Big Books

I am a fan of Lama Suyra Das books and find his explanation of Buddhism and happiness easy with transformation of the mind possible, but the reader must apply him/herself.

I would strongly recommend this book if you want to make significant changes.

This book is Lama Surya Das at his best: very stimulating, humorous, drawing on the widest range of philosophy and literature, and offering us the benefit of his extraordinary insights, attained after many years of meditation and study. Although this book has a picture of the Buddha on the front, Lama Surya Das frequently refers to common themes in the teachings of all the major traditions. I'd highly recommend it to any intelligent, open-hearted individual, irrespective of their religion. A must-read book!

This book was such a pleasure to read. I commend surya das for attaining such a lofty goal of writing a book that takes on all of the big questions. He accomplishes this with a potent combination of wisdom, an open mind and humility. Of course there are no definitive answers in life, but this book supplements one's own journey towards the answers.

There are few better ways to let someone find his own wisdom than by asking questions. Das just does that and in each answer helps you---through analogy, literature, and further questions---find the answers. The chapter on karma is excellent and helps us grasp its nuanced nature(nothing happens by accident but by all prior actions; great insight into the difference bewteen karma and fate) and on handling anger(as the Buddha said, if someone offers you the "gift" of anger do not accept, and it stays will the giver) and by taking a "sacred pause". A book to be loved, hightlighted and underlined, and read again.

Posing major life questions is done fairly frequently these days on many TV talk shows. The difference here is a book with teachings based on deep personal experience and understanding of the Tibetan Buddhist wisdom traditions in the search for answers. Lama Surya Das continues to point out that the spiritual journey is a path of personal growth and depends in large part on our own choices. Once we become seekers, this book and each of his others from AWAKENING THE BUDDHA WITHIN to BUDDHA IS AS BUDDHA DOES provide the guidance to jump start our search.. I find his examples and his humility to be a great encouragement in an age so filled with examples of arrogance, pride, greed and anger. He is a great teacher with all of the credentials that provide the base for confidence in his words.

This book reads like a fairy tale. If you love horses, this is a must read. William Nack did an excellent job writing about this great racehorse. Unless you read this book, you can't really appreciate the accomplishments of this wonder horse. I read the chapter 3 times about the Belmont Stakes - and cried all 3 times when I read it! This book is moving, emotional, powerful, unforgettable, and it made me fall in love with Secretariat.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the legend of Secretariat or to those who love thoroughbred racing. This is a truly marvelous account of Big Red - I could not put it down! Mr. Nack's passion for the subject is obvious throughout and the story is narrated in beautiful prose. The account of the Belmont is breathtaking and very emotional. I cannot say enough good things about this book.

in the original edition the pictures are wonderful. it is a very moving book and anyone who loved secretariat-this book will bring you hours of enjoyment. the book starts before secretariat was born and finishes when he arrived at claiborne to go into stud. all of his races are discussed in detail with loads of pictures from his triple crown. I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!

A brief and probably pointless quiz: Who is the horse described in the following paragraph?

He was a physically awesome Thoroughbred and a superb broodmare sire. When he was born at ten minutes after midnight, March 30, 1970, his owner took one look at him and said, "There is a whopper." His own firstborn was an Appaloosa colt named 'First Secretary'. Another son - a draft horse cross - is still alive and well and recently retired from the Southwest dressage circuit. Yet a third son won the Belmont by a margin of 21 lengths, in what was the second fastest running and third largest margin in history.

Of course, his Daddy still holds the record for both margin and time.

And who is Risen Star's Daddy?

Secretariat, of course. No one who admires this special breed of horse could possibly have flunked this quiz.

When we watched Big Red hit the wire 31 lengths ahead of Twice a Prince in 1973, crushing the Belmont stakes record by two seconds and change, many of us knew that we would not see his like again. According to his jockey, Ron Turcotte, Secretariat was retired before he had reached his full potential at the longer distances. We would have loved to watch that big red horse run all day and smash every record there was, but it was not to be.

At any rate, reading William Nack's book is the next best thing to watching him run (unless you are lucky enough and rich enough to own one of his 'blue hen' daughters). At least his fans can relive the races Big Red did run, and Nack has the knack (sorry) of bringing them vividly back to memory. This book and "Wild Ride: The Rise and Tragic Fall of Calumet Farm, Inc., America's Premier Racing Dynasty" by Ann Hagedorn Auerbach are my two favorite reads on all aspects of the Thoroughbred racing industry in the United States. "Secretariat" reflects the brilliance of the Thoroughbred and its human interface. "Wild Ride" reflects the dark side of that same relationship.

My only complaint regarding Nack's treatment of Secretariat is that although it starts in the right place (the birth of Somethingroyal's whopping, chestnut foal), it didn't extend much beyond Big Red's last race. I would have liked to follow him through at least part of his career at stud.

However, that might be asking too much of a book that was published only two years after this great Thoroughbred retired from the track.

At the beginning of the new millennium, Man O'War was voted 'Thoroughbred of the Century' by a panel that was assembled by 'Blood Horse' Magazine. But those of us who saw Secretariat win the Belmont will remember him as first, and (as they said about one of his most famous ancestors) the rest nowhere.

