Burke Books

If you have a man who just doesn't take out the time to read, introduce him to this book. It's hot, steamy,graphic, and such the ultimate male fantasy read. Greg Burkes' sense of detail is so clear, men will want to instantly BE the main male character. You Go Greg!!!!

Rischelle

This is the first comprehensive whale watching guidebook to come out of Australia (other than the earlier work by Ross Isacc). There is an introduction to whale and dolphin biology, evolution, etc. plus some historical whaling facts and also a chapter on whale and dolphin watching both from land and from cruises. The best part of the book would be its excellent coverage of whale watching spots in and around Australia and New Zealand and the fantastics pics. The thing I did not like about this book was its actual style of writing. I rather read something that was written in the style used in Discovery Travels series where they write in the way that allows you to really picture the place in your head. Overall, still the best whale watching guidebook for Oceania.

While the "Dummies" books might be somewhat moreentertaining, this book gives you far more information. This bookprovided me answers to most all the questions I had, while keeping it simple. I'm no guru, so I needed some education in Win98, as I was using Win 3.11. Some of the other books I've read just leave me wanting a little bit more information. I didn't feel that way after studying this book. It is well laid out and makes an excellent reference while also giving short tutorials.

The one complaint I had was with some of the screen shots. Often there where screen shots that showed two or more different ways of viewing the same information. An example would be viewing your files using the Win95 "classic" view or with the new "active desktop" web view. The book would have a screen shot with each view, but often different things were shown in each shot, so it was hard to compare the actual differences between the two viewing methods.

All in all, I found this book to be an excellent resource.

Wollstonecraft's writings are essential in both the early humanist political theory as well as one of the original feminist writers. Any feminist, French Revolution enthusiest, or student of political theory should read this book. To completely appreciate Wollstonecraft's argument, her respective position in society and own life need also be understood; where some editions include a historical biography. Two drawbacks in reading this book: 1) The language and tangentical writing style of Wollstonecraft is hard for modern readers to comprehend at an average paced reading rate, and 2) that to understand the Vindication of the Rights of Man, Edmund Burke's writings on the French Revolution should be read first, and it is in even staunchier writing style and language than Wollstonecraft.

A very useful collection of readings on the subject of Women in Management. The first part has 5 readings on women in management in Europe, France, New Zealand, USA and Norway & Canada. Fairly good overviews and addresses issues in depth in certain aspects. Part II concerns Careers Development & High Flyers (5 readings). This section is useful and aside from researchers in gender issues, should be read by aspiring ladies who wish to distinguish themselves in the world of work and career advisers and coaches. It is also recommended reading for human resources practitioners to recognise changing trends in careers as well refresh their minds with ideas on gender issues. The readings address issues such as networking as a culturally differentiated career skill, women & expatriation, feminine leadership, women corporate direcors & lessons from careers of successful women. Part III concerns occupational stress and black and ethnic minority issues (4 readings). Part IV (5 readings) addresses the future - organisational and government initiatives. The contributors are eminent academics from both sides of the Atlantic. Well work a read of some of the readings if you are interested in gender issues in the management context with regard to organisational development and occupational psychology. The references at the end of each reading are comprehensive and extensive.

I read the book "You Can Conquer Life's Conflicts" and it really has helped me to overcome some difficulties in life and I am planning to share it with my friends!

Although the 10th Edition provides useful information, I found its coverage of Western China extremely dated. Indeed, the information was so stale that a resident expat in Kashgar questioned whether LP visited Xinjinag prior to releasing the new edition.

I used this book only in Beijing and Shanghai, so I can only vouch for those two sections. The maps of Beijing were great, when they were there. Because the book appears not to have been copy edited, there are lots of references to more detailed maps there are not actually in the book.

Also, the Beijing section doesn't include some of the most interesting areas for tourists to visit. It seems like someone just did a google search on Beijing and listed the first few things that come up, regardless of their interest or relevance to tourists. A major park walking distance to the forbidden city surrounded by cafes, museums and excellent souvenir shops is simply not listed.

Shanghai was a little better.

It is a good book for dreaming though. I am keeping my copy so I can plan ahead for next trip. Before I actually go though I will be buying a different book.

We are independent travelers who usually travel with Lonely Planet. China is changing so fast it is hard to keep any guide up to date, but the travel and site information here was generally accurate and very helpful. I was disapointed in some of the restaurant recomendations.

I was born in China and lived there for more than 20 years. Since I moved to the States, I have traveled in China frequently on business and for family reasons.

I am planning a trip to China with the rest of my family who traveled in China only once in 2006. To help them organized for the trip, I was looking for a guide book. I browsed this book in a local book store. I was shocked to see that it contains so much value-judging commentaries about Chinese history, customs, government policies, etc. Unfortunately the authors seem to understand little about Chinese history, culture, politics, economy and business. Some of their commentaries are blatantly racist. In describing Chinese moving around in their own country (whether Tibet or Xinjiang), on their own free will, the book's use of "hordes" and "flood" is derogatory, if not plainly racist.

I do not intend to buy this book to brain wash my kids: They are going to China with an open mind and will be there to see with their own eyes and to judge on their own. Thank you very much.

I also found quite a few misleading information about some popular sites. Other readers have already commented on some of them.

So thanks to the authors for spending so much time on the commentaries and not enough time on providing accurate information for tourists, I am not buying this lonely planet.

An exceptional travel guide. Do not count on the prices being accurate but the big picture is spot on.

There are two problems with the Lonely Planet guide: it is too heavy for a traveler; it is on the banned books list in China (but my copy was not taken in my last two trips).

Death by Lonely Planet refers to guiding thousands of tourists to a once untouched spot. The Lonely Planet guide is a blessing and a curse.

Like Satinover, I too am a graduate of Harvard and board certified MD. I found this little gem to be nothing more than Judeo-Christian misinformation. Par for the course. Look at the stratified and out-of-balance world that has developed from these very attitudes.

One reviewer recommends that we follow "4,000 years of Judeo-Christian moral standards that condemn homosexuality". Twaddle! What say we follow the billions of years of nature and physics from which we all sprang? The universe (call it God if you must) does not get things wrong. It is very cheeky to think one can overturn or outthink existence.

It is time for a paradigm change. Books like this feed an individual's ego/self which clings to ridiculous concepts like a child grips its blanket. The future will be a rude awakening for those that adhere too tightly. Creating nonsense like this book - which acts to do nothing more than separate - is antithetic to the great world avatars' message to unify. This is counter-intuitive to me, as some advocates of this book claim to follow Christ's teachings.

I will leave you all to it! It is such a shame to see people hungrily devolve when there are so many opportunities in this life to progress and enjoy unifying consciousness on a deeper level.

Homosexuality is a subject which I have read a great deal about, having some friends who are homosexual and others who are bisexual. I have had difficulty buying into the idea that, that is a "gay gene" and that is all there is to it. The person is born to be gay; they have had gay fantasies all of their lives; and they are simply behaving in accordance with the way that God made them. Given that some people have become successfully reoriented refutes this claim; and studies even done by homosexual groups refute this claim. For instance, a study of identical twins where one twin is homosexual; 50% of the other twins are homosexual. This is a much higher percentage than is found in families with a homosexual member; and a higher percentage than found in fraternal twins. Therefore, there must be a genetic component--that is undeniable. However, since only 50% of their twin siblings are homosexual, that means that genetics (and family environment) is not a determining factor.

On the other hand, there is the view that homosexual acts are simply a matter of free will and they just need to stop it. The study cited above indicates that there is more to this than a simple free will choice. Furthermore, some, like myself, are not at all tempted by homosexual activity; and that feels inate to me. So, my point in all of this is, it is simply not a simplistic issue with simplistic answers.

Dr. Satinover addresses homosexuality as the complex issue that it is, examines the studies, examines the pyschology, examines the case history records, and presents what appears to be a very accurate picture of who and what homosexuals are.

Now, if you are overly simplistic in nature, and you are the type who would carry a sign, "Homosexual, you are going to hell" or if you are the kind who says, "God made me this way, and that is that" then Satinover's book won't be for you. His reasoning, his examination of the studies, his positions are going to be too complex for you. If, on the other hand, you have an interest in this topic, no matter what your presuppositions are, you are going to find this book to be a fascinating read.

Now Satinover does deal with homosexuality and the Bible in some chapters. If this is not your cup of tea, then you can skip over these chapters and still not lose his train of thought or his reasoning. On the other hand, Satinover does touch on passages in the Bible which, in times past, have not been well-explained, and his approach is quite enlightening on certain passages of Scripture (e.g., Rom. 1:24).

I have done a lot of reading in this area and have several books which deal with homosexuality. I have visited several websites, both pro and con homosexual behavior, and have read their reasons for their positions. None of those logical excursions really resulted in me feeling as though I understood what was going on and what the issues are. Satinover's book is quite the opposite. Now I feel as though I have a much better understanding of my homosexual brethren.

One final point: Many "Christian" websites which deal with this issue leave you with a vague feeling of moral superiority over homosexuals (if you are not a homosexual) and the feeling that, if you are a homosexual, "It's too bad for you, but we will pray for you anyway." Satinover does not leave this sort of taste in your mouth at any point in his book, even when dealing with the Bible.

In an arena where there are high stakes and tremendous emotional issues involved, Dr. Satinover presents the most objective book that I have ever read on this subject.

My summation:
A) promiscuous anal sex is bad for health
B) male homosexuality promotes promiscuous anal sex
We should stop A by stopping B.

The rest of book gives one-sided arguments for why homosexuality is a choice (and a bad one) and how turning to Christianity can solve this. As a Christian, this book gave me the same feeling I have seeing fellow Americans being rude in a foreign country or males being chauvinistic: what a terrible representative Dr. Satinover is for a part of my identity. The book's unbalanced nature felt like hate dressed up like salve and every chapter was a chore to read.

I read this book -- twice. It is worth reading. You may not agree with it, you may not like it, but you will NOT leave it feeling you've read something penned by a lightweight: Satinover is a heavyweight through and through. That the majority (if not the totality) of the negative reviews here do not proffer a reasoned challenge to even one of Satinover's main points is quite telling. (Surely Satinover, like any of us, cannot be right about everything. But even if 50% of this book is tripe, which is impossible, the remainder would still represent a major challenge to the zeitgeist.)

Just make a deal with yourself. Tell yourself to keep an open mind; in other words, tell yourself to keep a scientific mind, one open to doubt and inquiry. Anyone who tells you that "science" has "settled" a matter does not know science: science is always challenging its own conclusions. Satinover not only knows this, he embodies it: his conclusions about the biogenesis of homosexuality are broad and fair. He does not land on some simple theory or fact; he gives broad attention to the many influences that form the human spirit, soul and mind. Seriously, any person who concludes that the issues of identity and sexuality are COMPLEX is a person worth listening to.

Moreover, he does not reach easy and populist conclusions. For instance, it is thoroughly pop, even faddish, to suggest that because a characteristic is genetic it is ipso facto irresistible or desirable. Satinover is not given to such lazy and easy conclusions; he even rejects the very premise that behavior is CAUSED by one's genes. His methodology is that of a scientist, not of a populist. And he is hardly a politician.

Lastly, his challenge to Christians to rethink their approach to homosexuality is sure to rile the hard-liners on the far right. In fact, this book offers challenges on nearly every page. You will learn something, I promise. Besides, it is worth reading this book just to get to Satinover's concluding chapter. Brilliant.

(Also, let me say that Satinover as scientist and philosopher is a true friend of humanity and freedom, for he denies the mechanistic view of the human brain, and hence strikes a blow at determinism. Satinover believes in free will: he refuses to accept -- and does so on scientific and philosophic grounds -- that we each MUST ACT according to our genetic makeup. He denies that we are prisoners of our genes, at least insofar as genes influence behavior. Anyone who believes in freedom will find this aspect of Satinover's work refreshing. And any shrewd reader will note that it is the propagandists who deny this essential freedom; who deny that we are truly free to be changed, to be healed, to be something other.)

Peace.

Amazon's book description incorrectly labels Dr. Satinover as a "Christian" psychologist. I've met Dr. Jeff and know him to be a kosher Jew (among his illustrious ancestors is Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev, one of the founders of Judaism's Chasidic movement).
The author has brought the chief middah (characteristic) of our first father Abraham (also the father of Christianity, Islam and all the other major religions) to telling the truth about homosexualism. That middah is compassion.
Jewish readers should direct special attention to chapters 14 ("Homosexuality and Judaism") and 16 ("The Pagan Revolution"). The explanation of gnosticism and its chief modern proponent, psychiatrist Carl Jung, will be an eye-opener for even the most well-read and grizzled culture warriors.
A comforting Jewish teaching is "Yaakov Avinu lo meis" (our holy father Jacob never died, not in the spiritual sense). Dr. Jeff's concluding chapter 16 goes into the camp of pollution to show us that the immoral Canaanites never really died either.

I was anxious to listen to this story and it was delivered in no time at all. I love James Lee Burke and this is one of my favorites.

I read quite a bit and my tastes vary. You can confirm that by clicking the little link to see all my reviews.

I must say, however, that I'm having a difficult time with Mr. Burke because he is actually *too* descriptive as an author. His use of the language is uncommonly good for someone writing in the crime/mystery genre. Trouble is, I'm finding that the richness of detail gets in the way of the story. I know the minutiae of the smells and sights and sounds in the Bayou, and the thread count in the clothes the characters are wearing, and the chemical composition of their perfumes and the thickness of their hair follicles.

But there's one small problem: I can't quite figure out what is going on with the story. It is difficult to separate the significant from the insignificant.

Too many characters are being introduced and the scenes jump around such that I have to reread passages numerous times.

Admittedly, I haven't finished this book yet. I'm only on page 70, but I'm not sure I'll be able to perservere to the end.

As I said, Burke's use of language is rich and highly descriptive, reminding me somewhat of Faulkner's description of the deep south in "Light in August." But whereas I had no trouble staying with Faulkner nor with his writing style keeping my interest level high, I just cannot say the same about Mr. Burke. Now that I think about it, I actually started another novel by Burke once, and couldn't finish it. So, this doesn't appear to be an anomaly, but rather a distinct part of Burke's style that simply doesn't work well for my tastes.

I'm not criticizing it as much as simply stating that perhaps it just isn't my style.

I would be curious to know if any other readers here have similar impressions.

James Lee Burke is a joy to read. He knows a great deal about a lot of things and builds them into his stories. The Robicheaux series is really based in large measure on mythology, although this is not readily obvious, and, when it becomes so, sends you scurrying to your mythology books! Burke is also very thoughtful about humanity and the world he lives in, and this becomes quite apparent as you read this series. You can read a general review in my review of Crusader's Cross. I do recommend that you read the series in sequence and take in the UNabridged audiobooks when you can for a really in-depth enjoyment of this series.

This is not a typical Dave Robicheaux book. It doesn't have standard char- acters doing standard things leading to a denouement at the end of the book. The story which is really multiple episodes surrounded by almost a dozen players (and all involving Dave in some way) who all have something to do with a movie being made in New Iberia about the plight of Blacks in 1940s Louisiana.

Once again, many of the characters have been known to Dave for years, even though except for Clete, most he hasn't seen for years. Those that are new to Dave are involved with a murder that happened 40years ago and was never solved. The many who was killed was a union organizer whose son and daughter Dave knew as kids. Their father was beaten with chains and the nailed to a barn door (while still alive) in a mock crucifiction.

No one has ever been accused of the crime and not evidence has ever been found. Even though in the course of the book, Dave is able to figure out the three men who committed the crime, none is brought to justice in the end (though one is killed, one commits suicide, and the daughter of another is murdered). What makes this such a great book is JLB's description of how things 'were done' back in the old days of Huey Long and how little some things change. It's a great history lesson.

The only fly in the ointment, for me at least, is Dave's (read JLB) ongoing distrust and discussion of the incompetence and pettiness of the FBI and it's agents. This seems to be a theme in a lot of mystery books, especially the modern noir style. Maybe the Feebs (or Feebies) need to do some work on their public image.

I enjoyed that JLB is a strong enough writer (an has to power to dictate how his books read) to pull of a story without a true ending.

Many comment on James Lee Burkes character, Dave Robicheaux's detailed discriptions of Louisiana's beauty and that they think he goes too far.....NOT ME! This is what I look for in a book. I want to see and feel what this writer sees and feels about this beautiful southern state. Don't stop! It took me a long time to find you and now, I can't get enough.

I really enjoyed this book, esp Billy Bob and Lucas. I do agree with the one reviewer who stated that the female characters were a bit wooden, however. I found myself completely unable to fathom billy bob's obsession with Peggy Jean, and how he was so oblivious for so long to Temple's feelings for him. But if you can overlook the romantic aspects, the story is complex and gritty. I read it in one sitting. James Lee Burke has quite the way with words, and I enjoyed his phrasings. Will be looking for more of his work.

Billy Bob Holland, attorney, is pitted against an apparently materialistic and immoral "entrepreneur," Earl,who happens to be married to the beautiful woman who deflowered Billy Bob, years prior. Earl's son by a previous liaison, Jeff, is a chip off the old block. Tagging alongside are two Chicano "gang bangers," actually more low riders than gang bangers, Ronnie Cruise (note how he anglicized his name, maybe that's a fad in San Antonio?) and a loco guy named Ramirez who gets boxed to death later in the book. In fact, of these four, only Ronnie remains standing, with Billy Bob, when the final bell rings. There are other women, including Esmeralda Ramirez, who is variously a college student, Jeff's wife, Ronnie's girlfriend, and the girlfriend of Billy Bob's son, not in that order, however. Then there's a corrupt, racist, fat sheriff (what would a Southern town be without one?), and various "white trash" figures who cross back and forth over the criminal line as forces carry them. Well, the result of all this, in my humble opinion, is a three-star book. As others on this website have pointed out, there's a lot to wade through for the action that's delivered, maybe a little too much attention to minor detail. But does this really differ much from Robert Parker describing what his private dick had for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Or from Robert Crais telling us what the sunset in Santa Clarita looked like as the police and FBI surround an upscale single family residence housing three kidnappers? Not really. So, there's something here, but you might have to wade through some of the slower parts, skim it or skip it. Billy Bob's encounter with his deceased crime partner, his ghost, that is, is actually rather interesting, because how often do you get anything even bordering on the metaphysical in this type of fiction? Diximus.

I am a loyal Burke fan, particularly of his Robicheaux books, but "Cimarron Rose" was a slight disappointment. With time and forgiveness under my belt, I cracked open "Heartwood" and found myself swept away. The story has an actual plot, the characters have true struggles, and the narrative flows with sympathy and violence in incongruous dance.

Let's face it, few people can write with the descriptive and allegorical power of Burke. If anything, it can be overwhelming at times, although I prefer to think of it as intoxicating. Then, to keep things in check, Burke pens some of the most forceful dialogue that you'll ever run across this side of the Elmore Leonard and Dashiell Hammett. His characters are electric with their moral conflicts and emotional hangups.

"Heartwood," for me, encapsulated all the things Burke does well: the dialogue, narrative, Greek tragedy themes, and eventual redemption at a price. Yes, it harkens to the Robicheaux books, but I'm warming up to Billy Bob Holland and beginning to see him as his own fictional entity. Although this series lacks the humorous sidekick of a Clete Purcell, it hits home with powerful story and truth.

Mr. Burke, you're starting to convince me...spending time with Billy Bob and Temple Carrol has its payoffs. Do I sense a hint of romance even? I can't wait to read "Bitterroot," the next in the series.

...Billy Bob Holland reminds me of the southern Sheriff played by Bill Paxton in "One False Move" or Chris Cooper as the Texas Ranger in "Lone Star". Or Gary Cooper in those 40's/50's westerns.

'Course, in Lee Burke's Texas, murders and the overall evil men do take on quite a different flavor. *Quite* a different flavor. A Latin gang member is murdered by a lethal drug which has been punched in his face during a so called friendly boxing spar. A wildcatter initally accused of taking bearer bonds--Billy Bob's client--finds his mother's body exhumed and in his pick-up truck out in a dark and dreary field; this is a threat from Big Earl Dietrich to comply with some kind of land development deal with a promise of big resources...he wants IN, but Deitrich would rather just muscle his way in. The wildcatter is married to a blind Indian spiritlifter, who murders an intruder to her home so efficiently and thoroughly it seems like it was done in a mode other than self defense. The Big guy's son seems to have some scandalous problems with his sexuality and Billy Bob has somehow gotten a dose of a rare Asian jungle poison. Add to the mix some insane prison escapees, an able assistant, his son Lucas, and a lil fishing buddy and you have quite an intriging stage for mystery.

Billy Bob Holland himself keeps hearing voices, seeing visions inspired by his dead Rangers partner, LQ Navarro. Whoooo-boy! Would this be a wild movie for a director to take on!

My take on why Lee Burke goes to extremes on describing Deaf Smith and parts surrounding is that it makes his mystery more realistic and if he describes every iota of this countryside-- how it is hot on certain days, rainy on others, what kind of vegetation clings around, if there's a quicksandy, mildewy swamp around---maybe that can help rationalise why each character has his own strange way. An environment that varied and extreme is likely to harbor varied and extreme individuals.

Anyway, this is a great mystery with superb setting and mood. And its so intense and real you can feel the horseflies whizzing at the back of your neck.

I have never written a negative review about a book purchased in Amazon but I am now going to make an exception. The "Billy Bob" series is unbearably overwritten, cliched, and filled with gratitious violence, endless racist references, and chapters that seem always to end with a pompous striving for fine writing. I know Burke can write but these stories are just ridiculous. The female characters are impossibly remote, almost as if they were trapped in a Western novel, the characters speak to each other with mock formality ('sir' is used even when someone is being threatened with emasculation), and about every third chapter one finds a "food" interval: tubs of chicken are devoured, buffalo steaks with blueberry ice cream are washed down with iced tea on the front porch, and for lunch tacos with an iced mug of Lone Star are slopped up at the Mexican cafe on the square. These people must weigh 400 lbs.

It's almost as if Burke said to himself: this is the way to make me 'sum' real money: testosterone threat chapters, followed by by inconclusive encounters with the athletic female private investigator and former corrections officer or with a former high school conquest now married to a rich and corrupt oil man, and then the food feasts followed by riding around the Texas Hill Country on a horse, all three mixed in with random encounters with escaped convicts, cretins borne with severe birth defects, and failed evangelists, all of whom seem to be 'river baptized.'Oh, I forgot the bottomless corruption by knuckle-dragging law enforcement officers. Sprinkled throughout, just for effect,are interludes where Billy Bob, a convert to Catholicism and former Texas Ranger who executed drug mules in Mexico and boasts of it, every now and then drops into church with his youthful sidekick. As most drug mules in real life are poor women with heroin stuffed up their privates, Billy Bob must have been steely hard as a Ranger. Now he is a lawyer who is a graduate from a night law school, perhaps St. Mary's in 'San Antone.' Oh by the way: Who says San Antone but in novels like this or in bad songs?

I grew up in San Antonio and spent a lot of time in the Hill Country and I live in the southwest today; I am sure something like these people can be scrounged up here and there and indeed anywhere, but putting "nigger" or "porch monkeys" in the mouths of the bad guys so many times or clubbings with ballpeen hammers down in the basement seems calculated to draw readers in who secretly enjoy the guilty pleasure of reading this kind of stuff. This kind of fiction is to remind us that the South won the Civil War, especially the redneck, racist, and endlessly ignorant American South. And boy hidy, does it sell!

In Heartwood, you could actually take out a good deal of this ridiculous filler: tone down the racists references because the reader gets the point, take out the food chapters, let Billy Bob actually have a regular and steady sex life like most of the adult world, cut the 'Texas Chainsaw' style violence down to a minimum, quit trying to put Southernisms into everyone's mouth every third sentence, and edit out the dud literary flights, and the upshot would be a fairly decent and interesting plot and story about a failed rodeo rider and his lawyer. But then who would buy it, I suppose Burke would say. But I would ask Burke: is making scads of money so important that you write down to people like this? You are a far, far better writer than this. How about writing a serious novel about Texas today, capturing what is happening to San Antonio and Fredericksburg and the like, given the California (or Hollywood) invasion? Even then you can throw in some clubbings, and some scenes where people are burned to death by tires filled with gasoline dropped on their heads, while their relatives watch.