Dodge Books

Just like her other books this is a great book. If I had any problem it not being able to find some on the canvas counts (23 ct coin net.HUH? I'm just going to use 22 ct (hope no ones counting) But seriously this is a great book. Easy to understand with beautiful pictures

This is a book every miniaturist/needlework lover should have in his/her library. It's full of great projects for every room of the dollhouse. I highly reccomend it.

simply wonderful. I spent hours just looking at the pictures showing the samples. i'm looking forward to begin my first work. Great expectations for tiny masterpieces

I expected the tiny samplers & rugs, but tiny crocheted & knitted clothing?! Excellent, excellent, excellent from beginning to end! Too many wonderful things to name.

This is a wonderful book, but I'm a little wary of giving it too good a review. The projects all look great, but I found a mistake in the first project that I tried. If you work the Turkoman rug exactly as the chart, it will not turn out the same as the picture. The border, in fact, will not even be symmetrical (as the picture is). As an experienced crafter, I picked up on this and was able to correct it, but I was disappointed to find the error in the first place. I look forward to trying other projects and hope they are error-free.

Most books with really good illustrations are usually a little weak in the next. Not The Ancient City. The excellent text in this book is completmented by beautiful illustrations of what is being told.

The past is another country, and the farther back in time we try to go, the harder it is to get there. If it is difficult to understand daily life in Rome and Athens today, even if we are there in person, able to see the sights and walk the streets with a native guide, then imagine how much more difficult the task to go back several thousand years. The natives are long gone, and only the shattered remains of marble buildings and monuments remain to guide us.

"The Ancient City" shows us, with a wealth of pictures and artistic reproductions, what life may have been like when Rome and Athens were the centers of their respective empires. Illustrator Peter Connolly draws on the latest archaeological finds to recreate buildings that range from the well-known, such as the Parthenon and the Colosseum, to tenements, temples, public baths and latrines (of the one in Rome -- dedicated to topping any other city -- boasted of one that featured an open-air design and over 100 seats).

Connolly also recreates statues, reliefs, frienzes and pottery, sometimes adding the original color scheme, creating a startling effect to an eye used to seeing plain white marble. The text, co-written with Hazel Dodge, describes daily life, how the people dressed, wed, entertained, worshiped and died.

Short of building your own time machine, "The Ancient World" is a worthwhile passport to the past.

The Ancient City: LIfe in Classical Athens and Rome is a good book because it has a good description of the two civilizations. Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece are two different periods, and the book divides the two with clarity and nice colorfull pictures. It will give you good information that you can't find in a encyclopedia.

I teach Classical Studies from the junior school to the senior student and am always on the lookout for resource material which can make the subject more inherently interesting. This book has it all-a wealth .of information presented in a great format with brilliant illustrations. I have posters by the author hanging in my classroom but in this production he outdoes himself. I can now readily picture what the great Panathenaic procession might have looked like , what happened in bathing establishments and how the average citizen coped with the problems of everyday life.
If anyone ever thought the Classics were dull, I would encourage him or her to peruse this book. A new adventure awaits the reader.

I wanted a basic overview text on Greek and Roman civilizations. Luckily I stumbled upon this book by Connolly and Dodge. The book is terrific. The layout is excellent. The writing is succinct and the text moves along smoothly. I now have a basic knowledge of Greek and Roman eras. I got a lot more out of this book by also reading Edith Hamilton's The Greek Way. However, I must confess, this book is far more interesting and keeps one glued. A joy to read. Very highly recommended.

Well written, easy-to-use book that will be of use to not only beginning bakers, but experienced-but-busy bakers. Dodge provides a wealth of information that is often missing from other cookbooks: (1) what steps can be done in advance, (2) what can be frozen, and WHEN in the baking process it can be frozen, (3) useful adaptations, such as the pan size to use when you double a recipe, and flavor modifications. The measurements are given in cups and teaspoons, and the recipes are geared towards a home cook.

She has a great peanut butter cookie recipe that requires NO flour, which is helpful if someone in your family cannot eat gluten.

Recipe chapters are divided into two overall categories: "baker's express," and "cooking in stages." Each one of those categories contains the following sections: cookies and bars; cakes, large and small; breads; mousses, custards, and puddings; pies, tarts, cobblers, crips. In summary, this is a book that the home baker will actually use, and with great success.

