Works Books

The photographer has really captured the feel of Ellis Island. A visit to the island is a must for people visiting New York. Whether this was the first stop for your ancestors on their arrival to the new world, or they came through other ports of entry, I think the general experiences were the same. All the feelings of expectation, fear, joy or the disappointment of making such a long journey only to be detained or turned back while in sight of the "promised land" are tangible in Stephen Wilkes' images.

As an artist, I purchased this after my artist friend showed it to me, to use as a guide for selecting particular colors and/or color combinations in abstract paintings. It is amazing that the light in the photos has been captured as it truly was--not altered or enhanced with SW to convey a particular mood. Everyone I have showed this to has been propelled to stop and look through every image in the book--it draws you in as you flip through the pages. The colors portray emotion. Content is one of a kind. Highly recommended.

I found this book to be stunning and thought provoking-I wondered about how frightened and angry immigrants must have been to be treated in such a way after what they went through before.

The pictures speak of the passing of time with such a quietness. One can only imagine the complete opposite when Ellis Island was a sea of humanity speaking and crying and hoping while glimpsing NY's famed skyline so nearby. So many hopes realized, so many unfulfilled.

I Love this book, the pictures are beautiful, the design and layout make the pictures and quotes very moving. As a photographer I admire the quality of the work, and the bright vivid prints. I love that most of the images are full pages, sometimes spread across two pages, with small text labeling the room, or part of the property. There are no frames, page designs, or paragraphs to take away from the imagery. For more information and details the photographer includes a section of thumbnails with descriptions, stories about the room, or the shooting conditions, or even bitd of history. The thumbnails and text are at the back of the book with an arial shot and map showing the layout of the buildings. It really helps to peice together the history of Ellis Island. The quotes including add to the emotion behind the images, and I like that they were on parchment paper, so that you can see the pictures behind it. The books are being enjoyed by me and my mother, who is very interested in the hostory of Ellis Island, while I enjoy it for the photography. Great book to own, everyone should have a copy.

I purchased this book as a gift for a friend who is a New Yorker and loves to know everything about the city he loves. He was thrilled with the book, as he'd been reading it already whenever he visited his brother, and said he can never put it down once he picks it up. Covers everything there is to know about NYC. I can't speak for myself, having not read it personally, but the hard core New Yorkers at the table when I gave it as a gift all swore by it!

Wonderful book. Full of tidbits of information about NY. Some I knew already and some were eye-openers! I recommend it to anyone with a thirst for knowledge.

This is a very entertaining book. Good for a coffee table type book.

If there was anything you ever wanted to know about NYC but couldn't find the answer, this book will have it. What an amazing treasure trove of history, information and trivia. This book should be in every library in America.

Looking for very old maps of the Big City, the Mayoral and Presidential elections, Capsules of about every neighborhood in all 5 boroughs, histories of Broadway, Wall Street, MidTown, Columbia and NYU, the New School, and every other educational institution. Music from Classical to Jazz to Pop to Rock (but there is no listing for Sinatra! I think there should be.)How about the incredible skyscapers, docks, restaurants, clubs. And all this goes back to 1624, when the Dutch first settled. And sections on about every leading NYC personality ever. (though for some reason Mantle and Dimaggio are not listed separately, amoung many other famous NYC sports stars ). Even though the book is 10 years old, it is about as timeless as you can get, even with my very few small quibles mentioned!

If you're interested in Tibetan Buddhist iconography for whatever reason you can't go wrong with this detailed book. The author's original illustrations provide a wealth of examples of images in Tibetan art, and the text provides rich historical and doctrinal background for understanding why the symbols are important. Highly recommended.

Recieved the book promptly and in the condition promised. The book is an excellent source book. It does suffer from being without an index, for which the author apologizes. A source book without index is less than it should be. Still the images are excellent, and I assume the text is accurate. The author has spent a good portion of his working life in preparation: studying with Tibetan artists and craftspeople; and, becoming accomplished at rendering the brush drawings in an authentic manner. A good compaion book, especially as this does not have a index, is the "Handbook" by the same author

It's a more interesting and authoritative reference for this subject matter. This is due to Rinpoche being a qualified (I emphasise the word 'qualified') Lama and Tibetan scholar. Also at no point does Rinpoche compromise Tibetan Buddhism by giving away restricted information.

