Language Arts Books

This is the definite cluetrain (doc searls et al)for broadcasTV news. Much the same way cluetrain sparked a marketing revolution, this does the same for broadcast journalism.
I first meet the author when she was interning for Florida Today in Cocca Beach.
Every point she makes in this book is vaild. The take on "fox fair and balanced" tells me she won't be on the O'Reilly factor anytime soon.
I found only one sort of error. FYI> Matt Lauer does have a broadcast journalism background on the local level. He came out of the same environment that former NBC correspondent and current talk show host (WBUR Boston) Robin Young did, PM Magazine at WJAR TV 10 in Providence Rhode Island. That's the only small flaw I could find in the book.
The suits at CNN don't want you to read the book. They are not happy campers and with good reason. The hollywood suits trashed the network big time, and with than came the opening for Fox news to fill. Rick Kaplan is currently doing the same thing for MSNBC that he did for CNN take it down the pike.
It's a fast read but once you start you wont' want to stop.

Finally---an insider with enough intestinal fortitude to call a sham a sham!!! One can just imagine the 6 o'clock news being primmed, powdered and perfumed with just enough tear (or smile) to make it palatibly entertaining. Ms. Anderson, with her years of experience and credibility, still believes that the American citizenry is due the news, the whole news, and nothing but the news. Reserve the spin and "holy cows" for the baseball commentators! If the media execs remain stoically entrenched in the annals of the entertainment world, then let them be reminded of the old radio classic, Dragnet, where the byline was...."the facts, Ma'am, just the facts".

Bonnie Anderson's book has brought to the light of day what I have felt has been a problem with the media for some time. Many of the newscasts are more concerned with form, not substance; how they look and not what they say. Her book is a very good read and pulls no punches in pointing out the way many in the media are more concerned with entertainment than hard news coverage. Her description of this type of coverage as "Infotainment" is right on point.

News Flash brings to the reader another big problem influencing news coverage which is how mega mergers are affecting the coverage that is being presented to the viewing public. Unfortunately the impact is not good and these large conglomerates are proving the old adage "bigger is not always better" to be very true.

From her experience at CNN as a reporter, managing director of a news division and Vice President of Recruitment and Training, Anderson offers the reader a unique perspective as to what goes on inside a large news organization. She provides an in depth look at what takes place behind closed doors when it comes to hiring, firing and staffing in today's media corporations and much of what she reveals should be quite disturbing to the viewing public. This book provides some very interesting statistics about the media and its management which I am sure most of us were never aware of.

While Anderson points out numerous things that are wrong with today's TV media and its management, she also brings out the good that the true journalist can and should do. At the end of the book she offers her thoughts on what the media can do to provide the viewing public with quality news coverage. She should be commended for taking a stand and bringing to our attention the problems and proposing solutions to get TV journalism back to the quality we need and deserve.

In light of Anderson's criticism of the TV networks and cable news channels, it will be interesting to see if any of the media will afford her the same opportunity to present her views as they did when Bernard Goldberg published his book on bias in the media. If they do not, shame on the media, again.

News Flash appears as a rising meteor against a field of weakening stars. Ms. Anderson's book takes the reader through the shenanigans of the TV news broadcasters in their unadulterated striving for place and profits while leaving behind journalistic investigation and integrity. Her words turn out to be an exciting journey of personal experience and incisive exposure.
As a long time news journalist Ms. Anderson sets a fair bar for news organization to reach. Her experiences and reporting often show just how good news organization can function. The same intimacy exposes the petty, inexcusable machinations of networks in journalistic decline.
Ms. Anderson's news flashes exposes the perfidy of CNN's executive wing in its Tailwind scandal, the staging of news as presented by NBC's Dateline story on General Motors in 1992 and the apparent homophobia of Roger Mudd given his attitude toward AIDS victims. But indeed, Ms Anderson is not a muckraker. On the contrary, hers is to excite the industry to better, to reset the standard of TV journalism. She gives as examples her own series on drought and famine in Africa bringing a change in American policy on humanitarian aid, or of CNN's initiative in covering the return of twenty-four U.S. Navy spy plane crewmen held in China. While these could be considered scoops, her admiration for her industry is best held by her words on the, "spectacular breaking news coverage of the 9/11 attacks."
Ms. Anderson words border on the requirement for broadcast journalism to return to its traditional values and to assure the public a clear and unbiased presentation of the news. Ms. Anderson carries the fight to those in the industry already sullying news broadcasts as entertainment and who have diluted their own professionalism for money, position, or simply hubris.

