Product Description

As the literature on military-media relations grows, it is informed by antagonism either from journalists who report on wars or from ex-soldiers in their memoirs. Academics who attempt more judicious accounts rarely have any professional military or media experience.

A working knowledge of the operational constraints of both professions underscores Shooting the Messenger. A veteran war correspondent and think tank director, Paul L. Moorcraft has served in the British Ministry of Defence, while historian-by-training Philip M. Taylor is a professor of international communications who has lectured widely to the U.S. military and at NATO institutions. Some of the topics they examine in this wide-ranging history of military-media relations are:

- the interface between soldiers and civilian reporters covering conflicts
- the sometimes grey area between reporters' right or need to know and the operational security constraints imposed by the military
- the military's manipulation of journalists who accept it as a trade-off for safer battlefield access
- the resultant gap between images of war and their reality
- the evolving nature of media technology and the difficulties and opportunities this poses to the military
- journalistic performance in reporting conflict as an observer or a participant

Moorcraft and Taylor provide a bridge over which each side can pass and a path to mutual understanding. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

From journalistic obligations and performance under fire to the military's manipulation of journalists
The author is both a veteran war correspondent and a think tank director, and is in the perfect position to discuss the interface between soldiers and civilian reporters covering conflicts in SHOOTING THE MESSENGER. From journalistic obligations and performance under fire to the military's manipulation of journalists and the gap between reality and representation, this will prove an invaluable title for any collection strong in either military history, military issues, or journalism studies. ... Read more

Product Description
Critically acclaimed director Christopher Nolan follows up his blockbuster film Batman Begins with the highly anticipated The Dark Knight. Batman Begins was a successful re-boot of the popular Batman franchise, and The Dark Knight sequel takes the fresh perspective further, developing the highly anticipated, raw cat-and-mouse game between our superhero Batman and his twisted arch-nemesis The Joker. Celebrated stars include Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman, returning as Batman, Alfred, Lucius Fox, and Lieutenant Gordon, respectively; and new additions Heath Ledger as The Joker, as well as Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Aaron Eckhart. The Art of the Dark Knight is the ultimate companion book to the movie, showcasing production ephemera including storyboard art, character sketches, Nolan’s original shooting script, still photos, and even personal behind-the-scenes material created by the Nolans and Crowley during the movie. The Art of the Dark Knight is certain to appeal to diehard and new fans alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (37)

perfect
got it as a birthday gift for a friend across the country. he loves it.
no problems here.

a little artwork, a lot of script
If you are expecting a book full of imaginative artistic images, this is not the book you want to purchase.As a fan of "The Dark Knight", I received this as a gift, and was shocked at the limited amount of art contained within.The first 65 pages serve as the production art portion, with the remaining pages all devoted to the shooting script.

The script is interesting to read through, but its not the main reason most people buy a book like this.Of the artwork that is included, the highlights include the new design of the batsuit and the batpod.Also, it is interesting to see the progression of the look of the Joker.The book shows concept art that is very different from what the final character looked like.

good pics
it has some good pics but i dont think its the real shooting script. nolans following and memento are more brilliant written but it does have some amazing info on the film thats not on the movie ecpescailly on the joker but lacks.

Very Interesting and Awesome Photos
My husband got this book for me for Christmas, as I am a huge fan of The Dark Knight and Batman Begins.It was very interesting how the makers of the Dark Knight described the batsuit and how they came up with the underground batcave.I have just begun reading it.There are many great photos and some interesting artwork.The script does account for a large part of the book, but I enjoyed it as well, as I love to write in my spare time.I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book.

Shipping Blunder!
All together, I think the book is really great! The pictures are amazing, including the pictures on the actual cover, not the slip cover. The concepts of everything are very interesting and will only add to any collection you have. Great product! ... Read more

Product Description
Sabrina Castro is a wealthy, attractive woman married to an older society physician who no loonger fulfills her dreams. An almost accidental misstep leads her down the slow descent of moral disintegration. How she comes to terms with her life is the theme of this absorbing personal drama by the National Book Award-winning author of The Spectator Bird. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A Little- known Masterpiece
This was a surprise for me, a novel of Stegner's that I hadn't read, but enjoyed immensely.The writing is masterful, the characters are drawn with subtlety and complexity, and the story is unpredictable and fascinating.I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves great writing and craftsmanship.

One of our great writers and his one surprisingly weak effort
Wallace Stegner, clearly one of America's great authors (still not getting all the accolades he deserves but likley will in time) wrote a story here, rather than a thoroughly thought out, structured and crafted novel.From many other writers this would be considered to be a great book.But from Stegner, who has given us so much better, it is simply not up to his standards nor the standards I believe he would have demanded in his Creative Writing seminars.The story is good, if cliche, but one that affects many and can be explored by many writers through the ages in search of answers and furthering to paint the human condition.In effect, it is about a young woman who "has everying", risks it all in a very careless way, and then seeks to find happiness through a destructive series of events that continually bring her back to her dysfunctional and affluent family in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This book is often forgotten by readers of Stegner (intersting when you look at Stegner's work on Amazon it does not appear but requires a seperate search) as his real work is in Angle of Repose, Big Rock Candy Mountain and Crossing to Safety.His naturalist style comes alive in these near-organic novels.In essence, if you are new to Stegner, do not start with "A Shooting Star".Some would say Crossing to Safety is "Stegner Lite", something I would take odds with but, albeit, a good start.Then read Angle of Repose, one of the great novels of the 20th Century.On the other hand, for Stegner affectionados, this book is worth a read as it was written before some of his greater books and perhaps his development is evident here.Certainly his writing is always crisp and, I believe, always worth reading.

A Shooting Star
Not my favorite Stegner book but would probably be an interesting book for discussion.Such a contrast between the author's analytical, dry voice and the main character's flighty desperation.It makes an interestingcontrast, but hard to get into the character at times.Also, Stegnerdoesn't seem to understand women as well as men, especially this one. Another point of interest: its publication date.Some of this must havebeen a lot more sensational then than now, but it's also fun to see that"people back then" weren't as different from us as we'd like tothink.

The other characters in the book were frustrating, I thought. The mother was the most intriguing.The others were stereotypical andannoying.I wanted to learn more about Bobbie, the "perfect,""content" friend - how could she be so serene when married to aknow-it-all like Leonard?And Sabrina's brother read like something out ofa romance novel.If only he had a long black mustache to twirl!

All inall, not my favorite but it did get me to thinkin', and that's never a badthing.

Dated Dynasty clone
I read this because of the positive reviews, but Washington DC has it right. Predictable, tedious, a woman protagonist whose major act of rebellion is wearing funny slippers and hanging out by the pool on hermother's Hillsborough estate...Puhleeze! Hard to believe this same writercreated the characters in Angle and Crossing.

Really, Wallace, you shouldn't have
I am a fervent Wallace Stegner reader, and couldn't believe I hadn't heard of this title. I wish to heaven that were still so. This novel was originally published in 1961. Perhaps he had some heavy financialobligations then - that's the only reason I can fish up for this laughablytawdry tale, told completely without his usual deftness and sensitivity(except when he's describing the natural world.) Those parts of the book Icould bear to skim through were filled with incongruities - beginning withthe putative heroine's name; what "old money" family ofimpeccable New England rectitude would have named a daughter"Sabrina"? And it's embarrassingly easy to guess the roleeachcharacter will play. This stuff is something Helen Gurley Brown would havebought for her Cosmo girls to read around the pool. If you want the realStegner, the titan of the Stanford writing program, read "Women on theWall" or "Crossing to Safety" or "Angle of Repose"or almost any other of his fictional works; and by all means seek out hisenvironmental writings. ... Read more

Product Description
For the first time in the acclaimed Newmarket Shooting Script® series format, the screenplay for one of the most successful films in history. A surprise box-office hit when it opened in theaters in the spring of 1999, The Matrix has proven to be nothing short of a phenomenon, setting records for DVD sales, winning four Oscars®—Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing—and spawning two sequels for release in 2002 and 2003. The extraordinary vision of writers/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski is captured in its purest form with the film's shooting script. The tale of Thomas Anderson, aka Neo (Keanu Reeves), a computer hacker forced to confront his special destiny in the salvation of mankind, challenges our perceptions of reality and expands our expectations of what a movie can be. The 122 pages of the script are presented in facsimile form. Also included are scene notes about the script written by Phil Oosterhouse, assistant to the Wachowskis throughout the making of the film; 20 b/w film still photos; and full credits. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Trimmed down from THE ART OF THE MATRIX
A word for anyone tempted to buy anything/everything related to THE MATRIX: the complete contents of THE MATRIX: THE SHOOTING SCRIPT (including the scene notes) can be found in THE ART OF THE MATRIX, which contains additional material, both written and pictorial. I enjoy the material in THE SHOOTING SCRIPT version, but prefer the more detailed treatment in the bigger book.

