Close Books

This book does well at covering the basics of insect photography. The author begins by giving a broad review of general photographic principles. Almost all of this is better-covered in general photography books, and it doesn't add much. About the only thing unusual in this section is the author's encouragement that medium format cameras are the best choice for insect macro photography. He gives some good arguments for this, and adequately covers most of the reasons NOT to use medium format, except that he completely omits any mention of the problems with depth of field inherent in medium format.

The author definitely is an entomologist, and appears extremely knowledgeable about insects and behavior. We benefit from his expertise because most of the last half of the book is chapters on several common insect groups, with advice on photographing each type. This is by far the best part of the book--This part rates four stars.

The book concludes with a very brief section on organizing your photo files, and marketing your work. Nothing special here.

As is typical in nature photography books, each page is heavily illustrated with photos from the atuhor's files. Many of the photos are gorgeous. The author is from Europe, and most of his subjects are naturally European species.

The book does well on discussing technique in terms of approaching insects, and where to look for some common types of insect. It doesn't do a very good job of discussing a number of techniques special to macro photography. For instance, the author does mention use of reflectors for lighting in at least one place, but other than saying it can be handy, he gives no specific advice. He repeatedly talks about using water tanks to shoot aquatic species under controlled conditions, but never gives any specific advice. The book was published in 2002, and is good in acknowledging some recent technical developments and products among film cameras, but I don't recall even a brief allusion to digital--This isn't really a flaw, but it is peculiar.

Not a bad book, and the sections on specific insect types make this a useful purchase for the dedicated insect photographer. But I think Larry West's book on insect photography is better. I also thought Ronan Loaec's general macro photography book was a better buy.

"Close up on Insects" is a guide to the macrophotography of insects. Anyone without specialized equipment and skills who has ever tried to take a picture of a butterfly, will realize the need for this book, which covers all the bases.

The author explores this field in a methodical way, starting with chapters on equipment (he favors medium-format cameras) and moving on to subjects like exposure, magnification and depth of field, ways to increase magnification, working with flash and natural light, composition and design and operating in the field. The author assumes you know something about these areas in general photography and emphasizes the special skills for insect photography. In the second part of the book he discusses subject matter, including dragonflies, butterflies, moths, caterpillars and other insect groups, again from the point of view of photographing these insects. He also briefly discusses managing your photographic collection, marketing and selling your work and photographing abroad. The book is profusely illustrated with the author's pictures of insects, with a brief description of his considerations in taking each picture.

If close-ups of insects are your interest, this book will tell you how to do it. Unfortunately much of the material is repetitious, which you may appreciate if you want to know that the same techniques apply to shooting dragonflies and moths. The technical skills are covered more concisely in one chapter in John Shaw's "Nature Photography Field Guide", although the emphasis is not on insects.

Moreover most of the pictures are record shots of standing insects, with no flight shots, although the vivid colors in some pictures are quite striking. However, there are certainly none of the magnificent and awesome photographs contained in John Brackenbury's "Close Up" (although that book is disappointing as a guide to technique).

The insect descriptions are general rather than species specific, although the author does provide a good list of references. Most of these will be of more help to photographers in the British Isles than other places, although the author is always careful to include at least one U.S. reference.

I don't quite know what to make of the chapters on managing a collection, marketing, and photographing abroad. They are really too generalized to be of much use.

Still if you want to learn the specifics of insect photography in more detail than Shaw provides, this book will prove useful.

It is good for pure Astrophysics student but not that much helpful for Physics student

If you are an amateur astronomer studying eclipsing binary star systems, and have some training in physics, this book by R.W. Hilditch is a goldmine of information about the interaction of binaries. His treatment is closely tied to observational data, so that you will be motivated to follow the analyses he provides of light curve shapes. The information content of spectroscopic studies and of pulsar and x-ray data are also covered. The book is about as clear as it can be considering the detail provided. Even if equations frighten you, you might find the graphical and pictorial information useful.

British designer Kelly Hoppen's interiors are known worldwide and are instantly recognisable. She imbues them with the east west sensibility for which she is famous, and the result is rooms that are cool yet comfortable, rich yet calm, composed yet sensual and absolutely in tune with western consciousness today.

