Ross Books

What can I say about this book that hasn't been said...nothing much really just that this is a must have book for any ones collection as it contains the first comics in order of the Fantastic Four series and showcases some of the early villans that have been known throughout the years in the Fantastic Four world...

I recommend not only this but all the Marvel Omnibus series as Marvel has done a great job in publishing a book where you get a whole lot of content in on book as apposed to buy multiple books for the same thing....

In the fall of 1961, Jacob Kurtzberg of New York City's Hell's Kitchen York teamed with fellow Manhattanite Stanley Lieberman to put some pizzazz in Martin Goodman's monster comic book line, and came up with a quartet of off-beat heroes who would launch the Marvel Age of Comics. Today it's hard to say who is more famous, the creators or their creations.

Better known as Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, these two men largely were the House of Ideas, and nowhere did they demonstrate it better than in the pages of The Fantastic Four. Collected here are the first thirty seminal issues and the first summer annual, complete with pinups and letters columns and even in-house ads and special features, but all on much better paper and with more vibrant colors than the original stories.

Whether you're an aging Baby-Boomer whose mother threw out the dog-eared copies you used to keep under your bed, or a neophyte who never heard of Dr. Doom until the first Fantastic Four movie, this is a wonderful book that will remind (or show) you why The Fantastic Four deserved the title of "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine."

an earlier reviewer mentioned that it's better/easier to read these issues through the DVD-Rom and I would disagree with that because it's never as comfortable to go scrolling up and down each page of a book like this when you can have each issue reproduced in mint condition and read them all at your liesure in a comfy chair or in bed and appreciate the early brilliance of Lee/Kirby. It simply does NOT get better than this. Cannot recommend it highly enough. My question is when does the next TWO F.F. Omnibuses come out? We desperately need F.F. #31 thru 65 and then #66 thru 100 to wrap up the entirety of the Lee/Kirby run. Marvel, HURRY!

I think these are the finest comic books ever produced but I took off one star for the format. It's just too big and unwieldy when trying to read. You can only read it comfortably by setting it down on a table. The Marvel Masterworks format is much better. They only need to add the letters pages and the few little special features (There are only about 5 pages of unused artwork at the back of the book) and the Omnibus becomes unnecessary.

Really what can one say about Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's Fantastic Four. Its a groundbreaking concept that you as the reader get to watch mature in 30 + issues in one book and in color. Its different than other super hero books as these members have great emotional reactions between both the evil foes and themselves. Its a Super hero comic soap opera as every issue became a cliff hanger. Jack Kirby makes this book live with his dynamic art. Stan's no slouch with stories either. Its a decent price to pay and is put together well. Many Marvel books have gutter problems, this one doesn't. Do yourself a favor and either re-live these books or start with some timeless super hero stories, its a winner !

This is the third in the series of books on Western geology, following 'Basin and Range' and 'In Suspect Terrain'. John McPhee has the ability to write very readable and knowledgable essays about almost any subject that he chooses to examine, and these three books are very much a case in point.

Whether you are seriously or just mildly interested in geology, this book is entertaining and infromative. There is enough family history (of his geologist companion), geological history etc. to keep you fascinated and to make for a good reading experience.

This book was very informative and it comes from a person who grew up in Wyoming under some hard circumstances so who else could give such a good and informative edition. I found it both interesting and was addicted to the reading. I've lived in Wyoming and have often wonder how certain rock formations became as they are and what was in our past as well what is in our future.
Thanks for a Great Book.

I'm not a slow reader, but I rarely read a book in the same 24 hours. This one was an exception. I was immediately drawn in (and by a subject that is not of more than general interest to me), and I more or less did not put the book down until I'd read to the last page.

As a teacher, I'm first of all impressed by how McPhee makes an academic and scientific subject (geology) not just interesting but gripping. For the most part, he personalizes it, introducing an eminent field geologist, David Love, who takes him and us on a tour around Love's home-state, Wyoming, describing over 2 billion years of the geological past as revealed in the cuts along Interstate 80 and in a side trip to Jackson Hole, outside Yellowstone Park. Love is very much a product of his upbringing on an isolated ranch in central Wyoming, his mother educated at Wellesley, his father an immigrant from Scotland who quotes William Cowper and Sir Walter Scott.

Love is independent, old school, hands-on, tireless, scrupulous, an innovative thinker who has made a significant impact over a lifetime in his field, choosing to work for the US Geological Survey after a short period of unhappy employment for an oil company. McPhee captures his very individual point of view, his dedication to science, and his Western perspective in character sketches and fragments of conversation between them. He has a dry sense of humor, colorful turns of phrase, and a toughness that goes along with long periods of field work and sleeping rough under the stars. He's also a grand-nephew of John Muir.

The book actually begins with his mother's wintery journey by horse-drawn coach from Rawlins to central Wyoming, where she has accepted a teaching job at a one-room school. It segues between the story of his parents' courtship in the first decade of the 20th century and his travels with McPhee over 70 years later, finally devoting a long section to Love's own boyhood, growing up on his parents' ranch, with an older brother, among cowboys raising both sheep and cattle. The accounts of surviving blizzards and floods that nearly wipe them out, the visitors passing through who may or may not be hunted killers, even an appearance (possibly two) by Butch Cassidy make this compelling reading for anyone with an interest in the early days of ranching in the West.

There's a brilliant section late in the book as McPhee describes Love's fascination with Jackson Hole while he's still a graduate student at Yale, and after many years of walking the ridges and summits around it, developing a scenario of how it was formed over the eons. McPhee's rendering of this scenario in words is vivid, and in the mind's eye, you can see mountain ranges and seas rise and fall in all manner of climates from tropical to ice age, until the topography assumes its present configuration, which is still changing.

