Pitt Books

This book is by far an eye-catching book. The title itself sets the feel of the book. Denise Duhamel, Queen for a day is comprised of many of her other well-known poetry books. Duhamel examines sex, marriage, culture, and the poetry industry itself. Duhamel's ironic and yet exotic poem will not just leave you wanting to read more but allows the readers to question the unexpected. Her ability to push the boundaries is astounding. Duhamels also writes about not the typical Barbie's little girls are accustomed to playing with but a different more exotic Barbie. Trust me when I say that you will not be bored in reading this book.

Reading Denise Duhamel was inspiring as a reader and a poet. She deals with real issues and has a special talent for women's issues. I especially enjoyed her poem "For the One Man Who Likes My Thighs". She covers so many issues in just one poem-self-esteem issues, societal pressures on women to look like models, and loving yourself for who you are. The depth of each of her poems equals that of "For the One . . ." and I highly reccommend this collection.

What an incredible book of poems! Denise Duhamel's book is really a must-read for any poetry lover, especially those of the feminine sex. She has the ability to discourse on a variety of subjects in a way that is conversational, at times funny, at times serious, and extremely witty. She highlights simple, but realistic problems in the lives of women and portrays them very personally, making them ring true. My particular favorites in this collection were "Him-Whose-Penis-Never-Slept", "How the Sky Fell", and the entire section entitled "Kinky." Ladies, you need to read this section if you recall anything at all about your Barbie doll days. I have a feeling that men may not get as much out of this book as women will because of it's heavily feministic themes but I thought is was wonderful and well worth the read. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book!

Upon reading her poem Nick at Nite, you will understand just why I like Ms. Duhamel's work. It's crass, frank, funny, and altogether moving. The only question I would pose her if I did have the chance is whether her play on the words Nick at Nite was intentional or not. Either way if you enjoy witty poems with a bit of sentimentality to it this book is for you.

Denise Duhamel is very much so a woman. Her poems deal with modern day issues of women today, and still have the sound and rhythym that is appealing to the mind. In one collection you can take a trip down memory lane and think back on the nights where you would stay up watching television like "Nick at Nite" or the day you felt beautiful for the first time and felt like you could be completely exposed in front of someone like in "For the One Man Who Likes My Thighs". Women can relate to the pressures of being beautiful and somewhat psychotic efforts we take to get there. She's real.

This is a book I wish I'd written. Since I didn't, I'll settle for reading it (three times so far). It's nervy, urban (but accessible to me, who grew up on the edge of cornfields), funny as hell, and has language sharp and bright as glass. There's no pretention here, and there's a real ground-level view of city life, personal life, and politics made personal. Alternately gorgeous, funny, politically subtle but profound. Also very solidly crafted.

Poems leave you with a daze or should when they're good like you
have been amazingly changed in a small way. These seem like they
try too hard like they are too obvious so you don't feel like that. At least I didn't. I like the use of the words, I just didn't find them clicking together in a way that made them more than just the words. I'm not a major expert or English person; somebody gave me this. So some of what other people are saying goes over my head. But I guess I shouldn't have to be an expert to "get this" or have it get to me.

With all due respect, are these other reviewers clouded by hormones, fashionably scornful, or just full of popsicles? Come ON! Daisy Fried is one of the most original voices to hit the planet. Who does she sound like? Nobody! She is the champ of anti-chick poems, writing unsentimentally about what girls care about; she is the original combo plate, truly funny and truly feeling at once. The sound of her work is rhythmic, musical; she's got the beat of real life underneath it all. She SEES and her writing shows it. The woman's got nerve and verve to spare. I could eat for these poems for days and find something new in them to love. I look forward to more from this fresh in every sense writer.

I have this book, which I recommend, and when I saw the review below, I couldn't figure out what this reviewer was talking about. I looked up the poem he/she bases her whole criticism on, which is called "Romance Novel," and the reviewer has quoted it wrong. Does he/she need new reading glasses? The phrase is "the industrial laundry's heady bleach/dizz seeped into the gray-gold street," not "eeped." I don't know why a single word would make somebody hate a book of poetry anyway, but whatever. I think this is a very good, fresh book of poetry.

don't waste your time reading this collection because there is nothing fresh or worthwhile within these pages. here's an example:

The industrial laundry's heady bleach
dizz eeped into the gray gold street I
walked alone. As if a bird formed it-
self out of my breastbone and flew off. As

if I walked through stands of blasted cedars
shaking down sapped drops of leftover rain
from prehistoric crooks and limb lops-

Breast. Mouth. Thigh. Zipper. Cream.
Repeat.
Breast. Mouth. Thigh. Zipper. Cream.

