Reviews Books

What a great, great book! As soon as it arrived, I quickly glanced through it and knew I would want to savor it for later. It's really difficult to put down. It's *very* easy to use; extremely well organized. The movies are grouped into headings from "Angels (and Other Messengers) in Our Midst" to "Have Yourself a Supernatural Christmas." I especially liked reading the author's reviews of movies I'd seen such as Edward Scissorhands, Mulan, Powder and my favorite, Resurrection. This book takes the guesswork out of what movie to see tonight!

I so enjoy finding spiritual elements in films, and this book helps immensely in alerting one to points in many films that one might miss. I question the spiritual value in some of the films discussed, but that's all to the good. I use this guide weekly chaeck;ing out the movies on TV, as well as, like other reviewers, taking it with me to the video store or library where I often check out videos.

I believe that this book will do loads in enhancing your enjoyment of many films, and may change your mind about some which you consdidered valueless until spiritual elements are brought out.

Reel Spirit recognizes spirituality and clarifies why so many movies appeal to so many of us the way they do. The insights are meaningful, and the writing is as engaging as an on-going dialog, conveying the delightful experience of going to the movies with a connoisseur who happens to be your best friend.

Have you ever read one of those parenting magazines that says you should watch movies with your kids and then talk about what you've seen? If you're like me, you may be perfectly willing to do this, but don't know what to say. Reel Spirit provides some great conversation starters so that you and your family or friends can make moviegoing a shared experience. And if all those titles at the video store overwhelm you, use the book to identify good movies ahead of time!

Reel Spirit is a terrific guide to film! Buy it quickly and pop a copy into the car--you'll want to have with you every time you visit the video store! A must have for anyone who enjoys films that lift both heart and spirit.

I have passed the PCLE, the Ohio counselor's exam drawn from a Texas data-base. While I thought the book was excellent, few of the exasperatingly subtle, tricky and trivial questions on the PCLE related to questions-and-answers from Rosenthal's book. Hopefully, the book is better for the National Counselor's Exam.

I was studying for the National Counselor Examination and a librarian told me that Dr. Rosenthal's Book the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COUNSELING and his audio cassette preparation guide continue to be the top sellers on the market. Then I spoke to somebody marketing a different brand of study guide and even she recommended his materials in addition to her own! This book contains a wealth of information about every area you will encounter on the exam. Rosenthal packs a ton of material into 900 questions and answers, so that even the questions and the wrong answers impart key information. He also reveals some terrific memory devices. He writes the book like he is talking to you which makes sense since his bio indicates he has a lot of public speaking experience. For me, this helped fight boredom. I've never felt compelled to write a review on a book prior to this, however, this unusually lively book really delivers on its promise. If you look at the price of competitive study guides I think you'll agree that this gem would be a bargain even at twice the price you will pay.

I am taking the NCE in April and have been studying with Rosenthal's "Encyclopedia" for about three weeks. Already, my test anxiety has decreased and I feel more prepared to take the exam. The format of the book is in question/answer format, which does not give readers a very good outline to study from. It does however allow for an interactive review where you can guage your preparedness by the number of question you are getting correct. There are countless study guides and course out there that will charge $500 for a weekend. I would forget about all of those and get this review.

I just passed the Ohio professional counselor's exam. I credit this in no small way to the time saving format of this book. I believe that it helped boost my score by at least 10%.

This anthology and the accompanying audio tapes were the key to passing this dreaded licensure requirement for Mental Health Counselors. I sat between two classmates at my exam. Each had used other preperatory books and even taken classes only to fail the exam in pior attempts. One of these friends had failed several times! By using these tools consistently for the three months prior to sitting for the exam, I not only passed but I scored quite highly. Not bad considering I have been test anxious all of my student life. I cannot recommend these tools too highly.

