Diana: The Last Days

Customer Reviews:

It's about time........2000-08-14

This is the book that finally shows the Diana/Dodi murder and conspiracy stories to be what they are - complete figments of the imaginations of Mohamed Fayed and his minions. Mr Gregory had access to Diana's friends and the bodyguards who shared her final vacation with Dodi Fayed, and with their help he sheds the true light on the relationship. Why would anyone want to murder them when the relationship hadn't even lasted for 2 months and gave no indication that it would lead to marriage? And who would choose a car accident to commit murder when it's the most inefficient way of killing, since we have no control over the laws of physics which govern car accidents? I commend the author for having the courage and common sense to write this book, since he, and I, seem to believe that some people would see sinister conspiracy plots in 2 people planning to go grocery shopping together.

Book riddled with lies and distortions.......2000-08-01

I'm really sorry to say this and I hope you don't take offence, but there's only one word in the English language that most precisely describes people like Martyn Gregory: propagandist.

Disappointing.......2000-03-25

As far as Princess Diana books go, this one is as wrongful as you can get ... the reporting is fundamentally flawed. Like the French authorities, Mr Gregory is willing to declare the Earth is flat and more nonsense in the desperate attempt to keep the lid on this cover-up.

Judging from statements and the relief expressed by some British politicians, the death was needed to save the throne. Diana and Dodi had become a threat to the British establishment. The scenario opening in front of their horrified eyes was of a possible marriage to an Egyptian playboy. It was unthinkable that the heir to the throne and his younger brother should have a Muslim stepfather. It was equally unthinkable that the union might produce an Anglo/Egyptian half-brother for the royal princes.

British Intelligence, under their rules, was "justified" in wiping these people out for the purposes of the monarchy, protection of the realm, and "national security."

Deeply flawed book - authors friends include MI6 spy.......2000-03-19

Those who seek the truth should ignore anything Gregory says about Diana/Dodi. Gregory is associated with Dominic Lawson, editor of the Sunday Telegraph, who has been named in the House of Commons as an agent for British intelligence.

Average customer rating:

great medieval fiction

King of the Last Days
Diana Norman
Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 034027039X

Customer Reviews:

great medieval fiction.......2005-07-13

Setting: 1189 England and France
Genre: more historical fiction. there is no romantic element in this story
Final Grade: 5 stars

Back blurb: "The cowled figures which stood around the open grave in the moonlight at Glastonbury in the year 1189 were used to mystery but even they were overawed by what was in the coffin.

Their great and ancient monastery was in trouble and if this sword was what they thought it was, if those bones were really Arthur's, then they had a great relic for which their king would be properly grateful.

But their king was in France, fighting his son, Richard Coeur de Lion, and getting the sword to him would be a perilous business. A lot of people wanted that sword for a lot of reasons.

The young monk who takes it for them is unobtrusive enough but, as rumour of what he is carrying spreads, he is in danger. The companions he picks up on the way, a formidable Prioress, a Crusader haunted by the massacre in the Holy Land, may be trustworthy, or they may not.

The king they are seeking, Henry II, is sick so they are not only evading enemies, they are also in a race against time.

KING OF THE LAST DAYS makes a story full of sharp medieval detail, and lively wit and variety of mood. A very satisfying and immensely readable successor to Diana Norman's first novel, Fitzempress' Law."

Book Description

Ralph Miller, one of the winningest basketball coaches in the history of the game, teams up with Bud Withers to tell the story of his life in basketball. He knew James Naismith the inventor of basketball, and coached against such legends as John Wooden, and Dean Smith.

Average customer rating:

Ralph Miller - Spanning The Game
Ralph with Withers, Bud Miller
Manufacturer: Sagamore Publ.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IW5KCS

Book Description

The Moral Premise reveals the foundational concept at the heart of all storytelling and successful box office movies. In concrete terms it explains how you can create your own success and, in the process, entertain, delight, challenge, and uplift this generation and the ones to come.

Customer Reviews:

In one word: WOW!.......2007-05-23

I read an interview with Stanley Williams wherein he claimed his concept of a moral premise would provide a more dynamic story for both screen AND fiction writers. Game as I am for a lesson in how to improve my writing, I purchased THE MORAL PREMISE and afforded it the opportunity to wow me.