I love this book. Having found it a few years back at a tattoo shop in Santa Cruz, California, I was only able to look at it for a short time but I was able to gain so much knowledge as to the wealth of designs and deep meaning found in Tibetan art. This book stayed in my mind thereafter. Here it is a few years and a couple tattoos later and the book resurfaced on Amazon. Great price, great condition and prompt service. This book is great for one who has interest in Tibetan art and it's symbolic nature. The concepts are well articulated and with each 'type' placed into a different chapter it makes refrencing quite simple. If you are interested, get this book!

Great book, with lots of details. If you are interested in tibetan handicrafts, here you can get any tibetan design you can imagine.

This review mostly concerns the Enquiry. The Letter is primarily a defense of Hume's earlier Treatise of Human Nature, while his Abstract is an anonymous review of the Treatise. It strikes me as very funny, though not surprising, that Hume would review his own work. Funny because any author would give his right arm to get at least one favorable review when all the other critics are completely missing its point. Unsurprising because Hume was probably one of the only people alive at that time who could truly grasp all the facets of his radical philosophical claims.

The Enquiry was written after the Treatise. Hume, though he claimed the opposite, seems never to have really recovered from the blow he took from seeing his Treatise "fall dead born from the press." As a result, his Enquiry is far more cautious in the steps it takes. (For those of you who have read both, yes, I swear, Hume IS more cautious. Compare the claims.) A more robust philosophical stance is taken in his Treatise, while a more focused stance is taken in his Enquiry.

The Enquiry is mainly a work of epistemology and as such, scrutinizes our methods of acquiring knowledge. Making perhaps the most radical (and poignant) claim in all of modern philosophy, it posits, and supports, that there is NO causation, only conjunction. That, for example, when we see a glass drop and break, we cannot say we know gravity caused this (in the way we know two plus two equals four). All we see is constant conjunction. The connection is lacking, i.e., it is not inconceivable that the glass wouldn't bounce, turn to ash, or dissolve into sand (the way it is inconceivable that two plus two equals five). This, in effect, nullifies all the so called "laws" of nature that are formed by science. (Note that this does not state that there are no laws of nature, just that we really can never make the claim that we ever really know there are laws of nature.)

This could be thought of as the philosophical shot heard round the world. Agree or disagree, Hume must be answered. Hume has historically been charged with creating an intellectual and philosophical cul-de-sac with his skepticism. To paraphrase Bertrand Russell, Hume makes a claim which none can refute, but at the same time one which none can accept. In effect, Hume's philosophy seems to bind the human mind, stopping its journey of discovery and ultimately accomplishing what his predecessor, John Locke, set out to do, i.e., map the extent of human knowledge.

However, where one may see Hume's philosophy as shackles and fetters in the search for truth, one could also equally see his philosophy as liberation. Implicit in his philosophy is the idea that ANYTHING is possible. There are no shackles, no fetters, no limits; only those that we create for ourselves. Our limits are self-imposed, constructs of our observance (and inference) of connection. In this way Hume appears in the same light as the Eastern masters seeing that reality is not what we have (through experiential knowledge) believed it to be. It is something much more wondrous. In Zen, our causal thinking is the only barrier between the person and enlightenment. Hume could be seen as implying that when the idea of causality is removed, with only conjunction remaining in its place, the state of true knowledge and wisdom (true zen) is achieved.

This, of course, is only idle speculation. But it is stated so as to demonstrate the richness and immense possibility Hume's philosophy possesses when seen in the correct light. Instead of saying, "Nothing is certain," after reading Hume, one can say, with equal validity, "Anything is possible." The first statement approaches philosophy with despair. The second approaches it with a sense of childlike wonder and hope at the immense possibilities of reality. It approaches life as a beginning, not an ending. It approaches life as the philosopher approaches it.

