Reviews Books

informative and fun to read, this is a loving tribute to the music of Cuba and from whence it came. It's historical without being tedious and a real page turner. I love it and recommend it to anyone who digs this kind of music and culture.

It's a first for me to review a book I haven't finished reading. I've been reading Cuba and Its Music for about a year, off and on, as I've read other books and material. What's prompting me to review it now is that this is simply a terrific, wonderful book and the word needs to get out. Full disclosure: despite being a musician all my life, I discovered Cuban music only about twenty years ago. The more I learned about it the more it took me over. This is not the place to go into the reasons, but I will make an outrageous blanket statement and say that what Bach is to classical music, Cuban music is to popular music.

Ned Sublette explains why in his marvelous book. I find myself pouring over passages, rereading and underlining and making notes to myself in the back. I can't take a lot of this at one time. I'll put the book down to pick it up a week later and end up rereading what I'd already read. The prospect of getting all the way to the end of it fills me with joy and dread at the same time. It's not that it's densely written: on the contrary, it's some of the clearest, easiest to read scholarly writing I've ever run across (and that's a lot, by the way).

The book is not for everyone. You have to like music, for starters. Then, it would be good if you enjoy learning about how musical styles originate, travel, and influence other styles. Cuba has been a true melting pot for many of the world's musical traditions, and most have made their way to this country, through New Orleans, through New York, and by other means, to the point that its influence is discernible in almost every popular American genre today. Sublette has traced these influences in the most careful and understandable way, and the result is enlightenment on every single page.

Now I hear that Sublette has another book out on the musical cultures and history of New Orleans. This is wonderful news even if it means I'll spend the next five years finishing both volumes. Amazon won't let me review a book twice, so I won't be able to comment on the latter parts of Cuba and Its Music here. Maybe I'll be able to mention it when I finally report on The World that Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square.

Ned Sublette really knows his stuff. Although he quotes extensively from other authors, his own research and experience combine to make this a wonderfully solid piece of work, and one that is long overdue. Sublette takes us back to the very beginning, unravelling the potent mix of cultures and influences that have gone into what we call Cuban music today. His attention to detail will be appreciated by Cuban music afficionados, for whom many questions will be answered and mysteries revealed. Read this book, and look forward to the second volume!

There is nothing written in English that compares to the scope and depth of this book on Cuban music. (Leymarie's Cuban Fire comes close in volume of information, but it lacks the cogent overview and insight that Sublette masterfully weaves into the details.) This is a history of Cuban music written by a musician (!) who understands the importance of credible research when defining context and cultural antecedents. Furthermore, he uses his perspective as an outsider--he is a North American--to our advantage. Coupled with his examinations of the complexity of a Cuban identity and aesthetic, our North American culture also becomes more transparent.

This is particularly true when it comes to dissecting the story that most conventional Western Hemisphere histories neglect-the profound cultural influence of West Africa. As Sublette notes, "the drum...what an African would call a drum-is conspicuously missing from European music before the sixteenth century." Was it the creolized cultures of the New World that finally gave Europeans license to return to the dance floor after centuries of Church proscription? Sublette presents a convincing case for this, while simultaneously providing an explanation for those among us who are rhythmically challenged...

Readers also benefit from the full spectrum Sublette's perspective--that of a musician who migrates comfortably between the music of the concert hall and the dance hall. "Dancing," he writes, "is an intense listening state. Dancing can be complex and it can be spiritual. African music is almost always music for dancing; and so is Cuban music, which is African music's grown-up child." No armchair scholar talks like that.

Furthermore, his writing is not of that academic ilk that is afraid to offer opinions, or reveal passions. (For starters, he states that he likes Cuban music because he "has good taste.") Nor does he shy away from connecting the dots or hazarding wide-reaching theories. He is the first author I have come across to point out that the geographical origins of the African slaves-those coming to North America from the Senegambia, those to the Caribbean from the coastal areas-largely explains the differences in the musical styles (melismatic vs. polyrhythmic) between these two regions of the Western Hemisphere. Shouldn't this information be part of our cultural literacy?

The subject of this book is huge and Sublette is certainly up to the task. (Did I mention the extensive index?) I have also found, thanks to this text, that I am listening to Cuban musicians (eg. Chano Pozo, Miguelito Valdes, Arsenio Rodriguez) with new ears. That's quite a gift. Chevere que chevere!

This is the finest book on the sociological basis of music I have ever read. Many good books will provide a new fact on each page or two, but I seem to learn three new bits of history on every single page of this extensive analysis of the origins of musical styles in Cuba. But this is more than about Cuba; it is about Al-Andalus/Sefarad and Renaissance Spain and the eary history of the United States, and about northwest and central African peoples, and about Renaissance Europe, and about the early history of Islam and Arabia. It is about differing social policy and its effect on the slave trade. It is about what gave New Orleans jazz the Latin tinge and makes that city a treasure. It is about the distinct origins of the polyrhythmic, polytonal structures of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian music and the recitative, glissando-embellished, monorhythmic music of the blues and later jazz. We learn about Louis Gottchalk's first use of the African drum in classical music [performed in Europe] and why such instruments were banned in England's continental colonies and the early United States since 1739. We learn how Moorish, that is, black, line dance style was once the rage of western Europeans, and led to England's Morris dances. These are among the smallest of factoids that you will encounter reading this highly readable yet scholarly book.

