O Books

Yep. I get every comic out these days but this was the best comic I think I have ever read. I can't wait for more.

Scott Pilgrim is getting better and better in my opinion. O'Malley seems to amp up his penciling in this volume --- better detail, great action. The story is just o-so-cool.

Can't wait for vol. 4 when Scott gets it together!

Basically, I picked this book up at half price during a closing sale at a store. I leafed through it when I bought it, and thought it looked pretty good. 3~4 reads later, I have to say that this is one of the best manga [though I really hesitate to call it that: it kind of resides in the space between manga, comic, and book] I've read. It's realistic, has really funny jokes, and isn't afraid to be wacky - the thing is that these otherwise completely outlandish moments fit perfectly within the book as it stands. A must-read [I currently have the first two books and Lost at Sea coming to my house from this series]!

I really enjoyed the development of Scott's relationships in this volume. A whole lot happened, and somethings are too random to recall, but overall, it was an enjoyable read. I like how O'Malley takes his time to reveal Scott's relationships with people through a series of flashbacks, where in each one, you get a small piece of the puzzle.

I can still barely believe that the Scott Pilgrim series is as good as it is. Author Bryan Lee O'Malley has taken a relationship drama and infused it with numerous references to video games, indie music, manga, and other niche areas of popular culture to create a world where characters are completely fine with breaking out into a massive, over-the-top fight that involves the battleground imploding at the end.
Scott Pilgrim, for those of you who aren't caught up, is a 23-year-old slacker who lives in a small Canadian town around Toronto. He is in a bad band named Sex Bob-Omb along with the completely cool (so cool he has no emotions) Stephen Stills and the angry Kim Pine (whom he dated in high school). After breaking up with a 17-year-old high school girl named Knives Chau, Scott began dating Ramona Flowers, an American now living in Canada and working as an Amazon.ca delivery girl. However, before Scott can officially date Ramona, he must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. He has already taken out 2, but the next on the list, Todd Ingram, may prove to be more than Scott can handle.
Picking up pretty much exactly where the second volume, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, left off, Scott and Ramona have just learned that Todd is dating Natalie V. "Envy" Adams, Scott's girlfriend before Knives who ripped his heart out. Through flashbacks, we learn how Envy met Scott as a shy anime fan and eventually turned into a rock goddess. If that weren't bad enough, Todd is a vegan, and in Scott's world, vegans attain vast psychic powers that make him a much more formidable opponent than Matthew Patel and Lucas Lee.
As usual, the battles don't take up the whole book; most of the pages are devoted to hilarious character studies. Scott's roommate, Wallace Wells, is just as funny as ever, with his snide comments about Envy and his platonic love of Ramona. Knives is great due to the sheer sadness of her situation (I kind of feel bad for her, but she is responsible for some very funny and heartfelt situations). New characters like Envy and Lynette, Envy's drummer who has a biomechanical arm, are fun as well. But the book is also full of great moments that don't deal with characters. The existence of a save point in the world was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. And of course, the fights just keep getting better. Ramona shows that she can hold her own and that her little handbag is just full of surprises.
The only thing I have to say that is negative is that I just can't get a good feel for the art. It is (as far as I know) intentionally cheap, but there are times when I can't tell who certain characters are or when the flashbacks end. Still, it isn't too much of a problem.
I don't care what excuses you may have for not reading Scott Pilgrim, get on it now! The story is great and the humor is fantastic.

This is definitely a book for systems administrators. You won't learn the basics about sendmail, or get an introduction. This book is for folks who generally know sendmail, but are having specific issues with it.

The first chapter has a lot of very specific fixes for a bunch of operating system specific issues. After that the solutions become a bit more general.

The two standout chapters are chapter four, on relaying, and chapter six on spam filtering. Both of these have great introductions and in-depth techincal descriptions, with effective graphics, covering the topics.

I recommend this book for systems administrators and for people actively using with sendmail.

The first killer application of the Internet was email. For over twenty years, the most common program used to handle this was sendmail, written by Eric Allman. Over this time, sendmail has become a fully fledged language, with a very inelegant syntax. To learn how this, you need the book "Sendmail" by Costales and Allman.

The basic problem is that twenty years of ever increasing complexity in mail handling has created concomitant complexity in sendmail. For system adminstrators, the sendmail configuration files are probably the most complicated things they have to understand and maintain.

The rub is that most sysadmins have many duties, and little time to thoroughly read the above book. What is needed is a crib sheet, that lets you quickly solve very common sendmail configuration issues. Wherein the need for this book. Hunt takes a pragmatic approach. He tells you enough to handle these common issues. Sometimes, this comes at a slight cost. For example, he never really fully explains the the sendmail class notation. For a rigorous explanation, you still need Allman's book. But as a practical matter, you probably not that curious about the notation anyway. Hunt's approach may solve your problems quicker!

An interesting aspect of this Cookbook is that it shows the recent evolution of sendmail, as seen in the subtitle at the top of the cover, "Spam-Fighting". Sysadmins who dealt with sendmail from 5 years ago or earlier will recall nothing pertaining to antispam techniques.

But just as email was the first killer application, the second killer application was the browser, starting in 1992-3. The third killer application was spam, often viewed via the second application. In the last 5 years, spam has grown amazingly. So much so that it has been debated on the floors of the US Parliament! It has gotten to the point that some alarmists are even claiming that this third killer app might be crippling the first app!

Well, this Cookbook has several sections, including an entire chapter, focussed on various antispam techniques, like procmail parsing, or hooking up to Real Time Block Lists like spamhaus.org. The efficacy of such methods may vary widely, but you do get a choice. Though none of these currently appear to offer a truly effective countermeasure. You are still getting tons of spam, aren't you?

Perhaps some genius in the not too distant future can help us!

Great book, exactly what I needed. I'm pretty good with Sendmail, but there is nothing like just looking up an issue and following through a solution. I would recommend this to anyone who works with Sendmail!

This book has something about sendmail for everyone.
I know sendmail very well, and have used it for years.

But even I and sendmail gurus I work with learned a lot.

this is a great book.

Working with sendmail can be very challenging at times; while the documentation for it is very complete, finding real-life use-cases can be tough and messing up a configuration is very easy. Fortunately the sendmail authors and community adopted the m4 language to help make building and managing sendmail configurations less painful (I remember having bad dreams about sendmail configuration language when I started learning it). Even with m4, understanding what goes where when and why in a sendmail configuration file can be a real challenge.

O'Reilly helped we mere mortals out tremendously with the publication of "Sendmail: The Definitive Guide," a book that helped demystify and clarify many of sendmail's inner-workings and configuration options. Even with this book, it was still hard to answer real-life use case questions, like how to enable SMTP AUTH for sendmail, how do I use LDAP with sendmail, how do I use sendmail to accept email for multiple domains in a virtual hosting environment, how do I use blackhole list services?

