Editors Books

I have not found a book that covers everything anybody needs to know about decks, but this is the most thorough one I have seen...lots of good pictures. I still don't know how much I should pay for my deck though. I guess I'll have to get multiple quotes from contractors to make sure I'm not overpaying for it.

Searched through many how-to books before a friend let me borrow this one. It provided all of the specific information I needed to actually build a deck. The others were wastes of money.

This book provides complete, concise, clear, step-by-step instructions for deck building. Great photos clarify text and make the project seem exciting. I bought two books on decks and returned the other...this one had everything I needed.

This will be the only reference that you will need to build either a porch or a deck. Far superior to any of the other three deck books I used from a library. A must own!

The slug: slay
The lede: Noted reporter and author John Darnton is charged with suffocating characters and burying them in disparate plots in his latest novel "Black & White and Dead All Over."
This reviewer could only lament, "And to think, the ink wasn't even dry."

"Black & White and Dead All Over" spins a murder mystery revolving around the vicissitudes of the newspaper business. Grisly murders are committed at the NY Globe - a NY Times namesake. Jude, a scrupulous reporter at the paper, is tasked with investigating the crime. He sleuths through leads that become frustrating dead ends. He encounters invective suspects and colorful confidants whose real crimes are being too stereotypical. Like a hungry shark circling in on flailing prey, Jude encroaches the unfolding drama -- darting in for a nibble or two before the final lunge. Jude ultimately reveals the big not-so secret, uncovers the forgettable killer and secures his job at a failing newspaper.

Darnton succeeds in recreating the acerbic atmosphere at a pre-eminent newspaper in the throes of internet apoplexy, financial convulsions and tabloid seizures. The hard-drinking, nicotine-addicted neurotics of the Globe suffer their deadlines sobered by their smoke-free office and the realization that the local bar runs them a tab. The duality of these characters is the real story. The reason Darton uses murder as the vehicle to connect the storyline is the real mystery.

I have read several books about newspapers but none have given me the inside feeling of the paper in operation as Black & White has done. One sees the stereotypes of the reporters and management. The portrayals are entertaining and very funny.

That would have been enough for a great read. Fortunately, Mr. Darnton has added to this a really good mystery that kept my interest. It is an old fashion mystery when many have a motive. Even the ancillary characters have a great story.

In short this book is a treat.

What a fun book; a great plot that keeps you guessing and laughing to the end. However, the author introduces so many characters in the first one hundred pages, I had to make notes to keep track of them all. While many of the characters were merely "charicatures", I would love to meet the ones that were well developed in a sequel.

"Dark Days at Newspaper" is a headline that could run on the front page of almost any daily paper in America. Advertising, circulation and relevance are heading downward, and with rounds of layoffs and spending cuts, the cranky, daylight-deprived souls who toil away in newspaper offices are understandably gloomy. The blogosphere churns around the clock with portrayals of newspapers as conservative and out of touch, while feeding like maggots on the content those newspapers provide. Right-wing radio bashes newspapers as too liberal. Far worse than all the criticism is the cold reality that there is simply no stopping the technological and generational shift from print to digital in the news business. The old model -- printing news and advertising on large pages of disposable paper -- is sinking steadily toward the basement.

So the dark underground caverns of a prestigious New York newspaper are the right setting for the murder at the outset of "Black and White and Dead All Over" by John Darnton, the author of biology-fiction thrillers Neanderthal and The Darwin Conspiracy. A 30-year veteran of the New York Times, Darnton delivers a knowing, insider's portrait of the newspaper with great sympathy and humor, and successfully captures the intense human drama and daunting business imperatives in the world of newspapering. A sense of impending doom hovers over the enterprise, a sense that its greatness is slipping away.

"Black and White" is really a novel about the Times, thinly disguised as a murder mystery. What elevates it to the top of any beach-reading pile is its dead-on depiction of the idiosyncratic life of a big-time newsroom, way more chaotic and disorganized than outsiders can imagine. The adolescent jockeying between ambitious editors, the unpredictable twists of a news-driven day, the rush of deadline pressure, the bickering over how to package incomplete information, the prevalent workaholism and utter abandonment of personal lives, the nightly repairing to a neighborhood bar: These are all elements of an exhausting daily odyssey that yields a remarkably readable, authoritative-sounding version of world events. Newspaper people are romantic and nostalgic about their craft, with its flashes of brilliance and its glaring shortcomings, and with the wry world-weariness that only the brethren can fully appreciate.

