News and Media Books

This book is the best tutorial for learning 3ds Max that I've read. It is not for novices, in that it assumes you know the 3ds Max interface. However, it is a step-by-step guide for creating professional quality animations for broadcast media. The author works for MSNBC. He breaks down 3 real-world projects in an easy-to-understand way, from storyboards to final output. This single book jump-started my understanding of complex modeling and animation techniques using 3ds Max. Although this book was made for version 4 of the program (the program is currently in version 9), the interface has not changed significantly in that it would make this book obsolete. I used it using version 6 and returned to it in version 8 with no difficulties. Well worth your time.

I am a beginner user of Viz and Max and will be using it for architectural 3D rendering. What I look for in a text book are lengthy tutorial exercises. I want to know step by step everything that I have to do to reproduce what the author is showing. This book is great for that. There are three main excercises that go the full length of the 550 pages of this book. As an example the 2002 voting machine tutorial goes from pages 182 to 315, covering each step of the construction. Chismar even includes alternate means of construction to show why one method works better than other methods.

I am looking forward to an updated book by Chismar on the lastest release of Max. I have not heard if one is being made.

One slight drawback...Chismar does not deal with the possiblities of drawing and rendering for architecture. If the new release of Max does include the architectural functions of Viz, then there will be a need for tutorials on those items. None the less the command structure of the software for Viz and Max is virtually the same, so learning that part from Chismar's book is still very important.

The most important feature of this book is the lengthy step by step tutorials. This is the first thing I look for in a computer book - to see that the tutorials are long. to me this indicates that the writer is very thorough with all steps in the project and does not leave out important steps along the way.

If you buy used make sure the disk is included.

Overall, it is a good book with clear instruction for intermediate user.

I give it 4 stars since it doesn't tell you the detailed procedures to reproduce the cool special effect described in the Part 4 (Real World Case Stuides).

This book is a fantastic example of how all computer text books should be structured - Step-by-step tutorials that demonstrate experienced solutions to real-world projects. I know I speak for many people when I say that I learn by DOING, not by reading paragraphs upon paragraphs of text and lengthy descriptions of "what this app can do for you". No one likes to attempt to digest a "features description" manual and try to piece together the various complexities of a high-end application like 3DS MAX from various disjointed sources. I need a seasoned, talented professional, with years of industry experience, to step me through exactly how an application performs various industry tasks, e.g. how to make a 30-second TV spot from scratch, how to make a highly-professional News program opener, or how to make robotic-looking voting machines animated together in a 3-camera shoot. John Chrismar performs this tasks with a detail and finesse that is extremely hard to find in the computer textbook industry. I look for this style in every computer book I pick up, but don't often find it, if at all. The industry giants on the programming side of the industry, like Wrox Press, should use John's book as an example of how to write an effective computer textbook. Don't waste my time with information overload, stuffed together losely by a quasi-team of 6 geeks. SHOW ME how you solved a problem with the application or programming language, from start to finish, while I follow along, bit by bit, line by line, click by click. Show me how to build a genuine and valuable creation using the tool you are teaching me to use. This is exactly what John does.

I started with the last of three tutorials and worked backward through the book, because the News Program Opener tutorial looked the most intriguing. I learned more about 3DS MAX after that one tutorial then I had by reading the documentation or from any of the other three 3DS MAX books I own. I saw someone else mention that there were some small mistakes and missed "figure" numbers on the screenshots here and there, but this did not detract from completing the tutorials in the slightest. Two extra seconds of thought got me passed these minor editing oversights very easily, and they were very minor in comparison to most computer textbooks.

It was beyond refreshing to witness and practice along with a professional at work from beginning to end: from importing your vectors from Illustrator, to cleaning up the splines, to extruding, modelling each piece, assembling, naming conventions, creating materials, shortcuts, to animating, adding a soundtrack, right down to post-production and final render. I absolutely can not stand books where Step 1 is "Import our half-finished Design #643.2 from our accompanying CD-ROM". Not the case with this book. You are stepped through the process, end to end. When you are done with each tutorial, you have a finished work of media art THAT YOU CREATED and a head full of usable, retainable 3DS MAX knowledge that can be carried into any job or hobby.