Make babies. Here come the babies. The End.

i'm guessing that daisy thought she was being inventive but she comes off more as a hack. she probably thought "bleach
dizz eeped" sounded cool. maybe if she would spend more time with her craft and not with trying to sound hip then maybe this collection would be worth your time.

This is the tenth in the Victorian murder mystery series about Inspector Thomas Pitt of the London police and his inquisitive wife, Charlotte. The plot involves the murder of a Member of Parliament on Westminster Bridge, the body then being strung up to a lamp post with a scarf. Pitt can't decide if the motive was personal or political -- but then a second, identical murder occurs, the victim (also an M.P.) having very little in common with the first, except that both men opposed female suffrage. But then, so did most politicians in 1888. But that's not the end of the murders either. So far, so good. But when the killer is finally identified in the next-to-last chapter, my reaction was "Wait -- what?" It is considered extremely bad form for a mystery writer to introduce a brand new character at the last minute, and then to identify that person as the villain. Pitt doesn't quite get it, either, and spends a few pages at the end tracking down the story behind the story -- which turns out to be another moral lesson on women's rights. This whole thing could have been handled far more skillfully. Also, I don't know what possesses Perry to give a majority of her characters bizarre names -- at least those in the upper reaches of society. For every James or Helen, there is a plethora of Zenobias, Amethysts, Garnets, Parthenopes, Vyvyans, Africas, Vespasias, and other names unknown before or since. A quick browse through the 1880 edition of _Burke's Peerage and Baronetage_ would show this penchant for uncommon Christian names to be a rather ludicrous invention. This is not one of Perry's better books.

BETHLEHEM ROAD is another installment in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series. As such, it has all of the usual features: interesting characters, many of whom are familiar as series regulars, an intriguing plot, Victorian London as the backdrop, and a burning social issue of the day that plays a significant role in the story. As occaisionally happens, Ms. Perry lets her soapbox get in the way of her mystery once or twice in this one, but that's only a minor problem.

For most of the story, the plot revolves around a series of murders involving MPs. Each is found tied to the same lamppost with his throat cut. Each was returning home alone and on foot from an evening session of Parliament. This is pretty riveting stuff, and for most of the book there is no obvious suspect. The only suspect on the horizon seems unlikely to be the perpetrator. Both Thomas and Charlotte are baffled. Ultimately, however, the solution to these murders is only the prelude to the real climax of the story, which is abrupt in true Anne Perry style. For me, the solution to (or, really, the rationale for) the lamppost murders is this book's weakness; it's what keeps this from being a five-star book. The lamppost murders, with their bizarre circumstances and the misery they provoke in the families of the victims, need a more compelling purpose than what we end up with here. At the risk of giving away too much, it just seemed to me that the lack of intent and motive for the murder of these men left a little to be desired when all was said and done.

BETHLEHEM ROAD is a pretty good mystery with most of the strengths usually found in the Pitt series. While Perry perhaps over-reaches herself a bit here in trying to pull off a plot within a plot, it will keep readers turning the pages from beginning to end. For me it was entertaining, even if ultimately a little frustrating. I recommend it to other mystery readers, particularly fans of the Pitt series.

Bethlehem Road is the tenth novel in the Pitt series of mysteries by Anne Perry. While I would recommend reading the series in order for maximum enjoyment, the characters are at a turning point in this book and so you could just jump in here if you wish. Charlotte Ellison Pitt is really getting comfortable in her role as a police Inspector's wife; Thomas Pitt, her husband, has a more sympathetic and appreciative new boss; Emily Ellison March (Charlotte's sister) just married for a second time; and Aunt Vespasia is starting to show alarming new signs of frailty and age. Together, Thomas, Charlotte and Vespasia work together to solve the mystery of the "Westminster Cutthroat" who is murdering MPs on Westminster Bridge.

What I most liked about this mystery was the number of red herrings that were thrown in the way of the conclusion. I found myself unable to figure out who had perpetrated the crimes and went down lots of blind alleys as a result. This added to my enjoyment of the book, although the ending was a bit Christie-like in all honesty. I'm really looking forward to Highgate Rise, the next book in the series, since Bethlehem Road sets up so many interesting new possibilities.

