Publications and Media Books

Amusement runs rampant in this book. Limericks abound about that indelicate function of the human body-it isn't a private function as some expulsion of wastes are, but it usually isn't a part of "polite" company. In addition there is an A to Z compendium of different classifications of farts. Interspersed are the ribald tales of the gaseous emissions and anecdotes of famous people and their flatulence. According to the author, Martin Luther could punctuate his sermons with ripping farts. Good thing he was preaching, because if he was in the congregation then Confucius words would apply: "He who fart in church sits in own pew." (Unfortunately, the author fails to provide any bibliography so that I can find where he got his information.)

Is it ironic that the author's last name rhymes with the subject of the book? Hmmm, how's this for a limerick in the spirit of the book:

There once was a doctor named Bart
Who wrote a ripping book on the fart
So studious he came
To flatulent fame
The book you don't stop once you start

This is, to be sure, a rather small book, a collection of assorted limericks, facts, and blurbs on breaking wind. Graphic illustrations and cartoons are interspersed. And laughs are assured for all.

My Mother passed this book to me after she had vented its fare on her afternoon club. It is divided into six chapters, each spouting limericks and anecdotes concerning various aspects of crepitation. I found that I had a "whiff of a memory" of several of the dozens of limericks, a poetic form particularly suited to the subject of flatulence. There are airy songs, putrid prose and smudgy cartoons throughout the book. The final chapter, "The A-Z of Farting," expounds on preponderant and pathetic forms of flatulence, which have been so prevalent among man (and woman) for as long as the wind has blown.

If you are looking for a good laugh and enjoy nature in its rudest form, this all to brief, passing wisp of wit will tickle and inspire you. Put in your "bubba teeth," grab a beer and read this on your next airline flight. FFRRRRRRRRRRRUPUPUPUP! Excuse Me.

The world owes much to Dr. Benjamin Bart. How did we survive before he put together this profound historical work? Has anybody nominated Dr. Bart for a Nobel prize? He deserves at least a Pulitzer. There are rumors that the good doctor earnestly began his inquiries into the art and possible health benefits of farting sometime during the early years of his childhood. Some claim that little Benjamin was nicknamed "Bart the Fart." I think there was something about this in the "National Enquirer," but unfortunately I forgot the exact date of that most important issue.

Dr. Bart believes that there is right way and a wrong way to fart. He tells us how the smart people perform this most human of tasks. I bet the reader was unaware that the famous philosopher Rene Descartes supposedly asked "Since I think--I exist, but what does it mean when I fart?" Ah, the education one can obtain outside the walls of a university. Did your philosophy professor have a clue concerning the more esoteric aspects of Descartes' philosophical insights? There are many other flatulent examples that should broaden your intellectual horizons.

"The History of Farting" even has some pictures to help one's illiterate cohorts. This book thankfully has little to do with either thee or me. We would rarely, if ever, do anything like farting. Should we, however, embarrass our buddies by presenting them with a gift copy of this perspicaciously brilliant expose of their less than polite habits? Of course we should. After all, what are friends for?

This book provides a step-by-step guide to conducting surveys in an easy to read format. The book also provides examples of real practice which is useful.

I found the book to be a very pragmatic guide to surveying for accuracy and quality.

I've been doing online surveys and consulting for years and have been using Vista surveys as I found them to be the best overall. This book really helps to enusure that I ask the right questions for my Fortune 500 clients! By reading this book you will certainly pick up on not only critical questions you should be asking but HOW to ask them. Highly recommend!

As a teacher and painter who works in different mediums including egg tempera, I implore others teaching to acquire this book for the classroom as well as private study. I have long been a fan of Tooker and Wyeth, and I'm pleased to see Altoon Sultan spreading the word via work and intelligent instruction.It is wonderfully economical as well!

Lavishly illustrated with paintings from the pre-renaissance till the current day. The book takes you step by step through materials, making gesso panels and painting techniques. In addition to Altoon's paintings and methods, other artists, George Tooker, Stan Berning, Carol Mothner and Michael Bergt outline their techniques.

This book by Altoon Sultan is basically a dumbed-down version of Daniel V. Thompson, Jr.'s excellent introduction to the medium in his book The Practice of Tempera Painting. While photographs abound, they are most useful in displaying Sultan's uninspired use of hatching and cross-hatching. If your looking at acquiring this book because you are a Sultan fan, it might be just the thing to help you understand how her images are made. If you want a good instructional book on egg tempera, keep looking!

