Works Books

For 41 years John Barrow manipulated the Royal Navy and the British Government to pursue his own fixed ideas on geography.
His mistaken belief that there was an open, ice-free sea at the North Pole, a permanently clear North-West Passage and that the Niger emptied into either the Nile or the Congo, caused the deaths of unknown numbers of men, the loss of ships, the expenditure of a king's ransom and the physical and mental breakdown of many of Britain's elite officers.

This is the story of that prolonged tragedy; the irony of it is that it fathered the most amazing feats of endurance and privation, that they are regarded today as the pinnacle of human endeavour - only the similarly ill-equipped expeditions of Scott come close.

Barrow's 'Boys' are his hand-picked officers (strangely, they were usually totally ill-suited to the tasks he set them) who are either ambitious, incompetent, zealots or plain insane (or any combination!) and Barrow goes out of his way to ignore all the best advice from those with the real experience, to either under- or over-equip the expeditions, seemingly never hitting the right balance.
The internecine rivalry of the officers, the badly-picked crews, the obstructions of companies and kings, all combine to produce farce after explorational farce. On top of this, each failed expedition only fires his zeal, perversely convincing him that he is right, so off goes another doomed expedition.

If anything tells us that inhabitants of ivory towers have no idea of the real world, it is this book ... Get it and enjoy!

Good book, but it spent too much time in England peering behind the political scenes and not enough time in the Arctic. It is very interesting to learn of the behind the scenes "politicing" required to carry off such pointless acts of courage, but most of the officers come off looking like political hacks instead of the incredibly courageous explorers that they were. These men sailed in the face of fear and came home heroes, but a self-serving bureauocrat makes it to the title of the book. While Barrow deserves much of the credit for getting the machinery in place behind these men, sometimes he did not even do that. I may be trasferring some of my deep personal distaste for the man (Barrow) to the book, but I did enjoy the book very much. I just wish it spent more time on the expeditions and a little less on the politics.

For 41 years John Barrow manipulated the Royal Navy and the British Government to pursue his own fixed ideas on geography.
His mistaken belief that there was an open, ice-free sea at the North Pole, a permanently clear North-West Passage and that the Niger emptied into either the Nile or the Congo, caused the deaths of unknown numbers of men, the loss of ships, the expenditure of a king's ransom and the physical and mental breakdown of many of Britain's elite officers.

This is the story of that prolonged tragedy; the irony of it is that it fathered the most amazing feats of endurance and privation, that they are regarded today as the pinnacle of human endeavour - only the similarly ill-equipped expeditions of Scott come close.

Barrow's 'Boys' are his hand-picked officers (strangely, they were usually totally ill-suited to the tasks he set them) who are either ambitious, incompetent, zealots or plain insane (or any combination!) and Barrow goes out of his way to ignore all the best advice from those with the real experience, to either under- or over-equip the expeditions, seemingly never hitting the right balance.
The internecine rivalry of the officers, the badly-picked crews, the obstructions of companies and kings, all combine to produce farce after explorational farce. On top of this, each failed expedition only fires his zeal, perversely convincing him that he is right, so off goes another doomed expedition.

If anything tells us that inhabitants of ivory towers have no idea of the real world, it is this book ... Get it and enjoy!

This was a well written book on the many Polar and African interior explorations that were sponsored by the British in the first half of the 19th centry. From trying to find the North-West Passage above North America to searching for the legendary "city of gold" called Timbucto in Africa this book kept me interested throughout. Never before or for that matter since has such a group of explorers been assembled. The man responsible for these quests was John Barrow, a man who had a dream of mapping uncharted areas of the world. He set into motion the largest and most expensive series of explorations in the history of mankind. This is a story of courage and determination like no other that I have read before. This book recounts the stories of men who spent years stuck in the freezing cold in their dreams of being the first to find a passage across North America. The book also details the adventures that other men had in their quest to map the interior of Africa. Other stories of different areas in the world that were explored are also included. John Barrow might not have been as successful as he would have liked but his dream inspired later explorers and set a benchmark that carried on into the 20th century.

