Women, Creativity, and the Arts: Critical and Autobiographical Perspectives

Book Description

Finally there's no shame in hating Valentine's Day!

Whether we're single, dating, married, or divorced, the dreaded February 14 arrives each year to ambush our self-esteem. No other twenty-four-hour period convinces otherwise happy folk that they're in fact social pariahs.

But now comes protection from the ritual onslaught of Whitman's Samplers, saccharine cards, and suffocating expectations. I Hate Valentine's Day is a bitingly funny guide to getting through the Big Day painlessly, including tips on:

People and places it's best to avoid
Ways to take your mind off being single
How to score an emergency date
Alternative ways to celebrate the holiday --
or obliterate all thinking
Crossing the minefield of gift-giving
Romance for the unromantic
Running into the ex
Last-resort measures

It's only one day. Tomorrow it's just dead flowers, empty

calories, and a wicked champagne hangover.

Customer Reviews:

I love Valentine's Day--and this book!.......2005-04-29

I'm an extremely romantic type who will probably never marry, have children, or even have a serious boyfriend. According to a test in this book, I was almost the type who "cries at TV commercials", who should've put the book back and gotten a refund. Thing is, I borrowed this book yesterday from the Flushing Library (Queens, NY), and I've almost read all of it.

Bennett Madison's book is full of tongue-in-cheek (almost) advice about rethinking Valentine's Day's meaning, and, failing that, landing a "V-Date" for that fateful day, and surviving that date. He also includes advice about Valentine's Day gifts and cards (no stuffed animals, says he!), and other paraphernalia.

From my POV, the first two chapters, "Where Did Our Love Go?" and "Rethinking Valentine's Day", should be taken seriously. His very first line in Chapter 1 is, "Remember when Valentine's Day was fun?" He gives the same advice that I received from a college counselor nearly 30 years ago: basically, to expand one's definition of love beyond the narrow confines of romantic coupling. Similiar to the book Unplug the Christmas Machine, this book challenges the reader to recall the childhood enjoyment of the holiday and recognize when and how "it went wrong".

I supposed I have a love-hate relationship with V-Day, though I mostly love it. After reading I Hate Valentine's Day, you might teach yourself to love it, too, or keep hating the day--your choice.

The hilarious truth about Valentines Day.......2005-01-26

The perfect book for anyone who is a little cynical about Feb. 14th. Awesome present for college/young adult age. Madison tells it like it is about the horrible chocolate, the high expectations and those damn conversation hearts. Deffinetly something I will read every valentines day!

Average customer rating:

I Hate Valentine's Day

Manufacturer: POCKET BOOKS (SIMO)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GTHNVY

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Beaten to a Pulp Fiction

Skip this one unless you love the tabloids!

Mean-spirited hogwash

Barrel, Bottom Of

Laughable at best!!!!

The Secret Life of Humphrey Bogart: The Early Years (1899-1931)
Darwin Porter
Manufacturer: Georgia Literary Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Actors & Actresses | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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Bogart: In Search of My Father

ASIN: 0966803051

Book Description

This is the provocative story of young Bogart's offscreen odyssey during the early days of Talking Pictures. It's based on never-before-published memoirs, letters, diaries, and interviews from the women and men who loved him. It also contains revelations from former friends and lovers who wanted him to burn in hell. No wonder Bogie, during his later life, never wanted to talk about his early years.

Learn at last what was really beneath the trenchcoat of America's most famous male movie star. Bogart probably never told ANY of this to Bacall.

