Abbey Books

One wonders why anyone would devote an entire book to the waning days of the Beatles' studio productions. These were acrimonious times for the once Fab Four, and the individual nature of each of their songs shows that they were the product of solo artists, not a unified band, who were using the others simply as a backing group. The breakup had already occurred creatively before it was institutionalized legally and corporately. However, Mr. Doggett chooses to sift through these lackluster sessions anyway, largely through the use of previously published accounts, many of them sketchy or inaccurate, rather than conduct any first-hand archival research or fresh interviews of his own. The result is a dismal rehash of old stories about very dull recording sessions. The shopworn tales are not likely to interest anyone other than diehard Beatles fanatics, and they will have seen it all before and heard it all on assorted recordings, both legitimate and bootleg. The shabby! result is not surprising considering Doggett's shaky sources, two of whom he dedicates his work to in words so reverentially gushy they should be reserved for deities, not hacks like these.

Betty Mitchell

Perhaps a bit too exhaustive and too reverential treatment of the Beatles' last two albums. There are other books available detailing all of their albums in a single volume. This does not add much to any of the others.

The circumstances surrounding the break-up of the Beatles have been shrouded in myth ever since the group assembled their Let It Be project. Doggett's book provides a gripping and persuasive account of the tensions that wracked the group in their final years, drawing on the hours of conversations and chaotic music-making captured on the so-called Get Back tapes. This material, never previously published, allows the reader to feel like a fly-on-the-wall as the Beatles implode. Remarkably, it's Paul McCartney, usually pegged as the villain of the piece, who emerges as the book's hero - the only one of the Fab Four prepared to stand up for the integrity of the group's reputation. Doggett's book altered the way in which I looked at these sessions, and indeed the entire responsibility for the break-up of the Beatles.

The A. A.s (Asprin and Abbey) have written a pretty short Catwoman novel. The title has a double meaning. A man named Tiger has got just a little bit too close to Catwoman's usual haunts. Given that he is into killing and using wild big cats for fun, that is just about guaranteed to make him her number one hate target.

Batman, as ever, is lurking in the shadows.

It's unfortunate that this, the only full-length Catwoman novel I know of, had to take place so shortly after the dismal Frank Miller Year One reboot. This Catwoman is a far cry from the smart, sexy, classy villainess-hero so many Cat-fans (not to mention Bat-fans) fell for.

If you're expecting Julie Newmar, think again--this Selina Kyle is based more on Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One" in which Selina was a dirt-poor East End hooker who had just about all she could take and became a jewel thief to get herself out of a life of pain and degradation.

Borrowing from both the "Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper" miniseries, a stint in "Action Comics Weekly", this Selina is a fascinating young woman who is at war with herself, her desires, and her world. But she's strong, capable, and a surprisingly warm protagonist capable of heroism--despite experiencing confusion about her feelings for Batman. She also gets a bit of female bonding with a fresh-off-the-bus animal activist, which helps blunt some of her sharpest edges and make Selina a 3-dimensional character that readers will take great delight in getting to know.

Especially recommended to fans of the 1980s and early 1990s comics, and animated television series.

Dr. Straus presents the indisputable facts about CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) with unsurpassed clarity. While it clearly shows a scholarly understanding of the topic, Straus's work serves to answer the questions of the layman and the scientist alike.

There is nothing here for patients, scientists or doctors requiring factually accurate biomedical information regarding the organically classified brain disorder ICD-10 G93.3 Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

To understand why the information in this book does not apply to patients with the organic brain disorder Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), readers need to understand a basic principle of scientific medical research.

Organically classified diseases already HAVE medical explanations for symptoms whether or not the exact cause is known.

Patients with organic diseases, by definition alone, do not meet the criteria for psychiatric somatization (psychosomatic) disorders.

And according to the principles of scientific research information based on factually incorrect assumptions and study group selection criteria cannot be extrapolated to organically ill patients.

Nor, for that matter, do beliefs, personalities or behavior cause or perpetuate organic damage caused by active or cyclically reactivated neurotropic (brain/heart) viruses such as HHV-6 and EBV (check PubMed for biomedical studies).

Verification is beyond simple: Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/post viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS)/chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are exclusively listed under G93.3 on page 494 - photocopies are available to the public.

Many doctors and patients are unaware of the ongoing ideological battle currently raging between psychiatrists over who is actually mentally ill and where mental illness ends and organic disease begins.

Or that adherents of psychiatrist George Engel's "Biopsychosocial" theory are reclassifying many organic diseases, not just G93.3 ME/PVFS/CFS or M79 fibromyalgia, as psychosomatic disorders in an effort to validate their theory.

Looking for a list of these organic disorders? Check the list of patient medical disorders covered under the lawsuits filed and won by states attorneys nationwide against UnumProvident Disability Insurance conglomerate or read biopsychosocial psychosomatic research by AJ Barsky.

Readers interested in accurate, applicable psychological information on CFS and fibromyalgia need to read books by longtime CDC and NIH researchers Dr. Leonard Jason and Renee Taylor also on Amazon.

