Freeman Books

If you ever really wondered whats behind all of the numbers this is the book that you want. Very easy to read and explains everything you wanted to know about Math.

For trying to be a popular exposition on mathematics Devlin's book is too difficult for the lay reader. Unless you have university level mathematics in your luggage you won't understand much. The explanations of basic conepts are missing, the proofs are not there and the history is condensed into a few pages. Thus if your mathematical imagination cannot fill in these gaps you will not extract much pleasure from this book. You will rather be frustrated. I myself have read mathematics at the university and still couldn't follow him everywhere. The problem is that the labeling of the book is misleading. This is not a book of popularized mathematics. This is leizure time reading for mathematics professors and math-freaks. If you want to read something that is easy to understand but still interesting try some of the American Mathematical Society's wonderful publications (you can find them all on amazon).

The author reviews mathematical history but mentions no India nor China. He presented a biased view of mathematical history.
The books is misleading in that regard.

Enormous subject matter explained and illustrated beautifully.Good read for overall view of the field.

When I studied physics in a grad school, I used math with fear and incompetence. This book brought back love for math that I felt before it got too hard for me to enjoy it.

I agree that although this story is set in the Vermont backwoods, it has the spirit of an American Western. It is an entrancing tale of two unlikely heroes who go with a young woman into the woods to face down a local villain. It's true that there is not a wasted word; it is a perfect composition, as easy to take in as it is thoughtful. Castle Freeman Jr has composed a rarefied story that seems like the best of Charles Portis' True Grit with the dark humor of Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool. You're in for a treat.

"Chivalry isn't dead; it has just retreated to the backwoods of Vermont. Far beyond the range of leaf-peepers, quaint B&Bs and wealthy liberals lie millions of acres of dark forest, the kind of rich soil that chivalric romance has grown in for centuries. James Fenimore Cooper first saw the possibilities of moving the knights errant of medieval Europe to New England's woods, and now Castle Freeman Jr. performs an equally radical transplant with Go With Me, his oddly witty tale of a damsel in distress." Ron Charles

Remember Daryl, Daryl and their brother, Daryl of the old television series with Bob Newhart? Quadruple their force and you have the setting for a small group of townsmen who gather every day at the old chair mill. They discuss, they foretell and they are the old Greek wise men. Throughout this novel, they speak and reminisce and give each other advice. Whizzer is the leader of the group. He was a logger until one of the trees got him, and now as a paraplegic, his job is to keep this group together, with and without beer, on a daily basis.

Lillian, a young woman with long brown hair to her ass, as we are constantly reminded, comes to this group one day. She has been harassed by Blackway, the area's mafia bad guy. He sent her boyfriend scurrying out of town, broke her car window and then killed her beloved cat. She went to the local Sheriff Wingate who told her he there wasn't anything he could do to help her. He advised she leave town, she said no. A 'pistol' he thought, she was. He sent her on to Whizzer for help.

Whizzer looked for volunteers and Nate the Great, "a tall, long-boned, heavy-wristed kid: not a scholar, not a talker. Smarter than a horse, not smarter than a tractor." The other is Lester, an old man with a heavy limp. "Was he seventy?" Lillian wonders. "Was he eighty?" These three started out to find Blackway and to do what, exactly?

A small suspenseful novel, filled with humor, a smile on almost every page, but yet, a novel that has grace and charm and so well written. A profound novel filled with the wit of the Vermont old timer. No flatlanders allowed here.

Highly, Highly Recommended. prisrob 07-06-08

Go With Me: A Novel

Judgment Hill: A Novel (Hardscrabble Books)

This hillbilly fable, set in the backwoods of Vermont, draws you in with a classic woman-in-distress opener. The lovely Lillian is being stalked by Blackway, a local criminal who drove Lillian's boyfriend out of town, supposedly killed her cat, and has a legendary reputation for badness in these parts. Sheriff Wingate, recognizing that Blackway has broken no laws he can cite to arrest him, refers Lillian to a local sawmill owner named Whizzer for help. Whizzer puts his best men on the job, an over-the-hill guy named Wes, who's respected for his mastery of dirty tricks, and a young simpleton named Nate, who can curl more pounds than his IQ.

