Languages Books

I would definately recommend this book to teachers and parents of children in at least 3rd grade. This narrative book has unique and wonderful way of introducing so many vocabulary words. You can find something new each time you read it. Also it addresses quite well dealing with embarrassment. Sage is a great tool to start a discussion about how we can deal with making mistakes in a graceful mannor. Brush up on your vocabulary today!

I bought this book because I wanted to read something related to spelling to my 2nd graded daughter, but it was too difficult for her, and made her loose interest. Maybe in 1 or 2 years will be better.

a great book to read to your class as a lesson on the joys and pitfalls of enriching one's vocabulary.

This is a great book. It really helps students that need a visual aid for alliteration and dictionary skills. I use this as a brush up on vocabulary and as a cute little time eater!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I was excited to share it with my fifth grade class, and they were mesmerized from the very first words...and I began with the Extra Credit Assignment! Anyone who could have watched the enjoyment on the faces of those students would have already ordered their copy of this book. I can tell it was a hit because every student has requested to read it again themselves.

Buy this book! You will not be disappointed!

Unbelievably inspiring. I challenge you to compare his reading with any one else's or your own in your head. He makes it alive. Not perfect, mind you. You'll find yourself suggesting to him in certain spots that he missed the meaning by putting some emphasis or other on the wrong words. Nevertheless, you know you couldn't do better overall. A real treasure.

Great for a long drive or while driving cross town in Manhattan. You can debate the issues of suffering with Milton in your head.

Sure do wish it were the whole work.

First off, let me say that we're not talking here about the famous Qi gong instructor named John Milton. We're talking about the famous 17th-century English poet who wrote _Paradise Lost_ and _Paradise Regained_, two of the most wonderfully overlong Christian poems in the history of Western literature.

Your English teacher will tell you that _Paradise Lost_ "narrates the story of Adam and Eve's disobedience, explains how and why it happened, and places the story within the larger context of Satan's rebellion and Jesus' resurrection." And you know that can't be far wrong, because SparkNotes says the exact same thing.

But the main reason everyone should read Milton's grand epic is that it contains certain secrets about prayer.

In PL, Milton reminds us how important it is, when we pray, to be absolutely specific. The Lord has a strange, often disturbing, sense of humour (PL, books I-XII). If you leave Him wiggle room, He will answer your prayer in a way you never intended, and then say it was your own damned fault, because your prayer contained seven types of ambiguity.

John Milton writes from experience. Example: Almost every time a good-looking woman passed within view of John Milton, he suffered an involuntary erection. Daniel of the Old Testament might well have suffered such a condition without complaining, but John Milton found it onerous. John was both a Puritan and a student of Saint Augustine. He was not happy when he suffered an erection, he hated it, and he especially resented the women who made that thing happen to him.

In a Latin letter to his friend, George Wither, John Milton reports that, in his youth, he would sometimes see a pretty woman even in his dreams at night, and suffer, not just an erection, but the whole nine yards, up to and including a nocturnal emission; which he trained himself to handle according to Scripture, thereby to purify himself (Deut. 23:10); but sometimes he was unable to wait that long before he handled it, which filled his soul full of Puritan remorse and self-reproach.

At age 33, the poet took to wife a 16-year-old lolita named Mary Powell; and you may already have guessed the reason why, which is that she gave him an erection -- more accurately, she gave him "one damned erection after another," without remission. (Giving John Milton an erection was not the girl's conscious intent, but it just happened to him, every time they met.) And since Christian marriage is Saint Paul's only approved method whereby to deal with that kind of torment, John Milton (being an honourable man) thought it best to marry the girl (1 Cor. 7:9).

Frailty, thy name is woman! After two years of marriage - after just two years of witnessing those insufferable erections that could not be beaten down, or at least, not for long - the poet's young Puritan bride ran away and skipped back home to live with her mother, Mrs. Anne Powell, who likewise gave John an erection; which is why John Milton resented his mother-in-law as well as his estranged wife.

Those were the hardest years of the poet's life - nothing but a daily struggle against involuntary erections, yet here he was, trapped in a loveless marriage to a barely pubescent teenager who lived with her entirely-too-attractive mother. Which is partly why John Milton wrote those four revolutionary Christian pamphlets, correcting Moses' and Jesus' hardline policy on divorce (Mark 10:11-12).

