Spencer Books

Of course Shakespeare's TEMPEST is an enchanting--and enchanted--play, but my comments here concern the DOVER THRIFT EDITION of the play. Dover is to be commended for making texts such as these affordable for readers on a budget. However, students and teachers alike should note that the Dover edition does not supply line numbers. Students who are considering this text for a class and may have to write about it will not be able to cite specific line numbers as is convention (Act.scene.lines; e.g., 3.1.34-47). Professors and teachers should also be aware of this limitation and weigh it against the affordability of this text.

I have my degree in English... I like reading and teaching with this version as "help" not as a substitution. It gives a clearer understanding to Shakespeare for people who have difficulty with it.

I bought this copy admittedly because the magical artwork on the cover drew me towards this edition. I admit that it is shallow but I am very glad I ended up picking this one because it contains a wealth of information that is so perfect for helping students understand the context, background, themes and ideas contained within this beautifully written play.

Shakespeare is always difficult for us young people, but I can easily promise anyone that this edition does a fine job of explaining the play and it definately helps the reader to gain a better understanding of the play so you are prepared to go into an exam and write about it for two hours with the conviction that you will yield good results.

I recently re-read THE TEMPEST prior to attending The Colorado Shakespeare Festival's performance of this play under the summer stars here in Boulder. Shakespeare (1564-1616) produced this emotionally-moving, poetic romance at the end of his career, in 1611, and published it in the First Folio in 1623. In fact, it was his last play.

It tells the story of Prospero, the exiled duke of Milan, and his beautiful daughter, Miranda, who have been stranded for twelve years on a desert island with two servants, the airy sprite Ariel (who Prospero rescued from being imprisonment in a tree) and the savage Caliban. Upon learning that his usurping brother Antonio is sailing near the island with the Neopolitan King Alonso's party, he uses his magic powers to conjure a sea storm that not only leaves the ship and its passengers wrecked on the island, but which also sparks a courtship between his daughter and the king's son, Ferdinand. The survivors of the wreck are separated into several groups, believing one another dead. Three subplots then alternate through the play. In one, Caliban befriends two drunken crew members, whom he believes to have come from the moon, and drunkenly attempts to raise is own rebellion against Prospero. In another, Prospero works to establish the romantic relationship between Ferdinand and Miranda. In the third subplot, Ariel thwarts a murder plot at Prospero's command.

The shipwrecked passengers are eventually reunited by island spirits to discover the marriage of Miranda and Ferdinand. In the end, as its title suggests, THE TEMPEST is as much about the opening scene's violent storm, as the journey that brought Prospero to the island and the psychological storm--"the sea change"--leading him to quit his magic and his remote island to return to Milan.

G. Merritt

The Tempest is rightly regarded as being one of the Bard's greatest works, containing some of his deepest thoughts on the nature of power and the relationship between rational man as controller of nature, and the animal man always to be at the mercy of the passions both of himself, others, and the world around him. In fact, this play could be thought of as representing Shakespeare's final and definitive statement on topics that he had explored throughout his cannon. But profound as the philosophy is, and despite the beauty of the poetry and the many magical elements contained within the play, the fact is that as far as the average attention lacking teenager is concerned, not a lot happens. This is why this Cambridge schools edition scores over most others. It is almost entirely activity focused, the expressed aim being to 'bring the play to life'. With at least one suggested activity beside each page of Shakespeare's text (as well as a decent amount of background notes and interpretation), every teacher armed with this book should be able to enthuse his charges with the very real relevance of this play to the world which we have bequeathed them.

Very hands on...the only way to learn this stuff. I'd agree with others who say this is one of the best books they have on their shelf. That said, I'd say this book is good for those who already have a basic understanding of databases, ASP and Dreamweaver. Nothing in this book is very in depth but rather an overview of what UD can do and more importantly HOW to do it and WHY. I'd give it 5 stars if there weren't so many really STUPID errors (like missing ='s). There's tons of silliness like that which is another reason why I say the reader really should have some previous knowledge.

