Douglas Books

Graham Chapman is a comedy genius, and this is more proof.

My mom got me this book for Christmas four years ago, and I could not put it down. Back then, I wasn't really reading for pleasaure, but I knew this book would really get me started! I found Chapman's autobiography to be rather silly, but serious at the same time. He has been my tied-for-first favorite Python (next to Idle) since the first time I watched any of their sketches and The Holy Grail, but this book made me love him even more. I really got to see a different side of this comic genius, and reading about his struggles to gain acceptance and respect, along with his trials when it came to put down the booze, made me only appreciate him that much more. Four years later, this is book is still in my top-three favorites of all time! I would recommend this book to any Python fan.

"Come to think of it, most people like a good laugh more than I do, but that's beside the point!"

Is there any way to encapsulate Graham Chapman's great comedic talent? No. But he tries in his own autobiography, anyway. A gift to those of us who truly appreciate the absurd from the master himself, this book is a must for anyone who enjoys Monty Python and those who just don't get it. After reading this book, I feel I understand this great pouf even more than watching the Python movies.

I'm just sad that his last video appearance was in an Iron Maiden video...

I really enjoyed this book even though it is kind of confusing and wierd. Graham Chapman has always been my favorite Python because of his humor but this book shows antother side to him. If you don't like him before you read it you wiil afterwards. A bit after the end is touching and also very funny. This book isn't for everyone and you might not like it even if you are a Monty Python fan. If you are looking for a laugh a minute book in true Monty python style look somewhere else. Not to say that the book doesn't have some funny parts but it is also pretty serious. I also wouldn't recomend it to anyone under the age of 13 because some of the contents of the book aren't apropriate for smaller children. But if you think you will like it by all means read it because it really is a wonderful book.

Not your typical autobiography by not your typical writer. A Liar's Autobiography is a now-classic look at the life of Graham, written by Graham (and others) at a time when he felt that, due to his alcoholism, he was not long for planet earth. This proved to not be true (he survived another 10 years and did not die from alcohol-related causes but cancer). At turns hilarious, silly, touching and sad, "ALA" will leave the reader with a much greater sense of the looniest of all the Pythons who was, at heart, a very shy and serious man. By all means BUY THIS.

This is a wonderful poetry book as is all of Douglas Florian's books. It actually reminds you of how wonderful poetry can be and how it can be easy to share with students. This book teaches about many types of lizards, frogs and you guessed it, Polliwogs! A wonderful book of poetry even for those who claim to dislike it.

The poems are gross enough for my 5 year old son with illustrations cool enough for my 6 year old daughter and language clever enough for their 40+ yo English teacher mom.

My two-year-old son is a *huge* reptile fan, and he loves this book. The playful language is wonderful, and it's an inspiring way to talk and think about different types of animals. It's one of those books that *I* love reading, too!

This is a book of poems about various reptiles and amphibians. The poems are great; their content is funny and rhythmic. Through the poems we learn about the various animals. The illustrations are very creative collages that are unique compared to most other children's books.

The poems are short and to the point, and his illustrations are extremely creative.

This would make a great read aloud during a unit on poetry or reptiles and anphibians.

This delightful book of strange things and clever rhymes is a joy to read. The rhymes are imaginative, instructive, silly and alliterative. This gem is appealing on many levels: the light-hearted poetry, the colorful, whimsical illustrations and nature's gallery of fascinating creatures to stimulate youthful curiosity.

With a granddaughter in the first grade, I am always looking for books that offer attractive illustrations, but also incorporate ideas that lead to an appreciation of words. After reading each poem/page, my granddaughter was soon clamoring to read the rhymes herself: "But did you know that alligators/ Sometimes swallow second graders?"

Suddenly, each page is her favorite, like "The Iguana": "I wouldn't wanna/ Be an iguana_" We choose from the skink, the gecko, the cobra, the Komodo dragon, the box turtle and even the polliwog: "We polliwoggle./ We polliwiggle./ We shake in lakes/ Make wakes/And wriggle." By the time we reach "The Bullfrog", she has lowered her voice to copy the croaking bullfrog. This book is a delight to share with a child, an occasion for tongue-twisting rhymes and giggles. The highest praise I can offer is that I have ordered more of Florian's exceptional work. Luan Gaines/ 2005.