The result? WOW!

This book is fantastic. THE MORAL PREMISE doesn't advocate a religious or moral lifestyle for the writer who would apply the ideas therein. What it does push, however, is the idea that the truly great stories have at its core a moral premise, a statement that amounts to nothing more than a conflict of two opposing values. It can be as simple as, "Bigotry leads to injustice, but equality leads to justice." You then structure your story around this one premise, with every character playing to either end of the spectrum. The end result is a bigger sense of purpose instilled in your story that will move your audience in ways that most books/movies don't accomplish.

That's just the nutshell version of the technique; trust me when I say it's much more layered. And yet, it's not difficult to grasp or execute; I've already applied it to my stories with phenomenal results. Williams does front load the book with theory, as most writing books do, but his theory proves to be riveting as he constantly fuses it with practical application. Probably more important is that he backs up his findings by analyzing a ton of movies. In this way, you learn that much quicker how to correctly incorporate a moral premise into your story. I give THE MORAL PREMISE 10 stars, and highly recommend it if you want to take your story to the next level.

Are you up for the ride that will increase your command of the craft? .......2007-05-20

He did the hardwork... the part many of us shun... he took the time to do research and developed a no-bs screenwriting guide based on knowledge.

The thesis of the author is that for a story to be successful it must have a MORAL premise.

He arrived at that conclusion by using some research data. Then he explains to you what it means to write a story with a MORAL premise.

Basically, (the author himself acknwledges) this book tries to take the theory of the classic author Lajos Egri a step beyond.

Why is it necessary to have a moral premise in a story to make it successful? There are many reasons:

-The moral premise means your characters will have to change to various degrees, specially emotionally.

-The change of a character helps the audience to concentrate and pay attention to story without feeling bored.

-The change of a character in an emotional or internal level is the master key to open audience's emotions.

The book is really good because it is clear in its subject: moral premise.

This is not a book to be read as the last word on everything you should to know about story telling. Instead, if you believe you need to know more about premise in order to improve your skills, then this is a good place to learn more.

A timely update of Lajos Egri.......2007-05-19

Before Syd Field, Lajos Egri was one of the most influentiual screenwriting gurus - except he never intended to be. Writing about theatre plays, Egri developed the `premise' as his main writing tool, a three-word phrase, which contains the theme of the play (for instance: love conquers all). Keeping this premise in mind, the writer makes sure that every scene expresses this theme in some way.
Williams updates and adjusts this theory to screenwriting. His contention is that the most successful scripts use a premise which is a moral truth. Updating the concept, he expands it by focussing on both a virtue and a vice (virtue leads to x, but vice leads to y). In this way, the writer focuses on the conflict between the two values, and avoids getting lost on the thematic level. Williams provides eight steps for structuring your story material, which includes choosing the virtue and vice, determining the arcs for the protagonist, antagonist and main secondary characters, and then determining the dramatic beats to support them. At the end, you'll have most of your story figured out.
The Moral Premise is an interesting, theme-driven approach to screen writing. A few points to keep in mind though: moral laws vary enormously from culture to culture, so this system should be most effective for `domestic' (i.e. culturally related) markets. In some cases, it's pretty hard to relate the premise to the main storyline, as in the original Die Hard. And some huge box office hits revel in amoral, even immoral themes.

Thought provoking .......2007-05-17

Describes the reason why stories are told and retold, and reveals what makes one story a classic and another a waste of time. Williams provides a clear theory for analyzing stories in any medium, as well as a usable methodology for creating a plot skeleton. Other story theory books dwell upon teaching the reader how to use software or narrowly focus on the meta-myth. This text explains how to find the soul of the story and how to verify that it "speaks a universal truth".
An excellent reference for anyone hoping to write or improve the quality of their writing.

THE REAL HERO'S JOURNEY.......2007-03-03

This is really an important book. In an age where so many people are distracted by what's on the surface of entertainment and media, this book reminds us that the real reason we make and watch movies -- and in many cases, the real benefit of them -- is the underlying moral premise (or 'message') of the story.

