Cameron Books

I haven't been able to get into Julia's other books. I often feel very uncreative when I try to work through them. But I like this book as it seems to be telling me just what I need to hear right now. The chapter on Bad Writing and The Time Lie were especially helpful in getting me going. I like that the chapters are short and when I'm done I feel like writing. I don't do the activities in the book and instead go straight to the projects I'm working on.

Another good resource with similar tips and inspiration is Heather Seller's books Page by Page and Chapter by Chapter.

Julia Cameron believes that everyone is a writer. Her purpose in writing this book, therefore, is to free the writer she believes is in you. I disagree with her assumption. We are not all writers any more than we are all dentists or mathematicians. As a writer and a psychologist myself, this is an important distinction to make because this book eminently describes many of the facets of the writer's personality.

In my experience there are people who think they would like to be writers, but always have some reason why they are not; and there are others who write because they need to do it for themselves. There is something inside of them that they have to get out, and it is best expressed through writing. I believe that this is why several reviewers have felt that this book could not help them. They weren't really writers at all.

If you have the personality of a writer, then this book will tell you a great deal about yourself - your feelings, your struggles, and your thoughts. It will explain the artistic temperament to you and help you to understand your own behaviors and fears. But, if you are not an artist in general, and a writer in particular, then this book is probably not for you.

Julia Cameron's work is always engaging and this book is no exception. `The Right to Write' is written with beauty and eloquence and would make the perfect companion for any would be writer who struggles with making a start or trusting in their own abilities to bring their work to completion.

With many years as a published writer, Julia's experience and candour gives the reader insights into her own writing life that are inspiring and profound. She takes the budding writer by the hand, and through carefully selected exercises, guides her to overcome resistance and start producing results. Julia turns the experience into something to be cherished, not feared, and the results can be extremely gratifying. If you are in love with the idea of writing and desire to deepen your relationship even more, then this book is for you. Indulge yourself!

...because the writing exercises are good and wonderful to do over and over again. This is not Julia Cameron's best-known book, but it is one of my favorites. As in many of her other books, her style is engaging and intensely readable. But what really stands out to me in this book are the wonderful writing exercises. When I first read the book, I was in a habit of reading about writing, and not in a writing habit. But I turned the corners down on the pages that had writing exercises. Now I go back to those pages and do the exercises, which are fun and useful. There is one that talks about how any mood is a good mood for writing, and encourages exploration of different moods. Another exercise describes the physicality and rhythm of writing and encourages the process of combining walking into the writing life. I recommend this book highly. Inspiration is an overused word, but this book is inspirational.

I have read this book several times and just pulled it off my shelf again yesterday. This is a great inspiration book for writing. When I'm dragging in my work, or having a long bout of feeling uninspired and useless as a writer, I open this book.

Sometimes it's easy to get off track, to write only with the consideration of what others are going to think, or only to get published. For me, that's a death knell to my inspiration. This book has never failed to lift my spirits and remind me of the joys and benefits for *me* that come from what I write and the writing process itself.

A very nice book, but what I am really interested in is how many of these books were misprinted with a caption saying "Donald Trump" and showing his butler? Are all the editions this way, or were there corrected editions printed? I am curious as to whether this is a collector's item. Thanks!

I'm 12, and I was really excited when I bought this book. But when I started reading it, I didn't find anything really interesting. Except, the pictures were great. I'd recommend the 1999 edition. They could've done a lot better.

This book is one of those that you can sit down with and read for hours on end. I know I could. Every time I open my copy (even my 1998 copy) I learn something new. Fascinating for all ages. Highly recommended.

What I like most about this book is the dramatic colour and layout. Like all the previous Guinness Books, this one is jam- packed with lots of trivia, amazing facts and figures. The colour, however, is what truly sets this book apart from previous years. Each page seems to come to life and captures the reader's attention.

The only downside to the book is the print, which I find a little too small for my liking. If you are young and have great vision, you will not have a problem, but for those of us who are in that mid-life age bracket and wear glasses, the small print eventually becomes very hard on the eyes.

I am a 13 year old and I liked this book a lot. The pictures were colorful and it is a good source of useless information. I would reccommend this book to people of all ages. Even if you're five and can't read, you can look at the pictures. This book makes a great gift, or just something where you go into the bookstore and want to pick something out. This book will really catch your eye with it's silver cover. Overall this is a great book.

The story is an exceptionally powerful story. Colleen Stan gets five stars for that. However--most people may not know that this is not only an unauthorized story, Prosecuting Attorney Christine McGuire did not share ANY of the profits from this book with the victim, Colleen Stan. "Don't talk to the media; don't make any book deals," McGuire warned Stan prior to and during the trial. Why? Of course McGuire told Stan it was so the Defense couldn't say that's why they wanted a "win." The real reason was that McGuire had already made a deal; her college friend and the co-author attended court daily, took notes. When the verdict came in, the ending was written. Is it even legal for a government employee to make money like this--using information gained while doing her job for private profit? Colleen Stan was victimized by Hooker--but she was also victimized by the person that was supposed to protect her--the prosecuting attorney. When Stan sought relief against McGuire, the State Bar Association said that only one person had complained. (A person held hostage for that many years isn't likely to have a huge group of friends. It takes time to get back into life.) When Stan went to an LA law firm, they wanted $250,000 to represent Stan. She didn't have that kind of money after seven years locked in a box! Publishers have an army of attorneys waiting to defend against cases like this. McGuire--do the right thing. You own Stan an apology and fifty percent of the profits. What the Prosecuting Attorney McGuire did is as outrageous as what Cameron Hooker and his wife did. They were sick and criminals. McGuire is supposed to be a good guy. That year, she forgot to wear her white hat.

