C Books

Arguably the best book I've read in 2007. The movie follows the main story line, although a decade or two behind. The movie was great, the book was better. It was full of action/suspense from cover to cover. I was impressed with Hunter's writing and will definitely get the second book.

This is a great book that kept me up all night, several nights. Hated to see it end, but fortunately, I had Time to Hunt.

I would usually give a longer review but I see the 100 plus on here and all are good. Same would come from me. If you want a great thriller and well written book this is it. If you haven't read a Stephen Hunter book this would be the one if any to read. I just started on his other books and am enjoying all of them. So if you have $8 laying around and want a good few hours of entertainment this is the way to go.

I know that the summer is winding down, vacations are finishing up, school will soon be starting, and the chance for some additional recreational reading is quickly coming to a close. But don't just yet stop reading. You have one more book to get through, Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter.

I came across this book as I was beginning to watch The Shooter. That movie is based on the novel, Point of Impact. Since the movie was rather good, I wanted to know what the author was really had in mind, and headed off to the library to get a copy. As an aside, our library has a "cheat sheet." If there is a recent movie that you enjoyed, they have a list of the books that were used as the basis for the movie. Pretty cool, I thought.

Bob Lee "The Nailer" Swagger lives alone, in a cabin in the woods. Everything that he ever wanted is gone, except for an old dog and his guns. He was once a extremely gifted sniper in Vietnam, until someone shot him, and killed his spotter, from 1400 yards. After the shooting, he was no longer able to perform his duties and he retired to the mountainside. A footnote in the war. Until retired Colonel Shreck comes calling. He has a proposal for Bob Lee, help them figure out where a sniper will attempt the assassination of the President of the United States. Bob accurately details the site that the assassin will use, but is shot by one of Shreck's men and framed for the hit. He teams up with an FBI agent, who he himself was once a sharpshooter. Together, they track the actual killer, Shreck and his organization, and a few Salvadoran gun men.

This novels moves. There are times, where Hunter exposes you to the gun culture, that some would say drags the story down a bit, but I found the background on the culture fascinating and a key part of the novel. Also, the novel ends in a courtroom, which would see anti-climatic after the action, but wait for the payoff. Bob Lee is a very well thought out character and the novel allows the reader to understand where he comes from, his duty to the United States, and that he feels that he has unfinished business. Much more than the movie, and you would expect that. This is a character that I see Hunter brings back for a few more novels. He is another Reacher, and I have now added another author to my list of "must reads."

An excellent novel.

Point of Impact

This book is the screenplay for the movie "Shooter". I first read the book about twelve years ago, it was so superb that it stuck with me. I was convinced that it was the basis for the very exciting movie, after some resaearch online, I was proven right. I read on average of three books a month and "Point of Impact" is on my top five ever. Bob Lee swagger uses his most accurate shots in the climactic courtroom scene, and the reader is left grinning and wanting a sequel.

As a native Oregonian, the attraction of reading a diary of one who made the Oregon Trail journey was met with eager anticipation. Early on, the diary though very interesting, soon became a series of calamities that left the reader thinking, what else could this poor family possibly endure? As the journey continued, it became apparent that the author had taken great liberty and creative license to spice up this historical adventure. By the end of the diary it was discovered that this work was fiction, which resulted in great disappointment, leaving the reader feeling mislead. As a work of fiction based on possible Oregon Trail experiences, this book proves to be entertaining, however it is not a true diary.

It has been years since I have read this book. I can still, to this day, remember the effect this book had on me. I was eight or nine at the time. I remember reading the diary entries and feeling as if I were right there next to Hattie, walking in the dirt or the snow. I cried at times when something bad had happened to Hattie or the people around her. I felt compassion, and found myself wanting to reach into the book and help the people myself. I learned many things about life in that time period that I had never known. I had learned about pioneers in school, but I never imagined that it would be as hard or as rewarding of an experience for them to go through.

The book made an impact on me from page one. I highly recommend it.

