Bonds Books

A great introduction to bonds and there place in a portfolio. The perfect place for the individual to start if they are considering purchasing individual bonds for their portfolio.

However, anyone looking for more in-depth information and strategies will likely be disappointed. Relatively little information about Zeros, TIPS and other products that are likely to be of interest. Start here, and then increase your knowledge with a title specific to your interests (i.e. municipal bonds, etc.).

I ordered this book for my business library. I enjoyed the book, but if you want more specifics on the methods of detailed bond calculations, I would recommend a good financial investments text book.

Thau over complicates her points. The book is too difficult to understand. I am an attorney who has been investing in stocks and bonds for over 10 years. This book is not appropriate for any level investor.

This is an accessible introduction to bonds by a financial professional whose first book - as unlikely as it may seem - was a study of Max Jacob, the French poet. The literary background of the author, Annette Thau, may account for her book's clear, easy-to-read style. Most authors who write about bonds tend to get lost in the complex mathematics and specialized jargon of the bond markets. Not Annette Thau. Whether you are an individual investor trying to balance your portfolio with bonds, or a student of finance looking for a more lucid explanation of the subject than you can find in your textbooks, we highly recommend this book to you.

Am nearly finished reading the 2nd printing of this excellent tutorial. Although I have been an avid buyer & seller of fixed income products for many years, the author did a superb job of furthering my mid-level expertise especially in the area of municipal bonds. Her plain language explanations were most welcome as opposed to the plethora of financial techno-babble tomes that share the bookshelf. 5 Stars without reservation.

It's July, and we're reading this book daily! My 16 mo. old son loves to pull this book off the shelf and have me read it to him. I wish that the last page read: "I am Baby Jesus asleep in the hay and I am the reason for Christmas day". But, other than that, it's a very cute book and my son loves it.

Great book for little ones. I have a 16th month old boy who loves this book and helped us focus on more than just Santa and presents for the holiday season. Lovely pictures and good text make this a reading pleasure for everyone.

I puchased this book for my 10 month old son. I wanted something to start reading to him before Christmas that would speak to the meaning of the holiday. It is perfect! The story is short but to the point and is able to keep his interest. Each page speaks to a part of the Christmas Story in rhyme, the donkey, the sheep, sheepards, wisemen etc. The last page has a picture of the Baby Jesus and reads "I am the child asleep in the hay and I am the reason for Christmas day."

My youngest son received this book for his first Christmas, and he loved it. It became one of his favorites that we read all the time not just at Christmas. It tells the Christmas story in simple word rhyme and pictures. I bought this book for all my grandchildren's first Christmas.

This a great book for really young children. It is short enough to keep my one year old's attention and the illustrations are attractive.

My class adores this book as well as the others in this series. It offers great opportunities for the kids to come up with things the pig will want if you give them something else. The kids can't put these books down. A real crowd pleaser.

This comedy book is a wonderful childrens book full of fun and laughter.
"If You Give a Pig a Party" is about a pig who asks for a party, gets mixed up in other fun, and in the end, asks for another party. This colorful book is full of silliness and irony. Highly recomended.
Grades 1 and up.

This book is creative, colorful and easy to follow. I've been reading this with my daughter since age 2, she's almost four and it's still a fast favorite. The storyline follows Pig on her adventure to have a party; along the way you meet her friends snake, mouse, moose, cat and dog (did I forget anyone?). We have fun spotting the friends and picking out which hat we'll 'wear' to the party. I aways pick the same hat, so my daughter says, "Don't be a party pooper, mommy --- Try something new"! Wonderful times.

What I like the most about these books is the illustration. The stories are fun too!

My grandkids loved this book---they ask over and over to have it read to them. The story is very entertaining and the pictures are very colorful.

I've become a great fan of Charles Stross. I think his earlier books accelerando and even glasshouse are master pieces. I also love "the mearchants war" series of fantasy.

This book, the Jennifer Morgue, are a follow on to the Atrocity Archives. It is not as good as the Atrocity archives but close. This probably because I like Lovecraft more then Flemming. The Archives where a "parody" of Lovecraft's style and this one more on Ian Flemming. The books are not parody per se but borrows a style. I wonder what style he will do next, the rumors says spy thriller.

The story is fast paced and hilarious and Stross has a great ability to make the absurd seem reasonable and logic. The fact that the hero struggles with department bureaucracy adds to the flavor.

I still miss Stross' harder SciFi but this is still a great (summer) read.

An early novel very different from his current work. A James Bond send-up. Science fiction, James Bond and magic--what could be better? His current novels are much better.

Spys, tentacled horrors from the abysses of space and ocean, last minute rescues, sly humor, and, above all, clever writing makes this second installment of the escapades of the Bob Howard & other Laundry employees makes you hope there will be more tales in this series.

The sequel to "The Atrocity Archives" and part of the omnibus "On Her Majesty's Occult Service," "The Jennifer Morgue" consists of the title story, the short story "Pimpf" (first published on-line Jim Baen's Universe in June, 2006) and "The Golden Age of Spying," which is basically an afterword to "Jennifer Morgue." Well written, witty and gripping, this book has a bit of everything - Lovecraftian-esque horror, Monty Python-esque humor and Bond-esque spy thriller suspense.

Bob has been sent on a standard trip to a convention - he expects it to be pretty boring, as the conventions are generally just a chance for the various occult groups from different countries to meet and mingle. However, things begin to get weird quickly as he first is met by a Black Chamber operative, and then is told he is supposed to be on a deep cover operation where he is to work with her. In fact, they are to be "destiny entangled" for the duration of the mission. As time goes by, we discover that the person who Bob is supposed to stop from destroying the world, somehow, has created a terribly involved geas field, involving all actors in this situation and placing them into a James Bond-type situation, wherein only a specific person, under a specific set of circumstances, has a chance to even approach him. He then hopes to short-circuit the geas so that he can complete his mission, which is to raise a cthonian device from JENNIFER MORGUE, which is on the abyssal plain, where humans, by treaty from the Deep Ones, are banned from going.

Obviously, things just get worse from there.

In "Pimpf" Bob is saddled with an intern, who ends up getting himself stuck inside a MMORPG which Bob had been designing in order to capture dungeon designers who have accidentally designed programs that would lead to problems - thereby bringing them into the Laundry. Bob therefore has to go into the game himself and save his intern, Pete, before it is too late.

