Bean Books

I'll admit some of the other reviewers were right: there's no real plot and the characters' actions dun make sense. But its really a great beach read.
:) But I'm biased cuz I'm a sucker for jealous lovers.

This amazing book by Matt Christopher is awsome.It's about a boy named Koby who plays for the Cardinals and is the teams best pitcher but to to go along with the pitcher you have ta have a catcher witch his name is Tug.When a T.V. crew comes along and wants to learn about Middle school life but they want to follow around one person witch is koby.Can koby take the heat from being followed around by a camra crew are will he lose his friends?If you want to find out what happens read THE PRIME TIME PITCHER.

Assured she will be granted a network position, Andrea Malone is determined to get the coveted interview with a retired General. Her only problem is that she has to get by his son, Lyon Ratiff first.

Andrea and Lyon irritate and annoy each other from first sight, but are undeniably drawn to each other.

I can tell this is an early work for SB. The characters are not as well developed, and a lot of attention to detail is missed.

I'm wondering how Brown has the ability to write great novels such as WHITE HOT or SUNNY CHANDLER'S RETURN and then waste her time and efforts on PRIME TIME which was so lame. Not one aspect of Prime Time was developed. The characters lacked depth, the plot itself was thin and boring, and the dialogue was cliche and predictable.

I wouldn't even recommend this book to die-hard Brown fans.

PRIME TIME was originally published under the pseudonym of Rachel Ryan.

This is a story about a TV reporter, Andrea Malone who wants a network job. She's sure an interview with a retired US General in Texas will get that job for her if she can reveal his reason for the self-imposed seclusion. The only thing she has trouble with is his son, Lyon Ratiff. The anger, suspicion and uneasiness leads to love. Wow, does anything not lead to love with Sandra Brown?

PRIME TIME has a good story line, but nothing surprising in the plot line. The characters are strong but not as developed as they could be. If more depth were given to the characters, it may have led to a few twists and turns that were unexpected and would keep the reader on the edge of his/her seat!. Don't change your schedule to fit this book in, just use it to stop gaps in your schedule and you'll be happy!

I like this book for the most part and have gotten some good ideas from it but I only gave it three stars because it's confusing.
For example, in the 9 to 12 month section there is a recipe for honey glazed corn. Both of which are potential allergens. I'm pretty sure the US recommendation is not to give kids raw honey until after a year. There's also a lot of cheese, butter and milk in recipes in the 6 to 9 month section. Also confusing to me. Other books I have say to avoid dairy, especially milk until after a year.
The author is British, so maybe things are different over there? Whcih I also find confusing. The whole allergy thing is confusing to me and the introduction of certain foods. No baby food I've read does an adequate job of explaining the introduction schedule. Is the delay of certain foods because of the likelyhood of survivial if the baby has a serious allergic reaction of is it more to do with the ability to disgest certain foods due to maturity of the digestive system? Does any one really know? I've heard that in India watery peanut butter is baby's first food!
But any way, there are some good ideas in here, although I have largely ignored the age sections.
I also agree with the other posters and would like some healthier ideas, including more vegan alternatives and baking with whole wheat, flax, less sugar! How about no sugar.
Cathe Olson's books: Simply Natural Baby Food has some great ideas and she also has a good family cookbook called Vegetarian Mother's... something. Good healthy ideas for the entire family.

I read and re-read this book for the first year of my son's life. I got wonderful recipe ideas and advice on freezing, too. My son enjoyed my purees very much. I always get compliments on what a "good eater" he is.
As we're not vegetarians, I also used, "Healthy Baby Meal Planner". These two books were a perfect pair for me.
A very pleasurable, informative book. When I have number two, I'll go right back to page one..no new books necessary!

I was given this book by my lovely sister in law for my 2 children. Unfortunately, whilst the recipes sound lovely and they do work out, my family disliked all of them! I liked them but I am the only vegetarian in the house. I guess it depends what type of food you like. If you like the ingredients you will probably like the recipes. So if you are a vegetarian you will probably think it is great! Otherwise you may have a lot of converting to do.

