Walsh Books

I began reading the Stoics to get background on St. Paul's evangelistic sermon in Athens (Acts 17), in which Stoics and Epicureans are among his partners in dialogue, but am finding these folks fascinating in their own right. Cicero and Seneca were in the thick of messy imperial politics, which takes some of the gloss off their otherwise attractive (at least in Seneca's case) maxims and ideals; as with Aristotle, you want to ask, "If education is the key to virtue, how did this wise man teach such a ruthless thug as Nero / Alexander?"

The Nature of the Gods was, in any case, great for my study. A Stoic, an Epicurean, and a skeptic who moonlights as a priest (!) meet in a private home to debate the reality and nature of God and the gods. No punchline here -- each disputant takes the time to develope his arguments in detail, in often lively prose. Often the debate about "faith" and "reason," myth and history, design and accident, seems surprisingly contemporary. The book also helped me make sense of Paul's line of argument in Acts, and by implication the success of Christianity. Thoughtful Romans were looking for a God they could believe in; I can almost imagine that Paul put his brief together after reading Book II, and parts of Book III, of Cicero's work.

The tone is civil, cosmopolitan, literate, with frequent quotations from the poets and references to mythology. (Which no one present takes seriously -- except metaphorically.)

Some of the skeptical parts of Book III also still bite. Why does God allow the wicked to prosper, and the good to perish? The ancients are still worth reading, not in a condescending way as primitive philosophy and bad science, but appreciated for their insights into fundamental questions, and even for some good guesses about Nature. (Cicero knows earth is much smaller than the sun, and round, for example -- though the Stoics think it round IN PART because sphericity is the ideal shape! Strict diets not being a priority in the ancient world.)

If you're like me, you were brought up thinking the ancients understood God(s) in terms of their old polytheistic mythology. In fact quaint village myths didn't make it in the large cities. The idea of a single High God predated Christianity by centuries, and was in fact central to mainstream ancient philosophies / theologies you've probably heard of: Platonism, Stoicism, Epicureanism.

For us, religion and revelation are inseparable. Christianity, Islam, Bahai-ism, Mormonism are "revealed" religions, based on the God's direct revelation through his Son or Prophet -- Jesus, Mohamed, Bahaulla, Joseph Smith. The Greeks and Romans didn't have "revealed" religions. They had to work out their ideas of meaning and divinity without a solid, revealed, starting place. In a world without revealed religion, the ancient philosophers tried to figure out, What is God? Amazing.

If you're interested in how the ancients understood God, Cicero's book, The Nature of the Gods, is a great read. It's basically a synopsis of ancient philosophies / theologies. It will change your understanding of the history of western religious thought.

Listen to Cicero [106 - 43 BC], a non-Christian, describing God: "God dwells in the universe as its ruler and governor, and rules the stars in their courses, and the changing seasons, and all the varying sequences of nature, looking down on earth and sea, and protecting the life and goods of men."

And, "The divine power is to be found in a principle of reason which pervades the whole of nature."

I particularly like the easy to read translation in this Penguin Classics edition.

Cicero's "De Natura Deorum" is a work the great orator used to present his own position towards philosophy, the gods, and how they work in the universe and in the lives of individuals. Cicero presents his thesis by opening a dialogue between three distinguished philosophers from the major schools of the first century BC: namely the Stoics, Epicureans, and Academics. Velleius, in book one, expounds upon the general tenets of the Epicureans; in book two, Balbus the Stoic in turn attempts to refute the claims made by Velleius; and finally, in book three, Cotta takes the position of the Academics, which should be understood as Cicero's opinions himself. If judged correctly, Cicero's opinions are quite clear, but they should be left for the reader to discover on his own. As pure philosophy, this book obviously lacks merit; but as for creativity and sheer eloquence Cicero's work will make for an entertaining and insightful read, especially as an introductory to the philosophical maxims during the decay of the Roman Republic. Despite the works lack of philosophical ingenuity, its influence may possibly be greater than what is customarily maintained, since it is likely that "De Naturae Deorum" impacted Boethius in writing his "Consolation of Philosophy." First of all, both works address many of the same issues, and secondly in their literary style they both use prose and verse to convey meaning. Overall, this work will make for a comforting, and at times insightful read; this will be an essential addition to the classical library.

