Bryan Books

Hi,
This is great book if you want to learn Java Servlet API. If you have little bit experience in Java then this is the best book to start with Servlets.

Thanks,

This book is well put together, and is a good reference for Servlets and JSPs. The first edition was a bit outdated and irrelevant, so this book is much appreciated. The source code is still not up on the publisher'ssite... .

I was pleased to learn so quickly about server-side Java. This book is called servlets but also handles interesting topics like JSP, RMI and Corba. Those topics are very brief, though. Otherwise this book would have been ten times the size.

It does have mistakes that only attentive readers might catch. It was a bit annoying that all these re-usable components were explained, Chpater 4 about the HTML Objects could be completely skipped without harm. A CD-rom containing this code could be handy. Perhaps they can do so when re-printing.

I quickly learned to make servlets so it's a good book for it. It does require you to have some expertise in Java, but if you want to write servlets then you should already have that.

I have 5 books about Servlets and/or JSP's including the disapointed JavaServerPages and Java Servlet Programming both from o'reilly.

This is the best of all, all you need to know is Java, that's all. If you need to develop a Servlet project this book puts you on the road in the first 130 pages. Then if you want to have a better understanding you can read the rest of the book. The book has 24 chapters and 7 apendix and each chapter covers a topic in a very easy and comprehensive way with out confusing references like the o'reilly books that make you feel stupid.

More over this book has three complete JSP examples so well written that you can use part of the code for your own projects.

I was pleased to learn so quickly about server-side Java. This book is called servlets but also handles interesting topics like JSP, RMI and Corba. Those topics are very brief, though. Otherwise this book would have been ten times the size.

It does have mistakes that only attentive readers might catch. It was a bit annoying that all these re-usable components were explained, Chpater 4 about the HTML Objects could be completely skipped without harm. A CD-rom containing this code could be handy. Perhaps they can do so when re-printing.

I quickly learned to make servlets so it's a good book for it. It does require you to have some expertise in Java, but if you want to write servlets then you should already have that.

I loved Shay's personality and her actions. I did not like how the author separated Shay and Bryan after they got together. The plot was ok, but nothing surprised or delighted me. I can't put my finger on what was missing, other than the feeling that the author was just churning out another book, similar to her prior work.

Story brief: Shay is a wealthy contributor to charitable causes. She is in a seedy part of town one evening, and the rain makes her clothes appear see-through. Bryan sees her and thinks she is a prostitute and takes her to a nearby safe house. Bryan is a bounty hunter, pretending to be his twin brother, Bruce, who is a preacher. Bruce had been beaten up, and Bryan is trying to find the bad guy. Bryan lets Shay think he is a preacher. Shay initially lets him think she is a prostitute. Shay wants to stay in the safe house for awhile to see how she can help the other women.

CAUTION SPOILERS:
I loved Shay's honesty and directness. Initially she lets Bryan think she is a prostitute, but soon after she tells him she is not. When he asks her name she says "I can't tell you." He asks why. She says "Because if I told you the truth, you'd hate me. And you were being so nice to me, I didn't want you to send me away. I wanted to get to know you better." Later, when he asks again, she says she will tell him later. To me, this is honorable. She is not lying. She is simply telling him that she chooses not to tell him for awhile. I loved it.

What I did not like was the author's method of separating the couple after they had sex. A reporter called Shay by her name in front of Bryan. Bryan was mad and said "You lied to me." (because she hadn't told him her name.) However, per the previous paragraph, she had been open about not telling him. Besides, he had gotten to know the real person who was different, wonderful and much better than the Shay negatively and incorrectly portrayed by the media. Bryan then left her and stayed away from her which was wrong and illogical. She grieved because of this.

I loved Shay's directness. From the very beginning she was the one to initiate the first kiss, and later kisses and to say that she wanted him. Toward the end, she was the first one to say "I love you." She said it matter-of-factly without expecting any words back from him. She was a neat lady.

Sexual language: strong. Number of sex scenes: four. Setting: current day Ohio and Visitation, N. Carolina. Copyright: 2004. Genre: contemporary romance with a little suspense.

