Shepard Books

I first read this book with my father when I was seven. I am now 23 and have re-read it many times. It deals with serious issues in a clever and funny way. I think most kids can relate to this story on some level. Everyone has felt like they are behind, or unable to follow a class. Everyone knows what its like to not fit in. Many people know what it's like to be the new kid in school. I had a lot of problems in school for my first three years. I didn't have a learning dissability, I just had trouble focusing. Consequently, I was often behind in my classwork and felt ashamed and slightly outcast. Finally, my parents realized I needed a more creative type of education and enrolled me in an experimental school. I excelled and proceeded to a brilliant academic career. I think this book suggests, not that students with different learning needs be sent to "special classrooms", but that their problems may result from a failed approach in the classroom. I think different kids, just like adults, need to be stimulated in different ways in order to absorb information. Sam's regular teachers failed to give him the skills and confidence he needed. Sam taking a few out of class tests dosen't mean he will spend time being in a "special" environment. It means he had someone help him in a new and creative way. It also gave him the confidence to believe in himself. This book is a total triumph. He starts out feeling like a friendless loser. By the end of the book Sam has two great friends, is begining to believe that he is smart, starts to see the skills he took for granted such as his math abilities, learns responsibility and that adults trust him. What isn't triumphant about that?

This book is great for kids who like books that have many problems to deal with and if you like kids with a learning disability. It probably has issues you have to deal with in your life spand. When you first read it, it might be boring for you, but as you get to the middle it gets really interesting. The setting of the book are great because all through the whole course of the book. Sam and his friends (Alica and Wally) do things together and help each other out. Anybody who reads this book will like it very much!

I agree with everything the review below stated about how this book is triumphant and affirming of the main character. Furthermore, it is affirming of all of the main characters. Everyone, from Mrs. Glass, who learns not to sell herself short as a working woman; to Alicia, who learns that although "book smarts" come easy to her, she will have to work hard to develop her "people skills"; to Sam, who learns to value his mathmatical abilities, and stop considering himself as stupid because he has difficulties with reading.

I would like to take issue with the reviewer who criticized the book because Sam claims that his small reading victory is comparable to swimming a great distance. Why is that statement so offensive? In my mind any educational process, if you're really trying to learn and not simply going through the motions, feels exactly like that. I've always been a good student, but that doesn't mean that I didn't have to work hard to learn new things. That feeling of exhaustion and pride that you've really concentrated your efforts to learn something new shouldn't be a source of shame, it should be a source of pride.

First, let's dispense with the obvious. The title of this book refers to the first question on a learning disabilities test. Sam Mott is in sixth grade, but he reads at a second grade level. He has an undiagnosed learning disability, but in his moves from school to school, no one has been able to pin it down. Sam feels stupid, and erects mechanisms to disguise his `dumbness', like acting silly in class. We all know students like this, either as teachers or students. What we may not know is how painful and frustrating school is for these students.

Do Bananas Chew Gum? would be among the first books I would recommend to a child having trouble in school. The book ends on a hopeful note, with Sam realizing that if he works very hard, he will be able to get along fine. It presents a positive image of learning disabilities.

I strongly disagree with the review that states this book is not positive and allows institutions to rationalize the learning disabled. I have dyslexia and have successfully graduated from top undergrad and law schools. This book made me feel less alone at a time when dyslexia was little understood and it also allowed me to see that "stupid" is a relative term defined mainly by the ignorant. We each have different strengths and weaknesses and this book celebrates that while at the same time illustrating that weaknesses may be improved upon with hard work.

I had the pleasure of reading this book and while it is not a deeply technical book and is a bit disorganized in its structure, it has some good content for those that are interested in an introductory level book on Optical networking.

I read the other reviews, and they don't tell the right story. Shepard's Optical book, like his others, keeps things simple but educates the reader at the same time. It's a Crash Course, but it gives a great explanation of the basics of routing, switching, and other networking concepts. The author also ties them in to the optical space very neatly.

Worth the money !