This is a really excellent tutorial which takes you step-by-step through building a site just like this amazon.com one. It's like having someone quickly show you how to use the different features to get you up and running fast. Unfortunately, there are so many errors in the lessons, the message boards at friendsofed.com are jammed with frustrated readers just trying to make their pages work like in the lesson. It's a huge detractor, but luckily the book is still very worth getting.

The things I like about this book is it touches on all the topics that you need to understand to build an ecommerce website and it has some good pratical ideas, although I don't think I would use much in a real ecommerce site.

The things I don't like about it is hard to follow. Sometimes the content is missing a step and you have to figure out how to get to where the author is. Second the author doesn't tell you where to save your completed files so as you go from chapter to chapter you could have a hard time finding them. There are also problems if you don't finish one chapter before doing the next, so it is best to go from chapter one until the end, and make sure everything works before going on to the next chapter (good luck).

The book is entirely based on ASP, which is fine because that is what I use. This book will not teach you much about coding, but it does teach you how to use some of the built in Dreamweaver components. Not much information on how to create templates and it is not nearly a complete reference of Dreamweaver. So you will have to buy another book after this one. I read that Dreamweaver 4 Bible by Lowery is good, so this will be my next read.

The topics on Shopping Cart uses a prebuilt shopping cart written for Dreamweaver 1(in the form of an extension) so it doesn't teach you how to create a shopping cart from scratch.

The book teaches you nothing about web page layout. All of the pages are pre-built using the authors templates.

The book uses Access as the database. Considering the book is based on ecommerce you would think the author would tell you how to prevent a browser from downloading your entire database, which is what would happen using his tutorial! Also I could not connect to the access database from a browser until I set up permissions for IUSER on my IIS 5.0 server. Author doesn't mention this. It seems that the author doesn't have a lot of experience writing computer books.

By the way I contacted the author about a problem I was having, just got a e-mail a few days later saying they were sorry about not getting back to me sooner, but they never answered my question.

From what I've seen this is the only Ultradev book which actually takes you through a complete application using a real relational database and showing you how to insert and update fields based on passing form and URL values. Plus it integrates some email features as well. All important to an online app.

The stored procs section is nice to gt just flavor of whats possible there. Hooking it to SQL Server is very easy but converting between Access is a bite. Be sure and check your table names if you do. SQL writes it's table names as dbo.Table in Access it's just Table and UD (ASP/IIS actually) will choke on
this.

The Shopping Cart is a bit dated as there are now more powerful carts for UD.

Overall the best book for getting you up to speed with a real app, not just a simple single page insert, quickly.

MAC USERS: One thing that should be pointed out before you buy this book. This book will do you no good whatsoever. Long about page 5 there is a disclaimer that the server applications used as examples in the manual are nor available for the Macintosh. So sorry. Thanks for the money. See ya! At least with most software, you are warned if it'll work for your platform. The Friends of Ed are no friends of mine.

This book was suggested to me by my office manager and I was underwhelmed! The sing-songy writing and "story-telling" impressed me as juvenile and sophomoric. The "tips" were nothing more than the basics of common courtesy and commitment to customer service that anyone who has experienced a good degree of success in their profession would have already mastered or they would not be successful in the first place. Perhaps if you were clueless it might be helpful, but it left me cold.

I bought this book for one of my Call Center sales and service agents. His customer service skills were excellent but he was reluctant to "sell people on something they don't need or can't afford." If they didn't ask about a product, he didn't tell them about it. If he didn't increase his sales quickly, I would be forced to let him go. After reading this book, the employee realized that telling customers about the benefits of our products was merely an extension of good customer service. He said he learned to "visualize the sale" before he answered each call. Immediately his sales increased and he has been one of my most consistent performers in the three months since he read the book. He has increased his potential income from $26,000 to about $43,000 annually due to meeting pay-for-performance goals plus commission. Now my other employees want to read it too and I had to order 3 more copies for my 22 person team. A quick read even for those who don't normally think of themselves as book learners.