Excellent job, John. You have gained a new fan. I will purchase your other books, regardless of topic. :D

Thank you.

Lydia Hiby is a phenomenon. This book about her experiences and process is fascinating. As we have had past and current clients (cats) in our family, this book answers questions that we just never got around to asking...and then some. If you are cynic, this probably won't change you mind (though it should). Highly recommended.

I have used Lydia's communicating services in helping my cats through behaviorial problems and even the death of a cat. I was anxious to read her book and when it arrived in the mail and I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. The stories are heartwarming and inspirational to all who love animals. I strongly recommend this book to every animal lover, who like myself, wishes to talk to animals.

What an awakening Ms Hiby's book provided me. She can help us all regain some basics from our earliest childhood. There's a whole world of communication and thought going on among the animals, and we miss most of it because we've grown up parroting what we were told..."they can't talk", "we don't really hear them". Well, fortunatly for me, Lydia Hiby in her simple, honest, and loving book, has reopened my mind and 'ears'. I DO remember talking with dogs and cats and cows and ducks and pigs when I was a little girl on my folks' farm. It was just part of life. That WAS my first language. Then I went to elementary school and all my focus was shifted to humans and what I now consider my second language...English. So, as I read her book and absorbed each additional example of the compassion, and understanding that the non-human creatures have of our limited and egocentric species, I remembered. The very simple awareness that reopens this 'hidden world' for us was pointed out by this lovely book, and generously shared by this talented author and communicator. I'm thankful and enriched.

I got this book as a gift from a friend who had Lydia do a reading on her horse. I have always been facinated with anyone who can talk to the animals and was thrilled to find a section where I could learn how to do it! I had previously purchased "how to" video tapes and was very dissappointed to find that they had no instructional value and were just testimonials about the communicator. This book was a facinating read and a great guideline! My dog and I are most grateful!

This book is written from the heart! The experiences are insightful and moving. It opens the mind to the potential within us to deepen our bond not only with our own companions, but with all animals on this planet. The techniques outlined are the building blocks to develop the "communicator" inside us all. Lydia and her book have opened a new world for me. She has dedicated her life to her gift and has inspired me to follow in her footsteps. Everyone has their own talent and path and none of us is perfect. It is through our humanity that we learn and grow every day. This book has made a monumental difference in my life and has taught me that all is possible if you come from a loving place in your heart!

I bought this book for my five-year-old grandson before his tonsillectomy. He absorbed the information that was read to him and sailed through the procedure with flying colors. He knew exactly what to expect, so he calmly did everything that was required. It was a tremendous help in preparing him.

I have a 3 1/2 yr old granddaughter who was going to have surgery and wanted some way to prepare her at her level. This book is great! Would recommend to anyone with a child having surgery.

My step son is 5 and he's starting to learn how to read...I'll read to him and he'll re-read what I jsut read. It's helping him learn words. The story is great and easy to follow!

This is a good book to talk about getting sick, seeing a doctor, taking x-ray and going to the hospital. Not a lot of words, but the pictures say it all. It describes how Franklin noticed a crack on his shell, then went to see the doctor and found out he needed a surgery. Then it shows him telling his friends about his upcoming surgery, then going to the hospital for admission, then to his private room, then surgery, recover..

The most amazing part is how much detail it gets into. For example, Franklin has to go to the x-ray room by himself (he was allowed to take his stuff animal), with his parents waiting outside. Also before he went into surgery room, he had to say goodbye to his parents, etc.

This book was a great help to prepare my 4 year old daughter for surgery. Once she was at the hospital, everything was known and already seen in the book and she had fun.. I highly recommend it to relieve the anxiety before a surgery

Reading books about cats to a preschooler, you come upon many books with more wishful thinking than actual knowledge of how cats behave. I'm thinking of those sweet, sweet books in which cat 1 happily accepts cats 2, 3, 4, etc. and they are all best buddies. Alas, that is not how real cats interact. But Charlotte Voake obviously knows cats better than that. Her story of captures the territorial instinct of a cat confronted by a newcomer as perfectly as her illustrations capture the marvelous range of expression in feline posture. Despite the realism, she manages a plausible happy ending that made me laugh out loud. A little gem for cat lovers aged 3 to 300.