This is the most useful tech book I've bought all year. For some reason publishers almost never publish books like this, but it actually does take apart optical networking and explain how things work for an intelligent non-engineer. The organization makes sense and the writing is clear and literate, and even funny, sometimes. If you've got a doctorate you probably don't need this, but for the rest of us its invaluable.

This book is totally useless. The networking part is almost impossible to follow if you are new to optical networking. The optical components sections are at high school level and are full of incorrect statements and show that the author has a very superficial understanding of the physics.

In summary, this book is a brief, handy guide for those who need to know about the optical comms industry in a hurry. It can be divided into 4 sections of approximately equal length: market forces and evolution of the industry, overview of the technology, market players and applications, and the reference section (including the index). I was impressed by the extensive coverage in the third section, and the author's ability to impart a concise, intuitive understanding of technical concepts (to a non-technical audience) in the second is credible. The reference section, though not exhaustive, is a helpful starting point for those who wish to delve deeper. It is too bad that charts were not included in the third section as these would have been helpful for comparison of the various companies listed.
A pet peeve of mine is the assumption, cited in the first few pages, of the driving force of the frenetic thirst for bandwidth; while an ever-increasing demand is undisputed, whether this is at an exponential rate is still in contention, despite this point being bandied about frequently by so-called technology advocates.
Those who found the author's last book on convergence trends in the comms sector helpful will not want to miss this. In my opinion, this one is an improvement in many aspects.

If you have a desire to learn how to build a transverse, or side blown flute, this is a start. Transverse or side blown, is only one of many types of flutes. If you have an interest in Chinese flutes, Bolivian Flutes, pan flutes, or Native American type flutes, do your research on the internet and find the book related to the type. Each of these other flutes are shaped, made, and played differently.
Simple flutes will teach you the basics and theory of the construction of the classic side blown flute. It is worth the money just to have it as a reference book.

Personally, I liked the book, but perhaps some more pictures on how to do things would be nice. For example, on how to make a wood flute it says a shell auger can be used to make a flute. Some step by step directions would be nice.

this is a great book to give the BASICS of creating simple instruments such as flutes. its very short and gives some great base ideas for begainers. i do wish it was more detailed however it will have you making flutes quickly

My interest in flutes began years ago by making several pan flutes from Bamboo and acrylic tubing. After a trip to Peru in 2004 I became interested in quenas...end blown Andean flutes. My ambitions then carried through to wanting to make transverse flutes. I have found the book Simple Flutes perfect for my initial foray into trans-flute making. I am impressed with the economy of words that conveyed much information. It is a good doorway to other references. The G flute described in this book was easy to build and works very well. More detailed data for other sizes would have been welcome. However, more ponderous book might discourage the neophyte into not carrying through with making one's first flute. Mark's book and instructions made it easy to be successful, which then whets the appetite to get more involved with flutes in other keys.
A great, simple to read handbook for someone starting in this fascinating hobby.

I have just started making flutes as a hobby, because I thought it would be interesting, and to knock out a few cheap Christmas presents for a myriad of nieces and nephews. I did not anticipate what a source of joy making flutes would be for its own sake. This book got me started and will remain the most senior of my teachers as long as I do this. What you do not find in its lines, you will find between them as you grow in the experience. I am sure there are many more advanced books out there, but they will be useless without the foundation that this book provides.

This is my first review, but I had to write something about this simple and wonderful book. I've picked up half the books on Amazon for sourdough and this pamphlet of a book it great. He tries to teach a technique and give a few ideas of how one can play with different ingredients.

My first sourdough bread in 15 years was made using his technique and was very good. The other books were good too but I've notice many of their recipes seem to follow Mark's basic technique, but with a few twists. If you want to make sourdough you can't go wrong with this simple little book.

This book might be o.k. for someone who has never made sour dough bread before, but I have been making sour dough bread for a few months now. I expected to gain something new from the book, but didn't. The book is probably worth $3.00, but I would have been very disappointed had I paid anymore than this. The information in the book seems somewhat "thrown together," and vague. Better than nothing if you are going to make sour dough bread for the first time!

OK - I know this book was only $3 so my expectations were not filled with images of something substantial. It is a single process/recipe book and that is what I expected.

