Howard Books

I don't have to give anyone a reason for why I eat meat other than because I like it. I'll be having a steak tomorrow! Despite that, this is a great read and I highly recommend it to meat eaters and non meat eaters alike. I was raised on a farm (cattle, chickens, hogs...) I also grew up with more fruits and veggies in my diet in a week than many people have in a lifetime. We grew our own and lots of it. You can absolutely live just as well on a full diet of fruits and veggies alone, but I'll have mine with meat, thanks! But still, get the book.

My wife (dairy farmer family background) read and confirmed a small portion from the book, and I became an instant vegetarian. I cheat a little, yet rarely and carefully.

Most meat producers should be forced into bankruptcy and thrown into prison. What the meat industry is doing is criminal.

We've given out many copies of this book.

Don't read it unless you're ready to give up eating animals! It's an easy to read, informative look at the dark side of the meat eating US culture and the effects upon our bodies as well as the environment. I would highly recommend it for anyone who is already vegetarian or thinking about becoming one, or for anyone concerned about our environment.

While overly emotional and more than a little biased at times, I found this book a very interesting read. It makes you look differently at the environmental and sociological as well as medical impact of our society's increasing use of beef. I think this book has a lot of information that people should be told, but that doesn't make it into most mass-media

Vegetarians I encounter are of two types. Cultural Veggies like me who grew up in vegetarian households. Then Veggies by choice, who deserve greater respect for following their convictions. Howard Lyman deserves the highest respect for his Ashoka (famous Indian Emperor who renounced Violence) like transformation to the vegetarian cause from being a cattle rancher.
Vegetarians often get queried about their reason behind being one. As Howard points out, there are three ways to go about explaining it. Moral reason, Self/Health Reason and lastly Ecological/Environmental reason. Howard realising that moral reasoning is the most vulnerable one, not easily defendable, ignores it and goes about brilliantly presenting how meat eating habits in America has led to deterioration in health and devastation of the environment, backing up with first-hand experiences and scientific references.

Personally I feel it is not just the meat-eaters who may have to make hard choices. Meat-Eaters may argue that Rice cultivation is also a major cause of Methane (Global Warming) gas and creates strain on resources in terms of land/water. One can argue that the Chinese and Indian demand for Rice may create severe problems in future. But it is hard to deny the Author's assertion: meat-eating diet and hence cattle ranching's negative effects are multi-fold, in terms of health, spread of pandemics, environmental , depriving land of nutrients and are of much more severe and immediate concern to us.

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian is one of my favorites. This book is fully illustrated throughout by Mark Schultz who does an excellent job! The Phoenix on the Sword is REH's first story of Conan. Some of REH's best stories are here: The God in The Bowl, The Tower in the Elephant, The Frost Giants Daughter, Queen of the Black Coast, Rogues in the House, and more.

Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) was an extra-ordindary creative writer who in my opinion was the best! His vision, talent, creative writing, and action packed stories can and will never be replicated! To learn more about this unique man read The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard by Mark Finn. Also, read the Best of REH 1 & 2, Beyond The Black River, The Black Stranger and Other American Tales has the scariest story EVER Pigeons From Hell! Be sure to read it at night with plenty of light.

Must Reads: REH The Last of the Trunk, Solomon Kane, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, The Bloody Crown of Conan, All of the Weird Works REH, All of Weird Tales, and Selected Letters of REH, and my favorite about Cats the Abyss, Cormac Mac Art, Dark Horse comics Conan and Pigeons from Hell, One Who Walked Alone by REH's girlfriend Novalyn Ellis, Two-Gun Bob, A Centennial Study of REH-This anthology of essays by 16 professionals offers a centenary tribute to REH and his literary achievement; In Two-Gun Bob I found out that REH had only been to the seashore only once in his life!

A special thanks to Glenn Lord, Patrice Louinet, Rusty Burke, Stuart Williams, Mark Finn, Paul Herman, Dark Horse comics, Del Rey, and everyone else who has kept REH's legacy alive and well.