The statue of Boadicea driving her war chariot stands in front of the British Parliament building. Members of Parliament (MPs), walking past the statue every day, contended that women did not have the ability to understand issues and vote intelligently. The year is 1888 and women's rights are a contentious issue. When MPs have their throats cut on the way home from evening sessions, suspicion points in many directions. Was it a radical women's rights advocate, a demented anarchist, or perhaps someone benefiting financially?

Thomas Pitt and his wife, Charlotte, become involved in the investigation. The entire issue of women's rights unfolds including various repressive laws. There are issues of inheritance, child custody, and a wife's obligations to her husband (religious fundamentalists in the U.S. have been revisiting this issue). This is a real whodunit with a surprising conclusion. The novel provides a good picture of the English social structure of that time period.

BETHLEHEM ROAD is another installment in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series. As such, it has all of the usual features: interesting and, in many cases, familiar characters, an intriguing plot, Victorian London as the backdrop, and a burning social issue of the day that plays a significant role in the story. As occaisionally happens, Ms. Perry lets her soapbox get in the way of her mystery once or twice in this one, but that's only a minor problem.

For most of the story, the plot revolves around a series of murders involving MPs. Each is found tied to the same lamppost with his throat cut. Each was returning home alone and on foot from an evening session of Parliament. This is pretty riveting stuff, and for most of the book there is no obvious suspect. The only suspect on the horizon seems unlikely to be the perpetrator. Both Thomas and Charlotte are baffled. Ultimately, however, the solution to this mystery is only the prelude to the real climax of the story, which is abrupt in true Anne Perry style. For me, the solution to (or, really, the rationale for) the lamppost murders is this book's weakness and it's what keeps this from being a five-star book. The lamppost murders need more of a tie-in. At the risk of giving away too much, it just seemed to me that the lack of intent and motive for these murders left a little to be desired when all was said and done.

BETHLEHEM ROAD is a pretty good mystery with most of the strengths usually found in the Pitt series. While Perry perhaps over-reaches herself a bit here in trying to pull off a plot within a plot, it will keep readers turning the pages from beginning to end. I found it entertaining and recommend it to other mystery readers, particularly fans of the Pitt series.

Inca Gold by Clive Cussler is part of the Dirk Pitt Adventure Series. This is what I view as great airplane reading. I prefer to read on long plane trips, as compared to watching the movie or sleeping. On a flight out to the coast, I can usually finish a Clive Cussler book. Sometimes it might take back and forth. On such trips, I find Dirk Pitt to be a good companion. This is basically serial adventure telling and I like this style.

This particular book, as with all the Dirk Pitt books, involves a tie between theories about ancient history and modern technology. It involves amazing escapes, beautiful women, and strong, handsome, smart, resourceful men. Meaning it is easy to see myself as the hero, of course.

Ok, why only 4 stars? In this book Cussler decides to teach the reader some sort of strange lesson about the metric system. As such, all measures are presented in both traditional US distances and also metric distances. After awhile, this become much more annoying than educational.

This book was fast pased with a lot of twists and turns. The action was just great. I feel this is another of the best action mysteries I have read in a long time. It was very hard to put down once you started reading because you just had to find out what was going to happen next. I feel this is another great addition to the Dirk Pitt series of books. Clive Cussler just keeps producing great stories. I highly recommend this book to those who like fast paced action adventure mysteries.

This book is another great Clive Cussler Book, a book that just about anyone could read and injoy. Great Job keep these kinds of book coming.

Inca Gold is the third Dirk Pitt novel by Clive Cussler I've read and doesn't disappoint. The prologue is excellent setting the table for the suspense and mystery to follow. The action in the middle keeps moving, never bogging down and offering romance, deception, and betryal. And, the ending, though slightly predictable, pays-off.

If you enjoy Cussler's other Dirk Pitt novels, you'll love this one.

Inca Gold was the first Clive Cussler novel I ever read.

From then on I was hooked.

It is one of the great adventure stories (and I'm partial to stories that involve ancient Spanish treasure). Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino are fun characters that work really well together. This book reads at a fast pace, is a real page turner (sleepless nights) and is a cracking adventure tale.

A must read for lovers of this genre.