I loved the one minute manager and I love the one minute sales Person. Sound principles in less than a minute. In the book he includes the most important thing that sales reps forget is to sell yourself first.

Compared with the monstrous success of "One Minute Manager", this sales version is kind of disappointed. The book still keeps the simple style to present main stages of sales with diagrams and big bold words. In each stage, it also tries its best to describe the process flow with necessary details.

However, I found it's kind of awkward to navigate in those diagrams for fast comprehension. Furthermore, the extended connection with goal setting, reward, and punishment weakens the emphasis of some key factors of sales: finding customer needs, telling a compelling story, and winning the trust.

Maybe salesmanship is the kind of art which is too hard to teach in a short book (just like the leadership). At this scenario, I would rather to read the big and great book for best descriptions (even as big as Michael Porter's giant volumes for competitive advantage). Otherwise, I'll just save the money to treat my sales mentor a Latte in the Starbucks (after browsing this book at the book store).

I think this is a worthwhile book for someone who is beginning a sales career or has an antagonist attitude toward the profession, but wants to change that maybe because they are starting a business, doing consulting, etc. It is particularly good for people who don't feel comfortable with the whole idea of selling, but realize it's an important skill and is even required in daily life e.g. to sell an idea, convince a child to do something in their best interests, etc.

I have read some reviews of this book that sound harsh; I think that some of them may be overstated. While this book is short, simple and a quick read, it does a very good job of driving the basics home in a way that represents the sales profession well and honors an ethical approach to business. While the ideas themselves are simple, their application on a daily basis is not. If you read this book and embody the principles, it will make a big difference in your attitude toward sales as a profession, to your customers and to your personal income.

I think almost everyone reading this has probably been on the receiving end of a bad or unscrupulous salesperson. They unfortunately are not rare and give the profession a bad name. Their tactics are coercive and manipulative. This is not the kind of sales that this book talks about.

Personally, I think a good salesperson earns their money by helping a customer to understand their needs, asks powerful questions that bring out the implications of their customer's business situation and presents options that the customer will feel good about. They also build relationships based on trust, superior product knowledge and professionalism. They keep their commitments, follow through on promises and know the difference between persuasion and manipulation.

This book is a book that uses story to demonstrate what makes a professional salesperson in the best sense of the word. In a nutshell, it's about mastering the basics and doing them from the heart, not with a desire to manipulate. I think this is a worthwhile message to get out there and it really does work, espeically in the long run.

Golfers, bowlers and other athletes revisit the basics frequently, often practicing them on a daily basis. The same principle applies to sales and this book does a good job of driving home the importance of mastering fundamental sales skills.

I agree with some reviews that this book is light on content. However, if a potential salesperson learns even one thing from this book that helps them to do their job better, they will easily pay for the cost of a new copy. If they form one good habit as a result of reading it, it will pay for itself many times over. With that said, why not buy it used if you are skeptical and worried that it will be a quick read? The words are the same and you might learn something. (I do agree that this book is overpriced, however.)

Personally, I have read this book more than once and I have periodically reviewed the material throughout the years. I don't think it's as good as the "One Minute Manager," but it's good. It's difficult to be a GREAT salesperson. You need to study the principles, embody them and maintain your balance, integrity and ethical principles often in the face of tempting or difficult situations. Given this reality, I think a book like this that inspires is a worthwhile read. This is especially true in a profession where a lot of people slam doors in your face and you need to deal well with rejection every day.

Excellent book. For anyone wondering what life is like in the Mormon Church, has a desire for a good read on a topic of interest, is not looking for dirt/mud/bashing, or does not want to deal with high level theology study, this is your book.

As America approaches a presidential election in a little over a year, I needed to find information about the religion of one of the candidates, Mitt Romney. I want to know as much information about the candidate and his religion as I can. I came across Spencer's book and was captivated from beginning to end.

