Reviews Books

The amg books are quite exceptional but this one is really something. There are a few omissions I noted (Rotary Connection and Fanny)yet the proof is in the pudding. Prove it to yourself by finding an artist with several works you have a view on and see what their writer says...often the observations are right on whether you fully agree or not. The reviews and bios are quite interesting, and it is a volume to get lost in...a real treasure. A few artists will get more attention than you might like, but it leaves all other volumes like it in the dust.

I've found the "All Music Guide" to be such a useful research tool, that I start lapsing into an "info-mercial-esque" tone when I begin extolling its virtues: "Hi. My name is Alan, and I'm a freelance music writer. When I'm assigned to write about a band that I know next-to-nothing about, I always turn to the 'All Music Guide'. This mammoth music encyclopedia is not only useful, but a ton o' fun! Let's say that I need a quick factoid about some rock group that I despise--like, I dunno, The Scorpions. I just pull out my 'AMG', turn to page 329, and voila; I quickly learn that Scorp's, co-founder Michael Schenker quit the band in 1973 to join fellow metal-meisters UFO. Wow...UFO! But they don't call it the 'All Music Guide' for nothin'; flip over to page 1351, and you'll find incisive reviews of almost every available record by legendary jazz saxophonist/heroin addict Art Pepper. If you only buy one music research book this year, make it 'All Music Guide'." In all seriousness, this thing has saved me hours of net-surfing, in addition to helping me avoid a few hundred research sojourns to Tower Records trying to find out what year Buddy Guy's first record was released.

Since the marginal films of " Boca do Lixo" until "Macunaíma", this book shows the post-Cinema Novo.

Since the marginal films of " Boca do Lixo" until "Macunaíma", this book shows the pos-Cinema Novo. Enjoy, 'cause here in Brazil we don't have hardcover of this book!

This book is fantastic. I recommend it to all my friends!! I'm so glad to find out that I wasn't crazy, I wasn't imagining those symptoms, and other people really do go through these things! This book is a life and sanity saver.

I loved this book. I've loaned it to several friends during their pregnancies and each one has made comments that they are SOOOO happy that they are not alone in what they think is their own problems.... or imaginery!

Reluctantly, I gave this book five stars. It's not a five-star book at all by amazon.com standards. It's a ten-star book (at least). It's the best short story collection I've read in years. Brazaitis is a master of the form. Every single story is precise, powerful, poignant. This collection deserves a lot more attention than it's getting. I don't know what's up with the Texas Review Press, but AN AMERICAN AFFAIR was published in Fall 2005, and a cover image is still not here on amazon.com in February 2006. It's a shame that one of the big publishing houses didn't get this extraordinary book and promote it in the way it deserves. It would be a national bestseller.

While Mark Brazaitis's RIVER OF LOST VOICES was an extraordinary debut, he has come into his own as a master storyteller in AN AMERICAN AFFAIR. Together, the two volumes cement his place as the leading chronicler in American fiction of the ins and outs of life in Guatemala. Brazaitis is uniquely qualified to do this work, by his extensive in-country experience (in the Peace Corps) and by his nuanced understanding of the contexts-historical, social and political-in which his stories take place. Brazaitis's background in history (a B.A from Harvard) and comprehensive reading about Guatemala enable him to ground the action of his stories in the reality of place in a way that is extraordinary in expatriate fiction. The ghost of Graham Greene animates this work, and that is a high compliment.

While many of the stories in AN AMERICAN AFFAIR do have a political edge-and this is one of their virtues, they teach-Brazaitis never allows politics to hijack a story. Indeed, it is in the mastering of narrative that these stories move forward from his previous work: every piece in the collection, no matter what formal strategy it pursues, maintains a spanking pace. Brazaitis has done a remarkable job of wedding the concerns of serious fiction with the narrative pull of the best popular fiction. That this book is written to a high literary standard is evident by its winning the George Garrett Prize in Short Fiction. But readers will not need the prize citation to recognize just how good the book is: the prose is extremely economical and yet also beautiful; the movement of the sentences is so assured, no word, no pause out of place.