I have always admired Kelly Hoppen for her work, but this book is so so in content. I purchase all her books and this one I'm not likely to recommend because it really just contains closeups of uninteresting photos.

Background in macro and close up photography is given to acclamate the reader with some of the technical aspects involved. Equipment and their usage is explained. If you are still into film, you will definitely be satisfied with this section, although the theory can easily be applied to digital. What is covered in the beginning is then applied to practical use later. Lastly, case studies are implied to illustrate the affects of various factors. Overall, a well written, informative and intriguing book with a nicely flowing text from section to section.

It is the most useless book for macro photography I ever read. The pictures are unsharp and mostly in b&w. You can get the information from this book in every basic photography book ... worthless! The language used is not very easy for beginners and advanced macro photographers know everything described in this book.

As an elementary art teacher with 33 years experience I am always amazed that with all of the masterpieces available publishers insist on including nudes in books they claim are appropriate for children. While parents may not have issues with the works chosen I would strongly advise teachers that this particular book is not appropriate for the elementary nor intermediate classroom.

We homeschool and were looking for a book to use with artist studies. This book has wonderful pictures, and points out details that were surprising to me, even on very familiar prints. I had borrowed this from the library, and the first day home I knew we would buy it for our own home library. This book would be a welcome addition to any child's collection, for pure enjoyment or simple introductions to the world of famous masterpieces.

I chose this book to get more information on running an S Corporation, and I've been utterly disappointed. The author spends more time telling you the number of words in the tax code then on the meat & potatoes of the information. The chapter on compensation was particularly void of any S Corp information. Overall, I think there are far better sources available.

If you are interested in starting either a C or a S corporation, you'll love this book. I've bought some other books supposedly written by experts and was dissappointed.

Also recommended books include Inc. Yourself, The Small Business Legal Kit by J.W.Dicks and Incorporate for Dummies by The Company Corporation.

Linda Howard's novel "Up Close & Dangerous" was one of her greatest stories. She told you a story of how hate and/or dislike turns to love and romace. In the story the main character Bailey is going on a vacation and her plan crashes. The emotions that follow is a show of how strong anyone can by when pushed into a serious survior mode. While reading it, i was able to feel the dislike, the cold mountain air, the need to survive, the attraction, the heat and the anger that follows it all. She did a great job in showing all of these emotions while telling a great story!

I have to say something after reading all these negative reviews. I feel that this book is not as bad as it was made out to be. Sure it is not in the usual "mold" of LH, but that makes it less boring. As a romantic suspense, the ending is almost pre-determined, but I actually like all the details that a lot of the reviewers detested. I think the details make the book more believable and "flesh it out" more, instead of the usual "beauty meets hunk and love at first sight" kind of nonsense. I do agree that the motive part is a bit weak and that the ending is a bit rushed. If you are looking for just an entertaining book, by no means a classic, this book is good. I give it 3.5 stars.

If you like your thrillers mixed with some romance than you will like Up UP CLOSE AND DANGEROUS. One of the main characters of this novel is Bailey who gets married to her much older, yet wealthy boss, Jim Wingate, but soon after finds herself a widow. He had two stepchildren, Seth and Tamzin, still alive at the time of his passing, but had Bailey handle his trust because he didn't think they were responsible enough.

Bailey and the stepchildren didn't quite get along which complicates matters, of course. There was much tension and verbal abuse that she had to take when dealing with them. The Wingate Group employs J&L Executive Air Limo owned by Cameron Justice and Bret Larsen for all their flying obligations. When the family calls for their services Bret usually is the one to fly the plane because Cameron didn't really like the Wingate kids or the wife.

One day Bailey calls them to fly her to Denver and Bret is sick so Cameron reluctantly has to take the job. Trouble happens when the engine gives out and they crash into the trees while going over the mountains in Idaho. They both suffer from desperation of being stuck, injured and not knowing if help is even on the way. Bailey ends up pushing herself more than she thought herself capable and romance ends up happening between the two in this life and death situation. Overall an excellent novel from Linda Howard.