This book is a great one. It is about a girl named Hattie and about her life going on the Oregon Trail. She faces many troubles and all the things that happened to her. It is very emotional. There's good times : ) and bad times : ( . But it all works out well!!!!!( I hope I didn't spoil the ending for you!!!!) : )

I read this when it first came out, when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I loved this story and could not put it down. Plus, when we started talking about the Oregon Trail in class, I was really interested in it and prepared for it. It is my favorite book of the Dear America series, and it is one of the most amazing children's story ever. The only criticism I can make is that sometimes it is hard to sympathize with Hattie; she is not the best Dear America character.

I love 'Oregon Trail' stories and this one was no exception. The story is stunningly written, and a careful line is trod between emphasizing the dangers and discomforts of the trail without making the story seem scary or unpleasant to the reader.

My only real gripe about this book (and not even a big enough gripe to drop a star, so take it for the whining that it is) is that the adult characters can be pretty stupid at times. I know this is a staple of children's literature in order to forment conflict (after all, conflict couldn't form very easily if all these adults were competant), but it's simply infuriating that the two resident thieves in the group are continually treated with 'Christian charity' in an atmosphere where one's possessions often meant the difference between life and death. It may seem very natural, to our modern American eyes, to overlook the theft of a sweater, but when that's the only sweater a child owns and a cold night is falling, you can bet that is a much bigger deal than previously realized.

Nevertheless, this book is still superb. Buy it, read it, enjoy it. Just be prepared to explain to your children that being 'charitable' doesn't mean you have to be a victim.

I first read this book when I was eleven years old, and have loved it ever since. I cannot even count the number of times I have re-read it. It is excellently written with a deep plot, well-made characters, and an amazingly believable feel of the world of Ancient Egypt. Even if you are not a fan of ancient Egyptian books, you will soon become interested in the characters and before you know it, caught up in a whirl-wind of spies, secret plots, Pharaohs, and above all, the love story of two young Egyptians.

I have loved this book since i first read it so many years ago. Mara, its lead character, is a joy to get to know

This is a wonderful little book. It is mainly geared to female readers, boys will not enjoy the romance (IMHO). Mara is resourceful, spunky and at times self serving. Above all she is a survivor. Nice romance with a girl power theme.Interesting Egyptian setting which is different from the usual Celtic/British background for so many of these novels.If you enjoyed this, older teens and adults will enjoy Judith Tarr's Lord of the Two Lands.

This novel is excellent for a number of reasons. I recieved it as a gift, and I read it in one day.
Pros:

Mara (the heroine) is a character with a distinct personality. She jumps out at you on the page rather than just sitting there as a bunch of words jumbled together.

The descriptions are vivid and exact, and the writing style flows effortlessly.

The story is gripping and intriguing and takes a few unexpected twists.

It seems very historical, though I am no expert on ancient Egypt.

The cover is very beautiful for those who like "pretty" books.

Cons:

None that I can think of.

I highly reccommend this book to avid readers, young or old!

I liked this book because it's an espionage and a love story that is sure to capture its readers attention. It is definitely a five star adventure story that is sure to have you guessing from start to finish. Mara is a slave girl that is bought and becomes a spy for two people. She finds herself stretched between two contenders for the throne. I think that most people would think that this book would make a good movie. -12 year old boy in the 6th grade

Fick gives an account of his entry into the Marine Corps as an idealistic young man yearning for a true challenge that would test his inner strength. His decision to become a Marine occurs prior to 9/11, the event that would turn what he thought would be a peace time stint in the Corps into an obligation to participate in campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. The bulk of his tale is centered around the process of actually becoming a Marine officer -- all of the physical endurance and discipline training that you would expect if you've ever seen pop culture movie treatments of the topic. This is arguably the more interesting part of the book in some ways.

Eventually, owing to unforeseen world events, Fick pulls service in Afghanistan but is largely on the periphery of the action which resulted in the overthrow of the Taliban. He's honest about his piece of the action in Afghanistan and doesn't try to inflate it. He makes it clear that what his platoon does there is mysterious even to them inasmuch as his men don't have the big picture of what's going on in the country or how their actions fit into it; they simply do what they're told to do. After a brief, but physically demanding time in Afghanistan, he next sees service in Iraq as the sole leader of a platoon -- a part of the initial invasion force. There, he deals with assorted fire fights en route to Baghdad, followed by humanitarian and recon missions there during the first days of the occupation. It's immediately apparent to Fick that post-invasion planning is an afterthought. Fortunately for Fick, he and his platoon are quickly flown out of the middle east when it's decided to turn occupation duties over to the Army. Th platoon somehow manages to escape their adventure without losing a single man.