Suspense builds as the trio hunt down Blackway in a desolate swath of woods that makes the setting for the Blair Witch Project seem like a boyscout campsite. As they close in on Blackway, the reader is entertained by scenes featuring the banter of Whizzer and his loyal posse, who pass the days draining cases of beer, recalling poker games card-by-card from years ago, and opining on whether Wes and Nate have a shot at taking Blackway down.

This is minimalist writing at its finest, with a spare style that relies on realistic and slyly-humorous dialogue rather than heavy-handed narrative. My only regret is that the ending wasn't better developed, as the climax and resolution couldn't quite live up to this tall tale's setup.

It is not unusual for a short book to pack a solid wallop. Sometimes, though, it is because there is just not that much to it. GO WITH ME falls into the latter category. The story of a woman who is not about to back down from the town bully, and enlists the help of good but rough fellows to help her out, simply tries a little to hard to be deep and meaningful and generally more than what it really is. That is not to say the book is bad, but, well, there's not much more to it than what I have just written.

The writing is sparse and does the job of keeping the momentum flowing. The woman and two men seek out the villain while the men's compatriots hold court back at the old, abandoned chair factory. I guess the conversation of the compatriots is supposed to be deep and meaningful, but it is not. It is just some somewhat interesting back and forth between some down and outers that provides some filler.

The book comes to a head when we finally meet our bad guy, near the end of the book. Like everything leading up to this final confrontation, there is nothing bad to say about it, but nothing particularly noteworthy, either. GO WITH ME might fill up a few hours of your free time, but it is not going to stick to your ribs after you are through.

GO WITH ME is a novel written very much in the spirit of Cormac McCarthy. Freeman is frugal with the details, and relies on sparse realism to guide his very simple tale to its very simple conclusion.

Novels this short and this quiet can be quite deceptive. It's called hiding in plain sight. Just as a glance across a crowded courtroom can be both straightforward and frought with complexities, so can the right kind of unadorned writing bristle with the sort of import and passion and depth that most English Lit professors never dare dream of.

Freeman's story is about a woman named Lillian who has caught the attention of a local disease, a dangerous villain named Blackway (let's not analyze the name). Seeking a cure against his destructive attentions, Lillian finds aid in an elderly fellow named Lester and a beefy young lad named Nate.

Saying any more would give away what little punch this novella has to offer (c'mon, folks; this is NOT a novel). I'm not saying it's not entertaining. A fellow named Whizzer and his round-table of good-old-boys spend the entire novel drinking beers and chewing the fat, and their authentic back-and-forth is what really gives the book the intrigue and humor and pathos that it wants so much to have elsewhere.

However, the core of the plot (ESPECIALLY Nate and Lester's motivations) is not only as fine and as delicate as a spider web, it holds about as much weight, too. I've heard words like "suspenseful" and "thrilling" and "shocking" and "stunning" used to describe the climax and some of the moments that preceded it, but I found the entire novel -- climax, conflict, resolution and all -- to be as whisper-thin as the minimalist writing used to depict it. There are small, delightful moments where the story finds something to really be about, but beyond those brief passages, this is really just a milquetoast snack trying to pass itself off as a hero sandwich.

This book is a bit dry in places, BUT the content more than makes up for it.
I recommend this to any consultant. It will improve your level of thinking about what you do a whole higher level. Yes, it does have many effective "tips".