Enter "Sendmail Cookbook." This clear, easy to read, well-indexed book contains a wealth of useful recipies that make previously difficult to figure out tasks quite easy. The book is organized in typical Cookbook fashion; each chapter or section stands on it's own, and if it does require knowledge of other sendmail configuration topics, the section includes cross-references to other relevant recipies and references to appropriate sections in the "Sendmail: The Definitive Guide" book, which is a nice additional feature.

This cookbook starts with recipies that step the reader through building and installing sendmail, with sections on configuring the build so that sendmail compiles with SSL/STARTTLS support, LDAP support, and SASL support. Chapters that follow deal with everything from enabling and configuring SMTP AUTH, to securing sendmail itself, to controlling spam. Recipies use m4 whenever possible and only dip into the sendmail configuration language when necessary, another feature I found very impressive.

I own quite a few O'Reilly books; this is one of a small number that I enjoy just picking up and flipping to a random page and reading; I always find something that I either didn't know or had forgotten. I wish I had this book seven years ago when I was struggling to learn the basics of sendmail configuration and administration; I might have more hair left if I had! I highly recommend this book to anyone who works with sendmail, be that daily administration or occassional troubleshooting.

Oldest O'Sullivan brother Daniel is a widower. Having married and lost the love of his life, he has no time for romance. That part of his life is over and done with because no one will ever be able to take the place of his deceased wife. But everyday Daniel finds it getting harder and harder to picture her face which in turn depresses him further. When he is coerced into taking his brother Sean's timeshare condo on the beach for a weekend, Daniel figures he can at least be alone in his thoughts. Fate is a trickster, because in his loneliness, Daniel finds a woman named Catherine who rocks his world on its foundation.

Heiress Catherine Montefiore is spending the weekend at the beach. Somewhat shy but very observant, she can't help but notice the rowdy bunch next door partying and having a good time. The more she tries not to watch the harder it is not to, especially when she sees the enigmatic man sitting by himself. His features are striking and Catherine finds herself sketching him. Gathering courage, she and the seemingly lonely man share conversation and laughs, and when it is time for him to return to the loud house next door, Catherine blurts out an invitation that she might just live to regret. Especially when the weekend is over and she notices the man's wedding ring on his luggage.

Having read Shaken and Stirred, the first installment of this delightful series, I was instantly hooked on Daniel and his story. His mourning grabbed my attention and I knew that whatever his story was, it would be a tear jerker. Sex, Straight Up was that and more. The plethora of emotions that Daniel and Catherine experienced was amazing. I felt as if my heart would break when Catherine felt the same way. Her anger and hurt at Daniel's supposedly married state made me wince and I silently urged Daniel to come clean with his story.

Kathleen O'Reilly has a fan for life just because Sex, Straight Up was brilliant. I am hooked on these totally sexy O'Sullivan men and can't wait for the next installment. Consider Sex, Straight Up Joyfully Recommended because I adored it!

Talia
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

While reading book 1 of "Those Sexy O'Sullivans" (Shaken & Stirred) a couple months ago, I have to confess that though I loved Gabe madly, I was intrigued the most by his brother, Daniel.

The loss of his wife was something that Daniel couldn't reconcile with. This loss changed Daniel, changed his relationship with his brothers and friends, made him retreat from the world he once knew. In the first book Daniel compelled me to know him better despite his gruff exterior. And with SEX STRAIGHT UP, I'm so glad that I took the time to get to know him.

Meeting Catherine Montefiore on the glorious Hamptons beaches introduces us to the touching man that he is. Daniel is sensitive yet savvy and intelligent, powerfully driven and cares more than anything about those he loves. In "Sex Straight Up", Daniel comes out of his shell and with many touching scenes, excellently written characters and pure romance, Kathleen O'Reilly delivers one of her best stories yet.

Ms. O'Reilly writes a grief-stricken hero who wants to live in the past, but also deep down, wants to move on. Especially after meeting Catherine. But Daniel makes this story for me. He's the heart of it, the power behind each compelling word and finally finds the peace that he's really been seeking that could be felt even in book one. Daniel calls to the heart of the reader, makes a woman fall a little bit in love with him and is a character that will be remembered as one of this author's endearing heroes.

With recurring characters, some laughter, sexual tension and a whole lot of soul-searching, "Sex Straight Up" is a highly recommended read. From start to finish, Daniel draws a reader in and never lets go. I know I'm smitten!

Kathleen O'Reilly just gets better and better!!

I work across the street from the World Trade Center site, and I usually avoid any entertainment related to 9/11. In a moment of boredom, though, I read an excerpt and bought "Sex, Straight Up," anyway.

I'm glad I did. The book is tastefully done. I don't think I could have read it if Daniel relived that morning in graphic detail or if he was guilt-ridden for surviving while his wife died. Luckily, the author focuses instead on what it's like to move on after a sudden loss. The book is more about the people than the tragedy, which I needed.

Also, the writing is much better than the average Blaze. The characters stay true to themselves -- no overnight personality changes or descriptions that could come from any other romance book on the planet. I love her description of Daniel the accountant sorting photographs until the two stacks balance, or Catherine the art appraiser thinking of their romance in terms of art movements.

Bottom line: This short little book is definitely worth the time. It's sexy, of course, but it's also engaging as a story. And it's packed with emotion (not the over-the-top, rage and wail, TSTL emotion, either).

I really liked Catherine. I really, really liked Daniel. And I'll definitely read through the series after this.

Daniel O'Sullivan became a widow seven years ago, on 9/11. He still wears his wedding band. He still misses his wife terribly. He is still unable to move on. Quite frankly, Daniel has no interest in moving on. Until her death, Michelle and he were soul mates. The chances of meeting a second soul mate in a single lifetime is slim. Most people never even find one. The odds are against him and Daniel has no intention of ever searching. However, his brothers have had enough of Daniel using work as a crutch. If Daniel is not busy with the accounting firm, then he was helping out at the family bar, Prime. His brothers, Gabe and Sean, and even Tessa, Gabe's girlfriend, join forces and use guilt to get Daniel to take a three-day weekend off at the summer time-share beach house in the Hamptons. From the moment Daniel hits the beach, he is counting down the minutes until he can return to work. The beach house time is shared with two other people (lawyers) and their dates. It is all snack foods, alcohol, and wild times. Daniel spends most of the first day on the beach of the house next door to get away from the others. When Daniel realizes that the house next door is currently occupied, and the lovely lady is sitting outside, he approaches her to make sure it is okay for him to sit on her section of the beach.

