Journals Books

buy this book. it's brilliant. brilliant. hear me? brilliant!

Robert Vivian's prose is so creatively lush, unexpected and unpredictable, you can hardly believe the "stories" he relates (he calls them essays) are based wholly on personal experiences. They read more like poetic fictions, and yet the style is quite accessible -- nothing self-consciously obscure or tediously "literary." If this is how he treats non-fiction, I can only imagine the delight of reading his fictions.

Robert Vivian has taken the personal essay to new heights, expanding poetic language into a deeply inspirational journey into the human experience. If ever you believed the essay genre to be dull and pedantic, Vivian will change your mind forever with his gorgeous language and important insights. The essay is boring no longer

After reading (and enjoying) "A Youth in the Argonne," I decided to pick this one up. I like Triplet's writing style. He has a self-effacing sense of humor and is pretty witty. Besides that, he was a good soldier and a respected troop commander. This book provides an interesting look into his experiences as a field-grade commander in both training and combat. I noticed a few minor mistakes in the footnotes and picture captions (as one of the previous reviewers commented), but overall, I enjoyed the book.

Tripp, as I am told he was called, wrote a wonderful triology of his military life from WW2 through the post ww2 period. He paints a wonderful picture of life in the army, and my regret is that it looks like some of the mid-war material may have been left out. (Oh yeah, and there are some errors in the footnotes - oh well.) other than that just a wonderful set of books. I am told by men that served with him, "Yup, he was like that, a great guy!"

"A Colonel in the Armored Divisions" by William S. Triplet, Edited by Robert H. Ferrell, sub-titled, "A Memoir, 1941-1945". University of Missouri Press, 2001.

Robert H. Ferrill, Professor Emeritus, Indiana University, has again taken the writings of William S. Triplet, of Sedalia, Missouri, edited the writings and produced an excellent first person history of an Army colonel's experiences in the Second World War. William Triplet had served as a sergeant in the First World War, began West Point in 1920 and graduated with the class of 1924. This book is really a professional diary of the years from December 1940 up to the cessation of hostiles in Europe, May 1945.

The front half of the book is devoted to Triplet's experiences in weapons testing and in developing amphibious craft for the many beach invasions by General MacArthur. At the command for testing the effectiveness of various weapons and devices, Triplet recorded his efforts in examining the effects of the Molotov Cocktail, (ineffective against armor), the prototype for the Jeep and various forms of sleeping bags. With the amphibious craft, Triplet discovers that many (most) Navy personnel do not understand the effects of ocean waves and tells us, quite a few times, that the Navy makes strong coffee. "I sipped the black brew and got it down without wincing. ... tough people these navy types". P. 64. Again, no love is lost between Col. Triplet and "Admiral Buships", who questioned the veracity of Triplet's reports on the seaworthiness of the M8 howitzer-turret on the LVT(A-1) hulls. P. 84. The Admiral even "Declined my offer of a cup of coffee, which is the lifeblood of the navy". P. 84.

Perhaps of greater interest to World War II buffs is the last half of the book, recording the Colonel's combat experiences. Triplet appears to be one of the few higher-grade officers to actual go up to the front line during combat. For example, he recounts his surprising an Army sentry who calls back that there is a chicken colonel up here. Unexpected! Triplet mildly disguises his impatience with privates, or generals!, who are reluctant to advance or who appear to be bordering on incompetence. In many cases, he does not record the names of the offending parties. He received one excuse so often that it is used for the title of a chapter: "They've Got a lot of Stuff in There". At the very end of the book, Triplet recounts, in a matter of fact fashion, the gunfight he had with two German soldiers. After being blown out of his jeep, Triplet draws his .45 Automatic Pistol and shots at two Germans who thought they had finished everybody. Triplet is wounded in the thigh, but escapes and limps back to his command.

Professor Ferrell's editing is so unobtrusive that you are only aware, once in awhile, that you are reading the corrected and revised words almost fifty years or so after Triplet had been written down. For example, Prof. Ferrell will italicize the word "illegible" to denote that he could not decipher what Col. Triplet wanted. An excellent job of editing.

Not only has Frank Miller influenced my writing (available right here on Amazon), but he changed the entire face of the comic book industry. "The Comics Journal," a magazine that produces some of the best interviews with comic book creators you'll ever read, delves into Miller's mind with some probbing, in-depth interviews that don't shy away from call the creator on his own personal faults. It may sometimes be uncomfortable to read (especially for fans who think Miller is untouchable), but it is always interesting.

Presented in an oversize format, with great reprints from Miller's work, this book looks great sitting on a coffee table, and may even introduce the uninitiated into the wonderful world of comic books.

A must for any Frank Miller fan. See every interview ever published by the comics Journal. See him talk about his early work on Daredevil and Wolverine to reaching his mainstream peak with the dark knight to the Nexus of some of the most successful creator owned work in comic's history, Sin City and 300. miller is one of my heroes in the comic world and I love this insider look into his thoughts of comic, politics and the world we are plunged in now and how that translates to his work. Lots of no holds bared and uncensored dialog about his entire catalog of works in the past two decades.

