Brandon Books

DARK DREAMS III: WHISPERS IN THE NIGHT
Edited by Brandon Massey
Dafina Books
Trade paper, $14.00


In 2004, when Brandon Massey brought together the best of the best of the African American horror/fantasy writing community to create the Dark Dreams anthology series it contained wholly refreshing and exciting takes on the common horrors of man, told from a distinctively African American point of view. It was, in some ways, a wakeup call for the vast majority of horror readers (and even some editors) that there was a whole section of writers out there being neglected in the ever-widening scape of horror and dark fantasy.
And now we've hit number three in the anthology series and I must say I miss the halcyon days of the first two collections. WHISPERS IN THE NIGHT is a fine collection, but in no way does it match the superior quality of past offerings.
To be sure, there are some spikes on the radar.
Lexi Davis' `Are You My Daddy?' is just plain laugh out loud funny as this baby-daddy finds himself father to a kid that just won't take `no' for an answer.
Maurice Broaddus (one of my fav writers, period) gives a bone chilling existential slap to the face with `Nurse's Requiem'.
Randy Walker's `To Get Bread and Butter' may be the finest example in writing of what true madness is and how simple it is to cross that thin line between being picky and O.C.D.
And, of course, Massey's own story, `Ghostwriter' is good stuff. It's written with passion and élan.
But the other stories are just `okay'.
And that's the main problem for me. I wanted this to be better than okay. They should be better than okay. They shouldn't read like trunk stories, without focus or thematic approach. This anthology series has proven itself to be a powerful voice for African American writers in general- not just African American horror and dark fantasy writers. The vein is still full and ripe and it needs to be tapped for something more than mediocrity. These stories, each and every one of them, should be the best of the best, and should blow other anthologies out of the water. It should, in short, give Stephen Jones and run for his money for each and every one of the genre related anthology awards.
Perhaps the problem is that many of the writers had nothing significant to say about modern horror. There are several attempts at urban horror, but nothing that stands out and tries to redefine the sub-genre. There are stories of love and dysfunctional relationships, but this is all too self centered and provides no gestalt for the passive reader. No one tried to cleave the genre boundaries asunder. And in this uncertain horror day and age, as writers, white, black, polka dotted- whatever- we need to swing as broad a sword as we can to redefine the literary niche we've been assigned. If any one anthology series has a chance to do it, I think Massey's Dark Dreams could do so. But he's got to make his contributors dig deeper for that kind of power.
This wasn't deep enough for me.




--Nickolas Cook

This is the third installment of the Dark Dreams anthology series and so far, the best of the lot. Though previous entries were very good, none of them consistently delivered like this one. Oddly enough, the current book is the one with the least amount of promotion. So I thought I'd add my two cents.

I recommend Whispers In The Night on the basis of the following stories:

SCAB by Wrath James White. This story was my first introduction to White and what an introduction! Very powerful short story about where insecurity and negative self image can lead. A young man is so totally convinced he is ugly and unlovable until he perceives genuine romantic interest as ridicule and responds in the most barbaric of ways. One of the best stories in the installment.

AND DEATH RODE WITH HIM by Anthony Beal. This story deals with hell and the inability to escape it. Not as good as Scab, but a nice story nonetheless.

ARE YOU MY DADDY by Lexi Davis. This was another one of my favorites in the anthology. Once again, I never heard of Lexi Davis before this. But on the basis of her work here, I'll make an effort to purchase her future works. Davis somehow manages to combine humor and horror and turn it into a rollicking good time! This story had me literally laughing out loud! Its hysterical! So good, in fact, I was depressed when it was over. This was the first short story I read where I was disappointed it was a short story...I wanted it to go on for several more pages. If you need one reason to buy this book, this story is it!

TO GET BREAD AND BUTTER by Randy Walker. Good story -- about equal to AND DEATH RODE WITH HIM.

DREAM GIRL by Dameon Edwards -- slightly better than TO GET BREAD AND BUTTER. Actually, this would've been a much better tale if it had some sort of closure to it.

MY SISTER'S KEEPER by Chesya Burke. This was a powerful story. A sister is lost to crack addiction and her family must write her off for their own well-being. It's heartrending...remarkably potent for a short story. This is a perfect example of how to write about a depressing topic without needlessly alienating the reader. Its another favorite.

