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Discusses the causes and effects of volcanoes and earthquakes, the different types of volcanoes, and how scientists predict earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great photography and lots to learn
I like this book because of all the colored pictures. It has pictures of the ground when it cracked open, and it has pictures of lava spitting out of a volcano. It even has a picture of waves going really high and a man next to it to show the height of the tsunami wave. And it has a picture of a bridge that was broken during an earthquake.


It is for kids or adults. Some of the reading is really easy, some is a little hard. It would appeal to kids who like earth science. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

From a former correctional officer's view
David Ruiz is a name that is still mentioned and taught about to all Texas Correctionl Officers.This book is a real and close look at what conditins have been like in the TDCJ. It may also serve as an idea on where the TDCJ is headed.The more things change, the more they stay the same!

Unmitigated Hogwash
As a veteran TDCJ administrator [28-years] I have to say I've never read a more self serving pile of criminal coddling swill in my life. Mr. Martin and his ghost writer need get out of those plush-carpet offices and hang out on a real prison unit for awhile - meet some real live convicts - get a good dose of reality - before they start soliciting for the Judge Justice humanitarian of the decade award.

Texas Prisons The Walls Came Tumbling Down
This is a mini history of the Texas Prison System and the changes and the reason for the changes that I have read to date..by the way I am a retired officer from the Texas Prison System. ... Read more

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This is an excellent new contribution to current academic and policy debates, and will be of great interest internationally to all students, researchers, public sector managers and policy makers.

Product Description
Over the last few years there has been a revival of interest in community development work as an approach to tackling problems of disaffection and disadvantage within south Wales. However, the history of community development, and its particular approach to social change in south Wales over the past thirty years has largely escaped serious documentation. This volume provides a comprehensive overview setting community development work in south Wales in its historical context, as well as offering definitions of community development, the role of the practitioner and on values and issues in community development work. Detailed case studies from practitioners illustrate the search for a specifically Welsh model of community development practice, while the volume concludes with a discussion of the implications of past experience for future practice. ... Read more

Product Description
Eric Fischl emerged in the 1980s as one of America’s most important figurative painters. His paintings compel the viewer to participate in a world of middle-class suburban ambiguity and drama. Engaging and distinctly American, Fischl’s canvases present a world in which narration, sexuality, and psychology are preeminent.

This volume is the most comprehensive and current examination of this important 20th century painter. More than 200 works – selected in conjunction with the artist – present the full scope of Fischl’s career and span three decades: the 1970s, with Fischl’s seminal formative works; the 1980s, and his burst onto the art world; and the 1990s, with the artist’s mature works, often of a personal and contemplative nature. In his most recent works, Fischl has turned to portraits of his most intimate circle of friends, including Steve Martin, Mike Nichols, and April Gornik, the painter’s wife; these engrossing images have been accomplished with a mastery that has been compared to that of Caravaggio.

The introduction, by philosopher and critic Arthur Danto, places Fischl in the context of his contemporaries. Commentary drawn from interviews with Fischl – conducted by noted writer Robert Enright – accompany the paintings. Finally, a witty and personal afterword by Steve Martin – best known as a gifted comic and autor, but also as an astute collector of modern art – discusses Barbecue, a famed Fischl painting from his private collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great book on Fischl, but.........
This is what a book on an artist should be, lots of nice big images, early to current work(presented chronologically) and not too much BS, except for an essay written by Steve Martin(yes the comedian).

.........But the more I look at the book, the more I think Fischl has quality control issues.The more I look at it, the more bad paintings I notice.Don't get me wrong, this is a great book and Fischl has done some great paintings, but the more you look at this book, the more you notice how bad he can be at times-quality control.Some of the paintings should have never left the studio except in a dumpster but when your getting as much money as he gets for work....................I imagine its hard not to think everything you make is great, when you get the "status" he has as an artist.

but this isn't an art critique, this is a great book on a well know contemporary artist.If you like Fischl, this is the book to get and it may give you more insight then you want, if you have any asthetic sensibilities.

knowyourproduct
Integrading wireless data technology with assorted meats and cheeses. ... Read more

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IS A LARGE PAPERBACK BOOKFULL COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS AND PHOTOS OF ANIMALS OF ALL KINDS.GREAT FOR KIDS AND ADULTS.THE BOOK IS OVER 250 PAGES. ... Read more