"Beyond Mormonism" is a heartfelt and sincere recounting of one man's journey from sinner to saved, with a 10-year detour through Mormonism. It is full of compassion and empathy. Surprisingly, there seems to be no bitterness on the part of Spencer toward those in the LDS church. On the contrary, there are many references of his love and friendship toward those who are still in the Mormon church, even though they have severed ties with him.

The book is well written in concise, easy to understand language. At no time does Spencer come off as preaching or condescending. I read the entire book online, and made it through quickly.

It is both informative and moving. My heartfelt thanks to Jim Spencer, both for writing this book, and for publishing it online.

I read "Beyond Mormonism: An Elder's Story" with much interest, and I am fillied with sorrow for Pastor Spencer's conclusions. I believe that he never gained a testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith or of the Church. Instead of vocalizing his questions while he was investigating the Church or as questions came up in his mind, he kept these doubts secret, many even from himself. I can see his logic. There continue to be questions in our minds if we do not raise them and obtain the answers. The question of being saved by grace alone is one which I didn't understand until I had been on an L.D.S. mission to France. We are indeed saved by grace alone "after all we can do." Are we expected to do our best in this life? Of course, we are! Can we expect to be saved by grace if we don't make an effort to live our lives in a Christ-like manner? A resounding NO! Christ shed His blood to save all mankind! I am afraid there are members of the L.D.S. (Mormon) Church (just as there are many who are not L.D.S.) who will be surprised at who will and who will not be found in "heaven". I hope and pray that those who have "hardened their hearts" may have their hearts "softened", if not in this life, then in the life to come. I, like the Spencers, harbor no ill will against those who do not share my beliefs. I'm sure that God alone is the One who knows the real answers. That is why we have to live by faith, not only in Jesus Christ, but in His teachings. However, in spite of my imperfections, I still have my testimony of the Church and its teachings. This, fortunately, has never completely left me. I hope and pray that they may realize the error of their ways and come back into the Church, as I pray that I may make my own way back into the Church.

So much has already been said about this fine book that I'll keep this short. I read this book when it first came out. At the time I thought it was very good. It was also unique in that it was the first ex-Mormon testimony that I knew of that had been published to a broad, mass-market audience.

I was especially impressed with the author's respectful yet honest tone. At the time most ex-Mormon testimonies tended to be rather shrill and somewhat demeaning.

This book was different and I really appreciated that since my brother is Mormon as are many friends. From my Mormon relationships I knew that the picture that was often painted of them and their culture was unfairly skewed to the negative.

Yes, their theology and doctrine is heretical. Yes, their leadership is oppressive. Yes their thinking can be inconsistent, illogical, and irrational. However, their hearts, desires, and passions are well placed and sincere. Well this isn't always the case, they rarely do what they do out of malice or guile. Mormons believe and practice their faith with the best of intentions and motivations - they just happen to be climbing a ladder that's leaning against the wrong wall.

Since this book was published many, many, many other fine testimony books have also been released. A few that I have either read or heard good things about include:

Secret Ceremonies: A Mormon Woman's Intimate Diary of Marriage and Beyond

Out of Mormonism: A Womans True Story

Out of the Shadows: A rape victim examines her life in and out of Mormonism

Evangelicals should note that not all Mormon testimonies end in a Born-Again experience. However, they are ALL of great value if nothing more than the reader can gain some insight, understanding, and empathy for their Mormon friends through them.

I've also found some superb Mormon Recovery websites (just google on "Mormons in Transition" and you'll find them) and the following books which have been of great benefit while maintaining a respectful tone:

The Pattern of The Double-Bind in Mormonism

I Love Mormons: A New Way to Share Christ with Latter-day Saints

Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons

What's going on in there? The Verbatim Text of the Mormon Temple Rituals Annotated and Explained by a Former Temple Worker

I hope that this short review and book list will help you find which book on Mormonism is of most value to you and your family.

