Classics Books

Have you ever felt like you were torn between two worlds? Like, you want to fit in with this one group of new friends but in order to do that you kind of have to leave your old friends behind? Because the new friends and old friends are in way different places? Yeah. Same with Lafcadio.

He wants to be a good lion. He does. But then he gets all wrapped up in the world of humans. And the world of humans is not as simple as the world of lions, is it? No, it is not. So he can do some fun things, like have a marshmallow coat made for him because he just LOVES marshmallows, but life is not all marshmallows and roses. Lafcadio loses his identity. And at the end, he's conflicted about which world is his real home.

This is an awesome story about knowing your true self and being the person (or lion) you know you should be.

"'Make up your mind,' they all said together, and poor Lafcadio the Great, he couldn't make up his mind; he wasn't really a lion anymore, and he certainly wasn't really a man..."

Lafcadio is a wonderful book about trying to figure out who you want to be and then, finally, who you are. I give this to every graduating high school senior who appreciates metaphor.

I hadn't heard of this book until a few years ago, when I came upon it and read a few pages in the bookstore. WOW!!! Although I appreciate Shel Silverstein's other stories and poems, nothing at all is like this one. And, that's a disappointment, because after reading this one to my children, we wanted MORE.

In my kids' schools, the Giving Tree was always considered such a classic, and praised as such. Lafcadio? Never mentioned! How disappointing, and oh, what those students are missing. Lafcadio isn't even in the school's library catalogue!

Lafcadio tells the story of a lion who comes to the city and becomes a gentleman--losing his lionly ways. But, Shel Silverstein tells this story so hilariously, I can barely read it aloud without laughing hysterically. I used to read this to my son, and literally could not get the words out without laughing uncontrollably. This, of course, caused my son to laugh as heartily without even knowing why. . . begging me to stop laughing and to tell him what was so funny. Lafcadio is an experience, that's for sure!

That said, this isn't a completely gentle book. It's probably the only book I've read to the kids that talked about eating people--and, made eating people funny. However, the unexpected quirkiness of the story is also what made it so hilarious. This is really a classic. Your kids will love it and you will love it.

This book is about a lion named Lafcadio, who learnt to shoot using a gun and began shooting back at hunters - hence the name of the book! The story started when Lafcadio got hold of a hunter's gun and began learning to shoot. He practiced shooting day and night, and he got better and better as the days go by. He is never short of ammunition. To get more ammunition, he just eats up hunters who come into the jungle !!

Then one day, a man from the circus came and offered him a job in the circus. He accepted it with the condition that he get lots and lots of MARSHMALLOWS !!

So, off goes Lafcadio to the city. At the city, Lafcadio tried many different things. He had a haircut at a barbershop. He had a suit made of MARSHMALLOWS for him. And as the days passes, he came more and more human. He learnt to dance, swim and even bowl..

The story is full of wit. If you are looking for a gift for your little one, I would highly recommend this book!

I discovered this treasure after reading Shel's poetry books to the kids. I read it to them on a long flight across the country and had the people in the seats around me listening in discreetly. It has some great morals and gems in it. About knowing who you are inside and finding your way in this world. And about the absurdity of hunting from the lion's point of view. The kids just love the bit about every lion having their own hunter's rug.

Ok, it's important to note that Japanese is not the first language that I've studied. That being said, with this book I had learned the entire Hiragana in less than twenty four hours. I still had some trouble with stroke order, but that only comes with practice.
I realize that most people will not pick up the Hiragana as quickly as I did, but that is still impressive. I would estimate that anyone that had not studied a foreign language before would be able to learn the Hiragana in about one to three weeks depending on the amount of time and effort they were willing to put in.
Again, this is an excellent product that I would recommend for anyone just starting to study the language.

This has to be the best way to learn hiragana! I learned all 46 hiragana syllables in about 3 weeks, and then it only takes about a day to get the dakuon and handakuon down, because its just a voiced change and adding two small lines or a circle. The yoon take even shorter since really it's just a smaller version of ya, yu, or yo. This book is perfect for learning Hiragana! Kodansha always has great japanese learning books. I recommend the second one in this "series", "Let's Learn Katakana". These are both great ways to learn Hiragana and Katakana (respectively).

