O Books

I've read this book several times. Every time I pick it up, I end up laughing until I almost cry. As a bachelor myself, I relate to the grains of reality underneath O'Rouke's great sarcasm.

Not as good as "Eat The Rich" or "Parliament of Whores" or "All The Trouble in the World" or "Holidays in Hell" or "Give War A Chance"; those books are thought-provoking as well as screamingly funny. This one is just screamingly funny, but this might actually be a plus for people whose response to some of P.J.'s better works is a defensive "That's not funny!"; P.J. has a tendancy to poke fun at EVERYTHING, including the sacred cows of people who he disagrees with (and sometimes those he agrees with.)

As a 32 yr old bacelor, this book had me literally HOWLING with laughter! I let my girlfriend read it. We aren't dating anymore, LOL. As ridiculous and as obscene as some of it seems, it is startling to realize that I have actually LIVED like that!

FIVE STARS,..!!!!!!

I've been on a tear of P.J. O'Rourke's books lately, starting with Republican Party Reptile and so forth. This is by far one of P.J.'s best. I'm on the other side of the coin politically (fairly liberal) myself, but P.J. usually spares no one, and I admire that (Rush and his wacko friends could learn a thing or two).

This book is just about how to get by if you're a bachelor. It's incredibly funny for the most part (the cooking sections should not be read if you've just ate!). This is a fantastic little book, very helpful if you plan to live like a slob or like a typical college freshman.

The Bachelor Home Companion: A Practical Guide to Keeping House Like A Pig written by P.J. O'Rourke is a very funny, keep you in stiches book.

You'll never keep a house neat and tidy after you read this book. Of Course, that's assuming that you already do. What its like as a bachelor in theory as to actually being one is, according to O'Rourke, a great disparity. If you want to laugh and be entertained at the same time then this little tome is for you to enjoy.

Humor abounds and your life will definately take a turn... for better or worse will depend on you.According to O'Rourke... "How often does a house need to be cleaned, anyway? As a general rule, once every girlfriend. After that she can get to know the real you."

The book is great--a long-time favorite of mine. Funny and touching at the same time.

The only drawback to my book: it was the English translation; not the American one.

John

I fell in love with both the priest Don Camillo and his faithful adversary, Peppone the Communist mayor, when I was only ten, and since then have read all of the books, several times. After my experiences of being in the USAF in Taiwan in the 1970s, and now a permanent resident in mainland China's Fujian Province, I can appreciate the kinds of clashes that can occur between Communists and Christians--serious, but at times quite humorous also. I appreciate the zany humor but most of all the down to earth warm portrayels of both Don Camillo and Peppone. The author shows good and bad sides of both, and Don Camillo's conversations with Christ, who speaks to him from the crucifix above the altar, are priceless. After a few stories, one realizes that neither Don Camillo nor Peppone are the good guy or the bad guy, but simple ordinary people--and though enemies, they each sometimes go out of their way to help the other (though secretly, to save face). The cast of supporting characters, like skinny Smilzo, is also a delight.
The line drawings of the angel Don Camillo and the devil Peppone are, of course, priceless. Simple and to the point, they are the icing on the Don Camillo cake, and probably the reason why I draw cartoons on everything from greeting cards to my books on China--Amoy Magic, Fujian Adventure, Mystic Quanzhou, deng deng (which is Chinese for "etcetera"). I highly recommend not only Little World but all of the Don Camillo books in print.

This little book is filled with quick-reading short chapters which each impart a bit of wisdom and a moral or biblical lesson, and always with humor.

The story format is short tales in the ongoing feud between village priest Don Camillo and communist mayor Peppone. One of them often ends up bruised (literally or figuratively). At first blush it would seem like a good vs evil scenario, but really they are very much alike, and secretly sympathize with (even love)one another. Each struggles through life's choices from the perspective of his own situation.

One of the best parts, for me, is that each battle-du-jour includes Camillo's "consultation" with and reception of "advice" from the Christ image at the church altar. Rich stuff. Of course the image is not really speaking, and this technique is the author's metaphor for the working of the Holy Spirit in Camillo (or "his conscience", depending on your own theological perspective).

The theme runs throughout the book. Each chapter in pretty much a stand-alone story, although a few chapters are coupled, dealing with an ongoing incident. An entertaining little read that is a superior choice to those "thought-for-the-day" motivational/religious pamphlets. I read mine a chapter at a time when going to bed for the night. It gave me a truth to ponder as I dropped off . . . zzzzzzzz. Or maybe install a copy in your bathroom book rack. This book is very Italian and very Catholic . . . but you needn't be either to enjoy it (I'm not).

