Perry Books

Books were new and in good conditions. Were delivered to me in a timely manner.

Hey, I'm way past college age but when I went back to school and was told that all my papers had to be submitted in APA format, I was lost. American Pilots Association rules??? It's actually the American Psychological Association rules. Anyway, all the different formats are available in this book. There are tons of examples. I know it works, I get A's all the time and I wouldn't if the papers weren't formatted right. What you write is important but if you put it in the wrong format, you're starting out in the hole. Give yourself an advantage and get this book now!

3 stars is the best review a book I used for school is going to get. The saving grace of this book is the fact that I actually had to use it for school a couple of times. I usually can get by my classes easil with a b while putting the bare minimal effort into my assignments as long as they sound clever. This book has the constitution in the back which may be helpful to some people and may be of some use for citing sources in mla format but the best part of this book is the maps that are near the back. The maps are like a rose in a desert because the color screams out at you as you flip through the pages. They have nothing to do with english and thus are a welcome addition to the book. If you go to a poor school and this is the only book they give you your actually in luck because you can just stare at the maps and it will look like your reading. If you go to a blue ribbon school like I did or one that recieved multiple blue ribbons also like my school then my recomendation for you is to return this book to the book store the first day of class and use the other books like I should have done. It will also save you the burden of having to lug it around all day. On a side note this book should be called wrong for college.

I used this book in an advanced class in High School, and I plan to continue using it through college. It is very easy to read, follow, and understand, and very helpful to almost anyone who will use it. I would recommend this book to any person who will have to do a lot of writing.

I'm returning to college after 15 years of being in the "real world" and this book is great. I have a lot of natural writing ability and overall, I'm comfortable with the writing process. But it has been awhile since I've had to sit down and write a college position/research paper and I don't recall ever being required to use the MLA document style before! It's great to be able to pick and choose through the sections of this book as I need them!

This book is written as university-level textbook on the coaching profession. It covers what coaching is and how it is used in business today, particularly in Australia the Author's setting. The authors provide coaching models and do a thorough job of describing the core issues and skills of which coaches must be aware.

Part one of the book defines coaching as "a conversation, a dialogue, whereby a coach and coachee interact in a dynamic exchange to achieve goals, enhance performance and move the coachee forward to greater success" (page xiii). They write of what coaching is, and is not, and what are the qualities of a successful coach.

Part two describes business coaching, executive coaching, the manager as coach and team coaching. Each is addressed in a separate chapter with helpful information, tools, and tips on the "how-tos" of coaching that particular client. These chapters are rich in advise on what to watch out for and pay attention to when working with a certain type of client.

Part three speaks to coaching skills and issues. One chapter starts out as goal setting and then backs up to the client purpose, vision and values as a base for establishing goals. The coach can surface greater perspective and awareness in the client by using helpful tools to assess these three areas of client's life. I believe this is one of the most valuable aspects of coaching, only recently acknowledged by professional coaches (Life Coaches knew this all along) as the key to improving client performance. Other chapters deal with, by now, standard coaching skills such as listening, questioning, non-verbal communication, learning styles, resistance to coaching, and self-limiting beliefs.

This book is an excellent source for the nature and practice of coaching. The authors have incorporated many other coaches' techniques into their text. Coaching books will always have the limitation of being written word and not live dialogue. It is impossible to gain the skills of coaching through any book. However, for the beginner or intermediate coach, the coaching issues, tips and advice in this book are well worth the price.

This book, written in non-academic prose and strewn with practical examples, is the most comprehensive book yet authored on the contemporary involvement of coaches in the business and executive development world. The book can serve as both a reference text for experienced coaches and a 'how-to' book for coaches seeking instruction. The book is also appropriate for those who want to make decisions about using coaches or establishing a coaching culture or academics or trainers seeking a primary text on coaching for use in an educational setting. Throughout the book, the authors underscore the importance of coaching as a learning opportunity. In tackling these issues the authors provide a blueprint for coaches on how to become more effective and increase their ability to work with a variety of clients. As coaching continues to grow as an applied profession, dominated by practitioners, its credibility is strongly enhanced when solid ideas are presented in a clear, articulate, and succinct fashion. This book easily achieves all those criteria and will add considerably to the wealth of knowledge and professional skills associated with coaching.

I was intrigued by blurbs for the book, since I am interested in evidence-based coaching. However, if you look at the comments of the "reviewers," most of them were written within one or two days of each other and seem to employ the same writing style! This shows a great lack of integrity.