After reading "When Bruce ment Cyn" I was looking foward to reading "The Secret Life of Bryan" by Lori Foster. Byant has switch places with his twin brother Bruce when Bruce is beaten up for trying to help former ladies of the night Shay Sommer has called by press the "Crown Princess" for all the good works that she does. When Bryan mistakes Shay for a hooker, she decides to stay to try to help others. Bryan wants Shay, but he can't believe he wants her and his confuse by this.
I really wanted to like "The Secret of Bryan" but I found that is was a struggled to finish it. This book just didn't see like a Lori Foster book, it lacked the romance of other book by Ms. Foster, I sorry that I spent the money I did for this book.

The book was ok but I liked the previous book for this series better.

The whole visitation series is GREAT!!! I fell in love with Say no To JOe, And JAMIE. It's great because it's funny and and the characters are in all of the Visitation books. They are definatley my favorite Lori foster books.
I thought the book was great esp when Shay kissed the wrong brother! I busted out laughing. I love the very bad boy books that she writes!

I couldnt get into it at all, just mindless rambling that went on and on. I struggled to page 157 and finally had to close the book.... and sat thinking... where the heck was the plot? "...I just read HALF the book!"

Dont waste your time, money and effort... What a shame, from reading the back I was looking forward to it.

I was assigned to read this by my High School teacher in summer.

This book really shows the real life of kids unlike the other books I've read. This story lacks a main focus though, it's mainly about a kid's life from almost start to around the age of a teen.

This book was interesting to read. I'd like to give out details but, I'm afraid I might spoil it for you all. :(
But, the ending wasn't what I was expecting, so that was kind of a letdown.

Great book, get it and read it!

Honky is a memoir in which Dalton Conley reflects on his youth. He tells of his position that seems so peculiar and uncommon: a white minority. What is so great about this book is that it is a lesson in racial and social stratification; however, by weaving wit, wisdom, and analysis, Conley makes it feel as though it is just a novel. This is a true example of making academic analysis personal and exciting to read, something we do not see too much of these days.
I was first inspired to read this book after taking Dalton Conley's Introduction to Sociology Course at NYU. He makes his presence known in person as well as the fact that he makes his voice come through the pages of Honky.

This was one of the greatest reads that I had come across on the close examination of 'how races are lived in US'. Due to the nature of the author's profession (a sociologist), the handle of it is skillful and clinical as possible when he gets down to the subject of 'how people lived in NYC'. And the huge part of it is inevitably about races. The triumphe of this project is that the author somehow manages to carry the whole process out without objectifying the subject or dehumanizing people who are involved because he includes himself as the huge part of the experiment, the project and THE LIFE in NYC in 80's. To his eyes, himself as an only white kid among predominantly Black and hispanic kids or Chinese school system in lower Manhattan is just another life in the time and the place. The persepective he carries through the book is literally so rare that I am astonished to learn what a treasure he has had. I do appreciate the fact that he has incorporated the whole experiences to make it really accessible to indiscriminate readers.

Dalton Conley has written a very good book looking at race relations through the prism of his life growing up white in a largely minority project of New York City. What comes out of his writing are two points.

First: Being the minority in any situation is not good. Conley writes about being picked on and beat up for being white. He writes about being the provebial outsider because of his skin color. He writes about his various friends of different colors and the politics surrounding their friendships in the hood. Interestingly, he writes about being treated differently by the teachers because of his skin color. Conley writes about not being hit by minority teachers because they thought that white parents were soft on their children and they would not allow him to be struck. Do I hear the word stereotype? HMMM...

Second: There are advantages to being white, even if you are poor. This is one point that Conley drives home time and time again. Yes he was beaten up for being white, but he also was able to go to better schools due to connections of his parents. You find out all of the parents that cared for their children tried to move them to better schools with the address game, except because his parents had friends in better neighboorhoods he was able to go to the schools his friends couldn't. Conley was also able to go to the country for summer vacation that his peers did not have access. His parents were poor, but also educated and that made a difference in his life. Conley had a role model which helped him leave the projects.