In this luminous and exquisitely presented book Altoon Sultan vividly conveys a sense of the richness inherent in this ancient medium. Sultan eschews the pitfalls of most art instruction books that purvey pat formulas, which lead merely to a hobbyist's superficial and empty technique. Rather, while providing a rigorously detailed and clearly delineated process--each step accompanied by lush, illustrative photographs and a very directly written text--Sultan encourages and leaves room for individual adaptation; which is precisely one of this work's greatest strengths. The text is further amplified by a rich array of the author's own masterful works, as well as samples ranging from the first century A.D. to the present. She includes abstract work that is predicated on spontaneity and improvisation, properties not generally associated with this medium. This is in fact a large and generous work that conveys the author's articulately expressed sense of excitement at the possibilities she has discovered in tempera and eloquently invites us to explore.

While I own and have read Daniel V. Thompson, Jr.'s book The Practice of Tempera Painting I'm glad I have Sultan's book as well. I don't know how hatching and cross-hatching can be construed as "uninspired" since this is the traditional method egg tempera artists employ to create paintings. Neither is Sultan's book a "dumbed-down" instruction manual of Thompson's book. The Luminous Brush is a complete book on egg tempera painting itself. The one main technique Thompson's book covers which The Luminous Brush doesn't is gilding.

The Luminous Brush will appeal to people who appreciate the many step-by-step photos showing how to prepare your own grounds, the amount of pigment paste to egg yolk to water ratios, etc. The author provides exercises for the reader using ink and/or gouache for practicing egg tempera painting techniques so the transition to egg tempera itself will be easy. There are chapters on painting landscapes, skies, rough and smooth textures as well as a chapter showing new experimental approaches to egg tempera painting by guest artists. There is a bibliography and sources selling pigments, grounds or other materials for use in egg tempera painting.

Unless you are planning to employ gold gilding in your egg tempera paintings or want to read chapters on which paint pigments to buy that were current as of 1936 (some now known to present health risks and made obsolete by safer, lightfast alternatives) The Luminous Brush will be just fine for anyone wanting to get started.

It's about time someone began some dialogue on something that should have been addressed a long time ago. It's voices like this that allow me to rest a little easier...just a little. I'm recommending this book to all my students and friends.

Just a wonderful read. It is about time a book like this came out.

Thought provoking ideas spring from every page, cover to cover. A must for journalists or those studying journalism and those who simply want to be more informed about what is going on in our media today. In this time, when understanding diversity is so important in our current culture, I couldn't recommend this book more.

This book is indeed the 2nd volume of Theoretical Solid State Physics: Perfect Lattices in Equilibrium. As the subtitle specifies, this 2nd vol. refers to non-equilibrium and disordered systems. It is very complete. About the first 100 pages are dedicated to transport theory, Boltzmann equations and relations to density-matrix approach. Other long chapters are about optical properties and superconductivity; about 50 pages are dedicated to excitations; about 200 pages to the defects of solids. I particularly like this book because the authors make often use of self-consistent methods, like Thomas-Fermi one. The unique pity is that the system of units used in each section is not always clear. No mentions also of the most recent nanostructure objects and atomic-force microscopy. I nonetheless highly recommend it, especially to persons who yet have a knowledge of quantum mechanics. For a good and simpler introduction to solid state physics Kittel's book is probably better; about transport theory I'd recommend also the book by Ashcroft and Mermin. These three, I think, are a really must have.

This is the first part of a two volume treatment of solid state physics. The presentation is very clear and to the point as the authors does not shy away from introducing right mathematical tools with tasteful introduction whenever needed. For instance it is the only book of this sort(to my knowledge) which discusses the classification of the critical points of electronic density of states in the context of Morse theory(The pertinent parts obviously).

The only thing that it lacks is a solid discussion of crystallographic space groups and symmetry. Given it`s age there is no discussion of quantum heterostructures(quantum dots, wires etc.) and mesoscopic transport phenomena(this would have belonged to the second volume) either. Other than that it is a very complete treatment.

Yet another aspect of the is the fact that not each and every single step in the calculations is filled by the authors. But then, at some point you have to compromise that to delineate the physical picture at a deeper level so it is by no means a weak point.