Catherine Montefiore can tell the handsome man wants to get away from the others. After chatting awhile, Catherine is amazed to hear herself offering one of her spare bedrooms for him to sleep in. He agrees. It is all meant to be very chaste. Yet they end up in one bed. Doing something totally new for her, Catherine decides to have a hot affair for forty-eight hours and then return to her normal life. When the two days are up, Daniel returns to his life and Catherine returns to her family's exclusive auction house. She is hardly back into the swing of art appraising when the family's business is hit by a very public scandal. The board believes her grandfather, who actually owns the auction house, of collusion with another business. The board insists on an independent audit. Daniel is part of that independent audit team. As Catherine and Daniel hit the invoices in an attempt to prove her grandfather innocent, they find themselves unable to keep their hands off each other.

***** Harlequin BLAZE is called that for a HOT reason. Expect some hot bedroom scenes with light erotica. Nothing hard core, but still designed for ages seventeen and up. Consider yourself warned. Having said that, I wish to go on record as stating that author Kathleen O'Reilly is one of the few BLAZE authors that I have come to thoroughly enjoy reading. This is the second O'Sullivan man's story. Daniel's story has a sound plot, engaging characters, and focuses primarily on the romance between the main couple. Be sure your beau is within reach as you begin this tale. This is the perfect way to heat up an otherwise chilling winter evening. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Daniel O'Sullivan, an accountant and part owner of the bar known as Prime, lost his wife seven years ago when she was killed in the twin towers. To him, love should be forever so he has been unable to date anyone feeling he would be cheating on his wife. Now Daniel is starting to forget what she looked like and it scares him. Gabe and Sean, his brothers, have been trying to get him back into society and dating again.

Catherine Montefiore works at her grandfather's auction house with her grandfather and mother, her only living relatives. Although she has a degree in art, she feels like she is a disappointment to her family since she does not possess her mother's style or her grandfather's showmanship. Insecure in her artistic skills, Catherine secretly draws the male form. With two disastrous past relationships, she sticks to drawing men during the day and dreaming about them at night. Whenever she can, she escapes to her grandfather's beach house in the Hamptons.

Daniel, manipulated by his brothers, is reluctantly filling-in for Sean at a summer share in the Hamptons with a group of lawyers. When Catherine spots his gorgeous form sitting alone on her beach, she cannot resist drawing him. When they meet, the attraction between them is instantaneous. As they prepare to return home - after spending the weekend together - Catherine spots Daniel's wedding band. When he does not explain about his deceased wife, they part on bad terms. Upon returning to work, Daniel is sent to audit an auction house where financial misconduct is suspected. Coincidentally, it is the place where Catherine works. The suspect? Her beloved grandfather. Will Catherine and Daniel be able to get beyond their personal feelings and work together to solve the scandal at the auction house? Is her grandfather guilty?

SEX, STRAIGHT UP, the second book in the Those Sexy O'Sullivans trilogy, is an entertaining read. This heartwarming, witty romance is filled with interesting, well-drawn characters and a touching, intrigue-filled plot. Readers will find themselves caught up in this steamy story of a man who finds love again after a major loss in his life. I highly recommend SEX STRAIGHT UP. Readers who like this story will also enjoy the first book in this series, SHAKEN AND STIRRED.

Dottie, RomanceJunkies.com

O'Meara has combined mystery, romance, history and total "last-page" suspense with a true touch of writer's class and a superb yarn-spinning capability. Thanks for a great read and hurry with your next book.

The Shamrock Diary is a different and interesting mystery set on a World War II battleship which is now a memorial park. The author takes the reader back to that war setting while keeping the action going along the colorful Gulf Coast. Veterans should especially enjoy this nostalgia and the clever solution.

Turn off the reruns and unplug the phone. Megan O'Meara delivers all the ingredients for a fun weekend mystery read: stalkers,sugar white beaches, budding romance, a woman-in-jeopardy and an old timers reunion just begging for a dead body. This is a fast paced suspense that won't let you take a deep breath until you put it down.

An intrepid young heroine finds herself caught up in a long-ago mystery involving a World War II battleship and its crew. You will be caught up, too, as the author's authentic descriptions transport you to the Alabama Gulf Coast. Stylishly written and cleverly plotted, it's a great adventure. We hope future books are in the works from this new author.

If you like mystery, nostalgia of days gone by, veterans who served in World War II, all in a beautiful setting on the Alabama Gulf Coast, you will enjoy The Shamrock Diary. The characters in this novel are as colorful as the scenery and the mystery has an unusual twist. A jolly good story.

Sticking to your convictions often takes courage and willpower. But sometimes, questioning what you believe and allowing room for doubt can take even more determination and requires a different kind of courage. How far are you willing to go to stand up for what you believe? And how much does it take before you're able to change your stance? This is the dilemma presented in SHOOTING THE MOON, a touching coming-of-age novel set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, by critically-acclaimed author Frances O'Roark Dowell.

SHOOTING THE MOON is the story of 12-year-old Jamie Dexter, an Army brat who couldn't be prouder when her older brother TJ signs up for the armed forces and gets shipped off to Vietnam. As she waits for news from the front, she volunteers at the base's recreation center and befriends Private Hollister, a young soldier who helps her pass the time with games of gin rummy. Her father, whom she calls the Colonel, has brought the family up to believe that a life in the military is the key to living a life of success. Jamie wholly believes in the Colonel's philosophy until TJ begins sending her rolls of film from Vietnam.

As she develops the photographs, a different picture of military life begins to emerge for her. Faced with the brutality of the war, Jamie comes to the conclusion that she needs to intervene when she learns that Private Hollister is about to be reassigned to Vietnam. Steeling her courage, Jamie prepares to confront her father, the one man she thinks stands between her new friend and the horrors her brother has revealed.

In Jamie, Dowell has created a strong, believable young girl who shows both remarkable insight into the world around her and an almost melancholy naivety. It's almost heartbreaking to watch as Jamie, steadfast in her beliefs at the beginning of the book, slowly begins to see her opinions change and realize there is "more in heaven and earth."

When someone else challenges our beliefs, it's hard enough. But when the questions are from within, it can be world-changing. At the same time, though, it's fulfilling to see her make the journey from taking everything as read to raising some serious questions about the war and the military. Her relationship with Hollister is sweet and provides a nice counterpoint to the turmoil she begins to feel at home. Although the very end feels a little too neat, it offers a beautiful coda to Jamie's journey and will leave readers satisfied.

SHOOTING THE MOON will draw you in with its simplicity and astound you with its powerful story. Frances O'Roark Dowell's seemingly quiet book will make a memorable imprint on all who indulge.

