Games Books

Martha Frankel's book 'Hat's & Eyeglasses' is a "must read" and a book which immediately grabs your attention. The author is able to create a feeling of being a part of her life as she shares some real telling events that make you both laugh and cry at the same time. This books gives the reader an opportunity to be emmersed into the life of a women who was able to find a way to not only survive through all the challenges, but eventually find a place to thrive and build a life of meaning and purpose. I highly recommned this book to anyone!

This book is so fun to read. I couldn't put it down until I realized that I would be bummed when I finished it, so I saved a few chapters for the next morning. It is so off the wall yet so relatable. I cannot wait for her next book.

I really enjoyed this book...from the hilarious descriptions of the author's boisterous family in the Bronx to her insightful look at addiction, this book is definitely a page-turner and a very worthwhile read. I highly recommend it.

I absolutly LOVED this book in so ways! From the moment I picked it up and read the first 2 pages, I HAD to put it down because I was immediatly sucked into Marthas world, and I knew I was going to need some uninterrupted time as I wasnt going to be able to put it down. As an online gambler myself I could relate to Martha in so many ways. Martha's heartfelt story of online addiction, where almost everyone never admits they have a problem to her battle to get herself out, basically on her own. Cheers, Tears and Fears,this book has it all! A must read for all poker players.
Sandra Weber

I loved the "down to earth" writing style. Funny and eye opening also. I would highly reccommend this book. I especially loved the details she went into about the gambling.

Bailey

so i bought this book a few weeks ago. i keep it next to my easy chair when i watch tv, because i like to watch wild life and nature shows.
today was the second time in about two weeks that something came on tv, and when i tried looking for it in the book , it wasnt there.
i kind of wonder how many animals i have to look for in the book before i find it.
all these pages and all these animals, and just the ones i'm looking for were left out of the book.
looks like i'll have to buy a second book, and hopefully it will cover some of the animals that this book missed.
im not even looking at animals in the north pole or antearctica, just your normal average united states deer or elk.

We bought this last Christmas for our then 8-year old daughter, who's obsessed with animals. We were thoroughly impressed with the the size of the book, as well as the beautiful photos throughout. In the course of the last year, our daughter has carried this book around with her everywhere, reading excerpts to friends and family as she marvels at the facts found within. She LOVES this book! It covers every animal imaginable and she loves discovering new ones - seeing the photos, seeing where they live, reading about their diets and behaviors - everything! In hindsight I wish we'd gotten her the hardback version simply because she lugs it all over the place, but we could not be more happy with the book itself. We highly recommended this book for anyone interested in animals, regardless of age. Young readers will cling to it for many years to come and adult readers will be amazed at the photos and information.

I always read reviews before purchasing and when I read the reviews on this book, I knew it would be a great book. My son is Autistic and has always been an animal lover. The fact that this book has superb pictures alone is the perfect choice for any child! Another bonus is the wonderful variety of animals and the extent of information provided. My son has carried the book to school almost every day, regardless of how much it weighs! You can't go wrong, I promise. Thank you to a fabulous author, David Burnie!

I wanted a book that showed all types of animals for my grandchildren to look at. This book has beautiful color pictures of every animal imaginable. As the children age (they are only 6 and 4 yrs old ) and are able to read at higher levels, they can learn about each animal in great detail.

The photography is beautiful, vivid colors, and explanations of everything is provided. I see them picking this book up as teenagers and still finding something they missed.

My 8 year old son wanted this book after seeing it at school. This was one of the first animal books he has wanted as he is much more interested in sports. He read it for hours, made lists of important things to remember, and wanted to read it to me at night. Great value, very detail oriented.

Review by Sherry North, Author, Because You Are My Baby

Bold artwork and simple text combine to offer an outstanding introduction to trains for young children. There are only a few words on each page, making it a quick read-aloud that will hold the attention of even very young toddlers. The text describes the different types of cars in a freight train, then follows the train through tunnels, past cities, in daylight and darkness. Satisfying and highly recommended.

My 3 yr old grandson loves this book. The "story" is so simple but allows the reader many way of expanding the story through sound effects, color recognition, parts of the locomotive, parts of the track bed, speeding train sounds, it's going,... going,... gone.

Freight Train/Tren de cargaSimple words with simple images. You can hear the "click clack" of the train coming down the track, the chugging sound of the steam engine, and the sound of the horn as it approaches and then moves away. My daughter loved this book before she could even say the words.