The Author explains that this book originated as the name of John
Barrow is to be found in the Bibliographies on English Expeditions of
Discovery, for a good portion of the first half of the 19th
Century. Those that lead or were notable participants in these
ventures have books written by them, and about them, many times
over. Evidently this is the first time the man who was a driving force
behind these events has been profiled alongside the voyages. Just some
of these events include the search for The Northwest Passage, the trek
for The North Pole, documenting the North and South Magnetic Poles,
and exploring Antarctica. And when you have frozen through these epic
travels, the writer takes you to Australia, and the overland marches
in search of Timbuktu, the beginning and end of The Niger River, and
many other historical firsts.

Along with the details of the trips and
the men that participated, the Author also explains the construction
of the ships, how these wooden vessels were able to break through ice
instead of their being broken. There are remarkable details noted,
such as there was a black member of the group that first crossed the
Northwest passage from West to East, and also a man of color when the
North Pole was attacked. The tales range from remarkable folly when
officers were to wear dress uniforms when crossing the desserts of
Africa to maintain the pride of Britain, to other men who adopted not
only the dress of The Muslims, but also learned to speak their
language!

In his position at The Admiralty and other distinguished
posts, Barrow not only could direct what expeditions took place, but
also those that were to lead them. With this power he made or
destroyed the reputations of many brave men whose only failure was
that they did not succeed according to Barrow. Most of his beliefs
about The Northwest Passage, The North Pole, and the rivers and cities
of Africa were wrong. Despite this, his persistence and those that
shouldered these journeys filled in the voids on the worlds map that
had until then been blank. But while alive he was a bitter taskmaster
who would brutally discredit the same men he had sent to destinations
never before seen by a European, if he did not gain the information
and confirmation of the beliefs he held to be true.

Different readers
will select those actions they find to be the most remarkable, for me
it was those trips that in futility sought The Northwest Passage by
ship. These ships and crew would at times be gone for 2, 3, or even 4
years depending on the whims of the ice. During one such voyage after
surviving another brutal winter a vessel again made its way toward
home. When once again locked in the ice for yet another winter the
ship had traveled a distance that a man could easily walk in 2 hours!

These winters, which occupied most of the calendar, were filled with
activities to literally keep all members healthy and sane. Seamen who
could not read or write came home literate, and the majority of the
time scurvy was kept at bay by Captains that truly seemed to care for
their men. There were of course Captains whose sanity could be
questioned, and at least one who was certifiably a mental
misfit. However these were the exception and not the rule. The Author
also shares the first human encounter that an isolated group of
Eskimos had experienced in 400 years. The story will contradict every
evil cliché that has been too easily attached to those who set out on
these voyages.

The book is a remarkable piece of work, and pays
tribute and passes judgment when appropriate. A wonderful piece of
scholarly work that is a privilege to read.

Many thanks to my friend Erik who recommended this book to me. I really enjoyed it. Being a twin myself, I found many similarities between my life experiences and theirs. Some of the stories reminded me of the love and joy found in having someone so much like one's self, my twin sister Judy McKinny. In fact, this book influenced me into becoming a climber. Read this book.

The Ganz twins were able to capture all the different feelings that twins feel - from a special oneness to feelings of jealousy - and they did it beautifully. Finally there is a book out there just for us (the twins of the world) about us. And, best of all, it was written by twins!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading and re-reading this book. The bond and special relationship between twins is felt as you read the individual stories. These stories were extremely well-written and they generated both tears and laughter as I read each of them. The book provides an informative and entertaining insight into the world of twins. The photography was equally superb. This is a beautiful "table top" book. All ages will enjoy it.

THIS IS AN AMAZING BOOK I GOT A LOT OF INFORMATION AND SIMILIAR THING THAT I HAD NO IDEA OTHER TWINS FELT LIKE EMOTIONAL AND NON EMOTIONAL THINGS . THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR ALLL AGES IT INSPIRES PEOPLE TO LOOK AT THE INDIVIDUALITY OF A TWIN!