The plot of "Black and White" is engrossing from the get-go. The first murder victim is a much-hated editor who supervised the newspaper's standards of word choice, and who personifies the tyrannical, pretentious side of the Times. (The inside joke here is that the victim, Theodore Ratnoff, is portrayed as a tall and handsome strapping blond, while the real editor of standards, Allan Siegal, was short and heroically rotund.) His body is discovered with a telling item stuck into his chest: a newspaper spike, the symbol of days gone by, when an editor rejecting copy would spike it on a metal spire atop one's desk. The smart-alecky reporter assigned to cover the crime teams up with a dark and attractive (if implausibly aristocratic) female police detective. In their relationship, Darnton skillfully plays with the touchy alliance/competition/mistrust between reporters and cops, mirroring the larger association between the media and government. Surveying the thicket of potential murderers, Darnton can offer a kaleidoscopic view of the characters who populate the newspaper. ("Any suspects?" the editor is asked. He answers: "Let's see. How many people are in editorial? I'd say about twelve hundred.")

The publisher (modeled on the current Times publisher, Arthur Sulzberger) frets about the stock price and drags senior staff to time-wasting group retreats. "Thinking was not his forte, but he had a certain cunning," writes Darnton. The executive editor (modeled on the current executive editor, Bill Keller) is too shy to talk to his staff and constantly reminisces about his days as a foreign correspondent in Russia and Africa. The reporter without a moral compass (Judith Miller, of WMD fame) gets caught plagiarizing Tolstoy. There is even a hard-driving and swashbuckling rival publisher named Lester Moloch (modeled on Rupert Murdoch). There are countless reporters and editors with their own bizarre tics or traits. The murder was clearly a clever inside job. More, I will not give away.

Darnton relies on gentle satire to evoke the many ironies in newspapering and even his seemingly throwaway descriptions of news situations ring utterly true. The ancient pressroom at City Hall looks like "a crowded Mayan ruin littered with the detritus of tourists." The relentless questions rained on a journalist writing a page-one story on deadline is an experience "like getting nibbled to death by ducks."

Darnton, a talented correspondent and editor, excelled at the Times but never won promotion to the highest ranks, allowing him a bitingly accurate perspective on how things really work at the paper. Only now, after his recent retirement, could he write what amounts to a tell-all about the newspaper he clearly loved and gave much of his life to. His novel may lose him a few friends, but it will win him many new admirers.

The New York Globe is in deep trouble financially with ads and circulation dropping dramatically and consequently the stock price is falling. However, that is no reason for someone to murder odious assistant managing editor Theodore S. Ratnoff; whose corpse is found in an office of the paper.

NYPD Detective Priscilla Bollingsworth and Globe's investigative reporter Jude Hurley join forces to find the killer. The problem is almost everyone working at the Glove had the motive including Jude because Theodore took pleasure in humiliating anyone and everyone. The list expands as bad cops, a reporter accused of plagiarism and a disgraced by the deceased executive editor have motives and opportunities. The inquiry spins even uglier and more complex when a Globe's gossip columnist and a food critic are killed.

BLACK AND WHITE AND DEAD ALL OVER is a wonderful whodunit in which the cleverly designed case and the news milieu make for powerful social observations on what and how get printed regardless of the medium. Priscilla and Jude are a fine pairing as their professions insure mutual distrust, but need each other to thoroughly investigate who likes to contribute to the obituary column. John Darnton provides a strong entertaining murder mystery with solid hooks at society's hypercritical foibles.