Even the text of William Gibson's introduction appears in THE ART OF THE MATRIX, as an afterword. The author of NEUROMANCER and JOHNNY MNEMONIC was slow to see THE MATRIX when it first came out, knowing that it was in his own genre - although he'd been exposed to the screenplay, he hadn't anticipated how well the story would translate to film. Not only did he enjoy it when first persuaded to see it in theatrical release, he promptly turned around and dragged others out to see it. :)

The scene notes following the body of the script aren't written by the Wachowski brothers, but by their assistant Phil Oosterhouse - the brothers being busy at the time with making the sequels. The notes accompanying THE SHOOTING SCRIPT omit discussion of some deleted scenes, but otherwise tally with the more complete version in THE ART OF THE MATRIX.

Essentially, this book is for anyone who's interested only in the no-frills text of the script, without the storyboards that were essential to the Wachowskis' campaign to persuade Warner Brothers to actually make the film, and without any extra discussion of scenes that were cut before the movie was actually shot. As far as it goes, it's fine.

AN EXCELLENT REFERENCE GUIDE
I highly recommend the Matrix Shooting script.It not only covers the scenes that were in the movie, but also bits that had to be excluded.

The Forward is written by none other than Willaim Gibson [how's that for a seal of approval].He says that 'Keanu's Neo is my favourite-ever science fiction hero, absolutely!'.You can't ask for anything more.

I also love the commentary by Phil Oosterhouse, who was Assistant Director on the movie.He gives wonderful insights into little nuances of the scenes and the commitment of the actors and directors to produce the very best movie they could.

The book also has stills from the movie in cool black and white.It's a book any true Matrix fan should be without.

Enjoy! ... Read more

Product Description
Macy grew up unwanted, unloved, and alone. By his teens he had quit school and begun stealing. In and out of juvie, Macy is a shoplifter, a car thief, and, by age eighteen, a murderer.

Danny grew up physically disabled, raised by his grandmother, and a loner. Now sixteen, he finds solace in taking photographs, particularly of monarch butterflies, and thinking about Leah, the most beautiful girl in town.

It is Leah who unwittingly causes these two very different boys, who share some startling similarities, to meet in a first and final terrifying encounter.

The outcome of this hard-hitting and spellbinding novel from an exciting new author will rivet readers and leave them thinking about nature, nurture, justice, and the remarkable power of human kindness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Stereotype characters in a stereotypical conflict
I was surprised that this book was so bad since it was on the eighth grade AP English reading list.It has a soulless monster created by his environment; a beautiful, rich, and nice girl; the dumb, mean high school jock; hardworking Hispanic parents whose lives are centered around their beautiful and smart daughter who is (of course) murdered; and the poor,ugly, handicapped but very sensitive guy as main characters.I'm sure you can figure out the plot just based on the characters since it is as obvious as they are.The ending tried to start a discussion about the death penalty but with these cardboard caricatures, I don't see how anyone could get involved in the issue.I don't recommend this book for anyone - reading is supposed to be interesting.

Page-turner, yet empty
This book keeps you reading at warp speed to see how Macy turns out and what other trouble he can possibly get into.However, the writing was simple, lacking description, at times unconnected, and choppy.Often times, there should have been detail added and more reason given for putting something into the plot (i.e. many of the "gold nuggets" sections).It felt like there were parts missing.This is not a great piece of literature, but it is a can't-put-down story.It would be good for reluctant readers.

Teenage serial killer
The lives of six teens converge one Sunday morning on hill in Shiloh. One is shot dead. This is the gripping tale of the events leading up to that disastrous day.

Macy is 18 -- and a serial killer. But he wasn't born to kill. The reader is introduced to an innocent toddler, raised by an abusive mother who left him alone outside in the rain for hours, tied by the ankle to an old swing set. Then she came home drunk. By the end of middle school, he was sent to juvie for stealing. When he got out, he stole a car and was sent back. For Macy, the food, accommodations, and attention at juvie were more than he ever got at home. As a rebellious teen, he bought a gun and killed store clerk, Mohammed Aziz. And got away with it. That's how the killing started. After spending a year in prison for attempted robbery, he steals a car, buys a gun and heads off on a killing spree that winds up in Shiloh.

Danny is a disabled 16 year-old who lives with his grandmother. He loves monarch butterflies and Leah, the most beautiful girl in Shiloh. He works at The Store with her younger sister, Sally. Leah's boyfriend, Chad is the star athlete and he hates Danny. The Saturday afternoon Macy drives into town, he sees Leah jogging. He chooses her for his next victim and abducts her. In the search for her, the six teens end up on the hill that Sunday morning. One is a killer, one is a victim, and everyone's life changes forever.

Told in a third-person, easy-to-read, almost journalistic style, the narrative flits -- like a monarch -- in and out of the lives of the people who cross paths with Macy, those he victimizes and those who victimize him. "Shooting Monarchs" is an excellent teaching aid for any class or discussion about justice or social issues. In the end the reader must decide Macy's fate. Does he deserve the death penalty?

No easy answers
Just like real life, there are no easy answers found in "Shooting Monarchs". While one or two characters may seem cliche, the message of the book is that people are a complex blend of their environment and their determination. It is an excellent book for sparking debate on the death penalty. Should someone who has committed murder be forgiven if he is the victim of horrific abuse that has rendered him insane? Again, there are no easy answers.

Disappointing, but still OK
Although Shooting Monarchs takes a different approach to making teens think about what they read (on capital punishment and the judicial system), I would prefer a book with some nice closure.

I found it difficult to care about Macy, the main character, when all I had was contempt for him. The other characters were almost likeable, but it felt like something was missing.

The sentence structure of this book seemed simplistic and undeveloped. I wouldn't recommend it to people looking for a fun or exciting read. ... Read more

Product Description
Following the success of his acclaimed books Shotguns and Shooting and More Shotguns and Shooting, Michael McIntosh continues his celebration of the shotgun in Shotguns and Shooting 3. As with his earlier volumes, the subjects covered are wide ranging, from the earliest firearms to the author's current favorites, and from technical discussions of barrels and ejectors to shooting techniques. This book will appeal to hunting and gun enthusiasts everywhere. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Shotguns and Shooting
Excellent book for the shotgun enthusiatsand shotgun shooter. Well written as are all Michael McIntosh's books. Gives many specifics on how to improve your shooting. Many of the tips he gives are very easy to understand and put into practice. I would recommend this book for the experienced shooter who may need to brush up on his tecniques as well the beginner who will benefit immensely by starting out right.More illustrations would be helpful if a reprint is planned.

Shotguns and Shooting 3 Same as 1 and 2
Basically the same material as the first two volumes.Sometimes almost verbatim. In my opinion not worth the time or money if you have the first two Shotguns and Shooting books.

ivans
The first book was the best. This one is so-so. I'm sure Mr. McIntosh has a lot of better (I mean more interesting) thoughts to share with us and I hope he will do it in S&S-4. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (8)

Good Ole' Western read
Reviewed by Tiffany Schlarman for Reader Views (09/10)

The town of Fergus, Idaho is home to a close-knit group of folks.For Hiram Dooley, the shy gunsmith, a whole lot is about to change.Hiram has women problems and the drama is about to unfold.When a mysterious man shows up in town and incidents start to take place, the Women's Shooting Club is called upon to help.The mysterious events in Fergus are about to be solved and Hiram's women problems are sure to be solved, but will it happen in time?Will the ladies shooting club prove their worth and save the day again?

"The Gunsmith's Gallantry" is a regular old shoot-em up western love story.After all, how can you have a western without gunfire and bandits, cowpoke or outlaws?It highlights the small town of Fergus, Idaho.Everyone knows each other in this town and strangers are easily noticed and are regarded with caution and skepticism if they are not kin to town folk.The dialogue, setting and time period all fit together easily to make the reader feel they are part of the old west.The author does a tremendous job with the authentic nature of this novel.Inside you will find the drama of a small town, the romance of courting and many unique qualities attributed to the old west.It was a wonderful historical fiction novel that will make the reader long for the nostalgia of the old west.