How To Keep Your Man: And Keep Him For Good

Real Life Dramas - Volume One

Darren G. Burton

I have read literally dozens of Kennedy biographies and Lem Billings is always a shadowy character. Whether it's a book about JFK, or RFK, or Jackie or even Christopher Lawford, Lem is mentioned often but never in depth. After a while, one begins to wonder, "who was that guy?" This book answers the question. It's an affectionate and detailed portrait. His relationship with President Kennedy was a close one, emotionally intimate, and it lasted 30 years. His relationship with the Kennedy Clan spanned generations and lasted until his death. Pitts, an author who puts a gay perspective on this story, maintains that JFK was the unrequited love of Lem's life. Just because Lem was gay, I can't make that assumption. I wonder if he could have virtually lived with JFK and Jackie if he was romantically in love with Kennedy. I think another spin is just as moving and just as powerful, they were each other's best friends and loved one another that way. It was hard on the Billings family because over the years, Lem became more Kennedy than Billings. It was daring and brave of Kennedy to remain loyal and unapologetic of his gay friend in the less tolerate 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. And it was extraordinary for the very Catholic Kennedy women to accept Lem as completely as they did, knowing he was homosexual. The book ends with Eunice Shriver's eulogy of Lem, "Heaven is Jesus and Lem and Jack and Bobby loving one another." What a moving, and inclusive, tribute that was.

This might have been an interesting magazine article. There was certainly not enough material to fill 250 pages. The author repeats himself constantly and pads sentences with redundancies and facts that he has already established in previous pages.

As for Lem Billings, it's too bad he didn't have a life of his own.

An interesting if not a compelling read.

David Pitts offers a view of John F. Kennedy which is seldom found in the multitude of other books on JFK. The author had access to new material especially from the Billings material at the JFK library. However, considering all the assistance he acknowledges I can only wonder how a reference to the King of England in the late 1930s would be to "George V". Still, a book worthy of being read for its insight into aspects of JFK often overlooked.

I enjoyed reading Jack and Lem.

Due to my age, I don't have first hand remembrances of Jack Kennedy - his life or presidency. I was a good student so I do have a learned historical perspective. Also, I am politically aware and involved so Teddy is a presence and Jackie was too.

While I was familiar with many of the events of Jack's life through other reading, David Pitts made these seem new (I guess seeing them through different eyes - Lem's) and helped keep my interest. I thought Lem was presented as a compelling character. His devotion to Jack was very moving and important to reveal. I don't think the friendship could have continued for 30 years if Jack hadn't had a similar regard for Lem. I think the theory was proved that Jack had great character in keeping Lem as a friend. And Lem had every right to make that claim too.

I know there have been questions about a biography of a behind the scenes individual. Since we cannot all be the great one, the one on whom the spotlight shines, I find it helpful to know who is (was) in the background. David Pitts performed a valuable service researching this book - the letters between Jack and Lem reflect on Jack as much as Lem.

Obviously, not every fact or event can be included in any one work. While there seems to be a long-standing rapport between Lem and Rose Kennedy, the limited references to her (absent during Jack's illness while he was a Choate and not attending Kathleen's (Kick's) funeral) make me wonder whether Lem liked her.

There appears to be an error on page 116. The photo credit is 1945, but the pages that precede the photo indicate that Lem went to the South Pacific in 1944 and while the war ended in 1945, it wouldn't be until 1946 that Lem was able to return home. He could not have been in Palm Beach in 1945.

There are a few instances of David Pitts using his authorship to editorialize. These appear in parenthesis. As a resident of D.C., I agree with one of these (the District of Columbia is without full representation). Another is a reference to Tony Blair, (as the current prime minister). These parenthetical statements are temporal so if we - when we - get representation and a different person holds elected office they will date the book. Instead of editorializing, it would have been reasonable to stick to the facts only.

Jack and Lem included some very touching recollections of these two men's lives, separate and together, and made me think about and better understand life in another time. I found "The Sea Change (1933 vs 1973)," the penultimate chapter, very interesting. I have sometimes wondered how much earlier I would needed to have been born to not feel comfortable today as a gay man. Most of my adult life I have been out to my family, co-workers, and neighbors. I'm also not confusing comfort with safety. I'm not naïve. Far too frequently there are press reports of hate and violence against not just gay people (the nooses of late are appalling). But not from the people I am fortunate to be surrounded in my world. I owe much to people in the generations before my own who "fought" for acceptance that I now enjoy. Again, my age limits my first-hand knowledge of events of 1969 and before. I'm grateful for the placement of this concise chapter that provides context to Lem's life and times.