Product Description
Identification guide covering all the bird species to have occurred inthe European region. The species are covered by family, with eachfamily introduction followed by the relevant colour plates and speciesaccounts and for 625 species there are detailed colour maps within thetext. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

If you want a field guide buy a field guide
The previous reviewer criticised this for being too heavy to take to the field. That's hardly what it's for! To get 900 birds and this much information into a field guide you had to have had a free magnifying glass to read it. As to complaints that some of its political geography is outdated, Pshaw! A book as good as this takes years to prepare, it's never going to be able to follow the fast changing countries of Eastern Europe. It's irrelvant if Czechoslovakia doesn't exist as a single political entity anymore, everyone knows what area it refers to.
This is a superb achievement but it needs to be judged for what it is not what it doesn't try to be!
If you want a good European bird field guide, the recent Collins book is probably the best field guide for any region ever.

The ultimate guide for identification?
I was a little disappointed when I finally got my copy, since I expected more based on the ads and the book's price. I can recommend this book for those collectors who want to have ALL the nice bird books, but anon-European would find it way too heavy to carry in the field, andcitizens of almost every European country would find outdated (i.e 10 yearsold) information on the distribution of several species. Even the countryboundaries are representing pre-1990 status in the Eastern part of Europe(Czechoslovakia does not exist as one country any more etc.). While twothumbs down for the distribution maps, the text is OK (although not free ofmistakes, either) and the pictures range from mediocre to very good. If youare on a tight budget buy only Svensson et al's Collins Bird Guide (under adifferent title in the US though) for less than half of this book's pricebut has excellent pictures and a perfect size for your pocket.

An excellently detailed one volume book
This book has a well thought out format with beautiful, detailed illustrations of the species in their different plumages.It is the only current one volume presentation of the birds of the western palearctic.Itis thoughtfully written and the distribution maps are nicely detailed andeasily understood. ... Read more

Product Description
A comprehensive anthology of The Oxford American's most memorable pieces published during the first decade of the magazine's existence, these articles prove provocative, opinionated, and irreverent. The Oxford American has served as an incubator and archive for the most promising and most established voices in contemporary Southern writing. It offers up an extraordinary range of perspectives on a multitude of subjects, while always avoiding the hackneyed notion of the South as the exclusive province of the gothic or the sentimental dominion of moonlight and magnolias. Collected here are the magazine's stellar fiction and poetry offered alongside its best commentary, profiles, photography, comics, and reporting on politics, history, religions, art, books, film, and humor. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent
The only element lacking in this collection are re-issues of the prized "Southern Music" CDs which appeared with the annual "Music Issue" of the Oxford American. Otherwise, for those who have not archived each issue of the magazine, this is an excellent selection.

Sadly, the Oxford American's precarious financial situation perpetually places it in the southern `lost cause' cliché. Would that some subscribers of other moribund New York-based `literary' magazines, which perpetually lurch around the elite graveyard of memory for its existence, abandon the shell and support the living, and the future. Intelligent readers will both want to own this volume, and subscribe to the Oxford American.

The New Yorker of the South
The demise of The Oxford American magazine is a tragedy! Thank goodness a person can still sample its pages in this wonderful compilation of fiction, essays and reviews. Tony Earley's essay, Letter from Sister: What We Learned at the P.O., which concerns Eudora Welty's great short story, is probably the best thing in the book. It doesn't stop there however; there is a sample of John T. Edge's great writing on southern food, Hal Crowther's review of Erskine Caldwell, Donna Tartt's thoughts on Willie Morris and so much more. This book, like the old Oxford American itself, is pure bliss.

UPDATE:Spring 2005."The Oxford American" is back!!I suggest that everyone with an interest in the American South spend some quality time with an issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

perfect for reading on the go
The idea of "the best of the Oxford American" brings out a lot of expectations.This magazine has been the home for a lot of special writing.This book provides some of those moments.I especially enjoyed the narrative of the small town photographer burdened by the unwelcome insights of his coworkers and the blank misunderstandings of his Disney World roadtripping friends.I think that the criticism by Tony Earley would have made just as good an introduction to this book as did Rick Bragg's more metaphorical observation that this writing is "heavy on the salt."
I would recommend this book for anyone that wants to read about the South as it actually is -- unique, history-addled, and genuinely "salty".

