Bishop Books

Just happened to pick this sucker up. Wow. If I ever make it up to Canada this book makes me want to bring my bike.

Given that Jodi is a pretty hardcore kind of athlete (and a generally nice person as well), I believe that the summaries of the rides are accurate and valid as personally experienced by the writer. Don't hesitate in checking this one out - the East coast is beautiful and this handbook can only help make it even better. Ride on!

In this book by Henry Kuttner from the 1950s, homo superior has arrived, and again, they are in hiding. The book contains several pieces about this new race, and they are telepathic. It deals more with their problems, and what it is like to be a telepath, or what it is like to have problems with these abilities when you have been telepathic before, and that sort of thing, compared to the more action oriented approach of Van Vogt, for example.

There is some conflict between the various political groups within the telepaths, and the overall story is told from the point of view of one of the last survivors of the early days, after he has crash landed in bad weather.

Mutant : 1 The Piper's Son - Henry Kuttner
Mutant : 2 Three Blind Mice - Henry Kuttner
Mutant : 3 The Lion and the Unicorn - Henry Kuttner
Mutant : 4 Beggars in Velvet - Henry Kuttner
Mutant : 5 Humpty Dumpty - Henry Kuttner


Mutant telepaths don't need barbers, and don't bother challenging them to knife fights. The kids can be tricky to get right.

3.5 out of 5


Telepathic cabal with unbreakable communication presents a serious problem.

4 out of 5


Mistrust between the groups of mutant telepaths and others intensifies.

3.5 out of 5


Telepath battles and strategy.

3.5 out of 5


The telepath conflict evolves into a desperate fight to stop a killer virus.

3.5 out of 5

By the early 1950s, the great husband-and-wife writing team of Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore had moved to the West Coast to acquire degrees at the University of Southern California, and were concentrating more on their scholastic pursuits than their (formerly prodigious) sci-fi/fantasy output. In 1953, the pair released "Mutant," which would turn out to be their final, novel-length work of science fiction as a team. "Mutant" is what is known as a "fix-up novel," consisting of four short stories originally published in 1945 and a final story released in 1953, cobbled together with some interlinking material. Taken as a whole, the book is another great achievement for the pair; a wonderfully well-written, thought-provoking, multigenerational piece of hard sci-fi. "Mutant" tells the story of the Baldies, a population of telepathic, hairless (natch) humans that has been created as a result of hard radiations following the so-called Blowup. Distrusted and feared by the nontelepathic majority, their lot is indeed a hard one, despite their obvious advantages. The authors have seemingly given much thought to the question of what it must be like to be a mind reader, and many aspects of the telepathic society (their dueling customs, relations with nontelepaths, their alloted occupations, intermarriage, etc.) are examined in some detail. Kuttner and Moore, using italicized type and bracketed paragraphs, effectively convey telepathic conversations amongst several people; one of the book's major strengths, I feel, and this years before Alfred Bester achieved a similar feat in his 1953 masterpiece "The Demolished Man." Each of the novel's five sections is a concise little gem, and each tells the story of one of the "Key Lives" in Baldy history. "The Piper's Son" (which first appeared in "Astounding Science-Fiction" in February '45) introduces us to Al Burkhalter, a Baldy who works as a semantics expert at a publishing firm and is starting to have trouble with his arrogant Baldy son. "Three Blind Mice" ("Astounding," June '45) tells the story of Dave Barton, a Baldy field biologist who uses his powers to study animals in the wild. (Ever wonder what it's like to read the mind of a shark, a rabbit or a goldfish? This is the book for you!) Barton is here given the assignment of tracking down and killing three Baldy Paranoids, a subset of the mutant population that does not want to live peaceably with the nontelepaths, but rather to exterminate them. Barton returns (40 years older and more experienced in his fight against the Paranoids) in "The Lion and the Unicorn" ("Astounding," July '45), and here makes contact with a young Baldy who has been living with a group of nontelepathic, nomadic pioneer sorts, the Hedgehounds. This tale also deals with a Baldy scientist who is working desperately to counter the Paranoids' secret telepathic bandwidth. In "Beggars in Velvet" ("Astounding," December '45), Burkhalter's grandson must deal with a pogrom that the Paranoids have instigated against the Baldies in a small town in the former British Columbia; a pogrom that has the dire potential to spread worldwide. Finally, in "Humpty Dumpty" ("Astounding," September '53), we are shown the efforts of the Baldy scientists who are endeavoring to find a means of inducing telepathy mechanically and making the secret available to all humans. In each of these tales, the Baldy minority may be seen as representative of any minority of your choice (Jews, blacks, you name it), and the desperate efforts of the Baldies against the Paranoid troublemakers and the hostile nontelepaths are shown in a very positive light by the authors...even when cold-blooded killing becomes necessary, as it often does. Thus, "Mutant" turns out to be not only an exciting and wonderfully well-thought-out piece of work, but a socially relevant one as well. How nice to know that Kuttner and Moore, in their final book together, once again smacked one right out of the park! Though the rest of the 1950s saw the team produce several sci-fi short stories, and a very fine solo novel from Moore (1957's "Doomsday Morning"), as well as a detective series from Kuttner featuring psychoanalyst Michael Gray, "Mutant" essentially drew the curtain down on their sci-fi-novel collaboration. Kuttner, sadly, succumbed to a heart attack in early 1958, when he was only 44 years old. It is my earnest hope that the recent release of the big-budget Hollywood film "The Last Mimzy," based on Kuttner's famous 1943 short story "Mimsy Were the Borogoves," will serve to stimulate a fresh interest in these two pillars of Golden Age science fiction.

