McLean Books

I would heartily recommend this book to all dental ceramics and prosthodontics students and researchers. It includes step-by-step procedures for tooth preparation and fabrication of ceramic prostheses with color pictures. If you can find a copy, I would also recommend reading volume I, which explores dental ceramic processing and properties on a technical materials science level.

it is a good book, not great, but darn near great... I have a few things that I disagree with but ultimately I found this book concise, educational, and straight to the point

This volume is mostly a reprint of the manuscript mentioned in the title. Adam McLean gives some brief observations on the material and the manuscript's history then let's the user do the interpretation.

Why I call it invaluable is that it really constitutes one of the most important links between John Dee and the late 19th century schools of occult (i.e the Golden Dawn and the Aurum Solis). For those who, like myself, question the why's of the correspondeces formulated by the GD (esp. in terms of geomancy) this book unravels that mystery. While Rudd did not actually describe the specifics of his attributions, it becomes clear where the GD was borrowing from. It's catalog of spirits also contain entities from other Grimoire traditions and their associated sigils which probably make it useful for anyone investigating those traditions (e.g. Solomon).

This is a book that I find hard to put down. Although the cases are tweeked for privacy reasons, it is different from the mental health setting in today's society. This book is not for clinical purposes, but to get an understanding of mental health at McLean psychiatric hospital.

I assume Mrs. McLean wrote this book primarily to document her life for her family, but I really enjoyed it and towards the end couldn't put it down. I didn't know anyone grew up wealthy in Mississippi in the early 20th century, but apparently some people did. There's enough name dropping to keep anyone interested and, of course, I fell in love with that yacht.

This text impressed me as the worst technical text I've ever read (I went through 4 years of texts for an BSEE). It's as if the authors were given 3 days to write it, the structure and planning of the presentation is so awful.

Horrible experience ! I never received the product that I paid for. What else is there to say ?

The test has questions related to DNS, Subnetting, etc... If you don't know this stuff, then you will most likely fail.

I used thisbook as the only source to take the 70-291 Exam.

I had read reviews on the exam and people were taking up to the third go to pass it... Needless to say I was nervous taking the exam.

I read this book from cover to cover twice for the two days prior to the exam.
Completed the labs and took not of all the tips in the book.
Combined with a few years of on the job experience I passed first go. I found that the text covered all the information required for the exam (and there is a lot to be covered in this one!)
The chapters on DNS I found very well written and also the RRAS chapters in particular.

I would recommend this to anyone wanting to preapre for 291.

I only used this book for passing the exam and it is worth it, it covers many topics in "no deep " detail but if you have been in the field for a while you know what the important stuff is. It is good but not the best, I think they over load aa bunch of useful but useless info at the same time, beyond the exam tipics, like scripting.

One of the funnest books I've read in a long time, and educational too. I was drawn to this book because of the Bob Wills kick I've been on because of a boxed CD set and biography of him, but this book let me know how much more this is to Western Swing music than Bob Wills, so now I'm encouraged to further pursue this music thanks to the author.
I'm also amazed at how these people who write great travel books seem to have such great travel experiences along the way, when I'm usually bored to tears when I hit the road. Maybe I'm just not trying hard enough and don't have the proper attitude, but I think another thing you can take out of this book is how enriching the travel experience can be if you're in the proper frame of mind.

This is a five-star book for readers who enjoy fish-out-of-water accounts of travel, where the writer's eye (ear, nose and throat, for that matter) seems to encounter only the completely incongruous and absurd. The jokes go both ways, of course - on the inhabitants of the place traveled through as well as the credulous author, whose expectations are wildly different. Paul Theroux does this in (to me) a cranky and irritating way ("Kingdom by the Sea"), but Duncan McLean, a Scotsman from little Orkney, plays it for belly laughs, and there's a lot of fun to be had along the way.

A caveat or two. Texans may find his jaundiced view of Texas grating, and lovers of Bob Wills and western swing may find the book something of a hodgepodge on those two subjects. Onion festivals, scary encounters with border patrol, and his opinion of Rush Limbaugh will seem beside the point. Likewise, readers not into western swing will find his enthusiasms, knowledge of music trivia, and references to musicians and songs a bit of a yawn.