Knight's Risk,Uncertainty and Profit(RUP) is a classic work ,especially with respect to Knight's analysis of the distinction between risk and uncertainty and the role each plays in the decision making calculus of the entreprenuer or the firm.For instance,Knight recognized that the negative impact of uncertainty could be reduced for those firms that were able to increase their size and get larger and larger over time.Advertising would allow firms to deal with the uncertainty of consumer responses to the introduction of new products over time ,as well as to changes in consumer preferences.Knight was the first to clearly recognize that economic profit is the return to the successful entreprenuer or owner of the firm to compensate them for the bearing of uncertainty.Knight's analysis of the connection between uncertainty and economic profit corrected the errors of Ricardo and Marx,who regarded economic profit as an unearned surplus .Keynes's integration of expected economic profit into the specification of his aggregate supply function,Z,where Z =P+wN(P equals expected economic profit),can be traced back to Knight's earlier discussions.It is strange that economists still are having trouble specifying Keynes's Z function nearly 70 years after the publication of the General Theory in 1936.However,Knight's theoretical analysis of uncertainty at both the micro and macro level is not as impressive as Schumpeter's analysis of uncertainty in his Theory of Economic Development(1912)or of the path breaking analysis of John Maynard Keynes in chapters 6 and 26 of the A Treatise on Probability(1921).In this latter book,Keynes operationalized a quantitative method of dealing with uncertainty(insufficient weight of the evidence,w)by means of his conventional coefficient of risk and weight,c.This coefficient allows a decision maker to incorporate uncertainty and nonadditive probabilities into a technical analysis of decision making.The only author who comes close to Keynes is D.Ellsberg with his practically identical index to measure ambiguity called rho.There are still some unanswered questions that can be asked in this area of economic thought.Why didn't Knight cite the earlier work of Joseph Schumpeter on the risk versus uncertainty distinction?Further,why didn't Keynes cite both Knight and Schumpeter in his chapters 12 ,17 and 22,where he discussed the issue of the effect of uncertainty on investment in new capital goods and on stock market speculation?

Frank Knight hit the ground running with his dissertation, which he published as Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit. Knight makes a simple but important distinction between quantifiable risk and uncertainty. The distinction between risk and uncertainty is important in understanding markets, profits, and entrepreneurship. Knight connects entrepreneurship with uncertainty and profit. These factors do not square well with conventional notions of perfectly competitive equilibrium.

Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit is a work of major importance. This book constitutes a serious alternative to the theories of entrepreneurship developed by Schumpeter and Kirzner. While most modern economists underemphasize entrepreneurship, Knight examines uncertainty and entrepreneurship as a way of bridging the gap between abstract theory and economic realities. Knight saw the obvious fact that we do not live in a world of perfect competition. He, like Shackle and Keynes, recognized that we must explain uncertainty if we are to ever understand how the capitalist system really works.

Knight was a major figure in the generation of interwar economists who sought to explain the dynamics of capitalism. Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit is indispensable to anyone who aims at understanding uncertainty and dynamics in microeconomics, along with the work of Schumpeter, Hayek, Coase, Kaldor, Mises, Lachmann, and Shackle.

Even though the recent research in microeconomic theory has paid attention (somewhat reluctant in my opinion) to the topic of the "uncertainty", i.e. the Knightian uncertainty, it has not been successfully incorporated in the main theoretical framework, yet. The one of the evidences may be that we still cite D. Ellsberg's paper in QJE as the one of the most important work in this field: it is like citing Keynes' "General Theory" in every microeconomic paper as in 1950s and 1960s.

The book is pleasant to read: it is full of insights, usually forgotten by now, including the complemental tendency of the theoretical and empirical works in economics. The most important accomplishment is that he argued that the exisence of the "uncertainty", the event whose probablity cannot be estimated priori or from empirical data, explains the instablity of the perfect competition, the (lucklustre) justification for the monopoly and the oligopoly, and the superiority of the private property system (capitalism). It is noticable that many phenomenons metioned in the book can be still applicable now, and the last part implies the author's thought regarding to the path of the capitalism, which is explored in more depth in Schumpeter's work despite the differences in two economists' predictions.

Knight is one of the economist who lived in the transition of classical into neoclassical economics. The book predicts the emergence of more mathematical economists, but cannot escape from the influence of the former. The same thing can be said of the works of Schumpeter, Viner, and Veblen. Despite being one of the most famous economists, he and Schumpeter has no student who followed their lines of works: is it because their imaginative ways in conducting the reserach, or because of the trends in economics which trapped their students? (Stigler was a student of Knight, but which interest do their works share, except for their interests in history of economic thoughts?)

It is worth reading because it reminds of what economics is or should be about, not because it prescribes the solution which could not be found in the modern economic works. We are witnessing the transition of several countries into the private economics with the mixed results. It should be noted that Hayek's work is the starting point in this field, the transition economics or the comparative economics, but Knight's work is more appropriate, pratical, and dynamical.

Thus, if you are uncomfortable with the current economics, want to explore more idiosyncratic works in economics and think about the big picture in the path of the society, or are tempted to diverge from the dullness of the business books in your bookshelf, then this may what you have been looking for. Unless you are struck with the optimism that cannot be easily found in the present.

This is the standard work in the field, give or take some stuff Keynes wrote on risk and capital.