This book, written in non-academic prose and strewn with practical examples, is the most comprehensive book yet authored on the contemporary involvement of coaches in the business and executive development world. The book can serve as both a reference text for experienced coaches and a 'how-to' book for coaches seeking instruction. The book is also appropriate for those who want to make decisions about using coaches or establishing a coaching culture or academics or trainers seeking a primary text on coaching for use in an educational setting. Throughout the book, the authors underscore the importance of coaching as a learning opportunity. In tackling these issues the authors provide a blueprint for coaches on how to become more effective and increase their ability to work with a variety of clients. As coaching continues to grow as an applied profession, dominated by practitioners, its credibility is strongly enhanced when solid ideas are presented in a clear, articulate, and succinct fashion. This book easily achieves all those criteria and will add considerably to the wealth of knowledge and professional skills associated with coaching.

If you are looking for a solid framework for professional coaching this resource is a must. In this book you are presented professional coaching models, a great range of templates and tips and traps every coach should be alert to.

It is presented in an easy to read format that allows this information to be employed in either an internal or external coaching practice. This is not just a book to read it is an action plan.

I ordered a book from this seller, I received it in a timely manner and had no issues with the seller.

I was assigned to read this first in a class on Self & Nature. It's a pretty good introduction to the question of personal identity and what it means to exist. I do agree with some of the other reviewers that it is slanted towards the modern, popular atheist-materialist camp. Worth it, regardless. He utilizes the Socratic style very well through the voice of the dying professor.

In this delightful booklet John Perry, a philosophy professor at Stanford, discusses personal identity and immortality. It is implied that immortality is meaningless without personal identity, and therefore almost the entire argument is about personal identity really.

The setting of the dialogue is dramatic: a philosophy teacher, Gretchen, lies dying in a hospital after a motorcycle accident. She is visited by two friends: Sam, a chaplain, and Dave, a former student. She asks them to comfort her and gives them an apparently easy task: to show that it is possible for personal identity to survive the death of the body. She does not ask them for good evidence or some probability estimate of this happening - but just for the logical possibility of the survival of personal identity. In other words she questions whether the idea of personal survival is even coherent, if it makes any sense at all. Of course Sam and Dave find it very difficult to convince her.

I found the dialogue very readable with some flashes of humor, expressions of passion, anger, sadness - the whole lot one would expect in such a setting. And at the same time we get a good philosophical debate. Excellent.

In the second night all three agree that personal identity is contingent on memory, or rather on the continuity of memory, but in a way I found very puzzling they all also immediately agree that there is an important distinction to be made between what one really remembers and what one only seems to remember. This, I think, is a big mistake. There is of course an obvious difference between an atomic explosion and the simulation of an atomic explosion, but as far as experience goes "is" and "seems" are identical. When I see a red apple it makes no sense to wonder whether I may only seem to be seeing a red apple. There is no difference playing chess and simulating the playing of chess. Still, based on the distinction between remembering and seeming to remember Gretchen shoots down all arguments Sam and Dave propose for defending the very possibility of survival of personal identity after the death of the body. But, by that standard, personal identity is not possible even before death. After all how can I be certain that I remember my past? Maybe I only seem to remember what happened yesterday. Gretchen might have answered that the continuity of the body (and particularly of the brain) before death proves that what I remember is real - but then how do I know that yesterday I had the same body I have today? Maybe this too is a wrong memory.

Another error I found in the argumentation is that the continuation of personal identity after the death of the body is imagined only through the recreation of a "heavenly person". This arbitrarily assumes that the "person" disappears at the death of the body and must therefore be recreated somehow - which shows that by "person" Perry (as all three characters in the dialogue agree on that) imagines some kind of body. To be fair in the first night Gretchen has shown that the idea of personal identity without the benefit of a body (i.e. the idea of the "soul") makes not sense because it souls existed we would know nothing about them. This argument is valid but is solipsistic in nature. After all neither can we know anything about other peoples' consciousness and still we assume that other people are conscious; in the same way we can safely assume that other people have souls. In fact I find that for all practical purposes "soul" and "consciousness" can be used interchangeably.

Finally the idea of the possible recreation of a person in heaven is rendered absurd by pointing out that then it would be possible to create several identical heavenly bodies which would negate personal identity. But why is that? On what logical grounds must one assume a link between personal identity and uniqueness of body? This is what we empirically find to be the case in our condition in this life, but it is not logically necessary. I can easily imagine my personal identity experiencing through two bodies. Even worse, one can imagine a case where Gretchen's body while alive is copied atom by atom to create a second copy of her. Would this event in some way evaporate the original Gretchen's personal identity? Of course not. But if the possibility of producing several copies of the material body of Gretchen is not problematic, why should the same possibility when applied to her "heavenly body" be?