When I was browsing through the True Crime section at my local bookstore, I asked my sister to help me narrow down my choices: a Jeffrey Dahmer piece, the BTK Killer book, or one about a girl kept in a coffin beneath a couple's bed for over 7 years. She immediately recommended the latter.

And she was right--to a point. The subject is disturbingly fascinating for a True Crime novel about a victim who isn't murdered. How could they keep this young woman so carefully hidden away for so long? It seems outlandish, but the more you uncover, the more you realize that it IS feasible, and it's absolutely horrifying to imagine what Colleen Stan went through.

But the book is written by the DA who prosecuted her captor, and it shows.

We learned virtually nothing about what makes Cameron Hooker tick. Almost nothing is revealed about Colleen's past. And Janice Hooker, the most in-depth study, is more an accomplice/side victim than anything else.

But we learned all about the DA's marital problems, the vacation to reconcile her marriage, the eventual divorce, how cute her daughter is, how much she loves children, and virtually her every reaction to minute things--when all those small details should have been put into Colleen's story.

I could have enjoyed this so much more, but honestly--why should I care about the DA's personal problems? I read this book to learn about the crime, the victim, the captor, the associates. I didn't read it to hear about the author's personal issues throughout the trial.

Snip out those details, and this book would have gotten 1.5 stars more, if I could.

This book was great. It went through the whole story and didn't leave anything out. The ending was great although I got really mad at the girl for staying with him. I don't want to give too much away about the ending. It's amazing that this could happen in such a small town as Napa but it did! I live close by but at the time this occured I was living in Florida and didn't hear anything about it. It was recommended by a co-worker and I have passed this one on for many friends to read. If you like true crime then this is a great book!

This book gave me a glimpse into a hell that i cannot fathom.

This was an amazing book not just from the criminal aspect of it, but from a psychological aspect as well. The story of this tortured women is unlike anything i have ever heard, but it is told in a factual way, without sensationalism, like some true crime books. THe bare facts are the most horrifying things i have ever read, i cannot imagine this being done to someone, and more importantly, i was amazed at how the victim went through it without losing her faith in humanity or going insane. i think i would have.

I wouldn't look at this as just another "true crime" book. It is also an amazing treatise on psychology and stockholm syndrome. I understand now how much some minds can take and the reasons behind it's bizarre sounding (but really ingenious) coping mechanisms. Reading this will teach you much about the human mind, some that will scare the crap out of you. It also has well researched footnotes about other similar cases and gives a glimpse into the legal system.

Most importantly, this book shows how resilient and amazing the victim is. After knowing what the victim endured, i was amazed by her strength and by the fact that she did not seem as psychologically and physically damaged as i know i would be. Although this is probably the most horrific thing i have heard of happening to a person, she remains human (by that i mean kind and loving and dignified) and gentle in every sense. Truly an must read

off topic a bit, but my only concern was if the victim got any of the money made from the book (it was written by the D.A. who was her attorney). She seemed to not want the case well known (from what i read, she may have changed her mind) and it would be upsetting if she didn't want the book written, or didn't get her share share of payment. I hope she was not exploited YET AGAIN.

This book was sadly disappointing. I was expecting this elaborate book. What I read was a giant mess. The author skipped back and forth from when she was kidnapped to the court case. It made for a big huge puzzle of confusion and was not as good as it could have potentially been! I actually went through and read all the parts of her being kidnapped and what she went through and then went back and read the court case at the end. Then it seemed to make more sense to me but I still feel like I want my money back so I can buy a good true crime book, by a good author like Ann Rule....then I know I won't be disappointed!

One of my favorites books. I loved all characters, except for Claire. She was very annoying & stupid. I find it funny that Betsy the dog plays a pretty big part in this book.

Readers of "The Coming Storm" have the pleasure of exploring four lives--that of the headmaster of the Forge School, his wife, a twenty-five-year-old novice teacher, and a troubled fifteen-year-old student. Each character is intriguing and opens up his or her own world to the reader. You'll find yourself wishing you could travel to Middle Forge and the Forge Academy to explore then for yourself. I actually missed the characters when I finished the book, which to me is the mark of a great novel. I've put "The Coming Storm" back on my bookshelf so that someday I can visit with these wonderfully intriguing characters again.

I will not deny that Russell has talent with his words. However, just past the halfway mark through the novel I became so angered by the plot (extremely slow and ponderous up until mid-book) and the characters that I threw the book across the room and never opened it again. In fact, I tossed it. No recycling, no used book store. The trash heap. I felt he had created characters that he hoped we would care about and then, when it became clear he had grown bored with the story and their roles, made them into masochistic icons. If you are bothered by unsafe sex, especially with the notion of "bug-chasers" this book will hurt you.