Like life, what's being said and shown on the surface, is rarely what it's really about. The true hero's journey is an inner one, a psychological, emotional, spiritual adventure from one state of character to another. And all the obstacles and struggles of the story aren't there merely to create more action and entertainment, but rather to peel away the layers of the character, to dramatize the 'moral premise' of the piece, and ultimately transform the character and (hopefully, in some small way) the audience.

What Dr. Stanley Williams does in his great book, THE MORAL PREMISE, is show us how this is done in film. What he also does is show us how this same idea has been taught (and is being taught) by all the major teachers on story -- from Socrates to Syd Field.

More than anything, what I personally appreciate and agree with in this book is that most films of enduring quality and success have at their center this moral premise. At a time where it seems as if the studios are looking for ways to create bigger and bigger FX extravaganzas, this book reminds us (and hopefully them) that it is the heart and soul of story, not the special effects, big bugets, or even A-list stars, that make a film great and, in many cases, commercially successful.

Read this book. And make your stories, no matter the genre, as clear and meaningful as you can!

Derek Rydall
Founder, EnlightenedEntertainer.com, ScriptwriterCentral.com
Author, "There's No Business Like Soul Business," "I Could've Written a Better Movie than that!"

Book Description

Kamal Amin, a young architect from Cairo, come to America to serve as an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright. When he arrives at Taliesen, Wright's headquarters, he discovers the pervasive presence of Olgivanna Lazovich, Wright's third wife. Her spirit, as well as the spirit of her teacher, George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, dominate the environment. Kamal remains at Taliesen, working with Wright until Mri. Wright died, then stayed for ten more years. In his careen and in his association with Taliesen, he met many celebrities, but no one so powerful as Olgivanna, a complex woman worshipped by some, villified by others.

Customer Reviews:

A unique portrait of Wright from a different perspective.......2005-02-08

Author Kamal Amin was an idealistic young Egyptian just out of architecture school when he traveled to America to join Frank Lloyd Wright's circle, there to become a working member of his Taliesin Fellowship, and a disciple of Wright. Reflections From The Shining Brow: My Years With Frank Lloyd Wright And Olgivanna Lazovich combines a memoir with a biographical sketch of Wright and his Fellowship members, including many details on Wright's third wife Olgivanna Lazovich, who dominated the atmosphere of the group at the time. A unique portrait of Wright from a very different and insightful perspective.

Reflections from the Shining Brow: My Years With Frank Lloyd Wright and Olgivanna Lazovich Wright

Average customer rating:

Reflections from the Shining Brow: My Years With Frank Lloyd Wright and Olgivanna Lazovich Wright
Kamal Amin
Manufacturer: Daniel & Daniel Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Artists, Architects & Photographers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1564744701

Average customer rating:

The Shining Brow: Frank Lloyd Wright
Olgivanna Lloyd Wright
Manufacturer: Horizon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

The Shining Brow: Frank Lloyd Wright, 1st Edition

Average customer rating:

The Shining Brow: Frank Lloyd Wright, 1st Edition
Olgivanna Lloyd Wright
Manufacturer: HORIZON PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000U234J2

Average customer rating:

Shining Brow
Daron Hagen , and Paul Muldoon
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

German | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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The Shining Brow Frank Lloyd Wright
Wright Olgivanna Lloyd
Manufacturer: Horizon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UEYNG8

Average customer rating:

Shining Brow: Frank Lloyd Wright
Olgivanna Wright
Manufacturer: Horizon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0818000147

Book Description

Over 40 detailed illustrations of vehicles spanning more than 200 years includes a hand-drawn hose wagon, ca. 1850, a 1924 Model TT commercial chassis, a 1962 Mack aerial ladder truck and many others.

Customer Reviews:

Don't Bother.......2005-10-21

If you know the least little bit about budgeting and keeping a checkbook register, you don't want or need this book. For me, it was a total waste of money. Don't waste your money if you have a PC with Excel installed.

Know when to buy!.......2005-08-04

This book has some great advice on the business aspect of owning a stable. However, unless you are planning on starting a business in the very near future or already have a business set up, I would advise to wait on this book. Half of the book (I'm not exaggerating) is blank forms for use when seriously planning your business such as income statements, payroll forms, contracts, etc. Being a student with not-so-near future plans on starting a horse business, these forms are useless to me at the moment. The nice thing about this book is that it emphasizes the importance of a business plan. It even gives a sample business plan to help those of us who have never written one and find the process a bit confusing. All in all, it is a well-written book with some great information for the serious horse business owner.