I have not read this mans book and i have no intention to. Having gone through the same experience he has I have no reason to justify my decision for leaving the LDS church by reading his book. I am a bit ticked off with the holy roller dogma that has been written about his book in these reviews. Having done extensice research on the origions of the LDS church and living as a member, and surving a mission I have the utmost respect for the organization and it's people. I have yet to find a group that more turely exemplifies living a true christian life. Unlike the ignorrant comments made about this book so far, I want to say that everyone has the opportunity to find truth, as gandi said -truth is god-god is not truth! America is trapped by a growing number of narrow minded, ignorrant, fundimental christian groups who whould have all of us live and believe only what they feel is the true interpitaiton of a fairy-tail book,the bible. They think the world is only 4000 years old and have the nerve to gudge the mormons? Get real and wake up.

Really enjoyed this second installment, love Clare and Russ and when they are together fighting crime everything seems right in the world.

This was my first venture into the works of Julia spencer-Fleming and it was totally enjoyable. I plan on reading more of her works when I next want to do some "light or escape" reading.
Her protagonist, Reverand Clare, is a delightful, daring and caring human being. There is a hint of forbidden romance with the local Police Chief and a humorous one-upmanship relationship between the two.
The plot is a little clumsy in places but the theme of hate crimes and the terror they cause make it worthwhile.

This book continues the relationship between Clare and Russ plus being a great mystery. I love these books and am looking forward to the latest in the series.

(Kindle format). Interesting book, bad e-formatting. Many format errors, including line spacing and kerning, words falling into the line below - it all makes for a very crowded, tight page. Forced hyphenation means odd hyphens in the middle of lines.

Strong characters, interesting story, although a little more politically/socially heavy-handed than the first book.

Some irritating automotive errors - the Reverend Clare drives a classic car which is worth upwards of $45,000, after complaining in the last novel that she couldn't afford to replace her MG B (which is not a luxurious high performance car, as is claimed in the first novel). There is no such thing as a "four hundred twenty seven liter" car. 427 cc or 4.27 liter, most likely.

The story is excellent and the author can be proud of it. She should, however, fire whomever created the Kindle version of her book. This is absolutely the worst Kindle-format book I have ever read. If I hadn't gotten it for free during a recent Amazon promotion, I would be asking for my money back.

What's wrong with it?
* First, the device renders each page so slowly that turning pages is annoying--every page! I've been told that this is a consequence of not using the font that's built into the Kindle firm-ware.
* Second, there's no table of contents, so you can't jump directly to a particular chapter.
* Third, there are no page breaks at the beginning of each chapter. I doubt the publisher would have been happy with this in his print edition.
* Fourth, the text looks like they didn't use a proper font. Rather, you see some broken letters like mis-prints in paper books, while the same letter nearby is perfect. Also, there are some lines where a given word will be out of place.

Don't spend your money on a poorly made Kindle edition. Get the paperback. A Fountain Filled With Blood (A Rev. Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery)

This sensitively penned drama of ethical struggle versus real life love and passions fulfils at several levels - the crime/mystery to be solved and the moral dilemmas to ponder.
The characters are true to life but never boring and the setting authentically enchanting.
A fabulous read for a night by the fire.

I only recently became acquainted with this author and absolutely love her books. I have read all that are available in paperback and will continue to look forward to reading future books.

I got hooked on mysteries by reading Agatha Christie when I was young and this author's characters and plots remind me of Agatha. Great reading.

Seldom am I unable to finish a book, but I just could not plow through this one. Granted, I have never read another book in this Clare & Russ series before, however, I sure didn't get to read much of Clare & Russ in this one. Very few sections in their point of view.
Pages and pages of reminiscing by all the characters made for a pace that simply crawled. (Perhaps "Misty Memories" would be a better title.)
Also, most of the characters spoke with the same "voice" so that it was very difficult to distinguish one character from another. The only one who did have a slightly different "voice" spoke in an annoying accent that came and went for no reason.
Another annoying thing: smart characters (or at least characters who should know better) who do stupid things.
And finally, as reader, I do not need to know every little detail of every characters' thoughts & deeds--only those details that add to plot, characterization or setting. Slow pace, bland characters, wasted details...I just had to put it down.

