Roberts Books

I have enjoyed ALL of Rhys Bowen's murder mysteries. I write this review of the Constable Evans book because Rhys will no longer be writing this series. This is a big disappointment as I enjoyed the innate goodness of Constable Evans and his struggles with humanity in a small slice of earth that struggles with it's own history and growth. I have collected all the paperbacks of this series and I guess I'll just have to keep reading them over and over.

After finishing this thoroughly satisfying cozy, you'll feel as if you had an insider's visit to a charming little village of Llanfair in Wales. The characters actually breathe, the language is just plain FUN, these are people you've sure you have truly met. The writing is clever and inspired and the scenes are wonderfully painted. Constable Evan Evans is the policeman with both a heart and a brain, as well as a coodling landlady and enough love interest to keep tongues wagging. Dueling church billboards are a witty and delightful touch.

This reader is delighted that there is more of Evans and Llanfair waiting. If you have made it through the series and wonder what's next - then M.C. Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series of cozies might should be added to your reading list.

That's surprising given I've been to Wales and it was very foggy and damp -- but the Wales described in this book is a wonderful place indeed -- beautiful and filled with kind, caring people (who unfortunately for any outsider speak Welsh!)

This is the second book in the series -- I'm reading them in order -- and I think I liked it better than the first. I thought at first I had everything all figured out, and was disappointed, but as it turned out, I wasn't even close. That's a great mystery. Add to that a wonderful world you enter when you read this book...

The plot involves a summer resident (a retired Colonel living on a pension who comes to this tiny village in Wales every year for a holiday) who is found dead right after he's discovered some ruins. The local constable, Evan Evans, immediately believes he was murdered, but the police higher up the chain of command try to insist it's an accident. Then there is another death -- made to look like a suicide. Is there one killer or two? Evans gets involved in trying to find the connection between these two deaths as the key to discovering what happened.

All in all, a great book to curl up with when you have the time to read uninterrupted -- it creates a wonderful mood.

This series is set in the peaceful Welsh village of Llanfair and features Evan Evans, the local constable. When two recently arrived Londoners are murdered, Evans must sift through the rivalries that the victims were involved in. This is a well-crafted series with likable characters and well-written plots. Each entry in the series is better than the one before. If you like British procedurals, add this to your to-buy list.

Life in Llanfair is about to get another jolt. Colonel Arbuthnot is hit over the head and killed right after discovering an ancient ruin on the nearby mountains. Meanwhile, tensions build in the town when Evans-the-Meat announces a plan to put the village on the map and returning resident Ted Morgan announces plans to turn the old slate mine into an amusement park. Then a second body turns up. Constable Evan Evans finds himself overwhelmed with events and trying to find the pieces to make sense of it all. But if that's not complication enough, there's a new female resident in town, and she also has her eye on the eligible lawman.

I just discovered this series last month, and I've already read two of them. The characters and setting are charming. The author's obvious love of them comes through on every page. The plot is great as well. While I had some things figured out, there were still enough twists to keep me surprised until the end.

Anyone looking for a relaxing cozy mystery would do well to book some time in Llanfair. I'm hooked and look forward to many happy visits with Evan and his neighbors.

In this very readable text, Kegan provides descriptive, anecdotal examples of
his arguments, making his concepts easier to grasp.

A CLASSIC! A complex but excellent treatise by a contemporary star in developmental psychology.

Comprehensive, Brilliant, highly Creative and introduces a vocabulary for human development that plugs into so many important theoretical and practictical domains. A year before this book came out, Ken Wibler wrote "The Atman Project" which articulates a very similiar vision from a slightly different angel.

I'd be really surprised if there were many books as brilliant as this one on the subject of human development. It not only captures its subject in its very motion, but actually manages to show what is there in common between the great variety of forms it takes on different planes: compare for instance the self-assertions of a 5 year old uncompromising "imperialist" to an adult's exercises of control at his work settings. Or the undifferentiated merger of a child with her mother to the overwhelming dependency most people experience in their interpersonal experiences at a certain period of life: what do others think of me? Kegan sees these as recurring motives, spiralling movements between inclusion and autonomy with ever-widening "horizons" for meaning-making: the same motives are played in a different key in each phase, the specifics of which are described brilliantly.

