Buck Books

I read this years ago and passed it onto my mom, sister,3 brothers, 2 aunts and one of my uncle's were reading it right before "KATRINA". As we can guess it perished with a few other good reads. This book had me wanting go knock on the author's door and hug/kiss her. I'm a native of New Orleans and moved to Atlanta Nov/2003, this book is worth me buying again and again. I feel so connected to it. You will feel like you are sitting in the house with these people, while reading it. I even let some co-workers, from other cities read it, and they felt like they were there through every word. This book is riveting and the sequel, Sweeter Than Candy is a great follow up. I just wished she would have written some more. She is one of best writers ever. GOOD READ...GOOD READ...GOOD READ...GOOD READ!!!

I own all three of Ms. Jacksons books. This book is awesome. All three were good however this is my favorite of them all. The story is moving and real. I feel as if I know the characters, they are so alive. I live in New Orleans and Ms. Jackson captured the soul of its roots, heritage, and the way "Neworleanians" think. I am looking for the 4th book that was supposed to be released "HOT BOILED CRAWFISH, CORN, AND POTATOS"
I am eargarly anticipating this release!

I really enjoyed the story of Peggy and Clint. I thought it seemed so realistic. Their lives were so different but they still managed to keep their love strong. Though there was a difference in age, I still love the chemistry between them. Peggy was very mature for her age and I think that is what impressed Clint the most. Thumbs up to Rhodesia for this great novel based in my hometown New Orleans.

Ms. Jackson has realy outdone herself with this effort. Growing up in the New Orleans metro area (Mandeville), it seemed as though I was reading the story of my life. This book touches on many aspects of the disticnt class systems that exist in Louisiana. These are many things that I experience there. I love New Orleans; good and bad. This book cuts no corners in presenting the full story for readers not only to enjoy but also to learn from. It was both sad and delightful at the same time. Most of all, the book brings up all the elements that make Louisiana and New Orleans in particular, so special.

Thank you Ms. Jackson for this story and resulting reflection.

I really enjoyed the book. It reflects on the lives of my people in which I am always eager to read about. This particular book however takes place in one of the cities I have yet to visit and is also a part of my heritage as well. I believed the story was very easy to read, follow, and very, very realistic. For instance; the stereotypes that we, as African-Americans place on ourselves. It just goes to show you that, unfortunately, prejudices even exist in our own culture and will continue to do so until we will come to realize and understand that we are all the same and are sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. Just think of all of the people and experiences we alienate ourselves from because of prejudgment on the basis of outside appearances. I also loved the main characters; Peggy and Clinton. I can somehow relate to their trials and tribulations and also, their triumphs. One thing that I really loved about them is that they finally confessed to each other about their insecurites about their differences and are learning to deal with them together. Now, if only they would stop letting outside influences come between them, they should be alright. I am looking forward to the 3rd book; please write it soon. I believe you are very talented and I'll try not to sound condescending, but I am proud that someone of my generation, gender, and most importantly, my ethnic group can project the experiences of our people truthfully and also write in a way which will attempt to challenge our fears, stereotypes, and prejudices.(I've also read "Sweeter Than Candy" as well.)

Thank You

Helen Marlin

I recently dug my copy of this book out of a box as I was cleaning my office...and as I sat on the floor leafing through it, I realized how much it still rings true, even though it was published a few years ago. Mr. Melin--thank you for this gem. I've dusted it off and put it back up on my bookshelf for easy reference.

Such an entertaining and informative book! I read Mr. Melin's book when my business was going through some difficult times...my staff was not performing as I'd hoped and my finances were a mess...I thought it was the end! Luckily, I stumbled upon "Bang for the Buck" in a local bookstore and scanned its pages. To make a long story short, it made all the difference. I got my business back in order, found the best staff and learned how to work with them to get the results I needed. Extremely beneficial and worthwhile business book--beautifully written, easily read.

