Reviews Books

Ralph Castillo, a Professor of English at Palo Alto College,
is living testimony to the reality that community colleges
offer first rate instruction. Castillo could be teaching
at Harvard, but instead chose to help educate the sons and
daughters of the poor and dispossessed. His publications are
too numerous to mention.

I read Rafael Castillo's collection DISTANT JOURNEYS and found the stories interesting and memorable. They were fascinating. Although the book cover does not do justice to the book, the stories do reflect an original voice. I would definitely buy another of Mr. Castillo's books and have used them in my composition classes. Students like the stories because they are short, precise, and entertaining; I like them because they can easily be interpreted at various levels and are excellent prompts for writing.

This strangely funny book is a really a slim volume of fictional philosophy with a penchant for the ironical. Please don't judge this book by its cover because the art design is amateurish and probably done by a grad student learning design. Castillo's fictional pieces are short and intense with an edge toward the comical yet structured on a Woody-Allen type format with a Chicano voice. All the stories are well-written, hilarious, and thought provoking. I think this book will no doubt be used in graduate literary theory courses making fun of graduate literary courses. A quick read into Chicano literature of the 21st century.

Rafael Castillo's DISTANT JOURNEYS is a collection of postmodern fiction with a twist toward the O. Henry ending, either intentional or ironic. The book's focus seems to be on mythic tales of journeys: from the eerie landscape of Latin American to the down-and-out boulevards of Paris to the mundane barrios of San Antonio where Kafkaesque characters vie for prominence and spectacle. Seemingly theoretical in some parts, the fiction blends twists of Derridean Deconstruction with laughable portrayals of pseudo-intellectuals who become, inescapably, symbolic references for other fictions and stories. It's almost like Michel Foucault and Ernest Hemingway tangled with The Three Stooges at the Bronz Zoo. There is high drama with a wide smile, philosophical interludes with Kierkegaard and a Dwarf smitten by a young damsel, and political rhetoric disguised as allegory and fable. Tightly written and compact, the stories are remarkably short and to the point. They are cleverly written, intellectually diverse, and wholly original because the writer is probably a generation ahead other Chicano writers attempting this type of fiction. Bilingual Review Press is definitely at the forefront of hip, existential fiction. Hey, I'm hooked on this writer.

This book is a great resource for all parents, whether their child has a speech concern or not. I really enjoyed the practical activities and helpful guidelines. I now know what to expect at different age levels and this book has allayed any concerns I might have about my child's speech or language. Great book!!

Wonderful book! This book is a great resource for all parents, not just those concerned about a potential problem in their childs'speech development. Knowing the guidelines for normal speech and language development have reassured me about my childrens' speech patterns. Question and answer format is easy to read and understand. I would recommend this book to everyone!

Does My Child Have a Speech Problem is a terrific recource book for parents, as well as teachers. As both, I find myself referring to it often as my children and their language grow and develop. I am using it in the classroom to further assist my abilities in helping to identify and refer students to the Speech and Language Department. I highly recommend this book to all parents and teachers.

This book will be at tremendous help to any parent wondering if their child has any sort of speech problem. The book is organized well, broken down by the various sorts of speech problems, so it's quite easy for a lay person to focus on their concerns without having to wade through lots of irrelevant information. I came to the book with the same question: Does my child have a speech problem and this book helped me find the answer and led me to the help we needed. I strongly recommend this book for any parent with that same question. It will help you find your answer and help you see that you are not alone.

This is a very informative book showing a brief synopsis of all his
season 1 through 3. I have caught with his show using this book, as I have not been watching long. I recommend it to anyone who loves dogs
and stories about them and their owners. Enjoy

This is an enjoyable book for fans of Cesar Millan. It gives a synopsis of episodes, in some cases including a photo. A sidebar tells how the owners and dogs fared long-term, and sometimes a "Behind the Scenes" paragraph tells about what happened that you don't see in the show, such as a production assistant got bitten during the filming.

I was gratified to learn how some of my favorite pet owners turned out. The woman who was anxious about going outside her home continued to improve dramatically, for instance. Some of the owners did not fare so well, however. They were not able to carry through as firm leaders and a few eventually gave up their dogs to new homes. Many made improvements but did not reach the level of leadership that Cesar showed on the show. Others achieved their goal of having the "perfect dog."

