Richards Books

It's a must for anyone who needs to have a deep and clear understanding of the world of the authentication.

I'm a research assistant, having finished my Master of Sciences in Electronic Commerce (2003) in the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research at Université de Montréal (Montreal (QC) Canada) and who has written a master's thesis called "ASEMC-Authentication for a SEcure M-Commerce". The book has brought me great contributions in a very clear language even if it is a technical matter. It makes extensive use of pictures, schemas, and graphs that allow us easily understand the authentication methods. Actually, it makes use of the visual intelligence of each one of us!

Smith does a great job of writing about authentication while being vendor agnostic.

The book provides everything you need to know about PKI and other crucial security topics.

An exciting book on authentication, of all things? Is such a thing even possible? Yes, Richard E. Smith proves it by publishing Authentication - a comprehensive guide to all things that authenticate or are authenticated. The book will educate you on more aspects of authentication than you ever wanted to know, but most likely you will enjoy it. As a security professional, I found the author's writing style to be excellent and even entertaining, a clear sign of writing by a true expert on the subject.

Every obscure form of authentication protocol (have you heard of X9.17 lately?) finds its place in a book. Passwords, tokens, biometrics, various authentication protocols are all described and analyzed in great detail, in plain English and with multiple diagrams. Another valuable feature is that for every authentication protocol, the relevant attacks and defenses are outlined in every chapter summary. The attacks which are not covered by existing defenses ("residual attacks") are emphasized at the end as something to watch for. For example, a 'trojan horse' attack to steal authentication credentials is one of them - apparently there is no 100 percent reliable way to stop it.

A chapter on passwords contains several creative ideas to make this ubiquitous form of authentication more effective, simultaneously more secure and more usable. It also answers some interesting password questions. When does it make no sense to enforce a complex non-dictionary password? How random is a random password from a dictionary? Why is a bank PIN of four digits secure enough for the job? When it is better to write a password down? Read the book and you will discover the answers! The book also explains public key crypto systems and their use for authentication (such as PKI).

People issues of security also receive well-deserved coverage in a separate chapter. Various kinds of secrets used for people as passwords are outlined. An interesting discussion on choosing an initial password when providing system access reveals important aspects of this process that few people think about.

For more technically inclined readers, straightforward analysis of complexities of Windows authentication (LANMAN, NTLM, Kerberos) and attacks against it is provided in a "Challenge Response Passwords" chapter. Computer scientists will find some insights on authentication algorithm design patterns. For less technical readers, understanding authentication based on Ali Baba and a cave of treasures will help to sort through the authentication system requirements and peculiarities. Overall, the book (while being targeted at security professionals) contains something for almost everyone interested in how computers tell that whoever is sitting at the console is who she says she is.

Anton Chuvakin, Ph.D. is a senior security analyst with a major security company.

Authentication is one of the 4 pillars of information security(authorization, confidentiality and integrity being the other three); but very little has directly been written directly on the topic outside of the academic community; until this book.

Authentication: From Passwords to Public Keys is an excellent work that covers all of the direct areas of authentication. Authentication is a huge challenge in that most users would prefer to have their passwords short and easy to remember, which is exactly what a password should not be.

Even if there were a lot of other books available on the subject, Authentication: From Passwords to Public Keys still would be required reading.

I'm in complete agreement with the previous reviewers that this book is easy to read and that it clearly explains complex material.

What I like is the way the author integrates theory, application and the human side of authentication. For example, he makes excellent use of tables to distill and display information, such as summary tables for attacks and defenses that are cross-referenced to each other. This is particularly useful to anyone who is developing security profiles, and the thorough and meticulous way that the author summarizes the information reduces the attack-defense pairings to the essentials.