In "The Golden Age of Spying," Charles Stross interviews Ernst Blofeld, Bond's arch-nemesis to get his side of the story, as well as generally musing about the cultural phenomenon that is James Bond.

I can definitely recommend this book to just about anyone who enjoys a)Lovecraftian works, b)Monty Python, c)spy thrillers, d)British humor in general or e)basic, undefinable books that create a fun and interesting world. Don't miss this one!

This novel actually creeped me out a few times and had me rolling on the floor with laughter most of the time. SciFi would be the topseller in genre fiction, if more novels were like this one. Stross skewers James Bond, flips the Lovecraft style horror novels on their ear, infuses some of the best IT and hacker details that I've read in a novel, incorporates a pretty good love story paired with a perfectly frightening stalking, all while careening hilariously through a landscape littered with zombies, creatures from the deep, creatures from the universe's deep past, and more.
This novel provides one blisteringly hot answer to those readers who complain that there's not much new or fresh in SciFi. I say you're looking for authors on the wrong side of the pond. Some of the best SF to be found, these days, is coming from Britain (Scotland, in Stross' case).

So the Bond saga continues, in this the second book of the series. I'm finding Bond to much more multifaceted in the books when compared to the films...and I do love those films! His "relationship" with Solitaire is nicely done here, and the finale...if filmed the way it was written...would have been one of the more thrilling moments in cinema history.
The problem here, which will be insurmountable to many people's sensitivities, is the mid-50's pre-civil-rights attitude towards minorities. Political correctness, I feel, will one day be looked back upon by historians in nearly the same way as McCarthyism. It's an embarassing movement in American civil thought.
That being said, the tone towards Africans/Black/whatever the proper term currently is...is antiquated to say the least, and may be offensive to many.
The novel itself is a lightning read, much like Casino Royale, and you will wish for the day that these books...not just their titles...will be made into movies.

This book is good...not great, just, good. It isn't as Good as the previous Bond Book, Casino Royale(read my review), and that is why I gave it 4 and a half stars instead of 5.

It starts out slow, like all Fleming Books do, but it gradually builds itself up to a great closing action sequence. Sorry, no surprise ending this time around for Bond(even though it seems like there is going to be one). Anyways, the book seems like two books combined. For one, it's rather longer than "Casino," but, it's the build-up that will keep you from falling asleep. everything is really well described, you can imagine everything. My favorite part is(don't worry, I wont give away any spoilers)towards the end, when bond is,...uh,...in the water(i'm trying to keep it a surprise for those who haven't read it yet) It is very descriptive and very exciting. All in all, it starts out long and slow and boring, but I beg you, don't put it down...please, just hold out at least to the Harlem, NY part(which is only 3 or 4 chapters in), and I promise it will get better. So, read this book, you'll like it...eventually:)

This book was incredible! It had the bad guy and the girl. Fleming described everything so well and the book had a great ending and it was action-packed throughout the entire thing. I couldn't put it down. This and From Russia With Love are the best! I'm reading them in order and I'm on the 6th book Dr. No. But this book has good fight scenes, Mr. Big is a great villian and the parts with Leiter and the shark. And, O yeah I forgot the scene in the bait warehouse!
One of the best books I've read in a long time!

"Live and Let Die" holds up as a story and moves quickly, but the really amazing thing about it is that it serves as a portal into a 1954 mindset. This is most apparent in Flemming's treatment of blacks. The villain is black, and he controls a black voodoo mob with communist ties and tentacles from Harlem to Jamaica. At one point James Bond notices the villain's black female chauffeur and thinks to himself how unusual the site of a black woman driving a car was anywhere in the world. While Flemming's fantasy-land world of universally linked superstitious black conspirators smacks of a genuinely racist outlook, the most surreal comments are about the reality of the world that existed when the book was written.

It is tough to get beyond the book's racial stereotypes, but all of Flemming's gangs are pretty much the same international conspiracies. Flemming probably thought that his treatment of black was somehow elevating. In any case, beyond the racial element of the book, Flemming's way with words remain captivating, the plot remains slightly off (as is characteristic for the Bond books), and Bond remains Bond. Flemming's Bond is not nearly so smart as the movie Bonds. The literary Bond is, in a sense more superhuman in that his body endures inhuman abuses, from terrible beatings to poisonous levels of alcohol, tobacco and high-cholesterol foods. But he is extremely reckless and has as much bad luck as good. Luck, rather than wits, carry Bond through much of the book and in a sense he sort of flows along. Not so for his partner, Felix Leiter, who meets the kind of surprising fate that makes the twists and turns of a Flemming novel actually unpredictable (Flemming reaches a climax in unpredictability with the close of his best work, "From Russia with Love").

The other interesting thing about "Live and Let Die" is how elements of this book later appear in the films. The movie version of the book is a considerable departure, yet scenes from "For Your Eyes Only," and "License to Kill" are stolen almost word-for-word form this book. That three movies are derivative of this one book indicate its action-value.

The whole combination of "Live and Let Die" is about as much as one can ask for in a 1950's pulp novel. It is fun, it is dated in an unintentionally interesting way, and it is quick. For these reasons and because it is Bond, "Live and Let Die" will live and not die for at least another 50 years.

Live and Let Die was Ian Fleming's second book to feature the secret agent and future icon, James Bond and although the book directly follows up on the storyline started in the previous Casino Royale (i.e., Bond's initial motivation is revenge against the Soviet Smersh for the events at the end of that novel), Live and Let Die is in many ways a different animal entirely and a fairly good harbringer of the future emphasis on adventure and exotic villians and lovers that would dominate the series. Whereas the Bond introduced in Casino Royale was, at times, surprisingly niave, Live and Let Die's James Bond is more in line with the death defying superspy that most think of when they here the term "007." Still, the Bond seen here is still much more vulnerable and, at times, much more ruthlessly unlikeable than the Bond film character -- an aspect the keeps this book rooted in reality and, in my opinion, makes the literary Bond far superior to his movie doppleganger.

