Ware Books

This book would have been good if written 15 - 30 years ago when all of their examples and references where fresh, but today this is like reading a first grade book on the subject of project management.

It is as if the authors never grasped the CTQS triangle, and such of project management. The 5 metrics are so obvious and unmeasureable that it is an exercise in no-kidding, now what.

The continual references to the third rock from the sun and such is just page filler.

A nice title but no beef here (to have a pharase from the time the authors seem to still be living in).

I suggest you find more meaningful books.

The authors have impeccable credentials in the software estimating discipline, with Putnam's experience dating back to his breakthrough approach using Rayleigh curves to model staffing developed in the early 1970s, and Myers as his coauthor and collaborator for three earlier books from which this one is roughly based and represents a distillation and refinement of earlier ideas.

Material in this book is not done justice if you go solely by the table of contents. It contains deep thought and a wealth of information that support the five core metrics proposed. After introductory material in the first chapter, this book picks up pace by going into what the authors consider to be the right metrics and why. They follow this discussion with a chapter that shows how they align to a development lifecycle (using the RUP's inception, elaboration, construction and transition phases as a framework). This is followed by two chapters that address the five metric areas, time, effort, quality, workload and productivity, and sizing. Chapters 7 and 8 address productivity and reliability as they relate to the metrics.

I liked the material in the final chapters the most because it takes the concepts in the first eight chapters and applies them to problem spaces such as project control, requirements management, trade-off analysis, and how to use estimates to formulate accurate bids. This material is practical and reflects the real world. Among my favorite chapters are 15 (Replan Projects in Trouble), 17 (Evaluate Bids on the Facts), and 21 (Metrics Backstop Negotiation). However, each chapter in between was also on the mark and credible.

If you are immersed in an unmanageable morass of metrics and want to manage to a smaller set of key indicators in projects or maintenance this book is an essential resource. If you are using Ad Hoc metrics or none at all, this material is an ideal starting point.

Our company has been trying to improve its processes for almost
three years now but our efforts were and are still fruitless.
Although we were recording four core metrics (we were using
conventional productivity not process productivity so I'm
counting this one out) -- effort, time, size and defects
(although not the defect rate), we didn't know their
relationship until now. The knowledge we have gained from this
book will help us renew our efforts next year.

Statistics know-how is somewhat needed to understand some of the
chapters although you won't actually be computing anything. I
mean if you don't know what normal curves, medians, standard
deviations are, then you'd be at a lost. I've bought a book
on statistics to relearn it along with my colleagues. However,
the graphs make up for it.

The book was also somewhat lacking in giving actual values to
put in the formulas. I think I'm interpreting the data
incorrectly because I'm getting very big or very small values
from the process productivity formula. I've e-mailed QSM but
they haven't replied yet but I do hope they will.

Nevertheless, the book is a good companion to other software
quality books that focus on people, methods, processes, tools
but don't mention how to measure them objectively.

Get this book if you're part of the software industry regardless
of your title, rank, responsibilities, or party (client or
developer).

Collaboratively written by Lawrence H. Putnam (President of the software management consulting firm Quantitative Software Management) and Ware Myers (a professional independent consultant and contributing editor of "Computer" and "IEEE Software"), Five Core Metrics: The Intelligence Behind Successful Software Management is a "reader friendly" instructional how-to guide to utilizing the reliable development processes and techniques that help software managers efficiently allocate limited resources and carefully track progress, ensuring optimum quality software with a minimum of wasted effort. Five core metrics of Time, Effort, Size, Reliability, and Process Productivity are introduced as a means to measure and adjust ongoing processes to constantly changing real-world conditions. An exceptional business guide in its field, Five Core Metrics is highly recommended reading for anyone charged with the responsibility of using and creating software projects using or incorporating metric measurements.

This book has inspired me to play in a way that no other guitar book, DVD, or website has.

I played guitar in middle school and was never any good at it, and it was never fun. (Band was a required class, and guitar substituted for band. I took it because my dad bought me a guitar.)

