Wang Books

It's a shame that no publisher has picked up this title for reprinting. Students need a trot for Shakespeare's plays, and no one ever wrote a better one than Harbage.

The best guides "take us to the point where the view is best, step aside and let us look at it, assuming a right sense of propriety that their forms are not essential to the landscape."

I first read Harbage's book in college nearly twenty years ago to help me through an advanced level course, but recently picked it up again to find it just as fresh and inspiring. Many of us, even those who love to read, initially experience frustration when reading the massive works of Shakespeare. Harbage asserts that this predicament is due primarily to "barriers to communion," certain challenges we experience in our efforts to understand Shakespeare's four-hundred-year-old writings, not the least of which Hargage calls the bard's "complex simplicity."

But Harbage, with delicate and expert hands, removes the barriers one by one allowing us a clearer view without telling us how to respond so that we can experience the works in our own unique and wonderful way.

We learn about alliteration, prose, oxymora, juxtapositions, characterization, metamorphosis, submerged metaphors, "diction, the metrical and non-metrical media, and the dramatic design as it emerges from a script" until when, before we know it, we become our own producers for plays that magically dance and flow across the stages of our minds. By the end of the book we have the foundational tools we need to truly enjoy all the passion, wit, and marvelous imagery that is Shakespeare.

This book provides a whole lot of data and facts and commented on them in a very objective manner. The analysis about various aspects of REIT investment is thorough and cautious. Highly recommended and hope to see an updated version addressing the issues and prospect after 2003. Today's crisis in housing and REIT investment had been mirrored in the one around 1974: nearly all the arguments there apply to today's market.

This book is the most authoritative analysis and synthesis of modern scholarly research on different complicated issues surrounding REITs. No currently available books can examine this investment vehicle as comprehensive and organised as this one.

This book consists of 12 chapters that provide readers with full understanding on how to manage and invest in REITs. Chan et al suggest that REIT stocks are different from real estate investment because investors should judge the value of a REIT stock not only by the assets it holds but also by its organisational structure (traditional vs UPREITs), management style (externally advised vs internally advised REITs), and growth strategy (diversification vs focus). They conclude that equity and mortgage REITs remain an attractive long-term investment vehicles because of their high dividend-payout ratios that generate a more stable income stream when the overall stock market is down and interest rates are low. However, investors should avoid purchasing stocks in the IPO market because the initial-day return of REIT IPOs is far lower than non-REIT stocks. In other words, REIT stocks seldom perform well in the short run.

Chan et al also suggest that REITs with significant investment from institutional investors and adoption of a focused investment strategy will offer more potential opportunities for investors to earn above-average profits. However, they do not recommend investors to buy captive REIT stocks because the sponsor-shareholder conflict will lower the value of the REIT.

This book has its limitation because it was published in 2003. The REIT concept has been becoming very hot in overseas real estate markets, particularly in Europe and Asia. For instance, US REIT players such as GE Capital, ABM, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs have undertaken active property investments in Japan, China, and Hong Kong. I highly recommend Chan et al to add 1 or 2 chapters on investment strategy in emerging markets and the laws and regulations that circumscribe activities in these markets to their next edition.

The book describes the analytical techniques based on electron diffraction, reflection and imaging in the TEM (and STEM) for the analysis of materials surfaces. As with most texts dealing with analytical techniques these days it is awash with acronyms and the ones representing the candidate methodologies are frequently encountered. These are RHEED (reflection high energy electron diffraction), REM (reflection electron microscopy), SREM (scanning REM) and REELS (reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy). Many others are included, but the author is considerate enough to define them all in the early pages of his book. The dust-cover notes state that this is 'an entirely self-contained study' in which the 'theories, techniques and applications of REM, RHEED and REELS are comprehensively reviewed'. Inspection of the text reveals that this is, indeed, the case, with three parts (logically Part A, Part B and Part C) of approximately equal length covering the three areas of reflection electron studies. This is preceded by a comprehensive review of the kinematical theory of electron diffraction. This chapter is a very helpful (and necessary) prelude to the rest of the book. It deals with kinematical scattering in the usual numerical manner but the associated text makes this chapter extremely readable. The main body of the text is written in an equally attractive style with the theory of the various topics being introduced alongside the experimental procedures involved. There are many applications of reflection electron microscopy and spectroscopy scattered throughout the book; although inmost cases they serve as illustrations of particular facets of the experimental procedures rather than points which emphasize the relative strengths of the candidate techniques. This is, however, a minor criticism, and the inclusion of examples of real micrographs, diffraction patterns and spectra throughout the text may provide some readers with much needed relief from the undoubted rigour of the theoretical treatments provided.

