Quills Books

Hemingway said all American writing comes from one book, Huck Finn. Wrong! He also believed himself a better writer than Fitzgerald. Wrong! I'm no literary expert, I haven't gone to Harvard or Yale or any of those overpriced universities for spoiled rich kids but in my expert opinion all American literature: rhythm, length, flow, syntax, form, etc., came from one book & this is it. Henry Miller was spot-on when he said America has only produced one great writer & that is Walt Whitman. Hemingway's style wasn't jacked from Stein or Anderson, well, maybe a bit from Anderson, so much as Whitman. Yeah, I know Bloom has drawn a connection between Hemingway & Whitman before, the repetition-ploy & all that, but what I'm telling you, if you'll forgive the trite cliché, there was poetry before Whitman & its wasn't the same after.
If you're short on time, forget Wordsworth or Keats or all those other `lazing the daisy breeze' 19th century knuckleheads, read this book & memorize some quotes (to impress people at office holiday parties).
Yes, I do believe this is the same book Clinton gave Lewinsky for her birthday. Wonder if there were any stains on it?

4 1/2 stars, really, but we can't do that. This is the original 1855 version. Whitman added to the collection throughout his life, ending up with an overstuffed and very uneven "deathbed" version, which is better known. There are some good poems in it which aren't in the original, such as When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom'd, but there's a lot of pretty weak stuff, too. The 1855 has a small number of pretty consistently excellent poems which are highly original and loosely but definitely connected. Reading it is a very different experience from wading through the bloated, inconsistent final version - there's something Whitmanesque (i.e., at it's best) about the original collection as a unit. Malcolm Cowley's introduction is also a bit wild and wooly (written in the late 60s or early 70s), but interesting and enlightening.

Choosing the fullest, most complete version of Whitman's text, before the final editing of the deathbed edition, but following the additions made after the Civil War, the Norton Critical is a must have for students of poetry, or literature, and of nature. The wild, ecstatic hunger for the world, the ravishment of the senses, as Norman Mailer put it (though not about Whitman), the mysticism of the flesh, Whitman is, arguably, the most accomplished poet of American letters.

A must read for poets, students, and pagans (Whitman as spirit of the Green Man himself!).

At least as available for the Kindle, this is not the 1855 edition. It seems to be the final edition, which is of course great, but not what I intended to get based on the product description posted. Also, the foreward and afterward mentioned in the description are missing. I don't expect the moon for a low price, but I do expect to get what I pay for.

I bought this and returned it. There must be someone out there with the right voice and reading skills to bring us Whitman's words and rhythms. Ms. Gibson's soprano sing-song doesn't make it.

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The book is easy to follow and it works. It provides step by step details on how to produce the kinds of desired results.

I am not sure this is the correct style for everyone. I am trying to get strong which is typically done using heavy weight and low reps. And this training is not designed for that. I think you can only get so strong with this style because you will burn out before you build up.

I think this may work for some people, but I am suspicious of any book that tells you that you only have to work out for half an hour a week to get good results. I tried the method detailed in the book (extremely slow and intense lifting without a break for half an hour) and didn't find it to be as effective for me as stated. However, that said, I am sure it does work for some. For me, the main benefit of this book is the detailed instructions he provides on how to use various weight lifting machines.

I was recommended this book by a guy from my church who lost something like 50 lbs on the program. I checked it out and was impressed that the program was both simple and yet also up to date with contemporary fitness research. It takes much of what I've read in books on fitness and nutrition and what my trainer has told me and puts it into a program that is simple to follow and easy to remember. It is probably not for the intense athletes or serious body-builders, but for those who want to stay or get into shape and stay there while still living a relatively normal and busy 21st century lifestyle, it is quite good.

In "A Conflict of Visions" Mr. Sowell sets out to explain why people tend to be on opposite sides of the fence, politically speaking, on so many non related issues. In this he succeeds brilliantly, in a work of elegant, convincing logic, and clearly laid out insights. There is no new information in this book, nor does it take sides in political differences, but it re-arranges what you already know and have seen in your life in a manner that decisively delivers new understanding of the world around you.