David Pitts gives readers a big hint about what to expect in his introduction to this story of JFK and his lifelong best friend Lemoyne Billings: Pitts wanted to write a book about JFK but realized that it would be hard to stand out in that overcrowded field. Then he learned about Lem Billings and thought that the "untold story" of America's randiest president and his gay best friend would be the ticket.

Yes, I'm a little cynical after reading this book. It is remarkable that from the 1930s on someone like JFK (Catholic, image-conscious, arguably a bit too interested in sleeping with every attractive woman he met) could sustain and value a friendship with a gay man. I didn't assume that JFK would have thrown over anyone who could potentially be a liability or who just wouldn't help him get what he wanted, but the depth of the friendship does present JFK in an interesting light.

It's not an exactly untold story. I've read one other book about the Kennedys and Lemoyne Billings was a major source and character in that book. He wasn't exactly outed in it but it didn't take much reading between the lines to understand that he was gay. Pitts does offer new details about the start of the friendship but his focus is on JFK all the way.

Which was quite frustrating for me. Sure, JFK was a congressman, a senator and then president and that's interesting stuff but could Pitts have spared more than a single paragraph about Billings' job? He had one. He was in advertising for decades but he might as well spent the entire time delivering newspapers for all the attention Pitts gives his job. Nor do we get a sense of Billings' romantic life. Was he in a relationship at any time? Or was he required to be the house eunuch to keep his room at the White House?

Worst, when JFK is assassinated we don't get the story from Lem's perspective we get it pretty much as any American alive at the time would have found out, from television reports. His best friend is murdered and Pitts gives us nothing to understand what it meant to Lem. We just read that the next few years were tough for him. Maybe he lost himself in his work and Pitts didn't want to bore us with the details.

Suddenly it's 1970 and don'tcha know, things have changed for gay men. Will wonders never cease! A whole chapter on how things have changed. Except Lem wasn't exactly throwing the first rock at Stone Wall so ... what did it mean for him? Did he come out to his colleagues at work? Did he move in with the love of his life? Did he wear louder ties? You won't find out here.

Nor will you find out the details of Lem's descent into drug and alcohol addiction. Was Lem already an alcoholic before he started spending significant amounts of time with the younger generation of Kennedys? Did he lead tragic David Kennedy astray in a misguided attempt to recreate his lost friendship with JFK? Did they lead him astray? Was it more complicated than that? Pitts just mentions the "problem" in one line and that's it.

In short, you won't find out much about Lem Billings. This is not a joint biography and that's a shame, in my opinion. There was a real opportunity here to contrast the lives of these two different yet similar men but Pitts gives Billings short shrift every time. If you want to learn a bit more about Lem Billings, read The Kennedys by Peter Collier. It's the book that inspired me to read this one. It's not exactly a sympathetic portrait of Billings but it's far more indepth.

Very thorough coverage of the program. Good reference tool. Not for the beginner.

This book is rather a hard slog, mainly because there's too much waffle. It made me wince to have to wade through paragraphs like "Web Browsers are HTML interpreters that are designed to understand and render hypermedia. Not only can browsers read HTML files, but they can also read graphic files, sound files and other types of media formats".

Compared to the For Dummies "CIW Foundations", this book is a real chore to read. Much of the content simply rehashes what you must already know since you must have already passed CIW Foundations, and the key facts you need for the Site Designer exam are scattered sparsely like pearls in pigswill. Sadly, there are very few alternatives to this book right now. Come on Dummies, give us a better Site Designer prep.

I wasn't quite as impressed with this book as with the CIW Foundations book, but it still got the job done because I passed today with a 95%. That being said...

I read the book from cover to cover and took all the practice tests and exams on the CD-ROM. However, I did go online and supplement some research in as well. In some sections of the book, (such as the individual products), it went into a lot of extraneous detail, while in others, (such as the different internet societies & organizations (IAB, IRTF, IETF)), I ended up going to each's website individually to do additional research.

A good point about the book, is the "exam tips" thrown in periodically throughout the chapters. They're great sources of info for the exam. Take a good look at each of these.

So, in all. This was my prime study guide, but I would suggest some supplemental materials if you want to be safe. Good luck.

