The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America: Where to Find Fresh Air, Creative People, and Affordable Living

Book Description

The first of the many Paranoia scenario packs scheduled, this is a large scenario book allowing games masters to run their players through adventures created by the devious minds of the original Paranoia designers.

Book Description

The Wicked Wit of William Shakespeare is a collection of some of the finest examples of Shakespeare's wit, insight, language and the ironic perceptions of his characters. With a detailed introduction to Shakespeare's life and work, as well as a running commentary, this beautifully produced book is a must for all lovers of the 'Immortal Bard'.

Customer Reviews:

Does Shakespeare really need this?.......2007-09-09

It is always nice to see passages of Shakespeare. It is always nice to meet familiar lines and to come upon striking new ones.
Yet there is a problem with an anthology of this kind, for in taking the quotations out of context one deprives them of their richness in meaning. There is another sin here, and that is taking passages which have come down to us as complete units such as the famous 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ' speech of Macbeth, and abbreviating them chopping them up so that their full force is lost.
This book can be enjoyed because it does have the incomparable Shakespeare in it. But it is not really true to the work as it was written.

The Wicked Wit of William Shakespeare: 427 Quotes, Excerpts, and Passages

Average customer rating:

The Wicked Wit of William Shakespeare: 427 Quotes, Excerpts, and Passages

Manufacturer: Gramercy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Quotations | Reference | Subjects | Books

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Quotations | Reference | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0517229374
Release Date: 2007-07-03

Book Description

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.
–Touchstone, As You Like It

Messenger: I see, lady, the gentleman is not in your books.
Beatrice: No, an he were, I would burn my study
–Much Ado About Nothing

’Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers.
–Second Servant, Romeo and Juliet

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances.
–Jacques, As You Like It

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
–Puck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Men of few words are the best men.
–Boy, King Henry IV

From one of the finest writers in history comes this superb collection of quotes, excerpts, and passages. THE WICKED WIT OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE is full of deliciously wicked quips and banter, embracing not just humor and comedy, but also great tragic speeches whose wit lies in the genius of their language.
Known throughout the world and translated into innumerable languages, Shakespeare’s plays are as eloquent and relevant today as they were when they were written more than four hundred years ago. With his unrivalled ability for the dramatist’s art, his mastery of language, the wisdom of his philosophy, and his superlative understanding of human nature, Shakespeare has fired the imaginations of millions–poets, painters, novelists, dramatists, composers, choreographers, and film-makers–and continues to do so.
THE WICKED WIT OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE begins with a detailed introduction to Shakespeare’s life and works, and includes notes on the entries within. The quotes are divided into sections such as Drink and Food; Learning, Wisdom, and Wit; Insults and Abuse; Poverty and Riches; and Men, Women, Love, and Marriage. At the end of the book is a list of Shakespeare’s works.
Funny, poignant, witty, and wise, the quotes and passages included in this book will bring a smile to those who love Shakespeare’s works, as well as anyone who is interested in exploring them for the first time.

Book Description

Stephen Walker is a neurotic British filmmaker with a mixed track record and a great idea: to give audiences a peek inside the world of filmmaking by documenting the madcap adventures of four fledgling directors at the annual Cannes Film Festival. Walker's cast of Cannes hopefuls includes an unknown American with a full entourage, a Rastafarian who hijacks a phone booth to use as his office, a first-time French director with a film in the official competition, and a London cabbie who drives to Cannes in a van emblazoned with a giant marijuana leaf, hoping to raise money for his film called Amsterdam. Walker himself plays a starring role in this wild romp, always near a breakdown as he tries to film these four in their determined, and sometimes lunatic, quests to be discovered.

Customer Reviews:

LUSTY, OUTRAGEOUS AND THOROUGHLY AMUSING.......2005-05-05

If you're a film buff with a "Saturday Night Live" kind of humor, King of Cannes is the book for you. This lusty tale of an outrageous wannabe film maker fairly explodes with wisecracks, double entendres, and anatomical references.

