F Books

I was given a copy of this, after complaining many times of writers' block, talking to the cat when I should be writing, and just plain sitting at my desk and drooling. I'd have to say it was worth having - not my favourite quote book, but I turn to it often and I'm glad I've got it. Recommended.

your work is inspirational & maybe a little provocative & that's good. I would suggest that it is not only suitable for writers but also for laymen like me as I have always enjoyed perusing through books of quotations and proverbs.

This book is the aspiring writers' equivalent of AA's "24 Hours a Day"!

Filled with clever quips, bits of advice and inspiration, this book is not just for authors or wannabes, but for any literary minded person. While I can imagine its potential as a daily calendar-page format, I enjoy the book format as I like reading days' worth of wonderful quotes at a sitting. There is also a helpful index of people quoted (Mark Twain is a special joy). From poets to philosophers to presidents, as well as authors, there is something for everyone.

I am an Australian author of several books and have greatly enjoyed reading Greg Babic's wonderful selection of quotations. They are proving a source of wisdom and excitement to me in my own current writings. The quotations are ingeniously arranged under three stages of the writing process and should prove of great help to many other budding authors. Thank you, Greg!

Fred Argy
AM, OBE, MEC, Hon. Doctor, University of Sydney
Visiting Fellow, Australian National University

What a fantastic book!! This book is full of useful, interesting and sometimes provocative quotes, that not only inspire writers, but anyone who has one of those mental block moments.

I am certain that everyone will find something in this book to get them through the day - students, teachers, writers, professionals - everytime you get a blank, this book will provide you with a quote to get over your block and keep on going.

A truly great book and a must to have!!

I do like the book and use it alot for school. The part that I use most is the Directory of Words Cited. Unfortunately, many times the exact type of work to be cited is not listed. For instance, a book with an editor in multiple volumes in an edition other than the first is not covered. Neither is an article from a journal obtained from a database.

I found it very helpful as I was not familiar with APA or other writing styles and took my class online so I had no live instructor to question.

I first purchased this book when I was a freshman in college seven years ago. It is without a doubt the best and easiest reference guide to writing I have ever read. I love the plastic tabs that mark each section. This guide is easy to read and follow it is organized in basic steps that are categorized accourding to section. So for example if you need to find out how to cite a web page or a video tape, etc using the MLA style you just flip to the section called doucmentation clearly marked with a plastic tab. I have since purchased an updated guide for myself and also bought one for my brother - a freshman in college. I really wish I had this book when I was in high school. I highly recommend this book to any high school, college, graduate student or writer. I especially recomend this book for students with learning disabilities, I myself have ADD and before I got this guide I could not understand how to write a paper in the MLA style or in any style other than a book report. I promise this is the easiest reference guide to writing ever published.

I first purchased this book when I was a freshman in college seven years ago. It is without a doubt the best and easiest reference guide to writing I have ever read. I love the plastic tabs that mark each section. This guide is easy to read and follow it is organized in basic steps that are categorized accourding to section. So for example if you need to find out how to cite a web page or a video tape, etc using the MLA style you just flip to the section called doucmentation clearly marked with a plastic tab. I have since purchased an updated guide for myself and also bought one for my brother - a freshman in college. I really wish I had this book when I was in high school. I highly recommend this book to any high school, college, graduate student or writer. I especially recomend this book for students with learning disabilities, I myself have ADD and before I got this guide I could not understand how to write a paper in the MLA style or in any style other than a book report. I promise this is the easiest reference guide to writing ever published.

This book is the best on the market - I highly recommend it to all students in high school and college -- and it is a must for every person who writes in business! It has everything you need to know about professional writing from the sentence to the essay or research paper, as well as resumes and letters. It should be added to the desk collection along with the dictionary and thesarus. I love the way it opens and lays flat; I love the tabs for easy recognition of sections; it has large enough print and enough whitespace to make it very easy to read; it has great explanations and examples, and the MLA section is complete and easy to follow. It even has a section for people who speak English as a second language and are dealing with the special problems related to English. This is a must have book !

Very good reading. My eight year old enjoyed the story very much.

Nick and the the Thunderballs can't find a coach for their baseball team so who else offers for the job but NICK'S MOM. Nobody likes the idea at first, but when the team beats the Tornadoes,(Their arch rival) to win the pennant. An extraordinary book that teaches you lessons in friendship as well as baseball.

