Scott Books

Target Audience
Java developers who want to learn how to use the Eclipse IDE or how to develop enhancements for the Eclipse framework.

Contents
This book is a comprehensive coverage of the Eclipse framework, both from the perspective of using the tool and writing extensions to Eclipse.

The book is divided into 3 parts:

Part 1 - Running Eclipse - Getting Started; Using Eclipse; Using Java Development Tools; Debugging Java; Teaming Up With Eclipse; Eclipse Configuration Management

Part 2 - Extending Eclipse - Overview Of The Eclipse Architecture; Getting Started: Plug-in Development; Action Contributions: The Integration Fast Track; The Standard Widget Toolkit: A Lean, Mean Widget Machine; Dialogs And Wizards; Views; Editors; Perspectives; Workspace Resource Programming; Managing Resources With Natures And Builders; Resource Tagging Using Markers; Contributions Revisited; Advanced Plug-in Development; Creating New Extension Points: How Others Can Extend Your Plug-ins; Serviceability; Developing Features; Providing Help; OLE and ActiveX Interoperability; Swing Interoperability; Extending The Java Development Tools; Building A Custom Text Editor With JFace Text

Part 3 - Exercises - Using Eclipse; Using The Java Development Tools; Debugging Java; Using CVS With Eclipse; Modifying Your Configuration With Update Manager; Using The Plug-in Development Environment; Feature Development And Deployment

Review
As an IBM software developer using Domino and Notes, I'm hearing more and more about WebSphere Studio Application Developer. That's the IBM WebSphere Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that is built upon the Eclipse framework. But just what is Eclipse, and why is it so important to you as a developer? This book will help you answer those questions.

The book serves two purposes. Part 1 of the book will allow you, as a Java developer, to understand how to use the tool to code and test your programs. They also devote coverage to how CVS, the open source version control tool. Even if you're not interested in extending the Eclipse tool for your own use, this first part of the book would be worth the purchase.

Part 2 gets into how the Eclipse framework can be used to write your own tools to integrate into the environment. Granted, this part of the book won't necessarily appeal to everyone, as some of you will only want to use the core functionality of Eclipse as an IDE. But you can think of this section as a lesson on the internal architecture of Eclipse. The more you understand about the tool, the more effective you can be with it.

And finally, you have the third part of the book that consists of a number of exercises to bridge the gap from theoretical to practical. Taken as a whole, working through this entire book will give you a solid foundation in Eclipse.

And for Notes/Domino professionals... I think a case could be made that you should seriously consider buying this book to prepare for your future. ND8 is projected to be a rich client built on this platform. By reading up on it now, you'll be prepared for what's coming. And if you're a business partner who builds tools for the Notes/Domino client, you'll need this information to start to figure out how you can transition your business in the future. Don't let it sneak up on you.

Conclusion
If you're thinking about diving into the Eclipse world, get this book. And if you're already an Eclipse user but want to make changes to your environment, this book will give you the information you need to start down that path.

Learning Eclipse, the open-source IDE and tool platform, can be a
daunting task. While a plethora of on-line resources exist for
learning.... knowing where to start, and
remembering what you've read, can be challenging. Finally a book
with much of this in one place: The Java Developer's Guide to Eclipse.

As a long-time lover of books, expecially Java books, I find that
learning from online resources on the web can be sufficient, but
often it's hard to know what you've read, where you stopped, where to
find something, etc. Especially when you're learning something very
new, or very complex, having it all in your hands can be comforting.
(And you don't have to close the book during takeoff and landing.)

Written by Eclipse experts with experience using *and teaching* other
developers in its use, the chapters and exercises are well thought
out. The authors are instructors with experience in teaching Eclipse
to software developers, so have a good knowledge of Eclipse and how
to present and explain it.

This book contains three parts: Using Eclipse as an IDE for
Java developement, Extending Eclipse with plug-ins, and exercises
for all of the above. While a few other books are available on using
Eclipse as an IDE, this is by far the most comprehensive
book on extending it by developing plug-ins.