THE WASP by Robert Fleming. With all due respect to the author, I didn't care for this tale too much. Fleming's literary skills are exceptional. But the story itself bordered on sadism. A little too twisted for me. Besides being a man, the resolution left me feeling uncomfortable...

HELL IS FOR CHILDREN by Rickey Windell George. Same as above. Too depressing. Aren't black people down enough already???? Read Chesya Burke.

FLIGHT by Lawana James-Holland. Great tale. It seems a little out of place in a horror anthology though. It reads more like heroic fiction. This is the antidote to anyone put off by REH's prejudicial Solomon Kane stories. Love to see James-Holland turn this into a recurring character...

MR. BONES by Christopher Chambers. Loved this story. It reminded me of the indignities minstrel performers like Bert Williams had to endure. It really touched a nerve. If this story doesn't inspire you to conduct yourself with class and dignity, there's no hope for you. Should be required reading...another favorite.

POWER AND PURPOSE by L.R. Giles. This story is too good to be ignored. Karyn has a premonition of a popular minister's assassination. She does everything in her power to keep it from coming to pass. Karyn should be a recurring character. Giles only gets better with time. I liked his story in the previous anthology and this one is far better than that one!

GHOSTWRITER by Brandon Massey is a nice sentimental story...that adds closure to this volume. Not his best work, but it'll do...

So the stories I highly recommend reading are Scab, Are you my Daddy? My Sister's Keeper, Flight, Mr. Bones and Power and Purpose! The other stories are fine. But these more than compensate for the price of the book.

Top Stories:
* Summer
* And Death Rode with Him (The best in the book!)
* Dream Girl
* My Sister's Keeper
* Hell is for Children
* Hadley Shimmerhorn:American Icon(Good,clean,zombie fun!)
* The Love of a Zombie is Everlasting(Fits nicely as a 'part 2' to Hadley)
* Ghostwriter

Overall, the rest of the stories in the novel were ok, but there are some that seem out of place & not worth finishing. This is a wonderful series and I hope it continues to improve with each installment.

I give this one 3.5 stars. It kept me reading but that was because the stories were short and I kept hoping that one (or two) would jump out at me. I'll give my rating of each story (the "star" rating) and let you choose from there.

Summer: 3 stars
Scab: 4.5 stars
And Death Rode With Him: 3 stars
Are You My Daddy?: 3.5 stars
To Get Bread and Butter: 3 stars
My Sister's Keeper: 3 stars
The Wasp: 3 stars
Hell Is For Children: 4 stars
Flight: 2.5 stars
Hadley Shimmerhorn: American Icon: 3 stars
Nurse's Requiem: 4.5 stars (mainly because of the ending...wonderful!)
Wet Pain: 3.5 stars
The Taken: 4 stars ( I would LOVE to see this one as a full-fledged novel)
Mr. Bones: 2 stars
Rip Crew: 3.5 stars
Power and Purpose: 3.5 stars (this one was interesting)
The Love of a Zombie is Everything: 4.5 stars
Ghostwriter: 4.5 stars (the man does it again)

The third "Dark Dreams" anthology (see the superb DARK DREAMS and the even better VOICES FROM THE OTHER SIDE) is a fabulous horror collection of all new works written by black authors. There are no clinkers as the compilation runs the gamut of the genre with for the most part fresh spins such as zombies dining on a TV news reporter while on the air to infant possession to Hurricane Katrina. A few of the tales are excellent. Especially outstanding are headliner Tananarive Due, whose "Summer" focuses on the evil possession of a preschooler, and Terence Taylor's "Wet Pain" that centers on the Old South racially rising just after Katrina devastated New Orleans. Whereas Randy Walker's "To Get Bread and Butter" hits personally home and "Are You My Daddy: by Lexi Davis will leave the audience laughing, "Ghostwriter" by Mr. Massey is a fitting closer as Dark Dreams is three for three; how could it not be with tales like the aptly named "Mr. Bones" by Christopher Chambers and the ironically titled "The Love of a Zombie Is Everlasting" by Tish Jackson.

Harriet Klausner

...

I've only had this book for a week, and it's well on it'sway to becoming the most referenced book on my shelf. Excellent readand, if you're prepared to do a little work, outstanding tutorials.The facial animation section alone has given me several 'eureka'moments, which is what books like this are supposed toelicit.

Simply wonderful.