--- Reviewed by Brian Farrey

"Shooting the Moon" is middle grade fiction at its best: a setting that draws you in, a story that makes you think, characters that make you care, and a pace that keeps things interesting. One of the best books I've read in aught 8.

The Vietnam war is in full swing and the Dexters are an army family through and through. Instead of "dad", the kids call their father "The Colonial". Like I said, through and through. 12 year old Jamie and her older brother TJ have been preparing for war their whole lives, waging strategic battle with army men for years. TJ, a recent high school graduate, decides to enlist. The strange thing is, The Colonial is not pleased. In fact, he is outright vocal in his opposition. When TJ is shipped overseas, he sends letters home for his parents and rolls of film for Jamie. What's contained in those photographs forces the youngest Dexter to rethink her gung-ho view of war.

This one makes quick work of drawing you in and holding your interest. Dowell ("The Secret Language of Girls", "Chicken Boy", the "Phineas L. MacGuire" books) seamlessly mixes in flashbacks to tell the story from the perspective of Jamie. Her point of view changes over the course of the book, but the transition doesn't feel forced. A gradual and natural changing of opinion is a good thing to see in children's lit.

"Shooting the Moon" is succinct, emotionally rich, and bound to find favor among the upper elementary readers who crack its cover.

On the recommendation of a kid lit blogger, I ordered a copy of this small, unpretentious book and had a read-through. It is wonderful!
Jamie Dexter is a military brat whose father is a colonel and whose brother has enlisted to be sent to Vietnam. As the story progresses Jamie, who has been pro-war and battle-ready her whole life, begins to reconsider things as she sees her brother's photos from Vietnam. Instead of sending her letters to describe the war, he sends her his undeveloped film rolls to show her. No words, just photos. And in each roll, a photo of the moon.
I feel that this book would work better with older elementary students, only because a coinciding study of Vietnam would be much easier to get into more deeply. The reading level is probably a bit lower than 5th grade, making it an ideal book for a book club who can handle more complex subject matter and high level mature discussions, but perhaps requires a shorter, less dense text. Great themes to explore here, and (at least for this reader, who never even had any siblings gone to war) strong emotional connections.

SHOOTING THE MOON is a deeply moving, gorgeously written novel about one military family's gradual disillusionment with the Vietnam War. It's the most realistic, searching kids' book I've read about that neglected period in American history. It's also a delicately nuanced family drama with unforgettable characters: the richly drawn heroine Jamie, who slowly develops an understanding not just about the war but about love and honor; her soldier brother who communicates by sending her undeveloped photos of Vietnam; her father the Colonel, a steadfast but surprisingly touching career Army man. Everything about this book is fresh and believable--and also poetic, resonant, and memorable. I think kids--and smart adults--will be reading this book for years to come. A real standout.

I've written about this before, but there's a flush of appreciation a reviewer experiences when they discover a great author that they've never read before. Even if that person has been around for years. In the case of Frances O'Roark Dowell, I'd read her first Phineas L. MacGuire book and I thought it was great. Still, I'd never gotten around to reading some of her better known works for older readers. I'd never picked up Dovey Coe or Chicken Boy or even The Secret Language of Girls. It just never came up. Still, I figure a person's got to start somewhere and so the book I decided to begin with her newest title, the historically minded "Shooting the Moon". A lot of people love Ms. Dowell and maybe they've become unable to tell one great book of hers from another. To those people I say this: This book is amazing. Top notch, wonderful, humorous, meaningful, with a pull and a hit in the gut that'll knock a readers' socks off. What we've got here is a title that has an excellent chance of engaging every reader that comes across it. And timely doesn't even begin to describe it.

Jamie Dexter is a card shark, an army brat, and her father's daughter. She and her older brother TJ were raised to love the United States Army by their father, the Colonel, and as far as they're concerned the greatest thing in the entire world is getting a chance to fight and die for your country. Seems like the Colonel would be pleased as punch to have TJ enlist and go to Vietnam to fight instead of going to college, but oddly enough that doesn't seem to be the case. Still, off TJ goes and before he leaves Jamie asks him to write her letters about everything he sees and feels over there. Except that TJ doesn't do that. Instead he sends her rolls of black and white film he's taken over there with very precise instructions: "Jamie: No facilities here ... Please develop and send contact sheets." Of course, that means that Jamie has to learn how to develop film, and she does when she gets a chance. And through TJ's lens, Jamie sees more than just what it's like in Vietnam. She now hears the experiences of the soldiers that walk through the rec center where she works. She sees her father as a man and not a larger than life figure. And she begins to understand that sometimes things aren't as simple as you would like them to be.

Reading my description of the book I know that you might be a little worried. It sounds like a book inclined to get preachy, doesn't it? I'm as anti-war as the best of them, but there's nothing worse than a work of fiction for kids that gets all holier-than-thou, proselytizing its views on war and how it's naughty. But Frances O'Roark Dowell isn't going to play that game. For one thing, she really is an army brat. For another, she's a good writer. This isn't a book that tells you what to believe. It's a book that starts with someone who thinks that they know what to think only to find that the world is a complicated place. It was a complicated place in the late 60s and it's a complicated place today. Which is not to say that you can't take a moral or a lesson out of this book if you want to. It's only giving you an option.

There is a school of thought that says that if you place a story in history, you better have a darn good reason for doing so. So the question becomes, could Dowell have set this story in the here and now rather than the past? Would it have served the moral better? The answer is no, there is no other time period that would have better served this story. For one thing, you could have a character taking pictures with black and white film, but digital cameras are undoubtedly more probable today. And you could have sent TJ to Iraq instead of Vietnam, but part of the reason the end of this book works as well as it does is because we can look at the past and learn from it.

The thing is, this is a book that's easy to love. You love the people in it. I, for one, loved the character of Jamie. She felt true and real and interesting. She also carries her certainties with her on her sleeve. "I was six months away from turning thirteen and I thought I knew everything." Can't say it any plainer than that (not to mention that it carries a whiff of To Kill a Mockingbird). Really, every character in this book (and there aren't that many) appears with all three dimensions firmly intact. For example, Jamie describes Cindy Lorenzo, a girl who is somewhat learning disabled, as being "nervous and excitable and shaky around the edges. She hit and bit." Pitch perfect, that.

As for the writing itself, Dowell's book is only 176 pages and she packs each one with interesting text. Chapter Two, for example, begins, "We were stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, a flat piece of real estate that threatened to burst into flames every afternoon from June through September." Or the first sentences of Chapter Four, "TJ's first letter to me wasn't a letter at all. It was a roll of film." You can see that Dowell includes equal parts interest and good writing, and the effect is tight. This is a book that doesn't mince words. It gets right to the point every time and doesn't sacrifice anything in the process. Rare? You don't know the half of it. The writing and the editing on this puppy must have been intense.