I've watched many episodes of the Dog Whisperer and this book reinforces what Cesar demonstrates onscreen. You need to be clear on how you want the dog to act and remain calm and assertive. You should not reward a dog for being afraid by showering him with affection. Dogs are not human children.

This book is for viewers who want more information about the episodes. If you haven't seen the show and want to learn about training your dog, you probably want to start elsewhere, such as reading Cesar's book "Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog . . . and Your Life."

Great to know what episodes deal with what problem so it is easier to find those episodes on the three seasons of the Dog Whisperer DVD.

Can find out what happened long term to the dogs and the owners success rate using Cesar's methods on using energy.

Louise

I am SO grateful to have this particular tool by Cesar Millan to go with the Season DVDs. "Dog Whisperer Show Season 3" DVD is supposed to be released around July 8th, 2008, I hear.

I have had a large (2600 member) Yahoo email list for over 3 years now. This list has had over 14,500 members, who have used different elements of Cesar's solutions to solve the problem behaviors of their dog successfully, as well as to understand how to prevent them in the future. One of the greatest challenges we have faced there, is remember which episodes covers what kind of problems, with what kind of dogs in what kind of conditions. The episode guide makes finding those answers so fast now!

I am not sure which elements of this book I love more. The dog breed guide so when I am looking for problems Cesar has addressed by breed so I could just refer to that list. "Two days ago, someone was asking about their non-stop braying beagle Cesar solutions and they said they watched the TV show on Nat Geo. In just minutes, I had a list of the 6 episodes from Season 1-3. I LOVE my Season DVD's also available here but am constantly frustrated that there are only two line descriptions and in the 317 episodes from just those three seasons, I CANNOT remember which episode I saw what solution!

Having the Season 1-3 Episode guide solved that because NOW I was able to not only talk about which episodes were specific to beagles "who do have some - uhhhh, unique breed challenges that most urban people are not skilled enough to solve - g" but I was able to specifically refer to my top two favorite solutions for this kind of dog, that was used in the specific episodes for them to be able to watch and SEE what they could do themselves!

I also LOVE to read or write about the follow up stories of the successes that the dog owners have had including the simple recognition of the fact that the dog requires more work then they were willing to give and the subsequent successful re-homing into a forever home with people who understand how to work with that kind of dog to simply changing the HUMAN behavior to change the dog behavior into the desired outcome!

Since I work with so many rescue dogs and dog groups, I actually bought a second book to carry with me in the car so I can look up solutions BECAUSE if you go to the video page of the National Geographic Website you can see video clips of these same episodes to go with the book so you don't even NEED to GET the Nat Geo channel!!!

This book solves the problem that comes because the video clips only show the solution/result. I you have the book you can now get the whole overview, background not even discussed in the show and behind the scenes information to get context!

Then, if you get the free software Miro, you can download these clips into your computer to look up whether you are online or not or if you have an IPOD, to download those whole episodes to watch, based on what you identify that you need to look at from the information in this book! Finally you can amble over to youtube and see other video about successful Cesar's way examples.clips, including mine (under /cjanderson, where I show ten concrete examples of how I have used Cesar's Pack Leader techniques that I learned from the episodes discussed in THIS book's pages to help rehab over 25 problem dogs who were going to be euthanized if someone didn't step forward to help, and the someone who stepped forward here with those dogs was just me, a dog lover who watched and learned from the episodes listed in this wonderful guide!

It has never been easier to show someone else the simple and often easily and safely replicatable solutions to change problem dog behaviors using this guide with the online free videos of Cesar's Dog Whisperer Shows!

Roger Hart's voice draws real emotions from characters who in their sincerity speak deeply to an attentive reader. The collection reads like a novel and the characters linger through the pages.

Roger Hart's Erratics is a book of stories about real people who we cannot help but learn to love. No artificial fictions here. Just people like us, suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and trying to survive. Les and Walt and Highway and the other characters who people these stories are lonely and looking and sometimes find the love they need. And they are always vulnerable. There is a lot of Raymond Carver in this work. I recommend it to anybody who wants soft-edged stories with a punch.