Mr. Sowell's thesis is that most people fall into two idealized "visions" of human nature, what he calls the constrained (which also been called the Tragic and is generally linked with conservatives) and the unconstrained (which has also been called the Utopian and is generally linked with liberals) visions. These visions are basically intuitive (to the person who holds them, and usually anathema to the person that holds the opposing), and more or less "gut feelings" on the nature of humanity and human potential. In reality the visions individuals hold lie on a spectrum of level of constraint and although no one person would hold a 100% constrained or 100% unconstrained vision it is implicitly assumed that there is a double bump distribution of people along this spectrum, with about half holding mostly constrained visions, half holding mostly unconstrained visions, and not too many people holding a middle position. This is because the two visions are opposed and to hold equal belief in both would be logically contradictory. From his characterization of each vision the author clearly explains how the assumptions undergirding each lead to completely different conceptions in how each side even defines such issues as freedom, equality, justice and power, and why both sides argue past each other and have such a difficult time debating / convincing each other.

The constrained visions basically sees man's nature as both fixed and as incapable of predicting the results of his actions in the complex world, and thus incapable of controlling those results. As such it relies on systemic measures to promote the general good of society, for example evolutionary developments of such things as free-markets, constitutional government with strict constructionist judicial interpretation, great intelligence inherited in social traditions, etc. The unconstrained vision on the other hand sees man's nature as changeable in response to articulated rationality, and sees man as not only capable of predicting the results of his actions but morally obligated to control the results of his actions for the greater good. Thus the unconstrained vision places emphasis on bodies of "surrogate" decision makers of the most intelligent to control economic and social policy for the greater good, activist judicial interpretation of law to provide the best outcome for the individual case at hand, social activism like recycling, and great intelligence inherited in the most intellectually and developed individuals of our society.

The insights of the book are truly worthwhile and cover far more than I could here in a review. However, the book is not long and not too difficult to read, although it is written in a slightly dense intellectual manner which can take a few pages to get used to and is a bit repetitive. Nonetheless this is a book that will make you smarter, better able to understand where someone from an opposing political viewpoint is coming from as well as better able to understand your own viewpoint and its foundation in how you perceive, consciously or not, the character of human nature. The book is also extremely fair to each side, not trying to prove one or the other correct, but just trying to explain how each thinks and reaches the conclusions they do.

Highly recommended!

When I started reading this book, I was not familiar with the author at all. I found out about this book as a result of some interesting references to the work in another book, The Blank Slate by Stephen Pinker. After I started the book I began searching out information about the author whereby I was directed to his columns on political topics. Needless to say, I found his columns to be pure garbage. I often couldn't read past the first few paragraphs due to his obvious ability to lie and sham to serve his preordained opinion. Even people with much less intelligence than Mr Sowell could have shot down many of his points in these articles. Reading these articles almost made me put down the book. How could a man writing this much tripe put aside this dishonesty and idiocy on display and write something worth reading?

Which brings me to the current work. This is actually an excellent book. While it suffers from repetition, and the writing style is a bit like that of a textbook, this was a good read. This man, who obviously has such a strong bias towards a "conservative" or "constrained" vision that his columns would reek of, 'lying for the cause', actually wrote an even-handed assessment of the two visions. While if I paid attention hard enough I could see a bias towards the constrained vision manifested as increased eloquence when his pet vision was discussed, this was quite small or perhaps my imagination.

This book really allowed me to understand and even find common ground with people who are conservative or have a "constrained" vision. Often it appeared to me that these people were living in a completely ficticious reality, while it turns out that they just have a different vision of human nature. When conservatives say that allowing gay marriage would destroy traditional marriage, these words sound like a non-sequiter of the nature of the following, "not allowing prayer in schools will cause more mexican immigrants to sneak across the border". But this book actually helped me understand these strange comments and many more. Additionally, I found that it strengthened many of my own convictions by understanding the alternative. On some topics, I believe very strongly in the unconstrained vision as described here but in other ways my differences with those of the constrained vision is only a matter of degrees. I am still shocked that such an interesting and fair book could come out of a man like this. It would be like Rush Limbaugh giving a fair assessment of the differences between the presidencies of Clinton and G.W. Bush.

