W Books

BLOSSOM RIVER DRIVE is a multi-level literary masterwork that can be appreciated by everyone from mid-readers to James Joyce scholars. Now I read that it is being banned by California schools. Incredible! Why do we always run from what we really need?

Banned in California schools because ultra-conservative parents are afraid of having their children discuss its marginally erotic contents, this novel deserves to be read and re-read. One way I evaluate the value of a book is by its ability to tolerate multiple readings. This one does--for any one serious about discovering childhood's unspoken secrets or serious about literature that dares to shed light on areas where fiction has not previously been permitted to go.

A great novel about childhood secrets, love, life, identity, and heartbreak. This one will last as long as books are treasured as inroads into the otherwise hidden forest of human truth.

The author of the controversial novel BLOODROCK has done it again. BLOSSOM RIVER DRIVE is, as the current ad in Atlantic Monthly says, the one novel of the year you have to read. I found it irresistible, devouring it at one sitting and then going through it again to savor everything I'd missed. Read it NOW--you won't be disappointed.

This book boldly leaps into the heart of childhood secrets that the culture tells as are taboo, untouchable. Childhood is the time of grave danger and unthinkable exploration; anything is possible, including sex. This book explores these ideas in an extraordinarily direct and honest manner. It is indispensible and should be #1 on everyone's bestseller list.

I live in New Orleans, La., and lost ALL my cookbooks (and everything else) as a result of Hurricane Katrina. I purchased Cajun Cuisine and I have tried several recipes - I am very pleased with it.

It's hard to learn to cook Cajun food from a cookbook; the food traditions of the Cajuns of Southwest Louisiana have been passed down orally for 400 years, and only in the "Cajun Cuisine" craze of the late '80s-early '90s did Cajun cookbooks really start to become popular.

These recipes are stripped down to the bare basics, because that's how Cajuns do it. Cajuns don't customarily use Emeril's Essence (remember, Emeril is from Boston) or carefully measured spices. It's a dash of this, a dash of that, until it tastes right. Don't make it too spicy; you can add your hot sauce later. You will never be able to make authentic-tasting Cajun food if you follow a recipe to a T.... that's not how it's done! You also need to learn how to modify recipes to suit your tastes... if you don't like file' powder, don't add it (many Cajun cooks don't add file' to anything, some put it on the table for you to sprinkle in yourself, some use it heavily). If you don't like okra, don't use it! Again, not all Cajun cooks do (although in response to the reviewer below, when Cajuns do use okra in gumbo, it is always sliced, and it is always slimy. Some people like it that way.)

This book provides excellent framework-style recipes for you to do what you want with. If you want to add tomatoes, go ahead! No one's stopping you! If you want to pour in a half gallon of Tabasco, feel free! If that's how you like it, that's how you like it. If you want to make your roux with butter (or oil or lard or bacon grease) do it that way! It won't change anything important, the recipe will still be fine. That's the beauty of Cajun food.

In response to the other reviewer who complained about a lack of pictures, the reality is that Cajun food is not as pretty as New Orleans food, and therefore doesn't make for terribly appealing photos. Gumbo looks like brownish-gray glop, but it tastes like heaven. That's just the way it is. If they'd included pictures, the sauces piquantes, the gumbos, the stews, the fricasees and the etouffees would've all looked the same, and how much would that have really helped? Plus, the drawings that are included in lieu of pictures are really adorable.

Get this book, and don't be scared to experiment with it! That's what it's all about!

`Cajun Cuisine', published by the very local Louisiana publishing house, Beau Bayou Publishing Company, and with no clearly discernible author, may be the publishing analogue to what in the culinary world is called `rustic' or in the pharmaceutical world, `generic'. Aside from a fairly nicely composed cover photograph of all sorts of raw and prepared Louisiana victuals, there are no frills and only one `pretension', in the form of a semi-scholarly introductory essay on `Arcadian (Cajun) Cuisine' by the retired Director, School of Home Economics, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Marie Louise Comeaux Manual. While this author's credentials are `academic', her essay is not terribly scholarly, as it is poorly written. It does, however, do a decent job of adding some material to our understanding of `Cajun' cooking.