If one accepts the methodology of Descartes in applying scepticism to reason and the senses, in effect denying the existence of all things but a "thinking thing," two entailments are logically consequent: Either Berkeley's idealism or Hume's scepticism. I don't accept Descartes' starting point, so I find the entailments confused and incoherent. But if one does accept Descartes' starting point, then the two extremes must be heeded. If for no other reason than observing the absurdity of either man's conclusions, it is valuable to read both entailments. But in their confused process, both men bring certain salient features to light.

Hume accepts Descartes starting point, making it his own. But to Descartes method, he adds Pyrrhonist scepticism: That all reason leads to infinite regress, and that all sensations (or impressions) can not be trusted.

Hume begins with the conclusion that all sense perception is either an impression or idea. Even memory and imagination, two other faculties of the mind, are conflated into these two species of perceptions, as impressions. Their difference is one of degree (vivacity), not of kind. Hence, Hume is the author of what is known as the "Copy Principle." Instead of unmediated, direct perception through the ordinary senses, all perception is mediated by the imagination into impressions and ideas. From this follows certain resemblances, contiguity, and causal associations between impressions or ideas, and from this association we develop a sense of self. But even the notion of causality here is one of implied inference, not of actual inductive reason. Hume denies there is any real causality that can be known, although we operate "as if" we infer cause from effect. Even probability is reduced to a mere association of ideas and/or impressions; because neither reason (which always leads to infinite regress) or senses (which can always be deceived) can actually be true. The Enquiry also treats of miracles and the testimony of others derisively; but don't we rely on the testimony of others who claim the earth is round rather than flat, just as we rely on others who testify to miracles in a byegone era? After all, few of us have direct experience with a spherical earth (Popper makes this observation).

Hume's method incorporates five kinds of scepticism: (i) methodological, (ii) conceptual, (ii) nomological, (iv) explanatory, and (v) reductive empiricism. His commitment to scepticism is not without some capitulation. While he denies absolute causality and inductive inference and probability in an actual senses, he relies on them for practical purposes. One can't remain a pyrrhonist for long; some elements of reason and some degree of confidence in impressions is necessary for ordinary life. But if one starts with Descartes' starting point, extreme scepticism is a necessary entailment. Which, after seeing Hume deny so much intuition, is it really worth starting with Descartes' scepticism? Answering that question is what makes Hume interesting.

David Hume was perhaps the leading light in the Empiricist movement in philosophy. Empiricism is seen in distinction from Rationalism, in that it doubts the viability of universal principles (rational or otherwise), and uses sense data as the basis of all knowledge - experience is the source of knowledge. Hume was a skeptic as well as empiricist, and had radical (for the time) atheist ideas that often got in the way of his professional advancement, but given his reliance on experience (and the kinds of experiences he had), his problem with much that was considered conventional was understandable.

Hume's major work, 'A Treatise of Human Nature', was not well received intially - according to Hume, 'it fell dead-born from the press'. Hume reworked the first part of this work in a more popular way for this text, which has become a standard, and perhaps the best introduction to Empiricism.

In a nutshell, the idea of empiricism is that experience teaches, and rules and understanding are derived from this. However, for Hume this wasn't sufficient. Just because billiard balls when striking always behave in a certain manner, or just because the sun always rose in the morning, there was no direct causal connection that could be automatically affirmed - we assume a necessary connection, but how can this be proved?

Hume's ideas impact not only metaphysics, but also epistemology and psychology. Hume develops empiricism to a point that empiricism is practically unsupportable (and it is in this regard that Kant sees this text as a very important piece, and works toward his synthesis of Empiricism and Rationalism). For Hume, empirical thought requires skepticism, but leaves it unresolved as far as what one then needs to accept with regard to reason and understanding. According to scholar Eric Steinberg, 'A view that pervades nearly all of Hume's philosophical writings is that both ancient and modern philosophers have been guilty of optimistic and exaggerated claims for the power of human reason.'