I have read many books to my two children over the years (we love to read together) and this is one of our favorites. It is especially good for the younger ones. The story is sweet and gentle and yet full of humor. The illustrations are really engaging -- for both adults and children. Charlotte Voake draws the best cats ever! Funny and warm, this is the perfect bedtime book.

Here is another good book by Charlotte Voake, a woman who obviously knows something about cats.

In this book Ginger gets a new 'friend'. The kitten though proves to be more friend that Ginger can handle and Ginger stocks off to pout.

As a mom I like that this book can be used to teach sensitivity to the needs of others. And though it's not a problem we have, I could certainly see using this book as a segway to discussing certain impending family changes... such as a new child coming.

Four Stars. [B+]. Artwork is even better than in "Ginger Finds a Home". [Ginger is a fat cat now.] Very good read-aloud. Very good art. My two children (boy and girl) love this book.

This is a book about Ginger, a lovely orange tabby who belongs to a little girl who loves him. However, she rocks Ginger's world by bringing home a new kitten, who wants to play with Ginger, eat his food, sleep in his basket, etc. Ginger takes the slightly implausible way out of going and hiding in the garden in the rain (behind the refrigerator is more like it.) But all's well that end's well, with everyone friends.

This book is often pigeon-holed as the book for introducing toddlers to the idea of a baby brother or sister, but it also speaks to the cat lover in all of us. We have a cat and a 21-month old, and this book is right at the top of her list. The illustrative style is whimsical without being saccarine, and the kitten's penchant for muscling in on Ginger's food, bed, etc. is true to cats as well as babies everywhere. We both love this book, and look forward to its 101th reading. You will too.

This book is so sweet and the illustrations so simple that I enjoy it as much as my son. It is also a very calm and tender read, perfect for bedtime!

This book is very unique in the fact you expect it to be about a haunted house but actually the main subject is the struggle of growing up different. I got this book because I love haunted house stories but I have to admit I got more than I bargained for. The author did a good job bringing her awkwardness and pain to life especially when he was almost discovered with his sister's bridal dress on in the attic by his father! I don't believe in the gay issues but I felt very sorry for Jimmmy as a boy who was so confused and noone to turn to and I really believe considering the fact he did have sexual feelings for a couple of females and the desire to change that he could have if he had gotta the help he needed. All and all it was a very well told memoir and her personality really came thru in the story.

A fascinating story woven with the backdrop of a transgender young man haunted both by his phsyical identity and the physical haunting of a house in main line Philadelphia. It is a very poignant, at times sad and then humorous book. I deeply admire the struggle of the author and the way in which she wrote this moving story. The call to be real and to "find ourselves" is one in which we all struggle to achieve on varying levels.

This book picked up steam after a chapter or two and never ceased to be less than enthralling. Boylan's story of growing up transgendered and in a haunted house is a tale that probably no one else can tell, and she does a remarkable job. Even better than She's Not There, in I'm Looking Through You Boylan recounts a rich childhood and adolescence filled with love, doubt, pain, joy, and how both the living and the dead have an impact on our lives. A surprisingly addictive read, and highly recommended.

At first glance I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir seems to be about growing up in a haunted house, but it's much more than that. Author Jennifer Finney Boylan uses the near-translucent spirits inhabiting her family home as a metaphor for her dissociated youth. She spent her first 40 years as James Boylan, the boy's and man's body a bad fit for her soul.

The Boylan family moved to the aptly named "Coffin House" on Philadelphia's Main Line, and at once young James began to observe ghostly shapes drifting through the rooms. Through the teen years and in later visits as a young adult, alienated by feelings that "James" was meant to be "Jenny," the author continued to experience the ghosts. In more recent years, after transgender surgery turned James into Jenny at last, she visited the house with a "ghostbusting" team and came to a better understanding of the strange presence and what it was foreshadowing to the boy, near-translucent himself.

This memoir follows the theme of author Boylan's earlier book She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders, expanding on her life with a full cast of eccentric extended family members and friends. Boylan's humor has a dark cast; she deflects her serious moods with lightning-quick turnarounds, yet the reader never doubts her seriousness. The book is full of music and cultural references that at times are the only tethers holding Jenny/James in the real world.