Enthusiastic Recommend: Erratics, Stories by Roger Hart
Twelve stories and 130 pages - a nice book to carry and read in short stretches. All these stories have a haunting dark side, but are not really dark. They are a little like a painting that you see as yellow at first glance, but a longer look reveals a midnight blue under-painting. The first couple of stories in this book don't require you to look too closely to see the blue. It's there. In the later stories, you can choose not to see the blue at all if you don't want to. I liked the later stories better - the ones where the yellow paint was thicker. But every one of Hart's people is believable and worth remembering. Their dialogue, sprinkled with humor, rings true. I liked these people, rooted for them, even those whose disturbing dark side is not covered up very well.

I found this book to be a wonderful surprise. If you enjoy the fiction of Raymond Carver, Chekhov, or Tim O'Brien, I would recommend you pick it up. I realize these are big name authors but "Erratics" has the same kind of style and content that I personally can't get enough of. He is able to mix charming characters, witty dialogue, and often dismal circumstances to form a collection of short stories that will leave you smiling.

This is a great way to reengergize the old Christmas classic. I can't wait to watch the movie again.

"It's a Wonderful Life" is my favorite Christmas movie. Even though I've watched it a million times, there was a lot I never noticed. Read the book once, then watch the movie with the book in-hand. It's great if you have it on DVD, so you can freeze it to look for oddities/details pointed out in the book. I also think there is potential for at least one great party game here. I'm working on that.

I have given this book at holiday gift exchanges, as a hostess gift and as a teacher gift right before the holidays. (I include a DVD for the people I REALLY like.) It is always a huge hit. One friend chose this book when she hosted a holiday party for her book club. They watched the movie together and discussed the book. (It was in LA, so I think they did it in a hot tub :-) You'd be amazed at how many people are crazy for this movie.

I definitely recommend the book for anyone who enjoys "It's a Wonderful Life."

My wife wanted this book badly, even though the movie is over three hours long, isn't it? Evidently there were lots of others mad for it too, since the book was sold out at local bookstores around Christmas. I wonder if there are conventions a la Star Trek and if fans have a name for themselves (e.g., "Wonderfulies," "Zuzus," "Bailey-wiks," "Buffalo Gals/Guys" - or just "Buffalos," etc.).

This book is a quick, easy read for all fans of this great movie. It provides many little bits of information on the cast and story and even points out little gaffes or interesting items within the movie that you may never have noticed yourself. So get out your copy of the movie, grab the book, and revisit the Bailey's!

excelent resource for the bedside nurse to care for patients with advanced illness. Great tables and recommendations for multiple symptoms.

Although I have been a icu nurse for the past 20 years, I am new to end of life care. This book is with me for reference. I am becoming more informed each day. I especially like the fact I can research a symptom and then treat it without delay. The lay out of the book is easy to follow with fifteen of the most common symptoms experienced with the dying.

An excellent Primer on the subject with clinical vignettes and straight-forward discussion and therapeutic suggestions.

I recently started as a Hospice Nurse. I have found this book to be a great tool. It is very simple to use and easily understood.

This book is highly recommended. With your college chm and phy texts handy, this book will prepare for any MCAT chm passage in just a few weeks (the only topics I personally needed my texts for were thermochm. and electrochm.). The 7 concise chapters with in-ch. Q's are highly effective pedagogically and for quick review. Combined with MCAT-style, 30 min exams for each ch., you will quickly isolate your deficiencies and improve your score most efficiently.

I had an outstanding chm professor a few years ago (department chair and text author), and I'm sure he would endorse this book for its pedagogical quality. I endorse it for its quality as a review and MCAT study guide. Of all the MCAT prep materials I've used so far (Kaplan, PR, NOVA, ARCO) this is the highest quality. Recommended for all persons preparing for the MCAT.

If you did well in gen chem, then this book will be great for reviewing concepts in a timely manner. The section on acid\base chemistry and electrochemistry are quick and to the point.