Customer Reviews:

Beaten to a Pulp Fiction.......2007-09-11

I stumbled upon this book with its extensive online excerpts while researching Eva Von Berne, a Viennese actress-model discovered by Irving Thalberg and Norma Shearer on their 1927 honeymoon. Miss Von Berne was brought to the U.S. and MGM publicists immediately began releasing press stories for fear they would repeat their earlier mistake of believing that little would become of another MGM import, Greta Garbo. But in this case the 17 year old Von Berne couldn't act and was slightly overweight (120 lbs.!) She was sent back to Europe on a boat where she made three more films before she passed away. The point being that she was only in the U.S. a short time, that it is unlikely that Thalberg would have been having sex with her on his honeymoon, and even less likely that Von Berne would have been around to commment on the Jean Harlow-Paul Bern nuptials since she died before the engagement was announced. Hollywood is FULL of people who like to trash stars - both dead and alive - and writers who believe these unreliable stories and use both the tellers of the tales and the dead celebrities to make money. This includes marginally more responsible writers who have axes to grind and want all stars to be ambisexual. I'm not suprised no one has sued him because doing so would give this book waaaaay more publicity than it deserves. Its a word version of the 1930's "Tijuana Bibles" that used the same content, only pictorially.

Skip this one unless you love the tabloids!.......2007-06-20

Totally agree with all the negative reviews about this book! I've gotten up to chapter 6, after about 2 weeks of reading, and I'm not sure I can go on. Porter barely talks about Bogie's early career except to say which costar he had his eye on. The detailed conversations included make me wonder if everyone in Hollywood was also wearing a wire besides sleeping with everyone. Even if this is based on part of the journals kept by MacKenna and others, no one I know writes in that much detail. Especially when they weren't there to witness the event in the first place. I'm torn between finishing this book to see if anything remotely interesting about Bogie's career is revealed, and my pride of always finishing a book I start, or just tossing it back onto the bookcase to await the next book drive at the YMCA. I wonder if it's took late to my money back? I feel dirty contributing my money to this kind of sleazy so-called biography. And to those who rated this 5 stars, did you copy your review straight from the book's back cover or the publisher's press release? If you're die hard fan of the supermarket tabloids and need some juicy gossip, filled with some soft core porn, then this book is for you. Otherwise, skip it!

Mean-spirited hogwash.......2007-05-24

That this trash is a hideous pack of lies is a given. Did it ever occur to this Porter imbecile that all the dead people he delights in lewdly slandering have descendents? How does he think THEY feel? Such gutless, tasteless lying to sell a couple of books. His lies about the great Glenda Farrell border on criminal. THERE OUGHT TO BE A LAW!!

Barrel, Bottom Of.......2007-02-22

I was given this book as a birthday treat from a wonderful young man who is a friend of recent standing. He is to be commended for knowing the kind of thing I like and supplying it under conditions of complete surprise. But alas, I come to bury Darwin Porter's book not to praise it.

I can't believe, first all, that Porter thinks he is fulfilling the sacred wishes of Kenneth McKenna (d. 1962) to have the whole truth about Bogart published. Why would that be anybody's dream? That's just hogwash. If McKenna actually left diaries or journals or whatever, let's have them deposited in a place of public record, a university or industry library, for all to read. Porter then says that he supplemented the information McKenna left with him, with a series of interviews with Joan Blondell, John Springer, Shirley Booth, Ruth Gordon, Louise Brooks, and Mae West, needless to say, not one of his sources is alive. He makes the often maligned Boze Hadleigh seem like he has the journalistic integrity of David Halberstam.

I am curious about George O'Brien and the care with which he polished, lubed and prettified his amazing, maneating orifice. Also the story of "Big Bill" Tilden having his way with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., when the latter was only 13. Truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction, but we're in Never Never Land here.

Laughable at best!!!!.......2006-01-25

I will issue this caveat,I am hardly homophobic and a very liberal person to say the least,that said:This book can only be looked at as a joke.It would seem Mr.Porter needed to write out a gay fantasy where everyone beds eachother regarldess of sex,and our characters inhabit a world where every male is well endowed,and they all know this because they (as Mr.Porter writes time and again)"did the obligatory pecker check while standing at the urinal".As other reviews have stated,this book has phoney dialogue that the author could never have been privy to and no bibliography to back it up.It's a bad game of sexual telephone at best,to be looked at as historical fiction for the Tom of Finland crowd.At worst,it's a lousy attempt to cash in on Bogart and the nostalgia of his day.It is no wonder no big publisher picked this up.And that not being for a lack of couth on the major publishers part,it is just that even if Mr.Porters claims could be backed up his juvenile prose still sinks this ungodly tome.Enjoy!!!!!!!