As a fan of Boris Akunin's Erast Fandorin mysteries, I picked up _Pelagia and the White Bulldog_ to see what his new character, Sister Pelagia was all about. I have mixed feelings.

The mystery itself is a bit odd ... you feel the initial mystery: who has been killing white bulldogs, a new breed that is being developed in rural Russia - is solved the first third of the book; yet Akunin is merely toying with you, as the death of the dogs (while tragic) is merely an hors d'ouvre to larger and more sinister crimes. This was fantastic, and while it took a bit to get used to the fact that the crime Pelagia was working on was not necessarily that to which she was called for, it was worth the investment of sticking with the story in the end.

Sister Pelagia, a young nun and new protagonist, is likable and, as a previous reviewer noted, similar somewhat to Christie's Miss Marple, I have mixed feelings about her - I much prefer Erast Fandorin. However, the reason I give _The White Bulldog_ four stars is the tendency of Akunin to go off on tangents. For example, an entire chapter is devoted to a discussion of the village in which the crimes take place, without any real bearing on the mystery itself. Similarly, the final courtroom scene where the murder is unmasked is a bit dragged out (almost giving a blow-by-blow of the opening remarks of both prosecution and defense.) I could have done without these painful details, and found myself wanting to "get to the meat" of the story. Tighter editing (perhaps in the original) would have solved this.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the story. While I wait for the next Fandorin mystery to be translated, I can certainly entertain myself with this trilogy. A recommended read for mystery lovers.

So pretty. I have started it recently and although I am not done yet, it promises to be a Miss Marple like book. The little "walking disiter" sister - too lively and curious to be a nun- invokes Sound Of Music somehow.

I am enjoying the book. Will write a review again shortly, when I have finished it.

"The Rhetoric of Religion" is the unofficial third volume in Burke's second trilogy (a claim also made by some for "Language As Symbolic Action"), following his "Rhetoric" and "Grammar of Motives," although it is clearly neither the summation nor the completion of his line of inquiry begun in those other volumes. What makes this volume stand out is more the applied use of his concepts than their theoretical development. Burke offers a short discussion on "On Words and The Word" before proceeding to a detailed analysis of verbal action in St. Augustine's "Confessions." For me the key section is his analysis of the first three chapters of Genesis, where he works backwards to explain the creation of the Creation story, the best explication of Burke's Iron Law of History. Returning to his literary roots, the final section finds Burke offering a conversation between God and Satan in "Prologue in Heaven," where Burke literally puts his case before the highest court.