Interesting book! Three public figures and Cicero himself, gather in Cotta's villa around 76 B.C. to discuss the nature of the gods. Gaius Velleius is an Epicurean. Quintus Lucilius Balbus, a Stoic. Gaius Aurelius Cotta, an Academic and pontifex. For a summary of the text see, p. xlvi-xlviii. For a brief review of how this book was received in history, see Introduction, p. ix. The question Cicero raises at the beginning of his work is: "If the gods have neither the power nor the desire to help us, if they have no interest whatever and they pay no attention to our activities, if there is nothing which can percolate from them to affect our human lives, what reason have we for addressing any acts of worship or honors or prayers to the immortal gods?" (p. 4)
Academics promoted questioning of established opinions; Skepticism denied the possibility of attaining ultimate knowledge of things but only high probability and suspension of judgment (åðïêç). Cicero was influenced by Carneades, the founder of the Third Academy (though his principle `voluptas cum honestate' was regarded by Cicero to be too close to Epicureanism) and by Antiochus, founder of the Fifth Academy (very open to Stoicism). Cotta, the Academic philosopher, endorses belief in the gods on the basis of traditional religion and patriotic duty. He criticizes the arguments adduced by Stoics and Epicureans as non-conclusive and faulty in logic. Here are a couple of quotes from him: "I should defend the beliefs about the immortal gods which we have inherited from our ancestors, together with our sacrifices, ceremonies and religious observances. I shall indeed defend them, and I have always done so; no words from any person, whether learned or unlearned, will ever budge me from the views which I inherited from our ancestors concerning the worship of the immortal gods." (p. 109); and: "I have gained better instruction on how to worship the immortal gods, guided by pontifical law and ancestral custom, from those miniature sacrificial bowls, bequeathed to us by Numa and described by Laelius in his little speech which is pure gold, than from the explanations of the Stoics." (p. 122)
On his part, Balbus, as a good Stoic, believed in a world-soul and in providence (ðñüíïéá) governing the world, though not the destiny of individuals. The Stoics' was a very immanentistic world view; they also believed in Fate (çéìáñìÞíç) and in predetermined events. This view of Fate appealed to the Roman passion for future-telling. In Roman society, there were:
1) Augurs = College of 10 and then 15 (from 51 BC) priests: they studied birds' flight patterns
2) Haruspices = Etruscan priests who studied animals' entrails
3) Pontefices = College of 16 priests
4) Diviners = they studied Sybilline books

I admire Cicero and and I like THE NATURE OF THE GODS, but I give it 2 stars because of the poor translation, which renders a lucid book intolerably boring. So, please throw away the PENGUIN edition and check out the same title by OXFORD WORLD'S CLASSCIS translated by P.G.Walsh. After you have compared the two editions, you will realize the weakness of J.M.Ross' translation.

I think Peter Walshs book The Zen of 3D Game Programming in DirectX 8.0 is the best book written for Direct3D beginners to own for initially starting out in Direct3D. Period. This book, however, isn't in the same league, It feels like something he inherited from somebody else and tried to fix up rather than something he did from scratch.
It does provide some interesting insights into network based game interaction and an interesting chapter on game AI. It also provides some interesting source code relating to a networkable game engine.
However, it covers the same old entry level "this is how 3D stuff works" and "this is how to initialize direct3D" that Non-Advanced books cover as well as numerous other introductory features out of place in an "Advanced" book.
And, unfortunately, when all is said and done, most of the really Advanced material is covered in a less than thorough manner. Many truly important topics in advanced Direct3D like Animated character mesh objects (Skin and Bones) are covered skimpily at best.
Also, at least on my system (1.4ghz 64mb Geforce3), the example codes performance was much less than you would hope for. The main Game engine codes primary example is only usable in a networked client / server environment. Maybe if theyd said Networked Game Programming instead of Advanced it would have been better.
All in all, If you are a Direct3D programmer and especially if you have a genuine interest in client server based games, it is probably worth owning this book for the odd bits you can pick up. Peter still knows a great deal more about D3D than I do and I will no doubt buy any more books that he continues to make.
Frankly though I wish Peter would go back to the style of his previous book and make a Advanced version of it. Perhaps building on the starter Game engine he provided in that maybe adding collision detection, character animation sequencing and actual game construction info.

Instant shipping of great item. Good seller!

After recently purchasing SAMS learn DirectX 7 in 24 hours I was put off programming for a while, it contained a lot of unexplained code, that the reader was expected to remember without understanding.