Most foodies know that there is a `Cajun' and a `Creole' cuisine, which seem to coexist in and around Louisiana, centered in New Orleans. The problem is that I suspect few food enthusiasts who have not studied the matter can make a clear statement of the difference between the two. It seems as if the classic dishes of the area such as gumbo and jambalaya, as well as a foundation in French cooking techniques are claimed by both heritages.

According to the `Oxford Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink', the two cuisines are very similar, and the main distinctions that source can make between the two is that `Creole' is an urban cuisine originating with the earliest Spanish settlers from the 17th century and that `Cajun' (from Arcadian), is a rural cuisine deriving from the French émigrés from Nova Scotia in the late 18th century, after being kicked out by the English following the French and Indian Wars (That little opening act for the American Revolution). And, while both cuisines claim gumbo and jambalaya, etouffee and its principle ingredient, crawfish, seems to be distinctly `Cajun'. A second culinary difference is the greater extent of French influence from Arcadia, a purely French colony. This influence can be seen in the fact that Cajun cooking values balanced, but varied seasoning. It's `signature' cooking technique is braising, which is straight out of the French provincial cooking playbook. This is ironic because `Cajun' cuisine is often associated with very spicy foods; however, much of this `heat' was probably added a scant 25 years ago by the famous Paul Prudhomme of New Orleans, who, I believe, virtually invented the `blackened' cooking technique, most famous with `blackened catfish'.

But getting back to this book, my initially cool impression made by the somewhat pretentious introduction was redeemed when I started looking at the recipes. All the recipes are written in a very economical style, with crisp ingredients lists and matter of fact descriptions of procedure. The writing is not the minimalist sparse writing of Elizabeth David in `A Book of Mediterranean Food', but it has few if any `trucs', tips, hints, sidebars, or other accroutremonts of modern cookbook writing. And, it has none of the scholarly observations on origins or variations also found in Ms. David's works. For an experienced cook, this may be a very good thing. It means we have `just the facts, ma'm'. So, an experieced cook can be on their way to reproducing the dishes and fill in the extras where needed. One place a modern cook will especially wish to fill in is in replacing `oleo' with either real butter or a less saturated vegetable oil. In the mid-1980's, we had not heard all the dangers of trans-fats, commonly found in common margerine (oleomargerine).

One advantage of the sparse recipe writing style is that the slim 222 page book can contain a very healthy number of recipes, probably numbering close to 250, if you include the supplementary recipes for dressings, sauces, and condiments. And, this healthy number of recipes seems to cover the full range of `Cajun' specialities. The very best thing is that those classic dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee are represented by several variations. From there, it goes all the way from fried oysters to boudon to beignets. I did find some famous preparations missing, such as coffee with chicory, `poor boy' sandwiches, and `mouffelata' (sic) sandwiches, but as none of these are `cooked' dishes, I'll not feel cheated.

One thing I like about a cookbook with a lot of recipes for dressings and sauces and condiments is that it adds a great source of information on which one can improvise (See Sally Schneider's new `the improvisational cook'). This book is the perfect source for making a few dishes, then striking out on your own in making `Cajun' style dishes without having to resort to Monsieur Prudhomme or Monsieur Lagasse.

The book was very nicely organized and will stand up to some serious stints in the kitchen. I was also very happy to see tables of contents with all recipes listed at the beginning of each chapter. This is something all cookbooks (other than the monster references) should have. The ony annoyance is that the recipes were not printed in the order they appeared in the table of contents. I have no clue why they were different.

But, for a very reasonable list price, we have here an excellent source of basic, authentic `Cajun' recipes with all the essentials and none of the frills.

This is a book about cajun cuisine. That is all you are getting. That may seem odd to say that since this is the name of the book but many know that cajun cookboks will often have numerous other recipes that may be creole, traditional southern, soul or classical french. Even italian. This is specificaly cajun and not southern louisiana. You get what you pay for.