This compilation of robert e howards prolific amoral barbarian is a must for every conan fan. These stories are so well written that you feel you are actualy in the ancient mythical world of hyboria. The illustrations within the book are a beautifull compliment to each story. I just wish the stories were longer since i am used to reading the full length novels but, most people like short stories so if you like action packed stories in faraway exotic places you will love this collection.

Finally, after years of suffering through the weak maunderings of other writers:
The real thing, as the Cimmerian's tortured creator intended.

Often imitated, never (ever) duplicated, Robert E.Howard was one of a kind.

No one can write Conan like Robert E. Howard. The man actually turned the word brain into a verb, how awesome is that? This collection of short stories will keep you on the edge of your seat. Conan is the ultimate hero, extremely strong, intelligent, honest, loyal, and violent. The envy of every man and desire of every woman. It is such a shame that Howard cut his own life short without continuing this legend for himself.

This is a great book. I normally wait until I am finished with a book to read it but since this one is a collection of short stories I am reviewing it now. I am only half way through it and even if the rest of the book stinks I would still give the first half of the book 5 stars. If you like sword and sorcery books than you will love this one as well. I have read most of the books not written by Howard and enjoyed all of them and have read hundreds of the Conan comics. Howard's stories are very well written and enjoyable to read.

Strongly recommended to fans and even to fans that just want to try out a good sword and sorcery book I can not think of a better place to start.

I have the Kindle version and there is a problem. This book I believe had pictures or illustrations in it. At least that is the impression you get from the forward section of the book. My first impressions with Kindle books is you will miss out on this type of things. Even the book cover on this version is really bad. It takes up about 15 to 20% of the screen and is in such poor resolution that it is almost pointless. I do not get this as I have out of copyright books from other sources that have much better pictures than the books you pay for. I really do not understand this practice. But this is still a minor point to me so I am still giving this book 4 stars. Would be 4.5 but there is no way to do that. The text is 5 stars and the Kindle really is a great screen to read off of.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson shares rich and practical information about publicity that works, mainly because she has already tested it all herself. Having synthesized her prior work and life experience, she's only too willing to explain its' application to book marketing. Whether you're creating a brand, growing an email list, looking to network or building platform, this book is for you.

Carolyn is the good Mom we'd all like - she's engaging, generous, smart and truly wants you to achieve success, whatever that means to you. Her creative ideas are tucked throughout the book and her energy jumps off the page. No matter what promotional resources or partnering websites she's recommending, her enthusiasm is, indeed, contagious.

When I was sitting in the back row of my high school English class, my teacher old Mrs. Smith (not her real name) told me that a famous publisher would spend $1000000000000 making my book a bestseller. After graduation, I learned that she didn't know what she was talking about.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson does know what she's talking about. "The Frugal Book Promoter" has so many ideas, tips, resources and defining moments that reading it all in one sitting is simply too overpowering. Howard-Johnson begins with a list of stuff you better not do and marches like a conquering hero through 38 chapters of things you should do. At the end of the book, you not only have a heavy toolkit of techniques, you have a PR mindset from contact lists to writers conferences to contracts to book signings. Since your publisher probably won't make you a star, this frugal, do-able, practical approach will show you how to do it yourself.

Howard-Johnson does it again with The Frugal Book Promoter. Who doesn't love getting free publicity? As an editor, I see more and more first time authors write their book, go through the expense of self-publishing their book and then don't know how to sell their book. The Frugal Book Promoter helps guide young authors through the promoting process and gives great tips and advice to get that book sold! I highly recommend it to authors on a budget.
Karen L. Reddick, author of Grammar Done Right!

Carolyn Howard-Johnson's PR background shines through as she shares dozens and dozens tips for preparing media materials and working successfully with the media.