This book is poignant. I lived a somewhat similar life as a white kid among minorities for a good number of years. While my experiences are not exactly the same, they do have similar bases of being beat up for being white and trying to steer through the racial politics of friendship when your friends abandon you because it is easier than standing and doing the right thing in the face of large groups. Being treated differently in school by teachers agravated various situations, even if the teachers were minorities themselves and were doing the right thing for all concerned. These are some of the same experiences, but not on the harsh level he lived.

Honky is a good read and gives some insight to living white inside minority neighborhoods. A good comparison to "Honky" is "All Souls" by Michael Patrick McDonald. A story of an Irish Catholic family growing up in South Boston. There is plenty of racism there also, but from the other side and growing up depseratly poor is the key to both books. Highly Recommended

I grew up in the lower east side around the same time as Dalton. The Baruch projects was my home from birth to age 27. I was able to enjoy this book at three levels. One, is was a validation of my experiences. I was a nuyorican nerd who felt like I belonged and didn't belong. I believe Dalton had that feeling as well. I also thought the book indirectly educated people about identity; although white, Dalton was one of us, a lower east sider. Lastly, I enjoyed it as an american story. Alot of people made it out of there and did well.

My only criticisms have to do with some of the time-lines. They don't match my memory (e.g., drugstore hostage dates may be off. Stuff like that was memorable because it was rare). I also wished that Dalton would have addressed issues around racial identity of the the people in the Lower East Side. Puerto Ricans adopted alot of african-american ways. Also, there were white puerto ricans who had some of the advantages that Dalton could have-Albert Ortega, Ph.D.

This book laid out the facts about Bush, his administration, and the way the media has played into all of his spin and "misleading" facts. This book takes an objective look at the tactics used by the administration spinkled with a few anti-bushisms. If you are looking for an angry anti-bush book this is not for you. Even when presenting infuriating facts about the lies and deciet found in the media and our presidency the authors do not present an angry public anywhere in the book. A book everyone should read if they care about their government and it's use of the media to get their own agendas in place.

The authors make a decent case that Pres. Bush sometimes stretches the truth a bit. Though when push comes to shove, what he says, they admit, is generally correct. That the media doesn't do its job very well is hardly new or unique to the Bush Admin. It is somewhat laughable that the authors choose to focus on Bush's sometimes picayune distortions (e.g., when the basic point he is getting across is correct, and what he is saying is also factually correct -- on taxes for example -- yes, those he picked to highlight his tax plan make the plan look good, but it did cut taxes for all taxpayers, which was his point: 'This cuts taxes, it is a tax cut.'), and choose not to cover Clinton's far greater mendacity. Only one of these presidents was found to have lied under oath and sanctioned by a federal judge amd then later disbarred for doing so (Not to mention lying to the entire country numerous times by his own admissions.). To preserve their alleged neutrality, and to make this book a more fair look at spin that would have supported the purpose of their website and made this a truly nonpartisan book, that would have been read by a broader cross-section of the electorate, the book should have focused on Clinton AND Bush. Since this largely focuses on a President in office, the Kerry portions would have been better replaced with an expand Clinton sections. Especially in light of the fact that the whole phenomenon of spin came into the public eye during the '92 Clinton campaign, with J. Carville and G. Stephanoupolous spinning (and being spun by Clinton & Clinton - see GS' ALL TOO HUMAN) madly to deflect bimbo erruptions they swore up and down had no factual basis. As later events and Michael Isikoff's excellent and fair book, UNCOVERING CLINTON, make clear, this was all spin, and the dawning of a new age of degraded political discourse. Also, if I'm not mistaken on this point, I must point out the irony of the authors' attempts at "spinsanity", unbiased analysis, here and at their website - 2 Democrats, no Republicans - what could be more fair!?

This book BARELY scratches the surface of the lie machine that is the Bush administration. They cause a ten car crash and say they are working on recycling scrap metals..what is missing from this book is the OUTRAGE any decent journalist should feel- they lament that the media sits on its haunches and is spoon fed, but thats where the story ends and begins. Someone needs to get to the bottom of this and find out why major corporate media is allowing this load of manure to be fed to the public- whose pocket is being lined? What ever happened to unbiased, unpaid, investigative journalism? A free press is the foundation of liberty and our media has been patted on the head, given a sucker and told to wander on home. It doesn't take rocket science- listen to the interviews where they just repeat their point regardless of the question- its obvious manipulation- and the mass of America is swallowing it without looking at it.
We should have serious works by the media decrying this, but they just sit and whimper or say nothing to keep "access" open.
No government should be able to pull this!