Such an entertaining and informative book! I read Mr. Melin's book when my business was going through some difficult times...my staff was not performing as I'd hoped and my finances were a mess...I thought it was the end! Luckily, I stumbled upon "Bang for the Buck" in a local bookstore and scanned its pages. To make a long story short, it made all the difference. I got my business back in order, found the best staff and learned how to work with them to get the results I needed. Extremely beneficial and worthwhile business book--beautifully written, easily read.

This is, by far, one of the very best business books around. It offers solid advice in an easy to understand, friendly manner. Will surely give your business or any endeavor a lot of bang. Bravo!

The writer has done a magnificent job entertaining the reader. Now that that goal has been met what else is there? The book itself. Well designed, great printing work, terrific cover and paper. It actually held together while reading through the entire treat that Jamis McNiven has brought us. Laugh? All the way through. If this book had been published in New York, it would have made the Times bestseller list. Bring on more Mr. McNiven.

I spilled mustard on Zsa Zsa Gabor's face and it wiped right off---the quality of paper is that good! But more importantly this book is beautifully written, engaging, and funny as hell. So if you're in the mood for a little entertainment in a serious world, a good beach read, or a book that will make that cross-country or intercontinental plane flight seem as if it took only minutes, this is the book for you.

Breakfast at Buck's is a delight. Jamis is inspirational as a writer and a person. The history of the dot-com-boom-and-bubble-and-bust is all here. Jamis explains that he is personally responsible for the bust, in fact. Such a relief when people admit their mistakes. Read it for the laughs and get a surprise jolt of true inspiration. It's a joy.

Neither Jamis-the-person nor the story-of-his-life-to-date fit neatly into categories, boxes, bowls or baggies. This book illuminates Jamis' unique ability to explore and exploit and expand on his myriad adventures in a wonderfully personal and articulate way. I'm sure he'd loathe being tagged as "inspirational," but who cares? Anyone who does what he's done, and has the artifacts and scars and sparkle and a real life to prove it... well, that's sort-of inspiring, right?

This book is a fun read, a terrific peek at the world from Jamis' eyeballs and the fertile, creative mind behind them.

It isn't a cookbook; pancakes are irrelevant. It's mainly personal ethnography, social observation, and cultural history. It's set in the place that has probably had more impacton peoples' lives world-wide, over the past two decades, than any other spot in on the map.

So -- for those of us who miss David Sedaris (did he have to move to Paris just to smoke legally?), there's Jamis. Much closer, no passports required, and he usually speaks our language. And THIS book has terrific, scandalous, humorous photos, too.

The author does and excptional job on cleaning up some of the objectionable language, and brings to the readers a truly enjoyable book on early "African safari" type activities. Something that young readers as well as old can enjoy.

November 2000, p 554 History of Science & Technology

38-1532 QL61 99-86898 CIP

Buck, Frank. Bring 'Em Back Alive: The Best of Frank Buck, ed. by Steven Lehrer. Texas Tech, 2000. 248p bibl index afp ISBN 0-89672-430-1, $28.95

In many ways, this is a delightful book. Buck was a familiar and heroic figure to many growing up in the 1930s and 1940s; the numerous illustrations recapture those days. The great zoos of the day owed much to him, partly for the specimens he obtained for them but even more for the publicity he generated and shared. His exploits could not and should not be repeated today, but that should not detract from the sense of adventure his stories evoke. His persona was mirrored in the white hunter in King Kong (the Fay Wray version), but his real life adventures were even more thrilling. The comments by Lehrer (Mount Sinai School of Medicine) are interesting and useful, and his choices of episodes from various of Buck's books are well done. All in all, this is an extremely entertaining book, illustrating a different time and written in a way that brings that time to life. General readers. -F W. Yow, emeritus, Kenyon College