As the Belmont Stakes approaches and another 3 y.o. has the chance to win the race and with it capture the Triple Crown, I thought it would be interesting to refresh my memory and read about Secretariat, the winner of the Belmont and the Triple Crown of 1973.

William Nack, who wrote BIG RED OF MEADOW STABLE in 1975, provides the reader with some of the most descriptive and awe-inspiring writing about horse racing and what it felt like to ride what many consider the best race horse who ever lived.

He tells the story of breeding Bold Ruler to Somethingroyal and a perchance coin-flip that gave ownership rights to Penny Tweedy who later syndicated Secretariat for over $6 million while he was still an actively racing 3 y.o. Nack tells the history of this super horse, describing the training methods of Lucien Lauren and his relationship with jockey Ron Turcotte, as well as the race-time strategy, anxiety, hopes and dreams as Secretariat grew from a green 2 y.o. colt to a strapping superstar.

As well written as this book is, what makes it special and distinguishes it from most others, is the descriptions of the races themselves. Nack takes the reader along for the ride in all of Secretariat's races leading up to and including the three races of the Triple Crown. His ability to put the reader in the irons, especially at the Belmont when Turcotte glances back during the stretch run to see the field an eventual 31 lengths behind and realizes he's aboard a horse running as the track announcer described "like a tremendous machine", is very powerful.

If you are interested in horse racing or just enjoy reading about the evolution of greatness, I think you will be satisfied with this highly recommended classic.

Abe Lieberman is a thin, jewish, sixty year old police detective in Chicago; his wife is the president of his synagogue; his daughter, who is on her second marriage is married to a black pathologist and live in the bay area; his grandchildren (from his daughter's first marriage live with him). His partner is a big ex-football playing Irishman named William Hanrahan; who is divorced, a recovering alcoholic (as is his younger son), and is in love with an Asian woman he wants to marry. On the Chicago force they are known as the 'Rabbi and Father Murphy'.

The cases in this book are not of that much interest, but it is the inter- action of Lieberman and his partner with a myriad of characters from multiple cultures that make this a worthwhile read. Kaminsky is great at getting the nuances of speech and the causes behind the actions of his characters to be so honest and real. A worthy addition to the series.

Chicago police officers Abe Lieberman and Bill Hanrahan are partners affectionately dubbed by their peers as the "Rabbi and the Priest". Their latest case involves mob accountant Mickey Gornitz willing to testify against his boss if certain conditions are met. Mickey insists he will only talk with Abe, who was a high school classmate several decades ago. Mickey also demands that his ex-wife and teenage son receive full protection though he has not seem either of them in fifteen years until the informer disappears into the witness protection program. Reluctantly, the Cook County District Attorney's Office agrees.

However, almost immediately after the moment that the Boston cop handed over the former wife and son to Bill, thugs kidnap the duo. When the abduction includes murder, Bill blames himself and not the brass who thought the wife and kid were low priority. As Abe works on a couple of cases and some personal shtick, he tries to help his partner deal with a severe case of depression caused by deep feelings of guilt.

The Abe Lieberman police procedural series is constantly one of the best the sub-genre has to offer. The current tale, THE BIG SILENCE, is an intriguing look at Chicago, various ethnic groups, and relationships. The police investigation is engaging because no great revelation occurs, just hard work. Stuart M. Kaminsky other sleuths (see Rostnikov and Peters) are very good and deserve fan accolades, but clearly neither one holds a candle to the Lieberman books.

Harriet Klausner

What a wonderful book! Virtually every character, small in part or large, transmits that evanescent hint of reality--reality soaked with love, hate, unsavory trade-offs between criminals and cops, between cops and cops (Our televison cops that give most Americans their conception of the police is unrealistically and inordinately distorted--towards the positive, which for us as viewers means cops that are really, really tough with the subtlety of an 100-mile hurricane ripping through a small town. In Law and Order, aren't most criminals one-diminsional, even if depicted favorably, usually when one of the cops or attys falls in love with one of the baddoes. Kaminsky says, "These men are cops; we depend on them, but they are very imperfect, very willing to deal with ruthless, even sadistic criminals, to make the concession that should result in the greater legal and justice good. But putting El Perro's men back on the street is really better than a sharpie who cozens old people. Anyway, Lieberman's novels have improved (the first is the worst and can profitably be skipped, "Lieberman's Folly": but try to read the rest in sequence. Although the plots are fairly discrete, the characters reoccur and we learn more and more about them as we proceed through the books in this series. The characters speak to the heart, mind and imagination that reaches Keatsian goals (if not his genius). This novel has a few main plots--one focussing on Lieberman's partner, his drinking problems, his difficulty in marrying a beautiful Chinese woman (He's big Irish, all the way); another plot strand focusses on Lieberman's difficult daughter, who has basically abandoned her children to Lieberman and his wife--she's remarried, lives in CA, and like so many of us has great difficulty living a life that is not based on depression, obsession with the "cold and analytical"; she blames Lieberman for her problems, but also realizes that his wisdom, his love may be her only chance for happiness (flickers of) and success in marriage with her new black husband. The honesty of the character interactions, their stances and relationships allows us to see characters not as such but as almost Shakespearean, universal, yet individuals that we can palpably touch and, at least partially, understand. This particular novel, of all of Kaminsky's many novels, from several series, sharply, richly, and genuinely etches real people (e.g. Gornitz, Phil Blitzein, Hanranahan, Kearney, Bess, the grandkids and on and on. This novel loves humanity by giving us people and stories, transcending mystery/suspense genre, but working effectively with its requisites, who help us think about life--its joys, its drama, its hypocrisy, its pettiness, and in the case of the dog--a stroke of authorial genious nonpareil--finding a ray of hope in the kindness of a detective, who looks like a weary, somewhat cranky dog (Lieberman), but lights up the lives of so many (sure he's too good to be true) but gives us readers hope that we might make a positive difference and that a life not beset with problems is really not a life at all. Lieberman's insonmia, his slightly acridly ironic humor, his incorrigible daughter and all those criminals, big and small, who make Lieberman's life a means for us to enrich our own. Great book. Also read Russian series and the three Fonesca novels--Kaminsky entertains inexorably, proses beautifully and brings the dectective novel up to a level that only Bill James and Michael Connelly can approximate. Not airline books (Patterson) but still easy to read, and easy to read twice. Read him