SHOULD BE READ BY ALL AMERICANS WHO STILL BELIEVE THEY LIVE IN A FREE COUNTRY

In a time when 99.9% of media criticism consists of people saying "I don't like what you are saying therefore you are wrong," Fritz and Co. actually use facts and reason when critiquing the media. Shocking, but effective.

The first X-Men movie novelisation is a lot shorter than the third, and suffers a bit because of it, and it looks like the writers were told to play it straight, and not given the license or room to extrapolate and throw in embellishments to improve the book as a whole. Otherwise, it is a solid retelling of the Wolverine and Rogue saga, as the learn of the X-Men and finally realise what his plan is.

This leads to the confrontation at the Statue of Liberty to prevent a whole bunch of world leaders turning into genetic goo.

This book was awesome. It is, however, somewhat different from the movie, but it's still a good read. I really recommend this book it's one of the best Comic Book based movie novelization i've read.

X-Men: A Novelization arrived in perfect condition and was an excellent book to read.

If any of you have read my reveiw for Daredevil you know what i mean. I hated the Daredevil Movie Tie-In and i did not like this one that much either. For starters I am a huge fan of the X-Men ( Wolverine is my favoerite! ) In the book Wolverine has four claws that come out of his nucles. Well and body who has seen the movies, or read a comics knows that he only has three claws that come out from in between the nucles. After reading that the book just wasn't the best for me. Too much was changed from the movie.

Overall: Well...It is an easy read, but not up to par.

I like movie novelizations where both the movie and the book are good, but in different ways. The things that happen in this book are almost exactly the same as the things that happened in the movie - I was impressed that it could be this accurate and still be such a short book. There are a few things in the book that weren't in the movie at all, such as, at the beginning, parts that explain what it was like for Cyclops and Storm when they first got their powers. That was nice. Still, it felt like this book managed to leech all the excitement out of the story. It was a faithful book, but not a very fun one.

Its an excellent book that explains the microeconomical theory in a conscise, direct, easy to understand which in unison with a more mathematical book such as the structure of economics by silberberg can be a great tool to understanding micro economics

Great book. Very useful. I have the textbook still in shrink wrap, and the workbook that goes along with it. I want to part with it. Sctops140 at aol dot com for details. I purchased it for a microeconomics class at Beloit College. The workbook helps understand the concepts explained in the textbook.

As many others have noted it contains very few numerical examples. I didnt have the workbook so maybe that would have helped, but so far this book is completely useless. I wouldnt recommend this unless you really love the pure formulas an no examples. If its required i guess its better than nothing

We used this textbook in my intermediate micro class at Cornell University, and I have to say, it is quite possibly the best textbook I've had. I'm more of a math person myself, and this book did a wonderful job of fleshing out the concepts with mathematical examples. Definitely recommended!

This is the standard intro-level economics textbook at Harvard, and it is well written. Covers all expected topics to good depth, with excellent examples. A reasonably suitable book for reading, and a simply useful textbook. Recommended.

Over the years I have purchased many editions of this classic text and have never been disappointed. Years ago I sat in Dr. Katzung's classes when he was a young man (and I was younger!) This book is invaluable because of its varied content--1. background physiology which is so important when one needs to review and keep up-to-date on new developments, 2. comparisons of chemical structures as new products come onto the market and 3. summary tables showing the different characteristics of the various drugs in any drug group and classification. This is the one clinical pharmacology text I wouldn't be without.

This is one of those books where you have to read a paragraph again and again to actually get what it's saying. It's got great topics, if you can sift through the words! I don't love the writing style.

While most of my students would not find this excellent work "basic", it is an outstanding adjunct to any healthcare professional's library. The chapters are well structured and the information is up to date. The illustrations have improved over the years and are mated well with the text.
In all, this is a worthwhile text for anyone studying pharmacology or a useful resource.