The Frugal Book Promoter also offers advice on the effective use of galleys and ARCs, tips for getting blurbs, information on using Amazon's promotional tools, ideas for book launch announcements and parties, tips for jump-starting sales of books that have been out for a while, and more.

This book is a great tool for both new and experienced authors. New authors will especially benefit from Howard-Johnson's refreshingly realistic look at the not-always-glamorous world of book signings and book fairs.

Dana Lynn Smith, publishing consultant, Texana Publishing

When I made the decision to become a writer, I thought the cover and content were the features that sold the book. I wasn't wrong; but I wasn't completely right, either. I soon found out how important promotion would also be.

"The Fugal Book Promoter" has been a very useful resource for me. It starts at the beginning and walks the reader through each step in a clear fashion, and is written in a way that enables readers to skip to specific information as they need it. I have learned many inexpensive ways to get my book noticed and will continue to refer to it to find many more.

This book is a page-turner right from the beginning. I loved reading in this time period when men spoke to women like this (from page 23):

"See the two meadow flowers, the yellow and the violet? One is as different from the other as day from night. Yet who will say that one is more beautiful? Oh, a fool might. But only a fool... But do you know what may determine the desirability of one over the other?... The fragrance!"

Be still my heart! If you love that kind of subtle romance, you will love this book.

Anna shows such strength despite the overwhelming tragedies (one after the other) she faces in her young life. And even though she is a Countess, she is very down-to-earth and sensitive to those "under her" although it was a no-no for those of such high society. Her tenderness and innocense makes her so very likable.

The book goes back and forth between family life and what's politically going on in Poland during the late 1700s with the underlying romance throughout. You're always wondering about what will finally happen with Jan Stelnicki. At no point was this book boring!!!

I loved it.

I loved this book. There are so few novels on the market about Poland and Polish history (I don't know of any others!). This is indeed a rare find. The characters are well developed, the descriptions of locations and activities are wonderfully detailed and passionately written. The setting and content about the significant historical moments are woven in expertly. It really is a history lesson embedded in a very fast-moving and dramatic story. Yes, sometimes it may be a bit overly dramatic, but I really enjoy that rich, gossipy style. So cool that it is based on REAL journal entries. These characters come alive and will stay with you well after you are done reading. Great ending, too.

Looking forward to reading Chrimson Sky.

I found this historical fiction text to be absolutely enthralling! It has not only provided me with hours of enjoyable, page-turning reading, but has also given me great insight into my Polish ancestry and heritage. The strength, spirit, and heart of the Polish people--MY people--is wonderfully portrayed within the pages of this book. I'm so looking forward to receiving Mr. Martin's sequel, Against a Crimson Sky. I'm sure I'll not be disappointed!

I found the book very engaging. I loved the characters and can't wait to find out what happens next.

This is the best book I've read in a long time. Martin's vivid descriptions and the depth of his characters made this book an incredibly interesting and fulfilling read. I could not put it down. I love "Push Not the River."

These books will keep you turning the pages just to find out what is going to happen next.I am an avid reader and i was very impatient for the next book to hit the shelves.When it did i could'nt put it down. These books are keepers. I have them all and re-read them, they never fail to capture me all over again. If you want a great read pick up these books. You won't be sorry. Linda Howard is wonderful and her books are great. Happy reading.

The Mackenzie's family is absoulutely amazing. I have read some of the books about Wolf, Chance and Joe. I can't wait to get my hands on the other ones. These books are a must read. You won't be able to put them down. Linda Howard is the best and far most execellent writer I ever had the privilege to read her work. I only hope they keep coming.

Hi Linda, Like hundreds of viewers I couldn't put the Mackenzie family books down and have re-read them over and over. I would like to add my voice to the request for Chances story. hope it will come soon.Lots of friends here are also asking

Elizabeth Rainbird Perth Australia

Mackenzie's magic is the first and only book by Linda Howard which is translated to finnish. absolutely the best scene is about these five Mackenzie's standing there and watching the Maris husband. Then comes Mary and takes care of the situation. And what do these big guys say: Yes ma'am. Like in the old times at school.