However, instead of spending only 30 minutes writing this booklet - perhaps they could have taken a risk and spent an extra 15 minutes organizing the starter recipe into something more coherent. It is basically a short story that you need to pull the recipe out of. I am sure it is a great starter recipe but I could have used the $3 on the postage for sending a book that provides better steps - like Laurels Kitchen Bread book - which I recommend spending the extra money on.

I need to pay attention so that I don't write in this review more than this book's content. Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit, but this is a brochure with 16 pages, left-side pages contain only some decorative drawings, and on the other 8 the writing is rather big and covers only 60% of the surface, so it feels very airy. I'm not saying this is good or bad, just that's the way it is.
The book is basically a simple recipe - how to make a tasty and natural bread just using whole wheat, salt and water. You don't need any yeast - that's the special part, the yeast-like micro-organisms are being collected from air (which means that the taste depends on where you live and make the bread).
It is named "sour" because there is a stage where you let the yeast "eats" the gluten (wheat sweetness), the result being a pre-digested (and more sour) and tasty product, easier to assimilate, especially by people who otherwise have a gluten allergy. Sourdough breads are healthier than other breads.
He explains how it works, where you can make variations (he even suggesting some ideas) and ends up explaining that until 150 years ago this was he way bread was made, but commercial baking had people stop carrying their own yeast and made them buy it (or even buy the entire bread).
It's easy to make bread, now I know it first hand, and actually it was the first I made any kind of bread. If I did it (with a yummy tasty result), then anyone can do it.

I think this is a very interesting book, and the foreword answers why:
"I first learned to love this bread while visiting the Community of the Ark, a utopian society founded in France by an italian disciple of Gandhi. On my return home, a friend tought me how to make the same bread - or pretty close. Some further experimenting ended up with the method in this booklet."

This textbook is one of the best CS textbooks authored by Dr. Stallings!
However, best among what?

It seems that there is a strange, perhaps not very healthy situation that
major CS textbooks are monopolized by Dr. William Stallings. Why
does not somebody even give Dr. Stallings some competition. I am
a believer of the competition. No competition, no better products.

I guess it might be that many CS professors, especially those highly
qualified (say at top 10) are busy at writing proposal rather than
spending time on an undergraduate textbook. If that conjecture is
true, it might be a shame for the whole CS academia. Those big NSF
or DARPA grants receivers should ask themselves, what have I
done for my students? remember most students never have
chance to read your grant proposal and most undergraduates
simply do not have time to even read your research papers
published in journals or monographs.

I followed it in my undergraduate studies. It is an okay book, not anything exceptional, just average. I found Mobile Communications by Jochen Schiller better than this book. However with respect to contents it covers much more, particulalry on wireless communications stuff. Actually it should not be compared to Schiller's book because the two are covering relatively different contents. As the title of this book suggests: "Wireless Communicstions and Networks", much of the stuff it covers belong to wireless communications rather than wireless networks e.g., transmission fundamantals, antennas and propagation, signal and encoding techniques.

Many topics are actually belong to the introductory computer networks books but have been included here again, such as the introduction of TCP, IP, in chapter 4, which is, believe me, written in very dry style. Even interesting things look boring if presented this way.

Particulalry the chapters I found relatively well written are Chapter 5 "Antennas and Propagation" and Chapter 10 "Cellular Wireless Networks". However the contents on the cellular wireless networks are too limited. The networks technologies have been merely touched here. In contrast Schiller's book describes GSM, GPRS, UMTS/WCDMA, etc in a lot more detailed and interesting way. I did not follow WLAN chapters of this book since I consulted Schiller's book for it therefore I cannot say much about it.

Also sometimes it feels that too much math have been included, the writing style is not very interesting.

I do not like it for the following reasons:

-It touches the subjects and does not go deep into it.
-It does not have examples.
-The very few examples in the chapters are not clear. You have to decipher it.
-Some of the end of the chapter problems talks about things not covered.
-It is not an easy read. You have to read a paragraph several time to figure it out.
-I do not recommend it.
-On second thought, I should have given it 1 star but it seems I can not change that.

Very suitable for beginners and intermediates. Easy to understand the sentences and main points but I think it would be much better if there is a solution guide for selected question at the end of the book.