While this book covers all aspects for the CIW Site Designer Exam, it tends to concentrate on some aspects more then others. For instance, it hardly covers databases, but it really goes in depth with FrontPage. It appears the author leans toward certain applications more then others and has a slight bias. Finally, I would recommend this book for those taking the exam.

First of all let me congratulate you for taking the time and the effort of getting certified, if you are reading this means that either you wish to get certified with the best tools available or you are a designer looking to improve yourself, great, let's start.
About this book, this book is extremely long, but extremely useful for your web site design career, you will be reading material that is not covered in the exam but you will use in real life. Also, is excellent if you want to improve yourself as a designer and wish to have a resource book in case you encounter a new technology or refresh your terminology, it gives you tips and statistics that will make you a better designer.
I recommend this book; just give yourself time to read it. Some people like to read only the summaries, others like me, like to read the book from cover to cover, after all, you are getting certified to prove you to know how to design a web site not to prove you can pass "a" test.
The best feature in this book is the CD. It comes with a test engine that so far is the best I've seen, the drawback is after a few times of taking these quizzes, you will know the questions and the answers by heart. One feature that I really liked on the test engine was that if you answer wrong it will show you the correct answer right away. Be sure to allow enough time to read all the chapters, a month and half should be enough if you are disciplined (Assuming you are doing this after work) and take all the quizzes on the test engine.
One last thing, be sure to visit all the web sites that you can that are related to the exam, questions might have changed and new subjects might have been introduced since the time this book was written. Support your training with braindumps, online free tests and other people's experience. I wish I can help you more. Best of luck!

Let's be honest: Most poetry in contemporary America is really prose poetry, it just doesn't look that way. Most poems are just a paragraph disemboweled and then strung out down the page -- there seems to be little reason for line breaks and enjambment. Shumate dispenses with the pretense of all that, and he simply tells a quick story or "paints" an arresting image. Fanciful and fun.

High Water Mark paints genuinely refreshing perspectives that are humorous as well as thought provoking. Dave Shumate delicately peels off layers of human circumstance revealing truth and adventure in each poem.

It's pleasing to see an increase in the number of prose poem collections in the past few years, not to say that there haven't been prose poem books published for some time now. While there were a few poems in this collection that I enjoyed, I found overall that Shumate's biggest influence Russel Edson, seems to take over many of the poems and while a sign of influence isn't a bad quality, poets should move ahead on their own, something that doesn't quite happen here. Stronger recent prose poem collections include "The Invisible Bride" By Tony Tost and "You Can Tell The Horse Anything" by Mary Koncell.

The thing about Shumate's poetry is that it is deceptively simple. That is, it reads simply, but both the composition of a good prose poem and the digestion of one are much more complex than first glance would lead a person to believe. There's another review here that mocks the prose poem as a "you too can write poetry" or somesuch. Nothing could be further from the truth. The prose poem is, if anything, even more complex because the poet is required to control things, to set tone and pace, without the use of line breaks and traditional stanzas.

I came across Shumate's work in _Good Poems for Hard Times_ and sought out all that I could find both online and by buying this book. Don't think twice about it, buy this collection and maybe Shumate will make enough money to write about ten more. We could all use more poetry like this.

Buy it already.

In High Watermark Shumate offers insight through wit and humour that is sure to touch each of his readers. As a painter myself, and a Hemingway reader, one of my favorite poems is "What Hemingway learned from Cezanne." He compares the process of the artist and author writing, "You must build a sentence like a mountain...Each piece must be inevitable. Like a scripture you cannot erase..." Shumate's poetry lives up to just this.

This book is amazing. First time using a guidebook and first for the Lonely Planet. Will definitely buy more. Maps wonderful, chinese names for everything and very good restaurant recommendations. Found a tiny restaurant off a back alley and was amazing for a great price. Wonderful spend and would recommend to everyone!!!

This book gives ou a nice overview of the region, and incredible specific tips for visiting Shanghai.

I have read this book cover to cover in anticipation for my trip to Shanghai. I am hoping that it will save me time and money by giving me a view of the city and details that would take many months to aquire. It was an easy read and well organized. I would however recommend that you do a search online for hotel rooms as there are many deals in the hotel market that were not even mentioned in the book. Happy Trials, BB.