Harriet Klausner

Bob Dylan fans will enjoy this book that features over 100 pages of Dylan quotes on subjects ranging from music, the 60's, drugs, love, his idols, songwriting, and more. Everybody knows that Dylan was a wily and occasionally malicious interviewee, and this book reflects that. I laughed out loud several times at his witticisms directed back at the hollow questiosn that were put to him. However, there are some very pointed answers that he serves up here as well, that seemingly give a real insight into his persona, his life, and his views. There are also a lot of high-quality pictures. My only complaint is that the book is a little short-you can easily read it all in one setting, though it's probably a book that you'll go back to time and again to see what Dylan offered up on a particular subject-it would have been nice, for instance, if it had a section where Dylan commented upon particular songs of his, such as was done in the Leonard Cohen book in the "In His Own Words" series. Still, Dylan interviews are always hard to come by, and this is the best copendium you'll find featuring them.

This is really a (the) great book for the base of a Dylan book
collection. Each of the 112 pages comprising this paperback
has at least one photograph, and many pages have two or three!
In my mind the pictures alone are worth a binding of their own. They
include many of his co-workers, and famous peers. After looking
at all of them for the first time, you really get a "feel" for
the environment in which he has been working (living) for the
last 30 - 40 years.

The entire collection of quotes (quotes and pictures are all you get, folks)
are catagorized by a plethora of topics, which enables quick referencing,
so you really should learn ALOT about his PERSONALITY.
I say "personality" because the quotes are in
conversational mode, candid, ranginging from silly quips and
understatements to very sincere and thoughtful comments; the way
I imagine he shares with intimates. This is not a stilted,
unemotional, professional collection of aphorisms, and I feel better informed
as a result.

This book contains a compilation of Dylan's own words, transcribed from interviews, press conferences, radio, and TV shows. Complete with scores of pictures, In His Own Words is a must for any Dylan fan. Dylan dons persona after persona, and the results are quite entertaining.

A must for any Bob Dylan fan, this book contains an ecclectic collection of Dylan's responses to reporters and others.

Writers often send in a manuscript without reading the publisher's writing guidelines, properly formatting their work, extensive proofreading, etc. Book editors talk about these topics and more in order to enlighten writer's about what is expected of them before they put their manuscript in the mail. It is frustrating for an editor to read manuscripts that are not well-written or unsuited for their publishing house. I enjoyed reading this book and, in fact, finished it in two days.

This is one of my two favorite books on the publishing business. Read it cover to cover and you will come away with ammunition most writers don't have when they try to sell their books. No matter what kind of book you are writing, Judy has an editor who addresses the topic. These interviews are extremely candid. It's like having a friend in the publishing business.
Buy this and the only other book you will need is "Write a Book Without a Finger", by Mahesh Grossman, which shows several actual proposals by first time authors, two of whom sold their first books for over $100,000 dollars.

If you are a new author or an author who is multiply published, this book will be of some interest to you. Editors explain publishing, what they like and don't like, agents, and much more in this interview style book. Each chapter covers a different topic with a different editor. Beware that the book is 6 years old, so much of the specific info may be outdated and many of the editors have changed houses or job titles. But overall, much of the info stays the same. They should put out a book like this every year!

Not only is this an informative book for new and experienced writers, it's also quite fun to read. Through Judy Mandell's question/answer format I felt as though I were in a restaurant eavesdropping on a conversation in the next booth. A variety of editors speak openly and candidly about the publishing world -- what makes a best seller, what makes a winning nonfiction proposal, what they want (and don't want) from authors. From small university presses to powerful New York publishing houses, Judy Mandell conducts over 40 interviews and asks editors the questions I've always wanted to ask. How are advances determined? Which books get "the big push" in promotions? When I finished the book I understood a little better how editors think and what they need from writers. That's invaluable information.

Peep this. It's like Ali G & Charles Simic went cow-tipping together and the cows were really not cows, they were more like gerunds and Dana Gioaioa. Without a doubt, the best book of contemporary poetry ever to emerge from Sandy Mush, North Carolina. For real. This guy, is, like, Christopher Smart. Definitely better than anything James Tate or the Lord ever wrote. Not nearly as good as Nick Flynn, though.

Tim Earley's work clangs with a silly-sadness that is no less moving for its memory of a child's gaze when looking at a world fractured. Earley moves from fractured vision to kaleidoscopic by imbuing these poems with color and whimsy and a terribly wise-beyond-any-years wisdom. There are no poems like these and no way of seeing that matches this. You'll have a top-hits list within these pages and the page numbers will be two-digit, but even on your least-favorite poem page, the craft, the strange, inimitable way of grasping the world and the word and the playful pain or painful play of it all will still seem worth the price of admission.