I have just finished this book, and I must admit I have been impressed by it. Indeed, for a long time, I had read historical books almost exclusively, and I was under the impression that fiction had lost much of its appeal to me, even though I had studied literature as part of my curriculum of British Studies. On a few occasions, remembering the days when I used to devour books of fiction, I would pick up a novel and read a few pages, but it would fall off my hands very quickly. So, when I started reading The Coming Storm, I thought it would happen again, and it looked as though it would occur once more as I was perusing the first ten pages or so. But the the suspension of disbelief which is required to make fiction work finally operated, and I was totally hooked. I plunged with delight into the world of the Middle Forge School and became fascinated with the four main characters, the way they interacted with one another, their desires and their adjustments , as conveyed through the stream -of-consciousness technique so expertly handled by the author. I also enjoyed the general mood of the book and the way it was reflected in the landscapes, which serve as subtle objective correlatives for the characters' states of mind. The main theme of the book - illicit love between a teacher and one of his students - was difficult to tackle and, in the wrong hands, would certainly have repelled me , and I was indeed rather put off by the short Pittsburgh scene in which Tracy Parker scrutinizes the whereabouts of a teen-ager, which, to me, looked like a sleazy variation on Death in Venice. But in the case of Tracy's relationship with Noah, the fact that their relationship goes beyond mere sexual attraction, that it is based on genuine, reciprocal love, makes all the difference, and we certainly root for the two protagonists, notwithstanding the ill-advised nature of their affair. In fact, these two characters are particularly lovable, and I personally felt concerned towards the end of the book, when the separation between Tracy and Noah became irrevocable. I was really moved by the scene in which Claire was led by Betsy to Tracy's former house and when she realized Tracy had taken the time to plant the bulbs she had given him. The flowers were in full blossom, the natural process had followed its usual course, but, as a result of society's prejudices, Tracy had had to go and give up a promising teaching career, which had been nipped in the bud, so to speak. On the whole, I found the scenes between Tracy and Claire particularly well done and moving. Claire is a magnificent character, both sympathetic and insightful. In fact, although she is the only really significant female character in the book, it seems to me that her point of view is the one that most closely reflects the author's own voice. I was slightly disappointed with the fate that the author reserved for Tracy. An extremely lovable chracter throughout, he brings much to the other characters in the way of transformation and self-discovery, but doesn't receive much himself in return, and it looks as though the author somehow leaves him in the lurch. But this may partake of the author's partiality to open endings. I read somewhere that Tracy Parker made a short appearance in War with Animals, Russell's latest book. So, perhaps, we are in for a reunion between Tracy and Noah in one of Russell's next books, after all ...

Captivating, beautifully written story that involves the relationships between up state New York boys' prep school head teacher Louis Tremper, his wife Clair, newly employed young teacher Tracy Parker, and 15 year old wayward student Noah Lathrop III. Deeply repressed gay Tremper befriends handsome Tracy, and attempts to share with him his love of opera; Tracy himself develops a close friendship with Claire as confidant. More dangerously Tracy becomes involved with troubled Noah, initially seeking to help him but inevitably the relationship develops much further until they become sexually involved.
Whatever the rights or wrongs of the relationship between Tracy and his young student, it is clear Noah is no innocent party, and subsequent events prove the effect, for good or bad the story reveals, all this has on Noah.
This is in no way a predicable or inevitable story, but full of surprises. It is most beautifully written and told, and the relationships that develop between the various participants are most endearing. A story that is both heartbreaking and heart warming, it is not until the end that it becomes apparent who surprisingly is/are the true hero/heroes. Not to be missed on any account.

Were this a library book I would have returned it unfinished, but already bought and paid for I braved it to the end. A sophomoric tale at best, the characters nothing more than thinly drawn stereotypes and caricatures. The numerous grammatical errors (in the narrative, not those in the dialogue) were annoying and distracting.

Quinn's use of the flashback was cumbersome and confusing, often leaving this reader uncertain as to what was happening when. Even the author lost track of his own story at times. Case in point, Tiger and Mark bought Matt a "single fin" surfboard, yet when Matt wiped out on that board and discovered that he was bleeding, he thought, "One of the fins must have sliced me." Not, the fin sliced me.

Most disturbing is the historical inaccuracy regarding AIDS. The story takes place in 1983, yet when Matt ends up in hospital, he is alleged to have been given an "AIDS test" and the results were received the same day. The first "AIDS test" was not approved by the FDA until 1985, and it took about two weeks to receive the result.

All of this considered, it is inexcusable that 'Metes and Bounds' was a finalist in any award program, which tells me all that I need to know about the Lambda Literary Award. And the Lambda Book Report comparing Jay Quinn with Pulitzer Prize winner Eudora Welty and Noble Prize winner William Faulkner is beyond absurd, it is just plain shameful. Needless to say nothing "Lambda" will ever have any credibility with me again.

A note for other readers who chose to review this book. First, it's a review not a book report, dispense with the summary. Second, if you gave this trash more than one star (and that`s a stretch), please read Shyma Selvadurai's 'Funny Boy' 'Cinnamon Gardens' 'Swimming in the Monsoon Sea' and Christopher Rice's 'A Density of Souls' 'Light Before Day' 'The Snow Garden' ... all wonderful gay themed novels of quality that are actually literature. Then if you still think that 'Metes and Bounds' is worthy of anything more than the garbage bin, I recommend 'Fun with Dick and Jane' and 'Spot Goes to the Beach'.

Good looking Matt is seventeen years old, while not yet out he knows he is gay but it something of a surprise when his father intimates that he understands, and arranges for Matt to go and live with his young uncle Tiger on the North Carolina coast. Tiger is beautiful, slight of build, fair haired and with yellow eyes, yet an outcast to the rest of Matt's family.
The story takes us through Matt's first year with Tiger, along with Matt's recollections of past events in his life. He describes the growing all male family; Tiger and his lover Mark and Mark's son Shane, and Billy an "adopted" local young waif. He relates his various sexual encounters from the tender to the rough; and we watch him grow in maturity and awareness. All this is played out against the back drop of the Atlantic coast and surfing in the early 1980s.
This is a beautiful and different coming of age story; while Matt experiences his ups and downs the story has an easy aimlessness and pleasantness about it, enabling one to relish events as they happen. The all male family that gradually grows in size is a very loving and happy affair, made all the more delightful with its differing age make-up, no two members being of the same age group. I thoroughly enjoyed Metes and Bounds, and highly recommend it.

This was a great read. I've never been to the south but after reading this book I feel like I have. Jay Quinn is a gifted author who's characters are unforgettable. The range of emotion and experience captured in this book is awesome. I found myself being caught up in Matt's life and feeling the struggles he faced in such depth. I really felt as though I had a special front row seat all the way through this book. It's a great read for anyone who really enjoys a good coming of age story.

