Bruno Books

Angkor is an ancient Cambodia city, which is mostly known for its temples with giant smiling faces carved on them, and banyan trees growing all over them. This book has a few Chinese accounts of Angkor when it was still inhabited, but deals mostly with its discovery by western archeologists, and subsequent tourism and restoration efforts. The book also has brief discussions of military campaigns from the colonial period through the Khmer Rouge, and their impact on the ruins. There are some nice cross section illustrations of the temples at Angkor Wat, and many photographs of banyan trees growing on buildings.

This is an interesting book on the history of research, scholarship, and popular views of Angkor. Unfortunately, there is not much information about the city or culture of Angkor. Thus the book is mistitled. Are the French and other explorers and scholars of Angkor really more important than the ancient Khmer peoples and their accomplishments?

VisualAge for java is one of the most powerlful development environments for those interested in truly multi-platform "100% pure java" development.

It is no surprise that it is also one of top sellers. This book complements the scarce docs nicely.

It only deals with *** access builder. It's not enough to develope enterprise appl.

BUILT! MORE by Bruno Gmunder and Ron Lloyd seeks to celebrate the hard beauty of the athletic and muscular male physique. While the cover photo certainly enticed me to purchase the book, I must admit to being somewhat disappointed by the pages between the covers. Unlike the beef on the cover, too many of the models lacked balance (over developed chests and arms and underdeveloped legs and abs). Moreover, many of these muscular men had that arificial "steroid look" that seems to celebrate pharmacology over genuine masculinity.

Lloyd has produced for the view a marvelous collection of beautifully built men in their athletic and masculine prime. These guys are just plain HOT.

if ur in naked super sexy boys...then this is 4 u!the detailes r superb!reallyyyy good.bravo.

I bought this volume thinking to find a collection of comics. What we have is a collection of still portraits of Mr Fillion's favourite characters.

As I mentioned reviewing "Mighty Males", Mr Fillion's art is pleasant enough; as far as I know he is the first to exploit the idea of gay superheroes and his are interesting and teasing enough whereas his "normal" boys are not original enough to distinguish themselves from other erotic drawings.

All in all I recommend this volume only to would be artists interested in studying a professional's drawings.

One of the most useful and *gentle* self-help books I've encountered in a very, very long time. Unlike some books that almost make you feel guilty if you can't "overcome" your neuroses, this one acknowledges the difficulty of eliminating one's neurotic tendencies and then shows you how to turn them to your advantage. Yes, to your advantage.

The book is a very easy read and filled with immediately useful advice. But don't let it's accessibility fool you - the information and ideas laid out in this book are rock solid. If you even suspect you might be neurotic, stop beating yourself up and buy this book. The only thing you'll regret is how long it took you to discover it.

I suppose if you haven't read much in the psychology or self-help arena, this might be a good jumping off place, although Bruno does not have a list of recommended readings, which is irritating. But I found the book to be much too general, and to lack much original material. It is also quite repetitive, and a lot of it is just common sense.

Instead of this book, I would recommend Existential Psychotherapy, by Irvin Yalom, Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman, or The Feeling Good Handbook, by David Burns.

Woodrell is a master of dark humor, peopleing his novels with characters who have yet to be housebroken. But with Woodrell the rough, rowdy and savage characters are very human - embracing both the good life and destructive fate with humor. Although the cover blurb leads one to expect Rene Shade as a major character, he is a sideline. His father John X. and ten-year-old half sister Etta are at the center of the story. Etta keeps her aged father going, getting him his first drink of the morning, serving sandwiches and beer at his poker games, and reading his every move ... sassing him back with his own words. This is a kid who cons her Dad into believing school starts November 9 for public school students, thus avoiding school. She is a memorable survivor.

Two love interests assist in creating a coherent image of the Shade family. Rene has fallen for a basketball player who is as unsure as he as to what future she wants. Tip has fallen for Gretel who is currently living in a home for pregnant women putting children up for adoption. Gretel is the product of a hippie couple surviving in the back woods on the standard government property cash crop and proud of their lack of conveniences. While she understands marriage to be a kind of death, living in a house with plumbing is a major life goal.

