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Assisted living is the fastest-growing alternative to skilled nursing care for frail older persons in the United States. The expectations, settings, and missions of these residences are varied, making it difficult for prospective residents and their families to anticipate what it would be like to live in them. This book is a unique portal into the real world of assisted living and the key issues facing consumers, providers, and policy makers.

Drawing on in-depth interviews with residents, their family members, staffers, and administrators, Inside Assisted Living opens the window on day-to-day life in six different types of assisted living residence. From "Miss Helen at Valley Glen Home" to "Mr. Sidney at Laurel Ridge," the detailed profiles of individuals show the commonalities among the residences while highlighting the positive and negative aspects of each. The voices of those living, visiting, and working in the homes clarify the important local (social relations, staff dynamics, leadership) and national (funding, regulation, aging-in-place) challenges presented by assisted living.

Introductory and concluding chapters synthesize new findings that cross the six settings and reflect issues vital to all participants. The book also features an appendix detailing the research process involved in creating the profiles.

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Chapters cover new findings and issues and detail positive, negative, and common experiences to be found
Inside Assisted Living: The Search for Home draws on in-depth interviews with residents, family members, and administrators who all consider daily life in six different types of assisted living residence. Chapters cover new findings and issues and detail positive, negative, and common experiences to be found in assisted living homes, making this an important reference for any general lending library as well as health collections. ... Read more

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Are we in imminent danger of extinction? Yes, we probably are, argues John Leslie in his chilling account of the dangers facing the human race as we approach the second millennium. The End of the World is a sobering assessment of the many disasters that scientists have predicted and speculated on as leading to apocalypse. In the first comprehensive survey, potential catastrophe --ranging from deadly diseases to a high-energy physics experiment sucking away the atmosphere --are explored to help us understand the risks.Amazon.com Review
While the concept of "oneness" with nature is foreignto most western cultures, groups such as the Hindus and the Hopi Indians havelong comprehended their role in an ever-cycling universe and the inevitablecoming of the end of the world. As the earth reaches 8.64 billion years--thelength of the Hindu's "creation-and-destruction" cycle--ProfessorJohn Leslie of the University of Guelph in Canada thinks that the end, atleast for this course of humanity, is near. Impending threats to our survivalinclude nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare; ozone depletion; thegreenhouse effect; disease; natural disasters; and even the potential foraccidental production of a new Big Bang. And while trying to forestall anapocalypse would be futile, Leslie promises it will all end quickly. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Deliciously disturbing
John Leslie is a professor of philosophy at the University of Guelph.Much of this book is taken up with explorations of, criticisms of, and defences of the 'Doomsday Argument', championed by Leslie and cosmologist Brandon Carter.The 'Doomsday Argument' goes something like this:

-if humanity were to continue to prosper and multiply, eventually spreading beyond the solar system, and perhaps the galaxy, the total number of human beings today (6 billion) will seem insignificant compared to the potential trillions and trillions of humans in the future.But if this were to actually happen, humans today would be among the very earliest of the race -perhaps in the first 0.1 per cent or even 0.001 per cent.How likely is it that we are that special?In the year 2090 the population of earth might be 12 billion people.Of all the humans who had ever lived, one in ten would be alive in that year.Instead of expecting to be in a remarkably early stage of human civilization, say in the first 0.1 per cent, it is much more likely that an inhabitant of the year 2090 will be among that 1 in 10 present when humanity died.