Now, at age 39, I'm finding singing to and with my seven-year-old son a cappella difficult. Since my son is trying to learn the guitar, I decided to give it another try myself.

Now, with How and Tao, I'm having fun with the guitar.

A previous reviewer complained about the book teaching in an open tuning instead of the standard tuning. This is very much on purpose. It lets the student focus on learning right-hand technique and developing rhythm without worrying about left-hand chord changes. It was those chord changes that just drove me crazy in middle school and made learning not-fun.

If you know a few chords in standard tuning, don't let that discourage you from buying this book. It's not a step "backwards"... it's a focus on learning a different, but essential, skill. This book isn't about teaching chords, it's about teaching you how to play. Play, as in "have fun." So tune down to open G and dive in. (It gets into standard tuning about three-quarters of the way through the book.)

The approach is realistic. It moves slowly and he encourages you to really work at each step until you have it down, and not move on until you're really comfortable. In this book, and in his free materials online, he over and over encourages learning the fundamentals, because a solid core is what allows you the freedom to really play. And the open tuning makes practicing alternating bass more interesting, because you don't have to fumble for complex chords yet.

The writing is motivational. Reading this book will make you want to play and make you believe that you can play. He doesn't promise overnight success... again, he's realistic and makes it clear that mastery of the guitar is a lifetime process. But playing the guitar is about the journey, not the destination, and he stresses that you should enjoy the journey.

The stories are inspirational. While you're in the early chapters, practicing your thumb-strum, jump to the end and read all the stories.

This book has me picking up my guitar every day, often several times a day. Within a couple days, I was playing and singing a simple folk song for my son. I'm making definite progress and I'm having fun, and that's what's important.

I liked this book, and think that I will learn a lot from it, but not being an "absolute" beginner, although I am by most people's standards, I am resistant to going to an different tuning.

So, I was dissapointed to see all of the advice aimed toward someone who has tuned their guitar to the "Open G" tuning. Unfortunatly I didn't see the recent review before I placed my order. It seems like there could at least be alternate instructions for folks who aren't going to switch over.

I was looking for something to get me started in on the banjo and ran across Pat's videos on YouTube. From there I found his books (How and Tao and 5 Strings) and found both of them very well written and thought out. Pat's teaching/writing style is very laid back and well suited to encouraging a starting banjoist to practice practice practice. After only about half of the book and the dvd he put together, I started with a local teacher who was very surprised that I'd only been playing for a short time. I think Pat got me going on the very right foot, and I'm continuing working through the books and videos along with my local teacher. I can't recommend these enough to folks starting out.

I have been playing near 19 years, mostly punk rock stuff. Now days sitting down with an acoustic guitar to play for my kids before bed. The songs are the classic folk songs we grew up with as kids, and the arrangements are easy enough that a complete novice can play them. I have been teaching my daughter how to play with this book, and she loves it.

I have been looking for good resources on playing in open g, and this is by far the best I have found. covers the basics of everything, and then comes the practice, practice, practice. I highly recommend it.

The Fantagraphic series of Krazy Kat reprints is a fantastic journey back in time.The strange thing is that it could have been written yesterday.Anyone remotely interested in comic strips or cartoons needs to get as many of these volumes as possible.Krazy Kat came to life in his own strip in 1913.The same year Charles Chaplin made his first silent film.As a student of the Chaplin films,the first thing that came to mind was how Herrimans' comic strip reminds you of the work Chaplin did.This was not intentional I'm sure.They were geniuses of their time and in fact,of all time.

George Herriman created Krazy Kat as a "downstairs" strip to his The Family Upstairs. The devine Kat soon had a strip of his/her own, both daily and Sunday.

Hyperion press published the Family Upstairs strips from 1910 - 1911. Eclipse published the early black and white Sunday strips, 1916 - 1924, in volumes which also included the full color Saturday strips from 1922. Now Fantagraphics has published the rest of the black and white Sundays, 1925 - 1934, closing the gap between the last Eclipse book and the first full color Kitchen Sink book, which begins with the 1935 color Sundays.