From her insiders view of the whole industry, Bonnie
Anderson delivers a searing indictment of our corrupt,
sensationalistic television news. She lays out fact
by fact, and name by name, just how, why, and most
importantly who is to blame for this once esteemed
institution's downward slide into the very muck it
used to deplore. For years, Noam Chomsky's theories
about the corruption of the news media have grown less
alarmist and eerily more prescient as the
infotainment age reaches its belligerent maturity.
But while Chomsky was lecturing about it, Ms. Anderson
was out in the field living it. She recounts, with a
journalist's eye for detail, all that went astray
within our large media conglomerates. The cast of
characters are all to familiar, Browkaw, Jennings,
Schwarzenegger, Striesand, O.J., Clinton, Leo,
Lewinsky, and Lettermen, as Ms. Anderson makes a
compelling case for the media's distortion from a
revered source of accurate information to an
increasingly grotesque and obvious fountain of
entertainment. "If it bleeds it leads" is the mantra
of newsrooms of our day, and may truth and rational
perspective be damned. Everything of value is
jettisoned in light of shocking and sensational video
footage about any subject, no matter how irrelevant
and trivial. No one will hear about the latest civil war in
Africa when every second of news time is dedicated to
footage of a shark attack in Florida, human interest
stories, a surfing cat, or another excessive
Hollywood wedding.

Dazzling and intense works. Good overview of his output. Although this is not the Collected Poetry of Heaney it does contain almost all his best poems up to 1996, as well as his Nobel Prize acceptance lecture (a gem) and an excerpt from his play Cure a Troy. Essential poetry volume.

I needed the book for a class... I went in to reading it like it was going to be garbage... But it actually was a little bit interesting...

strong poems, there is a sadness and a resignation of fog that permeates these poems. this is a melancholy man, one for whom the all-pervading glue of inaction and paralysis bounds him to a bleak world, soiled and grey and drab. this is a weary poet, too nauseated with reality's bruised soldiers, slovenly rudeness, the uncouth glutton, the debauched fiend. i enjoy him, immerse myself in his dust-gloom, his inability to soar into elation and falcon-freedom.

author of Lorelei Pursued and Wrestles with God

After currently studying the quality of Seamus Heaney's poems, i am quite sure that this book will not dissapoint you. The quality of Heaney's poems are somewhat outstanding, they are a shock, as you dont normally read poems of this sort, and once you read one, you have to read the others. One of my personal favourites is Mid-Term Break.

Written by Kirk Aged 14

If you have not read Seamus Heaney, then you are not in touch with what the English language is in its heart. Heaney's simple, unstrained word usage, coupled with a deep knowledge of the rich Anglo-Saxon which is our cornerstone, evokes a strength which comes not so much from what we see and know as from something which is rooted deeply in our psyches as Anglo-Europeans (or at least those living in and a part of such cultures). Heaney also brings to light the beauty of the ordinary, primarily by weighting it with the yoke of history and the various passions of his fellow man.

I bought this collection because I enjoyed others of his works (especially The Spirit Level and Seeing Things), which I uncovered at the library, too much to go long without his poetry. And this collection turns out to have all of my favorites from those volumes, as well as the best and most skilled of the poems of his earlier volumes. Do I recommend it? I wouldn't have prominently displayed the fact that I was reading it in numerous public places if I didn't, now would I?

I am a huge Rick Bragg fan, and enjoyed this collection of his previously published newspaper articles.

Bragg's writing is powerfully humanizing. It's also beautiful and inspiring to read, not just because of the subjects he chooses, but in his prose. Wonderful light reading, and the short newspaper-story formats make it ideal for travel reading.

Rick Bragg knows how to capture a readers attention by his style of get to the point writing. No boring, drawn out, unneccessary words or wording. Very refreshing read. A chance to learn things about ordinary people and events that you may have never heard about or known. Thought provoking. This should be the next read in Oprah's book club.