In his Latin correspondence, some of which is preserved in the Bodleian Library, John Milton reports that he was fine when alone in his study, or when hobnobbing with Parliamentarians, or even when having a hasty pudding, or a figgy one, over at the Inns of Court; but let just one good-looker cross his path, showing good ankle between the hem of her dress and the top of her shoe, and it was boing! - instant erection, just like a spring-loaded mechanical device; causing John to exclaim bitterly, "Oh, God, please, not again! Save me from this penal fire!"

It even happened to him once when Oliver Cromwell's wife, Elizabeth Bourchier Cromwell, bent over to pick up a handkerchief that had fallen to the floor. On that occasion there was a lamentable accident ("an hard mishap" [verbatim quote]) with John's ordinarily modest codpiece - an incident so humiliating that John never even wrote a poem about it, although he did apologise, profusely, to Oliver Cromwell, and to Mrs. Cromwell, who saw the whole thing, and then fainted. (John at the time was employed as Cromwell's Latin secretary.)

By the way: It was modesty, not arrogance, that moved John Milton, after that embarrassing incident, to wear a baggy codpiece, with plenty of wiggle room.

Which brings me back to the beginning, when I was explaining why you should give the Lord no wiggle room when you pray: John Milton took his problem to the Lord in prayer, stating in his journal, "Father, I pray Thee, let me not suffer a stiffe joynt when I see a beautifull woman."

And here's how the Lord answered that prayer, in 1651: He struck John Milton blind.

At first, John thought that his blindness was a punishment for his own bad behaviour - which is how that whole thing got going, in Anglo-American Christianity, about how, if you are a boy who does what John Milton used to do, it could make you go blind. But God revealed to John, by means of a dream, that his blindness was actually an answer to his own prayers ¬- because the poet had said, "Father, let me not suffer a stiff joint when I see a beautiful woman."

John Milton then said, "Lord, that is not what I meant, at all" - but it was too late to change the outcome, because the prayer was already answered.

The erections that John Milton suffered in the years 1651-1674, and there were many, even after the Lord answered his prayer, were not from seeing a beautiful woman, it was actually because John had a condition that modern physicians call PSAS ("Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome"). So the chronic "stiffe joynt" problem was not really the women's fault, and it never was; but John Milton never knew that. Even when he wrote Paradise Lost (by dictation, from 1652-1667), John was still under the impression that women, seen or unseen, were to blame for his condition; which is why he makes all of those snide remarks in blank verse about your mother, Eve, in Books IV-V and IX-X of Paradise Lost. Because whenever he pictured Eve in his mind's eye, it was boing! - the same old problem. And there would come no more blank verse to his head for the next twenty minutes or so, until things settled down. John Milton hated that.

But it all turned out for the best: if God had not answered John Milton's prayer in that unusual way, by blinding him, Paradise Lost might never have been completed, and sold to the publisher, Sam Simmons, in 1667, for £5 - which was a tidy sum for a religious poem during the decadent Restoration era.

It was while writing the early books of Paradise Lost that John was introduced to Katherine, a ship captain's daughter, a fat woman whom he had never seen (because he was blind); whom he nonetheless married in 1656, but not for the same old reason as before: John asked fat Kate to marry him (a.) because he needed secretarial assistance with Paradise Lost, and (b.) because Katherine did not have the same pernicious effect on him as Mary Powell and her mother Anne had done. John could dictate blank verse to Kate all night long without feeling so much as a tingle down there.

Kate's surname was Woodcock. Beelzebub made a little joke about that: he said, "The Lord finally gave John Milton just what he always wanted."

- L.

My review is of the library binding edition released by Buccaneer Books. It is a very plain and small volume which is wonderfully bound. It contains nothing but the poem itself (including the prose arguments) with the original spelling and punctuation. That means no notes, commentary, or introduction, so if you're looking for lots of in-text help, this isn't what you want. The Fowler, Hughes, or Norton editions are all laden with helpful material like that. But if you just want to experience Milton's masterpiece alone, this is a lovely edition. I found that the book could be purchased much more cheaply if I ordered directly from the publisher's website.