Some have seen Hume as presenting a fundamental mistrust of daily belief while recognising that we cannot escape from some sort of framework; others have seen Hume as working toward a more naturalist paradigm of human understanding. In fact, Hume is open to a number of different interpretations, and these different interpretations have been taken up by subsequent philosophers to develop areas of synthetic philosophical ideas, as well as further developments more directly out of Empiricism (such as Phenomenology).

This is in fact a rather short book, a mere 100 pages or so in many editions. As a primer for understanding Hume, the British Empiricists (who include Hobbes, Locke, and Berkeley), as well as the major philosphical concerns of the eighteenth century, this is a great text with which to start.

Hume, I and many others think, was the greatest philosopher to have written in English, and this is the book to pick up if you want to introduce yourself to Saint David's distinctive brand of classical empiricism. This is a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in philosophy, and it's hard for me to see how anyone interested in the history of modern thought can avoid reading this book or the corresponding sections of Hume's Treatise.

As is well-known, the Enquiry concerning Human Understanding was intended as an encapsulation and popularization of the views Hume defended in Book I of his magnum opus, A Treatise of Human Nature. Hume assumed that book's commercial failure could be accounted for by its length, difficulty, and lack of accessibility, and so, being a man who desired literary fame, he hoped to acquire commercial success by presenting the same ideas in a more appealing and accessible manner. Unfortunately, it seems Hume misunderstood what the literati of his day were looking for in a philosophical treatise. For the Enquiry, like the Treatise before it, didn't bring him the fame he sought. Still, Hume did understand what goes into writing excellent philosophical prose, and consequently this book is a much easier read than Book I of the Treatise. Indeed, this book constitutes an excellent introduction to Hume's thought, and, except for maybe Berkeley's Three Dialogues, I can't think of another primary source that would serve as a better introduction to classical British empiricism.

Now, let's get to the ideas here. Hume, like the other classical empiricists, was primarily concerned with the psychological question of the origin of our concepts. About the answer to this question, the empiricists were all agreed--our concepts are furnished by experience, which includes both sensory experience and introspection (i.e., the experience of our own mental states). And the empiricists also agreed about the way we can justify our beliefs. Some beliefs are true (or false) in virtue of the ideas they contained, and we can know their truth (or falsity) simply by thinking about them; other beliefs are true (or false) in virtue of how the external world is, and we can know their truth (or falsity) only by drawing on our experiences of the world. According to Hume, all substantial conclusions about the world fall into this second category. That is, the truth (or falsity) of all substantial claims about the existence and nature of things in the external world can be discovered only by checking those claims against the evidence of our senses.

The traditional way of placing Hume within the story of empiricism goes something like this. Hume takes up the empiricism of Locke and Berkeley and pushes it to its logical conclusion. Whereas Locke and Berkeley hadn't been wholly consistent empiricists, Hume, the true believer, demonstrates that classical empiricism leads to a pretty thoroughgoing skepticism. Since he's wholly convinced of the truth of his empiricist premises, Hume is willing to accept the skepticism that goes along with them. However, those who aren't convinced of that his empiricism is obviously correct think that Hume has actually demonstrated the implausibility of his empiricism. If this is where empiricism leads, they think, then it's clear that we need to reject empiricism. Indeed, some, like Thomas Reid, view Hume's arguments as constituting a reductio ad absurdum of his sort of empiricism. On this interpretation, Hume's philosophy essentially presents a dilemma for all future thinkers: abandon empiricism, or accept empiricism along with Humean skepticism.

But a different view of Hume, one of Hume as proposing a wholly naturalistic account of the human mind, has recently emerged as a competitor to the general conception of Hume's place within philosophy sketched in the previous paragraph. This interpretation downplays Hume's skepticism and emphasizes his professed intentions to provide a positive account of the operation of the human mind that appealed to nothing beyond the evidence of our senses. According to proponents of this interpretation, Hume is most interested in a description of the operation of the human mind. He's describing what human nature allows us to know and what it doesn't allow us to know. Furthermore, he argues that our nature is such that, where it fails to provide us with the resources to acquire the knowledge we might want, it provides us with a natural habit of forming the right conclusions anyway. Even though our nature limits our knowledge of the world, it ensures that we possess the habits of mind needed to make our way in the world. Hume dubs all these habits of mind "custom."