This is not a political book, nor a deeply philosophical one, though Fick does occasionally devote a few sentences to the absurdity of war and the difficulty of following orders from immediate superiors who demonstrate questionable judgement. If he has a viewpoint on the politics of the Iraq invasion, he never really shares it. One Bullet Away is a straight ahead account of what it's like to join the Marines, be indoctrinated into their culture and serve in conflict. No more, no less.

CAPT. Fick's memoir is a great read. You really feel like you know his men, and gain a great perspective on the Iraq war. It is a great example of leadership under pressure and being in the military, I recommend it to anyone that is or will be in the military. You come to realize some of the mistakes that were made early on in the war that came to be major problems that we are still dealing with today.

This is the best written book, especially about the Corps, that I have ever read. It is accurate, realistic, no bull blunt information, yet it is written as a story. Very stellar work. I couldn't put it down, literally. Any time I had some free time, this is what I did, and still do. Being one headed to OCS next summer (hopefully), this is a great read, preparing me for what is to come. As I could see in this book, MCRD is nothing compared to OCS and TBS. He covered OCS and his duty-time more than TBS, but all in all it was the most accurate and amazing book I've ever read, as stated above. If you plan to go to OCS, want to learn about it, or a military/USMC enthusiast, I suggest you get this book. STELLAR!!!!

The author, Captain Nathaniel Fick, does an exceptional job of describing his life as an officer of Marines. The book covers his entire career. It starts with his bus ride to Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Quantico, Virginia and ends with his resignation from the Corps. In between, he describes his deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. Although the book is non-fiction, it reads like a novel. The book's fast pace is a testament to the author's excellent writing skills. No doubt, some credit can be given to the English Department at Dartmouth, where he earned his undergraduate degree. The book is 369 pages long and is broken into three parts. Unfortunately, it does not contain an index.

His description of Marine training at OCS and The Basic School are uncannily similar to this reviewer's experience. Marine Corps training has clearly stood the test of time and remains basically unchanged since the 1980s. Given the accuracy of his training narrative, this reviewer assumed his combat descriptions to be equally accurate.

The author provides an excellent first hand account of his platoon's activities in both theaters of war. He also provides a balanced account of the people around him, both good and bad. For example, he talks about a company commander who is a nice guy but a poor tactician. The author could have easily ridiculed this Captain. Instead, he points out that no one is just black and white. He also talks about General James Mattis, who spent time talking to enlisted Marines in their fighting hole. The author holds General Mattis up as a true leader.

Capt. Fick provides a fascinating view of civilian society at the end of the book when he resigns from the Corps. The author's friends and family appear to think that he has matured and is now correcting his earlier mistake of joining the Marines. This short chapter says a great deal about society where monetary success, not honor and devotion to country, are viewed as the ultimate achievement.

The book provides an address for the author's personal web-site. If interested, the reader can peruse some of the author's various newspaper articles. His articles tend to expand on the growing divide between American society and the military. He addresses such topics as the unfeasibility of a future draft or the misconception that minorities are bearing an unfair burden in today's military.

Bottom line: Capt. Fick does a great job of describing the noble characteristics of his Marines in combat. His descriptions are unbiased and very accurate. This is a fascinating study of a front line Marine unit at war. It is fast paced, easy to read, and will hold the reader in place until the end.

When I was a younger man, fresh out of college and searching for my life's path, I felt exactly like Capt. Fick when I myself considered entering the Marine Corp OCS. Various circumstances steered me in a different direction. Now in my mid 40's, I have often considered what might have been. Reading One Bullet Away provided me with a glimpse and gave me some perspective that a military career isn't always the ideal I've often thought it would have been. In reading this book I felt that I was right beside NF through his rigorous training, frustrations with orders that make little or no sense and gut wrenching decisions that are a large part of being a military leader.