To me this argument seems flimsy, sophistic, and somehow just wrong, but Leslie does an impressive and thorough job of refuting the many objections to it.My eyes glazed over during some of these detailed and convoluted defences, but then I only took one philosophy course in university.What I liked this book for was the exploration of the many delicious ways in which humanity could be wiped out.Some of these faces of doom might seem quite far-fetched and unlikely, but all have some formidable scientists and philosophers backing them.Here is an abbreviated list:
-nuclear war."Small nations, terrorists, and rich criminals wanting to become still richer by holding the world to ransom, can already afford very destructive bombs."Suitcase bombs in particular worry me.I believe a few well-placed bombs could de-stabilize the United States almost overnight.
-biological warfare.Such weapons are less costly than nuclear weapons, easier to conceal, and could be more dangerous because their field of destruction is harder to limit.
-chemical warfare.
-destruction of the ozone layer."...by chlorofluorocarbons or other things."
-'Greenhouse effect'."On Venus, greenhouse effect temperatures are sufficient to melt lead."
-poisoning by pollution."Hundreds of new chemicals enter the environment each year.Their effects are often hard to predict."
-disease.Many deadly diseases are developing immunity to our best drugs.New viruses are thought to filter down from outer space.Global warming could thaw out some virulent disease from the past, such as the 1918-1919 flu, which preferred younger, healthy victims.("They died horribly, their lungs filling with fluid, becoming stiff and solid, literally drowning them.As they expired, they vented pints of the highly infectious liquid from their mouths and noses." -Calgary Herald, October 4, 1997)
-volcanic eruptions.Which might produce a 'volcanic winter' akin to 'nuclear winter'.
-hits by asteroids or comets.IfShoemaker-Levy had hit earth instead of Jupiter, we would all be having drinks with the dinosaurs right now in the Restaurant At the End of the Universe.
-an extreme ice age due to passage through an interstellar cloud.
-a nearby supernova.Earth would be bathed in deadly rays, cleansing it of all life.
-essentially unpredictable breakdown of a complex system.As investigated by Chaos Theory: "the system in question might be earth's biosphere; its air, soil, its water, and its living things interact in highly intricate ways."
-something-we-know-not-what."It would be foolish to think we have foreseen all possible natural and technological disasters."
-unwillingness to rear children.Seen already to a certain extent in rich nations.
-a disaster from genetic engineering."Perhaps a 'green scum' disaster, in which a genetically engineered organism reproduces itself with immense efficiency, smothering everything."
-a disaster from nanotechnology."Very tiny self-reproducing machines-they could be developed fairly soon through research inspired by Richard Feynman -might perhaps spread world-wide within a month in a 'gray ooze' calamity."Sounds like something from a Philip K. Dick story.
-disasters associated with computers.Okay, so Y2K was a bust.That doesn't mean a real computer disaster isn't possible.We are becoming more and more reliant on them.
-production a new Big Bang in the laboratory.
-the possibility of producing an all-destroying phase transition.'Comparable to turning water into ice", as in Ice 9 from Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle."In 1984, Edward Farhi and Robert Jeffe suggested that physicists might produce 'strange quark matter' of a kind which attracted ordinary matter, changing it into more of itself until the entire earth had been converted ('eaten')."In contrast, there might be a very real vacuum meta-stability danger associated with experiments at extremely high energies.The vacuum we live in is not stable, it is meta-stable.This is because it is not a true vacuum.It is filled with a force field (a scalar field) and so is a pseudo-vacuum.While stable at low energies, a high energy experiment (such as planned in conjunction with the new super particle-colliders due to come on line in the near future) might provide enough of a jolt to destabilize it (like a ball bearing resting in a hollow on a wooden incline that starts rolling because of a nudge).An experiment might produce a bubble of 'true vacuum' which would then expand at nearly the speed of light, destroying everything in sight. "Rather as a tiny ice crystal changes a large volume of super-cooled water into more ice crystals."
-annihilation by extra-terrestrials.If and when E.T. finds us, he/she/it might not be cuddly or even friendly; he/she/it might just be hungry.
-risks from philosophy.Suppose a fundamentalist U.S president or general wanted to hasten Judgement Day a wee bit by pressing a certain red button (see Dr Strangelove).Alternatively, someone in a position of power might, when looking at the prevalence of evil in the world, agree with Schopenhauer that "it would have been better if our planet had remained like the moon, a lifeless mass."So why not release a humanity-destroying plague (see Twelve Monkeys).
Leslie goes into much more depth concerning these threats, and isn't saying that any of them are inevitable.He is just saying that when we look at these areas of concern in the light of the 'Doomsday Argument' we should take their potential very seriously.We should be asking ourselves as individuals, as nations, and as a species, what we can do to lower their risk of occurring.Our survival is far from assured.

Hint: the end is surely scarier with books like this...
To begin with, if you tend on the masochistic side this book will definately serve ya well. No, not because of the subject matter, absolutely not. The fact that the probabilities we're heading into extinction are increasing daily is undeniable unless you've turned your brain off and that I'd be willing to believe after having lived 37 years and watched my fellow humans go on about their affairs they way they do.

No, that would not be why this book is actually a torture. After you're done with the first half of the book you might feel a little tired if not somewhat numb. You'll just be done with going over various disasters that are threatening us, most of which are self-caused: comets about to blast us to kingdome-come, nuclear wars intending to fry us ruthlessly into oblivion, diseases which either "jumped" out of labs or out of nature's arsenal, overpopulation and pollution and the combination of thse two, shortage of food, nanotechnology and the machines taking over (where's Arnie when ya need him) and so on and on.

Now this is all a reality most of us are too irresponsible to face up to, indeed, as a species we are what i call "perversely intelligent", that is, we have intellectual horsepower which is incredibly difficult to groom in a a truly meaningful way and we are thus subjects to dangers caused by that very intelligence.

Writting a book about this, should be, again perversely, highly entertaining. It would by default be humorous because how can you actually discuss so much shortshightedness, idiocy, and the impending doom as the direct product without seeing the humour in it? The author of this book can. He takes us through these fist chapters with a language so dry and lifeless you'd think the end is already behind us and books are now written by left-over survivor computers which were not programmed for humour.
Ah, but wait. You thought this is heavy, and if you havent quit by then (being possibly not the lion-hearted type) you're in for a major treatment that will suck out all your life force and leave you connected to another machine checking for a pulse:

the latter part of the book (its second half practically) is basically a ridiculous attempt to tie all this together with philosophy. Now philosophy, for the uninitiated, isnt supposed to be a life-threatening experience. Not really. Professor Leslie though, puts in a courageous effort to convince us of the opposite, and I'd be lying if i said he doesnt coming damn close.

