Industry Books

Pinto's book is a bible for understanding automation. I was hesitant to purchase and read it but as I was managing a company in that area, I need a quick update of the industry. This book puts automation into perspective. From a humanistic as well as an operational point of view.

Now that automation and business intelligence are musts in the management of any business, how it evolved from the manufacturing plants is very interesting. It helps anybody thinking in processes to increase productivity and create methods that provide consistent outcomes, whether in manufacturing or not.

Futuristic at its time, the book is still a gem. I look forward to an update.

The articles and contributors to this book represent the story of an industry undergoing significant change and should be read by anyone interested in the impact technology has on them, without their awareness, while also showing how this industry is part of the global investment and economy. Pinto's observations and commentary on the industrial automation world as it enters the 21st century in a state of transition and some say turmoil also provides insight into other industries as well.

If you are entering into, departing from, or interested in today's networked world as an engineer, sales person, or investor this book provides a glimpse of how it all relates in a very readable way.

Jim's collection of essays, many updated for this book, will cause you to stop and think about the state of the automation industry, as well as manufacturing in general, today. He is not afraid to take a stand, and in fact, delights in stirring up readers and getting intelligent feedback.

Although many people seem to think that his views are limited to attacks on the Yurko-era of Invensys and predictions of Rockwell's sale, very little of the book concerns those topics. This series of articles touches on technologies and business topics with a wit designed to cut through the clutter of your mind and get you to think. I wish more people were thinking deeply about the business impact of automation these days.

Read this book not as a text book of what was, but as a starting point for your own reflections about the state of manufacturing. Pinto will get your "juices flowing." You may find that you care more about the state of manufacturing than you thought.

Usually, when I read "This is a must-read book," I put it down to publishers' hype. Now that I have read Automation Unplugged, I will say that a person in the instrument/control system business should read it. The book gives some history that provides insight into the present conditions in the systems business.

The marketing section is truly required reading for today's environment in the systems business. When you finish reading, you say to yourself "I knew that," but you had not developed the thesis as logically nor as completely. As to the forecasting of the future, if only 50 percent of Mr. Pinto's predictions come true, major changes in management thinking will be required.

Dick Caro's introduction to the Fieldbus chapter clearly explains why the ISO and IEC standards are as irrational as they are. The chapter titled "How do I catch the Fieldbus" presents a logical explanation of all the varying standards for the buses.

Put this book in your library for reference along Bella Liptak's series of books.

For those of us outside the close knit world of automation, Jim Pinto is at his futuristic best in his poetry and political commentary. He rebels against the trend toward group think and bland commentary. He offers a prismatic view of the industry of automation which is neither too focused nor too general nor, we come to understand, viewed from every angle captured by Mr. Pinto. He has more facets of his intellect to share (perhaps political commentary will make up all or a larger portion of his next book?).

Mr. Pinto writes unselfconsciously and without apparent concern for the backlash that might face anyone less well regarded in the industry. In twenty years, Mr. Pinto built Action Instruments from nothing to industry greatness. That is to say, it was a great company until he sold it five years ago.

His entrepreneurial success, financial independence, and intellectual prowess are readily evident in his seemingly unguarded and thought provoking views. I found it refreshing to read intellectual commentary from a man with a sense of humor.

Wade Lovell
President & CEO

Ski Tote LLC

Whether you are in charge of 100 or 1 systems, you need to consider backup and data protection solutions. Clearly the most sensible approach is leveraging inexpensive and highly available disk based solutions as backup targets. This book not only describes the benefits of this approach but also guides you on how to leverage one of the simplest yet most powerful Windows backup software available.

By simplifying our backup strategy from traditional tape to disk, we were able to save $12K a year (in tape costs) and took our backup window from 2 1/2 days to 6 hours, while increasing our time to recovery to 5min. from 5 hours.

This book covers everything you want and/or need to know about inplementing the BFW system. It's written in a style and language that even non-tech business owners can appreciate. Very thorough!

We've implement the author's Backup 2 Disk design, and we couldn't be happier with it's results. After years of frustrating tape drive failures, expensive tape and equipment replacements, and agonizingly slow backup and restore routines, Mr. Lolli's backup architecture is a welcome solution. It's allowed us to recover from a frightening, and potentially catastrophic, system failure and it's day-to-day operations are fast and easy. Restoring accidentally deleted files, for instance, is now an exceptionally quick, simple, straight-forward process. Our backup system is, finally and thankfully, practical, solid, reliable, cost-effective and easily manageable. Accolades to Mr. Lolli!