His clear explanations of authentication methods and their underlying technologies, as well as how they evolved, are among the clearest in print. More importantly, he goes beyond explaining the mathematics behind the protocols by also showing how assumptions can lead to exposures. An example is the 4-digit lock, which has 10,000 possible combinations. At first glance it would seem that you have a 1-in-10000 chance of guessing the combination. However, he goes on to explain that a study showed 50% of people chose a calendar date for the combination, then leads you through the math of showing why you have approximately 1-in-512 chance of breaking the combination on the first try. He uses similar techniques throughout the book, which makes you think in real-world terms. It's his treatment of the people side of the authentication techniques that add to the real-world approach.

I also thought that the chapter on picking PINs and passwords was exceptional. I've written password management policies and procedures for a number of clients in recent years and thought I was an expert. After reading this 37-page chapter I discovered what I didn't know - and it was a lot!

Each chapter is filled with facts that you may have or have not considered, and each is filled with common sense, backed up with the math or technical underpinnings. Moreover, the book complete covers authentication and will get anyone quickly up-to-speed on the basics and many of the finer points. This book is especially important as a resource to anyone who is involved in health care because the material is directly applicable to requirements set forth in HIPAA. It is also essential reading for anyone who develops or manages security in a web- or e-commerce environment because of the dependencies upon the technologies and methods that are discussed in this book. IT security specialists will also find this book to be an invaluable resource, especially the parts that cover password management, social engineering and practical applications of authentication.

I have always wondered what it'd be like to work on a TV talk show. From a distance it seems like a glam life. Alex Richards realistically conveys the hard work, tension, & ulcer-producing behind-the-scenes toil of a talk show intern, but balances it with Gemma's fun life with her rich, sophisticated roommates. The characters are well drawn & sassy, but I also found them compassionate. And Gemma is a love. The book was fast-paced, a really enjoyable read.

I had the pleasure of interviewing the author for my school newspaper and I had some very high hopes for the book. Back Talk exceeded my expectations by lightyears! It was glamorous and fun to read but still captured the nitty gritty of teen life. I finished the book the day I bought it in record time and I will probably read it again. I have to say I am envious of her characters. They are all so much fun and by the end you (as the reader) feel like you know them personally. So, all in all it was a pleasure to read. Bring on the champagne and the fake IDs! Oh, New York can be so glamorous.

Reviewed by Tabytha Joy (age 15) for Reader Views (8/07)

"Back Talk" is about a girl named Gemma who finds a job working for a talk show. Gemma is only sixteen, the youngest of all the employees. She and her friends like to get together and talk about cute boys, or their current boyfriends.

There is a pair of twins working for the talk show. All the twins do is try to get Gemma into trouble. Well, one of Gemma's favorite workmates ends up losing his job. The reason is because the twins said that the guy was sexually harassing them. Gemma doesn't believe this is true. She sets out to find the truth and to get her workmate hired back. Now, all Gemma wants to do is prove that the twins are lying.

The talk show owners decide that they want their special guest to be a child prostitute. The only problem is, the thirteen-year-old girl they find is afraid of appearing on the show as she fears that her pimp is going to kill her. Gemma meets up with this girl a few times to try to convince her that they will protect her from her pimp. She even talks to the boss for the talk show about offering more to this girl. So, the talk show boss decides to offer this girl a scholarship to a great college and promises her a good education. But will this young prostitute risk it?

In my opinion, "Back Talk" was an okay book if you like to read about talk shows. I was not too fond of all the dirty language used throughout this book. Some cursing would have been fine. But there was a bit too much. My favorite part of this book was when Gemma kicked Nick between the legs. I like how the author wrote "Ouch. The consequences were gonna need an ice pack." That part was really funny. I also enjoyed how the author chose to end the book. Not one question was left unanswered. I would recommend this book for anyone who likes a fast-paced book with a lot of excitement in it.

First, the blurb above states that this book is for 9-12 year olds. That is a mistake - it is Young Adult fiction (so maybe grades 9-12!!). I don't recommend it for a 12 year old.

This is by far the best YA novel I have read, ever. And I am not just saying that!

It's the story of a naive 16 year old from Idaho who's in New York City for a summer internship working at a TV talk show. She's staying with some rich, glamorous friends who take her under their wing for a taste of night life and what seems to be the beginning of a great friendship too.