A absolute page turner. One cannot even imagine what these people went through, and while you're reading, you make mental notes... must get an axe... get emergency supplies ready... a life jacket... must learn to swim... must heed storm warnings... It is mostly the stories of the heros and rescuers, who risked life and self to save people. It's as much as an attempt to understand the experience as it is a lesson in survival, and tribute to the many who came through when our government did not. Definitely a must read.

if your from st. bernard this book is a must. my home was in chalmette i lost everything, like the rest of the pople in st. bernard. my family ran and we have alot of questions and this book helped to put things in focus for us. this book is great. brenda chatelain

Being from St.Bernard Parish, I found this book to be engrossing. Reading about the triumphs and tragedys of regular citizens, and the horrors of the flooding waters reveals the disastrous consequences of this now-famous storm.

If you would really like to know what happened to the people who were trapped in their homes during Hurricane Katrina, this book will give you first hand experience of the situation they were in. St. Bernard Parish borders on Orleans Parish and received direct hit of the eye of the storm and its massive title surge. It's not a book to take lightly. You will also see how they were left to save themselves with little help from outside sources. I have family who live in St. Bernard and were missing for several days. Their lives have been changed forever. The damage of this storm was not only in property but far more destructive to their lives. They not only fought for their own lives but for ever person they encountered. The residence of St. Bernard Parish rose to the challenge in spite of the situation. I can only hope I would have the courage and fortitude these people showed in the largest national disaster in the United States. A MUST READ to truly know what happened.

I am from Chalmette and I met Mikel and I have to say I bought four books in oneday!!! I gave them to family members they loved them too. I have enjoyed this book I cried and I can really say that this book tells you all about the forgotten parish St.Bernard. Everyone that wants to know about our wonderful parish should read this book. Donna from Chalmette/Meraux Now!!!!

This is a great book that I first remember checking out of my junior high school library (believe it or not) in the early '70s. Searched for years, found a copy, killed it with overreading, got another one, and that one's on its way out too.

The perfect bathroom reader.

The fountain pen joke is worth the price of admission (and the first six pages of the book!).

Thank God there are lots of these floating around -- I may have to get another soon...

I remember Mason Williams as one of the marvelous performers who found a nationwide audience on the Smothers Brothers CBS television show in the 60s. This little book includes lots of song lyrics, bits from the show, poetry and photographs. One of my favorites: " 'These Are the Times That Try Men's Souls:' / When Justice is over-ruled by Law / When Peace is attainable only by War / When Freedom is sabotaged by Organization / When God is only a device for Immortality / When Progress is stifled by Traditional Ignorance / And Baby, these are any old time." A most appealing blend of satire, folk wisdom and gentle humor.

Summer of '69
Sitting in a home for unwed mothers at seventeen, I borrowed this book from my roommate. When I left, the book came too. She didn't love it enough! The pages came loose from so much use but I didn't care.

I got to meet my birth daughter in 1995. So that she would know the state of mind I was in while pregnant with her, I gave her this book.

I miss it!

Get off me Get off me Get off me Get off me Get off me.

If you consider that amusing, you will like this book. If you do not, then you will not.

We had this book in our house at some point in the early 70's. At a time when we 5 teenagers were in almost daily conflict with our parents, this book was something that we all enjoyed and laughed about together. It helped us to make a connection with them at a time when connecting was not easy. The book disappeared somehow, and we have since tried many times to recall the words to all the "How 'bout them . . ." poems. Some we remembered, and some we debated. Amazon recently found a copy for me just after my father got out of the hospital after a stroke. His memory is spotty now, but when I showed him the book. He immediately started searching for "How 'bout Them Lunch Toters", his personal favorite. Once again, this book helped us to make a connection at a time when connecting was not easy. I've recited the poems to my daughter many times and now I'm glad I'll be able to get the words right.

This was very fun to look at what people do to things with wheels. Inventive, well photographed, and crocked full of idea's.

"Mobile Mansions" opens your eyes to what can be called a "home" and to a lifestyle that many dream of, but few experience. Mankind has always had a nomadic instinct, and these motor powered homes-on-wheels are just the latest manifestation of that idea. Don't let rising gas prices ruin that experience. The book will give you a lot of ideas on what is really needed and what isn't.

Love it!! Looking for more like it! It sits promenently on my coffee table. It gets opened regularly by everyone. It was a Christmas gift to me, from me. I couldn't get it away from my 24 year old son from moment I opened it. Filled with great history and entertaining writings. Buy it!

Take a nostalgia trip down through the years of motor homes. Of course in the early days they were called motor homes, instead they started with wagons such as those in cowboy movies and in the Gypsy wagons (still to be found out here in the west in use by sheepherders). But soon after the advent of the automobile came specialized bodies that had tents, beds, even a church.

