Perry Books

This book was sent to me by my mom's best friend approximately 1 week prior to some major trials I would soon be facing in my life. I have ADD, therefore, I'm not a "reader" because I have difficulty comprehending and remembering what I've read. Prior to receiving this book, I had never received anything from this person. Once I started reading it, I could hardly put it down. Mixed with much humor, this book is inspirational and was indeed a blessing from the Lord. The chapters are short and easy to read. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

This book was awesome! It made me bolder in sharing my faith with my friends. A must read for any woman - single, married, Christian or not! It was great!

I have owned this book for less than a year and in that time I have read it almost three times. Sheri Rose Shepherd illustrated Gods path in the comical truths of her life before, during and after finding the Lord. I would recomend this book to anyone who enjoys laughter.

What a great book! Thanks Sheri Rose Shepherd! I found this book inspiring, touching and down to earth. The real life experiences are refreshing to read and several times I said, "that's me!" she's talking about! As a Christian myself, I enjoyed the "lesson to be learned" at the end of each chapter, and how it related to the Bible. I laughed, I cried, and I shared it with others. Thanks again!

This book claims to be a spiritual, self help book. However, I found it to be an autobiography, beginning after she won the Mrs. United States title. She says that that the title gave her the platform to spead God's word, but she never speaks of any good works that she performs other than preaching to others. An average chapter would be... First let me tell you that I was Mrs. United States. I met two boys in the foster care program. I was afraid of them, they smelled awful and didn't have the talent to be in my production, but I let them work back stage and I preached to them and now they are Christians. By the way, did I tell you that I was Mrs. United States.
Too many times she belittled the people that she was preaching to. The only message that I got from the book was; Do as I say and not as I do...and never forget that I was Mrs. United States.

The book assumes a bit of understanding of DSP: basically, that sound is vibrations and that you can think of it as a sum of many frequencies. The early articles pick up from there, explaining how those vibrations are picked up by the ear, and tries to explain the results we've studied so far on how the brain interprets it. Lots of inspirational bits to spur your own exploration, and there are suggested labs/mini-labs in the back.

If you are interested in the filed of psychoacoustic, this book provides great informations and is written in a easy comprehensible manner. We used that book in my psychoacoustic class at university and even if I was not familiar with this subject, I learned a lot and enjoyed reading it. The book comes with a cd of audio exemples that follows the book.

This book has not had a sufficient editorial vision of the whole book, nor control of the content of the individual chapters. The timbre chapter is among the most incomplete and superficial in existence. This could be said of many entries here.

There is absolutely no doubt these are people of authority, but the whole is far, far less than the sum of the parts.

Most importantly, almost no chapter explains how the entire set of concepts connects specifically to *computerized* sound.

Howard and Angus "Acoustics and Psychoacoustics" is a far more cogently structured, complete, yet introductory, approach to these topics.

Very enjoyable, very entertaining and an interesting reading. The opening chapter by Max Mathews is a lovely opener puts he reader at ease immeadiately. My first book on physco-acoustics and to be honest I am glad. I have read other books on the subject since then but this is still my favourite. Well worth the money.

Developed from a series of lectures at the Stanford Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), this book offers a coherent panorama of the field of psychoacoustics as it pertains to music and computerized sound. The authors-among them Max Mathews, Roger Shepard, John Chowning, and John Pierce-are recognized authorities in the field of computer synthesized sound and the nature of acoustical and musical perception. The CD-ROM contains audio samples for each chapter, plus source code for all the samples.

Although it is specifically intended as a course book for psychoacoustics, with a closing chapter on the effective design of experiments and an appendix of exercises, this book should prove valuable to a wide audience. Computers provide what seems the ultimate level of control over sound synthesis, but it is often hard to know where to begin. Anyone who has ever confronted the problem of determining which parameters of a synthesized sound are acoustically perceptible or meaningful will appreciate the clarity with which the introductory chapters distinguish the physical parameters of sound from the perception of sound. Building on established research into the fundamentals of acoustic perception, the book proceeds to more complex issues of voice articulation and synthesis, perceptual streaming, musical memory, and the haptics of sound production. Computer musicians will find material to suggest diverse directions for experimentation. Multimedia artists working with sound will discover new methods for generating sounds, with the potential for weaning themselves from straight playback of sampled sound and working with real time synthesis. Some of the perceptual effects documented in the text and audible on the CD are remarkable in themselves, such as Shepard and Risset tones, or the complex effects of perceptual streaming. The level of detail of many of the chapters is sufficient, particularly when supplemented by the source code, to get you started in a variety of sound synthesis techniques. The brief list of bibliographic references at the end of each chapter will lead you onwards.