The plot would be predictable if it were not for humorous turns of fate. John X. is on the lam - his pursuer attempts to increase his capital by scamming a tourist couple who are scam artists themselves. A cockolded husband who's held a grudge for 40 years, goes to kill the agressor only to die of a heart attack ...

The writing is good quality - with turns of phrases here and there that are pleasant, memorable and believable surprises in the otherwise harsh environment.

So if you want to kick back, turn your mind off and read for sheer pleasure, Daniel Woodrell has again fit the bill.

If you start with Tomato Red and work backwards, you can chart Woodrell's growth and maturity as a writer. Tomato's story of down-and-outers who consistently act contrary to their own best interests is both entertaining and riveting. The first-person narrative sets a mood that grabs you on the first page and never lets go. The third-person voice of The Ones You Do is not as assured, but the plot and characters are interesting, and Woodrell displays his characteristic flair for language and ear-catching dialogue.

Woodrell also has a way of evoking sympathy for people whose actions you can't condone, and the protagonist of The Ones, John X Shade, is as amusing as he is appalling. The sense of pathos in this novel improves upon its predecessor, Muscle for the Wing, which focuses on John's son, Rene. Muscle reads like a lesser Elmore Leonard novel transplanted to the Ozarks - a TV movie with crisper dialogue. The Ones has some of the same stock characters as Muscle - small-time criminals who underestimate their oppostion, well-endowed women who jump into bed all too eagerly, etc. But the decline in John X's skills in his older years and his humorous fatalism raise the story above that of a standard action hero.

Woodrell has written five "Ozark noir" novels and one about the Civil War, Woe to Live On. Each of the Ozark novels improves upon its predecessor, but that's not a reason to bypass his earlier work. In fact, what I enjoyed most was observing Woodrell's development of skills from one book to the next. Woe to Live On was only his second novel, but stands on its own as a very different and very affecting commentary on the war. Its first-person voice finds full flower in Give Us a Kiss and Tomato Red. I recommend immersing yourself in Woodrell's work for a while; if nothing else, you'll be entertained and learn how one writer honed his skill -- maybe there's hope for the rest of us!

todd yeager's drawings invoke just about every fantasy i've ever had. not only the drawings, but the poses, styling etc.. he has an excellent eye & vision, making every page timeless. it's difficult to tell exactly which era his drawings are from. they look both modern & classic. todd's drawings are in no way pretentious and makes every fantasy seem realistic. i recommend this book to anyone with a taste for the erotic. you will not be disapointed.

I found this book, or perhaps booklet is the correct term, to be disappointing. Most of the drawings look like they have been churned out specifically for this publication. They also look like they have been blown-up from smaller images. It would have been helpful if the dimensions of the original drawings were given as well as titles. I actually own a couple of original drawings by Todd. The subtlety of his work is lost in the images in this book. The small format does not do them justice.

I agree with the previous review. This book is missing some of the critical works and powerful discussions generated by Rebecca Horn, the book is incomplete.

I was hoping for a more thorough compendium of this powerful artist's work. This book is good, but it's missing some important pieces in Horn's portfolio. Still her work is profound and makes me want to see it all, in person. The art is installation, drawings and performances of a very experiential nature, somewhat akin to Bruce Nauman.

This book is the right size to carry along with you. The pictures are excellent. That is the good stuff. The text is dense, complex and scientifically boring. The arrangement is unusual in that it classifies the shells by the type of surface on which they live. This is no help to someone who wants to identify a shell from a certain family as only one or two are illustrated. The book does not give any indication of abundance, value or availability. It does not contain a bibliography so there is no way to track down a book that deals with a family such as the tropical cones. I was less than pleased with this purchase

Simon and Schuster's Guide to Shells is beautifully photographed and the descriptions are top notch and helpful. The species of shellfish listed are admirable and quite a feast for the eyes, especially the "Mediterranean Chiton," which is an unusual rock dwelling shellfish with a 10 inch carapace. Quite amazing. The photographs and descriptions earned this guide a four star rating. Now for the organization details: The shells are organized into groups that explain which type of surface they reside on, which is not as helpful as organizing them in families, genus, or the shape of the shell. This may displease a diver using this guide as a very quick reference, as there is nothing quick about the ID system used here. However, for the person reading this book at a beach, at home, or by a campfire, the organization will not matter very much. This guide to shells is strictly recommended only for the easygoing collector.

