Burton Books

Back in January, I was introduced to Mary Burton after reading I'm Watching You and while I enjoyed my time reading it, I did have some problems with the book. The killer/stalker doesn't show up till about 100 pages into the book, which kind of sucked. The ending felt rushed and I kept thinking that Zack, the hero of I'm Watching You, should have been dropped from the case once the force found out that his ex-wife Lindsay was the target. That being said, I did end up liking the book, so when I found out that Dead Ringer was going to be available through Pump up your Promotion I knew I had to read it.

I'm glad I received this book, because it's so much better than I'm Watching You. Zack and Lindsay are back, but thankfully they are more in the backburner. The story starts off with a chilling scene, where the killer converses with Ruth, a woman he's just kidnapped and is now holding hostage. He mentions how he is enjoying his time with her, but now it's time to send her to the Family. I loved the prologue. It had me hooked the second I read it and I liked how we got a taste of the killer first.

The killer, Allen, ends up doing this several times sending more girls to the Family. Jacob and Zack investigate the murders and find something very suspicious, each victim looks exactly like Kendall, the reporter from the last book who was almost killed after being shot by the Guardian. Kendall feels a connection to the girls and wants to cover the story, even if her ex-boyfriend and boss, Brett, has other thoughts.

The character development was good. In the last book, I hated Kendall. She seemed like the cliché reporter, who would go to any great lengths for a story. In Dead Ringer, she grew on me. I liked how Mary Burton fleshed out her character and didn't make her such a cliché.

There are a few sub-plots going on, some were good, some were odd. The sub-plot that had me scratching my head was the one of Brett. I don't want to ruin it, but there is a scene in the book where he seems so disgusting and evil. I was hoping more would come from that, but nothing really did. There is a small confrontation, but no solution to the Brett problem. The other sub-plot that was a little odd, but I liked better, was the one involving Dana and Nicole. The tension was there, but it seemed to wrap up a little too quickly and easily.

This was a fun read overall and a huge improvement to I'm Watching You. Definitely pick this up if you are a fan of romantic suspense. And don't worry, you don't need to read I'm Watching You in order to follow this one properly, though you can if you'd like a little more back story to some of the characters.

4/5

There is a serial psychopath on the loose. He is killing off women one by one but this killer loves his women. Each body is found with a necklace engraved with the names of Ruth, Martha and Judith. There's just one small thing...each of the women have a strong similarity to Channel 10 news anchorwoman Kendall Shaw. Kendall loves to cover the top stories but she never thought she would end up becoming one herself.

Kendall has always been the picture of a successful, independent woman but she has a secret...a secret so terrible that she keeps having nightmares. It seems this psychopath wants to dig out all of Kendall's skeletons in the closet for the public to see. Police detective, Jacob Warwick is on the case and he will go to great lengths to protect Kendall. However Warwick was planning on shielding Kendall I don't think death came into the picture, because Warwick just might need to sacrifice his life for Kendall in order to save her.

I really liked Dead Ringer. It grabbed my attention from the first page and held it till the very end. The plot had some great twists and turns that I felt helped build up the suspense throughout the storyline, which really helped with the ending of this book. Let me tell you this ending even took me by surprise. This doesn't happen often to me but when it does it means the author did their job. I liked all the characters in the book but the star for me was the killer. He had this really strong presence throughout the story in addition to the fact that when he did appear it was like I was experiencing everything through his eyes. Usually the killer starts out strong and then dwindles till the end but not in Dead Ringer. I give Mary Burton an "A" plus! Fans of suspense will fall in love with Dead Ringer.

This book follows Burton's I'm Watching You, with news anchor Kendall Shaw and her good friend and pregnant roommate, photographer Nicole Piper, again being the target of a serial killer.

Lindsey O'Neill Kier and her husband Detective Zack Kier are also characters in this book. Set in the Richmond, Virginia area, Detectives Jacob Warwick and Zack Kier are investigating the murder of a woman with a necklace with the name Ruth on it, found in the James River with evidence that her wrists were bound and that she was strangled. Warwick notices a strong resemblance to news anchor Kendall Shaw, a woman he has had a strong attraction to ever since he rescued her.

Kendall denies the resemblance and the danger, and just continues on with her job, reporting on the murders. Kendall, adopted at age three, has had recurring nightmares from her past and has begun hypnosis to help her recover those memories, and has started trying to find the truth about her past. Nicole is facing the birth of her baby alone with Kendall, and is seriously considering adoption. Her ex-husband was terribly abusive, and she is not sure she can ever love a baby connected to him.

Widower Detective David Ayden has developed a special interest in Nicole, but has not admitted even to himself that it might be more. Kendall has also aroused the interest of a handsome new neighbor, Cole. Her ex-boyfriend and boss Brett is also getting more controlling and wants back in her life. Detective Warwick is fighting to hide his continued attraction to Kendall, and not succeeding.

The intensely disturbing scenes of the killer murdering and torturing his victims are uncomfortable. There seem to be a surfeit of nasty people surrounding these women-like Dana, a wealthy real estate saleswoman who kidnaps Nicole at gun point to "take" her baby.

The suspense is riveting, and the romantic turns for all the characters sweet. If you like spine tingling creepy killers, and intense romance, this is one for you.

Armchair Interviews agrees, however the murders of the women were just too disturbing and violence unrealistic.

In Henrico County, Virginia women who look similar to popular Richmond TV news anchor Kendall Shaw are being murdered. Next to each victim the serial killer leaves a charm bearing a single female name that makes no sense to the police.

Homicide detective Jacob Warwick recognized the similarity when he saw the first victim and wonders if the murdered females are practice runs before the psychopath comes after Kendall. Last year he rescued her from the abduction of his adopted father though she took a bullet anyway. He vows to keep her safe even as she insists she is not the target of a maniac while she investigates the serial killer homicides and the police efforts to catch him.

The romance between the cop and the journalist takes a needed back seat (comes on towards the end) to the strong whodunit as both are attracted to one another but argue over her safety. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Jacob makes his connection and never slows down as Mary Burton cleverly keeps the audience wondering who of her two prime suspects is actually the serial killer.

Harriet Klausner

You know you have sure winner anytime you pick up anything by Mary Burton and Dead Ringer is no exception. While I feel her books are a little bit formulatic - there is always an element of suspense to each story that somehow manages to make it unique every time. I find the opening (introductory paragraph) particularly scary - a psychopath who keeps telling his victims that he sincerely loves them - while in the process of killing them - gross and enticing.