I highly recommend this book. As companion volumes, I also recommend Loren Eiseley's memoir "All the Strange Hours," Geoffrey O'Gara's book about water rights in the Wind River basin, "What You See in Clear Water," and James Galvin's novel, "Fencing the Sky," in which a modern-day cowboy fugitive travels much of this same terrain on horseback.

Rising from the Plains in another of John McPhee's remarkable books on North American geology and quite possibly his best. McPhee has taken the geology of Wyoming, the history of the state and that of a local frontier family, and entwined them to make this lesson in earth science addictively readable.

McPhee travels the state with a host geologist from the USGS whose life's work is the study of Wyoming topography. What results is an extremely comprehensive (yet entirely pleasurable) explanation of the forces in play which created the Wyoming wonderland. Spanning from Yellowstone to the Tetons, from Medicine Bow to Flaming River Gorge, McPhee has authored a true gem and one that I enjoyed immensely. Rising from the Plains easily merits five big, bright, bountiful stars. Well done, Mr. McPhee.

John McPhee joins geologist David Love for a tour of the Wyoming countryside. Well at least, McPhee uses their drive along Interstate 80 as a jumping off point to spin a tale or two. Painting on a broad canvas, he pieces together a detailed picture of Wyoming from its rich geological history, to the hearty characters that settled there. And the focal point for all this is David Love. And why not? Love's history with the area is indeed the stuff that can fill a book.

The descriptions of Love's parents (especially his dad) and how they cut their teeth in the ranching business on the unforgiving landscape proved the most entertaining for me. The time spent looking for lost sheep, and moving herds put David Love on a path to his ultimate passion.... The geology of Wyoming. For Love, the Wyoming landscape appeared more interesting and mysterious than anything else. To his credit, Love is the only person to build a complete geological survey of an entire state. Not to mention probably one of the most complex.

McPhee wraps up the book by looking at the challenges that face a place rich in resources such as coal, shale, and uranium. As a geologist, Love reflects on the interesting role his life work plays in this regard. For me, the story reveals two competing forces. One being how a land like Wyoming can influence and shape a man's entire life, and conversely how that same man's life work can change our view and understanding of a complex landscape such as Wyoming.

I seldom reread a book; this book I have read twice and bought three copies to give away. I will read it again; the writing is so funny, so dazzling. The characters are so real, their stories so poignant. Jewish readers will especially love this book; we know these people though we have never met. I fell in love with Bummy Davis and when he died, I felt a loss. My gangster imagination loved reading about all the mob characters, though I am not a fan of violence or boxing for that matter. I read this book as my husband lay dying of cancer; it kept me uplifted during this difficult time. I loved that it was long and hated that it had to end. This is such a special book, and I haven't even mentioned the awesome research it must have taken to write it.

This book is a very satisfying trip down boxing's memory lane. Ron Ross resurrects here the color and drama of a very fascinating, tough NY prizefighter with a heart of gold--Bummy. Ross gives us in this welcomed work, devoted research, clearly a labor of love, and fine writing. Clearly, I see this book being optioned in Hollywood. Boxing translates to the screen in a big way and I see this book making a million bucks for some talented film maker.

The authur Ron Ross is at his best. I could not stop reading amd I recommended the book to all my sons.I lived in East New york during those days.Fascinating.
Harry Keller

Fantastic account of the life and career of Al 'Bummy' Davis, during the time of Mob rule in New York. Fascinating look into the ways and troubles of immigrant communities and their exploitation by gangsters.

Whether you are looking for a boxing or mafia book, this will do the job.

For anyone who loves a good story, written with wit, humor, and style, this book is for you. I couldn't put it down, and found something to chuckle about or a phrase to admire or an ironic comment I loved at least once on each page. I finished the book today (March 29, 2007)and did something I never did before (and I am 80 year's old). I noted from the book jacket that the author divides his time between Oceanside, LI and Boca Raton, Fl, and even though it is 4 years since the book was written and the author's name is a relatively common one, I called information for his Boca Raton number and took a chance that it was the right Ron Ross. I left a message that if this Ron Ross was an author, would he please call me, and I left my number. A few hours later I received a call from Mr. Ross and we had a delightful conversation for 10 minutes or so. For me to have taken the time to locate Mr. Ross and call him is an example that actions speak louder than words. Believe my action and go out and buy, read, enjoy, and love the book. It's cheap enough, and you'll thank me, and more so, will thank Ron Ross.

Ed Gold

Read this one a couple of years ago.
In my opinion, this book is the best book written on the subject.
Very practical guide to distressed debt analysis; very structured, easy to read, great overview of potential legal issues. Helps a reader to develop a right mindset for distressed debt investing.

If you are looking at distressed assets (not just debt) of any kind, this is the only book you need.

All bases are covered, from legal proceedings, financial statement analysis, to market micro-structure.

This is not a suitable book for retail investors, unless the issue happens to be very large and liquid (e.g. Calpine debt in 12/'07). This text is directed primarily at institutional investors, so know this before you buy.

Other subjects are covered such as "loan to own", etc.

A winner.

Extremely helpful in preparing our new hires - it is required reading. This book will be a desk reference for years to come.

It's a must buy for people in high-yield/distressed analysis. I was suggested this book at my first day at work.

Unlike many academic books, this is a practical analysis of distressed debt, the bankruptcy process, and all the related financial, accounting and valuation issues that arise in this context. It is well written and well organized.

Some other books on the topic go into significantly more detail in esoteric issues; however this book is a must for a grounded detailed understanding of the topic. I have recommended this book to a number of colleagues in the industry and all were equally appreciative.