Because I admire and particularly enjoy multidisciplinary cultural histories, Sublette's book is a feast. His explorations are ours. You will be fascinated, and you will be delighted. The book is an education. Buy it.

People in my class that failed HESI paid like 200 dollars in a workshop to pass HESI and this is the book they taught out of

this book is so organized. i love the way the headings are colored coded and need to know info is coded. its not the typical black and white text. all the meds and dx text for a particular system are at the end of the chapter. too bad i got it in my last semester of school.

I wish I had this book during nursing school. My friend loaned it to me when I was studying for the NCLEX exam and I used it along with the Kaplan online question sessions as a reference tool. I actually passed the exam and will now buy the book for work as an easy reference tool. Each section is organized in a way that you have the description of the disorder, S/S, what you might see, common medications and labs. Great book!

I wish I had found this book at the start of nursing school! I bought this book to study for my RN state boards although it would have been very helpful to have from the start of school. Easy to read and understand. It's A Great Book.

I went through about 10 books before I purchased this one. This one was one of the best I used to prepare. Very thorough and covered all the different types of questions presented on the exam.

This was the third is the Lytton Family Trilogy of books..
A page turner, as were the first 2 !! So well researched and written.
If you love long family stories you will love these books.
Even the ending of this, the third was just right!
A great read!

I just finished Into Temptation, No. 3 in this superior trilogy, and can honestly say this trilogy is the best thing I've read since Gone With The Wind! I'm 70 years old, an avid reader of anything British and am so thankful I found this series before it was too late! Quick, grab the first volume of this series pronto and stay with it until the very last word on the very last page of the very last volume. You'll never regret it!

This was the best trilogy's I have ever read. I am sorry it's over now. I agree with all the other readers on how great these books were. I am also suprised most people have never heard of these books. I love the old English family saga's. I also loved Barbara Taylor Bradford's Woman of Substance.

This was the book I enjoyed most in the trilogy. It is interesting from the beginning to the end and I was very sorry when I came to the last page. It is one book that I will read again maybe next year.

This is the 3rd book in the trilogy! I love it just as much as the other 2 books. I am going to be sad when I am finished with it. I have never enjoyed a trilogy as much as this one!

One of the best books for children ever written. I read it in Russian, when I was a kid. I reread it several times after. I read it to my sons. They both loved it. Why it is so difficult to find? This book should be available to every kid!

I read an abridged version of Sans Famille when I was little, and when I found this book I bought it without a second thought. And the story is just as touching and good as I remember. If you have never heard of this book, read it; you'll love it.

I read this book many years ago in Russian. It is still widely printed there, while virtually impossible to find in English in Canada. It is a beautiful story about a young orphan, Remi. The story begins with Remi finding out that he is in fact not his mother's son, but was found by her husband years ago on the streets of Paris. Now her husband has been crippled in an accident and money has became tight. So to get rid of the boy he secretly (from the mother) sells him to a travelling stranger he met at a tavern.

The book reads very fast and is incredibly emotionally touching. I reread it recently as an adult, and still found it as magical as I did when I was a child.

I read this book when i was less than 10 years old in Vietnamese and it took me almost 30 years to find it in English here. It's one of the most influential books in my life. It's a story of self sufficient, hamonious rapport, and integrity, imho. I would recommend this book and "Nobody's Girl" by the same author to all, especially parents for their children.

I was in third grade. It was the first library book I had ever read. I cried and cried it so emotionally touched me. I read it 3 times. It still is the best book I have ever read. Thank you Amazon for giving me the opportunity to read it again....

For nearly half a century Peter Ferdinand Drucker (1909- ) has inspired and educated managers-and influenced the nature of business-with his landmark articles in the Harvard Business Review. Here, gathered together and framed by a thoughtful introduction from the Review's editor Nan Stone, is a priceless collection of his most significant work.

One of our leading thinkers on the practice and study of management, Drucker has sought out, identified, and examined the most important issues confronting managers, from corporate strategy to management style to social change. Through his unique lens, this volume gives us the rare opportunity to trace the evolution of the great shifts in our workplaces, and to understand more clearly the role of managers in the ongoing effort to balance change with continuity.

Now, these important articles and essays are strategically presented here to address two unifying themes: the first examines "The Manager's Responsibilities" while the second investigates "The Executive's World". Accompanied by an interview with Peter Drucker on "The Post-Capitalist Executive", as well as a thought-provoking preface by Peter Drucker himself, a complete picture of management theory and practice emerges, both as it was and as it will be.