The final chapter is the icing on the cake that is missing from our political discourse. He compares knowledge found in natural science to the lack of concrete knowledge found in social science and political discourse. There are answers to some of these political questions that can be deduced empirically, which are too often described as value judgements. Additionally, he describes how some people put up blinders towards changing their vision when new information comes to light. This book has left me open to many ideas and better able to understand the visions of both sides.

It's unfortunate that we only have a 1 to 5 star system here for ratings because Thomas Sowell deserves better than that. If we had 100 stars I'd give him 99 for everything I've read by him. This is the fourth book I've consumed by this great master of economics and with every page he becomes more and more of a legend. A Conflict of Visions is a perfect counterpart to The Vision of the Anointed. Conflict is a more philosophical book and I preferred Anointed for that reason (which I'd give a 100 out of 100) as more current examples are fleshed out. Neither one though is really a political book. They are much more psychological and philosophical than anything else. With Sowell, you uncover the way human beings actually are and what greater gift can a writer give than that kind of enlightenment? I cannot think of one. I do agree with another reviewer about the language, however. Unconstrained and constrained are not the best of terms but you'll understand the dichotomy between them clearly by the time you've finished. Incidentally, NR had a five part interview with Sowell concerning this book last week which occasioned my pulling it out and finishing it over the weekend. Basically, with any of the Sowell books you can't go wrong. Race and Culture is next on my list.

Mr Sowell had produced a masterpiece. He avoids buzz words and changes the words liberal and conservative to neutral terms. He then closely examines the foundational differences between the two opposing philosophies. Mr Sowell manages to do all of this in understandable terms.

What makes A Conflict of Visions so good is the author exposes the major unstated assumptions made by each side. He does not criticise either position, he just sets out to explain the deepest roots of each position and trace it to the modern world. The author never makes a judgemental statement. Philosophy doesn't get any better than this.

If anyone is trying to understand political philosophy, or modern politics this is a must read. Mr. Sowell tells the reader how the same terms (what is fair for example) are thought of in totally different ways by the differing positions. This is why the opposing sides talk past one another. They both use the same terms but never define them - they just assume the other side means the same thing by fairness (or whatever) as they do, when in fact the meaning of what is fair differ completely from the points of view of the philosophies.

One quick example: When side A says something is fair they mean the system was fair and all people had the same basic chance; however, when side B says something is fair they mean the RESULTS were fair. Side A doesn't mind if the results seem unfair as long as the system was fair, but even if side B thinks the system was fair, if the results are unfair (in their mind) then the whole thing is unfair and must be adjusted.

Thus, when one group of people are poor and another rich side A is OK with that as long as the system for getting poor or rich was basically fair; however, side B feels that if the finances are unequally distributed then it is unfair because the RESULTS are unfair.

So when the A side is arguing with the B side and both are yelling about fairness they see fairness in totally different ways and are arguing past one another.

A wonderful book, at a good price. Buy it!

If you want to know why Republicans believe what they do, and why Democrats believe what they do, read this book. Evenhanded (although Sowell is a conservative market capitalist), this work gives you great insight into the variying politics of freedom, equality, and justice ... regardless which side of an issue you're on. Unlike Sowell's weekly editorial columns, which are pretty easy to read, this work is unnecessarily packed with "very large words." Read slow, and keep your dictionary handy, because "Conflict Of Visions" is truly excellent.

McCutcheon's no-nonsense books provides would-be writers with the facts they need to break into the lucrative world of writing informational books. Examples are provided of numerous nonfiction titles by ordinary people that went on to earn their author's plenty of money. He provides some helpful pointers for what sort of subjects you may be qualified to write on. Then uses examples to show writers how to land a publishing contract for their book.

Damn, Why Didn't I Write That? is refreshing, because it is written by someone who makes his living writing nonfiction books. He knows what he's talking about, and it shows in this information-packed book.