This book and the methodology Mr. Lolli explains has saved our company a lot of time and effort! And his book is very easy to follow and understand.

We were using tape backup and on several occasions we chose to re-input lost data manually rather than go through the hassle and time of a restore from tape. We were also running into a time constraint problem of actually completing daily backups.

Now, because of this book we backup entirely to disk, and it's one of the best decisions we ever made! Backups are now done in less than 1/10 of the time tape took, and a typical file restore takes less than 2 mintues!

The methods clearly explained in this book are amazing time savers, and easy to follow and implement. I highly recommend this book for businesses of any size.

Aaron Combs
Vice-President
Stoneybrook Publishing, Inc.

Mr. William Lolli's Backup 2 Disk Now! provides IT administrators with the background information needed to select the best products available which will provide your organization with timely backup and restoration solutions. I have worked with tape backups and their pitfalls for years. Mr. Lolli has taken all of the leg work out of finding a better backup solution and presenting it in a logical and organized manner that is easy for others to follow. What more could an IT professional want when trying to find and promote a better way to secure his data on both large and small scales?

"Battling Wall Street: The Kennedy Presidency" is great reading for people who want to move beyond books about the mechanics of the Kennedy assassination. The book helps explain why the "Eastern establishment" and a lot of other influential people, might want to get rid of President Kennedy. Another book, "History Will Not Absolve Us : Orwellian Control, Public Denial, & the Murder of President Kennedy" provides additional pieces of the puzzle by explaining how the American establishment, including leading establishment liberals like Noam Chomsky and Alexander Cockburn, have worked to sell the Warren Commision's 'lone gunman' cover-up. The amazing thing about the Kennedy assassination is that, despite a lot of nonsense coming from the mainstream media, the American people know it wasn't a lone gunman and the killers didn't do us a favor.

In reviewing the thoughts of most researchers of the JFK assassination, one sees that most of them invariably bring up the Cuba issue, and occasionally Lee Harvey Oswald's possible involvement with this issue.
Now, however, in this book, Professor Donald Gibson may have uncovered the real issues behind the death of President Kennedy. He reveals so many issues, in fact, that one has to begin to decide which one is the crucial one, the one that provoked the conspirators to decide to kill him.

The death of Kennedy seems to this observer of the American scene a resolution of the struggle of the two forces to decide who really rules America. Since people who run the government colluded with the murderers of the president, it's pretty obvious who really runs the show.
Readers of this book may want to try Gibson's second book, "The Kennedy Assassination Cover-Up". After forty years, Americans should want a reasonable answer to the question of who killed Kennedy. Gibson may provide the answer.

In 1989 a book was published called "Crossfire", in which Texas-based journalist Jim Marrs reviewed most of the information he thought was then available concerning the JFK assassination. A large part of the book dealt with those people and groups whom he thought were the most likely to have killed Kennedy. Allen Dulles and his CIA were included in his list.
Donald Gibson has added one more suspect to this list in this book, and it would appear to this reader that someone has finally made sense of the events of November 22, 1963.
From this one book alone, one could seriously accept the idea that the eastern establishment, the Wall Street crowd, the corporate elite and all their connections had the most to lose with Kennedy as president. They had the motive and means to kill the president and then to cover it up. Gibson flatly states the establishment and the CIA's interests were intertwined. In fact, the CIA was merely the enforcer for the Council on Foreign Relations global agenda. Both Allen Dulles and John J McCloy were extremely important members of the Council, who managed to land on the Warren Commission and lead the cover-up. In fact, a case could be built that they organized the plot. All they needed was the green light from someone in the inner circle of the Rockefeller-dominated Council, like one of the Rockefellers.

this book helped give me a whole new meaningful perspective on the kennedy assasination..it sifts through all the misinformation, and the same tired trashy expose type books on the kennedy presidency that don't give any meaningful information, i am much more interested in a president's policies economic and otherwise as opposed to his sex life...i highly reccommend that anyone interested in politics, economics, or the kennedy assasination read this book twice and very slowly. gibson lays everything out clearly in an easy to understand way, i highly reccomend this book.

This book is a great read. The subject matter is interesting and thought provoking. I had the privilage of having Prof. Gibson in class. His knowledge is vast and inspiring. His passion has motivated me not only in the college realm but in life itself.

