Brandon Books

I appreciate the book and it helps to understand how to create nice animations by using maths.
I think it needs more Classes writing and not only timeline.

Though it's in ActionScript 2.0, this book is very good if you're into creating visualizations via programming (not only ActionScript). It shows the creative and logical process behind the code (I think that's much more important that the code itself). And it's also a beautiful book to add to your collection :-)

And you can also download all the .fla used in the examples.

This book is stunning visually and is just overflowing with inspiration. This is a book intended to show us what the Flash community has been able to come up in terms of creation and allows us to tinker around with the code. If you like to take a basic principle and see it evolve given enough time and interest, then this is the book for you. If you enjoy seeing "how" things function rather than "why" they work, you have the opportunity to tinker and toy with the variables to see exactly "how" it changes the overall look of the final piece. To get the most from this book the reader is expected to understand the basics of ActionScript as well as the techniques common in most projects. This is not intended to deter the beginner, as you will surely learn much.

The book is laid out pretty straightforward. There are 15 chapters with each one dedicated to a certain individual who goes through each of his creations and iterations.Suggested reading by the people at "Friends of Ed" is to grab the source files, run them, and then read the chapters. Some of the source files are adequately commented so in some, the book isn't even needed. That is not to say, however, that this book is not necessary to understand what's going on. The book gives you quick insight to the authors' mindset and thinking, and each chapter begins with an overview of where they are from, what they do, how they have come to do this, and interests.

There are actually two parts to the book. The second part consists of the last three chapters and has what you'd consider an "application" or an "engine" for viewing the creations and being able to manipulate them directly. The first part of the book is dedicated to finding a variable, which for the most part is explained in the book, changing it to your liking, viewing the results, and reviewing the code. At the end of the book there is a Tangents page which provides 54 links to explore.

In case you are wondering where the math fits in, it's scattered throughout the book. However, sometimes, we are not presented with the reasons for using "128" for variable "p" to multiply by var "b" which has the value of "14". You may often be left scratching your head and asking why, but that isn't the point. Sine and Cosine are presented quite clearly in the first chapter and there is a terrific example from Gabriel Mulzer, but if you are looking to the find the mysteries behind using atan2 to get an angle, then this book will not answer that question. It is up to you to play the part of explorer to find those answers. You are presented with a wealth of methods that people use, inspiration for them, and experiments that the reader is encouraged to break. You are given a chance to use these methods to have fun and use them as springboards to access that creativity that lurks in each and every one of us.

In conclusion, if you enjoy going through code with a fine toothed comb and if you want to pick up valuable techniques for doing certain things with Flash, as well as be dazzled by some of the innovators of our time, get the book. It is the perfect culmination of what Flash ActionScripting can do. I would show the table of contents at this point, but all of the chapters are named after the innovators themselves, and would provide little insight to the contents.

The Flash Math books are great. But not if you want an O'Reilly cookbook of answers to your design problems. It's all about inspiration. Being able to look at something and say "wow, that's so beautiful" and either need to make it yourself just on principal, or see that maybe one day you can use the idea yourself on all those practical things you're so worried about. If you get all juiced up creatively from the things you see around you, this is a perfect book. It's 4 instead of 5 because it doesn't come with a CD. But you can go to the website for the book and see things in action.

That probably appealed to the left brain folks.

For the right brain ones among you. No, this will not teach math. No it won't explain much in the math department at all. It does give the code, it allows you to experiment with what Flash will do, it might renew your interest in Flash. Kind of like watching one of the a-lister Flash kids talk at a Flash Forward conference, it might do that more than looking at a Hockney photo collage (both work for me). If you don't work that way, buy it and give it to one of your left brain Flash friends.

It will be great fun for them, they will get to feel like they remember their math and are much better at it now. And it will make pretty things.

The book is great. I find the negative reviews puzzling because this book is like a $30 kit for a working spaceship, but you have to weld the wings on yourself. Big deal. What's wanting in so many Flash books are examples of the astonishing things you can do with Flash. This book shows what can be done, then hands you the code on a platter. I guess if you're more the designer type and you want to do great stuff using the math functions in Flash, you, um, er -- need to learn some math. But don't complain that every author hasn't lined up to correct your particular brand of ignorance. Read a book.

Flash dynamic studio is an Excellent book that teach you how to make wonderful web pages.
If your job is related with internet, you should see it because it has a lot of useful information that will help you in the design of impressive and interactive internet sites.

This book is very well written, but most of contents are for beginner to intermediate who have basic actionscript skills. If you have already know CGI (such as php, perl, asp etc) and fairly understand action script, this might disappoint you.

If you are a newbie,......their are other alternatives that will get your feet wet, but if you are a practicing Flash developer and have a firm understanding of ActionScript...this book will inspire you to build real dynamic Flash apps. It touches on Flash Javascript methods, Flash and textfiles and goes into server side middleware solutions like, CGI,Perl and PHP. It also introduces you to database integration. This book gives you real world solutions, which maybe a bit elementary, but overall it lays the foundation for you. I found this book to be inspiring and to be the book which pushed me to learn CGI,PERL,PHP and MySQL. If your looking to build real dynamic/interactive Flash applications or websites this is the book.

I've been programming for many years. ActionScript doesn't look like anything new to me. That's the perspective I'm coming from, anyway.
If you think the same way, this is a reasonably good book and here's why: it gives you an instant immersion - like being thrown in the middle of a swimming pool. The book lets you look over people's shoulders while they explain what they're doing. The book doesn't hold your hand so don't expect it. There definitely is inconsistency in the depth of coverage. Some things are glossed over while others are heavily documented. I wasn't looking for a college textbook, though.
Client/Server transaction is covered like no other book I've found. That's what I wanted out of it. I stole bits and pieces and put together a proof-of-concept in one day. I know now that Flash can do what I want. The book paid for itself in saved time.
As a plus, I saw things in the book that I might want to do later... if I can find the time.
Don't expect to learn ActionScript itself with this book if you don't already have a solid foundation in C++ or Java. Knowledge of VB or its ilk will give you some footing.