These are all necessary and very normal stages in every human's development, with their complete and coherent ways of meaning-making which are to be respected in order to understand and come to contact with each other in a meaningful and supportive way. Putting the blame of egocentrism and "manipulation" on a 5 year old would not be much better than accusing animals of not feeling guilty over having caused other animal's suffering: it would reflect a similar incapacity and lack of sensitivity to others "otherness", that is to say - his different mode of making sense of the world, with its advantages in comparison to the preceding modes and shortcomings in relation to (from the point of view of) the future ones. But in addition to this at once obviously necessary and yet often difficult capability of empathy and respect for diversity summed up by "pluralistic relativism", what I found so great about Kegan's work is that it always considers another point of no less importance: not only are the different stages of meaning-making having quite their own legitimacy - which are to be respected and supported when they emerge, but the separation from which shall be equally supported when the time is ripe - but it is actually shown to be as natural a thing to be experiencing turbulent periods when there is a shift ("decentering") from one major "cognitive-emotional" stage to another. Though difficult and threatening, it might be necessary to be a little bit "sick", "out of your mind" sometimes - if one is to move on.

The general framework is built on piagetian developmental notions with decreasing ego-centrism as the central axis, but modified considerably to build a picture that incorporates many of the object-relations concepts, among others. It's flexible, growth-oriented and open-ended as a (constructive-) developmental approach should be, it's humane and avoids pathologizing and reification of mental states, and last but not least - very well written. The author's personal experience as a consultist firmly grounds the excellent theory at all times in a wealth of examples and stories. A masterpiece of developmental psychology.

I happened to read Kegan's, "In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life," prior to reading "The Evolving Self." While both books were very good, I don't think I gleaned a whole lot of additional insight from "The Evolving Self." So, if you are busy and can only afford to read one or the other of these two books by Kegan, I recommend you select "In Over Our Heads."

This book was really helpful to organize and explain metrics. The explanation of strategic and tactical views of the metrics was what I really needed. What was neat was how it explained the metrics with very practical examples that everyone can explain. One example of this is the use of a grocery store checkout to explain which metrics to use. Great book and great value.

James Abbott has produced a handbook that is required reading for all Call Center Managers. It provides a step-by-step method for metrics creation and why improvement is not possible unless you can measure Call Center activity.

This book must be on every employees desk in the Call Center and the Metrics should be based on this book. The books 11 chapters are easy to read and understand. James clearly outlines the reasons why metrics must be real time and the benefit in performance associated with this method.

You should read this book, as I did, just to understand how implementation of this methodology will cut costs and improve customer satisfaction.

John Washburn
Colorado

From the introduction this book explains how metrics must be more than just numbers or report cards. They are proactive tools to get much more out of your call center. The book then sets out ways to create powerful metrics that lead to winning decisions for your center.
Chapter One: Having It All
The first chapter looks at why modern metrics are required in centers with numerous monitors. Old ways of thinking will not do. Everyday, real world examples are given to highlight critical metric sources. These are a must in balacing wait time, cost and performance.
Chapter Two: Call Center Metrics
This chapter begins with Abbott's signature approach to decision making and and the discussion of mstrics that compliment this approach. He introduces the unique Dependency Diagram and metric blueprint. On page 38 he lists six key proactive metrics.
Chapter Three: Monitoring Metrics
Chapter three makes cetain you are uaing clear thinking when monitoring your meticws. Again, real world examples and critical statistics are used to help you have a clear look at your center.
Chapter Four: Metric Dashboard
Using building blocks already mentioned this chapter begins putting together a call center dashboard. Who does what? How do we set it up? What is my part?
Chapter Five and Six: Tactical Decisions and Metrics
How do we know when real change has happened? What are the "alarms" to look for when monitoring the call center. We see how to read and use tactical metrics to avoid problems and run effective centers.
Chapters Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten: Strategic Decisions & Metrics
These chapters explain the strategic aspects of running your call center. They help you develop the strategic eye needed to bring your call center into the 21st century.