Dark, yet humorous. The entire Lieberman series is fantastic (I've read them all) but this one is the best. The plots are complex yet they move at breakneck speed. You really get involved in the characters and their lives. This cop series focuses on the minds and lives of the police, rather than focusing on the criminals. This series is tops. The only other writers that come close are Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane and S.J. Rozan.

I love every single book in the Lieberman series but this one is a particular favorite. As always, Lieberman is both worldly wise and all too human, with weaknesses that make him just that more believable and strangely lovable as well.
This time around, Lieberman and his associate, Hanrahan, are trying to guard the ex-wife and son of a mob informant while juggling the daily frustrations of their own lives. While the mystery will keep your attention, what is equally wonderful, to my mind, are Lieberman and Hanrahan, two guys who jump from the pages in vivid detail. Kaminsky is a wonderful writer and I hope more than mystery buffs discover him. He deserves the attention!

I just finished this book in the last couple of days. Excellent all the way through. Carefully crafted examples of what was right and WRONG with the media coverage of the Tet 68 Offensive during the Vietnam war, and the war overall, show the problems with the reporting: in some glaring cases, the bias. I specifically could relate to recent conflicts the comments made about the speed of a story from the start of an event to publication and how that sometimes led to the wrong analysis and conclusion.
The perceptions set forth by the media, either deliberately or by editing mistakes, to the population were in cases wrong and led people in a path to make decisions based on faulty information. For a long time I wondered if my opinions and own analysis of the Vietnam conflict were ill conceived. This book put those concerns in their proper place: even though it was a terrible event, maybe the US could have been done with it sooner and with a better result for all had the true facts, as the media could gather, come to light for the general population instead of an inherently flawed approach with a lot of bias added.
Given that the book was written by a Journalist in the middle of it all gives great validity to the book: yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

How could LBJ forget the blunders of a limited war established by the mistakes of Harry Truman in Korea in less than 12 years? The author outlines all of the questions that cannot be easily answered. How do you end a war once it started? How do you justify the costs in blood and money? And How do you define victory? The writer seems to say, Limited War is like Marriage, easy to get into and hard to exit. The book will enlighten every reader and all American politician responsible for foreign policy should read it. A Superb book for students, professors and men and women in power so it won't happen again.

Peter Braestup's book on the reporting of the Tet Offensive is a critically important book to read for those trying to understand the effect of reporters' all-too-human bias on what information the average citizen has available to him or her, as well as for those looking to find out not only what went wrong in Vietnam, but what the United States and its allies (including South Vietnam) did right - an aspect still all too overlooked.
Though it is critical of some particular newspeople, as well as some politicians and military spokemen of the Vietnam era, the book is highly constructive in tone. Many of the lessons pointed out by Braestrup two decades ago have clearly been taken by the media, judging by the general improvement in war reporting during the current (as of fall, 2001) events in Afghanistan.
It is also a must read for those who question the abilities of democratic states to defend what they believe in.Braestrup lays bare the notions of the time that the allied forces - from ARVN to the U.S. Marines, were not effective, or that they were a corrupt force for undesirable ends.
An added bonus is that Braestrup is a gifted writer; his prose is readable and engaging, and his research is thorough and well documented. This book deserves to be brought out in a new edition (though I did buy mine through the Amazon's used book marketplace, and received excellent service there).

A thorough critique of the press coverage of the Tet Offensive. Amazingly, the press almost universally got it wrong. The U.S. and the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) actually won the battle; the Viet Cong were decimated and never recovered as a fighting force (The regular North Vietnamese Army shouldered the major fighting from then on). It took the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) four years to build up enough strength for another major offensive (1972), which led to the Christmas bombings of Hanoi and the "peace accords."