This is the best work of economic theory I have ever read. There is no work in economics that evinces better judgment on the main issues or that does a better job of balancing theory with a sense for the facts. Knight begins by defending theoretical (that is, deductive) economics. Unlike the economic rationalists, however, Knight does not believe that theoretical economics can lead to precise results. The application of the "analytic method" must always be "incomplete," he argues. Theoretical economics thus can only deal with "tendencies," that is, "with what 'would' happen under simplified conditions never realized, but always more or less closely approached in practice." This methodology Knight describes as "the method of successive approximations." Knight also warns of the dangers of rationalism and the necessity of constantly checking one's results against the facts. "When the number of factors taken into account in deduction becomes large, the process rapidly becomes unmanageable and errors creep in... It is better to stop dealing with elements separately before they get too numerous and deal with the final stages of the approximation by applying corrections empirically determined."

Armed with the method, Knight proceeds to tackle several important problems in economics, especially dealing with the theoretical construct of "perfect competition." By always keeping his head firmly within the empirically real, Knight is able to bring a great deal of sound judgment to a number of issues. Knight had a keen sense of human nature and how human beings behave in the real world of fact. He knew that most economists had made men out to be far more rational than they really were. Businesses, he argued, did not merely seek to meet the needs of the consumers; no, they sought to create new needs through innovation, advertising, and even a sort of manipulative hypnotism. In this, Knight argued, we find both progress and abuse, civilization and fraud. Knight also brings a good deal of sense to the problem of interest, demonstrating the psychological inadequacy of all time-preference theories of interest. But Knight's most important contribution consists in his analysis of the difference between risk and uncertainty. Risk, Knight argues, is a measurable probability that something could happen, like the probability that an individual will be struck by lightening or hit by a car. Uncertainty is a kind of immeasurable risk--e.g., predicting short term flucations in exchange rates. Knight's analysis is crucial to understanding economic reality. Knight's distinction between risk and uncertainty, for instance, explains why the rise of derivative securities in financial markets is so dangerous. Derivatives attempt to insure uncertainty, which is immeasurable, as if it were risk (which is measurable).

My husband and I just love these Jenny Linsky stories, and we have no kids! We had never heard of Jenny Linsky until my husband brought home a very badly beaten up copy of it from the dump of all places. We are now HUGE fans and plan on collecting all of Jenny's charming stories.

We are purchasing this series one at a time for our daughter, who is also named Jenny. She is eating them up! The stories are simple and sweet, but include lots of old-fashioned adventure, just perfect for young kids. We own several titles now and I have not been disappointed by any of them. Charming illustrations and great stories makes for a perfect combination! I recommend this series highly. Probably up to a fourth grade reading level.

My daughters love the Jenny Linsky cat books. All of the drawings are extremely charming and the writing is so fluid that my nine-year-old reads them to her younger sister.

I picked up a Jenny and the cat Club book at a yard sale in the late 1970's. It quickly became my favorite book, and I still have it today. I tried to collect other Jenny books over the years, but they are hard to find in good condition - and expensive - so I was happy to see them all republished in hardcover! My collection grows!!

These books are wonderful - hope you will buy one for your kids - or yourself! :)

I thought this story would be far fetched being that Jenny goes to a "camp." But she actually goes to a kennel and it made more sense to me (talking cats, cat who drives--perfectly normal to me). Nonetheless, the story keeps in balance with the rest of Averill's series. My five year old truly enjoys this series. He loves cats and enjoys the fun adventures Jenny the cat experiences.

Unplug the phone, cancel all your appointments, put the cat out -- okay, you can keep the cat. But Robert Walser's wonderful "Selected Stories" must be read in an atmosphere of silence, with complete attention. You owe it to yourself to have a chance to appreciate this utterly distinctive voice. Others have called him a "comic Kafka," and others have complained that he is not a "comic Kafka," so perhaps we can stipulate that he is "the writer who is not a comic Kafka." He is, indeed a good deal more hospitable and accessible than Kafka, but he is not always comic in "A Little Ramble," (which might be my favorite of these collected short items), he can stop you in your tracks. I haven't read Walser's novel, "Jakob von Gunten," yet (though I certainly plan to) but I wonder if Walser's peculiar talents aren't particularly suited to a form that is ephemeral, almost furtive.

Read "The She Owl," which has a gentle charm. Read "Parisian Newspapers," which has an edge. Oh, read them all, listening to catch Walser's extraordinary voice. And aboave all, read "A Little Ramble," which might be the best onc-page story in the language.

Although his novel "Jakob von Gunten" is a masterpiece, the maniacal genius of Walser is more easily discovered in his short fiction. If Kafka's vision is maddening and claustrophobic, Walser, who deals with a similar kind of surrealistic world, applies a lighter, more deftly playful touch. Sometimes, the puns and literary license Walser take can be willful and test a reader's patience, but the sheer force of his philosophy and world view contained in these miniaturist stories are awe-inspiring, and are on par with the delirious vision of Kafka. Walser is a kind of a writer who can turn from anger to unbearable tenderness within a sentence. Many of these stories will move you and frustrate you at the same time, but all the risks he takes are still, and I suspect always will be, thrillingly modern and relevant. I only wish his excellent reworkings of fairy tales (I'm thinking especially of 'Snow White') could have been included in this volume. Walser has been neglected for far too long, and the longer his work languishes in obscurity, the world is that much more at a loss.