This book is very well written though is extremely dissappointing. The ideas behind the examples are good but there were so many errors in the code that my jaw dropped. The examples on the CD which correspond to the lessons have different code than in the book and the reason is because they wouldnt work if it was the same! Luckily i had previous actionscript knowledge so i could after some time troubleshoot them, but in the other technologies i have no previous experience and therefore do not know if what ive learned is correct. This book is ok for learning the thought processes behind the examples but not for learning the programming languages -which is the focus of the book. not recommended

I got this book about product marketing because I wanted to gain insight on the marketing of my own product http://www.code-roller.com so I was a little frustrated by the overall direction and focus of the book which is to motivate the reader into hiring Adaptive Path. All four authors either currently work for or have recently worked for that marketing company. According to the on-line edition of the book, there are twenty eight references to Adaptive Path in the content.

While light on theory, the book does give good advice. This advice is mostly in the form of what not to do. This most probably reflects Adaptive Path's pain points in earlier engagements with customers. Don't use competition as your main driver. Don't depend on novelty. Don't get stuck on research or reporting. Don't get stuck on product design. Don't over-engineer. Don't get too confident about what you think your customers want.

If there is only one important take away from this book, then I believe that it would be this. It's all about the user experience. What you should be focusing your design efforts on is the user experience. What you should be focusing your strategy on is the user experience. The only thing you do that your customers care about is their experience of your product or service.

They heavily advocate using an Agile methodology. They agree with early prototyping, failing fast, and continuous customer involvement. They are lukewarm on the SPARC model.

'Subject to Change' is a valuable addition to the modern business person's bookshelf. I should note that this would be an especially great tool for marketers and publicists, research and development teams, as well as application developers.

The Adaptive Path team took a fungible approach to writing this book, as an organization that is interested in anticipation of the ever-changing needs of the expectations of their customers.

In the late Nineteenth century, inventions and innovations were largely based on new advances in technology available at the time. The kludgy inconvenience of these early technologies were simply 'part of the experience.' This book sites Eastman's Kodak Camera as perhaps the first example of a company having the foresight to anticipate a customer's needs. Until then, photographers were hobbyists, scientists, and tech geeks of the age. Eastman's brilliant vision of making technology more accessible to the rest of the populous with the philosophy of "You press the button, and we do the rest," was a great bridge between the customers who wanted to take photos and a company that could provide a service. That service being the development of the film, processing the plates, and mailing the finished photos to the customer.

The book uses this model to encourage shifting our traditional business mindset to anticipate our customer's needs while developing software, hardware, or other devises. By empathizing with the target audience, and my making yourself a part of the audience yourself, you may wish to create an experience for your users that has the potential to seamlessly integrate with their lives. When marketers or designers use the traditional mode--that people are sheep--without valuing the feedback of the audience, innovation will grind to a halt. I emphatically agree with the Adaptive Path on this theme. As a publicist, I value customer feedback as much as I value my own creative ideas.

Another great specimen, and perhaps a more modern one, is the iPod/iTunes Music store. The mp3 player was already invented, but Steve Jobs created the experience of browsing music and buying music for the device, anticipating the customer's needs. One could also argue that the iPhone is also the product of this school of thought, combining the need for a cell phone with the music player experience, all in one well designed device.

I have a niece with juvenile diabetes, and this book gave me a peek into the development of something that she uses every day to enjoy a happy life. There is a relatively new medical product developed called an insulin pump. I can testify that she is much happier using this pump than her previous regiment of daily shots. When developing this pump, diabetics tested a mock-up of the device, and offered feedback as to what would work for them. The developers of the pump changed the design of the belt used while swimming or in the shower, as well as other practical concerns. A side-note is that I was reading this section of the book while my nieces were happily making sandcastles and going in and out of the water! Without the user input, the device might be uncomfortable and unwieldy and certainly not easy to wear at the beach. This reminds me that the first undergarments for women were made by men, but the true innovations in practicality and comfort came when women started designing them!

In conclusion, this is a great book and I have started personally to rethink the feedback I am getting from my customers to be more empathetic. Empathizing with a person's needs in the present and the future will prove to be a better model to provide easy to use, and enriching technologies, customer service solutions, and ingenuity.

In an accessible tone, Subject to Change articulates what should now be taken for granted in product design: that products designed around real peoples' needs and desires will win over those engineered to meet theoretical expectations. Using Adaptive Path's experience as examples (and perhaps emphasising the consultancy's achievements more often than necessary), the authors make an easily-digestible case for implementing an experience design strategy in favour of blindly over-engineering complex products.

The book suggests that engineering-led product optimization improves but doesn't innovate. On the other hand, placing real customers at the center of the design process is shown as a shortcut to delivering more relevant, useful and successful products.

Adaptive Path are arguably thought leaders in this space, and the style of writing here shows their desire to advertise the company's experience. The reader is perhaps reminded too often that the successes in the examples given were due to Adaptive Path's involvement, and that adopting their processes in particular can help any product designer. This doesn't add credibility to the case studies, because someone buying an Adaptive Path book is likely to already be satisfied with the authors' credentials before reading.

Subject to Change will resonate well with designers of all disciplines, but it's perhaps other departments that would benefit the most by considering the adoption of an experience-led strategy. There may not be a great deal of new thought contained here, but as an easy-to-read introduction to the merits of customer-focussed design, Subject to Change would be a useful addition to an engineer's or product manager's bookshelf.