This book begins with pictures from the past, but quickly turns to new photographs taken by the author. Most of these are of vintage vehicles that have been painstakingly restored by their new owners.

There are also a good number of vehicles that might be called home made, but these are home made with style. My own favorite was one made from a surplus Air Force crash truck. Beautiful, but it probably only gets three miles per gallon.

This is a beautiful book of four color pictures that would be at home on a coffee table or in your own RV.

"RVers are some of the friendliest people on earth," writes Doug Keister in his new pop culture history, "Mobile Mansions: Taking 'Home Sweet Home' On the Road" ($24.95 in large size paperback from Gibbs Smith, Publisher). "Unlike the rest of us who are permanently or temporarily moored in our bolted-down communities, they take the bumps in the road of life a little more serenely." And none are friendlier than those who own vintage and classic RVs, the mobile conveyances celebrated in Keister's book.

Replete with 200 color photographs, most taken by Keister himself on location, the book explores not only the history of the recreational vehicle but allows the reader to see inside courtesy of the author's crisp, clear interior shots. From Camp Dearborn, Mich., to Quartzsite, Ariz. (with a quick stop in Chico), Keister documents the development of what used to be called "autocamping."

Autocamping was popularized by Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone (of tire fame), along with an unlikely companion, a naturalist named John Burroughs. After about 1915 the group called themselves "the Vagabonds," attracting newspaper attention everywhere they went. The group was not exactly rustic -- Firestone brought his butler along to help him better appreciate "roughing it."

Later on, the "Tin Can Tourists" organization was established in 1919; they "took their name from the tin can provisions that they subsisted on and, some say, also from the Tin Lizzies many of them drove."

The Great Depression and better roadways put Americans on the road. It was the golden age of the travel trailer. Subsequent decades saw the development of house cars, refined camp cars, family buses, truck campers, vans and motor homes (which had their start with the Frank Motor Home in 1958 which morphed into the Travco Motor Home in 1965.) There are other storied names in the book: Volkswagen, Winnebago, Newell, Barth, Flexible.

Keister devotes a chapter to each kind of "mobile mansion" with a focus on "personal visions" in the last chapter. Pride of place here goes to "Draco," a four-wheel-drive motorhome created by Shahn Torontow of Victoria, British Columbia, who constructed it so his photographer wife, disabled by Lyme disease, "could still go on backcountry photographic expeditions. The bones of Draco are an Oshkosh M-1000 Aircraft Rescue Fire Truck." There's also a wheelchair lift, 14-inch wide tires, a winch and "a 335-horsepower Caterpillar 3406A diesel-pusher engine." The contraption was photographed in Chico. Dishes have magnets glued to their bottoms so they "stick" on steel plate walls and a "macerator-type toilet liquifies waste ... (which) can be pumped into the exhaust system where it is vaporized at over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit."

Pop culture connections abound. Converted Greyhound Scenicruisers (last made in the mid-1950s) help bands reach their next gigs; Charles Kuralt (the CBS "On the Road" guy) used an FMC ("Food Machinery Corporation") motor home; Barbie's "Disco motor home" came from Mattel; Mae West owned "a 1931 22-foot house car build on a Chevrolet truck chassis" -- it slept four and sported a rear balcony where West could address her fans; Ozzie and Harriet used an Alaskan Camper; John Steinbeck traveled with his poodle Charley in 1960 in a GMC pickup truck and Wolverine camper; the Partridge Family's hippie bus was a '57 Chevy school bus; and Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters drove a converted bus, too.

Sprightly fun, Keister's homage to mobile living costs less than 10 gallons of gas -- and lasts a lot longer!

My two-year-old loves many of the "Mr Men" books, and Mr Happy is one of his two favorites (Mr Quiet being the other). I love reading this to him as well. In this book, Mr Happy in Happyland stumbles upon Mr Miserable and teaches him to be happy.

Roger Hargreaves' story is short, simple, and easy for kids to follow, with just enough alliteration to make it fun. His pictures are bright and bring the story to life.

My son so loves this book that every time he sees a "smiley face" he exclaims "Mr Happy in Happyland!"

I read this book and all the other Mr. Men books to my children 30 years ago. My children loved them and now so do the grandchildren.

this is the best piece of literature i have ever read!!! simply marvolous

His jubilant expression welcomes you into the world of Mr. Men, and no one -- NOT EVEN MR. MEAN -- can occlude Mr. Happy from enjoying his day, nay, HIS LIFE.