Infused with a perspective that holds new relevance today, these essays represent Drucker at his best: direct, wise and challenging. Peter Drucker on the Profession of Management, sure to be studied, debated, and enjoyed by everyone concerned with management, everyone concerned with management, is a timely offering from one of the most respected and prolific authors to appear in the Harvard Business Review.

At 90, Peter Drucker is, by all accounts, the most enduring management thinker of our time. Born in Vienna, educated in Austria and England, he has worked since 1937 in the United States, first as an economist for a group of British banks and insurance companies, and later as a management consultant to several leading companies. Drucker has since had a distinguished career as a teacher, including more than twenty years as Professor of Management at the Graduate Business School of New York University. Since 1971 he has been Marie Rankin Clarke Professor of Social Science and Management at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University in California, where he still teaches in the fields of management and business policy. He is the founder of The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, and has counseled numerous governments, public service institutions, and major corporations.

Drucker is a writer, teacher, and consultant with a long-term business perspective second to none. His twenty-nine previous books have been published in more than twenty languages and span sixty years of modern history beginning with The End of Economic Man (1939) and Managing in a Time of Great Change; Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices; Innovation and Entrepreneurship; The Effective Executive; Managing for Results and The Practice of Management. Nan Stone is the editor of the Harvard Business Review.

Peter Drucker has 60 years of experience teaching and writing about management. This collection of essays, first published in Harvard Business Review, outline Drucker's views on managerial responsibility. Among other things, this book also includes his insights on making more effective decisions, improving staffing choices, locating innovative opportunities, and aligning your theory of business.

Drucker outlines the five essential management principles:

1. Management is about human beings. Your task as a manager is to make people capable of working together.
2. Management is embedded in culture. You must be able to use parts of your history, tradition and culture as building blocks for a common corporate culture.
3. Management is responsible for growing an organization. Integrate training and development into your organization at all levels.
4. Use yardsticks like market standing, innovation, productivity, human development, quality and financial results to measure and improve performance.
5. Look for results outside of your company, in the products and services you deliver, not relative to internal processes within the company.

Drucker also outlines six steps to guide decision-making:

1. Classify the problem. Is the problem unique to your company, or the beginning of a more general problem?
2. Define the problem. Make sure the definition explains all the observable facts.
3. Define the boundary conditions, like objectives or goals, that your decision must satisfy. When the conditions change, your decision must change with them.
4. Decide. Usually you will have to compromise eventually. Decide what is right.
5. Take action. Make sure your employees know what the decision involves, and who is expected to do what.
6. Get feedback. Gather information on the effectiveness of your decision. Make sure your decision is still relevant to current conditions.

This is one of the most, thought provoking books, I've read this year. In the first part of the book, Business philopher, Peter Drucker protrays and verbally the business model of today, and highlights the necessary interactions of managers with the model. In the second part of the book, Drucker breaks away and reveals a series of startling revelations about today's business.

The theory of business is what Drucker, defines as "what a company gets paid for." Drucker states when big companies get in trouble they blame "complacency, arrogance, mammoth bureacracies", as a plausible explanations. However, the problem's root causes are rarely identified and the prevously stated explanations are rarely right. Most companies fail, to perform well, at what they get paid for.

Drucker defines the parts of the business environment, as: environment (society and its structure and the market), mission (customer ), (core competencies) and technology. Why is this important? The assumptions about environment, mission, and core competencies must fit together. Drucker drives home the point by contrasting the sucess of non-profit organizations with profit organizations, stating we can learn from the success of non-profit organizations, namely: well define mission, lack of deep management hierarchy, individual responsiblity, a deep understand of individual roles and purposes, and cohension between expectations and results. Secondly, the theory of business must be known and understood through out the business. Drucker stresses the importance of learning from the non-customer. And Lastly, the theory of business must be tested constantly.

The Effective Decision process involves the follow sequence of steps: 1. Classify the problem 2. Define the problem 3. Specify the answer to the problem 4. Decide what is right rather than what is acceptable 5. Build into the decision the action to carry it out 6. and test the validity and effectiviness of the decision against the actual course of events. This is an high level sketch outlining a model for effective decision.

Drucker provides two methods, to help make, people decisions. The two creative approaches are: determine if the right people has right qualifications, perceptions, and talents; and make sure the individual understands the job. The first approaches advocates careful selection of the individual, by determining, how well the candidate fits the job assignment. The second approach measures the new manager's understanding of the job. The process requests, the new manager to write on paper, what they think will make them sucessful, in their job. Senior management reads the paper to determine, if the manager has grasped an understanding, of the job, and revalidates their decison about the individual being the right person, for the job.