I am so terribly disappointed in this book I don't even know where to begin so I'll just summarize the plot for you:

Brother Adam is a monk who raises bees. He went to Europe. He came back to the Abbey. His mother got sick. He went to see her. He had visa problems. He came back to the Abbey. His mother dies. He went to Europe. He had visa problems AND car problems. He came back to the Abbey. He went to the Middle East. He had car problems. He went to Asia Minor in 1954 but that isn't important. He went to Asia Minor in 1962. He had car problems. Oh yeah, sometimes he looked at bees. Sometimes he met a famous person. Sometimes he invented something that changed the beekeeping world.

Now imagine that each of those sentences is several pages long and repeats itself for 150 pages. Oy. How someone so well traveled, intelligent, and influential to the beekeeping world can be made out to be the most boring man on the face of the planet is beyond me. There is absolutely NO info here for beekeepers and no reading pleasure for fans of biography. There is only info here for the person who wrote it - and even that won't jog her memory of the whole story every time.

I think the first reviewer is right - stick with the wine - and skip this book.

This book is enjoyed the best when sat down with two bottles of Buckfast Tonic Wine.

Flick through chapter one after 1/4 of a bottle. Bounce the book off the wall after a 1/2 a bottle. Wreck the house after a full bottle.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh..... the wine, the wine.......

Dont you just love it. Respect to Brother Adam

Although I am over 30, I still like to celebrate birthdays. My birthday is a big deal, in the sense that getting birthday greetings from friends and relatives is important to me. I also enjoy sending birthday greetings to my friends and relatives; they appreciate it. Everyone should be able to celebrate their special day, once a year. I have long thought that, ideally, a birthday should be a happy occasion at any age. Unfortunately, many adults don't see it that way.
This book provides many helpful suggestions for looking at the positive, regarding one's birthday. It includes both practical suggestions and suggestions of positive attitudes, regarding birthdays. I especially recommend this book for anyone who feels sad regarding birthdays, but who would like to start seeing birthdays as happy occasions.

THIS BOOK DID ABSOLUTLY NOTHING FOR ME, THEN AGAIN, I WAS PRETTY SKEPTICAL OF IT... BEING A BIRTHDAY PRESENT AND ALL.

It is a great book for those of us that think we know-it-all. Plus the poster is worth 3/4ths of the cost anyway.

I neglected to read the description closely - THIS IS NOT A BOOK. It's more like an extremely overpriced pamphlet. Do not waste your time or money on this series. I ordered is Aug. 7, got it on 9/9. Extremely disappointed. I give it 1 star because there is no lwer rating to chose from.

AAAHHH! Some thing is finally happening in Sanctuary that makes sense! The Beysib invasion that was almost a non-event in the previous volume is finally generating the expected results. The Ranke empire has sent its third commando unit to Sanctuary to help take it back from the Beysib. The third commando is commanded by Kama who we find out is Tempus's daughter. Oh goody, goody! finally some sense.

Wait, what are Ischade and Roxanne doing battling each other and over what? Why does Ischade need unqualified stepsons to help her out? What's with this Zip character who in some stories is a disillusioned, callow, youth and in others is such a great leader of a revolutionary army that all the other factions in Sanctuary bow to him?

As usual with Thieves' World books, the format of the book is both its strength and its weakness. Strength in that the stories are imaginative and its very interesting to see different takes on the various denizens. Weak because we get no consistent treatment of characters. Some do not show up at all; others get short shrift; and some play major roles all of a sudden.

In this volume we also learn a bit more about the Beysib. Now, it is no longer enough to denigrate them as "fish-eyes" we actually read a story about the developing relationship between a male and female Beysib. Unfortunately, Hanse Shadowspawn appears and appears to go crazy! Oh well, there is more to come, obviously.

Wings of Omen, the sixth in the Thieves' World series, brings more of what one expects from the series. Featuring 8 stories from talented authors (including Asprin, Lynn Abbey, Diana Paxson, and C.J. Cherryh), Wings moves the town of Sanctuary into an open guerilla conflict on the street. Like the other Thieves' World books, the format of different stories occurring in the same location has strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, it is intersting to see the different perspectives each writer brings. On the other hand, interesting ideas generated by one writer or poorly followed up, or not at all. Too, there have been so many authors writing about so many characters that a glossary has become a must to keep track of who is whom. Nevertheless, Wings of Omen is an enjoyable, if somewhat dark and depressing at times, read.

I was fascinated by this book and the others in the Blood of Ten Chiefs series, even though I hadn't (and still haven't) read any of the Elfquest comics. The stories, by various fantasy writers, are mostly complex and absorbing.

I was even inspired to go on a lengthy search for an unavailable title in the series (this was several years ago).

A good read.

This book is a collection of short stories set in the World of Two Moons. The main characters of the stories are mostly chiefs of an elf tribe. Each chief is a decendant of an earlier chief. This book started out so bad, I almost put it down, but I hate starting a book and not finishing it, so I struggled through to the end. A few of the stories were actually pretty good, but they didn't make up for the ones that weren't.

The soloists are really bad. The Choir is fine but whoever chose the soloists ??? The instrumentals are good too to be fair.

It as very good details, but it's not for your casual reader. If you really want to know what life was like without the flowery images of popular culture, this is the one to read. Not exactly subway reading, but you'll understand life for the average person in the middle ages like never before.