My oldest son loved this book. It was his favorite when he was little. It builds on vocabulary; you can count the cars, name the colors, and look at different scenarios. I learned a lot about trains by reading this book to them. I am raising my children bilingual and when I found it in English and Spanish I knew I had to get it for them. It also helped me remember the words in Spanish, which I had forgotten. I must have for any child that likes trains. Donald Crews again has delighted us with a masterpiece.

My 2 year old son is obsessed with trains - he loves this book. It is very short and the pictures are well drawn. This books shows the difference between a hopper car and a box car, etc so now when we see a real train he can tell me what kind of cars they are.

I read this book years ago and I remember absolutely loving it. It's taken me years to find it again (I could never remember the title or author). I'm not sure I've ever read a book that has haunted me and disturbed me as much as this one.

A group of teens face an evil, deserted amusement park with rides and objects intent on doing them harm. Jenny, Dee, Michael and Audrey all set out to find Jenny's boyfriend, Tom and her cousin, Zach. Jenny constantly resists the charming Julian and proves herself as stronger than anyone ever thought her to be. Julian, who was introduced earlier in the series as the demanding and ruthless evil Shadow Man, shows that he has a much more caring and vulnerable side. Jenny and her friends face various obstacles and change along the way- their support, friendship and solidarity strengthening each other. The ending is bittersweet and, in my opinion, a tearjerker.

L.J. Smith should really consider writing a sequel to this series! The ending ends with some hope and really, I find the possibilities of what could be done now to be extremely interesting.

(Spoiler) What do you all think would happen IF Julian's name was carved once again? Would he be the same Julian with the same feelings, would he be as Julian was when he was first born, or would be another being entirely? These questions were never fully answered and I would love to know!

I do detest the ending however I don't think I'll spoil it for you but never the less still good story.

This entire Trilogy is just amazing. I was given a present of the first book when I was about 7 (10 years ago), and I immediately wanted the next two! I fell in love with Julian there and then, and was never able to understand why Jenny didn't just choose him! I've read these books over 20 times, and they're all falling apart. Everybody in the entire world should read them, because you're missing out if you don't. I highly recommend them. The last book is a nice finish, but it's incredibly sad. I wish it had ended differently! (...)

In the trilogy of the Forbidden game i thought that the first and third were the best books I've ever read, and although the second was good it didnt even compare to these. I thought the game was great but if I were jenny I'm afraid I would miss out on it because one look and a few words from Julian and I would run away with him straight away. The books were made to be so real that I'm still searching for my own door, call me sad but you have to admit if Julian wanted you, you wouldn't be able to resist!

This was the first LJS book I ever read and it awakened me. Never before had I realised what a book could truly do to a person. This, the final book of the Forbidden Game trilogy, really gives the reader an insight to all the characetrs. It shows how they have developed, especially Julian. It also brings out different feelingsof the main characetr, Jenny. She learns so much about Julian and learns to understand. This book is definatly the most important and is a wonderful way to end the trilogy.

This is my favourite book, only challenged by other of L J Smith's works. She is an amazing woman and it is well worth reading her stuff.

The book is well organized and very easy to read. It captures both the novice as well as those who have been working in WPF since beta (or is that CTP). The only complaints I have for the book are really just complaints on WPF in general. A lot of the material in the book (as well as WPF in general) focuses on making fairly outlandish applications (getting all the wizz bang features and animations). What I find lacking are items like validation, threading (when having a long background task), and items more akin to Windows Forms development. This book was an invaluable tool while I put together my first WPF application.

A quick background of my skills prior to reading the book so you know where I'm coming from:
- Strong: C++, Win32, 2D UI
- Learning: C#, .NET, WPF, XAML, XML

Being extremely anxious to dig in to WPF, I was seeking a book that would hold my hand through the process but by the end, leave no stones unturned. This book comes close.

My first attempt at learning was "Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed" by Adam Nathan. I quickly became frustrated with the book because I was regularly feeling lost. You know, like when you are conversing with a really intelligent person who has a hard time helping you connect the dots. I do recommend Adam's book as a supplement as it's got good material and is in full color. After reading the reviews for "Programming WPF" by Sells & Griffiths I took the leap.