The plot of Live and Let Die will probably be problematic for some politically correct readers. James Bond travels from Harlem to Jamaica in pursuit of Mr. Big, a gangster and Soviet agent who also happens to be black and, at one point, proclaims that his goal is to be the first "great Negro criminal." Mr. Big's criminal organization is, as well, made up totally a blacks and a great deal of time is spent explaining that Big keeps his organization in line by exploiting their belief in voodoo. Obviously, this is the type of stuff that makes some readers uncomfortable but one gets the feeling that Fleming would have enjoyed making them squirm. When taken out of context, the book's plot can certainly sound like some '50s version of the infamous racist screed, the Turner Diaries, but upon actual reading, it becomes obvious that the book -- if, at times, showing the accepted stereotypes of the time it was written (even I cringed at Fleming's attempt to write dialect), is not itself meant to be racist -- i.e., Big is a villian because he's evil and not because he's black. And for that matter, he's also a very memorable and formidible villian -- every bit the equal of such later heavyweights as Blofeld and nowhere near as pathetic as Royale's Le Chiffre. As well, Mr. Big's intricate scheme and the execution of it actually makes sense and Fleming maintains an admirable atmosphere of suspense and danger throughout the book. Fleming's style here improves on the occasional awkwardness of Royale and he gives the reader a well-paced adventure filled with memorable characters and some startlingly strong action sequences. (One need only compare this book's underwater scenes with the more languid scenes in Thunderball to see how well Fleming pulls them off.)

To go into any more detail of the plot would be unfair to the reader because most of the twists are genuine surprises (especially if one is expecting the book to be anything like the film). This is a book full of remarkably strong scenes and writing -- amongst the most vivid are the fate of Felix Leiter, the painful torture inflicted on Bond in Harlem, and Fleming's hilariously dismissive view of Florida retirees -- and it is a must read for anyone who wants to discover what made James Bond such an icon in the first place.

Raymond Carmichael gets into a car accident and while on the way to the hospital has a heart attack. At the hospital Beatrix, Natalie and Ruby meet each other-they are all married to Raymond.

Raymond dies after having another heart attack and while the three try to keep out of each others way, but at the funeral they learn that Raymonds death was not an accident, he was murdered.

At different times all three are suspected of killing him, but they know that none of them did. They then decide to work together to find out what really happened the night that Raymond died and catch the real killer. Along the way they relize that they all have more in common than they relized.

All in all, a very entertaining read

I am not a morning person... but I have to give this book a lot of credit. I actually laughed out loud while reading this book at 6 in the morning. I never do that! It is a fun read! If you want a lot of depth, not going to happen... but I love the humor! So yes, I am going to continue to read her books. Thanks Ms. Bond for the entertainment!

This book is about 3 very different women who find out they all share the same husband. They find themselves thrown together trying to figure out who killed their husband and they find out some things about themselves in the process. Stephanie Bond's style is very similar to Janet Evanovich. This similarity is further brought out in the audio version performed by C.J. Critt who does many of the Evanovich audios (One of my favorite readers, BTW). This is not a very deep book, the characters are fairly one dimensional, but still it's a pretty decent read.

This was a very good story. Some men actually have the nerve to
have 3 wives. I thought the way they all found out was just too
much.

Keep up the good writing.

I was impressed with this off-beat story about three wives and one dead husband. The humor was rich and the mystery great, it had you wondering althrough who the killer was. This is a first from Ms. Bond and I will be reading more from this talented author!

~Take one blonde socialite, post-menopausal and fuming mad. Beatrix always suspected that her husband Raymond Carmichael married her for her money twenty years ago, but never imagined he would take on two more wives in the process!

Take one smart brunett. A very well respected doctor in a small town. Thirty-five-year-old Natalie had only wanted one thing in her marriage to Ray, honesty. This was the very reason she was ready to kill the man when she found out he was married to two other women!

Take a gorgeous redhead, twenty-one and an exotic dancer. Also married to Ray. The only problem here is she was pregnant from the lying jerk!

Fate has thrown these three mismatched women together when the only husband they have ever known gets into a car crash and ends up in the hospital only to be further shocked when all 3 of his wives show up to see how he is! Suddenly he suffers a massive heart attack and leaves the three angry wives to sift through his muddled life.
Fate is nowhere near done with the women and they find themselves in trouble with the law when they are all suspected of killing the man and conspiring with each other, only they all know each one would never do such a cold-blooded thing.
Clues soon begin to surface and the truth is more shocking than what they had imagined. Now they are all in danger and must trust one another to survive this mess!

Very funny and witty. I will always remember these characters! They were all so different, yet I connected with them all and smiled throughout the book. But I have to say, my favorite was Raymond's first wife Beatrix, she was spunky and no-nonsense. The way she handles the women are nothing less than hysterical. Very enjoyable, but I must say, there isn't much romance in the book, its more of a comedy/mystery. But I didn't mind. The wives more than make up for any romance lost in the pages! Well worth the money!!!

Tracy Talley~@

Critics of free trade tend to fall into two camps, irrational and rational. The irrational camp includes hard core socialists and developed world nationalists such as Lou Dobbs, who have an almost religious belief in certain statist policies as some sort of recipe for broad based prosperity absent much evidence and they simply ignore any evidence that policies such as protectionism may do more harm than good. Ha-Joon Chang falls into the second group. His book is generally quite well written and he regularly acknowledges the trade offs involved in his discussions.

Anyone looking for evidence to raise trade barriers or further regulate markets in the developed world won't find it in this book. Chang is quite critical of "neoliberalism" but he generally seems to suggest low trade barriers on trade and foreign investment are wise in the developed world, or at least he doesn't think they are wrong. His argument is whether such policies are wise in the developing world and he goes on to argue for state-driven development strategies for developing nations.

Some of his arguments are interesting and even persuasive. Chapter 9 ("Lazy Japanese and thieving Germans") provides one of the best rebuttals I have seen of the argument that suggests some cultures are destined to fail. He doesn't say culture doesn't matter; merely that it isn't fixed over time.

Chapter 8 ("Zaire vs. Indonesia") has an interesting discussion of corruption. He suggests corruption is not necessarily incompatible with economic growth and modern China is certainly an example of the argument's validity. Nevertheless, he concludes corruption is worth fighting because it erodes confidence in governing institutions.

Other parts of the book are less compelling. One of his central messages is that proponents of free trade are ignorant of (or at least unwilling to acknowledge) the history of protectionism among now developed world economies. That may be true of the free traders he encounters casually but anyone who is even remotely familiar with the economic and political history of the US and UK would know they employed protectionism in the past.