If you loved Ava's man, all over but the Shoutin, etc., as I did you might be disappointed. These are simply news stories from his paper days. Well written but just news.

This book is the newpaper stories by Rick Bragg.If you like his style of writting, this book is one of his best.Moving stories about ordinary individualsat the moments that are most revealing.Rick Bragg makes you feel like you are there with him in each story.

This is an essential book for students of Spanish language. I used this book constantly as a student (over ten years ago ;), and now, as a tutor of high school Spanish language students, I urge all my students to make the small investment for this indispensable book. It has all the same information as "501 Spanish Verbs," but in a much more convenient "travel size." HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

This is the pocket version of the Barron's 501 Spanish Verbs. The layout is exactly the same, but with 200 less verbs. Like the bigger 501 Spanish Verbs, it provides an explanation and examples on the different tenses and their usages.

The reason that I bought this book was that my 501 Spanish Verbs was getting ripped up from carrying it around everywhere. Because this book is so much smaller than the 501 Spanish Verbs, I'm more inclined to carry it around with me when I go traveling.

If you need to do constant drills to remember the Spanish verbs, this is the book to carry around. If you're a fan of 501 Spanish Verbs, you'll like this as a "pocket" reference book.

This is the best Spanish verbs book for beginning or intermediate students because it has about 300 of the most frequently used verbs with all the tenses, and it is of a size and weight to easily fit in a crowded backpack, briefcase, etc. 99 out of 100 verbs that you need to check the tense on will be in this book.

I bought this item for my daughter, who was having a problem learning verb conjugation in her Spanish 101 course in college. She started using it from the moment it arrived, and her instructor saw a marked improvement in her performance in class. It made sense of verbal conjugation for her, and will undoubtedly result in her doing much better in this class.

This is a quck reference card intended as a companion to the Barron's book -- 501 Verbs. It is not sufficient on its own. However it is a very dense compilation of essentials, much more easily accessed than having to dig through the 501 or similar grammar books when one is first learning the ropes and framework of Spanish.

I used this card very, very frequently for my first month of independent spanish study. I greatly appreciated having a compact source of key things I needed to read over and over while trying to form a landscape view of this language. I am still pulling it out often to review key points. I am now at the start of month #3.

On one side of the card (3 pages worth when unfolded), it describes the purpose of each of the 7 simple tenses, the 7 compound tenses, the imperativo, the progressive forms, participles (Present and Past) as well as active versus passive voices. Key examples are given. On the other side is a very detailed conjugation plus English translation of a model verb (comer). Then the same table used in 501 is given for several strategically chosen regular and irregular verbs: dar, decir, estar, haber, hablar, hacer, ir and lavar.

The overall presentation of the card utilizes good graphics and color coded variations to assist in quickly finding the highlights. Without this feature, the very dense amount of information would be overwhelming -- but given the authors/publishers attention to detail -- I find it to be very user friendly.

The card is laminated and should be durable if kept reasonably protected in a notebook. Using it during my novice stage of exploring Spanish clearly saved a lot of wear and tear on my copy of 501 Verbs -- a resource needed indefinitely.

If you have toyed with the idea of someday becoming a writer, this book will encourage you to pursue it. Many of us doubt that we can write; Pat Schneider convinces you that you already are a writer. Whether for pleasure or for publication anyone can write. This does not, however, diminish those with extensive formal educations in writing. She means to say that anyone with the ability to take pen in hand can relay information from their heads to the paper. She does not promise a career in publishing or that others with enjoy your writing; she merely strengthens your confidence in your ability to articulate your thoughts in a physical form.
This book is the text for a my college-level writing class. The encouragement in the first chapters has everyone in the class excited about writing and anxious to get started on our projects. Some of my classmates and I have even spoke of planning a trip to Pat Schneider's home town to attend one of her workshops.
I would recommend it, however, for anyone with an interest in expressing themselves in written form. Whether you want to document your family oral history or someday publish a novel, you will find something here to help you along the way.

I'm 50+, with education in creative writing. I've written privately and with others most of my life. Pat is the teacher for whom I've been waiting. Her voice and style are empowering. Her ability to cast light on creativity and how we teeter between fiction and non, is among the clearest I've read - balancing craft with magic. Her practical advice is just what I was looking for in leading writing groups - she is honest and approachable.