I read the book cover to cover minus 3 chapters: 3D, Interoperability and Async/Multithreaded -- about 700 of 800 pages. Usually books this fat have lots of useless pages. Not this book, no sir, which just goes to show how much there is to learn about WPF and XAML. In a word, the book is brilliant, written for experienced programmers who want to learn WPF and XAML.

It has the same feel as Petzold's Win 3.x books, i.e. Light-hearted, start easy and built to a powerful crescendo as the chapters progress. The latter chapters are no more difficult to digest than the previous chapters, but do build upon previous chapters. That said, I was extremely grateful that the book didn't have a grand project that was slowly built upon chapter by chapter; code examples mostly stood on their own and were plentiful (and they worked as printed!)

As noted above, I know very little about WinForms, and WPF is the obvious successor. Though parallels were duly noted, I was thrilled that there were not constant sidebars saying "Hey Mr. WinForms! Everything's OK! This is just new stuff and you can handle it. Rah! Rah! Rah!" As the authors make abundantly clear from page 1, WPF is light years ahead of WinForms.

As noted above, WPF and XAML are big topics so be prepared to get up and stretch your legs a lot, hold you head frequently and doubt the wisdom of learning new things.

On the down side, the book is weighted a bit too heavily towards XAML for my tastes. Since C# can do absolutely everything (and more) that XAML can do, I wish there were more dual examples that show how XAML does it and then how C# does it. There are examples like this but not enough. This would satisfy the curiousity of developers who wonder about how XAML "magically" achieves things.

Another gripe, now that I am attempting to apply what I have learned: I am frequently having to turn to a Google search to find details not present in the book. For example, the section about event bubbling covers good ground but I immediately had a problem when trying to use bubbling: I was attempting to use it with sibling elements and that does not work but (as far as I can tell) this was not noted in the book. It feels as though the book was not field tested.

And a final gripe: The index is sparse. I am regularly having to pencil in items.

Some brief notes:
- I really hope this book evolves along with WPF's evolution
- The material seemed fresh (as of Oct 2008) except the Silverlight appendix which has aged since Silverlight 2.0 has been released
- The corresponding errata website does not seem to be updated regularly (though I didn't encounter many editing problems)
- Even though the book only has a dozen pages of color plates, you won't feel deprived as the examples will light up your display in all sorts of fun ways.

I have both WPF books by Chris Anderson and Adam Nathan. I read initial chapters of both of them but never got so excited to continue reading and got astray into LINQ and other stuff. Then I bought this one from Chris Sells and all I can say is it is much better than both Anderson and Adam book and the book keeps you engaged making you eager to find out what next in very simple terms and wonderful example. I loved the way the data binding chapter was explained and am hoping to finish this soon.

Great Job Sells and Ian.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that after diving into WPF back when it was known as "Avalon", I haven't even touched WPF since. So I finally needed to suck it up, get started, and learn WPF.

As somebody new to WPF, I just have to give a huge "Thank You" to both Chris and Ian. This book is very entertaining and the quality of the writing between both Chris and Ian is just tremendous. The pace of the book is perfect and the teaching style is one that any developer can relate to.

As a Technical Evangelist working for Microsoft, I think that every "Evangelist" in the tech industry can learn from Chris and Ian on how to tell a compelling story that developers can relate to and "grok". We evangelists are all-too-willing to simply explain the technical details of an API while completely forgetting to answer the "why" (let alone telling a compelling story to suck people in). This is yet another area that this book excels at.

I can say with full confidence that this book is the first book I recommend to anybody wanting to dive into WPF. Enjoy!

Jason Olson, Technical Evangelist, Visual Studio & the .NET Framework
[...]

Writing a programming book is not an easy thing to do -- I know, because I've done it myself. And I have to say that I'm really impressed with the job that Chris Sells and Ian Griffiths have done with "Programming WPF". This is one of the best programming books I've ever read (and I've read a lot of them).

For a programming book to be good, it's not enough for it to simply contain all of the information that you need to know. If that information doesn't stick to your brain, then the book hasn't done it's job. If you want the information to stick, then the book has to be interesting to read. It has to have a lot of clear examples that show you real-world applications without extraneous fluff. And to be really effective, all of that should be done with a little bit of style and wit.