I've had numerous experiences with William Stallings networking books, and all of them are bad.

My personal opinion is that he is that though it seems like he knows a lot (though I doubt it), he's not able to get that knowledge across to his readers. There are few examples and the post topic questions have little or no bearing on the subject matter of the chapters.

Every one I knew in my networking classes and computer science classes felt the same way about this author. I'm sure there are other better books out there - don't know why lousy prof. seem to
require this for classes

In the world of marketing, you need to lead the pack, or figure out why you don't. Once again, Doug Hall has put together a book that will help propel you and your company to heights unimagined.

Packaged into short, concise segments that allow you room to think and apply each one to your individual situation, "Meaningful Marketing" will provide every reader with a better business future.

My advice? Get a copy of this book and place it within reach of everyone on your staff.

I wanted the opposite of a long winded course on marketing and found it in this book. Short, factual and intelligent, this book will help you hone your message, and allow you to quickly understand several important ways to reach your target audience.

I had fun reading MEANINGFUL MARKETING. It shoots down a lot of conventional wisdom regarding marketing and sales. My own copy is completely dog-eared and covered with highlighter. I certainly hope my competitors don't get a hold of this, since I plan to use a lot of what I learned!

It's designed to be dipped in and out of. It's easily digested in chunks. The combination of data based truth with "so what do you do about it" alongside - makes the book very practical. Some of the stuff will clearly challenge commonly held beliefs I'm sure, the emphasis on data makes it more likely readers will indeed challenge themselves. I don't know of anything else you can read that will have a more direct effect on your business success.

The impressively collaborative effort of Dough Hall (CEO of the Ohio-based invention think tank Eureka! Ranch) and Jeffrey Stamp (Vice President of Research & Development, Eureka! Ranch), Meaningful Marketing is a practical, "user friendly", resource book which offers the reader 100 truths and 402 useful ideas to improve marketing, and move more product with less expenditure. A one hour audio CD complements and enhances the presentation of insightful and useful ideas, as well as caveats to guard against common mistakes and misconceptions. Meaningful Marketing is a superb resource for anyone considering, studying, or employed in the complex business of commercial marketing regardless of the products or services involved.

ok- this book is pretty brilliant... despite the fact that the artwork included is a catalogue of some of the most important, interesting and (previously- time will tell??) underground /fringe dwelling artists and contemporary contributors in the last 25 or so years and that in itself is reason enough to love this book, you would be CRAZY not to read the essays... they are insane- so brilliant and you are not even touching the surface of this book unless you read them..
if you have any interest in graf/ skating/ contempory artists / beautiful things / whats going down then youll love beautiful losers and regret very badly that you didnt get to see the exhibition...like i am now.

If you like street and pop art... I kindly raccomend this book to you!

Peace and 420!

I ordered this book from Amazon as a graduation gift and it says that it will ship in 1-4 weeks. BEWARE! I placed my order in mid-May and received a third delay notice today saying that it will not ship until mid-August. BOLLOCKS!! I finally canceled my order, as my "happy graduation" note is no longer applicable and my guy will likely be in school for the fall semester by the time the book actually arrives.

Its definately worth $25.17, or whatever price theyve stuck on it by now. Its includes pictures of, and interesting stories about a few of the Beautiful Losers aswell as full pages of artwork (in color). Its no picture book either, in addition to the stories, its got the histories of various subcultures that influenced the artists (skateboarding, graffiti, etc.) So it'll keep you busy for a minute.

Beautiful Losers exhibition is a document of an epoch centered on the twenty year history of street art and culture from the walls of urban landscapes across America to the walls of the dopest west and east coast galleries. Really great essays. Read the one by McCormick, its especially good. Well printed and designed. Everything in this book is imperative to know about if you are an artist, especially young artists in their formative years.

It's clear to see why Buried Child won the 78-79 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play borders on theatre of the absurd with it's illogical circumstances, and bizarre plot. We learn soon that a baby was buried, but we are entertained as the story processes and unfolds through the eyes of this dysfunctional family. The conflict is between the need to reveal the truth, and refusal to speak about the truth. A visitor to the home causes the revealing of the truth.