When I received this book for christmas however I was delighted to find that right from the start every peice of code is explained. The author also explained the advantages of various operating systems and programming langauges, which I found quite usefull. I was also pleased to see that the book not only explained just the direct X programming langauge, but also covered many other aspects of game programming, such as the creating of windows, using the message pump and various other functions in the windows API. The CD which comes with the book also contains some very usefull source code including the Quake 3 engine source code.

To sum things up this is a great book, for programmers who wish to write efficient code and understand what they are actually writing. I would recommend it to Advanced programmers, Intermediate programmers and possibly even ambitious beginners.

Having enjoyed Mr. Walsh's Zen book so much, I purchased this book without thumbing through it first. Big mistake.

Chapter one is a rewrite of information you can get from the help disk included with Visual C++.

Chapter two is a rewrite of parts of the DirectX SDK.

The name of chapter three should have been a signal of the true content. What is a chapter entitled "3-D Math Foundations" doing in a book with "Advanced" in the title? This chapter covers, yet again, basic 3-d math, vectors, matrices, etc. This chapter also contains a rewrite of some of the DirectX SDK. The only thing here worth noting is a minor treatment of Binary Space Partitions.

Chapter 4 is a complete disaster. Beginning with more basic chase algorithms, the author attempts to describe genetic algorithms and neural networks, failing miserably. The description on page 248 is minimal at best, the examples are not really explained at all. A huge misprint occurs on page 252-3.

I cannot comment on chapter 5 as I am not interested in network play. Quite simply, I haven't read it.

Chapter 6 another rewrite of another part of the DirectX SDK.

Chapter 7, the only part of the book which might be called "advanced" never really covers any subject in detail. A lot of this chapter, like a lot of the book is page after page of unexplained code taken directly from the included CD.

Chapter 8 is yet another rewrite of yet another section of the DirectX SDK.

Chapter 9 finally describes how to use the BSP trees which were touched upon back in chapter 4.

There is almost nothing here which would justify the word "advanced" being used in the book's title.

An almost laughable situation which occurs throughout the book is when the author explains that he cannot cover some subject or other in detail due to space limitations. One wonders how much he could have written if 80% of the book wasn't a rewrite of the SDK.

This thoroughly disappointing book is saved only by the fact that it contains very little of Andre LeMoth's gnarly rad surfer dude vernacular.

I really like the style of this Author, as he does not *rewrite* *SDK* helpdocs*. He tries to give you his understanding
of what he sees going on from his experience of coding. I find this very helpful, as he is always turning over lots of things,
and illustrating them so I feel I understand them better.
The title of the book is DirectX 8, so there isn't alot of handholding on constructing the C++ end of the code.
You are warned about this in the intro, and it is true. Wrappers, and alot of *advanced*
coding stuff are used, and It is up to you to puzzle the language of it through.
Also, alot of necessary details regarding changes Microsoft made to Direct3D, which the Author had no choice but to cover.

As a developer with a number of ideas all having to do with 3D applications, I was searching for more info on Java3D. I was not even sure if I should use Java for it. Although being a Dutchman, my business as an independent trainer and developer is in the high-tech German automotive and appliances industry. Training and educating young German engineers in development and manufacturing of new high quality products.

So, there I was, having lots of ideas but no real base to build on. What I had were some plain Java books, of course the Java Tutorial and the Java 3D API Specification. Especialy the latter gives lots of information and is an excellent source of 3D coding, however, it is not an easy guide for a starting programmer. Anyway, you know how it is, if you go into detail, you're coming across many difficulties and problems. It usually takes lots of times to find out where something like your problem is described. And even if you find something similar, it might be in a completely other context, or you have to go through long code lists just to find a part of the solution.

Then, searching the Amazone site, I came along a new book called the Java 3D API Jump Start. I finished it in two main sessions, I believe it were two long evenings all together. The main advantage to me in the first place was that it re-assured me, Java3D was the way to go. It very well describes the history of Java3D, the backgrounds and developments under way, and the outlook in the future. All backed up by many pictures, lots of them in full color.

