Customer Reviews:
"Universe" Astronomy Textbook.......2007-09-30
It was very easy to order and the price was the same as my bookstore at school. The only thing that made it more expensive was the shipping and then it took about 5 days to get to me. When I received it it was in a very solidly sealed box that I couldn't open without a knife. When I finally opened it, the back cover of my "soft" textbook had poke holes all over it from where I tried to open the box on the back seam.
The book itself is well written with great pictures of the cosmos.
Great introduction to astronomy with well thought out steps.......2006-11-05
This textbook is well written with well thought out sequence of topics and its bundled softwares are superb. It expounds the items of astronomical subject in clear unambiguous words arranged in logical order requiring only a modest mathematical skill, well suited for a freshman student for science requirement as well as an intelligent and curious lay reader. The content is quite up-to-date; more remarkable for its online companion for prompt updating for currency. For instance, in barely 2 months after new definition excluded Pluto as a planet, the webpage supplement already informs its reader of it. Included exercises and problems are thorough and complete, and thus allowing students to critically refine their grasp of the preceding topics. There are a few minor errors which are easy to be discovered by a reader, and how to access additional websites and CDs are not clear enough in the preface to the student. I base my review only on the first 5 chapters that was covered in my first academic quarter of study. However. browsing the subsequent chapters to the end lend me confidence that the quality has been maintained.
Descriptive Astronomy for the Astronomy Student.......2006-06-11
Most introductory astronomy texts take the descriptive approach and subject the student to very little mathematics. Such tomes assume that the student is taking the course to fulfill a core science requirement or to satiate non-technical interest. This text is a rare exception to this rule.
Throughout the book simple explanations of the scientific phenomena discussed are detailed using algebra and trigonometry. Basic formulas are illustrated and ample problems are given to drive home the mathematical nature of astronomy. This text is perfect for the freshman or sophomore science major who requires a deeper knowledge of astronomy than a non-mathematical text could provide.
Make no mistake, the text can be used easily in a general astronomy class that requires no math prerequisites. However, for the physics or astronomy major who is just starting her study of the subject, this text is the perfect blend of description and mathematics. It would also make a fine introductory graduate text for elementary and high-school teachers who wish to pursue a master's degree.
The software on the enclosed CD-ROM disks makes visualizing the concepts presented within the text much easier. If one's physics department doesn't have access to a planetarium the software offered remedies the problem quite nicely.
Quality of the delivered product........2006-02-21
While the reason for buying the book was met (required text book for university study) the condition of the delivered item was very substandard. When the book arrived it was bent and creased and the front cover had been "pushed" in such a way that it was starting to come away from the spine. The book was not secure in its packaging and was able to slide around inside the box scuffing both front and back covers. I would not be happy if this happened to a $20 book let alone a book that cost me AUS $135.
I will seriously consider next time I need a book whether I will get it from Amazon.com . The amount of money I saved was not worth the damage that occured to the item.
Not Happy!!!!
Fabulous In-Depth Intro to Astronomy.......2005-10-12
I'm an amateur astronomy nut, and have read several dozen books on astronomy, cosmology, etc. This is probably the most clear, in-depth, understandable treatment of astronomical issues that I have ever read. Be it stellar evolution, stellar death, theory of relativity, black holes, galactic evolution -- you name it -- this book presents the research clearly, and explains tough to explain issues in terms I can understand. Bravo! My only complaint is that it's a bit heavy on Solar System research (first half of the book); I found the last half more to my interest.
Book Description
In the seventy years since the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan during a flight over the Central Pacific, their fate has remained one of history's most debated mysteries. Dozens of books have offered a variety of solutions to the puzzle, but they all draw on the same handful of documents and conflicting eyewitness accounts.
Now a wealth of new information uncovered by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) allows this book to offer the first fully documented history of what happened. Scrupulously accurate and thrilling to read, it tells the story from the letters, logs, and telegrams that recorded events as they unfolded. Many long-accepted facts are revealed as myths.
Author Ric Gillespie, TIGHAR's executive director, draws on the work of his organization's historians, archæologists, and scientists, who compiled and analyzed more than five thousand documents relating to the Earhart case. Their research led to the hypothesis that Earhart and Noonan died as castaways on a remote Pacific atoll. But this book is not a polemic that argues for a particular theory. Rather, it presents all of the authenticated historical dots and leaves it to the reader to make the connections. In addition to details about the Earhart's career and final flight, the book examines her relationship with the U.S. government and the massive search undertaken by the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy.
For serious students of Earhart's disappearance, an accompanying DVD reproduces the documents, reports, and technical studies cited in the text, allowing instant review and verification of the sources.
Customer Reviews:
non-scientists beware.......2007-09-11
This highly technical read is not for the mere curious reader or fan of this great American woman. This book contains a vivid picture of the search for America's sweetheart of 1937,Amelia Earhart and her navigator ,Fred Noonan. An intricate compilation of radio transmissions provides a picture of an overwhelmed search party, miscommunicated information and an under skilled pilot. This is not the whole picture and if one seeks a glimpse into the woman behind the incident this is not the book for you
Captivating read on Amelia's Misadventures.......2007-08-17
"Finding Amelia: the True Story of the Earhart Disappearance," Ric Gillespie, Naval Institute Press, Maryland, 2006, ISBN 1-59114-319-2, HC 242 pges., Notes 44 pgs., Index 8 pgs., Content & Forward 10 pgs., plus 40 B/W photos, map & DVD (for computer) to access photos, maps, logs of the Earhart misadventure.
A captivating narrative & chronicle of the flying life and times of pilot Amelia Earhart, both researched 18 years and written by Exec. Dir. of TIGHAR, an Internat. Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. We are provided detailed accounts of Earhart's two world flight attempts, neither successful, with the aviatrix's last contact being July 2, 1937 while enroute to Howland Isle from Lae, New Guinea and thence to California.
Glimpses are given of Amelia Earhart's quest for notoriety during her earlier years which found her intrigued by flying machines, seeking adventure, finding celebrity status & desiring increased role for American women. But, it is not a bibliography or even a book about Amelia. It is a book of Amelia's monomaniacal attachment to flying, her aeronautical skill confines, that emphasizes her attempts to encircle the globe, imprima her 2nd attempt going Eastward, departing Oakland, California on May 19, 1937 accompanied by navigator Fred Noonan in her Lockheed Electra 10E twin engine aircraft. There is detailed & documented accountings of the massive search by US Coast Guard and Naval ships & planes and detailed reference to ships' logs of communications, etc., and interviews with Ham Radio operators who credibly appear to have identified her signals. The many B/W photographs, maps and the DVD are commendatory to this scholarly study. A few readers may find the detailed readings, etc., of the ships' logs and radiocommunication transmission times and references to frequencies and harmonics confusing & tedious, but the author's intentions to present the factual data is preserved.
Amelia Earhart on Fantasy Island?.......2007-06-29
I have followed Mr. Gillespie's search for years, and it is, sadly, largely based on wishful thinking instead of facts, such as the fuel capacity of Amelia's Lockheed 10E Electra. Simply put, there is NO WAY it could have reached where he claims it is. The book is an interesting read, and reasonably well done, and there are some opposing viewpoints presented. Factually, though, it is an illusion (one that has paid Mr. Gillespie quite well for a long time). An entertaining read, but not historical research-just a flight of fancy--
Finding Amelia.......2007-03-19
The book is a good chronicle of the last flight, and what is (and isn't known). While there isn't anything really new that hasn't been covered before, the book is a good compliment to others previously published on the Earhart story. The focus on (mis)communications highlights the thread of errors that lead to the tragedy. The inclusion of the disc (a nice touch!) containing the source data allows the reader to draw their own conclusions.