Dodge is a sickly 70ish year old drinker, smoker and frequently has violent coughing outbursts. Married to Halie, 65 year old, they have 3 boys. Halie spends time (tipsy time) with the church Father.

Tilden, the oldest, shows up after 20 years, spent time in jail and got run out of New Mexico. Tilden was an All-American quarterback or fullback, the family can't remember which. Now he is mixed up in the head and can't take care of himself.

Bradley, they determine isn't very bright; he chopped his leg with a chainsaw. Bradley has serious conflict with Dodge.

And Ansel, the soldier who died in a motel, on his honeymoon with the Catholic Italian girl, the mob. Haley swears he was doomed when he married her. Ansel played basketball and could have made money, could have taken care of Dodge and Halie.

Father Dewis just tries to mediate. For Halie, he would erect a statue of Ansel with a rifle in one hand and a basketball in the other.

Vince, the grandson, Tilden's son arrives after 6 years and nobody recognizes him. He is symbolic of the buried unwanted child.

Shelly, Vince's girlfriend is thrust into this bizarre scenario, and it is she who becomes the focus of the unveiling truth of the child.

The most prominent symbolism in Buried Child is the rain, and how the vegetables in the field have grown. The rain is mentioned a lot, and it serves to be the nuturing of the vegetables, like nuturing the family for the truth.

This play is brilliant, engaging, and very entertaining. The dialogue is real, paces well and there are a few lengthy monologues. Like good literature, it requires a second reading. Don't skip that.......MzRizz

A courageous work that deserved the Pulitzer. It's American Theater of the Absurd at its best.

The familes dysfunction is depicted in a disturbing climax. The title depicts the family's metaphorical "skeletons in the closet" in a quite literal way.

Be prepared, this is not your usual drama. If you enjoy the absurd, you've come to the right place.

Buried Child is a story of coming home and coming to terms with the past. Sheppard's use of visual imagery and his mastery of simple, stark, but powerful dialog make this one of the better modern American plays. 5 men, 2 women, one set.

Shephard's 1995 revision of his play that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979 builds tension for two acts and dissipates it in the third. If it is "symbolic," the symbols are opaque. There is the trademark Shephard old crank (Dodge), sons who don't get along (Tilden and Bradley), outbreaks of smashed crockery, and a young man unsuccessfully seeking recognition (Vince). There is also a blatantly unfaithful wife (Halie) and a nervous younger woman (Vince's girlfriend Shelly). Their ennui and ambivalences are on the family's "old home place" in Illinois rather than in a desert that mirrors the desolation of the fissioned nuclear family.

The play can be read(/performed) as comedy rather than existentialist tragedy, especially since it sputters out rather than achieving catharsis. It seems to me that Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming" is a more effective vision of a similar return "home" to a viper's next and that the third act of "Buried Child" would be better if Shelly established her dominance rather than Vince inheriting the place after Dodge's (perhaps unreliable) confession.

There might be some people who tend to think of Buried Child as an elusive play, for there are a lot of actions they don't quite understand. Nevertheless, I think something is weird because Shepard's focus is not simply on the realistic level, but on the symbolic level as well. The backyard in this play, for one, is conveying this two-fold level. On the one hand, it is physically a backyard as many people have in real life. It is, on the other, a mysterious place inasmuch as there is no detailed description of the place, yet a few significant events all so happen to take place at the backyard. That is, growing crops and burying the child is all relating to the backyard. In my opinion, there are many other actions and events that have such a two-fold meaning in this play.

I was really looking forward to reading this play because the title sounded so great. This play has a silly plot and asinine characters. I am so happy that this play is short because if it would have taken me a long time to read I would have been really unhappy with the time that I lost to reading this play. If you really want to read a good play then read Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg.

While it cannot compare with Shepard's other works, i.e. 'Buried Child' or 'True West', it is still a great play. I picked it up one evening and simply couldn't put it down. A dark comedy that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I am a republican and do not agree with the ties this play makes with the Bush Adminstration, but I think this play is about the dangers of an ill-informed public and abused power, even though the play was written to reflect present day politics. No matter what your political affiliation may be, there is something in this play for everyone.