It is, of course, a book for beginning 3D programmers. So, it brings you quickly up to speed. The way the book deals with the various topics is the following. It describes details you ever wanted to know about, gives some code lines just fot that particular option and refers to the API's or free available examples on the web, for the neighbouring code lines. Just to give you an idea of some of the topics, it descibes very thoroughly things like Geometry Arrays and Utilities. There are, for instance, full code samples of building geometric shapes, using advanced tools like the automatic triangulator and the normal generator. Also it describes very well topics like Indexed and Stripped Geometry Arrays. Some of the highlights of the book to me are the chapters on lighting, transformations and behaviours.

The book refers also to the Jump Start web-site where the interested reader can find example programs together with the source codes. So, the book gives you exactly what it promises, a jump start into Java3D. It not only helps you to build your first 3D programs, but it tells you also how things work and why they should be programmed in their particular way.

Now that I have read the book, do I still have questions? Yes, lots of them. But that's the way it should be. After you have your first shapes moving across your screen, you want more. You like to add all those nice little things you only know about, and of course, these are nowhere described. But now you have at least gained experience and increased your knowledge of Java3D, which makes it easier to find solutions elsewhere. And, hopefully the authors of this book Aaron E. Walsh and Doug Gehringer will make some efforts to write their next one on advanced Java3D programming.

...

I am a 3d programmer for 3 years . I know the difference between directional lights and point lights, textures and mipmaps.

I had read the complete Java3d spec and the tutorial by Sun and was expecting a bit more in this book. Unfortunately it is a big letdown in terms of such expectations.

The book seems to have been written for a fresh programmer who doesnt have any knowledge of 3d concepts. There are also a few technical errors at the end in the PickTool class and OrbitBehavior class descriptions. Also Behavior concepts are not covered very well. If you have read the J3D specs and the tutorial by Dennis Bouvier, then there is no need to buy this book. If you are very fresh to 3d and in particular to Java3d
this book is a good introduction to the key concepts.

After reading the Java 3D API spec and going through Sun's tutorial I was still confused. I've got limited 3D experience. This book went a long way toward explaining and clarifying some of the concepts in Java 3D. The examples are simple and straight-forward and had me up and running writing my own programs in a short-time. My only complaint is that there are some things I wished they had gone more in-depth on, however the book is of an appropriate length, aptly named, reads well, and is a good value.

If your purpose is to become familiar with the basics of Java3D, and read what 3D in Java is all about, then you should buy this book, definately. But don't expect to find complex real-life examples. What you learn is truly just the basics. Intermediate or advanced topics are not covered. Just answers to questions like "how do I setup a 3D environment?", and "how do I create a rotation?" and things like that. If you browse the Java3D API, and see what else is possible, then you realize that it's really just the basics that is covered.

But if the basics are your purpose, this is truly a jump-start, and it will definately suit your expectations.

I have been programming with Java for a few years, but I've only just started to try and do some work with Java3D and this book provided a good introduction to the API. It really is a jump-start - introducing 3D concepts and the practicalities of implementing them in Java 3D without going into very much detail- sometimes a bit more would have been useful, but you could usually find what you needed in the API documentation. In fact, this almost acts as an index to that documentation- telling you that classes exist and how they relate to one another so that you can then look up the details of how to use them.

There is definitely room for a detailed book on Java 3D, which this certainly isn't, but if you are looking for a general introduction you can't go far wrong here.

Since there is no hardcover addition and this is a cheap destined to break paperback I must give it one star.
Please Gemstone and Dark Horse rerelease your titles in hardback. The quality is unacceptable. Please don't buy the product until you see a hardback edition is offered. As for me I"m trying to collect the Gladstone comic books instead. And now I have a real tacky looking magazine holders on my bookcase. Thank-you Gemstone and Dark Horse!

First of all, I did not expect the book to be so small...but then I figured it was made to be the size of an actual comic book page, so I was able to live with that. The contents of the book are excellent, and while I would have appreciated more pages dedicated to discussing the history of the Disney comics, the selections, though random, do provide a nice overall essay of all the different characters that became popular in the comic book format.

With 75 years and probably thousands of stories to choose from, it couldn't have been easy to select the stories that made it into this volume. The folks at Gemstone did an admirable job, though, with a wonderful sampling of rarely reprinted comics from the US and Disney's foreign publishers -- some being reprinted in English for the first time. Most of the legendary Disney comic creators are represented here, from Floyd Gottfredson to William Van Horn to Don Rosa to the immortal Carl Barks. Even Walt Kelly has a short story in this volume.