This is not a perfect book. However, it is a book of a certain idealism which defies anybody to not wish for its world for just a moment, for a day, for a lifetime. This story of a young surfing boy coming to terms with the world around him and the world inside him, is built upon a certain Utopian world, where not a single character is totally without heart, or without a certain primal and primitive goodness. Where a 12 year old will tell an 18 year old that he needs to start trusting people more; where a fighter pilot and a high school senior love each other so much, they're willing to cut off all ties, suffer through divorce and child custody battles, willing to stow away on bomber planes just to spend an extra two days together, and through it all, get to happiness that only few may know. A world where a family of two gay men, a straight son, a gay nephew and a stray poor boy is happier than most conventional families are. Formulaic and often suffering from too many metaphors and straight-up lessons, this novel nevertheless pushes boundaries of what we're all willing to believe can happen and what so many of us wish would happen. In a world where even a glorified rapist can have tenderness, where your straight crush from high school can turn around and fall in love with you, where your father will support you through all of your falls, and where strangers are kind and those that are not are almost harmless, the characters of this lovely novel teach the readers that yes, good things can happen, even through all the fears and dangers that life has to offer. Set against the backdrop of one of the most conservative parts of this country - the South - with the contrast of the most freeing things a person can do - surfing, the novel juxtaposes the right and the wrong, the need and the will, and love and lust. As Matt, the main character, moves through his turbulent year - and even more turbulent memories of years previous - the reader gets sucked into this mind and his world, feeling that, as the end approaches, this world is the one that is the dream of almost every queer and even straight person out there. Though sometimes awkward, the style still flows beautifully and the frank and lively tone of the main character carries the story with dignity and life.

METES AND BOUNDS is the story of the young Matt who leaves home after high school and goes to live with his uncle Tiger and his lover Mark on the North Carolina shore. Mr. Quinn tells a good tale. In fact, he is a better storyteller than a writer although his prose is certainly adequate. He gets the Southern experience right-- with sweet tea, Pepsi and Aqua Velva; and rows are "hard to hoe." A toboggan is a cap worn in winter, something that few people outside the South have ever heard about; and coffee keeps kids from getting "wormy." Mr. Quinn is dead right-- no pun intended-- in the funeral home scene. Rural Southerners have traditionally been as attracted to funerals as truckers to country music. The author writes about surfing too with complete authority; Matt's surfing accident seems totally believable.

Although I find this story a tad too rosy-- is it possible that two adult men can live together with two male children under the age of 13 in a small coastal area of North Carolina in 1983 and not be run out of the county? Maybe not. I don't know. Certainly Mr. Quinn has a perfect right to see life in any color he chooses and doesn't have to have the dark world view of say a Jim Grimsley or Andrew Holleran. I can see a teenaged gay boy coming across this novel and being blown away. He would find the sex scenes, as Matt would say "totally awesome" and would take comfort in knowing that there is gay life outside the major Eastern cities and that people like him live in the small towns of the "red states." That alone makes this novel worth reading and a welcomed addition to "coming out" stories.

currently rereading. was unable to read it all at once due to school, but i really enjoyed cameron dokey's other books, so i'm sure i'll like this one. the only other one i need to read after this is Sunlight and Shadow. yes, i know, i'm reading backwords be cause i just finished her newist one today.

You may think you know the story of sleeping beauty but Princess Aurore wants to set the record straight. Aurore was born in a land steeped in magic. The magic was responsible for keeping fairies away but not human practitioners. At Aurore's christening a cousin of the Queen is left out who casts a curse upon the young princess. Another relative adds a blessing that won't cancel the curse but should make it bearable. Aurore is cursed to prick her finger and sleep for a hundred years. At first Aurore is sheltered from any form of sharpness but eventually wins more freedom with th help of the misnamed Prince Charming.

Once Aurore finally reaches the age the curse is supposed to be realized, magic starts to run amok in the castle and surrounding lands. Aurore believe the only hope for her family and people is if she flees to the forbidden Enchanted Forest. Here she meets another misnamed prince who is on a quest to try and prove himself. The two join forces to aid his quest while Aurore is rather secretive about her past. Telling any more would ruin much of the fun of this retelling. Just be warned it is quite different from anticipated.

I have enjoyed all of the Once Upon A Time Series that I have read and this is no exception. The Sleeping Beauty tale is really turned on its head in this one. Some concepts might be a little hard for some people but they are true to the history of real royal bloodlines. A fun and fast moving fantasy that really fleshes out the characters of Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming in fresh and new ways. Check it out.

"Beauty Sleep" is author Cameron Dokey's telling of the famous fairytale "Sleeping Beauty" from the perspective of the internal life of the main character, Princess Aurora. In the original story, when Princess Aurora is born, a spell is cast upon her by an angry fairy. The spell is to have Princess Aurora prick her finger and die at the age of sixteen. A friendly fairy, unable to completely contradict the spell, is able to minimize its impact by having the prick cause sleep for a 100 years rather than death with the spell broken if the Princess receives a kiss of true love. Unlike the original version of the fairy tale, the main focus of Beauty Sleep is the internal life of Princess Aurora rather than the prick of her finger and the long sleep. The story is told through Aurora's voice which makes her feel real and human and it gives a sense of what it was like for her to live her life knowing of her own destiny.