I was working on a project that required multiple baked goods. In my search for a variety, I checked out several baking books from the library. Once my project ended, I had fallen in love with only one book and discovered I had to have the book for my own personal use. That book was, "The Weekend Baker" by Abigail Johnson Dodge.

Now, I'll be honest there are 3 things that I think you should consider if you are considering buying this book.
1. This is a hard bound book, which makes it slightly challenging to keep open on your counter as you work throught he recipe. A couple of #10 cans will easily help you out but it is a bit annoying.
2. This book is said to be for those who love to bake but struggle to find the time. While I agree, I think we forget that there are a lot of people who "love to bake" yet assume baking means boxed cake/brownine mixes, premade pie crusts or frozen cookie dough - it is important to note that this book is for people who love to bake FROM SCRATCH and are too busy. (My friend was disappointed in the book when she discovered Abigail is NOT Sandra Lee!)
3. Further to my note in #2, if you are baker who relies on photo images to assure your finished result is correct, you may be disappointed. While the photos that are in the book are fabulous they are sparse and not available for every recipe.

That being said; The Ginger Snaps on the cover are fabulous! I now have a friend that expects the Banana Cake with Fudgy Frosting every year for his birthday and in a recent search for the perfect "shortcake" this book provided the winning recipe! A wonderful book!

I'm a cookbook junkie on a short bookshelf leash so when I found out about this book, I checked it out of my library before I grabbed my checkbook just in case I was being lead astray by another pretty cover. Boy, did I underestimate this book! If you have an interest in baking, buy this book, buy it now, buy it for baking friends! I did.

It looks like a simple list of recipes that you probably already have in any number of other baking books, and really it is, but what makes this book so useful is that it's like all the best recipes in those books are condensed into one easy to read, easy to follow and easy to grab reference. It saves me time not because of any earth-shattering shortcuts, but because I don't have to sift through 10 baking books to find a recipe I want to make or spend time figuring out how I can spread out the recipe over time -- that's already done. And the author is fabulously reassuring that yes, you can do this if you have a few minutes, and yes, it will be worth it!

My only complaint: an index of recipes at the start of the three main chapters would make finding a particular recipe even quicker. Currently, I have to mark them with post-it flags, making my book look like it's eating a tibetan prayer flag.

Thanks for putting the fun back in baking!!

I purchased this book several months ago and I have to say that every recipe I've made has been superb! I really like the way each recipe is broken down into stages and the added bonus of variations to change things up a bit (if you care to do so). I highly recommend this cookbook to anyone who loves to bake, but can't take a whole day to do so. The author really has a passion for baking and it shows, trust me you won't be dissapointed!! Kudos!!

If I had to keep one baking cookbook this would be it. The recipes are fabulous, easy and always fetch rave reviews. It is a definate asset to both the experienced and novice baker's kitchen.

When you sensibly order this deal of a book, don't be surprised to find yourself promising to make EVERY SINGLE RECIPE as you flip through. The pictures are delectable, and the recipes easy to follow. They also include sidebars with both general information and that which is specific to the dessert at hand. I also enjoy their suggestions for alternate flavor additions. There are 6 sections of recipes: The Classics, Simple Desserts, Summer Fruit Desserts, Holiday Desserts, Special Occasions, and Chocolate Decadence. There are 7 recipes per section, and the book ends with basic dessert tips, glossary, and index.
Note that they use chocolate rather than cocoa in the chocolate-based desserts. I have a double boiler, but still generally prefer to use a metal bowl sitting atop a saucepan with gently boiling water. The bonus is that you can then use that as the main mixing bowl for zero chocolate loss.

I really love this book! The pictures are great and the recipes are what I was looking for! I highly recommend it!

Excellent book for anyone interested in desserts. I can't cook, but for some reason I can make excellent desserts. The berry fool is very easy to make and you can change it up a bit and put it in individual graham cracker pie plates. This book is loads of fun. Read the whole thing first though.

Most of the recipes in this book are suitable for bakers of any level.

What makes this book a standout, is the fact that even the simplest recipes look expensive and difficult, when complete. For example:

The Poached Pears With Raspberry Coulis, is simple. It looks like a million bucks when properly plated, though.

My boyfriend made the Lemon Curd Squares in the middle of the night. He isn't known for his cooking or baking skills (unless Noodle Roni counts). They came out perfect. From the way he carried on, you would think he solved cold fusion.