Because the book operates from a narrower scope you may not have the recipes you want. No red beans and rice for example that is a creole dish. You may also notice the lack of tomatoes in many dishes that you normally think would have them. The crawfish etoufee for example has no tomatoes which is classical cajun. This etoufee is little more than butter and the trinity. You get a down to basics recipe for maque choux and i use it often. This book gives you everything you need to be a cajun cook but maybe not everthing you want.

There are many dishes here that you may have never heard of. Try the louisiana pear cake one time. A spice cake with fresh pears is all the rage now at my little restaurant here in tennessee and some of the recipes have allowed me to expand and my offerings to my customers who are not cajun. In fact cajun cake recipes are one of the real strong points of this book. There are about 10 of them compared to only 2 in prudomme's book. You get everything from that pear cake to wine cake and syrup cake. All are wonderful.

This book has helped me as a restaurant owner to become a self taught cajun chef. Everything from cajun ginger cake to vegetarian gumbo. You can't help but love this book.

Why the 4 stars? No dry spice measurements. The dry spice mix is the standard of paul prudomme's recipes but all this book gives you is is cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. How about telling me how much you normally use? Also unlike the prudomme book this book has no photos of the prepared food. Prudomme's book has many full color photos. No extras here just recipes. No colors or diagrams and even though the author is an expert on cajun cooking there is no significant background given about the dishes. No history, nothing to tell you where the dish comes from or how it has evolved. A book of recipes is great but we all can find dozens of recipes for almost anything online. I'm looking for more than that.

Note that almost none of these recipes makes use of justin wilson's standard flavorings. Wilson uses bitters in about 1/3 of all his savory dishes and worcestershire sauce is used in about 2/3 and all have hot sauce. These ingrediants are rare in this book. In fact i can't think of one recipe that uses bitters.

If you are looking for a solid collection of authentic cajun dishes this is it. They work. But if you want a more complete south louisiana work paul prudomme's book is superior for the same price.

Gelbart isn't a Cajun name, so please pay no attention to her review. Me (a Cajun with a Cajun name - LeJeune), my Cajun friends, my Cajun family, and Cajun and African American and Cajun cooks I have known in Louisiana have always cooked with cut okra, and the end product is not slimy or gooey. And just because Emeril and Paul Prudhomme are chefs doesn't mean that they know how to cook EVERYTHING. Not to mention that I have never met anyone in Cajun Country who made a roux with butter - lard maybe! - but not butter. Trust the creators of the recipes! The food speaks for them!

This is a fabulous dual-language collection of some of the most sensual, passionate poems written in modern times. Whether he imagines himself as an insect making a journey "from your hips to your feet", traveling to distant places with his beloved by his side, or as a soldier who must leave but whose love will "go on singing until the end of life", Neruda writes with exquisite simplicity, and great beauty.

I find this to be the most accessible of Neruda's books that I have read, perhaps because its subject was a central part of his life. As explained in the introduction of the book, these poems are autobiographical, and written about his wife, Matilde Urrutia. First published anonymously in 1952, they were released in 1963 under his own name, but only after much thought, because of their "intimate birth".
The translations by Donald D. Walsh are superb. He has captured the fluid rhythm, the emotion, and the fire.

He was fortunate to have had this remarkable relationship, as well as the ability to express his feelings with such uncommon depth, but for those men who lack Neruda's poetic genius, and who would like to melt the heart of the woman they love, this might be the perfect gift to go along with that bunch of flowers.

This is quite possibly the most beautiful book of poetry that I have ever read.

An excellent gift to one that you love passionately.

The most amazing and sesitive book that I ever had read about Pablo Neruda.
Pablo es capaz de modelar como nadie las imagenes y meterte en un libro tan hermoso y poderoso. "La muerta" es un claro ejemplo de la belleza y la fuerza de su poesía.