The characters grab you instantly -- there's the heroine, Gemma, who's journey into the fast-paced world of New York TV production is made all the more human by the insights we are given into her self doubt. She's never sure if she's quite getting the hang of this life but she follows her heart and so ends up doing the right thing. Her periodic flirtation with a dashing British student(!!!) is described with humor and tenderness.

Gemma's two friends have been born into money and status, so at first their lifestyle seems intimidating to Gemma. As they become closer, Gemma realizes that the glamor, the drinking and the sarcasm are all part of a cover up for the one thing they weren't privileged with: a loving family. The three of them bond over the summer and each comes to understand the other - it's an allegory for how the mid-west and corn-belt is so out of touch with the so-called east-coast sophisticates.

The characters and the behind-the-scenes views of the TV industry are what sets this book apart from the genre. Gemma is thrown into a crazy topsy-turvy world of hardened TV producers who have seen it all. When they find it hard to care for the people they exploit for a story, Gemma shows them all that you can be successful and still have a heart.

All in all a great read! The sarcastic humor that the narrator and the characters sling around is wickedly entertaining. The characters are well rounded and the plot is rich in detail and structure. The pace of the story keeps up right through to the end chapter, and it's hard to believe we have to leave Gemma and company to live the rest of their summer without finding out what happens next!

First time author Alex Richards shows great promise with this novel - we're all dying to see what she comes up with next.

If only my life was this fabulous at 16. As much as you want to hate on and be jealous of the trio of roommates in this book, (Gemma, America, and Dana), you will end up loving all of them. They are interning and living in NYC, two are fabulously rich, but without any of that spoiled super sweet 16 BS (OK maybe a teeny bit). The star of the novel, Gemma, is quite down to earth coming to NYC from the not so chichi countryside. Her take on interning at a trashy talk show is refreshing. Perhaps more interesting is the peek into Gemma's internship and the talk show world in general. I read online that the author once worked for a talk show type TV program, maybe we have some slightly blind itemed situations going on here. self-obsessed talk show host = egomaniac Tyra Banks? Probably not but fun to guess....

Most Oscar-related books offer only limited pictures and focus on winners, not also rans. This excellent reference volume corrects those two oversights. It is filled with pictures representing the best of Hollywood--all contenders for Oscar's Best Picture are featured with a movie poster representation. Includes some rarely seen poster art, foreign posters, and multiple sized images. Excellent reference and enjoyable volume to pick up over and over.

A must-have volume for any cine-buff and film historian! This book, along with its companion first volume, "Academy Award Winners' Movie Posters" is part of movie poster maven Bruce Hershenson's exhaustive multi-volume series of books highlighting the history and beauty of what much of mainstream America has only in the last ten years begun to recognize. And that is movie posters are a "popular art" form that can stand proudly next to all other styles of art from gothic to modern, from expressionist to impressionist. Great film art borrows from all of these styles and this volume, which focuses only on posters associated with Academy Award-nominated films, illustrates innumerable examples. A fine book for any collector (get the hardcover edition if you can, it's harder to find; if Amazon doesn't have it, it's available from Mr. Hershenson directly at mail@brucehershenson.com)!

All of Bruce's books are full of wonderful images, but this one offers something extra - a history of ALL the films nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. If you are a film buff, or you just like beautiful images you will love this book. Every year since the inception of the awards is listed and each nominee is displayed in brilliant color. A wonderful refrence source.

This beautiful collection of colorful poster art provides a history of Hollywood and American popular culture in a volume that's a delight to leaf through. As with all of Bruce Hershenson's poster books, this one is a tremendous value!

Like all of Mr Hershenson's books of film posters, this one is full of great reproductions of classic film posters. Movie poster collecting is both popular hobby and big business. For dealers and collectors alike, Mr Hershenon's books give all those interested in the hobby and business of movie poster collecting a ready-reference to images of great film posters for great and sometimes not-so-great films.

I haven't read it all yet, but everything I have read I understand fully. You also find some pretty interesting stuff.