Ralph Ellison is still alive. This novel is a typical continuation of his themes. One black man entirely locked up Underneath or Below, in the Subway maze of corridors, tracks and blind rooms is the storyteller. He is also locked up in his lost memory that he is going to recapture little by little. And what will come out of it ? A brilliant black woman, Agatha will reveal her mystery. She is the granddaughter of a black minister in North Carolina, but she is the daughter of a white man and her mother was beaten to death by the grandfather of this white man. She will deliver her child in the hands of the brother of this white man. The minister will get a tooth for a tooth, a child for a child, and the brother of the white man, Agatha's uncle, will look after her and then what was to happen will happen, even if it is a blind alley and a dead end. The white man, Agatha's father, will go away and have another child from another woman, this time white. She will die and then the father will die and the child will be entrusted to his grandmother who will come back to the father's town to find his relatives, but she ignores his real name. Fate will bring the white boy and Agatha, brother and sister, together, and the other boy, the black boy Agatha is taking care of and who is our storyteller, will become the friend of the white boy. White and black are so entangled together that they cannot be separated. The whole story takes place in the Civil Rights Movements era and the Ku Klux Klan is all-powerful in this small town of Edene, the badly-named Edene. This will dictate the events and Agatha, her white brother and her black child will get swallowed up in the hatred that goes along with KKK and the emerging Civil Rights Movement. The end will be tragic. Both boys will manage to go to New York and get lost in the Big Apple, the white one successful and the black one rejected or rather dropping out. They will also manage to reestablish a connection, communication and memory, coming back to the black boy, who is now over forty, a door will reopen of a new relation between the two boys, Mikey and Tony. The stuff is heavy, pungent and strong. The novel is interesting and quite easy to read and follow. It shows how guilt, desire and hatred are all twisted out of shape and embedded in all loving postures. Yet something sounds and feels awkward if not out of pace. It is bleak enough to be true, and yet the divided personalities, loyalties and lives are rather well shown on the black side but remain kind of schematic on the white side. The wall standing between the two communities is well rooted in white fear and hatred, but it is insufficiently rooted in the same feelings on the black side. The author seems to be overprudent to describe the hatred, not the fear, the Blacks feel in front of white injustice or rather social and historical injustice. Relations with people from the other side was just as much rejected on the white side as on the black side. This latter rejection is not entirely felt and depicted : it is too much seen as a response to the stimulus of white hatred. It is not only that : the concept of difference, uncrossable difference existed and still exists on both sides, blocking the possibility for America to see that all it represents and it has invented is the result of a constant give-and-take process between the two communities, the result of a cooperation that nearly no one has the courage to show and assume, except maybe Ralph Ellison in the most recent half century. We do not reach the concept of democratic diversity that is emerging at that very period of time (1960s and 1970s) in Ralph Ellisons's writings and thinking. A great book that deals with memory that blocks history in its loss and that unblocks life in its recovery.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

I could not put this book down: it is stunning -
beautiful, disturbing, frightening: brilliant and should have won prizes. The language is rich and urgent, the characters and settings compelling, the messages about good and evil and humanity are ones that we all should heed. Read it.

Orange laughter will stay with you long after you've read the last page. Ms. Ross's journey into the main character's deranged mind is riveting. The journey down the tragic road of the segregated south turns out to be a surprising love story that I simply could not get out of my head for days...

This is a wonderful and moving book. I read an extract from it once, and made a point of getting it...and I'm glad I did! The characters are all so unique and intruiging and the writer brings you right into their world. My favourite character would probably be Mikey, the young, overweight friend to the main character Tony, due minly to his innocence and kindly ways.The story takes you round many different corners and back again without leaving anyone behind. And as with many great books, the secrets unravelled throughout will no doubt bring a smile to your face or tears to your eyes.
Thank you Leone Ross for this chapter in my life of books...

I just finished Orange Laughter. I can't explain why, but something abut the book edified my soul, haunted me, made me want to write, made what I know seem real ... If that makes sense...

I just finished the Poldark Saga (all 12 books) and can't recommend them enough!! I was able to secure 10 of the 12 from our local library system but had to buy the other two due to unavailability, and they are well worth their purchase price. I'm a lover of Brit lit and this series takes you to the Cornish coast and proceeds to envelop you into the lives of an engaging family and their friends and foes. Great descriptions of the coast and the weather, both of which figure greatly into the story lines, and the characters are indeed people you would enjoy knowing.

The quest for the 12 books was well worth the effort. Go forth and enjoy!!

These books have no equal in historical fiction. I have read them several times and am starting over again. The writing and character development are the best I've ever read. Start at the beginning and end with #12 - Bella Poldark - which was written a year or two before the author passed away. This series could provide a book group with material for an entire year!

I have recently been introduced to this series and started reading books which were originals from the 40's. It is a wonderful series and I have now read 10 of the novels and wish it would never end. Great piece of history and family. It is so nice to be able to read "new" books, even though I enjoyed the yellowed pages of the old ones I have. Don't miss it! Also have the BBC Video set which is in black in white, but interesting, none-the-less.