I have never been under fire myself. I feel that, if forced to, I could kill in order to defend my own life or the lives of others, but in a combat zone those decisions aren't always black and white. Sometimes innocents are hurt and the men on the front lines are forced to confront that. I know that military doctrine dictates that the mission must take precedent over all, but if approached by a family carrying their daughter that you know was wounded by your own forces, I don't think I would have been able to act any differently than Capt. Fick did.

War truly is hell. Thank you Captain for your service and for writing this book. God bless all of those who serve and have served.

There are two types of reviewers for this trilogy. Those who rate it five stars and those who have no soul.

I am about half way through and find these volumes excellent. They not only address the battles fought, but also address the political climate how people from the North and the South felt about the war, their leaders etc. It is interesting to be made aware of the annimosity that existed toward the "press." It is also interesting to hear how the press on either side was willing to print information that may prove detrimental to military activity and probably help to contribute to the many deaths experienced on both sides. And I mean the southern press printing about the movements of southern forces and the northern press printing about troop movements of the northern armies. Also, it comes across to me that Foote presents a relatively fair and unbaised narrative of both the North and the South. Excellent reading especailly for you history buffs. However, be ready to have fun trying to keep track of all the different generals etc. It is a little like alphabet soup.

I found this a very through account of a momentous part of American history full of detail and knowlegeable details.For any student or some like me curious about the history of the American Civil War I recommend these books.

I can state nothing more than has already been stated of this wonderful narrative.

I did find, as others noted, that the author had a tendency to present the efforts of the Confederacy and its principal characters in an unbalanced fashion versus the efforts of the North. None the less, I highly recommend the narrative(s) to anyone considering a study of this period in American history.

I wanted an objective account of the civil war and an objective description of the battles, but Foote's three volume books is anything but objective. He is an engaging writer and, as another reviewer points out, brings the characters back to life, but Foote makes confederate thugs like Stonewall Jackson look like lovable, eccentric and courageous heroes. He portrays the confederate soldiers as poor, under-equipped soldiers full of valour, but then paints the union soldiers as over-equipped soldiers, lacking in courage and drive, who are there only for the experience and who pillage civilian homes when they go into southern towns (see the battle at Federicksburg for an example).

I note another reviewer commenting that Foote's view is not apparent in the books, but to me it is very clear he is rooting for the confederates. For example, on page 19 of the second volume, he writes "Texas was decontaminated" and the only bluecoats were Magruder's prisoner (this was about Magruder winning the battle at Galveston for the confederates). Only those in support of the confederate would say that Texas was decontaminated when Magruder won. If the writer was objective, that phrase "Texas was decontaminated" would not have been inserted. It's not even necessary!!

There is also a little too much detail. I can do without how many men are in each division and how many men were killed, wounded or captured.

I do not intend to read all three volumes because of his pro-confederate tone. It was a struggle to finish the first volume without wanting to throw the book at something (I am not pro-union, just anti-confederate). I am reading the second volume only so I can read about Stonewall Jackson's death. I am not sure how Foote has portrayed his death, but I'm sure with his pro-confederate feeling, it will be a glorious death!!! To me, Stonewall is a hypocritical thug and murderer and I will delight in reading about his death, however, glorious it might be to Foote.

This book must be required reading for anyone developing in C++. I count this book as essential as Bjarne Stroustrup's "The C++ Programming Language"; these two books are a necessity.

Mr. Stroustrup's book could be considered a technical reference to the C++ language. This book I consider as a technical reference for how to use the C++ language.

The book was well written. I found the book to be easy to read and the index to be exhaustive enough for the book to be used as a quick reference.

Is this a great book? I have been asking myself that question ever since I found out that Scott Meyers does not write (or has not written for a long time) production code in C++. With that said, book is a great theoretical treatise on how to make your C++ code better but it is not a "cookbook" which will be immediately useful in day to day tasks. This is not necessarily a bad thing; such approach will encourage deeper understanding of issues at hand and that will lead to better code.

A good book in an informal language to take a look at the most importance topics to avoid many common errors during the programming in C++. Widely used in the industry.

By far one of the best books I own. It really is a must-have.