This is a valuabale study tool. It includes outlines of every book, a synopsis of every chapter along with notes to references that need clarification. There are also lots of illustrations, maps and other helps for anyone on any level who is reading God's word. It is easy to understand, but goes deep enough for the serious student.

this is a great book
what ta tool for studying the word of god
cross referance and facts
high points
themes
just so easy to use
love it

The Bible Reader's Companion is a very nice concise overview of the Bible with numerous black & white drawings. The comments are interesting and the conclusions are generally conservative and traditional. If you like this book you may also enjoy THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS by Cody Jones. Numerous biblical characters are pointed out who illustrate King Solomon's witty observations on human nature.

I have owned this book since 1991 when I first became a Christian and have returned to it over and over again when I need more information or an explanation for Scripture. The book is well laid out, with commentary and application. It is written in a down to earth way, making it easy for anyone to understand. This is one book I would NOT be without! I love it!

Roseanne shipped this book by priority mail, and even gift-wrapped it! The book arrived in like new condition, just as it was described. I would highly recommend Rosie for her professionalism, and for her thoughfulness in sending an e-mail indicating that the book had been shipped!

When you lack a framework it's very difficult to understand anything. The interesting decorations of a home would mean nothing if there were no framework to attatch them too! This is what this book has done for me, given me a framework to attach these stories too. Many of the stories in the bible come to life when you know and understand what happened before and after and how the people who had the experiences might have thought. It really has brought to life the power of God for me and his complete plan from the beginning of the Bible to the end! I would recommend this to any level of Christian. I have been a Christian for 15 years and this has been an excellent tool for both learning and better equiping me to witness.

Wonderful! I used it a lot when teaching my sunday school class the big picture of the Bible. Great book!

I'm enjoying this book so much because it gives key points and lessons so clearly that it makes me eager to learn and know more. It has made me eager to read my bible again.

Cute icons, study questions, direct verse references, and opinions from the top Bible experts in the world all add together to equal one of the greatest Biblical-study and reference texts ever. No other book that I have seen can match The Bible: God's Word for the Biblically-Inept for it's insight on confusing areas of the Bible and its easy-to understand language and design. This book has been a marvelous addition to my Bible-study group. We just can't wait to get started on Revelation and Daniel.

Brainscape, chapter II, page 37; 2.5 m. neurons per minutes are produces during prenatal life. Now take the book "The Amazing Brain", by Mr.Ornstein and Mr.Thompson, chapter 3,page 68, it says, "250,000 per minute" neurons during the development of a human fetus. Obviusly, I prefer your version Mr. Restak, it means much more neurons to spend during our life time without impairment. But, I just want to know who is right, because both of you can't be right and here we are talking about a huge contradiction regarding the neural theories explaining our future possibilities before birth. There is a legitimate intention to educate through these books, that is why I read them, but now I can't stay with this doubt created by these kind of books. Please educate me, and it would be an honor if Mr.Restak of any of his staff could answer this neurological dichotomy. Thank you very much for your attention.

This book is a simple overview about the subject of contemporary neuroscience. It is not intended for senior students or professionals. However, it is a good book for amateurs, since it was written in simple lauguage. It also gives a sense to beginning students about what they are actually studying. Since the author is a neurologist, this book has been adopted an extreme neurological veiwpoint as references to all human behaviors. Readers should be cautious about this; however, it is nevertheless one important way to look at human behaviors. Also, the book is a good buy and should worth a bargain.

I have recommended this book to many a patient, as well as professional colleagues interested in getting "up to speed" with brain basics. Scientifically sound, and very readable, anyone interested in the brain will find this introductory book enjoyable and to the point. May I suggest "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain" for ways to tune up your own brain...Ken Giuffre' MD