Milton in Paradise Lost unfurls a morning star banner heralding the cosmic story of the fall of angels and men in language eminently civil. I am sure that Homer and Dante were Milton's schoolmasters yet Milton almost exceeds them in the slendid language and poetry of this epic creation. Philip Pullman said "No one, not even Shakespeare, surpasses Milton in his command of the sound, the music, the weight and taste and texture of English words". This is a poem of majesty and sublime lyricism as in Milton's description of Mulciber falling:
"from Morn
To Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve,
A Summer's day; and with the setting Sun
Dropt from the Zenith like a falling Star".
Each book of Paradise Lost is introduced with an argument, or summary. These arguments were written by Milton and added because early readers had requested a guide to the poem. Milton's purpose in this masterpiece is to tell about the fall of man and justify God's ways to man. When the angels battle in heaven at one point they pull up mountains and hills and throw them at each other: "So Hills amid the Air encounterd Hills Hurl'd to and fro with jaculation dire, That under ground, they fought in dismal shade." After their coup attempt in heaven Satan and the other rebel angels are lying stunned on a lake of fire. Satan rises from the lake and makes his way to the shore. He calls the other angels to do the same, and they assemble by and above the lake. Satan tells them that all is not lost and tries to cheer his followers. Led by Mammon and Mulciber, the fallen angels build their capital and palace Pandemonium. They decide to get at God through his new creation and Satan sets off on this mission. In reading Paradise Lost the poem reads the reader while being read. What I mean is that Milton lets his readers go awry in their affections and he corrects and instructs those misreadings as well as anticipates them. In this way the poem becomes a live text with meaning apprehended through the interplay between the peruser of the poem and the text itself. Milton allows the reader to subjectively question the justice of the current religious paradigm and then leads them back to the perspicacity of deity. Ultimately Paradise Lost is Milton's paean to a vast pattern in the universe, the disruption of that pattern by rebels, and the weaving of those rebellion threads back into an ever more beautiful tapestry.

This is a very useful book for will be speaker.
The book is very easy to read.
I'll recommend the book.

This is an informative and creative handbook aimed at the occasional to frequent presenter who may be nervous, unpolished, or just looking to improve. Kevin and Cyndi write colorfully, keeping your attention by using stories and short chapters devoted only to a narrow topic, intentionally making it easy to flip to what you need to know right now. The simple fact that they make the best of what could be dry material is enough to convince me that their suggestions have merit.

If your job includes speaking to audiences for the purpose of departing meaningful information, then you must add this book to your list. Every once in a while it is a great idea to polish your skills with the latest and greatest information. "Present like a Pro" is a well structured book that departs from clichés and goes into detail around the art of public speaking - from conquering the butterflies, to really impacting messages that stick!

I had the pleasure to meet Kevin a corporate training day a few week sbefore purchasing the book. I found him to be one of the most relevant, grounded and effective speakers I had ever attended. Once I found he had co-authored this book, I bought it within days.

This book is one of the finer books on public speaking I've ever reviewed. The beauty of it is in it's ability to be used in many ways. For instance, if you just want to hit key chapters relevent to your particular engagement it even offers which ones to read. It also offers a end-to-end approach which I think flows well for those who need a complete point of view in their speaking.

I would take issue with a previous review noting the lack of A\V embesshiments to speaking such as powerpoint... This is a book on building successfull tactics to speaking. It offers key strategies to prepare, connect and flow with your audience.

I have always dreaded speaking myself, not out of phobia, but out of a lack of confidance to think on my feet. This book really identifies why a good presenter has made themselves good and how we can use those same techniques.

I have attended a few "be a better speaker" workshops which focus on a few of the ideas presented here. The difference in this book is in it's completeness and relevence. I will bring it with me to every speach I make from now on.

I bought this book last year based on the reputation of one of the authors. I present about 25 times a year and I found the book very useful. I used a number of tips and techniques immediately with good results. The authors practice what they preach in their writing structure and style, proving the effectiveness of some of their techniques/points.

This book does for Ruby what Kernighan & Ritchie's "The C Programming Language" did for C. It provides a concise, accessible introduction to the Ruby programming language.

Starting out with a tour of Ruby, you are then taken on a deeper dive into chapters on "Structure and Execution", "Datatypes and Objects", "Expressions and Operators", and "Statements and Control Structures". Some of the real power of Ruby is revealed in chapters on "Methods, Procs, Lambdas, and Closures", "Classes and Modules", and "Reflection and Metaprogramming".

The book closes with chapters on "The Ruby Platform" and "The Ruby Environment". The chapter on the Ruby Platform is like a condensed API guide to Ruby's core library. The chapter on the Ruby Environment will help you navigate through the Ruby interpreter's command-line arguments and environment variables as well as a grab-bag of extra Ruby topics that were not covered earlier in the book.

The book is well organized and easy to read. Each chapter is peppered with code samples. If you are serious about learning Ruby, get this book! It sits on my bookshelf, next to a copy of the Pickaxe book and The Ruby Way. Bonus: each chapter of the book starts with a work of art by why the lucky stiff!