SUBJECT TO CHANGE: CREATING GREAT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FOR AN UNCERTAIN WORLD provides basics for designing products for web software and competitive advantage alike - but to limit it to computer collections would be a shame. It's the college-level or public library collection specializing in innovative business solutions who will find it a powerful discussion of strategy and futuristic thinking processes, packed with real-world examples.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Subject to Change presents an excellent strategic overview of new product development practices for media and physical interaction products based upon the consulting practice of Adaptive Path. It mentions, and briefly summarizes such practices as paper prototyping, persona's, wireframe mockups, storyboards and Wizard of Oz simulations. Several historical and current examples such as Apple's iPod and George Eastman's original camera are briefly highlighted. The book definitely provides a strategic overview of current product development practices, highlighting those of "Experience Design". It is most suitable as a supplement to Ulrich and Eppinger's Product Design and Development for an MBA product development course or as a stand-alone strategy guide for an Art School course in new media design. For the practitioner, this book certainly highlights modern practices of experience design and product development as they affect interaction design, industrial design, and the new media industries. However, as a strategic guide, it is lacking in the level of detail necessary for a cookbook to carry out a specific design project. Perhaps the book should be supplemented by a website with detailed examples of each of the development practices mentioned in this guide. For example, Adaptive Path, the media strategy firm whose practices are highlighted in this volume has illustrated on their own website the development methods they carried out in developing, the Aurora video prototype for a future Mozilla browser with both textual scenarios, outlines of the development effort, and several short video clips. If this brief strategy guide were supplemented with several such practice scenarios, the strategies mentioned in this book could be readily carried out by any competent practitioner.

This review is based on my experience as a new product development consultant in the Information Technology field for Arthur D. Little, Digital Equipment Corporation and several multimedia startups.

-- Ira Laefsky

After an aborted stay in London, Jack Taylor returns to Galway, still an alcoholic, but now also supporting a drug habit. That doesn't stop him from getting involved in attempting to solve a series of murders of tinkers (gypsies) in the area. As part of his fee, Jack gets to stay in decent housing, and his money purchases newer clothing, although he keeps getting them ripped and bloody, and is forced to continuously buy more. The dialogue is, as usual, the plot driver, and it's as good as in the first book. There are a lot of references to singers who are, I assume, Irish or British, or are at least unknown to me, but it doesn't matter. There is a sadness to this book, and Jack has to admit near the end that he has made a ghastly mistake, and try to correct it by dealing with a very shady local gangster. This leads, I understand, into the plot of the third book in the series, which I can't wait to read!

This is the second book in Ken Bruen's series about ex -Garda (Irish policeman)Jack Taylor,who earns a living now as a sort of private eye ,although this is not a profession recognised by Irish law.when the book opens he is returning to his nataive Galway ,after a stint in London.In the interim he has married a German mature student ,Kiki .although she has been left behind in London. What he has returned to Galway with however are his major league alcohol and cocaine habits ,recurrent evils in his life.He quickly hooks up with old friends Jeff )a tavern owner )and Jeff's partner ,Cathy.
Before too long he finds work as an enquiry agent ,being recruited by Sweeper,the head of the local itenerant community ,the tinkers.to investigate the brutal murders of several young men from that community ,murders being given a low priority by the Garda.The victims are all male ,in the early 20's and their naked and mutilated bodies have been dumped on waste ground near the Simon Community, an alcohol treatment centre .He is warned against pursuing his enquiries by the local Garda commander ,his old partner Clancy, and is also savagely beaten up by anti-tinker thugs.(Please note that the violence in this book -and others in the series-is graphic and realistic,Jack's injuries being extensive and described in detail .The book is not for those readers who object to violence and profanity -the books are loaded with them )He is aided in his search by a friend from London ,the old style tough copper Keegan -a dinosaur in methods and attitudes but an effective policeman and stalwart friend

Suspicion falls on a worker in the Simon Community-a supercilious young Englisman ,Ronald Bryson ,a man who seems a few bricks short of a load.He taunts Jack and threatens him through his girlfriend ,Laura ,to an extent that Jack is forced to resort to vigilante acation against him.There is however a twist in the tale -a cruel and bitter one ,that sickens Jack to his very soul.

This is a very bleak book .Violence haunts its pages and even seemingly dapper and poetic souls like Sweeper have apenchant for violent revenge.It is also a very literary book -Jack seeks solace in books and the novel is studded with references to and quotations from ,the author's favourite writers ,such as Pelecanos ,McBain, ,Chester Himes and the mystic Thomas Merton.Music is also important to Taylor and there are frequent refernces to his musical heroes (and villains).As before Galwat itself is a potent force in the experience of the book and it is acity which both delights and angers Jack .The thriving local economy has meant yuppieficationn and the loss of any sense of community as migrants flock into the city and crowd the impoverished locals to the margins of society,

It is marketed as a crime novel and surely there is some merit in this -it is about murder and the ramifications that come in its wake .However detection is not at the core of the book which is more about Taylor's own personal odyssey .It is a study in a dislocated society and of a man enduring rage ,loneliness and displacement

Read only if you can tolerate pessimism and if you insist on neat ,tidy resolutions to problems you should avoid the book .It is not your bag.For those who love noir fiction however this is manna of the first magnitude

Ken Bruen's novels about Jack Taylor are at first radically different. The language and the sentences seem taken straight out of an alcoholic nightmare. However, the sentences are eventually drowned in drunkenness, alcoholism, cocaine, beatings, killing your friends, killing the wrong person, and on and on, over and over. After a while you ask, "Is this all there is?" Making a novel out of alcoholism with such brilliant language can be arresting; making a series out of alcoholism gets tiresome all too quickly.