This is a great book which covers a lot of useful topics for every C++ professional. I have been programming in C++ for a while so some of the topics Scott Mayers discussed were already familiar but I still picked up a lot from this book. From a beginner to intermediate programmer, this is a must have. Advanced programmers probably have this book already (or its previous editions). Otherwise, if you bought this in order to learn something new then you are not really "advanced", are you?

This book assumes that you already used C++ and understand its fundamentals. Scott's goal is not to teach the fundamentals but to advice readers on how to use the language effectively - generating good, efficient, re-usable, portable code. On this goal, he was successful. Its pretty much like when I was learning Japanese. I understood the fundamentals and word translations but in order to effectively communicate in that language, I had to be familiar with proper sentence construction, various formalities (some words are not appropriate for certain settings or people) and word dynamics as well. In a sense, this book (or Scott) is your sensei to good C++ programming.

Some more suggested reading to complement Scott Mayer's series:
Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series)
and
Modern C++ Design: Generic Programming and Design Patterns Applied (C++ In-Depth Series)

Although Lewis was, of course, a renowned and devout Christian, this book will speak to anyone who's lost someone with whom they shared real love. All of the questions, angers, and doubts that fill the mind during the numbing time following great loss are shared in the first person, generously, by Lewis. This is, I think, a beautiful, powerful, and deeply healing work.

This small book is a blessing to those who have experienced a deep and pressing grief. It shows a bit of the journey C.S. Lewis made through his grief experience. It was a brief, beautiful read.

Lewis, a confirmed intellectual bachelor, almost comically stumbled into a deeply romantic and erotic marriage late in life. An American poet, Joy Davidman, while visiting him in England was stricken with breast cancer. Her visa expired and she faced a mindlessly bureaucratic forced expulsion which probably would have killed her. Lewis agreed to what he expected to be a marriage of convenience, giving her a right to stay in England long enough to die peaceably. Unaccountably, almost impishly, she recovered and they became man and wife in fact and not just pro forma. Lewis was delighted, swept away and overwhelmed; he became radiantly happy.

This brief moment of joy, was snatched from him, however, as the cancer reasserted itself. Lewis poured out his profound grief at the death of his wife on paper, sharing his thoughts, feelings, longings in a journal which became A Grief Observed. Unlike some of his other works, which are witty, philosophical, almost whimsical at times, this book is deeply personal and profoundly painful, almost raw in its emotional intensity. It is also a deep testament to Lewis's faith. Like all humanity, he faced loss and suffering and death. Lewis, like Job, transforms is somehow able to hand over all this darkness to the Lord in an act of sheer faith.

My own father recently died. I found Lewis's book to be a great comfort and a powerful guide through the grieving process. I strongly recommend this to anyone who has recently lost a loved one.

One note on the edition. This edition contains a foreword by Madeline L'Engle. The foreword enhanced the book, but earlier editions had a longer foreword (or possibly an afterword) by a male friend of Lewis which I found even more moving. I particularly remember a joke in the earlier edition about Lewis being surprised by Joy. If you've read the older edition, know that the supporting material is different.

Originally published under a pseudonym, this short book is a thoroughly reasoned but heart-felt analyzation of grief from the private writing journal of intellectual author and academia giant, C.S. Lewis. The object of his grief is the love of his life, his rare intellectual equal and friend whom he met later in life and fell deeply in love with, making her his wife.

Born Atheist, C.S. Lewis became a committed Christian, but spent part of his journalized pages in honest reflection of his anger at God and acknowledgement of fragile faith while in the throes of traumatic, life-altering grief. He boldly wonders and writes the thoughts and words most familiarly held at some point in the minds of others bereaved over their most beloved and cherished.

From page 23: "Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief. Apparently the faith - I thought it faith - which enables me to pray for the other dead has seemed strong only because I have never really cared, not desperately, whether they existed or not. Yet I thought I did."

After other thoughts about risks and beliefs, this is said, "And you will never discover how serious it was until the stakes are raised horribly high, until you find that you are playing not for counters or for sixpences but for every penny you have in the world. Nothing will shake a man - or at any rate a man like me - out of his merely verbal thinking and his merely notional beliefs. He has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover himself."