Nick and the the Thunderballs can't find a coach for their baseball team so who else offers for the job but NICK'S MOM! Nobody likes the idea at first, but when the team beats the Tornadoes,(Their arch rival) to win the pennant. An extraordinary bookthat teaches you lessons in friendship as well as baseball.

My 7 year old son is an avid reader. He loves many books but most of all, books by Matt Christopher. This book started it all. It is a heart-warming story which keeps a child's interest due to the baseball, but is really about a mother and son relationship. I stongly recommend this book!

Nick and the rest of the team are the main characters in the book. The minor characters are the other teams that they play and the friends and family of the players on Nick's baseball team. Nick's baseball team is not very good. This year, they don't have a coach Nick's mom decides to become the coach. The whole team thinks that their team will do even worse. This book really takes place in the 1980's in Nick's town. But could take place anytime and anywhere as long as there is faith, determination and baseball.

The author posits that most Christians abandon their faith through a series of small compromises with the world, rather than through one spectacular sin. He details some of those compomises, as well as some of the ways the devil undermines us, and what we can do about it.

The author discusses at length Lot and the cities of the plain, but I am unsure how he arrives at some of his conclusions. I am no biblical scholar, so they may be perfectly valid conclusions, but I wish he had explained his reasoning. For example, the author says Abraham and Lot went their separate ways because Lot was a spiritual drag on Abraham, and relied too much on him, instead of cultivating his own relationship with God. As I read it in Genesis 18 & 19, they split up because of a scarcity of pasture for their kine. Again, the author says that Lot was attracted by the glamorous civilization of Egypt, which he preferred to rural life, and that he chose to go to Sodom because it reminded him of Egypt. I understood it was because there was much greenery in the direction of Sodom and Lot thought it would be good pasturage.

In the prologue, the author uses the example of a man going out for a beer with his non-Christian friends as a compromise. I could not tell if the author was advocating teetotalism or warning against the dangers of excessive drinking. Alternately, he could have been warning against the dangers of bad company, if the friends were inclined to bawdiness or making disparaging remarks about religion.

Finally, although this is very subjective, I felt the author spent too much time on the "larger" sexual sins, and hardly any time on the truly insidious and gradual sins such as pride, envy, bad company, anger.

In brief, while there was some good stuff here, I got much more out of The Screwtape Letters, which also discusses the nature of temptation but in a more balanced way.

I received a free copy from BGEA and have purchased 2 copies since then. This is a great book that absolutely outlines how easy it is to fall into the trap of compromise. It is a must read for teenagers and adults alike. I wish I had read this when I was a young woman. I have given all my copies away and am really interested in obtaining another written copy.

I read this book a few years ago and til today I still remember the impact that it made in my life. I recommended it to 2 other friends then and we all felt that this is a good book to read. And I am still looking around to buy more copies of it to share with my other friends now !

Sometimes we may not even be aware that we have landed ourselves into compromising situations and this book brings up these examples that you would be familar with and how to deal with it when you are placed in the same compromising position. If you can identify yourself being caught in compromising situations, then perhaps this book can help provide you with the insights from the way the bible will teach us to handle it.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions or at least with thousands of tiny compromises. Not too long ago in a church not too far away from where I live, a pastor was forced to resign and was eventually arrested for embezeling church funds. I know of people who are Christians, but are constantly swearing, getting into trouble, bickering, brawling, etc. How many times do you do something you know is wrong then look back afterwards and wonder, how could I have fallen so low? These are some of the troubling issues that Greg Laurie examines in THE GREAT COMPROMISE.

The thesis is quite simple. People don't fall out of a relationship with God all at once. It happens slowly over time; week by week, day by day, moment by moment. Each day we are faced with hundreds, perhaps even thousands of decisions. In each one of those decisions we can choose to press out the best of that decision and give our utmost for His highest or we can choose less than the best and compromise. Oh, it won't hurt if I travel twenty-five miles over the speed limit, everyone else is going thiry miles over. I really feel terrible today, but I'm going to act like everything is dandy. This one little lie won't hurt, after all I'm not hurting anyone. The scenarios are endless, but the consequences are the same. Slowly but surely we make little compromises that end up leading us to fall away from God. Laurie explores some of those decisions and scenarios and gives Biblically-based advice on what we can do to keep from making the Great Compromise.