In addition to a great sampling of creators, this book also has a good sampling of characters. You get the expected stories of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge and Goofy, but you also see Lil' Bad Wolf, Brer Rabbit, Bucky Bug, Gremlins, Fethry Duck and Launchpad McQuack taking the helm of their own adventures.

Gemstone has replicated the DVD format, from the cover (including nice art by Don Rosa) to essays by David Gerstein (taking the Leonard Maltin role for the book). The only real weakness to this book is that the stories seem to have been selected solely for their rarity, with no real common theme or thread to hold the book together. Hopefully future volumes in the series will address this issue. As it is, this is a fine sampling, one that any Disney comic fan will enjoy.

Comics were made to sell for 5 or 10 cents, but the modern comic, even full of distracting ads, runs two or three dollars. Gladstone/ Another Rainbow Publishing came up with a great idea. In the '90s they presented Carl Barks' duck comics in graphic novel format, which they called comic albums, for between six and ten dollars.

Absolutely great, what? You bet, until in one of a string of bloomers the proprietary Disney Company snatched back the license and made a botched effort at doing its own comics (this sort of thing was legion at that time and stirred Roy Disney to make a website called Save Disney). Now for the good news: the entire Gladstone run is still available, and some have even been combined into larger albums including two to four of the original oversize full-color comic albums.

"Disney Treasures", of course, refers to the lavishly packaged metal-boxed DVD sets of cartoons and other retro Disney shows. It's a brainstorm to lay this book out in that format and it holds up quite well, since this brief overview samples the American and European comics from the 1930s to the present.

David Gerstein contributes an invaluable two page essay for this book in which the comics are otherwise presented without comment. He alludes, ever so briefly, to the '50s book, Seduction of the Innocents, which started a crusade against comic books on the grounds that they were too violent and graphic in the gory sense. The result of that was the Comics Code, which was on every Gold Key and thus Disney comic. Dell had its own version of the code, and assured parents that "Dell Comics are Good Comics," thus assuring free access for kids.

Gerstein repeats the old saw that until then comics weren't for kids, and that graphic novels have brought back the pre-code days with a vengeance. I merely retort that the very idea of comics in this era fashioned them for youth and that this innocence brought out the best in Disney and other artists and made Gold Key comics the good part of being sick, since you'd inevitably get the latest adventures of the Junior Woodchucks or Mickey VS the Phantom Blot.

When the license went from Dell to Western Publishing the printing quality declined, but Gladstone later lifted it to a level of archival quality with its beautiful volumes. The general view is that in terms of the silver screen cartoon shorts, Donald was a much more interesting protagonist than Mickey, but in the comics, I think fans of Carl Barks' duck comics (translated well to TV in DuckTales) will enjoy discovering Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse.

So what is the relation of Gemstone to Gladstone? Gerstein assures me that it's the same crew. Whatever the reason for the name change, Steve Geppi, a close friend of the late Bruce Hamilton, founder of Gladstone, is now carrying the torch. The many great cartoons now available on DVD make this a new Golden Age for animation, and more good news: Gladstone/ Gemstone are now leading a comics revival.

Plenty of great comics put together with mediocre ones.

Why not more Carl Barks'and Fred Gottfredson's creations ? The more recent titles (with one or two honorable exceptions)are well below Bark's and Godfredson's levels.

We need every tool we can get in our fight to protect our children from unwanted media influence. This book is a great addition to my personal tool kit. Very practical, it rewards parents with easy to do activities for kids of all ages.

In a world where parents are spending less and less time with their children, and relying more and more on easy alternative ways to keep them satisfied, I found this book eye opening and profoundly important. Even for parents with good instincts and sound parenting skills, this book offers facts and revelations that would give any caring parent cause to re-examine what their children are being exposed to, and make sure that their own influence outweighs that of the media surrounding them. It is clear from recent tragic events in our schools that parents need enlightenment about ways to sort through all the clutter and mixed messages our kids our getting. Bravo to David Walsh, Monica Walsh and Kristin Parker for their brave and powerful attempt to create awareness about this important subject.

Come on! This is junk! This book is all about how to limit your children from what's going on around them 24/7. It's about sheltering your child from stuff that they are going to see everywhere. How can you stop your children from seeing this stuff? Well, you can't. This book is aimed at insecure parents who don't trust their children and can't make their own decisions. It's another pointless, dumb book aimed at pissing your kids off and further ruining your relationship with them. Don't buy this book. If you want to limit your kids intake of violence, move to Montana and live on a secluded ranch.