The "New York Review Books Classics" emails are always a joy to receive and read; whoever picks the books for this series has a wonderful ability to introduce me to writers I've never heard about before. This extract from a recent mailing proves my point:

'Robert Walser (1878-1956) left school at fourteen and led a wandering, precarious existence while producing poems, essays, stories, and novels. In 1933 he entered an insane asylum--he remained there for the rest of his life--and quit writing. "I am not here to write," he said, "but to be mad."'

The other reviewers here have described Walser's work much better than I could. It seemed to me that Walser writes with a light handed serenity which is very attractive, happy and playful. But on reflection, he seems to be communicating deep seated fears. For the past several weeks, I've read a story every few days, then thought about it for a day or two. It's been a rewarding experience, and Wikipedia has a list of many more novellas and stories still to be explored.

As usual, NYRBC delivers a beautifully produced volume, which adds to the joy of reading these stories.

Robert C. Ross 2008

"Wandering, what a brilliant, light blue joy you are!"

If the absolute inevitable truth of every word of that sentence isn't immediately clear to you, you may not be the kind of reader who will be knocked off your feet by Robert Walser, whose typical prose piece is always a kind of wandering. The most acclaimed piece (and the best, I think) in this collection is in fact titled "The Walk," a perfectly honest title that serves to summarize the plot.

If you're one who needs beginnings, middles, and ends...
If you insist on naturalistic dialogue...
If you want at least a modicum of happening...
you may not be the kind of reader who will rave about Walser to your friends, as I have been doing since I started reading him a couple years ago.

Walser was roughly a contemporary of Franz Kafka, who read and seems to have been influenced by Walser. Although Walser wrote four long pieces usually labeled as novels, his most characteristic works are short sketches, two to ten pages, only rarely resembling anything most people would call a story. Some of Walser's work was published in his lifetime, and he had a coterie of distinguished fans like Hermann Hesse. Then, after 1933, when he was committed to a "madhouse," he was as forgotten as a politician's promise. His rediscovery began with American and English readers, especially translator Christopher Middleton.

By our times, Walser is widely perceived as a pioneer surrealist; his work certainly has surreal effects, but his intentions, as I read him, were never to extend reality but merely to capture it as he alone saw it. That he was, perhaps, slightly mad and certainly eccentric did refract his vision in unexpected and original colors. His subject, even when writing in his not-fooling-anyone disguise as a simple man, was always his own strange, joyful, aimless personality.

Catch the word "joyful" there! Walser is NOT a depressing writer. He's a man enchanted with everything, from mustard to mountains. He's wry, salty, silly, satirical, and sooo penetrating.

The translations in this collection are close to the character of Walser's "wandering" German. There's another collection - Masquerade - translated by Susan Bernofsky. I prefer Bernofsky somewhat for syntactical cleverness in translating, but this collection includes The Walk, the most picturesquely brilliant of all Walser's prose.

Some critics have said that Walser was a columnist before there were columns, and it's easy to imagine Walser being a huge success reading his pieces on NPR, but for all their apparent inconsequentiality, Walser's works have a profundity that will accumulate as you read.

Robert Walser. I came to this Teutonic scribner by way of a jackass professor I had in graduate school. In his class on Modern European literature we read "Jacob von Gunten," a 1st person neurotic diatribe about a man enrolled in a servant's college. Unlike the professor's lectures, I enjoyed certain passages of that work immensely, especially the transcendental moments where the main character describes how he melts into the shuffling masses in the city where he lives. Other sections were less engaging.

I believe that Walser's short stories, at least the ones collected here, are better able to display his literary gifts than that novella. Clearly the masses are an issue he enjoyed writing about, and there are several stories that deal vividly with the dehumanizing reality of city living, as well as office work. Clearly, Walser writes most prolifically in the fist person, a voice that is often driven by angst and inflected with various neuroses (Walser himself ended up in a mental hospital). But what I enjoyed most about this collection were the stories that differed from his normal style. Stories like the "She-Owl," "Balloon Journey," and "Kliest in Thum" are some examples. These are short third-person pieces, often only a page and a half long, which tell simple stories as they bend perception, causing the reader to see the world with new eyes. I find these short pieces more entertaining than the fist-person stories, which tend to be heavy on the solipsism and lack structure (see "The Walk"). There is something Borges about the economy of these stories, and maybe some Cortazar in their oddness. This collection rewards a thorough reading. And afterward the reader will get a better appreciation for Walser's influence upon two of the world's greatest writers - Kafka and WG Sebald. Does Walser eclipse his literary offspring? I'll leave that up to you to decide. But one thing is clear, Walser's literary reputation needs to be reinstated -- and this collection helps.