As a mother of twins I have read a number of books about twins, this one is different. I took it to a Mothers of Twins meeting one night and you would not believe how many women wanted to look at it. Of course we all have something in common, twins! Everyone in the room was warmed by it's beautiful photos and stories. My copy sits out in our living room where my ten year old twin sons can enjoy it. No one can truly understand the special relationship a twin has, but this book puts it all in to prespective. I recommend this book to all.

I used this book as a resource for teaching African art. My K-2 students love the pictures of the African animals and don't even realize they are "reading" as they recite the book's rhythms and rhymes along with me. Tying in art with social studies and culture is a great way to reinforce lessons! The students can't wait until Sit Tight and Read time - they all want to read this book again and again.

This was purchased so my Granddaughter could have one at her house because she loves the one at my house so much. An "old standard" that is loved for it's wonderful words and repetitions.

i saw this on reading rainbow when james earl jones narrated it. its my favorite story from the series because it shows how everything is connected, coming together to perform one action. it also inspired me to do cartoon based on how the protagonist made it rain.

After hearing James Earl Jones read this book on Reading Rainbow, I knew I had to buy it. My two very young sons (ages 1 and 2) sat entranced the whole time. Of course that may have been because it was the voice of Darth Vader, but hey, it's a great book all on its own. My husband now reads this book to them at bedtime every night.

I bought this book after having it recommended while taking a graduate level children's literature class. I was not disappointed! I grabbed this book to read aloud if I had extra time while substitute teaching for a kindergarten class. I thought the children would be more attracted to the rhyme and pattern of the words so imagine my surprise when the book sparked a lengthy discussion between 5 year olds about drought, Africa, animals, and culture! It prompted questions that I didn't even know they were capable of asking and had them making connections to weather in our own backyard and stories they heard on the news. This book is a reading, social studies, and science lesson in one!

This is a useful, complete and wonderful book, which person interested in language should have. It's topics are simply great!!

Olga Ocaña

Everything that you could ever have wanted to know about the way language works is in here (along with many other things that you probably had never even thought of). From the minds ability to comprehend certain sights and sounds as forms of communication and how it deciphers them to writing styles, changes and progression in languages and grammatical structures and nuances in voice level and tone used to alter understanding of a particular syllable, this book's got it all. I have to confess to being overawed when I first opened the book and then marvelling at the detail contained therein. Be warned though, this book is not for beginners in any field of study. Those with a strong interest in linguistics though should definitely invest in this treasure. There's so much in here it's staggering.

This book is a linguaphile and language lover's delight, to read or just to browse like a coffee table book. It covers just about every major topic in the study of language you can think of, from traditional classical and comparative philology and linguistics to modern developmental and neurological studies of language.

The book is comprised of 11 major sections and 65 smaller sections, with 8 appendices devoted to various topics, and there is an extensive glossary of linguistic terms as well as a table giving essential information about almost 1000 of the world's languages. Although a scholarly book, it's well written and Crystal never gets overly pedantic or dry. This is no doubt one of the most comprehensive and detailed compendia of information for the general reader about the subject of language ever written.

After reading this, you'll be more than ready to tackle a formal or more technical introductory text in linguistics, if you want to continue your studies. If you do, I highly recommend David Lyons's classic, Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics, now out of print but worth getting if you can find a used copy. If you can't find that there are several other recent texts that are quite good. But if you decide to stick with this book, you'll still have learned a lot. Whichever way you decide, good luck and happy reading.

David Crystal's Encylcopedia of Language is an excellent and readable book for lay-people like myself. I often come to it for information on a particular language-related question, or else I'll just open it up at random and see where I land.

There are plenty of diagrams and coloured pictures throughout, as well and quite a few interesting stories placed in vignettes.

As other reveiwers have pointed out, a huge range of topics are included here. I'm yet to find an aspect of language that hasn't been covered in some way.

Indeed ,David Crystal is a great and famous linguist of this century .His books about language are very important for students and common readers .His book "What is linguistics "is a good book for students ,but this book is important and informative for all people with scholars .There are several useful mapes and tables which guide a reader to understand the different family of languages.