After reading positive reviews of this book from Amazon.com, I bought it with high hopes... This book could be worth reading if there would not be so many errors everywhere! I can't believe how many typos & missing steps & steps told in wrong order there is in this book! Buy some other more professional book.

This book is detailed. It will talk you through a lot of the different techniques you can use to animate, but it's examples are terrible. I am not a professional animator, but even I could do better example material than this. The animation of a slug/worm type thing is terrible, both in terms of it's main movement and its secondary motion. The walk cycles are abysmal with no obvious signs of reference material being used. The Lion animation is laughable. The environment animations look extremely amateur. This book is NOT for professional animators. At best it is a fair resource for finding different techniques to animate. Why they'd release this book for any reason other than to make money is beyond me. It certainly doesn't show MAX up as being a good animation tool.

I bought other CG books before and usually got something out of it. But this is my first one that instantly helped me with my problems. Within the first 2 hours of reading I got more hints to traps and good advices than I got from reading whole books and doing dozens of tutorials before. I really recommend this book for all who want to improve their animation skills with 3D Studio MAX.

I want to express my gratitude toward the authors of 3dStudio Max Professional Animation. This is the first book I have found that truly enhanced my skills and knowledge--not only of 3d Studio Max, but of 3d animation in general. As a teacher of 3d animation, I am always looking for information that gives me the skills to answer any questions my students can throw at me. While I haven't really noticed any errors or typos in particular, I find that because the book is not simply a list of steps to follow, and because it explains in detail WHY the steps are to be taken, this helps to clear up any misunderstanding of the steps themselves. These lengthy explanations are packed with helpful information and are essential for understanding the material. This is not a book for those who like to blindly follow tutorials. Finally, I must say that I trust the information in the book. This is not only because of the authors' qualifications and experience, but because my own work has improved significantly. Once again, this book is an invaluable addition to any professional animator's library.

will cover the special techniques for creating and finishing garments .
Brandon has a natural instinct for color and design.
He will show you how to create a color palette to your liking.

You'll gain confidence to make a sweater design uniquely yours.

Lovely book packed with gorgeous designs, but what was even more exciting for me was the opportunity to see the sources of inspiration together with the patterns, sometimes in several different color combinations and the final garment.

KNITTING COLOR: DESIGN INSPIRATION FROM AROUND THE WORLD provides the author's innovative use of color gained from his world travels and workshops for knitters. Knitters of all skill levels will learn the keys to his color pairing techniques, with 20 original patterns discussing sources of inspiration, cultural influence, and how new patterns for knitting can be discovered from everyday life. The full-page color patterns and insights make this a unique, perfect acquisition for any serious knitter's library.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is an interesting book. I like it because it takes ideas from what we see around us. We are different from each country -- only we are the same as each other., Thanks for a great book. Patterns given and the colors are wonderful. It makes the imagination start to flow.

I'm glad I picked this up at the library. It's a beautiful book, with lovely pictures and interesting information. The charts are big and actually in color instead of stupid little symbols.

On the other hand, many of the women's garments seem unwearable--the jacket shown on the cover has a 72" bust. Two of me could wear it. The xs/sm would weigh over 5 lb. Nearly everything is oversized, or worse. I don't think any thought went into garment design other than getting these great colors and patterns onto a wearable.

Besides sweaters, jackets, and vests, women get a lackluster purse. Sofas get some pillows and a throw. Men get two vests and a basic sweater. Girls get an extremely charming vest. With your leftover yarn you can make a striped throw, but no total yardage or weight is given--just "various 4-ply yarns and colors from Rowan Yarns". The throw in the photo looks as if it is lined and then given a crocheted edging, but the instructions don't say anything about lining it. I can't think of a way to get that edging over a lining without excessive hand sewing. I really like this idea, because I can't wear wool next to my skin. (I wear a lot of turtlenecks in winter.)

Get this book if you love Kaffe Fassett and have a primary interest in color and pattern; don't get it if your interest is in garment design. People like me will check it out from the library or buy a used copy.

The book arrive as described. I thought the audio CD's were included but its still good.

easy to understand and learn from, it is a textbook so that's what you are getting. Good pictures and diagrams so far. I bought here because it had the best price.

I ordered this book/ cd set because it was required text for a college class. It is well organized and clearly written. I especially like the way the listening guides in the book refer to specific portions of songs which are recorded so that the entire work can be played seemlessly in its entirity, or specific portions can be accessed individually.
The only thing this work lacks is impossible for any work that attempts to offer a complete appreciation of music to achieve, complete scope.
I recommend this set.