The Ruby Programming Language is my new favorite Ruby book. I personally think it is a better text than the famous "Pickaxe" book. While the Pickaxe has a great class/module reference (it's over half of the book, after all), the actual explanations of how Ruby works in The Ruby Programming Language are clearer and go into much more depth. Most importantly for me, The Ruby Programming Language covers some of the more complicated topics, such as metaprogramming, with MUCH more depth. From the Pickaxe alone I had trouble understanding how some of these Ruby features worked. But with this new book, it's much clearer.

If you want the defacto Ruby book, this is it.

This book is quite simply one of the finest software development books ever written. The style, the length, the scope, and the structure are all absolutely perfect. The balance creates a reading experience that seemingly opens a channel to your brain and feeds the information in.

Flanagan is a master author of technical books, especially languages. His JavaScript book is equally well done. Matsumoto's unique technical mastery here leaves no stone unturned. And even the artwork by "why the lucky stiff" added a fun element that just rounded out the book as the best in its class.

If I could forget the whole thing, just so I could read it again, I would. It is that good.

Really found this to be an excellent guide to the Ruby programming language. This is definitely not just the API rehashed in print.

The difference in the style of this book and some others, in my opinion, is the difference between a map and a travel guide. A map may show you what and where things are, and may even be useful for figuring out how to go between locations, a travel guide will often include maps plus the inside scoop on what is interesting.

This book is similar. The writing style is like having an expert sit down and explain to you the various facets of the language, how to use them, points that are notable, etc. And all of this content is within a reasonable 400 pages.

Highly recommended.

I wish every book about a programming language was written like this one:

First, it is fairly compact and doesn't waste space (and your time) explaining to you what is a byte or a register, like some 800 page "volumes about everything" do. It correctly assumes that the reader is a programmer and explains the language, not the programming.

Second, it covers Ruby in depth. Read this book and you'll easily understand the most craziest Ruby code examples that could be found inside of Rails and other popular libraries. Moreover, I've found a few tricks in the book that I don't believe I saw in the wild.

And finally, author's language is very clean, free of buzzwords and needless repetitions. As always with O'Reilly books, this one is also very neatly structured and makes an excellent reference book.

Buy it.

This book is easy on Beginners. Load Linux to your machine and work on the examples. You will become good at it.

The format is good and you eat one bite at a time.

I like easy to read book and I also assumed that learning UNIX is not necessarily has to a struggle. This book stood up to my expectations almost perfectly: it is very well written and clearly expressed work. It does not overwhelm with technical details and does not press too much. I followed an advise in some review and purchased Linux and UNIX for a beginner training suite, 4DVDs + 2CDs includes 4 Unix Academy Certifications ed.2008. These two nicely complement one another. You watch it and you read it. If you didn't catch it from the first try you watch it again and read it again. In two months I found myself confident to that extend that gave advises to our system administrator and he accepted them because there were subjects that he wasn't completely sure. It is a way to start.
I can't overstate how much I have learned from them. Don't be naive, though. You will have to learn and memorize many things. The fact of owning neither book nor DVD will not make you knowledgeable, but if you will work it trough, trust me, you will surprise many people around!

The book is a real help when you struggle with new operating system's commands and horrible command line syntax. I paired this book with "UNIX Essentials" DVD and can't be happier! Book shows conception the DVD shows complete workflow! WOW! That is really smooth learning.
The book is very well logically organized and easy to navigate and it is free from stupid repetitions that many other books have!

I found this book has some useful tricks that compensates for the chapters that maybe useless to someone who been using UNIX for sometime. This book made my life easier since I needed a book where I can get some of the useful Unix commands yet a little description with it to help me get by

The book is easy to use and understand, good choice for beginners, but might be a bit wordy for advanced users.

Its structure is very similar to a reference book, runs along the UNIX commands in 17 chapters, and provides enough information and examples to their usage. It contains three appendices summarizing the UNIX files and directories, the UNIX commands and their flags. It contains no theoretic essays at all, so if you are interested in the inner working or philosophy of UNIX, this book is not for you.

I liked that it uses a color (red) to distinguish the commands and flags from the output. I was glad to find links to the related topics inside the book, but missed a bibliography. And I missed one or more full chapters paying attention to the most popular implementations such as Solaris, AIX.