The daily Krazy Kat strips are much harder to find. Pacific Comics Club has published (almost) complete years 1921 - 1923. Comics Revue monthly has published the dailies beginning in 1931 (currently they are finishing 1933). The Menomonee Falls Gazette published more than half of 1934 and 1935.

Krazy Kat ended when George Herriman died in 1944.

I have nothing to add to the praise for Herriman's marvelous creation, which you can read about in the comments below. Anything I'd say to that effect would only echo what has already been written.

Alas, the 1933-1934 volume in the Fantagraphics release has some problems. It has nothing to do with a dropoff in the humor of the strip itself -- there was none, as "Krazy Kat" never experienced a noticeable decline in quality -- but with the print quality of the Sunday strips as they are presented here. Although I'm sure Fantagraphics did their best when they went through page after page of ancient newsprint drawn from who knows how many private collections to find the best possible specimens, the sad fact is that the majority of strips reprinted in this collection are blurry and shaky. This makes it very difficult to fully appreciate Herriman's skills with pen and brush, and worst of all, makes the subtle facial expressions and body language of the characters much harder to interpret. A small handful of pages, with sharp outlines and shadings, stand in contrast to the rest.

By all means, you should become acquainted with this wonderful comic strip if you aren't already. But you'd do much better to get the next volume in the series, A Wild Warmth Of Chromatic Gravy. Along with featuring the return of sharp, clear lines, "Gravy" is in full, vibrant color (pre-1935 Sunday strips were all black-and-white) and even includes an insert that features newly unearthed, better-quality scans of a few of this volume's worst offenders. This volume is strictly for Kat kompletists.

Well, here we go again. Another sumptuous collection of one of the best comic strips ever published. Fantagraphics has more than fulfilled its pledge to keep the series going with this the 5th volume of Krazy Kat Sunday strips.

This installment, like all previous installments, has amazing bonus material. The first thirty pages include articles about Herriman and Krazy Kat, early pre-Kat Herriman strips (including "Baron Bean", "Mary's Home From College", "The Amours of Marie Anne MacGee", and "Embarassing Moments"), as well as some rarely seen Krazy Kat dailies. Also, the series editor announces that the next volume will be the first KOLOR KRAZY KAT edition. After 1934, the Kat et al appeared in amazing Kolor. So here stand bound the final black and white Krazy Kat Sunday pages.

And as always the book plumps with the justifiably famous Krazy Kat Sunday strips. Some of the strips had to be painstakingly reconstructed from papers that shrunk Herriman's original sized papers to miniscule proportions. All of the reconstructions are listed in the back of the book. Fantagraphics pulled this feat off with much gusto, as anyone can witness in the book.

For the initiates amongst us, the strip's main theme is love. Krazy, a Kat with indeterminate gender, loves Ignatz, a temperamental mouse. The only sign of affection Krazy can extract from Ignatz is a brick solidly and violently tossed at his skull. So, brick equals love to Krazy. Meanwhile, Offisa Pupp loves Krazy (in a rather repressed manner) and has made his mission in life to halt Ignatz's vile tossings. The entire strip revolves around this variation on a theme. Helplessness and hope in the face of seemingly hopeless love seeps out between the ink marks. Isn't it romantic?

Lastly, February 19th, 1933 has to be amongst Herriman's best "silent" strips. Krazy and Offisa Pupp ride a see-saw and Ignatz repeatedly picks up the brick, drops it, picks it up, etc... Be sure to translate the español on the wall separating the parties.

Carry on, Fantagraphics, carry on...

It's funny how different people relate to different types of heroines. I hear that some people loved the blonde heroine in the first story, and disliked Cambria in this story for being too impetuous. That was the whole point :) Each brother has a very different personality, and is drawn to a very different type of girl. I give Glynnis great credit for not just churning out the same story with the same characters. Glynnis is as different from Linet as can be. For me, this is a VERY good thing.