I learned the entire hiragana characters in 2 months thanks to this book!

Very simple, explanative and easy to follow!

I recommend!

Ok, believe it or not, Using this book, I mastered reading Hiragana in 3 days. Of course, I couldn't put it down, and I also bought hiragana flash cards too which helped a lot as well, but still, the books was AMAZING. if you are trying to learn Hiragana in a flash, this is a great book. I can now read hiragana just by looking at it, and I can write it too. It's a great book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn hiragana easily, and in a way, kinda fun too!

While taking a Basic Japanese course I was having difficulty remembering my hiragana. The lessons are helpful and easy to complete. The crossword puzzle was a great challenge! When I finished this book I aced my written and oral tests. I even began to read Japanese magazines and books with basic hiragana. Along with my class lessons this book helped me a lot!! Now I'm doing the 'Let's learn Katakana' book. They should make a 'Let's Learn Kanji' book!!

Lips that taste of tears, they say,
Are the best for kissing. ~Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker died the year I was born and yet she seems like a modern writer you'd like to meet and talk to for hours. While she lived a troubled life she is a fascinating study. While in France she became friends with Earnest Hemingway and soon thereafter published her first book of poetry, "Enough Rope." She writes about her friendship with Earnest in the Uncollected Articles section.

Of all her writing, her poems strike me as her true self. She reveals so much in her poetry and many times her feelings reach new levels of desperation. She doesn't seem to find as many beautiful moments as Anais Nin, but then again she manages to continue the struggle of life without taking her life in a river like Virginia Woolf.

The true irony of her life is that she dies of natural causes after spending a life embraced in a dream of death. When she wishes people were dead, it might be because she sees death as some beautiful way to escape reality.

The memorable short stories make extended points about human nature and page 48 is an especially good example of a page dripping heavily with sardonic wit. Where did all this angst come from? She is a woman living in a time where she cannot always speak her mind and she is deeply frustrated in many of her "internal dialogue" confessions.

When given the choice between creating and curing, she seems to create from a place of deep emotional pain. She seems to fall into similar patterns and actually seems to revel the idea of: "I wore my heart like a wet, red stain on the breast of a velvet gown."

Dorothy Parker's poems seem to be more of her desire to break free from the brutal revelation of life. She has a typical love-hate relationship with men and is an astute observer of cultural trends. I have a feeling she wrote many of her poems while she was in a manic state of some sort because she reveals so many of her feelings and comments so deeply on her life experience. The first few lines of "Wisdom," show her frustration.

This I say, and this I know:
Love has seen the last of me.
Love's a trodden lane to woe,
Love's a path to misery.

She seems to be having a bipolar diatribe during the story of the Telephone Call. Her mean streak can be a bit shocking at times, but she does love rain and has other sensitive qualities which seem to balance this more sarcastic and vindictive side of her personality.

Dorothy Parker wrote reviews under the title "The Constant Reader." There are quite a few reviews from The New Yorker. She reviews The Journal of Katherine Mansfield and We Have Always Lived in a Castle by Shirley Jackson. I enjoyed her conversational style and the way she thinks through her writing while she writes. It is as if you are observing the entire thought process. You can read her thoughts about Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband from Vanity Fair.

One of my friends reads me Hemingway and I read him Dorothy Parker poems. It is a friendship made in heaven. He also knows all about Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Round Table and has lists of books for me to read. This book is my first Dorothy Parker experience and I found many poems that I loved and quotes that are definitely collectable. This is an enjoyable introduction to Dorothy Parker that may end up with many highlighted pages.

You may also enjoy reading: Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament

~The Rebecca Review

This is the bible for Dorothy Parker lovers. "The Portable" contains Mrs. Parker's short stories, poems, book reviews and Broadway criticism. The book originally came out in 1944 - and has never gone out of print.