Taking up highly insignificant theories few ever heard of, and elevating them to the holy grail of philosophy, the author transforms his book to a readscape as fertile as the Sahara. Hundreds of pages of pretentious pomp about not much really isnt what i associate with philosophy. Especially when it's coupled with aggresive arrogance : not too few times, the author basically praises himself after he argues on his own with his imaginary opponents in the philosophy field, beats them and then triumphantly announces his victory. That's downright pathetic and even if the philosophical quest in this book was enjoyable (far, very far from) this would still spoil it beyond recovery.

Look elsewhere. You dont need the suffering really. The author does convince us that the end is near (which isnt hard actually) but then, since it is, why make it all the more agonisingly painful by going through unbearable books such as this? Save the precious little time you have left.

A book to help overcome complacency
Some of the reviews below miss the point of John Leslie's book.Professor Leslie is a utilitarian philosopher at the University of Guelph in Ontario, and as such he's written this book with the express objective of providing a warning to civilization of the dangers that lie ahead.In spite of what the book's title may initially suggest, the book is not the work of some gloomy apocalyptic doomsayer; rather, it is a sensible consideration of the perils that an advanced civilization like our own must overcome over the next crucial period to advance.It's easy to simply take civilization for granted, but Leslie's point is that its survival is not guaranteed, but depends on the choices that we make in the near future.Prof. Leslie asserts that if humanity can make it past the next few centuries then civilization will be in fairly good shape; it's the period soon to be upon us that will be so rocky, with dangers in everything from the spread of nuclear weapons to the practice of biological warfare, from impacting asteroids to poorly thought-out particle physics experiments gone awry, from chemical weapons to the biggest threat of all-- the destruction of earth's fragile ecosystem upon which we all rely, but so often do not recognize.What Leslie is calling for is wisdom, and for the practice of restraint and discipline on a societal scale, to avoid the petty squabbles and foolish waste of resources that we can no longer afford.Admittedly some of the methodology used in the book is flawed and has been shown to be problematic, but this does not belittle its value.The book suggests that it's time to "shape up" and to put into practice, those qualities associated with "higher functioning" and a truly advanced society, and to recognize the dangers ahead of time-- thus applying foresight and planning far ahead for crises, and averting them in the first place.The book is therefore an excellent "wake-up call" to move us out of complacency, and for this reason alone it is quite valuable.

A good and wholly entertaining book....
The reviewer below misses the thrust of Leslie's argument. Initially, inthe first two chapters of the book, he sets out to list ALL of the waysthrough which society could become extinct (a notion that has not been heldin high esteem for policymaking relevance, anyway, in modern society). Assuch, he does borrow a lot from other authors. And, adding in, his liftingof the mathematical equation suggesting that we are near the end of 'our'time on the Earth makes mathematical sense, even if being totallyanthropomorphic.... And the case is made, if you let it be, that we shouldprobably start thinking about how we are going to 'go', and planthereof....

Aside from that, this book is a riot. The first two chapters,though morbid, are a laugh. The book (setting aside the good philosophy)should be read just for the initial paranoia. It's all in good fun....

tedious rehashing of other's thoughts, bordering on irrel.
Leslie may claim to be a philosopher, but he is an apocolist. He tediously rehashes almost every major thinkers thoughts and ideas concerning the mass destruction of the human race, brushing over many vital subjects, andsubjecting the reader to in-depth analysis and over analysis of higholyimprobable and highly theoretical situations whihc may or may not everoccurr. Not to mention that he takes as absolute a highly unregarded theoryof ones place in time as being critical to how close one is to being inthat population which is to be extincted. The title is highly misleading.Borrow it from the library and skim heavily, not too many salient points.For true enlightenment search the bibliography and pull up the origianlworks and just cross reference them. This is nothing more than acompilation of other people's thoughts, with rarely one of Leslie's own. ... Read more

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A reprinted collection of the first-ever newspaper illustrations depicts the panoramas, battle tactics, uniforms, and people of the Civil War. ... Read more

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For the first time in over 20 years, a comprehensive collection of photographs and descriptions of species in the fungal genus Fusarium is available. This laboratory manual provides an overview of the biology of Fusarium and the techniques involved in the isolation, identification and characterization of individual species and the populations in which they occur. It is the first time that genetic, morphological and molecular approaches have been incorporated into a volume devoted to Fusarium identification. The authors include descriptions of species, both new and old, and provide protocols for genetic, morphological and molecular identification techniques.

The Fusarium Laboratory Manual also includes some of the evolutionary biology and population genetics thinking that has begun to inform the understanding of agriculturally important fungal pathogens. In addition to practical “how-to” protocols it also provides guidance in formulating questions and obtaining answers about this very important group of fungi. The need for as many different techniques as possible to be used in the identification and characterization process has never been greater. These approaches have applications to fungi other than those in the genus Fusarium. This volume presents an introduction to the genus Fusarium, the toxins these fungi produce and the diseases they can cause.