Aurora lives at the palace with her parents and with her cousin Oswald. Oswald, six years her senior, was brought to the Palace before Aurora was born because her parents were afraid they would not be able to have a baby and wanted an heir to the throne. For many years after her birth, Aurora's parents are overprotective of her because they are so afraid she will prick her finger. When she is ten, Oswald convinces them that because the spell is not supposed to begin until Aurora is sixteen; it might actually be good for her to explore more while she is young to give her experience with sharp objects and maybe protect her from a prick when she turns sixteen. Aurora shows great interest and concern for the people and animals that live beyond the palace walls, an interest not shared by her cousin. Because of this, Aurora's father makes Aurora, and not Oswald, heir to the throne.

At age 16, Aurora is celebrating her birthday when catastrophes begin to happen in and outside her palace. Eventually, things get so bad that Aurora decides that she must leave the palace to protect the kingdom. She runs away to "La Foret" a forbidden and enchanted forest. In the forest, time seems to get a little strange. Aurora meets Prince Ironheart, a man the same age as Oswald who is there to find a princess his grandfather told him about who is sleeping for a hundred years after pricking her finger. Aurora joins him for the search, not mentioning her own destiny. At the end of six days in the forest, they get to the place where Sleeping Beauty was supposedly to be found. Without giving too much away, it is at this point that time gets very confusing. Aurora does fulfill her destiny with a finger prick but the ending is quite a twist from the original story.

I like the familiar style of Aurora's speaking because she feels like a real human being. For example, on the first page of the book she says: "I have heard it said (though I cannot say whether or not it is true) that all good stories begin in the same way, with the exact same words."

Aurora is easy to identify with because of the attitudes she expresses in the book. She gets frustrated, she picks fights (to the trees in Le Foret: "'I know you're enchanted,' I shouted up at the trees. `He knows it. I know it. We all know it, so you can just stop showing off.'"), she expresses likes and dislikes. For example, she hates to paint and make rugs and her paintings are not very good and her rugs are lumpy.

I love the creative and imaginative scenery; it is so well-described it is easy to get a mental picture of Aurora's surroundings. For example, in describing a day in La Foret with Ironheart, Aurora says: "There was a day we walked through an orchard of saplings so energetic we could actually see them grow."

Towards the end of the book and at its conclusion, there are too many loose ends and questions that feel unanswered. While the story remains interesting, time does not really make sense and there is a fairy tale moment that doesn't seem to fit with the style of the book.

All in all, this book is really fun to read. Its characters are interesting, the scenery vividly brought to life so despite a disappointing ending, I would recommend this book.

I've come to appreciate Cameron Dokey's writings. She manages to keep these retellings fairy tales, while giving them a bit of a spin and an edge. This book is no exception to her incredible work with these well known tales. A true fairy tale the story is short and sweet and ties up nicely at the end. Not very Grimm but still great. I highly suggest this book from any one who loves fairy tales.

Dokey's version of Sleeping Beauty takes everything that is familiar about the tale, and adds her own little twists. I love these more mature fairy tales because they are not afraid to go againsat some of the traditional fairy tales and make them brand new. The book was given a four though, due to some editing errors. But they are minor and don't truely detract from the novel. It's a shame that the story wraps up so quickly though, it would have been nicer to go a bit deeper at the end.

This book provided a solid resource to start writing shell scripts in bash. It is well written, and also provides understanding into some bash features that go beyond just a reference book.

I first bought this book over 12 years ago, and I still use it as the standard by which other books are measured. It must be one of my top 5 favorite computer books, ever.

The author clearly understands the material, and makes it approachable, direct, and easy to learn without being too light or condescending. I wish the same could be said of Java books.

"Learning the bash Shell" is the right size and right price, too. Perfect in every way.

O'Reilly kind of took a turn for the worse in the late '90s / early 2000s, but this was originally published back when they were good the first time. (They've since recovered, IMO)

If you have need to learn the bash shell, you can't go wrong with this one.

shipping fast!! =D nice comunication and information :D
sorry for later review:)
-]Raul[-

I have owned this book for awhile, and over the years it has been my only reference to the bash shell I have felt a need for.

The only down points I have seen in this book is that some of the info seems to be seperated out a bit, making some info hard to find at times (although if you have a hard time using an index, well, bash may be a bit advanced for you), but everything is covered well, and the appendixes are fairly good.

More than you ever wanted to learn about the bash shell. Good reference for sysadmins.

WOW. What can I say about this book? It's GREAT. The cover is great, and was probably the reason I decided to pick it up. I'm glad I did, because it's a fantastic story that had me hooked from the first page. The art inside isn't as impressive as the cover art, but it's still quite good, and not so cluttered that you can't understand what's happening in a panel, which is great because like I said, the story is the star of the show. I would liken this to something else, but I don't think I've encountered anything similar. Basically, if you enjoy street justice, moral dilemmas, conspiracies, and the main subject of a storyline NOT always winning, then this is definitely the book for you.

This is an okay work; mildly entertaining. The language appears forced and not natural. This doesn't compare to a Gaiman or Moore work.

An explanatory note to begin with: the Five star rating is an anticipatory rating. I say that so that readers will not be misled into thinking Volume One is "all there is."

Taken by itself, First Shot, Last Call" is an entertaining story (two stories, actually) about individuals empowered to take justifiable revenge. They can be read and enjoyed on their own terms, but by themselves would not have risen to the top of my reading objectives. Perhaps I would have read on in the series; perhaps not. There is, after all, so much to read.

Fortunately for me, I had heard of 100 Bullets and picked up two mid-story issues to see what it is like. I was hooked. In those issues, aspects of the story were opaque to me, but I got a clear exposure to the interweaving threads in the tapestry that Azzarello and Risso have conceived. It is those threads, the plots within plots, the twists and treacherous actions of significant characters, that transform 100 Bullets from the fairly simply stories of revenge that readers encounter in First Shot, Last Call into a noir epic that has earned my attention (and anticipation of the chapters not yet written).