While this book is most valuable as a guide to the uses of state-of-the-art technology for acoustic research, it also sheds light on how human cognitive abilities shape musical structures. Choices of rhythm, melodic variation, chord structure, timbre, orchestration, and even the evolution of musical styles over time have some of their reasons in the nature of the human auditory system. A welcome result of reading this book may be that the reader learns to hear natural and musical sounds with a new appreciation of the complex dynamics of sound production, sound perception, and the inner logic of music.

If you are interested in the signal processing end of psychoacoustics, I recommend you read "Signals, Sound, and Sensation" by Hartmann after you finish this book.

This collection of essays is a bit more eclectic than Population 485 but it showcases Perry's descriptive writing and thought-provoking observations well. Individual pieces were published between 1995 and 2004, and Perry has often updated the information through brief introductions or final notes. This approach reminds us that his stories are about real people whose lives go on even after the snapshot of a single essay or article. It is that intense personalization, along with his flair for unique description ("rawboned frame was swept by a list and sway, as if he were a cattail bumped by a breeze ") that leaves the reader ready for yet another collection of Michael Perry's work. The pieces are not arranged chronologically, but it is easy to see the development in the author's writing skills from some of the earliest pieces to the most recent--a good reference for any would-be essayist to study to see how even a good writer can improve his craft over time.

Love this book, as well as his other book Population 485. Fabulous writer and love the quirkyness of some of the stories.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends OFF MAIN STREET, Michael Perry's (of POPULATION 485 fame) second treasury of Americana: equal parts about the people he meets, the places he sees, the history he's known & the adventures he went on with truckers, Rolling Thunder, into a prison, about Greyhound buses, on country music Sara Evans' tour, a talk about Elvis, a meeting with the legendary music man, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, junk mail from the KKK, & much more.

Open OFF MAIN STREET & the stories pour forth about the weird & the hardworking, the killers & the singers, & just plain all-American -- from his Wisconsin home town, his book tour, his writing assignments, & his wanderings.

OFF MAIN STREET is a duffle bag of pungent tales, very well written, & a great gift for your homesick friends.

Whether he's hobnobbing with country music's biggest stars, eavesdropping on a private conversation at a seedy Belizean motel, riding shotgun with a tell-it-like-it-is trucker, or delineating his own personal trials and tribulations, Michael Perry possesses the uncanny ability to transform everyday occurrences into uncommon slices of American pie. In Off Main Street, Perry waves his journalistic wand over rural America and metamorphoses the ordinary into the extraordinary. Portraying people who might very well be my neighbor or yours, Off Main Street beats with a small-town pulse that radiates with relatability.

My only gripe with this book is that Perry tries too hard to wield his literary chops and, in so doing, distance himself (readability-wise) from those very same common folk from which he draws his inspiration.

The thing that I loved about this book is the author's voice. He is highly observant, funny and he has a great way with words. His use of language is so real and fresh and different(in a really good way). He really knows how to put a spin on a story, and it just leaves you wanting more! The essays are entertaining snippets on different subjects: being on book tour, hanging out with some country music people, and other experiences in his life.

-It's a great read. I was reading this thinking that I'd love to have a conversation with this guy! I loved his writing.

Most of this book is very interesting but there are a few slow areas. Even so it is worth the read. A wonderful glimpse into the military lives of our Civil War Veteran presidents, from the General to the private.