Clarification on Amelia.......2007-01-10
Excellently written. Very informative. I think this book clears up why Amelia dissappeared. It is no mystery any more.
Book Description
Denys Finch Hatton was adored by women and idolized by men. A champion of Africa, legendary for his good looks, his charm, and his prowess as a soldier, lover, and hunter, Finch Hatton inspired Karen Blixen to write the unforgettable stories in Out of Africa. Now esteemed British biographer Sara Wheeler tells the truth about this extraordinarily charismatic adventurer.
Born to an old aristocratic family that had gambled away most of its fortune, Finch Hatton grew up in a world of effortless elegance and boundless power. Tall and graceful, with the soul of a poet and an athlete’s relaxed masculinity, he became a hero without trying at Eton and Oxford. In 1910, searching for novelty and danger, Finch Hatton arrived in British East Africa and fell in love–with a continent, with a landscape, with a way of life that was about to change forever.
Wheeler brilliantly conjures the mystical beauty of Kenya at a time when teeming herds of wild animals roamed unmolested across pristine savannah. No one was more deeply attuned to this beauty than Finch Hatton–and no one more bitterly mourned its passing when the outbreak of World War I engulfed the region in a protracted, bloody guerrilla conflict. Finch Hatton was serving as a captain in the Allied forces when he met Karen Blixen in Nairobi and embarked on one of the great love affairs of the twentieth century.
With delicacy and grace, Wheeler teases out truth from fiction in the liaison that Blixen herself immortalized in Out of Africa. Intellectual equals, bound by their love for the continent and their inimitable sense of style, Finch Hatton and Blixen were genuine pioneers in a land that was quickly being transformed by violence, greed, and bigotry.
Ever restless, Finch Hatton wandered into a career as a big-game hunter and became an expert bush pilot; his passion that led to his affair with the notoriously unconventional aviatrix Beryl Markham. But Markham was no more able to hold him than Blixen had been. Mesmerized all his life by the allure of freedom and danger, Finch Hatton was, writes Wheeler, “the open road made flesh.”
In painting a portrait of an irresistible man, Sara Wheeler has beautifully captured the heady glamour of the vanished paradise of colonial East Africa. In Too Close to the Sun she has crafted a book that is as ravishing as its subject.
Customer Reviews:
Lackluster.......2007-08-24
This book contained no new information but simply rehashed and quoted extensively from previous books. The writing is lackluster, repetitive, and very awkward in some places; it did not receive proper copyediting. Extremely disappointing.
a life changer.......2007-08-22
Why some books win prizes and others do not eludes me; this one is a prize winner.
Too Close to the Sun has set me on a worthy adventure to understand the Victorian/Edwardian cusp especially in British Africa and for this I am thankful because those were glory days.
Through Ms. Wheeler I have met persons Much More Interesting than me and my friends. Her dogged research has invigorated my life. For her reader's delight, the author darns together memories, letters, and written data concerning a self-effacing gentleman, Denys Finch Hatton. Luckily for us we may now tag along in the glow of his charisma and be voyeurs of his well-born and lively acquaintances. We may celebrate with African settlers as they host a wilderness New Year's dinner 'comme il faut', we may sit in our a.c. as British soldiers portage battleships across a brutal continent during WWI, we may brush dust off our jackets after cavalierly shooting two charging lions with a double-barreled shotgun, we may politely manoevre and entertain a persnickity Prince of Wales.
I thank Ms. Wheeler for her Fascination of What's Difficult, to paraphrase Mr. Yeats, because pulling together a three-dimensional picture of This Time using only carefully chosen evidence is difficult and more honest than throwing together hearsay and calling it a book.
Her talent as a lover of language is evident as she brings us the scents, sounds, atmosphere, gossip, innuendo, mores, jokes, custom, and emotion that enliven her facts and put feet in Finch Hatton's footsteps. Ms. Wheeler's pages rebuild that World before the Wars that we 21st centuriers can't understand and most often wrongly judge.
I sprinted to the bookstore for more news of the largely-lived lives mentioned throughout Too Close To The Sun. I'm now hooked on the soap opera of the Blixens (the 2nd Mrs.,too), Lord Delamere, the Masai, Lord Carberry, various British Generals, the younger Mr. Roosevelt.... I can't think of any group more instructive to learn about!
Beryl Markham's West With the Night was my next read. What a woman, and how fascinating to get to know her from her own writing, so different than her appearance in TCTTS. I have ordered Bror Blixen's African Hunter, to catch his and Dr. Turvey's viewpoint on the Kenyan crowd. I plan to read Elspeth Huxley's book about growing up on a coffee plantation. Like craning to hear the whispered name of someone you love, I want to hear again the names that Ms. Wheeler has called forth.
A good background on Finch Hatton and Africa of the times.......2007-07-30
While the early phases of Finch Hatton's life is a bit dry, and the author makes reference to a lot of different friends/relatives of Finch Hatton's--which is a bit tedious and difficult to follow--she does a great job of providing the historical context to his life and that of his friends, including Blix and Dinesen. Overall, it's a very well written historical biography... makes me want to go back and watch "Out of Africa" again.
Snapshot of the unique society of British East Africa.......2007-06-08
Ever since I saw the movie "Out of Africa" I have been captivated with the lives of Karen Blixen, Beryl Markham and Denys Finch Hatton. "Too Close to the Sun" focuses on the unique life of Denys and tries to explain how and why he lived his life according to his own rules.
The book also describes the history of British East Africa or Kenya as we now know it.
This biography was a facinating read and hard to put down!!!
"Too Close to the Sun"- Denys Finch Hatton.......2007-06-02
This account reads like a novel. All the facts are backed up adequately. I would rate it highly for telling the love story and presenting the exotic background of Africa with this man acting out his life's dream.
Amazon.com
The explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton has recently become the legendary character at the center of a renewed fascination with the early days of Antarctic exploration. Though not the most renowned explorer of his day, nor even the most successful in terms of stated goals, Shackleton's story of adventurous ambition, incredible endurance, and heroic survival against all odds is indeed the stuff of legend. And now, thanks to the detailed research and helpful insights of Morrell and Capparell, his story is also the meaty material of lessons on how to lead with authority, integrity, humor, and compassion.
A British explorer once summarized the feats of the great Antarctic explorer like this: "For a joint scientific and geographical piece of organization, give me Scott; for a winter journey, give me Wilson, for a dash to the Pole and nothing else, Amundsen; and if I am in the devil of a hole and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton every time." His words set the tone for Shackleton's Way, at once both a travel narrative and a handbook of the skills required for effective leadership of diverse groups, especially in times of change and crisis. Shackleton's attempts to reach the South Pole and his two-year fight for the survival of his crew, when their ship is stranded in ice and then sunk, makes for exciting reading. Using this story as the centerpiece of their book, the authors have woven in their interpretation of his success using interviews with exceptional modern leaders such as Mike Dale, Jaguar's former chief of North American operations, and Apollo 13 Commander James Lovell, and by offering useful advice points at the end of each chapter. For example, in the chapter entitled "The Path to Leadership," Shackleton is shown to have been a well-read man, eager to learn and able to mix with varied company. The authors support this by noting that broadening one's horizons and learning to see things from different perspectives will allow for greater flexibility in problem solving. U.S. Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig agrees that a level of well roundedness is vital in leaders, acknowledging that "one of my prime aims in distributing books is to get people to think outside themselves and to think broadly."