In any case, this 49 page booklet was a joy to read - but also strangely upsetting: I wished I could find a way to insert myself in the book and argue against Gretchen. Which shows how taken I was by the story. Anyway I also learned something about the craft of writing a philosophical dialogue: You never have all characters agree easily on anything. At least one character must question any claim introduced (no matter how obvious it may seem to the writer of the dialogue) and have other characters defend it before continuing.

If you are interested in a philosophical analysis of personal identity, you will not find a better introduction than this little volume. It is, however, just an introduction. It raises issues without fully developing them, which is fine, since it does not pretend to be more than an introduction. For the same reason it omits various issues. The most important omitted issue IMO is the view of the Buddha, David Hume, Derek Parfit and doubtless others that personal identity is in a sense an illusion. To get deeper into these issues, I recommend Part III of Parfit's Reasons and Persons.

One quibble: notwithstanding the book's title, it does not discuss immortality. Survival after death is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for immortality.

I purchased this book for a college course in Philosophy. I expected it to be boring, but to my surprise it was very interesting. If you want to be a lawyer or politician, you might want to consider purchasing this book. Socrates was brilliant and questioned everything, as dictated by Plato. Also, I am a first time student of Philosophy and before taking the course thought I would not be able to deal with it because I rarely question the things around me--but this book proves that even if you are more of a simple minded person, you can still wrap your thoughts around certain things that Socrates questions that today still have no specific definitions. It is a thin book, with few pages, but it is full of a lot of knowledgeable ideas and concepts that do take some re-reading to fully comprehend Socrate's methods. I highly recommend this book!

There are aspects of Mark Tessler's work that cry out for revision at this point. His history was published in 1994 and so, naturally, there is no discussion of the demise of the Oslo process or the second Intifada, no discussion of Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, nor of the increasing importance of Hamas and Hizbullah... Moreover, weaknesses in Tessler's treatment of the early development of Zionism and Palestinian nationalism also seem quite dated at this point, making little reference to the fundamental revision of theories of nationalism that was still in its early stages when this book was first published. All of which suggests that Indiana University Press should be talking to Tessler about the possibility of a revised edition.

Despite these notable weaknesses, Tessler's work still stands as a model of sober and balanced analysis and unlike many textbook-style discussions of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Tessler is careful to outline the basic points of debate before explaining how he comes down on a particular issue. This concern for debates within the historiography, along with Tessler's nuanced attention to detail, and his refusal to engage in easy moralizing make this work - for all its datedness - a very useful source on the Arab-Israeli conflict and a fine selection as a course textbook.

In my own classes, I have found it works well with James Gelvin's much more thematic volume.

It has taken me several months to finish off this huge book, but the experience of learning so much has been very rewarding. This is quite simply the best nonfiction book I've ever read, and this on a topic as complex as the Middle East conflict, no less. Tessler's work is completely unbiased and offers an incredibly detailed presentation of the facts up to Fall 1993, after the Oslo accords were announced.

Tessler, an American professor, writes in a straight-forward style that is easily understandable. Although the sheer volume of history covered in the book was considerable, I never found myself bored by the writing. I wish my high school history books were written so well.

Like a good academian (in the very best sense of the term), he presents the facts clearly. For each historical event, he cites several credible sources stating the event, and for retrospective analysis of its importance, he cites opinions from multiple sides. The build-up to the 1967 war, for example, consumes 20 pages and 50 citations. His use of references is so thorough that of the book's 900+ pages, 93 pages are endnotes.

I only have a few minor negative remarks about this book:

1. Obviously, since the book was published in 1994, it is not up to date and does not cover the break-down of the negotiations from the Oslo accords. However, historical facts prior to 1993 have not changed (at least not in the Orwellian sense, thank goodness), and this book does an outstanding job for its time frame as I have said.

2. There are no photos at all, save for the picture on the cover.

3. For a topic so centered on geography, the quality of the maps is surprisingly poor. There are 20 maps showing the important boundaries and such, but these look like they were drawn by a high school art student. A single high-detail, atlas-quality map from 1994 would have been appropriate as well. Instead, I found some colour maps on the web that I printed out and keep folded in the book to use as a quick reference.