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A timeless classic of adventure and daring for anyone who 'likes to sit on the edge of his chair and gasp for breath.'-New York Times, 1930 In 1930, the publication of Bring 'Em Back Alive, an instant best seller, made its author, Frank Buck, an international celebrity. These animal stories told by the intrepid Texas animal collector and jungle adventurer enraptured generations of boys. Buck spent his life capturing alive every kind of animal, from birds to snakes to elephants. Because there were no tranquilizer darts in those days, he learned to build traps and snares in ways that prevented injury to the animals he caught. Buck always accompanied his animals on shipboard to America to be sure they were well treated, and refused to sell to anyone who did not have an impeccable reputation for animal care. The creator of the Dallas zoo in the 1920s, Buck was a hero ranking with Lindbergh, Ruth, and Dempsey. The dashing and powerful Buck leapt easily from Simon and Schuster's published pages to the silver screen, portraying himself in Wild Cargo and Fang and Claw. This edition, expanded and edited by Steven Lehrer, captures not only the best of Frank Buck, but also the excitement and glamour of an era and lifestyle that still hold readers spellbound.

...

Between 1910 and 1940, when Frank Buck, the big jungle man, did most of his work, cruelty toward wild animals was generally condoned in the name of "hunting" or "sport."

That his trademark motto, "Bring 'em back alive," made him famous, however, indicates that even in his day human consciousness was high enough to appreciate his respect for animals. Today this consciousness is so widespread that no one could become a hero of his stature by trapping jungle animals for profit.

But he understood animals and respected them, even displayed toward them the care of a mother for her child. When they were injured or sick, he personally tended them, a risky business. A 600-pound tapir he was treating almost killed him. A python saw him as a meal, and a cobra spewed deadly venom in his eyes. Attacked by another cobra, he threw his coat over the snake and pounced on it. He held it beneath him as it wriggled to get free until aides could get a grip on its head and pull it out, like a bird extracting a worm from the ground. The python that had him in its grip was one of the very few he had to kill. He managed to get one arm free enough to reach his sidearm; then he put three rounds in the giant reptile's brain.

From his headquarters at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, he operated a collecting network that spanned the lush jungles of Malaya, Borneo, Sumatra and India. Over the years, he brought back hundreds of thousands of birds and animals of all kinds for sale to zoos, circuses and private collectors. In 1922, he provided Dallas with an entire zoo of more than 500 specimens. In 1948, he returned to his hometown of Gainesville, Texas, to dedicate the Frank Buck Zoo and the Frank Buck Zoological Society.

From Mr. Buck's eight books, Steven Lehrer has selected the "best" of the material. He has fine sensibilities as an editor. However, the books are so full of good, old-fashioned, movie-serial-type adventures in wild, exotic settings, that Mr. Lehrer could have closed his eyes and picked 19 chapters that would make a good collection. The surprising thing is that, until now, no one else has.

What few could have done better, however, is write the illuminating introduction summarizing Mr. Buck's early interest in animals and birds as a boy in Plano and along Turtle Creek, and his brief dalliance with crime, marriage and other enterprises before setting out on his lifelong search for "the source of the wind, the mouth of the river, the oceans to which the fish swam, and the far lands to which the birds flew."

Free-lance writer and reviewer Tom Dodge lives in Midlothian; his new book is Tom Dodge Talks About Texas.

So much of Janet Bucks poetry resonates with the reader. Few people who have spent time with her poems are not personally touched by them, and her voice never leaves me wondering or unsatisfied. She is, in short, one of the best poets on the Internet or the book shelf, and deserves to be everyone's library who appreciates a strong poetic voice.

I first knew Janet's work online, and have featured several of her poems at VLQ (vlqpoetry.com). She is one of the finest poets I've read, translating grit to beauty through stirring images. Hers is a voice well worth listening to. I guarantee you'll learn something about yourself in the process. I did.

Truly a collectors item from the internet's most widely published poets. Janet turns disability into ability. The strength of these words stay with you. I've never read a better poet.

You can find many of Janet's poems on the web, where she has been publishing intensively for the last 3-4 years. That's how I cam to her strong poetry, where medical madness reigns, as well as compassion. This is one of the best poets I have read in my life.

Beautiful book, a fireside friend, lots of lavish pictures and interesting stories, this book is genuine stress therapy in itself, I first came across it in a genuine French fabric store for more than double Amazon's price, glad I waited and I'm delighted to own it.