But if you've read Charles Townsend's biography of Bob Wills and love the music, this slaphappy mix of travel writing and musicology can put a big smile on your face. Also, McLean's difficulties in finding and interviewing the old-timers who once played with Wills will give you an appreciation for the monumental effort of research that went into the writing of the biography. Best advice: Read Townsend first, then pick up McLean and be prepared to laugh.

McLean, a Scottish writer, discovered an old, scratchy LP of Bob Wills and was instantly became a fanatic for western swing, a music that dominated popular radio in the '30s and '40s and is now close to forgotten. After winning the Somerset Maugham Prize for his book of short stories, he decides to spend the money on a tour of Texas tracking down the surviving musicians who played western swing. On his journeys, he finds the Texas Wills and his associates sang about (in small towns) and a Texas overwhelmed by newer Trends (Austin, Fort Worth, etc.). An interesting tale of another guy obsessed with music.

Some people, judging from their reviews, just didn't "get" the book. That's okay, I can understand it. It's probably best for people like myself, folks too young to have heard Wills' music any normal way, but who somehow stumbled across it and fell in love. If you're a long-term fan of the music, or have never heard it at all, well, I can imagine the book may seem lacking - though personally, I liked the tales of McLean's efforts not to seem too alien to his surroundings, and his disappointment in finding that mid-1990's Texas is not quite the wonderland of Western Swing he'd hoped. That reviewers point out the book seems to be too much about McLean is rather the point - it's a lonely journey and he only catches a few faint echoes of the subject of his search.

The part where McLean attempts a phone interview with an absolutely befuddled Floyd Tillman is fabulous. Tillman's importance to country music is huge, but the peak of his career is several decades past. Tillman can't seem to wrap his head around the idea that some guy from Scotland would even want to interview him - told the title of the book, Tillman thinks it's "Lone Star Swig", which he assumes will be a book about beer!

The question isn't asked too directly, but the book really does make one wonder about how much we appreciate the heroes of our past and the innovators and originators of our cultural history. That the book is written by a Scottish guy looking for the answers to questions most of the "native" people in his book seem to care not a whit about really drives the concept home.

It's a well-written book with a lot of cool tales and McLean comes across as the sort of guy you wouldn't mind joining on a road trip. On that basis, this book works for me.

A poorly planned book about a poorly planned trip through Texas. The writer has a great love for Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, but comes up empty on his search and in his book. I read everything I can find on Bob and His Texas Playboys, and this book was the most disappointing.

The only two great books are: San Antonio Rose (by Charles Townsend) and My Years With Bob Wills (by that ol' piano pounder, Al Stricklin)

Skip this one. Save your money for the Bear Records box set.

Nothing new here. I was disappointed to say the least after shelling out my bucks for this book I just expected more. Certainly nothing to write home about.

Try this book instead: Equine Behaviour: Principles and Practice

Maybe I expected more of this book. Its good, but it feels like Andrew McLean tried to say too much in too short of time, so he tells you a little bit about a lot but leaves you with questions.

I have been a rider/trainer and instructor for the past 30 years. I have ridden with and trained with some of the top trainers in the world. I have read hundreds of books on the training of horses and been to dozens upon dozens of clinics with all of the "horse whisperers". After reading Andrew McLean's incredible book, I immediately went out and bought 10 copies to give to friends and trainers. I will agree with one of the reviewers that the book might be better appreciated by someone with a background in psychology and that Andrew does presume a certain knowledge level from the reader. Apart from that it is one of the most amazing books on training that I have ever come across. I began using many of Andrew's principles on our new green pony as soon as I finished the book and was simply floored by the simplicity and efficacy of the methods. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

A fantastic book that utilizes the authors research into animal behavior and training. His concepts were well explained and improved my understanding of horse training. I would certainly read another book from this author.

For those of us familiar with behavioural training this book has been a long time in coming. So many times you are stuck between the traditional 'leg on, leg on, leg on' (where's the release??) training school or NH which has it's own achilles heal - continually activating the natural flight response and for most practitioners a total lack of understand of what positive reinforcement is.

For those looking for a more extensive explaination of the actual training methods he has written a second book "Horse Training The McLean Way
" however this one is meant to provide an introduction into behavioural training and then an overview of the types of exercises and horse 'problems' that they deal with. The book is well written and should be easily accessible to anyone interested even if they are not science-minded or well versed in behavioural psychology.