When my family and I became vegan, I needed some help with recipes for children. I found very few specifically vegan resources, and hoped that this book might have some vegan recipes.

It doesn't, and since it doesn't claim to be vegan that isn't a problem.

The problem, for me, is that the ingredients butter, cream, whole milk, and cheese are all throughout the book, most recipes containing more than one of those ingredients. I really can't imagine a baby or toddler being healthy eating SO MUCH saturated fat and cholesterol. Yes, their dietary needs are somewhat different from adults, but not so very different.

I was not able to try the recipes, but I rather think it should be a recipe book celebrating dairy and eggs. If you want to feed your kids lots of full-fat dairy and egg products, this is the book for you whether you are vegetarian or not.

If you want low-fat, whole-grain, vegetable-containing foods children will eat, skip this book altogether.

Cute little drawings all over, easy to read. No nutritional info for each recipe. The recipes are organized by age of the baby. For instance, one chapter is called "First Flavors: 4-6 months" and another is called "Texture and Taste: 6-9 months."

The basic baby purees are pretty much vegan. Once you get into the recipes at 6 mos and over, there is a lot of egg, milk or dairy and will require adapting for a vegan family. Some of the adaptions are simple -- just using rice or soy milk instead of cow milk, others will require more experience with vegan cookery to make it come out right like in the baked goods.

I wonder about some of the selections because they use strong tasting ingredients like cabbage, curries, etc. An adult might enjoy them but I wonder how agreeable it would be for a baby? There is an effort though to keep the tone of the recipes simple and appealing to the average person.

The little smiley and unhappy faces with the boxes under each recipe is useful to check off how baby reacted to the food for future reference. Not a whole lot of margin space to write adaption or more comments though. Because a babies tastes change over time, I would have liked more space to note when I tried it again how baby reacted. Maybe several lines of happy and unhappy faces with a space to add the date?

Overall, it's a cute collection, and looks fun, but while I appreciate the effort to put together something that babies could deal with and create meals for adults that "pull out baby portions" easily for a toddler, I would have found it more useful if it had these things:

Notations for nutritional info per recipe.

If the recipe was vegan, ovo-, lacto- or lacto- ovo- with some kind of symbol

If the recipe freezes well with some kind of symbol

Space in back to write down allergies, etc.

More margin space to write down comments

Bruce Dessau's book begins with his childhood and school life at St. Bees, then into his gradual abandonment of a science degree (he was expected to go into electrical engineering) and onto the theatre, where via connections to the Oxbridge mafia, he got the biggest breaks and the funniest lines.

Influences? Jacques Tati's Mr. Hulot character, whose tics and twitches he memorized during his time at St. Bees. The significance of this is that it helped him in his technique of using silent comedy, miming even, to get laughs. Coupled with the faces he pulled in front of a mirror to gain a rubbery-faced elasticity that rivalled Jim Carrey, we can see the beginnings of Mr. Bean. Naturally, Monty Python is an influence, as it aired when he was 15 years old. John Cleese's nasty sarcasm was later felt in each of the Blackadders, as well as his portrayal of hideous comedy star Ron Anderson in his first starring movie, The Tall Guy, opposite Jeff Goldblum.

There are a lot of comparisons between him and Cleese, come to think of it. Each of them had many years behind them, cutting their teeth on TV series, working with other performers, never being in something for too long, before making it big.

In terms of his TV series, there's quite a lot devoted to each of them: Not The Nine O'Clock News, Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and the Thin Blue Line. Brief plots are given of each episode, as well as major performers who appear as guest stars, such as Miranda Richardson, Rik Mayall (The Young Ones), and Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter movies). It is with the third series of Black Adder (my personal favourite) that he won BAFTAs (the British equivalent of the Emmys and Oscars).

Mr. Bean, despite being his breakthrough series, was not only his fulfillment to create a comedy that could be more universal instead of being directed strictly at British tastes, was in a way the culmination of sketches he did on stage in the late 1970's, so it was basically old material (e.g. face shaving routine) refined. The movie was a success here, but because it was so Hollywoodized, was panned quite a bit in Britain.