I was at a summer fair recently and browsing on the book stall when I found a very old copy of the Little World of Don Camillo dating from 1953. I had no idea what it was at the time as I'd never heard of it but i was intrigued by the blurb. this book is HILARIOUS! I kept laughing out loud and getting very strange looks! but it was worth it! I am now determined to find the rest of the books and read them although I am aware that they may cost me slightly more that my 25p find at the Fete! It's a brilliant book that transports you into another world with ease and lets you meet characters that you can believe in and love. A very well spent 25 pence!

Having first entered Don Camillo's little world at 10, I have returned innumerable times over the decades, and frequently given directions to friends, too. This little work is a masterpiece. There is more wisdom, faith, hope, and love, to be found in its pages than in many far more "serious" works of fiction. All of that is accomplished in a deceptively simple gem of literary style. Like any great work of fiction, it captivates the heart as well as the mind. It is impossible to spend time in this little world and not come away with a smile on one's face and hope in one's heart. The Little World of Don Camillo is ideal reading for anyone, of any age or condition, anywhere.

I pass books on, this series I pass on, but want them back. The stories are rich and not at all trite. Rich spiritually and historically. Great character development. I especially like the novels that have an explanation at the end of where facts were gathered.

Riviting, well written and insightful. I have read the books of Kings and the books of Chronicles in the Bible, and for the most part, the words and names just slip through my mind as a long ago story. This book makes it very real. Personally, I couldn't help but see the eerie similarities between the Isreal that Hezekiah inhereted and the America that we live in today. Perhaps there is more than just history and entertainment to be gleaned from this book.

This series was incredible. I enjoyed the biblical history that was intertwined with Lynn Austin's imaginative story of some of Israel's kings & their lives. While reading this series, I was also drawn into worship with my God. His love & redemption are lived out by the characters as God's plan for Israel is unfolded. It made me wish I could still go to God's Temple on the Temple Mount & worship him like the Israelites did in their early history!

Good biblical fiction remains faithful to both Scripture and its characters while bringing ancient accounts fully to life. Lynn Austin has done a fantastic job of creating a vivid, insightful, page-turning story that I stayed up all night to finish. Austin has very romantically yet realistically depicted noble Hezekiah, the prophets Isaiah and Micah, and numerous other biblical characters. The heroes (and villains) are fully fleshed-out. The story line never slows as it unravels a tale compiled from numerous biblical texts (with which the author shows herself thoroughly knowledgeable). The backdrop of history and geography exhibit serious historical research.

I'm a fan of biblical fiction, and I haven't found any better than this.

WARNING: Don't even pick up Gods & Kings unless you're willing to commit to the five book series. You'll be hooked until the last page of book five.

As you can probably tell from other reviews, this book was written primarily for religious people, and in particular Christians: the religious Jews are all good, the idol-worshippers mostly villianous. (I knew it wasn't written for Jews since the author spells out the Y-H-V-H Hebrew name of God in a way that no present-day Jew would consider appropriate, and I found one poorly-hidden Jesus reference). I wouldn't say it is as sophisticated or as interesting as good secular fiction, but it is minimally readable - the sort of thing one could read in a dentists' office or an airport, but not really worth foregoing other books for.

I just finished reading this book, and i could not put it down! This is one amazing book, i highly recommend this to anyone who wants to hear a true account of a courageous undercover detective who infiltrated the mob. All true, amazing work by Rick and the NYPD. A must have! "It's in there" everything Rick was involved in, is in there!

An unbelievable yet true story that kept me engaged, too engaged for my wife on our cruise! I highly recommend for vacation reading.

What a pageturner!!!! I was very afraid for Mr. Rick Cowan throughout this whole book. Man, what guts!!! Why isn't this guy being heralded all over the place like Joe Pistone? No disrespect to Pistone but he infiltrated a fractured and disorganized crime family(Bonnano). Cowan got in with the class of the mob, the Genovese and Gambino families. I could not put this book down. I always heard that New Yorkers were being fleeced by the "garbage gangsters" but I never fully understood how. Or why couldn't our government stop it? This book breaks it down. This one is in my top 10. Fantastic!!!!

I'm of two minds on this book. The history of the mob's control of the trash and paper recycling industries in and around NYC are fascinating. But a great deal of the book consists of verbatim transcripts from wires worn by Cowan in his interminable dealings with the mob, many of which are repetitive. Only for the real lovers of mob stories.

Over the course of the past few years, my love of reading books about the mafia went dormant. When I arrived upon a copy of "Takedown" in a used book store, my interest was revitalized. The story in "Takedown" is unbelievable not because it is untrue, but because it is unbelievable how many times Rick Cowan avoided certain death. Though it is unbelievable at times, it is a true story.