I was disappointed in the contents of the book. Although some of the information was helpful, each chapter ended with how difficult it was to be an independent IT Consultant. Also, the book is written from a UK perspective and does not focus on many aspects that are specific to the US, including new legislation (SOX) or sub-contracting.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book from cover to cover. It's a sure must for anyone wanting to understand and learn about being an IT consultant. I wish I had this book around when I was a consultant. It describes exactly what an IT consultant is, the roles & responsibilities and attributes needed for this exciting career. Face it, most jobs today are very much IT focused, and we're all into IT in one way or the other. This gets my thumbs-up!

This is a good book - but by no means a classic. It is perfect for its target market - geeks who don't know about business and business value and just want to read a summary of information available from more authoritive sources.

Better books include "Managing the Professional Service Firm" or "Secrets of Consulting" by Weinberg.

Author Rick Freedman spent many years as a consultant and his textbook and accompanying CD offer a lot of orderly advice aimed at both the novice consultant and the veteran consultant who wants to improve. Freedman covers such topics as the business of advice, the IT (information technology) consulting framework and developing superior consulting skills. Freedman's main argument is that consultants should train so that they can be of more help to their clients. Successful consultants, he maintains, rely more on their people skills than on their technical gifts. Freedman also gives aspiring consultants advice on how to remain competitive in securing and keeping clients. He instructs consultants to read a steady stream of periodicals and books to keep up with the vast daily changes in technology. We [...] suggest that you can use his book and CD set to find out everything you ever wanted to know about consulting - including how hard it is - but never knew who to ask.

I have not read this abridgement. I gave it two stars because it is still Douglas Southall Freeman, more or less. I have read the three volume set twice now and no doubt will go through it again in the future. In three volumes this is a classic of the genre, books that set the standards for all the others, just like Shelby Foote's three volume compendium. An abridgement of this type is for the novice set. My opinion is that everyone who is interested should get the three original volumes. I believe they can still be found or at least ordered.

.....your time, and money, will be well used. Stephen Sears has done a one volume abridgment of one of the greatest works in the English language, and done it quite well. When this book came out in 1998, it filled a gap; Richard Harwell had written one volume versions of Dr. Freeman's other two masterworks back in the 1960's.

For the uninitiated, "Lee's Lieutenants" is the history of The Army of Northern Virginia told from the viewpoint of those who served under the command of General Robert E. Lee. Douglas Southall Freeman's magnum opus "R.E. Lee" had been published in the late 1930's; Dr. Freeman was afraid that the "other generals" would be forgotten [and some would have been], so he published the three volumes of "Lee's Lieutenant's" during WWII. It quickly became a standard work for historians, and for students at every military academy on Earth. It was required reading at West Point for years, and may still be.

The first two thirds of the volume focus on Stonewall Jackson, and the last one third on James Longstreet; that is proper. The others are not forgotten, which was the idea in the first place; John Bell Hood, A.P. Hill, D.H. Hill, JEB Stuart, Jubal Early, Dick Ewell, Billy Mahone, "Maryland" Steuart, Wade Hampton, Fitzhugh Lee, John Brown Gordon, etc., etc., etc. Dr. Freeman made the point that not every Confederate General was a hero, and that many mistakes were poured out of a bottle. Alas, he was right, BUT, there were far more good than there were bad and indifferent....

Following Mr. Harwell's model, Sears had cut out all the footnotes and appendices, most of the bibliography, and much of the dialog. For 99+% of readers, this book is all you will need, or want. It will give you an excellent overview in a well written manner. I own three copies. Still...But... The full three volumes are absolutely definitive. They are not difficult to find at a decent price ["R.E. Lee" is difficult, and "George Washington" impossible]; I own two sets. While I heartily recommend the full version, I have to recognize that most people don't need to go that far. Read this; it may make you want more, and the full story will make more sense if you've read this first.