For those with a TEM background it represents, perhaps, the definitive text for reflection methods.

There are two particularly attractive aspects of this book to be found in the closing pages. The first is an extensive set (ten) of appendices which contain much useful data along with five FORTRAM programs for interpreting spectra and modeling electron beam/specimen interaction. These have presumably been widely tested in the author's laboratory and their inclusion here is to be welcomed. The other feature, warmly welcomed by this reviewer, is the inclusion of a separate index of the materials used to illustrate the various facets of the reflection techniques. Also included as an Appendix is a chronological bibliography of REM, SREM and REELS covering the years 1975-1995. RHEED is presumably excluded as it is the most senior, and widely used, of the methods considered. This book is not one for those with a peripheral interest in RHEED, REM, SREM and REELS. Referring once again to the cover notes it is offered as an 'ideal guide for scientists and graduate students working on quantitative surface structure characterization using reflection electron techniques' and there is no doubt that this target audience will appreciate the publication of such a concise, authoritative and well written text in their chosen area of endeavor. For those with a TEM background it represents, perhaps, the definitive text for reflection methods and provides all the theoretical information necessary for a thorough appreciation of these techniques. At such a reasonable price for a very specialist text one would hope that it will soon find a place on the bookshelf of every electron microscopy unit with a practical need (or even aspirations) to carry out surface structure determination in the TEM or STEM. For those with a need for such a text this book fulfills all the claims made on its behalf. Dr. Wang is to be congratulated on writing a very accessible text. The book is thoroughly recommended.

"It contains a lot of illustrations and excellent images and a good balance of theory and experimental techniques... it is a book that any materials science or physics libraries should be holding"

On Pages 1 and 2, Wang tells us that Godel, the master of the incomplete, suggests the possibility of philosophy as an exact theory emerging within the next hundred years or even sooner. There will be, he believes, scientific disproofs of what he calls' mechanism in biology' and of the proposition that 'there is no mind separate from matter'; moreover he thinks it practically certain that the 'physical laws, in their observable consequences, have a finite limit of precision. In his conversations, he recommends the important project of finding what might be called a 'rational religion.'

I conclude that exact philosophy already exists because theological statements are being proven, even though the ultimate truth will always be incomplate. This prediction means that the scientific method cannot be used to prove worlds, which is a box in which we live. Thus, universe cannot be measured without measure standards. So the universe is relativistic and can never be known exactly. I also agree with Godel that mechanisms will never be found in living things. This is why US medical care is so bad. I agree with Godel that minds will never be without bodies because only organizations exist in Nature. I also agree with Godel that a rational religion is coming because theological statements are being proven.

Wang has been an important source in compiling information on Godel and bringing it to public attention. This volume contains a variety of material about Godel- biographical facts, personal recollections, chronologies, Godel's philosophical ideas, the impact and historical setting of his mathematical work, his relationship with Einstein, comparisons to other prominent intellectuals, and more. It assumes a basic understanding of Godel's theorems. The bulk of the book is a presentation of some of Godel's (largely unpublished) philosophical activity. There is also quite a bit on Wang's own views as he contrasts them with Godel's. Some of these sections require more background in philosophy than most students of mathematics possess (myself included).