This book contains all the info necessary to do well on the Physical Sciences section of the MCAT. Everything is presented very clearly and this book truly gives you an understanding of mcat chemistry. I recently took the April MCAT and I must say that this book and the Examkrackers physics made me feel like the PS was a JOKE! Their materials allow you to understand the mcat science conceptually such that no mcat item is EVER intimidating. Each lecture is complemented with a 30min exam where you can test the concepts as you review. (They're challenging though) Examkrackers all the way with no Imitations!!!

This book is layed out in a fashion that allows you to learn the material in a simple but productive manner. If your going to take the mcat this book will teach you chemistry.

I really enjoyed this book; working through the problems was easy to follow. Regarding studying for the GMAT test this book is all you will ever need for the Algebra section. Excellent book - well done EZ Solutions.

EZ -Solutions GMAT Math Series Books

The overall content in the EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT books is very good. When I started studying for the GMAT I couldn't answer so many questions. But now that I have used the EZ -solutions books I can answer a lot of them. I still need to practice on my speed but they have helped me come a long way. The EZ-solutions books break down each subject covered in the GMAT with a step-by-step system.

The EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT books were extremely helpful considering I haven't had a math class in over six years, and I couldn't remember simple things such as integer properties. Like I said I had taken a GMAT practice exam and I couldn't answer many questions, but now I am getting a lot better.

The format of the EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT books is very good as it breaks down each topic in different books.

The text of the EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT is perfectly clear and precisely to the point. After going through each of the nine EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT books more than once and taking them with me where ever I have gone, they hold up nicely.

I believe that anybody studying for the GMAT should have the EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT books in their collection. They should also get the Official guide, with the Kaplan math review as well. The math lessons in the EZ-solutions GMAT books are much better than the Official, Kaplan, and PR. They have a lot more examples, with a lot more instruction as well. The Official GMAT guide isn't a good book for instruction but just for extra problems. Kaplan and PR have a decent math review in their book but the EZ-solutions GMAT set of nine books really bring it home.

I would recommend the EZ-solutions GMAT set of nine book series to anyone studying for the GMAT. Especially those individuals that who need a math review, and just not practice problems. This set of nine books breaks down each subject covered on the GMAT, and gives detailed expiations of each one.

The EZ-solutions GMAT set of nine books are a little more pricey then those currently on the market. But if you are serious about taking the GMAT and getting a good score I believe they are worth the extra money. As I mentioned earlier some of the other books on the market don't have as good a math lessons as the EZ-solutions GMAT books. Highly recommended!

After going through all the GMAT books, here is my honest opinion about some of the most popular GMAT books:

Official Guide:
Pros - Excellent source of GMAT questions. Very well organized with real test like questions.
Cons - No review of any math content or test-taking strategies. Not enough explanations of practice questions.
Overall, the Official Guide is a must have for all test-takers. It will give you a good idea about the type of questions to expect on the GMAT; however, if you need more than just a bank of questions, you need to look at some other source.

Kaplan:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Unrealistic questions.

Princeton:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Weird sense of humor.

Barrons:
Pros - Good math review. Big list of questions. Good test taking strategies. Very well organized. This is by far the best of the all-in-one kinds of books.
Cons - Although the book has a good math review, it doesn't go deep enough into each concept. Not enough explanations to practice questions. Does not have a good section for logical reasoning (permutation, combination, probability, etc) questions, which is one of the most important question-type. Does not break down the concepts/questions step by step.

EZ Solutions (set of 9 books):
Pros - Thorough math review from A to Z. Effective test taking strategies. Abundant solved examples. Numerous practice exercises. Great practice question bank in basic and advanced workbooks.
As with most books, you are expected to already have a good knowledge about the various match concepts, but with these books, you can literally start from scratch and reach the most advanced level of the GMAT.
Cons - To get the best result from these books, you have to invest in buying several books (set of 9 books), but if you compare the cost and benefits, the benefits outweigh the cost, or you can buy a few not all. Missing the verbal section. This is not a good option if you are looking for a mediocre score or just looking for a very basic brush-up. Recommended for serious test takers only.

Some of the other books has no real content; whereas, there are some other books that I haven't yet had an opportunity to review, but may be some of them are good supplementary aids.

I hope my review will help some of you in making the right decision.