Still, the writing kept me reading long after I should have put the books down.

There is magic in Ken Bruen that is not easily placed. It's certainly not the plot - there is little mystery and less forensics in Bruen's Irish crime staccato. And one can hardly be drawn to the characters, unless in the mildly perverse sense of attraction to tragic heroes plotting self destruction. Nor is Bruen good for your spirits, as he drags the reader through vast fields of human wreckage that begin with mere despair and reach utter wretchedness by the climax. Yet just as Bruen's drug and alcohol addled Jack Taylor is drawn to his booze and coke, I find myself addicted to this sparse and brutal poetry disguised as fiction, not merely unique but untouchable.

"The Killing of the Tinkers" is the second Jack Taylor novel. A classically simple Bruen story line: someone is killing "tinkers" (gypsies), the cops could care less, ex-Guard Taylor is offered a lucrative fee by one of the clan to find out who. But as with most of Bruen's writing, this central plot - finding the killer - is mostly forgotten as the insolent Taylor drifts in and out of all varieties of drug induced stupors and subsequent vomit and hangovers - not a lot of social redeeming value here, and far from the cardboard cutout PIs more often found in crime fiction. Taylor stays sober enough to wreck his short marriage and start a torrid new affair. While some of the tangents and side stories may seem like diversion in a patently sparse Bruen novel, this is indeed key to the Bruen's allure of spinning the complex psychological and cultural backdrop to the story. As always, the well-read author peppers his prose with a wide range of literary quotes and references - how can you argue with a guy comfortable with Dylan Thomas and Bob Dylan - adding a dimension that complements the story while contradicting Taylor's surface brutishness. The birth of Taylor's friends child builds from the poignant in "Tinkers" to the heart wrenching in subsequent Taylor novels ("The Dramatist", "Priest"). From confrontation to beatings to decapitated swans and irate mothers, Taylor and Bruen careen to a finish that if not Hitchcockian is certainly surprising, highlighting some clever foreshadowing not typically associated with this author.

In short, modern noir as bleak as it can get, an addiction too intelligent to be called guilty pleasure. If you're not a Ken Bruen fan yet, pick up "The Guards" first and start your own habit.

I don't hail from Middle Earth, as one of the previous reviewers, nor do I even care to vacation there, but I am a fan of both noir and quality writing. Ergo, I think this is one terrific book. The great thing about noir (well, all novels really) is that plots do not necessarily need to be complex to be gripping. It is the characters, especially the protagonist, who need to be complex. And, oh, my, is Jack Taylor one complex, messed-up, messed-about dude. Oddly, his drug use did not put me off, as such action often does with fictional characters (and is only one reason why I detest O'Brian's Stephen Maturin character). Rather, it really brought home to me what a sad mess Jack is, what crutches he is willing to limp around on rather than seek and practice medical/psychological help, and how he is a willing assistant to the creation and maintenance of the darkness in which he dwells...and pulls others down alongside him.

I had not read any of the Jack Taylor books prior to this one (and I'll be prompt about remedying that!) but I have read the Brant books by Ken Bruen, and I was delighted to see Brant make a lengthy appearance here, albeit under the name of Keegan. I hope Jack returns to London, I'd love to see him operating on Brant's turf. Jack has more conscience than Brant/Keegan, which may make him more likeable, but also leaves him more vulnerable. Bruen gives us a nicely dark, twisty ending, and left me wondering whether maybe Jack had less conscience than I thought.

One last note, on the lit and music cited or referenced in the book: If you don't like these, and don't understand why they permeate the book, then you have my pity. They don't require explanation, but rather exploration. And if you explore, then I don't pity you, I understand you.

This is the first book I've read by Ken Bruen, and it will probably be my last. He certainly has a way with words, but his protagonist's angst is laid down with a trowel. I also found the character repellent. I normally like literate heroes who can wield allusions well, but this guy's no Spenser.

What bothered me most is that the case that was supposed to be under investigation was submerged under the weight of the main character's misery. It's as if the author only occasionally remembered what the book was about. That's a shame because my primary motivation for reading it, is because it deals with the notorious Magdalen Laundry. I don't think this theme was prominent enough to be mentioned in the title. This book should be called An Addict's Ruminations.

By now, I have read most of the Jack Taylor and Inspector Brant books. I discovered them recently, and have devoured them greedily. While I am drawn to the Brant novels for the cast of truly nasty cops in the relatively familiar setting of London, I have ultimately found the Taylor series to be more satisfying, while no less cynical.

Jack Taylor, an ex-cop, carries on a heroic battle with his inner demons while attempting to scrounge a living (and mete out his own brand of justice) as a private detective in his home town of Galway, Ireland. While the books clearly belong to the crime genre, it is unusual to find such a deep and articulate exploration of a troubled soul and a constantly changing environment outside of literary fiction - especially in books that can easily be read in an evening.

The Magdalen Martyrs may be my favorite in the series. There is a clear order to the books, and this is not the first. I have read them out of sequence, as little information is provided on the covers, but I do not believe I have suffered as a result.

In The Magdalen Martyrs, Taylor is fighting his alcoholism, drug addictions and ageing process as usual, but perhaps describes them more eloquently in this book. "An alcoholic must be charming. He has to keep making new friends, as he is constantly losing his old ones." The mystery ties in to the conflict between the new, ambitiously modern Galway and the closely-knit community that it was in Taylor's youth. Of course, the Catholic Church is involved, and, as always, the characters are hugely colorful. "You know you are a mess when a priest shouts abuse at you on the street." Taylor discovers just enough information to reveal injustices on several levels. He deals with those that affect him directly in a very personal manner, while reacting more creatively to those that merely outrage him.