This book is unique in its thorough coverage of plug-ins (extending
Eclipse: want a new popup menu? code reformatter? Write it yourself!)
but don't overlook its good introduction to using the
Eclipse IDE itself for developing Java code, as well as a great
chapter on using CVS and the Eclipse interface to CVS
code respository that is part of the standard download.

The exercises on using Eclipse and building plug-ins are great, and often walking through the exercise
(resources included on the CD with the book) reinforces or sheds
additional light on what is covered in a chapter. At times
I jumped directly to the exercise after only briefly reading
the associated chapter information, and the hands-on learning
accomplished in this manner was great for this impatient Java
developer.

I took the IBM class with the same name as the book, and found
the exercises in the book similar, if less extensive than, those
included with the course. But the basics are there, including
the exercise that introduces action sets etc. that I referred
to several times in my first plug-in development. A lot of my
code started with the exercise code and grew from there. As I worked
through subsequent chapters and exercises, I came to a clearer
understanding of what had been done in the previous code imported
in the exercises, yet I was already up and running in terms of
developing my plug-in.

The book is written to Eclipse 2.0, with a few comments regarding
changes for version 2.1. While it would be nice to have the minor
2.1 changes reflected in the book, I know the authors had to stop
somewhere to get published. This was the first Eclipse book
published, I understand.

Excellent, and highly recommended for all Java developers wanting
to use Eclipse, and especially for those wanting to develop
plug-ins for extending Eclipse to their own applications.

This helpful and extremely well-written book is really many books in one. The Java Developer's Guide to Eclipse provides a coherent, organized, and well-written reference for using the Eclipse platform and developing plugins. In addition to the basics, the book covers such advanced topics as Eclipse Configuration Management and Providing Help. One section of the book provides a comprehensive set of exercises that enable you to get hands-on experience working with Eclipse.

The book is organized into three sections, each geared towards a different level of experience with Eclipse. While you may make use of all three sections, the organization of the book helps you to quickly find and focus on the material that you need.

The information provided with Eclipse and the Web sites that support it is considerable. The great aspect of this book is that it offers so much usable content in one convenient source, while providing additional information to supplement the online help already provided with Eclipse.

I was initially disappointed that this book did not cover JUnit and that it was based on Eclipse 2.0; however those issues aside this book is a great resource on Eclipse written by folks on the development team. I am using Eclipse 2.1.1 and there are some differences for some things, but most are minor. The book is divided into three parts with Part Two having two sections. Part One focuses on the Eclipse development environment. In this section, there some very good tips about using Eclipse. I particularly liked the chapter on using CVS with Eclipse. There was some practical advice given about how to deal with issues one would encounter in projects while using Eclipse and CVS.

In chapter one, the authors challenge Eclipse veterans to read it with "bet you didn't know how to ...". There are some great keyboard shortcuts and other features of Eclipse that surprised me. There is a blind programmer on our staff that will get great mileage out the keyboard shortcuts.

Part Two is about creating plug-ins for Eclipse. At first, I was moderately interested in some plug-ins, but after digging into this section, I already have a couple of plug-in ideas that I want to pursue. The authors make it seems like a very natural thing to do. Part Three is composed of exercises on using Eclipse for Java development, with CVS, for debugging, for updating your Eclipse, for Plug-in Development Environment (PDE), and for feature development. The exercises are step-by-step instructions relating to certain chapters in the previous parts. Read the chapters first, but do these exercises!

If you are using Eclipse for development, this book has a wealth of information from those in the know. After all, WSAD is basically a bunch of Eclipse plug-ins.

Back in 80's when unix network programming was a black art, Stevens book on Unix Network Programming showed the way to common programmers about how to write something magical in unix/c/sockets. I can only compare this book with the same spirit.

By reading the book and practicing the exercises in the accompanying CD, it is almost guaranteed someone will not only become a good java programmer but it will also help to extend and share the knowledge of creating tools. Writing good code in java is not simple. This book clearly explains what is really needed from a user perspective to become a good programmer and team-oriented productive resource using eclipse.

The first part explains what a freely available Eclipse can do for you. This is the most comprehensive introduction I have seen so far. It will teach you the smartest way to deal with java projects from a life cycle perspective - create, test, debug and maintain. Each chapter is clear and concise. Tips and tricks are every where.