In Dead Ringer, a psychopath is on the loose. He is killing women - who are strangers to each other - yet they all have one thing in common - they all seem to look alot like local anchorwoman Kendall Shaw.

From the other side, Kendall has latched on the murders and decides to investigate - all the while denying that the psychopath is doing this as perhaps some kind of practice run before her goes after her.

Of course, it would not be a Burton novel is there was not, somewhere lurking, a handsome (just happens to be single) guy who puts the pieces together and figures out beyond a doubt that this sicko's ultimate target is indeed Kendall (which Kendall still refused to believe).

What goes on from there is a very credible, intriguing and fun ride as both people team up to solve this case before it is too late. While the attraction between Kendall and Jacob (great names!) is palpable, it is not really take center stage in the storyline until well towards the end of the book.

Rather, the intriguing storyline and the hunt for the killer is the main focus and for this reason, I would highly recommend this book - it will grab you and keep you guessing.

Of course, we know that Kendall and Jacob will end up together (or do they?) but the mystery of "who is doing the killing" will not be quite as obvious.

To begin with this reviewer owns index funds and most of them are Vanguard Index Funds. I have no problem with index investing but I do have a problem with this book. To begin with, guys, it`s Jason Zwieg at Money Magazine whom you quote not Jason Sweig.I know it`s a little bit picky but, hey, I put down some serious bucks for the book. Part one you proved your point. Index Funds beat most managed funds. Part two doesn`t do it. What I got was some hazy facts and figures and Burton Malkiel`s portfolio for a 30, 48 and 65 year old person. Should we be impressed? I mean he is the famous author of the book " A Random Walk Down Wall Street". Does he tell us how he thinks those portfolios did in the past---Not to my recollection. Does he tell us how he thinks they will do in the years to come? I don`t think so. And why only three different age groups---Is there something mysterious about the age 48 why not 50. Hey, how about Grandma and Grandpa age 75. Maybe we should write off 80 as you have been around too long. Richard Evans mentions 5 year rolling returns does he show me any--No---My point here is part two should be loaded with facts and figures not points on 401k plans, social security, and should I get an investment advisor. Those subjects are all fine but remeber this book is about index funds. I wonder if John Bogle really read this book. Beth kobliner author of "Get a Finacial Life" gave this book a blurb also---Sorry Beth I have life and this book needs help.

I came to this book for two good reasons. Now I come back to it regularly and I recommend it to others like me. I am an old pro in the advertising business but an amateur investor. My kids are out of school, business is thriving. I have some money to invest and no special feel for the market. This 270-page guide showed me how easy it is to build an investment program that could outperform most conventional "actively managed" mutual funds--and do it at lower risk. It is written in a conversational style, and intended for a wide range of people, from those who know little about investing to active investors.

The book has two parts. The first, documents the advantages of index mutual funds and explains why they will outperform conventional funds.

Part 2 explains "The 5 Giant Steps to Wealth." Here the reader is taken through a series of simple steps that can lead to a superior investment program. Topics include financial and investment planning, blending stocks and bonds, taxes, and timing. I learned the best way to build a diversified portfolio of index funds, balanced to fit my needs.

Evans explains that managers of conventional funds start out with too many strikes against them--invasive sales charges, higher costs, higher taxes, generally higher risk, and other factors. Most basic of all, he said, is human nature: "Whenever the manager of a conventional fund selects a particular stock to buy or sell, he or she is prediciting the future. Human beings do not have that ability. The times when it seems to work are largely a matter of luck--association, not causation."

I was first drawn to this book because I recognized one of its author. I hadn't spoken with Dick Evans in 15 years, he was my boss when I first broke into advertising. He taught me how to write simply, directly and humanly for some very persnickety corporate clients. Dick taught me how to make people want to read. So I picked the book off the shelf. But I bought this book because in it I found someone who would give me some markers, a simple way to make sense, and ultimately a profit out of the tumultuous and unpredictable stock market.

Dick writes like he talks and he's a compelling speaker. He frames his arguments in concise dramatic vignettes, tells you what you're going to learn, pokes and prods you into understanding, then sums it up before moving on. You travel on step at a time. You end up covering a lot of ground standing at some inescapable conclusions and some very simple how-to directions. This is the first investors guide I ever read all the way through. I did what it said. I sleep better. I wrote Dick a note of thanks. Now I can do back to being an advertising man. Read it and reap.

What is an index mutual fund? It is simply any mutual fund that simply mimics a stock index (such as the Standard & Poor's 500, the Mid Cap 400, or an international index). Many people equate these funds with the Vanguard Index 500 Fund, which John Bogle popularized, but many others offer the Standard & Poor's 500 as an index fund . . . and there are many other indexes you can buy mutual funds for. If you want to know more about this subject, this book has excellent explanations in chapter 14.

Let me begin by saying that this book has many flaws. An outstanding book on how to be a very successful index fund investor has yet to be written. But this book goes much further in that direction than any other book I have read on the subject. If you also read Stocks for the Long Run and Common Sense on Mutual Funds, I think these will clear up the missing elements in this book. Some embarrassing typos still remain, but they are annoying rather than fatal.

The book has two parts. The first part compares indexed mutual funds to nonindexed (or actively managed) mutual funds. The second part looks at 5 steps to creating greater wealth using indexed mutual funds.

The arguments in part one basically document that indexed mutual fund returns after taxes and after expenses have been higher than almost all managed (nonindexed) mutual funds over long time period. The reasons mostly relate to higher expenses due to management fees, marketing costs, and commissions caused by more turnover of stocks for the managed funds, disadvantages of a large portfolio for buying and selling, and inefficient tax effects of high turnover in taxable accounts. The authors also look at the effects of perfect information, and how much return you get for how much risk. These arguments are well done and accurate. Two elements that were new in this book included looking at the arguments that Peter Lynch and other active managers have made against indexed mutual funds, and looking at risk versus reward.

The five step process in the second part of the book is:

(1) Get a personal financial plan (with goals stated in dollar terms)

(2) Get a personal investment plan (a strategy to meet your goals)

(3) Invest with a diversified portfolio of index funds, tailored to fit your needs

(4) Get maximum benefits from the tax laws to delay and reduce taxes

(5) Buy and hold your portfolio, after starting as soon as possible.

Each of these points is somewhat detailed with descriptions of various ways to go about it, alternative sources of advice and information, and ways to make contacts with the advice and information. More could have been done on the first category, but the latter two were well done. The reasons for these factors are better explained in most cases in Stocks for the Long Run than here.

