Berg Books

Gretel Ehrlich provides the introduction. It is noted that John Muir walked first, wrote later. In 1868 he was thirty years old and had walked a thousand miles. He was a seeker in self-exile such as D.H. Lawrence, Rockwell Kent, and Basho. Muir chronicles a rite of passage. The summer described began in June, 1869. Forty-one years later the account was pieced together.

Muir worked for Mr. Delaney as a sheepherder. He had a St. Bernard dog as a companion. Mr. Delaney encouraged Muir to sketch and pursue his naturalist studies. He was to learn that sheep cannot be governed when hungry. Bushes are stripped. The sheep resemble locusts in their destructive potential.

Two kinds of squirrels are evident, the Douglas and the California Gray. The wood rat is more like a squirrel than a rat. He bulds large striking looking houses. Sheep camp bread is baked in Dutch ovens. Descriptions of silver firs, Sierra juniper, yellow and sugar pines, Douglas spruce, sequoia, hemlock, and dwarf pines appear in the account of the summer. Nature is extravagant. The group follows the Yosemite trail.

Mules flee from bears, and dogs want to. Bears are very shy. Indian patience is required to see them. Making sheep cross a stream is a challenge. Once one goes in, the others push in pell-mell. Lake Tenaya was named for one of the chiefs of the Yosemite tribe. Sierra mosquitoes are nearly an inch long. Sierra chipmunks are arboreal and squirrel-like. Grouse and woodpeckers are abundant in the vicinity of Mount Hoffman.

On August third Muir found Professor Butler, his teacher at the University of Wisconsin, because, sensing his presence, John Muir made inquiries at the only hotel in the area and was directed to go to the Vernal Falls. Professor Butler and his party were astonished that John Muir found them.

In times of hunger the dogs, men, and sheep are confronted with lions, leopards, wolves, hyenas, and panthers. The names of places are exciting and descriptive--Moraine Lake, Mono Desert, Soda Springs, Unicorn Peak, Cathedral Range, Tuolumne, Hetch-Hetchy Valley. Muir's self-directed studies in botany clearly account for some of the strengths of this nature narrative. In the end Mr. Delaney tells Muir he will be famous some day.The author describes himself as an incredible wilderness lover. September twenty second ended Muir's first excursion.

The book is a marvel. Sketches and photographs are included and enhance the work.

I am going to resign from critiquing this book on a literary scale, and just say that I didn't enjoy this book for the same reason a couple others mentioned - its boring and repetitive. Maybe its because I'm not used to aimless - albeit eloquent -landscape descriptions, or maybe it's the fact that NOTHING happens for 264 pages, but reading this book felt more like a chore than an enjoyable reading experience. Case in point: Casual readers beware!

This is an excellent, honest write. Muir reluctantly dictated this book while walking around a northern California estate. The wealthy owner of the estate loaned his secretary while Muir walked and talked and the secretary took dictation. Muir had the benefit of good editors. It is a great read because Muir is walking through forests while he recounts his first summer in the Sierra Nevada. We feel it through his eyes.

Muir's later writing efforts came hard, with much editing and rewrites. He worked in his "scribble den" in Martinez with "lateral, terminal and medial moraines of paper arranged about the room ready to cascade forth and bury him."

The original manuscripts show much of the book was written in pencil, with at least five editings (Muir made corrections and alterations). Graham cracker crumbs are embedded in the paper (Muir ate while he worked. Eating graham crackers is a carry over from his student days at the University of Wisconsin).

This is the genuine John Muir, fresh, crisp, articulate (okay, his descriptions can be a bit wordy at times) and alive with a child-like fascintation for learning and inspiration.

I own an original first edition copy with the dust cover and gold leaf on the hard bound cover. I reread the book from time to time. What a great story.

John Muir might be the finest author of the "naturalist" genre there ever was. This book is based on his field notes he wrote while he spent his first summer in the Sierra Nevada as a shepherd. He always seems to find the perfect words to describe all that he sees. He was the consumate observer of the natural world and this book is all that. It is a must read for anyone who ever wondered what his life was like, how the Sierra Nevada appeared in the late 1800s, and how he became America's savior of public lands.

John Muir was born in 1838 and at a young age emigrated from Scotland with his family to a Wisconsin farm. He escaped the hard labor of the farm and his father's backward Biblical obsessions by displaying great powers of visualization. From principles learned from books, he whittled and fashioned barometers, thermometers, clocks and other marvels from the barest of materials. But he repudiated his inventive genius, which could have made him rich, after an industrial accident left him temporarily blinded; and he took off for the wilderness to discover plants and the natural world.