Morrell and Capparell's excellent use of archival material (especially crew diaries) and their intelligent interpretation of what Shackleton's story implies about good leaders makes this book both pleasurable and educational. Throughout the story of the explorer's exploits, the authors have inserted summarizing subtitles that succinctly capture Shackleton's leadership style. Occasionally, this seems a little strained; while the explorer's progressive attitudes and actions deserve praise as leadership lessons par excellence, even some of his misjudgments are referred to with something approaching reverence. For the most part, however, the authors employ a subtle and effective hand in translating the actions of a man at the helm of a dangerous adventure into advice beneficial to leaders in all areas of life. --S. Ketchum
Book Description
Sir Ernest Shackleton has been called "the greatest leader that ever came on God's earth, bar none" for saving the lives of the twenty-seven men stranded with him in the Antarctic for almost two years. Today the public can't get enough of this once-forgotten explorer, and his actions have made him a model for great leadership and masterful crisis management. Now, through anecdotes, the diaries of the men in his crew, and Shackleton's own writing, Shackleton's leadership style and time-honored principles are translated for the modern business world. Written by two veteran business observers and illustrated with ship photographer Frank Hurley's masterpieces and other rarely seen photos, this practical book helps today's leaders follow Shackleton's triumphant example.
Download Description
Preface by Andrea Shackleton.
Customer Reviews:
A new slant on the Endurance expedition.......2007-08-15
I've read a lot of books on Antarctic exploration, but this is the first one that's intended as a text for leadership skills: apparently the intended audience is MBA students and other budding executives. This is an interesting slant on the story, and the authors do seem to have a lot of insight into what made Shackleton a model for leadership. One oddity is that they don't say a word about his controversial decision to site the Nimrod expedition's home base at McMurdo, giving rise to much bitterness in his relations with Scott and the British Antarctic "establishment"; I'd have been interested in the authors' judgment on this.
Does a book like this really give useful guidance to executives? Beats me! The aphorisms they provide seem oversimplified, but I can't claim any expertise here. It was, however, most interesting to contrast Shackleton's leadership principles with those of the current occupant of the White House!
Leadership and Teamwork from the past.......2007-04-08
For those familiar with the story of Shackleton and the Endurance, this is a great book. Actually anyone not familiar with the story can learn it with a lesson in leadership and teamwork. Shackleton took his men and kept them alive thru 9 months trapped on a ship in the ice then 6 months living on the ice after the ship broke up and finally depositing them on Elephant island and leaving on an 800 hundred mile open boat trip to South Georgia island. After nearly 3 years of survival in the Antarctic, Shackleton brought all 27 men home. None died. That is an amazing feat.
Shackleton's Way by Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell, breaks this amazing odyssey down into chapters with short notes on leadership method's and then adds in a view or perspective of a business or leader in today's world who applies some of Shackleton's methods. The story starts Sir Ernest Shackleton's method of selecting his men for the voyage. Then the initial voyage and how he made sure each man could do the others job and everyone understood they were a team united. This allowed the survival of all. Shackleton knew men and how to keep them organized, hopeful and strong. This is a great book to add to your bookshelf of leadership, teamwork and people management in crisis.
Uncommon common knowledge.......2007-02-27
I have heard it said many times that management is common knowledge and this book reaffirms those sentiments. But common knowledge is often forgotten when adversity happens or when things become too busy. This book takes the effort of reaffirming all those things that are important to leadership in adverse times. It covers many of the things Sir Ernest Shackleton faced in many of his polar expeditions and how he learned from past mistakes. It talks of his planning, expenditures, morale focus, and other things he felt were to make for a successful trip. It also talks about how one can set what success is, where sometimes reaching the South Pole is not the best idea when you focus on bringing everyone through to the end with you.
I recommend this book just for an inspirational aspect. It is well written if occasionally hokey when they pull out leadership bullet points, but still a good read.
Armstrong.......2007-02-17
This is just an excellent book. Anyone in a leadership position would be well served to read this book. How great leadership can overcome trials of life and death proportions with applications to most leadership circumstances.
Useful (and suspense-filled) management guide.......2007-01-12
This compelling volume accomplishes the unlikely feat of being both a useful management guide and a suspense-filled page-turner. That's because the book enjoys an unusually rich source of material: a near-deadly Antarctic voyage that everyone survived by dint of the leader's formidable management skills. Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparrell present a strong case that Sir Ernest Shackleton was indeed a great leader. They mine the journey for the telling details of Shackleton's management style, and include short accounts from modern business leaders who look to Shackleton as an inspiration. We recommend this guide to leaders and would-be leaders who love adventure tales and seek an inspiring take on management from a true master.
Book Description
description: ìutterly consumed with dread.î) I was trying to convince myself that my feelings were customary, despite all evidence to the contraryósuch as the acquaintance IÃd run into last week whoÃd just discovered that she was pregnant for the first time, after spending two years and a kingÃs ransom in fertility treatments. She was ecstatic. She had wanted to be a mother forever, she told me. She admitted sheÃd been secretly buying baby clothes for years and hiding them under the bed, where her husband wouldnÃt find them. I saw the joy in her face and I recognized it. This was the exact joy my own face had radiated last spring, the day I discovered that the magazine I worked for was going to send me on assignment to New Zealand, to write an article about the search for giant squid. And I thought, ìUntil I can feel as ecstatic about having a baby as I felt about going to New Zealand to search for a giant squid, I cannot have a baby.î
I donÃt want to be married anymore.
In daylight hours, I refused that thought, but at night it would consume me. What a catastrophe. How could I be such a criminal jerk as to proceed this deep into a marriage, only to leave it? WeÃd only just bought this house a year ago. HadnÃt I wanted this nice house? HadnÃt I loved it? So why was I haunting its halls every night now, howling like Medea? WasnÃt I proud of all weÃd accumulatedóthe prestigious home in the Hudson Valley, the apartment in Manhattan, the eight phone lines, the friends and the picnics and the parties, the weekends spent roaming the aisles of some box-shaped superstore of our choice, buying ever more appliances on credit? I had actively participated in every moment of the creation of this lifeóso why did I feel like none of it resembled me? Why did I feel so overwhelmed with duty, tired of being the primary breadwinner and the housekeeper and the social coordinator and the dog-walker and the wife and the soon-to- be mother, andósomewhere in my stolen momentsóa writer ...?
I donÃt want to be married anymore.
My husband was sleeping in the other room, in our bed. I equal parts loved him and could not stand him. I couldnÃt wake him to share in my distressówhat would be the point? HeÃd already been watching me fall apart for months now, watching me behave like a madwoman (we both agreed on that word), and I only exhausted him. We both knew there was something wrong with me, and heÃd been losing patience with it. WeÃd been fighting and crying, and we were weary in that way that only a couple whose marriage is collapsing can be weary. We had the eyes of refugees.