The second part explain that extending and customizing eclipse is no rocket science. It is hard in a way but definitely manageable even for a starter. Referencing eclipse api is a must while reading this part. I wish some concise reference (like O'Reilly's "...nutshell" book style) would have helped the programmer a lot.

The third part is a gem. Added to the explanation of materials of each chapter, it went far beyond. Just by practicing the examples will take the user to a commanding position. This part also makes the book a handy desk reference on using eclipse tools. I'd also recommend the reader to take a look at the eclipse.org site to check the plug-ins. A lot of them are very useful and free too.

Overall, this book is excellent. In my opinion, this book is one of the major contributors to the community in the increasing the popularity of using eclispe tools, customizing and enhancing it.

Berg's work rallies all aspiring authors to the cause of sainthood for Max Perkins...maybe even deification. He tracks Perkins's career vis-a-vis the literary careers of important 20th century American authors. Gives a peek at the largely ignored man behind the curtain...and stands as a monument to his contributions to our literary heritage. A must read for anyone who enjoys books.

Scott Berg's biography of Max Perkins is a warm, sparkling account of America's greatest editor in the prewar period, the midwife for works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe in the twenties and thirties, when big-time publishing converged on New York. Berg's book is cunningly organized: the reader steps at once into the rough and tumble of editorial work at Scribner's, leaving Perkins' early life, marriage, and family to be described in concise digressions taken only after we get another satisfying dollop of publishing history. Unhappily, once Perkins has delivered his discoveries to the public, the rest is mostly about their boozy extravagance (Fitzgerald), bullying ego trips (Hemingway), and petulant indiscipline verging on insanity (Wolfe). So even if, for this reason, you stop two-thirds of the way through, your curiosity about this key figure in modern literary history will be very well satisfied.

This is a wonderfully written book, very informative and inspiring for authors, editors, agents and anyone else involved or interested in publishing. Berg does a terrific and subtle job of painting these larger than life characters, allowing their own letters to speak for them. He shows remarkable restraint and good taste and yet has created a book that is enriching and very difficult to put down. Highly recommended!

Scott Berg has written a wonderful biography on one of the most important men in American literature, Max Perkins. Berg's book is well-written and very entertaining. It is more than a biography of Perkins, it is also a biography of Hemingway, Scott Fiztgerald, and Thomas Wolfe, and a portrait of America during the first half of the 20th century. This is one of those books that I could go on and on about. It is a book that everyone should read.

Max Perkins was the great editor at Scribners who handled quite a few of the finest writers of the twentieth century, F. Scott Fitzgerad, Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe being especially noteworthy (and dealt with at length in this biography). One might envy such a man with such a job, but Berg makes it clear that having to deal with the likes of these authors was like walking around with a huge millstone around Max's poor neck. His job was endless and thankless (Wolfe actually betrayed him). You see from the many letters quoted that many of them are blatant pleas for money. Saying that Perkins had to coddle some of these authors like children would be putting it mildly. Berg does an admirable job relaying Perkins's life and hard times. Recommended.

Author Brian Bentley finally gives us insight into the world of a working Police Officer, without sugar coating or picturing us a glitzy world of glasmour of law enforcement. It really took me back as a law enforcement officer for a large public hospital with a Level One Trauma Center, which has to deal with the day to day hardship of what the "streets" brings into the hospital and tries to treat. I too found alot of comaparisons in my job and just changed the names of work colleagues and supervisors with his! His city government was not only like my city government, but add one more variable...an unappreciative hospital administration who should simply be managing medical care and research, and stay out of the business of police work. Many times they, along with the rest of the hospital support staff be it doctor, nurse, psychiatric staff, substance abuse counselors, all want a piece of the police department. And thinking after watching one episode of "Cops" think they know everything about police work! Should a new candidate dare read this book, it may in fact discourage him or her from pursuing law enforcement as a career. Sad that it maybe, at least Officer Bentley forwarned you before you signed on the dotted line! Law enforcement has it's rewards. But as Officer Bentley astutely puts it, it is "dog eat dog" and one has to do what he/she has to do to survive!