I am siraiki speaking person .It was natural for me to read about my language,but Crystal is not aware about Siraiki language .He wrote its very old name Lahnda .I hope he will correct it in next edition

I am a long time student of Buddhist and Taoist themes. Recently, because of a cancer diagnosis and resulting bacterial and fungal pneumonia I have had to rebuild my body from the ground up. This book has been an invaluable part of that process.

1. Experience how deeply troubled you are about an unwanted occurrence, emotion, or illness, and become aware of your anger and resentment toward it. Become conscious of your resistance to it. You must experience the feelings about unwanted occurrences or illness in your life, so you can begin to heal. "I have created this hurt and sadness by forgetting my essence".

2. See and realize how you are powerless to change the past or the fact that the unwanted occurrence or illness has occurred. You have pride in your abilities, your achievements, and your power to overcome adversity. Say to yourself, "I maybe powerless to change the past, but I am no longer powerless to change my attitudes, thoughts, and outlook. I am no longer powerless to bring healing from my essence." How does my realization that I'm powerless to change this occurrence make me feel?"

3. Surrender to the fact that the unwanted occurrence or illness is a reality and has occurred. Your mind naturally resists the idea that this unwanted occurrence is a reality. Your mind rejects the acceptance of the this unwanted occurrence and goes automatically to its old, negative, conditioned patterns. It is only by accepting the unwanted realities in life that you can begin to grow and approach your essence. Spend a few minutes feeling the power associated with this thought.

4. Bring to your essence the guilt, anger, and fear, as well as any feelings of unworthiness, which may have contributed to the unwanted occurrence or illness. Say to yourself, "I empower myself to remove the barriers I have created to healing. These barriers block me from knowing the vast power that lies within me."

5. Nurture the realization and experience of the power within your essence. Contemplate that this higher self or power within you has the capacity to bring healing to the situation. The awareness of your essence allows for these unwanted occurrences to be accepted with hope, trust, and understanding. The understanding of your essence will bring you closer to God. It can bring you wisdom and knowledge of universal truths. Once adversity is accepted, you can begin to see the many ways you can transform. Perhaps and adverse occurrence reveals to you that you need to obey your heart more than your mind. Adversity brings a blessing in some form. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God", Romans 8:28.

6. Create a space where you can embrace your soul in trust, so that all necessary lessons can be learned and healing can be given. This process is done in solitude of your own heart through quiet contemplation. You can touch the power and energy of your essence through a quiet mind and an open heart. A quiet mind comes by examining the origin of the thought. "Is my thought about this occurrence based on my essence, or is it just another negative, conditioned thought pattern?" An open heart is reached simply by the intent to touch the source of your compassion. Create an energy bubble of protection.

7. Embody and actualize transformation of your mind and body by deeply feeling your desire for this to occur. "I will continue on the path of transformation. I will do this by living my life with an awareness of who I am. I will endeavor to learn my purpose each day."

I think Mr. Frantzis is a good teacher, but I don't think this is his best book. There's a little too much new age type cheerleading about how this book will start a chi revolution that will improve everything from our health to world peace. It also re-enforces the tired, old stereotype that westerners don't know how to move, stand, relax, or breathe and Asian philosophy has all the necessary remedies.

BTW, did you know that Mr. Frantzis has published books under the names of Kumar Frantzis, B. K. Frantzis and other variations. All of them were reviewed on Amazon's site with a variety of ratings. All of those old reviews have disappeared, and been replaced by 5 star reviews from his fans and students.

...if you only want esoteric flowery metaphors or intellectually pleasing ideas about Taosim.

Do buy this book if you have any interest in the practical art of Chi Gung, and wish to learn the basics, undiluted by mysterious concepts. This is the real thing, given so simply only a true master could have created it.

I've found this book useful for all those times when friends ask "What is this Chi Gung stuff you do all about?".

I rate this book as a "must have" for any beginner, or those unfamiliar with Bruce's work. More advanced students may find the material a little elementary, especially as a lot of the topics are covered in more detail in his earlier work. Another good starting point for advanced students interested in meditation is Relaxing into Your Being: The Water Method of Taoist Meditation Series, Vol. 1

The easy to understand writing style makes this an effortless read, which lets you get down to absorbing the information better than any other book I've read in this field. It's also a great motivator for your practice and the health giving exercises presented here really work.