This is a book we Civil War fans needed. Grant,Hays,Garfield,Harrison and Mckinley. I think Chester Arthur also served but he wasn't in any battles. Being from Cumberland Maryland it's interesting to note that Mckinley and Hays were both in town the night Crook and Kelly were captured by McNeils rangers. Hays is probably the most combat experienced, himself being at South Mountain and The Shenandoah. Harrison was with Sherman in Georgia but was at the Battle of Resaca a pretty intense battle itself. Garfield saw some fighting in Kentucky and Chickamauga and Mckinely was at Antietam and Shenandoah. But you should read the story it's quite good and i guarantee adventure on every page.

I am a big fan of Civil War histories. I have more than 75 fiction and non-fiction Civil War books on my bookshelf (mostly non-fiction) so I am hardly a newbie to this area. When I comment that this is a new angle, I an really saying something.

It's not that James M. Perry has uncovered new documents or new information, but he has re-shuffled the "same old" information into a new pattern. In this case, he has focused on the five Presidents that fought in the Civil War. Perry includes a modest pre-war biography of each of the men and then goes into greater detail on their war experiences. The level of detail is neither skimpy nor excessive - he strikes a nice balance.

As a group, they all had many things in common. To a man, they all became competent officers of brevet Major or higher, they all had extensive combat experience in the Western theater (although Hayes and his men were transferred to the Eastern theater) and they were all Republican (Perry does point out that the Democrats did run Civil War veterans, but none were successful).

Mercifully, Perry does not cover the entire career of U.S. Grant since his Civil War biography would essentially be a re-telling of the war itself and his war biography would dwarf those of the other four combined. Instead, he begins with Grant at Forts Henry and Donelson and only chooses to include him again when he interacts in the lives of the other four. The other four are hardly a homogeneous group, despite all being Republicans. Their temperaments range from stoic and quiet to loud and openly scheming. Their ages range from 18 to 38 and previous military experience range from a West Point education to none at all.

Perry includes a chapter at the end telling the post-war political history of each of the five men which is also a basic history of Gilded Age politics. Perry points out the powerful influence that Civil War veterans groups such as the Grand Army of the Republic had.

Interesting. Easily accessible. Worth the read by Civil War buffs and devotees of the Presidency.

James M. Perry's "Touched With Fire" is a highly readable popular history of the wartime service of the five U.S. Presidents who were veterans of the Civil War. The story of U.S. Grant is well-known, but Perry performs a real service for Civil War fans in illuminating the careers in uniform of Rutherford B. Hays, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, and William McKinley. With the exception of Grant, a West Point graduate with prior service in the regular Army during the Mexican War, each of the other four was caught up from civilian life by the outbreak of war, served in volunteer Midwest infantry regiments, and turned out to be brave and reasonably competent officers. McKinley initially enlisted but earned a battlefield commission. Each was noted for bravery and battlefield leadership. Of each it could be said that their wartime service was critical to their post-war political careers. Of the five, only McKinley was a successful President, although in fairness, Garfield served only a few months before being assassinated.

What may be of topical interest for the present day reader is Perry's commentary on how deeply the prosecution of the war divided the North. A significant fraction of Northern politicians and their followers opposed the war effort, whether on grounds of sympathy with the Confederacy, partisan rivalry with the newly ascendant Republican Party, a distaste for the liberation of slaves, or exhaustion over the high cost in blood and treasure of combat. The desperate political infighting necessary to push to completion President Lincoln's agenda of reuniting the country and freeing the slaves translated into a post-war landscape in which the Republicans waved the "bloody shirt of rebellion" at the Democratic Party to win all but two Presidential elections between 1868 and 1908. Like any other era of politics, power tended to corrupt, and the "Gilded Age" of the late 1800's was renowned for its corrupt political practices.

"Touched By Fire" is easily accessible to the general reader; Perry's narrative is entertaining and backed by solid if generally derivative scholarship.

In his latest book, Touched With Fire: Five Presidents and the Civil War Battles that made them, James M. Perry has given us a glimpse into the wartime efforts and heroics of five men who later occupied the Oval Office of the White House.

Presidents Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Harrison, and McKinley were all soldiers in the Civil War, and all had exposure to enemy fire at some point during the war (Hayes was wounded four separate times during the course of the war, though none of his injuries was life-threatening).