And I'm really pleased to say that "Programming WPF" does all of those things. I recently needed a refresher on WPF, so I just spent a lot of time over the last few weeks going through the book very carefully. And I have to say that I'm really impressed. It's engaging, interesting and they chose really good examples. And it's witty! (You'd be amazed at how the occasional chuckle keeps a reader from getting that "eyes glazed over" feeling that far too many books induce.)

I know from experience -- believe me, I know! -- just how hard it is to pull that off. And they did it with style. So first of all, congratulations to Chris and Ian for doing a great job. And second, if you're a C# developer looking for a good, hands-on way to learn WPF, I highly recommend "Programming WPF".

Despite the fact that his books feature anthropomorphic mice, Kevin Henkes' characters are always strikingly realistic. Lilly is no exception.

When she gets a COOL PURSE from her grandma, she has a predictably hard time waiting until Show-and-tell... so hard a time that she doesn't wait. And it's confiscated.

Then she - predictably - is upset at her teacher instead of herself. So she writes him a nasty letter... which she repents from when she realizes he doesn't totally hate her after all.

The descriptions of her feelings are just right, and she settles her problem in just the way I'd suggest to a kid in her situation.

I bought this book for my two year old granddaughter and she loves it. It is well made with wonderful pictures.

This story is about a girl who got a brand new purse. She really wants to show it to her classmates, but her teacher Mr. Slinger wants her to wait at an appropriate time.
I love this book because Lilly is very precious and for giving. I think this book is good for k-2nd grade. So they can have reading.
I think this is a wonderful story. Lilly loves her purse. Plus she's very anxious to show it off, that's why like this book.

This is a great book, especially if you have an independent, free-thinking, stong-willed little person to share this with. Lilly is a spunky little mouse that exhibits typical traits of every 4, 5 and 6 year old. This is one book that I don't mind reading over and over again.

A very fun and whimsical story that illustrates Lilly's emotional experience and how she deals with her emotions. I highly recommend. My 3 year old son loves it, and is a common birthday gift, especially for girls.

This book, read first when I was 14 years old, and since added to my adult library, read and re-read again, has stayed with me like so very few other books in my life.

I wont over-egg the review - Corbett wouldn't have liked that kind of lionising (good pun!) and he doesn't need it. Suffice to say I respect Corbett deeply, and often think of him. Unabashed admiration for this man is easy. All his books are worth your money, but start with this one.

Jim Corbett was an excellent writer and storyteller. Although I've read other stories written by adventurers and hunters that were Corbett's contemporaries, none were as interesting or as well told. My 11-year-old son particularly enjoys them. I would highly recommend any of Jim Corbett stories for teens or pre-teens as well as adults.

In the early twentieth century, British held South Asia was terroized by a number of infamous tigers and leopards. Entire villages were abandoned and literally hundreds of human beings found out they weren't at the top of the food chain. In the "Man Eaters of Kumaon", hunter jim Corbett describes in vivid and suspensful detail his hunt for tigers in Northeast India.
Corbett describes the perilous beauty of the jungle clad hills in the shadow of Nepal's majestic summits. He also masterfully paints an image of terror and suspense as he faces off against tigers, leopards, a bear, and a venomous snake. Even as he pursues his prey, he often comes close to having the tables turned on him. He also presents readers with a glimpse of the cultural spectacle and harsh life-or death realities in India under the Raj.
Corbett doesn't come across as very prideful. In fact, he even respects the animals he's hunting and often notes injuries or situations that likely caused them to hunt humans. I will warn potential readers that there are several rather gruesome scenes ranging from finding dead or injured humans to some of the hunting itself. However, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in adventure, hunting, or both. It is well written, a fast read, and ultimately a powerful tale of man against beast.

Probably the best big game hunting book ever written. Will keep you on the edge of your seat and I do not recommend reading it while camping in the woods (especially if the woods happen to be in India). Corbett describes stalking man-eating tigers and often they stalk him. These are not made-up stories nor are they self justifying. Corbett ONLY hunted tigers that the local population asked him to, after dozens or sometimes hundreds of people had been killed. His descriptions are beautiful and picture an era (India in 1900-1930) that has long since gone. I have read it many times, the first when I was about 11 years old.

This book was written by not only a very brave man but a man that possessed great character and class. His only reason for hunting these Man-Eaters was to rescue the villagers from this ever present terror. He took no money for his efforts. Very exciting reading without ever a hint of bragging about his extraordinary gift of successfully hunting the most dangerous animals on earth.