Aside from the predictability of this book, the novel was an entertaining read for me.It was easy to read and climatic at points.The author amazed me with her authentic old west writing.The reader is enabled to feel as if they are in the town of Fergus as well as connecting with the colorful characters.She skillfully uses her pen to portray a vivid visual image of the characters, town and lifestyle of the old west in the readers mind.I would suggest this novel for a laid back rainy day read."The Gunsmith's Gallantry" is certain to entertain you and keep you reading until the book is finished.

light and entertaining
The Gunsmith's Gallantry is the second book in the series, The Ladies' Shooting Club. Although I have not read the first book in this series, I had no trouble following the plot of this sequel.

In this story, there are several characters looking for romance. Trudy Dooley and Sheriff Ethan Chapman are courting, but he is reluctant to propose. Trudy's brother, Hiram likes Libba, the storekeeper, but wonders if such a beautiful woman could possibly care for him. His sister-in-law, Rose Caplinger, comes to town hoping to make a match with Hiram, and when that fails, pursues several other eligible men. Isabel Fennel is the plain schoolteacher who fears that she is doomed to be an old maid.

Isabel is also troubled by her father's distrubing actions after the mysterious appearance of a previously unknown uncle with a criminal background.

The ladies are all praying for Bitsy Shepherd, the saloon keeper, to be converted to Christianity.

The ladies of this story seem too liberated for their time. While the characters are likable, they are not fully developed. The story is pleasant, but lacks suspense. Overall, this is a light and entertaining tale.

Fast-paced western read with humor around every corner
Feisty, lovable, and sometimes downright aggravating describe the ladies of the Shooting Club!But watch out as you'll be hooked from page one of this story. I loved book 1, 'The Sheriff's Surrender,' in this series. But this second book, 'The Gunsmith's Gallantry,' is, in my opinion, even a better read!

In the Wild West it seems that ladies didn't have many options. Watch out if you cross a feisty lady's path! Hiram is about to cross the path of his lady love...more sparks fly than the best July fourth fireworks show. Enter Libby, one sweet but determined lady. Mix in a dried-up and fixin'-to-get-you widow with the tenacious claws of a determined lobster. Then the mystery of Libby's uncle unites the Ladies Shooting Club once again as they try to rescue one of their sisters in trouble.

With everything in an uproar in this small town, how will Libby and the Ladies Shooting Club ever get to the bottom of this mystery as they learn to use guns? Ever try to teach someone to shoot at a target without becoming the target? Then there are the romances. Yes, romances! One man loves one woman but she is oblivious. The other woman loves the man who's in love with the oblivious lady and will Sheriff Ethan EVER propose? This is a tickle your funny bone mystery/romance.

This is a fast-paced western read with humor around every corner.

.
So many genres have gotten re-vamped with modern styles and bad-ass female leads (for better or for worse) but this is the first I've seen it done to Western. Davis did a great job and she'll convert people to Western fandom for sure.

Fun Read
Take a bit of romance, add a helping of Christian values, combine it with old-west charm and you have this book. This book took me a few chapters to hit the point where I had to turn the page to see what was next. The story spends a bit too much time on character development and not nearly enough on action/vivid description for my tastes, but nevertheless the story is a good read. The characters are easy to fall in love with (or despise...depending upon their purpose). The plot is somewhat predictable, but not in such a way as to detract the reader from wanting to continue. Definitely something I will be passing around to fellow readers in my family. *inserting legal mumbo-jumbo** Thanks to Goodreads First Reads for this book! ... Read more

Product Description
Fashionista and amateur sleuth Haley Randolph is in hot pursuit of the season's newest must-have handbag. But soon she's also in hot pursuit of a killer--when she discovers the corpse of none other than her designer purse party rival...

Life is beyond fabulous at the moment for Haley Randolph. She just spent two amazing weeks in Europe with her boyfriend Ty Cameron, owner of Holt's Department Store where Haley works. And now Ty's grandmother, Ada, is letting Haley drive her way-cool Mercedes. Things would be perfect if she could just get her hands on her latest fashion obsession: the new Sinful handbag.

Every store in town is out of stock, and Haley would rather die than buy a knockoff. But when she finds the body of her nemesis, Tiffany Markham, in the trunk of Ada's Mercedes, she's not so sure she wants to trade places after all...

Topping the list of suspects, Haley doesn't deny seeing red when Tiffany and her business partner not only stole her purse party idea, but also made more money. But Haley wasn't jealous enough to commit murder. Now she'll have to solve this mystery quickly--and find that Sinful bag--before she becomes a killer's next fashion fatality... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Purseriffic!
Pursenally (pun fully intended), I thought this was the funniest of the series.It's a fun, funny read and I can't wait for more!

Very entertaining
review
Haley Randolph is back and her chase for the newest It-bag and for a murderer is hilarious and fast-paced.

Haley is back home from Europe and thinks that her relationship with Ty is finally a serious one. But once again Ty, who had to stay back in Europe, seems to put work first. When a murdered woman is found in the car Haley was driving she is the number one suspect. Things get even more complicted when the FBI takes over the case and Haley decides that it's her best chance to solve the crime on her own.

"Shoulder bags and Shooting" is just as hilarious and entertaining as the first two books in the series. Haley once again is on the hunt for the newest It-bag however being the prime suspect in a murder is no fun. This time Haley is not lying to the cops but still everything points her way. Haley is still unsure about what to do in the future and her relationship with Ty is not so perfect.
I like how Haley handled the murder and how she stood up for one of her colleagues. It's great that she is still as witty and fashion-obsessed as in the first book of the series. I'm very curious about how her relationship with Ty will continue in the future because I think that he might not be what she needs. There are three men in Haley's life and I definitely have a favourite (not the obvious one). I also enjoyed that although Haley is flirting with the new guy she stays faithful to Ty.


final appraisal
"Shoulder bags and Shootings" is a very entertaining book full of funny and hilarious scenes. It's a great book to relax for some hours and to stop taking everything too serious.


upcoming books
The fourth book in the Haley Randolph Mystery series will be published in July 2011 and Haley will be taking up Las Vegas.

Easy Read
Haley is a shallow, bubble-headed spoiled girl who believes the world revolves around her.Although irritating, this was endearing and provided entertainment.The character shows no personal growth but, again, that wasn't so terrible.In fact, I found her tactics for avoiding the customer while on the clock ingenious.

Besides Haley, however, there are a myriad of characters that I simply couldn't keep straight and lacked any depth at all.Even compared to Haley.In fact, too many characters that had a past with Haley but little interaction with her. My big complaint is that so much of the book seems to be an indirect marketing tool for previous books.When a new character is introduced, a previous crime is alluded to but never quite explained and I'm left wondering if it is pertinent to the current mystery.In fact, when the character makes a second or third appearance in the current book, the previous criminal involvement (or victimization) is voiced yet again.I found it distracting and never really warmed to the peripheral characters.

I enjoyed the ease of read.Fun, shallow Haley who cares nothing for anybody but herself and how she looks.She never changes, never grows, and continues to entertain me.Writing style was consistent.Story line unrealistic but enjoyable.Too much reference to previous books and not enough character development for other players.

Fun Reads
Haley Randolph is a Los Angeles gal, she craves the best and newest handbags, and will go to almost any length to get them! Haley works in retail (Holt's department store) , so she knows her fashion. In "Shoulder Bags and Shootings" her arch rival in the home purse business, has been murdered, making her a suspect as well as an investigator. She cannot resist getting involved in police business.

These are my idea of cozies, fashion and murder....how can you go wrong?! Dorothy Howell has managed to create a new character, smarter than your average bear, and much better dressed! As a handbag lover (The Man calls it a handbag freak) I can understand her compulsion to get the newest bag! (handbags always fit us fluffy gals!) Of course there are love interests, you can't have a mystery without one, and lucky Haley has a couple. Ty Holt, the yummy owner of her workplace, and the handsome Luke, a hunky FBI agent.

Encouraged by the writing and the story, I went to the library and picked up the first two books in the series, "Handbags and Homicide" and Purses and Poison". They were equally entertaining, and my only criticism is, that after spending most of my working life in retail, I would have fired the lazy Haley!

These books were a fun respite for my recovery, and light reading for those ouchy days.

I received "Shoulder Bags and Shootings" from Caitlin at FSB Associates for review. I got "Handbags and Homicide" and "Purses and Poison" from my library.

This is a fun series, fast and clever! Haley is a welcome addition to my shelf!