Perfect, new condition, shrink wrapped for protection.

Excellent Historical content. My husband was thrilled.

A fantastic work! Very detailed and full of fascinating photographs. Anyone with an interest in American narrow gauge will find this fascinating.

What to say more ....
Complete, full of drawings of rolling stocks, maps, the history of those brothers is so well written that seams a "romanze" not a real history.
Packed with informations, maps, and everithing you can expect from a "professional" writer.
An absolutely "must have" for any railroad fan and not. A piece of history.
Enzo Fortuna

As a researcher of Northern California local history, I use this book as a primary source document. I find the accuracy astounding, the book is easy to read, and the illustrations are first class. It is a model for anyone to follow -- study it, and cite it with confidence.

This massive volume charts the development of early California railroads, both narrow and standard gauge, by following the lives of two Irish immigrant brothers, Thomas and Martin Carter. It is much more than just a railroad history as it explores how they gained the skills and knowledge to build railroad cars, bridges, and even the railroads themselves, and how they used innovative leveraged financing (which in retrospect seems surprisingly modern) to build their company. The cars that they built some 100 years ago can still be found, still in San Francisco, Alaska, and in numerous railroad museums across the western United States.

As Mr. MacGregor develops the story of the Carter Brothers he is also telling the story of six individual early California Narrow gauge railroads which were built to fight the monopolistic Central Pacific system, called "the Octopus" by the newspapers of the time. Each of these lines will have a connection to the Carters, either through cars built by them, or through bridge and car designs which they provided under contract. Through side bars and supplemental chapters you gain insight into how these railroads operated, the locomotives they purchased, and which saloons were favored by their management.

Additionally, this is a wonderful example of the great American story, as the two brothers escape famine plagued Ireland, only to pass through the plague infested Canadian immigrant stations on the St. Lawrence River. 1862 finds Thomas operating his own business in upper New York state, which he abandons to come west to California to avoid the Civil War draft.

While Thomas finds work in the shops of California's first railroad, his younger brother Martin goes to work on the new state capital building. Thomas loses his leg in an industrial accident, and as a result has to find an alternative to physical labor. That alternative was railroad car drafting, which became design and eventually engineering. With these newfound skills he would form, with his brother a partnership to build railroad cars. That company would thrive for 30 years in a difficult economy.

The text is supplemented by a rich assortment of photo, drawings and contemporary color illustrations. The book even finds room for an amusing and insightful discussion of Thomas Carter's love life and his long standing affair with Molly Redmond, a refreshingly liberated Victorian woman.

This is a must have book for anyone interested in Western railroads, narrow gauge, or California History.

Bought this book on a whim, due to the cute title. It is easy to read, fun, and amazingly educational! Following its recommendations has saved me $500 and counting!

I could have used the information in this book so many, many times over the past forty years. How different my live would have been. I sat down to look at it and ended up reading it straight through. I immediately bought copies for each of my four adult, married sons. This book offers much practical information and can be put to use in everyday situations.

This page-turner kept me entertained while reminding me not to lose sight of my own self-worth. Effective problem-solving techniques, learned effortlessly and with humor, helped me find the right way to resolve a problem I was having with an international home improvement retailer, resulting in a 20% savings that I would have otherwise paid, despite the fault being theirs. Read in two evenings, this book saved me the cover price many times over. Fun, funny, easy to read and full of valuable information.

A quick and fast paced read on how to be assertive, while at the same time being tactful. The personal stories in the book show how to `stick up for yourself' when dealing with manufacturers and other people/friends. The ideas and suggestions can also be used to improve communication with one's family members. When we have things to say it has been found that it is more healthful and productive to deal with the issue than letting it fester within you or complaining to others. This book helps you to do this and how to do it without getting angry or saying things that are hurtful. I highly recommend it and will reread it in the future as I need to be `reminded' about how to be even more open and direct when resolving issues that life presents.

The last time I actually sat down and read a book from stem to stern was in 1999 I am ashamed to say. Work and a busy life prevalent to so many have been my excuses. However! I sat down just to flick through the book and found myself enthralled - this was ME the author was talking to as if she were right there beside me and we were having such a lovely discussion. I amazed myself and didn't stir until I had read every word, nodding to myself in appreciation of her perspective and insight she shared with me. Even if I had paid hundreds for a private consultation or seminar I would not have gotten as much out of it as I did with this book and I can read it over and over again to be reassured when those threads of doubt come into life. Recommended it to everyone!