If you are a writer, a prospective writing group leader, or are interested in joining a writing group, do yourself the kindness of buying and reading this book by the founder of the AWA method. I have read many books on writing over the last couple of years, including all of Natalie Goldberg's and If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland, and have found Schneider to be an unparalelled treasure trove of wisdom, gentleness, and practical advice. She speaks from many years worth of experience with writing, leading writing groups, and helping underpriveleged people find their voices in writing. She is inspirational and is the most trustworthy teacher of writing I've come across so far. She is also a excellent writer and poet herself.
In the first section of this wonderful book she gives advice to the writer writing alone, including lucid chapters on dealing with fear and maintaining discipline, and practical advice about exactly how to start and keep on writing-- what to do when you put your pen to the page-- that other books rarely give. In the second section she deals with writing groups, and the ethics of maintaining safety within those groups. Even if you are a solitary writer, this section is enlightening and moving, and if you are a writing group leader, or hope to be one, or are thinking of joining a writing group, this section is invaluable. She also discusses at length writing groups focused on empowering the underpriveleged; I found this information eye-opening and incredibly moving. In the final section she offers scores of writing practice exercises developed through countless writing group sessions. These are exercises relevant to all levels of experience in writing, which can be used for the solitary writer or in a writing group.
This book is a must-have for any dedicated writer, and Pat Schneider joins Julia Cameron, Natalie Goldberg, Brenda Ueland, Anne Lamott, Susan G. Wooldridge, Annie Dillard, and Virginia Woolf as an essential and luminous writing guide.

It was only two or three pages into the introduction of this book before I realized that Pat Schneider had given me the one book on writing I had looked for my entire life.

The great barrier between each of us and our own unique genius is fear. Writing -- at least deep, personal writing -- results from a direct confrontation with that fear. Some writers abandon their genius for fear of the pain of introspection. Others develop the courage to face themselves and move forward. Genius can flourish within an incubator of safety, self-confidence, focus, and practice. A nurturing environment allows some the freedom to take greater risks and plumb greater depths of personal understanding than those trapped within the cycle of their own fears.

By perfectly articulating the unspoken dread that many writers face when they seat themselves before the empty page, Schneider puts a face on the unseen enemy -- the writer him- or herself -- and allows one to move forward and deal with issues that otherwise may remain unidentified. Schneider demonstrates how to confront these scenarios not only to the solitary writer, but within the group workshop experience as well. As someone who has participated in workshops AND faced the terror of "alone," I can attest that her book can touch in a single sitting what sometimes years of therapy fails to unmask.

As theraputic as the book may be for one's writing, it may or may not be a therapy for the writer. As Schneider says in her book, "Whether or not writing heals the writer is irrelevant. What matters is the power of the work itself." This book is about writing and resolution, not about self-healing, though often the two go hand-in-hand.

This book should become a staple for all high school or university creative writing classes or for any writing class -- fiction or no -- that aims to put the writer in touch with his inner voice. In the beginning each of us brings so much unnecessary baggage to the pen or to the keyboard. And there is so much to regret for the needless time we lose in learning to know ourselves. Let's get on with it.

I teach several writing teleclasses and teleseminars and workshops and I am always on the look out for writing books which will both serve me as a writer and as a facilitator AND will serve my students.

"Writing Alone and With Others" by Pat Schneider does that and more.

Schneider's tone is a perfect blend of the business of writing and the sacredness of writing and the individuality of each writer.

She writes of genius within each writer - and she goes further to say "Genius needs a lifetime of dedicated practice." In this book one would certainly find a companion to nurture that dedicated practice with such a wide variety of writing exercises that anyone and everyone would find gold.

My favorite chapters include: Chapter 3: Toward a Disciplined Writing Life and Chapter 7: Growing as a Writer. I had really looked forward to hearing Schneider's take in Chapter 9: The Ethical Questions: Spirituality, Privacy and Politics. I wasn't sure why or how Spirituality fit into that equation, and I still don't after reading the chapter.

