Sherman Books

"This set of practice tests is included to help you judge whether you are ready for the formal classroom exam.
The questions are not intended to cover all the key ideas from the chapter; rather, they have been randomly chosen from a larger bank of questions to spot-check your overall mastery of the text material.

Two types of tests are included:
a ten-item multiple choice quiz and a set of ten fill-in questions.
The first set tests your knowledge and application of a wide variety of concepts, while the fill-in questions test how well you have memorized the basic concepts summarized in the glossary.
Answers to the tests and a short explanation of the main concept in the multiple choice questions are found at the end of the test booklet.

DO NOT TAKE PRACTICE TESTS BEFORE STUDYING THE TEXT.
If you try to only learn the concepts covered in a short practice test you will miss most of the ideas from the chapter that might appear in a longer, formal classroom examination.
Instead, use the tests to check your study, not to direct it......"
[from the booklet of a note to the student]

We use this book in my sociology 101 class at USC. It is very easy to understand. Covering a little on all of the major themes in sociology, this book is very ideal if your professor makes sociology seem difficult through his/her lectures.

If you are using the textbook, _Calculus and Analytic Geometry_, it is imperative to get a copy of this solutions manual. The solutions manual comes in handy whenever you run into a difficult problem, and the solutions are very clear and thorough for every problem in the book. This book really helped me in college calculus.

McGraw Hill's 'Calculus and Analytic Geometry' is an excellent calc book in itself, and this guide is an excellent resource for any student using that book. It contains solutions for all of the problems in the textbook, step by step in an easy to understand manner. I definitely recommend this book and it deserves 5 stars, but I'm only giving it 4 stars because the price is a bit steep.

It seems that too few have read this well-written book. Sherman has been working with all the great actors and actresses of the 40's and 50's. He seems to have been quite a ladies' man! He has a lot of good stories about famous film personalities. It has not been easy to be a company man for a person who knows what he wants. This memoir belongs to the best ones written about those golden years of Hollywood.

A cineaste may not treat Vincent Sherman with the same regard usually reserved for Welles, Ford, Fellini, or Godard, but a movie buff remembers and appreciates the underrated Sherman's quiet craftsmanship on many popular Hollywood features. Sherman has been an actor, writer, producer, and director -- an all-around "fixer" who could take a bad project and make it saleable, and a promising project and make it successful. He brings the same practicality, insight, and honesty to this fascinating autobiography.

"Studio Affairs" gives the reader an insider's look at the Hollywood studio system, with its stepping stones and setbacks. Vincent Sherman worked with such luminaries as Jack Warner, Harry Cohn, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Rita Hayworth, Claude Rains, even The Dead End Kids. Sherman wore many hats, and he details his varied dealings with actors and colleagues with remarkable candor. His personal life is as compelling as his professional career.

"Studio Affairs" is engrossing reading. On more than one occasion this reviewer intended to spend a few minutes with the book, and was hooked for more than an hour at a time. Vincent Sherman deserves a standing ovation for his work, and for this book. Movie fans should enjoy this book very much indeed.

Sherman's Lagoon is one of those offbeat creations that appeal to many. If you are the kind of person that likes humor that causes you to look back at the earlier panels, this is a good one. I recommend it. Imagine Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbs) as he might appear as an adult.

I really enjoy Sherman's Lagoon and all the characters. I sent lots of funny books to my brother when he was stationed in Baghdad, and he said one of his sergeants was addicted to Sherman's Lagoon: he was more excited about getting another book than about getting home-made cookies! Now THAT's something!!

Bought this book for my ten year old nephew who LOVES Sherman's Lagoon. He liked this new edition just as well as the others. Sherman's lagoon is a great comic. We have the whole collection for our nephews who come and visit. If you love sarcastic humor, you'll like Sherman's lagoon.

This is the tenth Sherman's Lagoon collection and it is still going strong. The main theme running through this volume is Sherman becoming a father. From his first learning the news through trying to raise his kid, Sherman faces the world of fatherhood in his own unique way.