A much more recent book that I also highly recommend that covers these three points (recentness, photos, and maps) is _The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Crisis in the Middle East_ by Reuters journalists. That book is filled with beautiful photography, nice maps, and is up-to-date to March 2002. It makes a great companion to this book.

Overall, this book by Tessler is outstanding. Although its size may be a bit daunting, you will thank yourself for reading this book.

Worth reading as a start to getting historical background on which to base further study.

if you have the time, you can do worse than to read this valuable volume on the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The book looks at the rise of nationalism among both peoples, the Palestinians developing their identity forst as Arabs during the 19th century and under Ottoman occupation and the Israelis as an extension of euroepan nationalism and their initial attempts at assimilation. In fact, I found the description of the rise of Zionism to be one of the most fascinating aspects of the book. This book works very well, therefore, in explaining the background of the conflict presenting all sides. I could not really detect a bias, as I could certainly find plenty of arguments taht selectively and logically assembled could be used to support either side. Moral considerations of justice are excluded, and individual readers wilkl necessarily have to fit those in. I therefore recommend reading this volume before approaching the more slanted ones. I certainly know where I stand on the issue, but I understand the other side more and that can't hurt when I argue in favor of Palestinian self determination.

Tessler's "A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" is a must read for anyone truly wanting to dive deep into the historical background of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Contrary to most other books on this topic, Tessler provides a highly objective and in-depth analysis into the evolution of the conflict from the 1880's to the early 90's, when the book was written. He includes necessary prerequisite information, including an analysis of the Judaic and Islamic religions, Arab nationalism vs. Zionism, and even some European history. Also unique to this book are the inclusions of various historical accounts that provide better context for which to analyze the present-day conflict.

Whenever possible, Tessler attempts to include exerts from historians on both sides; further adding to the book's credibility and objectivity.

The book reads surprisingly easy and is not overly cumbersome.

I really enjoyed this book, Christianity was alive and well for 400 years from 1 AD. Then the Roman Emperor decided that Christianity should be the official religion of Rome, So after feeding christians to the lions, "now I'll accept their religion", But we can't profit from what they believe, so a counsil of bishops, threw out this, modified that, and the emperor was presented with the new cannonized version of the Holy Bible, in about 395 AD. Ok, we got our Bible, so what do we do with all these people who arn't going to accept it as the word of God, since they had their teachings going back 400 years. Well to suppress any opposition to our new bible we will just kill them. And kill them he did, all the way up till the 19th century. But some of them in spite of the opposition hung on to their beliefs, Coptics in Egypt as one, but recent findings are rediscovering what these bishops thought were suppressed. They are being translated and so that now we can read what these bishops didn't want us to know! I really enjoy these authors who have the guts to run with this information, It's about time to come out of the dark ages of Christianity, and enjoy what was hidden for so long, I could shoot off a list of books, but anybody who as came into the light can name them for themselves. Thank You. , and I used to think James Mitchner, and Ernest Hemmingway were exciting !!!

When I decided to read this book, all I could remember about Jesus' life in Egypt was summed up by Matthew 2:13: "Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him." It turns out that this is only one of two passages in the New Testament that refer to Jesus spending time in Egypt. The other is when Joseph is called to return to Palestine.

According to the New Testament, Herod feared Jesus after meeting the three magi and decided to kill all of the young children to avoid having a challenger for his throne.

Fascinated by that story, author Paul Perry found himself in Egypt working on another project. He decided to visit all of the sites where Jesus is supposed to have passed. In doing so, he sought to bring both his perspective as a Western journalist and as a believer. Over the course of two trips, he was able to follow this ambition. Jesus in Egypt is the story of his travels and what he learned. There are many unexpected aspects to the story.

First, if you are like me, you don't know much about Coptic Christians and their lives in Egypt. This book will tell you much. A major source of inspiration for these Christians comes from the heritage of Jesus' travels in Egypt. Although they comprise only about 5 percent of the Egyptian population, they feel especially blessed by these historical sites. You will meet many of them, both clergy and laity, as they describe their faith. As Egyptians, they experience their religion differently than many people do in the United States . . . drawing great strength from oral traditions that may date as far back as the time of Jesus.

Second, the Bible is almost silent about Jesus as a child. What was He like? What did He experience? The various sources (texts that were excluded from the Bible, oral tradition, visions and dreams) reveal wondrous tales that many will find inspirational. Water was drawn from the sand. Wells rose mysteriously to the top. Idols were toppled all around. Spiders and trees dropped down to hide the Holy Family. Dangerous animals left the Holy Family alone.