On its face, the story line of 100 Bullets seems to be the opportunities given to Dizzy Cordova (parts 1-3) and Lee Dolan (parts 4 and 5) to obtain revenge on the bad guys whose actions resulted in the death of Dizzy's husband and daughter, and resulted in framing Lee, leading to his divorce and bankruptcy. The bad guys deserve what the reader senses they are about to get. A shadowy figure, Agent Graves, appears and offers Dizzy and Lee a pistol and 100 untraceable bullets, allowing them, reluctantly at first, to pursue vengeance.

So far, so good, but not in itself an action line that would sustain itself for 11 (and counting) volumes. Had I not read some issues deep in the story line, I would not sense the depth the series has. Without giving too many clues on where the story is going, let me suggest that at the end of the first volume, First Shot, Last Call, the reader should ponder the following: What is the real purpose of Agent graves? When Dizzy has avenged her family is her story concluded? Why does she get in the car with Shepherd? What is the relationship of Shephard and Graves: "associate," co-worker, ally, friend, rival, opponent? Does Graves have a personal reason for sending Lee against the head of Dietrich Securities? Does XIII have a special significance? What about the events in the building across the way and will we see more of the man in the Hawaiian shirt? And, of course, who is the man with the dog?

Some suggestions on how to read 100 Bullets for maximum enjoyment:

1) Remember that it was written in monthly installments. I find it hard to discipline myself to stop at the end of each monthly episode and not immediately continue with the action, but the story was written that way, and the suspense is enhanced if you allow at least several days to elapse before continuing. That relates to the next point.

2) Read each episode several times. The writing style is lean and Spartan and the nuances are easy to miss the first time through. (Remember this was written as a monthly series).

3) Look at the art, especially the background art. Details of the art take on initially missed significance in subsequent readings. My pleasure is certainly enhanced by multiple readings (before I know what the next installment will bring).

4) Trust no one.

Well, I don't quite know what to say about this book. I have always liked noir world, whether on film or in Raymond Chandler novels. So I might say that I was kinda pre-influenced, and my reception and judgement of this books is somewhat less than adequate.

May it be so, but I must say my two words about it. Many of you out there watched movies by Quentin Tarantino. Well, you take Reservoir dogs, Kill Bill, Pulp fiction, mash it all up, and voila you just have perfect stage for a comic book series.

Now, another thing that is quite essential for good comic book is a charismatic character. If these come in plural, even better. 100 bullets has some of these, and along with interesting storyline, number of cliffhangers and allusions, they make dark and broody, misterious world that is yet to unravel. Watching this world breathe is an adventure in itself. Of course, you can't make noir without some classic clichés, but for the sake of the genre, you should really close one or two eyes on this.

Biggest problem of this comic book is drawing. It has been drawn in clasic DC (Vertigo) style, with pale coloring, without care for details, with rough scetching of characters, and some unskilfull shading. I couldn't help but wonder what would this world be like if it were drawn in more realistic manner, adding some tone and background to the story. The way it looks now, one could say that text far surpasses the picture, and for comic book that does not belong to the magical "indie" label, that is saying much.

All in all, you should really give it a go. It may, as it has done to me, lure you into its pages. And once in there, you will want to continue with your role as a voyeur. Nothing should stop you in that.

100 Bullets is a great new series, though I've read the books not included here, and I think it might have been better as a mini-series. Nice artwork, interesting and original storyline, though not one that coudl be continued indefinitely. Still, good stuff, if only the first volume. Legendary.

Collecting the first handful of issues from the original comic book series, "Rising Stars: Born in Fire" satifies on many levels. You get the things you expect in a good superhero saga (colorful characters, colorful costumes, fascinating powers on display); some things you don't see as often in such a saga (shadowy government conspiracy, a genuine murder mystery, varying levels of stability among the superpowered individuals); and, rarest of all in this genre, true thematic complexity (sympathies shift and morph, and shift and morph again). It's really a bang-up piece of work, and (never fear) a very entertaining one. I'm talking both about this first volume and the entire series as a whole, which gets more interesting as things progress. But don't worry, this first volume in itself is very, very good.

This is Rising Stars Vol. 1 Chapters 1-8
This is the 1st of a 3 part series.
Great graphic novel. What would the world do if suddenly there were 113 people with special powers. Will the world love them, fear them or hate them.
What would you do if suddenly you found out you have special powers. Will that automatically make you a good person? Will you help the world or only use it for personal gain?

I highly recommend the series.

***SPOILERS BELOW!!!***

Actually the above demeans Oliver Stone - imagine instead Oliver Stone lobotomized and heavily dosed on psychedelic drugs with super powers and you'll end up with something like this series. Straczynski evidently has some sort of goofy leftist utopian side to him which Top Cow was unable or unwilling to check in this series. As a result, we get some interesting ideas which mutate into a laughably foolish global civics lesson that would have seemed hokey in junior high.

The specials empowered by the energy burst in the 60s are generally an interesting lot, and are well characterized. The unfortunate thing though is we eventually find out that all of them are virtual saints and even the nasty ones turn out to have been controlled by other villains and those who survive reform and perform altruistic acts of heroism. Conversely every normal person in the series is portrayed as either blandly inert or villainously evil (save for the saintly doctor). This dichotomy of "all the mutants are good, and all the humans are bad" would have seemed out of place in X Men plots of 30 years ago, let alone in the modern allegedly adult world of graphic novels.