This book does a good job of putting music in an overall historical context. For example, it notes how Baroque productions, whether sculpture or music, meant to "fill space." That accounts for elaborate melodies in music, and movement in painting and sculpture.

Music used to be written as much for the mind as the ear. In some vocal pieces, lyrics correspond to melody. For example, if the word "ascending" is used in the song, the notes of the melody also go up. Vice-versa for descending. If the song mentions one person, a single voice is used--three voices come in when three people are in the storyline.

The musical selections are varied and enjoyable to listen to.

would buy from again everything just as promised and recieved book fast

Great storytelling, as usual. Jay Brandon is one of very few dependably readable authors. He has a unique perspective and a good sense of timing. His books are always entertaining and if you read for enjoyment, this is a good choice. The author avoids overly complicated plots, but that doesn't mean they are especially predictable. This was thoroughly engrossing and hard to put down, put very easy to get back into when I had to. Definitely recommended.

Our Presidential roots suggests that it is entirely possible that a Presidential divorce would be out of the question given our high expectations of the office, its perks, and the dynamics under which it operates - while in office, as well as beyond it. However, given the nature of today's world, and the number of divorces that afflict the majority of the population, it is certainly an interesting concept to grapple with in the event it was ever a privilege at that executive level. In reviewing the concept, I had difficulty confining it to only future Presidents and was reminded of the difficulties other Presidential wives encountered, and what might have prompted a desire for divorce. For example, Jacqueline Kennedy might have been in such a situation had her husband not been assassinated prematurely. The complications of any divorce are difficult but must be nearly intolerable in such a prominent arena, thereby, encouraging the simplicity of dalliances rather than full blown affairs that might culminate in divorce for either party. It's obviously of some merit that the author decided to explore this unique, and conceivably legitimate topic since our Presidents are not usually permitted the luxury of being the human beings they might be without the pomp and circumstances that accompanies the office, sadly. The very tall order of the Presidential role does not easily lend itself to the rigors of daily life and freedom of relationships that might be formed outside of the "box," for the President or a First Lady. Perhaps, there is something to consider about placing older, and well established persons in the office, unlikely to encounter the typical stresses that often befall younger persons (whose hormones might still be active enough to pose such problems) where the good of the nation is of the utmost importance, or realize that Presidents do require a measure of privacy to prevent being so honor bound to be mounted upon the pedestal of stone so that they must endure such unearthly existences. We rarely reflect upon the fact that everyone appreciates freedom as well as privacy and safety - including Presidents and First Ladies.

At Last! A book in which the President gets what is coming to him. The ending was a little surprising, and I could not help but have a smile on my face wondering what was going on in the President's mind.

This book is definitely a very good read.

This is a book that almost makes it to the top of the star chart. The premise of a sitting First Lady wanting to divorce her husbnand, the President is not so hard to accept. Many White House marriages have been badly flawed and it is only a matter of time before a spouse has really had enough. If Jay Brandon had dealt with just that scenario this might have been a better book. Instead he throws in a Satanized version of Bill Gates who has developed a computer chip that will do the most dastardly things and who has the President in the palm of his hand and sleeping with one of his confederates. The whole project is in danger of being exposed, however. Not by some super spy of industrial espionage, but by the President's 8 year old son who has learned of the plans (and understands them) while evesdropping during Oval Office visits. Myra, the First lady is obsessed with Randy and getting him out of the White House. The bad guy is obsessed with getting Randy and closing the loop on exposure of his plans. The President is obsessed with staying in office. All of this gets dumped in the lap of a Texas lawyer named David Owens who becomes obsessed with Helen, one of the Secret Service Agents protecting Myra and Randy. This then turns into a lot of cat and mouse running and hiding, power plays, threats and intrigues and a surprise ending which has been done several times before and is no surprise to the reader.
It probably is a better movie script than a book but, readers who like intrigue among the powerful will still enjoy the book. I just thought it was a bit of a stretch.

Young San Antonio attorney David Owens wins a big divorce case and hopes it will attract some new business, though his wildest dreams didn't feature his next client, the First Lady - that's right, the wife of the President - who wants a divorce for the sake of her precocious young son.