Brazaitis has a deep understanding of the many ways of being human, and this allows him to convincingly tell stories from the perspective of men and women, Americans and native Guatemalans. Because he is able to inhabit so many different points of view, the world of AN AMERICAN AFFAIR achieves a kind of 3-D vividness. It's there in each particular story, but the stories together suggest a whole world, as multifarious as reality itself. As readers, we both know the stories we read and come to believe that each of the minor characters must also have a story to tell. And we've no sooner finished AN AMERICAN AFFAIR then we want to hear those stories...

I would like to single out "Air Conditioning and Heat," "The Foreign Correspondent," and "Iris, Thirty Years Later," as three of the best stories I've read in years (and I've read plenty). All three delve deep into the heart of the matter. They generate both pathos and understanding; they move us, so what's said can count deep down. These stories can stand with the best short fiction written by an American writer in the last 10 years.

This helped me tremendously for studying for my lab practical exams (bones and muscles). It has all the needed detail while keeping it simple as to not detract from the task at hand. Great product, highly recommended.

Visual learners need to see and experience what they are learning. What a great way to learn anatomy! I find coloring to be a very relaxing activity too.

Anthony Boucher was one of the world's great authorities on mystery fiction, but that was only one of his accomplishments. He knew everything there was to know, or at least he seemed to, about opera, science fiction and fantasy, comic strips, comic books, Sherlock Holmes, cooking, wine...well, you get the point.

I had the privilege to know Tony and his wife, Phyllis, for a number of years. I wish I'd known them better. In reading THE ANTHONY BOUCHER CHRONICLES (I have the one-volume Ramble House omnibus edition) I felt as if I were sitting in Tony and Phyllis's cozy living room on Dana Street, sharing a glass of wine while Tony went on about the world of detective fiction -- and a hundred other topics.

His voice is present on every page of this book: warm, wise, reasoned, knowledgeable, and above all decent. This is a book to treasure and to love, to consult for guidance and information or to read for sheer pleasure. If you're interested in popular culture in general or criminous literature in particular, you will bless the day you bought this book.

FWIW, Tony Boucher sent me the first rejection slip I ever received. I was seventeen years old at the time. His words were so kind and encouraging, I kept on trying until I'd made a career for myself as a writer.

No, no, I don't mean by not buying these books, I mean BY buying them!

Boucher was a prominent figure in the mystery and science fiction world in the 1940's and 1950's. There are three volumes in this set, each containing valuable reviews and articles on the writings of others of the period.

I enjoy reading Golden Age mysteries, but finding information about the more obscure ones isn't that easy. Finding many of the books is easy thanks to Amazon and eBay, but are they any good?

Boucher's opinion is one I trust. He has steered me towards some of my favorite mysteries. (I don't understand his high opinion of Craig Rice, though.) So these volumes have been very helpful to me.

Vol I and Vol II are similar -- reviews of new mysteries published between 1942 and 1947. Vol I has slightly longer articles on each reviewed book. Vol II reprints Boucher's weekly review colum, so the actual reviews are short and sweet. (Well, not so sweet if he didn't like the book -- see below.) Vol III is a mixture of reviews on sci-fi, mysteries and other articles. All three books are available through the Ramble House web site.

Boucher must have been a quick reader, plowing through hundreds of books submitted to him every week. Some he was enthusiastic about: his review of "Evidence of Things Seen" by Elizabeth Daly reads "Henry Gamadge, usually the impersonal expert, can hardly be impersonal when the evidence seems to prove either that his wife is mad or that lean brown ghosts can kill. Miss Daly's always skilled writing carries an extra emotional punch in this uncanny tale, cannily told." Boucher told it like he saw it, too, but even his negative reviews don't sting too much: on "Death At Dakar" by Kerry O'Neil -- "American girl reporter foils Nazi quest for death ray formula in Rio and Dakar. The local color is hot from the guidebook, and the preposterous dialogue makes the Rover Boys sound like Clifford Odets. Perfect ammunition for the snobs who claim mysteries are execrable writing." OK, maybe that stung the author a bit. But it probably saved people the trouble of finding out a book was bad themselves.