In 1783, Ross Poldark, the title character to the opening volume (published in 1945) of the magnificent Poldark series, the great undertaking of Cornish writer Winston Graham's ninety-three-year life, is first introduced to us as a young man in his early twenties, a de-commissioned infantry officer, recently returned from the brutality of the War of Rebellion in Colonial America. Given up for dead and in fact wounded almost to the point of death, Poldark returns to his native Cornwall, a scarred, limping figure, still spirited but aged and hardened by the horrors of war. Grimly, the adventurous risk-taker Poldark discovers his father, the local squire and something of a lothario, is dead, his fiancée, Elizabeth, believing Ross killed in combat, is now engaged to wed Ross' cousin, Francis, and that an ambitious family of rising commercial entrepreneurs, the Warleggans, are in the process of trying to persuade Ross's uncle to sell them the mines that would have been Ross's has his father's will been penned without the apparent tragedy of his son's death foremost in his mind. The story spreads like the branches of a massive tree and before the conclusion of this, volume one, we come to meet the sort of characters that will never be forgotten, and find ourselves witness to scenes and situations that stir the imagination.

What separates the dozen Poldark novels from so many other historical works is firstly the intricate, good-natured, involving plotline Graham sustained throughout the sixty years he was writing about these characters, but above that, there is within each Poldark work a sense that one is entering a past time, not merely reading of it. Life as Graham writes in any of these books is a near three-dimensional voyage two hundred years backward, and he leaves few stones unturned. When one reads these novels one learns about the mining industry of the era, the banking industry, social customs, warfare, and contemporary attitudes on an encyclopedic range of subjects. One witnesses the rise of Methodism, and grasps its role as an outlet to quell ill-will among the English lower classes, as nothing did among the violent-minded masses of 1780's France. Graham tells us what people in those times wore, ate, drank, what they would have felt, witnessed, heard, smelled, thought, and feared. He takes a modern person into what might very well be described as a psychological/sociological time machine. These books boil with the gamut of human emotion and passion, from hate to lust, to love, to desire for all manner of possessions.

Ross Poldark and the eleven other novels that follow it are storytelling at its old-fashioned greatest, and this book launches what I truly feel is the greatest historical saga in the English language.

This is the first Poldark novel introducing Ross Poldark, Cornwall mining owner/farmer/squire and his extended family.

I especially enjoyed listening to the audiotapes narrated by
Tony Britton; his chararcters' accents are humorous and entertaining. I love the Poldark series and after I read or
listen to all the novels I'd like to see the videos.

Wonderful stories and characters, highly enjoyable. Hard to
put down.

I stumbled across this book, and immediately bought it, along with several copies for my friends as well. Taking it to a nearby coffee shop, I laughed so hard other patrons were staring, and somebody actually came up and asked me what was so funny. They seemed to think I was crazy for deliberately buying a book of bad poetry. Finally, I began laughing so hard I was crying, and had to leave to coffee shop to save some sense of dignity! With such gems as "Ode to a Ditch," and "Elegy for a Dissected Puppy," this book proves more interesting and entertaining than I expected, and is also a testament to the indomitable human spirit, which warbles the strangest of verses.

What sets this anthology apart from others on bad poetry is the quality and tone of the short editorial commentaries preceding each poet. These witty and elucidating notes enhance the enjoyment of the poetry. This anthology also seems to include the largest selection of what the editors of The Stuffed Owl anthology would call bad bad poets. Fred Emerson Brooks, for example, was noted for his partiality for writing in dialect, a crowd-pleasing late nineteenth century device. The Petras siblings include his "multicultural masterpiece" "Foreigners on Santa Claus" and his "particularly nauseating" baby talk poem "The New Baby." The latter qualifies for "The Worst Baby Talk Poem." Such stunningly awful examples of special bad poems are highlighted, labeled, and scattered throughout the text. Highly recommended even for serious readers!

Let's qualify this review with how much I love bad things. I spend most of my free time wondering incessantly about what the creator of such inconceivable nonsense had in mind. Why did you, Ms. Parrington, think it was okay to write a poem about a 'dissected dog'? Why, William McGonagall, do you think your "mastery" of poetic license should have no meter, no forward movement and incredibly bad rhyme schemes? And, what the heck do you say to "Ode on a Mammoth Cheese"??? All in all, the Petras did a magnificent job of putting this compendium of what-not-to-do-if-you-want-to-be-a-poet. And, don't we all want to be poets? Keep trying and maybe you will be in volume 2 of this excellent awfulness.

Great poets have their weak moments, but they tend to produce only the occasional bad line - say, for example, when William Wordsworth, one of England's greatest poets, wrote the unintentionally bawdy "Give me your tool, to him I said."

Very bad poets, however, "are perpetrators of a unique and fascinating kind of writing. Unlike the plainly bad or the merely mediocre, very bad poetry is powerful stuff. Like great literature, it moves us emotionally, but, of course, it often does so in ways the writer never intended: usually we laugh."

This book is dedicated to those writers, mostly from the 19th century, who excelled at very bad poetry with astonishing consistency. Those who were blessed, if that is the word, for their entire career with "a wooden ear for words, a penchant for sinking into a mire of sentimentality, a bullheaded inclination to stuff too many syllables or words into a line or a phrase, and an enviable confidence" that allowed them to write despite absolute appalling incompetence.

Here we find the awful metaphor ("the dew on my heart is undried and unshaken") and the tortured rhyme ("Gooing babies, helpless pygmies,/ Who shall solve your Fate's enigmas?") next to one of the most unappetizing titles for a love poem ever ("I Saw Her in Cabbage Time").

Some of the most hilarious effects are created by the attempt to dramatize the pedestrian, as in the "Ode on the Mammoth Cheese", aptly subtitled "Weighing over 7,000 pounds":

We have seen thee, queen of cheese,
Lying quietly at your ease,
Gently fanned by evening breeze,
Thy fair form no flies dare seize. (there are five more delicious stanzas)

Not quite as riotously funny, but interesting as a phenomenon of the 19th century, is the preoccupation of very bad poets with death. It produced tasteless marvels of what the editors labeled "tabloid verse" like:

Oh, Heaven! It was a frightful and pitiful sight to see
Seven bodies charred of the Jarvis family;
And Mrs. Jarvis was found with her child, and both carbonized,
And as the searchers gazed thereon they were surprised.