I've owned this book for about four years now and go back and give it a read offen.

For fans of Frank Miller's work, this book is a must-purchase. Essentially a collection of interviews that he has done over the years with The Comics Journal, this book covers the man's entire career, from his early fanzine work right on up to DK2.

In typical TCJ fashion, the interviews are quite in-depth and span a wide range of topics. Miller has always been a big proponent of fighting against censorship and sounds off on the self-imposed censoring that the comic companies do on a regular basis.

Fans of his seminal works, Ronin, The Dark Knight Returns and Sin City, will be delighted to see him talk at length about each of these titles. He also goes into detail about his stint on Daredevil and his motivation for doing a Dark Knight sequel. He also touches upon everything in between -- including Martha Washington, Hard Boiled and 300. Also, Miller talks a bit about his feelings on 9/11 (he moved back to NYC when it happened) and how it informs his work.

In short, this is a fascinating book on a true artist and a genius in the comics field. In addition to the interviews there is a great collection of art from all of his major works and also rare, unpublished stuff as well. Highly recommended!

I went through this book with my mother and I was amazed at how much I learned about her and also vice versa! It was a wonderful tool in our relationship. This guide gave me a more in-depth look at the topics presented in the book Beautiful Girlhood. We had an oppertunity to discuss things we may have never talked about before. I would highly recommed this guide to any one who is interested in gaining a closer mother/dauther relationship or just a better understanding of "girlhood" and its difficulties.

"Every time my daughter and I go through a chapter of The Companion Guide to Beautiful Girlhood after reading Beautiful Girlhood, I come away with the desire to be a better wife, mother and woman. Camille and I enjoy reading the chapters together and going for the challenge. There have been times where Camille and I would groan because we knew we had been the opposite of what God would have us be. This book teaches, rebukes, corrects and encourages us." C.A.

I went through this book with my mother and I was amazed at how much I learned about her and also vice versa! It was a wonderful tool in our relationship. This guide gave me a more in-depth look at the topics presented in the book Beautiful Girlhood. We had an oppertunity to discuss things we may have never talked about before. I would highly recommed this guide to any one who is interested in gaining a closer mother/dauther relationship or just a better understanding of "girlhood" and its difficulties.

There has never existed a more witty writer than Samuel Clemens, our beloved Mark Twain. Everything the man has ever written, particularly as age sharpened his sense of irony, carries a most suave and acute style of point-of-view. Every observation, every poignancy, every comment he makes is exquisitely nailed down with a genius's flair for words. While some readers of today may find some of his essays antiquated and over-worded, all I can say is that this man possessed the finest intellect ever granted to a human being and was able to produce it on paper with a resounding flourish. Not to mention the finest humor also.

I have read most books by and about Mark Twain and was thrilled to recently come across this collection of his works. Out of the essays he has written in this volume, "In Defense of Harriet Shelley" is my favorite. This essay is Mark's review of Professor Dowden's book titled "Life of Shelley". Ordinarily, I would never have heard of the poet Shelley's adultery while married to his first wife, Harriet, nor even cared if I had, but Mark, who reviewed many books of his era (including his hilarious upbraiding on the grammatically incorrect Fenimore Cooper's novels!) put it all in perspective for me - brought it right up to present time and concern, so to speak. Every sentence in that particular essay is loaded with vintage Twain-ism and he does so rightly defend Harriet that when you finish reading, you want to print a copy of it and post it everywhere in your own defense of Harriet as well! At least I felt that way.

Other essays of note in this book are "Saint Joan of Arc", "Mental Telepathy" and "The Death of Jean", the latter particularly profound since Mark writes about the death of his daughter, Jean, who while visiting him, dies as a result of an epileptic stroke. The bereaved father began this essay on the eve of her death and finished it within scant days; thus this writing displays a desperate immediacy to it - outpourings of a heart lamenting it's disbelief and shock. We see and feel with the man here in his most vulnerable state, hoping perhaps to find in his own writing, some link to his now-dead child.

This volume of essays was published in 1963 and I would love to see it reprinted again, updated with a catchy illustrated front cover, etc, (costs be damned) just to lure in a generation of readers who otherwise might never come across it.

I do not know all or even most of the essays of this work. I do know that there are as with Twain tremendously humorous lines and passages. I know that for the reader there will be great pleasure in reading this work.
As for the view of Man that is revealed in this work Twain I think is at times a bit narrow and ungenerous on one side, and over- sentimental on another. Yet considering the many sufferings he knew , the great financial and family difficulties he faced there is something winning in his remarkable feistiness and spirit. A great writer whose greatest writing is in his novels and especially ' Huckelberry Finn' there are nonetheless many brilliant insight and passages in this work .

Anyone who has read Twain will know that he has an unusually sharp wit and is one of the funniest men of ANY century; however, I wager that most do not perceive his grasp of issues important regardless of time, particularly the relationship of man to his (hypothetical) superiors, and human nature in general. With this book the best of both his worlds may be enjoyed: his humorous stance is in full effect in many of his hilarious essays; but the introspective character of his inner debates about man and God are also here preserved. It is recommended for anyone who wishes to see both sides of Twain's literature, and get a few belly laughs and deep thoughts while at it.

The book is a very exciting and an interesting book. I don't like to read, but this book got my attention. It's not an extremely long book which helps. It got my attention because I am a mother of 3 and I could relate to the stories that Jackie wrote. I even got my husband to read the book also. It was a book that neither one of us could put down until we finished it. We both laughed at the stories she wrote and both said yep that's happened because we both could relate to motherhood or parenting. I would love to read other books by Jackie Malena. Everyone should buy this book and read. GREAT BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I couldn't put the book down until finished it! What a fun and enlightening spotlight on the truth of being a mother. Truly heartwarming tales of all the truths and doubts that a mother feels, I know now I am not alone! And that I AM a good mother!

I thouroughly enjoyes this book, I found it to be very true to life with both humor and compassion, The Author Jackie MAlena tells it like it is and does not sugar coat it like some writers, I give this book two thumbs up.

I thought this article provided good insights into government contracting and the future direction of this industry. Very helpful to those managing contracts and working with the DoD as a contractor.

I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Cavadias speak on this journal at a symposium earlier this year in Washington. His insights into the government's need to invest more specialized and dedicated resources toward managing contracts rather than just awarding them is long overdue for action. Taxpayers' investments into government-outsourced services could be better protected if this common sense paradigm shift is provoked. I'm certain that the Congressional Subcommittee on Government Reform would agree with the premise of this journal because it makes good business sense.

This is an amazing article. We were completely lost in the administration of our performance base acquisition until we read this article.

The cornell architecture journal is really coming to maturity with its sixth issue. A school which has for a long time relied on its superb theoretical foundations presents here an intersection of theory with practice, a subject that must be adressed by more architects before the chasm between architects who use theory, and those who do not become too big to traverse. Buy this journal if you are an architect, and make Mark Pasnik's "Who's afraid of Architectural Theory" The first article in it you read.

The latest installment in the series of Cornell's journals of architecture raises the bar on student architectural work. Not only does this well put together journal wonderfully display student theses, its articles are well written and very relavent to the practice/study of the profession of Architecture.

I found this book to be both interesting and informative. The section writen by Jason Tapia was not only enlightning but extremely well written. As a Dean of Freshman, for a small college, I focus my attention on acedemic journals that are thought provoking and original!! I must say I was very impressed by the content of this journal!!

This book speaks to so many women because we all seem to have "something" we need to overcome -- a disability or flaw, a bad childhood, a rough teen or young adulthood, a sin or lifestyle that has tormented us -- and overcoming whatever it is can be hard. But this book guides the way, helping the reader deal with that "something" that makes us doubt our purpose and our place in God's plan and even want to give up.

Chapter 5, "How to Prevent an Identify Crisis," is an amazing comfort and source of support, a great start in making the doubts and worries disappear. The book gives you a tremendous feeling of security and hope. No matter what your past, the future is guarded by God, and a purpose awaits.

I have dealt with self-esteem issues from my past mistakes for a long, looooong time. I had been seeing a professional counselor who felt that many of my feelings of anxiety were based on a lack of self-esteem. I picked up this book by chance, based on the title, but was happily surprised that it contained so much more than the cover implies. The author gives specific references to Scripture that help with feelings of anxiety, dealing with a broken past, abuse, and shame. This goes way beyond self-esteem. This book has saved me countless times when I began to feel the downward spiral begin. I loved it so much, I bought several other copies and gave them to women I knew who were facing similar doubts and regrets, and have seen the change in them as well. I cannot stress enough how wonderful this book is!

As a Christian counselor I receive promotional books on occasion, and when I received this book I asked my wife to take a look at it and give me her opinion. Her response surprised me! She loved this book to the point she couldn't put it down. She said it addressed several personal issues for her that had been lingering for some time. She liked it well enough that she gave copies to several of her family members. I purchased several copies to sell or give away at my counseling office. Each person I gave it to remarked how insightful the book was and how much of an impact it was making in their lives, especially the part on forgiveness. One counseling client came back and bought 5 or 6 copies to give to her family members! Hey, that reminds me, I need to reorder....I think I have run out!

This book is absolutely the best I have read regarding the disease. I am a care-giver. The insights into the disease, how to make the best of it for you and for them is invaluable. You can create moments of joy for everyone. Tips and tricks are sensational. I will read it again and again as the disease progresses. I just can't recommend it enough.

Through tears of joy I read the first pages of "Creating Moments of Joy", a journal of hope and joy. This is a must read for families who have loved ones with Alzheimers. Jolene gives us such sensible answers about the mysteries of this disease and helps us to realize where our Alzheimer patients are coming from and how we can calm their fears and give them mements of joy. This is such a confusing illness to the patient and the caregivers, and the author provides concrete examples and illustrations of how to make precious memories and moments of joy for the entire family. Thank you so much for such a wonderful book.....the best I have read of this subject.

This is the best book I've read that helps caregivers understand how important it is to enter the world of the Alzheimer's patient and gives concrete examples of how that can be accomplished. It helps us understand the serious reality of this disease, but offers hope that we can bring joyful moments to our loved ones in the remaining time we have with them.