I hope I haven't made this book sound dull with my plodding description, but the entire story was accompanied by the sound effects of my grunts of encouragement, mumbles of sympathy and subdued whoops of triumph on Taylor's behalf.

You should really try this great book, and the others in the series.

Raw, brutal, and unrepentant, Ken Bruen rips another bleak but gripping tale of the unlikely hero Jack Taylor, the alcoholic and well-read ex-Guard of Galway, Ireland. The title refers to the Magdalen laundry, a sweatshop for unwed young mother's run by Ireland's ubiquitous Catholic Church. Bill Cassell, a notorious Galway hard guy, calls on Jack to return a favor. Cassell's mother, is turns out, was a "Maggie", one of the girls abused in this infamous laundry and Cassell wants Jack to track down a woman who was supposedly kind to mum in those dark days.

Simple and straightforward - everything that Bruen's writing is not. Ken Bruen's power is not in the plot, but in the delivery. If poetry could be written with a broken-off beer bottle, this would be the end result. While told in the author's patented sparse prose liberally peppered with bullet-point thoughts - as if not to be bothered wasting the reader's time for the effort and thought required for sentences and paragraphs - Bruen manages to weave a tale of staggering complexity, a thoughtful and unforgettable story of Irish culture, the Church, despair, and the depths to which human nature can plunge. Vicariously through Taylor, Bruen neatly skewers the Church while at the same time reverently finding strength and some peace under cathedral's roofs, a pardox inescapable but defining in Bruen's works.

One word of advice: while certainly not required to be read in sequence, "The Magdalen Martyrs" lays some important groundwork for the storylines in the equally powerful sequels, "The Dramatist" and "Priest". But in whatever order you chose, just read them - Ken Bruen continues to set new standards for crime fiction which have already influenced a tight circle of talented new writers - Swierczynski, Huston, Stella among them - Bruen's fiction will be regarded as the classics of our days just as Chandler, Thompson, Hammet, and McBain are revered today.

After reading The Guards a few years ago I have been avidly reading any and all of Ken Bruen's work I can get my hands on. His follow up to The Guards, The Killing of the Tinkers was just as good and fast paced.

I didn't burn through this one in a day or two like I did the first two books. The story definitely is not as urgent and Bruen takes his time to tell this story of, among many things, corruption in high places, revenge and betrayel. Jack Taylor himself is still up to his usual self abuse (drinking, many many drugs) and probably takes the worst dive into substance abuse he has yet to take.

The story itself is solid and the characters are unforgettable. While not as fast paced as the previous two in the trilogy, you just might take away more after finishing The Magdalen Martyrs.

After an insipid effort, _The Dramatist_, I was delighted to see Bruen return to the outstanding standard set by _The Guards_ and _London Boulevard_. His writing is not only exquisite and lyrical; the story allows the characters room to develop, even this late in a series of linked novels. _Martyrs_ is outstanding.

This one, in spots, is as brutal as they get. In other spots, it's equally insightful and melancholy. The references come in torrents -- poets, musicians, authors. I've never seen a book reference Rory Gallagher before so Bruen gets extra bonus points for that, right there. The mix of Irish attitude and the harsh American desert southwest, both Tucson and Las Vegas, make this a special read. How Bruen mixes so much plot into a brief, spare book is also a classic example of how less truly is more. This is not for the squeamish, though, and comes with a caution that the territory here is rough and the roads lead to some very bleak places.

Then you are going to love American Skin. Normally I would recommend an author by saying read this if you like DeMilles work or something, but this is a cinematic novel. Hell, if they make it into a film, Bruen has already created the soundtrack with his constant musical references. I have not read any books by Bruen previously. I was drawn to this book by the subject matter, and I am not sure that I would enjoy his books set in Ireland quite as much. He is a master at creating colorful characters though. When he gets into a lot of the Irish political references I unfortunately get a little lost. That is like calling myself stupid, I know. I think I have to go back and reread Trinity. Not that the book wasn't revealing concerning Irish culture and not that I did not enjoy the scenes there. But I have to admit that I enjoyed the passages that took place in the states a bit more. Nonetheless I almost gave this 5 stars. It was a fun and very quick read.

In Galway, Ireland Stephen Blake reluctantly participates in a bank robbery in which his friend is killed. He escapes with the loot and after consulting with his girlfriend Siobhan flees to Tucson, Arizona where he is to hide as an American; Siobhan will join him shortly with the plan being she will launder the money.

The IRA leader who arranged the heist wants its booty. Crazy outraged hitman John A. Stapleton comes to America to take back what is his; however, John A. plans to eliminate anyone who knows about the money. Blake also runs into other problems in spite of his effort to remain figuratively buried in the desert. He meet femme fatale killing machine Sherry and Tammy Wynette's biggest fan Dade, who kills anyone who fails to stand by his singer. This fearsome five will soon collide turning the southwest into a ferocious dead zone.

This Irish visitor Noir is an over the Rocky Mountains thriller that hooks fans of Ken Bruen from the moment the key quintet is introduced and never slows down until the desert storm is over. The story line is action-packed as the audience anticipates a multiple High Noon shoot out in which there is no telling who the last man or woman standing will be. Violence may be as American as cherry pie, but Mr. Bruen takes murder and mayhem to caricature levels in this fun tale.

Harriet Klausner

On page 179 a minor character's name changes from Bob to Bill. Lest you think it was a mere typo, "Bill" is then mentioned by name five times on p. 179. Then his name changes back to Bob.

A nitpick on my part? Maybe.

But when I see things like this in novels I wonder how much time and effort was really put into them by the author, the editor and the publisher.

I've read all of Bruen's stuff and there seems to be a precipitous downhill slide. His three current books are all marked by minor, yet jarring, errors. This one, in Ammunition a key character has a change of eye color and in Cross protagonist Jack Taylor grits his teeth even though they were, to a molar, all knocked out a few installments ago.