Written by a journalist, this book is critical but not ideological; the press is not "the bad guy" here. There is plenty of blame to go around. The military misrepresented the strength of the Viet Cong, for its own reasons, and the press went on to misrepresent the battle for its own reasons. The real heresy of this book is revealing how the ARVN and U.S. forces aquitted themselves exceedingly well on the battlefield. Was the war "winnable" on the ground? It certainly wasn't "winnable" politically, but credit should be given to the servicepeople on the ground (and in the air) who did in fact win the battle tactically and strategically.

The original edition was published by Westview Press in 1977; Yale University Press issued an abidged version in 1983 and 1986; another edition was published by Presidio Press in 1994.

This book was a real eye-opener for me. As a Vietnam veteran who served in Vietnam in 1967-68-69-70 and 71, I had always held fast to the premise that media coverage of Tet 68 sabotaged the possible successful conclusion of the Vietnam war in our favour. I had always believed that the american press had deliberately skewed their war coverage towards the negative side.

Braestrup's well documented study of press coverage of the Tet 68 offensive made me re-think all my knee jerk attitudes towards the press.

He presents meticulous summaries of coverage by the major american newspapers and television networks. While some individual papers and networks might have had an anti-war bias most tried to give balanced coverage.

When Braestrup gets into the logistical details of the in media coverage of the war, he really enlightens us. It's easy in hindsight to assume that todays wall to wall coverage of world news was the norm in Vietnam. Braestrup shows us in great detail the limitations in personnel and technology that constrained media coverage of the Vietnam war

If you read his analysis, compiled from his own in-country experience with an in depth analysis of most major news outlets reporting from Vietnam during the war, you as a reader are enlightened and forced to rethink your own pre-conceived notions about the subject.

I found this work one of the most illuminating works of modern history that I have even read.

It's interesting just from Braestrups first hand retelling of his own part in history as a practicing journaslist. His analysis of journalistic coverage of the Vietnam War is incredibly stimulating and educational.

I highly recommend this work to war correspondents, editors and journalism students interested in getting war coverage just right.

John Reid

Two boys cross Peking to fly a kite... and end up crossing Mongolia with some very interesting characters. I love the book, my husband loves the book, and no child I've given it to has been able to put it down -- nor have their parents when they finally get their hands on it.

The perfect adventure story, more fantastic than fantasy and truer than history, with wonderful, understated pen and ink drawings and maps. Details and characters from the author's years in China and Mongolia put the reader right into the place and time. I live for the day when broadband comes to my area, so I can follow the boys' adventures with Google Earth.

This is a book for a lifetime of rereading, whether the first reading is as a child or a grandparent. It reads wonderfully out loud. The boys are 12 and 12 is probably a good age at which to read it for the first time -- but much younger children should love to have it read to them.

A teriffic children's novel set in 1922, about 2 boys, one European and the other Chinese, who travel across Mongolia during a civil war; based on the stories of Muhlenweg's experiences which he recounted for his own children; and I agree with completely with the other two reviews! Glossary.

I've been looking for this book for 15 years and hopefully just found it. I assume it was originally intended as a children's story, but the story is so subtle, and the characters so captivating, that I have no hesitation in recommending it to a general audience. Christian, a missionary's son, and his friend Big Tiger skip school to fly their kites near one of Peking's main gates. Since there isn't enough wind to do the kites justice they accept a ride from a trainful of soldiers. Unfortunately there is a problem getting off... and before they know it, Big Tiger and Christian find themselves trekking through 1930s (?) Mongolia, encountering nomads, lamas, bandits, princes, and scoundrels, digging for buried treasure, picking up Mongolian customs, and learning the wonderful comfort that comes with the phrase "It can't be helped". If you've got a copy keep [a] good hold of it, is my advice.

I read this as a child and it has stayed with me these many years since, along with a feel for the area and a fascination for the deserts of Central Asia and Mongolia. Rereading it as an adult, it is just as engaging. A marvelous story, well told, it provides a real sense of "place." Years after reading it, when I finally came upon pictures of the people and the area in another context, they all looked EXACTLY as I had imagined they would.

I read "Big Tiger and Christian" when I was in my early teens, and I have never forgotten it. It is an exciting and unusual adventure story about two friends, a German boy and a Chinese, who live in Peking and get caught up in a civil war and are forced to flee across the Gobi. When I found a battered copy in a second hand bookshop in New Zealand about fifteen years ago, I was overjoyed. Even though it was years since I had read the book, I had never fogotten the evocative Mongolian word "Yabonah! (Let's go!).
The book left me with a life-long interest in the Orient in general and Mongolia in particular. I only recently did something I should have done years ago, and made an Internet search to find out more about Fritz Muhlenweg. I was surprised to read that he was on one of Sven Hedin's Central Asian expeditions and that he made two further trips to Mongolia prior to WWII and mastered the language. That certainly goes to explain the authenticity which is obvious on every page. What a remarkable man he must have been. Even though he lived in Hitler's Germany, it is obvious that Muhlenweg was no Aryan supremacist, but had a profound understanding and respect for Mongolia and the Mongolians and the surrounding peoples and cultures. The portraits he draws of the resourceful pair and the people they meet on their epic journey are unforgettable. It is hard to believe that the characters aren't real people. It is hard to have two central characters without one becoming the "sidekick", but Muhlenweg manages it. The sagacious Big Tiger is a strong character in his own right, not at all overshadowed by Christian (aka Compass Mountain). And I reckon Christian met his match in the Mongolian girl Sevenstars. Even the dog (which she gives to him) is memorable. I keep wondering what happened to them. A vastly underrated book, a real classic.