In re-reading it, I see how Schneider speaks of "ethical questions in writing will of necessity touch our most primal spiritual orientation" so seeing that, perhaps the chapter would have been better titled differently. Even so, it doesn't detract from the content of the book, it is simply a moment of saying "Hmmm. That is interesting. I wonder what is up with that?"

I can not recommend this book highly enough for all writers at all stages of creative growth. It is expansive and expanding, intriguing and evocative. It is bound to become a classic - if the writers of the future are especially blessed..

I looked at many writing books for my child. A school teacher recommended this one to me. After we used it as the primary writing guide, my child's writing took off. It's so effective that his writing has jumped from average to outstanding in his class. Now the book is one of our two MUST-DOs every week (the other is Beestar online ELA and vocabulary exercises, a wonderful web site www.beestar.org). Writing is a life-long skill. We will continue use this guide to improve writing for a long time.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I am excited about starting to use this method when school starts again. Teaching writing can be difficult, but how to give constructive feedback is even harder. I am optimistic that the ideas in this book will make it a whole lot easier to help my children.

English teachers have it tough -- no matter how hard they try, they cannot avoid a degree of subjectivity when it comes to grading papers. This book, 6+1 TRAITS OF WRITING, will not make the process a totally objective one, but it will provide a definite structure that will be invaluable to both new and experienced teachers alike. In workmanlike fashion, Ruth Culham devotes chapters to the traits (ideas, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, organization, and conventions) PLUS one (presentation) with a series of indicators for teachers to assess each one.

It's a great primer in the technique, and the chapters all follow a similar pattern with definitions of the traits, a list of reasons on why students struggle with that trait, steps on how to assess the trait, and sample papers to practice assessing using the 6 + 1 method. Each sample paper is followed by the scores the author gave it, along with their reasoning. Finally, the chapters are nicely rounded out with a series of practical ideas on how you can TEACH each trait. Teachers trying to get a handle on grading papers will appreciate the practicality and the structure.

The caveats I have with the book are minor. First, the sample papers range from Grades 3 to 9, and it's often difficult to assess sample papers because elementary teachers may not know how far along a secondary student should be and secondary teachers may have no clue about what's expected from third-grade writers. The wide range in ages, in other words, creates a bit of extra confusion for teachers who are well-versed in their own age-group of students. Also, the extra batch of "practice papers" to assess at the back of the book are directly followed by the author's scores, meaning the papers and their scores often share the same page. It would have been more helpful to separate them so as to avoid accidentally seeing a score while trying to finish the paper.

Culham's book is a great start, but a lot more practice assessing will probably be necessary to successfully implement the program. Also, I found that I had many questions about judgment calls while assessing some of the indicators and, in a workshop type setting, could have used further explanation from an experienced hand. Alas, the book cannot provide anything like that, but still, it's a start -- and a good one. Recommended.

As a classroom teacher and workshop leader, I have found this book very useful. It includes sample student papers that can be used by teachers and students to hone their assessment skills. The ideas for teaching each of the traits are concrete ones that students enjoy. When I've read forty papers and have run out of new responses to give my students, there are even lists of responses for me to use. I recommend this book to both new and experienced teachers of writing.

I originally had to buy this book for a graduate level pedagogy course. I ended up using this book constantly to help teach 4th graders how to write. Ruth Culham explains each trait well and includes a handful of awesome lesson plan ideas for students to practice the trait. I'd recommend it as a resource for any writing teacher (Grades 3-12).

I'm writing this review mainly because I couldn't find any other place where I could put my comments about the excellent service they offer at Amazon.
The Cambridge Encyclopedia is a magnificent work, and I'm very glad to finally have it; but it wouldn't have been so good if it hadn't been for the fast, neat, and professional service given at Amazon.
I live in Chile, South America, and my delivery date was due to August 20th. Despite the distance, my book arrived last Saturday, August 9th, in perfect condition, in a safe box with no flaws.
Thank you Amazon for providing the best service ever in international delivery. I completely trust them, and I certainly recommend it for anyone who'd like to purchase items internationally.
Keep on the excellent work! Thank you very much!!

Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language by David Crystal

Very British, packed full of facts, but eminently readable. Many illustrations and little sidebars keep it from being too dry. It's appropriate for the layman, but is still quite sophisticated. I recommend this book.