As of June 2007, this book has become out of date. Many of the shikumen houses that I went to visit have been torn down in Shanghai in an effort to modernize the city by 2010 for the World Expo. Maps of the metro subways are also out of date. The book currently has partial maps of the 2 lines. There are now 5 different subway lines and still many more to be built. This book is a great introduction to Shanghai, but it is out of date (just like pretty much all the other books on the city).

To sum it up, pretty good book, but just don't count on the book being your only source of information on Shanghai.

I recently returned from a trip to Shanghai and thought this was a great guide to the city. Although I love to explore most places on my own, I found Shanghai to be slightly intimidating (especially with all the ongoing construction), so I was definitely thankful I had this book with me.
Pros:
* Up-to-date information
* Offers a lot of good insight into Shanghai and the Shanghainese. I found the sections like identity, cuisine, economy, and architecture to be quite readable and interesting.
* Good maps
Cons:
* I was surprised by the other reviews, as my edition has Chinese for each address mentioned in the book. I agree that you initially expect the Chinese to be in the text (next to the romanization), but it's actually on the map keys. This is a minor flaw but did not affect me, as I often looked at the maps when I decided where to go. I guess if you never consult this section however, you might not realize that it's there.
Bottom line:
This was the most up-to-date guide I saw, and (as far as I know)is the only one with comprehensive listings in Chinese--they got me where I wanted to go every single time I took a cab. Good job.

I decided to start this series at the beginning having read so many wonderful reviews of the books and thinking I would have a great time and many fun hours working my way through the numerous volumes devoted to the crimes being solved by the Pitts.
I am SO disappointed! These books are repetitive to the nth degree and in my opinion, Charlotte does not get nearly enough word play.
The settings are so far always the same few, upper-class neighborhoods and the characters are the same haughty, annoyed, uncooperative snobs.
Over and over and no one can ever remember Thomas Pitt's name because as a policeman he is SO beneath them.
I know Anne Perry is a very successful writer and certainly has no cause to listen to me, but I wish she had utilized more of the "Oliver Twist" world, the time period in which this series is set, developed a richer relationship between Thomas and Charlotte and moved beyond the veneers represented by the oh so proper social constraints of the times.
Yes, she does set a rich period tone, but it's just the same over and over and over.
I've read my last book of this series.

Rutland Place is one of the most successful of Anne Perry's novels about Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. The mystery encompasses Charlotte's family which gives the events more immediacy for the reader who has been going through all of the novels, and the nuances of the Victorian withdrawing room have never been better portrayed by Ms. Perry. In addition, the misdirection away from the evil doers and what they did works pretty well in this one.

As the story opens, Charlotte finds that her mother is distraught over the loss of a locket. Originally, her mother explains this distress as being concern because her mother-in-law gave her the locket as a gift. But later, Charlotte finds out that there's a powerful personal reason for getting that locket back. In the backdrop, it soon becomes apparent that others have lost small items of jewelry. Since the losses have occurred in many houses, it cannot be one of the servants . . . it must be "the quality" behind it. But what's the motive?

The mystery develops into a murder investigation when a woman dies in a way that can hardly be an accident . . . or suicide. But who did it? And why? And how is the lost locket involved?

The book's main weakness is that the locket story line doesn't quite carry off its initial promise.

If you've run out of novels that you enjoy about Victorians and their mannerly evasions, you'll enjoy this one.

About in the middle of this 5th book in Perry's series (although I read it as the 6th book, it is the 5th book) I was feeling a bit bored with all the trouble Charlotte and her family seemed to be getting into. It felt like a soap opera and the circle of people and incidents just kept getting smaller and THEN it picked up and I truly enjoyed the ending. This time Perry had me fooled all the way to the end.
The book was more involved around Charlotte than Pitt, which I enjoyed. I like that Perry focuses on one or the other in each of her books.
All said and done, I'm glad I read it and will continue on to her next book. Stay tuned...

RUTLAND PLACE is dark and moody with an excellent sense of period and locale, as are all the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt books. And this time Perry has given us especially interesting characters. This book involves more than one mystery, with unusual solutions. It is not always the expected thing that happens in Anne Perry's books. That's one reason I like them. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt work separately and together this time, in about equal shares. There's even some light-hearted fun. And at 217 pages it's a good, quick read.