I bought this book because for the long time I wanted to read something by Neruda, and this bilingual edition offered an opportunity to read the original Spanish alongside with the English translation. Since I know a bit of Spanish, this was an opportunity to practice it and improve it, as well as get exposed to some of the most sensual and inspiring poems in any language. Neruda's idiom is rich with metaphors, and he takes everyday objects and situations and imbues them with poetic and emotional undertones. This fascination with common objects is particularly useful for someone who is learning Spanish - it provides a great and enjoyable vocabulary-building opportunity. However, be warned - some phrases and words are a bit risque, and you shouldn't be too liberal at trying to impress your Spanish speaking friends at parties. It may lead to some interesting situations.

I had heard about Pablo Neruda a few years before and I wasn't too fond of his poetry. When I opened "The Captain's Verses" in a bookstore a few months ago, I knew that I had to have it. Since then this has become my most treasured book of poetry. I don't even know how to describe Pablo Neruda. When you read his poetry you just become entranced by the way he is so accurately able to convey such passion in his simple words and beautiful imagery. Even now after I have read each poem in this book at least a hundred times I am still amazed by the way he does it. I have not yet found another book of poetry that can evoke such feeling as "The Captain's Verses." I believe that this is essential to any poetry lover's collection of poetry and that those who are not big fans of poetry would enjoy the love poems of Pablo Neruda.

This analysis is most valuable in describing/explaining/analysing classical style in a way that assists actual performance of the piano music of that style. Excellent comments are interspersed throughout it.

Charles Rosen by now has attained a place among musical analysts on a par with the likes of Tovey and Grout, though his style is very different from either of these luminaries. Taking the music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven as the pinnacle of the musical style that developed in the late eighteenth-century, Rosen explains how around 1775 there was a decisive shift away from the High Baroque style of Bach and Handel, and why this new music was different. After his general introduction to the style most of the book explores different genres, symphony, opera, concerto and string quartet among them, to create a lucid and multi-faceted picture of how these three great composers approached and solved common musical and formal problems. The new edition adds a preface that addresses criticisms of the original book and an additional late chapter on Beethoven.

Rosen's writing, though it can be dense and repetitive, at its best is unmatched in its ability to relate analysis to what actually is heard by a listener. To this end, an ability to read and understand the copious and detailed musical examples is essential to fully grasping his points--this book is not for the casual amateur. But to those willing to do the work, The Classical Style remains as richly rewarding after three-plus decades as when it first appeared. As another reviewer has mentioned, it is a book one returns to again and again simply for the sheer pleasure of reading it.

This is an important and in many ways excellent book by Charles Rosen, who has also written other fine books. Rosen explains how the 18th-century sonata form was a logical extension and elaboration of what had come before and of what was inherent in traditional tonality. He shows that Romanticism wasn't a further development of the same principle, but rather a gradual dissolution. Rosen gives a scientific explanation of how traditional tonality itself is natural, grounded in physics. The implications of all this are clear enough. It's no accident that Beethoven was generally thought of as the greatest of all composers, until relatively recently (now it's not acceptable to think that anybody was greater than anybody else).

The anonymous reviewer from July 3, 1999 talks about sloppy thinking, while himself indulging in straw men, ad hominem, and plain deception. The reviewer gives a single quoted example of Rosen's allegedly sweeping statements, and this quote is of course taken out of context and isn't even Rosen's. It's Rosen quoting someone else in a context in which the quotation seems quite appropriate. The rest of this reviewer's statements are similar smoke and no substance. Please, do yourself a favor and read The Classical Style, and make your own conclusions. It's politically incorrect enough to inspire devious reviews and to be enlightening even to many professionals (if they have an open mind). It's not dumbed down, but it's written in an understandable language--something many other academicians might want to emulate. But if you are a "Liberal Warrior" or some other mind-already-made-up duffer, don't bother with this book or any other intelligent book: read Harry Potter and other children's fantasy instead, because that way you can escape reality while remaining rather harmless.

