the murderer to be who you least suspect.

Lizzy is so excited because she is one of the Prom Queens. Then, the prom queens start dying. Stacy, a candidate was found in the Fear Street Woods by a hiker and was stabbed sixteen times. Rachel and Elana were murdered because they were going out with the killer's boyfriend. [Right, it's a girl]. Before Rachel died, Gideon[his boyfriend] dumped her. Rachel's parents were out for ice cream so the killer took the chance to kill her. Elana was murdered in school. She was at the auditiorium. In the end, Dawn[Lizzy's friend] almost died because of the killer but because of Lizzy, she lived.

Looking for a four star book that will keep you from sleeping.The Prom Queen will do just that. Shadyside High is having a prom. There has been five girls elected to be prom queen. They were all excited until sudden deaths of spome of the prom queens occured. Now none of the remaining girls are exicited. They're all taking precautions, Which girl will live long enought to be prom queen i cant say but the end is shoking.
This book has an uncalled for end and each chapter leaves you in suspense. "A spring night...soft moonlight....five beautiful Prom Queen canidates, dancing couples at the Shadyside High prom. These should be the ingredients for romance.But stir in one brutal murder then another and another and the recipe quikly turns to horror" This book is all horror and fright with a twisted ending. With everypage turn you'll widh you were in your room with all the lights on and you mommy holding you close. read this book and be glad you dont live on Fear Street.

This translation shows literary polish and is very pleasant to read. It uses brackets in the text to clarify who is being addressed by "you" and imperative verbs. This is important since standard English does not distinguish between singular and plural in the second person.

There are a judicious number of footnotes to explain certain interpretive issues, but they do not try to present a particular sectarian understanding of the text. They aim to present uncontroversial interpretations to help non-Muslims such as myself understand what any native Arabic-speaking Muslim would already know about the background of certain words and statements.

I have run across a pair of cases in which the repeated literary polishing (referred to in the introduction) evidently got ahead of the note editing. On p. 38, Sura 3:46 begins, "He will speak to people in his infancy..." and there is a footnote reference after "infancy." The note says, "Cf. 19: 29-30. The word _mahd_ means a place smoothed out for a small child to sleep in. It is not a piece of furniture like a cradle." Very good, but the translation as it stands has no word for either a smoothed place or a cradle. Looking in the Arabic (with the aid of a bilingual edition), I see that it has a clause that can be literally translated something like, "He will speak to people from the sleeping place," where 'sleeping place' is my rendering of _mahd_ intended to avoid the translation "cradle" to which Mr. Haleem objects. The point is that the English word "infancy" implies nothing about a sleeping place; it refers to the earliest stage of life. Thus the note here (and in the cross-referenced passage) is confusing. It only makes sense if a more literal translation is given. In Haleem's translation, it should simply be omitted.

Other than this, though, I find the translation quite good. I recommend it to all English speakers who wish to acquaint themselves with the contents of the Qur'an without having to suffer through the archaisms of some earlier translations. However, if you want a version that is more formally similar to the Arabic, you will probably need to get one of these older translations and endure the "thees" and "thous". Even better, learn Arabic, as I am trying to do, and see how the originally _really_ goes.

I have not read this all the way through, but what I have read is a clear, crisp and easily digestible translation. The type and font size is perfect in my opinion. This would make a good introductory book for reading the Quran or Koran in English.

No other translation of the Qur'an is as accurate, elegant, or readable. Behind this translation, I would choose the Yusuf Ali translation, although the language style is archaic in that it imitates the King James Bible; this makes it rather tough to read through, although it is still pretty accurate and beautiful. This translation, however, is far superior, in my opinion. The notes and introduction are both extremely helpful, although it is not as complete as a full commentary would be. Before I read this translation, I had a strong contempt for Islam and its teachings. But after reading Haleem's English rendition of the religious text, I have developed an understanding and even a respect for Islam that I had not before. I highly recommend this translation to all English speakers who wish to learn about the Qur'an.

This translation is among the best translations of the Qur'an i have read... The verses of the noble Qur'an are translated in a very clear and easy to understand vocabularies that anyone with an adequate background in english can benefit from it.. Most of the translation of the Qur'an are very hard to get the concept due the the translators' usage of obscure and archaic english but this translation is quite clear and manifest for anyone wanting to get the most out of it... I strongly recommend this translation..

If you are looking to learn about Islam and the book that guides it, I recommend this translation. Written in straight-forward contemporary English, this translation is easy to read, more like a book than a religious text. The introduction is very good and I strongly urge you to read it before starting in on the Qur'an itself. It starts with a historical background; compilation, structure, and style of the Qur'an; interpretation of the Qur'an; and a short history of English translations. Only within this framework can the reader truly understand and appreciate the meaning of this complex work.