Wang supplies lots of interesting historical and biographical material as well. The 75 page chronology of Godel's life and work is very informative. Contains 11 photographs of Godel and company. The book ends with some useful commentary on selected publications of Godel. If you're looking just for a biography get Dawson's excellent book, but anyone seriously interested in Godel will want this as well.

"Divorce in America" reads the large print heading on the back cover blurb of Sorrentino's novel The Sky Changes. The novel chronicles the last ailing days of a tired marriage headed precipitously towards a bitter split. The front cover shows an anonymous two-lane road, extending out and away over a hill that leads to some far beyond. Here is the road that will carry Husband and Wife, Children and Driver, across the country, on roads that lead forward always to some imagined place, some Mexico. The dynamic of relation in this marriage, and the road trip across America where it all unfolds; here is the study, subject and structure. Sorrentino has talked in interviews about his respect for the Oulipo poets, and their disciplined structures, how it frees up space for creative expression.

"The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees oneself of the chains that shackle the spirit... the arbitrariness of the constraint only serves to obtain precision of execution."
Igor Stravinsky

The structure: the towns, the stops, and the things that happen there. Jacksontown, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Urbana, Illinois, Memphis, Tennessee, Jackson, Mississippi, Lawton, Oklahoma, Gallup, New Mexico, Grand Canyon, Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada, Bakersfield, Madera, and San Francisco, California. The episodes are patched together with flashbacks and flash-forwards, an exercise in teasing out the infinite singularity and process of the end-game of a marriage.
The subject: Sorrentino enters into the silent and hidden world of soured love, and faces knife-edge tension with word-detail precision and attention, exposing the secrets and strains to all the world. This is the stuff that never gets talked about, the stuff that gets harbored in the tormented minds of those involved and subsequently hushed up when the end comes and the marriage falls apart. "Divorce in America" reads the heading on the back cover blurb. This book does what sociology can only hint at, with its statistics and social norms. Here is the source, a biting and unforgiving look at the sick state of relations in our society. And yet, there is an implicit sense of hope, that maybe if this hidden disease is exposed, that there can be a more careful and considered approach to this thing, love. But The Sky Changes is littered with broken minds and trapped hearts, skeletal souls scattered across the tired landscape of America, waiting, perhaps, for some kind of release.

The man is nameless, yet we begin to know him personally. His sadness, his anger, and his frantic attempts to salvalge a marriage damaged beyond repair are emotions apparent in the pages of the book, The Sky Changes. Gilbert Sorrentino has written a compelling psychological novel in which a man travels across the contry with his children and his driver, and a wife who no longer cares for him. The man recounts his thoughts as he heads west, giving us an intimate look at the cracks of his marriage; cracks which ultimately lead to the shattering of lives. Sorrentino, who has written many books in the past, gives us one more reason to understand why he has been the recipient of many prizes for his past works. Certainly, this is one of his best yet.

I picked up "Stone Voices" to learn a little about what it is to "be Scottish" in modern times from Ascherson, a long-time political journalist who focuses on Scottish issues.

Ascherson has some wonderful insights and deep understanding of his topic. For example, I really enjoyed his essay on "when was Scotland"--i.e., what period in history are people thinking of when they think of when Scotland was most itself, and how the answer to that question has changed over time. The "highlandization" of Scotland (the sense that it is all ruddy guys in kilts) is a related theme.

A large percent of the volume is given over to a discussion of 'devolution' - the gradual decoupling of Scotland from Great Britain as a whole - including the recent establishment of a separate Scottish Parliament. This bit will be quite dry for most readers, and pretty difficult to understand if you don't already know a bit about British politics. Also, the essays as a whole meander a bit and don't have a real sense of direction.

However, I got what I came for - an appreciation of what Scotland is really like "now" - from someone who knows.