I can't completely reject the argument that developing nations should engage in some protection of domestic producers, but his discussion of the topic tends to omit two problems. He rarely discusses the downsides of protectionism, such as the fact that if tariffs are used, it raises the prices of consumer goods to citizens, rich and poor alike, of those countries. Second, he admits that industries should not be protected in perpetuity but seems to assume such protections will be phased out at an "appropriate" time. Protected industries and their advocates generally don't want to give up the special privileges they enjoy and are often quite successful at delaying or even preventing the day of reckoning. Developed world agricultural subsidies are a perfect example. It is much easier to prevent a special privilege from being enacted in the first place then to end it once it is in place and has developed a constituency to defend it. At some point the costs of a protection that has outlived its usefulness outweighs whatever initial benefits it might have brought.

His discussion of state-owned industry in Chapter 5 also omits certain complications. He ignores the political difficulty in rationalizing a money-losing state owned enterprise. Unions can make demands of a private firm but ultimately they don't have an interest in seeing it go bankrupt. However, there is less of a restraint on union demands in the public sector because the treasury can be seen as a bottomless till. On page 113 he also makes an argument for state ownership of natural monopolies, such as electricity or land line telephones, ignoring the poor performance of many instances when these industries are in state hands.

Chang likes to cite countries that rejected the free market approach, but he is often selective in his examples. Some Asian countries, such as South Korea, China and Japan do appear to have successfully managed state-driven development. However, there are still plenty of others that are less appealing. Many of the far left love to cite Venezuela but much of Venezuela's success is from the oil bonanza, not necessarily wise economic policy. After a decade of increasing state control, nearly half the Venezuelan work force remains employed in the informal economy, devoid of labor protections enjoyed by those in less statist economies; even though Venezuela is flush with oil revenues.

Chang makes some mistakes or dubious statements in a few cases. He associates the Chrysler bailout with the Reagan Administration, when it was actually enacted under President Jimmy Carter. He also makes a reference to the "September 11 bombing of the Word Trade Center" which makes him sound like some nut job conspiracy theorist, although I did a Google search and didn't find any references that associate him the 9/11 conspiracy theories, it was a curious statement just the same.

I gave the book three stars because it is generally well written and acknowledges real world trade offs. I don't find all or even most of his policy prescriptions persuasive but he does make some of the better arguments for state driven development in the underdeveloped nations. Anyone interested is some credible counter arguments should check out Freedom From Want: American Liberalism and the Global Economy or In Defense of Globalization: With a New Afterword

Although this book is difficult to read, it does offer a perspective of the negative effects of free trade agreements (and all that comes with them; patents, tariffs, subsidies, etc.) have on developing countries. It uses history as a guide to analyze how developed countries have developed and how the growth of developing countries were hindered by the action of the developed countries.

This book attacks orthodoxies of the World Bank, IMF, WTO, neo-liberal economists, free-market economists, and pundits such as Thomas Friedman. Chang often implies that they all share a common orthodoxy, but the ideas he attacks are usually questioned by some of those groups.
His criticisms of the World Bank, IMF, and WTO are often correct, but it shouldn't be surprising that they serve goals that don't coincide with needs of developing countries.
His most important argument is a defense of mercantilist protection of infant industries. He shows that the evidence on the effects of tariffs is sufficiently mixed that his selective use of examples can give the impression that he has shown tariffs promote economic growth in developing countries. He makes claims of the form "X would have failed without protection", but doesn't say why his ability to predict failure is more reliable than other alleged experts (e.g. MITI's belief that Honda would fail in the auto business). This provoked me into searching for more complete tests of the effects of tariffs. The evidence I found confirms that his confidence that tariffs work is foolish, but I was surprised to find that the evidence is too unclear to provide a guide to policy decision.
Chang has a good argument that the common orthodoxy about comparative advantage is a less conclusive reason for removing tariffs than it appears. But his attempts to describe a mechanism by which tariffs can be beneficial are naive. He talks about government protecting infant industries the way a parent protects a child, without any analysis of the political forces which cause governments to protect entrenched declining industries at the expense of less politically powerful startups.
He gives only vague hints about how to distinguish the tariffs he thinks are good from bad tariffs. I'll offer a suggestion: any tariff that is designed to meet his notion of a good tariff should be set by statute to decrease to zero over a period of about a decade and never be reinstated for an industry to which they've been applied under this statute.
His complaints about privatizing state-owned enterprises contain some valid points. I wish people didn't assume government and stockholder control are the only available choices. Having governments spin off enterprises as nonprofits would sometimes (often?) be a better option.
His comments about how patents and copyright affect developing countries are mostly correct. But he underestimates our dependence on drug patents when he implies that the 57% of drug research funding that comes from not-for-profit sources means we could get 57% of the results without commercial funding. A drug startup that will go broke if it doesn't produce something valuable does different work than someone whose success comes from publishing papers.
Chang's modest suggestions for patent reform would provide much less improvement than ideas I've found by reading free-market economists (e.g. prizes instead of patents, or Kremer's patent buyout proposal).
His comments about inflation assume that it produces some benefits, but he shows no awareness of the economic literature which disputes that assumption.
He has plausible hypotheses that increasing market forces might cause an increase in corruption in some countries. I see no easy way to estimate the size of these effects.
His arguments that cultures change in response to economic change more than most people realize are strong enough to lower my opinion of Fukuyama's book Trust (Fukuyama seems unaware that the German current high-trust culture is very different from a century ago when they had a reputation for dishonesty). But Chang exaggerates a lot when he says immigrants from poor countries working much harder in rich countries proves that work habits result from economic conditions rather than culture - those immigrants are unlikely to be typical of the culture they came from.

This is one economics text that should be read by everyone. Ha-Joon Chang the author, puts Free Trade and unfettered Capitalism within a historical and even political perspective. Along with an earlier book, "Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective" he gives sufficient and tangible real world examples of how developing nations and infant & growing industries need tariffs and import substitution to both survive and thrive. An alternative title might be; Genuine & Honest Free Trade Maybe BUT Only Between Economic Equals.

Coming from Turkey where all the illnesses and problems caused by the attitudes of the "Bad Samaritans" in this book are visible, I strongly recommend this valuable collection of arguments and examples to every developing country government official, especially to my own.

The arguments in the book cleverly and clearly demonstrates how IMF, The World Bank and WTO trio pressures developing countries for strictly following free-trade practices while the country's citizens suffer under well developed tactics of rich multinational companies, freely moving hot money of the global funds and all sorts of international pressures on the developing governments and media. These tactics are at work in my country now and they are stronger than ever: All profit making SOE's have been sold, the Istanbul Stock Exchange is a little toy shop for the fast moving foreign money and there is hardly any bank left for Turkish owners.