This is a very good book. I have been using this as the reference while working on a PharmD Degree.

This book is the best because it explains everything very well with little information... if you are a student definetly by this book..

This has been one of the best books I have read on persuasion architecture and going beyond just usability and information architecture. If you are a online marketing professional I highly suggest you get this book. The strategies are more in-depth and require more strategic planning to implement but are well worth it in the end and you will have happy clients or a growing business because of it.

http://www.marketingmorgan.com

I bought this book 1 1/2 years ago and shame on me for not giving a review until now.

I went through grad school and received an MBA.. and yet I was a Web developer and wasn't using my education.. and also, it wasn't paying me for all the trouble I went through to get it.

So I was trying to figure out a career path based on my strong business background (have worked in sales, and 6 years of business school). I found this book and read it.. devoured it actually.. and it fueled a new passion in technology. Everything that I'd worked on in Web development suddenly had meaning and purpose and I could understand the "why" of why we do what we do.

I moved to a new job and in less than a year I have been promoted and I'm close to a 6-figure income. Later this year I'm supposed to be getting a staff devoted to basically improving and maintaining our conversion rate and call to action that this book explains so well.

BUY IT!!!

The reason I'm back is because I'd bought the book for my last job, but it had to stay when I left. I'm now buying it again to have it for my new position.

I am developing some internet based projects and was looking for some books about convertion rates and site optimization. This book deliveres what is promissed.
Whiten in plain english, as directly as it can be, it goes to the point. I have already read half of it, and it already woth what I have paid.
I strongly recomend to anyone that is involved with an internet project. From technicians to marketing professionals.

What an amazing book! I purchased "Call To Action" thinking it would be good. I didn't expect it to be great. This is hands down the best book investment I've made in quite some time.

I feel as though my client discoveries (or Uncoveries, as they call that phase of web projects) are much more meaningful and focused. It's also helped me minimize the "techno-jargon" that I so frequently used in the process.

I have purchased and read a number of books about SEO, PPC and web usability -- as I manage the internet marketing campaign for our small business. We have a large PPC monthly spend & bid prices have continued to skyrocket -- so we have focused on improving our organic search results and also making our PPC campaigns more effective. But we never focused on how well our site converts -- until I read this book. I know this is a common remark I've read about other SEO tips or books -- someone will say that they hope their competitors never get ahold of the same information. Well, I'm always skeptical of those types of claims. But this book is truly an invaluable guide to making your web site more profitable and to convert your visitors into buyers. This is a must-read! And when I read it, I was thinking, I hope our competitors don't read this book -- because all those visitors who are clicking away from the competition because of poor site design can click over to us! And now that we've put these principles into practice, we'll be converting them into customers. I've never written a review on Amazon -- and I've bought & read a lot of books. But I just had to review this one, because it has impacted our web design in such a positive and productive way.

This book is funny. Really, really funny. But, there's something else to Jewtopia, and that is that it puts you in touch with your Judaism. Yes, you're going to laugh out loud over and over, but you're also going to feel proud to be a Jew, you're going to feel righteous anger at the bigotry we've sustained for freaking ever, and you're going to feel a sense of power in the rightness of who we are.

I recommend this book to everyone, but especially to the other chosen people out there.

L'Shalom

Jewtopia is a good read even if you aren't Jewish. The insights into the Jewish mindset are priceless and will have you laughing out loud. You will moe than likely recognize yourself if you are a Jew or if not then you'll recognize your Jewish friends.

Fogel, Bryan and Wolfson, Sam. "Jewtopia: The Chosen Book for the Chosen People", Warner Books, 2006.