Neal Ascherson covers some of the same ground Edwin Muir did in Scottish Journeys, but brings these rambles up to date as he deals with the theme of devolution and the re-emergence of the Scottish nation. The chapters are more a series of reflections than a discourse on Scottish history. Ascherson moves back and forth in time, dealing with such subjects as the Stone of Destiny, which was finally returned to its ancestral home after many years in the Royal Palace, ostensibly to deny Scotland any right to royal ascension. But, its course proves to be a very interesting one.

Ascherson also looks at what Scotland's re-established nationhood means to Americans, including those with rather shaky connections, such as Trent Lott, who pushed through a resolution calling for Tartan Day in the United States in recognition of the 1320 Declaratin of Arbroath. Ascherson seems a bit puzzled why Americans would still so strongly identify themselves with Scotland, being so many generations removed.

He also criticized the overt Scottish nationalism which has grown in recent years, at times reaching the point of shear madness. But, for the most part Ascherson looks at the more subtle aspects of Scottish independence, rooting them in history and mythology. It is a very engaging book and should rekindle your interest in Scotland's storied past.

..showing how some behaviors that some Americans might think of as longstanding tradition were really just improvisations by American Jews, or magnification of minor customs into major events. For example, in Eastern European the Bar Mitzvah was, according to one immigrant, "no ceremony at all" - but in America it became a major life-cycle event as early as the 1880s. And the common custom of listing the names of deceased loved ones on a bronze tablet is almost entirely new, dating from the 1920s.

Other rituals declined and then rose from the dead again: Chanukah was neglected in the 19th century; as early as 1884, one rabbi wrote: "The customary candles disappear more and more from Jewish homes." Christmas trees became more common until in the 1920s, savvy Jewish marketers reinvented Chanukah as a large-scale gift-giving holiday. And as a result, by the late 20th century even some relatively secular households (like mine) ignored Christmas and made a production out of Chanukah.

Shabbat observance, though still not as widespread as one might hope, appears to have rebounded slightly from the alleged "good old days"- in 1950, only 2 percent of American Jews attended a Shabbat service of any kind, a figure that I suspect is even lower than today's status quo.

And innovation sometimes came from unlikely quarters: bat mitzvahs began in Conservative, and even Orthodox, synagogues rather than in Reform Judaism (which preferred confirmation).

Other attempts at innovation thankfully failed- for example, some synagogues' attempts to water down Shavuot by turning it into a Jewish Mothers' Day.

Another interesting feature of this book is that it shows how early American Jews came to differ from other groups. As early as the 1890s, for example, American Jews had half the infant mortality rate of Italians or Czechs. Jews were also fussier eaters- a 1930s survey showed that 42% of Jewish 2-5 years olds refused two or more of a group of foods offered, as opposed to 18% of Polish-American children. (Make of that what you will).

One moral of the book: the more things change the more they remain the same. In 1893, Rabbi Maurice Harris of Chicago asked, "Can a minority move among a majority without being absorbed by it? . . . our distinctive characteristics are going, one by one; we are becoming more and more like our neighbors." Words that could be said just as easily in 2004.

This books sheds must needed light on American Judaism. Often vilified as assimilationist by their enemies, this book shows how American Jews in the 20th century adapted their faith to American religious traditions. This is illustrated most dramatically in the domestic nature of American Judaism. Rituals with a home flavor, like Chanukah and Passover, take on a greater relevance than their old world counterparts. This book vividly shows that a religion that may seem to be in their death throes have actually transmuted into something related but different than its predecessor.

We live in a society that is more and more advanced technologically. Curiously, however, at the same time the nation's math skills are weakening decade by decade.

John Allen Paulos's "Innumeracy" attempts to address one aspect of this situation by offering some rudiments of probability theory. Many times in the lives of individuals and of nations, poor decisions are made due to an inadequate knowledge of probability. Some of the topics the author mentions include regression to the mean, coincidence, correlation and causation, and trade-offs between societal and individual rights. The author also discusses innumeracy as it relates to ESP and UFOs.