It's hard to find fault here. I do know at least one person who thought it a little odd that the book didn't concentrate more on the moon landing and how that would have affected the characters. The book is called "Shooting the Moon" after all. But Dowell covers her bases, having TJ speculate at times about "the idea that there are human footprints on the moon's surface." Classrooms of children will someday be asked what the moon signifies to TJ and to Jamie. I can already see it. My questions and concerns about the book were a little more basic. I would have liked a little more background on the Colonel's past. Did he serve in WWII or Korea? Does he know what real combat is like? Does this inform what he feels about his own son enlisting? And maybe an explanation of where Jamie is getting all this photographic paper and chemicals for developing her brother's pictures would have been nice. I assume that the army provided all this free of charge in their rec center but we don't know it for a fact.

Otherwise it's as fine a book as you could hope for. With its magnificent backing and forthing within the story's timeline, its spot on characterization, its plot, writing, and general kid-friendly text (always important and seldom recognized) Frances O'Roark Dowell has more than just a winner here. She has a classic. 2008 required reading for any and for all.

Even years after this book has been released, I still pick it up again and again to remember how to stay who I am.

Dr.O'Shield's book is the best I have ever read on Depression. It is a must for anyone who suffers from depression or has a friend or loved one who has it. Also it is a great handbook for doctors and counselors. I have read it many times and refer to it often just for the inspirational and uplifting scriptures and suggestions in the last chapters. Without fail I find help and comfort there. Thank you for including it in your inventory.

Excellent source of practical help in dealing with depression. Writing style is easy to understand and keeps the readers attention. Highly recommend.

I enjoyed reading this personal story of how a minister with a voice disorder overcame his depression. He speaks directly about the problem but has a lot of practical and spiritual methods to help you work through depression.

This book is well written. It goes into the spiritual as well as the physical healing of depression.

Judith Ernst's gorgeously illustrated volume has the potential to do for the Song of Songs what Coleman Barks did for the poetry of Rumi: popularize a sacred/profane text by (re)introducing it to an entirely new mass market that would not have thought to read a medieval Sufi poet, in the case of Rumi, or the Old Testament, in the case of The Song of Songs.
The comparison goes further: both texts are love poetry that can be interpreted as earthly or divine, sacred or erotic. Ernst's insightful commentary interprets The Song of Songs as both sacred and divine at once, emphasizing the continuuum rather than the disconnect between the two kinds of universal longing.
The shortest book of the Bible, the Song is rarely heard on the pulpit today precisely because of its ambiguous nature, and yet Ernst points out that it was once one of the most quoted chapters. Ernst's approach is original, that of an artist and a woman. Her illustrations bring the text alive as mere words cannot. She highlights the woman's voice, privileged in the text, a departure from the traditionally male voice of the Patriarchs in the other books of the Bible.
The translation is based on the King James Bible, but the illustrations are in Judith Ernst's unique style, influenced by Persian miniaturist painting as much, one suspects, as by medieval European illuminated manuscripts like the Rich Hours of the Duc de Berri.
The combination makes this book a pure pleasure for its illustrations and thought-provoking for its commentary.

"In the imagery of the verses, God's art, the divine art, is the creation, and the essence of that art is the body of the beloved."

Reading the Song of Songs at a much younger age, I failed to grasp the beauty of metaphors and Judith Ernst's insightful exploration of this mysterious book finally unveiled the mystical and sensual awakening of a woman in love. Not only has the text been updated for the modern reader, the beauty of the King James Version has been preserved.

The Song of Songs is written from many perspectives and has many voice, but the predominant theme is that of feminine desire. The depth of longing is magnified by action and as human passion overwhelms the subject, she goes looking for her lover.

"...for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave. Its darts are darts of fire, a flame forever blazing. Many seas cannot quench love..."

Most of the pictures in the book show a woman waiting for her lover in a variety of locations. She is found in beautiful gardens, vineyards and by a palm tree. The images in the text are brought to life vividly, but only with the woman as the subject. Instead of focusing on what a man would find to be sensual and sexy, the woman is portrayed filled with longing and emotion, which makes her much more spiritually appealing.

After each passage is presented, Judith Ernst explores the possible meanings and unveils the intricacies in the translation. While the message in the words seems to indicate purely human passion, scholars would lead us to believe this is a representation of our longing for a connection for the divine. After reading this book, you may feel that the desire for another could be very related to a desire to worship the divine. Reading this book gave me new perspectives and much to consider about the permanence of desire since ancient times and how it reveals itself in stories of love and fuels our love for life.

~The Rebecca Review

These inspired paintings, which illuminate the Song of Songs, transport the imagination into a realm where we discover the passion that never begins and never ends. Judith Ernst's beautiful new book entangles us in a puzzle we cannot (and should not try to) solve: is the Song about human or divine love? The Beloved does not appear and yet is omnipresent, demanding infinite longing and infinite patience and promising infinite bliss.

It is only the Song of Songs where one can hear the voice of an impassioned woman in the Bible. It brings the typically transcendent God of the Hebrew Bible into immanent form. Judith Ernst's version provides a full-colour (literally and figuratively) wide-screen contemporary version of the Song of Songs. The text is in colloquial American English that is free from obscure language of another era. No thee and thou - you can go to the King James version for that stuff. Unlike other popular renditions/translations of poetry in the marketplace, the text here is faithful to the original. But the added pleasure of reading this passionate erotic love poetry is being able to bask in the illustrations - a visual response to the author's deep attunement to the text. Here is a full-on woman's rendition of an ancient text, faithful to that time and ours. Judy should be congratulated for making the Song of Songs accessible to a universal audience. It is a visual delight of the yearning soul reaching out. Buy a few and give them to your friends.

This book, with its luminous gouche paintings and intimate, pillow-book size, is simply a pleasure, giving a deeper understanding of the meaning of this most elusive of books from the Bible. By approaching the Song of Songs from the perspective of longing, as illustrated by a woman longing for her beloved, Ernst has shed light on the the nature of divine longing, much in the tradition of the poetry of Rumi and other Sufi poets. In her eloquent commentary (which nicely intersperses the biblical text, so that one is not flipping back and forth constantly), Ernst places the Song of Songs into a broad cultural context, which allows for a meditation on the universality of the ideas expressed in the Song. An elegant gem of a book that can be savored for a long time.