I particularly liked the advice to create a worldwide portfolio of indexed funds. Most books on indexing miss that point. The argument is flawed here, however, in only looking backward at what would have worked best in the past. If the rest of the world continues to grow its economies faster than the United States, the best returns will probably be from being overweighted into international indexed funds to reflect the future balance of market values rather than the current one.

The main weakness of the second part is that it lacks much quantification. But if you read the Bogle and Siegel books that I suggested above, those will more than fill in the gaps for you.

You should also be aware that recent evidence suggests that Malkiel's insistence on totally efficient equity markets is coming more and more into question. Our own research at Mitchell and Company supports the growing skepticism. However, active managers have been slow to adapt to the new information about where the markets are inefficient. Eventually, new indexed products should develop to take advantage of these inefficiencies. The main weakness seems to be a preference for basing indices on the financial data that active managers prefer. That's simply our old friend the disbelief stall in action. If the measures that active managers use do not beat the averages, why should indices based on those same measures be the best way to construct an index?

Like all books on index-based investing, this one is long on the arithmetic and short on the psychology needed to be successful. Most people know how to make more money than they do in stock market investing, but do the wrong thing anyway. Until someone makes a more psychologically appealing case for indexed mutual funds, most people will continue to favor the lower-performing nonindexed funds.

I certainly want my dollars invested to yield ME the most. The authors clearly show that managed funds do not put the investor first nor do they match or beat the index funds.

One word why most financial advisors and mutual fund company advertising do not trumpet index funds - greed - from the the money they skim off the top of your investment dollars in the managed funds.

Here is a book on investing that is clear, practical and downright interesting. I've always been afraid of the market, but here, at last, is a book in simple English that makes things understandable. And it's not just information. It really is a guide for an investment strategy that has proven itself not just in this bull market but over the long haul.

A critical study of Sir Richard Burton. Most of his biographers, bowldered by the epic nature of their subject (understandably so, this is one remarkable guy), often smooth over some real contradictions in his thought, less than favorable interpretations, etc.. This author brings Richard under real scrutiny, examining his views on religion, sex, race, and his persona as a "explorer" or "impersonator"; Not much new info; just bringing to light what is usually in the background of most biographies. Perhaps a finer portrait emerges of the man- though its undeniable that some of his statements- esp about race were wildly contradicting. He tries to demonstrate how Victorian attitudes influenced who Burton was- which is obvious in a way, he knew what his countrymen would find shocking and played on it- thus building his persona as a man who flaunted social conventions, though of course in other respects- sexuality, his Stone Talk work- he didn't cater to anyone, - one thing I couldn't help noticing, and which Kennedy points out, though a compulsive, prolific author, and highly opinionated, Burton was not a particularly good writer.

One of the most remarkable men who ever lived was Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton. He was a poet, explorer, linguist, soldier, and translator, with remarkable accomplishments in each of these fields. The best biography of this astonishing and energetic man is still _The Devil Drives_ by Fawn Brodie, but in _The Highly Civilized Man: Richard Burton and the Victorian World_ (Harvard), Dane Kennedy has written something else. His book covers aspects of this multi-faceted man who was busy all his life making his own legend, but who is revealed here as "very much a man of his time, a product of nineteenth-century Britain and its imperial encounter with the world." Kennedy traces the sources of the intellect behind Burton's many efforts, even his famous physical feats such as his pilgrimage in disguise to Mecca or his role in finding the source of the Nile. Among other things, Burton was, as the chapter headings here classify him, an Orientalist, a relativist, a racist, and a sexologist, and Kennedy has taken a useful look at all these roles.

The different chapters with their themes cover Burton's life in a more-or-less chronological way. Burton had a genius for languages and would eventually become fluent in perhaps a couple of dozen of them. His first foreign assignment was to the British East India Company, and although Burton sought glory in battle, his contribution was really to increase the knowledge of the land, the language, and the people. He took his capacity for imitation of other cultures to its most famous exercise in making the hajj in 1853. As Kennedy points out, there was no reason for any disguise; he could have simply have asserted his belief in Islam (a freethinker, he always did value the societal strengths of Islam, and he considered Christian missionaries to be on a misconceived quest) and joined the flood of foreigners in the pilgrimage. But this would not serve his purposes. A convert to Islam (no matter of what degree of sincerity, or how loosely attached to the Church of England) would be outcast from respectable society, preventing him from becoming a national hero and limiting sales of his great _Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah_. Burton's racism was a product of his time, and of his travels in Africa; he respected African cultures, even if he felt Negroes to be inferior and incapable of improvement. Kennedy makes the case that Burton had a relativist conception of culture, but such relativism did not encompass any struggle for improvement of political rights. Burton's value of other cultures included his view of their acceptance of sexuality, an acceptance he found lacking in his own country. Kennedy explains that with publication of his translations of the _Kama Sutra_, _The Perfumed Garden_, and especially _The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night_, Burton intended to subvert his nation's "purity forces." While Burton wrote that the _Nights_ was not fit for women to read, he filled it with strong and independent female characters who exhibited the sort of sexual desire women were supposed to keep hidden. Burton wanted to change British sexual morality, and his views would have grated against the current "just say no" philosophy. "Shall we ever understand," he sighed, "that ignorance is not innocence?"

Kennedy makes the case that not only was Burton remarkable in the many aspects of his efforts, he was eager to "advance the larger epistemological quest to understand, explain, and classify difference." He thus informed Victorian debates on race, religion, and sexuality, debates that are continuing into our own contentious times. Burton is a compelling character, and these essays on different features of his career and interests are filled with important insights about him and about the times of which he was a product.

When I first discovered that a new Burton biography by a professor of history was soon to be published I had high expectations. Upon receipt of Professor Kennedy's Burton biography titled The Highly Civilized Man, I started digesting his work. The asserted themes of the work included 1) placing Burton and his work in context with the larger issues and challenges of Victorian times, and 2) using Burton to better understand the nature of changes beginning to percolate socially due to the interaction of Victorian England with its colonial enterprises. Indeed, as far as I know, this approach is pioneering and insightful. As I continued reading to about page 90, I thought Professor Kennedy's effort was well done, and the book would be another jewel to adorn the crown of Burton research, along with the work of Mary Lovell. I am of the opinion Professor Kennedy succeeded in achieving both this stated objectives. From this standpoint, his book is a success.