Truly the best of the best
This collection of works--fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reportage--by the biggest names writing in or about the South is a real treasure. For those already familiar with "the New Yorker of the South" it will remind those what have made the magazine so special for so many years, and for those who have not discovered the magazine, BOA will be a great introduction to the best in Southern belles lettres. The book, like the magazine itself, is a little trad and not good on commenting on the lives of blacks, gays/lesbians, and immigrants to the South, but there is much for everyone to enjoy here. ... Read more

Product Description

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Conference of Z and B users, ZB 2005, held in Guildford, UK in April 2005.

The 25 revised full papers presented together with extended abstracts of 2 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. The papers document the recent advances for the Z formal specification notation and for the B method, ranging from foundational, theoretical, and methodological issues to advanced applications, tools, and case studies.

Product Description
Chapters: Moncton Wildcats Alumni, Luc Bourdon, Steve Bernier, Mārtiņš Karsums, Patrick Thoresen, Evgeny Artyukhin, François Beauchemin, Pierre Dagenais, Jean-Sébastien Aubin, Dmitry Afanasenkov, Oskars Bārtulis, Corey Crawford, Dmitri Kalinin, Kirill Kabanov, Philippe Dupuis, Johnny Oduya, Pierre Parenteau, Jason Demers, Adam Pineault, Jonathan Ferland, Nicolas Deschamps, Brad Marchand, Keith Yandle, Nicola Riopel, Alexei Tezikov, Patrick Yetman, Jonathan Girard, Jean-François Damphousse, Andrew Macdonald, Jerome Samson. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 103. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Luc Bourdon (February 16, 1987 May 29, 2008) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL) and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, from 2006 until 2008. After overcoming childhood arthritis, he was selected third overall in the 2003 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) draft and played for the Val-d'Or Foreurs, Moncton Wildcats, and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, spending four seasons in the QMJHL. The Canucks drafted Bourdon with their first selection, tenth overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Noted as a strong defenceman who could contribute on offence, Bourdon represented Canada in three international tournaments, winning two gold medals at the IIHF World U20 Championship and a silver medal at the IIHF World U18 Championship. Bourdon died at the age of 21 near his hometown of Shippagan, New Brunswick, when his motorcycle collided with a tractor trailer. Born on February 16, 1987, Bourdon was an only child raised by his mother, Suzanne Boucher, in the small French-speaking community of Shippagan, New Brunswick. When he was nine, he was confined to a wheelchair after being diagnose...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=2681585 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (73)

A top notch look at the publishing industry as well as a thriller
I did start this book with a bit of a "ho hum" attitude, but that soon faded. Steve Martini is generally one of the top suspense thriller writers and he certainly pulls it off here, while immersing us in the writer's world and into the sheer politics of getting a book published.The idea of a woman author passing herself off as a macho male writer reminds one to a degree of the Remington Steele TV series, However, the literary setting here sets the book on a higher plane.This is especially reccommended to wannabee writers as well as thriller fans.

a good read
This is a very good book and is a very interesting read.A female lawyer has written an excellent book, one that will make a lot of money, but she has given the author a male's name.Now she wants to find a male to pretend to be the author.Her selection is interesting and so is the rest of the story.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"

Martini takes a break from his regular schedule for a truly tasteful little treat ....
"The List" features Abby Chandlis, an attorney who writes in her spare time.She has had three books published with only lackluster sales, but has now written a book that has truly tremendous potential to hit the top.However, with her background, she is certain she will see only the backside of any publisher's door - not to mention that, being around 40, she is considered to be "too old" and "not glamourous enough" to be put on the dust cover and bring in the money.So, she fights back - she pens the book under the name Gable Cooper and finds a handsome man to play the part.

Things quickly spiral out of control and Abby discovers that, when it comes to the big bucks that come in when it comes to getting on the top of The List (the New York Times bestseller list, that is), not to mention a big Hollywood film contract, people are willing to kill to get a piece of the action.

A bit slower paced than his Paul Madriani books tend to be, this book nonetheless keeps the pressure on pretty well.I adored the way the characters are created - even those who only appear briefly are given individual characteristics so we can differentiate them from each other.Those who love a good thriller are going to gobble this one up.Admittedly this has been out for awhile (I believe it was originally published in 1997), but if you haven't had a chance to read this gem yet, go out and get a copy.You'll be glad you did.