It was a month before Rosh Hashanah and I had not yet written a sermon for the 150 people coming on the Adventure Rabbi retreat. Then, one image in this extraordinary book, gave me all I needed. (I wont give it away but when you read it, look for the bit about the mother eagle hovering above her nest.) This is a beautiful and thought provoking book.
- Rabbi Jamie Korngold, the Adventure Rabbi, authorGod in the Wilderness: Rediscovering the Spirituality of the Great Outdoors with the Adventure Rabbi

As a Green Christian who believes that the Bible is the inspired word of God, I found Ellen Bernstein's "Splendor of Creation" very inspirational. Like the author, my heart matured with a fervent love of nature, the land, farming and homesteading, in the the 1970's; before I found my faith in God. Written autobiographically, the author looks at the Genesis story of creation, using commentary from various rabbis, women, and environmentalists, down through the ages. Bernstein refutes the old sixties radical argument that the Bible endorses domination and exploitation of nature by western civilization. Like slavery in the American south, the excessive profiteering of corporate America, misuses the Bible to justify their own exploitation; be it human beings of color or this good earth that nourishes our living. Careful examination of the Scripture of Genesis by Bernstein neutralizes a flawed critique of non-believing environmentalists. In this way the forces for green restoration clarify their critique of that which is destroying the planet; not God at all, but rather deceptions and unethical greed in the human heart, from corporate and government behemoths, right down to the hearts of every consumer. But this book is personal, not abstract, so that all of us can arise and shine; inspired to do our little part from this day forth!
Bernstein writes of her own life, her love of nature's wilderness, her college age discovery of Judaism after becoming an ecologist, and how her growing spiritual awareness revealed the love of the Creator for the Creation as well as all its creatures, intricate flora and fauna, and peoples. Little of this book criticizes the environmental crisis coming faster and faster upon the whole world. Instead, finding wisdom in the Scripture to sensitize her heart to all of life, the author lives a green life, creating a garden in her city block, and taking on the challenge of bringing more ecological awareness to the Jewish community.
I found brilliant bits of encouraging wisdom that didn't let up through out the book! She added to my conviction that the time has come for Jews,Christians and others, to look again at their sacred Scriptures and learn how to number our days and live the life our Creator intends: generous, learning the limits of our planet, trusting God as the contradictions of consumer obsession and big business self-interest, rape and break more and more of what God created, ordered and called good. We may be part of the solution by simply determining to walk in compassion and wisdom.
But green restoration needs a growing artistic culture to overcome the distress that business as usual burdens most of us with. Although being green often is as challenging as a David facing one hundred Goliaths, "The Splendor of Creation" inspired me that in the Judaec Scripture is the wisdom and hope one can draw upon to meet the challenges of today and the ages to come. I highly recommend this book and believe that its style and content are prophetic of a new global genre that shall accompany humanity's movement to restore all of earth's splendor of creation. You might even say that the glory of the latter earth household shall be greater than that of the former!!!(See Haggai 2:9) Buy it, read it, give it away to a friend, and start your own garden; be it in New York City or rural anywhere! This book will show you that it's not too late for America to learn what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 49:20: "A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish."

The Splendor of Creation is one of those charmingly rare books that can be read in one afternoon-then reread again and again. Each fresh reading of Ellen Bernstein's book provides a novel soul-enriching experience. Bernstein examines Genesis I from a passionate perspective-relevant to her deep love for the environment. Her faith is evident in each paragraph. Revealing rabbinic interpretation and an enlightened translation of Judaic prose and poetry, the book educates and inspires readers of any religion. The reader is drawn into the eloquence of her ecology-and is returned to the modern world with renewed spirit. The Splendor of Creation includes sacred commentaries on sublime mysteries of the Kabbalah-and Jewish mystics of the seventeenth century. Following the example of R. Bahya ibn Pakuda, Bernstein writes about her own spiritual experience hoping to benefit others. As a scientist and a person of faith, Bernstein guides the reader on her intimate path towards deep ecology. Bernstein reveals order and pattern in the seven days of creation-as well as the mystery of creation. On the first day of creation, the universe is characterized by chaos and confusion-the catalyst for transformation is God. God's breath. Bernstein shows that spiritual interpretation of God's breath is compatible with current scientific theory of creation. When God said, "Let there be light," (1.3) an original light, brighter and more powerful than sunlight, came into being, according to ancient rabbinical text. Bernstein says this is the soul's light-as the midrash teaches that all souls are created on day one. It is the creative skill of "seeing with soul," that connects us to the earth and to God. "God saw that the light was good." (1.4) Pattern is revealed in the primary rhythm of darkness and light. Day one reveals a cycle of order and morning clarity-the blurring of boundaries between chaos and order. "And there was evening and there was morning, one day." (1.5) On day two of creation, God said, "Let there be an expanse"-a rakia. (1.6) Rakia is so mysterious that Nachmanides suggests it should never be mentioned. Bernstein says "air" is a fitting translation of the term-allowing all creatures and humans to breath. Air is separated from the waters. Patterns of boundaries are sacred to creation. Such patterns and boundaries are evident in ecology. The rakia division sets boundaries and limits. According to Bernstein, boundary-crossings are never innocent-honoring the boundaries is integral to a creation ethic. God does not proclaim "goodness" on the second day. On day three of creation, God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear." (1.9) Habitats are created. The circulatory system of the earth is established-water. Water can absorb contaminants-cleansing and purifying the earth. In Jewish mysticism, water symbolizes human feelings and emotions. Human spirit is connected to the elements of our planet. Dry land, the opposite of water, emerges. "Where water is the element of fluidity and transformation, earth is the element of stability and permanence" (p. 31). More boundaries are established. "And God saw that it was good." (1.10) Also on day three of creation, God said, "Let the earth sprout spouts, grass seed seeds, and fruit make fruit after its kind." (1.11) The earth participates in creation. The earth is prolific-it is alive. Plants sustain life and procreate. Life is established to feed further creation of life. Cycles and patterns are evident. When the earth brings forth these events, the earth obeys God-it creates. "And God saw that it was good." (1.12) On day four of creation, God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years." (1.14) Bernstein calls this the ecology of time. Ecological niches can share space-but be separated by diurnal cycles. Cycles, order, pattern, boundaries, and limits. God is evident in ecology. "And God saw that is was good." (1.18) Bernstein reminds us that the first three days are coupled with the corresponding creation in the next three days. The creation of the soul-light in day one is the foundation for the creation of diurnal and seasonal cycles in day four. The creation of rakia in day two divides the sea from the sky-the habitats for the creation of fish of the sea and birds of the sky in day five. The separation of dry land from the waters on day three provides the habitat for the creation of animals and humans on day six. There is order in creation. On day five of creation, God said, "Let the water swarm with living swarming souls, and let flyers fly above the earth in the expanse of the sky." (1.20) Creatures in motion appear. Each creature created is increasingly mobile-moving about to find food. God blesses the creatures in motion and orders them to multiply-sustaining creation. God does not proclaim goodness on day five of creation. On day six of creation, God said, "Let the earth bring forth a living soul after its kind: cattle and creeper and wild beast of the earth after its kind." (1.24) Bernstein shares her personal experience and discovery that God is the spontaneous energy that sparks life in all beings-the tame and the wild creatures alike. By finding our way back to nature we welcome the wild back into our lives and our environments. Conquering our fear of the wild enables us to conquer the fear of our own wild nature. According to Bernstein, we need to let our wild nature heal us-as we allow nature to heal. We should see the goodness in nature. "God saw that it was good." (1.25) God said, "Let us make adam in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and the flyer of the heaven and the cattle and all the earth and every creeper that creeps on the earth." (1.26) God explicitly requests others to participate in the creation of humanity. According to various rabbis, "us" may refer to the angels, the four winds, the earth, or the birds and the beasts. In which case, the creatures choose humans to rule over them-as a God-serving purpose. And God blesses humans, ordering them to be fruitful and multiply. God orders humans to "replenish the earth and master it, and have dominion over the fish of the seas and the flyers of the heaven, and every live creature that creeps on the earth" (1.28). Bernstein warns against extracting the verse out of context in an anti-ecological sense. According to her, the "context of `dominion' in this verse is a blessing/bracha, a divine act of love" (p. 111). The adam is God's representative-overseeing all the animals and plants. It is an honor and a responsibility.