The many reasons I didnÃt want to be this manÃs wife anymore are too personal and too sad to share here. Much of it had to do with my problems, but a good portion of our troubles were related to his issues, as well. ThatÃs only natural; there are always two figures in a marriage, after allótwo votes, two opinions, two conflicting sets of decisions, desires and limitations. But I donÃt think itÃs appropriate for me to discuss his issues in my book. Nor would I ask anyone to believe that I am capable of reporting an unbiased version of our story, and therefore the chronicle of our marriageÃs failure will remain untold here. I also will not discuss here all the reasons why I did still want to be his wife, or all his wonderfulness, or why I loved him and why I had married him and why I was unable to imagine life without him. I wonÃt open any of that. Let it be sufficient to say that, on this night, he was still my lighthouse and my albatross in equal measure. The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying; the only thing more impossible than staying was leaving. I didnÃt want to destroy anything or anybody. I just wanted to slip quietly out the back door, without causing any fuss or consequences, and then not stop running until I reached Greenland.
This part of my story is not a happy one, I know. But I share it here because something was about to occur on that bathroom floor that would change forever the progression of my lifeóalmost like one of those crazy astronomical super-events when a planet flips over in outer space for no reason whatsoever, and its molten core shifts, relocating its poles and altering its shape radically, such that the whole mass of the planet suddenly becomes oblong instead of spherical. Something like that.
What happened was that I started to pray.
You knowólike, to God.
3 Now, this was a first for me. And since this is the first time I have introduced that loaded wordóGODóinto my book, and since this is a word which will appear many times again throughout these pages, it seems only fair that I pause here for a moment to explain exactly what I mean when I say that word, just so people can decide right away how offended they need to get.
Saving for later the argument about whether God exists at all (noóhereÃs a better idea: letÃs skip that argument completely), let me first explain why I use the word God, when I could just as easily use the words Jehovah, Allah, Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu or Zeus. Alternatively, I could call God ìThat,î which is how the ancient Sanskrit scriptures say it, and which I think comes close to the all-inclusive and unspeakable entity I have sometimes experienced. But that ìThatî feels impersonal to meóa thing, not a beingóand I myself cannot pray to a That. I need a proper name, in order to fully sense a personal attendance. For this same reason, when I pray, I do not address my prayers to The Universe, The Great Void, The Force, The Supreme Self, The Whole, The Creator, The Light, The Higher Power, or even the most poetic manifestation of GodÃs name, taken, I believe, from the Gnostic gospels: ìThe Shadow of the Turning.î
I have nothing against any of these terms. I feel they are all equal because they are all equally adequate and inadequate descriptions of the indescribable. But we each do need a functional name for this indescribability, and ìGodî is the name that feels the most warm to me, so thatÃs what I use. I should also confess that I generally refer to God as ìHim,î which doesnÃt bother me because, to my mind, itÃs just a convenient personalizing pronoun, not a precise anatomical description or a cause for revolution. Of course, I donÃt mind if people call God ìHer,î and I understand the urge to do so. Againóto me, these are both equal terms, equally adequate and inadequate. Though I do think the capitalization of either pronoun is a nice touch, a small politeness in the presence of the divine.
Culturally, though not theologically, IÃm a Christian. I was born a Protestant of the white Anglo- Saxon persuasion. And while I do love that great teacher of peace who was called Jesus, and while I do reserve the right to ask myself in certain trying situations what indeed He would do, I canÃt swallow that one fixed rule of Christianity insisting that Christ is the only path to God. Strictly speaking, then, I cannot call myself a Christian. Most of the Christians I know accept my feelings on this with grace and open-mindedness. Then again, most of the Christians I know donÃt speak very strictly. To those who do speak (and think) strictly, all I can do here is offer my regrets for any hurt feelings and now excuse myself from their business.
Traditionally, I have responded to the transcendent mystics of all religions. I have always responded with breathless excitement to anyone who has ever said that God does not live in a dogmatic scripture or in a distant throne in the sky, but instead abides very close to us indeedó much closer than we can imagine, breathing right through our own hearts. I respond with gratitude to anyone who has ever voyaged to the center of that heart, and who has then returned to the world with a report for the rest of us that God is an experience of supreme love. In every religious tradition on earth, there have always been mystical saints and transcendents who report exactly this experience. Unfortunately many of them have ended up arrested and killed. Still, I think very highly of them.
In the end, what I have come to believe about God is simple. ItÃs like thisóI used to have this really great dog. She came from the pound. She was a mixture of about ten different breeds, but seemed to have inherited the finest features of them all. She was brown. When people asked me, ìWhat kind of dog is that?î I would always give the same answer: ìSheÃs a brown dog.î Similarly, when the question is raised, ìWhat kind of God do you believe in?î my answer is easy: ìI believe in a magnificent God.î
4 Of course, IÃve had a lot of time to formulate my opinions about divinity since that night on the bathroom floor when I spoke to God directly for the first time. In the middle of that dark November crisis, though, I was not interested in formulating my views on theology. I was interested only in saving my life. I had finally noticed that I seemed to have reached a state of hopeless and life-threatening despair, and it occurred to me that sometimes people in this state will approach God for help. I think IÃd read that in a book somewhere.
What I said to God through my gasping sobs was something like this: ìHello, God. How are you? IÃm Liz. ItÃs nice to meet you.î
ThatÃs rightóI was speaking to the creator of the universe as though weÃd just been introduced at a cocktail party. But we work with what we know in this life, and these are the words I always use at the beginning of a relationship. In fact, it was all I could do to stop myself from saying, ìIÃve always been a big fan of your work ...î
ìIÃm sorry to bother you so late at night,î I continued. ìBut IÃm in serious trouble. And IÃm sorry I havenÃt ever spoken directly to you before, but I do hope I have always expressed ample gratitude for all the blessings that youÃve given me in my life.î
This thought caused me to sob even harder. God waited me out. I pulled myself together enough to go on: ìI am not an expert at praying, as you know. But can you please help me? I am in desperate need of h...
Customer Reviews:
Absolutely Worth It.......2007-10-18
I really enjoyed this book and while envied the authors' ability to travel at length, agree that the search for self-love and acceptance is, in actuality, the opposite of selfish. I am thrilled that this author found limitless compassion and understanding for herself through her spiritual practice as she then was able to extend that same compassion and understanding to those around her. In her courageous honesty about her own feelings of superiority, judgment, lonliness, anger and despair she allows her reader to relate without shame. And if we let ourselves, we can all relate. We are all human beings.
Read - Travel - Grow.......2007-10-18
Who among us hasn't come to know on a somewhat intimate basis our bathroom floor, or whatever other surface has served to collect our tears. That's where we join Elizabeth Gilbert. Where we separate from her is in what we do about the circumstances that bring us to tears. Gilbert's solution was to look for herself through food and friendship in Italy, fellowship and spirituality in India, and growth and love in Indonesia. While most of us don't have the means to take a year off to find ourselves, the path Gilbert travels in her mind, heart and body can serve as a road map for many even if you travel no further than the bounds of your own home town.
The book is an easy read, written in a combination journal/travel log format. A bit more complex are the stages and changes through which Gilbert transcends. Her sense of humor is glorious and significantly adds to the enjoyment of her adventure - for both herself and her readers.