THE SECRET LIFE OF HUMPHREY BOGART: THE EARLY YEARS (1899-1931).

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THE SECRET LIFE OF HUMPHREY BOGART: THE EARLY YEARS (1899-1931).
Darwin. Porter
Manufacturer: Georgia Literary Associaition,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N76IAQ

Book Description

Mickey Katz (1909 - 1985), a Jewish comedian and musician, is best known for his parodies -- "Theme from Moulin Rouge (Where is My Heart)" became "Where is My Pants?", "(How Much is that) Doggie in the Window" became "Pickle in the Window" -- incorporating Yiddish words and accents. His very first English-Yiddish recording, "Haim afen Range," was an instant hit and he went on to record ninety singles and ten albums for RCA and Capitol. Father of performer Joel Grey and grandfather of actress Jennifer Grey, Mickey Katz's irreverent blend of Jewish story-telling, vaudeville routines, African-American jazz, Jewish klezmer and popular dance band music have had a lasting impact on American culture. In this rollicking autobiography, first published in 1977 and reissued here with a new introduction, the King of the Borscht Capades talks frankly about politics, music, family, identity and show business.

Customer Reviews:

Entertaining.......2003-11-01

Unlike previous reviewers here, I did not find this book either side-splitting or hilarious in any way. I never laughed out loud once. But I enjoyed the book because Mickey Katz came across as a warm person who cared deeply about his family, good music, and genuinely entertaining people in the manner they wished to be entertained. A conservative group would get a show tailored to them. A Las Vegas audience would get a show tailored to them. He was concerned for others always, especially his audiences. He always wanted them to get their money's worth.

I was raised to think of Mickey Katz just as a Jewish comedian. I had no idea he was such an accomplished musician and showman. But his pride in his own accomplishments was dwarfed by his pride in his children's accomplishments, pride that was equally split between his two sons, one being the actor Joel Gray and the other being one of the founders of Telecredit.

Mickey Katz was my father's cousin, and I must admit that I bought the book looking for clues to my own father's life. I got something different, but something good nonetheless.

If your taste runs to the heartwarming autobiography, this is it.

Side splitting funny ! ! !.......2002-07-16

Its great to see this book back in print... I must have read it over 18 years ago... it was hillarious then, and its just as funny now... I dare say almost as funny as those old 45's of his I grew up listening to. In fact, I'm happy that a "Greatest Hits" CD has been released, but it made me miss all those other 45s that I borrowed from my father's collection (and seem to have been borrowed back - - I can't find them !)

Mickey Katz was a brilliant story teller... the book is packed with jokes and anecdotes - - even a bit of off risque humor here and there... and you can almost hear him talking in that nasal half all American/half Yiddish accent.

Of course, someone had to bring it up to date... Josh Kun offers a "serious" and scholarly social commentary on the significance of Mickey Katz in Jewish society and American life. - - (Insightful, but Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....) once Mickey Katz steps in though, get ready for an incredible read... if you grew up in a traditional Jewish family, it'll bring back not only memories, but make you laugh your tookus off... and if you didn't... its still hillarious - - from stories of traditional Mexican musicians in Sombreros playing Klezmor when Mickey Katz's Yiddish parody of Tico Tico actually made him a Latin celebrity, to the story about the guy in the audience at the Jean Harlow show's with the rain coat who'd put on a show of his own...

Overall, this is one of those can't put down, laugh outloud books... (Wish he left some video footage behind... to the best of my knowledge he only appeared briefly in one film... playing clarinet for about 7 seconds in Thoroughly Modern Millie.)