Funny Jewish Humor

Amos Lassen

One of the great traits of the Jewish people is our ability to laugh at ourselves "Jewtopia" gives us just that outlet. The book is somewhat based on authors Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson's play which they created in 2003. They look at Jewish life and at themselves and have great fun laughing. The jokes are over the top and totally irreverent but that seems to be what makes them so funny. In the nine chapters in the book, you get a look at everything Jewish in a way that you have not looked at the Jewish religion before. I had a hard time turning the pages because I was laughing so hard. The first two chapters of the book deal with Jewish history in a very unhistorical way. If what us written in the book is, indeed, the history of the Jewish people than I should have paid more attention as a kid. The historical survey contains maps and insets and vocabulary as well as valuable little tidbits that are not taught at Sunday school.
Chapter 3 is a guide to the Jewish holidays and I guess I have been celebrating them wrong all of these years. In fact there are some new holidays that I never knew about such as Blachahbarchooeschai Day. I also learned that the things that I thought we were begging forgiveness for on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, were all wrong. There is a whole new list of things to atone for like telling a homeless guy that I had no cash right after I had just withdrawn money from the ATM about 20 feet away. An entire new explanation of the Seder plate used on Passover further enlightened me as did the section on Christmas vs. Chanukah.
Chapter 4 enlightens on the subject of food. There is a list of things to do in order to keep kosher like not eating fruit with mites and not drinking wine that has been touched by a non-Jew. There are also some interesting rules for eating such things as bagels and smoked fish.
In chapter 5 we have the Jewish guide to life--"from bar mitzvah to bowels" and that seems to be pretty inclusive just as is chapter six which deals with travel: "planes, trains and diarrhea". Chapter 7 looks at the stereotypes within the Jewish religion with a great deal of emphasis on the Jewish nose which is something that really needs no extra emphasis. We are all certainly aware of Jewish conspiracies and this is the subject of chapter 8, subtitled "Do Jews Control the World?" (Notice please the question mark).
We finally get to the last chapter with our sides hurting from laughter and are presented with the final exam, "How Good a Jew Are You?" I am proud to say I passed. Throughout the book there are eight phone conversations with Jewish mothers which are sure to give you new insight into the Jewish religion.
I especially love the note in the travel section which stated that if you are tired of living with Jews then you should move to Arkansas. I can identify with that.

Sure, it's not a masterpiece of literature, but it was a quick, cute read that made me chuckle pretty frequently. I disagree with the person below who said the writers are ashamed of being Jewish. Nah, not true at all. They just have a sense of humor about certain aspects of their religion and spirituality. I received this book as a gift from a friend, and I would recommend it to other Jews who are proud of their faith, but also don't take it so seriously that they can't have a giggle at their own expense once in a while.

This is a very funny book about self-stereotypes of american jews. The conversations of the authors with their mothers were probably the funniest.

I run a singles organization, and am constantly in search of good reference materials. I happened to get an ebook online from a man called David Deangelo who sells and markets a whole line of materials of this same genre. Part of his program consists of audio CDs with dating gurus, one of which was David Wygant. I kept this CD in my car for over a month literally laughing at that great material. In the interview David came across as confident, relaxed, and inventive. I only wish this book was as good as his interview, but it does highlight all the basics of his philosophy in meeting a partner. He covers all aspects, atttitude(sometimes called inner game), attire(what to wear), presentation(the importance of good hygiene), and more. I feel alot of people can benefit from his audacity, and mantra. However this book falls short in it's own merit from it's approach, I only wish whoever was his writting coach(since David himself is not a writer), would have brought out more of his humor thoughout the book with lots of examples or fun stories. Overall this is a good book, which will give most people the necessities they need to find their perfect someone.

It always baffles me as to the complaints about dating books. Did anyone really think there was that one book that would open up the clouds with profound dating revelations? Yes, this is coming from someone that "surprisingly" isn't the author of the book or a planted review.

At any rate, Wygant's book isn't ground-breaking and that's the prime reason for the four star rating. However, for the remaining stars left, Wygant's book packs as much useful dating advice than most books out there. Always Talk to Strangers provides much common sense such as dressing well, smiling, and not being afraid to talk to people. However, it's the way Wygant goes about all of this that's helpful since many of us weren't born with common sense or taught half of these truths in junior high.

For me, the personal grooming/hygiene sections are extremely self-explanatory and for me useless. Sadly enough, I have more than a few friends that could take a solid look at this section.

Among the most helpful sections are where to meet women, props to use in conversation, and varying techniques to "close the deal" after you've been talking to a woman for a while. In addition, Wygant poses several different questions that you should ask yourself whenever approaching a woman that you fear rejection from. Furthermore, there are great sections on both internet dating and blind dating that are definitely useful.