Golf novels usually fall into two categories, either sharp-tongued humor fests featuring wacky characters and wackier situations, or smalzy, mystical quests seeking to provide salvation through golf. Fortunately, The Big Tour is something different - the first gol noir novel, a cocaine fueled lightening jag into the heart of one man's darkness. By never letting his characters take the easy way out, and by forcing them to experience the consequences of their actions, author Upton's writing drags us over a crude eighteen hole course in a foursome with Jim Thompson, David Geddis, and James M. Cain. Don't expect sportsmanship and Rockyesque endings here, but hold on for a wild ride through the rough where you bet with you life and and every club shaft in your bag is a serpent in disguise

Unlike so many books with golf themes, this one doesn't get bogged down in mystical bunk about finding the golfer within or caddies with supernatural powers. It's a gripping (sorry, no golf pun intended), straight-ahead story about a kid from Long Island who makes it to the big time, with a lot of serious obstacles thrown in his way. Funny, full of drama, and -- I'll bet -- very close to the way things really operate on Tour. If you need a gift for the "real" golfer on your list, this is the one!

I've read every book Robert Upton has written, and loved them all. But this is easily his best! It's been a while since I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning because I couldn't put a book down. The Big Tour kept me up until 3:00 AM. If you don't like golf, you'll like the characters, the story, the writing and the humor. If you do like golf, you'll love the perfectly accurate "behind the scenes" look at life on the professional circuit. This book would make a much better movie than Bagger Vance or Tin Cup.

Anyone who loves golf will love this book. Anyone who loves a page turner will love this book. It is a perfect winter read!

Unlike so many books with golf themes, this one doesn't get bogged down in mystical bunk about finding the golfer within or caddies with supernatural powers. It's a gripping (sorry, no golf pun intended), straight-ahead story about a kid from Long Island who makes it to the big time, with a lot of serious obstacles thrown in his way. Funny, full of drama, and -- I'll bet -- very close to the way things really operate on Tour. If you need a gift for the "real" golfer on your list, this is the one!

HAH!!!! I do not do German!! Gift for my son--who's taking
german in college for several semesters. He's trying to get a jump on it!!
what an awesome kid!
He said it's got alot more help & words than his textbooks.

This book is super! Has every verb tense laid out for you, with plenty of sentence examples of everyday uses. I use this book all the time! It was seriously the best $15 I have ever spent on a book.

This is an excellent book. I have been self-teaching myself german for the past year or two, and this has helped a lot!
While this book is larger and may resember a medium sized cities phone book, the knoweldge it contains will outweigh any trouble that may be caused by carrying it around!

It tells you if it is a top 50 verbs, it also gives a bit of a grammar lesson for those that need a little brush up on what tense is! If you are learning german, by-pass the "white" books that have less verbs.

First of all, this book is a must have. If you need to rationalize this purchase, just look at it as the best $15.00 you'll ever spend on a German verb book. I own several dictionaries and a few verb-only books. I have the most recent Webster's New World 575+ German Verbs, and I love it too.

The Webster's version is a nice one for taking to a class in your bag, or for a quick reference. There are a few reasons why The Big Yellow Book is the better of the two. I will say here that there is nothing that isn't in The Big Yellow Book that is in the Webster's, but there is a lot missing from the Webster's that is clearly laid out here in this book. Don't be fooled by the 575+ Webster's number to the 555 Big Yellow Book; the Yellow Book wins, hands down!

The main thing I love about the Big Yellow book is the fact that it clearly lays out the separable prefix verbs (Webster's does not do this except in one or two cases); this is often already known by most people who have a basic understanding of German, but many verbs can be tricky as to whether it is separable or not; some verbs are both separable and inseparable each having different meanings.

The second thing is that the cross-reference section in the back is extremely complete. Many verb dictionaries have a fairly adequate one, but the Big Yellow Book is the most complete I have ever seen in a dictionary; it also features some really obscure verbs like "umnachten" [to enfold in darkness] and many other more obscure verbs. Honestly, it is by far and away the most complete all-in-one verb dictionary I have come across.

The Big Yellow Book also offers a very extensive list of idioms for the "Top 50" German verbs (all the other verbs list between 8-15 idiomatic uses). These "Top 50" have entire pages dedicated to idiomatic uses of verbs in conversation, which if you have learned anything about German it is the fact that the idioms get a little far from the meaning you expect. This is really useful for anyone wishing to communicate with any hope of sounding like a Deutscher(in).

The Big Yellow Book has a very in-depth study of grammatics for the first 38 pages. I found this entire section quite useful to cementing these concepts in my mind. The grammatic section even covers the 1999 Spelling Reform (for verbs), which I have never seen in a verb-only dictionary.