Sad.

I'm generally very open about crime books, from Douglas Preston to Lee Child and Janet Evanovich and all the others. So when I saw this book at the library, I had to take it off the shelf and read it. Barely 300 pages, in large text, "American Skin" fails both as a drama and a crime book.

The plot outline is simply: Stephan Blake, of Ireland, gets involved in a failed attempt to rob a bank, resulted in his best friends death. Now th e third member of the bank robbing party is after him and his girlfriend, forcing Blake to run away to America. Despite his claims that he is moral and loves his girl friend, Blake sleeps around in New York and does just about every drug imaginable, with no point.

Strangely, the book does not seem to have a consistent plot. The author, Ken Bruen, writes about certain characters for a time and then forgets around then for chapters at a time before returning them to the plot. None of these characters even have a semblance of maturity, depth or even personality. There's no real beginning - the bank robbery takes place in poorly done flash backs - or even a middle - just excessive amounts of drug usage - and the ending falls apart with no climax or even real conclusion.

The author attempts to connect with the reader by making a huge number of media and cultural references, primarily through movies and music, but the attempt to "bond" with the reader makes it seem that Bruen simply went on wikipedia and looked up a list of popular shows and music before writing. The pointless references to Sex and the City, Christopher Walken, Monk, The Ramones, Bruce SPingsteen and more add nothing.

Side note: The book also suffered from very poor editing skills, with multiple grammar mistakes, typos and poorly spaced print. Which just goes to show that no one really cared about the book enough to even properly review it.

I have a total of 8 Flash books, 6 from friendsofed, two from Macromedia. This one from MM, Super Samurai, is actually the best in teaching me intermediate level Flash. For learning the basic principles of 3D, and using Flash with database, the relevant chapters in Super Samurai beat other books in my possession by miles. The explanations are clear and detailed, and the examples work. I especially love the shopping cart example used to demonstrate how to link Flash to a database using XML and ASP.

On 3D, there is simply no comparison between Super Samurai's chapter and Flash 5 Studio's chapter. Super Samurai's is easy to understand and detailed, while Flash 5 Studio just give you a few examples without much explanation. I wonder if the author of F5S really understands the examples. Even the 3D example in Flash MX Designers ActionScript Reference by Friendsofed looks muddled when compared with SS's. I have learned so much from this one book.

Strangely, when I looked for other books by the author of the chapter on XML, Michael Grundvig, the only other book that he co-wrote on this topic got a really lousy review. It just shows that publishers can give quite inconsistent quality books even with the same authors.

If you are an intermediate to advanced programmer in ActionScript and you are looking for a resource that provides basic recipes for for a lot of the "cool" things being done in Flash, then I would say this is a good buy. Some of the chapter are not very useful, but the 3D and audio sections are indispensable.
My chief complain is that some of the sections (like Component Architecture) discuss a single approach, but do not conisder alternative methods.

When I bought this book about a month ago I wasn't so into actionscripting. Now that i've read all the juicy bits, i realize all the cool things i've been missing - i feel like i've wasted so much time! The chapter by Eric Dolecki on system architecture is stuff that i couldn't have imagined even needing to know just a few months ago. This book has taught me a lot! On a slightly negative side, if there has to be one, i'm not sure what level it's aimed at. It was good for me because i had the basics of AS down, but if you don't know any scripting i'd keep away for now and start with something more basic.

Usually when I buy a book of this nature I like to sit down and read a couple of pages first. I went to Borders last week looking for a book on Flash and XML. There were numerous books with those words in their title and after reading a few and finding none that my mind could get a handle on I scanned the shelves. I eyes saw this flashy cover and name and decided to browse through it. To my surprise I found the portion on XML and flash very helpful. I ended up walking out the store with this book under my arm. I have not read the other chapters with the math sections in them and might never get round to doing it. I think the sound and 3D sections will be very useful.

This book is hit and miss. Some chapters provide very useful information and reference, such as the physics modeling, while others seem to act as filler material. The subject XML and Flash, for example, can easily be found in greater depth on the net. Other chapters provide somewhat useful examples, but certainly not worth the paper they were printed on.

Another problem with this book is that most of the ActionScript is useless if you're coding with Flash MX. The chapter on using widgets, for example, is pointless, as Flash MX is now a functional OOP environment. Although the examples in the book give a general idea of advanced ActionScript--it's really geared for Flash 5--and a great deal of Flash 5 ActionScript has been replaced (depreciated).

Becuase the book is also from different authors, the writing is a bit hit and miss as well. One chapter, "Flash Interface Design", fills pages of code and screenshots, but fails to reveal the logic behind the code, or exactly how the code works at all. Instead, I'm left to hunt through the flash file on my own, and that's something I don't need a book for.

I think this has been a very popular book in the past, but with the release of Flash MX as well as the overall lack of effort on the authors part to make this more digestable, I would not recommend purchasing this book--borrow it if you need to.

I found this book for a penny and that price is deserving. I didn't read the book, I looked at the index to see if any of the major players including Sojourner Truth and Crispus Attucks were there, most noteably Harriet Tubman. She was not there and neither were the others. So, this book isn't worth it, not even for a penny...

For this price, it's hard to complain about this book. It's relatively fat for a trade paperback, but the reading is pretty easy and its certainly no chore to read all the way through if you're at all interested in U.S. history. This is a great option for those who have forgotten much of what they're learned in high school or college courses in American History and want to get a general overview of the topic. Those interested in specific periods and topics will likely require additional resources, but neverthless may find this book to be an excellent starting point.