By chance, Rick Cowan was in the right palce at the right time. This young detective made the mafia believe he was a cousin in a garbage hauling family. Through this false pretense, he was able to infiltrate the Gambino Fanily to its highest level. Such a task was thought to be out of reach to the NYPD. The stories Cowan tells of his interactions with the mafia have a level of authenticity to them. You can almost hear the stereotypical accents being spoken as you read. I question whether some of the stories were exaggerated to make the book a more exciting read. Surely any man faced with some of these circumstances would crack or slip.

Cowan even discusses the strain three years uncover put on his family. This is an aspect of the investigation that receives little attention in similar books. I also enjoyed the epilogue in which Cowan discusses whether he felt remorse for "ratting out" the friends he made in three years.

Reading a book about the real life mafia is much more exciting than any movie or TV show available. While there certainly must be some fabrications present in the book, none were so glaring to take away from the story. I would recommend this book to any person with an interest organized crime.

My 2 1/2 year old toddler loves this book since she was less than a year old. The rhyming captures her attention when she was younger, and now she loves to count with us. It's catchy, and cute with wonderful illustration; fun read for mom and dad too. The board book ironically has lasted through her teething phase, so it will need to be replaced for her little sister.

My almost-three year-old can't go to sleep without having this book read to him at least twice. Not only does it teach you numbers and how to count, it shows you not to be afraid of silly monsters! The rhymes are clever and the illustrations so fun and detailed you'll find something new to point out almost every time--and it's always good for a laugh. This is one of the few books that I can stand to read to my son as often as he wants to hear it.

After reading this board book edition and then comparing the board book to the paper edition that has been much loved, I verified that the current board book edition is incomplete. Thus, I would recommend purchasing the paperback edition as the board book edition stops short and is not fulfilling in its prose. This incomplete board book printed edition is especially irritating when reading to intelligent children who have memorized the complete story and expect that the adult regurgitate it completely.

Me and my 2 1/2 year old boy just LOVED this book. He is very much into numbers and has been counting for a few months, so I got this book for him. It's one of the few books he sits for through the whole story. He especially loves the page for "four" ;).

It is also good for his older brother, who is in kindergarden and learning how to read / spell the number words.

Our toddler loved this book for months-- and I never tired of reading it. The pictures are terrific, the rhyme fun and it also helps encourage counting and number sense skills. We give it a thumbs-up!

The classic fairy tale done with Zelinksy's incredible art. The artwork is beautiful, reminiscent of the medieval style. I'm not sure how much little kids will care about that fact, though. Still, I think they'd like the pictures. They're amazing. They've all heard the fairy tale before, but it's a nice fairy tale they'd probably appreciate hearing again.

This is a lovely version of the classic Rumpelstiltskin. I enjoyed reading it with my third graders. The illustrations are beautiful and spark the imagination. A good story demonstrates struggle and challenges the students to compare present day expectations with the past.

The pictures in this book are very nice. My 5-year old loves to hear it as a story before going to sleep. The ending of the story is also suitable for this age, since Rumpelstiltskin ends up flying out the window, instead of something more tragic happening to him.

I wanted a classic children's fairy tale story with handsome illustrations. I got just what I wanted with this book. I have a 3 1/2 year old and it is the perfect length for bedtime.

I read the book Rumpelstiltskin. It is about a poor miller's daughter who is very kind. One day the miller sees the king and says, "My daughter can spin straw into gold" The king said" get her over her right away" So when she got there the king said" if you don't spin this straw into gold by tomorrow you will die" So the miller's daughter cried and cried until a strange person comes in and says" I will spin this straw into gold for you. But you need to give me something". So she does and the next day she goes to another room and he comes again. She gives him something again. Then the next day she goes to a bigger room and he comes back and says, "you will give me your first born baby So the next day she gets married to the king. She has a baby so the man comes back and she says" if I don't find out your name in three days you can take my baby. So she sends out a servant to find out the mans name. So the servant finds out his name it is Rumpelstiltskin. Then he comes and she says" is your name Rumpelstiltskin. Then he was never heard from again.

I liked the book because it had bright detailed illustrations. I liked the picture of the king and the miller. The message is don't trust strangers because she talks to him. The theme is karma because he tricks her and then she tricks him. There is good vs. evil because Rumpelstiltskin is bad and she is good. I know this because he tricks people. The conflict of person vs. person is interesting because she is ahead and then he is. It keeps going back and froth. I think kids should read this because it will teach them to not trust strangers. There are no more versions of this story that I have read.