Parent and partner, professor, friend, musician, daughter, sister -- some of Boylan's relationships have thrived and some suffered. Her books leave me believing that, as she states, she's "solid" at last. I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir is not your everyday memoir but it will make you think -- about ghosts, but especially about the human experience.

Linda Bulger, 2008

I didn't know jack (or jill) about Jennifer Finney Boylan when I picked up this book. I was only interested because it was described as a "growing up in a haunted house" memoir, and I can't get enough of the paranormal.

Imagine my surprise when a few pages in I discover that Jenny was formerly Jimmy.

At first I was annoyed at what I perceived as falst advertising. But in no time I found myself captivated by Jenny's unique voice and perspective. She captures perfectly the goofiness of teenagers in the '70s, with all cultural references intact. The section on Jimmy's first job as a bank teller had me laughing out loud because it reminded me so much of my first job.

By the end of the book, I loved both Jimmy and Jenny, and the whole haunted angle was almost a moot point.

I'm looking forward to reading more by this talented writer.

This book is great for boys and girls alike, but especially poignant for young boys who still want their sleepy pals but also want to be thought of as grown-up! If you can get them to read it with the attitude of the characters, you'll smile the entire time you're reading. Dont' let this one get by you!

These books are perfect. His ear for spoken language is dead-on. It's a joy to read aloud.

This is one of the sweetest bedtime stories, getting kids ready for sleeping over with a reassuring message. Best of all, it features two little boys. There's not a lot of gentle message kids books out there that feature little boys.

This is timeless kiddie lit story: Ira is invited to his first sleep over. Ira's older sister, however, casts doubt in Ira's mind. Will Reggie laugh because Ira sleeps with a teddy bear? Should he go with or without his beloved teddy? His parents are supportive and Ira makes his decision, only to change his mind once again.

Jim Trealease, of Read-Aloud fame, read this story, with appropriate voices to a group of teachers. I was so enchanted with it that later, when I taught high school, I asked permission of my seniors to tell them Ira Sleeps Over. They loved it!

Not having read the book nor able to check it out from a library, I relied totally on reviewers 5 star comments when deciding to purchase this book. Just about 1/3 the way into the book my parental radar piqued at the conversation between Reggie and Ira concerning ghost stories, "scary, creepy, spooky ghost stories." To my sorrow, no mention or even allusion of this was in any of the reviews.

My youngest 3 children (two 5 year olds and a 7 year old) are from a culture that emphasizes ghosts, the boogie man, evil spirits, etc. in a demonic fashion. Prior to becoming part of our family, ghosts were used as a form of disciplne to terrorize them to comply and obey. Even after having them in our family for a year they still struggle with the memories of these demons. Since the ghost story is the climax in Ira Sleeps Over, I do not recommend this book.

Sabrinas Aunts apply her for a Summer camp consellor job. They put her down as having many other jobs alike elsewhere which is a lie. So welcome the highest consellor theyve ever had. So shes put in charge of cabin 13- the troublemakers cabin. But when they get too much she puts them under an obedience spell. Can she keep it up though when they are losing every competition?

Sabrina's lonely. Harvey's away to Europe with his Mum + Dad and Libby's flanting it in France.So her aunts zap a counselor résumé that makes her sound brilliant. So Sabrina and stowaway Salem are off 2 Camp Bearclaw.Then there's the bad news. She get cabin 13. the trouble-maker cabin.So food fights and running aways are a daily occurous.But so Sabrina finally loses her temper and cast a spell to make her camper act like angels. But her campers are 2 good. Can Sabrina win the Tug of War competition? And can she remove the spell? Read and find out!

This was definetly one of the best Sabrina books. It wascreative and funny. I really liked it a lot, and if you read it, youshould like it too.

ive read about 15 of the sabrina books and this is my favorite it even beats showdown at the mall. Its so good like all of john vornholt's books, as my favorite buffy the vampire slayer book is 'coyote moon' also written by john vornholt hes a great orthor. i think what makes the book good is it has comedy,romance,fun ect all in one book also its easy to relate to if you have been to summer camp. This is definatley my favorite and ive read many.