This is a very well written story of a cops everyday life in LA. Very sad that things have to be the way they are but he tells it like it really is. He is misjudged, mistreated and underrated which causes him to doubt himself and everyone else. He fights to stay true to all he believes and has been taught, but at times he is finding himself thinking and acting as the criminals do. Maybe that is how he survives.

Having grown up in S/C LA and also a retired Police Officer, this book give you the real world experience. This book will take you from one extreme to the other. You will laugh, cry and be very afraid. Because it is all so very true. Somebody needs to make this into a movie, Quick. Oprah needs to read this book

One Time is a hardcore and realistic look at the police. The author's writing style kept me interested and I am not a big reader. Since reading the book, I now look at police officers differently.

I very much enjoyed reading this book. It was very easy reading and went very quickly. While the author had some very interesting stories to tell, however, I think the publisher did him wrong for publishing it as is. There are a lot of editing mistakes and typos within the context that at times can make it somewhat difficult to follow. However, despite these mistakes, I highly recommend the book to anyone who is interested in law enforcement, especially in L.A. I'm sure it would be an eye opener. I never realized how violent a city L.A. could be.

This book is a MAINSTAY in my reference library. Though I do only limited back-end development in the applications I work on, this is the first book I look for when I need to be pointed in the right direction. I highly recommend it!

I bought this book as a complete Oracle novice, transitioning from Microsoft T-SQL to PL/SQL. I was worried about the transition being difficult until I read this book.

It is one of those very rare books that presents advanced concepts in a context understandable by users of all experience levels. The author often throws in tips about Oracle PL/SQL quirks to watch out for, as well as some very applicable information about how Oracle works internally.

I've since become more comfortable with PL/SQL, and the book also serves as a great reference. I highly encourage you to read this book straight through.

I recommend this well-written book to anybody wanting to learn PL/SQL, as well as anyone needing a great reference.

Although the information was accurate and useful, I think the strength of this book was it's clear and logical presentation. It is easy to read and very helpful. For example, I needed to know how to dynamically build the "where" clause for select statements and his chapter on DBMS_SQL gave me the tools to accomplish my task at work.

This is definitely an excellent book. No one should rank it less than 5 stars just because it was published in 1996. Please do some research before talk. Actually, Scott Urman has wrote a book, "Oracle8 PL/SQL Programming", which was published in 1997. Buy this one if you want to learn PL/SQL 8.0.

Oracle 8 is out and in this book it only covers to Oracle 7. It is a very well written book. It is a valuable reference however it was published in 1996. Still looking for Oracle SQL Plus 8.0 AND the PL/SQL Programming. I hope the author steps up to the plate and updates his work.

Another delightful outing with vineyard manager Nikki Sands. Nikki has her hands full juggling two dashing suitors, but when a big-time chef is shot at the winery and spa, she takes on a new challenge: find the killer before she becomes the next victim. Lovable characters, steady pacing, and secretive suspects will keep you guessing until the end.

I absolutely adore this series, but this is my favorite of the three. Once again Ms. Scott blends up a delicious concoction of mystery, romance and culinary delights. There are two big questions in this who dunnit. Who dunnit and who will Nikki pick to be her man.

The chef of the new restaurant on the vineyard, Georges Debussey meets his demise while bathing at the new Malveaux spa. Instead of r&r, he winds up DEAD with a bullet to the head. Nikki Sands once again goes to work solving the crime. She's also got her plate full when it comes to the men in her life. Nikki has some love life decisions to make with two eligible bachelors. Filled with good looking men, plenty of murderous mystery and one charming heroine made a night out of it for me. A little Syrah and Ms. Scott's third installent and I was completely content.

I loved this book and I love the series. But this was the best book so far. I did not want to put it down. I did not want it to end. The author had me from beginning to end. I am not a wine drinker but I think I might pour myself a glass of wine and put my feet up and read the next one that comes out. I hope the next one comes out soon, for I am dying to see if Nikki ends up with Derek or Andres. My vote is for Derek. Nikki will never be happy with anyone until she gets her feet wet with Derek first!