This book is somewhere between a reference and an entertainment. It has a large amount of material, some useful as well as other that is merely curious. It is beautifully printed, but the large format might be difficult to handle. Open it anywhere and you are sure to find something you did not know.

First thing I need to say is that this book is an overview of English Language and designed for average intelligent adults, not for serious academic settings. You'll notice plenty of photographs, charts, and such. It's quite fun to flip to any page and just start reading. It included a lot of contemporary figures, like pop singers, current politicians, and authors. It tried to make readers understand the older form of English culture by linking the current one to it. I must say this approach worked only so far as to get your feet wet. Again, it's an introductory sort of book, but still has many things we modern citizens don't know about English.

Buy the 1st Edition and save yourself thirty bucks.

It's got the same cover (but a different color), the same number of pages (506 pages) and is as far as I can tell, the exact same book. I'm tired of "edition inflation." Buy the first edition and save yourself a lot of money.

the chalk box kid

The Calk box kid









Crcc the walls where about to fall down Gorge ran to the other side



The Calk Box Kid by Clyde Bulla was about a kid named Gorge likes to plant and draw flowers .One

day Gorge moved to a knew town and a knew school but Gorge did not make any friends .Gorge did

not talk to anyone. Gorge got bulled by this kid named Vince because he said'' you think you school is

better then ours just because it bigger



My favorite part was when Gorge stood up to this boy named Vince. Vince was the meanest person in the whole entire school.



I think the author's purpose was to teach us to make friends, be nice to others, and to have fun at school.



I think a lot of kids should read this book because I give this book five stars. You learn some things like how to be a good friend and how to treat others like you want to be treated.
By Eugene



Crcc the walls where about to fall down Gorge ran to the other side



The Calk Box Kid by Clyde Bulla was about a kid named Gorge likes to plant and draw flowers .One

day Gorge moved to a knew town and a knew school but Gorge did not make any friends .Gorge did

not talk to anyone. Gorge got bulled by this kid named Vince because he said'' you think you school is

better then ours just because it bigger



My favorite part was when Gorge stood up to this boy named Vince. Vince was the meanest person in the whole entire school.



I think the author's purpose was to teach us to make friends, be nice to others, and to have fun at school.



I think a lot of kids should read this book because I give this book five stars. You learn some things like how to be a good friend and how to treat others like you want to be treated.
The Calk box kid









Crcc the walls where about to fall down Gorge ran to the other side



The Calk Box Kid by Clyde Bulla was about a kid named Gorge likes to plant and draw flowers .One

day Gorge moved to a knew town and a knew school but Gorge did not make any friends .Gorge did

not talk to anyone. Gorge got bulled by this kid named Vince because he said'' you think you school is

better then ours just because it bigger



My favorite part was when Gorge stood up to this boy named Vince. Vince was the meanest person in the whole entire school.



I think the author's purpose was to teach us to make friends, be nice to others, and to have fun at school.



I think a lot of kids should read this book because I give this book five stars. You learn some things like how to be a good friend and how to treat others like you want to be treated.
By Eugene

When you read this book you will be amazed! This book is amazing
to me and probably to you to.I mean I love this book it's amazing I hope you will like this book very,very much if you want to find out more information you'll have to read it!!!!!

The Chalk box kid teaches you a lesson about how to deal with life when
you move. It shows you that you can make a place your own. It was a wonderful book.Gregory creats a chalk garden. As 3rd graders we give it 5
stars!

This is my favorite book ever because it was about chalk and I like to write with chalk.

I like this book a lot because I like to write with chalk.I would also like to have a garden.

A wonderful book. I loved it as a child, and going back to read it as an adult I realize that there are a lot of things that I missed. I remember my teacher reading it aloud in class--wonderful!

The movie, although very nice, has only a superficial resemblance to the book. For one thing, it moves the time a generation or so back. For another, in the book both parents are alive, rather than Caracticus Pott's being a widower; consequently, there is no romance.

I could very well wish that a new movie be made, NOT a musical and following the original plot.

Just like when I was a kid at my moms knee listening to her read this to me I wsa again transported to another time. This audio is great. Kids and adults alike will fall inlove with this audio book. Some what diffrent than the movie staring Dick Van Dyke. which is always a welcome suprise.