After reading Magic in finnish, I read Mackenzie family in english (...and then Kell Sabin, Medina...). Think about Maris. She is got a warrior as a father and as a brother. She can't fall in love with the ordinary guy, so she finds a FBI-agent. Sure The beginning of the book was excellent. "Hi, I am sleeping with an almost naked hunk in some hotel room, I can't remember a thing. We have stolen a horse." Then she notices that the hunk wears boxer underwear, nothing white in cotton. And knows he is a cop. Absolutely hilarious.

Zane and Barrie fall in love in a day. Characters were good and there were enough adventure. Zane is a typical alpha-male warrior who wants to protect his woman and his child. YESSSSS!

can I give them more stars ;-).

I fell in love with Zane Mackenzie! The way Mrs. Howard kept me spellbound from beginning to end really got me interested in her other books. Of all the Mackenzie books, this one is by far the best. The other about Maris was okay, but it is Zane's story that I can read and reread several times! Thank you Linda Howard for introducing me to Zane! Please keep the Mackenzie books coming!

I really liked this book. It was very helpful and I had my first lucid dream on my second try.

This is an excellent book for start your own experience in lucid dreaming: the book is structure with a series of exercises to guide you from your first steps up to the advanced tecniques to lucid dreaming. The author is clear in his explanations and in the finality of the exercises. Highly suggested for whoever is interested in the subject ad want to experiment it by him/herself.

The world of lucid dreaming is apparently scientifically respected, and for anybody interested, immensely fascinating.

This book offers a plethora of information about the science of dreaming, techniques for inducing lucid dreams, and the history of dream culture.

While you can read it cover to cover, it is somewhat more like a "Teach Yourself X in 30 Days" book: before proceeding beyond chapters 3 or 4, you should increase your ability to recall dreams to almost one per night. All information required to perform the task is given in the book, and I did have success using these techniques, but it is not necessarily readable like any fiction book.

Let me also say this: with lucid dreaming, whether its a website, a book, whatever, you cannot simply read of techniques and stay interested in the subject to have lucid dreams, you have to work. You'll need to practice dream recall techniques, train yourself to look for dream signs even in your waking life, and generally expect to work for weeks or months before becoming an apt lucid dreamer.

If the topic interests you and you're willing to put forth the little bits of effort in your days to accomplish this task, this is a great and highly authoritative book.

Lucid dreaming is the ability to control one's dreams to fly to learn new things or to just be like neo in the matrix. Steven Laberge is scientific about how he presents lucid dreaming from the how of lucid dreaming to the why such as that it happens in the rem part of sleep. I read that one reviewer thought Steven Laberge was not spiritual enough well I believe in the spiritual part of lucid dreaming but really do you want a book on ideas or something straight to the point with sooooooooooo many techniques to begin lucid dreaming. Ive looked at other lucid dreaming books and most put a new spin on what this book has. If you want to lucid dream which with this book I was able to and it is as cool as they say it really is like real life you can see yourself and its so real this is the book for you.

I've adopted the exercises in the book and am becoming lucid with increasing frequency, now up to one or two lucid dreams per week.

I think that's about the best compliment you can give a book with this objective.

I LOVE Jan Brett's books! I buy them anytime I see them whether on sale, old ones on Amazon as remainders, or new.. They make great gifts. I have a backup of many to give to children, particularly my granddaughters. The illustrations in this one are so beautiful it is really a keepsake to save as well as enjoy. Give it as a gift and you will make some child very happy and a parent happy,too.

Beautiful illustrations reprinted from over 40 sources. All illustrations are credited on last page. Book measures 9"X11.5" Only down side was that the price changes by the day. One day it's almost $11 another it's $8.97. But that's just the way Amazon works; something to be aware of. (It's worked in my favor often while shopping at midnight--price suddenly went down!)

it's a classic, so of course you can't go wrong, but as far as the best one being out there... well, I'm sure there are much better illustrated ones out there than this one

I bought this for my grandchildren last Christmas. The wording is traditional, and the illustrations are wonderful! This has become a part of the Christmas Eve tradition at my daughter's house.