I had not come across this author before, so I was intrigued when a friend who has put me onto other good reads suggested this one. His advice was excellent and I expect that I will now have to go back and read some of Pottinger's other efforts as well.

This novel has most of the ingredients for a good pot boiler,i.e., big oil, big money, scheming, sex, intrigue, ironic twists, sex (did I already mention that?) and revenge. Lots of revenge.

The characters live Texas large and the story rolls along at a fasten your seatbelt pace, all of which makes for a fine winter read if you are watching the snow pile up outside your windows or a good beach read if you have had the good sense to spend some time in a warmer climate.

This one is fun.

I have never been disappointed with any of Stan Pottinger's previous novels. You always get a good, engrossing story. This is one of those.
The protagonists seemed real as they wound there way through this suspenseful and entertaining novel. I very much look forward to his next novel.

In Houston, not even forty years old, Jack "Spin" Patterson has worked his way up the ladder of success leaving behind many a corpse as he reaches the acme of Gulf-Tex Oil, the company he inherited from his late father-in-law. This expert at exploiting others is affluent with money, power, and women. Spin also has a past that now that he is part of the Texas in crowd her prefers hidden. However, his empire teeters when his wife Audrey has had it with his neglect at his best or scorn as his norm; she not only plans to divorce him, but threatens his seat as THE BOSS.

Oil runs in Max McLennon's veins though he knows the down side as his father died by a rig and his brother is disfigured. He worships his hero Spin until he begins to observe the dark side that would allow Gulf-Tex Oil employees and stockholders to lose everything just because his former idol has become too big for his britches as he refuses to negotiate with Audrey. Max decides to spin a different ending for the amoral Patterson because now he knows Jack.

Readers will see the obvious connections to the TV show Dallas as THE BOSS is a spicy Texas thriller that in some ways satires the Hagman drama by lampooning the "bigness" belief of elite natives. Spin steals the show with his supersize ego that enables him not only to step on people including his wife and to a lesser degree his mistress Tacoma Reed, but also allows him to believe he never makes mistakes as he is above human frailty. Max becomes his adversary as the statue falls from pedestal. Stanley Pottinger provides a fascinating look at the biggest of the big Texans.

Harriet Klausner

Max McLennon is part of billionaire Spin Patterson's inner circle. The oil business is in Max's blood, and he has stood by Spin throughout the development of a promising new technology. "Black Eyes" will change the world--if Spin's teams can get it to work.

Tragedy strikes just before the demonstration critical to Black Eyes' success. The lead genius on the project dies at sea, and the prototype goes down with him. Now Spin's corporation is certain to fold, which will destroy the hundreds of employees depending on its success for their survival.

Max's loyalties are torn between Spin, the woman both men love, and the everyday people who made the corporation work. Nothing is what it seems to be, and Max will be forced to make horrendous decisions that could cost lives.

Pottinger offers another suspenseful adventure in the tradition of cautionary tales. Larger than life characters pepper the pages with unexpected twists that keep readers guessing. Pottinger's diligent research adds credibility to an intoxicating plot, immersing the reader in the big-business world of oil exploration.

Suspense fans will find a great deal to enjoy about this novel. Be sure to set aside a few hours of free time, because once you start reading, you won't want to stop. Long live THE BOSS!

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
11/20/2006

4½-BOOKS for WUAT; 5-Stars on Amazon

Stan Pottinger never disappoints. His books are infused with a realism that makes them larger than fiction, a rare quality that belies the fact that THE BOSS, his latest novel, is only his fourth. In many ways it is also his best.

THE BOSS is set within the oil industry, arguably the most important element of our modern world. Spin Patterson runs Gulf-Tex Oil, a company that he inherited from his father-in-law and has transformed into a major oil industry player with a combination of brains, cunning and unscrupulousness. Max McLennon, a second-generation employee at Gulf-Tex, is Patterson's protégé and almost his greatest admirer. McLennon is staking everything and everyone on the development of Black Eyes, a tool that has the potential to transform the world by giving oil companies the ability to detect oil far below the earth's surface rather than engaging in the costly and often futile practice of drilling where they think oil may be had.