Related in diary form, these are the angst loaded revelations of Stephen Walker, a British film maker who gives added meaning to neuroses and is obsessed with not only going to but making a splash at the Cannes Film Festival.

Walker wants to make it big with a documentary. He attributes this drive to his "mum," a mother who "brought him up in a house of locked doors. The downstairs loo was always locked. If my mother was in the kitchen, she'd lock the door to her bedroom."

Well, you get the picture.

Just why restricted access to the rooms in his house spawned an interest in documentaries remains unexplained.

There is much in King Of Cannes that remains unexplained, but it is often hilarious as Walker bamboozles a backer into investing cash in a proposed film. Walker's intention is to document the experiences of four unknown but ambitious film makers who will stop at nothing to succeed at Cannes. He wants "the most dangerous, the most unhinged, the most daring, the ones who kill their grannies to get their movies made or sold."

With no performers, no story and 74 days until Cannes, Walker's quest for inspiration and cast members takes him to the Berlin Film Festival, which he finds as appealing as a brick shopping center and the films shown less than interesting - bizarre but uninteresting.

Dublin's Film Festival is also unrewarding, but the pubs are warm and friendly.

Walker's road to Cannes is more than rocky, but once there he is surrounded by total lunacy. He participates in meetings that resemble The Mad Hatter's Tea Party, discovers which pavilions have free booze or gratis Ray-Bans, and finds an indescribable cast of characters. There is Zonca, a French director, the "next Truffaut," who takes ten minutes to mount the twenty-two red carpeted steps to the entrance of the Palais as he savors his "orgy of adulation."

Of course, there are Brits, such as the creative group who motor to Cannes in a van decorated with a mammoth marijuana leaf. Their hope is to find funding for a film titled "Amsterdam." Another Englishman commandeers a vacant phone booth for his office.

An Oxford graduate and film director, Walker lives in London. In reality, he has just completed a documentary on Cannes, "Waiting For Harvey."

He writes, "I'm waiting for Harvey Weinstein to buy the rights so I can make the movie of the book of the movie. Who knows? Maybe I'll get to Cannes."

If he does, it is hoped that he'll keep a diary.

Hilarious and Insightful.......2004-02-01

I found this book randomly in my local library, and being fascinated by the film industry I decided to give it a go. So glad I did. Clever and colorful, this book details the logistics and lunacy of aspiring filmakers running the gauntlet that is Cannes. I was inspired and touched by the subjects, awed and entertained by their tenacity and turmoil, and laughing throughout. A great read for anyone even remotely interested in the movie biz

'Frankly' dishonest.......2003-10-03

While often amusing, documentary maker Stephen Walker's account of his attempted manipulation of a handful of filmmakers at the Cannes Film Festival is ultimately a fundamentally dishonest book. Despite making a memorable if over-directed 'Everyman' documentary on veterans of the Somme, the author proved hopelessly out of his depth when faced with an industry that failed to conform to his often facile preconceptions. Walker set out to mock a group of hopefuls trying to launch their careers for comic effect, only to be occasionally frustrated in his attempts to manoeuvre them into stereotypical situations by (most of) the filmmakers' inherent professionalism and dignity. Absurdly uninformed on his subject and held in growing contempt by his own production team, he cut one duo of filmmakers out of the programme because, to his dismay, they had a successful series of meetings, only to be blown out himself by another who turned out to be a major award winner who saw through him in moments.

While often telling stories against himself and stressing his own inadequacies as a documentarian (he makes no bones about not knowing the first thing about his subject), it's often to cover up worse transgressions. In the resulting TV documentary, 'Waiting for Harvey,' one of his 'victims' produced a video tape shot before their meeting detailing exactly how Walker was going to try to get easy laughs out of his attempts to sell his feature, hitting the nail on the head with astonishing accuracy, but whereas Walker admits to all kinds of minor offences, you'll find no mention of his unmasking here - maybe his ego couldn't handle it.