For those who liked Keith Topping's British perspective in his earlier 'Slayer' volume, here is an update. This book covers only the 6th season - Buffy's resurrection, the Trioka, the musical, Willow-as-evil, etc. Each episode receives 5-to-8 pages of coverage, organized under various thematic headings: Plot summary, music, memorable quotes, comments on the women's clothing, continuity errors, logic flaws, pop culture references, etc. Topping seems to have caught everything, down to the tiniest continuity error.

There are also separate essays on (1) series creator Joss Whedon, (2) the network switch to UPN, (3) an update on BtVS novels (about a paragraph on each), (4) an update on BtVS and the internet, and (5) predictions for the 7th season, which was the last season of this underappreciated series that never gained the viewership it deserved.

I have the edition of Slayer for seasons 1 through 5, and it is really a good guide of the series. This book continues with the same fun observations, facts, and quotes. I know some people hate season 6, but for those of us that love it--this book is worth it. If you don't like season 6, maybe this book can help you see the good things about the season.

Season six is in my opinon the best Buffy season ever.
If you don't like it read this book. It will change your mind.
If it doesn't, then go back to watching Bewitched or Buffy season one. I guess the true spirit of the Slayer is lost on you.

This book covers the sixth season of Buffy and is the next volume in Keith Topping's 'Slayer' episode guides (the previous 5 seasons are covered in a single volume, also available from Amazon). Keith does his usual thorough job covering each episode in detail. Even if you disagree with his views, you can't dispute that he has a deep love for the show and a healthy respect for all those involved in its production.

As I have stated in other reviews, Keith Topping's Buffy and Angel books are the best unauthorised episode guides on the market. If you are a serious fan of Buffy and Angel, you only need the official guides and these books.

As an American, it hurts to admit that Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the quintessential expression of American cheekiness and derring-do, has been best chronicled by a Britisher. Of course, I'm teasing a bit. But there is no question that Keith Topping seems to have a better grasp of what is important in the Buffyverse than many of his contemporaries on this side of the ocean.

What Topping does not do is write one agonizing reprise after another of all the episodes of Season Six of the show. As viewers will no doubt remember, Season Six was quite agonizing itself without that point being hammered home all over again. Instead, Topping provides very short synopses, followed by myriad details of things that are unique, funny, or perplexing about each episode.

You will be treated to paragraphs on 'A little learning is a dangerous thing' (the power of misinformation), 'Denial they name is...' (Self-delusion in Sunnydale), 'It's a designer label..' (clothes, of course), valley-speak, geek-speak, logic errors, and ever more items that bring to light the aspects of the production which the viewer, caught up in the story, is likely to miss. All of this is done in a style that is an enjoyable mix of tongue-in-cheek and respectfully serious.

Topping is an excellent researcher. His ability to find countless relationships, both intentional and accidental, to other atavars of popular culture is uncanny. Nor does he hesitate to introduce the reader to the more analytic writings on Buffy and the Scooby gang. Despite the spottiness of Season Six, Topping manages to ferret out all the good parts - to the point where I have to admit that the book is better than the season.

If you are a fan then you will want this book. And you will want to track down Topping's other efforts on the show that nearly ate South California.

As a mom I am always looking for books that are easy and somewhat mindless... since each story (or "blog") is only a few pages long it is a great book to pick up during naptime, before bed, while the kids are in the bath, etc and take a short break from reality and have a few laughs while you are at it. It is also always nice to hear about other moms who have the same fears, joys, and concerns as you do as a mother. This is a light & quick read and a nice gift idea for new moms.

FYI, my thumb nail says this is by Stacy Morrision; she wrote the forward to the book. Rita Arens wrote the chapter introductions, several of the essays, and gathered the rest of the essays together.

I really enjoyed this book and showed several of the essays to friends and coworkers. I have recommended it to several people. The essays are posts from mommy-bloggers written over the last several years. The essays are very real and discuss the good, bad, and in between of motherhood. At turns it made me tear up, question my own mothering, feel I had a co-conspirator, made me go eehhk, and uhg, and ohhh, and snort out load in laughter.

Sleep is for the Weak is a great read for any mom. You will identify with so many of the situations. And the ones you don't identify with will give you more perspective on your own experiences.