Greg Laurie is a person who delivers the message of the gospel, and the word of God, straight from the Bible. He does it with humor, with compassion, and as a true servant of God, not misrepresenting scripture in any way. I could barely put this great book down, in spite of the fact I found myself convicted up one side and down the other from time to time. But then, as Christians, this is one way we grow. I recommend this book to anyone who has a desire to strengthen their Christian walk, an excellent guide for all of us.

I am currently reading the third volume of the Zohar (by Daniel Matt). It is the most marvelous treasure of knowledge, and if knowledge is power, then I would have to say that the awareness of the mysteries of life explained in such an easy to understand way, is very powerful. I have been pursuing the study of the Kabbalah for about two years now, and although not a formal student studying with a learned rabbi of the ancient sacred texts of mystical judiasm, I do believe that the divine power will present the knowledge to the person seeking it at the appropriate time and in a manner that will allow the seeker to advance the status of his soul. Not only am I catholic, but a woman. That alone doesn't qualify me to learn this information in a formal way. However, my life has unfolded in such a way recently that I became aware of this knowledge and have actively been pursuing it with all my heart. This version of the Zohar (Vol. 3) was the most profound piece of literature I have ever read. I am currently reading the passage about Jacobs death and his bestowal of blessings on Joseph and his children. At the same time, my father died recently and coincidentally I found this part particularly comforting. Coincidence? I think not. I recommend the Zohar to anyone who sincerely wants to understand how the Universe of spirituality works and why we are here. It is a stunning piece of work!

Beautifully poetic series. I hope that Daniel Matt is able to translate the entire set.

This volume of the Zohar is just as awesome as the last one! Great job, Daniel Matt!!!

I do not know Jewish mystical literature well. I am certainly not a student of 'Zohar' or 'Kabbalah'. I am a general reader who has looked at and read in this volume, and is giving a very general impression. The impression is also based on what I have heard major Jewish scholars and thinkers say in evaluating the volume. They say it is a true treasure of Jewish scholarship, an invaluable contribution to the world of Jewish learning. I reading the notes found them to truly add to my knowledge of the Parsha in question.
Daniel Matt in an interview with 'Nextbook' gave two reasons for the current popularity of the 'Kabbalah'( Of which the most prominent text is the 'Zohar'He says.

"Kabbalah is fairly unique: It's a spirituality that doesn't flee from the material world. It doesn't demand that you go off to a cave and meditate for 20 years. On the contrary, it demands that you engage the world, that you try to discover the divine spark in the material world, and thereby transform it. So it may appeal to people like Madonna, who have made it to the heights of materialism. She even defined herself in those terms. Somebody who does that will very naturally feel that there must be something else--and yet they're not willing to give up everything they've received. It's spirituality that doesn't demand you jettison all of the material, and yet it does demand that you look more deeply and search for some spiritual core.

The other factor is that kabbalah is simultaneously strange and familiar. It's supernatural and exotic in some ways, but based on the most familiar text there is in the entire Western library: the Bible. The Zohar will say, well, Abraham stands for this quality of God, and Sarah stands for this. It enables you to engage in a spiritual search but still be anchored in something familiar. In some ways it's almost not what the Zohar says but how it says it that's especially relevant for a contemporary reader. It's a celebration of the imagination."

I believe that any English-language reader who wishes to have an authentic sense of what the 'Zohar' and thus 'The Kabbalah' truly is should center on the Matt translation which is an authentic work of scholarship.

Really, who could review Daniel Matt's Zohar, volumes 1, 2, or 3? Very few of us have such understanding, although Professor Joel Hecker [and undoubtedly a few other academics] has given it a try.

I can say that with a group that has been learning Zohar together weekly for more than three years, with everyone else but me able to learn in the original Aramaic, I've been able to keep up with this wonderful, well-published translation and extensive commentary for all the three volumes. And, even, sometimes, be helpful to the others with Daniel Matt's spiritual and literary skills. If you might be in the same situation, you can't do better than this translation/interpretation. Many thanks to Margot Pritzker for sponsoring.

In this impressive volume, Professor McLynn takes the reader through not only the crucial year of 1066, but the decades preceeding this fateful year, slowly building a picture that shows the early medieval period as a vibrant and often chaotic period, rich in political intrigue, economic uncertainty, and devastating military undertakings.