I just finished this book, and I didn't find it half-bad. As the narrator says, you're supposed to loathe Bruno Maddox. It's a very wry, tongue-in-cheek poke at himself and memoirs in general. I agree with the poster that you'll lvoe it or hate it. It takes a moment to get used to, but I enjoyed it.
My favorite part? Being personally addressed by actual name in the last 35 pages :-P

~Michelle

This is seriously one of the most awful books I've read (and I have read a lot of bad ones). It's weird and the transition through years is not smooth, it's unbearable. His writing style... I wanted to burn the book and throw myself into the flame with it. Terrible. He has weird tourette (sp) syndrome like cursing in bold letters throughout the book that, I think, he finds clever or funny... but it's brutal!. 0_o

The author must have taken a hallucinogen before writing this, sometimes it doesn't make sense, other times it's like "wait, what?!" and it's boring. Very, very boring. The main characters interaction with people is unrealistic and her changing speech patterns are painful to read.

Such a waste of time. So poorly written, and not even all that clever. The only thing I found somewhat 'intellectual' about this waste of paper was the description of our fashion world from the past to the future (it just made a lot of sense when I really thought about it).

Do not waste your money, unless you are into weird, badly plotted books.

MY LITTLE BLUE DRESS is the memoirs of a woman born in 1900...or is it? The author attempts to be clever by beginning the novel with a young girl writing in the first person. In the dialogue that ensues, the girl has a heavy English (Cockney?) accent. She then immediately loses it, questions its loss, and moves on, never mentioning it again. She also starts out telling tales of her youth...which are later in the novel replaced by diary entry observations. Her observations (as an invalid) are of her caregiver (named Bruno Maddox just like the author) and his messed up life because, she states, he has "Caregivers Syndrome." I think the author said it best, so I will quote directly from him by saying that this book is a "steaming pile of nonsense."

I'm sure the author, Bruno Maddox, is trying to be artistic and unique in his storytelling. And he has succeeded. It is artistic and unique and truly, I'm sure, his voice. However, somebody forgot to tell him that the story/novel should also be entertaining and readable. I literally had to force myself to finish the book, a "terrible reading marathon." I kept waiting for some big discovery or revelation that never materialized.

"No suspense. No human interest. The only jokes are of the 'darkly, profoundly comic' variety. Just a total lack of value, reader, clever-sounding nonsense spun out to inordinate length."

I think somewhere in between all the nonsense and rambling is a story of redemption and coming of age, but I didn't care enough about the writing, the story, or the characters to find it. Bruno Maddox (the character, not the author) never quite grows up and, thus, ruins his relationship with Hayley, who apparently has low self-esteem since she keeps welcoming back the loser Bruno without just cause. Dear Reader, if you're looking for a better book of "growing up," I refer you to I Just Want My Pants Back: A Novel. At least with this novel, you'll be more entertained.

Another note: by naming the main character after himself, the author Bruno Maddox has only succeeded in drilling his name into my memory so when I see it again in a bookstore, I will know to avoid it.

First of all, My Little Blue Dress is a great read, fresh, original, and laugh-out-loud funny. Second, it is unquestionably genius, a post-modern antidote to the outdated coming-of-age novel. This wry, perverse little book calls to mind Salinger's Catcher in the Rye and Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise - not because it resembles that [grossly overrated] canon fodder in form, attitude, or the youth of its protagonist, but in the way that it brilliantly chronicles the turbulence of self-creation. Maddox's challenge is far steeper than his predecessors, given an older hero and an era ruled by chaos and chronic self-reinvention, yet he succeeds brilliantly, creating a book that is not only admirable but also a joy to read. Whimsical, farcical, philosophical; in short, creative thinkers will adore this book. Be warned though: if a straight memoir is what you're seeking, you'll definitely want to stick to "Having Our Say"!

This weird and quirky book was right up my alley. I loved the originality, the writing, and the whole crazy story. I hope to see more from this writer.