No rich country in the world became what it is, with free-trade, let them do methods. This is a fact the author very clearly demonstrates. As a matter of fact there is a former and more technical book on the same subject and this new book is in a way a laymen version of "Kicking Away the Ladder", Chang's 2002 book.

I would like to invest my own spare time to translate this wonderfully eye opening book into Turkish. It is also interesting to note that the vivid personal accounts of the author in the first chapter, about his childhood times in South Korea closely resembles my own in the 1970's Turkey. It is sad for me to realize once again that Korean policy-makers have understood the lessons examined in this book early on, in the 1980's, and the Turkish politicians and business elders missed them. It is no coincidence that this book was written by a Korean economist.

Excellent read, recommended to every developing country policy maker and citizen. And I don't think any reviewer from a developed country gets how terrible the situation caused by the neoliberal policies is, as far as I can tell from the reviews written here.

"The physical, psychological and spiritual transformation of the clay has been launched in the frenzy of creation." (Page 42)

Locked up in Montdevergues Asylum in 1943, Camille Claudel recalls her life as a combination of both happy memories and horrific nightmares. From the injustice of her lover, Auguste Rodin to the betrayal of her brother Paul of who lived a rich and varied life of fame and fortune that should have belonged to Camille herself.

Translated by fictional William Barrett, Professor Emeritus of Classic French Literature, he attempts to transcribe Camile's memoir after viewing one of her exhibits, and remembering a forgotten case of manuscripts and soap carvings that had come his way during World War II, and has been up in his attic ever since.

As Rodin's student, and then his mistress, Camille soon learns some harsh lessons of life as their romance slowly changes, and deteriorates with adverse affects. Her needy brother doesn't help either, turning treacherous by taking what is rightfully hers and calling it his own.

The author, Alma H. Bond, puts in novel form her own words about Camille's life using her own psychoanalysis and writing skills to reveal what could have gone on in the fragile mind of talented sculptor Camille. A young and impressionable girl thrown into a man's world where the creativity of a woman would be expected to be dropped at the very mention of marriage, children and homemaking. But not her, not without a fight!

Camille: A Novel, is broken into foreword, prologue and three parts - Part one - The Early Years (1864 - 1881), part two - The Rodin Years (1881 - 1912) and part three The Asylum Years (1913-1943) At the back of the book can be found a bibliography,addendum and a glossary of French words that is very useful.

We see Camille's search for religion and family history through the author's delightful prose with this fictional account of Camille's life that was an engrossing, and pleasurable read. With an incestuous relationship with her brother and a spiteful jealous sister, it's no wonder Camille struggled with her increasing paranoia. Not to mention the degenerate mental health system back in the Victorian era, very few visits from her family, sedation and an inevitable loss of reality. My heart went out to her. Camille was clearly way ahead of her time and not only grossly mistreated, but misunderstood in many ways.

It's an inspiring (albeit it quite sad) biography with a fictional twist, recreated with a mixture of faction and pure indulging fiction. Although much of the facts and figures I assume are based more on her real life than the author's imagination. This book in itself, is not merely a work of art, but an embodiment of the sculptor's heart, soul and creative energies! A psychoanalytic decent into madness has never been so much fun.

Sassy Brit
Alternative-Read
October 2007

To write the story of Camille Claudel, one of the most enigmatic figures in the history of art, is an ambitious and bold undertaking. Claudel, who was born in France in 1864 and died in an insane asylum in 1943, was arguably one of the most gifted sculptors of her time and one of the first distinguished female sculptors of the modern era. Alma H. Bond's book Camille Claudel: A Novel, though written as a fictionalized biography, is a thorough portrait of Claudel.

Written from the perspective of the aged Claudel, confined to the Montdevergues Asylum for over thirty years, the story begins when the child Camille shows an interest in making shapes out of mud, much to the chagrin of her conventional mother. The recounting of Camille's formative years through her early education in Paris and apprenticeship to the sculptor Auguste Rodin, is filled with detail and awareness of how the interrelationships of her family members shaped her personality. As she begins her career as a sculptor, as well as her role as both muse and lover to Rodin, the story is meticulous in recounting the development of her art and her unique and independent personality.

Bond has done an impressive job of researching her subject and her descriptions of the places Camille lived, studied, and worked are thorough and exacting. The author's portrait of the fiery and temperamental artist and the many personalities who filled her world are rich. Bond's knowledge of Claudel's day-to-day life and the growth of her art is breathtaking in its scope and completeness. She paints a vivid portrait of a ferociously independent and rarely talented young artists struggling to overcome the prejudices of her era and to deal with her passionate and ultimately obsessive love for Rodin, her mentor and the great love of her life.

Written in the first person, Camille has a "voice" that is at times elusive, the only flaw in this otherwise richly-crafted story. The author's use of contemporary expressions and figures of speech and some American slang seem somewhat out of place coming from the pen of a seventy-nine year old French artist raised in the Victorian era. Still, Camille was a woman out of time and perhaps some readers will find the contemporary voice more accessible.

Though Bond's research on Claudel's early years is impressive, she is at her best and most authoritative as she describes Camille's slow and painful descent into madness. Bond, herself a psycho-therapist, describes a surprisingly fragile psyche traumatized by her inability to accept Rodin's choices and the increasingly intense paranoia that led her to believe that Rodin was persecuting her even after his death. Complicated by a painful relationship with her mother and a possibly incestuous relationship with her brother, Camille slipped deeper and deeper into self-destruction until she was removed to an asylum where she remained for thirty years.

Camille Claudel: A Novel is an ambitious work in both detail of the life of the artist and in a study of her decline. The world will never know the extent of Camille's genius as an artist because she destroyed so many of her own work but Bond has given us a sensitive and richly detailed account of a life that was too afflicted by tragedy to achieve the greatness that was its right.