If nothing else, Gilbert's book serves as a reminder to women everywhere (perhaps men as well, although I see this as a she-book) that you can move beyond staying trapped in an unhappy situation, even if it does come with all the right trappings. This is a book that you read and then pass along to that friend we all have who needs a little help packing her suitcase and filling out those change of address cards. Personally, I've already wrapped two copies as Christmas presents for my daughters because I can't think of a better gift for any mother to give than encouragement to eat, pray and love!
More like a magazine article than a novel.......2007-10-18
After forcing myself to finish the book, I can't really call myself a fan. Eat, Pray, Love starts out great in Italy, but by the time Liz hit India I was struggling to get through the chapters. I think I was so uninterested because I couldn't relate to her. I've never experienced Yoga or meditations or any Indian beliefs, so I couldn't understand what she was doing. I was also getting annoyed by her descriptions of herself--blonde, thin, perky, easily able to make friends...even her problems and "faults" turn out to be okay and accepted by her in the end. I can't relate to a Homecoming Queen. I was also rolling my eyes at her heartbreak over David. You would think she would be upset and broken hearted about her ex-husband, not a fling she had afterward. But, she doesn't give us enough background on either of them to understand why she is so heartbroken, so you can't sympathize with her.
That being said, I admire her for putting so much of herself out there in a book, and her feelings and struggles ring true. She is very brave for describing such a personal journey to find a relationship with God. But the whole book probably could have been condensed into a long magazine article, and I can't believe her published paid for her trip and her book IN ADVANCE. Where do I sign up???
After all of her travels, it seems the only thing Liz learns is to love herself, and that's great. All in all, it's an okay book, but don't waste your money on it. Check it out of the library and keep your $15.
A book that touches my heart!.......2007-10-18
I came across this book through the New York Times book review section in 2006. Being an avid traveler, I was immediately captured by its title. When the book arrived, I could not put it down until I finished reading in two days. I found myself laughing and crying all the way through Elizabeth Gilbert's world journey. I am a yogi who goes through the same struggles that Gilbert experienced in the ashram. I could see myself in her shoes. Gilbert is hilarious, emotional and sensitive. Her self-discovery is courageous and inspiring. My take home message with book is that, get out of your comfort zone, there are many unexpected surprises await you!
Loved it!!.......2007-10-18
I simply could not put this book down. She writes beautifully, and this story is so wonderful. Kudos to Ms Gilbert.
Erica Black
Author of "The Call Girl Actress, Confessions of a Lesbian Escort"
Book Description
Whether you're a beginner, power user, or seasoned professional,
Windows Vista: The Definitive Guide has everything you need to customize the operating system, master your digital media, manage your data, and maintain your computer -- regardless of which Windows Vista edition you're using.
Why this book and not some other resource? Bestselling author and Windows expert William Stanek doesn't just teach you the steps you need to follow, he also tells you how features work, why they work, and how you can customize them to meet your needs. You'll learn how to squeeze out every last bit of power out of Windows Vista, and how to make the most out of its features and programs, including how to:
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Set up, customize and tune Windows Vista - Optimize its appearance and performance; install, configure and maintain software; customize your hardware; and install printers, scanners and faxes
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Manage your files - Search your computer more efficiently; secure your files and data; share and collaborate; and get the most out of accessories such as the Mobility Center
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Master your digital media - Create media libraries with Media Player; manage digital pictures and videos with Photo Gallery; make DVDs with DVD Maker; and create movies with Movie Maker
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Get connected and start networking - Set up a home or small-office network; learn to use Windows Mail, Calendar, and Meeting Space; conquer Internet Explorer 7; and master on-the-go networking
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Protect your computer - Keep your family safe while on the Internet; set up parental controls and content ratings; navigate the computer security maze; configure Windows Vista's security features
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Manage and support Windows Vista systems - Deal with user accounts, disks and drives; handle routine maintenance and troubleshooting; and resolve advanced support and recovery issues
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Learn advanced tips & techniques - Manage the Windows boot environment, explore Group Policy, discover keyboard shortcuts, and much more
Customer Reviews:
Better than "Vista Missing Manual".......2007-10-09
Vista Definitive Guide is a 922-page Vista bible, much better than Vista Missing Manual in my opinion. I got this after having excellent success with the author's other computer books. Extremely complete and full of answers. Kudos to the author for writing such an excellent book!
An Excellent Guide and information source.......2007-08-12
I have been using windows at home now for 14 years and with each operating system upgrade there's more to learn. I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to Windows. So what if some people say "it's not definitive by any means," I find that it covers so much and even some things I won't need. I LOVE this book. It is not hard on your eyes, has plenty of diagrams and something I found especially interesting is how virus's, malware and all the nasties can enter your computer and the damage they can cause. I'm the type of woman who is not just satisfied with the "just do it this way" kind of help. I want more meat in the WHY I should do it this way. I use this book along with "Windows Vista: The Missing Manual" That books gives lot's of tips and stuff that has saved me much work and headache. These books work well together
The Only Book Most Windows Vista Users Need.......2007-06-28
Windows Vista: The Definitive Guide is an excellent book. Every Windows Vista User should purchase this book to learn Windows Vista. The book covers everything most users want to know and should know about Windows Vista.
This book is clear and to the point with comprehensive coverage of Windows Vista. It covers all versions of Vista and the many included programs and utilities as well as new security features. It covers Internet Explorer 7 and how to make your own audio CDs and DVD movies. There is an extensive discussion on installation and advanced issues. At a hefty 921 pages it makes a thoroughly detailed reference.
Plus this book is written for easy reader understanding and for enjoyable reading. Great book if you really wish to learn Windows Vista. For administrators, I'd also recommend Stanek's Windows Vista Administrator's Pocket Consultant.
920 pages packed with excellence!.......2007-05-29
William Stanek's pocket consultants are excellent - I've been a reader for years. In looking for a large reference for home, I saw this one - the definitive guide and chose it over Vista Inside Out and Vista Missing Manual. Stanek has a better style, and he understands the software better.
He once again is able to take technical topics and infuse clarity and depth while staying clearly focused. I have been running Vista since beta one, and this book is an excellent reference for those of us already familiar with the Windows operating systems.
In my opinion, this is an excellent book for all skill levels. Beginners will appreciate Stanek's ability to clearly and concisely explain even the most complex topics. The fact the book jumps right into the most important topics for home and office users doesn't hurt either.
Advanced users will find this book makes it easy to quickly get up to speed and to learn the new topics fast. Plus he writes in a friendly easy to understand language, so that you don't get lost in computer jargon. At the same time, he has a very organized and clear style. His details are never off topic and that's refreshing. His sense of what's important and what's not makes it possible for you to actually read the whole book and get all of the useful information out of it.
Pro users will find this book to be an excellent reference and regular reference. This isn't a book for administration though. Stanek's Vista ADministrator's Pocket Consultant is the best one for that.
This is THE MUST HAVE VISTA manual for the home and office. Thank you William Stanek for helping me get the most out of Vista!
Truly the definitive guide.......2007-05-25
Should be the #1 choice for all user levels from beginner to pro! Stanek's Windows Vista Administrator's Pocket Consultant is the book I use every day for admin work. When I'm wanting to play with Windows Vista's multimedia features or tweak the interface, this is the book I reach for. I have a copy at home too. At 900+ pages, it is the best all-around guide I've found.