“The Fusarium Laboratory Manual is a milestone in the study of the genus Fusarium and will help bridge the gap between morphological and phylogenetic taxonomy. It will be used by everybody dealing with Fusarium in the Third Millenium.”
--W.F.O. Marasas, Medical Research Council, South Africa ... Read more

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P.I. Gideon "Bud" Lowry has been known to play Cole Porter tunes during his late-night piano gigs, but lately he's had reason to finger some melancholy melodies. Successful restaurateur Gabriella Wade is getting married. Years ago, Gideon and Gaby were more than just friends, before her true love -- her Blue Moon restaurant -- monopolized her time. But now her wheeler-dealer fiance, Roy Emerson, is refusing to take a simple medical test for a rare disease that may affect their children, and she wants Gideon to find out why.

Meanwhile, developers want to tear down Gideon's Duval Street domain to build a strip mall -- a tasteless tourist trap complete with a bar tended by scantily clad waitresses. Gideon has no intentions of selling or moving, and after a suspicious fire nearly destroys his home he suspects that real estate magnate Fred Pacey -- one of the biggest nitwits in Key West -- may have resorted to arson.

Fired up by his misfortunes and a strong desire to protect Gaby, Gideon begins an investigation into Roy Emerson's background that stretches from Key West to the Wild West -- Wyoming. And the results are explosive. Roy has been working with Fred Pacey on the Duval Street mall project. Worse yet, fatal accidents seem to follow Roy aro und, especially when his independently wealthy significant others carry large life insurance policies. To top it all off, before Gideon can amass enough evidence to open Gaby's love-blind eyes, she and Roy elope -- and disappear.

With throngs of tourists descending upon Key West for the annual Halloween parade, Gideon is one native Conch who isn't masking his fears. During the season reserved for mayhem and madness, all he holds dear is in jeopardy -- and if he doesn't find Gaby soon, he'll be left standing alone at the Blue Moon forever. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Gideon, you're starting to depress me.
Blue Moon is John Leslie's weakest outing with his "Conch" detective Gideon Lowry. Faced with upcoming wedding of an old flame, Lowry investigates her fiancé and finds that he has a few skeletons in his closet. The problem with this mystery is you will see the ending coming very early in the book as the foreshadowing makes it blatantly obvious. Leslie still creates a wonderful setting, but Gideon's constant depression starts to wear on the reader. Hopefully this is a trend that will stop with this book and Lowry will be back on track with his next appearance.

Great book - brought back memories of my 2 trips to key west
I really enjoy continuing character mysteries and I am going to back and read Leslie's previous Gideon mysteries.

John Leslie does it again!
John Leslie is an extremely good novelist in the mystery genre.That is evidenced by this, his most recent work in the Gideon Lowry series.What Mr. Leslie does is stray from some of the "traditional" elementsof mystery, and that makes his work simply excellent.

The use of presenttense in this novel (the other 3 Gideon Lowry's were written in past tense)had me guessing about the fate of PI Lowry until the very end.It is easyfor me to see that Mr. Leslie had fun writing this novel.I laughed outloud when Gideon called Dave Robicheaux (James Lee Burke's character) onthe telephone for assitance with the case.

But that doesn't mean thisbook is a comedy.Rather, it is an unforgettable and enjoyable portrayalof a Conch detective trapped by his own roots.I completely enjoyed thiswork, as I did the other 3 Gideon Lowry books, and am anxiously waiting formore.

Thanks, John Leslie.You keep writing them, and I'll keep readingthem.

The Best Novel In The Series
In this book Gideon Lowery becomes more human to the readerby possibly falling deeply in love with the main character Gaby.In this Cross-Country caper Gideon comes in contact withfamiliesthat have faced tragedy andthey want revenge as well as Gideon himself.As the novel concludesitbecomes so intense at the end that you start holding your breath. READ THISBOOK !!!!!!!!!

Blue Moon is the best of the Gibeon Lowry books.
I've read all of John Leslie's series of detective stories set in Key West and involving the piano-playing sleuth Gideon Lowry, and the most recent one, Blue Moon, is the best of the lot.Lowry has a lot of oldgirl-friends, and spends a lot of time saving them in interesting ways. Blue Moon is very quick-paced, nuanced and almost gentle.Gideon flies tothe mid-west, probing into the past of a man who is threatening the life ofa lost love, and then comes back to Florida for an exciting conclusion.Lowry is the most believable private eye in the business.He seems to havethe same aches and pains the rest of us suffer, but he still beats up badguys when the occasion demands.I couldn't put it down. ... Read more

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The cosmos exists just because of the ethical need for it We, and all the intricate structures of our universe, exist as thoughts in a divine mind that knows everything worth knowing. There could also be infinitely many other universes in this mind....It may be hard to believe that the universe is as Leslie says it is--but it is also hard to resist his compelling ideas and arguments. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A pantheistic cosmology
John Leslie may be familiar to readers either through his own work or through J.L Mackie's _The Miracle of Theism_. In the latter, Mackie presented Leslie's 'axiarchism' (essentially, the view that the cosmos exists because it's good that it do so) as a plausible alternative to traditional theism (though an alternative that Mackie himself rejected because he disbelieved in the objectivity of 'value' anyway).