I couldn't even finish it.
I tried.I just can't do it.The premise sounded like fun, entertaining chick lit.Unfortunately, the book is just like the main character, shallow and trivial.Perhaps I'm just too old to enjoy a story about a flighty, superficial young woman whose sole purpose in life seems to be fashion and avoiding true responsibility.Think the girl from Confessions of a Shopaholic.I didn't read the book, but sat through the film trying not to fall asleep while everyone else around me laughed themselves silly.Haley reminds me of Rebecca.So, if you liked Confessions, I think you'll like Shoulder Bags and Shootings. ... Read more

Product Description
In this insightful analysis of shooting and fighting instruction, noted firearms expert Ralph Mroz examines the myths and misinformation that plague the gun community. From the five deadly training traps to unrealistic training exercises to concealed-carry mistakes, Mroz offers solutions to help defensive shooters snap out of their routines and become better and safer with their firearms. Mroz, whose articles have appeared in Combat Handguns and Guns magazines, takes a no-nonsense approach to such topics as the need for empty-hands skills, range training vs. real-world training, the problem of range standards, understanding and developing startle recovery, and more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Fascinating, thought provoking...
I was so fascinated by this book that I read it in one sitting. It critiques many different defensive tactics but leaves it to the reader to decide which tactics they wish to choose as best for themselves and hence to train for. It provides no recipes for tactics or training but is a great basis for deciding which tactics might work best for you (not necessarily for anyone else) and hence what further training you should seek out. Thoroughly recommended. Very good value for money.

An excellent book on the use of firearms in real-life situations.
After reading all the other reviews on this book I am amazed at the different opinions given.It is as if everyone was reading a different book.Personally, as a life long student of the martial arts and police defensive tactics, including the teaching of firearms, I found this book interesting and informative.I agree with most of what the author wrote in this book and in fact, I have often emphasized that firearm training and defensive tactics should be combined for a more well-rounded training program. I also agree that in order for techniques and tactics to work under true real life combat situations, they must be simple, effective and easy to learn and retain. The 14 chapters cover a wide range of material that is both practical and effective. Of course, the author gives his opinion on various controversial topics.Though I do not agree with all the author's opinions, but he certainly has a right to express them in his book.In conclusion, this bookhas vital advice for anyone interested in practical combat shooting.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Monadnock Defensive Tactics System, Use of the Monadnock Straight Baton, PR-24 Police Baton Advanced Techniques, Use of the Mini-Baton official Manual, Pro-Systems Combatives Vol. 1,2, Martial Art Myths, Never Trust a Politician).

I like it
The book goes into and examines real life shooting scenarios that are common.Excellent book to have and one should review it several times.

Most have to anyone with a gun on his waist
I am a experience shooter with many years of using and handling handguns, but i found this book as a reference book in order to understand my attacker and how i must approach the situation.

It gives a nice tips for anyone from beginers to experts.

A plus for shooting afficianados, a MUST for any who instruct.
Ralph Mroz has done his "homework" so to speak and written a great book on a topic that many try to. His explanations are detailed yet understandable, and to the point. His efforts to address that which "works", rather than trying to hype one methodology over another, should be a key factor that most who study and/or instruct on this topic would find admirable.
This book, though dog eared and well read, has found a place on the top shelf in my library of tutorials on this topic. It is highly recommended for all in this field to own and study. ... Read more

Product Description
The official screenplay book tie-in to the highly acclaimed movie from Fox Searchlight Pictures, written by Diablo Cody (author of Candy Girl) and directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking), tells the story of a confidently frank teenage girl who calls the shots with a nonchalant cool and an effortless attitude as she journeys through an emotional nine-month adventure into adulthood.

While most girls at Dancing Elk are updating their MySpace page or shopping at the mall, Juno is a whip-smart Minnesota teen living by her own rules. A typically boring afternoon becomes anything but when Juno decides to have sex with the charmingly unassuming Bleeker (Michael Cera). Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, she and best friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) hatch a plan to find Juno's unborn baby the perfect set of parents courtesy of the local Penny Saver. They set their sights on Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), an affluent suburban couple who are longing to adopt their first child. Luckily, Juno has the support of her dad and stepmother (J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney). After the initial shock that their daughter has been sexually active with the unlikely "virile" Bleeker, the family bands together to help Juno. Dad Mac accompanies Juno to size up the prospective adoptive parents to make sure they are not a couple of "wing nuts" while stepmother Bren provides emotional support as Juno fights the prejudices of underage pregnancy. As Juno moves closer and closer to her due date, the veneer of Mark and Vanessa's idyllic life starts to show signs of cracking. While fall becomes winter and winter turns to spring, Juno's physical changes mirror her personal growth. With a fearless intellect far removed from the usual teen angst, Juno conquers her problems head-on, displaying a youthful exuberance both smart and unexpected.

In addition to the complete script, this Newmarket Shooting Scrip® book includes a foreword by director Jason Reitman, an exclusive introduction by Diablo Cody, a color photo section, and the complete cast and crew credits. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Wished for more
This is the second book in this series that I've purchased, the first being the script of Little Miss Sunshine.While Juno was a great read--from the standpoint of the author's skill as a screenwriter, I was disappointed that Diablo did not involve herself in the production of this book in the same way that Michael Arndt did in the production of the LMS book.

Arndt shared many lessons he had learned as the script was revised in the shooting process, including explanations of why some scenes were cut.In the Juno book, however, Ms. Cody seems absent, except in the original script and a biographical/thank-you-to-those-who-helped type introduction.There are places where 3-5 scenes are simply marked as eliminated, but with no explanation of what they were, or why they were cut.

Since scripts of screenplays without writer comments are widely available on the Internet, it seems to me the people at Newmarket Press need to try harder for screenwriter involvement in this series.

Handy Juno Script
i thought it'd be the normal legal page size but its more close to a pocket book of the Juno script. But its got the entire script and a quick bio on Diablo. Good source for seeing the film on the page.

"Yeah, I'm a Legend. You Know, They Call Me the Cautionary Whale."
Yes, I think I can admit it. I'm a "Juno" fanatic. I think I might be just one step away from going on eBay and buying one of those crummy hamburger phones, from Taiwan. "Juno" is one of those movies that you either absolutely love or absolutely hate. Judging, from the Amazon DVD reviews, there dosn't seem to be much of a middle ground.

Juno is the story of a percocious, cocky teenager, who gets herself pregnant, while sexually experimenting with her best friend Paulie. She makes arrangements to have the child adopted by a childless, yuppie couple named the Lorings. The film follows the nine months of her pregnancy and her relationships with her understanding parents, Paulie and the Lorings. What starts out as screwball-like, alternative comedy eventually morphs into an emotional drama about growing up and learning about the true power of love.

From the above description it sounds like you could make a really 'baaaaadd' version of an 'ABC Afterschool Special'. What made the difference? What kept it from becoming the usual Hollywood drool? That answer comes in the form of a brilliant script written by first time screenwriter, Diablo Cody.

Miss Cody has created an imaginative, smart, well-written story, which is both funny and moving at the same time. I love the fact that her script dosn't treat it's characters or the audience like they were a bunch of dummies. When was the last time a Hollywood film had a story about teen pregnancy, that didn't make the parents out as a bunch of clueless, overeacting, screaming idiots or the teen father-to-be as an absolute jerk? When did any movie (besides "Ordinary People") treat a yuppie character as anything more than one dimensional? What I like about this script is that we meet these characters and peel away all the layers and find out what makes these people tick. Furthermore, the script is delightful in it's use of language. Diablo Cody seems to have this wonderful ear for it and a way with humourous dialogue. This is one of those films (like "The Big Lebowski" or "Pulp Fiction") that is endlessly qoutable.

So, its only natural that one of the byproducts of this well recieved film would be "Juno: The Shooting Script". I keep it as reader in my bathr-eerrrr-library and often take a peek at a page or two at a time. I love the fact, that every once in awhile, I come across small amounts of dialogue, that never made the film or were changed. Very cool! Also included is a short forward from "Juno" Director, Jason Reitman and an introduction from Diablo Cody about the creation of the script. A small amount of photos are also included along with qoutes from the actors and the production credits.

If your really as nuts about this film, as I am, than I think you'll enjoy reading and owning, this very funny, moving, well written script from a new writer with an original vision. It's "the cheese to my macaronie"! Highly recommended!

Laughing out Loud
If you loved the movie, you're going to love this book.Diablo Cody's script had audiences howling with laughter in theaters across the country, and no doubt some of that laughter caused you to miss some of the ensuing dialogue.This book enables you to relive the movie, catch the lines you missed, and relive the great feeling you had while watching the film enfold.

Recommended!Especially if you listen to the Juno Soundtrack while reading.