The observations of Burton as a harbinger bridging the transition from the Victorian Era to the Modern Era reflect the type of insights one expects from a biographer trained in the rigors of academic scholarship. I enjoyed the in depth academic analysis of Burton from the standpoint of concepts of relativism as applied to notions of cultural difference. Professor Kennedy has also highlighted the role played by Burton in the early development of anthropology as an academic discipline. Social/Cultural Anthropology's primary research methodology is called participant/observation. Certainly, this approach was an inherent part of Burton's nature, and the scope of his anthropological observations were derived by this research approach. I was also glad to see that Professor Kennedy gave particular attention to discussing Burton's Stone Talk and his Kasidah. The earlier biographies did not devote much attention to either of these important works.

As long as Kennedy stayed focused on academic based scholarship he avoided the pitfalls that plagued the earlier biographies that predated Lovell's Rage to Live. Unfortunately, the book digressed into complicated histories that are not fully recounted. Yet, Professor Kennedy felt compelled to make several definitive conclusions sorely lacking the professional level of scholarship a professor should be required to meet. The outcome of Kennedy's failures is a setback in Burton scholarship. Given the effort to place Burton in context, the irony is that the book with notable examples omits necessary context to understand and evaluate some of the Professor's conclusion. For example, the recounted history of Burton firing over the head of a crowd of Greek Orthodox Christians fails to acknowledge that Burton resorted to this solution after trying less violent alternatives, and after he and fellow members of his party were injured by rocks thrown at them. The key point is that Burton used a hierarchy of options to confront unstable situations. This point also relates to the absurd conclusion that Richard and Isabel were role-playing in the desert, and that there is a hidden psychology to uncover. The decision to have Isabel act as Richard's son was an attempt to protect her from rape and death, and to give Richard an option before resorting to lethal force. The Burtons took their personal safety serious as illustrated by their habit of carrying two revolvers and three Bowie knives when traveling.



Professor Kennedy has a mildly obsessive theme about people Burton did not know going into the desert for homosexual interludes that randomly pops up in the book. He includes a discussion of Burton and several earlier biographers who speculated about Burton's sexuality. But Kennedy failed to note those writers assumed Richard and Isabel had a loveless and sexless marriage, and they used outmoded, almost now quaint, modes of Freudian analysis. The illusion of the Burton's loveless marriage was gutted by the original sources brought to light by Ms. Lovell. Professor Kennedy fails to point out the deficiencies of Brodie and Mclynn concerning their analysis of Burton and sexuality. The deficiencies in The Highly Civilized Man about the question of Burton's sexual interests are too numerous to address in a short review nor are the issues he raised concerning Damascus, Crowley and others. Kennedy's treatment of Burton in Damascus is a travesty. Not once does the professor inform the reader that all segments of society in Damascus worked to bring Burton back from his recall. The Damascus treatment is lacking in necessary detail and skewered to the degree that the discussion should have been deleted form the book. It is also one of the examples where Kennedy included information that is extraneous to accomplishing his two professed themes.

The book appears to have been written with segments produced using an academic analysis methodology with other portions written in an almost stream of consciousness with points lacking critical evaluation. Moreover, there are instances of contradiction. This leads one to conclude the work was not scrutinized properly before going to press. The Kasidah analysis includes a conclusion that Burton believed there is no God or afterlife, yet in the chapter titled the Afterlife, Kennedy indicates Burton may have concluded there is continuing life. In fact, towards the end of the Kasidah and towards the end of note 2, Burton makes it plain he has a positive view on a continuing future life. It is not a life however with the attributes of anyone's religious acculturation. The chapter on the afterlife in large part is one of the commendable aspects of this biography.

All of the hallmarks of a work that will withstand the centuries are present in this work if only the good professor would later reissue it, and correct the many deficiencies and expand the themes of Burton as harbinger, Burton as catalyst, Burton as a pioneering mystic and Burton as scribe in the manner of Thoth, the Ancient Egyptian principle of wisdom.

Nineteenth century Western colonialism and imperialism including the Industrial revolution changed Western values and social perceptions and mores, but more so, our awareness of the world as a whole, in terms of defining ourselves against difference. The Victorian influence towards modernism is far greater than historians first realized. One of the most romantic and pivotal figures of the Victorian age was Sir Captain Richard Burton. In Kennedy's critical biographical overview of the man's life and thought, unlike most of the numerous biographies to date, attempts to represent and reinterpret Burton's life and thought in the context of the Victorian era. By doing this, he proposes, we come to understand this highly complex genius in terms of the historical values of the time.

Kennedy outlines Burton's numerous accomplishments as a prolific writer, linguist, (twenty-five languages and many dialects) explorer, archaeologist, spy, amateur physician, translator, artist, poet, expert swordsman and sexologist. He wrote over twenty-five travel volumes containing his many adventures, and translated the Kumar Sutra and The Arabian Nights which is the most often read an quoted in present time. Similar to many of his contemporaries, his studies of Orientalism and African cultures were done in the spirit of difference, or the `other'. Kennedy's thesis is that Burton was a product of the Victorian age but an important precursor to modernism.

As the 19th century has a virtual endless list of incredible men and women, according to Kennedy, what set Burton apart, was "...restless determination to extend the reach of his experience to ever more pockets of humanity and to draw insights from those increasingly varied encounters in order to advance the larger epistemological quest to understand, explain, and classify difference." (p.270) Burton's vast written work, his copious notes and observations reveals this holy quest, his unwavering pursuit of hidden knowledge and knowledge of the `other', strange cultures and bizarre religions until his death in 1895.

The author devotes most of his analysis on Burton's works as a sexologist. Burton's many erotic translations, promoting his notion that Victorian repression of sexual matters and desire is tremendously unhealthy, paved the way for future sexologists to study the subject within a scientific framework. His controversial translations and writings also revealed a sexual hypocrisy that the Victorian age is infamously known for. Rather than study sex on moral grounds, Burton proposed a relativist position, attributing different climates around the world to certain sexual behaviours. We know this to be nonsense, however, including this premise, Burton achieved distance from the moral position, giving his subject a form of objectivity.

Dane Kennedy's approach to Burton is a fresh perspective of the man. He was an individual that accomplished more in one lifetime than many, but he was a man of his times, attempting to define the identity of western culture during a period of vast change. Despite over one hundred years since his death, even a critical appraisal of his life and work, does not in any way lessen his accomplishment nor profound influence in the Romantic age towards modernism.

A Highly Civilized man is a fresh and well-written account of an icon of the Romantic-Victorian age.