In fact it's not really an 'alternative' to theism; more correctly, it's one possible philosophical understanding _of_ traditional theism, a point Leslie acknowledges here.

In this lucidly written and well-argued volume, Leslie presents his more or less neoplatonic/Spinozistic outlook in accessible terms (updating the version he expounded in _Value and Existence_) and replies to various objections to its plausibility.

His theory can be summarized in two major theses. (a) Everything we mean by 'the universe' simply _is_ the thought of a divine mind. Every object in the universe is either an object of divine thought, or (in the case of conscious beings like ourselves) a portion or subsystem of the divine mind itself. (This 'or' is not exclusive; you and I may well be both such objects and such subsystems.) (b) This divine mind (or perhaps an infinite number of such minds) exists because it's _good_ that it should do so -- i.e., that there should be a mind that, in some relevant sense, 'knows everything worth knowing'. Its existence is one case in which a fundamental sort of 'ethical requiredness' has the power to bring the 'required' state of affairs into being.

For some reason these two theses don't seem as intuitively plausible to everyone as they do to me. So Leslie raises and meets objection after objection in an effort to show how plausible they really are. (Some of the objections are based on recherche topics in set theory, quantum physics, and other such fields, so readers without much philosophical sophistication should be prepared to work a bit. But Leslie's explanations are both clear and self-contained.)

Of course he doesn't remove all controversy (and doesn't claim to; he puts even the strength of his own belief in (b) at better than 50% but far short of certainty). But he does meet quite a lot of nontrivial objections. (And of course he's right that very few questions of philosophical interest have answers that are 'provable' in any strong sense anyway.)

Strictly speaking, one could accept one of his theses but not the other. But Leslie also shows how they're related to each other -- i.e., why the creative-power-of-value argument makes better sense on a pantheistic cosmology and vice versa. (A crucial claim here -- and one that Leslie supports at length -- is the claim that only minds and 'mental stuff' could have a certain requisite sort of unity.)

I won't try to summarize his arguments here; I'll just recommend them to readers who can profit from clear and nuanced philosophical exposition. I think both theses are sound -- and although I was already a panentheist/panpsychist before I read this book, Leslie has given me a lot of additional food for thought. (By the way, Leslie refers to his own theory not as 'panentheism' but as 'pantheism'. I hope we never meet, or we'll have a very boring argument.)

If you like it, you might also check out Timothy Sprigge's _The Vindication of Absolute Idealism_, which is the one that sold me.

philosophy done clearly...
This is a wonderful departure from the usual encryption of intention practiced by philosophers. John Leslie puts his convictions up front where a reader can make an informed decision on whether to invest the time and effort in reading subsequent arguments in favor of clearly spelled-out conclusions.

The basic conclusions are that Plato and Spinoza were on the right track in exploring the possibility that hidden divine dimensions of the world give it the appearances we observe.

Prof. Leslie goes so far as to assign a probability to his conviction in being correct about the world being a representation of the Mind of God--more than fifty per cent.

He also speaks directly to the reader and to the task of convincing the reader, or not, with clearly spelled out evidence early on. And this approach is so liberating and honest that I found myself wanting to believe in the author's conclusions.

The fact that his argument did not convince me should not deter anyone interested in clearly done philosophy from purchasing the book. ... Read more

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A cause for international celebration—the most important Sherlock Holmes publication in four decades.

This monumental edition promises to be the most important new contribution to Sherlock Holmes literature since William Baring-Gould's 1967 classic work. In this boxed set, Leslie Klinger, a leading world authority, reassembles Arthur Conan Doyle's 56 classic short stories in the order in which they appeared in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century book editions. Inside, readers will find a cornucopia of insights: beginners will benefit from Klinger's insightful biographies of Holmes, Watson, and Conan Doyle; history lovers will revel in the wealth of Victorian literary and cultural details; Sherlockian fanatics will puzzle over tantalizing new theories; art lovers will thrill to the 700-plus illustrations, which make this the most lavishly illustrated edition of the Holmes tales ever produced. The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes illuminates the timeless genius of Arthur Conan Doyle for an entirely new generation of readers. 700+ illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Same pleasure than for The Novels volume
Just great!The pleasure is the same than for The Annotated Sherlock Holmes Four novels. A scholarly work!

Work of love, but very bad for a first time reader
If you've already read all the stories, this is a great set of books, and perhaps you might learn something new. If you're a new reader who is actually trying to read the stories as stories, this is a soul-crushing dissection that will suck all the joy out.

First the good - you can feel the love in these books. Large format, heavy, decent enough paper, the definitive Sidney Paget illustrations, extensive annotations, timelines, 'biographies' of Watson and Holmes, a clear obsession with the subject.