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New York Times Sunday Crossword Omnibus, Volume 1 (NY Times)

Manufacturer: Random House Puzzles & Games
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crosswords | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0812936159
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Book Description

Edited by Will Weng, the book features two hundred Sunday-size crosswords from The New York Times magazine.

Book Description

Filled with smart tips given in the Fox signature style, counter- intuitive, controversial, and practiced, this hard-hitting collection of sales advice shows readers how to woo, pursue, and finally win any customer. In witty, succinct chapters, Fox offers surprising, daring, and totally practical wisdom that will help readers rise above the competition in any company in any field. A terrific resource for CEOs, as well as anyone looking to distinguish themselves in salesbe it books, cars, or real estateHow to Become a Rainmaker offers the opportunity to rise above the competition in any company, in any field.

Customer Reviews:

Simple and Effective.......2007-08-01

This is a simple book and very stupid one, But I am sure 90% of sales persons and business people do not even impliment these simple ideas.

Learn from Google Simplicity and its effectivness !

This book gives you simple ideas which they will bring you SALES easily.

Sales Manual.......2007-07-24

This book gives detailed guidance on how to sell. Not a fuzzy, rah-rah guide, like many are, but with pointed and specific directions. It emphasizes hard work, preparation, application and discipline as keys to being successful, a Rainmaker. Some of the do's and don'ts border minutia but the author conveys the directness of purpose every sales person should maintain. It focuses on industrial sales environments where return on investment and cost vs. value are measurable. It's an easy read and should be read by every sale person who wants to get ahead. Even if you don't obey all the rules, you can pick up useful tools.

Easy read, great ideas!.......2007-07-15

This is a very easy read chock full of terrific sales ideas and techniques. Even if you're an experienced salesperson, this book will help you remember some of the small, but excellent points to being a terrific salesperson.

Hone Your Craft!.......2007-05-02

Thank you Jeffery Fox for writing a short concise work that sales professionals can use as a reality check to focus their attention on the selling process. Rainmaker is something you can refer to for brief reminders about what you should be doing during the selling process. The book is also available as an unabridged audio book. It is a great tool for sales professionals who want to hone their craft. If you only buy the book for "The Rainmakers Credo" and "the Customer Does Not Care About You" you will have gotten value. This is not a 300-page in depth how to sell book. If your looking for that try Jeffrey Gitomer's "Sales Bible".

Rainmaker.......2006-11-05

A great review of or way to learn effective techniques for developing new business.

How to Become a Rainmaker: The Rules for Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients

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How to become a rainmaker

How to Become a Rainmaker: The Rules for Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients
Jeffrey J. Fox
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000NA226M

Customer Reviews:

How to become a rainmaker.......2007-08-18

Awesome. Simple. Lists to follow. Used just 3 of the 10 items that are suggested daily and had results. I logged on to Amazon to order 6 copies for clients/friends.. and found it was not available...

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How to Become a Rainmaker (The Rules for Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients)

Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 140130771X

Book Description

No one knows more about Osama bin Laden than Peter Bergen. In 1997, well before the West suddenly became aware of the world's most sought-after terrorist, Bergen met with him and has followed his activities ever since.

Today, years after President Bush swore to get him dead or alive and despite haunting the popular imagination since September 11, 2001, bin Laden remains shrouded in mystery and obscured by a barrage of facts, details and myths. With numerous never-before-published interviews, The Osama Bin Laden I Know provides unprecedented insight into bin Laden's life and character drawing on the experiences of his most intimate acquaintances. This timely and important work gives readers their first true, enduring look at the man who has declared the West his greatest enemy.

Customer Reviews:

Doug M........2007-08-30

I listened to this as an audio CD. This method would of course be better since writting verbatim the way people talk is always hard to read. Just read one of the speeches that Bush makes to see the difference.