The discipline of innovation encourages managers to separate the reasons for successful management, into two groups: systematic and non-systematic innovation. Both systematic and Non-systematic opportunies exist within an company or industry because of unexpected occurences, incongruties, process needs, and industry and market changes. Systematic innovation begins by analyizing the sources of opportunity. Innovation is perceptual and conceptual by definition and innovators must go out look, ask, and listen. Effective innovations start small. Small Innovations can lead to large implementations. Without innovation the company will go out of business. Innovation keeps a company competitive in the market and capable of meeting customer needs.

Technology has created a great diversity of information. In order for a manager, to be effective, managers need to identify the information they need to effective perform their jobs.

The world is moving to a society of organizations. Companies are moving to global economies of scale. People interact with various organizations to achieve results. Because of this new organization theory, outsourcing is preferred when no direct management hierarchy exists to a Vice President. Outsourcing provides high skill specialist, management, and senior management. Companies are achieving better results organizationally by outsourcing business process where possible.

Management is responsible for creating the knowledge worker. Historically, significant increasing in productivity were the result of a management core build established. Management is responsible for building the skilled worker. Organizations are made up of individuals, who have a high degree of technical skill and knowledge. Information must be convert into knowledge and manager's communication ability dictates the level of effectiviness in using the skilled worker's knowledge. Organizations represent a network of specialists, rather than a strong command and control heirarchy. However, technology of itself does not increase productivity.

How do managers increase productivity? Managers increase productive by helping the knowledge worker to work smarter - not harder. Management creates the knowledge worker by empower them with specialized skills and knowledge. Productivity gaps are closed through training. Management must decide who gets trained. Training the right people increase the worker's capability, compensation, and productivity. Performance can only be achieved by the worker working smarter not harder. Only ten percent of the work is effectively and producing ninety percent of the productivity and profit. Thus, over ninety percent of the work is ineffective. It is management's responsibility to reduce this inefficiency. Drucker will later introduce his activity oriented decision model to help managers reduce the amount of inefficiency.

Managers are responsible for creating and maintaining their carreer path. Receiving a higher education degree and employment, in a large company does not guarentee retirement, with the company. Managers are responsible for designing and maintaining their career. Fragmentation of purpose and thought must be overcome to reduce confusion and losses. Knowledge workers must learn how to produce. This requires the knowledge work to remain current, with changes, in the business environment. Their contribution in large part depends on the knowledge workers ability to adapt and learn smarter ways to produce.

Activity Oriented Decision model prevents loses and failures. Activity Oriented decisions combine value analysis, risk analysis, quality analysis, and process analysis, into one. Decisions resulting from managers who follow the activity oriented decision model don't risk losing capital. The combination of the various information sources, associated with the activity oriented decision helps the manager understand the potential value of the venture, the potential value, the risks of failure, and the cost of modifying or implement new processes, and the long term affects on quality in the organization.

The activity oriented decision model is a conceptually definition and the practical discipline proposed exciting possiblities. Activies are analyzed, defined, and sequenced. Resources are allocated to the activity. The activity outcomes are measured to determine, if they are meeting requirements. Managers weight the risks by asking "what are the benefits of the activity?","What are the fallout impacts for failure to implement the activity?", and "what are the impacts to the organization long term by implementing the activity?"

Analysis of the process, results in time and budget allocation estimates. Schedules provide time lines and sequences linked to a resources. Managers must coordination various organizations to gain access to a resource. A resource represents a individual in a specialize field of knowledge. Communication and coordination are necessary to effectively manage various resources, so each individual understands, what is expected and what to produce. Budgets and time provide the boundary of the activity problem. Its possible to have a budget or schedule which exceeds the boundary of the problem, making the activity unfeasible. To avoid this problem, the manager must provide clear objectives to be developed and maintained. The objectives scope must stay within a predefined problem boundary.

Peter F. Drucker is known as the "management guru's management guru". The articles in this book explain the reason. Each article is a landmark in the field of management.

In the preface Drucker shows why he has become so famous. He shows his strength of recognising trends and how these trends will affect business, people, and society. This preface is followed by a short introduction from the editor.

The book consists of two Parts, The Manager's Responsibilities and The Executive's World, with each consisting of 6 Harvard Business Review-articles (out of 32 articles and growing). The book also includes an interesting preface, an introduction by Harvard Business Review-editor Nan Stone, and an interview with Peter Drucker.

In Part I - The Manager's Responsibilities, the articles discuss the managerial responsibilities of the manager, although Drucker prefers the term "executive". The articles discuss general management such as the decision-making process, effective management, strategic management, and innovation.

Part II - The Executive's World, Drucker discusses the history of management, the transformation from the traditional command-and-control model to knowledge-based organizations, information technology, and non-profit management.

The book concludes with an interview with Peter Drucker, which is based on his 1995-book 'Post-Capitalist Society'.

The book deserves the five-star rating since each article is fantastic. Perhaps some of them overlap, but it is amazing that some of the articles written in the 1960s are still very valid today. Drucker's writing style is simple US-English.