It's an easy, gossipy read, but don't mistake it for the truth.

King of the Cannes a gem of a book.......2001-04-22

This book was fabuously written. It brings together the work and comedy element of the Cannesfilm festival and the characters portrayed within. I laughed all the way through.

Warning: this book is not canned!.......2000-05-22

A lot of supposedly funny books are tiresome because their authors are trying so hard to be funny, but this book is not one of them. Stephen Walker has written a really funny book because he knows how to put what's funny in front of you and then get out of the way. He has a great sense of timing and an ear for the spoken word but his book isn't just about all the wild stuff that happens during the making of his documentary. Walker is willing to show you himself making a fool of himself, the traditional soul of comedy, but he does more than play the clown. You see the drive of the documentary filmmaker in his need to understand what's going on inside the heads of the filmmakers he's filming. His connection to his filmmaker-subjects is a tilt-a-whirl checkerboard of empathy and distance. The troubles he runs into are funny, awful, pathetic, outrageous, goofy, tragic, stupid, dumb, hilarious. I like Walker because he doesn't force anything. The things he finally doesn't understand are allowed to remain as rough and puzzling as they really are. It's definitely a funny book, a really funny book--because the tears are as real as the laughs. So what I'm saying already is buy the book, Walker should laugh all the way to the bank.

King of Cannes - Madness, Mayhem, and the Movies - by Stephen Walker

Average customer rating:

King of Cannes - Madness, Mayhem, and the Movies - by Stephen Walker
Stephen Walker
Manufacturer: Algonquin Books Of Chapel Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KLLJG8

Average customer rating:

A LUSTY TALE OF AN OUTRAGEOUS WANNABE
Hilarious and Insightful
'Frankly' dishonest

King of Cannes : Madness, Mayhem, and the Movies
Stephen Walker
Manufacturer: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Sports & Entertainment | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0099409895

Customer Reviews:

A LUSTY TALE OF AN OUTRAGEOUS WANNABE.......2005-12-31

If you're a film buff with a "Saturday Night Live" kind of humor, King of Cannes is the book for you. This lusty tale of an outrageous wannabe film maker fairly explodes with wisecracks, double entendres, and anatomical references.

Related in diary form, these are the angst loaded revelations of Stephen Walker, a British film maker who gives added meaning to neuroses and is obsessed with not only going to but making a splash at the Cannes Film Festival.

Walker wants to make it big with a documentary. He attributes this drive to his "mum," a mother who "brought him up in a house of locked doors. The downstairs loo was always locked. If my mother was in the kitchen, she'd lock the door to her bedroom."

Well, you get the picture.

Just why restricted access to the rooms in his house spawned an interest in documentaries remains unexplained.

There is much in King Of Cannes that remains unexplained, but it is often hilarious as Walker bamboozles a backer into investing cash in a proposed film. Walker's intention is to document the experiences of four unknown but ambitious film makers who will stop at nothing to succeed at Cannes. He wants "the most dangerous, the most unhinged, the most daring, the ones who kill their grannies to get their movies made or sold."

With no performers, no story and 74 days until Cannes, Walker's quest for inspiration and cast members takes him to the Berlin Film Festival, which he finds as appealing as a brick shopping center and the films shown less than interesting - bizarre but uninteresting.

Dublin's Film Festival is also unrewarding, but the pubs are warm and friendly.

Walker's road to Cannes is more than rocky, but once there he is surrounded by total lunacy. He participates in meetings that resemble The Mad Hatter's Tea Party, discovers which pavilions have free booze or gratis Ray-Bans, and finds an indescribable cast of characters. There is Zonca, a French director, the "next Truffaut," who takes ten minutes to mount the twenty-two red carpeted steps to the entrance of the Palais as he savors his "orgy of adulation."

Of course, there are Brits, such as the creative group who motor to Cannes in a van decorated with a mammoth marijuana leaf. Their hope is to find funding for a film titled "Amsterdam." Another Englishman commandeers a vacant phone booth for his office.

