Carlson Books

Even if you're not interested in hiking, the history herein will fascinate you. And who knows, you may wish to take up hiking as a hobby just to see the places described here!

This is an outstanding hiking book on this area. It brings to life the stories and legends of the Superstitions while giving the hiker step by step instructions to the trails. The photos add to the stories and help the reader with visual images of the characters or trails. One of the best hiking books I have ever read. The format is direct and helps the reader to follow the trails and the related stories. Recommended book for anyone interested in the History of Arizona and the Superstition Mountains. Also an indespensible tool while hiking the Wilderness Areas of the Superstition Mountains. Great Book !!

The trail descriptions are well done. The topographical maps make this book a tool for any hiker. A "History and Legends" segment after each hike adds to the excitement.

This is the best guide to the Superstitions I have found, it has many hikes in it, as well as the lore and legend of the region and all its past inhabitants. The pictures are in black and white, but the trail descriptions are so good, you can visualize it in color! Excellent information about the difficulty ratings, the trailheads, what you might need to take, weather patterns, and lots of info of past denizens of the region and things you might encounter from those times. All of this, along with some of the most interesting terrain available and scenic landmarks, what more could a hiker want. Get the boots and the pack and head out!!
UPDATE:8/23/08. This book is currently available at the Superstition Mountain Museum in Apache Junction, Arizona

Over the years, whole libraries have been filled with books teaching the principles and finesses of acting. Yet the specifics of acting for the camera, which requires a totally different technical approach, have rarely been documented in great detail. Enter actor Steve Carlson, a veteran of film, television, infomercials... you name it. He's done it all, seen it all and now tells it all in Hitting Your Mark.
The book consists of two parts. Part one begins with some technical information, and teaches the reader all about the importance of marks, camera awareness in several different types of set-up, how to handle close-ups and share the frame with your fellow actors. But he also talks about using cue cards and teleprompters (essential in infomercials and daytime soaps), the challenges of doing love scenes well (including several types of movie kiss). The importance of lights, sound and editing are explained in detail, and it finally becomes clear how much of your own stunts you're allowed to do - and why.
The second part of the book is about having a successful career. For Carlson, this means more than getting jobs: it also means creating a positive frame of mind, both on set and off, and managing your emotional and financial life effectively.
Written in a friendly, clear style, this book is a good read and contains tons of excellent information. Carlson's wealth of experience makes this a must-read for anyone who intends to get into acting for the camera.

Now in a newly updated and expanded second edition, Hitting Your Mark: Making A Life - And A Living - As A Film Actor is a 266-page, hard-hitting, factual, complete reference and how-to book for the aspiring media actor. Hitting Your Mark should be required reading for all would-be film actors. All imaginable Actors' 101 questions are dealt with up front, and some that are tough to imagine. Author Steve Carlson has drawn on his thirty eight years of experience TV and films to create an excellent textbook for actors. Because it is a second edition, it is divided into Book one, which deals with introductions to the basics of camera, set, and stage, technical areas, marks and blocking, camera awareness, working to 'please' the camera, love scenes, editing, teleprompter and cue cards, light and sound, and unique situations and positions, plus auditions on camera. Book Two contains more information about the actual life and experiences of a media actor and the requirements and expectations that make a professional actor successful, or at least, likely to be rehired. The author refers to learning that all production is a team effort, to developing professional POV, or point of view, by which he means "Attitude." Attitude can be all-important in determining an actor's level of success and even whether or not they will enjoy their success. The following statement sums up much of what the author believes: "A seasoned professional uses his experience to anticipate problems before they occur and help others on the set who may not be as comfortable as they (p. 191)." Carlson goes on to cover readiness, competing, success and failure, finances (or show busine$$), life off the set, and wrap-up. Some of his closing Thoughts to Live By are priceless: "Do not act like a 'star... Be good and true to the people who are being good to you... Keep your word...Keep your personal life as simple as possible...Keep good care of money matters...Never be in a position where you 'have' to have this part. Do not borrow money from anyone except the bank and even then, only in dire necessity or when buying a house. (After your career is off and running.) Don't ask, or even permit, someone to do for you what you wouldn't do for them...No one was ever hired out of pity and never will be. You have to be good to play this game (pp. 259-260)." Hitting Your Mark is an actor's friend. It does not pretend to be an actor's teacher, that will be experience, but it provides the information to allow an actor to make the most of his or her experience.