If this view is correct, then Hume has abjured many of the normative aims of traditional epistemological inquiry. He isn't attempting to show how we can answer a skeptic or why we have good reason to believe what we think we know. Instead, he wants us to stand back from our everyday beliefs and think about the natural processes that result in them. How, exactly, do our minds operate? How do we come to think what we do about the world? Hume thinks that this sort of inquiry will lead us see that, at some point, the explanation of why we think what we think reaches certain brute facts about the operation of the human mind. When we reach these points, there is nothing more to be said. We simply can't help thinking in these ways, and we lack the resources to demonstrate that these ways of thinking constitute an accurate way to represent the operation of the external world. And, Hume claims, it turns out that many of the fundamental elements of our conception of the world--the belief that things stand in causal relations to one another, the belief that we can know that there is a world outside our minds, the belief the future will resemble the past--end up not being open to ratification by experience. With respect to beliefs of these sorts, we ultimately have to appeal to custom in order to explain their existence and popularity. Hume, then, can be seen as demolishing the pretensions of reason in order to make room for a wholly naturalistic account of human thinking.

First I would like to commend the excellent review of this book by CT Dreyer in which he correctly shows how Hume extended the empiricism of Locke and Berkeley to the point where skepticism seemed our only honest way of thinking about our knowledge of the world. Hume's questioning of induction, of how we can be sure tomorrow will be like today , his questioning of how we can trust our senses to know the outside world, his questioning of how we can hold our world logically together when analysis reveals that there is no necessary connection between ' cause' and 'effect' in everyday life action means he wakened not only Kant from his dogmatic slumber but Philosophy itself from the sense that it will provide absolute understanding.
Hume is a very clear writer. I remember reading the famous billiard ball account of causality in which our common sense view of ' before' and ' after' is questioned and taken apart. I believe Hume says after this account, something to the effect and ' still when we leave the room we leave by the door and not by the window'. A friend of mine in this class when the class ended opened the window ( on the ground floor ) and went out that way.
This is difficult and great philosophy. I do not pretend to understand it or its implications fully. A test of the mind and a necessary read for anyone who would know Western Philosophy.

Reading all the praise here, I was pretty anxious to receive this book, EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT CARTOONING BUT WERE AFRAID TO DRAW. I expected to get inspired and learn techniques in writing and drawing I had not perhaps even considered before. In this respect, I can't hide my disappointment. I had not read for long before I realized that what this book had to offer would not be of much use to me. I am a self-taught cartoonist, I've been doing comic strips my entire life and all the advice this book provided I found to be completely obvious; not without relevance, certainly, but I didn't purchase this book to be told that "monsters get more effective if colorized green," or to study the contrast between a happy face and a sad face. Also, the drawings used to represent the points in the text are just about as stereotypical as they can get; I'm not saying I expected it to do the process of creating original characters and ideas for me, but in a book of this kind I find it of invaluable importance that the author is able to really inspire the reader to go ahead and make something good. After all, we've got HI AND LOIS and U.S. ACRES already, or what?

However, if you have just discovered that you got a knack for drawing and want to try it out as a cartoonist, but need guidance in the (very) main rules, this is a good book. If you have been part of this medium for a while and seek new opportunities to get inspired or learn new tricks, try elsewhere. Your own mind for instance.

I love how Christopher Hart really delves into the hard things to draw. Like hands and feet and expressions. This is a wonderful art resource. The pictures are fun and will help you generate many of your own ideas.

This would make a great gift!

Before I finished my third book I decided it needed cartoons to visually explain some ideas (a picture is worth 1000 words) and provide humor to a tough subject. I started checking with hiring a professional artist (or student artist) to do the work. It quickly became clear the task would be time consuming, expensive and I may not get what I wanted in the end.

