Reviews Books

A great book by Jack Hunter. Christopher Walken is a very gifted actor, and Hunter gives loads of insight into the many characters he has played throughout the years. You may even be inclined to view some of the movies, again after reading this book. It is obvious that Hunter recognizes talent when he sees it. Hunter goes beyond the typical type-casting, that many film critics are stuck on. This book has many nuggets of wisdom, and is laced with respect. Christopher Walkwn is very fortunate to have an insightful author, like Hunter, write about him. Thanks Chris for sharing your gift of acting. Thanks Jack for sharing your gift of writing. The pleasure has been mine from Indiana.

A great book by Jack Hunter. Christopher Walken is a very gifted actor, and Hunter gives loads of insight into the many characters he has played throughout the years. You may even be inclined to view some of the movies, again after reading this book. It is obvious that Hunter recognizes talent when he sees it. Hunter goes beyond the typical type-casting, that many film critics are stuck on. This book has many nuggets of wisdom, and is laced with respect. Christopher Walkwn is very fortunate to have an insightful author, like Hunter, write about him. Thanks Chris for sharing your gift of acting. Thanks Jack for sharing your gift of writing. The pleasure has been mine from Indiana.

This is a great source of information about Christopher Walken, his movies, and the themes that drive them - however - it does tend to overanalyze, and contains little information on Walken that you could not pick up yourself on the internet. It seems that Walken is not the chatty type. In his own words, he enjoys working and is not proud of all the 90+ features he has appeared in, but he does have his favorites. I have no idea after reading this book if one of these top ten are in fact the actors favorite - rather they are showcased as his best performances. This is a lot of speculation, as Walken has an incredible amount of work, including broadway shows to choose from. So if you are looking for that personal touch, it's not really there. You have to ask yourself though, is there really anything behind Walken as a person that would warrant a personal touch? From all appearences, he works, he goes home, he works some more. He has been married to the same woman for 30+ years, thinks he cooks really well, and aside from the really odd stab at screenwriting (he wants to do the John Holmes story - apparently he is fascinated with Holmes' life, and the attention paid to Holmes' member vs. the real man behind the porn - Okay Chris - you get the different award) he would appear to be reasonably stable (discounting the Natalie Wood thing, but even that is scandal of the most mundane variety.). Christopher Walken is a person who has lived his entire life on film (since the age of 3) and no doubt will die on film as is his wish. So perhaps there is no personal touch to be had and his films are the only window into his life, aside from the odd interview (such as his most recent wish - to host a cooking show). If you want to experience an exhaustive analysis of ten of what are his best well-known films by good reviewers that have never interacted personally with Walken himself - this is for you. If you want to read Walken on Walken, get the playboy interview.

I only rate this book with 4 stars because of its interesting subject - not for the editor Jack Hunter. Did Hunter actually read it? I was completely distracted from the material by the numerous spelling and grammatical errors. An actor like Christopher Walken deserves better treatment than this sloppily thrown together collection of essays. Though some of them were pretty interesting (Deer Hunter, Comfort of Strangers), I found myself wondering if Hunter actually watched all of the actor's major films. How could he include The Addiction and Suicide Kings in the Walken Top 10 but leave out the awesome performances in At Close Range and Biloxi Blues - both with gripping climax scenes that deserve essays of their own. A comparison of Walken in his stand-off with Sean Penn to Walken's flip-flop stand-off with Mathew Broderick (Walken is held at gunpoint by Penn/ Broderick held at gunpoint by Walken) sorely needed to be added to this collection. Will someone please re-write this book?!?!! Heck, give me a week; I could do better than this.

To me, one of Peter Drucker's greatest strengths as a business thinker is his ability to cut to the proverbial "bone" when sharing an insight about an especially complicated subject. This unique talent illustrates what Oliver Wendell Holmes meant when observing that he didn't "care a fig about simplicity on this side of complexity" but greatly admired simplicity "on the other side of complexity." Given Holmes' observation, consider these three prime examples of "classic Drucker":

In 1963: "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all." (Managing for Business Effectiveness, page 83)

In 1995: "EVA [economic value added] is based on something we have known for a long time: what we generally call profits, the money left to service equity, is usually not profit at all. Until a business returns a profit that is greater than its cost of capital, it operates at a loss...By measuring the value added among all costs, including the cost of capital, EVA measures, in effect, the productivity of all factors of production." (The Information Executives Truly Need, page 107)