Other story arcs that run in this volume include:
Hawthorne the Handyman
The War of the Gods
The Carnivore Convention
The Lagoon's Mar Probe
Sherman runs for Mayor
Fluffy the Catfish
Filmore the Houseguest
Igby Iguana's Wild Island Tours

At ten volumes it is unlikely I can start any readers reading the series and those already loyal will pick this one up by reflex but if you haven't really had a chance to check out the strip, this is a good one to get started on. It is full of returning characters and clever plots. Check it out.

Super book! Great practical ideas for this mom and teacher! Both my 9 and 12 year old daughters were struggling to wrap their minds around the division algorithm. I read the chapter on division in the book, bought some base-ten blocks, and held about 8 practice sessions with the girls by following the author's instructions. My 12 year old can now easily complete the division algorithm. My 9 year old can easily divided with the base-ten blocks and is beginning to grasp the algorithm. Yea! This is super progress for them both!

Teaching Children Who Struggle should be required reading for any teacher of young children. Given a specific deficit, there are multiple strategies and instructional procedures that will remedy the issue. Material from Math Recovery is clearly explained and convincingly supported.

I bought this book in the "used books" section, I thought it would be in a really bad state, nevertheless this book came out to be in excellent conditions, a few highlights in some pages but besides that... wonderful.

Thank you for the book. It was in great condition, like i had bought it new

Wade Hampton III who was born in 1818 and whose life spanned the century (he died in 1902) was an important figure in South Carolina and in the American South. He was born to near-aristocracy, his father having fought in the War of 1812 and his grandfather in the Revolution. He was a wealthy plantation owner, one of the wealthiest in his state. He was also a conservative who opposed the break with the union, but when called upon to do his duty went to war and raised his own regiment known as 'Hampton's legion'. He served in the Stonewall Brigade and then took over JEB Stuart's cavalry units after the battle of Yellow Tavern. He served to the end with Lee. His son died in the war and his house and properties were destroyed by Sherman's union army in its march to the sea. After the war he was drafted to run for Govenor by the Democrats but relented waiting until 1877 to take the helm of his state as a passionate opponent of reconstruction and northern meddling in southern affairs. Later he served as a Senator.

This book is not an fawning biography but rather a more critical one that examines the importance of this influential leader whose life mirrored that of his southern compatriots and that of his class. He was the embodiment of the south and as the title suggests, both a warrior and a redeemer whose efforts and politics hang over the South today.

A very interesting, well written account that will appeal to devotees of Southern history and the Civil War.

Seth J. Frantzman

After a dearth of many years, four biographies of southern soldier and politician Wade Hampton have recently appeared. I have read three; Rod Andrew's work is easily the best. Many of Hampton's personal papers were lost to fire; there are virtually no letters from him in existence before the war and most of his war papers were also lost, but Andrew has done an excellent job finding sources and scattered letters. Andrew used several letters from Hampton or close acquaintances that Brian Cisco did not include in his recent popular biography of Hampton. Andrew also gives a much fuller portrait of Hampton as a slave-holder than does Cisco, contrasting Wade III's paternal management with the brutality of his grandfather Wade I.
I was impressed that Andrew detailed Hampton's amazing record as a cavalry commander with such detail, surpassing the treatment of Edward Longacre, who wrote about Hampton's Civil War service. But it is Andrew's analysis of Hampton's character and his commitment to southern ideals that stands out the most. Andrew has done an excellent job of defining Hampton in the era and landscape of his own existence, not forcing him to abide by modern standards of racial justice. Hampton was a racist, and a paternalist, but his legacy to the world was vastly different from men like Ben Tillman, Martin Gary, and James Henry Hammond. Hampton was a man of honor, who came to bitterly hate Yankees, especially William Sherman, and who never regretted or apologized for his role in the war. Although he did earnestly seek black votes and appointed many to office after his disputed gubernatorial election in 1876-77, he was never committed to enforcing civil rights and was an impotent defender of the limited success of his racial policy by the 1890s. Nonetheless, Hampton's record is largely remarkable. He was deeply mourned in passing as one of the finest of his era and section.
Rod Andrew's biography is a first rate example of research and analysis. William Davis's work on John C. Breckinridge and Andrew's work on Hampton are my favorite biographies of Civil War-era southerners.