A thoughtful book which most of the time attaches its arguments firmly to sources, scrupulously researched. A little verbose at times, tending to fall prey to the current academic fashion of attaching a superfluity of labels (particularly those ending in -ist) to its subject. Certainly there's the intention to 'de-mythologize' Burton and expose him to some quite valid criticisms, as well as plaudits. Kennedy reminds us that J.L. Burckhardt, not Burton, was the first European to travel on the Hajj in disguise. He suggests that in Burton's day, such disguise would only really have been necessary to enter the holiest places; simply because Burton could have professed conversion to Islam. I'm uncomfortable on those occasions when Kennedy states speculation as fact, for example (p63): 'Burton saw an opportunity to tap into this rich vein of curiosity by undertaking the pilgrimage to Mecca and exposing the city and its Muslim faithful to the scrutiny of his Christian Countrymen'. And then, later: "It must be understood, however, that Burton's decision to undertake a hajj in an "Oriental" disguise was directed as much at a British audience as it was at the Muslims with whom he associated during the journey." Although the facts are suggestive that this may be true, no proof is given - that would be very hard to do.

Kennedy concludes (p92) "There is little doubt that Burton too was attracted to impersonation precisely because it provided a way of transgressing against the codes and conventions that governed society, challenging the psychic shackles imposed by civilization." This conclusion could be a little superficial: we might also add that his daily dress of grotesque beard; eyes sometimes ringed with kohl; the brandishing of iron cane, pistol or navaja and his frequent adoption of a truly wicked and fearsome persona ("to shock"), could well have been a part of the same charade - whose ultimate purpose was to divert attention away from self. Did Burton suffer from some profound insecurity and a distaste for who he really was? Was he truly the "Sheep in wolf's clothing" that W.S. Blunt claims? The book had perhaps an opportunity to take this further.

The point is raised that, far from hacking their way through virgin African forest - unexplored territory - as is the general impression (my own, anyway), Burton and Speke took advantage of well-trodden arteries which had been used for slave and ivory traffic by Arab traders for generations - affording themselves of the supply infrastructure and information sources already in place to tend these parties. Wielding what must surely be humour, Kennedy observes that Burton was faced with insurmountable difficulties in the use of disguise on his African expeditions.

The subject of race and Burton's undeniable racism threads its way unceasingly through this book. Kennedy uses the word `troubling' numerous times when confronting it. He employs an early 21st century scrutiny to pass clear judgment on a latter 19th century culture - perhaps unconsciously setting relativism aside.

In 1633, Galileo Galilei was forced to abjure and recant his prior assertion of "...having held and believed that the sun is the center of the world and immovable, and that the earth is not the center and moves." Although we are dumbfounded by this today, we shouldn't be. There are dogmas in place in 2006 which no historian or anthropologist dares to contradict - on pain of professional suicide and even jail in a few countries. These dogmas touch upon versions of history enforced by law and statements upon the subject of race that are officially held to be modern heresies. Thus when judging Burton by the measures of our day with regard to racial matters and, then, reversing the scrutiny and weighing this book's criticisms by my own unfashionable standards; I, as a reader, am forced to conclude that neither one of them has the right of it. I am hit on the nose by the consequences of relativism!

Burton had good and bad to say about everybody - and an awful lot of the bad is directed at white Victorian society (which is nowhere labeled `racism'). The scientist in Burton (and he was a very good one I think) brought out his objectivity; the human being railed mightily and emotionally against slights, insults and injustices; some the consequence of his own misguided actions; some dead on target. I think Kennedy walks into the pitfall of early 21st century political correctness: time and again he is so troubled by negative remarks made concerning a particular race, yet seems to accept those that are positive without demur. In true critique, must we not take exception to all such generalizations? Burton made `hurtful' observations on colour and physiognomy which, I predict, in future times, will be done in the painless language of DNA base-pairs.

Certainly Kennedy cites instances where Burton takes relativistic stands, such as (p155): "There is more of equality between the savage and the civilizee - the difference being one of quantity, not of quality - than the latter will admit. For every man is everywhere commensurate with man". Kennedy then asks "How can these remarks be reconciled with Burton's insistence on the innate inferiority of the African?" Having raised the idea that the contradictions could be ascribed to "an undisciplined and volatile mind", Kennedy points out that such a conclusion would cause us to:

"... miss what may have been Burton's most intriguing contribution to Victorian conception of race. His understanding of race as a closed space defined by difference serves a double purpose: it supports the standard racists' contention that biology is destiny, but it also ventures the view that races have their own systems of beliefs and behaviour, each incommensurate with the other and implicitly standing against a universalist standard of values."

Doesn't that take rather a lot of words to say (without any of the promised reconciliation) that Burton was inconsistent: giving the Victorians a fresh new viewpoint on race while at the same time reinforcing their old prejudices?

The chapter entitled "The Sexologist" thoroughly covers a lot of well-trodden ground; over-trodden one might say. On homosexuality, Kennedy is of the opinion that Burton had probably actually indulged and cites a rather telling letter of Swinburn's in support, yet, knowing this was rather likely (even close to certain), so what? What more can be written about Burton? The answer is evident here: very little. This, by the way, is not a criticism of the book.

The final chapter "The Afterlife" is for me one of the more interesting. Kennedy speculates on Burton's spiritual beliefs and brings out his agnosticism as well as his horror of annihilation at death. In "A Glance at the Passion Play" (I quote the full context which Kennedy doesn't), Burton says (p165), on Spiritualism, " it satisfies a real want, a crave which is to millions - a part only of our kind but numbering millions - the bread of moral life." He then offers a `Spiritualist's Decalogue' of which Kennedy quotes article VI "Death, physically considered, dissolves a certain organic unity; it is not, however, annihilation, but change."

This was an astute selection by Kennedy and brings us closer to an understanding of Burton's spirituality.

It took me about 2 months to finish reading it, not because it wasn't a page-turner, but because it was a long book and also I'd been busy. It was actually a great page-turner. I could read on and on for 5-7 hours without a break.

Bernstein's personal letters to his friends and colleagues, including Aaron Copland, his thesis at Harvard, etc. were all very inspiring to read. There were quite a bit of poems he wrote also. The positive and negative sides of the great man were also well delivered without getting vulgar.
I really appreciated the author's knowledge about music and the classical music world and system.

The book makes you feel like you're living the life closely with the great man and gets you intellectually, musically, emotionally involved. You experience with him every success and failure Bernstein went through.
His talents were beyond human in some way, yet he was a man just like you and me. Sometimes his talents were greater than he as a man, and as a result the world occasionally saw him fall apart. The book is honest about his failures and misbehaviours without being accusatory. It makes you want to forgive the man for the wrongs he'd done. The burden he was carrying as genius was more than an ordinary man could bear.