Great Innovations!.......2001-05-24

I own two horses, and one of my friends runs a large horse business. We both love these! That only proves that it can work for a small operation, or a large one. Its a great way to keep track of things that need done, which is good because if you don't plan your horses healthcare and other actions, your horse may become extremely sick, you may lose show eligibility, you may not have time for riding, or your horse may even die or be taken away for bad health. This planner is great!

Average customer rating:

You are there

Great combination

Lost and Found - a past reclaimed

New York Times Sometimes wrong but not this time

A wonderful memoir, not a crime story!

The Lost Night: A Daughter's Search for the Truth of Her Father's Murder
Rachel Howard
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

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In My Mother's House: A Novel

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Fall: The Rape and Murder of Innocence in a Small Town

ASIN: B000EXYZRC

Book Description

On June 22,1986, Stan Howard was stabbed in his bed, his ten-year-old daughter Rachel sleeping in the next room. Unable to fully process the tragedy, Rachel coped the only way she knew how by trying to pretend the murder never happened. More then fifteen years later, Rachel became engaged, and the need to confront the night of her fatherÂ's death before entering the next phase of her life grew strong. Her fatherÂ's murder remained unsolved, and many questions unanswered and unasked. In The Lost Night, Rachel shares her fatherÂ's story, and her keen investigation of memory, truth, and how a family moves on from a tragedy for which they may never find the answers. BACKCOVER: Â“The Lost Night is enthralling, a skillfully narrated story that begins as a tale of detection but becomes something more.Â”
Â—The New York Times

Â“No novel based on Ms. HowardÂ's life, no matter how skillfully crafted, could have been as believable as The Lost Night. It is a quintessentially American narrative of self-creation and redemption, a postmodern Gatsby with a hard-earned, doubt-tinged happy ending. I donÂ't know when IÂ've read a better first book.Â”
Â—The Wall Street Journal

Â“Powerful.Â”
Â—San Francisco Chronicle

Â“The Lost Night illuminates a bond between a father and a daughter that neither time nor death can undo.Â”
Â—The Washington Post Book World

Customer Reviews:

You are there.......2006-08-18

Met the author at a book signing and was impresssed by her impeccable poise and story-telling ability. Then I went home and read the book. Wow. I had the same experience as the other readers. This is an excellent and poignant memoir.
One feels the you-are-there quality of a little girl awakening in the middle of the night to see her father covered with blood on the floor. The people in her book are like characters in a Dickens novel, yet they are (were) all very real. Howard captures the cultural milieu of Merced California in the mid '80's. Her father loved Rod Stewart with a passion and the lyrics of his songs weave through the true story of a child trying to make sense of what is going on around her.
The child matures into an adult and becomes a writer! What an awesome contribution to the memoir genre. I do hope that the killer is eventually caught.

Great combination.......2006-07-23

This is a wonderful combination of memoir and true crime. I felt as though I realy got to know the author. Her willingness to examine the fragility of memory and adjust her conclusions accordingly made her more appealing. The change in her attitudes toward the people in her life caused me to re-examine my own feelings toward people in my life. This book is a definite addition for anyone's library.

Lost and Found - a past reclaimed.......2006-02-28

Lost and Found - a past reclaimed

I finished Rachel Howard's "the lost night" at 3 this morning. From the minute I cracked its spine, the pages turned themselves, inviting me to ignore every routine chore of mine: dirty dishes, daily exercise, even meals (though I did manage to go to work and feed the cat).

Masterfully written, the book tells a riveting story of the murder of Rachel's father when she was only 10 years old. How she handled the loss of this beloved man, her protector and playpal, is a glimpse into how children cope with tragedy of this magnitude. The experience retrospectively defined Rachel, her relationship with her family and also with her stepmother Sherry, her father's third wife when he was murdered. Rachel, the product of divorce, was spending a few summer weeks at her father's home during this time. She was witness to his last waking minutes and remembered details that would replay themselves with increasing vividness as time went by.