Unlike many books that use 1066 as the centrepiece, McLynn doesn't use a chronological narative, rather he uses the personalities of time to tell his tale and explain his conclusions (many of which run counter to the common understanding of the period).

Particularly insightful for this reviewer was his analysis of Harald Hardrada; as well as the analysis of the Saxon vs. Norman fighting methods and warfighting equipment. Most interesting though was McLynn's dispelling of the myth of the 'arrow through the eye' for Harold Godwinson, arguing instead that Harold was literally assissinated by a group of knights hand-picked by William toward the conclusion of the Battle of Hastings.

The final element that McLynn uses to support his arguments is that of logistics. His method is reminescent of how Hans Delbrück makes sense of the fantastical claims associated with the size of ancient armies. McLynn clearly shows that Napoleon's dictum that an 'army marches on its stomach' couldn't be more true.

This book is a great read for any person even remotely interested in these pivotal events that defined the future of England and also for the serious student of the early medieval period.

Enjoy.

We have a tendency to view people of long ago as simple in their lives and politics. This well researched and written book opens the door to an age much more rich in the scope and depth of its political intrigue and subsequent warfare. In setting the stage for the climactic battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings, Frank McLynn takes us back thru a generation of tangled politics, alliances made and broken, power won and lost. He details the long relationship between the Godwins and Edward the Confessor, King of England but beset on many sides by powerful enemies. McLynn sketches the life of Harald Hardrada, who served lords of Kiev and Byzantium before becoming ruler of Norway. And he shows how William, Duke of Normandy consolidated his power and administration in preparation for the invasion of England. In the process McLynn puts a critical eye on his sources, recognizing that they may have been written to enhance the reputation of the winners rather than with a strict eye to truth. And he isn't afraid to say that some things we'll just have to assume or guess, because the sources are so scant, so obscure or unbelievable. This is not my favorite period of history, but I found this book most readable and reasonable, and the story very absorbing. A very fine job.

This was a book I found hard to put down, and is probably one of the best books on the Anglo-Saxons and specifically the Battle of Hastings that I have ever read.
Maclynn's attention to sources, and critical analysis of those sources, is excellent. And I found the chapters covering each of the main protaganists illuminating. Covering the behind the scene machinations shows just how much Harold II had to contend with, how great a king he would have been had he not been killed, and the great disservice that has been done to him historically simply because the Normans were victorious.
You very much get the feeling as to who the victors of this battle should have been, the Anglo-Saxons, and it was so very close too.

Mclynn's book is the clearest and most profound of the many which have centred on the events of 1066. The background into the three 'big men' involved (Harald Hardrada, king of Norway, Harold Godwinson,Earl of Wessex and King of England, and William Duke of Normandy) is extensive, but written with real sense of the demands of narrative. This is not a dry academic treatise. It is a well paced, yet thoroughly researched book. I especially liked how he went deeply into the political machinations of the time. These were not simple people. They were canny, shrewd, calculating, and Mclynn exposes the dealing and double dealing that went along with magnate status in the eleventh century. He tackles several historical traditions and beats the snot out of them, Harold's death by arrow in the eye being one. An immensely readable book,and one of the most well thumbed in my collection

I cannot praise this slim volume too highly as a resource for the study of the 11th century in upper Europe. Dr. McLynn is a superb writer, balancing the need for exhaustive details and character insights with a narrator's gift for storytelling. Focusing on the three major players of the invasion of England in 1066, William of Normandy, Harald Hardrada, and Harold Godwinson, he not so much writes concerning the actual battles of 1066 as about what led to them, leading the reader on an epic journey through political intrigues and lavish landscapes, from Norway to Byzantium. And if he uses the word "contumaciously" far too often, one can forgive him in favour of the grandeur of the tale.

What I especially admire is that McLynn has no fear of discounting or disagreeing with popular impressions. His take on 1066: the housecarls' favoured weapon was not the double-headed axe (although they used it), but the pike, of which they had many varieties; Harold was not killed by an arrow to the eye; the supposed superiority of the Norman military engine versus that of Anglo-Saxon England was nonexistant, as seen in Harold's 1063 war that brutally smashed the feared Welsh. These tidbits and more await the reader of this highly recommended work.