If you're embarking on anything chi related to improve your health, or just curious about the subject, this is an essential read and should be your first stop. Highly recommended.

If you have a mother, you should buy her this book. If she doesn't need it today, she'll need it one day.

This book was very uplifting and fun, not to mention assuring me I'm not alone during these strange years!

I loved reading the short stories. Some hit the nail on the head so to say and others I just laughed out loud.

A book that validates the numerous mental and physical signs and symptoms of menopause in a gentle and humorous way. A must not only for the soul im menopause but for her sons, daughters, and husbands! It's my Christmas gift to all my forever "50" friends this year! Karen Alexander

I am still in my child-bearing years and I thought I'd get the book to learn more about Menopause and boy did I!! It is informative. It made me dread menopause and not want to look forward to the future of aging.

It may be funny to menopausal & post-menopausal women but it isn't for those who haven't gotten there yet. It seems sad and scary that we have to go through these changes. It's like reading about people who have gone through the horrors of their Wisdom teeth removal and you're dreading your turn!

My mother who already went through menopause did not have any of the symptoms listed in the book so I'm hoping I'll be lucky and escape the horrors of the symptoms.

In all, the book was informative with alot of details of what happens during menopause. Those who already went through it or are going through it will enjoy it better because they can relate to these stories and that they aren't alone during the 'change'.

They enter the new world naked,
cold, uncertain of all
save that they enter. All about them
the cold, familiar wind--

--from William Carlos Williams's
Spring and All (1923)

Looking at Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510)'s Birth Of Venus (ca. 1482), one can actually feel the fresh and fragrant breeze, the golden light, the bounty; the Italian painter is approaching 40 when he paints this. Reading Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)'s "The Paltry Nude Starts On A Spring Voyage" from Harmonium (1923), one senses a mind utterly quirky, brisk, assured; the American poet is in his early 40's.

This collection lacks 22 poems which appeared in "The Palm at the End of the Mind", Holly Stevens carefully edited selection highly approved of by Harold Bloom. Missing are "Of Mere Being", "A Child Asleep in Its Own Life" and "For an Old Woman in a Wig" to name but three. It leaves out the added lines of "The Man Whose Pharynx Was Bad". It lacks an index of first lines. If you're going to buy a book of Stevens' poems spend the extra $10 and get the magnificent Library of America "Collected Poetry and Prose" which contains EVERYTHING, is a huge bargain and will keep you occupied for the rest of your life. Or possibly get Holly Stevens "The Palm at the End of the Mind" which eliminates a lot of lesser poems which could confuse a newcomer to Stevens. The Vintage people have thrown this together without much thought. It's better than nothing, but the other two books I have named are the one's to get.

"Her terrace was the sand/And the palms and the twilight" -- and those are only the first two lines. Dipping into surrealism and imbued with spirituality, his poetry is compiled into "The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens," which includes seven compilations of his work.

Over his lifetime, Stevens wrote several books of poetry, but his exquisite poems are best taken by themselves: the lush grandeur of "Sunday Morning," the hymnlike "Le Monocle De Mon Oncle," and the humid grittiness of "O Florida, Venereal Soil." He takes multiple looks at "Thirteen Ways of Looking At A Blackbird," and the lush "Six Significant Landscapes."

In other poems, Stevens dips into outright surrealism, like in the delicate "Tattoo" ("There are filaments of your eyes/On the surface of the water/And in the edges of the snow"), and also adds a meditative bent into "The Snow Man" ("For the listener, who listens in the snow,/And, nothing himself, beholds/Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is").

If nothing else, Stevens' poetry can be read just because it is exquisitely beautiful. He lavished details all over almost every poem he wrote, and gave many of them the quality of a dream. His descriptions are simply written, but brilliantly laid out: "When my dream was near the moon,/The white folds of its gown/Filled with yellow light."