But memory is elusive...and selective. The author comes to realize that her memories were circumscribed by the limited frame-of-reference of a young life.

What I found so compelling here is the child's perspective. I have read (and probably own!) just about every true-crime/courtroom/forensic book that exists, yet I never read such an account from a 10-year-old point-of-view. Rachel illustrates the sometimes graphic, sometimes muted terror-of-the-night children of murdered parents are heir to, their wispy and unexpressed--indeed unconscious--suspicion of significant-others, and their necessary dependencies on adults who, often not comprehending the nuances involved, believe that by trotting the kid to therapy, they absolve themselves of the pain of revisiting the circumstances themselves. In Rachel's case, her father's family remained largely silent with her about that night. They may have felt that openly speaking about the murder with someone so young would somehow legitimize it for her. In fact, their passivity had the opposite, and quite damaging, effect on a young mind hungry for assurance and validation.

Palpable throughout Rachel's memoir is its raw honesty. The writing is often brutally introspective, devoid of the self-pity and lachrymose language which the author might easily --and justifiably-have indulged. She is seeking information and answers, and by the last page, I realize she has found those things, and some peace along the way.

Therese Hercher

New York Times Sometimes wrong but not this time.......2006-02-05

William Grimes has always been one of my favorite NY Times reviewers. Although he tends to be negative, when he waxes effusive, I take notice. When I saw this....
------
"As a memoirist, she succeeds BRILLIANTLY. "The Lost Night" is ENTHRALLING, a skillfully narrated story that begins as a tale of detection but quickly becomes something more."
--William Grimes, NEW YORK TIMES

I figured I'd take a chance. Well, it's been sitting on my nightstand for 6-months now and damn if it's not enthralling. Although I was hoping for a bit of a who-done-it, I couldn't put it down. The descriptions of the messed-up Central Valley(to put it delicately)were terrific. With some sex, drugs, and even some 80s Rod Stewart in the mix, for good measure, it was a joy to read.

A wonderful memoir, not a crime story!.......2005-10-23

This book is much more memoir than a "true crime" or crime investigation book. It does center itself around the author's father's murder when she was 10, but from there, it goes on to tell very well how this event affected both her life and the life of her family and extended family. I got a strong feel for the parts of California she was writing about, and for her father's large family and how they dealt with his death in their own ways.

The book also examines the issue of memory---how memory is not a set-in-stone thing---how different people remember things differently, and we can feel very sure we know how something happened, and another person is very sure it happened differently.

Some might feel unsatisfied that the murder is not solved in these pages, but I was not. That was never really the point here. This is an examination of how murder affects a family, and of the time and place and people that set up the scene. The author leaves us free to form our own opinion as to what happened, and she also is amazingly free with writing about her own changes of perspective and doubts about her feelings about the past. She is a skilled writer and sounds like a strong, caring person. I thank her for this book.

The Lost Night: a Daughter's Search for the Truth of Her Father's Murder

Average customer rating:

The Lost Night: a Daughter's Search for the Truth of Her Father's Murder
Rachel Howard
Manufacturer: Plume Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N74VZU

Book Description

The author argues that it was in fact MacColla and not Montrose who was the true architect of the year of Victories, and that without his Highland ally, Montrose's blunders would have doomed him to disaster, thus presenting a compelling and radical reappraisal of Scottish history during the crucial years of the 1640s. As MacColla's actions were unwittingly to lead his people and culture to ruin, so his own career ended in chaos when, despite leading his own troops in a victorious charge, an incompetent general led him to defeat and death at Knocknanuss in Ireland.

Superbly written, Highland Warrior is a compelling and dramatic sweep through some of the most eventful years in Scottish history, told in a text both authoritative and highly readable.

Customer Reviews:

Alasdair Mac Colla.......2001-12-20

Stevenson looks at the history of the Gaelic fringe of Ireland and Scotland in the seventeenth century with a refreshingly unromantic eye. Gone are the quaint stories of Highland laddies, and villanous Cromwellians. Stevenson's "Highland Warrior" is thick with intrigue. Alasdair Mac Colla emerges from these pages looking super-human, but certainly not heroic in the conventional sense. However, in the fallen world of the seventeenth century, Mac Colla and his sidekick Manus Ruadh O'Cahan may be the closest one might ever get to heroic figures. They are, at least, extremely interesting individuals. This is a magnificent book, and it is a must read for any student of Irish or Scottish history.