The downside is that same obsession. Each page is divided in half, with the inner half being the actual story, the outer half being the annotations. HALF. There is nearly as much annotation as story. Now imagine you're reading along and you see a little superscript '10' next to a word. My natural inclination is to glance at the annotation - the problem is you don't know whether it's crucial or worse than useless. It could tell you useful information such as every mention of the game of whist in the official Holmes Canon or the definition of a word that might not be in much use today, like 'whist'. It could be idle fan speculation such as 'Mister Blah speculates in his Holmesian analysis 'Maids in Deerskin Peril' that this maid was actually the long lost fifth cousin of Prof. Moriarity because she shares the same last name as his fourth cousin!' It could be bafflement that there was apparently no hotel in the town of Foochester where Holmes said there was in the story 'The Bunnies of the Foovilles'. Worst of all it could be pointing out actual factual errors by Holmes, like a barometer reading that Holmes seems to think would indicate fair weather but a meteorologist says means it should be raining already (and of course these are all written off as Watson's errors, which gets very tedious after a while). Or noting that 'Watson refers here to a story that by the chronology could not have taken place already because of x, y, and z'.

The reality is perhaps too easy: Arthur Conan Doyle cared only slightly for Holmesian consistency and didn't spend much time worrying about it. When you get obsessed fans trying to explain or retcon some inconsistency it's bound to be a horrible sight, and these are brought out equally with the genuinely useful annotations. When you glance over you have no way of telling which it will be in advance.

I read the stories as a child and loved them, and am trying to re-read them again, but this obsessive, nitpicking nerdgassing is destroying all my love. Imagine you're reading Wizard of Oz while little text bubbles are popping up describing everything wrong with the story.

Against all my training, I am teaching myself to completely ignore all the annotations (and thus half the page) and perhaps will go back later and re-read the comments.

So again, if you've already read all the books, these are excellent. If not, read a collection that consists of only the stories themselves first.

Fantastic Collection
This collection has it all. Well presented with a plethoa of extra information, this is a great addition to any Sherlockian's library!

The Best Annotated Holmes Collection Available
Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories are widely available in numerous editions, but this one stands out for three reasons. First, there is a superb introudction of over 60 pages ("The World of Sherlock Holmes"); second, there are numerous original illustrations, photographs of the scenes of the stories, and so on; third, and most important, the annotations--which are extensive--include both real facts about the Victorian world that one needs to know to understand the stories *and* "Sherlockiana".

For example, when, in "the Adventure of the Beryl Coronet", a mysterious nobleman asks a banker for "a trifling sum" of 50,000 pounds, the modern reader might shrug--surely 50,000 pounds *is* indeed a "trifling sum" for a rich nobleman?--until one realizes, as the annotations say, that it would be over $6,000,000 today. The annotators do an excellent job with such factoids: less and some of the stories' references would remain obscure; more and they would become pedantic.

What really sets it apart, however, are the "Sherlockian" annotations, which pretend "A. C. Doyle" was Watson's pen name and that the stories describe real events--and makes up theories to explain apparent contradictions or omissions. For example, in "The Man with the Twisted Lip", Watson's wife calls him "James" (instead of "John"). Why? The obvious answer--Doyle made a slip--is, of course, not allowed by the rules of the Sherlockian "game". The annotators give three pages to summarising the numerous theories Sherlockians offered--from claiming "James" was Watson's middle name, to claims it was her lover's name (thus also "discovering" Waton's middle name, and/or explaining why he seems to have left his wife).

Even if you have no interest at all in such intellectual games, the photographs and illustrations, the historical introduction, and the factual annotations alone more than justify a "five stars" rating. If you *are* interested in Shelockiana, these books are more than that--they're an instant classic, sure to be the "standard edition" of Sherlock fans for years to come.

conan doyle changed police procedure from beating todeduction
Conanan Doylechanged police from bribers of low life to rat on others or to beat confessions from poorly educated or low intelligence souls tothose who sought to know the facts.The facts came from evidence of all sorts, witnesses,debris on the scene, or from the area or arena of suspects o those involved.The courts the\n rejected evidence that was tainted.This included statements from tortured or possibly tortured persons that was not corrobrated by tangible evidence. So today we have a system that is closer to trying to get the truth than getting a conviction. Thisenablesthose who can manipulate it to beat the justice sytem in the short term. The safety valve is that those who tend to break the law do so again until getting caught.



... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

IF YOUR A LOVER OF SCI FI
This is for you. An excellent anthology. Quality writing unsurpassed even today. I rate He who Shrank AAAA1111!

Kindle please!
Excellent, classic anthology. Irreplaceable, I already own two paper copies, one in HB, one in PB.

Needs to be on Kindle.

A truly wonderful anthology - and memoir - of an era long gone
I can't say for certain anymore, but I believe that this massive 1974 anthology was one of my very first purchases from the Science Fiction Book Club, around 1977 or 1978; of all those early buys it is certainly the one I have returned to most often and it's left an indelible mark on my taste, contributing especially to a love of the pulp and earlier eras in genre fiction that has never left me.