Amazon.com
Danny Goodman felt that he couldn't trust any of the documentation on Dynamic HTML (DHTML) that he read (too many contradictions), so he wrote this book as a reference for working with his own clients. After testing tags and techniques on multiple releases of the main browsers, Goodman came up with very practical information--some of which you may not find in any other resource.
Goodman assumes a solid foundation, if not expertise, in basic HTML and an understanding of what DHTML is all about. From those assumptions, he presents a meaty, information-dense volume. The first of the book's four sections discusses industry standards and how to apply the basic principles of DHTML. He emphasizes the differences in Web browsers and discusses how to build pages so that they work well in both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. The second section is an extensive, quick reference of all the tags, objects, and properties of HTML, cascading style sheets, Document Object Model, and core JavaScript. A particularly handy cross-reference guide to this information follows, helping you locate it in alternate ways. The final section contains appendices, with useful tables of values and commands. --Elizabeth Lewis
Book Description
Packed with information on the latest web specifications and browser features, this new edition is your ultimate one-stop resource for HTML, XHTML, CSS, Document Object Model (DOM), and JavaScript development. Here is the comprehensive reference for designers of Rich Internet Applications who need to operate in all modern browsers, including Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2, Safari, and Opera.
With this book, you can instantly see browser support for the latest standards-based technologies, including CSS Level 3, DOM Level 3, Web Forms 2.0, XMLHttpRequest for AJAX applications, JavaScript 1.7, and many more. This new edition:
- Provides at-a-glance references for the tags, attributes, objects, properties, methods, and events of HTML, XHTML, CSS, DOM, and core JavaScript. You can quickly look up a particular feature or language term to see if it is available in desired browser brands and versions.
- Includes handy cross referencing that lets you look up an attribute (or object property, method, or event type) to find all the items that recognize it, including interrelated HTML tags, style properties, and document object model methods, properties, and events.
- Offers appendices where you can quickly locate values useful in HTML authoring and scripting. You'll find coverage of commands used across three browsers for user-editable content.
- Includes a glossary that gives you quick explanations of some of the new and potentially confusing terminology of DHTML.
Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference speeds the way to adding sophisticated features to your web pages. Indispensable, complete, and succinct, this bestselling guide is the must-have compendium for all web developers involved in creating dynamic web content.
Download Description
If you are a Web content developer these days, you have a lot of information to keep track of. You need to stay current on the relevant Web specifications, like HTML, CSS, DOM, and ECMAScript. You also need to know how the latest Web browsers from Netscape and Microsoft actually implement these standards, since browser implementations of the standards are less than perfect. Right now, you're forced to keep multiple reference books open on your desk (or multiple browser windows open on your screen), just to develop a simple dynamic Web page that works properly under both Navigator and Internet Explorer. Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference changes all that. This book is an indispensable compendium for Web content developers. It contains everything you need to create functional cross-platform Web applications, including: o A complete reference for all of the HTML tags, CSS style attributes, browser document objects, and JavaScript objects supported by the various standards and the latest versions of Navigator and Internet Explorer. Browser compatibility is emphasized throughout; the reference pages clearly indicate browser support for every entity. o Handy cross-reference indexes that make it easy to find interrelated HTML tags, style attributes, and document objects. o An advanced introduction to creating dynamic Web content that addresses the cross-platform compromises inherent in Web page design today. If you have some experience with basic Web page creation, but are new to the world of dynamic content, Dynamic HTML : The Definitive Reference will jump-start your development efforts. If you are an experienced Web programmer, you'll find the browser-compatibility information invaluable. This book is the only DHTML reference that a Web developer needs.
Customer Reviews:
The Bible, Third Edition.......2007-09-17
The finest review of this book I can give is simply this: I bought the first edition in 1999, the second edition in 2003, the third edition in 2007, and as long as Danny Goodman and O'Reilly keep up the good work, I'll buy the fourth edition in 2011. There is no more indispensible book available for the Web GUI professional.
One caveat: This book is not for beginners. If you don't already know how to build a modern DHTML/CSS/JS/Ajax interface, this book will likely be a waste of money. Moreover, if you're looking for how-tos and recipes, look elsewhere. This is a comprehensive encyclopedia of the DHTML universe, nothing more and nothing less.
unfortunately Very Fat book ,but Not For Beginners.......2007-09-03
I bought this book , and i wait it about 1 month for arrive to me , but i am not lucky , the book contains more than 1300 pages , but i didn't find any thing benefit for me .
I advise any one in beginner Level to keep away from this book .you must save your money .
Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference.......2007-07-19
If you do any sort of web design, whether as a do-it yourself novice or as a professional web designer, Dynamic HTML is a must have resource. This all inclusive guide includes a myriad of features for design elements, objects, and styles organized in several easy to understand and easy to use sections: Alphabetical HTML Reference, Shared DOM Reference, Alphabetical DOM Reference, Event Reference, CSS Reference, and Java Script Reference, Cross Reference. All of these examples include actually bit of code that the reader can use as well as associated attributes and their code to tailor that element, object, or style to your desired specifications. This aspect allows the reader to follow through virtually step by step taking a new concept from inception through to a professional look and feel.
I can already tell that Dynamic HTML is going to be one of those desk references that I keep close by my computer. The book is already plastered with a number of post-it notes in places that I need to fix on my existing web pages, concepts that want to experiment with in the future, or ways that I could make my websites more accessible. Having a good book with these aspects all in one place is a boon.
Still, where I will probably gain the most valuable use of this book is in the comparative aspect of the entries. Along with each of the detailed entries in all of the categories, the author has included information about how each feature translates in the different browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Mozilla, Safari, Opera, and W3C HTML). Anyone who has spent weeks making their website just perfect only to have their best buddy with a different type of browser say that it's all wonky knows that a good detailed cross reference resource is invaluable. Having one as well organized and intuitive as this one is nothing short of amazing.
This book just keeps getting better.......2007-06-04
Each iteration of this book gets better and better. This third edition has been expanded with an amazing CSS reference, updates for AJAX, and now includes information on IE, Netscape, Mozilla (e.g. Firefox), Safari, Opera, and the HTML DOM. By far, this is the most comprehensive version of this book to date.
One of the biggest gripes I had with previous editions of this book was that it felt very IE-centric. In prior editions, the Mac was completely ignored as was Opera and pretty much anything other than IE and Netscape. This has all changed in this latest update.
If you have never seen a copy of this book before, it is divided into 9 sections: a standard HTML reference, an alphabetical HMTL reference, standard and alphabetical DOM references, a Javascript language and event reference, an outstanding CSS reference, and appendices. The book is designed in such a way so as to be easy to quickly find material on the HTML tag, CSS attribute, or Javascript method desired.
Of particular note in this edition is the update for AJAX. In the Javascript section, the reader will now find nearly 50 extra pages dedicated simply to handling and processing XML in Javascript.
Hands down, this was--and still is--the absolute best dynamic HTML reference available today. While each edition gets better and better, I think this edition in particular is a real standout. The expansion of the CSS reference section, the addition of documentation related to AJAX, and the expansion of the reference sections to cover Mozilla, Safari, and Opera make this book a must buy.
Excellent, Comprehensive Reference.......2007-04-24
Looking for a single reference for all your web development needs? Well, Dynamic HTML: the Definitive Reference isn't quite that, but it comes awfully close. It's not simply a DHTML reference; there's detailed reference info on XHTML, CSS, DOM, and Javascript -- all of which are necessary to create good DHTML.