Ms. Spencer-Fleming's fourth Fergusson/Van Alstyne novel goes at the same fast pace as the previous three - Russ and Clare don't spend as much time together as before, but it works. There is a lot happening behind the scenes. i.e. the reader sees a lot of the inner workings of the minds of the criminals. The author is selective with this technique - otherwise the identity of the most destructive criminal would be revealed too early.

As with all of JSF's mysteries, the suspense builds to an exciting climax. I'm looking forward to reading the next installment.

I was saving this book so I that I could look forward to more Clare and Russ, little did I know they would fail to show in this book of the series. I say series lightly because this book should not be included as part part of the Clare Fergusson/ Russ Van Alstyne mysteries. I am fairly new to the series and this was a huge disappointment since the characters I know and care about rarely appear. This book is peppered with minor characters and often less than plausible story lines.

I am sad to say I put this was down. Ms. Spencer-Fleming's fascination with deer hunting and subesquent deer skining was very off putting. It's a shame she feels she has to resort to this type of false sensationalism after a noteworthy first novel.

To Darkness And To Death lacked both style and substance and is a world away from what I grew to know and love in the first few books. My love affair with Clare and Russ is now over.

Indeed this book gives very deep insight and should be of interest to anyone who looks for an answer to the question what the matrix is.

The perfect Matrix book !
I wonder why they don't publish the same book for Reloaded and Revolutions... :-(

This book is a must have, no words, buy it!

Da avere, difficile spiegare a parole. Quando lo sfoglierete mi comprenderete. Compratelo!

Most "art of" movie books like star wars, lord of the rings, superman, ...the list goes on and on, have a lot of eye candy, great concept sketches, art, etc. You just don't get that here. The sketches have a lot of black and white comic book panels. Now, Wachowski bros are very into comics and saw this movie in that sense first and that made a great movie. It just doesn't make a great art of the matrix book.

It's interesting to note that no art of the matrix reloaded or revolutions has come out.

This is an inside look at the real visual minds behind the matrix style of action, innovative camera movements and conceptual designs by comic legends Steve Skroce and Geof Darrow. The Bothers were such a fan of their comics, they hired them to design almost every element of the Matrix films. For any fan of behind the scenes "making of" or just fans of cool artwork this book will blow you away. You get to see the genesis of one of the most influential action film ever! This book will keep you entertained for a long time, it takes forever to absorb it all. This is a must for any Matrix fan really, you won't be disappointed.

This book was alright, but not as good as his other book "Jouney of Man".

This is a great complement to the Seven Daughters Of Eve. The story of where we, the human race, originated is so essential to understand! This book details not only this but how his and his colleagues' work are helping people get back to their roots.

They are helping people understand where they came from - their 'belonging' in this world. What a great thing to do!

More importantly, this shows how we are all interconnected and really is a death-blow to racism in all its forms.

I have to admit this is a subject that already interested me but I was very impressed with the writing style and how fun it has been to read! Written almost like a fun story but with very interesting and understandable science behind it.

Most of the info in this book is a rehash of the history of genetic biology that Wells covered in his first book. He tells you what he is doing with the new data gathering, but if you read the first book, you will quickly become bored. Wells is brilliant and like Brian Sykes, he is doing important work in unravelling our ancestral past. Unfortunately, Wells is better at telling you what he doing rather than writing about it.

The man often takes two or three pages to explain something that should only take one or two paragraphs to explain adequately. I find that overly pedantic. This is common practice for most academics.