The only complaint I could make is a very minor one, the book is wonderfully laid out and I would change none of that, but they put the verb auxiliary "haben" or "sein" in a place that takes a moment to get used to, because it is not in the heading or directly below the verb in the heading. The book leaves ample space to place it near the verb entry. Like I said, it is only a minor complaint I could make.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn German, especially conversational German. Both the cross-reference section of odd verbs and the largest use of idiomatic expressions I have ever seen in any dictionary make this a must have. Seriously, buy this book! It really is the most bang-for-your-buck you will find, even against dictionaries that run close to $75 or more. Literally, this book has 1,000s of verbs that are, or easily are, fully conjugated. Viel Glück!

I like all these paradigm verb displays. This is great for using, just for backup, or for quelling an occasional student objection. Of course, if you are wrong, it serves as a negative reinforcement, but that is good for you. Essential for your German references.

This is a book that will delight readers of all ages. Not only are the illustrations masterpieces, the story is as well.

Anna is a beautiful husky who is the runt of her litter. She and her littermates train for a 2,500 - 3,000 mile run that will take them an estimated six months.

The curly tailed dog and her littermates are followed as they are being trained for the run. Mushers and dogs alike work well together; the bond of cooperation between them is not only strong; it is paramount.

The beautiful husky, once dismissed because of her small size proves herself to be up to every challenge during the training and the run. The Little Husky Who Could can take her place with Akiak, another husky who proved her stamina and determination even when her mushers wanted to retire her. An excellent family, classroom and general discussion book, the message can never be shared enough. This wonderful book makes me think of McFadden & Whitehead's 1979 classic, "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" and Matthew Wilder's 1983 hit, "Ain't Nothing Gonna Break My Stride."

One of my jobs at our local library is to read stories to young children, sometimes also at elementary schools. I recently read this story to the 1st,2nd, 3rd and 4th graders and it received rave reviews. One teacher had each of her students draw a picture of his or her favorite story, and 25 of the 30 drawings were of Anna , the amazingly brave little sled dog. The illustrations were beautiful and large enough for groups of children to see them , while the text had a good amount of drama that held their interest.

Big Enough Anna is a winner all around. The message is encouraging without being patronizing or syrupy; the illustrations will draw in even children who might think dogs are a little bit scary; and the story itself is full of a sense of daring and adventure and, most of all, the love between the musher/storyteller and her team of sled dogs. A great classroom unit could be built around this book, using the adult/teen version of the same story (Alone Across the Arctic) for additional background info or activity inspiration. (Both books could be read by a teacher in a weekend.) You will fall in love with Anna and all the dogs, and be cheering for them throughout all 3,000 miles of their expedition!

I really like this book! It's a kid-friendly story with great pictures and message. Pam Flowers tells the true story of how the smallest dog in her dog-sled team saved the life of her biggest, strongest one...and also made possible the successful finish of her expedition across the American and Canadian Arctic. And she subtly sends the message that each of us can mazimize our strengths and lead useful, productive lives, even if others think we have too many weaknesses. We may even become heroes!

Anna's small; and small dogs aren't usually what mushers want in their teams. But Pam sees Anna has a big spirit and is curious, intelligent, willing to learn and a hard worker. So even though Anna's young, Pam puts her where her exceptionally-good leader, Douggie, can teach Anna the ropes of that critical position. Then things happen; and physically-small Anna is "big enough" to do what needs to be done. She saves not only Douggie but also the expedition.

I'd read "Alone Across the Arctic" (also by Pam Flowers with Ann Dixon,) and admired Pam's own fortitude, intelligence and perseverance. I wanted to know more about the adventure. Here's a gold nugget of a book that does that. And it's well written; both youngsters, and the adults who may share it with them, will read it all the way through...several times.

The great illustrations (paintings) by Bill Farnsworth perfectly capture the story and the attention of young children. I love looking at them each time, too.

This is a great Christmas present. If you've finished your shopping, surprise everyone for Valentine's Day.

This exquisitely illustrated book is based on the true story of a litle sled dog who rose to the occasion and became a hero in her own right. Anna, a small Alaskan Husky female, was judged too small to be of any use when Pam Flowers made her historic journey across the Arctic with a team of sled dogs(chronicled in ALONE ACROSS THE ARCTIC). But when Pam's wise old leader dog disappeared, Pam put little Anna in the front because in spite of her size she was such a hard worker. Douggie, the wise old leader dog, was eventually found, but was so exhausted that little Anna had to take over and take charge of the trip. This lovely book not only teaches an important lesson--- that what matters is how much heart and spirit you have, not how big you are--- it is so beautifully done that I'm giving it to all my adult dog loving friends for Christmas.

Nobody gets it like Kay Koplovitz. Women in record numbers are breaking away from the constraints of corporate life to seek fulfillment in business on their own terms. Kay captures the spirit of that movement in her book. A must-read for every woman who aspires to create her own destiny.

Women can learn how to play the entrepreneurial game for bigger stakes: the author went from selling cable TV series to running her own major cable TV franchise, and in Bold Women, Big Ideas tells the aftermath of her venture. She learned some tough lessons on venture capitalists and where they choose to invest their money (with male business owners), creating her own venture capital forum in the process, designed to help women develop networks to get the money they need. Bold Women, Big Ideas is packed with important business insights.