This book is not just great for actors, it's great for anyone in the film business who takes their career seriously. Part career management and inspirational guide, it's the kind of no nonsense advice that anyone entering the business needs to know.

It was hot on this summer day. I was standing in the middle of an old Airport, Seattle's Original International Airport with conveyor belts for luggage and open areas and ticket counters and I was watching the set-up of the scene. I was still a Junior in High School and I had gotten to be a paid extra for a "Made-For-TV" film entitled: "Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy" starring the beautiful and talented Jaclyn Smith.

Having been a film buff for years, I knew what they were setting up, where the camera was, who the "players" were: The assistant directors who would tell us where to stand, the lighting guys moving large deflectors, the director and the producer. This wasn't my first day on the set - and my knowledge served me well.

How? By watching. I watched as an assistant director made a mark on the floor and focused the camera. "That's where she's going to stand." I said to myself. And scooted my way over to stand right next to the mark. Moments later my hope was dashed as ANOTHER assistant director setting up the extras, came over and had me switch with the woman I was standing next to. But then the FIRST assistant director came back and told me to switch back. This was my moment.

Within a couple minutes Jaclyn Smith, all decked out in period garb, came out and stood next to me. She clenched her fists, going over her lines, took some direction and waited for the next move.

With a lull in the moment I turned to Ms. Smith and said: "You're doing a really good job." There, I said it. I talked to a CHARLIE'S ANGEL (and the best looking one at that - IMHO) and she smiled at me and said: "Thanks." SHE TALKED BACK TO ME! I shut up. No need to say more. Don't want to get kicked off the set.

"Are you an actor, too?" She asked me.

Not realizing she was going to speak to me I stammered over my words, barely making a coherent sentence, something about High School and plays and yeah, actor, someday. Then they started shooting the film.

"Hitting Your Mark" is what Jaclyn Smith did. Observing and shutting up is what I did. I got paid. So did she.

"Hitting Your Mark" is an excellent book for anyone on the cusp of starting a career in acting. Okay, maybe not as you are driving off to your first audition for the "Smith County Players" but for when you are about to pack up your car and head to L.A. (or New York).

There's an obviousness to this book that I do not want to discount. The obviousness is that you are about to make it big - or are about to partake on making it big.

Much like the author states (at least a couple times), this is not a book about acting. This is, really, a book about what it means to be a paid actor. Getting the job, keeping the job. Working with professionals, dealing with the aspects of the various jobs, etc.

Just like the title says: "Making A Life - And A Living - As A Film Actor."

Now, I know what you're thinking: "You are a screenwriter - you write about screenplays - what are you doing reviewing a book about making a living as an actor?"

Simple! As a screenwriter you should be aware of ALL the aspects of the business. From the Gaffer who is stringing cable to the Director (who is stringing the Gaffer for not laying the proper cable).

Why? Well, first, what harm does it do? None! Second, what benefit does it do? Tons! Let me explain:

Knowing a film set and who is on it, and what they bring to it, gives you a better understanding of how the system works. If you write a love scene that could very well have been in an erotic film - reading about actors and erotic love scenes - and how they are filmed - may give you and understanding of the difference between your hot erotic love scene in the back seat of a car turned into a confused, awkward, 12 hour shoot that lacked chemistry and energy. Is that your fault? No. But if you knew going in what was involved...maybe it would have been far more erotic (and easier to write) about two people stealing a kiss behind a church.

Oh, and what of that kiss? How have you written it? Passionate? Tonsil hockey? A slight peck on the cheek? Each one has its own issues when it comes to being photographed.

Same goes for other scenes you set up. Do you understand "coverage?" Do you have an understanding of what the actors are looking for in a scene? What about dialogue, editing, the look, the feel of the scene. Are you writing a scene an actor is going to chomp into like a hungry pit-bull? Or are you writing a scene an actor will likely sleep through?

Cutting into the psyche of an actor (as Mr. Carlson enables you to do in this book) you have a better understanding of what THEY bring to the table when it comes to your written words. It also gives you a better understanding of why they may change your scenes, change your words or, even, change your characters.