I bought the series of EZ Solutions for the GMAT and found them to be very helpful. After going through GMAT books from Kaplan, Princeton Review, and others, I needed something more in-depth to tackle all type of questions. The EZ books cover a broad spectrum of content and practice questions with detailed explanations. These are great books for those who are seeking to perfect their score or need something more than just the basic review provided in regular study guides. They are also a good review for those who have been out of school for a while and need to refresh their math skills to score higher on the GMAT . The EZ books are very detailed and comprehensive, far more than any other book that I have seen. I would highly recommend using the EZ Solutions GMAT set of books to improve your scores!

While studying the GMAT this book is a must. I would have been lost in the main exam if I didn't have it.
If you are looking to study the GMAT exam I would recommend that you just go ahead and order all nice books, they are all worth the money.

EZ -Solutions GMAT Math Series Books

The overall content in the EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT books is very good. When I started studying for the GMAT I couldn't answer so many questions. But now that I have used the EZ -solutions books I can answer a lot of them. I still need to practice on my speed but they have helped me come a long way. The EZ-solutions books break down each subject covered in the GMAT with a step-by-step system.

The EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT books were extremely helpful considering I haven't had a math class in over six years, and I couldn't remember simple things such as integer properties. Like I said I had taken a GMAT practice exam and I couldn't answer many questions, but now I am getting a lot better.

The format of the EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT books is very good as it breaks down each topic in different books.

The text of the EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT is perfectly clear and precisely to the point. After going through each of the nine EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT books more than once and taking them with me where ever I have gone, they hold up nicely.

I believe that anybody studying for the GMAT should have the EZ-solutions set of nine GMAT books in their collection. They should also get the Official guide, with the Kaplan math review as well. The math lessons in the EZ-solutions GMAT books are much better than the Official, Kaplan, and PR. They have a lot more examples, with a lot more instruction as well. The Official GMAT guide isn't a good book for instruction but just for extra problems. Kaplan and PR have a decent math review in their book but the EZ-solutions GMAT set of nine books really bring it home.

I would recommend the EZ-solutions GMAT set of nine book series to anyone studying for the GMAT. Especially those individuals that who need a math review, and just not practice problems. This set of nine books breaks down each subject covered on the GMAT, and gives detailed expiations of each one.

The EZ-solutions GMAT set of nine books are a little more pricey then those currently on the market. But if you are serious about taking the GMAT and getting a good score I believe they are worth the extra money. As I mentioned earlier some of the other books on the market don't have as good a math lessons as the EZ-solutions GMAT books. Highly recommended!

After going through all the GMAT books, here is my honest opinion about some of the most popular GMAT books:

Official Guide:
Pros - Excellent source of GMAT questions. Very well organized with real test like questions.
Cons - No review of any math content or test-taking strategies. Not enough explanations of practice questions.
Overall, the Official Guide is a must have for all test-takers. It will give you a good idea about the type of questions to expect on the GMAT; however, if you need more than just a bank of questions, you need to look at some other source.

Kaplan:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Unrealistic questions.

Princeton:
Pros - Good for additional practice questions as a supplement
Cons - Review of math content is not thorough but just the very basics. Not enough explanation of test taking strategies. Full of guessing techniques with no real mathematical solutions. Not good enough explanations of practice questions. Weird sense of humor.

Barrons:
Pros - Good math review. Big list of questions. Good test taking strategies. Very well organized. This is by far the best of the all-in-one kinds of books.
Cons - Although the book has a good math review, it doesn't go deep enough into each concept. Not enough explanations to practice questions. Does not have a good section for logical reasoning (permutation, combination, probability, etc) questions, which is one of the most important question-type. Does not break down the concepts/questions step by step.

EZ Solutions (set of 9 books):
Pros - Thorough math review from A to Z. Effective test taking strategies. Abundant solved examples. Numerous practice exercises. Great practice question bank in basic and advanced workbooks.
As with most books, you are expected to already have a good knowledge about the various match concepts, but with these books, you can literally start from scratch and reach the most advanced level of the GMAT.
Cons - To get the best result from these books, you have to invest in buying several books (set of 9 books), but if you compare the cost and benefits, the benefits outweigh the cost, or you can buy a few not all. Missing the verbal section. This is not a good option if you are looking for a mediocre score or just looking for a very basic brush-up. Recommended for serious test takers only.