The book also covers the Jewish culture, politics, world events, how Bernstein and his genius contributed to the world and American history, etc. in relations to his achievements.
There are enough interviews with his friends and family, reviews on Bernstein's works, letters etc. but the author uses his own narratives to tell us about the man, which is, I think, why this book is more solid and readable. Only, I wish there were more photographs. But oh well, you can't ask for everything.

Great, inspiring book. I might read it again.

If you are interested in Bernstein, this is the biography to read. It neither raises him up too high nor tears him apart. Much of it deals with Bernstein's inner turmoil and how that impacted his relationships. Bernstein's humanity comes through very strongly. An enjoyable read, good pictures too.

This bio skillfully covers Bernstein's background, his philosophy, his methods of viewing and performing music. Bernstein was a man of conflict, always wishing to compose (indeed, he wanted to be remembered not as a conductor, primarily, but as a composer) but knew he had to remain with conducting in order to earn his living. And Bernstein was a splendid composer .. I personally think his Candide and West Side Story are masterpieces without peer, and his orchestral works are incredibly daring and far sighted for their time. Bernstein, though a genius, was all too human. He struggled endlessly with his sexuality, yet remained entirely devoted to his wife and children. Burton thoroughly explores Bernstein's many friendships with those in the music world, the most touching being his involvements with Copland and Mitropoulous. Both recognized Bernstein's genius, and were also painfully aware of his inner conflicts and fragile ego, and strove to uplift and encourage him so that he might make his true mark in the arts. The photos in this book are splendid, and Burton's writing is crisp and engaging. You will come away from this book with a renewed respect and enthusiasm for Bernstein the man and the musician.

I guess this is a really technical look at the composer's life without much backstage drama, because in leafing through the index, there's no mention of Carol Lawrence, Chita Rivera or Larry Kert, the famous cast members of the original production of "West Side Story." A short chapter is devoted to the musical, but without comments either from or on its legendary cast? Bizarre.

Call me shallow, but I don't want to read something that dry.

I agree along with many that this is the definitive Bernstein biography. I have read it on and off for over a year now, and have gone back to particular sections not only to refresh my memory but to re-read Burton's fluid writing. An inspirational book about an all-around genius and the whirlwind tour of a life he lived. The book motivated me to delve into Berstein's life even further (quite costly y'know... with all the recordings, Norton Lectures, Young People's Concerts, various other video performances, writings, etc.)

The Introduction to this book starts "In the pages that follow, I will explain methods of making tools helpful to woodcarvers and woodturners." And basically those are all that he covers! There is some helpful material that will assist with other tools but the vast majority is for those two uses only. While the Amazon description does mention these two types of tools, it in no way implies the book contains nothing else.

Best you should know before buying - it may be the best book in the world for carvers and turners, but doesn't deliver what the cover and description outline. The table of contents makes you think you will be getting more about other tools - but little to none is produced. Very disappointing.

Informative and Entertaining. I enjoyed this book, because he teaches you how to make things with everyday materials. For example the authors forge is made from pipe a wok and a hair dryer. I highly recommend this book.

I bought this book exactly for what the title mean: make my own woodworking tools. Exactly, molding hand plane.

I liked this book because:
-It is is a global and central source of reliable information in his field;
-It offers many options to "do things" to the tools makers who don't (for the moment) want to get deeply involved in blacksmithing;

I disliked this book beacause:
-It does not explain the scientific bases of the field when (I think) is could/should be requires;
-It focus too much (I think) on the autor's life. I enjoy some familiarity with the autor, but at the end, too much paragraph are about autor's anecdotes;

To conclude, I would rebuy this book without hesitation.

*** The "see inside" option played a definitive role in my purchase. I never buy a book I can't "see inside for 4 or 5 pages ***

Mike Burton should be complimented for sharing his multitude of skills with the reading and crafting public. This book is the distillation of many years of practical and academic study. To be able to take advantage of this wisdom for the paltry sum that this book cost is remarkable. Mike has the ability to take us through all the stages in the manufacture of a great variety of woodworking items. He does it in a simple, easy to follow manner and with a beautiful dry wit. If you buy this book you will be in the position to save a great deal on the purchase of essential tools by making many of your own to your considerable satisfaction. I have had the book for only two weeks and so have concentrated on my own particular interest. I now have a splendid array of woodcarving tools. They cost me very little in materials and the saving is many hundreds of dollars.The price of this book would only buy half a woodcarving tool! Mike has a fine eye for a bargain himself and it is a pleasure to be inducted into his economic ways. In the weeks and months ahead I feel that my savings, skills and satisfaction at making my own tools will increase many times. Mike you should have been a New Zealander! You would fit in very well.

Make Your Own Woodworking Tools: Metalwork Techniques To Create, Customize, And Sharpen In The Workshop by carpentry and woodworking expert Mike Burton is an informative and superbly organized introduction to making, modifying, and altering woodturning and woodcarving tools. Methodically guiding readers with a "user-friendly" text on woodworking's most intricate particulars, Make Your Own Woodworking Tools covers such issues as steel and other raw materials equipment and tools, safety, tools without blacksmithing, simple blacksmithing techniques, heat treating, dressing and sharpening tools, handles and mallets, special purpose tools, and five innovative projects. Enhanced with five fund and easy projects, as well as being an ideal reference compendium of highly useful tips and techniques, Make Your Own Woodworking Tools is very strongly recommended reading for aspiring carpenters and craftsmen, and an invaluable addition to school woodshop and community library woodworking reference collections.

It's quite true, as one reviewer said, that Burton Mack's prose is in places needlessly impenetrable. But press on! His analysis of the Gospel of Mark is brilliant, and in its way, revolutionary. It certainly enhanced my appreciation for the literary achievement of the evangelist, and brought into sharp focus the structure and balance of the gospel. A good book to read along with Myth of Innocence is JD Crossan's Birth of Christianity. That too has some irksome stylistic features, but in terms of getting an interesting perspective on the material, these two books are very good.

Sometimes you just have to strap on the full armor of whoiwhatsit and slog through the swampy places to get to a higher vantage point.

I completely disagree with Mack's conclusion that Christianity was 'made up' later. That said, his meticulous footnoting made a wonderful resource that I still look to for information and his research is thorough and engaging. His conclusion, relating a concoted Christianity to the evils of Reaganomics, is just plain wacky.