This is THE best Sabrina book of them all. Sabrina uses herwit, diplomacy and just a little magic to tame the wildest bunch ofkids at her summer camp. If you like Sabrina, read this book first.

Connell's extended character sketch is as close to perfect as novels come. His depiction of a mid-century St. Louis housewife haunted by the limitations placed her on society, but too timid to directly confront those limitations (even in her own mind) is both deeply touching and often wildly funny. Connell never lets his humor become mocking, however; he clearly has great love for the character he has developed here. Although the companion novel Mr. Bridge is excellent, this is the better of the two.

Evan S. Connell's "Mrs. Bridge" is one of the truly outstanding works of Twentieth century American literature, a restrained, yet brilliantly wrought fictional portrait of upper middle class married life in the decades surrounding World War II. Connell tells the story of India Bridge in 117 short chapters, each a spare vignette of her enervated life in the perfectly manicured "country-club district" of an affluent Kansas City suburb. Linear in its narrative and meticulously realistic in its style, "Mrs. Bridge" follows India's life from marriage, to the birth of three children, to the rejection by those children of the repressed life of their parents as they grow into adults, to lonely suburban widowhood. While it is, at its heart, a grim tale of one woman's life of repression and, ultimately, loneliness and resignation, Connell's flawless and restrained narrative ultimately leaves the reader feeling exhilarated at the sheer literary achievement of "Mrs. Bridge".

Ostensibly the story of a marriage, Mr. Bridge is noticeably absent from much of the narrative. A successful lawyer, he is a man who is unable to express love or affection for his wife or his children, a man who is focussed on becoming "rich and successful," the epitome of the status-conscious husband and father whose identity lies in material possessions. "The family saw very little of him. It was not unusual for an entire week to pass without any of the children seeing him. On Sunday morning they would come downstairs and he . . . greeted them pleasantly and they responded deferentially, and a little wistfully because they missed him. Sensing this, he would redouble his efforts at the office in order to give them everything they wanted."

Mrs. Bridge, too, is powerfully repressed, unable to articulate her feelings of dissatisfaction, a woman who is beholden to the expectations of respectability and obsessed with appearances. "She brought up her children very much as she herself had been brought up, and she hoped that when they were spoken of it would be in connection with their nice manners, their pleasant dispositions, and their cleanliness, for these were qualities she valued above all others." Thus, she ultimately drives all three of her children from her life, her unthinking obeisance to social convention destroying any thread of relationship that she might have had with them. Her oldest daughter, "curiously dark", flees to New York City, where she pursues her more unconventional dreams. Her second daughter, an accomplished golfer, enters an ill-fated marriage with a college dropout who cannot provide the country club life that she has been weaned to expect. Her son joins the army, asserting an act of individuality that Mrs. Bridge never seems able to accept or reconcile.

It is, most notably, however, in her relationships with her peers-with the other affluent housewives of the "country-club district"-that the grim and vapid nature of Mrs. Bridge's life becomes most apparent. In particular, her friend Grace Barron becomes a kind of outward manifestation of India Bridge's discontent, someone who lives a life of equal desperation, but not so quietly as Mrs. Bridge. Grace Barron "was a puzzle and was disturbing" to Mrs. Bridge. Why? Because she actually questioned the life she led, moving outside the banal, the conventional, if only in her discourse. As Grace once said to Mrs. Bridge: "India, I've never been anywhere or done anything or seen anything. I don't know how other people live, or think, even how they believe. Are we right? Do we believe the right things?"

Unlike Mrs. Bridge, who talked of "antique silver, Royal Doulton, Wedgwood, the price of margarine as compared to butter, or what the hemline was expected to do," Grace Barron talked of "art, politics, astronomy, literature." Ultimately, Grace cannot cope with the ennui, the claustrophobia of her life, and she does what Mrs. Bridge ultimately lacks the fortitude to do; in a sense, Grace is a sort of "double" who acts out the dark alternative to Mrs. Bridge's repression. And when Grace does act, all that comes to Mrs. Bridge's mind is something Grace once said to her: "Have you ever felt like those people in the Grimm fairy tale-the ones who were all hollowed out in the back?"