This little green book is a definite must-have addition to any neuroscientist, educator, or anyone interested in the brain. Restak is a good writer, and not only weaves his words well, but uses the writings of others outside the field to make understanding the complicated workings of the brain understandable to someone who is just being introduced to it. I've used this particular book in several papers on deafness and cognition, and every once in a while I pick it up and reread parts of it (usually that I marked) that bear remembering. Certainly Restak is a remarkable writer, and thus probably a remarkable teacher. I wish I had had someone like him in Neuroscience...it would have helped tremendously to have someone so in love with his topic that he wants everyone to understand it. We need more science teachers and science writers like him to encourage young people to consider science as a possible career. And perhaps maybe if more people understood the brain, they would quit treating their own brains without regard to the damage they are doing to it by using drugs and alcohol, or misusing prescription drugs. Karen L. Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh, klsst23@pitt.edu

Written for the layman, this slim (135 pages) volume by a neurologist is a very up to date and comprehensive review of what we know about the brain, its functional structure, the role of neurotransmitters and even a bit about the nature of conciousness.

Like Oliver Sachs, Restak focuses much of his attention on pathology, since not only is it the focus of neurologists, it also tells us quite a lot about the functional organization of the brain. Unlike Sachs, Restak delves deeply into the actual neuopathologies, the cells, the transmitters and the structure of the brain. While the level of detail is relatively superficial from a neuroanatomical point of view, the descriptions are still accurate and detailed; this would have been a nice introductory book to have for my first physiological psychology courses back in grad school.

As well as being an excellent teacher, Restak is an excellent storyteller. Each chapter reads like a good adventure, leading us through the neural pathways, or like a mystery, tracing the history of a particular neuropathology. If you enjoy the medical detective stories of Berton Rouche, or the essays of Lewis Thomas, you'll find much to interest you here.

The title of the book gives wrong impression that it is a book for a beginner who is lazy to do meditational practice.But actually it is a book for an advanced practitioner who practice atiyoga tantra called Nangjang (Refining one's perception). To actually benefit this reading, one must receive empowerment, oral transmission, and teachings from a qualified Dzogchen master.
If you have received Dzogchen transmission, then this book is one that you must read because the brevity of its pith instructions (men ngag de) on cutting the views (tregchod).
This book is structured by the direct revelation from the various Dzogchen deities to Dudjom Lingpa, a great meditational master from Nyingma tradition. It is said that the approach is so powerful that even hearing it read aloud ensures the listener will eventually escape the suffering of samsara.

This is an excellent translation. Even more so: an excellent written testament to one's own realization. However, to the uninitiated, it is not useful. If one has not yet trekked the path of Guatama, then I would recommend not yet getting this translation: it will not be appreciated for its essential value to one's own understanding. In other words, this is not a book to read like a novel, but a resource to confirm your own individual realization and/or to help clarify some blank spots in your meditation on certain aspects. If you have not yet attained this level, post this book in your toolbox in the future.

Hold it right, there. Hold it: right there. That's it!

Okay, I know I'm being a bit obtuse about it, but honestly this is not an easy book to review. So, I will share with you what I can with the hope it is helpful.

Unusually wonderful things do happen. This is an unusually wonderful book, a genuine holy relic.

I have this from good sources: Yes, it's a good idea to bring this book into your life, even if you don't intend to read it, if you are willing to treat the book with the utmost care: "guard it like your eyes". And yes, if you have established for yourself a stable foundation of devotion and proper motivation and meditation, dig in and read.

Dudjom Rinpoche, and Dudjom Lingpa before him, were supremely talented and capable beings. Prophets and discoverers of the most valuable of treasures. This text is such a treasure.

The translators are the real deal, too.

Be ready. Hold it, right, there.

May all beings benefit!

Let me preface this by stating that of course this is an important book, and a translator's job is never easy.

That said, this book benefits from having the original Tibetan available, but suffers from a overly wordy phenomenologically influenced style of translation. Frankly, I have to read the Tibetan to understand what the translator is trying to convey in English

In general, a problem endemic with translations of Dzogchen texts is that the translators often unncessarily make what is relatively straight forward language in Tibetan a conceptual mess in English in their attempt to convey the meaning of Dzogchen into English.