In my opinion, Perry has given us a good reading of Civil War history, including an introduction to some battles that are not often heard of (such as Garfield's involvement at The Big Sandy Valley battle in Kentucky). However, Perry gives short shrift to U.S. Grant, who was the only professional military officer to become President, and to McKinley, who was but an 18 year old Private when he enlisted at the outbreak of the war.

Perry's writing is lively, and gives the reader a nice vision of what was going on not only on the battlefield, but also in the minds of these five men. He closes the book by giving us a brief glance into the political careers (however short, bland or corrupt their administrations may have been) of these men as well.

I enjoyed reading the recounts of the battles and the actions taken by these men immensely, and I would highly recommend the book to anyone that is looking for a good understanding of the military years of Garfield, Hayes, or Harrison. With the shortcomings given to Grant and McKinley, I think that a more exhaustive biography would better provide an adequate picture of their wartime activities.

It kept me from putting it down, full of action,aliens,and non-stop suspense. I suggest you at least check it out. It remains worth reading again.

The "Sea Star" and it's crew come up to the "Volvok". Not knowing what they will find they explore it. There is an intelegence in the ship thats trying to kill them. To survive they must be smarter than "it".

Virus is an amazing story which I love to read over and over. I first read Virus when it came out as mini-series, and I have been looking for a graphic novel version because it is such a brilliant tale with great artwork. I am so pleased that there is now a film based on it. Virus is the first story of a graphic novel nature that I found above and beyond the average material. I highly recommend this book- it is very haunting!

The "Sea Star" crew comes across the vessel "Volkov."What they dont know is that there is something unhuman onboard. Now it is survival of the smartest.

Very, very good. Cant wait to see the movie.

I am 13 years old and that was a really good book.

This book suffers from a number of major problems, but the main one is that it's incredibly predictable. I have never in my life seen a horror movie, and I've read a grand total of two thriller novels, but despite being totally unfamiliar with the genre, I was never once surprised or caught of guard. I guessed which characters were going to survive and which were going to die when I was maybe a fourth through the comic, and the ending was [bad] and predictable. Add to that the fact that none of the characters were even remotely interesting or well-developed, and the result is a very poor comic indeed.

This is one excellent book to learn C++ programming. I purchased this book after I bought Greg's other books on Programming. I wanted to learn to use Visual C++. Also, this book had more information on Object-Oriented Programming than Greg's book "Turbo C++ Programming in 12 Easy Lessons" which I bought earlier. I chose this book to learn on my own.

Greg's style was crisp and to the point. It was easy to read. BUT, more importantly, the book was chock full of assignments. This is great, because you don't really know that you've learned anything until you actually write code yourself. Also, the disk had answers to the questions. So you can test yourself.

Greg with the help of Ian Spencer emphasized code style, white space and readability along with the basic C++ syntax. Because of this book, I've purchase other books by this author because I thought this one was so well written. I also own his Crash Course in QBasic, Visual Basic in 12, Easy Lesson, Turbo C++ in 12 Easy Lessons and his Java book. I've been pleased with most of my books I've purchased by this author. His Java book didn't keep the style of programming assignments and end of chapter questions as his other books, so I didn't like that one as well. Also, this book "Visual C++ Programming in 12 Easy Lessons" does a great job of teaching the basics of Object-Oriented Programming. So, you can go on to advance topics in OOP with confidence.

ONE WARNING: Greg recommends different books to advance you knowledge. Most of the books he recommends were excellent for going on in C++ programming. He does at one point recommend on the accompanying disk a book titled "Assembly Language for Real Programmers Only" to learn assembly language. Though this book by Marcus Johnson is a great book, it's not a good entry level text. I did buy it. It's actually an advanced book that also double as a reference. So, you may want to get "Assembly Language Step by Step" to learn beginning assembly language programming.

Even though this book is from the mid 90s, I would highly recommend this book for beginners to learn Visual C++. A working copy of Visual C++ comes with the book on a CD.