I found this book, especially the specific exercises to be extremely helpful. However, as an avid reader of all of Dr. Dave's work, I still think his first major title is his masterpiece, Selling Out America's Children. While this title has many positive messages for parents and their children, in his earlier work Dr. Walsh prophetically outlines the longterm effect that the media have on children. Reading it now is especially enertaining because it shows how on the money he was over 7 years ago. This current title takes his work to a new level, but once you read it, be sure to check out Selling America's Children!

I was afraid this book would just bash media, but Dr Dave has written a remarkably balanced book that is amazingly useful to me as a parent. The chapters each cover a kind of media and provide thoughtful exercises and questions that we can use with our kids. Last night at dinner my daughters and I went though one of his suggested exercises about advertizing messages. Later, we had some fun together "catching" some of the hidden ads on TV. I also found his chapter on the internet enlightening. I would absolutely recommend this easy read to other parents. It has given me hope that I can influence my kids attitudes about media without being heavy handed.

For a decent survey of the Spanish-American war, the rebellion in Cuba that preceded it, and the troops that fought in it, this is an adequate book to start with.

For the Philippine Insurrection it is less then adequate, which is surprising due to the fact that much has been written on the Spanish-American war and little on the insurrection that cost more American lives then the war itself.

Hopefully, someday, Osprey will produce a dedicated book on the insurrection, because this is not it.

I note the earlier 4 critiques: two very high scores balanced by two very low scores.
The Osprey books are all about illustrations and this book does a fine job in that department. The text coverage is roughly divided between the Spanish Cuban War and the Philippines insurrection. Probably more coverage could have been attached to the latter conflict as it was over a longer period.
A good primer to the subject deserving of 4 stars.

Much had been written about the Spanish-American War. The book follows the standard Osprey format whereby the work focuses primarily on the uniforms and equipment of all sides during the Spanish-American War. If one wants to gain my info on the tactics and more in-depth history of the conflict then one must find another book that is more than 65 pages.

How many more idiotic reviews of Osprey titles are we to put up with along the line of the previous one? Osprey Men-at-Arms series books are designed to show the UNIFORMS, and to a lesser extent equipment, of those involved in various conflicts. They are NOT supposed to provide, in the limited number of pages they contain, a detailed factual analyses of military conflicts and campaigns. It seems some reviewers fail to grasp this simple concept.

This book does a fine job of showing the uniforms of the various combatants, although there could have been an extra plate detailing Philippino forces, and one less of the US troops. Stephen Walsh's illustrations are, as usual, excellent - his earlier title on the Mexican Revolution is one of the best Osprey titles in years. Both that book, and this one, are highly recommended.

Not up to the usual standards of Osprey. Its a pity because this time period when America went out to build a real Empire is worthy of a better effort.

If you're a fan of the show, this book is a must-have. It is a collector's item, or better yet, a novelty collector's item. Rare pics, insightful articles and interviews, behind the scenes anecdotes, and intimate contestant profiles make this an essential purchase. That one picture of Nikki McKibbin (my favorite finalist, the pretty lady with the sexy voice, wonderful smile, and sparkling eyes) is enough to warrant the purchase. I recommend this book to everyone! And also, thanks for voting for Nikki - close, but top three ain't bad! Looking forward to the DVD and the CD as well!

this book like the show has some talented folks but overall it's all about the stars as to really acknowledging the best talent.I give props to the shows founder because that is One of the Smartest Tv Moves.but like the show this Book doesn't go into much detail.

This book focuses mainly on the season 1 contestants of the show "American Idol". There is a page dedicated to each of the Top 10 finalists, 3 pages explaining who and what the 3 groups were, a description page, and a page on the judges. I actually bought this book hoping there would be more on the judges and there wasn't. Overall, looking back, this was just a stupid purchase. I never looked at the book again. Don't buy it, unless you were/are a big fan of Season 1 of American Idol.

This guide is good, but could have been better. It's basically a brief photo guide through the first few weeks of the series, ending with the wild card episode and the selection of R.J. Helton as contestant. Oddly, the book chooses to end there, a pretty strange place to end. I would have liked it better if the book had gone up to and including the final episode, and maybe included photos from the concert tour and Las Vegas spectacular televised concert. And maybe the lyrics to Kelly Clarkson's songs? Whatever. It's still a nice photo guide, but it's mainly that - glossy photos. There's some brief contestant interviews with the final ten that don't reveal much, a look at the elimination shows and some pages devoted to the auditions. To tell the truth, this book looks as if it was rushed into production. If you're an Idol fan, it'll be a nice photo album, but nothing else.