Atkinson though comes through as a genius who despite striving to be a perfectionist, realizes that perfectionism unhealthily reduces someone to a bundle of ragged nerves. More an introvert, he is two different people, a comic onstage, a very private person offstage.

At this point, the Bean movie seems to be the pinnacle of his American success, but has the backlash happened? Sure, he came out the painfully jejune Rat Race, but Johnny English may be his saving grace, as Hollywood seems at a loss how to use him optimally. Then again, he didn't quite break into movies, as the book points out. Most of his movie roles have been minor (Never Say Never Again, Hot Shots Part Deux, Four Weddings And A Funeral). Yet through this book and from the time I noticed him in Not The Nine O'Clock News, the thing I've learned is never to anticipate what Rowan Atkinson will do next. Overall, a well-done book that casts Atkinson in a positive light and recommended for those who want to find out more on Britain's most talented comic since John Cleese.

Something of a lesson in not judging a book by its cover (or the blurb on the back). After purchasing this book, I was disappointed to learn in the opening acknowledgements that this was an unauthorized biography and that not even one of Atkinson's friends or close business associates agreed to be interviewed by Bruce Dressau, which in my mind, somewhat discredits the biography. On the other hand, if you're an American who didn't stumble upon Blackadder until it began airing on public television in the 90's (the way I did), this book isn't a bad read. It closely follows his career from his Oxford days up through The Thin Blue Line, which was interesting, especially when you see that seeds of certain characters (particularly Mr. Bean) took root early on in his career. Other than that, though, don't expect to gain any insight as to Rowan Atkinson the man, because there isn't any. The author tries to draw parallels between things like Atkinson's love of cars and his performing (if I had the book by my side now I'd subject you to the metaphor)but they just don't fly. I also realized, after reading the book, that the numerous articles that he quotes from (since no one was willing to talk to him) are mostly available on the internet. So while I'm willing to say that I learned something about British comedy and Rowan Atkinson, in the end I was still disappointed.

This biography is an excellent account of the various television shows, films and stage productions that Rowan Atkinson has performed in during the course of his career. Starting with some plays that he did as a school-boy, it continues right up to the year 2000 with his Comic Relief CURSE OF THE FATAL DEATH sketches and the BLACKADDER BACK AND FORTH one-off special. Unfortunately, while the book is bursting at the seams with information and facts about his professional life, we never really learn much about Mr. Atkinson himself. This is perhaps hardly surprising, after all it's fairly well-known that he hates to give interviews and will often times appear on a chat show in his Mr. Bean character in order to promote the series without having to give anything of himself away. Throughout the book one only catches a glimpse of the man behind that face. We learn rather superficial details, such as his love for automobiles and his shyness in person, but we never really get to see how much of an impact his public and private lives have on each other.

There has obviously been a lot of research that has gone into this book. To compensate for the lack of material from the mouth of Rowan Atkinson himself, the author instead quotes from a variety of his friends, but the bulk of the information comes from his co-workers. It's very interesting to see how Atkinson kept with the same people he had worked with since his graduate school days. The same names keep cropping up over and over and it becomes clear that Atkinson knows to stick with a winning team. One also learns the origin of some of the most famous Mr. Bean sketches, many of which date back to his stage persona from the late 1970s. I was fascinated to see the evolution of the Bean character. While many of his live shows incorporated a silent character, it wasn't until the 90s that he brought most of his most famous material to television.

This book is recommended for fans of Rowan Atkinson's work. Do not expect an in-depth look at his personal life, because until Atkinson starts giving more interviews or writes his autobiography, there simply won't be anything on the market resembling one. However, as far as detailing his many accomplishments in the field of comedy, you won't get any better than this book.

It's a sad sad tale of an ugly duckling. Once upon a time there was this boy whom everyone called alien for his looks were quite odd if not freakish. Even own parents of his shipped him off to a distant boy boarding school as not to see his grotesque visage.

The book merrily skips the boarding school years -- thank god. Imagine the torture and suffering poor Rowan must have endured in a British school.