An Introduction to Bin Laden.......2007-01-13

Peter Bergen is a journalist, so it is not surprising that this book is a collection of brief interviews or quotes rather than one long narrative. The interviews are arranged chronologically, with some comments by Bergen interspersed to make a more cohesive and readable book. Bergen has clearly done his homework, and this book provides the reader with a good understanding of who Bin Laden is and where he came from. Now if Bergen could just tell us where to find Bin Laden today . . .

osama.......2006-11-10

A good read. Learn all about osama,this is something the government think tanks, should have done. From a very rich family with a good name to the depths of evil. When you think of evil, think of osama and hitler in the same thought.

A Rather Unsatisfactory Bio of Bin Laden.......2006-10-14

Peter Bergen is a journalist well known for his knowledge of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. Here he presents an "oral" history by piecing together documents and interviews into what he considers a narrative whole. For the most part there is nothing new here that hasn't already been out in the public domain. And there is very little analysis. It is basically a group of documents strung together with commentary from Bergen.

For me, this style just doesn't work. It's not a very pleasant reading experience. And while the narrative hangs together well - Bergen would have been better off to write a narrative history of bin Laden with deeper analysis. That would have taken a bit more time and work to complete, but it would have served the reader much better.

Superb Context Shows How Clinton & Neo-Cons BOTH Fueled Islamic Violence.......2006-10-09

This is quite a superb composition of the statements of others about Bin Laden, interspersed with very credible observations and conclusion by Peter Bergen.

The book opens with a cast of characters and ends with a "where are they now" listing. It also provides a timeline, but a limitation of this book is that it focuses on Bin Laden alone.

I have a number of notes from this excellent book:

1) The 1967 war in which Israel won was vital in showing the Arabs that it was their own inept and corrupt regimes that were leaving the Zionists in power. Also this book, at the end, where the Sykes Picot 1916 agreement highlighted in the Lawrence of Arabia epic movie, is clearly identified by Bin Laden as the start of the current "crusade" against Islam.

2) Bin Laden was a shy and polite, very religious person with a good education--the classic revolutionary (contrary to conventional wisdom, the rebels are the smart ones that see through the facades).

3) The 1979 invasion by Saudi forces to recapture the Al Haram mosque radicalized Bin Laden, as did the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The writings of Egyptian Sayyid Qutb on Islam as a complete way of life, when COMBINED with the corrupt and often decadent lifestyles of the Saudi, Egyptian, and other Arab rules, were in tandem a foundation for the radicalization of youth across the region.

4) The Pakistani cleric Abdullah Azzam was a major influence and enabler for jihadists seeking to fight the Soviets by entering via Pakistan, and the clearly untold story, in this book or any other, is the deep and constant relations between the Pakistani intelligence service, the Taliban, and Bin Laden.

5) In Afghanistan the back story is Bin Laden the theocrat versus Massoud the tolerant secularist in the Northern Alliance.

6) Soviet invasion of Afghanistan produced 6 million refugees, half to Pakistan and half to Iran.

7) The open sources of information available on Bin Laden and anti-Israel and anti-us plans are legion, and the author is extremely effective in cataloging all of the overt information that the U.S. Intelligence Community simply ignored from 1988, when the Commandant of the Marine Corps and I first made terrorism, and the use of open sources to understand terrorism, a national issue.

8) In 1996 Jamal Al Fadl walked in to a US Embassy (probably Sudan) with plans for attacks on US by Bin Laden, and also in 1996 Bin Laden announced on CNN, ABC News and in Al Jazeera that he was declaring war on the US. My comment: in the US, only Steve Emerson ("American Jihad") and Yossef Bodansky "Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America") took the declaration seriously.

9) Clinton and Bush BOTH were happy to deal with the Taliban, and the Taliban understood that the Americans, regardless of party, wanted a pipeline from Caspian energy to Pakistan (rather naively assuming Pakistan would be able to protect it), as well as bases against China and Iran.

10) This book makes it clear that every time George W. Bush talks about them attacking us for our way of life he is simply demonstrating either his idiocy or his hypocrisy. Bin Laden, over and over and over again, has specified Israeli and US behaviors, actions, and policies as the basis for his challenge.