Of the 112 pages in this book, only 4 do not contain photographs. Every one of the photos is on full color. There's a picture of a C-124C Globemaster, taken in 1972, that looks as if I took it with my digital camera yesterday (2008). The photo's are that nice. This books covers the early years of Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona from WWII until today. Don't look for a lot of photos of WWII warbirds in this one, though. DMAFB mostly housed B-29's after the war, all the other warbirds and bombers were mostly stored at Altus, OK; Kingman, AZ; and Ontario, CA. Whats fascinating about this book is the Cold War era bombers and fighters. Also some of the photos of the preserved Century Series fighters are stunning. There's a ground eye view of F-4's...nose to tails...as far as the eye can see. Some of the aircraft look as if they still have more missions in them...more adventures and glory to capture, while others are broken up into barely recognizable pieces or have weed's growing through their useless hulks. You'll find yourself spending hours looking over the photos and reading the beautiful descriptions, then return to the cover and start reading the actual history of the field. Overall, a great buy for any aviation enthusiast.

Having lived around the boneyard for a number of years this book helped me remember some of it. My father would and still passes by alot of the airplanes today on his way to work or what ever. It was interesting to read it from an Englishman's point of view.

This is a worthy successor to Philip D. Chinnery's previous pictorial essays on the Boneyard (1987's "Desert Boneyard", and 1989's "Desert Airforce"...both out-of-print). The format is larger, and the quality of the photos is excellent. There's also a tantalizing mix of aircraft...you can hardly wait to turn the page and see what glorious old bird is baking in the hot desert sun on the next page. You really get a feel for the place, and you see more on these pages than you'd ever get to see in real life; mostly because the tours don't take you everywhere Chinnery was able to go. You'll see F-105s, F-102s, F-100s, F-4s, A-7s, F-111s, B-52s, even A-10s, C-141s, F-14s, F-15s and F-16s. Plus other, much older aircraft, helicopters, utility aircraft and aircraft types too numerous to mention. There's a fine section on the early history of the base, and descriptions of the storage process, too. I think you'll like it.

This book is a valuable resource for aircraft modelers and aviation enthusiasts. It contains many excellent pictures of aircraft, often in service paint schemes, preserved at Davis-Montham AFB in Tucson, AZ. Each plane is a moment of history frozen in time, poised at the end of a valuable service career but not yet broken up for scrap. Many of the pictures make you sad to think of once-proud aircraft, now cast off unwanted. Although this book does not puport to be anything but a documentation of the career of the Boneyard at Davis-Montham, I would have appreciated more detail on the aircraft themselves. However, I highly recommend this book for modelers as it provides color pictures of many aircraft not often seen in other publications.

This book has much detailed information on the history of the storage yard at Davis-Monthan AFB, in Tucson Arizona. Seeing has to how I am an aircraft nut (Mostly military), I got a kick out of the fact that all the pictures were color! And the photos are almost all of aircraft. Rare aircraft included are the XB-19, B-36, RA-5C, C-133 and the NB-52E. The only problem is that just one photo of each of the above aircraft is in the book. In addition, the book also has details about how the aircraft are preserved in storage and what uses they have at the yard. Not all are scrapped or salvaged of parts, but some go on to civilian lives as firebombers or transports and some are sold to warbird collectors. For example, The Pima Air-Space Museum has many aircraft that are on loan from D-M (Then again, it is very near the base). This has to be the best book ever on the place that is mistakenly called "The Boneyard".

Very good choice of topics. Clear presentation. Caters to a wide variety of audiences.

I'd give it a 5 if it included a chapter devoted practical aspects of experimental light scattering measurements, techniques, and instrumentation.

This book must be on the table of every researcher in light scattering field.

Bohren and Huffman present a coherent and comprehensive description of absorption and scattering by small particles. The text is written in a very amusing style, where ideas are presented in a conversation like manner, as if the authors are directly addressing the reader, providing jokes and examples to illustrate their point. This text builds upon the description provided by Hulst in classic text, and provides a deal of useful information particularly related to absorption (not covered by the text of Hulst)!

The first eight chapters illustrate the basic theory of scattering and absorption, introducing expression and physics relevant to spheres, spheroids and a whole array of particles. This section is quite similar in spirit to the text by Hulst, requires a background in electrodynamics (to make it most useful) . In part II and part III, the authors discuss the optical constants of bulk matter and small particles respectively, citing examples of metallic as well as semiconducting particles. This book fills the need for a textbook for studying extinction coefficients of all kinds of particles, and is useful for physicists, chemists, meteorologists, material scientists, etc. Nonlinear optics is not covered, as also the effect of multi-particle scattering (and thankfully so)!