The author does an impressive job of showing how the classical style of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven evolved from the musical chaos following the high baroque period. Perhaps giving too little credit to transitional composers who blazed the trail for these three geniuses, Rosen intersperses analysis with superlatives that at times is useful but at other times seems more like hero worship.

I found some parts particularly fascinating, such as the comparison between a work by Haydn and C.P.E. Bach. Certainly when the analysis was complete, you could see why Haydn's art was more rational and complete, however Rosen's dismissal of C.P.E. Bach's work as incoherent was somewhat off base in my opinion because the styles and goals of the two composers were not synonymous.

Though I didn't always agree with the author's conclusions, this book is still the best out there that I have read on the subject and is well worth reading.

This is a beautifully written and illustrated book on a noble subject. On the basis of that rarity alone it deserves five stars.

I have to say that this is a true classic. It gives a very nice treatment of what is NP-completeness in a fashion that really defends the topic well. It gives nice illustrations to show different situations and how to deal with it. But after the first couple of chapters it does get a little out there with the proofs it does. It is still approachable, but it assumes that the reader is already familiar with the basics of combinatorial complexity, especially in reductions. I would only recommend this book to readers who has gone through such books as Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen et al. or Combinatorial Complexity by Papadimitriou and Steiglitz. Those two books are more for beginners and this book should be one to help anyone interested in NP-complete problems to get more practice and depth understanding. Overall a great book for anyone interested in the topic. The grand challenge is to reduce everything to at least something within the 150 problems listed on your own.

The book is excellent in explaining NP-completeness problem. Take it as a reference if you would like to do research in this field.

This is a rare example of a textbook where the authors actually go to the trouble of considering the fact that the intended reader is a non-expert. Published in 1979 and still the best.

The book arrived in time, in good condition, and adequate packing.

This is among the most eloquently written books that I have ever read in my life. Highly recommended.

A great western novel.
The gold rush.
The economic boom.
A story of revenge. What stories! A psychological profile of the murderer remarkably painted by Louis L'Amour. In further action on more than 400 pages.
A great western. One of the best.

This was my first L. L'Amour book and I loved it. It was relatively easy reading but very enjoyable. Mr. L'Amour is excellent at developing the characters and weaving them into the story. I had a hard time putting this book down at night before going to bed..
I have already purchased several more of his books and am planning on collecting the entire set.
You will definitely enjoy this book and this writer.

Comstock Lode is classic Louis L'amour. This book is extremely enjoyable and fast-paced. If you are just starting out on Louis, this book will not steer you wrong, it is a perfect example of his genius.

I just finished reading Comstock last week, when I happened to be up in the California gold country myself. I'm a garden writer, author of 5 published books, and I was in Placer County, speaking to the Auburn Garden Club. The town of Auburn, which sits in the middle of the gold rush's richest territory, is a neat place, one to visit if you get the chance. I noticed too that there is still a very busy mining supply store right on one of Auburn's main streets. There's still gold and silver being found up there!
But I digress: All of us who read Louis L'Amour's Westerns have probably noticed that while all of them are fun to read, some are certainly better than others. I thought that Comstock was darn good, and certainly one of the best of his books set in California. If you enjoy a fast-paced, action packed Western, I expect you'll like Comstock. I recommend it!

Louis L'Amour's Comstock Lode is a brilliant, fictional novel based on real events that will suck you in as soon as you start reading. I'm not one for westerns at ALL, but I was recommended this book and told myself, Why not? It sounds alright, nothing really better to read as of right now. I'll admit, the first few chapters started off a little dull, but then, you get deeper and deeper into the story and you can't put the book down. I recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure novels or Louis L'Amour in general.
Val Trevallion was a son of Tom Trevallion and his wife Mary, who lived in England until finding a large amount of gold and, moves to the States. While in Louisiana, Val's mother and the mother of another girl named Grita Redaway are brutally murdered by a group of shadowy characters, one of which Val will never forget the eyes of. Val and his father set out for the Wild West, but on the way there, his father gets murdered as well. A name on a gun gives Val a clue as to the identity of one man from the group of men that murdered his father and possibly his mother. Val goes to the Comstock where he is known as the toughest, most feared man around. While there, he will remeet Grita, a beautiful, budding actress and the memories come rushing back. His main mission: to kill those who killed his parents. But not everyone seems to be who they are, and Val has to come face-to-face with the man whose eyes haunted him years earlier in this edge-of-your-seat thriller.