Denounced in 1959 for not being a 'real' novel, Mrs. Bridge is judged differently these days--and rightly so. The novel is a compelling portrait of American suburban bourgeois life; reading it causes precisely the same claustrophobia Mrs. Bridge sometimes realizes she's suffering from. In a way, this is Sartre's La Nausee moved to Kansas City, but an easier read--almost deceptively so. Closing the book though doesn't really relieve the angst the reader shares with poor Mrs. Bridge in the final section (no I won't give it away)--this book is too real. Don't look for plot, don't look for cheap thrills, but do look for detail, look for the Real peeking into Mrs. Bridge's seemingly perfect life in the Imaginary.

I'll be brief: others have said plenty. Just one quick remark: Connell is a stylist of the highest order. His prose is crisp; style matches subject matter. Example: "It was necessary to be careful among people you did not know." Every sentence is carefully crafted to the point where grammar itself becomes a web of cleanliness, clear and transparent. It may seem nothing special, but Connell is a craftsman. All the more striking, both in grammar and in plot, are the few moments, aporia, where something else could have happened--such as when Mr. Bridge is breathlessly studying, in Paris, "a black lace brassiere with the tips cut off," a moment Mrs. Bridge returns to later with vague uneasiness.

I am glad I was recently introduced to Connell's work. It is a treasure trove, and it's a pity so few of his works are still in print. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more of his novels to read: Deus Lo Volt! is next.

This book is a sharply written work of literary realism, and paints a crisp portrait of the very prim and proper Mrs. Bridge. By the end of the book I was thankful that we all (hopefully) live in less repressed times -- a sentiment made possible because of Mr. Connell's excellent writing. Jonathan Franzen owes a large due to the books of the Bridge's for his in vogue novel "The Corrections" -- much of that family material is first seen in the Bridge books.

Set in Kansas City of the 30's and 40's the author uses his mother as the basis of India Bridge. She lives in an upper-middle class home in middle America and views her times with detachment born of reliance on her husband -- the subject of a later parallel novel -- and her secure position in the local society. She is comfortable with, but slighly puzzled by the actions and motives of those arround her. She is certain that when all is said and done, everything will turn out all right. The calm and physical and emotional flatness of her surroundings and her life are beautifully developed by Mr. Connell. His precise, intimate but undramatic style is a perfect complement to his subject. I see a whole generation of my female relatives, all deceased, in Mrs Bridge. Satisified, well provided for, devoted to their families, but faintly aware of missing something. They are of a generation that begain to fade away during WWII and had completely disappeared by the Kennedy inaugration. More so than "Mr. Bridge" this novel is an insight into the life and times of an interesting, but nearly invisible segment of our society: the society matron of of urban middle America -- beautifully done and a pleasure to read. They don't make novels, or people, like "Mrs. Bridge" any more.

New Orleans is my favorite season of Real World thus far, and i am a little disappointed in the contents and layout of this book in comparison to editions for later seasons (ie, chicago and las vegas). Instead of putting cast member information in an orderly fashion, they throw around the facts over various pages. castmember david's fact sheet is also suspiciously missing. I didn't like the rw reunion junk at the back of the book to pad its length. they should have included the floor plans of the house and more photos taken by the cast instead of this.

If you watched the Real World New Orleans, this is a great guide to what you didn't see. If you DIDN'T watch the show, well, then there's no reason to buy the book!
My favorite part about the book was the information about the Kelley/Danny and Melissa/Jamie "feud." With quotes from the sources themselves, it adds even more drama than was on the show! VERY interesting!

This book is amazing!! anything you ever wanted to know is answered!! It even goes into a bit of stuff from other seasons, with pictures of Rachel(S.F) and Sean's (boston)wedding! as well as tonnes of pictures what they're doing now etc....etc.....
You will really enjoy it!!

I liked this Real world book a lot in fact I like most of them, all except Seattle which was incredibly boring . But this book gives you a lot of insight into what the camera didn't show. Some of the things mentioned don't seem to make sense b/c when you see the reunions on tv they don't act towards each other they way that you would think w/some of the comments that they have made about each other in this book. Besides that it is well worth your money and time to read it.