These illustrations are the best ever for The Night Before Christmas...Stunning even! A worthy heirloom Christmas Book. The illustrations cover both sides of the page for a large panoramic view seldom seen in other books...

This is one of my favorite children's book and I love to give it as a gift.
As a Kindergarten teacher it is my pick!

My family loves this book. My husband reads it to my children, ages 13, 5, and 1. They love it, he does the voices of the characters, which is great fun for everyone. My oldest says this is her favorite book from when she was little. I'm buying copies for my toddler aged neice and nephew.

This fractured folktale is about a witch that is craving some `Piggie Pie.' She goes through her pantry and finds she has everything she needs except for that all important ingredient--PIGGIES! At first she is outraged but eventually composes herself and devises a plan. Where can she find a piggy? The zoo? The circus? She finally decides that the best place to secure some pigs would be on a farm. After looking through the yellow pages, she travels to Old MacDonald's farm to grab the missing ingredient. She gives her victims a warning as she writes in the clouds, "Surrender Piggies!" The pigs devise their own plan; they plot to outsmart the witch by dressing up as other farm animals. They fool her by disguising themselves as ducks, cows, chickens, and even old MacDonald. When the big bad wolf happens to come along, he offers advice to the witch and tells her to give up--after all, he remembers those 3 pig brothers! Now, her taste changes from piggie to wolf and she graciously invites him over for `lunch'...
Piggie Pie is a delightful story that incorporates several classic folktales including The Three Little Pigs, Old MacDonald nursery rhyme, the traditional evil witch as the villain, and the famous three little pigs. Due to the structure of this book, students will improve their understanding of the different subcategories of traditional literature. The author includes descriptive language such as repetition, alliteration, expressive language, and affective adjectives that highlight the text and bring the story to life. Such examples include the witch describing her tasty meal options with phrases like "boiled, black, buzzed feet" and "plump, juicy, pink piggies." This whimsical, witty story will capture student's attention and can be used as a model to enhance their understanding of what it means to read like a writer.
Throughout the book, Palatini's text enhances student's vocabulary and contains repetitive phonemes that enrich their growth as a reader. As Cunningham describes, tongue twisters, like ones found in the text, play a crucial role in developing students' phonemic awareness. For example, "eight plump piggies for piggie pie" is a silly and fun phrase that the students will enjoy saying and simultaneously will develop their oral language. Students will be exposed to new vocabulary words, such as curdle, passel, and muttered. Encourage students to use elements of Palatini's writing and transfer her techniques over when creating their own literature.

Gritch the Witch was pining for some special snacks. Piggie Pie is all that would do! The problem was the main ingredient was 8 plump piggies and she had none at hand. Off to Old MacDonald's farm on her broom to find them, to no avail!

Howard Fine's great illustrations of all the piggies disguised as other animals and even Old MacDonald, himself, will make young children laugh out loud! This book is lots of fun and will be requested over and over again. And, there's plenty of sly humor that adults will tremendously enjoy.

This is a great book for kids 5 and up.

Though Palatini's books are billed as read-alouds for a younger audience, my fourth graders can't get enough! The books are simple enough for even my lowest readers to tackle independently, yet clever enough that my high readers choose them as well. The humor appeals to all ages. In fact, there are many things my kids "get" that younger children don't. My students recommend Palatini books to each other all the time, and I can't keep them on my shelves. I am on my third copy of Piggie Pie and currently need to replace my worn-out copy of Moosetache. They've simply been "read to death". There is no higher praise for a children's book!

Living By the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible -- At Last! Someone who knows how to read the bible and is willing to reveal his secrets to us. Why don't church bible studies start with this book? This book should be the first book of the bible study curriculum. I praise God for finally leading me to Howard Hendricks book.