Third, many of these sites have large impacts on the believers today. In one location, an apparition of the Virgin Mary is shown photographed amid mysterious lights on the domed church of Zeitoun. Other sightings of the Virgin have been seen in recent years and have had profound impact on those who have viewed Her. In addition, many miracles have followed in some of the sites . . . often from drinking the water in wells that are attributed to the hand of Jesus.

Fourth, Mr. Perry asked those he met what they thought about Jesus in Egypt. When is a dream a dream, and when is it a message from God? Without archeological evidence, how can we know what the Holy Family did? When is a medical miracle a miracle, and when is it a reaction to a placebo? Can oral traditions be trusted? How? In the course of thinking about these answers, you will probably (like me) find yourself finding new pathways to increasing your faith. That's a wonderful gift!

Fifth, Mr. Perry describes the effects of faith on the Egyptian people. Theirs often seems to be a purer, deeper and more powerful faith than we usually observe in the United States. Simple aspects of experiencing faith can bring them enormous joy, even amid great poverty and problems. Learning about those dimensions made me interested in deepening my faith.

Sixth, Mr. Perry describes contemporary relations between Muslim and Christian Egyptians that is far more peaceful than one would imagine from our rhetoric about fundamentalist terror threatening non-Muslims from all sides. As an American, he found himself welcome almost everywhere . . . even though the security police felt like he needed an armed escort when he went into the areas where the deepest Muslim fundamentalists live. He also found himself learning to trust Egyptians of all faiths as people of good will.

I won't reveal more about the book because it would spoil nice surprises for you, but there is a remarkable ending experience that Mr. Perry had which underscores the whole message of following the steps of Jesus to find Him.

Interestingly, the day before I found this book, I found myself praying that I could find ways to more closely follow the path of Jesus. Perhaps the book is the literal answer to that prayer. I tend to believe that to be true.

May God bless you!

Author Paul Perry went on a sort of pilgrimage and journalistic quest to find the path of the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) through Egypt. When Jesus was a baby, Herod commanded that all male infants under the age of two were to be killed, a Draconian plan to find the prophesied King of Kings. Joseph is directed in a dream to take his family to safety in Egypt, and we learn little else that he went, taking Mary and Jesus, and subsequently returned.

What happened during the time the family dwelt Egypt is not part of the official Gospels. There are the secret "Infancy Gospels"-- and some of the books of Apocrypha that deal with Jesus' childhood--not officially Biblical truth. What Perry finds out is that the process of creating and transmitting oral legends, some of which were written into the Apocrypha, is still a process going on today. Visit any town along the path the Holy Family took through Egypt and those who are Christians are still telling those legends--and creating them.

This process amazes the author. Among the Coptic Christians, truth seems to be a matter of possibilities --and impossibilities. If a bishop has a dream about what happened to Jesus as an infant in Egypt, this becomes a new legend.

Some of the legends told by the locals sound more like Semitic tales of wisdom or riddles such as Solomon would have faced. Other tales are of miracles that remind one of the wedding of Cana or tell of the raising of the dead. The fact that Jesus didn't start his ministry until Cana and until he was well into adulthood is irrelevant to these legends. Which gives insight into how legends are formed and passed on. And also insight into why officially, some books of scriptural writing are included the Gospel and others were rejected.

But Perry isn't really writing about Biblical truth; he is writing about people and their sacred traditions. And at the end, he finds a holy family of his own; he takes care of a pair of widows in a truly Christian manner. This story is about his quest and about the culture of the people in Egypt. It's beautifully written, and of interest to anyone who loves travel, legends, and meeting people in a culture different than ours. Highly recommended.

Jesus in Egypt is a silly book. Masquarading as a serious biblical study book, instead it is a travelogue of all the tourist rip-offs in Egypt where desparate people try to convince rich foreigners that "this is the place where..." I can imagine Perry doing a follow-up entitled "Bigfoot in Seattle".

This is not to say that the connections between Jesus and Egypt should be ignored. There are many connections here, and books like Freke & Gandy's "Jesus Mysteries" address some of them as does Alvar Ellegard in his book "100 years before Christ"

The one saving grace of this book is that it is well written. Had it been renamed "My tax deductible summer in Egypt" I would probably give it 5 stars. Well, no. Not 5. For a travelogue, this book is mysteriously devoid of pictures and maps, except for the head shots of the people he meets along the way.