An Oxford graduate and film director, Walker lives in London. In reality, he has completed a documentary on Cannes, "Waiting For Harvey."

He writes, "I'm waiting for Harvey Weinstein to buy the rights so I can make the movie of the book of the movie. Who knows? Maybe I'll get to Cannes."

If he does, it is hoped that he'll keep a diary.

- Gail Cooke

Hilarious and Insightful.......2004-01-31

'Frankly' dishonest.......2003-10-03

It's an easy, gossipy read, but don't mistake it for the truth.

Average customer rating:
King of Cannes Madness, Mayhem, and the Movies
Stephen Walker
Manufacturer: Algonquin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0QQFO

Average customer rating:
Hampton Hawes Collection: Piano (Piano Transcriptions)
Hampton Hawes
Manufacturer: Hal Leonard Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

Raise Up Off Me: A Portrait of Hampton Hawes

The Cyrus Chestnut Collection

Monty Alexander Plays Standards

The Very Best of Oscar Peterson: Piano Artist Transcriptions

ASIN: 0634000039

Book Description

A purveyor of tasty hard bop, pianist Hampton Hawes was a stand out of the 1950s Los Angeles jazz scene. This folio in our Artist Transcriptions series features his renditions of 8 fantastic standards: All the Things You Are * Autumn in New York * Body and Soul * Easy Living * Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) * I Remember You * Lover, Come Back to Me * Stella by Starlight. Also includes a biography and a discography.

Average customer rating:
The Great Bridge Scandal: The Most Famous Cheating Case in the History of the Game
Alan F. Truscott
Manufacturer: Master Point Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Bridge | Card Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Argentina | South America | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Story of an Accusation

The New York Times Bridge Book: An Anecdotal History of the Development, Personalities, and Strategies of the World's Most Popular Card Game (New York Times Bridge Series)

The Bridge Bum: My Life and Play

ASIN: 1894154673

Average customer rating:

An Entertaining WallStreet Novel !

Tony Soprano meets the S&P 500 pit!

A Good Read - Enjoyable, entertaining, and encouraging

The most entertaining book I've read since Liar's Poker

Beware of superbookdeals seller

Pit Bull: Lessons from Wall Street's Champion Day Trader
Martin Schwartz
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Business | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Futures | Investing | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Investing | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Business Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders

Trader Vic--Methods of a Wall Street Master

The New Market Wizards: Conversations with America's Top Traders

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (Wiley Investment Classics)

Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline and a Winning Attitude

ASIN: 0887309569

Book Description

Welcome to the world of Martin "Buzzy" Schwartz, Champion Trader--the man whose nerves of steel and killer instinct in the canyons of Wall Street earned him the well-deserved name "Pit Bull." This is the true story of how Schwartz became the best of the best, of the people and places he discovered along the way and of the trader's tricks and techniques he used to make his millions.

Customer Reviews:

An Entertaining WallStreet Novel !.......2007-07-13

I think some previous reviewer mentioned this way back. On the back of the book it says "Buzzy Schwartz is a winner, we know because we clear for him. All else is nonsense."

I totally agree, its what it says. It's just entertainment for a reader of a winning trader and a lot of nonsense. On average 70% of the trader's do loose money, 18% breakeven and 11% are winners.
You can read more about Buzzy Schwartz in this book entitled "Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders" by Jack D. Schwager

Tony Soprano meets the S&P 500 pit!.......2007-04-09

I happened upon this book in a used bookstore, and bought it on a whim. All the way thru the book (read practically in one sitting), I kept thinking of how I was reading the story of Tony Soprano in his life as a day trader! Humerous, silly, engaging, challenging, stressful, vain, self-aggrandizing, amd more. I couldn't put it down, and I doubt you will want to either!

A Good Read - Enjoyable, entertaining, and encouraging.......2007-02-28

As other reviewers have noted, this is not a technical "how-to" type of book. However, it gives unique insight into the psychology of someone who has succeeded in a game where in the end, psychology more than anything else divides the winners from the losers, and the losers from their money.