This is a very useful reference book: very basic and in the same time very broad in scope. At least it is a good starting point for a deeper inquiry in many areas. It is good as well for clearifying simple points when you already have an extensive knowledge of a subject: a good fraction of research paper published nowadays are based on models whose origins are apparently unknown to the authors; Jones&March help to sort out many of such papers as hardly correct.
Of course, you should buy both volumes.

Winning The Rat Race At Work by human resources professional Peter R. Garber is more than just another "how to" career development guide. In addition to career advice, Winning The Rat Race At Work offers tips, tricks, and techniques for productively dealing with workplace stress and problems such as challenging performance standards, increased workloads, role conflicts, and the feeling of being stuck in a maze. Black-and-white diagrams and numerous sample cases illustrate the points and common problems endemic to the career world. A consumable book, Winning The Rat Race At Work is a valuable self-teaching manual with simple exercises and questions to deepen one's understanding of valuable cooperative principles. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by William E. Cooper for Reader Views (8/06)

Finally, a book that talks honestly about poor managers and bosses and how to survive them! Garber describes the various types of managers and the characteristics of each - a great set of tools for identifying which is which - and the methodologies for surviving each type. It is obvious a great deal of thought and research went into preparing the book. Garber's experience as a Human Resources professional allowed him to witness first hand who these manager types are and what they do. Virtually all employees - and certainly managers - should read this book. I submit that if people did, and assessed themselves honestly (an altogether different challenge), significant change would occur in the workplace.

In my law enforcement and private sector careers, I have seen all these types of managers and often asked the question how they got into positions of authority, and more importantly, once they were there, how did they survive. The answers are typically consistent across the board. Garber provides the reader with the one book they need for the workplace. This would be an excellent book for management training courses and seminars, as well as college and university business and other administrative programs.

Well done, sir. When do we see the book on what it actually takes to succeed as a manager?

The value of this book depends somewhat on what your definition of winning is. Garber's advice is sound and effective if you are someone who has options for employment elsewhere when you execute your plan to bring balance to your life. However, if you are in the position, a common one in recessionary times, where alternate career options are minimal to nonexistent, then telling your boss you will not work weekends in order to have family time could lead to unemployment. For many, that will be winning the battle but losing the war.
I am a firm believer in the principle of spending time with my daughter at the expense of working fifty or more hours a week. That got me in trouble at one job, and many others in the information technology field (my line of work) are in a similar situation. Budgets are tight, the workload is high and there are other qualified people who would be happy to have your job without regard to the sixty hour (or more) a week commitment.
Other than this, the book is sound. Garber puts forth a lot of excellent advice in how to move from the back of the pack to your preferred position near the front without bashing others in the head or kneecap. Working smarter is not just an empty instance of manager-speak, it is a sound tactic for reducing your work load. Some of my best ideas have come when I was in the shower or otherwise engaged in bathroom activities. It is a time when your mind can wander without danger and you are isolated from all others. One single good idea can lead to hours of saved time so think, think and then think some more.
Politics is an essential reality of any gathering of humans, so the workplace is no exception. Your goal should be to be an effective player rather than engage in pointless and ineffective attempts to avoid it. Garber spends a great deal of time discussing the relationships that can turn the political winds to your advantage.
Unfortunately, we sometimes face situations that are momentarily hopeless, and the best we can do is simply ride out the difficulties. The key is to emerge as strong as possible, as my late grandmother told me, "The secret to riding a horse is to bounce in rhythm with the horse, not be bounced to the point of illness." Garber's advice may not help you in the most serious of cases, but it will certainly help you recognize an opportunity and assist you in seizing it to your advantage.