Mr. Carlson's book is broken up into two books. Book one is all the technical aspects of an actor's life. From the "Hitting Your Mark" of the title to "Love Scenes" and "Working With a Teleprompter." The chapters are relatively short and to the point and they usually end with a "summary" of what was just said.

Book Two deals with the life OFF the set. "Competing," "Success and Failure" and a chapter actually titled: "Life Off The Set." It is in this 2nd book where the lessons of life in Hollywood can be just as important for the writer of a screenplay as they can be for the actor.

Most of these lessons fall into the category of common sense but it's always important to remember them:

Be professional
Treat people with respect
Be ready
Learn your lines
Be on time, if not early
Listen
Do not take rejection personally
Ask questions
Pay attention
Be nice
Make friends
(and many others)

There are other aspects of this book that relate directly to a professional writing career in Hollywood. Taking meetings, working with professionals, holding yourself to a higher standard, understanding (and reminding yourself) that Hollywood is a business and working with creative (and sometimes difficult) people.

The only issue that I really have with the book is that I would have liked to have read more stories from the "trenches." Having been an actor for 40 years, Mr. Carlson could have liberally sprinkled many other stories of out-of-control divas, stunts gone bad, drunken directors, crew member initiations (if they have them), craft food problems, etc. Maybe he will save those stories for the third edition.

Bottom line: As a screenwriter, it's important to have a grasp of all the aspects of film. Steve Carlson's book takes you into all the things an actor has to deal with in an interesting and fascinating way.

Most of us should have a little more death and funeral-related information in our knowledge base, and it would be a good idea to get it before we actually need it. But who wants to read about dying? I knew I'd need some guidance in this area eventually, so when I saw Ms. Carlson's book I thought I'd give it a read. Her "But Seriously..." sections contained all the information I'm likely to need, surrounded by pages and pages of humor, good humor. Jokes and cartoons -- there's something for everyone in "I Died Laughing: Funeral Education with a Light Touch." Humorists will be especially pleased.

Death is not a topic many of us enjoy talking about, and as a result many people are unprepared for the business side of death once it strikes close to home. The underlying goal of this little book is to increase readers' knowledge of death, funerals, and the like. Thus, there is information on burial vaults, caskets, funeral homes, cremation, etc.; much of this information is useful and interesting. There are even money-saving tips for families in financial straits. Surrounding these tips and suggestions, though, are an assortment of humorous remarks and stories: famous last words, cartoons, jokes, funny epitaphs, poems, and recollections. You will also find "A Dying Person's Bill of Rights" and--my favorite--a list of suggestions for "Putting the 'Fun' Back in Funerals." This book is in no way irreverent or disrespectful of the dead and those who mourn for them, and there are no religious overtones that might upset certain readers. This short little book (it can easily be read in half an hour) will certainly not make you an expert on funerals, but there is some good information to be found on the serious pages scattered throughout the book, not least of which is a discussion of the information funeral homes are required by law to give you in writing before you make any buying decision. The author emphasizes the fact that you are not required to accept everything the funeral director recommends and stresses the importance of reading through the price guidelines and relevant information before making your decision. No matter how much we deny it, death is a part of life we all must face, and this little book celebrates life through its humor and makes death a little easier for people to consider and talk about.

If you are going to die please purchase this book. "I Died Laughing Funeral
Education with a Light Touch" will help you laugh your way into planning your funeral your way to the low cost funeral. It will help you lower the cost of your family funerals.
Funeral directors to be effective and friendly in awkward social situations, must have this book in their possession. Open your wallet Mr. Funeral Director. This book will float you to the ceiling in laughter just like in the Movie "Mary Poppins".
The Historical references on death will get you laughing and thinking. Sometimes the "but seriously sections" will take you to new funeral options, a good thing. Five stars all the way. Practical, timeless and funny. "Page 54" "Putting the Fun back in Funerals"and "page 89" "A Dying Persons Bill of Rights" make this work a fun read.

This book has tons of jokes and cartoons with a death theme. Most of them are pretty funny. Interspersed are some 'but seriously' pages with real information about various aspects of death, dying and funerals. There is a table of contents in the front so you can go right to the serious stuff if you want. There is also a good list of funeral directors in the back of the book.