Another favorite of very bad poets is the use of bizarre words in blissful ignorance of their meaning or the common readers' associations. One of the most talented in this respect was one Amanda McKittrick Ros, "a writer with a gift for (as she puts it) 'disturbing the bowels.'" To her we owe the following lines written on the occasion of her visit of Westminster Abbey:

Holy Moses! Have a look!
Flesh decayed in every nook!
Some rare bits of brain lie here
Mortal loads of beef and beer
Some of whom are turned to dust, [only some?]
Every one bids lost to lust.

The editors' favorite worst poem ever written in the English language bears the title "A Tragedy" - which, indeed, it is. But I don't want to spoil the fun by quoting it here. My own favorite is an excerpt from "A Pindaresque on the Grunting of a Hog." Nothing describes the voice of a very bad poet better than the sounds this animal makes:

Harmonious Hog draw near!
No bloody Butchers here,
Thou need'st not fear.
Harmonious Hog draw near, and from thy beauteous Snowt,
Whilst we attend with Ear
Like thine prik't up devout,
To taste thy sugry Voice, which hear, and there,
With wanton Curls, Vibrates around the Circling Air,
Harmonious Hog! Warble some Anthem out!

Pindar, by the way, was the most famous lyric poet of ancient Greece. He lived in the 5th century BC and saw himself as a poet dedicated to preserving and interpreting great deeds and their divine values.

Another famous ancient Greek author ("Sing, o muse, the wrath of Achilles ...") inspired a very bad poet to what is perhaps the worst line of poetry ever written without satiric intent: "Now, Muse, let's sing of rats." In fact, the poet changed the last word from the original "mice" to "rats" because he found "rats" more dignified.

Bad poetry is one of life's greatest illicit joys, and there are some real gems here, along with much commentary by the editors who help explain why this stuff is so terrible in case you somehow can't figure it out. For my taste, there are too many little excepts here and not enough complete poems. For fans of this sort of thing, I also strongly recommend two other books. The first is "Pegasus Descending," an earlier collection of bad verse that was among the first of its kind. (I think it may come back into print in 2001?) Hilarious. The other is the catalog of "Moba," the Museum of Bad Art in Massachusetts. Lord, are those paintings funny.

PROFESSORS-WITH-A-PAST: I've only met a one or two former offenders who were "criminologists" and it's hard for me to say how good they were in that role. My sense is that they are too "close" to what they are studying and that it is hard for them to remain objective. But I've also met a few "criminologists" who were not ex-offenders and who were not objective in their work. I suppose one's ability at one's job is dependent many factors, not just one's personal experiences.

As I see it, this trend for hiring "Professors-With-a-Past" represents yet another travesty of post-modernism and the academy. I once participated on a panel at the American Society of Criminology where a panel member declared he would never be associated with these "academic" institutions that constitute "cop shops." His entire focus was against "Ex-Cops" and other former-law-enforcement Professor's filling their lectures with "war stories."

There is now a marked trend by many criminal justice departments to realign their designation as "Department of Criminology;" "Department of Law and Society;" or to, either return/retain embodiment within a university Department of sociology or Social Work or other department umbrellas.

I tend to see much of this "Ex-Con Professors" article as "partisan pleading" and the "endless excuse." It is ironic that at a time when we will not hire people with a professional law enforcement background in criminal justice that these individuals are being lionized. The very fact that the Northern Kentucky University's Ex-Con Professor must open his lecture with warning that he will be using profane language hints at the same specious staging of these course. I would love to see the syllabi being produced by these people.

Yes, ex-offenders, as consumer of the product, may bring keen insights into the academy, especially thru research in institutional racism, institutional violence - gang's behind bars, prison rape, extortion. Prisons, reporting to the executive branch of government at the Federal, State, and Local level represent the most politicized element of the CJS, they are constantly prey to the respective policy mandates of an administration. Solid and balanced insights from ex-offender scholars regarding the "Politics of Punishment" are wanted and needed. I agree with the closing admonishments to the Ex-Con Professors regarding "serious research."

We do not need emblazoned ex-offender "war stories"...we need viable research in solving the dilemmas of recidivism and contributing to successful reintegration strategies.

Jess Maghan
Chester, CT
April 2004

CONVICT CRIMINOLOGY IS AN EDITED BOOK THAT FEATURES SOME OF THE BEST KNOWN ACADEMIC SCHOLARS IN THE FIELD. I especially enjoyed the chapters written by the ex-convict professors. They are the real experts on crime and corrections. The reading is cutting edge, state-of-the art, a new paradigm in criminology. This book will blow the cob webs off the walls of the ivory tower. This is a new criminology!

RICHARDS AND ROSS EDIT A FASCINATING WORK ON THE LIVES AND OBSERVATIONS OF VARIOUS SCHOLARS WITH DIRECT EXPERIENCE IN THE PENAL SYSTEM. THIS EASILY DIGESTIBLE BOOK SERVES AS AN EXCELLENT REFERENCE WORK ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF CRIMINOLGY, AND IS RECOMMENDED BOTH GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS. THE BOOK FEATURES 9 CHAPTERS BY EX-COVICTS THAT ARE NOW PROFESSORS OF SOCIOLOGY, CRIMINOLOGY, OR CRIMINAL JUSTICE.