Many people appeal to the concept of "common sense", but the problem with that is that people are often neither common nor sensible. Humans, particularly when under stress, often behave irrationally; doing things that were best left undone. With that as a premise, there were very few of the 100 ways listed in this book that most people with decades of work experience have not done at least once. The key, like all judgement calls, is to do them infrequently and with the lightest possible severity.
The situations listed are in most cases common ones, one that I consider most unlikely is number 19, "Send your boss an e-mail about him or her by mistake." That is one that I have never encountered and only rarely have heard of. Others are very obvious and avoiding them should be applied as general principles of the working environment. Some examples in this category are:

#11 Be a poor listener
#15 Have hidden agendas
#18 Avoid getting to the bottom line
#21 Be evasive
#28 Don't read what your boss sends you
#29 Be a know-it-all
#31 Look at work only from your perspective
#32 Hide your mistakes
#86 Never ask for clarification on assignments

All of these are obvious and should never be a fundamental part of your work persona. Most are deadly to your credibility and it will be destroyed very quickly.
I enjoyed this book, every item in this collection of snippets of advice is sensible and should always be foremost in your mind. Working should be an enjoyable experience, not a way to kill eight hours with the benefits of a salary. By thinking long and hard about how you can work within these guidelines, you will brighten up your work life, improve the work atmosphere of everyone else and quite likely make more money as well.

Reviewed by Bette Daoust for Reader Views (2/07)

Sometimes it does not take much to be on the wrong side of your boss, just look at anyone's track record, even my own! Do you have a boss that you want to avoid because you always get negative feedback? Is your boss one that only speaks to you if something goes wrong? Are words of praise lacking at your workplace or if there are some, it is only destroyed by the fact that they want more and more from you all the time? As with most businesses, we navigate a world of minefields and to make things even worse, we all find many ways to get on the wrong side of the boss.

Peter Garber's book details all the things we do to ourselves to ensure that things do go wrong and how we put ourselves into jeopardy in every aspect of our life. Yes, there is a boss at home too. At first the title seemed like it was subversive, but once I started reading the book, a whole world of connecting why things go wrong and how to improve situations came to light. Giving insight to the problems and offering solutions is one of the key elements that provide the reader with ways around creating aggravation.

What this book does is give sound practical advice for everyday situations. The advice can be applied in almost any situation. If you read between the lines, the advice given is sound and practical. Tip number 69 talks about making unrealistic requests and the problems that are created as a result. Your credibility goes down the drain each time you make another request and the perception of your work also comes into question. The solution provided is to ask for exactly what you want to provide that you and your work are credible. It reminds me of the budgeting problem in most organizations. You have to ask for money beyond your needs in order to get exactly what you want. The reason this happens is for the same reason, the corporation is used to people making unrealistic requests and in turn, reduce your budget by half or more. Would it not be better to put in a budget that accomplishes exactly what is intended and demonstrate the truth? Garber puts this point across through a solution that requires you to plan well and not to bluff your way through the process.

The book has a solid foundation on good approaches to making your work environment a place for solutions rather than problems. Garber makes excellent points on what makes a boss crazy and even better yet, suggestions on how to perform and work within an organization. "100 Ways to Get on the Wrong Side of Your Boss" is a must-read for anyone that has a boss or wants to be one.

John Philip Jones is an international treasure in the advertising business. A 25+ year veteran of J. Walter Thompson Advertising, Jones built some of Thompson's most successful agencies and was responsible for some of their most successful campaigns in Europe and around the globe. When he entered academia, the American Advertising Federation awarded him the 1991 Distinguished Advertising Educator award for his work at Syracuse University. This book is the perfect combination of theoretical excellence and real-world practicality. A MUST read for anyone who wants to make their mark in the advertising business today.

Reading this book sort of helps you put things you know in the right perspective in addition to giving you valuable insights into our business. It is a MUST read for any advertising professional, especially those involved in Agency management, client service and media.

It's not a book, it's a tool book I'd say. It's just one of those books that give you inside depth about the advertising field and how to make it work on strong based strategic analysis. Must have for those on the advertising battlefield.

If you're young, and looking to improve your skills in the field of advertising this is your book. It is the only book from college that I actually kept, and still use today after graduation. It is written in a funny and realistic way that makes ready enjoyable. Yes, a college text book that is enjoyable to read, amazing concept. Great book that has benefited me time and time again. Thanks Jean.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Even though, I "knew" the political and societal situations of Asian Americans in the United States, it still was an eye opener. This book gave me an oppertunity to understand some of my believes and how they were formed. I think it is a must read for everyone who is from Asian decent and who would like to understand the Asian American experiences. The author did a wonderful job of integrating all aspects of Asian culture. I highly recommend this book.

Once again Professor Espiritu has written a book that not only conveys the Asian American experience but more importantly the human experience. This book is for those of us who live the Asian American experience and for those willing to educate themselves about our country's racial heirarchy compounded by the disparity between genders.