11) In 1998 US rebuked Taliban and Bin Laden raised the ante, also focusing on the jailed Sheikh Abdel Rahman, the only religious figure to have blessed Bin Laden's lay fatwa with a commanding fatwa of his own. This individual, in US custody, has inspired violence from 1981 onwards, and US appears to have not understood his potency.

12) Quote on page 211: Zawahiri was to Osama Bin Laden what Karl Rove is to the White House."

13) Bin Laden explicitly cites Nagasaki and Hiroshima as justifications for targeting US civilians. While the author of this book discounts Bin Laden's having nuclear suitcase bombs, he acknowledges that nuclear waste is easily acquired.

14) On 10 June 1998 ABC aired an exclusive interview with Bin Laden and introduced him as the wan who had declared war on the US. No one noticed. (Steve Emerson's PBS broadcast in 1994 also got blown off).

15) The book toasts the Clinton Administration for both incompetence at getting Bin Laden (but then, the Saudis tried to assassinate Bin Laden several times and also failed), and for lionizing Bin Laden with the Tomahawk missile strike (which another book I have reviewed says included several that did not explode and enriched Bin Laden with $10 million from their sale to the Chinese).

16) The author recounts Bin Laden's illnesses witnessed by others as being Soviet gas impact on breathing, back pain, low blood pressure, foot wound, and NOT kidney failure.

17) Al Qaeda started looking for WMD after they noticed US beating that drum, and probably got their first chemicals from Uzbeckistan.

18) First references to airplanes attacking buildings were in Egyptian press 12 Aug 00.

19) Cheney and Franks both lied to US public about Bin Laden not being at Tora Bora (see my reviews of "JAWBREAKER" and "First In").

20) Al Qaeda's general guidance to all is to first, cause the West pain, and second, seek to arouse all Muslims.

21) Iraq is teaching foreign fighters and Iraqis who will likely become foreign fighters elsewhere, how to use IEDs, suicide bombs, and urban warfare against the West elsewhere.

Bottom line: has we stayed in Afghanistan, and dropped Rangers on Bin Laden as he walked from Tora Bora to Pakistan, it would have been "game over," and even if we had not caught him, he would have been marginalized. The author concludes that everything the US has done, both in the Clinton and the current Administrations, has served to empower Bin Laden and inspire millions of others to support terrorism as a tactic against the Israel, the US, the West, and the corrupt Arab regimes.

The Osama Bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of Al Qaeda's Leader

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The Osama Bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of Al Qaeda's Leader

Manufacturer: Not Avail
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1419375873

Osama de cerca/ The Osama bin Laden I Know: Una Historia Oral Del Lider De Al-qaeda/ An Oral History of Al-Qaeda's Leader

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Osama de cerca/ The Osama bin Laden I Know: Una Historia Oral Del Lider De Al-qaeda/ An Oral History of Al-Qaeda's Leader
Peter L. Bergen
Manufacturer: Debate Editorial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Greg Walker has studied serious knife fighting under many of the modern masters of the art, and here he relates to you the most effective lessons to maximize your knife self-defense plan. Learn the four essentials of knife defense; the fine points of grip, mobility, range, and targets; the top knives; the best training books, videos and seminars; and more.

Customer Reviews:

Loads of "filler". . ........2006-09-20

In response to the two reviewers who only gave this book one star, I have to ask . . . did you actually READ it? I can understand feeling "ripped off" after purchasing an oversized hardcover, then finding it chock full of photos which have nothing to do with knifefighting (the author posing with other instructors, pictures of various knives, etc.) -- but intraspersed amongst all the "filler" is quite a bit of excellent advice . . . unfortunately, said advice could be reduced to about 5 pages.

Like I said, good advice from a well-respected authority on the subject, but an uniformed purchaser might be disappointed. A collector, however, will consider this text essential.