We also have a peculiar liberal boogeyman appear, the evil religious folks conspiring to shut down abortion clinics. Not by bombing them or killing doctors, simply by protesting in front of them with the aid of a glowing angelic Star being manipulated by his evil televangelist dad. Huh, how dare those villains shut down abortion clinics by exercising their right to free assembly! Fortunately the religious Star eventually sees the light, admits his secular humanist sympathies, begins cross-dressing, and sacrifices himself to save the lives of a bunch of Stars and normal humans in Chicago (see below). Sounds silly? Ah, this is but the tip of the iceberg!

The general moral superiority of the Stars is shown irritatingly and unimaginatively by many Stone-like pictures of illuminated heros in crucifixion style poses getting riddled with gunfire, blown up with cruise missiles, etc. This becomes endemic in the third volume, as if someone has the DVD of "Platoon" set in a repeat loop at the scene where Willem Dafoe gets killed in the rice paddy. The art and coloring throughout is not exceptional, and the occasional loss of detail in the faces and expressions of characters is alarming. We also see immense artistic laziness, as the exact same scene is repeated over and over (e.g. Jason picking up big nuclear warheads and flying away while various human soldiers fire a variety of useless weapons at him...)

"Watchmen" had generally leftist politics that nonetheless allowed the series to develop in a mature, believable, and thought-provoking manner. In comparison, the leftist politics here are juvenile, naïve, and clichéd to the point of campiness. When the Stars eventually begin to "reform" the world, they do so unerringly and with only the best of motives. The mean ol U.S. is disarmed along with every other nation, cocaine crops are vaporized, large corporations exposed as villainous, Middle East problems solved by fairly allocating resources (How reassuring to see that religious differences play no role in the Mid-East Crisis!).

Societal problems go away when the US simply stops spending money on defense and instead throws all its money at various sociological problems. A Star President is elected because he has communed with the spirits of the dead and knows all the Dark Secrets of the US, like Who Killed Kennedy. (Not to give anything away, but it turns out to have been.... the CIA!!! Huh!!!)

To offend those on the libertarian Left, we have terrorism and crime solved by super-powered vigilantism where the Stars break down doors and beat up / kill the bad guys. None of the plans go awry, all of the bad guys are correctly and discretely eliminated, and none of the Stars abuses their powers in the least.

This of course provokes a counter-reaction from the Evil Military Industrial Complex, shown by caricatures of chain-smoking mean old white guy generals, who nuke the President, most of Congress, and thousands of innocent civilians in order to eliminate the few dozen Stars left by the end of the series. Fortunately though the energy released from all the dead Stars permeates the world and makes everybody nice and cooperative, shown in a poorly drawn big panel that may have come from a "WatchTower" magazine, with various ethnic caricatures being nice to each other shown on a crude map of the continents. It is a surreal moment, but not in a good sort of way.

Straczynski is a pretty good writer. Babylon 5 showed none of this weirdness, and his other comics like Supreme Power are far more restrained and subtle. It looks like he was either scripting this on cocktail napkins while drunk at various Al Gore fundraisers, or was simply preoccupied with other projects and giving this less than maximal effort. Top Cow evidently did not notice or care (or at least couldn't do much about it if they did) and as a result we have a saccharine cartoon of a civics lesson that makes Ralph Nader's worldview seem like Machiavelli's.

The first volume in the series is a good setup, maybe too derivative of the mask-killer plot of "Watchmen" and the "normal persecution" plotting of the X Men movies. The second volume is probably the best one, with a good intermediate stage setting and plotting, but it ends too quickly and then Volume Three, aka Howard Dean's Fantasia begins. Begins kind of dull and shaky, develops nicely, then gets preachy / trite / just plain weird at the end.

Straczynski can write decent characters when he tries, and the plot is certainly ambitious and complex. It looks like he simply needed more editorial guidance from his publisher here, and the resulting failure has made a dog's breakfast which has the potential to irritate the literal minded, or amaze the voyeuristic with what a fabulous disaster it all turns into. The worldview and plotting of Volume 3 would seem unsophisticated and unlikely to a high school Intro to Government class, and the spectacle of Straczynski presenting this to an adult audience with a straight face is both stunning and ghoulishly appealing, like a huge traffic accident involving cotton candy. If you like campy misfires that turn into earnest fairy tales loosely based on reality, stick with this series, but if you want a truly transcendent super hero series, get "Watchmen" instead.

Think of XMen, then add a writer who is GREAT! Each of the characters has depth and seems like a real person (unlike other comic book heros who are 'A' typical ect.) and their are a tons of different story lines running congruently that add a whole extra level of depth to the book.

I like XMen, and I apologize to Hardcore XMen fans, but I think XMen has met it's match, and that's J. Michael Straczynski. (Good thing he freelances for Marvel, LOL!)

J. Michael Straczynski continues to impress me. This little-known book (Rising Stars: Vol. 1) is a storytelling gem. His character development is top-notch. He's one of just a handful of writers that can take a super hero story and make it feel real.

Volumes 2 and 3 are also well crafted. My only complaint is the constant change of artists. All of the artists are good, it just disturbs the flow of the books a bit. Straczynski's masterful writing makes up for this minor gripe.

Check out J.M.S.'s "Supreme Power" books, and also "Midnight Nation," both are stunning titles. These books are for older audiences, not that they're overly sexual or violent, I just don't think they are intended for kids.

Happy reading!

This book was absolutely delightful! The writing is beautiful, and the story is easy to lose yourself in. I couldn't put this book down! An excellent read that won't leave you disappointed.

I just want to live in this book.

It seems to be making some readers uncomfortable that Argiri's main characters aren't butch Yalie types, but that's what's so wonderful and so unusual. To dismiss them as mirror images of hysterical women from Harlequin novels sounds like not wanting to look at what's really going on. This is another world. This is an author who colors outside the lines!