Although I was very excited to receive this book, I got disappointed shortly after starting to read it. I would love to write a book but this book here is not about the passion of writing: it's about the passion of selling. Where did the art of writing go? Of course, if you are in to make writing a living, this book will be helpful. The author tells you what subject to go into and how to put all odds on your side. I guess I was mostly disappointed by the fact that it's all about non-fiction (normal considering the title) while crushing fiction books such as children's books and novels. According to the authors...these don't sell. In a few words...not inspiring or supportive. Keywords: non-fiction. Money. Pretty sad...

McCutcheon paints a picture that shows you really can write a book, even if you are an ordinary person, with no previous writing skills or expertise. As this book illustrates, thousands of average people have managed to write exceptional books that see extraordinary sales.

McCutcheon gives tons of examples of top selling titles published by everyday people, on everyday subjects. By the time you are finished reading, you will not only have the tools, but even more important, the confidence to write and publish a book.

Stacie Vander Pol, author of Top Self Publishing Firms

For a beginning writer, this book is a treasure. It not only gives you ideas for writing a book, but tells you how to submit your book. It also lets you know about marketing your book and why it is necessary for you to do this. It is very important to let the publisher know ways that you will be able to market your book. Now, all I've got to do is start my research and start writing!

This book is a real gem ! To anyone writing a book, wanting to write a book, or considering the possibility, buy this book !

Here's why. The author shows you how to find a niche and fill it by writing your book, as well as how to sell and promote your book. In addition, you are walked through the steps of negotiating a book deal, shown all the pitfalls, and given sample contracts to use or modify. Even though this book is not directed to those of us who choose to self-publish, don't be dissuaded. I almost didn't buy the book, since this book doesn't focus on self-publishing. Fortunately I bought it and found that there is a bonanza of information for self-publishing types as well as those who choose to be more traditionally published.

In addition,the book is filled with inspiring examples of people who weren't authorities, celebrities, or otherwise newsworthy, and who nonetheless wrote books that sold BIG !!! After reading this book, you are forced to release the mental limitation that only authorities write best selling books, which clearly isn't true. Subject matter, research, discipline, good editing and consistent promotion are apparently the keys to producing a best selling book, with finding a low-density niche within a popular category being most important.

And finally, this is a highly enjoyable book to read. The author's style is clean, concise, and frequently entertaining. The book reads quickly, and every chapter is chockful of meaty morsels of invaluable information. I have read quite a few books on the subject of writing and promoting books and I found this to be the one I pick up most often, to read through again.

The author has done exactly what he writes, CAN be done. He's turned writing into a profitable enjoyable home-based business, and he generously shares all the advantages and insider tips with his readers. Then he lays out how to get there in easy logical steps.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever considered writing a book. Whatever your current knowledge level on the subject, this book will add considerably to it.

It's a story I've read many times, but I did specifically want the cover that is pictured with this item (to match the others I have in the series), and that's not what I got. Very disappointed, a complete waste of money on my part, but not worth returning by the time I pay for interational shipping.

Mention the name Louisa May Alcott, and most people will instantly think of "Little Women." But in my mind, the less often discussed "Little Men" is just as great, if not better.

The story picks up shortly after the conclusion of "Little Women," with Jo and Frederick Bhaer running a school at Plumfield. Along with their own little Rob and Teddy, they are busy raising the neglected children of rich folks alongside the orphans they have taken in.

While the boys exist in a virtual haven for good ol' fashioned fun upon the farmlike Plumfield, Mother and Father Bhaer still manage to teach them moral life lessons along with their classroom exercises.

If you enjoy this book, be sure to pick up "Jo's Boys," which takes place ten years after "Little Men" and concludes the boys' stories.

Who else would have liked to see the "hoyden" (read: assertive girl) Nan punch that simpering, girly-girly little twit Bess right in her lisping mouth?

I was looking forward to having my own copy of Little Men, but the copy I received from publisher Hard Press had many grammatical and spelling errors. It did not have an appealing layout, either. I should return it for a better copy of the book which I know exist.

Mostly I got this book because I never owned it and do own Little Women and Jo's Boys.I want my daughter to have the trilogy.I thought it was terrible.A mere series of goody-goody character sketches with very little holding it all together. If anything, it just underscored how Jo should have accepted Teddy! They were a great pair.I did not care about these boys much and even had trouble distinguishing them from one another.Jo's Boys was much better--at least a novel, so read Little Men only to fill in the blanks.