This is a great book, but it suffers from a few typing errors. For instance, on their tear out guide, the maximum values for floating point variables is listed twice. Other than that, the book presents the material in a well thought out, organized manner.

A very good book for someone beggining Visual C++. The Authors do a good job of keeping your attention and this is the least boring technical book I have ever read. I strongly recommend it for someone wanting to learn Visual C++. I am 14 years old and I read it in three weeks.

this book is excellent for beginners to the world of programming, not just new to C++. it teaches you everything from general concepts of how code works, but it works you up to advanced programs. the layout of the book couldnt be better. it has 12 units (hence the title) divided into sections. the last section in a unit summarizes what you have learned during the unit. anyone that is looking for "the perfect C++ book", this is the one!

Out of all the books I have read about C++, this one tops them all. This book proves you do not need to be a "Rocket Scientist" to be a programmer. If you have not programmed in C or C++ before get this book, it will give you a kick start into the world of programming.

This book is great for beginners with no programming knowledge at all. That was me and this book is very easy to follow.

This book is one of the best beginner's guides to programming. It will teach you from the very starting point to the fundamental of progamming world. The book will teach you basic programming langauge Visual Basic and will mention C, C++, Java Scripting and Web Programming. It is written quite understable in plain English. If you want to programm but do not know where to start this book can be your starting point. Good luck.

This book is one of the best beginner's guides to programming. It will teach you from the very beginning point to the fundamental of programming. The book will teach you basic programming language Visual Basic and will mention C, C++, Java and Web Programming. It is wriiten quite understandable in Plain English. If you want to programm but do not know where to start this book can be your starting point. Good Luck.

I bought this book because of the glorious praise it received on this website, as well as on others. I am definitely an ABSOLUTE beginner, and found the first four chapters extremely easy to read and informative. I was very much looking forward to Chapter 5 and beginning to program. The book DOES NOT provide a CDROM with the necessary programs, and if you are an absolute beginner like me, you probably have no idea where you can get these programs (except to purchase them all). I'm still bewildered. If the programs were available I would give a much higher star rating.

This book takes the subject of programming from a beginner's point of view and instructs its readers quite well. Starting with a basic understanding of what a computer is, what it can do with the proper software, and a brief history, it then goes on to describe a program's "anatomy." There's also descriptions of the early programming languages like FORTRAN, COBOL, even RPG and Pascal (which would later be the forerunner to C). And then on to "modern-day" languages like C, C++, and Visual Basic.

In fact, the book devotes much of its concept to Visual Basic (VB), stating that a lot of the concepts in learning VB can be applied to other programming languages. The book devotes several chapters about VB, along with numerous helpful diagrams that help to show the different concepts being described. Subsequent chapters take on other languages like C and C++, along with batch and scripting languages. I never realized how simple a scripting langauge could be to put together.

There's also a big section on "Internet programming languages," like HTML, DHTML, XML, Java, and Javascript. While they are only touched upon briefly, you still get a general idea of how each langauge works. While it may be a stretch to call HTML and XML "languages" per se, they are still obviously important to know if you plan to do any web programming.

This is an excellent book for a beginning programmer or even for a technical writer who wants to know a little bit about programming concepts.

Whew! What a tome! Oversized paperback of over 600 pages and thin paper at that. Filled with any and everything about bicycles you could possible imagine. Lots of terrific illustrations and pictures, many from very early times. Much so darned technical, about all the zillion parts of a bike, that I must admit I skimmed over. Pages and pages of footnotes, a glossary and a huge, huge bibliography containing even videos and artwork and music about bikes. This book just leaves no stone unturned in discussing its subject. It's more than you want to know. Even recipes, which of course I made, two of which were horrible; the pasta carbonera and fruit punch delicious. Perry is to be commended for the extraordinary amount of work done to write this treatise.

This book definitely caters to bicyclists of all types, with an exhaustive array of passages concerning all aspects of the bicycle. Dave Perry covers pretty much covers all the bases with his highly enjoyable writing style, and scattered illustrations on almost every page. I particularly enjoyed the role of the bicycle as personal transportation AND as a working tool, not only in the States, but all over the world. The book makes the simple bike a cult symbol to the reader, and sets itself apart from all those other books out there by leaving out the "what gear do I need?" sections and fix-it-yourself stuff, and keeping the love for the bike foremost in your mind.