Knowing the basics of probability can even help your health. By focusing on the actual probability of your worries coming to pass, you can eliminate many groundless worries from your life and thus save wear and tear on your nervous system.

This was an interesting book that I would highly recommend to anyone NOT number-savvy. I had heard good things about it, and as someone who appreciates the importance of math, I thought it would be great to check out. It was written with the lay-person as its target audience, so being someone who already knows a great deal of mathematics, I was underwhelmed. The book is clearly written, and explains concepts slowly and carefully as it illustrates every-day math for the common person.

Honestly, this book felt a bit like "See Spot Run," but for mathematics instead of the English language. Even though it was a bit boring for the mathematically inclined, I highly recommend it for anyone suffering from "Mathematical Illiteracy." If you have ever said to yourself "I'm not a numbers person," then this book is for you.

"Innumeracy" goes beyond the expectation of a non-mathematician, user-friendly book. It wakes up your awareness of what passes as "statistics", "experts", "economics", and various numeric analysis in the popular media.

I bought the book after seeing it referenced in another science book. I was interested in a basis for how much bias, or straight ignorance, was posing in the guise of expert. I was more than satisfied with "Innumeracy" in this regard.

Read it twice. Put it down for a month, pay attention to what's in the news, etc. then read it again. You will be a much better consumer of numbers.

I have read several "mathematics for a popular audience" books as a high school math teacher who has done graduate work in mathematics. This is considered a classic, but I felt like it was no longer up to date at times. Also, I had the feeling I had read many of the better examples and such in other places - again this book is now a classic. It is good, but I have read similar books that I enjoyed more.

I felt like I knew about numbers before the book, and now I realize that I need to review and study numbers! I asked a bunch of friends about some of the simple problems in the book and found that many of them could not figure it out! Definitely read this

Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives

This book is ok. She certainly needs to have someone proofread and spruce up her writing. She said some things that might help some women who are in dire straights and think they don't know what to do. This was kind of common knowledge for me though. More of a reiteration of what I already knew.

I bought this for my sister and she loved it. I think it is good and I would recommend it to anyone who loves the character from the Gone with the Wind book.

I don't know. I bought the book as a gift and haven't spoken to the recipient since. Personally I loved the book myself

I think every woman of all ages should read this book. It is interesting to read, simple to understand, and so true.

If you consider this book as nothing more than "common sense", count yourself as blessed - some of us actually needed to hear it. I bought this book at a major turning point in my life and it changed the way I looked at my future. Dr. Laura is "technically" right on almost all moral points but she does, at times, lack grace which, I admit, bothers me. And yet, at other times, I have heard her exhibit heartfelt compassion to her callers. But anyway, it is not for me to determine the motives of her heart; I can only say her advice is sound and her standard is truth.

I originally read this book when it was first published. For a long while now I have wanted to return to it for a second read. Now that I have read it a second time, I know well why I wanted to return to it. The characters are incredibly well-developed and this family saga grabs you from the first page. A story about the family Stassos which takes the reader from Mary and Constantine's meeting and marriage in 1949 to the births of their three children, who ultimately live very different lives, you will be riveted. I absolutely enjoyed it as much this time around, if not more, than I did when I read it thirteen years ago. It most definitely holds up. Treat yourself to this amazingly wonderful read!

You know the drill from page one - - - uptight parents born in the 1920's, have kids in the 1950s', who become hippies in the 60's/70's, do too many drugs and too many partners, and die of AIDS in the 1980's. This novel is a BIT different in that the Vietnam War gets passed over completely, without mention. I did enjoy the book, but the Hours was a complete and utter masterpiece - -this book can't really compare. I have to conclude that Mr. Cunningham does his most brilliant work whilst being inspired by other masters. I have also read Speciman Days, and found it to be enjoyable, about on par with Flesh and Blood.