It should be mandatory for every M.B.A. student in the world.

Growing up in Iowa in the 70s, we didn't have the grindhouses movie theaters of NY nor did we have the drive-ins of the South. Being a b-movie fan at that time meant combing the TV Guide every week to find oddball movies, although if the title was not eye catching (e.g.-The Devil's Rain, Blue Sunshine), it might be missed. This book came out when I was 15, and although horror movie encyclopedias had been published in the past, this was the first really comprehensive tome on what is generally described now as "exploitation movies," "cult movies," or more recently, "grindhouse movies."

The term the author coined, "Psychotronic," became inclusive of not just horror movies, but also biker, blaxploitation, juvenile delinquency, drug, scare, softcore, and any other type of offbeat movie the author happened to fancy.

It was published at the very cusp of the VHS boom, when not only were video shops sprouting up all over the place, but electronic shops, supermarkets, and even convenience stores had huge video rental operations. Michael Weldon's movie guide gave an entire generation of b-movie buffs who did not live in NYC a glimpse into what was out there. This book became a bible to us given that it was first time in our lives that these movies were available to us thanks to the proliferation of VHS rental tapes.

The book is now 25 years out of date and younger audiences might not find it quite so useful (it doesn't list The Evil Dead-that's how old it is!), but on the plus side, there are many listings for movies from the early 80s and before that have disappeared, so it's difficult to write it off as irrelevant even now.

Absolutely indespensible guide to cult, sci-fi, horror and every other offbeat film genre written by people that understand subculture. Never ceases to amaze with the rare titles the Psychotronic folk somehow managed to track down and review years before we mere mortals knew these films existed. I refer to my copy at least once a week which should indicate how valuable a resource book this is to me.

I am the first to confess that not everyone spends their time wondering if they might like to watch Untamed Women tonight, or have an Ed Wood film festival, but I am one of them. Call me crazy (ahem!), but I like really bad old movies, especially the ones that try to scare/pander you. Perhaps I yearn for the time when showing a bit of cleavage was considered racy. So I nose around the discount rack looking for such gems as Mermaids of Tiburon or The Earth Dies Screaming. I come across a copy of Demonoid. Should I buy it or not? Comes the rescue the Psychotronic guide which safely guides me through these murky dark waters. It and its companion Video guide are essential for those who share my idea of fun, with reviews of 6000 screen gems, such as Curse at Cactus Creek and Robot Monster.

Perhaps my only objection is that the guide makes no pretense at being authoritative. For example, When a Stranger Calls is reivewed (favorably), but its sequel, When a Stranger Calls back, does not appear at all (and is arguably the better movie). There is also a smattering of "legitimate" film, such as Pursuit of the Graf Spee, and Polyester. No matter, all the films reviewed are, at the least, quirky, and there is a pretty good chance, at any rate, that the film you seek is reviewed. If not, you will have great fun just looking for it.

My only grief is that the concordance is limited to an index. After all, what more important thing could there be than a filmography of Barbara Steele, the geratest actress that ever lived?

These things aside, I recommend this without hesitation. There are other books listing gore/sleeze/exploitation films, but you will find none better.

This tome makes one yearn for the good old days, long gone, of the drive-in movie of the 60's and 70's now replaced by video bins. B movie makers of those days- their names are legion - made an honest attempt to entertain their audiences with meagre resources and often more meagre talent(unlike exploitation film makers of today, whose direct to video releases are lazy and witless). Weldon chronicles this glorious time in a very generous compendium, chocked full of wonderful black and white stills and capsule reviews of the inane and the obscure, thw wild and the wonderful, the unbelievable and the unforgettable. A feast for the fan of offbeat cinema.

The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film consists of plot summaries of the kind of movies that come on at 3 am. No not porn - get your mind out of that gutter. Weldon chronicles 50's movies with huge mutant animals from the old nuclear test site, vampires, werewolves and anything with killer androids.

Each movie has a plot summary and many have publicity stills or small news articles about the film culled from Weldons home collection. The introduction includes a section on the psychotronic film zine which Weldon ran. The zine included a listing of which weird movies were on that week and included plot summaries of said movies. What I found entertaining about this section was Weldons description of the difficulties getting his girlfriend to xerox the copies on the office copy machine when no one was looking. This book grew out of that zine.

When it was published in the early 80's this book would have been a great idea for any fans of bad movies. It is still a good source for info about bad movies up through the 70's. (I checked it out of the library and kept it for a semester during which I investigated such classics as Doctor Goldboots and the Go-go Girls and found that it was pretty thorough in the bad movies department.) As Weldon points out it was very difficult to find information about the kinds of films covered here at the time when this was published. However with the internet and sites like badmovies.org and the ever handy Internet Movie Database it is possible to get the information elsewhere.