There a lots of how to books out there but Behind Bars is something different. This book is assecessible to the general public and gives its readers, an inside perspective on prison. The language is clear and its points are made simply and directly. As an educator who has worked with "street kids," this book will be a useful tool at letting my students appreciate what it means to become ajudicated. Behind Bars is a "how to book" that you hope you will never need, or that your family or friends will ever need. But, on the other hand, maybe we do need to read this book so we get insight on this huge American industry. In order to be a well informed citizen I believe you should read this book.

As part of the Wadsworth Series on Contemporary Issues in Crime and Justice, this edited volume attempts to go beyond the coverage of typical classroom texts. The contributors, many of whom are ex-convicts-turned academics, are critical of assumptions used to justify incarceration, their central difficulty being with the way prisons dehumanise. This volume critically examines the prison institution from the perspective of the `other.'

Part 1, "What's Wrong with Corrections," sets the stage in three chapters. Austin argues that the current criminological research focus, much of which is misinterpreted, on predators, persisters or the truly dangerous, has resulted in the uncritical acceptance of incarceration as the solution. According to Ross, misrepresentations and stereotyping are the consequence of uncritically accepting of the media's take on corrections and reinforce existing crime-control practices, preventing discussions of alternative ways of doing crime control. Fisher-Giorlando reminds us that criminologists' successes, including her own, rests on the lives of men and women prisoners and that we owe it to them to devise and implement relevant policy.

Part 2, in six chapters, sets out "Convict Experience and Identity." Tromanhauser and Terry discuss the current state of conventional criminological research. Using his own life as an example, Tromanhauser reminds us that there is no simple explanation of crime causation. Terry concurs with Tromanhauser, adding that most criminological research is dominated by factor analysis and multivariate correlations' having little relevance with people's real life situations. Richards and Newbold discuss the state of social support for convicts. While Richards points out that corrections workers, more often than not, fail to interact with convicts in any meaningful or relevant fashion, Newbold argues that recidivism rates are high because many have no outside social support and reincarceration often occurs for breech of parole conditions. Thus, Newbold adds, life inside becomes easier because people learn how to adjust to life in prison. Lanier and Jones deal with adjustment to life inside and outside the prison walls. While Lanier points out that the increasing number of fathers in prison has negative psychological impacts due to their having long-term consequences for their institutional adjustment, Jones argues that adjustment back into society is subject to inmates' interpretations of past events and their current problem-solving skills. How prisoners face these challenges, Jones points out, can tell us a lot about what might be done to help them. The final chapter in Part 2 (by Mobley) argues that a fiscally responsible penology may mean better prisons may look completely different from prisons as we know them now. But Mobley, as an ex-convict, points out that suggestions made by him and his fellow convict criminologists face resistance from both convict and academic communities because the suggestions come from ex-convicts.

The final six chapters (Part 3), a somewhat eclectic collection, are about "Special Populations"-women, the physically and mentally ill, American Indians and juveniles. wen argues that we need to understand women's experiences from their point of view, conceptualising their behaviour as expressions of oppressive social contexts both outside and inside prison walls. On the issue of caring for the physically ill, Murphy suggests that overshadowing health care with security concerns poses danger to the inmate population and ultimately the community-at-large in terms of fiscal and resource burn-out. Arrigo points out that mental health offenders are effectively silenced because they are the subjects of transcarceration between mental hospitals and prisons. Thus alternative (more positive) interpretations/labels of their behaviours are effectively negated. The legal label `Indian' has social implications in terms of access to both constitutional rights and relevant institutional programming inside which has implications for preventing recidivism, according to Archambault. Tregea, a little off topic, deals with preventing recidivism, arguing for relevant programming that enhance inmates' chances for productive citizenry. In addition to vocational skills, quality educational programs that teach writing, oral, critical thinking and problem solving skills are needed. He further argues for both sentencing and recidivism guidelines to reduce the prison population in the long run. When examining how juveniles understand their carceral experience, Elrod and Brooks assert that the official version of the institution is a sanitised and at best, simplified version of realities experienced by those who live there, and that many juveniles do not see the point of much of what goes on inside.

The concluding chapter (Richards and Ross) invites readers to think about listening to the clientele of prisons so as to make relevant prison policy that may have a better chance of reducing the prison population in the long run.

Despite a few editorial errors, the no-nonsense writing style of some of the contributors may be unpalatable for some. The shifting levels of analysis among section chapters make this volume odd and eclectic in ways. However, this volume represents a significant and valuable contribution to the field of criminology making a strong argument for qualitative research in prisons. This volume offers a view of the prison institution and its effects, from the point of view of its clientele-the inmates- and is appropriate for senior undergraduates and criminal justice policy makers and administrators.

A stunning book. I felt like I knew every single person. I understood what drove them. I loved that! Having lived in Jamaica for seven years, I felt the author captured the sights, smells and sounds of a beautiful country and a resilient people. Mavis's story sang the blues for all women who've lived at the edge of abundance they couldn't touch. The women in London lived out the legacy of a struggle they didn't understand. Doing the very best they could with the wisdom, knowledge and understanding they have. Learning, changing and growing through each experience. It's a book about victory, even when it doesn't look they way we thought it would. Ross has a powerful writer's voice; one we will hear well in the new millenium.

At first the book starts out a bit slow, but afterwards, you just cannot put it down. Being Jamaican and having spent 6 months in London, made me appreciate the book even more, the language, the symbolisms, etc. It is funny and sad at the same time, but there's definitely a lesson to be learnt at the end of the day.

This is one of the best books I have ever read in my life. Ms. Ross shaped her characters into people that I feel like I actually know. I think I've read this book four times now and everytimes is as enjoyable as the first.