This LH edition is action-lite in an odd way, but the romance is really good. Baily and Cam have a deep and intriguing connection based on their life-or-death situation after a plane crash. I like that the heroine gets to save the hero (a nice switch on the "damsel in distress" idea) and how their not-so-nice opinions of each other change as they struggle to survive the wilderness. Howard does go a little overboard on the survivalist details, and the action components are a little predictable. However, I really enjoyed the romance in the story - it seems believable and sweet. These are two people who need each other, and I really enjoyed their story. That being said, it was not my favorite LH book, so I kind of wished that I had waited for paperback. If you do buy it, go in with your eyes open and just enjoy the romance.

I was compelled to write this review bc of all the really negative reviews I read about this book. I held of reading it for a while bc of all of them but I finally bit the bullet, so to speak, and it actually wasnt bad at all. Maybe my expectations were so so low but honestly I enjoyed the book. All of the characters, including the secondary ones, were well written and likeable (except the ones that werent supposed to be) and the plot was interesting with a really good twist at the end. While I felt that cam could have been a little more developed he was great and funny and you could really see why he developed real feelings for bailey and you could see where the chemistry was coming from besides for the fact that they were stranded together in the wilderness. I dont always feel like LHs main characters really connect other than physically they really do in this book, working together and sparing so naturally. Of course i do have to agree that the book was a little rushed in the sense that LH did spend way to much time on the details of how to survive in the wild and how a plane would crash...i totally skimmed those parts. But this book, while not her best, was a fun and solid read and I found myself laughing and smiling throughout the whole book, which is not something I can say for most books. So even though its not her best read, its a fun light read. Take it for what it is and enjoy!!

Having just read the book's excerpts provided by the links above, I intend to purchase this work. Long a devotee of literature on Protestant conversions to Catholicism, this book will no doubt help balance my personal library. One note I anticipate after reading the excerpts is that the former priests will all share one thing in common: none of them neither knew Christ nor loved Him as a priest prior to their conversion or throughout their studies leading up to the priesthood. I say this from experience as a cradle Catholic-turned-Evangelical-turned-Catholic who is now discerning the priesthood.

You will not find the same in books by Protestant converts to Catholicism. Already mentioned in other reviews, these books were written by devout Reformation-styled Christians -- many of them Protestant ministers themselves or incredibly bible literate laymen and women -- who loved Jesus with all their heart, mind and soul, before following Him straight into Rome.

I suspect that this is not the rule when encountering Catholics -- whether laymen, religious or clergy -- headed towards Protestant communities. They find the love of Christ for the first time in their lives through the witness of Protestant Christians, and are then understandably seduced into thinking that the fault for not having found it before must lie with Rome and not their own sinfulness. This book will no doubt confirm my suspicions.

If anything, it will serve more usefully as a sad commentary on the depressing state of spiritual formation in all to many Catholic seminaries and religious orders.

This book is so interesting, I couldn't put it down. Although I don't agree with Catholic doctrine, I am interested in it because I have many friends who are Catholic. The things these ex-priests struggled with are many of the things they struggled with.

This is a great book and I recomend it to both Protestant and Catholic alike.It is a book for the open minded only!!!I am sorry to say that I havent run into to many open minded when it comes to religon.This book gives you a good look at the brainwashing involved in not just Catholics but any religion that requires its people to study church doctorine only and not the Bible itself.Out of each story in this book not one of these men came to know God until they picked up and read a Bible.That is amazing to me!!!!

I ordered this book from Amazon. Even though I live in Canada, I had it within a week. Great service. Keep up the good work.

I am enjoying this book very much. This book provides a condensed version of life stories of former priests. Although I was never a priest, I did find that I could identify with many stories, having personally undergone a similiar spiritual transformation.

I am particularly moved by the courage and risk that these men took after studying for the priesthood for 10+ years, and found no other alternative than to leave all that they had come to know. They didn't know what they would do for a living, but God provided for them.

These men didn't just decide to leave the Roman church, but after honest soul searching were convicted even after growing up in the Roman church. But each and every testimony had this in common- these priests encountered True faith from witnesses who were not afraid to speak the Truth.

As a way introduction, I have not yet completely read the entire book. I purchased the book from amazon several weeks ago, and when I am not reading any of the other 13 books I'm presently reading in addition to the material for my classes, I read the stories from this book.