Great writer! Wonderful and intelligent characters. Although, considered a 'cozy' mystery, this has lots of meat, wit and intelligence.

Almost a "cozy" British mystery, this is engaging and just complex enough to hold one's interest.

The Master of St. Agatha's College in Cambridge Sir William invites College Nurse Imogen Quy to the High Table for dinner with important to the school billionaire businessman, Sir Julius "The Takeover King" Farran CEO of the financial conglomerate the Farren Group. Though the "third" choice, she accepts as she knows the college could use a large donation. Accompanying Sir Julius to the dinner is his employee college graduate Andrew Duncombe, considered by most of the alumni as the school's greatest economist.

Not long after the dinner, Imogen reads in the newspaper that Sir Julius died in what officially was declared an accident. However, Imogen thinks back to the dinner discussion in which Sir Julius informed her that he has made many enemies over the years with most wanting him dead and some willing to do so though the opportunity is slim. Julius' son-in-law Max takes over the business and fires Andrew. Subsequently, Andrew and Imogen visit Sir Julius' widow Lucia, who declares she is remarrying her late husband's doctor. This is followed by someone killing Max and then there is the announcement that serious financial improprieties occurred at the Farran Group. Unable to mind her business, Imogen, accompanied by Andrew, begins in earnest to investigate.

In spite of the amateur sleuth illogical flaw of why Imogen investigates, fans of the sub-genre will gain immense pleasure from a superbly written thriller. The cast seems so academically genuine while the heroine is a wonderful central character keeping the tale focused. A dazzling twist will add delight to an enthralled audience as Jill Paton Walsh writes a fabulous investigative novel.

Harriet Klausner

This is one of the best-written mysteries of the year, of, perhaps, several years. The narration and the dialogue are both exquisitely crafted, a real pleasure to read. Jill Paton Walsh's earlier novel, A Piece of Justice, is a very clever book and both of Walsh's Wimsy/Vane novels are good, so I leapt to read this one with high hopes.

It's boring.

Sadly, the main character is more than (less than?) boring: she's annoyingly boring. In A Piece of Justice, Imogen's profession (college nurse) fits in with the theme of women being undervalued by venerable institutions. The brilliant blend of quilts and higher mathematics makes the point about women's intellects and women's skills being funneled away from the paths of glory and into nurturing activities such as nursing and sewing. We are told that Imogen started to be a doctor, but, because of family emergencies, had to settle for being a nurse. OK, that works in the earlier book, along with the professor who specializes in 19th -century dress fabric imports and the women who first attended Cambridge but couldn't get degrees. Here, however, in a novel without a discernable theme, Imogen's fall-back career seems remarkably like laziness. We are given to understand that she's youngish - thirties? - and attractive and healthy and financially stable: why doesn't she just go to med school? Walsh's attempt to give us a modern-day Miss Marple overlooks the changes in the world - even in the world of Cambridge. No one would think twice about a woman going to med school now, even in her fifties, let alone her thirties. Imogen's sad little apostrophes to a lost career sound more like excuses than regrets.

As a character, Imogen invites admiration but generates pity, if not contempt. Why must Imogen Quy exist on the margins of other people's lives as confidant, observer, dispenser of comforting advice and flu remedies? If she were decades older or if the novel were set decades ago, this would be more acceptable, or, at least, less unacceptable. Walsh is perhaps letting the pre-WWII settings of her Sayers novels cast a shadow over this present-tense story. Imogen's nosiness - which verges on the pathological here - is insufficiently explained. She pursues people she barely knows (the similarly named Rowena and Fiona,) well past the boundaries of decent manners, while her near-obsession with the murder is only one small step away from inexplicable. Well, perhaps she, too, is bored. That wouldn't be surprising, since Imogen's life is a cultural wasteland. In her day-to-day life in Cambridge, she never goes to a play or concert, reads a book, or steps into a museum. Her mind inquires only after other people's business. Yes, she can play quotation games, but - as pleasant as those brief passages are to read - that, too, verges on the unbelievable, as Imogene's life of the mind seems to be limited to the quotidian doings of those around her, not the intellectual activities of anyone, present or past. A more pertinent question than "who dunnit?" is where did Imo learn to quote Auden - even Auden? If Walsh wants the sort of reader who likes quotation games, shouldn't she play fair and give us a character who reads?