His style tends to be a bit on the ornate side -- Stevens freely uses the more exotic terms -- such as "opalescence," "pendentives" and "muleteers" -- wrapped up in complex verse, sometimes with a rhyme scheme and sometimes free-form. And lush detail is added to many of his poems, with descriptions of the moon, sun, plants and lighting, along with dazzling descriptions of the colors.

But his writing is more than beautiful. Stevens' work often poses questions about death, life, religion, and art, taking the conventional and turning it on its head. His belief in the importance of his art is reflected in poems like "Not Ideas About The Thing But The Thing Itself," which ends with the portentous lines: "Surrounded by its choral rings,/Still far away. It was like/A new knowledge of reality."

Wallace Stevens is one of the most unique poets of the 20th century, and the sprawling "Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens" is a wonderful read.

Wallace Stevens is my favorite poet. This collection was prepared late in his life and is in a sense definitive, though the excellent Library of America collection is to be preferred as including a number of additional poems (including the controversial long poem "Owl's Clover"), as well as alternate versions of some poems, juvenilia, and also Stevens's essays.

Stevens is known, it seems to me, in two separate ways. In the popular sense, he is known for a series of remarkable early poems, in most cases not terribly long, notable for striking images and quite beautiful prosody. Of these poems the most famous is surely "Sunday Morning" -- other examples are "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird", "Peter Quince at the Clavier", "Sea Surface Full of Clouds", "Tea at the Palaz of Hoon", "The Emperor of Ice Cream", "The Idea of Order at Key West", "Of Modern Poetry". The great bulk of these come from his first collection, Harmonium, and indeed from the
first edition of Harmonium, published in 1923. These were certainly my favorite among his poems on first reading. And they remain favorites.

But his critical reputation rests strikingly on a completely different set of poems, all later than those mentioned above. (Though it must be acknowledged that at least "Sunday Morning" and "The Idea of Order at Key West" as well as two early long poems, "The Comedian as the Letter C" and "The Monocle de Mon Oncle", are in general highly regarded critically. And that most of his early work is certainly treated with respect.)

I think it's fair to say that "late Stevens" begins with "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction", perhaps his most highly regarded work. Of course the terms "late" and "early" are odd
applied to Stevens. His first successful poems appeared in 1915
(including "Sunday Morning"), when he was 36. He was 44 when the first edition of Harmonium came out. That's pretty late for "early"! And by the 1942 publication of "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction" he was 63. Indeed, his production from 1942 through his death in 1955 was remarkable: two major collections each with several long poems as well as at least another full collection worth of late poems, some included in this _Collected Poems_ but quite a few more not collected until after his death.

What to say about late Stevens? The most obvious adjective is
"austere". But that doesn't always apply -- he could also be quite playful. However, there is never the lushness of a "Sunday Morning" or "Sea Surface Full of Clouds" in the late works. The sentences tend to extraordinary length, but the internal rhythms are involving. The poems are all quite philosophical, much concerned with the importance of poetry, the nature of reality versus perceptions of reality, and, perhaps more simply, with growing old. (A Stevens theme, to be sure, that can be traced at least back to "The Monocle de Mon Oncle".)

So: Stevens is an impossibly wonderful, remarkable, poet, either early or late. His lush and imagist early work remains a delight, and his philosophically involving late work rewards rereading and concentration. He is a poet to whom you can return again and again, and he will always be new.

Stevens is for me the great American poet of the twentieth century.
His music is the supreme music of poetry . Not since Keats is there anyone as rich in the most elaborate kind of longworded poetry.
His metaphysical meanderings may confuse but somehow find themselves justified by the memorableness of the great lines- and again the music.
No one comes close to him in the kind of deep and complicated beauty he presents- and again the music.
The meanings he makes are musical meanings, and the sounds of his lines sing in us ever more strongly , the more we read and reread.
Stevens is the kind of poet we want to memorize and always have with us inside, so wherever we go , we can stop and to ourselves recite lines of beauty in joy.
I may be wrong but I simply hear his poetry as the greatest America has had in the twentieth century - though lesser than Whitman and Dickinson.