Editor Isaac Asimov interweaves his own biographical details with warmth, much humor and even occasional pathos into a survey and history of American science fiction magazines from their beginnings in the late 1920s through his own first appearance as a science fiction writer a decade later, which marked the beginning of the "official" Golden Age of science fiction, but the end of his own personal one.The stories presented date from 1931-38; the editor only includes examples that he has personal memories of reading at the time, so certain better-known stories from the period are excluded (and generally available in other anthologies, anyway).He is often critical of the stories themselves - the racism and prejudice in particular, but also the often ludicrous science - but he's also willing to give his younger self, and his peers of the time, a little leeway, and not hold too closely to the more enlightened values of a half-century later.It's a book, then, with much worthwhile critical and historical analysis mixed in with the nearly always entertaining and often wonderful relics of a more innocent and adventurous era in the genre.

Here's a rundown of the stories - I'll * my own personal few favorites, though truthfully I like almost all of them and have re-read most more than once over the past 30+ years.The Meek and Tanner stories are I think the most creative, most "typical" of their era, and are probably my picks for the very best.

1931
"The Man Who Evolved" (Edmond Hamilton) ***
"The Jameson Satellite" (Neil R. Jones)
"Submicroscopic" (S.P. Meek) ***
"Awlo of Ulm" (S.P. Meek) ***
"Tetrahedra of Space" (P. Schuyler Miller) ***
"The World of the Red Sun" (Clifford D. Simak)

1932
"Tumithak of the Corridors" (Charles R. Tanner) ***
"The Moon Era" (Jack Williamson)

1933
"The Man Who Awoke" (Lawrence Manning) ***
"Tumithak in Shawm (Charles R. Tanner) ***

1934
"Colossus" (Donald R. Wandrei)
"Born of the Sun" (Jack Williamson)
"Sidewise in Time" (Murray Leinster) ***
"Old Faithful" (Raymond Z. Gallun)

1935
"The Parasite Planet" (Stanley G. Weinbaum) ***
"Proxima Centauri" (Murray Leinster)
"The Accursed Galaxy" (Edmond Hamilton)

1936
"He Who Shrank" (Henry Hasse) ***
"The Human Pets of Mars" (Leslie Frances Stone)
"The Brain Stealers of Mars" (John W. Campbell Jr)
"Devolution" (Edmond Hamilton)
(1941) "Big Game" (Isaac Asimov)

1937
"Other Eyes Watching (John W. Campbell Jr)
"Minus Planet" (John D. Clark)
"Past, Present and Future" (Nat Schachner)

1938
"The Men in the Mirror" (Ross Rocklynne) ***

He Who Shrank
To me the key piece is the 1930's novella "He Who Shrank" by Henry Hasse. To my knowledge this Fawcett paperback is the only place to obtain it. A scientist's apprentice absorbs a serum and grows smaller, ever smaller - the story really begins where 1956's "The Incredible Shrinking Man" ends as the apprentice falls into the fabric of the world. It's adventure, introspective and ultimately self-reflective in a way that's very rare for its time. It knocked off Asimov's socks when he read it, and mine too, 50 years later.

Isaac Asimov chose and edited this stellar collection. I enjoy his often-autobiographical general introduction and his separate short intros to each of the stories. Many of the pieces here find some way of taking the reader's mind and spinning it - a pretty good accomplishment for pre-war pulp.

These stories were lightning bolts to Asimov. Robert Silverberg, writing in Science Fiction 101 talks of the overwhelming impact of grand, mind expanding science fiction, of "a distinct excitement, a certain metabolic quickness at the mere thought of handling them, let alone reading them... you lurch and stagger, awed and shaken into a bewildering new world of images and ideas, which is exactly the place you've been hoping to find all your life."The stories in this anthology and its two sisters provided that electricity to Asimov. They still stand tall and will give you a kick too.

Pulp Science Fiction At It's Best
There has never been a book more worthwhile to read then this anthology edited by Isaac Asimov. While the writers betray the bigotries of their time, if you can over look these you'll find gems of literature that you'll not see again unless the publishers decide to re-release this wonderful anthology (with original jacket art, please). Until then, keep your eye out for this wonderful anthology. When you find one, pick it up before someone else does. You won't regret it. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Law school casebook that facilitates the development of advocacy skills. The problems and exercises were designed to place students in real-life situations and encourage students to think about how to handle such situations. At the same time, the book emphasizes intellectual content. Students are encouraged to evaluate policy considerations that underlie the law, and to consider the efficacy and wisdom of the United States Supreme Court's policy choices. Includes not only modern cases that reflect the current state of the law, but some older cases that help students understand and evaluate the modern approach. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Decent purchase
The book had a bit more highlighting and writing than I expected or would have preferred. Other than that it was in good shape and was delivered quickly.

Good Condition
The book was given to me in the condition it was promised.It came the weekend after the anticipated date, but other than that, I was satified with the product.