Save your money.......2002-05-10

Don't be fooled by the title of this book or even the description under "Editorial Reviews" above. There's no knife fighting instruction to be found on its pages; instead, you get to see countless pictures of the author with well-known teachers of the bladed arts (as in "look how well-connected I am"). A better buy would be Michael Janich's "Knife Fighting: A Practical Course", or Hochheim's "Knife Fighting Encyclopedia".

WHAT A WASTE.......2001-12-26

this book stinks, it had absolutely no point to it what so ever. the plot just rambled on forever. the main character never had any growth throughout the book. he never mentioned any other characters, except for maybe "fig. A & B". the author never changed the plot or changed the direction of the characters purpose. my four-year old sister could have written a more entertaining novel than this. although it was extremely dull and boring, dry in all aspects of humor and adventure, it did have a great tutorial in modern knife combat. if your looking for a great scientific novel, don't get this book.

Excellent design, poor in contents.......1999-06-28

This book has a lot of interesting photos, but lacks in real techiniques or traning hints (the traning target construction apart). The author explains only few basis and some philosophy of the knife fighter. By the way i suggest this book to whom are really beginner in knife fighting.

All knife fighters must read this book!.......1998-09-13

In this book, Mr. Walker,editor of Fighting Knives magazine, shows different teaching methods of knife fighting of grandmasters in Kung Fu, Kali and other martial arts, and military training of U.S.Army, Navy (SEALs) and Marines in knife fighting.

Book Description

On the morning of September 12, 2001, America had the love and support of the world. It was a unique moment, when the United States might have mobilized a worldwide movement of nations and peoples in a genuine effort to fight terrorism. That did not happen. Instead the world became a more dangerous place— not because of terrorist attacks—but because the Bush administration went on a kind of foreign policy rampage. Rogue State tells the story of how Bush and those around him squandered the goodwill of the world, insulted America's allies, lost the respect of developing nations, and unleashed a new era of danger and instability in international affairs in the course of an unelected president's single-minded drive to launch an unneeded war in Iraq. Allman fits the Bush administration's Iraq obsession into the pattern of its wider campaign of alienation and destabilization. From its scorn for worldwide efforts to ban torture and chemical weapons, its refusal to ratify the Kyoto accords, to its own North Korea–like repudiation of the nuclear test ban treaty, and its sabotaging of attempts to make international crimes against humanity punishable offenses, Allman portrays a U.S. presidency in an exasperated, and increasingly frightened world.

Customer Reviews:

enjoyable political rant.......2005-01-01

If you hate W., you'll like the book. He really nails Bush for failures in Afghanistan and Iraq. Still, I wanted more. What about the administration's policy of torturing prisoners? What about the abuse of civil liberties in the name of the Patriot Act? What about the Saudi connection? What about the slide of the U.S. dollar, the crushing deficits, the outsourcing of U.S. jobs, huge tax cuts for the wealthy, the influence of big oil and coal?

It Makes Laugh, then Cry for America.......2004-09-19

"Life is a comedy for those who think, a tragedy for those who feel," New Yorker and Rolling Stone correspondent T.D. Allman writes at the beginning of this book.

He's referring to the Bush administration, but ROGUE STATE has the same effect on the honest reader. There is something very funny about what's happened to America over the last four years, until you stop to think about it.

Allman does a lot of thinking in this book. You will too -- especially if you go beyond his white-hot denunciation of Bush and his coterie to the historical, analytical and philosophical parts of this book.

The chapter "Systemic Dysfunction in America" is particularly important reading for anyone who thinks the present state of affairs is more or less normal. Other chapters -- notably the chapters on Dick Cheney and Tony Blair -- will make you laugh, but the final chapter of this book, "Unnecessary Evil" is as chilling an indictment of George W. Bush and those who support and tolerate him as anything in print today.

A truly mixed work..........2004-08-28

Veteran journalist T. D. Allman attacks the Bush administration's ideology, actions, and very legitimacy in this fierce critique of its first term. While a powerful and passionate work, it has its failings and ultimately fails to impress.