Ultimately, the point is one that Burke has sounded before: that we should not be using terminologies developed in laboratories for our study of human motives. Instead, Burke offers his theories of transcendence and the model of the symbolic act as developed over the previous four decades. Consequently, "The Rhetoric of Religion" is not a book with which to begin your inquiry into either Burke or the field of rhetoric and social theory, but rather the volume that provides a more practical application of his work. Like "Language As Symbolic Action," it should be read after going through his "Rhetoric" and "Grammar" volumes.

Kenneth Burke is one great mind of the 20th century. In this book he studies religion, particularly Saint Augustine's writings and Confessions. Through this particular study he reveals his method that is one great tool indeed. He considers language to be made of signifying elements that are the association of a certain object (sounds or letters) and a meaning. Those elements are brought together through morphology or syntax to build compound words or sentences. But Kenneth Burke goes further than Saussure and considers the signifying elements that are repeated in a text and how they are positioned in relation with one another. It is from these networks of signifying elements that he derives the deeper meaning of a text. The relations can be built along lines of similarity or difference, or even opposition. The networked elements can be similar as for their sounds or letters, though different as for their morphological or syntactic environments, or actually opposed morphologically or syntactically, or simply semantically. This is extremely complex and rich and it leads to very powerful remarks. The second step is in line with the first. No individual element, sentence, image, simile, or any other linguistic entity has a meanig all by itself. The real meaning comes from the networks in which it is positioned and how it is positioned in this network. The third step is that the stating of any signifying element implies the possible stating of its antagon. Order implies disorder, time timelessness, etc. The creation of perfection implies imperfection and God states a thou-shalt-not which implies disobedience, doing what is not supposed to be done. This is fundamental. A society does not forbid something that does not exist. If a law says we must not do something it is because it is actually performed. If a society does not forbid something it can be because it does not exist at all or because it is perfectly seen as acceptable. The absence of a law does not imply anything one way or the other. The existence of a law implies that what it forbids exists and what it authorizes exists too, as well as, in both cases, what it does not forbid or what it does not allow. Kenneth Burke injects this approach into his linguistic reading of religious texts. This is extremely powerful and you have to read the book to see how he exploits such principles. From Genesis Kenneth Burke finds out time was created by God as his first creative act, hence it implies that God's eternity before creation was timeless and that God's eternity after the end will be timeless. Eternity is not the flow of time without a beginning nor an end, but eternity is the absolute absence of both flowing and time, hence eternity is a certain static present that fills in the whole conceivable expanse of duration. Time in this conception is only contained within the alpha of the beginning and the omega of the end. If we consider the Fall, it is the result of the thou-shalt-not that implies temptation and disobedience. The Fall implies then a salvation but this salvation can only be gained through a sacrifice that will reprieve the Fall. Burke follows this sacrifice through the whole Bible to show how it is brought to perfection with Christ : God sacrifices his own son to redeem men and women equally and give them the possibility to choose the right actions through perseverance that can only come from the grace God has given them, the grace that enables them to recapture their virginity in their communion in the reenacted sacrifice of the son that will reinforce the will of men and women to persevere in doing the right things. It is this grace and this communion in the reenacting of the sacrifice that boosts the will that makes perseverance possible, which is the Holy Spirit in man. This is the Word in its creating power and it implies communion with that godly energy, as well as with the sacrifice of the son and with other human beings. The conclusion that we can draw from this book is that the concept of God comes from the desire of man to transcend his material limits. He is subjected to time, hence he invents timelessness as perfect eternity. He is subjected to natural conditions, hence he invents supernatural conditions beyond his natural environment. A perfect religion, and there are many, will state that time cannot exists without timelessness, the flow of time without static eternity, nature without supernature, and that reality is the union and perfect balance between these antagons, hence static immobility that is seen as precarious from man's natural experience and having to be eternally regained or rebuilt from both man's and God's points of view, man's both natural and supernatural, material and mental experience. This approach regains a real understanding and the true power of religion : its inner logic, its inner energy. It is no longer an opiate but an empowerment and it will always be that provided it does not refuse to see changing natural conditions and to change the supernatural construct that needs to change along with natural conditions if the balance between the two has to be maintained. Beyond natural material elements man will always conceive of stronger forces and energies that are the real engine of our changing world, our changing time, and will dream of a world where change will no longer be necessary because perfection will be reached, hence timeless permanence. If we know this is a dream that drives us in life, we can assume it and hence accept to live in the real world and try to make it approach this dreamed perfection.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