First, it would be difficult to find someone who would be able to take what was in my mind and transfer it to a cartoon

Second, it became painfully clear it would be expensive (even with a student artist). I wanted around twenty five cartoons drawn.

Third, some individuals wanted to discuss contracts and usage.

My best option was to learn how to draw cartoons myself. I figured it would be less expensive (only the cost of books and art supplies), and frustrating and I would get exactly what was in my brain. It would take some time to become proficient, but it sounded like a fun project. I was fortunately right.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cartooning but Were Afraid to Ask by Christopher Hart and a couple other books helped me learn how to draw cartoons good enough to put in my latest book.

Christopher Hart has done several books on drawing comics. He provides excellent common sense content, and teaches the skill very well though his words and cartoons.

Some the sections that I found especially helpful were: Expressions, How to Draw Hands, The Art of Character Design, Body Types, Principles of Layout, Layouts from a Distance, The Special Effects Lab, Explosions and more.

After finishing my sketches, I used Adobe Elements software to polish up the work. I was very pleased with the final cartoons that went into my book..and there have been many positive comments about them from people who have the book!

Overall, this is a great resource for learning to draw cartoons!

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking

Drawing on the Funny Side of the Brain : How to Come Up With Jokes for Cartoons and Comic Strips

The Cartoonist's Workbook Drawing, Writing Gags, Selling

This a useful book for the artist (or developing artist) moving into cartoon drawing. The material is high quality, drawn and written by a professional with many years' work under his belt. You'll wish it were longer.

Far more detailed than the How to Draw Cartoons book by this author. There are examples of heads, eyes, noses, mouth, hands, and many other elements in good detail.

It is always great to have the chance to glimpse the work process of the masters in photography. This book provides enough information for anyone wanting to better their work in black & white and to learn from the best.

Inspiring, fascinating, revealing. Ansel Adams writes "the story
behind the pictures", the why, the how. Not necessarily or always the
"technical" details, but certainly the "artistic" inspiration.
The reproductions of his photos are good, although having just had
the pleasure of seeing the actual photos in Washington DC, they
simply cannot convey the complete splendor and impact of the originals.
Well worth reading!

I bought this book to give to my kids. My mother gave me one 20 years ago. Ansel Adams took portraits of my Great Grand Parents and put it in this book. I want my kids to have copies. If you are a photographer, there is a lot of info about how he took the pictures.

Nice to be able to go back to basics in these times of megapixels and gigabytes.

There are many great books about photography, of which this is just one, but there are relatively few books about how to be a great photographer. On the latter topic this book is exceptional.

Ansel Adams was clearly both a gentleman and a gentle man, who lived to create great images for the pleasure and education of others. We are exceptionally lucky that he left us both his wonderful pictures, but also a few books which explain not only how, but also why some of them were created.

This book covers a photography career of over 60 years, taking 40 of his greatest pictures, and describing how they were made. Although much of the technical advice is still valid today, a lot of it requires on the fly translation from the language of large format cameras and glass plates to the world of digital SLRs, with tiny sensors and vast memory cards. That exercise might put some people off, but it makes you think harder about his advice, and that's a good thing.

However, where this book really scores is with the human stories of how and why Adams made certain pictures. Two examples stick in my mind.
Firstly, how one of his iconic views of Yosemite was made after a day's hard hiking with a full size view camera, large wooden tripod, and just twelve glass plates. He suspected that he had wasted the first eleven, and had just one left for a favourite view of Half Dome. He took extra care with that one, and the results are still thrilling 80 years on.

Then there's his tale of photographing 50s Californian farming families. This is a charming insight into how a great photographer of people develops both trust and ideas, lubricating both with an appropriate supply of beer. You suspect these days were not so hard for Adams as the great Yosemite hikes.

"Examples" also contains some remarkable philosophical insights into the process and role of photography. The one which now sticks foremost in my mind is that enthusiasm for a subject will not create great photographs - you have to visualise the image and its impact mentally, then make it. This is perhaps the single most powerful piece of advice in the book.