When most people think of Yu-Gi-Oh, they think of the children's cartoon series. They see weirdo characters battling with monsters sported from the trading card that's all the rage among children and a select few teenagers. They wouldn't begin to suspect seeing the iconic Yami Yuugi (whom those have normally seen trying to rescue his grandpa or just generically "saving the world" time and time again) making a life-threatening bet with an escaped convict, whom ends up incinerating himself with his own cigarette--or driving other corrupted delinquents to madness while twisting their own distorted flaws to ironic pain and suffering.

No, this isn't something made for kids, and perhaps not even suitable for someone under thirteen. If I am not mistaken, this particular volume shows implications of murder, domestic violence, death, corporate misdemeanor, attempted rape, among other suggestive material that would have parents of children who watch the American adaptation of Yu-Gi-Oh confused beyond all doubt.

The story begins with Yuugi Mutou, an self-doubting high-school freshman who usually finds himself alone in a corner playing games. Being unpopular and subject-able to teasing and peer harassment, Yuugi wishes more than anything to have friends whom he can cherish and relate to. In possession of the Millennium Puzzle, a cursed relic that when put together, can grant its holder one wish, Yuugi is determined to assemble it in order to make his wish come true. What he doesn't realize, however, is the fact that the puzzle contains the soul of a three thousand year blood-thirsty gambler, whom later possesses Yuugi once he completes it. With that, every person who assaults or threatens Yuugi, later finds himself competing with the ancient spirit in a duel that usually results with death, injury or insanity.

Despite this however, the story within this graphic novel series conveys themes of friendship, loyalty and trust. Through Yuugi's pain, he finds connections with some of the most unlikely people, including Jounouchi Katsuya, a former offender whom Yuugi defended from a greater common enemy, Honda Hiroto, who defended by Yuugi from an inflexible and dogmatic instructor, and Mazaki Anzu--his childhood friend whom he rescued from a hostage crisis in a fast-food restaurant.

This particular graphic novel is packed with seven suspenseful teen-based stories, each one with distorted outcomes that will have your mind spinning yet begging for more. Among the shonen-genre, this is among perhaps one of the more over-rated franchises--but is still very, very good and well told.

Among manga readers, this one is a good buy, though I find it silly if you already have the paperback. Unless you are dying for a better chance at preserving your comics and wishing to see the first five pages in color--than what the heck, go nuts!

I bet there is a few people who are thinking about buying this for a younger relitive, thinking it's like the 4kids anime....you better back away unless you want your 7-10 year old pulling the perverted prank "panty tank". Yu-Gi-Oh! was originally intended for teens until 4kids messed it up so if your looking for some Yu-Gi-Oh! for your kids try "the pyrimid of light" ani-manga (its colored and has the same dialoge as the movie its self)

The first 7 volumes of the manga is pretty much what happened in the series that wasn't shown in the US. I recommend this to manga readers 11+ but be warned, there is violence and a lot of swears in this manga. I am 13 years old

Many American children, especially those in the 7-12 age bracket, watch Yu-Gi-Oh regularly. Kids love the action and strategy. Parents love the 'appropriate' factor. Teens, however, hate the kiddiness, and anime purists abhor the editing.

Guess what? It's a lucky day for teens and anime fans.

Threats, fist-fights, and disturbing games (with disturbing conclusions) run rampant in this first volume of Yu-Gi-Oh, and although most people will love it, parents need to be warned--this is not for children under the age of 12.

Also, you won't find the card game 'Duel Monsters' anywhere in this first volume--in fact, it doesn't become the main part of the story until later on in the Yu-Gi-Oh anthology. Instead, however, you'll find out the origins of Yugi and his friends (with their original, un-Americanized names). And while all of this was originally created for a Japanese TV show, when 4Kids brought YGO over to the US, they skipped over the first few story arcs, and got right to the card battles.

Also, it's important to note that as this is a manga (Japanese comics, for the uninitiated) graphic novel, it reads from right to left, in traditional Japanese fashion. Of course, this means that you read the panels and text bubbles from right side to left side, but the translated text is written from left to right. It's ok if you don't understand--VIZ (the publishing company) provides a key in the graphic novel to help you learn how to read it. After 30 or 40 pages, reading like this will become second nature, so don't fret about that.