So many reviews have been written on the actual stories collected in THE CONTRACT WITH GOD TRILOGY: LIFE ON DROPSIE AVENUE that I'll focus instead on the edition itself. I initially had all three of these graphic novels in softcover format, but seeing them in this edition, I pulled a switcheroo. All stories are set around an approximate 100-year time span on Eisner's Dropsie Avenue, and this is the perfect way to own them. At 544 pages for $29.95, and in hardcover, it's an excellent deal. The pages are thick and feature the same sepia tones that give Eisner's art its signature look. As a bonus, this edition includes quite a few new illustrations by Eisner, completed just before his death in 2005. More of his works are collected in this format, under the titles NEW YORK: LIFE IN THE BIG CITY and LIFE, IN PICTURES: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL STORIES. I now have them all on my bookshelf, and they look superb. Will, your greatness lives on!

I'm a relatively new reader of the genre, so admittedly there are probably many other writers who may be acclaimed as the founder. But for my money, Eisner is the master of the graphic novel. This trilogy is a must.

I'm a relative latecomer to the world of the graphic novel, though I did read my share of comic books as a kid. But a year or so ago, I read Will Eisner's "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and have been talking about it ever since. Time, I thought, to see what else Eisner might have written.

"What else Eisner might have written" is answered in part by this wonderful reminiscence of the Bronx of days gone by. The tales revolve around the history and residents of a tenement block on 55 Dropsie Avenue in the Bronx. To Eisner, it was always a neighborhood - greater than the sum of its parts and capable of moving callous men to teary nostalgia.

The book starts of with "A Contract with God," a relatively short and focused story about Frimm Hersch, a young Jewish boy who escapes Russian anti-Semitic pogroms, makes a contract with a just God, and loses his faith when his beloved daughter dies. Eisner tells us in the introduction that this story is one of the ways he dealt with his own daughter's death, a blow so severe that he plunged it deep into his psyche. What is so intriguing about Eisner's tale is that the reader never quite finds out what was in the contract. But one finds out a little about God and a bit about humanity's willingness to continue to struggle with this Witness to human misery and loneliness.
"A Contract with God" continues with other New York tales drawn from Eisner's memory - a tale about a lonely former opera diva who befriends a penniless street singer; a bitter tenement "super" infatuated with a young girl; a summer "cookalein" or cook-your-own boarding house at an upstate farm where city moms take their kids for a summer in the out-of-doors. Eisner is at his most frank here, not shying away from the pressures and temptations that entice people living in such close proximity to each other. The tales are sexy, brash, violent and always real.

The second story, "A Life Force," is a meditation on the unseen drive of all living things to remain alive and to reproduce. An out-of-work Depression-era carpenter finds a lesson in a cockroach's struggle to survive. His path crosses that of an ancient "rebbe" needs a room built for whose wife, who suffers from dementia. Soon, the story draws in a ne'er-do-well former playboy boy, young socialists, Sicilians gangsters and a woman from Nazi Germany (an old acquaintance of the carpenter) trying to extract her family from the growing turmoil back home. Eisner's depiction of the ever-triumphant "life force" comes alive in a myriad ways that look surprisingly like ordinary living.

The final section deals with the history of the parcel that became Dropsie Avenue. Eisner takes us on a kaleidoscopic tour from its days as Dutch farmland through its many incarnations as a residential neighborhood, vibrant gathering place for immigrant families, rat hole and locale for single-family homes. His tale is populated with crooked real estate developers, local politicians, druggies, thieves, ethnic priests, ineffectual cops and a variety of local characters. Eisner is at his best as he shows how greed and bad housing laws can strip the poor of housing, enrich the unscrupulous and reduce once-proud neighborhoods to rubble. I learned more about the roots of urban blight from Eisner's pictures than from any "serious" book.