This volume contains selected stories from three of writer's previous books: The News of the World, Plan B for the Middle Class, and The Hotel Eden. It would be difficult to pull out any particular story from each selection as one's favorite. They are orginal and differ from each other. Some are quite funny, and deal with frustrations of coping with the expected rules of middle class lifestyle, others reflect on life in academia, and so forth.

Included in the work are marvelous descriptions of nature, beautiful rendering of settings, trenchent summaries of physical attributes of characters, taunt dialogue and no wasted words anywhere. Reading his stories is a lesson in how to write and what to emulate in the selection of details.

This book can be treasured and reread many times. I recommend it to anyone.

Ron Carlson writes wonderful stories, a celebrated master of the short story form because he peoples his work with characters who dare not only to love, be hurt, feel betrayal and anger - but to stick by their hopes stubbornly (sometimes too stubbornly). The stories are tough and realistic and will tell you things about your life and the lives around you that you may not want to consider, but they are also hopeful and they remind us of the better things in our hearts, too. This is a lovely collection - buy it!

I've always loved endings. I'm fascinated by the way a story becomes itself, gathers force, and then, just as critical mass is reached, powers down. My favorite stories crimp like that, right as their full trajectories become visible; like being in a car that's just screeched to a halt, a good story leaves you rocking in your seat, armhairs on end from unrealized intertia. So, by mathematics alone, I'm a sucker for story collections: with a novel, you only get one ending; with a collection, you get the whole quiver. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the grand vision of the novel, and it's true that a story collection will never have the voltage of novels like Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy or Beloved by Toni Morrison. But remember: it's the amperage that kills. Pure electricity are stories like Stuart Dybek's "Paper Lantern," Lorrie Moore's "People Like That Are the Only People Here," Annie Proulx's "Brokeback Mountain," Robert Stone's "Helping," or Charles D'Ambrosio's "The Point." You could light the sky with the story-power of Robert Olen Butler or Alice Munroe, two of our best practitioners. And with Tobias Wolff's prose, you could weld. But the writer who first influenced me, and has continued to influence me most through my career is Ron Carlson, a true writer's writer. His first three short story collections-The News of the World, Plan B for the Middle Class and Hotel Eden-have recently been published in one volume, A Kind of Flying.

For a book to take up residence inside of you, so that it influences you from within, it's either got to hit you at the right time in your life or be rich enough that future readings reveal new, deeper meanings. For me, Ron Carlson's stories did both-his work became that length of rope you tie around your waist before entering a cave: no matter what adventures or perils awaited, everything would lead back through that safety line to the place you started and the sense of security that allowed you to take a risk. Carlson's stories were my permission, my proof of possibility and my way back when I got lost.

I first came across Carlson's stories in the late 80s. I'd been playing hooky from life-working construction, hanging out with people who took Jimmy Buffet literally-so when I finally decided to grow up and go to college, I had to face some of the reasons it had been appealing to lead an incurious life of worktrucks and weekends in Mexico. This is when I came across Carlson's story "The Governor's Ball," about a man who voluntarily does dirty work so he can avoid the emotional work of connecting to his wife. Instead of joining her for an important function, the narrator spends the evening taking a mattress to the dump, and the whole time he drove around his fictional town, I was thinking, I know what's eating at that guy, I know what he's not talking about! Then I stumbled upon "DeRay" in GQ. Here the narrator covets the life of his neighbor DeRay, a man the narrator perceives to possess far greater abilities than himself. I looked up from my magazine in quad of Arizona State and studied all the students who had been intimidating me. I said to the narrator, Man, why can't you see all the good things you've got going on. Perhaps these sound like naïve reading experiences, but a good story, one that points out personal truths, always makes a child out of me.

I suddenly wanted to write a story, too, one in which the character doesn't have to say what he's feeling because it's obvious in his decisions, observations, descriptions. If only everyone could be read that way, I thought. If only I could read myself so easily. So I took a fiction workshop (I also needed an easy "A") and I had a surprising experience: all of my supposed flaws-daydreaming, rubbernecking, pointless lying, compulsive exaggeration-combined to make something good: storytelling. It was one of those rare moments in which I knew what I wanted my destiny to be. I wanted what Ron Carlson had: the ability to tell a story deeply enough that every reading yielded something new. That kind of story didn't have a single ending, but many of them. The secret ingredient, I think I've figured out, is wisdom. I don't think I have that kind of large understanding of human behavior yet, but it's a pretty good destiny to aim for.