Even Owens finds this preposterous and when his office is searched by sinister Secret Service agents who say the woman was an imposter, he's inclined to accept it. Until he gets a mysterious, plaintive email message, which brings him to Washington and into the White House. Intriguing? Outlandish? It gets better. Owens and a female Secret Service agent outwit various guards and technology to spirit the First Lady and her son out of captivity and off on a cross-country road trip. There's even a heavy-handed villain - a megalomaniac billionaire technology tycoon (a Darth Vader version of Bill Gates) with a direct line to the president, who he all but handed into office. Ridiculous? Certainly. But Jay Brandon keeps it all moving; juggling action, plot lines and characters for a rousing, suspension-of-disbelief entertainment.

Since this is the only book available on Ibatis, so i purchased it.
But the latest version of ibatis has a lot of changes and this book is based on the older version.
I got a lot of information on ibatis online.
Download ibatis and go through the docs( there is Ibatis_SqlMap.pdf ) and same some money ;)

claro y conciso..
con ejemplos puntuales ,, este libro se deja entender a pesar de estar en ingles y de que mi nivel en java no es tan alto.

This is very good book with nice examples and I think this is even better book for users who have never used any form of ORM

The book is concise, good structured and it's enough expresivo. This is the first book that I read in English and I understand in its entirety.

Congratulations Clinton

I now have a much better insight into iBatis because the authors provided both background design and detailed information about the product. It was much better than the documentation I found via the web (there's lots to be said for technical and editorial review of a book).

The setup and code examples are excellent. I also like the writing style and structure of the book. Clear and logical.

However, I would like an expanded section on using the Spring DAO with iBatis, as this is now the recommended approach over the iBatis DAO.

Although I was already using iBatis, this book is a welcome addition to my library.

This book is more about the ego of a workacholic than an "insider" view of the industry. Tartikoff rambles, and not fluidly. I find it interesting that there is not one well-written story in the book, and this is the guy who was responsibile for that very thing.

"The Last Great Ride" details the late Brandon Tartikoff's tenure at NBC during the 1980's in his own words. He does not present the information chronologically but rather topically (and there does not seem to be any particular reason to the order they are presented). Readers will enjoy reading about the creation of shows like "The Cosby Show", "Hill Street Blues", "Highway to Heaven" and many other NBC shows of that era. However be warned that not all of the successful shows of that era are covered ("Riptide" fans will not find anything here of note about that show). And it should be noted that the book is weakened the author's use of profanity. But the book's basic rags to riches story (of a distant third place network turning around into the dominant first place network) will be enjoyable to any TV fan.

While Brandon Tartikoff went on to become chairman of Paramount Pictures, he achieved his greatest success while programming NBC during the days when that network dominated the prime time schedule. He notes, "TV is a populist medium, and so the challenge comes down to finding ideas that will capture the zeitgeist." This book is part biographical, but more weighted toward giving an inside view of the system and personalities that comprised the entertainment industry during Tartikoff's career.

A visit he made to Bob Hope's home illustrates the "inside" type information found in the book. He talks about coming upon a vault. "Inside were rows upon rows of alphabetized file cabinets," he says. It was his collection of jokes. He mentioned to Hope the possibility of putting the material on computer, to which the comic genius responded, "Now why would I do something like that? Everything I need, I know where to find--right now."

If you're interested in television of the mid 1980s to mid 1990s you'll find this book a match for your tastes. It's written, like the TV shows produced on network television, for the mass market and consequently is easy to follow.

This book tells of Mr. Tartikoff's dealings with a struggling network soon to be number 1! His tales of triumphs & failures (anyone remember "Pink Lady"?) are shows of honesty & how the biz works. Anyone who enjoyed 80s television has this man to thank. Find out more by reading all about the ins & outs of 80s tv right here! A must read!

This book is more than just about how many of our favorite NBC TV shows from the 80s were created. It's a lighthearted tale about a creative man who made a career of taking creative risks. This book, like any good TV show, did more than entertain me. It gave me pause to think. Whether you're a struggling writer, a successful CEO, or somewhere inbetween, read this book. Inspiration from an unlikely source.

I have intermeidate experience with BizTalk, and many of the examples in this book are not fully explained, nor is there adequate sample code to review.

Also, on the publisher's site, there is not book code page to be found. Apparently there was once a page but the link has been broken for several weeks. I presume that so many people had questions that the author stopped supporting the book. I woulds stay away from this one.