VIZ translates the sound effects, which is nice. The artwork is very nice (though not amazing), consistent, and easy to look at. The translation is very well done, with footnotes explaining any Japanese pop-culture references you might miss.

Overall, I'd highly reccomend it--to anyone over 12, and especially to older Yu-Gi-Oh fans who want to see a little bit darker take on the story.

Try, for a moment, to put aside all you think you know about Yu-Gi-Oh! and imagine something completely unexpected. Forget about the children's TV series. Don't give the card games another thought. And try to get past the tons of merchandise featuring Yugi's image. Let's begin to reconceptualize the character of Yugi.

That is, essentially, all that is needed in order to more fully enjoy Kazuki Tanahashi's creation, Yu-Gi-Oh! In the Manga, Yugi isn't the tough-talking little Goth boy you might expect. Instead, Yugi seems to be the polar opposite of this characterization - and deliberately so. A comparatively small teen with awkwardly-proportioned hands and feet, the slightly-effeminate Yugi struggles daily with schoolyard bullies, cruel adults, and even the doldrums which epitomize teenage life. While everything seems stacked against him from the get-go, Yugi finds himself optimistic, enjoying life whereas other similarly-affected kids would be beaten down by these oppressive forces.

And this is because he has a mind which is constantly stimulated by the games his grandfather provides him with. You see, Yugi loves puzzles more than anything, and can make a game out of anything. This is the quality that both alienates him from his peers, and gives him limitless courage to face each trial of the schoolyard. In this sense, there's some degree of all of us - after all, who doesn't love a good game? Who among us hasn't daydreamed about getting lost in some fancy labyrinth, or of solving a particularly challenging mind game?

As a result of his passion for puzzles, Yugi becomes someone different from time to time - a personality over which he has no conscious recollection or knowledge. This Yugi is a sadist, one who has no qualms over hurting those who tread upon the weak as a means of poetic justice. This Yugi plays games of a different sort, ones which torture the players unfortunate enough to lose ("Penalty Games," dished out to those who seemingly deserve such extreme punishments - blindness, insanity, death by fire, etc.), but only those who have manipulated others and exploited their helplessness. This Yugi later becomes known as "Yama Yugi" (or, "Dark Yugi").

In creating this series, creator Mr. Tanahashi explains that he had no concept of how popular his little character would become in the marketplace and in the media. Having met with no prior success, Mr. Tanahashi had no way of anticipating what would become of his little "strange story... that centered around 'The Mysterious' in everyday life." The first appearance of the ubiquitous card game based on the Manga does not even make an appearance in this first volume (a 7-issue series which spins off into Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist and nearly concurrently, Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World, and today's hot property Yu-Gi-Oh! GX).

While this book is - as one might expect - very popular with the kids, it certainly isn't the average American-written "kids' book." Inside these pages are tales of abuse, murder, torture... and, sometimes, even some bawdy humour ("Never play basketball in a skirt," says Anzu, the book's female protagnist). Certainly, it is filled with goofy stories light on the plot and occasionally, heavy on the characterizations - so it's a nice, light read. It's a children's title by way of Suzuki Koji, much the same way Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro was almost a grown-up movie disguised as kids' fare.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a fun ride, packed with calculated fear and excitement, and endowed heavily with humanizing imagery (especially poignant is the image of Yugi reaching into a box, having nearly completed the 3-D puzzle he had kept with him for eight years, his clumsy hand searching for the final puzzle piece... only to discover it was missing, for all his pains. After watching him get beaten and extorted by a much larger classmate, knowing that the puzzle was what gave poor Yugi the most enjoyment out of life... This painful little scene is almost too much for dry eyes to absorb). It may not be the best of the genre, but it does deserve the attention it has received.

It also deserves a little more respect as well, but with marketing ever the ceaseless beast, this probably isn't too likely.

This book is huge. No basic magic trick is missed. The text is easy to understand and the illustrations are great. I also enjoyed the added little tips on presentation that hightens the tricks, adding comedy and entertainment. This is definately a must-have for all beginning magicians. At this price, this book is a great value, even for those of us just wanting a few little tricks to amaze our friends. I bought this book for a ten-year-old. He is just a little young to be able to idependantly use the entire book. However, I believe that within a few years, he will need no assistance at all reading and interpreting the book. There are so many tricks described in the book that I think he will be using it for a long time to come.