I recently picked up a book that had spoken to me as a teenager. But perusing its pages again, I was left flat. The young man who'd loved that book was no more, and the book had little to offer the person I'd become. It's true that I couldn't have encountered Carlson's stories at a better time-I soon tore through everything he'd written, relishing other stories like "Blazo," "Nightcap" and "Oxygen"-and I realized that his work has such a scope that there couldn't be a better time for anybody to encounter his work. His stories are so agile of voice, broad of heart, and deeply layered, that there's something in them for everyone. You couldn't bearhug stories like "The Hotel Eden" and "Dr. Slime" into the same pages of another author's book, but Carlson does it again and again. The deluded whimsy of a story like "Bigfoot Stole My Wife" somehow fits next to the deflected seriousness of "Life Before Science."

Carlson's stories are famous among writers for their humor, warmth and relentless attention to the human heart. In his narrator's voices, you can hear exactly what they wish they could tell you. In their actions you can see what they truly yearn for. Carlson just seems to know about people, real and invented. He knew me as a lost construction worker, though he'd never met me. And he knew me as a college student, a struggling writer, and now he knows what I'm experiencing as a full-fledged grown up. It turns out the first story I read by Carlson was "Milk," in which a new father must confront the vulnerabilities of becoming a parent in a dangerous world. I reread that story when my son was born and again this summer when my daughter arrived. Like all of Carlson's work, when I read it at different points in my life, it had a different ending: mine.

Ron Carson is the hands-down Grand Master of the short story. Every single piece in this collecton is a jewel. If you love the short story form, you MUST have this book.

It truly was unforgettable. For those readers who are tired of the same old story, give Cassandra Jane a try. I wasn't sure at first if I'd like it, but it wasn't too long before I was hooked. I'd recommend this book for anyone who simply likes a good story.

I really enjoyed this book, it moved fast and was written as if you were listening to her talk. The use of so many parentheses helped you to understand her thought process and also clarify many things. It was unusual to see so many in a book, but it worked.
My only problem was not really so much with the author, as with the editor. It surprised me to find two such obvious errors.
One, there is no such thing as a 1962 Ford Mustang, and Bacall was not in Casablanca. That just seemed odd to me that those weren't corrected in the editing process and really stuck out, especially since the mention of them in the book was for clarification or effect.

Melody Carlson got me quick and deep into Cassandra's thoughts and her rough and tumble faith journey of survival. It was hard to pull away from this book, so I didn't. Cassandra's first person account tends toward self-pity at times but in a true-to-life type of way. A bunch of kids make stupid mistakes and learn that doesn't weaken God's power. LOOKING through Cassandra's troubled eyes paints a full landscape of developed characters in an upside down world.

Born in the 1960's, Cassandra Jane Maxwell didn't have an easy start in life, and that trend of misfortune seemingly continued throughout her childhood, teenage, and early adult years. Her father was a drunk, her mother dead, her grandmother only alive to help for a short time, and her only true friend a nerdy but well-intentioned boy, Joey Divers. After going through a couple of foster homes and feeling isolated from and unloved by everyone, Cass hooks up with the wrong group. She finds a faith in God, but falls in with a group of Christians whose leader, Sky, is not really all he seems. Through the bad times, the moments of happiness, the hippie commune, and the foster homes...take a trip with Cassandra.

You just never know until you've read the book. I picked this up at the library, not expecting much beyond a fairly easy and forgettable read. Not quite. Yes, this book is incredibly readable, but it is because it is well-written and engaging. It is written in first person, so it really seems like Cassandra Jane is talking to you. And let me tell you, it's a conversation you never want to end! It's obvious that Carson has a fabulous grasp for her character, and her descriptions never waver. I loved how although Cass got pressured into doing things that were unwise, the reader realized that underneath it all, she was a creative, intelligent, and discerning person who just wanted to be loved and fit in. Her grapples with faith and God are realistic, and the fact that her faith journey is up-and-down and far from perfect makes Cass all the better as a character. Some cynics and literary purists may argue that the ending is too perfect or a little rushed. Maybe it's rushed, but I think that's excusable since I don't have a single complaint about the rest of the book. And too perfect? Readers will have been rooting for Cassandra Jane for so long that they won't mind at all!