Some of the other books has no real content; whereas, there are some other books that I haven't yet had an opportunity to review, but may be some of them are good supplementary aids.

I hope my review will help some of you in making the right decision.

I bought the series of EZ Solutions for the GMAT and found them to be very helpful. After going through GMAT books from Kaplan, Princeton Review, and others, I needed something more in-depth to tackle all type of questions. The EZ books cover a broad spectrum of content and practice questions with detailed explanations. These are great books for those who are seeking to perfect their score or need something more than just the basic review provided in regular study guides. They are also a good review for those who have been out of school for a while and need to refresh their math skills to score higher on the GMAT . The EZ books are very detailed and comprehensive, far more than any other book that I have seen. I would highly recommend using the EZ Solutions GMAT set of books to improve your scores!

Having left South West London twenty five years ago I have, like most of us, wondered what the kids I grew up with are doing now. Up until around `81' I would go back to visit every couple of weeks and the conversation would invariably turn to "Who's in jail?" "Who just got out?" Eventually the question would become "Who's dead?" "Who's alive?"

I remember one of my best friends Noel showing me a paper clipping from the South London Press reporting on his failed stick up of an off-license in Balham. By 1980 that was the way the wind was blowing. As kids we were always involved in some life threatening escapade or another, but it was more for kicks and only occasionally criminal. But by the time half my friends were in remand centres or borstals I knew I was well out of it.

So although it came as a massive surprise, it really shouldn't have, when I recently discovered that the aforementioned Noel is now better known as Razor Smith and is currently serving life for armed robbery.

Smith has shot, slashed and robbed his way into gangland legend. Before his life sentence he was the frightener in a gang of four known as the `Laughing Bank Robbers' who carried out a string of bank raids around South London, he has fifty eight criminal convictions to his name and has now chosen to write his autobiography - "A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun."

Described by G.Q magazine as "One of the most powerful and intelligent crime memoirs we've ever read" and "extraordinary" by the Guardian, I just thought it plain surreal to be standing in the middle of Waterstones seeing my name included in the `lavishly blood splattered' memoirs of a major career criminal. Names, places, incidents, half forgotten friends and enemies and even my brother all contextualised in the pre-teen remembrances of a kid I took my first and only pinch with. (For messing around on a railway track - ironically) And although Smith is no killer and I'm certainly no choirboy - I felt like Pat O'Briens's priest from the movie `Angels With Dirty Faces' reading about the gangster exploits of his boyhood chum Rocky Sullivan played by James Cagney. In fact we were all Cagney fanatics in those days, endlessly acting out scenes from White Heat or Public Enemy on the roof tops of Streatham High Road.

The book goes on to outline various `tear ups' between all those old sub-cultures of the late 70's such as the Rockabilly's, Skinheads, Punks, Smoothies and Teds which culminated, perhaps, some of the most notorious pre-gun gang wars such as `The Battle of Morden,' `The White Swan Massacre,' and the seemingly fortnightly riots at the Chickaboom Club in Carlshalton. But by the time most of these incidents took place I was lost in music and Razor had gone the way of the gun.

As I say, we all wonder about what happened to the kids we grew up with. I just never thought I'd find out in such a spectacular fashion.

Noel `Razor' Smith is currently residing in HMP Grendon.

I can't say that I am a fan of criminal autobiographies. And Razor Smith is not a notorious criminal of the Dillinger variety. He's a common thief, a man who used guns, knives and other physical violence to frighten others into giving them his money. He justifies his bank robberies, his primary vocation, by saying the deposits were insured. But who does Smith think pays for the insurance premiums? Who does Smith think pays for the stress and trauma he inflicted on innocent people who just happened to be there when he threatened their lives with his gun?

None of that, however, takes away from Smith's skill as a writer. Now serving what could be the rest of his natural life in prison, much of Smith's autobiography sounds like leftists like Leonard Bernstein during the 70s: it's the victim's fault for making the criminal. Nonsense. Smith chose his own life.