Most of Mrs. Parker's most famous writing is presented here. Her short stories and verse were chosen in 1944 and arranged by Parker herself. When the book came out again in 1973 the editors added some of her theater reviews from Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, along with selected book reviews she penned for The New Yorker and Esquire.

The only downside to this edition is the rotten introduction by the crusty Brendan Gill, who was a longtime staff member of The New Yorker and is not too kind to Mrs. Parker. I suggest skipping his intro entirely. For most Parker fans, this is the first collection they buy, and it is a good start. If you are going to own just one Parker book, this is it.

I most like her very short stories & this is a great collection. They are almost scenes more than stories. In many of her writings, definitely in my favorites ("But the One on the Right"- about sitting next to a dud at a dinner party, "The Sexes"- about a date getting off on the wrong foot, "Here We Are"- about nervous newlyweds), Parker takes people's silent assumptions, adds dialogue riddled with miscommunication, then has her characters completely overanalyze the situation. What's left is very biting, very funny and gives loads of evidence to the saying that `assuming makes an ass out of you and me'.

This has been one of my "always by my side" books for several years now. The short stories are ironic and witty, the poetry is amazing. Of everything, I would probably say the best part of this collection is the poetry. Ms. Parker has a brilliant sense of humor and she reveals an essence of feminism one can relish for years to come.

Dorothy Parker was brilliant! Sure I'd have been afraid of her and that whip-sharp mind of hers that could unleash a rapier wit with seeming ease, but I love her stories, poems, and essays. This "portable" anthology of the great lady's writings is a perfect marriage of the printed word compacted into an accessible format. This is a book to sit back and fall into, as one slips into tales peopled with a cast of (surely Hell-bound) movers and shakers, all infused with the cool, trademarked Parker style. Recommended sans hesitation!

i gave this book as a gift once. to like a book enough to give it as a gift.. now that's something. if you appreciate being told the way it really is, you'll love bukowski.

The recording quality may not be absolutely perfect but the item captures Bukowski as he was, and adds significantly to the image one gets about his personality and his views from reading his, frequently repetitive books.

Some one gave this book to me to read highschool and the second I started reading it I was addicted. Now I'm in my late 20's and had to have it again.

Charles Bukowski takes you a trip that you soon won't forget. You will travel through a timeline that will have you anticipating what's next. The raw expression of life as depicted in his book made me want to become a writer.

Not only does he write a mean story he also has section filled with his poems, also amazing. You will not be dissapointed.

Bukowski is merciless. He can be quite cruel. He is a neutron bomb who destroys fantasy and make believe and leaves behind empty unadorned buildings. Like really rough scotch or bourbon, he can only be read in doses. In fact, his writing is an acquired taste. If don't want to see into the core reality of life, do not buy, let alone read his books. But if you are into honesty and courage and already know that no good deed ever goes unpunished, please enjoy. Bukowski's works are an affirmation of reality. Hobbes would love him. Ohm.

This double CD is a total joy! Quintessential Bukowski - there's nothing like hearing poems read by the author, I think, especially with him.
There's two CD's, poems interspersed with conversations with the people doing the recording. The only drawback could be that all of the recordings were done in a room with only a few people there, so there's an odd lack of feeling, the buzz you normally get in a live recording. Bukowski was also almost reluctant at times to read, but at the same time, the stillness in the background frames his voice and the work perfectly somehow. He warms up as it goes on, and as they have a few more drinks, and even reads a short story, which is brilliant.
There's some great photos of him in the booklet; no printed poems, but the sound quality is excellent, so you can hear every word.
If you're a fan, get it! If you want an introduction to Bukowski, get it!

have a problem with using words like "brilliant", "masterful" and "intelligent." But willing apply all words to this brilliant book, masterfully research and intelligently told.

The author gives a very full and complete treatise on Brown versus the Board of Education, but of greater interest, he writes of all the history that lead up to the ruling.

An exceptional book chronicling an extremely important issue in our country's history.

This is certainly the best book ever written -- the best book that ever will be written -- about race, law and American society. It is a remarkably insightful history and one of the most stunning existing examples of narrative journalism. It is a masterpiece.