This book works like a charm. I went to my first interview with a fire dept. and did horrible on my interview. I placed 42 on that hire list. A friend told me about this book so I bought it. My very next interview, with a different dept, which was only a month after the first dept. I aced the interview and I am now #2 on thier list. This is a must have book.

THIS BOOK WORKS/HELPS!!
Several of the questions on my interview were almost verbatim from this book. Having no previous fire service experience to draw from, this book gave me some insight into firehouse "psychology." I did very well on my interview and was hired on.
After reading this book cover to cover about 4 times in the month preceeding my interview, I feel it gave me an edge on the questions and what the interviewers were looking for.
I recommended this book to another candidate and he was hired also about a year later into our department.

This book will be a great asset for anyone preparing for their panel interview or B-pad video test. Is a small price to pay for a good investment.

Just on the first couple of pages and so far I have learned so much wonderful information! This book is so helpful.

Deanna's Husband Jay says....Best book I've used to help candidates get promoted or hired. So far my rate with this book is 100%. Granted we live in a small community there has been ten who have used this book and have either been hired or promoted. This is a must have if your looking for a job as a Firefighter.

It was 5 years ago since I was first introduced to the legendary helicopter named "Huey". She is a lovely aircraft which teachs you the helicopter flight and also forgiving one.

I like to thank Mr.Johnson because he had let me know why this helicopter which I am lucky enough to fly with is called legendary. As a military helicopter pilot I am thrilled to read every page, every line. Tom A. Johnson did a great job, he conveyed the past, he conveyed the priceless experience about emergencies. Furthermore, I felt as if I dated back to Vietnam Era and I was one of the pilot on his formation.

I sincerely hope to meet Vietnam Huey Pilots and I am so eager to listen their stories. Land safely Guys,whenever&wherever.

Cem KURKCU
FW&RW Army Pilot

An engrossing, fast moving story of a 1st CAV warrant officers experiences mid 1967-1968. Tom does a great job of explaining the elements of helicopter flight and flying tactics. The year he experienced had a high degree of combat, frequently against NVA, rather than VC. He writes well, has a story to tell, and tells it well.

I've read some other helicopter pilot's stories who served in the same III Corps AO I did in 1967 (with an assault helicopter unit, but not as an air crewman). The intensity level written about here is yet another level above what we were experiencing pre-Tet.

Like all the warrants I remember, he saw himself as a pilot rather than an officer, and measured others by their piloting skills rather than their rank. We enlisted men loved them for that. Officers with real skills (not surprisingly, the minimum AFTQ score - equivalent to an IQ score - for a WOC was higher than for an officer candidate).

I think you'll find this book a real page turner.

For me as a Combat vet, Vietnam 1966-68 101st Airborne grunt. I thought the book was great. I don't often read books about Nam, but this looked like a must. It brought back a lot good memories and not so good as well.Only Vietnam vets will have a true understand of this fine book.The UH-1H (AKA) HUEY was the best Helicpter ever built and I we all loved to see Charlie model UH-1C and the AH-1G Gun Ships too. Frank Allen

I bought 'To The Limit' a few months ago and have now read it from cover to cover three times. I've read a lot of Viet Nam aviation books over the years and I always considered Robert Mason's 'Chickenhawk' the standard for the helicopter community. Tom has now raised the bar. 'To The Limit' has got to be the most laid-back, lucid and sensitive book I have read on the subject.
He has a down-to-earth style (must be the Georgia upbringing!)which doesn't need profanity (as another reviewer pointed out), an obvious concern for the aircraft, his crew and his 'customers, and a very honest appraisal of his inner feelings under what can only be described as the highest possible levels of combat-induced stress.
Definitely a five star book - if there where more available, he'd get them.

I'm a civilian helicopter instructor with about 1100 hours. I learned that the guys who flew in Vietnam did things on an almost daily basis that we could consider suicidal. This book will open your eyes to what is possible when lives are at stake, nobody cares about wrecking an expensive turbine-powered machine, and the crew are willing to get themselves killed to bail out some troops on the ground. That said, I don't think I am going to see if a Robinson R44 can chop down a stand of bamboo...

Although this novel was published almost 50 years ago, it is amazingly contemporary. The political infighting--both honorable and petty--definitely mirrors the politics of 2007. If anyone thinks today's politics are nasty, this book shows that even in the late '50s, there must have been plenty of vituperation, pettiness, and, fortunately, integrity. Remove the dated technology--special-delivery mail and wire updates--and substitute email and the Internet, and the story could take place right now. Some tighter editing would have made this book even better (some of the accounts of nonpolitical, i.e., domestic, action drag), but the political action is fantastic. Is this 1959 or 2007?