Most of the book is divided into five sections, including the above mentioned references, as well as a section on Events. The references are easily navigated, clearly explained, and provide nice examples. The most valuable bits of information for many web developers are probably the compatibility info provided for each entry in the reference sections.
The remainder of the book offers handy cross-references and appendices. The cross references include: an HTML/XHTML Attribute Index, and DOM references by Property, Method, and Event. The appendices include info on colors, special characters, ASCII key codes, editable content commands, elements/attributes available in W3C standards, and the relationships between various Mozilla based browsers.
Of course, this is a reference book, so there's limited cohesion in the examples. There is no theme to follow and re-create a full-featured DHTML web site. But the book is intended to be a reference. There are other books for step-by-step DHTML development.
Likewise, this is a comprehensive reference, and therefore quite a thick book. There are separate CSS and JavaScript references available (also very handy), but this single volume packs a lot of punch.
Book Description
The Total Car Care series continues to lead all other do-it-yourself automotive repair manuals. This series offers do-it-yourselfers of all levels TOTAL maintenance, service and repair information in an easy-to-use format. Each manual covers all makes format. Each manual covers all makes and models, unless otherwise indicated. :Based on actual teardowns :Simple step-by-step procedures for engine overhaul, chassis electrical drive train, suspension, steering and more :Trouble codes :Electronic engine controls
Customer Reviews:
Every car owner should have one.......2007-04-11
Delivery to Norway in time as promised. This is a great book for the do it yourself car owner. Everything is easily explained and illustrated, and even if you don't intend to do it yourself you can diagnose problems and understand what the mechanic is doing. It will help you controll that the right thing is done, and that the mechanic is not fooling you. I have a Chilton Manual for each car I own, and could not be without them!
Absolutely HORRIBLE manual.......2004-01-28
******One-star is NOT LOW ENOUGH*******
Received book as Christmas gift couple years ago. I have a 1998 Explorer, and I continue to be frustrated by this sorry excuse for a manual.....erroneous info, and complete lack of depth. As I found out late last night, something as simple as documenting a fuse-box is complete garbage.
I've also owned Haynes manuals, and seem to have had better luck with them.
I can't imagine anyone who would be pleased with this manual, unless you require instructions on how to top up the wiper fluid.
1991-99 Ford Explorer Repair Manual.......2003-05-10
In section 6 the information for the windshield wiper motor is not applicable to my 1996 explorer. Also, there is no information about how to remove / replace the windshield washer spray nozzles. Or how to remove the cowling along the base of the windshield.
Chilton's has lost touch with reality........2002-04-25
I purchased this book for needed factual, accurate information of which I got neither. I wanted to replace the lower ball joints on my '99 Ranger, so I bought this book. Take note: on page 8-4 it states specifically that the 1998-99 Ranger does NOT have coil springs. This of course is hogwash as my '99 most definitely has coil springs. In addition, it states on page 8-8 that the ball joint is an integral part of the lower control arm. This, too, is complete hogwash. Please be advised that this book is RIFE with erroneous information - including any pictures contained therein. I have lost all faith in Chilton's ability to present the correct information on ANY automobile.
Computer Module? This book only lists ONE!.......2000-12-12
There are several computer modules on my ford explorer. I bought this book to list them, and guess what, It lists just one. And its detailed instructions on how to access that module was "remove dash to expose computer module" and no diagrams. I dont know about you, but behind MY dash is a Buttload of stuff behind my dash, and not only that, but my dash comes apart in sections, so just what section I wonder?
Useless! Breaks it covers fairly well, good thing that the explorer, ranger, and mountaineer all use the same breaking system(cough cough)cause it lists just one way.
Good thing the electronic diagrams are the same for all the vehicle types(cough cough) for all listed vehicles from 1991 to 1999 as it onlyu lists one vehicle schematic, otherwise Id be lost.
Good thing there was a mechanic within calling distance to put back together everything I ripped out per the chiltons book, otherwise Id be walking.......
Book Description
In the 1960s an American named John Harlin II changed the face of Alpine climbing. Gutsy and gorgeous -- he was known as "the blond god" -- Harlin successfully summitted some of the most treacherous mountains in Europe. But it was the north face of the Eiger that became Harlin's obsession. Living with his wife and two children in Leysin, Switzerland, he spent countless hours planning to climb, waiting to climb, and attempting to climb the massive vertical face. It was the Eiger direct -- the direttissima -- with which John Harlin was particularly obsessed. He wanted to be the first to complete it, and everyone in the Alpine world knew it.
John Harlin III was nine years old when his father made another attempt on a direct ascent of the notorious Eiger. Harlin had put together a terrific team, and, despite unending storms, he was poised for the summit dash. It was the moment he had long waited for. When Harlin's rope broke, 2,000 feet from the summit, he plummeted 4,000 feet to his death. In the shadow of tragedy, young John Harlin III came of age possessed with the very same passion for risk that drove his father. But he had also promised his mother, a beautiful and brilliant young widow, that he would not be an Alpine climber.
Harlin moved from Europe to America, and, with an insatiable sense of wanderlust, he reveled in downhill skiing and rock-climbing. For years he successfully denied the clarion call of the mountain that killed his father. But in 2005, John Harlin could resist no longer. With his nine-year-old daughter, Siena -- his very age at the time of his father's death -- and with an IMAX Theatre filmmaking crew watching, Harlin set off to slay the Eiger. This is an unforgettable story about fathers and sons, climbers and mountains, and dreamers who dare to challenge the earth.
Customer Reviews:
In Dad's Shadow.......2007-10-12
This book is up there with Houstons K2 the Savage Mountain and Krackauers Into Thin Air. John the III doesn't seem to be as obsessed and reckless as his father. I came away from the book feeling that his father cared more about climbing than anything else. At one point he told his wife he felt oppressed by his children and only felt alive when they were not around. I thought that very strange. The other incident that bothered me was when Harlin the III made friends with a young climber named Chuck and took him climbing with him. He pushed Chuck pretty hard, hard enough to where Chuck fell off Mount Robson and killed himself. Harlin the III pointed the dead body out to the authorities and hightailed it out of town, that friendship lasted all of two weeks. That incident struck me as very strange. Overall the book was an entertaining read.
Living in the shadow of the mountain and one's father .......2007-04-06
An absorbing tale of adventure and exorcising personal demons. John Harlin III is an outdoorsman and mountain climber and successfully navigated climbing the face of the Eiger, where his own father had died some forty years earlier. Notwithstanding the book's subtitle, the mountain did not kill his father, a broken rope led to his father's fall.
In any event, the reader does not get the impression that the younger Harlinis obsessed by any particular Oedipal complex. We can empathize with his plight of living in the shadow of an iconic, larger-than-life mountain climber. At one point in his life, he is tormented by the question, "What have you done in life, other than be the son of a famous man?"
We may all overtly or subliminally have the challenge of surpassing the accomplishments of our fathers. John Harlin III provides a touching memoir of struggle and transcendence, freeing himself from the haunting memories of his father's unsuccessful attempt to climb a mountain that became his obsession.