In 1988: "Information-based organizations, in other words, require clear, simple, common objectives that translate into particular actions. At the same time, however, as these examples dicate, information-based organizations also need concentration on one objective or, at most, on a few. Because the `players' in an information-based organization are specialists, they cannot be told how to do their work...So [such an organization] must be structured around goals that clearly state management's performance expectations for the enterprise and for each part and specialist and around organized feedback that compares [and contrasts] results with these performance expectations so that every member can exercise self-control. The other requirement of an information-based organization is that everyone takes information responsibility...The key to such a system is that everyone asks: Who in this organization depends on me for what organization? And on whom, in turn, do I depend?" (The Coming of the New Organization, page 133)

There several other excellent sources of Drucker quotations (e.g. The Daily Drucker) which I frequently consult. However, in the 15 Harvard Business Review articles which are assembled in Classic Drucker, there is a context within which the value of each insight is more clearly indicated. In the Introduction, Thomas A. Stewart (editor of the Harvard Business Review) cites three of Drucker's great gifts to his life work: "First was the talent for asking the right questions...His second gift was to see organizations whole...[Drucker's] third gift was the ability to reason equally well both inductively and deductively." All three gifts are clearly evident in each of the 15 articles.

Near the conclusion of an interview by T. George Harris in 1993, Drucker makes several points which seem even more relevant now: "'Democratic' bespeaks a narrow and legal organization. Nor do I use the buzzword `participative.' Worse yet is the `empowerment' concept. It is not a great step forward to take power out at the top and put it in at the bottom. It's still power. To build achieving organizations, you must replace power with responsibility."

During the months and years to come, decision-makers in all organizations (regardless of nature or size) would be well-advised to keep such basic business precepts in mind, not as simplistic solutions to immensely complicated problems but, rather, as fundamentally sound principles to keep in mind when attempting to solve such problems.

This is one of the best management books I've ever read. Despite the articles being written 10 - 20 years ago, they are still relevant. Drucker uses good examples to illustrate his points, and avoids the word "synergy."

I found the chapter on self-management alone to be worth the price of the book.

If the name of Peter Drucker sounds familiar, it should: he's inspired managers with his works for nearly half a century, with his articles in Harvard Business Review - gathered here for the first time under one cover and offering his best works to audiences of business learners. From how to remain productive throughout your work life and choose careers which are lasting to learning how and when to make changes, Classic Drucker is a compendium of business wisdom which should be in every business library collection.

This is a well written book dedicated to those clinicians planning a clinical trial or to those interested in this topic.
There is also a section dedicated to diagnostic tests.
Overall the book is well written, easy to read.
After reading this book everybody will feel more confident with these topics, that sometimes seem to be so hard to learn.
In addition, the authors have a very good reputation and exprience in the field of clinical epidemiology.

Whenever you heard about epidemiology you think of a dull paper impossible to read. This book is quite different, first it is written by people who actually perform research and use their own research as examples, second they follow a line left by the amazing Dr. Sackett and have learned and possibly improved his skills shown at his famous EBM book. A must if you want to keep being a good doctor.

Se trata de un libro útil para aquellas personas interesadas en realizar investigación clínica. No se requieren conocimientos profundos en estadística y ofrece herramientas prácticas para resolver los problemas más frecuentes a los que se tiene que enfrentar un investigador. Muy interesante el capítulo de David Sackett sobre los factores relacionados con el éxito de un investigador clínico.

I know very well this book and I know it is a very usefull tool for practce and teaching Evidence Based Medicine. But I have not received it yet; I'm waiting for it and hope it's coming soon.

I am studying for the COMLEX 1 right now and it is a great review of everything...I wish I had had this book for the first two years of medical school, I think it would have helped me understand the basics. In addition, it would have helped me for OMT practicals, because you can never talk your way through OMT enough! Always keep talking! I think this will definitely help me out, glad I bought it and I will definitely use it for the future Levels of COMLEX.

When studying for the COMLEX, osteopathic medical students have always been short on finding alternatives. COMLEX Review finally fills the void for high-yield, easy to read and understand review books for the osteopathic manipulative medicine portions of the osteopathic boards.

I wish I had this book to use during levels 1 & 2... trust me, it is definitely excellent for level 3. The last time I seriously looked at any OMM was during my 3rd year at Des Moine, and let me tell you, now near the end of my intern year, not only did this book refresh all the OMM I had forgotten, but it explained stuff better than I ever understood it. Nobody wants to spend too much time on OMM, but it is quick and easy read - great to fill in the spaces when you don't feel like studying and want to read something "light".