The characters made this novel for me - they were so real. I also enjoyed the humour that permeated throughout. I love books with a twist at the end and this novel did not disappoint. It was a fun read.

Loved this book! This story was one breath away from being real. It's truly amazing how the author so accurately described each character and their situations, yet leaving you with just enough room for you imagination to visualize the story. I literally got pulled into the world of these women of strength, intelligence, humor and imperfection. I found myself reading at every chance, between classes, breaks and yes between every bite at lunch. When you read the book, you will find yourself a favored character and will refuse to put the book down. I believe the author has done an excellent job of exposing readers to a taste of Jamaican life. So I will say it again, and you will too. LOVED THIS BOOK!

Immense credit must be given to Dr. Gaines-Ross who bravely and successfully takes on, notwithstanding the post Enron anti-CEO environment, the hypersensitive issue of CEO reputation. Yes, agrees Gaines-Ross, being a high profile, ego obsessed CEO is asking for trouble and is to be avoided like the plague. She refuses, however, to engage in the now fashionable tendency toward unrestrained CEO bashing, preferring instead a reasoned, astute and carefully researched analysis of the CEO's role.

While adding her voice to those who deride media hyped personalities, what she refers to as big "C" Celebrity CEOs, she cautions that old fashioned leadership is still desirable. When engaged in by talented CEOs, it may, indeed should, lead to the creation of an executive persona. Such a persona need not require media exposure and is entirely compatible with sound corporate practice. Such persona bearing CEOs are small "c" celebrated CEOs, who "by dint of strong leadership, discriminating vision, force of character and other admirable traits become celebrated by their employees, their industry, their peers, and occasionally (though not necessarily) even the media for jobs well done."

Gaines-Ross' book amounts to a much needed, intellectually honest warning not to let the anti-CEO backlash go too far. Refusing to jump blindly onto the anti-CEO bandwagon as have so many business pundits, she stresses that executive leadership is still necessary and if effectively and ethically rendered is something which should not be hidden under the rug but promoted openly. In pursuing the cause of sound, old fashioned corporate leadership, she lays out a roadmap, based on original research, on how CEOs may repair their reputations, stressing among other things the need to communicate internally, build a management team, develop a thematic stamp and a vision.

She deserves immense praise not only for her honest appraisal of the role of CEOs in today's business environment but also for presenting an immensely practical and useful format on how to lead ethically, energetically and effectively.

A major, original addition to the literature on leadership and reputation ... no doubt about it.

Immense credit must be given to Dr. Gaines-Ross who bravely and successfully takes on, notwithstanding the post Enron anti-CEO environment, the hypersensitive issue of CEO reputation. Yes, agrees Gaines-Ross, being a high profile, ego obsessed CEO is asking for trouble and is to be avoided like the plague. She refuses, however, to engage in the now fashionable tendency toward unrestrained CEO bashing, preferring instead a reasoned, astute and carefully researched analysis of the CEO's role.

While adding her voice to those who deride media hyped personalities, what she refers to as big "C" Celebrity CEOs, she cautions that old fashioned leadership is still desirable. When engaged in by talented CEOs, it may, indeed should, lead to the creation of an executive persona. Such a persona need not require media exposure and is entirely compatible with sound corporate practice. Such persona bearing CEOs are small "c" celebrated CEOs, who "by dint of strong leadership, discriminating vision, force of character and other admirable traits become celebrated by their employees, their industry, their peers, and occasionally (though not necessarily) even the media for jobs well done."

Gaines-Ross' book amounts to a much needed, intellectually honest warning not to let the anti-CEO backlash go too far. Refusing to jump blindly onto the anti-CEO bandwagon as have so many business pundits, she stresses that executive leadership is still necessary and if effectively and ethically rendered is something which should not be hidden under the rug but promoted openly. In pursuing the cause of sound, old fashioned corporate leadership, she lays out a roadmap, based on original research, on how CEOs may repair their reputations, stressing among other things the need to communicate internally, build a management team, develop a thematic stamp and a vision.

She deserves immense praise not only for her honest appraisal of the role of CEOs in today's business environment but also for presenting an immensely practical and useful format on how to lead ethically, energetically and effectively.

A major, original addition to the literature on leadership and reputation ... no doubt about it.

We have all been witness to the lionisation, and thereafter, the demonisation of CEOs.

As we watched some of the finest corporate reputations bite the dust, we also became acutely aware that there is no 'secret sauce' to brew a fine reputation. Yet there are some basic principles that apply and that is what this book sheds light on.

CEO Capital is not about impression management or building personality cults. Nor is it a simple 1-2-3 recipe for assembling a chief executive's reputation. It is for serious business professionals who recognise and honour the immensity of the chief executive's job, especially in today's complex business environment.

Over the past few years, Burson-Marsteller has contributed significantly to the body of knowledge through a series of research studies looking at CEO reputation and its contribution to broader corporate reputation. Those studies have found a significant - and growing - correlation between the credibility of the chief executive and reputation of his or her organisation.

The principal architect of that research is Leslie Gaines-Ross, B-M's chief knowledge officer, who joined the firm after serving as director of marketing and communication at Fortune magazine, where she was closely involved in the publication's Most Admired Corporations research.

In the book, Gaines-Ross builds on Burson's research and lays out a roadmap for CEOs who understand the increasing importance of both personal and institutional credibility. CEO reputation, according to this book, is dependent upon three 'C' factors -credibility, code of ethics, and communicating internally - and two 'M' factors - attracting and retaining a quality management team and motivating and inspiring employees.

So important are the CM factors that each one surpassed even wealth creation in importance according to the 2001 Burson-Marsteller study, she writes. Evidently, financial performance is important, but simply not enough.