Patterson is a high roller with nerves of steel and a ruthless drive who will roll over anything or anyone that gets in his way. McLennon is the opposite of Patterson, an upright individual who can sympathize with the working man but who has the tendency to freeze under pressure. The presence of Tacoma Reed, the intelligent and exotic legal for Gulf-Tex, complicates matters for both men, as Patterson attempts to beat the odds and revitalize Gulf-Tex from a major setback --- even as his actions may result in the sacrifice of everything and everyone he holds dear.

Meanwhile, McLennon is given the opportunity to make things right for the people Patterson has damaged. It soon becomes clear though that he is playing a high-stakes game for which he is outclassed. Help arrives at the last moment from two unexpected sources, but it may be too late --- even as THE BOSS races toward an exciting and explosive conclusion.

Pottinger could have phoned in a tale of greed and corruption that would have played well with the masses and conformed to the popular, if simplistic, worldview of the oil industry. Instead, he has chosen at least in part to put a human face on a difficult enterprise. Yes, there are billions of dollars to be made in the oil industry, but there are also billions upon billions of dollars to be lost. The process of finding oil is extremely difficult; extracting it is all the more so. It is a dangerous and dirty business, the essence of which Pottinger captures well on all levels, explaining complicated concepts in an understandable manner without dumbing them down. I submit that one will not be able to read THE BOSS without thinking of the book the next time one fills up the tank.

Pottinger also does a magnificent job with characterization here. Patterson and McLennon are excellent protagonists. Though flawed in different ways, they are believable, each having detracting and sympathetic traits that ultimately result in a highly ironic ending for both.

THE BOSS is as readable a work as any that you'll encounter this year.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Though BOSS-BUSTERS is a first-rate piece of scholarship, the most striking aspect of the book is the quality of the writing. The story of Kansas City and its Star is told by Harry Haskell in a supremely readable prose style that allows the fascinating characters who are the actors in this drama to live in the imagination of the reader. Kansas City in the 1880s was a town with dirt streets and an outlaw mentality; from this mean beginning arose the City Beautiful, a great and influential newspaper, and a host of individuals whose lives altered the course of the twentieth century. Though sympathetic, Harry Haskell's portrait of his grandfather, Henry J. Haskell (the Pulitzer-prize winning editor of the Star), is informed by a remarkable objectivity. BOSS-BUSTERS is a splendid piece of writing on political and social history, the history of journalism and, ultimately, on the human character.

First and foremost this is a first -rate read that is meticulously researched. A recall of the days when KANSAS CITY and ITS STAR were a vibrant center of the United States and print journalism not only reported the news but often made it. A time before corporate media and newspaper chains were the name of the game in one newspaper towns, when bright energetic men with little money and brash bravado could set up shop and produce a paper and maybe make a lotta money. One such man was William Rockhill Nelson . This is his story and how he done it pushing the boosterism that both endorsed and transformed the booming cowtown on the bend of the Missouri River into the CITY BEAUTIFUL. He also became a big-time player on the national scene . Fun to read as he plays politics loving the intrigue and being buddy-buddy with the likes of Teddy Roosevelt. And he made more than a pot of money. Well those not so halcyon days am gone. Print journalism is on the run. The Kansas City Star is part of the McClatchy Company which if you hafta be part of a chain is, I suppose, as good as it can get. Nelson's real legacy is the Nelson-Atkins Gallery of Art built on the grounds of his estate and housing a major collection of Chinese art.

Haskell's meticulously researched account of the history of The Kansas City Star is a brilliant journey through history. Not only does this work describe the political and social passions and conflicts of America from the late 19th century to the present, it sheds light upon the humanity and foibles of such players as Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and numerous civic and national figures. It shows how the powerful forces of a newspaper and its founder, William Rockhill Nelson, could alter the course of a young city's growth, as well as influence an entire nation. Haskell is to be commended for this very readable, scholarly addition to American social, political, and economic history.

Comments written by:
Dr. E. Grey Dimond
Kansas City, Missouri
December 10, 2007

This is an excellent book for someone who has been deep enough into Kansas City to have a "feel" for its politics, its Establishment, the dynamics of this town at the river's bend. Here is where the Missouri River suddenly turns east, crosses the width of the State, to reach the Mississippi River at St. Louis. To fully be "filled in" on these basics of this community, the recent book about the Establishment of Kansas City should be, would be, the right beginning. Even then, one should have lived here, read its newspaper the Kansas City Star, and participated, even marginally, in the who's who--what makes it tick arena. I speak not of myself but of the author. Haskell is the grandson of one of the do-ers, leaders that shaped the newspaper and the community and for several years was on the Star's staff.