If you have an internet connection then don't bother with The Psychotronic Encyclodedia. If you like bad movies and don't have internet access then this is a very useful reference for plot summaries and information on bad movies made prior to around 1980 and would be worth buying.

This book was interesting and certainly kept one's attention and raised some interesting issues. The only objections I have are that the logic was inconsistent, the picture of university politics not realistic, and a very, very minor one - its "Columbia" not "Colombia" University.

I really didn't expect to like this book much based on the cover flap synopsis, but I could not have been more wrong. It grabbed me very quickly and kept me glued throughout to the last page. Even though the author was bold enough to set up overt clues early in the book about what would happen, I couldn't predict any of the twists and turns in the story. It was like being in the ring with a professional boxer, with blows landing at will from every angle. Unbelievable effort for a first novel. I am definitely looking forward to T.K. Kenyon's future work.

Rabid, by T.K. Kenyon, was released by Kunati, Inc. in Spring, 2007. It is an amazing book!
One word for this book: riveting. No, two words: riveting, compelling...actually, Rabid would take more words than I even know to use, and I'm a wordsmyth myself. I could not put it down.
T.K. Kenyon's Rabid is an amazing story. Masterfully woven plotlines and an absolute commitment to truth and utter refusal to play the complacency game left me feeling as if I had gone on an "explore" with the author. Kenyon has the gift of pulling the reader in to the world of her characters. She manages to make an untouchable character like Leila a sympathetic one.
I look forward to Kenyon's next novel. Can't wait.

I bought this book on a recommendation from a well-read friend, and after recently reading "Special Topics in Calamity Physics," "Saturday," and "Never Let Me Go," this book was exactly what I needed. At first blush, with its delightfully raunchy characters and turbo-charged pace, "Rabid" seems like a here-today, forgotten-tomorrow mass-market thriller you'd pick up in the front of an airport bookstore. However, this intelligent book has some intriguing, unusual themes stuck inside its highly digestible prose. The dialogue is, in my opinion, some of the best I've seen in any novel. The conversations amongst the characters are illuminating and entertaining without being unrealistic. Furthermore, as someone who has degrees in Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering, I relished Kenyon's many references to laboratory culture.

Kenyon does an impressive job of juggling the four intertwined characters, and I was happy with three of the four endings. One of the character's endings just seemed abrupt and unfinished based on everything that had happened, but this didn't make me enjoy the book any less. This is an amazing and inspiring first effort. Kenyon skillfully teeters on the edge of absurdity with several of the elements in her plot; one almost expects her to take this plunge that many first-time novelists would indulge in, but she keeps the story firmly on the rails despite navigating amongst disparate settings.

If you're weary of a lot of the overwrought and unnecessarily obscure fiction that's been on the market lately and want a read that is unashamedly enjoyable yet thought-provoking, you won't go wrong picking up "Rabid."

A very good read from the first page. I liked this tremendously. Characters are well-defined and have depth and the action is unpredictable; this book is all it should be - absorbing and fascinating. Five stars.

A biography written by a child of someone famous often carries more than one burden, similar to the responsibility or encumbrance of the overshadowing parental fame. However, in filmmaker Jean Renoir's lovingly detailed remembrances of his Impressionist painter father, the reader gleans more than a timeline of an artist's rise to prominence. The author shares a richly detailed account of life in a culture that--in most areas of France save for Paris--was still foremostly agrarian. In this burgeoning Industrial world, Renoir tells of the rise of his father's art and the changing cultural behaviors, shifting societal patterns and troubling questions within that framework.

Beginning at Louis-Philippe's "July Monarchy" (1830-1848)-- generally seen as a period during which the haute bourgeoisie was dominant and the 1840's which saw financial crisises and bad harvests with an ensuing economic depression--we are reminded of the general and specific trends vis-à-vis how they affected the Renoir family's world. Curiously descriptive, this was a world of street oil lamps and chamber pots; anesthesia was not yet invented (nor any antiseptics); butchers slaughtered the animals on site in the back of the shop; great debates about the inferior railroad system and the overall safety of locomotives were waged (could a pregnant woman harm her unborn child by moving a such great speeds? Did the smoke and soot emitted hinder crops in nearby fields from growing). Adding to the vivid and graphic storytelling of French life are vignettes of the senior Renoir's dealings with fellow Impressionists and art dealers as well as his painting process behind some of his masterpieces. Family life, the defining touchstone of the artist as a man, is shared in humorous and matter-of-fact style ("My mother brought a great deal to my father: peace of mind, children whom he could paint; and a good excuse not to have to go out in the evening.") This book, which was first published in the mid-1950's, affords the reader a complete picture of the life of a great artist during a time of vicissitude and excitement in all facets of French society.

An affectionate remembrance of Renoir by his son, concentrating the years up to the turn of the century.

Renoir considered himself an artisan rather than an artist, disliked anything artificial, from margarine to ready-to-wear clothes, had among his friends artists, and musicians who are household names today. "It is when you have lost your teeth that you can buy the best beefsteak" he would say, and considering that he became more infirm with age, this truism affected him no less than the rest of us.