"The sheets are dirty. An Indian health service hospital in the late sixties, on this reservation or that reservation, any reservation, a particular reservation. Antiseptic, cinnamon, and danker odors, anonymous cries up and down the hallways..."

Aside from "David Copperfield," and a few others, this opening is one of the strongest I have ever read. The story itself revolves around two mysteries: the primary is the mystery of John Smith's heritage. Though he's a full blood Native American, he was taken from his birth family and raised by whites with no racial identity. The other is of a Seattle-based serial killer who's scalping his victims.

While the murder mystery is interesting, the true death is of the Native American culture by various means from adoption of Native children by whites, to subversion of teaching Native culture by handing it to white professors, and numerous other myriad means.

I haven't read anything by Sherman Alexie I haven't enjoyed, but in my opinion the true masterpiece of his is the young adult autobiography, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian".

Rebecca Kyle, May 2008

I found this book very satisfying on a couple of levels. First, I was impressed how Alexie developed a diminsional person using all the aspects of a humanity. I appreciated that his characters were neither good or bad, just people trying to survive.

Secondly, I like the mystical aspect he put into. After all, aren't we all tied to our ancestors as strongly as Alexie paints.

Indian Killer
Sherman Alexie
New York, NY. Warner Books 1996
420 pages


"The sheets are dirty. An Indian health service hospital in the late sixties, on this reservation or that reservation, any reservation, a particular reservation. Antiseptic, cinnamon, and danker odors, anonymous cries up and down the hallways..."
This is the introduction that Sherman Alexie uses to explain the world, but through the eyes of Native Americans.
Indian killer is the story of john smith, Marie Polatkin, And of course, the Indian killer. John smith was born a full Native American but he was raised by white people. He later meets a Native American activist named Marie And at this time there is a mysterious murder where the victim was scalped, which starts an argument between the white people and the native people of Seattle.
Being Native American but raised by white people, john smith is slipping into madness because he doesn't know what tribe he is from. He has an overwhelming need to be a Native American.
My favorite part of this whole book is when Marie Polatkin argues with the Native American studies teacher who is white. She argued because the teacher was using a book written by a guy who wasn't Native American. This was funny because I could see myself doing something like that.
The theme Sherman Alexie was trying to show is how hard it can be for a race when some kind of media is attacking them. In this case it was the radio.
This book was really great. I liked how it changes from person to person. I would change all the stereotypes that Sherman Alexie uses in the book.
I would recommend this for people who can follow more than one storyline. And I would also recommend this for people who are interested in Native Americans or who are Native American

I very much enjoyed the movie "Smoke Signals", which was based on Sherman Alexie's "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven", so it was with substantial anticipation I sat down to read "Indian Killer" as part of a book club selecton. Right away the language was easy and light, and the first few chapters flew by quickly. However, it soon became evident that the story and the writing in general would not hold its appeal for me.

It is set up as a typical "who-dunnit" albeit with an Indian flair. We are treated to lots of stereotypical "observations" about Indians and about Whites, all from the other's viewpoint. There is a desperate attempt to portray political incorrectness; however, it more or less boils down to a meaningless shouting match between people who have in some way been wronged. And the solution to the mystery is a complete let-down. All that for this???

I found various historical tidbits and descriptions of customs interesting; however, I often found myself questioning the amount of objectivity in certain factual-sounding statements. This became especially evident after a certain description of a neighborhood in Seattle mainly inhabited by Scandinavians. The narrator explains the lack of trees in this neighborhood as a direct result of these Scandinavians' wish to emulate the "monotonous flat landscape of their homelands" and thus they proceded to cut down all the trees. Well, I can hardly think of a more inaccurate way to describe the mountainous and forrested countries of Sweden and Norway... After such a blunder, I became perhaps overly sceptical of the remainder of the story.

From the reviews it seems as if most people agree this is not Alexie's best book, and that his first work is far superior. I will therefore conclude that I need to read another of his books to appreciate his writing and popularity, and all I can offer is that if you are reading Sherman Alexie for the first time, this is defintely not a recommended start.