The most entertaining book I've read since Liar's Poker.......2006-07-25

I had to give this book 5 stars. It is so entertaining at times I was laughing and other times introspective...just like the author.

Buzzy Schwartz must be considered one of the greatest traders of our time and this book is more of an autobiography than a trading manual. He never divulges his trading methodology nor how he turned from being a mediocre break even trader to the star he became.

He references various indicators he uses but with no explanations and curiously credits Terry Laundry's T theory for his turnaround because " it went back to who I was as a person ". The T Theory is then left to you to figure out (Which I can't).

The best thing I can say about his methodology is that it is uniquely his. All of us need to find what best fits our trading style and apply it...there is no one size fits all in trading.

Towards the end of the book it becomes very clear that Buzzy has become weary of the toll that trading has taken on his life ( he wound up in the hospital and almost died) yet still can't seem to get the trading bug out of his system ( he places a trade while in the doctors office).

All in all one of my favorite books, not for its trading methods but for its entertainment value.

Beware of superbookdeals seller.......2006-06-19

If you want to buy the book, go ahead, just be careful of superbookdeals, they take your money but don't deliver and don't answer emails. Caveat Emptor.

Average customer rating:

Marion is my favorite !!

Well Written

Gives a good idea about residency

Tedious at times but still a good and quick read

Making of a Doctor

The Intern Blues: The Timeless Classic About the Making of a Doctor
Robert Marion
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Medical | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Guides | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Education & Training | Medicine | Subjects | Books
Philosophy & Social Aspects | Education Theory | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The House of God: The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital

On Call: A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency

Becoming a Doctor: A Journey of Initiation in Medical School

Kill As Few Patients As Possible

First, Do No Harm

ASIN: 0060937092
Release Date: 2001-08-21

Book Description

While supervising a small group of interns at a major New York medical center, Dr. Robert Marion asked three of them to keep a careful diary over the course of a year. Andy, Mark, and Amy vividly describe their real-life lessons in treating very sick children; confronting child abuse and the awful human impact of the AIDS epidemic; skirting the indifference of the hospital bureaucracy; and overcoming their own fears, insecurities, and constant fatigue. Their stories are harrowing and often funny; their personal triumph is unforgettable.

This updated edition of The Intern Blues includes a new preface from the author discussing the status of medical training in America today and a new afterword updating the reader on the lives of the three young interns who first shared their stories with readers more than a decade ago.

Customer Reviews:

Marion is my favorite !!.......2007-05-25

Another book by Marion that is an easy read and really tells the whole story behind becoming a doctor. There are several interns that tell their story through internship. Great book if you are interested in the meidcal field.

Well Written.......2007-02-08

I served a nine-month rotating internship at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver Colorado. Having done much of my training at Tulane Medical Center, I decided I wanted to be in a Louisiana public hospital for my residency. I returned to New Orleans and completed my internship and residency at Charity.
Although the internships in the book took place at large New York City hospitals, like Charity they both primarily serve medically indigent populations.
The emotional struggles (combined with the organizational conflicts) described in the book hit home. These individual stories highlight the common thread of experience shared by all physician's who refined their skills in public ERs.

Gives a good idea about residency.......2007-01-26

This book is not intended to be entertaining, it's meant to portray the hard year of internship. But somehow, it still manages to be a good read. For someone who wants to get an idea about what it's like to take call every fourth night and get very little sleep, dealing with life and death in a very difficult arena, it is a nice start. The book is composed of transcribed audio recordings from the interns on their experiences.

I'm not going to lie. They whine a lot. If you don't have the patience for that or don't like to be unloaded upon, this may not be the book for you. And it can be depressing, and droning, and hard to read. What keeps you going is the urge to know what becomes of these interns.

They're actually pretty entertaining themselves. The two guys, Mark and Andy, have a great sarcastic sense of humor that keeps the book afloat and that the young woman and new mother, Amy, lacks. Her chapters move the slowest.