Impressionism is my favorite style of painting so I was really enchanted with this biography. Written by Renoir's middle son, Jean, Renoir, My Father not only gives us an intimate look at the life of Auguste Renoir, it gives us an intimate look at the Paris of Renoir's day as well.

As we get to know Renoir we get to know his contemporaries, too. Jean Renoir writes about Monet, Cezanne, Manet, Sisley and many other great artists. We learn many "little known" facts, such as Monet's penchant for lace and his "artful" way with the ladies.

Paris really comes alive in this book. Many of the places Renoir writes about still exist and can be visited today. This book makes any art lover's trip to Paris more meaningful whether he's a Renoir fan or not.

When reading this book, one must remember that this is not a "run of the mill" biography. This is a son writing about the father he adored. The portrait we are given is very intimate, detailed and loving. It's obvious that Jean Renoir adored his father, just as Auguste Renoir adored his family.

Ultimately, this book is a beautiful tribute from a loving son to a father who was one of history's consummate artists. If you have any interest at all in art, this is one book you simply must not pass up. The last page alone will break your heart.

Renoir was far more than one of the world's greatest artists. He was an adventurer, a family man, a man who held interesting views on just about every subject under the sun, and finally, in his later years, a martyr to life. Although this book was written by Renoir's middle son, Jean, it is as vibrant and alive as if Renoir, himself, had just written the words in his own hand. Through this book we learn how the Renoir family left its roots in Limoges and moved to Paris. We read of Renoir's early years as a painter of porcelain and how and why he became an artist, more specifically, an Impressionist. We learn of Renoir's marriage to Aline Charigot of Essoyes, the birth of his three sons and his move to the south of France. Some of the most interesting sections of the book deal with Renoir's feelings about the effect of light on a painting and why he needed to paint in a "natural" setting. Also, most interesting are the chapters on the birth of Impressionism and Renoir's relationships with the other artists of the time, such as Monet, Manet, Sisley and Cezanne, just to name a few. Lovingly and charmingly written, this book truly brings Renoir to life and makes him accessible to all. Absolutely a must for anyone with even a passing interest in art or artists!

We adopted "Renoir, My Father" as bedside reading while my wife was recovering from hip surgery, and (aside, perhaps, from "Goodnight, Moon,") I can't imagine better therapy. This is odd, in a way: Claude was an old man (and in pain) when Jean got to know him, and Jean was an old man when he finally brought his recollectios together. You might expect cranky, but nothing of the sort: it's a book full of sunny afterglow. Every parent would hope to be rememnbered so well.

The book might take a bit of getting used to: Jean has his own pace and his own way of telling his story. We did it in small doses and I'm not certain yet that I quite catch the rhythm. None of the rough edges have been smoothed off which, come to think of it, is just as Claude would have wanted: Jean speaks with his own voice. You have to listen well, but you know that the voice is nobody else's.

I suppose it helps to know a bit about the Impressionists to enjoy it all, but I can't say I know all that much, and I didn't feel impaired. Anyway, God bless Google: more than once, when Jean talked about a painting or a subject, I key-clicked my way to an image and completed (as it were) the picture.

Kudos also to NYRB (this time) for producing what it does not always produce: a finished physical specimen The paper feels like quality; the binding is sturdy, and there is a small but satisfying selection of pictures, both colored and black-and-white. There is even an index of sorts (I assume from the original translator) but it is patchy and incomplete. That last is a shortcoming, but forgivable in light of the book's other virtues. In the NYRB firmament, this is surely a star.

SOX AND THE CITY IS WRITTEN BY RICHARD ROEPER WHO IS ALSO A MOVIE CRITIC ALONG WITH ROGER EBERT IN CHICAGO AND THEY HAVE A SYNDICATED TV SHOW. I REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK. I AM NOT A SOX FAN BUT AN INDIANS FAN AND I KNOW MANY MANY SEASONS HAVE PASSED SINCE A WORLD SERIES VICTORY. ROPER BRINGS BACK MUCH NOSTALGIA FROM BASEBALL IN THE 1960'S TO PRESENT DAY. I REALLY ENJOYED THE SEGMENTS ABOUT THE 1967 TEAM AND DICK ALLEN. I ESPECIALLY RECOMMEND THIS FOR ALL SOX FANS AND EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT, THIS IS AN EXCELLENT READ FOR ALL BASEBALL FANS. HE DOES A GREAT JOB DESCRIBING IN DETAIL HOW THE 2005 SEASON WENT WITH SOME GREAT BEHIND THE SCENES STORIES. I THINK THE ONE MAIN THING I ENJOYED MOST WAS HIS EXPERIENCES FOLLOWING THE SOX AS A CHILD WHEN WE ARE YOUNG AND NAIVE AND HOPE IS ETERNAL. A MUST READ.