On page 25, C.S. sees the human side of grieving when others try to console him with spiritual avenues of comfort: "Talk to me about the truth of religion and I'll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I'll listen submissively. But don't come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don't understand."

The social leprosy of bereavement is also mentioned on a couple of pages, including this: "Perhaps the bereaved ought to be isolated in special settlements like lepers."

At the end, C.S. Lewis seems to reconcile himself to a conclusion about grieving: "For, as I have discovered, passionate grief does not link us with the dead but cuts us off from them," as he tries to go about cherishing his beloved's every memory with gladness, a smile and a laugh. Not for long, however, is this a workable plan as he writes the next day's journal entry more in line with the natural phases of grief: "An admirable programme. Unfortunately it can't be carried out. tonight al the hells of young grief have opened again; the mad words, the bitter resentment, the fluttering in the stomach, the nightmare unreality, the wallowed-in tears. For in grief nothing `stays put.' One keeps on emerging from a phase, but it always recurs. Round and round. Everything repeats. Am I going in circles, or dare I hope I am on a spiral?"

As do we all of bereavement ask ourselves when finding that as much as we try clawing our way up the spiral, we suddenly lose our grasp, totally at the mercy of our humanness and that quality that never dies - love.

I read on Wikipedia that Lewis had originally released this book under a pseudonym, N.W. Clerk. But, as it happened, so many of his friends recommended it to him as a way to deal with his own grief that he finally decided to publish it under his own name. I do not know if that was actually true, but it makes a great story. He wrote this book after his wife, Joy, died of cancer.

A Grief Observed is one of those books that get recommended in the aftermath of a death. In my case, I think of the books about loss as being divided into two categories: the dead baby books and the "oh god why" books. This is an "oh god why" book.

My flippancy does not do Lewis any real justice. It is recommended for many good reasons. I am sure that there will be a day when I find myself handing a copy to someone I love who is trying to make sense of what they are going through. But I still find myself wanting to be flippant in this review. It is a difficult book to read, and nearly as difficult to talk about in a public forum like this one. I had made the mistake of reading it during a long train ride-- wiping the tears away with the collar of my winter coat.

I would not call it a comfort to read, exactly. I guess that my own grief is still too raw. But he gets it right. He gets the physical arc of grief. He gets the ways in which it changes over time. He gets the way in which loss like this changes and illuminates the nature of the personal relationship that you have with the divine.

What I like most is that Lewis does not pull his punches. He does not find himself falling back on the kind of false homilies with which so many treat the death of a loved one. He is not easy on himself, nor is he easy on God. I recognize the bitter anger in so many of these pages. I also recognize the hopeless love for the dead-- the realization that you are lifting your hands to nothing except imagination and the unknown.

I recieved this book in perfect condition and it came a day before the estimated time of arrival. Thank you.

The book is great so far. I ordered it because its my ex girlfriends favorite book and i trust her taste in books.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Wonderful book. Very well written. It has increased my desire to know more about Henry the VIII and his times.

Very informative book! Weir manages to give us a detailed description of the personalities of each of these six queens. What makes this book such a success is that its very easy to read making it impossible to get bored!

What I liked most about this book is also what since distresses me most about films circulating on this topic. Weir so thoroughly researches the profusion of biographic material available (besides Britain, courts throughout Europe had documention on the wives of Henry and him) that it is clear there is no need to fictionalise this fascinating story (you wouldn't even try to imagine it). And although it lends itself so well to a series (or a film) once you have read this book the inaccuracies in (Gregory's, for example) fictionalisions on the screen tend to get annoying. Wonderful book -the story is historic and timeless at the same time. (If you can recommend a good, unembellished biographic DVD, please do.)

There are two duds in this book, the one about a college in the dessert, that I'm not sure even exists, but whatever, and the one about museums. But after that I think it's an intersting twist on what 'essays' mean. okay

Let me preface this by saying I was a classmate of John's at the Iowa Writers' Workshop in the mid-90's. I remember discussing several of the essays included in this collection, and being incredibly impressed with both the work and the author. The time, imagination, detail, obsession, intelligence, honesty and humble nature of both the essays and the essayist should at the very least inspire a more attentive read than several of the other negative reviewers chose to give.