Is a majority of this common sense? The first few sections on hygiene, grooming , physical/mental makeover, and dating myths are. However, the rest of the book had a lot of stuff I'd given little thought to or never thought of altogether. If you call that common sense, then so be it. However, most of Wygant's advice has definitely helped improve my perspective on dating/picking up women. For the price of $3-4 on Amazon Marketplace, what have you really got to lose?

-Travis.

Men, cut that mullet or trim that ponytail! (p. 42) Women, teased hair is out! (p. 41) (Just in case anyone has been asleep since the B-52s debuted or models her hair style from Gary Larson cartoons.) And not only does dating coach David Wygant tell daters to put a Q-tip in your ear, he gives you step-by-step instructions on p. 44. And, men and women, for goodness sake, trim that nose hair! (p. 49.)

Get the feeling the advice in this book is rather basic, common sense stuff? You're right. Granted, it's not all about grooming, although most of those tips are common sense as well. Advice includes how to: fill out internet profiles, start conversations with anyone (and gain the courage to do so), ask for phone numbers, and tell if someone's single. Hint - that wedding ring is a BIG clue (p. 158). But Wygant goes beyond the wedding ring to less obvious clues.

I have mixed feelings about the book. It's virtually all good advice, although I know happily married guys with ponytails. And there's none of the silly dating "play hard to get" Rules type of advice. I would think a lot of people will already know most of this stuff (although I've been on some dates from hell with guys who didn't). Anyway, here it is in one place to possibly serve as a motivator or refresher to someone who is just entering the dating scene or who has been out of it a while. It's a particularly good book for folks who are shy or who have difficulty starting conversations with the opposite sex. I suggest checking it out of the library first, lest you purchase this book only to find you knew about 98% of this stuff.

Mr. Greenstein wasn't being accurate earlier with regard to the section, "The Entitlement Myth." Although we respect his opinion, we beleive he has taken our work out of context. Here are the first few paragraphs of that section for future potential readers.

"I can't tell you how many clients have come to me and said, "David, you're my last resort. I've done the right things. I've been a good person. Yet, nothing ever happens to me. I never get asked out. I'm alone and I'm tired of being alone. Aren't I entitled to a little happiness?" My response to them is a resounding, "No."

People aren't entitled to happiness. People have to work for happiness just as they have to work for a successful career, and in the very same way they have to work and save for a house, a car, a stereo, retirement, or even to maintain friendships.

When you believe you're entitled to something, you won't go after it. You passively wait around hoping whatever you feel entitled to will be handed to you on a silver platter. When no one serves it up to you, you become angry, upset, and frustrated. "Damn it," you proclaim. "I'm a good person. I do the right things. I'm entitled to this." You become reactive, instead of proactive."

You be the judge.

I bought this along with a few other self-help books, and this one was probably the most realistic. The overall tone is sincere but firm, which I think is a good thing especially with a sometimes delicate subject like dating and love. I think the title may be a little misleading, and perhaps a more fitting one would be along the lines of "Dating Advice for Nice People," but I guess I can't critique that since titles are supposed to catch your attention and well, I own the book now.

Like I mentioned, this is a good book for nice folks -- those of us who aren't exactly the flirtatious type. It really appeals to people like myself who have always thought "Well, it will happen when it happens" and are now in the mind frame of "I want to make it happen, now." While I can't say from first-hand experience that the advice and tips actually work, I can honestly say that they seem reasonable. I like how realistic he is about dating, and this book really put into perspective what it might be like to be "proactive" and ask a person out.

One thing I love about this book is that it warns against going to bars to find a date. For those of us who aren't that impressed with alcohol and don't see a get-together primarily based on the presence of booze appealing, this is a relief to read. He shows that it's possible to meet people in everyday places like the coffee shop, the movie theater and even the university library.

It's easy to read because the sections are divided to help you read what you want and pass over what you don't want to see. For example, I have no interest in online dating and getting set up on blind dates. It was easy to skip those parts because I just moved on to the chapter for meeting people on my own.

It's a good book. I actually read the whole book cover-to-cover (minus the two sections stated above) in one sitting and felt satisfied with what I had learned.