Ellen brought it justice
Well i thought that as a screenplay its witty and original and deserving of its oscar. I also think however that by just reading what diablo cody has written brings to me a different character than the one ellen page brought onto the screen. For me, Ellens portrayal is better and speaks about her as an actress. shes amazing (see: Hard candy/the tracy fragments). though overall its wonderful. I enjoy reading diablos side-notes or the way she describes scenes. And the every-so-often line that wasn't in the movie. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

identity and image of American men after WWII
With the close of World War II, the paradigmatic masculine, myth-like image of the soldier could no longer be sustained. Returning to the domestic society with their memories of the realities of war, as well as knowledge of their own fears, conflicts, and roles in the carnage, the legions of men also returned to a society which had worked admirably without them in maintaining order, demonstrating patriotism, and producing prodigious amounts of war supplies and consumer goods. The patriarchal "fictions" about men were in shambles. This work "explores the way photography functioned within the postwar restructuring of the dominant fiction." Photography accomplished this by presenting images of men which reestablished them at the head of the social structure in roles that were desirable and beneficial. No longer seen by themselves or those who remained on the "home front," especially women, as saving the society, the men came to be seen by themselves and women in respectable and romantic ways reflecting American ideals of individual worth and ability, mastery of one's own situation and destiny, and autonomy. The five main types of images were "breadwinner, warrior, tough guy, playboy, and rebel." Vettel-Becker, professor of art history at Montana State U.-Billings, writes a cultural study of how each of these was created by media photography, and each image's part in making male ego whole and restoring male superiority in postwar American society. One chapter, "Female Body," showing a few photos of naked women, looks at how the eroticized image of women worked so men could regain the position they had lost due to the "historical trauma" they suffered from World War II. ... Read more

Product Description
Charl Van Wyk was just an ordinary Christian man until July 25, 1993 - the day that would become known as the St. James Massacre. It was on this date that Van Wyk shot back at the terrorists who were attacking an innocent congregation gathered in prayer, and saved many lives in the process.More than just a remarkable story of courage under fire, Shoot Back deals forthrightly with the consequences of his actions, while addressing the concerns that plague so many God-fearing people in these lawless times, such as: Should we carry arms? When is it appropriate to defend ourselves and our families? What can we do when our God-given right to self-defense is legislated away from us?In Shooting Back, Van Wyk tackles these difficult questions using the light of Scripture and insights from his own experience to make the case for self-defense. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Self-Defense Is Biblical!
"Shooting Back" should be one of many mandatory books to help Christians form a comprehensive Biblical world and life view.Not only will it help those with issues about the use of deadly force, it also helps to confront the unbiblical pacifism that has infected the Church.A definite "must read."

Required Reading!
Those who question the morality of using lethal force in self defense needs this book & anyone who packs should read it.Written by a man who went & did 'Shooting Back' adresses the thought process Mr.Van Wyk went through to reconcile his Christian beliefs with carrying a gun,the incident itself,&,most importantly,the aftermath;specifically including the reactions of the survivors.
This is not a book of tactics altho the discerning reader will pick up a few ideas but rather of practial philosophy.
Not a cheap or easy book to come by but well worth the effort to get.

Self-Defense Understanding As A Christian
Mr. Van Wyk has done a great service to those Christians who understand both, that some in the world will do them harm, and that they do have the right to protect themselves. It is unfortunate that so many will accept as fate, things that could be countered or fought against. God gave man free will. It is that very will, and the evil that is in this world that would cause someone to do wrong or harm others. We do not have to sit idly by and accept this as God's will for it is not. We have a right to protect ourselves, our family and others from violence.
Mr. Van Wyk does a great job in pointing this out from a first hand perspective, and deserves thanks for having had the strength and understanding to confront the situation he did, as well as the struggles that followed.

Protecting yourself against an armed invader.
Excellent example of how one armed citizen can make the difference between life and death. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

The one with the giant spider
Rather unusually for a Tintin adventure, The Shooting Star starts off like something out of a pulp science-fiction story as Tintin and Snowy identify a huge fireball heading rapidly towards Earth on a direct collision course.The end of the world is only hours away the scientists at the observatory tell him (and how does Tintin spend his last moments on Earth? - listening to the speaking clock) ...except they've got their calculations wrong and instead of the fireball hitting the Earth, a smaller meteorite breaks off and lands in the Arctic ocean, causing a minor earthquake.

Professor Phostle however has identified a new and unknown metal on the rock that he names Phostlite, and organises an expedition of European scientists to the Arctic to find it and examine it, taking along Tintin and Captain Haddock, who will be in command of the Aurora.As if an attempt to sabotage the ship even before it leaves port isn't enough, a rival foreign ship is on its way to try and reach the meteorite first and claim ownership of its precious minerals.

As unusual as the science-fiction element is (Hergé does of course later take Tintin to the Moon long before a real manned mission ever got there, but Destination Moon/Explorers on the Moon was based on a lot of real scientific research, if not in every detail), it creates a thrilling end-of-the-world opening with doomsayers, portentous giant spiders, millions of panicked rats fleeing from the sewers and the tar on the roads melting from the extreme heat of the imminent final conflagration.Hergé maintains this entertaining tone throughout, with numerous mishaps on the journey, pratfalls and a great deal of humour at the expense of Captain Haddock's unlikely presidency of the Society of Sober Sailors - even the usually unflappable Tintin gets his share of knocks here.

The Shooting Star appears to be a fun, harmless diversion with no overt political statements, but written in 1942 while Belgium was under the control of the occupying German forces - the first Tintin adventure to be published in its now classic standard full-colour 62 page format as opposed to being first serialised and then reworked for collected publication - the reality of the story's creation is well hidden.It's notable that the scientists for the expedition are all from neutral European countries, but there were other controversial elements in the original version - the financier behind the evil rivals from the fictional country of São Rico was originally American and Jewish - elements that were suppressed after the first edition.What's left however remains a highly entertaining Tintin adventure, wonderfully drawn in the 'ligne claire' style, that isn't really all that more far-fetched than the usual stories.

Tintin fights the Allied Nations
While Tintin has provoked some controversy, in particular over Hergé's naive depiction of overseas areas like Africa and Russia, The Shooting Star seems to be the episode among those published during the Nazi occupation of Belgium that has produced the most discussion and revision. Basically, the story is about a scientific discovery (a meteorite has fallen into the ocean), with scientific teams dispatched by the US and also by Axis-occupied nations to claim it for their own; Hergé and Tintin are part of the latter team. Naturally, the story shows how Hergé and Tintin played fair in this competition, as opposed to enemy teams which were run by underhanded organisers with Jewish names that flew the US flag (although later editions replaced the US flag with that of the fictitious country Sao Rico.)

Again, the story starts out with Tintin out for a stroll that quickly brings him into involvement in a serious adventure: a comet is nearing the earth, so Tintin befriends some academics that are studying it; the comet won't collide with the earth, but part of it will fall into the ocean, so an expedition sets forth to retrieve samples for scientific study. Tintin has another encounter with eccentric professors, he hires a boat - perfect excuse to bring Captain Haddock into the picture - and off they go; the rest of the book's adventures are water-based.

Haddock enters the picture by page 15, eventually getting into a few booze-related incidents but not acting as clumsy as he does in later episodes. The rest of the story is full of exciting incidents, but nothing too radical.

The Exotic Adventure of the Meteor....
Belgian artist Herge spent the Second World War trapped in his German-occupied homeland.The result, for his cartoon hero, the young journalist Tintin, was some exotic adventures much removed day-to-day reality, including "The Shooting Star."

As the story opens, Tintin sees a shooting star. Inquiries at the local observatory reveal a meteor en route to Earth, a possible end of the world.Fortunately, the meteor misses (in a dramatic and well-done sequence), leaving part of itself floating in the Arctic Ocean.The race is on to be the first scientific expedition to reach the meteor.Tintin travels north with the scientists from the observatory in the vessel Aurora, commanded by the recurring character Captain Haddock.

If the first half of the story had an element of end-of-the world dread, the second half is a fairly standard adventure yarn, culiminating in Tintin's bizarre and breathless stay on the meteor itself as it begins to sink into the sea.Captain Haddock and Tintin's faithful dog Snowy provide some necessary humor.

"The Shooting Star" is highly recommended to Tintin fans of all ages.

TinTin series, great read for boys! (and girls!)
The TinTin series were favorites of my two sons, now in their 20's. They gobbled down these books as fast as we could find them. TinTin was written in the 1930's-50's and is a fun way to learn basic world geography and light history. TinTin books left my sons eager to read more on certain historical time periods or countries. Don't miss these! Nice cartoonish illustrations as well.