I read this book aloud to impress potential suitors. Earley's poems are prisms of brilliant evasiveness...beguiling, delicious and somewhat toxic. This book should be fluorescent. Tim Earley is quite simply the best we have.

Hovering behind the Quixotic speaker in these poems, Tim Earley is at once a dandy, a wit, and a puppeteer. But what he moves with his strings are words and ideas so that when they appear on the linear stage, we are forced to redefine, to consider second definitions like new grain in the pine trailer walls.

While Earley is certainly a part of the post-avant movement, he is not without conventional influence. The ghost of Alan Dugan is there in the directness of "Crotch Poem." In poems like "What's Happening" the speaker proves to be both breezy and authoritative: "Contemporary life/ has many words in it. You only have to know/ about six hundred to get by." While most of these poems could hardly be called topical, "Monopiety" throws a fish hook in organized religion while making his clearest argument on the nature of language: "I have a suspicion/ a surer God would have saved me/ a lot of time, that a language made of letters/ as palpable and funereal as tree bark/ would grant me more sleep."

I have been very excited over the last several years by what I have seen of our younger American poets. Earley is certainly one to watch, and Boondoggle a work of consequence worthy of a serious reader's time.

Great book for do-it-yourselfers who want to get back to the basics. Gives info on Planting Flats, Plant Stands, Planting Tubs, Houseplant Cases, Growlights, Houseplant Worktables, Mushroom Shelves, Window Box, Window Greenhouses, Gardening Tools, Compost Bins, Cold Frames, Planting Beds, Plant Protectors, Arbors, Trellises, Orchard and Woodlot Aids, Irrigation, Birdhouses, Food Processing, Food Dryers, Smokehouse, Concrete, Walks and Patios, Walls, Fences, Gates, Bridges, Outdoor Furniture, Garden Ponds, Outbuildings, Livestock Housing, Crop Storage, Greenhouses, Homestead Accessories, and a Build-It-Yourselfer's Encyclopedia of Terms, Tools, and Techniques. A lot of information in the book!

This book is basic, extremely helpful and will not bore you. It provides you with tons of detailed plans and instructions. That are easy to read and understand. I just wish they would reprint it ! If you ever find a copy of this book hang on to it, There is so much valuable information in it.

This book is one of the best I've read on the subject of building your own everyday items. It is a must for anybody that wants to get back to basics. It shows you how, step by step, to build everything from your own chicken feeders to your own wheelbarrow

This book is what we all need for ideals, directions and good common sense, for approaching those jobs that we think we need those high price contractors for, when owning a house. You won't regret buying this one. It's like a good neighbor, there when you need it

We haven't purchased this yet, but it's going on the kids' Christmas list. We borrowed it from the library and my 4 yr. boy and 2 1/2 yr. girl are always wanting me to read it or are "reading" it themselves.

My children were starting to ask questions about what happens to their food when they eat it, discussing what muscles were, why we drink water, etc. This book covers a large topic but it a very interesting and kid friendly way. I borrowed quite a few from the library but this is the only one that both I and my kids enjoy.

Very well done!

i brought this to my 2nd grader's class and read it to them as a group and it was perfect. Really great for this age group. They ate it up.

What a super book. It is kid friendly and makes learning about our bodies fun. The pictures and wording are both age appropriate. My grandsons (ages 3 & $) are both gaining from the book and love to see what happens to their food. It also has a great message to keep your body moving (that thing called exercise). Kudos to the author!

This is a great book that introduces many different systems in the body while emphasizing that keeping active is so important for your body to work better. Using your muscles makes them stronger instead of wearing them out it tells us. The illustrations are detailed and colorful and the book is fun, overall, with an important underlying message to encourage children to stay busy and healthy.

I have not taken my test yet but I feel very prepared, much more so than I did before I purchased the book. My only disappointment is it only lets you take the free online test once so make sure you have studied and feel confident before you attempt the free online practice test. Otherwise, this is a great book to have.