Howard Hendricks is outstanding at revealing how exciting reading the Bible can be, but even more important was how he explains how to accurately determine what the writers were saying to the original hears, but also to us now. His directions reveal tried and true methods to "rightly divide the Word of God" that many other books on how to read the Bible just never see. I have been reading the Bible for more than 30 years and have seen truths that I missed over and over, just like when Sherlock Holmes looks a crime scene and understands all kinds of details that the untrained just can't see.
Reading this will open up the Bible and God's revelation like never before.

As a required reading for my Bible Study Methods course in seminary, this book opened up a new world to me in the area of Bible observation, interpretation, and application. I did not know what I did not know. I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to learn how to read their Bible in a new, more in depth way, to receive all that God's Word wants to reveal to us.

We've just started using this study with our small group from church and I'm thrilled that it will teach everyone how to dig deeper and understand the word on their own. Howard Hendricks is a great bible teacher.

Dr. Hendricks is a gem! This book is for anyone who finds the Bible overwhelming or intimidating. This book will help you develop method for study that will make the Bible easy to understand.

A good film comes at you slowly, like a work of art, creeping into your soul through metaphors and meditation. That is how Suber's THE POWER OF FILM comes at you. Start anywhere and read a little or as much as you want, in small bites. Then stop and meditate on what you just read. Better yet, think of the film you're working on or just watched, and note in the wide margins what you now understand anew. A good scene in a good film should be watched time and again. Each page of this book is like a good scene. Underline it, mark it up -- and then, later, read it again, and add to your discovery of why film is so powerful.

Howard Suber is a legendary film educator at UCLA, and has taught dozens of courses on every aspect of filmmaking (except for animation). In The Power of Film, he commits his wisdom to paper, gathered over many decades of teaching.
The Power of Film is not a how-to book or theoretical treatise, however. Rather, it is a lexicon of movie storytelling concepts. The topics range from Accidents to Writing What You Know, and cover such things as the most important word in storytelling (it's `but'), the `real' American religion (individualism), the characteristics of the Hero (someone outside of society who sacrifices personal happiness and contentment for the greater good or goal) and whether happy endings are really mandatory. Suber also talks about genres (the essential characteristics of each), dramatic structure (some), and specific narrative tools such as the Macguffin. Throughout the book the emphasis is squarely on the mainstream American film, so you will be able to find many exceptions to the `rules' Suber mentions here, though `rules' isn't the right word. Rather, they are `insights' or concepts which work and have done so for ages, but which are just some of the possible narrative solutions to the problems cinematic storytelling poses.
This is a book to dip into, and which is intended to spark the imagination of the reader. Not all of the topics are equally enlightening, and I disagreed with the definition of the Crisis Point, but as an encyclopaedia of Hollywood storytelling it is currently without equal.

I found The Power of Film truly refreshing and unusually spiritual. Suber compiles years of teaching experience into a few hundred pages loaded with wisdom and wit. While not a believing man himself, his reverence for world scriptures and figures of faith who have changed the world, from Moses to Jesus to Gandhi, is rare in books on film.

Also, Suber's coinage of "Aristolatry" sure could have come in handy in film school (I went to USC, grad level), along with many of his paradigm-shattering concepts. I only had one professor who dared say that some films may have four acts -- I think he got fired!

The Power of Film is a great book that will take a prized place at the top of my list of books about filmmaking.

Howard Suber delivered a lecture to a large gathering in a theater in Kansas City this spring. What was striking about the experience was how Professor Suber turned this theater into a classroom and, by asking questions, made us active participants in a search for answers to the question: "What makes a film great?".

Suber's book, "The Power of Film", uses this same Socratic Method but the technique is necessarily different. Instead of asking questions, a writer can only pose riddles, and to this end Suber employees wit and irony to provoke careful and thoughtful reading of his concise dictionary like definitions.