The book ends with a review of benefits that come from the effective use of metrics and how that is achieved. If you have the difficult responaibility of runing a call center, you need this book.

I purchased this book as I am a director of a Call Center Unit. This book was very informative and had a lot to offer. Great books for excutives in the call center business! The book is written in a easy to read format with lots of great examples!

This is a fantastic resource for anyone trying to figure out how to measure their Call Center performance. Because Call Center services and types vary so greatly, using the wrong metrics can send executives in the wrong direction and greatly impact the staff and performance of the Call Center. This book is a phenomenal resource in determining what Call Center Metrics are and what they are not.

Be forewarned, this is a textbook, not some easy-reading self-help book. The book explains that we erect defenses in relationships because of our mother, self-hate, and fear of death. It also explains how those defenses manifest themselves and how they are damaging to meaningful living. The book also relates how duality (saying one thing when we mean another) is damaging, in both adult relationships and with our children. There is a lot of explanation and insight here, but not a lot of direction for solving the problem.

many books of this nature havebeen revelations for me. however, this is THE one! if i hadto choose for you one book thatsays it all it is this one. thisis the one that through aprocess of reading, digesting andapplication will transform you.this is truly life changing stuff!first time through my mouth wasagape most of the time. virtuallyevery line was a light bulb experience.thank you dr. firestone!!!

One of the best, most powerful books ever writen. Reading this book will be painful, but worth it. It's worth at least 10 years of therapy.

This excellent book has changed my life, helping me to become a happier person and putting me on the road to my first good relationship. As I was reading it, I would come to new chapters and say, "well this certainly doesn't apply to me" (e.g. "Idealization of the Family"), but I quickly learned that those chapters did indeed apply. I now refer to it as my Bible because I so often talk about it to my friends and encourage them to read it. The section on Theoretcial Issues is probably too academic for most readers, and I am skeptical about how much schizophrenics can really be helped by these techniques. But I think the general population would be greatly helped by the ideas in the book.

I previously purchased a lot of books trying to figure out my partner's behavior. Nothing ever made sense. This book finally ties together all the pieces of the puzzle. Even after 2 years of therapy, the therapist couldn't explain my partner's behavior. I gave this book to the therapist to read, and she thought it was an excellent book. With direction from this book, the therapist is finally getting to the root of the problem.

This book tries to enfold the work of Jeru. Some chapters are mostly repetition of what was said before in order to try to get the message to you. If you're open minded, give it a shot. Luckily, it's not religious in any way.

This was a great book - very easy to read and very interesting. It's one of those books I want to buy for all my friends and family. I loved it.

I am a teacher of hands on healing and spiritual growth. I found this book very enlightening as it gives you a different prospective of why we do, act and say the things we do. I now recommend this book to all my students who are on their journey thru transformation. Rev. Jade

I studied with Jeru 25yrs ago and the information in this book that we covered changed my life. As a counsellor I draw on this depth of knowledge and insight everyday with my clients and often reflect on my own life using Jeru's guidance. I think this is a wonderful book and helpful for anyone interested in find happiness and contentment in their life.

Finding Clarity: A Guide to the Deeper Levels of Your Being collects the enlightened writings and teachings of spiritual instructor Jeru Kabbal, whose explorations included delving into both Eastern traditions and Western psychology. Chapters address the nature of the subconscious, the potential trap of the self-fulfilling prophecy, the paradox of fearing the positive, the power of attaining practical enlightenment through living in the present moment, the importance of gratitude, exercises and techniques for applying Kabbal's teachings, and much more. Question-and-answer segments elucidate the finer points of Kabbal's wisdom concerning the search for happiness and fulfillment, in this profound and uplifting spiritual self-help guide, written for readers of all faiths and backgrounds.

This book deserves more than five stars. It is the finest set of flower photography that I have seen before, and presents more dimensions of what a flower can mean that I would have thought possible.

I took a course of creativity from author Dan Wakefield a number of years ago. One of the many excellent exercises we did was to take a flower and write as much as we could about what we observed during an hour. At the end of the time, I was bursting with new ideas for all kinds of things. Try it sometime!

Seeing this marvelous book by Robert Mapplethorpe (that would earn a G rating if it were a motion picture) reminded me of that exercise. I had the same feeling as I examined each image, and had a great desire to start taking notes.