This book is probably better than the one star I'm giving it. Mark that down to near-bitter disappointment. It's hard not to feel betrayed by an author who loves Harriet Vane and pens Imogen Quy.

FOr $371.00 I'd expect Joe Walsh to bring it to my house perosnally and show me a few of the songs. I love Joe's work and his wit. The guy selling this book for almost 400 bucks is off his rocker.

This book was one of the best Christmas presents I've ever received. There are a lot of songs on there, including all the big ones--"Life's Been Good", "Funk #49", "Walk Away," and "Rocky Mountain Way", as well as a bunch of others. The tabs are honesty 99% dead-on. All the alternate tunings/capo usages are accurate and notated, as well as some of the effects Walsh uses (like Leslie effects, talkboxes and slides). There are a couple errors--the only ones I remember offhand are two missing notes on the slide guitar part of "Time Out"--but if you're a good enough guitarist to be playing those parts listed, you're probably good enough to figure out what they are. But considering the accuracy of absolutely everything else, I really can't nitpick.

My only complaint, naturally, is in the song choices: not enough of them! Hopefully, we'll see a collection with some big-time fan favorites, like "Funk #48", "Midnight Man" and "I Can Play That Rock and Roll"--or, dare I dream, a complete A-to-Z book. Until then, though, this is an excellent guitar resource and a must-have for any guitarists who are fans of Joe Walsh.

Hey i can't believe the gawl of this guy if he would have taken a closer look he would have not waste his money/time on it. anybody with brain would see that it is joe's wonderful music tabbed for guitar in this book not his life story sorry . but for me i'll enjoy it because i want to learn these songs, i just wish this was in score format with all the parts just wishful thinking keep on rockin joe stay healthy a fan, rocky mountain way is better than the way we had. peace everyone :)

the book was advertised as being hardcover, in the UK, this generally means hardbacked not a floppy, flimsy cover, as for the content, one interview with pete townsend and an interview with joe walsh himself, well to say I was let down would be the understatement of the year, It doesn't state that this is NOT a biography but a teach yourself the songs of "the old mad one" himself, as I can't even play guitar, it was useless to me , I was so looking forward to reading what antics joe got up to and how his life has panned out and what he has been doing up to the Eagles 2001 tour, which I did get to see, thank god, someone, please get Joe to write his autobiography, , I can't believe I waited over two months for a book that only ten or so pages made sense to me, I might as well go and see Harry Potter!

I purchased both V. Gilbert Beers' "Preschoolers Bible" and "Early Readers Bible" for my niece. They were very similar in text, illustrations, reading level, and layout, but the "Early Readers Bible" was vastly superior. I tried to return the "Preschoolers Bible" but with shipping costs it would have cost me as much to return as it did to purchase it in the first place! A very disappointing purchase, and I already know which will become one of her favorite books, and which will languish unread. Not recommended, there are better children's bibles out there, even by the same author.

My 3 1/2 year old son enjoys reading this bible BUT he asks a lot of questions because the stories are too simple, lack depth and kind of leave you hanging. I'm searching for a new bible that has more details with accurate information in it. His language skills are advanced so that is part of it but also just reading it to him makes me feel like I'm not telling him accurate information because the important pieces have been left out.

GREAT TOOL TO REPLACE THE RGULAR BEDTIME BOOKS ..... INSTEAD READ THEM A BED TIME STORY ABOUT THE BIBLE , WHAT A BETTER WAY TO EASY , FUN LEARNING ABOUT SPIRITUALITY & A FOUNDATION FOR GOOD MORALS . START EARLY ..... THIS WAS GREAT ... NOW MY SON ASKS ME TO READ THE BIBLE STORIES TO HIM ALL THE TIME NOT JUST FOR BEDTIME ......


THANK YOU
MS. Y. ALLISON NYC, NY

Let's face it . . . preschoolers do not have a long attention span. The Bible stories provided in this book are not only educational but they are kept to 2 or 3 pages. . . just long enough to spark the child's interest. They also provide faces to the characters which helps the child to remember the stories. My daughter and I have enjoyed the this book as well as the Beginner's Bible videos. Reading this book to your child will give them a great start in their christian lives.