Eisner's work is not disposable, like the comics of my youth. His stories have a depth of humanity that makes them fascinating and re-readable. His art exaggerates enough to telegraph his characters' inner feelings, but subtle enough to keep them rooted in reality. A wonderful experience.

Esta novela gráfica es simplemente sublime, las historias son maravillosas así como la presentación del libro que es de una calidad tan alta, pocas veces vista pero que definitivamente un trabajo tan bien logrado se merece. Cualquier otra cosa que te pueda decir, estaría de mas, si no conoces la maravillosa narrativa, dibujo e inventiva del maestro Will Eisner, este es un claro ejemplo de su maravillosa calidad como artista, ahora que si eres un seguidor, es un libro que debes tener en tu colección. Pero ya sea una razón o la otra, es una compra de la cual definitivamente no te vas a arrepentir.

Comic and cartoon artists are finally getting the respect they have deserved since the Yellow Kid wore his one piece pajama. Artists like Charles Burns and Frank Miller; Seth and Tony Millionaire, all work in a medium whose fan base is basically adult, literate and mainstream. In reading current book reviews of works like "Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid On Earth" by Chris Ware or "Blankets" by Craig Thompson, it is clear that the Graphic Novel as an art form no longer requires an asterisk.

All these artists and cartoonists owe this new environment of respect in no small part to the work of Will Eisner, specifically the work contained in this volume. While Eisner was not the first artist to tell a story with pictures, he without question hammered out a stylistic language that others could learn and understand. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that he brought the concept of the graphic novel home and gave it a firm structure and a future. Also important was Eisner's unyielding believe in the graphic novel as a form of fine art, as legitimate a tool for storytelling as any of the traditional oral or written forms. All current artists working in comics owe Eisner in the same way that all Afro-American ballplayers owe a debt of gratitude to Jackie Robinson. Like Robinson, Eisner completely believed in what he was doing and refused to accept anything less than respect for his work, all done in a day when respect didn't come easily or automatically for them.

Now, about the work itself - what can one say? No one will ever replace or improve on Eisner's innate ability to tell a story with pictures. His work was absolutely gorgeous and fluid, the line and brushwork immaculate and dense without every looking fussy. He forged a unique and instantly recognizable style that is the true mark of a virtuoso in any artistic medium, and he was a very gifted storyteller into the bargain. There are certain panels in his best work, like "A Life Force" or "Droopsie Avenue," that are just jaw dropping in their beauty and absolutely unforgettable.

To this day his work is unmatched in its depth and sophistication of theme. Norton deserves much praise for reissueing these trailblazing works in a well bound and attractive hardcover. Recommended highly. -Mykal Banta

This is the 3rd replacement of this cookbook I first purchased over 30 years ago. I learned to not fear spices and how to make them work together for new flavor. I also bought my daughter a copy. Mine have been well used over the years. I recommend Herb Burgers and Sweet & Sour Purple Cabbage as old standbys that always turn out delicious. This edition has more recipes, I'm excited to try.

Most MDs really don't know much other than to tell patients with elevated blood pressures to cut back on the salt.

All the recipes that I've tried have all been tasty. If you really want to get your food intake in order also read the current bestseller "In Defense of Food".

This book is a "must have" along with "The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook", both are ESSENTIAL for anyone serious about low sodium cooking, lots of great advice, information about sodium content in common foods, great recipes - a real bargain.

I agree, this is a must have for anyone following a low salt diet. Who says food has to be tasteless??? I learned so many cooking ideas from this book.

This book is wonderful for cooking with low or no sodium. I bought this because my parents needed to decrease their sodium and potassium. This book does list the potassium count in the nutrition breakdown which helps me. I highly recommend it for people looking for healthier recipes.

I keep wondering why nearly all of the cookbooks have to be in book form. Use spiral bindings, please. Make them easy to use!

love this book broke down many times on some of the letters great book!!