Wells also made a passive/aggressive political comment that I found to be irksome in a book about genetic anthropology. He said "I met with President Clinton at the end of his second term when the President was still arguably the most powerful man in the world." I've got news for Spence. The President of the United States is still the most powerful man in the world and it's not arguable. The U.S. is the most powerful economy in the world and Bush's policies helped to add an enormous amount of wealth to everyone in the world. We produce twenty five percent of the world's GDP with less than five percent of the planet's population. The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful military in the world and he can project our country's military power anywhere on this globe. It is not arguable. I know Wells spent several years at Cambridge that is still a hotbed of English communism, but I expected a little more common sense from a true genius prodigy.

While the first book was good if a little tiresome, the second book is a real snore. Wells is much better talking on film. I recommend his DVDs and the first book, but the money saved on this one could be better spent on Sykes' Seven Daughters of Eve.

While his books are interesting, one thing that becomes abundantly clear to anyone with a working knowledge of ancestral genetics is that Wells goes out of his way to preach "we are all the same" and "race is meaningless". While both statements have an element of truth to them, they don't tell the whole story. Good scientific writers don't try to push a message. Rather, they lay the facts out and allow the reader to do with it what they will. There are very real, empirical genetic differences between ethnic groups--an indisputable fact embraced by serious medical geneticists. This may make some people uncomfortable and provide ammunition for racial bigotry, but playing a shell game with facts does a disservice to science and humanity.

Three grammatical errors by page 16, too much God. I gave up in a hurry.

The Playgroup

Ellie is a 40 year old stand up comic, mother of 2. She's happily married and lives on the Upper East Side in New York. When she takes her kids to a posh playgroup on the East Side, things change for her when she meets Missy, which is the opposite of Ellie: confident, loaded with money, beautiful and seems to have it all under control. Ellie on the other side has been ditched by her best friend and ex-co-writer, she sometimes feels overwhelmed with motherhood, she lives in a small and not interior designed house, etc. The book follows Ellie through her relationship with Missy, which seems to take over her life, and not in a good way. I found this story really entertaining and fun, but still deep enough to show the value of family, marriage, friendship, work etc. Ellie seems human just like any of us, and she finds out that she has to pay for her mistakes one way or another, which isn't always easy. I would really recommend this book.

This book was amazing it grab my attention with the first sentence from there I was trapped. I couldn't put the book down and every chance I got I was reading. I am 25 far from a mother and not even married and this book kept me on my toes waiting to see what will happen next. It puts out there that these "stay at home" Moms have alot of spunk and want to have fun just as much as I do. In all Nelsie Spencer first novel was a hit in my books and I would love to read the sequel to this book or any other novel she plans to write.

This is the first book in along time that I actually laughed out loud while reading. It was great and always a page turner !!!

I've been infatuated with mommy lit for the past few months, and devouring all kinds of fun tales of moms coming of "age" (my fave, thus far, is The Yummy Mummy by Polly Williams). They all have this in common: they're set in New York or London (check), the moms have put careers on hold to be with their kids and they're trying to regain their "selves" (check), they're early in their relationship with their husbands/boyfriends and still trying to figure out if this is *really* the right guy, especially given the upheaval since baby (check), they have plenty of money (check), they have troubled relationships with their own mothers (check, with a vengeance), there's another man who presents a likely alternative to their husband and with whom they have some minor flirtation (check, check, check).

Ok, so this has all the usual stuff. But what really threw me was the sex. I know all the other reviewers love the sex scenes. But here's where I'm different -- I'm the mom she *says* she is in the first chapter, the woman who is really paying lots more attention to her mommy hormones than her libido, at least while the children are babies. She makes some comment about how she's not interested in sex, but if she puts on the "uniform" and starts doing it, she finds she enjoys it by the end. Ahem.

Every time she sees her husband, she gets naked. Every time she's alone with her husband for an instant, she *wants* to get naked. When she's having sex, she's fantasizing about other men and other women. The dirty talk is truly Penthouse quality.

If I wanted to read a steamy novel about lesbian sex, hey! I'd buy a steamy novel about lesbian sex. This purports to be a novel about a mom finding herself. It's way more about sex than it is about moms. And, though it was interesting in between the sex scenes, it was too cliched and painfully baudy for this mama.