I was bit skeptical when I borrowed this book from our school library- it seems it was written by two students. But after reading the first 2 chapters, I immediately bought my own copy. The beautiful thing about this book is that it finally correlates anatomy with OMM- so it actual covers those "in between" questions that the other review books fail to discuss. The pictures are EXCELLENT! They actually help to make sense of some of the more difficult concepts. I'll let you know how my Step II exam goes- but I would have loved to have this book around when taking Step I as well. Also, the beginning of the book has a little chart that tells you what chapters to read for each COMLEX exam- takes the guess work out of studying. I am definitely doing better on my practice exams- wish me luck for the real deal.

This review refers to the original volume that I have sitting by my TV. In these days with cable and satellite available many vintage TV shows are aired all of the time. A quick thumb through the book not only gives excellent overall view of the show but the cross reference of stars and other shows is suburb.

I have used this book since I "found" a copy on book stand in NYC back in the 80s. Worth the purchase price.I use it all the time. The 1992 version should be better.

Used in conjunction with the Prime Time Stars book, this makes an excellent cross-reference of TV programs and stars for the period covered. My hopes are that the authors write a update for both the television shows and stars. The format is excellent showing all aspects of the shows including dates televised, stars and their roles, and interesting facts about the production.

I purchased this book when it was first published over a dozen years ago and still refer to it several times a week. Not only is it comprehensive but Tim Brooks often gives short biographies of the stars, listing other shows and related areas for which a particular actor or actress might have been known. I'm sorry that it is currently out of print because I would like to have an updated version of the book.

the item was in excellent condition and it took little time to get to my address.

This is an accessible, well-written review of Italian grammar -- remarkably thorough for the price, and well laid out with usage examples. A particularly useful feature is coverage of conventions of contemporary usage -- such as E-mail conventions -- that are rarely covered in a traditional grammar. It would benefit from a more extensive dictionary section but at this price it's hard to complain.

This is an excellent book. Un buon libro! Mi piace molto. It is very helpful.

A complete overview of grammatical terms, parts of speech, and how they work together.

Studying the grammar of a foreign language is often perceived as torture by many, but there is no way to avoid grammar. To master any language one must know how its parts work together.

This book takes away the torture out of studying grammar, by providing a user-friendly practice and review manual. The complete book is written in a "conversational style", so is friendly enough to be used as a self-study guide.

The book is divided in twenty chapters that cover everything from the structure of simple sentences to writing e-mails. At the end of each chapter there is a "culture capsule" completely written in Italian with a glossary, which is designed to give information on a major component of Italian culture and civilization. This capsules can be consider at least useful reading material, but in fact they give information of which no intermediate or advanced learner should be unaware.

At the back of the book is a list of the most frequently used words in the Italian language, verbs charts and the answers to all the exercises.

Absolutely a must for anyone who wants to master the Italian language.

This is one of the few books that I have laughed out loud until tears streamed down my face!!! When trying to share the funniest entries, I can't even read them without laughing again. From analyzing the famous "Yeti on the lou" Pertwee phrase to including a table of contents containing only the letters of the alphabet, this is humor and wit at its best. I have never found a funnier Doctor Who book and I am hard pressed to name a funnier novel in general. If you do not have this book you don't know what you're missing!!! A++++

This book is an incredible collection of phrases and Whoisms that have appeared throughout Doctor Who's many years on the air. The authors have managed to poke fun at the good Doctor while assuring the reader that they're really on our side. It's a lot like making fun of your family - only another family memeber can get away with it. If you're not family, watch out! From "AAH" to "ZORG AND ORG," it's all there - every last tasty fun morsel that makes Doctor Who a worldwide institution.

This text is the funniest book I have ever read... Poking fun at not only Doctor Who, but the fandom of Doctor Who, this book is a laugh-riot from the introductory debate over stories' names, to the final index page which lists simply the letters of the alphabet and the Dedication to Godzilla. My favorite parts: the description of Season Eighteen as an "amusing omission from The Doctors: Thirty Years of Time Travel" and the description of Lazar's Disease as a syndrome whose main symptom is removing one's clothing... Lyons & Howarth are to be commended for such a devistatingly funny work.

Hilarious & irreverent, the useless encyclopedia looks unflinchingly at the schitzophrenic british fan base, the shoddy "classic" episodes, the ludicrous "new adventures", and just about everything and anything "Who" and useless. Written by fans for fans.

Arts/Entertainment

An Insider's Tale
Book Review by Denise Cassino

Betty Jo Tucker is in love. She always has been. From early childhood, Betty Jo has been smitten with the silver screen. Her love started as an infatuation and grew into a mature study of film and renown as a world-class movie critic.