My Warrior is the second book in the trilogy, about the second brother, Holden de Ware. Where his older brother Duncan is the consummate knightly eldest son, Holden has to fight for what he wants. He is a well seasoned warrior and looks down on the average woman with a mild eye. It's only when he runs into the feisty she-warrior Cambria that his pulse quickens.

Cambria is raised to be impetuous. She's an only child. She's raised to become Laird of her castle, a thing accepted in Scottish society. She's indulged, and has no mother to guide her. She grows up wild. So yes, she's extremely hot tempered and quick to react. She never did learn the patience and rational thought skills. If you think Cambria is wild, read the next trilogy about the Warrior Maidens of Rivenloch to see what true wildness is :)

Anyway, Cambria's father dies, and Scotland is being torn apart by war. Holden is the representative of England and trying to bring peace. Other Scots - if you think Cambria is impetuous - are doing suicidal runs against the English, dying by the scores. There is treachery within Holden's ranks, so he has to deal with Cambria trying her best to stay independent, his own forces, and the wild Scots.

But Holden loves a challenge - and has finally met up with a woman who puts a spark in his heart. He is very intrigued by Cambria and her hell-bent desire to do what she feels is right. I can definitely see the attraction there, and understand why he feels she is worth taming. I can also really see Cambria's gradual attraction to the power and skill of the man who woos her.

I read the book straight through, and was caught up in the storyline the whole way through. The only thing that seemed a bit forced was how Holden behaved near the end to her - I won't mention the specifics so that the plot isn't ruined. However, he is so straightforward with her up until then that it seemed a bit unreasonable for him not to explain then what his concerns were. Also, if he did have concerns, it seemed unreasonable that he did not take steps to address them, instead just abandoning the situation.

In any case, a great read, and a storyline I enjoyed greatly!

In 1333, King Edward assigns a difficult task to one of his most trusted warriors. Holden de Ware must forge an alliance with the Scottish border clan Gavin. Holden and Angus Gavin work out an agreement, but a jealous lieutenant Sir Roger Fitzroi thinks otherwise and murders a stunned Angus. This devilish act leaves his daughter Cambria as chieftain.

Cambria hates Holden for his betrayal of the pact with her father and wants him dead in an eye for an eye belief that he killed her beloved sire. Cambria, a remarkable swordswoman, vows vengeance, but Holden tries his best to stop her from arousing more ire and spilling unnecessary blood. Though she detests him, Cambria and Holden fall in love, but treachery still lingers as Roger plans to eliminate what he perceives as his obstacle for Edward's blessing, de Ware.

MY WARRIOR, the latest de Ware tale (see MY CHAMPION), is an exciting medieval romance starring two enticing lead charcaters. Though the story line adheres strictly to the typical sub-genre basic theme, fans will enjoy this novel because Holden and Cambria are a delightful duo struggling with betrayal, mistrust, and love. Glynnis Campbell entertains her audience with this exciting fourteenth century novel.

Harriet Klausner

I'm a long-time romance fan with a particular affinity for the medieval period. I liked Duncan and Linet's story last year and was looking forward to the continuing adventures of the de Ware clan. I really like the hero of this story - Holden de Ware, who is everything a medieval warrior hero should be. I am however, deeply disappointed with the heroine - Cambria Gavin - who is no match for Holden in any way, as far as I can tell.

As a young Scots woman charged with either maintaining a fragile truce with the English (brokered by her father) or destroying it, Cambria makes every self-righteous, immature choice possible, and does everything she can to ensure ongoing trouble for herself and everyone around her. She has no sense of diplomacy, no sense of restraint. Every impetuous comment or action that occurs in her fevered little brain pops right out, and it becomes maddening to the reader as she falls into one scrape after another, or causes injury to others because of her thoughtlessness.

Throughout this, Holden, with long-suffering patience and amazing temperance, does not beat her or lock her up (except for briefly). Instead, he sets out to make her trust him and fall in love with him. Why he thinks she's worth having is not clear to me. That he succeeds and they fall in love is a given, since this is a romance. But I was left unsatisfied, thinking that Holden definitely got the short end of the bargain. I hope the other de Ware brothers fare better in their choices of mates and the HEA endings to come.