Smith appears remarkably candid in recounting his youth and how he gravitated toward the criminal life, not only because it beat working in more traditional means to earn a living, but because such petty criminality is remarkably common in England. At first I didn't believe Smith's tales of promiscuous youthful violence as a way of English life. A bit of research confirmed his claims. England is not Paradise.

As a grown man whose son had his own problems with the police and committed suicide, Smith sounds remorseful. Whether this is a ploy to advance his claim for parole is obviously unknowable. Regardless, Smith's memoir of his life is an enthrally, worthwhile excursion into the criminal's mind. Well-written and absorbing.

Jerry

South Londoner Noel "Razor" Smith's long history of crime culminated as a member of "The Laughing Bank Robbers", an armed firm known for their "gallows humour" who cracked jokes while collecting their loot - even, on one job, dressing in festive Santa hats and wishing terrified customers and staff a "Merry Christmas". Smith was also part of the Rockabilly scene who with his gang the Balham Wildkatz battled it out with punks, skinheads and other rivals at a time when the various London subcultures were tearing into each other at every opportunity with boots, fists, and whatever else was handy.

"A Few Kind Words..." stands head and shoulders above most crime memoirs. Firstly, it is not ghostwritten - Smith discovered a talent for writing whilst behind bars that eventually got him published in national newspapers. Secondly, prison is where he is right now, serving a life sentence (or technically speaking, eight of them). So let's just say that, on top of being extremely well-written, this book has an edge over much of its 'Real Crime' contemporaries in what can often be quite a tacky and superficial run-of-the-mill genre.

Smith loads his memoir with enough raucous mayhem to more-than-satisfy on the entertainment front, but also often pauses for intelligent, analytical reflections on the workings of his own criminal mind, and the life he has spent "fashioning the chains that now bind him". Through writing, he says, he has "found a more acceptable way of expressing himself" than via the violence and crime that has taken away his most basic human right: freedom.

Born in 1960 into an average Irish working-class family, Smith has none of the usual excuses of a broken home or violent abuse to account for his slip down the wrong tracks, and to his credit, insists it was entirely his own choice, something he walked into with eyes wide open to the consequences. Yet, in his exploration of the past, he interestingly cites an adolescent experience of unprovoked "torture" and forced false-confession at the hands of drunken police as a turning-point in his attitude towards "the system", sparking a rebellious spirit that - who knows - may not have otherwise been there, or atleast come so prominently to the fore. He also explains what it was like during the 70s when, with the IRA's bombing campaign at its height and anti-Irishness rife, London-Irish kids were often compelled to either feign Englishness or assert their own identity, sometimes physically.

Though such factors alone can hardly take the blame for the self-destructive one-man crimewave that Smith became, it does suggest how he would have felt the kind of outsider status that can often can lead in a lawless direction. However, with Smith's addiction to the power and adrenaline of armed robbery ("It was a rush that no amount of cocaine or Ecstasy could imitate") it is hard to imagine anything other than participation in an actual war (Smith's own suggestion, by the way) satiating such an overwhelming urge.

Smith gets great pleasure in considering himself one of the last London "Chaps", criminals who followed codes of conduct and honour taken from noir gangster films and westerns. Here he paints all the usual mythical pictures of gangsters who were honest, moral and fair (as opposed to the modern stereotypical urban criminal, cracked-up to the eyeballs, and would kill his own granny for a tenner). But in wild contradiction, he also describes himself as "a thug from a council estate" who admits to acts of violence that were "vicious and heinous" - such as his penchant for slashing faces, presumably - hence the nickname. (The book actually ends in a statement of show-off criminal no-value that defies the writing's overall intelligence.)

Nevertheless, Smith generally paints himself as human rather than hero (he doesn't always win - he often quite brutally loses), and he writes with an awareness that, due to his endless weakness for tempers, tantrums and slashings, he is not exactly endearing himself to the reader. But that is a winning ingredient, because in a crime memoir the down-to-earth honesty and lack of excuses makes a real change.

Mirroring Smith's life, much of the book is set in prison - in fact, Smith brings us on a tour of practically every prison in southern England. In these chapters he rails against what he sees as "holiday-camp" depictions in the British tabloid press where prisoners are treated with kid gloves and a revolving-door policy operates. Conversely, Smith runs through the many bad conditions, brutalities, injustices and corruption he has witnessed - which is enlightening but, of course, depressing.