Good adventure but poor as science fiction
In this adventure (written 1941) the world comes close to annihilation when earth almost collides with a star (or a meteorite). A piece of the star (or the meteorite) brakes off, and it falls into the Ocean. Professor Phostle discovers a new metal in the meteorite/star using spectroscopy, which is named phostlite. Tintin and Captain Haddock sets out on an expedition together with a team of international (European) scientists to find the piece that broke off as well as the new metal.

From the drawings and the description of the approaching object it is clear that it must be a star (being a large hot fusion object in space, and the use of spectroscopy, etc.) On the other hand solid pieces cannot break off from stars, and it is described as a meteorite at one point. It is clear that Herge did not know the difference between a star and a meteorite. There are also other passages that show poor understanding of science (previous reviewer points out another example). Therefore, this adventure cannot be viewed as good science fiction (just compare with other contemporary science fiction literature).

However, as with most Tintin books, the story is fast paced, spell binding, exciting and full of humor. The story is heavy with mystery and tension but it also has light hearted moments. It is an entertaining story, and once you start reading it you can't put it down.

I should say that there is some controversy surrounding this adventure. The international members of the team picked for the expedition are from Nazi Germany, axis occupied nations, or neutral nations. Also the original villains were Americans (this was later changed to Sao Rico). It might also have contained an anti-Semitic caricature, but this is not noticeable unless you expect it before hand. However, it should be noted that Herge denied that the character in question (Bohlwinkle) was intended to be Jewish. Belgium (where Herge lived) was occupied by Germany at the time, and the newspaper he worked for was the only independent media that was allowed to operate under the Nazi occupation. This might have influenced how he wrote the story.

Despite its flaws, I really enjoyed this story and I have read it and re-read it dozens of times, but it is not among the better Tintin adventures.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Skeet shooting with D. Lee Braun
This fine classic skeet training book has helped me and many of my friends improve our technique. ... Read more

Product Description

When Harley Nelson got on his motorcycle and drove out of Portland, Oregon, ten years ago, he left behind a bad reputation--and a baby. Audra Worthington was the reason for both. Well, the baby, anyway. The reputation he already had. It's why rich girl Audra fell for him in the first place. Now Audra's dead. His son, Brandon, is being raised by her family--good girl Lauren, the perfect daughter, and her uncompromising parents. But Harley's a self-made success down in California and he's ready to take responsibility for his son.

And Harley Nelson's trouble. He's shown up at her door, saying he wants to get to know his son--ten years too late, in Lauren's opinion. Too bad he didn't stick by her sister, Audra, when he got her pregnant. (At least, that's the story Lauren's always heard.) And too bad he still looks so good in that black leather jacket...

Customer Reviews (4)

Highly Satisfying--A Beautiful Story!
When Harley Nelson reads the obituary of his former girlfriend, he returns to Portland, OR to claim the nine-year-old son he's never seen.Brandon has been raised by his aunt and grandparents in a luxurious gated community.Lauren Worthington loves her sister's son as if he were her own, and nothing will make her give up this child to bad boy Harley. In fact, fueled by her father's tales of Harley, she's convinced he ruined her sister.She doesn't want the man anywhere near her nephew.

But Harley isn't quite the way he's been portrayed.He's concerned, he cares, and he forces Lauren to reexamine her long held beliefs about him. Of no small concern is his devastating charm.Before long Lauren finds herself falling in love with the man who can rob her of the thing that makes her happiest.Lauren battles with her understanding of Harley's right to his son and her own emotional attachment to the boy.

Wonderfully developed secondary characters provide an excellent supporting cast.Shooting the Moon is about romance and caring, love and money, challenging one's belief system, and acceptance.You'll cheer at the outcome, maybe shed a few happy tears as I did.But I guarantee you won't forget this wonderful book by Brenda Novak, a master at creating intense emotional conflict.Do yourself a favor and buy this book.Very highly recommended.

Sweet and Lovely!
Harley Nelson left Portland ten years ago, but when he left, he left a child behind too. Ten years later he is back for his son. Audra, whom he once loved, died from drugs, leaving behind Brandon, their son. He came back to town with determination and a past. Lauren Worthington just happened to be Audra's sister, and Brandon's mother in every sense but biologically. She loved Brandon more than life itself. He might as well as have been born hers.

Harley made Lauren nervous, her heart beat, and her breath catch just when he was near. Too bad Lauren was born in the wrong family, at least as far as Harley was concerned, but then she was known as the Ice Queen anyway. Slowly as the book progressed, so did their attraction and the heat that simmered between them. Their lives grew more and more complicated as Lauren's parents came into the picture... especially since it was her father that had started it all those years ago.

Lauren is strong but has vulnerabilities just as Harley has a tough front but a soft center. Sometimes he reminds you of a teddy bear but others as the devil incarnate. Together they are real and lively.

SHOOTING THE MOON is interesting as it is sweet and special. Ms. Novak as done a fabulous job!

Romance At Its Best

Family and Love At Its Best
Harley Nelson left Portland ten years ago but when he left, he left a child behind too. Ten years later he is back for his son. Audra who he once loved died from drugs leaving behind Brandon, their son. He came back to town with determination and a past. Lauren Worthington just happened to be Audra's sister and Brandon's mother in every sense but biologically. She loved Brandon more than life itself. He might as well as have been born hers.

Harley made Lauren nervous, her heart beat, and her breath catch just when he was near. Too bad Lauren was born in the wrong family, at least as far as Harley was concerned but then she was known as the Ice Queen anyway. Slowly as the book progressed, so did their attraction and the heat that simmered between them. Their lives grew more and more complicated as Lauren's parents came into the picture especially since it was her father that had started it all those years ago.

Lauren is strong but has vulnerabilities just as Harley has a tough front but a soft center. Sometimes he reminds you of a teddy bear but others as the devil incarnate. Together they are real and lively.

SHOOTING THE MOON is interesting as it is sweet and special. Ms. Novak as done a fabulous job!

Romance At Its Best

Winner of the WordWeaving Award for Excellence
A thoughtful note from a friend that including his former girl friend's obituary brings Harley Nelson back to Portland, Oregon after a ten year absence. When he arrives on the Worthington's doorstep, Harley announces that he will not leave until he sees his son. Just the sound of his son's voice leaves him shaken and overwhelmed with a need to claim the child as his own. Ten years ago he had left with the question of what he had to offer the child burning uppermost on his mind. He returns with the same question and the determination to find answers. While he tries to remind himself that Lauren is cut from the same cloth as the rest of his family, Harley still struggles to keep his priorities straight and his concern for how his actions affect Lauren under check.

Lauren remembers Harley with bitterness. He took her father's money before disappearing from their lives. His departure seemed to have provoked the downward spiral that her sister became enmeshed in, ending in her alcohol related death six months ago. Before dying, her sister had entrusted her parents with custody of nine year old Brandon. Although she lacks a legal status, Lauren has always provided care and support to Brandon. In fact, she has built her life around the child. Now with Harley arrival, she fears her status will go from favored aunt to absent aunt. Worse, her growing attraction to Harley only adds more emotional complications.

Brenda Novak's skill for creating an intriguing blend of strengths and weaknesses shines in SHOOTING THE MOON. The sharp contrast between wealth and poverty highlights Harley's desire to prove himself on his personal merits rather than the improved status of his checkbook. Lauren's devotion to her nephew and her character growth likewise makes her appealing. As her sister's journals provides powerful insight into the past, the reader also comes to respect Lauren for her reevaluation of the past and her decision to stand behind her convictions whatever the cost. Secondary characters are likewise memorable, including the nine year old who wants to know his birth father. While the grandparents can be harsh and judgmental, the reader never doubts their genuine love and concern for their deceased daughter and beloved grandson. A remarkable achievement with rich characterizations, clashing emotions, and a captivating plot, SHOOTING THE MOON earns the WordWeaving Award for Excellence. ... Read more

Product Description
Film Directing Fundamentals gives the novice director an organic methodology for realizing on the screen the full dramatic possibility of a screenplay. Unique among directing books, this book provides clear-cut ways to translate a script to the screen. Using the script as a blueprint, the reader is led through specific techniques to analyze and translate its components into a visual story. A sample screenplay is included that explicates the techniques. The book assumes no knowledge and thus introduces basic concepts and terminology.

Appropriate for screenwriters, aspiring directors and filmmakers, Film Directing Fundamentals helps filmmakers bring their story to life on screen.