This is a lovely book - suitable on any coffee table.
I had been looking for a book on Caribbean architecture - historic and contemporary, but had come up short and this book too, did not fit the bill. I found it is mostly about the FURNITURE of the French Caribbean islands. As such, it does an excellent job and in that way, it is fairly similar to the author's other book `Caribbean Elegance'. It certainly has the same look and I think some of the examples may be the same. The pictures are lovely, the furniture is quite unusual and the text proved interesting, though I could have had more.
The closest I have come to finding a book on Caribbean architecture is `Caribbean Style'.

Sure this could be seen as another stylish table topper where we imagine ourselves sipping bellinis while overlooking fishermen--but what's rare in French Island Elegance when compared to the other three inch thick coasters, is that the author and photographer really did their homework. This is not an embellishment. It's not an ambiance bound between covers either. Connors discusses the rare qualities of Martinique, Guadaloupe, Marie-Galante, and Saint Martin in their own histories of sugar plantations and tobacco dynasties. He examines, quite aesthetically, how the cross section of economic and social histories compose a unique archicture and style not yet lost to the modern world--no, it's not just a pretty book for the coffee table after all.

Having read Dr. Connors' previous books, Caribbean Elegance and Cuban Elegance, I looked forward to French Island Elegance. I was not dissapointed.

Once again Dr.Connors has provided us with a well-researched and easily readable narrative accompanied by Bruce Buck's sumptuous photographs. The two of them have developed into a winning team.

French Island Elegance will not only look great on anyone's coffee table, but is a wonderful resource on a subject that heretofore has had none.

This book is a great source of information for those who need more organization in their office. There are tips to benefit clerical staff as well as administrators. The suggestions are easy to follow and can be adapted one at a time.

Successful scheduling is a hallmark of a successful and productive classroom. "Get Organized!: Time Management for School Leaders" is a complete and comprehensive guide for education professionals to maximize the value of their time and spend it wisely. Citing the tips as easy to execute and easier to follow, "Get Organized!: Time Management for School Leaders" should be considered by every school leader and for community library education collections.

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to organize your work environment and your life...you have to get Frank Buck's book! I know him personally and his tips work. Each day he leaves his desk clean because of the system he shares in "Get Organized: Time Management for School Leaders." You really don't have to be in education to benefit from the time management strategies. The book is an easy read and his practical ideas can be implemented immediately. What are you waiting for?

I just finished Frank's book, and, despite the plethora of time management books available, I found his to be refreshingly practical. You can tell he has been in the trenches of school leadership, as his useful suggestions address the realities school leaders face. Whether a teacher, principal, or any other school/district leader, you'll find at least three ideas you can use immediately.

If you are a deer hunter-buy this book! The short stories about the 40 greatest deer of all time and photos of these beasts are enough to make the heart of the most seasoned deer hunter thump with buck fever. Since my purchase of this book, I have bought three others for my three lucky hunting buddies. What a book!

Anyone who has the "fever" will love this book. Some of the stories in this book are almost fable like. If you like this book, check out World Record Whitetails for an even more in depth look at large bucks through the past century.

This book is great. The stories behind each magnificent animal makes you feel like you were there on the hunt. Very insightful info on the Big Bucks that have been made famous. I am looking forward to the second book Legendary Whitetails II. You won't be disappointed with this one. My hat is off to Dick Idol!!!

Reading this book was enlightening. I came away with the realization that what happened to these people can happen to anyone. Most of the people in the book were ordinary people that just went out hunting. Some were "trophy Hunters" but many were just subsistence meat hunters that were out looking for food to feed their families. Many of them would typically have been happier shooting a nice young fork horn or a doe.

Anyone that is a Whitetail deer hunter would enjoy this book thoroughly. I could not put it down once I started reading it. I can't wait for volume two.