Cambria Gavin is a proud Scot and the only child of Laird Angus Gavin. She grew up with a sword in her hand, a bow and arrow she can shoot straighter than any knight and chain mail for her code of dress. She doesn't know, or care, how beautiful she is. She cares only for ber beloved Scotland, Blackhaugh Castle, the Gavin land and the Scottish way of life. Laird Angus knows the only way to ensure their future is with the support of the English army. He agrees to meet with one of Kind Edward's knights, Lord Holden de Ware, a man known to be just and honorable and trustworthy. Bah! Cambria believes no Enlishman can be trusted!

There is much jealousy and treachery going on inside the castles walls. Blackhaugh is crumbling and Holden de Ware cannot believe the strength and courage of this Scottish sprite. Cambria is brave and breathtakingly beautiful. She is also strong, stubborn and opinionated; the perfect woman for him! Winning her heart feels more glorious than any victory he's ever won on the battlefield. Holden has been conquered; the mighty warrior has fallan and is a willing prisoner of her heart. For the first time in Cambria's life she feels like a woman. In Holden she sees a mighty warrior, a protector and the promise of a future. They love each other beyond reason, beyond understanding and more than life itself. This love is tested many times over. They are captivating.

If you like castles and kings and knights in shining armor, whose legs turn to mush when they fall in love, don't miss this truly marvelous adventure of the heart. Ms. Campbell has gifted us with a wonderful sequel to MY CHAMPION, de Ware brother #1's adventurous tale. One can only hope that de Ware brother #3 has his own story in the near future. Rare treasure, these brothers three; gifts for your heart. Don't miss them.

This was an excellent book which was fair to every issue. It explains Calvinsim and its opponet theologies in a manner that is easy to read and understand. For the student of Theology it does an excellent job of explaining theologies in a manner that provides real understanding and information and that can be used in understanding the different theologies of the reform traditions.

For those who are tired of the heavily philosophical debates on the God's Foreknowledge/Human Free-Will problem (i.e., Divine Foreknowledge: 4 Views &Predestination and Free Will: Four Views of Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom), this book is literally a God-send. It is almost completely theologically based with only a hint of philosophical babble for support. In my view, Paul Helm's argument is the worse written (even those critiquing his argument don't seem to find much value in it). Bruce Ware has an excellent presentation of mainstream Calvinisn. Roger Olson is a great writer and theologian. He argument for Classical Arminianism is one of the best I've seen in years. Finally, John Sanders presents a biblical and theological defense of the open-view that is simply genious. The presentations do not feel rushed and the critiques are complete, unlike those found in Perspectives on Election: Five Views, which two of the five authors even complained about (see the comments under my review of the Election book). For those who are looking for the theology of foreknowledge and free-will, your search can stop here.

"Perspectives on the Doctrine of God" is a very readable text, especially in light of the complexity of its arguments. "Perspectives" is considerably easier to read than Calvin's "Church Dogmatics" which is the source of a great deal of the text's argument. In this way, "Perspectives" is a valuable resource for anyone who has yet to read Calvin in his own words. Because it contextualizes the bulk of current conversation on predestination, determinism, and foreknowledge, and includes the ideas of Open Theism, "Perspectives" is suitable for curious lay persons, students of theology, and clergy, alike. Further, the structure of the book itself deserves credit for elucidating the current debate in this area. The four authors present their arguments and are allowed to respond to the others which makes this not only an informative read, but a rather exciting one as well. One caveat, however, is that some of the argumentation becomes a bit long-winded, taking a few more pages than what seems necessary in efforts to differentiate themselves from the others. Fortunately, this is the exception rather than the rule.