If this abridgement serves one purpose it will inspire a future historian to seek more knowledge on the subject. The three volume edition was and is read by all who have become the great Civil War writers of today. Here is the story (without the footnotes) of the famous Army of Northern Virginia and it's commander General Robert E. Lee. The story begins a year before Lee would take command and name the army that would take on so much of his character. Each page is filled with the story of a famous campaign, and the battles that resulted. Filtered throughout is each stage of the war in the east and the Confederate commanders that served under "Marse Robert." Jackson, Longstreet, Ewell, Hill (both), Early Alexander, Gordon. They are all here and so many more. You get to read how each leader developes and succeeds or fails and is usured off the stage. In and of it's self this book could be studied as a work on management and leadership. Every aspect of Lee's brillance and his flaws are covered. It is a bitter sweet story. So many of these men die as the story unfolds, and so does the Confederacy in the end. An added plus is you get to read the words written by one of the great authors and historinas in American literary history. Reading Freeman is a must if one is to have an understanding of the eastern theater, and the Army of Northern Virginia. Read the one-volume edition if you must, but a word of warning, you may get hooked and then there is no letting go

The abridged volume of Lee's Lieutenants is an excellent title for anyone interested in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. I have looked at the original 3-volume series and the only difference as one earlier reviewer points out is that the footnotes have been taken out. Given that Douglas Freeman was the editor of a Richmond, Virginia newspaper, one would expect several pages of footnotes. However, the book's essence is still retained.

Freeman covers the army's life from the Seven Days' Campaign in early 1862 to the bitter end at Appamattox in April 1865. He mentions just enough detail of the battles for the reader to comprehend the importance and result of each engagement. The deeper focus is on the main officers in Lee's army and their relationship with Lee and each other.

The narrative is free flowing and is easy to read without being simplistic. Indeed, while the book is just over 800 pages, I found myself reading several pages on many occasions.

If you are looking for a book about the Confederate side of the Civil War's Eastern Theater, then this is your read! The only gripe I had was the few maps - there could have been more and could have been more detailed. However, there are plenty of books out there on specific engagements that can make up for the difference.

Read and enjoy. Highly recommended!

Abridgements of great works in and of themselves are not a bad thing. As I read through this volume I could not but help noticing how poorly it reflected upon Freeman's original three volume work.

Douglas Southall Freeman's Magnum Opus is distorted quite significantly in this abridgement. If you have not read his original work I suppose this volume will suffice. But why settle? I frequently come across the original volumes at used bookstores for around $50-$60.

Mr. Freeman's writing is good literature apart from being great history. Though the original work is dated it still is a magnificient example of historical writing. Mr. Freeman's work is what got me interested in Civil War history.

I originally bought this book in a local store and loved filling it out - the prompts are great and thoughtful. It has many inspiring ideas and I love the sections for grandparents and other relatives. You can write by pregnancy progression, emotions, health or any way you please. Nothing is right or wrong. It has spaces for photos that are well-placed so as not to take over the book - its about your thoughts and feelings as you prepare to welcome baby. I miscarried my first, and immediately came here to order a new copy so that it would be ready when I conceived again. I agree with the other reviewers - get a copy for each pregnancy!

I bought this book for our first pregnancy/child and was told by my cousin (who is the last of 4 children) that I had to be sure to do the same for every subsequent child so as not to neglect anyone! I purchased this for my second (current) pregnancy and am enjoying writing in it again. It has some questions that might be better for a first pregnancy, but overall is a great journal. There are definitely pages/topics that I leave blank because they do not apply, but it doesn't detract from the rest of the journal. There is also plenty of space for adding your own topics. I enjoy reading the journal from my first pregnancy and look forward to sharing stories from both with my children when they are older.

I used this journal with my first pregnancy nearly 5 years ago. Great starters and lots of room for a variety of pictures and entries from other people, family and friends. The illustrations were hilarious and made me feel like I was always a little smaller than the cartoon figure, which was important to my self-esteem. I wish they had a version of a sibling journal. I'm having a tough time finding a second book with the same warm fuzzy non-judgemental topics and illustrations.