I was introduced to Robert Service while attending Jr. High in Alaska. I loved his work so much that my parents bought me this book. Picking it up again, after 25 years, his work is still captivating. It transports the reader back 100+ years, to a wild frontier.

And I want to go back - and I will.

I am not much for poetry in general (having been forced to determine feet and meter and memorize types of sonnets, etc...), but Service's poetry is simple, amazingly clear, and beautiful. His descriptions of the Northern Lights and the wonders of the North are worth the price of the book just in of themselves.

Exactly what I was looking for for my husband. I think it has everything Robert Service ever wrote and is fabulous.

Exactly what I was looking for for my husband. I think it has everything Robert Service ever wrote and is fabulous.

I hunted far and wide to find this particular volume of poetry by Robert Service. Robert Service is without any doubt my favorite poet. His poems are classics. But many years past when I was just a youth, I stumbled onto a volume of Robert Service where he wrote short prose introductions to his poems. Hoping one day to become a poet myself, I thought these prose introductions provided the greatest insight to how a poet creates. I looked and looked and looked but could never find that volume. Then one day in a second hand book shop some where I found it. It was this volume. I paid a good price for it. I've recorded all these poems with the prose intros on my karaoke and I play them for myself sometimes at bed time. My wife has her "ears" on her burrow (she's hard of hearing) so she is not disturbed. In my opinion Robert is the epitome of fine poetry. He has it all humor, pathos, romance, intellectual content, melody, beauty, intensity, warmth, toughness, manliness - you name it; he's got it. Buy this volume you will not regret it.

This book is the most wonderful Encyclopedia about Barbie dolls. It has so many dolls listed with descriptions, prices and pics of the dolls in their boxes. Many pink boxes, OOAK Mattel dolls and collectibles. Pictures are nice, they are from the doll in box, and there are closes on some dolls.

If you need information on Pink Boxes, this book is the best!!! There are a new version 'cos this is not updated, the dolls showed ends on 1999. There are no 2000 dolls or 2001. But there are a second edition, so search for the new edition!

I have looked at many many books trying to find one that would help me to easily identify Barbie. Well folks, this is it! The pictures are wonderful, brightly colored and large enough to see detail. This is a "Must Have" book if you are a collector. (or if you buy used dolls to make up an OOAK) Well worth the money spent. I highly recommend!

I just received the COLLECTOR'S ENCYCLOPEDIA of BARBIE by JMichael Augustyniak. I thought I knew a lot about the value of eachdoll, I sell them and buy them regularly right here on amazon.com auctions. However, I opened the pages of this book and it is fantastic and a must for any serious collector. All the photos are in color, by date, series, it is all in this book. You will be amazed that some Barbies are valued in high 5 figures! I'm so glad I have this reference. Everyone who is interested in Barbie should! END

Maravilloso libro ! , poseo la 1ra y 2da Edicion, y son fabulosos, fotos hermosas y claras, muy bien las descripciones de cada muñeca...,Gracias Micael Augustiniak ! desde San Luis ,Argentina RITA REVUELTO

This book was very informative regarding dolls and values. I wish it would have had more of the "Special Edition" models and values though. Lots of pictures that are a good size for viewing and easy to see.

This book is put together very well, the index pages in the back make it easy to locate the dolls that you are looking for. I am a beginner and this book was very helpful for me to put a value on the dolls that I already have.

This book has wonderful information and photos to inspire any amateur gourd crafter to GREATNESS!

I'm a woodturner who likes to decorate the bowls I make. This book has given me several ideas that I've used successfully. I've gotten several copies for members of my woodturning club and one copy for the club library. We're always looking for new ways to enhance the simple wooden bowl and this book provides many useful ideas. Highly recommended.

Extremely good book, very well written and good art descriptions.

The book was in excellent condition and arrived promptly. I was very pleased with the service, price and book.

What a great book! I took a gourd coiling class and the instructor had this book. I couldn't wait to get my own copy! This book is so thorough. From cover to cover it's filled with information, pictures and ideas, you can't help but be inspired. I was, and now I'm "gourding" like crazy!