I thought Flesh and Blood was overall very nicely realized, with most loose ends tied up. But my major issue with the book was the character of Ben. So, Ben's real father was the tree surgeon? Or not? I have to say not, only because that person was portrayed to be very short, and the book went on about how tall and big Ben was?? But, Ben was dark, which would lean to the tree surgeon, since Todd was painted as blonde. OK, so putting the fatherhood aside, what the heck was wrong with Ben?? I never understood his character. His whole life (even at age 5), he is just a complete wreck on the inside, but on the outside he tries to look normal for his mom? He didn't want to die, that much seems clear (and was that whole passage necessary with the death swim??), but his vanity killed him because he was embarrassed that his grandfather might have caught him in the sex act with Jamal? How did he get so flawed? Because his mother and father ignored him growing up? I don't buy it!! I believe he would have become a murderer, anyway, had he survived to adulthood. A serial killer, most likely. So then Cunningham feels bad for Susan and gives her a daughter at age 49?? Why did they have her marry a father figure?? augh!

And the Mary (mother) character really pissed me off, too. The whole time she is trying to deal with her homosexual son, she can barely stand him, and the same with her grandson Jamal. I dont' think such a mean spirited person deserved to be in their life at all.

On the book jacket they describe the 3 kids' lives and they describe Zoe as the youngest, visionary daughter. Ummm, ok, leaving home at 16 to live in NYC while your best friend turn tricks, and then becoming a sex and drugs crazed person who adopts a trasvestite mother - - -how is that visionary? It seemed to me that she took the easy way out of life.

Overall, I do recommend this book, though!!!

"Flesh and Blood" is the story of a multigenerational Greek American family, helmed by Constantine Stassos, a traditional patriarch whose moral weaknesses lead to his family's sad downfall. The family line is battered and bruised, and reduced in numbers, as a result of Constantine's failures as a parent. There is some deconstruction of the traditional family going on here, and some hints that difficulties in life are a punishment for sin. The novel is almost biblical in its scope, although its moral compass is post-modern and progressive.

What kept me from loving "Flesh and Blood" (although I did like it very much) is that its story is not terribly original. As a fan of "The Hours" and "A Home at the End of the World," I have come to expect certain themes from Michael Cunningham. His books often deconstruct the nuclear family, examine the spectre of the AIDS pandemic, and feature alternative families. All of these things were familiar to me from reading "Home, " and they are all present in "Flesh" as well. I also think there are better multigenerational epics out there, such as "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides. If you have read all of these books, you may find that "Flesh and Blood" covers familiar ground. I know I did.

I was really looking forward to reading this book after seeing a brilliant stage adaptation Off-Broadway several years ago starring the amazing Cherry Jones as Mary. For some reason, this lengthy novel that follows generations of an American family worked much better on the stage, which is hard to believe. You would think there would be so much left out and the novel would make a much better medium for character exploration and development. I was also surprised how little I enjoyed this book considering how great I thought Michael Cunningham would be as a writer. I have The Hours but have yet to read it and loved the movie, but this book was an unsatisfying introduction to his novels. I found it very, very hard to get through and set it aside several times to read more pleasurable books instead. I found the language used seemed like it was trying to be overly poetic and instead read as boring and pretentious. I still find it odd how much more successful the adaptation, by Peter Gaitens, was compared to the source material. There are certainly interesting elements contained in this novel, but they are frustratingly hard to find within the 466 pages of Flesh and Blood.

Flesh and Blood follows the Stassos family through 100 years of love, hate, guilt, and forgiveness, and in doing so, examines, questions, and redefines the American Dream. Cunningham's language is at once lush and eloquent, and his descriptions of both physical and emotional events are breathtakingly true to life. The book recreates not only the American experience, but the human experience as well.

The story is certainly captivating and compelling, but, if you have read The Hours, many of the themes (the relationship between young gay sons and their mothers, AIDS, suicide, parents feeling unqualified) will feel recycled. Furthermore, the plot itself is a bit untidy (typical of a family saga). It felt as if much of Flesh and Blood was practice for what Cunningham would master in The Hours.