Conversion stories have always interested me. Over the past several years, I have read several books on conversion from one Christian faith to another. _Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic_, was probably the first of many conversion stories/books that grabbed my attention. In the beginning, I read mostly stories of conversion to Catholicism (the Surprised by Truth series, Hahn's Home Sweet Rome, and so on). Eventually, as I struggled with my own faith, I began reading the Reformers. Their writings opened me up to new possibilities, and I became interested in to what they were "converting," if that's the best word. At one point I started watching the 700 Club and comparing the conversion stories on there with the conversion stories on The Journey Home (a Catholic program).

Needless to say, when I discovered that there existed a book that contains the stories of fifty former priests who converted to a certain kind of evangelical Protestantism, I was delighted. I already had read and heard of accounts of drug dealers, drug-addicts, pimps etc. becoming Christian; but this was something new, something that sounded as though it would reverberate with the original Protestant Reformers, many of whom were Catholic priests/monks.

Enough of the digressions. Thus far, from what I have read, I feel as though I have received my money's worth from the book. Many stories are uncannily repetetitive. Some may fault this in the book, but I find it interesting that so many priests converted for similar reasons. I find it especially interesting that, contrary to many stories of Protestants converting to Catholicism in which the conversion approached almost academically, noetically, the priests' stories suggest that it was something or someone beyond reason that moved them to the path on which they now walk.

I give the book four stars and not five for several reasons. Firstly, like many evangelical Protestant books written in challenge of Catholicism, the descriptions of Catholic beliefs are sometimes brief, abbreviated, and not too infrequently, unfair. Secondly, the books concerns mostly priests who converted to radical (anabaptist) forms of Protestant Christianity. I remember a story that mentions the Dutch Reformed Church, but overall it seems that conversions to confessional Protestantism might be under-represented. For example, numerous former priests in the book comment on their rejection of transubstantiation and wittingly or unwittingly tie this in with rejection of the "Real Presence" of Christ in the Eucharist (something confessional Lutherans and to a lesser degree, Anglicans, would not approve).

Few times have I been so compelled to finish a book as I finished this one. Of course, I have had a long time fascination with the inner workings of H-wood, which is to so many of us something of a mystery (including, I am sure, some of those who make a living there). This book offers an undressed view at two established and respected writers (John Dunne and his more well known wife Joan Didion) who over a span of eight years accept a screenwriting project and alternately work on it to its long delayed completion. Over the eight years, we get a sense of the "industry" as projects come and go and status' rise and fall and financial needs rather than passion or interest motivate what projects are to be taken and when. This by no means an account of your garden variety H-wood screenwriter. John Dunne and Joan Didion are both along in years and have work in the literary and screenwriting field for some time. Neither are starving young artists; however, they rely on the financing of the entertainment industry to maintain their comfortable lifestyle. What this book does is give us an opportunistic window to a project that in one way itself became a monster, and in another way became a perfect structure to provide an account of the typical dealings in H-wood.

It's up to the reader to decide if the author and his wife are "prima donnas." I did not get that sense. To keep from being taken advantage of, you must be tough, and maybe it rubs some people the wrong way. I do not understand how Dunne "name dropped" either. Many people he dealt with through the course of the book are names we recognize. Would it be preferred if he went the way of a gossip column by writing "a certain legendary so and so who..." and "a leggy blonde actress" type of lines?

One of the things that interested me about this story is the dispassionate though dogged effort with which the writer and his wife pursued Up Close & Personal. Usually books are written about great or even just notable movies. Maybe I should save this for another review, but Up Close & Personal is, to me, neither great nor even notable except to say that an insightful book about H-wood was written because of it. Another thing. I do not fault MONSTER for it, but I wish with it had been included one of the early drafts of the script when still centered on Jessica Savitch. That is a movie that sounds like it would be worthwhile.

At a lunch with a studio executive,screenwriter John Dunne was insisting on a story point in the script that he had written with his wife,Joan Didion, the excutive mimed reaching under the table and bringing out,"The Monster",their money, to win the argument. Seven or eight years they toiled on the script that became ,"Up Close and Personal",this is the chronicle of their experiences. Fascinating and sobering, when you realize how things can dissolve and then reappear in a completly different form. It is very well told and forshadows his health problems that cost him his life in 2003, that his wife wrote so exquisitly about in "The Year of Magical Thinking". If how movies get made is of any interest to you this and his other film making tale, "The Studio" will fascinate you.