When I set out to purchase this novel, I found the conflicting reviews a bit troubling; half of the readers seemed to find it stunning, deep, and worthwhile and the other half rated it as little more than a poorly-done historical romance. Being an academic vested in gender studies, I nevertheless had to pick it up to see what it was all about.

I was sad to learn very early on that it was, indeed, no better than a typical hetero romance novel with a slight (and not altogether original) twist. The "good guys" are beautiful, intelligent, emotionally rich individuals; there's the stereotypical sultry devil from New Orleans, the exotic and strange (aren't all foreigners..? sigh.) Greek-born Englishman, the back-woods genius who is compared (appropriately) to Ganymede, and the gay couple who have been together for years. The "bad guys" are all extremely bad, extremely ugly, and with few redeemable features. If they're not psychotic, they're religiously fanatical, giving a very biased view of not just history but humanity as a whole.

The setting itself isn't artfully worked; I found myself stretching my imagination to visualize the places that were being described, even though at least two of these places (Yale and Oxford) I am personally familiar with. It was obvious that quite little research went into actually fleshing out the settings and, while I might have been less struck by poor setting had the characters been engrossing, there ended up being so many plot holes and ahistorical inconsistencies that I had to force myself to get through it.

"At Swim, Two Boys" it was not, but this book has its slight value. It wasn't an altogether unpleasant read; while, as one reader pointed out, the prose did seem at times quite Anne Rice-ian, and while long passages where characters wrote letters to one another dragged on, there were parts of the description (parts dealing with clothing, food, bodies, anything aside from locales) that were quite lovely and worthwhile, and the story will potentially find its target audience in someone seeking the fluffy, no-effort read of a romance novel, its happy ending, and the fact that it's a non-heteronormative romance. It should, however, be firmly planted into that genre, and not into the overall genre of fiction or queer lit, because it just doesn't make the cut.

In the mid nineteenth century, in the village of Haliburton set high in the Alleghenies, arrives Simeon Lincoln, newly appointed schoolmaster. Simeon, a graduate of Yale, suffers with consumption and has taken the post in the rarefied mountain air to help relieve his condition. His employer is the local priest and mayor, Reverend John Ezra Satterwhite. Satterwhite proves to be a monster of a man, a zealot of the worst kind, a drunkard, totally lacking in compassion, who it turns out violently abuses his six year old son Simion. Simion is as fragile as he is precocious, a scrawny and slight, pale eyed fair haired lad.
Simeon is immediately taken with Simion, who proves to be remarkably intelligent and an avid student, and determines that Simion should eventually apply to Yale, contrary to John Ezra's wishes. The reverend intends his son should remain in Haliburton to take over the teaching at the local school. Simeon and Simion develop a remarkable close relationship of love and trust, the former eventually proves to be the latter's saviour, and in more than just securing him a place at Yale.
Previously, Lord Stratton-Truro, a bachelor travelling in Athens comes upon a neglected but beautiful baby boy and taken by the infant, purchases him from his mother. While adopting the baby he keeps the child's given name, Doriskos Hyakinthos Kilionarios. Doriskos grows to be a handsome young man, an artist strangely beset by a recurring vision of a beautiful fair haired youth of his imagination. Following an unfortunate incident involving one of his students at Oxford, Doriskios ends up a Professor at Yale.
Also teaching at Yale is the quick tempered Moses Karseth, Professor of Surgery. Moses lives with Helmut Knitel, ostensibly his valet but in fact his lover. The couple will prove to play a crucial role in the lives of Simion and Doriskios.
At Yale Doriskios recognises Simion as soon as he stands before him for his interview as the youth in his dreams. Eventually the two do get together, and the major part of the novel is concerned with their relationship. It proves to be a troubled relationship, and not surprisingly so with Simion, a seventeen year old youth and Doriskios a Professor in his thirties, but that seems the least of their problems. As their relationship progresses they have to deal with, among other things, yobbish and wealthy students who make life hell for the impoverished Simion, a vicious and vengeful student Peter who has a crush on Doriskios, a flamboyant student Andy who is also in love with Simion, an unsympathetic narrow-minded Yale Principal Noah Porter, and an initially aggressively accusatory Moses Karseth. All come to a head when Porter gets wind of the "God in Flight", Doriskios' scandalous nude sculpture of himself and Simion.
This is a beautiful story that develops at an unhurried pace, with each of the main characters well developed. Simeon, under different circumstances perhaps Simion's lover, proves a true father to him. Simion is as physically adorable and vulnerable as he is strong willed and difficult. Doriskios remains utterly faithful from the moment of his first enigmatic vision that is eventually revealed in the flesh in Simion. The whole builds to a fitting and rewarding conclusion, including a riotous hearing convened by the Yale authorities. In all, a very moving story of the enduring strength of true love and devotion.

Never in my entire life of rather prolific reading have I come across a book which, by its end, had me wanting it out of my sight so quickly that I all but threw it in the trash. I'm an admitted sucker for characters whom everyone falls in love with. This book takes that to the opposite extreme. Argiri gives us not one, but two men who are so obnoxious and emotionally stunted that it's all but unbelievable. The one character who I did like (very much in fact) and who made the first third of the book a perfect joy to read, leaves off rather early on. How his namesake, Simion, having lived through such a horrid and cruel childhood could grow up into such a vulgar, selfish, worthless prat is beyond me. And his beloved Professor? All he has going for him is his amazing artistic talent and his godlike looks. I'm all for beautiful people (in fiction, at least), but beautiful people with horrendous or downright absent personalities annoy me as much in the written word as they do in RL. I had had more than enough of this book with about 100 pages to go, but I made myself finish it---I think I was hoping for closure, at the very least. In the end I needn't have bothered---if anything, I dislike the book more now than when I first put it down.