Mack is somewhat the bad boy of Jesus and Early Christian scholarship. Most Christians I know hate him. That is mainly because they haven't read his books. This book has a cover designed to irritate fundementalists. First it calls Christianity a Myth which is the correct word for any such tradition (just because it's a myth doesn't assume that it was made up). It also has a picture of a lion on the front which makes people believe that Mack is hostile towards the Christian myth. Not at all, in fact, the lion is from a seventh century Mosaic that depicts the four gospel writers and animals they represent, Luke is a person, Matthew I believe is an Ox, John is an eagle, and Mark is a Lion. Simple as that. Those who undertake to crack the cover and read this book will find it to be good scholarship and an exciting journey into the world of Mark. It is well informed and comes from one of New Testament scholarships most proific writers. Although Mack is now retired I sincerely hope he will continue writing, I will certainly continue reading his work.

Did Jesus create Christianity or did Christianity create Jesus? Traditional scholarship has assumed the former, Burton Mack seeks to prove the latter in his book A Myth of Innocence. This thought-provoking book takes up the question of Christian origins, focusing on the Gospel of Mark, the earliest of the Gospels. The author is not interested in otherworldly explanations for Christianity's emergence but in the social context which produced the earliest Christian literature. The forty years between Jesus death and Mark's Gospel account for the divergent images of Jesus in his Gospel. By the time Mark wrote his account there were various Jesus movements which can be categorized into two major traditions: "One stream was that of movements in Palestine and southern Syria that cultivated the memory of Jesus as a founder-teacher. The other was that of a congregation in northern Syria, Asia Minor and Greece wherein the death and resurrection of the Christ were regarded as the founding events"(11). Mark brought these two very different visions together in his Gospel.

In Mack's construction Jesus emerges as a Cynic-sage rather than an apocalyptic Jewish rabbi. Yet Mack gives no direct evidence that Jesus ever read or had contact with Cynics. Intellectual parallels do not prove influence. Mack's picking and choosing of passages which represent the "authentic" Jesus is at times arbitrary, and it seems that Mack has precluded predictive prophecy and miracle stories out of hand. Anything which doesn't suit Mack's image of Jesus is "myth" and Mark's "fabrication." For example, Mack writes "Mark can be shown to have exaggerated the power of Jesus to cast out demons for his own narrative purposes. Thus the evidence is that miracle stories functioned in some early Jesus movement to enhance its claim to significant social identity by claiming for its founder miraculous powers. They are not historical reports." There seems to be some a priori reasoning going on here. Mack does not believe in miracles, therefore they are not historical, therefore they must be accounted for some other way.

Mack distinguishes between the various and competing "Jesus movements" in the first generation of Christianity (ch. 3) and the later "Christ cult" established by Paul (ch. 4). In regard to the latter, Mack says "No one would have dared suggest on the basis of the narrative gospel traditions that such a cult could have developed at all, much less as soon as it did" (98). Why is this? Don't all of the gospels recount the death, burial and resurrection? Doesn't Jesus predict that he will "give his life as a ransom for many" in Mark's Gospel (10:45)? Conveniently Mack has already disallowed those passages as anachronistic and therefore inauthentic.

Mack surveys scholarly attempts to understand the origin of the passion narrative (ch. 9). This discussion culminates with the theory put forward by American scholars such as Kebler and Nicklesburg, namely, that "Mark made it up." The author lavishes much praise on form-critical reconstruction of Bultmann student Eta Linnemann, yet he seems totally unaware that Dr. Linnemann has long since rejected her own theories in favor of a more traditional Christian interpretation of the Gospels.

Mack's book adds a new theory to the origins of Christianity debate: Mark invented Christianity. Mark, not Jesus, is the real founder of Christianity. By separating the simple Cynic-sage (Jesus) from the myth-making innovator (Mark), Mack is able to cast aspersions on Mark without saying bad things about Jesus. By the end of the book Mark is blamed for all of the ills of Western history from the crusades to Hiroshima and the holocaust (p. 375). This seems ridiculously farfetched.

A Myth of Innocence is a hostile, skeptical attack on the earliest Christian Gospel which is at times scholarly and at times arbitrary, bombastic and highly speculative. The Jesus who emerges from Mack's study looks a lot more like a post-modern Claremont professor than a first-century Palestinian rabbi.

This review will be brief. I can understand some cosmology and James Joyces' Ulysses, play a pretty good game of chess, write legal briefs that work. But I cannot understand Mr. Mack's writing. It's like Finnegans Wake.
I'm sure he is a very intelligent man. He has a wonderful vocabulary. But it is not all immediately recognizable as standard English. His premises are very thought provoking, but his proofs are unintelligable.
Perhaps it's Social History. I didn't do well in my Social History class at Berkeley. They seem to make things up as they go along, as though by gnosis. Mr. Mack needs to limit his exposition to the immediate point. Alternatively, he may simply be intellectually beyond me.

Introduce this to your friends at the next party! They won't put it down. Good, clean Victorian giggles!

This book is a hoot! I found it at a bed and breakfast I stayed at on their coffee table and it gave me quite a few chuckles. I guess this is what victorians did before tivo....

Ok, so the hand jokes in this book are a tad sophmoric, but hey, I still laughed. Also, some of the more risque hand poses aren't included. This is pretty tame, but dang funny.

I bought this book because the reviews were so favorable, but sure wish I hadn't!!! Its incredibly stupid and a waste of money. Unfortunately, its been over a month or I would return it! Unless you like making finger puppets that look like butts, DON"T BUY IT!

The Victorians were prudes? You'll never look at old engravings with an innocent mind again. Great fun!

Cheikh Nefzaoui wrote this book for men so that they might have sucessful coition with their wife(ves) so that the act of generation as presented in this book is God as ordained...beautiful.

Instructions on sucessful seduction, excitation, and stimulation of every womanly body part is described with prose and poetry, and explicitly sexy stories.

My personal favorites were the numerous and sundry names of the male and female parts; and the instructions and recipies on how to make a male member splendid!

The author also provided the Arabian names and terminology for the act of generation as well as the various names of the male and female parts. He also shares the beauty of the Arabian culture in every opening sentence of each chapter as well as some idealogy from the Mussulmans. The original manuscript was translated by four French officers and later translated by Sir Richard F. Burton and much of the original context has been lost, with that in mind I still found the book to be full of beauty and grace.

This is the most sexy and erotic book I have read in a while. A book that I found incrediably enjoyable reading and shadows this book is a romatic fiction "The Tutor," by Robin Schone.