The essay, A Final Flower, by Patti Smith helps put these great works in perspective. Mr. Mapplethorpe found it "as easy to hurl beauty as anything else." "He came, in time, to embrace the flower as the embodiment of all the contradictions reveling within [him]." He was inspired by "their sleekness, their fullness, Humble narcissus, Passionate zen." As such, he found flowers to be "worthy conspirators in the courting and development of conflicting emotions."

The images themselves evoke more complicated views than any others of flowers that I have seen. The closest to his style is that which Georgia O'Keeffe used in her painings. But there are more dimensions to these photographs.

For example, a single flower may evoke a part of a human body, but it will also stimulate an impression of a human emotion contained in the flower image separate from the body part. Further, the shadowed background behind the flower will add movement and context that greatly expand the meaning of the overall image. Mr. Mapplethorpe also displays a genius for using varieties of color together to express complicated rhythms that make looking at the images a lot like listening to a drum beating a distinctive tattoo. He also employs juxtaposition (to make one thing appear to be part of something else), allusions to emerging and receding, and contrasts to great effect.

The technical quality of the images is superb. The lighting, detail, and composition of each image are precisely as must have been intended. Each image is an exquisite gem. Although I liked all of the images, some appealed to me more than others. Here are my favorites:

Irises, 1988; Rose, 1989; Orchid, 1977; White Longstem Flower, 1982; Orchids, 1982; Orchid, 1986; Flowers in a Vase, 1985; Orchids, 1987; and Poppy, 1988 (second one). I would like to specially praise the astonishing Calla Lilies (1985-1988) for their amazing beauty and inspiring qualities.

Where else can something simple display so much important meaning and complexity about nature and the viewer? I suggest that you consider looking at leaves, rocks, and feathers as possible additional sources of inspiration. Try your hand at arranging tableaux that use the vocabulary of Mr. Mapplethorpe's work here.

May your heart and mind be suffused with the wonders around you . . . creating a meditation inspired by nature!

This collection of color photographs of flowers by Robert Mapplethorpe is stunning beyond words. Just when you thought that nothing else could be done with the overdone photographing of Calla Lilies, Mapplethorpe graces this book with eleven new shots of them, along with Orchids, Tulips, Poppies and a Rose or two. It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Mapplethorpe's work that some of these magnificent color shots are quite phallic in nature.

It is appropriate that the artist selected flowers for some of his last work since he like flowers was here for such a short time. (It is futile to speculate as to how many beautiful books he would have published by now had he lived.)

A short but moving introduction is included by his friend Patti Smith: She ends her comments with lines:

"A flower that grew from years of flowers./By one who caused a modern shudder/and was favored by his mother./It is the wall that conceals all the tears of a relatively young man/with nothing but glory in his grasp and what he would be/grasping is the hand of God drawing him into another garden."

For those who will never afford a Mapplethorpe, this book is a beautiful substitute.

While the photos are stunning, the presentation is a little rough. While most photos are presented with a blank page opposite there are a few photos that face other photos. This is a little jarring but worse is the two photos that are printed across the facing page. The spine break really detracts from a pair of beautiful photos.
Mapplethorpe was a genius with a camera and this book gives us many reminders of his skill. The publisher, however, lacks the artistic eye that would have prevented the distractions of a few photos that are damaged or badly placed by the layout. Minus a star because it could have been layed out better

Even though Mapplethorpe is better known for his controversial black and white nude photos, this book demonstrates his careful delicacy with not only the flowers but also the controlled lighting and the subtle colors. I have loved this book since the first time I leafed through it in studio photo class.

Unbelivable intensity out of such simplicity. Here is Mapplethorpe's ultimate genius, astoundingly powerful from such simple set-ups. The colour, composition, lighting, choice of vases and flowers: All the basics but brilliantly done.
I saw Mapplethorpe's famous exhibition in Philadelphia just before he died,the exhibit that was banned at the Corcoran in D.C., then siezed for a while in Cincinnati. The flower photographs were dye-transfer prints, which made the colour surprisingly intense; some were almost 3' tall. People would stand for a long time in front of those, enraptured, sensing the work on several different levels at once. This book does a good job of bringing that to you. You can look at this book over and over again, put in on a coffe table to start converstaions or, after having not seen it for a while, rediscover it to be awed and inspired anew once again.
The edition I have is a 1990 paperback 12" in height; the pictures are presented one to a spread, so that there is a blank white page accross from the flower, which is a very classy touch, completely the correct way to do it.