As the subtitle of this book points out, the intent of these visionary accounts is to subtly alter one's awareness of phenomena. The text consists of discrete dream visions recounted by Dudjom Lingpa (1835-1904) in which he posed a question to appearing deities and received a clarification on each particular point. This text pertains to the category of Direct Transmission within the Great Perfection tradition. As such, one receives great benefit simply from its meaning.

The text starts by pointing out the definitive conclusion that one must reach regarding four topics: ineffability, oneness, openness, and spontaneous presence. Dudjom Rinpoche provides a further breakdown of the topic of ineffability, highlighting the need to come to a definitive conclusion regarding personal identity and the identity of phenomena. For modern students this emphasis is perhaps the most important aspect of this book, as it is in exactly these two manifestations of the error of "identity" that most students find themselves stuck. Especially for students raised in the modern American culture with its emphasis on self-independence, self-interest, and self-aggrandizement, this introductory lesson is most beneficial.

Moving beyond the error of positing a "self" underlying "I", Dudjom Rinpoche then tackles the error of imputing identity of phenomena. This error, that particular things are real, is another great stumbling block to reaching clarity.

The text then consists of the dream teachings received by Dudjom Rinpoche in which that definitive conclusion is refined by dispelling remaining misunderstandings.

The book consists of the original text and its english translation, presented in a side-by-side (facing page) format, followed by Dudjom Rinpoche's excellent structural analysis epitomizing the text, followed by an expansive glossary of Tibetan terms, which alone is of great value.

This text is the personal teaching of Dudjom Rinpoche, and one can gain great merit and reach clarity by studying this text and its transmitted meaning.

James Corrigan
An Introduction to Awareness

Dr. Berendzen offers hope and a fully engaging chronicle of evil, recovery and redemption. My therapist recommeded it as a source of encouragement that there was hope for recovery from abuse. Dr. Berendzen's book did that and more. The book is well organized so it flows clearly from point to point. Dr. Berendzen's writing style reflects a refind communication style while remaining accessable to the average reader. In fact you might not know he is a professor if he didn't tell you.

It would be my privlege to congratulate him in person. I admire his courage, and fine example. It seems that teaching astronomy is his sideline; helping others through recover is clearly his calling.

I am 27 years old now and I first read this book when I was 18 years old.At which time I lived in a girls home.We had a banquet in honor of this author; and yes he attended.He is very respectful and very strong for sharing his story and I admire him for that.I plan to find this book again and reread it.But this book is something I will never forget.Even though I am a girl; I found it to be very interesting.It was read by alot of the staff at the girls home also.I would recommend this book to anyone who has been a victim theirself.

Why haven't more books like this been written in the last decade?
(If they have and I missed them, would somebody please let me know?) That was my first thought almost from the moment I started reading this book.

If I didn't know better, I'd think the author knew my story and was writing about me. The more I read, the more I learned or remembered about my own very similar experiences.

Actually, in a sense, he knows my story very well. Reading about the horrible sexual and emotional incest, along with the other abuses that Richard Berendzen went through at the hands of his own mother, is still helping me find & place pieces of the puzzle that is my life. Thanks, Doc!

I hope soon to contact Dr. Berendzen. Having already gotten to know him so well by reading his story, it would be my pleasure and privilege to hear from him, and especially to meet him face to face.

If you even think you might be a male victim of child sexual abuse, especially incest by your mother, PLEASE read this book. There are stll very few volumes and fewer true stories written about these tragic topics, especially by someone as prominent as Dr. Bernedzen. You will get to know Richard Berendzen; most importantly, you will no doubt get to know yourself better.

Actually, this book is a great source of courage & encouragement for anyone who has suffered any kind of abuse and the resulting trauma, as well as those close to them who suffer with them.

Ultimately, however, the story of Dr. Richard Berendzen is a story of self-discovery & growth, of struggle & victory, of love & life. It gives me hope that I can overcome the abuse I like Dr. Berendzen am just beginning to remember in my middle age. It is a light helping to show me the way through the darkness of this abuse that has for years overshadowed everything that I do and that I am. Richard Berendzen inspires me to follow in his footsteps to go beyond my abuse and even to help the many other victims, many unknown, out there in my world.