One of the age old agreements of the theological community remains...God is. Yet there are a plethora of perspectives about who God is. In this readable and enjoyable repartee of argumentation, noted theologians Paul Helm, Bruce Ware, Roger Olson and John Sanders battle, respectfully mostly, about the Doctrine of God from the Classic Calvinist, Modified Calvinist, Free Will and Open Theistic views. The writing is scholarly, and thought provoking, but assessible for the reader. Most intersting is their rebuttals of one another's essays which makes for a marvelous and spirited read. While each are strong in their perspectives, Ware tends to be the most extensive, possibly because he has to somehow explicate a modified position. Olson and Sanders are also particularly well written. the one weak link is Helm because he tends to be more defensive in his discourse. This text, while read for a class, is one I would read for theological enlightenment. It opened my eyes to come to grips with my own view of God. A great read!

Although this book was published in 1998 it still holds up as the best introduction to web performance tuning. It covers a wide range of topics, and covers everything you need to know to get started load testing. The age of the book means it doesn't cover some new topics, but surprisingly enough most of the book is still relevant. If you are new to load testing and don't know where to start you should purchase this book first.

Michael Czeiszperger
Web Performance, Inc. Load Testing Software

http;//www.webperformanceinc.com

This book is a ok book for those folks in the networking field. But if your looking for a book that gives you the meat and potatos of true web site optimization look else where. This book wont show you how to get page ranking. Book was writen 8 years ago when the web was new and relatively young. Title is just a bit deceptive. Lots of redundent stuff that is old news and not very helpfull since the advent of Small PC's, home networking and smaller and faster ISP's. Dont waste your money if you are looking to vamp up your page ranking and get seen.

this book really helped me a lot with setting up my personal and company web sites. read this book, it will make your day!

I teach a class for the University of California in their Web/IP Engineering program. I use this book as one of my texts because it's cross-platform and it has enough technical detail to really explain the complex art of optimizing a site. It's 1999 but the book is still relevant!

No doubt about it, this is an essential book in the field of American music history, black music hitory, ethnomusicology, etc. However, one would do better to buy the 1995 Dover edition--the reprinting is much clearer and legible, and the paper stock is smoother. And the price is the same, plus you get a preface (undated) by Harold Courlander. Sorry, this Applegate printing is just not as good.

Those who love spirituals often find the origins of spirituals in general to be elusive, if not impossible to track with any degree of reliability. Though this collection of spirituals is quite limited in terms of being highly localized (versus attempting to comprehend all of the spirituals of all of the South), it covers many of the best-loved Negro spirituals. Published first in 1867, it provides perhaps the strongest link for the largest grouping of spirituals, contemporaneous (or nearly so) with the music it attempts to capture.

For those who love the Negro spiritual, this is a 'must have' for your collection.

This book gives great insight in to the true meaning of African American slaves songs. This book also discusses the origin and uses of the songs and provides footnotes for most of the colloquials and variations in dialect for each song.

There are 136 songs in this book, most of which are no longer sung. They are simply amazing, musically and theologically. An example: "Come and Go With Me", collected in Augusta, GA, presents a major scale with a flat 6th and 7th, and the tune ends on the 4th. Unfortunately, the collectors, as went on for generations as standard procedure, did not acknowledge the names of any of their sources. The original "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" is in here; it is a rowing song from the sea islands, addressed to the archangel Michael as a prayer for safe passage; these lyrics are more striking than the familiar ones. Here are the complete lyrics to "Come and Go With Me", which is singular both in its scale and its notion that heaven is in the present, to be accepted rather than earned:

Ole Satan is a busy ole man
He roll stones in my way
Master Jesus is my bosom friend
He roll 'em out my way

Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
A-walking in the heaven I roam

I did not come here myself my Lord
It was my Lord who brought me here
And I really do believe I'm a child of God
A-walking in the heaven I roam

Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
A-walking in the heaven I roam

It was reported that the freed slaves did not want to remember their old songs. And we all have reasons for forgetting a painful past. But look at these songs; they are the heart and soul's truth of life. It is not too late to learn from these people. Put this music in your heart.

Water spring that never dry, Hallelu, Hallelu
The more we dig, the more it spring, Hallelujah!

No doubt there are a lot of things they don't tell you when you sign on for a hitch at The Agency.