Foreigner is a satisfying conclusion to the Quintaglio series. How to get off the moon before certain destruction? How to deal with a newly discovered dinosaur species? Why do the gest Quintaglios have such rage and then contrition when seening those new dinosaurs? It's not just dinosaurs, it's pyschology and family and thinking outside the egg. Loads of fun and lots of thought in this terrific read.

An exciting and interesting conclusion to Robert Sawyer's trilogy about intelligent descendants of the dinosaurs. Naturally in the way that fiction often does, it wraps up the loose ends almost too well. I was interested to discover that this is some of Sawyer's earliest published work. It has been a while since I read any of his more recent work but I think there is a contrast - the protagonists in the Hominids series are not nearly as certain or guaranteed of success.

What actually happens in the book? It would be difficult to say much without giving away a lot of the plot, but from the blurb you can doubtless gather that the Quintaglios discover they are not the only intelligent species on their moon. What they find out about their neighbours leads to very difficult times indeed, and threatens the goal of escape from their doomed home.

Foreigner


Foreigner (1994) is the third and final book of Sawyer's Quitaglio Ascension trilogy.

In Foreigner Sawyer borrows elements from real Human History to add bits and pieces to his characterizations. In this one he borrows bits and pieces from Guy de Chaulia, Sigismund Schlomo Freud Also; there is a little Japanese Kamikazes. There that's enough clues. Go out and get this book!

If you enjoyed The Fossil-Hunter and the Far-Seer as much as I did, you'll want to read this concluding book.


Next comes... nothing. Oh, well, I'll check out his short stories in Iterations, maybe read Calculating God, again. Or possibly the Neanderthal series ,hmm.


Sawyer does let his Liberal leanings peek out at you in this book, but not terribly so. The nose of the camel does get snuck under the tent.

All in all this is a delightful ending to a very pleasant trilogy.

As the concluding work in the Quintaglio series of planetary destruction, this book draws together many elements introduced earlier. Although ostensibly a dinosaur, Afsan's character grows more human with each volume. As a reflection of current Euro-North American society, Foreigner is hard to beat. That reflection may be too vivid for some. Sawyer has a fine talent for portraying reality, whether on an imaginary planet or right next door. This series remains a challenging read.

A trilogy of sub-plots keeps your interest alive through the main theme. The saurians are learning about their own world while striving for the means to escape it. Sawyer depicts the violent mental disruptions of racism with talent. Although dinosaurs mate for reproductive ends, he manages to introduce a new feature of their lives, jealousy versus loyalty. While the accounts of Novato, Afsan's mate and his son Toroca are compelling, it's the relationship of Afsan, the continuing primary character in this series, that renders this book worthy of note. His association with the practitioner of the new therapy of psychology makes hilarious reading. Mokleb, the 'therapist,' is a marvelous rendition of the money-grubbing cockroaches that infest Earth's cities today. She's a Freudian, of course, with all the fanciful ideas of conscious and subconscious ['high' and 'low' mind] and dream interpretation that has bled many a bank account dry during the past century. Her negotiation with Afsan over payment for the therapy sessions is too vividly real to be missed.