The new restaurant, Georges on the Vineyard, is about to open in the new boutique hotel and spa at Malveaux Estates. It features star chef Georges Debussey. He is well-known for his cuisine as well as his lack of couth.

Georges goes for a Syrah bath splash at the spa to relax before the restaurant grand opening. When he doesn't return, Simon and Marco get Nikki to find out what's wrong. She finds him dead from a gunshot.

Detective Robinson rubs Nikki the wrong way when he tells her to not play Nancy Drew. She sets out to investigate on the sly.

During all this, Andres asks her to go to Spain with him. Nikki is upset most with the way he asks. And she isn't sure what she should do. And then there's Derek.

Nikki finds herself in danger along the way. Can she figure out who the killer is before someone else dies?

I really like this series. Nikki is such a fun character. The sexual tension created between Nikki, Andres, and Derek really adds to the storyline, but I do hope she makes a decision soon. When I first met Simon and Marco, I found them to be obnoxious, but now I really enjoy them. They add to the story and help Nikki along the way.

The Napa Valley setting really adds to the story as well. It seems so serene in the midst of the murder investigation. I would love to spend a week at the new hotel at Malveaux Estates.

Whether you like wine or not, give this series a try. I recommend reading them in order, but you don't have to. I highly recommend this book and the complete series.

Sensual bath treatments, facials, massages . . . mouth-watering Italian food. The atmosphere is fabulous. The book takes place in California grape-growing country, with a winery, an elegant hotel, an Italian restaurant, and a spa. The book also has recipes for that wonderful Italian food.

Nikki finds a body and she is determined to find out who the killer is. The adventures she goes on in order to solve the mystery are fun and interesting, but also tense and edgy. Once she starts going on these adventures, the book was hard to put down.

Nikki is the main character, and I love her. I also love the character of Alyssa, even though she is not a main character. I think she adds a lot to the book.

The solving of the mystery was clever. It had a nice twist.

I can't wait to make the Margherita Pizza. It sounds like the most scrumptous thing ever.

This is a well told, touching story. Krabacher's style of writing is fluent and fast-paced. I appreciate her honesty about her own sorrows and mistakes. This is not a guilt-laden book designed to make the reader drop everything and fly to Haiti. In fact, the author says what she does isn't for everyone, but believes God prepared her for this ministry from the time she was a child. I've read at least 20 books in the last six months and couldn't tell you much about any of them, but this one is worth remembering and passing on to a friend.

I never write reviews. This was a wonderful book. I really know how to pray for Haiti now. Susan writes so well. I couldn't put this book down! I read it in a couple days. We hope to eventually adopt form haiti, or at least to give money to great organzations there. Enjoy!

"Angels of a Lower Flight," by Susie Scott Krabacher
I found this book to be a candid look at the life of a woman who overcame child abuse and life as a Playboy Bunny only to emerge as a saving force in Haiti. The story reveals the harsh realities of life in Port Au Prince, from gang life to corruption and the superstitions that lead thousands of parents to abandon their less than perfect children.

Susie Scott Krabacher landed in Haiti during its most turbulent political turnover in 1994 and began a mission to save children abandoned in hospital wards - children who had not yet been disposed of or sold for body parts or voodoo rituals.

It is a must read for all who are interested in Haitian culture and understanding it from the eyes of a Alabama woman from the Unite States.
Although heartbreaking at times, this story is purely one of triumph and courage.

One can only conclude that she is doing God's work - and that only God could have prepared her for this unique and unselfish role.

Susan Scott Krabacher's abusive childhood and stubborn growth into an international caregiver is an inspiring tale about the power of selfless living. Although I felt she occasionally lapsed for too long into stories of her childhood and days spent with Playboy, the narrative redeems itself in stories of the abject poor she ultimately helped by turning her pain into motivation. We could all learn from her story.

Susie Scott Krabacher's book was an excellent read. It's a great autobiography on her life and gives alot of insight of the problems and issues of Haiti. A must read.

I was so impressed with this book. It is written mostly for actors, but is a gem for writers as well! This guy breaks down comedy like nothing I've ever seen.

Buy the book. It really is worth every dime - and no, I don't know the guy.