* Unique, focused approach to film directing that shows how to use the screenplay as a blueprint for rendering the script to the screen
* Features new sections on "Organizing Action in an Action Scene", and "Organizing Action in a Narrative Scene", to complement the first two edition's emphasis on Dramatic Scenes
* Written by an author with 25+ years experience teaching directing and who has worked extensively in the film industry as a director, cameraman, editor, and producer in both documentary and dramatic/narrative films ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good book to start with
This book is good to start with, it really explains you some fundamental things about films (though you still need to have some experience and "eye" to understand it)... It's good that he makes it interesting and fun to read and learn - you really have more idea about making films in all stages of production yet still like every art book there are some flaws but again it's a book for beginners - I think that people should read the book, watch the EVERY film he talks about and then keep on buying more advanced books as well as seeing more films even with commentary.
To sum up, this book is great for those who want to start learning film-making - truly great but still you won't be able to make even short films just by reading this book but it's sure is a first step.

Textbook Shmexbook
Despite being a text book Film Directing Fundementals is not only intriguing, but it displays the information in an easy to understand way that can help anyone understand filming.

So far so Good
I am very pleased with the book so far.It is very detailed which is very good.I have only read the first couple chapters, but I can say the rest should be really good.I already have an extensive knowledge in filmmaking so most of the information I already know.However, there are things have learned that I haven't heard before.It's a very good book, if you are a starting out videographer, cinematographer, director, etc. Then get this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great book for IPSC
Having read a few books on IPSC shooting like Brian Enos and Saul Kirsch I saw this book and decided to have a read, I was skeptical at first as it was written a in the early 90s and I though it might be a little dated. I'm happy to say my fears were unfounded this is a great book for IPSC along with the books by the authors mentioned above. This book also has chapters on the rifle and shotgun which is something not often found in these books so I found it doubly helpful as a 3 Gun enthusiast.

Excellent resource
Do not pay these outrageous prices - Brownells still list this publication in stock around $20. I would also recommend Surgical Speed Shooting by Stanford - do not let "gunfight" in the subtitle put you off.

Less Expensive Source
J. Michael Plaxco's book can be found at www.brownells.com for $20 plus shipping.Tad cheaper than almost $200 offered on the Amazon's site.

Superb book on practical pistol shooting.
Author J. Michael Plaxco is an accomplished IPSC style shooter, a discipline which ostensibly focuses on more "practical" concerns than more static and purely accuracy oriented target disciplines.IPSCfocuses on both speed and accuracy in a variety of situations.

Keepingthat background in mind, Plaxco offers an excellent book that will give thereader both practical ways of improving their performance and a broad basedtheoretical approach to sports psychology and general performanceenhancement.Reading and applying the many lessons in this book willdramatically enhance the skills of a tactical, military, law enforcement,or competitive shooter.

The book is written in an accessible and readablestyle, all the photographs are exceptional, and the layout is sensible. While I do not recommend this book for a beginner, it is an excellentsource for someone who has had some basic defensive training skills. Police officers who are serious about developing their skills beyond thepathetic level learned in academy will profit more from this book than anyother I can think of... IF THEY APPLY THE PRACTICE ROUTINES.

With thatbeing said, this is not merely a book you read once.This is a book youread, you experiment with, you read again, experiment with, highlight,underline, and read some more.This is a guidebook to the self developmentand enhancement of motorskills.It's not just a bunch of random pointers,tricks, and insights. ... Read more

Product Description
The only book tie-in to "the movie of the decade." --Esquire Magazine. Includes the complete 107-page facsimile script, an exclusive 24-page color photo album with extensive captions written by Niccol, and "A Short History of The Truman Show" written by director, Peter Weir.

The Newmarket Shooting Script(tm) Series features an attractive 7 x 9 1/4 inch format that includes a facsimile of the film's shooting script, as chosen by the writer and/or director, exclusive notes on the film's production and history, stills, and credits.Amazon.com Review
Jim Carrey is getting smarter and smarter. The crude, richclown took far less than the $20 million he could have gotten in orderto star in Peter Weir's film The Truman Show, which made thecovers of Time and Entertainment Weekly as "TheYear's Best Movie." Carrey plays Truman Burbank, a man whose entire life has been a hit TV docudrama without his knowledge. This screenplay (by Gattaca author Andrew Niccol) is required reading, and the 35 good-quality color stills from the film in the photo album at the center of the book are nicely laid out with helpful, intelligent captions.

But The Truman Show: The Shooting Script also offers somethingnot found in theaters: the back-story to the script, written bydirector Weir, who has never been weirder. It was so important to thecreation of the movie that Weir actually hired Harry Shearer to helpcreate a "mockumentary"--a documentary on the making of themovie. The mockumentary was scrapped, though a few scenes wound up inthe finished film; what Weir gives you here is the whole prequel,"A Short History of The Truman Show." It tells howChristof (played by Ed Harris in the film), a promising, idealistic,Oscar-winning documentarian concerned with homeless people, conspiredwith shady ex-NASA operatives and the terrifying Omnicam Corp. tocreate a fake town full of actors and imprison the unsuspecting childTruman Burbank in it by messing with his head. For instance, they madeTruman afraid of water so that he wouldn't swim away from his"home." It's a trip--and it just might provide a peek intocertain dark crannies of the mind of Oscar-winning director PeterWeir. Just because you've seen The Truman Show, you don't knoweverything in this book. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Masterpiece!
This film is a Masterpiece of history of the contemporary cinema,wonderful book and wonderful screenplay. Andrew Niccol is a genius..!

Review of "The Truman Show"
The Truman Show written by Andrew Niccol in 1998 shows the last few days of a reality show. Truman Burbank is the main character. He is the only person in this show who is no actor. Everything around him is fake. Even his hometown Seahaven is only a film studio but Truman doesn't know this. Christof is the director who controls everything. He gives the directions to his parents, his wife and his friend. In these last few days a lot of strange things happen so that Truman may soon find out everything.
Andrew Niccol wants to show the impertinence of the media which do not respect the rights of human beings.
In my opinion the subject of the book is very interesting and it is worth dealing with it. But in this case it is easier to watch the movie because the book is difficult to read because of all the stage directions.

Fake Reality Show
The Truman Show is about Truman Burbank, the main character, and his fake life. He lives in Seahaven an artificial world that has only built for him. When he finds out that he is part of a reality show he wants to escape. Everybody betrayed him even his wife Meryl and his best friend Marlon who are actors like everybody in his world Seahaven.
The author wants to warn people of the danger of the modern media
culture and high technology.
We must be mor critical of the invented world of the television and think about its effect on us.
I like the book because it includes everything: lovestory, friendship, tension... It is dramatic but from time to time also funny.

TS
The Truman Show is a drama with a lot of funny aspects. It deals with a young man whose whole life is documented in a reality show. The reviewers can watch him all day in the whole world.
The duration of the show was for 29 years without bigger problems but one day, Truman, the main character, seems to find out the truth about his life. He notices that everything is artificial and that his whole world is made fake only for him. Christof, the director of the show loses the control over Truman when the latter tries to escape. Christof does everything to stop him and keep him in the town where the Truman Show takes place- Seehaven. The message of the Truman Show is that our society is losing control more and more and that we let ourselves be influenced by the media and TV. We think the book is good, because it shows the problems of our society and what the manipulation of the media could result in. It is represented in a very funny way.

Reviw of "The Truman Show"
The book "The Truman Show" by Andrew Niccol was written in the 20th century. The story is about a 29 year old man who has been televised every moment of every day. The book is mostly dramatic but sometimes funny. Truman Burbank lives in a small artificall town named "Seaheaven". This world was created by Chrsitof, the director of the reality-show. In this show everyone of his frinds is an actor. The only genuine person is Lauren. He has fallen in love with her.

Imagine you find out that nothing in your life is genuine, you are controlled by others and everythin is filmed by cammeras so that millions can watch you. This is the message of the book. And it should make you think about how the media control our lives.

I like the story because we can identify with Truman and his situation. I recommend the film and the book because sometimes it is quite funny.

YOUR RICHI ... Read more

Product Description
Officer-Involved Shootings and Use of Force: Practical Investigative Techniques, Second Edition continues to provide sound and sober models, protocols, and procedures to handle the highly charged fall-out from officer involved shootings. Written by cops for cops, it is designed to address the needs of the agency, the rights of the employee, and the concerns of the public, and give law enforcement the policies and tools to properly investigate and document this high profile area.