In 1935 Adams was concerned that the advent of 35mm would result in a vast number of bad photographs. Yet he was keen on the new medium, because he could also see its benefits. The same page could be written ten times over about digital photography, but you know that had Adams lived a little longer he would have been a keen PhotoShop-er.

This is a good book on photographic technique, but there are others. But there are few books which give such an insight into the soul of a great photographer.

For anyone newly diagnosed with Hep C the initial reaction can be one of shock and the result can be deep depression. This book helps to shed light on some of the common stages of accepting this disease.

Excellent book for patients. I would also suggest any patient, friend, or family alos read "Hepatitis C - through a patient's eyes", written by Suzy Smith, who went through the treatment, and wrote her book to help others with hep c get through the process with a positive outlook.

I work as a therapist in a teen counseling program, and one teen girl has just been diagnosed with HCV. She's experienced all the common reactions: denial, grief, "This is a death sentence and God doesn't want me to be happy," and fear. I bought this book for her and she devoured it. Her entire affect changed, and now she's teaching US how to relate to her, how to talk about this diagnosis, why certain things WE say are insensitive or incorrect (without knowing it), and what emtional and lifestyle changes she needs to make for health. This book alone reduced her fear in half, and made her feel confident rather than powerless.

This is an excellent work for the layperson with very little
knowledge about Hepatitis A,B, C or the more exotic strains.
The authors describe a 6-7 week incubation period. Those
persons exposed have a 75-80% chance of infection with the HCV
virus and a 70% chance of developing the chronic form of
the hepatitis virus. In addition, there is a 10-20% chance of
developing the liver complication cirrhosis over a 20-30 year
period and a 1-5% chance of dying from a chronic liver condition. Hepatitis C is an RNA virus as opposed to a DNA
strain. Vaccination helps for the Hepatitis A and B strains
wherein 3 shots are administered over a 1/2 year period.
To reduce the likelihood of the disease, it is necessary
to reduce smoking , as well as exposure to all toxins.
The disease may be monitored with tests for bilerubin, albumin,
PT time and the anti-HCV antibody test. Treatment is enhanced
with reducing stress, commitments and responsibilities
until the condition is well under control. This work is perfect
for the layperson who seeks to prevent the disease or treat it
in the event of exposure and relevant symptomatology of
the disease process.

Although I think this is a good book to start with if you have recently been diagnosed, I find it lacking the depth I was looking for. It gives some great resources which is why I think it is a good book to start with, but at the same time, I would also suggest that you buy the following in addition to this. These are essential:"The Hepatitis C Helpbook"by Misha Ruth Cohen OMD and Robert G.Gish MD, "The Liver Cleansing Diet" by Dr Sandra Cabot, "Herbs for Hepatitis C and the Liver" by Stephen Harrod Buhner, and see if you can find "Who Gets Sick;How Beliefs, Moods, and Thoughts affect your health" by Blair Justice. The treatments out there are scary and can hurt you more than help you, so if you don't feel like poisoning yourself with a biotherapy, this is where to start.

Absolutely adorable. Great gift to give. Can read over and over and never get tired of it.

This is a lovely gift to give close friends at Christmas. My girlfriends all appreciated it so much.

...and then throw out all your antidepressants. There's a book for every emotion one can go through in life. One caveat, however: If you're easily embarrassed, don't read these books to yourself in public. You will piss your pants with laughter.

I gave this to one of my special girlfriends for christmas. She loved it and so did her 14 year old daughter. It says just what you want to say to your friend and the pictures are so cute. Well worth the money and I'll be buying more.

FRIENDS TO THE END is an inspirational picture book about friendship. The book contains all kinds of pictures of animals, mostly in pairs, reflecting the various ups and downs of life, the importance of friendship, and the joy of lifelong friends. The book is a bit, too sentimental for my tastes, but my mother gave it away as a small momento to one of her friends and she loved it.