A GREAT read! Just open the book anywhere and peruse the definitions. Bierce is satirical and puts his finger right on the nub of the thing!

Ambrose Bierce obviously had some fun at the expense of his fellow 19th century Americans with the cynical and sarirical word entries in his wicked dictionary.

Any reader,particularly of history by Ambrose Bierce,will greatly enjoy this book. Little wonder, Bierce (1842-1914),an American journalist,satirist -"it was said that a bad review from Bierce could break a writer's career;and writer of short stories who earned the nickname "Bitter Bierce" for his sardonic views and his vehemence as a critic".
While the thoughts and definitions in this dictionary were written many years ago;they remain sharp,revelent and cuttingly satiric today.What I find so surprising is that these ideas have not become dated.
While few,if any ,dictionaries lend themselves to reading or simply just spending time leafing through;this is certainly an exception.
Just to give an idea of what awaits in this tome;try these for size;

mausoleum- The final and funniest folly of the rich.

martyr- One who moves along the line of least reluctance to a
desired death.

blackguard-A man whose qualities,prepared for display like a box of
berries in a market-the fine ones on top-have been opened
on the wrong side.An inverted gentleman.

amnesty-The state's magnanimity to those offenders whom it would be
too expensive to punish.

grapeshot-An argumentwhich the future is preparing in answer to
the demands of American Socialism.
And last but not least;

nonsense- The objections that are urged against this excellent
dictionary.

Also known as "The Cynic's Workbook" this collection is classic and belongs in any library. Ambrose Bierce, like Mark Twain and few other of his contempories, had a biting wit that always left a mark.
Here is just a taste of his humor.

Philosophy: A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing.

Eulogy. Praise of a person who has either the advantages of wealth and power, or the consideration to be dead.

The large font is a plus in this book. Good illustrations.

Good good stuff.

The Devil's Dictionary / 0-19-512627-0

DICTIONARY, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work.

This "dictionary" by Ambrose Bierce is witty, scathing, and totally hilarious. In his characteristic style, he dishes out his contempt and distaste for those societal norms which he sees as foolish, hypocritical, and dangerous. This is not a book to read, but - truly - a dictionary to reference whenever the mood takes. The aphorisms ring true, even today, and the only real complaint is that we would wish for so much more - the dictionary is "only" 219 pages long, and while that is quiet a fair lot of words, oh, we wish he could have left us even more...

Say Jack London and most literate persons would ring up "Snow, Dog Stories and nature tooth and nail set in the context of gold rush Alaska of the 1890s. Ironically, Jack London was a San Francisco native in which he sets his 1909 novel "Martin Eden" which is his fictional autobiography.
Martin Eden is a young, virile bright sailor who resuces a middle class man from thugs. He is invited to the man's home where he meets his sister Ruth. Martin and Ruth fall in love. Ruth and her family seek to help Martin obtain a good job but he insists on becoming a published author. Years pass and his work is rejected. Martin takes such jobs as working in a laundry and going to sea as he ekes out a living on a near starvation diet. Martin is a voracious reader of fiction, essays and novels. He is influenced by Darwinian social evolutionsim and becomes a disciple of Herbert Spencer. Martin also subscribes to the Nietzchian concept of a superman who is above the herd of ordinary people. Martin is a lonely soul who is befriended by the moribund poet Brissende an alcoholic. Both of these writers have soured on life. Martin has moved from Eden to Hell in his thinking and prospects for the future.
Martin eventually becomes rich through his writings but it is too late for him to have a good life. He grows to despise Ruth and her smug suburban middle class family. He hates businessmen and philistinism and pretence in society and the literary community. He befriends a former girlfriend but his autodidadic education and fame have separated him forever from his working class pals.
Martin rejects a plea for love from Ruth and sails away from the dull life of middle class respectability and conformity.
The novel is bitter and brutal in its depiction of the American dream turned into a nightmarish vision of a man sickened with life. The Horatio Alger rags to riches tale is given a wry twist by Jack London. The novel failed to win applause upon its publication. Since then the novel has grown in readership and literary stature. It is a fine book but not one to peruse if you want to be cheered up! London's survival of the fittest
is not a philosophy this reviewer finds appealing,

Martin Eden is a young man who wants nothing more that to be accepted by (and to be like) the young, educated rich he sees as a struggling writer in turn-of-the (20th) century Northern California.