This is a classic novel that deals with the nomination by the President of a highly controversial person for the office of Secretary of State. A group of Senators is dead set against the nominee, and others are equivocal and unsure. The nominee has a dark past and this begins to come to light, the question is asked as to whether he has overcome this past and can now serve as a sturdy and reliable public servant.

The novel portrays Washington DC as a snake pit of intrigue and maneuvering, where anything goes in an endless struggle for power and position. It also shows America's capitol as a city which still has a place for idealism and principles. No, these two things are not contradictory, as this novel also shows.

The story moves along at a brisk pace, although it slows down in places. This novel was written in the early 1960s, and thus the story contains certain anachronisms, such as the Soviet Union reaching the Moon before the United States does. The novel also has an intolerant and non-contemporary view of homosexuality, which is unfortunate, but which ultimately does not detract from the story. (The movie is far worse in this respect, incidentally.) No matter. This novel is as relevant today as it was when it was written, at the height of the good old Cold War.

One of the oddities of this novel is that almost all of the conflict occurs within the majority party (although unnamed, it is the Democrats.) The minority party (Republicans) play almost no role whatever, and the novel barely acknowledges that they exist. This is the Democrats of the 1960s, when that party was much more conservative than it is today.

This is an excellent novel that should be required reading for all high school and college students.

At the age of 18 in 1963 while my husband and I were stationed in Chambley France (USAF) I discovered this wonderful political novel, almost by accident. Later, and with great anticipation, I read the follow ups all the way to The Promise of Joy. Later in life, I managed to obtain all 6 of this series (hardback of course, because I knew that they would be used over and over) for my personal library and as of today have re-read them several times (each time, enjoying them even more). Back in '63 I never thought that America could really become what Mr Duruy was writing about, cause after all we all love our country Right?? Well, as the years have passed, I do see exacally what he meant. There really are a great many Americans that would do harm to her. Although these may be novels, I do believe that there is a lot to lean about the workings of our govenment. Although I have read several reviews of the series, I disagree with most and advise you to read them ALL!! Each one deals with different area of the government and are well worth the read.. As I travel to Washington D.C. for the first time next month, I have a burning desire to see our National history and it great part it stems from reading and enjoying to the fullest these great works of a brilliant mind.

I just reread "Advise and Consent" hard upon the recent Senate brouhaha, and even went so far as to purchase the recently-released DVD, which does not do entire justice to the source, although Walter Pidgeon is a better Bob Munson than even Allen Drury wrote. "A and C" is an admirable novel of a literary quality likely far above the other contenders on the NYT Bestseller List in 1959, if likely inferior to contemporary political novelists like Ward Just. Other reviewers have pointed out that Drury later started chewing the scenery at the distant right edges of the set, but "Advise and Consent" remains a splendid portrait of its time. Highly recommended.

This is easily the best novel ever written about American politics. Drury, who began as a Senate reporter, really has the feel of the Senate down pat as he tells the story of the nomination of Robert Leffingwell, a one-time communist sympathizer, to be the Secretary of State at the height of the Cold War.

While Drury's later writing became somewhat stilted and out-of-touch, this book is dead on and creates real and believable characters.

A fun game, for those really in the know, is to try and guess which fictional Senator corresponds to which real-life Senator from the era.

(A freebie- Brigham Anderson of Utah is reportedly based on John F. Kennedy, a surprising development given the... revelations... about Anderson in the book).

In Regards to Eheieh Ain Soph .... wtf

Crowley was a man, I'm sure his potential was higher then any womans could ever be....

Otherwise this deck is awesome and so is the man who is behind them.

This is the first deck i have ever worked with, and the only one i will ever work with. Its colours are amazing and every time i see it i want to work with it. I recomend it to anyone who likes Crowley, or his system. You will not be dissapointed with this deck.

I bought this deck along with another more well-known deck. I am new to Tarot and have been reading some books. When these decks arrived...I looked at each card. Personally...this deck is not for me. I am sure many people like this deck since it is quite colorful and the pictures are powerful. But it didn't feel right in my hands. I highly recommend that if you are "ify" about this deck...to visit some other Tarot sites to get a better look at the cards. If you are a beginner, try using the deck that goes along with your beginner book. If you are experienced...this may be an excellent deck.

I didn't know there were two kinds of decks, green and this one. My first deck was the green one and I never really bonded with it. Then one of the cards just vanished, so I couldn't use it. Maybe I wasn't supposed to use it. Comparing the two, this deck is so much nicer. It has a much higher vibration to it than the green one.

I purchased this deck expecting to receive the one pictured that is printed in Switzerland. All of the other reviews exclaim happily that it is as well. Instead of getting the red and white packaged deck in the mail I got a purple and coloured package from Game Systems U.S.A. that is printed in Belgium. Very dissapointing. The colours are greenish in hue and not true to the originals. I wish that the picture of the item and the reviews hadn't been so misleading, as I never would have purchased them if I had known.