I looked at each book in the pregnancy book isle at Barnes and Nobles for the perfect journal. I found that many journals had facts about the different weeks, months or trimesters of the pregnancy but as excited as I've been, I've already bought and read up on what happens on a weekly basis. All the info and facts would be too repetitive. Also, the spaces were so little, I wouldn't be able to write everything I wanted. I was looking for a journal where I can write paragraphs at a time. Something that was organized towards the pregnancy but at the same time gave me room to plan the entries the way I wanted. I almost stopped looking when I saw this one. It was perfect!!

The format of the entries are letters to the baby from myself, my husband, and anyone else that is involved in our lives. The sections toward the front had topics but there was a larger back section for my own topics. Also, I loved reading the sample letters.

I love this journal. I will defintely get one as a gift for a girlfriend, a family member or for myself again for our 2nd baby.

When I found out I was pregnant with my first son I went out in search of a way to remember this event. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I had plenty of books to read about how my body was changing but this gave me somewhre to put all of my feelings, good and bad.
My husband also liked writing in it because the topics gave him a place to start and help him write about his feelings.
I gave this to my bestfriend for her first son and she loved it. This journal is the best and now I am buying it agin for baby #2.

I found this book to be an excellent upgrade guide with just the right emphasys on the new features and still maintains good integration with general Oracle theory. Easy to read and few errors.
One warning, expect the real exam to be much more difficult than the book's questions.
I read this guide three times and passed the exam with 80%.

I did my 8.0 upgrade exam about 3 yrs ago, and I was rusty, really rusty. This book gave me everything I need to know, not just to pass the test,but also the professional knowledge gained is great.
The contents were well organised, and the practic test really geared me up for the real test.
Will recommend this is all you need to pass the exam, one time!!!.

This is the best material for the upgrade exam available in the market.I have studied this book and gone through a couple of chapters in the Oracle manual, I scored 92% in the exam. Need I say more!! Once again, THE BEST for the exam.

As the author, I want to address some comments made here about the book. First, it is true that there is some material on the 8 to 8i upgrade exam that is either not covered in the book, or is not covered in the depth that is required for the test. This is a result of at least one change to the exam during the creation of the book, and at least one significant change to the exam after the book was published. Also, the test covers a vast amount of new material, which makes prepping for it more difficult in my opinion.

Yet, I think you will find that the book still covers a large majority of the relevant topics that you will find on the exam. I think that you will find that this book will help prepare you for the test, and you should be able to pass the exam if you know all the material presented in this book.... I also think you will find this book more readable than other books out there. Finally, Supplemental reading and test exams can also help prepare you for the exam.

I hope that you enjoy the book and pass the exam with flying colors!

I've just passed the test. That was the only exam preparation book I used to get prepared. Yes, a few questions from the real test were not covered BUT this book has everything you need to PASS. Excellent tutorial!

There are already 16 reviews of this excellent and exciting book so i will only add that some people complained about the great number of results of the core text the reader is asked to search proofs as exercises. For a mathematically inclined reader this is not such a big trouble because most of these exercises have extended indications which math-inclined people can easily transform in a complete and sound proof. For myself i had almost no trouble with them.
So the difficulty is only for people who did not have a mathematical training as college junior. Even in this case they can learn a lot about the nature and purpose of pure mathematics and, if they are persistent and enduring, how to read and write mathematical proofs.
As a Frenchman i wonder why such a good book has not been translated in French, it really deserves it because books in French on geometry are so often unexciting and boring.

This is a very good book about Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometries.
Well written, this book introduces to the lector in the historical context of the development of the Geometry.
I enjoyed very much.

Why is it so cheap, now (April, 2008) ? Because, this is the 3rd edition and exists a new 4th edition since September 28, 2007.