An informative, entertaining great for rainy/snowy days book loaded with history,information, evolution of cycling and human powered vehicles. Not a repair manual, but some tips are given. Lot's of information on health and safety.

This is certainly an enjoyable book to dip into and read, so long as you don't take all of what you read as gospel. It's very much a political tract of the "appropriate-technology" school which likes to paint a picture of a utopian society that has all the benifits of industrialization without industrialization per se, and the benifits of large-scale economies while pushing small planned economies.

Not to say that there aren't a lot of desirable notions they push. What bicyclist wouldn't like to live in a car-free village where you could actually do your shopping safely on a bike? Who wouldn't like a car-free inter-city bicycle highway? Of course, such bike roadways rapidly become pedestrian/roller blade/dog walking routes with 12 mph speed limits, and the car-free city is great until you need a refrigerator delivered or have to move, or perhaps need an ambulence.

But it's still a fun read.

What a great book! At time of its release in 1995, "Bike Cult" was the first attempt at an encyclopaedia of cycling. This fat book (570 rather dense pages) covers the history of the bicycle its high-performance engine (that is, the human body), the bicycle as transportation and, lastly, the culture of the bicycle and the effect it has had on the human spirit.

There have been some changes in bicycle technology since 1995, and of course the tables of race winners is out of date, but "Bike Cult" remains a fascinating look into the origins and use of "the perfect machine." I enjoyed the lovingly described history, which not only went over the bicycle as a whole but devotes sections to individual parts of the bike, such as handlebars and seats, and the whole question of how a bicycle is steered. It is a mad compendium of information: there is a list of international names for bicycles and related items on page 99, and we learn that the Hawaiian word for bicycle is ka'a paikikala, while in Uruguay it is known as a chiba.

The benefits of cycling are described in detail but there is no attempt to shield us from descriptions of bicycle ailments discovered in the heyday of cycling in the 1890s. However, in these times of great concern about the rise of obesity in America and Europe it is clear that the bicycle offers a solution, particularly when we read that Tour de France riders burn 6,000-9,000 calories per day!

But where are we to ride, given the modern, car-centric world we live in? The section of the book entitled "Bikeable Planet" is beguiling. For a brief and glorious moment, bicycles were actually seen as the best transportation alternative for the West and in some countries they still are. Too often derided as a child's toy and treated by motorists as a menace, the bicycle can, with proper planning, be integrated into an urban transportation network. Low-cost in terms of acquisition, space requirements and maintenance, the bicycle in operation does not pollute, create noise or horrific traffic congestion. In the United States alone each year more than 40,000 people are killed in traffic accidents. Nonetheless, those who would propose bicycle-inclusive transportation systems are often derided as dreamers or utopian socialists or worse. This section of "Bike Cult" is provocative but perhaps only because our society has gone in an illogical direction.

Author David Perry, who operates a bicycle shop in New York City, then takes us on a tour of cycling as a sport, including not only the expected pro racing/Tour de France information, but also strange sports such as Indoor Cycling and Bicycle Polo. Then our long journey takes us into art and bicycles and fashion and bicycles and even sex and bicycles.

"Whoever invented the bicycle deserves the thanks of humanity," said Lord Charles Beresford. And we should thank David Perry for this enchanting and entertaining look at the bicycle in all its forms and seasons. This is the kind of book that gives pleasure every time one opens it, reading at random. Addictive!

The worksheet sections are a slightly different twist on Parachute, but pretty much amount to the same thing, although cynically enough I'll say a book written by a headhunter will of course recommend that you turn to a headhunter when all else fails (and it will).

The intriguing part of this book is the introductory portions. As a software engineer in the business 23 years, I have often felt stuck. The introduction identified factors that explain why I should feel this way, based on a gap between what executives look for in a hire vs. what line managers and HR are seeking. It explains the runaround technical types get when they try to break in to a "technical executive" position by arranging interviews with HR or first lines. The book explains why this is a waste of time and cannot succeed, because the hiring goals of the two strata are opposed.