Palumbo is a writer turned psychotherapist. He saw all his own problems writing, and understood others also had them, and found his new voaction counceling other authors at various stages in their careers. As such the book differs from most other writer's guide books. He focuses on the internal processes of writing: self-doubt, negative judgement, hopelessness, loneliness, lack of ideas, etc. And he does give very valuable advice. Basically, he tells us to turn our weaknesses into strenghts. We can use anything in our writing, even our procrastination and depression. An idea that actullay goes back all the way to Nietzsche.
Thios book will not write anything for you, but it will help give new clarity to your thoughts about writing, and in that way help you with your writing.

One of the most humane and heartening books on the perils of the writing life I've come across, it's hard to recommend it highly enough. I'd give it more than 5 stars if I could.

Based on his own career as a writer and as a therapist, Palumbo knows all the secret agonies serious writers face; and he has, through experience, gathered wisdom for dealing with all of them. He imparts this wisdom in gentle, down-to-earth chapters that always stress the real over the theoretical.

I came across this book at just the right time (recommended, I think, in one of Elizabeth Lyon's terrific writing guides) and now I don't know how I ever got along without it. I have a copy next to the chair where I work; I will refer to it often, and recommend it heartily.

Just what the doctor ordered for writers who wrestle with the demands of the writing life, which is all of us. Palumbo is a healer, and this book now lives on my nightstand.

Eric Maisel's "Living the Writer's Life" is one of the best books I've found on the writer's life, right up there with Rachel Simon's "The Writer's Survival Guide". Palumbo's, unfortunately, is not so spectacular, although it definitely has its merits.

One of Palumbo's best-conceived ideas is that in order to be happy with our writing, we must learn to enjoy the process for its own sake, not simply for external rewards such as sales and good reviews. I particularly like his view of writing as meditation, "a hushed, private space"--a calling more than a career. Palumbo talks about the problems all writers face, and it might help you to realize that you aren't so alone after all.

As much as I loved the good parts of Palumbo's book, however, there were definitely some parts I didn't like. For example, I took real issue with some of his claims regarding bipolar disorder, particularly his claim that bipolar is nothing more than an unhelpful label. As someone who HAS bipolar disorder (a genetically-inherited, biologically-based *illness*), and whose life was very much aided by the proper medication, I can say that such "labels" can be very helpful indeed! If you're worried about somehow losing your creativity if you medicate and calm your manic phases, I can personally testify to the fact that in many cases medication makes it much easier to actually sit down and take advantage of your creativity, rather than taking it away.

It is clear that Palumbo has some very strong feelings on certain matters, and every few chapters these feelings detract from the usefulness of the book. He bashes would-be writers who haven't yet written anything, comparing them to someone who says that they've always wanted to give heart surgery a try one of these weeks (the analogy holds merit in that writing requires skill, but falls apart in that writing requires more learning-by-doing, and can at least be attempted, explored, and practiced by the unskilled!). If there's one thing I took away from Maisel's book, it's that every writer was once a would-be writer. And the line between "wanna-be" and "would-be" isn't something we can assume just by looking at someone.

I don't recommend this book to the novice or "would-be" writer. Unlike Maisel's book, it's likely to give you a few skewed ideas about creativity and your own role in writing. On the other hand, it has a lot of very useful suggestions for writers who have some experience and are looking for help with the ups and downs of their craft. Palumbo has written lots of scripts and screenplays, so he has plenty of advice that is of particular use to those writers dealing with Hollywood.

For many years I experienced writer's block, lonliness, doubt, fear of rejection and just plain fear. Just like the summary on the back of the book. I am glad that I am not alone and it made me realize that is part of the the writing life. This book gives hope and support that yes you can make it as a writer maybe not the riches in terms of money but maybe to quench your thirsty soul. Dennis Palumbo doesn't give away all his secrets(of course he still has a practice to run as a psychotherapist) but enough answers to make you realize yes you are not nuts or crazy but simply a writer. A good reference book to keep by your writing desk whenever you feel down or have the inevitable writer's block.

Truly an excellent guide to the romantic comedy genre and how to write within it. Perfect for an intermediate writer who wants to branch out into this kind of screenwriting; could even be useful for short stories and novels, because the ideas translate well. Very well written, entertaining, never boring, and always enlightening. Loved it and consider it a must-have in my screenwriting/writing library.

I recommend this book for all writers - not just screenwriters. He has a way of making it so clear all the clever ways not to fall into the usual traps of a typical scene.

Whether you are writing a book or a movie the information he presents how to establish relationships between characters is tremendous. It's also a fun read.