Unpretetious and beautiful. I read it in a day.

Very entertaining! It was a great surprise to find this gem from an unknown author. The characters are very real and engaged my interest. I laughed, cried and was captivated by the wonderful story. It caught my attention and held me right through to the last word. It was difficult putting the book down since the novel is written with each chapter leaving you wanting more. I would very much like to find more work by this author but haven't been able to find anything else. Highly recommended! Thank you.

Acting: Art of the Monologue by Frank Catalano.

If you are an aspiring actor you must read this book and you will go back to it a thousand times. Frank has a unique, ralaxed way of teaching and writing. After you read his book I'm sure you will wish you could attend his classes. I said an aspiring actor because I am one, but I really mean anyone can and will learn a great deal from this book. Don't wait. You will be many steps closer to succes with the use of this great book.

I have read many monologue compilations, but this one is excellent! The material is relevant and very good. I also loved the characters. Plus all of the pieces can be done together as a single work. Very cool book. I'd give it an A+ for originality.

This little book raises many uncomfortable questions about what we like to think of as the differences between good and evil, between "us" and "them," and between the (as the title suggests) justified and unjustified use of rational violence. If this book doesn't get students talking, I don't know what will. Carlson never flinches from harsh images and refuses to hide behind words or creeds. Instead, he lays out for us, in clear, accessible, and sometimes heartbreaking prose, the very questions that lurk in the darkest corners of our world.

I'm in love with this writer, or should I say his fiction. I reviewed his first novel over a year ago and gave it 4 stars. This one is even better.

This story is full of its own big ideas, which is no small accomplishment. It picks up again right after the end of Plague Year, but Carlson does a good job of making this book work as it's own story, reintroducing my favorites Cam Najarro and Ruth Goldman -- as well as a bunch of new cool dudes and new threats galore.

Most of the survivors in the world are still stuck above 10,000 feet elevation, barely hanging on after the machine plague, but Cam and Ruth have a vaccine nanotech that will allow people to walk below the barrier again, and everybody in the world wants it.

Reading Plague War is like walking through a living game of chess with the heroes and villians all crashing together around you as they fight for the vaccine.I won't write any spoilers here, but once again the whole book is loaded with amazing stuff and a few major shocks. Frighteningly real.

These books are made for the big screen. I bet a movie will come out soon.

The Hoff

Just over a year has past since the catastrophe began with a rather rapid wipeout of 5,000,000,000 souls in a blink. The nano-plague was released into the human population bring the world to the edge of extinction.. To survive this organic eating plague one must reside above the elevation of 10,000 feet as the machines freeze at that altitude.

In the Colorado Rocky Mountains the United States government plots to take over the world by using the vaccine developed by Ruth Goldman as a tool to choose who lives. The scientist and her friend Cam just want to inoculate everyone. Meanwhile the feds arrange for select Russians to fly to the States, but are betrayed when the plane explodes a nuclear bomb into the area. The Russian both combat and civilian and the Chinese are coming in full fighter force as they want a less ravaged place to live. Ruth believes she can bring the war to a halt and prevent any more fighting if he idea and new creation works

The sequel to the exciting PLAGUE YEAR, PLAGUE WAR is an exhilarating high octane science fiction thriller that hooks the audience from the opening sequence and never let's go until the climax. While the story line focuses on non-stop action, the desolate frozen backdrop is in some ways the prime character as even in near extinction some in power will make a grab for more control while others prefer to simply save the world. Whereas Jeff Carlson cautions his audience to keep a close eye on the government-science-technological complex, fans, especially those who read the first book, will enjoy this electrifying over the Rockies dark futuristic tale

Harriet Klausner

A fan of "Plague Year," I picked up "Plague War" last week- after a long anticipation- just before flying cross county... and I was not disappointed. It was the perfect way to escape the otherwise hectic runaround of balancing a fussy seven-month old baby girl, an inability to clear my ears, and the jerk in front of my jamming their seat as far back as possible.

I was enraptured to find out more about what has become of the world after a year suffering under a machine plague that attacks and kills any living creatures of sufficient size. It's clear Mr. Carlson did his homework on a wide variety of issues- the impact such a plague would have on the environment (such as the prevalence of insects, and how vicious they would have become- something I would never have conceived of prior), the effects of the human body above 10,000 feet, the mechanics of nanotechnology, how the rest of the world reacted to the impending doom of the machine plague.