As an actress and a writer, I was thrilled that this book helped me out in both fields. You get great ideas and inspiration for characters to write, as well as great tips and tricks for acting out very specific characters. It's also fantastic how the author talks about "types" of actors and characters and knowing yourself well enough to know who you will pull off well. Which I think applies to more actors than we actors would like to admit... I found myself discovering things about myself, not only as an actress, but as a person, which can only help in my portrayal of certain characters! Great read!

The "Eight Characters of Comedy" by Scott Sedita was absolutely fantastic! The book was incredibly informative to a writer and an actor, but also gives the audience/reader such an insight to how tv shows and film are created. It's a wonderful book. I recommend it to all!

I mean, seriously. Someone FINALLY sat down and wrote a book that deconstructs all the different characters (there's 8, by the way) that appear in comedy, sitcoms specifically. Sedita manages to set forth a simple, concise, easy-to-read (AND understand) method to determining, from an acting standpoint, WHICH character you are (I'm, surprisingly, a "lovable loser" and not, as I had hoped and dreamed, a "womanizer"), and which specific traits are most often and commonly associated with PLAYING these characters ("hopeful" and "optimistic" are two big ones for the "lovable loser"). I can only begin to tell you how incredibly helpful this book has been in my audition preparation and my character creation. If you've ever thought about acting, especially in comedy, PICK UP THIS BOOK!

Now I truly understand comedic timing! Sedita is a master at communicating the true technique of the comedic actor and how to apply it to your performance. I learned more from this book about acting than any other acting book I have read. He writes in simple straight forward terms that any actor can use to improve their performance and truly makes you respect the great comedic actors of our time. Thanks Scott!

i bought this book in prob. 1990. on the upper west side of nyc. i lived downtown, but whatever, the cover of the paperback grabbed me and i recommended it with intention to SO many friends. i'm a californian. i know this story. it's not my story, but the story as told is poetic and real and visceral and scary as hell. and beautiful. a wonderful debut. i just sent a copy to a friend. i hope he can handle it. it is intense. go you. great work. xo.

I have been reading this book over and over for years. It is a beautiful landscape novel set along the highways in California in its suburban, fast food squalor. The metaphor throughout the book is the emphasis on scientific elements and how they apply to a young boy and his mother on the run. Incredibly well written.

The use of language and the unbelievible accesibility to heavy intelectual concepts (e.g. cultural theory, metaphysics, and subjectivity) will make a lot of creative writing students a tad bit envious. I read the book and one night and after reading it I felt like I took the craziest drug possible, minus the brain damage. This novel is f-ing nuts, sick and disturbing, and yet you can't possibly not fall in love with its brilliance.

I accidentally found this book while browsing the stacks of a local bookstore and was really surprised that I hadn't heard of the book or the author. Not many writers have the ability to startle me with such a wonderful writing style coupled with a zesty storyline. This is one of those books whose words are placed together with great feeling and care, resulting in a sharp, clear and sometimes painful book.

I picked this book up from a remainder stack at a local bookstore because I liked the title... I'm keeping this book because it took me for a ride that few contemporary works of fiction have. A thoroughly enjoyable read, full of startling twists and intelligent writing.

This book may be overkill for the CCIE R&S track, but if you want to UNDERSTAND VoX and related technologies, this book is awesome. Now I feel like jumping over to the C&S track.

I haven't read the whole book, I'm 50% done, but the first impression is that there's too much theorical information, but I think we really need that. That's absolutely a wonderful resource. After reading some parts of this book I was able to setup a successful VoIP connection. This book also helps to understand the codecs, problems you can find, etc..

Good choice!

Daniel Lafraia
CCNP,CCDP

I bought the 1st edition back in 2000 and since then it is still the most frequently visited reference when I helped my clients to build VoIP networks. It was written completely from a hands-on engineer perspective, aiming at getting the job done. So you would expect very detailed description on signaling ..., design scenario, IOS programming and trouble-shooting in debug mode. My favourite parts are the coverage on Echo, dial-peer programming and SIP. After finishing a SIP network project, I'm just amazed how a book in year 2000 can provide such a farsighted material.