My tastes in literature now focus on the search for the female and male dieties from ancestral and contemporary perspectives, so I was truly pleased to read this book of Paul Perry's that follows the path of the infant Jesus through Egypt. He struck a universal chord with this reader as he searched for the true source of Jesus' presence and was alternately thrilled and frustrated. I enjoyed as well the travel and mystery aspects of this book in addition to his clarification of the status of the early books of the Bible. I was with him as he traveled dangerous dark roads through the awe-inspiring Sinai and Sahara Deserts, walked down back alleys with strangers he was quite sure about but had to trust, and responded to the exotic terrain of the Nile Delta. I am glad to see that more books are being published that demonstrate the quest by an individual to find spiritual meaning in today's society in a time when a kind of emptiness can prevail in the psyche. This book is one place for many to turn, and it was further bolstered by the author's commitment to research and scholarship, particularly around the nature of the Coptic Church in Egypt. Kudos to him for still pursuing this course after 9/11 and helping us to remember that there is no "Other," only "others" trying to make sense of our universal existence.

In this outstanding biography, Mr. Perry introduces the reader to Mary Custis Lee, the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington and the wife of Robert E. Lee. She was a well-educated, strong, loving, caring woman, who, during the Civil War, lost her home, kept her family together, and supported her husband. Through his extensive research, Mr. Perry has been able to disprove many of the rumors and myths about Mrs. Lee. Once you start this book,you won't be able to put it down. It is a must read for anyone who is interested in the personal stories of this critical time in American history. Bob and Cherie Allen-Authors A "Guest" of the Confederacy The Civil War Letters and Diaries of Alonzo M. Keeler, Captain, Company B, Twenty-second Michigan Infantry

THE BOOK WAS VERY WELL WRITTEN.MADE ME THINK I WAS LIVING IN THE TIME. I COULD NOT LAY THE BOOK DOWN,I EVEN GOT ON THE ARLINGTON SITE AND LOOKED AT SOME GREAT PICTURES OF ARLINGTON AS I WAS READING THE BOOK AND THIS MADE THE BOOK ALL THE MORE INTERESTING. GREAT AUTHOR.

I read this book in three days as it was very well written, but did not, in my opinion give a very favorable view of Mary Lee. It portrayed her as self-centered, and like her father, more obsessed with the Washington connection than with the Lee connection. It pictures him as madly in love with her, I just cannot figure out why? I think it is very telling that none of their daughters chose to marry. Already a huge fan of his, the book only reinforced my good opinion of him.

This books give the reader a facinating insight into a woman who is too often over looked in history. It is the story of a woman, who's family members were on the front lines of America's early history, and who was a loving and supportive wife to the famous Robert E. Lee. History is full of stories of his life, especially during the Civil War, but the reader of this book will find that his wife was courageous in her own right, and worthy of historical note.
After reading this wonderful book, I found two other books which were just and wonderful and insightful about the Lee Family. They were "Growing up in the 1850's", the jouranl of Agnes Lee, and "The Lee Girls".

I always find it interesting to read about famous people's lives, but especially about the people who have been behind the scenes so to speak and little is told about them. That is why I found this book so interesting. Robert E. Lee is well known as the civil war general who surrendered and the war ended, of course, but to read more about his wife and get an insight to his family life made it hard to put the book down. There are some basic history rehashed somewhat in this book, but over all I found the book very personable and engaging in letting me know something about this woman whom I had never really heard of before. It also will show readers that no matter how famous a person may be, all people have their troubles and sorrows- and a lot of how life turns out to affect you depends on your reaction to what has happened in one's life. If you enjoy anything about the Civil War, this book would be a definite must !

If I could, I'd give this 4 1/2 stars, for as much I enjoyed this abridgement, there was one small thing that bothered me: it doesn't use much of the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack, by Joel McNeely, aside from Xizor's Theme. There is great music on that CD, and I was hoping a lot of it was used in this one.

Still, it was a wonderful performance by TV, movie actor Anthony Heald, (TV's Boston Public, "Silence of the Lambs") whom I've enjoyed as an actor for years. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of voices he uses in this for the different Star Wars characters, most notably Darth Vader, which was electronically modified and deepened, giving the listener a good mental image of the Sith Lord, though the voice is definitely not James Earl Jones, or even the late Brock Peters(voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars Radio Drama Trilogy), but it is sufficient.