I rarely laugh out loud when reading a book, but I certainly did when I read the first chapter. Hilarious! And because the book is a collection of stories, it is easy to read a few, put the book down, and then pick up again later -- which is so essential with the inevitable distractions a mommy reader will have.

As a fan of the blog, Surrender, Dorothy and so many of the other blogs that contributed to this book, I found it to be a wonderful collection of essays.

That being said, you don't need to read any of these blogs to enjoy this book. I wish I had read it prior to having my kids. Helps you realize you are not alone in this struggle called parenthood and that there are ways to see the funny side to almost any parenting situation.

Super read!

I purchased this book over the weekend, and was lucky enough to have it signed by several of the phenomenal women who contributed essays.

Wow. Instead of spending time with my husband (whom I haven't seen for three days), I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning laughing and crying. These women GET IT. It is so refreshing to read REAL stories from REAL moms---the good, bad, dirty, and hysterically funny.

Rita did a fantastic job of picking the best of the best, and I look forward to many more volumes.

This is a superb gift for any woman, anywhere. I am terribly pleased to have Christmas completely taken care of!

"Are you passionate about books? Do you have a talent for easily capturing the essence of a book after reading it? Do you often feel the desire to share your thoughts about a book with readers? If you answered `yes' to these questions, then book reviewing can be one of the most satisfying, rewarding activities you'll ever undertake." - From The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing (Preface)

As an Amazon.com Top Reviewer, I often get emails from readers asking me how I became a reviewer, as well as requests for tips on getting started. I even had an independent publisher ask me to write an instructional book on how to write a great review.

Alas, my passion is actually writing reviews--not writing about reviews, or coaching others on how to create them (or enter the vocation/business of reviewing). Thankfully, I can now point aspiring writers to an excellent book called The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing by Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards.

When Ms Calvani approached me about her book, I was intrigued and excited. Finally, I thought, someone has taken the time to explain the necessary mechanics of a quality review!

From grammar skills to critical reading, ethical considerations to honest (but tactful) reviewing, the authors reveal the secrets of what separates amateurs from the pros. A few of the informative, helpful areas include:

* Reviewing a book for what it is, not what the reviewer wishes it was
* Signs of an amateur
* Five keys to being a good reviewer
* The harmful practices of both sugarcoated and caustic reviews
* A reviewer's responsibility to the reader, author and publisher
* The difference between book reviews, reports and press releases
* How to handle backlash resulting from a negative review
* Pre-publication versus post-publication reviews
* Dozens of print and online venues for getting started as a reviewer

The only (minor) qualm I have with in this book is the section on ascertaining readership. The authors write, "For instance, a mystery by Agatha Christie would be slanted towards the reader in their thirties or older. This can be judged by the age of the main character or detective, for example. If the character or detective solving the crime is under thirty-five, this is a book that would appeal to the younger set."

Their subsequent logic didn't ring true with my own reading experience. For example, by the time I graduated High School, I had read just about every book by Agatha Christie (not to mention those by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Higgins Clark, Robin Cook, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz--as well as many of the classics). Now, as a 38-year-old lover of books, juvenile and Young Adult fiction are two of my favorite genres. Personally, I feel that identifying readership is, indeed, important--but not necessarily based on the age of characters.

The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing also deconstructs actual reviews, explaining why certain elements are needed and work well or, in the case of poorly written reviews, why certain elements must be eliminated altogether for a professional, objective presentation.

For reviewers who want to hone their skills and discover additional reviewing opportunities, this book is an engaging, useful read. (I wish this book had been available when I started. Instead, I had to master the art of reviewing on my own!)

For those who are considering book reviewing as a hobby or career, reading (and owning) The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing is an absolute must--especially for those who want to be taken seriously and garner a reputation as a quality reviewer.

-- Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book

Amateur book reviewers beware! Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards' book, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, has your number and you are being watched! I had better make sure that I double cross my "t's" and double dot my "i's", since I have now been assigned the slippery task of writing a book review on book reviewing. I thought I had the reviewing art down pat, but The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing has given me further points to ponder and improve my brush strokes to make my book reviews into a fine art. All I have to do is follow some of the extremely solid advice presented in this book and consider the lists of do's and don't's (and, of course, make sure that I always check my list twice).

Writing a book review about book reviewing! Isn't that something of an oxymoron? It was this daunting thought that haunted me as I plowed my way through yet another good book of useful advice. I am astounded at what I always took for granted as essentials for good book reviewing: the art of critical reading, the non-prejudice mind-set that is essential for a fair and honest review, the time and patience in reading and writing about both good and not-so-good books, and the diplomatic stance one must take to defend oneself when challenged about one's review. There are a few nice benefits to this task: free books, free exposure of one's own writing skills, and sometimes a small payment. Then, there is the business side of the art. Whilst one would never become rich as a book reviewer, one could always create a book review business with an online website or in the print journal format. It is all a matter of knowing how to do it and where to find the resources to help.

Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards are successful book reviewers. The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing is a compilation of lessons learned and rock solid advice for both the novice and the experienced book reviewer. Each chapter takes the amateur and experienced book reviewer through different steps in the process. The authors use examples of their own published reviews and provide alternate ways to write the same reviews from different perspectives. There are useful resources provided, as well as a good list of print and online book review sites where reviewers can submit their work.

Although some of the material seems repetitive, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing is a useful took for both amateur and professional book reviewers, as well as book review editors. There should be no doubt that the good tips, thoughtful perspective and resource information can be of considerable value to anyone wishing to practice this art. It is highly recommended by: Emily-Jane Hills Orford, Allbooks Reviews.

I have long advocated reviewing as a way for freelance writers to begin a career and for the authors of books to network with other authors and lots of editors. The trouble is there are few books that approach the subject from any but the most traditional, literary and academic point of view.

The world has turned, and turned...and turned. We now have Amazon and other online bookstores. We have online review sites that specialize in the quick and easy (for screen-tired eyes and busy people) to those who prefer edgy or esoteric. There is room for all and Calvani and Edwards address that.

What I like best, though, is the lists of publications in their last chapters. Those pages are a veritable storehouse of helpful information for any would-be reviewer but also for any author who would like to get reviewed!
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of the award-winning HowToDoIt series of books for writers.

Newspapers continue to drop their book review columns and few magazines include them in their issues. What is a reviewer to do to get that much needed visibility? The answer might be in the proliferation of reputable online websites devoted to reviewing books. But where do the reviewers come from? And how can a lover of books break into the reviewing business?

There are numerous answers to these two questions, but an excellent place to start is by reading and studying The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing by Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards. Calvani and Edwards give detailed, practical tips and techniques to help the reader learn how to review books. It also covers information about the review organizations themselves.

As an experienced reviewer I learned that I do not know it all and will keep my copy of The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing for reference. It is not a book I will loan outbecause it won't be returned.

If you want to break into book reviewing, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing is a must-have reference. Heed the author's advice and you can write reviews that will get you and the books you review noticed.

Armchair Interviews says: You won't get rich, but you'll have a lot of fun.

Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (5/08)

Calvani and Edwards certainly produced a much-needed reference book that covers all aspects of becoming a book reviewer. Their concise narrative covers areas such as defining a book review and explaining the difference between it and a book report and press release; the don'ts; tips; ownership; as well as many other pertinent concerns. They also include resources and how libraries, book clubs, booksellers, etc. are influenced by reviewers.

As an owner of a book review service I was very interested what other reviewers had to say about the industry and what advice they give potential reviewers. Calvani is an author as well as a freelance reviewer and I'm sure much of the information came from her own experience although throughout the book there are excerpts of advice from other known online reviewers. The authors of "The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" are very much to the point and it doesn't look like they missed anything.

Although this book is targeting potential reviewers, I encourage authors looking for reviews to peruse the book. The information about reviews, specifically if it's a negative review is enlightening. As well, there is an appendix with a list of online reviewers. Although the list is somewhat dated, it is a very thorough list. And, I don't mean dated in a negative way but I encourage the authors to also research the net for new services that recently emerged or reviewers that didn't make the list.

I do recommend "The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" as a must-have resource guide. Calvani and Edwards present a well-written gold-mine to potential reviewers as well as a source of information for experienced reviewers and authors.

My 13 yr. old got this two weeks ago & loves it. He's read through it twice already.

Remember, this is a guide. It is great fun. Many interesting descriptions and a few tech BW images of comm badge, phaser modifications and alien monsters. There is also a description where and who first encounter a problem (reference to Star Trek episode).
The most interesting writing style - it's like all the Star Trek universe is NOW. Great.
I was a little disapointed - I was hoping for more. It's too short.

I used to have a very simple definition of a textbook: a book that contains a great deal of factual information, but puts you to sleep while attempting to absorb it. This totally fails to meet the second criteria (unlike, for instance, the TNG Technical Manual). Essentially, this is a collection of Trek trivia, in terms of equipment, creatures, and medical techniques, from the shows. However, from the style it is written in one can clearly picture a Starfleet officer actually reading and using this Guide. The descriptions are very clear, concise and interesting. One of them - Section 1.11, "Surviving Atmospheric Re-entry in a Pressure Suit" - is downright compelling reading. The mental picture of each step is incredibly vivid, and so involving that one can actually feel worried when reading the fatal consequences of anything going wrong. This is a brilliant piece of writing and extremely entertaining. For someone starting to collect Trek trivia books and/or manuals, this is definitely the one to recommend buying first.