The reviews are obviously of a time, but the editor, Francis M. Nevins, has included notes to let a reader of this day know what Boucher was referring to in the 1940's. (There are many reviews of stories with Nazi spys as protagonists, of course.)

So, if you are searching for old books to buy, get a copy of these books first to start your research.

I was planning our vacation to Los Angeles when my husband suggested we attend a taping of a TV show. I didn't know where to start looking for information so I went to the main library and asked if they had any books on attending TV shows in LA. I was surprised when they showed me "Appearing on TV Shows for Fun, Fame & Fortune" by Lee Ellis. It is a terrific resource. It lists over two hundred shows to be in the audience or as a contestant. We choose to the game show "The Price is Right." The book gives the ticket info and the way contestants are choosen. We got our tickets by e-mail and we were off to LA. When we got to the studio everything went smoothly and we were interviewed to be contestants. But,our luck was not to be, we did not hear our names announced to "come on down" as contestants. Even though we didn't get to be contestants it was a great experience. If any of you want to be on a game show or any TV taping, I sugguest you get this book. It helped me alot.

Lee Ellis' Appearing On Tv Shows For Fun, Fame & Fortune: A Guide For Audiences, Contestants & Guests is a very practical guide to entering game shows such as Family Feud and The Price is Right; talk shows such as The Jerry Springer Show or Politically Incorrect; PBS shows such as The Antiques Roadshow; Court TV such as Judge Judy or Reality TV Shows such as Big Brother and Survivor; or being in the audience of popular sitcoms such as Titus and King of Queens. Each of the many individual shows presented has about a two-page writeup, with ticket information, studio information, and clear instructions for becoming part of the show. Highly recommended for anyone with a serious interest in joining a television show audience, especially if the purpose is becoming a contestant!

the book arrived today and in perfect condition. thanks!

This book has a wealth of questions, which thoroughly test your knowledge of a variety of pharmaceutical topics, I found the bundled software to be the best part of this package.

This is one of the best preparations that you can use for epidemiology and biostatistics. The material is very high yield for usmle step 1 and it is an easy text to read. In the past, this text has been criticized for being long. However, I don't think that this kind of criticism has any merit. The text portion of this book is around 75 pages and can be read very quickly. The end consists of a practice test that really pins down the stuff that you need to know. There are also questions throughout the book as you read. Going through the entire text, I finished it in about 4 hours even with a minimal background in the subjects presented! I don't imagine that anyone would take much longer than 6. Keep in mind that this book is devoted to epidemiology and biostatistics, so don't think that it will get you ready for the behavioral science section alone. It will really help you understand the subjects quickly, though. It has been a life saver for my med school class that had terrible notes and lectures. If you need a boost in this subject then this is the book!

I took my USMLE in 1997, I found this review extremel helpfull, I did not have any problemes answering questions in USMLE, which I owe to the great presentation of Info, easy to remember the well organized materials, tables, figures. Now I am a resident, I easily remember the pages, tabletes. I frequently used before journal clubs. I recomended for every USMLE taker. It worth it, it deserve SIX Stars if possible.

very, very thorough book. it covers essentially every common diseaes state and the treatment for each. i highly recommend it.

Handbook includes disease states, and categorizes medications of primary choice, and provides secondary alternatives. There are excellent abbreviated text outlining etiology and pathophysiological parameters. As well as step wise flow charts as a decision tool and guideline. The tables for medication dosing and comparability between different classes of drugs are extremely helpful, visually and content wise! In hospital pharmacy practice, this handbook has been my peripheral brain.