The book is very useful for people studying absorption (and scattering) of nanoparticles. It contains a good description of basic physics of plasmon resonance, extremely relevant to the research of people studying metallic particles. Bohren has written some really amusing as well as insightful "science" books on experiments and observations of physical phenomenon in daily life (and atmospheric sciences). This book is similar, with additional detail in terms of mathematical equations:)! Extremely useful for researchers and scientists even remotely associated with studies of absorption and scattering by particles! In terms of usefulness, this book is much better than the text by Kerker on similar topic!

The authors' lively and `user-friendly' style of presentation help bring material of an advanced nature within the reach of a larger number of readers than most books that deal with the subject at this level. I highly recommend this classic reference.

I have found this to be a very useful reference for calculations of light-scattering properties of particles of various sizes and shapes. Discussions of subjects ranging from geometrical optics to Mie theory appear clear and complete. The book also includes computer algorithms for computing scattering properties of homogeneous spheres, coated spheres and cylinders.

This book by James Kaplan provides an in depth look at John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport in NYC. But in doing this it is looking at a small town with it's different people and functions. Everything from the medical staff, to the guy who changes all the lightbulbs in the ground are given a face in this incredible book. It's a fast read, and it will answer all your questions. It's not just for people who like airports or for New Yorkers. It is for everyone who should marvel at how special a place JFK really is. It leaves you hoping that Kaplan will adopt the same methods with other institutions around the country.

I never thought I'd be fascinated by baggage handlers or traffic cops at an airport. But this book changed all that. It is a wonderful adventure from the most exciting moments in the cockpit to the control tower to the ticket counter to the kitchen and beyond. It takes you to 30,000 feet all the way down to the guts of the airport operations. From the beginning account of an actual plane crash to everything else, I could not put this book down. If you're the least bit interested in commercial airliners or airports, this is a must read.

This book is a very interesting, very well-worded, literary look at a non-literary, quantitative fact of late 20th century life.

For those who appreciate a well-written story of late 20th century America, this is a great book. For those who are afraid of flying and all associated with it, this book will entertain you and help you. And if you love to fly and want the answers to some of those nagging "how does this work" questions, this is a great book.

James Kaplan does a superb job of bringing JFK International Airport to life. He allows the reader to sneak a peek behind the scenes at the airport and to learn more about how things work. By describing the history of JFK International, I have an even greater appreciation for the people and institutions that make air travel what it is today

Extremely well written with terrific detail. This book takes you inside the workings of the airport. It gives you a view of JFK and particular events that are relevant to the airport that you would not have without the benefit of this book. The real testament to this book for me is that since I've read it, every time something happens that has to do with JFK (TWA 800 etc.), I wish that Mr. Kaplan would incorporate it in a sequel so that I could understand it through his perspective. Kaplan's chapter on his experience of flying in the cockpit of the Concorde is worth finding this book even though it now appears to be out of print.

I bought this for my boyfriend who is very hard to buy for. He has whatever he needs, and if he wants something, he'll buy it for himself. But I remember him telling me that IRONMAN was his favorite character growing up. When I did a search on Amazon and found this item, I bought it, knowing only a small chapter would be on IRONMAN. Well, he LOVED it! He read it within the first few days! He listened to the audio by Stan Lee. And even I read it and learned all about the history of the superheroes. I cannot wait to learn more, to read more, to buy more. The best part is that He Loved It! It was the best gift I ever bought him.

it is the best marvel book ever i love it. it gos from the way begining to 1997. it has all the best marvel super heros. you must buy it

We've all heard audio commentary on DVD's but audio commentary on a book? That's just what you get in a fabulous new book from Sterling Publishing, "The Amazing Marvel Universe". The book is a beautiful, over-sized hardcover that has a very unique feature to it. It has a speaker with push buttons that play audio comments from longtime Marvel Comics writer, editor-in-chief, and publisher, the legendary Stan Lee. The book itself is written by another Marvel legend, himself a former Marvel Editor-in-chief as well as writer and comics historian, Roy Thomas. The book features Stan's choices of the 50 greatest moments in Marvel Comic's history.