I purchased this book with about 3 weeks before the test, and here I am counting down the days til my Physical Ability Test!! Thats right...I passed! This book has some great practice tests. I didn't really take the first one all that seriously (wish I would have, there are only two in the book). The test is just about a mirror image of this example tests that are offered in this book (with different questions of course) I only read through the book once and did fine on the test, I think that the book brings forward a lot of the same material that is covered on the test and is worth the starting pay of a CHP...$69,000!!

Very happy!!! Well put together and helpful. The practice testing is great. Positive results will surely be obvious after the test!

Lots of great information in this book. The practice tests were especially helpful. In fact, the practice tests were harder than the real test. I passed on the first try.

I had a cerebellar stroke in March, which caused this communications major and ex-Micrsoft college recruiter to become a disabled person who couldn't talk --overnight and very unexpectely, just like Mark..Mark's book is a good chronolgy of what that feels like and a good inspiration for recovery as he made a 100% comeback.

While I don't have his connections with Bill Cosby or presidents (and admire his newfound verve to use those contacts to get the word out about stoke), I share and admire his drive to recover - and that of his wife to support him...Stroke is not well known, we hear so often about cancer and heart attacks but it is the number one disabler - 455,000 americans will be struck by it this year, or one every 15 seconds...I had none of the prediposing symptoms (high blood pressure/smoker/family history/overweight) yet I still had a stroke and it has changed my life - just like it changed Mark's life into a recovering disabled person who had to learn to slow down and value a second chance at everything..we did not die and there is a distinct silver lining to stroke, which Mark's upbeat book chronicles...it was an easy read and a good boost...a profile in a different kind of courage for friends, family and Mark himself...Unlike many afflications, you CAN recover from stroke...it takes time and oomph.

CHANGE IN THE WEATHER: LIFE AFTER STROKE tells of a news anchorman at the peak of his life - and enjoying it - when he suffered a stroke. Mistreatment and misdiagnosis nearly cost him his life - and this memoir documents these issues, also following his rehabilitation from a massive stroke in which he lost some of his greatest gifts. A powerful account of triumph over harrowing physical issues evolves.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

MarkMcEwen has written an excellent book for those who have had a stroke or are caring for someone who has had one. His positive message is one of hope for all.

I found Mark's book very informative. I am living with a father that had a stroke last year and it was interesting to compare the stroke and recovery process. The major differences between the stories is that my father is 81 and I found him within five minutes of the stroke so he was able to benefit from the clot busting medication. Many of the rehab exercises for my father are similar to Mark's. Until I read this book I had not been able to get this information from someone that had experienced stroke or was caregiver for a stroke patient. All too often when I spoke to someone that had a loved one suffer a stroke their story usually ended with a death shortly after the stroke. I'm thankful I found him so quickly and that he survived the clot busting medicine. They let you know when you sign the consent that your loved one might not survive it. That is an awesome responsibility for anyone. I've encouraged everyone I know to talk to their loved ones so they will know how you feel should they every have to make that decision for you.

I have been helping folks produce and market their books since 1985. This is one of the best tools for finding an "angle" to pitch your book. Thanks for keeping it updated. Linda F. Radke, Five Star Publications (AZ)

This is my third copy. I use this book for my business every month, sometimes more often. I use it for marketing ideas. I bought the new edition because the older books don't have all of the environmental events in them. This is a great business source. If you are planning sales or events for you business this will help you know what events take place every month.
I teach marketing at my company and urge all of my new agents to own a copy of this book.

"Chase's" is a terrific resource for me. I write a cooking column and I use it to stay abreast of even the smallest events. When writing a weekly column it can be a chore coming up with fresh story lines and subjects. "Chase's" helps me keep my subjects current and me on top of what's happening, which I know is appreciated by my readers who must wonder where I get all my ideas...now the secret is out! Pork Chops and Applesauce: A Collection of Recipes and Reflections

We sell Fresh-Wave products, a consumer line that appeals to a multitude of markets. So special events and creative marketing has to be a big part of our mix. Chase's helps us identify fun opprtunties for promoting our line. Since may TV and radio producers use this book it helps get their attention when your event is tied into something they are already talking about!