It's amazing how much is told in this book that wasn't revealed on the show. This book gives the show and the cast (which I think is the most interesting cast yet) more depth. The thing dealt with most in the book is something that wasn't hardly dealt with on the show, and that's Kelley and Danny's dislike of Melissa and Jamie. There's way more content than that, but that is what's focused on a bit. 'Unmasked' also put to rest the answer of some questions, such as "Why was Kelley not in the house a lot?" and "What did Matt really think of Julie the whole time she crushed on him?". All the cast members let out what they really thought about each other, and some of the results could be surprising. All in all, I found that this season and this book is the best ever. Can't wait until next season!

The Title says it all.

It's really the best. As long as you don't use it as a crutch, it could greatly improve your songwriting.

"THIS COLLECTION OF WORDS AND PHRASES REPRESENTS TWENTY YEARS OF RESEARCH, of listening to how we Americans talk, of always having a pencil ready to jot down a clever rhyme heard or seen anywhere---on the street, on airplanes, in theaters, on bathroom walls."
---From the Introduction
[from the book of the front flap]

I write educational songs for a living, stuff in the vein of Schoolhouse Rock. I used to rely on online rhyming dictionaries until I found this book, which is about 20 times more thorough than any website I've found. This book has saved me countless hours and made my songs immeasurably better. I love this book!

I teach a college course in songwriting, and in preparing to teach the course did an extensive review of many rhythming dictionaries. This one is by far the best, for the reasons other reviewers have stated.

If you buy one rhyming dictionary, make it this one. It's the one I use.

Hi

It has been my good fortune to songwrite with many of the world's greatest songwriters, and to have had a bit of commercial success. So, for what it's worth, I offer the following review of this dictionary, plus a few other recommendations for aspiring lyricists and songwriters.

I own eight or nine rhyming dictionaries, and am constantly on the lookout for others, and basically, they all pretty much suck compared to this one. You certainly don't need any of them but this one, and I am continually surprised when browsing through bookshops to see many of those other lousy books on the shelves, but not Sue Young's excellent reference book. I don't know what the explanation for that is, but whatever it is, it has nothing to do with quality. If something has superceded it, I don't know about it.

Young's book has four main strengths which put it above the pack:

1.) It simply has a greater number of rhyming words than other dictionaries;

2.) It includes rhyming phrases, e.g., when you go to look for rhymes for "ground" you will find (amongst single words) phrases like "merry go round", "lost and found", etc. This feature is a valuable rarity.

3.) It arranges the rhyming options under each suffix in groups according to numbers of syllables: first there are the single syllable options, then the two syllable options, and so on. Believe it or not, I have a number of rhyming dictionaries which instead list options in alphabetical order (mixing up one, two, three, and four syllable options), obviously a cumbersome and time-wasting arrangement.

4.) Unlike those found in most other dictionaries, Young's rhyming lists include slang words/phrases, contractions, acronyms, obscenities, abbreviations, etc. Beat poets to Broadway lyricists to Ogden Nash humourists to rock writers will all appreciate these.

Perhaps I might also add that if you are an aspiring songwriter who wishes to enjoy commercial success (i.e., getting on the radio in whatever genre, or in broadway shows, etc.), Young's book could help form a kind of "starter reference package". The components would include:

1.) The New Comprehensive American Rhyming Dictionary by Sue Young

2.) Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus by Barbara Ann Kipfer (this is the best one out there).

3.) Any or all of the Sheila Davis lyric writing books, especially, "Successful Lyric Writing: A Step-by-Step Course and Workbook". (Davis' books are clinical and mechanical, but you need to know song mechanics in order to be a consistently successful songwriter. Her books are really good for this, though won't be appreciated by those certain that each aspect of a song is dictated by heavenly muses rather than largely being the product of conscious and unconscious mental effort).

4.) If you would like an in-depth, "artistic" perspective on songwriting by a successful songwriter, add to this list the Jimmy Webb book, "Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting". (This one isn't necessary, it just may be of interest to some people).

I should add that most of the other "How to Write a Song!" type books out there are total garbage, so I wouldn't even bother with them.

But by far the best thing aspiring songwriters can do is deconstruct their own favourite songs to see why and how they work, and then incorporate what they discover into their own catalogue of creative knowledge.

Anyway, bravo to Sue Young for coming up with the best rhyming dictionary out there.

I hope this review has helped someone. Good luck.