Gus discovers when he is detailed to the embassy in Indonesia that the other station hands are only interested in golf and diplomatic parties. Fortunately our hero has packed his surf boards, and arrives just when the country is being opened up as a surfing paradise. Along the way he also finds exotic women and interesting bars, forms an entourage of locals and international expatriates, and even commits a little espionage.

The book is kind of an inverse of Graham Greene's "Our Man in Havana"; instead of making stuff up for his handlers, Gus tries to avoid telling his boss about the contact he has made with an Iraqi diplomat on the cusp of the first Gulf War. While chuckling at Gus's bureaucratic entanglements with his superiors, the reader gets a travelogue of Indonesian beaches and colorful details of Jakarta nightlife.

The first half of this novel was absolutely amazing - as if I was magically transported to another entertaining world filled with great waves, crazy adventures, and sexy encounters with "professionals" and other mind-bending characters. Somehow, I think the Editor showed up on Nicholas' door right when the second half got underway because the pace hurried, the details were lost from the first half of the book, and the message and adventure got muddy.

I definitely recommend the book - especially if you surf, you'll get charged by it - because of the great character portrayals, the comical situations, and the vivid imagery. Hopefully, though, on the sophomore effort from NC, the Editor will leave him alone for a few extra days...

On his first effort as an author, Nicholas Ware brings us a very entertaining book. Drawing on what I believe are a series of autobiographical incidents, Nicholas strings together the adventures of a young CIA officer named Gus, whose only real concern is to catch the best possible wave on his surfboard. His "surfer attitude" keeps getting him in trouble with his superiors; yet enables him to unofficially recruit an Iraqi diplomat just at the start of operation Desert Storm.
Nicholas' descriptions of the Indonesian locales where the action takes place (bars and beaches mostly) definitely make you want to go there and see that with your own eyes and that, along with his reflections on the futility of war are the high point of the book.
On the other hand the CIA angle feels almost like an excuse for the character to be in Indonesia; the references to the work done for the agency are minimal and loosely put together (he might as well have been an oil, relief worker for the UN or any other profession that allowed him to be there long enough to make friends and catch waves)
What's supposed to be the main topic of the book, Gus befriending an Iraqi diplomat is constricted to the last quarter of the book, making you doubt of its real importance in the plot. Finally the way the hero fouls an Iraqi plan to assassinate the US ambassador is barely believable and is perhaps the lowest point in the book.
All in all, the book is fun, very readable and worth your time and money as long as you do not expect anything too serious from it, I guess that to fully enjoy the book you must adjust your mindset in the same way that you do when you go and watch a 007 movie, you know things are not always going to be logical or 100% possible or believable; but if you are willing to let go of that of a while, you spend a good time.

Definitely a wild ride, however it is rated R, so don't leave it for your young kids to read. Definitely worth your time, and this man really has a way of putting a high-class spin on low class talk.

This book has some interesting stitches and some nice patterns. There is nothing in particular *wrong* with it. However, buy "Itty-Bitty Hats: cute and cuddly caps to knit for babies and toddlers" by Susan B. Anderson instead. The babies are cuter, the colours are much nicer and the patterns far more appealing. While I have made a couple of the hats in this book, and the patterns are okay, but not brilliantly written, I have made almost all of the hats in Itty-bitty hats and found the patterns very easy to follow.

this book has some really cute patterns in it. The instuctions seem very easy to follow, even for a beginner.

The only book I like better than this one, for kids hats is Itty Bitty Hats. Really you need to own both! These 2 books have the cutest hats for babies and children and they are a blast to make. With simple personalizations, you can make these styles into 100's more!
Highly Recommend!

This is a great little book with a simple, understandable approach to old-time banjo playing. I think every banjo player should have it in their library... very helpful stuff!

Extraordinary, a mix of banjo practice and music theory that is outstanding. If you want to learn 5 string folk banjo this is the book to have.

i have enjoyed both books by this author, definitely more for the clawhammer or frailing players then the 3 fingerstyle. That said i play 3 finger and have been able to incorporate some of his ideas into my playing and he has great wisdom and stories.