This is probably the greatest compilation of original old school photos of the Hard Core heroes in Skate Boarding, Punk, and Hip-Hop. Friedman's photography and perspective as the ultimate insider on all that he shoots shows us the evidence we can't find anywhere else, particularly under one cover. From Jay Adams (Dogtown) to Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi) to Chuck D. (Public Enemy) and tons of others, how can you not own this book? The photography, and this book in general is in a class all it's own, head and shoulders above any other skate, punk or rap book of photos, and this one includes the best of all three genres. This book is a master piece and you'll be happy you got it, the greatest coffee table book for our generation.

This being the first true book published on the work of Glen E. Friedman is an achievement all it's own. A classic that has and will continue to stand the test of time. A document of a bygone era that will inspire generations for a long time to come.

F*I*V*E* S*T*A*R*S*

Glen E. Friedman has been capturing the high voltage energy of today's youth and those who speak to them for a long time. In this very interesting collection of photographs he manages to focus (pardon the pun) on skateboarders, rappers, the guys who hang out on the streets all living on the edge. The energy he captures is inimitable. Reading this book immediately after viewing the museum exhibition of Jean-Michel Basquiat makes it all ring true. These may be the remembered commentators and artists of tomorrow. But for now, this is a worthwhile journey into subcultures you may not know. Grady Harp, July 05

This is addressed primarily to Mike Carroll (Spokane, WA) and
Seer"japna" from whocaresville. It really cracks me up that someone would waste their time to write a negative review on Amazon, especially for a book of photographs, and ESPECIALLY when that book is obviously intended for a very specific audience. That audience doesn't seem to include wannabe deer-hunter, computer geeks from Washington state or "enigmatic" all-knowing types from Japan or somewhere either. I'd love to know who your heroes are... Jeff Foxworthy perhaps?

This is a classic. If you're even looking at this page it's obvious this book is a must. What other book on the planet has pictures of Black Flag, Public Enemy and Z-Boy Jay Adams?
And all of it's other hard core icons. This is an incredible collection of excellent photographic quality.

Fungus is part of a bogeyman family. Their job is basically to be gross and go around scaring kids and all that sort of thing, slime, nastiness, saying boo, and that whole caper. What if this is your destiny and you don't want it to be? That is the issue under investigation in this amusing and clever tale by Briggs.

Wow! I got this book 20+ years ago from my older brother and loved it! I lost track of my copy and for years now I've been trying to remember what it was called...I just happened upon the dvd on netflix and there was that familiar face. I remember looking through this book over and over again and seeing something new each time. I'm pretty sure pages were falling apart and coming out of the binding I read it so much. I highly recommend this book for youngsters, and I plan on ordering copies for my neices...and probably one for myself!

Very happy with this copy....great read and goes with the other Raymond Briggs books I purchased....made a fabulous xmas present!

'Repulsive but none the less compulsive'. This classic Raymond Briggs book hasn't got a real storyline. It's more like an comic strip encyclopedia on the life of bogeymen (Fungus) and bogeywomen (wife Mildew) and their bogeychildren. The book just charts a day in the life of a bogeyman, who it seems, exists merely to torment us 'Drycleaners'. Briggs richly illustrated study of bogeydom delights in all things revolting, slimy, putrid, and lavatorial, and even raises deep questions on the meaning of Bogeydom life. The book is filled with visual and literary gags, e.g. hidden on Mildrew's bathroom shelf there's 'FemStench' perfume which is real Eau de Toilete (toilet water), plus you finally find out what Great Aunt Ada Doom of Cold Comfort Farm really saw in the woodshed as a child (and it was something nasty). This book would be of interest to any kid over 8, boys might go for it at an earlier age than girls - although be warned it's not suitable for sensitive parents. It's ideal for teenagers and young adults, who will appreciated the sophisticated humour more. So if you ever wondered what makes the bogeyman hiding under your bed tick, get this superbly illustrated and funny book.

I've loved this book for years, and actively sought it out in my adulthood to own. The book is filled with everything from gross visual jokes and puns, to the deep philosophical questions every Bogey must have. It's ingenius and unique. Worth buying for a creative or visually stimulated child.