Roeper writes very well for a journalist (ha-ha), and this book was both funny and captured the essence of being a White Sox fan. He takes you through his personal experience of being fan from his childhood in the 1960s to attending the World Series in 2005. The book would be a fun read even if you were not a White Sox fan as Roeper includes a lot of jokes about pop culture such as movies and music, and many of the stories of being a fan are universal regardless of the team.

Fantastic recap of decades of Sox lore! This book was a quick and interesting read, containing trivia, stats, and facts all interwoven with personal anecdotes and memories. Terrific for new or old fans - a must have for all who know and love the Sox!

Thank goodness the White Sox have southside Chicago native Richard Roeper as a fan! The Cubs and other more popular MLB teams have a much longer roster of both author/fans (e.g. Stephen King and the Red Sox) and A-list celebrity/fans (of which the White Sox have none - sorry Jerry Springer, you're B-list). But the White Sox, with their long, interesting history and their amazing 2005 World Series run, needed someone to step up to the plate and deliver what the fan base needs: a book documenting what it means to be a White Sox fan in the four decades up to 2005. Roeper delivers a solid home run, albeit not a grand slam.

Roeper deftly interweaves three main storylines in "Sox and the City": the highlights of the past 40 years of Sox history; Roeper's own personal experiences as a fan attending more than 1000 Sox games; and the highlights of the 2005 season and World Series run. Along the way Roeper provides a personal, often humorous view of the main topics in Sox history: the different Sox teams that have been assembled over the years; what it means to be a Sox fan in what will always (unless the demographics of Chicago change radically) be a Cubs town, including especially the Sox/Cubs rivalry among the fans (which, because of geography is more passionate - at least on the Sox side - than any other intercity major league rivalry); Harry Caray's move from the Sox to the Cubs; Bill Veeck's attempts to generate excitement (and bring in paying fans) on the southside; Disco Demolition Night; the move from Comiskey to the Cell; and much more.

There is so much White Sox history that it is impossible to capture it all in a single volume, but Roeper hits all the highlights. His prose is very accessible, humorous, and direct. "Sox and the City" is likely to become the definitive guide to what it means to be a White Sox fan in the present day.

Why only four stars? Roeper's done an admirable job in all areas of the book except two: explaining precisely what made the 2005 team different than all other White Sox teams, and capturing the excitement and impact of the Sox's 2005 World Series victory on the city of Chicago. Perhaps the latter is an impossible task to translate into words - you had to be there.

All literate White Sox fans should read this book.

"Sox and the City" is a great read for any baseball lover, but particularly White Sox fans. They say that as a baseball fan you are wedded to one team for life, and live and die with them each season. Or to paraphrase one of those east coast baseball fans, baseball is not life or death, but the [White] Sox are!

"Sox and the City" will most interest Chicagosns, of course. But all baseball fans might enjoy it. After all, being a White Sox fan in a city with more than one team, and an ancient generational rivalry (I won't name that OTHER team) is an experience few living baseball fans still know. the annual highs and lows (and finally triumph) that made the suffering all worth it. Only perhaps New Yorkers share the experience (and even the New York Mets are stand-ins for the old Yankees-Dodgers-Giants rivalry).

If you love baseball, pick this one up!

This thin volume provides an excellent introduction to many of the most important supreme court cases that shape this country, and could be used as a guide for further readings on them. Each chapter review a specific topic (separation of church and state, discrimination, etc.), with important cases looking at different aspects of it. Highly recommended!

After seeing a 60 MINUTES interview with Judge Scalia recently I wanted to know more about the Supreme Court. This was one of the most interesting books I have read in years. I read it in just a few days and would highly recommend it to anyone. It talks about the evolution of the Supreme court and their most important decisons, decisions that effect us everyday. Also it is written in plain english so you do not need to be a lawyer to understand and enjoy it. Great book!

From Marbury v. Madison to Gore v. Bush, this book covers the most important cases in Supreme Court history. It's very clear and concise, an absolute delight to read.

Sure, you've heard of many of the cases in this book. But do you know what the legal underpinnings of "Roe vs. Wade" actually are? Do you know how the court derives its power?

I've been talking to everyone I know about this little gem, because it is so darn readable, and so relevant. Yesterday my local paper ran a story about filtering software the local library may soon install. And this morning I finished the book after reading about the cases that are directly tied to this course of action. So I can speak more intelligently about this issue, and I can read the paper with a more informed perspective.

Many of the cases are introduced by discussing a logical framework that parallels the facts of the case. The case is then introduced, and the arguments and reasoning that drove the court are discussed. Wow, that makes it sound really boring. But on the contrary, its a fun read and each chapter is short and encapsulated. Highly recommended.

I bought this as a gift, decided I'd better preview it first, and now I don't want to give it up. I'm ordering another one. Believe what the other 5-star reviewers have written.