No need to repeat what other negative reviewers have accurately stated. As my sainted Irish mother would have said: "The man is too full of himself."

The title "Monster" is unintentionally ironic, as Dunne, a priviledged WASP insider, suffers little, financially or at the hands of Hollywood. The only "Monster" in this story is his unquestioning ego, which dominates the narrative like a power-broker at a cocktail party.

As a working screenwriter I've read the gamut of books on Hollywood. Some of the best, like "High Concept," and "The Gross," dish the dirt with a cold hand and are both gripping and informative; then there are first-person accounts like Max Adams' "The Screenwriter's Survival Guide," and the William Goldman books, which are self-mocking and full of personality as well as insight (although Goldman is a bit doddering). Dunne, however, plays his hand to his chest, disparages no one, most noticably HIMSELF or his wife (his writing partner/wife Joan Didion), and you learn little to nothing about the industry. Worse, Dunne drops more names than an usher retelling his evening at the Academy Awards. Futher running it out, Dunne often irrelevantly digresses into asides that serve only to pile on the list of the people he knows and places he's been. There are no real anecdotes, lessons or jokes involved with these mastubatory indulgences. Books like these thrive on the likability of the story teller, and if I saw Dunne at one of his many listed celebrity cocktail parties, I'd quickly turn the other way or leave. Truly the WORST and most dull of all the books I've read on the industry (other than Syd Field and his like). An utter waste of time. I returned it.

I bought this book used for $2 and that's about all it was worth. Which isn't to say it doesn't tell an interesting story, but not quite in the way it intends.

John Gregory Dunne and his wife Joan Didion are Hollywood screenwriters. In this book, Dunne writes the story of the travails of writing the script for the movie "Up Close and Personal" (a terrible movie, to be sure, despite the fact that it grossed over $100 million worldwide). It is clear that his intention with this book was to garner sympathy for screenwriters (principally himself) - the hell the industry puts them through while writing and rewriting (and rewriting) scripts and the industry's inappreciativeness for all of their hard work. The book backfires though, because the reader ends up with little sympathy for Dunne who comes off as an egotistical, difficult to work with, prima donna writer with very little talent, and even fewer good character traits.

The interesting part of this story is not the travails of the writer nor the ins and outs of writing this script, but rather, the dynamic between the "studio" and "the writer" both of whom are difficult and both of whom have a very excessive view of their worth to the project (and neither of which any one of us would want to work with, not if we were in our right minds anyway.) Even more interesting is how Dunne is compulsive about showing the studio in the worst possible light, without realizing he himself comes off as badly as they do.

True, this movie takes eight years to make, with hundreds of rewrites (literally) along the way. Dunne and his wife initiate the project (which was originally supposed to be the story of the news anchor Jessica Savitch,) then after several rewrites of the script they're fired. Several other writers are brought in and many new rewrites are undertaken. Then Dunne and his wife are rehired. The story keeps changing. They rewrite and rewrite. In the meanwhile, a director is hired who, apparently, is impossible to work with, and the producer quits. Then Dunne and his wife quit. Then there are new writers and more rewrites. Then, Dunne and his wife are rehired. Then they rewrite and rewrite. Then the movie is made. They continue to rewrite, scene after scene, all through the shooting of the film.

Throughout this process, Dunne both grandstands and whines. And grandstands and whines. And whines. About how the studio is destroying their script by constantly asking them to change the characters and the story. About how the studio is too demanding. About how the studio is not paying them enough. About how difficult the studio is to get along with. About this and about that. Never mind that Dunne is equally as difficult and demanding. This book just about takes you to the limit of your patience with this man.

And yet, it's compulsive reading. You're privy to a powerstruggle (for control of the script) of the Hollywood kind, and you leave this book with a renewed appreciation of the egos involved in Tinsletown and with a sort of amazement that movies, in general, ever actually get made at all, given the process and the players involved.