The films Suber examines are American films. Without being jingoistic, he says that over the decades American films have been the most popular not only in the U.S. but all over the world. The American films he focuses on are those that have maintained their appeal ten years after they were released those, in other words, which have stood the test of time and remain perennial favorites.

The question he asks is: "What makes these films classics?"

Some of the answers are surprising. The notion, for example, that Hollywood films, to be popular, have to have a happy ending, Suber demonstrates is not true. Think of the Godfather films, Lawrence of Arabia, Chinatown. Even "It's a Wonderful Life" journeys through some very dark regions before emerging with a comic ending.

So why do people go to see these films? Suber suggests that going to the movies is akin to going to church, that what people need and want is to experience time honored rituals that put us in touch with our humanity.

As a practicing filmmaker, I have spent many hours over the years thinking about how to use the power of film to move an audience and I am always looking for help. Of the many available, I have culled a few "essential" books on film theory and aesthetics. Eisenstein's "Film Sense" and "Film Form" are two, Pudovkin's 'Film Technique and Film Acting", Mascelli's "Five C's of Cinematography" and a few others. Suber's "The Power of Film" has already taken its place with these.

Why? Because first of all, the book is packed with information and insight covering every subject about American film, literally from A to Z. Second, the insights are uncannily precise. A brief example: I don't like using flashbacks because I feel they are too easy but I find I must at times because they are sometimes necessary and I haven't been able to think of anything better. This is in Suber's definition of "Flasbacks":

"The reason flashbacks came back is that they are not merely
stylistic flourishes, like iris shots; they are necessary tools
that, so far, cannot be replaced by others."

The authority of this statement is reassuring, but notice the two words: "so far"; this tiny insertion leaves open the possibility and, indeed, ecourages the search for other ways.

How to transition to a flashback?

"The camera moves to a tight close up of a character's eyes, they
glaze over and we hear an echo chamber voice..."

I fear that every time I use this device that someone in the audience is going to yell out: "Visual cliche!". It never happens and I continue to use it because, as Professor Suber says: "no one has come up with anything substantially better.".

This is a sampling of some of what can be considered Suber's practical advise; but this book is very rich and has a broad range and covers everything from the technical to the philosophical.

The entry for "Tragedy" is three pages long but delivers a store of wisdom. One paragraph in this concise definition is about "impulsivity", and the final line reads:

"Impulsivity we see over and over again leads to tragedy."

The philosopher Martin Buber in his book "Good and Evil" devotes pages of discussion to the tendancy to impulsivity and how it is an aspect of evil. Suber's book is obviously a distillation of years of thinking and study not only about film but also about human nature.

The entries that make up this book are cross referenced. This cross referencing, like the use of wit and irony, is not only an practical aid, but also an encouragement to explore the connection of ideas.

Suber has carefully culled the essential ideas of what makes a film "great" and this selection reveals that the subject in Suber's mind has a unity, that it constitutes an aesthetic, an interlocking system of ideas. It is an indication of Howard Suber's wisdom as a teacher that he does not expound this system but only indicates it; and because this system must be discovered and recreated by every reader, it will always be new.

Getting the book and reading all of the blurbs on the cover written by film experts like Coppola and several successful Hollywood screenwriters, I was a bit concerned that perhaps I had purchased an insiders handbook, which might prove too esoteric for the casual reader. The 'power of the book' Prof. Suber has written, is his ability to take substantive information and make it enjoyable reading. The book is written in bite size stories, alphabetized by topic, each insightful and entertaining. I often sat down with the intent of a quick read of one or two articles and discovered I had read seven or eight. The topics are easy to digest, yet informative enough to go back and read several times.
Certainly as Bill Cosby used to say, "Be careful or you just might learn something". Film students and pros, no doubt already know about(and swear by)this book, this review is for the rest of us, those who just like films. The Power of Film would make a terrific gift for lovers of films of all ages and is certainly a must read for anyone with film career aspirations.