If you are new to Sawyer, by all means start the trilogy at the beginning and follow it through this volume. You will learn much about your own world as Sawyer reflects it in Afsan's. The series is a good addition to any library of speculative fiction. The only truly speculative part of Sawyer's works is the 'people' portrayed and their location in the cosmos. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

I've waited years for this, and it was worth the wait. Some people perhaps didn't read Sawyer's Quintaglio series when it first came out, because all they saw were the dinosaurs on the covers. But the fact that his characters are intelligent saurians is almost incidental. This whole series is really a discussion of science and faith, and an examination of what breakthroughs in science would be like if they were really crucially important (what if it was a matter of life and death how the solar system was arranged -- not just for Galileo, but for EVERYONE [the plot of FAR-SEER]; what if the truth of evolution over creationism was the key to a species' survial [that's FOSSIL HUNTER]; and what if a breakthrough along the lines of psychoanalysis was the only thing that would stop a genocide [the current volume, FOREIGNER].) All three are wonderfully told, but FOREIGNER holds the most surprises and twists, not to mention packing the biggest emotional whallop. Bonus: a comprehensive "Quintaglio Concordance," drawn from all three books, at the end. As the cover quote from a Canadian newspaper says, "A fine end to a brilliant series."

This book should be required reading for all folks at DHS, FBI and DOD involved in counter-terrorism activities. It's full of new material and research on an 80 year old case, which speaks volumes about Mr. Koenig's excellent research, analytical and writing talents, especially in light of the repetitive and often erroneous pablum cranked out by government history offices... Koenig's research and analysis into Dr. Anton Dilger's past on both sides of the Atlantic reveals the man's predisposition for intelligence work for Germany, in spite of his US citizenship. Solid, ground-breaking research, more readable than a fiction thriller, fantastic book...

I've read the book a couple of times and have gotten more out with each reading. Bob Koenig has done a tremendous job in terms of the accuracy of his research. His writing style draws the reader into the story. Excellent and highly recommended.

Robert Koenig's portrayal of Anton Dilger's mission to bring germ warfare to America during WWI is far more than just a gripping story of biological warfare and sabotage in one of its first modern instances. Koenig's work resonates to our own contemporary struggle against terrorism in a number of different ways. First, Koenig delves into the psyche and family history of Anton and with painstaking research presents to the reader the fascinating story of how an American born medical student becomes an agent for Imperial Germany. Second, we are reminded of the response of the US government in dealing with the supposed "enemy within", in both its indiscriminate nature and ineffective results. Finally, Koenig also reminds us of the societal response towards the supposed German-American "threat", one that had its own "liberty stakes" (taste great when combined with "freedom fries", one would assume).

This is a very well researched book that combines intrigue of the mysterious world of spies during WWI with a personal story of a man who chose to betray his country, one that his father served proudly during the Civil War. In a way, Koenig offers a reminder that our current predicament is not so unique.

To someone from outside the US, this book brought many revelations, foremost of which was the insight into the thriving German community that existed there prior to 1914, but now is no more. We are familiar with Italian, Greek and Polish influences, but the Germans, as the enemy after a bitter war, had to subsume their culture.

The anti-hero of this gripping book, Anton Dilger, belonged to a family which was more American than German already, but he felt the pull back to earlier roots. The personal letters and insights that Rob Koenig has painstakingly researched show how horrific incidents like the Corpus Christi Massacre in Karlsruhe can have far-reaching effects through people struggling with their identity.

Koenig tells this story in such a way that you do not know what is coming, and thus every chapter has an impact. Throughout, he reveals his mastery of scientific writing for the public. I've read some of his other work on contemporary science, and was delighted to see this historical work. I hope he does another book. This one, meanwhile, is highly recommended to those who like biography, travel, history, science and warfare, all rolled up in one.

My name is Tim O'Neil (husband of Christine). For a decade, Robert Koenig and I worked together as reporters at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I offer this as personal disclosure and testimony to my knowledge of Mr. Koenig's fine work. He is thorough in research and careful to confirm information. His writing is clear and absorbing. He applied those skills in writing The Fourth Horseman. He read family files and forgotten government archives. He searched hard for single documents to explain or confirm information on Anton Dilger, and then wrote a full narrative of the motivations and acts of a man who worked hard to cover his tracks. He took time to explain Dilger's era, especially its reliance upon horses, to provide the setting for one man's trail. The result is a fine book.

Mr. Purvin's book is an outstanding review of the history of franchising and the current state of the franchisor/franchisee relationship. It is a must read for anyone involved in the business of franchising, particularly those who are considering investment in a franchise system.
It's words ring truer today than when they were first published over a decade ago.