Smith's endless revisits, after umpteen chances of freedom, may leave you exasperated and out of patience - Razor's life reads like a long prison sheet punctuated only by occasional bouts of freedom. But crime was evidently what he thrived on, his reason for living, and no amount of jail - despite its harshness - could quash his desire to keep going back to "the business" for more. Ultimately, in the book (until a massive life sentence in '99) he's springing back and forth like a yo-yo.

Of course, towards the end there are a few moments of regret (how could there not be?) but there's also a strong lingering sense of defiance (check out the last few paragraphs) that is quite startling. You're left remembering the zeal - an almost heady nostalgia - in which Razor Smith recounts his robberies, gangfights and prison escapes that leaves you wondering if given the chance he'd do it all again.

A career criminal is someone who is so committed to crime as a way of life that no amount of `rehabilitation' from the prison system can straighten him.

Razor Smith is a bank robber of the sort. In fact, he prefers robbing banks so much he'd rather give away three years of his life for a three-month fling with it, anytime. And when he gets bored looking at the same four walls everyday, he simply escapes. So easy, so he does it again and again and again. Life on the run has its extreme highs and lows but sooner or later it'll be back to the slammer for good when Old Bill and The System caught up. And they did. If Whitemoor is as escape proof as it's said to be, Smith could well be serving out his eight life sentences properly, this time.

In his early 30's (he's now 45) Smith took it to himself to learn to read and write properly. The consequences were quite unexpected: Not only did he discover a passion for books and writing, people actually paid attention to him and to what he said on paper. And because he had plenty of gripes against The System by now, he had plenty to say. Later, an A-Levels in Law and Honors in Journalism helped focus his anger and aggression and lend weight to his arguments. His newfound skills and plain-speaking, wry, observant prose make A few Kind Words an accomplished first memoir. It is also clear Smith now has every stab at a career that is leagues above the Road Sweeper job he once had and certainly as potentially profitable as the Other One.

But if Smith wins both our ear and our empathy, it's because he manages to talk about his condemnable behavior - and much of this is violent - without so much as a finger pointing in any direction except towards his own.

To begin with, he was at 15 a school dropout with too much time on his hands. Adrenaline Junkie might as well be his middle name. The first time he was arrested was for burglary, for which he was sent to a youth custody center. `If I came from a broken home,' he states quite matter-of-factly, `it's only because I broke it,' referring to how normal his parents and siblings were in comparison to him and not just the countless times armed police had to break down the front door of the family home, looking for him.

It didn't help either that the Irish cockney was growing up in the land of The Kray Brothers, the Great Train Robbers - the likes of John McVitie and such, where there was romance in thievery.

`There is a code (of honor) handed down by generations of infamous criminals, both real and fictional that you learn it from watching others in life and watching westerns and old gangster films.' Smith tells us, `this code meant you never needed to be ashamed of being a criminal, as long as you're the right one.'

The code included the imperative to be loyal: if a thug was caught giving evidence against his fellow thug, he will be striped (slashed) across the face with a sharp instrument in `a curving line from the corner of the mouth to the earlobe' to mark him traitor to his kind. Very likely, he'll end up starving in the streets.

So, to sum up his gentleman thief values or as a tribute to Al Capone or both, Smith took the title of his autobiography from the Chicago mob boss's quote, `Sometimes you can get more with a few kind words and a loaded gun than you can with a few kind words.'

Much later, in examining the forces that contributed to him staying in this rather vicious cycle, Smith points out the Crime Justice System for having failed to do the one thing it was supposed to do, namely in rehabilitating its criminals. Rehabilitation must help criminals secure the skills to thrive out there. How can the System realistically expect a highly-skilled ex-con to resist the siren call of crime which promises (and also delivers) a much more comfortable life for them and their family for a low-skilled, dead-end job that pays just enough to survive on carpet toast and Cup O Soup?

Most of us `straight-goers' can only guess at the reasons that keep prisoners on the path directly to the slammer and who better than Smith to shed a light. And what this noteworthy new writer drags with him into the cold light of day are the things we should not avert our eyes from.