As a comment not needed but meant as a compliment: the title under-sells the book. Perhaps it will help sales but Haskell has produced so much more than this 'reach for eye-catching' label suggests. This is a book about the life of the Kansas City Star from its founding to that point that it sold its ownership away to distant buyers who never knew the town, who lost the boldness, activism, guts that made the paper and certainly helped make the city. I have lived here in both eras and each day's newspaper is a reminder of the loss.

The book is the story of William Rockhill Nelson, J.C. Nichols, Tom
Pendergast, Senator Reed (Nelly Don's husband), Roy Roberts, Henry J. Haskell and the Kansas City of the 1980s through the FDR era. For me, it is a reminder of efforts, good and bad, of the founders of local fortunes to secure it for their heirs: comparing Nelson to Nichols to Joyce Hall.

Kansas City was known as a "cow town" in Canada. By delving into the history of Kansas City and the impressive dominance and power of its newspaper, The Kansas City Star, Mr. Haskell's easily read book has shown me that this Mid-Western city was anything but a lowly "cow town." It was involved with highly important events at home, as well as abroad. Helen Keller, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, Katharine Wright (sister of Orville and Wilbur Wright), Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, FDR, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, and Harry Truman are well-known names associated with Kansas City. However, William Rockhill Nelson, Roy Roberts and Henry Joseph Haskell were vastly influential socially and politically throughout many sectors of the United States. There is a wealth of fascinating information in Boss-Busters and Sin Hounds that will appeal to the general public.

Yoram's book provides an outstanding framework for thinking about disruptive technology. Easy to read and based on the author's own experience and observations, includes many examples.

Yoram's book lives up to and even surpasses its catchy title, which by itself will provoke rueful smiles from anyone in the tech world. The book hits upon and explains a nascent but important trend today--- namely the creation of new markets using a range of disruptive and collaborative techniques and the massive stakes involved. Anyone who wants to understand what technology ecosystems are and their impact will find this book essential reading. I particularly liked the sections on derivative disruption and implementations, standards development organizations, and technology trending.

Another great feature of this book is it talks to you not at you. It's written clearly and it's easy to understand--Yoram's style is engaging and draws you in.

I would have no hesitation in recommending it highly to corporate technologists and market planners, management consultants, and people involved in analyzing and mapping technology portfolios and plans. I also think MBA students (and curriculums) will find it of great value.

You won't be disappointed with this book

Deepak Kamlani

Solomon delivers on the book's premise...big time! In a very readable style, he offers creative concepts and well-researched examples promoting how deliberate versus random innovation can be applied to new products; with particular focus on predicting how existing technologies can disrupt and create value not only in their primary markets, but secondary markets, as well. Worthy of several reads.

This book presents a useful analysis of the evolution of electronic technology from its recent past to the present and future trends.

The electronics- technology entrepreneur and the investor will both benefit from reading this book. "Bowling with a Crystall Ball" will help them analyze the past and make the best predictions and decisions affecting their next venture.

It is a very sobering read when one realizes the vertiginous speed at which changes have occured in the electronics industry over the last 30 years and realize that the "ball" keeps accelerating.

I highly recommend this book

I would definitely recommend Bowling with a Crystal Ball to ones who are either involved in a technology venture or about to be engaged in such.

The author is sharing his own real life personal experience along with theoretical examples which makes this book easy to associate with on a practical manor.

I travel to France and especially Paris often and love to have an insiders look at shopping places that visitors often don't know about. I can't wait to get there in October and use my little green book to check out some of the places in it. Love having the email addresses, phone numbers and the many pictures. Thank you Rebecca!

Travel through the best of the insider's Paris in 208 beautifully written and photographed pages. In concise, but through narratives, Ms. Magniant brings the best of Paris to your mind while Allison Harris' photos are each a well composed tableau of the individuals shop's wares. From wall designs to unique notions to toys, antique printed matter, designer clothers, jewelery, perfumes, all manner of foodstuffs, and other off-the-beaten-track treasures- if you can't find something of great interest to you, don't see Paris-see your doctor!