I'm a fan of nonfiction works and this easily moved to my top 5 favorite books. When I was growing up there were no courses on the contributions blacks made to America. There was no black history month. And I was cheated. I'm a 50+ white woman who lived through desegregation and had no clue that it was a struggle. I honestly don't remember a time when my elementary classes were all white but they must have been. I do remember clearly when my elementary class stopped being all white. That was when Richard Harris became my Batman buddy. On the aftenoons following the show we would go to the neighborhood soda shop and have a coke and discuss all the action of the previous evening's show and check for new Batman bubble gum cards with the intensity that only 5th graders can bring to such an important endeavor. It felt normal to chat Batman with Richard; and I'm so sorry for all the children that had such a dumb practice as segregation rob them of those moments.

This book read like a thiriller for me. Couldn't put it down. Underlined and highlighted parts. Read other sections out loud to my husband and to some friends at work. This is American history. Everyone should have the opportunity to learn about the value of education, the value of varied experiences and the perseverance to acquire the rights that should never have been denied to the black people. It's made me hungry to know more and I'll be keeping my eye out for other works by Kluger. Excellent author.

I just finished this book, A Simple Justice, and it is fantastic. It's the story of Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, which is the landmark Supreme Court case that desegregated compulsory public schools in America. But it's so much more than that. After reading this book, I felt almost ashamed of my previous ignorance to the struggles and condition of black america at the hands of almost everyone else in the country. It is comprehensive in its scope and perspicacious in its analysis, sparing no feelings on either (or rather, any) side. I believe myself to be, for the most part, a judicious man when it comes to philosophical or sociological observations, but Kluger was able to open my eyes to angles I had previously missed on issues I thought I had resolved long ago. So if you're not too scared of big books, this one's worth the time.

Long a mainstay of every 1L's pre-law school summer reading list, SIMPLE JUSTICE is more than a retelling of the tortured history of the landmark cases now known collectively as Brown v. Board of Ed. It is more than a retelling of the agonizing struggles of both gifted and ordinary people---black and white and every other---to reverse the four centuries of racial disparagement that make up the ugliest of all underpinnings of the American Experiment. What SIMPLE JUSTICE is, is an exhaustive sociological history of race relations in the United States to the 1950s.

It is a book every American should read. The endemic quality of racism in the American psyche is so overwhelming that it is easy to lose the human element. SIMPLE JUSTICE restores that element with sensitive, intelligent writing, exhaustive and documented research, and a tone which is pitch perfect, strident when need be, reasoned and thoughtful throughout. Ultimately optimistic, SIMPLE JUSTICE will renew your belief in the American system even while tempering it.

In it's retelling of nightmarish incident after nightmarish incident (the explosive and hideous lynchings are often easier to understand than the equally hideous and more subtle segregation and caricaturing that endured for, it seems, ever), SIMPLE JUSTICE shows us an America riven by its view of itself as a noble nation being eaten by the canker in its soul.

Although many Americans now consider race discrimination passe, it is not so hard to see the continuation of a pattern of violence toward blacks and the denigration of the black experience, even today. And yet, there is more, for not only are Black Americans denigrated, but White Americans as well, both suffering because this nation is only a fraction of what it might othewise be.

SIMPLE JUSTICE is a crucial Civics lesson. Read it to learn. Read it to know. Read it. Read it again.

Andrea Camilleri is one of the few brilliant writers in the genre of detective fiction. His work has it all: superb writing, sensuality, food, funny and moving characters, a great detective, and a setting that allows for all kinds of innuendo and inference - Sicily. The translations are amazingly good, and the only caveat I have is BEWARE: these books are highly addictive.