Read Invisible Man along with the preface/introduction and you should be suitably depressed and paranoid. You will finally see the H1-B argument from Lou Dobb's angle, and take a more cynical view of some corporate sites' exhortations to overproduce engineers and mathematicians (raise supply, reduce wages).

I am now pleading with my sons to choose careers as lawyers, doctors, truck drivers, or even politicians. Technical specialists over the age of 43 are the Oakies of the 22nd century (The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition)). Isn't that ironic? We created the information age and it made us obsolete. Even dentists weren't that stupid.

David Perry's excellent book contains very creative ideas for working through all the stages of a job search. Although the guide focuses on the IT job market, Perry's advice can be easily adapted to find jobs in any field.

Perry has developed an aggressive approach to job-hunting that fits a post-dotcom-meltdown market. He provides new ways of conducting a job search, designing your resume, corresponding with those in a position to hire you, and preparing for that all-important job interview. He has also provided a comprehensive list of web resources for finding IT jobs.

The depth of Perry's experience as a top recruiter really comes through in this book. Readers can definitely benefit from his advice!

I enjoyed this book very much. David takes an otherwise intimidating process and makes it logical and dare I say even "fun"? All will become clear when you read this - can't wait to read his next book.

David Perry has distilled all the information necessary for high technology professionals to manage their careers to best effect. He has de-mystified the process that can challenge even the most dedicated 'career junkie'. This is not just a book about "what you should know", rather, it is a book about "what you need to know; what to do and exactly how to do it".

This collaboration with Jay Levinson has created a real standout in the usually boring ranks of self-help books.

I am a business book junkie and always have a few "how-to" career books on the go and David Perry's book is the best I have ever read. The one thing career counsellors and the like always tell you is to target a company that you want to work for and then make contact with people inside that company. But what they can never tell you is how to go about doing that. David's book actually tells you how to do this! Plus it gives expert advice on building a resume that gets attention - it actually becomes a one page marketing datasheet and the product is you. Buy the book, you will not be disappointed.

This is the 29th Perry Mason novel I've read (the 12th in the series). Forgive me for giving this one less than a rave review. Usually Perry Mason sees what no one else can see--a sort of mid-20th Century Sherlock Holmes. In this case the only surprise about the solution is that it takes Mr. Mason so long to happen upon it. The most interesting feature of this story is Perry Mason's marriage proposal to Della Street. (Holmes' own Doctor Watson got married in the "Sign of Four," but his wife was killed off in "The Empty House." I guess his wife "got in the way" one too many times. Could Della suffer a similar fate?)

If the writing style characteristic of the thirties and forties is something that you enjoy, then Gardner's mysteries are a must-read. In this early novel, mistaken identity plays a large role. We have a switched photograph, a bandaged man, a woman in thick glasses, and a family traveling under false pretenses. Perry Mason is initially involved to protect a young innocent from scandal, but he gets in deeper and deeper until it's finally all about murder.

Perry Mason often uses unorthodox (even illegal sometimes) methods to find out what really happened. His attitude is described metaphorically as "skating on thin ice". In this novel, Mason did not only skate but made several somersaults on thin ice. I just applauded that. But Mason's spectacular stunt is not limited to this novel. The distinctive feature of this novel will be the importance of "corpus delicti", the proof that the victim is really dead and that the death is caused by another people's criminal act. If you want to know what I mean, just read the book.

So, you've heard about Perry Mason and would like to read one of his books? If you were to read one and only one of the dozens of books Erle Stanley Gardner wrote, "The Case of the Substitute Face" should be it. This book, written in 1938, shows Gardner at the top of his form, after he had fully developed his formula, but before it truly became a formula.

Gardner himself was a top lawyer. "The Case of the Chinese Shopkeepers" could have been one of Gardner's books if he hadn't done it himself. When Gardner heard the DA was going to subpoena one of his clients, a chinese shopkeeper in Oxnard CA, Gardner put another chinese man, who didn't speak English, in his client's store. The court officer then brought the wrong witness to court and, after much confusion, the case was dismissed.