The Fourth Edition of M.J. Greenberg's textbook is a wonderful addition to the geometry textbook literature. No praise could be higher than to say that it is even better--indeed, a good deal better--than the highly regarded earlier editions. There are important revisions to each of the chapters and appendices, some of them extensive. As Greenberg aptly notes: "this book is a resource for a wide variety of students, from the naive to the sophisticated, from the non-mathematical-but-educated to the mathematical wizards." In this reviewer's opinion, Greenberg's fourth edition along with the Robin Hartshorne's mathematically more technical Geometry: Euclid and Beyond (2000)--a text to which Greenberg repeatedly makes reference--are far and away the most informed, up-to-date, and historically and philosophically sensitive geometry texts on the market today. No one with an interest in the foundations of geometry can afford to be without copies of these two great works.

I had the pleasure of reading and studying the Second Edition of this text while in college. This course with this text was my favorite course during all of my undergraduate math courses.

Being a fan of the subject, I was eager to see the new Fourth Edition of the text. The Fourth Edition is quite expanded from earlier editions, going past the wonderful main story of the Parallel Postulate - told better by Greenberg than any other author, IMHO - and diving into the different non-Euclidean geometries that "open one's eyes" by setting aside the "obvious axiom of a unique parallel". The last chapters are greatly enhanced, with a superb presentation of the issue of straightedge and compass constructions in the Hyperbolic plane.

This presentation of Non-Euclidean geometry is more serious than the "popularized" books on advanced mathematical topics. If you're looking for a "light, fun" reading of this topic, this is not the book for you.

I feel that the real power of the story of the maturing of intellectual thought, so brilliantly portrayed in the story of the Parallel Postulate, must be experienced, through the effort (and often hard work) of actually **doing** geometry, rather than just reading lightly about it. If you want to dive in and actual experience geometry (and the consequent rewards), then this is the book for you. The explanations are magnificent, the problems are wonderful (and, at times, very challenging), all culminating in the "wow!" of modifying the Euclidean way of thinking to a new and beautiful alternate geometrical universe.

As other reviewers have noted, this text reads like a great novel - a drama involving geometry. If PBS/Nova ever make a "What does Parallel mean anyway?" show, this text will be the basis for that show.

I believe this Fourth Edition can be considered the quintessential text on this topic, on which all future discussion of the topics can be based, including both the introductory materials, as well as moving to the forefront of research on many topics in Hyperbolic geometry.

For a university course, weaker students will find this text quite challenging, and possibly too hard. For average students, this text will provide sufficient challenge and interest, and ample areas in the text that will not overwhelm. For advanced students, this text will certainly challenge in many different directions and interests, both in the later chapter discussions, and various problems throughout.

Greenberg's writing is meticulous - you will never find an error, a comma out of place, nor a sentence that is not perfect.

This is the fourth edition of a particularly fine text
by Marvin Jay Greenberg. If you want to learn about
Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometries---the great contributions
of Bolyai and Lobachevsky---this is the place to do it. The
book is authoritative but warm and inviting. It is full of
good history and full of good mathematics.

The fourth edition has a good deal of new material. Greenberg
explores some of the subtle logical issues, and also some
of the tricky points of geometry. He makes far-ranging
commentary on how non-Euclidean geometry fits into the modern
flow of mathematical thought. There is even some discussion
of Perelman's proof of the Poincare conjecture.

Even a reader without a strong mathematical background will get
a good deal from dipping into this book. It gives a great
sense of what the mathematical enterprise is all about, written
by a distinguished mathematician (who was also my teacher many
years ago). I consider this work to be one of the treasures on
my bookshelf.

It is easy to follow, no hard core Psyc stuff. Good for class, good examples. I enjoyed it.

i think this is the most interesting psych text i have read. i got it for a 4 week online class and had to read it cover to cover in less than a month. it was easy to read and has review sections within the chapter to make sure you are getting the information, and the author has a lovely sense of humor. I would reccommend this book very highly. the research is current and sound and he gives many perspectives on the same issues. there are some issues i had with how he organizes information, because it can be a bit confusing how he goes from general to specific then changes topics completely, but how else are you going to cover everything? Love the format, get the study guide too if you can.

then this book is what you're lookin' for! It's a little bit wordy in some parts, but very thourough in explanations. Photos are great as well. Great book for introducing someone to Psychology.

i am currently in psychology for the third time,(due to it had been too long between college classess) i think the book is informative and not too hard to read (if you have too!)