Updated and expanded, the second edition welcomes contributions from Randy Dickson, one of the nation’s leading experts, who presents new recommendations for post-incident support and the emotional aspect of these traumatic events, including the potential for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder suffered by the officer. Other new chapters include a study of incidents involving less lethal weapons, such as Tasers, a model policy for documenting these incidents, and the latest findings on positional asphyxia and Excited Delirium Deaths. The book also includes additional information on report writing and the proper handling of media and public information policy. The author offers expert tips on procedures including handling suspects, interviewing witnesses and employees, and investigating the scene, as well as critical points for working with assisted suicides. New, up-to-date case studies illustrate and explain the need for consistent, reliable protocols to protect the agency, the officer, and the public from unnecessary litigation, public distrust, media frenzy, and harm to either the agency’s or the officer’s reputation.

Applicable to all levels including city, county, state, and federal law enforcement, thisSecond Editioncontains an “outstanding presentation of guidelines, authority, and assignment responsibility to establish the best organizational team structure to investigate [officer-involved] shootings,” says Larry Moore, Certified Emergency Manager, Knoxville, Tennessee. ... Read more

Product Description
At his death in 1994, Ralph Ellison left behind roughly two thousand pages of his unfinished second novel, which he had spent nearly four decades writing. Long awaited, it was to have been the work Ellison intended to follow his masterpiece, Invisible Man. Five years later, Random House published Juneteenth, drawn from the central narrative of Ellison’s unfinished epic.

Three Days Before the Shooting . . . gathers together in one volume, for the first time, all the parts of that planned opus, including three major sequences never before published. Set in the frame of a deathbed vigil, the story is a gripping multigenerational saga centered on the assassination of the controversial, race-baiting U.S. senator Adam Sunraider, who’s being tended to by “Daddy” Hickman, the elderly black jazz musician turned preacher who raised the orphan Sunraider as a light-skinned black in rural Georgia. Presented in their unexpurgated, provisional state, the narrative sequences form a deeply poetic, moving, and profoundly entertaining book, brimming with humor and tension, composed in Ellison’s magical jazz-inspired prose style and marked by his incomparable ear for vernacular speech.

Beyond its richly compelling narratives, Three Days Before the Shooting . . . is perhaps most notable for its extraordinary insight into the creative process of one of this country’s greatest writers. In various stages of composition and revision, its typescripts and computer files testify to Ellison’s achievement and struggle with his material from the mid-1950s until his death forty years later. Three Days Before the Shooting . . . is an essential, fascinating piece of Ralph Ellison’s legacy, and its publication is to be welcomed as a major event for American arts and letters. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A Great among unfinished novels
I am well into Book 11 of "Three Days before the Shooting" and I am astounded by its overall power as a novel. After "Juneteenth", the editors got it just right this time round. Here we see Ellison at his fullest strength, delving deeply into the meanings and experience of blackness, and the complex of a broader American nativity tempered in the aesthetic sensibilities and religious expressiveness that African Americans bring to it. This surely is Ellison's answer to Joyce's "Ulysses". The traces of Joyce's influence (as far as I've read) clearly occupy both the surfaces and undercurrents of this work. It's a pity that Ellison never had the courage to complete it and publish it. I do wonder if he held on to manuscript and incessantly rewrote it without bringing it to public light, because of a deepseated fear of being vilified as a black writer trying to be overly ambitious. And "Three Days before the Shooting" has, in fact, all the signs of drive and transcendental aspiration that one expects from great and far-reaching prose. This work takes everything on board, from the sounds and rhythms of jazz, the idiomatic styles of African American religous oratory, race relations in America, the burdened history of black identity in America, and experimentation in streams of conscouisness as an unsettling narrative mode. In "Three Days before the Shooting" my guess is that we have one of the first and finest classics of the 21st century.

Literary jazz riff four decades in the making
Ralph Ellison, it turns out, lived the plot of a mid-'60s novel: a little known author and musician, he published his first book at the age of 39. "Invisible Man" was both critically acclaimed and a bestseller. Ellison won the National Book Award, the first black writer to be awarded the most prestigious award in American literature. Now world-famous, Ellison announced in interviews that he had already begun work on his follow-up novel. For the next four decades he labored on that second novel - but he died in 1994 at the age of 80, and the literary waiting game ended too: His anxiously awaited second work of fiction would never be finished, never be published.

Yet now we have "Three Days Before the Shooting," a massive volume that compiles all the lengthy interlocking segments of the manuscript, along with other fragmentary alternate versions of the story. Editors John F. Callahan and Adam Bradley have performed a labor of love, devotion and mind-numbing scholarship: They have combed through Ellison's countless handwritten papers and computer discs to knit together a coherent, cohesive and lumberingly powerful book by one of the United States' preeminent writers.

The story involves the assassination of a race-baiting U.S. senator with a peculiar past. As a "little boy of indefinite race," Senator Sunraider was raised in rural Georgia by Alonzo Hickman, a one-time jazz player turned preacher. Well, that's the basic set-up of the story, anyway. What we actually have is a turning, twisting narrative that can't stop itself from spiraling outward to other characters, other voices, till the story begins to evoke a tapestry of 20th century American passions and madness -- a vast cloth with holes in the weaving whose ragged thread ends were never tied off.

Usually we speak of the architecture of a novel. With "Three Days Before the Shooting... ," it is possible to talk of its archeology: the '50s, with its basic plot outline and its references to "Negroes" and "that white Cadillac convertible;" the '60s, when Ellison grew less sure of his world and more defiant toward it; the '70s and '80s, when the novel's setting, now historical, became once again easier to delineate.

Listen to a few short horn bursts:

"`So she started trying to dance and, gen'lmens, it was like what they call a 'ca'astrofee.' Juiced as she was and with all those goldbacks hanging around her belly, she was like somebody made out of soft rubber and no bones."

"He lay on his back, looking up through the turbulent space to where the bullet-smashed chandelier, swinging gently under the impact of its shattering, created a watery distortion

Three Days Before The Shooting
The great American novel is the white whale for American writers.In his uncompleted second book, //Three Days Before the Shooting//, Ralph Ellison personifies the quest for the great American novel and how difficult it can be. After the success of his first novel, //Invisible Man//, Ralph Ellison spent the next forty years trying to complete his second novel, the so-called "Oklahoma novel."What we have instead are basically two stories which, when combined together, are a novel almost in its completed form.

The story revolves around the shooting of a white racist senator in Washington, by a black man in gallery.From there, the book shows how the senator became so racist by dipping into the past when he was known as Bliss and was being raised by the Reverend Hickman in the South.With Hickman at his bedside, the senator relives his memories of his time with Hickman before he ran away and finally became the racist senator.

The second plot in the collection follows a white reporter as he waits in the hospital near the senator for word about the senator's condition, wondering why the senator would want Hickman at his side.It is a story of the consciousness of race in America and the impact it can have on the psyche of the nation.Combine these two stories and you get Ellison's masterpiece.

The editors have done a wonderful job of putting this together from the fragments that Ellison has left over the decades.After the two stories, you get into the mind of Ellison's thinking, the editors present fragments of scenes that did not make it into the rest of the main story; as well as individual scenes rewritten two to three times. Some of the differences are minor and others are major.Even though Ellison had difficulty finishing the book and left it unfinished, it might be better that way. The story is left up to the reader in how it will end.

The writing is like listening to jazz, with stops and starts, long solos and wild percussion.The language is varied between people and even between scenes.You go from the deep South, to the far north.It is a work that goes across generations and cultures.Yet, at its core, it is looking for what America truly is, and it never did quite got there, which is why Ellison left it unfinished.This is why Ellison is such a great writer, not just because he published //Invisible Man//, but because he made something greater than that with this book.

Reviewed by Kevin Winter

Well worth reading
I'm about half way through this wonderful collection. This is a very frustrating book because you can see how close Ellson got to finishing what would have been his masterpiece. It reminds me of All the Kings Men, it's that good. It's snowing outside. No school. Coffee. An unfinished epic. Life is good.

Finally, it's in my hands.
Finally finally finally.. it's in my hands.I have been waiting for years and years for
someone to publish Mr. Ellison's unfinished manuscript.. I only wish they would have
published it just as it existed.. in his writing.. just photographed the whole thing.
Though I have it on my shelf, I had refused to read Juneteenth because he didn't put it
out.. and someone else had decided what he meant.. I would rather have this 1100 page
monster than have someone elses idea of what he meant.. anyway.. I got it!! finally and
I'm enjoying it.. I only hope the rest of his writings are also published..

Peace. ... Read more