Anne Perry's mystery stories are notable for their immense wealth of detail about Victorian England. Her investigative team is Charlotte Pitt, a young woman from a family of means, and her husband, Inspector Thomas Pitt. Because their marriage stretches across the British class gap, the two of them often combine to provide discoveries and insights that one or the other might have missed on their own. And, of course, the detailing of the stratified society that was London at that time is an anglophile's delight.

The mystery begins innocently enough. Charlotte's mother Caroline has lost a locket with an embarrassing enclosure, and she has asked Charlotte to look into it for her. As they visit the other residents of Rutland Place they discover that many other items have also been stolen, and that many secrets lurk beneath the refined surface. Suddenly the game deepens and Wilhelmina Spencer-Brown, a resident with a habit of prying, dies of poison. The police, in the person of Thomas Pitt investigate, but the walls of the upper class are difficult hurdles to negotiate.

Charlotte, anxious to protect her mother from further embarrassment, joins in the investigation. Between her and Thomas the clues gradually accumulate, but with excruciating slowness. Dishonesty, flirtation, and things far worse gradually come to the surface until a second murder attempt triggers the final tragedy. The crime and its bitter aftermath stand revealed, and we are reminded that often things are not what they seem.

I like Perry's stories for their careful attention to detail and method. They are just complicated enough, and hard work is an important part of reaching the solution. My complaint is that the books are often too dry, even when there is pressing emotional content. To a degree this reflects the restraint of the times Perry writes about. Rutland Place proceeds ever slowly, with no whirls of dramatic action to light a fire under it. Yet it manages to affect the reader with it's chilling vision of the dark corners of 'bright' society.

I read one poem of Richard Blanco's on the Internet and was intrigued. I bought this book based on one poem and have never regretted it. This book is incredibly satisfying to me as reader and writer of poetry. I have read it more than once and continually return to it for its love of language, culture and detail. Each poem is beautifully written and together as a collection, it only gets better. Would highly recommend.

Blanco's recent book, City of a Hundred Fires, designs to map the heart caught in a watery span between two nations-- the conflict and nostalgia of a Cuban growing up in Miami, and what that means to him and the people that surround him. While the poems are focused on a hyphenated experience (Cuban-American), Blanco manages to transcend this focus with writing that is concise and imagistic, honest and intelligent-- a style that allows the reader entry into the the poems, into the two hearts that give this book its beat. These poems take the reader from the shore of 1950's Cuba to the poet's own shaving mirror, from the imagined genesis of Cuba to the poet's childhood memories and desires. These poems ring true as the space between his two countries, between what's in the heart and how to write it down. Blanco is going to be a poet to watch!

My tastes in poetry are usually kind of old fashioned. I was at the library to get a volume of Blake's poetry. The book I wanted wasn't on the shelf but Richard Blanco's was. I'm not sure what made me sit down and read it, what made me check it out from library, but I did. Blanco writes about a place and people I know little about, and yet his attention to place and relationships of all kind made me feel grounded in a real world, not an exoticized one. And I must admit, reading these poems made me think better of contemporary poetry.

"City of A Hundred Fires" is a strong, but predictable first book. Several of the key narrative poems in this collection seem more sugary than they are honest. One poem, or short sequence of poems, "What Las Palmas Mean" reveal the type of juvenile naivete and seemingly contrived sentimentality that Mr. Blanco's volume exudes as a whole. The title poem "City of A Hundred Fires" is moving, but not enough to make the collection resound with the profound poetic maturity and accuity that a theme such as "exile" and a people's dislocation demands. David Mura, another contemporary poet, is a good example of someone who has treated exile and an impersonal hurt in a ingenius way. His volume "After We Lost Our Way" has some of Blanco's lush rhythms and exotic imagery, but is balanced by a profound sense of honesty and dignity. This is what "City of A Hundred Fires" lacks. Their are no explorations into the psyche of the people, even the narrator's reflections seem to be caught up with the images and not with describing the hurt and pride of the people it claims to represent. Good first book, needs a little more emotional grit. A lot of fire, little heat.

Richard Blanco's "City of a Hundred Fires" is rich and ripe with images and emotion. Voicing the experience of many hyphenated Cuban-Americans, Blanco captures the beauty of the every day, the pain of a displaced community of exiles and their strength and determination in tackling a new country. He celebrates their resilience and mourns their losses -- emotional, psychological and physical. Referring to Cienfuegos, Cuba, "City of 100 Fires" is a beautiful and moving collection of poems that I have shared with many and will always keep close to my heart.