I actually read the original edition of the book, written at the outbreak of WW-2, and printed in 1943. This, like other paperbacks, was meant to be carried into battle by american soldiers. So, to address the criticisms of it leveled by others: of course it was "Rah rah, USA and FDR." Those were the times. This book was written for young men from the cornfields, girding themselves for war with the monstrous Nazis and Kamikazis. Those were serious times; the destiny of the world was in the hands of the men who kept this book in their canvas pants.

One of the problems in america today is, writing this sort of book is now impossible. Modern day left leaning 'historians' -the intellectual heirs to the gentlemen who wrote this book, can't seem to write fair minded, to say nothing of patriotic histories of this country. They've descended into a destructive nihilism, wallowing in moralistic guilt. The idea of being proud of american labor achievements, or the genius of the founding fathers is anathema. The idea of telling the story of the forces which shaped the nation's destiny (for example, the role of late 19th century mining and cattle interests in the west, or the cultural differences between northern and southern colonies) without some sort of wailing for the indignities suffered by the indians or whatnot is as impossible to a modern leftie american historian as translating Homer into Algonquin would be. This is an enormous tragedy; the modern 'left' has simply given up on serious history. This sort of book is a useful antidote. It is written by patriotic left leaning gentlemen. People who love the country they lived in, and who were proud of its achievements. They spoke openly of many of the problems faced by the country, and of the many missteps made, but their criticisms were sane and rational, rather than shrill and monstrous. This book enlightened me more than any other as to how the national character was formed, and what the achievements of the past have been. It is leftist, but it is leftist in the glorious "human future" JFK sense of the word, not the horrifying Michael Moore version of the word. I can't recommend it enough up to the WW-2 era. I hoped this book would be kept up to date, in the same spirit as it originally had. It saddens me that the post WW-2 'updates' by Jeffrey Morris marred the marvellous optimism and historical detachment of the previous sections. His sections on more recent history are about as worthless as reading a newspaper editorial would be.

I bought this book in the summer before my A.P. United History course to start up on some pre-studying. I am not that great of a student, and I have a really hard time reading the school text books. This book is really captivating and goes into detail when needed. It has an index for easy finding, and is chronilogically ordered. This book is a great source of information, and will help anyone trying to do well in a United States history course.

This pocketbook of American history starts off with a refreshing analysis of history: uplifting, optimistic, forward-looking, balanced in its approach, and critical when such attention is due. However, the authors, who are attempting to write a mainstream history of the United States, often times showcased their left-of-center bias.

FDR's socialistic policies were praised without much meaningful criticism. Instead, they give the impression that these governmental programs were absolutely essential, without any critical look at the New Deal's great failure--namely, in that it failed to lower unemployment (read FDR's Folly, a recent book, for more information on this issue). So consumed with love for liberalism they were unable to focus on how FDR actually increased unemployment by attacking large corporations and successful banks.

The authors do not appear to understand modern Milton Friedman economics, blindly believing that tax cuts create deficits, and thus their harsh criticsm of Reagan, even though it was Democrats who created the deficit through lavish social spending. In fact, the most successful presidents in modern history--all Republicans--Eisenhower, Reagan, and Bush I, were treated as though they were just wasting historical time. Their accomplishments were not given the treatment that they deserve.

The authors also believed that the government ought to spend more money on "public" needs--essentially, taking money away from the public to hand over to elites to spend. This is a gross distortion of what is construed as the "public interest" and it is unfortunate that such commentary was included in a mainstream history book.

Although they painted a very bright picture of America in a historical perspective, far better than today's Democrats are willing to confer on our nation, it still lacked the objective analysis I was hoping for in a history book.

Michael Gordon

I am very interested in buying this book. However, i can't find any place to download the code of the book from the internet. If anybody get the codes could you please send it to my following email address: elud337@o2.co.uk.Thanks you very much!

Hi, i have purchased this book long ago.
However i am unable too, to download the code for this book as it is not available on the wrox web site. I have also tried the Apress and Wiley Publishing web sites but they too do not have the code for this book. Can somebody pls. mail me the code of this book if they have it?

Thanks in advance,
joao.mlp.jorge@gmail.com

Hello,I have just purchased this book. however i am unable to download the code for this book as it is not available on the wrox web site. I have also tried the Apress and wiely web sites but they too do not have the code for this book.Can somebody pls. mail me the code of this book if they have it?

thanks in advance
pune40@gmail.com

Together with Professional C# Web Services, also from Wrox, these books will give you a solid base to really understand Web Services and Remoting. The basics are quite simple but you will also learn some useful advanced topics. I've always liked the Wrox style of writing, I think it's easy to read and follow the code examples. The only criticism is the number of authors. Some smaller parts are repeated and the style is not always consistent.

I read the book several times. I did some of the examples. The examples worked with no changes necessary. On the [web page], the book has an errata list, which is pretty small. The source code for C# and VB are on the wrox website. This book is for EXPERIENCED programmers. Don't even try to read it if you have no prior knowledge of web services.

The book has an excellent introduction to ASP.NET for web services. It probably is worth just going over the first two chapters to get a flavor of web services. Word of caution, I downloaded the VB samples, and they were a bit buggy. If you are a C# developer, the code in the book was fine. The VB code was not...

This book is severely a good work of literature, read this classic story of a humble fighter who never fights and is forced into a battle he doesn't want. Please go and buy this you wont be sorry.

Kung Fu High School is not a book for everyone. Personally, I enjoyed reading it, but I felt like I really didn't take anything valuable from reading. Its entertainment value is high, but its intellectual level has more to be desired.