This Lecture Notebook was in excellent condition when i recieved it. I was very satisfied with the business that you have shown me. I recommend this to all Psychology students. Its good for Intro to Psyc.

this is a very special book, that is why i have given it three stars. i believe that all christians should aquire some knowledge and experience of buddhism, this would clearly make the world a more peaceful place.

the first meditation that i ever tried was through hhdl's (his holiness the dalai lama's) guidance in this book. it was also the first time that i have experienced something of what the mind is capable of... remarkable.

i was given this book by a close family friend. a very special person named fiona. my experiments with buddhism have certainly deepened my experience of our universe. we would do well to branch out in our approach towards faith. i am so grateful to fiona for the gift of this book. before reading it i had little or no understanding of any aspect of buddhism.

it seems that most traditions have something wonderful and unique to teach us about our universe. i believe that jesus with his message of love for all is saying "read this book it is special, though through it you may not learn much about what you perceive as your own faith... it will open a new door to an unexplored room in my household."

both the buddha and jesus (though not modern christians so much) believed that the kingdom of god is within one. it is like a small seed, the tiniest of all seeds, but if we are 'patient' and do a little self cultivating this little seed of love, knowledge and experience will grow into a mighty tree. self development comes the seed of the kingdom within us. hidden under layers of dust is the image of god. seek to polish this mirror and it will begin to clear. (but patience is needed with seeds, they grow slowly) all humans have the image of god - 'indestructible', gods own very image hidden away amidst the clutter and dust of our lives and distracting dogmas and beliefs. in reality we all have super nature. everyone at heart, deep down, is absolutely perfect... the true image of god. different people will come at this truth in different ways. some will say "wipe the mirror clean", "water the seed and plant it in good soil", others will say, no need to clean, no need to water. just as it is... perfect. my position is:
yes we are all deep down perfect, but it is beneficial to polish a mirror
in order to get the best out of it. to bring the deep to the surface. in this matter i differ from Hui Neng. instant enlightenment, yes, but also a little work is needed, in order to realize and refine what one already has!

i would also say that christians searching for truth outside their own tradition should not ditch their trust in jesus simply because truth can be found in other traditions, rather use any experience gained,to deepen their love for our lord and friend.

may buddhists learn more about jesus, may christians learn more about themselves and may whomsoever reads these words be blessed. amen.

I like what a reviewer below said, that this book is written with a you are holier than thou attitude. It's very accurate. My problem with the book is that there was little substance to it. Everyone was so excited about the Dahli Lama (sp?) speaking on Christianity that they missed the fact that he taught little in his speaking. And there was so much extraneous commentary that I found it distracting. I'd like to see his Holiness do a serious book on Buddhism and Christianity since I see that the two have much in common. I'm sure Christ achieved Buddhahood.

OK. This book was obviously written from the perspective "Thou art holier than I". At times it gets so sugary it makes me want to gag...Everybody is complimenting the Dalai Lama right and left, but unfortunately, despite the Dalai Lama's warning that one should not try to put a yaks's head on a sheep body, these Christian morons consistently fail to ask tough questions, tripping on themselves to avoid pointing out insurmountable divergencies between the two traditions. The Dalai Lama basically uses the Gospel texts to teach Buddhist doctrine, a strategy the Jesuits used to be masters at (in reverse). He is charming, profound as usual, but obviously totally unaware of the Christian tradition. So, next time, instead of getting into the business of "uh-oh-ah, please teach us how to read OUR OWN TEXTS!", I would like to see Dalai Lama's interlocutors do their job in a hopefully more critical and challenging way. And next time, please, oh, please, choose better texts!!!!