If your baking challenged, significant other, reads this book and is motivated to make just one recipe, then your money was well spent.

This book is a must have.

I have not even tried a recipe yet but I've read it cover to cover. You can usually tell a good cook book by how well it's written. The authors explain in great detail each recipe which is very easy to follow. To top it off a picture accompanies every dessert so you know exactly what to expect. In the back of the book is a guide for baking novices, like myself, on the importance of preparation before baking and some other tidbits as well.

The same day I received my copy I watched a program that aired on the Food Network: Good Eats w/ Alton Brown. He made Crème Brulee, Pear Coulis', and a Soufflé. His method followed the book to a tee. As you can see I highly recommend this book.

I have a ton of Oracle DW books and this one is still the gold standard for real world administration of large Oracle data warehouses. The others just plain suck because they lack details or have tons of errors. This along with Bert Scalzo's short DW book for Oracle and the older Oracle 8i Data Warehouse book by Oracle Press written by M. Corey and Abbey are still the best ones on the market.

Uses clear examples to demonstrate the best techniques for designing, building and administering efficient data warehouse solutions using Oracle. This book will give you the information you need to make your data warehouse successful. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars.

The heart of data warehousing is the database - Oracle, despite the bugs, is one of the most practical databases for large data repositories.

I have designed and installed Oracle data warehouses on Unix (and lately Linux) since the early nineties. The secret to a fulfilling relationship with an Oracle database set-up is knowing which stable Oracle release to use and the suitability with the operating platform.

Essential Oracle 8i Data Warehousing is focused on giving readers an objective understanding of using Oracle for implementing data warehousing repositories.

This book is better suited to technical users, who already have some understanding of Oracle, about to embark on the data warehousing process. This is not a book that is heavy on the side of data warehousing design nor dimensional modeling. There are other books that serve these subject areas well.

Please let me know if you have found this review helpful.

This book has everything: a brief, high-level, overview of oracle "concepts" like background processes, sga, init parameters, etc. and, ultimately, as its name implies, a good, solid overview of 8i features, tools, and enhancements to make designing, loading, monitoring, and querying large Oracle databases (I think the term "data warehouse" is something of a misnomer) almost, well, FUN. I highly recommend it over Oracle's own, fragmented, documentation and immediately proceeded to partition my large, date-stamped, tables. Mr. Dodge, et al, have raised the bar for successful database projects. Kudos all around.

I am a veteran Oracle DW designer and tuning specialist. This is a great book - very easy to read, technically accurate, and comprehensive (an unusual combination!). I can say from experience that the emphasis is in the right places. The Oracle manuals tell you how to do things - this tells you what to do and why. I highly recommend it for any Oracle DBA involved in building a data warehouse.

I met Tom Dodge in 1980. He was the somber, bearded, denim-clad intellectual who collected and sold vintage books in his relaxed little store downstairs from my wholesale office in a restored 200 year-old jailhouse in Waxahachie, Texas -- a great place to work and to hang.

On balmy afternoons, when business was slow, I would venture downstairs, browse the bookshelves, drink some coffee, and swap a few stories. I did most of the talking. Our conversations would round many curves, some serious, many amusing, but none very invasive in a personal sense. When we laughed, I noticed that Tom's demonstration was subdued, as if a gnarled hand from deep in his soul had reached up, pained his features, and choked his laughter.

One day, I felt confident of his trust, so I asked him about his parents. He was forthright, but hesitating. He described his mother and her life in sparse detail. He tried to share some insight about the person whom he thought was his father. Finally, he confessed that he really did not know who his father was. I cannot recall our finishing that point, because I had to take a phone call upstairs. We continued our visits, Tom's justified preoccupation with a recently injured son diverted me from trying to "get into his head."

My company closed the Waxahachie office in 1984, and I relocated my work to Dallas. Although we did see each other occasionally, Tom and I really did not keep in touch until 1995. One afternoon, I gave him a call; he was talkative and enthusiastic, in the middle of writing another book -- a personal account, this time. By then, Tom was trying to "manage" his mother -- not only her home and finances, but also the aftermath of some of her bizarre behavior in and around town, the result of a diminishing mental capacity.