The story is narrated by Jen B. a student at Martin Luther King High, which has been given the nickname Kung Fu High since it has been taken over by a drug-running 23-year old senior named Ridley, and the social scene has devolved into about 6 different gangs. Each gang has its own leader, purpose, and style of fighting. Everything changes for Jen when her cousin, the legendary, undefeated fighter Jimmy Chang comes to live with them from out in the country. Jimmy comes to live with them after promising his mother to "never fight again." A promise which is tested in his first day at Kung Fu High. Soon, Jimmy's arrival at Kung Fu has tragic consequences for Jen and her family, and Kung Fu High turns into an all out martial arts battleground for control of the school.

The violence is very stylistic and very graphic. This book is definitely not for the weak of heart. Gattis goes a long way to make sure he describes the effects of each lethal hit inflected on a victim. However, throughout most of the book, I felt as if the main purpose of the book was just to be a vehicle for the author to write the most violent scenes possible. The backstories about Jen's family are not really followed all that well. And the sad part is that the story of her family could have been a great way to give the book some emotional quality, which it is completely lacking.

The book really feels like a 278-page comic book, but with very few pictures (yes, there are some pictures). The conversations just feel like flimsy bridges that the reader is crossing to get to the next fight scene. Is the book written well? Basically, yes. Gattis definitely does a good job of writing the book in the way that Jen would tell the story to someone. It is fairly impressive for a first novel, but hopefully Gattis will focus more on story in his next book. Because if the writer has a great story to back up the violence or bad things that happen plot-wise, it just makes the book that much better.

Was it only a year ago that Ryan Gattis' KUNG FU HIGH SCHOOL was published? It seems like eternity, for such was its impact on literature that nowadays I think of the world of writing as divided into two parts, BRG and ARG, before and after Ryan Gattis. Just as his predecessor, William Gaddis, launched his majestic THE RECOGNITIONS on an unsuspecting American public in 1955, the young Gattis, whoi had written only one book before, a limited edition not even published in his own country, hit the ground running telling the story of Jen B., a heroic teen in an American high school only slightly magnified from our own. Gangs rule the campus, and everyone gets "kicked in" as a matter of course by martial arts specialists, for in MLK High 95 per cent of the student body know some sort of ju jitsu or aikido or whatever.

The other five percent, Jen B. explains, are just super big and can get by on sheer size. Into this stressful environment her sexy cousin Jimmy Chang moves into town, and since he made a sacred vow to his mother never to fight again, he gets beat up royally and Jen's brother Cue gets mixed up in the melee. In my town, people have worn out their copies of KUNG FU HIGH SCHOOL memorizing the big fight scenes, and at Burning Man earlier this month several "rival" associations of artists re-staged some of Gattis' bloodiest, most organ-popping moments. It was like having Armageddon explode in your school locker.

Already a cult classic, KUNG FU HIGH SCHOOL will attain FIGHT CLUB status when the inevitable movie is made, or I don't know, maybe by then people will have tired of the whole high school is a battlefield metaphor. My friends and I speculate if Ryan and his brother ever were actually street type kids, or were they the onlookers who see more of the game then the kids who OD in the boys room. Jen B . is sort of a sweet cross between Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston, however, she is only fifteen and it is a little pervy of Ryan to get into her head so thoroughly, especially her unlikely crush on her light-brown eyed cousin Jimmy Chang. He is like Christ in two respects, his initials (sort of like Faulkner's LIGHT IN AUGUST) and his willingness to sacrifice himself so that other kids could live a happy life.

This was an amazing book but it's not written for everyone. If your only experience with violence has been through the television- you may not get this book. But if you have a personal history with violence the details used to explain everything from the taste of blood, the sound of broken bone to the inability to comprehend/deal with death at a moment's notice, this book will make so much sense to you you'll want to weep.
I don't cry at books but this one almost got me. I was amazed to find out the author was a white male since the narrative is done through a half Chicana girl's perspective- and he nails it. I really loved how the character was built- violence and pain she understands, loyalty but love and basic human emotions that don't relate to pain- are a mystery she really doesn't have time for.
The showdown at the end, like any good story, has to happen- someone has to try to bring down the most corrupt and evil or how can we establish who is the hero? But what made me love this book was that it didn't make the evil stop at the drug king pin- it went all the way up from principal, to police to the media to the communtiy that pretended Kung Fu didn't exist.
The fight sequences are amazing- it's unsettling how true to life they are sometimes. I recommend this book to anyone with a pulse- I don't guarantee you'll like or understand it. But I loved it.

It wasn't bad, although many people will be turned off by the extreme violence in the book. Rather, it just wasn't that good.

First problem: The characters were not developed well enough to really be taken seriously. I felt no more sympathy for most of them than I would for Blanka or Ivy or Mitsurugi or any other character from a fighting game. As a result, their beatings were more exercise than they were tragedy. When this is juxtaposed against the realization that most of these people are 16-18 years old, it makes it hard to take it seriously as a literary work.

Second: The work has a pseudo-literary feel to it. You keep feeling like there is something more to it, but then when you try to dig, you find out that there really isn't anything underneath. Then, you feel really disappointed.

SPOILER WARNING:

Third: The death of Cue was handled badly. It should have been a more tragic moment. Instead, it almost felt farcical to me. Although you could argue that its arbitrary nature was intended to reflect the seeming randomness of violence and the sheer chance of life, or whatever, the fact remains that it felt empty. And, thus, we lost an interesting and fun character for nothing.

END SPOILER WARNING

These things combined to make the book feel a little vague and empty. The climax resolution also felt a little campy. Perhaps it doesn't even deserve three stars. To a large degree, it felt like a bad combination of one too many kung fu movies and American History X. The combined result felt like macho fantasy, rather than a real story.

So, read it if you are curious, or bored. It wasn't bad per se, it just wasn't good enough to earn a 4 from me. Worth reading once, probably, but don't buy it unless you hate your library or can't convince a friend to buy it for your reading circle.
Harkius