When pen meets paper our mind can take over, and lead us into unknown places. The same is said of Camille Claudel, except for her it was clay or a piece of marble. This book is a work of art in itself. Dr. Bond gives us the psychological insight into the depth and understanding of the heart, mind, and soul of Camille.
We also see the in-securities Camille had, because of a leg that was shorter than the other. Camille had a limp when she walked, and was always laughed at in school. One day her brother Paul came to her defense,and fought with another boy because of what was said.
After that the kids never made fun of her again, but in the dark resources of her mind she always saw people laughing or talking about her.
The book begins with Camille telling her life story in the confines of an insane asylum where she had lived for the past thirty years. She wanted to leave a message for women in the future about her struggles as a sculptor. The torment, persecution, prejudice and unfair treatment, all because of a male dominated artistic community. This book is a work of fiction but backed by historical facts.
When Camille was a young girl her Papa saw her playing in the mud making figures. He walked over and looked at what she doing. Then with tears in his eyes he told her they were really good. Camille had captured the soul of her Papa in a piece of mud. He told her he would try and get her some clay. If Camille did as well with clay, as she did with mud, he would take both Camille and her figures and show them to Alfred Boucher, the famous sculptor in Nogent-sur-Sein. Her Papa was the only constant in her life. He believed deeply in his daughters talents and did all he could to help her until the time of his death. Camille's Maman (mother) did not like her. She was still mourning the death of her first child, a son, who died only fifteen days after his birth. When Camille was born she was never given the nuturing of a mohter's love. Two years later Camilles brother Paul was born. He brought great joy to his Maman, and Camille loved him dearly. Then came Louise of whom Camille hated.
As Camille and Paul began to grow they had a relationship bordering on incest. The relationship would haunt Paul for years, but he still loved Camille. Louise was the perfect, beautiful daughter Maman had always wanted. Camille was never allowed to touch or hug her Maman. She was told; "You don't deserve to be in this distinguished family because you are a violent, vicious child. She was at fault for all the fights that took place in the family." No matter who was fighting, her Maman blamed Camille for every thing.
Camille's Papa kept his word, and took both Camille and her figures to meet Alfred Boucher. Boucher could see the work of a genius. He told them about a famous school in Paris. The only problem was they would only accept a female student at twice the cost of a male. Both Camille and her Papa were outraged. The unfairness of it was something Camille would never forget. Boucher mentioned another school that accepted both male and female students. She enrolled but was soon frustrated. The work neither challengd her, or taught her how to bring to life the feelings she had inside. Finally Brocher brought her into his atelier (studio) as another apprentice. Camille began to come alive under his instruction. Her arms would ache by the time she finished for the day, but she did not care. All that mattered to her was drive to be a sculptor. One day Boucher told his apprentices he had to go away. But they were not to worry as he had other sculptors to come through to help them while he was gone. One day Augusta Rodin stopped by. He was considered to be one of the greatest sculptors of all time. As he would walk around and talked to the students he seemed to spend more time with Camille. As time went on his hand would stay a little longer on her arm. Or brush across her breast as he was showing her something. He considered her work to be brilliant. He invited her to become his first female apprentice he had ever had.
When the author describes the feelings Camille felt as she worked the clay, I wanted to buy some clay and feel it in my hands. I wanted to squeeze it between my fingers. I wanted to kneed it and roll it around in my palm. That is how powerful this story is. There is so much passion in this book, that I will never look at a piece of art again, and not think of Camille. Thank you Dr. Bond--you have opened my eyes to a whole new world. Sandra Heptinstall

Author: Alma H. Bond
Publisher: PublishAmerica
ISBN 10: 1424116708
ISBN 13: 978-1424116706
Genre: Non-fiction/biography

I must admit, since I finished doing art at school when I was 16 years of age, I no longer had a love for it as all interest in the subject just fizzled out. And if I'm to be honest, I was a bit reluctant to review this book because I feared it would be boring. Thankfully however, it was anything but that and I'm glad to have read Camille Claudel: A Novel because it allowed me to become familiar with a woman who was immensely talented and far ahead of her time.
Alma H. Bond's novel is about the famous French sculptress, Camille Claudel and the hardships she endured throughout her life. From a very young age, Ms. Claudel showed great promise as an artist and a sculptor and despite her mother's protestations, Camille went on to Paris to further her dreams. Renowned for being the mistress and lover of Rodin(another famous French sculptor and some say she was his muse), her career was cut short by treachery, back-stabbing and with the French government swindling poor Camille out of money that was rightfully hers, she was reduced to severe poverty. Eventually the famous artist became a recluse and gradually lost her sanity and was locked into an asylum where Ms. Claudel cruelly spent the last thirty years of her life and she tells her story from within this less than benevolent environment.
The first thing that impressed me about this novel was the method with which the author, Alma H. Bond- a psychoanalyst, wrote the story using Camille's voice. It is so effective that you can almost hear the sad words she has written; lamenting on her life, the few achievements she was granted and possibly the happier times that could've been if her family had stepped in to prevent her being harshly locked away. Bond cleverly uses her skills here and it pays off because the reader is just sucked into the story and really sympathises with Claudel. The sculptress does come across as being arrogant, and bullish and this may avert their sympathy at the start. But in a society where women were not meant to be sculptors and men's works were the only ones on display in galleries, your feelings change towards her as the story progresses and applaud the woman for making the stand that she did, even though it did cost her dearly. The other aspect of Bond's writing is the beautiful weaving of poetic language in which she was able to describe Camille's love for Rodin, according to Camille, a man who stole a vast majority of her works in later years. Here's an example "I want to disintegrate into the muck of the earth. I want to become part of the soil, so you can take the clay that was me and mould it into a new, a perfect being. Maybe then you'll love me." Another great line that she uses and caused me to grin in awe at its simplicity is, "The head is not the womb of creation, the heart is." One only has to marvel at a phrase that is simple yet so very true. The author intricately describes the characters where a perfect picture forms in one's mind; what Camille Claudel moulded masterfully with clay, Alma H. Bond does so with words. However there are certain scenes in the book that may cause the reader to shrivel their nose in disgust, especially tales of near incest involving Camille and her brother Paul, when they were younger. The other flaw that occurs in the book is the repetition of certain facts e.g. Camille stating on more than one occasion that her brother Paul being mayor of Boston. Once or twice the very most, is enough to state this because it does become slightly irritating.
Camille Claudel: A Novel is a great book and gives an insight into one of the greatest
female sculptors of all time. You have to admire the artist's questioning of the mysteries of the universe and the vivacious love for life Mademoiselle Claudel possessed, even if she did express it in rather peculiar ways. There's also the sad end her career met in 1913 when she was locked away, thus killing the chance for further stupendous works of art to emerge from this brave and immensely talented woman. This is definitely a must for all art lovers and will inspire not only women but men also to aspire to succeed in whatever profession they choose.