"Rogue State" begins by analyzing what Bush's "theft" of the 2000 presidential election. For Allman, the case is clear: the Nixon-appointed Chief Justice, political hack and noted racist William Rehnquist disregarded democracy and acted in blatantly partisan ways to bring about Bush's presidential victory. However, the case really is not so clear, and while Allman scores well on certain points, he also stumbles badly on others. For example, when discussing the 1876 election, he focuses entirely on the partisan line vote (and tie-breaking vote of the Chief Justice of that time) of the Congressional-appointed Electoral Commission. He completely omits that this election took place in the midst of Reconstruction. Historically, comparing 1876 to 2000 is like comparing apples and oranges, and in trying to make the 2000 election seem like a clear-cut theft with historical parallels, he only misleads his readers and insults those of us who might be better educated about American history than he supposes we might be. He also makes much of the supposed unconstitutionality of the Bush-Cheney ticket (the Constitution forbids both electors to vote for two candidates from the same state). However, I would place the blame for allowing this to fly on cowardly Democrats making only a token effort at blocking Cheney's candidacy through the courts. In fact, they could have raised this issue again in 2004, but did not. In our system, it is up to the political opposition to make things like that stick.

He goes on to mock what he sees as the perversity of Bush's choice of Dick Cheney as vice-president, dismissing him as a hatchetman, and cataloguing both Cheney's and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's "acquisition of unelected power and money." Once again, Allman scores heavily but also stumbles badly. He invests a great deal of capital in portraying Cheney as accumulating vast unelected power. However, he fails to reconcile this with the middle of Cheney's career as the sole Representative of the state of Wyoming. He tries to make Cheney's never seeking elective office again sinister, but who can characterize campaigning on a Presidential ticket as not seeking elective office? Moreover, after being Secretary of Defense, Cheney was supposed to return to being a mere Representative in the House? Run for Governor of Wyoming? Wait for a chance to become the junior Senator from Wyoming? Allman's description fits Rumsfeld very well, but Cheney barely at all.

The book is littered with mixed results. He characterizes rogues like Wolfowitz and Perle very well, but once again stumbles badly on Condoleeza Rice. He dismisses her as an intellectual lightweight, but offers no substance to back up that characterization. If I personally know of Rice as a medicore intellect, it is because numerous friends of mine experienced her firsthand at Denver University and Standford. I do not know of it because of Allman's book, and by failing to back up his invective on this point he can only generate sympathy for the open-minded and critical-aware reader.

Allman is very on target when he analyzes the Bush Administration's political strategy as being one wedge issue after another, including in foreign policy. He has enough insight to see that the Bush Administration is not alienating most of our traditional allies accidentally in pursuit of their goals, as some commentators think: alienating them in the name of unilateralism IS one of their goals. However, the principle problem with his book is that it is halfway to being the leftist version of a book by Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. It is full of hatred, anger and contempt, and is often not entirely truthful.

The great power of Democratic or leftist propaganda books is that they are very often both solidly factual and very funny. Being based solidly on fact makes them hard or impossible to refute on the issues. Being funny makes them approachable and attractive to the unconverted. The only people who enjoy tracts like Allman's are people who already agree with him, and it is perhaps a good thing that this book has not received more attention. I am sure Al Franken, Mike Moore, and maybe even Paul Begala would be bludgeoned with it whenever they appeared at an author's event. I hate Bush as much as the next guy, but this book does the cause no service whatsoever. Thankfully, it also does not seem to have done it any harm.

Verdict on Bush and Cheney.......2004-03-16

If you have been looking for a book that thoroughly investigates the actions of the Bush-Cheney administration, this is it.

I laughed and learned a lot from this book.

The main thing I learned is that we need a new president -- and soon!

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The Birdwatcher's Book of Lists: 23 Lists for Recreation and Recordkeeping (Eastern Region)
Lester L. Short
Manufacturer: Longmeadow Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0681414774

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