BizTalk 2006 Recipes is a refreshing book. Rather than re-organize the existing help, they have taken the time to address dozens and dozens of common scenarios and provided "recipes" for each of these.
This is information that you don't find in the help. Just like a cookbook, appetizers, breads, drinks, poultry, salads, etc., BizTalk 2006 Recipes uses the same paradigm, Schemas, Mapping, Messaging, Orchestrations, etc. For each "recipe," you have the problem you are trying to solve, the solution for the problem, and then best part, "How it Works," which explains the underpinnings of each of the topics. They pick both simple and advanced topics and it is structured to allow you to either go through the book end-to-end or to use it as a reference. I think this is a great compliment to the existing documentation and a handy reference for any BizTalk developer.

Though this book covers basics, it is a good reference book to learn what some of the real world scenarios are and how to solve them.

However, if you assume this a 1-2-3 type "recipes", you may find challenges in following the instructions. To name a few, just try out Recipe 5-2 from the Sample Chapter of this book, I wonder how many people can get it working. You will also need good enough of background to jump right into some topics such as BRE and BAM, or you will be left with a lot of "Why" and "How" while reading some talk-through descriptions (Yes, you are reading right, not step 1-2-3 at all). "Related Activities" in Recipe 9-1 is one of many examples.

You may be questioning yourself and try to look for sample codes/project download from the publisher Apress official site. You will be very disappointed how many key subjects out there. This may be the nature of the BizTalk implementation, unlike other subjects such as C# coding sample which author can just zip and ship the sample codes out for download.

Overall, this book is fine. To me, it seems this book came out rush. More proof-reading can make this book better.

I find that the examples given in this book cover the basics well. There is nothing about the EDI subsystem or the Sharepoint Adapter.

This is a piece of the review I wrote on my blog (putting the URL would be against the policies here so I'm leaving it out).

The book format: It is a recipe book so is written in a "Problem, Solution, How it works" style format with each chapter being given an introductory page or two preface. This book will be a great one to have around as a reference book, but I have to say that I also enjoyed reading it cover to cover (well almost... honestly I skimmed chapter 10, this chapter probably could have been done away with and the contents moved to other chapters).

The book is fairly comprehensive in covering BizTalk soup to nuts; there is a chapter on Schemas, one on Business Rules engine (more on this one later in the post), one on BAM and one talking about HAT. The writing styles of the various authors were not too apparent, but rather fairly subtle; sometimes in code samples they were apparent however; one chapter has code that uses both hungarian notation on variables, but also on function parameters. That should be done away with in this persnickety developers opinion. I have to say that from still fairly green knowledge of BizTalk, it appears that at least some of the authors have implemented a fair amount of BT solutions in their careers; to me this was evidenced by the "NOTE" sections that were lusciously littered throughout the text that included well thought out pitfulls and other tips to assist in your BizTalk solutions. In my opinion the one chapter that stuck out (and obviously I could be wrong) as one that wasn't written from experience but rather written from a "I just learned this" kind of perspective was the business rules engine chapter 5 (which ironically is available for free download from Apress).

Overall, I would give this book 3 tivo thumbs up, 4.5 stars out of 5 rating. Get this book if you need assistance with BizTalk 2006.

Other side notes, the authors created a blog site just for the book, but thus far only posted one comment and apparently aren't interested in doing much blogging, I'd love to see that change.

One other note I forgot to include; there was a couple spots that made reference to BizTalk 2004; one of the spots was more of a "if you are used to doing it this way, here is what you will have to do now" kind of reference; I found that appropriate; the other one was "here is how to do it in 2004 and here is how to do it in 2006". That one the book could do without. I don't recall where in the book they were; but for the authors knowledge it was the first 2004 reference in the book that could go and the 2nd one could stay :) I gave them the full 5 stars since they are first to market; I think 4.5 stars would be an appropriate rating on this book. Great job to the authors!

I am living in my fourth marriage, so I've spent a good number of years searching for The One. Perhaps my problem in the past was that I searched haphazardly - without a plan. The last time I was single, books on female-male relationships were scarce. But now there is a proliferation of such tomes.

There are books such as "The Rules," covering that common ground where all women - regardless of race - must tread, that place where you want it known you are available but not too available. But if I were single I would pay close attention to the books that advertise themselves as being specifically for Black men and Black women. I am, after all a Black woman and I generally - though not always - centered my search for a mate within my race. There are unique conditions in which Black people live, circumstances that color our perceptions and add a different dimension to relationships.