This readable, non-intimidating book can save many financial lives from ruin. All it takes is one solid hour of quiet time to read. Even the words are simple! For those of us with busy schedules and lack the time to thoroughly contemplate how to improve our financial health, this book will definitely help fix major problems. Also, this book turns common financial wisdom on its head: for instance, never negotiate a car payment or any other sort of loan based on the monthly payment. If you want more details, buy the book!

Great book. The author leaves out the financial rhetoric, and tells you how things really are in an easy to understand format. A must for college students, and anyone else who is needs a little help making sound financial decisions. Do you really think the salesman who is working on commission is going to give you straight answers about the product he is selling. Get real and read this book.

As important as money is, most of us don't have a clue about how to manage it.

Most of us have the feeling we could probably know more than we do about our money, but we don't know where to find the information.

Most of us don't have the kind of money that requires us to have estate planners, financial consultants, or a full time accountant. However, we do have loans, homes, impending retirement, and hopefully, a savings account.

Tom Martin's book "More Bang For Your Bucks" plainly discusses important financial topics without going over our heads. Each chapter provides real life scenarios, charts, and comparisions to help readers make informed decisions about their money.

This book is great for people at any age, but it would make a great gift for college students. I have given this book to two, so far.

this book is very informative. very organized and sound financial advice. definately recommended.

I've always been an admirer of the philosopher Abelard, and like everyone else, I found the story of his love affair with Heloise very touching. So naturally, I jumped at the chance to read a book like this. And I was not disappointed. This book was very well written. Rather than painting Abelard as an egotistical, condescending, self-absorbed brute as some writers have (I'm pointing a finger at the author of "Stealing Heaven"), this book portrays him in a more sympathetic light. In this book, he is more accurately depicted as a deep and insightful man. Helen Waddell builds on what we know about Abelard, rather than making a bunch of wild guesses. Her writing style, too, is vivid and eloquent. "Peter Abelard" is a must for anyone who is into the story of Heloise and Abelard or anyone who likes a good book. I highly recommend it.

(But whatever you do, DON'T blow your hard earned money by buying "Stealing Heaven") :)

As a PhD student in theology with a background in medieval French history and literature, I've long been a fan of both Abelard and Heloise. Waddell's treatment of their tragic lives is nearly as timeless as they are. I like the fact that Waddell knows what she's talking about--her grasp of Abelard's revolutionary theological ideas (especially at the very moving close of the book, when he's working out his theory of atonement) is the furthest thing from superficial. It's precisely because of her scholar's knowledge that she's able to create a richly-woven setting for her two protagonists. This is something I've not found in any other treatment (especially *Stealing Heaven*, which is ghastly). She doesn't attempt to sensationalize the love story, and there's nothing in the way she presents things that's either anachronistic on the one hand or stilted (in that self-conscious, I'm-writing-medieval-dialogue way) on the other.

I didn't find her Heloise at all bloodless; in fact, quite the opposite. I was pleased that Waddell lets us see Heloise's brilliant intelligence and intellectual fervor. (Abelard fell in love with her mind as much as anything). It's a shame this book is out of print here in the States. For anyone with an interest in the story of Abelard and Heloise (or even for anyone who simply likes good prose and well-done fictionalized history), this is a book that sould not be missed. It's a lovely, sometimes stunning read.

A well-written tale of two historical characters. Lovers of romance fiction and of great fiction in general should not miss reading this book of the tragic and enduring love between abelard and heloise. Sublime.

This book was recommended to me by an utterly fascinating, extremely well read man I met in India. Just the fact that it is his favorite book convinced me to read it. The beauty of the prose is breathtaking, haunting. Even as someone who is decidedly not a Catholic, or even religious (making it an opportunity to learn about medieval Catholicism), I found Abelard's spiritual journey profoundly moving, particularly in the end when his faith is restored. It is one of those books, like most of Nabokov's and many of Turgenev's, that is so beautiful it cannot be absorbed in one reading. A note on the story: as the title implies, this book is first and foremost about Abelard. His famous love affair with Heloise is treated as but one aspect of his remarkable life. Even so, it is well worth it, even for those with little interest in the man himself.