This book is a journal account of Muir's finding a place for himself in Yosemite after some dangerous wandering through the hazards of reconstruction in the South after the Civil War. It's a book of discovery. Although flocks of sheep like Muir's employer's were allowed to overrun backcountry meadows, and gold miners had ripped apart the lower river beds, the Sierras then were still a place that had many aspects that had not yet been explored or understood. The backcountry was much more vulnerable to exploitation (though in many ways less endangered) than today, but there was freer and unfettered access for one who sought out it's mysteries and wanted to learn. This book shows Muir's powers of visualization in his beginning to formulate the role that glaciers play in the formation of the landscape. No one at that time had come to a solid understanding of what had made Yosemite Valley. And, although it might seem quite clear in retrospect, it took a strong mind of one who up until that time had been adrift in the world, a wanderer who studied plants, to visualize his theories and make them known to the world.

Anyone who has not experienced the Sierra first hand cannot really appreciate this book. There are lengthy and numerous descriptions of plants and animals, loving descriptions in Muir's fashion, that can only be understood by one who has reveled in the same places and likewise wants to examine all the details. It's not a purely intellectual appreciation. It's something felt with the whole body, with all the senses alive. Muir always writes of being drawn into Nature, of never turning back, as in the case of his foolhardy venture to the brink of Yosemite Falls, "I therefore concluded not to venture farther, but did nevertheless". There's also this kind of breathless anticipation of tomorrow- if only I will be given a chance to explore its fountains...

And Then He Kissed Me by Patti Berg, is about a famous actress/mystery author who escapes the celebrity spotlight by running away to find herself. Along the way, she finds unexpected love, and the truth about the people he trusted most. This is a scandalous novel filled with romance, revenge, and deceit. The author did a great job creating believable characters and events by incorporating realistic situations and experiences. She teaches her readers that being yourself is more important than fame and riches. This is demonstrated when the main character learns that people like her better when she isn't trying to please everyone and she speaks her true feelings. I recommend this book to those who enjoy reading about the Hollywood lifestyle and romance. However, this book is not suitable for young children due to its adult content.

This is storyline that has been worked before but it was still a fun read. A movie star escapes hollywood to Plentiful Wyoming where she becomes a bartender, painter and nanny. She falls for the local Vet... A cute story not sure it was my favorite of this author. If you enjoy this genre, I would also suggest Body Check by Deirdre Martin , Wedding Survivor by Julia London, Glory Days by Irene Peterson and Squeeze Play by Kate Angell.

Juliet is a former b-move actress, videogame vixen, and now mystery author. To escape from the stress of the tabloids and scary phone calls her jailed stalker ex-husband, she dyes her hair and takes off on a road trip landing in Plentiful, Wyoming when her pink Mustang dies. Taking on a new persona, she goes by the name "Autumn Leeves" - now if that's not a great porno name, I don't know what is!

She is without her wallet and money so town vet Cole "rescues" her and in return she becomes nanny to the five nieces he inherited when his sister died. She also manages to work off other debts at the local cafe, paint the dilapidated gas & bait shop, as well as have a torrid affair with the vet (who is warding off a medical malpractice lawsuit and his hippie parents want custody of the children they have never met). All while she tries to figure out who is selling her out to the tabloids.

Ay yi yi. There is a reason this town is called Plentiful. But there is just too darned much going on, and not enough attention to detail to tie up all the loose ends. Berg tries to convey that Autumn/Juliet is empowered, but with the hooker clothes, f-me pumps, and the inability to know what is going on around her, it's hard to give this credence. The redeeming factor is the chemistry between Juliet and Cole, and well, those hot love scenes. Berg's prose is best when her characters turn up the heat!

Juliet Bridger is fed-up with fame and tired of the tabloids so it's high time this Blonde Bombshell take a break from the biz. After a dye-job and wardrobe makeover, she hits the road.

But when her car breaks down in Plentiful, Wyoming Juliet finds hiding out is anything but easy in this small town where the locals are overly eager to learn everything they can about this dark-haired stranger. Unwilling to risk another trashing in the tabloids, Juliet uses an alias and claims to be a schoolteacher on summer vacation. But even in disguise, taking a break from the fast-life won't be possible when faced with crazy challenges including a stalker on her tail, a blackmail scheme and taking up residence with the town's hot vet who sets her skin on fire.