I loved this book. It really made you think about "could this actually happen?" I love the bits of history, the attitudes of people in different times, the extraordinary amount of research that Mrs. O'Day must have put into this. She is just an awesome story teller.

I read this book many years ago and fell in love with it. I just found it again and re-read it- yep, still love it! I don't really agree with the last review about the "rape" scene. It's a fictional book and I took it as that- fictional. It was an important part of the plot, although it may be disturbing to some, you soon forget about it as Constance weaves her magical spell. I felt transported back in time with Brianne and almost wished it were true. I hated that the book ended, and the ending was fabulous! I wish there was a part two and I could continue reading about Brianne and Ryan's life. Not to be, but at least I have this copy and I can pull it out every few years and get swept back in time once again and try to pretend I don't know how the story will turn out. I love this book and highly recommend it to all those who enjoy an easy read that will make your heart flutter and your cheeks flush!

THIS IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK! I HAVE READ IT OVER AND OVER. A TRUE ROMANCE NOVEL...AND A VERY HARD ACT TO FOLLOW.

and I still think about the storyline quite frequently. Not only did I love the characters and how they developed throughout the book, but I'm very much into the New Orleans: it's such a great setting for a romance to take place. "Timeless Passion" also includes many dualisms, like North vs. South, being a modern career woman vs. being an oppressed wallflower wife, etc. For me, the time travel genre is a great expression of clashing ideals and interests, which can be both hilarious and shocking depending on what's encountered. From a person that reads just about anything she picks up, I'm still a very harsh critic. This book, along quite a few classics, I swear it makes me want to be a writer, too. On a side note, it was clever of O'Day-Flannery to make Brianne so short in comparison to Ryan. We need more characters that aren't portrayed as supermodels so that more people can enjoy these types of novels.

Everybody raved about how good this book was, so I decided to give it a try. I didn't get very far.

When the hero (who up to this point despises the heroine) has sex with the heroine WHILE SHE'S DRUGGED UP ON LAUDANUM and passed out, not really aware of what's going on! His reasoning? She's dressed in pants and must be a prostitute, therefore he's not doing anything wrong. He's got a right to use her because she's a whore! I was so disgusted that this book flew across my room.

Yeah, yeah, I know such things were just par for the course in many 80's romances, but this is sick, sick, sick! Hello, people! Sex without a woman's consent is called RAPE!!!! That's why they call it the "date-rape" drug, and not the "seduction" drug! I can't believe people actually find this romantic.

This disgusting "love" (RAPE!) scene appears just 50 pages into the book. So it's not like they hero and heroine have had any time to fall in love with one another. In fact, they hate each other. I don't like such early sex even between consenting adults, let alone a rape scene (which is NEVER acceptable!) Skip this book!

Professor stated it is a book we will refer to for a long time. Havent read it. Came quickly and in good condition.

This is a great textbook for ABA. It is perfect for studying for the Board Certification for Behavior Analysis (BCBA).

Book is essential for any Behavior Analyists career to understand the science of ABA.

Very helpful for the field!

Just kidding. This is a clear, concise text that I am finding to be very user-friendly. This text is not nearly as difficult to understand as Michael's Concepts and Principles of Behavior Analysis, at least for someone like myself who is fairly new to behavior analytic textbooks.

This text is spectacular. This edition is a triumph. I was a bit dubious when the forward obliquely compared this book to The Beatles (The White Album), but have become more sympathetic to the perspective as I have spent more time with it. Cooper/Heron is simply the book to use in studying Applied Behavior Analysis. It's not chummy or dated like some texts of 70s (an effort to reduce the response effort of learning the material, no doubt). Instead it is complete, precise and well written. My sincere thanks to the authors. Worth twice the going price.

For some reason I didn't think this was going to be a very good book when I selected it. Boy was I wrong, it's a great book. My husband who is not a reader, unless its something to do with sports, is reading it.

Sue O'Neill brings home all the craziness of being in a war. This collection gives a firsthand account of just what it was like to be there and reveals the humanity on a new level. I especially recommend it for the children of vets whose mothers or father may have never come home or never have talked about the war.

Other Amazon customer reviews have done a great job of outlining the subject matter of these stories. But the stories, which are fine pieces individually, are also wonderfully orchestrated in this collection. Some stories are poignant, some are dark with flashes of humor, and 'Monkey On Our Backs' is laugh-out-loud funny from beginning to end. The stories benefit from both a common thread and great variety, and the overall effect, with recurring characters, is a bit like reading an episodic novel.

Above all, Susan O'Neill is an excellent storyteller, a writer who has mastered her craft. I hope we're going to see more stories from her. I would expect her narratives to be compelling whether set in a war or not. Highly recommended.