Book Description

Professional pollster Jeffrey M. Stonecash combines 17 years of practical polling experience with academic theory to show how and why polling is done and what the best approaches are to winning elections.

Customer Reviews:

Especially for professionals looking for guidance.......2003-06-19

Political Polling: Strategic Information In Campaigns is a "how-to" book written by Jeffrey M. Stonecash (Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University) especially for professionals looking for guidance in the skill of extrapolating strategies based on information gathered from political polling. From advice to keep in mind when writing questions; to pulling a suitably representative sample; to tracking polls; to drawing recommendations from the results, Political Polling is a very useful and highly recommended primer.

Average customer rating:

The only enjoyable read on environmental disasters???

An uncommonly readable, entertaining environmental reader

Fine overview of the major environmental issues we face

America's Environmental Report Card: Are We Making the Grade?
Harvey Blatt
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Palgrave Environmental Reader

Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks

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ASIN: 0262524678

Book Description

Americans today are increasingly concerned about the state of the environment. Polls show that a remarkable 63 percent would roll back recent tax cuts to finance environmental protection and that fully 95 percent want environmental education included in the public school curriculum. America's Environmental Report Card offers answers to some of our most pressing environmental questions, providing a timely reminder of what we need to accomplish to achieve a sustainable environment. It lays out the scientific facts about water and air pollution, energy, global warming, and the ozone layer in a lively, conversational style, enhanced by illustrations, and charts a course of action for protecting the environment.

America's Environmental Report Card focuses on the environmental issues that polls show are most important to Americans today. It looks at water pollution and the safety of the water supply (20 percent of Americans refuse to drink tap water, at least partly because they doubt its safety), the dangers of floods (increased by the clearing of forests for farms and timber), the leaching of garbage buried in landfills, and pesticide runoff in irrigation waters from agriculture. It examines the ways we generate energy and the resulting global warming, air pollution (much of the 2,500 gallons of air we inhale each day contains exhaust fumes, lead, and asbestos), and ozone depletion and its relationship to skin cancer, and offers a detailed account of nuclear energy production and the radioactive waste it generates. Most important, it outlines ways to deal with these problems -- workable and reasonable solutions that individuals, industry, and government can effect without unreasonable hardship, solutions that map the course to a sustainable future.

Customer Reviews:

The only enjoyable read on environmental disasters???.......2006-01-30

While the information presented here may not be "new news," plenty of interesting facts are made available, including the breakdown of water usage in the U.S. An astounding 41.2% of all water usage is attributed to toilet flushing!!! Also included in the water chapter is a list of synthetic chemicals in our water supply, and from which industries they come.

Some very interesting facts are supplied which are new news, at least to me; did you know that hazardous waste can be legally injected into the ground???

Easy to read, easily understandable, with pie charts, a guaranteed visual aid!