Background: The stylistic heritage of the Perry Mason mysteries is the American pulp magazines of the 1920s. In the early Mason mysteries, Perry - a good-looking, broad-shouldered, two-fisted, man of action - is constantly stiff-arming sultry beauties on his way to an explosive encounter that precipitates the book's climactic action sequence. In the opening chapters of these stories, Gardner subjects the reader to assertive passages that Mason is a crusader for justice, a man so action-oriented he is constitutionally incapable of sitting in his office and waiting for a case to come to him or to develop on its own once it has - he has to be out on the street, in the midst of the action, making things happen, always on the offensive, never standing pat or accepting being put on the defensive. These narrative passages - naïve, embarrassingly crude "character" development - pop up throughout the early books, stopping the narrative dead in its tracks, and putting on full display a non-writer's worst characteristic: telling the reader a character's traits instead of showing them through action, dialogue, and use of other of the writer's tools.

Rating "Ground Rules": These flaws, and others so staggeringly obvious that enumerating them is akin to using cannons to take out a flea, occur throughout the Gardner books, and can easily be used (with justification) to trash his work. But for this reader they are a "given", part of the literary terrain, and are not relevant to my assessment of the Gardner books. In other words, my assessments of the Perry Mason mysteries turn a blind eye to Erle Stanley Gardner's wooden, style-less writing, inept descriptive passages, unrealistic dialogue, and weak characterizations. As I've just noted, as examples of literary style all of Gardner's books, including the Perry Mason series, are all pretty bad. Nonetheless, the Mason stories are a lot of fun, offering intriguing puzzles, nifty legal gymnastics, courtroom pyrotechnics, and lots of action and close calls for Perry and crew. Basically, you have to turn off the literary sensibilities and enjoy the "guilty" pleasure of a fun read of bad writing. So, my 1-5 star ratings (A, B, C, D, and F) are relative to other books in the Gardner canon, not to other mysteries, and certainly not to literature or general fiction.

"The Case of the Substitute Face": A

This solid Perry Mason mystery is an entertaining read with plenty of twists and turns and mysterious events - more sheer detection than any half-a-dozen mysteries by less inventive writers, of which, it might be noted, there were plenty populating the book racks in 1938 when this story was first published. But as good as this particular case is, the book itself is ultimately more memorable for the insights it provides into the relationship between Perry Mason and his superhumanly faithful secretary, Della Street.

Perry and Della are returning to Los Angeles by cruise ship from a Hawaiian vacation, when Perry is approached by a woman who would like to engage his help in determining whether her closed-mouth husband is a lottery winner, as he claims, or an embezzler on the run. Before Mason can get an investigation off the ground, her husband disappears during some rough weather, leaving behind witnesses who swear that his wife shot him and then tossed the body over the railing. On his way to solving this tricky case, Perry manages to pull off a couple of bluffs and double-bluffs to get information from evasive witnesses, and then stages some courtroom drama that turns the tables on the prosecution and the murderer.

In the course of bringing a murderer to justice, however, Perry proposes marriage to Della - who turns him down. Her reasons for rejecting the man she obviously loves will have readers with feminist leanings reaching for their picket signs and, in all honesty, there is simply no defending the bald chauvinism of Gardner's attitude. But the attitude strikes me as not truly felt; it seems more like an expedient solution to a problem that was developing in successive books in the Perry Mason series - namely, the burgeoning relationship between Perry and Della. At this point in the series the relationship seemed to be acquiring a life of its own, and consequently demanding more attention and time than Gardner wanted to devote to it. He knew his strengths well enough to realize that it was in his best interests to push the relationship to the far background and focus on the story, the mystery, and the legal twists that constitute the Perry Mason stories at their best.

In this book, as in its immediate predecessors, he is groping not to establish a relationship between them, but to define it in such a way that it no longer needs to be written about. A relationship that is no longer dynamic, no longer subject to change or development, so that he can concentrate his writing on the mystery, the law, the action, and the story. In this book, with the rejected marriage proposal, he achieves that objective.