Star Trek: The Starfleet Survival Guide written by David Mack is a unique little tome in that it is written in computer manual style... starting with 1.0 and ending at 4.15.But more importantly, this book makes you alert to the countless dangers that arise in space and how to cope.

This book has uses for standard-issue equipment that are nonstandard, for exanple remodulating a universal translator into a jamming device, recalibrating transporter enhancer armbands as temporal shields, or this one that you just can't live without sterilizing food and water with a phaser.

The second chapter is unconventional medicine which I found to be enlightening like modifying a type-1 or type-2 phaser into a scalpel, neutralizing Denevan neural parasites, or this one the proven herbal remedies for Mugato venom.

The third chapter is dangerous life-forms which helps with some very unique advice such as avoiding mind control by Elasian women, surviving an attack by a Crysstalline enity, or this onenavigating inside a Borg Cube or Sphere.

Chapter four is extreme scenarios like the following inducing solar eruptions for tactical purposes, surviving if you are shifted out of phase, or this one detecting and escaping temporal causality loops.

This book is full of things that happen or could happen and what to do. So, if you are traveling the universe soon... get your copy and don't leave home without it. There are illustrations in this book that help take you through the techno-jargon and I only mentioned some of the information in each chapter. Reading this book will enlighten you to a lot more survival information.

As it states in the book, "it should be noted that "The Starfleet Survival Guide" does not contain information on basic survival techniques..." This guide is intended as a specialized supplement to the basic survival manual. It reads quickly and is a weath of quirky information.

This is a great book for any Star Trek fan. This is a documented list of unconventional uses of standard equipment for situations that Star Fleet personel may encounter that requires a creative, if not vital, method for survival.

Great book. A lot of technical information, and if you're a fanfic writer of Star Trek, there are a lot good things you can incorporate into your writing.

While the day-to-day, 9-to-5 (only it's sometimes more like 24/7) career of child-rearing is still largely a female domain, Mr. Mom is no longer a movie cliche, but an SAHD, or Stay-at-Home Dad. As more mothers bring home larger pay checks, and more paying jobs can be done at home, more fathers find themselves able and willing to do the daycare thing. Thus the rise of dads like Peter Baylies, founder of the At-Home Dad Network and publisher of its newsletter, and thus this very useful and pragmatic guide for "Men Who Clean Bathrooms and the Women Who Love Them."

The Stay-at-Home Dad Handbook would be an excellent tool for any expectant parent, male or female, who wants to look after both home and children. Baylies is full of clear and clever advice about establishing routines, cleaning house (and how to schedule this around the needs of a small child), dealing with tantrums, attaining and maintaining a satisfying social life, living on one income, working at home, avoiding burnout, and what to do when the kid hits kindergarten age. Some of this stuff men simply need explained to them, and Baylies does that with admirable precision, flavored with amusing examples of traditional can-do male attitude - there's a really good idea about how to recycle your old computer and edutain your child at the same time - and tips only a dad would think of, or publish. (Having fun in the summer months via the "ice cube meltdown in armpit" method comes to mind.) But the book's guy-ness comes through most strongly in the "Spotlight on Dad" profiles that finish each chapter: vignettes, some funny and some poignant, by other SAHDs about their at-home experiences: the frustration of waiting and waiting, a squalling infant in one's arms, for the breast-feeding mom who's stuck on the freeway; the guy who's finally taken the proud step of calling himself "a professional parent." ("And if you call me Mr. Mom, I'll hit you with my diaper bag.")

It would be nice to hear a little more about the less tangible rewards of staying at home: the ease and intimacy of life with one's child, the pleasures of not commuting and of being one's own boss. But not to quibble; with its attention to detail and the appendix of cool resources, Baylies's latest child is for any father-to-be who dreams of becoming a real pro. -- Melanie Lawrence for the FEARLESS REVIEWS

This is "THE BOOK" on stay at home dads! Fun and fast reading that offers valuable insight into the life of stay at home dads. Great parenting tips for both mom's and dad's. Read this book and you will be a better father. This book is a must read for any parent who takes parenting seriously.

As a recently back to work mom, I found this book to be incredibly helpful both for me and for my at-home dad husband. The chapter about how to deal with the "rush hour" time before dinner offers some great tips. I definately recommend this book to new moms and dads!

I had a chance to peek at an advanced copy of the book and I was floored by the creative advise and down to earth approach. I should have read this book 5 years ago when my son's were still young. Luckily I'll have plenty of time to practice on my daughter.

The book provides valuable nuggets of information for the stay at home dad. This grassroots hands on voices of experience book is a great resource with funny and informative reading.