If you like to read Penthouse, you'll love this novel. If you like to read Jennifer Weiner, keeping clicking.

(Oh yeah and I am so done with reading about the trials and tribulations of Upper West Side mamas trying to fit in with Upper East Side mamas. Come on. Mamas the world wide have plenty more problems than whether to wear pearls or funky beads from the Village to a cocktail party. Like, whether or not they can get affordable medical insurance. I just don't care any more about what stupid present you're going to take to a three-year-old's $20k birthday party.)

I remember when I first read it. Picking it up from a friend's kitchen table, simultaneously made curious and revolted by the insect on the cover. The contents, like from a strange language, I had never been exposed to before. Almost musical, its cadence. One can love a song in another language and not have any idea what it really means. So that's how it started. I have since read and re-read these poems many times, sometimes outloud, often whispered. Discovering the wit, the tempered anxieties, and sentiments dressed-up in detached language play. I am not embarrassed to admit having gone to the dictionary on more than several occasions. The recognition, however seldom, when coming across one of the author's many literary references or allusions was pure delight.

Even now I can't say that I "speak" Tremolo. My grasp is rudimentary at best. Still, I get by and continually find comfort in these poems. Foreign, yet familiar.

How to solve for X? I was never good at math, anyway. But who cares?

This is a great book of poems. I'm not sure why these other reviewers are offended and make the accusations of plagiarism. They have no understand of how art works -- poets riff off of and steal (Eliot) from each other all the time. That's how the game works. My guess is that most of these other reviewers have some sort of personal grudge with Spencer, as he does have a strong personality. Check out some of his work on-line, and judge for yourself.

Short's prose rides a loud but tiny scooter to your party, dismounts, and removes it's helmet. It goes to the fridge, steals a sixer and at the end of the night, when you discover it lying on the bathroom floor, it tries to kiss your roommate before it finally sets it's way into the night. He's got a good jumpshot, but he's a sore loser, however, he can suggest a nice chardonay if you need. Good work, boy, wheres the Evanoff influence and the Tetzloff swagger that you once had? Wherse the pace and Gocker, and even the Chase? Has New York and it's height had it way with you? This Book Resounds!

I haven't checked in here for a while but did today and saw your review. I liked it. You make some excellent points &, believe it or not, they are criticisms I, myself, have aimed at the book.

It's a shame your friends don't like it, of course. I was in graduate school at the time I wrote it & was writing the poems essentially for a handful of MY close friends (also MFA students). The poems are full of dumb jokes, puns, riffs & references to shared experience with them. No one will ever get most of them. In this sense the book is probably a bit too obscure, hermetic even.

Still, I'm glad you read it.

A quick note, though. It's spelled "Tremolo" not "Tremelo".

For future reference.

There is something startlingly efficient about Spencer Short's poems. For all their ingenuity they seem very cleaned and very crafty, entirely original. But the poems in tremolo do not surprise me; in fact they annoy me, and in this sense at least they achieve something. But who wants to be annoyed?

For example, in a poem aptly titled "Poem," Short writes "The blackbird eclipse reworked as beauty mark." This is the first line of the poem. I read this line to my friends at a party recently and they looked at me as if they suddenly disliked me.

To me the true test of modern poetry is whether my friends can appreciate the poem. They are a rough bunch: rowdy drinkers, professional wrestlers, navy men, marine drop-outs, summer lifeguards, fanatical Jewish converts, football fans, etc. They are also the most un-literary humans alive. They do enjoy poetry, but for the most part Short's poems do not seem to be written for my friends. (I'm not saying they have to be!) But they do seem to be written for those who teach and those who attend MFA programs. To me, tremolo is totally inaccessible. The poems here read as if the author were running through NYC with some fellow MFA grads, turning each corner and shouting to the crowd "Ole!" But the ole! is a special kind of shout, doctored and perfected by the MFA program, and for all it's fist-pumping triumph this ole! does not inspire me; in fact (see above) it annoys me.