It is a charming and delightful story that you will love to read to your children. I read this book to my 6 year old. She loved it!! We both wish we could find more books about this wonderful family and car.

I remember the 1968 movie based on this novel fondly, but had never picked up the novel itself until just the other day. I was surprised at how different the book is. Although Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang herself is very similar in both, the plot of the story is much different. I enjoyed this simple little story, with Fleming's humorous asides, very much. Those asides reminded me of the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books I have read and I would be interested in learning if Lemony Snicket drew from Fleming's story style for his own series. This is a fun, quick story that most kids will enjoy. I do, however, fear that the admittedly crude illustrations in my original edition would not be as popular with modern children.

The story of Caractacus Pott, his family, and that wonderful magical car is one of the best children's stories you will ever read. Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, tells a fantastic story about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the magical flying car that can even turn into a boat! It's a delightful story, filled with crooks and gangsters, and you won't be sorry you bought this fantastic little book. Should be added to every child's bookshelf. Just delightful! The book is so much better than the movie, eliminating that silly Vulgaria story. If you want to read the story Ian Fleming intended, you'll have to buy the book. You won't be sorry.

I was fortunate to attend a workshop where Sonja and William highlighted several techniques presented in the book. I bought this book several months ago and it is not only helping me get through the dissertation, but has been an extremely helpful guide for writing articles for publication. It is easy to follow and the checklist for completing the dissertation process is very helpful. I have found myself picking up this book at various stages in the writing process and feel less intimidated in completing the literature review. A must-have book for doctoral students! It's a winner!

After reading Sonja Foss and William Waters's amazing book,I was re-energized by their clarity, energy, and road map metaphor they propose. I was so inspired by their approach, I decided to participate in their very successful Scholars Retreat (aka as Dissertation Boot Camp). It was as good, if not better than the book. After consulting with numerous dissertation writing texts and participating in various writing group sessions for graduate students and Assistant Faculty, I found Foss and Waters approach to be the most helpful. Their strategy gets to the heart of writing and finishing a dissertation. And if you're also a mentor seeking to work with undergraduate and/or graduate students with their research projects, this text will offer invaluable information on research and writing from multiple stages, ranging from initial conception of the project, to writing a proposal, coding data (which can include literature, ethnography, etc.), to writing successful chapters. And this advise is most beneficial to students (or any serious researcher), as well as lay professionals working on a book. While the book is surely intended for graduate students working on their dissertations, it will be helpful to other researchers and writers, and the numerous Professors and writing tutors committed to being good mentors.

Overall, this is the best book on completing the dissertation. And if you can, I strongly recommend participating in the Scholars Retreat.

This book actually changed my life. I am a doctoral student and I was stalled in the work of my dissertation due to some pretty serious life issues and I thought I was genuinely never going to be able to finish. I literally had hit a wall. I bought this book, feeling like this was a last resort, and decided to just surrender to their system. Why not just try? Their method detailed in the data collection and analysis chapter with the envelopes and labels is worth the price of the book. It led me step by step from a place of confusion to where I am now. And where I am now is on the verge of meeting with my committee for my defense. I am stunned. I went from "I have no idea how I'm going to do this" to "I'm done" in a matter of two months. It was this book. That's all I can say.

Foss and Waters have written a book that seems destined to become a classic about how to finish a dissertation in a timely manner. I can't even begin to say how helpful this book has been to me during the writing process. Unlike other "how-to" dissertation guides that seem to privilege study skills and research techniques, Foss and Waters go over the nuts-and-bolts of writing. My writing output has literally tripled since reading this book. Destination Dissertation is a must-have for any serious graduate student.

With so many dissertation guides available, it's tough to know which one to pick. The unique value of Destination Dissertation lies in its suggestions for overcoming real-world road blocks in the journey. Foss and Waters provide concrete tips and actual examples for dealing with common problems like an out-of-control lit review, making sense of mounds of data, negotiating with advisors and committee members, slow and painful writing, and plain old boredom. This book keeps the reader's focus on a manageable plan for breaking down tasks and moving forward. Highly recommended for graduate students in the thesis or dissertation process who want to get it DONE and get on with their lives.