A SON FACES HIS FATHER'S DEATH, OBSESSION, & HISTORY ON THE EIGER DEATH WALL.......2007-03-27
Five FATEFUL Stars!! "The EIger Obsession" is written by John Harlin III, the moutaineering son of the famous American Alpine big wall climber John Harlin II and recounts the Harlin family's involvement with life, love, death, and the world of climbing over the decades. He focuses mainly on the general climbing history of the Swiss rockface called "the Eiger" (aka "the Ogre") and the Harlin family legacy surrounding this imposing and unforgiving rockwall's routes, among others. John Harlin II, an audacious larger-than-life character, was the 28th person to die on the Eiger in an accident: by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was attempting his self-conceived "Direttissima'" (direct) route, "straight up" the center of the 6000 ft wall, with most of the climbing world aware of the attempts. Harlin joined a long line of famous climbers who were either successes like the famed Heinrich Harrer who was amongst four in the 'first to the top' group in 1938, or failures like the equally famous Toni Kurz, who with the other three members of his team dead including Hinterstoisser, was trapped by an ice storm and with a horribly frostbitten hand, he would die inches from rescuer's hands, tearing at the knotted rope that sealed his fate with his teeth. The elder Harlin fit both categories, success and failure. The stories are mesmerizing, as are the stories of the Harlin family coping with circumstance and the Eiger route attempts by the father and, decades later, the son.
Climbers all over the world, even those who have never been to Europe, can recite from memory the features of the Classic Route of the Eiger: "the Difficult Crack", "Rote Flüh" (Red Crag), the 'point of no return' "Hinterstoisser Traverse", "the White Spider", "the Death Bivouac", "the Swallow's Nest", "the Traverse of the Gods", and so on, up to the "Exit Cracks", recounted here in intense, vivid detail. Harlin tells us the stories and difficulties which drew many famous climbers to attempt the Eiger as a test of will and ability. Harlin II had already climbed the Classic Route and had been on the mountain many times, but his "Direct Route" 'upped the ante' considerably and Harlin assembled a 'crack team' that included Americans (himself and rock technician Layton Kor) and Europeans (Sir Chris Bonington and Dougal Haston) to climb it. The book details how after Harlin II perished, a combined team, cut off from retreat and having to literally finish the route to save their lives, did so while suffering greatly, and named the "John Harlin Direttissima Route" in his honor. Also how the family fared after his death over the years.
In the book, Harlin III, now a 50 year old expert climber in his own right, admits he has been obsessed by his father's death and the Eiger's 6000 foot deadly wall. "I can't go climbing without Dad's shadow hanging over me. And I love that shadow as much as it appalls me." With his own wife and daughter watching through the telescope at the world-famous Kleine Scheidegg, this book puts you on the mountain during the climb, as John Harlin III attempts to complete the Classic route and deal with it's many psychological implications. For many of us, decades after his father's death, this book finally gives closure to the John Harlin-Eiger story. Meanwhile the Eigerwand continues to lure climbers with the death toll now in the 60's at this point in time, and despite the recent availability of helicopter rescues, some of the unprepared and unlucky climbers will continue to perish. Kudos to John Harlin III for an excellent climbing and life experience book. My Highest Recommendation!! Five "White Knuckled" Stars!!
Book Description
In every PC user's life, there's a point when desperate measures must be taken. Some push their PC off a pier or chuck it into a landfill. Others turn their former computing ally into a planter box. But don't give up on your PC yet--help is at hand. This easy to read, accessible book from PC World expert Steve Bass covers the waterfront of PC gripes and gremlins, with fixes for everything from Windows glitches to browsers that won't browse. Each fix is served up in bite-sized portions for quick reading--and even quicker fixing. A revised version of its best-selling predecessor, the 2nd edition offers 50 additional pages and over 120 new fixed annoyances. This reader-friendly book tackles problems related to a wide-ranging number of topics:
- Windows--King of Annoyances! learn how to kick Windows in the rear, overcome glitches, take charge of the interface, live with the dreaded Service Pack 2
- Hardware--wake up your DSL, tame your notebook, silence your PC's fan, work wonders with your scanner, and save paper
- Email--from Outlook to Eudora! Defeat spam, avoid mailing list hassles, send big files, manage folders
- Microsoft Office--learn workarounds for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that help you back up the unbackable and automate data entry
- Internet--shake up IE, stop Flash, outsmart defaults, control Favorites, add the Google toolbar to Netscape
Plus, you get access to more than one hundred utilities that will help you squash bugs, enhance your email, untangle a system snarl, and much more. If your PC has ever annoyed you (do we see several billion raised hands?), PC Annoyances is for you. With the flip of a page or two, you can fix that faux pas and have your PC purring again.
Customer Reviews:
Worth the money.......2007-02-25
I was so impressed by this book when I checked it out from the library I realized I had to have a copy of my own for those times when problems crop up that drive me toward the deep end. This book does what it claims. Though it won't answer all of your problems (what book would), it's easy to understand and can provide simple solutions to what seem like complex problems. It also gives the reader various references and free helpful programs on-line. I highly recommend it.
Not a technical manual.......2007-02-03
OK for the nontechnical XP users. Most of these hints have been published elsewhere but it is a nice collection.
Would recommend this book.......2006-08-15
I love the format Steve Bass uses while writing
about computer annoyances. Many of the tips and solutions
can save you frustrations that are always there even in
a minor way because you may not know how to fix them.
Very Practical,Funny,To the Point........2006-07-17
After slogging through books on W2KPro/XPPro that are painful to read and no help unless your running 100+ PC's this book was a welcome relief in it's smarts,humor,and direct approach to fixing many of the challenges presented by the above mentioned OS's. Having one of my usual sleepless nights I started tallying up all the money I spent trying to keep MS software running,protected from hackers,bots,spyware,virii worms and it's own predisposition to fail and I realize that with an entire industry built around sloppy software as the norm and a gov't asleep at the antitrust wheel we're not likely to see a real improvement any time soon. When you hear words like regulation stifles innovation reach down and make sure you still have your wallet because it's about to be plundered. It's always about the money. If I had to spend another $25 to have this book included in the box that MS/OS came in then I would've saved hundreds on books that did'nt meet my needs and priceless amounts of lost time.
PC Annoyances.......2006-02-28
This is not the usual boring computer book. Just the opposite.
I'm reading it the second time with a felt tip marker. After reading a chapter I go to my computer, explore, and make changes. I've learned more reading this book than any other computer book I've purchased. And it's written so the average computer user like me can understand.
Books:
- Waiting With Gabriel: A Story of Cherishing a Baby's Brief Life
- Welcome to Moonbase
- What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It?: What Archaeology Can Tell Us About the Reality of Ancient Israel
- When I Was Puerto Rican
- You're Going to Love This Kid: Teaching Students with Autism in the Inclusive Classroom (tentative title)
- Yugoslavia President Vojislav Kostunica (World Political Leaders Library)
- A More Elite Soldier: Pursuing a Life of Purpose
- A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- Anything Book Mag Mar: George Washington (Anything Book Mag Mar)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- Microsoft CRM 3 For Dummies
- Heathen Girls
- Dr. Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats
- Free Fall
- Fundamentals of Molecular Virology
- Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic: Theory and Applications
- Cal 96 Thoughts from Walden Pond
- Emerging into a New World
- Prokaryotic Genetics Genome Organization, Transfer and Plasticity
Astronomy
| Astronomy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
The New Solar System
Observational Astrophysics
The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy
Minding the Heavens: The Story of Our Discovery of the Milky Way
Universe Revised Observing Projects: using Starry Night Backyard and Deep Space Explorer