Having read all the Andrea Camilleri books in Italian, I want to emphasize that the opening of Cane di Terracotta gives a perfect intro to Montalbano's character and ambience, and is an example of his best writing.
All Camilleri's Montalbano books read as if set for TV or movie, with quick moving short scenes, easily engaging the contemporary reader.
Can you imagine reading an Italian translation of Faulkner's works and being able to claim that you understood the depth of his writing? The same is true of Camilleri's Sicilian dialect being translated into English. Aside from his wonderful focus on the pleasures and travails of everyday life, and on the foibles of humanity, the true joy of his writing lies in its dialectical inventiveness, something that cannot be translated.
In fact, Camilleri has elevated his dialect to an art form, validating the usage of dialect in a world which is becoming ever more homogenized. Wasn't there a fellow named Dante that did a similar good turn?
I would encourage inquisitive readers to brush up their Italian so they can read other Andrea Camilleri books, especially those which are not Montalbano thrillers. My favorites are La Scomparsa di Pato, and La Concessione del Telefono. If your Italian is ok, you can learn the dialect from context as you read the books,
but if you want a little help, get Un Filo di Fumo, which has as its appendix a brief dictionary.

This was the first Camilleri novel I read. I started it and finished it in a day. The plot is quick; it drives you along with Inspector Montalbano who is a real "character" in every sense of the word.

Montalbano uses fowl language, LOVES food; he's direct, smug, unpredictable, truly Italian and a great detective. These mysteries have a definite Italian feel to them which only adds to their charm. They may not be for everyone, but if you want a gritty story that keeps you turning pages (and don't mind a few fowl words and so on...) these stories will intrigue you.

In this novel two mysteries are solved. One mystery is from about 50 years ago and the other occurs in present day. Montalbano and his fellow officers unravel both in the way only they can - not always by the book and with a few surprises. You also learn more about Montalbano's ambiguous personal life, which as always includes food, women and a swim in the ocean.

Inspector Salvo Montalbano of Vigàta gets an urgent call from his best friend Greg the pimp they need to meet on the quick, Montalbano is informed that Greg was told to relay a message from Tano the Greek (the number two Mafioso) he wants a secret tête-à-tête. Tano the Greek had been in hiding for quite sometime and on every wanted policeman list possible, Tano had made his conditions very clear that Montalbano should come alone and tell no one. Sudden trembles and panic enter Montalbono head, then suspicion why out of the blue would a member of the Mafioso want to meet with him? Curiosity more than anything gets the better of him and he complies to go without calling it in.

Meanwhile in another part of Vigàta a supermarket heist is taking place, Montalbano soon finds out everything did not go according to plan. Why would anyone bother to set up a heist then not only abandoned the goods but also leave a whole bagful of cash?

Inspector Montalbano is then on the move again this time his called to Palermo Hospital urgently to listen to a dying man's words, which in due course leads Montalbano to a secret cave, two more bodies are discovered embracing each other, even more shocking these bodies had been there for at least fifty years what sort of twisted dark past was this, who were these people and why were they being watched over by a Terracotta dog? Montalbano needs to understand what happened here, he takes time rediscovering the horrors of a WWII past. It's the only way forward.

Andrea Camilleri has written a wonderful Montalbano mystery series, what I love firstly about this whole series would be the charactizations and language the usage of dialogue in conversation it's all been kept real it's got sharp wit and comic moments the sly comments on Italian life and culture keeps things interesting and really amusing. Montalbano is a fantastic leading character his middle-aged, melancholy vein, recites certain favorite authors' lines in moments of doubt and his clearly well read. His passion for great flavored food is endless and mouthwatering, his also a thinker and manages to untangle a spun web of lies and sort out the logic of his cases to get to the truth. Montalbano is not afraid to explore all areas even into obsession. His got a huge female following of all ages because he has that attractiveness about him, one would be his "get to the point attitude" and can say it in many different ways. In spite of much temptation from women he remains faithful to his long time girlfriend Livia who in turn is happy to adjust her life and will calm and comfort in his time of need, Livia understands what his trying to achieve in his world that is corrupted and knows how to handle his darker moods. Montalbano loyal team continues to support him no matter what his faults and tactics may be.

The Fictional town of Vigàta is so vividly portrayed by Camilleri that it feels like a real place in Sicily; Camilleri himself in an interview said he based this town on his birthplace in Sicily Porto Empedocle, people of his home town have now recently changed the name to Vigàta to match the book in his honour. The whole series seems to have a timeless feel about them; I took a whole batch of this series on a recent vacation plotted up and read one to the next, it was addictive reading and I was not disappointed by any. Although you can start anywhere in the series, it clearly deserves to be read from the beginning. This is the second book in the series the first being (La form dell'acqua) The shape of Water.