It's time to give the Iowa Workshop a break. Just let it go. I mean, really, whether it's jealousy, or a rejected application, or just some strange anti-MFA vendetta, there seems to be a pervasive, generic attack on all who spent time at the school. People, it's just a school, good or bad. It's not some factory that automatically frankensteins each poetry student into some Jorie Graham/Michael Palmer avant-guardian. We actually have our own minds, styles, and ideas, and some of us even hold onto them well after we graduate. Imagine that.

I can assure you, there are few labels that would accurately portray all Iowa workshop students across the board, especially in the poetry program. You have no idea what it was like there unless you were there, and it varies from year to year. I would be uncomfortable judging people who've just graduated the program on the same standards, attitudes and practices I found during my '95-'97 term.

I'm not saying you have to like it, but review the work itself as it is given to you, not the Workshop or the writer's personal life. Why do people have to dismiss or attack writers and their works simply because they come out of a specific school, or because they are popular, or because the author has some success at an early age? Good writing has come out of Iowa, bad writing has come out of Iowa, just like every other MFA program, publishing house, school of thought, or geographical area.

This is an incredible work. Truly dazzling.

And to the reviewer who slams John for "plagiarizing" Dave Eggers, I can tell you that John had already written several of these essays, and published at least one of them in a journal (the Martha Graham piece)years before "A Heartbreaking Work..." was even published.

John is an exceptionally gifted writer and person, but even with all of his talent and imagination, I don't think he has the ability to steal work that didn't even exist at the time. To that reviewer, do your homework before you use serious words like "plagiarism" - John has clearly done his.

It seems pretty clear that the world has gone insane, since this is in fact the WORST book ever written in nonfiction, instead of what the insane reviews on here are calling the best. So from now on, every good review that this book gets I am going to counter with a negative one. It seems only fair for a book that is not only unreadable but that has copied better efforts by better writers, which has been camoflaged with lots of "experimental" techniques that are neither experimental nor very technically able. John D'Agata is overrated, untalented, and the least informed writer of his generation. These aren't essays, but just masterbatory effects.

Let me give you the scoop on John D'Agata. I am a student of the Writer's Workshop at the University of Iowa. Before I came I made a point to read everyone's books. I haven't had John D'Agata as a teacher and haven't even seen him yet because he's a freak and a hermit. But this is what I think about his "brilliant" book. Halls of Fame is D'Agata's first book, and you can tell it is. Now that the love fest with him seems to be over, I hope people will be willing to think about this book intelligently. It is a waste of paper. And definitely a waste of money. His "essays" ,if that's what you want to call them, are just hodge podges of bits of information and "observations" that are about as profound as a bowell movement. Just because a guy uses some "experimental" styles while writing in a conventinoal form doesn't make him a "breakthrough!" Get with it people. This is not a good book.

Now that the hype is over, please can we finally agree that John D'Agata is 100% the worst writer this country has ever produced!

This book does a wonderful job of taking the scientific information available regarding nutrition and puts it a format the lay public can easily understand. Very professional.

Glad to find a book that breaks down what I'm eating and what it does or doesn't do for me. Tired of wasting my time eating junk. I want more energy and food, sleep, and exercise are key!

Willett and Skerrett have put it all together in one reader-friendly book. Based on all the solid science out there, their recommendations are what I live by. The thing I really like about this book is that you can see where the big fad diets got their ideas, but you can also see all the other research they neglected in their rush to cash in on the diet book craze.

Finally! A book with some real information I can use to make my diet healthier and remain easy to follow. I only take off a star because a lot of the information was repeated over and over and over. The book could have easily been slimmed down 100 pages without losing any content. I also appreciate the sample menus and recipes in the back. Overall, I think everyone should be forced to read this book- our collective health would be much better!

An evidence based, comprehensive nutrition plan for anyone looking to optimize their diet. It serves as a heart healthy, cancer preventing, wt controlling, all purpose guide to better lifestyle. I recommend it to family, friends and patients. - Thomas G. Smith MD