If you want to know about the endless internecine conflicts in SDS, you'll find lots to absorb you here. If you're looking for an account that captures the energy of that era and the emotional evolution of a participant, look elsewhere. The writer's clunky, oddly detached, heavily rhetorical style doesn't engage the imagination; it comes to life only briefly, when she describes the townhouse explosion from which she escaped. She spends a lot of time exonerating and justifying herself in retrospect, chronicling the many reservations she said she had about Weatherman's tactics and analysis but that she suppressed at the time. Not much illumination of the era or of the writer.

A great tale of radicalization. The meditative Wilkerson, from the start at the center of the action, is judgmental of herself and of strategies of the Vietnam War and civil-rights activism. She doesn't try to get inside the heads of her fellow SDS and Weather activists, instead substituting minutia about herself. This can make for a very narrow narrative, but it keeps the history tight, more of an impassioned autobiography than speculative memoir.

Cathy Wilkerson is best known to the world today as one of the two survivors of the March 2, 1970 bomb explosion at a Weatherman safe house in New York City which killed three of her friends and collaborators.

Wilkerson writes an interesting narrative of her transformations from a WASPy 1950's era Swarthmore College grad into a professional activist to a street fighter, then a terrorist, a wanted fugitive, a mother, a prison inmate, and today a NYC math teacher. Wilkerson gives the most emphasis in her book to the first three, and it is an emphasis that will probably be of most interest to readers.

Wilkerson notes throughout her book that the New Left had a tendency toward bullying tactics for both organizational governance and in formulating programs of action [p.205]. This tenancy was extreme in the case of SDS in general and the Weathermen in particular. To wit: "It was a [leadership] style that embraced certainty as a primary credential for leadership." Wilkerson detects this tendency but never struggles against it and never says why, either. This is a issue I would have liked to see her address.

Another issue that Wilkerson identifies but never addresses in depth is the whole idea of SDS as an organization for the long-run. As a student-based organization SDS had the fatal flaw that being a college student is a transitory phase in most people's lives. At some point people want to stop going to classes and get on with their lives. So where does the committed student activist go then? [p.236]

As a student of the era, this account by Cathy Wilkerson has been a long time coming. Often the social change of the late Sixties gets filed under "Civil Rights Movement" and "Anti-War Protests", and not enough attention is given to the Women's Movement. Ms. Wilkerson's point of view is important because it adds to the very short list of women who have told their side of the SDS/WUO.

For the reader less familiar with the era, the amount of violence directed at those in the movement can be shocking. As Ms. Wilkerson relates the loss of life at the hands of the government and authorities, we are reminded that 4-Dead-In-Ohio is only a small part of the price that was paid in pursuit of freedom and justice. There's no real need beyond this to understand where the anger and sense of desperation originated that drove groups like the Weather Underground to violence.

Although some have criticized the literary quality of this book, I found it quite a good read; a sincere memoir not from a professional history writer, but from a key architect of a piece of history.

Social change is never linear or instantaneous, but comparisons of the Sixties to the present show the dramatic effects of the aforementioned movements. Politics aside, there are two minority candidates making serious bids for the White House. The military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is crumbling from the bottom up, as the young men and women of today make it clear that the sexual preference of the person watching their back is not an issue. Along with this optimism about our progress, there is still a recognition that many needs for serious change abound; this book adds to the volume of information that will help the next generation of revolutionary thinkers bring about serious non-violent social change.

Flying Close to the Sun was an interesting look at how SDS and other anti-war activists decided that confrontation, even violent confrontation was the only true way to exact meaningful politcal change. It also showed that many new leftists were anti-Vietnam war but not anti-war. I am sure many would be all too comfortable in the culture wars of today.

Ms. Wilkerson comes across as a person with strong beliefs and a true committment to back them up with action. Yet, she also comes across as self-absorbed and naive. She didn't seem concerned that her father's town house had been destroyed and that other innocent people could have been killed. She acknowledged that her cohorts had shown terrible judgement in messing with explosives but didn't seem to realize the town house explosian damaged the anti-war movement and helped move this country to the right.

The book was still a great read and did a nice job of describing the political climate of the late sixties. It showed, through her own strainted family relations, the dynamics of what was then labeled as the "generation gap." Yet, at times I thought the book wasn't reflective enough even though it looked back events almost 40 years old.