I have been thinking for a while about what the next step would be in the much maligned feminist movement, unrepentant former bra-burner that I am. I think I've come upon it in Kay Koplovitz's new book, Bold Women, Big Ideas. Not everyone, myself included, will dream up patents for new biotech (or any other tech for that matter) processes. But sometime in an independent, creative woman's life, she may want to produce something besides the children she's birthed (no disparagement here, I have one myself), something that will cause the revenue stream to flow in, rather than continuously siphon it out. This book is the roadmap to that place, with everything you always wanted to know about making a solid business plan to finding the venture capitalists and convincing them to fund your new baby. Koplovitz serves as the best model herself, a bold woman who had the big idea of USA Network when the cable industry was in its infancy. She shares with her readers her own mistakes and insights learned from those mistakes ("if you're not an owner, it's not your business"). I was inspired, reading about the other fascinating women with big ideas and how they learned to allow their personalities to emerge when pitching their product to the men with the money. And it is the men who usually have the money, guarding it for the most part, from women's businesses, or, perhaps worse, assuming that where a woman's business may not necessarily be in the home, the home should be what her business is about (a la Martha). This is the book that the men who form the tight circle around the money don't want us to read.

As one of the many people Ms. Koplovitz mentions in this book, I found it to be as honest, up front, inspiring and instructive as she is in person. Its appeal is in its focused, quick moving style that engaged me from the first paragraph.
In a comfortable, easy voice, Ms. Koplovitz openly shares her own experiences, good and bad, and also presents case histories of three other women entrepreneurs. I found it easy to identify with so many of the challenges discussed, and so helpful to read about her own story as well as those of the other women CEO's, and their quests for success in the venture capital and entrepreneurial arenas.
Over the years, she has also had business dealings with some of the more "colorful" characters in the contemporary business scene. Her anecdotes about Barry Diller, Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Sumner Redstone, Larry Ellison and many more, are fun to read as well as insightful.
The message Ms. Koplovitz urges is clear. It's time for women to stop banging their heads against the ceiling, and move towards the open skies of entrepreneurship. This is an accessible, forthright book that avoids unnecessary complexity and addresses issues relevant to all women in the workplace. I recommend it highly.

I liked this book because it reveals the dirty little secret that men play power games in business at the expense of women. More important, it takes a good look at how women are doing amazing things to take business power for themselves. I liked what I saw. Koplovitz pulls no punches. She names names -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. And there are alot of names.
Koplovitz decribes how, after twenty some years of high flying success, she was pushed out of USA Networks, a company she built from nothing to several billlion dollars. She was a CEO without equity despite her repeated offers to buy in. The boys said no. That was O.K. because they let her run the show. And she made them a fortune. But when Barry Diller, a member in good standing of the incestuous old boys network, ended up owning USA, he pushed her out so that he could play with his new toy. Koplovitz makes this tale a good read. But the book is alot more.

Koplovitz is convincing that she is not bitter. She describes her catastrophe as a wakeup call. The glass ceiling turns out to be lead if you want to own a piece of the men's game. So she has set out to make it happen for herself and for other women who want to own big dollar companies based on the kinds of risks that earn big payoffs. She takes us along on her journey to find money for women with great business prosects.

This is more than a serious "how to" book for anyone who wants to raise venture capital, although Koplovitz offers several chapters that read like a "to do" list if you want to win the hearts (and money) of venture capitalists. The book also inspires. It includes terrific stories of women who were sucessful participatnts in the Koplovitz brain child, Springboard 2000, a kind of boot camp to give hard driving women the unique presentation skills that rake in ventrue capital. Koplovitz initiated Springboard 2000 after she was appointed by the President as chair of the National Women's Business Council, a sub-cabinet department in Wasington D.C. She tells how hard it was to get ventrue captialist-- mostly men-- to participate in the Springboard forum where women presented their business plans. But the ventrue capitalists came and this is the tale of how the women conquered. Koplovitz's success to date suggests that hers is the best revenge-- that is, living well as the owner of her own business, Broadway Televison Network (BTN), and watching scores of other women push into the business and money game where it won't just be for men any more.

Hilarious and too, too true. I learned to drive in and around Boston (took my driver's test at the Registry of Motor Vehicles near North Station), take pride in the dings in my car and consider driving in California a walk in the park compared to what I grew up with.

I especially appreciate the updates in this latest edition with respect to the Big Dig.

I'm not a Boston native, but moved here seven years ago. This book ... who wrote this? How did they KNOW? :)

I always thought of myself as a good Step 9 driver: granted, it took me two tries to get my license, but I've had exactly one parking ticket, I've been pulled over exactly once and got off with a warning, and every dent and ding I've put into the car has been below the deductible and couldn't be reported to the insurance company. After reading this book, it seems I am a bigger psychotic behind the wheel than I had known. I never thought that most of the manuevers listed here were borderline vehicular suicide, and I was even taught how to do the Boston Left Turn (you pull halfway out into the road, blocking the traffic on your left until a car coming from the right lets you go) in driver's ed. A lot of the diagrams are hilarious (you'll never make sense of Brighton intersection dynamics), and they also include the obligatory pedestrian scoring scale (you don't want to be Tom Menino or Mitt Romney). The best part is the epilogue describing the future of Boston driving--by the end of this century, it will become an Olympic sport, and the Central Artery Tunnel will become a pedestrian shopping mall.