Keagy brings up a lot of important issues a level deeper than most books on the subject. It is a great reference book but most sections are readable all the way through. If you are moderately technical or very technical you'll get something out of this book. The more books you buy the subject the more you'll appreciate this one for its attention to detail and clarity.

I'm a qualified Cisco CCSI/Microsoft course trainer, and needed a book to get me started in the area of Voice networks in a reasonably technical, practical and non-trivial manner. I definitely found it in this book. Keagy provided an excellent overview of the operational details of voice networks & SS7, and married this well to Voice-IP networks and WAN technologies. It was refreshing in that, although Cisco oriented, you are thankfully spared the worst of Cisco's product placement sales pitch (for which you'd need the CVoice book). In fact I can concur with other reviewers in that Keagy's obvious practical experience, mature expressive style with plenty of useful figures/illustrations (which I personally as a trainer really appreciate) and ability to impart knowledge in an enjoyable worldly manner shine throughout in the text in a style that is remniscent of Doyle Routing - I look forward to more books by Keagy (hopefully his wife will let him :o)
Although you can buy books that cover the individual chapters in more detail (Keagy provides numerous references), this single tome is a must for anyone breaking into the trendy area of Voice from a predominantly data networking background.

Although I have never been to Charlotte Motor Speedway, after reading this book I felt as if I had.

and now I feel like I could drive it. This is the book that lays it all out in a logical order, explains the terms, the rules and the strategies while taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride. Will the car qualify for the race? You can feel the tension because for that week Huler lived it. This isn't a book full of old stories that drivers told a writer - this is an observation, full of detail - it's good old particaptory journalism like Plimpton wrote, talking to (and about) everyone from the owners and spnsors to the fans and the scalpers. What a great book!

I'd never heard of NASCAR, never wanted to know anything about it. But when I heard a short reading by Huler (the writer) from this book, I had to buy/read it. His writing could be on any topic: ice, dirt, race cars... it's just facinating in an accessable, fun, fast read. I'll read anything he writes now, and gain an appreciation of worlds I never knew. Great read. I just may join the 200,000 on site NASCAR fans next year because of it!

If you want to read one book about NASCAR, I recommend this one. Not because it's a hand-holding introduction, but because it's the best. It just does such a great job describing so many aspects of NASCAR. The organizing principle of the book is to examine a week in the life of Kenny Wallace's Square D Racing Team, but along the way, the author looks at NASCAR's personalities, history, technology, tracks, and fans. Huler has a real flair for description, and a genuine but not fawning affection for the sport.

I've also read Shaun Assael's "Wide Open" and Paul Hemphill's "Wheels," which are similar in many ways but to my mind are both inferior. Assael's book seemed flat compared to Huler's, though fans of Dave Marcis and Bobby Hamilton may enjoy the coverage that those drivers receive in "Wide Open." Hemphill's book spent a lot of time on a thesis that I soon found repetitively handled: NASCAR was once the province of the Southern working man but is now corporate entertainment. Both Assael and Hemphill follow NASCAR for a whole season and seem to get bored with it. Huler stays focused on a shorter timespan to much better effect.

I've read some more technical approaches to NASCAR as well, and found that Huler almost always snuck the information in those books into "A Little Bit Sideways."

Although I find this the best introduction to NASCAR because it's so engaging to read and so comprehensive in the bargain, those who are interested in learning more about NASCAR might also try "NASCAR for Dummies" by Mark "Awesome!" Martin and Juliet Macur. That book lacks Huler's style and story-line, but it does have a lot of interesting information about NASCAR, including some tidbits on strategy and technology that I haven't seen elsewhere.

I lived in the South all my life, always aware of NASCAR, watching races every now and then. Even so, I haven't tuned into to a NASCAR race in probably 25 years. Because of this book, I will when the next season starts.

One can truly begin to understand the mystique of NASCAR after reading A Little Bit Sideways. Scott Huler's obvious love for the material really shines through. His writing transforms what, in lesser hands, could have been a dry and boring recitation of minute details into an interesting and compelling human interest story.

Read it. You won't be disappointed.