I was vaguely disappointed in not finding out as much about other issues I considered, like what happened to the US Navy- I imagine the Fleet would have sortied, for instance, and they could have supplied themselves well enough to last a year at sea. Major US warships have excellent Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical protection, and could've sealed themselves airtight and modified the pressure inside the ships if necessary (the machine plague self destructs at atmospheric pressures above approximately 10,000 feet)- not to mention submarines. It would have played an interesting role in the war described in the book.

All that could've taken another three hundred pages to go over, though. Heh. All in all, an excellent summer read. Pick it up, you won't be disappointed!

For anyone who likes high-speed action loaded with shocks and wild ideas, the second PLAGUE book delivers. Carlson hits the ground running with PLAGUE WAR and only accelerates from there. This is one scary series! I've never seen end-of-the-world techno thrillers written this way. PLAGUE WAR is very personal but big in scope at the same time, loaded with politics and intrigue while jampacked with gunfights and other action sequences. Highly recommended.

I stumbled upon the Plug about two months ago and have become addicted. This guy is the king of Random and one has to wonder how he comes up with this stuff. I absolutely loved every bit of The Plug and needed to get my hands on the books - did, and loved them every bit as much as the online version. Brilliant, witty, clever, random, funny. I'm sharing it with everyone I know so more people can get hooked on The Plug!

The Plug Anthology: Volume 1 is better than The Bible. More compact, easier to carry. Definitely funnier.

Soon, there will be "The Plug Anthology: Volume 1" instead of those pesky Bibles in hotel nightstands. Everyone needs a laugh while on the road.

It also has pictures, which I'm told, the bible lacks. Final score - The Plug: 4, The Bible: 0

This is a must read, especially now that we are in the middle of another unpopular war. If you want to know the way things really were for the POWs of the Korean War, read this book and the words of the POW soldiers who were there. Lewis Carlson's interviews and research are exemplary, spellbinding, sometimes graphic, and always reminding us, what price our freedom is purchased at. His depiction of war is real, not this stuff we often see in movies. We read about real men who have their own lives and feelings. Yet, soldiers who went off to war for different reasons. Some didn't want to go, but they did. They had all been trained to duty, honor, obey, and country, and in their own words their "honor," shines through. When you start to feel a little sorry for yourself, this is the book to pick up and you will soon forget all your troubles. Imagine, never knowing when your captors might decided to make an example of you and put a bullet in your head, or if you might get thrown in the freezing cell for 30 days. Ask yourself, could you survive on a cup of partially cooked millet a day? Learn how men depend on each other and yet have to survive as one. All this just scratches the surfaces of what Carlson is able to share. Are you aware that there are some who still believe that our POWs were willing collaborators with the enemy and turned Communist and make an bad name for those who gave up so much. The truth is plainly and truthfully laid out in these pages by the men who endured being beaten, terrorized, staved, froze nealy to death, riddled with disease or war wounds yet never given medical care, because there was none. Many died, yet many also came home and in the pages of this book you can read their honest story. How many of us have heard their stories in the 50 years since that war? After all their suffering of the most horrible atrocities imaginable, witnessing the deaths of their brothers, and then for these men to finally get to come home at the end of the war, did America welcome them home? did we hug them and help to put them back on their feet? No! First each was sorely interrogated as a war criminal. Then most if not all had great difficulty getting a job and were socially scared. For years they were still secretly under surveillance and some were further interrogated over and over again. All this, despite their innocence. Why, you may ask? That is a good question. You owe it to yourself, to learn the real truth and to be enlightened. I think this is one of the best historical books I have read in years. Let us not forget this war any longer nor the men who fought in it. Jerri Garofalo

The film Manchurian Candidate was held up, because JFK was killed just before it was to be released. As a suspense film, it was very good. As a history , or metaphor for American soldiers caputured in the Korean War, it was and remains false and ugly. New Yorker, a magazine long noted for good reporting, contributed to what amounted to a "black list" of our military men with stories that were, at best gross exaggerations of true stores.