This book is written to sound tongue-in-cheek, but having lived and driven in Boston for two years, I can assure you it's not. I've seen every manuever described in this book, some of them by the Boston and Cambridge PD. For anyone moving to Boston, this should be required reading. It will teach you how to make Boston Left Turns, how to park in Back Bay, even how to cross a street as a pedestrian. Yes, it's amusing, but it's also a survival manual. (Oh, also get your car licence changed before you try any of these--out of towners get ticketed for these moves. For in-staters, about the only way to get a moving violation is to hit a pedestrian voter.)

Driving in Vancouver can be a dicey affair, as many of the drivers here are very strange and don't appear to know what they're doing. It annoys my wife even more than it does me. When my wife and I were looking over a list of books to review, The Boston Driver's Handbook: The Almost Post Big Dig Edition jumped out at my wife. "That should be funny," she said. So I asked for it. Does it live up to its promise? One thing I do know. After reading this book, driving in Boston sounds even worse than driving here. And that takes some doing!

First, to explain the title (though readers in Boston will already be familiar with this). "The Big Dig" is a massive construction project that is intended to make the main artery of traffic through Boston go underground. It's been very expensive and it's tied up traffic since 1991. However, it's almost over. It's scheduled to be finished in 2005, which is why this is the "Almost Post Big Dig" edition. The authors, Ira Gershkoff and Richard Trachtman, wrote an earlier edition of this book which didn't include this information, though since it was written in 1994, I'm sure it had some information about the current state of construction at the time.

The book starts with a basic overview of driving in Boston. It tells us about the philosophy ("Commandment Number 1: Thou shalt reach thy destination as quickly as possible. Everyone and everything else be damned."). It talks about what kind of car you should drive. A sparkling new car is just an invitation to be hit, or at least bumped. The best kind of car is an old, beat-up car that already has plenty of bumps and paint scrapes. The authors then go into the street layout of Boston and how confusing it is. They say that there is no way that you can navigate by street signs. The streets twist and turn and confusing one-ways abound. The cool thing about this chapter is that they talk about every section of Boston, detailing the different traffic and parking problems that they present, like how street fairs in the North End can play havoc with basic navigation, sometimes absorbing drivers who are invited to join the fair and then never seen again. This was an extremely interesting section, especially for somebody who's completely unfamiliar with Boston. It may be even more so for the experienced Boston driver, forcing a nod of the head and an "amen, brothers!"

The third chapter is about the Big Dig, with the authors explaining just what is planned, what has happened so far, and what will happen once construction is complete. They tell how the Ted Williams tunnel is currently (or at least at the time of this book's writing) quite beautiful and relatively empty, but as people get wind of it, traffic patterns will adjust and it will become just as dirty and polluted as the other tunnels. One thing that just sounds horrifying is how the new Central Artery will only have three exits, while the old one had 27. I don't even have to live there to find that idea frightening. You don't have to be familiar with Boston to find this chapter interesting as an example of the lofty goals of major construction and how the reality of it usually doesn't quite fit. Again, the authors are quite detailed in telling how the construction has affected things, and they don't avoid giving the positives as well as the negatives here. They're just cynical, not unfair.

The rest of the book is full of the basic and more advanced maneuvers that the expert Boston Driver has to learn. There's the basic cut-off, where you cut in front of the car next to you in order to pass the car in front. There's the sidesqueeze, where you ease into the other lane until the car next to you brakes to avoid hitting you. You then cut them off and go on your way.

The authors also tell about entering the endless traffic circles, really confusing left turns (one of the diagrams in the book is an intersection where you're actually going into the oncoming lanes in order to actually make it through the intersection before the light turns), parking, and many others. Some of the information would be useful here in Vancouver as well as any other cities where traffic is a nightmare. However, a large part of the book is based on Boston Driving culture, such as going the wrong way on a one-way street being the only way to get to some places. Thus, it's funny to read about, but don't try this at home. I especially enjoy the suggestion that parking and driving on sidewalks is sometimes necessary, as long as you look out for pedestrians.

The book is written in an easy style that is entertaining and won't take you too long to read. It's also a short book, which helps as well. I found the information on Boston and its environs to be fascinating, and it almost makes me want to go there, though there's no way I'd want to drive there after reading this book. There's no way I'd survive! The book is marred only by the final chapter (before the final exam), which gives there ideas for how Boston Driving will evolve in the next 100 years. It tries hard to be funny, but usually falls flat.

If you're planning a trip to Boston or planning to move there, this book could prove invaluable. Even if you're not, it's a funny look at driving in the wild streets of a city, and it just may make you appreciate your local traffic a little bit more. Either way, it's a fun read.

David Roy