In her book, Confessions of a Movie Addict, Betty Jo takes us through those early childhood memories of movies, covering her eyes at the scary part, acting out the roles of her favorite stars. Then she landed herself some real jobs as a film critic which gave her a pass into all of the biggest movie events from premieres to the Academy Award Presentations.

This book takes us through many of the hilarious adventures of a movie critic, from embarrassing moments to dining with the stars. Betty Jo shares with her reader many of her best and most clever interviews, sometimes with animated characters! Betty Jo also includes a plethora of reviews on dozens of movies giving the reader a critical, but fun summation of everything from box office hits to cult sleepers. This is a real insider's tale of seeking, meeting and interviewing many of the hottest movie stars ever to flash across a marquee.

If you want to know what it's like to dish and dine with the Hollywood crowd, this book will do the trick. A great gift for any movie lover, Confessions will make you green with envy at Betty Jo's inside access to the stars.

Reviewed by Jill Cozzi,

Recently I received a press release announcing a Malcolm McDowell retrospective at the Walter Reade Theatre. I forwarded it to a friend, along with a message:

"Gee, do you think I should go to this, walk up to
Malcolm McDowell and say, 'I saw A CLOCKWORK
ORANGE at my college auditorium and three weeks later
was deflowered by a guy who looked an awful lot like
you did then?'"

Now, of course I would never do such a thing, because such an occasion would reduce me to a babbling idiot. But then, I'm not Betty Jo Tucker.

If I WERE Betty Jo Tucker, however, it wouldn't even be an issue, for she would just walk up, make her confession without batting an eye, and two hours later walk away with notes from a truly killer interview. That's just the way she is.

Tucker is arguably the most unique presence among the many film critics on the Web today. In a world dominated by snarky teenagers and twenty-something self-anointed cineastes, Betty Jo Tucker is a gleeful, unabashed movie-lover; not a film buff, but someone who loves the experience of filmgoing. At seventy-plus, she retains the same joy in moving pictures projected on a screen as she did that first time she walked into the "picture show" to see FRANKENSTEIN -- in its first run. A critic who came into the business late in life after raising two children, one divorce, one remarriage (to the same husband), and a distinguished academic career, she is an anomaly among Web critics in that she does NOT subscribe to the Alice Roosevelt credo of "If you can't say something nice, come sit by me."

In her new book CONFESSIONS OF A MOVIE ADDICT (Hats Off Books), Tucker shares her infectious joy in the moviegoing experience with the rest of us. It is truly "a life story with everything but the movies edited out." Written in a breezy tone, CONFESSIONS is truly a snark-free zone. Tucker, who has set herself up as the premier lobbyist for the Return of the Movie Musical has even managed to find the good in such crap-fests as the Britney Spears vehicle CROSSROADS. She doesn't love everything put on film, but you've got to love a critic who's eligible for Social Security but can still laugh her way through the likes of the surrealistically sophomoric CABIN BOY and who reacts to the ghastly THE PRINCESS DIARIES by remembering to call her granddaughters and tell them how terrific they are just as they are.

Where CONFESSIONS OF A MOVIE ADDICT falls short is in Tucker's underestimation of our interest in the journey of a woman through academia, homemaking, and into film criticism at an age when most of us have long since given up our dreams. This may be "a life story with everything but the movies edited out", but many of us would love to see what's left on the cutting-room floor.

Whether she be recalling a mishap at an X-rated film, admitting she laughed out loud during 'Cabin Boy', or taking an imaginary film festival trip, film critic Betty Jo Tucker's novel 'Confessions of a Movie Addict' will have you envisioning her tales of a life at the movies as if she were talking directly to you. Betty Jo's stories are vivid, enthralling, and quite often amusing. Not only does it provide one wonderfully detailed story after another, Betty Jo's book comes with several of her to-the-point film reviews, a collection of celebrity interviews, a photo gallery, an index of movie-related books and websites, and a checklist to see if you indeed are a movie addict. I have read 'Confessions of a Movie Addict', and as a critic myself, I can proudly assure you that Betty Jo Tucker is one of the finest critics out there and a person who flat-out loves the movies, from the good to the bad. 'CoaMA' is an excellent slice of cinema life.