Some of the other reviewers have noted that since this is an abridgement, a lot of material is removed from the performance. This is a fact, but in my humble opinion, it does not overly hurt the story. To my knowledge, there is not an unabridged version available.

But I'm glad to have this in my audio book collection. It's good listening while I'm in my car, working. Better that than most of the garbage on radio these days!

This review covers the audio cassette book (2 tapes, 3 hours). This was a pretty good tale, but, as an abridged version, it felt like some things were left on the cutting room floor. Once again, Anthony Heald does a great job in acting out all the various characters. The story line was weak and choppy. It does, however, fill in some of the gaps between episodes V and VI, so worth listening to for that. The sound-effects were well done, with the usual music score from the movies. Worth the purchase price.

Anthony Heald is the great. He is so good that I'd rather listen to him do a book than the dramatizations I've heard.

This is a review of Shadow of the Empire which is available as a hard cover book of 340 (ISBN 0553574132) pages, a comic (isbn 1569711836), a novelization of 176 pages (isbn 044013036) and audio cassette (isbn 0553100890). This story tales places between ESB and ROTJ. I always felt it was one of the more important stories of the Expanded Universe given that Xizor became an action figure as did Dash Render and his ship (Outrider). The whole gang is in this one even Han, though is encased in carbonite. We get Vader, the emperor, Fett, Guri, Boosk, 4-Lom, Jabba, Zuckuss and Wedge along with the regular gang of heroes.
Apparently Dark horse did have available any pictures of Lando or Leia because the artists did a lousy job of drawing them. Most of the time Luke was OK, but sometimes he looked like Jessica Lynch. They did do a great job drawing Fett, Vader and dash however.
Everyone is searching for Han, but he has not be taken directly to Jabba. Xizor has risen to lead Black Sun which has thrived since Darth Maul wiped out the old leadership. His newest ambition is to replace Vader as #2 in the empire. Xizor orders Luke killed knowing that Vader wants him alive. Then Xizor captured Leia.

This is one of my favorite of all the EU stories. Steve Perry has created a new and exciting Journey. The novel is 4 stars and the comic is 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. Considering that Dark horse released this in 1997 before some of their awesome new production techniques, this is a very well done comic. The abridged audio cassette is good quality, but at on 2 ½ hours to much is cut.

My dad got me this tape for getting a good report card and I was very satisfied. I originally thought that this would be a boring book but I was wrong. This book has a very good plot.

The 3 most powerful person in the galaxy is Prince Xizor. Darth Vader killed Xizor's familly and now Xizor wants revenge. Using his crime syndicate, Black Sun, he plots to kill Luke, Vader's son.

Anyone who has even a faint interest in Star Wars should read this book. It is one of the best Star Wars books so far. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes sci-fi stories for this is one of the best. I only wish Xizor was in it more.

I love this book for the simple fact its got not one, not two, but three villains. Aside from my fave, Palpatine, it introduces another, Prince Xizor who dares to go up against another fave Lord Vader. Its an action packed book with lots of scheming, dirty dealings and fighting scenes. The glimpses into Vader's thoghts was a real treat and I was glad to see that the ending left you guessing a bit. A great addition to the Star Wars saga. Anthony heald who is my favorite narrator in audiobooks does a fantastic job bringing each character to life; using sound effects i.e mechanical breathing when Vader was speaking was a nice touch and you got to love Xizor's theme which plays throughout this great audio production; one of my top audiobooks in my collection and one which has given me countless hours of listening enjoyment. Highly recommended.

I'm disenchanted by this author. I bought all three of his books here on Amazon and thank goodness I bought them used or else I'd be livid! What a waste of time. No such 'trick(s)' in this book! Just common sense stuff that you already know. It's all a marketing ploy to get you to buy a book that promises psychological tricks but when you read it, there's no tricks, but rather plain & simple parenting. Oooooh boy! That's so hard to do I need a psychologist to tell me how it's done.

I travel alot and my wife gave me this book for airplane reading. At first I laughed at the title, but I found after reading, it gave lots of good pointers for when I am with my 3 children. I'm not home to apply these principles for the day-to-day activities like my wife, but it really helped me maximize my quality time by providing me with quick responses to situations that I may not have been prepared for. Are you going to write a book to help me when they are teenagers?

i'm a first-time mom and have realized over the past year that these primal little creatures definitely have one up on us new parents. it's good to know there's someone on MY side with tips and tricks -- really just good common sense -- to help even the playing field somewhat (pun intended). dr. buff's practical, real-world tips offer help from babyhood to adolescence, so i'll be keeping this guide handy as my toddler grows!