This is the instruction manual that I use to teach new magicians.
Lawrence O'Leary

I've always fascinated by magic. And for those guys who like to entertain the women, will find an absolute importance of magic in their routine. The tricks in this book are ranging in difficulty and definitely require times, energy and whole lot of practices to execute.

I was expecting there will be lots of impromptu magics, the kinds I like to entertain people. Quite dissapointed to find the section to be basic and not very impressive. However, if you are a professional magician without this book, you'll be like a man in LA without a car. Thus I can say that this book is critical and mainly focused for stage magicians.

This book is wonderful for anyone wanting to learn magic tricks. This book explains how each trick will appear to the audience and then gives very detailed instructions with drawings showing each step. I used the information in the book to teach rope tricks to a bunch of third grade cubscouts. The parents were so impressed with the tricks that they wanted to learn them too.

Many times applauded, this classic for teaching magic is practically unequaled. If you want to learn magic from scratch, this book is what you need.

As Founder and President of the International Mental Game Coaching Association (IMGCA), I am always searching for new material, stories and background on sports psychology that I can bring to our members via articles, training programs and our IMGCA Certification programs.

I have followed Paul Fein's writing for years and have always been greatly impressed by his tennis acumen, his intellectual depth, and his writing style. He is one of the very best tennis writers being published today, and this book, Tennis Confidential, is no exception. This is a superb addition to the tennis literature, and one you will want on your bookshelf.

Paul's in-depth analysis of the social context of tennis is remarkable, and I really appreciate his engaging interviews with tour players that reveal the hidden mental dimension.

This book has appeal to all tennis players. I highly recommend this book for players, coaches, teachers, parents and officials.

If you love the game of tennis, you'll love Paul Fein's insightful comments on the game that fill this book. From the "look behind the curtain" that Paul provides in his interviews with Pete, Mac, Jimbo, etc., to the well thought out logic he applies to many of the current controversies of the game, you will find much interesting, amusing, and thought-provoking material in Tennis Confidential. Buy it!

Tennis Confidential is not an encyclopedia, but it IS encyclopedic. There's a lot of substance within its covers: player profiles, interviews, controversies, history, greatest matches, and even a brief history of racquet design.
Fein's passionate concern for the sport is evident throughout. He writes, "If tennis tries to be all things to all people, it will lose its brilliant uniqueness and end up being nothing much to anyone." His book, however, comes close to being all things to all tennis fans.

As a former coach of several world-class players and also former National coach for the French, Swiss and Hellenic tennis Associations, I most appreciated the originality and expertise in Tennis Confidential. Pro tennis has plenty of controversies about on-court coaching, the scoring system, equal prize money, ranking systems, doubles reforms, the service let, etc. The essays analyze them with more thoughtfulness and fairness than I've seen before. Your opinions about certain issues will undoubtedly change after you read these essays. Interviews and features with Agassi, Serena Williams, McEnroe, Ashe, Navratilova, Borg, Sampras and other champions are also eye-openers. History fans will definitely enjoy the six retrospectives and the 10 greatest matches. On a light note, everyone will have fun with "True Confessions" and the amusing and sometimes shocking trivia that is sprinkled throughout the book. Several of the articles received writing awards. This is a book you will want to read and re-read.

As a tennis fan, especially in a family with few tennis fans, I enjoy reading outside material about the game. Not tips on playing, but about the pros, especially stories, history, analysis, etc. So I figured this book would fit right in with my appetite, especially from the subtitle, 'players, matches, and controversies.' I was right!



Tennis Confidential contains all of this and more! I was excited to read about events that happened before I was around, and also enjoyed reading about events that happened while I was around, and Fein brought a fresh and inside perspective to dozens of topics. Chapters I particularly enjoyed include the Burning Issues section, in which Fein examines modern topics like power, blacks' domination, new stats, and more; Controversies, with topics such as equal prize money, women's tennis superiority, the let rule, and more; and all time top 10 matches, with many surprises, but deep analysis.



No wonder my 2nd favorite sport is baseball. Both it and tennis, my favorite, invite analysis, discussion, controversy, have rich histories, and no clock. Reading this book allows me to appreciate the game more, want to discuss it more, and proud to be a tennis fan.
Plus, the author is very friendly and happy to discuss his work. I met him at a tournament, and we took a picture together.