I found out that, while growing up, Tom had shoes, clothes, shelter, and food. And, he had the love of his mother's parents, who raised him. But, all through his life, he wanted -- needed -- to know who his father actually was. But, Tom's mother could not tell him -- especially as he grew to adulthood -- because he represented a shameful indiscretion with someone to whom she was not married. He tried to reach out to her, but she was running too fast, pursued by ghosts from her past. They never had a deep conversation; it was just too risky for her. Time was running out; Tom's mother would not be able to tell him, because she was losing her mind. One great day, however, Tom got his answer -- a simple, straight answer. His world changed after that.

Oedipus Road is an interesting book in which Tom Dodge deals with his frustrating journey into self-realization in a sensitive, but dignified, way. He does not try to pull the reader into a maelstrom of grief; Tom, himself, is too reserved. Rather, he takes you along on a sensitive, realistic tour of time and life in a couple of small towns in Texas; he guides us with reflection and awareness. Oedipus Road involves the reader through a captivating story and empathy for a man seeking significance.

I liked this book. I found it well written and very interesting. The tales of growing up in Cleburne, Texas are captivating, even more so since it's a world gone by. The chronicling of his mother's Alzheimer's Disease is heartbreaking and reminds us of what we all might be facing.

There is a hauntingly beautiful line in the movie "Shadowlands": "We read to know we are not alone." Every time I read Tom Dodge's OEDIPUS ROAD I feel its truth.

I had read Mr. Dodge's book of short essays and thoroughly loved it. I purchased this book at NorthLake College where I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Dodge speak. My father died of colon cancer a year ago and spent a month in dementia at the end, and my mother has recently moved my 94 year old grandfather into her home. Due to these circumstances I could really appreciate Mr. Dodge's experiences dealing with his mother's situation - and understand the stress. But the beauty - and the mystery - of the story is his search for his father's identity. I kept turning pages because I couldn't wait to see what information he would discover - or extricate from his mother - next.

Oedipus Road by Tom Dodge is wonderfully engaging. I think I read it in three sittings. Normally I don't find mysteries my cup of tea, but when they are about birth rather than death and occur on a spiritual-emotional plane rather than a physical one, the drama changes entirely; this tea is just the right cup and just the right flavor.

The narrative's subtitle, "Searching for a Father in a Mother's Fading Memory," captures a basic irony of this tale with its classical allusions and provides the basis of its form. The author, stubbornly searching for his lost father in his mother's lost memory, begins each chapter with a candid recollection of his mother in her own voice -- setting the tone for her son who recalls his own childhood in parallels that oddly match his mother's memories on some level. However, Plato and Sophocles hover behind this story of small town life in Cleburne, Texas during the fifties with its insistence on knowledge, especially self-knowledge. In a sense, the author travels the long read that we all travel from the time we're old enough to question our identity. How can we make wise choices unless we know who we are? His mother, a victim of Alzheimer's disease, would seem to be little help on his path; however, the past is as vivid to her mind as the present is dim. Her lively language fairly vibrates off the page as she recalls her own childhood, evoking yet another generation, that of her beloved parents, in whose home the author is reared. We see life spanning generations, socially, politically, economically -- a history of the United States for three generations on a personal level.

As the author outlines his struggles with his mother's mental deterioration and his search for his father, we get not only only a book of changing times but one of morals and mores also. Unlike Jocasta, the author's mother knew who his father was, but as he says of his mother and gradmother: while they could bear any tragedy, scandal was indefensible. And thus never mentioned, ever. Dodge says he was the scarlet letter his mother refused to wear. It's not a bitter story, however. Despite the author's pain and ever-present anxiety, he recalls the pleasure of his small-town doings with nostalgia, great fondness and affection. And always there to guide him, like the chorus in ancient Greek plays, were his grandparents, his aunt Bernice and his mother's husband, kind beacons along the way.

Finally this mystery, aptly begun on Mother's Day, is solved, but it's a who-done-it until the very end. I was breathless by the end of one of the last chapters when the author has led the reader to believe that, if ever, it will be now, and his mother, like a character in a badly dubbed foreign movie, says the name for which so long he has searched. And oddly there is no blame. Because Dodge has allowed his mother to speak for herself, his story is her story too. Tragedy bequeaths itself only because it is inevitable, not because someone is to blame. Thus it is that Oedipus Road does what the best stories do: teaches us compassion and affirms life without ignoring its tragedy or folly.