Avoid a class that uses this book at all costs.
This book is horrible.Its filled with errors in spelling, grammar, and syntax.The cases often times fail miserably to illustrate the point they're trying to make.The problems following the cases are often redundant, vague, and incomprehensible.I can't imagine anyone other than the four authors using this book. ... Read more

Product Description
It must be something in the air.First, reclusive circuit judge Just Watson - a distant cousin who is now, by attrition, Gideon Lowry's closest living relative - announces that he's retiring from the bench and getting married.Then Casey, Gideon's sometime lover, calls from Miami with the news that she's engaged.Gideon isn't drowning his sorrows in rum these days, but a true Conch needs something more than hibiscus and humidity to take the edge off.A date arranged through the island's discreet escort service doesn't disappoint.Katy Morgan is lovely: a fragile reminder of Gideon's long-lost youth. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Disappointing
Key West is one of my favorite places, so I was very pleased to discover a new mystery series based in KW.Unfortunately Mr. Leslie's skills as a writer are very disappointing.His prose isvery unoriginal and cliched.The voices are stilted and awkward.The dialog seems very unreal in words and cadence.The plot lines are simple and unsurprising. Then to top it off you barely would know the setting was KW, there such a lack of sense of place.If James Lee Burke is a 10, Leslie is a 2. Compared to Key West writer Tom Corcoran, Leslie is also a very pale shadow.Sorry to be so negative, but this writing was not worth the time invested in getting to the end.

A Conch detective
The Key West locale caused me to pick up this book and I was well-rewarded. In Gideon Lowry, John Leslie has created an intriguing detective. Korean War vet, lifetime native of the Keys, and a man who has faced quite a bit of personal tragedy, Lowry is a true original in a field where he detective is the true key(sorry!) to success. This tale of a lost and found chalice and a tragic suicide leads to an excellent mystery where the detective work makes sense and the characters ring true. This is the third book in the series but I will definitely check out this detective again.

Quite enjoyable.
I have become a fan of John Leslie as well as his Gideon Lowry series.

Set in Key West it is peopled with the quirky types found in the southern most piece of land in the USA. The native Key Westers (conchs)have a strong sense of place and are protective of their own and thetown.

What appears to be suicide doesn't seem so to PI Gideon Lowry andoff he goes to find the real answer. Along the way robbery, double dealing,smoke screens and red herrings turn up. The confusion mounts to the pointwhere Gideon even wonders if his distant cousin (Judge Just Watson) isinvolved.

Many a twist and turn sprinkled amongst the picturesque KeyWest sunsets, ocean breezes and humid air. It's a fun read.

I guess JohnLeslie and Laurence Shames are my favorite Key West mystery writers and"Love For Sale" was a fast read. The characters are clearlydefined, the pace is quick without be frantic and all in all the action isbelievable.

With Gideon's cousin getting married and sort of adopting hisbride's twentysomething child it appears a couple of new continuingcharacters have been added and I look forward to their further adventures.

An excellent book in an excellent series!
In "Love For Sale", John Leslie gives mystery fans what they have long been searching for: an extremely unique plot with a very engaging central character.Mr. Leslie also gives a sense of place that is almost haunting.His PI, Gideon Lowry, is one who will stay with the reader long after the novel has been finished.

Key West is the end of the road in more ways than one.
John Leslie's books about Key West's aging detective/piano player evoke the feel of that unique city and the people who live at the very bottom of the United States.Lowry, a lifelong Conch (or Key West native)lives in a world that has changed too muchfor him to be happy.Too many of his friends are dead or dying and the island he loves is dying too--dying of too much cuteness and too many outsiders with bad taste.Over 50, Lowry is still struggling with the ghosts of his childhood and his memories.The death of a local hooker and her ties to treasure hunters lead Lowry into still more confrontations with himself and with those he has known all his life.Like the storefronts on Duvall Street, nothing seems to stay the same forever in Key West. Anyone who likes a good story or anyone who knows the Florida Keys will find this and Leslie's other well crafted stories worth their time ... Read more

Product Description
Discussion of the precise nature of the Information System discipline has raged for more than twenty years and continues fiercely today. The most interesting aspect of recent debate is not only the sharpness and depth of the arguments, but the diverse conclusions arrived at by participants. Whilst very different, these have all been reached with the genuine aim of strengthening IS scholarship, and they all add to our specific understanding of the discipline in the last two decades. Edited by two of the most prominent academics in the field, this book brings together such perspectives along with wider contextual discussion to provide a fertile ground for reflection, learning and further debate. ... Read more

Product Description
As Information Systems matures as a discipline, there is a gradual move away from pure statistics towards consideration of alternative approaches and philosophies. This has not been incorporated into the literature of the field. Until now. Collecting major social theorists and philosophers into one volume, Social Theory and Philosophy for Information Systems provides a historical and critical analysis of each that is both authoritative and firmly focused on practical relevance to IS. The result is an insightful text for researchers, academics and students that will provide an up-to-date starting point for those considering alternative approaches. ... Read more