Rum-fuelled dreams
Enjoyed this immensely, and found it a very fast rip roaring story, a sort of rum-fuelled hallucination dream - read the whole thing in one go.

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I did like the main character, and did care what happened to her, felt pleased when things went well for her, embarrassed as she was when her friend was so crude about the men in the casting catalogue, and worried when she was about to get beaten up, blown up, shot at, defrauded, mugged, beaten up again, blown up again etc.

I liked the legal details - how Charlie managed to use subpeonas in a cheaty way to track down Abby, for example - and the clever, tricksy solutions that characters found to their problems - Abby's stealing of the credit card, Jack fedexing himself a gun etc.

I also like the clues Martini laid for us to find - I probably didn't find half of them, but
enjoyed those I did get.

This is the second Martini book I've read, and that was enough to mean that I did actually semi guess the twist really - I took it as a given that there would be a turnaround, and the twist was pretty similar to in the other book - but even then, I really enjoyed following the turns and action and seeing how things would turn out and how different explanations could account for the same events. I didn't guess it completely - although I reckoned I knew who was behind Terri's murder, and who was doing most of the bad things, I didn't figure who had sabotaged the commercial ship earlier on in the book.

There were a few weaknesses in the plot: Characters made rather arbitrary decisions about where to go and what to do: whether to cut a deal or play harder to get, whether or not to engage with someone who was being difficult (Charlie, Joey, the reporter from the Intruder etc), whether or not to go to the police about things - Abby was particularly schizophrenic in that regard - we were always treated to a long explanation and justification for why they chose one option or another, when it seemed actually a pretty unlikely choice, often contradicted the way that character had previously behaved or made a decision, and so the detailed explanations only reallyhighlighted even more that they were choosing those particular options for those particular choices just exactly to get the characters into the most complicated situation possible. All this so that Mr Martini would have them lined up nicely in the right places and under the right misapprehensions for the next bit of plot to be fitted in neatly ;-)

The picture of a publishing world where the "wrong" kind of face, or author persona, or author history can kill chances of publishers choosing to accept or push a book seems really quite believable. Depressing, but not all that surprising. The idea that such a classically "right" kind of face and persona as Jack Jermaine's would generate quite such a magic and instant effect on publishers and public, pulling the book quite so far head and shoulders above the crowd, seems entirely less believable, but makes a good story.

In terms of romantic relationships, the Abby-Jack dynamic is straight out of a Harlequin/Mills-and-Boon novel - presume Martini intended this, and that it is ironic - a male author penning a classic supermarket-basket "chisseled rugged man meets intellegent but vunerable female" romance.

The ending got less and less credible - Abby, in fear for her life, nevertheless embarks on a course which involves breaking in to the hotel room of her potential killer, right under his nose. Protaganists trapped in a hot, burning and sinking ship take the trouble to try to kill each other, rather than save their own lives. The lighting inside the ship quite conveniently stays good enough for them to do so. Despite the doors of the thing being hotter than your granny's baking oven, the manly hero gets the them open with the strength of his bare hands, brushing off the inevitable 3rd degree burns, presumably by being tough with steely grey eyes, or rugged and grittily determined, and thus ensuring that some, at least, of the characters escape a watery death.
Again, maybe there is more deliberate irony here - one of the main characters only allows technical plot devices in his own manuscripts if he's personally tested them and seen that they work - perhaps Martini, after introducing this idea, is very deliberately flouting it at every opportunity: - "How to escape a serial killer while naked on a beach, carrying only a white bathrobe", "how to fight off armed muggers when outnumbered 6 to 1." etc.

Funny though some of the action scenes are, they are also tense and gripping, and tap into our basic fears - being chased bymonster with no prospect of escape and with hiding places being systematically flushed out, for example.

Incredible though the ending is, its all very exciting and readable. Enjoyed this book a lot, and will read another Martini book soon I'm sure.

Skip this One
THE LIST isn't a thriller as much as it is a satire of the book publishing industry.I found this annoying, since this novel is being marketed as a hardcore thriller, in the spirit of Steve Martini's other novels.I felt rather misled by this book's cover.