As a recently retired college professor who can go to more movies now, I was delighted by this substantive insiders tale told with such happy and light-hearted grace, candor, and humor. The sophisticate and the novice, young and old, will find Betty Jo Tucker's "show-don't-tell" approach solid, informative, and entertaining. She charmed the socks off me! Betty Jo takes us into her fascination with this dimensional art form, with her life story deftly stitched into the background. "Because confession is good for the soul," she tells us, "I admit enjoying films mostly for their escapist entertainment qualities. But I also love to be enchanted by cinematic artistry, enlightened by a great story, and inspired by memorable performances." We grow together with this unpretentions, knowledgeable professional hooked on movies as she moves from going it alone, to being mentored by the best, including the famous "UK Critic" Ian Waldron-Mangani--who, she tells us, could have been her grandson. I found "Confessions" to be a great three-in-one deal: HerStory, terrific interviews, and crisp reviews. We meet some of the greatest names in film from the U.S.--directors David Lynch and M. Night Shyamalan, Oscar winners Anjelica Huston and Angelina Jolie, and the legendary Debbie Reynolds, along with top international figures, including British actor Sir Ian Mckellen, French actress Judith Godrech, Japanese filmmaker Masayuki Suo, and Oscar-winning Czech director Jan Sverak. Stellar interviews include those with Annette Bening, Willem Dafoe, Tony Shalhoub, and Aidan Quinn. Among her top reviews are "Chocolat," "Bridget Jone's Diary," "Mouline Rouge," "Planet of the Apes," "Legally Blond," and "Scary Movie." Along the way, she tells some delightful stories on herself: great gaffs--foot in the mouth, clear to the knee, as Josh Wise, one of my former students, once wrote. After enjoying "Confessions," you'll never read a review the way you used to!

This book is about two boys that run away from home and go to Venice, italy. Prosper and bo end up finding a closed down hotel.If you like to read about adventure and mystery than you will like this book.it has alot of excitment , it is about the survival of very young boys and girls.If you like to read about survival,faith and modesty than read this book right away.i liked this book because i thought that it was interesting to read about survival, i liked this book because i like to watch tv shows like unsoved mysteries .if you do not like mysteries or adventure than you should not read this book. But if you do than this is the book for you .Also i found if you do not pay close attention than you will not have a clue what is happening and miss the beat parts of the book.

the book is about theft [obviosly] and sorrow plus some pain. this book was very very good because it keeps you on your seat at all times and youll want to keep reding and reading.there are also very magical things that happen that you will never believe in your entire life time.so you and who ever knows about this book shall be eager to read this book and maybe encoraged to read the other magical books that cornilia funke has wrote.

I say that The Thief Lord is one of the best books that i've ever
read. It was a New York Times bestseller. A USA Today bestseller.
It got a 2003 book senss book of the Year Award. It got a Parenting Magzine book of the year award. And it was a winner of the 2003 Mildrid L. Batchelder award. That's alot of awards don't you think. I think that you should try it out I did and I loved it. So if you like stories of adventure and magic than The Thief Lord is the book for you.

this book was very good because theres alot of sorrow and crime and alot of violence.people who like liying cheating and survival would really like this book a whole lot.
this books all about theft [obviosly] and fighting and mischief
and some laughter along the way with some charity and plagerisim and annoance. MIKEAL of bardstown.

I agree completely with the reviewer above in that using this book alone almost guarantees a 3. I used it without the courses and got 4's on both the macro and micro exams. Write those note cards for small concepts and study past AP extended response questions! They are all basically the same, so study the graphs and you'll do well.

We don't have economics at my school, but it's my intended college major.

Using THIS BOOK ALONE, I made note cards, went over them, and got a 4 on the Micro exam in my junior year. If I'd put in a little more effort, I'd have gotten a 5 (didn't begin studying until mid-April). I'm going to take the Macro this May.

There is a really clear review of all the concepts you need to know, presented exactly as they will appear on the test. It's concise, straightforward, and explicates the necessary graphs. For extra Free Reponse practice, check the AP website.

I'd strongly recommend it.

I used it when I was studying econ independently and I found this book to be very helpful in sumarizing all of the major concepts found on the ap macro & micro exams. Like one of the reviewers above, I also made notecards, which were very helpful.
I would however, recommend that you also buy an old edition of McConnel & Brue to go with the book as it expands on the basics. For example, the international section lacked depth as did the section on labor markets. The practice tests are very helpful and do a good job in mirroring the actual exams. Other books (like Barrons) have practice exams that are too easy.
Finally, I took the micro & micro exams this year (may 2006) & got a 5 on both tests.

This book is truly the same caliber as the Princeton Review's other test prep books. It shows everything you need to know for the AP Micro and Macro Economics tests and explains the concepts behind the economics. The knowledge gained from reading this book is equivalent to what any GOOD AP course can offer. Thanks (in large part) to this book, I got a 5 on both Macro and Micro Economics- something that hasn't been done at my school for many years. THANK YOU PRINCETON REVIEW!