Recently, I flipped through How To Marry A Black Man subtitled The Real Deal (and it is!) and howled while saying aloud, "Amen!" The two women authors write with such attitude: "If you are looking for "Prince Charming," get real. Are you really "Princess Diva"?" They don't advise lowering your standards, just being realistic and they use a workbook format at times to make you think twice about who you are and aren't and what you want and don't want. The authors, Monique and Cassandra cover the multicultural territory while probing more specific issues such as finding someone whose definition of blackness suits yours. They sprinkle in intimate details about their own lives, too.

Books that prompt such pondering and planning about the process of mating seem harmless but make me wonder how our fore-parents ever found each other without instructions? I guess it's because they left so much to fate. They lived without seatbelts or bike helmets or car seats for their kids. Pretty wild people, huh?

Patrice Gaines is the author of LAUGHING IN THE DARK and MOMENTS OF GRACE.

This book gives great advice on the art of attracting and intriguing the opposite sex. It is not only for Black men but all men. I am happily married now for 2 years and read this book when it first came out.
It helps you as a person get your mind around what you truly are invisioning in a spouse - what your core needs and desires are - so that you can weed out the good ones from the bad.
I hope more people will read this book so they can get a better persepctive of the games we should play versus the games we shouldn't play - namely those with ourselves - delusion.

This is a fun and deceptively easy book to read. But if you follow the advice of the authors you will find yourself getting your act together FOR REAL, and getting your priorities straight when it comes to finding the right guy to marry.

Some of the exercises in the book are just plain fun, like the pink bubble meditation, and some are hard, they really force you to take a good hard look at yourself, no rose colored glasses!

I especially like the "Word from the Brothas" sidebars because they give you a real inside take on the thoughts of men. They are surprising!

I definitely recommend this book to women who are serious about getting hitched.

I take my hat off to Monique and Cassandra for having the creative wherewithal to help sistas who are in search of a black man. Many of us moan and groan about the shortage of brothers, but these two women decided to do more than complain. I absolutely loved the book and found it to be quite informative. I appreciated how they interwove humor with a very serious subject for single sistas. All in all they gave very sound advice....get your act together and you will attract a together brotha The book is definitely worth getting!!!!!

So now not only do we women have a plethora of how-to books geared for us "needy women", but we now have a book to tell us specifically how to get a Black man, as if they have different needs/specifications from other men? Men are men, regardless of skin color. This was nothing more than a clever marketing ploy to attract the black female buyer in droves. And some of the tips were insulting. "Smile alot to let him know you like him." ??!! I'm not a friggin Barbie doll, thank you very much.

And I'm always suspect of pseudo-feminist black women writers who hyphenate their names anyway.

If you're planning on buying just one Houdini book, go with Kenneth Silverman. Although there are parts of Brandon's book which are excellent, I grew tired of her opinions and psycho-babble. Ultimately, I got the feeling that the author simply didn't like Houdini. Perhaps I should have been warned when reading Brandon's bio: "She likes to think of biography as a framework within which to look at cultural history." Houdini was a complex person, to say the least. Personally, I'd rather be presented with the facts so I could form my own opinion.

As a previous reviewer stated, there are plenty of other good bios of Houdini. This one is full of psychobabble and reads like character assassination. All heroes have feet of clay, but her analysis is repetitive and makes the second half of the book deathly boring.

Overall, an enjoyable read, but I agree with prior reviewers -- too much Freudian analysis for my taste, and I don't care to hear the author's personal experiences.

I've read every biography on Harry Houdini and this one is good...but it isn't the best. (The best is Ken Silverman's Houdini! The Career of Ehrich Weiss.) Here Ruth Brandon has mined information from older Houdini bios and created a skillful patchwork. Even her much publicized (and much maligned) "psycho-babble" comes right out of Bernard C. Meyer's Houdini A Mind in Chains (1976). Indeed, this excellent long out-of-print book seems to be Ms. Brandon's Deep Throat. Her chapter relating the events leading up to Houdini's death is taken almost paragraph for paragraph from the Meyer book. And do we really need to hear about the author's own childhood experiences with magic? Still, it's a good read, but for a serious and truly revealing Houdini bio, go with the Silverman book.

This book is good. It has many interesting facts about Houdini. It explains his life and career. I strongly suggest it.