An uncommonly readable, entertaining environmental reader.......2005-09-27

This book is a real surprise! Dr. Harvey Blatt's "America's Environmental Report Card" (AERC) sounds heavy, but it is crisply written, entertaining, and loaded with quotable facts. It is well-researched and I was repeatedly startled by its revelations. Blatt is a fine storyteller who cannot resist humor and puns (from good to groaners).
Blatt presents his distillation of America's environmental performance as a report card: we get a lackluster "C" average overall, from a healthy "A" in ozone mitigation to a "D" for energy conservation and a "D" for global warming. AERC bristles with hundreds of facts, such as:
> Half of Americans distrust tap water and thus drink bottled water (even though 25% of bottled water IS tap water that costs 120 to 7500 times more, suckers!)
> 16% of Washington, DC's water pipes are toxic lead metal (explains Congressional behavior?)
> Oil supplies about 40% of U.S. energy, but our declining production means we import 60% of it, and drilling in Alaska would make a difference for only 6 months.
> To create your 16-ounce sirloin, a cow donated not only its life but 53 pounds of manure-urine blend that polluted a stream.
> A few inches of dirt is all the separates us from mass starvation, and our agricultural soil is fast-eroding.
> America produces 25% of Earth's food, but consumes so much of it that a casket maker now offers a triple-wide coffin.
> If all the planet's ice sheets melt, FL, LA, NJ, DE, CT, RI, and MA will be completely submerged, and half of the Carolinas, and most major coastal cities.
> Enjoying second-hand smoke indoors, with its 4,000 chemicals and 40 carcinogens, increases your risk of heart disease 20-70%.
> Remember Chernobyl? Now-bankrupt Belarus, which received 70% of the radiation, has over 50,000 children with thyroid cancers, & spends 25% of its budget alleviating Chernobyl's after effects.
We are wired to confront immediate threats like spilled gasoline, snarling dogs, and armed robbers. But we respond sluggishly to abstract, remote-seeming hazards like hurricanes & earthquakes, toxic waste & landfills, pollution & erosion, global warming & energy shortage, floods & droughts. It's tough for scientists to make voters and politicians listen, or for teachers to educate students about our fragile environment, or for Americans to change our lifestyles. But among Blatt's many nifty quotes is the insightful Lakota Sioux proverb: "We didn't inherit this land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."
Blatt takes no side, liberal or conservative; he simply presents the facts, colorfully. AERC's many graphics, maps, and pithy quotes make great slides and handouts for teaching and meetings. AERC is so accessibly written that it forms a broadly versatile primer for everyone: teachers and students (AERC is an engaging reader for an environment or ecology course), leaders, businesspeople, attorneys, politicians, naturalists, activists, health & safety people, scientists, academics.
It's a great read and reference. You'll leave America's Environmental Report Card with a solid perspective and new appreciation for our planet and what we are doing to it.

Fine overview of the major environmental issues we face.......2005-02-25

Deep down you know we are in trouble. But up until now you figured "what I don't know won't hurt me." That is human nature I suppose but the fact of the matter is that there is an ever increasing body of evidence that the world in which we live is in peril. Perhaps the bizarre weather events that have occured in the past year have convinced you. Or maybe global warming or a nearby toxic waste dump has gotten your attention. "America's Environmental Report Card: Are We Making The Grade?" is an excellent way to get up to speed on the major environmental issues of our day. While this book should appeal to just about anyone concerned with these matters, author Harvey Blatt appears to have targeted those readers with no ax to grind who simply want to find out just what is going on. "America's Environmental Report Card" is a straight forward, matter of fact book that resists the sensationalism that is found in most other books on this subject. Author Harvey Blatt, a geologist by trade, discusses the topics that are important to all of us like clean water, clean air, climate, solid waste, fossil fuels, nuclear energy and more. But beyond just enumerating the myriad problems we face, Blatt also suggests possible solutions. And he goes one step further.
Blatt encourages each of us to hold up a mirror and ask ourselves what we can do to make our world a better and safer place to live. To quote one Edward H. Hale from the beginning of Chapter 10: "I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do".
"America's Environmental Report Card" is presented in clear and easy to understand language and is supplemented by a great number of excellent graphs and illustrations throughout the book. Recommended.

America's Environmental Report Card: Are We Making The Grade

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America's Environmental Report Card: Are We Making The Grade
Harvey Blatt
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQZJ24

America's Environmental Report Card: Are We Making the Grade?: An article from: Environmental Health Perspectives

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America's Environmental Report Card: Are We Making the Grade?: An article from: Environmental Health Perspectives
Terri Damstra
Manufacturer: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Environmental Health Perspectives, published by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences on April 1, 2005. The length of the article is 696 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: America's Environmental Report Card: Are We Making the Grade?
Author: Terri Damstra
Publication: Environmental Health Perspectives (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 2005
Publisher: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Volume: 113 Issue: 4 Page: A274(1)

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Harvey Blatt, America's Environmental Report Card: Are we Making the Grade.(Book Review) : An article from: Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

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Harvey Blatt, America's Environmental Report Card: Are we Making the Grade.(Book Review) : An article from: Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
Terry V. Shaw
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, published by Thomson Gale on December 1, 2005. The length of the article is 464 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Harvey Blatt, America's Environmental Report Card: Are we Making the Grade.(Book Review)
Author: Terry V. Shaw
Publication: Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 32 Issue: 4 Page: 185(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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