Aidan Lucid
www.thelucidreview.com

When I started this book, I quickly became depressed about this woman. Then I reached a point where I found myself fascinated by her thought process as a sculptor. She studied every person she saw and found in each face a library that is engraved on it the past, present, and future of its owner. And the body, too, she looked at as an historical record that is inscribed with the lives of the models in the lines and wrinkles of their flesh. She talks about how there are a great many aspects to understanding a subject on the most profound levels in order to shape a fine piece of sculpture. She even sculpted an autobiography in art of the great moments of her life.
When she sculpted, she thought about that person all the time until their essence was revealed to her and she understood them with her heart. Camille felt that God, who she believed was the greatest sculptor of us all, did this in boundless silence when he took the essence of Adam from the dirt on the ground, as she did with her clay.
She traveled a tempestuous road to become an artist. She fought discrimination against women, narrow-mindedness, and poverty. But she followed her passion and wanted the record of her life to help future generations to understand the horrors in the life of a woman artist who was betrayed by her times. Camille imagined her struggles would make it easier for women artists in the future.
She was disapproved of quite a lot, but the one criticism that never failed to leave her in a rage was when someone said, `The statue is pretty good, considering that it was done by a woman.' In the midst of any good reviews, the fact that she was a woman was made to seem as if she was an inferior, abnormal kind of being. How different would her life have been had the world valued her work as much as they did her male counterparts?
Her other passion was loving Rodin. She was his mistress for many years and wanted more than anything to marry him. She thought marrying Rodin would make her respectable. But he had a wife, and was quite satisfied with her. It was the greatest disappointment of her life and this obsession would ultimately cause her total collapse.
Camille died as she lived thinking Rodin and his henchmen were stealing her sculptures and her ideas. Her life was one battle after another and in her 40s she lost the war and ended up spending the last 30 years of her life in an asylum.

Also posted on Story Circle Book Review Website at www.storycirclebookreviews.org

If you want to read a serious, beautifully written book on this subject, you couldn't do better than to choose this one. The author has an elegant mind and a clear style. The stories he tells, personal and professional, are unforgettable.

I found this book very touching and moving. Sometimes when we think we know so much about animals the fact is we will never know enough. Any opportunity we can learn more about how they live is a gift to all humans. They are so willing to teach us - we just need to open our hearts and minds and accept all that they are willing to give. They can truly change the way we live, this book helps to show you just that.

So you think you know and understand your pets, especially dogs? Not until you read this wonderful and insightful book can one begin to understand the exceptional love and experiences that dogs bring into our lives. This should be required reading in schools!!!

This book is a great primer for people who have an inkling that our relationship with animals runs deep and is often spiritual or even mystical.

Dr. Schoen has given us a one-stop shopping source, with introductions to: alternative medicine for animals, alternatives to commercial pet food, and ways to enrich the human-animal bond through touch, massage, and meditation.

Buy it as a gift for someone whose eyes are opening to the reality that we are all connected and responsible for each other.

Allen M. Schoen, D.V.M., M.S., author of "Kindred Spirits" has written a sensitive book that pulled me in from the beginning. I have to confess that I am a person who feels more in touch with animals than than I do with most people. I have enjoyed reading this book so far and would recommend it to any adult who enjoys understanding the complex relationship between man and the animals around us. It is easy to read and full of wonderful anecdotes from the author's experience as a vet.

Tuppence (about the British Secret Service): "I don't think the Intelligence is anything like what it was in our day."

Tommy (gravely): "It will attain its former brilliance now we're back in it."

As much as I appreciate M. Hercule Poirot's little grey cells and Miss Marple's insight into human nature, my preferred Agatha Christie sleuths are the fun-loving and very engaging Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. Christie, in 5 novels, chronicles their exploits, which, while often containing elements of real peril and intrigue, managed to convey an air of lightheartedness and real fun. And this stems directly from the personalities of Tuppence and Tommy (but mostly Tuppence). Near two decades of married life find them still best pals, still devoted to each other. No change in personalities, either, as Tuppence remains intuitive, quirky, and impetuous while Tommy is solid, practical, and plodding - "plodding" meaning that he takes his time figuring things out. But he gets there, to the ruin of various so-called clever criminals. Meanwhile, Tuppence's ear for the preposterous surfaces again with the fashioning of her alias. Gotta admit, Mrs. Blenkensop is a pretty silly moniker. Anyway, N OR M? finds the duo back at catching enemy spies.

A bit on the plot of N OR M?: Tuppence and Tommy's glorious amateur detecting days are years and years in the past. As we catch up to the Beresford couple, we now find them in their mid-40s and once again inhabiting a war-torn London. The still adventurous couple volunteer but are outraged to find their services spurned by the war effort. Discouraged and feeling useless, they suddenly receive a visit from British Intelligence and are offered a secret mission. Or, rather, Tommy is offered a mission. Tuppence pretty much elbows her way in.

A British operative has expired thru mysterious circumstances. His baffling dying words: "N or M Song Suzie." British Secret Service has already ferreted out that "N or M" are codenames for Hitler's two most trusted agents. N and M have been responsible for establishing fifth columns in nations opposed to Germany's warmongering, and it seems one or the other or both are doing their thing in England. N and M's true identities remain veiled in secrecy. "Song Suzie" might actually be Sans Souci, the name of a sleepy guest house found on Britain's South coast. Tommy's long shot of a task is to take up lodging at Sans Souci and nose around and hopefully unearth a spy or two. Persistence pays off as Tommy and Tuppence (or "Mr. Meadowes" and "Mrs. Blenkensop") are soon up to their necks in sinister skulkers, break-ins, kidnappings, and deadly espionage.

Reading N OR M?, the Berefords' third outing, is like dropping in on comfy old friends, and Tommy and Tuppence make such charming hosts. I always enjoy re-reading this one. Agatha Christie has always excelled in peeling back the sedate, banal layers of British society to reveal the startling villainy festering beneath. Gradually, the routine of the seaside resort gives way to an atmospheric mood and an air of quiet menace. Written during WW2, the author does her patriotic bit as she has her cast express damning commentary on the appalling rot within the system: English turncoats. The mystery in N OR M? isn't as intricate as in her Poirot or Marple bafflers, but, still, her flair for the clever whodunit, her planting of the odd red herring or two are much in evidence.