This book, at last, gives the men who were incarcerated for months and years in that cold barren countr -a voice. In the tradition of Studs Turkel, they tell of their experience. Mostly men hastily trained, they faced brutal captors and brutal conditions. If few were "heroic",very very few betrayed either country or colleague. Despite the sensational blather that followed. Worse!. When freed, they were put on ships and rather than receive care & TLC they were subject to interrogation Even back home, the Army , the FBI hounded some. This was the time of our own "red terror" I was drafted to the USMC-- and am proud to read that the Marines did not harass their men after they were freed.

Care & treatment floundered . I know, I worked at the VA Hospital in Dayton Ohio for 20 years. Nearly 30 years later the government made rules that made sense. Former Prisoners of War received a special focus, with the presuption that after such lengthy exposure to brutal contidions, many medical & emotional problems were very likely to show up.

Combat vets do not often talk about the events that lead to PTSD. Former POWs. have an additional memory bank of horror This book is not a "plea for help". It is a bit late anyway. But if you can put aside your need for mere flag waving, this book will give insights about war and it cosequences. I found a new respect for these men. I thought I had some understanding, but my vision was nearly that of a blind man

Any reader who is curious about the Korean War, and about the prisoner-of-war experience in particular, needs to read this book. This is the little-known story of American soldiers caught off-guard and unprepared for the wrong war at the wrong time, in the wrong place. The stories of capture, torture, and incarceration are shocking enough. But the author makes it clear that the POWs' challenges did not end with their release. Added to the survivors' physical and psychological burdens from the war was a humiliating reception at home. This was on two levels: indifference on the part of the public, and the paranoid scruitiny of the McCarthy-era government, which made far too much of supposed brainwashing. It's a breathtaking story to which most Americans remain oblivious today. When reading this book, the reader wonders how he/she might cope in this situation. At least this exercise generates a great deal of respect for the men to somehow survived to share their recollections for this book. I'm withholding a fifth star only beacuse of the almost excusive focus on American G.I.s. There are British, French, Canadian, Turkish, and many other U.N. troops whose POW experience is noteworthy.

THE AUTHOR MANAGED TO PLACE THE PROPER TONE AND ETHOS
GIVING A TRUE EXPERENCIAL VIEW OF THE POW'S EXPERENCE.

IT IS THE FIRST BOOK I READ FROM AN AUTHOR AND NOT A EX-POW
WHO PROVIDED THE TRUTH IN THIS TIME OF OUR MILITARY HISTORY.

AS AN EX-POW OF THAT WAR I FEEL IT SAID AND INDEED GAVE A PROPER
ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY PART OF 1950-1951, AND THE HERRENDOUS
CONDITIONS THAT EXISTED.

IT IS MY HOPE SCHOOLS WILL SECURE THIS BOOK FOR THE LIBRARY AND THE HISTORY TEACHER WILL RECONMEND THE STUDENTS TO REVIEW IT FOR ASSAYS.

I've just begun reading this book. I'm only in the beginning of the book, and already it's made a major difference on my life. I've been a cronic one to always reflect on the past. Reading this book, Chapter 1, talks about 'living in the moment' I never looked at life that way. Since reading this section, my life has become calm. I just can't put the book down. I've ordered the book for a friend who is also going through a hard time. I hope it helps them as much as it has helped me.

The brilliant simplicity of Health Realization and the wisdom of Joe Bailey, makes this a book that will continue to change your life long after you've finished reading. Taking the principles of this philosophy that is so helpful in all aspects of life and focusing it on the univeral challenges any couple trying to have a relationship encounter can make a huge impact. Regardless of the state of your relationship, you will benefit from and love this book

I just finished reading Joe Bailey's "Slowing Down to the Speed of Love" and it has really helped to change my life. Not only do I see relationships in a new way but I see my whole life differently. I feel quiet, at peace, people say they've seen a change in me. I highly recommend this book. Give it a try, I think you'll like it too.

There are thousands of books on relationships, but Joe Bailey's book is a gem. Joe talks straight to your innate health and wisdom. When you read this book something feels incredibly right. It is simple and profound. Slowing Down to the Speed of Love provides a deep understanding that goes beyond techniques that may lose relevance. This book is about "timeless love" and helps you "be present" and alive in a way that truly makes for a deep and fulfilling relationship. When couples come to me for help, I always recommend this book.! Thank you Joe for a rare and special gift to me and my patients.
George E. Patterson, Ph. D., Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Consultant