While it isn't the most optimistic in the world (One of Mark's excerpts reads, "There was a point there where I swear I was this close to taking all the charts, throwing them out the window, and saying 'Forget it! I'm sorry I ever applied to medical school! I never really wanted to be a doctor anyway!') and advises against the intern-to-be reading, it is ultimately a satisfying and honest account, without any processing or gloss. It is gritty, and it is real, from nights in the Bronx's Jonas Bronck ER to the intern's personal lives. They're young and inexpirienced doctors without yet the trademark sense of entitlement and confidence. We watch as they grow into their white coat.

Tedious at times but still a good and quick read.......2006-12-31

I agree with some reviewers that the book is tedious at times and pleasant and entailing at others. I also agree with the author that the experiences in this book are not unique. The book is written in a journal style summarizing each of the three interns' own 'tape-recorded' account of their stories on a month by month basis. Hence, at times you may think the book is not very well structured or written because the whole book really seems like a word-for-word retyping of what each intern said to their tape recorder.

It's tedious because so many times the reader (me in specific) gets aggrevated with a constant "same old, same old" coming from the interns. Pretty much, every month the interns complain about exactly the same thing: long and dehumanizing hours, lack of sleep, lack of social contact with other peers (Amy keeps on talking about her daughter all the time, which also gets frustrating after a while). What makes the book interesting, though, are some of the stories that the interns manage to describe in between all the complaining: stories about a mother of a patient trying to kill an intern because she thought the intern molested the little infant by doing a straight catheterization (actually that was the author's story). But nonetheless, plenty of very interesting experiences.

Also, what's nice about the book is that you get a perspective from both males and a female, interns with no kids and a kid. Unfortunately no experiences from completely single interns, but Mark comes close.

One thing I didn't like about the stories, but got used to it, was that some aren't explained to the end. They stop as if in the middle of the most interesting moment where you want to know more as to what happened to the patient. That's because once these interns sign the patient out to another unit they lose contact with that patient and only rarely follow up. You realize soon that this book isn't about the medical diagnosis and treatments but about the experiences, fears, anxiety, and emotional dilemmas these interns must go through to survive.

Overall, I liked it quite a bit and still recommend it. But don't read it if you're (for example) a fourth year med student who is easily disturbed and already frightened about the internship. Reading it might only stress you more.

Making of a Doctor.......2006-11-06

This book is simply funny. I bought the book to help me in my mid-career crisis. I am currently and Emergency Department nurse and I was feeling bored in my job. After reading this book I had to laugh and appreciate the views of the interns. Interns in the ER are funny and procedure crazy. The "pain and Agony" each of them experiences is very descriptive. If you are looking into a career in medicine it is definitely a must read. I realized that I can't see myself taking a step back and doing "scut" and re-learning a new frame of mind. The plus side though, when a new intern is the area I make sure I help them out. I recommend this book for anyone.

The Intern Blues : The Timeless Classic About the Making of a Doctor

Average customer rating:

The Intern Blues : The Timeless Classic About the Making of a Doctor
Robert Marion
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEWCHQ

Book Description

This book is the first to focus on the work of nearly 600 sisters from 12 different Catholic orders who nursed wounded and sick Union and Confederate soldiers between 1860 and 1865. Drawing on archival sources and the personal papers of the women who participated, Maher gives a detailed account of their experiences: how they were called into service, where they served, what duties they performed, how they looked on their mission, and how they were viewed by those who worked with them. Through service on the battlefield, in hospitals, and on transport boats, the sisters became known for their dedication and practical skills. Maher begins with a dicussion of Catholic sisters in mid-nineteenth century America and the development of Catholic nursing during that period. While other women were prohibited by custom from nursing outside the home, Catholic sisters had established the practice of caring for the sick in the community and providing nursing care during epidemics and other public crises. During the Civil War, their assistance was sought by Union and Confederate governmental, military, and medical authorities. Through service on the battlefield, in hospitals, and on transport boats, the sisters became known for their dedication and practical skills. Maher examines the impact of their work in both modifying negative pre-Civil War attitudes towards Catholics and sisters and in paving the way for the development of a nursing profession outside the Catholic orders. Basing her study on letters, journals, and memoirs containing the sisters' personal accounts of their experiences, Civil War histories, and official medical and surgical records, Maher offers a richly detailed picture of a little-known aspect of U.S. history. Of particular interest for schools of nursing, Catholic educational institutions, and history courses concerning women's studies, the Civil War period, religion, and Catholicism.