I liked the play so much, I talked a producer into making it
happen on stage at the Community College of Southern Nevada, Las
Vegas. We're having a lot of fun in rehearsals with THE GOD OF
HELL! But be warned, this play is NOT suited for everybody's
taste!!!

This play by renowned playright Sam Shepard was entertaining enough. However, it's anti-war political agenda was too obvious and not enough to vault this play to a lasting level of literary greatness. All that aside though, the storyline carries the reader/viewer along and reads fast enough that it might be worth picking up.

-- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

I am now feeling very thankful for the existence of Sam Shepard. Here is someone aware and in touch with the current state of American pseudo-Patriotism, and it's appropriation of the essentials of American "values."
Frank and Emma are Wisconsin farmers, raising cattle all alone in the Heartland. Though Frank has taken in an old friend, Haynes and let him stay in the basement. After Haynes arrives, Welch shortly appears, full of eerie entitlement, red, white and blue cookies, American flags galore and a suspicion of Haynes presence. Much to the chagrin of Emma, Welch thinks nothing of the house, the front door, the property and the conventions of any social etiquette (i.e. civil liberties). Haynes meanwhile is on edge and frightened at the static charges he emits when touched, the mention of an institution from which he recently left and The God of Hell.
What The God of Hell is I'll not mention, but the implications of the government, specifically the Bush Administration's willingness to advocate torture, the heightened disregard of the common man and his home, and the insanity of nuclear production and the decimation our own land are thick and clear.
Shepard has created a swift one act, three scenes, in one setting, a kitchen/living room of Frank and Emma's home, which itself radiates a tension of menace and: "We're suddenly stung by our duty to a higher purpose. Our natural loyalties fall in line and we're amazed how simple it is to honor out one true heritage."

This is great for a crash course on mopar. It takes you back to different types of parts and explains them thoroughly.

This book seems good for PERFORMANCE rebuilds. But if you're just learning about rebuilding engines, follow the books advice, and start elsewhere. Here's a quote from the book's introduction: "[This book] was written with the performance enthusiast in mind, and contains large amounts of information generated by Chrysler's internal research and development engineers. This book was also written with the assumption that the reader is already familiar with general overhaul, disassembly and assembly practices, especially those peculiar to the Chrysler A engine. Complete standards and techniques for these engines in stock form can be found in HPBooks' HOW TO REBUILD YOUR SMALL-BLOCK MOPAR and in the Chrysler factory service manual for your particular engine. For factory manuals write: Chrysler Service Publications, 20026 Progress Drive, Strongville, Ohio, 44136. This book begins where those two books end--and that is on how to build a high-performance Chrysler small-block--very high-performance."

This book covers all aspects of increasing the performance of your small block Mopar. Simple hop ups to full blown race ready engine modifications are covered in this book.

I'm not quite sure what other reviewers read, but this is not a book for standard rebuilds. This covers performance work only, and would not be a guide for the first-timer. It contains info on building up circle-track, drag, and street/strip cars, with general advice and specific part number and machining spec's. The book is written with a heavy factory-slant, as many of the parts and suggestions concern Mopar-sold parts. There's nothing wrong with that, as a lot of fast Chryslers run Mopar-brand equipment. The thank-you list in the front reads like a who's- who of Chrysler racing history, and some of them work at Chrysler to this day, so this isn't some guy out in left field telling you to slap a 800 CFM carb on your 1978 Lean Burn 318 and go Corvette hunting- he and his advisors know small block Chryslers better than almost anybody else I can think of. I've known or worked with several of them, and they've turned out an impressive pile of fast engines over the years. This book is well worth the $15 investment, considering the money you'll dump into a good motor

The book is well written,very thorough,easy to understand for the beginner. One flaw though, is that it only covers standard rebuilds, and it does not go into the performance aspect at all which is where it loses out in the market, if you already have a sound foundation in rebuilding engines and already know the basics, you would be better served buying something like Mopar speed secrets or something along those lines.

All in all it is still a very good book.

by Paulzig@hotmail.com