Perhaps you are low on happiness? Perhaps you seek meaning in a world of war and sadness? Mr. Happy is for you. Will he make you happy? Perhaps not. Yet he will teach you the ways of the happy man, and that is all you can ask of a Mr. Men book. They are small books that tell a small story, yet somehow, they are more vast than the ocean.

call me heathen, or anything. But you don't need the Bible. This book makes me tear, it makes my cry of joy because I feel proud to be human. Proud to be Happy. I am glad that we as a race made a piece with so much hope and jo. This, in my humble opinion, is the single best piece of literature ever made.

It really is just Life. Joy, just plain, simple, happy joy. I will always keep this book with me. Im confident that it is the single best way to live a nice, drawn out and good life. So simple of a lesson, such a primordial concept is woven into this book, it really is the one true good book.

And really, to everyone under our bright star, I wish a sunny trees and rolling grassy fields under kind yellow sunlight.

My life is attributed to the Sun, Joy, Life and Mr. Happy

These books are great! I can remember 20 years ago when I was sitting on the floor of my 2nd grade class in Illinios, my teacher would read these books to us!!! They are really cute and I recommend them highly!!

Back in college I got a job as a summer janitor at the local elementary school. One of the things I had to do was clean up in the library. I took this time as an opportunity to catch up on some reading... in the form of the Mr. Men series. Mr. Tickle is a great book about a man who likes to tickle. If you like to laugh, this book is for you. If you like to tickle, this book is for you. If you are a mean spirited and grumpy person, perhaps you should try another book

Mr. Tickle makes you laugh WILLINGLY.

I know, I know. You are saying, "But I don't like to be tickled. And I don't want my children to feel that tickling is socially appropriate."

I had similar reservations before approaching Mr. Tickle, but I ordered it anyway. Mr. Tickle gets his just rewards, let me assure you, but in the meantime, he seduces readers into the world of Mr. Men. He does not just Tickle the people in his town. No, that is more...Sesame Street (The Tickler, The Man Who Starts with the Letter T, Volume 13, I think, of The Sesame Street Library).

Mr. Tickle helps the people of his town BOND TOGETHER. He is that slippery sort of antagonist who acts as a protagonist. Britain called for a hero, and Mr. Tickle answered the phone.

But BARELY #2.... (Mr. Strong being #1). For a while this was #1 though. Mr. Tickle is the hilarious story of a tickle (you didn't know that there was such a thing as a tickle did you?) on an adventure though town causing mayhem by tickling everyone! This is also a trip though memory lane for daddy as I grew up in England reading Mr. Men books. My copy of Mr. Tickle looks like in went through a war zone, lol.
The best part of the book is the game my son invented by asking me to tickle him every time someone in the book gets tickled. And by the last page he's ran of the bed hiding and giggling. You'll understand if you've got the book, it's got a GREAT ending!
If your kids like Mr. Men books and you don't have Mr. Tickle, what are you waiting for????

I loved reading this book to my grandchildren. Even my husband was listening and enjoyed hearing this cute story. I shared it with my neighbor and her grandchildren wanted her to reread it over and over. Little Miss Mischief mentions Mr. Tickle also in the story and a great follow-up book to go along with it. All of the Mr. Men books are great fun to read, and I will keep them on hand for any little one who will sit still to listen to me read it to them. I enjoy the stories as much as the children do.

This is a beautiful book. Perfect for anyone who loves new york city.

I'm fascinated by "then and now" picture compilations. That said, this book does have some really good examples of the genre, however they are surrounded by much less interesting and really unimportant locations throughout NYC. It's a mix. If you like to see how a great city changes, this will have some utility. As a former native New Yorker, I found enough to make me glad I'd bought it but not enough to delight me.

Fascinating book! Berenice Abbott's photographs from the 30's alongside present-day photos of the same locations shot by Douglas Levere. A great way to experience the layers of history in New York.

Then and now photobooks of American cities are steady bookshop sellers but it is not until you turn over the pages of 'New York Changing' that you'll realise that this is how it should be done. Douglas Levere, with help from Berenice Abbott, has created a brilliant photo record of the world's premier city.

To start with Abbott created the perfect architectural record with the 1935 to 1939 WPA sponsored project when she shot just over three hundred photos of the city (you can see two hundred of these in 'Berenice Abbott: Changing New York', ISBN 1565845560) and Levere has retaken over a hundred of these with eighty-one appearing in his book.