In the end, I didn't care for THE LIST very much.The prose is solid, but most of the characters in this novel are silly and unlikable, including the main character of Abby Chandlis.The plot also moves quite slowly and predictably for the first two thirds of the story.

The satire in THE LIST is pretty heavy-handed, and I would have much preferred a lighter touch.I find it interesting that Martini is so cynical about the publishing industry, given his own high level of success.

If you're fascinated by the book industry, and want to learn more about how books are published, then you might find THE LIST interesting.But if you're looking for a fast-paced novel with likable characters, THE LIST falls short.

My advice is to skip this book and read Martini's more serious novels.

... Read more

Product Description
Seven friends made a pact to write haikus every day for a year as a way to keep in touch with each other. The result is The Haiku Year. Michael Stipe's entries recall his twilight-drenched lyrics for R.E.M. Douglas Martin's spare, elegant prose illuminates the hidden corners of life while Grant Lee Phillips thoughtful storytelling is pared down to the simplest language. Hinting at the transcendence and banality of everyday life, the short verses signify an appreciation for small moments of beauty and ultimately urge readers to let these realizations pierce through the numbness of their daily routines. Photographs are included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

HAIKU! Gesundheit.
I discovered this book years ago while randomly flipping through poetry books at a bookstore. I bought it because after reading the authors introduction I felt like I needed to. They wrote a "haiku" a day to eachother for a year, they admitted that sometimes they forgot, and that their work was not based on the traditional stlye that we are all forced to learn in grade school. The very short, and rather brilliant poetry of Jack Kerouac was their influence. So in actuality the poems in the book are what Kerouac would have called "pops", and therefore have no syllable pattern, seasonal reference is not required and it would make Basho cry. If you are looking for traditional haiku, this is probably a book to skip.

Now, I enjoy traditional haiku as much as anyone. I also have alot of respect for contemporary writers who can adhere to those standards that I, and perhaps many others, cannot. It is not to say that because of this the style should be abandoned, but niether should this idea of a Western form. The poems in this book give that form an excellent start, they embody many feelings and do indeed make the reader look at their life in a new way. I have read it several times over and shared it with friends who agree it has that effect.

I love this book because it is modern, involves daily life, and inspires me. I have been undertaking the Haiku Challenge for about five years now with mixed success, but it has made my everyday life all the richer.

Basho for casho
Big ego crammed into Haiku
fat heads barely fit;
a poor craft for shallow waters.

not for the haiku but ...
If you wish to see the best of contemporary English haiku this is not the book for you.However, it does have an appropriate place in the library.First, the haiku provide interesting insights into the lives of the authors.In keeping to the concreteness of the form, one see the authors' experiences more directly.They write more of what happened rather than what they think about the experience in retrospect.Second, the volume provides an example of an interesting approach to a personal journal - an approach than gains values over time rather than becoming the musings of someone you know longer feel you are.So in a strange way, I recommend this book.

It's the end of haiku as we know it...
This is what has become of haiku in English- and it is all bad.Haiku in America in general is vastly misunderstood and each of the verses in this volume show it.Some have three lines, some do not, some have kigo, some do not.By the looks of this, one can deduce that these "poets" gleamed their knowledge of haiku from Kerouac (another haiku fraud) rather than Basho. This is just an experiment really, conducted by a circle of friends who jotted down their thoughts and sent them to one another.Please, please avoid this title if you really care about or want to learn about haiku.Amazon should allow "0" stars when rating items such as this!

chill out
Not many people would argue that Japanese Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism aren't valid or relevant religions. They may not be much like the "original" forms of Buddhism but they are Buddhism and they have much to say (to say the least.) They are just also "japanese" and "tibetan" and unavoidably havea context.

I am a white American leftist yankee writing haiku, not some Japanese guy from a hundred years ago living on Mount Fuji.The syllable thing is bs anyway, since English syllables do not correspond in length to Japanese syllables.

Haiku Year authors never claimed to be Basho or William Higginson for that matter. If you read the Haiku Year you will see that its main purpose is to show a year of friendship and observation (with all its warts) and hopefully inspire other folks to write as well. Its is not a guide to writing haiku or held up as the pinnacle of haiku writing.

Muddy Waters is so much better than the Rolling Stones, but
"Dead Flowers" , "Monkey Man", and most of the Stones stuff rocks on its own merits. It also just might lead you back to Muddy Waters. ... Read more