A special mention to poet Stephen Sartarelli, for the clear translation of each book and for the informative notes given at the back on wording. Thank you.

This book was an intriguing wonderful read, the one that will hook and reel you in.

A.Bowhill

I have become enamoured with the Italian mystery genre in the last 2-3 years. It has been an education to explore Venice with Commissario Brunetti and Florence with Marshall Guarnaccia or Sicily with Inspector Montealbano. All three authors (Donna Leon, Magdalen Nabb, and Andrea Camilleri) know their locale and focus on the daily lives of the citizens, while moving along a rip-roaring story. But there are significant differences - Leon and Nabb write in English (Nabb uses British terms that remind me of Christie that break the spell) while Camilleri writes in Italian. He is Italian - he understands the importance of the land and the wine and especially the food that fuels Sicily. (The translation is superb.) Leon and Nabb certainly know their areas and their craft and they are very, very good, but Camilleri works the magic.

Camilleri captures the angst and the pain and the loneliness of Inspector Montalbano. But he also captures in mouthwatering detail the need to eat with a focus on the quality and variety of food that stops the Inspector's world, even when he has to go long distances to find the right place to eat.

I like to read a series from the beginning. I like to meet and greet the protagonist and then watch him/her grow with fond memories brought about by references to prior books. The Terra Cotta Dog is the first of the series that has been translated into English. Apparently the entire collection is large and the selection for translation has been severe, but the stories and especially the translations have been excellent. This is the place to start.

I highly recommend all three Italian protagonists with Inspector Montalbano and Commissario Brunetti right at the top of my list of "must buy" when a new book hit the market. They take me to places I have never visited, though I now seem to know, and allow me to interact with people I would like to know better.

My colleague and his wife visited his ancestor's Sicily last spring for the first time. I got them 5 of the books and suggested they read them in the order they were written if they had the time. The results were astounding. Apparently there was a fight for the books amongst the 4 that went and Mr. Camilleri's introduction to Sicily through the eyes of Inspector Montalbano made the trip even more memorable than expected. They "lived" Sicily by reading the books - not the big things from the guide books, but the small rituals of life and especially the food. Yes, for the Inspector, it all comes down to food and this is what made the trip so memorable.

Enjoy your tour of Venice or Florence or Sicily!

I just saw "Amazing Grace" about William Wilberforce
and the ending of the British slave trade. There is little doubt that the Ricky Braithwaite who is a relatively young black teacher in England
is the breeding product of such slaves used by sugar planters
in British colonies. In arriving at their destination a large percentage died in the crossing. An even larger number usually died each year as
a result of over work and underfeeding. Genetically this actually tended to make the black slaves superior to their white masters in many ways.
Survival makes very good people.
But the question is not if Braitwaite was as good teacher a teacher as
he is a writer, but have conditions improved since 1959 when he first published this. From hearing about the life of Amy Winehouse who is a very popular British singer, one tends to think they may have actually gotten worse in London's East End, not better?
So for all the popularity of the book and movie of this book,
not a lot of attention was really paid to his lessons in understanding
and care for the poor and hard pressed of all races.
Amy Winehouse was expelled by a Weston type for being independent and different. Progressive education has been replaced with regimentation and discipline. Braitwaite made the point that music, even classical music, got through to these children, but in California we spend money on contact football instead? In California E. R. Braitwaite wouldn't be allowed to teach in an high school. He doesn't have a recognized teaching credential.

During my school days, we had an extract from this book as one of the lessons in our English subject. The lesson was named "In the Grip of Prejudice". After reading the lesson, I just wanted to read the whole book. ER Braithwaite has handled a touchy subject aesthetically.

Highly recommended! :-)

A very enjoyable book. Braithwaite tells an inspirational story about both teaching kids but also overcoming prejudice as a black man in post WWII England. I'm a new teacher and hope to develop the type of relationship he had with his students with mine some day.

When Mr. Braithwaite took the job as a teacher, he never expected his students to be barbaric savages. Though tempting, Mr. Braithwaite didn't give up, teaching the teenage rebels to call him "Sir" and treat him and others with self-respect. With hard work and dedication, he turned this class of deliquents into a class of young men and women with class.

This book is thoroughly motivating. It is a story that is unforgettable and one to look to for inspiration. This book is a definite must read!

I remember having read an extract of "To Sir with Love" during my school days and have been wanting to read it ever since. Unfortunately I never got around to doing so for quite a while. Recently while browsing in a bookshop, my eyes fell on the book and I decided to pick it up.

The book is an extremely inspiring autobiography which chronicles the life of a 'coloured' teacher in a particularly rowdy neighbourhood of London.

Written in an extremely touching, charming (and ocassionally witty) style, the author talks about how he has to deal with racial sterotypes. It is uphill all the way for Braithwaite as he counters the cynicism of his impressionable students and, ocassionally, that of his colleagues also. Slowly, he wins over the minds (and in the case of Pamela Dare, heart) of his students as he tries to wipe clean their minds of prejudices (racial or otherwise).

The book was also filmed starring the ever-charming Sidney Poitier in the lead role. See the movie after reading the book.

An excellent book for cartographers and those interested in maps of transit systems around the world. Comprehensive would be an understatement, as the book truly lives up to its promise of including every transit map in the world. A bit more information on the systems themselves would have been nice, but I guess that's not what this book is about as much as the history of the maps of the systems. All in all, definitely worthwhile if you've got a passion for transit maps!

Got this book last night, started reading it, and when I got to the description of NYC 1972 map by Vignelli, giving it a modernistic feel of the times, was pretty excited, because I knew I own a paper map. Went looking for it, and upon reading from the book that users of the map were confused by the fact that the station of "50th St - Bdway" was positioned west of 8th avenue, went to check on my map this fact. Unfortunately, the station was positioned correctly, i.e., east of 8th Ave, and noticed that the map was slightly different from the one illustrated in the book. Then I saw the date of print on my map, 1976, and realized it must have been a revision from the earlier map in response to the users's complaints. Great book.

This book is fun for armchair travel buffs, map buffs, history lovers and those that have the cities included on their lists to visit. Great background and historic information, especially on the evolution of the system maps. I loved it!

This book fulfills one of my top dreams -- to be more exact, I could not have dreamed of such a book! Reading maps and riding subways have been two of my favorite hobbies, and it is definitely awesome to see more than 200 cities' urban transit maps juxtaposed and compared in one book. Even better, the author gives detailed introduction to the history and includes many interesting anecdotes of those storied urban transit systems such as Berlin, Chicago, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, and Tokyo. I use this book to remind my boy about the cities and places we ever visited, and teach him how to use a transit map to quickly find a route to any destination. We have been enjoying it so far, and I believe lots of fun will continue to flow out from it.

This is one of those books that you didn't know that you needed, much less would enjoy. But it excels on both fronts. As the title suggests, Transit Maps of the World: The World's First Collection of Every Urban Train Map on Earth, by Mark Ovenden, is just that; As far I know, every city that has an urban train is represented in this wonderful book. Whether you are a fan of maps or mass transit, a frequent traveller, or want to know the history of some of the world's greatest (and lesser known) subway systems, this book will take you on an amazing tour of the world, by public transportation.

Contents:
Acknowledgements
How to use this book
Foreword
Introduction: Early railroads
Introduction: Urban rail transit
Introduction: Early railroad maps
Introduction: From maps to diagrams
Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 3
Zone 4
Zone 5
Zone 6
Appendix

As you can tell from the contents, the bulk of the book is divided into "zones," much like a real transit system. Zone 1 contains eight transit systems, dedicating about 4 pages for each. Zone 1 contains the systems with the greatest historical documentation and also are among the world's greatest urban transit systems. These include Berlin, Chicago, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, and Tokyo. These are the "heavyweights" of the public transportation systems. Zone 2 has some of the newer systems, for example Washington DC, Seoul, Boston, and Munich. Zone 2 dedicates two pages per city. As you move through the remaining Zones (or chapters), there is less and less historical documentation and you also learn about the lesser known systems (some with only five stations). The early Zones provide you with various iterations of their route maps, culminating in the current version (as of 2007).

I have to admit that this book was fascinating. You may think that route maps (or diagrams) would be boring, but Ovenden does a remarkable job showing that these are works of art. It also helps that, by using the systems in Zone 1, you come to appreciate the problems associated with representing a large system map on small media (folder maps, in-car diagrams, and the like). With that background, it is easy to admire the current look and feel of route diagrams. This book is not meant to be used as a guide for any system, as they continually add service, but more as a snapshot into the transit systems around 2007. My only issue with the book is that some of the maps are way too small to comprehend, especially in the latter Zones. The same can be said of some of the historical maps, especially when Ovenden points out specific details. Overall, this book is a gem. It's topic is one that you probably take for granted but it is given its full due in this book. It is a fun, educational, and interesting look at transit maps worthy of anyone that has even a passing interest in maps, diagrams, travel, or urban transit.

I bought this book with "The King's Stilts" (see my review). I think this is one of the best kids' books ever, and my kids loved it when they were small. It was a sad day when our record of it got buckled by being left in the sun. Unavailable as a book when my kids were little, this is a delightful story with a typical Dr Seuss moral ending - change is not always for the best and novelty is fraught with peril. Get it for your kids, or your grandkids - they will love it, just as I, my kids, and my grandkids do!

This book was one of my all-time favorites when I was a kid! It was so exciting... very mysterious and magical. And full of goo! What kid doesn't love goo? Every kid needs a book like this.

An excellent item and although the cost to get it here quickly was expensive, it was worth it. Thank you

I had loved the book as a child myself. So I bought it for my neice. We read it together and she loves it as well. I haven't met a child (or adult) that doesn't like Dr. Seuss!

This was a gift for my niece. The adults in the room enjoyed it as much as she did.

I had been eyeballing this book for about a year, flipping through it at the bookstore on occassion. I love the Kodansha publications, and was surprised with this book as a present last month. Wow, what a great book. The photographs are crisp and detailed, and the information is laid out in a concise and easy-to-follow format. I hightly recommend to anyone interested in jujutsu or judo.

I wish I had bought this book while I still an actively practicing Judo. It is comprehensive and impressive. I wanted to reconnect to the dicipline and history of Judo, and this did the trick. My son has become very interested in Judo as well as other cultures becuse of this book. What more can a you ask?

Mifune's 'The Canon of Judo' is an outstanding work and certainly joins Kano's 'Kodokan Judo' as an essential book for all Judoka. The instuction included within is exceptional and will without doubt be of the utmost benefit to any and all Judoka who may read it. Mifune was undoubtedly one of the greatest Judoka to have lived, and the quality and depth of instuction given in this book is a fitting match for the man. Few, if any books available at this time present techniques in the format offered in this book. Mifune offers not only the pure techniques but also advice, key points and cautions for their use which are often only learned the hard way.

Each page has about six pictures showing progressions of the various techniques. Some pages have four pictures and some have eight or nine. Description headings include: Description, Practice, Important Points, Caution and Remarks. It starts with judo fundamental principles and etiquette and progresses to posture, exercises, falls and breaking of balance. The book continues to descriptions of practice and philosophy. After the first fifty pages, forty pages of throws, ten pages each of grappling and strangling are followed by another ten pages of counters and defenses. Fifteen pages of joint locks follow with seven pages of ground strategy. Then twenty four pages of defensive and counter techniques for throws with multiple counters or defenses per throw lead into a brief discussion of modification of technique and adapting to circumstances and several pages of more specialized techniques. A few pages of counter techniques for practice are finally followed by methods to revive the injured.

All in all, this is one of the very best books on martial arts I have seen. It belongs in every martial artist's head, but you have to read it and practice it to get it there.

Fantastic source of info & techniques. Definitely one of my most used resources.