Martin is certain that once in the ranks of these beautiful people (who speak in casual conversation of Greek myth and French poetry), he will finally be happy...He uncomfortably accepts the rude comments from these rich snobs, resolves to rise to their level and falls in love with a woman he feels is as a goddess walking the Earth...

His true education comes swiftly:

He "makes it" as a writer, and the man once seen as an interesting ape is now the talk of the town...It's the petty shallowness of the glittering world he had admired from afar that he's utterly unprepared for.

This is a story of a person climbing the fence to the greener grass and finding it was all an illusion....and that he has nowhere else to go.

Not a pretty picture, but very well painted by Mr. London.

This is the American version of "Hunger" - an author striving to succeed despite background and social status. There is desolation within this text, a longing fraught with energy unbound. The pulse of desires roars here. Eden is the near-transparent mask of the young Jack London himself. Reading it, the educated reader will be reminded of the philosophies of Nietzsche, Herbert Spencer and Schopenhauer. Social Darwinism, the Will-to-Live, the Will-to-Power all resonate here.

But in the long run, the philosophies are just part and parcel of the story. "White Fang" and "Call of the Wild" are excellent books, easily accessible. London, in my mind, is the Great American Author because his writing doesn't exclude readers, young and old can enjoy him. As for this work, "Martin Eden", it is a dark horse compared to his earlier works, perhaps prophetic of Jack London's later life.

If anything, this novel is about success, its consequences, and what we sacrifice to achieve it. It also concerns the inner madness of attaining a goal, how nothing else seems important. Books will come go, but this book continually moves with me, a perennial home on my library shelf.

It's surprising that London is so well known for his writings about nature while a classic like Martin Eden is practically forgotten. Here London shows that he is equally adept at setting a story in an urban landscape by chronicling a landed sailor's attempt to become a self-taught writer, no easy task for a man who has lived the rough and vulgar life of a sailor. But Martin is extremely persistent in spite of all the obstacles he faces. Everyone including his friends, family, and classy girlfriend question his ability to make such a transformation from a nobody to a somebody. It's hard to imagine anyone being as devoted as Martin is to improving himself, and it's a bit intimidating seeing how much devotion it can take to achieve your dreams. Knowing that London used his own life story as a strong inspiration for Martin Eden, you expect that Martin will someday be successful, yet the results of all his work are still unexpected. With enough reading, learning, and life experiences, do we all eventually take Martin Eden's point of view? That's a question this book still has me thinking about months later.

In Martin Eden, Jack London provides the portrait of a young man who thirsts for knowledge, for self-improvement, to join the upper ranks of the intelligent and cultured within his society. We seem to be setting off in a "Jude the Obscure" direction. Martin loves a young woman from this society, and strives to make himself worthy. His chosen vehicle from his class and station to hers is self-education, and then the writing of serious and important work. Along the way, Martain has to swallow the unpleasant truth that those he believed to be so intelligent were actually entirely superficial in understanding. Pieces of London from other novels come through. London's belief in the "superman" comes through, as well as his disdain for the oligarchs, for example. What is most striking, however, is the dead-on skewering of celebrity worship. "Where were you when I needed you" might be Martin's refrain. The same people who ignored and derided him suddenly can't get enough of him. Why? He was the same person he was before. It was simply because other people told them so. They all just want a piece of the celebirty, to be associated with him somehow. While in real life London of course courted celebrity, the stupidity of this is blindingly apparent and even more important nearly a century later. London readers may miss the absence of the "Charmian" strong female counterpart in this book (unlike in the Sea Wolf or The Abysmal Brute or Mutiny on the Elsinore, for example). The "classy" love interest doesn't measure up in terms of independent intelligence or strength of will, and her last appearance is particularly troubling. Lizzie, from the lower socioeconomic classes, has the spark but is too held back by her upbringing. This is truly an important book.