As usual, she works from an unassuming cast of characters. Who's N, who's M? Is it the blustery Major? The faintly superior landlady or her feisty, moody daughter? The fretful invalid or his fussing wife? The foreign woman who's been spying on the premises? Or the German refugee? Hell, could it be the merry two-year-old girl who enjoys being read "Goosey, goosey gander"? (well, no, it's probably not her). One letter's identity is stumbled upon, but the other is ferreted out quite nicely in a clever twist. Tommy and Tuppence are urbane and amiable company and make for competent detectives, and I had fun as they bask in the excitement of skullduggery afoot. But these two are now mature enough and have lived long enough that they aren't any more as frivolous in nature. They still live in the moment, but they comprehend the gravity of this war.

Whereas Poirot and Marple always seemed old but never aging, Christie does pile the years on Tommy and Tuppence with each progressive thriller/mystery. In five novels (The Secret Adversary, the short story collection Partners in Crime (Tommy and Tuppence Mysteries), N OR M?, BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMBS., and Postern of Fate) Christie has Tommy and Tuppence go from the bloom of careless youth to spry middle years and finally on to graceful old age. I've mentioned that the Tommy and Tuppence mysteries had a fun, breezy quality to it, and that definitely holds true for the first three books. But there's a change of pace and feel with the last two books. In BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMBS and the elegiac THE POSTERN OF FATE, Tommy and Tuppence are decidedly getting along in years, although still with all faculties intact. There's a melancholy, bittersweet flavor in these last books, which satisfyingly round out the lives of this fictional couple. Because I witnessed Tommy and Tuppence get old, they seem more real and resonate more with me than her other, more celebrated detectives. N OR M? finds them a bit long in the tooth but still delightful and still very effective at what they do, even as they have fun in the doing of it. Carpe diem, Tommy and Tuppence.

Viciously evil sinister German spies terrorize Britain during WWII. Meanwhile Tuppence and Tommy Beresford investigate and solve a mystery about German spies N and M. I would recommend N or M because it has a complex mystery, suspense and interesting characters.
The N or M mystery is very complex because usually in a mystery you are looking for one criminal, but in this you are looking for two. On top of that, there weren't 2 or 3 candidates, there were 10 or 15 suspects. Also these criminals were not normal criminals. They were very determined because they supported the Nazis. One other thing was the criminals looked like normal everyday people . They were good at fooling people like when Mrs. Sprot kidnapped Betty and she pretended she was a mom. Also they studied English to make it look like they were English, not German.
N or M has a lot of suspense. For example Mrs. Sprot's daughter Betty was being kidnapped by a mysterious Polish woman. They were near a big cliff and a roaring ocean. You don't know if the Polish woman is armed. Another suspenseful part is when Tommy is at Commander Haydock's house. It is suspenseful because Tommy finds a secret compartment with the telegraph in it and realizes Haydock is a spy. One other suspenseful part is when Tuppence talks to Commander Haydock. It is suspenseful because Haydock was interrogating Tuppence. You don't know if Tuppence will get rescued in time and Commander Haydock has a gun.
N or M has many interesting characters like Mrs. Sprot because she is brave. Also you don't know what will happen. She was very good at fooling people. She was smart enough to kidnap a kid. Also Commander Haydock is interesting too because he is a spy so you don't know what he will do next. He is also brave to be a spy because he could get in serious trouble for spying. One other interesting character is Tuppence because she has an amazing mind. Also she is brave for messing with the criminals. Also she is enduring because she doesn't stop when the mystery is hard.
N or M is a heart pounding mysterious things and interesting chapters and a unusual setting. I would recommend this book.

A Bynum

This book just goes to show who the master of mystery books is: Agatha Christie!

The book kept me guessing all the way until the very end. Think you know who the culprit is? Think again. The mystery itself was wonderfully written, with just the right amount of intrigue and menace. The lovely seaside setting combined with the pall of WWII hanging over everyone's heads made for a very interesting backdrop for the book.

This book is an excellent combination of mystery and WWII espionage.

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford (SECRET ADVERSARY and PARTNERS IN CRIME) are now a middle aged couple who have two grown children, twins Deborah and Derek. It is the opening days of WWII, England is bracing for the Blitz and all citizens are anxious to "do their bit". Unfortunately while the twins are away on military assignments, the older Beresfords are deemed to be too old for active service. They are urged to take up service at home, like knitting. Ultimately though Tommy's old contacts pay off - for him at least - he is offered a desk job in a restricted area, Tuppence must remain at home, with the hated knitting.

It is later revealed that the desk job is a ruse and Tommy is needed for an undercover assignment. Tuppence is one step ahead as usual and arrives on the scene before Tommy. Together the two work to ferret out a spy ring on the English coast. As always with these two there are deceptions, kidnappings and last minute rescues before the triumphant conclusion.

It is nice to see what old friends have been up to in the intervening years and good to see that they haven't lost a step. Christie does an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere of the time, the tension as the war builds and the anxious waiting to hear news of loved ones in peril.

There are a couple of problems though for long time fans of this series. Judging from the publication dates of the earlier novels, 1922 and 1929, Tommy and Tuppence are in their early 40s and the twins are 11 years old during this one. Even going by the slighly different time frame listed in this novel the twins cannot be more than teenagers and Tommy would still be very young to be retired.

The plot is, as usual for Christie, clever and designed to keep the reader guessing until the end. The final chapter is, in keeping with the rest of the series, a nice, sentimental touch.

This is the 39th book Agatha Christie wrote. She published it in 1941, in the mid of World War II. It is said that she wrote this story while London was suffering under the German air attacks. Agatha never wanted to leave London during these attacks, because she felt too involved. The novel is one of two which the author worked on simultaneously during World War II while she stayed alone in London. She alternated writing 'Body in the Library' and 'N or M?' to keep herself "fresh at task."

Although not being a big fan of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford I must admit that this story was quite special. This book is one of the few Agatha Christie wrote that have a historical background. It has certainly a nice atmosphere to it. First I was a bit put-off by the amazingly unrealistic espionage rubbish often seen in this kind of books, but discovered to my surprise that some -not all- subplots would not have been miscast in an average Poirot adventure. It was quite refreshing to see that Agatha had put this story in an almost realistic setting: the struggle against collaborators that tried to prepare a German attack on the coast of England.

Not the best of her works, but certainly very close.