How does Jesus look to a Buddhist master? In this series of talks with Christian monastics, the Dalai Lama reads the Gospels with fresh eyes. He aims to sense the qualities of heart behind Jesus' words and deeds. As a Buddhist, he is concerned with how people change - how they grow in compassion, cultivate peace, and become what our greatest teachers showed we can be:

"If someone tells you that you should not be hostile toward your enemy or that you should love your enemy, that statement alone is not going to move you to change ... It is a natural human feeling, so we must have effective techniques to help us make the transition from these inherently biased feelings toward a state of greater equanimity." (p. 49)

--author of "Different Visions of Love"

This year I've been learning more about Buddhism and have enjoyed reading the teachings of the Dalai Lama in several texts. The Good Heart offered interesting comparisons of the Christian and Buddhist perspectives, reflecting on specific Christian Gospel teachings. As a Christian who wants to learn more about the breadth of God's world and the people in it, I found the commentaries thought-provoking. Christians can learn much from the Dalai Lama about respecting others' points of view, and about what it means to be kind and compassionate toward others.
Be advised the book is the commentary and dialogue from the 1994 John Main Seminar, "an annual international spiritual event held in honor of the Benedictine monk John Main,whom Father Bede Griffiths once called the most important spiritual guide in the church today." pg 1
"In his opening remards, the Dalai Lama spoke about the importance of all the different forms of dialogue being practiced today between religions. He affirmed the importance of scholarly dialogue. But he also said that he felt the most important and--to use a characteristic term for a Buddhist--the most effective dialogue was not intellectual exchange, but a conversation between sincere practitioners from the position of their own faiths, a conversation that arises from a sharing of their respective practices." p5

I'd like to add this comment to the other reviews. Reading this book gave me a much better insight into all the things a good producer does. The last section is a round-table discussion that includes what to look for in a producer, and some ways to quickly decide if it's the right person for you. If you're considering using a producer to help your recording project, this can help you find the right fit, and/or avoid an expensive and frustrating mistake. If you're the DIY sort, the book lets you know what you have to do to produce yourself, and why it pulls you away from being the artist. If you're a would-be producer, it lets you know what standards an experienced client will expect you to meet.

This is a great book for hearing the people that have brought you the music that moves you. The timeless stuff. Talk about the creative process but also the business of music. Which is truly the bridge between creativity and commerce. A great read for those thinking about a career in the music business at the creative level. But also for tjhose who just love music and wan to know a little more about the technical creative side.

This book is a collection of interviews by some of the best engineers and producers in the business. The content within the interviews reflect the personality of the person being interviewed, which makes for a great balance between those that love techspeak and those that need to understand the soft skills involved in capturing killer performances by artists. Topics covered include the differences between US based engineers and producers vs. their UK counterparts (the latter prefers to print effects to tape directly if things are working.) Another set of questions the interviewer regularly asks are related to project/home studios and the comparisons between the those environments vs high end studios. The responses are candid and enlightening.

If I could sum up best info in the book is that ALL of the interviewees restate the same thing- there are tons of variables but critical to great recording results falls mostly to good mics and the use of dedicated mic pre amps.

Other takeaways:
- Rooms obviously color the flavor of the recording
- Mic placement varies as much as the choices of mics
- Digital vs. analog debate still continues, but good recordings fundamentally result from choosing technologies that you believe are the magic sauce to laying good tracks and understanding their weaknesses to compensate accordingly
- Capturing a great performance is far more important than technically perfect recordings

This is another book that provides more fuel for your gas tank!

If you're interested in recording, if you have a project studio or have hopes of producing a music cd, you must get this book. It was more like talking with and getting great advice from over thirty producers, than reading a book. I couldn't put it down.

I highly recommend that anyone in the music business read this book-- wether or not you are interested in making hits. it's full of really useful information, basically there is no one approach-- everyone has hits on their own terms.

all extremely talented and intelligent people are interviewed.

recommended for home-recordists especially.