Truly this book contains "hope and light for male survivors of child sexual abuse."

I have read some books about (sexual) misuse. Some of them are well written ("I don`t want to talk about it" from Terrence Real) , but this book touches my heart like no one did. I know, I`m not the only one with this experiences. If you know someone who had survive, or if you are a survivor, read this book!

The right time to reflect the own childhood will never come. But Mr. Berendzen shows how to manage it, if you have to face the facts: Reflect, take care of your hidden soul, speak about it, stand up and let friends be there for you. YOU CAN FIND A HELPING HAND !!

I want to thank Mr. Berenzden for his enormous courage to face his monsters of his past and I'm thankful that he was able to write and speak about it. This is something very special.
I also want to thank his wife and his children, they are the living furnish proof of the helping hand.

It wasn`t easy for me to concentrate on normal life. But this book helps me calming down and carry on.

Thank`s

I am currently enrolled in Professor Berendzen's astronomy class at AU. Even before the beginning of the semester, I knew his reputation as the best teacher AU has to offer. I have respected him as a wonderful teacher ever since his class begun. Only upon reading "Come Here" did I realize how much I respect him as a person. I read "Come Here" in one afternoon. It was well written, lucid, and informative. The horrors of Professor Berendzen's childhood should never have to be faced by children, or anyone else for that matter. The fact that he has gone on to be a major intellect in astronomy and in education, as well as the most successful president in the history of my university, is a testament to his drive and his ability to overcome the awful adversity of his early life. Professor Berendzen's coming to terms with the abuse he faced was one of the most painful experiences I can ever imagine. I don't know how he survived it, much less wrote about it to try to help others. His dedication to assisting other people to recover from childhood sexual abuse, and his continued excellence in teaching make me admire him a great deal. If you need hope for recovering from abuse, read this book. If you want to look inside a brilliant mind from a troubled background, read this book. It is an inspiring recovery story from a truly great man.

I have not finished reading the book, but from what I have read of it, it is well written and meets a great need.

Oh yeah, I went looking specifically for expertise in your area of skill and found you by careful search. I'm HAPPY about finding your book as it contains everything I need ... I expect perfection of myself. Imagine an Editor getting material from me with punctuation errors ... ugh! I believe, by using "Common Sense" I'll gain a little more power with my literature.
Many thanks,
Larry

Written by a couple of English majors, for the fun of it, I just have to wonder why this little book would cost so much. They poke fun at punctuation, as we know it in America, which I am sure will thoroughly confuse those who speak other languages to wonder what on earth is going on! But, that's the fun of it!

This is all about writing, and writing is about expressing thoughts and feelings (also opinions). This instruction booklet will show you which punctuation mark to use to get your point across, and to be understood to your best potential. I was best at grammar in high school, went on to literature in college where I married my lit. (and speech) teacher [one and the same.] I thought I knew it all, as other college English teachers told me they had never heard me make a grammatical error. But, as with all the books I choose, I learned about the "ellipsis" which I have never used and reminded me of the brackets, which I am not sure I learned in the first place.

John Shore is the editor who loves to mark. I once typed into the computer a "Self Study" for a vocational school, and the English teacher on the committee told me she got out her red marker to circle all the errors, but in the sections I put together, she could find none to circle. That was the greatest compliment! Richard Lederer is the language expert, having written a humungous amount of books on English in all its forms: puns, words, games, verbal skills, and miracles of....

If you know English already, they will teach you when and how to use the apostrophe, colon, semicolon, comma, dash, exclamation point, hyphen, paragraph, parentheses, question mark, quotation mark, and the new ones, brackets and ellipsis. For instance, "within a quotation, use brackets to insert a missing or explanatory word or comment." "***Use an ellipsis to indicate the intentional omission of one or more words within a sentence." This might be confusing to non-English speakers, as both involved missing words. Where'd they go? Do the words exist and just have gotten lost, or did the writer intend not to use those words anyway?