Unlike other inferior books of the genre Levere has taken the utmost care with his project. Not only using the same type of camera and lens as Abbott but waiting until the same season and time of day to freeze the moment six decades later. A fascinating page of technical details at the back of the book explains more. The eighty-one photos are divided into four chapters with the majority taken in Manhattan. On each spread Abbott's photo is on the left and Levere's opposite, Bonnie Yochelson writes a straightforward caption for all of the images.

With the help of 200dpi printing, quality paper and elegant design these photos (and the book) look just stunning. The perfect photobook!

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

In the middle of the depression Berenice Abbott began a five year, WPA funded project to document in photographs New York's transformation from the 19th century to the modern metropolis of skyscrapers. The result was published as 'Changing New York.'

Sixty years later Douglas Levere went back to the same sites of 100 of Abbotts photographs and took another picture with the same angle, the same view, and usually even the same time of day (to get the same sun angle) of the same scene.

The result is this book, 'New York Changing' which shows these pictures arranged next to each other. That way, the only differrence between the pictures is the changes that have come about in the basic structure of the city.

This is a beautiful coffee table book, except that seeing one set of pictures makes you want to turn to the next set, and you've soon gone through the whole book.

Highly recommended.

Very interesting facts that actually help you to be a winner with this game!

I had to read through this book a few times, as it is quite complicated - I never really knew there was so much to RPS. I always assumed rock beats everything, but after my second or third reading I started to understand the intricacies of the game. I now choose paper everytime, and my winning rate has increased almost 1%

I bought this as a gift for my wife. Whenever it's time to clean the cat boxes or change a dirty diaper or do anything else unpleasant, She always wants to RPS for it. Now, we at least play by the rules and the decision is made fairly.

You think Rock Paper Scissors is a game of chance? think again! This book offersgood information on the game, its history, strategies, and much more.

this guide has really helped my game!

I found this book to be very informative. A big part of my job is interview and interrogation. This book was able to put into context what I have already been doing for a number of years. I found that I was referencing the book in my head as I watched the people I was speaking with and knew by their actions how truthful or untruthful they were being. If this is the type of work you do the book is a very good read.

I went to the Wicklander seminar recently. The book was just as great as the class, I'm very fortunate to have been able to go and receive the book. Thanks!

This is an excellent referecne book for anyone involved in both private and public sector interviews.

I have twenty years of investigation experience in both law enforcement and the private sector. Never have I seen such a well written and insightful book on the art of investigative interviewing. Drawing on sound psychological theory and good old fashion practical nous; this book fully explains and provides an investigator with a solid foundation to work with, but the flexibility to move in any type of interview or interrogation setting. Sadly, Australian courts and those in the UK would render any confessions (criminal prosecutions) using this technique inadmissible, due to what some critics say is psychological thuggery. However, the technique has seen an increasing use in the private sector with excellent results, especially in the investigation of insurance fraud. Much like the Reid Technique, but more open and flowing - learn this excellent interviewing system and benefit from reading this investigative masterpiece.

As a practitioner in the field of investigations, it has been my experience that there are two excellent choices for investigators when deciding on what type of style they will employ. W-Z (Wicklander Zulawski) and Reid. I "grew up" in the W-Z system and employed it with great success. I found it to be flexible and able to approach a wide variety of scenarios thanks to the variety of interview styles it employs. Unfortunately, I also noticed that the variety of interview styles it employs generates a steep learning curve, and an expert at one style may wander into an interview that needs to turn an unfamiliar direction and find themselves drowning as they try to keep up with the change in style. I recently attended the Reid seminar and joined their association immediately. Reid and W-Z differ in a distinct area. Reid interviews and interrogations are always the same, only the *theme* changes, whereas the entire interview or interrogation changes under W-Z. Under both systems, a mistake can be fatal, but the consistency of the Reid technique introduces fewer areas to make mistakes in, and allows quick mastery of the styles needed to successfully interview. Both systems provide good (but not perfect) methods of detecting dishonesty and between the two systems, W-Z is slightly more flexible. That said, if you want to become very good, very fast, Reid is a better choice. Practical Aspects of Interview and Interrogation is a good book, and serves as a great reference for those who have already attended a W-Z seminar. If you are looking to get into investigations, are newly hired into an investigations position or just want to know more about what to expect if you're ever investigated, this book is not a good choice for you. You should be familiar with phases of an investigation, interview and know the difference between an interview and an interrogation before you pick up this book or you could be easily confused. That said, if you are familiar with investigations, this is a good resource to have on hand for both review and pre-interview or interrogation preparation. 4/5 stars because Reid's Investigator Anthology provides easier to read and more concrete, repeatable insight and experience.