I am researching some business opportunities, including franchising. I was put off by some of the terms of the franchise agreements that I had reviewed, and so ordered some books on the subject. "The Franchise Fraud" is a must read for anyone considering "renting" (you don't buy a franchise, they all have a limited term). Mr. Purvin exposes many of the traps and pitfalls that can befall a franchisee when they don't understand what they are getting into. He also debunks many of the rosy statistics about success rates quoted by franchisors. In many cases, the franchise company holds all of the cards, and the franchisee has very few rights under the typical franchising contract.

The most intelligent and well reasoned business book I have read in a long time.

As an aspiring entrepreneur, and like many others, I considered purchasing a franchise as one possible route to business ownership. Not having owned a business previously, I figured this could be a lower risk way to learn about business through the benefit of a pre-existing, "proven" business method. For the price of the franchise, I would enjoy a symbiotic, cooperative relationship with the franchisor, for a cut of my revenues in exchange.

In short, I was prepared to buy into the franchise fraud.

Robert Purvin knows his subject. He spent the better part of his career as an attorney representing franchisors. With so colorful a title, I was expecting a rant against franchises in the broad language of most business books.

I was pleasantly surprised. Mr. Purvin, in summary, details the many ways in which franchisors, well with the law as it currently exists, target and bleed their middle class franchisees. With citation to court cases, government publications, and other authoritative material, the autor picks apart the myth that "95% of franchises are successful". He details the powerful legal and contractual methods through which many franchisors, far from helping and coaching their franchisees, use franchisees' capital to test unproven markets, saturate existing ones and take over the cream of the crop.

Not wanting a single book to shape my opinion, I confirmed with actual franchisees their opinion of the industry. Their complaints read like a checklist from the book. Needless to say, purchasing a franchise has sunk to the lower rungs of my list of opportunities.

Don't get ripped off. Buy this book.

Purvin does a great job in giving detailed description on deceptive practices in the franchising industry. A real eye opener on how a person can be easily burned. The book is dated, but is still very relevant.

This book identified the qualities of a good franchise. This is a must read -- it is worth the investment in time and money!

This book's a prefect exmaple of how a "making of ..." book should be written. It's choke full of conceptual designs, screen tests, screen shots, comaprison between the comic books and the film's visuals. Plus the script. I find it extremely worth the price. If you are a fan of movies with great visuals and comic book-based movies, this one is a can't miss.

One of the most informative and professionally layed out books about a movie I have ever read. Usually you would have to pay top dollar to buy a book of such high quality. Definately recommend to any film enthusiast or maker!

Simply all you could ask for. Detailed journey through the entire movie with quotes from the director and the author. Excellent quality pictures. Great behind the scenes information and gossip. Can't wait for the sequels!!!

Frank Miller is a comic book god, rejuvenating classic stories like Batman and Daredevil while simultaneously conjuring up well-written and provocative tales of sinister film noir and graphic novel impressionist avant-garde violence. One of the most impressive and original movies I've seen for years, SIN CITY blew me away with its knowingly malicious nature, razor-edge script and frenetic action. To have such revolutionary geniuses like Miller and Quentin Tarintino collaborate on a film like this, it's more than welcome for American audiences looking for a non-traditional event that shakes the rule book, rips out all the pages and burns them. This behind the scenes tome, penned by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez is filled to the brim with all the essentials that make a great backstage look at the absorbing world of filmmaking. Containing the entire screenplay for Sin City, a widespread behind the scenes photo collection, cast and filmmakers feelings on the film, nicely presented publicity material for the marketing, and so much more. Lavishly presented and with enough info to satisfy the most ardent fan, what more could you want? This is indispensable material for any film fan, and a great value, it makes this even more appealing. If you don't already have this enthralling manuscript, buy it now!

If you know a decent movie when you see one, you'll love this book on the making of Sin City. It explains how the movie was taken from graphic novel to screen. It has quotes from the cast and crew, the screenplay in it's entirity, as well as some awesome pictures. It goes into detail about the wardrobe and cars in the movie, and how they achieved the comic-book style that they were going for. Plus, almost every page has a page from the graphic novel in the background, so if you've never read the original Sin City you pretty much can by buying this book (If your eyesight's good enough, that is).