For all the dressage riders with horses that buck instead at tempi-changes or rear instead of piaffe - reading this could make you understand that these are your problems not the horse! and save your dressage mount (and your competition career)

This book uses some Greek names and some Roman names for the gods. Some of the stories are conflated or otherwise wrong.

I'm using this book with my six year old to introduce her to the Greek myths and I agree with the other reviewers here: it's a good book for that purpose, getting kids interested in the material and providing them with some good background on which to build later. Some of the stories are wrong, yes; but what bothered me more was the use of the ROMAN names for the Greek gods instead of the Greek names (e.g. Vulcan not Hephaistos, Diana not Artemis).

This was the first book I read as a 6-year-old after the basic learn-to-read primers. It sparked a love for Greek myths and other classics that has lasted to this day. There are some changes in the text, but it puts the plot in terms a child can understand without embarrassing a parent. Came back to buy the book for my own daughter.

I read this book when I was in middle school and really wanted to read a book about Greek mythology because that was my main interest back then. I read this book and enjoyed it, despite its childish narration(a bit more fit for six year olds). However, I was disappointed when I did further research and discovered that many of the myths were wrong in this book. For one thing, in this book, when man disregarded the gods, the gods took fire from mankind and Prometheus took the fire from the gods to return to men, but as punishment he was chained to a rock. Well, anyone who knows mythology well enough knows that Prometheus actually stole fire to introduce to mankind and was honored, but later punished because he made it so that the gods got the worst of the sacrifice. In addition, the book doesn't say that Hercules performed his labors for the king because of Hera's jealousy. Instead, it makes it seem like the gods sentanced Hercules to work for the king for no reason at all. I was also ticked off by the puny, unecessary dialogue and the fact that the Latin equivalents of the Greek gods were used instead of the real Greek names(such as Minerva instead of Athena). Now, for some postivie info, it does at least have some good illustrations and most of the stories actually were right. I must admit it did a fairly good job at telling the stories of Perseus, Orpheus, and Theseus. I would for sure not recommend this book if you're looking for an introduction to Greek mythology. Instead, I recommend checking out Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia(with plenty of articles on Greek myths) and "D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths". If you'd like to read this book, better to go for the library than to buy it.

A resource/reading teacher at the third grade level for almost three decades, I have used Adventures of the Greek Heroes to great effect at the beginning of the year. The book is on a beginning third grade level. The controlled vocabulary will annoy older readers, but suits young readers. A great introduction to the Greek myths, and surprisinly detailed in its accounts of the six or so heroes on which it is mainly focused: Prometheus, Hercules, Perseus, Theseus, Orpheus, Jason. It's about 170 pages and well-illustrated.

Adventures of the Greek Heroes is by no means comprehensive. For that you need D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, which is on about a fifth grade level. A wonderful book that is indeed encyclopedic. It begins with the origins of the gods and proceeds roughly chronologically to the Trojan war.

Wiseman and McClean's Adventures of the Greek Heroes, nonetheless, is a very valuable introduction for younger readers, eight and nine year olds, particularly for boys, who, as we all know, are less inclined to read. This book motivates third grade boys like few others.

Good, solid, slice-of-life type of stories. Reads quickly.

These stories describe the antics of contemporary Scottish pond life. But they do so in a flat, affectless voice. The experience is akin to half watching other people whilst waiting in a bus station. Only slightly more diverting than watching dry leaves being blown about on a crisp autumn day.

From the author of the totally creepy Bunker Man and the deftly delightful Blackden comes this collection of 23 short stories ranging in length from a half-page to 42 pages. McLean's voice and fine writing is as evident in these short works as in his two novels. If one placed each of his novels at the end of a spectrum of creepiness and wholesomeness, the stories in this collection would fill the gap between them. Indeed, the longest story, "Hours of Darkness" shares many of the creepy and ultimately nasty characteristics of Bunker Man, while others such as "Tongue" or "The Druids S***e It and Fail To Show" hearken to Blackden. As a whole, the collection is a great example of the new Scottish writing, and a perfect introduction to McLean.

Although I enjoyed reading this book, I wouldn't say there was anything truly ground-breaking or special about it. Just small slices of ordinary Scottish lives told, mainly, in the local tongue. Enjoyable, sometimes nasty, decent read.

The painful truths told by McLean are bearable because of the humor that they are told with. If you liked the movie trainspotting, you will love this book, as I did.