I highly recommend Ellen Burnstein's new book called, The Splendor of Creation. It is the biblical story of the seven days of creation as viewed from an environmental perspective. Ellen offers her own insight and personal experiences as well as those of other Jewish philosophers and naturalists. She makes the case for why religious communities have become more active in the environmental movement in recent years. Ellen writes, "The Bible and ecology both teach humility, modesty, kindness to all beings, a reverence for life, and concern for future generations." Ellen is the founder of the first Jewish environmental group, Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth. She writes in her new book, "If churches and synagogues could teach people to read the Bible with ecological eyes and see spirituality in ecological terms, then we'd have a built-in infrastructure for expanding environmental awareness and practice". Her book is an inspiration to me and an affirmation of the connections that I feel between my own faith and that of environmental stewardship.

For too long has the ecology movement blamed the Bible (and indirectly the Jews) for Western civilization's negative attitudes about "subduing" or "dominating" the earth. This book will go a long way toward correcting that misperception. Both Jews and Christians will be pleasantly surprised at what Judaism REALLY teaches regarding respect for God's creation.

Author Ellen Bernstein, founder of Shomrei Adamah ("Guardians of the Earth," a Jewish ecology org), did not start out as a "religious" Jew per se. As she explains in this book, she was an outdoors-type person who got involved in the secular ecology movement, then began exploring her Judaism through the back door, so to speak. There came a point when she realized that politics and activism were not enough. But the ecologists often ignored the religious dimension -- or were openly hostile to it. The movement lacked a connection to the God-as-Creator. Bridging religion and ecology became her personal quest. The result is this excellent little book with a very big message: That religion and science can be reconciled in the Book of Genesis.

Bernstein goes verse-by-verse through the first chapter of Genesis, focusing on each step of the Creation process. She quotes both the original Hebrew and a modern English translation, highlighting specific words in both texts. Then she weaves together material from traditional and contemporary Jewish commentaries, scientific research and nature observations, writers in the ecology movement, and her own personal experiences as an outdoorswoman. The result is a very readable yet profound midrash (Jewish commentary).

This is not Creationism -- she clearly accepts the theory of evolution and notes that the Genesis story pretty much follows the order of the scientific evidence. However, it could be considered a form of "intelligent design," because Bernstein also sees the Hand of God behind it all. She writes with a deep, living faith that shines on every page. Bernstein is not Orthodox (she belongs to a Jewish Renewal-type community in Philadelphia) but Jews of all backgrounds -- including my fellow Orthodox brethren -- can learn a lot from her insights.

On the technical end, the book is divided into chapters according to each day of the Creation story, then into sub-sections focusing on specific words and/or ideas. You can either read the whole thing through in one sitting (as I did the first time) or use excerpts as jumping-off points for discussion. Each sub-section is relatively complete in itself, so that it can be read at a study session or around the Sabbath table. In fact, one could stucture an entire Torah/Bible course around the lessons in this book.

In short, this is an important commentary that should be included in every study of Genesis. I would give it ten stars if I could. And as for the REAL origin(s) of those "dominating nature" attitudes, start with Descartes, a NON-JEWISH European, materialistic philospher who saw everything in very mechanical terms. See Roberta Kalechofsky's book, "Vegetarian Judaism," for a whole chapter on how Descarte's ideas permeated Western thought about the treatment of animals and nature. Cartesianism is most definitely NOT Judaism!

then get this one. I learned enough about the reasons for using it and also how to configure it to authenticate against an LDAP server.

Well worth getting and keeping on your shelf.

Squid: The Definitive Guide by Duane Wessels is a great book for someone with aspirations of setting up and getting the most out of Squid. It is lengthy at just over 400 pages, but that is to be expected and desired in O'Reilly's "The Definitive Guide" series. One point worth mentioning is that Duane Wessels (the author, for those with short synaptic cycles) is the one who started Squid and still works on it today. Each chapter builds nicely on subsequent chapters, so there isn't any skipping around. If you're just looking to set it and forget it, this book is probably not for you. Otherwise, read on.

The first three chapters are pretty basic: history of Squid, downloading then installing. For those with no concern of going through downloading and installing, there is a nice section describing each configure switch and, while weighing in at a healthy 48 options, it may be helpful to have this as a reference.

Chapter Four, Configuration Guide For the Eager, is an often desired, but often left out chapter in technical books. By just reading chapters one through four, it is possible to have a fully functional setup of Squid, albeit not very secure or ready for the pounding of the masses. You will, however, begin to understand how Squid operates. This chapter discusses the most often used settings, such as: minimum/maximum size of cached objects, log files and ACLs to restrict addresses, etc.

Chapter Five, Running Squid, covers what you expect. It includes such topics as, boot scripts, chrooting and rotating log files. Again, basic stuff, but necessary for the sake of completeness.

Chapter Six, All About Access Controls, covers one of Squid's major powers and attractions, access controls. ACLs give the administrator extremely fine-grained tuning. Some of the choice highlights for limiting access to addresses/domains include, but not limited to: filter by subnet, MAC, IP address or administrator assigned group. Furthermore, regular expressions can be used to filter URLs or URIs. A most likely seldom used, but very cool, feature is the ability to filter by BGP AS (Border Gateway Protocol Autonomous System) numbers. HTTP request methods such as POST, PUT, DELETE, etc. can also be filtered. Filtering by time or restricting access by user name is also supported. Each topic is assiduously explained and leaves little to be desired.