I was surprised to find this book on the shelf of books recommended for high-school students at my local bookstore, but the subject intrigued me, so I decided to take a chance on it. Like all decent sex manuals, it gives good advice in many matters -- foreplay, treating one's partner with respect, and so forth, but often lacks the detail necessary for one who actually needs the advice in the first place to follow. And like most sex manuals, the people who need it the most are the ones who will be the least likely to bother with it. There is a long catalog of various names of the sex organs of both males and females which was half-amusing, half-tedious. Suffice to say that they are not all that different from the ones in use today. Also, certain idiotic misconceptions abound, which will probably not be helpful to most people -- that in order to satisfy a woman, for example, a man should be rich and have a penis roughly a foot long. Also, certain cultural assumptions are made which may strike some readers as odd, but which in fact are very telling -- for example, in the period and location when this book was written, fat women were considered very erotic. Hearing a man tall about how he adores his wife's double-chin is rather amusing (in this sense it makes a good introductory study towards ideals of beauty as one finds in Wolf's "The Beauty Myth"), and lets one see that contemporary idea of beauty are not by any means universal. Another interesting aspect of the book was the notion that sex is an important and decent part of one's life as it is given one by god. The author was obviously Islamic and this shows over and over again, but unlike in Christian writings of the same period, sex is portrayed as something beautiful to be shared as a gift from heaven and not as a "dirty secret". This is really quite refreshing -- in the west, we still suffer from this lamentable malady today. The Sheik also takes it for granted that women enjoy sex as much as men, and places a strong emphasis on female satisfaction; something that only recently has become fashionable. On the negative side, the chapters on beastiality and tribadism were left out in Burton's translation -- necessary considering the time in which he lived, but an omission which nevertheless leaves the book incomplete. As a study in cultural values, it is quite interesting, as a sex manual, it is obviously dated and could use much improvement -- modern ones are much better. Depending on what you are looking for, it may be an interesting read, but still comes across as rather dull; it won't replace the Kama Sutra anytime soon.

I came across this book at random in a book store, never having heard or seen it before, and spent some time perusing it, reading several of the chapters, so although I haven't read the whole thing, I have some idea of what's it's about. This is basically the Arabic Kama Sutra. The Cheikh obviously intended this book to be useful as a practical manual for any man in his sex life, and, considering it was written in the 16th century, it just goes to show you that not much has changed when it comes to sex. Some of the sections are downright funny, such as the chapter that begins with all the Arabic terms and descriptions for the different personalities or "types of vulvas." They are described in words such as (I forget the Arabic terms, but anyway, the definition is the funny part): "The Hungry One: this is the vulva of a woman who has not had intercourse in a long time. It will not allow you to withdraw until you have entered it again and again." Other names translate as "the great one," and "the playful one." There are other even funnier descriptions, which I don't recall right now, but anyway, this will give you some idea of what they're like. Anyway, this book is entertaining if only for some of the choicer sections such as the above.

A highly erotic, exotic and curious manuel written in the 16th century is the Perfumed Garden of the Cheikh Nefzaoui. This book was reccomended to me in the readings of Aleister Crowley on one of his many discourses on sexual magic. The purpose of the Perfumed Garden is to inform the individual of "proper" sexual practice, the wheres and whens and know-hows and know-whos. Describing all sorts of positions (and the author comments that the reader is welcome to make up their own), to the different sizes and shapes of the male and female genitals (amazon forbids me to say those dirty nasty words). In almost each instance, the author gives a story in how to seduce a woman and what to do with her once you have. When not to fornicate and what to consider once you have. The book does have a male bias, as it is written from a male point of view, and being that of the Arabian society, men were the seekers or the hunters while women were the focus. It would appear that women have less of an option in many cases, however, there is respect given to the women as they dont neccesarily have to "give it up" when a man wants her, but rather the man has to "win" her over. It is the womans job to look as beautiful as she can (personality not included). Sadly, at least, being a male I like to think it sad, that the author does give the message that any male ample enough in their virility to make a womans eyes pop out of her head and their jaws drop to their knees can win any women. Yet, the Perfumed Garden does not by any means neglect technique, which as modern day sexologists would agree is primary for any sexual compatability from both sides of the court to exist harmoniously. A good companion to the Karma Sutra, the well known Hindu Manuel of Erotology. I enjoyed the book purely for the erotica involved, which I found completely stimulating in all areas of the body. I also found it curious and practical in many ways that it can spice anyones life, as well as make one think about size; length, width and depth...and of course, their compatability.

But only 'sort of'. It does cover the physical act of love in some detail. That includes the many poses that couples might try together. It also covers all the lore about what makes a man or woman desirable, and about resizing one's genitals for better performance (larger for him, smaller for her). There's other medical lore, too, including potions for ending an unwanted pregnancy. The most interesting discussion covered techniques suitable when he, she, or both had physical deformities or paraplegia. I guess that the 16th century Arab world lacked modern medicine, so such irregularities were part of everyday life.

This differs from the Indian texts in several important ways. First, this discusses sexuality as an isolated topic. It lacks the Kama Sutra's placement of sex as one among many social graces. Second, it adds a number of brief stories, a la 1001 Nights, to illustrate its teachings, and adds a section on dream interpretation. Third, although the Perfumed Garden attends to women's needs in the bedroom, it displays a generally low regard for women elsewhere.

Still, this book tells us a lot about two times and places. The first is the 16th century Arabic world, as set down by Sheikh al-Nafzawi (the author). This gives a look at the medicine, the culture, and the folklore of that time. It also tells us about Sir Richard Burton's England, in the Victorian era. Like so many other British translations of that time, the English rendering carries the indelible stamp of its translator and of its period. The Burton translation is decidedly aging - modern phrasing and scholarship would make this a much more interesting book. Still, any translation is better than none, and the Victorian flavor is part of this book's character.

There are lots of reasons for reading this book: for its view of mid-Eastern culture, for its view of sexuality, or just for fun. That last is my reason, and it works.

//wiredweird

We learned quite a bit from this book. In particular, the sections on building the presentation was real good. It's a book all phone sales people should read.

We were very happy with Ring Up Phone Sales. I've
bought several books about phone sales. This one
presented everything clearly - I took notes the whole
way through. It talked about selling benefits, asking
questions, presenting a story. I felt the training was
very effective! It was easy to listen to and really
packed with info.

Coen's audiobook gets straight to the point. There's no mindless babbling about some new magical technique that will increase sales 2000%. Coen covers the ground telephone sales reps and their bosses must know inside out. This is one of the best teaching tools I've come across because it's done in a straightforward manner that everyone can understand.

Our company found Ring Up Phone Sales to be very useful. We took notes throughout the audio book and turned those notes into mini-workshops for all our sales reps. It was concise and clear and outlined very well. Simple methods that we started using on the telephone right away!

This tape sounds like it was recorded on a five-dollar tape recorder (pops, hisses, and low-quality stretched tape sound). More over, the information is blatantly inaccurate. Dan Coen can't even acc