The perfect book for exploring Paris via shopping! The book is divided by neighborhoods for easy reference. The descriptions are extremely helpful and the photographs could be postcards of Paris themselves. The small size of the book will fit into your purse for easy access. I read this on the subway before I went shopping and couldn't wait to start shopping.

I just purchased a copy of "Chic Shopping Paris." It's a delightful guidebook. The information is absolutely essential if you plan to visit Paris, and, of course shop. If you don't plan to visit Paris, you can still injoy the beautiful color photos and dream!

even if it's only window shopping.

My wife and I love travel and we have had the privilege in shopping in many of the great cities of the world: New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Rome, Milan, Houston, and many many others. Paris is without equal for shoppng in a number of respects: elegance, beauty, quality, knowledge of staff and the pure joy of seeing fine products in a beautiful setting.

We both admit that we are a little intimidated, and frankly it's only in Paris we have that feeling. Partly it's the attitude of the sales people -- worldly, fashionable, speaking impeccable French. Partly it's our awe that the French seem to have discovered how to imbue even the simplest product with a level of sophistication.

Chic Shopping Paris is a great passport to discovering the joys of shopping in that great city. The photographs by Alison Harris are beautiful -- the book is almost a postcard collection of beautiful products beautifully displayed. The text is descriptive, educated, loving even -- Rebecca Perry Magniant proves her learning not only in this sampling of her work, but also on her frequently updated website. If the following passage resonates with you to any degree, visit the website, and carefully consider buying this beautiful little book:

Nicole Lehmann
19, rue de Turenne, 4th arr.
01 42 77 57 21
Métro: Saint-Paul
Tuesday-Saturday 11am-7pm, Sunday 2pm-7pm, closed Monday
nlparis.com

Nicole Lehmann's new shop just a block away from the Place des Vosges is small but elegant, the perfect setting for showing off her luxurious purses. Each of her bags is entirely handmade, with attention to fine details, in high-quality leathers and skins with metal accents. The bags come in three basic styles: the cabas (tote), the pochette (clutch), and the besace (messenger). Each comes with either long or short straps and in different finishes (grained or smooth leather, suede, alligator, ostrich). Some have unique details such as a long chain strap that can be removed and worn as a necklace; another style has a slim leather closure strap that is interchangeable with straps of other colors, and any of the straps can be worn as a bracelet. A small line of jewelry, cuff links, and belts rounds out the collection."

And if this book doesn't interest you, at least visit the publisher's website; The Little Bookroom publishes a number of delightful books that will enhance your travel experiences.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Good information about creating an auction ad (including sample templates) and interacting with buyers and sellers. Another plus: she presents an impressive list of smaller, specialized auction sites by category.

She went into a bit too much detail about necessary hardware (computer, modem, etc.) as almost all her readers are probably already online. Also, as with any book written about a Net-related topic, some parts of it were out-of-date before it hit the shelves. For example, she reviews the auction site "Up4Sale" which is no longer in business.

Overall, a worthwhile read for those serious about buying and selling at online auctions.

I've read every word in this book and highly recommend it as an clear explanation of the how-to's of ethical buying and selling via online auctions.

Personally, as a seller on various online auctions, I found the html info and templates explained in the back of the book to be most helpful!

I read the previous reviews of this book and I had to give my input - the more information, the better. Unfortunately, some data does go out of date. This book should be read before going to an online auction, while your in the middle of the auction, and after it's completion. There are lot's of examples (what I like) and how to's. If there's a problem with an auction, the author tries to assist you with other's examples. This an excellent "cookbook" for online auctions.

I found this book to contain the best and most conscise information on how to host an online auction. From start to finish, Nancy Hix guides you through every step with ease. Her advice is very easy to understand and follow. Being new to the whole internet auction experience, this book anwered numerous questions and enabled me to glide through auction sites very quickly. Her detailed descriptions of exactly how to host your own auction proved invaluable. If you are interested in learning about Online Auctions sites, or hosting your own auction, this book will get you started with confidence.

I had had already read two "online auctions made easy" type books before I bought this one. The others covered a lot of the basics but did not deal with HTML. I wanted to add "class" to my auctions and HTML was what I thought I needed and was confused on why these other books did not even mention the issue--I thought maybe it was too complicated??? Then I came across this book, it provided an extremely clear and easy walk through of the HTML language. There are even a few templates that I was able to examine and then adapted one for my own use. If a simple introduction to HTML is what you are after look no further...