Gaines-Ross makes a compelling case that building CEO capital is not about ego, but about good, old-fashioned leadership. And she shows that it has payoffs for the organisation. But before embarking on what Gaines-Ross calls "the CEO capital model of building reputation," the CEO must buy into the importance of building his or her personal credibility.

The most practical section of the book, based upon B-M's 'Seasons of a CEO' research, provides a roadmap for a new CEO seeking to build credibility inside and outside the organisation.

That task begins in the countdown period, before he or she takes office. The countdown is a time to cherish -a time when a CEO may quietly plan for the future, contact key shareholders, research the company, and do all those innumerable tasks for which there will be so little time later, says Gaines-Ross.

The first 100 days of a CEO's tenure are critical, and a time when the focus should be inward rather than on external audiences.

The media should be low on the list of priorities for a new CEO during the first 100 days, says Gaines-Ross. Media exposure without full opportunity to gain a thorough understanding of corporate workings is an invitation to disaster.

As the first year progresses, the focus slowly shifts. The CEO must establish a unique corporate persona in which the CEO's every action and deed reflects in some way the corporate values the CEO wishes to advance and the vision the CEO wishes to instil.

The first step is to engage in what Gaines-Ross calls "intense learning," from customers, from analysts, from alumni, from employees. Then, she says, CEOs can cultivate a persona, establishing those values that will drive the company, articulating a code of ethics.

The second year of a CEO's tenure can be even more challenging because this is when the change really gets binding and the stakeholders, including the board of directors, start to expect real, measurable results.

The CEO needs to demonstrate the company's new strategic vision, put stakeholders at ease - show them both financial results and a unified management team - and start to plan for the future.

The CEO also needs to demonstrate what Gaines-Ross calls thought leadership, something that "distinguishes and differentiates a company from its competitors... Thought leadership often breaks with business or industry convention, astonishes if not startles. Thought leadership reflects on the company and builds CEO capital."

Gaines-Ross ends the book with two appeals. The first is for a longer CEO timetable. B-M's research has shown that all stakeholders expect more of CEOs, and faster. But "the trend toward increasingly shorter CEO tenures is undermining business productivity and focus," says Gaines-Ross.

"Fewer CEOs seem to make it past the five-quarter mark and even fewer beyond their three-year anniversary. Such instability irrevocably and adversely affects a company's reputation and destiny. Chief executive departures have substantially adverse consequences, affecting too many employees, customers, partners, and investors." The second appeal is related, a call for a longer-term view.

This is substantial addition to the literature of our profession, a manifesto supported by compelling original research and informed by intelligent, sympathetic analysis. It is also a rare book about public relations that preaches not to the choir but to the choirmasters.

(The reviewer is Principal and Founder, Genesis Public Relations, India)

Until I read this book I did not realize the importance of communicating the 'how','why', 'when' of each executive decision. Given the crisis environment dominating corporate America today, I think CEOs need to add another word to their title and become chief executive and communications officers. Without communicating and finding their voice as leaders, I think CEOs will have a hard time earning public trust. This book provides a great blue print for understanding the commotion we read about in the papers.

In CEO Capital, Leslie Gaines-Ross has written an insightful and enlightening book for those who want to increase the positive visibility and reputation of their CEO. It is a surprise to this reviewer that more books have not been written on the subject of how to master the art of building your reputation when both your own personal future and corporate future may be resting on it.

The celebrity hungry society of today looks to corporate movers and shakers especially the CEO as icons of a particular company. Think about Lee Iacocca, Jack Welch, Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to mention just a few. How much of your opinion of these companies (and notice I don't even have to mention which companies they run/ran) is based on your perceived image of the CEO? The phrase `you are your company' has never been more true, especially in the post Enron & Arthur Anderson world. How has your opinion of Enron changed now that you know more about Jeff Skilling and Andrew Fastow? Despite any fraud at Enron being committed by the few and not the masses of the organization, our entire perception of Enron has shifted to the iconic few.

Part I of CEO Capital is a contextual look at CEO capital: what it is, where it comes from and how it can be built. Gaines-Ross draws us in by looking at the CEO Effect by citing some examples as far back as 1985 starting with Roberto Goizueta, then CEO of Coca-Cola and the whole `New Coke' revolt, that could have been a fatal disaster for the company. But Goizueta, trading on his CEO capital, not only avoided being removed but was able to bring the company back even stronger.

Part II is most interesting and is centered on the five stages postulated in the CEO capital model which take you by the hand, and step by step go through best practices (ed: hate that term but in this situation it is apt), principles and linkages to factors affecting the building of CEO capital. As the book says, `the reader may be left with the impression that the stages read almost like a manual on how to lead a company. This perception is quite acceptable and entirely reasonable because nothing is more conducive to building CEO capital than building a strong, high-performing company. Any similarity between the two is entirely intentional.' Which is indeed how it reads, but in doing so, broadens the scope of the content to be relevant to a wider audience of business managers and executives who may not be leading Fortune 500 type companies (yet!). In fact, they may be the very leaders who will gain most from this book, since they are not too arrogant to learn and may gain the most from any capital building opportunities presented to them.

Chapters in the book include guidance on the Countdown (the time before the CEO-elect takes office), the First One Hundred days and the First Year, and then of course the second year in office which is always much harder than the first.

Gaines-Ross has written a truly pioneering work - overall an excellent book on a little-written about subject. The book is practically written and you should not let its somewhat `user manual' style detract you from putting its advice into action. Recommended for CEOs and CEOs to-be of all sized companies, as well as other corporate officers and marketing/PR professionals who may guide along the process.