They give a funny use of the hyphen, how the wrong placement at the end of a line can make completely different words. The best way to avoid that is to justify your typewritten work. It makes the margins level and nothing is hyphenated. From one English perfectionist to another, I wish the self-appointed grammar expert in the local newspaper could see this delightful book. He could learn a thing or two, maybe several, as he thinks differently from the way I was taught. By the way, he avoids me in public!

Not just another book on punctuation! What can Comma Sense: A Fundamental Guide To Punctuation hold over its many competitors? 'Fun' is the operative word here, as Richard Lederer and John Shore poke fun at the misuse of punctuation and how choices in punctuation can have very different results. Plenty of examples come couched in this humor, which makes Comma Sense quite easy to learn. Just consider that here the exclamation point is the 'titan of tingle, the prince of palpitation' and you have some idea of the allure of Comma Sense - and its potential of educating those who traditionally wouldn't touch grammar books with a ten-foot pole.

This is the unique book that has you mentally tallying up your friend's birthdays before you get to the last chapter (lets see... I can buy it for Ken, and Susie, and my daughter so she won't dog-ear my copy...). I picked this up for an educationally boring read that would knock me out at bedtime and instead found myself staying up most of the night laughing. Comma Sense is the darndest, funniest, wittiest educational book I've ever read. You can't help but learn something... it sort of seeps into your brain while you're distracted with a mental picture of what the Andrew Sisters would look like if viewed from above (yes, of COURSE they would look like...well, read Chapter 13 and you'll find out). I would write more, but I have to rush out now and buy extra copies for everyone I know.

Lenski was a genius NT exegete. Anyone who wants a deep study of the NT, and has some knowledge of Greek, should seriously consider buying his set of commentaries. This is not light reading.

Robert Winslow Shaw

Lenski writes from a conservative Lutheran perspective and is therefore appreciated by most evangelical pastors and theologians. He is among that small company of "classical scholars." Although laymen could understand most of Lenski's comments, this set is geared for the serious Bible student. I appreciate Lenski's work for several reasons:

(1) Although I do not always agree with him, he evades nothing
(2) He often addresses several possibilities and settles on one in particular
(3) He brings up the Greek where helpful, but does not chase rabbit trails
(4) His writing style can be characterized as concise and precise

On the negative side, he can be a bit too sure of himself, and some volumes are not as useful to those of us who hold different eschatological positions (especially Revelation). Lenski holds distinctive Lutheran views about baptism and the Lord's Supper, but his commentary is so excellent and enlightening that I have long ago forgiven him for these doctrinal differences (this is a tease from a non-Lutheran; I obviously have great respect for many conservative Lutheran scholars)! Since the set was written in the 1930's and 1940's, they do not address some of the most modern theological challenges, but the overwhelming majority of challenges were already up and running in the 1930's, so it is still very, very helpful.

I would not feel "properly armed" as an evangelical pastor without my Lenskis.

If you can ever find this for an affordable price, you'll want to snap it up faster than you can say "donumsuperadditum."

Lenski gives great analysis of verbs, historical background, and syntax. If you aren't sure how a particular NT Greek passage fits together, a half hour of study in Lenski will usually provide you with the answer.

Besides the exegesis, there are introductions to each book that give helpful information on the author, date, time of writing, reason for writing, chief themes dealt with, and so on.

Lenski gives you a wealth of NT knowledge. It will greatly assist your work in the Greek NT.

Lenski's commentary on the NT is one of the best available in the market. With his conservative Lutheranism and clear prose, it is little wonder why this highly accessible set is so popular. Although a basic grasp of the Koine Greek is recommended, this commentary is useful even for the lay student of the bible. This was the first set of NT commentary I purchased more than 15 years ago, and I had been using it since for NT studies and exegesis. It is hard to exhaust the immense resource contained within this set. If you are considering a good investment for NT commentaries, this set is highly recommended!

This is a spectacular commentary. His Lutheranism bleeds onto the page to much but if you can over look that it is one of the finest commetaries. Lenski is Solid and extremely quotable.