"Go for the Goal" is about Mia Hamm, one of the best soccer players in the world and about her struggles, difficulties, and accomplishments in her life. She helped lead the women's world cup team to a victory in 1999. She has faith that every one that dreams about being a soccer star, go for it! This is one of my favorate books not only because I play soccer competitively but because she has showed me some techniques and strategies she used to be an amazing soccer player. This book is interesting and factual about Mia life and could help change your idea about soccer.

This book is great for anyone who likes soccer and Mia Hamm. It has training tips, drills, and it tells a lot about Mia Hamm. I can't put the book down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i love women's soccer and mia hamm takes the cake. this book makes you feel like you're part of the game. the narrative is good and mia has put some personal and important photos in the book that you'll cherish as well.

for the soccer lover, run out and get it immediately!

super.

1. chapters on her ideas is just extremely inspiring
2. soccer tips are great.

Personally, I found this really boring. I'm not really sure what I just read. I was kind of hoping that there'd be some personal insight because Mia Hamm is a facsinating person. When I finished I really wasn't inspired, or informed, or anything. I was just bored. There are better books out there, this one isn't really worth your time.

This book holds a special place in my life because it is the first book that I ever read by Louisa May Alcott. I suspect that I stole it from my grandmother's library. As the first, it was my favorite for a long long time-- particularly since it didn't make me cry buckets the way that Little Women) did (does). It left me with an enduring love for idea of little gifts from foreign lands-- one of the things that happened to Rose that just seemed to me so very wonderful.

Over time, this book has been a little bit eclipsed for me by the other Alcott works. Although I still enjoy reading Eight Cousins I have to admit to the occasional sigh of annoyance at how didactic Dr. Alec manages to be. It seems clear to me that Alcott was using this book to work out a lot of her notions about how to raise a child-- a common enough theme in fiction of that time. Although this is more or less an issue in everything that she wrote, it is perhaps a little stronger here than the plot can manage?

None of this, however, should dissuade the reader-- particularly not the younger reader. The usual lovely Alcott moments are all here to be unwrapped. I'm going to see if I can get my hands on a copy of Rose in Bloom because I realize now that I remember it much more vaguely than I do Eight Cousins.

This book is one of my absolute favorites! It's great for 3rd or 4th graders. A wholesome, playful, entertaining book you will love your whole life. It follows the frolics of shy Rose Campbell as she comes to live with her six aunts and seven wild boy cousins. Share her joys and sorrows as she learns to love Uncle Alec and realizes that it's better to be hearty and happy than have the prettiest dresses and the fanciest dolls money can buy.

I have read this book and its sequal "Rose in Bloom" over six times, and it has yet to lose its magic. I plan on reading these book to my daughters someday. Louisa May Alcott has such a wonderful ability to tell simple stories with important morals. Eight Cousins, like most of her books, is pricelss!

Last summer, when I read this book for the first time, I thought it was only okay. I would get the different cousins mixed up (especially Steve a.k.a. "Dandy" and Charlie a.k.a. "The Prince") and I thought some of their adventures a tad immature. However, a friend of mine strongly recommended the sequel, "Rose in Bloom," so I decided to give it a try. It gripped me from page one, and it's now one of my favorite books! I decided to go back to "Eight Cousins" again, and surprisingly, I didn't find it all boring anymore!

Up until the death of her parents, Rose lived a quiet life as an only child. Consequently, after moving in with her estranged relatives, she is overwhelmed by her meddling aunts and noisy boy cousins. However, when her new guardian, Uncle Alac, arrives, things start looking up. At first she is shocked by his unorthodox views of health and beauty, but she soon learns to trust his good sense a great deal. Not only does she begin to overcome her weakness and sorrow, but she also makes an effort to be a friend and good example to her seven boisterous male cousins.