No wonder, the man is quite quiet and reserved. That was his survival technique. The only way poor Rowan could touch life was through playing out characters on stage. His inclination, like a snubbed wicked cripple who hates the world, was to play the bad guys and sort of get back at the world.

But the story, as you know, has a happyend. Rowan makes it big. Real big. He turns his oddity into a golden mine. Where are those pretty boys that once picked on Rowan now? Getting up at 5 lining up to catch the bus to ferry them to and fro their dead-end jobs as nobodies, carrying a mortgage on a semi-detached dwelling with a hefty dose of stress to boot.

Well done, Rowan. Way to get back at all of them. And in fact, in Blackadder II or III (The one where you play the court guy doing a great deal of hanging around with the giddy queen) you look rather dashing.

Yes, you may interject, but Atkinson is synonymous with fun... he's a hoot... he's great... that all is well but not in this case. Not in the pages of this dull paperback. Not in its confines. The retracing of steps of this comic giant leads into a boring staleness of a rather common and not so happy plight.

I'm giving it 2 stars only because I like Rowan. The book itself deserves none, really.

I'm Rick Friedman. This has been the Awful Truth, bringing you reality like no other. Take care.

Until an authorized biography is written with the cooperation of Rowan Atkinson, this book will have to do. Because none of Atkinson's close companions (or the man himself) would be interviewed for the book, the author had to resort to sources such as published interviews and the like. While not an ideal situation, the general outline of Atkinson's life does successfully emerge, though with substantial interpretation required of Dessau.

The book is more a summary of Atkinson's career than an in-depth biography (for obvious reasons) and in that regard it is quite detailed. Atkinson emerges as the shy and reclusive youth with a penchant for "pulling faces" and physical humor. Although obviously his material has matured over the years, a persistent theme of the book is the essential "brainy physicality" of Atkinson's catalog. This physical humor obviously leads to comparisons with John Cleese (the two are friends,) who emerges as a mentor of sorts for Atkinson. I was especially amused at the prospect of Atkinson participating in the corporate training films made by Video Arts, Cleese's film company (see page 100 for details.) I appreciate also that Atkinson never lost touch with his roots as he participated in several projects centered on the schools he attended (he went to Durham School with Tony Blair) and Newcastle, his home town. I found it interesting that Atkinson's first date with his future wife Sunetra was to see Dire Straits, the band fronted by Newcastle's other famous progeny, Mark Knopfler.

The book does detail the shows and characters Atkinson became famous for, notably Mr. Bean, and my personal favorite, Blackadder. It also supplies a fairly detailed amount of information on several other ventures of less critical note (for instance, please feel free to read page 165 for a full account of the travails of attempting to get a piece of toast to stick to Jeff Goldblum's bottom) or import, such as his small roles in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "The Tall Guy."

As for genuine biographical insight, the book mostly outlines Atkinson's love for cars (and vehicles of all kinds; he's very proud to have a commercial truck drivers license) and racing. In the end, Atkinson seems not to have changed that much: he's still reclusive, shy, and intellectual, but of course, now he's the top paid actor in Britain.

I awarded this book four stars for a couple of reasons. While it isn't that insightful into Atkinson's inner being, it is the best that could be hoped for given the source restrictions faced by the author. It does yield a detailed professional history, and it gives us at least a glimpse of the enigma that is Rowan Atkinson.

I've used this book for around 10 years. I own a number of bean cook books but this is the one I go back to over and over.

Very few of these recipes are lean. Many recipes have up to 30 grams of fat. When I fix bean dishes, I want to improve my health not give myself a heart attack. This recipe book has adequate recipes for beans, but the title is very misleading, most every recipe is very fattening and not too good for your heart.

I've had this book for nearly 2 years and I use a recipe from it at least once a week. I love the wide range of cuisines presented - from Jambalaya to Sambar to Groundnut Stew to Pasta e Fagioli. I haven't tried a recipe, yet, that I didn't like.

Despite his generous use of herbs and spices, the four recipes I tried all tasted generic and dull.

These recipes are spicy and exciting -- just the thing to prove that vegetarian food is ANYTHING but boring! I love spicy food but I truly hate dishes that are pure heat with no flavor. Not true of these dishes -- Jay's recipes literally sing with flavor. Wonderful fare!

What fun to go back in time and relive the Beanie Baby craze. This book has everything: pricing, detailed information, cool pics and great nostalgia value. This is one terrificly talented writer who goes into all the necessary detail for us collectors out here. She uses creative yet comfortable language and is obviously in tune with her reading public. I loved reliving those fun times through this neato book!

While it is impossible to keep prices current, as a starter beanie collector, I found this guide a useful resource. I still refer to it as I make my way through the mountain of plush with beans out there. I'm happy with it.. though the picture quality for some of the beanies could have been significantly improved.. Its worth the $15 I paid. (:o)

Frankly, I was disappointed in this book. It has some good information, but the quality of the pictures is very poor. Many of them are out of focus or too far away and look very amateurish. Also, the prices for the Beanies seem out of date. I wish I could get Righty for $110.00.

It has every thing you want.even prices.

All in all, this book was just plain good. I was disappointed with it though. The prices were very inaccurate for the time. I urge you to look at other books.

Why didn't I like it? Her character development was incomplete. Her characters were very transparent and did not change much throughout this "thriller/mystery". The plot, although creative, did not seem very realistic. I know it's only fiction, but, even the end was not all that it was built up to be. You'll wait and wait for an exciting ending and not get one. Her discriptions of things/events was on par with that of a real writer, but the rest of it seemed like anyone with an interest in creative writing could have written it.

Absolutely a delicious read! From beginning to end, Woman Without A Past grabbed the reader into a suspense filled, mystery personified read that could not be put down. From adoption to murder, this novel portrayed the feeling of needing to connect to the biological past that anyone that was adopted would feel, and intertwined between all the chaotic emotions associated with that quest alone, were unsolved murders and mayhem, a little madness, and a touch of romance.

Romantic Suspense at its best!

I couldn't believe everyone else has rated this book 5 stars!
I thought the plot weak and not well thought out at all. All-in-all very dissapointing. Don't waste your time with this one.

A review by Heather
This story is about a woman named Molly who writes woman's mysteries. Her parents told her when she was young that she was adopted, and that they didn't know who her parents were. So Molly always accepted this and went on with life, when one day a man named Charles shows up at her work and says that she is identical to the woman that he was engaged to who lives down in Charleston, south Carolina on a huge plantation. So Molly goes with him and meets her twin sister Amelia and some other interesting characters who seem to not want her their. Then Molly finds out about a family murder, and about her dad that had a heart attack, and about her being stolen as a baby, and she is intrigued to figure out all of it.

Molly in this story is very curios, and very trusting. Molly would always believe what everyone else would say. When her crazy mother took her in the middle of the night Molly believed that she was going to take her somewhere nice, but she didn't. And even after that Molly trusted her when she took her backstage of an old theatre. This book is a good mystery, but Molly didn't really know what was going on so the reader doesn't know either. Most of the excitement happened when she was in the theatre at the end of the book. But the book isn't very exciting in the middle and beginning. The author doesn't give you that much information about the deaths, so it can be boring.

I would recommend this book for people who like mysteries without a lot of action. This is mostly a mystery book that makes you think about what happened and you have to examine the events in the book carefully to completely understand it.

WOMAN WITHOUT A PAST takes place in Charleston, South Carolina, where the heroine of the book, Molly Hunt, finds out about her past. Molly was given away for adoption as an infant, and has only known her adoptive parents. However, sheer chance brings her into contact with the man who is about to marry her twin sister, whom she never knew to exist. Filled with doubt, Molly follows Charles Landry to South Carolina to meet the family she never knew.

As the story progresses, Molly learns about her biological family, and finds that there are some deep secrets that may have eventually led to her adoption years ago. The big shocking secret is that her adoption may have been a result of a kidnapping, and for some reason the family seems to know about the crime but refuses to shed light on it.

As she learns about these family secrets, her life starts to take a turn for the worse, as she finds herself in danger and a target for murder.

I really enjoyed this novel by Phyllis Whitney. I've been a fan of hers for over 20 years now, and her novels still have the same impact they had on me way back when. She hasn't lost her touch. Ms Whitney knows how to write a good romance mystery and is probably the best in the genre.

Leah Hager Cohen ends this books with the words: everywhere you rest your eyes, invisible stories blossom. Well, in this book it is her intention to tell you every possible story about every possible thing and person that relates to every possible other thing and person, starting from her having a cup of coffee and readin the Sunday paper. This is "world in a grain of sand" gone mad. The premise is a good one, and was in fact why I bought the book in the first place. But how much is enough? Cohen doesn't appear to even care to ask the question; her editor, if there was one on the project, was probably cowering in a corner, subject to Cohen's steadfast refusal to edit out one precious word. Precious. That is the main word that comes to mind to describe this. While Cohen on the surface has intentions of getting to the root of things, to the connectedness of things, she writes in a way that calls more attention to her style of writing than to what she is trying to describe. She is a very talented writer. What comes to mind is the most talented girl in high-school, doing her best to show off and please the teacher, and get the best boy. But only now after a degree in writing.

An example, her description of fog in Mexico: "Everyone knows that the mist nourishes the coffee plants, caresses them like handmaidens with damp, cool fingers, cradles them in a moist pellicle all through the dry months." Never mind that the person she is observing only made it to the 12th grade. Never mind that I don't even know what the heck "pellicle" means, let alone him. And handmaidens in Mexico? Give me a break.

For paper, she follows a guy with a state of the art tree harvester that slices through trees like butter. Well, sure, that is the source of paper, but this is hardly a getting to know where paper is made or even one person who has their hands in the pulp.

The descriptions are rather lop-sized, weighted toward the fellow in Mexico for some inexplicible reason. And, that in and of itself could have made for an interesting study. But so many pages devoted to him, and so fewer to the lady at the glass factory (and all sorts of nonsense about her time off work) as well as that guy cutting down trees (for both lumber and paper)... well, maybe you get the idea. Cohen had an epiphany in a cafe, presumably had an editor that she could sweetalk into approving her airfare to Canada, Ohio and Mexico, and then ran (and ran) with the idea. And ran on with the sentences.

If you really want to know about glass paper or beans, you'd be better off buying seperate histories of them. And, while you will come away from this book with three portraits, of varying degrees of intimacy, you will likely also be saying to yourself.... get on with it Cohen. What does Ruth's arthritis have to do with the price of eggs?

And you know what? She could probably write you a whole book to answer that question.

This is one of those books that resonates with me yearsafter having read it. The book's starting point is the author sitting in a cafe drinking coffee in a glass mug, reading a paper. She realizes that she has no idea where the stuff she is surrounded by comes from. This book answers the question in the beautiful prose I have come to expect from this gifted writer. The story of each item is told from historic and personal viewpoints. This is an essential book!

Glass, Paper, Beans is one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read. I have just completed it for the second time. Each time I read it, it opens my eyes a little more to the idea that to everything, there is a story. We as adults are often like little children who think milk comes from a store, having little or no concept of the work it took to get it there. It is comforting in a way to know that I am connected to so many people through the ordinary things of life, and those people lives are complex, creative, and hold a beauty all their own. I enjoyed Cohen's insight into three lives and how they interacted with initial stages of each product, bringing details of their private lives into play, weaving the two together. Cohen's book brings with it a greater appreciation for the ordinary things in my life. I know that people are behind them, not a new revelation, but now brought to life.

and finally gave it away. While I think it's a great concept, I don't find it a page turner, or enough to make me care about any of the three characters Ms. Hager Cohen follows throughout the book.

I loved this book! The author starts with a simple train of thought and follows it on a sort of quest to investigate the "stories" behind everyday objects. In the course of her investigations she examines myths, histories and philosophies surrounding these things. The book is kept from becoming dry by the vivid pictures she makes of the people she meets in her investigations. Beautifully, almost poetically written, she uses simple language to convey some very complex ideas. ...A book to make you think.

This is a very good book. It is well written and will leave you unable to put it down. This is another hit for C.N. Bean!

The continuing saga of investigator Rita Trible (from A Soul To Take) only gets better. Like a slow moving freight train you are gathered up into the encredibly real life of Rita. Then it picks up speed and never lets you off until the stunning last stop. Hold your breath!

it was good but a soul to take was much better. it has a good story to it. I woul like to see more books by C.N.BEAN. Hes a good writer.

. . .as in his first novel, Bean crafts another psychological murder mystery -- but, like his first two, with some serious flaws.

Again set in Southeastern Wisconsin, it is clear that Bean is reasonably familiar with the area. That is a plus. There are not many other plusses.

The first victim? The mentor of his main character. Other victims? Like in his previous books, young children. Many readers may well have a difficulty with this aspect of the book. His ultimate villian was completely unbelievable, the motive was weak and the resolution non-existent.

The sub-plot involving the gambling difficulties of the main character's husband never did make sense to me, and did not significantly add to the overall development.

Certainly not the worst mystery writer I've encountered -- but certainly not the best either.

I gave this book more of a chance than it deserved. I actually finished it. I read 100's of books a year, and this has to be one of the top 10 losers.

The story line had potential, but there was little, if any, continuity. There are many questions left unanswered at the end, which is unsurprising as the author tried to sum it all up in 1 page. It actually feels as if the story DIDN'T end.

I haven't read anything else by C. N. Bean, and I admit it's possible his other works would be more to my liking - but this story read like a Dick and Jane book. This guy needs to read Stephen King's "On Writing" for a few tips. I doubt his other books read any better.

Do yourself a favor and try J. D. Robb's "In Death" series. You won't be sorry.

Really takes you through each essay and asks you various questions about it. It's covering pretty much everything about writing. I recommend it.

The university where I teach allows us to choose our own composition text. After much research and personal experience with several composition texts, I use this guide. While I agree that the selected essays do have a liberal slant I do not agree that the writing is too difficult for a freshman to understand.

There is no way that I would assign the entire textbook, cover to cover, for one semester. Even the authors do not suggest this. I use the chapters on reading and writing rhetoric, research, critical data analysis, and writer conferencing with all of my composition classes. Then I pick and choose which specific writing projects/chapters I will use for different levels.

I highly recommend this textbook. It has a lot of acurate and useful information and is a great source for a composition course.

To counterbalance the liberal essays, I add in several others from many different perspectives and fields to allow students to have a wider understanding of the world.

The book contains good up to date information and it has helped me with my College writing class.

I have been required to use this text at one school where I teach, and it is a dismal experience. Most of the other instructors feel the same way, but we are overruled by a minority opinion.

The authors do not have a clue that they are writing this book for a freshman college audience. You need advanced reading skills in order to be able to understand some of the chapters in this book. For example, they overly complicate the chapter on writing evaluations.

The readings are also dry and have a noticeably liberal slant. Although, there are a couple of interesting ones, such as the essay about Sesame Street being sexist. However, there are not enough readings to provide good examples for students to use as models.

If I was not forced to use the book, I would not. This is too much money to spend on a book that is not especially useful.

I was very disappointed with this purchase. Since several pages were missing and there has been a lot of highlighting going on, I don't think that the description of the book as "like new" was truthful. Would not recommend that you purchase anything from this seller.

PRODUST WAS SHIPPED AS PROMISED. BOOK WAS IN GREAT SHAPE, PRATICALLY NEW. WILL DO BUISNESS AGAIN

The Mappes/Zembaty reader has everything one would want in an introductory primer on ethics and social policy. The editors have collected well-argued and important essays by philosophers, jurists and laymen on most of the politically charged topics of today, from abortion to pornography to environmentalism. Unfortunately, the book has not been updated to include any treatment of behaviors made newly possible by the Internet; perhaps a newer edition will accommodate this angle.