I refer to it often when building characters, relationships, and their world.

This IS the book for anyone interested in writing a romantic comedy. Simple and easy to follow with great examples from films we love. It's all about the chemistry. If you want to write an emotional picture...this is the book for you. Writing the Romantic Comedy is your ticket to writing a romcom that sells!

I've been working on my text for a while and struggling with
it. Once I start reading the book I knew I was in right hands because page after page I immediately start finding out answers for my questions. I gained time and saved much of my energy for writing the better. Definitely value of my money.
ILKSEN BAS f/36

As a writer, this book woke up my muse and honed my funnybone. A completely easy-to-read how-to-write book ... what a bonus! The book is perfect for writers in other genres and anyone looking to write humour and comedy.

If you want to be a children's creative, get this book. It is an invaluable resource. (It's the key to my getting my book published.)

A fabulous tool for those who want to be a childrens book author. Alot of info about the publishing companies, what they are looking for , if they accept unsolicited work etc... A wonderful and useful book, recommended for anyone trying to break into that genre of work.

What is our obsession in the industry for dead tree? Sure, it is great to hold a book in your hand, but why must I lug around many pounds of books for essential reference when I would happily pay the same amount for locked PDF?

I am mobile right now, moving from Europe to Asia to America. Lugging this book around is not fun.

Pleasseee, get over the obsession with killing trees and provide a PDF option.

This is a great resource. It lists lots of publishers and details about them.

This book is instrumental in providing much needed information regarding the childen's writing and publishing industry. It is a must for all writer's of children's literature. There is a ton of information in it to guide you as the writer/author to submit your manuscript to the appropriate publisher. You can find exactly what you are looking for in this wonderful book.
Cheryl A. Martin, M.A. Author of "Woman Reclining"Woman Reclining

I looked high and low, and this has to be the best option for developing an LDAP or ADSI component in C++. Find this out of print book and buy it instead of buying another book that is still in print.

Really awesome AD programming book. Covers all the basics of AD and ADSI and then dives into the LDAP API which all other authors try to avoid and dont cover well. You do not need any other AD programming books if you have this one.

Very good book, extensively covers LDAP programming
unlike others.

I've struggled with using LDAP and this explains it all with code samples, which for the likes of makes it easy to learn and best of all Copy and Paste

Really awesome AD programming book. Covers all the basics of AD and ADSI and then dives into the LDAP API which all other authors try to avoid and dont cover well. You do not need any other AD programming books if you have this one.

The book is good for beginners. All you need to know to get started with Unix/Linux programming.

I bought this book in order to get an overview on what primitives I have available on a unix system for doing system programming. I found the book to be very useful for that purpose.

I use it occasionally.

I also found my peers lending it from me again and again.

To summarize: useful.

I am a systems administrator professionally, but I have a need to know the inner workings of UNIX that only seems to be covered in programming books. Specifically relating to certain system calls and interprocess communication methods.

This author has forgotten more about UNIX than I will ever grasp. While this book is dedicated to programming applications in UNIX and understanding the operating system's function calls, I am finding it to be a very handy reference for advanced system administration as well. The book is worth the price just for the chapters on process communication, in my opinion.

I really like the author's writing style. He gets down to business and covers the material without adding a lot of needless fluff or by making the chapters overly wordy.

The book is designed to server as a reference and is well-indexed, which is refreshing to find these days. It's very easy to find a topic you need as not everyone will need the amount of depth covered by each chapter in full.

I wish there were more UNIX books out there like this one.

What's more to say, the title say's it all... Buy it!

This is an exceptional introduction to Unix features that most people won't see in every-day programming. The feature that Rochkind starts with may be the most problematic: portability. There have historically been dozens of Unices (sp?), all slightly different from each other. Even today, there are a number of different implementations in use, with small but maddening incompatibilities between them. Rochkind not only addresses the more common ones, he shows the standards-based ways of dealing with their differences.

After that, Rochkind goes over read/write/open/close/ioctl again, dealing with [a]synchronous subtleties that can mean a 100x difference in performance, backed by code samples and timing measurements. The rest of the book deals with multi-process applications, including communication and distributed processing issues. That includes process groups, interprocess communication (with all its system-dependent weirdness), sockets, and signals.

This isn't for the beginner or for the kernel developer, but never meant to be for either. It is a good, readable introduction to protentially tricky parts of the Unix API. I recommend it strongly to anyone building their own library of Unix references.

//wiredweird