I don't know what I used to do without some of these helpful little gems! This is such a fun book to read that one almost forgets that it is full of useful, well-researched advice for parents. The best part of all is that the advice works! The financial investment is minimal. The enjoyment and rewards are invaluable.

There's nothing new in this book, and no 'psychological tricks' either--it's full of the same old regurgitated bad advice other know-it-all would-be childcare experts have offered. His storytelling advice alone is laughable, and clearly comes from a person that does not often engage in storytime with kids.

The worst offense, however is the shoddy fact-checking that allowed an urban legend to slip into the book--that old myth about kidnappers whisking children away into bathrooms for a quick haircut, dye job and change of clothes before making for the exit. (Don't believe me? Check out Snopes.com and read for yourself.)

Don't waste your money on this book, just use a little common sense.

I got my product I bought on time and it was what I wanted. Thank you!

This book was for my daughters class at PJC. She loves it and it seems to help her a lot.

A Creative Approach to Music Fundamentals (with CD-ROM)
WAT EALS DO U WANN

I have had to use this textbook to teach both a Theory I course and a music fundamentals course for non-music majors. The explanations in this book are confusing, don't include visual examples, and are too in-depth. For classes that have substantial music experience, the exercises could be helpful in reinforcing concepts they already know. However, for someone with little or no experience this book leaves students feeling quite lost. There is nothing creative about this text, except for possibly the visual use of the keyboard to reinforce a few skills. You would think something creative would use more modern musical examples, a tactile method of applying skills, and include more helpful visual examples. Also- unless a student is planning on becoming a musician, then they will never have a need for the information they learn in this book.

Criticism of this text as not good for people with little background is somewhat surprising. It begins rhythm with the idea that music is organized around an underlying pulse, then introduces basic note values and meters. It begins pitch at the level of "this is a staff." How much more basic can you get? I am an experienced music theory professor, and I find this an excellent systematic approach to music fundamentals. If you can learn, you can learn very well from this book; if you can teach, you can teach very well from it.

My only criticism regards the tear-out exercises. This 9th ed. has been improved so that the tear-outs won't take the rest of the text with them--that was a cheapskate, profit-centered approach to book design. Now they are all at the end of the chapter, albeit lumped together so they still don't come out individually. After students and I have all purchased a copy of the text, I still photocopy and distribute the exercises (now termed "Practice Materials") according to my lesson plans and overall course schedule.

The material itself is still presented as clearly and systematically as ever. As with any course content, mastery of material for many students still requires best teaching practices.

Changed the way I write, February 28, 2006
Reviewer: Barry Hilton "Barry Book Lover" (St. Louis) - See all my reviews
What made me the most money in eBay eXtasy wasn't the eBay eXtasy strategy itself but the author's explanation at the end of the book on his writing process.

It was the KEY I'd been looking for.

I know a lot about 3 subjects that I've been wanting to write about but I never knew where to start. As a BONUS to eBay eXtasy, the author explains how he went from writing strictly for major publishers to this eBook format. This was EXACTLY what I've been looking for as he explained how to create a book even if you cannot type, even if you know nothing about editing, even if you can't form a sentence, as long as you have the knowledge that someone else wants...! I had NO idea how simple it was to go from idea to book and I don't know why Greg Perry told the world this secret (he doesn't think it's a secret, he's just being helpful I suppose) but as for ME it has changed my whole view of my career over the next few months.

Thank you Greg Perry!!!

Oh... and the eBay eXtasy strategy works amazingly well, and I think its simplicity is what makes it so important for ANY online seller.

I'd be FAR more money ahead if I'd know about this much sooner. This technique is simple and obvious except you'd never think of it (at least I hadn't and I've sold a lot on eBay). I like the bonus material as well, I want to write my own eBook now!

This book could and should be condensed to about 5 pages. I have never read anything so redundent in my life. The ideas are not bad but.....

In our eBay business, we must monitor costs as well as profit margins to maximize every cent.

eBay eXtasy helps us to grow our percentage margin AND provide a needed service at below market rates to our buyers.

I'm surprised this technique isn't used more. It's extremely simple.

If you don't follow this simple technique, you aren't maximizing your income.

You're leaving lots of money on the table. Maybe only as little as $1 per auction, but think how your gross profit adds up over time, over 100s of auctions.

Do NOT settle for "average income" when you can have far more for about 3 minutes worth of one-time work.