I live in Indonesia (where I grew up), and do most of my reading during fairly frequent and extended surf safaris on boats. I ordered DON'T MEAN NOTHING from Amazon, and when it arrived, I read the first couple stories and then forced myself to put the book away, saving it for precious boat-time reading material. I just got back from my latest trip, and I tell you, I read two stories a day, taking them like a illicit drug. And like an addict, when the book came to end, I was severely wishing there were another dozen to read.

Anybody who's reading this review already knows the collection is set in Vietnam during the war, told from the original perspective of medical personnel working with war casualties. But as with all great stories-or at least, the kind of stories I really love-the authentic and intriguing details of setting and scene only serve to enhance the characters, and it was this assemble of ordinary folk (acting pretty much as ordinary folk would in extraordinary situations) that made the collection such a riveting read for me. The story "Butch" made me-macho surfer dude--misty-eyed, and "Monkey on Our Banks" made me laugh out loud, because I knew a monkey just like that one in my boarding school (it once stole and ate a bunch of candy laxative, with predictable results in the girls' dorm).

As an oftentimes struggling and paper-ripping writer, I marveled at author O'Neill's way with words that don't get in the way yet do immaculate service to the story. But mostly, I so enjoyed the reading that my inner critic never made a peep.

Highly recommended.

Sue O'Neill along with Mary Reynolds Powell (A World Of Hurt) and Sharon Grant Wildwind (Dreams That Blister Sleep) is one of a rare breed of women who not only flew 10,000 miles into a war zone to support an Army whose average age was 19 (in WW II it was 26), she also had the strength and the vision to write about her experiences.

Don't Mean Nothing is an essential Nam book, along with the late Lynda Van Devanter's Home Before Morning. While I don't accept that the war was literally unwinnable, I totally agree that the way it was being fought, with no sense of a Win Scenario at any time, resulted in a mindless and sickening waste of human life - on both sides.

President Johnson, the simpleton who put more than 500,000 US troops in harm's way, yet never defined a Win Scenario or Exit Strategy, once boasted that the Air Force "couldn't even bomb an outhouse" without his approval. Similarly, the target selection for the Rolling Thunder bombing campaign in which the US lost 922 aircraft, was carried out at cozy White House lunches, without a single Air Force commander being present.

Sue's anger at a mind-numbingly incompetent Government, who denied Ho Chi Minh a fair crack at democratic elections (which he may well have won) by installing the hateful and corrupt Diem in the South, is well stated.

These stories take you under the hood, behind the propaganda and the lies and put you right there in the middle of a war that either should never have happened or which should have been fought very differently at the very least.

A great writer. A great human being.

This was a great book. I just lost my 6 month old son and wanted to know why??? This book changed my out look on things. I highly reccomend it to anyone who is going thru a tough time.

I bought this book after I gave birth to a stillborn son. I was crushed beyond words and was looking for some hope. While I agreed with most of the book and understood the author's point, I do not believe she got at the true heart of God. I believe that God uses all things for good, but he does not bring senseless, horrific suffering into our lives just so we can learn something. For example, I do not believe it was God's purpose, plan, or desire that my baby be stillborn. Also, where does the love, comfort, and "hope" come from? More focus could have been put on who God is and how he cares for us and less focus put on us learning an impossible lesson during a time of terrible sorrow.

Don't even think about reading this withough kleenex. The reflections are thoughtout and heartwarming. Well worth the brief time it will take you to read.

THIS WAS ONE OF THE MANY BOOKS I READ AFTER MY MISCARRIAGE. THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST STUDY AND LINK TO SOLACE AND UNDERSTANDING THAT GOD HAS TO PROVIDE THAT I HAVE FOUND. I WAS LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER FROM GOD OF WHY AND HOW. THIS BOOK GAVE ME A PATH AND WAYS TO COPE AND HEAL THROUGH BIBLE VERSE AND DISCUSSION OF JOB.

COME TO COPE AND BUILD STRENGTH THROUGH LOSS WITH GOD THROUGH THIS GENUINE BIBLE STUDY. I HOPE IT BRINGS AS MUCH FAITH AND UNDERSTANDING TO OTHERS AS IT BROUGHT TO ME.

I found this book 4 years ago in Walmart, my Mom had just passed away, and my Father 2 yrs before her. Being a Christian it helped me see God's hand through the losses we had experienced.
Since that time I believe I have purchased almost 10 more books. Giving them to people in the pain of their loss, recently my husband had a student pass away at school, heart failure, at a very young age. Another to a young Mom whose baby passed away from an infection.
As inexpensive as these books are, purchase more than one, that is why I am at the website again..... another loss.... but God is there.