This book is a collection of mini Freddy stories. Unfortunately for me I brought this book thinking it was new material based on the title of the book. It is still a good book and the fact I like anything with Freddy, it makes a nice collection in my book case. Next time I read the stories, I will just go to this book instead of the previous paperbacks I brought that are already collected in this hard cover book.

Putting it to you simply, if you enjoyed the movies then you will enjoy reading this book. Freddy is evil as ever, and also enjoys dishing out his sick humor to his victims. This book actually contains 3 different stories. 1. Suffer the Children 2. Dreamspawn and 3. Protoge. Be warned though. Just like the movies there are plenty of gory violence, cursing, and of course lots of sex. On a scale of 1-5 I give Suffer the Children a 4.5, Dreampawn a 4, and Protoge a 4. Enjoy!

Actually it's quite rare to find a music book that can collect also some very nice sonatas of anonymous composers of the 17th century. The violin notation is good enough but the viola da gamba and the continuo parts are quite poor. There are some overall lacks in expression and interpretation signs as well. In this way a "do-it-yourself with a pencil" revision is needed. However it seems a good edition and a precious resource for baroque musicians even if, according to the current information reporting about such a large number of compositions founded in the Kromeriz documentation, I could expect to find some more pieces here....

good clean readable sensible and clear! this music is difficult to get hold of.

For the last few years Chris Bishop has been putting together books from Amber press on subjects such as Panzer Divisions, Luftwaffe Squadrons, Kriegsmarine U-Boats, and now this one on SS: Hitler's Foreign Divisions.

As far as these books go they are well put together, with a goodly set of photographs, well illustrated, and encyclopedic to a point. However, they are not exhaustive and no doubt that was never the author's intent.

For the general collector or reader interested in WWII German subjects these books will fill the bill. For the deep set, hard minded militarist they may only offer information they already know. As long as one realizes the short comings of a general coverage in a little over 150 pages this book will please. Anyone expecting an exhaustive coverage will I am afraid be disappointed.

Semper Fi.

If you are interested in learning about the foreign waffen SS, this book is a must have. The book looks amazing on the outside(i have it on my coffee table). The content is essential and very interesting. There is no informantion pertenant to this subject not in this book. Great book anyone very knowledgable or completly ignorant to he subject would enjoy.

I first picked this book up at the local library, and after the max three renewals and one late fine, I decided that I should buy the book. This one is for any senior exec. who would like to see a way, (but not necessarily the only way,) to organize their company for success into the new millenium. The author makes some very good cases for his vision of the new company structure, one which I personally think is both workable and think makes sense. While he doesn't necessarily provide a clean blue-print for re-organizing or building from scratch, he does give a great thumb-nail sketch that any reasonably intelligent business leader or entrepreneur could follow. I personnaly plan on building my next company on this model....I challenge you to read the book and do the same!

If you are even thinking of doing business in the new economy, get this book! Bill Bishop's simple straightforward approach will guide both the technosavvy start-up entrepreneur as well as the established bricks-and-mortar CEO breaking out of the traditional marketing mindshell. Bishop persuasively describes how to rethink the strategic planning process and guides the reader step-by-step with case examples in both the service and manufacturing sectors.

I liked this book, especially Bishop's methodology of how to think about and serve the customer. However, I questioned the writer's use of the words "all" and "most" throughout the book when the evidence is an interpretation about how the world works. Then again, management instinct is often built on experience. I recommend this book to corporate managers, plant managers, team leaders and small business entrepreneurs transforming their business model for the digital economy.

This book has striaght forward instructions for the would be writer. I purchased it to give me incentive on how to journal, write in general and write an autobiography. Natalie Goldberg suggests everything from what type of pen to use to the kind of environment you may choose to surround yourself in while attempting to write. I am encouraged to write better now because of this book.

This book has been so much help to me, especialy when I get writer's block. A friend recommended this book to me years ago. Unfortunately, I did not buy it until recently. I also write poetry and this book has been very useful to me not only for writing in general, but also for writing poetry.

I'm a freelance creative and sometimes (ok, often) need to be reminded why I write. And that I actually love it way, way more than I hate it. Natalie Goldberg's teeny pocket book is perfect motivation for any writer of any genre including the personal journal. This is a written from a personal, vulnerable place as we get a clear sense of her personal struggles/triumphs. Best of all, every chapter has a strong tug to action with suggested topics to get the brain moving and a little infusion of euphoria that sends me right to my journal or computer. Because of its size I leave it out where I can always see it. I take it with me every time I travel. If you love to/want to/have to write, Natalie Goldberg's book will keep your brain from freezing or frying. Any time I want to get my creative flow, I grasp for my well-worn copy to be reminded that wherever I am in my writing, that's exactly where I belong. I feel inspired. I feel excited. This is a big deal, because I have nearly every book there is on the subject. Writing Down the Bones is the only one of those books that never goes back on the shelf. Ever.

This is the first pocket book I ever had that truly fits into a pocket! Physically it is delightfully diminutive. Reading it has been delightfully inspiring. I started writing after about two and a half chapters, and I haven't stopped writing since. (I even started drawing again after a 25 year hiatus). Natalie has totally conquered novice and veteran writer's block. With an informal combination of attitude, method, tips, personal anecdotes and an overall deft touch, the reader quickly comes to understand how to write. Everything about this book is authentic. I love it.

This book really inspired me to try my hand at writing and I was very impressed with the candidness and accessibility of the author's style. I'm sure like many others, it made me want to take a class with her in New Mexico. I spent a small fortune to do so, over a thousand dollars for a week long seminar. Save your money and stay home and just write. She is NOTHING like her books in person. She was a narscissitic, self-absorbed whiner, who spent exactly two hours a day in front of the class reading to us from her own notebooks. The rest of the time she told us to do writing practice. When she wasn't swaning around the classroom like a diva, she was slobbering over one of the young students in class, obviously in the midst of some torrid affair. It was embarassing for all of us. I left feeling completely ripped off, so much so that I almost stopped writing! The book should come with a warning label: Do as I say, not as I do.

First, allow me to begin by stating this may be one of the best books I have read this year. Since I read on average 3 to 4 books a week (lately it has been between 5 or 6),that I think is really saying something. The story focuses on a bunch of central characters and how they react to the main character, Jeanelle, throughout the various realms. The plot grabs you at the beginning of the book (like two pages in) and keeps you focused until the very end.

The story I must say is very complex and deals with various stages of life for both the main character and the supporting main characters, as well as the numerous conflicts they must face. Most would think this story would be too complicated because of the various events that are thrown at you almost every two pages, but it is not. And I think that is widely due to the superb writing of the author. These characters make you feel for them through gain and loss as they struggle to pull the realms time and time again away from chaos.