I adore "Little Women," but after reading this book and its wonderful sequel, I think I may prefer Rose and the boys! I'm now reading "Rose in Bloom" again, and I have to say that these books only get better with familiarity. (By the way, I would strongly suggest that you read this first before "Rose in Bloom," or you might be kind of confused.) As usual, Louisa May Alcott is fantastic in her characterizations. I only wish that she would have continued Rose's story in yet another book!

EIGHT COUSINS is definitely on my list of favorite books, though I cannot say I like it quite as much as LITTLE WOMEN or AN OLD FASHIONED GIRL. But it does come close, don't get me wrong. The scenes on the little island out at sea, or in the big houses on the green "Aunt-Hill" near the beach where the whole Campbell clan lives, or in Rose's exotic tropical bedroom, or on the skating pond in the freezing winter, create special feelings in my heart that are as fond memories as if I'd really been there. It's definitely a girly book (that is to say, I doubt boys would like it) because the main character is a 13-year-old orphan girl, Rose, and everything is seen from her feminine perspective. I enjoyed how Louisa May Alcott developed the characters: each of the seven boy cousins is different and likable in his own way, and each of the six aunts (2 great-aunts and 4 aunts) has her own peculiarities and lovable qualities. I especially love Uncle Alec, who is portrayed as Rose's young-at-heart guardian who always has the best ideas and the most healthy fun. It was at first difficult to keep all the characters straight in my mind, since Miss Alcott sometimes just calls the boys by their nicknames and since there are so many families, but I created a "Campbell-family-tree" sort of thing on a little card and referred to it when necessary, which was very helpful. Once I got the family straight, I got attached to each one and was in suspense at the climax when Rose gets to choose whether she wants to keep staying with her uncle or go to live with one of the aunts. This book is a good classic that shows how to keep peaceful family relationships and have healthy, clean fun.

For those of us who are just getting into a website of our own, this is an exceptionaly helpful book. Paul Gillin is one of the eight or ten highly knowledgeable marketer's on the web, and focuses on how to communicate effectively with your constituents. With my lack of experience in the field, I spend time every day searching for ways to build traffic and market my company. Gillin is a godsend and he's created a model which he calls conversation marketing. I've found that it works. When a book achieves its goals, which Gillin's certainly does, that's the best possible recommendation.

Although it deals almost exclusively in detail with blogs and podcasts, and not too much with social networks and online communities, "The New Influencers" is a "must read" for anyone interested in next generation interactive online media. The author's analysis of the need for businesses, both large and small, to have an interactive "voice" online is right on the mark, as is his insight that its actually easier and immediate (and effective) for small businesses to begin to use blogs and podcasts than it is for larger more visible bureaucratic organizations. From his example of Thomas Mahon, the Saville Row tailor who revolutionized his business by using a blog to educate the world on quality tailoring, to Duane Keiser, who didn't make any money selling his art until he blogged, or the originations of the new media guerilla marketing firm NightAgency, Gillin does a good job of giving concrete, real world examples to back up statistics on interactive new media "influencers" influence. Right up there with "Groundswell," "We are smarter than Me," and "Smart Start-Ups," "The New Influencers" is one of a half a dozen or so books on the topic that deserve a permanent place in the library of any person or institution interested in or involved in the new world of social media.

This book is a must-have if you want to know more about how to promote more effectively today. The Internet is not to be ignored!

Books about Web tools and strategies for marketers tend to be written hastily, for two reasons: primacy and recency. With respect to the former, the marketing consultants who write these books want to build visibility in the market quickly, and to be perceived as pioneers, because the competition is intense. With respect to the latter, the web environment evolves and shifts daily; so authors worry that taking time to cover these topics in depth, present meaningful case studies, verify factual accuracy, and polish prose might unduly delay publication beyond the point timeliness. Among the several books I've read about Web 2.0 marketing, Gillin's book is the most sophisticated, with ample real-world cases and examples -- and the least evangelistic. While many of the authors in this "space" come across as self-serving buzz-meisters, Gillin is enthusiastic but circumspect.

Gillin not only goes into great detail about the power of The New Influencers but provides an exceptional collection of real-world examples that combine to create a veritable "How To" for anyone considering a conversation-based approach to marketing.