Chapters Seven and Eight cover disk caching with chapter Seven being basic material and then Eight covering more advanced topics. Discussions on object pruning, size limits, cache replacement policies and many other cache optimizations are covered in these chapters and are necessary to thoroughly understand if you are situated in a relatively large environment or just want to squeeze every bit of performance from your Squid.

Chapter Nine, Interception Caching, covers transparent proxying. This chapter discusses the benefits (no need to configure clients) and drawbacks (cannot do user authentication) of implementing such a system. It then goes on to discuss how to configure Alteon/Nortel, Foundry, Extreme Networks, Arrowpoint, iptables, pf and ipfw to perform the routing to the Squid box.

Chapter ten, Talking to other Squids

Scalability is another favorable attribute of Squid. Running in parallel with previous chapters, this chapter details the advantages (load balancing and increasing your cache hits) and the disadvantages (security problems with having to trust neighboring Squids) of a caching hierarchy. In addition, it explains how to configure connect timeouts and other tweaks to keep Squids aware of when their siblings are down.

Chapter eleven, Redirectors, covers another great attribute of Squid. Redirectors can be used, among other possibilities, to remove advertisements in web pages or rewrite client requests based on their given URL or URI. This chapter details how they work, from a protocol level, and provides example configuration settings such as sending only specific users through the redirector or conversely, letting specific users bypass the redirector altogether.

Squid can be configured to use various user authentication methods to allow or deny access. Chapter Twelve, Authentication Helpers, covers these options. Squid can talk HTTP Basic, HTTP Digest and NTLM. Each type is well explained in how it works and detailed in how to setup.

Chapter Thirteen and Fourteen fully explain logging and monitoring. The logging chapter explains the type of information each log file catches, a full description of each error or information type (which is a great reference that I made full use of) and configuration directives that change what is logged or how it is logged. Monitoring Squid covers the Squid Cache Manger (A web front-end to many great statistics), a brief mention of using Squid-RRD and using SNMP. Such monitoring statistics include, file descriptor allocation, byte hit ratios, cache hits and cache misses and a wealth of other useful information.

Chapter Fifteen, Server Accelerator Mode, explains Server Accelerator Mode, which is also known as Surrogate Mode. It is a neat trick where Squid stills runs as a proxy, however, the Squid server is proxying the world (or a select few) to your server. One obvious advantage includes performance (or Slashdot hardening if you will). There are several config directives explained here as well as some gotchas.

Chapter Sixteen, Debugging, is the is one of the few chapters that I did not need to reference. Although, if you need to, there is some good information provided.

Appendix A comes with a config file reference that actually provides more information then the comments in the configuration file (Holy moley!...they better trademark that idea before other authors catch on!).

Appendix B briefly covers memory caching and optimization.

Appendix C shows how to use delay pools to limit user bandwidth.

Appendix D details file system performance benchmarks to show you filesystem and operating system differences.

Appendix E discusses running Squid on Windows using Cygwin.

Appendix F covers auto configuration of Squid clients to avoid needing to physically visit the many machines you administer.

In conclusion:

Pros: This is "The Book" for Squid. No skipping from chapter to chapter, the author was also the designer and still one of the maintainers, fuller descriptions of the configuration file directives that the configuration file comments. It is a great reference.

Cons: Really the only thing that I didn't like was that he only discussed HTTP proxying. There is a brief mention of FTP and SMTP, but only a couple of sentences. To be fair, in the preface he did mention that he would would of liked to written on these topics but didn't have time.

For the new comer I recommend to buy this book if your finding an alternative for Microsoft box like ISA or MSProxy 2.0.

Squid is robost and a very stable Proxy Server, you can use it even in Entreprise consumption..trust me I use it since 2001.

If your looking for technical books or documents about Squid, this is the one your looking for...

Back in 1998 when I was running my own ISP, Squid was a lifesaver because it allowed me to provide excellent web response to customers over a very modest upstream connection.

When I moved on to consulting Squid was the answer to a wide variety of client problems from employee Internet access control (Redirectors) to company website performance (Server Accelerator Mode) to plain old web page load times (Proxy Cache).

Now that I've moved in-house in a large corporation (30,000+ employees) and I've found out what commercial vendors are charging for their solutions to each of these problems, I have gladly used my knowledge of Squid to save us money.

Of course, that knowledge was not easily won, at least not for me. Because Squid was an open source project there was a lot of information available on the Web, but, of course, because Squid was an open source project, it was hard to find a definitive answer to my particular problem without asking a lot of dumb questions on newsgroups or making a lot of trial and error attempts tweaking compile time options, system changes and configuration file settings.

I have waited for this book for a long time.

I was concerned that it might be too detailed to be readable. Thankfully, Duane Wessels, the primary architect of Squid , has laid out this book to provide simple access at the Macro level. The chapter arrangement and organization are very intuitive. And yet the book still contains enough information to satisfy almost every question.

The one caveat I would make to a reader is to maintain situational awareness while delving into a chapter because, without noticing it, you can suddenly be confronted with pages and pages of configuration file details. There's no avoiding it, when a book says `Definitive Guide' on the cover you expect to have full coverage. It's just that the book is so lucidly written that the transition from high-level discussions to detailed facts might catch you un-aware.

And, really, it's that kind of feeling that lets you know that you're reading a very valuable text. I spent the first hour after I got this book skimming each chapter, happy at each additional topic I discovered. Then I went back and asked it the two hardest questions I have faced using Squid over the past year, in each case the answer was easily found and fully explained (Mr. Wessels deserves an award for making transparent proxying understandable).

The wait for this book was well worth it. I highly recommend it to any person working with, or thinking about working with, Squid.

This guide will pay for itself many times over. If you are considering a caching server for home, office or business you need this book.

My previous experience with proxies was MS proxy server 2.0 and I was a little apprehensive of this project; not to worry. Forty six pages into the book, squid was running; total time invested including installation of the program was about 2 hrs.

Another two hours of reading and precious few changes to config files and my log files are rotating, all ports I need exposed are open and the rest are hidden. I have already been able to tune squid to accelerate delivery of content using *only* this book as a guide. I haven't even had to look at the online documentation for squid (the first time I ever recall that happening).

Not only is my internet connection now available to all users, but also every one is browsing faster than they were before on single dedicated dial ups.

I can't say enough good things about the book or the program. In 14 years of networking I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. This is one of those rare guides whose author is extremely knowlegable and the material presentation is flawless. I have a large computer science library and in my experience, it doesn't get any better than this.

Bravo Mr. Wessels!