An added plus is I picked up the first three books in one volume!! That was a saving point for me because as soon as I had completed the first novel, I just had to start the next. If I had bought them seperately one at a time, I probably would have went nuts waiting for the next book to arrive. Wheew! Dodged a bullet there. I cannot say enough about how fantastic this book is without spoiling some of the plot. Since I am very new to the fantasy genre (previously strictly paranormal), my opinion may be alittle bit biased, but I thinl I know a good story when I read it. I encourage all to try the BLACK JEWELS TRILOGY.

I really enjoyed the first book "Daughter of the Blood." Anne Bishop introduces an interesting world of intrigue, magic and eroticism. The character development starts out really well. I fell in love with all three main male characters Lucivar, Daemon and Saetan. I like the humor and wit. The idea of a matriarchal is society rather refreshing.
And I found the emotional conflict between the little witch girl Jaenelle and her dysfunctional family very compelling.
After reading this book I felt as if I have finally found a new series I could fall in love with.

The second book left me a bit disappointed. The main bad villains of the story are completely incompetent. Hekatah's and Dorothea's feeble attempts to seize power are almost laughable. I felt no great sense of peril for the main characters, making the overall plot a bit boring and uninspiring. The only thing that really kept me reading was Lucivar. If it wasn't for him, I would have given up after the first couple of chapters. Can't take much more of the "hair fluffing."

The third book was a disaster, but yet I still kept reading. The most disappointing thing about this book is how Daemon's character develops. He becomes a shadow of his former self. A totally whiny pussy. What happened to the notorious sadist?
Some of the most annoying things are the repetitiveness of the words and phrases used. "Snarling", "Haunted Sapphire Eyes", "Everything has a price" and "that midnight voice" are just some of the phrases that almost made me destroy the book.
Jaenelle is an utter disappointment. There is nothing queenly or inspiring about her. She was quite boring. Surreal would have been a more interesting witch in my opinion.

I gave it 3 stars because, despite all the flaws, the plot kept me entertained for some strange reason.

I haven't liked a book so much that I felt inspired to re-read it since I was a teenager. Yet, that's exactly what happened with this one! I was so pleased and enthralled with this book that I felt compelled to immediately re-read it to catch and further appreciate all the little nuggets I missed the first time around. I thoroughly enjoyed the second read as well. Definitely worth reading as one big book instead of piece by piece. Enjoy!

I loved this series and in its convenient all-in-one format. You wanted to laugh with the hilarious parts, cry with the sad, etc. You've got to read this book. My only complaint is that the book is not in hardback.

Page three of this book made me physically ill, and seriously wondering if I was going to read further. As others have said the prose of often quite beautiful, and I expected it to draw me in at any minute, but it never quite did. There was at least one other point in the story where the brutality actually had me gagging, and I put the book down for at least a week to recover.
There is a fair amount of only slightly less nauseating, senseless brutality, sort of masquerading as sensuality.
Reading the first book, I found myself wondering if the author hated men and/or was into sado-masochism.
All of the second book and most of the third made me feel like I was reading a "Harlequin Romance" rather than the "critically acclaimed" books that these claimed to be.
I mean, really, the waiflike, emaciated, often injured or ill heroine that big strong men will give their lives for her... the hero who has to come back from the "twisted kingdom" (insanity) to be with her... it's just a little too too, don't you think?
I do realize that this is fantasy, however for anyone with a religious background (most of whom probably wouldn't read this anyway) the not-even thinly veiled attempt at make Saetan a warm and fuzzy being, as well as his sons "Lucivar", and "Daemon" being heros of the story... and that the "Demon dead" and Hell itself being okay places... well... some could easily find this offensive (and I will admit I had a hard time with it.)For me this was far from the "imaginative" set of characters that one reviewer called them. For me it was more like someone trying to sell demonism. Your milage may vary there, but I felt like it had to be said.
It's a LONG read, and often not an "easy" read.