Customer Reviews:

Excellently Researched.......2001-12-31

After reading Gerard Patterson's 'Debris of Battle' and Robert E. Denney's 'Civil War Medicine', I was left yearning for more information on the role of Catholic Sisters in nursing during the Civil War. Sister Mary Denis has done an outstanding research job, not just with the history of their nursing, as well as otherlay female nursing during the Civil War, but also with popular opinion of Catholics and nuns, and why the Sisters were so uniquely positioned to be of such value. A welcome book on a subject too long ignored.

Book Description

As Irene Rubin has shown convincingly in past editions, public budgeting is inherently political. Short-term partisan goals overrun long-term public interest and democratic processes, eroding institutional and public capacity to address collective problems. By presenting federal, state, and local budgeting within a comparative framework, Rubin's classic text gives explicit attention to issues of federalism, always sensitive to the power struggles between the different branches and levels of government. How much control is exerted from above and what degree of autonomy can be found at each level of government? What kind of influence do elected officials wield over government priorities? How do we resolve the tension between patronage, pork, and tax breaks necessary for reelection and the requirements of balance, technical efficiency, and prioritization?

Analyzing each strand of the decision-making process, Rubin shows the extraordinary coordination involved in passing a budget and achieving some level of accountability. By moving beyond the simplistic and rigid "executive proposal and legislative disposal" cycle other books follow, Rubin explores shifts in power over time and explains decisions that do not always flow in a linear fashion.

A thorough revision at every turn, updates include:

the return to massive deficits at the federal level, requiring more attention on the relationship between budget process and outcomes
the resurgence of secrecy in recent years, looking at how and why the level of transparency decreases at some times and increases at others the implications of 9/11, exploring the impact of funding wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
the difficulty of getting Inspectors General sufficient independence and cooperation to implement their work, showing how these officials are "straddling a barbed wire fence"
over twenty new minicase studies

Customer Reviews:

Real-time Budgeting View.......2002-12-20

Those of you who read Aaron Wildavsky's (1979) "Politics of the Budgetary Process" know the big debate over public budgeting between those who believe public budgeting process is politically incremental and, therefore, who focus mainly on the individual actors and their strategies, and those who propose a more comprehensive and global outlook that focus on dynamics in the larger environment, which subsequently affect and shape how individual actors behave and respond to episodes.

Rather than approaching public budgeting from the narrow perspective of incremental view of public budgeting, which sees budgeting as negotiations among a group of routine actors, bureaucrats, budget officials, chief executives, and legislators, who meet each year and bargain to resolution, in "The Politics of Public Budgeting" Rubin (2000) develops what she calls "real-time budgeting" perspective, which refers to the continual adjustment of decisions in each stream to decisions and information coming from other streams and from the environment. Streams include:

The Revenue Cluster: Revenue decisions include technical estimates of how much income will be available for the following year, assuming no change in the tax structures, and policy decisions about changes in the level or type of taxation. Will taxes be raised or lowered? Will tax breaks be granted, and if so, to whom, for what purpose. Which tax sources will be emphasized, which de-emphasized, with what effect on regions and economic classes, or on age groups?

The Budget Process Cluster: The process cluster concerns how to make budget decisions. Who should participate in the budget deliberations? How influential should interest groups be? How much power should the legislature have? How should the work be divided, and when should particular decisions be made?