This marvelous little book offers a parallel and human voice to the more academic books about Vietnam.
There is no "agenda", here just a selection of moving, articulate, impassioned voices talking about their experiences and feelings at the time they were there. Some of the most moving, of course, being those from young people who would die shortly thereafter. We see through the letters in the book that even on the front lines this "war" was seen through a wide diversity of opinions, from those that were totally committed to it, and why (though they tend to become less prevalent as the years pass), to those who came to believe it was not a worthy effort to justify the consequences. And the majority, just confused. A must read.

This is a wonderful book for anyone who wants to see the Vietnam war from the eyes of those who were there. The book is a collection of writings from Vietnam veterans that were written during there time in country. This book shows the War as more than casualty numbers and battle field dates. A good read for everyone.

This book captivated me so that i could not put it down, untill i had finished. It touches your heart and soul. Wonderful read!! Please put it on DVD!!! Thank you :-)

After the amazing documentary about Vietnam that solely exists of actor voice overs of funny, goofy, anxious and heartbreaking letters home from soldiers at the battlefront in Vietnam, accompanied by graphic footage of the war itself, this book came out. It contains the letters read out in the movie, and additionally has some more background information about the soldiers who wrote the letters.

Even without the trained actor voices reading the letters out loud to you, and without the grim and realistic war images, this book is a pageburner. Heart-wrenching accounts of the legacy of war written by the soldiers that fought it, as well as by the people they left behind.

I acquired the leather bound edition of this book when it was published. It wasn't at all what I expected it to be. The book was better. It transformed the way I thought about devotion. I have kept my edition in excellent shape all these years despite using it. If you are thinking about buying the book, I highly recommend it. I don't know what the newer versions are - whether republished or rewritten.

This book has been a continual inspiration and source of God's voice to me. As I read and re-read the content, I find God speaking to me each and every time. I even had my own copy rebound, so that I can be assured to always have it. I have bought copies for others, and am sorry to see it out of print.

This book has really helped me in my daily walk. The book is divided into 52 topical sections like silence, meditation, fasting, distractions, etc. with scriptures to read for each day of the week. There are also hymns, meditations by Christian authors and prayers for each week that relate to the topic. It's something you can do in 10 minutes a day if you're just starting and need to develop the discpline or you could spend 20-30 minutes each day if you want more time in prayer or to meditate on the readings. I highly recommend it and am about to buy a second copy for a friend.

I first read this book on a professor's recommendation in 1985. Disciplines uses a weekly format, including a 2-part reading schedule (1 part for use, and 1 for reading through the Bible in a year), and writings from classic Christian writers through the centuries. Like others, I have started reading many authors after reading their words in Disciplines. The heart is grabbed, the brain is engaged, and God speaks to you every day. My only negative is that there is no sequel, although it is similar to a Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, an excellent book from the Upper Room.

There are so many choices confronting anyone looking for a half decent devotional guide today. This is the only one I have read that I cannot imagine anyone being disappointed with. I would recomend trying to get a hold of the leather bound edition from 1985 even though it will be a bit spendy. The reason that I recommend that edition is because it is quite a bit sturdier and it will take you through the whole bible in a year as well as the daily devotional readings. The Benson's have gain an incredible balance of focus on spiritual formation with practicle life application. They have avoided the error in many modern devotional guides of just giving a little two minute self help blurb to make you feel better about yourself for the day. They have also avoided the tendencies of certain older guides which seem to focus almost exclusively upon what wretched sinners we all are. If you make the effort to go carefully and patiently through the entire book in a year the Spirit will use it to transform you from the inside out. This devotional is both encouraging, challenging, and will serve you well for years to come. It is structured enough to give solid direction, but flexible enough to work for just about anyone. You also will have gained a great introduction to almost all of significant writers on Christian spirituality throughout history. I just can't for the life of me understand why it has been taken out of print, maybe because it will require more then a five minute commitment each day, but it is well worth it.