With Berg's quirky characters, punchy dialogue and expertly woven storyline, you're guaranteed a stupendous and sexy read with AND THEN HE KISSED ME.

Patti Berg's second book on the town of Plentiful, Wyoming is good for light reading and it is quite enjoyable. I agree with some other reviewers who said she crammed quite a lot of information in this one book and everything seems to have happened within a few days.

There are quite a number of things that are underdeveloped and on hindsight, the book feels like Patti Berg had thrown everything AND the kitchen sink into the story and strung together the ones that stuck.

Juliet, for example, is a former B-grade actress and famous for 7 slasher movies, had the heroine of software game Amazonia modelled after her, is a famous mystery novelist, and can work as a bartender, as well as repaint a gas station and be a nanny to five girls including a set of triplets, after the previous 14 nannies quit. She was also estranged from her dad and could not make amends in time before he died, her tycoon of an ex-husband is in jail for embezzlement and her assistant has been betraying her for years.

Cole, the hero, is a vet, who was brought up by hippie parents and whose sister died leaving five orphaned girls. He is being sued for malpractice after a mare died giving birth to a foal. His parents, who were in Tibet and did not bother to come back when his sister died, want custody of the girls, and his father is currently in his 17th month of keeping silent, part of a five-year pledge not to talk.

I hope you get what I mean when I say she has crammed a lot of details and character developments, mostly unnecessary, in this book. Those things aside, like I said earlier, this is an enjoyable read. I recommend renting or borrowing the book instead of buying it.

This is an interesting concept of the roles of men and women here on earth. You don't have to agree with every word, but it I thought most of it made sense! :)

I found this book to be very easy to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will be re-reading the book once I get it back from my sister in law.

This is a very interesting book. I fully recommend it to anyone looking for spiritual answers. You may not agree with everything -- and that's OK. But take whatever you get from this book and simply make it yours. You don't have to become a follower of Kabbalah to put some of the ideas into practice. Try it. You may like it.

Also recommended: "What Did Jesus Really Say, How Christianity Went Astray: [What To Say To A Born Again Christian Fundamentalist, But Never Had The Information]" by Peter Cayce

ALTHOUGH THOUGHT PROVOKING, I THINK? IT LEFT ME A LITTLE - WELL CONFUSED, DO I WIN, DO I LOSE, DO I HAVE A CHOICE, A BIT OXIMORONISH (IF SUCH A WORD EXISTS), OH THAT'S RIGHT, THIS IS MY MOVIE, IT EXISTS THEN, ANYWAY, WITH WHAT SEEMED TO BE DESTINY SECURED, OR NOT SECURED, AND I'M STILL WONDERING ABOUT THE LIPSTICK THING - AND I'M UNCLEAR AS TO WHETHER OR NOT I GET OUT OF HERE OKAY OR NOT OKAY, OR IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER, BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS MY FAULT ANYWAY, LEARN OR NOT LEARN, LEARN BECAUSE I HAVE TO, LEARN TO LEARN BECAUSE I MUST OR, MY BIG QUESTION IS WHAT, WHAT, IS THIS BOOK SAYING - NOT SURE, NOT CLEAR, JUST DON'T KNOW, HMM! IT'S A PASS AROUND BOOK AND THEN - OTHER PEOPLE CAN TELL ME ABOUT LEARNING, AND I'M NOT SURE WHAT ELSE, PERHAPS - AN EXPLANATION OF THE BOOK - I GUESS IT DID MAKE ME THINK, THINK IN CIRCLES, THINK WHAT POSSESSED ME TO BUY THIS BOOK - AGAIN MY
ADJECTIVE HMM!

Oh wow! I broke a fingernail! Hmmm....Gd must be telling me to have patience. Come on. Surely pop psychology is not Kabbalah. I was hoping for a kabbalah for women and men, but it's mostly self-help and an advertisement for the Kabbalah Center. On the positive side, this book could be useful if you're looking for character development, and don't mind wading through sexist systems:
1) If "God Wears Lipstick" were egalatarian or even feminist ("lipstick" in the title is an allusion to feminist power symbols like stilettos and lipstick) couldn't we get an attempt at gender-fair language? Students are not all "he"! There are acceptable sentence constructions that avoid sesxist language for humanity, students, and Gd, used by Shakespeare and Jane Austin "Students who" or "they" - nothing new or weird but definately sensitive to the "lipstick" crowd.
2) After telling us women we became chattel to men due to Eve's wrongdoing in the Garden of Gd--is that women really are superior to men and oh look! We're on a pedestal now! Oh look, a bunny! It really hasn't been 4,000 years of subjugation, we're actually superior, not inferior (like all the prayers and social systems say). This is a common apologetic approach. I just get nervous on a pedestal -- too easy to fall off.
Well, maybe I'm expecting too much of a book subtitled "Kabbalah for Women". I was looking for a feminine voice of Kabbalah not the Victorian classic "Mathematics for Ladies" or "Kabbalah for Dummies".
I wish someone would come up with a serious Kabbalah for Women. Maybe Gd wearing stilettos? The other book with a similar title by Perle Besserman "A New Kabbalah for Women" was more critical and scholarly but took a similar turn as Karen Berg. Both suggest new traditions -- Berg' solution is to join the Kabbalah Center, and Besserman's solution for herself was Buddhism and meditationa replacing Kabbalah. Still waiting for a kabbalah for Women!

I've read a good deal of the reviews about this book, and I think that this is one of the best academic books I've read. It does quote the occasional secondary sources I've never heard about, but the quotes are explained in layman's terms.

This was probably the best resource for an essay I had to write in my English 101 class. This piece gave me lots of knowledge, lots of subcultural history that I never knew. It elegantly explained concepts about the sense of community within the gothic subculture.
Even for a novice like me or for anyone who just wants a good read and maybe a teeny bit of history, this is the book. It's accurate; it's fun to read; and I would suggest it to anyone.

Good reading!

Alright everyone, Patriarch here!!! Yeah so I am in an awesome mood because yours truly has read this book and has come up with an AWESOME new look that is going to portray his extreme personality. This book had a lot to teach yours truly. When I used to see people with lots of piercings and tattoos and black silly clothes I just used to laugh and laugh. But, as you know, I am always reading and learning about different people and different ways of life.

I saw this book and figured this book would be funny and give me a new insight on just how sad these people are. Well, this book turned my world upside down because, as it turns out yours truly has a lot in common about these people! I have an extreme personality but nobody knows it because I wear normal clothes and have no tattoos or piercings. Well, my my friends that is going to change...or is it?

As soon as I presented this idea to my friends and family they immediately shot it down. They made me feel really stupid. This is because they aren't extreme. I need to present my idea to extreme people and let them decide. So I will now explain to you my new look.

1.Blue mohawk. Not that wimpy mowhawk that's become mainstream. I mean an extreme mohawk. Very thin and very long and spikey. About a foot long. The rest will be shaved to the scalp.

2.Rat tail with toy babies on it. I got this idea from Johnny Slash from Square Pegs. I will grow a long rattail and stick plastic toy babies on it.

3. Talking skull tattoo. You've seen people with a skull tattoo before but have you ever seen one with a talking skull tattoo? Nope. I will be the first. It will be this HUGE skull with its mouth open and a speech bubble that says something like, "How ya doin?" Something nice.

4.. Multiple piercings. I will have three eyebrow rings. One of those earrings that go through the nose-bone. Two nipple rings that will have chains attached to the nose ring.

5.Military vest.

6.See through yellow pants.

This will be my new look and before I do it I gotta get some feedback from some of my fellow Extreme personalities. So, if you like my new look click, this review was helpful. If you DON"T like my new look rate, unhelpful. And if you'd like to leave some comments to expound on your opionion then please do so! Thanks guys I hope you like my new look.

I see that this book was unfairly trashed by a few reviewers, and I thought I should offer a review. I once used it for a sociology project in college, as I couldn't simply plead extensive familairity with the subject and life experience without any academic sources, and to be honest I was delighted to finally see a study on the subject.
First off, this book investigates how Goth culture works from the standpoint of sociology, and uses all its methods. If you are interested in sociology, it is an interesting book, and one that delves into some very intrigiung points about the inner workings of Goth culture. However, this meticulously researched and solidly argued book has one major flaw: it is indeed dry reading. For that reason, it is best for academic uses. If you want to know about Goth culture in general there are other books on the subject now-I'd highly recommend "Goth Chic: A Connoiseur's Guide to Dark Culture" by Gavin Baddely and perhaps also "What is Goth?" by Voltaire-but only if you can take that one with the proper grain of salt.
Neither of those books has any color plates either, and for good reason. Color plates are quite expensive and most non coffee table books have few or none for good reason, given the realities of the publishing industry!
I do agree with the complaint about the cover picture-I wish they had used a different picture-but you know what they say about not judging a book by its cover.It's also true that authors are often not given much say about the cover art of their books. As a further note of the scholarly nature of this book, I'll add that there are not all that many pictures in it anyway-it is mostly text. So, the bottom line: as a scholarly work it is greatly recommended, but for general reading it is rather dry.

The book is the color black, it has "goth" in its title, and on the cover one is greeted by two goths with heavy make-up; a woman wearing black fetish wear and a man with a white face, black lipstick, see-through kinky shirt, and large hair reminiscent of Robert Smith of The Cure.

But looks can be deceiving. Goth: Identity, Style, and Subculture is a scholarly book, written by an academic in a academically correct language, put together for an academic audience. It's a book that's difficult to read, filled to the brim with references and footnotes referring to earlier works in sociology, anthropology, and ethnography. In other words, anyone attempting to read all of the 198 pages while not having the required skills is in for a real challenge. However, it can be a challenge worth taking.

Hodkinson, who is both a goth and an academic, has written a book where he analyses the British alternative scene known as Goth during the latter half of the 1990s. Whatever music, fashion, thoughts, ideas, life styles, and more that can be classified as parts of the "gothic subculture" are thoroughly and subjectively analyzed by him. What early bands are seen as founders of gothic music? How are you "supposed" to dress if you want to be part of it all? What clubs and social events are there to be found, and how do you walk and talk the right way once you're there? What in the world are the pros and cons of taking part of a subculture where the great majority dress in black, has a fascination with death and the darker sides of life, spend hours every day putting on make-up, dress in bizarre fetish clothing, while all the time having to endure being harassed by the "normal" people?

This, and more, is dealt with by Hodkinson, but Goth is still not a "manual" of how to become gothic. It's a scholarly book, no doubt about that, even though bands such as Cure, Bauhaus, and Sisters of Mercy are mentioned and different gothic fashion is shown (in low quality black and white photographs). If one's interested in this particular subculture, or indeed happens to already be a goth, then Goth is a definite must, but one must also be aware of the fact that large parts of the books are made up of difficult texts where lots of sociological phenomena and theory are discussed. In case you've never taken a class in sociology, well, then this book might not be the right choice for you.

People with more of a casual interest in the gothic way of life should try to find other, more easily understood books. Still, Goth is not a bad book, provided that you're able to understand it.

The first chapter may seem bland, but they are well written and very intelligent. The explaination of subculture vs. lifestyle or tribal is informative and supported quite well. Well researched and impressive book. But keep in mind this data is taken from Goths from England, not the US, so some might not be able to follow in the interveiws.

YOU DID NOT SEND ME THIS BOOK. THIS IS THE ONE I REALLY WANTED. I GOT A NOTICE TELLING ME IT WAS OUT OF STOCK.

INSTEAD, WHEN I WAS TRYING TO ORDER THIS, YOUR CROSS-SELLING SYSTEM SOLD ME ON A TWO FOR ONE DEAL....

THE BOOK I ACTUALLY GOT WAS OKAY, GOOD FOR GENERAL CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BUT NOT THE CONCEPT/DESIGN INFO I WAS LOOKING FOR.

This book was just what I was looking for to find plans for a horse barn. It's a resource tool, not a picture book. It would be useful to someone who knows what size and type of structure they want to build and don't know where to find the plans. The authors give a good synopsis of the framing options that a homeowner has when considering building, and pros and cons of each. Also, I reccommend reading the paragraphs about laying out your farmstead.

Clever idea! There are 400+ house plan catalogs on Amazon.com - just this one on barns. Pretty, Old-timey barns, fair prices for blueprints, nice directory, fun to read. A good buy!

Definately designed to get you started with ideas for a small country home. The best part of the book is the references to dealers and builders.

If you are looking for plans for barn construction, this is the ultimate source book. It also includes sources for everything from stables and garages to sheds and playhouses. A helpful book before beginning a building project.

One would expect to feel some guilt from reading this book, since I found myself being entertained by stories of terrible tragedies that happened to millions of people throughout history, but the authors tend to poke fun at the causes, not the victims, of such events. Another striking thing is that after a while, you feel like you're reading a book about general World History (unfortunately it often seems to go hand-in-hand with misery).

I was amused, yet angered at the human follies that lead to the majority of major disasters - stupid governments, big dumb ideas, racial bigotry, religious wars, etc.,. I also felt fortunate that I'm living in these relatively modern times. Certainly our world is still no stranger to tragedy, but at least modern cities are not in danger of burning down due to a knocked-over lantern or such.

After reading about the variety and volume of major natural disasters, one is amazed at just how little control people have over this world, even now, particularly after witnessing the recent, massively damaging Asian tsunami disaster.

The truly interesting, though tragic, parts of the book deal with man-made disasters; unfortunately, there are plenty of examples both small-scale (e.g. psychotic killers) and large-scale (e.g. psychotic governments). This is where the authors inject most of their wry humor, directed at history's monsters and idiots.

All in all, it may not be something to read while at the beach with the family, but it is an interesting and easy-reading diversion for casual history buffs.

Who knew the author could make catastrophes throughout history so interesting. It is a very thorough book going all the way back to biblical times. Every natural and man-made disaster that has occured is mentioned.

Are you the type of person who has shelves stacked with biographies? Who finds that reading books about the Russian Revolution is just as interesting as reading fiction? If so, you'll probably like this book. It isn't deep, it isn't weighty, but it's morbid entertainment of the best sort.

Spanning facts from the Big Bang to the Oklahoma City Bombings, this book covers most of the horrible things that humans have done to each other, or that nature has done to humans (or vice versa). It's not a book to sit down and read cover to cover, by any means. However, for the history junkies like myself, it's the bathroom book to die for.

In short, I would recommend this to anyone with a passing interest in history and a sense of humor that has a bit of morbidity to it.

"A tongue-in-cheek romp" is what the front cover says -- the very first thing it says, at the very top, in bold letters. Not true. There's nothing humorous about this book. Nothing tongue in cheek. It's just like any other depressing catalogue of catastrophes and tragedies. Most of the facts it relates are correct, but many aren't. (I read a lot of history). My main objection is that this book markets itself as some kind of alternative, behind-the-scenes take on history, with humorous overtones. It isn't that at all.

If you like slowing down to look at traffic accidents,this is the book for you.Its rather morbid and depressing but quite fascinating and educational as well. I couldn't put it down until I read the whole thing. It will make you wonder how the human race has managed to last this long.

Charity is Max's sister from (Born to be wild) who goes to Jack's Wyoming ranch (from Wife for a Day) and encounters Mike part Preacher part cowboy. Off to read more by this author - Check them all out .... WIFE FOR A DAY(1), BORN TO BE WILD (2), SOMETHING WILD (3) , STUCK ON YOU (4)

The story is very similar to Sandra Brown's "Tempest for Eden". In that story, a minister (who is also widowed like Mike) falls in love with a nude model. That too is a story about two unlikely characters falling in love. Dont know which story was "inspired" by the other. Although I like Berg's story better. Hated Charity. Very self-centered and whiny.

Cute tale about Charity Wilde, she has unfulfilled dreams about wanting to be a Las Vegas Showgirl... that is until she meets the very handsome Mike Flynn. He's a rancher/minister (and widower) in Wyoming. The energy between Charity and Mike is incredible, but is it enough for her to want to give up her dreams?

This story was great! It kept me on the edge of my seat and turning pages as fast as I could read them so I could find out if they get together or not. This was my 3rd Patti Berg book and I like how she repeats her characters and gives them their own book! Major kudos to her for that!

I enjoyed Patti Berg's Wife For A Day a lot, and the sequel Born to Be Wild a little less than the first book. With Something Wild, the third book in the series, I'm hoping that Patti could write on a different group of people. By the time another book in the series comes out, most people would have forgotten about the secondary characters in the previous book.

Don't get me wrong because I enjoyed reading this book about Charity and Mike. But writing about every secondary character ever appeared in the previous books can be pretty dull especially if readers are expected to remember who's who and what happened in a book that was read probably when it first came out the year before.

Patti's next book is about Logan Wolfe, a secondary character in Something Wild mentioned maybe a total of half a dozen times. I'm sure it will work well as a stand-alone but it remains to be seen if Patti intends to include the whole Remington/Wilde/Flynn family into her latest book as well.

For those of you out there who like romantic fiction but whose sensibilities are alerted by the preponderance of premarital bumping and grinding, this book is for you!

The characters are believable with understandable frailties -- nothing too extreme or exotic -- and the author manages to craft a story that's not, in the words of my good friend, "too cartoony." The story reprises some characters from the books Wife for a Day and Stuck on You, but this particular story somehow achieves a more realistic and sensitive story, although it does contain its share of whimsy.

The story concerns Chastity Wilde, Vegas showgirl, and Mike Flynn, a "cowboy preacher" whom she meets whilon a visit with her brother at his in-laws' ranch in Wyoming. Of course, the story itself is a classic case of "opposites attract," with the aforementioned twist of (gasp!) religious values as well as (ack!) a woman who has more on her mind than hooking up with a great guy. The character of Chastity in particular is well-drawn, moving gracefully through an (*passing out*) impressive learning curve as all good round characters should.

I removed one star simply because I find Mike Flynn's personal crisis slightly -- just slightly -- over the top. He's mourning his first wife and dealing with some irrational sense of responsibility for her death. He's a sensitive man, of course, but he's also intelligent, and I found it hard to imagine that someone would carry around such a load of unjustified guilt for such a long time without figuring out what a waste of energy it is.

While this book has prequels, I think it stands fine on its own. I enjoyed it more than I did its predecessors, and anyone yearning for a sweet story and (finally!) a couple who waits for holy matrimony really ought to check it out.

This book is a great classic. A beautifully crafted story. If you get a chance, also watch the movie adaptation by Jean-Pierre Melville.

On p. 68 (p. 96 of the translation, after note 37), there is this sentence that the translator forgot to translate:


Je pensai: "Ainsi il se soumet. Voilà donc tout ce qu'ils savent faire. Ils se soumettent tous. Même cet homme là."

=====

There are many ways you can translate this, so I propose a few possibilities:

I thought: "And so he submits. Submission: that is all these people know. They all submit. Even this man."

Or

I thought: "And so he gives up. This is what they do. They all give up. Even this man."

I've bought hundreds of books through Amazon, but this is the first time I've been moved to write a review. I was deeply touched by this seemingly simple, small story. Instead of good guys versus bad guys, this shows the individual behind the enemy uniform. Each person in a uniform, whatever side he or she is on, is an individual, a human being. How beautiful that the author, in the midst of the German invasion of his country, could write about the enemy in a tender and sympathetic way. Kudos for such a truly extraordinary work. It continues to fill my thoughts.

This is a great short novel and the good thing about this book is that you can read the story and biography of the writer in english and the native language, french.

I read this book in French in my French class; therefore, I cannot comment on the English version. The French version is poetic and inspiring. It deals with the interactions of individuals that all people can relate to. It is not a book of action--I would parallel Le Silence de la Mer to Tuesdays With Morrie--but it is full of ideas to reflect on. Not only is it a great book to reflect on philisophically, it is also a great book to put into the cultural perspective. It was one of the first books published after WWII, and, if I can remember correctly, it was first published as a midnight edition and circulated underground. If you are wanting to learn about the war from a French perspective as well as a German perspective, it is the right book to choose.

"Mais c'est la dernière! Nous ne nous batterons plus: nous nous marierons!"

But it's the last [war]. We will no longer fight each other; We will marry each other!

So says Werner von Ebrennac in this subtly moving novel. Werner is a Nazi soldier living with a Frenchman and his niece who voice their resistance to the occupation with silence. Werner loves France and all things French and harbors the belief that Germany has not come to harm France, but to "marry her." This was by far my favorite piece of literature I ever had to read in college. I have read it several times since, and each time I appreciate more and more the elegance and economy of the words, that beautiful sublety for which the French language is so famous. This book puts a human face on the Nazis and one ends up feeling very sorry for the francophile Werner. In comparing France and Germany (and perhaps himself and the niece) to Beauty and the Beast he says, "J'aimais surtout la Bête parce que je comprenais sa peine." I loved especially the Beast because I understood his pain." Every time I read it, I feel differently at the end. That's the beauty of this work, the silence that hides something, like the silence of the sea.

I recommend this version, especially if you are not confident in your French because the English translation is right there. Also, obscure words are translated at the bottom, words. Try it in French though because that language is so suited to a story such as this.

An outstanding book written by Clifford Berg. He has touched on all the major aspects of JAVA and will guide you through whatever your needs are. This book will stand as a perfect reference guide for JAVA users! I highly recommend it! Thanks Clifford for your great book!

...

In the Preface, Berg writes "This book provides a big-picture, in a highly practical manner..." As a senior consultant who is primarily interested in enterprise application design and development with Java, the book delivers 100% of what has been promised. It does cover many important areas- Threads in Server Applications, Java Security, Distributed Computing Protocols (RMI, IIOP), Server Framewokrs and Architectures. I would even argue that the author had understated his accomplishment in writing this book. Which is why I decided to write this review.