These moments begin not with Marvel Comics, but rather in the Golden Age era of Timely comics when a young Stanley Leiber took the pseudonym of Stan Lee and had his first comic story published, a two-page Captain America text story in Captain America #3 in 1941. As you flip through the 200 page book and read about these great moments in Marvel history, you'll see a number that corresponds to the appropriate audio track to hear Stan's comment on that particular event. There are 68 comments in all for a total of 45 minutes of audio.

One of the interesting moments to make the Top 50 moments is the second one which introduced Fin Fang Foom in Strange Tales #89 from 1961. This is chosen I think as an example of pre-super hero Marvel Comics and how the restrictive Comics Code was dealt with by Stan. Of course the first major moment comes with the introduction of the Fantastic Four in November 1961. In his audio comment, Stan relates how he was about to quit the comic book business and was asked by publisher Martin Goodman to come up with a team of heroes to compete with DC's Justice League. Stan decided to do a hero book the way he wanted to, thinking it would flop. Of course, the rest is history.

In talking about the Hulk, we hear the oft-told story of how the Hulk's color was changed from grey to green because the printer was having a hard time getting the grey a consistent color. Stan says he decided to do a book about Thor because he wanted to have a mythological God, and the Norse mythology was not as well known as Greek or other myths. Other great moments that made the list are the release of Spiderman #1, X-men #1, Avengers #1, Daredevil #1 etc. But don't think it's all about number one issues. Once you move into the mid-60's, the moments focus on the first appearance of various characters as well as classic storylines.

One moment that I was very excided to see make the list was the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm in Fantastic Four Annual #3 in 1965 and starring just about every hero and villain in the Marvel Universe. I remember buying that comic at a convention sometime in the 70's and still have it today. Other great moments include the first appearance of the Silver Surfer and Galactus, The Black Panther, and one of my personal favorites, The Vision. The Vision was a brilliant concept by writer Roy Thomas who used his love of Golden Age heroes to come up with his unique android creation.

The Kree-Skrull War, the Death of Gwen Stacy, the debut of the New X-Men, they are all here and you could not find two men better fit to present these 50 great moments than Stan Lee and Roy Thomas. Loaded with great art by the likes of jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Wally Wood, John Buscema, Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, and John Romita!This is an absolute must have for fans of marvel Comics. Well worth the $50!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Surely, an adequate test of whether or not you've purchased a good book is a faint sadness at turning the last page. If so, then Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Universe is a good book.

Written by Roy Thomas, a Marvel scribe and editor for many years, the book catalogs the major works of Stan Lee at Marvel in an insightful and entertaining manner.

Highlighting 50 "legendary Marvel moments," the book also treats fans to hundreds of full-color cover and page reproductions dealing with important events in Marvel's vast superheroic history.

Making the book even more enticing is the digital playback device that is attached. Containing 68 voice tracks from Stan the Man himself, the device lets readers gain special insight from the uber-imaginative creator. These selected excerpts from an interview with Lee enhance the printed information and illustrative glory found within the pages to such a degree as to make this a must-have for Marvel fans, comic book enthusiasts, pop culture nuts, or what have you.

If I were to wish one thing about this book, it would be that it could be thicker, with more pages and more information. Considering the years Roy Thomas spent behind the scenes at Marvel, he is in a position to reveal historical tidbits that many fans-turned-researchers could only dream of. As it is, he brings to light several items that I never knew, even after close to 35 years of reading comics. You might be surprised, as I was, to learn that Marvel's character the Black Panther once changed his name for political reasons, or that the Comics Code Authority rejected artwork for a particular Marvel comic due to a puff of smoke in the panel. Interesting stuff, to be sure.

Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Universe is highly recommended for all fans of superhero comics, comic book history or Marvel Comics in general.
Commentary by Mark Allen, Suspended Animation[]

If you are a comic fan, this book is a must read

If you are a fan of the history of comics, this book is a must read

If you love Marvel comics, this book is a must read

Former Marvel editor Roy Thomas composed and writes the true pictoral history of Marvel comics, better than anyone has-because he was there for most of it. Stan "the Man" Lee, in a special feature of this book, narrates his version of the Marvel History in a small recorder on the side of this book. This is not a book on tape, but a visual mass media production that "True Believers" and all the Merry Marvel Marching Society (Classic Marvel fans would understand that term) out there should get. If you love how your favorite favorite characters were created, this history is for you, Both Stan and Roy tell the begining of Marvel story to the present like NO ONE else could!

So Make Mine Marvel!

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD