Burton Books

The Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series is just wonderful; it's like a "Cliff Note" of the opera, and extremely informative and educational. I particularly like the size; these guides are not cumbersome and fit right into my shirt pocket. The ladies will find sufficient room in their pocketbooks.

The story narrative with the music examples is excellent. I prefer it to a libretto; indeed, it's a much easier way to follow the essence of the story. The essay is magnificent; very well written, not pedantic, and extremely insightful and comprehensible. I congratulate Burton Fisher for a job very well done and Amazon for making these handy, information-laden booklets available. The Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series is a wonderful contribution to opera education and opera appreciation.

My tip: acquire the entire collection because you will be in easy reach of superbly presented opera guides consisting of story analysis, principal characters in the opera, story narrative with music highlights, background, analysis, and commentary.

Heinz Dinter, Ph.D.

I have read this book and My girlfriend and I enjoyed trying all of the positions and ideas. It explains with being too eastern sounding. Can't praise this book enough.

I bought this book looking for reasons why my elders consider the 1986 EDSA Revolution so special and why Ninoy Aquino was so revered and the Marcoses so reviled.

This book didn't disappoint as it provided a glimpse of history - from the moment Ninoy Aquino stepped into that China Airlines flight to the ascension of his widow Cory Aquino to the presidency. Sandra Burton who was with Ninoy during that flight provides us with first hand accounts of Ninoy's assassination, the failed coup that brought about People Power as well as Cory Aquino's presidency.

More significant in this book was Burton's own take as history was unfolding. Particularly poignant is her analysis of the Filipino psyche. I came across these lines which described squabbling within the opposition ranks after the Aquino assassination in p. 314.

"Both sides (Aquino and Laurel) knew unity was essential if they were hope to beat Marcos, yet neither could overcome its own prejudices or rise above its petty interests to compromise. The concept that 'No man is an island' was not one that Filipinos readily conceded, perhaps because they belonged to an archipelagic culture. Not until they found themselves poised on the brink of disaster, could obstinate individuals finally be convinced to consider the collective good"(parenthetical notes mine). - words that still ring true today in a land of impossible dreams.

Published in 1950, this book portrays life on various rivers in Missouri from the perspective of a steamboat pilot, to include his northwest trips up the Missouri & Mississippi rivers. This book was a very interesting & easy read. Unfortunately it is out of print and hard to locate.

As a Missouri native, I was particularly interested in reading this book & the book did not fail to please! The author discussed life in Hermann, MO, & smaller rivers personally experienced by me in a canoe (Osage, Gasconade) that most folks have never heard of (unless they happen to be familiar with Missouri). There were also numerous illustrations of steamboats on site & names of other steamboat and river Captains for those that are interested in further research.

The author was well versed & knowledgable on the subject, discussed daily events & sightings of his life on the river & noted the impact of the railroads, which eventually replaced this mode of goods transport. All these factors made the book well worth reading, from a historical and cultural perspective.

This book provides an excellent overview of the complexity of legal jurisdiction in the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) in the years prior to statehood. It covers tribal legal status and the loss of the limited self-government that the five tribes enjoyed prior to the Civil War. For anyone truly interested in the 'wild west' of the region this book explains WHY things were happening.

The author is my grandpa. He passed away a few years ago. He was Dean of Business at CSUFresno, and a great man.

If you have to write APA for university psychology - this is the book to have.

Brilliantly written, clear, concise.

Examples of good and bad essays, good and bad reports. There's just nothing else like it.

Got this to finish a set for our grandchildren. They absoulutely love it, even the four-year-old who keeps mom busy filling his mind with more animal lore. Could not be happier with this traditional set that doesn't need a computer screen to make it work.

Got this to finish a set for our grandchildren. They absoulutely love it, even the four-year-old who keeps mom busy filling his mind with more animal lore. Could not be happier with this traditional set that doesn't need a computer screen to make it work.

The story of Jaen (set in the English countryside in the 1700s) and various other people in her life is engaging and informative about the times. Surprisingly there are many issues that face contemporary women. For example, how to keep from getting pregnant. Jaen is forced into a marriage by getting pregnant accidentally. She must move from all that is familiar to a household full of strangers and leave her beloved sister and mother behind at a young age. She does not love her husband. She keeps getting pregnant, and having children, but she doesn't feel a lot of love for them. Her husband is abusive and gives her no credit for a brain, and she soon acquires a habit of losing herself in dreaminess, probably as an escape. The story goes on to portray how other female characters in the family clash with the social order of the time and come to terms with it.

The book offers great comparison points for girls today, who may have a negative view of what is available to them. If they'd been born a hundred or more years before, it could have been far worse in many respects.

It's not a tragic drama like a Thomas Hardy novel, but I thought it was a worthwhile read. I wasn't bored, and the characters were interesting. They all got a bit of attention, a bit of fleshing out from the writer, and they were all capable of surprising (not predictable). The story would make a great TV mini-series.