The book material focuses on design issues, their solutions, and the motivation behind them, but it is very down to earth and there are many helpful code snippets to keep you grounded. Each chapter presents the important concepts and introduce the subject at the overview level first and provide more detailed treatment of topics that are of advanced nature. Additionally, the book provides a very practical introduction to some non-technical aspects of the software development process, in particular- Project Management and Configuration Managament.

Personally, I have found the book to be very useful. I post this paragraph as a revision of my initial review, because I myself was surprised as to how often I use it as a starting point of reference. Now, if you are looking for a "cookbook" of code recipes, please go on to consider other titles. But if you would like a very sound introduction to client/server or multi-tiered development with J2EE, please seriosly consider this one.

...

Is this thing wordy? Sure! But it's an excellent book for team leaders to gain an insight on how Enterprise applications should be written, right down to who does what. It's more of a reference book than a tutorial, but for those of you interested in writing the Java Enterprise Architect certification from Sun, you might just want to read it over...

Dear fellow Java developers -

I just had to respond in general to comments which importune readers to read my book for its "interesting ideas", and that the book is "a good overview, INFORMATIVE, and raises a few interesting questions" and so on but then not to buy it! As well as comments describing the book as boring.

Whether a book is boring will always be a personal matter. A fellow classmate in college once told me that The Epic Of Gilgamesh was boring. I remember feeling at the time that he did not appreciate its uniqueness, and I felt regret for him. Indeed, Nietzsche said Plato was boring! But it is true, that this is a personal matter.

More concretely, the book's preface states its goals very clearly:

"...This book is not intended to be an in-depth treatment of all enterprise subjects. ... However, an advanced programmer needs to have a working knowledge of most aspects of a system in order to understand the entire system. For example, a developer working on a set of Enterprise JavaBeans does not need to understand all security issues in depth but does need to have a working knowledge of the security techniques used by the servers involved and the application. This book tries to provide a big picture...." This is a book on architecture, and that is not a topic of interest to everyone.

I am happy to report that I receive considerable fan mail regarding the book, and that has made the enormous effort worthwhile. Here is an email I received two weeks ago (Feb. 27, 2001):

"Thanks for writing this book! Sorry to disturb you, but I had to do it (just to be sure you keep on writing new editions). Your book's the only one I found with this goal. And the most useful computer book I ever had since I started using the first edition 3 years ago. I keep going back to it, each time on another subject. Most books talk too much, don't summarize and/or don't add much to the Java specification and tutorials, yours does. -[reader's name] (Partly thanks to you)Senior Java Developer"

So be your own judge!

Sincerely,

Cliff Berg

With all due respect to the Author's back ground and knowledge, I just didnt like this dry, cold prose. Certainly there is content, but you could never read more than a dozen pages because of the small font and the way it is explained. This book smelled more like a dry manual than a book from core java series.

The opening of this book does have a familiar feel if you've read a lot of inspirational/self-help books, but as you get into it one thing sets it far apart from all the rest. An overwhelming number of self-help books feature the author on the cover, flashing photo-shopped pearly whites, with the subtle subtext that if you follow their advice, you will be as beautiful and successful as they are. In this case, however, Art is the embodiment of your worst nightmare. No one would ever want to end up quadriplegic. Yet that is what happened to him, and following the accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down, he learned to love living, even more than before his accident.

I recommend this read because it forces you to test whether you really believe that happiness is more than merely a product of favorable circumstances (quite the opposite, in fact--happiness is a stimulus for desirable circumstances). We all say it. But you find yourself asking yourself over and over again--if I were in Art's shoes, could I really be happy? The answer I have come to believe is yes, as long as I am willing to hold myself to the same high standards Art did. Art is uniquely qualified to talk about the things he does. It gives his message weight that you will seldom encounter in today's popular self-help literature.

I originally got this book at the public library, but liked it so much that I decided to purchase it. Art Berg's story is pretty incredible; even though he had a good life, it seems as though he didn't find real happiness until an accident caused him to become paralyzed.

I found this book to be a great collection of usable practices to overcome difficulties. Art didn't whine or complain about his own situation. I think this book is one that can be used as reference-type of book where you will use it again and again to re-build your confidence and faith.

I read this book over the weekend and was left totally inspired. I can only hope that I could be half as brave as Art if faced with such immense adversity. His story is a great lesson to us all.

Don't bother reading this book. Tony Robbins is an EMOTIONAL
CHEERLEADER. Who says we're supposed to be happy and positive all the time. It is our inherent human right to feel miserable and negative as well. He's just another fanciful fad guru out
to capitalize on our social emotional paralyses.