The Expenditure Cluster: The expenditure cluster involves some technical estimates of likely expenditures such as for grants that are dependent on formulas and benefit programs whose costs depend on the level of unemployment. Policy relevant expenditure questions involve which programs will be funded at what level, who will benefit from public programs and who will not, and similar questions.

The Balance Cluster: The Balance cluster concerns the basic budgetary question of whether the budget has to be balanced each year with each year's revenues, or whether borrowing is allowed to balance the budget, and if so, how much, for how long, and for what purposes.

Budget Implementation Cluster: Budget implementation cluster concerns the basic budgetary questions of how close actual expenditures should be to the ones planned in the budget, how one can justify variation from the budget plan, and the budget can be remade after it is approved during the budget year.

According to Rubin (2000), "budget outcomes are not solely the result of budget actors negotiating with one another in a free-for-all; outcomes depend on the environment, and on the budget process as well as individual strategies". "Individual strategies have to be framed in a broader context than simply perceived self-interest" (p. 33). What happens in the clusters consequentially is affected by the global environment of public budgeting and the perceptions and strategies of individual budget actors are adjusted accordingly. The clusters model of Rubin (2000) reminisces the "policy environments framework" (developed by Nakamura and Smallwood [1980]) that views public policy process as a simultaneously interaction among individual actors, elements of importance and arenas of power in three policy environments (policy formation, policy implementation and policy evaluation environments) with each environment having influence on the other ones with the help of communication linkages that let each actor in one environment the opportunity to send message to the others in the other environments. In Rubin's real-time budgeting view, each cluster is imbued with different questions and each cluster attracts a different characteristic set of actors and generates its typical pattern of politics (p. 27) and what happens in each cluster is influenced by the episodes in the larger policy environment.

Based on the real-time view of public budgeting, Rubin (2000) organizes her book into nine major chapters, with each chapter explaining the clusters in detail and supporting arguments with didactic short case studies. In general, the book provides the reader with a dynamic and rich description of budgeting process in public sector.

Having reviewed public budgeting process, Rubin (2000) recommends that a balance of power should be established and maintained between the executive and the legislature, so one can catch the other at bad practice-a recommendation running contrary to the argument that to solve federal budget deficit problem either the executive or the legislature has to be empowered.

Overall, Rubin's book is a well-written, clear, and descriptive account of public budgeting process, and, so entertaining and engaging that create a sense in the reader that s/he should read more about the subject to better comprehend the complexity and dynamism of public budgeting. I recommend "The Politics of Public Budgeting" as a powerful text to those who are interested in the subject. Also recommended are "Politics of the Budgetary Process" by Aaron Wildavsky (1979), "Public Budgeting Systems" by Robert D. Lee and Ronald W. Johnson (1998), "Public Budgeting in America" by Thomas D. Lynch (1995), and "The Federal Budget: Politics, Policy, Process" by Allen Schick (2000).

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Coat Pocket Bird Book

Coat Pocket Bird Book

Manufacturer: Partners Pub Group Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Ornithology | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0941912051

Customer Reviews:

Coat Pocket Bird Book.......2000-02-11

This is an excellent source of information, particularly for birds of the upper midwest. This book, first published by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, is intended for the novice...it's something to be taken along on walks in the country, or peeks out the kitchen window, and to be scribbled in. Well-organized, beautifully illustrated, and informative, the birds are described in entertaining prose by John Gillette, an inveterate birder, raconteur, and "real" human being. Much of what he writes is affective in nature, as well as cognitive-- this book will teach you but leave you wanting to learn more. It will confirm the excitement/feelings you have when you first discover the avian treasures encountered along the way. Dave Mohrhardt's superb illustrations are true works of art; not simple sketches but along the lines of Audubon.

First published in 1984, and republished in subsequent batches, I have been without my first copy for two years and I miss it! John Gillette was my uncle, and passed away as the book was finished. Spending time in this book is a good way for readers to meet a great man, a patient teacher, and a curious and studied birder.

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