After reading other reviewers, I am amused and not a bit surprised. Sherman Alexie can't get a break - sure he is successful by many standards, but the critiques I read were watery. Useless, in fact. This book was a departure from Alexie's shorter stories - any why not? His short stories were a departure from his poems. His films have been departures in a sense, both from his texts, and also one from the other. His poetry bouts and comedy are also departures. What that says to me is you can't categorize Alexie, and thank goodness. Prolific and talented may be the two that could be applied most, and we are fortunate as his audience.
Why should Alexie make white people interesting? Though I would argue he does, this criticism is useless. White people reading his book will most likely be too busy emulating one or more of the characters.
I just finished reading the novel a second time. I read it when it first came out, and promptly gave my copy to my best friend. That was in 1996/7. I lived in Seattle at the time. Since that time I've had time to learn a lot of things from some really understanding and brilliant people. My recent reading of Indian Killer was mind-blowing. Alexie has a keen mind for detail - I am giving a lecture tonight with this text in hand, and the historical context makes my 2.5 hour class an easy one to teach. Adoption of Native children , sterilization of Native women, poverty, alcoholism, racism - all these are trends that were ultimately going to wipe out Native populations - something we know as ethnic cleansing or genocide. And these are just in recent history.
The wannabe Indian movement is where I was nailed, but thankfully schooled about in the early 90s. None of those folks I knew were wannabe drunks, wannabe in poverty, wannabe sterilized, etc. A huge trend in Seattle in the 1990s, with books like Women Who Run With the Wolves and Iron John. These movements were just another way for whites to "deal" with their complicity in how messed up the world is for over half its occupants.
Now everyone has found religion or Prozac. But its clear Alexie won't let us white folks burrow into our complacency without a fight. Thank goodness.

Carrion Comfort is truly an epic horror novel that pulls no punches. The imagery, the characters (some dying unexpectedly), the action, the suspense...this book has it all!! Yes, the book could have been shorter, and yes, I'm not quite sure I bought into Saul Laski and his arc...but other than those minor nitpicks, I loved this book!!! Melanie Fulle, Willie Borden, C. Barent Fuller, Bobby Joe, and let's not forget the most despicable Hollywood producer of all time :) Truly memorable characters that engage in truly despicable acts of violence...exactly what one would expect from a true horror classic!!!! And I love the idea of these "mind vampires" and their abilities...creepy to say the least.
Highly recommended!!

I'd never heard of Dan Simmons until about four weeks ago. Based on what was said, I tried his first novel, Song of Kali, and was big time disappointed. But I figured there had to be SOMETHING good about him, so I picked up Carrion Comfort to give him another try. I didn't know it was his second novel, it was just the only book my bookstore had in stock. The first half of the book is a Wow!, exciting, scary, original. The second half is more exhausting than entertaining. While it is inventive and well written, Simmons escalates the story to the point it seems like a 1960s Bond film, with the super secret high tech lair on an island and enough plot reversals to fill another couple of books. Put me in the camp that thinks the book would have been greatly improved with a 100-200 pages knocked out. And despite its great length, there are a number of issues that are set up and then never dealt with. Still and all, it's worth reading and I'll definitely pick up more of his work. (And ignore those comparisons to The Stand on the cover; the books are nothing alike.)

If you like horror - get this book now. Years after I read it the book still comes up in my mind. This is Dan Simmons at his best! The possibilities of this book are endless.

Dan Simmons has produce a horror novel of the disturbing kind. The vampires in this book are of a different stripe, being mainly concerned with mental control and degradation, not your average bloodsucking.

A young man comes across them in a nazi concentration camp, and decades later is still hunting them down.

The are more than one of these mindsuckers, and they have an annual gathering to indulge their horrific appetites.

The protagonist of the piece wants to get in and put an end to it.

I bought this book based up glowing reviews and the fact that it had won the Bram Stoker award.

The author introduces far too many characters at once and too quickly at that. No development or backstroy is given due to this. The description are overly detailed regarding the most mundane and pointless things

The characters are dull flat, and boring. They speak as if they were high class sophisticated nobles and because of this I was unable to relate to or even care about any of them. He tries so hard with cliches and sobstories to make us care about them but it's too easy to see through it.

The plot was much too predictable and only now do I see why it was about 900 pages. Simmons goes on and on without getting to the point or even having one in the first place. It could have been done in half the length and been better off for it.